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Q. HORATI FLACCI OPERA

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Q. HORATI FLACCI


OPERA
Horatius Flaccus, Jini too
WITH NOTES BY
THOMAS ETHELBERT PAGE, M.A.
ASSISTANT MASTER AT CHARTERHOUSE
ARTHUR PALMER
LITT.D.
PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN THE universiTY
OF DUBLIN
A. S. WILKINS
LITT.D., LL.D.
PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN OWENS College,
MANCHESTER
ABRIDGED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS
London
MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
1896
All rights reserved

grad.
Mrs. Zeo. S. Morris
11-3-34
PREFACE
THIS edition is an abridgment of the three volumes devoted
to Horace in "Macmillan's Classical Series," and owes its
origin to representations made by many schoolmasters to the
publishers as to the need existing for an edition of Horace with
notes in a single volume. In the execution of my task I have
been guided by the experience derived from actual use of the
separate editions in form, and my aim has been simply to cut
out such portions of the notes as seemed least important for
young students, leaving the remainder, as far as possible,
unaltered. The work has not been altogether easy or
congenial. The charm of a note often lies in that part which
is least strictly relevant, and comment is often most interest-
ing when most discursive, nor is it a simple process to curtail
without destroying, and to "be brief" without "becoming
obscure." On the other hand there can be no question as to
the convenience of having an author complete between two
covers, and for most boys notes, in order to be used, must be
moderate in length. In the present instance there are slightly
more than two pages of notes to one of text, and, perhaps, in
the case of a writer like Horace that represents an almost
irreducible minimum of comment, unless it is held desirable to
abbreviate notes into mere dogmatic statements specially
designed for use in the examination-room.
vi
PREFACE
My most hearty thanks are due to Professors A. Palmer and
A. S. Wilkins who with rare generosity placed their editions
at my disposal. As far as could be I have treated them
tenderly, and it was only after practising with the pruning-
knife on my own productions that I began to deal with theirs.
At any rate I have endeavoured not to misrepresent them or
obtrude my views on theirs, and in the few instances where
some modifications have been necessary they have been either
indicated or are unimportant.
Lastly I owe a large debt to the printers and their excellent
"Readers" for their constant skill and care, which only those
who have had to pass a book of this nature through the press
can fully appreciate.
T. E. PAGE.
CHARTERHOUSE, Godalming
June 1896.
INTRODUCTION
4
Q. HORATIUS FLACCUS was born on Dec. 8, 65 B.C., in the
consulship of L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus,¹ five
years after Virgil and two years before C. Octavius, who sub-
sequently became the emperor Augustus. The place of his birth
was Venusia, a town in Apulia on the borders of Lucania 2 close to
Mount Vultur and the 'far-echoing Aufidus.' 3 His father was a
'freedman' (libertinus), and had been a 'collector,' 5 probably of
taxes, though others credit him with having been a 'dealer in
salt-fish.'
26 Anyhow, when the young Horace was old enough to
go to school, he had apparently saved a fair amount of money,
though his son describes him as only 'the poor owner of a lean
farm,' and he was certainly a man who deserves not to be for-
gotten. Freedman, tax-collector, and perhaps fish-hawker, he
none the less saw the talent of his son and resolved to give him a
chance in the world. Instead of sending him to the local school,
where 'the big sons of big centurions, satchel and slate slung
over their left arms,' 8 went carrying their monthly pence, he took
him to Rome and procured for him the best teachers, notably a
certain Orbilius Pupillus of Beneventum-the Keate⁹ of his day
-whose birch 10 and whose lessons in Livius Andronicus left an
impression on the pupil which has immortalised the master.
Not only did his father spend money freely on him but he devoted
himself personally to watching over the growth of his morals and
character, and to inculcating on him such shrewd and homely maxims
as his own experience dictated. Of the debt thus incurred the son
1 Od. 3. 21. 1; Epod. 14. 6.
3 Od. 4. 9. 2.
2 S. 2. 1. 34.
4 S. 1. 6. 45.
5 coactor S. 1. 6. 86; coactor exactionum (or auctionum), Suet. Vit.
6 ut creditum est, salsamentario, Suet. Vit.
7 S. 1. 6. 71.
8 S. 1. 6. 73.
9 Ep. 2. 1. 70 plagosus Orbilius.
10 He really used the 'taw' and the 'ferule'; si quos Orbilius ferula
scuticaque cecidit, Suet. Vit.
b
viii
HORACE
was always deeply sensible, and the passage (S. 1. 6. 68 seq.) in
which he answers the sneers of society on his origin by a full acknow-
ledgment of how much he owed to the best of fathers' is possibly
not among the most rhetorical, but is certainly among the most
touching passages in classical literature.
When his school-days were over he went, after the fashion of
the time, to complete his studies at what was practically the
University of Athens, 'searching for truth amid the groves of the
Academy '1 or, in other words, reading philosophy. Here he made
the acquaintance of M. Junius Brutus, who after the murder of
Caesar (44 B.C.) had been driven from Italy and visited Athens
before taking up as propraetor the government of Macedonia.
Horace seems to have gone with him to Asia Minor 2 and, when
Brutus and Cassius raised a republican force with which to resist
Octavian and Antony, he was appointed a military tribune and
found himself, as he puts it with intentional exaggeration, 'in
command of a Roman legion.' 3 He took part in the battle of
Philippi (42 B.C.), which finally extinguished the hopes of the
republican party, and, though his own description of himself as
spirited away by Mercury the protector of poets and 'leaving his
poor shield ingloriously behind him '4 must not be taken too
literally, still we may well imagine that his exploits on that fatal
field were not very distinguished. At any rate his military and
republican ardour soon cooled and, instead of following his friends
farther amid the 'stormy seas'5 of war, he took advantage of an
amnesty offered by the conquerors and returned to Italy, where he
found himself 'with his wings clipped and destitute of house and
farm,' 6 his property near Venusia having probably been confiscated
and assigned to some veteran of the victorious army.
By some means, however, he managed to procure a sort of
clerkship in the treasury 7 on which to live. Meantime some of
his writings, possibly some of the earlier Satires (e.g. 1. 7), attracted
the notice of Varius and Virgil, who in 39 B.C. procured for the
timid and stammering clerk an introduction to C. Cilnius Maecenas,
the peace minister of Augustus and the great literary patron of
the age.
After a delay of nine months, during which Maecenas
seems to have satisfied himself as to the talent and character of
Horace, he welcomed him as an intimate member of that famous
literary group which the great statesman loved to collect around
1 Ep. 2. 2. 45.
4 Od. 2. 7. 10.
2 S. 1. 7; Ep. 1. 11.
5 Od. 2. 7. 16.
7 scriptum quaestorium comparavit, Suet. Vit.;
3 S. 1. 6. 48.
6
Ep. 2. 2. 50.
S. 2, 6, 36.
INTRODUCTION
ix
him in his palace on the Esquiline. From this time until his
death, which occurred on the 27th of November 8 B.C., a few weeks
after that of Maecenas, the poet and his patron lived on terms of
extreme intimacy and Horace takes a marked place as one of the
notable figures in Roman society.
Of his life, however, there is little to relate. He was a man
who infinitely preferred repose and comfort to rank and distinction.
Maecenas presented him with a small farm among the Sabine hills
a little north-east of Tibur (Tivoli), and this Sabine farm was dear
to him as the apple of his eye.¹ He is never weary of referring to
its charms; he loved to retire to it from Rome, and he constantly
contrasts the delights of his peaceful life there with the worry and
turmoil and endless engagements of the capital. In Rome itself
he contented himself with an extremely modest household, 2 partly
because his independent spirit made him unwilling to accept too
much from his patron, partly because he had a genuine dislike of
ostentation and the inconveniences which it entails. His ideal in
life was a modest competence and the ability to do as you like.
To lie in bed until ten, then to write or read, to play a game at
ball, to bathe, to dine at ease, to stroll round the Circus or the
Forum in the evening listening to fortune-tellers and cheap-jacks 3
these were delights in his judgment to which kings and courts
could afford nothing equal. Even when pressed by Augustus to
accept the distinguished position of his private secretary, he refused
to sacrifice his freedom; and the refusal was accepted without irri-
tation by the emperor, while Suetonius quotes a letter in which the
master of the world good-humouredly contrasts the poet's haughty
reserve with his own humble entreaties and offers of friendship.4
Throughout life he took a keen interest in philosophy and
especially in ethics, questions connected with morals being con-
tinually discussed by him. His own tastes and habits were
naturally Epicurean and 'a sleek-skinned porker from the pen
of Epicurus'5 is his jesting description of himself, while such
maxims as carpe diem and dona praesentis cape laetus horae
abound in his writings and are illustrated in his life. On the
other hand he is never tired of jibing at the crabbed and para-
doxical teaching of the Stoics, whose typical 'wise man' he
delights to portray as a typical fool. But in spite of this he
1 Od. 2. 18. 14.
4
2 S. 1. 6. 114.
3 S. 1. 6. 114 seq.
neque enim, si tu superbus amicitiam nostram sprevisti, ideo nos quoque
ἀνθυπερφρονοῦμεν, Suet. Vit.
5 Ep. 1. 4. 16.
X
HORACE
everywhere exhibits a hearty admiration for that strong, sober,
self-sacrificing 'manliness' (virtus) which had made a 'race of
rustic soldiers'1 the conquerors of the world, but which is
certainly Stoical rather than Epicurean. The fact is that he sets
little store by logical consistency and writes according to the
changing phases of his own mood. He denies the interference of
the gods in human affairs,2 or calls such teaching the 'wisdom of
fools' and piety the first of virtues with amiable facility. He
writes an Ode to Pyrrha or a wine-jar and then descants on the
advantages of hard fare and hard exercise with apparently equal
enthusiasm. Such inconsistency is common and almost a part
of human nature, and it is one of the charms of Horace that he
does not endeavour to conceal it. At the same time, because he
does not play the Puritan or assume the solemn countenance 4 of
a professed moralist, we have no right, as some do, to describe him
as a voluptuary. Those who choose may discuss with seriousness
the exact contents of his cellar, or find in the Odes which he
addresses to Lydia, Pyrrha, and their kind a history of his own
amours; but more careful critics will detect under the various
disguises in which the poet masquerades a certain serious and
sober earnestness as of a man not without noble conceptions of
life and duty. This much at any rate is certain: the man who
wrote of his father as Horace did of his was not a bad man ; the
man who amid all the temptations of Rome could make a simple
country life his ideal, as Horace did, was not a vicious man; the
man who kept his head in a position such as Horace occupied was
not a vain man; the man whom Augustus asked to be his private
secretary was not a foolish man; and there must have been some-
thing very loveable and very remarkable in one whom Maecenas,
after an unbroken intimacy of thirty years, could commend to his
master on his death-bed with the words 'Horati Flacci ut mei
memor esto.'
,5
He describes himself when in his forty-fourth year as being
' of small stature, prematurely gray, fond of sunshine, quick of
temper and quickly appeased. Suetonius says that he was
'short and stout' 6 and quotes a letter of Augustus in which the
emperor, acknowledging the receipt of one of his books, says that
the poet seems afraid that his book will be bigger than himself,
but reminds him that though not tall still he has a 'corporation
1 Od. 3. 6. 37.
2 S. 1. 5. 101.
4 S. 1. 1. 24 ridentem dicere verum | quid
Ep. 1. 20. 24.
5
3 Od. 1. 34. 2.
vetat ?
6 brevis et obesus.
INTRODUCTION
xi
(corpusculum) and that if the 'roll' (volumen) were rounder it
would be more like its author.
His writings fall into two divisions :
(1) Lyric poems-the Epodes, the Odes, and the Carmen
Saeculare.
(2) The Satires, the Epistles, and the Ars Poetica.
The Epodes and the Satires both belong to the first half of his
career, his other poems to the second. Up to the battle of Actium
(31 B.C.) he perhaps still clung to the republican dreams of his
youth; at any rate up to that period his writings are without
political colour,¹ but after it he not only ceases to be neutral, but
becomes definitely a supporter of the new monarchy and, especially
in the Odes, deliberately places his poetical powers at its
disposal.
The Satires consist of a number of poems in hexameter verse
in two Books, the first of which was published about 35 B.C., the
second about 30 B.C. Whatever the origin of the word satura or
satira, 2 at any rate 'Satire,' as a form of poetry in our modern
sense of the word, has the distinction of being the only branch of
Roman literature which was not formed on a Greek model.³ Its
inventor was Lucilius (148-103 B.C.), and it reached its perfection
in Juvenal (flor. A.D. 100). The Satires of Lucilius attack indi-
viduals with the unsparing freedom of the old Greek comedy; those
of Juvenal glow with the fire of a fierce indignation.
of Horace on the other hand are free from vehemence; they keep
entirely clear of politics and deal chiefly with social topics, the writer
finding in the faults and follies of mankind the occasion not for anger
but for laughter. At the same time this laughter must not be mis-
interpreted; it is in no sense cynical or contemptuous but is used
deliberately. Horace knew that he was not adapted for a
preacher or a prophet, but he was admirably qualified to make
vice appear ridiculous and to show the fool his own foolishness.
The Satires
The Epistles consist of two books, the first of which was
published about 20 B.C., while the second consists of only two
Epistles, of which the first is assigned to 13 B.C. and the second
1 'During the time covered by the Satires (about 40—30 B.C.) Horace does
not appear at all on terms of intimacy with Augustus.' Wilkins, Intr. to
Epistles, p. xvii.
2 Its most probable derivation is from lanx satura, a plate full of all sorts
of fruits offered to the gods, so that it means a medley'; cf. Juv. 1. 86,
where he describes his book as a 'hotch-potch,' farrago.
3 Quint. 10. 1. 93 satira quidem tota nostra est.
xii
HORACE
to 19 B.C.1 They are similar in character to the Satires
but altogether superior to them, not only in style but in
matter. They contain the 'ripe results of the poet's observation
of men and manners' 2 set before us with that apparently negligent
grace which is really the result of perfect skill, and which adds so
much to the charm of good 'conversation' 3 and good 'letters.' 4
The Ars Poetica is, as its name implies, a didactic poem giving
rules for poetical composition.
The Epodes are Horace's first attempt at writing lyric poetry.
They are an imitation of the satirical iambics of Archilochus,5
and are thus to some extent connected with the Satires, which
were written at the same period. The bitterness of Archilochus
was, however, entirely alien from the easy temper of Horace, and
the 'libellous iambics'6 in which he vents imaginary spleen on
imaginary persons 7 are dull and uninteresting, but other Epodes, in
which he breaks loose from Archilochus in order to deal with happier
themes, already show signs of his future greatness as a lyric poet.
It is on the four Books of Odes that the fame of Horace
really rests. To what extent the Odes were published and
circulated separately we cannot tell, but the division into books
almost certainly dates from Horace's time, and the arrangement of
the Odes in them is probably his own. The marks of careful
arrangement are very clear. Thus in the first Book the first three
Odes are addressed to Maecenas, Augustus, and Virgil, while the
first nine Odes are each in a different metre, as though the poet
wished to give the reader an early proof of his varied skill. That
at the end of the Book the passion of the Cleopatra-Ode (1. 37)
should be followed by an extremely slight and cheerful drinking-
1 Wilkins, Intr. p. xvi.
2 Ibid. p. xxi.
3 Horace does not seem himself to have called his Satires by that name,
but rather to have used the term Sermones 'conversations.' When however
he says of these poems that they only differ from ordinary conversation in
the fact of their scanning' (S. 1. 4. 47 nisi quod pede certo | differt sermoni,
sermo merus), he must not be taken too literally, for it is his object to disguise
the pains which have been taken with them.
* Of course in ancient times—and in modern times up to the introduction
of cheap postage-letter-writing was often practised as an art, and con-
sequently many writers, when desiring to treat a subject somewhat informally,
have put their views forward in the shape of 'Letters.'
5 He is said to have invented the metre especially for his lampoons;
A. P. 79 Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
6 criminosis iambis Od. 1. 16. 2.
7 He expressly states that these poems are wholly unreal, Ep. 1. 19. 24
numeros animosque secutus | Archilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.
INTRODUCTION
xiii
song is in strict accordance with Horace's characteristic dislike to
end on a high-pitched note. The first ten Odes of the second
Book are alternately Alcaics and Sapphics, while the stately
Roman-Odes which commence the third Book are, with their
noble exordium, manifestly where they were designed to be.
Lastly the concluding Ode of the third Book
Exegi monimentum aere perennius
clearly presupposes a complete and final collection of the Odes to
which it is appended.
The date of the production of these three Books is generally
considered to lie between 30 B.C., the date of the Cleopatra-Ode,¹
and 23 B.C., the date of the death of Marcellus, who in 1. 12. 46
is spoken of as alive: but though the latter date may be considered
fairly certain, it is impossible to say whether some Odes may not
have been written or partly written considerably before 30 B.C.
The fourth Book was published about 13 B.C., being separated
from the other three by a considerable interval, as is shown by
internal evidence 2 and definitely stated by Suetonius-Scripta eius
usque adeo probavit (Augustus) mansuraque perpetuo opinatus est
ut non modo saeculare carmen componendum iniunxerit, sed et
Vindelicam victoriam Tiberii Drusique privignorum suorum,
eumque coegerit propter hoc tribus carminum libris ex longo
intervallo quartum addere.
The Carmen Saeculare is a Sapphic Ode written to be sung
publicly by a chorus of youths and maidens in the great 'Secular
Games' exhibited by Augustus 17 B.C.³
All Latin poetry (except Satire) is copied from Greek models.
Terence copies Menander, Propertius Callimachus, Lucretius
Empedocles, Virgil Hesiod and Homer: so Horace in the Odes
copies the Greek lyric writers. The sportive lays of Anacreon,
occasionally the dirges of Simonides, but above all the passionate
love-songs of Sappho and the patriotic odes of Alcaeus are the
models which he follows. Sometimes he copies his model very
closely, especially at the beginning of an Ode (e.g. in Odes 9, 14
37 of Book I), but as a whole it may be said that the form and
outline of his Odes are copied rather than the details.
1 The latest reference in the Epodes is to the battle of Actium.
2 See Intr. to Book IV.
3 The full description of these games is given in an inscription, discovered
in 1890, printed in Lanciani's Pagan and Christian Rome.
4 Pindar he makes no attempt to copy, for he knew that the "Theban
eagle' soared on pinions stronger than his own.
xiv
HORACE
The Odes may be roughly divided into two classes according as
they are of a light or of a serious character. The former deal
with love, wine, friendship; the latter are addressed to some
eminent personage or are written by command' to celebrate
some public event or advocate some public policy. The one
exhibit grace, polish, elegance; the other aim at imposing
stateliness and sonorous dignity. The two varieties are wholly
different, and it would be as foolish to compare the lyrics of
Herrick or Sir John Suckling with, say, Tennyson's Ode on the
Death of the Duke of Wellington as to compare such exquisite
gems as 1. 5 (Quis multa...) or 3. 9 (Donec gratus...) with the
Roman-Odes at the commencement of the third Book.
The characteristics of the Odes are (1) their wonderful charm
of rhythm, and (2) their perfect literary finish. With regard to
the first point, Horace was proudly conscious 1 of the skill with
which he had overcome the difficult task of adapting Greek
metres to the requirements of the Latin tongue. To examine
in detail how far he has succeeded would require a treatise, but
any one who will compare his Alcaics with those of Alcaeus 2
will see that his Alcaic stanza is, though a copy, at the same
time almost a new creation, the stately third line especially, which
bears the weight of the stanza, being so changed that its
original trochaic movement (see quotation in note) is hardly
recognisable. The lofty ring and rhythmic force of Horace's best
Odes in this metre have never been approached.
The literary finish of the Odes has been acknowledged in all
ages. Their apparently happy ease is really the result of infinite
pains.3
Horace had no belief in geniuses who dash off verses.
The poet must have natural power (ingenium), but technical
skill (ars) is also indispensable, and above all pains: 'correct,' 5
¿ erase,' 6' polish,'7 'prune,' 8 is Horace's constant cry; 'give back
the verses to the anvil,'9 'lock them up in your desk for nine
4
1 Od. 3. 30. 13-16.
2
e.g. cf. Alc. 34-
κάββαλλε τὸν χείμων', ἐπὶ μὲν τίθεις
πῦρ, ἐν δὲ κίρναις οἶνον ἀφειδέως
μέλιχρον, αὐτὰρ ἀμφὶ κόρσα
μάλθακον ἀμφιτίθεις γνόφαλλον.
3 curiosa felicitas Horati, Petronius.
4 Cf. A. P. 408 seq.
6 S. 1. 10. 72 stilum vertas.
8 S. 1. 10. 69 recidere.
5 A. P. 438 corrige, sodes.
7 A. P. 291 limae labor.
9 A. P. 441 incudi reddere versus.
INTRODUCTION
XV
years,
'1 'cut down and correct ten times until no criticism can find
a flaw.'2
The result of all this labour, in Horace's case, is that
his verses seem perfectly unlaboured. Hence it is that they have
for ages at once tempted and defied translation: it seems perfectly
easy to reproduce them, and it is, in fact, so hard that not one
translation in a hundred is more than readable. This is not the
highest praise, for the noblest poetry does not depend on form, and
translations of Job or Isaiah, of Homer or Lucretius may be not
unworthy of the original; but it does show that the shape in
which Horace presents his ideas is of unsurpassed excellence.
Indeed the strength, terseness, and lucidity of Latin render it an
unrivalled instrument for the expression of simple truths with
monumental dignity and force: add therefore to complete mastery of
such an instrument complete mastery of metrical effect, and it is
clear how some of the Odes cling more readily to the memory than
almost any poetry in the world.
As, however, the technical skill of Horace is undoubted, so, on
the other hand, he does not exhibit great powers of imagination.
He is not a great creative poet; there are few new ideas in the
Odes. Some critics in consequence deny him all real poetical
talent and treat him only as a versifier; Goethe, for instance,
speaks of him as possessing technical skill 'side by side with a
frightful realism, without any genuine poetry, especially in the
Odes.' 3
But this criticism is overdone. In the Regulus-Ode
(3. 5) there is real poetic power, and the closing stanzas exhibit
true creative genius. In such a line as dulce et decorum est pro
patria mori (3. 2. 13) there is something more than mere
mastery over words, while in such a stanza as
quo pinus ingens albaque populus
umbram hospitalem consociare amant
ramis? quid obliquo laborat
lympha fugax trepidare rivo?
there is 'realism' no doubt, but to call it 'frightful realism' is
absurd, and if the last seven words are not poetry it would be
hard to say what is. It is needless however to pursue the question.
Horace's own prophecy Non omnis moriar has been splendidly
fulfilled, and the praise of nineteen centuries makes rash criticism
of the Odes recoil upon the critic. His may not be a master-mind,
1 A. P. 388 nonumque prematur in annum.
2 A. P. 294 perfectum deciens...castigavit ad unguem.
3 F. W. Riemer, Mittheilungen über Goethe, xi. 644, nebst einer furcht,
baren Realität ohne alle eigentliche Poesie besonders in den Oden.
xvi
HORACE
but he has succeeded in saying some common things better perhaps
than they will ever be said again. Those who only respect what
they do not understand will not esteem him highly, but men of
sense will still continue to value his happy and epigrammatic
phrases which embody so much in so little, and are
jewels five words long
That on the stretched forefinger of all time
Sparkle for ever.
It only remains to add that the Odes quickly suffered the fate
which their author most dreaded,¹ and had become a regular
school-book in the century after his death,? and have continued so
to the present day. Nor is this to be wondered at, for, though it
needs a scholar to fully understand the Odes and bring out the
meaning of each suggestive phrase while also tracing the often
very subtle sequence of thought which links stanza to stanza,
still a large portion of the language is simplicity itself and it is
difficult to imagine what better model of Latin could be put before
a boy.
3
None of our extant MSS. are older than the 9th century, though
Cruquius in his edition (A.D. 1578) gives the readings of some MSS.4
now lost which may have been earlier. The Scholia, or collection
of comments, which bear the names of Acron and Porphyrion, often
carry us back to evidence which is much earlier and possibly goes
back to the 2nd or 3rd century.5 On the whole the text is fairly
satisfactory, and though some few passages are certainly corrupt or
interpolated, yet there is no ground for suspecting that wholesale
alteration of the Odes which some critics 7 assume whenever the
meaning of a stanza or the connexion of thought between two
parts of an Ode is not immediately obvious to themselves.
6
1 Ep. 1. 20. 17
hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem
occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus.
Cf. S. 1. 10. 74.
2 Juvenal 7. 227.
3
Any one reading In Memoriam may see how in lyric poetry this is often
far from easy.
4 The Blandinian MSS., of which one known as vetustissimus (technically
marked V, and in these notes vet. Bland.) is of great importance.
5 See Wickham Intr. "The Scholiasts.'
6 e.g. 3. 11. 17-20; 4. 8. 18.
7 Notably Lehrs and Peerlkamp.
NOTES ON THE METRES USED IN THE ODES
AND EPODES
THE Alcaic metre is so called from the Greek poet Alcaeus of Lesbos, who
is said to have invented it. It is employed by Horace more frequently
than any other, and is especially used when a lofty and dignified tone is
assumed. It occurs in the following Odes, which contain in all 317 stanzas:
I. 9, 16, 17, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 37; II. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14,
15, 17, 19, 20; III. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 21, 23, 26, 29; IV. 4, 9, 14, 15.
11212
2-2-
§ 1. The first syllable in the first three lines is common but a short
syllable is very rarely used: 13 instances occur in the First Book, 5 in the
Second, 7 in the Third, and none in the Fourth.
The last syllable in each line is common: in the third and fourth lines
however a line ending in a short vowel is distinctly rare, such an ending
not having sufficient weight.
In the first six Odes of the Third Book which consist of 84 stanzas
a short vowel occurs at the end of the third line 5 times and at the end of
the fourth only once (3. 1. 40 atra Cura).
§ 2. Synaphaea prevails: that is to say, a line ending in m or a vowel
(especially a short vowel) or diphthong is rarely followed by a line
beginning with a vowel, the lines in each stanza being linked together.
There are in all 20 exceptions: e.g. 1. 9. 7 Sabina | 0; 9. 14 lucro |
appone; 16. 27 amică | opprobriis. In Books III. and IV. only these six
occur: 3. 2. 17 sordidae | intaminatis; 4. 9 Apulo | altricis ; 5. 10 togae
| oblitus; 5. 11 Vestae | incolumi; 5. 46 dato | interque; 4. 15. 10
licentiae iniecit.
* The original metre in Gk. is a combination of trochees and dactyls; see
quotations p. xiv. note 2; Od. 1. 14 Intr.
1. 2. ~ |-~-~|-
01-0
2-2-2-2-|^
2-221
3.
4.
Horace by lengthening the fifth foot in lines 1. 2. 3 and resolutely avoiding the
use of two trochaic words at the end of line 3 has largely altered its character.
•
xviii
HORACE
The connexion between the third and fourth lines is especially close:
thus there are eight instances of et elided at the end of the third line
(1. 35. 11 barbarorum et purpurei; 2. 13. 23; 3. 1. 39; 3. 71; 4. 59;
6. 3; 29. 3; 29. 7) and 2. 35. 39 retusum in | Massagetas, whereas only
one such instance occurs in the first two lines, 1. 9. 13 quaerere et | quem.
In two instances, for the sake of special effect, the third line is actually
connected with the fourth, 2. 3. 27 sors exitura et nos in aeternum
exsilium; 3. 29. 35 cum pace delabentis Etruscum in mare.
§ 3. In the first two lines a break always occurs after the fifth syllable.
Elision, however, often occurs especially of a syllable ending in m, of
which there are fourteen instances, while there are only five of a vowel
so elided. They only end with a monosyllable once (4. 9. 1 ne forte
credas interitura quae).
A syllable ending in m is elided 1. 16. 6 sacerdot\um incola; 34. 13
insignem attenuat; 35. 25; 2. 5. 21; 13. 6; 17. 10; 3. 1. 5; 3. 41;
3. 49; 4. 4 consilium et; 6. 1; 6. 6 principium huc; 21. 13; 29. 17.
A vowel 1. 34. 10 invisi horrida; 2. 3. 13 unguenta et; 3. 2. 5 sub
divo et; 4. 6 audire et; 6. 18 inquinavere et.
The following five lines are exceptional: three of them occur in the First
Book, two being in the striking but irregular Cleopatra Ode; the fourth
is hardly an exception, while the fifth being found in the extremely formal
and regular Odes of the Fourth Book must be specially intended to
attract attention by its exceptional shape.
1. 16. 21 hostile aratrum exercitus insolens
1. 37. 5 antehac nefas de promere Caecubum
1. 37. 14 mentemque lymphatam Mareotico
2. 17. 21 utrumque nostrum incredibili modo
4. 14. 17 spectandus in cert|amine Martio.
§ 4. The third line bears the weight of the stanza and is very carefully
constructed. These are model lines:
I
audita Musarum | sacerdos
matrona bellantis | tyranni
descendat in Campum | petitor
sortitur | insignes | et imos
visam | pharetratos | Gelonos
tractaset incedis | per ignes
testatur | auditumque | Medis
apponet | annos; | iam protervae
It cannot end with a monosyllable (the exception is 2. 7. 19 depone
sub lauru mea, nec) or a quadrisyllable (the exceptions are 1. 35. 11
barbarorum; 2. 7. 19 temperatam; 2. 19. 19 viperino) or with two
disyllables.
Two disyllables occur 2. 1. 11 res ordinaris, grande munus; 19. 11
cantare rivos atque truncis. In 1. 29. 11 pronos relabi posse rivos a special
effect is aimed at. The five other instances present a marked peculiarity:
the first disyllable is immediately repeated at the beginning of the fourth
line, the special emphasis given to the repeated word at once restoring
to the third line its sonorous character. The instances are all in the
first two Books: 1. 16. 3 pones iambis sive flamma | sive...; 1. 26. 7
gaudes, apricos necte flores | necte... ; 2. 13. 27 Alcaee, plectro dura
navis | dura... ; 2. 14. 11 enaviganda sive reges | sive... ; 2. 19. 6
laetatur: euoe, parce Liber | parce....
|
NOTES ON METRES
xix
§ 5. The fourth line cannot begin with two dactyls without caesura:
nobilis | omnia | dixit | ille is not a line. In the second dactyl a weak
caesura is distinctly avoided as giving too rapid a movement to the line.
The exceptions are 1. 9. 8 o Thaliarche | merum diota; 31. 16 me
cichorea | levesque malvae; 2. 3. 8 interiore nota Falerni; 4. 9. 8 Stesichorique
graves Camenae. In 1. 16. 12 Iuppiter ipse ruens tumultu the line
is intentionally rapid; in 1. 26. 12 teque tuasque decet sorores the
emphasis on the repeated te tuas outbalances the weak caesura; for 2.
1. 36 quae caret ora cruore nostro see notes.
If, however, there is a full stop after the first dactyl the reason for
this rule vanishes and it need not be observed: 1. 35. 36 liquimus? unde
manum iuventus; 2. 13. 8 hospitis; ille venena Colcha; 2. 17. 8 integer ?
ille dies utramque.
It will be noted that the rule is absolute in the Third Book.
The first six Odes of Book III. afford the best model of Alcaics. The
Odes in Book IV. exhibit only three variations from strict metrical rules;
this is in exact accordance with their frigid and formal character; the
long fourth Ode has absolutely no metrical flaw.
The Sapphic Stanza is so called from Sappho the Greek poetess of
Lesbos. It is used in the following Odes, which contain in all 204
stanzas I. 2, 10, 12, 20, 22, 25, 30, 32, 38; II. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16; III.
8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 22, 27; IV. 2, 6, 11 and Carmen Saeculare.
1. 2. 3.
4.
2-2-22
§1. Synaphaea prevails: in no case is a line ending with a short vowel
followed by a vowel at the beginning of the next line in the same stanza.
The exceptions are 1. 2. 41 figura | ales; 12. 6 Haemo | unde; 12. 7
insecutae | Orphea; 12. 25 Ledae | hunc; 12. 31 ponto | unda; 22. 15
leonum | arida; 25. 18 myrto | aridas; 31. 6 Nymphae | et. 2. 2. 6
paterni ; | illum; 16. 5 Thrace; | otium. 3. 11. 29 sub Orco. | inpiae ;
11. 50 secundo | omine; 27. 10 inminentum | oscinem; 27. 33 potentem
oppidis. 4. none (2. 1 dubious).
The close connexion between the lines is shown by the way in which
et can end a line, 2. 6. 1 mecum et | Cantabrum; 6. 2 nostra et | barbaras.
3. 8. 27 horae et | linque; 27. 22 Austri et | aequoris; 27. 29 florum et |
debitae. So too 3. 8. 3 carbo in | caespite. 4. 6. 11 collum in | pulvere.
In several instances the lines are actually connected: 2. 2. 18 dissidens
plebi numero beatorum eximit; 16. 34 tibi tollit hinnitum_apta. 4. 2.
22 mores que aureos; 2. 23 nigro que invidet; C. S. 48 prolem que et decus.
The third line especially is so closely connected with the fourth that in
three instances a word is divided between them: 1. 2. 18 labitur ripa
Iove non probante uxorius amnis. 1. 25. 11 Thracio bacchante magis sub
inter lunia vento. 2. 16. 7 Grosphe, non gemmis neque purpura venale
neque auro.
§ 2. In the first three lines a break usually occurs after the fifth syllable,
but occasionally for the sake of variety-especially in long Odes-Horace
admits such lines as Mercuri facunde nepos Atlantis. Six instances
occur in the First Book, one in the Second, none in the Third, twenty-
two in the Fourth, and nineteen in the 76 lines of the Carmen Saeculare.
XX
HORACE
This seems to show that Horace first carelessly used this rhythm, then
rejected it, and finally deliberately employed it to relieve the monotony
of the Sapphic stanza. Elision occurs after the fifth syllable four times:
1. 12. 7 temerle insecutae. 2. 4. 10 victore et; 16. 26 curarle et. 3. 27. 10
divinļa avis.
In the first three lines a single monosyllable (unelided) only ends the
line twice: 4. 6. 17 heu nefas, heu; C. S. 9 diem qui, but two mono-
syllables occur: 3. 11. 5 nunc est; 14. 1 o plebs; 27. 37 mors est; 4. 2.
46 o sol.
The last syllable of the fourth line is common but usually long and
very rarely ends in a short vowel.
In the Asclepiad metres four varieties of line are used:
a. The Glyconic
b. The Pherecratean
c. The Lesser Asclepiad ---~u-||·
d. The Greater Asclepiad
These verses are used to form the following systems:
First Asclepiad, used in 1. 1; 3. 30; 4. 8-consists of c only:
ટ્
Second Asclepiad, used in 1. 3, 13, 19, 36; 3. 9, 15, 19, 24, 25, 28; 4.
1, 3-consists of couplets in which a is followed by c:
22-22-||
Third Asclepiad, used in 1. 6, 15, 24, 33; 2. 12; 3. 10, 16; 4. 5, 12—
consists of stanzas in which after c three times repeated a follows:
First three lines
Fourth line
·||-00--
22-
Fourth Asclepiad, used in 1. 5, 14, 21, 23; 3. 7, 13; 4. 13-consists of
stanzas in which c twice is followed by b then a :
First two lines
Third line
Fourth line
Fifth Asclepiad, used 1. 11, 18; 4. 10—consists entirely of d.
Exceptional metres are :
1. 8: a versus Aristophanicus followed by a versus Sapphicus maior :
20--20|---^-
NOTES ON METRES
xxi
1. 7. 28; Epod. 12: an ordinary Hexameter (Hexameter dactylicus cata-
lecticus) followed by a Dactylic Tetrameter Catalectic:
기​-
100-120-
—
4. 7: an ordinary Hexameter followed by a versus Archilochius minor:
1. 4: a versus Archilochius maior
-001-001-00|-~~|-~|-~|-0
followed by an Iambic Trimeter Catalectic.
2. 18: a Trochaic Dimeter Catalectic followed by an Iambic Trimeter
Catalectic:
~12-12-12-
^|-~|-~|-^|-~|-^
3. 12: formed of the pes Ionicus a minore --:
22-22||--201
2--20|--~~
ཅམ.
Some make the first line into two so that each stanza consists of four
lines.
In all the Odes of Horace with the exception of 4. 8, which is clearly
unsound, the number of the lines is a multiple of four, but in some metres
the division into stanzas is not otherwise clearly marked.
It may be noted that the first nine Odes of the First Book are all in
different metres, as though the poet wished to exhibit his varied skill;
in the Second Book the first ten are alternately Alcaics and Sapphics;
the Third Book commences with six long Alcaic Ödes.
Epodes 1-10 consist of an ordinary Iambic Trimeter followed by an
Iambic Dimeter, which constitutes the versus èrudós from which the
modern name 'Epode' is derived.
12 is the same as Od. 1. 7. 28.
13: a Hexameter followed by a versus iambelegus:
^^-^^-100-2-0-0
14 and 15 consist of a Hexameter followed by an Iambic Dimeter.
16: a Hexameter followed by an Iambic Trimeter.
17 is all Iambic Trimeters.
..
65-8 13.0
E
Q. HORATI FLACCI
CARMINUM
LIBER PRIMUS
I
MAECENAS atavis edite regibus,
o et praesidium et dulce decus meum :
sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum
collegisse iuvat metaque fervidis
evitata rotis palmaque nobilis
terrarum dominos evehit ad deos;
hunc, si mobilium turba Quiritium
certat tergeminis tollere honoribus ;
illum, si proprio condidit horreo
quidquid de Libycis verritur areis.
gaudentem patrios findere sarculo
agros Attalicis condicionibus
numquam demoveas, ut trabe Cypria
Myrtoum pavidus nauta secet mare.
luctantem Icariis fluctibus Africum
mercator metuens otium et oppidi
laudat rura sui: mox reficit rates
quassas, indocilis pauperiem pati.
est qui nec veteris pocula Massici
nec partem solido demere de die
spernit, nunc viridi membra sub arbuto
stratus, nunc ad aquae lene caput sacrae.
multos castra iuvant et lituo tubae
permixtus sonitus bellaque matribus
detestata. manet sub love frigido
venator tenerae coniugis inmemor,
• seu visa est His cerva fidelibus
seu rupit teretes Marsus aper plagas.

B
5
IO

15
20
25

2
Q. HORATI FLACCI
f
3
5
ช
me doctarum hederae praemia frontium
dis miscent superis, me gelidum nemus
Nympharumque leves cum Satyris chori
secernunt populo, si neque tibias
Euterpe cohibet nec Polyhymnia
Lesboum refugit tendere barbiton.
quodsi me lyricis vatibus inseres,
sublimi feriam sidera vertice.
II
Iam satis terris nivis atque dirae
grandinis misit Pater et rubente
dextera sacras iaculatus arces
_terruit urbem,
terruit gentes, grave ne rediret
saeculum Pyrrhae nova monstra questae,
omne cum Proteus pecus egit altos
visere montes,
piscium et summa genus haesit ulmo,
nota quae sedes fuerat columbis,
et superiecto pavidae natarunt
aequore dammae.
vidimus flavum Tiberim retortis
litore Etrusco violenter undis
ire deiectum monimenta regis
templaque Vestae,
Iliae dum se nimium querenti
iactat ultorem, vagus et sinistra
labitur ripa Iove non probante u-
xorius amnis.
andiet cives acuisse ferrum,
quo graves Persae melius perirent,
audiet pugnas vitio parentum
rata iuventus.
quem vocet divom populus ruentis
imperi rebus prece qua fatigent
virgines sanctae minus audientem
carmina Vestam?
cui dabit partes scelus expiandi
Iuppiter? tandem venias,precamur,
nube candentes umeros amictus,
augur Apollo;
30

35
5
00
ΙΟ
15

20

25
1
30
CARMINUM LIB. I
3
sive tu mavis, Erycina ridens,
quam Iocus circum volat et Cupido ;
Five neclectum gehus et nepotes

tespicis auctor,
heu nimis longo satiate ludo,
quem iuvat clamor galeaeque leves
acer et Mauri peditis cruentum
vultus in hostem ;
sive mutata iuvenem figura,
ales in terris imitaris, almae
filius Maiae, patiens vocari
Caesaris ultor :
serus in caelum redeas diuque
laetus intersis populo Quirini,
neve te nostris vitiis iniquum
ocior aura
tollat; hic magnos potius triumphos,
hic ames dici pater atque princeps,
neu sinas Medos equitare inultos
te duce, Caesar.
III
Sic te diva potens Cypri,
Sic fratres Helenae, lucida sidera
ventorumque regat pater
obstrictis aliis praeter Iapyga,
navis, quae tibi creditum
35
40

45
50

5
debes Vergilium, finibus Atticis
et serves animae dimidium meae.
reddas incolumem precor
illi robur et aes triplex
circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci
commisit pelago ratem
primus, nec timuit praecipitem Africum
decertantem Aquilonibus
nec tristes Hyadas nec rabiem Noti,
quo non arbiter Hadriae
maior, tollere seu ponere vult freta.
quem Mortis timuit gradum,
qui siccis oculis monstra natantia,
qui vidit mare turbidum et
infames scopulos Acroceraunia?
ΙΟ

15
20
4
Q. HORATI FLACCI
nequiquam deus abscidit
prudens Oceano dissociabili-dividing
terras, si tamen inpiae
non tangenda rates transiliunt vada.
audax omnia perpeti
gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas:
audax Iapeti genus
ignem fraude mala gentibus intulit;
post ignem aetheria domo
subductum macies et nova febrium
terris incubuit cohors,
semotique prius tarda necessitas
25
30

leti corripuit gradum.
expertus vacuum Daedalus aera
pinnis non homini datis;
35
perrupit Acheronta Herculeus labor.

Propert
(ahn)
nil mortalibus ardui st;
caelum ipsum petimus stultitia neque
per nostrum patimur scelus
iracunda Iovem ponere fulmina.
IV
Solvitur acris hiemps/grata vice veris et Favoni,
trahuntque siccas machinae carinas,
ac neque iam stabulis gaudet pecus aut arator igni,
nec prată canis albicant pruinis.
iam Cytherea choros ducit Venus inminente luna,
iunctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes
alterno terram quatiunt pede, dum graves Cyclopum
Vulcanus ardens urit officinas.
nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput inpedire myrto
aut flore, terrae quem ferunt solutae;
nunc et in umbrosis Fauno decet inmolare lucis,
şeu poscat agna sive malit haedo.
pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
regumque turres. o beate Sesti,
40
5
IO
***
vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam.
iam te premet nox fabulaeque Manes
15
et domus exilis Plutonia: quo simul mearis,
néc regna vini sortiere taйs,
nec tenerum Lycidam mirabere, quo calet iuventus
nunc omnis et mox virgines tepebunt.
20
CARMINUM LIB. I
5
V
Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa
perfusus liquidis urguet odoribus
grato, Pyrrha, sub antro?
cui flavam religas comam,
simplex munditiis, heu quotiens fidem
mutatosque deos flebit et aspera
nigris aequora ventis
emirabitur insolens,
qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea,
qui semper vacuam, semper amabilem
sperat, nescius aurae
fallacis. miseri, quibus,
me tabula sacer

intemptata nites.
votiva paries indicat uvida
suspendisse potenti
vestimenta maris deo.
VI
Scriberis Vario fortis et hostium
victor, Maeonii carminis alite,
quam rem cumque ferox navibus aut equis
miles te duce gesserit.
nos, Agrippa, neque haec dicere nec gravem
Pelidae stomachum cedere nescii
nec cursus duplicis per mare Ulixei
nec saevam Pelopis domum
conamur tenues grandia, dum pudor
inbellisque lyrae Musa potens vetat
laudes egregii Caesaris et tuas
culpa deterere ingeni.
quis Martem tunica tectum adamantina
digne scripserit aut pulvere Troico
nigrum Merione aut ope Palladis
Tydiden superis parem?
nos convivia, nos proelia virginum
sectis in iuvenes unguibus acrium
cantamus, vacui, sive quid nrimur,
non praeter solitum leves.
in
5
10

15

5
ΙΟ

15

20
Q. HORATI FLACCI
proves.
!
VII
Laudabunt ali claram Rhodon aut Mytilenen
aut Ephesum, bimarisve Corinthi
moenial vel Baccho Thebas vel Apolline Delphos
insenes aut Thessala Tempe ;
sunt quibus unum opus est intactae Palladis urbem
carmine perpetuo celebrare et
undique decerptam fronti praeponere olivam;
plurimus in Junonis honorem
aptum dicet equis Argos ditesque Mycenas:
me nec tam patiens Lacedaemon
nec tam Larisae percussit campus opimae,
quam domus Albuneae resonantis
et praeceps Anio ac Tiburni lucus et uda
mobilibus pomaria rivis.
albus ut obscuro deterget nubila caelo
saepe Notus neque parturit imbres
perpetuos, sic tu sapiens finire memento
tristitiam vitaeque labores
molli, Plancé, méro, seu te fulgentia signis
castra tenent, seu densa tenebit
Tiburis umbra tui. Teucer Salamina patremque
cum fugeret, tamen uda Lyaeo
tempora populea fertur vinxisse corona,
sic tristes adfatus amicos:
quo nos cumque feret melior fortuna parente,
ibimus, o socii comitesque.
nil desperandum Teucro duce et auspice Teucro,
certus enim promisit Apollo
ambiguam tellure nova Salamina futuram.
o fortes peioraque passi
mecum saepe viri, nunc vino pellite curas;
cras ingens iterabimus aequor.'
VIII
Lydia, dic, per omnes
te deos oro, Sybarin cur properes amando
perdere, cur apricum
LO
5
ΙΟ
15
20
25
30
!




CARMINUM LIB. I
oderit campum, patiens pulveris atque solis,
cur neque militaris
inter aequales equitet, Gallica nec lupatis
temperet ora frenis?
cur timet flavum Tiberim tangere? cur olivum
sanguine viperino
cautius vitat neque iam livida gestat armis
bracchia, saepe disco,
saepe trans finem iaculo nobilis expedito?
quid latet, ut marinae
filium dicunt Thetidis sub lacrimosa Troiae
funera, ne virilis
cultus in caedem et Lycias proriperet catervas?
IX
Vides ut alta stet nive candidum
Soracte, nec iam sustineant onus
silvae laborantes geluque
flumina constiterint acuto?
dissolve frigus ligna super foco
large reponens atque benignius
deprome quadrimum Sabina,
o Thaliarche, merum diota.
permitte divis cetera, qui simul
stravere ventos aequore fervido
deproeliantes, nec cupressi
nec veteres agitantur orni.
quid sit futurum cras, fuge quaerere, et
quem fors dierum cumque dabit, lucro
appone, nec dulces amores
sperne puer neque tu choreas,
donec virenti canities abest
morosa. nunc et campus et areae
lenesque sub noctem susurri
composita repetantur hora,
nunc et latentis proditor intimo
gratus puellae sus ab angulo
pignusque dereptum lacertis
aut digito male pertinaci.
5
ΙΟ

15
5
ΙΟ
15
20
:



8
Q. HORATI FLACCI
A
чес
X
Mercuri, facunde nepos Atlantis,
qui feros cultus hominum recentum
voce formasti catus et decorae
more palaestrae,
te canam, magni Iovis et deorum
nuntium curvaeque lyrae parentem,
callidum quidquid placuit iocoso
condere furto.
te, boves olim nisi reddidisses
per dolum amotas, puerum minaci
voce dum terret, viduus pharetra
risit Apollo.
quin et Atridas duce te superbos
Ilio dives Priamus relicto
Thessalosque ignes et iniqua Troiae
castra fefellit.
tu pias laetis animas reponis
sedibus virgaque levem coerces
aurea turbam, superis deorum
gratus et imis.
XI
Tu ne quaesieris-scire nefas quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati,
seu plures hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrhenum. sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
Prover
XII
Quem virum aut heroa lyra vel acri
tibia sumis celebrare, Clio,
quem deum? cuius recinet iocosa
nomen imago
aut in umbrosis Heliconis oris
aut super Pindo gelidove in Haemo?
unde vocalem temere insedutae sunt
Orphea silvae
5
10
15
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CARMINUM LIB. I
9
arte materna rapidos morantem
fluminum lapsys celeresque ventos,
blandum et auritas fidibus cmoris
4ducere quercus.
quid prius dicam solitis parentis
laudibus, qui res hominum ac deorum,
qui mare et terras variisque mundum
temperat horis ?
unde nil maius generatur ipso,
nec viget quicquam simile aut secundum :
proximos illi tamen occupavit

Pallas honores.
proeliis audax neque te silebo
Liber, et saevis inimica virgo
beluis, nec te, metuende certa
Phoebe sagitta.
dicam et Alciden puerosque Ledae,
hunc equis, illum superare pugnis
nobilem; quorum simul alba nautis
stella refulsit,
defluit saxis agitatus umor,
concidunt venti fugiuntque nubes
et minax, quod sic voluere, ponto
unda recumbit.
Romulum post hos prius an quietum
Pompili regnum memorem an superbos
Tarquini fasces, dubito, an Catonis
nobile letum.
Regulum et Scauros animaeque magnae
prodigum Paulum superante Poeno
gratus insigni referam Camena
Fabriciumque.
hunc et incomptis Curium capillis
utilem bello tulit et Camillum
saéva paupertas, et avítus apto
cum Lare fundus.
23B Chjerescit
crescit occulto velut arbor aevo
fama Marcelli; micat inter omnes
Iulium sidus velut inter ignes
Tuna minores.
gentis humanae pater atque custos,
orte Saturno, tibi cura magni
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
•
Caesaris fatis data: tu secundo
Caesare regnes.
ille seu Parthos Latio inminentes
egerit iusto domitos triumpho,
sive subiectos orientis orae
Seras et Indos,
te minor latum reget aequus orbem ;
tu gravi curru quaties Olympum,
tu parum castis inimica mittes
fulmina lucis.
XIII
Cum tu, Lydia, Telephi
cervicem roseam, cerea Telephi
laudas bracchia, vae meum
fervens difficili bile tumet iecur.
tum nec mens mihi nec color
certe sede manet, umor et in genas
furtim labitur, arguens
quam lentis penitus macerer ignibus.
uror, seu tibi candidos
turparunt umeros inmodicae mero
rixae, sive puer furens
inpressit memorem dente labris notam.
non, si me satis audias,
speres perpetuum dulcia barbare
laedentem oscula, quae Venus
quinta parte sui nectaris inbuit.
felices ter et amplius,
quos inrupta tenet copula nec malis
divulsus querimoniis
suprema citius solvet amor die.
XIV
O navis, referent in mare te novi
fluctus ! o quid agis? fortiter occupa
portum! nonne vides ut
Aportum!
site
nudum remigio latus,.
et malus celeri saucius Africo
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CARMINUM LIB. I
11
antemnaeque gemant, ac sine funibus
vix durare carinae
possint imperiosius


aequor? pon tibi sunt integra lintea,
non di, quos iterum pressa
quamvis Pontica pinus,
silvae filia nobilis,
focês malo,
10
iactes et genus et nomen inutile:
nil pictis timidus navita puppibus
fidit. tu nisi ventis
debes ludibrium, cave,
nuper sollicitum quae mihi taedium,
nunc desiderium curaque non levis,
interfusa nitentes
vites aequora Cycladas.
XV
Pastor cum traheret per freta navibus
Idaeis Helenen perfidus hospitam,
ingrato celeres obruit otio
ventos, ut caneret fera
Nereus fata: mala ducis avi domum,
quam multo repetet Graecia milite,
coniurata tuas rumpere nuptias
et regnum Priami vetus.
heu heu, quantus equis, quantus adest viris
sudor! quanta moves funera Dardanae
genti! iam galeam Pallas et aegida
currusque et rabiem parat.
nequiquam Veneris praesidio ferox
pectes caesariem grataque feminis
inbeli cithara carmina divides;
nequiquam thalamo graves
hastas et calami spicula Cnosii
vitabis, strepitumque et celerem sequi
Aiacem: tamen heu serus adulteros
crines pulvere collines.
non Laertiaden, exitium tuae
genti, non Pylium Nestora respicis?
urguent inpavidi te Salaminius
Teucer, te Sthenelus sciens
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
pugnae, sive opus est imperitare equis,
non auriga piger. Merionen quoque
nosces. ecce furit te reperire atrox
Tydides melior patre:
quem tu, cervus uti vallis in altera
visum parte lupum graminis inmemor,
sublimi fugies mollis anhelity,
non hoc pollicitus tuae.
iracunda diem proferet Ilio
matronisque Phrygum classis Achillei;
post certas hiemes uret Achaicus
ignis Iliacas domos.'
XVI
O matre pulchra filia pulchrior,
quem criminosis cumque voles modum
pones iambis, sive flamma
sive mari libet Hadriano.
non Dindymene, non adytis quatit
mentem sacerdotum incola Pythius,
non Liber aeque, non acuta
sic geminant Corybantes aera,
tristes ut irae, quas neque Noricus
deterret ensis nec mare naufragum
nec saevus ignis nec tremendo
Iuppiter ipse ruens tumultu.
fertur Prometheus addere principi
limo coactus particulam undique
desectam et insani leonis
vim stomacho apposuisse nostro.
irae Thyesten exitio gravi
stravere, et altis urbibus ultimae
stetere causae, cur perirent
funditus inprimeretque muris
hostile aratrum exercitus insolens.
compesce mentem: me quoque pectoris
temptavit in dulci iuventa
fervor et in celeres iambos
misit furentem; nunc ego mitibus
mutare quaero tristia, dum mihi
fias recantatis amica
opprobriis animumque reddas.
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XVII
Velox amoenum saepe Lucretilem
mutat Lycaeo Faunus et igneam
defendit aestatem capellis
usque meis pluviosque ventos.
inpune tutum per nemus arbutos
quaerunt latentes et thyma deviae
olentis uxores mariti,
nec virides metuunt colubras,
nec Martiales haediliae lupos,
utcumque dulci, Tyndari, fistula
valles et Usticae cubantis
levia personuere saxa.
di me tuentur, dis pietas mea
et Musa cordi est. hinc tibi copia
manabit ad plenum benigno
ruris honorum opulenta cornu.
hic in reducta valle Caniculae
vitabis aestus et fide Teia
dices laborantes in uno
Penelopen vitreamque Circen.
hic innocentis pocula Lesbii
duces sub umbra nec Semeleius
cum Marte confundet Thyoneus
proelia, nec metues protervum
suspecta Cyrum, ne male dispari
incontinentes iniciat manus
et scindat haerentem coronam
crinibus inmeritamque vestem.
XVIII
Nullam, Vare, sacra vite prius severis arborem
circa mite solum Tiburis et moenia Catili:
siccis omnia nam dura deus proposuit, neque
mordaces aliter diffugiunt sollicitudines.
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quis post vina gravem militiam aut pauperiem crepat?
5
quis non te potius, Bacche pater, teque, decens Venus?
ac ne quis modici transiliat munera Liberi,
Centaurea monet cum Lapithis rixa super mero
debellata, monet Sithoniis non levis Euhius,
14
Q. HORATI FLACCI
cum fas atque nefas exiguo fine libidinum
discernunt avidi. non ego te, candide Bassareu,
invitum quatiam nec variis obsita frondibus
sub divum rapiam. saeva tene cum Berecyntio
cornu tympana, quae subsequitur caecus Amor sui
et tollens vacuum plus nimio Gloria verticem
arcanique Fides prodiga, perlucidior vitro.
XIX
Mater saeva Cupidinum
Thebanaeque iubet me Semelae puer
et lasciva Licentia
finitis animum reddere amoribus.
urit me Glycerae nitor
splendentis Pario marmore purius;
urit grata protervitas
et vultus nimium lubricus aspici.
in me tota ruens Venus
Cyprum deseruit, nec patitur Scythas
et versis animosum equis
Parthum dicere nec quae nihil attinent.
hic vivum mihi caespitem, hic
verbenas, pueri, ponite turaque
bimi cum patera meri :
mactata veniet lenior hostia.
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XX
Vile potabis modicis Sabinum
cantharis, Graeca quod ego ipse testa
conditum levi, datus in theatro
cum tibi plausus,
care Maecenas eques, ut paterni
fluminis ripae simul et iocosa
redderet laudes tibi Vaticani
montis imago.
Caecubum et prelo domitam Caleno
tum bibes uvam: mea nec Falernae
temperant vites neque Formiani
pocula colles.
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15
XXI
Dianam tenerae dicite virgines,
intonsum, pueri, dicite Cynthium
Latonamque supremo
dilectam penitus Iovi.
vos laetam fluviis et nemorum coma,
quaecumque aut gelido prominet Algido,
nigris aut Erymanthi
silvis aut viridis Cragi;
vos Tempe totidem tollite laudibus
natalemque, mares, Delon Apollinis
insignemque pharetra
fraternaque umerum lyra.
hic bellum lacrimosum, hic miseram famem
pestemque a populo et principe Caesare in
Persas atque Britannos
vestra motus aget prece.
XXII
Integer vitae scelerisque purus
non eget Mauris iaculis neque arcu
nec venenatis gravida sagittis,
Fusce, pharetra,
sive per Syrtes iter aestuosas,
sive facturus per inhospitalem
Caucasum vel quae loca fabulosus
lambit Hydaspes.
namque me silva lupus in Sabina,
dum meam canto Lalagen et ultra
terminum curis vagor expeditis,
fugit inermem.
quale portentum neque militaris
Daunias latis alit aesculetis,
nec Iubae tellus generat, leonum
arida nutrix.
pone me, pigris ubi nulla campis
arbor aestiva recreatur aura,
quod latus mundi nebulae malusque
Iuppiter urguet;
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R
۱۳
pone sub curru nimium propinqui
solis in terra domibus negata :
dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo,
dulce loquentem.
XXIII
Vitas inuleo me similis, Chloe,
quaerenti pavidam montibus aviis
matrem non sine vano
aurarum et siluae metu.
nam seu mobilibus veris inhorruit
adventus foliis, seu virides rubum
dimovere lacertae,
et corde et genibus tremit.
atqui non ego te, tigris ut aspera
Gaetulusve leo, frangere persequor :
tandem desine matrem
tempestiva sequi viro.
XXIV
Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
tam cari capitis praecipe lugubres
cantus, Melpomene, cui liquidam Pater
vocem cum cithara dedit.
ergo Quintilium perpetuus sopor
urguet? cui Pudor et Iustitiae soror,
incorrupta Fides, nudaque Veritas
quando ullum inveniet parem?
multis ille bonis flebilis occidit,
nulli flebilior, quam tibi, Vergili.
tu frustra pius, heu, non ita creditum
poscis Quintilium_deos.
quodsi Threicio blandius Orpheo
auditam moderere arboribus fidem,
non vanae redeat sanguis imagini,
quam virga semel horrida
non lenis precibus fata recludere
nigro compulerit Mercurius gregi?
durum: sed levius fit patientia
quidquid corrigere est nefas.
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;
XXV
Parcius iunctas quatiunt fenestras
iactibus crebris iuvenes protervi,
nec tibi somnos adimunt, amatque
ianua limen,
quae prius multum facilis movebat
cardines. audis minus et minus iam :
'me tuo longas pereunte noctes,
Lydia, dormis?'
invicem moechos anus arrogantes
flebis in solo levis angiportu,
Thracio bacchante magis sub inter-
lunia vento,
cum tibi flagrans amor et libido,
quae solet matres furiare equorum,
saeviet circa iecur ulcerosum,
non sine questu,
laeta quod pubes hedera virenti
gaudeat pulla magis atque myrto,
aridas frondes hiemis sodali
dedicet Hebro.
XXVI
Musis amicus tristitiam et metus
tradam protervis in mare Creticum
portare ventis, quis sub Arcto
rex gelidae metuatur orae,
quid Tiridaten terreat, unice
securus.
o quae fontibus integris
gaudes, apricos necte flores,
necte meo Lamiae coronam,
Pimplei dulcis. nil sine te mei
prosunt honores: hunc fidibus novis,
hunc Lesbio sacrare plectro
teque tuasque decet sorores.
XXVII
Natis in usum laetitiae scyphis
pugnare Thracum est: tollite barbarum
morem verecundumque Bacchum
sanguineis prohibete rixis.
C
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
vino et lucernis Medus acinaces
inmane quantum discrepat; inpium
lenite clamorem, sodales,
et cubito remanete presso.
vultis severi me quoque sumere
partem Falerni? dicat Opuntiae
frater Megyllae, quo beatus
vulnere, qua pereat sagitta.
cessat voluntas? non alia bibam
mercede. quae te cumque domat Venus,
non erubescendis adurit
ignibus ingenuoque semper
amore peccas: quidquid habes, age
depone tutis auribus.
a miser,
quanta laborabas Charybdi,
digne puer meliore flamma!
quae saga, quis te solvere Thessalis
magus venenis, quis poterit deus ?
vix inligatum te triformi
Pegasus expediet Chimaera.
XXVIII
Te maris et terrae numeroque carentis harenae
mensorem cohibent, Archyta,
pulveris exigui prope litus parva Matinum
muera, nec quicquam tibi prodest
aerias temptasse domos animoque rotundum)
percurrisse polum morituro.
occidit et Pelopis genitor, conviva deorum,
Tithonusque remotus in auras,
et Iovis arcanis Minos admissus, habentque
Tartara Panthoiden iterum Orco
demissum, quamvis clipeo Troiana refixo
tempora testatus nihil ultra
nervos atque cutem morti concesserat atrae,
iudice te non sordidus auctor
et calcanda semel via leti.
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naturae verique. sed omnes una manet nox
15
dant alios Furiae torvo spectacula Marti,
exitio est avidum mare nautis ;
mixta senum ac iuvenum densentur funera, nullum
saeva caput Proserpina fugit.
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CARMINUM LIB. I
19
me quoque devexi rapidus comes Orfonis
Illyricis Notus obruit undis.
at tu, nauta, vagae ne parce malignus harenae
ossibus et capiti inhumato
fluctibus Hesperiis, Venusinae
particulam dare: sic, quodcumque minabitur Eurus
25
plectantur silvae te sospite, multaque merces,
ab Iove Neptunoque sacri custode Tarenti.
unde potest, tibi defluat aequo
neclegis inmeritis nocituram
postmodo te natis fraudem committere? fors et
debita iura vicesque superbae
te maneant ipsum: precibus non linquar inultis, //
teque piacula nulla resolvent.
quamquam festinas, non est mora longa: licebit
iniecto ter pulvere curras.
XXIX
Icci, beatis nunc Arabum invides
gazis et acrem militiam paras
non ante devictis Sabaeae
regibus, horribilique Medo
nectis catenas ? quae tibi virginum
sponso necato barbara serviet?
puer quis ex aula capillis
ad cyathum statuetur unctis,
doctus-sagittas tendere Sericas
arcu paterno? quis neget arduis
pronos relabi posse rivos
montibus et Tiberim reverti,
cum tu coemptos undique nobilis
libros Panaeti Socraticam et domum
mutare loricis Hiberis,
pollicitus meliora, tendis?
XXX
O Venus regina Cnidi Paphique,
sperne dilectam Cypron et vocantis
ture te multo Glycerae decoram
transfer in aedem.
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
fervidus tecum puer et solutis
5
Gratiae zonis properentque Nymphae
et parum comis sine te Iuventas
Mercuriusque.
XXXI
Quid dedicatum poscit Apollinem
vates? quid orat de patera novum
fundens liquorem ? non opimae
Sardiniae segetes feraces,
non aestuosae grata Calabriae
armenta, non aurum aut ebur Indicum,
non rura quae Liris quieta
mordet aqua taciturnus amnis.
premant Calena falce quibus dedit
fortuna vitem, dives ut aureis
mercator exsiccet culillis
vina Syra reparata merce,
dis carus ipsis, quippe ter et quater
anno revisens aequor Atlanticum
inpune me pascunt olivae,
me cichorea levesque malvae.
frui paratis et valido mihi,
Latoe, dones et precor integra
cum mente nec turpem senectam
degere nec cithara carentem.
XXXII
Poscimur. si quid vacui sub umbra
lusimus tecum, quod et hunc in annum
vivat et plures, age dic Latinum,
barbite, carmen,
Lesbio primum modulate civi,
qui, ferox bello, tamen inter arma,
sive iactatam religarat udo
litore navem,
Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi
semper haerentem puerum canebat
et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque
crine decorum.
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יי
o decus Phoebi et dapibus supremi
grata testudo Iovis, o laborum
dulce lenimen, mihi cumque salve
rite vocanti.
XXXIII
Albi, ne doleas plus nimio memor
inmitis Glycerae, neu miserabiles
decantes elegos, cur tibi iunior
laesa praeniteat fide,
insignem tenui fronte Lycorida
Cyri torret amor, Cyrus in asperam
declinat Pholoen: sed prius Apulis
iungentur capreae lupis,
quam turpi Pholoe peccet adultero.
sic visum Veneri, cui placet inpares
formas atque animos sub iuga aenea
saevo mittere cum ioco.
ipsum me melior cum peteret Venus,
grata detinuit compede Myrtale
libertina, fretis acrior Hadriae
curvantis Calabros sinus.
XXXIV
Parcus deorum cultor et infrequens
insanientis dum sapientiae
consultus err, nunc retrorsum
vela dare atque iterare cursus
cogor relictos: namque Diespiter,
igni corusco nubila dividens
plerumque, per purum tonantes
egit equos volucremque currum,
quo bruta tellus et vaga flumina,
quo Styx et invisi horrida Taenari
sedes Atlanteusque finis
concutitur. valet ima summis
mutare et insignem attenuat deus,
obscura promens; hinc apicem rapax
Fortuna cum stridore acuto
sustulit, hic posuisse gaudet.
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XXXV
O diva, gratum quae regis Antium,
praesens vel imo tollere de gradu
mortale corpus vel superbos
vertere funeribus triumphos :
te pauper ambit sollicita prece
ruris colonus, te dominam aequoris
quicumque Bithyna lacessit
Carpathium pelagus carina.
te Dacus asper, te profugi Scythae,
urbesque gentesque et Latium ferox,
regumque matres barbarorum et
purpurei metuunt tyranni,
iniurioso ne pede proruas
stantem columnam, neu populus frequens
ad arma cessantes ad arma
concitet imperiumque frangat.
te semper anteit saeva Necessitas,
clavos trabales et cuneos manu
gestans aena, nec severus
-uncus abest liquidumque plumbum.
te Spes et albo rara Fides colit
velata panno, nec comitem abnegat,
utcumque mutata potentes
veste domos inimica linquis.
at vulgus infidum et meretrix retro
periura cedit, diffugitint cadis
cum faece siccatis amici,
7
ferre iugum pariter dolosi.
serves iturum Caesarem in ultimos
orbis Britannos et iuvenum recens
examen Eois timendum
partibus Oceanoque rubro.
eheu cicatricum et sceleris pudet
fratrumque. quid nos dura refugimus
aetas, quid intactum nefasti
liquimus? unde manum iuventus
metu deorum continuit, quibus
pepercit aris? Q utinam nova
incude diffingas retunsum in
Massagetas Arabasque ferrum.
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XXXVI
Et ture et fidibus iuvat
placare et vituli sanguine debito
custodes Numidae deos,
qui nunc Hesperia sospes ab ultima
caris multa sodalibus,
nulli plura tamen dividit oscula
quam dulci Lamiae, memor
actae non alio rege puertiae
mutataeque simul togae.
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Cressa ne careat pulchra dies nota,
neu promptae modus amphorae,
neu morem in Salium sit requies pedum,
neu multi Damalis meri
Bassum Threicia vincat amystide,
neu desint epulis rosae
neu vivax apium neu breve lilium.
omnes in Damalin putres
deponent oculos, nec Damalis novo
divelletur adultero,
lascivis hederis ambitiosior.
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XXXVII
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
pulsanda tellus, nunc Saliaribus
ornare pulvinar deorum
tempus erat dapibus, sodales.
antehac nefas depromere Caecubum
cellis avitis, dum Capitolio
regina dementes ruinas
fupus et imperio parabat
contaminato cum grege turpium
morbo virorum, quidlibet inpotens
sperare fortunaque dulci
ebria. sed minuit furorem
vix una sospes navis ab ignibus,
mentemque lymphatam Mareotico
redegit in veros timores
Caesar, ab Italia volantem
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
remis adurguens, accipiter velut
molles columbas, aut leporem citus
venator in campis nivalis
Haemoniae, daret ut catenis
fatale monstrum quae gefferosius
perire quaerens nec muliebriter
expavit ensem nec latentes
classe cita reparavit oras.
ausa et iacentem visere regiam
vultu sereno, fortis et asperas
tractare serpentes, ut atrum
corpore combiberet venenum,
deliberata morte ferocior,
saevis Liburnis scilicet invidens
privata deduci superbo
non humilis mulier triumpho.

XXXVIII
Persicos odi, puer, apparatus,
displicent nexae philyra coronae,
mitte sectari, rosa quo locorum
sera moretur.
simplici myrto nihil adlabores
sedulus, cure: neque te ministrum
dedecet myrtus neque me sub arta
vite bibentem.
LIBER SECUNDUS
I
MOTUM ex Metello consule civicum,
bellique causas et vitia et modos,
ludumque Fortunae gravesque
principum amicitias et arma
nondum expiatis uncta cruoribus,
periculosae plenum opus aleae,
tractas et incedis per ignes
suppositos cineri doloso.
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25
The full fust.
Glapas) ref.
paulum severae Musa tragoediae
desit theatris: mox, ubi publicas
res ordinaris, grande munus
Cecropio repetes cothurno,
insigne maestis praesidium reis
et consulenti, Pollio, curiae,
cui laurus aeternos honores
Delmatico peperit triumpho.
iam nune minaci murmure cornuum
perstringis aures, iam litui strepunt,
iam fulgor armorum fugaces
terret equos equitumque vultus.
audire magnos iam videor duces
non indecoro pulvere sordidos
et cuncta terrarum subacta
praeter atrocem animum Catonis.
Iuno et deorum quisquis amicior
Afris inulta cesserat inpotens
tellure, victorum nepotes
rettulit inferias Iugurthae.
quis non Latino sanguine pinguior
campus sepulchris inpia proelia
testatur auditumque Medis
Hesperiae sonitum ruinae ?
qui gurges aut quae flumina lugubris™
ignara belli? quod mare Dauniae
non decoloravere caedes?
quae caret ora cruore nostro ?
sed ne relictis, Musa, procax iocis
Ceae retractes munera neniae:
mecum Dionaeo sub antro
quaere modos leviore plectro.
IO
15
20

25
30
35
40
II
Nullus argento color est avaris
abdito terris, inimice lamnae
Crispe Sallusti, Misi temperato
splendeat usu.
vivet extento Proeuleius aevo,
notus in fratres animi paterni ;
5
26
Q. HORATI FLACCI
Commit
illum aget pinna metuente solvi
fama superstes.
latius regnes avidum domando
spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis
Gadibus iungas et uterque Poenus
serviat uni.
crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops,
nec sitim pellit, nisi causa morbi
fugerit venis et aquosus albo
corpore languor.
redditum Cyri solio Prahaten
dissidens plebi numero beatorum
eximit virtus populumque falsis
dedocet uti
vocibus, regnum et diadema tutum
deferens uni propriamque laurum,
quisquis ingentes oculo inretorto
spectat acervos.
III
Aequam memento rebus in arduis
servare mentem, non secus in bonis
ab insolenti temperatam
laetitia, moriture Delli,
seu maestus omni tempore vixeris,
seu te in remoto gramine per dies
festos reclinatum bearis
interiore nota Falerni.
quo pinus ingens albaque populus
umbram hospitalem consociare amant
ramis? quid obliquo laborat
lympha fugax trepidare rivo?
huc vina et unguenta et nimium breves
flores amoenae ferre iube rosae,
dum res et aetas et sororum
fila trium patiuntur atra.
cedes coemptis saltibus et domo
villaque, flavus quam Tiberis lavit,
cedes, et exstructis in altum
divitiis potietur heres.
divesne prisco natus ab Inacho,
10
15

20

5
ΤΟ
15
20
CARMINUM LIB. II
27
nil interest, an pauper et infima
de gente sub divo moreris,
victima nil miserantis Orci :
omnes eodem cogimur, omnium
versatur urna serius ocius
sors exitura et nos in aeternum
exsilium inpositura cumbae.
25
IV
Ne sit ancillae tibi amor pudori,
Xanthia Phoceu, prius insolentem
serva Briseis niveo colore
movit Achillem,
movit Aiacem Telamone natum
5
forma captivae dominum Tecmessae ;
arsit Atrides medio in triumpho
virgine rapta,
barbarae postquam cecidere turmae
Thessalo victore et ademptus Hector
tradidit fessis leviora tolli
Pergama Grais.
nescias, an te generum beati
Phyllidis flavae decorent parentes;
regium certe genus et Penates
maeret iniquos.
crede non illam tibi de scelesta
plebe dilectam, neque sic fidelem,
sic lucro aversam potuisse nasci
matre pudenda.
bracchia et vultum teretesque suras
integer laudo fuge suspicari
cuius octavum trepidavit aetas
claudere lustrum.
IO
15
20
V
Nondum subacta ferre iugum valet
cervice, nondum munia comparis
aequare nec tauri ruentis
in venerem tolerare pondus.
28
Q. HORATI FLACCI
.
circa virentes est animus tuae
campos iuvencae, nunc fluviis gravem
solantis aestum, nunc in udo
ludere cum vitulis salicto
praegestientis. tolle cupidinem
inmitis uvae: iam tibi lividos
distinguet autumnus racemos
purpureo varius colore.
iam te sequetur: currit enim ferox
aetas, et illi, quos tibi dempserit,
apponet annos; iam proterva
fronte petet Lalage maritum,
dilecta quantum non Pholoe fugax,
non Chloris albo sic umero nitens,
ut pura nocturno renidet
luna mari Cnidiusve Gyges,
quem si puellarum insereres choro,
mire sagaces falleret hospites
discrimen obscurum solutis
crinibus ambiguoque vultu.
VI
Septimi, Gades aditure mecum et
Cantabrum indoctum iuga ferre nostra et
barbaras Syrtes, ubi Maura semper
aestuat unda :
Tibur Argeo positum colono
sit meae sedes utinam senectae,
sit modus lasso maris et viarum
militiaeque.
unde si Parcae prohibent iniquae,
dulce pellitis ovibus Galaesi
flumen et regnata petam Laconi
rura Phalantho.
ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes
angulus ridet, ubi non Hymetto
mella decedunt viridique certat
baca Venafro,
ver ubi longum tepidasque praebet
Iuppiter brumas et amicus Aulon
นา
5
ΙΟ
15
20
15
IO
5

CARMINUM LIB. II
29
fertili Baccho minimum Falernis
invidet uvis.
ille te mecum locus et beatae
postulant arces, ibi tu calentem
debita sparges lacrima favillam
vatis amici.
VII
O saepe mecum tempus in ultimum
deducte Bruto militiae duce,
quis te redonavit Quiritem
dis patriis Italoque caelo,
Pompei, meorum prime sodalium,
cum quo morantem saepe diem mero
fregi coronatus nitentes
malobathro Syrio capillos?
tecum Philippos et celerem fugam
sensi relicta non bene parmula,
cum fracta virtus et minaces
turpe solum tetigere mento.
sed me per hostes Mercurius celer
denso paventem sustulit aere;
te rursus in bellum resorbens
unda fretis tulit aestuosis.
ergo obligatam redde Iovi dapem,
longaque fessum militia latus
depone sub lauru mea nec
parce cadis tibi destinatis.
oblivioso levia Massico
ciboria exple, funde capacibus
unguenta de conchis.
quis udo
deproperare apio coronas
curatye myrto? quem Venus arbitrum
dicet bibendi? non ego sanius
bacchabor Edonis: recepto
dulce mihi furere est amico.
VIII
Ulla si iuris tibi perierati
poena, Barine, nocuisset umquam,
dente si nigro fieres vel uno
turpior ungui,
20
5

ΙΟ

15
20

25
30
Q. HORATI FLACCI
crederem: sed tu simul obligasti
perfidum votis caput, enitescis
pulchrior multo iuvenumque prodis
publica cura.
expedit matris cineres opertos
fallere et toto taciturna noctis
signa cum caelo gelidaque divos
morte carentes.
ridet hoc, inquam, Venus ipsa, rident
simplices Nymphae, ferus et Cupido
semper ardentes acuens sagittas
cote cruenta.
adde quod pubes tibi crescit omnis,
servitus crescit nova, nec priores
inpiae tectum dominae relinquunt
saepe minati.
te suis matres metuunt iuvencis,
te senes parci miseraeque nuper
virgines nuptae, tua ne retardet
aura maritos.
5
ΙΟ
15
20
IX
Non semper imbres nubibus hispidos
manant in agros aut mare Caspium
vexant inaequales procellae
usque, nec Armeniis in oris,
amice Valgi, stat glacies iners
menses per omnes aut Aquilonibus
querceta Gargani laborant
et foliis viduantur orni :
tu semper urgues flebilibus modis
Mysten ademptum, nec tibi Vespero
surgente decedunt amores
nec rapidum fugiente solem.
at non ter aevo functus amabilem
ploravit omnes Antilochum senex
annos, nec inpubem parentes
Troilon aut Phrygiae sorores
flevere semper. desine mollium
tandem querellarum, et potius nova
5

IO
15
CARMINUM LIB. II
31
i
cantemus Augusti tropaea
Caesaris et rigidum Niphaten,
Medumque flumen gentibus additum
victis minores volvere vertices,
intraque praescriptum Gelonos
exiguis equitare campis.
X
Rectius vives, Licini, neque altum
semper urguendo neque, dum procellas
cautus horrescis, nimium premendo
litus iniquum.
auream quisquis mediocritatem
diligit tutus, caret obsoleti
sordibus tecti, caret invidenda
sobrius aula.
saepius ventis agitatur ingens
pinus et celsae graviore casu
decidunt turres feriuntque summos
fulgura montes.
sperat infestis, metuit secundis
alteram sortem bene praeparatum
pectus. informes hiemes reducit
Iuppiter, idem
summovet.
20


5
ΙΟ

15
Lear
non, si male nunc, et olim levu
sic erit: quondam cithara tacentem
suscitat Musam neque semper arcum

tendit Apollo.
rebus angustis animosus atque
fortis appare; sapienter idem
contrahes vento nimium secundo
turgida vela
XI
Quid bellicosus Cantaber et Scythes,
Hirpine Quincti, cogitet Hadria
divisus obiecto, remittas
quaerere, nec trepides in usum
poscentis aevi pauca: fugit retro
levis iuventas et decor, arida
20
5
32
Q. HORATI FLACCI
pellente lascivos amores
canitie facilemque somnum.
non semper idem floribus est honor
vernis neque uno luna rubens nitet
vultu: quid aeternis minorem
consiliis animum fatigas?
cur non sub alta vel platano vel hac
pinu iacentes sic temere et rosa
canos odorati capillos,
dum licet, Assyriaque nardo
potamus uncti? dissipat Euhius
curas edaces. quis puer ocius
restinguet ardentis Falerni
pocula praetereunte lympha?
quis devium scortum eliciet domo
Lyden? eburna, dic age, cum lyra
maturet, in comptum Lacaenae
more comas religata nodum.
XII
Nolis longa ferae bella Numantiae,
nec dirum Hannibalem nec Siculum mare
Poeno purpureum sanguine mollibus
aptari citharae modis,
nec saevos Lapithas et nimium mero
Hylaeum domitosque Herculea manu
Telluris iuvenes, unde periculum
fulgens contremuit domus
Saturni veteris: tuque pedestribus
dices historiis proelia Caesaris,
Maecenas, melius ductaque per vias
regum colla minacium.
me dulces dominae Musa Licymniae
cantus, me voluit dicere lucidum
fulgentes oculos et bene mutuis
fidum pectus amoribus,
quam nec ferre pedem dedecuit choris
nec certare ioco nec dare bracchia
ludentem nitidis virginibus sacro
Dianae celebris die.
ΙΟ
15
20
5
IO
H
15
20
CARMINUM LIB. II
33
num tu quae tenuit dives Achaemenes
aut pinguis Phrygiae Mygdonias opes
permutare velis crine Licymniae,
plenas aut Arabum domos,
cum flagrantia detorquet ad oscula
cervicem aut facili saevitia negat,
quae poscente magis gaudeat eripi,
interdum rapere occupet?
25
XIII
Ille et nefasto te posuit die,
quicumque primum, et sacrilega manu
produxit, arbos, in nepotum
perniciem opprobriumque pagi;
illum et parentis crediderim sui
fregisse cervicem et penetralia
sparsisse nocturno cruore
hospitis; ille venena Colcha
et quidquid usquam concipitur nefas
tractavit, agro qui statuit meo
te, triste lignum, te caducum
in domini caput inmerentis.
quid quisque vitet, numquam homini satis
cautum est in horas.
navita Bosphorum
Poenus perhorrescit neque ultra
caeca timet aliunde fata,
miles sagittas et celerem fugam
Parthi, catenas Parthus et Italum
robur; sed inprovisa leti
vis rapuit_rapietque gentes.
quam paene furvae regna Proserpinae
et iudicantem vidimus Aeacum
sedesque discriptas piorum et
Aeoliis fidibus querentem
Sappho puellis de popularibus
et te sonantem plenius aureo,
Alcaee, plectro dura navis,
dura fugae mala, dura belli.
utrumque sacro digna silentio
mirantur umbrae dicere; sed magis
D
5
ΙΟ
15
20
25

30
34
Q. HORATI FLACCI
pugnas et exactos tyrannos
densum umeris bibit aure vulgus.
quid mirum, ubi illis carminibus stupens
demittit atras belua centiceps
aures et intorti capillis
Eumenidum recreantur angues ?
quin et Prometheus et Pelopis parens
dulci laborum decipitur sono,
nec curat Orion leones
aut timidos agitare lyncas.

XIV
Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
labuntur anni, nec pietas moram
rugis et instanti senectae
adferet indomitaeque morti;
non.
si trecenis, quotquot eunt dies,
amice, places inlacrimabilem
Plutona tauris, qui ter amplum
Geryonen Tityonque_tristi
compescit unda, scilicet omnibus,
quicumque terrae munere vescimur,
enaviganda, sive reges
sive inopes erimus coloni,
frustra cruento Marte carebimus
fractisque rauci fluctibus Hadriae,
frustra per autumnos nocentem
corporibus metuemus Austrum.
visendus ater flumine languido
Cocytos errans et Danai genus
infame damnatusque longi
Sisyphus Aeolides laboris.
linquenda tellus et domus et placens
uxor, neque harum, quas colis, arborum
te praeter invisas cupressos
arborum
ulla brevem dominum sequetur.
absumet heres Caecuba dignior
servata centum clavibus et mero
tinguet pavimentum superbo,
pontificum potiore cenis.
35
40

5
ΙΟ
15

20

25

CARMINUM LIB. II
35
XV
Iam pauca aratro iugera regiae
moles relinquent, undique latius
extenta visentur Lucrino
stagna lacu, platanusque caelebs
evincet ulmos; tum violaria et
myrtus et omnis copia narium
spargent olivetis odorem
fertilibus domino priori ;
tum spissa ramis laurea fervidos
excludet ictus. non ita Romuli
praescriptum et intonsi Catonis
auspiciis veterumque norma.
privatus illis census erat brevis,
commune magnum: nulla decempedis
metata privatis opacam
porticus excipiebat Arcton,
nec fortuitum spernere caespitem
leges sinebant, oppida publico
sumptu iubentes et deorum
templa novo decorare saxo.

5
ΙΟ

15
20
XVI
Otium divos rogat in patenti
prensus Aegaeo, simul atra nubes
condidit lunam neque certa fulgent
sidera nautis ;
otium bello furiosa Thrace,
otium Medi pharetra decori,
Grosphe, non gemmis neque purpura ve-
nale neque auro.
non enim gazae neque consularis
summovet lictor miseros tumultus
mentis et curas laqueata circum
tecta volantes.
vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum
splendet in mensa tenui salinum,
nec leves somnos timor aut cupido
sordidus aufert.
5
ΙΟ

15
36
Q. HORATI FLACCI
quid brevi fortes iaculamur aevo
multa? quid terras alio calentes
sole mutamus ? patriae quis exsul
se quoque fugit?
scandit aeratas vitiosa naves
cura nec turmas equitum relinquit,
ocior cervis et agente nimbos
ocior Euro.
DUNCI 20

laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est
oderit curare et amara lento
temperet risu: nihil est ab omni
parte beatum.
/leam
abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem,
longa Tithonum minuit senectus,
et mihi forsan, tibi quod negarit,
porriget hora.
te greges centum Siculaeque circum
mugiunt vaccae, tibi tollit hinnitum
apta quadrigis equa, te bis Afro
murice tinctae
vestiunt lanae: mihi parva rura et
spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae
25
30
35
Parca non mendax dedit et malignum
spernere vulgus.
40
XVII
Cur me querellis exanimas tuis?
nec dis amicum est nec mihi té prius
obire, Maecenas, mearum
grande decus columenque rerum.
a, te meae si partem animae rapit
maturior vis, quid moror altera,
nec carus aeque nec superstes
integer? ille dies utramque
ducet ruinam. non ego perfidum
dixi sacramentum: ibimus, ibimus,
utcumque praecedes, supremum
carpere iter comites parati.
me nęc Chimaerae spiritus igneae,
nec si resurgat centimanus Gyas
5
IO
CARMINUM LIB. II
37
divellet umquam: sic potenti
Iustitiae placitumque Parcis.
seu Libra seu me Scorpios aspicit
formidolosus, pars violentior
natalis horae, seu tyrannus
Hesperiae Capricornus undae,
utrumque nostrum incredibili modo
te Iovis inpio
consentit astrum.
tutela Saturno refulgens
eripuit volucrisque fati
tardavit alas, cum populus frequens
laetum theatris ter crepuit sonum :
me truncus inlapsus cerebro
sustulerat, nisi Faunus ictum
dextra levasset, Mercurialium
custos virorum. reddere victimas
aedemque votivam memento :
nos humilem feriemus agnam.
XVIII
Non ebur neque aureum
mea renidet in domo lacunar;
non trabes Hymettiae
premunt columnas ultima recisas
Africa, neque Attali
ignotus heres regiam occupavi,
nec Laconicas mihi
trahunt honestae purpuras clientae.
at fides et ingeni
benigna vena est, pauperemque dives
me petit: nihil supra
deos lacesso nec potentem amicum
largiora flagito,
satis beatus unicis Sabinis.
truditur dies die
novaeque pergunt interire lunae :
tu secanda marmora
locas sub ipsum funus et sepulchri
inmemor struis domos,
marisque Bais obstrepentis urgues
15

20
25

30
commit
ΤΟ
15
20
38
Q. HORATI FLACCI
summovere litora,
parum locuples continente ripa.
quid quod usque proximos
revellis agri terminos et ultra
limites clientium
salis avarus?/ pellitur paternos
in sinu ferens deos
et uxor et vir sordidosque natos.
nulla certior tamen
rapacis Orci fine destinata
aula divitem manet
25
30
callidum Promethea
regumque pueris, nec satelles Orci
}
revexit auro captus: hic superbum
Tantalum atque Tantali
genus coercet, hic levare functum
pauperem laboribus
vocatus atque non vocatus audit.
erum. quid ultra tendis? aequa tellus
pauperi recluditur
35
40
XIX
Bacchum in remotis carmina rupibus
vidi docentem, credite posteri,
Nymphasque discentes et aures
capripedum Satyrorum acutas.
euhoe ! recenti mens trepidat metu,
plenoque Bacchi pectore turbidum
laetatur: euhoe ! parce Liber,
parce, gravi metuende thyrso !
fas pervicaces est mihi Thyiadas
vinique fontem lactis et uberes
cantare rivos atque truncis
lapsa cavis iterare mella;
fas et beatae coniugis additum
stellis honorem tectaque Penthei
disiecta non leni ruina
Thracis et exitium Lycurgi.
tu flectis amnes, tu mare barbarum,
tu separatis uvidus in iugis
(л
5
ΙΟ
15
CARMINUM LIB. II
39
nodo coerces viperino
Bistonidum sine fraude crines.
tu, cum parentis regna per arduum
cohors Gigantum scanderet inpia,
Rhoetum retorsisti leonis
unguibus horribilique mala ;
quamquam choreis aptior et iocis
ludoque dictus, non sat idoneus
pugnae ferebaris, sed idem
pacis eras mediusque belli.
te vidit însons Cerberus aureo
cornu decorum leniter atterens
caudam et recedentis trilingui
ore pedes tetigitque crura.
20
25

30
XX

Non usitata nec tenui ferar
pinna biformis per liquidum aethera
vates neque in terris morabor
longius invidiaque maior
urbes relinquam. non ego pauperum
sanguis parentum, non ego quem vocas,
dilecte Maecenas, obibo
nec Stygia cohibebor unda.
iam iam residunt cruribus asperae
pelles, et album mutor in alitem
superne, nascunturque leves
per digitos umerosque plumae.
iam Daedaleo notior Icaro
visam gementis litora Bosphori
Syrtesque Gaetulas canorus
ales Hyperboreosque campos.
me Colchus et, qui dissimulat metum
Marsae cohortis, Dacus et ultimi
noscent Geloni, me peritus
discet Hiber Rhodanique potor.
absint inani funere neniae
luctusque turpes et querimoniae:
compesce clamorem ac sepulchri
mitte supervacuos honores.
5
ΙΟ
15
20

40
HORATI FLACCI,
sux odes are called the Roman

These first sux
Udes written in Lonor of Rome.
1
LIBER TERTIUS
I
ODI profanum vulgus et arceo:
favete linguis; carmina non prius
audita Musarum sacerdos
virginibus puerisque canto.
regum timendorum in proprios greges,
reges in ipsos imperium est Iovis,
clari Giganteo triumpho,
cuncta supercilio moventis.
est ut viro vir latius ordinet
arbusta sulcis, hic generosior
descendat in Campum petitor,
moribus hic meliorque fama
contendat, illi turba clientium
sit maior aequa lege Necessitas
sortitur insignes et imos,
omne capax movet urna nomen.
destrictus ensis cui super inpia
cervice pendet, non Siculae dapes
dulcem elaborabunt saporem,
non avium citharaeque cantus
somnum reducent: somnus agrestium
lenis virorum non humiles domos
fastidit umbrosamque ripam,
non Zephyris agitata Tempe.
desiderantem, quod satis est, neque
tumultuosum sollicitat mare,
nec saevus Arcturi cadentis
inpetus aut orientis Haedi,
non verberatae grandine vineae
fundusque mendax, arbore nunc aquas
culpante, nunc torrentia agros
sidera, nuņc hiemes iniquas.
contracta pisces aequora sentiunt
iactis in altum molibus: huc frequens
5
IO
15
20
25
30
CARMINUM LIB. III
41
caementa demittit redemptor
cum famulis dominusque terrae
fastidiosus. sed Timor et Minae
scandunt eodem quo dominus, neque
decedit aerata triremi et
post equitem sedet atra Cura.
quodsi dolentem nec Phrygius lapis
nec purpurarum sidere clarior
delenit vsus nee Falerna
vitis Achaemeniumque costum,
cur invidendis postibus et noxo
sublime ritu moliar atrium ?
cur valle permutem Sabina
divitias operosiores ?
35
40

45
II
Angustam amice pauperiem pati
robustus acri militia puer
condiscat et Parthos feroces
vexet eques metuendus hasta
vitamque sub divo et trepidis agat
5
in rebus. illum ex moenibus hosticis
matrona bellantis tyranni

prospiciens et adulta virgo
suspiret, eheu, ne rudis agminum
sponsus lacessat regius asperum
tactu leonem, quem cruenta
per medias rapit ira caedes.
prove dulce et decorum est pro patria mori :
mors et fugacem persequitur virum,
nec parcit inbellis iuventae
poplitibus timidoque tergo.
virtus repulsae nescia sordidae
intaminatis fulget honoribus,
nec sumit aut ponit secures
arbitrio popularis aurae.
virtus, recludens inmeritis mori
caelum, negata temptat iter via,
coetusque vulgares et udam
spernit humum fugiente pinna.
ΙΟ
15
20
42
Q. HORATI FLACCI
est et fideli tuta silentio
merces: vetabo, qui Cereris sacrum
vulgarit arcanae, sub isdem
sit trabibus fragilemque mecum
solvat phaselon. saepe Diespiter
neclectus incesto addidit integrum ;
raro antecedentem scelestum
deseruit pede Poena claudo,
25

30
III
Iustum et tenacem propositi virum
nón civium ardor prava iubentium,
non vultus instantis tyranni
mente quatit solida neque Auster
dux inquieti turbidus Hadriae,
nec fulminantis magna manus Iovis ;
si fractus inlabatur orbis,
I woverb- keam
11
The
inpavidum ferient ruinae.
hac arte Pollux et vagus Hercules
enisus arces attigit igneas,
quos inter Augustus recumbens
purpureo bibit ore nectar.
hac te merentem, Bacche pater, tuae
vexere tigres indocili iugum
collo trahentes; hac Quirinus
Martis equis Acheronta fugit,
gratum elocuta consiliantibus
Iunone divis: 'Ilion, Ilion
fatalis incestusque iudex
et mulier peregrina vertit
in pulverem, ex quo destituit deos
mercede pacta Laomedon, mihi
castaeque damnatum Minervae
cum populo et duce fraudulento.
Spartan wanton's iam nec Lacaenae splendet adulterae
Shameless quest no
longer flaunts in
array.
brave
famosus hospes nec Priami domus
periura pugnaces Achivos
Hectoreis opibus refringit,
nostrisque ductum seditionibus
bellum resedit. protinus et graves
5
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20


25
30
CARMINUM LIB. III
43
iras et invisum nepotem,
Troica quem peperit sacerdos,
Marti redonabo; illum ego lucidas
inire sedes, ducere nectaris
sucos et adscribi quietis
ordinibus patiar deorum.
dum longus inter saeviat Ilion
Romamque pontus, qualibet exsules
in parte regnanto beati;
dum Priami Paridisque busto
insultet armentum et catulos ferae
celent inultae, stet Capitolium
fulgens triumphatisque possit
Roma ferox dare iura Medis.
horrenda late nomen in ultimas
extendat oras, qua medius liquor
secernit Europen ab Afro,
qua tumidus rigat arva Nilus,
aurum inrepertum et sic melius situm,
cum terra celat, spernere fortior
quam cogere humanos in usus
omne sacrum rapiente dextra ;
quicumque mundo terminus obstitit,
hunc tanget armis, visere gestiens
qua parte debacchentur ignes,
qua nebulae pluviique rores.
sed bellicosis fata Quiritibus
hac lege dico, ne nimium pii
rebusque fidentes avitae
tecta velint reparare Troiae.
Troiae renascens alite lugubri
fortuna tristi clade iterabitur,
ducente victrices catervas
coniuge me Iovis et sorore.
ter si resurgat murus aeneus
auctore Phoebo, ter pereat meis
excisus Argivis, ter uxor
capta virum puerosque ploret.'
non hoc iocosae conveniet lyrae :
quo, Musa, tendis ? desine pervicax
referre sermones deorum et
magna modis tenuare parvis.
35


40
45
50

55
60

65

70
44
Q. HORATI FLACCI
IV
Descende caelo et dic age tibia
regina longum Calliope melos,
seu voce nunc mavis acuta
seu fidibus citharaque Phoebi.
auditis, an me ludit amabilis
insania? audire et videor pios
errare per lucos, amoenae
quos et aquae subeunt et aurae.
me fabulosae Vulture in Apulo
nutricis extra limen Apuliae
ludo fatigatumque somno
fronde nova puerum palumbes
texere, mirum quod foret omnibus,
quicumque celsae nidum Acheruntiae
saltusque Bantinos et arvum
pingue tenent humilis Forenti,
ut tuto ab atris corpore viperis
dormirem et ursis, ut premerer sacra
lauroque collataque myrto,
non sine dis animosus infans.
vester, Camenae, vester in arduos
tollor Sabinos, seu mihi frigidum
Praeneste seu Tibur supinum
seu liquidae placuere Baiae.
vestris amicum fontibus et choris
non me Philippis versa acies retro,
devota non exstinxit arbor
nec Sicula Palinurus unda.
utcumque mecum vos eritis, libens
insanientem navita Bosphorum
temptabo et urentes harenas
litoris Assyrii viator ;
visam Britannos hospitibus feros
et laetum equino sanguine Concanum,
visam pharetratos Gelonos
et Scythicum inviolatus amnem.
vos Caesarem altum, militia simul
fessas cohortes addidit oppidis,
finire quaerentem labores
Pierio recreatis antro.

'Jamais
IO
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25
30
35
40
5




CARMINUM LIB. III
45

vos lene consilium et datis et dato
gaudetis, almae. scimus, ut inpios
Titanas inmanemque turmam
fulmine sustulerit caduco,
qui terram inertem, qui mare temperat
ventosum, et urbes regnaque tristia,
divosque mortalesque turbas
imperio regit unus aequo.
magnum illa terrorem intulerat Iovi
fidens iuventus horrida bracchiis
fratresque tendentes opaco
Pelion inposuisse Olympo.
sed quid Typhous et validus Mimas,
aut quid minaci Porphyrion statu,
quid Rhoetus evulsisque truncis
Enceladus iaculator audax
contra sonantem Palladis aegida
possent ruentes? hinc avidus stetit
Vulcanus, hinc matrona Iuno et
numquam umeris positurus arcum,
qui rore puro Castaliae lavit
crines solutos, qui Lyciae tenet
dumeta natalemque silvam,
Delius et Patareus Apollo.
vis consili expers mole ruit sua,
vim temperatam di quoque provehunt
in maius; idem odere vires
omne nefas animo moventes.
testis mearum centimanus Gyas
sententiarum, notus et integrae
temptator Orion Dianae,
virginea domitus sagitta.
iniecta monstris Terra dolet suis
maeretque partus fulmine luridum
missos ad Orcum; nec peredit
inpositam celer ignis Aetnen,
incontinentis nec Tityi iecur
reliquit ales, nequitiae additus
custos: amatorem trecentae
Pirithoum cohibent catenae.
45

50
55

60

65
70

75
80
R
46
Q. HORATI FLACCI
overbs
V
Caelo tonantem credidimus Iovem
regnare praesens divus habebitur
Augustus adiectis Britannis
imperio gravibusque Persis.
milesne Crassi coniuge barbara
turpis maritus vixit, et hostium-
pro curia inversique mores!
consenuit socerorum in armis
sub rege Medo Marsus et Apulus,
anciliorum et nominis et togae
oblitus aeternaeque Vestae,
incolumi Iove et urbe Roma?
hoc caverat mens provida Reguli
dissentientis condicionibus
foedis et exemplo trahentis
perniciem veniens in aevum,
si non periret inmiserabilis,
captiva pubes.
signa ego Punicis
adfixa delubris et arma
militibus sine caede,' dixit,
derepta vidi; vidi ego civium
retorta tergo bracchia libero,
portasque non clausas et arva
Marte coli populata nostro,
auro repensus scilicet acrior
miles redibit. flagitio additis
damnum neque amissos colores
lana refert medicata fuco,
nec vera virtus, cum semel excidit,
curat reponi deterioribus.
si pugnat extricata densis
cerva plagis, erit ille fortis,
qui perfidis se credidit hostibus
et Marte Poenos proteret altero,
qui lora restrictis lacertis
sensit iners timuitque mortem.
hic, unde vitam sumeret inscius,
pacem duello miscuit.
o pudor !
o magna Karthago probrosis
altior Italiae ruinis!'
5
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15

20
25


339
35
40
CARMINUM LIB. III
47
fertur pudicae coniugis osculum
parvosque natos ut capitis minor
ab se removisse et virilem
torvus humi posuisse vultum,
donec Tabantes consilio patres
firmaret auctor numquam alias dato,
interque maerentes amicos
egregius properaret exsul.
atqui sciebat quae sibi barbarus
tortor pararet; non aliter tamen
dimovit obstantespropinquos
et populum reditus morantem,
quam si clientum longa negotia
disiudicata lite relinqueret,
tendens Venafranos in agros

45
50

55
aut Lacedaemonium Tarentum.
VI
Delicta maiorum inmeritus lues,
Romane, donec templa refeceris,
aedesque labentes deorum et
foeda nigro simulacra fumo.
dis te minorem quod geris, imperas :
hinc omne principium, huc refer exitum.
di multa neclecti dederunt
Hesperiae mala luctuosae.
iam bis Monaeses et Pacori manus
non auspicatos contudit inpetus
nostros et adiecisse praedam
torquibus exiguis renidet.
paene occupatam seditionibus
delevit urbem Dacus et Aethiops,
hic classe formidatus, ille
missilibus melior sagittis.
fecunda culpae saecula nuptias
primum inquinavere et genus et domos:
hoc fonte derivata clades
in patriam populumque fluxit.
motus doceri gaudet Ionicos
matura virgo et fingitur artibus
5
ΙΟ
15
20
48
Q. HORATI FLACCI
iam nunc et incestos amores
de tenero meditatur ungui;
mox iuniores quaerit adulteros
inter mariti vina, neque elegit
cui donet inpermissa raptim
gaudia luminibus remotis,
sed iussa coram non sine conscio
surgit marito, seu vocat institor
seu navis Hispanae magister,
dedecorum pretiosus emptor.
non his iuventus orta parentibus
infecit aequor sanguine Punico
Pyrrhumque et ingentem cecidit
Antiochum Hannibalemque dirum;
sed rusticorum mascula militum
proles, Sabellis docta ligonibus
versare glaebas et severae
matris ad arbitrium recisos
portare fustes, sol ubi montium
mutaret umbras et iuga demeret
bobus fatigatis, amicum
tempus agens abeunte curru.
damnosa quid non inminuit dies?
aetas parentum, peior avis, tulit
nos nequiores, mox daturos
progeniem vitiosiorem.
VII
Quid fles, Asterie, quem tibi candidi
primo restituent vere Favonii
Thyna merce beatum,
constantis iuvenem fide
Gygen? ille Notis actus ad Oricum
post insana Caprae sidera frigidas
noctes non sine multis
insomnis lacrimis agit.
atqui sollicitae nuntius hospitae,
suspirare Chloen et miseram tuis
dicens ignibus uri,
temptat mille vafer modis.
25
30
35
40
45
5
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CARMINUM LIB. III
49
ut Proetum mulier perfida credulum
falsis inpulerit criminibus nimis
casto Bellerophontae
maturare necem refert.
narrat paene datum Pelea Tartaro,
Magnessam Hippolyten dum fugit abstinens;
et peccare docentes
fallax historias movet ;
frustra nam scopulis surdior Icari
voces audit adhuc integer, at tibi
ne vicinus Enipeus
plus iusto placeat cave;
quamvis non alius flectere equum sciens
aeque conspicitur gramine Martio,
nec quisquam citus aeque
Tusco denatat alveo.
prima nocte domum claude neque in vias
sub cantu querulae despice tibiae
et te saepe vocanti
duram difficilis mane.
VIII
Martiis caelebs quid agam Kalendis,
quid velint flores et acerra turis
plena miraris positusque carbo in
caespite vivo,
docte sermones utriusque linguae.
voveram dulces epulas et album
Libero caprum prope funeratus
arboris ictu.
>
hic dies,anno redeunte festus,
corticem adstrictum pice dimovebit
amphorae fumum bibere institutae
consule Tullo.
sume, Maecenas, cyathos amici
sospitis centum et vigiles lucernas
perfer in lucem; procul omnis esto
clamor et ira.
mitte civiles super urbe curas :
occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen,
E
15
20
25
30

5

ΙΟ
15
50
Q. HORATI FLACCI
he
Medus infestus sibi luctuosis
dissidet armis,
servit Hispanae vetus hostis orae
Cantaber sera domitus catena,
iam Scythae laxo meditantur arcu
cedere campis.
neclegens, ne qua populus laboret,
parce privatus nimium cavere et
dona praesentis cape laetus horae ac
linque severa.
IX
Donec gratus eram tibi,
nec quisquam potior bracchia candidae
cervici iuvenis dabat,
Persarum vigui rege beatior.
20

25
ghe
he
she
he
she
donec non alia magis
5
arsisti, neque erat Lydia post Chloen,
multi Lydia nominis
Romana vigui clarior Ilia.
me nunc Thressa Chloe regit,
dulces docta modos et citharae sciens,
pro qua non metuam mori,
si parcent animae fata superstiti.
me torret face mutua
Thurini Calais filius Ornyti,
pro quo bis patiar mori,
si parcent puero fata superstiti.
quid si prisca redit Venus
diductosque iugo cogit aeneo,
si flava excutitur Chloe
reiectaeque patet ianua Lydiae ?
quamquam sidere pulchrior
ille est, tu levior cortice et inprobo
iracundior Hadria,
tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.
ΙΟ
15

20
CARMINUM LIB. III
51
X
Extremum Tanain si biberes, Lyce,
saevo nupta viro, me tamen asperas
porrectum ante fores obicere incolis
plorares Aquilonibus.
audis quo strepitu ianua, quo nemus
inter pulchra satum tecta remugiat
ventis, et positas ut glaciet nives
puro numine luppiter?
ingratam Veneri pone superbiam,
ne currente retro funis eat rota:
non te Penelopen difficilem procis
Tyrrhenus genuit parens.
o quamvis neque te munera nec preces
nec tinctus viola pallor amantium
nec vir Pieria paelice saucius
curvat, supplicibus tuis
parcas, nec rigida mollior aesculo
nec Mauris animum mitior anguibus,
on hoc semper eit lininis aut aquae
caelestis patiens latūs.

5

IO

15
20
XI
Mercuri-nam te docilis magistro
movit Amphion lapides canendo
tuque testudo resonare septem
callida nervis,
nec loquax olim neque grata, nunc et
divitum mensis et amica templis,
dic modos, Lyde quibus obstinatas
applicet aures,
quae velut latis equa trima campis
ludit exsultim metuitque tangi,
nuptiarum expers et adhuc protervo
cruda marito.
tu potes tigres comitesque silvas
ducere et rivos celeres morari ;
cessit inmanis tibi blandienti
ianitor aulae
5
ΙΟ
15
52
Q. HORATI FLACCI
commit.
[Cerberus, quamvis furiale centum
muniant angues caput eius atque
spiritus taeter saniesque manet
ore trilingui.]
quin et Ixion Tityosque vultu
risit invito, stetit urna paulum
sicca, dum grato Danai puellas
carmine mulces.
audiat Lyde scelus atque notas
virginum poenas et inane lymphae
dolium fundo pereuntis imo
seraque fata,
quae manent culpas etiam sub Orco.
inpiae,-nam quid potuere maius?—
inpiae sponsos potuere duro
perdere ferro.
una de multis face nuptiali
digna periurum fuit in parentem
splendide mendax et in omne virgo
nobilis aevum,
35
'surge' quae dixit iuveni marito,
surge, ne longus tibi somnus, unde
non times, detur; socerum et scelestas
falle sorores,
40
quae, velut nactae vitulos leaenae,
singulos eheu lacerant: ego illis
mollior nec te feriam neque intra
claustra tenebo.
me pater saevis oneret catenis,
45
quod viro clemens misero peperci ;
me vel extremos Numidarum in agros
classe releget.
i, pedes quo te rapiunt et aurae,
dum favet nox et Venus, i secundo
omine et nostri memorem sepulchro
scalpe querellam.'
XII
Miserarum est neque amori dare ludum neque dulci
mala vino lavere aut exanimari metuentes
patruae verbera linguae.
Jonie wetre
50
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CARMINUM LIB. III
53
tibi qualum Cythereae puer ales, tibi telas
operosaeque Minervae studium aufert, Neobule,
Liparaci nitor Hebri,
simul unctos Tiberinis umeros lavit in undis,
eques ipso melior Bellerophonte, neque pugno
neque segni pede victus;
catus idem per apertum fugientes agitato
grege cervos iaculari et celer alto latitantem
fruticeto excipere aprum.
XIII
O fons Bandusiae splendidior vitro,
dulci digne mero non sine floribus,
cras donaberis haedo,
cui frons turgida cornibus
primis et venerem et proelia destinat
frustra: nam gelidos inficiet tibi
rubro sanguine rivos
lascivi suboles gregis.
te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae
nescit tangere, tu frigus amabile
fessis vomere tauris
praebes et pecori vago.
fies nobilium tu quoque fontium,
me dicente cavis inpositam ilicem
saxis, unde loquaces
lymphae desiliunt tuae.
XIV
Herculis ritu modo dictus, o plebs,
morte venalem petiisse laurum,
Caesar Hispana repetit Penates
victor ab ora.
unico gaudens mulier marito
prodeat iustis operata sacris
et soror clari ducis et decorae
supplice vitta
virginum matres iuvenumque nuper
sospitum. vos, o pueri et puellae
5

IO
5
IO
15
5
ΙΟ
54
Q. HORATI FLACCI
iam virum expertae, male ominatis
parcite verbis.
hic dies vere mihi festus atras
eximet curas: ego nec tumultum,
nec mori per vim metuam tenente
Caesare terras.
i, pete unguentum, puer, et coronas,
et cadum Marsi memorem duelli,
Spartacum si qua potuit vagantem
fallere testa.
dic et argutae properet Neaerae
murreum nodo cohibere crinem ;
si per invisum mora ianitorem
fiet, abito.
lenit albescens animos capillus
litium et rixae cupidos protervae ;
non ego hoc ferrem calidus iuventa
consule Planco.
15
20
25
XV
Uxor pauperis Ibyci,
tandem nequitiae fige modum tuae
famosisque laboribus;
maturo propior desine funeri
inter ludere virgines
et stellis nebulam spargere candidis.
non, si quid Pholoen satis,
et te, Chlori, decet: filia rectius
expugnat iuvenum domos,
pulso Thyias uti concita tympano.
illam cogit amor Nothi
lascivae similem ludere capreae:
te lanae prope nobilem
tonsae Luceriam, non citharae decent
nec flos purpureus rosae
nec poti vetulam faece tenus cadi.
XVI
Inclusam Danaen turris aenea
robustaeque fores et vigilum canum
5
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CARMINUM LIB. III
55
tristes excubiae munierant satis
nocturnis ab adulteris,
si non Acrisium virginis abditae
custodem pavidum Iuppiter et Venus
risissent fore enim tutum iter et patens
converso in pretium deo.
aurum per medios ire satellites
et perrumpere amat saxa potentius
ictu fulmineo: concidit auguris
Argivi domus ob lucrum
demersa exitio; diffidit urbium
portas vir Macedo et subruit aemulos
reges muneribus; munera navium
saevos inlaqueant duces.
crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam
maiorumque fames. iure perhorrui
late conspicuum tollere verticem,
Maecenas, equitum decus.
quanto quisque sibi plura negaverit,
ab dis plura feret: nil cupientium
nudus castra peto et transfuga divitum
partes linquere gestio,
contemptae dominus splendidior rei,
quam si quidquid arat inpiger Apulus
occultare meis dicerer horreis,
magnas inter opes inops.
purae rivus aquae silvaque iugerum
paucorum et segetis certa fides meae
fulgentem imperio fertilis Africae
fallit sorte beatior.
quamquam nec Calabrae mella ferunt apes
nec Laestrygonia Bacchus in amphora
languescit mihi nec pinguia Gallicis
crescunt vellera pascuis,
inportuna tamen pauperies abest,
nec, si plura velim, tu dare deneges.
contracto melius parva cupidine
vectigalia porrigam,
quam si Mygdoniis regnum Alyattei
campis continuem. multa petentibus
desunt multa: bene est, cui deus obtulit
parca quod satis est manu.
5
ΙΟ
15
20
25
+
30
35
40
56
Q. HORATI FLACCI
XVII
Aeli vetusto nobilis ab Lamo,-
quando et priores hinc Lamias ferunt
denominatos et nepotum
per memores genus omne fastos;
auctore ab illo ducis originem,
qui Formiarum moenia dicitur
princeps et innantem Maricae
litoribus tenuisse Lirim
late tyrannus-cras foliis nemus
multis et alga litus inutili
demissa tempestas ab Euro
sternet, aquae nisi fallit augur
annosa cornix. dum potes, aridum
compone lignum: cras Genium mero
curabis et porco bimestri
cum famulis operum solutis.
XVIII
Faune, Nympharum fugientum amator,
per meos fines et aprica rura
lenis incedas abeasque parvis
aequus alumnis,
si tener pleno cadit haedus anno,
larga nec desunt Veneris sodali
vina craterae, vetus ara multo
fumat odore.
ludit herboso pecus omne campo,
cum tibi Nonae redeunt Decembres ;
festus in pratis vacat otioso
cum bove pagus ;
inter audaces lupus errat agnos;
spargit agrestes tibi silva frondes ;
gaudet invisam pepulisse fossor
ter pede terram.
XIX
Quantum distet ab Inacho
Codrus, pro patria non timidus mori,
5
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CARMINUM LIB. III
57
narras, et genus Aeaci,
et pugnata sacro bella sub Ilio:
quo Chium pretio cadum
mercemur, quis aquam temperet ignibus,
quo praebente domum et quota
Paelignis caream frigoribus, taces.
da lunae propere novae,
da noctis mediae, da, puer, auguris
Murenae: tribus aut novem
miscentur cyathis pocula commodis.
qui Musas amat inpares,
ternos ter cyathos attonitus petet
vates; tres prohibet supra
rixarum metuens tangere Gratia
nudis iuncta sororibus.
insanire iuvat: cur Berecyntiae
cessant flamina tibiae ?
cur pendet tacita fistula cum lyra?
parcentes ego dexteras
odi: sparge rosas; audiat invidus
dementem strepitum Lycus,
et vicina seni non habilis Lyco.
spissa te nitidum coma,
puro te similem, Telephe, Vespero
tempestiva petit Rhode:
me lentus Glycerae torret amor meae.
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XX
Non vides, quanto moveas periclo,
Pyrrhe, Gaetulae catulos leaenae?
dura post paulo fugies inaudax
proelia raptor,
cum per obstantes iuvenum catervas
ibit insignem repetens Nearchum,
grande certamen, tibi praeda cedat
maior an illi.
interim, dum tu celeres sagittas
promis, haec dentes acuit timendos,
arbiter pugnae posuisse nudo
sub pede palmam
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
fertur, et leni recreare vento
sparsum odoratis umerum capillis,
qualis aut Nireus fuit aut aquosa
raptus ab Ida.
XXI
O nata mecum consule Manlio,
seu tu querellas sive geris iocos
seu rixam et insanos amores
seu facilem, pia testa, somnum,
quocumque lectum nomine Massicum
servas, moveri digna bono die,
descende, Corvino iubente
promere languidiora vina.
non ille, quamquam Socraticis madet
sermonibus, te necleget horridus:
narratur et prisci Catonis
saepe mero caluisse virtus.
tu lene tormentum ingenio admoves
plerumque duro; tu sapientium
curas et arcanum iocoso
consilium retegis Lyaeo;
tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis
viresque et addis cornua pauperi,
post te neque iratos trementi
regum apices neque militum arma.
te Liber et si laeta aderit, Venus
segnesque nodum solvere Gratiae
vivaeque producent lucernae,
dum rediens fugat astra Phoebus.
XXII
Montium custos nemorumque virgo,
quae laborantes utero puellas
ter vocata audis adimisque leto,
diva triformis,
inminens villae tua pinus esto,
quam per exactos ego laetus annos
verris obliquum meditantis ictum
sanguine donem.
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XXIII
Caelo supinas si tuleris manus
nascente luna, rustica Phidyle,
si ture placaris et horna
fruge Lares avidaque porca,
nec pestilentem sentiet Africum
fecunda vitis nec sterilem seges
rubiginem aut dulces alumni
pomifero grave tempus anno.
nam quae nivali pascitur Algido
devota quercus mter et ilices
aut crescit Albanis in herbis
victima, pontificum secures
cervice tinguet: te nihil attinet
temptare multa caede bidentium
parvos coronantem marino
rore deos fragilique myrto.
inmunis aram si tetigit
si tetigit manus
noh sumptuosa blandior hostia,
mollivit aversos Penates
farre pio et saliente mica.
XXIV
Intactis opulentior
thesauris Arabum et divitis Indiae
caementis licet occupes
terrenum omne tuis et mare publicum,
si figit adamantinos
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20
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summis verticibus dira Necessitas
clavos, non animum metu,

non mortis laqueis expedies caput.
campestres melius Scythae,
quorum plaustra vagas rite trahunt domos,
vivunt et rigidi Getae,
inmetata quibus iugera liberas
10
fruges et Cererem ferunt,
nec cultura placet longior annua,
15
defunctumque laboribus
aequali recreat sorte vicarius.
illic matre carentibus
privignis mulier temperat innocens,

60
Q. HORATI FLACCI
nec dotata regit virum
coniunx nec nitido fidit adultero.
dos est magna parentium
virtus et metuens alterius viri
certo foedere castitas,
et peccare nefas aut pretium est mori.
o quisquis volet inpias
caedes et rabiem tollere civicam,
6
si quaeret pater urbium?
subscribi statuis, indomitam audeat
refrenare licentiam,
clarus postgenitis: quatenus, heu nefas!
virtutem incolumem odimus,
sublatam ex oculis quaerimus invidi.
quid tristes querimoniae,
si non supplicio culpa reciditur?
quid leges sine moribus
vanae proficiunt, si neque fervidis
pars inclusa caloribus
mandi nec Boreae finitimum latus
durataeque solo nives
mercatorem abigunt, horrida callidi
vincunt aequorą, navitae,
vincunt_aequora
3
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25
30
35


40
4
magnum pauperies opprobrium iubet
quidvis et facere et pati
virtutisque viam deserit arduae?
vel nos in Capitolium,
45
quo clamor vocat et turba faventium,
vel nos in mare proximum
gemmas et lapides aurum et inutile,
summi materiem mali,
mittamus, scelerum şi bene paenitet.
50
eradenda cupidinis
pravi sunt elementa et tenerae nimis
mentes asperioribus
formandae studiis.
nescit equo rudis

haerere ingenuus puer
55
seu Graeco iubeas trocho,
venarique timet, ludere doctior,
seu malis vetita legibus alea,
cum periura patris fides
consortem socium fallat et hospites,
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CARMINUM LIB. III
61
indignoque pecuniam
heredi properet. scilicet inprobae
crescunt divitiae: tamen
curtae nescio quid semper abest rei.
XXV
Quo me, Bacche, rapis tui
plenum ? quae nemora aut quos agor in specus,
velox mente nova? quibus
antris egregii Caesaris audiar
aeternum meditans decus
stellis inserere et consilio Iovis ?
dicam insigne, recens, adhuc
indictum ore alio. non secus in iugis
exsomnis stupet Euhias
Hebrum prospiciens et nive candidam
Thracen ac pede barbaro
lustratam Rhodopen, ut mihi devio
ripas et vacuum nemus
mirari libet. o Naiadum potens
Baccharumque valentium
proceras manibus vertere fraxinos,
nil parvum aut humili modo,
nil mortale loquar. dulce periculum est,
o Lenaee, sequi deum
cingentem viridi tempora pampino.
XXVI
Vixi puellis nuper idoneus
et militavi non sine gloria:
nunc arma defunctumque bello
barbiton hic paries habebit,
laevum marinae qui Veneris latus
custodit. hic, hic ponite lucida
funalia et vectes et arcus
oppositis foribus minaces.
o quae beatam diva tenes Cyprum et
Memphin carentem Sithonia nive,
regina, sublimi flagello
tange Chloen semel arrogantem.
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
XXVII
Inpios parrae recinentis omen
ducat et praegnans canis aut ab agro
rava decurrens lupa Lanuvino
fetaque vulpes;
rumpat et serpens iter institutum,
si per obliquum similis sagittae
terruit mannos: ego cui timebo
providus auspex,
antequam stantes repetat paludes
imbrium divina avis inminentum,
oscinem corvum prece suscitabo
solis ab ortu.
sis licet felix, ubicumque mavis,
et memor nostri, Galatea, vivas,
teque nec laevus vetet ire picus
nec vaga cornix.
sed vides, quanto trepidet tumultu
pronus Orion.
ego quid sit ater
Hadriae novi sinus et quid albus
peccet Iapyx.
hostium uxores puerique caecos
sentiant motus orientis Austri et
aequoris nigri fremitum et trementes
verbere ripas.
sic et Europe niveum doloso
credidit tauro latus et scatentem
beluis pontum mediasque fraudes
palluit audax.
nuper in pratis studiosa florum et
debitae Nymphis opifex coronae
nocte sublustri nihil astra praeter
vidit et undas.
quae simul centum tetigit potentem
oppidis Creten, 'pater, o relictum
filiae nomen pietasque,' dixit,
'victa furore !
unde quo veni? levis una mors est
virginum culpae. vigilansne ploro
turpe commissum, an vitiis carentem
ludit imago,
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CARMINUM LIB. III
63
vana quae porta fugiens eburna
somnium ducit? meliusne fluctus
ire per longos fuit, an recentes
carpere flores ?
si quis infamem mihi nunc iuvencum
dedat iratae, lacerare ferro et
frangere enitar modo multum amati
cornua monstri.
inpudens liqui patrios Penates,
inpudens Orcum moror.
o deorum
si quis haec audis, utinam inter errem
nuda leones!
antequam turpis macies decentes
45
50
55
occupet malas, teneraeque sucus
defluat praedae, speciosa quaero
pascere tigres.
"vilis Europe," pater urguet absens,
"quid mori cessas ? potes hac ab orno
pendulum zona bene te secuta
laedere collum.
sive te rupes et acuta leto
saxa delectant, age te procellae
crede veloci, nisi erile mavis
carpere pensum
regius sanguis, dominaeque tradi
barbarae paelex."' aderat querenti
perfidum ridens Venus et remisso
filius arcu.
55
60
65
mox, ubi lusit satis, 'abstineto,'
dixit, irarum calidaeque rixae,
cum tibi invisus laceranda reddet
70
cornua taurus.
uxor invicti Iovis esse nescis :
mitte singultus; bene ferre magnam
disce fortunam: tua sectus orbis
75
nomina ducet.'
XXVIII
Festo quid potius die
Neptuni faciam? prome reconditum
64
Q. HORATI FLACCI
Lyde strenua Caecubum,
munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae.
inclinare meridiem
sentis ac, veluti stet volucris dies,
parcis deripere horreo
cessantem Bibuli consulis amphoram?
nos cantabimus in vicem
Neptunum et virides Nereidum comas;
tu curva recines lyra
Latonam et celeris spicula Cynthiae;
summo carmine, quae Cnidon
fulgentesque tenet Cycladas et Paphum
iunctis visit oloribus,
dicetur merita Nox quoque nenia.
XXIX
Tyrrhena regum progenies, tibi
non ante verso lene merum cado
cum flore, Maecenas, rosarum et
pressa tuis balanus capillis
iam dudum apud me est: eripe te morae;
ne semper udum Tibur et Aefulae
declive contempleris arvum et
Telegoni iuga parricidae.
fastidiosam desere copiam et
molem propinquam nubibus arduis ;
omitte mirari beatae
fumum et opes strepitumque Romae.
plerumque gratae divitibus vices-y
mundaeque parvo sub Lare pauperum
cenae sine aulaeis et ostro
sollicitam explicuere frontem.
iam clarus occultum Andromedae pater
ostendit ignem, iam Procyon furit
et stella vesani Leonis,
sole dies referente siccos;
iam pastor umbras cum grege languido
rivumque fessus quaerit et horridi
dumeta Silvani caretque
ripa vagis taciturna ventis.
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65
3
tu civitatem quis deceat status
curas et urbi sollicitus times
quid Seres et regnata Cyro
Bactra parent Tanaisque discors.
prudens futuri temporis exitum
caliginosa nocte premit deus
ridetque, si mortalis ultra
fas trepidat. quod adest memento
componere aequus; cetera fluminis
ritu feruntur, nunc medio aequore
cum pace delabentis Etruscum
in mare, nunc lapides adèsos
stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos
volventis una, non sine montium
clamore vicinaeque silvae,
cum fera diluvies quietos
ille potens sui
inritat amnes.
laetusque deget, cui licet in diem
dixisse 'vixi: cras vel atra
nube polum Pater occupato,
vel sole puro; non tamen inritum,
quodcumque retro est, efficiet neque
diffinget infectumque reddet
quod fugiens semel hora vexit.'
Fortuna saevo laeta negotio et
ludum insolentem ludere pertinax
transmutat incertos honores,
nunc mihi, nunc alii benigna.
laudo manentem; si celeres quatit
pinnas, resigno quae dedit et mea
virtute me involvo probamque
pauperiem sine dote quaero.
non est meum, si mugiat Africis
malus procellis, ad miseras preces
decurrere et votis pacisci,
ne Cypriae Tyriaeque merces.
addant avaro divitias mari :
tunc me biremis praesidio scaphae
tutum per Aegaeos tumultus
aura feret geminusque Pollux.
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45
50
55
60
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•
66
Q. HORATI FLACCI
XXX
Exegi monimentum aere perennius
regalique situ pyramidum altius,
quod non imber edax, non Aquilo inpotens
possit diruere aut innumerabilis
annorum series et fuga temporum.
non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei
vitabit Libitinam: usque ego postera
蔵
​crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium
scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex.
dicar, qua violens obstrepit Aufidus
et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium
regnavit populorum, ex humili potens
princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos
deduxisse modos. sume superbiam
quaesitam meritis et mihi Delphica
lauro cinge volens, Melpomene, comam.
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LIBER QUARTUS
I
INTERMISSA, Venus, diu
rursus bella moves? parce precor, precor.
non sum qualis eram bonae
sub regno Cinarae. desine, dulcium
mater saeva Cupidinum,
circa lustra decem flectere mollibus
iam durum imperiis: abi,
quo blandae iuvenum te revocant preces.
tempestivius in domum
Pauli purpureis ales oloribus
comissabere Maximi,
si torrere iecur quaeris idoneum :
namque et nobilis et decens
et pro sollicitis non tacitus reis
et centum puer artium
late signa feret militiae tuae,
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CARMINUM LIB. IV
67
et quandoque potentior
largi muneribus riserit aemuli,
Albanos prope te lacus
ponet marmoream sub trabe citrea.
illic plurima naribus
duces tura, lyraeque et Berecyntiae
delectabere tibiae
mixtis carminibus non sine fistula;
illic bis pueri die
numen cum teneris virginibus tuum
laudantes pede candido
in morem Salium ter quatient humum.
me nec femina nec puer
iam nec spes animi credula mutui
nec certare iuvat mero
nec vincire novis tempora floribus.
sed cur heu, Ligurine, cur
manat rara meas lacrima per genas?
cur facunda parum decoro
inter verba cadit lingua silentio ?
nocturnis ego somniis
iam captum teneo, iam volucrem sequor
te per gramina Martii
Campi, te per aquas, dure, volubiles.
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35
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II
Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari,
Iule, ceratis ope Daedalea
nititur pinnis, vitreo daturus
nomina ponto....

monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres
quém super notas aluere ripas,
fervet inmensusque ruit profundo
Pindarus ore,
laurea donandus Apollinari,
seu per audaces nova dithyrambos
verba devolvit numerisque fertur
lege solutis ;
seu deos regesve canit, deorum
sanguinem, per quos cecidere iusta
5
10
68
Q. HORATI FLACCI
3
morte Centauri, cecidit tremendae
flamma Chimaerae ;
sive quos Elea domum reducit
palma caelestes pugilēmve equumve
dicit et centum potiore signis
munere donat,
flebili sponsae iuvenemve raptum
plorat et vires animumque moresque
aureos educit in astra nigroque
invidet Orco.
multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum,
tendit, Antoni, quotiens in altos
nubium tractus: ego apis Matinae
more modoque
grata carpentis, thyma per laborem
plurimum circa nemus uvidique
Tiburis ripas operosa parvus
carmina fingo.
concines maiore poeta plectro
Caesarem, quandoque trahet feroces
per sacrum clivum merita decorus
fronde Sygambros :
quo
nihil maius meliusve terris
fata donavere bonique divi
nec dabunt, quamvis redeant in aurum
tempora priscum.
concines laetosque dies et urbis
publicum ludum super inpetrato !
fortis Augusti reditu forumque
litibus orbum.
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30

35
40

tum meae, si quid loquar audiendum,
vocis accedet bona pars, et o sol·
pulcher, o laudande!' canam recepto
Caesare felix.
45

tuque dum procedis, io Triumphe,
non semel dicemus, io Triumphe,
civitas omnis, dabimusque divis
tura benignis.
50
te decem tauri totidemque vaccae,
me tener solvet vitulus, relicta
matre qui largis iuvenescit herbis
in mea vota,
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CARMINUM LIB. IV
69

fronte curvatos imitatus ignes
tertium lunae referentis ortum,
qua notam duxit, niveus videri,
cetera fulvus.
III
Quem tu, Melpomene, semel
nascentem placido lumine videris,
illum non labor Isthmius
clarabit pugilem, non equus inpiger
curru ducet Achaico
victorem, neque res bellica Deliis
ornatum foliis ducem,
quod regum tumidas contuderit minas,
ostendet Capitolio:
3
sed quae Tibur aquae fertile praefluunt,
et spissae nemorum comae
fingent Aeolio carmine nobilem.
Romae principis urbium
dignatur suboles inter amabiles
vatum ponere me choros,
et iam dente minus mordeor invido.
o testudinis aureae
dulcem quae strepitum, Pieri, temperas,
o mutis quoque piscibus
donatura cveni, si libeat, sonum,
totum muneris hoc tui est,
quod monstror digito praetereuntium
Romanae fidicen lyrae:
quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est.
IV
Qualem ministrum fulminis alitem,
cui rex deorum regnum in aves vagas
permisit expertus fidelem
Iuppiter in Ganymede flavo,
olim iuventas et patrius vigor
nido laborum propulit inscium
vernique iam nimbis remotis
insolitos docuere nisus
venti paventem, mox in ovilia
demisit hostem vividus inpetus,
quem
60
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
nunc in reluctantes dracones
egit amor dapis atque pugnae ;
qualemve laetis caprea pascuis
intenta fulvae matris ab ubere
iam lacte depulsum_leonem,
dente novo peritura vidit:
So videre Raetis bella sub Alpibus
Drusum gerentem Vindelici,-quibus
mos unde deductus per omne
tempus Amazonia securi
dextras obarmet, quaerere distuli :
nec scire fas est omnia-sed diu
lateque victrices catervae
consiliis iuvenis revictae
sensere, quid mens rite, quid indoles
nutrita faustis sub penetralibus
posset, quid Augusti paternus
in pueros animus Nerones.
fortes creantur fortibus et bonis ;
est in iuvencis, est in equis patrum
virtus, neque inbellem feroces
progenerant aquilae columbam;
doctrina sed vim promovet insitam,
rectique cultus pectora roborant ;
utcumque defecere mores,
indecorant bene rata culpae.
quid debeas, o Roma, Neronibus,
testis Metaurum flumen et Hasdrubal
devictus et pulcher fugatis
ille dies Latio tenebris,
qui primus alma risit adorea

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dirus per urbes Afer ut Italas
ceu flamma per taedas vel Eurus
per Siculas equitavit undas.
post hoc secundis usque laboribus
Romana pubes crevit, et inpio
vastata Poenorum tumultu
fana deos habuere rectos,
dixitque tandem perfidus Hannibal :
'cervi, luporum praeda rapacium,
sectamur ultro, quos opimus
fallere et effugere est triumphus.
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71
gens, quae cremato fortis ab Ilio
iactata Tuscis aequoribus sacra
natosque maturosque patres
pertulit Ausonias ad urbes,
duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus
nigrae feraci frondis in Algido,
per damna, per caedes ab ipso
ducit opes animumque ferro.
non Hydra secto corpore firmior
vinici dolentem crevit in Herculem,
monstrumve summisere Colchi
maius Echioniaeve Thebae.
merses profundo; pulchrior evenit :
luctere; multa proruet integrum
cum laude victorem geretque
proelia coniugibus loquenda.
Karthagini iam non ego nuntios
mittam superbos: occidit, occidit
spes omnis et fortuna nostri
nominis Hasdrubale interempto.
nil Claudiae non perficient manus,
quas et benigno numine Iuppiter
defendit et curae sagaces
expediunt per acuta belli.'
V
535

60
65
70
75
R
Divis orte bonis, optime Romulae
custos gentis, abes iam nimium diu ;
maturum reditum pollicitus patrum
sancto concilio, redi.
lucem redde tuae, dux bone, patriae :
instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus
adfulsit populo, gratior it dies
et soles melius nitent.
ut mater iuvenem, quem Notus invido
flatu Carpathii trans maris aequora
cunctantem spatio longius annuo
dulci distinet a domo,
votis ominibusque et precibus vocat,
curvo nec faciem litore dimovet :
sic desideriis icta fidelibus
quaerit patria Caesarem.
5
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1722
Q. HORATI FLACCI
tutus bos etenim rura perambulat,
nutrit rura Ceres almaque Faustitas,
pacatum volitant per mare navitae,
culpari metuit Fides,
nullis polluitur casta domus stupris,
mos et lex maculosum edomuit nefas,
laudantur simili prole puerperae,
culpam poena premit comes.
quis Parthum paveat, quis gelidum Scythen,
quis Germania quos horrida parturit
fetus, incolumi Caesare? quis ferae
bellum curet Hiberiae ?
condit quisque diem collibus in suis,
et vitem viduas ducit ad arbores;
hinc ad vina redit laetus et alteris
te mensis adhibet deum;
te multa prece, te prosequitur mero
defuso pateris, et Laribus tuum
miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris
et magni memor Herculis.
'longas o utinam, dux bone, ferias
praestes Hesperiae !' dicimus integro
sicci mane die, dicimus uvidi,
cum sol Oceano subest.
VI
Dive, quem proles Niobea magnae
vindicem linguae Tityosque raptor
sensit et Troiae prope victor altae
Phthius Achilles,
ceteris maior, tibi miles inpar,
filius quamvis Thetidis marinae
Dardanas turres quateret tremenda
cuspide pugnax.
ille, mordaci velut icta ferro
pinus aut inpulsa cupressus Euro,
procidit late posuitque collum in
pulvere Teucro.
ille non inclusus equo Minervae
sacra mentito male feriatos
Troas et laetam Priami choreis
falleret aulam,
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CARMINUM LIB. IV
73
sed palam captis gravis, heu nefas heu,
nescios fari pueros Achivis
ureret flammis, etiam latentem
matris in alvo,
ni tuis victus Venerisque gratae
vocibus divom Pater adnuisset
rebus Aeneae potiore ductos
alite muros.
doctor argutae fidicen Thaliae,
20
25
Phoebe, qui Xantho lavis amne crines,
Dauniae defende decus Camenae,
levis Agyieu.
spiritum Phoebus mihi, Phoebus artem
carminis nomenque dedit poetae.
30
virginum primae puerique claris
patribus orti,
Deliae tutela deae, fugaces
lyncas et cervos cohibentis arcu,
Lesbium servate pedem meique
pollicis ictum,
35
rite Latonae puerum canentes,
rite crescentem face Noctilucam,
prosperam frugum celeremque pronos
volvere menses.
40
nupta iam dices: 'ego dis amicum,
saeculo festas referente luces,
reddidi carmen docilis modorum
vatis Horati.'
VII
Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis
arboribusque comae,
mutat terra vices et décrescentia ripas
flumina praetereunt,
Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet
ducere nuda choros.
inmortalia ne speres, monet annus et almum
quae rapit hora diem.
frigora mitescunt Zephyris, ver proterit aestas,
interitura, simul
pomifer autumnus fruges effuderit, et mox
bruma recurrit iners.
ΙΟ
er
5
74
Q. HORATI FLACCI
damna tamen celeres reparant caelestia lunae:
nos, ubi decidimus,
quo pater Aeneas, quo Tullus dives et Ancus,
pulvis et umbra sumus.
quis scit an adiciant hodiernae crastina summae
tempora di superi?
cuncta manus avidas fugient heredis, amico
quae dederis animo.
cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos
fecerit arbitria,
non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te
restituet pietas :
infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum
liberat Hippolytum,
nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro
vincula Pirithoo.
VIII
Donarem pateras grataque commodus,
Censorine, meis aera sodalibus,
donarem tripodas, praemia fortium
Graiorum, neque tu pessima munerum
ferres, divite me scilicet artium,
15
20
25
5
quas aut Parrhasius protulit aut Scopas,
hic saxo, liquidis ille coloribus
sollers nunc hominem ponere, nunc deum.
sed non haec mihi vis, non tibi talium
res est aut animus deliciarum egens.
gaudes carminibus; carmina possumus
donare et pretium dicere muneri.
non incisa nams marmora publicis,
per quae spiritus et vita redit bonis
post mortem ducibus, non celeres fugae
reiectaeque retrorsum Hannibalis minae,
† non incendia Karthaginis inpiae
gius, qui domita nomen ab Africa
lucratus rediit, clarius indicant
laudes, quam Calabrae Pierides; neque,
si chartae sileant quod bene feceris,
mercedem tuleris. quid foret Iliae
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CARMINUM LIB. IV
75

Mavortisque puer, si taciturnitas
obstaret meritis invida Ròmuli?
ereptum Stygiis fluctibus Aeacum
virtus et favor et lingua potentium
vatum divitibus consecrat insulis.
dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori ;
caelo Musa beat: sic Iovis interest
optatis epulis inpiger Hercules,
clarum Tyndaridae sidus ab infimis
quassas eripiunt aequoribus rates,
ornatus viridi tempora pampino
Liber vota bonos ducit ad exitus.
IX
3
Ne forte credas interitura, quae
longe sonantem natus ad Anfidum
non ante vulgatas per artes
verba loquor socianda chordis :
non, si priores Maeonius tenet
sedes Homerus, Pindaricae latent
Ceaeque et Alcaei minaces
Stesichorique graves Canenae;
nec, si quid olim lusit Anacreon,
delevit aetas; spirat adhuc amor
vivuntque commissi calores
Aeoliae fidibus puellae.
non sela comptos arsit adulteri
crines et aurum vestibus inlitum
mirata regalesque cultus
et comites Helene Facaena
primusve Teucer tela Cydoneo
derexit arcu; non semel Ilios
vexata; non pugnavit ingens
Idomeneus Sthenelusve solus
dicenda Musis proelia; non ferox
Hector vel acer Deiphobus graves
excepit ictus pro pudicis
coniugibus puerisque primus.
vixere fortes ante Agamemnona
multi; sed omnes inlacrimabiles
urguentur ignotique longa
nocte, carent quia vate sacro.
25

30

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IO

15
20
25
76
Q. HORATI FLACCI

4
6
3
5.
"
paulum şepultae distat inertiae
celata virtus. non ego te meis
chartis inornatum sileri
totve tuos patiar labores
inpune, Lelli, carpere lividas
obliviones. est animus tibi
rerumque prudens et secundis
temporibus dubiisque rectus,
vindex avarae fraudis et abstinens
ducentis ad se cuncta pecuniae,
consulque non unius anni.
sed quotiens bonus atque fidus
iudex honestum praetulit utili,
reiecit alto dona nocentium
vultu, per obstantes catervas
explicuit sua victor arma.
non possidentem multa vocaveris
recte beatum; rectius occupat
nomen beati, qui deorum
muneribus sapienter ti
duramque caflet pauperiem pati
peiusque leto flagitium timet,
non ille pro caris amicis
aut patria timidus perire.
X
O crudelis adhuc et Veneris muneribus potens,
insperata tuae cum veniet pluma superbiae
et, quae nunc umeris involitant, deciderint comae,
nunc et qui color est puniceae flore prior rosae,
mutatus, Ligurine, in faciem verterit hispidam,
dices 'heu' quotiens te speculo videris alterum,
quae mens est hodie, cur eadem non puero fuit,
vel cur his animis incolumes non redeunt genae?'
XXI
Est mihi nonum superantis annum
plenus Albani cadus; est in horto,
Phylli, nectendis apium coronis
est hederae vis
30

35
40


45
50
5
CARMINUM LIB. IV
77
multa, qua crines religata fulges;
ridet argento domus; ara castis
vincta verbenis avet inmolato
spargier agno;
cuncta festinat manus, huc et illuc
cursitant mixtae pueris puellae ;
sordidum flammae trepidant rotantes
vertice fumum.
ut tamen noris quibus advoceris
gaudijs: Idus tibi sunt agendae,
qui dies mensem Veneris marinae
findit Aprilem,
iure sollemnis mihi sanctiorque
paene natali proprio, quod ex hac
luce Maecenas meus adfluentes
ordinat annos.
Telephum, quem tu petis, occupavit
non tuae sortis iuvenem puella
dives et lasciva tenetque grata
compede vinctum.
terret ambustus Phaethon avaras
spes, et exemplum grave praebet ales
Pegasus terrenum equitem gravatus
Bellerophontem,
6
semper ut te digna sequare et ultra
quam licet sperare nefas putando
disparem vites.
finis amorum—
age iam, meorum
non enim posthac alia calebo
femina condisce modos, amanda
voce quos reddas: minuentur atrae
carmine curae.
3
XII
mare temperant,
Iam veris comites, quae
inpeilunt animae lintea Thraciae;
iam nec prata rigent, nec fluvii strepunt
hiberna nive turgidi.
nidum ponit Ityn flebiliter gemens
infelix avis et Cecropiae domus
aeternum opprobrium, quod male barbaras
regum est ulta libidines.
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20
25


30
35

5
78
Q. HORATI FLACCI
4

dicunt in tenero gramine pinguium
custodes ovium carmina fistula
delectantque deum, cui pecus et nigri
colles Arcadiae placent.
adduxere sitim tempora, Vergili :
sed pressum Calibus ducere Liberum
şi gestis, iuvenum nobilium cliens,
nardo vina merebere.
nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum,
qui nunc Sulpiciis accubat horreis,
spes donare novas largus amaraque
curarum eluere efficax.
ad quae si properas gaudia, cum tua
velox merce veni: non ego te meis
inmunem meditor tinguere poculis,
plena dives ut in domo.
verum pone moras et studium lucri,
nigrorumque memor, dum licet, ignium
misce stultitiam consiliis brevem:
dulce est desipere in loco.
proverts
XIII
Audivere, Lyce, di mea vota, di
audivere, Lyce: fis anus, et tamen
vis formosa videri,
ludisque et bibis inpudens,
et cantu tremulo pota Cupidinem
lentum sollicitas. ille virentis et
doctae psallere Chiae
pulchris excubat in genis.
inportunus enim transvolat aridas
quercus et refugit te quia luridi
dentes, te quia rugae
turpant et capitis nives.
nec Coae referunt iam tibi purpurae
nec clari lapides tempora, quae semel
notis condita fastis
inclusit volucris dies.
quo fugit venus, heu, quove color? decens
quo motus? quid habes illius, illius,
quae spirabat amores,
quae me surpuerat mihi,
10
15

20
25

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CARMINUM LIB. IV
79
·
felix post Cinaram, notaque et artium
gratarum facies? sed Cinarae breves
annos fata dederunt,
servatura diu parem
cornicis vetulae temporibus Lycen,
possent ut iuvenes visere fervidi
multo non sine risu
dilapsam in cineres facem.
XXIV In Lonse
Quae cura patrum quaeve Quiritium
plenis honorum muneribus tuas,
Auguste, virtutes in aevum
per titulos memoresque fastus
aeternet, o qua sol habitabiles
inlustrat oras, maxime principum?
quem legis expertes Latinae
Vindelici didicere nuper,
quid Marte posses. milite nam tuo
Drusus Genaunos, inplacidum genus,
Brennosque veloces et arces
Alpibus inpositas tremendis
deiecit acer plus vice simplici;
maior Neronum mox grave proelium
commisit inmanesque Raetos
auspiciis pepulit secundis,
spectandus in certamine martio,
devota morti pectora liberae
quantis fatigaret ruinis,
indomitas prope qualis undas
exercet Auster, Pleiadum choro
scindente nubes, inpiger hostium
vexare turmas et frementem
25
of Liberias.

mittere equum medios per ignes.
sic tauriformis volvitur Aufidus,
qui regna Dauni praefluit Apuli,
cum saevit horrendamque cultis
diluviem meditatur agris,
ut barbarorum Claudius agmina
ferrata vasto diruit inpetu,
primosque et extremos metendo
stravit humum, sine clade victor,
5
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20
25
30
•
80
Q. HORATI FLACCI
te copias, te consilium et tuos
praebente divos. nam tibi, quo die
portus Alexandrea supplex
et vacuam patefecit aulam,
Fortuna lustro prospera tertio
belli secundos reddidit exitus,
laudemque et optatum peractis
imperiis decus arrogavit.
35
40
te Cantaber non ante domabilis
Medusque et Indus, te profugus Scythes
miratur, o tutela praesens
Italiae dominaeque Romae.
te fontium qui celat origines
45
Nilusque et Hister, te rapidus Tigris,
te beluosus qui remotis
obstrepit Oceanus Britannis,
te non paventis funera Galliae
duraeque tellus audit Hiberiae,
te caede gaudentes Sygambri
compositis venerantur armis.

XV
Phoebus volentem proelia me loqui
victas et urbes increpuit lyra,
ne parva Tyrrhenum per aequor
vela darem. tua, Caesar, aetas
fruges et agris rettulit uberes,
et signa nostro restituit Iovi
derepta Parthorum superbis
postibus, et vacuum duellis
Ianum Quirini clausit et ordinem
rectum evaganti frena licentiae
iniecit emovitque culpas
et veteres revocavit artes,
per quas Latinum nomen et Italae
crevere vires famaque et imperi
porrecta maiestas ad ortus
solis ab Hesperio cubili.
custode rerum Caesare non furor
civilis aut vis exiget otium,
non ira, quae procudit enses
et miseras inimicat urbes.
50
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20
CARMINUM LIB. IV
81
•
non qui profundum Danuvium bibunt
edicta rumpent Iulia, non Getae,
non Seres infidive Persae,
non Tanain prope flumen orti.
nosque et profestis lucibus et sacris
inter iocosi munera Liberi,
cum prole matronisque nostris
rite deos prius adprecati,
virtute functos more patrum duces
Lydis remixto carmine tibiis
Troiamque et Anchisen et almae
progeniem Veneris canemus.

G
30
25
EPODI
I
IBIS Liburnis inter alta navium,
amice, propugnacula,
paratus omne Caesaris periculum
subire, Maecenas, tuo.
quid nos, quibus te vita si superstite
iucunda, si contra, gravis?
utrumne iussi persequemur otium
non dulce, ni tecum simul,
an hunc laborem, mente laturi decet
qua ferre non molles viros ?
feremus, et te vel per Alpium iuga
inhospitalem et Caucasum,
vel Occidentis usque ad ultimum sinum
forti sequemur pectore.
roges, tuum labore quid iuvem meo
inbellis ac firmus parum ?
comes minore sum futurus in metu,
qui maior absentes habet;
ut adsidens inplumibus pullis avis
serpentium adlapsus timet
magis relictis, non, ut adsit, auxili
latura plus praesentibus.
libenter hoc et omne militabitur
bellum in tuae spem gratiae,
non ut iuvencis inligata pluribus
aratra nitantur meis
5
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25
pecusve Calabris ante sidus fervidum
Lucana mutet pascuis,
nec ut superni villa candens Tusculi
Circaea tangat moenia.
satis superque me benignitas tua
ditavit: haud paravero
quod aut avarus ut Chremes terra premam,
discinctus aut perdam ut nepos.
30
EPODI
83
II
music timeli.
dimeter.
Beatus ille qui procul negotiis,
ut prisca gens mortalium,
paterna rura bobus exercet suis
solutus omni faenore,
neque excitatur classico miles truci
nec horret iratum mare,
forumque vitat et superba civium
potentiorum limina,
ergo aut adulta vitium propagine
altas maritat populos,
aut in reducta valle mugientium
prospectat errantes greges,
inutilesque falce ramos amputans
feliciores inserit,
aut pressa puris mella condit amphoris,
aut tondet infirmas oves;
vel cum decorum mitibus pomis caput
Autumnus agris extulit,
ut gaudet insitiva decerpens pira
certantem et uvam purpurae,
qua muneretur te, Priape, et te, pater
Silvane, tutor finium.
libet iacere modo sub antiqua ilice,
modo in tenaci gramine.
labuntur altis interim ripis aquae,
queruntur in silvis aves,
fontesque lymphis obstrepunt manantibus,
somnos quod invitet leves.
at cum tonantis annus hibernus Iovis
5
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20
25
imbres nivesque comparat,
30
aut trudit acres hinc et hinc multa cane
apros in obstantes plagas,
aut amite levi rara tendit retia,
turdis, edacibus dolos,
pavidumque leporem et advenam laqueo gruem
iucunda captat praemia.
quis non malarum, quas amor curas habet,
haec inter obliviscitur?
quodsi pudica mulier in partem iuvet
domum atque dulces liberos,
35
40
84
Q. HORATI FLACCI
Sabina qualis aut perusta solibus
pernicis uxor Apuli,
sacrum vetustis exstruat lignis focum
lassi sub adventum viri,
claudensque textis cratibus laetum pecus
distenta siccet ubera,
et horna dulci vina promens dolio
dapes inemptas apparet :
non me Lucrina iuverint conchylia
magisve rhombus aut scari,
45
50
si quos Eois intonata fluctibus
hiemps ad hoc vertat mare;
non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum,
non attagen Ionicus
iucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis
55
oliva ramis arborum,
aut herba lapathi prata amantis et gravi
malvae salubres corpori,
vel agna festis caesa Terminalibus
vel haedus ereptus lupo.
60
has inter epulas ut iuvat pastas oves
videre properantes domum,
videre fessos vomerem inversum boves
collo trahentes languido,
postosque vernas, ditis examen domus,
circum renidentes Lares.'
65
haec ubi locutus faenerator Alfius,
iam iam futurus rusticus,
omnem redegit Idibus pecuniam,
quaerit Kalendis ponere.
III
Parentis olim si quis inpia manu
senile guttur fregerit,
edit cicutis alium nocentius.
o dura messorum ilia!
70
quid hoc veneni saevit in praecordiis?
5
num viperinus his cruor
incoctus herbis me fefellit, an malas
Canidia tractavit dapes?
EPODI
85
ut Argonautas praeter omnes candidum
Medea mirata est ducem,
ignota tauris inligaturum iuga
perunxit hoc Iasonem ;
hoc delibutis ulta donis paelicem
serpente fugit alite.
nec tantus umquam siderum insedit vapor
siticulosae Apuliae,
nec munus umeris efficacis Herculis
inarsit aestuosius.
at si quid umquam tale concupiveris,
iocose Maecenas, precor
manum puella savio opponat tuo,
extrema et in sponda cubet.
IV
Lupis et agnis quanta sortito obtigit,
tecum mihi discordia est,
Hibericis peruste funibus latus
et crura dura compede.
licet superbus ambules pecunia,
fortuna non mutat genus.
videsne, Sacram metiente te viam
cum bis trium ulnarum toga,
ut ora vertat huc et huc euntium
liberrima indignatio?
'sectus flagellis hic triumviralibus
praeconis ad fastidium
arat Falerni mille fundi iugera
et Appiam mannis terit
sedilibusque magnus in primis eques
Othone contempto sedet.
quid attinet tot ora navium gravi
rostrata duci pondere
contra latrones atque servilem manum,
hoc, hoc tribuno militum ?'
V
'At o deorum quidquid in caelo regit
terras et humanum genus,
quid iste fert tumultus, et quid omnium
vultus in unum me truces ?
ΙΟ
15
20
5
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15
20
86
Q. HORATI FLACCI
per liberos te, si vocata partubus
Lucina veris adfuit,
per hoc inane purpurae decus precor,
per inprobaturum haec Iovem,
quid ut noverca me intueris aut uti
petita ferro belua?'
ut haec trementi questus ore constitit
insignibus raptis puer,
inpube corpus, quale posset inpia
mollire Thracum pectora,
Canidia, brevibus inplicata viperis
crines et incomptum caput,
iubet sepulchris caprificos erutas,
iubet cupressos funebres
et uncta turpis ova ranae sanguine
plumamque nocturnae strigis
herbasque, quas Iolcos atque Hiberia
mittit venenorum ferax,
et ossa ab ore rapta ieiunae canis
flammis aduri Colchicis.
at expedita Sagana per totam domum
spargens Avernales aquas
horret capillis ut marinus asperis
echinus aut currens aper.
abacta nulla Veia conscientia
ligonibus duris humum
5
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20
25
30
exhauriebat ingemens laboribus,
quo posset infossus puer
longo die bis terque mutatae dapis
inemori spectaculo,
cum promineret ore, quantum exstant aqua
35
suspensa mento corpora :
exsecta uti medulla et aridum iecur
amoris esset poculum,
interminato cum semel fixae cibo
intabuissent pupulae.
non defuisse masculae libidinis
Ariminensem Foliam
et otiosa credidit Neapolis
et omne vicinum oppidum,
quae sidera excantata voce Thessala
lunamque caelo deripit.
40
45
EPODI
87
hic inresectum saeva dente livido
Canidia rodens pollicem
quid dixit aut quid tacuit? 'o rebus meis
non infideles arbitrae,
Nox et Diana, quae silentium regis,
arcana cum fiunt sacra,
nunc, nunc adeste, nunc in hostiles domos
iram atque numen vertite.
formidolosis cum latent silvis ferae
dulci sopore languidae,
senem, quod omnes rideant, adulterum
latrent Suburanae canes
nardo perunctum, quale non perfectius
meae laborarint manus.
50
55
60
quid accidit? cur dira barbarae minus
venena Medeae valent,
quibus superbam fugit ulta paelicem,
magni Creontis filiam,
cum palla, tabo munus inbutum, novam
incendio nuptam abstulit?
65
atqui nec herba nec latens in asperis
radix fefellit me locis.
indormit unctis omnium cubilibus
oblivione paelicum.
a, a, solutus ambulat veneficae
scientioris carmine.
non usitatis, Vare, potionibus,
o multa fleturum caput,
ad me recurres, nec vocata mens tua
Marsis redibit vocibus.
maius parabo, maius infundam tibi
fastidienti poculum,
priusque caelum sidet inferius mari
tellure porrecta super,
quam non amore sic meo flagres uti
bitumen atris ignibus.'
sub haec puer iam non, ut ante, mollibus
lenire verbis inpias,
sed dubius unde rumperet silentium,
misit Thyesteas preces :
' venena magnum fas nefasque non valent
convertere humanam vicem.
70
75
80
85
+
88
Q. HORATI FLACCI
diris agam vos; dira detestatio
nulla expiatur victima.
quin, ubi perire iussus exspiravero,
nocturnus occurram furor,
petamque vultus umbra curvis unguibus,
quae vis deorum est Manium,
et inquietis adsidens praecordiis
pavore somnos auferam.
vos turba vicatim hinc et hinc saxis petens
contundet obscenas anus;
post insepulta membra different lupi
et Esquilinae alites,
neque hoc parentes, heu mihi superstites,
effugerit spectaculum.'
VI
Quid inmerentes.hospites vexas canis
ignavus adversum lupos ?
quin huc inanes, si potes, vertis minas
et me remorsurum petis?
nam qualis aut Molossus aut fulvus Lacon,
amica vis pastoribus,
agam per altas aure sublata nives,
quaecumque praecedet fera ;
tu cum timenda voce complesti nemus,
proiectum. odoraris cibum.
cave, cave: namque in malos asperrimus
parata tollo cornua,
qualis Lycambae spretus infido gener
aut acer hostis Bupalo.
an si quis atro dente me petiverit,
inultus ut flebo puer?
VII
Quo, quo scelesti ruitis? aut cur dexteris
aptantur enses conditi?
parumne campis atque Neptuno super
fusum est Latini sanguinis,
non ut superbas invidae Karthaginis
Romanus arces ureret,
intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet
Sacra catenatus via,
90
95
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5
EPODI
89
sed ut secundum vota Parthorum sua
urbs haec periret dextera?
neque hic lupis mos nec fuit leonibus,
umquam nisi in dispar feris.
furorne caecus an rapit vis acrior
an culpa? responsum date.
tacent, et ora pallor albus inficit
mentesque perculsae stupent.
sic est: acerba fata Romanos agunt
scelusque fraternae necis,
ut inmerentis fluxit in terram Remi
sacer nepotibus cruor.
IX
Quando repostum Caecubum ad festas dapes
victore laetus Caesare
tecum sub alta―sic Iovi gratum-domo,
beate Maecenas, bibam,
sonante mixtum tibiis carmen lyra,
hac Dorium, illis barbarum?
ut nuper, actus cum freto Neptunius
dux fugit ustis navibus,
minatus urbi vincla, quae detraxerat
servis amicus perfidis.
Romanus eheu-posteri negabitis !—
emancipatus feminae
fert vallum et arma, miles et spadonibus
servire rugosis potest,
interque signa turpe militaria
sol aspicit conopium.
† at huc frementes verterunt bis mille equos
Galli canentes Caesarem,
hostiliumque navium portu latent
puppes sinistrorsum citae.
io Triumphe, tu moraris aureos
currus et intactas boves?
io Triumphe, nec Iugurthino parem
bello reportasti ducem,
neque Africanum, cui super Karthaginem
virtus sepulchrum condidit.
terra marique victus hostis punico
lugubre mutavit sagum.
ΙΟ
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
aut ille centum nobilem Cretam urbibus
ventis iturus non suis,
exercitatas aut petit Syrtes Noto,
aut fertur incerto mari.
capaciores affer huc, puer, scyphos
et Chia vina aut Lesbia
vel, quod fluentem nauseam coerceat,
metire nobis Caecubum.
curam metumque Caesaris rerum iuvat
dulci Lyaeo solvere.
X
Mala soluta navis exit alite
ferens olentem Maevium:
ut horridis utrumque verberes latus,
Auster, memento fluctibus ;
niger rudentes Eurus inverso mari
fractosque remos differat;
insurgat Aquilo, quantus altis montibus
frangit trementes ilices;
nec sidus atra nocte amicum appareat,
qua tristis Orion cadit
quietiore nec feratur aequore,
quam Graia victorum manus,
cum Pallas usto vertit iram ab Ilio
in inpiam Aiacis ratem.
o quantus instat navitis sudor tuis
tibique pallor luteus,
et illa non virilis heiulatio,
preces et aversum ad Iovem,
Ionius udo cum remugiens sinus
Noto carinam ruperit.
opima quodsi praeda curvo litore
porrecta mergos iuveris,
libidinosus inmolabitur caper
et agna Tempestatibus.
XIII
Horrida tempestas caelum contraxit et imbres
nivesque deducunt Iovem: nunc mare, nunc siluae
Threicio Aquilone sonant: rapiamus amici
occasionem de die, dumque virent genua
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et decet, obducta solvatur fronte senectus.
tu vina Torquato move consule pressa meo;
cetera mitte loqui: deus haec fortasse benigna
reducet in sedem vice. nunc et Achaemenio
perfundi nardo iuvat et fide Cyllenea
levare diris pectora sollicitudinibus,
nobilis ut grandi cecinit Centaurus alumno :
'invicte mortalis dea nate puer Thetide,
te manet Assaraci tellus, quam frigida parvi
findunt Scamandri flumina, lubricus et Simois ;
unde tibi reditum certo subtegmine Parcae
rupere nec mater domum caerula te revehet.
illic omne malum vino cantuque levato,
deformis aegrimoniae dulcibus alloquiis.'
XIV
Mollis inertia cur tantam diffuderit imis
oblivionem sensibus,
pocula Lethaeos ut si ducentia somnos
arente fauce traxerim,
candide Maecenas, occidis saepe rogando:
deus, deus nam me vetat
inceptos, olim promissum carmen, iambos
ad umbilicum adducere.
non aliter Samio dicunt arsisse Bathyllo
Anacreonta Teium,
qui persaepe cava testudine flevit amorem
non elaboratum ad pedem.
ureris ipse miser; quodsi non pulchrior ignis
accendit obsessam Ilion,
gaude sorte tua me libertina nec uno
contenta Phryne macérat,
XV
Pythiambil
Nox erat et caelo fulgebat luna sereno
inter minora sidera,
&
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dactylie hexameter
iaufbie dimeter.
cum tu, magnorum numen laesura deorum,
in verba iurabas mea,

artius atque hedera procera adstringitur ilex
lentis adhaerens bracchiis,
dum pecori lupus et nautis infestus Orion
turbaret hibernum mare
5
92
Q. HORATI FLACCI
intonsosque agitaret Apollinis aura capillos,
fore hunc amorem mutuum.
o dolitura mea multum virtute Neaera!
nam si quid in Flacco viri est,
non feret adsiduas potiori te dare noctes
et quaeret iratus parem,
nec semel offensae cedet constantia formae,
si certus intrarit dolor.
et tu, quicumque es felicior atque meo nunc
superbus incedis malo.
A
sis pecore et multa dives tellure licebit
tibique Pactolus fluat
nec te Pythagorae fallant arcana renati
formaque vincas Nirea,
eheu, translatos alio maerebis amores:
ast ego vicissim risero.
XVI
Altera iam teritur bellis civilibus aetas,
suis et ipsa Roma viribus ruit.
quam neque finitimi valuerunt perdere Marsi,
minacis aut Etrusca Porsenae manus,
aemula nec virtus Capuae nec Spartacus acer
novisque rebus infidelis Allobrox,
nec fera caerulea domuit Germania pube
parentibusque abominatus Hannibal:
inpia, perdemus devoti sanguinis aetas,
ferisque rursus occupabitur solum.
barbarus heu cineres insistet victor, et urbem
eques sonante verberabit ungula,
quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini,
nefas videre! dissipabit insolens.
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forte quid expediat communiter aut melior pars
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malis carere quaérītis laboribus :
nulla sit hac potior sententia: Phocaeorum
velut profugit exsecrata civitas
agros atque Lares patrios habitandaque fana
apris reliquit et rapacibus lupis,
ire, pedes quocumque ferent, quocumque per undas
Notus vocabit aut protervus Africus,
sic placet? an melius quis habet suadere? secunda
ratem occupare quid moramur alite?
20
EPODI
93
sed iuremus in haec: simul imis saxa renarint
vadis levata, ne redire sit nefas;
neu conversa domum pigeat dare lintea, quando
Padus Matina laverit cacumina,
in mare seu celsus procurrerit Appenninus,
novaque monstra iunxerit libidine
mirus amor, iuvet ut tigris subsidere cervis,
adulteretur et columba miluo,
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credula nec ravos timeant armenta leones,
ametque salsa levis hircus aequora.
haec et quae poterunt reditus abscindere dulces
eamus omnis exsecrata civitas,
35
aut pars indocili melior grege; mollis et exspes

inominata perpremat cubilia.
vos, quibus est virtus, muliebrem tollite luctum,
Etrusca praeter et volate litora.
nos manet Oceanus circumvagus: arva, beata
petamus arva divites et insulas,
reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis
et inputata floret usque vinea,
germinat et numquam fallentis termes olivae
suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem,
mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis
levis crepante lympha desilit pede.
illic iniussae veniunt ad mulctra capellae,
refertque tenta grex amicus ubera ;
nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile,
neque intumescit alta viperis humus.
pluraque felices mirabimur, ut neque largis
aquosus Eurus arva radat imbribus,
pinguia nec siccis urantur semina glaebis,
utrumque rege temperante caelitum.
non hunc Argoo contendit remige pinus
neque inpudica Colchis intulit pedem ;
non huc Sidonii torserunt cornua nautae,
laboriosa nec cohors Ulixei;
nulla nocent pecori contagia, nullius astri
gregem aestuosa torret inpotentia.
Iuppiter illa piae secrevit litora genti,
ut inquinavit aere tempus aureum ;
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aere, dehinc ferro duravit saecula, quorum
piis secunda vate me datur fuga.
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94
Q. HORATI FLACCI
XVII
Iam iam efficaci do manus scientiae,
supplex et oro regna per Proserpinae,
per et Dianae non movenda numina,
per atque libros carminum valentium
refixa caelo devocare sidera,
Canidia, parce vocibus tandem sacris
citumque retro solve, solve turbinem.
movit nepotem Telephus Nereium,
in quem superbus ordinarat agmina
Mysorum et in quem tela acuta torserat.
unxere matres Iliae addictum feris
alitibus atque canibus homicidam Hectorem,
postquam relictis moenibus rex procidit
heu pervicacis ad pedes Achillei.
saetosa duris exuere pellibus
laboriosi remiges Ulixei
volente Circa membra; tunc mens et sonus
relapsus atque notus in vultus honor.
dedi satis superque poenarum tibi,
amata nautis multum et institoribus.
fugit iuventas, et verecundus color
reliquit ossa pelle amicta lurida ;
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tuis capillus albus est odoribus;
nullum ab labore me reclinat otium;
urguet diem nox et dies noctem, neque est
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levare tenta spiritu praecordia.
ergo negatum vincor ut credam miser
Sabella pectus increpare carmina
caputque Marsa dissilire nenia.
quid amplius vis ? o mare et terra, ardeo
quantum neque atro delibutus Hercules
Nessi cruore, nec Sicana fervida
virens in Aetna flamma. tu, donec cinis
iniuriosis aridus ventis ferar,
cales venenis officina Colchicis.
quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?
effare: iussas cum fide poenas luam,
paratus expiare, seu poposceris
centum iuvencos, sive mendaci lyra
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EPODI
95
voles sonari, tu 'pudica,' tu 'proba'
perambulabis astra sidus aureum.
infamis Helenae Castor offensus vice
fraterque magni Castoris, victi prece,
adempta vati reddidere lumina :
et tu-potes nam-solve me dementia,
o nec paternis obsoleta sordibus,
nec in sepulchris pauperum prudens anus
novendiales dissipare pulveres.
tibi hospitale pectus et purae manus,
tuusque venter Pactumeius, et tuo
cruore rubros obstetrix pannos lavit,
utcumque fortis exsilis puerpera.
'quid obseratis auribus fundis preces ?
non saxa nudis surdiora navitis
Neptunus alto tundit hibernus salo.
inultus ut tu riseris Cotyttia
vulgata, sacrum liberi Cupidinis,
et Esquilini pontifex venefici
inpune et urbem nomine inpleris meo?
quid proderat ditasse Paelignas anus
velociusve miscuisse toxicum ?
sed tardiora fata te votis manent :
ingrata misero vita ducenda est in hoc,
novis ut usque suppetas doloribus.
optat quietem Pelopis infidi pater,
egens benignae Tantalus semper dapis,
optat Prometheus obligatus aliti,
optat supremo collocare Sisyphus
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in monte saxum; sed vetant leges Iovis.
voles modo altis desilire turribus,
70
modo ense pectus Norico recludere,
frustraque vincla gutturi nectes tuo
fastidiosa tristis aegrimonia.
vectabor umeris tunc ego inimicis eques,
meaeque terra cedet insolentiae.
75
an quae movere cereas imagines,
ut ipse nosti curiosus, et polo
deripere lunam vocibus possim meis,
possim crematos excitare mortuos
desiderique temperare poculum,
plorem artis in te nil agentis exitus?'
80
८.
CARMEN SAECULARE
PHOEBE silvarumque potens Diana,
lucidum caeli decus, o colendi
semper et culti, date quae precamur
tempore sacro,
quo Sibyllini monuere versus
virgines lectas puerosque castos
dis, quibus septem placuere colles,
dicere carmen.
alme Sol, curru nitido diem qui
promis et celas, aliusque et idem
nasceris, possis nihil urbe Roma
visere maius.
rite mafaros aperire partus
lenis, Hithyia, tuere matres,
sive tu Lucina probas vocari
seu Genitalis :
diva, producas subolem, patrumque
prosperes decreta super iugandis
feminis prolisque novae feraci
lege marita
certus undenos deciens per annos
orbis ut cantus referatque ludos
ter die claro totiensque grata
nocte frequentes.
vosque veraces cecinisse, Parcae,
quod semel dictum est stabilisque rerum
terminus servet, bona iam peractis
iungite fata.
fertilis frugum pecorisque tellus
spicea donet Cererem corona;
nutriant fetus et aquae salubres
et Iovis aurae.
condito mitis placidusque telo
supplices audi pueros, Apollo;
siderum regina bicornis, audi,
Luna, puellas.
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2
CARMEN SAECULARE
5
4 3
Roma si vestrum est opus Iliaeque
litus Etruscum tenuere turmae,
iussa pars mutare Lares et urbem
sospite cursu,
cui per ardentem sine fraude Troiam
castus Aeneas patriae superstes
liberum munivit iter, daturus
plura relictis:
di, probos mores docili iuventae,
di, senectuti placidae quietem,
Romulae genti date remque prolemque
et decus omne;
quaeque vos bobus veneratur albis
clarus Anchisae Venerisque sanguis,
inpetret, bellante prior, iacentem
lenis in hostem.
iam mari terraque manus potentes
Medus Albanasque timet secures ;
iam Scythae responsa petunt superbi
nuper et Indi.
iam fides et pax et honor pudorque
priscus et neclecta redire virtus
audet, apparetque beata pleno
copia cornu.
augur et fulgente decorus arcu
Phoebus acceptusque novem Camenis,
qui salutari Tevat arte fessos
corporis artus,
si Palatinas videt aequus arces,
remque Romanam Latiumque felix
alterum in lustrum meliusque semper
prorogat aevum.
quaeque Aventinum tenet Álgidumque,
quindecim Diana preces virorum
curat et votis puerorum amicas
applicat aures
,
bec Iovem sentire déosque cunctos
speth bonam ceflamque donum reporto,
doctus et Phoebi chorus et Dianae
dicere laudes.
97

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4
SERMONUM
Satires.
LIBER PRIMUS
kowisat

descontent
ence
I
Quofit, Maecenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem
seu ratio dederit seu fors obiecerit, illa
contentus vivat, laudet diversa sequentes?
'o fortunati mercatores!' gravis annis
miles ait multo iam fractus membra labore.
contra mercator, navem iactantibus Austris :
militia est potior. quid enim? concurritur; horae
momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.
agricolam laudat iuris legumque peritus,
şub galli cantum consultor ubi ostia pulsat.
ille datis vadibus qui rure extractus in urbem est,
solos felices viventes clamat in urbe.
cetera de genere hoc, adeo sunt multa, loquacem
delassare valent Fabium. ne te morer, audi
quo rem deducam. si quis deus 'en ego' dicat,
'iam faciam quod vultis: eris tu, qui modo miles,
mercator; tu, consultus modo, rusticus: hinc vos,
vos hinc mutatis discedite partibus. heia!
quid statis?' nolint. atqui licet esse beatis.
quid causae est, merito quin illis Iuppiter ambas
iratus buccas inflet neque se fore posthac
tam facilem dicat, votis ut praebeat aurem ?
praeterea, ne sic, ut qui iocularia, ridens
percurram,—quamquam ridentem dicere verum
quid vetat? ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi
doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima;
sed tamen amoto quaeramus seria ludo-
ille gravem duro terram qui vertit aratro,
perfidus hic caupo, miles nautaeque per omne
audaces mare qui currunt, hac mente laborem
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SERMONUM LIB. I. 1
99
sese ferre, senes ut in otia tuta recedant,
aiunt, cum sibi sint congesta cibaria: sicut
parvula—nam exemplo est-magni formica laborie-
ore trahit quodcumque potest atque addit acervo
quem struit, haud ignara ac non incauta futuri.
quae, simul inversum contristat Aquarius annum,
non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante
quaesitis sapiens, cum te neque fervidus aestus
demoveat lucro, neque hiemps, ignis, mare, ferrum,
nil obstet tibi, dum ne sit te ditior alter.
35
40

quid iuvat inmensum te argenti pondus et auri
furtim defossa timidum deponere terra?
quod si comminuas, vilem redigatur ad assem.'
at, ni id fit, quid habet pulchri constructus acervus ?
milia frumenti tua triverit area centum,
45
non tuus hoc capiet venter plus ac meus; ut si
reticulum panis venales inter onusto
forte vehas umero, nihilo plus accipias quam
qui nil portarit. vel dic, quid referat intra
naturae fines viventi, iugera centum an
50
mille aret? 'at suave est ex magno tollere acervo.'
11
dum ex parvo nobis tantundem haurire relinquas,
cur tua plus laudes cumeris granaria nostris ?
ut tibi si sit opus liquidi non amplius urna
vel cyatho, et dicas, magno de flumine mallemi
quam ex hoc fonticulo tantundem sumere, eo fit,
plenior ut si quos delectet copia iusto,

55
cum ripa simul avulsos ferat Aufidus acer.
at qui tantuli eget, quanto est opus, is neque limo
turbatam haurit aquam neque vitam amittit in undis.
at bona pars hominum decepta cupidine falso
60
'nil satis est,' inquit, 'quia tanti quantum habeas sis.'
quid facias illi? iubeas miserum esse, libenter
quatenus id facit: ut quidam memoratur Athenis
sordidus ac dives, populi contemnere voces
sic solitus: 'populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo
ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca.'
Tantalus a labris sitiens fugientia captat
flumina quid rides? mutato nomine de te
fabula narratur: congestis undique saccis
indormis inhians, et tamquam parcere sacris
cogeris aut pictis tamquam gaudere tabellis.

65

70
100
Q. HORATI FLACCI
learn
nescis quo valeat nummus, quem praebeat usum ?
panis ematur, holus, vini sextarius, adde
quis humana sibi doleat natura negatis.
an vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque
formidare malos fures, incendia, servos,
ne te compilent fugientes, hoc iuvat? horum
semper ego optarim pauperrimus esse bonorum,
'at si condoluit temptatum frigore corpus
aut alius casus lecto te adfixit, habes qui
adsideat, fomenta paret, medicum roget, ut te
suscitet ac natis reddat carisque propinquis.'
non uxor salvum te vult, non filius; omnes
vicini oderunt, noti, pueri atque puellae.
miraris, cum tu argento post omnia ponas,
si nemo praestet,quem non merearis amorem ?
at si cognatos, nullo natura labore
quos tibi dat, retinere velis servareque amicos,
infelix operam perdas, ut si quis asellum
in campo doceat parentem currere frenis.
denique sit finis quaerendi, cumque habeas plus,
pauperiem metuas minus et finire laborem
incipias, parto quod avebas, ne facias quod
Ummidius, qui tam, non longa est fabula, dives
ut metiretur nummos, ita sordidus ut se
non umquam servo melius vestiret, ad usque
supremum tempus, ne se penuria victus
opprimeret, metuebat. at hunc liberta securi
divisit medium, fortissima Tyndaridarum.
'quid mi igitur suades? ut vivam Maenius, aut sic
ut Nomentanus?' pergis pugnantia secum
frontibus adversis componere: non ego avarum
cum veto te, fieri vappam iubeo ac nebulonem.
est inter Tanain quiddam socerumque Viselli :
est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines,
quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum.
illuc unde abii redeo, quonemo,ut avarus,
se probet ac potius laudet diversa sequentes,
quodque aliena capella gerat distentius uber,
tabescat, neque se maiori pauperiorum
turbae comparet, hunc atque hunc superare laboret.
sic festinanti semper locupletior obstat,
ut, cum carceribus missos rapit ungula currus,
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85

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IIO

SERMONUM LIB. I. 3
101
instat equis auriga suos vincentibus, illum
praeteritum temnens extremos inter euntem.
inde fit ut raro, qui se vixisse beatum
dicat et exacto contentus tempore vita
cedat uti conviva satur, reperire queamus.
iam satis est: ne me Crispini scrinia lippi
compilasse putes, verbum non amplius addam.
II
Ambubaiarum collegia, pharmacopolae,
mendici, mimae, balatrones, hoc genus omne
maestum ac sollicitum est cantoris morte Tigelli:
quippe benignus erat. contra hic, ne prodigus esse
dicatur metuens, inopi dare nolit amico,
frigus quo duramque famem propellere possit.
hunc si perconteris, avi cur atque parentis
praeclaram ingrata stringat malus ingluvie rem,
omnia conductis coemens obsonia nummis,
sordidus atque animi quod parvi nolit haberi,
respondet. laudatur ab his, culpatur ab illis.
Fufidius vappae famam timet ac nebulonis
dives agris, dives positis in faenore nummis :
quinas hic capiti mercedes exsecat, atque
quanto perditior quisque est, tanto acrius urguet;
nomina sectatur, modo sumpta veste virili,
sub patribus duris tironum. 'maxime' quis non
Iuppiter!' exclamat, simul atque audivit? 'at in se
pro quaestu sumptum facit hic.' vix credere possis,
quam sibi non sit amicus, ita ut pater ille, Terenti
fabula quem miserum nato vixisse fugato
inducit, non se peius cruciaverit atque hic.
si quis nunc quaerat 'quo res haec pertinet?' illuc :
dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt.
III
Omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, inter amicos
ut numquam inducant animum cantare rogati,
iniussi numquam desistant. Sardus habebat
ille Tigellius hoc. Caesar, qui cogere posset,
si peteret per amicitiam patris atque suam, non
quicquam proficeret; si collibuisset, ab ovo
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102
Q. HORATI FLACCI
usque ad mala citaret 'io Bacchae' modo summa
voce, modo hac, resonat qua e chordis quattuor ima.
nil aequale homini fuit illi: saepe velut qui
currebat fugiens hostem, persaepe velut qui
Iunonis sacra ferret; habebat saepe ducentos,
saepe decem servos; modo reges atque tetrarchas,
omnia magna loquens, modo 'sit mihi mensa tripes et
concha salis puri et toga, quae defendere frigus
quamvis crassa queat.' deciens centena dedisses
huic parco, paucis contento, quinque diebus
nil erat in loculis. noctes vigilabat ad ipsum
mane, diem totum stertebat. nil fuit umquam
sic inpar sibi. nunc aliquis dicat mihi 'quid tu?
nullane habes vitia?' immo alia et fortasse minora.
Maenius absentem Novium cum carperet, 'heus tu'
quidam ait 'ignoras te, an ut ignotum dare nobis
verba putas?' 'egomet mi ignosco' Maenius inquit.
stultus et inprobus hic amor est dignusque notari.
cum tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis,
cur in amicorum vitiis tam cernis acutum,
quam aut aquila aut serpens Epidaurius? at tibi contra
evenit, inquirant vitia ut tua rursus et illi.
iracundior est paulo, minus aptus acutis
naribus horum hominum; rideri possit eo quod
rusticius tonso toga defluit et male laxus
in pede calceus haeret; at est bonus, ut melior vir
non alius quisquam, at tibi amicus, at ingenium ingens
inculto latet hoc sub corpore.
denique te ipsum
concute, num qua tibi vitiorum inseverit olim
natura aut etiam consuetudo mala; namque
neclectis urenda filix innascitur agris.
illuc praevertamur, amatorem quod amicae
turpia decipiunt caecum vitia, aut etiam ipsa haec
delectant, veluti Balbinum polypus Hagnae.
vellem in amicitia sic erraremus et isti
errori nomen virtus posuisset honestum.
at pater ut nati, sic nos debemus amici,
si quod sit vitium, non fastidire: strabonem
appellat paetum pater, et pullum, male parvus
si cui filius est, ut abortivus fuit olim
Sisyphus; hunc varum distortis cruribus, illum
balbutit scaurum pravis fultum male talis.
ΙΟ
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SERMONUM LIB. I. 3
103
parcius hic vivit: frugi dicatur.
ineptus
et iactantior hic paulo est: concinnus amicis
postulat ut videatur. at est truculentior atque
plus aequo liber: simplex fortisque habeatur.
caldior est acres inter numeretur.
opinor,
haec res et iungit, iunctos et servat amicos.
at nos virtutes ipsas invertimus atque
sincerum cupimus vas incrustare. probus quis
nobiscum vivit, multum demissus homo; illi
tardo cognomen pingui damus. hic fugit omnes
insidias nullique malo latus obdit apertum,
cum genus hoc inter vitae versetur, ubi acris
invidia atque vigent ubi crimina; pro bene sano
ac non incauto fictum astutumque vocamus.
simplicior quis et est, qualem me saepe libenter
obtulerim tibi, Maecenas, ut forte legentem
aut tacitum inpellat quovis sermone molestus;
' communi sensu plane caret' inquimus.
eheu,
quam temere in nosmet legem sancimus iniquam !
nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur; optimus ille est,
qui minimis urguetur. amicus dulcis, ut aequum est,
cum mea compenset vitiis bona, pluribus hisce,
si modo plura mihi bona sunt, inclinet, amari
si volet; hac lege in trutina ponetur eadem.
qui ne tuberibus propriis offendat amicum
postulat, ignoscet verrucis illius: aequum est,
peccatis veniam poscentem reddere rursus.
denique, quatenus excidi penitus vitium irae,
cetera item nequeunt stultis haerentia, cur non
ponderibus modulisque suis ratio utitur, ac res
ut quaeque est, ita suppliciis delicta coercet?
si quis eum servum, patinam qui tollere iussus
semesos pisces tepidumque ligurrierit ius,
in cruce suffigat, Labeone insanior inter
sanos dicatur. quanto hoc furiosius atque
maius peccatum est! paulum deliquit amicus,
quod nisi concedas, habeare insuavis, acerbus ;
odisti et fugis ut Rusonem debitor aeris,
qui nisi, cum tristes misero venere Kalendae,
mercedem aut nummos unde unde extricat, amaras
porrecto iugulo historias captivus ut audit.
comminxit lectum potus mensave catillum
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65
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75
80
85
90
104
Q. HORATI FLACCI
Euandri manibus tritum deiecit: ob hanc rem,
aut positum ante mea quia pullum in parte catini
sustulit esuriens, minus hoc iucundus amicus
sit mihi? quid faciam, si furtum fecerit, aut si
prodiderit commissa fide sponsumve negarit?
quis paria esse fere placuit peccata, laborant,
cum ventum ad verum est: sensus moresque repugnant
atque ipsa utilitas, iusti prope mater et aequi.
cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris,
mutum et turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter
unguibus et pugnis, dein fustibus, atque ita porro
pugnabant armis, quae post fabricaverat usus,
donec verba, quibus voces sensusque notarent,
nominaque invenere; dehinc absistere bello,
oppida coeperunt munire et ponere leges,
ne quis fur esset neu latro neu quis adulter.
iura inventa metu iniusti fateare necesse est,
tempora si fastosque velis evolvere mundi.
nec natura potest iusto secernere iniquum,
dividit ut bona diversis, fugienda petendis ;
nec vincet ratio hoc, tantundem ut peccet idemque
qui teneros caules alieni fregerit horti
et qui nocturnus sacra divom legerit. adsit
regula, peccatis quae poenas inroget aequas,
ne scutica dignum horribili sectere flagello.
nam ut ferula caedas meritum maiora subire
verbera non vereor, cum dicas esse pares res
furta latrociniis et magnis parva mineris
falce recisurum simili te, si tibi regnum
permittant homines.
si dives, qui sapiens est,
et sutor bonus et solus formosus et est rex;
95
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105
III
115
120
125
cur optas quod habes? 'non nosti, quid pater,' inquit,
Chrysippus dicat: sapiens crepidas sibi numquam
nec soleas fecit, sutor tamen est sapiens.' qui?
'ut quamvis tacet Hermogenes, cantor tamen atque
optimus est modulator; ut Alfenus vafer omni
abiecto instrumento artis clausaque taberna
tonsor erat; sapiens operis sic optimus omnis
est opifex solus, sic rex.' vellunt tibi barbam
lascivi pueri, quos tu nisi fuste coerces,
urgueris turba circum te stante miserque
rumperis et latras, magnorum maxime regum.
130
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SERMONUM LIB. I. 4
105
C
ne longum faciam: dum tu quadrante lavatum
rex ibis, neque te quisquam stipator ineptum
praeter Crispinum sectabitur, et mihi dulces
ignoscent, si quid peccaro stultus, amici,
inque vicem illorum patiar delicta libenter,
privatusque magis vivam te rege beatus.
IV
Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanesque poetae
atque alii quorum comoedia prisca virorum est,
si quis erat dignus describi, quod malus ac fur,
quod moechus foret aut sicarius aut alioqui
famnosus, multa cum libertate notabant.
hine omnis pendet. Lucilius, hosce secutus
mutatis tantum pedibus numerisque, facetus,
emunctae naris, durus componere versus.
nam fuit hoc vitiosus: in hora saepe ducentos,
ut magnum, versus dictabat stans pede in uno.
cum flueret lutulentus, erat quod tollere velles
garrulus atque piger scribendi ferre laborem,
scribendi recte: nam ut multum, nil moror.
Crispinus minimo me provocat: 'accipe, si vis,
accipiam tabulas; detur nobis locus, hora,
custodes; videamus uter plus scribere possit.'
di bene fecerunt, inopis me quodque pusilli
finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis;
at tu conclusas hircinis follibus auras
úsque laborantes dum ferrum molliat ignis,
ut mavis, imitare. beatus Fannius ultro
delatis capsis et imagine, cum nemo
mea
ecce,
scripta legat vulgo recitare timéntis ob hanc rem,
quod sunt quos genus hoc minime iuvat, utpote plures
culpari dignos. quemvis media elige turba,
aut ob avaritiam aut misera ambitione laborat.
hunc capit argenti splendor; stupet Albius aere ;
hic mutat merces surgente a sole ad eum quo
vespertina tepet regio; quin per mala praeceps
fertur, uti pulvis collectus turbine, ne quid
sumama değerdat metuens aut ampliet ut rem
omnes hi metuunt versus, odere poetas.
faenum habet in cornu; longe fuge: dummodo risum
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5
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25

330

106
Q. HORATI FLACCI
excutiat sibi, non hic cuiquam parcet amico,
et quodcumque semel chartis inleverit, omnes
gestiet a furno redeuntes scire lacuque
et pueros et anus.' agedum, pauca accipe contra.
primum ego me illorum, dederim quibus esse poetis,
excerpam numero: neque enim concludere versum
dixeris esse satis ; neque, si qui scribat uti nos
sermoni propiora, putes hunc esse poetam.
ingenium cui sit, cui mens divinior atque os
magna sonaturum, des nominis huius honorem.
idcirco quidam como dia necne poema
esset quaesere, quod acer spiritus ac vis
nec verbis nec rebus inest, nisi quod pede certo
differt sermoni, sermo merus. at pater ardens.
saevit, quod meretrice nepos, insanus amica
filius uxorem grandi cum dote recuset,
ebrius et, magnum quod dedecus, ambulet ante
noctem cum facibus.' numqui Pomponius istis
audiret leviora, pater si viveret? ergo
C
non satis est puris versum perscribere verbis,
quem si dissolvas, quivis stomachetur eodem
quo personatus pacto pater. his, ego quae nunc,
olim quae scripsit Lucilius, eripias si
tempora certa modosque et quod prius ordine verbum est
posterius facias praeponens ultima primis,
non, ut si solvas 'postquam Discordia taetra
belli ferratos postes portasque refregit,'
Invenias etiam disiecti membra poetae.
hactenus haec alias iustum sit necne poema,
nunc illud tantum quaeram, meritone tibi sit
suspectum genus hoc scribendi. Sulcius acer
ambulat et Caprius, rauci male cumque libellis,
magnus uterque timor latronibus; at bene si quis
et vivat puris manibus, contemnat utrumque.
ut sis tu similis Caeli Birrique latronum,
non ego sim Capri neque Sulci: cur metuas me?
nulla taberna meos habeat neque pila libellos,
quis manus insudet vulgi Hermogenisque Tigelli ;
nec recito cuiquam nisi amicis, idque coactus,
non ubivis coramve quibuslibet. in medio qui
scripta foro recitent, sunt multi, quique lavantes:
suave locus voci resonat conclusus. inanes
35

40
45

50
55

бо
65

70
75
SERMONUM LIB. I. 4
107

hoc iuvat, haud illud quaerentes, num sine sensu,
tempore num faciant alieno. 'laedere gaudes,'
inquit, et hoc studio pravus facis.' unde petitum
hoc in me iacis? est auctor quis denique eorum,
vixi cum quibus? absentem qui rodit amicum,
qui non defendit alio culpante, solutos
80
qui captat risus hominum famamque dicacis,
fingere qui non visa potest, commissa tacere
qui nequit, hic niger est, hunc tu, Romane, caveto.___
saepe tribus lectis videas cenare quaternos,
85
*
e quibus unus amet quavis adspergere cunctos
praeter eum qui praebet aquam, post hunc quoque potus,
condita cum verax aperit praecordia Liber.

hic tibi comis et urbanus liberque videtur
infesto nigris: ego si risi, quod ineptus
pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum,
lividus et mordax videor tibi? mentio si quae
de Capitolini furtis iniecta Petilli
;
te coram fuerit, defendas ut tuus est mos:
me Capitolinus convictore usus amicoque
a puero est, causaque mea permulta rogatus
fecit, et incolumis laetor quod vivit in urbe
sed tamen admiror, quo pacto iudicium illud
fugerit.' hic nigrae sucus lolliginis, haec est
aerugo mera; quqd vitium procul afore chartis,
atque animo prius, ut si quid promittere de me
possum aliud vere, promitto. liberius si
dixero quid, si forte iocosius, hoc mihi iuris
cum venia dabis: insuevit pater optimus hoc me
ut fugerem exemplis vitiorum quaeque notando.
cum me hortaretur, parce frugaliter atque
viverem uti contentus eo quod mi ipse parasset :
nonne vides, Albi ut male vivat filius utque
Baius inops magnum documentum, ne patriam rem
perdere quis velit.' a turpi meretricis amore
cum deterreret: 'Sectani dissimilis sis,'
aiebat. sapiens, vitatu quidque petitu
sit melius, causas reddet tibi: mi satis est, si
traditum ab antiquis morem servare tuamque,
dum custodis eges, vitam famamque tueri
incolumem possum; simul ac duraverit aetas
"
membra animumque tuum, nabis sine cortice.' sic me
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95

100
105
110
115
120
108
Q. HORATI FLACCI
formabat puerum dictis, et sive iubebat
ut facerem quid, 'habes auctorem, quo facias hoc,'
unum ex iudicibus selectis obiciebat ;
sive vetabat, 'an hoc inhonestum et inutile factu
necne sit addubites, flagret rumore malo cum
hic atque ille ?' avidos vicinum funus ut aegros
exanimat mortisque metu sibi parcere cogit,
sic teneros animos aliena opprobria saepe
absterrent vitiis.
ex hoc ego sanus ab illis,

perniciem quaecumque ferunt, mediocribus et quis
ignoscas vitiis teneor. fortassis et istine
largiter abstulerit longa aetas, liber amicus,
125

130
consilium proprium. neque enim, cum lectulus aut me
porticus excepit, desum mihi. ' rectius hoc est.
hoc faciens vivam melius. sic dulcis amicis
135
occurram. hoc quidam non belle: numquid ego illi
inprudens olim faciam simile?' haec ego mecum}}
compressis agito labris; ubi quid datur oti,
inludo chartis. hoc est mediocribus illis
ex vitiis unum; cui si concedere nolis,
multa poetarum veniat manus, auxilio quae
sit mihi nam multo plures sumus, ac veluti te
Iudaei cogemus in hanc concedere turbam:
V
Egressum magna me accepit Aricia Roma
hospitio modico; rhetor comes Heliodorus,
Graecorum longe doctissimus; inde Forum Appi,
differtum nautis cauponibus atque malignis.
hoc iter ignavi divisimus, altius ac nos
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5

praecinctis unum; minus est gravis Appia tardis.
hic ego propter aquam, quod erat deterrima, ventri
indico bellum, cenantes haud animo aequo
exspectans comites. iam nox inducere terris
umbras et caelo diffundere signa parabat ;
tum pueri nautis, pueris convicia nautae
ingerere: huc appelle !' 'trecentos inseris.' 'ohe
iam satis est.' dum aes exigitur, dum mula ligatur,
tota abit hora. mali culices ranaeque palustres
avertunt somnos, absentem ut cantat amicam
multa prolutus vappa nauta atque viator
IO
15
SERMONUM LIB. I. 5
109
certatim: tandem fessus dormire viator
incipit, ac missae pastum retinacula mulae
nauta piger saxo religat stertitque supinus.
iamque dies aderat, nil cum procedere lintrem
sentimus; donec cerebrosus prosilit unus
ac mulae nautaeque caput lumbosque saligno
fuste dolat: quarta vix demum exponimur hora.
ora manusque tua lavimus, Feronia, lympha.
milia tum pransi tria repimus atque subimus
inpositum saxis late candentibus Anxur.
huc venturus erat Maecenas optimus atque
Cocceius, missi magnis de rebus uterque
legati, aversos soliti componere amicos.
hic oculis ego nigra meis collyria lippus
inlinere interea Maecenas advenit atque
Cocceius, Capitoque simul Fonteius, ad unguem
factus homo, Antoni non ut magis alter amicus.
Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore libenter
linquimus, insani ridentes praemia scribae,
praetextam et latum clavum prunaeque vatillum.
in Mamurrarum lassi deinde urbe manemus,
Murena praebente domum, Capitone culinam.
postera lux oritur multo gratissima; namque
Plotius et Varius Sinuessae Vergiliusque
occurrunt, animae, quales neque candidiores
terra tulit neque quis me sit devinctior alter.
o qui complexus et gaudia quanta fuerunt!
nil ego contulerim iucundo sanus amico.
proxima Campano ponti quae villula, tectum
praebuit, et parochi quae debent ligna salemque.
hinc muli Capuae clitellas tempore ponunt.
lusum it Maecenas, dormitum ego Vergiliusque ;
namque pila lippis inimicum et ludere crudis.
hinc nos Cocceii recipit plenissima villa,
quae super est Caudi cauponas. nunc mihi paucis
Sarmenti scurrae pugnam Messique Cicirri,
Musa, velim memores et quo patre natus uterque
contulerit lites. Messi clarum genus Osci;
Sarmenti domina exstat: ab his matoribus orti
ad pugnam venere. prior Sarmentus ‘equi te
esse feri similem dico.' ridemus, et ipse
Messius accipio,' caput et movet. 'o tua cornu
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25
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1


110
Q. HORATI FLACCI
1
ni foret exsecto frons' inquit 'quid faceres, cum
sic mutilus minitaris?' at illi foeda cicatrix
saetosam laevi frontem turpaverat oris.
Campanum in morbum, in faciem permulta iocatus,
pastorem saltaret uti Cvelopa rogabat :
nil illi larva aut tragicis opus esse cothurnis.
multa Cicirrus ad haec: donasset iamne catenam
ex voto Laribus, quaerebat: scriba quod esset,
nilo deterius dominae ius esse. rogabat
denique cur umquam fugisset, cui satis una
farris libra foret, gracili sic tamque pusillo.
prorsus iucunde cenam producimus illam.
tendimus hinc recta Beneventum, ubi sedulus hospes
paene macros arsit dum turdos versat in igni ;
nam vaga per veterem dilapso flamma culinam
Vulcano summum properabat lambere tectum.
convivas avidos cenam servosque timentes
tum rapere atque omnes restinguere velle videres.
incipit ex illo montes Apulia notos
ostentare mihi, quos torret Atábulus et quos
numquam erepsemus, nisi nos vicina Trivici
villa recepisset lacrimoso non sine fumo,
udos cum foliis ramos urente camino. T
quattuor hinc rapimur viginti et milia redis,
mansuri oppidulo, quod versu dicere non est,
signis perfacile est venit vilissima rerum
hic aqua; sed panis longe pulcherrimus, ultra
callidus ut soleat umeris portare viator;
nam Canusi lapidosus, aquae non ditior urna
qui locus a forti Diomede est conditus olim.
flentibus hinc Varius discedit maestus amicis.
inde Rubos fessi pervenimus, utpote longum
carpentes iter et factum corruptius imbri.
postera tempestas melior, via peior ad usque
Bari moenia piscosi. dein Gnatia, lymphis
iratis exstructa, dedit risusque iocosque,
dum flamma sine tura liquescere limine sacro
persuadere cupit. credat Iudaeus Apella,
non ego. namque deos didici securum agere aevum,
nec, si quid miri faciat natura, deos id
tristes ex alto caeli demittere tecto.
Brundisium longae finis chartaeque viaeque est.
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65
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80
86

90
95
100
SERMONUM LIB. I. 6
111

VI
Non quia Maecenas, Lydorum quidquid Etruscos
incoluit fines, nemo generosior est te,
nec quod avus tibi maternus fuit atque paternus,
olim qui magnis legionibus imperitarent,
ut plerique solent, naso suspendis adunco
ignoto aut, ut me, libertino patre natos.
cum referre negas quali sit quisque parente
natus, dum ingenuus, persuades hoc tibi vere,
ante potestatem Tulli atque ignobile regnum
multos saepe viros nullis maioribus ortos
et vixisse probos amplis et honoribus auctos
contra Laevinum, Valeri genus, unde Superbus
Tarquinius regno pulsus fugit, unius assis
non
on umquam pretio pluris licuisse, notante
iudice quo nosti populo, qui stultus honores
saepe dat indignis et famae servit ineptus,
qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus. quid oportet
nos facere a vulgo longe longeque remotos?
namque esto, populus Laevino mallet honorem
quam Decio mandare novo, censorque moveret
Appius, ingenuo si non essem patre natus-
vel merito, quoniam in propria non pelle quiessem
sed fulgente trahit constrictos Gloria curru
5
IO

ary
ying
15
20

non minus ignotos generosis. quo tibi, Tilli,
sumere depositum clavum fierique tribuno ?
invidia adcrevit, privato quae minor esset.
25
nam ut quisque insanus nigris medium inpediit crus
pellibus et latum demisit pectore clavum,
6
audit continuo quis homo hic?' et 'quo patre natus?'
ut si qui aegrotet quo morbo Barrus, haberi
et cupiat formosus, eat quacumque, puellis
iniciat curam quaerendi singula, quali
sit facie, sura, quali pede, dente, capillo :
sic qui promittit, cives, urbem sibi curae,
imperium fore et Italiam, delubra deorum,
quo patre sit natus, num ignota matre inhonestus,
omnes mortales curare et quaerere cogit.
tune, Syri, Damae, aut Dionysi filius, audes
deicere de saxo cives aut tradere Cadmo?'
' at Novius collega gradu post me sedet uno:
30
35
40
112
Q. HORATI FLACCI
namque est ille, pater quod erat meus.' 'hoc tibi Paulus
et Messalla videris? at hic, si plaustra ducenta
concurrantque foro tria funera, magna sonabit
cornua quod vincatque tubas: saltem tenet hoc nos.'
nunc ad me redeo libertino patre natum,
quem rodunt omnes libertino patre natum,
nunc quia sim tibi, Maecenas, convictor, at olim
quod mihi pareret legio Romana tribuno.
dissimile hoc illi est, quia non, ut forsit honorem
iure mihi invideat quivis, ita te quoque amicum,
praesertim cautum dignos adsumere, prava
ambitione procul. felicem dicere non hoc
me possim, casu quod te sortitus amicum :
nulla etenim mihi te fors obtulit; optimus olim
Vergilius, post hune Varius, dixere quid essem.
ut veni coram, singultim pauca locutus―
infans namque pudor prohibebat plura profari-
non ego me claro natum patre, non ego circum
me Saturejano vectari rura caballo,
sed quod eram narro. respondes, ut tuus est mos,
pauca: abeo, et revocas nono post mense iubesque
esse in amicorum numero. magnum hoc ego duco,
quod placui tibi, qui turpi secernis honestum,
non patre praeclaro, sed vita et pectore puro.
atqui si vitiis mediocribus ac mea paucis
mendosa est natura, alioqui recta, velut si
egregio inspersos reprehendas corpore naevos,
si neque avaritiam neque sordes aut mala lustra
obiciet vere quisquam mihi, purus et insons,
ut me collaudem, si et vivo carus amicis ;
causa fuit pater his, qui macro pauper agello
noluit in Flavi ludum me mittere, magni
quo pueri magnis e centurionibus orti,
laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto,

ibant octonos referentes Idibus aeris ;
sed puerum est ausus Romam portare docendum
artes, quas doceat quivis eques atque senator
semet prognatos. vestem servosque sequentes,
in magno ut populo, si qui vidisset, avita
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ex re praeberi sumptus mihi crederet illos.
ipse mihi custos incorruptissimus omnes
circum doctores aderat. quid multa? pudicum,
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SERMONUM LIB. I. 6
113
qui primus virtutis honos, servavit ab omni
non solum facto, verum opprobrio quoque turpi ;
nec timuit, sibi ne vitio quis verteret, olim
si praeco parvas aut, ut fuit ipse, çoactor
mercedes sequerer; neque ego essem questus: at hoc nunc
laus illi debetur et a me gratia maior.
nil me paeniteat sanum patris huius, eoque
non, ut magna dolo factum negat esse suo pars,
quod non ingenuos habeat clarosque parentes,
sic me defendam. longe mea discrepat istis
et vox et ratio.
nam si natura iuberet
a certis annis aevum remeare peractum
atque alios legere ad fastum quoscumque, parentes
optaret sibi quisque me contentus honestos
fascibus et sous nollem mini sumere, demens
iudicio vulgi, sanus fortasse tuo, quod
nollem onus haud unquam solitus portare molestum.
nam mihi continuo maior quaerenda foret res
atque salutandi plures, ducendus et unus
et comes alter, uti ne solus rusve peregreve
exirem, plures calones atque caballi
pascendi, ducenda petorrita.
nunc mihi curto
ire licet mulo vel si libet usque Tarentum,
mantică cui lumbos onere ulceret atque eques armos :
obiciet nemo sordes mihi quas tibi, Tilli,
cum Tiburte via praetorem quinque sequuntur
te pueri lasanum portantes oenophorumque.
hoc ego commodius quam tu, praeclare senator,
milibus atque aliis vivo. quacumque libido est,
incedo solus; percontor quanti holus ac far;
fallacem circum vespertinumque pererro
saepe forum, adsisto divinis; inde domum me
ad porri et cice is refero laganique catinum.
cena ministratur pueris tribus, et lapis albus
pocula cum cyatho duo sustinet, adstat echinus
vilis, cum patera gutus, Campana supellex.
deinde eo dormitum, non sollicitus, mihi quod cras
surgendum sit mane, obeundus Marsya, qui se
vultum ferre negat Noviorum posse minoris,
ad quartam iaceo; post hanc vagor, aut ego, lecto
aut scripto quod me tacitum iuvet, unguor olivo,
non quo fraudatis inmundus Natta lucernis.
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IIO

115
120
I
114
Q. HORATI FLACCI
haec est
ast ubi me fessum sol acrior ire lavatum
admonuit, fugio campum lusumque trigonem.
pransus non avide, quantum interpellet inani
ventre diem durare, domesticus otior.
vita solutorum misera ambitione gravique ;
his me consolor victurum suavius, ac si
quaestor avus pater atque meus patruusque fuisset.
Sat. 9 next
VII
Proscripti Regis Rupili pus atque venenum
hybrida quo pacto sit Persius ultus, opinor
omnibus et lippis notum et tonsoribus esse.
Persius hic permagna negotia dives habebat
Clazomenis, etiam lites cum Rege molestas,
durus homo atque odio qui posset vincere Regem,
confidens tumidusque, adeo sermonis amari,
Sisennas, Barros ut equis praecurreret albis.
ad Regem redeo. postquam nihil inter utrumque
convenit, hoc etenim sunt omnes iure molesti,
quo fortes, quibus adversum bellum incidit: inter
Hectora Priamiden, animosum atque inter Achillem
ira fuit capitalis, ut ultima divideret mors,
non aliam ob causam, nisi quod virtus in utroque
summa fuit; duo si discordia vexet inertes
aut si disparibus bellum incidat, ut Diomedi
cum Lycio Glauco, discedat pigrior, ultro
muneribus missis-Bruto praetore tenente
ditem Asiam Rupili et Persi par pugnat, uti non
compositum melius cum Bitho Bacchius.
acres procurrunt, magnum spectaculum uterque.
Persius exponit causam; ridetur ab omni
conventu; laudat Brutum laudatque cohortem ;
solem Asiae Brutum appellat, stellasque salubres
appellat comites, excepto Rege; Canem illum,
invisum agricolis sidus, venisse. ruebat
flumen ut hibernum, fertur quo rara securis.
tum Praenestinus salso multoque fluenti
expressa arbusto regerit convicia, durus
vindemiator et invictus, cui saepe viator
cessisset magna compellans voce cucullum.
at Graecus, postquam est Italo perfusus aceto,
in ius
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SERMONUM LIB. I. 8
115
Persius exclamat: 'per magnos, Brute, deos te
oro, qui reges consueris tollere, cur non
hunc Regem iugulas? operum hoc, mihi crede, tuorum est.' 35
VIII
Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum,
cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,
maluit esse deum. deus inde ego, furum aviumque
maxima formido; nam fures dextra coercet:
ast inportunas volucres in vertice harundo
terret fixa vetatque novis considere in hortis.
huc prius angustis eiecta cadavera cellis
conservus vili portanda locabat in arca;
hoc miserae plebi stabat commune sepulchrum,
Pantolabo scurrae Nomentanoque nepoti.
mille pedes in fronte, trecentos cippus in agrum
hic dabat, heredes monimentum ne sequeretur.
nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus atque
aggere in aprico spatiari, quo modo tristes
albis informem spectabant ossibus agrum;
cum mihi non tantum furesque feraeque suetae
hunc vexare locum curae sunt atque labori,
quantum carminibus quae versant atque venenis
humanos animos: has nullo perdere possum
nec prohibere modo, simul ac vaga luna decorum
protulit os, quin ossa legant herbasque nocentes.
vidi egomet nigra succinctam vadere palla
Canidiam, pedibus nudis passoque capillo,
cum Sagana maiore ululantem. pallor utrasque
fecerat horrendas aspectu. scalpere terram
unguibus et pullam divellere mordicus agnam
coeperunt; cruor in fossam confusus, ut inde
Manes elicerent animas responsa daturas.
lanea et effigies erat, altera cerea; maior
lanea, quae poenis compesceret inferiorem ;
cerea suppliciter stabat servilibus ut quae
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iam peritura modis. Hecaten vocat altera, saevam
altera Tisiphonen. serpentes atque videres
infernas errare canes, lunamque rubentem,
ne foret his testis, post magna latere sepulchra.
35
singula quid memorem? quo pacto alterna loquentes
40
116
Q. HORATI FLACCI
umbrae cum Sagana resonarent triste et acutum,
utque lupi barbam variae cum dente colubrae
abdiderint furtim terris, et imagine cerea
largior arserit ignis, et ut non testis inultus
horruerim voces Furiarum et facta duarum.
Canidiae dentes, altum Saganae caliendrum
excidere atque herbas atque incantata lacertis
vincula cum magno risuque iocoque videres.
IX
Ibam forte via Sacra, sicut meus est mos,
nescio quid meditans nugarum, totus in illiss
accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum,
arreptaque manu 'quid agis, dulcissime rerum?'
suaviter, ut nunc est,' inquam, 'et cupio omnia quae vis.'
cum adsectaretur, 'numquid vis?' occupo.
at ille
'noris nos,' inquit; 'docti sumus.' hic ego 'pluris
hoc,' inquam,mihi eris.' misere discedere quaerens,
ire modo ocius, interdum consistere, in aurem
dicere nescio quid puero, cum sudor ad imos
manaret talos.
'o te, Bolane, cerebri
felicem,' aiebam tacitus, cum quidlibet ille
garriret, vicos, urbem laudaret. ut illi
nil respondebam, 'misere cupis,' inquit, abire:
iamdudum video: sed nil agis; usque tenebo,
prosequar hinc quo nunc iter est tibi.'
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'nil opus est te
circumagi: quendam volo visere non tibi notum ;
trans Tiberim longe cubat is prope Caesaris hortos.'
'nil habeo quod agam et non sum piger; usque sequar te.'
demitto auriculas ut iniquae mentis asellus,
'si bene me novi, non Viscum pluris amicum, me
20
cum gravius dorso subiit onus. incipit ille:
non Varium facies: nam quis me scribere plures
aut citius possit versus? quis membra movere
mollius? invideat quod et Hermogenes, ego canto.'
interpellandi locus hic erat: est tibi mater,
25
cognati, quis te salvo est opus?' 'haud mihi quisquam.
omnes composui.' 'felices! nunc ego resto.
confice: namque instat fatum mihi triste, Sabella
quod puero cecinit divina mota anus urna :
30
"hunc neque dira venena nec hosticus auferet ensis
SERMONUM LIB. I. 9
117

nec laterum dolor aut tussis nec tarda podagra :
garrulus hunc quando consumet cumque: loquaces,
si sapiat, vitet simul atque adoleverit aetas.”
ventum erat ad Vestae, quarta iam parte diei
praeterita, et casu tum respondere vadato
debebat; quod ni fecisset, perdere litem.
si me amas,' inquit, 'paulum hic ades.' 'inteream, si
aut valeo stare aut novi civilia iura ;
C
et propero quo scis.' ‘dubius sum quid faciam,' inquit,
'tene relinquam an rem.' 'me, sodes.' 'non faciam' ille,
et praecedere coepit. ego, ut contendere durum at
cum victore, sequor. Maecenas quomodo tecum?
hinc repetit. 'paucorum hominum et mentis bene sanae.
nemo dexterius fortuna est usus.' 'haberes
magnum adiutorem, posset qui ferre secundas,
hunc hominem velles si tradere. dispeream, ni
summosses omnes.' 'non isto vivimus illic
quo tu rere modo: domus hac nec purior ulla est
nec magis his aliena malis; nil mi officit, inquam,
ditior hic aut est quia doctior; est locus uni
cuique suus.' 'magnum narras, vix credibile.'
sic habet,'
atqui
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40

45
50

accendis quare cupiam magis illis H4453,
proximus esse. 'velis tantummodo: quae tua virtus, „24

expugnabis; et est qui vinci possit, eoque
difficiles aditus primos habet.' 'haud mihi dero:
muneribus servos corrumpam; non, hodie si
exclusus fuero, desistam; tempora quaeram ;
55

sine magnoll
occurram in triviis, deducam, nil sine magnol].
vita labore dedit mortalibus haec dum agit, ecce
Fuscus Aristius occurrit, mihi carus et illum
qui pulchre nosset. consistimus. 'unde venis?' et
'quo tendis?' rogat et respondet. vellere coepi
et pressare manu lentissima bracchia, nutans,
distorquens oculos, ut me eriperet. male salsus
ridens dissimulare; meum iecur urere bilis.
'certe nescio quid secreto velle loqui te
aiebas mecum.' 'memini bene, sed meliore
tempore dicam hodie tricensima sabbata. yin tu
curtis Iudaeis oppedere?' 'nulla mihi,' inquam,
' religio est.' 'at mi: sum paulo infirmior, unus
multorum. ignosces; alias loquar.' huncine solem
tam nigrum surrexe mihi! fugit inprobus ac me
:
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70
118
Q. HORATI FLACCI
sub cultro linquit.
casu venit obvius illi
adversarius et 'quo tu turpissime?' magna
inclamat voce, et 'licet antestari?' ego vero
oppono auriculam. rapit in ius: clamor utrimque,
undique concursus. sic me servavit Apollo.
X
[Lucili, quam sis mendosus, teste Catone
defensore tuo pervincam, qui male factos
emendare parat versus, hoc lenius ille,
quo melior vir est, longe subtilior illo,
qui multum puer et loris et funibus udis
exoratus, ut esset opem qui ferre poetis
antiquis posset contra fastidia nostra,
grammaticorum equitum doctissimus.
ut redeam illuc :]
Nempe incomposito dixi pede currere versus
Lucili. quis tam Lucili fautor inepte est,
ut non hoc fateatur? at idem, quod sale multo
urbem defricuit, charta laudatur eadem.
nec tamen hoc tribuens dederim quoque cetera; nam sic
et Laberi mimos ut pulchra poemata mirer.
ergo non satis est risu diducere rictum
auditoris; et est quaedam tamen hic quoque virtus ;
est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia neu se
inpediat verbis lassas onerantibus aures;
et sermone opus est modo tristi, saepe iocoso,
defendente vicem modo rhetoris atque poetae,
interdum urbani, parcentis viribus atque
extenuantis eas consulto. ridiculum acri
fortius et melius magnas plerumque secat res.
illi, scripta quibus comoedia prisca viris est,
hoc stabant, hoc sunt imitandi; quos neque pulcher
Hermogenes umquam legit, neque simius iste
nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum.
at magnum fecit quod verbis Graeca Latinis
miscuit.' o seri studiorum, quine putetis
difficile et mirum, Rhodio quod Pitholeonti
contigit? 'at sermo lingua concinnus utraque
suavior, ut Chio nota si commixta Falerni est.'
cum versus facias, te ipsum percontor, an et cum
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SERMONUM LIB. I. 10
119
dura tibi peragenda rei sit causa Petilli?
scilicet oblitus patriaeque patrisque, Latine
cum Pedius causas exsudet Poplicola atque
Corvinus, patriis intermiscere petita
verba foris malis, Canusini more bilinguis?
atque ego cum Graecos facerem natus mare citra
versiculos, vetuit me tali voce Quirinus,
post mediam noctem visus, cum somnia vera :
‘in silvam non ligna feras insanius ac si
magnas Graecorum malis inplere catervas.'
turgidus Alpinus iugulat dum Memnona dumque
defingit Rheni luteum caput, haec ego ludo,
quae neque in aede sonent certantia iudice Tarpa,
nec redeant iterum atque iterum spectanda theatris.
arguta meretrice potes Davoque Chremeta
eludente senem comis garrire libellos
unus vivorum, Fundani; Pollio regum
facta canit pede ter percusso; forte epos acer,
ut nemo, Varius ducit; molle atque facetum
Vergilio adnuerunt gaudentes rure Camenae.
hoc erat, experto frustra Varrone Atacino
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35
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45
atque quibusdam aliis, melius quod scribere possein,
inventore minor; neque ego illi detrahere ausim
haerentem capiti cum multa laude coronam.
at dixi fluere hunc lutulentum, saepe ferentem
plura quidem tollenda relinquendis. age, quaeso,
tu nihil in magno doctus reprehendis Homero?
nil comis tragici mutat Lucilius Acci?
non ridet versus Enni gravitate minores,
cum de se loquitur non ut maiore reprensis ?
quid vetat et nosmet Lucili scripta legentes
quaerere, num illius, num rerum dura negarit
versiculos natura magis factos et euntes
mollius ac si quis pedibus quid claudere senis,
hoc tantum contentus, amet scripsisse ducentos
ante cibum versus, totidem cenatus?
quale fuit Cassi rapido ferventius amni
ingenium, capsis quem fama est esse librisque
ambustum propriis. fuerit Lucilius, inquam,
comis et urbanus, fuerit limatior idem
quam rudis et Graecis intacti carminis auctor,
quamque poetarum seniorum turba; sed ille,
Etrusci
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120
Q. HORATI FLACCI
si foret hoc nostrum fato dilatus in aevum,
detereret sibi multa, recideret omne quod ultra
perfectum traheretur, et in versu faciendo
saepe caput scaberet, vivos et roderet ungues.
saepe stilum vertas, iterum quae digna legi sint
scripturus, neque te ut miretur turba labores,
contentus paucis lectoribus. an tua demens
vilibus in ludis dictari carmina malis?
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75
non ego: nam satis est equitem mihi plaudere, ut audax
contemptis aliis explosa Arbuscula dixit.
men moveat cimex Pantilius, aut cruciet quod
vellicet absentem Demetrius, aut quod ineptus
Fannius Hermogenis laedat conviva Tigelli?
Plotius et Varius, Maecenas Vergiliusque,
Valgius et probet haec Octavius optimus atque
Fuscus et haec utinam Viscorum laudet uterque !
ambitione relegata te dicere possum,
Pollio, te, Messalla, tuo cum fratre, simulque
vos, Bibule et Servi, simul his te, candide Furni,
complures alios, doctos ego quos et amicos
prudens praetereo; quibus haec, sint qualiacumque,
adridere velim, doliturus, si placeant spe
deterius nostra. Demetri, teque, Tigelli,
discipularum inter iubeo plorare cathedras.
i, puer, atque meo citus haec subscribe libello.
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LIBER SECUNDUS
I
'Sunt quibus in satura videar nimis acer et ultra
legem tendere opus; sine nervis altera, quidquid
composui, pars esse putat similesque meorum
mille die versus deduci posse. Trebati,
quid faciam, praescribe.' 'quiescas."
'quiescas.' 'ne faciam, inquis, 5
omnino versus?' 'aio.' peream male, si non
optimum erat; verum nequeo dormire.' 'ter uncti
transnanto Tiberim, somno quibus est opus alto,
inriguumque mero sub noctem corpus habento.
aut si tantus amor scribendi te rapit, aude
IO
SERMONUM LIB. II. 1
121
Caesaris invicti res dicere, multa laborum
praemia laturus.' 'cupidum, pater optime, vires
deficiunt: neque enim quivis horrentia pilis
agmina nec fracta pereuntes cuspide Gallos
aut labentis equo describit vulnera Parthi.'
'attamen et iustum poteras et scribere fortem,
Scipiadam ut sapiens Lucilius.' 'haud mihi dero,
cum res ipsa feret: nisi dextro tempore, Flacci
verba per attentam non ibunt Caesaris aurem,
cui male si palpere, recalcitrat undique tutus.'
'quanto rectius hoc, quam tristi laedere versu
Pantolabum scurram Nomentanumque nepotem,
cum sibi quisque timet, quamquam est intactus, et odit.'
'quid faciam? saltat Milonius, ut semel icto
accessit fervor capiti numerusque lucernis;
Castor gaudet equis, ovo prognatus eodem
pugnis; quot capitum vivunt, totidem studiorum
milia. me pedibus delectat claudere verba
Lucili ritu, nostrum melioris utroque.
ille velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim
credebat libris, neque si male cesserat usquam
decurrens alio, neque si bene: quo fit, ut omnis
votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella
vita senis. sequor hunc, Lucanus an Apulus anceps;
nam Venusinus arat finem sub utrumque colonus,
missus ad hoc, pulsis, vetus est ut fama, Sabellis,
quo ne per vacuum Romano incurreret hostis,
sive quod Apula gens seu quod Lucania bellum
incuteret violenta, sed hic stilus haud petet ultro
quemquam animantem et me veluti custodiet ensis
vagina tectus: quem cur destringere coner
tutus ab infestis latronibus ? o pater et rex
Iuppiter, ut pereat positum rubigine telum,
nec quisquam noceat cupido mihi pacis ! at ille
qui me commorit-melius non tangere, clamo—
flebit et insignis tota cantabitur urbe.
Cervius iratus leges minitatur et urnam,
Canidia Albuci, quibus est inimica, venenum,
grande malum Turius, si quid se iudice certes.
ut quo quisque valet suspectos terreat, utque
imperet hoc natura potens, sic collige mecum.
dente lupus, cornu taurus petit: unde, nisi intus
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50
122
Q. HORATI FLACCI
monstratum ? Scaevae vivacem crede nepoti
matrem; nil faciet sceleris pia dextera-mirum,
ut neque calce lupus quemquam neque dente petit bos-
sed mala tollet anum vitiato melle cicuta.
ne longum faciam: seu me tranquilla senectus
exspectat seu mors atris circumvolat alis,
dives, inops, Romae, seu fors ita iusserit exsul,
quisquis erit vitae scribam color.' 'o puer, ut sis
vitalis metuo, et maiorum ne quis amicus
frigore te feriat.' 'quid? cum est Lucilius ausus
primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem,
detrahere et pellem, nitidus qua quisque per ora
cederet, introrsum turpis, num Laelius aut qui
duxit ab oppressa meritum Karthagine nomen,
ingenio offensi aut laeso doluere Metello
famosisque Lupo cooperto versibus! atqui
primores populi arripuit populumque tributim,
scilicet uni aequus virtuti atque eius amicis.
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quin ubi se a vulgo et scaena in secreta remorant
virtus Scipiadae et mitis sapientia Laeli,
nugari cum illo et discincti ludere, donec
decoqueretur holus, soliti. quidquid sum ego, quamvis
infra Lucili censum ingeniumque, tamen me
cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque
invidia, et fragili quaerens inlidere dentem,
offendet solido, nisi quid tu, docte Trebati,
dissentis.' 'equidem nihil hinc diffingere possum ;
sed tamen ut monitus caveas, ne forte negoti
incutiat tibi quid sanctarum inscitia legum :
si mala condiderit in quem quis carmina, ius est
iudiciumque.' 'esto, si quis mala: sed bona si quis
iudice condiderit laudatus Caesare? si quis
opprobriis dignum latraverit, integer ipse?
'solventur risu tabulae, tu missus abibis.'
II
Quae virtus et quanta, boni, sit vivere parvo,-
nec meus hic sermo est, sed quae praecepit Ofellus
rusticus, abnormis sapiens crassaque Minerva,—
discite, non inter lances mensasque nitentes,
cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus et cum
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SERMONUM LIB. II. 2
123
cur hoc?'
adclinis falsis animus meliora recusat,
verum hic inpransi mecum disquirite.
dicam, si potero. male verum examinat omnis
corruptus iudex. leporem sectatus equove
lassus ab indomito vel, si Romana fatigat
militia adsuetum graecari, seu pila velox,
molliter austerum studio fallente laborem,
seu te discus agit, pete cedentem aera disco:-
cum labor extuderit fastidia, siccus, inanis
sperne cibum vilem; nisi Hymettia mella Falerno
ne biberis diluta. foris est promus, et atrum
defendens pisces hiemat mare: cum sale panis
latrantem stomachum bene leniet. unde putas aut
qui partum ? non in caro nidore voluptas
summa, sed in te ipso est. tu pulmentaria quaere
sudando pinguem vitiis albumque neque ostrea
nec scarus aut poterit peregrina iuvare lagois.
vix tamen eripiam, posito pavone velis quin
hoc potius quam gallina tergere palatum,
corruptus vanis rerum, quia veneat auro
rara avis et picta pandat spectacula cauda:
tamquam ad rem attineat quicquam.
quam laudas, pluma? cocto num adest honor idem?
carne tamen quamvis distat nil, hac magis illam
inparibus formis deceptum te petere ! esto:
unde datum sentis, lupus hic Tiberinus an alto
captus hiet? pontesne inter iactatus an amnis
ostia sub Tusci? laudas, insane, trilibrem
num vesceris ista,
mullum, in singula quem minuas pulmenta necesse est.
ducit te species, video. quo pertinet ergo
proceros odisse lupos ? quia scilicet illis
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35
maiorem natura modum dedit, his breve pondus.
ieiunus raro stomachus vulgaria temnit.
'porrectum magno magnum spectare catino
vellem' ait Harpyiis gula digna rapacibus. at vos,
praesentes Austri, coquite horum obsonia.
40
quamquam
putet aper rhombusque recens, mala copia quando
aegrum sollicitat stomachum, cum rapula plenus
atque acidas mavult inulas. necdum omnis abacta
pauperies epulis regum: nam vilibus ovis
nigrisque est oleis hodie locus. haud ita pridem
Galloni praeconis erat acipensere mensa
A
45
124
Q. HORATI FLACCI
infamis. quid? tum rhombos minus aequor alebat?
tutus erat rhombus tutoque ciconia nido,
donec vos auctor docuit praetorius.
ergo
si quis nunc mergos suaves edixerit assos,
parebit pravi docilis Romana iuventus.
sordidus a tenui victu distabit, Ofello
iudice: nam frustra vitium vitaveris illud,
si te alio pravum detorseris. Avidienus,
cui Canis ex vero ductum cognomen adhaeret,
quinquennes oleas est et silvestria corna,
ac nisi mutatum parcit defundere vinum, et
cuius odorem olei nequeas perferre, licebit
ille repotia, natales aliosve dierum
festos albatus celebret, cornu ipse bilibri
caulibus instillat, veteris non parcus aceti.
quali igitur victu sapiens utetur, et horum
utrum imitabitur? hac urguet lupus, hac canis, aiunt.
mundus erit, qua non offendat sordibus atque
in neutram partem cultus miser.
hic neque servis,
Albuci senis exemplo, dum munia didit,
saevus erit, nec sic ut simplex Naevius unctam
convivis praebebit aquam vitium hoc quoque magnum.
accipe nunc, victus tenuis quae quantaque secum
adferat. in primis valeas bene: nam variae res
ut noceant homini credas, memor illius escae,
quae simplex olim tibi sederit; at simul assis
miscueris elixa, simul conchylia turdis,
dulcia se in bilem vertent stomachoque tumultum
lenta feret pituita. vides ut pallidus omnis
cena desurgat dubia? quin corpus onustum
hesternis vitiis animum quoque praegravat una
atque adfigit humo divinae particulam aurae.
alter, ubi dicto citius curata sopori
membra dedit, vegetus praescripta ad munia surgit.
hic tamen ad melius poterit transcurrere quondam,
sive diem festum rediens advexerit annus,
seu recreare volet tenuatum corpus, ubique
accedent anni, tractari mollius aetas
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55
60
65
70
75
80
85
inbecilla volet. tibi quidnam accedet ad istam,
quam puer et validus praesumis, mollitiem, seu
dura valetudo inciderit seu tarda senectus ?
rancidum aprum antiqui laudabant, non quia nasus
SERMONUM LIB. II. 2
125
illis nullus erat, sed, credo, hac mente, quod hospes
tardius adveniens vitiatum commodius quam
integrum edax dominus consumeret. hos utinam inter
heroas natum tellus me prima tulisset!
das aliquid famae, quae carmine gratior aurem
occupet humanam : grandes rhombi patinaeque
grande ferunt una cum damno dedecus; adde
iratum patruum, vicinos, te tibi iniquum
et frustra mortis cupidum, cum derit egenti
as, laquei pretium. 'iure,' inquit, Trausius istis
iurgatur verbis; ego vectigalia magna
divitiasque habeo tribus amplas regibus.' ergo
quod superat non est melius quo insumere possis ?
cur eget indignus quisquam, te divite? quare
templa ruunt antiqua deum? cur, inprobe, carae
non aliquid patriae tanto emetiris acervo?
uni nimirum recte tibi semper erunt res,
o magnus posthac inimicis risus! uterne
ad casus dubios fidet sibi certius? hic qui
pluribus adsuerit mentem corpusque superbum,
an qui contentus parvo metuensque futuri
in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello?
quo magis his credas, puer hunc ego parvus Ofellum
integris opibus novi non latius usum
quam nunc accisis.
videas metato in agello
cum pecore et natis fortem mercede colonum,
‘non ego' narrantem 'temere edi luce profesta
quicquam praeter holus fumosae cum pede pernae.
ac mihi seu longum post tempus venerat hospes,
sive operum vacuo gratus conviva per imbrem
vicinus, bene erat non piscibus urbe petitis,
sed pullo atque haedo; tum pensilis uva secundas
et nux ornabat mensas cum duplice ficu.
post hoc ludus erat culpa potare magistra,
ac venerata Ceres, ita culmo surgeret alto,
saeviat atque novos moveat fortuna tumultus :
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95
ΙΟΟ
105
110
115
120
explicuit vino contractae seria frontis.
125
quantum hinc inminuet? quanto aut ego parcius aut vos,
o pueri, nituistis, ut huc novus incola venit?
nam propriae telluris erum natura neque illum
nec me nec quemquam statuit: nos expulit ille;
illum aut nequities aut vafri inscitia iuris,
130
•
126
Q. HORATI FLACCI
postremum expellet certe vivacior heres.
nunc ager Umbreni sub nomine, nuper Ofelli
dictus, erit nulli proprius, sed cedet in usum
nunc mihi, nunc alii. quocirca vivite fortes
fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus.'
III
'Si raro scribis, ut toto non quater anno
membranam poscas, scriptorum quaeque retexens,
iratus tibi, quod vini somnique benignus
nil est:
nil dignum sermone canas, quid fiet? at ipsis
Saturnalibus huc fugisti sobrius. ergo
dic aliquid dignum promissis: incipe.
culpantur frustra calami, inmeritusque laborat
iratis natus paries dis atque poetis.
atqui vultus erat multa et praeclara minantis,
si vacuum tepido cepisset villula tecto.
quorsum pertinuit stipare Platona Menandro?
Eupolin, Archilochum, comites educere tantos?
invidiam placare paras virtute relicta?
contemnere, miser! vitanda est inproba Siren
desidia, aut quidquid vita meliore parasti
ponendum aequo animo.' 'di te, Damasippe, deaeque
verum ob consilium donent tonsore.
sed unde
tam bene me nosti?' 'postquam omnis res mea Ianum
ad medium fracta est, aliena negotia curo,
135
5
IO
15
excussus propriis. olim nam quaerere amabam,
quo vafer ille pedes lavisset Sisyphus aere,
20
quid sculptum infabre, quid fusum durius esset;
callidus huic signo ponebam milia centum ;
hortos egregiasque domos mercarier unus
cum lucro noram: unde frequentia Mercuriali
inposuere mihi cognomen compita.' 'novi,
et miror morbi purgatum te illius.' 'atqui
emovit veterem mire novus, ut solet, in cor
traiecto lateris miseri capitisve dolore;
ut lethargicus hic, cum fit pugil et medicum urguet.'
'dum ne quid simile huic, esto ut libet.' 'o bone, ne te
frustrere; insanis et tu stultique prope omnes,
si quid Stertinius veri crepat, unde ego mira
descripsi docilis praecepta haec, tempore quo me
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30
SERMONUM LIB. II. 3
127
solatus iussit sapientem pascere barbam
atque a Fabricio non tristem ponte reverti.
nam male re gesta, cum vellem mittere operto
me capite in flumen, dexter stetit et cave faxis
te quicquam indignum: pudor," inquit, "te malus angit,
insanos qui inter vereare insanus haberi.
primum nam inquiram, quid sit furere: hoc si erit in te
solo, nil verbi, pereas quin fortiter, addam.
quem mala stultitia et quemcumque inscitia veri
caecum agit, insanum Chrysippi porticus et grex
autumat. haec populos, haec magnos formula reges,
excepto sapiente, tenet. nunc accipe, quare
desipiant omnes aeque ac tu, qui tibi nomen
insano posuere.
velut silvis, ubi passim
palantes error certo de tramite pellit,
ille sinistrorsum, hic dextrorsum abit; unus utrique
error, sed variis inludit partibus; hoc te
crede modo insanum, nihilo ut sapientior ille,
qui te deridet, caudam trahat. est genus unum
stultitiae nihilum metuenda timentis, ut ignes,
ut rupes fluviosque in campo obstare queratur;
alterum et huic varum et nihilo sapientius ignes
per medios fluviosque ruentis; clamet amica
mater, honesta soror, cum cognatis pater, uxor :
'hic fossa est ingens, hic rupes maxima: serva !'
non magis audierit, quam Fufius ebrius olim,
cum Ilionam edormit, Catienis mille ducentis
' mater, te appello!' clamantibus. huic ego vulgus
errori similem cunctum insanire docebo.
insanit veteres statuas Damasippus emendo:
integer est mentis Damasippi creditor? esto.
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
'accipe quod numquam reddas mihi' si tibi dicam,
tune insanus eris si acceperis, an magis excors
reiecta praeda, quam praesens Mercurius fert ?
scribe decem a Nerio; non est satis: adde Cicutae
nodosi tabulas centum, mille adde catenas;
70
effugiet tamen haec sceleratus vincula Proteus.
cum rapies in ius malis ridentem alienis,
fiet aper, modo avis, modo saxum et, cum volet, arbor.
si male rem gerere insani est, contra bene sani,
putidius multo cerebrum est, mihi crede, Perelli
dictantis, quod tu numquam rescribere possis.
75
-
128
Q. HORATI FLACCI
audire atque togam iubeo componere, quisquis
ambitione mala aut argenti pallet amore,
quisquis luxuria tristive superstitione
aut alio mentis morbo calet: huc propius me,
dum doceo insanire omnes vos ordine, adite.
danda est ellebori multo pars maxima avaris;
nescio an Anticyram ratio illis destinet omnem.
heredes Staberi summam incidere sepulchro,
ni sic fecissent, gladiatorum dare centum
damnati populo paria atque epulum arbitrio Arri,
frumenti quantum metit Africa. 'sive ego prave
seu recte hoc volui, ne sis patruus mihi.' credo
hoc Staberi prudentem animum vidisse. 'quid ergo
sensit, cum summam patrimoni insculpere saxo
heredes voluit?' quoad vixit, credidit ingens
pauperiem vitium et cavit nihil acrius, ut, si
forte minus locuples uno quadrante periret,
ipse videretur sibi nequior: omnis enim res,
virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris
divitiis parent; quas qui construxerit, ille
clarus erit, fortis, iustus. 'sapiensne?' etiam, et rex
et quidquid volet. hoc, veluti virtute paratum,
speravit magnae laudi fore. quid simile isti
Graecus Aristippus? qui servos proicere aurum
in media iussit Libya, quia tardius irent
propter onus segnes. uter est insanior horum ?
nil agit exemplum, litem quod lite resolvit.
si quis emat citharas, emptas comportet in unum,
nec studio citharae nec Musae deditus ulli,
si scalpra et formas non sutor, nautica vela
aversus mercaturis, delirus et amens
undique dicatur merito. qui discrepat istis,
qui nummos aurumque recondit, nescius uti
compositis metuensque velut contingere sacrum ?
si quis ad ingentem frumenti semper acervum
porrectus vigilet cum longo fuste, neque illinc
audeat esuriens dominus contingere granum,
ac potius foliis parcus vescatur amaris ;
si positis intus Chii veterisque Falerni
mille cadis, nihil est, ter centum milibus acre,
80
85
90
95
100
105
IIO
115
potet acetum; age, si et stramentis incubet unde-
octoginta annos natus, cui stragula vestis,
SERMONUM LIB. II. 3
129
blattarum ac tinearum epulae, putrescat in arca :
nimirum insanus paucis videatur, eo quod
maxima pars hominum morbo iactatur eodem.
filius aut etiam haec libertus ut ebibat heres,
dis inimice senex, custodis ? ne tibi desit?
quantulum enim summae curtabit quisque dierum,
unguere si caules oleo meliore caputque
coeperis inpexa foedum porrigine? quare,
si quidvis satis est, periuras, surripis, aufers
undique? tun sanus? populum si caedere saxis
incipias servosve tuos, quos aere pararis,
120
125
insanum te omnes pueri clamentque puellae :
130
cum laqueo uxorem interemis matremque veneno,
nec ferro ut demens genetricem occidis Orestes.
incolumi capite es? quid enim? neque tu hoc facis Argis,
an tu reris eum occisa insanisse parente,
ac non ante malis dementem actum Furiis quam
in matris iugulo ferrum tepefecit acutum ?
135
quin, ex quo est habitus male tutae mentis Orestes,
nil sane fecit quod tu reprehendere possis :
non Pyladen ferro violare aususve sororem
Electram, tantum maledicit utrique vocando
140
hanc Furiam, hunc aliud, iussit quod splendida bilis,
pauper Opimius argenti positi intus et auri,
qui Veientanum festis potare diebus
Campana solitus trulla vappamque profestis,
quondam lethargo grandi est oppressus, ut heres
iam circum loculos et claves laetus ovansque
145
curreret. hunc medicus multum celer atque fidelis
excitat hoc pacto: mensam poni iubet atque
effundi saccos nummorum, accedere plures
ad numerandum; hominem sic erigit; addit et illud :
ni tua custodis, avidus iam haec auferet heres,'
150
men vivo?' 'ut vivas igitur, vigila. hoc age!' 'quid vis?'
'deficient inopem venae te, ni cibus atque
ingens accedit stomacho fultura ruenti.
tu cessas? agedum, sume hoc tisanarium oryzae.'
155
'quanti emptae?' 'parvo.' 'quanti ergo?' 'octussibus.'
'eheu,
quid refert, morbo an furtis pereamque rapinis ?'
quisnam igitur sanus?' 'qui non stultus.' 'quid avarus?'
stultus et insanus.' 'quid, si quis non sit avarus,
K
130
Q. HORATI FLACCI
continuo sanus?' 'minime.' 'cur, Stoice?' 'dicam.
non est cardiacus-Craterum dixisse putato-
hic aeger recte est igitur, surgetque? negabit,
quod latus aut renes morbo temptentur acuto.
non est periurus neque sordidus; inmolet aequis
hic porcum Laribus: verum ambitiosus et audax;
naviget Anticyram. quid enim differt barathrone
dones quidquid habes, an numquam utare paratis ?'
Servius Oppidius Canusi duo praedia, dives.
antiquo censu, natis divisse duobus
fertur et hoc moriens pueris dixisse vocatis
ad lectum: 'postquam te talos, Aule, nucesque
ferre sinu laxo, donare et ludere vidi,
te, Tiberi, numerare, cavis abscondere tristem;
extimui, ne vos ageret insania discors,
tu Nomentanum, tu ne sequerere Cicutam.
quare per divos oratus uterque Penates,
tu cave ne minuas, tu ne maius facias id,
quod satis esse putat pater et natura coercet.
praeterea ne vos titillet gloria, iure
iurando obstringam ambo: uter aedilis fueritve
vestrum praetor, is intestabilis et sacer esto.
in cicere atque faba bona tu perdasque lupinis,
latus ut in circo spatiere et aeneus ut stes,
nudus agris, nudus nummis, insane, paternis;
scilicet ut plausus, quos fert Agrippa, feras tu,
astuta ingenuum vulpes imitata leonem.'-
ne quis humasse velit Aiacem, Atrida, vetas cur?'
'nil ultra quaero plebeius.' 'et aequam
"
C
rex sum.'
•
rem imperito, ac si cui videor non iustus, inulto
dicere quod sentit permitto.' 'maxime regum,
di tibi dent capta classem reducere Troia.
ergo consulere et mox respondere licebit?'
'consule.' C
cur Aiax, heros ab Achille secundus,
putrescit, totiens servatis clarus Achivis?
gaudeat ut populus Priami Priamusque inhumato,
per quem tot iuvenes patrio caruere sepulchro ?'
'mille ovium insanus morti dedit, inclitum Ulixen
et Menelaum una mecum se occidere clamans.'
tu cum pro vitula statuis dulcem Aulide natam
ante aras spargisque mola caput, inprobe, salsa,
rectum animi servas cursum? insanus quid enim Aiax
160
165
170
175
180
185
190
195
200
SERMONUM LIB. II. 3
131
(
fecit, cum stravit ferro pecus? abstinuit vim
uxore et nato; mala multa precatus Atridis
non ille aut Teucrum aut ipsum violavit Ulixen.'
verum ego, ut haerentes adverso litore naves
eriperem, prudens placavi sanguine divos.'
'nempe tuo, furiose.' 'meo, sed non furiosus.'
qui species alias veris scelerisque tumultu
permixtas capiet, commotus habebitur, atque
stultitiane erret, nihilum distabit, an ira.
Aiax inmeritos cum occidit desipit agnos;
stas animo, et purum est vitio tibi, cum tumidum est, cor?
cum prudens scelus ob titulos admittis inanes,
si quis lectica nitidam gestare amet agnam,
huic vestem, ut natae, paret ancillas, paret aurum,
Rufam aut Pusillam appellet fortique marito
destinet uxorem; interdicto huic omne adimat ius
praétor et ad sanos abeat tutela propinquos.
quid? si quis natam pro muta devovet agna,
integer est animi? ne dixeris. ergo ubi prava
stultitia, hic summa est insania; qui sceleratus,
et furiosus erit; quem cepit vitrea fama,
hunc circumtonuit gaudens Bellona cruentis.
205
210
215
220
nunc age, luxuriam et Nomentanum arripe mecum :
vincet enim stultos ratio insanire nepotes.
hic simul accepit patrimoni mille talenta,
edicit, piscator uti, pomarius, auceps,
unguentarius ac Tusci turba inpia vici,
225
cum scurris fartor, cum Velabro omne macellum
mane domum veniant. quid tum? venere frequentes;
verba facit leno: quidquid mihi, quidquid et horum
cuique domi est, id crede tuum et vel nunc pete vel cras.'
accipe quid contra haec iuvenis responderit aequus.
230
‘in nive Lucana dormis ocreatus, ut aprum
cenem ego; tu pisces hiberno ex aequore verris.
segnis ego indignus qui tantum possideam: aufer.
sume tibi deciens; tibi tantundem; tibi triplex.'
filius Aesopi detractam ex aure Metellae,
scilicet ut deciens solidum absorberet, aceto
diluit insignem bacam: qui sanior, ac si
235
240
illud idem in rapidum flumen iaceretve cloacam?
Quinti progenies Arri, par nobile fratrum,
nequitia et nugis, pravorum et amore gemellum,
132
Q. HORATI FLACCI
luscinias soliti inpenso prandere coemptas,
quorsum abeant, sani ut creta, an carbone notati?
aedificare casas, plostello adiungere mures,
ludere par inpar, equitare in harundine longa
si quem delectet barbatum, amentia verset.
si puerilius his ratio esse evincet amare,
nec quicquam differre, utrumne in pulvere, trimus
quale prius, ludas opus an meretricis amore
sollicitus plores: quaero, faciasne quod olim
mutatus Polemon? ponas insignia morbi,
fasciolas, cubital, focalia, potus ut ille
dicitur ex collo furtim carpsisse coronas,
postquam est inpransi correptus voce magistri ?
porrigis irato puero cum poma, recusat;
sume, catelle.' negat. si non des, optet. amator
exclusus qui distat, agit ubi secum, eat an non,
quo rediturus erat non arcessitus, et haeret
invisis foribus? 'nec nunc, cum me vocet ultro,
accedam ? an potius mediter finire dolores ?
exclusit: revocat. redeam? non, si obsecret.'
servus, non paulo sapientior: 'o ere, quae res
nec modum habet neque consilium, ratione modoque
tractari non vult. in amore haec sunt mala, bellum,
pax rursum: haec si quis tempestatis prope ritu
mobilia et caeca fluitantia sorte laboret
ecce
245
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255
260
265
reddere certa sibi, nihilo plus explicet, ac si
270
insanire paret certa ratione modoque.'
quid? cum Picenis excerpens semina pomis
gaudes, si cameram percusti forte, penes te es?
quid? cum balba feris annoso verba palato,
aedificante casas qui sanior? adde cruorem
275
stultitiae, atque ignem gladio scrutare. modo, inquam,
Hellade percussa Marius cum praecipitat se,
cerritus fuit? an commotae crimine mentis
absolves hominem et sceleris damnabis eundem,
ex more inponens cognata vocabula rebus?
280
libertinus erat, qui circum compita siccus
lautis mane senex manibus currebat et unum,
quid tam magnum?' addens, 'unum me surpite morti!
dis etenim facile est' orabat, sanus utrisque
auribus atque oculis; mentem, nisi litigiosus,
285
exciperet dominus, cum venderet. hoc quoque vulgus
SERMONUM LIB. II. 3
133
C
Chrysippus ponit fecunda in gente Meneni.
'Iuppiter, ingentes qui das adimisque dolores,'
mater ait pueri menses iam quinque cubantis,
'frigida si puerum quartana reliquerit, illo
mane die, quo tu indicis ieiunia, nudus
in Tiberi stabit.'
casus medicusve levarit
aegrum ex praecipiti; mater delira necabit
in gelida fixum ripa febremque reducet.
quone malo mentem concussa? timore deorum."
haec mihi Stertinius, sapientum octavus, amico
arma dedit, posthac ne compellarer inultus.
dixerit insanum qui me, totidem audiet atque
respicere ignoto discet pendentia tergo.'
290
295
Stoice, post damnum sic vendas omnia pluris,
qua me stultitia, quoniam non est genus unum,
300
insanire putas? ego nam videor mihi sanus.'
quid? caput abscissum manibus cum portat Agave
nati infelicis, sibi tunc furiosa videtur?'
'stultum me fateor-liceat concedere veris-
305
atque etiam insanum; tantum hoc edissere, quo me
aegrotare putes animi vitio.' 'accipe: primum
aedificas, hoc est longos imitaris, ab imo
ad summum totus moduli bipedalis: et idem
corpore maiorem rides Turbonis in armis
310
spiritum et incessum: qui ridiculus minus illo ?
an quodcumque facit Maecenas, te quoque verum est,
tantum dissimilem, et tanto certare minorem ?
absentis ranae pullis vituli pede pressis
unus ubi effugit, matri denarrat ut ingens
315
"
belua cognatos eliserit. illa rogare:
quantane? num tantum,' sufflans se, 'magna fuisset?'
6 maior dimidio.' 'num tantum ?’
cum magis atque
se magis inflaret, 'non, si te ruperis,' inquit,
par eris.' haec a te non multum abludit imago.
adde poemata nunc, hoc est, oleum adde camino :
quae si quis sanus fecit, sanus facis et tu.
non dico horrendam rabiem.' 'iam desine !'
maiorem censu.' 'teneas, Damasippe, tuis te.
o maior, tandem parcas, insane, minori !'
' cultum
320
326
134
Q. HORATI FLACCI
C
'Unde et quo Catius?'
IV
'non est mihi tempus, aventi
ponere signa novis praeceptis, qualia vincunt
Pythagoran Anytique reum, doctumque Platona.'
peccatum fateor, cum te sic tempore laevo
interpellarim; sed des veniam bonus, oro.
quodsi interciderit tibi nunc aliquid, repetes mox,
sive est naturae hoc sive artis, mirus utroque.'
quin id erat curae, quo pacto cuncta tenerem,
utpote res tenues tenui sermone peractas.'
'ede hominis nomen, simul et, Romanus an hospes.'
'ipsa memor praecepta canam, celabitur auctor.
longa quibus facies ovis erit, illa memento,
ut suci melioris et ut magis alba rotundis,
ponere; namque marem cohibent callosa vitellum.
cole suburbano qui siccis crevit in agris
dulcior; inriguo nihil est elutius horto.
si vespertinus subito te oppresserit hospes,
ne gallina malum responset dura palato,
doctus eris vivam musto mersare Falerno;
hoc teneram faciet. pratensibus optima fungis
natura est; aliis male creditur. ille salubres
aestates peraget, qui nigris prandia moris
finiet, ante gravem quae legerit arbore solem.
Aufidius forti miscebat mella Falerno,
mendose; quoniam vacuis committere venis
nil nisi lene decet; leni praecordia mulso
prolueris melius. si dura morabitur alvus,
mitulus et viles pellent obstantia conchae
et lapathi brevis herba, sed albo non sine Coo.
lubrica nascentes inplent conchylia lunae ;
sed non omne mare est generosae fertile testae:
murice Baiano melior Lucrina peloris,
ostrea Circeiis, Miseno oriuntur echini,
pectinibus patulis iactat se molle Tarentum.
nec sibi cenarum quivis temere arroget artem,
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non prius exacta tenui ratione saporum.
nec satis est cara pisces averrere mensa
ignarum quibus est ius aptius et quibus assis
languidus in cubitum iam se conviva reponet.
Umber et iligna nutritus glande rotundas
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SERMONUM LIB. II. 4
135
curvat aper lances carnem vitantis inertem :
nam Laurens malus est, ulvis et harundine pinguis.
vinea summittit capreas non semper edules.
fecundae leporis sapiens sectabitur armos.
piscibus atque avibus quae natura et foret aetas,
ante meum nulli patuit quaesita palatum.
sunt quorum ingenium nova tantum crustula promit.
nequaquam satis in re una consumere curam ;
ut si quis solum hoc, mala ne sint vina, laboret,
quali perfundat pisces securus olivo.
Massica si caelo suppones vina sereno,
nocturna, si quid crassi est, tenuabitur aura,
et decedet odor nervis inimicus; at illa
integrum perdunt lino vitiata saporem.
Surrentina vafer qui miscet faece Falerna
vina, columbino limum bene colligit ovo,
quatenus ima petit volvens aliena vitellus.
tostis marcentem squillis recreabis et Afra
potorem coclea; nam lactuca innatat acri
post vinum stomacho; perna magis et magis hillis
flagitat inmorsus refici; quin omnia malit
quaecumque inmundis fervent allata popinis.
est operae pretium duplicis pernoscere iuris
naturam. simplex e dulci constat olivo,
quod pingui miscere mero muriaque decebit
non alia, quam qua Byzantia putuit orca.
hoc ubi confusum sectis inferbuit herbis
Corycioque croco sparsum stetit, insuper addes
pressa Venafranae quod baca remisit olivae.
Picenis cedunt pomis Tiburtia suco ;
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nam facie praestant. vennuncula convenit ollis
rectius Albanam fumo duraveris uvam.
hanc ego cum malis, ego faecem primus et allec,
primus et invenior piper album cum sale nigro
incretum puris circumposuisse catillis.
inmane est vitium dare milia terna macello
angustoque vagos pisces urguere catino.
;
75
magna movet stomacho fastidia, seu puer unctis
tractavit calicem manibus, dum furta ligurrit,
sive gravis veteri craterae limus adhaesit.
80
vilibus in scopis, in mappis, in scobe quantus
consistit sumptus? neclectis, flagitium ingens.
136
Q. HORATI FLACCI
ten lapides varios lutulenta radere palma
et Tyrias dare circum inluta toralia vestes,
oblitum, quanto curam sumptumque minorem
haec habeant, tanto reprehendi iustius illis,
quae nisi divitibus nequeunt contingere mensis?'
'docte Cati, per amicitiam divosque rogatus
ducere me auditum, perges quocumque, memento.
nam quamvis memori referas mihi pectore cuncta,
non tamen interpres tantundem iuveris.
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90
adde
vultum habitumque hominis, quem tu vidisse beatus
non magni pendis, quia contigit; at mihi cura
non mediocris inest, fontes ut adire remotos
atque haurire queam vitae praecepta beatae.'
V
'Hoc quoque, Teresia, praeter narrata petenti
responde, quibus amissas reparare queam res
artibus atque modis. quid rides?'
'iamne doloso
non satis est Ithacam revehi patriosque Penates
aspicere?' 'o nulli quicquam mentite, vides ut
nudus inopsque domum redeam te vate, neque illic
aut apotheca procis intacta est aut pecus; atqui
et genus et virtus, nisi cum re, vilior alga est.’
quando pauperiem missis ambagibus horres,
accipe qua ratione queas ditescere. turdus
sive aliud privum dabitur tibi, devolet illuc,
res ubi magna nitet domino sene; dulcia poma
et quoscumque feret cultus tibi fundus honores,
ante Larem gustet venerabilior Lare dives;
qui quamvis periurus erit, sine gente, cruentus
sanguine fraterno, fugitivus, ne tamen illi
tu comes exterior, si postulet, ire recuses.'
'utne tegam spurco Damae latus? haud ita Troiae
me gessi, certans semper melioribus.' 'ergo
pauper eris.' 'fortem hoc animum tolerare iubebo:
et quondam maiora tuli. tu protinus unde
divitias aerisque ruam dic, augur, acervos.'
'dixi equidem et dico: captes astutus ubique
testamenta senum, neu, si vafer unus et alter
insidiatorem praeroso fugerit hamo,
aut spem deponas aut artem inlusus omittas.
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SERMONUM LIB. II. 5
137
magna minorve foro si res certabitur olim,
vivet uter locuples sine natis, inprobus, ultro
qui meliorem audax vocet in ius, illius esto
defensor; fama civem causaque priorem
30
sperne, domi si natus erit fecundave coniunx.
((
Quinte," puta, aut "Publi "-gaudent praenomine molles
auriculae—“ tibi me virtus tua fecit amicum ;
ius anceps novi, causas defendere possum ;
eripiet quivis oculos citius mihi quam te
contemptum cassa nuce te pauperet: haec mea cura est,
ne quid tu perdas neu sis iocus."
ire domum atque
pelliculam curare iube; fi cognitor ipse;
35
persta atque obdura, seu rubra Canicula findet
infantes statuas, seu pingui tentus omaso
40
Furius hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpes.
nonne vides," aliquis cubito stantem prope tangens
inquiet, "ut patiens, ut amicis aptus, ut acer?"
plures adnabunt thunni et cetaria crescent.
si cui praeterea validus male filius in re
45
"
praeclara sublatus aletur, ne manifestum
caelibis obsequium nudet te, leniter in spem
adrepe officiosus, ut et scribare secundus
heres et, si quis casus puerum egerit Orco,
in vacuum venias; perraro haec alea fallit.
qui testamentum tradet tibi cumque legendum,
abnuere et tabulas a te removere memento,
sic tamen, ut limis rapias, quid prima secundo
cera velit versu; solus multisne coheres,
veloci percurre oculo. plerumque recoctus
scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludet hiantem,
captatorque dabit risus Nasica Corano.'
num furis?
an prudens ludis me obscura canendo ?’
'o Laertiade, quidquid dicam, aut erit aut non:
divinare etenim magnus mihi donat Apollo.'
quid tamen ista velit sibi fabula, si licet, ede.'
tempore, quo iuvenis Parthis horrendus, ab alto
demissum genus Aenea, tellure marique
magnus erit, forti nubet procera Corano
filia Nasicae, metuentis reddere soldum.
tum gener hoc faciet: tabulas socero dabit atque
ut legat orabit; multum Nasica negatas
accipiet tandem et tacitus leget invenietque
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138
Q. HORATI FLACCI
nil sibi legatum praeter plorare suisque.
illud ad haec iubeo: mulier si forte dolosa
libertusve senem delirum temperet, illis
accedas socius; laudes, lauderis ut absens.
70
me sene quod dicam factum est: anus inproba Thebis
ex testamento sic est elata: cadaver
85
unctum oleo largo nudis umeris tulit heres,
scilicet elabi si posset mortua; credo,
quod nimium institerat viventi. cautus adito,
neu desis operae neve inmoderatus abundes.
difficilem et morosum offendet garrulus: ultra
non etiam sileas. Davus sis comicus atque
stes capite obstipo, multum similis metuenti.
obsequio grassare; mone, si increbruit aura,
cautus uti velet carum caput; extrahe turba
oppositis umeris; aurem substringe loquaci.
inportunus amat laudari; donec "ohe iam!"
ad caelum manibus sublatis dixerit, urgue;
crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem.
cum te servitio longo curaque levarit,
et certum vigilans "quartae sit partis Ulixes"
audieris "heres": CC ergo nunc Dama sodalis
nusquam est? unde mihi tam fortem tamque fidelem?"
sparge subinde et, si paulum potes, inlacrimare: est
gaudia prodentem vultum celare. sepulchrum
permissum arbitrio sine sordibus exstrue; funus
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egregie factum laudet vicinia. si quis
forte coheredum senior male tussiet, huic tu
dic, ex parte tua seu fundi sive domus sit
emptor, gaudentem nummo te addicere. sed me
imperiosa trahit Proserpina: vive valeque.'
· VI
Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus,
hortus ubi et tecto vicinus iugis aquae fons
et paulum silvae super his foret. auctius atque
di melius fecere. bene est. nil amplius oro,
Maia nate, nisi ut propria haec mihi munera faxis.
sineque maiorem feci ratione mala rem,
Aneesum facturus vitio culpave minorem ;
si veneror stultus nihil horum: 'o si angulus ille
proximus accedat, qui nunc denormat agellum !
IIO

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SERMONUM LIB. II. 6
139
verb
C
o si urnam argenti fors quae mihi monstret, ut illi,
thesauro invento qui mercennarius agrum
illum ipsum, mercatus aravit, dives amico
Hercule!' si, quod adest, gratum idvat, hac prece te oro
pingue pecus domino facias et cetera praeter
ingenium, utque soles, custos mihi maximus adsis.
ergo ubi me in montes et in arcem ex urhe removi,
quid prius inlustrem saturis Musaque pedestri?
nec mala me ambitio perdit nec plumbeus Auster
autumnusque gravis, Libitinae quaestus acerbae.
Matutine pater, seu Iane libentius audis,
4
unde homines operum primos vitaeque labores
instituunt sic dis placitum-tu carminis esto
principium. Romae sponsorem me rapis.
ne prior officio quisquam respondeat, urgue.'
sive Aquilo radit terras seu bruma nivalem
interiore dien gyro trahit, ire necesse est.
postmodo quod mi obsit, clare certumque locuto
luctandum in turba et facienda iniuria tardis.
'heia,
at simul atras
quid vis, insane, et quas res agis?' inprobus urguet
iratis precibus: 'tu pulses omne quod obstat,
ad Maecenatem memori si mente recurras?'
hoc iuvat et melli est, non mentiar.
ventum est Esquilias, aliena negotia centum
per caput et circa saliunt latus. 'ante secundam
Roscius orabat sibi adesses ad puteal cras.'
'dè re communi scribae magna atque nova te
orabant hodie meminisses, Quinte, reverti.'
inprimat his eura Maecenas signa tabellis.'
dixeris ' experiar'; 'si vis, potes' addit et instat.
septimus octavo propior iam fugerit annus,
ex quo Maecenas me coepit habere suorum
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in numero, dumtaxat ad hoc, quem tollere reda
vellet iter faciens, et cui concredere nugas
hoc genus: 'hora quota est?' 'Thraex est Gallina Syro par?'
'matutina parum cautos iam frigora mordent,'
45
et quae rimosa bene deponuntur in aure,
per totum hoc tempus subiectior in diem et horam
invidiae noster ludos spectaverit una,
luserit in campo: Fortunae filius' omnes.
frigidus a rostris manat per compita rumor:
50
quicumque obvius est, me consulit: 'o bone-nam te
140
Q. HORATI FLACCI
"
'
scire, deos quoniam propius contingis, oportet-
numquid de Dacis audisti?' 'nil equidem.'. ut tu
semper eris derisor.' 'at omnes di exagitent me,
si quicquam. quid? militibus promissa Triquetra
praedia Caesar an est Itala tellure daturus?'
iurantem ke scire nihil mirantur ut unum
scilicet egregii mortalem altique silenti.

د
perditur haec inter misero lux, non sine votis
o rus, quando ego te aspiciam, quandoque licebit
nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis
ducere sollicitae iucunda oblivia vitae ?
o quando faba Pythagorae cognata simulque
uncta satis pingui ponentur holuscula lardo?
o noctes cenaeque deum, quibus ipse meique
ante Larem proprium vescor vernasque procaces
pasco libatis dapibus. prout cuique libido est,
siccat inaequales calices conviva solutus
legibus insanis, seu quis capit acria fortis
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pocula seu modicis uvescit lentius. ergo
70
sermo oritur, non de villis domibusve alienis,
nec male necne Lepos saltet, sed, quod magis ad nos
pertinet et nescire malum est, agitamus, utrumne
divitiis homines an sint virtute beati,
quidve ad amicitias, usus rectumne, trahat nos,
75
et quae sit natura boni summumque quid eius.
Cervius haec inter vicinus garrit aniles
ex re fabellas. si quis nam laudat Arelli
sollicitas ignarus opes, sic incipit: olim
rusticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur
accepisse cavo, veterem vetus hospes amicum,
asper et attentus quaesitis, ut tamen artum
solveret hospitiis animum. quid multa? neque ille
sepositi ciceris nec longae invidit avenae,
aridum et ore ferens acinum semesaque lardi
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frusta dedit, cupiens varia fastidia cena

vincere tangentis male singula dente superbo;
cum pater ipse domus palea porrectus in horna
quest
esset ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens.?
tandem urbanus ad hunc "quid te iuvat," inquit, “amice, 90
praerupti nemoris patientem vivere dorso?
vis tu homines urbemque feris praeponere silvis?
carpe viam, mihi crede, comes; terrestria quando
SERMONUM LIB. II. 7
141
mortales animas vivunt sortita, neque ulla est
aut magno aut parvo leti fuga: quo, bone, circa,
dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus,
vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis." haec ubi dicta
agrestem pepulere, domo levis exsilit; inde
ambo propositum peragunt iter, urbis aventes
moenia nocturni subrepere. iamque tenebat
nox medium caeli spatium, cum ponit uterque
in locuplete domo vestigia, rubro ubi cocco
tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos,
multaque de magna superessent fercula cena,
quae procul exstructis inerant hesterna canistris.
ergo ubi purpurea porrectum in veste locavit
agrestem, veluti succinctus cursitat hospes
continuatque dapes, nec non verniliter ipsis
fungitur officiis, praelambens omne quod adfert.
ille cubans gaudet mutata sorte bonisque
rebus agit laetum convivam, cum subito ingens
valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque.
currere per totum pavidi conclave, magisque
exanimes trepidare, simul domus alta Molossis
personuit canibus. tum rusticus "haud mihi vita
est opus hac" ait "et valeas: me silva cavusque
tutus ab insidiis tenui solabitur ervo."
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115
VII
C
Iamdudum ausculto et cupiens tibi dicere servus
pauca reformido.' 'Davusne?'
'Davusne?' 'ita, Davus, amicum
mancipium domino et frugi quod sit satis, hoc est,
ut vitale putes.' 'age, libertate Decembri,
quando ita maiores voluerunt, utere; narra.'
'pars hominum vitiis gaudet constanter et urguet
propositum; pars multa natat, modo recta capessens,
interdum pravis obnoxia. saepe notatus
cum tribus anellis, modo laeva Priscus inani,
vixit inaequalis, clavum ut mutaret in horas ;
aedibus ex magnis subito se conderet, unde
mundior exiret vix libertinus honeste ;
iam moechus Romae, iam mallet doctus Athenis
vivere, Vertumnis quotquot sunt natus iniquis.
scurra Volanerius, postquam illi iusta cheragra
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
contudit articulos, qui pro se tolleret atque
mitteret in phimum talos, mercede diurna
conductum pavit: quanto constantior isdem
in vitiis, tanto levius miser ac prior illo,
qui iam contento, iam laxo fune laborat.'
non dices hodie quorsum haec tam putida tendant,
furcifer?' ' ad te, inquam.' quo pacto, pessime?' 'laudas
fortunam et mores antiquae plebis, et idem,
si quis ad illa deus subito te agat, usque recuses,
aut quia non sentis, quod clamas rectius esse,
aut quia non firmus rectum defendis et haeres
nequiquam caeno cupiens evellere plantam.
Romae rus optas; absentem rusticus urbem
tollis ad astra levis. si nusquam es forte vocatus
ad cenam, laudas securum holus ac velut usquam
vinctus eas, ita te felicem dicis amasque
quod nusquam tibi sit potandum. iusserit ad se
Maecenas serum sub lumina prima venire
convivam: “nemon oleum fert ocius ? ecquis
audit?" cum magno blateras clamore fugisque.
Mulvius et scurrae, tibi non referenda precati,
discedunt. "etenim fateor me," dixerit ille,
❝duci ventre levem, nasum nidore supinor,
inbecillus, iners, si quid vis, adde, popino.
tu cum sis quod ego et fortassis nequior, ultro
insectere velut melior, verbisque decoris
obvolvas vitium?" quid, si me stultior ipso
quingentis empto drachmis deprenderis
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aufer
me vultu terrere; manum stomachumque teneto,
dum, quae Crispini docuit me ianitor, edo.
45
non sum moechus" ais. neque ego, hercule, fur, ubi vasa
praetereo sapiens argentea; tolle periclum,
iam vaga prosiliet frenis natura remotis.
tune mihi dominus, rerum imperiis hominumque
tot tantisque minor, quem ter vindicta quaterque
inposita haud umquam misera formidine privet?
adde super, dictis quod non levius valeat: nam,
sive vicarius est qui servo paret, uti mos
vester ait, seu conservus: tibi quid sum ego? nempe
tu, mihi qui imperitas, alii servis miser atque
duceris, ut nervis alienis mobile lignum.
quisnam igitur liber? sapiens, sibique imperiosus,
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SERMONUM LIB. II. 8
143
quem neque pauperies neque mors neque vincula terrent,
responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores
fortis, et in se ipso totus, teres atque rotundus,
externi ne quid valeat per leve morari,
in quem manca ruit semper fortuna. potesne
85
ex his ut proprium quid noscere ? quinque talenta
poscit te mulier, vexat foribusque repulsum
perfundit gelida, rursus vocat.
colla iugo, "liber, liber sum
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eripe turpi
non quis :
"dic age.
urguet enim dominus mentem non lenis et acres
subiectat lasso stimulos versatque negantem.
vel cum Pausiaca torpes, insane, tabella,
qui peccas minus atque ego, cum Fulvi Rutubaeque
aut Pacideiani contento poplite miror
proelia rubrica picta aut carbone, velut si
re vera pugnent, feriant vitentque moventes
arma viri? nequam et cessator Davus; at ipse
subtilis veterum iudex et callidus audis.
nil ego, si ducor libo fumante: tibi ingens
virtus atque animus cenis responsat opimis?
obsequium ventris mihi perniciosius est cur?
tergo plector enim. qui tu inpunitior illa,
quae parvo sumi nequeunt, obsonia captas?
nempe inamarescunt epulae sine fine petitae,
inlusique pedes vitiosum ferre recusant
corpus. an hic peccat, sub noctem qui puer uvam
furtiva mutat strigili? qui praedia vendit,
nil servile gulae parens habet? adde quod idem
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non horam tecum esse potes, non otia recte
ponere, teque ipsum vitas fugitivus et erro,
iam vino quaerens, iam somno fallere curam ;
frustra: nam comes atra premit sequiturque fugacem.'
115
'unde mihi lapidem ?' ' 'quorsum est opus?' 'unde sagittas?'
' aut insanit homo aut versus facit.' 'ocius hinc te
ni rapis, accedes opera agro nona Sabino.'
VIII
'Ut Nasidieni iuvit te cena beati ?
nam mihi quaerenti convivam dictus here illic
de medio potare die.' 'sic, ut mihi numquam
144
Q. HORATI FLACCI
1
in vita fuerit melius.' 'da, si grave non est,
quae prima iratum ventrem placaverit esca.'
"in primis Lucanus aper leni fuit Austro
captus, ut aiebat cenae pater; acria circum
rapula, lactucae, radices, qualia lassum
pervellunt stomachum, siser, allec, faecula Coa.
his ubi sublatis puer alte cinctus acernam
gausape purpureo mensam pertersit, et alter
sublegit quodcumque iaceret inutile quodque
posset cenantes offendere, ut Attica virgo
cum sacris Cereris procedit fuscus Hydaspes
Caecuba vina ferens, Alcon Chium maris expers.
hic erus: "Albanum, Maecenas, sive Falernum
te magis appositis delectat: habemus utrumque.
'divitias miseras! sed quis cenantibus una,
Fundani, pulchre fuerit tibi, nosse laboro.'
summus ego, et prope me Viscus Thurinus et infra,
si memini, Varius, cum Servilio Balatrone
Vibidius, quos Maecenas adduxerat umbras.
Nomentanus erat super ipsum, Porcius infra,
ridiculus totas semel absorbere placentas.
Nomentanus ad hoc, qui, si quid forte lateret,
indice monstraret digito: nam cetera turba,
nos, inquam, cenamus aves, conchylia, pisces,
longe dissimilem noto celantia sucum,
ut vel continuo patuit, cum passeris atque
ingustata mihi porrexerit ilia rhombi.
post hoc me docuit melimela rubere minorem
ad lunam delecta: quid hoc intersit, ab ipso
audieris melius. tum Vibidius Balatroni :
nos nisi damnose bibimus, moriemur inulti,"
et calices poscit maiores. vertere pallor
tum parochi faciem, nil sic metuentis ut acres
potores, vel quod maledicunt liberius vel
fervida quod subtile exsurdant vina palatum.
invertunt Allifanis vinaria tota
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Vibidius Balatroque: secutis omnibus, imi
convivae lecti nihilum nocuere lagoenis.
adfertur squillas inter murena natantes
in patina porrecta. sub hoc erus "haec gravida," inquit,
"capta est, deterior post partum carne futura.
his mixtum ius est: oleo, quod prima Venafri
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SERMONUM LIB. II. 8
145
pressit cella, garo de sucis piscis Hiberi,
vino quinquenni, verum citra mare nato,
dum coquitur-cocto Chium sic convenit, ut non
hoc magis ullum aliud-pipere albo non sine aceto,
quod Methymnaeam vitio mutaverit uvam.
erucas virides, inulas ego primus amaras
monstravi incoquere, inlutos Curtillus echinos,
ut melius muria quod testa marina remittit.”
interea suspensa graves aulaea ruinas
in patinam fecere, trahentia pulveris atri
quantum non Aquilo Campanis excitat agris.
nos maius veriti, postquam nihil esse pericli
sensimus, erigimur. Rufus posito capite, ut si
filius inmaturus obisset, flere. quis esset
finis, ni sapiens sic Nomentanus amicum
tolleret: "heu, Fortuna, quis est crudelior in nos
te deus? ut semper gaudes inludere rebus
humanis!" Varius mappa compescere risum
vix poterat. Balatro suspendens omnia naso,
“haec est condicio vivendi,” aiebat, “eoque
responsura tuo numquam est par fama labori.
tene, ut ego accipiar laute, torquerier omni
sollicitudine districtum, ne panis adustus,
ne male conditum ius apponatur, ut omnes
praecincti recte pueri comptique ministrent?
adde hos praeterea casus, aulaea ruant si,
ut modo; si patinam pede lapsus frangat agaso.
sed convivatoris uti ducis ingenium res
adversae nudare solent, celare secundae.”
Nasidienus ad haec: "tibi di quaecumque preceris,
commoda dent; ita vir bonus es convivaque comis,"
et soleas poscit. tum in lecto quoque videres
stridere secreta divisos aure susurros.
'nullos his mallem ludos spectasse; sed illa
redde age quae deinceps risisti.' 'Vibidius dum
quaerit de pueris, num sit quoque fracta lagoena,
quod sibi poscenti non dantur pocula, dumque
ridetur fictis rerum, Balatrone secundo,
Nasidiene, redis mutatae frontis, ut arte
emendaturus fortunam; deinde secuti
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mazonomo pueri magno discerpta ferentes
membra gruis, sparsi sale multo non sine farre,
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Q. HORATI FLACCI SERM. II. 8
ز
pinguibus et ficis pastum iecur anseris albae,
et leporum avulsos, ut multo suavius, armos,
quam si cum lumbis quis edit.
tum pectore adusto
vidimus et merulas poni et sine clune palumbes;
suaves res, si non causas narraret earum et
naturas dominus: quem nos sic fugimus ulti,
ut nihil omnino gustaremus, velut illis
Canidia adflasset peior serpentibus Afris.'
}
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EPISTULARUM
LIBER PRIMUS
I
PRIMA dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena,
spectatum satis et donatum iam rude quaeris,
Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo.
non eadem est aetas, non mens. Veianius armis
Herculis ad postem fixis latet abditus agro,
ne populum extrema totiens exoret harena.
est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem
'solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne
peccet ad extremum ridendus et ilia ducat.'
nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono ;
quid verum atque decens curo et rogo et omnis in hoc sum :
condo et compono quae mox depromere possim.
ac ne forte roges quo me duce, quo Lare tuter,
nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri,
quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.
nunc agilis fio et mersor civilibus undis,
virtutis verae custos rigidusque satelles
nunc in Aristippi furtim praecepta relabor
et mihi res, non me rebus subiungere conor.
ut nox longa quibus mentitur amica, diesque
longa videtur opus debentibus, ut piger annus
pupillis quos dura premit custodia matrum,
sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae spem
consiliumque morantur agendi naviter id quod
aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque,
aeque neclectum pueris senibusque nocebit.
restat ut his ego me ipse regam solerque elementis.
non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus,
non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungui;
nec, quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis,
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra.
est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra.
fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus :
sunt verba et voces quibus hunc lenire dolorem
possis et magnam morbi deponere partem.
laudis amore tumes: sunt certa piacula, quae te
ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello.
invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,
nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit,
si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.
virtus est vitium fugere, et sapientia prima
stultitia caruisse. vides, quae maxima credis
esse mala, exiguum censum turpemque repulsam,
quanto devites animi capitisque labore;
inpiger extremos curris mercator ad Indos,
per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignes:
ne cures ea, quae stulte miraris et optas,
discere et audire et meliori credere non vis?
quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax
magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui spes,
cui sit condicio dulcis sine pulvere palmae?
vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum.
'o cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est;
virtus post nummos!' haec Ianus summus ab imo
prodocet, haec recinunt iuvenes dictata senesque,
laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto.
est animus tibi, sunt mores, est lingua fidesque,
sed quadringentis sex septem milia desunt:
plebs eris. at pueri ludentes 'rex eris' aiunt
'si recte facies.' hic murus aeneus esto,
nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.
Roscia, dic sodes, melior lex an puerorum est
nenia, quae regnum recte facientibus offert,
et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis?
isne tibi melius suadet, qui rem facias, rem,
si possis, recte, si non, quocumque modo rem,
ut propius spectes lacrimosa poemata Pupi,
an qui Fortunae te responsare superbae
liberum et erectum praesens hortatur et aptat?
quodsi me populus Romanus forte roget, cur
non ut porticibus sic iudiciis fruar isdem,
nec sequar aut fugiam quae diligit ipse vel odit,
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бо
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 2
149
olim quod vulpes aegroto cauta leoni
respondit referam: 'quia me vestigia terrent,
omnia te adversum spectantia, nulla retrorsum.'
75
belua multorum es capitum. nam quid sequar aut quem?
pars hominum gestit conducere publica; sunt qui
frustis et pomis viduas venentur avaras
excipiantque senes quos in vivaria mittant;
multis occulto crescit res faenore.
verum
esto aliis alios rebus studiisque teneri:
idem eadem possunt horam durare probantes?
'nullus in orbe sinus Baiis praelucet amoenis'
si dixit dives, lacus et mare sentit amorem
festinantis eri; cui si vitiosa libido
fecerit auspicium, cras ferramenta Teanum
tolletis, fabri. lectus genialis in aula est:
nil ait esse prius, melius nil caelibe vita;
si non est, iurat bene solis esse maritis.
quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo?
quid pauper? ride: mutat cenacula, lectos,
balnea, tonsores, conducto navigio aeque
nauseat ac locuples, quem ducit priva triremis.
si curatus inaequali tonsore capillos
occurri, rides; si forte subucula pexae
trita subest tunicae, vel si toga dissidet inpar,
rides: quid, mea cum pugnat sententia secum,
quod petiit spernit, repetit quod nuper omisit,
aestuat et vitae disconvenit ordine toto,
diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis?
insanire putas sollemnia me neque rides,
nec medici credis nec curatoris egere
a praetore dati, rerum tutela mearum
cum sis et prave sectum stomacheris ob unguem
de te pendentis, te respicientis amici.
ad summam, sapiens uno minor est Iove, dives,
liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique regum,
praecipue sanus, nisi cum pituita molesta est.
II
Troiani belli scriptorem, Maxime Lolli,
dum tu declamas Romae, Praeneste relegi :
qui quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non,
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
planius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore dicit.
cur ita crediderim, nisi quid te distinet, audi.
fabula, qua Paridis propter narratur amorem
Graecia barbariae lento collisa duello,
stultorum regum et populorum continet aestus.
Antenor censet belli praecidere causam.
quid Paris? ut salvus regnet vivatque beatus,
cogi posse negat. Nestor componere lites
inter Peliden festinat et inter Atriden :
hunc amor, ira quidem communiter urit utrumque.
quidquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi.
seditione, dolis, scelere atque libidine et ira
Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra.
rursus, quid virtus et quid sapientia possit,
utile proposuit nobis exemplar Ulixen,
qui domitor Troiae multorum providus urbes
et mores hominum inspexit, latumque per aequor,
dum sibi, dum sociis reditum parat, aspera multa
pertulit, adversis rerum inmersabilis undis.
Sirenum voces et Circae pocula nosti:
quae si cum sociis stultus cupidusque bibisset,
sub domina meretrice fuisset turpis et excors,
vixisset canis inmundus vel amica luto sus.
nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati,
sponsi Penelopae nebulones Alcinoique
in cute curanda plus aequo operata iuventus,
cui pulchrum fuit in medios dormire dies et
ad strepitum citharae cessatum ducere curam.
ut iugulent hominem surgunt de nocte latrones :
ut te ipsum serves non expergisceris? atqui,
si noles sanus, curres hydropicus; et ni
posces ante diem librum cum lumine, si non
intendes animum studiis et rebus honestis,
invidia vel amore vigil torquebere. nam cur,
quae laedunt oculum, festinas demere; si quid
est animum, differs curandi tempus in annum?
dimidium facti qui coepit habet: sapere aude;
incipe! qui recte vivendi prorogat horam,
rusticus exspectat dum defluat amnis: at ille
labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum.
quaeritur argentum puerisque beata creandis
uxor et incultae pacantur vomere silvae.
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quod satis est cui contingit, nihil amplius optet.
non domus et fundus, non aeris acervus et auri
aegroto domini deduxit corpore febres,
non animo curas: valeat possessor oportet,
si comportatis rebus bene cogitat uti.
qui cupit aut metuit, iuvat illum sic domus et res,
ut lippum pictae tabulae, fomenta podagram,
auriculas citharae collecta sorde dolentes.
sincerum est nisi vas, quodcumque infundis acescit.
sperne voluptates: nocet empta dolore voluptas.
semper avarus eget certum voto pete finem.
invidus alterius macrescit rebus opimis;
invidia Siculi non invenere tyranni
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maius tormentum. qui non moderabitur irae,
infectum volet esse, dolor quod suaserit et mens,
dum poenas odio per vim festinat inulto.
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ira furor brevis est: animum rege; qui nisi paret,
imperat hunc frenis, hunc tu compesce catena.
fingit equum tenera docilem cervice magister
65
ire viam qua monstret eques; venaticus, ex quo
tempore cervinam pellem latravit in aula,
militat in silvis catulus. nunc adbibe puro
pectore verba puer, nunc te melioribus offer.
quo semel est inbuta recens, servabit odorem
testa diu. quodsi cessas aut strenuus anteis,
nec tardum opperior nec praecedentibus insto.
III
Iuli Flore, quibus terrarum militet oris
Claudius Augusti privignus, scire laboro.
Thracane vos Hebrusque nivali compede vinctus,
an freta vicinas inter currentia turres,
an pingues Asiae campi collesque morantur?
quid studiosa cohors operum struit? hoc quoque curo.
quis sibi res gestas Augusti scribere sumit?
bella quis et paces longum diffundit in aevum ?
quid Titius, Romana brevi venturus in ora,
Pindarici fontis qui non expalluit haustus,
fastidire lacus et rivos ausus apertos?
ut valet? ut meminit nostri fidibusne Latinis
Thebanos aptare modos studet auspice Musa,
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
an tragica desaevit et ampullatur in arte?
quid mihi Celsus agit, monitus multumque monendus,
privatas ut quaerat opes et tangere vitet
scripta Palatinus quaecumque recepit Apollo,
ne, si forte suas repetitum venerit olim
grex avium plumas, moveat cornicula risum
furtivis nudata coloribus? ipse quid audes ?
quae circumvolitas agilis thyma? non tibi parvum
ingenium, non incultum est et turpiter hirtum :
seu linguam causis acuis seu civica iura
respondere paras seu condis amabile carmen,
prima feres hederae victricis praemia. quodsi
frigida curarum fomenta relinquere posses,
quo te caelestis sapientia duceret, ires.
hoc opus, hoc studium parvi properemus et ampli,
si patriae volumus, si nobis vivere cari.
debes hoc etiam rescribere, sit tibi curae
quantae conveniat Munatius. an male sarta
gratia nequiquam coit et rescinditur, ac vos
seu calidus sanguis seu rerum inscitia vexat
indomita cervice feros? ubicumque locorum
vivitis, indigni fraternum rumpere foedus,
pascitur in vestrum reditum votiva iuvenca.
IV
Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide iudex,
quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana ?
scribere quod Cassi Parmensis opuscula vincat,
an tacitum silvas inter reptare salubres,
curantem quidquid dignum sapiente bonoque est ?
non tu corpus eras sine pectore: di tibi formam,
di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi.
quid voveat dulci nutricula maius alumno,
qui sapere et fari possit quae sentiat, et cui
gratia, fama, valetudo contingat abunde,
et mundus victus, non deficiente crumena ?
inter spem curamque, timores inter et iras
omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum :
grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora.
me pinguem et nitidum bene curata cute vises,
cum ridere voles, Epicuri de grege porcum.
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 6
153
V
Si potes Archiacis conviva recumbere lectis
nec modica cenare times holus omne patella,
supremo te sole domi, Torquate, manebo.
vina bibes iterum Tauro diffusa palustres
inter Minturnas Sinuessanumque Petrinum:
si melius quid habes, arcesse, vel imperium fer.
iamdudum splendet focus et tibi munda supellex.
mitte leves spes et certamina divitiarum
et Moschi causam : cras nato Caesare festus
dat veniam somnumque dies; inpune licebit
aestivam sermone benigno tendere noctem.
quo mihi fortunam, si non conceditur uti?
parcus ob heredis curam nimiumque severus
adsidet insano: potare et spargere flores
incipiam patiarque vel inconsultus haberi.
quid non ebrietas dissignat? operta recludit,
spes iubet esse ratas, ad proelia trudit inertem,
sollicitis animis onus eximit, addocet artes.
fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum,
contracta quem non in paupertate solutum ?
haec ego procurare et idoneus imperor et non
invitus, ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa
conruget nares, ne non et cantharus et lanx
ostendat tibi te, ne fidos inter amicos
sit qui dicta foras eliminet, ut coeat par
iungaturque pari. Butram tibi Septiciumque
et nisi cena prior potiorque puella Sabinum
detinet adsumam: locus est et pluribus umbris ;
sed nimis arta premunt olidae convivia caprae.
tu quotus esse velis rescribe et rebus omissis
atria servantem postico falle clientem.
VI
Nil admirari prope res est una, Numici,
solaque quae possit facere et servare beatum.
hunc solem et stellas et decedentia certis
tempora momentis sunt qui formidine nulla
inbuti spectent. quid censes munera terrae ?
quid maris extremos Arabas ditantis et Indos?
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
ludicra quid, plausus et amici dona Quiritis?
quo spectanda modo, quo sensu credis et ore?
qui timet his adversa, fere miratur eodem
quo cupiens pacto: pavor est utrobique molestus,
inprovisa simul species exterret utrumque.
gaudeat an doleat, cupiat metuatne, quid ad rem,
si, quidquid vidit melius peiusve sua spe,
defixis oculis animoque et corpore torpet?
insani sapiens nomen ferat, aequus iniqui,
ultra quam satis est virtutem si petat ipsam.
i nunc, argentum et marmor vetus aeraque et artes
suspice, cum gemmis Tyrios mirare colores;
gaude quod spectant oculi te mille loquentem ;
navus mane forum et vespertinus pete tectum,
ne plus frumenti dotalibus emetat agris
Mutus et indignum, quod sit peioribus ortus—
hic tibi sit potius quam tu mirabilis illi.
quidquid sub terra est, in apricum proferet aetas,
defodiet condetque nitentia. cum bene notum
porticus Agrippae et via te conspexerit Appi,
ire tamen restat, Numa quo devenit et Ancus.
si latus aut renes morbo temptantur acuto,
quaere fugam morbi. vis recte vivere: quis non?
si virtus hoc una potest dare, fortis omissis
hoc age deliciis. virtutem verba putas et
lucum ligna cave ne portus occupet alter,
ne Cibyratica, ne Bithyna negotia perdas ;
mille talenta rotundentur, totidem altera, porro et
tertia succedant et quae pars quadrat acervum.
scilicet uxorem cum dote fidemque et amicos
et genus et formam regina Pecunia donat,
ac bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque.
mancupiis locuples eget aeris Cappadocum rex:
ne fueris hic tu. chlamydes Lucullus, ut aiunt,
si posset centum scaenae praebere rogatus,
'qui possum tot?' ait; 'tamen et quaeram, et quot habebo
mittam.' post paulo scribit sibi milia quinque
esse domi chlamydum; partem vel tolleret omnes.
exilis domus est ubi non et multa supersunt
et dominum fallunt et prosunt furibus. ergo
si res sola potest facere et servare beatum,
hoc primus repetas opus, hoc postremus omittas.
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 7
155
;
si fortunatum species et gratia praestat,
mercemur servum, qui dictet nomina, laevum
qui fodicet latus et cogat trans pondera dextram
porrigere: 'hic multum in Fabia valet, ille Velina;
cui libet hic fasces dabit eripietque curule
qui volet inportunus ebur.' 'frater' 'pater' adde
ut cuique est aetas, ita quemque facetus adopta.
si bene qui cenat bene vivit, lucet, eamus
quo ducit gula, piscemur, venemur, ut olim
Gargilius, qui mane plagas, venabula, servos
differtum transire forum populumque iubebat,
unus ut e multis populo spectante referret
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emptum mulus aprum. crudi tumidique lavemur,
quid deceat, quid non, obliti, Caerite cera
digni, remigium vitiosum Ithacensis Ulixei,
cui potior patria fuit interdicta voluptas.
C
si, Mimnermus uti censet, sine amore iocisque
nil est iucundum, vivas in amore iocisque.
vive, vale. si quid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti: si nil, his utere mecum.
VII
Quinque dies tibi pollicitus me rure futurum,
Sextilem totum mendax desideror. atqui,
si me vivere vis sanum recteque valentem,
quam mihi das aegro, dabis aegrotare timenti,
Maecenas, veniam, dum ficus prima calorque
dissignatorem decorat lictoribus atris,
dum pueris omnis pater et matercula pallet,
officiosaque sedulitas et opella forensis
adducit febres et testamenta resignat.
quodsi bruma nives Albanis inlinet agris,
ad mare descendet vates tuus et sibi parcet
contractusque leget; te, dulcis amice, reviset
cum Zephyris, si concedes, et hirundine prima.
non quo more piris vesci Calaber iubet hospes
tu me fecisti locupletem.
vescere sodes.'
'iam satis est.' 'at tu quantum vis tolle.' 'benigne.'
non invisa feres pueris munuscula parvis.'
'tam teneor dono, quam si dimittar onustus.'
'ut libet: haec porcis hodie comedenda relinques.'
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prodigus et stultus donat quae spernit et odit :
haec seges ingratos tulit et feret omnibus annis.
vir bonus et sapiens dignis ait esse paratus,
nec tamen ignorat quid distent aera lupinis.
dignum praestabo me etiam pro laude merentis.
quodsi me noles usquam discedere, reddes
forte latus, nigros angusta fronte capillos,
reddes dulce loqui, reddes ridere decorum et
inter vina fugam Cinarae maerere protervae.
forte per angustam tenuis vulpecula rimam
repserat in cumeram frumenti, pastaque rursus
ire foras pleno tendebat corpore frustra.
cui mustela procul 'si vis,' ait, 'effugere istinc,
macra cavum repetes artum, quem macra subisti.'
hac ego si compellor imagine, cuncta resigno;
nec somnum plebis laudo satur altilium, nec
otia divitiis Arabum liberrima muto.
saepe verecundum laudasti, rexque paterque
audisti coram, nec verbo parcius absens :
inspice, si possum donata reponere laetus.
haud male Telemachus, proles patientis Ulixei :
non est aptus equis Ithace locus, ut neque planis
porrectus spatiis nec multae prodigus herbae:
Atride, magis apta tibi tua dona relinquam.'
parvum parva decent mihi iam non regia Roma,
sed vacuum Tibur placet aut inbelle Tarentum.
strenuus et fortis causisque Philippus agendis
clarus ab officiis octavam circiter horam
dum redit atque foro nimium distare Carinas
iam grandis natu queritur, conspexit, ut aiunt,
adrasum quendam vacua tonsoris in umbra
cultello proprios purgantem leniter ungues.
Demetri,'-puer hic non laeve iussa Philippi
accipiebat—'abi, quaere et refer, unde domo, quis,
cuius fortunae, quo sit patre quove patrono.'
it, redit et narrat, Vulteium nomine Menam,
praeconem, tenui censu, sine crimine, notum
et properare loco et cessare et quaerere et uti,
gaudentem parvisque sodalibus et lare certo
et ludis et post decisa negotia campo.
'scitari libet ex ipso quodcumque refers: dic
ad cenam veniat.' non sane credere Mena ;
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 8
157
mirari secum tacitus. quid multa? 'benigne'
respondet. 'neget ille mihi?' 'negat inprobus et te
neclegit aut horret.' Vulteium mane Philippus
vilia vendentem tunicato scruta popello
occupat et salvere iubet prior; ille Philippo
excusare laborem et mercennaria vincla,
quod non mane domum venisset, denique quod non
providisset eum. 'sic ignovisse putato
me tibi, si cenas hodie mecum.'
'ut libet.' 'ergo
post nonam venies; nunc i, rem strenuus auge.'
ut ventum ad cenam est, dicenda tacenda locutus
tandem dormitum dimittitur. hic ubi saepe
occultum visus decurrere piscis ad hamum,
mane cliens et iam certus conviva, iubetur
rura suburbana indictis comes ire Latinis.
inpositus mannis arvum caelumque Sabinum
non cessat laudare. videt ridetque Philippus,
et sibi dum requiem, dum risus undique quaerit,
dum septem donat sestertia, mutua septem
promittit, persuadet uti mercetur agellum.
mercatur. ne te longis ambagibus ultra
quam satis est morer, ex nitido fit rusticus atque
sulcos et vineta crepat mera, praeparat ulmos,
inmoritur studiis et amore senescit habendi.
verum ubi oves furto, morbo periere capellae,
spem mentita seges, bos est enectus arando,
offensus damnis media de nocte caballum
arripit iratusque Philippi tendit ad aedes.
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85
quem simul aspexit scabrum intonsumque Philippus,
90
'durus,' ait, 'Vultei, nimis attentusque videris
esse mihi.' 'pol me miserum, patrone, vocares,
si velles' inquit 'verum mihi ponere nomen.
quod te per Genium dextramque deosque Penates
obsecro et obtestor, vitae me redde priori !'
qui semel aspexit, quantum dimissa petitis
praestent, mature redeat repetatque relicta.
metiri se quemque suo modulo ac pede verum est.
VIII
Celso gaudere et bene rem gerere Albinovano
95
Musa rogata refer, comiti scribaeque Neronis.
158
Q. HORATI FLACCI
si quaeret quid agam, dic multa et pulchra minantem
vivere nec recte nec suaviter; haud quia grando
contuderit vites oleamque momorderit aestus,
nec quia longinquis armentum aegrotet in agris;
sed quia mente minus validus quam corpore toto
nil audire velim, nil discere, quod levet aegrum ;
fidis offendar medicis, irascar amicis,
cur me funesto properent arcere veterno;
quae nocuere sequar, fugiam quae profore credam ;
Romae Tibur amem ventosus, Tibure Romam.
post haec, ut valeat, quo pacto rem gerat et se
ut placeat iuveni percontare utque cohorti.
si dicet 'recte,' primum gaudere, subinde
praeceptum auriculis hoc instillare memento:
'ut tu fortunam, sic nos te, Celse, feremus.'
IX
Septimius, Claudi, nimirum intellegit unus,
quanti me facias. nam cum rogat et prece cogit,
scilicet ut tibi se laudare et tradere coner,
dignum mente domoque legentis honesta Neronis ;
munere cum fungi propioris censet amici,
quid possim videt ac novit me valdius ipso.
multa quidem dixi, cur excusatus abirem;
sed timui mea ne finxisse minora putarer,
dissimulator opis propriae, mihi commodus uni.
sic ego, maioris fugiens opprobria culpae,
frontis ad urbanae descendi praemia. quodsi
depositum laudas ob amici iussa pudorem,
scribe tui gregis hunc et fortem crede bonumque.
X
Urbis amatorem Fuscum salvere iubemus
ruris amatores. hac in re scilicet una
multum dissimiles, at cetera paene gemelli,
fraternis animis, quidquid negat alter, et alter
adnuimus pariter: vetuli notique columbi,
tu nidum servas, ego laudo ruris amoeni
rivos et musco circumlita saxa nemusque.
quid quaeris? vivo et regno, simul ista reliqui
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 10
159
quae vos ad caelum effertis rumore secundo,
utque sacerdotis fugitivus, liba recuso,
pane egeo iam mellitis potiore placentis.
vivere naturae si convenienter oportet,
ponendaeque domo quaerenda est area primum,
novistine locum potiorem rure beato?
est ubi plus tepeant hiemes? ubi gratior aura
leniat et rabiem Canis et momenta Leonis,
cum semel accepit solem furibundus acutum ?
est ubi divellat somnos minus invida cura?
deterius Libycis olet aut nitet herba lapillis?
purior in vicis aqua tendit rumpere plumbum,
quam quae per pronum trepidat cum murmure rivum ?
nempe inter varias nutritur silva columnas,
laudaturque domus, longos quae prospicit agros.
naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret
et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix.
non qui Sidonio contendere callidus ostro
nescit Aquinatem potantia vellera fucum,
certius accipiet damnum propiusve medullis,
quam qui non poterit vero distinguere falsum.
quem res plus nimio delectavere secundae,
mutatae quatient. si quid mirabere, pones
invitus.
fuge magna: licet sub paupere tecto
reges et regum vita praecurrere amicos.
cervus equum pugna melior communibus herbis
pellebat, donec minor in certamine longo
inploravit opes hominis frenumque recepit;
sed postquam victor violens discessit ab hoste,
non equitem dorso, non frenum depulit ore.
sic qui pauperiem veritus potiore metallis
libertate caret, dominum vehet inprobus atque
serviet aeternum, quia parvo nesciet uti.
cui non conveniet sua res, ut calceus olim,
si pede maior erit, subvertet, si minor, uret.
laetus sorte tua vives sapienter, Aristi,
nec me dimittes incastigatum, ubi plura
cogere quam satis est ac non cessare videbor.
imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique,
tortum digna sequi potius quam ducere funem.
haec tibi dictabam post fanum putre Vacunae,
excepto quod non simul esses, cetera laetus.
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
XI
Quid tibi visa Chios, Bullati, notaque Lesbos?
quid concinna Samos? quid Croesi regia Sardis ?
Zmyrna quid et Colophon? maiora minorave fama,
cunctane prae campo et Tiberino flumine sordent?
an venit in votum Attalicis ex urbibus una?
an Lebedum laudas odio maris atque viarum ?
'scis Lebedus quid sit. Gabiis desertior atque
Fidenis vicus; tamen illic vivere vellem,
oblitusque meorum, obliviscendus et illis,
Neptunum procul e terra spectare furentem.'
sed neque qui Capua Romam petit, imbre lutoque
adspersus volet in caupona vivere; nec qui
frigus collegit, furnos et balnea laudat
ut fortunatam plene praestantia vitam;
nec, si te validus iactaverit Auster in alto,
idcirco navem trans Aegaeum mare vendas.
incolumi Rhodos et Mytilene pulchra facit quod
paenula solstitio, campestre nivalibus auris,
per brumam Tiberis, Sextili mense caminus.
dum licet ac vultum servat Fortuna benignum,
Romae laudetur Samos et Chios et Rhodos absens.
tu quamcumque deus tibi fortunaverit horam
grata sume manu, neu dulcia differ in annum;
ut, quocumque loco fueris, vixisse libenter
te dicas. nam si ratio et prudentia curas,
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non locus effusi late maris arbiter aufert,
caelum, non animum, mutant qui trans mare currunt.
strenua nos exercet inertia : navibus atque
quadrigis petimus bene vivere. quod petis, hic est,
est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit aequus.
30
XII
Fructibus Agrippae Siculis, quos colligis, Icci,
si recte frueris, non est ut copia maior
ab Iove donari possit tibi. tolle querellas;
pauper enim non est cui rerum suppetit usus.
si ventri bene, si lateri est pedibusque tuis, nil
divitiae poterunt regales addere maius.
si forte in medio positorum abstemius herbis
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 13
161
vivis et urtica, sic vives protinus, ut te
confestim liquidus fortunae rivus inauret,
vel quia naturam mutare pecunia nescit,
vel quia cuncta putas una virtute minora.
miramur, si Democriti pecus edit agellos
cultaque, dum peregre est animus sine corpore velox ;
cum tu inter scabiem tantam et contagia lucri
nil parvum sapias et adhuc sublimia cures,
quae mare compescant causae, quid temperet annum,
stellae sponte sua iussaene vagentur et errent,
quid premat obscurum lunae, quid proferat orbem,
quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors,
Empedocles an Stertinium deliret acumen.
verum, seu pisces seu porrum et caepe trucidas,
utere Pompeio Grospho, et si quid petet ultro
defer: nil Grosphus nisi verum orabit et aequum.
vilis amicorum est annona, bonis ubi quid deest.
ne tamen ignores quo sit Romana loco res,
Cantaber Agrippae, Claudi virtute Neronis
Armenius cecidit; ius imperiumque Prahates
Caesaris accepit genibus minor; aurea fruges
Italiae pleno defundit Copia cornu.
XIII
Ut proficiscentem docui te saepe diuque,
Augusto reddes signata volumina, Vini,
si validus, si laetus erit, si denique poscet;
ne studio nostri pecces odiumque libellis
sedulus inportes opera vehemente minister.
si te forte meae gravis uret sarcina chartae,
abicito potius, quam quo perferre iuberis
clitellas ferus inpingas Asinaeque paternum
cognomen vertas in risum et fabula fias.
viribus uteris per clivos, flumina, lamas.
victor propositi simul ac perveneris illuc,
sic positum servabis onus, ne forte sub ala
fasciculum portes librorum, ut rusticus agnum,
ut vinosa glomus furtivae Pyrria lanae,
ut cum pilleolo soleas conviva tribulis.
ne vulgo narres te sudavisse ferendo
carmina quae possint oculos auresque morari
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
Caesaris; oratus multa prece, nitere porro.
vade, vale; cave ne titubes mandataque frangas.
XIV
Vilice silvarum et mihi me reddentis agelli,
quem tu fastidis habitatum quinque focis et
quinque bonos solitum Variam dimittere patres,
certemus, spinas animone ego fortius an tu
evellas agro, et melior sit Horatius an res.
me quamvis Lamiae pietas et cura moratur,
fratrem maerentis, rapto de fratre dolentis
insolabiliter, tamen istuc mens animusque
fert et amat spatiis obstantia rumpere claustra.
rure ego viventem, tu dicis in urbe beatum:
cui placet alterius, sua nimirum est odio sors.
stultus uterque locum inmeritum causatur inique :
in culpa est animus, qui se non effugit umquam.
tu mediastinus tacita prece rura petebas,
nunc urbem et ludos et balnea vilicus optas;
me constare mihi scis et discedere tristem,
quandocumque trahunt invisa negotia Romam.
non eadem miramur; eo disconvenit inter
meque et te: nam quae deserta et inhospita tesqua
credis, amoena vocat mecum qui sentit, et odit
quae tu pulchra putas. fornix tibi et uncta popina
incutiunt urbis desiderium, video, et quod
angulus iste feret piper et tus ocius uva,
сл
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nec vicina subest vinum praebere taberna
quae possit tibi, nec meretrix tibicina, cuius
25
ad strepitum salias terrae gravis: et tamen urgues
iampridem non tacta ligonibus arva bovemque
disiunctum curas et strictis frondibus exples;
addit opus pigro rivus, si decidit imber,
multa mole docendus aprico parcere prato.
30
nunc age, quid nostrum concentum dividat, audi.
quem tenues decuere togae nitidique capilli,
quem scis inmunem Cinarae placuisse rapaci,
quem bibulum liquidi media de luce Falerni,
cena brevis iuvat et prope rivum somnus in herba;
nec lusisse pudet, sed non incidere ludum.
non istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quisquam
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 15
163
limat, non odio obscuro morsuque venenat :
rident vicini glaebas et saxa moventem.
cum servis urbana diaria rodere mavis;
horum tu in numerum voto ruis: invidet usum
lignorum et pecoris tibi calo argutus et horti.
optat ephippia bos, piger optat arare caballus:
quam scit uterque, libens, censebo, exerceat artem.
XV
non mihi Cumas
Quae sit hiemps Veliae, quod caelum, Vala, Salerni,
quorum hominum regio et qualis via-nam mihi Baias
Musa supervacuas Antonius, et tamen illis
me facit invisum, gelida cum perluor unda
per medium frigus. sane murteta relinqui
dictaque cessantem nervis elidere morbum
sulpura contemni vicus gemit, invidus aegris,
qui caput et stomachum supponere fontibus audent
Clusinis Gabiosque petunt et frigida rura.
mutandus locus est et deversoria nota
praeteragendus equus. 'quo tendis ?
est iter aut Baias' laeva stomachosus habena
dicet eques; sed equis frenato est auris in ore-
maior utrum populum frumenti copia pascat,
collectosne bibant imbres puteosne perennes
iugis aquae—nam vina nihil moror illius orae
rure meo possum quidvis perferre patique :
ad mare cum veni, generosum et lene requiro,
quod curas abigat, quod cum spe divite manet
in venas animumque meum, quod verba ministret,
quod me Lucanae iuvenem commendet amicae—
tractus uter plures lepores, uter educet apros,
utra magis pisces et echinos aequora celent,
pinguis ut inde domum possim Phaeaxque reverti,
scribere te nobis, tibi nos adcredere par est.
Maenius, ut rebus maternis atque paternis
fortiter absumptis urbanus coepit haberi
scurra, vagus, non qui certum praesaepe teneret,
inpransus non qui civem dignosceret hoste,
quaelibet in quemvis opprobria fingere saevus,
pernicies et tempestas barathrumque macelli,
quidquid quaesierat, ventri donabat avaro.
40
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164
Q. HORATI FLACCI
hic, ubi nequitiae fautoribus et timidis nil
aut paulum abstulerat, patinas cenabat omasi
vilis et agninae, tribus ursis quod satis esset;
scilicet ut ventres lamna candente nepotum
diceret urendos correctus Bestius: idem,
quidquid erat nanctus praedae maioris, ubi omne
verterat in fumum et cinerem, 'non hercule miror,'
aiebat, 'si qui comedunt bona, cum sit obeso
nil melius turdo, nil vulva pulchrius ampla.'
nimirum hic ego sum: nam tuta et parvula laudo,
cum res deficiunt, satis inter vilia fortis :
verum ubi quid melius contingit et unctius, idem
vos sapere et solos aio bene vivere, quorum
conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis.
XVI
Ne perconteris, fundus meus, optime Quincti,
arvo pascat erum an bacis opulentet olivae,
pomisne an pratis an amicta vitibus ulmo,
scribetur tibi forma loquaciter et situs agri.
continui montes, ni dissocientur opaca
valle, sed ut veniens dextrum latus aspiciat sol,
laevum discedens curru fugiente vaporet.
temperiem laudes. quid, si rubicunda benigni
corna vepres et pruna ferant? si quercus et ilex
multa fruge pecus, multa dominum iuvet umbra?
dicas adductum propius frondere Tarentum.
fons etiam rivo dare nomen idoneus, ut nec
frigidior Thracam nec purior ambiat Hebrus,
infirmo capiti fluit utilis, utilis alvo.
hae latebrae dulces, etiam, si credis, amoenae,
incolumem tibi me praestant Septembribus horis.
tu recte vivis, si curas esse quod audis.
iactamus iam pridem omnis te Roma beatum;
sed vereor, ne cui de te plus quam tibi credas,
neve putes alium sapiente bonoque beatum,
neu, si te populus sanum recteque valentem
dictitet, occultam febrem sub tempus edendi
dissimules, donec manibus tremor incidat unctis.
stultorum incurata pudor malus ulcera celat.
si quis bella tibi terra pugnata marique
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 16
165
dicat et his verbis vacuas permulceat aures:
'tene magis salvum populus velit an populum tu,
servet in ambiguo qui consulit et tibi et urbi
Iuppiter,' Augusti laudes adgnoscere possis :
cum pateris sapiens emendatusque vocari,
respondesne tuo, dic sodes, nomine? 'nempe
vir bonus et prudens dici delector ego ac tu.'
qui dedit hoc hodie, cras, si volet, auferet, ut si
detulerit fasces indigno, detrahet idem.
'pone, meum est' inquit: pono tristisque recedo.
idem si clamet furem, neget esse pudicum,
contendat laqueo collum pressisse paternum,
mordear opprobriis falsis mutemque colores?
falsus honor iuvat et mendax infamia terret
quem nisi mendosum et medicandum? vir bonus est quis?
'qui consulta patrum, qui leges iuraque servat,
quo multae magnaeque secantur iudice lites,
quo res sponsore et quo causae teste tenentur.'
sed videt hunc omnis domus et vicinia tota
introrsum turpem, speciosum pelle decora.
" nec furtum feci nec fugi' si mihi dicat
servus, 'habes pretium, loris non ureris 'aio.
non hominem occidi.'
'non pasces in cruce corvos.'
sum bonus et frugi.' renuit negitatque Sabellus.
cautus enim metuit foveam lupus accipiterque
suspectos laqueos et opertum miluus hamum.
oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore;
tu nihil admittes in te formidine poenae :
sit spes fallendi, miscebis sacra profanis.
nam de mille fabae modiis cum surripis unum,
damnum est, non facinus, mihi pacto lenius isto.
vir bonus, omne forum quem spectat et omne tribunal,
quandocumque deos vel porco vel bove placat,
'Iane pater!' clare, clare cum dixit 'Apollo !'
labra movet metuens audiri 'pulchra Laverna,
da mihi fallere, da iusto sanctoque videri,
noctem peccatis et fraudibus obice nubem.'
qui melior servo, qui liberior sit avarus,
in triviis fixum cum se demittit ob assem,
non video: nam qui cupiet, metuet quoque: porro
qui metuens vivet, liber mihi non erit umquam.
perdidit arma, locum virtutis deseruit, qui
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60
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166
Q. HORATI FLACCI
semper in augenda festinat et obruitur re.
vendere cum possis captivum, occidere noli:
serviet utiliter: sine pascat durus aretque,
naviget ac mediis hiemet mercator in undis,
annonae prosit, portet frumenta penusque.
vir bonus et sapiens audebit dicere 'Pentheu,
rector Thebarum, quid me perferre patique
indignum coges?' 'adimam bona.'
lectos, argentum: tollas licet.'
'nempe pecus, rem,
'in manicis et
compedibus saevo te sub custode tenebo.'
'ipse deus, simul atque volam, me solvet.' opinor,
hoc sentit 'moriar.' mors ultima linea rerum est.
XVII
Quamvis, Scaeva, satis per te tibi consulis et scis,
quo tandem pacto deceat maioribus uti :
disce, docendus adhuc quae censet amiculus, ut si
caecus iter monstrare velit; tamen aspice si quid
et nos, quod cures proprium fecisse, loquamur.
si te grata quies et primam somnus in horam
delectat, si te pulvis strepitusque rotarum,
si laedit caupona, Ferentinum ire iubebo.
nam neque divitibus contingunt gaudia solis,
nec vixit male, qui natus moriensque fefellit.
si prodesse tuis pauloque benignius ipsum
te tractare voles, accedes siccus ad unctum.
'si pranderet holus patienter, regibus uti
nollet Aristippus.' 'si sciret regibus uti,
fastidiret holus, qui me notat.' utrius horum
verba probes et facta, doce, vel iunior audi
cur sit Aristippi potior sententia. namque
mordacem Cynicum sic eludebat, ut aiunt:
'scurror ego ipse mihi, populo tu: rectius hoc et
splendidius multo est. equus ut me portet, alat rex,
officium facio: tu poscis vilia, verum
dante minor, quamvis fers te nullius egentem.'
omnis Aristippum decuit color et status et res,
temptantem maiora, fere praesentibus aequum.
contra, quem duplici panno patientia velat,
mirabor, vitae via si conversa decebit.
alter purpureum non exspectabit amictum,
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 18
167
quidlibet indutus celeberrima per loca vadet
personamque feret non inconcinnus utramque;
alter Mileti textam cane peius et angui
vitabit chlamydem; morietur frigore, si non
rettuleris pannum. refer et sine vivat ineptus.
res gerere et captos ostendere civibus hostes
attingit solium Iovis et caelestia temptat.
principibus placuisse viris non ultima laus est.
non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum.
sedit qui timuit ne non succederet: esto.
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35
quid? qui pervenit fecitne viriliter? atqui
hic est aut nusquam, quod quaerimus. hic onus horret,
ut parvis animis et parvo corpore maius;
40
hic subit et perfert. aut virtus nomen inane est,
aut decus et pretium recte petit experiens vir.
coram rege sua de paupertate tacentes
plus poscente ferent: distat, sumasne pudenter
an rapias; atqui rerum caput hoc erat, hic fons.
'indotata mihi soror est, paupercula mater,
et fundus nec vendibilis nec pascere firmus'
qui dicit, clamat 'victum date!' succinit alter
'et mihi!' dividuo findetur munere quadra :
sed tacitus pasci si posset corvus, haberet
plus dapis et rixae multo minus invidiaeque.
Brundisium comes aut Surrentum ductus amoenum
qui queritur salebras et acerbum frigus et imbres,
aut cistam effractam et subducta viatica plorat,
nota refert meretricis acumina, saepe catellam,
saepe periscelidem raptam sibi flentis, uti mox
nulla fides damnis verisque doloribus adsit.
nec semel inrisus triviis attollere curat
fracto crure planum. licet illi plurima manet
lacrima, per sanctum iuratus dicat Osirim
'credite, non ludo; crudeles, tollite claudum !
quaere peregrinum!' vicinia rauca reclamat.
XVIII
Si bene te novi, metues, liberrime Lolli,
scurrantis speciem praebere, professus amicum.
ut matrona meretrici dispar erit atque
discolor, infido scurrae distabit amicus.
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Q. HORATI FLACCI
est huic diversum vitio vitium prope maius,
asperitas agrestis et inconcinna gravisque,
quae se commendat tonsa cute, dentibus atris,
dum vult libertas dici mera veraque virtus.
virtus est medium vitiorum et utrimque reductum.
alter in obsequium plus aequo pronus et imi
derisor lecti sic nutum divitis horret,
sic iterat voces et verba cadentia tollit,
ut puerum saevo credas dictata magistro
reddere vel partes mimum tractare secundas;
• alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina,
propugnat nugis armatus: 'scilicet ut non
sit mihi prima fides et, vere quod placet, ut non
acriter elatrem? pretium aetas altera sordet.'
ambigitur quid enim? Castor sciat an Docilis plus;
Brundisium Minuci melius via ducat an Appi.
quẹm damnosa venus, quem praeceps alea nudat,
gloria quem supra vires et vestit et unguit,
quem tenet argenti sitis inportuna famesque,
quem paupertatis pudor et fuga, dives amicus,
saepe decem vitiis instructior, odit et horret,
aut, si non odit, regit ac veluti pia mater
plus quam se sapere et virtutibus esse priorem
vult et ait prope vera: 'meae-contendere noli—
stultitiam patiuntur opes; tibi parvula res est :
arta decet sanum comitem toga: desine mecum
certare.' Eutrapelus, cuicumque nocere volebat,
vestimenta dabat pretiosa: 'beatus enim iam
cum pulchris tunicis sumet nova consilia et spes :
dormiet in lucem, scorto postponet honestum
officium, nummos alienos pascet, ad imum
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IO
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25
30
35
Thraex erit, aut holitoris aget mercede caballum.'
arcanum neque tu scrutaberis illius umquam,
commissumque teges et vino tortus et ira.
nec tua laudabis studia aut aliena reprendes,
nec, cum venari volet ille, poemata panges.
gratia sic fratrum geminorum, Amphionis atque
40
Zethi, dissiluit, donec suspecta severo
conticuit lyra. fraternis cessisse putatur
moribus Amphion: tu cede potentis amici
lenibus imperiis, quotiensque educet in agros
45
Aetolis onerata plagis iumenta canesque,
EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 18
169
surge et inhumanae senium depone Camenae,
cenes ut pariter pulmenta laboribus empta ;
Romanis sollemne viris opus, utile famae
vitaeque et membris, praesertim cum valeas et
vel cursu superare canem vel viribus aprum
possis; adde virilia quod speciosius arma
non est qui tractet: scis, quo clamore coronae
proelia sustineas campestria; denique saevam
militiam puer et Cantabrica bella tulisti
sub duce qui templis Parthorum signa refigit
nunc, et, si quid abest, Italis adiudicat armis.
ac ne te retrahas et inexcusabilis absis,
quamvis nil extra numerum fecisse modumque
curas, interdum nugaris rure paterno:
partitur lintres exercitus, Actia pugna
te duce per pueros hostili more refertur,
adversarius est frater, lacus Hadria, donec
alterutrum velox victoria fronde coronet.
consentire suis studiis qui crediderit te,
fautor utroque tuum laudabit pollice ludum.
protinus ut moneam,—si quid monitoris eges tu—
quid de quoque viro et cui dicas, saepe videto.
percontatorem fugito: nam garrulus idem est,
nec retinent patulae commissa fideliter aures,
et semel emissum volat inrevocabile verbum.
non ancilla tuum iecur ulceret ulla puerve
intra marmoreum venerandi limen amici,
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ne dominus pueri pulchri caraeve puellae
munere te parvo beet aut incommodus angat.
75
qualem commendes etiam atque etiam aspice, ne mox
incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem.
fallimur et quondam non dignum tradimus: ergo
quem sua culpa premet, deceptus omitte tueri,
80
8
ut penitus notum, si temptent crimina, serves
tuterisque tuo fidentem praesidio: qui
dente Theonino cum circumroditur, ecquid
ad te post paulo ventura pericula sentis?
nam tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet,
et neclecta solent incendia sumere vires.
dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici;
expertus metuet. tu, dum tua navis in alto est,
hoc age, ne mutata retrorsum te ferat aura.
85
170
Q. HORATI FLACCI
oderunt hilarem tristes tristemque iocosi,
sedatum celeres, agilem navumque remissi,
potores bibuli media de nocte Falerni
oderunt porrecta negantem pocula, quamvis
nocturnos iures te formidare tepores.
deme supercilio nubem plerumque modestus
occupat obscuri speciem, taciturnus acerbi.
inter cuncta leges et percontabere doctos,
qua ratione queas traducere leniter aevum,
num te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido,
num pavor et rerum mediocriter utilium spes,
virtutem doctrina paret naturane donet,
quid minuat curas, quid te tibi reddat amicum,
quid pure tranquillet, honos an dulce lucellum,
an secretum iter et fallentis semita vitae.
me quotiens reficit gelidus Digentia rivus,
quem Mandela bibit, rugosus frigore pagus,
quid sentire putas? quid credis, amice, precari?
* sit mihi quod nunc est, etiam minus, ut mihi vivam
quod superest aevi, si quid superesse volunt di;
sit bona librorum et provisae frugis in annum
copia, neu fluitem dubiae spe pendulus horae.
sed satis est orare Iovem, quae ponit et aufert:
det vitam, det opes; aequum mi animum ipse parabo.'
XIX
Prisco si credis, Maecenas docte, Cratino,
nulla placere diu nec vivere carmina possunt
quae scribuntur aquae potoribus. ut male sanos
adscripsit Liber Satyris Faunisque poetas,
vina fere dulces oluerunt mane Camenae.
laudibus arguitur vini vinosus Homerus;
Ennius ipse pater numquam nisi potus ad arma
prosiluit dicenda. 'forum putealque Libonis
mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis.'
hoc simul edixi, non cessavere poetae
nocturno certare mero, putere diurno.
quid? si quis vultu torvo ferus et pede nudo
exiguaeque togae simulet textore Catonem,
virtutemne repraesentet moresque Catonis?
rupit Iarbitam Timagenis aemula lingua,
dum studet urbanus tenditque disertus haberi.
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15
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EPISTULARUM LIB. I. 20
171
(
decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile; quodsi
pallerem casu, biberent exsangue cuminum.
o imitatores, servum pecus, ut mihi saepe
bilem, saepe iocum vestri movere tumultus !
libera per vacuum posui vestigia princeps,
non aliena meo pressi pede. qui sibi fidet,
dux reget examen. Parios ego primus iambos
ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus
Archilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.
ac ne me foliis ideo brevioribus ornes,
quod timui mutare modos et carminis artem,
temperat Archilochi Musam pede mascula Sappho,
temperat Alcaeus, sed rebus et ordine dispar,
nec socerum quaerit, quem versibus oblinat atris,
nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit.
hunc ego, non alio dictum prius ore, Latinus
vulgavi fidicen; iuvat inmemorata ferentem
ingenuis oculisque legi manibusque teneri.
scire velis, mea cur ingratus opuscula lector
laudet ametque domi, premat extra limen iniquus :
non ego ventosae plebis suffragia venor
inpensis cenarum et tritae munere vestis ;
non ego nobilium scriptorum auditor et ultor
grammaticas ambire tribus et pulpita dignor.
hinc illae lacrimae. 'spissis indigna theatris
scripta pudet recitare et nugis addere pondus
si dixi, ‘rides’ait 'et Iovis auribus ista
servas: fidis enim manare poetica mella
te solum, tibi pulcher.' ad haec ego naribus uti
formido et, luctantis acuto ne secer ungui,
displicet iste locus' clamo et diludia posco.
ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen et iram,
ira truces inimicitias et funebre bellum.
XX
Vertumnum Ianumque, liber, spectare videris,
scilicet ut prostes Sosiorum pumice mundus.
odisti claves et grata sigilla pudico,
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40
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paucis ostendi gemis et communia laudas,
non ita nutritus. fuge, quo descendere gestis:
5
non erit emisso reditus tibi. 'quid miser egi?
172
Q. HORATI FLACCI
quid volui?' dices, ubi quid te laeserit, et scis
in breve te cogi, cum plenus languet amator.
quodsi non odio peccantis desipit augur,
carus eris Romae donec te deserat aetas;
contrectatus ubi manibus sordescere vulgi
coeperis, aut tineas pasces taciturnus inertes,
aut fugies Uticam aut vinctus mitteris Ilerdam.
ridebit monitor non exauditus, ut ille,
qui male parentem in rupes protrusit asellum
iratus quis enim invitum servare laboret ?
hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem
occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus.
cum tibi sol tepidus plures admoverit aures,
me libertino natum patre et in tenui re
maiores pinnas nido extendisse loqueris,
ut quantum generi demas, virtutibus addas ;
me primis urbis belli placuisse domique,
corporis exigui, praecanum, solibus aptum,
irasci celerem, tamen ut placabilis essem.
forte meum si quis te percontabitur aevum,
me quater undenos sciat inplevisse Decembres,
collegam Lepidum quo dixit Lollius anno.
ΙΟ
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LIBER SECUNDUS
I
Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia solus,
res Italas armis tuteris, moribus ornes,
legibus emendes, in publica commoda peccem,
si longo sermone morer tua tempora, Caesar.
Romulus et Liber pater et cum Castore Pollux,
post ingentia facta deorum in templa recepti,
dum terras hominumque colunt genus, aspera bella
componunt, agros adsignant, oppida condunt,
ploravere suis non respondere favorem
5
speratum meritis. diram qui contudit hydram
notaque fatali portenta labore subegit,
comperit invidiam supremo fine domari.
ΙΟ
urit enim fulgore suo, qui praegravat artes
EPISTULARUM LIB. II. 1
173
infra se positas, exstinctus amabitur idem.
praesenti tibi maturos largimur honores
iurandasque tuum per numen ponimus aras,
nil oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes.
sed tuus hic populus, sapiens et iustus in uno
te nostris ducibus, te Grais anteferendo,
cetera nequaquam simili ratione modoque
aestimat et, nisi quae terris semota suisque
temporibus defuncta videt, fastidit et odit,
sic fautor veterum, ut tabulas peccare vetantes
quas bis quinque viri sanxerunt, foedera regum
vel Gabiis vel cum rigidis aequata Sabinis,
pontificum libros, annosa volumina vatum
dictitet Albano Musas in monte locutas.
si, quia Graiorum sunt antiquissima quaeque
scripta vel optima, Romani pensantur eadem
scriptores trutina, non est quod multa loquamur :
nil intra est olea, nil extra est in nuce duri,
venimus ad summum fortunae, pingimus atque
psallimus et luctamur Achivis doctius unctis.
si meliora dies, ut vina, poemata reddit,
scire velim, chartis pretium quotus arroget annus.
scriptor abhinc annos centum qui decidit, inter
perfectos veteresque referri debet an inter
viles atque novos? excludat iurgia finis.
est vetus atque probus, centum qui perficit annos.'
quid? qui deperiit minor uno mense vel anno,
inter quos referendus erit? veteresne poetas,
an quos et praesens et postera respuat aetas?
'iste quidem veteres inter ponetur honeste,
qui vel mense brevi vel toto est iunior anno.'
utor permisso, caudaeque pilos ut equinae
paulatim vello et demo unum, demo etiam unum,
dum cadat elusus ratione ruentis acervi,
qui redit in fastos et virtutem aestimat annis
miraturque nihil nisi quod Libitina sacravit.
Ennius et sapiens et fortis et alter Homerus
ut critici dicunt, leviter curare videtur,
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;
50
quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea.
Naevius in manibus non est et mentibus haeret
paene recens? adeo sanctum est vetus omne poema.
ambigitur quotiens, uter utro sit prior, aufert
55
174
Q. HORATI FLACCI
Pacuvius docti famam senis, Accius alti,
dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro,
Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi,
vincere Caecilius gravitate, Terentius arte.
hos ediscit et hos arto stipata theatro
spectat Roma potens, habet hos numeratque poetas
ad nostrum tempus Livi scriptoris ab aevo.
interdum vulgus rectum videt; est ubi peccat.
si veteres ita miratur laudatque poetas
ut nihil anteferat, nihil illis comparet, errat;
si quaedam nimis antique, si pleraque dure
dicere credit eos, ignave multa fatetur,
et sapit et mecum facit et Iove iudicat aequo.
non equidem insector delendave carmina Livi
esse reor, memini quae plagosum mihi parvo
Orbilium dictare; sed emendata videri
pulchraque et exactis minimum distantia miror.
inter quae verbum emicuit si forte decorum,
si versus paulo concinnior unus et alter,
iniuste totum ducit venditque poema.
indignor quicquam reprehendi, non quia crasse
compositum inlepideve putetur, sed quia nuper,
nec veniam antiquis, sed honorem et praemia posci.
recte necne crocum floresque perambulet Attae
fabula si dubitem, clament periisse pudorem
cuncti paene patres, ea cum reprehendere coner,
quae gravis Aesopus, quae doctus Roscius egit:
vel quia nil rectum, nisi quod placuit sibi, ducunt,
vel quia turpe putant parere minoribus, et quae
inberbi didicere, senes perdenda fateri.
iam Saliare Numae carmen qui laudat et illud,
quod mecum ignorat, solus vult scire videri,
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ingeniis non ille favet plauditque sepultis,
nostra sed inpugnat, nos nostraque lividus odit.
quodsi tam Graecis novitas invisa fuisset
90
quam nobis, quid nunc esset vetus ? aut quid haberet,
quod legeret tereretque viritim publicus usus ?
ut primum positis nugari Graecia bellis
coepit et in vitium fortuna labier aequa,
nunc athletarum studiis, nunc arsit equorum,
marmoris aut eboris fabros aut aeris amavit,
suspendit picta vultum mentemque tabella,
95
EPISTULARUM LIB. II. 1
175
nunc tibicinibus, nunc est gavisa tragoedis;
sub nutrice puella velut si luderet infans,
quod cupide petiit, mature plena reliquit.
hoc paces habuere bonae ventique secundi.
Romae dulce diu fuit et sollemne reclusa
mane domo vigilare, clienti promere iura,
cautos nominibus rectis expendere nummos,
maiores audire, minori dicere, per quae
crescere res posset, minui damnosa libido.
quid placet aut odio est, quod non mutabile credas?
mutavit mentem populus levis et calet uno
scribendi studio: pueri patresque severi
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ΙΟΙ
fronde comas vincti cenant et carmina dictant.
ipse ego, qui nullos me adfirmo scribere versus,
invenior Parthis mendacior et prius orto
sole vigil calamum et chartas et scrinia posco.
navem agere ignarus navis timet; habrotonum aegro
non audet nisi qui didicit dare; quod medicorum est
promittunt medici; tractant fabrilia fabri :
scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim.
hic error tamen et levis haec insania quantas
virtutes habeat, sic collige. vatis avarus
non temere est animus; versus amat, hoc studet unum ;
detrimenta, fugas servorum, incendia ridet;
non fraudem socio puerove incogitat ullam
pupillo; vivit siliquis et pane secundo;
militiae quamquam piger et malus, utilis urbi,
si das hoc, parvis quoque rebus magna iuvari.
os tenerum pueri balbumque poeta figurat,
torquet ab obscenis iam nunc sermonibus aurem,
mox etiam pectus praeceptis format amicis,
asperitatis et invidiae corrector et irae,
recte facta refert, orientia tempora notis
instruit exemplis, inopem solatur et aegrum.
castis cum pueris ignara puella mariti
disceret unde preces, vatem ni Musa dedisset?
poscit opem chorus et praesentia numina sentit,
caelestes inplorat aquas docta prece blandus,
avertit morbos, metuenda pericula pellit,
inpetrat et pacem et locupletem frugibus annum :
carmine di superi placantur, carmine Manes.
agricolae prisci, fortes parvoque beati,
IIO
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125
130
135
176
Q. HORATI FLACCI
-
condita post frumenta levantes tempore festo
corpus et ipsum animum spe finis dura ferentem,
cum sociis operum pueris et coniuge fida
Tellurem porco, Silvanum lacte piabant,
floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis aevi.
Fescennina per hunc inventa licentia morem
versibus alternis opprobria rustica fudit,
libertasque recurrentes accepta per annos
lusit amabiliter, donec iam saevus apertam
in rabiem coepit verti iocus et per honestas
ire domos inpune minax. doluere cruento
dente lacessiti, fuit intactis quoque cura
condicione super communi: quin etiam lex
poenaque lata, malo quae nollet carmine quemquam
describi; vertere modum formidine fustis
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150
ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti.
155
Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes
intulit agresti Latio: sic horridus ille
defluxit numerus Saturnius et grave virus
munditiae pepulere; sed in longum tamen aevum
manserunt hodieque manent vestigia ruris.
160
serus enim Graecis admovit acumina chartis
et post Punica bella quietus quaerere coepit,
quid Sophocles et Thespis et Aeschylus utile ferrent.
temptavit quoque rem si digne vertere posset,
et placuit sibi natura sublimis et acer :
nam spirat tragicum satis et feliciter audet,
sed turpem putat inscite metuitque lituram.
creditur, ex medio quia res arcessit, habere
sudoris minimum, sed habet comoedia tanto
plus oneris quanto veniae minus.
quo pacto partes tutetur amantis ephebi,
165
aspice Plautus
170
ut patris attenti, lenonis ut insidiosi,
quantus sit Dossennus edacibus in parasitis,
quam non adstricto percurrat pulpita socco:
gestit enim nummum in loculos demittere, post hoc
securus cadat an recto stet fabula talo.
175
quem tulit ad scaenam ventoso Gloria curru,
exanimat lentus spectator, sedulus inflat :
sic leve, sic parvum est, animum quod laudis avarum
subruit aut reficit. valeat res ludicra, si me
180
palma negata macrum, donata reducit opimum.
EPISTULARUM LIB. II. 1
177
saepe etiam audacem fugat hoc terretque poetam,
quod numero plures, virtute et honore minores,
indocti stolidique et depugnare parati
si discordet eques, media inter carmina poscunt
aut ursum aut pugiles: his nam plebecula gaudet.
verum equitis quoque iam migravit ab aure voluptas
omnis ad incertos oculos et gaudia vana.
quattuor aut plures aulaea premuntur in horas,
dum fugiunt equitum turmae peditumque catervae ;
mox trahitur manibus regum fortuna retortis,
esseda festinant, pilenta, petorrita, naves,
captivum portatur ebur, captiva Corinthus.
si foret in terris, rideret Democritus, seu
diversum confusa genus panthera camelo
sive elephans albus vulgi converteret ora:
spectaret populum ludis attentius ipsis,
ut sibi praebentem nimio spectacula plura,
scriptores autem narrare putaret asello
fabellam surdo.
nam quae pervincere voces
evaluere sonum, referunt quem nostra theatra?
Garganum mugire putes nemus aut mare Tuscum,
tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur et artes
divitiaeque peregrinae, quibus oblitus actor
cum stetit in scaena, concurrit dextera laevae.
dixit adhuc aliquid?''nil sane.' 'quid placet ergo?'
'lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.'
ac ne forte putes me, quae facere ipse recusem,
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195
200
205
cum recte tractent alii, laudare maligne :
ille per extentum funem mihi posse videtur
ire poeta, meum qui pectus inaniter angit,
inritat, mulcet, falsis terroribus inplet
210
ut magus, et modo me Thebis modo ponit Athenis.
verum age et his, qui se lectori credere malunt
quam spectatoris fastidia ferre superbi,
curam redde brevem, si munus Apolline dignum
vis complere libris et vatibus addere calcar,
ut studio maiore petant Helicona virentem.
multa quidem nobis facimus mala saepe poetae,—
ut vineta egomet caedam mea, cum tibi librum
sollicito damus aut fesso; cum laedimur, unum
si quis amicorum est ausus reprehendere versum ;
cum loca iam recitata revolvimus inrevocati;
N
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220
178
Q. HORATI FLACCI
cum lamentamur non apparere labores
nostros et tenui deducta poemata filo;
225
cum speramus eo rem venturam ut, simul atque
carmina rescieris nos fingere, commodus ultro
arcessas et egere vetes et scribere cogas.
sed tamen est operae pretium cognoscere quales
aedituos habeat belli spectata domique
virtus, indigno non committenda poetae.
gratus Alexandro regi magno fuit ille
Choerilus, incultis qui versibus et male natis
rettulit acceptos, regale nomisma, Philippos.
sed veluti tractata notam labemque remittunt
atramenta, fere scriptores carmine foedo
splendida facta linunt. idem rex ille, poema
qui tam ridiculum tam care prodigus emit,
edicto vetuit, ne quis se praeter Apellen
pingeret aut alius Lysippo duceret aera
fortis Alexandri vultum simulantia. quodsi
iudicium subtile videndis artibus illud
ad libros et ad haec Musarum dona vocares,
Boeotum in crasso iurares aere natum.
at neque dedecorant tua de se iudicia atque
munera, quae multa dantis cum laude tulerunt
dilecti tibi Vergilius Variusque poetae,
nec magis expressi vultus per aenea signa,
quam per vatis opus mores animique virorum
clarorum apparent. nec sermones ego mallem
repentes per humum quam res componere gestas,
terrarumque situs et flumina dicere et arces
montibus inpositas et barbara regna tuisque
auspiciis totum confecta duella per orbem,
claustraque custodem pacis cohibentia Ianum
et formidatam Parthis te principe Romam,
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si, quantum cuperem, possem quoque; sed neque parvum
carmen maiestas recipit tua, nec meus audet
rem temptare pudor, quam vires ferre recusent.
sedulitas autem stulte, quem diligit, urguet,
praecipue cum se numeris commendat et arte:
discit enim citius meminitque libentius illud
quod quis deridet, quam quod probat et veneratur.
nil moror officium quod me gravat, ac neque ficto
in peius vultu proponi cereus usquam
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EPISTULARUM LIB. II. 2
179
nec prave factis decorari versibus opto,
ne rubeam pingui donatus munere et una
cum scriptore meo capsa porrectus operta
deferar in vicum vendentem tus et odores
et piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis.
II
Flore, bono claroque fidelis amice Neroni,
si quis forte velit puerum tibi vendere natum
Tibure vel Gabiis et tecum sic agat 'hic et
candidus et talos a vertice pulcher ad imos
fiet eritque tuus nummorum milibus octo,
verna ministeriis ad nutus aptus eriles,
litterulis Graecis inbutus, idoneus arti
cuilibet, argilla quidvis imitaberis uda;
quin etiam canet indoctum, sed dulce bibenti.
multa fidem promissa levant, ubi plenius aequo
laudat venales qui vult extrudere merces.
res urguet me nulla: meo sum pauper in aere.
nemo hoc mangonum faceret tibi; non temere a me
quivis ferret idem. semel hic cessavit et, ut fit,
in scalis latuit metuens pendentis habenae :
des nummos, excepta nihil te si fuga laedit :'
ille ferat pretium poenae securus, opinor.
prudens emisti vitiosum, dicta tibi est lex:
insequeris tamen hunc et lite moraris iniqua.
dixi me pigrum proficiscenti tibi, dixi
talibus officiis prope mancum, ne mea saevus
iurgares ad te quod epistula nulla rediret.
quid tum profeci, mecum facientia iura
si tamen adtemptas? quereris super hoc etiam, quod
exspectata tibi non mittam carmina mendax.
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Luculli miles collecta viatica multis
aerumnis, lassus dum noctu stertit, ad assem
perdiderat post hoc vehemens lupus, et sibi et hosti
iratus pariter, ieiunis dentibus acer,
praesidium regale loco deiecit, ut aiunt,
summe munito et multarum divite rerum.
clarus ob id factum donis ornatur honestis,
accipit et bis dena super sestertia nummum.
forte sub hoc tempus castellum evertere praetor
30
180
Q. HORATI FLACCI
nescio quod cupiens hortari coepit eundem
verbis, quae timido quoque possent addere mentem :
'i, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto,
grandia laturus meritorum praemia! quid stas?'
post haec ille catus, quantumvis rusticus, 'ibit,
ibit eo quo vis qui zonam perdidit ' inquit.
Romae nutriri mihi contigit atque doceri,
iratus Grais quantum nocuisset Achilles.
adiecere bonae paulo plus artis Athenae,
scilicet ut vellem curvo dignoscere rectum
atque inter silvas Academi quaerere verum.
dura sed emovere loco me tempora grato,
civilisque rudem belli tulit aestus in arma
Caesaris Augusti non responsura lacertis.
unde simul primum me dimisere Philippi,
decisis humilem pinnis inopemque paterni.
et Laris et fundi paupertas inpulit audax
ut versus facerem: sed quod non desit habentem
quae poterunt umquam satis expurgare cicutae,
ni melius dormire putem quam scribere versus ?
singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes:
eripuere iocos, venerem, convivia, ludum ;
tendunt extorquere poemata: quid faciam vis?
denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque :
carmine tu gaudes, hic delectatur iambis,
ille Bioneis sermonibus et sale nigro.
tres mihi convivae prope dissentire videntur,
poscentes vario multum diversa palato.
quid dem? quid non dem ? renuis tu, quod iubet alter
quod petis, id sane est invisum acidumque duobus.
praeter cetera me Romaene poemata censes
scribere posse inter tot curas totque labores?
hic sponsum vocat, hic auditum scripta, relictis
omnibus officiis; cubat hic in colle Quirini,
hic extremo in Aventino, visendus uterque:
intervalla vides humane commoda.
' verum
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purae sunt plateae, nihil ut meditantibus obstet.'
festinat calidus mulis gerulisque redemptor,
torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina tignum,
tristia robustis luctantur funera plaustris,
hac rabiosa fugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit sus:
75
i nunc et versus tecum meditare canoros !
EPISTULARUM LIB. II. 2
181
scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbem,
rite cliens Bacchi somno gaudentis et umbra :
tu me inter strepitus nocturnos atque diurnos
vis canere et contracta sequi vestigia vatum?
ingenium, sibi quod vacuas desumpsit Athenas
et studiis annos septem dedit insenuitque
libris et curis, statua taciturnius exit
plerumque et risu populum quatit: hic ego rerum
fluctibus in mediis et tempestatibus urbis
verba lyrae motura sonum conectere digner?
frater erat Romae consulti rhetor, ut alter
alterius sermone meros audiret honores,
Gracchus ut hic illi, foret huic ut Mucius ille.
qui minus argutos vexat furor iste poetas?
carmina compono, hic elegos. 'mirabile visu
caelatumque novem Musis opus!' aspice primum,
quanto cum fastu, quanto molimine circum
spectemus vacuam Romanis vatibus aedem ;
mox etiam, si forte vacas, sequere et procul audi,
quid ferat et quare sibi nectat uterque coronam.
caedimur et totidem plagis consumimus hostem
lento Samnites ad lumina prima duello.
discedo Alcaeus puncto illius; ille meo quis?
quis nisi Callimachus? si plus adposcere visus,
fit Mimnermus et optivo cognomine crescit.
multa fero, ut placem genus inritabile vatum,
cum scribo et supplex populi suffragia capto:
idem, finitis studiis et mente recepta,
obturem patulas inpune legentibus aures.
ridentur mala qui componunt carmina; verum
gaudent scribentes et se venerantur et ultro,
si taceas, laudant quidquid scripsere beati.
at qui legitimum cupiet fecisse poema,
cum tabulis animum censoris sumet honesti;
audebit, quaecumque parum splendoris habebunt
et sine pondere erunt et honore indigna ferentur,
verba movere loco, quamvis invita recedant
et versentur adhuc intra penetralia Vestae ;
obscurata diu populo bonus eruet atque
proferet in lucem speciosa vocabula rerum,
quae priscis memorata Catonibus atque Cethegis
nunc situs informis premit et deserta vetustas:
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182
Q. HORATI FLACCI
adsciscet nova, quae genitor produxerit usus.
vemens et liquidus puroque simillimus amni
fundet opes Latiumque beabit divite lingua;
luxuriantia conpescet, nimis aspera sano
levabit cultu, virtute carentia tollet,
ludentis speciem dabit et torquebitur, ut qui
nunc Satyrum, nunc agrestem Cyclopa movetur.
praetulerim scriptor delirus inersque videri,
dum mea delectent mala me vel denique fallant,
quam sapere et ringi. fuit haud ignobilis Argis,
qui se credebat miros audire tragoedos
in vacuo laetus sessor plausorque theatro ;
cetera qui vitae servaret munia recto
more, bonus sane vicinus, amabilis hospes,
comis in uxorem, posset qui ignoscere servis
et signo laeso non insanire lagoenae,
posset qui rupem et puteum vitare patentem.
hic ubi cognatorum opibus curisque refectus
expulit elleboro morbum bilemque meraco,
et redit ad sese, 'pol! me occidistis, amici,
non servastis' ait, 'cui sic extorta voluptas
et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error.'
nimirum sapere est abiectis utile nugis,
et tempestivum pueris concedere ludum,
ac non verba sequi fidibus modulanda Latinis,
sed verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae.
quocirca mecum loquor haec tacitusque recordor:
si tibi nulla sitim finiret copia lymphae,
narrares medicis: quod, quanto plura parasti
tanto plura cupis, nulline faterier audes?
si vulnus tibi monstrata radice vel herba
non fieret levius, fugeres radice vel herba
proficiente nihil curarier: audieras, cui
rem di donarent, illi decedere pravam
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125
130
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145
150
stultitiam, et cum sis nihilo sapientior ex quo
plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus isdem?
at si divitiae prudentem reddere possent,
155
si cupidum timidumque minus te, nempe ruberes,
viveret in terris te si quis avarior uno.
si proprium est, quod quis libra mercatus et aere est,
quaedam, si credis consultis, mancipat usus,
qui te pascit ager, tuus est, et vilicus Orbi,
160
EPISTULARUM LIB. II. 2
183
cum segetes occat tibi mox frumenta daturas,
te dominum sentit. das nummos, accipis uvam,
pullos, ova, cadum temeti. nempe modo isto
paulatim mercaris agrum, fortasse trecentis
aut etiam supra nummorum milibus emptum.
quid refert, vivas numerato nuper an olim ?
emptor Aricini quondam Veientis et arvi
emptum cenat holus, quamvis aliter putat, emptis
sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat aenum :
sed vocat usque suum, qua populus adsita certis
limitibus vicina refugit iurgia; tamquam
165
170
sit proprium quicquam, puncto quod mobilis horae
nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte suprema
permutet dominos et cedat in altera iura.
sic quia perpetuus nulli datur usus et heres
heredem alterius velut unda supervenit undam,
quid vici prosunt aut horrea? quidve Calabris
saltibus adiecti Lucani, si metit Orcus
grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro?
gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena sigilla, tabellas,
argentum, vestes Gaetulo murice tinctas
sunt qui non habeant, est qui non curat habere.
cur alter fratrum cessare et ludere et ungui
praeferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus, alter
dives et inportunus ad umbram lucis ab ortu
silvestrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum,
scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum,
naturae deus humanae, mortalis in unum
quodque caput, vultu mutabilis, albus et ater.
utar et ex modico, quantum res poscet, acervo
tollam, nec metuam, quid de me iudicet heres,
quod non plura datis invenerit ; et tamen idem
scire volam, quantum simplex hilarisque nepoti
discrepet et quantum discordet parcus avaro.
distat enim, spargas tua prodigus, an neque sumptum
invitus facias neque plura parare labores,
ac potius, puer ut festis quinquatribus olim,
exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim.
pauperies inmunda domus procul absit: ego utrum
nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem.
non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo,
non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus Austris,
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180
185
190
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200
184
Q. HORATI FLACCI EPIST. II. 2
viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re
extremi primorum, extremis usque priores.
non es avarus: abi. quid? cetera iam simul isto
cum vitio fugere? caret tibi pectus inani
ambitione? caret mortis formidine et ira?
somnia, terrores, magicos, miracula, sagas,
nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala rides?
natales grate numeras? ignoscis amicis?
lenior et melior fis accedente senecta?
quid te exempta levat spinis de pluribus una?
vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis.
lusisti satis, edisti satis atque bibisti :
tempus abire tibi est, ne potum largius aequo
rideat et pulset lasciva decentius aetas.
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215
form than satures. Mey are the host.
Epistles
finished in form
more
alled this by t
be
DE ARTE POETICA

sim
HUMANO capiti cervicem pictor equinam
jungere si velit et varias inducere plumas
and
undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
desinat in piscem mulier formfosa superne,
consisten
ousist spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici
in
subject
6
credite, Pisones, isti tabulae fore librum,
persimilem, cuius velut aegri somnia vanae
fingentur species, ut nec pes nec caput uni
reddatur formae. pictoribus atque poetis
quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.'
scimus, et hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim ;
sed non ut placídis coéant inmitia, non ut
serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
inceptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis
purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus et alter
adsuitur pannus, cum lucus et ara Dianae
et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros
aut flumen Rhenum aut pluvius describitur arcus
sed nunc non erat his locus. et fortasse cupressum
scis simulare: quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes
navibus, aere dato qui pingitur? amphora colpit
institui: currente rota cur urceus exit?
denique sit quidvis simplex dumtaxat et unum.
maxima pars vatum, pater et iuvenes patre digni,
decipimur spécie recti: brevis esse laboro,
extremes obscurus fio; sectantem levia nervi
word
deficiant animique; professus grandia turget;
serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae;
qui variare cupit rem prodigialiter unam,
delphinum silvis adpingit, fluctibus aprum.
in vitium ducit culpae fuga, si caret arte.
Aemilium circa ludum faber imus et ungues
exprimet et molles imitabitur aere capillos,
infelix operis summa, quia ponere totum
;
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186
Q. HORATI FLACCI

Take a
proper
Surjeet
nesciet: hunc ego me, si quid componere curem,
non magis esse velim quam naso vivere pravo,
spectandum nigris oculis nigroque capillo.
sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, aequam
viribus et versate diu, quid ferre recusent,
quid valeant umeri. cui lecta potenter erit res,
nec facundia deseret hanc nec lucidus ordo.
ordinis haec virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,
ut iam nunc dicat iam nunc debentia dici,
pleraque differat et praesens in tempus omittat.
in verbis etiam tenuis cautusque serendis
1/
hot amet, hoc spernat promisşi carrhinis auctor.
The com- reddiderit iunctura novum. si forte necesse est
dixeris egregie, notum si callida verbum
ingil
words.
Metrical
догий
indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum,
fingere cinctútis non exaudita Cethegis
Continget, dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter
et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si
Graeco fonte cadent parce detorta. quid autem
Caecilio Plautoque dabit Romanus ademptum
Vergilio Varioque? ego cur, adquirere pauca
si possum, invideor, cum lingua Catonis et Enni
sermonem patrium ditaverit et nova rerum
nomina protulerit? licuit semperque licebit
signatum praesente nota producere nomen.
ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos,
prima cadunt, ita verborum vetus interit aetas,
et iuvenum ritu florent modo nata vigentque.
debemur morti nos nostraque; sive receptus
terra Neptunus classes Aquilonibus arcet,
regis opus, sterilisve palus diu † aptaque remis
vicinas urbes alit et grave sentit aratrum,
seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis,
doctus iter melius mortalia facta peribunt,
nedum sermonum stet honos et gratia vivax.
multa renascentur quae iam cecidere, cadentque
quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus,
quem penes arbitrium est et ius et norma loquendi.
res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella
quo scribi possent numero, monstravit Homerus.
versibus in pariter iunctis querimonia primum,
post etiam inclusa est yoti sententia compos
feeling of love
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70

xameter
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DE ARTE POETICA
187
10
quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit auctor, 5
grammatici certant, et adhuc sub iudice lis est.
Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo :
hunc tepere pedem grandesque cothurni,
alternis aptum sermonibus et populares
vincentem strepitus et natum rebus agendis.
Musa dedit fidibus divos puerosque deórum
La

Lawbie
et pugilem victorem et equum certamine primum
et iuvenum curas et libera vina reférre.
descriptas servare vices operumque colores,
cur ego,si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor?
cur nescire pudens prave quam discere malo?
versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult:
indignatur item privatis ac prope socco
dignis carmmibus narrari certa Thyestae.
singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decenter,
interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit,
iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore;
et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri
Telephus et Peleus, cum pauper et exsul uterque
proicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,
si curat cor spéctantis tetigisse querella.
non satis est pulchra esse poemata: dulcia sunto
the words et quocumque volent animum auditoris agunto.
mutsuit ut ridentibus adrident, ita flentibus adsunt
Lochave
ér.
humani vultus: si vis me flere, dolendum est
primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia laedent,
Telephe vel Peleu; male si mandata loqueris,
aut dormitabo aut ridebo. tristia maestum
vultum verba decent, iratum plena minarum,
ludentem lasciva, severum seria dictu.
format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem
fortunarum habitum; iuvat aut inpellit ad iram,
aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit ;
post effert animi motus interprete lingua.
si dicentis erunt fortunis absuna dicta
Romani tollent equites peditesque cachining laugh
intererit multum, divusne loquatur an heros,
maturusne senex an adhuc florente iuventa
fervidus, et matrona potens an sedula nutrix,
hollow
radition mercatorne vagus cultorne virentis agelli,
Colchus an Assyrius, Thebis nutritus an Argis.
o be
consistent
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115
188
Q. HORATI FLACCI

the theme
Climay
Consider po
culiauti
Lach
I life
aut famam sequere aut sibi convenientia finge.
scriptor honoratum si forte reponis, Achillem,
inpiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer
iura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis.
sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino,
perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.
si quid inexpertum scaenae committis et audes-
personam formare novam, servetur ad imum,
qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet.
difficile est proprie communia dicere; tuque
rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,
quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus.
publica materies privati iuris erit, si
non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem,
nec verbo verbum curabis reddere fidus
interpres, nec desilies imitator in artum,
unde pedem proferre pudor vetet aut operis lex.
nec sic incipies, ut scriptor cyclicus olim :
'fortunam Priami cantabo et nobile bellum.'
quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu?
parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.
quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte:
'dic mihi, Musa, virum, captae post tempora Troiae
qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes.'
non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem
cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat,
Antiphaten Scyllamque et cum Cyclope Charybdim.
nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
nec gemino,bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo;
semper ad eventum festinat et in medias res
non secus ac notas auditorem rapit, et quae
desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit;
atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.]
tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi.
si plausoris eges aulaea manentis et usque
sessuri, donec cantor 'vos plaudite' dicat,
etatis cuiusque notandi sunt tibi mores,
reddere qui
mobilibusque decor naturis dandus et anhis.
reddere qui voces iam scit puer et pede certo
signat humum, gestit paribus colludere, et iram
colligit ac ponit temere, et mutatur in horas.
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160
DE ARTE POETICA
189
inberbus iuvenis, tandem custode remoto,
gaudet equis canibusque et aprici gramine campi,
cefeus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper,
utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris,
sublimis cupidusque et amata relinquere pernix.
conversis studiis,aetas animusque virilis
quaerit opes et amicitias, inservit honori,
commisisse cavet quod mox mutare laboret.
165
multa senem circumveniunt incommoda, vel quod
quaerit et inventis miser abstinet ac timet uti,
yel quod res omnes timide gelideque ministrat,
ajator, spe longus, iners, avidusque futuri,
difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti
se puero, castigator censorque minorum.
multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,
multa recedentes adimunt; ne forte seniles
mandentur iuveni partes pueroque viriles,
semper in adiunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.
aut agitur res in scaenis aut acta refertur.)
Kings are segnius inritant animos demissa per aurem
beacted quam quae sunt oculis subiecta fidelibus, et quae
told ipse sibi tradit spectator non tamen intus
2
s
digna geri promes in scaenam, multaque tolles
ex oculis, quae mox narret facundia praesens,
ne pueros coram populo Medea trucidet,
aut humana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus,
aut in avem Procne vertatur, Cadmus in anguem.
technique quodcumque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi.
neve minor neu sit quinto productior actu
rulio
lusio
fabula quae posci vult et spectanda reponi ;
nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
inciderit; nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
actoris partes chorus officiumque virile
defendat, neu quid medios intercinat actus
quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte.
ille bonis faveatque et consilietur amice,
et regat iratos, et amet pectare timentes;
illé dapes laudet mensae brevis, ille salubrem
iustitiam legesque et apertis otia portis ;
ille tegat commissa, deosque precetur et oret
ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.
tibia non, ut nunc, orichalco vincta tubaeque
hass
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190

195
200
190
Q. HORATI FLACCI
F

The Satyrrie
branda.
aemula, sed tenuis simplexque foramine pauco
adspirare et adesse choris erat utilis atque
nondum spissa nimis complere sedilia flatu;
quo sane populus numerabilis, utpote parvus,
et frugi castusque verecundusque coibat.
postquam coepit agros extendere victor et urbes
latior amplecti murus vinoque diurno
placari Genius festis inpune diebus,
accessit numerisque modisque licentia maior;
indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum
rysticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?
sic priscae motumque et luxuriem addidit arti
tibíten traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem ;
sic etiam fidibus voces crevere severis,
et tulit eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps,
utiliumque sagax rerum et divina futuri
sortilegis non discrepuit sententia Delphis.
carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum,
mox etiam agrestes Satyros nudavit et asper
incolumi gravitate iocum temptavit, eo quod
inlecebris erat et grata novitate morandus
spectator functusque sacris et potus et exlex.
verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces
conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo,
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225
ne quicumque deus, quicumque adhibebitur heros,
regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro,
migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas,
aut, dum vitat humum, nubes et inania captet.
effutire leves indigna tragoedia versus,
230
ut festis matrona moveri iussa diebus,
intererit Satyris paulum pudibunda protervis.
non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum
verbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo;
nec sic enitar tragico differre colori,
ut nihil intersit Davusne loquatur et audax
Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum,
an custos famulusque dei Silenus alumni.
ex noto fictum carmen sequar, ut sibi quivis
speret idem, sudet multum frustraque laboret
ausus idem: tantum series iuncturaque pollet,
tantum de medio sumptis accedit honoris.
silvis deducti caveant me iudice Fauni,
235
240

DE ARTE POETICA
191

The forms
vers
The history
the
Алаша
wa
245
commit 50
255
Лалив
ne velut innati triviis ac paene forenses
aut nimium teneris veettur versibus umquam,
aut inmunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta:
offenduntur enim quibus est equus et pater et res,
nec, si quid fricti ciceris probat et nucis emptor,
aequis accipiunt animis_donantve_corona.
syllaba longa brevi subiecta vocatur iambus, con
pes citus; unde etiam trimetris adcrescere iussit
nomen iambeis, cum senos redderet ictus
primus ad extremum similis sibi. non ita pridem,
tardior ut paulo graviorque veniret ad aures,
spondets stabiles in iura paterna recepit
commodus et patiens, non ut de sede secunda.
cederet aut quarta socialiter. hic et in Acci
nobilibus trimetris apparet rarus, et Enni
in scaenam missos cum magno pondere versus
aut operae celeris nimium curaque carentis
aut ignoratae premit artis crimine turpi.
non quivis videt inmodulata poemata iudex,
et data Romanis vehia est indigna poètis.
idcircone vager scribamque licenter?
visuros peccata putem mea, tutus et intra
spem veniae cautus? vitavi denique culpam,
non laudem merui. vos exemplaria Graeca
nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.
at vestri proavi Plautinos et numeros et
laudavere sales, nimum patatet atrumque,
ne dicam stulte, mirati, si modo ego et vos
scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto
legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure.
ignotum tragicae gehus invenisse Camenae
dicitur et plaustris vexisse poemata Thespis,
quae canerent agerentque peruncti faecibus ora.
post hunc personae pallaeque repertor honestae
Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis
et docuit magnumque loqui nitique cothurno.
successit vetus his comoedia, non sine multa
laude; sed in vitium libertas excidit et vim
dignam lege regi: lex est accepta, chorusque
turpiter obticuit sublato iure nocendi.
nil intemptatum nostri liquere poetae ;

an omnes
260

265



270

275
280
285
nec minimum meruere decus vestigia Graeca
192
Q. HORATI FLACCI
ausi deserere et celebrare domestica facta,
vel qui praetextas vel qui docere togatas.
nec virtute foret clarisye potentius armis
quam lingua Latium, si non offenderet unum
quemque poetarum limae labor et mora. vos, o
Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite, quod non
multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque
praesectum deciens non castigavit ad unguem.
ingenium misera quia fortunatius arte
bce credit et excludit sanos Helicone poetas
The blase
thu sritie
Knowled
o the basis
good style.
Contrast be-
tween
Grecks
Democritus, bona pars non ungues ponere curat,
non barbam, secreta petit loca, balnea yitat.
nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque poetae,
si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile numquam
tonsori Lícino commiserit.
o ego laevus,
qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam !
non alius faceret meliora poemata: verum
nil tanti est. (ergo fungar vice cotis) acutum ///
reddere quae ferrum valet exsors ipsa secandi ;
munus et officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo,
unde parentur opes, quid alat formetque poetam,
quid deceat, quid non, quo virtus, quo ferat error.
scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons
Tartibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae,
verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
qui didicit, patriae quid debeat et quid amicis,
quo sit amore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes,
quod sit conscripti, quod iudicis officium, quae
partes in bellum missi ducis, ille profecto
reddere personae scit convenientia cuique.
respicere exemplar vitae morumque iubebo
doctum imitatorem et vitas hinc ducere voces.
interdum speciosa locis morataque recte
fabula nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte,
valdius oblectat populum meliusque moratur
quam versus inopes rerum nugaeque canorae.
Grais ingenium, Grais dedit ore rotundo
Musa loqui, praeter laudem nuttits axáris.
Romani pueri longis rationibus assem
discant in partes centum, diducere.
'dicat
filius Albini: si de quincunce remota est
uncia, quid superat? poteras dixisse.' 'triens.' 'eu !
290

295
300

305

310
315

320

325
DE ARTE POETICA
193
oets
esive
itu
tes
rem poteris servare tuam. redit uncia, quid fit?'
semis.' an haec animos aerugo et cura peculi
cum semel inbuerit, speramus carmina fingi
posse linenda cedro et levi servanda cupresso?
(aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetae
aut sinal et iucunda et idonea dicere vitae.
quidquid praecipies, esto brevis, ut cito dicta
percipiant animi dociles teneantque fideles:
omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat.
ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris,
ne quodcumque velit poscat sibi fabula credi,
neu pransae Lafhiae vivum puerum extrahat afvo.
centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis,
celsi praetereunt austera poemata Ramnes :
omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci,
lectorem delectando pariterque monendo.
hic meret aera liber Sosiis, hic et mare transit
et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum.
with sunt delicta tamen quibus ignovisse velimus
here one
me may
с
с ваеш
nam neque chorda sonum reddit quem vult manus et mens,
poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum,
nec semper feriet quodcumque minabitur arcus.
verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit
aut humana parum cavit natura. quid ergo est?
ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
quamvis est monitus, venia cafet; et citharoedus
ridetur, chorda qui semper oberrat eadem :
sic mihi, qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille,
quém bis terve boffum cum risu miror; et idem
indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
verum operi longo fas est obrepere_somnum.
(ut pictura poesis erit quae, si propius stes,
te capiat magis, et quaedam, si longius abstes.
haec amat obscurum; volet haec sub luce videri,
iudicis argutum quae non formidat acumen;
haec placuit semel, haec deciens repetita placebit.
o maior iuvenum, quamvis et voce paterna
dise fingeris ad rectum et per te sapis, hoc tibi diettim
tolle memor, certis medium et tolerabile rebus est
recte concedi. consultus iuris et actor
causarum mediocris abest virtute diserti
poets
unable
0
330


335

340
345


350
355

360

365

370
194
Q. HORATI FLACCI
ue
The mfluence
Messallae, nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus,
лис
sed tamen in pretio est : (mediocribus esse poetis ne
non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.
ut gratas inter mensas symphoma discors
et crassum unguentum et Sardo cum melle papaver
offendunt, poterat duci quia cena sine istis:
síc animis natum inventumque poema iuvandis,
si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis,
indoctusque pilae discive trochive quiescit,
he spissae risum tollant inpune coronae:
qui nescit versus tamen audet fingere. 'quidni?
liber et ingenuus, praesertim census equestrem
summam nummorum vitioque remotus ab omni.'
tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva :

من
id tibi iudicium est, ea mens; si quid tamen olim
scripseris, in Maeci descendat iudicis aures
et patris et nostras, nonumque prematur in annum,
membranis intus positis: delere licebit
quod non edideris; nescit vox missa reyerti.
silvestres homines sacer interpresque deorum
caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus,
dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones.
dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor urbis,
saxa movere sono testudinis et prece blanda
ducere, quo vellet. fuit haec sapientia quondam,
publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis,
concubitu prohibere vago, dare iura maritis,
oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno;
sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atque
carminibus venit. post hoc insignis Homerus
Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella
versibus exacuit; dictae per carmina sortes;
et vitae monstrata via est; et gratia regum
Pieriis temptata modis, ludusque repertus
et longorum operum finis e forte pudori
sit tibi Musa lyrae sollers et cantor Apollo.
natura fieret laudabile carmen an arte,
It has bem quaesitum ést) ego nec studium sine divite vena,
been
questioned
whether a
poun
Praise fority
by nature
by art
nec rude quid prosit, video ingenium; alterius sic
altera poscit opem res et coniurat amicę
qui studet optatám cursu contingere metam,
375
380
385

390

395
400
405
410
་

DE ARTE POETICA
195
lattery.
multa tulit fecitque puer, sudavit et alsit,
abstinuit venere et vino; qui Pythia cantat
tibicen, didicit prius extimuitque magistrum.
nunc satis est dixisse: 'ego mira poemata pango;
occupet extremum scabies; mihi turpe relinqui est,
et quod non didici sane nescire fateri.'
ut praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas,
i wamm padsentatores iubet ad lucrum ire poeta
gainst
inst dives agris, dives positis in faenore nummis.
si vero est unctum qui recte ponere possit
et spondere levi pro paupere et eripere atris
litibus inplicitum, mirabor, si sciet inter
noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum.
tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui,
nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
laetitiae; clamabit enim 'pulchre ! bene! recte!
pallescet super his, etiam stillabit amicis
ex oculis rorem, saliet, tundet pede terram.
ut qui conducti plorant in funere, dicunt
et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo, sic
derisor vero plus laudatore movetur.
reges dicuntur multis urguere culullis,
et torquere mero quem perspexisse laborent,
an sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes,
numquam te fallent animi sub vulpe latentes.
Quintilio si quid recitares, 'corrige sodes
415

420


425
430
435
hoc' aiebat ´et hoc.' melius te posse negares,
bis terque expertum frustra, delere iubebat
440
et male tornatos incudi reddere versus.
si defendere delictum quam vertere malles,
nullum ultra verbum aut operam insumebat inanem,
quin sine rivali teque et tua solus amares.
vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes;
445
he mad
шая
fact
culpabit duros, incomptis adlinet atrum
transverso calamo signum, ambitiosa recidet
ornamenta, parum claris lucem dare coget,
arguet ambigue dictum, mutanda notabit,
fiet Aristarchus; non dicet 'cur ego amicum
offendam in nugis?' hae nugae seria ducent
mala derisum semel exceptumque sinistre
ut mala quem scaties aut morbus regius urguet
aut fanaticus error et iracundă Diana,
450

196
Q. HORATI FLACCI DE ARTE POETICA
ގ
3
vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poetam
qui saplunt; agitant pueri incautique sequuntur.
hic dum sublimis versus ructatur et errat,
si veluti merulis intentus decidit auceps
in puteum foveamve, licet 'succurrite' longum
clamet 'io cives!' non sit qui tollere curet.
si curet quis opem ferre et demittere funem,
'qui scis, an prudens huc se proiecerit atque
servari nolit?' dicam, Siculique poetae
narrabo interitum. deus inmortalis haberi
dum cupit Empedocles, ardentem frigidus Aetnam
insiluit. sit ius liceatque perire poetis:
invitum qui servat, idem facit occiflenti.
nec semel hoc fecit, nec, si retractus erit iam,
fiet homo et ponet famosae mortis amorem.
nec satis apparet, cur versus factitet, utrum
minxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidental
moverit incestus: certe furit, ac velut ursus
obiectos caveae valuit si frangere clatros,
indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus;
quem vero arripuit tenet occiditque legendo,
non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo,
455
460
465
470
475
NOTES
Where in the Notes references are given to other portions of Horace the following
contractions are used—
Od. Odes.
Epod. Epodes.
=
C. S. Carmen Saeculare.
S. Satires.
Ep.
=
Epistles.
A. P. Ars Poetica.
Where numbers only are given, the reference is in the Odes to the Odes, in the
Satires to the Satires, and so on. Thus 'cf. 1. 4. 17' would in notes on the Odes refer
to line 17 of the fourth Ode, and, in notes on the Satires, of the fourth Satire in Book I.
ODES.-BOOK I
ODE I
THIS Ode is introductory to the first three Books: in it Horace apologises at
some length for attempting lyric poetry, and briefly dedicates his compositions
to Maecenas. Nauck suggests that the two first and two last lines were not in
the original Ode, but were added when the poet dedicated his writings to
Maecenas. If they are omitted the Ode is left perfect as an introductory Ode,
and the division of the stanzas becomes much more clearly marked, the first
six beginning with sunt quos, hunc, gaudentem, luctantem, est qui, multos,
which look like the first words of three pairs of carefully balanced stanzas.
'Many and various are the pursuits and aims of men to which they cling
tenaciously, glory, wealth, ease, war, sport: I, with the help of heaven, long
to be a lyric poet, and if you, Maecenas, consider me one, I shall have attained
the height of my ambition.'
• •
1. Maecenas. C. Cilnius Maecenas, 'sprung from a royal lineage,' was of
Etrurian origin, his ancestors being Lucumones or chieftains at Arretium: cf.
3. 29. 1 Tyrrhena regum progenies; S. 1. 6. 1. atavis: the order is pater,
avus, proavus, abavus, atavus, tritavus. 2. o et.
2. o et. For similar hiatus after
o see 1. 35. 38; 4. 5. 37 o utinam; A. P. 301 o ego; Ep. 1. 19. 19 o imita-
tores. 3. sunt quos
iuvat: lit. 'there are (those) whom it delights,'
i.e. some take a pleasure in
sunt qui may be followed by either the
subj. or ind.: with the subj. it means 'there are (men) of such a character
that (cf. Ep. 2. 2. 182); with the ind. it is much more definite, and the two
words almost coalesce into a single word='some' (cf. Gk. čσTw of declined
ἔστιν
as a single word). 4. collegisse. The phrase 'to have collected Olympic
dust' refers to the clouds of dust raised by the chariots in the arena, with
which the competitors would be covered. The perfect because men delight
not merely in doing, but in having done a feat; cf. 3. 4. 52; 18. 15.
5. palma. A wreath of wild olive (Korvos) was the prize at Olympia,
but a branch of palm was also carried by victors in all the games. The
Romans introduced the practice B.C. 293, and palma is very common=
'victory.' In Christian times the palm is a sign of those who have won the
prize of martyrdom. 6. terrarum dominos: either (1) agreeing with
deos (cf. Ov. ex Ponto 1. 9. 36 terrarum dominos quam colis ipse deos), or (2)
acc. after evehit 'exalts to heaven (thinking themselves) lords of the world' ;
cf. Lucan 8. 208 terrarum dominos='princes.' Against (1) it may be
urged that there seems no reason for calling the gods here 'lords of the
world,' and that the phrase evehit ad deos is complete in itself, cf. 4.
198
BOOK I
HORACE
2. 17 quos Elea domum reducit | palma caelestes. For eveho 'carry up'
cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 130 quos
• •
•
ardens evexit ad aethera virtus.
7. hunc... illum: governed by a verb to be supplied from the general
sense of iuvat and evehit. Some place a full-stop after nobilis, making hunc
and illum in apposition to terrarum dominos, which they explain of the
Romans as opposed to the Greeks already mentioned-'the lords of the world
it exalts to heaven, one if . . . another if. But a full-stop at the end
of the first line of a stanza is very awkward, while, if Nauck's arrangement
8.
of the stanzas be right, there cannot be a full-stop after nobilis.
tergeminis honoribus, 'triple magistracies,' i.e. the curule aedileship,
praetorship, and consulship, the three great offices which were the object of
Roman ambition.
10. Libycis. The corn-land of Italy, which was continually decreasing
owing to the increase of parks, vineyards, and pasture-lands, was yearly be-
coming more and more inadequate to supply the requirements of Rome, which
depended largely for its supplies on Africa (cf. 3. 16. 31; S. 2. 3. 87), Egypt,
and Sicily, much as England now becomes yearly more dependent on America
or India: cf. 2. 15. 1 n. 12. Attalicis c. 'terms such as an Attalus
could offer.' The wealth of these kings of Pergamus was proverbial: cf. 2.
18. 5.
The 2nd person sing. used indefinitely 'any
one.' We should say 'no one would ever move
13. demoveas.
•
Myrtoum
•
•
Icariis
•
•
S&W.
=
13-15. Cypria
Africum. Notice
carefully Horace's fondness for specialising general words such as 'ship,'
'sea,' 'waves,' 'wind,' by giving to each 'a local habitation and a name':
the effect is to give definiteness and reality. Numerous instances occur in
almost every Ode. 14. pavidus: 'trembling' because of his inexperience,
which would make him exaggerate the dangers.
18. indocilis pati. See 1. 3. 25 n. pauperiem, 'humble circumstances':
cf. 1. 12. 43 n. and 3. 16. 37 n. 20. partem solido demere de die.
Solidus (cf. solus, 8λos) that which is whole, entire: hence dies solidus,
that part of the day which should not be broken into, the working part
of the day. Cf. Sen. Ep. 83 hodiernus dies solidus est; nemo ex illo mihi
quidquam eripuit. The next two lines show that the reference is to taking
a long siesta at noon. 21. membra stratus, 'his limbs stretched'; cf.
S. 1. 1. 5 n. 22. lene caput, 'the gentle source.' The water flows
gently and soothes him to sleep. 23. lituo tubae. The tuba was straight
and used by the infantry, the lituus curved and used by the cavalry.
Lucan 1. 237 stridor lituum clangorque tubarum, 'shriek of horns and braying
of trumpets,' illustrates their sound.
25. detestata, 'abhorred.' The verb is deponent, but for convenience
the part. is allowed a passive sense, cf. Epod. 5. 39 interminatus; 16.
8 abominatus; S. 2. 2. 114 metatus; 2. 2. 124 veneratus; modulatus,
meditatus, etc. sub Iove frigido, 'beneath the cold heaven.' Jupiter
is the god of the bright sky, and sub Iove=sub divo or sub dio, 3. 2. 5.
This is clear from the etymology, Iuppiter being = Diupater from a root DIV
(whence divus, dies, Zeús, Acós or AɩFos) which indicates 'brightness'; cf.
Diespiter 1. 34. 5 and 3. 2. 29. 28. teretes. See 2. 4. 21 n. The cords
are not rough or loosely made but neatly twisted, 'shapely,' and so strong.
29. me. The pronoun put first marks the transition from the pursuits of
other men to that which Horace makes the object of his ambition. hederae :
ivy was sacred to Bacchus, and so, he being the god of inspiration (2. 19.
ODE II
199
NOTES
6 n.), the symbol of poets. Cf. Ep. 1. 3. 25; Virg. Ecl. 7. 25 pastores,
hedera crescentem ornate poetam. doctarum f. 'poetic brows ; cf. S. 1.
9. 7 n.
32. secernunt populo. So 3. 1. 1 odi profanum vulgus et
arceo. The inspired poet is 'separated' from the 'vulgar throng' to whom the
world of imagination is unknown, but he is only so when the Muses are
favourable, if neither does Euterpe restrain the pipes nor Polyhymnia shrink
from tuning the Lesbian lyre. tibias: plural, because two pipes, one
of a higher, the other of a lower pitch, were usually employed; see illustration
in Smith's Dict. Ant. 34. Lesboum. Lesbos was the native place of
Terpander (700-650 B.C.) and Alcaeus, and also the island 'where burning
Sappho loved and sung.' Hence the lyre is called Lesbian after the birth-
place of those 'lyric bards' among whom Horace desires to be ranked.
barbiton: 1. 32. 4 n.
ODE II
This Ode is addressed to Augustus as the almost divine protector and
guardian of the Roman state. It commences with an account of the portents
which indicated the wrath of the gods at the murder of Caesar (on the Ides
of March, B.C. 44) 1-20, alludes to the civil war which followed 21-24, asks
to what god the duty of expiating the guilt of Rome shall be assigned, and
finally gives the preference to Mercury, who (line 41) is supposed to take upon
him the form of Augustus. The Ode concludes with a prayer that Augustus
may long live to guide and guard the state.
•
•
The mention of magnos triumphos in line 49 has suggested 29 B.C. as the
date. In that year Augustus returned to Rome as master of the Roman
world, and on the 7th and following days of Sextilis (thereafter called
Augustus) celebrated his triple triumph over the Dalmatians, over Cleopatra
at Actium, and over the Alexandrians. If, however, so late a date be assigned,
B. C. 28, when he actually received the title of princeps (cf. line 50), suits better.
Plüss argues for B.C. 36 immediately after the defeat of Sex. Pompeius,
when the portents which followed the death of Caesar were past but not
forgotten, and when Octavian first began to be regarded as the possible
saviour of the state, cf. line 25. For the whole Ode cf. the brilliant passage
of Virgil, G. 1. 465 to the end, and for the portents Shak. Jul. Caes. I. iii.
1. satis terris nivis grandinis misit. Note the repetition of
the syllable is, to imitate the wearisome whistling of the wind in stormy
weather: cf. 4. 13. 2 n. Not employing rhyme as we do, the Roman poets,
especially the earlier ones, delighted in 'alliteration, assonance, repetition of
the same or similar words, syllables and sounds': see Munro Lucr. Index
s. v. alliteration.' 2. rubente. So Milton, P. L. 2. 173 'should inter-
3. sacras
mitted vengeance arm again | His red right hand to plague us.
arces. Arx from arceo (ȧpρkéw, åλký), a place of defence. The N. summit
of the Capitoline was technically called the Arx, as being traditionally the
first hill occupied as a 'stronghold.' On the S. summit was the great temple
of Jupiter Capitolinus, and the two summits would naturally be termed
sacrae arces. The god could hardly indicate his wrath more clearly than by
4. urbem
striking with his bolt the very temple erected in his honour.
used by itself always the city, i.e. Rome: urbs and gentes include the whole
world, cf. the motto Urbi et Orbi.
4, 5. terruit . . . terruit. Horace is extremely fond of thus connecting
He avoids if
stanzas or sentences by repetition of an emphatic word.
200
BOOK I
HORACE
possible coupling sentences together mechanically with such words as
et, nam, enim, etc. Cf. line 21 audiet audiet; 1. 3. 28 ignem
post ignem; 2. 4. 5 movit . . . movit; 2. 16. 33 te . . .
tibi...
•
•
•
•
te;
4. 2. 14 cecidere. cecidit. In other cases the emphatic word is placed
at the end of the first clause and at the commencement of the second, 3. 2. 13
mori, mors; 3. 3. 60 Troiae, Troiae; 3. 16. 15 muneribus, munera; 4. 8. 11
carminibus, carmina, the connexion of thought being thus made very close.
6. saeculum 'the grievous days when Pyrrha bewailed strange pro-
digies.' Monstrum=monestrum, quod monet: that which warns, a portent,
prodigy. 7. Proteus (cf. Hom. Od. 4. 386, Virg. G. 4. 395) was
guardian of Neptune's herds of seals. egit visere. This use of the
infinitive to express a purpose is of extreme rarity: Kennedy calls it 'a poetic
Graecism occasionally used after verbs implying motion, purpose.' Cf. Virg.
Aen. 1. 527 populare Penates venimus; Plaut. Cas. 3. 5. 48 ego huc missa
sum ludere. 11. superiecto, sc. terris: 'the all-covering flood.'
13. vidimus. The verb, by its abrupt and prominent position, at once
brings the mind from the days of the flood to what had actually happened in
the sight of living men. Most explain, 'we have seen the yellow Tiber, its
waves hurled violently back from the shore of the Tuscan sea, advance to de-
stroy . . .,' and refer to an old theory (mentioned Herod. 2. 20, but rejected,
and Seneca N. Q. 3. 26) that floods are due to the wind blowing violently against
the mouth of a river and preventing the efflux of its waters. Doubtless contrary
winds may hold up the water at a river's mouth so as to make a flood more
severe, and we could render T. litore not 'from' (which is absurd), but 'at' or
'on the Tuscan shore'; but the graphic vidimus points to something actually
visible by the Romans in Rome, and which it needs no theories to account
for. Take a map of Rome and observe how the Tiber flows in a straight line
past the Campus Martius until its course is checked by the island of the
Tiber and an ugly bend; notice that on the Etrurian side (Tuscum litus) is
the lofty Janiculan, and on the other (sinistra ripa) the low-lying Forum
Boarium, and then consider the rendering, 'We have seen (as any citizen of
Rome could have seen) the yellow Tiber (yellower than ever with the flood),
its waves hurled back with violence from the (steep) banks on the Etrurian
side (against which the whole force of the stream would come), advance (as
it naturally would, checked by the river-bend and the island) to destroy,
etc.
Any citizen of London might see the same effect produced by the
Thames being driven back from the lofty embankment of the Middlesex
shore to flood the humbler dwellings of the Surrey side.
•
15. monimenta regis templaque Vestae. Numa Pompilius built a
circular temple of Vesta and a palace (Regia) attached to it at the foot of the
Palatine. Being situated close to the low region called Velia (velum, a sail),
they would stand right in the way of the inundation. 17. Iliae. Ilia, or
Rhea Silvia, is spoken of as wife of the river into which she was thrown, and
represented as by the 'importunity of her complaints' (nimium querens) urging
her husband, the Tiber-god, to avenge the murder of her great descendant, that
Julius whose name recalled her own. 19. Iove non probante. Jupiter
had desired to warn Rome by the portents described 1-12, not to destroy it.
uxorius: too devoted to his wife, too willing to obey her wishes. For the
position of the word see Notes on Metres, p. xix. § 1.
21. cives. Very emphatic, and so suggesting the full idea 'citizens
against citizens,' which is also implied by the antithesis quo graves Persae
ODE II
201
NOTES
>
melius perirent. The poet shrinks from expressing what he suggests. The
whole history of the first century B.C. is the history of civil wars, which
decimated the chief families at Rome: 'the ranks of youth were thinned by
the crimes of their sires.' The proscriptions of Marius and Sulla, the battles
of Pharsalia (B. C. 48), Philippi (B. C. 42) and Actium (B.C. 31) would be
fresh in every memory. 22. graves Persae. The Persian empire,
dating from Cyrus (B.c. 559), was destroyed by Alexander, but the Roman
poets use Persae and Medi generally of any Oriental people, but especially,
as here, of the Parthians who occupied what had been the Persian empire.
By defeating and destroying Crassus at Charrae (Charran, Acts vii. 2) B.C. 53
and capturing the Roman standards, they had made a deep impression on
the imagination of the Romans. Their progress was stopped by two defeats
inflicted on them by Ventidius, legate of Antony, BC. 39 and 38, and the
lost standards were recovered from Prahates by negotiation, B.C. 20. Coins
are extant with the legend, SIGNIS PARTHICIS RECEPTIS, and the subject is
continually referred to by Horace and other poets. Cf. Ep. 1. 18. 56; 12. 27;
Ov. Fast. 5. 593, Virg. G. 4. 560.
25. quem
'what divinity is the people to invoke for (i.e. to aid)
the fortunes of our falling power?' 26. imperi: not 'empire'= a country
ruled by an emperor, but 'military sway,' the proper meaning of imperium.
But cf. 4. 15. 14 n. 27. virgines sanctae. The vestal virgins, as
guarding the eternal fire of Vesta, which symbolised the eternity of Rome,
would be specially bound to pray for the safety of the state, of which they
were regarded as an essential portion; cf. 3. 30. 8. minus audientem
carmina,' turning a deaf ear to their litanies.' Wickham. Carmen
=casmen, root KAS, 'to sing ') is used of any formula chanted or recited.
•
29. partes. Often in the plural of that which is allotted to any one,
'task'; cf. A. P. 193; Cic. ad Fam. 11. 5. 3 tuum est hoc munus, tuae partes.
31. nube ..: from Hom. II. 5. 186 veþéλŋ elλvµévos μovs; to Apollo,
the Sun-god, the phrase is especially applicable. The 'cloud' is a radiant
one; cf. Rev. x. 1; vedéλn pwruh Mt. xvii. 5. 32. augur, i.e. as god
of Delphi and oracles. Augur is strictly one who interprets the cries of
birds, from avis, and garrire, 'chatter,' Gk. Ynρúw.
33. Erycina ridens, 'sweetly-smiling (piλoµµeidńs) queen of Eryx.'
Mt. Eryx was celebrated for its temple of Aphrodite, probably built by the
Phoenicians to their goddess Astarte (the Ashtoreth of the Bible), who was
identified with Aphrodite and Venus. 35. sive neclectum. 'or if
thou, our founder, dost regard thy neglected family and descendants.' auctor,
as the sire of Romulus. respicis exactly=our 'regard': it means to turn
the head round to pay attention, e.g. to acknowledge the salutation of a
passer-by, Juv. 3. 185 ut te respiciat clauso Veiento labello.
37. ludo. In bitter irony: the god delights in war; so 3. 29. 50,
Fortune is ludum insolentem ludere pertinax. Cf. too spectacula Marti 1.
28. 17. 38. lēves: the Gk. Xelos (XeFos), while levis is éλaxús. So lēvis 2.
7. 21; 11. 6; 4. 6. 28. 39. Mauri peditis. Some read Marsi on the
ground that the Moors and Numidians were all horsemen, but there is no
reason to assume that foot-soldiers were never employed by them. Orelli
takes peditis='unhorsed,' and urges that this adds force to the picture and
gives a reason for the fierceness (acer vultus) which the Moor exhibits, but the
sense thus given to peditis is unnatural.
41. sive mutata . . . or if thou, O winged son of kindly Maia, in
202
BOOK I
HORACE
our Them
Condition
changed guise dost on earth take the form of a youth (i.e. Augustus), sub-
mitting to be called the avenger of Caesar (Julius).' iuvenem : Augustus
was born B.C. 63, but iuvenis includes the whole military age between 17
and 45. 42. ales: because of the petasus and talaria, the winged cap
and anklets he wore as messenger of the gods. 45. serus redeas,
'may it be long before thou dost return.' Notice the flattery of redeas:
Augustus being an incarnate deity does not merely go to heaven, but returns
to it as his home.
•
•
•
50. pater, i.e. pater patriae, the title of which Cicero was so proud (Juv.
8. 244 Roma patrem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit): it was only formally
conferred on Augustus in B.C. 2, but had been long applied to him before in
common talk, cf. 3. 24. 27 n. princeps: 4. 14. 6 n. 51. Medos :
cf. line 22 n. The Median supremacy preceded the Persian, Astyages the last
Median king having been overthrown by Cyrus the Persian,' but even Gk.
writers use the adj. as='Persian' (e.g. in Thuc. rà Mndiká= the Persian
war), and in Horace it='Parthian.' It is not mere carelessness which makes
the Roman poets speak of 'Medes' and 'Persians' instead of 'Parthians':
by so doing they suggest a comparison between the exploits of Rome and the
victories of Salamis and Marathon. equitare, 'career,' as if in scorn;
cf. 4. 4. 44. The Parthian light horsemen amid their sandy deserts were the
dread of the heavy-armed Roman legionaries, who were entirely incapable of
resisting their rapid and desultory attacks; cf. 2. 13. 18 and 1. 19. 11 n.
52. Caesar. Emphatically last.
ODE III
'O ship that conveyest Virgil to Greece, duly deliver up the precious life
entrusted to thy care. Bold indeed was the man who first trusted himself to
the sea, but his was only one of the many impious attempts which men, such
as Prometheus, Daedalus and Hercules, have made to transgress the limits
which God in His providence has appointed: the constant renewal of these
attempts prevents Jupiter from laying aside his thunderbolts of wrath.'
For Virgil's intimacy with Horace see Sellar's Virgil, pp. 120-126. Virgil
and Varius first introduced Horace to Maecenas, and he speaks of them with
singular affection, cf. S. 1. 5. 41; 1. 6. 54 optimus Vergilius, and Ode 1. 24.
We only know of one visit of Virgil to Athens, in B.C. 19, on the return from
which he died at Brundisium Sept. 22. All the Odes of Books I.-III. are
much earlier, and therefore this Ode must refer to a previous voyage, such as
may well have been undertaken by the poet of the Aeneid to visit the scenes
he has aided to immortalise. Some feel the difficulty so much that they
suppose the Virgil mentioned not to be the poet, but surely there was only
one Virgil who was to Horace 'the half of life. See too Epod. 10 Intr.
The construction is navis, quae . debes, reddas precor
1.- sic . . .
sic te.
him
him up
regat pater. 'O ship that
so may heaven direct
•
•
•
•
·
•
owest, I pray thee duly deliver
sic, 'so,' i.e. on that condi-
tion, namely, that you duly deliver him up. Cf. our similar use of 'so help
you God' in administering oaths: the Latins, however, throw the clauses
with sic forward, instead of keeping them to the end; cf. Virg. E. 9. 30 sic
tua Cyrneas fugiant examina taxos incipe. For a similar invocation
to a ship cf. Tennyson, In Mem. Canto 9 seq., also Canto 17 'So may
whatever tempest mars | Mid-Ocean spare thee, sacred bark.' diva potens
Cypri: for the construction see 1. 6. 10 n. Venus is appealed to because
ODE III
203
NOTES
having sprung from the foam of the sea ('Appodirn, åppós) she was supposed
to influence the waves; cf. Venus marina 3. 26. 5; 4. 11. 15.
2. fratres Helenae. Cf. Macaulay: 'Safe comes the ship to harbour |
Through billows and through gales, | If once the great Twin Brethren | Sit
shining on her sails.' In thundery weather a pale-blue flame is sometimes
seen playing round the masts of ships, and it was held to indicate the presence
of the Dioscuri and the safety of the ship. Italian mariners call it the fire of
St. Elmo. On coins, etc., Castor and Pollux are represented with a star on
their foreheads. lucida sidera: cf. 4. 8. 31. 4. obstrictis aliis
praeter Iapyga, 'keeping all but Iapyx bound in prison.' For the
prison-house in which Aeolus guards the winds see Virg. Aen. 1. 52 seq.
Ïapyx is to be let loose because blowing from the Iapygian promontory in
Apulia it would waft the traveller from Brundisium to Dyrrachium, from
which he would coast along past Corcyra and then down the Gulf of Corinth.
Thence he might pass by land to Athens, or else the ship might be dragged
across the Isthmus of Corinth (cf. díoλкos) and sail into the Peiraeus. A
voyage round C. Matapan would be very exceptional.
would usually be ceteris, 'the others,' 'the rest.'
aliis, 'others,'
5. creditum. Notice the same metaphor in debes, reddas, incolumem.
9. robur et aes triplex, 'oak and triple brass,' cf. 3. 16. 2 n.
For a
similar metaphor, cf. Aesch. Prom. 242 σιδηρόφρων τε κἀκ πέτρας εἰργασμένος.
10. fragilem truci: juxaposition to emphasise the antithesis. Cf. too pelago
ratem, and 2. 4. 6 n. 12. praecipitem (prae-caput, 'head foremost '),
coming down in sudden squalls : cf. καταιγίζειν ; Luke viii. 23 κατέβη λαίλαψ.
13. decertantem. The preposition gives the force of fighting it out to
the end. Horace has a special fondness for these compounds, cf. 1. 9. 11
deproeliantes, 1. 18. 9 debellata, 3. 3. 55 debacchentur, 1. 33. 3 decantes,
Ep. 1. 3. 14 desaevit. 14. Hyadas. Seven stars in the head of Taurus
which portended rain or storm. The prose term for them was Suculae, 'the
litter of little pigs,' from ûs, vós, sus. The poets reject so natural and vulgar
an etymology, and connect with veu, 'to rain.' 15. arbiter Hadriae,
'lord of the Adriatic.' Cf. 2. 17. 19 tyrannus, and 3. 3. 5 dux, both used
of the wind's 'mastery' over the sea. Arbiter ad-biter from ad and bito,
an obsolete word='to go,' from root of Baivw. An 'arbiter' therefore=one
βαίνω.
who is present (so in Milton 'the moon sits arbitress'; Epod. 5. 50), then
one who stands by to witness and judge.' Here used of the wind, with
whom it rests to decide whether there shall be storm or calm. 16. tollere
seu ponere vult freta. The first seu is omitted for convenience, as often
in poetry: cf. 1. 6. 19; 32. 7, and similar omissions of elтe and oυte in Gk.
Translate whether he wish to rouse or calm the sea. The winds are said to
calm the sea by a curious idiom which speaks of them as causing that which
their absence causes. So Soph. Αj. 674 δεινῶν ἄημα πνευμάτων ἐκοίμισε |
OTÉVOVTA TÓVтov. freta-frith or firth.
>
17. quem gradum, 'what approach of death?' 'what form of death's
approach ?' 18. siccis oculis, i.e. without weeping. For tears of terror
cf. Hom. Od. 20. 349 daкpvóḍiv ñíµπλavтo, of the eyes of the panic-stricken
suitors. 22. prudens, i.e. providens, 'in his providence.' dissocia-
bili: most adjectives in -abilis are passive, but not unfrequently the poets
use them actively, and so here dissociabilis= quae dissociat 'dividing.' Cf. 2.
14. 6 inlacrimabilem Plutona 'who does not weep,' but 4. 9. 26 inlacrima-
biles 'unwept for.' So flebilis 4. 2. 21 'weeping,' but 1. 24. 10 flebilior 'more
:
204
BOOK I
HORACE
wept for.' Virg. G. 1. 93 penetrabile frigus 'piercing cold,' Lucr. 1. 11
genitabilis aura 'life-giving breeze,' see Munro ad loc.
25. audax perpeti. Horace is fond of this epexegetic or complementary
infinitive after adjectives. It is very common in Gk. e.g. deivòs Tλîval. Its
use is to limit or determine the exact sense of the adjective; a man may be
bold in many ways, e.g. in fighting, talking, etc., but when the inf. is added
what was deficient in the adj. is completed, a full explanation (éπežýynois) is
given. Kennedy calls it the Prolative Inf. because it extends the use of the
adj. to which it is attached. It is used in the Odes after: sciens, nescius,
metuens, timidus, audax, doctus, indoctus, indocilis, dignus, callidus, catus,
sollers, pertinax, efficax, praesens, celer, fortis, firmus, segnis, dolosus,
blandus, largus, lenis, inpotens, nobilis. Cf. S. 1. 4. 8 durus componere;
12 piger ferre; 2. 4. 19; 8. 24 ridiculus absorbere; Ep. 1. 2. 64 docilem
ire; 1. 7. 57 notum properare; 1. 15. 30 saevus fingere; 1. 16. 12 dare
idoneus; A. P. 163 cereus flecti; 165; 204. For it after verbs, see 1.15. 27 n.
A
27. Iapeti genus, 'son of Iapetus,' i.e. Prometheus, who stole fire from
heaven, hid in the stem of the vápons or ferula. 28. fraude mala.
reminiscence of the legal phrase dolus malus, used='malice prepense,' when
a criminal act is committed of deliberate purpose. Others give 'a theft dis-
astrous (in its results),' as explained in the next lines. 30. nova febrium
'a strange (hitherto unknown) troop of fevers brooded over the earth.'
Incubo is specially used of things pestilential, or abominable, e.g. ill-omened
birds, thick darkness, plagues. 32. semotique prius . 'and what
was before the slow necessity of distant death hastened its approach,' i.e.
men, though mortal, at first lived to a great age, afterwards only for a
brief span.
A belief in the longevity of primaeval man seems universal.
34. Daedalus (daídaλos, i.e. varied, or cunningly wrought) is the type
of the over-ambitious man of science: 'over-flighty,' we might say.
perrupit. For the long final syllable cf. S. 1. 5. 90 n. Notice the rugged,
laborious character of the line; accommodation of sound to sense.
ODE IV
36.
'Now winter gives place to the joyous period of spring: now surely is the
season for festivity. Life is short, and it is well to enjoy the present; soon in
any case will the night of Death be upon us, putting a stop to earthly pleasures.'
Of L. Sestius all we know is that he was appointed consul suffectus by
Augustus B.C. 23, although he had been a vigorous partisan of Brutus.
1. solvitur
•
'keen winter relaxes his grasp with welcome change
to springtime and the west wind.' solvitur: because winter 'binds' the
earth in bands of snow and ice: cf. line 10 solutae. vice: cf. 4. 7. 3. 2.
machinae, 'windlasses' used to draw down to the sea (trahere) the barks
which had been hauled up high and dry (siccas) for the winter.
•
'while
5. Cytherea: Homer's Kvěépeia, from the island Kú@npa off the S.E.
of Laconia, near which the goddess rose from the sea. The second syllable
is shortened for metrical convenience. 7. dum graves
glowing Vulcan makes the toilsome smithy of the Cyclopes blaze.' Venus
dances and Vulcan toils: everything is alive. The bolts are forged ready
for Jupiter's use in the summer when thunder is more frequent. Some
consider the use of ardens and urit close together objectionable, and a few
MSS. give visit. ardens, however, suggests not merely a picture of Vulcan as
ODE V
205
NOTES
the fire of the furnace is reflected on his face, but also the idea of ‘eager-
ness,' cf. Virg. Aen. 2. 529 ardens insequitur. The Cyclopes (KúxλwπTES)
(Κύκλωπες)
were one-eyed monsters, sons of Earth and Heaven, who forged the thunder-
bolts of Jove in Aetna; quite distinct from the Homeric Cyclopes.
•
•
10.
9. nitidum caput inpedire, 'to entwine the glossy head.'
solutae (cf. line 1). In winter frost binds up the soil: in spring Zephyro
putris se glaeba resolvit (Virg. G. 1. 44), the clod unbinds itself and
crumbles beneath the west wind.' 11. inmolare agna, 'it is fitting
to sacrifice to Faunus whether he ask (us to sacrifice) with a lamb or prefer
(us to sacrifice) with a kid.' We should say, 'either with a lamb if he ask it
or a kid if he prefer it.' The abl. after verbs of sacrificing (the victim
being the instrument with which the sacrifice is performed) is as common
as the direct acc.: cf. facere vitula to sacrifice (with) a calf; vino libare, etc.
13. pede: S. 1. 1. 10 n. pauperum . . . 'cottages of the poor and
palaces of the great.' Observe the reverberating emphasis ' (Verrall) of pallida
pulsat pede pauperum. 15. vitae summa brevis
'the total of
our days is small and forbids us to commence hope for a distant future.'
incohare=to commence what will never be completed. 16. fabulaeque
Manes. When a man is dead he becomes fabula, a subject of talk,' 'a mere
name'; and so the ghosts are here called 'empty names'; cf. the imitation of
Persius (5. 152) cinis et Manes et fabula fies, and for the very bold apposition
of fabulae Manes, Lucan 1. 313 Marcellusque loquax et nomina vana Catones.
17. exilis, i.e. exigilis (from exago), what is drawn out, 'thin';
'shadowy,' 'unsubstantial.' 18. regna vini sortiere talis. At feasts
a president was chosen by lot (magister, or arbiter bibendi, ovμπoolaрxos,
ȧрxirpikλivos St. John ii. 9, 'master of the feast'). Tesserae, or 'dice,'
were used for this purpose, or tali, 'knuckle-bones': these had four marked
sides, and the highest throw was when they all came up differently; it was
called iactus Veneris (2. 7. 25), the lowest throw being canis.
ODE V
here=
'Who is thy lover now, Pyrrha? He little knows that thou art fickle as the
sea: all smiles to-day, to-morrow storm. Poor inexperienced youth! I have
gone through similar dangers and escaped, thank heaven.'
A slight Ode, but singularly beautiful in expression: it is in Horace's
best style, and is apparently perfectly simple because perfectly finished ;
summa ars celavit artem. Any one who disagrees should attempt to omit or
alter a single word. It is translated by Milton (Occasional Poems).
3. Pyrrha
1. multa in rosa urguet, 'courts thee amid many a rose.'
from Tuρppós='the auburn-haired,' cf. flavam. 5. simplex munditiis,
'simple in thy elegance.' For the adj. mundus see 3. 29. 14 n. munditiae
applied to a lady's toilette indicates the presence of elegance and taste with-
out ostentation or extravagance. munditiis capimur says Ovid truly A. A. 3.
133. Milton's 'plain in thy neatness' savours rather of the Puritan than the
poet. 8. emirabitur insolens. emiror is only found here: it is a very
strong form of miror. insolens, 'unused,' i.e. to such fickleness. The line
should be read over aloud, placing stress on the initial spondees: its full
force will be at once clear.
'Who now too fond (or
9. credulus aurea. Notice the juxtaposition.
trusting) enjoys the golden hours of thy love.' Aureus golden, at its best,
=
206
BOOK I
HORACE
in perfection. Cf. aurea aetas, 'the golden age,' and Schiller has 'der ersten
Liebe gold'ne Zeit'; Shak. Cymb. IV. ii. 262 'Golden lads and girls all must |
As chimney-sweepers come to dust.' 11. nescius aurae fallacis. The
metaphor from the sea is still kept up. 'Ignorant how treacherous is the
breeze.' The breeze is her fickle favour; cf. 3. 2. 20 popularis aura=the
breeze of popular favour. 13. intemptata nites. To inexperience her
bright smiles are as alluring as the smiles of a summer sea; cf. Lucr. 2. 559
placidi pellacia ponti. me tabula, 'me the temple wall with votive
picture declares to have hung up
Sailors who had escaped shipwreck
dedicated their garments to Neptune (Virg. Aen. 12. 768), sometimes with a
picture of the event; cf. S. 2. 1. 32 n. 15. potenti: with maris; 1. 6. 10 n.
•
ODE VI
Your exploits, Agrippa, would be a worthy theme for Varius: his poetry
is Homeric. I am not capable of treating a subject such as that of the Iliad :
one of my poor odes would but detract from your fame. Love and levity alone
befit my inconstant muse.'
M. Vipsanius Agrippa was the great minister of Augustus in war, as
Maecenas was in peace: Horace had probably been urged to celebrate his
victories, and finding the task uncongenial substitutes this dexterous apology.
1. scriberis Vario
alite, 'you shall be written about by
Varius as valiant and victorious, (by Varius) a bird of Homeric song.
These lines present a distinct case of the abl. of the personal agent with-
out ab. Cf. Ep. 1. 19. 3 quae scribuntur aquae potoribus 'which are written
by water-drinkers'; Ep. 1. 1. 94 curatus inaequali tonsore; Virg. Aen. 1. 312
uno graditur comitatus Achate; Juv. 13. 124 curentur dubii medicis maiori-
bus aegri. On the other hand S. 2. 1. 84, iudice laudatus Caesare, may be
explained (see Mayor, Juv. 1. 13 n.) iudicio Caesaris, and so Od. 3. 5.
24 Marte populata is simple, Marte being = bello. All editors try to
avoid this (1) by making Vario alite abl. abs. 'when Varius takes a
flight of Maeonic song,' but the position of alite prevents this; or
(2) by altering to aliti and making a very ugly dat. of the agent. As
Horace, however, distinctly means 'you shall be written of by Varius as
brave,' and all MSS. give the ablative, the facts are cogent.
scriberis:
a peculiarly Horatian use of the future. 'You shall be written of,' i.e. if you
will take my advice. So 1. 7.1 laudabunt alii 'others shall praise,' i.e. if
they wish; 1. 20. 1 vile potabis 'you shall drink,' i.e. if you will accept my
invitation. Vario: for Varius as an epic poet cf. S. 1. 10. 43.
Maeonii, i.e. Homeric; 4. 9. 5 n. 3. quam rem cumque: tmesis with
quicumque is common in Horace, e.g. 1. 27. 14. See 1. 32. 15 n.
navibus, e.g. the defeat of Sex. Pompeius B.C. 36.
2.
5. gravem Pelidae stomachum: Hom. II. 1. 1 µîviv åeide, Oeá,
μήνιν θεά,
Πηληϊάδεω 'Αχιλῆος | οὐλομένην. 7. cursus duplicis Ulixei: Hom.
Od. 1. 1 ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον ὃς μάλα πολλὰ | πλάγχθη.
By rendering μnvis 'wrath' as stomachus 'bile,' and Toλúтроπоs as duplex ·
cunning,' Horace humorously depreciates the epic style which he refuses
to attempt. Cf. Epod. 17. 12 homicidam Hectorem. Ulixei. The gen.
is from the hybrid form Ulixeus, which is declined as if of the 2nd
declension cf. Achillei 1. 15. 34, Penthěi 2. 19. 14, Alyattěi 3. 16. 41.
8. Pelopis domum. The disasters of the house of Pelops were the stock
¡
ODE VII
207
NOTES
subject for tragedies, numbers of which dealt with the crimes or misfortunes
of Pelops, Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Orestes, Electra, etc.
9. tenues grandia, 'too vast a theme for our slender verse.' tenues
is in agreement with the nom. to conamur, and grandia in apposition
with the accusatives stomachum, cursus, and domum, but it needs a
paraphrase to bring out the force of the two adjectives in their strongly-
contrasted position; see 2. 4. 6 n. 10. lyrae potens. So 1. 3. 1 potens
Cypri, 1. 5. 15 potens maris, 3. 29. 41 potens sui, C. S. 1 silvarum potens.
Horace is extremely fond of adjectives with the gen.: adjectives especially
which indicate power or abundance naturally take it; e.g. 4. 8. 5 divite
artium and cf. the common voti compos, mentis compos. 12. culpa
deterere ingeni, 'to tarnish through defect of ability.' Horace and Virgil
adopt the contracted forms ingeni (2. 18. 9), imperi (4. 15. 14); Ovid the
open one ingenii. Cf. too 4. 6. 44 Horati; 1. 12. 34 Pompili, Tarquini.
13. tunica tectum adamantina: the Homeric xαλкcolúpaέ and
χαλκεοθώραξ
χαλκοχίτων.
XaλkoXiTWV. Tunica, the close-fitting under-garment worn under the loose
toga, is aptly applied to a coat or shirt of mail. 15. ope Palladis
Diomedes, by the assistance of Pallas, actually wounded (hence superis
parem) Aphrodite and Ares. Hom. Il. 5. 881. 16. parem, 'equally
matched with.' 17. nos. Cf. 1. 1. 29 n. The antithesis is made clear
by the prominent position of the pronoun, which at once contrasts Horace
with the writers already alluded to. proelia . 'combats of maidens
fiercely attacking youths (acrium in iuvenes) with trimmed nails'; the nails
are 'trimmed' as those of any fashionable beauty would be (the opp. of
Canidia's inresectum pollicem Epod. 5. 47), though of course the adj. suggests
that they would not do much harm. 19. vacui, i.e. sive vacui, cf. 1.
3. 16: whether fancy-free, or fired by a spark of love, easy as is my wont.'
ODE VII
•
'Many fair and favourite places are there on earth, none that I love so
fondly as Tibur. Do you, Plancus, whether as now in camp or, as you will be
soon, I trust, at Tibur, remember that it is occasionally true philosophy to
forget care in wine. Think of the example of Teucer in his troubles.'
L. Munatius Plancus, consul B.C. 42 and founder of Lugdunum (Lyons),
was an accomplished trimmer during the civil wars, but seems to have en-
joyed considerable favour with Octavian, who received the title of Augustus
on his proposal B.C. 27. At this time he seems to have been suffering from
melancholy and a desire to quit Italy. By his use of tenebit (the fut. of
invitation, cf. 1. 20. 1) in striking contrast to tenent in line 20, Horace really
addresses an invitation to Plancus to come to Tibur.
1. laudabunt. Cf. 1. 6. 1:
others praise.
2. bimaris.
'others shall praise' (for all I care), i.e. let
The two harbours of Corinth are Cenchreae
on the Saronic Gulf and Lechaeum on the Corinthian Gulf. 4. Tempe :
neuter plur. like Teixη.
•
5. sunt quibus
some there are whose sole task it is to cele-
brate in continuous song the city of the ever-virgin Pallas, and to place
upon their brow an olive-wreath plucked from every side.' sunt
quibus: 1. 1. 3 n. Palladis urbem : Αθήνη, Αθήναι.
intacta
=ἀδμής. 6. carmine perpetuo. The poem would start with the
earliest period and give the history of Athens 'in unbroken succession'
208
BOOK I
HORACE
.
(the exact meaning of perpetuus). 7. undique decerptam, 'gathered
from every side,' i.e. not only from every place in Attica, but also from every
famous incident in Attic history. olivam: by producing the olive Athena
became the patron-goddess of the city: hence the poet's wreath is composed
of olive in this case.
dites: cf.
Prominent
9. aptum dicet equis Argos, 'will tell of Argos as fit for horses';
iTTÓẞоTOV, Hom. Argos is neut. sing. cf. Ep. 2. 2. 128 n.
Soph. Εl. 9 φάσκειν Μυκήνας τὰς πολυχρύσους ὁρᾶν. 10. me.
and emphatic. patiens Lacedaemon. The adjective 'Spartan,’=‘en-
during,' has become English. The Spartan discipline was traditionally
ascribed to Lycurgus. 11. opima = epißŵλağ, Il. 2. 841. 12. Albuneae,
Anio, Tiburni. See Class. Dict., or for a full description Burn's Rome and
the Campagna. A knowledge of the history and topography of Tibur is
essential for understanding the Odes. resonantis, 're-echoing,' i.e. to the
roar of praeceps Anio.
•
13. uda mobilibus pomaria rivis, orchards watered by restless
rivulets.' Below the falls the main stream divided into a quantity of small
rills. 15. albus 'as the S. wind is often bright (or clear) and
sweeps the clouds from the darkened sky, and does not from its womb bring
forth unceasing rains ..albus is emphatic: the S. wind is usually black
and cloudy; sometimes however it is white, and drives the clouds away. Cf.
Milton's account of the Deluge, P. L. 11. 738 'Meanwhile the south wind
rose and with black wings,' etc. 17. sapiens, i.e. 'if you are wise.'
19. molli, 'mellow.' seu te
'whether the camp glittering with
·
•
ensigns possesses you, or (as I hope) Tibur. shall possess you.'
•
•
21. Teucer
This bringing home of a general idea or remark by
adducing a special instance from mythology or history is frequent in Horace.
patrem. His father Telamon refused to receive him because he brought not
back his brother with him from Troy. Cf. Soph. Ajax passim. 22. tamen,
i.e. notwithstanding his troubles. uda Lyaeo, 'moist with wine.'
udus
or uvidus, 2. 19. 18, like madidus=ßeßpeyμévos, is one of the many
conventional phrases found in all languages to describe intoxication. Its
opposite is siccus ('a tee-totaller '), 1. 18. 3. Iyaeus, Λύαιος (λύω), i.e.
the Releaser, in Latin Liber, is aptly so called here with reference to Teucer
and his troubles. 23. populea. The poplar was sacred to Hercules, whose
many wanderings would occur to Teucer.
•
25. quo nos, whithersoever fortune, kinder than my sire, shall guide
us, we will go
feret fortuna: fero is the derivation of fortuna.
27. duce et auspice. An imperator alone had the right of taking the
auspices. During the Republic an imperator always led the army into the
field and so was dux also. Under. the Empire the chief of the state was
perpetual imperator, and the generals who conducted his campaigns were
merely duces. duce et auspice is however used perfectly generally here, as
we might say 'guide and guardian.' Teucro .. Teucro: the substi-
tution of the personal name for the pronoun indicates proud self-confidence,
and the repetition emphasises this. Some put a colon after auspice, render-
ing 'naught need ye despair of with Teucer for your guide: (for) to Teucer
hath unerring Apollo promised. which entirely alters the emphasis.
•
•
•
29. ambiguam
'that in a new land shall arise a Salamis of
doubtful name.' ambiguam, because thereafter when Salamis was mentioned
it would be 'doubtful' whether the old or the new town was referred to. Cf.
ODE IX
209
NOTES
Boston in Lincolnshire and Boston in America.
32. iterabimus, 'we
will once more essay.' He had just crossed the sea once from Troy. Cf.
Tennyson's Ulysses, 'Souls that have toil'd and wrought and thought with
me, ... Come, my friends, | 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.'
ODE VIII
Say, Lydia, why you are eager that your love should be the ruin of
Sybaris, by keeping him from the manly exercises in which he used to excel.
•
•
1. per te deos oro=per deos te oro. The peculiar order is idiomatic
and usual; cf. too Soph. Phil. 468 πpòs vûv σE TATρÒS ἱκνούμαι. 2.
Sybarin. A fit name for such a love-sick youth. For the luxurious town
of Sybaris which provides us with the word 'sybarite' see Class. Dict.
3. apricum campum. On sunny afternoons the Campus Martius was the
regular resort of all who desired air and exercise. For campus Campus
Martius cf. 3. 1. 11 n. 4. patiens, i.e. by nature.
5. militaris, as a soldier,' i.e. in martial exercises, of which riding
was one of the chief, cf. 3. 24. 54. 6. aequales, 'those of the
same age, ὁμήλικες. Gallica 'nor guide the mouth of a Gaulish
steed with jagged bit.' Gaulish horses were celebrated. lupatus is an adj.,
but the plural lupati or lupata is used for a bit.' Its name, which describes
an instrument furnished with teeth like those of a wolf, shows its character.
8. Tiberim. A plunge in the Tiber concluded the daily exercise. olivum:
oil, used by the wrestlers. oliva the olive-tree: cf. Xacov and λaía.
10. neque iam . . . 'why no longer has he his arms black and blue
with (the use of) weapons, winning fame by often sending the discus and
often the javelin clear beyond the limit (attained by his rivals)?' gestat:
=
frequentative, from gero to wear: we cannot use the expression in English,
and it is rare in Latin. 11. disco (dɩkeîv 'to fling'): a flat circular stone.
The statue of the Discobolos by Myron is famous. Unlike the game of quoits,
the object was merely to hurl it as far as possible, hence finem is not the
mark, or thing aimed at. disco and iaculo explain armis.
pedito: of a clear free throw.
12. ex-
13. marinae filium Thetidis. In post-Homeric legends (e.g. Ov. Met.
13. 162) Thetis hides Achilles at Scyros, disguised as a maid, to keep him
from Troy, where he was destined to glory and the grave. Note that the
Greeks do not represent Achilles as a grim and grisly warrior, but as of fair
and almost feminine aspect. 14. sub lacrimosa 'when the tearful
fall of Troy drew near. sub with the acc. is used of approach to a thing
which is imminent, e.g. sub noctem, towards nightfall, cf. 1. 9. 19; 2. 18. 18.
15. virilis cultus, 'manly attire.'
ODE IX
'Tis storm and winter outside: heap up the fire and bring forth the wine.
All is in the hands of the gods, who will soon restore fine weather. Meantime
to make the best of the present is wisest, and for those who are young to enjoy
the days of their youth.'
The Ode is an imitation of Alcaeus Νει μὲν ὁ Ζεὺς ἐκ δ᾽ ὀράνω μέγας
χείμων, πεπάγασιν δ᾽ ὑδάτων ῥόαι κάββαλλε τον χειμῶν, ἐπὶ μὲν
τιθεὶς | πῦρ, ἐν δὲ κίρναις οἶνον ἀφειδέως
P
210
BOOK I
HORACE
1. vides. Soracte, 26 miles N. of Rome, is visible from the city; the Ode
however represents the writer as in the country, probably at Tibur, whence
the mountain would be a much nearer and more imposing object, and natur-
ally referred to as indicating by its appearance the probable state of the
weather. stet nive candidum, 'stands out clear with its white mantle
of snow.' 3. laborantes: 2. 9. 7 n.
6. reponens, 'piling again and again,' Wickham. Perhaps, however, re
is used in the very common sense of 'duly': it was a duty to keep up a good
fire on such a day. benignius, i.e. 'with more than ordinary liberality.'
benignus is the opposite of malignus 'grudging' (1. 28. 23). 7. deprome:
from the cellar, or better from the diota. quadrimum: except for special
vintages, such as Falernian, 'four-year old' wine means wine in good condi-
tion, cf. Theocr. 14. 16 ἀνῷξα δὲ Βίβλινον αὐτοῖς | εὐώδη τετόρων ἐτέων ; id.
7. 147. 8. Thaliarche. Oaλlapxos is not, as Örelli gives,=σνµπoσíaрxos
(cf. 1. 4. 18 n.) but is invented to suit the context='one in the fresh bloom
of youth.' Horace throughout speaks in a didactic tone as an older to a
younger man. diota: a jar with two ears (dis oûs), therefore the same as
amphora (ảµpì pépew), a jar with two handles.
•
14.
9. simul simulac. 'As soon as they have laid to rest the winds now
fighting to the death upon the yeasty deep.' Cf. Daniel vii. 2 'the four winds
of heaven strove upon the great sea. 13. quid sit futurum cras
Cf. 1. 11. 8. Both lines are a concise epitome of one portion of the Epicurean
philosophy, of which Horace was at any rate a professed disciple.
quem fors... 'whatever sort of day chance shall give, add to the profit
account.' lucro appone=put down to the side of gain, add as an item on
the credit side. 16. puer: while young, in youth. neque tu by a
frequent Latin idiom, when a person is told to do two things, the pronoun is
inserted in the second case with a view of enforcing the personal emphasis of
the command; cf. Ep. 1. 2. 63 hunc frenis, hunc tu compesce catena. Here
in connexion with puer the pronoun enforces the command by recalling
attention to the fitness with which it is addressed to Thaliarchus you are
young: of course you must dance.'
nunc
17. virenti. Youth is always spoken of as green. The metaphor is from
spring-time (ver=quod viret). 18. morosa, 'crabbed.' morosus is one
who consults only his own disposition (mores): its opposite is moriger, one
who consults that of others.
nunc (1. 21): mark the em-
phatic position of these two words: 'now''in the days of thy youth,'
cf. Ecclesiastes xii. 1. areae: lit. a threshing-floor, then a broad open
space in a city. 20. composita hora, at the trysting-hour.'
•
• • •
21. nunc et 'now too the pleasant laugh from an inmost corner,
which betrays the lurking maiden, and the token snatched from arm or finger
that mischievously resists.' 24. male pertinaci: male (1) with adjectives
which have a bad sense intensifies that bad sense, cf. S. 1. 3. 45 male parvus ;
1. 4. 66 rauci male horribly hoarse'; (2) with adjectives which have a good
sense neutralises that good sense; cf. Ep. 1. 19. 3 male sanos 'insane,' and
commonly male gratus, male fidus. It can hardly be said that pertinaci has
a good sense where the girl puts on the air of obstinacy: therefore render
'mischievously resisting,' i.e. to tease the lover (cf. 1. 17. 25 male dispari).
Kiessling gives 'not resisting,' 'resisting feebly.'
ODE XI
211
NOTES
ODE X
An Ode to Mercury, detailing his various attributes. The Gk. list is λbycos,
ἀγώνιος, διάκτορος, μουσικός, κλέπτης, έριούνιος, χρυσόρραπις, ψυχοπομπός.
1. facunde, i.e. as the god of speech; cf. èpμnveúw, 'to interpret'; Acts
xiv. 12 'And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because
he was the chief speaker.' As such he is also the patron of poets, viri Mer-
curiales 2. 17. 29, and their protector, 2. 7. 13. 2. feros cultus homi-
num recentum, 'the brute manners of newly-created men.' recens is
exactly the opposite of our 'recent. 3. voce et more, 'by the gift of
language and the institution of
decorae: because true physical
•
beauty is impossible without proper physical exercise.
6. nuntium, 'herald.' 7. callidum condere, 'skilled in hiding,'
epexegetic inf., cf. 1. 3. 25 n. condo=cum and do (same root as tíðnµi), to
put together, store up, hide; cf. ab-do, de-do, circum-do, man-do.
•
9. te
'at you, once upon a time, while in the very act of terrifying you,
young scamp that you were, with threatening words, unless you should have
restored. at you Apollo was fain to laugh, robbed of his quiver (in the
very midst of his lecture).' nisi reddidisses: the threat of Apollo (nisi
reddideris) in oblique narration. 11. dum terret while he was trying to
frighten you. Dum takes the present ind. even with reference to past actions;
cf. 1. 22. 10 dum canto, 1. 34. 2 dum erro, 3. 7. 18 dum fugit, 3. 11. 23.
13. quin et He is the guide of good men on earth and good souls
below: in Gk. róμmiμos and vxoroμrós. quin et 'nay even': 3. 11.
21 n.
14. Priamus. When he went to beg the body of Hector from
Achilles, Il. 24. 334. dives suggests the valuable presents he took with him.
17. reponis, 'dost duly place,' cf. 1. 9. 6 n. 18. virga. The кηpúкelov,
or caduceus, seen in all representations of the god. coerces, 'keep to-
gether' (cum-arceo).
ODE XI
'Do not, Leuconoe, consult the astrologers. It is better to enjoy the present
and allow the future to take care of itself.’
1. ne quaesieris. The perfect subj. (as more polite) is regular in
prohibitions, and the present extremely rare. 2. Babylonios temptaris
numeros, make trial of Babylonian astrology.' Amid the decay of real
belief, superstition was at this period rife at Rome, and especially a belief
in the reading of the stars (cf. 2. 17. 17—22). Both astronomy and its false
sister astrology were especially studied by the Chaldeans: cf. Matt. ii. 1
"There came wise men from the east,' etc. numeri are the calculations
made in casting horoscopes and the like: hence the name mathematici.
See Dict. Ant. s. v. Astrologia.
5. oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare, 'makes the sea spend its
strength on the confronting rocks.' The rocks are called pumices because
they were eaten into holes like those in pumice-stone. 6. sapias
'be wise, strain wine, and, the course of life being short, cut down distant
expectations.' Wine was strained through linen or snow. spatium refers to
the old metaphor of life being a sort of race-course. reseco=cut back, prune,
reduce to reasonable limits. 7. fugerit. The perfect, to express sudden-
ness of completion. Not 'it will be going,' but 'it will be gone.' invida:
•
212
BOOK I
HORACE
'grudging.' The line is copied by Persius 5. 153 vive memor leti!
fugit hora, hoc, quod loquor, inde est. 8. carpe diem. Either 'pluck
the flower of to-day's joys,' or 'snatch at the present day before it escape.'
For the sense cf. 1. 11 Int. and Ep. 1. 4. 13.
ODE XII
'Whom dost thou choose to tell of, Clio, in strains that like those of Orpheus
shall have power even over stubborn nature ? What man or hero or god?
Surely of Him first, who is the Sire of gods and men, the great Lord of the
Universe, even Jupiter high above all beyond all comparison. Then of those-
gods or heroes or men—who as his vassals have wrought his will in the world-
old contest of order against anarchy, gods by aiding him against the rebellious
Titans (cf. the lists of gods here and in 3. 4) or subduing the rage of the sea,
men by performing each his appointed task, in the founding and confirming of
that which is the counterpart of his heavenly empire-the Roman state. And
of these the greatest and the last is Caesar, the greatest, O Jupiter, but still thy
vassal. Yea, though he conquer Parthia or farthest India and extend his
sway over the wide world, yet he is thy subject, for thou even thou art Lord of
heaven and earth (cf. te line 57, tu 58, tu 59).'
So Plüss, who refers the Ode to some great national triumph, such as the
defeat of Sex. Pompeius, B.C. 36, but Kiessling to the betrothal of Marcellus
and Julia, B.C. 25.
1. quem virum
From Pindar, Ο1. 2. 1 ἀναξιφόρμιγγες ὕμνοι, | τίνα
θεόν, τίν' ἥρωα, τίνα δ᾽ ἄνδρα κελαδήσομεν ; 2. sumis celebrare. Verbs
of wishing or resolving take an infinitive. A slight and poetic extension of
this liberty allows sumere (= 'to choose') to do the same. See 1. 15. 27 n.
and cf. Ep. 1. 3. 7 scribere sumit. 3. iocosa imago, 'sportive echo.'
Cf. Vaticani montis imago 1. 20. 7. Echo is a phantom voice (imago vocis).
7. unde vocalem
'whence the woods in random haste followed the
strains of Orpheus.' The final syllable of temere is always elided.
9. materna, i.e. of Calliope. 11. blandum et . . . 'persuasive too
to draw after him with his tuneful strings the listening oaks.' auritas,
'long-eared' but here apparently with ears pricked up.' The oaks are
represented with every leaf pricked up to catch each note. 12. ducere:
epexegetic inf.
For Orpheus cf. Shak. Henry 8, III. i.
Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain tops that freeze,
Bow themselves when he did sing :
•
·
15. variisque
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung; as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.'
13. solitis. Cf. Virg. Ecl. 3. 60 ab Iove principium, and Aratus, ék Aids
ἀρχώμεσθα TOû yàp Kal yévos éoµév (quoted by St. Paul, Acts xvii. 28).
14. qui res hominum ac deorum. Cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 229 o qui res
hominumque deumque | aeternis regis imperiis.
regulates the heaven with changing seasons.'
earth, and sky,' together make up the universe.
Virg. Ecl. 6. 34; Munro Lucr. 1. 73 n.
17. unde a quo, 'from whom.' Cf. 2. 12. 7; 3. 17. 2 hinc 'from him';
Virg. Aen. 1. 6 genus unde Latinum, 'from whom the Latin race.' 18.
secundum, proximos. The point depends on the difference between these
words: secundus (from sequor) is used of that which follows, and implies that
there is, if not a connexion, at any rate no marked gap between two things;
16.
' and
mare, terrae, mundus, 'sea,
For this sense of mundus cf.
horae="pal.
ODE XII
213
NOTES
proximus, on the other hand, merely means 'next,' and is compatible with
the existence of the widest possible gap. So Virg. Aen. 5. 320, in describing
a race, says of 'a bad second,' proximus huic, longo sed proximus intervallo.
In Macaulay's famous instance of 'Eclipse first and the rest nowhere,' the
second horse would be proximus, but not secundus.
·
21. proeliis audax. Some put a full stop after this and make it go
with Pallas, but the run of the verse seems against this. For Bacchus, as a
courageous divinity, see 2. 19. 28. 22. virgo. The huntress Diana.
26. hunc equis
Cf. S. 2. 1. 26; Hom. II. 3. 237 Káσтоρá 0'
Κάστορά
ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα.
Cf. 1. 3. 2 n.
29. defluit
rocks now it drips from them again.
:
' and the
threatening wave, because such is their pleasure, sinks back on the bosom
of the deep.'
27. quorum
•
The wind had driven the spray and surge high on to the
31. et minax
=
•
33. quietum, 'peaceful.' Numa Pompilius was the legendary author of
most civil and religious, as Romulus was of most warlike observances. 34.
superbos Tarquini fasces, 'the proud sway of Tarquin,' the sway of
Tarquin the Proud: a good instance of hypallage; cf. 3. 1. 42 n. Horace does
not mention Tarquinius Superbus as a hero, but because he is thinking of the
glorious deeds connected with his expulsion. Then the thought of the great
author of Roman freedom, Brutus, suggests the name of him who refused to
survive that freedom, Cato. 35. Catonis nobile letum. The suicide of
Cato at Utica, after the battle of Thapsus (B.C. 46), is continually referred to
with indiscriminate praise by the poets and philosophers of the next century.
For the frequency of suicide under the empire, see Merivale, Hist. c. 74.
37. Scauros. The reference is chiefly to M. Aemilius Scaurus, consul
B.C. 115 and 107, censor B.C. 109. His character was none of the best
(Mommsen, bk. 4. c. 4) and he accepted bribes from Jugurtha in B.C. 111,
but the name is merely used as a typical one for 'a fine old Roman.' 38.
Paulum. Consul with C. Terentius Varro; at the fatal battle of Cannae
(B.C. 216) he refused to fly. 39. insigni Camena, 'the muse that gives
renown. Notice that in praise of these national heroes, he receives the aid of
the national Camenae, not of the foreign Moûσal. 41. incomptis capillis.
Barbers were introduced at Rome B.C. 300. The elder Cato is called intonsus
2. 15. 11. These bearded ancients are a type of manly vigour. 43. saeva
paupertas et.. 'stern poverty and a farm handed down from father
to son, with a modest homestead.' The words avitus apto cum Lare fundus
give a fair definition of what the Romans would call paupertas. It is here
the condition of a small yeoman; cf. 3. 16. 37 n.; Ep. 2. 2. 12 n.
45. crescit
A faultless line. The comparison expresses the sure,
silent, and steady growth of the fame of the name Marcellus. occulto
aevo, ‘by the silent lapse of time.' aevum (=aiFwv, root i, 'to go') is
'that which passes away.' 46. Marcelli. This family traced its origin
to Marcellus who won the spolia opima for the third and last time B.C. 222,
and conquered Syracuse B.C. 212. For the young Marcellus see Dict. He
married Julia, the daughter of Augustus, B.C. 25; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 860-886.
47. Iulium sidus, 'the star of the Julian line.' The word 'star' is used
generally fortune' in reference to the astrological idea of a ruling star, and
specially with reference to the comet (Iulium sidus) which appeared about
the period of Caesar's death, and indicated his reception into heaven.
214
BOOK I
HORACE
·
•
51. Caesaris, i.e. Augustus. tu... 'reign thou, and may Caesar
be second to thee.' regnes is not so much a prayer as an ascription of praise.
The use of secundus here after what has been said in lines 18, 19 is difficult.
Perhaps Horace means: 'there is indeed none who is "second" to thee, but,
if to any being that epithet can be applied, may it be to Caesar. 54.
egerit. : referring to the well-earned (iustus) triumph in which the
captives would be led through the streets of Rome. 55. subiectos
'the Seres and Indi who dwell close beside the coasts of the rising sun.'
subiectos indicates close proximity; they lie close up to the extremest east,
which is just above or beyond them. 57. te minor . . . i.e. so long as
he acknowledges thee as supreme. Cf. 3. 6. 5 dis te minorem quod geris im-
peras, and 3. 1. 6 n. 59. parum castis=unholy.
•
60. lucis: for the
use of 'groves' in idolatrous worship, cf. the whole history of the children of
Israel. Spots struck by lightning were held to be accursed.
ODE XIII
'Jealousy and rage consume me, Lydia, when I hear you continually
dwelling on the charms of Telephus, and see on shoulder or lip the trace of
your fierce quarrels and frenzied reconciliations. Believe me, such passionate
love does not last. Happy they whom a peaceful affection unites till death.'
1. Telephi
Telephi.
loved name; cf. 2. 14. 1 n.
1. 402 rosea cervice refulsit.
meum, 'alas, my heart boils and swells with angry bile.'
=hard to deal with, irritable, savage. bile: cf. Gk. χολή and χόλος =
'bile' or 'anger,' and μeλayxoλIKÓS. iecur: the seat of the affections and
passions; cf. S. 1. 9. 66; Ep. 1. 18. 72.
Lydia dwells with fond iteration on the be-
2. roseam, 'rosy'; so of Venus, Virg. Aen.
cerea: smooth and white as wax. 3. vae
4. difficili
9.
6. manet: the manent of many MSS. is an ignorant correction metri
gratia, cf. 1. 3. 36 n.: after two disjunctive particles the plural is wrong.
7. furtim. He tries to conceal it, but in vain: cf. rara 4. 1. 34 and n.
8. măcerer, but măcer; so sopio, sopor, fido, fides: on the contrary rex rēgis
but rego. 'By what slow-consuming fires I am inwardly wasting away.'
uror. Put prominently forward this word connects this and the last sentence,
which ended with ignibus. 'Yes, I burn whether quarrels (rendered) im-
moderate through wine have scarred those snowy shoulders, or your frenzied
lover has left a memento with his tooth upon your lips.'
13. non
'you would not, if you were to listen enough to me,
; cf. Pers. 1. 5 non, si quid
hope that he will be yours for ever
•
>
14. dulcia barbare.
turbida Roma elevet, accedas. non is not-ne.
Antithetical juxtaposition: their sweetness makes the barbarity grosser, cf.
2. 4. 6 n. 16. quinta parte sui nectaris. Some take quinta vaguely
= a 'considerable' part. But Horace refers to the Pythagorean division of
all things into four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, and a certain 'fifth
existence' (quinta essentia, Teμπтǹ ovoía, quintessence) of a higher nature
which informs and animates the rest, and therefore means 'the best part of
her own sweetness. 17. ter et amplius. A slight variation from the
ordinary terque quaterque. 20. suprema citius die, 'sooner than the
day of death' put by a natural inaccuracy for 'sooner than on the day of
death,'
ODE XIV
215
NOTES
ODE XIV
'Take heed, O ship, lest you drift out to sea again. Observe how shattered
you already are by storms, and hasten eagerly into harbour and stay there.'
The ship is the State (cf. Aesch. Theb. 1 and see Dict. s.v. guberno), which is
spoken of as shattered by the storms of civil war, and in danger of drifting
back into the same dangerous waters, and the Ode may well refer to any of
the early years of the sole rule of Augustus. Quintilian, 8. 6. 44, mentions
this Ode as an instance of 'A\\ŋyopía quae aliud verbis aliud sensu ostendit
navem Horatius pro re publica, fluctuum tempestates pro bellis civilibus,
portum pro pace et concordia dicit. It is copied from Alcaeus, and part of the
original is preserved in Heraclides' Homeric Allegories:
•
ἀσυνέτημι τῶν ἀνέμων στάσιν·
τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἔνθεν κῦμα κυλίνδεται,
τὸ δ᾽ ἔνθεν· ἄμμες δ᾽ ἂν τὸ μέσσον
ναι φορεύμεθα σὺν μελαίνα,
χείμωνι μοχθεῦντες μεγάλῳ μάλα
περ μὲν γὰρ ἄντλος ἰστοπέδαν ἔχει,
λαῖφος δὲ πᾶν ζάδηλον ἤδη
καὶ λάκιδες μέγαλαι κατ' αὐτο.
make for harbour (before it is
2. fortiter occupa portum, 'stoutly
•
•
·
•
'mark
too late).' For occupo cf. Gk. use of pláve with a part., and 2. 12. 28
rapere occupet, 'is the first to snatch.'
3. nonne vides.
you not how the side is stripped of oars, and (how) the mast damaged by the
swift Afric wind and the yard-arms groan ?' It is better to understand
sit after nudum, than with Orelli to make latus, malus and antemnae all
nominatives to gemant. For the zeugma in vides ut. gemant cf.
3. 10. 5 n. 6. antemna=ȧvaтeivoµévη. From words such as this we
infer that the pres. part. in μevos was common originally to both Latin and
Greek; cf. Vertumnus, alumnus, and 3. 18. 4 n. funibus: cf. Acts xxvii.
17 βοηθείαις ἐχρῶντο ὑποζωννύντες τὸ πλοῖον, ‘undergirding the ship'; L. and
S. 8.v. vπóśwμa. Ropes seem to have been passed under the keel and drawn
ὑπόζωμα.
tight to prevent the timbers starting. The word cannot='anchor-cables' for
the ship is at sea. 7. carinae. The plural is rare perhaps the poet is
thinking of the two sides of the keel which the ropes would hold together.
8. imperiosius, 'too tyrannous.' The very size of the word is expressive.
10. di .. Cf. Ov. Her. 16. 112 accipit et pictos puppis adunca deos ;
Virg. Aen. 10. 171 aurato fulgebat Apolline puppis; Pers. 6. 30 iacet ipse
in littore et una | ingentes de puppe dei. Figures of gods were placed in the
stern as tutelary deities of the ship. 11. Pontica pinus. The forests of
Pontus afforded ample material for ship-building. 13. nomen inutile.
The reputation of Pontic timber would be of no avail to the ship in storm;
so, the reputation derived from early history would be of no avail to Rome
amid the billows of civil strife. 14. pictis. Emphatic: no empty decora-
tion can afford confidence in danger. 15. tu.. do thou take heed,
unless thou art destined to be the sport of the winds.' debere ludibrium,
'to owe a laughing-stock,' =yéλwra óþλiokáveiv.
17. nuper, i.e. during the actual occurrence of the civil wars. 18.
nunc, i.e. now that they are over and threaten to revive. desiderium,
'object of my yearning' or 'affection,' cf. Cic. Fam. 14. 2. 2 mea lux, meum
desiderium. 19. nitentes. Cf. 3. 28. 14 fulgentes Cycladas. The
epithet alludes to the effect produced by the sun glistening on their marble
rocks. Cf. Byron: 'The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece! Eternal
summer gilds them yet, | But all, except their sun, is set.'
From kúkλos, because they were in a 'circle' round Delos.
•
•
20. Cycladas.
216
BOOK I
HORACE
ODE XV
An Ode in which Nereus is represented as predicting the fall of Troy to
Paris when carrying off Helen. Many treat it in connexion with the preced-
ing Ode as an allegory, Paris being Antony, Helen Cleopatra, while one critic
even explains the scansion of line 36 by saying that Iliacas suggests Niliacas.
More probably it is merely an attempt to treat epic material in lyric style.
•
1. pastor, 'the shepherd,' i.e. Paris, who was exposed on Mt. Ida and brought
up by a shepherd. 2. perfidus hospitam. Antithetical juxtaposition, see
2. 4. 6 n.: the fact that she was his hostess made the perfidy specially per-
fidious. So 3. 3. 26, he is famosus hospes, and cf. Aesch. Ag. 401 noxvve έevíav
τράπεζαν κλοπαῖσι γυναικός. 3. ingrato. 'Nereus o'erwhelmed the
swift winds with an unwelcome calm that he might recite the deadly decrees of
fate.' ingrato refers to the indignation of the winds (cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 55
illi indignantes of the imprisoned winds) and also hints at the vexation
caused to Paris by the delay. 4. caneret. Used of prophetic utterance,
oracles being generally delivered in hexameter verse; cf. C. S. 25 cecinisse ;
Epod. 13. 11.
Πόντος.
· • •
5. Nereus. Cf. Hes. Theog. 233 Nnpéa r'å¥evdéa kal åλnßéa yelvaro
mala avi, ‘evil are the omens with which thou conductest home
a bride whom . . For avisan omen cf. augur, auspex, and the Gk.
édεžáµηv тòv Õpviv; also 3. 3. 61 alite lugubri, 4. 6. 24 potiore alite; Epod. 10. 1
mala alite. 7. coniurata, 'having bound themselves by an oath to
for coniuratus=qui coniuravit, cf. concretus, placitus, adultus, etc.
•
•
..:
9. adest. The prophetic present: the hard 'rapt into future time' sees
what is destined to take place already taking place. 10. quanta moves
'what grievous disasters thou art arousing for the race of Dardanus.'
quanta funera is more than quot funera (‘how many deaths') and is almost
'how many and how grievous deaths.' Dardanae genti: 'the
poets, and especially Horace, use the names of nations and tribes as
adjectives instead of the fuller derivative forms in -ius or -icus'-Wickham.
Cf. 2. 9. 21 Medum fumen, 2. 13. 8 venena Colcha, 3. 7. 3 Thyna
merce, 4. 4. 38 Metaurum flumen, 4. 12. 18 Sulpiciis horreis, 4. 5. 1
Romulae gentis; Ep. 1. 12. 20 Stertinium acumen, 1. 18. 61 Actia
pugna, A. P. 18 flumen Rhenum. 11. aegis, αἰγίς (from ἀΐσσω to
flash, or aït a goat): see II. 5. 735 seq. and illustrations of Athena wear-
ing it in Dict. Ant. s.v. 12. currus et rabiem. Notice the combina-
tion of the abstract and the concrete, 'prepares her chariot and wrath.'
This is a favourite usage with Tacitus, e.g. Ann. 1. 68 vulgus trucidatum
est donec ira et dies permansit. For Horace's phrase cf. Hymns A. & M. 156:
'His chariots of wrath the deep thunder-clouds form.'
13. nequiquam, 'vainly confident in Venus' guardianship shalt thou
comb thy love-locks, and apportion on thy unwarlike lute the songs that
ladies love. Cf. Hom. Il. 3. 54 οὐκ ἄν τοι χραίσμῃ κίθαρις τά τε δώρ' Αφρο-
δίτης, | ἥ τε κόμη τό τε εἶδος, ὅτ᾽ ἐν κονίησι μιγείης. Veneris praesidio :
because he had awarded her the golden apple in the famous. 'judgment of
Paris. Cf. Tennyson's Oenone. 14. pectes caesariem
the feminine softness and beauty of these two lines. In all great poets the
language is, perhaps unconsciously, modified so as almost in its sound to
correspond to the feelings or events they describe: a comparison between
Milton's rugged power in describing Satan and Hell, and his melodious soft-
Notice
ODE XVI
217
NOTES
་
ness in portraying Eve and Paradise, well illustrates this.
grata feminis;
inbelli: he does not sing kλéa ȧvdpŵv like Achilles Il. 9. 189. 15. carmina
divides: Orelli explains, 'divide the song between the voice and instrument.'
But when we think of the Latin use of modi, numeri, and the English 'measure,'
there would seem little doubt that the phrase means 'to set songs to a
measure, or, to music.'
16. thalamo, 'in thy bridal chamber.' Cf. II.
3. 381, of Venus saving Paris from the fight, káλv¥e d' áρ' ǹéρɩ πỌNλŶ
ἄρ᾽ ἠέρι πολλῇ
| κάδ δ᾽ εἶσ᾽ ἐν θαλάμῳ εὐώδεϊ κηώεντι.
•
18. celerem sequi, 'swift in pursuit' (cf. 1. 3. 25 n.): added to dis-
tinguish this Ajax, Oïños Taxus Alas, from the greater Ajax, son of Telamon.
19. tamen heu serus 'for all that (i.e. though guarded by Venus
and thy cowardice), though late, thou shalt in the dust defile those adulterous
locks. 20. crines. Some read cultus: but 'adulterous locks' is a
forcible phrase for the curled and glossy locks of the adulterer, soon to be dis-
ordered and dabbled with blood. So 4. 9. 13 comptos adulteri crines (of Paris).
22. non .
•
21. exitium genti, 'Ulysses, ruin to thy race': the dat. after a noun is
rare, but here exitium is put, with great addition to the force, for the adj.
exitialis which would naturally have the dative. Many MSS. give gentis.
respicis? The sudden question gives vividness and reality
'Look round! do you not see... ?' 24. Teucer, te: so the best MSS.
The scornful force of the repeated te is clear—'thee . thee the coward!
The old reading Teucer et makes the first foot a trochee, which is allowable in
this metre in Gk., but in Latin is only found line 36, where Lachmann thinks
it a sign that this is a very early Ode. sciens pugnae. Homer's μáxns
eû eidws. For the genitive after adjectives expressing knowledge cf. citharae
sciens 3. 9. 10, rudis agminum 3. 2. 9, repulsae nescia 3. 2. 17, imbrium
divina 3. 27. 10, docilis modorum 4. 6. 43.
29. quem tu.
26. Merionen: charioteer of Idomeneus.
27. nosces, 'thou shalt
learn to know,' 'become acquainted with,' in a threatening sense. furit
reperire, 'rages (i.e. furiously longs) to discover.' For the Epexegetic Inf.
see 1. 3. 25 n. It can be used after all verbs which express ability, desire,
daring, fear, endeavour, or neglect, and in poetry, as here, after verbs which
contain any of these ideas. Instances are 2. 4. 22 fuge suspicari, 2. 4. 23
trepidavit claudere, 2. 11. 4 remittas quaerere, 2. 12. 28 rapere occupet, 2.
18. 21 urgues summovere, 4. 4. 62 dolens vinci, 1. 37. 30 invidens deduci.
from whom thou shalt fly, as the stag, forgetful of
the pasture, flies from the wolf seen on the opposite side of the valley, timid,
with panting head uplifted.' 31. sublimi. Wickham quoting the Gk.
μετέωρος and πνεῦμ᾽ ἔχειν ἄνω says, the breath is stopped midway, can't get
down, but stays at the entrance of the lungs,' but this scientific explanation
seems out of place. Let any one stand before Landseer's 'Monarch of the
Glen,' and say what sublimi anhelitu applied to a startled stag means. 32.
non hoc: Litotes, cf. 1. 18. 9 n.: 'not this'='something very different.'
33, 34. iracunda classis Achillei. The anger which made Achilles
separate his ships and men from the other Greeks. For gen. Achillei cf. 1.
6. 7 n., and for the hypallage 3. 1. 42 n. 36. ignis Iliacas: cf. line 24 n.
ODE XVI
Fair lady, do what you choose with my scurrilous verses: they were written
in a passion, and passion is ungovernable. Prometheus in making man is
218
BOOK I
HORACE
said to have added, among other qualities, a portion of the wrath of the lion.
Passion has ever proved ruinous: I too was urged by it to make my libellous
attacks, which I am now eager to recant.'
This Ode is a πaλwdla or 'recantation,' cf. recantatis line 27. The most
famous palinode is the one referred to Epod. 17. 42-44, and some amuse
themselves by finding the original of the criminosi iambi in that Epode.
=
3. pones: 2nd pers. fut. for a polite imperative. ponere modum to put
a limit to them, i. e. destroy them. There is also a suggestion that the
iambics had been without modus, limit, measure, moderation. iambis:
Archilochus is said to have invented the iambic, and to have employed it in
his well-known lampoons; cf. A. P. 79 and note. 3, 4. sive flamma
sive. Cf. Notes on Metres p. xviii. § 4.
5. Dindymene.
The goddess who dwells by Mount Dindymus in
Phrygia, i.e. Cybele. non adytis. 'nor does its Pythian inhabitant
equally shake (or terrify) the mind of his priests in (or perhaps 'by means
of') his inmost shrine.' adytis goes in construction partly with incola, partly
with quatit. The advrov ('unenterable place') was a small cavern in which
was a deep cleft in the rock, over which was placed the tripod on which the
priestess sat, cf. Munro on Lucr. 1. 738. For the effects of inspiration on the
priestess, cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 47 seq. The spelling with y shows that this is
not a word of Latin development, but a Greek word in Latin letters.
Latin had no symbol for the Greek sound u (which is intermediate between
Latin u, pronounced as oo in 'boot,' and short i), and therefore at a late
period, as is shown by its late position in the alphabet, introduced the letter
Y,=T, which is therefore only found in pure Greek words, e.g. lyra, amystide,
Cybele, tyrannus, lyncas, etc., but lacruma or lacrima. 7. acuta, 'shrilly-
sounding,' 'piercing.' 8. geminant, 'clash'; well illustrated by Lucr.
2. 635, where the Corybantes are said pulsare aeribus aera.
9. tristes ut irae. The ut goes after aeque, the words non acuta
aera coming in parenthetically and by way of illustration rather than
forming part of the main thought and construction. irae in plural, ‘out-
bursts of passion'; cf. Virg. Ecl. 2. 14 tristes Amaryllidis iras. Noricus
the district of Noricum (about the Tyrol) was celebrated for its iron. 11.
tremendo Iuppiter 'nor heaven itself falling with dread confusion.'
Jupiter, the god of the sky (see 1. 1. 25 n.), is put for the sky itself, and
ruens (as in Virg. G. 1. 324 ruit arduus aether) expresses that heaven itself
seems to be rushing in thunder, and lightning, and rain, down upon the earth.
For the rapid rhythm Iuppiter ipse ruens see Notes on Metres p. xix. § 5.
Here it is used purposely to express the quick descent of the deluge.
•
·
•
13. fertur Prometheus
Either supply esse after coactus, and join
coactus esse and apposuisse by et, or else make coactus a participle and et=
etiam, along with' or 'among the rest.' Prometheus is by no means always
the rebellious Titan of Aeschylus, but he and his brother Epimetheus are
often two allegorical figures, Forethought' and 'Afterthought.' In the story
here alluded to, Afterthought had used up all the qualities, with which living
creatures after being moulded in clay were to be endowed, before he came to
man at all, and then Forethought being called in to remedy this was com-
pelled (coactus) to take a small portion of their qualities from each animal,
with the result that man possesses a composite character showing traces of the
various qualities which specially belong to different animals. See Plat. Prot.
ODE XVII
219
NOTES
320 D seq.
principi limo, 'our original clay.' Cf. Gen. ii. 7 And the
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.' 16. stomacho: 1. 6. 5 n.
17. irae. Notice how the prominent repetition of the word connects the
stanzas. Cf. 1. 2. 4 n. 18. et altis. 'and for towering cities
have proved the first causes of their perishing from their foundations.'
ultimae, 'farthest back,' and so 'earliest,' 'first.' stetere would in prose
be exstitere but is much more emphatic, not only meaning 'have turned out,'
'have proved,' but also suggesting the ideas of unconquerable strength and
stability. The simple sto is always very emphatic and powerful: its
brevity gives it force, cf. Stat Fortuna Domus. altis
funditus: Hom. I. 13. 772 ώλετο πᾶσα κατ᾿ ἄκρης | Ἴλιος αἰπεινή.
•
perirent
21. aratrum. The walls of a new city were marked out with the
plough, and so the utter destruction of a city is symbolised by the plough
being driven over its walls. insolens, 'arrogant. The word indicates
that extravagance of conduct which marks those who find themselves in a
position to which they are 'unaccustomed'; cf. Epod. 16. 14; 17. 75.
24. celeres, 'headstrong.' 25. furentem. Cf. Ep. 1. 2. 62 ira furor
mitibus tristia: mitis
brevis est-'Anger is a short attack of insanity.'
is often used of smooth, mellow wine, and tristis of that which is rough and
bitter to the taste (Virg. G. 1. 75 triste lupinum). Translate 'change sour
for sweet.' 26. dum flas: dum with subj. is never temporal, but nearly
always=dummodo; cf. 3. 3. 37 dum . saeviat. 'Provided that, if I
recant my abuse, you become .
ODE XVII
Tyndaris, come and visit my farm. Even Faunus often quits his native
haunts to guard this spot; here the goats browse in safety while he plays his
pipe. Indeed all the gods love and guard me; here you will find rural
abundance with full horn, repose, music and revelry without riot.'
His Sabine farm was presented to Horace by Maecenas B.C. 34. He fre-
quently refers to it with great affection, e.g. 2. 18. 14 unicis Sabinis; 3. 1. 47.
1. Lucretilem: a mountain (now Monte Gennaro) overhanging Horace's
villa. Pan is always described as opeißärns (and here Horace evidently
ὀρειβάτης
identifies the Latin Faunus with the Greek Pan, cf. line 10, where he plays on
the Pan-pipe), and his native haunts were the mountains of Arcadia, especi-
ally Lycaeus. 2. mutat, 'accepts in exchange': so too 2. 12. 23 permu-
tare, 3. 1. 47 permutem; Epod. 1. 28. Notice the difference of the con-
struction here and in line 26 of the preceding Ode. 3. defendit, 'wards
off.' aestatem: destas=aethtas (which by the laws of euphony becomes
aestas) from aïow, to blaze, 'the fierce summer heat.' 4. usque=semper.
5. arbutos latentes, i.e. concealed amid the other shrubs. For the
fondness of goats for the arbutus cf. Virg. Ecl. 3. 82 dulce satis umor, de-
pulsis arbutus haedis. 6. deviae
'the wandering ladies of an
unsavoury lord.' The expression is very peculiar even in Latin, and worse in
English. For uxores, mariti, applied to animals, cf. Virg. Ecl. 7. 7 vir gregis
ipse caper; Theoc. 8. 49 & Tрáye tâv λevkâv aiyâv åvep.
9. Martiales. A standard epithet of wolves. It was a she-wolf that
suckled the famous offspring of Mars. haediliae, 'young kids'; from
haedus, like porcilia from porcus. The reading is found in Porphyrion and
confirms Bentley's conjecture haeduleae. The old Haediliae (gen.) was ex-
220
BOOK I
HORACE
10. utcumque,
Tyndari: a purely
11.
plained as some unknown place near Horace's farm.
whenever.' Cf. 1. 35. 23, 2. 17. 11, 3. 4. 29.
fictitious name, as is Cyrus, line 25. fistula: the Pan-pipe, cf. Virg.
E. 2. 32 Pan primum calamos cera coniungere plures | instituit.
Usticae: unknown. Porphyrion calls it a mountain and explains
cubantis resupinae. Others explain 'low-lying' (cf. Theoc. 13. 40 μévy
ev xúpw) as of a valley.
=
13. dis est cordi, 'is dear to the gods.' pietas is a dutiful regard
and affection for those who have a natural claim upon us whether gods or
men. 14. hinc tibi copia. 'hence abundance with horn of plenty
16.
shall flow for thee to the full (i.e. shall pour forth her treasures till you are
satisfied) rich in all the glories of the country'; cf. Ep. 1. 12. 29.
ruris honorum, i.e. fruit, flowers, and the like; the gen. partly depends on
copia, partly on opulenta, cf. 4. 8. 5 dives artium. For the legends con-
nected with the benignum cornu (cf. our use of cornucopia) see Class. Dict.
s.vv. 'Achelous,' 'Amalthea.' 18. fide Teia, 'strings of Teos,' i.e. such as
were struck by Anacreon of Teos, the poet of love and wine.
antes in uno, 'lovesick for the same man. in uno expresses that the
19. labor-
cause of the troubles of both was to be found in one man. 20. vitream,
'glassy-green' váλwos; 4. 2. 3 vitreo ponto. All sea-nymphs are represented
as of the colour of sea-water; cf. caerula mater Epod. 13. 16 of Thetis.
21. innocentis Lesbii, 'harmless Lesbian.' The Romans imported wine
from Lesbos and Chios, cf. Epod. 9. 34. innocens is used in the sense in
which Irishmen say of whisky, 'There's not a headache in a hogshead.'
22. duces, 'quaff': the word describes a long deep draught (duco=I draw),
and implies drinking with gratification. Cf. σπᾶν, ἕλκειν, and 3. 3. 34 ;
4. 12. 14. Semeleius Thyoneus: Bacchus' mother was called both
Semele and Thyone, but Thyoneus is here used with reference to its deriva-
tion (Oúew, Thyias)=the god of rage and revelry. 23. confundet proelia,
like miscere proelia (cf. mêlée) with slightly more suggestion of a brawl.
25. suspecta, i.e. of infidelity, and therefore afraid of the jealousy of
'headstrong Cyrus.' male dispari=very badly matched, cf. 1. 9. 24 n.
28. inmeritam. You have never deserved such treatment, much less
therefore has your poor innocent dress. Cf. S. 2. 3. 7 inmeritus paries.
ODE XVIII
You cannot do better, Varus, than plant abundance of vines at Tibur.
Total abstainers find life full of care; on the other hand, many instances
warn us of the dangers of intemperance. Bacchic orgies have their risks:
self-love, self-glorification, and bad faith too often follow in their train.'
1. nullam
: closely imitated in metre and sense from Alcaeus,
fr. 44 μηδὲν ἄλλο φυτεύσῃς πρότερον δένδριον ἀμπέλω. Vare probably
the Quintilius (Varus) of 1. 24, q.v. severis perf. subj. of polite pro-
hibition, cf. 1. 11. 1. 2. Tiburis et moenia Catili. For Tibur see 1.
7. 13. Catillus, son of Amphiaraus, was an Arcadian follower of Evander.
His three sons Tiburtus, Coras, and Catillus, founded Tibur and called it after
the oldest of them. Horace uses the form Catilus for convenience: Virg.
3. siccis. Cf.
Aen. 7. 672 has Catillus; cf. Porsěna and Porsenna.
note on udus 1. 7. 22. 4. mordaces. Cf. 2. 11. 18 curas edaces; Aesch.
Ag. 103 Ovμoẞópos λúπη, 'soul-consuming anxiety,' and the Homeric ov Ovμòv
ODE XIX
221
NOTES
Karédwv, ‘eating his heart.'
κατέδων,
aliter, 'by any other means,' i.e. than by
avoiding becoming one of the sicci or total abstainers.
5. gravem militiam crepat, 'keeps harping on the hardships of
campaigning.' For crepat=πатауeî, cf. Ep. 1. 7. 84 and our 'to rattle on
about a thing.' 7. ac ne quis. 'and lest any one transgress that
use of his gifts which modest Liber allows, the combat. . . warns us, and so
does
transiliat suggests the idea of lightly transgressing, cf. its use
1. 3. 24='lightly cross.' For this quarrel at the marriage of Pirithous king
of the Lapithae with Hippodamia see Class. Dict. The struggle of the
Centaurs and Lapithae is frequently treated in Greek art, e.g. in the sculp-
tured metopes of the Parthenon designed by Phidias, and now in the British
Museum. Cf. 2. 12. 6. 8. super mero, 'over the wine,' or perhaps
after.' Others say 'on account of,' cf. 3. 8. 17 super urbe curas.
10. cum fas
9. non levis, i.e. very severe. An instance of the well-known rhetorical
figure Litotes or Meiosis, by which a mild and negative form of expression is
intentionally used instead of a very strong affirmative one. It is very frequent
in Thucydides, e.g. οὐχ ησσον = very much more, οὐκ ἀνάξιος = ἀξιώτατος, and
cf. St. Paul's famous "Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not,' 1 Cor.
xi. 22. Cf. 1. 24. 17 non lenis, 1. 37. 32 non humilis, 2. 7. 10 non bene, 2. 12.
17 nec dedecuit, 2. 19. 15 non leni, 4. 1. 14 non tacitus. Sithoniis, i.e.
Thracians, cf. 1. 27. 2. Euhius: cf. 2. 11. 17 n.
when men in their passion distinguish right and wrong (only) by the narrow
limit that lust determines,' i.e. lust or passion induces men to neglect the
broad distinction between right and wrong, and persuades them that there is
very little difference between the two, in fact that they often shade absolutely
into one another. 11. candide: perhaps 'open-hearted,' 'genial' (cf. Epod.
11. 11 ingenium candidum, 14. 5 c. Maecenas, S. 1. 10. 86 c. Furni, 1. 5. 41
animae candidiores, Ep. 1. 4. 1 candide iudex, 1. 6. 68) rather than of out-
ward appearance 'in the glow and glory of thy youth' (cf. Virg. E. 5. 56),
for Bacchus has been addressed as pater in line 5 though that rather indicates
divinity than age. Bassareu: from Baσoápa, a fox-skin worn by Bacchants.
12. quatiam, 'arouse' or 'disturb'; but also with a reference to the
brandishing of the thyrsus. nec variis 'nor recklessly bring to light
things concealed beneath varied leaves.' He refers to certain sacred chests or
arks containing the vessels, etc., for the mysteries, only produced on solemn
occasions, at other times covered with leaves. 13. sub divum: 2. 3. 23 n.
13. tene, 'check.' He suddenly appeals to Bacchus to restrain the
exciting Phrygian music, which he represents himself as actually hearing, and
which too soon leads to frenzy. Berecynthio, i.e. such as were used in
the worship of Cybele on Mt. Berecynthus in Phrygia. In her orgiastic rites,
which were well known at Rome, the exciting music of the pipe was especially
used (cf. 3. 19. 18 B. tibiae; 4. 1. 22), but also timbrels and horns.
tympana, from TúπTw, 'timbrels.' 15. plus nimio, 'far too much';
see Ep. 1. 10. 30 n. 16. arcanique Fides 'Faith prodigal of
secrets, more transparent than glass.' There is much power in describing
Faith which is unfaithful as Faith notwithstanding: the antithesis between
what it is and what it ought to have been is made very vivid.
ODE XIX
• •
14.
'Venus is determined that I should again be the victim of love; and it is
Glycera who inflames my passion. Venus attacks me with all her power and
222
BOOK I
HORACE
forbids me to sing of wars or anything but what concerns herself. Quick,
slaves, quick! an altar and a victim! let us seek to soothe the angry goddess.'
1. saeva: because of the noted cruelty of love. 2. Semelae. So most
MSS. and, though Gk. forms are usually preferred in the Odes, there is no
need to accept the poorly-supported Semeles; cf. Helenae 1. 3. 2; Epod. 17.
42. 4. finitis
to devote myself again to the amours that (I had
hoped) were done with.' 7. grata protervitas, 'charming petulance.'
8. lubricus aspici: epexegetic inf. necessary to explain the epithet lubricus
as applied to a face. As a road is too slippery for the feet to stand on, so
her face is too dazzling and deceptive for the eyes to rest on.
•
9. tota ruens Venus. Cf. Eur. Hipp. 443 Kúπpis yàρ оử рорηтóν, ñv
πоλλǹ рʊî: the opposite of veniet lenior line 16. 11. versis animosum
equis, 'courageous with retreating steed.' The sudden onset of the Parthian
light cavalry and the showers of arrows they had been trained to pour into
the enemy while riding away (sagittas et celerem fugam Parthi 2. 13. 17) had
been fatally experienced by the heavy-armed Roman legionaries on the sandy
plains of Charrae and never forgotten. Cf. Virg. G. 3. 31 fidentemque fuga
Parthum versisque sagittis. We use 'a Parthian arrow' of a sarcasm launched
by a person just retiring and to which it is therefore impossible to reply.
12. quae nihil attinent, 'things of no concern': the lover has weightier
matters than wars and politics to think about.
13. vivum caespitem. Fresh-cut, 'living turf,' to form an impromptu
altar, cf. 3. 8. 4. 14. verbenas. A technical word of uncertain deriva-
tion, applied to all boughs or green things used in religious rites; cf. Servius
on Virg. Aen. 12. 120 verbenas vocamus omnes frondes sacratas, ut est laurus,
oliva, vel myrtus. 16. mactata, 'she will come with lessened violence
when we have sacrificed a victim.' macto (from root mag: cf. magis, maior
=magior, μakpós) means (1) to increase or magnify, hence mactare deos extis,
to honour the gods with entrails, (2) to sacrifice, as here, the word having
become confined to the religious meaning of honouring by sacrifice.
ODE XX
The
An invitation to Maecenas to come and see him at his Sabine farm.
wine he can offer will be poor, but had been specially bottled by himself in
honour of an interesting event in Maecenas' life.
1. potabis, 'you will drink if you accept my invitation'=I shall be glad
if you will come and drink. For the fut. cf. 1. 7 Int.; Ep. 1. 4. 15 n.
Sabinum: wine grown in the immediate neighbourhood, which was not
celebrated for wine. 2. Graeca testa. For use of Greek wines cf. 1.
17. 21. The jar would retain some of the aroma of the nobler vintage (cf.
Ep. 1. 2. 69) and impart it to the Sabine wine. Cf. the practice of keeping
whisky in old sherry casks. ipse marks the care he had bestowed.
conditum levi, 'stored up and smeared' (with pitch). Cf. 3. 8. 9 n. Pitch
was used to secure the cork from mildew, etc., as we use wax. 4. plausus.
He was cheered on entering the theatre after an illness; cf. 2. 17. 25.
3.
5. eques.
There is special force in this reference to the fact that
Maecenas remained contented with the comparatively humble position of an
eques (see 3. 16. 20 n.), when the poet is inviting him to his own humble roof.
Bentley's suggestion of clare for care spoils the whole friendliness and pleasant-
ODE XXI
223
NOTES
ness of the Ode. paterni: cf. 1. 1. 1, and 3. 7. 28 the Tiber is called
Tuscus alveus. 6. iocosa imago. See 1. 12. 3 n. 7. Vaticani
montis. 'The theatre of Pompey, which was the only one finished at this
time, stood at the S. end of the Campus Martius, so looking across the Tiber
on the Janiculan and Vatican hills.'-Wickham.
9. Caecubum, etc.: see Dict. of Ant. s.v. vinum. The Caecubus ager is in
Latium, so is Formiae. Cales and the Falernus ager are in Campania. They
are all expensive and luxurious wines. domitam, 'pressed.' 10. tum
bibes. So Orelli's 4th ed. on the authority of Porphyrion for tu bibes of all
MSS. 'You shall first,' says Horace, 'have some Sabine specially bottled in
your honour, and then I will give you some Caecuban and Calenian; but I
warn you that if you want Falernian or Formian you will be disappointed':
just in the same way one might offer a distinguished friend Léoville or La
Rose after dinner, and apologise for the absence of Latour or Lafite. With
tu bibes, tu is strongly contrasted with mea, the luxury of Maecenas' palace
with Horace's simple homestead. But the fut. bibes is inexplicable, for it
can hardly be concessive='you will' or 'may on other occasions drink,'
especially after potabis has just been used of what Maecenas will drink when
he visits Horace. 11. temperant: the regular word for mixing anything
in due proportion, cf. Epod. 17. 80. Strictly the person who mixes the
wine with water temperat pocula 'mixes the cup,' but here the vines are said
to do so because they produce the wine with which it is mixed.
ODE XXI
An Ode in honour of Apollo and Diana to be sung by a chorus of youths
and maidens. It seems too slight to have been written for a great public
occasion: Franke, however, refers it to 28 B. C. when the temple of Apollo on
the Palatine was dedicated (see 1. 31) and quinquennial games to Apollo and
Diana instituted in memory of the battle of Actium. Cf. 4. 6 and Car. Saec.
2. intonsum. In Homer åкepσeкbμŋs: he is represented as eternally
youthful. His statues are numerous: note especially the Apollo Belvedere.
Cynthium: Cynthus is a Mt. in Delos. 3. Latona or Leto was the
mother of both Apollo and Artemis in the island of Delos, Zeus being their
father. 5. vos o virgines, in strong contrast with vos line 9-'0 youths.
laetam fluviis.. : because she was a huntress. Her favourite haunts are
subsequently specified. coma, 'foliage'; cf. comae 4. 7. 2; Hom. Od. 23.
195 ἀπέκοψα κόμην τανυφύλλου ἐλαίης. Diana was specially worshipped as
D. Nemorensis at Aricia. 6. Algidus: a Mt. in Latium near Tusculum
and the Alban Mt. 7. nigris. Dark, gloomy, introduced to contrast the
dark timber of Erymanthus with the fresh green of Cragus and thus give
pictorial effect. Cragus is in Lycia, Erymanthus in Arcadia.
"
12.
11. insignem, sc. Apollinem, umerum being as to his shoulder.'
fraterna : invented by Mercury (cf. 1.10.6) and given to Apollo. 13. hic..
Apollo could not only bring plagues (Hom. II. 1. 42-52) but avert them; in
Greek tragedy he is constantly invoked as Пlaáv 'the Healer'; cf. C. S. 63.
principe: 4. 14. 6 n. 15. Persas atque Britannos, i.e. the remotest
barbarians of East and West. The Britons were as yet only known from the
hurried expeditions of Julius Caesar. 16. aget, ‘shall drive away.'
224
BOOK I
HORACE
ODE XXII
'The just and innocent need no protection, Fuscus, through whatever
dangers their path leads them. At any rate I know that a monstrous wolf
did not attack me while I was wandering in the woods thinking of Lalage. In
any climate I shall feel safe and contentedly sing my lady's charms.'
For Aristius Fuscus see Ep. 1. 10. 3 and Intr.
=
1. integer vitae, 'he who is blameless in (respect to) his life'; cf. Ovid
Met. 9. 441 integer aevi. The grammarians call it the gen. of respect. For
integer cf. 2. 4. 22 n. sceleris: partitive gen., purus being having no
share in. 2. Mauris. Merely pictorial. 5. Syrtes aestuosas. Orelli
explains the scorching desert that borders the Syrtes,' cf. aestuosa Calabria
1.31. 5. It seems simpler to take Syrtes in its ordinary sense, 'the boiling'
or 'stormy Syrtes,' cf. 2. 6. 3 barbaras Syrtes ubi Maura semper | aestuat
unda. 6. inhospitalem. Aesch. P. V. 20 calls the Caucasus άπávОρшπоs
πάγος. 7. fabulosus Hydaspes. This river (the Jelum) is a tributary
of the Indus: on its banks Alexander defeated Porus (B.c. 327). It is called
fabulosus as being in the unexplored East, about which numberless stories
would be current at Rome. 8. lambit, 'washes.'
9. namque. He proves his general statement by an instance that had
occurred to himself. In 3. 4. 9, where the birds cover him with leaves for
protection, he claims the same almost sacred poetic character; cf. 2. 17, and
di me tuentur 1. 17. 13. 10. et ultra ' and wandered beyond my
·
>
boundaries in utter carelessness, a wolf fled from me though unarmed, a
monster such as neither
11. curis expeditis. Cares harass and
hamper us (inpediunt); hence, curis expeditis, when the bonds of care are
unloosened, a man is at ease, careless: it was in such a moment of perfect
freedom and poetic abstraction that Horace ran into danger.
14. Daunias. Part of Apulia near Mt. Garganus; so called from Daunus
who there founded a kingdom. The word is formed on the model of Gk.
adjectives feminine ; cf. Τρωάς, Ιλιάς. 15. Iubae tellus, i.e. Mauretania
or Numidia. Juba I., king of Numidia, committed suicide after the battle of
Thapsus. His son was made king of Numidia by Augustus, B.C. 30, and in
B.C. 25 received Mauretania instead: the latter date is fixed by some as the
date of the Ode. 16. arida nutrix: oxymoron.
17. pigris campis, 'lifeless plains'; i.e. the frigid zones. For a descrip-
tion of the five zones, two frigid, two temperate, and one torrid, see Virg.
G. 1. 233-239. For pigris cf. iners, 2. 9. 5 n. 19. quod latus.
'that quarter of the world over which ever lower mists and an ungenial
sky.' For latus, cf. 3. 24. 38. 22. domibus negata, i.e. uninhabit-
able. According to Virgil, l. c., the temperate zones alone were habitable.
23. dulce ridentem. dulce is really a cognate acc. As you can say dulcem
risum ridere, you can say more briefly dulce ridere. So 3. 27. 67 perfidum
ridere, 2. 12. 14 lucidum fulgentes, 2. 19. 6 turbidum laetatur; S. 2. 4. 18
malum responset, 2. 5. 100 certum vigilans, 2. 6. 27 clare certumque locuto,
and Hom. Il. 2. 270 ἡδύ γελᾶν.
ODE XXIII
You avoid me like a timid fawn, Chloe, that is frightened at every sound.
Yet I am no tiger or lion, and you are old enough to quit your mother's side.'
ODE XXIV
225
NOTES
1
Cf. Anacreon fr. 52 ἀγανῶς οἷά τε νέβρον νεοθηλέα | γαλαθηνόν, ὅστ᾽ ἐν ὕλῃς
κεροέσσης | ἀπολειφθεὶς ὑπὸ μητρὸς ἐπτοήθη.
4. silŭae: trisyllabic (cf. Epod. 13. 2; 16. 32), the Roman V being a
semivowel. 5. nam seu . 'for whether the arrival (=first breath)
of spring has shivered among the quivering leaves
veris adventus
implies the thought of the gentle zephyr which accompanies it; cf. Lucr. 5.
736 it ver et Venus et veris praenuntius ante | pennatus graditur Zephyrus.
inhorruit beautifully expresses the shivering and quivering of the leaves as
the breeze rustles through them. Bentley and others object to these exquisite
lines because, they say, when 'spring arrives' the trees are not yet in leaf.
For veris adventus some actually print vepris ad ventos—a correction the
mechanical ingenuity of which is as marvellous as it is misplaced.
8. tremit, sc. inuleus. For the thought cf. Spenser, 'Like as a hind
Yet flies away of her own feet affear'd; | And every leaf that shaketh
with the least | Murmur of wind, her terror hath encreas'd.' 9. atqui:
a very favourite word of Horace in beginning a stanza, and expressing a
strong objection, remonstrance or antithesis, cf. 3. 5. 49; 7. 9. tigris
aspera, 'enraged tigress.' 10. frangere. Epexegetic inf. after persequor
implying desire; 1. 15. 27 n. 11. matrem 'to cling to your
mother, already of age for a husband.'
ODE XXIV
Addressed to Virgil by Horace on the unexpected death of their common
friend Quintilius Varus. Of Quintilius (probably Quintilius Varus, cf. 1.
18. 1; A.P. 438) our chief knowledge is that he died in B.C. 24, and was a
native of Cremona, but his name is enshrined in this Ode for immortality.
1. desiderio. In its strict sense, 'regret for loss.' pudor, 'shame,'
moderation,' almost equivalent to modus; cf. line 6 n. 2. cari capitis,
so dear a life.' Cf. the Gk. use of kápa in such phrases as ŵ piλov κápa.
3. Melpomene. Usually the Muse of tragedy, here of dirges.
;
5. ergo. admirationis cum maerore coniunctae exclamatio, Orelli. 'And
so the sleep that knows no waking lies heavy on Quintilius!' Cf. S. 2. 5.
101; Virg. Ecl. 1. 47 fortunate senex, ergo tua rura manebunt? Ov. Trist.
3. 2. 1 ergo erat in fatis? For perpetuus see 1. 7. 6 n., and for p. sopor,
of the 'unbroken sleep' of death, Catullus 5. 5 soles occidere et redire possunt;
| nobis cum_semel occidit brevis lux, | nox est perpetua una dormienda
Job xiv. 12. For urguet cf. 1. 22. 20, and, used with reference to the dead,
4. 9. 27 inlacrimabiles urguentur; so too premet nox 1. 4. 16. It is much to
be wished that Horace had omitted the first stanza, with its weak and affected
invocation of the Muse, and begun with this bold and effective fifth line,
which would have been all the more effective at the beginning of the Ode.
6. Pudor, Aldws. The personification of that noble shame which makes men
shrink from all that could raise a blush upon the cheeks of modesty; cf.
C. S. 57. Iustitiae soror, Fides. 'In calling Good-Faith the sister of
Justice, Horace implies that the two go together, and therefore that both
were present in Quintilius.'-Wickham. 7. incorrupta, 'incorruptible.'
Adjectives formed from the passive part. and in are frequently used for the
more awkward ones in -bilis. Cf. 2. 14. 4 indomitus 'unconquerable'; Virg.
G. 3. 5 inlaudatus 'detestable'; Livy 2. 1 inviolatum templum 'inviolable
invictus is more often 'invincible' than 'unvanquished.' 8. quando
>
226
BOOK I
HORACE
1
ullum inveniet parem, 'when shall (she) ever find a peer?' Cf. Milton's
Lycidas 8 For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime, | Young Lycidas, and
hath not left his peer.' inveniet. For the singular verb cf. 2. 13. 38 n.
11. tu frustra
'vainly devout thou claimest from the gods
Quintilius, entrusted to them on no such terms,' i.e. you have frequently
prayed the gods to keep Quintilius, but you did not mean that they should
thus keep him wholly and for ever. Others take creditum='lent,' i.e. to you
by the gods, but 'the person poscit qui credidit' (Kiessling). frustra seems
to go with both pius and poscis. 13-15. quodsi
non, 'and yet if
more persuasively than Thracian Orpheus thou didst rule a lyre which even
the trees obey, the life-blood would not revisit the shadowy form.' The
MSS. give quid si .
='what think you, if you were to
would the life-blood
•
·
пит
•
•
•
·
•
?' This seems weaker than the downright quodsi
and the emphatic and direct non. Nauck, who so reads, punctuates better:
quid? si.
Orpheo: 1. 12. 11 n. 16. virga: 1. 10. 18 n.
17. non lenis . . . not easily persuaded to open the barriers of fate,'
cf. Prop. 4. 11. 2 panditur ad nullas ianua nigra preces. The gate of death
opens only to admit, never to give egress. non lenis, litotes: recludere,
epexegetic. 18. nigro compulerit gregi, 'has folded with the children
of darkness.' The dat. after the sense of 'add to,' 'join to' contained in
compulerit. 20. quidquid . . 'whatever the laws of heaven forbid us
·
to amend.' ius=human law, fas divine law.
ODE XXV
A coarsely expressed Ode to Lydia, who Horace says will soon be an old
woman without the charms, but retaining the passions of her youth, and
destined to meet with the same contempt she now employs towards her lovers.
2. iactibus. So the best MSS., not ictibus. It is easier to 'throw' some-
thing at a chamber-window to attract attention than to 'strike' or 'beat' it.
3. amat limen, 'keeps close to the threshold'; cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 163 litus
ama 'hug the coast.' 6. audis minus et minus iam. Accommodation
of sound to sense: the words form a diminuendo.
7. me. 'though
·
•
•
•
·
•
I your lover am tortured through the long nights, my Lydia, do you sleep?'
9. invicem 'in your turn you shall bewail the haughtiness of men, a
despised hag in a deserted alley.' 11, 12. sub interlunia, 'towards the
new moon.' Changes of the moon are popularly supposed to be accompanied
by changes of the weather. For interlunia see Notes on Metres p. xix. § 1.
15. iecur ulcerosum, 'your diseased heart.' 17. laeta quod
'because joyous youth revels rather in green ivy and dusky myrtle, (but)
dedicates withered leaves to winter's friend the Hebrus': i.e. because young
girls are preferred to old women, as fresh foliage is to faded. For the
metaphor cf. our phrase 'the sere and yellow leaf,' and Aesch. Ag. 79 7ò d'
ὑπέργηρων φυλλάδος ἤδη κατακαρφομένης. virenti and pulla are in
artistic contrast with each other and both opposed to aridas. quod ..
gaudeat, 'because (as you will say regretfully to yourself) youth
rejoices' it is virtually oblique narration. 20. dedicet Hebro, 'flings far
away,' cf. next Ode line 2, the Hebrus being selected as a river in a waste and
wintry country (cf. Thracio vento above) where the warmth of youth and love
is unknown. The correction Euro is needless. gaudeat dedicet:
co-ordination of contrasted clauses. In English we should insert ‘but the
•
•
•
ODE XXVII
227
NOTES
E
Romans however love to set the contrasted clauses side by side without any
adversative particle. The Greeks would use μév and dé.
ODE XXVI
'I am the friend of the Muses, and therefore will throw sorrow and anxiety
to the winds, utterly untroubled by wars and rumours of wars. Help me
rather, O Muse, to weave a chaplet of verse for Lamia, for he is worthy.'
The date is determined by the political allusion as about B. c. 30. Wick-
ham says: 'Phraates IV. to whom Orodes I. had resigned his throne in B.C.
38, after some years of tyranny, provoked his subjects to the point of re-
bellion. He was expelled, and Tiridates, another member of the Arsacid
house, was put on the throne in his place. After a short time Phraates was
restored and Tiridates fled to seek the protection of Augustus,' cf. 2. 2. 17,
and 3. 8. 19. For Lamia see 3. 17 Intr.
2. tradam portare ventis, 'I will give to the winds to carry.' The inf.
seems epexegetic, further defining the phrase tradam ventis: cf. Virg. Aen.
1. 319 dederatque comam diffundere ventis, Hom. II. 23. 512 dŵкe d' dyelv
ἑτάροισιν ὑπερθύμοισι γυναῖκα. 3. quis sub Arcto. 'supremely
indifferent who is feared as king of the cold region beneath the Bear.' The
reference is to the king of the Dacians, cf. 3. 8. 18, and for the dread of the
Dacians 3. 6. 14; S. 2. 6. 53; Virg. G. 2. 497 coniurato descendens Dacus ab
Istro. The balance with quid shows that quis is nom. and not-quibus,
nor does Horace use the contracted quis in the Odes.
9.
6. integris. The haunts of the Muses are unpolluted by mortal presence:
the poet alone may approach them. Cf. Lucr. 1. 926 iuvat integros accedere
fontes. 7. necte flores, necte. See Notes on Metres, p. xviii. § 4.
Pimplei. Illμmλeia was a town or fountain in Pieria; hence in Alexandrine
poets Πιμπληίδες = Muses. MSS. have Pimplaea, but Porphyrion read
Pimplei. mei honores, 'the honours (of song) which I can confer.'
10. fidibus novis, 'strings before unheard.' Because Horace was the first
to write Latin lyrics, cf. 3. 30. 13. 11. Lesbio: 1. 1. 34 n. sacrare:
because caelo Musa beat: 'to consecrate' and so 'make immortal.'
πλктρоν, the striking thing, 'quill.'
plectro:
ODE XXVII
Come, my comrades, no quarrelling: 'tis barbarous. Keep your places
and do not shout so. What would you have me drink more? Well, I will,
if Megylla's brother will give as a toast the name of his sweetheart.
Are you
hesitating? Surely you need not be ashamed: no doubt she is a lady. Alas, poor
wretch, you deserved a better fate: you have fallen into the clutches of a harpy.'
The Ode is a playful sketch of an imaginary scene at a wine-party.
1. natis . ., 'destined (as it were) by nature for purposes of pleasure.'
2. Thracum: gen. plural. For their drinking habits cf. 1. 36. 14; 1. 18. 8.
One of the metopes of the Parthenon (see Smith's Class. Dict. s.v. Centaur)
contains a representation of a Centaur using a large diota as a weapon of
offence. The manner of Mr. Bardell's decease is strictly classical. tollite,
'away with.' 3. verecundum, 'who loves moderation'; cf. modici Liberi,
1. 18.7. It may also refer to the fresh, blushing face of the youthful divinity.
4. prohibete, 'keep apart from.'
*
!
228
HORACE
BOOK I
acinaces: a
5. lucernis: dat., cf. Ep. 2. 2. 194 nepoti discrepet.
Persian word for a short, straight sword, or dirk. The Persians seem to have
worn these even at banquets: at Rome it was illegal to wear a weapon at all
within the city. 6. inmane quantum discrepat, 'is utterly at variance
with.' inmane quantum (cf. Oavμaoтòv 8σov, ȧµńxavov öσov) is strictly a
ἀμήχανον
sentence = 'it is enormous how much,' but is used as a simple adverb,
'enormously.' It is used by Tacitus, mirum quantum by Livy, nimium
quantum by Cicero. inpium: as violating the respect due to the god
Bacchus. 8. cubito presso.
At meals the Romans reclined upon
couches, resting on the left elbow, which sank deep (presso) into the cushions.
9. vultis. A question addressed to the company, who are clamouring
that he should drink his share (partem). severi, 'strong to the taste,
'potent,' cf. 2. 3. 8 n.; S. 2. 4. 24. 10. Opuntia Megylla: a fictitious
name; Opus was the capital of the Opuntian Locrians. Horace insists that
he will only drink if a toast is given: it was customary to drink a lady's
health in bumpers containing as many cyathi as there were letters in the name.
Cf. Mart. 1. 71 Laevia sex cyathis, septem Iustina bibatur, | quinque Lycas,
Lyde quattuor, Ida tribus. 11. quo beatus. 'what is the wound,
what the shaft of which he is the happy victim?'. beatus goes with both
pereat and vulnere: notice the oxymoron in beatus vulnere, and the double
meaning of perire, 'to perish' and 'to be dying of love for.' For vulnus
applied to love, cf. Lucr. 1. 35 aeterno devictus vulnere amoris.
•
•
• • •
13. cessat voluntas? are you unwilling and reluctant?' Horace
suddenly turns to the frater Megyllae. Some MSS. have voluptas. 14.
quae te cumque 'whatever Queen of Beauty enslaves you, she
The whole is sarcastic: it is hinted that he is in love with a slave, cf. 2. 4. 1
ingenuo therefore is emphatic, 'it is no low-born love that leads you wrong.
15. erubescendis: erubesco 'blush' can take an acc. in the secondary sense
of 'blush for' (cf. 2. 13. 26 n.), and so can have a gerundive='that is to be
blushed for,' 'ashamed of.' 18. a miser
He is supposed to have
whispered the name, and Horace hearing it exclaims a miser in a tone
of affected pity. 19. laborabas, 'in what a terrible Charybdis were
you struggling,' the words also meaning 'with what a devouring creature were
you hopelessly in love.' For laboro cf. 1. 17. 19 and for Charybdis Anaxilas
(in Athen.) ἡ δὲ Φρύνη τὴν Χάρυβδιν οὐχὶ πόρρω που ποιεῖ, | τὸν δὲ ναύκληρον
λαβοῦσα καταπέπωκ᾽ αὐτῷ σκάφει. The imperfect laborabas seems like
the Gk. imperfect with &pa used when a person finds out that what he sus-
pected all along is really so: 'I always thought some monster bad got hold
of you, and now I find it true'; cf. Herod. 3. 64 λeyev &pa (of what an oracle
meant all along), Soph. Phil. 978; Hom. Il. 16. 33. .
21. Thessalis. Thessalian wizards were celebrated; Epod. 5. 45.
23. vix inligatum 'hardly will Pegasus disentangle you from the
toils of this Chimaera.' The Chimaera (xiuaipa 'a goat') is described Hom.
11. 6. 181 πρόσθε λέων, ὅπιθεν δὲ δράκων, μέσση δε χίμαιρα. Here it is put
for any man-destroying monster, from which even aid such as that of Belle-
rophon on Pegasus cannot afford deliverance.
ODE XXVIII
"Even thee, Archytas, a tiny tomb on the Matine snore confines, and though
thy thoughts compassed heaven thou wert doomed to die. Perished also are
ODE XXVIII
229
NOTES
Tantalus, Tithonus and Minos: Pythagoras too, though he proved his soul
immortal, and in thy judgment was no mean expounder of truth. But indeed
the grave awaits us all, soldiers and sailors, young and old: cruel Proserpine
shrinks from none (1-20). So too I have been drowned. But do thou, O
sailor, not grudge to cast a little sand upon my unburied corpse; so may good
fortune ever attend thee. Surely thou canst not carelessly incur a crime which
will bring a curse on thy children and perchance on thyself. Though thou art
in haste the delay is brief; cast but three handfuls of earth and then thou
mayest pass upon thy journey.'
There would seem to have been a so-called tomb of Archytas on that
Matine shore with which Horace from its neighbourhood to Venusia (cf.
Venusinae line 26) would be well acquainted, and he makes this the scene of
his Ode, which is a monologue, the speaker being the spirit of some traveller
who had been shipwrecked near the Archytas-tomb and left unburied. Lines
1-20 are reflections suggested by the sight of the great philosopher's last
resting-place; at line 21 the speaker first refers to himself, and appeals to an
imaginary sailor (supposed to be passing along or near the shore) to bestow
on him those 'three handfuls of dust' which constituted formal burial.
So most now take this Ode, which has its origin in that class of Epigrams
known as πɩтvußidia (Gk. Anth. VII.) in which the dead are introduced
addressing some advice or request to the living. It must be allowed however
that the connexion between the first and second half is loose, and many editors
have therefore taken the Ode as a dialogue between a sailor who finds it
and the unburied corpse of Archytas. Some assign only 1-6 to the sailor,
others make Archytas begin to speak line 17, or line 21 which is the most
natural point for a break. Against this-(1) Lines 3 and 4, which certainly
on the face of them say that Archytas was buried, must mean something else,
for in line 36 he says that he is not buried. (2) Except 3. 9, which is not in
point, no other Ode shows any trace of dialogue. (3) What authority is there
for the fact that Archytas was drowned ? cast ashore on the Matine beach and
unburied? (4) If he was, why should Horace write this Ode about a man
he cared nothing for, who had been dead 400 years, and, even if unburied,
would have completed his 100 years of wandering on the banks of the Styx
(Virg. Aen. 6. 329) long before. (5) Is it natural to put the philosophical
reflections of the opening lines into the mouth of a wandering sailor?
)
2. Archytas. A distinguished mathematician (mensorem maris
of Tarentum: lived about B.C. 400. He was of the Pythagorean school of
philosophy, cf. lines 10-12. 3. pulveris .
There is an obvious eon-
Cf. Shak. 1 Henry 4,
spirit, | A kingdom
trast between his boundless genius and narrow tomb.
V. iv. 89 'When that this body did contain a
for it was too small a bound; | But now two paces of the vilest earth | Is
room enough.' Matinum: probably the shore at the foot of Mt. Gar-
ganus. 4. munera is technically used of the due and dutiful bestowal of
burial upon a corpse, and seems to make the fact that Archytas is spoken o
as buried certain. Those who make Archytas the speaker in line 36, where
he asks for burial, are compelled here to explain the gift of a little dust' as
though it meant 'the want of the gift of,
and cohibent as=keep you
here on the coast, it being impossible for you to enter Elysium until you
receive the 'three handfuls' of earth.
5. aerias
•
For this description of Archytas' soaring genius cf.
the panegyric on Epicurus in Lucr. 1. 72 ergo vivida vis animi pervicit,
230
BOOK I
HORACE
C
·
et extra | processit longe flammantia moenia mundi | atque omne inmensum
peragravit mente animoque .
6. morituro. Notice the force this
derives from its position, cf. moriture 2. 3. 4. 7-9. Pelopis genitor,
Tithonus, Minos. See Class. Dict. and Tennyson's poem Tithonus.
10. Panthoiden. See Class. Dict. under 'Pythagoras.' Even he, not-
withstanding his theory of μereμúxwois or the transmigration of souls, and
the fact that he had enjoyed several lives, first as a peacock, then as Euphor-
bus (= Panthoides) at Troy, then as Homer, then as Pythagoras, and finally
as Q. Ennius (cf. Persius 6. 10), has finally been compelled to succumb to the
great law of mortality. There is something sarcastic in Horace's style here,
and some regard the whole Ode as a scoff at the theories of Pythagoras.
Orco-in Orcum, cf. caelo 3. 23. 1 n. 11. clipeo refixo. Pythagoras
proved the identity of his soul with that of Euphorbus, by at once 'taking
down' the shield of Euphorbus from a quantity of other armour.
te.
13. nervos atque cutem. Contemptuous words to express the mere
mortal envelope of the more lasting and transmigrating soul. 14. iudice
Because Archytas was a disciple of Pythagoras. non sordidus, i.e.
'most distinguished,' cf. St. Paul's 'no mean city,' Acts xxi. 39. Litotes.
16. semel, 'once,' and once for all. 17. spectacula. To Mars war is
an amusement (cf. 1. 2. 37 longo satiate ludo) and slaughter a spectaculum.
20. caput. Cf. Virg. Aen. 4. 698 necdum illi flavum Proserpina vertice
crinem | abstulerat, Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco. Therefore caput does
not merely='man,' 'life,' but refers to the legend that Proserpine marks out
the victims of Death by symbolically cutting a lock from their heads, as was
done with sacrificial victims. fugit: the aoristic use of the perfect, 'is not
wont to avoid any head,' cf. 1. 34. 16 sustulit.
21. me quoque. These words from their emphatic position are clearly
guiding words, and it is most natural to contrast them with te in line 1: 'You,
Archytas, are dead. . . . and I too.' devexi Orionis: the setting of
Orion early in November was accompanied by storms, cf. 3. 27. 18 pronus
Orion. rapidus: from rapio, 'sweeping,' 'raving.' 23. malignus,
'grudging': the opposite of benignus, liberal. 24. capiti inhumato. The
hiatus, especially where the vowels are the same, is extremely harsh. It is
perhaps an affectation of simplicity like stant et iuniperi et castaneae hirsutae,
Virg. Ecl. 7. 53. Instances of hiatus with proper names, such as Threicio
Aquilone Epod. 13. 3; Actaeo Aracyntho Virg. Ecl. 2. 24, are quite distinct,
being an imitation of Greek models, see 2. 20. 13 n. 25. particulam
harenae. The three handfuls of earth, which constituted legitimate burial and
saved the dead soul from wandering on the shores of Styx, cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 325.
25. sic: see 1. 3. 1; 'so'on condition that you do this, may
27. plectantur, 'be lashed,' i.e. by storms. Cf. Gk. Tλhoow. 28. unde
=a quo, i. e. from Jove. 30. neclegis te natis
committere.
te goes with committere and not with natis: 'Dost thou deem it a light thing
that thou art incurring. ?' neclegis committere? without te would mean
'Dost thou neglect incurring?' which is the exact opposite of what is wanted.
31. fraudem: ayos, a deed which pollutes, and must be expiated.
debita iura. The debt to justice which you will incur and have to discharge.
33. te ipsum: contrasted with natis. The penalty may come not only on
them, but on yourself even. 36. ter pulvere. Cf. Soph. Ant. 431
χοαῖσι τρισπόνδοισι τὸν νέκυν στέφει.
·
•
•
32.
ODE XXIX
231
NOTES
ODE XXIX
What
'Are you really, Iccius, intending to join the expedition to Arabia ?
can you hope to gain? Surely the world must be upside down when the
philosophic Iccius sells his carefully formed library to buy armour.'
1. Icci: see Ep. 1. 12 Intr. beatis gazis, 'rich treasures.' The word
gaza is Persian. Arabia Felix or Sabaea was celebrated for precious perfumes,
cf. the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, 1 Kings x. 1. For its
'treasures' cf. 2. 12. 24 plenas Arabum domos; 3. 24. 1 intactis opulentior
thesauris Arabum; Ps. lxxii. 15 'unto him shall be given of the gold of
Arabia.' To the Romans the East was a land of untold wealth, an Eldorado
such as the Spaniards hoped to find in Mexico and Peru: in both cases the
first explorers were dazzled by vast collections of useless wealth formed
by a few despotic potentates, while the inhabitants starved. Cf. Milton,
P. L. 2. 3 'Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand | Showers on her
kings barbaric pearl and gold.' 4. regibus, 'emirs,' 'princes.'
5. nectis catenas. The whole stanza is in a tone of playful irony:
Horace exaggerates the expectations of Iccius. He speaks of him as forging
fetters, and hoping to bring home the captives of his bow and spear in heroic
fashion. quae tibi .. 'what barbarian maid will be your slave when
you have slain her betrothed?' Cf. Judges v. 30 'Have they not sped
?'
have they not divided the prey to every man a damsel or two
7. puer
what page from court with perfumed locks will be set to
hand your cup?' For these Eastern cup-bearers cf. Nehem. ii. 1; Dan. i. 3.
They were usually of noble birth and personal beauty. capillis: cf.
Tennyson's 'long-haired page' in the Lady of Shalott.
•
•
·
9. Sericas. The Seres are the remotest people of the East. Notice how
Horace started with Arabia, soon got to Parthia (Medo), and has now made
Iccius reach China. Perhaps the exaggeration is intended. 10. quis
neget who would deny that descending streams can flow backwards
up steep mountains ..?' arduis montibus: abl. abs. on the analogy
of adverso flumine etc., or possibly dative of place whither. The phrase is
common to express that the order of nature is inverted; cf. Eur. Med. 440
ἄνω ποταμῶν ἱερῶν χωροῦσι παγαί, | καὶ δίκα καὶ πάντα πάλιν στρέφεται,
and Cicero, ad Att. 15. 4. 1, merely writes avw Tотauŵr when he wishes to
say 'all is topsy-turvy.' Notice the juxtaposition of the antithetical words
arduis pronos, and the accommodation of sound to sense in line 11 with its
heavy uphill movement.
*
π
13. coemptos undique. He was not merely an ordinary student of
philosophy, but a keen collector of philosophical works. For the p in
coemptos cf. 2. 4. 10 n. 14. Panaeti. A Stoic philosopher, a friend of
Scipio and Laelius, died about 111 E.C. Socraticam domum, 'the
Socratic school,' i.e. the works of the Socratic school. The phrase would
include all those philosophers (e.g. Peripatetics, Cynics, Cyrenaics) who were
influenced by Socrates, and, chief among them, Plato. Friedrich (Philolog.
Untersuchungen, 1894, p. 156) argues that there was no 'Socratic school,'
for Socrates merely encouraged a spirit of philosophic inquiry generally and
laid down no dogmas; he renders 'your Socratic house,' cf. C. ad Quintum
3. 1. 5 ea villa . . . tamquam philosopha videtur esse, of a simple country-
house. 15. Hiberis: made of Spanish steel.
232
HORACE
:
BOOK I
.
ODE XXX
• Venus, quit thy favourite haunts to visit Glycera who prays thy presence,
and bring with thee thy joyous troop of attendants.'
1. Cnidus, in Caria: here was the famous statue of Venus by Praxiteles,
of which the Medicean is said to be a copy. 2. sperne. Cf. 1. 19. 9.
4. in aedem. Aedes in sing.='a temple,' in plur.='a house. Perhaps
Glycera is supposed to have fitted up a mimic shrine for Venus, and Horace
wrote this mimic ode of invocation (aσμa кληTIKÓν) for the occasion. This
view is supported by the words ture multo. Kiessling says that the coming
of the goddess will make the 'house' a 'temple.' 5. solutis zonis, 'with
loosened girdles.' For the position of que in Gratiae properentque Nymphae
sée 2. 19. 28 n. 7. parum comis.. 'youth that without thee (i.e.
Love) loses all its charm. 8. Mercurius accompanies Venus as the god
of speech: silent wooers are rarely successful.
ODE XXXI
• What shall the poet pray for to his patron god Apollo on this great day?
Not for large estates and wealth. Let wealth and luxurious living be for
prosperous merchants, who think themselves the very favourites of heaven
because their ships have made many successful voyages. I am satisfied with
simple fare, and ask but for a healthy mind and healthy body, an old age free
from dishonour and charmed by poetry.'
For the temple of Apollo Palatinus, dedicated B. C. 28, see note on Ep. 1. 3. 17.
1. dedicatum='in his new temple.' The Romans can say not merely
dedicare aedem, but dedicare deum; Wickham well says, 'perhaps from the
image of the god which was installed in his shrine.' In this case we know
that the image was a statue by Scopas which Augustus brought from Greece
(Plin. 36. 5. 4). Propertius describes it (3. 23. 5), and a copy of it, the
Apollo Citharoedus,' is in the Vatican, and is represented in Smith's Hist.
of Greece, pp. 551, 580. 2. novum. Cf. 1. 19. 15 bimi meri. New wine
was used in libations. 4. Sardiniae. Both Sardinia and Sicily supplied
Rome with corn; cf. 1. 1. 10 n. segetes feraces: 'fruitful crops' or
'fruitful corn-lands.' seges either the land sown, or the crop.
5. aestuosae, 'sultry': cf. 1. 22. 5. grata: as being in good condi-
tion, and pleasant to contemplate. Calabria was famous especially for winter
grazing; cf. Ep. 2. 2. 177 n.; Epod. 1. 27. 6. aurum aut ebur Indi-
cum. Gold and ivory are taken as typical of Oriental wealth and luxury
generally. So the navy of Tharshish (1 Kings x. 22) brought to Solomon
every three years 'gold, and silver, and ivory.' 7. quae Liris . .
'which Liris eats away with his gentle waters, that silent stream.' The
beauty of the description of a slowly-flowing river is, in the Latin, incompar-
able. quieta: of the slow movement of the stream, taciturnus of the
consequent silence of its waters, cf. the opposite loquaces 3. 13. 15.
9. premant, 'prune': repress the luxuriant growth of. Calena.
The epithet is transferred from the vine to the pruning-knife; hypallage,
cf. 3. 1. 42 n. Cales is in Campania. 10. dives ut 'that the
rich merchant may drain from golden goblets wines acquired in exchange for
(reparata) Syrian merchandise.' culilli are said to be vessels used in sacred
•
ODE XXXII
233
NOTES
rites by the pontiffs and vestal virgins: this word and exsiccet ('drain to the
dregs') are used to bring out the luxury and greed of the merchant-prince.
12. Syra merce. So 3. 29. 60 Tyriae merces. The phrase includes all
those products of the East which came through Syria, and especially through
the great emporium of Tyre.
•
•
13. dis carus ipsis: kaт' eipwveíav Orelli. The irony is strongly brought
out by quippe='because forsooth.' ter et quater, 'three or four times';
δὶς καὶ τρίς. 15. olivae, cichorea, malvae, i.e. the ordinary products of
a yeoman's farm. 16. leves, 'light,' i.e. to the digestion, cf. Epod. 2. 57.
17. frui
'mayest thou grant me (for the present), O son of Leto, to
enjoy what I have both with sound health, and, I pray, with mind unimpaired,
and (in the future) to pass an old age neither . . . nor ..' Horace has
two wishes, each of which is twofold: (1) for the present, vigour both of body
and mind (Juv. 10. 356 orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano), (2)
when old age comes, that honour which should ever accompany it, and that
enjoyment of lyric song which had been the happiness of his life. The at
precor of most MSS. throws the carefully balanced sentence wholly out of gear.
ODE XXXII
...
•
'We are summoned. If ever, my lyre, in lighter vein I with thy aid have
sung anything which may survive, come now inspire me with a Latin song,
such as Alcaeus sang of old, the warrior-bard. O thou that art the glory of
Phoebus, the delight of Jupiter, the solace of toil, answer me whenever I call.'
1. poscimur. Horace had evidently been asked to write an Ode or Odes
on some subject of national interest (Latinum carmen); this Ode is an appeal
to his lyre by the memory of their past success in lighter subjects to aid him
in this. Whether Augustus or Maecenas made the request, and whether the
noble national lyrics at the commencement of Book 3 are the answer, is
matter of conjecture. poscimur seems to imply that those who sum.noned
Horace had the right to do so. The reading poscimus (followed by a comma
and governing quod) is very weak, and poscimur is strongly supported by
many passages in Ovid, e.g. poscimur, Aonides, Met. 5. 333. si. This use
of a clause beginning with si in appeals is very frequent. It does not imply
any doubt as to the fact, but assumes it to be a fact and founds the appeal
upon it. Cf. C. S. 37 Roma si vestrum est opus. date; Od. 3. 18. 5
Faune
lenis incedas si.. cadit; S. 2. 6. 6. vacui sub
umbra lusimus. Notice how each word brings out the idea of light
careless poetry. sub umbra: grottoes or groves are the haunts of poets.
lusimus: commonly used of the composition of playful verse, cf. 4. 9. 9 si quid
olim lusit Anacreon; 2. 13. 26 n. 2. quod et .
The order of the
words seems to connect this clause with si quid, but sense rather refers it
to L. carmen, thus contrasting the nobler and more lasting Ode he contem-
plates with the lighter and more fugitive pieces he has hitherto attempted.
3. dic, 'utter': the instrument is said to speak. 4. barbite. Masculine
here as in late Greek. The word has the singular privilege of possessing
three genders, ἡ βάρβιτος and τὸ βάρβιτον being also found.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
5. Lesbio primum . It is implied that Horace hopes his Ode
will equal those of Alcaeus. See too 1. 1. 34 n. modulate: 1. 1. 25 n.
civi: emphatic. Alcaeus (flor. 611 B.C.) took a most active part in political
life. He was driven into exile by the popular party; he fought both against
234
BOOK I
HORACE
6.
•
the Athenians, and Pittacus the tyrant of Mitylene. Cf. 2. 13. 28.
qui, ferox
'who, fierce warrior though he was, yet amid the clash of
arms, or if he had moored his storm-tossed bark on the dank beach
7. sive is omitted before inter arma, cf. 1. 3. 16. religo, 'bind so as
to hold back'; S. 1. 5. 19; cf. retinaculum, 'a mooring-rope.'
•
9. illi haerentem, 'clinging to her side,' cf. Virg. Aen. 10. 780 haeserat
Euandro. 11. nigris oculis nigroque. When the Roman poets repeat
a word they often so place it that the ictus falls differently on it in
the two positions. Hence the variation in the quantity of nigris here;
cf. Virg. Aen. 2. 663 natum ante ora pătris, pātrem
Striking in-
stances are Theocr. 6. 19 тà µǹ kăλà kāλà tépavтaι; Lucr. 4. 1259 liquidis
et liquida; Hom. *Apes "Apes; Virg. valē vălě. 15. cumque. There
is no other clear instance of the use of this word by itself, but all MSS.
give it here. It seems to make the notion of time contained in vocanti more
indefinite. vocanti cumque 'to me calling whenever,' i.e. whenever I
call.' Nauck remarks that Horace seems to have regarded cumque as an inde-
pendent word, comparing the numerous instances in this Book where he uses
quicumque as two words, 6. 3, 7. 25, 9. 14, 16. 2, 27. 14. Lachmann con-
jectured medicumque. mihi salve, 'hail, I pray thee,' xaîpé μoi.
ODE XXXIII
'That the memory of Glycera's cruelty may not grieve you too much, Tibullus,
and that you may not ceaselessly lament being outshone by a rival, remember
that it is a common case: Lycoris loves Cyrus, Cyrus loves Pholoe, and Pholoe
thinks Cyrus detestable. Venus delights in cruel sport to yoke together those
who will never make a pair. The very same thing has happened to myself.'
1. Albi for Albius Tibullus see Ep. 1. 4 Intr. plus nimio: cf.
Ep. 1. 10. 30 n. The phrase is put between doleas and memor that it
may go partly with both. 2. inmitis Glycerae. Notice the play
of words inmitis bitter, and yλuкepά=sweet; cf. dulce loquens Lalage
(λaλeîv) 1. 22. 24. Such plays on words are especially frequent in tragedy,
cf. Soph. Ajax 430 αἰαι· τίς ἄν ποτ᾽ ᾤεθ᾽ ὧδ᾽ ἐπώνυμον | τοὐμὸν ξυνοίσειν
ὄνομα τοῖς ἐμοῖς κακοῖς ; Shakespeare makes John of Gaunt on his deathbed
speak of himself as 'Old John of Gaunt, and gaunt in being old.' 3.
decantes cur, 'sing to satiety (asking) why her pledge is violated.' For
decantes cf. 1. 3. 13 n. elegos: ề ề Xéye=cry Alas ! cf. A. P. 75.
5. insignem tenui fronte. Cf. Ep. 1. 7. 26 nigros angusta fronte
capillos, of beauty in a man. A small forehead, or a forehead that appears
small owing to the growth of the hair, no doubt helps good looks.
8. iungentur sooner shall roes mate with wolves than Pholoe go
astray with a lover she holds vile.' 9. turpi does not assert that Cyrus is
'vile,' but that he is so in the opinion of Pholoe.
10. sic visum Veneri, 'such is the pleasure of Venus.' The phrase
indicates that it is case where argument or appeal is vain, the
matter having been settled by a high and arbitrary power: cf. 2. 17. 15 sic
placitum; Ov. Met. 1. 366 sic visum superis; Virg. Aen. 2. 428 dis aliter
visum. inpares formas. The predilection of tall men for short women
and vice versa is supposed to be an established fact. Venus delights to yoke
together indissolubly (iuga aenea―a yoke there is no breaking, cf. 3. 9. 18,
3. 16. 2) those who though thus yoked to each other can never make
ODE XXXIV
235
NOTES
'a pair' (for that implies that they are well matched) but must ever remain
inpares. 12. saevo cum ioco, 'in cruel jest'; cf. n. on ludo 1. 2. 37.
13. melior Venus: lit. 'when Venus assailed me with kindlier pur-
pose'; i.e. when I was just falling in love with a worthier mistress. 14.
grata compede: oxymoron, cf. 1. 27. 11. 16. curvantis, 'that hollows out.'
•
•
ODE XXXIV
'I, who had but little belief in the gods and was the disciple of a philosophic
wisdom “falsely so called,” now am driven to retract, for lately I heard thunder,
when the sky was cloudless, thunder such as shakes the universe and is indeed
the voice of God, God whose power is visible in all things, who “hath put down
the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek.”
Horace was well acquainted with and disposed to favour the philosophy of
Epicurus, one of the cardinal points of which was that either gods did not
exist at all or that they lived a life remote from care (securum agere aevum S.
1. 5. 101) taking no concern for the earth or its inhabitants (cf. Tennyson's
Lotus-Eaters 'On the hills like gods together, careless of mankind'). Many
things, which the vulgar believed to declare the presence of God, were but
the results of the ordinary action of natural forces. Among many other
arguments one of the most popular was: if thunder be the voice of God, why
does it never thunder except when there are clouds about and it can therefore
be explained on natural grounds? (Cf. Lucr. 6. 400 denique cur numquam
caelo iacit undique puro | Iuppiter in terras fulmen sonitusque profundit ?)
Horace had however actually heard thunder caelo puro: he cannot under-
stand it then it flashes across him that perhaps 'There are more things in
heaven and earth, Horatio, | Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'
2. insanientis sapientiae: oxymoron, cf. 3. 11. 35 n.; Rom. i. 22
'Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.' sapientiae, i.e. the
philosophy of Epicurus. dum erro: 'while I strayed'; 1. 10. 11 n.
3. consultus. Cf. the phrase iuris consultus; it indicates one who is an
'adept' or 'professor. 5. Diespiter Cf. 1. 1. 25 n. The word is archaic,
and its employment an affectation, cf. 4. 4. 41 adorea, 4. 15. 8 duellis, Ep.
1. 2. 7; 4. 6. 38 Noctilucam, 4. 11. 8 spargier. For the gen. dies cf. pater-
familias. 6. nubila is emphatic as opposed to per purum, 'who usually
cleaves the clouds with flashing flame, lately through a cloudless sky
•
•
9. bruta tellus, vaga flumina. See 3. 4. 45 n. 10. Taenari,
'Cape Matapan' in Laconia. Close to it was the entrance to the under world;
cf. Virg. G. 4. 467 Taenarias etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis. 11. Atlan-
teusque finis, 'Atlas the boundary of the world'; répμoves 'ATλaνTIKOί
Eur. Hipp. 3. Beyond the Straits of Gibraltar was almost an unknown
region to the ancients. 12. valet ima 'God hath power to change
the lowliest with the loftiest, and He maketh the great man weak, bringing to
light things hidden in gloom.' Cf. Job v. 11; Luke i. 52. 14. apicem.
Technically a conical cap worn by the flamines; here, however, anything worn
as a sign of royal power, and so equivalent to tiara or diadema ; cf. 3. 21.
20 regum apices. The Romans had no word for a crown' a royal crown,
because having abolished kings they abolished also the symbols of kingly
power. 15. stridore, i.e. alarum; cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 397 stridentibus alis.
Fortune is represented as winged and swooping down unexpectedly to snatch
from one what she carries to another. 16. sustulit. The aoristic use, cf.
1. 28. 20. posuisse, 'to have placed,' i.e. to place and let it rest there.
-ter
236
BOOK I
HORACE
ODE XXXV
'O Queen of Antium, thou all-powerful goddess Fortune, thee the poor man
supplicates and the sailor, thee the nations worship, and the mothers of princes
and even kings in all their glory fearful lest thou shouldst overthrow their
prosperity. Before thee marches Destiny with all the symbols of her immutable
power: with thee are Hope and Good Faith, faithful, even when thou hast
ceased to smile and the vulgar herd of flatterers has deserted the unfortunate.
Oh! do thou guard the Emperor in his attack on Britain and our armies in the
East: may these legitimate wars expiate our unholy civil contentions, may
Roman swords no longer be whetted but against a foreign foe.'
Fortune in this Ode is not the capricious goddess of 3. 29. 49—ludum
insolentem ludere pertinax-but that mysterious power which rules the change-
ful phases of human life. At line 29 this general conception is specialised
and the prayer is addressed to that Fortuna populi Romani of whose power
the Romans were reminded whenever they recalled the history of the growth
of their world-wide empire. Cf. Plutarch de Fortuna Romanorum, c. 4
(quoted by Wickham) 'even as Aphrodite, when she crossed the Eurotas,
laid aside her mirror and her ornaments and her cestus, and took spear and
shield to adorn herself for Lycurgus' eyes, so when, after her sojourning with
Persians and Assyrians, with Macedonians and Carthaginians, she (Túxn) ap-
proached the Palatine and crossed the Tiber, she laid aside her wings and took
off her sandals and left behind her her ball, the symbol of fickleness and change.'
1. gratum, sc. tibi, as 1. 30. 2 dilectam Cypron. Antium: on the
coast, capital of the Volsci. There were two statues of Fortune there
(Fortunae Antiates) which were consulted by drawing lots (per sortes).
2. praesens, 'ready and able.'
praesens implies not merely 'presence,
but also being present with the wish and ability to assist. Hence
the inf. after it. vel='even.' 3. mortale corpus, 'frail mortals':
used instead of 'men,' to emphasise the weakness and frailty of humanity.
5. ambit, lit. 'to go round canvassing' (hence ambitio), then 'to court,'
'worship.' 6. dominam aequoris, 'as mistress of the ocean.' 7.
Bithyna, Carpathium. Pictorial; cf. 1. 1. 13 n. lacessit: 'chal-
lenges,' 'braves.' The word expresses the hardihood of the sailor; cf. 1. 3.
21-24. 8. Carpathium pelagus: between Rhodes and Crete.
11. regumque matres. Anxious for their sons who had gone to battle.
Cf. the lament of Atossa the mother of Xerxes, Aesch. Pers. 163, and Judges
v. 28 'The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the
lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his
chariots ? 12. purpurei. Not an idle epithet; kings 'even in their royal
purple' fear Fortune. Purple is the distinguishing mark of kingly dignity, cf.
Virg. G. 2. 495 purpura regum, and purple-striped togas were the sign of
rank at Rome during the republic. Subsequently garments wholly of purple
(holoverae) were reserved to the Emperor alone. For the history of purple
see Mayor on Juv. 1. 27. 13. iniurioso 'lest with aggressive foot
thou shouldst overthrow the standing pillar (of the State), lest the thronging
populace should rouse even the hesitating to arms, to arms, and break their
sceptre.' iniuriosoiẞpioтikų, combines the ideas of insult and injury:
pede increases the idea of insult. 14. columna is used as an emblem
of stability and dignity. neu
This second clause repeats with
fresh particulars the idea of the first. 15. cessantes-those at first
=
•
•
•
ODE XXXV
237
NOTES
doubtful whether to join the sedition. ad arma is the actual cry raised,
and its repetition by the poet is a graphic representation of its repetition by
the mob; cf. io Triumphe repeated 4. 2. 49.
17. te semper anteit... Wickham refers to Lessing's criticism on
this passage to the effect that the poet has here trespassed on the painter's
art; a painter portraying Destiny must show who she is by symbols, a poet
has other and better ways. Some imagine that Horace was thinking of some
actually existing picture or representation, and indeed an ancient Etruscan
mirror from Perugia exhibits Athrpa (= Atropos, or Destiny) in the act of
fixing a nail with a hammer as a sign of immutable fate. Necessitas
personified='Aváyên, cf. 3. 1. 14. MS. authority is strong for serva, instead
of saeva, but the image is surely that of a stern lictor who 'precedes' rather
than of a slave who follows. How too can Necessity be the 'slave' of Fortune?
anteit: scanned as a disyllable, cf. antehac 1. 37. 5; anteis Ep. 1. 2. 70.
18. clavos trabales. Nails such as are placed in beams. For the symbol-
ical use cf. 3. 24. 5 adamantinos clavos; Cic. 2 Verr. 5. 21 ut hoc beneficium,
quemadmodum dicitur, clavo trabali figeret. cuneos: also used for fasten-
ing, as wedges are still in scaffolding. 19. severus uncus
'stubborn clamp and molten lead,' i.e. materials for building with greatest
fixity. Stones are often united by means of iron bars fastened in with lead.
•
21. albo panno. Typical of guileless innocence. Servius on Virg. Aen.
1. 292 says that offerings to Faith were made with the hand wrapped 'in a
white cloth.' 22. nec comitem abnegat, sc. se, 'nor refuses her
companionship.' This stanza is without doubt awkwardly expressed. Horace
says that ‘Faith accompanies Fortune whenever in changed attire (indicative
of misfortune) she in hostile mood quits a (formerly) powerful mansion.'
Now 'to follow, or accompany Fortune' always means to vary or change
in conduct according as Fortune changes (cf. Ov. Pont. 2. 3. 10 et cum
Fortuna statque caditque fides, and in English, 'friends and fortune fly
together'); but Horace means the exact opposite, he means that fides does
not vary in calamity. What he intends to say is, 'when a man is unfortunate
he quits his great mansion taking his ill-fortune with him, but Faith accom-
panies his ill-fortune and remains with him notwithstanding his ill-fortune
but he has said it very obscurely. For comitem abnegat-comitem se
abnegat cf. Virg. Aen. 2. 591 confessa deam; Ov. A. A. 1. 127 si qua re-
pugnarat nimium comitemque negarat. 26. diffugiunt.. 'when casks
are drained to the lees friends scatter, too treacherous to bear the yoke equally.'
Cf. the Gk. proverb Šεî xúτpa s piλía; Ecclesiasticus vi. 10.
•
29. iturum. Augustus never visited Britain, but proposed to do so in
34 B.C. and 27 B.C. The latter is probably the date of this Ode. ultimos
Britannos: cf. Virg. Ecl. 1. 66 penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos; Tac.
Agric. 30 Britannos terrarum ac libertatis extremos. The poets rarely mention
Britain except as a type of remotest barbarism. Cf. 1. 21. 15, 3. 4. 33 Bri-
tannos hospitibus feros, 4. 14. 48 remotis Britannis. 30. recens examen,
' recently levied troop.' examen=exagmen=exagimen (éşayóµevov), a force
'led out. 32. Oceano rubro-Erythraeum mare, the Indian Ocean,
including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
33. cicatricum fratrumque. Hendiadys (cf. 2. 7.9 n.),='the scars
inflicted by brethren on brethren.' At the same time the Roman poet
speaking of Roman disgrace purposely uses a phrase that rather suggests than
expresses the fact, cf. 1. 2. 21 n. 34. dura aetas, 'an age of iron.'
238
BOOK I
HORACE
=
35. nefasti. This adj. is strictly applied to days when no legal business
was done, cf. 2. 13. 1 n., but here it is nefandus, 'unutterable,' 'impious.'
38. o utinam 'Oh! mayest thou on a new anvil reforge (for use)
against the Massagetae and Arabians our blunted swords.' 39. retunsum,
i.e. in civil strife.
•
ODE XXXVI
An Ode written in honour of the return of Plotius Numida from Spain.
There are to be sacrifices and festivity in honour of the event: Damalis will
attend the feast, the cynosure of every eye, but Damalis will wholly devote
herself to Numida the hero of the hour. Of Plotius Numida nothing is
known: he probably returned with Augustus from Spain B.C. 25.
1. fidibus. Referring to the fidicines or harpers, who with tibicines were
employed in religious ceremonies. 2. debito, 'due,' the calf had been
vowed in case of Numida's safe return: now the vow had to be discharged;
Horace was voti reus. Cf. 2. 7. 17 obligatam redde Iovi dapem. 4. Hes-
peria Spain, cf. 2. 1. 32 n. 5. caris multa 'shares many a kiss
with his dear comrades, but for none has a larger share than
7.
Lamiae: see 3. 17 Intr.
•
=
►
•
•
>
8. actae non alio 'of boyhood passed with none other for his
leader.' For the use of rex by boys at play='a leader' cf. Ep. 1. 1. 59.
Many explain 'under one tutor' taking rex=rector; cf. Tac. Ann. 13. 2,
where Burrus and Seneca are called rectores imperatoriae iuventutis, and so
non alio exactly balances simul. puertiae by syncope (ovукожń 'a striking
together') for pueritiae; cf. surpuerat surripuerat 4. 13. 20, lamnae=
laminae 2. 2. 2. 9. mutataeque simul togae. Boys about the age of
fourteen or fifteen ceased to wear the toga praetexta and assumed the toga virilis.
This was done at the Liberalia in March; friends and relatives celebrated the
event together. 10. Cressa nota. A mark of white chalk symbolising
good luck, cf. S. 2. 3. 246 sani ut creta an carbone notati? Catull. 107. 6
O lucem candidiore nota; Mart. 8. 45. 2. Cressa, 'Cretan'; Kiessling says
that creta terra creta 'fine' 'sifted (cerno) earth' and that as this came from
Cimolus (yn Kuwλía), a small island near Crete, a false derivation of the word
12. morem in Salium. For the Salii, the leaping or dancing
priests of Mars (a saltu nomina ducta, Ov. Fast. 3. 387), who had charge of the
Ancilia, see Dict. of Ant. They formed a close guild, and, like many other
guilds, ended by being principally celebrated for their feasts (see next Ode,
line 3). The 'Luperci' formed another guild of a similar character.
arose.
•
13. neu multi.. nor let Damalis the strong drinker surpass Bassus
in the Thracian amystis.' Damalis = Sáualis, iuvenca, cf. 2. 5. 6.
δάμαλις,
multi meri: descriptive gen., cf. 3. 9. 7 multi Lydia nominis; S. 1. 1.
33; Cic. ad Fam. 9. 26 hospes non multi cibi sed multi ioci. 14.
Threicia: cf. 1. 27. 2. amystis (from a and uów, 'to close the lips '),
'a drinking without taking breath'; cf. Eur. Cycl. 417 édéçar' ëσπασév T'
ἔσπασέν τ
ἄμυστιν ἑλκύσας. For similar convivial practices cf. the laws of 'sconcing
at Oxford, and the German practice of competing in drinking flagons of beer
at a breath. 15. rosae, apium, lilium: materials for garlands. For
breve cf. 2. 3. 13 n. 11-16. The neu six times repeated marks excited
emphasis. 17. omnes in . . . 'all on Damalis will fix their languishing
glances, but Damalis will not be separated from her new love, clinging closer
ODE XXXVII
NOTES
239
than the wanton ivy.' 20. ambitiosus is used in its primary sense=qui
ambit. For the metaphor cf. Catullus' exquisite lines, 61. 33 mentem amore
revinciens | ut tenax hedera huc et huc | arborem inplicat errans.
ODE XXXVII
An Ode written on the news of Cleopatra's death, which was brought to
Rome in the autumn of B.C. 30 by M. Tullius Cicero, the son of the orator.
No mention is made of the death of M. Antonius, because the defeat of a
Roman citizen earned no triumph, cf. 3. 8. 18 n. The Ode bears traces of
being written hastily in a moment of enthusiasm. Its power is undeniable,
but in more finished Odes Horace would not admit such lines as 5 and 14.
For the bitter Roman hatred of Cleopatra see Propertius 4. 11 (Paley's ed.);
for the battle of Actium, Epod. 9, Prop. 5. 6, Virg. Aen. 8. 675.
1. nunc est bibendum. Copied from Alcaeus, νῦν χρὴ μεθύσθην
καί τινα πρὸς βίαν | πίνην ἐπειδὴ κάτθανε Μύρσιλος. The general meaning is
Now drinking, now dancing, now public thanksgiving are fitting.' Horace
expresses the idea of fitness first by a gerund, secondly by a gerundive,
thirdly (for variety's sake) by the idiomatic ''twere time' (i.e. if we
were wise). The first nunc goes with bibendum ('now for a drink'), the
second with pulsanda, and the third with ornare. For tempus erat cf.
Mart. 4. 33 plena laboratis habeas cum scrinia chartis, | emittis quare,
Sosibiane, nihil? | edent, haeredes' inquis 'mea carmina. Quando? | tempus
erat iam te, Sosibiane, legi; Ov. Tr. 4. 8. 24 me quoque donari iam rude
tempus erat; Liv. 8. 5. 3 tempus erat . . .. iam vos agere
videretis. All editors join the first nunc with est ('now is the time to
drink'), and so are driven to join the third with tempus erat, but nunc erat
thus following nunc est and bearing the same sense is extremely harsh.
2. pulsanda tellus of joyous dancing; cf. 3. 18. 15. Saliaribus:
see last Ode line 12, and for the luxury of priestly feasts 2. 14. 28 mero |
pontificum potiore cenis. 3. pulvinar: see Dict. of Ant.
·
•
сит пипс
5. depromere. Some explain 'bring down,' the apotheca or store-room
for wine being in the upper part of the house, where the wine mellowed more
quickly, but depromere is generally used merely = 'to bring forth' or 'out.'
Caecubum avitis: the wine is choice and old. 6. Capitolio regina.
Notice the juxtaposition invidiae causa. The Romans abhorred the word
rex, how much more regina, and in connexion with their national temple, the
very sign and pledge of Rome's greatness? Cf. 3. 3. 42; Lucan 10. 62
terruit illa suo, si fas, Capitolia sistro. 7. dementes ruinas, 'mad
•
ruin,' ¿.e. the ruin she hoped for in her madness. Hypallage, cf. 3. 1. 42 n.
9. contaminato
with her filthy herd of men hideous through
disease, mad enough to hope for anything and intoxicated with good fortune.'
The reference is to her Oriental eunuch slaves, called viri in bitter irony.
10. inpotens=the Gk. åкρáтns, which is the opposite of eyкρáтηs 'one who
has command over himself,' cf. 3. 30. 3. The word is well applied to an
Eastern sovereign in whom uncontrolled power has raised uncontrollable and
impossible desires. For the epexegetic inf. sperare, tractare line 27, and deduci
line 31, cf. 1. 3. 25 n.
13. vix una sospes ... Cleopatra's fleet really
got away that of Antony consisting of 300 vessels was almost wholly de-
stroyed. 14. lymphatam, 'delirious,' 'distraught.' This curious word
(cf. larvatus, cerritus S. 2. 3. 278 n.) is said to be=vνµpóληπтоs 'nymph-
240
HORACE
BOOK I ODE XXXVIII
caught,' lympha and nympha being identical, and the nymphs having the
power of causing madness. 15. veros timores: opposed to the imaginary
hopes of delirium.
•
•
•
17. adurguens. Octavian did not follow Cleopatra until the next year,
but the poet for dramatic effect represents the whole series of actions as
continuous. accipiter columbas: cf. Il. 22. 139 ýúte kipkos
οἴμησε μετὰ τρήρωνα πέλειαν. 20. Haemonia-Thessaly, so called from
Haemon, father of Thessalus. 21. fatale monstrum: Horace speaks of
Cleopatra as not human, but a portentous creature sent by destiny (fatale)
to cause horror and alarm. monstrum quae: construction Tрòs TÒ
onμaivóμevov. The writer thinks rather of the sense than the grammar; it
is a very natural and common license. quae generosius, 'who anxious
for a nobler end neither shuddered at the sword with womanly fear . . .
Cf. Shak. Ant. and Cleop. V. ii. 283 'Give me my robe, put on my crown:
I have Immortal longings in me,' etc.; Tennyson, Dream of Fair Women,
'I died a Queen.' 23. latentes oras. Cleopatra had at one time the
idea of transporting her fleet into the Red Sea, and flying to some distant
shore. 24. reparavit. Here reparo is 'to acquire (parare) in the place
of (re),' cf. reparata 1. 31. 10 n. She did not endeavour to acquire with her
fleet some hidden distant realm in place of Egypt which she had lost.
27. ut atrum, 'that she might deeply drink (combibo) in her body the
fatal poison, more fiercely proud when (once) resolved to die, grudging, be
sure, the fierce Liburnians the being conducted, a queen no longer, in in-
sulting triumph, woman though she was, not lowly enough for that.' This
fine stanza cannot be translated: the series of nominatives in apposition
each with special force in its special place cannot be rendered into English
without sacrificing the forcible brevity of the Latin. atrum, 'deadly';
cf. 3. 4. 17 atris viperis. 28. venenum, i.e. of the asp. 30. Liburnis :
cf. Epod. 1. 1. scilicet (scire-licet), 'of course,' 'no doubt.'
Her purpose
was so clearly shown that none could dare to question it. 31. superbo
triumpho. She is said frequently to have repeated to Octavian 'où
θριαμβεύσομαι. Cf. Shak. Ant. and Cl. V. ii. 55 'Shall they hoist me up |
And show me to the shouting varletry | Of censuring Rome?'
ODE XXXVIII
The time is autumn and Horace is alone, about to sup, attended by a
single slave, whom he bids make the simplest preparations, for they will suffice.
1. Persicos apparatus, 'Persian pomp' or 'luxury.' Notice the
balance of apparatus here with adlabores in a parallel position in stanza 2.
ad in both words suggests the idea of excess, of something 'added' to what
was enough. 2. philyra: pɩλúpa, the lime tree. Its inner bark was used
to sew flowers on chaplets, which were thence called sutiles. Cf. Ov. Fast.
5. 335 tempora sutilibus cinguntur tota coronis. 3. mitte sectari, ‘give
up anxiously seeking in what spot lingers the last rose of summer.' mitte
= omitte. 5. nihil is peculiar; the negative part goes in sense with curo,
and the noun part is the acc. after adlabores. Translate, 'I care not that
you anxiously endeavour to add anything to simple myrtle.' For curo ad-
labores cf. the common volo facias. 7. arta, 'close-leaved,' 'thick.'
BOOK II ODE I
241
NOTES
BOOK II
ODE I
Pollio, you are writing the history of the recent civil wars, quit therefore,
for a while, your other pursuits, poetical, oratorical and military. The subject
is a stirring one; I seem already to be hearing your vivid description—the
din and tumult of Pharsalia, Africa exulting in the outpouring of Roman
blood, the whole world witness to our fatal dissensions. But I must break off,
the theme is too serious for my sportive muse.'
C. Asinius Pollio (see the excellent account in Smith's Dict.) was like
Maecenas a liberal patron of literature, and the friend of both Virgil and
Horace (S. 1. 10. 85). Horace takes the opportunity of his commencing a
history of the civil wars to send him this complimentary Ode into which he
cleverly introduces (lines 9-16) allusions to Pollio's various distinctions.
1. ex Metello consule, 'from the consulship of Metellus.' Q. Caecilius
Metellus Celer was consul B.C. 60, the year in which Caesar, Pompey and
Crassus formed the first Triumvirate, and Pollio had selected that date for
commencing the history of that portion of the civil wars which ended in
the establishment of the Empire under Augustus. 2. belli causas, e.g.
the disaster which befel Crassus at Carrhae (B.C. 53), and the death of Julia
the daughter of Caesar and wife of Pompeius, which broke the last link
between them (B.c. 54). vitia, 'faults,' i.e. in carrying on the war.
modos, 'phases,' the various ways in which it was conducted.
Fortunae. Fortune makes 'sport' of human life (cf. 3. 29. 50; 1. 2. 37 n.),
and had especially done so in the tragic death of all three triumvirs. graves
principum amicitias: the triumvirate. graves, 'ruinous,' i.e. to Rome.
3. ludum
•
5. uncta cruoribus, 'stained with streams of blood,' i.e. at Pharsalia,
Thapsus, Philippi. 6. periculosae plenum opus aleae: opus is in
apposition to the whole of the accusatives which have gone before, ‘a task full
of risk and danger.' Why Pollio's task was so difficult the words et incedis
at once explain. The historian of disasters which were so recent is like
a man who after a conflagration incautiously advances among the débris the
surface of which alone has cooled. But though the expression incedis
doloso is proverbial and general (cf. Callim. Ep. 46. 2 čσtɩ Tập vò Tŷ
σrodin; Prop. 1. 5. 5 ignotos vestigia ferre per ignes) yet it would seem that
in using it Horace had also in mind one of the special phenomena of his native
land; cf. Macaulay, Hist. Eng. c. 6: 'When the historian of this troubled
reign (James II.) turns to Ireland, his task becomes peculiarly difficult and
delicate. His steps-to borrow the fine image used on a similar occasion by
a Roman poet-are on the thin crust of ashes beneath which the lava is still
glowing.' 7. tractas: present, thou art taking in hand': Pollio's work
was only begun (cf. lines 9-11).
9. tragoediae. A Greek word for a Greek thing put in Latin
letters. The Romans imported 'tragedy' from Greece where it was a native
growth, and they also imported its name (τpaywdía 'the goat-song,'
A. P. 220 n.) at the same time, as was also the case with 'comedy' (kwμwdía,
R
242
BOOK II
HORACE
comoedia).
11. ordinaris=ordinaveris, 'shalt have set in order,' i.e. duly
arranged in your history, cf. St. Luke i. 1 'Forasmuch as many have taken
in hand to set forth in order (åvarážaolai) a declaration
•
grande
cothurno, 'thou shalt resume thy glorious task on Cecropian
buskin,' i.e. you shall resume writing tragedies worthy of the dignity of
the Athenian stage. 12. Cecropio, because at Athens all the great Greek
tragedies were produced. cothurno: the tragic actors wore high-heeled
buskins to add to their height and dignity; comic actors wore the low soccus
or slipper. Virgil also (Ecl. 8. 10) alludes to Pollio's tragedies as sola
Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno.
13. insigne praesidium: in apposition to Pollio='0 thou illustrious
defence.' maestis reis alludes to Pollio's skill in forensic eloquence, or, as
we say, 'at the bar'; consulenti curiae to his success as a speaker in the
senate, as a parliamentary orator-a very different style of eloquence. 14.
consulenti, 'deliberating,' not 'consulting you,' as it would be absurd to
speak of a great body consulting one of its members however distinguished.
curiae, 'the senate,' cf. 3. 5. 7. 16. Delmatico triumpho. In B.C. 39
he triumphed over the Parthini, an Illyrian people near Dalmatia.
στραγγεύω,
►
cornuum
17. iam nunc. Horace suddenly represents himself as listening
to Pollio's history, in which he knows beforehand events will be so vividly
and dramatically portrayed that he will imagine himself to be actually
seeing and hearing that which is described.
litui: see
illustrations in Smith's Dict. of Ant. litui strepunt, the clarions bray.'
18. perstringis aures. stringo (cf. σтpayyeúw, 'strangle') means (1) hold
in a tight grip, and (2) graze or scrape the edge or surface of anything (the
idea perhaps being that when a thing is gripped tight and then pulled away
its surface suffers), cf. stringere arbores, remos, gladium. Hence perstringis
aures describes a loud harsh sound which grates upon the ear and deafens it
cf. praestringere aciem of a flash of light which passes over the surface of the
eye so as to dazzle it. 19. iam fulgor . vultus, 'now the flash of
arms scares into flight the horses and the faces of the horsemen '—a singularly
bold but effective sketch of a cavalry rout dashed off by a master-hand in
half a dozen words. fugaces is proleptic; the sudden flash of weapons
in front of them frightens the horses so that they take to flight. Cf. Job
xxxix. 22, 23 (of the horse) 'He mocketh at fear and is not affrighted, |
Neither turneth he back from the sword: | The quiver rattleth against him,
The glittering spear and the shield.' 20. equos equitumque effective
assonance: so in English 'warrior and war-horse,' and Tennyson, Charge of
the Light Brigade, 'While horse and hero fell.' equitum vultus. Many
refer to a story (Plut. Caes. 45) that at Pharsalia Caesar ordered his soldiers
to strike at the faces of the young Roman nobles who formed the cavalry,
and that they fearful for their beauty turned and fled. The phrase needs
no such unnatural explanation. Horace says not 'horsemen,' but 'faces of
horsemen,' because he wishes to bring vividly before our minds the pale panic-
struck faces of men flying for their lives: it is a brilliant dramatic touch,
not a recondite allusion to an obscure story.
21. audire magnos
audire which governs both duces and cuncta
subacta can by itself mean either 'hear' or 'hear of'; with cuncta subacta
it can only mean the latter, and there is consequently a strong pre-
sumption that it is to be taken in the same way with duces. 'I seem to hear
of mighty generals begrimed with the glorious dust of battle and of a whole
ODE 1
243
NOTES
• •
world subdued, etc.,' i.e. I seem in imagination already to be listening to the
recitation of your history of these events. Nowadays we should expect
already I seem to be reading your description
but before the inven-
tion of printing public recitation was one of the best methods of making
known a new work (cf. the story of Thucydides hearing Herodotus recite
his history at Olympia) and Pollio himself introduced the practice at Rome
—primus omnium Romanorum advocatis hominibus scripta sua recitavit Sen.
Contr. 4. Orelli takes audire in two senses, 'I seem to hear great generals
(i.e. haranguing their troops, etc.) and of a world subdued,' but this double
use of audire in two distinct senses is impossible. Kiessling takes audire
'hear' in both cases and compares cuncta subacta with line 32 Hesperiae soni-
tum ruinae, but cuncta subacta suggests no idea of anything actually audible.
22. sordidos is predicative, and thus strictly parallel to subacta. 23. cuncta
terrarum, 'all things in the world' -a variety of the possessive gen. (not
to be confounded with our 'all of,' or 'the whole of'), cf. 4. 12. 19 amara
curarum; Tac. Hist. 5. 10 cuncta camporum. 24. atrocem animum
Catonis, 'Cato's stubborn soul,' cf. 1. 12. 35 n.
•
25. Iuno ... The transition is natural and easy from the death of Cato
to the thought how amply Carthage and Jugurtha had been avenged for all
they had suffered at the hands of Rome by the sight of Roman carnage. Juno
was the tutelary deity of Carthage, cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 15 seq. The nom. to
rettulit is Iuno and deorum quisquis cesserat inpotens tellure, while
inferias is in apposition to nepotes, have brought the grandchildren of the
victors to Jugurtha as an offering at his tomb.' For sing. verb after two
subjects cf. 2. 13. 38 n. 26. cesserat. The gods were supposed to quit
doomed cities, cf. Virg. Aen. 2. 351 excessere omnes adytis arisque relictis | di,
and the account of Josephus (B. J. 6. 5. 3) that before the capture of Jerusalem
the gates of the Temple burst open, and a voice more than human was heard
exclaiming 'Let us go hence' (ueтaßaivwµev évтeûlev). Carthage was sacked
(μεταβαίνωμεν ἐντεῦθεν).
by P. Scipio Africanus Minor B.c. 146. inpotens: in its simple meaning
'powerless,' i.e. to save. 28. Iugurthae: emphatic by position. Horace
could not better illustrate the 'mockery of fortune' than by describing the
Romans who fell at Thapsus as sacrificed to the ghost of Jugurtha!
29. pinguior, 'fatter,' i.e. more fertile than it was before. Cf. Aesch.
Persae 806, where the Persians who fell at Plataea are spoken of as pinov
πíασμа Вowτŵv xloví, and Virg. G. 1. 491 bis sanguine nostro | Emathiam
et latos Haemi pinguescere campos. 30. sepulchris: with testatur, 'bears
witness by its tombs.' inpia: pius expresses the regard due by a child
to a parent (cf. pius Aeneas), then that due from one relative to another, from
one citizen to another. Hence civil wars were strictly inpia, 'unhallowed,' a
violation of the law of nature. 31. Medis, i.e. Parthians (cf. 1. 2. 22 and
51 n.), who would naturally rejoice to hear 'the din of the downfall of
Italy. 32. Hesperiae, 'Western,' i.e. Italian, in contrast with the Eastern
empire of the Parthians just referred to. So too 3. 6. 8 where the Parthians
are mentioned in the next line, and 4. 5. 38 where it is contrasted with
Graecia line 35. On the other hand 1. 36. 4 Hesperia = Spain, Numida being
described as returning to Rome from the farthest West.' In each case the
meaning is clear from the context.
34. Dauniae. Daunus was a king of Apulia (cf. 1. 22. 14), but the adj.
='Italian,' cf. 4. 6. 27. 35. non.
nostro. Notice the assonance and the
powerful effect produced by repetition of the o and or sounds. The peculiar
•
244
BOOK II
HORACE
rhythm of line 36 adds to the effect. 37. ne retractes: rather dependent
on quaere (='lest you resume') than a direct prohibition. iocis, i.e. such
light themes as e.g. 2. 4. 38. Ceae munera neniae, ‘a task which
belongs to the Cean dirge.' Simonides the lyric poet of Ceos (556-467 B.C.)
was celebrated for his dirges (@pôvoɩ) and epitaphs; his epitaph on those who
fell at Thermopylae is best known. 40. leviore plectro, 'with lighter
quill,' ¿.e. in a style and on a subject that shall be less grave. The opposite
phrase is graviore plectro Ovid Met. 10. 150, or maiore plectro 4. 2. 33.
ODE II
'Gold, Crispus, lacks lustre unless used wisely and well; so used it can
confer even lasting renown, as it shall do on Proculeius. To hold the desires
in subjection is to possess a wider empire than if you were lord of Africa and
Europe. The very tendency to avarice must be eradicated, for, like dropsy, it
grows by being indulged. True wisdom denies the name of happy to the greedy
tyrant, and hails him alone a king who casts no lingering look on piles of gold.'
Of Cajus Sallustius Crispus a full account is given Tac. Ann. 3. 30. He
was grandnephew of the historian Sallust, who adopted him, and one of the
intimate friends of Augustus; but, though possessed of great abilities, held
aloof from all public offices, preferring, like Maecenas, the private influence
of a friend to the titular distinction of a magistracy. He died A.D. 20.
1. nullus. A somewhat awkward stanza. Horace wishes to
Horace wishes to say that as
gold and silver have no lustre when still in the mine (οὐκ ἔστ᾽ ἐν ἄντροις
λευκός, ὦ ξέν', ἄργυρος, Plut. περὶ δυσωπίας 10), so Crispus can see no charm in
wealth except it is used; but he has partially sacrificed clearness to brevity.
avaris: the earth guards its wealth like a miser. 2. lamnae: any thin
piece of metal; here used contemptuously for precious metal in a useless
uninteresting shape, a mere ingot. For the syncopated form cf. 1. 36. 8 n.
inimice nisi go together. Grammatically nisi might go with nullus color
est, but would give no sense. 3. nisi
usu. This phrase has two
meanings, one literal the other metaphorical: (1) all metals become dull by
disuse, and bright by use; (2) wealth has no brilliancy unless employed.
•
·
·
5. extento aevo: not 'through long ages' but 'his span of life being
extended beyond the grave,' i.e. Proculeius by his noble deed shall win an
immortality of fame, a life beyond life, as is made clear in lines 7, 8. C.
Proculeius Varro Murena was a Roman knight who divided his property
between his brothers who had lost their own in the civil wars. One brother
was the Licinius to whom 2. 10 is addressed. 6. notus animi. Editors
take this as notus propter animum, but avoid all explanation, and only
compare 4. 13. 21, which is clearly not to be so taken, vid. loc. animi is a
simple gen. of quality: 'Proculeius shall live in fame (vivet notus) beyond
the span of life, (Proculeius) of fatherly affection for his brothers.' 7.
metuente solvi, 'on pinions that dread to flag,' or 'droop'; cf. 3. 11. 10
metuitque tangi, 4. 5. 20 culpari metuit, and 1. 15. 27 n. solvi (like
Xúcolai) is used of that relaxation of nerve tension which is produced by
fatigue, sleep, cold, etc.; cf. Virg. Aen. 12. 951 solvuntur frigore membra.
9. latius regnes... Note the indefinite use of the 2nd person singular,
'thou' meaning 'any one'; cf. 1. 1. 13. spiritus (like Ovµós, from 0úw to
breathe or blow fiercely) = the fierce passionate part of our nature. avidus
ODE III
245
NOTES
"
•
spiritus represents as one complex quality what Plato resolved into two simple
ones, Ovµòs kai émiovµía, 'passion and lust'; in the subjugation of these two
θυμὸς καὶ ἐπιθυμία,
to 'reason' (voûs) he placed true wisdom or Virtue. Cf. virtus below and Plato,
Phaedrus passim.
10. quam uni, 'than if you were to unite (under
your empire) Libya with distant Gades and either Carthaginian acknowledged
your single sway.' The second clause illustrates and amplifies the first,
iungas being explained by serviat uni, and uterque Poenus repeating the idea
of Libya and Gades in a new form, referring to the Carthaginian settlements
on either side of the straits, in Africa and Spain. remotis: 2. 6. 1 n.
13. crescit indulgens sibi, 'grows by self-indulgence,' i.e. by indulging
the thirst which accompanies it. "The patient must abstain as much as
possible from all drink'-Buchan. hydrops = ύδρωψ. 15. aquosus.
the watery faintness from the pale frame.' Faintness and torpor accompany
dropsy; albo describes the flabby appearance of the patient.
=
•
•
>
17. redditum . . Prahaten: see 1. 26 Int. The family of the
Arsacidae to which Prahates belonged had no connexion with the Persian
dynasty or its founder Cyrus, but for the confusion see 1. 2. 22 n. 18.
dissidens . . . 'virtue disagreeing with the mob separates from the ranks
of the happy and teaches the people not to use words wrongly.' virtus
here the opinion of those who are wise and virtuous; cf. Cic. Tusc. 4. 15
virtus brevissime recta ratio dici potest. In his use of beatus Horace has in
mind not only its strict sense of 'happy' but its popular use='wealthy
(cf. 4. 9. 45); the English word 'wealth,' which originally meant 'general
well-being' (as in the Litany 'in all time of our wealth'), has been confined
to the special sense of well-being as regards worldly goods. plebi
populum: plebs from pleo those who having no civic privileges merely
fill up the state; populus on the other hand comprises all members of the
state. Here there seems no distinction between the words. 19. falsis
vocibus. To call a rich man beatus was a misuse of the word. It was a
similar misuse when the Greeks called the rich oi apiσTo the best'; cf.
Thuc. 3. 82.
21. regnum
• •
deferens uni
•
·
•
quisquis, 'by conferring empire
on him and him alone whosoever.
diadema diádnμa, the blue
band worked with white which went round the turban (Tɩápa) of the Persian
king, 'a diadem,' 'crown,' cf. 1. 34. 14 n. 22. propriam: like tutum=
'sure,' ' abiding.' proprius is much stronger than suus and expresses that
which is a permanent possession and not merely hired, borrowed, or held for
a season; cf. S. 2. 2. 134; 6. 5; Ep. 2. 2. 170-176. Horace wishes to
express that the reward of virtue is a crown 'that fadeth not away.' 23.
quisquis .. acervos, 'whosoever views huge heaps of treasure (and
passes by) without one backward glance.'
·
ODE III
'Cultivate, Dellius, a calm and equable frame of mind, neither unduly
elated in prosperity nor depressed in adversity. Enjoy the gifts of nature and
of wealth, for all must soon be left behind: rich and poor alike we are hasten-
ing towards one common end, the bourn from which no traveller returns.'
All we know of Dellius is that he was nicknamed Desultor bellorum
civilium from the way in which he changed sides during the civil wars,
desultor being a circus-rider who leaps from one horse to another. The Ode
246
BOOK II
HORACE
is a poetical expression of the Epicurean doctrine Live while you live,'
deeply touched with its profound sadness, the keynote of the whole being
struck in the emphatic moriture, line 4. Compare Eccl. xi. 7, 8 'Truly the
light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun but
if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember
the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.'
1. rebus in arduis, 'when life's path is steep,' Wickham. 2. non
secus, 'and equally so. 3. insolenti, 'excessive,' 'extravagant': it is
not all gaiety, but extravagant gaiety, that is to be chastened by the thought
of death. 4. moriture in this striking position assigns the reason for the
advice that has been given; cf. 1. 28. 6 morituro.
•
·
•
5. seu
same whether
lawn.'
•
•
seu ...: strictly with moriture, 'since you must die all the
6. in remoto gramine, 'on some retired
}
or
•
•
•
8. interiore nota Falerni, with an inner brand of Falernian.'
interiore because the oldest wine would be in the farthest corners of the cellar.
nota because the amphorae were branded with the name of the consuls of the
year. Falernian, from the Falernus ager in Campania, was a noted vintage
of a 'heady,' 'fiery' character, cf. 1. 27. 9 severi Falerni, 2. 11. 19 ardentis
Falerni, and kept for a long time.
9. quo
•
•
•
•
quid, 'to what purpose (cf. Ep. 1. 5. 12) else. . . why
?' i.e. if we are not to enjoy them, why is nature so lavish of her
beauties? quo for quid has strong MS. support, and seems due to an idea
that this stanza is grammatically connected with the next, and that quo
quo anticipate huc in line 13-'bring hither, boy, to the place where
where
But this is very prosaic, and the scansion quo obliquo without
parallel in Horace. pinus ingens albaque populus. The double
contrast between the slight poplar white in the wind and the gloom of the
heavier pine is indicated, after Horace's manner, by one epithet with each of
the pair of substantives.'-Wickham. 10. consociare amant, 'love to
intertwine a hospitable shade.' For the epexegetic inf. here and in line 12
cf. 1. 15. 27 n. 11. obliquo. The channel winds and twists, and so the
water in its eagerness to escape (fugax) has to hurry and bustle and struggle
(laborat trepidare) to make its way at all. The six words obliquo . . rivo are
a perfect specimen of Horace's power of concise word-painting.
pidare: 2. 4. 23 n.
13. nimium breves
►
12. tre-
'the too short-lived flowers of the lovely rose.'
For breves cf. 1. 36. 16 breve lilium; 2. 14. 24 brevem dominum. Notice the
pathos of the epithet thus introduced in an ode on the short life of man. Cf.
'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, | Old Time is still a-flying; | And this
same flower that smiles to-day, | To-morrow will be dying.'
15. res,
'circumstances,' 'fortune.' sororum fila: the Fates are represented as
three sisters, Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis, and Atropos, who sit and spin
the thread of each human life: when Atropos severs the thread the man dies.
Cf. Milton, Lycidas 75 'Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears | And
slits the thin-spun life.'
17. cedes coemptis saltibus, 'you add farm to farm but will quit
them.' saltus are glades or stretches of pasture surrounded by woods and
hills such as covered Calabria and Lucania, cf. Ep. 2. 2. 177. domo: a
town mansion; villa: a country seat. 18. flavus: cf. 1. 2. 13 flavum
Tiberim. It was so called from the quantity of sand it carries down.
lavit: the less poetical lavare (='wash ') is not used in the Odes.
ODE IV
247
NOTES
•
•
21. divesne... The construction is nil interest divesne (sis). . . an
moreris 'it makes no difference whether you are rich or . . . lodge under
the canopy of heaven, (seeing that you are) a victim of the unpitying grave.'
The way in which the words victima . Orci are to be taken is shown by
their emphatic position. Latin suffers from not possessing a part. of the verb
'to be,' and is compelled to make clear the way a word is to be taken by as-
signing it a very marked position, as here. In Gk. after victima we should
have v or ☎v öµws, cf. 3. 16. 30 and 4. 1. 6 n. ; in English we must add 'as
being' or 'seeing that you are.' Inacho: a mythical king of Argos; he
here typifies remote antiquity and lofty lineage. 23. sub divo, beneath
the open sky,'=sub Iove 1. 1. 25 n. So too 1. 18. 13 sub divum, 'into the
open air,' 'into the light.' The phrase is archaic. moreris: either
'lodge' (= commoreris), or 'linger,' since life is only mora mortis (Kiessling).
coago="to
25. cogimur: cogo, from coago 'to drive together.' The idea is the
same as in 1. 24. 18 (nigro compulerit gregi) of the dead being collected like
a flock of sheep. 26. versatur sors exitura. The ancient method of
drawing lots was by writing the names on pebbles, which were then cast into
an urn which was shaken about (versatur) until one lot leapt out (exire).
Hence in Gk. Táλos (a lot), from ráλλw 'to shake.' So 3. 1. 16 omne capax
movet urna nomen. serius ocius, sooner or later.'
28. cumbae,
i.e. the well-known bark of Charon, described in Virg. Aen. 6. 410-414, and
cf. Prop. 3. 18. 24 scandenda est torvi publica cumba senis.
ODE IV
'Lest you be ashamed, Xanthias, of your love for a slave-girl, let me tell you
many a hero has done the same,-Achilles, Ajax, Agamemnon. And who
knows but your auburn-haired Phyllis may have been a princess once? Be sure
there was nothing disreputable about the mother of such a paragon, such a
nay, you may let me praise her without suspicion; I am close on forty.'
The Ode is satirical, and the style mock-heroic: Xanthias Phoceus is a
nom-de-plume, and, as usual, Horace selects a Gk. name (PwKeús = inhabitant
of Phocis), cf. 2. 5. 20 Cnidiusve Gyges; 3. 12. 6 Liparaei Hebri.
1. ne sit. When ne is used in prohibitions the perfect subj. (cf. 1. 11. 1
ne quaesieris) is regular, and it is therefore better here to take it'lest,' cf.
1. 33. 1; 2. 1. 37; 4. 9. 1. sit tibi pudori: pudori is 'Dat. of the
Purpose,' which is usually found with a second Dat. of the Recipient, cf. odio
in-
esse alteri, emolumento esse alicui, etc. 2. Xanthia=Eavola.
solentem, 'arrogant though he was': see his character, A. P. 121. For
Achilles and Briseis see Class. Dict. 4. movit
movit: 1. 2. 4 n.
•
•
•
5. Telamone natum added to distinguish him from Ajax, son of Oileus,
for whom cf. 1. 15. 18. 6. captivae dominum. The antithesis is made
clearer by the juxtaposition of the antithetical words. In a non-inflecting
language, such as English, the order of the words in a sentence being of
necessity more simple for the sake of clearness, it is comparatively rarely
that this placing contrasted words side by side can be effected. Other
instances are 1. 6. 9 tenues grandia, 1. 13. 14 dulcia barbare, 1. 15. 2 perfidus
hospitam, 1. 29. 10 arduis pronos, 1. 37. 6 Capitolio regina, 3. 5. 9 Medo
Marsus, 4. 4. 31 inbellem feroces | progenerant aquilae columbam; 4. 5. 9,
16. Tecmessae, Τέκμησσα. Before gm, gn, a vowel seems always to
have become long by nature, as tēgmen, agnus. In genuine Latin words not
248
BOOK II
HORACE
•
• ·
•
compounded the other mutes do not precede m, n. Thus the older writers,
such as Plautus, wrote dracuma (Spaxµń), cucínus (KúKvos), . . . Tecumessa.
The learned poets, copying the Greeks, did not object to cycnus, Těcmessa,
etc.'-Public Sch. Lat. Gr. § 218. 7. arsit. virgine rapta, 'was
fired with love for a captive maiden,' i.e. Cassandra. For the abl. cf. 3. 9. 5 n.
9. barbarae. This stanza amplifies the idea of medio in triumpho,
and by dwelling on the details of Agamemnon's victory brings out more
forcibly the contrast with his own subjugation by his own prisoner. ßápßapos
was applied by the Greeks to all foreigners: it is an imitative word signifying
a person who jabbers or talks what is unintelligible, and originally only
signified 'not Greek,' but subsequently, as the Greeks began to surpass
their neighbours in civilisation, the secondary sense of 'uncivilised,' 'barbar-
ous,' began to accompany it. 10. Thessalo victore: abl. abs. The
conqueror' is Achilles who led the Myrmidones from Thessaly. ademptus
Hector, 'the loss of Hector.' Latin idiom has a considerable dislike to
verbal nouns, and substitutes for a verbal noun followed by a genitive (e.g.
ademptio Hectoris) a simple noun and a past participle passive in apposition
(e.g. ademptus Hector). Cf. 1. 3. 29 post ignem subductum after the theft
of fire'; ab Urbe condita 'from the foundation of the city'; ante Christum
natum 'before the birth of Christ'; Livy 21. 1. 4 angebant ingentis spiritus
virum Sicilia Sardiniaque amissae, 'the loss of.' For ademptus tradidit
cf. 3. 6. 44 n. In ademptus, from adimo, the p is added between m and t
as an 'auxiliary consonant' to make the word more easy of pronunciation, it
being almost impossible to pronounce adem-tus several times without slipping
in a p sound. Cf. sumo sum-p-tum, and 1. 29. 13 coemptos, 2. 5. 14 dempserit,
2. 11. 23 comptum, 1. 4. 1 hiemps. 11. fessis: after a ten years' struggle.
leviora tolli, 'lighter to be destroyed,' i.e. 'an easier prey'; tolli is epexe-
getic, cf. 1. 3. 25 n. We cannot preserve the double meaning of tollo here-
(1) 'lift,' cf. leviora, and (2) 'destroy.' 12. Pergama Grais; cf. line 6 n.
IIépyaμos in the sing. is feminine, in the plural Пépyaua neuter.
13. nescias an: a poetical variation of the common use of nescio an
in hesitating affirmation. nescis an
would mean, 'you don't know
•
•
•
15.
whether her parents are not an honour to you.' nescias an
puts this
more hesitatingly, thereby making the irony more subtle: 'you could not be
sure (were you to examine the question), Xanthias, whether the noble parents
of your golden-haired Phyllis do not lend a lustre to their son-in-law.
genus: nom. case, supply est. Many take it after maeret, 'mourns her royal
race and the cruelty of her household gods,' but this involves taking regium
as a mere attribute and iniquos predicatively, which is harsh if not impossible.
17. crede non illam. Much stronger than ne crede illam. 'Be sure that
she at any rate has not been wooed by you from among the base rabble.'
non is placed immediately before illam to show that however possible such a
supposition might be in an ordinary case, in her case it is absolutely in-
admissible. Notice the effect of illam and tibi in juxtaposition. scelesta,
'rascally.' Xanthias doubtless was one of those gilded youths who designate
all the rest of the world (plebs = 'those who merely fill up ') as 'cads' (scelesti).
His own phrase is ironically turned upon himself.
21. teretesque suras, 'shapely ankles.' teres, from tero, Gk. Tρißw,
'to rub, polish, finish,' denotes, says Munro (Lucr. 1. 35), 'that the thing to
which it is joined is of the proper shape,' e.g. cervix teres; tunica teres = a
tunic of even fineness; oratio teres a style of speaking that is polished and
ODE V
249
NOTES
•
finished. 22. integer, from in and tango (tetigi), indicates that which is
free from all taint or blemish, or which is complete and whole. I praise,
'I
myself heart-whole ..,' cf. 3. 7. 22. fuge suspicari, avoid suspecting
one whose age has been only too eager to conclude its eighth lustre.' For the
inf. cf. 1. 15. 27 n. 23. octavum claudere lustrum. Horace was
born Dec. 8, B.C. 65. lustrum (from luo)
lustrum (from luo) = (1) the expiatory sacrifice
performed by the censors at the end of every fifth year after taking the
census; and so (2) 'a space of five years'; cf. 4. 1. 6 circa lustra decem.
The technical phrase condere lustrum which was used of the censors is
judiciously varied by Horace. trepidavit: a favourite word with Horace,
used, 2. 3. 12, of a stream hurrying down its bed. It expresses eager, excited,
quivering (cf. tremo) motion, cf. 4. 11. 11 and 2. 11. 4 n. For claudere after
a verb of eagerness cf. 1. 15. 27 n. The exact value of the two concluding
lines in fixing the date of the Ode the judicious reader must himself deter-
mine, but cf. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, 'Mr. Augustus Minns was a bachelor
of about forty as he said—of about eight and forty as his friends said.'
ODE V
'Lalage is too young yet for the trials and troubles of love: her delight is
still in childish frolics. Why covet the unripe grape? Wait awhile and she
will seek you of herself, and be dearer to you than ever was Pholoe or Chloris.'
1. ferre iugum valet. The nom. is Lalage, or iuvenca to be extracted
from iuvencae, line 6. iuvenca, a young girl, is frequent in ancient poetry,
though not in accord with modern taste. The metaphor is kept up through-
out the first eight lines, and repeated in lines 15, 16. Cf. dáμaλis and Tóρтis
in Gk. 2. munia comparis aequare, 'match the labours of a mate
or 'yoke-fellow,' i.e. draw even with one in the plough. 5. circa est: lit.
'is around''is occupied with.' This use of circa is very frequent in
Quintilian and some post-Augustan writers, but otherwise rare.
Tl. 6. nunc . . . nunc, 'at one time . . . at another.'
tientis is a very strong word: gestire (from gestus) 'to use passionate
gestures' is in itself a very emphatic word for 'desiring,' and prae='exceed-
ingly' makes it more so. Horace wishes to express how she is given up heart
and soul to her gambols without one thought of love or anything else.
•
•
Cf. είναι περί
9. praeges-
10. iam colore: lividus describes a dull, leaden, somewhat dark
colour (being used of lead, the sea, bruised flesh, bilious people, etc.) and is
specially used of the grape (='bluish-grey ') when just turning, cf. Juv. 2. 81
uvaque conspecta livorem ducit ab uva, Prop. 4. 2. 12 prima mihi (i.e. Vertumno)
variat liventibus uva racemis. Hence the sense is clear, "Soon shall many-
coloured Autumn mark for thee the already darkening clusters with purple
hue'; i.e. 'Lalage is just turning into a woman and, if you only wait a little,
will be ripe for you.' The rendering' Autumn gaily dressed in brilliant colours
shall mark for thee the clusters with blue' misses the point, which is that
Lalage and the grapes are already ripening but not ripe. For the twofold
comparison to a grape and a heifer cf. Theocr. 11. 21 μóσxw yavρorépa,
φιαρωτέρα όμφακος ὠμᾶς. 13. currit... aetas, 'her time of life, now
so wild, hastens along.' ferox keeps up the metaphor of nondum subacta
cervice; she is still too young to be broken in, wild, untamed.
dempserit, apponet. The body naturally increases in strength up to a
certain age (say forty or forty-five), after which strength and activity gradually
14.
250
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HORACE
decrease. Hence it is common to speak of the years up to this period as
'gained' or 'added' (apponere), and those which follow as 'lost' or 'sub-
tracted' (demere); cf. A. P. 175. Horace says that the lover (who is possibly
himself, and at any rate not young) must consider that each year that passes,
though a loss to himself, yet brings ample compensation in the additional
15.
charms it confers on Lalage. For the p in dempserit cf. 2. 4. 10 n.
proterva fronte. Lalage is again spoken of as a iuvenca.
17. dilecta .. The construction is dilecta (a te, tantum) quantum non
Pholoe fugax (dilecta fuit), 'beloved as much as was never coquettish Pholoe.'
19. ut pura... mari, 'as the cloudless moon is reflected in the nightly ocean.
22. mire vultu, 'the difference (i.e. between Gyges and a girl) hard
to detect by reason of his flowing locks and half-girlish face would marvel-
lously deceive even shrewd strangers.' 23. discrimen = 'that which makes
a distinction,' from dis and cerno=кpívw 'to distinguish.'
·
•
ODE VI
O Septimius, thou who wouldst go with me to the world's end, if I live to
old age, may Tibur be the dwelling of my declining years. But, if the fates
cruelly forbid that, then I will seek genial Tarentum. That is an earthly
Paradise, thither do I summon thee to my side, there amid poetry and
friendship shall my life end, there shall thy tears bedew my funeral urn.'
Plüss, who calls attention to the deep feeling which underlies the Ode,
suggests that it was written either during severe illness or under the strong
expectation of an early death. Could he, says Horace, look forward to old
age (senecta line 6) he would prefer no place to Tibur, but if that may not be,
as he hints it may not (si prohibent, not prohibeant or prohibebunt), then he
calls upon Septimius to accompany him to Tarentum, For I will see before
I die The sunny temples of the South.'
• •
Gades: put for the
The Pillars of Hercules
Atlanteus finis; Pind.
aditure, 'thou who
1. Septimi. Probably the Septimius of Ep. 1. 9.
extremity of the universe; cf. 2. 2. 11 remotis Gadibus.
were considered the end of the world; cf. 1. 34. 11
Nem. 4. 69 Γαδείρων τὸ πρὸς ζόφον οὐ περατόν.
wouldst go,' i.e. should necessity arise; cf. 4. 3. 20 donatura, si libeat and n.
2. Cantabrum
The Cantabri inhabited N.W. Spain; occupying a
mountainous and inaccessible district they maintained that guerilla warfare for
which Spain has always been celebrated, and continually harassed the im-
portant settlements on the E. and S. coasts. Augustus went to Spain in person
B.C. 27, and stayed there until B.C. 25, but the final subjugation of the
Cantabri was accomplished by his war-minister Agrippa B.C. 19. Livy (27.
12) notices that Spain was the first province entered by the Romans and the
last subdued, and the interest taken in the war is shown by Horace's frequent
allusions to it. Cf. 3. 8. 22 Cantaber sera domitus catena; 4. 14. 41
Cantaber non ante domabilis; Ep. 1. 18. 55. This Ode must have been
written about the time when Aug. was in Spain, or the allusion here would
be unnatural and out of place. iuga ferre: a metaphor from breaking in
oxen, but which also refers to the custom of making a conquered enemy
'pass under the yoke' (sub iugum mittere). 3. barbaras: partly with
reference to the barbarous character of the inhabitants, partly to the dangerous
character of the coast itself; cf. 1. 22. 5 Syrtes aestuosas.
ODE VI
251
NOTES
5. Tibur. For the same sentiment with regard to Tibur, cf. 1. 7. 1—21.
Argeo='Apyeiw in Latin letters, long 'e' answering to '.' Tiburtus, son of
Catilus, is said to have come with Evander from Greece. colono is what
Kennedy calls a 'Recipient Dative, instead of an Ablative of the Agent,'
used after the Part. Pass. or after gerundives; cf. below, Laconi Phalantho,
and 1. 6. 1 n. 7. sit modus
'Oh! may it be the final bourn | To
one with war and travel worn,'-Martin. The genitives go both with modus
(='a limit') and with lassus, for which cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 178 fessi rerum,
the gen. seeming to be dependent on the sense of 'having had enough of'
which the word contains. If Horace was at Actium (see Epod. 1 Intr.) then
B.C. 27 may well be the date of this Ode, whereas he could hardly describe
himself as 'weary of war' with reference to Philippi fifteen years before.
10. pellitis ovibus Galaesi. The Galaesus was a river near Tarentum
famous for a choice breed of sheep, whose wool was so valuable that they
were 'covered with skins' (pellitae) to protect it from injury.
11. reg-
nata Phalantho, 'ruled over by Phalanthus.' regnare = 'to reign,' being
intransitive, ought not to have a passive, but for convenience sake the past part.
is used passively; cf. 3. 29. 27 regnata Cyro ; Virg. Aen. 6. 794 regnata Saturno.
For the foundation of Tarentum circ. B.C. 700, see Class. Dict. s.v. Phalanthus.
13. ille
Notice carefully the guiding
words. 14. angulus terrarum, 'corner of the world,' not so much
implying that Tarentum was in a 'corner of the world' as that it was
a snug nook for retirement. For ridet cf. S. 1. 5. 90 n. ridet mihi: lit.
'smiles to me' takes my fancy. non Hymetto mella decedunt,
'the honey does not give way before that of Hymettus.' Neither Latin nor
Greek has a use of the pronoun similar to the word 'that' in the above
sentence: they are therefore obliged either to say 'the honey does not
give way before the honey of Hymettus,' or to take a short cut (compendium,
whence the phrase comparatio compendiaria applied to this idiom) and avoid
such roundabout method by saying 'the honey does not give way before
Hymettus.' So below baca Venafro, and Hom. II. 17. 51 kóμαι Xαρíтeσσi
óμoîaι 'locks like those of the Graces.' Cf. also 2. 14. 28 mero . pontifi-
cum potiore cenis; 3. 6. 46 aetas parentum peior avis. 15. decedere is
commonly used of one who quits the footpath to make way for another='yield
to.' Here, however, where certat follows, the notion is rather of a vanquished
competitor quitting the arena. 16. baca, 'the berry' par excellence, i.e.
the berry of the olive. 18. Iuppiter, i.e. the god of the atmosphere, cf. 1.
1. 25 n.
winter.'
·
•
ille (21) . . ibi (22).
brumas: bruma=brevima, i.e. 'the shortest day,' then generally
Aulon: a valley (avλúv) near Tarentum; cf. Mart. 13. 125
19. Falernis: cf. 2. 3. 8.
felix vitibus Aulon.
21. te mecum. The two words are side by side, even as the two friends
were to be. ille locus, i.e. the district near Tarentum. The words et
beatae arces complete and specialise ille locus, arces referring to the hilly
character of the district and beatae to its fertility. 22. tu: emphatic.
calentem, i.e. when the ashes were being removed from the pyre to the urn.
It was customary to sprinkle them with perfumes and wine (cf. Virg. Aen. 6.
226); the poet naturally prefers 'the homage' of a tear. 23. debita : not
'due by custom,' for custom ordained the sprinkling with perfumes, but ‘due
to our friendship,'-'the tributary tear.' 24. vatis amici: emphatic at
the end. Horace has a double claim (cf. debita) on Septimius' tears: (1) their
long friendship, (2) the fact that that friendship had been hallowed by the
252
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HORACE
presence of the Muses. Theirs had not only been a 'fair companionship,' but
they had also 'with singing cheered the way.' (Tennyson, In Mem. c. 22.)
6
ODE VII
Pompeius, with whom I once saw service under Brutus, with whom I have
often joined in revelry, who has thus restored you to your civil rights? How I
remember being in the rout of Philippi with you, when I ran away so inglori-
ously and Mercury spirited me away safe home, while you were sucked back
into the tempest and tumult of the war! Come offer a sacrifice to Jupiter for
your return, and then we will hold a reckless revel beneath the laurels here. On
such a day I scorn to be sober.'
1. saepe, i.e. during the two years before the battle of Philippi.
tempus in ultimum deducte, 'led down into uttermost peril when
Brutus was our leader.' There seems a play on words in deducte . duce.
tempus here=‘a critical period of time'; the notion of 'peril' attaches to it
from ultimum, which implies danger. Cf. Cic. Phil. 5. 17. 46 tempore summo
reipublicae ‘at an extreme crisis of the state'; Catull. 64. 151, 169. 2.
Bruto. M. Brutus, the murderer of Caesar, commanded, along with Cassius,
at Philippi (B.c. 42). 3. redonavit Quiritem, 'given thee back a (full)
citizen. After Philippi most of the republican party were pardoned by
Octavian, Horace among them: Pompeius, however, seems still to have re-
mained in arms with the relics of the beaten faction, and had only just been
amnestied. Quirites signifies a Roman citizen in full possession of his civil
rights, or, in legal phrase, capite non deminutus. Hence in public documents
the phrase populus Romanus Quiritium, and among the jurists, ius Quiritium.
The word was only applied to Roman citizens in a civil capacity, never to
soldiers; hence the point of Caesar's beginning a speech to the mutinous
Tenth legion with the word Quirites.
:
5. sodalium, 'comrades in enjoyment' in connexion with the lines which
follow. 6. morantem . . fregi, ‘I have often with (the aid of) wine
defeated a wearisome day.' frangere is common = 'crush,' 'defeat,' 'break
the back of': the day threatened to be dull and tedious, but Horace had a
remedy powerful enough to defeat its threats and make it move along fast and
pleasantly. 7. coronatus . . . lit. garlanded as to my locks glisten-
ing with Syrian unguent,' i.e. wearing a garland on my locks, etc. 8. malo-
bathrum is a corruption of the Indian name for a plant from which unguent
was extracted. It is called 'Syrian' because Indian products were brought to
the sea-coast through Syria, and bought by Roman merchants in Syria, so
that all such merchandise is indiscriminately called 'Syrian.' Cf. 2. 11. 16.
9. Philippos et celerem fugam, 'Philippi's hurried rout.'
A good
instance of Hendiadys (ev dià dvoîv) or the use of two words or phrases simply
put side by side, instead of a single complex phrase in which the words
qualify each other. Cf. 1. 35. 33 cicatricum fratrumque 'wounds inflicted
by brethren,' 3. 4. 4 fidibus citharaque, 3. 4. 43 Titanas inmanemque turmam,
Caes. B. G. 4. 18 solitudinem et silvas. 10. sensi: a favourite word of
Horace, = 'feel to one's cost,' 'feel anything painful.' Cf. 4. 4. 25 sensere, of
the conquered tribes 'feeling to their cost' the power of Rome; 3. 27. 22
sentiant motus, of those at sea; 3. 5. 36 lora sensit iners; A. P. 66.
relicta non bene parmula. Horace speaks of his military career as of
something he can look back upon as too absurd to be talked of gravely; that
ODE VII
253
NOTES
cum
·
•
he is half jesting is clear from the ironical use of the diminutive parmula, ‘my
poor shield.'
non bene is also used in jest='not over bravely' in serious
writing non bene would = 'most disgracefully,' by litotes, cf. 1. 18. 9 n. He
is probably induced to tell this tale against himself by the fact that he is
imitating the example of Alcaeus, Archilochus, and Anacreon (v. Orelli). For
the disgrace of throwing away the shield cf. pípaσris and the Spartan mother's
advice to her son, 'Return either with your shield or upon it.'
11.
mento. The description in these lines is sober earnest, all the
more telling preceded and followed as it is by ironical jesting. minaces
'those but late so threatening touched with their chin the disgraceful dust.'
The solum is called turpe, because when they 'bit the dust' they were defeated,
and to a certain extent all defeat is disgraceful. Most editors take tetigere
mento as referring to the abject prostration of suppliants, with their faces
in the dust, rather than as a reproduction of phrases such as ỏdৠλajoiαTO
yaîav Hom. Il. 2. 418. They quote Appian 4. 131 to prove that certain
leaders did, after the battle, 'come as suppliants' (ikéтαι πрoσýeσav) to
προσήεσαν)
Antony. But this is really too recondite and unimportant. What Horace
wishes to do is not to commemorate the cowardly behaviour of his fellow-
soldiers after the battle-to do which would be at once unpoetical and
ungenerous-but to tell us in five thrilling words how in that fierce fight
those 'grim warriors bit the dust.'
13. sed me...
te: ἀλλ' ἐμὲ μὲν . . . σὲ δέ ; sed contrasts the divergence
of their after-fortunes with their previous union in danger, cf. the emphatic
tecum at the beginning of the preceding stanza. Mercurius: as the
special patron of poets, cf. 1. 10. 1 n. 14. denso aere: ǹépɩ woλλộ, ‘in
a thick cloud.' aer is constantly opposed to aether, the pure upper air (so
too in Greek ȧýp and allńp),='cloud,' 'mist.' Horace is here satirising
Homer, who represents his divinities as rescuing a defeated hero by this some-
what unfair device whenever convenient, e.g. II. 3. 380. 15. resorbens,
'sucking back.' The metaphor is from a shipwreck: the breakers had cast
Horace safe upon the shore; a back eddy had sucked his friend back amid
'the raging surf' (freta aestuosa), cf. åvapoïßdeî, Hom. Od. 12. 105.
17. ergo, i.e. since after so many dangers you are safe at home. obli-
gatam redde, 'duly offer the banquet as you are bound.' reddo is frequently
not 'to give back,' but 'to give what is due,' the two meanings being in fact
really one: Pompeius had doubtless bound himself by a vow (voto se obligare)
to offer a feast to Jove, and so when he 'duly offered' it, he was but 'giving
back' to the god what the god had given him. obligatam, 'that is bound
on you,' i.e. to which you are bound: the word is technical with regard to
religious obligations, e.g. Cic. Leg. 2. 16. 41 voti sponsio quia obligamur deo
(cf. religio, perhaps from religare).
21. oblivioso
Here Horace represents the feast to which he invites
his friend as actually realised, and himself as urging on the attendants to
their various duties. oblivioso, 'that brings forgetfulness,' i.e. of care, cf.
Liber, Lyaeus; the olvov λalıkηdéα of Alcaeus. levia: cf. 1. 2. 38 n.
Massico: from Mons Massicus in Campania.
22. ciboria: large cups
shaped like the pod of the Egyptian bean (colocasium). 23. conchis.
Shells, or vessels made to imitate shells, were used to contain unguents. So
Martial 3. 82. 27 speaks of a murex aureus as used for this purpose. quis
•
myrto? 'whose task is it speedily to fashion garlands with pliant parsley
or with myrtle?' propero, 'to make haste,' is frequently used transitively in
254
BOOK II
HORACE
the secondary sense of 'to make hastily,' cf. 2. 13. 26 n.; deproperare has the
additional meaning of 'completing.' apium was used both by the Greeks
(e.g. in the garland given as a prize at the Nemean games) and Romans for
chaplets, cf. Virg. E. 6. 68 floribus atque apio crines ornatus amaro. For udo
cf. Theocr. 7. 69 πоλνуváµπтη Te σelivw, easily bent parsley.'
πολυγνάμπτῳ τε σελίνῳ,
25. curatve. For position of ve see 2. 19. 28 n. quem... bibendi ?
'whom shall Venus declare lord of the revel? Venus iactus Veneris;
see 1. 4. 18. 26. dicet: cf. dictatorem dicere, Virg. G. 3. 125 pecori dixere
maritum. 27. Edonis : a Thracian people near the Strymon. The
Thracians were notorious for their orgiastic worship of Dionysus; cf. 1. 27. 1.
28. furere, 'to be mad''to hold furious revel.'
'to hold furious revel.' So too 3. 19. 18 insanire.
ODE VIII
An Ode to Barine, fair, fickle and forsworn. Perhaps this is the only Ode
of which there is an adequate English rendering-that by Sir Charles Sedley
(see Selected Translations, by C. W. Cooper).
1. ulla . . . umquam, 'had any punishment, Barine, for faith forsworn
ever marred your beauty.' The ancients believed that the gods specially
punished perjury by the infliction of personal disfigurement; Ov. Am. 3. 3. 1
esse deos, i, crede; fidem iurata fefellit: | et facies illi, quae fuit ante, manet.
iuris perierati: ius is never used by itself for an oath,' but from the analogy
of its use in iusiurandum Horace has invented this phrase, which is at once
so clear and effective that it is a distinct addition to the Latin language. For
the oxymoron, cf. 3. 11. 35 n. 3. nigro uno. Both adjectives go with
both dente and ungui; uno is emphatic, one single.
5. crederem. Notice the contrast between the long protasis and the em-
phatic monosyllabic apodosis. Had I, he means to say, one atom of hope that
you might possibly keep your word, then I would, spite of everything, then and
there, unreasonably and unhesitatingly believe. tu: emphatic. simul
=simul ac, as soon as.' obligasti: cf. 2. 7. 17 n. 6. caput. It was
customary to 'swear by the head' (cf. St. Matt. v. 36), i.e. invoking a curse on
the head if the oath were broken: hence Horace's selection of the word here.
But he is not uninfluenced by the recollection how charming was that same
'perjured head,'' wreathed' though it was 'with broken vows' (votis obliga-
tum). enitescis...
cura, 'you shine forth in still more radiant beauty,
and advance the cynosure of all our youth.' enitescis and prodis admirably
describe Barine's soft and dazzling beauty as she appears: they are words
that might be used of the rising moon as she 'unveils her peerless light.'
•
•
9. expedit: emphatic. Not only does perjury do you no harm but
it absolutely 'suits you'! 10. fallere, 'to deceive,' i.e. 'to swear falsely
by'; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 324 di cuius iurare timent et fallere numen, and the
common fidem fallere 'to break a pledge.' et toto
carentes.
Horace heaps together words of weight and solemnity to express the awfulness
of the oaths Barine had broken. 13. hoc, i.e. the fact of your perjury.
Notice the climax: not only does Barine not suffer for her perjury, but it ab-
solutely does her good, nay the deities even smile approbation of it. inquam:
just as we insert 'I assure you' when we think what we are saying may appear
incredible. 15. ardentes: burning arrows were frequently used in war:
Cupid's are so called because they kindle the fire' of love.
17. adde quod: poetical for accedit quod; 'then too there is the fact
ODE IX
255
NOTES
that.' pubes crescit, servitus crescit. Horace by simply putting
these two statements side by side expresses the completeness of Barine's em-
pire to say 'new youths are growing up' is identical with saying 'you have
new slaves growing up,' the two phrases are interchangeable. 21. te
Barine was the dread of three classes-timid mothers, thrifty fathers, and
anxious brides. iuvencis: see 2. 5. 1 n. It is used here satirically for
some such word as 'darling.' 23. tua aura, 'the breath of your love.'
ODE IX
•
'Rain, storm, frost do not last for ever, but your grief, Valgius, for Mystes
seems eternal. And yet even Nestor ceased to lament his son, nor did his
sisters bewail Troilus for ever. Cease then these womanly tears, and let us
find relief for private sorrows in singing of the glorious exploits of Augustus.'
When Augustus was in Spain B.C. 27-25 he received a deputation from the
Scythians (cf. Gelonos line 23) offering submission, and in 23 he received similar
deputations from the Parthians at Rome. Hence most fix the date of this
Ode between 27 and 23 B.C. The definite language, however, of 18 seq. about
the 'recent trophies' secured from the conquest of Armenia and Parthia points
to a later date, for Augustus went to the East B.C. 21, and in B.C. 20 sent an
expedition into Armenia under Tiberius and recovered from the Parthians the
standards lost by Crassus at Carrhae, receiving the personal submission of
Prahates (cf. Ep. 1. 12. 26). Horace when he wrote the last two stanzas
seems to have had in mind Virgil, G. 3. 30 addam urbes Asiae domitas
pulsumque Niphaten | fidentemque fuga Parthum versisque sagittis, | et duo
rapta manu diverso ex hoste tropaea, and, although the date of the Georgics
is B.C. 37-30, these lines are generally considered an addition made by Virgil
shortly before his death in B.C. 19. For Valgius cf. S. 1. 10. 82 n.
2.
1. hispidos, 'shaggy,' i.e. 'rough,' 'disordered,' representing the effect of
continuous wet weather on the fields.
Caspium, Armeniis, Gargani.
Cf. 1. 1. 13 n. 3. inaequales: either uneven,' 'gusty,' or 'that make
uneven' (cf. hispidos), the latter sense being supported by the application of
the adj. to a bad haircutter, Ep. 1. 1. 94.
iners,
5. stat, 'is stiff,' referring to the rigidity of ice; cf. 1. 9. 3.
'lifeless.' So 4. 7. 12 bruma recurrit iners. The epithet partly refers to the
torpor which is always associated with extreme cold, and partly to the fact
that frost stops all outdoor work. Cf. too 1. 22. 17 pigris campis of the
Arctic regions. 7. laborant, 'strain beneath the N. winds.' The timber
groans and creaks as if in pain. Cf. 1. 9. 3 silvae laborantes, of snow-laden
branches. Garganus is a mountain in Apulia. 8. viduantur, 'are widowed
of,' i.e. 'are despoiled of.' Notice how throughout these two stanzas Horace
selects illustrations from nature which admirably fall in with the idea of grief,
‘rain,' ‘disorder,' 'storms,' 'lifelessness,' 'winds,' 'groans, 'desolation.'
9. tu, ‘but you.' The adversative force is brought out by the prominent
position of tu. urgues flebilibus modis, 'pursue unweariedly with
mournful measures. urguere is a favourite word with Horace; cf. 2. 10. 2;
18. 20. It here indicates that Valgius will not let the subject of Mystes'
loss go; he is 'continually pursuing' it. 10. Mysten: from μúσтNS=
initiated. Probably he was a favourite Greek slave (such as the anagnostes
or reader, whom Cicero laments, ad Att. 1. 12); the name is found in
inscriptions applied to slaves. Vespero: from Vesperus the evening star
256
BOOK II
HORACE
1
1
personified, the usual term being Hesperus. Both words are identical with
σTEрos, the rough breathing in Greek appearing in Latin as either h or v.
The same star when it appears in the morning is called Lucifer and Kwopópos ;
cf. Tennyson, In Mem. c. 120 'Sweet Hesper-Phosphor, double name | For
what is one.' 12. rapidum: in artistic contrast with fugiente.
flies before the Sun when he comes forth as a giant to run his course.
Lucifer
13. ter aevo functus, 'who had passed through three generations.'
aevum appears to mean a space of about 30 years, a generation.' Men on
the average have children at about the age of 30 (one generation), grandchildren
(the second generation) at 60, and great-grandchildren (the third generation)
at 90. Hence a man of 90 may be said to have 'passed through three
generations.' Horace is copying Homer's description of Nestor, Il. 1. 250 ýồn dúo
μὲν γενεαὶ μερόπων ἀνθρώπων | ἐφθίατο . . . μετὰ δὲ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν.
dè
amabilem = 'though so loveable'; so below inpubem="though cut off in
the flower of his youth.' 14. Antilochum: slain by Memnon. 16.
Troilon: slain by Achilles; cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 475 infelix puer atque inpar
congressus Achilli.
Phrygiae sorores, i.e. Cassandra, Polyxena, etc.
Phrygiae, ‘Trojan.' The historical Phrygia would not include Troy.
• •
17. semper: emphatic by position. Horace dwells all through not on
the folly of sorrow but of ceaseless sorrow. Cf. semper line 1; usque 4;
menses per omnes 6; semper 9; omnes annos 14; semper 17; tandem 18.
desine mollium querellarum, 'cease those womanly laments.' desine
takes a gen. on the analogy of Gk. words, such as λýyei, taúeolαι,
etc. Cf. 4. 9. 35 n. 19. tropaea. See Intr. Tropaeum=Ãроπаîov, a
memorial set up by the victors at the spot where the enemy's line was
'turned back' (TρÉTW). 20. rigidum Niphaten, 'frozen Niphates,' a
mountain of Armenia. 21. Medumque flumen vertices. The
construction changes to acc. and inf.; and that the Persian stream (i.e. the
Euphrates) rolls its eddying waves less proudly and the Geloni within
fixed limits career over narrowed plains.' For Medus = Parthian cf. 2. 1.
31 n.
The same event is alluded to by Virgil in similar terms, Aen. 8. 726
Euphrates ibat iam mollior undis; G. 4. 560. For minores volvere
vertices cf. R. C. Trench, The Alma: 'Alma, roll thy waters proudly, |
Proudly roll them to the sea.' 23. Gelonos: a nomad tribe of Scythians
who, like the modern Cossacks, roamed over the wide steppes (campis) by the
Tanais or Don, and made raids on horseback (equitare) into Roman territory.
Cf. 3. 8. 23, 24.
·
ODE X
An Ode on the virtue of moderation, as the true lesson to be derived from
philosophy and experience (see n. on line 5). Licinius Murena, afterwards
called A. Terentius Varro Murena, was the brother of the Proculeius of 2.
2. 5, and of Terentia, wife of Maecenas. According to Dion Cassius 54. 3
ἀκράτῳ καὶ κατακορεῖ παρρησίᾳ πρὸς πάντας ὁμοίως ἐχρῆτο, so that he must
have been singularly wanting in the virtue which Horace, perhaps designedly,
here selects for praise. He joined Fannius Caepio in a conspiracy against
Augustus B.C. 22, and was put to death. Cf. too 3. 19. 11.
1. rectius. The adj. rectus is used by writers on moral philosophy as
almost=honestus, to indicate that which is in accordance with the moral
standard' (regula, from rego), 'what is morally right'; and rectum as a
noun represents the Stoic κаróp¤wμα='a morally right act performed with a
ODE X
257
NOTES
knowledge that it is so'; see Dict. s. v. The whole Ode is a good instance
of Horace's happy power of combining the lessons of philosophy with those
of practical common-sense and experience. For other philosophical terms in
it cf. auream mediocritatem, sobrius, bene praeparatum pectus, sapienter.
altum urguendo, 'by ever strenuously making for the deep (i.e. open) sea.
For urguere cf. 2. 9. 9 n. 3. nimium iniquum, 'by too closely
hugging the dangerous shore.' To keep too close in shore involves risks from
breakers, rocks, etc. The excess of caution or boldness is equally unwise.
•
•
•
5. auream mediocritatem, 'the golden mean.' mediocritas is the
Gk. Tò μéσov, тò μéтρiov, and is defined by Cic. de Off. 1. 25 illa mediocritas,
quae est inter nimium et parum. From observation of the advantages of
moderation had sprung up such proverbial sayings as that inscribed over the
temple of Delphi, Mŋdèv ayav, 'nothing in excess'; but it was Aristotle
who first embodied the general idea into a philosophic conception, and made
it the first principle of a system of moral philosophy. He showed that all
the virtues, courage (cf. stanza 1), temperance (cf. stanza 2), etc., are 'mean
states' lying between two extremes, which are 'vicious states,' one erring on
the side of excess, the other of deficiency, e.g. 'courage' is the 'mean ' or
virtuous state, lying between excess of courage, i.e. recklessness, on one side,
and deficiency of courage, i.e. cowardice, on the other. auream: cf. 1. 5.
9 n. and our 'a golden rule.' 6. diligit tutus, 'securely chooses.' Many
place a comma after diligit, but the natural division of the verse is against
this, and it also destroys the careful and rhythmical balance of caret obsoleti
sordibus tecti and caret invidenda sobrius aula. caret ... 'avoids the
squalor of a tumble-down dwelling, avoids too in his temperance the envy
that a palace excites.' As in 1-4 Horace has depicted courage as a mean
between two extremes, so here he depicts 'temperance' as a mean equally
removed from (caret . . . caret) squalor and extravagance. 8. sobrius=
owpρwv, which is used by Aristotle of the man who is 'temperate in all
things,' as opposed to the man who indulges himself without restraint
(άкóλασTOS); Aristotle adds that this particular virtue has not two opposites,
as men who are inclined to take too little pleasure do not exist.'
invidendus,='that is to be envied,' cf. 3. 1. 45 invidendis postibus.
For
14.
9. saepius, 'more frequently,' i.e. than smaller pines. The point of the
stanza is at once made clear by noticing that the emphatic words are ingens,
celsae, summos. 13. infestis, secundis. Datives: 'hopes for adversity,
fears for prosperity, the opposite lot'; cf. Sall. Cat. 40. 2 quem exitum
tantis malis sperarent. metuit: not of cowardly fear, but of just and
reasonable fear, which begets prudence, temperance, and the like.
bene praeparatum, i.e. by the precepts of philosophy; cf. Sen. de Vita
Beata 8 sapiens in utrumque paratus artifex vitae. Horace here inculcates a
virtue for which we have no special name, but which is equally removed from
foolish over-confidence and unreasonable despondency. 15. informes.
So Virg. G. 3. 354 speaks of Scythia as aggeribus niveis informis, 'shapeless
with heaps of snow.' 16. Iuppiter: cf. 2. 6. 18 n. and for the thought
Theoc. 4. 41 θαρσείν χρή, φίλε Βάττε· τάχ' αὔριον ἔσσετ᾽ ἄμεινον. | ἐλπίδες.
ἐν ζωοῖσιν, ἀνέλπιστοι δὲ θανόντες. | χώ Ζεὺς ἄλλοκα μὲν πέλει αίθριος, ἄλλοκα
δ' ύει. idem, 'but yet he also.' idem gets this adversative sense, because
it intensifies the contrast when you say that two opposite actions are done
by the same person.
Cf. line 22; 2. 19. 27; 3. 4. 67.
17. si male nunc, i.e. si male est nunc; kakŵs čxel: cf. 3. 16. 43 bene
S
+
258
BOOK II
HORACE
cithara
·
•
est. olim, 'some day'; cf. 4. 4. 5 n. 18. quondam, 'sometimes';
cf. Ep. 1. 18. 78 n.
Musam, ‘wakes with the lyre his
(previously) silent muse.' For suscitat cf. Gray, Progress of Poesy, 'Awake,
Aeolian lyre, awake.' 19. arcum tendit Apollo, 'stretches his bow,'
i.e. keeps it strung. Cf. 3. 4. 60-65. For Apollo as a destructive deity
(? connected with ảπóλλυµ) see Class. Dict.
22.
21. rebus angustis, 'in straitened circumstances'; abl. abs.
appare, 'show thyself.' apparere is here not appear,' i.e. 'not be in
reality,' but='show' or 'display oneself' in any character; as palveolar is
often used. sapienter idem, 'you will yet if you are wise.' sapiens is
the technical Stoic word for 'the ideal wise man,' 'the perfect philosopher.'
23. contrahes, 'you will take in,' i.e. make smaller; πoσTÉXXew тà iσría.
For the metaphor from sailing cf. stanza 1. nimium secundo, 'too
favourable.' Excessive prosperity was held by the ancients to be fraught
with danger. Cf. the whole plot of Aesch. Agamemnon, and the general
belief in 'Nemesis'; see too our own Litany, 'in all time of our wealth
good Lord, deliver us.' secundo (from sequi,='following') is used of a
wind right astern.
ODE XI
•
Cease, Hirpinus, from your cares about wars and wealth: we need but
little here below, nor need that little long." Fading flowers and waning
moons warn us against the wearisome uselessness of endless calculations.
Come and be happy while you may.'
'Live while you live,' the Epicure will say,
'And give to pleasure every fleeting day';
Live while you live,' the sacred Preacher cries,
And give to God each moment as it flies.'
Lord, in my life let both united be;
I live to pleasure while I live to Thee.-DODDRIDGE.
1. Cantaber. Cf. 2. 6. 2 n., and for Scythes (Σkúēŋs) n. on Gelonos
2. 9. 23, and 3. 8. 23. 2. Hirpine Quincti. See Ep. 1. 16 Intr. quid
cogitet, 'what he plots'; oblique interrogation after quaerere.
Hadria divisus obiecto. The Scythians were 'separated' from Italy not
only by the Adriatic but also by an immense tract of country. Perhaps
therefore Horace purposely exaggerates, or adopts Hirpinus' own exaggerated
description of the situation: though the Cantabri are eager for war,' he says,
'and the Scythian hordes only separated from us by the barrier of the
Adriatic, yet why, even then, be so anxious?' Others take obiecto='shield-
ing,' and say that a shield is held close to the body without reference to the
distance of the assailant, but divisus hardly agrees with this metaphor.
3. remittas: lit. 'to slacken anything that has been in a state of tension
here of relaxing the strain on his mind-'cease so anxiously to enquire.'
4. trepides aevi, 'fret thyself about the requirements of life that
needs but little.'. For trepido cf. 2. 4. 23 n. and the use of πтоεîolai, of
nervous, fluttering anxiety. in denotes the aim and end to which that
anxiety is directed, and for usus aevi cf. Cic. Verr. 2. 4. 5 usum provinciae
supplere, Livy 26. 43 quae belli usus poscunt suppeditare. For what Epi-
curus considered 'epicurean,' cf. his saying (Diog. L. 10. 11) 'For myself
I can be pleased with bread and water, yet send me a little cheese that when
I want to be extravagant I may be,'
• · •
ODE XII
259
NOTES
6. levis, 'beardless,' 'smooth-faced'; cf. 4. 6. 28 levis Agyieu, 'O ever-
youthful Apollo.' arida canitie, wizened hoary age.' 9. non
semper
11.
Cf. Hymns A. and M.: 'Yet birds and flowerets round us
preach; | All, all the present evil teach | Sufficient for the day.'
aeternis fatigas consiliis is governed both by minorem and fatigas.
'Why weary with eternal schemes your mind which is less than (i.e. incapable
of dealing with) them?' aeternis bears two senses: (1)='ceaseless,' (2)=
'that are concerned with an infinite future,' as if you would live for ever.
13. platano. The plane was a favourite tree in pleasure-gardens because
of the shelter afforded by its broad-spreading leaves (λáтavos, πλатús), cf.
Plat. Phaedr. 229 a, 330 B. hac: graphic and vivid. 14. sic temere,
'carelessly just as we are'; cf. Hom. Il. 2. 120 μày ouтw, Plato
οὕτω,
Gorg. 506 D OUтws eiкn. The final e of temere is of doubtful quantity and
always elided in poetry.
'and our gray locks crowned with
scented roses.' 16. Assyria: cf. n. on malobathro Syrio, 2. 7. 8. 17.
Euhius. Bacchus was so called from the cry evoî (2. 19. 5) used in his
festivals. 18. edaces, 'carking,' 'consuming'; cf. 1. 18. 4 mordaces
sollicitudines. puer=πaîs, 'a slave.'
ocius, 'with more than ordinary
speed.' 19. Falerni: cf. 2. 3. 8 n. Its 'fire' needed to be 'quenched'
with 'water from the stream hard by' (praetereunte lympha).
•
•
•
•
et rosa
'who will lure Lyde, that coy damsel, from her
maturet, ‘go, bid her hasten.'
age is used
•
21. quis devium
home?' 22. dic age
like an interjection and does not affect the construction; maturet is dependent
on dic, being the subj. of Oblique Petition. 23. in comptum
nodum, 'her hair bound back into a neat knot after the fashion of a
Laconian maiden.' Any one who has seen a Greek statue will know the
simple elegance with which Greek women dressed their hair, and the Laconians
were especially noted for simplicity. Many MSS. read incomptum, which
gives no satisfactory construction. Bentley seeing the excellent sense given
by the adj. incomptus in connexion with Horace's hasty summons, boldly
proposes to read incomptam comam religata nodo.
·
·
•
·
ODE XII
You would not, I am sure, Maecenas, desire that I should attempt to tell
of the wars of the Romans and the contests of gods and heroes on the peaceful
lyre, and besides you yourself will recount Caesar's triumphs better in a prose
history. 'Tis my more fitting task to describe the charms of Licymnia-
Licymnia one single curl of whom you would not barter for the wealth of
Arabia, so powerful are her kisses, her coquetry, and her love.'
Doubtless Horace had been urged by Maecenas to compose an Ode or Odes
on some national theme in which the deeds of Augustus might be introduced
as a climax (for an instance see 2. 1. 6), and this Ode is his apology for refus-
ing to do so-a refusal for which he atones by selecting Licymnia (i.e. Terentia,
his wife) as a perfect instance of a theme more befitting his Muse.
·
•
•
•
•
and (there is also a special
longa ferae: both adjectives
1. nolis tuque ... dices, 'you would be unwilling (i.e. on general
grounds of taste and inappropriateness)
reason, viz.) you will yourself tell . .
are emphatic; 'long' wars need an epic poem, 'savage' combats do not suit
the lyre. Numantia was taken в.c. 133 by P. Scipio Africanus the younger
after a siege of eight years. 2. dirum Hannibalem. The MSS. read
260
BOOK II
HORACE
durum, but dirum, the epithet applied to Hannibal 3. 6. 36 and 4. 4. 42, is
appropriate and almost necessary here. Two centuries after the invasion of
Hannibal there still lived in Italy 'the terror of his name': he was still
'Hannibal the Dread'; with his name that epithet was indissolubly united.
How then could Horace, especially here, where he is selecting typical instances
of great wars and warriors, venture on such a parody of dirus as durus?
It would be as pardonable to call Wellington not the 'Great Duke,' but the
'Grand Duke.' Siculum mare . . : referring to the victories of C.
Duilius at Mylae, with the first fleet the Romans ever built, B.C. 260, and
to that of Lutatius Catulus at the Aegatian Islands, B.C. 242. Cf. 3. 6. 34.
3. Poeno purpureum. The conjunction of these adjectives is remarkable,
considering the notoriety of 'Phoenician purple': it is probably an oversight.
mollibus aptari citharae modis, 'be set to the lyre's gentle measures.
aptari c. m. expresses the fitting or adjustment of a subject to such metres
as are suited for the accompaniment of the lyre. mollibus: so 1. 6. 10
inbellis lyrae. Horace in both cases selects the epithet to assist his excuse,
not because he regards lyric poetry as universally 'unwarlike' and 'gentle.'
He was well aware of its capability to sound a graver note; cf. next Ode
line 26, and for admirable instances the first six Odes of Book 3.
•
>
5. nimium mero, 'wild with wine'; cf. Tac. Hist. 4. 23 rebus secundis
nimii. Hylaeus was one of the Centaurs; for their battle with the Lapithae,
cf. 1. 18. 7 n. 7. Telluris iuvenes=yíyavres 'the Earthborn. For their
attack on heaven, cf. 2. 19. 21-24 and notes. unde periculum
domus, 'at the danger of whose attack the bright abode of ancient Saturn
shook with fear.' unde, 'whence'='from whom,' 'at whose hands.' peri-
culum is acc. after contremuit, which though intransitive becomes transitive
(cf. 2. 13. 26 n.) 'to quake' or 'shake with fear at.' For the sense cf.
Joel ii. 10 'The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble.'
8. fulgens: because the sky is the abode of light and brightness, cf. 3. 3. 33
lucidas sedes 'the halls of light,' i.e. heaven.
•
dominae
•
•
9. tuque . Must be Maecenas, though we know nothing of his
having attempted such a work. pedestribus, 'prose'; cf. S. 2. 6. 17 n.
10. historiis: ioropla, an enquiry,' then 'a history'; cf. Herod. 1. 1
iotopíns åπódeığıs ñde, 'this display of the results of my enquiry.' In 3.
7. 20 historias 'stories,' 'legends.' 11. per vias: especially up the
Sacred Way' to the summit of the Capitol. 12. colla: with reference to
the chains on their necks; cf. Epod. 7. 7. 13. me... : in strong
contrast to tu.
Licymniae, 'the Queen of hearts
Licymnia.' Under the nom-de-plume of Licymnia (Aikuµvía: cf. dulces
cantus Myeîs üuvo) Horace refers to Terentia the wife of Maecenas. The
fact that the two names are identical in scansion makes this very probable:
the Ode would be sent privately with the real name, but be published with
the fictitious one substituted. So too Catullus puts Lesbia for Clodia,
Tibullus Delia for Plania. Moreover the fact that Licymnia (line 20) takes
part in the festival of Diana shows that she must have been a Roman lady.
domina (dominus 'a master of slaves')='one who holds hearts in thrall.'
14. lucidum fulgentes, 'brightly (cf. 1. 22. 23 n.) sparkling.'
bene fidum, 'firmly faithful,' the adverb confirms the force of fidus,
as male would obliterate it (male fidus = 'unfaithful '). Cf. 1. 17. 25 n.
17. quam nec dedecuit, 'in whom it was not unbecoming
i.e.
'most becoming'; Litotes, cf. 1. 18. 9 n. ferre pedem choris, 'to move
·
•
•
15.
ODE XIII
261
NOTES
•
"
her feet in the dance'; cf. Virg. Georg. 1. 11 ferte simul Faunique pedem
Dryadesque puellae. The dancing was possibly on the occasion of 'Dian's
thronged festival,' cf. A. P. 232 n. Except in connexion with religious cere-
monies dancing was not highly esteemed as a lady's accomplishment, cf. 3.
6. 21 n.; Sall. Cat. 25 (of Sempronia) saltare elegantius quam necesse est probae.
Orelli however explains in connexion with certare ioco of private entertain-
ments- whom it has often graced to dance and jest.' 18. dare brac-
chia, i.e. in dancing, of which rhythmic movements of the arms formed a
chief part; cf. S. 1. 9. 25 n. and saltare used of a carver, Juv. 5. 121. 19.
nitidis, 'in festal attire. 20. celebris: lit. 'thronged' with worshippers.
21. quae tenuit ..: an adjectival phrase put for a noun, and parallel
to Mygdonias opes, both being governed by permutare = 'to take in
exchange,' as at 3. 1. 47. Achaemenes: the legendary ancestor of the
Persians. Eastern potentates are the accepted types of vast wealth, cf. 1. 29.
1 n.
22. Mygdonias: Mygdon was a prince of 'fertile Phrygia' mentioned
Hom. Il. 3. 186. 24. plenas, 'full,' because hitherto unrifled by the
Romans. Arabum: cf. 1. 29. 1 n. 25. cum. This stanza goes closely with
the preceding one: 'he would not barter a lock of hair for the whole world,
when under the fascination of her caresses -what he might do in calmer
moments Horace wisely does not say. detorquet ad, bends to catch'
whereas the next moment facili saevitia (oscula) negat. 26. aut facili..
occupet, 'or with yielding sternness refuses the kisses which for all that
even more than her suitor she loves to have stolen from her (and) sometimes
is herself the first to snatch.' facili saevitia: oxymoron.
occupo is used
like plávw followed by a participle-to anticipate some one in doing some-
thing.' 27. quae... gaudeat... occupet: the subjunctives, because
quae quamvis ea ‘although she loves them to be stolen,' etc.
>
ODE XIII
'Verily I could believe the fellow guilty of any crime who first planted thee,
accursed log, that didst nearly crush me to death! Crushed by a falling tree !
yes, take all the precautions we may, death ever comes from a quarter we had
never guarded against. Narrowly indeed have I escaped a voyage to the world
beneath, and an introduction to my lyrical predecessors, who amid the Elysian
fields sing their songs of love and war to the listening throng of ghosts, and
even cast a spell on Cerberus and teach the damned to forget their tortures.
The Ode is suggested by one of his trees nearly falling on his head; an
event also alluded to 2. 17. 27; 3. 4. 27; 3. 8. 8. The subject is treated
here with an attractive blending of jest and earnest.
1. ille
• • •
produxit. The construction is obvious if it be observed that
quicumque primum (i.e. quicumque primum te posuit) is parenthetical. ille
is strongly emphatic, and picked up with vehemence in illum at the beginning
of the second stanza and ille in its striking position line 8. quicumque
primum also has great force from its parenthetical position: 'that wretch
(who he was and when it was, I don't know, but he) both planted.
nefasto die: (1) a day on which the magistrate did not utter' (nefastus from
ne and fari) the three technical words, do, dico, addico, which indicated that
he was prepared to sit for the administration of the laws; cf. Ovid Fast. 1. 47
ille nefastus erit per quem tria verba silentur : | fastus erit per quem lege
licebit agi; (2) a day on which for any reason law could not be adminis-
262
BOOK II
HORACE
tered: but as many of these days were 'ill-omened days' (e.g. the anniversary
of Cannae) nefastus dies was gradually used for 'a day of evil omen,' a usage
which would be encouraged by the tendency to connect the word with nefas
rather than ne-fari. Cf. 1. 35. 35 nefasti='guilt,' and see Dict. s. v.
5. et, 'even.' crediderim, 'I can well believe.' The perfect subj. of
verbs of 'believing' or 'affirming' is elegantly used to express a certain
diffidence in asserting a belief or making an affirmation. The Roman
writers felt that for fallible men such words as credo, affirmo, dico, were not
to be used lightly, and loved to modify them in such phrases as credi-
derim, pace tua dixerim, hoc pro certo affirmaverim. 6. penetralia,
hospitis. Both words are emphatic: it is not only murder, but the murder
of a guest, and it is in the inmost part of the house, the most sacred spot in
it, specially under the guardianship of the Penates, or 'Gods of the interior.
The horror is increased by the addition of the epithet nocturnus.
venena Colcha. Some MSS. read Colchica, but an open vowel at the end
of one stanza before a vowel at the commencement of the next, though objec-
tionable where there is no pause, is better than the very harsh elision which
Colchica involves. Colchus is analogous in form to such adjectives as Medus,
Maurus, Thynus, Dardanus, Romulus, cf. 1. 15. 10 n. Poisons are called
'Colchian' because Medea came from Colchis. 11. caducum, 'destined to
fall.' 12. domini, 'thy owner'; the tree must have been on Horace's
Sabine farm.
·
•
8.
13. quid quisque horas, 'no man has ever been sufficiently
guarded, hour by hour, what he personally is to avoid.' cautum est is
used impersonally, 'it has been guarded by a man.' quid vitet is the
direct question quid vitem? put as a dependent clause; quisque is added
because each individual carefully selects what he himself should avoid, though
the result too often is that while A carefully avoids C, and B, D, yet D turns
out to be what A, and C what B should have avoided, or some unregarded
force E ruins both alike. Cf. lines 15-20. 14. Bosphorum. For the
dangers of the Bosphorus cf. 3. 4. 30; at its entrance were the so-called Sym-
plegades or Clashing Rocks. What the 'Carthaginian sailor' is doing there
need not trouble us: Horace merely remembers that in the days when
Carthage existed its seamen were bold and venturesome, and he mentions the
Bosphorus quite vaguely as a type of any dangerous strait. Moreover, he is
influenced in his choice of the word by the early reputation for seamanship of
those Phoenicians from whom the Poeni or Carthaginians were descended.
Thynus (cf. 3. 7. 3) is a conjecture
16. caeca,
'hidden,' 'obscure,' i.e. not obvious. timet: the last syllable lengthened
by ictus, cf. S. 1. 5. 90 n. aliunde emphatic, cf. inprovisa, line 19.
17. miles. Obviously from the next clause, 'the Italian soldier.'
sagittas Parthi. The soldier fears 'the arrows and swift flight of
the Parthian' because the flight was only a manœuvre which enabled them
to discharge their arrows without danger into masses of infantry who could
not follow them, cf. 1. 19. 11 n. 19. robur. A dungeon in the Mamer-
tine prison on the Capitol, made by Servius Tullius and called after him
Tullianum, was frequently spoken of simply as Robur, 'the Strong Place.'
Cf. Tac. Ann. 4. 29 robur et saxum aut parricidarum poenas minitari, Lucr.
3. 1030 verbera, carnifices, robur, pix. When the triumphator began to ascend
from the Forum to the Capitol the chief prisoners were led away to be
executed there. The connexion with catenas here makes it unlikely that
accepted by many.
ODE XIII
263
NOTES
the word is simply 'strength,' 'power.' inprovisa: emphatic :='But it
is the unforeseen violence of death that ever has and ever will,' etc.
21. Proserpinae. The first syllable short, but 1. 28. 20 long, as usually.
22. Aeacum. Aeacus, Minos, and Rhadamanthus, having been righteous
rulers during life, were appointed judges of the dead. 23. discriptas,
marked off' (dis, scribo); wrongly spelt descriptas in some MSS. Others
have discretas. Elysium was separated from Tartarus; Virg. Aen. 8. 670
secretosque pios. 24. Aeoliis: both Sappho and Alcaeus, though Lesbians,
used the Aeolic dialect; cf. 4. 9. 12 Aeolia puella. 25. Sappho acc.
= Σαπφώ.
26. sonantem
dura, 'chanting . . . the hardships.' Many in-
transitive verbs are in poetry used transitively in a secondary sense:
so here sonare'describe sonorously,' ludere 1. 32. 2; lusit 4. 9. 9=
write sportively,' deproperare 2. 7. 24 'make hastily,' contremuit 2. 12. 8
'shook with fear of,' 3. 24. 61; palluit 3. 27. 28 'paled for fear of,'
arsit 4. 9. 13 'was hotly in love with,' sileri 4. 9. 31 'pass over in silence';
Ep. 1. 2. 61 poenas festinat; 1. 3. 10 expalluit haustus. plenius, i.e. in
comparison with Sappho's plaintive feminine laments; Alcaeus had a fuller,
manlier ring. 27. dura navis | dura: see Notes on Metres, p. xviii. § 4.
28. fugae, belli: cf. 1. 32. 5 n.: fugae = 'exile.' 29. sacro digna
silentio, things worthy of reverent silence.' sacro because the bard is 'the
Muses' priest,' cf. 3. 1. 2-4. 32. densum umeris, 'thick-packed, shoulder
to shoulder.' bibit aure, 'drinks in with the ear,' i.e. listens eagerly to;
cf. Ep. 1. 2. 67 adbibe verba; Ovid, Trist. 3. 5. 14 auribus ista bibi; Virg.
Aen. 4. 359 auribus hausi.
aures.
33. carminibus stupens, 'dazed by the strains.' 34. demittit
The effect produced on Cerberus is stupor (stupens); he does
not listen, for to listen he would 'prick up his ears' (cf. aures acutas 2. 19. 4),
but is lulled into forgetfulness of his duties as a watch-dog, 'he lets his dark
ears droop.' centiceps. Hesiod, Theog. 312, speaks of Cerberus as κúva
πενтηкоνтакάрnvov; Sophocles, Trach. 1098, as трíкрavov, and he is generally
so represented; cf. 2. 19. 31. 36. Eumenidum: Evμevides, 'the
kindly' or 'gracious goddesses,' i.e. the Furies, so called euphemistically from
a desire to avoid ill-omened expressions. Cf. such phrases as Tóvтos eûçelvos,
Єvøρový (= night), etc. They are depicted with snaky tresses, cf. Virg. G. 4. 482
inplexae crinibus angues | Eumenides. recreantur, 'find rest' or 'relief.'
37. quin et 'nay even... cf. 3. 11. 21 n. Prometheus.
'This form of the legend, which makes Prometheus still undergo punishment
in Tartarus (cf. 2. 18. 35, Epod. 17. 67), is known to no other extant author.'
-Wickham. Pelopis parens: Tantalus. 38. laborum decipitur,
are cheated of their toils.' The gen. depends on the sense of 'forgetfulness
or 'freedom' contained in decipitur; the song makes them forgetful of their
agonies. Good MSS. give laborem, an acc. of respect, which is less elegant.
Prometheus et Pelopis parens decipitur. The verb is singular
in accordance with Horace's favourite practice of putting a singular verb
after two nominatives, if the last one be singular. Cf. 2. 1. 28, 2. 11. 2
Cantaber et Scythes cogitet, 3. 11. 22 Ixion Tityosque risit, 2. 18. 26 pellitur
et uxor et vir, 3. 2.7 matrona et virgo suspiret, 4. 5. 22 mos et lex edomuit ;
but see 3. 16. 7 n. 39. Orion. The great hunter still follows the same
pursuit in the under world.
• ·
>
264
BOOK II
HORACE
ODE XIV
'Alas, Postumus, life is fast slipping away: from death neither piety nor
prayers nor costly hecatombs can win a respite; even the strongest and most
daring of the sons of earth the river of death imprisons, yes, the river we must
all cross,
rich and poor alike: thither, for all our care and caution, we must
all wend our way, quitting all that we hold most dear, leaving to a reckless heir
the wealth of which we called ourselves the owners.'
1. Postume, Postume. Horace is very fond of this repetition of a
word its use is to give emphasis, reduplication being the earliest and most
natural method of expressing intensity of feeling. The peculiar emphasis must
be determined by the context in each case. Here the object is to intensify
the idea of sadness; so too 3. 3. 18 Ilion, Ilion; 4. 4. 70 occidit, occidit.
Cf. also such expressions as 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is
vanity,' and for the repetition of a proper name, Matt. xxiii. 37 'O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets'; Luke x. 41 'Martha, Martha.'
On the other hand cf. 2. 17. 10 ibimus, ibimus (strong resolution), 1. 13. 1
Telephi. Telephi (fondness), 1. 35. 15 ad arma
Triumphe
•
·
•
•
io Triumphe, 4. 13. 1 audivere Di
•
•
ad arma, 4. 2. 49 io
Di audivere (exulta-
tion), 4. 13. 10 te quia te quia (derision). 2. labuntur. This word,
which is frequently used either of the motion of a stream (Ep. 1. 2. 43) or of
the heavenly bodies (labentia signa Lucr. 1. 2; Virg. G. 1. 6), expresses
motion which, without being hurried, is unceasing (ohne Hast doch ohne
Rast), and is constantly applied to the silent flight of time. Cf. Ov. Fast.
6. 771 Tempora labuntur tacitisque senescimus annis, and see Dict. s. v.
3. rugis senectae morti: note the advance. 4. indomitae,
'unconquerable'; cf. 1. 24. 7 n.; Hom. Il. 9. 158 'Aídns ådáµaoros.
5. non
•
•
•
• •
•
6. inlacrima-
cf. 1. 3. 22 n.
'no, not if with three hecatombs of bulls each day that
passes you essay to appease tearless Pluto . . .' Most MSS. read tricenis,
but this from triginta would have the first syllable long.
bilem, 'who never weeps,' i.e. can never be moved to pity;
8. Geryonen. A Spanish giant with three bodies, whose oxen were carried
off by Hercules. Tityon: TITÚov; cf. 3. 4. 77; 4. 6. 2. He was a son
of Earth, and insulted Latona. Geryon and Tityos are selected as symbols
of enormous strength subdued by death notwithstanding. tristi com-
pescit unda, 'confines with melancholy stream'; cf. 2. 20. 8 nec Stygia
cohibebor unda. With its slow and weary windings nine times interposed
the Styx formed the boundary of Tartarus; cf. Virg. G. 4. 478 tardaque palus
inamabilis unda | alligat et noviens Styx interfusa coercet; Aen. 6. 438.
•
9. scilicet, from scire licet='surely,' 'doubtless,' is frequently used, as
here, where an incontrovertible statement is repeated with fresh emphasis
and particularity; 'with melancholy stream, yes, the stream that all must
traverse-. . .' Cf. 1. 37. 30. 10. quicumque vescimur, 'whoever
feed on the bounty of earth,' a reproduction of Hom. Il. 6. 142 ßporŵv oi ápoú-
ρης καρπὸν ἔδουσιν. 11. sive reges | sive: Notes on Metres p. xviii.
reges, 'kings,' or possibly 'rich men'; cf. 1. 4. 14. 12. coloni
(from colo), 'husbandmen. 13. carebimus, 'we shall keep free from.'
14. fractis fluctibus, 'the breakers.' Note the sound of these two lines.
15. per autumnos Austrum. Autumn is the most unhealthy part
of the year in Italy, owing partly to the prevalence of the Sirocco wind

§ 4.
ODE XV
265
NOTES
(Auster), that blows from Africa and the Sahara; cf. S. 2. 6. 18. 16. cor-
poribus: governed partly by nocentem, partly by metuemus.
17. ater: a general epithet of things infernal; cf. atras aures 2. 13. 34.
flumine languido: cf. palus used of the Styx by Virg. 1. c. 18. Cocytos
=KWKUTÓS, 'wailing'; cf. Milton, P. L. 2. 579 Cocytus named of lamentation
loud.' Danai genus. For the daughters of Danaus, see Class. Dict. and
3. 11. 23 to end. 19. damnatus longi laboris. After verbs of con-
demning, acquitting, etc., a gen. of the charge (e.g. damnatus furti) is regular;
but here longi laboris is not the charge but the sentence, 'condemned to end-
less toil.' So Livy has damnatus voti, 'condemned to pay the thing vowed';
Cic. Verr. 2. 3. 11 damnare octupli: Wickham considers it a gen. of estima-
tion or valuing. longi: 2. 16. 30 n. 20. Sisyphus: cf. Epod. 17. 68.
21. linquenda. By its pointed position in strong contrast with visendus
at the commencement of the preceding stanza. placens: a perfect epithet.
23. invisas, 'hateful,' not because the cypress itself is ugly but as being
sacred to Pluto, and constantly associated with death: it is called funebris
Epod. 5. 18, feralis Virg. Aen. 6. 216. 24. brevem dominum, 'their
short-lived lord.' For brevem, cf. 2. 3. 13 breves flores rosae, and for a similar
satire on the application of such terms as 'ownership' to men who are at
best but tenants with short leases cf. Ep. 2. 2. 170-180. brevis dominus is in
fact a sort of oxymoron: legally dominus is the possessor in perpetuity, as
opposed to one who is only a tenant or holder under a lease; brevis dominus,
an owner for a short time,' is therefore strictly a contradiction in terms.
25. Caecuba, sc. vina, from a district in Latium near Fundi.
dig-
nior, i.e. because he uses and enjoys it, the epithet being added with 'a
certain bitterness' (Wickham). Cf. Eccl. xi. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy
youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth . . . but know
thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.'
centum: any indefinite number; cf. 2. 16. 33; 3. 8. 13. 27. superbo :
hypallage, cf. 3., 1. 42 p.: the epithet is transferred from the drinker to the
wine: he will proudly or in his pride stain the pavement.' At the same
time superbus may be applied to the wine itself, as we speak of a 'generous'
wine. The phrase tinguet pavimentum implies that the banquet was
riotous and reckless, much wine being spilt. 28. pontificum potiore
cenis, superior to that of priestly banquets': for the use of comparatio
compendiaria, see 2. 6. 14. The pontifices (see Dict. of Ant.) formed one of
the collegia or 'guilds' at Rome, and, as such bodies often do, owed their chief
reputation to the splendour of their banquets; cf. 1. 37. 2 Saliaribus dapibus.
ODE XV
26.
Soon little land will be left for agriculture, and huge villas with their
fishponds, shrubberies, and gardens will take the place of vineyards and olive-
yards. Far different were the principles of our ancestors, of Romulus and
rugged Cato; in their days individuals were poor, the commonwealth rich,
private dwellings modest, the public dwellings and temples alone magnificent.'
The Ode was probably written at the request of Augustus, who about 28 B.C.
having accepted the functions of the censorship, made strenuous endeavours
by legislative enactments to restore the rapidly fading virtues of early Rome
(Merivale, c. 33), and naturally applied to Horace, as to a sort of Poet
Laureate, in the hope that his verses might excite popular enthusiasm for his
266
BOOK II
HORACE
measures.
In the present case however Horace found the theme uncongenial,
the Ode bearing in its stiffness and constraint every mark of being 'made
to order' (invita Minerva). On the other hand Odes 1-6 of Book 3 are
brilliant examples of what he could do under similar circumstances.
1. iam . . . relinquent. The decline of the number of small holdings
in Italy, and the almost total extinction of the yeoman class, which had
formed the strength of the Roman legions, was at this time a most difficult
political problem. Among the causes which brought it about are (1)
the destruction of property and death or ruin of thousands of small pro-
prietors during a century of civil war, (2) the increasing number of wealthy
capitalists at Rome who purchased large estates which they turned into parks,
preserves, pastures and the like, (3) the vast increase in the number of slaves,
acquired by foreign conquest, which made it possible to work such vast
estates, (4) the fact that owing to large imports of agricultural produce
from all quarters of the world, much land in Italy could not be cultivated so
as to leave a margin of profit. regiae moles, 'princely piles.' Roman
'villas' seem to have covered an incredible space of ground; cf. Pliny's
account of his own two, Ep. 2. 17, and 5. 6; Tac. Ann. 3. 53 villarum infinita
spatia. 3. Lucrino lacu. The Lucrine lake close to Baiae is selected as
the best known instance of a large lake. 4. stagna, 'ponds,' i.e. fishponds,
piscinae. The Roman epicures made a special study of fish; the literature of
the empire teems with allusions to the subject; in Cicero's time even men of
talent and position such as Crassus, Hortensius and Lucullus devoted their re-
tirement to the rearing of mullet, etc.; cf. Cic. ad Att. 1. 19; 2. 1. platanus
caelebs, 'the unwedded plane.' caelebs: 4. 5. 30 n. platanus: 2. 11. 13 n.
•
5. evincet, 'will drive out,' cf. 4. 5. 22 edomuit. violaria
narium: Horace selects the 'violet,' 'myrtle,' etc., because owing to their
scent and fragrance they were used at banquets; they are typical of luxury as
contrasted with usefulness. 6. copia narium: lit. 'wealth of the nostrils,'
a bold expression=‘abundance of sweet-scented plants.' 8. domino
priori. Ethic dative. 9. spissa ramis: because the laurel can be cut
into any shape and when so cut grows very thick and compact. 10. ictus,
‘darts,' i.e. of the sun's rays; the particular meaning to be given to the word
is determined by the addition of fervidos. non ita, 'not so' = 'far
differently'; litotes. 11. praescriptum, sc. est, was it ordained.'
intonsi Catonis auspiciis, 'by the example of unshaven Cato.' It was
the special duty of a general to take 'the auspices,' and the army was said to
fight under his auspices'; hence auspicia='leading,' 'example.' Cato here
is not the younger Cato (as 2. 1. 24), but Cato the Censor who died B.c. 149,
after a long life spent in trying to stem the tendencies of the age. He
is called intonsus because as an outward sign of his conservative views he
continued to wear a beard after the old Roman fashion, cf. 1. 12. 42; Juv.
4. 103 barbato regi ‘a primitive monarch'; 5. 30 capillato consule 'an ancient
consul.' Barbers were introduced at Rome B.C. 300.
13. census, 'income." It was the duty of the censors to 'assess' (censere)
the value of each citizen's property, partly with a view to taxation, partly
that he might be registered in the proper 'class' for voting in the comitia
centuriata. Hence census='wealth,' 'income.' 14. commune: a rare
use of the neut. adj. Tò кowóν the public treasury.' decempedis :
the regular instrument used by agrimensores in measuring land. Here
the size of the rule suggests the size of the portico which required it, but
ODE XVI
267
NOTES
15. privatis is very
the word sounds somewhat practical and inelegant.
emphatic, as in line 13. 16. excipiebat, 'caught.' excipio, as distinguished
from capio,=‘to be ready to receive'; it was specially used of hunters who
received the game driven out of cover; cf. 3. 12. 11 alto latitantem fruticeto
excipere aprum; Ep. 1. 1. 79. Here the word signifies that, whenever there
was a breath of cool air on a hot day, the colonnade was waiting ready to
catch and secure it. Arcton: τὴν "Αρκτον, the constellation of Ursa
Major; then the wind which blows from that quarter, the N. wind.
•
17. fortuitum caespitem, 'the chance turf,' i.e. such as a man
might come across anywhere. Horace probably refers to a cottage roofed
with turf, such as were common in country districts, cf. Virg. Ecl. 1. 68
pauperis et tuguri congestum caespite culmen. What 'the laws did not permit
men to despise' exactly means it is impossible to say, for the whole stanza
lacks reality and sincerity; Horace would have been the last man in the
world to desire a restoration of the 'mud-cabin' era, or to wish to be catechised
as to the historical accuracy of such a phrase as 'the laws did not permit.'
20. novo, 'new cut.' Others give 'novel,' and say that the 'novel stone' is
'marble,' referring to the well-known boast of Augustus, Suet. Aug. 28 urbem
marmoream se relinquere quam latericiam accepisset, but this seems forced.
For the restoration of temples by Augustus when Censor B.C. 28, cf. 3. 6 Intr.
ODE XVI
'Repose is what all men pray for when in difficulty, but repose, Grosphus,
neither gold nor purple can purchase, for neither wealth nor position can get
rid of the cares and worries of the mind. Contentment is the great remedy;
and indeed considering the short span of life why should we be so ambitious,
so bustling, so eager for change? Go where we will, do what we will, care
clings to us. Try then to be cheerful, make the best of things, and do not
expect perfect happiness: remember that though Achilles' career was glorious it
was brief, Tithonus on the other hand was immortal but miserable: so too you
abound in wealth, and I am poor, but as a compensation I have my gift of song.'
For Pompeius Grosphus see Ep. 1. 12 Intr.
1. otium. No single word accurately represents the various meanings to
be assigned to this word here: its force must be inferred from the various ideas
with which it is contrasted, e.g. storm line 1, war line 5, anxiety of mind line
11, ambition line 17, etc. patenti: emphatic. The sailor is out of sight of
land. 2. prensus, 'caught,' i.e. by a storm; the technical word is
deprensus, cf. Virg. G. 4. 421 deprensis olim statio tutissima nautis; Lucr.
6. 429. simul
condidit: see 2. 8. 5 n. 3. certa, 'with trusty
light,' i.e. only an occasional vague glimpse is caught of them, or else with
their trusty light,' i.e. the stars in whose light sailors trust for guidance do
not shine at all. Cf. Acts xxvii. 20 ‘and when neither sun nor stars in many
days appeared and no small tempest lay on us (cf. pressus found in some MSS.
for prensus), all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.'
• •
•
•
•
5. bello furiosa Thrace. So Virg. Aen. 3. 13 calls Thrace Mavortia
terra. Thrace=Оpáкn.
Thrace=Θράκη. 6. Medi: 1. 2. 51 n. 7. non gemmis
auro: cf. Job xxviii. 15 'It (wisdom) cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall
silver be weighed for the price thereof.' venale: Notes on Metres, p. xix. § 1.
purpura: 'purple' is classed with 'gems' and 'gold' because of its costli-
ness: in Aesch. Ag. 949 the adj. ápyvpúvyros is used of it, and 959 loápyvpos.
268
BOOK II
HORACE
10. summovet. This word is technically used of the lictors making a
disorderly crowd 'move on'; cf. Livy 3. 48 i lictor, summove turbam and
see Dict.
tumultus, 'disturbances,' a continuation of the metaphor of
summovet. 11. curas volantes, cares that flit (even) round fretted
roofs'; 'cares' are readily thought of as winged (cf. line 23, and Theogn. 729
φροντίδες ἀνθρώπων ἔλαχον πτερὰ ποικίλ᾽ ἔχουσαι), and are then spoken of as
bats or ill-omened birds that haunt even the dwellings of the wealthy.
laqueata tecta (cf. 2. 18. 2) are roofs much carved and panelled (laqueatus
from lacus 'a hollow '), such as are only found in the dwellings of the great,
the 'ceiled houses' of Haggai i. 4.
•
•
•
13. vivitur parvo bene, cui: lit. 'it is lived on little well to him to
whom (ei, cui),' i.e. he lives well on little, for whom
For vivere
parvo cf. S. 2. 2. 1. parvo and bene form a sort of oxymoron: 'to live well' is
not to live sumptuously.' paternum salinum: the 'silver salt-
cellar' is his one piece of family plate. Salt being a necessary accompaniment
of food, salt and the salt-cellar have always been regarded with special respect.
14. splendet, 'is spotless,' i.e. kept carefully cleaned and polished. tenui,
'humble.' Cf. Pers. Sat. 3. 25 rure paterno | est tibi far modicum, parvum et
sine labe salinum | . . . hoc satis? 15. leves, 'like infants' slumbers pure
and light.' cupido sordidus, 'ignoble greed.' cupido is always masc.
in Horace. timor and cupido are opposed as 'fear of loss' and 'greed of gain.'
•
•
aeratas
17. brevi fortes, antithetical; the shortness of life does not check
daring attempts. The same antithesis occurs 1. 3. 37 nil mortalibus ardui est.
iaculamur multa, 'do we aim at many things,' i.e. form many ambitious
projects. For nobler lines on the same theme cf. Milton's Lycidas 67-84,
'Were it not,' etc. 18. quid terras mutamus, 'why do we ex-
change (i.e. take in exchange for our own) countries ?' etc. alio sole is
used with a slight inaccuracy='another climate.' 20. fugit, perfect;
'has (by becoming an exile) escaped himself.' Cf. Ep. 1. 11. 27 caelum non
animum mutant qui trans mare currunt; Milton P. L. 1. 254 'The mind
is its own place and of itself | Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.'
21. vitiosa cura, morbid '. -e mentis vitio orta, Orelli.
naves, 'ships with their brazen prows'; the adj. is added to show that
care is no respecter of persons; no position however dignified, not even the
pomp and pageantry of a great expedition, can terrify it. The thought is
borrowed from Lucr. 2. 40 si non forte tuas legiones per loca campi | fervere
cum videas
· fervere cum videas classem lateque vagari, | his tibi tum rebus
timefactae religiones | effugiunt animo pavide, mortisque timores | tum vacuum
pectus lincunt curaque solutum. On the other hand, 3. 1. 39, aerata tri-
remis is a private yacht. 26. oderit curare, 'let it (animus) scorn to
laetus in praesens animus is the nom. to oderit, and
quod ultra est the acc. after curare. It is necessary to render curare 'be
careful' because of cura above, but the phrase must be used with the same
meaning as in Luke x. 41 'Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about
many things.' lento, 'quiet.' lentus (from root len soft) which when
applied to things means 'clinging,' sticky,' 'tough,' 'pliant,' etc., when used
of persons or qualities means 'dull,' 'phlegmatic,' 'easy-going,' 'quiet'; it
is opposed to such words as 'nervous,' 'excited,' 'energetic,' cf. Virg. Ecl. 1.
4 tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra; Cic. de Or. 2. 190 lente ferre, 'to take easily.'
29. abstulit These lines give examples of the general truth nihil
•
•
be careful about
•
. beatum. Achilles had the choice of a brief but glorious career, or of one
ODE XVI
269
NOTES
that was inglorious and long, cf. Hom. Il. 9. 412. clarum and cita are
therefore both emphatic. 30. longa, 'long,' used by a rhetorical artifice
for 'eternal.' In referring to any well-known tale of horror the effect pro-
duced may be enhanced by a studied moderation in the use of descriptive
terms; the imaginative faculties are excited, not crushed and exhausted.
When a modern preacher speaks of a punishment lasting for 'billions of
aeons' he is not even rhetorically so effective as when Horace speaks of the
longus labor (2. 14. 19) of Sisyphus, or as here of the longa senectus of
Tithonus. Cf. too 3. 11. 38 longus somnus 'the sleep of death,' 4. 9. 27
longa nocte 'eternal night,' Eccl. xii. 5 'man goeth to his long home.'
Tithonum. Aurora who loved him asked for him immortality, but failed to
ask that it might be accompanied with eternal youth, and therefore it was his
lot to grow older and more wasted (minuit) for ever, 'immortal age beside
immortal youth' (Tennyson's "Tithonus' q.v.) 31. et mihi . . . i.e.
'and so, to come to ourselves, you are rich, I poor, but I may have something
given me you have not,' and then this is illustrated in the next two stanzas.
32. hora, 'the hour,' i.e. time at some particular hour, sooner or later.
•
33. te: governed by circum. It is put prominently forward, as is tibi, in
emphatic contrast to mihi.
te... tibi te: cf. 1. 2. 4 n. 34.
mugiunt: Zeugma, as the word can only refer to vaccae and not to
greges. Others take greges Siculaeque vaccae as hendiadys, and for greges
=armenta cf. Epod. 2. 11 mugientium greges. hinnitum: the final
syllable is elided before the vowel which begins the next line; Notes on
Metres, p. xix. § 1. 35. apta quadrigis equa. To keep such a stud as
to be able to compete in the four-horse chariot races was, as it is now to keep
racers, a sign of great wealth. Cf. Aesch. P. V. 466 ππоνs dyаλuа Tôs
ὑπερπλούτου χλιδής : Thuc. 6. 15 ; and οἰκίη τεθριπποτρόφος, a family that
could keep a four-in-hand,' Herod. 6. 35. equa: the ancients believed in
the superior fleetness of mares (cf. Virg. G. 1. 59), but modern experience is
against them. bis Afro murice tinctae. The reference is to δίβαφα,
'twice-dyed purple robes.' 'The dye was obtained from two kinds of uni-
valves: (1) the smaller bucinum, murex, "whelk," which was picked off the
rocks; (2) purpura, πорpúρa, caught in the sea and thence called pelagia.
To produce the true Tyrian dye (the colour of clotted blood, but varying
with the light in which it was seen) the wool was dipped in two different
baths, first of pelagia, then of bucinum.' Mayor, Juv. 1. 27. Afro: because
the murex was found on that coast.
38. spiritum tenuem, 'some poor inspiration,' following up the idea of
parva rura, which makes it necessary to give this sense to tenuis here; cf. 1.
6. 9 conamur tenues grandia. Orelli prefers 'finished,' 'refined,' referring to
the special characteristics of Greek poetry; cf. A. P. 46 in verbis etiam tenuis
cautusque serendis; Cic. Or. 3. 52 oratio teres et tenuis, 'polished and refined,'
a meaning which agrees well with the derivation of tenuis (the English 'thin,’
lit. 'drawn out,' cf. tendo, relvw, Tavaós), but is out of place here. For spiritum
cf. 4. 3. 24; 4. 6. 29. Camenae: the purely Italian name for the goddess
of song (cf. 1. 12. 39 n.) is here used loosely with Graiae=‘Muse.’ 39.
Parca non mendax, 'that does not belie her name,' i.e. because she is parca
'sparing' in her gifts. malignum spernere vulgus: spernere is used
as acc. after dedit, like the Gk. inf. with the article; vulgus is acc. after
spernere. malignum, 'envious' of his name and fame.
270
BOOK II
HORACE
ODE XVII
Why, Maecenas, do you take the life out of me by your melancholy fore-
bodings? You are the prop of my fortunes, the very half of my being; when
you die I shall die too; I have sworn it and will keep my oath. I will never
quit your side, even on that last dread journey, no not even if all the monsters
of hell endeavour to prevent me. Such is the decree of Fate, for whatever the
constellation that governs your career, Libra, the Scorpion, or Capricornus, at
´any rate it is wonderfully in accord with mine: remember how you have been
snatched from death itself, while I have had a similar miraculous escape; let
us then be thankful, and each duly offer such thank-offerings as befit our position.'
Maecenas was a great invalid but passionately attached to life. Pliny,
H. N. 7. 51, speaks of him as suffering from a perpetua febris, and for the
last three years of his life never enjoying a moment's natural sleep. He died
in B.C. 8, Horace surviving him but a few days.
·
·
2. amicum est, 'is it pleasing.' 3. obire, sc. diem supremum, 'to
die.' 4. grande decus columenque rerum. Cf. 1. 1. 2 Maecenas.
o et praesidium et dulce decus meum. For the metaphor in columen cf. Eur.
Iph. Τ. 57 στῦλοι γὰρ οἴκων εἰσὶ παῖδες ἄρσενες ; Gal. ii. 9 Ιάκωβος καὶ
Κηφᾶς καὶ Ἰωάννης οἱ δοκοῦντες στῦλοι εἶναι, who seemed to be pillars
Tennyson, In Mem. c. 63 'the pillar of a people's hope.' 5. partem:
supply alteram from altera in the next line='one of two parts,' i.e. 'the half'
cf. 1. 3. 8. 7. nec superstes integer, 'nor remaining a complete whole.'
Without Maecenas he would be but a part, a fraction of himself. Cf. our use
of an integer,' and 2. 4. 22 n. 8. utramque ducet ruinam, 'shall
bring (with it) destruction to us both.' ducet seems used in its simple sense,
and Virgil's trahit ruinam (Aen. 2. 465, quoted by Orelli), used of one portion
of a wall falling and dragging after it the rest, is not analogous.
·
10. dixi sacramentum: a technical phrase for taking the military oath
of obedience; see Dict. of Ant. ibimus, ibimus: 'Horace speaks in the
plural, keeping up the idea of soldiers swearing to their general.'—Wickham.
The explanation is tempting, but cannot be right, for the plural is used
because Horace is speaking of himself and Maecenas. 'We will go, whenever
you shall lead the way, ready to take the last journey together.' For the
repetition of ibimus cf. 2. 14. 1 n. 11. supremum iter = τὰν νεάταν ὁδόν,
Soph. Ant. 807. 13. Chimaerae: cf. 1. 27. 23 n. Virgil places it with
igneae: cf. Hes.
other monsters at the entrance of the under world.
Theog. 319 ἡ δὲ χίμαιραν ἔτικτε πνέουσαν ἀμαιμάκετον πῦρ, and 4. 2. 16.
14. si resurgat. Not should he rise up again,' i.e. from the grave, as
Horace is speaking of himself as forcing his way at Maecenas' side through
the portals of death. It must therefore mean 'should he rise to confront me
(cf. the use of re in refulgens, line 23). Most MSS. read Gigas here and 3. 4.
69, but the selection of one particular giant is more Horatian. 15. sic...
placitum, 'such is the decree of,' 1. 33. 10 n.
•
17. seu Libra seu me ..: see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Astrologia. It was
a common belief that some particular planet was in the ascendant at the hour
of a person's birth (pars violentior n. h. : cf. Ep. 2. 2. 187 n.), and exer-
cised a malignant or beneficent influence over him. Horace was not a believer
in Astrology (cf. 1. 11), and here implies that he knows and cares little
about it; 'whatever the character of your horoscope,' he says, 'or of mine, I
neither know nor care; one thing only do I know, viz., that they are both
ODE XVIII
271
NOTES
alike.' For the whole subject cf. Guy Mannering, especially Intr. and Chap. 3.
19. tyrannus undae, 'lord of the waves,' cf. 1. 3. 15 n.
22. te.. The clue to this clause is found by observing that inpio
Saturno goes both with refulgens='shining brilliantly from the opposite
quarter,' i.e. to oppose impious Saturn, and with eripuit'snatched thee
from the power of.' 25. alas. For the metaphor cf. S. 2. 1. 58; Byron,
The Destruction of Sennacherib, 'But the angel of death spread his wings on
the blast.'
cum sonum, 'when the thronging populace thrice made
their joyous applause echo through the theatres.' Maecenas was greeted with
applause on first entering the theatre after a serious illness; cf. 1. 20. 4.
The theatre would be that of Pompey at the S. end of the Campus Martius.
ter just as when we say 'three cheers,' cf. Prop. 4. 10. 4. crepo is (1) intran-
sitive of any dry sound, e.g. rustling, rattling, clapping, and (2) in the poets
active to make such a sound, here by clapping of hands (cf. plausus 1. 20. 4).
28. sustulerat, 'had carried me off.' By this use of the indicative in
a hypothetical sentence an event is spoken of as positively certain to
have happened, but for something or other having prevented it; cf. 3.
16. 3 munierant si non risissent. For the event see 2. 13. Faunus.
Perhaps as a woodland god and therefore having control over trees, and also
as the friend of poets who love the country and the country's gods; but the
expression 'Faunus guardian of the men whom Mercury guards' is at best
awkward. For the reasons why Horace calls Mercury the patron of poets
see 1. 10. 1-8, where he is called the 'giver of speech' (facundus) and ‘father
of the lyre' (lyrae parens); cf. too 2. 7. 13. In S. 2. 3. 25 Mercurialis means ‘a
favourite of Mercury the god of gain.' 30. reddere, 'to duly pay.' A vow
consisted in promising, if the gods did something for you, to give or pay (dare)
something in return (re): when the gods had done their part, you became voti
reus='a debtor of your vow,' which it then was your duty to 'repay,' 'pay
as you were bound to do' (reddere), cf. 2. 7. 17 n.
ODE XVIII
'I have no lordly palaces, no princely fortune, but I have honesty, ability,
reputation, and above all contentment. You, on the other hand, as though for
you time halted on its course, though old, are still eager to build new villas en-
croaching even on the sea's domain, yes, and worse still, encroaching on your
poor neighbour's ground, driving him out from hearth and home with his wife
and ragged children. And yet more surely than all your palaces does the
grave await you. What would you have? Impartially does earth open to take
back her children, poor and rich alike: no wealth can bribe Death: in Death
the rich man finds an eternal prison, the poor man eternal repose.'
=
1. non ebur neque aureum lacunar. The words go closely together
no panelled roof adorned with ivory and gold.' That ebur cannot be
taken by itself='ivory furniture' is plain from the other things mentioned,
viz. 'a roof,' 'architraves,' 'columns.' 2. renidet, 'reflects the light' as
a gilded ornamental ceiling would. lacunar: 2. 16. 11 n. 3. trabes
Hymettiae, 'architraves of marble from Hymettus.' trabes=‘beams,' i.e.
huge blocks of marble, shaped like beams. The marble of Hymettus was of
pure white.
4. recisas, 'quarried.' Numidian marble was famous.
occupavi, i.e. nor have I unexpectedly had a fortune left.
5. neque
me. The wealth of the Attalid kings of Pergamos was proverbial (cf. 1. 1. 12),
272
BOOK II
HORACE
but the peculiar form of expression is also due to the fact that Attalus III.
had (B.C. 133) bequeathed his property to the Roman people. 7.
Laconicas purpuras. Cf. Juv. 8. 101 Spartana chlamys. The shell-fish
(see 2. 16. 35 n.) from which the purple dye was made were found on the
coast of Laconia; cf. Aesch. Ag. 958. 8. trahunt, 'spin.' The word is
used of 'drawing out' the thread (filum) from the ball of material on the
distaff (colus), with a view to winding it round the spindle (fusus).
honestae, 'of gentle birth'; it would only be the very wealthy or noble
who would number persons of gentle birth among their retainers. 9.
ingeni benigna vena, 'a rich vein of talent.' ingenium (from in and
gigno), 'that which is born in one,' 'natural ability.' For the contracted
gen. cf. 1. 6. 12 n. vena is used in the same sense A. P. 409 sine divite
vena, where from the epithet it is plain that the metaphor is from a vein of ore.
11. nihil supra deos lacesso, 'for nothing beyond do I importune the gods.'
lacesso takes a double acc. from the sense of 'asking' contained in it.
unicis
14. beatus. As frequently, it is difficult to decide between the two
meanings 'happy' and 'wealthy'; the word involves both ideas.
Sabinis, 'my one dear Sabine farm.' See 1. 17 Intr. It was usual to
describe a farm in any district by the name of the people of the district, and
Sabinis is the abl. of Sabini. So in Pliny continually in Tuscos='to my
Tuscan estate' (see Mayor, Pliny, Ep. 3. 4. p. 67), and cf. 3. 4. 22 in arduos
tollor Sabinos 'I climb to my hilly Sabine farm'; Mart. 10. 44. 9; Ov. Am.
2. 16. 37; Ov. Fast. 4. 685 Paelignos, natalia rura, petebam. 15. tru-
ditur dies die
These words are the connecting link between what
precedes and what follows: I practise contentment, because I remember that
life is short; you, although life is short, still build,' etc. 16. novaeque
lunae, 'and new moons only wax to wane.'-Martin. The application
•
•
•
•
' and are
is obvious, cf. Wisdom v. 13 'Even so we, in like manner, as soon as we were
born, began to draw to our end.' Cic., Lucr., Plaut. also use pergo with inf.
17. tu
Note the position of tu; he represents himself as specially
addressing some single person. locare is regularly used with an acc. and
gerundive of putting anything in the hands of a contractor for carrying out.
secanda, 'to be hewn.' 18. sub ipsum funus, 'when on the very
borders of the grave'; cf. 1. 8. 14 n. 20. marisque
eager to push forward the shore of the sea that breaks on Baiae, not satisfied
with the possession of the unbroken line of coast.' For urgues, see 2. 9. 9,
and for Baiae 3. 4. 24 n. 21. summovere (cf. 2. 16. 10 n.)='make to
move forward.' 22. continente ripa: either (1) 'the confining shore,'
taking continente as part., or (2) the 'unbroken shore,' taking continente as adj.
nearly continuus (from cum and teneo) 'holding together,' the sense being
that he is not satisfied until his villa projecting into the sea has broken the
hitherto unbroken line of coast. Orelli and Wickham give 'the coast of the
mainland,' but without proof except quoting Livy 44. 28 continenti litori.
For villas projecting into the sea, cf. 3. 1. 33.
•
•
23. quid quod . : lit. 'what (shall I say) of the fact that . . . ?':
the phrase introduces a stronger charge-there is not only extravagance but
crime. 24. terminos, 'bound-stones,' set up at the four corners of each
plot of ground; they were under the special protection of the venerable god
Terminus, and the citizen who moved one was devoted to the gods. See
Merivale c. 33, and cf. Deut. xxvii. 17 'Cursed be he that removeth his
neighbour's landmark, and all the people shall say, Amen.' 25. clientium :
ODE XIX
273
NOTES
emphatic; the crime was more heinous because committed against those he
was bound to protect. The Laws of the Twelve Tables say, Patronus si clienti
fraudem fecerit, sacer esto. cliens'one who listens' or 'obeys'; cf.
κλύω. 26. salis avarus, 'leap in the eagerness of greed.' salis indicates
his boldness and eagerness, cf. transiliunt 1. 3. 24. pellitur natos.
The natural order of this sentence is considerably altered, on purpose to get
the emphatic verb pellitur first, 'forth is driven.
For the whole scene,
cf. Guy Mannering, c. 8, and Meg Merrilies' curse on Ellangowan.
•
·
•
29. nulla certior tamen, 'and yet no hall awaits its wealthy lord more
surely than the appointed end of greedy Death,' i.e. more certainly than the
hall you are building does the grave, the appointed end of all men, await you.
So Nauck rightly, and finis Orci is simply the common Gk. phrase Téλos
Oaváтolo. All editors however agree in saying that fine and destinata though
θανάτοιο.
side by side do not go together, and Kiessling, for example, explains 'no hall
more certainly awaits its lord than the hall destined for you (aulā destinatā)
by the end of ravening Orcus, i.e. by the end which Orcus (personified) has
appointed for you.' But that in three consecutive words fine destinata aula,
the abl. fine is to be separated from the abl. destinata, and made dependent
on it (an abl. case being thus forcibly thrust in between certior and its own
abl. which ought to follow it closely), and that before aula in the nom. aulâ
in the abl. is to be supplied, seems impossible.
•
•
34. regum. Either actual 'kings,' or, as often, 'great men.' satelles
Orci: no doubt Horace is thinking of Charon, but the peculiar form of the
expression attendant' or rather 'sentinel of Orcus' is to be noticed. The
palace (aula) which the rich man is preparing is compared with the place
(Orcus) that is prepared for him; he has his 'guards' (satellites), ‘attendants,
and so has the grave, a grim and incorruptible one (satelles Orci). 35.
callidum, 'notwithstanding his cunning.' For this account of Prometheus,
see 2. 13. 37 n. 36. auro captus. Cf. 3. 16. 9 aurum per medios ire
satellites amat, a passage which shows the force of satelles here. hic.
Both Orelli and Wickham say 'not Charon but Orcus,' for, they urge, the
next lines, and especially the word vocatus, cannot refer to Charon. But (1)
to make hic not refer to the main nom. of the preceding sentence, but to a
merely qualitative word such as Orci, especially when the last words of the
sentence are auro captus in agreement with satelles, is to violate the first
principles of speech. If a schoolboy were to say, 'The Head-master's butler
wouldn't let me out though well tipped. He is a beast,' according to this
theory 'He' would the Head-master. (2) Those who say that line 40 could
not be used of Charon forget that Horace, though no doubt thinking of
Charon, has only spoken of satelles Orci, and surely it is the part of a satelles
when summoned (vocatus) to hearken (audire, væаkoúeiv). Cf. too coercet
accurately used of a 'guard' or 'sentinel. 37. Tantali genus, i.e. men like
Tantalus, such men as the rich man of lines 17-28. From the nature of his
punishment it is clear that Tantalus was taken as a type of greedy and
grasping characters. 38. hic levare . . . 'he too when summoned
ay and unsummoned-to relieve the poor man whose toils are over, obeys.'
functum: 4. 15. 29 n.
ODE XIX
'I have had a vision of Bacchus teaching his sacred hymns to all his train :
spare me, dreadful deity, and grant me to tell of thy kingdom abounding in
T
.
274
BOOK II
HORACE
wine and milk and honey, of thy glorified bride, thy victory over thy foes, thy
power over nature and overthrow of the rebellious Titans, yea, and even the
monsters of the under-world reverencing the symbol of thy strength.'
This Ode is usually accounted a mere imitation of a Gk. dithyramb, but
it seems rather the expression of the poet's longing in a period of anarchy and
discord for an ideal and idyllic world: this he symbolises under the form of
a vision of the reign of Bacchus, the giver of happiness and abundance, the
founder of civilisation, and the conqueror of the rebel powers of darkness.
in
1. Bacchum. See carefully the article Dionysus in Class. Dict.
remotis rupibus: his favourite haunts; cf. Soph. O. T. 1105 ỏ Baкxeîos leòs
ναίων ἐπ᾿ ἄκρων ὀρέων. carmina, 'hymns' connected with his worship.
4. acutas: either 'peaked,' 'sharp-pointed,' as they were always represented,
or-which is better, considering the emphatic position of the adj. and the fact
that it then matches discentes—' pricked up,' i.e. to listen.
5. euhoe=evoî, a shout used in the festivals of Dionysus; cf. 2. 11. 17.
6. pleno Bacchi pectore, 'my heart filled with (i.e. inspired by) his
divinity.' The Gk. Dionysus causes all forms of enthusiasm and excitement:
his worshippers become 'intoxicated' (not merely with wine, for this is only
one form of 'Bacchic intoxication'); hence he is the special protector of the
poet 'his eye in a fine frenzy rolling'; cf. 3. 25. 1 quo me, Bacche, rapis tui
plenum? 3. 19. 14 attonitus vates. turbidum laetatur, 'tumultuously
rejoices,' cf. 1. 22. 23 n. 7. parce. Why he should spare is explained by
the words gravi metuende thyrso, for the stroke of the thyrsus caused a frenzy
bordering on madness. For the rhythm cf. p. xviii. § 4. 8. thyrso:
Oúpoos, a wand wreathed in ivy and vine leaves with a pine cone at the top.
9. Thyiadas: Oviádas (from Oúw), the female followers of the god.
10. vinique fontem These are all the miraculous gifts of the god, cf.
Eur. Bacch. 704. 'Wine,' 'milk,' and 'honey' are well-known types of plenty
and abundance, cf. Exod. iii. 8 'a good land and a large . . . a land flowing
with milk and honey.' 11. truncis cavis. Bees often hive in hollow
trees, cf. Virg. G. 2. 453. 12. iterare: not to tell of more than once,'
but to 'represent' (i.e. make present once more) in language what has been
previously seen with the eyes. 13. beatae . : see Class. Dict. s.v.
Ariadne.
14. honorem, 'mark' or 'token of
dignity,' i.e. the queenly crown which was given her by Dionysus on their
marriage and which became the constellation Corona, cf. Virg. G. 1. 222.
Penthěi. From Пév@eus comes Pentheus which forms gen. as if trisyllabic,
cf. 1. 6. 7 n. 15. non leni. Litotes, cf. 1. 18. 9 n. 16. Thracis: a
Greek adj. Opât, Opaкós. For Pentheus and Lycurgus, see Class. Dict.
17. tu flectis . . . 'thou dost make yield to thy sway
his Indian travels Dionysus crossed the Orontes and Hydaspes which afforded
a passage on dry ground when touched by his thyrsus. The same happened
with regard to the Red Sea (mare barbarum). barbarum, 'foreign,' cf.
2. 4. 9 n. 18. uvidus, i. e. 'tipsy,' ßeßpeyμévos: cf. 1. 7. 22 n.
nodo coerces viperino, 'dost confine in a knot of serpents,' i.e. Bacchus
binds up their hair with serpents to amuse himself. 20. Bistonidum,
beatae, 'deified.'
•
.' During
19.
'the women of the Bistones,' a tribe in Thrace: it is a Greek feminine adj.
sine fraude, 'without harm,' 'unharmed.' The use of fraus in this sense
is chiefly found in legal documents (cf. SE FRAUDE in the Twelve Tab.) and is
somewhat antiquated. A Bacchante with snake-bound hair and thyrsus is
represented in Smith's Class. Dict.
ODE XX
275
NOTES
21. tu cum . . . For the battle of the Giants see 3. 4. 49 seq., and Class.
Dict. s. v. Gigantes. parentis regna, 'the realms of the great Father,' i.e.
heaven the abode of Jupiter. per arduum, 'through the steep sky': Virgil
G. 1. 281 describes how they attempted this by piling mountains upon one
another, Horace purposely uses a vague phrase. 23. Rhoetum: one of
the giants. leonis, because Bacchus assumed this form during the fray; he
had also assumed it when taken prisoner by Tyrrhenian pirates.
•
27.
25. quamquam The construction is quamquam, choreis et iocis ludo-
que aptior dictus, pugnae non sat idoneus ferebaris. 26. non sat idoneus,
'not sufficiently well suited,' i.e. 'very ill-suited,' cf. non leni line 15.
sed idem, ‘but yet'; for idem used where opposite qualities are represented
as existing in the same individual, see 2. 10. 16 n. 28. pacis eras
mediusque belli, 'thou didst take thy part in peace and war alike'; i.e.
Dionysus notwithstanding what was said of him showed that though he
enjoyed peace he was ready for war. On the position of que here
and line 32, Orelli well remarks that the phrase, if expressed fully, would
be pacis eras medius mediusque belli, but that, one medius being omitted for
brevity, the phrase is left as in the text. No doubt too convenience as regards
scansion has a great influence in poetry on the position which que is allowed
to assume. Cf. 1. 30. 6 Gratiae properentque Nymphae, 3. 4. 11 ludo fatiga-
tumque somno, C. S. 22 cantus referatque ludos. For ve in a similar position
cf. 2. 7. 25. The idiom is naturally very common in elegiacs, e.g. patriam
destituuntque domum. 29. aureo cornu decorum. The horn is a very
ancient symbol of strength, vigour, plenty and fertility. Hence the god of
wine that strengthens man's heart' is represented with horns (see Sandys,
Bacchae 920-2). Ovid, A. A. 1. 239, says that under the influence of wine
pauper cornua sumit; cf. too 3. 21. 18 tu (i.e. wine). addis cornua pauperi,
and also for the use of the word 'horn' 1 Samuel ii. 1 'my horn is exalted in
the Lord.' Orelli and Kiessling refer to the 'golden drinking-horn' with
which, they say, the god is often depicted as ' adorned.' 31. recedentis :
with pedes and crura=' of you retreating,' 'as you retreated.' The god had
gone to Hades to bring back his mother Semele. trilingui ore ought
to mean a mouth with three tongues,' but = 'the tongue of each of his three
mouths.'
ODE XX
•
•
'I, Maecenas, shall never die but shall be changed into a swan whose song
shall be heard throughout the world: therefore let none mourn over my cenotaph.'
The Ode is conventional and unnatural: Book 3 also concludes with an
Ode which expresses the hope of an immortality of fame, but which affords an
admirable contrast to this in force and power. The Ode is an amplification of
Ennius' Epitaph on himself, nemo me lacrumis decoret, nec funera fletu | faxit.
cur? volito vivus per ora virum, but the epitaph and the Ode show vividly
the distinction between what is genuine and what is fantastic in poetry.
Plüss takes this to be the situation: the poet is dead; his corpse is on the
funeral pyre; Maecenas calls upon his friend (cf. quem vocas line 6) for the last
time in answer the poet's ghost or shade proclaims its transformation, etc.
1. non usitata.. ' on no ordinary or faltering pinions will I sweep, a
bard of double shape, through the bright upper air.' non usitata: partly
meaning that lyric poetry had not been attempted in Latin by any before him,
partly that the quality of his poetry was of no common stamp; cf. 3. 1. 2
•
276
BOOK II ODE XX
HORACE
carmina non prius audita. 2. liquidum aethera: the epithet liquidus
is applied to aether, either with reference to its being 'translucent' like water,
or 'yielding' like all fluids (cf. Milton's 'the buxom air,' where 'buxom,' the
German 'beugsam,' means 'yielding '). 4. invidiaque maior, 'and
soaring high above envy.'
5. pauperum sanguis parentum, 'the offspring of lowly parents.'
The phrase is employed in close connexion with invidia in line 4: Horace was
the son of a freedman (libertinus), and the meanness of his birth was a favourite
subject for the sneers of those who were jealous (invidi) of his social and
poetical success (cf. S. 1. 6. 46). He here adopts the very words in which
they had sneered at him in order to make the glory which he was destined to
attain greater, by contrast with the position from which he had started. For
sanguis cf. 3. 27. 65 regius sanguis; C. S. 50 Anchisae Venerisque sanguis.
6. quem vocas, dilecte Maecenas. The old rendering whom thou, O
Maecenas, dost call Dear friend' may be dismissed, for dilecte Maecenas must
go together, cf. care M. 1. 20. 5; candide M. Epod. 14. 5. But the meaning
of quem vocas is obscure. (1) Orelli and Kiessling explain whom thou dost
summon,' i.e. to thy house, company, or the like, but this seems mean and
matter-of-fact in the middle of such a rhapsody. (2) Bücheler (accepted in
Orelli 4) gives quem vocas, ut ego audiam, clueam, quoniam cliens tuus sum
qui in clientela tua sum idemque in amicitiam tuam receptus. (3) May not
vocas have a much wider and larger sense, 'dost summon,' i.e. to poetic
endeavour, to the hope of immortality? So taken it gives excellent sense, and
the behaviour of Maecenas is forcibly contrasted with that of Horace's detractors
-'I, whom many sneer at as lowborn, yes I, whom thy voice (vox, voco) on
the contrary, Maecenas, ever urges forward, shall never die': so Wrangham
(v. Translations of Horace, selected by C. W. F. Cooper): 'Not I, from
humble lineage sprung, | Not I, dear Patron, whom thy tongue | Summons
to fame, will fear to die Or bound by Styx's fetters lie.' (4) If Plüss be
right in his opinion as to the Ode, then vocas is used of 'calling on' Horace
by name at the funeral pyre and bidding him 'hail and farewell' cf. Cat.
101. 10 frater, ave atque vale; Virg. Aen. 11. 97. 7. obibo: 2. 17. 3 n.
•
Of
9. iam iam . . . He speaks as though he felt his metamorphosis already
beginning. residunt cruribus, 'settle down on my ankles. sido and its
compounds (as distinguished from sedeo) express a slow and gradual process of
coming into a position of rest. 11. leves. Notice the quantity. 13.
Daedaleo notior. So the best MSS. Orelli's old reading ocior involved a
hiatus without parallel in Horace; and why should he wish to fly 'more
swiftly' than Icarus, though he may wish his flight to be 'more famous'?
course Icarus (see Class. Dict.) is an unfortunate type of soaring humanity for
Horace to select, but in considering passages of this nature a too strict
examination of all allusions is only foolish: the writer merely accumulates
sonorous and somewhat vague proper names, and trusts that they will have
much the same effect on the reader that an old lady once confessed to having
experienced from 'that blessed word Mesopotamia' in an otherwise unin-
telligible sermon. Bentley's conjecture tutior is excellent but improbable.
15. canorus ales, i.e. a swan. Cf. 4. 3. 19 o mutis quoque piscibus | dona-
tura cycni, si libeat, sonum. So Pindar is called Dircaeum cycnum 4. 2. 25,
where Kiessling refers to a wild swan ( ? cycnus musicus of naturalists) which in
winter visits Greece from the N. and in its flight utters two trumpet-like notes.
It was sacred to Apollo, and in Alexandrine writers is the symbol of poets.
BOOK III ODE I
277
NOTES
Cf. 3. 10.
17. dissimulat, 'endeavours to hide.' 19. noscent, shall come to
know'; nosco is inceptive like yiyvwokw. peritus: proleptic, not as Orelli
takes it, 'me the Spaniard shall study when he becomes learned,' but, as its
position between me and discet shows, 'by the study of my writings shall
the Spaniard become learned.' Considering, however, that during the next
century Spain produced many great writers, e.g. the two Senecas, Lucan,
Martial, Columella, Quintilian, perhaps even at this time the Spaniards were
noted for literary zeal and Horace uses the adj. with strict accuracy. 20.
Rhodanique potor: a periphrasis for 'dwellers by the Rhone.'
1 Tanain bibere, 4. 15. 21 qui Danuvium bibunt; Hom. Il. 2. 825 wÍVOVTES
ὕδωρ μέλαν Αἰσήποιο. 21. inani: line 24 supervacuos: because Horace
will still survive, i.e. his fame will. How there could be a funus at all it is
difficult to see, as his body had been changed into that of a swan at the
beginning of the Ode: here however he speaks as if his spirit only had taken
flight, leaving its tenement of clay behind, over which his friends will
perform funeral rites, 'empty' rites however, because the real Horace will be
still alive and immortal. Attempts to explain the discrepancy are idle: con-
ventional poetry and conventional painting evade the ordinary rules of criticism
and common sense, sometimes with success, usually without.
BOOK III
ODE I
THE first six Odes of this Book are remarkable for their sustained dignity of
style and general unity of subject. They are all in the Alcaic metre and of
considerable length, and all deal with subjects of public and political interest.
It is probable that their composition was at any rate suggested by Augustus,
whose object it was to appeal in support of his political system not merely to
the interests but to the feelings of his subjects (see Merivale, c. 41). Lines
1-4 of Ode I are a stately exordium to the whole six Odes rather than a
particular introduction to the first; indeed, as the introduction to a single
Ode they would be exaggerated and unnatural.
· Kings rule over their subjects, but are in their turn the subjects of almighty
Jupiter; one man may be wealthier, nobler, more famous than another, but all
alike are the slaves of necessity. Then cease to be anxious: where anxiety
exists, not all the luxuries of wealth can procure that sound sleep the poor
often enjoy. To want but little is the great secret; the owner of huge estates
is harassed by a hundred anxieties about them, the builder of vast villas by the
sea often vainly flies from care. If this be so, why should I wish to change
my modest home for wealth which is only a burden?'
• • ·
1. odi arceo, 'I abhor the unhallowed throng and hold it aloof.'
As before the celebration of the mysteries or any solemn rites the priests bade
the uninitiated or unholy to depart (cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 258 procul o, procul este,
profani), so here the poet, as the priest of the Muses, bids all who have never
worshipped at their shrine to depart, while he chants his hymns (carmina) in
their honour. profanus, 'outside the shrine,' is used of those who were
278
BOOK III
HORACE
not allowed to enter it. So in the Temple at Jerusalem none but Jews could
pass beyond the outer court, 'the court of the Gentiles'; the Gentiles were
profani. 2. favete linguis, evpnμeîte. As ill-omened words vitiated
any sacred rite, it was customary for the priest before commencing to ask the
people 'to be favourable with their lips' (ore or linguis favere), i.e. to utter
none but favourable words, and as the safest way of doing so was to be silent,
the phrase is often be silent.' Cf. 3. 14. 11; Prop. 4. 6. 1 sacra facit vates, sint
ora faventia sacris; Virg. Aen. 5. 71 ore favete omnes. non prius audita :
2. 20. 1 n. 3. Musarum sacerdos: poets are 'priests of the Muses' as
being their interpreters to men, and specially consecrated to their service.
Cf. Theoc. 16. 29 Movoάwr ἱεροὺς ὑποφήτας, “sacred interpreters of the
Muses.' 4. virginibus puerisque: because the young are especially
susceptible to the influence of poetry, and also because it is to them that
those who wish to improve the character of a nation must chiefly look.
•
•
·
5. in proprios greges. Nauck reasonably finds 'something objection-
able' in this phrase, remarking that, though it is a kindly idea to call a king
'shepherd of the people' (Homer's rouéva λaŵv), it is not the same
thing to call the people 'sheep of the king.' This is especi ly so when
proprios which implies absolute ownership (2. 2. 22 n.) is added. Plüss
solves the difficulty by observing that to a Roman rex='an Oriental despot,'
and that the sense is, 'the despot to whom his subjects are but herds
of slaves is none the less himself
In English the harshness of the
phrase does not appear, owing to Scriptural associations connected with the
words 'flock' and 'sheep,' e.g. 'fear not, little flock,' 'feed my sheep.' 6.
reges in ipsos . For the antithesis cf. the prayers for the Queen in the
Prayer-Book, and especially such phrases as 'thy chosen servant Victoria,
our Queen and Governor, that she (knowing whose minister she is)
8. cuncta 'that moves the world with his frown.' The phrase is from
Hom. Il. 1. 528 ἢ καὶ κυανέησιν ἐπ᾽ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων, |
¿Néλičev "OXvµπоν; cf. Virg. Aen. 9. 106 nutu tremefecit Olympum, and the
connexion between nutus and numen.
او
•
•
ἔστιν ὅπως.
•
μέγαν δ'
9. est ut, 'it is possible that,' 'it may be that'; cf. čσтш 8πws. latius,
more widely,' i.e. over a wider extent of ground. ordinet arbusta
sulcis, 'arranges his trees (in rows) in the furrows.' arbusta is the technical
word for the trees upon which vines were trained (Virg. G. 2. 416), and ordines
for the rows in which they were planted. Cf. Virg. G. 2. 276. 10. hic
descendat: dependent on est ut. hic='another,' and, in line 12, ‘a
third.' 11. in Campum, i.e. in Campum Martium, which, as the best
known 'Field' at Rome, was constantly spoken of without any distinctive adj.
descendere is used partly because most men of position lived on the hills,
and hence it was necessary descendere in Forum, in Campum (v. Dict.), partly
because the word is constantly used of combatants, e.g. descendere in aciem,
in proelium, etc. 12. moribus . . . meliorque fama. These words
are opposed to generosior; one candidate has high birth, another high
character. For position of que cf. 2. 19. 28 n.
14. aequa, 'impartial.' Necessitas: 'Aváyкη, the mysterious power
who, more especially among the Greeks, is always described as ruling even
over the gods. Cf. the picture of her 1. 35. 17-20. 16. movet, shakes,'
cf. 2. 3. 26 n. 17. destrictus ensis
See Class. Dict. s.v. Damocles.
cui=ei cui, or perhaps ei cuius, 'for him, over whose neck
18.
Siculae dapes. The epithet is chosen partly because the feast of Damocles
•
?
•
•
ODE I
279
NOTES
took place at Syracuse, partly because Syracusan luxury was noted. Plato,
Rep. 404 D, uses Zupaκooía трáπeja as an almost proverbial expression.
19. saporem, 'flavour'; the word is identical with 'savour.'
•
>
21. somnus. Notice the effect of the repetition of the word, and cf.
with it that produced in Macbeth, II. ii. 35 Methought I heard a voice
cry, "Sleep no more! | Macbeth does murder sleep."-The innocent sleep, |
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care
agrestium virorum :
after domos. 24. non, sc. fastidit. Temperat. plural, cf. TEIXη.
teixn.
27. saevus inpetus, 'the fierce onset of setting Arcturus.' When Arcturus
('Aρктоûρos, the Bear Ward) sets at the end of October, the sea is tempestuous
(tumultuosum) and merchant harassed (sollicitat) about his ships.
orientis Haedi, i.e. early in October.
28.

non, sc. sollicitant desiderantem quod satis est. verberatae, 'lashed.'
50. mendax, 'lying,' because the crops which promised well turn out
badly; cf. 3. 16. 30 segetis certa fides meae; Epod. 16. 45; Ep. 1. 7. 87
spem mentita seges. arbore ... the construction is arbore culpante nunc
aquas, nunc sidera torrentia agros, nunc. .. arbore, i.e. the tree par excel-
lence, the olive. aquas, 'rains.' 32. sidera: especially the Dogstar.
33. contracta .. Cf. 3. 24. 3 and 2. 18. 20. Horace refers to the
practice of building villas projecting into the sea: the expression is of course
hyperbolical. sentiunt: 2. 7. 10 n. 34. molibus, 'masses of stone
for foundations. frequens. redemptor cum famulis, 'the con-
tractor with crowds of workmen'; cf. Ter. Andria 1. 1. 81 cum illis qui
amabant Chrysidem una aderat frequens; Plut. Them. 12 Baoiλeus (Xerxes)
μετὰ τοῦ πεζοῦ στρατοῦ καταβὰς ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἄθρους; Soph. Οed. R. 750
ἐχώρει
èxúpeι Baιós. Kiessling wrongly gives frequens = 'unceasingly.'
βαιός.
caementa: from caedo, chippings,' 'rubble,' flung in (demitto) to fill up
the spaces between the solid masonry. 36. terrae fastidiosus, 'sick and
weary of the land.' fastidium expresses the feeling of dissatisfaction and
discontent that inevitably results from indulgence in luxury; cf. 3. 29. 9.
35.
37. Minae, i.e. threatening forebodings of coming harm. 39. aerata
triremi, 'the brazen-beaked trireme.' The vessel is here clearly a private
one (cf. priva triremis, Ep. 1. 1. 93), used for purposes of pleasure or con-
venience, not a war-vessel. The words triremi and equitem are selected not
merely because 'yachts' and 'horses' may be thought of as able to distance
care by their speed, but also because they are appanages of wealth and
luxury. Cf. 2. 16. 21. 41. Phrygius lapis: a marble from Synnada in
Phrygia, celebrated for its bright blood-red spots, and much used for columns.
42. purpurarum sidere clarior usus, 'the wearing of purples (i.e. purple
robes, cf. 2. 18. 7) more lustrous than the stars.' In strict grammar the adj.
clarior ought to agree with purpurarum, but in poetry the transference or
exchange (hypallage) of the adj. from one substantive to another in a closely
connected expression is not uncommon. Cf. Virg. Aen. 8. 526 Tyrrhenusque
tubae clangor Tyrrhenae tubae clangor, and 2. 14. 27 superbo mero tinguet=
superbus mero tinguet, see too 1. 12. 34 superbos Tarquini fasces, 1. 15. 33
iracunda classis Achillei, 1. 31. 9 Calena falce, 1. 37. 7 dementes ruinas, 3. 3.
61 Troiae renascens fortuna, 3. 21. 19 iratos regum apices, 3. 30. 2 regalis
situs pyramidum, 4. 7. 21 splendida arbitria. Purple is spoken of as 'lustrous'
because the true Tyrian dye possessed a peculiar sheen and varied in colour
according to the light in which it was seen, cf. 3. 15. 15 n.
280
BOOK III
HORACE
45. cur
•
44. Achaemeniumque costum. For Achaemenes as a type of wealth
cf. 2. 12. 21 n. The adj. here conveys the idea that the perfume was of the
rarest and most costly.
atrium, 'why should I rear a hall
with portals that arouse envy and towering high in modern fashion?' The
atrium or 'hall' was among the Romans-as in many old English mansions
-the most important room in the house: in it were displayed the imagines,
and it was used for the reception of clients and visitors; it was therefore
natural to spend large sums on its decoration. invidendis: cf. 2. 10. 7
invidenda aula. postibus: so Virg. G. 2. 463, in a passage which Horace
clearly has in mind, describes how the clients, as they pour forth from a
great man's levée, varios inhiant pulchra testudine postes. novo ritu
suggests an antithesis with the simplicity of early Rome.
47. permutem, 'take in exchange.'
greater burden of wealth.'
Cf. 2. 15. 14-20.
48. divitias operosiores, 'the
ODE II
On true manliness.
'Let the boy, who means to be a man, lead a simple and hardy life as the
best training for a soldier's career; in the field let the foeman fear him, and let
his courage be inspired by the thought that death is glorious indeed when en-
countered in his country's cause: the true man is independent of the honours
the mob can give or withhold, he treads a path of his own, heaven and immor-
tality are his reward, for rewarded his uprightness and true reverence shall
surely be, as certainly as profanity and guilt shall be punished.'
=
1. amice pati, 'to endure gladly.' Not merely 'to bear contentedly'
(lente ferre, ayаπηтŵs þéρew) but almost an instance of oxymoron; not only
should the young Roman 'endure poverty,' but such 'endurance' should be
'welcome as a friend' to him, seeing that in it he will find the best training
for life. Observe the emphatic alliteration in this line, and in 13, 16, 32.
pauperiem: not 'poverty' but 'humble circumstances,' e.g. the condition of
a yeoman farmer, from which class the best soldiers had always come, cf. 1.
12. 42; 3. 16. 37 n. 2. robustus acri militia, 'hardened in war's sharp
school.' puer: cf. virum line 14, iuventae 15, virtus 17, virtus 21.
condiscat: stronger than discat; so 1. 37. 28 combiberet='drink deeply,'
4. 2. 33 concines, stronger than canes.
3.
5. sub divo, 'beneath the open sky,' cf. 1. 1. 25 n. and 2. 3. 23 n.
trepidis in rebus, 'amid deeds of hazard'; found also Livy 4. 17; 34. 11.
6. illum . . . 'him (i.e. such a youth as I have described) from the foeman's
walls let the wife of a warring emperor behold and her full-grown daughter
sighing, alas! for fear lest illum is thrown forward for emphasis, and
though matrona and virgo both form the nom. to suspiret (2. 13. 38 n.),
yet the clause eheu suspiret expresses only the feelings of the 'maiden.'
9. eheu: dramatic and vivid after suspiret. rudis agminum sponsus,
'her betrothed unskilled in combats.' rudis takes a gen. of ignorance, cf. 1.
15. 24 n. 10. lacessat: constantly used of recklessly 'provoking' a
dangerous enemy, who might easily have been avoided. asperum tactu,
'dangerous to touch.' The supine is here used more fully to define the mean-
ing of the adjective, in place of Horace's favourite infinitive (1. 3. 25 n.)
12. per medias caedes, 'through the thickest of the carnage.'
13. dulce... Connected with the preceding stanza as showing why a
soldier should be brave as 'a lion.' Swift renders: How bless'd is he who
ODE II
281
NOTES
for his country dies, | Since death pursues the coward as he flies; | The youth
in vain would fly from fate's attack, | With trembling knees and terror at his
back.' mori: mors. For this method of joining clauses, cf. 1. 2. 4 n.
Cf. Tyrtaeus, fr. 10 τεθνάμεναι γὰρ καλὸν ἐνὶ προμάχοισι πεσόντα | ἄνδρ'
ἀγαθόν, περὶ ἡ πατρίδι μαρνάμενον.
17. virtus, from vir, 'manliness,' 'virtue,' is here distinct from 'courage
which has already been dealt with 1-16: it is that manly independence and
determination which acts up to the principle 'That, because right is right, to
follow right | Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.' Such a character
may well be described as 'ignorant of disgraceful defeat,' 'bright with un-
sullied dignities,' and independent of the shifting 'breeze of popular favour';
at the same time Horace is influenced in his description by a recollection of
the well-known Stoic paradox that the perfectly virtuous man, however low
his position in life, is nevertheless 'rich,' 'noble,' and 'king of kings.' Cf. 4.
9. 39; S. 1. 3. 136; Ep. 1. 1. 107. repulsae sordidae: cf. Ep. 1. 1. 43.
18. honoribus: honor is frequently used for 'an office of dignity,' 'a magis-
tracy,' cf. 1. 1. 8 n. 19. secures. See Dict. Ant. s.v. fasces, and cf. C. S.
54 n.
20. arbitrio, 'at the decision,' i.e. in obedience to the decision.
The expression popularis aurae explains itself; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 816
gaudens popularibus auris; Cic. pro Clu. 47 ventus popularis.
21. virtus... 'virtue opening the gate of heaven for those who have not
deserved to die essays her course along forbidden paths.
inmeritis
• •
mori, i.e. those who like Pollux, Hercules and Quirinus (see next Ode, lines 9-
15) have by the nobility of their lives deserved to escape the common doom of
death, and have won for themselves an immortality of renown. 22. caelum.
Cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 130 quos ardens evexit ad aethera virtus. negata
via. Although to mortals immortality is forbidden, virtue does notwithstand-
ing discover the way which leads to it. The expression recalls Job xxviii. 7
"There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not
seen.' 23. udam humum, 'the damp ground,' i.e., apart from metaphor,
the ordinary mean and unworthy objects of human pursuit.
•
•
25. est et
The difficult connexion between these stanzas and the
preceding ones is indicated in the summary (after Plüss). Opposed to up-
rightness (virtus) and true reverence for the mysteries of religion (fidele silen-
tium), are profanity (cf. vulgarit) and crime (incesto, scelestum): the reward of
the one is as sure as the punishment of the other. On the other hand Frie-
drich (Phil. Unt. 154), following Mommsen, considers that Horace is in this
Ode describing the qualities required (1) in military (virtus) and (2) in civil
service (fidele silentium) under the empire; and this line is a fragment of
Simonides ἐστὶ καὶ σιγῆς ἀκίνδυνον γέρας which we know (Plut. Apophth.
Aug. 7) to have been quoted by Augustus. 26. vetabo, 'I will forbid one
who has made public the rites of mystic Ceres to be beneath the same roof-tree
or to launch his bark with me.' Cereris sacrum. See Dict. Ant. s.v.
Eleusinia. 28. sit: dependent on vetabo; cf. volo fiat, fac sis, etc.
29. solvat. Used of undoing the cable which fastened a ship to the shore.
For the danger of embarking with guilty men cf. Aesch. S. c. Theb. 602 † ràp
συνεισβὰς πλοῖον εὐσεβὴς ἀνὴρ | ναύταισι θερμοῖς καὶ πανουργίᾳ τινὶ | ὄλωλεν
åvồρŵv σùv Ocottúσtų yével ; Genesis xviii. 23-33 'Wilt thou also destroy the
righteous with the wicked?' Diespiter: an archaic word used to give an
impression of solemnity, cf. 1. 34. 5 n. For derivation cf. 1. 1. 25 n.
saepe . raro: notice the emphatic position and antithesis of these words.
•
282
BOOK III
HORACE
Translate 'rarely has Retribution with her halting foot left the track of the
guilty though far in front.' Retribution slowly but surely dogs the heels of
the guilty, even though, their crime having been committed long before (cf.
antecedentem), they might think they had escaped; cf. Aesch. Ag. 58 Zeus. ..
ὑστερόποινον πέμπει παραβᾶσιν Ερινύν, ‘Zeus sends after transgressors a late-
avenging Fury.' 30. integrum. For deriv. cf. 2. 4. 22 n.
Here of one
in whom there is no flaw, 'a holy man,' cf. 1. 22. 1 integer vitae. 32.
deseruit pede Poena claudo. The alliteration and rhythm seem to suggest
the 'halting gait.' claudo: very emphatic by position=though lame.'
ODE III
'The man who is upright in purpose and strong in will nothing in heaven
or earth can shake. By those qualities mortals have become divine, Pollux,
Hercules,—yea, and Augustus also—Bacchus, too, and especially Rome's first
founder Quirinus who was allowed to enter heaven, for Juno's words were
welcome to the gods when she declared that her wrath against Troy and Trojan
guilt had been appeased: so long as Troy remained in ruins a lair for the wild
beasts, to the great descendants of the Trojans the path to glory and to
world-wide empire was open: only let them beware of the greed of gain, and
remember that if ever they sought to rebuild the old Troy, if ever those walls
rose again, again too would her ancient wrath arise with ruin to the race.'
Lines 1-16 are similar in thought to Ode 2, and seem like the whole of the
first six Odes to have a didactic purpose, but at line 17 the poet breaks off into
a dramatic description of which it is not easy to see the purpose. We know
of no adequate historical reason for the introduction of so strong a warning
against the rebuilding of Troy; Suetonius (Caes. 79) does indeed tell us of a
rumour that Julius Caesar intended to remove the seat of empire to Alexandria
or Ilium, but it is difficult to imagine either that such a rumour could have
been circulated about the calm and philosophic Augustus or that he would
have resorted to such a method of refuting it as these lines would furnish,
while the connexion between the rebuilding of Troy and the opening lines is
still left unexplained. Plüss (followed by Sellar and Kiessling) gives a reason-
able solution of the difficulty: the clue to the Ode which he furnishes is this:
Uprightness and strength of will have won for individuals fame and im-
mortality by these virtues Romulus the founder of Rome reached heaven;
by these Rome has broken the ban that rested upon Troy, and shall attain to
universal empire. Only she must (1) look upon that empire as a responsi-
bility and not a means for self-enrichment, (2) she must not imagine that she
can restore that which has been doomed to destruction, i.e. apart from symbol-
ism, she must give up the old Republic and accept the new Monarchy as the
divinely appointed condition of her continuance.
1. tenacem propositi. Many verbal adjectives in ax take an objective
gen. e.g. edax, rapax, capax. 3. vultus: graphic, because anger is dis-
played in the face. Cf. Psalm xxxiv. 16 'the face of the Lord is against them
that do evil.' instantis, 'lowering.' 4. mente quatit solida,
'shakes from his rock-like purpose.' Cf. Tennyson's Will: 'O well for him
whose will is strong!. Who seems a promontory of rock, | That, compass'd
round with turbulent sound, | In middle ocean meets the surging shock, |
Tempest - buffeted, citadel - crown'd.' 5. dux
Hadriae. Cf. 1. 3.
15 n.; the wind rules the waves.
7. si fractus... 'should the shattered
•
•
·
ODE III
283
NOTES
si . .
universe o'erwhelm him, the ruins will strike him untrembling.'
inlabatur.. ferient: note the irregular consecution, the indic. expressing
the certainty, the subj. the hypothesis; cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 374.
·
9. hac arte, 'by such virtue,' i.e. by the virtue described in line 1; cf. 4.
15. 12 veteres artes, 'the virtues of antiquity.' For Pollux, Hercules, and
Bacchus, see Dict. Ant. They are frequently selected as types of deified
mortals, cf. 4. 5. 36; Ep. 2. 1. 5; Tac. Ann. 4. 38. 10. enisus.
'striving upwards reached the starry heights.' Some MSS. give innisus.
11. quos inter
The introduction of the living Augustus 'quaffing
nectar with ruddy lips' in this Roman Valhalla for departed heroes is start-
ling. To speak of the Emperor as a 'god on earth,' as 'destined to return to
heaven (1. 2. 41-52), is only the language of extravagant flattery and the
purest Latin writers (e.g. Virg. G. 1. 24), but to speak of a person actually
living as actually 'drinking nectar in heaven' is to offend not only our moral
but our intellectual judgment, an offence of which classical writers are rarely
guilty. Many MSS. give bibet which looks like a correction but perhaps im-
proves the passage. The use of the term Augustus seems to place the date
of the Ode about B.C. 27, when that title was conferred on him; see Merivale,
c. xxx., Ovid, Fast. 1. 609. 12. purpureo ore, says Wickham, 'implies
the halo of rosy light which surrounds the beatified Augustus'; the more
prosaic rendering 'ruddy,' i.e. with wine, seems more natural, but should be
perhaps rejected for that reason in a passage of this character.
·
13. merentem, i.e. as having travelled through Asia teaching men the use
of the vine, and introducing civilisation (of which the tamed tigers are a type).
16. Martis equis, 'on the chariot of Mars,' his father. Ovid, Fast. 2. 493,
describes the ascent of Romulus to heaven: hinc tonat, hinc missis abrumpitur
ignibus aether: | fit fuga; rex patriis astra petebat equis. 17. gratum
'when Juno had spoken welcome words
Horace implies that
Quirinus was not admitted into heaven until Juno assented. 18. Ilion,
Ilion. The repetition is solemn and impressive: she dwells on the name of
the city whose fortunes had so long excited her passionate interest. See 2. 14.
1 n. 19. fatalis, 'doomed,' i.e. bringing with him death and destruction.
iudex refers to the famous 'Judgment of Paris' which brought on him the
wrath of Juno, cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 26 manet alta mente repostum | iudicium
Paridis spretaeque iniuria formae. 20. mulier peregrina, i.e. Helen.
It is to the rape of Helen that incestus refers, although it also hints at his
decision in favour of Venus rather than of Juno or Minerva (cf. castae line 23).
•
21. ex quo .. Laomedon, 'since the day when Laomedon having
fixed their reward failed the gods.' Apollo and Neptune helped Laomedon to
build the walls of Troy, and he then refused them their wages. ex quo
( =ex quo tempore) with damnatum; the city was 'condemned from the day
when,' etc. 25. iam. hospes. 'The Spartan wanton's shameless
guest | No longer flaunts in brave array.'-Martin. It is simpler to take
adulterae as gen. after hospes than as dat. after splendet, though splendet
adulterae might mean 'decks himself for,' i.e. to please, his mistress. Horace
also refers to the brilliant appearance of Paris 1. 15. 13-20, 4. 9. 13-16; cf.
Hom. Il. 3. 392 κάλλει τε στίλβων καὶ εἵμασιν. 26. Paris is called famosus
hospes, 'the infamous guest,' because his violation of the laws of hospitality
added double infamy to his crime. 28. refringit, 'breaks (and drives)
back': the word is used of first breaking and then driving backwards an
enemy's line. 29. nostrisque.. and the strife prolonged by our
·
284
BOOK III
HORACE
discords has sunk to rest.' The length of the Trojan war was due to the gods
having taken different sides, and being therefore unable to decide what the
issue should be. seditio=se-d-itio, 'a going apart,' 'a dividing into two
factions; the Gk. σráois. 30. protinus, 'forthwith,' immediately from
now: from pro, and tenus, which implies succession, that which 'holds on'
(tenet) to a thing being that which comes immediately after it; cf. continuus.
31. nepotem. Mars the father of Romulus was the son of Juno. 32.
Troica sacerdos. Rhea Silvia, see Class. Dict. s.v. Romulus.
In his
33. redonabo: only found here and 2. 7. 3, where it means 'to give back.'
Nauck rightly explains: 'I will give up to Mars who has a claim on him,' re
being used as frequently in reddo (cf. 2. 7. 17 n.), e.g. a postman reddit
epistolam 'hands it over to the person to whom it is addressed,' 'duly delivers
it.' illum ego: notice the juxtaposition of these emphatic pronouns.
34. ducere, 'quaff,' 1. 17. 22 n. Most MSS. give discere. 35. adscribi
deorum, 'to be enrolled among the peaceful ranks of heaven.' adscribere
(see Dict.) is a technical word='add to the register,' e.g. of citizens.
use of ordinibus Horace is thinking of the 'rows' or 'ranks' of senators in
the Roman Curia. inire. ducere. adscribi, 'three successive
steps: the entrance, the cup of welcome, and the acceptance of the new civis
adscripticius (Cic. de N. D. 3. 39).'—Kiessling. quietis partly suggests an
antithesis to the continued struggle in which the race of Troy has hitherto
been engaged, partly refers to the Epicurean belief that the gods enjoyed a
'sacred everlasting calm,' unmarred by any care for human sorrow; cf. 1. 34 Int.
•
•
•
•
37. dum, 'so long as,' 'provided that,' 1. 16. 26 n. 38. qualibet
beati, 'let the exiles reign and prosper in whatever quarter of the world
they will.' exsules, i.e. the Romans as descendants of the Trojans who had
been driven into perpetual 'exile' from Troy : the word is employed with a
certain contempt, for with all her magnanimity Juno is not above the feminine
weakness of saying something unpleasant (cf. the sneer in peperit sacerdos, line
32, and observe the same thing in Lydia 3. 9. 21 and 22). 42. stet.
Emphatic both itself and by position. sto is used in preference to any of its
compounds to express immovable fixity; the smallness of the word is its
strength; cf. 1. 16. 19 n. 43. triumphatis. The intransitive triumphare
has no passive, but Horace for convenience uses the past part. pass.=
'triumphed over,' 'led in triumph.' possit, 'be strong to.' 44. ferox,
'fiery,' 'warlike,' in antithesis to triumphatis. dare iura, 'impose laws on.
For Medis='the Parthians,' cf. 1. 2. 51 n.
aurum
•
•
46. qua... Nilus, 'where the intervening sea divides Europe from the
African, where the swollen Nile waters the fields.' These words explain and
define ultimas oras: the 'farthest coasts' are the Straits of Gibraltar in the
W., and Egypt in the E. 48. tumidus rigat arva, i.e. by its annual
inundation, on which the fertility of Egypt depends; cf. Virgil's careful
description (G. 4. 293), et viridem Aegyptum nigra fecundat harena. 49.
dextra: a somewhat awkward stanza, in which a fresh condition
is imposed on Rome's exercise of empire, viz. that she shall be superior to the
lust of gold. 'More brave in despising gold left undiscovered-and so better
placed when earth hides it-than in amassing it with hands that seize for
human ends all holy things.' The construction spernere fortior quam cogere
is a harsh extension of the use of the epexegetic infinitive; the parenthesis et
celat adds needless complexity, and the necessary separation of cogere
from humanos in usus is unsatisfactory.
•
ODE IV
285
NOTES
53. quicumque
'whatever limit has been set to the universe this
shall she reach with her arms, eager to see in what quarter.
•
55. qua
•
• •
By
quicumque. obstitit Horace means no more than we do when we speak of
the ends of the earth.'
ignes. The torrid zone. de-
bacchentur, 'revel to the end,' 'till they have had enough of it,' there being
nothing to control them; 1. 3. 13 n. 56. qua... rores. The frigid zone.
58. hac lege. ne, 'on this condition that (they do) not.' pii :
pius expresses the dutiful affection of a child for its parents, here that of the
Romans for their parent city (μητρόπολις). 59. rebus, 'fortunes.'
•
•
•
•
60. Troiae. Troiae. Cf. 1. 2. 4 n. 'Of Troy, if it rise again with
mournful omens, the fortune shall be repeated in grievous disaster.' 61.
renascens: by hypallage (3. 1. 42 n.) in agreement with fortuna instead of
Troiae. alite: 1. 15. 5 n. 64. coniuge
et sorore. So Virg.
Aen. 1. 46 ast ego, quae divom incedo regina, Iovisque | et soror et coniunx.
65. aeneus, i.e. strong as bronze; cf. 3. 16. 1 and 1. 35. 19 manu .
aena. 66. auctore Phoebo: abl. abs. by Phoebus' aid'; he helped
to build Troy (line 21 n., Virg. G. 3. 36 Troiae Cynthius auctor).
=
69. non hoc ... 'such a strain will ill suit the sportive lyre,' i.e.
pathetic descriptions of war and disaster are the subjects of epic and dramatic,
not of lyric poetry. The stanza is merely a convenient device for bringing the
long Ode to a close; cf. 2. 1. 37-40. 72. magna
parvis, 'to dwarf
with puny verse a mighty theme'; cf. 1. 6. 9 conamur tenues grandia; 4. 15. 3.
ODE IV
·
•
•
'Inspire me, Calliope. Nay methinks, ye Muses, that I am already listening
to your voice and wandering amid your haunts. You by heaven's favour
specially guarded my infant years. Yours I shall be ever and everywhere;
you thrice have saved my life; with you I will dare to go anywhere. Your
task it is too, when all his weary wars are over, to give rest and refreshment to
great Caesar, and aid him with your ever welcome counsels of gentleness and
peace. (He, so aided, shall rule the world, and overthrow all impious rebellion,
even as) we know that Jupiter overthrew the Titans.'
An exceedingly skilful Ode, in which, after dwelling on his own career as
the child of the Muses, Horace by an easy transition proceeds to panegyrise
the government of Augustus, the gentleness of which can only be due to the
same fostering care, and finally with singular abruptness but singular force
introduces a dramatic account of the defeat of the giants, which at once
suggests the thought how Jove's great vicegerent on earth shall in like manner
be victorious over his foes.
dic age
·
1. descende caelo. The Muses dwell in heaven; cf. Hom. II. 2. 491
Ολυμπιάδες Μούσαι. But Porphyrion says quod velit iam transire a Iunonis
sermonibus.
come breathe upon the pipe a lengthy lay,
or if thou now dost choose with clear-ringing voice, or with the strings and harp
of Phoebus.' Calliope is allowed three choices (tibia-seu voce acuta-seu
fidibus citharaque), (1) to utter a lay on the pipe,' i.e. a lay accompanied by
the pipe, (2) a lay sung without accompaniment, (3) a lay accompanied by the
lyre. If only she will sing, Horace makes no condition as to the manner.
citharave has all MS. authority, but fides cannot denote 'the strings of a lyre'
as opposed to a cithara, and the hendiadys (cf. 2. 7. 9 n.) fidibus citharaque
is quite clear, cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 120 fretus cithara fidibusque canoris.
286
BOOK III
HORACE
5. auditis? Horace represents himself as hearing the voice of Calliope in
answer to his appeal, but referring to his companions to test the reality of his
impression. ludit, 'mocks." amabilis insania, a fond illusion';
oxymoron, cf. 3. 11. 35 n. The Greeks constantly speak of poetic inspiration
as évlovσiaσμós, and μavía, cf. Plat. Phaed. 245 A. 6. pios, 'holy,' i.e.
where only holy beings, human or divine, may enter. Groves and running
streams are always spoken of as favourite haunts of the Muses.
,
9. me fabulosae. Both words are emphatic by their position and
juxtaposition. Cf. 1. 22. 9. The epithet (='storied,' e.g. as drawing Venus'
car) in close connexion with the prominent me draws attention to the fact
that the poet's early years were associated with legends and tales of mystery,
which, like the story of a swarm of bees settling on the lips of the infant
Pindar, indicate a favourite of the Muses, so that he might well hear the voice
of Calliope. Vulture Apuliae. A very doubtful passage, which,
as it stands, must mean 'on Apulian Vultur just beyond the limit of my native
Apulia,' i.e. on Mt. Vultur which is in Apulia, and called Apulian, but on a
part of it which stretches just beyond the border of Apulia. The explanation
given is that Horace was born at Venusia on the borders of Apulia and Lucania,
and indeed elsewhere describes himself as 'half Lucanian, half Apulian
(Lucanus an Apulus anceps S. 2. 1. 34). Such extreme accuracy however of
local description seems out of place in so imaginative a passage, and the re-
markably harsh variation in the quantity of Apulus and Apulia at once
suggests that the text is corrupt. limina Pulliae (assumed to be his nurse)
has some MS. authority. Conjectures are V. in arduo, in arido, in avio.
Variations in the quantities of proper names are common, e.g. Priamus Pria-
mides, Italus Italia, etc., but these afford little authority for such a violent
double change in two consecutive lines as we have here. For cases where
poets intentionally vary the accent, and so the quantity, of a repeated word
cf. 1. 32. 11 n. 11. ludo 'worn out with play and (weighed down)
with sleep. An inaccurate but perfectly lucid expression, copied from Hom.
Π. 10. 98 καμάτῳ ἀδδηκότες ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ. For position of que cf. 2. 19. 28 n.
sacra
•
·
•
•
•
•
•
13. mirum quod foret omnibus, 'so that it was a marvel to all . .
how (line 17) I slept . . . how
14. nidum. Because the town was
situated like a 'nest' high up among the rocks; it 'nestled' among them.
Acherontia, Bantia and Forentum are all small places near Horace's birthplace.
16. humilis, 'low-lying.' 17. ut... dormirem, ut . . These
clauses explain mirum quod in line 13, a clause with ut being frequently
employed to explain a neuter pronoun, such as hoc, illud, quod, etc., but ut
here also partly depends on mirum. atris, 'deadly,' cf. 1. 37. 27 n. 18.
myrto. The 'laurel' sacred to Apollo, and the 'myrtle' to
Venus, are symbolic of his future career as the poet who should sing the
praises of love: Apollo and Venus are marked out as his tutelar deities (cf.
non sine dis). 20. non .. infans, 'not without heaven's favour a
poetic child,' i.e. by heaven's special favour (litotes; cf. 1. 18. 9 n.) All
editors give animosus = 'courageous,' but it is hard to see what 'courage' an
infant shows who wanders into the woods and when tired out lies down and
falls asleep, or why Horace should allude to his 'courage' here at all. On
the other hand animus (cf. aveμos, anima and inspirare, afflare) is used of
'inspiration,' as in Virg. Aen. 6. 11 magnam cui mentem animumque | Delius
inspirat vates. As therefore animosus=‘possessing animus,' why may not
its meanings vary with the meaning of animus, so that it here='possessing
•
ODE IV
287
NOTES
The connexion with the next stanza is thus
Yes, and as you inspired
an inspired child.
inspiration,' 'inspired'?
admirably maintained: '
my childhood so will I be yours, O Muses,' etc.
21. in arduos tollor Sabinos, 'I climb the Sabine hills,' i.e. to my
Sabine farm among the hills, cf. 2. 18. 14 n. 22. frigidum. Praeneste
on a lofty hill 20 miles S.E. of Rome was from its consequent 'coolness' a
favourite suburban resort of those who wished to avoid the excessive heat of
Rome. 23. Tibur supinum, 'the slopes of Tibur.' supinum, lit.
'upturned': the opposite of pronus. 24. liquidae Baiae, the clear' or
'bright air of Baiae'; cf. Virg. G. 4. 59 per aestatem liquidam, ‘through the
clear summer air.' Horace elsewhere alludes to the brightness of Baiae,'
Ep. 1. 1. 83 nullus in orbe sinus Bais praelucet amoenis. It was the
Brighton of Rome, and the whole coast from Baiae to Puteoli was studded
with villas; see Merivale, c. 40. Kiessling gives 'by the sea,' so that Baiae
is here described as 'a watering-place' !
•
simul=simulac.
25. amicum gives the reason for his preservation, 'because I was dear
to ...' fontibus, e.g. Castalia, Hippocrene. 27. non ... arbor,
'neither did an army routed at Philippi nor an accursed tree destroy me.'
For Horace at Philippi cf. 2. 7. 9-16, and for the accursed tree' 2. 13 Int.
28. Palinurus: a promontory on the W. of Lucania so called from the
pilot of Aeneas who lost his life there (Virg. Aen. 6. 373). We know nothing
of Horace having been nearly shipwrecked. 30. Bosphorum: cf. 2. 13.
14 n. 33. Britannos hospitibus feros: cf. 1. 35. 29 n. Their reputa-
tion for cruelty was in great measure due to the reports of human sacrifices
by the Druids; Tac. Ann. 14. 30. 34. Concanum. A tribe of the
Cantabri; cf. 2. 6. 2 n. For the Geloni cf. 2. 9. 23 n.; Virgil describes them
as drinking 'milk coagulated with horse's blood' (G. 3. 463 et lac concretum
cum sanguine potat equino). 36. Scythicum amnem. The Tanais (Don).
37. vos
antro, 'you too to exalted Caesar, longing to end his
labours so soon as he has disposed among the towns his war-worn squadrons,
give repose in a Pierian cave. Notice the emphatic vos connecting this with
the preceding stanzas.
38. For addidit most MSS.
give abdidit and a few reddidit. Orelli supports addidit by Tac. Ann. 13. 31
coloniae Capua atque Nuceria additis veteranis firmatae sunt, where the
reference is as here to giving soldiers assignments of land at the close of a
campaign in the neighbourhood of various towns (see Virg. Ecl. 1).´ abdidit
is explained as suggesting the idea of a well-won retirement (cf. Ep. 1. 1. 5),
but this idea is harshly expressed by speaking of the troops as 'hidden in
the towns.' reddidit gives excellent sense, but seems a correction, for, had it
been original, it is difficult to see why it should have been altered to the
more difficult addidit or abdidit.
41. vos
almae, 'you gentle
counsels give, and when they are given rejoice with kindly care. The 'gentle
counsels,' which the Muses give and which the victorious Augustus follows, at
once suggest a contrast with the proscriptions of Marius, Sulla, and Antony.
dato: Horace clearly implies by his use of the perfect part. here after the
present datis that not merely do the Muses 'give' or 'proffer' counsel, but
that what they so proffer becomes a real gift, i.e. is not only proffered but
accepted. consilium: scanned as a trisyllable, the second i being pro-
nounced almost like y. So too principium 6. 6, and cf. S. 2. 8. 1 n.
•
>
42.
almus, from alo,='fostering,' 'nurturing'; the Muses treated Caesar as
their 'foster-child' (alumnus).
288
BOOK III
HORACE
For the connexion of thought see Summary.
=
inpios
42. scimus
Titanas inmanemque turmam: acc. after sustulerit to which the nom.
is (ille) qui in line 45. Note the alliterative assonance; and for the hendiadys,
see 2. 7.9 n. 44. fulmine caduco, 'with down-rushing bolt'; cf. Aesch.
P. V. 358 καтαιßáтηs кeрavvós. caducus more usually 'ready to fall,' e.g.
2. 13. 11. 45. inertem. The earth is so called because of its huge and
motionless bulk in artistic contrast to mare ventosum. So 1. 34. 9 bruta tellus)
(vaga flumina. 46. urbes regnaque tristia, 'cities (of the living) and
realms of gloom.' Horace elsewhere (2. 20. 5 urbes relinquam; 1. 35. 10
urbesque gentesque) uses urbes without any adj. = 'the world,' 'the haunts of
men,' and so here, for the sake of brevity and to avoid too numerous adjectives,
he boldly places it by itself in contrast to the 'realms of gloom.' In English
however we must add some qualifying words for the sake of clearness. Notice
that et joins temperat with regit, and that regit governs all the accusatives from
urbes. 48. aequo, 'impartial'; emphatic by position.
•
•
•
•
•
>
fidens governs bracchiis,
collocation of horrida to
horrida is used partly=
with which some giants
49. magnum illa terrorem
The lines from here to the end are
inconsistent with lines 42-48. After reading how as sole ruler of the universe
Jove had annihilated the Titans, we are not prepared for the sudden statement
that he had really quaked for fear, and would indeed, but for the firm front
displayed by some subordinate deities, have fared badly. Horace, however,
is thinking not of Jove but of the dangerous opposition which Augustus
had overcome. 50. fidens
bracchiis, 'that band of youth
confident in (the horror of) its upraised arms.
but, as Wickham says, 'Horace intends by the
give the force of fidens bracchiis quibus horrebat.'
bristling' in reference to the innumerable arms
'bristled' (line 69 centimanus Gyas) and to the forest of arms so upraised (cf.
horridi 3. 29. 22), partly in its derivative sense='fearful' in reference to the
effect produced on Jove. 51. fratres. Otus and Ephialtes; cf. Virg. G.
1. 280 et coniuratos caelum rescindere fratres. | ter sunt conati inponere Pelio
Ossam | scilicet, atque Ossae frondosum involvere Olympum. tendentes
inposuisse, 'striving to have piled'; the perfect because it was their
object not merely 'to pile' Pelion on Olympus but 'to keep it piled' there so
as to employ it as a means of scaling heaven. Cf. 1. 1. 4 collegisse iuvat; 3.
18. 15. opaco, 'shady,' i.e. well-wooded.
=
53. Typhoeus. From Tupús, a whirlwind.'
•
54. minaci statu,
•
'with threatening mien.' 57. contra 'but what (sed quid, line 53)
could they avail rushing against the echoing shield of Pallas?' aegis
aivis (see Lidd. and Scott): in works of art the aegis of Pallas is not a
shield but a sort of short cloak or breastplate: several illustrations are given
in Smith's Class. Dict. s.v. Athena. 60. numquam
'he who from
his shoulders shall never lay aside the bow, who In the subsequent
stanza Horace dwells upon the attributes of Apollo which set his beauty and
dignity in effective contrast to the monstrous Titans. For Apollo with the
bow cf. the Homeric epithets applied to him, ékatηßóλos, kλUTÓTOέOs, and in
Latin Arcitenens; the famous statue of the Apollo Belvidere at Rome repre-
sents him as the ideal of manly beauty.
•
61. lavit: 2. 3. 18 n. 62. solutos, 'flowing.' Lyciae. Apollo
had a temple at Patara on the coast of Lycia, and is commonly called Lycius,
Λύκιος ; the similar epithet applied to him Λύκειος is variously explained as
ODE V
289
NOTES
63.
?
'Lycian,' 'wolf-slaying,' or 'light-giving,' see L. and Scott, s. v.
natalem silvam: on Mt. Cynthus in Delos. See Class. Dict. s. v. Leto.
65. vis consili 'strength void of judgment falls by its own weight:
strength self-controlled the gods also increase more and more: but they
abhor the strong whose thoughts are busy with all impiety.' The 'maxims
(sententiae line 70, yŵμa) here enunciated express the moral lesson to be
deduced from the defeat of the giants and are illustrated by the statement of
their punishment (lines 73-77) and by the fate of Orion, Tityos, and Pirithous.
vis
vires: usually vis='violence,' vires = 'strength,' but
here no such distinction is to be drawn. mole ruit sua: the metaphor is
from a building which is reared to such a size that it falls in.
'but they also,' cf. 2. 10. 16 n. vires, 'strength,' i.e. the
animo in next line. 68. omne nefas animo moventes.
assonance in ne ne, mo mo. 69. Gyas: 2. 17. 14 n.
et
•
•
•
vim
•
•
67. idem,
strong; cf.
Observe the
70. notus
'and Orion too notorious as the assailant of the spotless Diana.'
73. iniecta 'piled on her own monsters Earth groans, and mourns
her brood hurled by the thunderbolt to ghastly Orcus. The giants were the
offspring of earth, hence called monstra sua; cf. yiyavres as if from yaîa, and
γίγνομαι. 75. peredit: perfect. The giants were pinned to the ground
with a thunderbolt, and then had a mountain piled upon them: the volcanic
nature of Etna and similar mountains was supposed to be due to the fire thus
planted at their base, and their eruptions to the agonised writhings of the
giants. 77. Tityi: 2. 14. 8 n. 78. reliquit, 'has left,' i.e. from the time
when it was placed there. nequitiae additus custos. The use of
additus is noticeable: it implies that the warder thus 'assigned to his profli-
gacy' could not be got rid of. Cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 90 nec Teucris addita Iuno
usquam aberit; Stat. Theb. 2. 320 mortalibus addita cura; Plaut. Aul. 3. 6.
20 custodem addidit. 79. amatorem, 'per Airbrηrа pro scelesto raptore,'
Orelli. trecentae, i.e. any indefinite number: so more commonly sexcenti.
Pirithous attempted to carry off Proserpine. It has been well suggested that
the mythological instances selected by Horace in these stanzas are selected
with a definite purpose: they are all instances of those whom lust has ruined
-temptator Orion, incontinens Tityos, amator Pirithous. Considering to
whom the Ode is addressed and whose victories are suggested, there can be
little doubt who the fallen foe hinted at is, the Roman Antony who had
perished in the meshes of Cleopatra. For similar eloquent omissions of his
name cf. 1. 37 Int., 3. 8. 18 n.
ODE V
'Jove is king of heaven and Augustus his vicegerent on earth, as shall be
manifest, when he has added Britain and Parthia to his empire. And yet
(though Rome's fortune and Rome's future are thus assured) could the soldiers
of Crassus condescend to purchase their lives by repudiating their religion and
their race and accepting the life of barbarians? It was such a decay of the
true spirit of national honour that Regulus foresaw and feared when he refused
assent to dishonourable terms, as involving a precedent which would be fatal to
ages yet unborn.
"No," he said, "let those who surrendered perish unpitied.
Why should you seek to recover such men? Once cowards they will be always
Think how they have given glory to Carthage and brought Italy low even
to the dust." And then without one kiss to wife or child as one disgraced,
without raising his eyes from the ground until he had confirmed the wavering
senate in their stern resolve, he hastened back to exile, to torture and to death.'
80.
U
290
BOOK III
HORACE
•
•
1. caelo: with regnare in opposition to praesens divus. 3. adiectis :
in connexion with the future habebitur not since they have been,' but 'when
they shall have been added.' For the Britanni cf. 1. 35. 29 n. Julius Caesar
made raids into Britain B.C. 55 and 54, but it was not really subjugated until
the reign of Claudius A.D. 43. 4. gravibusque Persis: 1. 2. 22 n.
5. milesne
A sudden outburst of indignation, for which lines 1-4
give the ground (see Summary): 'Could the soldier of Crassus live in disgrace-
ful wedlock, his wife a barbarian?' It is simpler to take coniuge barbara as
an abl. abs., rather than as abl. after turpis='disgraced by a barbaric wife.
For the defeat of Crassus cf. 1. 2. 22 n. 6. hostium socerorum. Con-
ington's 'earning his foemen-kinsmen's pay' avoids the awkward word 'fathers-
in-law.' 7. pro 'est demirantis cum indignatione' Orelli. 'O shame for
our senate and character overthrown.' curia (1)= the Curia Hostilia where
the senate met, (2)= the senate itself (cf. 2. 1. 14 consulenti curiae), which is
here mentioned as a type of Roman institutions.
9. Medo Marsus: antithetical juxtaposition. The Marsi were proverbial
for their bravery; cf. 2. 20. 18, and for the Marsic War 3. 14. 18 n. Horace
with reasonable partiality joins to them his native Apulians. 10. ancili-
orum. See Dict. Ant. s.v. Salii. On the preservation of the ancile which
fell from heaven the safety of Rome was said to depend. Horace seems to
have known a nom. ancilium. togae: the distinctive Roman dress, cf.
Virgil's famous line Aen. 1. 282, Romanos rerum dominos gentemque togatam.
11. aeternae, 'undying,' in reference to the fire which was kept ever burning
on her altar. 12. incolumi 'while Jove's temple stands uninjured
and the city Rome,' i.e. the soldier acts as though these were in ruins.
'the temple of Jove,' i.e. the Capitol, the sign and symbol of Rome's
dominion; cf. 3. 3. 42 stet Capitolium.
•
•
Iove,
13. hoc. See Summary. 15. et exemplo pubes, 'and making
ruin extend to ages yet to come from the precedent, if the captive youth did
not perish unpitied.'
traho='to draw,' 'drag out,' 'extend,' and a person
may be said 'from a precedent to extend ruin into the future,' who describes
or foresees ruin so extending from a precedent into the future. The emenda-
tion trahenti is tempting but wrong, for trahentis is necessary as a parallel to
dissentientis: Regulus objects on two grounds, (1) he disagrees with the terms
as disgraceful, (2) he foresees that the precedent is ruinous. 17. si non
pubes. These words explain exemplo: the precedent would arise 'if,'
etc. For the lengthening of the final syllable in periret, cf. S. 1. 5. 90 n.
perirent and perires are obvious corrections. Plüss puts a full stop after
periret, and makes inmiserabilis captiva pubes an indignant exclamation, ‘Un-
pitied (be) the captive youth!' the description of Roman disgrace which
follows giving the reason why there should be no pity. 18. signa, i.e.
Roman eagles. 20. sine caede, 'without bloodshed': notice the brilliant
antitheses militibus sine caede, civium retorta... libero, warriors who sur-
rendered without fighting, free Romans who had become Carthaginian slaves.
•
21. ego (18) ... vidi; vidi ego. Notice the emphasis with which ego=
'with my own eyes' is repeated, and how in repeating ego vidi the order is
carefully changed, in accordance with the almost universal practice of the
Roman poets, cf. 4. 13. 1 audivere Di . . Di audivere, and especially Ov.
Her. 5. 29-32. 23. portasque non clausas. The sign of security and
peace; cf. A. P. 199 apertis otia portis.
(being) tilled our warriors had plundered.'
arva
•
nostro, 'the fields
25. scilicet: from scire licet,
ODE V
291
NOTES
acrior,
you may be sure,' 'doubtless,' is frequently used ironically.
keener for the fray.' 27. damnum. Orelli says
not the loss of the
ransom' but the 'damage which would accrue from such a precedent.' But
damnum certainly refers to auro; Regulus of course does not mean 'Think
too of the money it will cost,' but he uses the words in bitter irony, just as he
had used the mercantile words auro repensus ('handed back over the counter
for due weight of gold'): 'if,' he says, you care not for the disgrace (flagitium)
of such traffic, at any rate buy something worth what you pay for it,' which he
then shows (lines 27-36) these soldiers are not. Cf. Eur. Rhes. 102 aioxpòv yàp
ἡμῖν καὶ πρὸς αἰσχύνῃ κακόν. amissos colores, i.e. its pristine purity and
whiteness. 28. medicata fuco, 'tinctured with dye.' medicare, 'to
doctor,' is common='to dye': cf. papµáoσeiV.
29. semel: ǎπaş, ‘once,' once for all.' 30. curat
cares to
be restored to the degraded.' deteriores fiunt ex bonis, peiores ex malis, says
the Scholiast. 32. ille. Scornfully emphatic. 33. perfidis: in
opposition to credidit (cf. 3. 7. 13 perfida credulum, 3. 27. 25 doloso credidit)
and also with a special reference to the 'perfidy' which without reason was
always attributed by Roman writers to the Carthaginians, e.g. Livy attributes
to Hannibal perfidia plus quam Punica. Cf. 4. 4. 49 perfidus Hannibal, and
the well-known perfide Albion. 35. restrictis lacertis, 'with arms bound
·
behind his back.' Cf. line 22. 36. sensit: of feeling anything painful,
cf. 2. 7. 9 n. iners, 'spiritless,' used of dull sluggish cowardice, cf. 4. 9.
29 inertia )( virtus.
•
37. hic 'he, ignorant whence to win life, confounded peace with
war. hic picks up the scornful ille of 32 and seems to point out the very
wretch whom Regulus takes as a type of the disgraced troops. unde
vitam sumeret puts into oblique narration the soldier's thought unde vitam
sumam? The answer ought to have been 'By the sword.'
38. pacem
duello miscuit: the soldier forgot that in war there should be no 'bar-
gaining,' no such peaceful methods of settlement. duello. Cf. Ep. 1. 2. 7 n.
40. altior ruinis, 'towering higher by,' or 'on the ruins of Italy.'
41. fertur. Here Regulus' speech ends, and the narrative recommences.
fertur marks the conduct of Regulus as 'almost incredible' (Kiessling) and
fabulous in its heroism, cf. 1. 7. 23; 16. 13; 3. 20. 13. 42. ut capitis
minor. Horace alters to a more poetical shape the legal phrase capite
deminutus. caput is the full body of rights possessed by a Roman citizen,
viz. those of liberty, citizenship, and family (libertatis, civitatis, familiae): the
loss of any of these, e.g. of liberty as in the case of Regulus, involved deminutio
capitis. Being therefore no longer a full citizen, Regulus considered himself
to have forfeited also the position of pater familias, or 'head of the household.'
capitis is the so-called gen. of respect; cf. militiae inpiġer, integer vitae, seri
studiorum, etc. 44. torvus, 'grimly.'
:
45. donec: with posuisse. He fixed his gaze grimly on the ground ‘until
his weighty words might confirm the wavering fathers with counsel such as
never before was given' after that he recovered his Roman calmness as
described in lines 49-56. For donec with subj. cf. S. 2. 1. 73. 46. auctor
(=qui auget) is one who 'gives strength' to anything; hence the 'author,'
supporter' of a proposal: but there often attaches to it, as here, a collateral
notion that the person to whom it is applied possesses auctoritas, that his
character lends weight to his words. Orelli says that consilio is emphatic
that whereas a senator had a right sententiam dicere 'to declare his judgment,'
292
BOOK III
HORACE
Regulus as being capitis minor was now only able consilium dare 'to give
advice,' and he must therefore explain numquam alias dato as expressing that
Regulus 'had at no other time so given counsel.' Such an explanation seems
too recondite: surely the words mean, 'with counsel such as ne'er before
was given,' and refer to the unprecedented nobility of the counsel with which
Regulus counselled his own certain death. 48. egregius exsul: oxy-
properaret: emphatic: he 'hastens' lest he be recalled.
moron.
•
•
49. atqui: 1. 23. 9 n. 50. non aliter: with quam si, line 53.
51. dimovit: from dis and movere, 'to make to stand apart,' so as to form a
lane down which one may pass.
53. clientum relinqueret, 'he
were leaving the tedious business of his clients, their suits decided.' The
patronus gave advice and assistance to his clients (clientes, Kλúovтes, 'those
who listen'), especially on legal matters, the old Roman aristocracy all
possessing legal training: this he would do at Rome, after which he would be
free to seek the repose of his country estates. 55. Venafranos.
Tarentum. Local colouring to give reality and distinctness, see 1. 1. 13 n.
See too 3. 7. 1-8 Favonii, Thyna, Notis, Oricum, Caprae. As here, Horace
frequently selects his names a good deal for their harmonious sound. More-
over the quiet ending of the Ode affords an artistic contrast to the rhetorical
emphasis of the rest, cf. 4. 2. 60 n., 4. 14. 52 n. 56. Lacedaemonium:
because founded by Phalanthus, for whom see Class. Dict.
ODE VI
'The sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children until the crumbling
temples of the gods are restored: to reverence for the gods we owe the rise of our
empire, to our neglect of them we shall owe its ruin; let the defeats we have
already suffered be a warning to us. Moreover immorality, like a rising flood,
has overspread the nation and sapped the foundations of that simple household
life in which were reared the early soldiers of Rome. Alas, so we move from
bad to worse.'
The Ode commemorates two portions of the domestic policy of Augustus,
(1) The restoration of many decayed temples (Virgil, Aen. 8. 716, says 300) as
a visible sign of his desire to restore the old customs and observances of Rome,
cf. Ovid, Fast. 2. 63 templorum positor, templorum sancte repostor; (2) the
introduction of several measures intended to check the continual decrease in
the number of regular marriages which was due partly to decay of religious
feeling and a consequent looseness of morals, partly to increased cost of living
and the more luxurious habits of society. See Dict. Ant. Lex Iulia Papia et
Poppaea, and cf. 3. 24 and 4. 5. 21-24; Merivale, c. 33.
1. delicta . . . Orelli quotes a fragment of Euripides rà tŵv tekóvtwv
σφάλματ᾽ εἰς τοὺς ἐκγόνους | οἱ θεοὶ τρέπουσι, which reproduces the very words
of Exod. xx. 5 'I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children.' 2. Romane. For the singular cf. Virg.
3. labentes,
Aen. 6. 851 tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento.
'mouldering': labi, 'to slip,' 'glide,' 'fall away,' is admirably used of the
sure but silent process of decay. Notice the different quantity and meaning
of labantes 3. 5. 45. 5. dis imperas, 'the lord of mankind only
Cf. 1. 12. 57 te minor
because thou art the servant of the gods.'-Merivale.
•
·
latum reget aequus orbem, and 3. 1. 5 n. te minorem geris, 'dost carry
thyself (as) inferior,' 'behave thyself as the servant.' 6. hinc, 'from this,'
ODE VI
293
NOTES
i.e. from showing obedience. With principium supply est; and for its scan-
sion see 3. 4. 41 n. 8. Hesperiae, 'the land of the West,' i.e. Italy; cf.
2. 1. 32 n. luctuosae is explained by the next two stanzas.
9. iam bis ... There is no reference to Crassus, who was defeated by
Surenas, but (1) to the defeat of Decidius Saxa, the lieutenant of Antony,
B.C. 40, by Pacorus son of Orodes king of Parthia, and (2) to that of two
legions under Oppius Statianus B.C. 36. See Mommsen in Orelli *. 10.
non
•
•
inpetus, 'have crushed our unblest assaults.' For the verb in
sing. cf. 2. 13. 38 n. non auspicatos: as the gods were neglected they
refused their favour to the arms of Rome, which are therefore spoken of as
lacking good auspices.' 11. adiecisse renidet: renidet takes an inf. from
the sense of 'rejoicing' contained in it; cf. line 21 doceri gaudet. It literally
means 'beams back,' and portrays the grin of satisfaction with which a savage
positively 'beams again' when tricking himself out in new finery.
13. paene with delevit. seditionibus. See 3. 3. 29 n. The refer-
ence is to the civil wars, which since the days of Marius and Sylla had ‘seized
on' (cf. occupatam) Rome as their prey, but especially to the final struggle
between Octavian and Antony, which was concluded by the battle of Actium,
B.C. 31.
14. delevit urbem Dacus. Notice the effective juxtaposition
of urbem and Dacus. delevit is the strongest word Horace could have
selected; cf. the saying of Cato the Censor, delenda est Karthago. Dacian
bowmen served under Antony at Actium; Aethiops refers to the Egyptian
troops who manned the fleet of Cleopatra. 17. fecunda. 'genera-
tions prolific in guilt first defiled wedlock and the family and homes: from
that source disaster's growing flood o'erspread our name and nation.' cul-
pae is the gen. after fecunda, which implies abundance. Cf. 3. 11. 26 inane
lymphae, 3. 30. 11 pauper aquae, 4. 4. 58 feraci frondis, 4. 6. 39 prosperam
frugum, 4. 8. 5 divite artium; S. 1. 1. 79. 18. primum forms the link
between this and the previous stanza: 'the origin of all was,' etc.
patriam populumque: found also in Ovid and Juvenal, the combination
being a favourite one owing to its sonorous character.
•
20.
21. motus Ionicos, ‘dances,' such as were in favour among the luxurious
inhabitants of Asia Minor. With the Greeks and Romans dancing was an
accomplishment rarely practised except by slave girls who exhibited their
skill for hire at banquets and the like. 22. artibus refers not merely
to dancing but to all the tricks and devices which women practise to
attract attention; cf. Ov. Rem. Am. 691 artibus innumeris mens oppugnatur
amantum. Many MSS. have artubus. 23. iam nunc, 'even now,' i.e.
while still unmarried, in opposition to mox, line 25. 'Even now she is
trained in wiles, and dreams of unhallowed amours from the bottom of her
soul.' 24. de tenero ungui (cf. Cic. ad Fam. 1. 6. 2 praesta te eum,
qui mihi a teneris, ut Graeci dicunt, unguiculis es cognitus; Plautus, Stich. 5.
5. 20 perpruriscamus usque ex unguiculis) is a translation of ¿ àra\ŵv
¿vúxwv, = 'from the most sensitive part of the body,' or as we say, 'from the
heart' (penitus, medullitus), the base of the nail where it joins the flesh being
peculiarly sensitive and susceptible to feeling.
29. non sine conscio: litotes,='with the full privity of her husband.'
30. institor. The 'pedlar' or travelling merchant played a more important
part in antiquity than he does now, and his jewels and silks offered strong
temptations; cf. Seneca, fr. de matr. 52 institores gemmarum sericarumque
vestium si intromiseris, periculum est. 32. dedecorum 'who highly
•
•
294
BOOK III
HORACE
?
•
pays the price of shame.' 33. non his 'not from such parents
sprang the youth who dyed the sea . . . 34. aequor. For the victory
referred to cf. 2. 12. 2 n. 35. ingentem... Antiochum: Antiochus the
Great, king of Macedonia B.C. 223-187; defeated by L. Scipio at Magnesia
B.C. 190. 36. Hannibalemque dirum. For dirus the standard epithet
of Hannibal cf. 2. 12. 2 n. His invasion lasted from B.C. 218-203 and he was
finally defeated by Scipio at Zama B.C. 202.
37. rusticorum militum, 'yeomen soldiers.' Horace refers to those
hardy farmers who, in peace living on their own farms, in war had furnished
the commonwealth with its best soldiers, but whose rapidly declining numbers
are under the empire continually deplored by both poets and politicians.
38. Sabellis. The Sabines are the type of a sturdy simple mountain race.
Cic. pro Lig. 11 calls them florem Italiae ac robur rei publicae; cf. Virg. G. 2.
531. 39. et severae ... 'to shoulder the faggots hewn at a stern
mother's bidding.' 41. ubi mutaret, 'when the sun should shift the shadows':
the subj. because he was told (cf. ad arbitrium) to do it 'when the sun' etc.
iuga demeret: the time is Bouλurós, which is not evening but the time of
extreme heat just after midday, when the sun having passed the zenith 'shifts
the shadows' from West to East, see Arist. Av. 1499. 44. agens abeunte :
oxymoron, cf. 2. 4. 10 ademptus tradidit.
45. damnosa. After presenting in the main portion of the Ode a
Hogarth-like picture of what life was at Rome, the poet has in lines 33-44
painted a sketch, half-historical half idyllic, of what life had been and still
might be. But now his reason overpowers his hopes: sad reality recurs to his
mind and warns him that such visions of the future are but dreams. Harshly
thrown forward at the commencement of the stanza the word damnosa, as
Plüss remarks, 'sounds like a sigh.' 46. aetas
Notice the
masterly brevity of expression; these three lines in eleven words describe the
downward progress of four generations. peior avis, 'worse than that of
our grandsires.' For the comparatio compendiaria cf. 2. 6. 14 n.
daturos, 'soon to produce.'
ODE VII
•
47.
Why weep, Asterie, for your absent lover? He is faithful, and though
compelled by storms to winter at Oricum, will be back with spring's earliest
Zephyr. It is for you he sighs all night, and, though his hostess sends to tell
how she adores him and how dangerous it is to scorn such offers, he pays no
more heed than a rock. Only, Asterie, be careful yourself, and do not grow too
fond of that peerless cavalier Enipeus; when he sings his doleful ditties
beneath your window don't look out, and when he calls you cruel, be so.'
1. candidi, ‘bright,' 'cloudless' (cf. 1. 7. 15) and also suggesting the joy
they would bring her. 2. Favonii: the harbingers of spring. Cf. Lucr.
1. 11 and 5. 737 it ver et Venus et veris praenuntius ante | pennatus graditur
Zephyrus. 3. Thyna. So 1. 35. 7 Bithyna carina of a merchant vessel
trading to Bithynia. For the Thyni see Class. Dict. s.v. Bithyni. beatum,
' enriched.' 4. fide: genitive, cf. Virg. G. 1. 208 Libra die somnique .
horas and Aul. Gell. 9. 14, who quotes facie quod honestae, and facieque tuae
se from Lucilius. MSS. give fidei.
•
5. Gygen? ille. By keeping the proper name till last and then beginning
with the emphatic pronoun ille Horace passes with perfect ease and clearness
from what Asterie is doing to what Gyges is doing. Oricum: a port of
ODE VIII
295
NOTES
Epirus at the entrance of the Adriatic. 6. Caprae. The goat Amalthaea
which suckled the infant Jove was placed as a constellation among the stars.
After its rising at the end of September stormy weather was considered to
insana :
have set in and navigation ceased for the winter; cf. 4. 5. 11 n.
because of the violent storms which accompanied it.
Cf. 3. 29. 19 vesani
Leonis, 'the Lion with its violent heat.' 9. atqui, ‘and yet,' strongly
adversative; cf. 1. 23. 9 n.
cf. 1. 23. 9 n. sollicitae, 'love-sick.' 10. suspirare ..
saying that Chloe sighs, and, poor lady, is consumed with a flame like thine.'
The nuntius does not, of course, use the word tuis to Gyges; he would use some
intense adjective instead, e.g. 'warmest': but Horace in reporting to Asterie
what the nuntius says, knowing that no adjective could so forcibly appeal
to Asterie as a personal one, substitutes tuis--'Remember,' he says, 'Asterie,
that Chloe's messenger declares that she has a passion for him-like yours.'
•
13. ut. inpulerit: dependent on refert, to which the nom. is nuntius.
perfida credulum: for the same antithesis cf. 3. 5. 33 n.; for antithesis
intensified by juxtaposition cf. 2. 4. 6 n. 14. nimis casto, 'too chaste,'
not in reality but as the messenger would persuade Gyges. For the story see
Class. Dict. s. v. Bellerophon. 17. paene
'Peleus almost given over
Peléx= Πηλέα.
Pelěǎ
•
18.
19.
to death.' See Class. Dict. s. v. Peleus or Acastus.
Magnessam. Máyvns, fem. Máyvŋooɑ, a dweller at Magnesia in Thessaly.
dum fugit abstinens, 'while he soberly shunned'; cf. 1. 10. 11 n.
et peccare 'and cunningly brings forward stories that guide to guilt.'
20. historias: 2.12.10 n. movet is accurately used of 'stirring up' or 'bring-
ing to light' anything which was forgotten or unknown, e.g. Virg. Aen. 1. 262
fatorum arcana movebo. monet = 'reminds him of' has more MS. authority.
· •
21 frustra. See 3. 13. 6. Icari: gen. of Icaros, an uninhabited rocky
island near Samos; see Kiessling and Orelli 4. 22. adhuc, 'to this hour,'
not, as hactenus would, implying any doubt of his continuing so.—Wickham.
integer expresses that he was 'untouched by' or 'proof against all blandish-
ments'; cf. 2. 4. 22 n. at tibi: notice the emphasis. 23. Enipeus.
The Enipeus is a river in Thessaly, but here the word is connected with ¿víπTW,
Evɩπý, and so='the reprover,' cf. vocanti duram below. 24. plus iusto
placeat, 'find more favour than is fair.'
26. conspicitur, attracts the gaze' (is the cynosure of every eye):
conspicio is used when the gaze is concentrated on anything: it implies merit
in the object. Hence conspiciendus frequently='beautiful,' 'distinguished.'
See Dict. s. V. gramine Martio, i.e. the Campus Martius (apricum
campum 1. 8. 3), the regular resort of all who desired exercise, which generally
ended with a swim down the Tuscan stream.'
'
See next line, and 3. 12. 7.
30. sub cantu, ‘soon as you hear the strain.' sub indicates close
succession; she looks out directly after hearing. Cf. Caes. B. C. 1. 27 ne sub
ipsa profectione milites oppidum inrumperent. Shakesp. Merch. of Ven. 2. 5.
29 'Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum | And the vile squeal-
ing of the wry-necked fife, | Clamber not you up to the casements then, | Nor
thrust your head into the public street.
ODE VIII
'You ask me why 1, a bachelor, keep festival on the kalends of March, for
with all your lore, Maecenas, you are at a loss on this point. The fact is,
I made a vow to keep to-day as an annual holiday, for it was on this day that
I narrowly escaped being killed. And so, Maecenas, drink a cup in honour of
296
BOOK III
HORACE
my safety and forget for a while the cares of government; well may you do so,
for on all sides the political horizon is free from signs of danger and all our
foes are vanquished.'
Horace represents himself as entertaining Maecenas. The date is fixed by
the allusions in lines 18-21, as B. C. 30 or 29; see notes.
•
•
•
1. quid agam quid velint. Oblique interrogation dependent on
miraris, which is the main sentence. The Matronalia, a festival celebrated by
married women in honour of Juno Lucina, took place on the first of March,
which therefore seemed a singular day for a bachelor to be observing. 2.
velint, sc. sibi='mean'; cf. Cic. 2 Verr. 2. 61. 150 quid illae sibi statuae
inauratae volunt? 3. in caespite vivo, 'on living turf,' i.e. on an altar
of fresh-cut turf, cf. 1. 19. 13 n.
5. docte. 'O Maecenas, learned in the lore of either tongue,' i.e.
for all your knowledge of Greek and Roman folk-lore, you cannot find any
tale or legend which accounts for my treating to-day as a festival. ser-
mones, λóyous, 'old tales,' handed down by word of mouth, in connexion
with popular customs and holidays. The word is clearly distinguished from
linguae, and therefore the rendering 'learned in the speech of either tongue
must be wrong, apart from the fact that (1) it does not explain the plural
sermones and (2) is an unmeaning compliment. utriusque linguae: so
Cic. de Off. 1. 1. 1 ut par sis in utriusque orationis facultate. The Romans
habitually read and used Greek, but ignored other languages: hence either
tongue' = Greek and Latin. 6. album Libero caprum.
The 'goat' was
sacrificed to Bacchus because it does great damage to vineyards. Black victims
were offered to the gods below, white ones to the gods above. For Bacchus
as protector of poets, cf. 2. 19. 6 n. 7. prope funeratus: see 2. 13 Intr.
-'made ready for a funeral' rather than a feast.
•
10. corticem 'shall remove the cork fastened down with rosin
from a jar (first) taught to drink the smoke in Tullus' consulship.' Wine
intended for keeping was drawn off from the dolium or cask into the amphora
(see Dict. Ant.), corked and sealed (corticem adstrictum pice, cf. conditum levi,
1. 20. 3 ; Theocr. 7. 147 τετράενες δὲ πίθων ἀπελύετο κρατὸς ἄλειφαρ), labelled
with its name and that of the consuls of the year, and then, if early maturity
was desired, placed in the apotheca (άπо¤ýкη='bodega'), an upper room which
received a good deal of warmth and smoke from the bath furnaces. Cf. 3. 21.
7, where Horace says to a jar descende, i.e. from the apotheca. 11. bibere
institutae, 'taught to drink,' a half-comic expression, cf. funeratus above.
12. Tullo. L. Volcatius Tullus was consul B.C. 66, the year before Horace's
birth, cf. 3. 21. 1 o nata mecum consule Manlio. testa, and 3. 14. 18,
where he speaks of cadum Marsi memorem duelli, the Marsic war having taken
place B.C. 88. Wine was kept for great and even incredible periods: Martial
alludes to people in his day (flor. 90 A.D.) drinking Opimianum, Opimius
having been consul B.C. 121.
9 n.
•
13. cyathos amici sospitis, 'cups (in honour) of your friend's safety.'
cyathus (see Dict. Ant.) is strictly a small ladle used in mixing; it is
here used generally='a cup.' For construction of amici sospitis see 3. 19.
14. centum: indefinite, cf. 2. 14. 26. et vigiles. 'carry
on the sleepless lanterns to the dawn.' Cf. 3. 21. 23. 17. mitte
'lay aside a statesman's anxieties for the city.' civiles is merely 'public,'
'political,' cf. Ep. 1. 1. 16 mersor civilibus undis, 'the sea of politics.' There
is no special reference to the civil administration of Maecenas as opposed to
ODE 1X
297
NOTES
the military administration of Agrippa, but only to the general freedom from
political anxiety which the prosperity of affairs abroad would give a man in
the position of Maecenas. 18. Daci Cotisonis. The Dacian prince
Cotiso had promised assistance to Antony, and was defeated by M. Crassus
B.C. 30. Notice how throughout no reference is made to the defeat of Antony
at Actium: it is of his defeat that the poet is thinking when he bids Maecenas
cease his anxiety,' but the laws of poetry and propriety forbid the mention
of a victory which brought no triumph in its train. The same eloquent silence
is preserved, 1. 37. 19. Medus, 'our foe the Mede is engaged in civil
strife calamitous (only) to himself.' For Medus='Parthian' see 1. 2. 51 n.
The Parthian monarch Tiridates, who had been placed on the throne by
Augustus, was being attacked by Prahates who had been deposed for his tyranny,
cf. 1. 26 Intr. sibi goes both with luctuosis and dissidet; its proximity to
infestus, with the sense of which it interferes, seems awkward.
•
21. servit Hispanae Statilius Taurus defeated the Cantabri, B.C.
29. For the condition of Spain cf. 2. 6. 2 n. vetus: Livy 28. 12
remarks that Spain was the province which the Romans entered first and
subdued last. 23. iam Scythae, 'by now the Scythians with bow
unstrung prepare to quit their plains.' 24. campis, 'steppes': 2. 9. 23 n.
25. neclegens . 'away with care, (for a few hours) a simple citizen
cease to be too anxious lest in any way the nation suffer harm.' Orelli wrongly
says privatus=cum sis privatus: it is indeed true that Maecenas, wisely
preferring the reality of power to the distinctions of office, remained through
life a simple knight and was therefore always technically privatus, an unofficial
simple citizen; but on the other hand he was at this very time actually in
charge of the government of Rome, and it would be more than absurd for Horace
to say to him 'cease, since you hold no official rank, to perform your duty!
What Horace says is what any one might say asking a great statesman to dinner,
'Come and forget for a time the cares of state in the enjoyment of private society.'
ODE IX
A dialogue between two lovers, stanzas 1, 3, and 5 being spoken by the
man, the others by the lady. The Ode is faultless in form and finish, and
has found hosts of translators and imitators. It is called carmen amoebaeum
from ȧµeißeσbal, to converse in dialogue, cf. Theocr. 8. 31 åµoßaía ảoídá:
this is the only specimen in Horace, but see Virg. Ecl. 3 and Theocr. 8. The
rule is that the second speaker should reply to the first in the same number
of verses, and on the same or a similar subject, and also if possible show
superior force and power of expression or, as we say, 'cap' what the first
speaker had said. The Ode is best summarised by the line of Terence, And.
3. 3. 23 amantium irae amoris integratio est.
2. potior, 'a favoured rival.' 3. cervici dabat, 'did fling around thy
neck.' 4. Persarum rege.
The 'Persian king' is taken as an accepted
type of wealth and well-being. Cf. 2. 12. 21 quae tenuit dives Achaemenes,
'the wealth of Achaemenes' (the legendary ancestor of the Persians).
5. non alia ... arsisti: lit. 'thou didst burn with (love for) no other
woman,' i.e. your warmest love was for me. alia is abl. of the instrument: in
the conventional language of amatory poetry, the lover is said ardere 'to be on
fire,' and the loved one is called flamma, ignis, 'his flame'; hence, just as
you say ardere igne 'to be warm with fire,' so you say ardere Lydia 'to be
fired with love for Lydia.' Cf. below line 13, and 3. 7. 11. So too 2. 4. 7
J
298
BOOK III
HORACE
arsit virgine, 4. 11. 33 non alia calebo femina. 7. multi nominis:
gen. of quality; 'of high renown.' Ilia = Rhea Silvia, mother of Romulus.
9. Thressa: Opât, fem. Opâσoa or Opĥooa. 10. docta modos,
skilled in strains.' doceo, which in the active takes two accusatives, in
the passive governs an accusative of the thing taught, cf. 3. 6. 21 motus doceri.
citharae sciens: cf. 1. 15. 24 n. 12. animae superstiti. The lover
speaks of Chloe as 'his life' (anima) just as Lydia speaks of Calais as 'her
darling' (puer), and he says 'I will not fear to die if the fates will spare my
love and let her live.' For the use of artma C1. 1. where Horace calls
Virgil animae dimidium meae; also 2. 17.5; Plaut. Bacch. 2. 2. 16 anima
est amica amanti: si abest, nullus est. My forfeit life I'll freely give, | So
she, my better life, may live.'-Gladstone.

15. bis.
tosque
For this intensification see Introduction to Ode.
18. diduc-
'and joins our severed loves with brazen yoke.' cogo, from cum
and ago, 'I bring together,' is the exact opposite of diduco, from dis and duco,
'I lead apart.' iugo aeneo: cf. 1. 33. 11 and note.
'golden,' 'golden-haired.' excutitur, 'is cast off.'
22. tu.
19. flava,
21. sidere pulchrior. Cf. 3. 19. 26; and in Hom. Il. 6. 401 the young
Astyanax is ἀλίγκιος ἀστέρι καλῷ.
Notice how Latin by
simply bringing contrasted words into prominence avoids the use of such
words as sed, tamen, contra, see 3. 20. 9; 4. 7. 14. inprobo: this adj.
in the Latin poets must be translated in accordance with the noun it goes
with it signifies generally 'that which exceeds ordinary and reasonable limits,'
here therefore applied to the sea it 'unruly,' 'violent,' but Virg. G. 1. 146
labor inprobus 'unwearied work,' G. 1. 119 inprobus anser 'the greedy goose';
cf. 3. 24. 62 inprobae divitiae. Observe that Lydia cannot forgive her lover
without indulging in a little sarcasm; cf. Juno's language, 3. 3. 38.
:
ODE X
This Ode is the supposed utterance of a lover who finds the door firmly
fastened in his face on a wintry night. For the sequel to it see 4. 13 Intr.
'A barbarian, Lyce, would weep to expose me to a night like this. Listen
how the wind howls again, and see how keen and sharp the frost is. Venus
loves not such disdain as yours: beware lest things change with you soon:
you were never born to play the part of Penelope, and, after all, though nothing
can move you, neither your lover's wan cheeks nor your husband's infidelity,
though you are as unbending as an oak, as unpitying as a serpent, remember
that my patience is not eternal.'
·
=
·
•
1. Tanain si biberes, i.e. if you were a dweller by the Tanais, a
Scythian; cf. 2. 20. 20 n. Lyce, cf. Xúkos, 'the cruel one.
2. saevo,
'stern' the sternness of the Scythians with regard to immorality is dwelt
on 3. 24. 9-24. asperas, 'cruel,' as being the instruments of Lyce's cruelty.
5. audis quo
'hear you how the door rattles, how the grove
moans again with the winds?' strepitu, 'clashing,' 'banging'; cf. S.
2. 6. 112 valvarum strepitus, a banging of doors.' It is however a very
vague word, and so may be equally well used of the 'noise' of the trees; cf.
4. 3. 18 n.
remugiat, et . . ut glaciet: zeugma,
i.e. a case where a verb is joined with two words, to only one of which it is
strictly appropriate; cf. 1. 14. 3-6 nonne vides ut nudum latus, antem-
naeque gemant. nemus,, tecta: usually explained of the shrubs
audis quo
•
•
•
•
ODE XI
299
NOTES
•
planted in the centre of the peristylium (see Dict. of Ant. s. v. domus), cf.
Ep. 1. 10. 22 nempe inter varias nutritur silva columnas; but (1) such
luxury would only be possible in very large mansions, and (2) it is hard to
imagine that such a 'grove' could be spoken of as 'moaning again with the
wind' if indeed the wind got to it at all. On the other hand it is easy to
imagine that there were trees among and around the houses where Lyce lived:
the question audis... ventis? might be put with accuracy on windy nights to
many Londoners who do not possess a peristyle. 7. et positas...‘and (see
you) how Jupiter with unclouded divinity freezes the fallen snow.' puro: frost
is keenest on clear nights. For Iuppiter, 'the god of the sky,' cf. 1. 1. 25 n.
10. ne currente . 'lest the wheel run back and the rope go with it.'
The metaphor is from a man hauling up a weight over a wheel or pulley: if
he attempts to raise a weight beyond his strength, it soon overpowers him,
the rope runs from his hands and the wheel revolves rapidly in a direction
opposite to its former one. The point is that if Lyce makes the lover's task
too heavy he will 'drop' it, cf. lines 19, 20.
the sound. 11. Penelopen, 'a Penelope'
lines convey a taunt; hinting that Lyce was
are out of place in one not born to be a fine lady.
14. tinctus viola pallor, 'paleness of the violet's hue.' viola is the
pale yellow violet, λeukótov: cf. Virg. Ecl. 2. 47 pallentes violas.
Pieria . 'your husband smitten with a Pierian enchantress.'
(from pellicio) is always used with direct reference to the injured wife, cf.
Epod. 3. 13; 5. 63. Pieria Macedonian.
=
16. supplicibus tuis parcas.
This is the main sentence. The connexion of thought between parcas and
what follows seems to be: 'Pity us, for at present you are as hard as oak
and venomous as a viper, and that surely is not the character you would
wish to have.' 19. hoc: deictic-'this of mine'; cf. öde å ȧvýp='I.'
aquae caelestis, 'the rain of heaven.' 20. latus: because he had de-
scribed himself as lying (porrectum) at the door.
ODE XI
currente retro rota: note
or 'to be a Penelope.' The
low birth and that fine airs
Cf. 2. 4. 13-20.
of
15. vir
paelex
'I call upon thee, Mercury, and upon the lyre thou didst invent, by the aid
of which Amphion was enabled to move even stones, to teach me a strain to
which the stony-hearted Lyde may lend her ears—Lyde who is now as timid
and shy as a young unbroken colt. With thy aid however, O lyre, I may
move her, for thou canst work wonders, thou canst make the damned forget for
a while their torments: Tityos and Ixion smile, the Danaids rest from their
ceaseless task. For Lyde's benefit let me recount that famous story; let her
hear of the punishment that has overtaken the guilty women who slew their
husbands, and of the fame of Hypermnestra whose splendid falsehood saved
her young husband's life at the risk of her own.'
From line 25 Lyde, the nominal subject of the Ode, passes completely out
of sight as the poet becomes absorbed in his brilliant recital of the story of
the Danaids, for whom see Class. Dict. s. v. Aegyptus and Danaus.
1. Mercuri-nam . . . : 1. 10. 6, Mercury is called curvae lyrae parens.
nam, 'for,' i.e. I call on thee, for thou didst teach Amphion to move stones
and a fortiori canst teach me to move the stony Lyde: cf. line 30 inpiae,—nam
'wretches (as I call them rightly) for .
te docilis magistro, ‘apt
pupil of thy teaching.' 2. lapides. The stones of the walls of Thebes
300
BOOK III
HORACE
which came together at the sound of Amphion's lyre.
Xéλus in Greek: the shell formed the sounding-board.
epexegetic inf., cf. 1. 3. 25 n. 5. loquax, 'vocal.'
cf. 3. 4. 1.
arum
•
So
3. testudo.
resonare callida :
7. dic, 'utter';
8. applicet: subj. because quibus=tales ut eis.
9. equa trima. So 3. 15. 12 similis ludere capreae. 10. exsultim,
'with leaps and bounds,' 'frisking.' Cf. cursim='with running,' 'hurriedly,'
tolutim='with lifting,'' with high action' (of horses), tractim='with drawing
or dragging,' 'slowly.' For metuit tangi, cf. 2. 2. 7 n. 11. nupti-
'ignorant of marriage and as yet too young for an eager husband.'
expers (from ex and pars) = 'without part' or 'share in.' 12. cruda, 'un-
ripe,' is the opposite of matura, 3. 6. 22. 13. comites: to be taken with
ducere 'to lead in thy train. tu refers to testudo, here as played by
Orpheus. 15. cessit inmanis 'before thy bewitching sounds the
guardian of hell's portals retired.' Orpheus not only made nature obey him
(cf. 1. 12. 7 insecutae Orphea silvae) but relying on the power of his music
went down to Tartarus to recover Eurydice. inmanis might grammati-
cally be taken with ianitor, but the sense demands that it should be taken
with aulae, which must have a distinguishing adjective to show what hall it is.
inmanis not only means 'immeasurable,' but also awful,' 'horrible,' and the
description of hell as inmanis aula='the vast and dreadful hall' is clear,
whereas aula by itself could refer to nothing.
.
18. eius. This pronoun is only found once elsewhere in the Odes (4. 8.
18, a very doubtful passage), and is extremely rare in other poets, doubtless
as being weak and unemphatic. Here it is apparently meaningless and might
be omitted. These facts and the consideration that lines 17-20 dwell tediously
and unnecessarily on some rather unpoetical qualities of Cerberus induce
many to consider the whole stanza an interpolation due to some one who
considered that the words inmanis aulae would not be clear without
the addition of the name 'Cerberus,' and accordingly manufactured a stanza
containing that name. However, though certainly not Horatian, it is im-
possible to assert that the stanza is not Horace's. For the power of music
over Cerberus and the ghosts cf. 2. 13. 29-36.
•
21. quin et, 'nay even,' as 2. 13. 37. So too quin etiam: quin in these
cases introduces a fresh and usually a more forcible or wonderful statement;
see Plaut. Aul. 2. 4. 20, where every fresh story told by a romancing slave is
introduced by quin. vultu risit invito, 'smiled against their will,' i.e.
22. urna,
through their anguish. For risit in the singular cf. 2. 13. 38 n.
'the pitcher,' i.e. of each of the Danaids with which they endeavoured to fill
the dolium line 27. 23. dum mulces, 'while with the charm of
26. et inane
•
•
·
•
•
•
·
song thou didst soothe'; cf. 1. 10. 11 n. 25. audiat.. 'let Lyde
hear of.'
quae, and the jar (ever) empty of water
that runs to waste through the bottom, and the fate which (though) late
awaits... inane lymphae: adjectives which signify abundance or
the opposite take a gen., cf. 3. 6. 17 n. 27. dolium is a very large
earthen jar, probably something like the jars in which olive oil is imported
from Italy. pereuntis: used in the sense of 'perishing,' but also with
reference to its derivation from per and eo='running through.' 28. For the
force of sera see 3. 2. 31, 32 and n.
=
29. sub Orco, 'beneath Orcus,' a slightly inaccurate phrase 'in the
world beneath.' Nauck says '=sub Orco (rege), Orcus being always personified
in Horace.' 30. inpiae. Notice the skill with which ordinary and prosaic
[
ODE XII
301
NOTES
•
•
methods of commencing a narrative are avoided by this sudden exclamation of
abhorrence. For nam see line 1 n. potuere potuere. potuere
in line 30 has its simple sense='had power,' but in line 31 a somewhat rarer
one='had the heart to' (cf. Epod. 9. 14). Translate 'Impious-for what were
they able more? yes impious they were able to slay.' 31. duro: partly
literal, 'hard,' partly metaphorical, 'unrelenting'; vŋλéï xaλк. Cf. line 45.
33. una de.. one among them all worthy of the nuptial torch was
to her forsworn sire nobly false and (shall be) a maiden renowned to every
age.' face nuptiali: the bride was escorted from her old to her new
home on the eve of the wedding-day by torchlight. 34. periurum: because
he had solemnly betrothed his daughters to the sons of Aegyptus. 35.
splendide mendax. Probably the best known instance in Latin of Oxy-
moron (¿žúμwpov, 'pointedly-foolish '), the favourite rhetorical figure by
which words of apparently opposite force are brought together. Cf. Soph.
Ant. 74 8σia Tavoυpyýσaσa 'having wrought a holy crime' (said by Antigone
of herself), and Tennyson (of Lancelot): His honour rooted in dishonour
stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.' So too Lucan 1. 95
concordia discors. Other instances in the Odes are 1. 27. 11 beatus vulnere,
1. 33. 2 inmitis Glycerae, 1. 34. 2 insanientis sapientiae, 2. 8. 1 iuris perierati,
3. 4. 5 amabilis insania, 3. 5. 48 egregius exsul, 3. 21. 13 lene tormentum.
37. iuveni. Note the pathos of this adj. The husband was Lynceus.
38. longus somnus, 'a lasting (i.e. never-ending) sleep'; cf. 2. 16. 30 n.
40. falle, cheat,' i.e. by escaping.
41. quae
lacerant, who like
she-lions that have pounced upon bullocks are, O horror, rending
victim.' Note the inimitable brevity and clearness of the Latin.
illis: antithetical juxtaposition.
•
•
•
•
•
·
each her
42. ego
44. claustra, 'a prison' (from claudo).
45. me me. Note the emphasis: 'you shall not be the victim: no,
on me, even me let vengeance fall.' 47. me vel.. 'me let him banish
with his fleet even to the farthest realms of the Numidians.' The Numidians
are selected as typical savages. Under the empire relegatio was the technical
term for the mildest form of banishment. 49. i, pedes.. . . et aurae,
'go whither your feet and the breezes hurry you,' i.e. hurry away either by
land or sea. 50. i secundo omine: as we should say 'go and good
speed to you.' 51. et.. ' and on my tomb engrave a lament that shall
recall my memory.' In Ovid, Her. 14. 128 (which is well worth comparing)
Hypermnestra suggests the epitaph, exsul Hypermnestra, pretium pietatis ini-
quum, | quam mortem fratri depulit, ipsa tulit.
ODE XII
A soliloquy in which Neobule (Neoßoúλn 'one with new ideas'), a dis-
satisfied and love-sick maiden, laments her lot.
'Wretched are women who cannot make love as they like or even drown their
sorrows in wine without being lectured till they are frightened to death. And
here are you, Neobule, quite incapable of doing wool-work or anything else, so
enamoured are you with Hebrus, that most accomplished cavalier.'
1. miserarum. The first word strikes the key-note. amori dare
ludum, 'to give (free) play to love.' 2. mala vino lavere, 'to wash
away (=eluere 4. 12. 20) sorrow with wine.' From his power to 'free' from
care Bacchus is constantly called Liber and Lyaeus, cf. 3. 21. 16. aut,
'or,' i.e. in case they violate the restrictions imposed on them; cf. 3. 24. 24.
Į
302
BOOK III
HORACE
exanimari (from ex and anima) 'to be reduced to a breathless' i.e. 'fainting
condition '—the well-tried refuge of the weaker sex. 3. patruae verbera
linguae, 'the lashes of an uncle's tongue.' Uncles seem to have been pro-
verbial for their power of administering lectures; cf. S. 2. 2. 97; 3. 88.
4. Cythereae: 1. 4. 5 n.
·
5. operosae Minervae studium, 'the pursuits of industrious Minerva,'
e.g. the wool-work and weaving just mentioned. Minerva 'Epyávŋ was patroness
of arts and trades. Cf. Sappho fr. 90 γλυκεῖα μᾶτερ, οὔ τοι δύναμαι κρέκην
τὸν ἰστὸν | πόθῳ δαμεῖσα παιδὸς βραδινὰν δι᾿ ᾿Αφροδίταν. 6. Liparaei
nitor Hebri, 'the radiant beauty of Liparean Hebrus.'
For the names
throughout cf. 3. 7. 23 n. Lipara was the largest of the Aeolian islands off
Sicily: the adj. is chosen for its sonorous character, and also in connexion with
λιπαρός.
Mapós. nitor is in apposition with puer ales line 4, 'the winged attendant
of Venus' who fired Neobule's love being now identified not with Cupid but
with Hebrus -a change which is somewhat harsh. 7. simul
explains nitor; his beauty is most radiant when he comes fresh from the
bath after exhibiting his skill in the games subsequently mentioned. Cf.
throughout 3. 7. 25-28 and notes, and 1. 8. simul lāvit, 'as soon as he
has bathed." unctos umeros. From Ovid, Trist. 3. 12. 21 nunc ubi per-
fusa est oleo ldbente iuventus, | defessos artus Virgine tinguit aqua, we learn
that the body was anointed after exercise before bathing. Oil was also used
(cf. 1. 8. 8) before wrestling. 8. Bellerophonte: who rode the winged
horse Pegasus. The final e is long, cf. Gk. Beλλepopóvтns. neque
pugno : segni goes with pugno as well as pede; 'never vanquished
through slowness of fist or foot, i.e. invincible as a boxer and a runner.
·
•
•
•
10. catus iaculari, celer excipere: see 1. 3. 25 n. per apertum,
'over the open country.' 11. alto
'to receive the boar (which
has been) lurking in the heart of the thicket.' Good MSS. have arto,
‘dense'; cf. Hom. Od. 19. 439 ἐν λόχμῃ πυκινῇ κατέκειτο μέγας σῦς. For
excipio cf. 2. 15. 16 n.
ODE XIII
To the fountain Bandusia. According to authorities dating from the 12th
century this fountain was six miles from Venusia, the birthplace of Horace,
according to others it was near Horace's Sabine farm where a 'Fontagna degli
Oratini' is still shown; cf. Ep. 1. 16. 12.
floribus.
1. vitro, 'crystal.' 2. mero
Varro says (L. L. 6. 22)
that at the feast of the Fontanalia on Oct. 13 wreaths were thrown into brooks
and placed round wells. Among all nations sequestered fountains have been
held in reverence as the favourite haunts of some superhuman beings, and
among the Greeks and Romans each stream or river was supposed to have a
deity of its own. Cf. Plat. Phaedrus 230 B, where close to a πηYǹ XαριεσTάTη
is Νυμφών τέ τινων καὶ ᾿Αχελώου ἱερόν, and every schoolboy will remember
Macaulay's lines: O Tiber, father Tiber, | To whom the Romans pray.'
4. cui frons . 'for which its forehead just swelling with young horns
marks out a career of love and combat.'
>
6. frustra: so too 3. 7. 21. The nom. to inficiet is haedus understood,
and with this nom. suboles line 8 is in apposition. Between gelidos and
rubro there is, as Wickham notes, a double antithesis. The cold clear water
is opposed to the warm red blood. 9. te flagrantis . 'thee the
ODE XIV
303
NOTES
•
•
fierce season of the raging dogstar has no power to touch.' 13. fies
nobilium 'thou too shalt be reckoned among famous fountains when
I tell of the oak that overhangs. . .' Such 'famous fountains' were Castalia,
15. loquaces, 'babbling'; the opposite of taciturnus
Dirce, Hippocrene.
amnis 1. 31. 8.
ODE XIV
'Caesar, whom but now we spoke of as engaged in a glorious but hazardous
campaign, is returning from Spain in triumph. Let his wife go forth duly to
meet him and his sister, and let all the wives and mothers of Rome accompany
them. Meanwhile I will employ the peace and security Caesar has won for us
by having a small festival of my own. Quick, slave, bring unguents, flowers
and the oldest wine. Go too invite Neaera, but if the porter makes much ado
about letting you in,—come back: I am getting old and not inclined to put
myself out for anybody.'
The Ode has been severely criticised, and certainly not only are the three
first stanzas commonplace, but the contrast between their formal and official
frigidity and the licentious vigour of the rest of the Ode is very harsh. For
the war with Spain see 2. 6. 2 n.
1. Herculis. Hercules is one of Horace's stock types of virtue ultimately
deified (cf. 3. 3. 9), but he was also specially connected with Spain as having
brought away the oxen of Geryon, and the worship of him as Hercules Victor
(cf. victor) at the Ara Maxima was popular with the lower orders, cf. o
plebs. Moreover in B.C. 24 plebs Romana had received from the emperor
a donative of 400 sesterces apiece; Mon. Anc. 3. 10. 2. morte, 'to have
sought the laurels death alone can buy.' He had been seriously ill at Tarraco
and rumours (cf. dictus) of his death had probably reached Rome.
5. unico ... 'let the wife whose pride is in her illustrious consort
advance, having sacrificed with due rites.' mulier = Livia. Orelli
explains unico g. m. as=proprio gaudens marito adding that 'this virtue was
then rare.' But no poet could congratulate an empress on not being immoral,
and unicus maritus should mean 'a single husband,' like unicus filius, etc.
On the other hand the derived use of unicus=‘eminent' is common with
dux, imperator, etc. 6. iustis operata sacris: operari is used not
only in a general sense = 'to perform,' but in a special sense 'to perform
what is due to the gods,' i.e. to sacrifice péšew. For sacris many MSS.
give divis. 7. soror. Octavia, the widow of Antony. The original name
of Augustus was C. Octavius, then, after his adoption by Julius Caesar, C.
Julius Caesar Octavianus. 8. supplice vitta. The vitta (see Dict. Ant.)
was ordinarily worn by freeborn maids and matrons. Here however the
reference is to a special vitta of wool worn during religious rites, and the word
in connexion with supplice suggests a supplicatio or 'public thanksgiving.'
9. nuper sospitum. These words supply the reason for the mothers'
thanksgiving. 10. et puellae . 'and young girls who have but
lately had knowledge of wedlock, refrain from ill-omened words.' For male
ominatis parcite verbis cf. 3. 1. 2 n. The hiatus between male and ominatis
is very striking, but cf. the equally remarkable 3. 11. 50 secundo | omine and
Pers. 3. 66 discite o miseri. Many MSS. have male nominatis 'ill-named
words' which is meaningless, though some defend it as dvowvýμois. male
inominatis very ill-omened' (male intensive, cf. 1. 17. 25 n.) is a conjecture,
but is too ugly. puellae can be used of married women e.g. 3. 22. 2, but
=
304
BOOK III
HORACE
on the other hand pueri et puellae is regularly='lads and lasses' (e.g. S. 1. 1.
85) i.e. unmarried young people. All sorts of attempts have been made to
get rid of the extremely harsh iam virum expertae; e.g. expertes, spectate.
17. puer: regular in addressing a slave, Tαî. 18. Marsi duelli.
The Marsian war 91-88 B.C. (otherwise called the Italian or Social war) was
undertaken by the principal Italian nations to assert their right to the Roman
franchise: it was called Marsian because the Marsians were the bravest (cf. 3.
5. 9) and most important of the confederates. For duelli cf. Ep. 1. 2. 7 n.
19. Spartacum. 'if by any means (quā) a jar has been able to escape
the roaming Spartacus.' Spartacus was the leader in the Servile war, B. C.
73-71: this incidental allusion shows the extent of his ravages.
21. dic
et 'bid too the clear-voiced Neaera hasten.' Verbs of commanding,
begging, wishing, take a subj., e.g. fac eas, cura valeas, velim facias, etc.
For argutae cf. 4. 6. 25 n. 22. murreum, 'scented.' 25. lenit...
'whitening hairs tame the passions (once) eager for
Horace was
born B.C. 65. 27. calidus iuventa, 'in the heat of youth.' L. Munatius
Plancus was consul B. C. 42.
ODE XV
•
To Chloris who retains the caprices without the charms of her youth.
1. pauperis: gives an additional reason for her being staid and sober.
2. nequitiae: see 3. 4. 78, 'profligacy.' 3. famosis, in a bad sense,
'notorious.' 4. maturo . 'cease, daily nearer to a ripe death, to
sport amid young girls.' The comparative propior reminds her that death is
not only already near but continually coming nearer. maturum funus is the
opposite of a 'premature death." 6. et stellis . . . This line illustrates
the preceding one: an old woman among young girls mars the effect, as a mist
veils the pure lustre (candidis) of the stars.
7. non, si
The con-
struction is si quid P. satis (decet), non et te, Chlori, (satis) decet.
9. expugnat, 'storms.'
•
a
10. pulso 'like a Thyiad maddened
with clashing timbrel.' Thyias: cf. 2. 19. 9 n. 12. capreae,
young roe' ; cf. 3. 11. 9.
13. lanae. The spinning and weaving of wool
(lanificium) was held to be the fitting employment of decorous Roman
matrons: Orelli on 3. 12. 5 quotes a charming inscription on a certain Murdia,
where it is ranked side by side with the highest virtues; the list is curious;
' in goodness, modesty, obedience, wool-making (probitate, pudicitia, obsequio,
lanificio), she was the equal of any of her sex.' Cf. the description of
a virtuous woman,' Prov. xxxi. 13, 19. nobilem, 'famous' i.e. for
its wool. Luceria is in Apulia. 15. purpureus, 'bright,' or possibly
'purple.' The ancient purpura had two characteristics: (1) its deep colour,
the colour of clotted blood, (2) its peculiar sheen or brilliancy: the adj. pur-
pureus is often used of anything of whatever colour which possessed a similar
sheen to purple; cf. 4. 1. 10 purpurei olores, 'brightly gleaming swans
Virg. Aen. 6. 641 lumine purpureo. 16. nec poti 'nor jars drained
to the dregs, old hag that you are.' vetulam: in apposition with te.
•
•
ODE XVI
In praise of contentment.
'Gold is all-powerful: it baffled Acrisius, it makes its way everywhere, it
caused the destruction of Amphiaraus, it opened the gates of cities for Philip
ODE XVI
305
NOTES
of Macedon. And yet increase of wealth means increase of care. I am right,
Maecenas, in following your example and not seeking to tower above my fellows.
I join the ranks of the contented and am more proud in the ownership of my
charming Sabine farm than if I owned the most valuable estates. For, though
I am in humble, I am not in straitened circumstances; and to want little is
the greatest wealth, the greatest boon Heaven can bestow.'
1. Danae: see Class. Dict. s.v. Acrisius. aenea: cf. Soph. Ant. 946 Aaváas
ἐν χαλκοδέτοις αὐλαῖς. The adj. marks the strength of the prison, but
probably has its origin 'through a reminiscence of a tomb (like the Treasury
of Atreus at Mycenae) to the walls of which bronze plates had been nailed
Jebb. 2. robustae: in connexion with aenea= ='oaken,' from robur=
oak-wood,' cf. 1. 3. 9. 3. munierant, 'had protected,' i.e. 'would cer-
tainly have protected'; for the indicative cf. 2. 17. 28 n.
•
6. pavidum: because an oracle had declared that Danae's son should
slay him. 7. risissent: fore enim. 'laughed at Acrisius, for
(they said to themselves) that the way would be safe and open when the god
was changed to gold.' The transition to oratio obliqua at fore marks clearly
in the Latin that what follows represents the thoughts or words of Jupiter and
Venus. Iuppiter et Venus risissent: contrary to Horace's rule (cf. 2.
13. 38 n.) the verb is plural, clearly because Jupiter and Venus are acting
together they are in a conspiracy.
8. converso. deo. Horace gives a half humorous, half rationalistic
interpretation of the legend of Jupiter descending in a shower of gold. 9.
per medios. . . i.e. it can penetrate a palace; so perrumpere saxa of
breaking into a fortress. 10. amat: piλeî, 'loves to,' 'is wont.' 11.
concidit . . . Polynices bribed Eriphyle to induce her husband Amphiaraus
to accompany the expedition of the Seven against Thebes, in which he perished.
Notice in lines 9-16 how the connexion of thought is kept up by placing emphatic
and guiding words in prominent positions, e.g. aurum, concidit, lucrum, diffidit.
subruit, muneribus, munera, all of which refer either to 'gold' or the 'power
of gold.'
14. vir Macedo.
13. urbium, e.g. Potidaea, Olynthus, Amphipolis.
Philip II., father of Alexander the Great, reigned B.C. 359-336. He said that
no fortress was impregnable up to which an ass laden with gold could be
driven (Cic. ad Att. 1. 16), and his bribery of Greek statesmen is the constant
theme of the warnings of Demosthenes. Juvenal 12. 47 calls him callidus
emptor Olynthi. subruit, 'undermined.' 15. reges, e.g. Cersobleptes
king of the Thracians. muneribus; munera : 1. 2. 4 n.
saevos
•
•
16.
'the bluff sea-captain' whom Horace has in mind is said to be
Menas, who was admiral of Sex. Pompeius and twice deserted him.
•
•
18. maiorumque fames, 'and the hunger for more'; different from
cura 'anxiety' about losing what we have. Cf. Virg. Aen. 3. 57 auri sacra
fames. iure
'rightly have I shrunk from exalting myself before the
world's gaze.' 19. tollere verticem expresses ostentatious pride; cf. 1. 1.
36; 1. 18. 15. conspicuum is proleptic. 20. equitum decus. Very
emphatic. Maecenas consistently preferred the reality of influence to the
possession of splendid and empty titles, and remained through life a simple
eques. Horace therefore by adding these two words skilfully suggests that
he is only imitating the wise example of his benefactor; cf. 1. 20. 5.
22. nil cupientium The contented (nil cupientium) and the avari-
•
•
X
306
BOOK III
HORACE
J.
cious (divitum) are divided into two 'camps' or 'factions' (castra, partes),
and Horace says that he means to be 'a deserter' from the one and go 'empty-
handed' to the other. The metaphor must not be pressed too closely when
Horace calls himself 'a deserter from the rich' he does not imply that he had
ever been rich. 25. contemptae 'more proud in the ownership
of a despised farm'; not 'despised' by him but by the arrogant and wealthy.
splendidior exactly means the same as the slang phrase 'feeling myself a
greater swell'; cf. splendet, 3. 3. 25. 26. quidquid arat, 'whatever (the
Apulian) ploughs' the produce of his plough. For arat cf. S. 1. 5. 90 n.
27. occultare dicerer: not merely occultarem 'hoarded,' but 'had the
reputation of hoarding': he is speaking not merely of a wealthy man but of
There is
one whose wealth is such as to be the subject of general rumour.
also an antithesis between the reputation of the man and his true condition,
a beggar in the midst of wealth.' 28. inter opes inops: opes to be
taken literally, inops metaphorically, 'a beggar' as regards the possession of
that contentment which is alone true riches. For the oxymoron cf. 3. 11. 35.
=
sorte:
30. et segetis . . . (these) and a harvest that never fails its promise
are a happier lot unknown to the brilliant lord of fertile Africa.'
with a reference to the sors provinciae which has secured the imperium Africae
for the great man. fallit beatior=λανθάνει οὖσα ὀλβιωτέρα, escapes his
notice (being) happier'; the non-existence of a present part. of the verb 'to
be' makes Latin somewhat less clear in such cases. For segetis fides cf.
3. 1. 30 n. Africa was one of the principal districts on which Rome relied
for its supplies of corn. 33. Calabrae apes: for the honey of Tarentum
cf. 2. 6. 14. 34. Laestrygonia. Lamus king of the Laestrygones is
said to have founded Formiae. See next Ode. 35. languescit, 'grows
mellow.' pinguia, 'rich,' 'thick.'
39. contracto
37. inportuna pauperies: certainly not the ovλoμévn Tevin 'baneful
πενίη
poverty' of Hesiod, which Orelli compares: it is contrary to the whole spirit
of the Ode to speak of 'baneful poverty.' pauperies (cf. 1. 12. 43 and note)
is not 'poverty,' but 'humble circumstances'; when however circumstances
get to be so humble that they are continually causing annoyances and vexations,
then you have inportuna pauperies 'the worry of not having enough,' which
is exactly what H. says he is free from. He would have called himself 'poor'
pauper, but with him pauperies was not inportuna.
porrigam. Notice the rhetorical effect of the apparent opposites: 'by
contracting . . . I shall extend.' For the thought cf. the proverb magnum
vectigal est parsimonia. 40. vectigalia, 'revenues,' cf. S. 2. 2. 100;
strictly taxes on things carried (vecta), 'import duties.' 41. quam si .
'than if I made Mygdonian plains one unbroken estate with the kingdom of
A.' continuare is to make continuous' or 'unbroken' (continuus=‘holding
on to each other '); hence, when a person makes two adjacent estates into one,
he is said continuare 'to extend the one with the other.' Cf. Livy 34. 4
cupido agros continuandi 'adding field to field.' Alyattes was father of
Croesus. Horace forms the gen. as from Alyatteüs. Mygdonia was a district
of Asia Minor W. of Bithynia. 43. bene est, cui bene est ei, cui 'well
is it with him to whom Providence. . .' On the other hand male (est) 2. 10.
17. In Gk. καλῶς ἔχει.
•
ODE XVII
307
NOTES
ODE XVII
'Aelius, descendant of old Lamus (for your ancestors the Lamiae are said
to have received their name from that old king who founded Formiae), to-
morrow the raven predicts we shall have a storm, so get in some dry wood at
once and make ready for enjoying the day in the house.'
L. Aelius Lamia was consul A.D. 3, praefectus urbi A.D. 32, and 1. 26 is
also addressed to him; see also 1. 36. 7; Ep. 1. 14. 6. No doubt the Lamiae
laid claim to a descent from the Lamus mentioned by Homer, Od. 10. 81
ἑβδομάτῃ δ' ικόμεσθα Λάμου αἰπὺ πτολίεθρον | Τηλέπυλον Λαιστρυγονίην, such
claims to heroic ancestry being common (cf. the alleged descent of the gens
Iulia from Iulus, and see Virg. Aen. 5. 117-123), and Juvenal 4. 154 (hoc
nocuit Lamiarum caede madenti) speaks of them as typical aristocrats. The
long parenthesis therefore (lines 2-9) referring to the birth of Lamia seems
perfectly natural, especially in an Ode which is purely complimentary, the rest
of it merely supplying an imaginary reason for addressing Lamia at all.
2. hinc: a Lamo, 'from him'; so unde frequently 'from whom';
cf. 1. 12. 17. et priores ... et nepotum: priores refers to the pre-
historic Lamiae whose existence would have to be inferred to fill up the gap
between Lamus and the first of their descendants (nepotum) whose name was
to be found in 'historic records' (memores fastos): priores therefore = 'the
earlier.' fasti (4. 14. 4 n.) would apply either to public or private records
such as genealogies and the like. 5. ducis. So all MSS. The emendation
ducit, the stop after fastos being removed and genus becoming the nom. before
ducit, would make the sentence smoother, the sudden change to direct personal
address in ducis in the middle of the parenthesis being very harsh, and the
sense, 'since your ancestors sprung from Lamus, you are descended from the
founder of Formiae,' none of the best. Schütz strikes out lines 2-5.
ducis, 'derive': the word is strictly used of drawing out a thread, here of
drawing out his line of ancestry.
7. et innantem 'and to have possessed the Liris where it floats
amid the coasts of Marica, lords of a broad domain.' The Liris (Garigliano)
flows into the sea through the marshes of Minturnae; it is to these marshes
that Horace refers as Maricae litora, Marica being a local goddess, and the Liris
being admirably described as 'floating amid them' because of its slow lazy
movement through the level marshy district; cf. 1. 31. 7. 9. late
tyrannus. An adverb may qualify a noun when the noun has, as here, a
strong verbal force='widely ruling.' Cf. Ep. 2. 2. 167 emptor quondam ;
Virg. Aen. 1. 21 populum late regem. 10. inutili. Added to make clearer
the contrast between the cheerlessness out of doors and the good cheer within.
vilior alga was proverbial, cf. S. 2. 5. 8; Virg. Ecl. 7. 42. 12. augur: as
giving an 'augury' of bad weather, cf. 3. 27. 10 n.
13. annosa: according to a fragment of Hesiod, évvéa roi Zwei Yeveàs λaké-
ρυζα κορώνη | ἀνδρῶν ἡβώντων ; cf. 4. 13. 25 comicis vetulae. 14. Genium
mero curabis: 'you shall refresh (or 'cheer') your soul with wine.' Such
phrases as se, se ipsum, corpus, cutem Ep. 1. 2. 29, pelliculam curare S. 2. 5. 38,
are common, and imply 'taking considerable or special care of' the thing
mentioned, especially in the way of procuring enjoyment: Horace invents the
phrase genium curare on the analogy of these. Genius is a sort of spiritual
alter ego which is born (cf. gigno, genitus) and perishes along with each of
us, and shares all our joys and sorrows: cf. Ep. 1. 7. 94 n. ; 2. 2. 187.
308
BOOK III
HORACE
•
15. porco bimestri, 'a sucking-pig.'
For the dish see Lamb, Essays of
Elia.
solutus takes a
16. operum solutis, 'taking holiday from work.'
gen. as implying 'freedom' or 'cessation from,' cf. 2. 9. 17 n.
ODE XVIII
An Ode to Faunus as the god of the country, praying that he will protect
the poet who reverences him, and describing the celebration of his festival.
The regular Faunalia were on Feb. 13; cf. 1. 4. 11; Ov. Fast. 2. 193.
?
4. alumnis, 'nurslings,' 'the young of the flocks.' alumnus is really the
present part. pass. of alo, the termination being the Gk. -óuevos, cf. Vertumnus,
terminus, antemna (1. 14. 6 n.). 5. si . 'if at the year's fulfilment a
tender kid is sacrificed (to thee). The use of si is common in supplication;
the favour is only asked if something has been done to deserve it, si however
expressing no doubt, but it rather being assumed that something has been so
done, cf. 1. 32. 1 n. pleno anno, 'at the year's fulfilment,' i.e. when the
full time year by year comes round for thy festival; cf. per exactos annos 3.
22. 6. Orelli explains pleno, 'coming to its end' i.e. on the Nones of December,
cf. line 10. Kiessling a kid of a full year.' 6. si must be repeated before
desunt and fumat. 7. craterae: dat. in agreement with sodali, the
bowl being called 'Venus' mate.' cratera, -ae, fem. and crater, -is, masc. are
10.
both found, =Gk. кρητýρ, кρηтĥрos (from кepávvvμ), a mixing-bowl.'
tibi, 'in thine honour,' so too line 14.
•
•
13. inter audaces Perhaps Horace is reproducing a belief or saying
current among country people about the festival. Kiessling says that
Faunus is the same as Lupercus=qui lupos arcet. 14. spargit . . . For
silvis honorem
the leaves falling in December, cf. Epod. 11. 5 December . .
decutit. 15. gaudet.. 'the delver delights to have thrice stamped
on his foe the earth.' Horace brings before us the picture of a rustic who has
just brought down his foot after the execution (pepulisse perf., cf. 3. 4. 51 n.)
of the dance, and stands exulting in his performance: invisam suggests
that he has thrown extra vigour into the dance, because it gives him an
opportunity of paying off his old grudge against the earth, which gives him so
much trouble. 16. ter: because there was a triple beat in the dance ;
cf. 4. 1. 28, and tripudiare. Notice the assonance in pepulisse pede, ter
terram.
ODE XIX
An Ode written on Murena (see 2. 10 Intr.) being elected an Augur. It is
assumed that a feast is to be given, and that Telephus has been elected to be
'master of the feast'; Horace begins by reproaching him with discussing curious
antiquarian points and saying not a word about arrangements for the banquet
(lines 1-8), and then by a dramatic change plunges into an account of the feast.
'What ho! slave, fill up to the health of the new augur. There are various
rules for drinking; we may drink much or little. (To-night however we know
what we will do, for) we mean to have a rouse: strike up the music, scatter
roses, let the neighbours hear the riot, while Rhode is by your side, Telephus,
Glycera by mine."'
1. Inacho: first king of Argos. 2. Codrus: the last king of Athens; he
sacrificed himself for his country. 3. narras (8) taces. For the two
•
ODE XIX
309
NOTES
contrasted clauses put side by side without any adversative particle cf. 1. 26.
17 n.
genus Aeaci, 'the family of Aeacus'; Zeus, Aeacus, Peleus,
Achilles, Neoptolemus is the list. 4. sacro Ilio: Homer's "Icos ipń.
• •
5. Chium. Of the Gk. wines imported by the Romans the Chian and
Lesbian were most celebrated; cf. Epod. 9. 34; S. 2. 8. 15. 6. mercemur,
we are to buy': the direct question may have been either mercamur? or
mercemur? Either would be correct, but the latter more usual. The verb is
plural because the feast is to be a deîπvov åπò σνµßоλŵv (see Lidd. and Scott
8. v. σuµßoλń) where each contributes his portion, 'pays his shot'; one would
pay for the wine, one would provide baths, another lend his house, and so on.
quis aquam 'who warms the bath': a hot bath was frequently taken
before dinner. Others who prepares the hot water (calda) for the wine.'
7. quota, sc. hora, 'at what hour': the usual hour for dinner was the ninth.
8. Paelignis frigoribus, 'Pelignian cold,' i.e. such as was common in that
mountainous country. taces (parallel to and contrasted with narras, line 3)
is the main sentence to which the indirect questions which precede are sub-
ordinate. The single word in contrast to the seven preceding lines is very
effective: its position heightens the effect. 'About all these things-not a word.'
9. lunae puer, 'fill up, slave, to the new moon.' lunae is the
possessive gen. and vinum is understood, 'pour out wine of the new moon
meaning 'pour out wine to be drunk in honour of the new moon.' Cf. 3. 8.
13 sume .
cyathos amici sospitis, 'take cups (in honour) of your friend's
safety'; Theoc. 14. 18 ἐπιχεῖσθαι ἄκρατον | ὦτινος ἤθελ᾽ ἕκαστος, ‘to pour in
wine (in honour) of whomsoever each wished.' 10. auguris: for the collegium
• •
•
•
or 'guild' of augurs see Dict. of Ant. 11. tribus aut novem
'with
three or nine ladles are the cups mingled appropriately '—appropriately that
is to the number of the Graces or the Muses, as is explained in the next lines,
the position of commodis carefully marking this. It was the duty of the
'master of the feast' (magister or arbiter bibendi, cf. 2. 7. 26) to settle
everything about the drinking, the company being bound to obey the rules he
laid down. For the benefit of this personage Horace here recites what is
evidently a well-known adage. Now as 12 cyathi make a sextarius it has
been assumed that the adage recommends mixing 3 cyathi of wine with 9 of
water, or 9 of wine with 3 of water: at any rate such is the judgment of
editors whose learning is superior to their taste, for how wine which was
palatable with the addition of three times its own bulk of water could be
drinkable when mixed with a third of its own bulk of water, is hard to
conceive. But in the Gk. proverb which is always quoted with regard to
drinking (Plaut. Stich. 5. 4. 24 vide quot cyathos bibimus? . . cantio est
Graeca: ἢ πέντε πῖνε ἢ τρί᾽ ἢ μὴ τέτταρα) there is no mention of any propor-
tion, but only of the number of ladles to be drunk apparently with each
bumper (? poculum), and certainly were it not for the word miscentur the
same explanation would be given here, viz. 'three or nine cyathi make a good
bumper,' to drink that is to each of the toasts just mentioned, the cyathi being
of course taken from the mixing-bowl (crater) which would be standing by
with the wine ready mixed in it. Moreover such a rendering gives a good
meaning to cyathi, for these small ladles (containing say a wine-glass) would
be useful in filling a single goblet, useless in compounding the large common
crater. The sense too suits admirably with the next lines, the 'big bumper'
being for the vates attonitus, the small one for those who worshipped the
Graces, whereas according to the common rendering the poor bard is condemned
·
310
BOOK III
HORACE
to drink wine almost neat, a practice which the Romans and Greeks con-
sidered as barbarous as we should think it to drink dry brandy.
14. attonitus vates, 'a frenzied bard.' For Bacchus in connexion with
poetic inspiration see 2. 19. 6 n. 16. rixarum metuens: cf. 3. 24. 22
metuens alterius viri, 'fearful of'; S. 2. 2. 110. This gen. is very common
with pres. participles used adjectively, e.g. patiens (1. 8. 4), sciens (1. 15. 24 n.),
amans, appetens. 18. insanire iuvat, 'it is our pleasure to hold mad
revel'; for connexion of thought see Summary. Berecyntiae tibiae:
Berecyntus was a mountain in Phrygia on which Cybele was worshipped; in
her orgiastic rites, which were well known at Rome, the exciting music of the
pipe was especially used, cf. 1. 18. 13 n. and 4. 1. 22. 20. pendet,
'hangs,' i.e. idle, on its peg.
21. ego: emphatic in opposition to invidus Lycus.
winter, an extravagance.
audiat.
our mad uproar.' 24. et vicina
•
22. rosas: in
'let the churl Lycus (λúkos) hear
'and our fair neighbour ill-fitted
for aged Lycus.' It would seem that Lycus had a wife or mistress who was
young and pretty, and who, Horace suggests, will be as much amused to
overhear them as Lycus will be annoyed. 25. spissa. 'thee bright
with clustering locks, thee Telephus beautiful as the pure star of evening.'
Note the repetition of Lycus.. Lyco to express contempt, and of te.
te to express admiration.
tempestiva : lit. 'seasonable,' i.e. suited
28. lentus, 'slow-consuming,' cf. 1. 13. 8.
to you by her youth and charms.
27.
•
ODE XX
To Pyrrhus who had carried off the beautiful Nearchus from his love.
'Pyrrhus, you are carrying off her cubs from a lioness. Soon will she
come in pursuit and the combat over the prey be fierce. Meantime he, for
whose sake you both make ready to battle, stands carelessly by indifferent to
everything but his own beauty.'
3. post paulo: commonly paulo post, after by a little,' 'very soon.'
5. cum .. Nearchum. Notice the simplicity and strength of these two
lines, expressive of the ease and power with which she advances. 7. grande
certamen: accusative in apposition to the sentence, 'she comes to recover
Nearchus, (a coming which involves or is identical with) a mighty combat.'
Cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 223 pars ingenti subiere feretro, triste ministerium 'some
supported the bier-sad office'; and often in Greek, e.g. 'Eλévŋv ktάvwμev,
Meveλéw Xúñŋv жɩкρáv, 'let us kill Helen, (a killing which will be) a bitter
grief to Menelaus.' grande... 'a mighty contest whether the prize
fall to thee rather or to her.' utrum is to be supplied before tibi. cedere
with dat. has very commonly the sense of 'coming into a person's possession,'
'falling to his share.' maior is used somewhat loosely, but perfectly
clearly; the literal rendering 'whether more of the prize pass to thee or her
is of course impossible. Peerlkamp's maior an illa='or she be superior,'
though generally accepted, makes the stanza end with a very weak and awkward
clause while giving a very unusual sense to maior.
•
•
•
9. interim, dum tu haec dum goes with both the contrasted
clauses tu promis and haec acuit, fertur being the main verb. In Latin (cf.
1. 25. 19 n.) contrasted clauses being simply put side by side often cause
difficulty to beginners, though here the contrast is made comparatively clear
by the addition of the pronouns tu, haec; in Gk. it would be still clearer
ODE XXI
311
NOTES
•
•
•
•
où µév, èkeivn dé: in English we must insert a word; 'meantime, while you
εκείνη
take out (and) she whets her dreadful fangs, the judge of the combat is
said .' Note the skill in word-painting with which Horace almost brings
before our eyes this group of three figures, the combatants on either side in
the foreground, Nearchus behind in the centre.
12. palmam, i.e. the prize of victory, cf. 1. 1. 5 n.
i.e. 'beautiful as.' Cf. I. 2. 673 Νιρεύς, ὃς κάλλιστος
τῶν ἄλλων Δαναών μετ' ἀμύμονα Πηλείωνα. aquosa: the Homeric
πολυπίδας,
Tоλvrida, Tennyson's 'many-fountained Ida.' 16. raptus, 'the youth
carried off,' i.e. Ganymedes.
ODE XXI
11. nudo: pictorial.
15. qualis, 'such as,'
ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ "Ιλιον ἦλθε
Addressed to an amphora on the occasion of the poet's entertaining
Corvinus. M. Valerius Messala Corvinus fought with Brutus and Cassius at
Philippi, B.C. 42, and subsequently joined Antony, but about B.C. 36 went
over to Augustus, and as consul B.C. 31 commanded the centre of the fleet at
Actium. He was distinguished as an orator and author and was, like Maecenas
and Pollio, a great patron of literature. Cf. S. 1. 10. 29; A. P. 371.
12 notes.
2.
seu
• •
• • •
'Come down, thou flagon, that art of the same age with myself; to-day
Corvinus bids us produce our mellower vintages. Philosopher though he is, he
will not despise thee: even ancient Cato's sternness warmed with wine. Thou
dost arouse the wits and bring to light hidden wisdom, thou dost give hope to the
anxious and strength to the weak: with thy aid the feast shall last till dawn.
1. o nata
For the method of marking the age of wine see 3. 8. 10-
Manlio: L. Manlius Torquatus, consul B.C. 65; cf. Epod. 13. 6.
sive. seu
seu. Before he produces the amphora, Horace
muses half philosophically, half humorously, over the undefined potency for
good or evil that lurks within it. 4. pia testa. For pius see 3. 11.
30 n.
Observe carefully the position of the two words between facilem and
somnum, and the subtle humour of the epithet at once appears: then and
then only does the wine-iar fulfil the natural duty or law of its being (this
being the exact meaning of pius), when it brings easy and peaceful slumber.
5. quocumque 'on whatever account thou guardest the choice
Massic.' These words sum up the various possibilities of lines 2-4, prepara-
tory to the introduction of the main verb. quocumque nomine cannot
refer to the name of the consul stamped on the jar, as that has been mentioned,
nor to the name of the wine, as it is specially called 'Massic' it must there-
fore='on whatever account,' 'for whatever purpose.' As in a ledger the
name of the person whose 'account' follows is placed at the head of each
page, nomen is frequently 'an account'; then it is used more generally of the
account' in which anything is held, the 'purpose' it is considered to serve,
especially in the phrase eo nomine, e.g. Cic. ad Div. 14. 3 eo nomine sum
Dyrrhachii ut audiam 'on purpose that I may hear'; and see Dict.
lectum, 'choice'; it was a cuvée de réserve. 7. descende. From the
apotheca, see 3. 8. 10 n. ; but also partly mock-heroic, cf. 3. 4. 1 descende
caelo. languidiora, 'mellower'; cf. languescit, 3. 16. 35.
•
•
9. quamquam
•
'steeped though he be in Socratic lore.'
madet
is used intentionally, madere and madidus being constantly used of drunken-
ness. Socratici sermones specially refer to the dialogues of Plato, but also
generally to 'philosophic arguments' of the sort to which Socrates gave the
first impetus, cf. 1. 29. 14 n. 10. horridus, 'like a boor' or 'churl':
312
BOOK III
HORACE
the word also recalls the 'ragged,' 'unkempt' appearance ostentatiously affected
by many philosophers then as now (Mayor, Juv. 14. 12 n.). 11. prisci,
'ancient,' not so much because of his actual antiquity (he died B.c. 149) as
because of his life-long battle on behalf of ancient manners, ancient customs,
and the ancient Roman 'manliness' (see virtus, line 12). priscus nearly always
has the double meaning 'ancient and venerable': the person or thing to which
it is applied must belong to the 'good old times,' cf. 4. 2. 40; Epod. 2. 2.
•
13. lene tormentum: oxymoron, 'thou dost gently apply the rack to
dull wits.' Cf. Bacchylides fr. 27 γλυκεί᾽ ἀνάγκα σευομένα κυλίκων θάλπησι
θυμόν. tormentum (from torqueo), 'the twisting thing,' 'the rack,' that
which makes the unwilling speak: cf. Ep. 1. 18. 38; A. P. 435 torquere mero.
ingenium durum is the opposite of ingenium facile et copiosum (Quint. 10. 1.
128). 15. curas et
Wickham rightly notes that Lyaeus (Avalos,
Xów, solvo) is 'the god who gives freedom,' and that so the whole sentence =
arcana consilia retegendo curas solvis, because 'as cares seem heavy when
brooded over so they seem subjects for mirth when discussed over wine.'
18. viresque et addis ..: que joins the two clauses, et the two nouns
vires and cornua. For horns as a symbol of strength cf. 2. 19. 29 n. 19.
neque iratos
'trembling neither at the angry diadems of kings.'
Note the hypallage, cf. 3. 1. 42 n. For apex tiara or diadema see 1. 34.
14 n.
'thee Liber and, if she lend a propitious presence,
Venus, and the Graces loath to undo their bond, and living lanterns shall lead
on until . . . 22. solvere: epexegetic inf. after segnes; 1. 3. 25 n.
The Graces are represented as sisters who never separate. For vivae cf.
vigiles lucernae, 3. 8. 14.
21. te
•
•
•
•
ODE XXII
او
A poetical inscription to be placed on a pine overhanging his Sabine
homestead which he dedicates to Diana with the promise of a yearly sacrifice.
2. quae
'thou that thrice summoned dost hearken to young wives
(puellas) in their travail and save from death.' Horace here copies Catull.
34. 9, where Diana is invoked as montium domina... silvarumque virentium
tu Lucina dolentibus | Iuno dicta puerperis. For her as goddess of
groves, cf. 1. 21. 5.
Like the Gk. "Apreμus she was also sometimes regarded
as the goddess of childbirth, and identified with Iuno Lucina; cf. Ellis
on Catull. 1. c. 4. diva triformis. In heaven Luna, on earth Diana,
in hell Hecate. Her image had three faces (Ov. Fast. 1. 141) and was placed
where three ways met (dea trivia), and so she is the counterpart of the two-
faced Janus (=Dianus). 5. tua: predicative; 'let the pine be thine.'
6. quam . . . donem, 'so that I may present it,' in connexion with tua esto.
per exactos annos, 'at each year's end'; cf. 3. 18. 5 n. 7. obliquum
meditantis ictum, 'practising its sidelong blow': the boar is a young one
just trying its powers. meditor=µeλeráw.
μελετάω. Boars strike with their tusks
from the side. Cf. Hom. doxµà ȧíσσovтe, 'rushing sideways,' of two boars.
ODE XXIII
'Pray on the new moon, Phidyle, and offer your simple sacrifices to the
Lares, and then all shall be well with your farm. Costly and numerous
victims are for priestly rites: they have nothing to do with you and your
humble worship of the gods.'
ODE XXIII
313
NOTES
Phidyle (cf. peldeσ@ai) is the type of a 'thrifty' country housewife, and
for the sense cf. Eur. Danae fr. 329 eloopŵ θεοῖσι μικρὰ χερσὶ θύοντας
τέλη | τῶν βουθυτούντων ὄντας εὐσεβεστέρους.
1. caelo . . . 'if you shall have raised towards heaven upturned hands.'
For caelo, 'heavenwards,' cf. 1. 28. 10 Orco demissum; Virg. Aen. 5. 451 it
clamor caelo. The most ancient, and perhaps most natural, attitude of prayer
was standing with hands uplifted and upturned to heaven. Cf. Il. 7. 177
λαοὶ δ᾽ ἠρήσαντο, θεοῖσι δὲ χεῖρας ἀνέσχον, Virg. Αen. 4. 205 Iovem manibus
supplex orasse supinis, 1 Tim. ii. 8 'I will therefore that men pray every
where, lifting up holy hands.' 2. nascente luna. The day of the new
moon (vovμnvía, cf. 1 Sam. xx. 5, etc.) was a natural day for bringing the
monthly offering to the Lares (menstrua tura Lari Tib. 1. 3. 34). 3. horna
fruge, 'with this year's corn'; hornus=horinus, cf. wpa: an offering of the
firstfruits of the harvest is meant.
•
5. pestilentem Africum, 'the deadly African wind,' the Sirocco, cf. 2.
14. 15 n. sentiet, 'feel to its cost'; 3. 5. 36 n. 6. sterilem rubi-
ginem, 'the blighting mildew': some MSS. spell robigo, but the word=
'rust,' from rubeo. 7. alumni: see 3. 18. 4 n. 8. pomifero
'the sickly season when autumn yields her fruits,' see line 5 n. pomifer
annus, autumn,' as Epod. 2. 29 a. hibernus = winter, Virg. Aen. 6. 311
frigidus a. the cold part of the year. 9. Algido: a Mt. in Latium.
13. cervice, 'with blood from
a.=
devota, 'doomed,' 'destined for sacrifice.'
its neck.' 14. temptare, 'to besiege,' 'attack,' as though the favour of
the gods were only to be won with effort and expense. Translate: 'You
have no need to besiege with sacrifice of many sheep the tiny gods you crown
with rosemary.' 15. parvos deos=parva deorum simulacra.
=
17. inmunis 'if giftless your hand has touched the altar not made
more persuasive by (sacrifice of) a costly victim, then it has appeased the
angry Penates with duteous meal and crackling salt,' i.e. the act of supplica-
tion is enough without any vain oblations. inmunis is emphatic and, as Od.
4. 12. 23 and Ep. 1. 14. 33, 'without a gift,' the hand which only offers
the mola salsa being spoken of as 'giftless' in comparison with the one which
brings a costly victim. The comparative blandior has its full force; the
suppliant does not seek to add to her powers of persuasion by a costly
sacrifice, and blandus is scornful (cf. blandiri), Horace despising such en-
deavours to 'coax' or 'wheedle' the gods (cf. votis pacisci 3. 29. 59 n.). The
apodosis begins with mollivit and the perfect expresses that the act of
supplication at once effects its aim. The stanza probably represents a well-
known yvwµŋ, cf. Pliny Praef. N. H. mola tantum salsa litant qui non habent
tura. Most put the comma after manus: though thy hand . . . held no
gift, it appeased the Penates with meal and could please no more (non
blandior= =n. b. futura) with a costly victim'; but non blandior mollivit
could only mean was not more pleasing when it appeased.' Orelli explains in-
munis 'guiltless' (cf. Ps. 50. 13) but that would need inmunis sceleris, and the
two other passages where Horace uses the word are clear. 20. farre pio et
saliente mica, i.e. the mola salsa, a mixture of meal and salt sprinkled on
the head of the victim or offered, as here, by itself on the altar. mica is a
'grain' or 'crumb' of anything, here of salt, as every Roman who had seen
the mola salsa would at once understand; saliente, 'sputtering' or 'crackling,'
i.e. when thrown on the fire.
•
314
BOOK III
HORACE
ODE XXIV
'Wealth and palaces avail not; when once inevitable Fate dooms thee,
thou canst not escape death. Far better (than our luxury and license) the life
of the wild nomads, simple it is true, but virtuous and pure. Whoever would
save Rome must have courage to curb the license of the day and so win
fame for after ages, since in his own age alas! he will not, for we hate merit.
Nor will words avail; stern and strong repression is needed now, when men
scour the world for wealth, when poverty is great disgrace, to be avoided by any
means, even by guilt. O let us dedicate to heaven or fling into the sea our gems
and jewels and gold; let us root out the evil, and begin by training the rising
generation more roughly than we do now, when the noble youth is more at home
with the dice-box than on horseback, and fathers cheat even a partner or a guest
in haste to make a fortune for their heir. So wealth ever grows but never satisfies.
In its general purpose the Ode may be compared with Odes 1-6 of this Book.
1. intactis
'unrifled,' i.e. by the Romans. 2. divitis Indiae.
Cf. 1. 31. 6, and for the wealth of Arabia and the East 1. 29. 1 n. 3.
caementis 'although with building material you seize on . . Cf.
•
•
·
•
·
>
4
3. 1. 33-38 and notes. 4. terrenum mare publicum. So Orelli
rightly for Tyrrhenum. Apulicum. Tyrrhenum is in all MSS.; pub-
licum has strong, Ponticum moderate, and Apulicum slight authority;
Porphyrion's comment 'luxuriam. . . non terram tantum verum etiam maria
occupantem' shows that he did not read Tyrrhenum. Ponticum and Apuli-
cum cannot stand, for no Roman would build villas on those seas; therefore
publicum must be right and joined with Porphyrion's comment involves the
acceptance of Lachmann's terrenum. The rich man is not satisfied with 'all
the land' but seizes also on 'the general sea'-the sea in which, it might
have seemed, no one could claim property.
5. si figit, yet if dread Necessity drives her adamantine nails into the
topmost roof, (then) thou shalt neither free thy soul from fear nor thy life
from the snares of death.' For a picture of Necessitas see 1. 35. 17-20,
where clavos trabales= adamantinos clavos here, the 'nail' being symbolical
of that which is fixed and immutable. When the rich man has laid his
foundations, and reared his palace, Necessity alights on the roof and there
plants a nail as a sign and symbol that he and his riches are not exempt from
her universal sway (cf. St. Luke xii. 16-21). For figit, cf. S. 1. 5. 90 n.
mortis laqueis. Cf. Ps. xviii. 5 'the snares of death prevented me'; Prov.
xiv. 27. expedire, 'to get the foot free,' 'to get free' )( inpedire.
8.
9. campestres. See 3. 8. 24 n. 10. quorum. They lived in cara-
vans like gipsies ; cf. Aesch. Prom. 709 Σκύθας δ᾽ ἀφίξει νομάδας, οἳ πλεκτὰς
στέγας | πεδάρσιοι ναίουσ᾽ ἐπ᾽ εὐκύκλοις ὄχοις. rite, after their custom.'
11. rigidi, 'stern,' opposed to 'loose,' 'licentious.' 12. inmetata iugera,
'unmeasured acres': as with them there was no private property there would
be no need of boundary stones (termini) or land measurements of any kind ;
the Romans on the other hand paid great attention to these things. See Dict.
Ant. s.v. Agrimensores. liberas, 'free,' because, as the produce belonged
to the whole tribe in common, none needed to purchase food. Caesar B. G.
4. 1 says that the Suevi, and Tacitus Ger. 26 that the Germans, still retained
this primitive mode of cultivation. Caesar's words are: quotannis singula
milia armatorum bellandi causa.. educunt. reliqui qui domi manserunt se
ODE XXIV
315
NOTES
atque illos alunt.
manent
•
•
•
•
hi rursus in vicem anno post in armis sunt, illi domi re-
neque longius anno remanere uno in loco incolendi causa licet.
14. nec cultura
Partly referring to the fact that, being a nomadic
people, they never stayed beyond a year in one spot, partly to the practice of
relieving (recreat) those who had done the work one year (defunctos labori-
bus) by substitutes (vicarii) who had meanwhile acted as combatants but
who now had to take their fair turn (sors aequalis) of work. See Caesar 1. c.
16. vicarius (from vices), 'one who comes in turn,' 'a substitute': a 'vicar'
was originally a minister appointed to do the work of a rectory of which the
monks enjoyed the main revenues. 18. privignis, 'the guiltless wife
spares (i.e. treats with kindness) her motherless stepchildren.' Cic. frequently
uses temperare in this sense, e.g. sociis, superatis hostibus, amicis temperare.
The cruelty of stepmothers was proverbial; see Dict. s. v. noverca, µnтρviá.
19. dotata regit virum. The Roman poets frequently complain that
rich wives often proved truly 'better halves'; Plaut. Aul. 3. 5. 60; Mart. 8.
12 uxorem quare locupletem ducere nolo, | quaeritis? uxori nubere nolo meae.
21. dos, with magna. For metuens viri cf. 3. 19. 16 n.:-' chastity
that shrinks from another's love, the marriage-tie being sure.'
24. pec-
care, to sin, .e. against chastity; cf. 3. 7. 19. aut, or, that is, if she do
sin, 'the wages is death.' Cf. the use of aut 3. 12. 2. 25. inpias, 'un-
hallowed,' because domestic and so violating the law of nature. 26. tollere,
'to do away with.' For the civil madness see 3. 6. 13 n.
quaeret, 'if he shall desire to have “Father of the cities" inscribed beneath
his statues.' The title of 'Father' (pater or parens) seems to have been not
unfrequently bestowed on benefactors by states and cities; so Cic. bids his
brother deserve the title of parens Asiae, and an actual inscription is extant
referring to Augustus as parens coloniae. See too 1. 2. 50 n.
•
27. si
34.
30. quatenus, 'in as far as,' 'since,' explaining postgenitis, 'he must
trust to posterity for fame since
31. virtutem
'since we
jealously hate living worth (and) regret it when removed from our gaze.'
32. invidi, as its position shows, goes with both the contrasted clauses. The
thought is from Menander (?) δεινοὶ γὰρ ἀνδρὶ πάντες ἐσμεν εὐκλεεῖ | ζῶντι
φθονῆσαι, κατθανόντα δ᾽ αἰνέσαι Stob. 125. 3 ; cf. Ep. 2. 1. 12.
reciditur, 'is cut back,' 'pruned,' like a fruit tree which has put out rank
useless growth. 35. leges. See 3. 6 Intr. 37. pars, 'the portion of
the globe fenced in with fiery heat'; cf. 3. 3. 55 n. inclusa, 'as if the
heat were intended to bar it from human intrusion.'-Wickham. 38.
latus. So 1. 22. 19 latus mundi. 40. horrida. Supply si from line
36, and also before magnum line 42. Horace elsewhere (1. 3. 21) speaks of
the commercial enterprise of sailors and shipowners as a flying in the face of
Providence, who meant the sea for a means of separation not communication.
42. magnum '(if) poverty (considered) a great disgrace urges men
to do and endure anything, and quits the steep path of virtue. 43. quid-
vis, i.e. any act of guilt, cf. ravoûpyos, 'one who does anything,' 'a villain.'
44. arduae, ‘dwelling on high,' because difficult of attainment; cf. Hes.
W. and D. 290. 45. in Capitolium: as a votive offering; supply fera-
mus from mittamus below.
46. quo clamor i.e. as in a triumphal
procession. 48. inutile: not merely 'useless,' but 'deadly': litotes.
49. summi 'the cause of crowning guilt.' materies is the original
stuff from which anything is fashioned (the Gk. λn, cf. ‘materials,' 'matter '),
then the 'source,' 'cause,' of anything. 50. si bene paenitet, 'if we are
•
•
316
BOOK III
HORACE
51. eradenda
•
heartily sorry."
Two processes are mentioned, first
a cleansing process, a getting rid of the old effeminate vices, secondly the
substitution of vigorous virtues in their place. eradenda, 'rooted up'; used
of removing weeds with the rastrum, and so here with elementa (root ol 'to
grow') of destroying the first beginnings, the earliest growth of evil deșire.
52. Note the antithesis of tenerae and asperioribus; both adjectives are
illustrated by the antithetical pursuits in the next lines.
•
>
54. nescit. . . 'untaught the high-born youth cannot sit a horse
more learned in playing with a Greek hoop, if you bid him, or .
57.
Graeco trocho. Both words are used scornfully: the Greeks in Rome are
constantly reproached as the purveyors of all that is luxurious, vicious and
un-Roman. trocho=7ρox@ is designedly used, a Greek word for a Greek
thing, cf. Juv. 3. 67 rusticus ille tuus sumit trechedipna, Quirine, et cero-
matico fert niceteria collo. 58. legibus. The particular laws are unknown.
59. cum, 'since,' i.e. nor is it wonderful, 'since.' 60. consortem
socium, 'his partner in business.' sors, 'capital'; consors one who joins
capital with another. 61. pecuniam properet, 'eagerly amasses'; cf. 2.
13. 26 n.
Summing up the whole purport of the Ode:
'Yes truly, insatiate wealth ever grows; and yet something is ever wanting
to the defective fortune,' i.e. the wealthiest men are never quite satisfied, are
never content, but always consider their fortune 'maimed,' and 'defective,'
for want of a something or other, they know not what. inprobae: 3.9.
22 n.
62. scilicet
•
scilicet: 2. 14. 9 n.
•
ODE XXV
An imitation of a Greek dithyramb. The poet represents himself as in-
spired by Bacchus, but also suggests that his state of poetic exaltation is due
to dwelling on Caesar's exploits, which, he says, he shall shortly celebrate
with no mere mortal utterance as he follows in the train of the god.
D
1. tui plenum, i.e. inspired; cf. 2. 19. 6 n. 3. velox mente nova,
'hurried on with new thoughts'; év0ovolášwv. quibus antris: either
local abl.'in what caves?' or, which is more poetical, the dat.,='by what
caves shall I be heard?' 5. aeternum 'planning to set the glory
of Caesar for ever amid the stars and the council of Jupiter.' In mythology
glorified beings are represented as rewarded with a place among the stars.
meditans=µ€λetŵv is used of poets conning over,' 'rehearsing,' 'practis-
ing,' their compositions: hence meditans inserere. 'rehearsing the placing
i.e. rehearsing a poem on the deification of Caesar. Cf. Virg. Ecl.
1. 2 tenui Musam meditaris avena, imitated by Milton, Lyc. 66' and strictly
meditate the thankless Muse.' 7. dicam
sublime, new, unsung as
yet by other lips shall be my theme.' Notice the vigorous asyndeton (a-ovv-
déw) by which the three adjectives are left without any connexion.
• • ·
• •
•
8. non secus
libet. He compares his feelings as he is hurried
along by stream and grove to those of a Bacchanal who stands on a hill-top
gazing over the valley of the Hebrus and snow-clad Thrace right away to
Rhodope in the distance: the effect of the scene with both is to excite poetic
feeling. The construction is non secus ut, though non secus is usually
followed by ac; but cf. 1. 16. 7 aeque
ut. 9. Euhias: fem. adj.='a
Bacchanal,' cf. 2. 11. 17 n. exsomnis: because these Bacchic revels were
held at night and the Bacchanals were constantly νυκτιπόλοι, άυπνοι, etc.
Kiessling reads ex somnis, of a Bacchanal who has followed Bacchus into
•
•
•
•
ODE XXVI
317
NOTES
Thrace and wakes to marvel at the strange land. 11. pede barbaro
lustratam, 'traversed by barbarous feet,' i.e. by the feet of Thracian Bac-
chanals. In Gk. Bápßapos (an imitative word='a jabberer') is simply one
who does not speak Greek, a non-Greek, and the Roman poets imitated this
use, employing the word frequently, as here, with no tinge of contempt, e.g.
when Plautus wishes to say he has translated a Greek play into Latin he says
Plautus vortit barbare.
·
14. o Naiadum potens, 'O Lord of the River-Nymphs.' Naiades = Naιádes
(váw 'to flow,' vâµa a stream). 16. vertere, 'to upturn,' 'uproot.' See
Eur. Bach. 1109 for this and other feats of the Bacchanals. 17. humili
modo, 'in lowly fashion.' 18. dulce 'a joyous hazard is it, O
King of the Wine-press, to follow the god who garlands.
For peri-
culum cf. Il. 20. 131 χαλεποὶ δὲ θεοὶ φαίνεσθαι ἐναργείς and Judges xiii. 22
'And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen
God.' 19. Lenaeus=Aŋvaîos from Aŋvós, 'a wine-press.'
ODE XXVI
'But lately I was a successful combatant in the lists of love: now in token
that my warfare is finished I here dedicated my arms to Venus, with just one
final prayer—that the goddess will make Chloe pay for her conceit.'
It was customary on leaving off any occupation to dedicate some of the
instruments connected with it to an appropriate divinity, e.g. a gladiator
dedicates his arms (Ep. 1. 1. 4), a fading beauty her mirror (cf. 4. 10. 6 n.), a
slave his chains (S. 1. 5. 65), and so here Horace dedicates his lyre and other
imaginary paraphernalia of love-making. To such dedicated objects a short
poetical inscription was frequently appended (cf. the many ȧvalŋμaтıкá in
the Gk. Anthology), and this Ode is supposed to be written for that object.
Notice the humorous inconsistency between the declaration at the beginning
and the prayer at the conclusion.
•
3. defunc-
1. vixi with nuper, idoneus with puellis. 2. militavi. Cf. bella moves
4. 1. 2, militiae 4. 1. 16, Ov. Am. 1. 9. 1 militat omnis amans.
tumque. and my lyre whose wars are ended.' 4. barbiton=ßápßiтov,
cf. 1. 32. 4 n. hic paries
Because the lyre would be hung upon
the wall (cf. ἀνάθημα). 5. marinae, 'sea-born.' 'Aøpodirn was born from
the foam (åøpós) of the sea. Veneris, '(of the temple) of Venus.'
6. lucida funalia: torches made from ropes dipped in tar. He still
keeps up the simile from war in his description of these instruments for a
'night assault.' What would be the use of 'bows' to 'threaten opposing
doors' it is difficult to see, nor is it any explanation to say that they were for
'threatening the doorkeepers.' Perhaps by arcus Horace intends some mili-
tary engine (such as the arcuballista of later times) which was used in sieges
and discharged missiles by means of a huge bow': the whole description is
designedly exaggerated. 9. beatam, 'blessed,' perhaps as being thy
favourite seat.' 10. Memphin. Herod. 2. 112 mentions a temple of
Ξείνη Αφροδίτη at Memphis. carentem Sithonia nive, i.e. enjoying a
warm climate. Sithonia was the central peninsula in Chalcidice, and cf. Virg.
Ecl. 10. 66 Sithonias nives, but here the adj. is quite out of place.
sublimi: pictorial, 'with uplifted lash.' 12. tange semel: 'touch' and
'once' by their studied moderation suggest more than is expressed.
11.
318
BOOK III
HORACE
ODE XXVII
'May guilty travellers start with evil omens or be stopped by them : for
those I am anxious about I shall carefully search out happy auguries. And
may you especially, Galatea, have good luck, and yet I dread from experience
that stormy channel passage. You must be as bold as Europa was, when she
trusted herself to the bull: what a difference she found between flowery meadows
and mid ocean! And when she reached Crete how she regretted her boldness,
and prayed for death! Venus however at last consoled her.'
Horace uses the occasion of Galatea's journey as a pretext for introducing
the story of Europa, which was a favourite with the Gk. lyrists and had been
dealt with by Stesichorus, Simonides, and Bacchylides; see Kiessling.
•
1. inpios (7) ego. Note the antithetical words at the beginning of
each sentence. parrae recinentis, 'of the hooting owl's refrain'; recino
seems to refer to the repetition of the cry. 2. ducat, 'conduct,' i.e. on
their journey. 3. rava: see Epod. 16. 33 n. Lanuvium was on a hill
(cf. decurrens) near the Appian Way, along which travellers for Brundisium
and Greece would pass. 5. rumpat... ‘and let a snake break their journey
when begun, if darting like an arrow across the road it has scared the horses.'
Editors find difficulty in these simple lines. Orelli says rumpat= interrumpat
and adds 'scilicet ita ut huic omini scelerati non pareant . . . ideoque pereant,'
thus making rumpat really mean 'let it warn them in vain to break,' which it
can hardly do. Bentley reads rumpit, which has little authority, and makes
the lines merely contain a statement as to what is an evil omen on a journey, a
thing which every one knew. The sense simply is 'Let evil omens accompany
the guilty when they start on journeys and (i.e. in other instances; in
English we use 'or') let them have their journeys interrupted by them.' 7.
mannos. Cf. Ep. 1. 7. 77 n. cui ei cui, ei going with suscitabo, cui
with timebo. 8. auspex: from avis and spicio, one who 'watches birds,'
deduces omens from their flight.
=
=
10. imbrium
•
9. stantes, 'stagnant.'
'the bird prophetic of
impending storms,' cf. 3. 17. 12 where the raven is called aquae augur, and
the same bird is probably meant here, cf. Virg. G. 1. 388 tum cornix plena
pluviam vocat inproba voce. For imbrium divina cf. divina futuri A. P.
218; Virg. Aen. 6. 66 praescia venturi, and 1. 15. 24 n. 11. oscinem:
oscines aves quae ore canentes faciant auspicium, Festus; but Kiessling from
ob(s) and cano, cf. ostendere obstendere. 12. solis ab ortu, i.e. from the
region of light and happy omens. 13. sis licet 'mayest thou be
happy, yes happy, where'er thy choice, and live . . .' licet per me licet,
'as far as I am concerned you may,' i.e. though regretting your departure,
still I do not wish you ill but well. Most take sis as dependent on licet, but
it seems better to make it parallel to vivas, licet being purely parenthetical.
15. laevus: clearly='ill-omened,' σкαιós. The Roman augurs faced the
S., the Greek the N., when taking observations, and, as the Roman poets are
sometimes imitating a Greek phrase, sometimes using a native one, when they
speak of an omen on the left hand,' the context is the only guide whether
they mean from the E. or from the W., of good or evil omen.
17. sed vides
•
•
'but you see with what uproar Orion hastens to his
setting.' Orion sets early in November when the storms of winter begin.
18. ego
Emphatic; Horace speaks from sad personal experience.
'I know what the dark gulf of Hadria is, and the crimes of the clear South
•
ODE XXVII
319
NOTES
wind.' albus is added to form a pictorial contrast with ater: the sea is
'dark,' tempestuous'; the sky is 'clear' and cloudless.' It is one
of those bright days with a stiff breeze which landsmen do not love.
20. Iapyx: 1. 3. 4 n.
21. caecos
'sudden,' 'unexpected.'
22. sentiant: 2. 7. 10 n. Note the stormy r-sounds in orientis
·
•
•
27.
ripas.
25. sic, 'so to,' i.e. with equal hardihood. For Europe (Evρúπη) see
Class. Dict., and for doloso credidit cf. 3. 5. 33 and 2. 4. 6 n. 26. latus:
strictly; she reclines on its back. et scatentem. 'at sight of the sea
teeming with monsters and of dangers all around grew pale for all her bold-
ness,' or 'at her own boldness.' scatentem beluis: 4. 14. 47 n.
medias fraudes, lit. 'midmost dangers': she was in the very centre of them.
28. palluit audax: antithetical juxtaposition. palluit, 'grew pale,'
governs an acc. from the secondary sense of 'fearing' contained in it, cf. 2.
13. 26 n. 29. nuper
nocte. Mark the contrasted words put
first as guides. 31. nocte sublustri, 'by night's dim radiance': sublustris
(cf. subluceo, subirasci, etc., sub='slightly,' 'partially') describes a condition
which is half obscurity, half light in the present case the stars (line 31) are
shining, and there is just sufficient light to make all mysterious and terrible.
studiosa florum, 'busied with flowers.'
flowers.' Adjectives expressing desire and
dislike take a gen., e.g. avidus, cupidus, fastidiosus (3. 1. 37).
•
37.
33. simul=simul ac, 'as soon as.' centum: cf. Hom. II. 2. 649
Κρήτην ἑκατόμπολιν. 34. pater. 'O father, she cried, O name of
daughter abandoned, and duty vanquished by passion.' Others make filiae
dat. after relictum, 'O father, O name by thy daughter abandoned.'
unde quo, whence (and) whither.' So too the Greeks use a double interro-
gation without any connecting word, e.g. rís πblev åkels ; levis predica-
tive. una: as always, emphatic. 38. virginum: the plural, because
others have sinned as she has the thought that others have yielded to
temptation makes her sin seem more pardonable. vigilansne
'am I awake bewailing a foul crime, or am I guiltless, and does a vision mock
me, a vision that idly flying from the ivory gate brings (only) a dream?'
Orelli puts a comma after vana instead of after imago: the stanza is thus
left with a very weak ending (a rare thing in Sapphics), an unnatural import-
ance is attached to vana, and the sense is scarcely so good, for what Europa
says is, 'Am I awake, or is this a vision (imago), and if a vision, is it one of
those idle ones that come from the ivory gate and bring only dreams, not fore-
shadowings of the future?' Homer, Od. 19. 562, describes dreams as coming
through two gates, the one of horn, the other of ivory, the one sort being ac-
complished, the other not, and assigns a fanciful etymological reason for the
distinction (ελέφας ivory, ελεφαίρω make light'; κέρας ‘horn, κραίνω
'accomplish ').
45. si quis
•
?
•
dedat.
has conveyed her to Crete.
pudens
•
Horace makes the bull vanish as soon as he
47. modo, 'lately,' 'but late.' 49. in-
'shameless am I to delay Death,' i.e. to keep Death waiting.
50. o deorum. . . 'O thou of all the gods whoever hearest this, may I . .
Notice inter, separated from leones. 52. nuda suggests a pictorial
contrast between her beauty and their savageness. There is no reason for
taking it metaphorically='defenceless.'
53. antequam
·
6
ere yet hideous decay seize on these comely cheeks,
ere the young blood ebbs from the tender victim, in my beauty I long to feed
the beasts.' The force of this stanza is clear: her beauty that was her pride
320
BOOK III
HORACE
Cf. pascere. 57. pater
has become her loathing, hence the cynical scorn with which she speaks of it,
and the use of such terms as tenera and sucus (juice) with reference to it,
terms which are applicable to butcher's meat.
urguet absens, 'so my father far away assails me. 58. potes. Em-
phatic you have the power, use it. 59. bene: ironically='happily,'
cf. delectant. 60. laedere, 'break.'
·
quick, trust
61. rupes et acuta leto saxa, 'precipices and rocks sharp for death.'
The saxa are rocks and boulders lying at the foot of the precipices, rough and
jagged, and therefore sure to cause death. 62. age te
thyself to the rushing wind.' 63. erile pensum, 'a task done for a
mistress,' 'a bondmaid's task.' pensum, from pendo to weigh, is the portion
of wool weighed out as the work for a certain period. 64. carpere='pluck'
or draw out the wool into long threads, which were then wound round the
spindle ready for weaving, see Dict. Ant. s. v. Fusus. 65. regius sanguis,
'the daughter of kings,' in strong opposition to erile pensum and dominae.
sanguis: 2. 20. 5 n. tradi, i.e. to be abandoned by her paramour and
handed over to the mercy of his injured and incensed wife. paelex: 3. 10. 15 n.
3.10.
66. aderat
The abrupt transition from Europa's speech to narra-
tive, and the marked prominence of the verb, express the suddenness of the
appearance of the goddess, who at the critical moment intervenes with
dramatic effect. 'Lo! at her side thus wailing stood Venus with a mocking
smile.' 67. perfidum: neut. adj. used adverbially, cf. 1. 22. 23 n.
remisso symbolical of his peaceful purpose.
·
·
•
69. lusit, i. e. amused herself with laughing at her. abstineto
irarum: 2. 9. 17 n. 71. cum tibi . . . when the hateful bull shall
bring you back his horns to tear.' Venus mockingly repeats the very word
(lacerare, line 46) used by Europa. 73. uxor... esse nescis, 'thou
knowest not how to be the bride,' i.e. what befits the bride; this rendering
harmonises with disce below, 'you are as yet ignorant how to play your part,
learn to do so.' Others take uxor as=uxorem in imitation of Gk. idiom (cf.
Ep. 1. 7. 22 n.), 'Thou knowest not that thou art the bride.'
75. tua...
'half the globe shall take thy name.'
ODE XXVIII
An invitation to Lyde to join him in celebrating the Neptunalia, a festival
held on July 23rd.
•
1. festo The question is a retort to a supposed objection: 'What
better could I do? Produce the wine.' 2. reconditum, 'stored far back,'
old; cf. 2. 3. 8 interior nota; Epod. 9. 1 repostum Caecubum. 3. strenua
with prome, 'produce and briskly.' Horace humorously makes Lyde act
as butler. Kiessling, however, supposes the scene in Lyde's house, into
which, as he is strolling about, Horace turns with the words festo. die.
4. munitaeque . and assault the fortress of philosophy.' Philosophy
is represented as possessing a fortress inaccessible and impregnable to tempta-
tion cf. Lucr. 2. 7 bene quam munita tenere | edita doctrina sapientum
templa serena; Arist. Nub. 1024 & каλλíπuрρyov σopiav ἐπασκῶν and
Tennyson's Palace of Art, stanzas 1-4.
•
•
•
5. inclinare meridiem, 'that noon declines,' i.e. that the sun has passed
the zenith. Cf. Livy 9. 32 sol meridie se inclinavit. meridies medidies
(midday), altered for the sake of euphony. 6. stet, 'stood still,' halted in
=
ODE XXIX
321
NOTES
its course in strong contrast with volucris. 7. parcis deripere, 'you
hesitate to hurry down.' For deripere cf. 3. 21. 7 descende, and 3. 8. 10 n.
horreo= apotheca, 'the store,' cf. 4. 12. 18 Sulpiciis horreis.
8. ces-
santem. The amphora is personified and described as 'fondly lingering' in
its old corner. M. Calpurnius Bibulus was consul with C. Julius Caesar in
the famous year B.C. 59, but the name is obviously selected in jole.
•
•
9. nos cantabimus . . we will sing in turn, (I) of Neptune
you shall in reply tell of Latona
Horace begins the sentence as if he
were going to say 'we will sing in turn of Neptune.. and Latona' (i.e. I
of Neptune, you of Latona), but in the second half of the sentence in order to
make it more clear who is to undertake the reply (recines) and sing of Latona,
he inserts the words tu recines, which make the sense clear but somewhat
interfere with the strict grammar. Some take nos invicem I in my turn,'
but though nos is often='I,' it cannot be so here where it naturally
must mean 'I and you' and where the use of it='I' must produce confusion.
10. virides, 'sea-green,' as befitted sea-nymphs; cf. 1. 17. 20; Epod. 13.
16. 12. Cynthiae. Cynthus was a mountain in Delos: Cynthius=
Apollo, Cynthia = his sister, Diana. 13. summo carmine, sc. cantabimus.
Horace starts by singing of Neptune, Lyde replies with the praise of Latona
and Diana, they both unite in honouring Venus and night. summo=
supremo, cf. Ep. 1. 1. 1. quae tenet eam quae tenet, 'the queen of
Cnidos.' Cnidos is in Caria.
merita : quia amantibus favet.
melancholy, harmony.
Note
the ideas of rest and repose.
16.
14. Cycladas: cf. 1. 14, 19, 20 n.
nenia: used of any plaintive, not necessarily
how the concluding words of the Ode suggest
ODE XXIX
A warm welcome awaits you, Maecenas, at my house: come then at once.
Cease merely to gaze longingly on the country, and leave Rome for a while and
all its magnificence and cares. Rich men sometimes find the change to a
humble household a relief. The dog-days moreover are coming on, and yet you
linger in town and worry yourself about political contingencies. What is the
good? Providence has sealed the future and mocks our efforts to read it.
Calmly to deal with the present is wisdom; for life is like a river and moves
along uncontrolled by us sometimes peacefully sometimes a raging torrent.
lives best who enjoys to-day; to-morrow Jupiter may send trouble but he cannot
undo the past. Fortune is ever fickle: I accept her favour and put up with
her frowns. In stormy weather I am not like a merchant fearful lest his rich
cargo be lost it is enough for me if I weather the tempest myself.'
He
1. Tyrrhena. 'scion of Etruscan kings': cf. 1. 1. 1 Maecenas
atavis edite regibus. Horace ends (see next Ode) his Odes as he began them,
with the praise of his patron. 2. non ante verso cado, ‘in a cask as
yet unbroached,' lit. 'untilted.' The cadus or amphora would have to be
tipped up to get at the wine. lene mellow, cf. 3. 21. 8 languidiora vina.
3. flore rosarum, 'choicest roses.' pódwv åúrocs, Simonides. 4. balanus
=myrobalanum, the fruit of a sort of palm from which a balsam was extracted
(pressa). balanus=ẞáλavos, the Latin form of which is glans.
=
5. iam dudum est, 'has long been,' lit. 'is now a considerable time.'
This use of iam dudum with a present is very frequent. 6. udum: cf. 1.
7. 13 n. Aefula (not Aesula, the old reading) is a Roman colony on
the hillside between Tibur and Praeneste, cf. Livy 26. 9. 9; 32. 9. 2.
Y
322
BOOK III
HORACE
ne semper contempleris, 'be not ever gazing wistfully at,' i.e. from Rome.
With ne in prohibitions addressed to a particular person the perf. subj. is
usual, but would be impossible here where the act spoken of is continuous.
Some put only a comma after morae, and render 'come quickly so as not to
be ...,' but this is less simple. Tibur, 16 miles N.E. of Rome, and
Tusculum (Telegoni iuga, cf. Epod. 1. 29 n.), 10 miles S.E., both on the
sides of hills, were (see Mart. 4. 64) visible from Rome, and especially from
Maecenas' lofty house, see lines 9, 10.
molem
·
•
·
10.
9. fastidiosam ... 'quit the plenty that but palls'; see 3. 1. 36 n.
the palace that towers to the clouds.' Cf. Shak. The Tempest
IV. i. 152 'The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces.' The reference is
to the so-called turris Maecenatis on the Esquiline, from which Nero afterwards
watched the burning of Rome, and which had a commanding view over Rome
(see lines 11, 12) and the neighbourhood. 11. mirari
This terse
description of a great capital as observed from some point of vantage is
inimitable. The wealth, the smoke, the riches, the roar of London, as seen
say from St. Paul's, might well in their combined effect make the beholder
'marvel' (mirari).
14. mundae. The adjective indicates the presence of
taste but the absence of extravagance. Horace defines mundus (S. 2. 2. 65),
as applied to a host, as a just mean between luxurious excess and sordid neglect.
The word thus meaning not only 'simple' but 'elegant' is difficult to translate:
perhaps here 'simple' will suffice, though it only expresses half the word.
sub Lare, 'beneath the roof.' 15. aulaeis: see S. 2. 8. 54 n. ostro
refers to the purple covering of the couches. 16. sollicitam
'have
smoothed the wrinkles from the brow of care'; cf. S. 2. 2. 125. explicuere
with plerumque, 'have often,' i.e. before now.
D
ប
somewhat forced. clarus,
Andromedae pater=
18. Procyon: Пpokúшv
17. clarus occultum. The antithesis is
'glowing'; occultum, 'hidden,' i.e. previously.
Cepheus. All the stars mentioned rise in July.
(in Latin Antecanis), the constellation which rises before the Dogstar. For
y in words borrowed from Gk. cf. 1. 16. 5 n. furit and vesani both refer
to the fierce heat of the dog-days, cf. 3. 7. 6 insana, of 'wild' weather.
20. dies referente siccos, bringing round the days of drought.' siccos:
in an emphatic position because of the double meaning assigned to it, (1)=
when rain is rare, (2) when drink is acceptable.
•
22. horridi, 'shaggy.' A country covered with wood (silvae) and thickets
(dumeta) is horridus (cf. 4. 5. 26 Germania horrida), and therefore the same
epithet is applied to 'the woodland god,' Silvanus. 23. caretque . . . ‘and
the slumbering bank (i.e. of the river mentioned line 22) is untroubled by the
wandering winds.' 25. tu . . σὺ δέ. The position of the pronoun
marks the antithesis between Maecenas' activity and the repose which the
season suggests (lines 17-24). 26. et urbi
city dread the plots (quid parent) of the Seres
56) stand for any remote Eastern people. 27. regnata Cyro Bactra,
'Bactria where Cyrus ruled,' lit. 'reigned over by Cyrus.' For construction
cf. 2. 6. 11 n.; and for the kingdom of Cyrus 1. 2. 22 n. 28. Tanaisque
discors. The river is put for the dwellers by the river, i.e. the Scythae, see
3. 8. 23 n. discors, 'rebellious.'
•
•
and anxious for the
The Seres (cf. 1. 12.
29. prudens providens, ' in his providence.' 30. caliginosa: the size
of the word expresses the utterly impenetrable character of the darkness which
'shuts in' (premit) the future from human gaze; caligo is 'a darkness that
•
ODE XXIX
323
NOTES
may be felt.' 31. mortalis 'if mortal man struggles beyond (i.e.
to see beyond) what heaven allows.' mortalis is emphatic; cf. the indignant
nil mortalibus ardui est 1. 3. 37. Energy, vigour, push are all, according to
the philosophy of Horace, only folly in those whose life is but a span long;
the question he ceaselessly repeats is quid brevi fortes iaculamur aevo multa?
(2. 16. 17); he breathes the spirit of Ecclesiastes, but with him the 'conclusion
of the whole matter' is not 'Fear God' but 'Rejoice in thy youth.' 32.
trepidat, which is used (2. 3. 12) of the movement of water down a steep
and stony bed, expresses restless, nervous eagerness, cf. 2. 11. 4 n.
33. componere, 'arrange,' 'make the best of'; Tò Taρòv ev léσ0αι.
cetera: opposed to quod adest: both phrases are purposely wide and indefinite,
there is a contrast not only between the 'present' and the 'future,' but between
things over which we have some control, and things which are wholly beyond
our control. 34. feruntur, are swept along.' nunc.
•
·
nunc, 'at
one time. at another.' medio aequore seems to refer to the level
surface (aequor, cf. aequus) of the stream as it is seen flowing between (medium)
its banks. Most MSS. give alveo (the opposite of vagus labitur ripa 1. 2. 18)
but this reading hardly accounts for the existence of the difficult aequore.
35. Etruscum: the final syllable cuts off before in in the next line, see
Notes on Metres, p. xviii. § 2. The license here is however exceptional, the
line, by its slow movement and unusual length, being intended to express the slow
monotonous movement of the stream. 38. volventis: parallel to dela-
bentis, 'rolling down along with it (una).' Orelli takes una = inter se permixta.
39. clamore, 'echo.' diluvies (dis-luo, 'to wash away '), 'a deluge.'
• •
42.
'who can at
41. potens sui . . . 'lord of himself,' auтáρкηs, not the slave of cir-
cumstance. Byron gives a different force to the same phrase when he says
'Lord of himself that heritage of woe.' For the gen. cf. 1. 6. 10 n.
deget, sc. tempus, will pass his time.' cui licet
each day's close say "I have lived" (i.e. to-day): to-morrow let . . .
vivere is frequently used of enjoying or using life, and not merely existing ;
cf. Fr. viveurs and Mart. 1. 15. 11 non est, crede mihi, sapientis dicere
'vivam': sera nimis vita est crastina: vive hodie. 45. non tamen
>
'yet he shall not render void whatever is behind us, nor re-shape and
make undone that which the hurrying hour has once carried away. The
same curious reflection on the limits even of Omnipotence is found elsewhere,
e.g. Agathon (quoted Ar. Eth. 6. 2, 6) μóvov yàp aνтоû каì 0εòs σтеρíσKETαι,
| ἀγένητα ποιεῖν ἅσσ᾽ ἂν ᾖ πεπραγμένα.
49. Fortuna .. : admirably paraphrased by Dryden :-
•
'Fortune that with malicious joy
Does man, her slave, oppress,
Proud of her office to destroy,
Is seldom pleased to bless
Still various and unconstant still,
But with an inclination to be ill,
Promotes, degrades, delights in strife,
And makes a lottery of life.
I can enjoy her while she's kind;
But when she dances in the wind,
And shakes her wings and will not stay,
I puff the fickle jade away:
The little or the much she gave is
quietly resign'd,
Content with poverty my soul I arm,
And virtue, though in rags, will keep
me warm.'
54. resigno, ‘I unseal,' 'cancel.' Fortune has given her sealed bond,
Horace breaks the seal and gives back the bond. 55. virtute me involvo:
Plat. Rep. 5. 457 A ἀρετὴν ἀντὶ ἱματίων ἀμφιέσονται. 56. sine dote.
Poverty will be the honesta uxor instead of the jade Fortune. 57. mugiat,
324
BOOK III ODE XXX
HORACE
J
•
et
'creaks,' 'groans.' 58. miseras, 'craven.' 59. decurrere, 'to be-
take myself,' usually, as here, of resorting to something contemptible.
votis ' and with vows to bargain that my wares add not (fresh) wealth
A vow is made when a person promises that, in case he receives a
certain favour from the god, he will pay the god some definite honour in
return (cf. 2. 17. 30 n.): this procedure Horace scornfully, but justly, calls
'bargaining.' For the gods in the stern cf. 1. 14. 10 n. 61. divitias:
cf. Richard III., I. iv. 26 'Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, |
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels, | All scattered in the bottom of the sea.
62. tunc, i.e. when the rich merchant is all anxiety for his treasures.
biremis scaphae, 'a two-oared skiff.' scapha from okάπтw, 'dig,' 'hollow
out.'
64. geminusque Pollux, 'the twin Pollux'; the addition of the
epithet suggests the presence of Castor too. For the Dioscuri cf. 1. 3. 2 n.
ODE XXX
'I have finished an imperishable monument: I shall not wholly die, but as
long as Rome stands my fame shall live and grow, and the tale shall still be
told how beside the banks of Aufidus there rose from the ranks of the people the
poet who first introduced to Italy the lays of Greece. Be proud, my Muse, for
thou art worthy, and deck my brows with laurel.'
The Ode concludes the first three books of the Odes; Horace clearly states
that his task as a lyric poet is completed. See Book IV. Intr.
•
1. exegi, 'I have finished.' The first word strikes the keynote of the
Ode. aere: not only because the metal is lasting, but because brazen tablets
were used as memorials, and statues of brass were erected in memory of great
men. 2. regalique. 'loftier than the pyramids reared by kings';
lit. 'the royal placing of pyramids.' The use of situs is peculiar, but situs
urbis, oppidi='position' is common, and situs, part. of sino, is used='placed,'
'built,' 'founded.' The explanation 'decay' is not justified by Mart. 8. 35 et
cum rupta situ Messallae saxa iacebunt me tamen ora legent, for there the
meaning is clear, whereas 'royal decay of pyramids' is impossible. 3. quod
possit, 'such as neither can.' edax, 'corroding.' inpotens
4. aut
=inpotens sui (cf. 1. 37. 10 n.), 'uncontrolled.'
countless succession of years and flight of ages.' series, from sero (whence
also sertum), 'join together.'
non
• •
·
•
'or
6. non omnis moriar. Explained by the words which follow, 'a great
part of me (i.e. my thoughts) shall escape the goddess of the grave. Cf.
Milton's Areopagitica: 'Many a man lives a burden to the earth, but a good
book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit imbalmed and treasured up
on purpose to a life beyond life.' 7. usque with crescam: 'ever shall I
grow still fresh in the praise of posterity,' i.e. my fame shall flourish rather
than fade. 8. dum.
i.e. while Rome shall last; while her most
venerable temple and her most venerable institutions remain, For Capi-
tolium cf. 3. 3. 42, and for virgine 1. 2. 27 n. 9. tacita refers to the
solemn silence observed by them when taking part in processions.
10. dicar, qua .
•
•
Not 'I shall be told of where the Aufidus
·
•
for Horace does not limit his fame to his native district, but I shall be told
of (as one who) where Aufidus roars in fury . rising from low estate was
the first to have conducted Aeolian song to Italian measures' (cf. 4. 9. 2).
11. pauper aquae. Daunus is called 'poor in water,' because Apulia, the
BOOK IV ODE I
325
NOTES
country he ruled over, was so. For gen. cf. 3. 6. 17 n. 12. regnavit
populorum. A Greek construction : ἄρχειν, κρατεῖν, τυραννεύειν, all take a
genitive. ex humili potens. Horace, far from the folly of attempting
to conceal his origin, always dwells on it with pride as making the glory of
his success greater (cf. 2. 20. 6). ex: cf. Soph. Ο. Τ. 454 τυφλὸς ἐκ δεδορ-
KÓTOS: Virg. Aen. 10. 221 Nymphas e navibus; Juv. 5. 134 quantus ex nihilo.
:
13. Aeolium carmen. Lyrics such as those of Sappho and Alcaeus, who
used the Aeolic dialect, cf. 2. 13. 24, 4. 3. 12. ad Italos modos: the
words must not be pressed too closely the 'measures' or 'metres' that
Horace uses are not 'Italian' but Greek, e.g. the Alcaic and Sapphic; what
he means is that he has introduced a new variety of Italian poetry, copied
from Greek models. 14. deduxisse: as in the phrase deducere coloniam.
Kiessling gives 'to have composed (Ep. 2. 1. 225) an Aeolic song in I. measures,'
but surely they were Italian songs in Aeolic measures. 15. quaesitam
meritis, 'won by thy deserts.' Delphica, because the laurel was sacred
to Apollo (4. 2. 9 laurea Apollinari), who is the god of poets and himself
plays on the lyre. 16. volens, 'of thy grace.'
BOOK IV
THE Fourth Book of the Odes is separated from the preceding three by a con-
siderable period of time. In the concluding Ode of the Third Book Horace
distinctly speaks of his labours as a lyric poet as concluded, and the first word
of the present book calls marked attention to the interval which has elapsed.
The reason for its composition is definitely assigned by Suetonius to the direct
command of Augustus (see Intr. p. xiii.), and indeed it is clear that the rest
of the book is only published to afford a plausible pretext for the publication
of Odes 4, 5, 14 and 15: the other Odes, which are of a purely lyric character,
serve to mask the distinctly political purpose of these four, which bear
throughout the stamp of the official utterance of a Poet-Laureate. Orelli (ed.
4) notes the number of almost entirely new words used in this book-Faustitas
5. 18; beluosus 14. 47; tauriformis 14. 25; domabilis 14. 41; inlacrimabilis
(=unwept for) 9. 26; inimicare 15. 20; adprecari 15. 28; obarmare 4. 21;
remiscere 15. 30; aeternare 14. 5. There is also a marked alteration in his
treatment of the caesura in Sapphics, see Notes on Metres p. xix. § 2.
ODE I
'Why summon me, Venus, to enter again the lists of love? I am verging
on fifty and not the man I once was. It would be more seasonable for thee to
lead thy revels to the house of Paulus Maximus: he has a hundred qualities
which will make him thy worthy champion, and in return for thy favours will
dedicate to thee a temple. To me love and gaiety have lost their charms. And
yet, even as I write, I find the old emotions retain their sway, I betray every
sign of passion.'
Horace professes that he resumes his pen merely to celebrate again the
power of love, and thus endeavours to veil his real purpose.
1
+
326
BOOK IV
HORACE
·
•
1. intermissa. See Introduction p. xiii. 2. bella moves, 'thou
stirrest up war.' For the comparison of love to warfare see line 16 and 3. 26. 2 n.
3. bonae ..
in the days of kindly Cinara's sway.' 4. regno :
cf. 3. 9. 9 me nunc Thressa Chloe regit. dulcium saeva: antithesis;
cf. mollibus durum immediately afterwards. 6. flectere. De-
pendent on desine: 'Cease to guide one who (being) close upon the fifties is
by now too hard for thy gentle government.' The metaphors are perhaps from
driving: an old hard-mouthed horse is unfit for the light hand of a lady.
circa lustra decem. Latin often suffers from the want of a pres. part. of
the verb 'to be' and a def. article; the Greeks would write here övтa TEρÌ ËTη
ἤδη πεντήκοντα οι τὸν πεντηκονταετή. lustra: cf. 2. 4. 23 n.
8.
revocant, 'call thee back': Venus has left the young men to attack Horace.
10. Pauli: Paulus Fabius Maximus cons. B.C. 11, a friend of Augustus
(Tac. Ann. 1. 5) and Ovid (ex Ponto 1. 2). He might still be called puer as
the consulate was at this time given to young nobles at the earliest age viz. 33.
purpureis ales oloribus, 'winged with thy gleaming swans,' i.e. borne
through the air in a chariot drawn by them: cf. 3. 28. 15. purpureis:
3. 15. 15 n. 11. comissabere. This word=кwµášeι in Latin letters.
Before the Romans added x, y, and z to the end of their alphabet to = &, v, $,
they represented by ss, e.g. in badisso, tarpessita; hence words borrowed at
an early period, e.g. by Plautus, have ss; those borrowed later have 2, e.g.
zona. The word from кŵμоs 'a procession of revellers' takes the construc-
tion of a verb of motion, as here in domum. 12. si torrere . . .
. . 'if
thou dost seek to fire a congenial heart.' The fire of love' is a common-
place with all poets, and the ancients placed the seat of the affections in the
liver. Ben Jonson's rendering 'If a fit liver thou dost seek to toast' is a
curious bit of 'classical English.' 13-17. Notice et emphatically five times
as he heaps up his praises, and contrast nec five times 29-32. So contrast
illic
me at the beginning of stanzas 6, 7, 8. 14. non taci-
tus, 'not silent,' i.e. very eloquent; 1. 18. 9 n. 15. centum puer artium:
the gen. is descriptive. puer, 'a youth.' 16. feret, 'will advance.'
•
illic..
•
17. et quandoque . 'And when he shall with smiles behold His
native charms eclipse his rival's gold.'-Martin. quandoque = quando-
cumque seems peculiar to Horace, cf. 4. 2. 34. 19. te ponet marmoream,
'he shall place thy statue in marble,' i.e. in return for the victory gained by
thy favour he shall dedicate a temple in thy honour. The practice was com-
mon, e.g. Postumius dedicated a temple to Castor and Pollux after the victory
of Lake Regillus. For ponet marmoream cf. 4. 8. 8; S. 2. 3. 183 aeneus
ut stes; Virg. Ecl. 7. 31 de marmore tota stabis. Albanos prope
lacus: perhaps Paulus had a villa in this pleasant district. 20. trabe,
a beam,' i.e. 'a roof'; cf. 3. 2. 28. citrea (some MSS. Cyprea), i.e. of
citrus (=kédpos) the African cedar, Thuja vermiculata, the wood of which
was scented and very durable; see L. and S. s.v. Ovía.
•
•
•
21. naribus duces, 'thou shalt inhale.' 22. lyraeque
'thou
shalt be delighted with the mingled strains of the lyre and Berecyntian (3. 19.
18 n.) pipe. Orelli 4 reads lyrd and Berecyntiâ tibia with vet. Bland., but
the confusion of ablatives is intolerable, and the sound of the lines spoilt.
24. fistula=oûptys, 'Pan's pipe.' 27. pede candido 'with gleaming
feet shall thrice shake the ground after the fashion of the Salii.' candido
marks (1) the whiteness of the feet, and (2) the way in which they gleam in
the dance. For the Salii see Dict. Ant. and 1. 36. 12 n.: dancing accom-
· •
ODE II
327
NOTES
panied by music is among the earliest forms of worship, cf. 2 Sam. vi. 14
'David danced before the Lord'; Ps. cl. 4 'Praise him with the timbrel and
dance.' 28. ter: because there was a triple beat in the dance, cf. 3. 18.
16, and tripudium, tripudiare in connexion with religious dances.
30. spes animi 'the fond hope of a heart to answer mine.'-Wick-
ham. mutuus, 'interchanged'; animus mutuus, a heart that communicates
its every feeling to me and to which I in return communicate mine; cf. Catull.
45. 20 mutuis animis amant amantur. 31. certare mero, 'to join the
drinking-bout.'
34. rara. He tries to conceal his feelings but still every
now and then the rare tear trickles down his cheek' (cf. 1. 13. 6 umor et in
genas furtim labitur). So below he represents himself as trying to talk, but
'even as he talks his (usually) ready tongue halts in unseemly silence.'
35.
decoro. The verse is hypermetric, Horace wishing to express the effect of a
lover breaking off in the middle of a word. For this sign of emotion, cf. the
conduct of Dido, Virg. Aen. 4. 76 incipit effari, mediaque in voce resistit.
38. captum, sc. te, Ligurine. 40. aquas. The afternoon's exercise in
the Campus was regularly followed by a bathe in the Tiber, cf. 3. 7. 26; 12. 7.
ODE II
'To attempt to rival Pindar is as vain as the attempt of Icarus to fly. He is
like a mountain-torrent swollen by the rain, rushing and roaring along with
deep-mouthed thunder. He is the prince of poets whether he composes dithyrambs,
paeans, hymns of victory or dirges which make the fame of the dead undying.
He like a swan soars into the sky, I am but like a bee laboriously gathering
a little honey. You, Iulus, are more fitted in statelier strains to sing of the
return of Caesar from his triumphs over the Sygambri-Caesar the greatest
blessing that heaven has ever conferred on earth. You shall sing of the
festivities that celebrate his return, and then perhaps my voice shall join in the
chorus that swells his triumph, and, while you offer your noble offering I shall
perhaps dare to present my humble gift.'
C. Julius Antonius was son of M. Antonius the triumvir and Fulvia,
and was brought up by his step-mother Octavia the sister of Augustus, through
whose influence he obtained the favour of the Emperor and was made praetor
B.C. 13 and consul B.C. 10. He is said to have written an epic poem called
the Diomedeia. The Ode is a lyric apology for attempting the task to which
Horace devotes himself in Odes 4, 5, 14 and 15, and at the same time affords
him opportunities of paying a compliment to Antonius and indirectly cele-
brating the exploits of Augustus.
1. Pindarum aemulari: aemulari with the acc. is used of an honest and
noble rivalry, with the dative of mean and ignoble envy. 2. Iule. If this
word is correct the name must have been given him to mark his connexion
with the great Julius (Iulius, a magno demissum nomen Iulo, Virg. Aen. 1.
288), the mother of M. Antonius having been Julia, sister of L. Caesar, cons.
B.C. 64, but considering (1) that Horace addresses him in line 26 as Antoni,
(2) the difficulty of either eliding the initial i or treating the word as a dis-
syllable, (3) the fact that the word seems elsewhere applied only to the son of
Aeneas, there seems great probability in favour of Peerlkamp's conjecture ille.
ceratis
'rests on wings joined with wax by the skill of Daedalus,
doomed to give a name to the glassy sea,' i.e., apart from metaphor, he who
seeks to rival Pindar is attempting what nature has forbidden and will fail
disastrously. For Daedalus see Class. Dict. and 1. 3. 34 n.
328
BOOK IV
HORACE
6. notas, 'accustomed,' aluere, 'swollen.' Vet. Bland. reads cum
super notas saliere when the rain-waters have leapt over,' which is not
7. fervet.
•
inmensus is
so 'absurd' as Orelli asserts.
'so Pindar boils and rushes
measureless with deep utterance.' inmensus and ruit go together; cf.
the Gk. idiom Toλus peî and S. 1. 4. 11 cum fueret lutulentus.
used in reference (1) to Pindar's copiousness of diction, (2) to the uncon-
strained liberty of his metres and movement, in both of which respects he
resembles a swollen torrent. inmensus que: p. xix. § 2.
•
•
•
•
9. laurea . . . : the construction is, donandus, (1) seu ... devolvit, (2)
seu canit, (3) sive . . . dicit. et donat, (4) iuvenemve plorat;
Pindar is worthy of Apollo's bay in any of the four kinds of lyric poetry
mentioned. 10. per audaces dithyrambos: per denotes the channel
through which the words flow, and keeps up the metaphor of stanza 2, cf.
also devolvit and fertur. For dilupaußos see Liddell and Scott: as being
sung at the altar of Dionysus it was often very elevated and indeed bombastic
in style, and allowed the introduction of unusual or extraordinary words (nova
verba). 11. numerisque . 'and sweeps along in numbers freed from
law.' As we do not possess any dithyrambic Odes of Pindar we cannot say
how far this criticism is just his Epinician Odes exhibit a most careful
system of strophe, antistrophe, and epode, though of course as compared with
any metres used by Horace they might seem 'lawless,' much as Byron can
speak of Scott's 'immeasurable measures.'
•
•
•
•
•
13. seu deos ... the reference is to Paeans, IIacâves, hymns in honour
of gods and heroes, such as Theseus who slew the Centaurs, and Bellerophon
who slew the Chimaera. 14. cecidere
cecidit: for this method
of joining clauses see 1. 2. 4 n. Notice also below concines line 33, and con-
cines line 41. 16. flamma Chimaerae, i.e. the fire-breathing Chimaera'
(1. 27. 23 and note); cf. Juv. 4. 107 Montani quoque venter adest, and such
Gk. phrases as Пoλuveiкovs ẞla, 'the mighty Polynices.'
Πολυνείκους βία,
17. sive quos
the reference is to the eπwikia or triumphal Odes, the only portion of Pindar's
writings still extant, see Class. Dict. Elea palma, i.e. an Olympic
victory, Olympia being in Elis. palma: see 1. 1. 5 n. 18. caelestes,
'godlike,' 'feeling themselves gods,' loobéovs, cf. 1. 1. 6. The victor was con-
ducted home in a triumphal procession, during which the Twiкiov was sung.
pugilemve equumve: for a list of the contests see Dict. of Ant. s. v.
Olympia. Pindar twice mentions Pepéviкos, a horse of Hiero's, but of course
'tells of a horse' means rather tells of its owner.' 19. et donat further
explain dicit: 'and (so) presents with a gift preferable to a hundred statues.'
The statues of victors were set up in the sacred grove Altis at Olympia, and
also in their native towns.
21. flebili . . . 'or bewails the youth snatched from his weeping bride,'
i.e. in a pôvos or dirge. Notice flebilis, 'weeping,' as A. P. 123: on the
other hand, 1. 24. 9 flebilis occidit, 'he died much wept for '; see 1. 3. 22 n.
22, 23. moresque, nigroque. Notice the two hypermetric verses:
Horace clearly aims at giving variety to the monotony of the Sapphic rhythm.
23. aureos, ‘'golden,' i.e. ‘noble'; cf. 1. 5. 9 n. ; 2. 10. 5; 4. 3. 17 testu-
dinis aureae.
educit in astra 'exalts to the stars and grudges
the gloomy grave (its prey).' Odes 8 and 9 dwell at length on the immor-
tality which the poet alone can bestow. The accusatives, vires, animum,
mores, are governed not only by educit, but by invidet: invideo takes acc.
of the thing begrudged, and dat. of the person to whom, e.g. hoc tibi invideo.
ODE II
329
NOTES
'strong is the breeze that lifts
4
Dirce was a
•
25. multa
fountain near Thebes, and the epithet is more poetical than 'Theban'
because swans in fact and the Muses in fiction love fountains. For
the swan's song see 2. 20. 15 n. 27. Matinae: Mons Matinus is in
Apulia. For apis cf. Ep. 1. 3. 21 n. 28. more modoque: merely an
alliterative phrase: after the manner and method of': so Cicero, Tim. 1,
has Carneadeo more et modo disputata. Some take mos of natural,
modus of customary habits, but the distinction is dubious. 29. carpentis,
carpo, to pluck,' 'graze on,' e.g. carpere herbam, used of animals, here=
to feed on." per laborem: adverbially,='laboriously,' cf. per vim, per
iram, per iocum, etc. Many join per laborem plurimum but the phrase seems
very prosaic, and the pause after plurimum violates the natural movement of
the verse.
Bentley, Nauck, and Orelli join plurimum nemus, but translate
plurimum densest,' which is at once unjustifiable and meaningless. It is
best to take plurimum nemus, as the ear suggests, together, and to give
plurimum its common sense of 'very many,' translating, 'like a bee labori-
ously culling its sweets from thyme around full many a grove and
30. uvidi. So called because of the falls of the Anio there, cf. 1. 7. 13 n., but
also in opposition to the altos nubium tractus where Pindar soars.
31. ope-
rosa . . notice the perfection of the comparison: the tiny bee laboriously
fashions its honey-cell; the humble poet frames his verse with equal toil.
33. concines, 'you (Antonius just mentioned in line 26), a poet of
nobler touch, shall celebrate Caesar when
maiore plectro (cf. 2. 1.
40 n.) is purposely placed so that it can go either with concines or poeta.
35. per sacrum clivum. The Via Sacra was the principal street in Rome
(S. 1. 9. 1): it ran from between the Caelian and Esquiline hills, along the
N. slope of the Palatine, under the Arch of Titus, past the Forum Romanum,
up to the Capitol. The term sacer clivus (only found here and Mart. 1. 71.
5) seems to be applied to the part of it which slopes downwards (cf. Epod. 7.
7 Britannus ut descenderet Sacra catenatus via) from the Arch of Titus to
the Forum. Along the Via Sacra all triumphal processions passed. 36.
Sygambros: this German tribe inhabited a district on the river Sieg, near
Bonn: with other tribes they had inflicted a serious defeat on M. Lollius, B.C.
16. Augustus proceeded to Gaul in that year and they immediately made
peace, but his stay continued to July B.C. 13.
37. nihil
•
>
'naught greater or more glorious.'
39. quamvis
•
•
38. boni: emphatic,
' in their goodness.
' though the ages run backward to
their ancient gold,' i.e. though the golden age should return. 40. pris-
cum: 3. 21. 11 n.
' in honour of the return of brave
Augustus vouchsafed (to our prayers).' Coins are extant with the inscription
S.P.Q.R.V.S. (vota suscepta) PRO S. (salute) ET RED. AUG.
42. super
•
43. forum-
que: governed by concines. The law-courts were in the Forum and were
closed on occasions of public rejoicing; cf. Ov. Fasti 4. 187 scena sonat, ludi-
que vocant. spectate, Quirites, | et fora Marte suo litigiosa vacent.
•
•
45. tum meae 'then too I, so but I speak aught worth hearing,
shall join in with the best portion of my utterance.' meae: emphatic by
position: you shall take the chief part, and then even I shall venture to join
in. 49. tuque dum procedis 'and while thou dost take the lead,
"Ho Triumph!" yea not once only will we cry "Ho Triumph!" even all
the citizens, and offer incense to the bounteous gods.' The objections to this
rendering are two: (1) tuque is a conjecture, (2) it is urged that dum procedis
•
330
BOOK IV
HORACE
can only apply to the triumphator or the triumphal procession. But Horace
has been referring to Antonius all through as taking the lead in the praise of
Augustus: you, he says, shall sing Caesar's fame, I will join in (accedet).
Surely then he can speak of him as 'taking the lead' (procedo expressing his
'going in front' of Horace and the train of citizens in the procession, and
suggesting his 'taking the lead' in singing the triumphal hymn) when Horace
and the rest of the state join in celebrating Caesar's triumph. MSS. give
teque, dum procedis, where te is referred to Triumphe, Triumphus being per-
sonified (cf. Epod. 9. 21 io Triumphe, tu moraris aureos currus), and procedis
referring to the advance of the procession. "Thee will we proclaim as thy
procession passes by, Ho Triumph! again and again Ho Triumph!' The
objection to this rendering is the difficulty of referring te to any one but
Antonius. Antonius has been addressed in the second person in lines 2, 26,
33, and 41: the te at the beginning of this stauza is followed by te in an
exactly parallel position at the commencement of the next stanza, and as
Horace is specially fond of making his meaning clear by placing guiding words,
especially pronouns, in emphatic positions, te in line 53 points back to te in
More-
line 49 as positively as concines in line 41 does to concines in line 33.
over, the whole of the latter part of the Ode is an elaborate antithesis between
Antonius and Horace: "Thou hast an important part,' Horace keeps repeat-
ing, 'I a humble one'; and the whole symmetry and balance of this is marred
by the introduction of an emphatic 'Thou, O Triumph!' into the middle of it.
54. solvet, 'shall set free,' i.e. from my vow. Horace vitulum voverat
pro reditu Augusti; Augustus having returned, he becomes voti reus, 'respon-
sible for his vow'; the offering of the calf would 'set him free from his vow';
cf. 2. 17. 30 n. 56. in mea vota, 'to pay my vow.' 57. fronte,
'with its forehead,' which with the young horns growing on it is said to
imitate 'the moon's crescent fire as she brings round her third rising,' i.e. the
third after the new moon. 59. qua notam duxit, 'where it has got (or
acquired) a mark. niveus videri: λeukòs ideîv, cf. 1. 3. 25 n. It has
been urged that there is considerable bathos in this Ode, which began with
Pindar and ends with the description of a calf, but the penultimate stanza
carries on in an exceedingly natural manner the comparison between Antonius'
greatness and the humbleness of Horace, while the repose and simplicity of
the last stanza are quite in accordance with the poet's practice of allowing a
nervous and brilliant Ode to sink into quiet and calm at its conclusion.
C
•
ODE III
He, on whose cradle the Muse has once smiled, shall win glory neither in
the games nor in the sterner contests of war. Streams and groves shall leave
their impress on his soul. This is the source whence I draw the charm that
makes me rank among the loveable band of poets, this and thy favour, O Muse,
for my inspiration and my fame are thy gift.'
=
1. Melpomene: the Muse of Tragedy, but here of Poetry generally; cf.
1. 24. 3; 3. 30. 16. semel äraέ, 'once,' 'once for all.' For the sense
cf. Hes. The. 81 ὅντινα τιμήσουσι Διὸς κοῦραι μεγάλοιο | γεινόμενόν τ᾽ ἐσίδωσι
| τῷ μὲν ἐπὶ γλώσση γλυκερήν χείουσιν ἀοιδήν. 3. labor Isthmius :
see Dict. Ant. s. v. Isthmia. 5. Achaico, 'Grecian'; the adj. contrasts the
Grecian racing chariot with the Roman triumphal car referred to in the next lines.
6. neque res . 'nor shall warlike exploits display him to the Capitol a
leader decked with Delian bay for having crushed the swelling threats of
•
ODE IV
331
NOTES
princes.'
at Delos.
Deliis: because the laurel was sacred to Apollo, who was born
•
•
·
8. quod . contuderit. The subj. is
The subj. is very difficult. In
most cases where quod takes the subj. it is virtually in oblique construction,
e.g. falso queritur de natura genus humanum quod regatur, 'because,
as they say, they are ruled': here however this will not apply. Perhaps the
principle is the same which makes non quod take a subj. 'when the reason
denied is conceptive, not real' (Kennedy): you deny that the man will ever
go in a triumphal procession, and therefore the reason why he should go in
one is purely conceptive and unreal.
10. aquae. See 1. 7. 13 n. Horace selects Tibur because it was his own
favourite spot, and also because he always prefers the special to the general.
12. fingent, 'shall shape' or 'mould': his surroundings will leave their
impression on his mind. nobilem: proleptic, 'so that he becomes re-
nowned.' Aeolio, i.e. lyric, cf. 2. 13. 24 n. 14. dignatur, 'is not
ashamed,' 'deigns.' suboles, from subolesco 'to grow up' or 'into the
room of'='youth'-'the rising generation.' 16. et iam dente
·
and by now I am less gnawed by the tooth of envy'; on the other hand,
when he wrote 2. 20. 4 he was still the mark of envy, still sneered at as
pauperum sanguis parentum; cf. S. 1. 6. 45. The metaphor in dens invidus
is from a snapping, snarling cur.
•
•
=
17. aureae. See 4. 2. 23 n. and Pind. Pyth. 1. 1 xpvoća pópµyk.
18. dulcem quae .: strepitus being usually 'din,' 'noise,' e.g. fori,
Romae, valvarum, ianuae strepitus, there is a tendency to take dulcem pro-
leptically here, 'that dost modulate into sweetness the lyre's sound'; but, as
in Ep. 1. 2. 31 ad strepitum citharae curam, the word clearly 'music,' it is
simpler to render 'that dost rule the sweet music.' Pieri. Pieria is a
part of Macedonia, the inhabitants of which seem to have been celebrated for
their love of poetry. Pieris, 'a female inhabitant of Pieria,' i.e. the Muse.
19. mutis. So fish are called λores Hes. Sc. 212, avavdo Aesch. Pers.
577, ¿oí Soph. Aj. 1297. 20. donatura . . . 'thou that wouldest give,
were it thy pleasure, a swan's note.' For the 'swan's note' cf. 2. 20. 15 n.
21. totum 'this is wholly of thy bounty that I am pointed out
• •
22. monstror digito: imitated by Pers. 1. 28 at pulchrum est digito
monstrari et dicier hic est; daкtuλodelкteîv (Dem. 790) has a bad sense, and
So daкTVλódEIKTOS Aesch. Ag. 1332. digitus from the root of δείκνυμι=
'the pointing thing.' 23. Romanae fidicen lyrae: as having been the
first to introduce lyric poetry, cf. 3. 30. 13.
ODE IV
'Like an eagle that in his native strength quits the nest, tries his powers of
flight, then swoops down upon the sheepfolds and even joins battle with a
serpent, or like a young lion as he appears to the doomed hind—such has
Drusus appeared in battle to the Vindelici. Defeated by his youthful skill
they have learned to their cost what hereditary power happily developed can
effect, what an Augustus can make out of a Nero. Brave sires make brave
sons: all nature witnesses to this truth, only at the same time innate powers
need training to prevent their decline. Of the bravery of the Neros let
Metaurus' stream bear witness and that glorious day of Hasdrubal's defeat,
the day which at last restored the fortunes of Rome and made Hannibal pro-
phetically exclaim in his despair : "We are deer attacking wolves. The great
332
BOOK IV
HORACE
1
race, that undefeated by disaster came from Troy to Italy, still, like its native
oak, the more it is lopped the more vigorously it grows: Hydra-like it only
becomes more formidable after each defeat. Never again shall I send home the
proud messages of victory. Fallen, fallen all my hopes now Hasdrubal is
dead. The Claudian race shall ever be indomitable: heaven protects them,
and wisdom watches over them.
Drusus was the son of Livia, the wife of Augustus, by her former
husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero, and the younger brother of Tiberius
(afterwards Emperor), along with whom he defeated the Rhaeti and
Vindelici B.C. 15. He died when on an expedition to Germany B.C. 9,
being then consul. He was much more popular than Tiberius; cf. Tac. Ann.
1. 33 Drusi magna apud populum Romanum memoria, credebaturque, si rerum
potitus foret, libertatem redditurus. See also 4. 14 Int.
See also 4. 14 Int. The Ode is a perfect
model of a Prize Ode, and has long served as such. It exhibits little real
poetic power but great skill in composition, and is the work of invention
rather than inspiration: the elaborate comparison for instance in the first
four stanzas can only have been worked out with immense pains.
1. qualem. The construction is: qualem alitem (then follow four
clauses of all of which this is the object) qualemve caprea
•
·
·
•
►
•
.
•
•
•
leonem
vidit (talem) videre Drusum Vindelici. The qualem in line 1 is governed
by four verbs propulit, docuere, demisit, and egit, the four stages in the
growth of the eagle being marked by the words olim, iam, mox and nunc.
In translating follow some such outline as these. 'Like as the bird that
guards the thunderbolt (to which . . .) of old his youth and presently
then on the sheepfolds now at last . ; or like the lion which a
hind... has seen: so saw the Vindelici Drusus waging war.' ministrum
fulminis: cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 255 Iovis armiger. An eagle grasping a thunder-
bolt is especially frequent on the coins of the Ptolemies. 3. expertus
fidelem in . 'having proved his faith in (the carrying off of) golden-haired
Ganymede,' whom the eagle carried off from Ida; cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 254 quem
praepes ab Ida | sublimem pedibus rapuit Iovis armiger uncis. Notice the
careful juxtaposition of rex regnum, Iuppiter Ganymede.
5. olim from ille olle, at that time,' 'not at this particular time,' bears
very various senses according to the connexion in which it is used, (1) at
some past time, 4. 9. 9; (2) at some future time, 2. 10. 17; (3) some time or
other. Here in connexion with iam, mox, nunc it throws the mind back to
that time past when the eagle's career commenced. patrius vigor, ‘native
force,' cf. line 30 patrum virtus. The words anticipate the remarks on
hereditary valour which come later. 7. vernique . . ' and soon vernal
breezes when the clouds are banished have taught him timorous (at first)
unwonted efforts.' Scaliger objected that eaglets being only hatched late in
spring cannot fly till autumn, and proposed to write vernis, thus making the
line intolerable. Horace clearly knows nothing about the hatching of young
eagles he considers that like young lambs and young birds generally they
are among the phenomena of spring. 10. vividus inpetus, 'his eager
swoop.' 11. reluctantes. The word is untranslateable. The snake
carried off in the eagle's talons wrestles (luctatur) with its captor and coils
itself up or back (re) in its endeavours to sting him. Such a scene is fully
described, Virg. Aen. 11. 751 seq. 12. amor dapis atque pugnae, ‘love
of feast and fray': the eagle at first satisfied with preying on a lamb is now
not content without the additional excitement of a contest.
ODE IV
333
NOTES
•
13. laetis, 'luxuriant.' caprea, 'a roebuck,' but capra 'a she-goat.'
14. fulvae . . leonem, ‘a lion just weaned from his tawny mother's
udder.' So most editors, but matris ab ubere lacte depulsus is extremely
harsh, and the harshness is not got rid of by saying that lacte depulsus is
virtually one word=ȧñoyaλaктIσlévтα, 'weaned.' Nauck and Kiessling seem
rightly to join caprea pascuis intenta matris ab ubere: the young roebuck, that
has just turned from its mother's udder to seek the pasture, suddenly finds
itself face to face with the newly-weaned lion, as it seeks its prey: the com-
parison is certainly very complete. fulvae then refers to the colour of 'red
deer. 16. dente, 'soon to perish beneath its (as yet) unfleshed teeth.'
17. Raetis, 'Raetian'; for proper nouns used as adjectives cf. 1. 15. 10 n.
and below Metaurum flumen. For Raetia or Rhaetia (the modern Tyrol) see
Class. Dict. Raeti has nearly all MSS. authority, but the expression Raeti
Vindelici is intolerable. 18. Vindelici: inhabited a district S. of the
Danube and to the N. of the Raeti. quibus mos 'to whom whence
the custom is derived which through all time arms their right hands with an
Amazonian axe, I have deferred inquiring, nor indeed is it permissible to
know all things.' This remarkable parenthesis seems intended to give local
colouring and an appearance of reality. The artifice produces an effect
almost as natural as the introduction of an elaborately painted insect into the
foreground of a boldly treated landscape, while the bathos of the conclusion
nec scire fas est omnia transcends criticism. Many critics cut out all from quibus
to sed, and sense and metre are thus left intact. Such lines, with their recondite
allusion to a small point of antiquarian lore and their parody of Horatian
philosophy in line 22, are just such as a copyist might have interpolated.
25.
22. sed, 'but,' i.e. to resume, however': so in Greek, d' ovv. 23.
victrices 'conquering hordes conquered in their turn by the plans (i.e.
strategy) of a youth.' 24. iuvenis. He was 23 years old.
sensere, 'felt to their cost,' cf. 2. 7. 10 n. mens, 'mens ad virtutes in-
telligentiae, sagacitatem, prudentiam, indoles ad animi virtutes, fortitudinem,
clementiam, fidem pertinet.'-Orelli. rite, sc. nutrita, 'what a mind (duly
nurtured), what a disposition duly nurtured beneath an auspicious roof could
effect.' rite, faustis, and penetralibus are all religious words designedly used
to suggest the almost godlike qualities of Augustus. 27. quid Augusti...:
these words specialise and so explain the general language of the preceding
lines: yea, what Augustus could do for the Neros.'
29. fortes . . . : the mention of Augustus' care and the great name of
the Nerones leads Horace to develop the two chief ideas of the Ode, (1) in
lines 29-32 the necessity of hereditary qualities, (2) in lines 33-36 the neces-
sity of good education to develop them: he then illustrates the former at
length in lines 37-72, and briefly alludes to the second in lines 73-76. This
disproportion in the length of treatment is natural: the advantages of educa-
tion afford little scope for a lyric rhapsody; while the mention of great
ancestors gives opportunity for introducing a brilliant historical fiction. Suet.
(Tib. 1) says that by 'Nero' significatur lingua Sabina fortis ac strenuus,
so that the connexion Nerones fortes may be designed. fortibus: abl.
of origin. 31. inbellem feroces, aquilae columbam: notice the juxta-
position of the contrasted adjectives and nouns. Cf. 2. 4. 6 n. 33. vim in-
sitam, 'native force.' 35. mores. Usually='character,' 'behaviour,'
but here obviously some active principle of the same sort as doctrina ('educa-
334
BOOK IV
HORACE
tion'), 'laws of conduct,' 'precepts'; cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 264 moresque viris et
36. indecorant . 'faults mar what is by nature noble.'
moenia ponet.
38. testis, sc. est. For the adj. Metaurum see 1. 15. 10 n. The
Metaurus is a river in Umbria near which the Consul C. Claudius Nero
defeated Hasdrubal B.C. 207 and cut off the reinforcements he was bringing to
his brother Hannibal. 39. pulcher. Cf. 4. 2. 47, 'brilliant.' 40. dies
is to be taken literally of the day when Hasdrubal was defeated; tenebris
metaphorically of the gloom which had hung over Italy since the disasters of
Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae. See too 4. 5. 5 n. on lucem.
41. qui primus . 'which first smiled with cheering victory since the
day when (ut) the dread African careered . . .'
adorea is an archaic
word used to add dignity; cf. 1. 34. 5 n. It is said to be derived from
ador, 'grain,' because a largess of corn was distributed to troops after a
victory. alma= quae alit, 'fostering,'cheering.' 42. dirus Afer. dirus
is the standard epithet of Hannibal, cf. 2. 12. 2 n. For ut, with perf. ind.,
= 'since the time when,' cf. Epod. 7. 19 ; S. 2. 2. 128; Ep. 1. 19. 3; Cic. ad Att.
1. 15. 2 ut Brundisio profectus es nullae mihi abs te sunt redditae litterae.
43. ceu flamma per taedas, 'like fire through pines.' 44. equitavit,
'careered,' combining the ideas of speed and unchecked power; cf. 1. 2. 51 n.
45. secundis
with ever prosperous endeavours the youth of Rome
waxed strong.' 47. tumultu: a strong word, applied only to a rising in
Italy, or of the Gauls immediately on its borders (see Cic. Phil. 8. 1): it was
a war which threw society into confusion. 48. rectos, 'restored,' 'set
upright,' i.e. after being overturned by the 'impiety' of the Carthaginians.
49. perfidus. See 3. 5. 33 n. 50. luporum. The Romans are the
true 'wolf's litter.' 51. ultro: this word, connected with ultra, is used
of actions which go beyond anything which might reasonably have been ex-
pected, which are needless, uncalled-for, and the like. It here indicates that
for stags to attack wolves was not only folly but needless, gratuitous folly.
Cf. S. 2. 7. 40 ultro insectere of one who goes so far as to lecture another
when he is worse himself. opimus triumphus, 'rarest triumph.' The
phrase is invented on the analogy of spolia opima, spoils taken by a general
in personal combat with the general of the enemy, and said to have been
only thrice won (1) by Romulus, (2) by A. Cornelius Cossus, B.C. 426, (3)
by M. Claudius Marcellus, B.C. 222. 52. fallere, 'to elude.'
-
|
53. cremato fortis ab Ilio: fortis in strict grammar goes with pertulit
but in sense with the words between which it is placed: disaster, as the next
three stanzas repeat at length, but increases the courage of the Roman race :—
'bravely quitting the ashes of Ilium storm-tossed on Tuscan seas it safely
carried its sacred treasures.' 54. sacra, i.e. the Penates. 57. tonsa,
'lopped. 58. nigrae, 'on Algidus prolific in dark (or 'shadowy ') foliage.'
Algidus is a Mt. in Latium, near Tusculum. feraci frondis: for gen. cf.
3. 6. 17 n.
59. per damna
Its loss its glory makes, And from
the very steel fresh strength and spirit takes. -Martin. caedes (1) a
cutting to pieces of troops, a military disaster, e.g. such as Cannae, or (2) the
cutting off' of a bough: no English word will bear this double sense. The stanza
is perhaps unrivalled as a specimen of Horace's unique power of terse and graphic
expression. 60. ducit, 'draws,' 'derives,' goes grammatically with gens, as
do the whole two lines, but the skill of the comparison is shown in the fact
that if ilex be taken as the nom. to ducit each word is equally applicable.

=
61. firmior: both with secto corpore and crevit: 'not more strongly did
ODE V
335
NOTES
•
.
the hydra (stronger) after every stroke grow to resist Hercules who chafed to
be defeated.' See Class. Dict. s. v. Hercules. 63. monstrum, 'prodigy.'
submisere: lit. 'sent up from below,' i.e. 'produced,' is used accurately,
as they grew up from the ground, cf. tellus summittit flores, Lucr. 1. 7. See
Class. Dict. s.v. Argonautae and Cadmus. 65. merses
'sink it in
the deep, it comes forth more noble; wrestle with it, amid great applause it
will o'erthrow the unscathed victor and wage
merses=si merses, si being
often omitted in poetry for the sake of terseness, cf. Ter. Ph. 2. 1. 35 unum
cognoris omnes noris. evenit, present, refers to what happened after
Cannae ; proruet and geret, future, because he foresees Zama (so Kiessling).
66. integrum, i. e. who had come unscathed from the victories of Trebia,
Trasimene and Cannae. 68. coniugibus loquenda, 'for their wives to
tell of,' cf. 4. 9. 21 dicenda Musis proelia.
69. nuntios superbos: Livy 23. 12 relates how Mago when reporting
the victory of Cannae poured out, as a token of victory, three bushels of gold
rings each taken from a Roman knight. 70. occidit, occidit: repetition to
express sadness; see 2. 14. 1 n. and cf. Dryden, Alexander's Feast 'He sung
Darius great and good, | By too severe a fate, | Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen, |
Fallen from his high estate.
73. nil ... non: ovdèv oỷka very strong 'everything.' 75. curae
sagaces: i.e. the care of Augustus. 76. expediunt... 'lead safely through
the dangers of war': expedio, the opposite of inpedio (from in and pes) to
get the foot into a snare,'=' to get safely through or out of snares,' cf. Virg.
Aen. 2. 632 flammam inter et hostes | expedior. acuta belli: cf. Hom. Il.
4. 352 öğùv “Apna. This concluding stanza is clearly a part of Hannibal's
prophetic speech, and the strongly supported perficient is therefore better
than perficiunt of vet. Bland. Wickham urges that Horace 'would
hardly put into Hannibal's mouth a dull prophecy of the glories of the
house of Nero.' But why should we put into the poet's mouth this ‘dull
prophecy' which Horace did not think good enough for Hannibal? As a
matter of fact the change from Hannibal to Horace at the end of a long speech,
and that only for a single stanza, is extremely harsh; it lowers the last four
lines to the level of the moral usually tacked on at the end of a versified fable.
ODE V
'Return, great guardian of Rome, for thou hast been absent too long: return,
for thy presence is as sunshine, and thy country longs for thee as anxiously as
a mother for her sailor lad's return. Thy presence brings prosperity (17-20),
purity (21-24) and peace (25-28); every man lives under his own vine, and
after his evening meal honours thee with prayers and libations, ranking thee
among his household gods. Long mayest thou preserve such joyous holiday
time for Italy"—such is our morning and evening cry.'
66
Augustus after the defeat of Lollius by the Sygambri B.C. 16 (see 4. 2. 36
n.) went himself to Gaul and remained there until B.C. 13. This Ode is
written just before his return. Orelli remarks with justice on the wonderful
tranquillity and sense of assured peace and repose which characterise it.
1. divis orte bonis, 'born by heaven's favour,' divis bonis being abl. abs.,
cf. S. 2. 3. 8 iratis natus paries dis. Others render 'sprung from benignant
gods.' Perhaps Horace purposely uses a phrase which suggests both ideas:
Augustus is at once a proof of heaven's favour and himself of heavenly race.
336
BOOK IV
HORACE
• •
Romulae: 1. 15. 10 n. 3. maturum 'having promised thy speedy
return to the august assembly of the fathers, return.' 5. lucem :
explained by the next lines, but cf. also Aesch. Pers. 300 where Atossa,
alluding to the return of Xerxes, says ἐμοῖς μὲν εἶπας δώμασιν φάος μέγα | καὶ
λενкÒν μаρ VYKTÒS ÈK µEλαyxíμov: Virg. Aen. 2. 281 o lux Dardaniae; St.
Luke i. 78 'the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them
that sit in darkness'; St. John i. 7, 8, 9.
instar is a n. indecl. noun an image' but does
strictly here it is in loose apposition to vultus.
'more gladly passes the day and the
8. soles for plur. cf. 4. 7. 13 n.
•
•
>
6. instar veris, 'like spring.'
duty almost for a preposition :
See Dict. s. v. 7. gratior
sun has a pleasanter light.'
•
•
SO
·
•
•
Note too
9. mater iuvenem: antithetical juxtaposition, cf. 2. 4. 6 n.
how these first two words in the sentence balance the last two patria
Caesarem,-'as a mother, when her lad is detained by the S. wind with jealous
breath
calls him home (vocat line 13).
his country cries
for Caesar. 10. Carpathii m.: E. of Crete. 11. cunctantem
Navigation ceased during the winter months: any one therefore who towards
the end of the year encountered unfavourable winds might be unable to com-
plete his voyage within the spatium annuum, 'the space yearly available for
navigation,' and so have to winter abroad. Cf. Od. 3. 7. 1-8; Thuc. 6. 34, 6
¿¿wσÐĥvaι Tŷ pa ès xeiµŵva: and Acts xxvii. 12, when St. Paul encountered
stormy weather, the crew advise to attain to Phenice and there to winter.'
13. votis: see 2. 17. 30 n. ominibus, i.e. by consulting omens. 15.
desideriis ...
'smitten with loyal yearnings,' cf. Lucr. 2. 360 desiderio
perfixa, Aesch. Ag. 544 iµépw TeπλNYμévol. desiderium is not 'desire' but
'regret for a thing the absence of which we feel,' πóeos, cf. 1. 24. 1.
17. rura perambulat, nutrit rura. Notice the arrangement of the
words, which is a favourite one in Latin: it is called Chiasmus 'a making of
Chi' because if the two first words are written over the second two, and the
parallel words are joined, the lines joining them cross one another and form X.
Cf. Cic. de Fin. 3. 3 ratio consentit, repugnat oratio. The device is purely
rhetorical, as is also the repetition of rura. perambulat: graphic and
suggesting the slow satisfied movement of a well-fed cow. 18. alma: 4.
4. 41 n. Faustitas: only found here, 'Prosperity.' 19. pacatum:
with reference to the absence of pirates, who, though crushed by Pompeius
B.C. 67, had resumed their operations during the civil wars and especially
during the struggle with Sex. Pompeius. mare pacavi a praedonibus says
Augustus, Mon. Anc. 5. 1. volitant, 'wing their way'; strictly of ships
rather than sailors. Cf. Virg. Aen. 3. 124 pelago volamus. 20. culpari
metuit, shrinks from (cf. 2. 2. 7 n.) being blamed,' i.e. takes care to give
no occasion for blame.
•
21. nullis .. The reference is to the lex Iulia de adulteriis which had
been passed B.C. 17: cf. also 3. 6 Intr. 22. mos et lex: unwritten custom
and written law; cf. 3. 24. 35 quid leges sine moribus | vanae proficiunt?
edomuit, 'have conquered and driven out'; cf. 2. 15. 5. For the singular
cf. 2. 13. 38 n. maculosum nefas, 'guilty pollution.' 23. laudantur
' matrons are praised for offspring who resemble their sires: punishment
dogs the heels of guilt.' Cf. Hes. W. and D. 235 TíKTOVσw dè yvvaîkes éoiKÓTA
τίκτουσιν εοικότα
TÉKVA TOKEÛσw (i.e. in the golden age). 25. gelidum Scythen, 'the frozen
Scythian' the Scythians were a nomad race living near the Tanais (Don) and
their horsemen made frequent raids into Roman territory, cf. 3. 8. 23; C. S. 55.
ODE VI
337
NOTES
•
quis... 'who (would fear) the broods that shaggy Germany brings forth, if
Caesar be but safe? 26. horrida: refers chiefly to the forests which
covered great portions of Germany: Tac. Germ. 5 calls it silvis horrida. So
Ovid, Met. 4. 778 silvis horrentia saxa, Virg. Aen. 9. 382 silva horrida.
parturit: cf. Milton, P. L. 1. 351 'A multitude, like which the populous
north | Poured never from her frozen loins, to pass | Rhene or the Danaw.'
27. ferae Hiberiae: see 2. 6. 2 n.
29. condit diem, 'lays the day to rest,' 'sees the day sink to rest,' cf. Virg.
Ecl. 9. 52 cantando condere soles; Callim. Ep. 2 λov ev λéox? Katedúσaµev.
For a similar picture of security, cf. 1 Kings iv. 25 And Judah and Israel
dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree'; Zech. iii. 10.
collibus: the hills on which the vines were planted, cf. 1. 20. 12. 30.
et vitem
' and weds the vine to the unmarried trees.' Certain trees
were cultivated for growing vines upon, especially elms: others which were
not so used are spoken of as 'bachelors,' cf. 2. 15. 4 platanusque caelebs |
evincet ulmos. Here viduae is used of the elms which are waiting till they
are grown up to be 'wedded' to the vine. Cf. Epod. 2. 10 and Shakespeare,
Com. of Errors II. ii. 175 'Come, I will fasten on this sleeve of thine: | Thou art
an elm, my husband, I a vine, | Whose weakness married to thy stronger
state Makes me with thy strength to communicate.' 31. hinc, i.e. from
his labour. alteris mensis, 'his second course' (Virg. G. 2. 101 mensis
secundis). It was with the second course that drinking began and the house-
hold gods were 'summoned' (adhibet: cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 62 adhibete Penates
epulis) and honoured with libations, cf. line 33.
33. prosequitur: lit. 'to accompany,' 'attend on,' Tроπéμπεш, then,
as here, 'to honour.' So in prose benevolentia, officiis, clamore, laudibus
prosequi. 34. Laribus 'joins thy deity to (that of) the Lares.'
See Merivale c. 33: This worship of Augustus, or rather perhaps of the Lar
of Augustus, as a demigod or genius, is to be distinguished from the later cult
of the Caesars as deities, which Augustus himself interdicted at least in Rome.'
It was not unnatural, considering the peace which was enjoyed under his
sway, for the Romans to honour Augustus as one of the divinities who guarded
their hearths and homes. 35. Castoris, Herculis: cf. 3. 3. 9 n. 38.
Hesperiae: "The Land of the West,' in contrast with Greece just mentioned,
cf. 2. 1. 32 n. integro die, 'when the day is still before us,' lit. 'un-
touched,' 'untrespassed on.' 39. sicci, uvidi, 'dry-lipped,' 'flushed with
wine,' Martin. For uvidi, cf. uda 1. 7. 22, and in Greek ßeßpeyμévos.
cum sol .. Note the calm and repose of this concluding line.
ODE VI
40.
"O thou whose wrath the children of Niobe have felt, and Tityos and even
great Achilles-Achilles who but for thee would have utterly destroyed the race
from whence the Romans were to spring-great Phoebus, be thou my protector.
To thee, O Phoebus, is due all my inspiration and my skill. Therefore, O
youths and maidens, under my guidance chant the praises of Phoebus and his
glorious sister. The day will come when you will look back on it as a great
event in your life that on the occasion of the Secular games you were one of the
chorus that chanted the verses of the poet Horace.'
It was the constant endeavour of Augustus to revive the old Roman
spirit. Among other methods of accomplishing this he re-instituted in B.C.
Z
338
BOOK IV
HORACE
17 the ludi saeculares (see Class. Dict.), a solemn festival celebrating the
preservation of the state and supposed to be held only once in a saeculum
or period of 100, or 110 years, the herald summoning the people to behold
games 'quos nec spectasset quisquam nec spectaturus esset.' On the third day
an Ode was sung in the temple of Apollo on the Palatine by three times nine
boys and maidens whose parents were still alive (patrimi ac matrimi). Horace
had been called upon to write this Ode, the Carmen Saeculare, to which the
present Ode is a prelude invoking the assistance of the god in the composition
of his work and the training of the chorus. Apollo and his sister, the male and
female representatives of the same power, appear in Latin under many synonyms,
e.g. Phoebus, Phoebe, Janus (Dianus), Diana, Apollo, Artemis, Sol, Luna, etc.
1. quem proles.. 'whose power as the avenger of a boastful tongue
the offspring of Niobe felt.' For the boast of Niobe, see Class. Dict. s.v.
magnae linguae: cf. µéya λéyew=' to boast.' The ancients believed that
boastful words did in a special manner arouse divine vengeance, cf. Soph. Aj.
2. Tityos: 2. 14. 8 n.
127, 766, 775.
Troiae
3. sensit: 2. 7. 10 n.
altae: the 'Ilov aineins of Homer. 4. Phthius: the Myrmidones, whom
Achilles led, came from Phthia in Thessaly. By slaying Hector he had
'almost conquered' Troy, but the dying chief had warned him opáčeo vûv µń
τοί τι θεῶν μήνιμα γένωμαι | ἥματι τῷ ὅτε κέν σε Πάρις και Φοίβος Απόλλων
| ἐσθλὸν ἐόντ᾽ ὀλέσωσιν ἐνὶ Σκαιῇσι πύλῃσιν ΙΙ. 22. 358.
>
5. inpar, ‘unequally matched with.' 6. Thetidis marinae, 'of the
sea-goddess Thetis': as her son he was partly divine. 7. Dardanas: 1.
15. 10 n. quateret, 'shook,' i.e. metaphorically with fear. For his
'terrible spear
ef. Il. 19. 387 πατρώϊον ἐσπάσατ᾽ ἔγχος | βριθύ μέγα
στιβαρόν· τὸ μὲν οὐ δύνατ᾽ ἄλλος ᾿Αχαιῶν | πάλλειν. 9. ille... (13) ille.
These two words, as Wickham points out, suggest a contrast between two
pictures, one of what was and the other of what might have been if Apollo
had not interfered.' He fell (9-12); but had he lived, he would not have
taken Troy by treachery (13-16) but in open warfare have destroyed man,
woman, child, and the infant yet unborn (17-20), thus cutting off all the Trojan
race had not Jove listened to thy prayers (21-24). 10. Sound accommo-
dated to sense. 11. procidit late: 'fell forward (stretching) far and wide,'
'fell prostrate with huge frame'; Hom. Od. 24. 40 кeîσo μµéyas μeyaλwoTi.
κεισο μέγας μεγαλωστί.
13. ille non 'he would not,caged in a horse that feigned an offer-
ing to Minerva deceive the Trojans amid their ill-timed revelry.'
falleret would in prose be non fefellisset but is more graphic: Kiessling
explains it from the point of view of the gods deliberating what would happen
if Achilles lived. equo: the famous wooden horse, ἵππου | δουρατέου τὸν
Επειὸς ἐποίησεν σὺν ᾿Αθήνῃ, | ὅν ποτ᾽ ἐς ἀκρόπολιν δόλῳ ἤγαγε διος Οδυσσεύς,
14. sacra
| ἀνδρῶν ἐμπλήσας οἳ Ἴλιον ἐξαλάπαξαν Hom. Od. 8. 492.
mentito: cf. Virg. Ecl. 4. 42 varios discet mentiri lana colores, 'to counterfeit
various colours. 15. Troas Tpwas. 17. palam captis, 'captives
taken in fair fight.' Housman suggests cautis. gravis, 'cruel,' 'remorse-
less.' 18. nescios fari-infantes.
19. etiam... 'yea even the babe
yet unborn'; cf. Hom. Il. 6. 57 μή τις υπεκφύγοι αἰπὸν ὄλεθρον | χεῖράς
θ᾽ ἡμετέρας· μηδ' ὅν τινα γαστέρι μήτηρ | κοῦρον ἐόντα φέροι, μηδ' δς φύγοι.
non
22. adnuisset. Zeus in Homer signifies his will by his nod (numen, cf. 3.
1. 8), hence adnuo 'to grant by his nod.'
23. rebus .. 'to the
=
fortunes of Aeneas walls traced with happier auguries.'
ducere muros is to
mark out the line of the future walls with the plough; 'happy auguries'
ODE VII
339
NOTES
would naturally be watched for in connexion with this solemn ceremony.
24. alite: 1. 15. 5 n.
•
•
• ·
25. doctor
'thou who didst teach clear-voiced Thalia to play
upon the lute.' Kennedy, Virg. Ecl. 6. 1, has an excellent note on argutus.
'Originally the part. pass. of arguo, to prove, make clear or distinct; as an
adj. it is largely used in Latin of things which convey a clear, distinct, sharp
perception to the eye, the ear, the smell or the mind; and thus it assumes many
shades of meaning ("fine,"
""clear,
clear," "minute," "sharp," "shrewd,
""shrewd," "melodi-
ous," "noisy"), and is found as an attribute to caput, oculus, forum, nemus, ilex,
fistula, servus, etc.' 26. qui Xantho
The line calls attention to
the personal characteristics of the god of poetry; cf. 3. 4. 61. His long locks
mark the bard, the beardless chin (levis) his undying youth. Xanthus is in
Lycia. 27. Dauniae decus Camenae, i.e. me, Horace. For Dauniae,
'Italian,' cf. 2. 1. 34 n. Camenae: note that Horace here uses the native
Italian word, not the foreign and borrowed Musa (Moûoa), cf. 1. 12. 39 n.
28. levis, 'beardless,' as 2. 11. 6: for derivation see 1. 2. 38 n. Agyieu :
a Gk. name for Apollo as god of streets, ȧyviai: Horace seems to select the
word merely to convey a vague feeling of awe and mystery. 29. spiritum,
'inspiration' (cf. 2. 16. 38 n.), opposed to artem, 'technical skill.' 31.
virginum primae, 'ye flower (lit. 'first') of maidens'
see Intr.
33. tutela: usually 'a taking charge of,' but here' those taken charge
of,' in apposition with virginum primae puerique 'ye who are under the pro-
tection. 34. cohibentis arcu, 'who arrests with her bow the swift-
footed..." 35. Lesbium pedem, 'mark the Lesbian measure,' i. e. the
Sapphic metre, cf. 1. 1. 34 n. 36. ictum, 'beat,' i.e. as he marks the time.
38. crescentem face: lit. growing with her torch,' i.e. 'with her grow-
ing light.' Noctilucam, 'the night-shining one,' is only found here and
in a passage of Varro. It is probably an old ceremonial word, and introduced
to give archaic solemnity (see 1. 34. 5 n.). Such descriptive words are natural
and commonly found only in very early writers, e.g. Hesiod has pepéoikos ‘a
snail,' ¿vóσteos 'a cuttle-fish,' πévτošos ‘the hand,' etc. 39. prosperam
frugum, 'prolific in crops,' cf. 3. 6. 17 n. celeremque. ' and
swift to roll the quickly-moving months.' For the inf. cf. 1. 3. 25 n. 41.
nupta iam
soon when a bride you will say.' dis amicum
with carmen. 42. saeculo: see Intr. referente, 'bringing round.'
43. reddidi, 'performed'; you are said reddere when you at the proper time
duly reproduce that which has been taught you. docilis modorum,
'trained in the measures'; for gen. cf. 1. 15. 24 n. 44. Horati: 1. 6. 12 n.
ODE VII
The snow has melted and spring is returning. The seasons in their rapid
succession continually remind us of the shortness of life. Only whereas they
return again, whereas the waning moon soon recovers her fulness, we when
once we join the ranks of the departed are but dust and a shadow. Who
knows whether he will be alive to-morrow? Enjoy yourself therefore; when
once dead neither birth nor merit nor piety can bring you back to life. Diana
has not the power to set Hippolytus free from death, nor Theseus Pirithous.'
The Ode is similar to 1. 4 but more serious. Ep. 1. 5 is also dedicated to
Torquatus, and Porphyrion (Ep. 1. 5. 9) states that in his time a speech of his
in defence of Moschus (cf. facundia line 23) was still studied.
340
BOOK IV
HORACE
2. comae, 'foliage,' cf. 1. 21. 5.
3. mutat . . . 'earth changes
her seasons,' i.e. passes through the seasons one after another in succession:
vices, 'successions,' here in connexion with the passing of winter into spring,
implies 'succession of seasons,' cf. 1. 4. 1 solvitur acris hiemps grata vice veris.
4. praetereunt, 'pass by,' i.e. cease to overflow.
•
•
•
5. Gratia: only here in sing. as a proper name, for the Graces are always
represented as inseparable, cf. 3. 21. 22; here Gratia cum geminis sororibus
= 'the three Graces,' — Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia. 7. inmor-
talia
'The changing year's successive plan | Proclaims mortality to
man,' Johnson. et almum
' and each hour which hurries on the
genial day': note how skilfully the various periods of time are introduced ;
not merely the changing year but each day, each hurrying hour reminds us of
the shortness of life. almum diem: cf. C. S. 9 alme Sol (also 4. 4. 41 n.);
the adj. describes what is cheering and invigorating, light as opposed to dark-
ness, life to death; see Gray's Elegy 87 'left the warm precincts of the
cheerful day.'
·
•
·
9. ver proterit
summer tramples upon spring to perish (in its
turn) as soon as
proterit, used of mounted soldiers pursuing, over-
turning and trampling on an enemy (cf. Virg. Aen. 12. 329 agmina curru
proterit), here expresses the victorious speed with which summer follows on
spring, and suggests a fine contrast with interitura. 11. effuderit, 'poured
forth' as from a Cornucopia or 'horn of plenty.' 12. iners, 'lifeless,'
because in winter nothing grows and no work can be done. The epithet
draws marked attention to the similarity between the end of the year and the
end of man's little round of being. 13. damna 'yet the moons
speedily repair their losses in the sky,' i.e. the moon wanes but soon becomes
full again.
lunae, 'moons,' 'the moon in the various months,' cf. 2. 18.
16: so soles 4. 5. 8 'the sun on a number of days.' 14. nos, 'but we';
cf. 3. 9. 22 n. For the thought cf. Catullus 5. 5 quoted 1. 24. 5 n.
• •
•
·
15.
quo quo, sc. deciderunt 'have fallen,' cf. Ep. 1. 6. 27 ire tamen restat,
Numa quo devenit et Ancus. For pater (Virg. Aen. 1. 699 pater Aeneas) many
MSS. give pius, but the rarer phrase is more likely to be original. For dives
cf. Livy 1. 31 in magna gloria magnisque opibus regnum Tulli; Juv. 5. 57
Tulli census pugnacis et Anci. 16. pulvis, in the urn; umbra, in the
under world; cf. Soph. Εl. 1159 σποδόν τε καὶ σκιὰν ἀνωφελῆ.
•
17. quis scit 'who knows whether the gods above add to-morrow's
space to the total of to-day?' i.e. the total which to-day makes up. For
summae cf. 1. 4. 15 vitae summa brevis. adiciant, 'add' not 'will
add'; the gods are already deciding our future: we shall learn their decision
by the event. 19. amico 'which you shall have bestowed on your
own dear soul': animo amico dare is used somewhat colloquially to express
the satisfaction of personal gratification, cf. Genio indulgere, Genium curare,
animo morem gerere and the like; see too Simon. 85 ux? Tŵv ảɣα0ŵv TXñOi
Xapisóμevos. By the 'greedy heir' Horace is probably thinking of one of
those fortune-hunters (captatores), who were always in pursuit of rich old
bachelors (orbi) and whom it was a pleasure to 'cheat': see Sat. 2. 5 Intr.
21. semel, ära, 'once for all.'
the 'state' in which the judge sits.
splendida: 'stately,' in reference to
Minos, Aeacus and Rhadamanthus were
the three judges of the dead. 25. neque enim, 'for neither.' Horace,
as frequently, concludes by adducing mythological instances to prove the
general statement just made: Diana cannot set Hippolytus free, though he
ODE VIII
341
NOTES
was chaste, nor T. break the bonds of Pirithous, though he was so dear. Note
the parallel and emphatic positions of pudicum and caro. Hippolytus
being devoted to celibacy and the chase was under the protection of the
virgin huntress Diana, but his step-mother Phaedra compassed his death on
his refusal to gratify her guilty passion. For Pirithous cf. 3. 4. 79 n. 27.
Lethaea vincula, 'the fetters of the tomb.' Lethe (non, forgetfulness)
was the river of oblivion' in Hell.
ODE VIII
'I would gladly present my friends with goblets and bronzes, Censorinus,
and you should not have the poorest gift, that is, of course, if I were the rich
possessor of such works of art. But neither do I possess, nor do you care for
such rarities. You love song and song I can give, yes, and I know the value
of the gift. The Scipios owe more to Ennius than to their monuments and
their exploits. Where would be the fame of Romulus and Aeacus if it were not
celebrated in verse? The Muse alone confers immortality: it is through her
that Hercules, the Dioscuri, and Bacchus are enthroned among the immortals.'
In this and the next Ode, though Horace addresses Censorinus and Lollius,
his words seem meant for Augustus. The Poet-Laureate hints pretty broadly
to the Emperor that he is well aware of the value of the favour he is bestowing
in writing this Book at his request. Censorinus was consul B.C. 8, and Vell.
2. 102 speaks of him as demerendis hominibus natum, 'born to win men.'
1. donarem. It was customary for rich people to send presents (strenae,
étrennes) to their friends at certain seasons, e.g. on the Kalends of March and
at the Saturnalia. commodus with donarem 'courteously,' 'obligingly': 'I
should be glad to gratify them by giving.' 2. aera, bronzes, especially
Corinthian bronzes, were much valued as ornaments. 3. tripodas
See Lidd. and Scott s. v. Tpíπovs, and cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 110 in medio sacri
tripodes viridesque coronae | et palmae pretium victoribus.
•
5. ferres, 'would get,' i.e. from me. divite . . . 'that is, if I were rich
in works of art.' divite me, si dives essem, forms the protasis to which
donarem and neque tu ferres are the apodosis. Notice ars='art,' 'skill,' artes
=the objects produced by such skill, 'works of art.' 6. Parrhasius of
Ephesus (flor. 400 B.C.) was celebrated for his painting of divine and heroic
figures. Scopas (395-350 B.c.) was a sculptor of Paros who helped to decorate
the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus with the bas-reliefs some of which are now in
the British Museum. 7. liquidis, added to suggest a contrast with the
hard marble of the statuary. 8. sollers ponere, 'skilled to portray,'
i.e. in portraying; see 1. 3. 25 n. For ponere cf. 4. 1. 20 ponet marmoream,
of a statue; Ov. A. A. 3. 401 si Venerem Cous numquam posuisset Apelles,
of a painting; Juv. 1. 155 pone Tigellinum, of a portrait in writing.
• •
9. haec vis, i.e. abundance of these things; cf. 4. 11. 4 hederae vis.
10. res, 'fortunes.' Censorinus was too well off to need presents. animus,
'tastes. 12. pretium . . . 'to assign a value to the gift.' See Intr.
13. incisa ... 'marbles graven with public records.'
14. per quae
i.e. which keep the memory of dead heroes still living. 15. celeres fugae.
The plural is rhetorical: Hannibal was only once defeated, at the battle of
Zama B.C. 202, after maintaining his position in Italy for 16 years.
reiectaeque. Notice the rhetorical repetition of re and retrorsum : the
words indicate that Hannibal's threats were flung back upon his own head.
16.
342
BOOK IV
HORACE
17. non incendia . . . ‘nor does the burning of unholy Carthage more
brightly point out the renown of him who returned having won a name from
conquered Africa than do the Muses of Calabria
The sense is clear:
the public memorials and the unrivalled exploits of Africanus have not done
more for his fame than the verses of Ennius. On the other hand the objec-
tions to the text are many. (1) The burning of Carthage took place B.C. 146,
37 years after the death of the elder Scipio, 23 after the death of Ennius, and
therefore had nothing to do with either of them. Wickham makes a sugges-
tion which is just possible, that Horace is thinking not so much of the elder
Scipio personally as of the fame of the name 'Africanus,' eius . . . rediit
being merely a periphrasis for that name. Horace then asks 'What throws
most glory on the name of Africanus, Zama and Carthage, or Ennius' poetry ?'
(2) The gen. Karthaginis inpiae followed immediately by the gen. eius, which
has no connexion with it but goes with laudes, is very awkward. (3) The
pronoun is, doubtless as being weak and unemphatic, is almost absolutely
ignored by the Roman poets: Virgil very rarely uses it: in the Odes it is
only found here and in the dubious passage 3. 11. 18, nor can it bear the
strong emphasis here placed upon it. (4) All the Odes admit of division into
stanzas. As at present constituted this Ode consists of 34 lines and cannot
be so divided—a formal but fatal objection to the text. Some editors mark
a lacuna of two lines after line 17; Kiessling omits lines 17 and 33 as spuri-
ous. Some alteration is certainly needed. 18. qui domita . . . i.e. P.
Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major. Cf. S. 2. 1. 66 duxit ab oppressa meritum
Karthagine nomen. Livy says that he was the first Roman imperator who
received a name from the people he had conquered: the practice subsequently
became frequent, e.g. Asiaticus, Germanicus, Macedonicus, and cf. our use of
such titles as Napier of Magdala, Wolseley of Cairo. 20. Calabrae
Pierides. Although Pierides ('dwellers in Pieria' 4. 3. 18 n.) had
become merely='Muses,' yet the combination of the word with Calabrae is
hardly happy. Q. Ennius, the father of Roman poetry, was born at Rudiae in
Calabria B.C. 239: his most important work was an epic poem called Annales,
the principal portion of which was a description of the second Punic war.
neque 'nor, if no poet's page tell of thy great deeds, shalt thou reap
thy reward.' sileant, 'pass over in silence'; cf. 2. 13. 26 n.
•
23. taciturnitas invida, 'grudging silence,' cf. 4. 9. 33 lividas obliviones.
26. virtus et favor et lingua. All with vatum: it is to the 'mighty poets'
wit and favour and eloquence' that Aeacus owes his salvation from the Stygian
waves. 27. divitibus 'places a hallowed dweller in the islands of
the blest.' divites insulae are the μakáρwv vñσo, fortunatae insulae, 'the
Happy Isles' situated somewhere 'beyond the sunset,' wherein dwelt the good
and glorious heroes of the past. 29. caelo
'the Muse dowers with
•
·
•
•
a dwelling in the sky.' sic: emphatic, 'so' and only so, i.e. by the favour
of the Muse; the word must be mentally supplied before each of the two
succeeding clauses. 31. clarum. 'so do the sons of Tyndarus (i.e.
Castor and Pollux, see 1. 3. 2 n.), a brilliant constellation, snatch the storm-
tossed bark from the abyss.'
ODE IX
'Lest you deem that these songs of mine will not live long, remember that,
though Homer has the foremost place, yet the poetry of Pindar, Simonides and
others is not forgotten. (Poetry too it is which alone confers immortality ;)
ODE IX
343
NOTES
Helen was not the first of her sex who has burned with a guilty passion, full
many an Ilium has been besieged, many a brave man has lived before Aga-
memnon, but all lie now forgotten in the grave, ‘unwept and unhonoured
because 'unsung.' I, Lollius, will see that no such fate is yours: your good
deeds shall never be the prey of jealous forgetfulness. Yours is a soul fore-
seeing and firm, bold to punish greed and guilt because itself superior to greed,
ever fit for the highest position in the state. Such is the ideal man, not wealthy
but knowing how to use the gifts the gods provide, fearing dishonour more than
death, ready to sacrifice his life for his friends or his country.'
M. Lollius, consul B.C. 21, had been defeated by the Sygambri B.C. 16 (see
4. 2. 36 n.), but stood high in the favour of Augustus, who sent him B.C. 2
as tutor with his grandson C. Caesar into the East, where he died, according
to Vell. 2. 102 by his own hand in consequence of the roguery and
rapacity he had long practised being discovered. He was certainly very
wealthy, and his granddaughter Lollia Paulina the wife of Caligula some-
times wore jewelry worth over £300,000 (cf. Pliny N. H. 9. 118 hic est rapi-
narum exitus, hoc fuit, quare M. Lollius infamatus regum muneribus in toto
oriente interdicta amicitia a Caio Caesare Augusti filio venenum biberet, ut
neptis eius quadringentiens HS. operta spectaretur). But what his real char-
acter was, and whether Horace was deceived in him (as Lucretius was in Mem-
mius) or no, is unimportant, for the concluding lines of the Ode, though pro-
fessing to describe Lollius, are really the description of an ideal.
Lollius was
the friend of Augustus, and Horace having to send him an Ode and praise his
virtues, naturally finds it easier to pen a sketch of perfect virtue instead.
Odes, Dedications, Testimonials, and the like more often present the writer's
idea of what a man should be, than a description of what a particular man is.
1. ne
The construction is ne ... credas..
... non (si . . . sedes) Pin-
daricae latent. Camenae, see Summary. 2. longe sonantem
'born beside far-echoing Aufidus'; cf. 3. 30. 10-13 and notes. 3. non
ante ... Horace was practically the first to use Gk. lyric metres (e.g.
Alcaics and Sapphics) in Latin, cf. 3. 30. 13. 4. verba
'I utter
words to be wedded to the lyre.' 5. Maeonius. Maeonia is an old name
of Lydia, the supposed native country of Homer. 7. Ceae, i.e. of
Simonides; 2. 1. 38 n. minaces, i.e. warlike (oraσlwтiká), because
written to rouse the nobles to take vengeance on the popular party by whom
he and they had been driven into exile. Cf. 2. 13. 30, and 1. 32. 5 n.
graves, 'stately,' 'dignified.' Cf. Quint. 10. 1. 62 maxima bella et clarissimos
cecinit (Alcaeus) duces et epici carminis onera lyra sustinuit.
•
9. nec
•
8.
'nor has time blotted out whatever Anacreon's sportive
Muse composed of old.' The charming poems attributed to Anacreon and
known to English readers through Moore's versions are classed by Bergk as
Anacreontea. For ludere with acc. = 'to write sportively,' cf. 2. 13. 26 n.
and Virg. G. 4. 564 carmina qui lusi. So too ardere line 13 'to be hotly in
love with,' and sileri line 31. 11. vivuntque
'still lives the passion
entrusted to the strings of the Aeolian maiden,' i.e. of Sappho, who wrote in
the Aeolic dialect; 2. 13. 24 n. commissi, ¿.e. she made her lyre the
confidante of her secrets; cf. S. 2. 1. 30. 13. non sola . . . For
connexion see Summary. ardere, 'to be in love with,' in Horace usually
takes an abl. (cf. 2. 9. 5 n.) but can equally take acc. (e.g. Virg. Ecl. 2. 1
ardebat Alexim) and clearly governs the accusatives near it, though they are
also partially governed by mirata. 'Not alone has Laconian Helen been fired
344
BOOK IV
HORACE
?
17. primusve
Teucer the first.
·
•
•
•
not once
with love for the ordered locks of an adulterer and his gold-bespangled robes,
marvelling at them and his regal pomp and retinue.' Others make arsit quite
intransitive here. comptos, from co-mo='put together,' cf. de-mo 'put off,'
su-mo 'put apart.' 14. aurum vestibus inlitum. Gold thread was worked
in patterns into the tissue of costly robes, cf. Virg. Aen. 3. 483 picturatas
auri subtegmine vestes. 16. Lacaena-Aáкαια fem. adj. from Aákwv.
The non of line 13 is still carried on; 'nor was
Homer Il. 13. 313 speaks of Teucer as apiσTOS 'Axαιŵv
Toğoσúvŋ. Cydon was a city in Crete, and the Cretans were celebrated archers;
Virg. Ecl. 10. 59 has Cydonia spicula. 18. non semel
only has an Ilium (i.e. a city such as Ilium) been harassed in war.'
Idomeneus : a Cretan leader. Sthenelus : charioteer of Diomedes.
21. dicenda . governed by pugnavit: 'nor has ... Sthenelus alone waged
combats worthy to be sung by the Muses.' Cf. 4. 4. 68. 22. Deiphobus,
brother of Hector. excepit is used strictly here of receiving something you
were looking out for, or which was meant for you; cf. 2. 15. 16. 24. Notice
the emphatic position of primus: in translating the whole of lines 13-28
special care must be taken to bring out the force of the emphatic words, viz.
sola, primus, semel, solus, primus, multi; the persons mentioned were not the
only or the first persons who have deserved renown.
•
20.
26. inlacrimabiles .. 'unwept and unknown lie buried in endless
night.' inlacrimabilis is here used passively, but 2. 14. 6 'who never weeps.'
27. urguentur suggests the idea of night lying on them 'like a tomb' (Wick-
ham), cf. 1. 24. 5 Quintilium perpetuus sopor | urguet ; 1. 4. 16. 27. longa:
2. 16.30 n. 28. sacro. Partly as being under the special protection of heaven,
but chiefly as bestowing the divine gift of immortality, cf. 1. 26. 11 n. 29.
sepultae strictly agrees with inertiae, but really qualifies the whole sentence:
we get the effect by rendering 'but little in the grave is the difference between
baseness and unrecorded bravery,' i.e. in the grave both are equally forgotten.
For inertia='lack of spirit,' 'cowardice,' cf. iners 3. 5. 36. 31. chartis,
'pages'; cf. 4. 8. 21. 32. totve... 'nor will I permit jealous forget-
fulness to prey at pleasure on all your exploits.' lividus, bluish-green,' the
colour of a bilious or jealous man (cf. 2. 5. 10 n.), then='jealous'; so we
speak of ‘a jaundiced view of things,' and of 'green-eyed jealousy.'
•
•
•
35. rerumque prudens, 'both sagacious' or 'foreseeing (prudens=
providens) in affairs'; rerum prudentia expresses practical sagacity in the
affairs of life, and is often contrasted with sapientia, which expresses a higher,
philosophic, and sometimes theoretic, wisdom. Cf. φρόνησις ) σοφία. For
the gen. see 1. 15. 24 n. que
et=T€ · · καί.
36. rectus,
'upright' in two senses, (1) unmoved and firm, (2) acting rightly. 37.
abstinens 'spurning all-engrossing gold.' Horace is fond of placing a
gen. after words which indicate 'ceasing from,' 'keeping from,' 'being free
from,' cf. 2. 9. 17 desine querellarum, 3. 17. 16 operum solutis, 3. 27. 69 ab-
stineto irarum. 39. consulque and a consul not of one (brief)
year but (always) as often as, a good and honest judge, it has preferred the
right to the expedient, (as often as it) has flung back with haughty mien the
bribes of the guilty, (yes, and) through opposing mobs has advanced its arms
victoriously to the front.' Line 39 refers to the Stoic paradox that the
perfectly virtuous man is under all circumstances a 'king among men'; cf. 3.
2. 17 n. Horace tells Lollius, who had been consul B.C. 20, that 'his soul is
ever consul,' i.e. though he no longer wears the external insignia of that office,
•
•
ODE XI
345
NOTES
his soul proclaims its real dignity and unchanging rank whenever it prompts
him to act with true nobility. Bentley quotes a quantity of phrases which
show that animus consul would not be as novel to a Roman ear as it
is to us, e.g. animus carnifex, censor, dominus, rex, liberator. Others say
that, there being four lines between animus and consul, Horace applies the
word rather to Lollius himself than to animus; but surely the whole point
is that, though Lollius himself is no longer consul, yet his nobility of conduct
makes him ever a consul in soul,
41. honestum utili. These two words are often used in the neuter in
ethical treatises almost as substantives, like Gk. τὸ καλόν and τὸ συμφέρον.
They express the two great ends with reference to which moral conduct may
be regulated, viz. right and expediency. We do a thing because we think it
either right (honestum) or expedient (utile). 46. recte, with vocaveris ;
beatum predicatively: 'you will not rightly call blessed.' There is a play
on the word beatum in the Latin: it has two meanings, (1) 'happy,' (2) a
conventional meaning='well off,' 'wealthy.' The owner of large estates is
popularly called beatus, but according to a more correct standard (recte) he
often does not deserve the name, cf. 2. 2. 18 n. 48. sapienter, 'wisely':
the word describes the action of one who not only acts rightly, but acts so
consciously and on principle as the true 'wise man' should; cf. Ep. 1. 16. 20.
50. timet, non ille timidus. Mark the antithesis: 'and fears dis-
honour worse than death, he who fears not to die for friends or fatherland.'
The pleonastic ille is inserted to call emphatic attention to the fact that he,
who so fears dishonour, is the very man who fears nothing besides.
ODE X
Ah, Ligurinus, beautiful and proud with flowing locks and rosy cheeks,
when your mirror reflects a bristly chin and a different face you will regret
your beauty and your pride.'
1. Veneris . . 'a lord of all love's gifts.' 2. pluma, 'down,' of the
early beard. insperata, i.e. sooner than is expected. 4. nunc et .
' and the hue which now surpasses the purple rose's bloom has changed and
altered Ligurinus into a hirsute visage.' 6. alterum, 'different.' Cf. the
celebrated epigram in the Anthology, 'Αναθηματικά Ι. ἡ σοβαρόν γελάσασα
καθ' ῾Ελλάδος, ἡ τὸν ἐραστῶν | ἐσμὸν ἐνὶ προθύροις Λαῖς ἔχουσα νέων, | τῇ
Παφίῃ τὸ κάτοπτρον, ἐπεὶ τοίη μὲν ὁρᾶσθαι | οὐκ ἐθέλω, οἵη δ᾽ ἦν πάρος οὐ
δύναμαι. 8. incolumes, 'in their freshness.'
ODE XI
'All is prepared for keeping high festival, the wine, Phyllis, the ivy-garland
that so sets your beauty in relief, the altar and the victim; the whole household
is astir and the kitchen chimney smokes. To-day is the Ides of April, the
month of Venus, and above all it is the birthday of my own Maecenas. Come
then, and cease to long for Telephus who is far beyond your reach: let the
history of Phaethon and Bellerophon be a warning against such lofty ambition.
Come, Phyllis, the last-I swear it-of my loves, come and sing me one of my
songs: song is the antidote for care.'
This is the only Ode in this Book in which mention is made of Maecenas,
to whom all the three first Books are addressed. Between 21 and 16 B.C.,
346
BOOK IV
HORACE
when he finally withdrew from public life, a coolness had sprung up between
the Emperor and the minister, so that his name could hardly be mentioned
frequently in a Book written specially at Augustus' request.
2. Albani: reckoned second only to Falernian. 3. nectendis apium
coronis, 'parsley for weaving chaplets': this use of the dat. of the gerundive
to express a purpose is chiefly found in legal phrases, e.g. IIIviri agris divi-
dendis, 'a body of three land commissioners,' Xviri legibus scribendis, 'a
body of ten men for drawing up laws.' Virg. G. 1. 3 has cultus habendo
pecori; 2. 9 arboribus natura creandis, 'method for rearing trees.' For this
use of parsley, cf. 1. 36. 16; Virg. Ecl. 6. 68. 4. vis multa, ‘much
abundance.' 5. qua crines which binding back thy hair sets off
thy beauty.' The Latin with inimitable terseness expresses that the hair was
drawn back and fastened with a wreath of ivy, the effect of this simple orna-
ment being to bring out in full relief the brilliancy (cf. fulges) of Phyllis'
beauty. 7. verbenis: 1. 19. 14 n. avet inmolato 'longs to
be sprinkled with the sacrifice of a lamb.' spargier is an archaic form of the
inf. passive only found here in the Odes.
9. manus, 'band,' i.e. of slaves, further defined in line 10 as mixtae
pueris puellae. The invitation is doubtless to Horace's Sabine farm, cf. in
horto, line 2. 11. sordidum flammae . . . 'the flames quiver as they
whirl the sooty smoke in eddies': sordidum is graphic and suggests a contrast
with the bright glimmer of the flames. trepidant: 2. 4. 23 n. 14.
Idus.
'you are to keep the Ides, the day. . . The Ides were on the
13th of every month except March, May, July, and October, when they were
on the 15th. 15. mensem Veneris marinae. The month being sacred
to Venus adds fitness to his invitation. Ov. Fast. 4. 61 derives Aprilis from
'Appodírn, because in that month Venus rose from the foam (ȧøpós) of the
sea: sed Veneris mensem Graio sermone notatum | auguror; a spumis est dea
dicta maris. The real derivation is from aperio 'the month of the opening,'
quia ver aperit tunc omnia (Fast. 4. 87). 16. findit. The ancients con-
nected Idus with divido, or an Etruscan word iduo of the same meaning.
>
18. natali: used as a subst. without die. 19. adfluentes. . . 'reckons
the on-gliding years.' adfluentes admirably describes the way in which each
succeeding year silently glides on (fluere) and is added (ad) to the tale of
those already past. 20. ordinat, lit. 'places in a row,' i.e. each birthday
adds one to the row of figures which marks the number of his years. 21.
occupavit, 'has made her own. 22. non. 'a youth of fortunes
other than yours': sorsa man's 'lot' or position in life. 23. grata
compede. Oxymoron, cf. 3. 11. 35 n.
>
25. avaras spes, 'greedy' or 'ambitious hopes.' There is 'a half comic
irony' (Wickham) in the mythological instances which Horace selects as a
warning to Phyllis. 26. exemplum grave, 'a weighty warning.' The
use of gravatus in the next line seems to have no reference to grave here but
to be purely accidental. 27. gravatus, 'disdaining the burden of an
earth-born rider.' gravari 'to treat as a weight,' 'hardship,' or 'grievance';
hence accurately of a horse which objects to its burden and gets rid of it.
29. ut: after exemplum praebet, 'gives a warning so that you should seek a
fitting partner.' et ultra. the construction is et disparem vites nefas
putando sperare ultra quam licet: 'and shun an unequal match by thinking
it unholy to hope for more than is permitted.' 33. non alia calebo
femina, no other woman shall fire me with love.' For calere with abl.=
• •
ODE XII
347
NOTES
be in love with,' cf. 3. 9. 5 n.
'learn well' or 'thoroughly.'
didi.
atrae, 'gloomy.'
34. condisce: stronger than disco=
35. reddas, 'reproduce,' cf. 4. 6. 43 red-
ODE XII
'Winter is passing away and spring returning, the swallow is building her
nest and the shepherds are piping on the grass. The warmer weather suggests
a drinking party, but if you, Vergilius, who have so many noble youths among
your patrons, mean to drink my best wine, why then you must "
pay your
shot" with a box of nard and then you shall have the best that is to be pro-
cured. Come then and bring the nard: I cannot afford to feast you wholly
at my own cost: come quickly and forget money-making for a while: life is
short, remember, and a little folly in its season is very pleasant.'
The Vergilius here addressed is certainly not the poet, for (1) he died
B.C. 19, before this Book was published, (2) the language here used (iuvenum
nobilium cliens 15, studium lucri 25) could not possibly have been applied to
him; cf. the language used 1. 3. 6 ; S. 1. 5. 40; 1. 6. 55.
•
1. veris comites. These 'attendants of spring' are not the Zephyrs as
in 4. 7. 9, but the 'northern breezes' mentioned in line 2. So Columella 11.
2. 21 x. Cal. Mart. venti Septentrionales, qui vocantur Ornithiae, per dies
triginta esse solent; tum et hirundo advenit. 2. Thraciae, 'northern'; cf.
1. 25. 11; Epod. 13. 3. 4. hiberna nive turgidi, 'swollen with winter's
snow,' i.e. with the melting of it. This would take place in very early spring
before settled warm weather came in. 5. Ityn 'the unhappy bird
that ever mournfully moans for Itys and (is) the undying disgrace of the
house of Cecrops for that she cruelly avenged Cf. Soph. El. 148 &
Ἴτυν, αἰὲν Ιτυν ὀλοφύρεται | ὄρνις ἀτυξομένα, Διὸς ἄγγελος, of the swallow.
8. regum. The plural is generic: the reference is to Tereus alone, but
the plural suggests that such vicious acts were common among princes. For
the story, see Dict. Ant. s.v. Tereus: some legends make Procne (the swallow)
mother of Itys, others Philomela (the nightingale). Here in connexion with
nest-building as a sign of spring the swallow seems referred to, cf. Virg. G. 4.
306 ante | garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo='before spring,'
and the proverb μία χελιδών ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ.
•
•
9. dicunt carmina fistula, 'rehearse songs with the pipe,' i. e. with the
assistance of the pipe. fistula is a Pan's-pipe (σúpıy§), and deum, cui .
refers to Pan.
nigri, 'dark-wooded.' 14. sed pressum
'but if you are eager to quaff wine pressed at Cales' (cf. 1. 20. 9 n.).
ducere: 1. 17. 22 n. 16. merebere, 'you will,' i.e. 'must earn.'
11.
•
•
17. nardi parvus onyx: onyx, so called from its resemblance to the
finger-nail (ovvέ), is a kind of marble or alabaster: it was frequently used in
making boxes for ointments or unguents, and hence the word is frequently
used='an ointment box' of whatever material, e.g. Prop. 3. 10. 22 murreus
onyx. Cf. the accounts given of the anointing of Christ at Bethany: St.
Matthew (xxvi. 7) speaks of åλáßaσтpov µúpov ßapvriµov; St. Mark (xiv. 3),
with his usual accuracy, has ἀλ. μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτελούς, adding
that she brake the box (συντρίψασα), and that its value was ἐπάνω τριακοσίων
δηναρίων. eliciet, 'shall lure forth.' 18. Sulpiciis . 'reposes in
the Sulpician stores.' For proper nouns used as adjectives, see 1. 15. 10 n.
The 'Sulpician' stores were on the Tiber at the foot of the Aventine and
subsequently became part of the imperial domain, being well known as the
348
BOOK IV
HORACE
horrea Galbiana; Lanciani, Rome p. 248.
getic, cf. 1. 3. 25 n.
22. non ego te.
the rich money-maker.
23. inmunem (from
19. donare, eluere. Epexe-
amara curarum, 'the bitterness of care.'
Notice the antithetical pronouns: I the poor poet, you
'I do not propose to steep you in my cups for nothing.'
in and munus), áoúµßoλov, 'without paying a contri-
bution.' It was common among the Greeks and Romans to have feasts at
which each guest contributed his share, cf. 3. 19. 6 n.
ignium, 'black flames,' i.e. the flames of the funeral pyre.
'plans,' i.e. for money-making. stultitiam brevem, 'an hour's folly.'
28. desipere, 'to cast off seriousness.' in loco, ἐν καιρῷ.
ODE XIII
26. nigrorum
27. consiliis,
'The gods have heard my prayers: you are becoming old and ugly, Lyce,
and yet you still act like a young girl, and seek to awaken love. Love prefers
fair Chloe's cheeks, and rudely wings his flight past wizened age, to which no
ornaments can bring back its former charms, the charms which once stole my heart
from me, when you succeeded Cinara as the queen of my affections. Alas,
poor Cinara, the fates cut her off in her youth, while you they preserve to a
fabulous age that the young men may scoff at the ashes of your beauty.'
•
A sequel to 3.10 which describes the cruelty and pride of Lyce in her youth.
1. audivere. The repetition (cf. 2. 14. 1 n.) expresses exultation, just
as we say Hurrah, Hurrah! cf. 4. 2. 49. The repetition too of sound in fis
and vis seems intentional: he almost hisses the harsh truth into her ear. For
the inverted order audivere Di . . . Di audivere, cf. 3. 5. 21 n. 5. et
cantu 'and with quavering notes when in your cups seek to arouse
sluggish Cupid.' 6. ille. Emphatic: the god, you try in vain to awake,
is wide awake enough elsewhere. virentis, 'young,' 'in the spring-time of
life.' 7. psallere, fáλλew, 'to touch,' or 'twitch with the fingers,' then to
play on the harp, or sing to it, cf. 'psalm.' Chia, originally an adj. then a
proper name, cf. Delia, Lesbia. 8. pulchris excubat 'keeps watch
on the fair cheeks.' excubo is a technical word used of sentinels on guard. For
the metaphor cf. Romeo and Juliet, v. iii. 94 'beauty's ensign yet | Is crimson
in thy lips and in thy cheeks, | And death's pale flag is not advanced there.'
9. aridas quercus, 'sapless oaks'; Lyce is compared to an old and
gnarled oak.
10. te quia te quia. Derisive repetition. 'Shrinks
from you, because your teeth are yellow, from you, because wrinkles give
ugliness and the snow upon your head.' 13. Coae purpurae. Purple
robes of extremely fine silk manufactured at Cos, see Mayor on Juv. 8. 101.
14. clari lapides, gleaming jewels'; other MSS. give cari, 'costly.'
tempora. 'the years which once swift time has shut in safe-guarded in the
public registers.' 15. notis: added to hint that it is no use Lyce endeavouring
to deny her age; the public registers bear testimony which cannot be concealed.
condita inclusit. The idea is that of Time storing up and then locking in
the past so that it can never be recovered.
·
•
•
17. venus: as often, 'charms,' 'beauty.' color, 'hue,' 'complexion.'
18. quid habes 'what have you (left) of her, ah me, of her who breathed
passion ?' illius, 'her of long ago,' i.e. the old Lyce, the Lyce of former
days. For the repetition cf. 4. 4. 70 n.; the effect here is pathetic, but the
pathos is used to enhance the mockery.
•
·
•
ODE XIV
349
NOTES
20. surpuerat. By syncope for surripuerat, cf. 1. 36. 8 n. 21. felix
'happy (i.e. in the possession of my heart) after Cinara (i.e. after her
death) and a beauty of repute (nota) and winning wiles (gratarum artium).'
gratarum artium is simply a gen. of quality (cf. 4. 1. 15 centum puer artium),
and is put instead of an adj., being strictly parallel to nota. facies refers to the
whole personal appearance of Lyce. Most editors make artium gratarum
dependent on nota='noted for,' and et etiam, and a beauty noted also for
her winning wiles.' That et after que can=etiam certainly lacks proof, and
the construction notus artium they only support by the authority of 2. 2. 6,
where see notes. The gratae artes are explained by Comm. Cruq., ‘artium
gratarum facies dicitur quae oculis, nutu superciliorum, cervicis volubilitate,
capitis gratia, totius denique corporis motu placet.' 24. servatura
'though they mean to preserve Lyce to match (parem is proleptic) the years
of a poor old raven.'
25. vetulae: used of old age when spoken of contemptuously. For the
age of the raven, cf. 3. 17. 13 n. 28. facem, 'torch,' here of the blaze of
beauty which kindles the fire of love. For dilapsam (dis-lapsam) 'that
has fallen asunder,' i.e. gradually wasted away into ashes, some MSS. by a
common error read delapsam in cineres which would mean 'that has fallen
down into ashes.'
ODE XIV
This and the following Ode are closely connected: the one dwells on
Augustus' victories in war, the other on his triumphs in peace.
'How shall senate and people worthily immortalise thy merits, O Augustus ?
But lately the Vindelici have been taught thy prowess in war, for it was with
thy troops and under thy auspices that Drusus overthrew the Genauni and the
Brenni, and that afterwards Tiberius joined battle with the Raeti. On him
every eye was fixed as he careered irresistible over the field of battle; like to the
South wind when he sweeps over ocean at the equinox, or the bellowing Aufidus
when with swollen torrent he threatens inundation, was the onset with which
he broke the mailed ranks of barbarians and, his own troops uninjured, carried
carnage and conquest far and wide—yes, because thou didst furnish the forces,
the forethought and the favour of the gods. For it was fifteen years from the
day when Alexandria yielded to thee that fortune added this crowning glory to
thy past campaigns. Now all the world owns thee its master at peace beneath
thy sway, while Italy and Rome enjoy thy guardianship and thy presence.'
Tiberius (emperor A.D. 14-37) and Drusus (4. 4 Intr.) were the sons of Tib.
Claudius Nero and Livia, who subsequently married Augustus. The campaigns
referred to took place in B. C. 15: Wickham says that 'their object was to
obtain military command of the more eastern passes into the valleys of the
Rhine and the Inn which were still unsafe for Roman armies. Drusus forced
what is now known as the Brenner pass, overthrowing the Rhaeti near
Tridentum, now Trent. Meantime Tiberius was despatched from Augustus'
army in Gaul, with the purpose of taking the enemy in the rear. He ascended
the Rhine valley to the lake of Constance, and thence penetrated the gorges
of the Upper Rhine and Inn in every direction, so that at the conclusion of a
brilliant and rapid campaign, the two brothers had effected the complete
subjugation of the Grisons and the Tyrol.'
• •
1. patrum. Quiritium: a poetical variation of the ordinary phrase
Senatus Populusque Romanus, S. P. Q. R. 2. honorum, 'magistracies,'
350
BOOK V
HORACE
cf. 1. 1. 8 n. The word is used strictly: the Roman emperors carefully
retained the old forms of the Republic: the old magistracies were still allowed
to exist in name (eadem magistratuum vocabula, Tac. Ann. 1. 3). The emperor
was technically only an ordinary citizen, on whom the senate and people had
from time to time conferred various ordinary and extraordinary dignities.
Thus Augustus was appointed perpetual Imperator, B.C. 29, and in the same
year accepted the 'censorian power'; in B.C. 28 he became princeps senatus;
he was consul for the 6th time B. C. 28, and for the 7th time B.C. 27; in B.C.
23 he received the 'tribunician power,' and in B.C. 12 he was made pontifex
maximus: see Merivale c. 31. 3. Auguste. Octavian assumed this
name B.C. 27; it really served as a title: 'the name was intact,' says Merivale,
'it had never been borne by any man before,' but the adjective was applied to
things holy and divine and suggested power and greatness (cf. augeo, and see
Ov. Fast. 1. 609). in aevum aeternet: pleonastic emphasis: 'is
to immortalise for ever. Cf. the Ν.Τ. εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.
4. per
titulos 'by (means of) inscriptions and recording annals.' Fasti sunt
fasti dies, says Festus: fastus is originally an adj. from fari, and fasti (dies)
are (1) days on which the magistrates may speak,' on which the law-courts
are open, cf. Ovid, Fast. 1. 47, (2) a register or list of such days, (3) as here,
'annals,' 'records.' Such public records would be the annales maximi kept
by the pontifex maximus.
•
•
•
•
•
"
•
6.
5. qua
the whole habitable globe ; ἡ οἰκουμένη.
principum. The title of princeps senatus was a purely honorary distinction
conferred by the censors on the most esteemed and worthy of the senators. It
was the title which Augustus specially affected: cf. Tac. Ann. 1. 1 cuncta
nomine principis sub imperium accepit; 1. 2. 50. The word certainly does not
in Horace's time mean 'a prince' or 'sovereign,' and so maxime principum
must be taken = maxime princeps. 7. quem... Vindelici didicere...
quid Marte posses: lit. 'whom the V. have learnt what thou couldst in
war,' i.e. whose prowess in war the V. have learnt. This idiom by which
the nom. of the subordinate sentence is placed under the government of the
main verb is Gk. rather than Latin, e.g. oîdá σe rís el.
10. Genaunos. These and the Brenni, whose name still survives in the
Brenner pass, are two tribes of the Raeti in the modern Tyrol. 11. et
arces. 'and citadels that crown the awful Alps.' arx, derived 'ab
arcendo,'' a place of defence' situated on an eminence. 13. deiecit,
'o'erthrew': the word governs all the accusatives which precede, though,
perhaps, more strictly applicable to the last. plus vice simplici: lit.
more than with one-fold requital,' i.e. avenging every loss he suffered by
inflicting a much greater. The omission of quam after plus is not uncommon,
e.g. plus quingentos colaphos infregit mihi, Ter. Ad. 2. 1. 46. Conington
renders and paid them back their debt twice told.' 15. inmanes: 3.4.
42 n.
16. auspiciis secundis, 'with' or 'under happy auspices': i.e.
those of Augustus, who as perpetual imperator could alone take the auspices,
so that all victories were won under his auspices; cf. 1. 7. 27 n.
17. spectandus... quantis fatigaret seems an ordinary indirect question
dependent on spectandus: ''Twas a sight to see with what destruction he
harassed hearts dedicated to the death of freemen.' Wickham makes it a Gk.
construction = θαυμαστὸς . . . ὅσοις. 18. devota... liberae. Horace,
with true Roman indifference, merely mentions this quality to enhance the
glory of Tiberius. 20. indomitas, 'unconquerable': the adj. suggests a
ODE XIV
351
NOTES
•
>
prope qualis
•
•
(tali modo)
comparison with the description of the Raeti in line 18.
The construction is prope qualis Auster exercet undas
inpiger vexare turmas : almost as the South wind when he frets the waves
(even so) unwearied to harass the squadrons of the foe and dash his
snorting steed. .
prope: the introduction of this word before
qualis is very remarkable. Metaphors, similes and the like are in their proper
place in Poetry, in Prose they are strictly speaking not: consequently Prose-
writers frequently introduce them with apologies and qualifications, Poets
rarely or never. A comparison in poetry that needs qualification or apology is
self-condemned. In S. 2. 3. 268 the purely conversational style admits prope.
21. Pleiadum
The Pleiades rise and set about the time of the equi-
noxes, and so of the equinoctial gales. They are spoken of as 'cleaving the
clouds' because, in the cloudy stormy weather which accompanied their rising
and setting, they would be only seen fitfully through rents in the clouds.
24. medios per ignes: a proverbial phrase of facing any great danger, cf.
S. 2. 3. 56; Ep. 1. 1. 46, but specially of plunging into 'the heat of the fray,'
cf. Sil. It. 14. 175 per medios ignes mediosque per enses; Ov. Met. 8. 76 ire
per ignes et gladios ausim. 25. tauriformis. The Greeks represented
rivers and torrents under the form of bulls, doubtless with reference to their
violence and their roar; so Homer, Il. 21. 237 describes Xanthus as µeμvkùs
ἠύτε ταῦρος, and cf. Eur. Ion 1261 ὦ ταυρόμορφον όμμα Κηφισού πατρός.
For the Aufidus cf. 3. 30. 10, 4. 9. 2. Horace with pardonable prejudice
selects the river of his native place. 28. meditatur, 'plans.'
31.
29. agmina ferrata diruit, 'dashed in pieces the mailed ranks.'
metendo, by mowing down.' So in English: 'Some men with swords may
reap the field, And plant fresh laurels where they kill '-J. Shirley.
|
32.
stravit humum, 'strewed the ground,' i.e. with the dead his sword had
mowed down. sine clade victor: because of the small loss of his own men.
Cf. Much Ado about Nothing I. i. 8 ‘A victory is twice itself, when the
achiever brings home full numbers.' 33. tuos divos. The expedition
was undertaken under the auspices' of Augustus, see line 16 n.
34. quo
die, i.e. when Augustus after the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium
B.C. 31 passed on to the East and entered Alexandria some time in the autumn
of B.C. 30. The words quo die are probably not to be taken too accurately.
36. vacuam: because Antony and Cleopatra had put an end to their lives.
See Shak. Ant. and Cleo. IV. xv and Act v.
37. lustro: 2. 4. 23 n. 40. arrogavit. This word usually means
(1) to adopt a child, (2) to appropriate to oneself what is not one's own.
Neither sense suits here. Horace perhaps coined the phrase on the analogy of
the well-known prorogare imperium. Just as the senate for a favourite or
victorious general (prorogabat imperium) 'granted an extension (pro) of his
command,' so Fortune for her favourite Augustus 'granted this additional (ad)
glory to his past commands' (decus peractis imperiis arrogavit).
41.
Cantaber: 2.6.2 n.

Indus,
42. Medus, 'the Parthian,' cf. 1. 2. 51 n.
Scythes. Suet. Oct. 21 says that embassies from these two peoples came
to solicit the friendship of Augustus. 44. dominae, 'mistress,' i.e. of
the world. 45. te... Hister. Wickham rightly points out that, though
the adjectival clause fontium qui celat origines applies primarily to the
Nile, yet the position of the copulatives seems to show that the Danube is
included,' cf. Seneca, Quaest. Nat. 4. 1, who compares the Danube with the
Nile, quod et fontes ignoti et aestate quam hieme maior sit. 47. beluosus:
352
BOOK IV
HORACE
only found here, the Homeric μeyakýrns: cf. 3. 27. 26 scatentem | beluis
pontum; Ps. civ. 25 'this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping
innumerable, both small and great beasts.' remotis Britannis: 1. 35. 29 n.
49. non paventis funera Galliae, 'Gaul that dreads not death'; be-
cause, according to the teaching of the Druids, death in battle was only the
passage to another life; cf. Lucan 1. 459 felices errore suo, quos ille timorum |
maximus haud urguet leti metus, inde ruendi | in ferrum mens prona viris
animaeque capaces | mortis et ignavum rediturae parcere vitae. 50. audit,
obeys.' 51. For the Sygambri, see 4. 2. 36 n. 52. compositis
worship with weapons laid to rest.' Mark the peacefulness and repose sug-
gested by the sound and sense of this concluding line.
ODE XV
•
'When I thought to tell of wars and warlike conquests, Phoebus struck his
lyre to warn me against venturing on so wide a sea. And indeed, Caesar, the
most glorious triumph of thy life is the establishment of universal peace. Peace
hath her victories no less than war, the checking of licence, the banishment of
vice and the restoration of the old virtues that made the name of Italy famous
to the limits of the world. Safe beneath thy guardianship we fear war neither
at home nor abroad, and therefore every day, when young and old meet at the
family board, it shall be our delight, after prayer to the gods, to sing of the
glorious dead, to sing of Troy and Anchises, and of thee the last and greatest
of that heaven-descended race.'
1. Phoebus: as the god of song and music. So also he restrained
Virgil, though in a more homely manner, Ecl. 6. 3 cum canerem reges
et proelia, Cynthius aurem | vellit et admonuit. 2. increpuit lyra:
increpo means (1) 'to make a noise,' (2) 'to make a noise at,' 'rebuke loudly,'
and is therefore used accurately here= 'sounded his lyre in warning.' Ovid,
A. A. 2. 493, describes the same thing: haec ego cum canerem, subito mani-
festus Apollo | movit inauratae pollice fila lyrae. 3. parva Tyrrhenum.
Note the antithesis, cf. 3. 3. 72 magna modis tenuare parvis; according to his
universal practice of preferring the special to the general, Horace selects the
Tyrrhene sea as an instance of a wide or large sea. 4. vela darem,
'spread my sails': for the same metaphor, cf. Virg. G. 2. 41 pelagoque
volans da vela patenti. Caesar. Augustus was a 'Caesar' as the adopted
son of Julius Caesar: but the name was gradually becoming a title, as it
has become in many modern languages, e.g. Kaiser, Czar, Shah.
•
•
•
5. fruges i.e. by making it possible to again cultivate the fields in
safety. 5-16. et. Note the repetition of et emphasising the accumulation
of blessings, and contrast the repetition of non 17-24. 6. et signa
cf. 1. 2. 22 n. nostro: because Jupiter Capitolinus was the god of
Rome, cf. Prop. 3. 11. 41 ausa Iovi nostro latrantem opponere Anubim. 8.
vacuum duellis, 'free from wars. For the form duellum cf. Ep. 1. 1. 6 n.
9. Ianum Quirini clausit. For a full account of Janus, see Ov. Fast. 1.
62-146 and Dict. s.v. The word is the masc. form of Diana (Ianus=Dyanus),
and probably was originally the title of the sun. In Italy, however, he is
always represented with two heads, and the patron of gates (ianuae), inas-
much as they look two ways, while the term Ianus is applied to any 'covered
way' or 'arcade' with two entrances. The name Ianus Quirini or Ianus
Quirinus was however specially applied to one such arcade, the doors of
OD
353
ODE XV
NOTES
which were open in time of war and shut in time of peace.
· •
It was
said that, whereas they had only been twice closed previously, viz. in the
reign of Numa and after the first Punic war, they were closed three times in
the reign of Augustus, viz. B.C. 29 and 24, and on one other occasion. Cf.
Suet. Oct. 22 Ianum Quirinum semel atque iterum a condita urbe clausum .
terra marique pace parta ter clausit. et ordinem. 'and curbed licence
that strayed outside the straight path.' 10. frena inicere is found even
in prose' to curb,' or 'restrain': on the other hand, dare frena'to give
the rein to,' 'give full scope to.' The metaphor in evaganti is from a horse
that in a race breaks away and leaves the rectus ordo or 'straight line' of the
course here however rectus ordo means also 'the path of rectitude.'
veteres artes, 'ancient arts,' i.e. the virtues of old Roman life, such as
thrift, temperance, simplicity, on which Horace dwells in Book 3. 1-6 and
which Augustus attempted to galvanise into life again by numerous statutes.
For ars in this sense, cf. 3. 3. 9 hac arte Pollux.
12.
15.
14. imperi. For contracted gen. cf. 1. 6. 12 n. imperium, lit. ‘military
sway,' then the 'state possessing military sway,' 'the Empire.'
maiestas. This word is technically used to describe the dignity (1) of the
gods, (2) of magistrates, and (3), most frequently, of the Roman State, e.g.
in the phrase maiestas populi Romani: maiestatem p. R. minuere or laedere
is 'to commit high treason,' and 'treason' is laesa maiestas (cf. Norman-
French lèse-majesté). The phrase imperi maiestas represents the State as a
living unit, embodying and reproducing all the glories of Roman history, and,
as such, to be deemed reverend and inviolable. Cf. Cic. pro Rab. 1. 2 maies-
tatis atque imperi, 'the imperial dignity' of Rome. 17. furor civilis,
'civil madness,' i.e. civil war, such as had for a century devastated Italy, and
made men indifferent to forms of government so long as they could enjoy that
otium which was the greatest gift and greatest safeguard of the Empire. 18.
For exiget, 'banish,' some MSS. read eximet, 'take away.' 20. inimicat: a
word invented by Horace. inimicus is usually distinguished from hostis as a
private from a public enemy; inimicus is one who might be a friend, hostis is
a stranger or foreigner: probably Horace therefore uses inimicat to bring out
more forcibly the idea that the strife between these 'hapless cities' is not 'a
war' but a 'family, domestic quarrel.'
•
21. qui profundum i.e. dwellers by the Danube, cf. 2. 20. 20 n.
22. edicta Iulia, 'the Julian decrees.' The word edictum is used loosely
here strictly it is the 'declaration' made by the praetor on entering office of
the principles by which he would be guided in administering justice. See
Dict. Ant. s.v. 23. Seres. Put for any remote Eastern nation, cf. 1. 12. 56.
infidi Persae, i.e. as always, the Parthians. Cf. Ep. 2. 1. 112 invenior
Parthis mendacior, where the expression seems proverbial. 'Perfidy' however
was a charge which the Romans commonly brought against successful op-
ponents, cf. 3. 5. 33 n. and 4. 4. 49.
25. nosque
•
·
•
•
'and we (for our part),' i.e. they shall keep peace and
we will enjoy it. et et, 'both.. and.' profestis: days which
were not dies festi. 26. inter iocosi
Cf. Macaulay's imitation at
the end of Horatius, 'When the oldest cask is opened,' etc. 29. virtute
functos duces: lit. 'leaders who have fulfilled a man's part,' i.e. who have
died after performing a man's part-'the heroic dead.' functus and defunctus
as expressing a completed task are continually applied to the dead, as being
those who rest from their labours,' either with or without (though this is
2 A
354
BOOK IV ODE XV
HORACE
somewhat post-classical) an abl. of the task completed; cf. 2. 18. 38 functum
laboribus. virtus from vir is 'all that may become a man'-'manliness' and
therefore frequently 'courage.' more patrum: with canemus. Cato the
Censor is quoted by Cicero (Tusc. 1. 2) as referring to this 'ancient custom':
est in Originibus solitos esse in epulis canere convivas ad tibicinem de clarorum
hominum virtutibus. 30. Lydis: the pipe was much used in Phrygia,
e.g. in the worship of Cybele. But 'Lydian' often describes a peculiar style of
music (ἡ Λυδιστὶ ἁρμονία Plat. Rep. 398 E), spoken of as μαλακὴ καὶ συμποτική
by Plato: others again speak of it as orgiastic and wild as opposed to the sober
solemnity of the 'Dorian mood.' remixto. This rare word expresses
the continuous alternation of song with music; cf. A. P. 151 veris falsa
remiscet, intertwines fact with fiction.' 31. almae, 'fostering,' 'kindly'
(3. 4. 42 and note)—the famous epithet of Venus immortalised by Lucretius
1. 2 Aeneadum genetrix, hominum divumque voluptas, | alma Venus. 32.
progeniem Veneris. Not Aeneas, but his great descendant Augustus.
EPODES
EPODE I
'You, Maecenas, are about to risk your life for Caesar in a naval combat.
What shall I do, to whom life without you is a burden? I will follow you to
the world's end, for, though I can be of no service, yet at your side my anxiety
will be less. Nor is my devotion due to hope of reward; I am already rich
enough by your bounty and have no desire for splendour or wealth.'
It is generally assumed that Maecenas was not present at Actium, on the
authority of Dio (51. 3), who states that he was left in charge of Italy; but
the author of an elegy on the death of Maecenas (which Bücheler holds to be
contemporary) definitely states that he was present (cum freta Niliacae texe-
runt laeta carinae, | fortis erat circum, fortis et ante ducem), and this view
agrees with the language of this and Epode 9.
1. Liburnis; propugnacula. The fleet of Augustus consisted chiefly
of the small, swift vessels known as Liburnian (see Dict.), which are con-
trasted with the huge, unwieldy galleons, with 6 to 9 banks of oars, which
supported Antony. Cf. the contrast between the English and Spanish fleets
in the case of the Armada. 5. 'to whom life, if ('tis mine) while thou
livest, is delight, if otherwise, a burden.' 6. si contra si te mortuo; euphe-
mism. 7. utrumne: S. 2. 6. 73 n. iussi, 'at thy bidding.' otium,
'repose,' which he could employ in poetic pursuits, as opposed to the 'toils
(laborem) of war.
9. laborem, sc. persequemur, or shall we follow up this toil (of war),
ready to bear it with such resolve as men not cowardly should bear it with?'
In the answer feremus corresponds to laturi and sequemur to persequemur in
inverted order (Chiasmus). 11. te emphatic by position. 12. inhospi-
talem C.: Od. 1. 22. 6 n. 13. sinum, 'nook,' 'recess'; cf. Virg. G.
2. 122 India
extremi sinus orbis. 15. roges, 'should you ask.'
19. ut
'as a bird brooding o'er her callow young.' adsidens,
not actually sitting on,' as the next lines show, but generally of the time
when she is sitting. 21. relictis, dat. She 'fears more for them when
left, though with them, they with her, she could aid no more (than if far
•
•
•
EPODE II
355
NOTES
away)'; lit. 'not likely, though present, to afford them present more aid.'
For the repetition of the same idea in adsit and praesentibus to give emphasis,
cf. Ter. Ad. 3. 3. 39 quia ades praesens; 4. 5. 34 hanc sibi videbit praesens
praesenti eripi; Virg. Aen. 4. 83 absens absentem audit.
24. in spem,
'to further my hope,' Wickham.
•
•
26. aratra nitantur, 'my ploughs may struggle'; the ploughs are
poetically said to do what the oxen drawing them do; nitantur suggests rich
strong land.
meis has much better authority than mea; cf. 2. 3 bobus
suis. 27. pecusve
or my flocks before the dog-star's heat change
from C. to L. pastures'; lit. 'take L. pastures in exchange for C.,' cf. Od.
1. 17. 2. For driving sheep from Calabria to the hills of Lucania in
summer cf. Ep. 2. 2. 177 and note. 29. superni, 'lofty.' Tusculum,
•
10 m. SE. of Rome, was on the summit of a mountain 2 m. above the
modern Frascati; Cicero had a favourite villa there. candens, 'gleam-
ing,' because built of marble. Circaea: because Tusculum was said to
>
have been founded by Telegonus (Od. 3. 29. 8), son of Ulysses and Circe.
32. haud paravero
'I will never seek to have amassed wealth, either,
like miserly Chremes, to bury it in earth or to squander it a dissolute rake.
33. Chremes: cf. A. P. 94 n. 34. discinctus: the loose garb indicates the
loose character. nepos: 'prodigal': the word has no connexion with nepos
'a grandson' and is derived from ne and possum (cf. Inpotens Od. 1. 37. 10)
indicating 'lack of self-control,' cf. S. 1. 4. 49 nepos filius, 'prodigal son.
EPODE II
'Blessed is the rustic who ploughs his land in peace remote from towns,
tends his vines and cattle, stores up honey and fruits (1-22). He can lie on the
grass lulled to sleep by the murmur of a stream, or in winter hunt (23-36).
Who, amid such joys, would miss the gallantries of town? While, with a
decent homely wife to pile up the fire and prepare the dinner for her good man's
return, I would ask for no foreign dainties in preference to a simple meal en-
joyed while watching the cattle coming home and the farm-servants taking their
supper round the glowing hearth.' So said the usurer Alfius, and after getting
in his money on the Ides is now eager to put it out again on the Kalends.
The praise of rural life is a commonplace with poets. Horace gives a
satirical tone to his treatment of it by the surprise (Tapà πрpoodoxiav) which
awaits the reader in the final four lines.
•
1. negotiis, 'business,' just as we use the word. You may work when
'far from business,' cf. 1. 7 n. otium. 2. prisca, 'ancient' (cf. Od. 3. 21. 11
n.), living in an ideal age of virtue and happiness. 3. exercet, 'works,'
cf. Virg. G. 1. 99 exercetque frequens tellurem. 4. solutus
free from
all usury,' i.e. his stock (cf. suis) and farm are his own; he has no mortgage
to worry him. The full point of faenore is only betrayed line 67. 6.
horret, 'shudders at,' as a sailor. For the acc. cf. Od. 2. 13. 26 n. 7.
superba, 'the haughty thresholds (='antechambers') of more powerful
citizens,' i.e. the great from whom he seeks favours.
9. ergo
'and so (i.e. because free from such cares) he either weds
the tall poplars with the full-grown offspring of the vine.' For the 'marriage
of the vine to its supporting tree, cf. Od. 4. 5. 30 n. adulta: Columella
gives three years as the age. propago is technical for a 'layer,' which is ob-
tained by pegging (cf. πýyvvμ, propago) down a shoot in the ground until it
356
EPODE
HORACE
takes root and then cutting it off from the parent plant. 11. mugientium,
oxen ; so elsewhere in poetry balantes 'sheep,' volantes 'birds,' natantes
'fishes. 14. feliciores inserit, 'engrafts more fertile ones': both words
are technical, cf. Virg. G. 2. 69, 81. 15. pressa: cf. Virg. G. 4. 140
spumantia cogere pressis | mella favis. The honey was first allowed to drain
of itself out of the combs and then the remainder was 'pressed' out; Colum.
9. 15. 16. infirmas, not 'sickly,' but 'unresisting'; cf. Is. liii. 7.
17. vel.. ' or when Autumn (personified as a deity) has raised among
the fields his head decked with ripe fruits.' 19. gaudet decerpens,
'delights to pluck' or 'in plucking'; ñderaι dpéπwv. insitiva, cf. inserit
line 14, implies that they are choice sorts. 21. Priape. Cf. S. 1. 8. 2 n.;
Virg. G. 4. 111. 22. tutor finium. Some say that Silvanus was especially
(like Terminus) 'a guardian of boundaries,' but the words here only appeal
to him as 'guardian of the farm,' cf. the use of fines Od. 3. 18. 2. 24.
tenaci, 'clinging,' as being strong and well-rooted. Others 'matted';
Wickham 'that makes a couch from which you do not slip.'
•
•
•
•
•
25. interim interea, i.e. while you lie. altis . . ripis: cf. Quin-
tilian 12. 2 ut vis amnium maior est altis ripis multoque gurgitis tractu
fluentium quam tenuis aquae which shows that the phrase is used of a
full stream flowing high up its banks so as to be nearly on a level with their
top. Orelli explains 'between their high banks.' vet. Bland. has rivis=‘with
brimming water-courses,' Wickham. 27. obstrepunt, sc. iacenti, ‘foun-
tains with their flowing waters make melody (for him as he lies) to woo .
cf. Theocr. 8. 78 ἡδὺ δὲ τῶ θέρεος παρ᾽ ὕδωρ ῥέον αἰθριοκοιτῆν. Markland
conjectured frondes; cf. Prop. 5. 4. 4 multaque nativis obstrepit arbor aquis.
29. annus hibernus, 'the wintry season,' cf. Od. 3. 23. 8 n.
33. aut ămi tě lēvi, not aut à¦mitě lěv|i, for a tribrach divided after the
second syllable spoils the beat of an iambic; cf. below 35, 57, 61; 3. 17; 5. 85.
rara, 'meshed'; like levi purely pictorial. 34. dolos: merely 'snares.'
Nauck gives 'baits' to tempt the 'gourmand thrushes' (cf. Hom. Od. 12. 252
ἰχθύσι τοῖς ὀλίγοισι δόλον κατὰ εἴδατα βάλλων), but if so the apposition
between retia and dolos is very harsh. 35. The short syllables in the line
express the idea of rapid flight. For laqueo in 5th foot cf. 5. 79 inferius,
though there perhaps i is semi-consonantal. advenam: because the
crane comes to Italy from the north in winter. 37. See Summary. amor:
in a bad sense= gallantry' as opposed to simple domestic life. The correc-
tion Roma quas is easy and needless. For the noun (curas) attracted into the
relative clause cf. 6. 8; S. 1. 4. 2. 39. in partem, ‘for (i.e. so as to
fulfil) her part.' iuvet, 'were to help.'
41. Sabina: cf. Od. 3. 6. 38 seq. solibus: cf. Ep. 1. 20. 24. 42.
pernicis A.: cf. Od. 3. 16. 26. 44. lassi . . . 'ready for her weary
husband's return'; cf. Lucr. 3. 894 seq.; Gray's Elegy 21 'For them no more
the blazing hearth shall burn, | Or busy housewife ply her evening care.'
45. textis cratibus, i.e. wattle hurdles. 47. dolio. Common wine
drunk the same year (horna) was not bottled (in amphoras diffundere), but
drawn straight from the dolium or 'cask,' as we should say.
49. conchylia, 'oysters,' for which the Lucrine lake near Baiae was cele-
brated, Juv. 4. 141. 51. intonata: from intono quae intonuit; cf.
placitus, concretus, iuratus, suetus, cenatus, potus. Storms in the East are
supposed to drive the rare fish just mentioned into Roman seas. 53. Afra
avis: Juv. 11. 141='guinea-fowl.' 54. attagen: åτтayâs, 'heathcock.'
III
357
NOTES
55. iucundior: predicatively, 'would go down into my stomach with more
relish.' pinguissimis cf. Judges ix. 9 'But the olive tree said.
Should I leave my fatness. . . ? '
Celsus 2. 29 alvum movent
vae.
•
·
•
•
•
57. gravi.. 'mallows that bring health to the burdened body'; cf.
malvae, lapathum; Od. 1. 31. 16 leves mal-
59. vel agna
His simple diet is only varied with meat on
such occasions as the sacrifice of a lamb at the Terminalia (a feast in honour
of Terminus, 'god of boundary-stones,' held Feb. 23) or when a wolf happens
to be caught carrying off a kid it had just killed. Sacrifices in antiquity were
usually accompanied by a feast on such portions of the victim as were not
actually consumed on the altar. 61. pastas, 'from pasture'
fed,' from pascor.
62. Note the exultant emphasis of videre
•
lit. 'having
videre,
'what joy to see . . . to see ..!' Also note the change from rapid
65.
to slow rhythmic movement between lines 61, 62 and lines 63, 64.
postos, 'sitting at supper': cf. S. 2. 6. 66. examen, ‘swarm,' as of bees.
67-70. See Summary. The Ides and Kalends (especially the latter, when the
monthly interest fell due; S. 1. 3. 87) were natural days for money settlements.
EPODE III
A comic imprecation against garlic, which Maecenas in joke (20) has
fraudulently induced Horace to eat in some dish, and which he compares to
hemlock, adder's venom, Canidia's poisons, Medea's unguents, the fiery heat
of an Apulian midsummer, and the Nessus-shirt which burned up Hercules.
Od. 4. 4. 5 n. For patricide as a type of
inpia, 'unnatural.' 3. edit: an old
4. o dura
The exclamation marks
•
•
1. olim, 'at any time,' 'ever';
blackest guilt, cf. Od. 2. 13. 5.
form of subj.; cf. S. 2. 8. 90 n.
a spasm of pain. For the taste of 'reapers' for garlic cf. Virg. Ecl. 2. 10
Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus aestu | alia serpyllumque herbas contundit
olentes. 5. quid hoc veneni 'what strange poison is this that rages
in my vitals?' For the graphic quid hoc veneni cf. Ter. Hec. 4. 4. 2 quid
mulieris uxorem habes? Plaut. Rud. 1. 2. 60 quid illuc est hominum?
'Or did Canidia handle the accursed dish?' For Canidia cf. Epod. 5.
•
·
8.
11. tauris
ignota:
9. 'When beyond all the Argonauts Medea marvelled at their glorious
chief, that he might fasten (lit. 'when about to fasten') on the bulls the un-
known yoke, with this did she anoint Jason.' See for the story Class. Dict.
s.v. Argonautae. candidum: in the glow of youth and beauty.
is really governed by both the words between which it stands.
because they had never been broken in. 13. hoc picking up the pre-
ceding hoc emphatically--' with this she steeped her gifts taking vengeance on
a concubine and fled
The potent antidote was also a potent poison.
donis: a wéwλos and golden crown, cf. Eur. Med. 949. paelicem: cf.
Od. 3. 10. 15 n.: so Medea would call Creusa daughter of Creon (q. v. in
Class. Dict.) whom Jason was about to wed, cf. 5. 63. 14. serpente, 'dragon.'
15. siderum vapor, 'heat of the stars,' i.e. especially of the dog-star, cf. 1.
27. 17. munus. The garment steeped in the blood of the centaur Nessus,
which Deianira gave Hercules to act as a love-charm, but which clung to him
and burned him to death; cf. 17. 31. umeris: pictorial, suggesting his
strength. efficacis: 'laborious,' recalling his Twelve Labours.
at: as often in curses, cf. 5. 1.
19.
358
EPODE
HORACE
EPODE IV
There is strife between us, you whipped slave. Pride does not alter breed-
ing, and as you strut down the street men cry indignantly—" This scoundrel
has estates, carriages, and a seat in the theatre among the knights. Why
equip a fleet against brigands and slaves when he—yes, he—is a tribune of the
soldiers?"
The Epode is addressed to an arrogant and upstart freedman, whom the
scholiasts call Menas or Menodorus, a freedman of Sex. Pompeius and a com-
mander of his fleet, who deserted to Octavian in B.C. 38. It is safer to assume
that we have merely a type of those wealthy freedmen who from the time of
Sulla begin to figure so prominently in Roman society.
•
1. lupis
The 'enmity' between wolves and lambs is proverbial, cf.
15. 7 ; Hom. Il. 22. 263 οὐδὲ λύκοι τε καὶ ἄρνες ὁμόφρονα θυμὸν ἔχουσιν : Shaks.
Merch. of Ven. IV. i. 73. sortito, i.e. by the allotment, appointment of
fate or nature. 3. Hibericis: made of spartum, 'Spanish broom,' 'es-
parto-grass,' largely used now for making paper. peruste, scarred':
cf. Ep. 1. 16. 47 loris non ureris. 5. ambules, 'strut along,' cf. 5. 71;
Od. 4. 5. 17. In line 7 metiente describes his pompous 'pacing' of the
street. 7. Sacram viam led through the Forum to the Capitol - a
fashionable place for loungers, cf. S. 1. 9. 1. 8. bis
opposite of the toga arta of the humble client, Ep. 1. 18. 30, or exigua of Cato,
Ep. 1. 19. 13. trium is a correction of the MS. ter.
•
•
=
toga: the
9. vertat avertat, 'turns away.' Others say advertat, but, if you see
a man and turn your face, it must be turned away. huc et huc (= huc
et illuc) is most naturally taken with euntium, though Nauck takes it with
vertat, 'turns away in every direction.' 10. liberrima, 'most free' or 'un-
restrained' = 'most free-spoken.' The next lines give the language in which
they indulge. 11. triumviralibus, i.e. of the triumviri capitales, see
Dict. Ant. 12. praeconis ad f. 'until the very officer was weary (of his
task)': the praeco seems to be an officer who during the flogging publicly
proclaims the nature of the offence, punishment, etc.; cf. Plat. Leg. 11. 917 D
τῇ μάστιγι τυπτέσθω πληγὰς ὑπὸ κήρυκος · · κηρύξαντος ὧν ἕνεκα μέλλει
τύπτεσθαι. 13. Falerni: named because famous for its vineyards. 14. Ap-
piam: named as the most famous Roman road, constantly thronged with
travellers, cf. Ep. 1. 6. 26. mannis: cf. Od. 3. 27. 7; like our 'in his
carriage.' 16. For Otho's law reserving the first fourteen rows in the theatre
(next to the orchestra where senators sat) for the equites, cf. Ep. 1. 1. 62 n.
This upstart relies on his wealth and forgets the disqualification of his birth.
The struggle for these seats by parvenus is perpetually referred to; cf. Juv. 3.
153 seq.
17. ora
'beaked prows of ships vast in bulk'; for the
rostra see illustrations in Dict. Ant. s. v. navis. 19. latrones
Sex.
Pompeius manned his fleet in B.C. 36 with 'brigands and slaves,' cf. 9. 7-9.
20. hoc, hoc. This repetition is common in the Epodes, cf. 5. 53; 6. 11;
7. 1; 14. 6; 17. 1, 7.
►
•
EPODE V
•
The witch Canidia prepares a charm with which to secure the affections of
the aged Varus, and with this object is about to kill a young boy. (1-10)
He appeals for pity: (11-24) Canidia gets ready various ingredients, while
Sagana, another hag, helps (25-28), and Veia (29-40) digs a pit in which the
V
359
NOTES
boy is to be buried up to the chin and starved to death, a fourth witch, Folia,
being also present (41-46): (47-82) Canidia prays the powers of evil to bring
Varus to her doors, and then breaks off (61) to ask why her spells avail not.
'Can some more skilful sorceress have prevailed over her? Never! A still
more potent philtre shall fire his passion.' Then (83-102) the boy, seeing
prayers are idle, breaks out into a curse and threatens them with the ven-
geance of his ghost. The scholiasts say that Canidia (17.50; S. 1. 8. 24) was
really called Gratidia, and was an old flame of Horace's. Such guesses seem
futile, and this Epode is only an immature attempt to depict one of those scenes
of magic, which were popular with ancient readers; cf. Virgil's Pharmaceutria,
Ecl. 8, and its original in Theocr. 2. For the murder of the boy cf. the
well-known story of St. Hugh of Lincoln.
• •
•
1. at: common in entreaties, prayers, and imprecations. It marks the
sudden outburst of words that will no longer be controlled, cf. 3. 19; Virg.
Aen. 2. 535; Plaut. Most. 1. 1. 37 at te di omnes perdant; Catull. 3. 13 at
vobis male sit—'Nay, but, O all ye gods that (lit. 'whatever of gods') rule..
what means that (iste, deictic) uproar?' For deorum quidquid cf. S. 1. 6. 1
Lydorum quidquid . . . incoluit; Catull. 3. 2 et quantum est hominum venus-
tiorum, where the phrase is, as here, used as a vocative. 3. omnium, unum:
artistic contrast. 5. si vocata 'if ever at thy prayer Lucina aided
true travail.' The words have two meanings: (1) 'if ever (='as surely as':
C. S. 37 n.) thou hast been a mother'; (2) they contain an innuendo that she
never has had a child of her own, cf. 17. 50. 6. Lucina: C. S. 14 n. adfuit:
commonly of deities being present to aid, cf. line 53. 7. inane, 'idle,' i. e.
if it does not serve to save him. purpurae decus, i.e. the toga praetexta
which marks the sanctity of youth; cf. Quint. Decl. 340 sacrum praetextarum
quo infirmitatem pueritiae sacram facimus; Juv. 14. 47. It was worn
until the taking of the toga virilis. It and a golden amulet (bulla) are the
insignia pueritiae, cf. line 12. 8. inprobaturum: litotes.
.
9. noverca. The hatred of 'stepmothers' was proverbial: cf. Tac. Ann.
12. 2 novercalibus odiis; Sen. Contr. 4. 6 novercalibus oculis intueri; Virg. Ecl.
3. 33 iniusta noverca. 11. trementi, ‘quivering.' 13. inpube corpus,
a childish shape.' 14. Thracum, i.e. of the rudest barbarians; cf. Od.
1. 27. 2. 15. 'Canidia, having her locks and dishevelled head entwined
with tiny adders.' Note the excited short syllables. Canidia is described as
a Fury; cf. furiale caput, Od. 3. 11. 17 of the snake-crowned head of Cerberus,
and see head of Medusa in Smith's Dict. For brevibus cf. Ov. Her. 2. 119
Alecto brevibus torquata colubris; A. A. 2. 376 nec brevis ignaro vipera laesa
pede. The adj. contrasts them with other snakes which are of great length.
17. caprificos: often found growing among tombs, cf. Juv. 10. 145. 18.
cupressos: Od. 2. 14. 23 n. 19. 'and eggs besmeared with a foul toad's
blood and feathers of
The eggs are those of the screech-owl, but the
position of ova next to ranae is awkward. Shakespeare puts in his witches'
cauldron 'toad,' 'toe of frog,' and 'owlet's wing,' Macbeth IV. i. 21.
Iolcos, in Thessaly, which was famous for witchcraft, cf. Od. 1. 27. 21.
Hiberia, in Pontus the land of Medea, cf. Colchicis below and Od. 2. 13. 8. 22.
venenorum ferax, 'fruitful in poisons'; gen. of abundance, cf. Od. 3. 6. 17 n.
•
"
•
•
25. expedita=succincta; S. 1. 8. 23 n. 26. Avernales a., i.e. water
from lake Avernus, where was the reputed entrance to hell; the opposite of
'holy water,' pura unda (Virg. Aen. 6. 229) used in purification; cf. Virg.
Aen. 4. 512. 28. currens balances expedita: the word suggests a boar
360
EPODE
HORACE
charging with his bristles up, cf. Ov. Hal. 60 actus aper saetis iram denuntiat
hirtis, | et ruit. 29. Probably='deterred by no consciousness (of guilt),'
i.e. not troubling herself to think whether she is guilty or not. Wickham
prefers 'not one whit deterred by her consciousness (of guilt).' 32. 'That
the boy buried there might die in contemplation of . .
The food was set
before him and changed in order to increase his anguish. 34. inemori:
only found here, governs dat. like ingemens, line 31.
•
35. cum 'while his head projected (above the ground), as much as
bodies (of swimmers) suspended by the chin rise above the water.' 36. sus-
pensa mento is pictorial; the chin rests on the water and so the swimmer is
described as hanging by it. 37. exsecta. So the best MSS., not exsucta
('drained out,' 'dried up'), which is not required, for aridum goes with both
substantives—that cut out his (parched) marrow and parched liver . . .
38. amoris poculum, 'a love-philtre,' piλтρov. 39. 'When once his
eyes
had grown glazed (in death) fixed on the forbidden food.' interminato
in a passive sense, cf. Od. 1. 1. 25 n. 40. pupulae (dim. of pupa)=kópaι,
lit. 'dolls'; the reflected image of the observer seen in the eye, and so 'the
eye' or 'pupil' itself.
43. otiosa N.: 'idle Naples' is mentioned to give a semblance of reality
(so too Ariminensem), and also as a town which, with its chattering Greek
population and reputation for laziness, would possess the latest scandal with
fullest details. 45. Thessala. Cf. Od. 1. 27. 21; and for 'charming the
moon out of Heaven,' 17. 4; Virg. Ecl. 8. 69 carmina vel caelo possunt de-
ducere lunam ; Plat. Gorg. 513 Α τὰς τὴν σελήνην καθαιρούσας τὰς Θετταλίδας.
47. inresectum, 'untrimmed,' with long sharp nails-as hags, witches, and
beldams are represented in all ages; the opposite of sectis unguibus 'trim
nails,' Od. 1. 6. 18. 49. quid.. 'what did she say or leave unsaid,'
i.e. she said everything that was conceivably possible; cf. Ep. 1. 7. 72 dicenda
tacenda locutus and note. 50. arbitrae, 'witnesses': Od. 1. 3. 15 n. 51.
Diana. More often called Trivia, Hecate, Luna in connexion with witchcraft.
55. formidolosis, 'awe-inspiring'; cf. Virg. G. 4. 467 et caligantem
nigra formidine lucum. Many MSS. give formidolosae, but the balance of
the sentence makes it probable that silvis has an adj. like ferae and sopore.
For a truer picture of beasts of prey at night cf. Ps. civ. 20-22. 57.
'May the hounds of the Subura bark, so that (lit. 'a thing at which') all
may laugh, at the adulterous old man besmeared with unguents such that my
hands never compounded any more perfect.' The Subura was a street of bad
repute running through the valley between the Esquiline, Quirinal and Viminal.
Canidia imagines old Varus hurrying to her house in it so perfumed that all
the dogs sniff and bark at him. The 'unguent' is probably one she has sent
him, and is supposed to exercise a charm over him, cf. line 69.
61. barbarae- Colchicae (line 24): the word suggests something 'out-
landish' and dreadful.
63. superbam, 'proud,' because deeming herself
victorious. paelicem
Cf. 3. 13 n. Medea gave Creusa a robe on
her marriage, which burnt her to death when she put it on. 69. unctis...
'a couch smeared with forgetfulness (i.e. with drugs that bring forgetfulness)
of all (my) rivals.' She had covered even his couch with magic unguents.
71. a, a! An excited cry as it strikes her why Varus has broken her bonds.
ambulat: pictorial (cf. 4. 5 n.) indicating his easy satisfied air.
mine, 'by the spell.'
-
72. car-
73. The picture presented to her mind in 71, 72 rouses her rage and
VI
361
NOTES
resolution. 'No ordinary (litotes, cf. Od. 1. 18. 9 n.) potions shall make thee
hurry back to me, O Varus, thou that art soon to smart severely for this, and
not summoned by Marsian spells (cf. 17. 29; Virg. Aen. 7. 758) shall thy
heart return (to me): something more powerful will I prepare, a more power-
ful draught will I administer to thee in thy pride.' She means that giving up
ordinary means she will kill the boy to prepare a draught; hence his outburst,
line 83. Porphyrion takes nec vocata 'nor shall thy (sane) mind ever
return to thee though recalled by Marsian spells,' but redibit is clearly parallel
to recurres and so ad me must be supplied with it. 74. caput can be applied
to a person in emotional language (e.g. of hate, affection, mirth), and so
commonly infandum, carum, festivum caput, and in Gk. & píλov, σkλnpòv kápa.
fleturum: cf. Gk. kλalwv=‘to your cost,' kλaúσel, 'you will pay for it.'
83. sub haec, 'thereupon': sub with acc. is sometimes 'just after' as
well as 'just before.' 84. lenire: historic inf. used dramatically. 85.
sed 'but doubtful whence to break the silence (i.e. not knowing with
what words to begin in his despair) he hurled forth a Thyestean curse,' i.e.
one like that of Thyestes, when he cursed his brother Atreus, for serving up
to him at a meal the flesh of his sons, cf. Aesch. Ag. 1560 seq.
• •
·
87. venena ・ ・ ・ (1) magic rites (can change the) great (laws of) right
and wrong, (but) cannot change human retribution,' i.e. though they may be
able to murder him and so confound the great laws of right and wrong (cf.
Soph. Ant. 797 tŵv µeɣáλwv 0eoμŵv: Virg. G. 1. 505 fas versum atque nefas),
yet they cannot render idle that human vengeance (cf. Od. 1. 28. 32 vices
superbae) which he immediately proceeds to threaten them with. So most
take this perplexing passage, supplying convertere valent with the first clause;
cf. Cic. ad Att. 10. 1. The construction, however, is very doubtful, while
it is certainly harsh to speak of magic rites as able to prevail over everlasting
laws of right and wrong, but unable to prevail over mere human vengeance.
(2) Taking humanam vicem adverbially (see vicem in Dict.) 'magic cannot
confound the laws of right and wrong as if they were human things.' The
words which follow, however, show that vicem is here 'retribution.' (3)
Haupt's conjecture maga non is largely adopted, 'magic drugs cannot change
right and wrong, cannot change (4) It is possible to make magnum
f. n. a parenthical exclamation, 'magic rites-great are the (or 'O great')
laws of right and wrong-cannot change human retribution.'
•
89. diris: abl. of dirae, 'curses.' agam, 'pursue.' 94. deorum
Manium. Cf. the regular inscription on tombstones D.M.=dis Manibus.
They represent the 'spirit' or 'ghost' of the departed, and as such have
power' (vis) to haunt his murderers. 100. Esquilinae. Part of the
Esquiline hill outside the walls was a common burying-ground for the poorest
of the poor, cf. S. 1. 8. 8-13. The witches are to be flung out here unburied
for carrion-birds to feed on, while the boy's parents gloat over the spectacle.
For the hiatus in the final syllable (probably with shortening) before alites
cf. S. 1. 9. 38 si me amas; Virg. Aen. 3. 211 insulae Ionio.
<
EPODE VI
Why, like a cur, worry harmless strangers and shrink from a wolf?
Why not attack me, for I can bite back? I, like a well-bred hound, follow up
the quarry; you give tongue grandly and then begin smelling at a bone.
Beware, for I have horns to attack scoundrels with as vigorously as ever
362
EPODE
HORACE
Archilochus or Hipponax did. Or do you expect me when attacked to sit down
and cry like a child?'
The Epode is addressed to some cowardly libeller.
•
3. vertis. vet. Bland. gives verte (and pete) which would involve
altering the order to verte, si potes, but the balance of the double question
quid vexas? and quin vertis? is clearly marked, and either construction
is lawful, cf. Virg. Ecl. 2. 71 quin paras? Aen. 4. 547 quin morere !
5. Molossus; Lacon. The dogs of the Molossi in Epirus and of the
Spartans were famous ; cf. Soph. Αj. 8 κυνός Λακαίνης ὥς τις εὔρινος βάσις:
Virg. G. 3. 405 veloces Spartae catulos acremque Molossum; Shaks. Mid.
Night's Dream IV. i. 124 'my hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind . .
6. amica vis, 'stout friends to shepherds'; cf. Lucr. 4. 681 permissa canum
vis; Virg. Aen. 4. 132 odora canum vis, the phrase being copied from Homer's
ἱερὴ ἴς Τηλεμάχοιο, ς ανέμοιο etc. 7. sublata, 'pricked up.' 8. For
fera attracted into the relative clause cf. 2. 37 n.
>
12. cornua. The metaphor is changed to that of a bull which gores or
tosses its enemy; cf. S. 1. 4. 34. 13. 'Like him whom faithless L. spurned
as his son-in-law, or the foe fierce against (the dat. with acer) Bupalus.' For
Lycambes cf. Ep. 1. 19. 25 n. Hipponax was an iambic poet of exceptional
ugliness, and Bupalus a sculptor who produced a caricature of him.
an often introduces an absurd or impossible suggestion in the shape of a
question, cf. 17. 76. atro dente, 'with venomous tooth': cf. Ep. 1. 19.
30 versibus atris; Virg. G. 1. 129 ille malum virus serpentibus addidit atris.
EPODE VII
15.
'Why this unholy strife? Has not blood enough been shed by sea and land,
not to win triumphs over foes but that Rome might perish by her own hand?
Even beasts do not war upon their kind.
Tell me,
"Are ye mad or what?'
They have no answer, but stand terror-stricken and dazed. Assuredly the curse
of a brother's blood pursues the descendants of Romulus.'
Written probably about 36 B.C. with reference to the war against Sex.
Pompeius, and interesting as one of Horace's earliest efforts to deal with great
national events.
•
2. aptantur: pictorial: they try the disused swords to see whether they
'fit' their grasp.
3. campis. Cf. Od. 2. 1. 30. Neptuno: Od. 2. 1. 34.
7. intactus, 'unconquered.' Horace ignores the hurried invasion by Julius
Caesar; to him the Britons are the type of remote unsubdued barbarians.
descenderet: for the descent of the via Sacra cf. Od. 4. 2. 35 n. Just
before the triumphator began the ascent from the forum to the Capitol the
captives were dismissed to the dungeon to be executed (Cic. in Verr. 2. 5. 77).
9. secundum 'in accordance with the Parthians' prayers,' i.e. to
the joy of your foes, ef. Hom. I. 1. 255 ή κεν γηθήσαι Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε
Taîdes: 2 Sam. i. 20 'Tell it not in Gath. . lest the daughters of the
Philistines rejoice.' sua: abl. 'by its own right hand,' i.e. by civil war.
11. Neither wolves nor lions have ever, with all their fierceness, had such
custom save against another kind.' The startling position of feris is due to a
desire to emphasise it-'neither wolves nor lions have ever done so, and they
are fierce savage beasts, not men.' The conjecture numquam makes the lines
smoother but less effective-'neither lions nor wolves have this habit, never
fierce except against another kind.' 12. dispar: neut. adj. used=subst., as
IX
363
NOTES
·
•
•
'is it (1)
>
often with prepositions, e.g. in melius, in tutum. 13. furorne
blind madness, or (2) is it a stronger power, is it guilt that hurries you along?
Then sic est accepts the latter alternative: it is vis acrior and culpa, the former
in the reply becoming acerba fata, and the latter scelus fraternae necis. 'Yes,'
says the poet, 'it is a stronger power and guilt that master you the cruel
destiny which the crime of a brother's blood brings with it.' 19. ut, ‘ever
since,' Od. 4. 4. 42 n. in terram: graphic; cf. Gen. iv. 10 'The voice of
thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.'
EPODE IX
'When, Maecenas, shall we celebrate a triumphal feast in your palace at
Rome, as we did lately after the defeat of that sea-captain who armed slaves to
destroy Roman freedom? Now Romans sell themselves as slaves to the service
of eunuchs and an eastern queen, although, chafing at such disgrace, even
Gauls deserted to Caesar, and her own fleet refuses to fight. O Triumph-god,
dost thou delay the triumphal procession, though never hast thou conducted
home so great a leader? Changing his purple robe for mourning the conquered
foe is flying to lands afar. Boy, bring larger goblets and stronger wine to
check these rising qualms: in wine we will forget our care and fear for Caesar.'
•
5.
The dramatic scene is at sea on the evening of Sep. 2 B.C. 31, just after the
battle of Actium, at which Maecenas was present with Horace; cf. the graphic
sinistrorsum line 20, fluentem nauseam line 35 and Epod. 1 Intr. The language
is not that of assured triumph, but indicates that doubt and uncertainty still
remain (cf. line 1 quando, 21 moraris, 37 curam metumque) as to the final issue.
1. quando. The word expresses longing; cf. S. 2. 6. 60 o rus, quando ego te
aspiciam, quandoque licebit . . ? Od. 1. 24. 8. repostum (by syncope for
repositum) = reconditum, Od. 3. 28. 2 n. Caecubum: a choice wine, cf. Od.
1. 20. 9; 37. 5. 3. sub alta.. In his palace on the Esquiline, the
turris Maecenatis, cf. Od. 3. 29. 10 n. sic Iovi gratum: 'such is Jove's
pleasure,' i. e. that some day we should hold the feast in your palace.
'while the lyre makes melody blended with the pipes, it in Dorian, they in
foreign strains.' For the Phrygian music of the pipe (or pipes, for they were
usually double, see illustration in Dict. Ant.) cf. Od. 3. 19. 18 n. ; it is here
contrasted with the deeper notes of the lyre, the Dorian style of music (ʼn
Awpiσrí) being severe and sober, whereas the Phrygian ( Þρvyɩσrí) was high-
pitched and exciting. The two instruments were continually played together,
e.g. Hom. Il. 18. 495 αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον. 7. Neptunius dux: Sex.
Pompeius, defeated by Agrippa near Messana B. c. 36, fled to Lesbos and Asia,
where he was taken prisoner and put to death by Antony. He styled himself
son of Neptune, cf. Appian, B. C. 5. 100 έθνε μόνον θαλάσσῃ καὶ Ποσειδώνι,
καὶ υἱὸς αὐτῶν ὑφίστατο καλεῖσθαι φασὶ δ᾽ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τούτων χαυνούμενον
καὶ τὴν συνήθη τοῖς αὐτοκράτορσι χλαμυδα ἐκ φοινικῆς ἐς κυανῆν μεταλλάξαι.
9. minatus.. 'he who had threatened Rome with the fetters he had
torn from perjured slaves.' He manned his fleet largely with slaves who
deserted (cf. perfidis) to him. The character of his followers is emphasised
because it leads up (servis line 10, servire line 14) to the thought which
follows: Horace had celebrated one feast for a victory over slaves and hopes
to celebrate another. 12. emancipatus. The opposite of our 'emanci-
pated' and=‘enslaved,' made the mancipium ('chattel') of some one; cf.
Plaut. Bacch. 1. 1. 59 nunc, mulier, tibi me emancipo; tuus sum. 13. Nauck
rightly places a comma after arma to bring out the double antithesis of
•
•
364
EPODE
HORACE
Romanus )( emancipatus feminae, and miles )( spadonibus.
vallum. These
valli 'stakes' were carried' by Roman troops to serve in making the vallum
for the camp.
14. potest, roλuâ, 'can bring himself to,' though such an act
seems impossible for a Roman. 16. sol aspicit: the sun is the universal
witness to all that happens upon earth, especially to deeds of shame and
wrong; cf. Aesch. Prom. 91 kai тòν TаνÓTтην kúkλov λlov кaλ: Shelley,
Prom. 'I ask yon Heaven, the all-beholding Sun, Has it not seen?' Soph.
Aj. 845; 2 Sam. xii. 11 'in the sight of this sun'; 12 'before all Israel and
before the sun. conopium: kwvwπeîov (kwvwy, ‘a mosquito '), our 'canopy,'
is (1) 'a mosquito-tent,' (2) 'a curtained bed' and so a sign of effeminate
luxury; cf. Prop. 3. 11. 45 foedaque Tarpeio conopia tendere saxo.
•
-
17. at huc
and yet two thousand Gauls, chanting Caesar's name,
turned their snorting steeds hither (i. e. deserted to us).' The Gauls who thus
deserted Antony were Galatians (Táλara, Kéλra) under king Deiotarus.
Wickham with many MSS. reads ad hunc, and explains frementes as nom.
='chafing at such a sight,' hunc being militem spadonibus servientem,
but such Latin is dubious, and frementes must go with equos (cf. Od. 4. 4. 23,
Hom. II. 4. 227 iππоνs pνotówvras), the very horses being described as
'snorting' with indignation. Orelli read at hoc and also took frementes as
nom. directly governing hoc, 'indignant at such a thing.' In any case
the conduct of these barbarians is contrasted with that of the Romans in
Antony's service. Notice verterunt, as elsewhere in poetry tulěrunt, deděrunt.
19. The meaning of these lines is obscure. They are closely connected with
the preceding lines by que and so must mark some similar conduct on the part
of some vessels of the fleet, which are described as now 'lying hid in harbour
(i.e. the Ambracian gulf) and not joining Antony and Cleopatra. But what
is sinistrorsum citae, and why the odd phrase navium puppes? The latter is
the opposite of ora navium 4. 17, and so would suggest retreat as opposed to
attack, so that perhaps we may take citae as a part. and puppim ciere=
ȧvαкроúεσlαι πрúμvаν, 'back water,' while sinistrorsum is a graphic word
ανακρούεσθαι πρύμναν,
natural enough if the writer actually saw them so backing 'to the left' into
the Ambracian gulf. Porphyrion explains of flight 'towards Egypt,' which
would be to the left of a fleet facing west; and so Orelli etsi ad fugam
sinistrorsum vocantur, tamen Cleopatram destituerunt portuque latent.
21. io Triumphe. Cf. Od. 4. 2. 49. 22. intactas, i.e. that have never
borne the yoke; cf. Virg. G. 4. 539 intacta cervice iuvencas; Aen. 6. 38 grege
de intacto mactare iuvencos. The reference is to the white bulls (boves is
used fem. according to poetical custom) bred by the river Clitumnus (Virg. G.
2. 146) specially for sacrifice in a triumph. 23. 'neither in the Jugurthine
war didst thou bring home such a leader (as Caesar), nor Africanus (sc.
reportasti parem ducem), for whom valour reared his monument over Carthage.'
Marius led Jugurtha in triumph, Jan. 1, 104 B.C.; Scipio destroyed Carthage
B.C. 146. Carthage is described as the 'sepulchre' (i.e. everlasting monument)
which Scipio by his valour reared for himself. For sepulchrum in this sense
cf. Stat. Silv. 2. 71 et Pharo superba | Pompeio dabis altius sepulchrum, where
Lucan's poem the Pharsalia is described as a 'loftier memorial of Pompey than
the proud Pharos.' Africano (sc. bello) has some authority, but 'a war for which
(Roman) valour reared the sepulchre over (the ruins of) Carthage' is a startling
phrase instead of 'which Roman valour brought to an end by burning Carthage,'
and not to be justified by such a use of sepelire as Cic. pro L. Man. 11. 30
bellum. adventu [Pompeii] sublatum ac sepultum.
X
365
NOTES
29.
27. punico. The reference is to the purple paludamentum of a Roman
general. It is sometimes called sagum purpureum to distinguish it from the
sagum gregale of the common soldier, which Antony here adopts as a sign of
mourning. 28. mutavit, 'has taken in exchange,' cf. Od. 1. 17. 2 n.
centum. Cf. Od. 3. 27. 33 n. 30. non suis: litotes=very unfavour-
able; cf. Ov. Trist. 3. 5. 4 nave mea vento forsan eunte suo. 31. Syrtes.
Cf. Od. 1. 22. 5. exercitatas: cf. Od. 4. 14. 21. 32. aut fertur
• •
•
or drifts over the uncertain sea,' i.e. is carried aimlessly wherever chance of
wind and wave takes him.
34. Chia. Cf. Od. 1. 17. 21 n.
Cf. Od. 1. 17. 21 n. It and Lesbian were light wines, whereas
Caecuban was strong and evσтóμaxov, so that Horace suggests it 'to keep in
check the rising bile.' The old explanation was that the party were beginning
to have drunk too much, but Orelli's 4th edition rightly accepts Bücheler's
view that Horace describes himself as really at sea and really uneasy, though
the actual physical uneasiness is meant also to suggest the mental uneasiness
which is troubling him, cf. lines 36, 37. 37. rerum: obj. gen. 'fear for
Caesar's fortunes.' 38. Lyaeo: from Xúw (Od. 3. 21. 15 n.), so that solvere
plays on its meaning.
EPODE X
A humorous antithesis to Od. 1. 3 and so affording proof-if proof is needed
-that the Virgil there mentioned is the poet Virgil. Horace prays all the
winds to fall upon the ship which is conveying Maevius (probably to Greece)
and to stir up such a storm as fell on the Greek fleet when returning from
Troy; he pictures to himself how Maevius will shriek and pray, and vows, if
he is only drowned, to offer suitable victims to the Tempests. Maevius was
a poetaster chiefly known from Virgil's line, Ecl. 3. 90 qui Bavium non odit,
amet tua carmina, Maevi.
1. mala... alite. Cf. 16. 23 secunda alite; Od. 1. 15. 5 n. soluta,
'unmoored.' 3. ut in wishes from 'familiar speech'-later utinam,
4. memento: parenthetic. Auster, (5) Eurus, (7) Aquilo. Cf. Od. 1.
3. 4, where all the winds, except Iapyx, which would waft the ship to Dyr-
rachium, are kept imprisoned here all the winds which would hinder the
voyage are to be let loose. 7. quantus... 'mighty as when on mountain
heights he snaps the quivering oaks.'
:
9. sidus amicum. Without the
stars the ancients could not steer, and on the stormy night 'when baleful
Orion sets' they would be especially needed; cf. Acts xxvii. 20. 10. tristis
Orion: cf. 15. 7 and Od. 1. 28. 21 n.
13. cum
Pallas was 'angry' with Troy because of the judg-
ment of Paris, but when Ajax, son of Oileus, outraged Cassandra in her
temple during the sack of Troy, she 'turned her anger away from Ilium in
ashes against the impious bark of Ajax,' and caused a violent storm to fall
upon the Greek fleet during which Ajax perished; cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 39 seq.;
Aesch. Ag. 650; Hom. Od. 4. 499. 16. pallor luteus: Homer's Xλwpòv
déos. The 'paleness' of an Italian complexion is 'yellow' rather than 'white.'
Hence pallor is used of gold, and pallentes violas (Virg. Ecl. 2. 47) probably
of wall-flowers, cf. Od. 3. 10. 14 n.
17. Cf. Cic. Tusc. 2. 23. 55 ingemiscere nonnumquam viro concessum est,
idque raro: eiulatus ne mulieri quidem. 19. udo, 'rainy.' remugiens,
'roaring back to the S. wind,' cf. Od. 3. 10. 6. 21. opima. 'but if
stretched a noble prey upon the curving shore you shall feast the gulls . . .'
opima praeda on the analogy of spolia opima. Porphyrion says, apparet et
•
366
EPODE
HORACE
pinguem fuisse, and the joke is probably meant, as 'fat' in Latin is also=
'stupid.'
22. For iuveris the MSS. give iuverit, which many retain.
23. A lamb was regularly vowed to the Tempests in prayers for safety;
cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 772 Tempestatibus agnam | caedere deinde iubet: here it is
promised comically in the opposite case. The libidinosus caper is clearly
symbolical of olens Maevius. Note the mock grandeur of the two lines.
EPODE XIII
"Tis winter and storm without, and so, while we are young, let us banish
gloom within doors. Bring out wine of the year when I was born, and cease to
talk of troubles, looking for happier days. Now, steeped in perfumes, we will
lighten our hearts with song, according to the sage advice of Chiron to Achilles,
"Thou dost go to Troy never to return: remember then while there to seek in
wine and song the dear relief of misshaped melancholy."
A similar theme to Od. 1. 9.
"""
3.
1. caelum contraxit, 'has made the sky lower,' i.e. made the face of
heaven look threatening; cf. contrahere frontem, supercilia, etc. At the same
time the literal sense of the clouds 'contracting' the open expanse of sky must
not be excluded. 2. deducunt Iovem. Graphic: the 'rain and snow
come down in such masses that they seem to bring down the sky itself with
them, cf. Od. 1. 16. 11 n. Horace is copying Anacreon, Fr. 6 Δία τ᾽ ἄγριοι
χειμώνες κατάγουσιν. silŭae: cf. 16. 32 miluo; Od. 1. 23. 4 n.
Threicio Aquilone. The hiatus is helped by the caesura and the proper
names: Virgil is fond of it in the 5th foot, e.g. Actaeo Aracyntho, Neptunō
Aegaeo. Bentley's amice for amici, though many accept it, is needless.
Horace here addresses all his friends who are present: in line 6 he addresses
one of them specially, because at a feast some one person was made ‘lord of
the revel' (arbiter bibendi, Od. 2. 7. 25). 4. de die. To be taken closely
with rapiamus: the day offers opportunity,' let us eagerly accept from it
what it offers; cf. Od. 1. 11. 8; 3. 8. 27. Porphyrion has 'convivia de die
dicebantur a primo mane coepta; cf. Od. 1. 1. 20; Ep. 1. 14. 34; Catull. 47.
5 vos convivia lauta sumptuose | de die facitis, and undoubtedly feasting, drink-
ing, etc. while it is still daylight' are often spoken of in connexion with
luxury, intemperance, and the like: but here, where there is no such reference,
the simpler meaning of the words is far preferable. virent genua: cf.
Theocr. 14. 70 ποιῆν τι δεῖ, ἃς γόνυ χλωρόν = while young and strong. For
virens of youth, cf. Od. 1. 9. 17; 4. 13. 6, and the 'knees' are regularly used as
a symbol of strength; cf. the Homeric yoúvar' čλvoev and Ps. cix. 24 'my
knees are weak'; Is. xxxv. 3 'confirm the feeble knees.'
5. obducta solvatur. Antithetical juxtaposition-unknit the frowning
brow of gloom'; cf. Od. 3. 29. 16. senectus: metaphorically = 'morose-
ness'; cf. Ep. 1. 18. 47. 6. For this birthday wine cf. Od. 3. 21. 1 and
note. move: cf. Od. 3. 21. 6. 7. cetera. Cf. carefully the position of
this word, Od. 1. 9. 9, where it also follows the mention of wine. Hence,
clearly, 'all else'='all that is not connected with wine and mirth.
haec...
deus
'perchance heaven will with kindly change (cf. Od. 1. 4. 1 grata
vice) bring back these storms to calm': haec, 'the present condition of things,'
i.e. in the first instance, the stormy weather outside, and then, secondarily, all
our troubles-there will be sunshine after storm. 8. Achaemenio n.
Cf. Od. 3. 1. 44 n. 9. Cyllenea, i.e. sacred to Mercury its inventor (Od. 1.
10. 6), who was born on Mt. Cyllene in Arcadia. The spondaic ending to give
XV
367
NOTES
dignity cf. 16. 17 Phocaeorum; 16. 29 Appenninus: so Virgil ends lines
with Anchiseo, Pallanteum, Orithyia.
12. 'In-
11. grandi, ‘huge,' of heroic mould. cecinit of oracular utterance;
cf. Od. 1. 15. 4 n. Centaurus. See Chiron in Class. Dict.
vincible youth, mortal offspring of divine Thetis.' 13. manet, 'awaits,' i.e.
by destiny, in spite of all thy mother's efforts to keep thee from the land where
thou must die; cf. Od. 1. 8. 13. parvi: but in Hom. Il. 20. 73 µéyas
ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης | ὃν Ξάνθον καλέουσι θεοί, ἄνδρες δὲ Σκάμανδρον. Perhaps
Horace wishes to emphasise the idea of a lowly grave by a 'little' stream in
contrast with the glory and greatness of Achilles. Of conjectures Alavi which
gives a Latin rendering of Edv0os=av06s, 'yellow,' is the best.
Ξάνθος ξανθός,
14. lubricus,
swift-gliding'; Virg. Aen. 5. 261 rapidum Simoenta. 15. certo sub-
tegmine, ‘with sure web'; cf. Tib. 1. 7. 1 Parcae fatalia nentes | stamina, and
for the thread of human life which the Fates 'snap' (rupere) Od. 2. 3. 15 n.
16. caerula: the regular epithet of ocean deities, whose hue is that of the
sea itself; cf. Od. 1. 17. 20 n. 18. alloquiis. Apparently a reproduction
of some Gk. word such as rapnyópnμa: cf. the rule given A. P. 52. Note the
alliteration of the line and the skill with which it is made up of four words,
the aim being to give a smooth and musical finish.
EPODE XIV
An apology to Maecenas for not completing the book of Epodes.
You harass me to death with asking me why I am so idle and forgetful to
finish my long-promised iambics. I am fired with love fierce as that of Ana-
creon, and you ought to pity me, for you are in love yourself, happy in a
mistress fair as Helen, while Phryne makes me lean with jealousy.'
•
1. tantam 'has so steeped my deepest senses in oblivion'; for imis
sensibus cf. Virg. Ecl. 3. 54 sensibus haec imis-res est non parva-reponas,
and our phrase 'the bottom of the heart.' 3. ut si. as though I have
drained draughts...'; traxerim, like σráw, ëλкw and commonly duco.
5. candide. Cf. Od. 1. 18. 11 n. 6. deus, i.e. love. 7. olim, 'long
ago'; cf. Od. 4. 4. 5 n.
umbilicum
·
•
·
•
7, iambos, i.e. the Epodes; cf. Ep. 2. 2. 59. 8. ad
: cf. Mart. 4. 89. 1 (the last epigram of the book) ohe iam
satis est,
| iam pervenimus usque ad umbilicos. The umbilici were the
knobs at each end of the stick round which the book was rolled as you read
(evolvere) a book when you get to this stick you have got to the end.
•
9. arsisse B. 'was fired with love for'; for construction cf. Od. 3. 9. 5 n.
12. non
'to no elaborate measure'; so of Pindar, Od. 4. 2. 11 numeris-
que fertur lege solutis. The genuine fragments of Anacreon hardly allow us
to fully test Horace's criticism, by which, however, he probably means little
more than 'in simple strains.' 13. non pulchrior 'no fairer flame
kindled beleaguered Ilium': ignis is used literally='fire,' and metaphorically
object of love,' i.e. Helen. 15. nec
'and not satisfied with a
single wooer.' 16. macerat: cf. Od. 1. 13. 8.
EPODE XV
•
'Clinging closely to me you swore-ah! soon to be forsworn-that you would
always return my love. Now, Neaera, you shall learn to regret my firmness,
for I will not brook your constant preference of a rival. And you, proud sir,
368
EPODE
HORACE
though wealthy, wise, and handsome, shall yet learn the pain of being deserted,
and then it will be my turn to laugh.'
•
•
3. magnorum
deorum. The assonance gives a mock - heroic
dignity: cf. the conventional scene-painting in the first two lines which are
surely to be taken as mimicry and not real poetry. laesura, soon to out-
rage,' i.e. by breaking the oath sworn by them. 4. in verba iurabas: cf.
16. 25; Ep. 1. 1. 14 iurare in verba magistri; the phrase describes swearing
to a form of words recited by another; so especially of soldiers taking the
oath of allegiance to their commander, e.g. in verba P. Scipionis iurare.
artius atque, more closely than.' This use of atque is a poetic extension of
its use in comparisons (after aequus, similis, idem etc.) to put two things
closely side by side; cf. Virg. Aen. 3. 561 haud minus ac iussi faciunt.
hedera: cf. Od. 1. 36. 20. 6. lentis, 'pliant, 'clinging.'
•
•
•
5.
"
•
Neaera, from
i.e. as surely
"
7. dum mutuum give the words of the oath in oblique narration-
'(you swore) that while the wolf (was hostile) to the lamb (4. 1 n.), while Orion
(Od. 1. 28. 21 n.), hostile to sailors, vexed... this love should be mutual,' i.e.
as long as the order of nature remained unchanged. 9. intonsos: Od. 1.
21. 2 n. 10. mutuum: Od. 4. 1. 30 n. For turbaret, agitaret, Bentley,
with some authority, read turbarit agitarit, which Nauck prefers as more
dramatic-' (you swore, saying) that while the wolf shall be this love
shall be'; cf. renarint 16. 25, following iuremus in haec. 11. virtute,
'manhood' (i.e. resolution); cf. viri in next line. The abl. is that of the
instrument-you shall be made to mourn by my firmness.
νεαρός. 12. nam
for if there be anything manly
as there is something manly: for si cf. Od. 1. 32. 1 n.; C. S. 37 n.
13. potiori, 'a favoured rival'; Od. 3. 9. 2 n. 14. parem, 'a true mate'
or 'match.' 15. 'nor shall my determination yield before your beauty
when once it has become hateful (to me)'; for offensus practically=invisus,
cf. Cic. pro Clu. 58. 158 invidiosus aut multis offensus; pro Sest. 58. 125 cui
nos offensi invisique; 2 Verr. 3. 62.145 invidiosum offensumque. Bentley con-
jectured offensi asking quid mirum, si formae offensae et invisae non cederet?
si non illam deperiret, quam turpem iam et deformem esse crederet? as though
forma offensa, beauty that has become hateful,' meant 'beauty that has become
ugly'! But Horace never dreams of Neaera as ugly. No: it is her very
beauty which will make her more hateful and loathsome to him, if once the
galling doubts of jealousy become certainties (cf. certus). 17. meo
who now march triumphant in my mishap' (lit. 'rendered proud by ') :
incedis suggests the haughty gait of a victor; cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 68, who also
uses it of the stately gait of Juno, Venus, and Dido. 19. licebit: rare
even in poetry for licet, although.' 20. tibi, i.e. for your profit.
'rolls down its golden sand,' as we should say.
fluat, i.e.
21. For Pythagoras and his theory of souls 'being born again' in fresh
bodies, see Class. Dict. and Od. 1. 28. 10 n. arcana: 'the secret' or 'esoteric
teaching' only revealed to the inner group of his disciples. His doctrines were
of an especially mystic character, and his followers were divided into ȧkovoμa-
TIKOί mere 'hearers,' and μanμatiкoi real 'students,' Iambl. V. Pyth. 81.
22. Nirea: Od. 3. 20. 15 n. 23. eheu. Horace mimics his rival's cry.
Many MSS. give heu heu.
EPODE XVI
A second generation is being worn away in civil strife, and Rome, which
no foreign foe could vanquish, will be overthrown by itself (1-14). The only
XVI
369
NOTES
plan to be rid of our troubles is to fly, like the old Phocaeans, binding ourselves
by an oath never to return until the laws of nature are all changed (15-34).
Be this the resolve of those among us who have a good heart, and let us set sail
for that circumambient Ocean (41) in which are the Happy Isles, where toil and
trouble and sickness are unknown—Isles, which as yet no bark has ever reached,
but which Jupiter reserved for a righteous people in the day when he turned
the age of gold to brass and then to iron, and where the righteous, with me as
their prophet-bard, may now find a refuge.'
Like the seventh, an Epode in which Horace is tuning his lyre to loftier
strains. It is undoubtedly early (see notes on lines 49, 55, 57 for its similarity
to Eclogue 4) and usually assigned to about B.C. 41, the date of the 'Perusine
war' between L. Antonius and Octavian. The idea of setting sail for the
Happy Islands is ascribed to Sertorius by Sallust (Fragm. 1. 61) traditur
fugam in Oceani longinqua agitasse, cuius duas insulas propinquas inter se et
decem milia stadium procul a Gadibus sitas constabat suopte ingenio alimenta
mortalibus gignere; Plut. Sert. 9.
1. altera, ‘a second': the first 'generation' would begin in the time of
Marius and Sulla, about B.C. 88. 2. suis. 'and Rome falls by its
own might,' i.e. is being destroyed by its own mighty men, who ruin it by
internecine strife, cf. 7. 10; Matt. xii. 25; Luke xi. 17. Editors compare
Liv. Praef. res . . . ut iam magnitudine laboret sua; Aug. de Civ. D. 18. 45
Roma... tamquam se ipsa ferre non valens, sua se quodammodo magnitudine
fregerat; Lucan 1. 72 nec se Romu ferens, and Od. 3. 4. 65 mole ruit sua:
but in all these cases Rome is spoken of as something which has become too
big to bear its own weight and therefore falls necessarily, whereas in connexion
with 'civil strife' the force of suis and ipsa must be to express suicidal con-
duct which destroys what is otherwise absolutely stable.
the Social war B.C. 91-88; Od. 3. 14. 18 n. 4. Etrusca:
10. 61, but with E long Od. 1. 2. 14, 3. 29. 35, C. S. 38.
Porsenna in Virg.; see Intr. to Macaulay's Horatius.
5. aemula. Capua revolted from Rome after Cannae and was retaken
B.C. 211. It was treated with ruthless severity, for Rome brooked no ‘rival'
cf. for the adj. 7. 5 invidae Karthaginis. Spartacus: Od. 3. 14. 19 n.
3. Marsi. In
so 40, S. 1. 6. 1;
Porsĕnae, but
6. novisque
' and the Allobroges faithless amid (or 'to' or 'by')
revolution.' The ambassadors of the Allobroges (a people between the Rhone
and the Isère in the Insula Allobrogum) were tampered with by Catiline (B.C.
63), but revealed the secret of his conspiracy; the Allobroges however revolted
almost immediately afterwards. novis rebus may be dat. 'faithless to
Catiline' or abl. causal, 'by desire for revolution,' or general abl. of attendant
circumstances. 7. caerulea, 'blue-eyed'; Tac. Germ. 4 truces et caerulei
oculi. Germania: the reference is to the defeat of the Cimbri and Teu-
tones by Marius B.C. 102 and 101. 8. abominatus p.: cf. Od. 1. 1. 25 n.
9. devoti sanguinis, ‘of a doomed breed,' because sprung from Romulus,
the slayer of his brother, cf. 7. 20. 11. cineres: of Rome. 12. sonante,
'clattering,' 'echoing,' in contrast with the silence and desolation around. Cf.
Ezekiel xxvi. 11 ungulis equorum suorum conculcabit omnes plateas tuas.
13. carent ventis 'are safe from wind and sun, i.e. in the tomb.
This is inconsistent with the carrying off of Romulus to heaven, Od. 3. 3. 15;
but rhetoricians and poets may defy consistency. Porphyrion quotes Varro
as referring to a 'burial place of Romulus behind the Rostra.' Cf. Jer. viii. 1
eicient ossa regum Iuda et ossa principum eius et ossa sacerdotum . de
·
•
•
2 B
370
EPODE
HORACE
·
• •
•
sepulchris suis et expandent ea ad solem et lunam; Baruch ii. 24. 15.
forte 'perchance ye seek, all alike or the nobler part (of you, to learn)
what aids you to be quit of your unhappy troubles: let no decision prevail
over this, as (so) to go (21). The sentence is one of those common
conditional sentences where the protasis is put vigorously as a statement,
instead of hypothetically with sử. quid expediat seems used with an inf.
just as quid inpediat might regularly be, Horace being fond of bold uses of
the inf.; cf. within a few lines hac (sententia) ire; habet suadere; occupare
moramur. Others explain quid expediat (quaeritis). . . quaeritis carere.
cf. Od. 3. 4. 39 finire quaerentem. Kiessling 'what sets you free from
troubles so as to be quit of them, ὥστε ἀπαλλαχθῆναι αὐτῶν. 17. Pho-
The inhabitants of Phocaea, being besieged by Harpagus B.C.
534, abandoned their city and sunk 'a lump of iron,' vowing not to return
to Phocaea πρὶν ἢ τὸν μύδρον τοῦτον ἀναφανῆναι (Herod. 1. 165). They founded
Massilia. 18. exsecrata, 'having bound themselves by a curse'; èπOIŃOAVTO
ἰσχυρὰς κατάρας Herod. 1. c.
caeorum
•
·
•
21. quocumque
• • •
27. quando
a crime.
nature are inverted.
quocumque. Passionate repetition.
•
· •
pedes
per undas, i.e. by land or sea, cf. Od. 3. 11. 49. 23. sic placet?
Recalling the placetne? used in taking the judgment of the Roman senate, the
decrees of which often began Placere senatui or Senatui non placere. 25.
renarint, 'rise and float.' 26. ne
'(then only) let returning be not
aequora (34), i.e. when all the laws of
The Latin poets are fond of developing this idea, e.g.
Od. 1. 29. 10; Virg. Ecl. 1. 59. 28. Matina, i.e. of Mons Matinus in
Apulia, cf. Od. 4. 2. 27. 30. monstra iunxerit, 'shall unite monsters,'
i.e. animals which by seeking such unions will show themselves monstrous
and unnatural. 31. iuvet 'so that tigresses delight to mate with
stags, and the dove finds a paramour in the kite.' 32. miluo: trisyllabic;
cf. Ep. 1. 16. 51 n.
•
·
34.
33. ravos. Cf. Od. 3. 27. 3 rava lupa. Festus defines the colour as be-
tween fulvus and caesius, which is used of the colour of a cat's eye or of Minerva's
eye (=yλavкós). The adj. is used by Varro of the eyes; a good ram should have
ravos oculos, a good dog oculos nigrantes aut ravos. It seems here = χαροπός
(cf. Hom. Od. 11. 611 xapoπol Néovtes) which is used (1) as='bright-eyed,'
then (2) of colour="bluish-gray,' see Lex. Many MSS. have flavos.
lēvis, i.e. losing its hair and becoming 'smooth' like a fish. 37. mollis
'let the delicate and despairing continue to press their ill-omened
couches'; i.e. lie idly at home where they are doomed to perish. 39.
tollite, 'away with!' cf. Od. 2. 5. 9. virtus, muliebrem: antithetical
juxtaposition. 40. Etrusca litora: not 'the coast of Etruria,' but 'the
coasts of the Tuscan sea' (mare Tyrrhenum or Tuscum) and so='the shores
of Italy,' which they are to fly past on their way westward.
•
•
41. circumvagus. The Homeric idea of 'Keavós was that of a stream
flowing round the world; cf. Aesch. Prom. 138. Porphyrion reads n. m. 0.
circum vagus arva beata: petamus arva. making circum govern arva, but
then the repetition of arva by itself after arva beata is intolerably flat. 42.
divites et insulas is explanatory of beata arra-‘let us seek the fields, the
blessed fields of those rich isles where . . .' For divites insulae cf. Od. 4. 8.
27 n.; Hom. Od. 4. 563 seq. 43. reddit, 'duly bears,' gives what. is looked
for from it. 45. n. fallentis, 'that never deceives' those who expect fruit
46. pulla, 'dark,' i.e. ripe. suam, 'its own,'
from it; Od. 3. 1. 30 n.
XVII
371
NOTES
i.e. without needing to be grafted on another stock; cf. Virg. G. 2. 82
miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma, said of the stock in which a graft
has been placed. 47. mella
Cf. Od. 2. 19. 12 and the Biblical
phrase 'a land flowing with milk and honey.' Abundance of honey is a
constant sign of felicity with the ancients, who, having no sugar, made much
more use of honey than we do. 48. Notice the rhythm.
•
>
•
•
•
49. illic . . .
So in the same connexion Virg. Ecl. 4. 21 (written about
B.C. 40) ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae | ubera, where ipsae=
iniussae here, and distenta u.=tenta u. 50. amicus, 'loving,' and so needing
no constraint, but coming 'unbidden.' 52. neque
An artificial
phrase: 'nor does the ground swell up and heave with snakes,' being='nor
do snakes, which cover the ground, swell (i.e. in anger) and raise themselves
(i.e. to attack).' Others take alta humus of 'deep soil' as opposed to the
rocky, dry, sandy spots which vipers love. 53. pluraque . 'and
more things shall we marvel at (namely) how
For miror ut cf.
Od. 3. 4. 12. 54. radat, 'scours. 55. Note the careful balance and order
of this line-adj. A, adj. B, verb, noun A, noun B, and cf. lines 7, 33; Virg.
Ecl. 4. 4 ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas, 14 inrita perpetua solvent
formidine terras, 23 ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores, 29 incultisque
rubens pendebit sentibus uva. The tendency thus to balance adjectives at the
beginning of a line with nouns at the end is marked throughout this Epode
(cf. lines 2, 4, 9, 34, 46, 48, 57, 59, 63), as it is in Eclogue 4, and rather in-
dicates juvenile work, although some of the finest effects in Virgil owe much
to the same device, cf. G. 1. 468 inpiaque aeternam timuerunt saecula noctem,
and lines 495, 497, 508, 510. 56. utrumque, i.e. 'each' extreme of
wet and drought.
•
•
>
57. non huc . . . i.e. they have never been contaminated by any of those
restless adventurers (typified by Jason in pursuit of the golden fleece) and
merchants, for whom Horace has a hearty dislike, cf. Od. 1. 3; 3. 29. 57-61.
Similarly in Virg. Ecl. 4. 32 'tempting the sea in ships' and the 'building of
the Argo' are marks of 'guile,' and in the golden age that is coming there will
be no sailors and no merchants. 59. Sidonii. The Phoenicians were the
great traders of antiquity; cf. Od. 3. 29. 60 Tyriaeque merces; Is. xxiii. 2
'the merchants of Zidon'; 8 "Tyre whose merchants are princes.
cornua, κéраra, the ends of the yards. 60. laboriosa c. 'much-endur-
ing troop': oλúrλas, the Homeric epithet of Ulysses himself (cf. 17. 16), is
transferred to his followers. 61. astri: such as Sirius, the dog-star, to
the 'fiery fierceness' of which the malignant heat of summer was attributed
(cf. 1. 27; Virg. Aen. 3. 141). 62. For inpotentia of uncontrolled
fierceness' cf. note on inpotens Od. 1. 37. 10. 64. aere . . aere: cf.
Od. 1. 2. 4 n. 65. duravit, 'he made hard,' playing on the word durus,
which can be used (1) literally of iron, (2) metaphorically (a)=enduring
trouble, (b)=hard, cruel. quorum, 'from which,' with fuga.
EPODE XVII
A dialogue in which Horace (1-52) sarcastically entreats Canidia's pity,
while Canidia (53-81) replies that he pleads in vain.
HORACE. 'I yield; be pitiful and cease thy spells (1-7), even as Achilles
had pity on Telephus and Priam, and Circe on the comrades of Ulysses (8-18).
I have suffered, and still suffer, torture enough, so that I recant my denial of
the power of witchcraft (19-29). I am consumed with fires, that burn like the
shirt of Nessus or the flames of Aetna. Is there no expiation of my guilt? I
372
EPODE
HORACE
am ready to hymn to heaven thy chastity and virtue, in a palinode such as that
by which Stesichorus recovered sight (30-44); and therefore set me free, for, truly,
upon thy lineage there is no slur, thou hast never violated a tomb, Pactumeius
is the offspring of thy own womb, thine are the distinctions of maternity.'
CANIDIA. Thou dost appeal to deaf ears. Art thou to be unpunished for
revealing my mysteries and making me the talk of the town? (53-59). Is it
for that I have studied witchcraft? No: thou shalt live to suffer endless
torments like the torments of the damned (60-69). Thou shalt seek to slay
thyself, but in vain, while I ride in triumph on thy neck. What! shall I,
who can work all wonders, lament that my skill is ineffective against thee?'
1. iam iam. Eager repetition, cf. solve, solve, line 7. do manus,
'yield,' ' acknowledge defeat.' 3. Dianae: cf. 5. 51 n. non mo-
venda, 'inviolable,' åкívnтa: both movere and kiveîv are especially used of
sacrilegious disturbance of things sacred. 4. libros
Cf. Acts xix.
19 'Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together,
and burned them before all men.' 5. refixa. Cf. 5. 45 n. refixa,
'unfixed,' cf. Od. 1. 28. 11; Virg. Aen. 5. 527 refixa sidera of shooting stars.
6. parce
cease from thy awful spells'; sacris is purposely ambiguous
'holy' or 'accursed.' 7. turbinem: póµßos, 'a magic wheel,' used in
Theocr. 2. 17 with a wry-neck (tvy) fastened on it to draw a lover to the
house. The 'letting it go back' destroyed the charm. 8. Telephus.
Achilles, grandson of Nereus, as being the son of Thetis, wounded Telephus
king of the Mysians, and then healed him, according to the oracle 8 púσas
kal láσeral, with the rust of the spear which wounded him.
11. unxere, 'anointed'; part of the solemn ritual of burial (cf. Il. 18. 350
καὶ τότε δὴ λουσάν τε καὶ ἤλειψαν λίπ᾽ ἐλαίῳ : Virg. Aen. 6. 219 corpusque
lavant frigentis et unguunt) and so in strong contrast with addictum .
canibus. He received due burial although Achilles had 'given him over' to
the fowls of the air and to the dogs, cf. Il. 23. 182-3 Εκτορα δ᾽ οὔ τι | δώσω
Πριαμίδην πυρὶ δαπτέμεν, ἀλλὰ κύνεσσιν : see too 1 Sam. xvii. 44 I will give
thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.' 12. The
rhythm is most striking and possibly intended to convey a sense of horror.
homicidam H.: a poor rendering of Hom. II. 1. 242 "Eктopos åvdpopóvoco.
14. heu emphasises the pitiable position of Priam at the feet of the slayer
of his son.
The famous story of Priam begging back the body of Hector is
told in Il. 24. pervicacis, 'obstinate,' but still yielding in the end.
15. saetosa 'by Circe's favour put off (their swinish) limbs bristly
The crew of Ulysses drank of Circe's enchanted cup and
were turned into swine, but retained their intelligence (Od. 10. 240 avràρ voûs
ĥv ëμñedos às тò πáρos πeρ), which Horace, however, here supposes them to
lose; cf. mens, line 17. 16. laboriosi: sense and rhythm make this go with
Ulixei, but cf. 16. 60. 17. sonus (human) utterance.' 20. institoribus.
'Pedlars' played a more important part in antiquity than they do now, and
these travelling merchants with their costly wares (Sen. fr. de matr. 52
institores gemmarum sericarumque vestium si intromiseris, periculum est) were
dangerous to womanly virtue, cf. Od. 3. 6. 30. Of course the phrase 'well-
beloved by sailors and pedlars' is satirical.
with hard hides.'
21. fugit, reliquit, est, reclinat, urguet: excited asyndeton. vere-
cundus color, 'the hue of modesty,' the fresh colour of blushing youth. 22.
ossa 'my bones now covered with yellow hide'; cf. Theocr. 2. 89 ěppevv
δ᾽ ἐκ κεφαλᾶς πᾶσαι τρίχες, αὐτὰ δὲ λοιπὰ | ὀστί᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἧς καὶ δέρμα, where ὀστία
•
XVII
373
NOTES
and dépμa correspond to ossa and pelle here, and ossa atque pellis esse, 'to be
a bag of bones,' is proverbial; cf. Plaut. Capt. 1. 2. 26; Aul. 3. 6. 28.
25. urguet 'night treads on the heels of day and day of night, and yet
Notice the inverted order of the cases in diem nox et
·
it is not possible
dies noctem.
•
The repetition emphasises the idea of ceaseless continuity, as in
our phrases 'year by year,' 'day by day,' etc. 26. tenta spiritu,
'strained with sighing.' 27. negatum . 'I am driven to believe what
I denied, (namely) that . . .' 28. increpare, cf. Od. 4. 15. 2 n., seems here
='move (by the terror of their sound),' and so almost incantare. Sabella
... Marsa... (60) Paelignas: witches seem to have abounded among these
old-fashioned mountain tribes; cf. 5. 76; S. 1. 9. 29. 29. dissilire, 'is
racked with pain'; cf. our 'splitting headache.'
•
31. Hercules. Cf. 3. 17. 32. Sicană fervida. Note the quantities.
33. virens: most explain 'flourishing,' 'vigorous,' cf. such phrases as πupòs
ǎvoos (in Lucr. flammai flore coorto) and pλò éµapávon. Orelli gave 'green
sulphurous; Peerlkamp=fulgens, cf. Plaut. Men. 5. 2. 76 viden tu illi oculos
virere; Kiessling strangely derives the word from vis vires, making the i long.
The readings of some MSS. are clear corrections, Virens becoming Vrens and
Furens. tu '(but) thou dost glow a workshop with Colchian poisons
until, burnt to ashes, I am scattered abroad by the insulting winds.' The
language is strange, but not unsuited to the highly unnatural character of the
Epode. Canidia is spoken of as herself 'a workshop aglow with poisons' or
'magic spells,' because she is at work keeping the magic fire aglow, in which
she burns various objects, in order that, as they consume away, so Horace also
may consume away. This method of affecting a person by burning an image
of him (cf. line 76; Theocr. 2. 28), or something that belonged to him or
symbolised him (cf. Virg. Ecl. 8. 84 Daphnis me malus urit, ego hanc in
Daphnide laurum; Theocr. 2. 23-26) was regular in witchcraft. 34. iniuri-
osis: cf. Od. 1. 35. 13. 36. stipendium, 'tribute,' 'penalty,' nuía, and
so exactly=poenas in the next line.
39. centum iuvencos, i.e. as an expiatory sacrifice, èкaтóµẞn.
sive
'or whether thou shalt choose to be hymned by my untruthful lute,
(then) thou "chaste," thou "virtuous," shalt traverse the stars a golden
constellation.' The language is mock-heroic and satirical in the extreme.
mendaci has two meanings: (1) that lied when it reviled you, (2) that will
lie when it calls you chaste. 40. sonari: Od. 2. 13. 26 n. pudica, proba:
the epithets are those which he will use of her in his palinode. The allitera-
tion and repetition of tu emphasise the sarcasm. For the highly comic per-
ambulabis cf. 4. 5 n. and Od. 4. 5. 17. Of course 'traversing the stars,'
etc., is heroic language for 'being deified.' 42. infamis 'angry on
account of libelled Helen, Castor and the brother of mighty Castor yielding to
prayer restored . . .'
See Od. 1. 16 Intr. For vice many MSS. give vicem;
both are good Latin, though the acc. is more usual. infamis, i.e. who
was made infamous by the account given of her by Stesichorus in his 'IXíov
Téρois. Castor and Pollux were Helen's brothers as being sons of Leda.
For the phrase Castor fraterque magni Castoris, cf. Catull. 4. 27
gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris.
•
·
•
•
46. p. obsoleta sordibus, 'sullied with hereditary squalor'; cf. Od. 2.
10. 6. 47. prudens a hag skilled to scatter (for inf. cf. Od. 1. 3.
25 n.) the newly buried ashes.' The ninth day after death witnessed the final
completion of all funeral rites (cf. Apul. Met. 9. 31 nono die completis apud
374
EPODE XVII
HORACE
tumulum sollemnibus), or perhaps there was a final sacrifice at the grave on
the ninth day after burial (novendiale dicitur sacrificium, quod mortuo fit nona
die qua sepultus est, Porphyrion). Anyhow, by the phrase 'ninth-day dust
Horace clearly indicates that Canidia disturbs the ashes the first moment the
final rites are concluded, and she can safely do so without fear of interruption.
50. tuus tuo. Emphatic: the sneer is the same as in 5. 5. Pac-
tumeius: the genuine name of a Roman gens. 52. fortis . 'thou
leapest up (from thy couch) a sturdy mother.' The recovery is so rapid as to
throw doubts on the reality of the illness, which, it is hinted, is only a device
to draw money from her lovers.
·
•
•
•
54. navitis, ¿.e. to their lamentations when shipwrecked on the rocks.
56. inultus 'shalt thou unavenged have treated the revelation of
Cotytto's mysteries as a jest?' For the indignant question ut . . . riseris?
cf. S. 2. 5. 18 utne tegam spurco Damae latus? Cotytto is some Thracian
goddess whose mysteries were celebrated in connexion with licentious (cf.
liberi) orgies. 58. et Esquilini. Her 'magic practices' amid the
graves on the Esquiline are fully related in Sat. 1. 8. Canidia here implies
that he was able to tell so much because he was himself the chief performer,
'the high priest of magic,' on that occasion, and not a mere chance witness.
60. quid proderat, 'what profit were it then (i.e. if you are to escape) to
me to have enriched Paelignian hags (i.e. by buying their secrets) or to have
mingled swifter (i.e. more than usually deadly) poisons?' Many MSS. have
proderit, 'what profit will it be to me?' Some, who adopt this reading,
explain the words as a taunting question put to Horace, 'what profit will it
be to you to have studied these arts and to have mixed (for yourself) swiftest
poisons?' to which the answer follows, 'none at all, for I will not let you die
quickly.' But to supply tibi after proderit is very hard. Moreover, where
has Horace hinted that he is going to poison himself 'very swiftly'? Canidia
wishes to emphasise her power; she knows how to compound 'very swift
poisons'; but, as she immediately goes on to state, Horace must not imagine
that she is going to use them on him; for him there waits 'a more lingering
doom' than he prays for.
•
63. in hoc . ut, 'to this end that thou mayest ever be ready for new
sufferings.' 65. infidi. For the 'treachery' of Pelops to Myrtilus, the
charioteer of Oenomaus, by whose assistance he won the hand of Hippodamia,
see Class. Dict. Some MSS. give infidus, which would refer to the 'treachery
of Tantalus in betraying the secrets of the gods.
66. egens
craving for the bounteous feast,' which is ever before his eyes, but which he
can never touch; hence our 'tantalise.'
ever
• •
71. ense Norico: cf. Od. 1. 16.9. 73. fastidiosa... ‘sad with loathing
weariness (of life),' 74. vectabor ... 'then I will ride mounted on thy
hated neck, and the earth shall yield to my triumphant pride'; cf. Plaut.
Asin. 4. 1. 109, where a slave mounts on his master's back. 75. cedet
i.e. she will proudly spurn the ground on her novel steed, exactly like the
victor insolens in 16. 14. For insolentiae, the conduct of a beggar on horse-
back,' cf. Od. 1. 16. 21 n. 76. an. or (cf. 6. 15 n.) am I, though I
have power (quae possim) to make waxen images feel. to lament the
issue of my skill that effects nothing against thee?' Wax images, represent-
ing the person who was to suffer enchantment, were pricked, burned, melted,
and otherwise ill-treated in witchcraft; cf. S. 1. 8. 30; Virg. Ecl. 8. 81.
79. excitare mortuos. Cf. S. 1. 8. 30, and the witch of Endor. 80.
desideri pocula, þíλтpа, cf. 5. 38.
•
.
NOTES
375
CARMEN SAECULARE
'O Phoebus and Diana, grant our prayer at this solemn season when the
Sibylline verses ordain that a chorus of youths and maidens should chant a
hymn to the gods who love the seven hills (1-8). O life-giving Sun, ever do
thou regard Rome with thy favour, and thou, O goddess that bringest children
to the light, protect our mothers (9-16), yea, and give good success to the new
marriage laws and increase to our people, so that again and again throughout
the ages they may in full numbers celebrate this holy festival (17-24). And do
you, O ye Fates, determine for us a destiny in the future as glorious as in the
past: may the earth yield her increase and the heavens drop fatness (25-32).
Hearken to us, Apollo, hearken, O Queen of Night, and, if Rome be indeed your
creation, and if under your guardianship the race of Troy has been guided to
greater destinies, then grant righteousness to our youths, peace to our elders,
prosperity, increase and glory to our nation (33-48). Chiefly fulfil his prayers
for him who is the glorious descendant of Venus and Anchises, the conqueror
merciful as he is mighty. His sway already the nations own, already beneath
his care our ancient virtues and ancient blessings are returning (49-60). Yea,
as surely as he regards with favour the heights of Palatinus, Phoebus grants
another lustre, another age of abiding and ever-increasing happiness: while
Diana from her temple lends her ear to the prayers of the Quindecimviri and
our vows (61-72). That this is the will of the Immortals we carry home a
good and certain hope, after duly chanting the praises of Phoebus and Diana.'
For the occasion of this Ode see Od. 4. 6 Intr. As being written for public
performance the Ode is more distinctly rhetorical than poetical, but the diction
has the merit of being simple and stately, while if, as in stanza 5, even Horace
halts, we may well pity the bard who has to invoke a poetic blessing on
pedantic legislation. Editors give various methods of dividing the Ode be-
tween the chorus of boys and that of girls. Perhaps the first two stanzas are
sung by the joint chorus, the third by the boys, the fourth by the girls;
stanza 9 is sung half by boys and half by girls; stanzas 10-15 seem to fall
into pairs, and so suggest that they were sung alternately by boys and girls;
stanza 19 is clearly sung by all together.
6. virgines
·
·
•
1. silvarum potens, 'Queen of the woods.' For the gen. cf. Od. 1. 6. 10.
2. caeli decus, 'glory of the sky,' in agreement with both the voca-
tives Phoebe and Diana. o colendi. 'O ever reverend and (ever)
revered'; semper goes with both adjectives. 5. Sibyllini versus. See
Dict. Ant. Sibyllini Libri. They were in charge of the Quindecimviri (line
70 n.); the collection had been burnt in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus
B.C. 82, but had been re-formed. They were written, like all oracles, in
hexameter verse.
See Od. 4. 6 Intr. 7. quibus
placuere, 'in whose sight (they) have found favour.' The perfect is
accurate: Rome is not only now, but has long been the object of their regard.
9. alme, 'life-giving'; Od. 3. 4. 41 n. 10. alius et idem, 'another
and yet the same. 12. visere: because the sun is continually spoken of
as 'viewing' all that goes on upon earth, cf. Epod. 9. 16 n. maius: cf.
Virg. Aen. 7. 602 maxima rerum | Roma. 13. rite
'O thou, that
according to thy office dost gently bring the young to birth (aperire partus) at
the full time.' aperire: epexegetic inf., cf. Od. 1. 3. 25 n. 14. Ilithyia :
Ειλείθυια (perhaps from ἔρχομαι, ἐλήλυθα), the goddess who assists the com-
•
•
376
CARMEN
HORACE
ing' of children, and therefore = Lucina 'she who brings to the light,' and
Genitalis 'she who brings to the birth.' Juno is also called Lucina, and
Genitalis is not elsewhere found as a proper name. 15. sive .. Cf. S.
2. 6. 20 Matutine pater, seu Iane libentius audis. It was necessary in
addressing divinities to address them by the particular title which was
appropriate in the particular circumstances (cf. Aesch. Ag. 155). In conse-
quence a suppliant might apply to a goddess all her various names, so as to
be sure of hitting on the right one.
17. producas, 'rear,' i.e. to manhood; cf. Koupотpópos applied to various
goddesses. For subolem, cf. Od. 4. 3. 14 n. patrum: the conscript
fathers, the Senate. 18. super iugandis feminis, i.e. the lex Iulia de
maritandis ordinibus or de adulteriis, enacted B.C. 18, see Dict. of Ant., and
Od. 3. 6 Intr. 19. prolis feraci: cf. Od. 4. 4. 58 and 3. 6. 17 n. 20. lege
marita, 'marriage law.' 21. per, i.e. after revolving 'through.' 22.
orbis, 'cycle.' referatque. For the position of que, cf. Od. 2. 19. 28 n.
23. ter. Three was a sacred number, cf. 1. 28. 36 iniecto ter pulvere, Soph.
Ant. 431 xoaîoi тpioπóνdoiσi, and the chorus here consists of thrice nine
youths and thrice nine maidens. 24. frequentes. Emphatic: the
prayer is that they may be numerous.
25. veraces cecinisse, 'ever truthful in your oracles': for canere of
prophetic utterance cf. Od. 1. 15. 4 n. The inf. is epexegetic, and the perfect is
used accurately: the Parcae have been found truthful in their past utterances,
and this is the ground of confidence in their promises for the future. 26.
quod semel
'Ye Fates, as has been once appointed-and so may the
abiding landmark of our fortunes preserve it-link happy destinies to a happy
past.' Supply bonis with peractis. A few MSS. give servat. stabilis
rerum terminus: in the phrase 'abiding landmark of our fortunes,' Horace
refers to the popular legend that, when space was being made for a temple of
Jupiter on the Capitol, the god Terminus (see Class Dict. s.v.) alone refused
to make way, thus symbolising the eternal stability of the Roman state. The
Romans regarded 'boundstones' with peculiar reverence, cf. 2. 18. 24 n.: the
word terminus is constantly used as a symbol of abiding fixity, cf. Lucr. 1.
78 alte terminus haerens; Virg. Aen. 4. 614 hic terminus haeret.
29. fertilis frugum, 'prolific in crops': cf. 4. 6. 39 prosperam frugum,
and 3. 6. 17 n. For the thought cf. Ps. cxliv. 13 'That our garners may be full
that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our
streets. 30. spicea.. At the festival of the Ambarvalia the statue
of Ceres was crowned with a chaplet of wheat-ears, cf. Tib. 1. 1. 15 Alava
Ceres, tibi sit nostro de rure corona | spicea. 31. salubres, Iovis. Both
words go equally, in thought, both with aquae and aurae. Jupiter is, as
often, the god of the weather, cf. Od. 1. 1. 25 n. aquae, 'rain,' and for
aquae Iovis, cf. Il. 5. 91 Διὸς ὄμβρος. 33. condito telo: the exact
opposite of arcum | tendit Apollo Od. 2. 10. 19, and cf. 3. 4. 60. His arrows
brought pestilence and death, cf. Hom. Il. 1. 43-52. Observe the careful
collocation of the adjectives mitis placidusque between condito and telo.
•
•
37. si, 'if'=as surely as. For this use of si in appeals cf. Od. 1. 32. 1 n.
Iliaeque. Emphatic: 'and if from Ilium came the squadrons that
Apollo had always favoured the Trojans, and consequently is appealed to to
favour the Romans as their descendants, cf. Od. 4. 6. 21-28. 39. pars:
in apposition with turmae. 41. cui, sc. parti. sine fraude, 'without
harm,' 'unharmed,' cf. Od. 2. 19. 20 n. The phrase goes, as its position
>
SAECULARE
377
NOTES
42.
proves, with per ardentem Troiam, uninjured mid the fires of Troy.'
patriae superstes. A pathetic touch. 43. munivit iter: munire
is the technical word used by the Romans for 'making' those great military
causeways, one of which, for example, stretched from the Golden Milestone in
the Forum Romanum to York.
44. plura relictis: 'Rome instead of
Troy,' Wickham.
47. Romulae. For the adj. cf. Od. 1. 15. 10 n. For the hypermetric
verse, Notes on Metres p. xix. § 1. 49. veneratur: lit. 'to worship,' then
'to ask as a worshipper,' and so with a double acc. like verbs of asking';
cf. S. 2. 6. 8 si veneror stultus nihil horum. bobus albis, 'with (sacrifice
of) milk-white steers,' such as grazed along Clitumnus,' cf. Virg. G. 2. 146
hinc albi, Clitumne, greges et maxima taurus | victima, saepe tuo perfusi
Alumine sacro, | Romanos ad templa deum duxere triumphos. 50. sanguis,
offspring,' cf. Od. 2. 20. 5 n. 51. bellante: cf. Virgil's description of
the Roman duty (Aen. 6. 853) parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.
53. manus potentes: cf. the use of manus, Od. 4. 4. 73. The hand as
grasping the sword is naturally used as a symbol of power. 54. Medus :
Od. 1. 2. 51 n. Albanas secures. Alba Longa was the mother-city of
Rome the adj. is used instead of 'Roman' as suggesting an antiquarian
reminiscence. secures: borne among the fasces before a Roman magis-
trate cum imperio, and symbolical of his power of life and death, see Dict.
Ant. s. v. Fasces, and cf. Od. 3. 2. 19. 55. Scythae, Indi. For their em-
bassy to Augustus, cf. Od. 4. 14. 42 n. Here however responsa clearly suggests
the idea of the 'response' of an oracle or divinity. 57. pudor. aidús:
Od. 1. 24. 6 n. 58. virtus. From vir, 'all that may become a man'; Od. 3.
2. 17 n.
neclecta, apparetque, fulgente, acceptusque. Mark the
weak caesura, and also in lines 73, 74; and see p. xix. § 2. Nauck observes
that all these stanzas express the sense of tranquillity and peace, and that
possibly the rhythm of the lines is intended to represent this. 59. pleno
copia cornu. For Copia personified with her horn of plenty (our 'cornu-
copia,' benignum cornu, Od. 1. 17. 15), see Class. Dict. s. v. Amalthea.
62. acceptus, 'welcome,' 'dear.' 63. qui salutari...: Пaιáv,
Παιάν,
Παιώνιος. 65. Palatinas arces. With reference to the temple of Apollo
on the Palatine, in which this hymn was sung, built by Augustus B. C. 28, in
memory of the battle of Actium, cf. Od. 1. 31. 1. Many MSS. have aras.
aequus, 'with favourable eye.' 66. felix. The run of the verse points to
this word going with Latium rather than lustrum, as Orelli takes it. 67. lus-
trum: cf. Od. 2. 4. 23 n. The reference is doubtless to the fact that Augustus,
at the conclusion of the 10 years for which he originally accepted the imperium,
was in B.C. 18 invested with it for a further period of five years.
68. pro-
rogat, curat, applicat: proroget has good MS. authority, but curet, applicet,
which Orelli read, have almost none. The chorus here assume a tone of con-
fident assurance rather than of prayer, cf. 73-76.
69. Algidum: a Mt. in Latium near Tusculum. Diana is described as
'rejoicing in it,' Od. 1. 21. 6. 70. quindecim virorum, se. sacris faci-
endis. They formed a collegium or 'guild' and had charge of the Sibylline
books. They originally numbered only two: Tac. (Ann. 11. 11) states that
they had charge of these games. 71. puerorum: 'both boys and girls, in
accordance with the old use of puer for either sex'-Wickham. 75.
doctus, 'trained,' i.e. by the poet, who would be xopodidáσkaλos, cf. Od. 4.
6. 43 docilis modorum | vatis Horati. 76. dicere: epexegetic.
SATIRES.-BOOK I
SATIRE I
SUBJECT:-The Restless Discontent of Men, especially of the avarus.
DATE:-about 35 B.C.
THIS Satire, although placed at the beginning, was probably the last composed
of those in the first book. Horace here prefixes to the first book a poem of
general bearing on all sorts and conditions of men, just as he does in the first
Ode of the first book. Like it, and like the first Epode and first Epistle, it
is addressed to his patron and friend Maecenas.
The avowed subject of the Satire is the discontent of men with their lot,
and their envy of that of others, 1-19. But this theme is only prefatory to
an attack on avarice: this is the real subject, 28 seq., the avarus being selected
as the most striking instance of the discontented man. There are in reality
two subjects, discontent and avarice, but Horace tries to treat them as one,
and the suture is apparent. The different individuals who, discontented with
their lot, are struggling to attain a competence, are regarded as so many
phases of the avarus, 28-40. Hence discontent ceases to be the salient feature
of attack, and the grasping and meanness of the avarus are satirised on to 108,
when Horace, feeling that he has strayed from his original theme, suddenly
reverts to it, and cleverly interlaces his two subjects together. For his theme,
and to a great extent his treatment of it, he seems indebted to Lucilius.
2. ratio, deliberate choice, poaípeσis: fors, accident, often opp. to ratio:
' choice or chance,' cf. Cic. ad Att. 14. 13. 3 sed haec fors viderit, ea, quae talibus
in rebus plus quam ratio potest.
obiecerit, 'has flung in his way': cf. 1.
6. 54; Cic. ad Att. 2. 22. 1 quod fors obtulerit, id facturus videtur. 3. laudet:
quisque is to be taken out of the preceding nemo, and sed is also to be supplied:
cf. line 109; Juv. 6. 17 cum furem nemo timeret | caulibus et pomis et aperto
viveret horto; Cic. de Or. 3. 14. 52 nemo extulit eum verbis sed contempsit
eum; Plat. Rep. 366 D οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν δίκαιος, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ ἀνανδρίας . . . ψέγει
τὸ ἀδικεῖν.
•
•
4. gravis annis: cf. Virg. Aen. 9. 246 hic annis gravis atque animi
maturus Aletes; Theocr. 24. 101 πoλλoîσι ßapús tep éùv éviavtoîs: Soph. Oed.
R. 17 σuv yýpa Bapeîs. The phrase does not mean that the man is weighed
down by years, but that he goes heavily, has lost his nimbleness owing to
years, is getting stiff. A man becomes stiff before the age at which a Roman
soldier got his discharge, about 45. 5. iam fractus, 'at length broken
down.' iam is often joined with participles and adjectives, and, like ñồn,
denotes that a certain point has at last been reached. Juv. 3. 206 iamque
vetus Graecos servabat cista libellos; Ov. Her. 13. 98 iamque fatigatas ultima
verset aquas.
fractus membra, 'having his limbs broken down'; cf. Od.
1. 1. 21 membra stratus. Some call it acc. of reference 'broken down in his
limbs,' but more probably the part. has a certain middle force.
BOOK I SATIRE I
379
NOTES
6. Austris, used for any winds; but the S. wind in Hor. is generally
violent; cf. Od. 3. 3. 4; Ep. 1. 11. 15. 7. quid enim? 'for why?' a
rhetorical question used when something confirmatory is about to be added:
see 2. 3. 132 n. concurritur: impersonal, 'the armies meet in battle-shock.'
horae momento, 'in the passage of an hour,' the time it takes an hour
to pass; cf. Pers. 5. 78 momento turbinis, in the time it takes to twirl a man
round. See too Liv. 5. 7 ignes coniecit, horaeque momento simul aggerem ac
vineas, tam longi temporis opus, incendium hausit; 9. 16 momentoque unius
horae caesus Samnis, Satricanus captus, et omnia in potestate consulis erant.
9. iuris legumque: cf. Ep. 1. 16. 41 n. 10. sub galli cantum,
'at cock-crow,' lit. 'just before': cf. Od. 1. 8. 14 n. consultor, the client
coming to consult his patronus, who was consultus. Cf. Ep. 2. 1. 103; Cic.
Mur. 9. 22 vigilas tu [Sulpici] de nocte ut tuis consultoribus respondeas. . . te
gallorum, illum buccinarum cantus exsuscitat. pulsat, 'knocks at': KóπTEL.
Knockers are seldom mentioned among the Greeks and Romans, who generally
kicked at the doors: cf. Od. 1. 4. 13 pulsat pede, of death knocking at the
door. 11. dare vades meant to provide sureties or bail. The rustic has
been summoned, and having given bail for his appearance, is obliged to
Rome to stand his trial: cf. 1. 9. 36. While there he gets a taste of the
sweets of city life, and thinks those alone are happy who live in town. 12.
clamat, emphatic, like 2. 7. 25, 'swears.'

go to
13. cetera de genere hoc occurs eight times in Lucretius, e.g. 4. 590
cetera de genere hoc monstra ac portenta loquuntur. For reminiscences of
Lucretius in Horace see on lines 25; 119; 2. 4. 94; 2. 7. 112. loqua-
cem, 'prolix'; Ep. 1. 16. 4 scribetur tibi forma loquaciter et situs agri. 14.
valent: the use of valeo with inf. is common in Horace as in Lucretius and
Virgil; it is not found in Cicero or Caesar. Fabium: only known to us
from the scholiasts. Porph. gives him the cognomen Maximus, and Acron
says he was a Roman knight of Narbo, who wrote several volumes on the Stoic
philosophy. 15. quo rem deducam, 'to what issue I bring the matter.'
rem aliquo deducere is used of bringing matters to a decisive crisis, rather than
to a conclusion; cf. Ellis on Catull. 75. 1. en is to be joined as much with ego
as with faciam: 'here I am, ready to grant your wishes.' 16. iam, 'at once.'
·
•
•
18. partibus, 'parts' in the drama of life. Hence hinc . . . hinc
discedite, because the actors had certain doors of entrance and exit regularly
assigned to them. 'All the world's a stage, | And all the men and women
merely players: | They have their exits and their entrances'-Shaks. As You
Like It II. vii. 139. heia! 'quick! on with you!' a word of impatient
command, cf. 2. 6. 23; Virg. Aen. 9. 37 date tela, ascendite muros, | hostis
adest, heia! 19. nolint, 'they would refuse,' the apodosis to si quis
deus
dicat: for both construction and sentiment cf. 2. 7. 24. atqui
licet esse beatis, 'and yet they have it in their power to be blest,' ironical.
The dat. after licet esse is regular: a dat. being understood before esse, it
should take one after it; so fieri when tibi precedes, 1. 6. 25; esse A. P. 372.
The acc. is more rare and indefinite, civi Romano licet esse Gaditanum,
Madvig 393. 1. 21. buccas infilet, 'puff out his cheeks with rage at
them' illis is ethic dat. Similarly sufflare se in Plautus get in a rage and
scold another, cf. Cas. 3. 3. 19 nescio quid se sufflavit uxori suae. φυσαν is
thus used, Eur. Iph. Αul. 125 μέγα φυσῶν θυμὸν ἐπαρεῖ: 381 τί δεινὰ φυσᾷς ;
22. facilem, 'compliant,' esp. used of the gods: cf. Ov. Her. 16. 280 sic
habeas faciles in tua vota deos; Juv. 10. 8 di faciles.
·
=
380
BOOK I
HORACE
23. praeterea, 'to pass to another point.' The point does not come until
line 28, being interrupted by a double parenthesis. The construction is ne sic
(haec) ridens percurram ut qui iocularia (ridens percurrit). iocularia has its
opposite in seria line 27. The picture of Jupiter with his cheeks inflated has
probably suggested to Horace that he is treating his subject lightly. 25.
olim, 'at times,' 'often,' 'usually'; cf. Ep. 1. 10. 42 ut calceus olim; Ov.
Fast. 3. 555 ut olim | amisso dubiae rege vagantur apes; Plaut. Truc. 1. 1.
45 nunc lenonum plus est fere, | quam olim muscarum est, cum caletur maxime.
crustula, 'little cakes'; crustum is anything with a crust. blandi, 'coaxing.'
The simile is from Lucr. 1. 936 sed veluti pueris absinthia taetra medentes |
cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum | contingunt mellis dulci flavoque
liquore. 26. elementa prima, 'their first rudiments,' especially the
alphabet. elementa by itself is the alphabet only; cf. Ep. 1. 1. 27; Suet.
Jul. Caes. 56 quartam elementorum litteram, id est D.
28. The point which had been interrupted by the parenthesis is now taken
up. The different seekers after wealth compare themselves to the ant laying
by its winter store. Horace denies the fairness of the comparison. ille, 'yon.
This word and hic line 29 are literally demonstrative. 29. perfidus hic
caupo: the cauрones, кáжŋλo, shop-keepers, especially tavern-keepers, seem
to have been proverbially sharp in their dealings; 1.5. 4 cauponibus malignis.
The caupo does not appear among the discontented persons introduced at the
beginning of the Satire, but takes the place of the consultus. This is rendered
necessary by Horace's change of front, for the jurisconsult could not be made
a type of the avarus, as he did not charge money for his advice. Even
advocates (causidici) were forbidden by the Cincian law (204 B.C.) to accept
fees, though the law was often evaded. 30. currunt, 'sail'; cf. Ep. 1.
1. 45 extremos curris ad Indos; Ep. 1. 11. 27 qui trans mare currunt.
congesta: chosen to suit the metaphor of the ant heaping up her pile.
cibaria, which properly means 'rations,' is used by the avari, who, extenu-
ating their real object, the endless pursuit of riches as an end, say they in-
tend to desist as soon as they have gained sufficient to keep them from starvation.
32.
33. nam exemplo est, apologetic; although tiny, it can enforce a moral.
magni contrasted with and excusing parvula: 'that tiny type of giant
industry' (Con.). For the ant as a type of provident industry, cf. Virg. G. 1.
186; Juv. 6. 360; Prov. vi. 6. In prose one would expect animal before
magni laboris; cf. 2. 8. 84 Nasidiene redis mutatae frontis. 35. futuri both
with ignara and incauta. The ant knows by instinct and experience that
winter is coming, and provides against it. incautus with gen. is rare, and
Horace would not have used that construction had he not first used ignara.
36. quae at ea. Horace denies the pertinence of the simile. The ant
makes merry on her store throughout the drear winter; the avarus never
pauses from his pursuit of wealth to give himself a moment's enjoyment of it.
inversum annum: 'the inverted year' may mean the new year, the sun
entering Aquarius on Jan. 16th. Cf. the Homeric TeрTEXλoµévwv éviavTŵv :
περιτελλομένων ἐνιαυτών
Theocr. 13. 26 тетраµµéνw еľаpos hon. The year has run its course and begins
as it were over again. But, perhaps, as vomerem inversum, Epod. 2. 63, the
ploughshare turned backwards so that it will not cut; as inversi mores, Od.
3. 5. 7,=manners with their bad side out, altered for the worse; as virtutes
invertere, 1. 3. 55, to turn virtues into vices; so here inversus annus may
mean the year with its winter side, wet and cold, turned towards one, the
bright summer side being turned out of sight. 37. illis must be em-
=
SATIRE I
381
NOTES
phatic or demonstrative like illum praeteritum, line 115, for illis quaesitis is
not Latin for illis quae quaesiverit. utitur, emphatically 'enjoys,' 'con-
sumes'; cf. Ep. 1. 7. 57 et quaerere et uti, where there is the same contrast
between quaerere and uti as here; A. P. 170 quaerit et inventis miser abstinet
ac timet uti. 38. sapiens, 'sensible,' i.e. knowing how to enjoy the good
things of life, not 'prudent,' nor a translation of topis applied to the ant, Hes.
Works and Days 778. For this use of sapiens cf. Od. 1. 11. 6 sapias, vina
liques; Od. 1. 7. 17; 4. 9. 48; Ep. 1. 15. 45; Ov. Her. 4. 96. The reading
patiens of many MSS. would do very well as a general epithet of the ant, and
especially well if the point were that she patiently endures, roughing it, until
spring; but that is not the point: the point is that the ant, like a sensible
creature, makes merry while winter rages, thereby contrasting with the
avarus, who might be called patiens rather than the ant.
45.
43. quod si=at id si, like quae=at ea, line 36. 44. ni id fit, unless
you take from it.
quid pulchri: cf. 2. 3. 95 pulchris | divitiis; Eur.
Frag. Pal. 584 Αγάμεμνον, ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι χρήματα | μορφὴν ἔχουσι.
milia frumenti . centum, 100,000 bushels of corn. medimnum, gen.,
must be understood, as sestertium in monetary expressions; cf. Lucil. 486
milia dum centum frumenti tolli medimnum. triverit: for the construc-
tion cf. 1. 3. 15 n.; 1. 10. 64; 2. 6. 48. tero is regular for threshing corn,
ȧλoiáw, and area is an open solid level place, a threshing-floor, aλwý.
46. hoc, 'on this account,' especially used with comparatives; cf. 1. 3. 93
minus hoc iucundus amicus. capiet, 'hold,' xwpnoel. plus ac plus
quam; cf. 1. 2. 22; 1. 6. 130; 1. 10. 34. ut si... 'just as, if you
were a slave carrying the bread-bag, you would get no more bread than the
other slaves.' In 1. 5. 90 the traveller carries the excellent bread umeris, i.e.
on the shoulders of his slaves. 47. reticulum was a net-work bag used
for carrying loaves on a journey; Juv. 12. 60 cum reticulis et pane et ventre
lagenae. venales, slaves, creatures of sale.
49. quid referat
=
viventi. There is no other certain instance of
refert with dat. of a person. It may be explained as substituted for the
usage ad with acc., which is common in early Latin; e.g. Plaut. Pers. 4. 3.
52 quid id ad me aut ad meam rem refert. 52. tantundem haurire,
'to draw as much as you.' haurire is properly used of drawing liquids, and
it is strange that Horace did not choose some other verb when about to pro-
pound a metaphor taken from the storing of corn: perhaps the next metaphor
from drinking was in his mind. relinquas, with inf., 'allow,' 'concede,'
a poetic usage: see Lucr. 3. 40, and Munro's note. 53. plus laudes. Cf.
Ep. 1. 10. 15 plus tepeant hiemes. Similarly Horace is fond of the adverbial
use of multum; cf. 2. 3. 147 n. cumeris, corn-bins (ku¥éλŋ), probably
made of osiers: see Ep. 1. 7. 30. Acron mentions another kind, fictilia vasa.
54. ut .. si, 'just as if you needed only a pitcher of water and were
to say.'
Notice the difference between the construction here and the appar-
ently, but not really, similar one in 46-48. liquidi, 'water'; cf. Ov.
Met. 5. 453 loquentem | cum liquido mixta perfudit diva polenta.
a pitcher-full'; not the measure here, half an amphora, about 3 gallons.
non amplius urna is subj., opus is predicate. 55. cyatho, 'a glass-full';
as a liquid measure a cyathus was th of the sextarius or pint. mallem :
much better than malim of some MSS., 'I would have preferred, if possible';
the little fountain is present (hoc); the large river is only wished for. 58.
Aufidus, the Ofanto, a river flowing near Venusia and Cannae into the
urna,
382
BOOK I
HORACE
Adriatic through Horace's native Apulia. He calls it violens Od. 3. 30. 10;
longe sonantem 4. 9. 2. 59. at qui tantuli eget, 'but the man who
asks for the little that is necessary.' egere almost cupere; cf. A. P. 154
si plausoris eges aulaea manentis; Ep. 1. 10. 11. limo: the swollen river
brings down water muddy with the flood, and is dangerous to approach to boot.
61. bona pars, ‘a large part,' as we say 'a good deal,' 'a good size.'
cupidine, always masc. in Horace. 62. quia tanti quantum habeas sis,
'because you are valued by people according to your wealth.' The subj. sis
because it is the general opinion, indefinite. Horace here expressly copies
Lucilius, 1066 Lach. aurum atque ambitio specimen virtuti virique est, |
quantum habeas, tantum ipse sies, tantique habearis. Cf. Juv. 3. 143 quantum
quisque sua nummorum servat in arca | tantum habet et fidei; Pind. Isthm.
2. 17 χρήματα χρήματ᾽ ἀνήρ. 63. quid facias, 'what can you do with,'
'how can you meet such a man as that?' illi, the speaker, not bonae parti
hominum. For dat. with facere, cf. Cic. Caec. 11. 30 quid huic tu homini
facias? Cic. ad Att. 7. 3. 2 quid enim tibi faciam? With an abl. the phrase
means 'what use to put a thing or person to,' as Plaut. Cas. 5. 4. 6 quid fecisti
scipione? Cic. Sest. 13. 29 quid hoc homine facias? miserum, sc. the
speaker. 64. quatenus: causal quandoquidem, as always in Horace;
cf. 1. 3. 76; 2. 4. 57; Od. 3. 24. 30. id facit, 'he is so' (miser est):
facere can take up any previous verb, cf. line 94—‘bid him be miserable since
it is his whim to be so.'
66. solitus, sc. fuisse. me sibilat: there is no other instance of sibi-
lare taking an acc.=' to hiss at,' though the use of latrare for allatrare perhaps
sufficiently defends it. Possibly si should be read for me; si might fall out
before sibilat, and the gap be supplied by me. si is often followed by at;
cf. Catull. 30. 11 si tu oblitus es, at di meminerunt; Plaut. Bacch. 4. 8. 46 si
tibist machaera at nobis vervinast domi; Virg. Aen. 1. 543; 4. 615.
69. quid rides, i.e. why do you laugh at the absurd picture of poor Tantalus,
with the waters avoiding his lips? You are Tantalus yourself without knowing
it. Cf. Lucian, Tim. 18 οἱ ὥσπερ ὁ Τάνταλος ἄποτοι καὶ ἄγευστοι καὶ ξηροὶ τὸ
στόμα ἐπικεχηνότες μόνον τῷ χρυσίῳ. 71. indormis, 'you sleep on':
the avarus makes his money-bags his bed, partly from fear of being robbed,
partly from affection for the gold. inhians, gloating over them with open
mouth: Tantalus opens his mouth to swallow the waters; the miser opens
his with affection for his treasures. The play on sound in saccis and sacris
should be noticed. 72. cogeris, the miser is the slave of his avarice.
pictis... tabellis: cf. line 44 quid habet pulchri constructus acervus ?
73. quo valeat, 'what end money serves. usum, 'enjoyment.'
74. ematur, potential, 'can be bought. sextarius, about a pint,
mentioned as a fair amount to take at dinner. 75. i.e. ea quibus negatis
humana natura doleat. doleat answers to quae si negata sint, implied in
quibus negatis. 77. malos fures: cf. Herod. 1. 41 кλŵжеS какоÛρYоl.
κακούργοι.
Fea wrongly pointed malos, fures, making malos subst. like 1. 4. 3 quod malus
ac fur; but what other kind of bad men but robbers would the miser fear at
night? 78. compilare, to plunder, takes either the acc. of the person or
thing plundered. Cic. Verr. 2. 1. 13. 35 consulem, exercitum, provinciamque
compilarit. It is rarely used of stealing a particular thing. fugientes:
the running away of slaves was a common event; such slaves were called
fugitivi. 79. bonorum, neuter. The irony is better preserved in Latin
SATIRE I
383
NOTES
than English, bona being commonly used for property, possessions.
after pauperrimus, cf. Od. 3. 6. 17 n.
For gen.
80. at si: the reply of the avarus, who urges that in case of illness riches
procure attention.
temptare, often of diseases; cf. 2. 3. 163. 81. lecto
te adfixit, 'has fastened you to your bed.' adflixit, 'dashed down,' has
much better MS. authority here, and Mr. L. Purser quotes Tennyson's de-
scription of Edith's illness in Aylmer's Field, how a low fever found the girl
'and flung her down upon a couch of fire'; but the words are often inter-
changed in MSS. (e.g. 2. 2. 79) and Tennyson may have had this passage with
adflixit in his mind when he wrote his verse. 82. adsideat, 'sit by your
bedside.' Cf. Ov. Her. 20. 137 adsidet aegrae; Tac. Agr. 45.
(foveo), 'fomentations.'
fomenta
84. Horace replies that the miser's death is wished for by all his relations,
neighbours, acquaintances (noti), even the children in the streets. 86. post
omnia ponas, a harsh tmesis here for postponas omnia. Cf. Cic. Off. 3. 17.
71 mala bonis ponit ante. 88-91. at si cognatos . . . frenis, 'but
even if you were to try to retain the affections of the relatives whom nature
has given you with no trouble on your part, you would be wasting your
labour (the effort would be too much against the grain); you might as well
try to teach an ass to gallop.' Others say that nullo labore belongs to
retinere and servare, not to dat. 'If you were to wish, with no effort of your
own, to preserve the affections of your relatives.' This idea was refuted by
Bentley, who pointed out that, apart from the entangled order, operam perdas
is inconsistent with it; for a man can hardly waste his labour if he expends
none. Very good MSS. give an si, which Bentley explains: An potius nihili
facis a cognatis amari, et omne quod ad demerendos eos inpendi debet, male
locatum et perditum iri putas? quasi si asinum traderes magistro, etc.; 'or
would you count it a throwing away of your labour, if you were to try to
retain the affections of your relatives, as though it were a thing not worth
having?' So too nearly Ritter : or would you be wasting your labour, if you
were to try,' etc. (No: it would be an easy matter, if you would but try it.)
92. denique, 'in short,' 'to sum up.' cumque, ‘and now that you
have got more (than you used to have), fear poverty less (than you used to).'
94. ne facias: so as not to behave like Ummidius, i.e. live in constant fear
of starvation; or, perhaps better, meet the same fate as Ummidius, facere
being a neutral verb; cf. 64 n. 95. qui tam: Bentley's emendation for
quidam. Horace never uses quidam with proper names, and is not likely to
have spoken of a man, who was so rich as to measure his money, as a nobody.
By reading qui tam an asyndeton is avoided, and tam is supplied before dives,
as in line 20. Horace several times, it is true, uses an adjective or adverb
followed by ut without tam, as 1. 5. 33; 7. 13; but here it is not so much
the omission of tam as the omission of qui that is the chief difficulty.
96. metiretur: measure out in vessels, modii, for instance, instead of
counting it, numerare. The expression is proverbial. Xen. Hell. 3. 2. 27
οἱ περὶ Ξενίαν τὸν λεγόμενον μεδίμνῳ ἀπομετρήσασθαι τὸ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς
ἀργύριον. 97. ad usque. So 1. 5. 96; Virg. Aen. 11. 262. 99.
opprimeret, 'surprise,' 'come suddenly on.' liberta: Horace probably
refers to some well-known case of a freed woman killing her miser master with
an axe, as Clytaemnestra killed Agamemnon povių reλéket, Soph. El. 99.
100. divisit medium, 'clave in twain'; cf. Virg. Aen. 9. 750 et mediam
ferro gemina inter tempora frontem | dividit. fortissima Tyndaridarum,
384
BOOK I
HORACE
'bravest one of the house of Tyndareus.' Tyndaridae is a masc. form, and
includes both men and women. Horace does not mean to say she was merely
as brave as the bravest woman of the house of Tyndareus, but that her
bravery was greater than that of any of that bloody house, whether men or
women. Bentley first established that Tyndaridarum was from Tyndaridae
masc., and not fem. from a barbarous nom. sing. Tyndarida, quoting Synesius,
Epig. Anthol. 4. 4 οἱ τρεῖς Τυνδαρίδαι, Κάστωρ, Ἑλένη, Πολυδεύκης, to show
that a woman could be included in Tyndaridae, and comparing such expressions
as fratres for brothers and sisters, reges for king and queen.
101. The reply of the avarus. Maenius, 'like Maenius.' For the omission
of ut, cf. Ep. 1. 2. 42 rusticus exspectat. Maenius (cf. Ep. 1. 15. 26) and
Nomentanus (cf. 1. 8. 11; 2. 1. 22; 2. 3. 175) are typical spendthrifts, and
are mentioned in the fragments of Lucilius which have come down to us;
Maeniu' columnam cum peteret Lucil. 1171 Lach. ; qui te Nomentane malum
iam cetera perdat Lucil. 69 Lach. The names had become proverbial in
Horace's time, and we should err greatly if we supposed, with the scholiasts,
that they were real names of his contemporaries. Maenius is said to have
sold his house to Cato the censor in 184 B.C., to form a site for the Basilica
Porcia. Porphyrion tells a story of him that he was heard wishing in a loud
voice in the Capitol, on the 1st of January, that he might owe 400,000
sesterces; and, on being asked why he wished it, replied that he actually
owed 800,000. MS. authority here is in favour of Naevius; but we do not
read elsewhere of Naevius as a spendthrift. In 2. 2. 68 Naevius is simplex,
and allows his slaves to offer greasy water to his guests: such a character
scarcely suits this passage.
• •
102. pergis. componere, 'you are proceeding to reconcile opposites.'
In proposing to pass from avarice to prodigality, you speak as if these vices
were side by side, as if there were but one step from one to the other, whereas
they are diametrically opposite. For this use of componere cf. 1. 5. 29 aversos
soliti componere amicos. componere also means 'to pit together' (¿uviévai) as
a pair of gladiators, 1. 7. 20, and so most take it here, but that does not give
good sense. How can one be said to pit together foes who are already engaged?
What absurdity would there be in matching against each other things that are
hostile to each other? 104. veto te, sc. esse: the man is already avarus,
so fieri is out of place with te. Most place the comma after fieri. vappam,
'a roué,' properly must spoiled by spontaneous fermentation, hence nomen
probrosum hominum cum degeneravit animus Plin. H. N. 14. 20. 125.
nebulo (nebula), 'a good for nought,' 'scamp.'
105. quiddam, 'something,' implying a good deal: so est aliquid is a
meiosis for est magnum. Tanais, acc. to Porph., was a eunuch, a freedman
of Maecenas, or L. Munatius Plancus: and, acc. to the same, Visellius was
herniosus; but very likely this is only guessing. 106. modus, ‘a mean
in which virtue lies acc. to Aristotle. Cf. Lucan 2. 380 haec duri inmota
Catonis | secta fuit, servare modum finemque tenere.
108.* illuc unde abii redeo qui nemo ut avarus se probet: 'I
return to the point whence I started, asking, how is it that no avaricious
man is satisfied with his lot.' After qui understand fiat. Horace here dis-
tinctly refers to the first three verses of the Satire. This is shown by the
sentiment, by the words diversa sequentes, and by the exactly similar use of
nemo taken up by quisque. It seems almost certain that qui, which was the
point at which Horace started, and which vet. Bland. preserves, is the
SATIRE II
385
NOTES
:
true reading, nor is the ellipse of fiat too hard. Many edd. adopt qui, but
all spoil it by placing a comma after nemo, so that the meaning would be, how
is it that no one, like the avarus, is satisfied,' as if it were true that the
avarus is satisfied: for to take ut avarus ut neque avarus (se probat) seems
impossible. Two other readings need notice-(1) nemon ut avarus: this has,
numerically, the highest MS. sanction, and is adopted by many edd. But
such an exclamation is out of place at the end of a grave argument, and would
mean just the opposite of what is required. The real meaning of nemon ut
avarus must be can it be thought that no avarus is satisfied?' the answer
demanded being: 'certainly not: the avarus is sometimes satisfied.'
Cf.
2. 5. 18; Plaut. Aul. 4. 7. 9 egone ut te advorsum mentiar mater mea? Ter.
Andr. 1. 5. 28 eine ego ut advorser? Livy 4. 2 illine ut inpune concitent
finitima bella. These passages show that the case put by -ne ut is an impossible
one. (2) nemo ut avarus has but poor authority, and introduces a startling
hiatus (cf. however Epod. 13. 3; Od. 1. 28. 24). Moreover the acc. and
infin. would be expected, not ut with subj. Lastly, the point Horace started
with was not the statement that the avarus was discontented, but a question,
how it comes that this is the case. avarus: the insertion of this word
here is necessary to fuse Horace's two subjects into one; see Intr. 110.
So Ov. A. A. 1. 349 fertilior seges est alienis semper in agris | vicinumque pecus
grandius uber habet.
111. neque se... pauperiorum: one of the most
practical sentiments in Horace. Discontent is owing to our comparing
ourselves with those above us.
114.
113. sic belongs to festinanti: cf. Juv. 14. 178 properantis avari.
Ct. Virg. G. 1. 512-514 ut cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae, | addunt
in spatia, et frustra retinacula tendens | fertur equis auriga, neque audit currus
habenas. From the similarity of Horace's lines, it has been supposed that this
Satire was written after the publication of Georgic I.; but it is just as likely
that Virgil copied Horace. carceribus, the barriers, behind which the
chariots stood, before the consul or praetor gave the signal for the start, by
dropping his napkin, mappa. 115. instat, 'challenges,' lit. 'presses hard
upon.' illum, sc. aurigam: 'that other.' 116. extremos inter
euntem: 'who drops back into the ruck.' The rival charioteer has had a
struggle for first place, but being passed by, relaxes his efforts, loses his place,
and falls back into the extreme rear. Horace had often seen the picture he
describes of beaten horses falling back.
119. This famous simile is from Lucr. 3. 938 cur non ut plenus vitae
conviva recedis, | aequo animoque capis securam, stulte, quietem? 120.
According to the scholiasts Crispinus was a verbose åpeтaλóyos (professor of
virtue, preacher on moral subjects, see Mayor, Juv. 15. 16) who wrote on the
Stoic sect. He is sneered at as a hanger-on of another poor Stoic, 1. 3. 139;
as a voluminous but bad poet, 1. 4. 14; as a fountain of Stoic paradoxes, 2.
7. 45. Probably from much study, he had chronic lippitudo, or sore eyes, a
complaint which was common in antiquity and is often mocked at. Horace
sometimes suffered from it, cf. 1. 5. 30, 49. λnuâv was the Greek term.
scrinia, 'book-cases,' i.e. small cylindrical cases, in which the rolls of papyrus
were kept.
SATIRE II
SUBJECT:-Fools know no Mean. DATE:-probably 39 or 38 B.C.
The subject of this Satire is summed up in line 24 dum vitant stulti vitia,
in contraria currunt. The death of Tigellius Sardus, a man freehanded to a
2 C
386
BOOK I
HORACE
!
fault, furnishes Horace with his text, nil medium est. Men are either too
generous or too stingy, too dainty or too rude; some given to the coarser and
lower forms of vice, others to high and dangerous intrigues. The latter
subject occupies the greater part of the Satire, from 25 ad fin., but Horace's
treatment of it makes it scarcely profitable reading.
1. ambubaiae, female flute-players, from Syriac abuba, a flute. After
the conquest of Antiochus, 190 B.C., numbers of Syrian girls came to Rome,
and made a living by music and dancing; cf. Suet. Ner. 27; Juv. 3. 62.
collegia, 'corporations,' as if they really formed one of those guilds or
companies recognised by law at Rome, as in England the 'company of merchant
taylors,' 'fishmongers,' 'goldsmiths,' etc. Cf. the Digest 1. ad init., collegia
Romae certa sunt quorum corpus senatus consultis atque constitutionibus prin-
cipalibus confirmatum est veluti pistorum, etc. pharmacopolae, ‘quacks,'
who hawked their drugs about the markets. Cicero, pro Cluent. 14. 40,
mentions L. Clodius, a pharmacopola circumforaneus.
2. mendici,
'beggars,' especially the begging priests of Isis, Cybele, and other Eastern
deities. The begging priests of Cybele were called unтpáуvρTaι (collectors
for the Great Mother). Juvenal makes a Jewish priest beg, 6. 543 arcanam
Iudaea tremens mendicat in aurem | interpres legum Solymarum. mimae,
' actresses.' balatrones, perhaps from blaterones, 'praters, idle talkers,'
then here probably 'clowns,' 'pantaloons.' Cf. Lucr. 3. 955 aufer abhinc
lacrimas, balatro, where Munro translates 'rascal.' Festus gives blateae, lumps
of clay which adhere to the boots, as the derivation: these men hung on to
the rich as mud sticks to the feet. 3. Tigellius was a singer born in
Sardinia; a friend of Julius Caesar (Cic. ad Fam. 7. 24). He is not to be
confounded with his relative Hermogenes Tigellius, also a singer, but spoken
of by Horace as still alive, 1. 3. 129; 10. 90. The latter is admitted by Horace
to be a great musician, 1. 3. 129; 9. 25; but is assailed with much bitterness
by him, 1. 4. 72; 1. 10. 18, 80, 90. The attacks on Tigellius the Sardinian
in this and the next Satire are of a different nature; they point out his follies,
but without acrimony. This Tigellius was annoyed with Cicero for neglecting
to act as his and his grandfather Phamea's advocate, after promising to do so
(Cic. ad Att. 13. 49). Cicero (ad Fam. 7. 24) calls him pestilentiorem patria
sua, Sardinia being then notoriously unhealthy. In the same letter he says
of him and Phamea, habes Sardos venales: alium alio nequiorem, referring to
the well-known proverb, Sardi venales: alius alio nequior.
more.
4. quippe benignus erat, 'verily, he was bountiful.' He was really
prodigus, but the grateful mimae and mendici called him benignus. hic,
'another.' 6. quo, neut., 'the wherewithal to banish ..
8.
ingrata: never satisfied with what has been given it, always asking for
Cf. Lucr. 3. 1003 deinde animi ingratam naturam pascere semper |
atque explere bonis rebus satiareque numquam; Call. Frag. 106 öσσα т' ¿dóνTWV
| ἐνδοθι νειαιρην τ᾽ εἰς ἀχάριστον ἔδυ. stringat, 'why he strips the
splendid estate of his ancestors by his thankless gluttony.' The meta-
phorical use of stringere here comes from its use in stringere frondes, pluck
leaves from the trunk,' stringere arborem, 'strip a tree of its leaves,' etc.
9. conductis, 'borrowed'; cf. Juv. 11. 46 conducta pecunia. obsonia,
'dainties,' including meat, fish, game. The excessive love of good living was
an essentially Roman vice, often attacked by Lucilius. 10. animi parvi.
The dread of being thought 'mean' was then as now the cause of the ruin of
many young men. Persius uses magnanimus of the 'fast' youth who 'eats
>
.
SATIRE III
387
NOTES
up a handsome fortune, 6. 21 hic bona dente | grandia magnanimus peragit
puer: Catullus calls Lesbia's lovers magnanimos Remi nepotes, 58. 5.
12. We know nothing certain of this Fufidius beyond what we learn from
this passage.
Cic. in Pis. 35. 86 mentions a Fufidius who had lent money to
the inhabitants of Apollonia. vappae, nebulonis: cf. 1. 1. 104 n. 13.
positis in faenore, 'laid out at interest': cf. Epod. 2. 70 quaerit Kalendis
ponere. 14. quinas mercedes: 60 per cent., literally, five interests.
centesimas is understood. centesimae usurae (=asses usurae) meant interest
at the rate of 1 per cent. per month, i.e. 12 per cent. per annum. Even
centesimae (though a common rate) was thought high: see Cic. ad Att. 1. 12. 1.
binae (centesimae), ternae, quaternae = 24, 36, 48 per cent. respectively.
capiti exsecat, 'he strikes it off the principal,' i.e. he deducts the interest
for the first month, before lending the money, just as modern lenders of
money on notes-of-hand. caput: principal, also sors. 16. nomina,
'the names,' i.e. on notes-of-hand, see Ep. 2. 1. 105 n. The construction
modo sumpta veste virili for eorum a quibus vestis virilis modo sumpta sit is
rather harsh. The toga virilis was a plain toga (toga pura), without the
bordering stripe of purple which the toga praetexta had, and was assumed on
reaching the age of puberty. The Lex Plaetoria (circ. 200 B.C.) forbade con-
tracts being entered into by those under twenty-five years of age, but then, as
now, men were ready to lend these legal 'infants' money at high interest.
18. at, 'but, it may be supposed, he lays out money on himself in propor-
tion to his gains.' se: acc.=in suum victum. Cf. Gell. 2. 24. 2 sumptum
facere in aliquid; Livy 32. 27. 4 in aliquem. 20. He never gives his
genius a treat: cf. Od. 4. 7. 19 amico. animo. pater: Menedemus,
in Ter. Heaut., who, through remorse for his severity to his son Clinias,
punished himself with severe labour. 22. inducit, ‘represents' (πoLEî).
•
SATIRE III
SUBJECT :—Charity in Judging the Faults of Men. DATE, 37 or 36 B.C.
The subject of the following poem may be summed up in the words of
line 74 aequum est | peccatis veniam poscentem reddere rursus. Tigellius again
furnishes Horace with his starting-point. Like all singers, he would never
sing when asked, never leave off singing if not asked. Inconsistent he was in
other respects also, 1-19. But some one may ask me: 'Have you no faults
yourself?' yes, I have: I admit them; I am not like the brazen Maenius,
who boldly avows that he forgives himself his faults. It is monstrous to
overlook one's own failings and attack those of our friends, 20-38. Far better
were it to act like fond lovers, who cannot see, who even admire, the blemishes
of their loved ones, or like fathers who call the defects of their children
euphemistic names, 39-48. This should be the rule in friendship, 49-54.
Unhappily we reverse it, and turn our neighbours' virtues into faults, 55-65.
If we want to be forgiven, we must forgive, 66-75. Especially we should
overlook the smaller offences of our friends, 76-95. For the Stoic view that
all offences are equal is absurd. If nature could of herself have separated
right and wrong by a broad line, whence arose laws among men? 96-112.
Punishments must be graduated to meet offences according to their magnitude,
113-120. 'If I were king,' quoth the Stoic, 'I would be a Draco.' But you
are a king, are you not? according to your other absurd paradox, that the
|
388
BOOK I
HORACE
wise man is a king, and anything and everything he chooses? 120-133. Yet
in spite of your kingship you are the mock of boys in the streets, and no one
does you homage but the pedant Crispinus, more silly than yourself: while I,
in spite of my folly, shall enjoy the company of many sweet friends, forgiving
and forgiven by them in turn, 133-142.
•
2. cantare: to be joined with inducant animum rather than with rogati.
3. Sardus: contemptuously, cf. 1. 2. 3 n. Calvus the friend of Catullus
assailed this Tigellius in scazons, of which Porph. has preserved one line,
Sardi Tigelli putidum caput venit: 'for sale, the duffer Tigellius.' habe-
bat.
hoc cf. Cic. Phil. 2. 32. 78 habebat hoc omnino Caesar, 'this was
a way of Caesar's.'
4. Caesar: Augustus, at this time C. Julius Caesar
Octavianus. He did not receive the title of Augustus until 27 B.C., but
assumed the name of Caesar immediately after the murder of his great-uncle
Julius in 44, on hearing of his adoption by the latter in his will. qui
cogere posset: a compliment to the power of Octavian, sure to please him
at this time when he had still Sextus Pompey, Lepidus, and Antonius to sub-
due before becoming master of the world. patris: Julius, great-uncle of
Augustus, but adoptive father. The imperfects posset, peteret, proficeret,
citaret are used instead of pluperfects owing to a mental retrospect, as not
uncommonly see Madvig 247. 2.
6. si collibuisset, if the whim had seized him.' ab ovo ad mala:
eggs were included among the things eaten at the beginning of a dinner; cf.
Cic. ad Fam. 9. 20 integram famem ad ovum adfero. They did not form a part
of the cena proper, but were called promulsis, gustus, or gustatio. The cena
proper consisted of two or three courses (fercula) followed by dessert (mensae
secundae), which would include 'apples.' 7. citaret: 'recite.' Io
Bacchae : cf. Eur. Bacch. 577 κλύετ᾽ ἐμᾶς κλύετ᾽ αὐδᾶς, ἰὼ Βάκχαι, ἰὼ Βάκχαι.
This seems to have been a well known recitative. The MSS. are pretty evenly
divided between Bacchae and Bacche, but the extreme rarity of the lengthen-
ing of a short vowel-ending (exceptions are duplicate -que, and gravia Aen. 3.
464, anima 12. 648) must decide in favour of Bacchae. This Palmer now
adopts, though he formerly defended Bacche on the ground that in this particu-
lar hymn the accent in singing probably fell on the last syllable. summa
voce, 'with deepest voice,' while ima="highest.' The Greeks and Romans
reversed our system. The old simple tetrachord had four strings: výτn,
παρανήτη, παρυπάτη, ὑπάτη: of these the highest string, Υπάτη, summa, was
the most bass; the lowest, veáty, výtn, ima, was the most treble. 8.
resonat: for resonare of musical accompaniment, cf. Od. 3. 11. 3. qua e
chordis quattuor ima, 'in that note in which the lowest of the four strings
resounds. qua e for quae is Palmer's emendation. It is no change, for in
MSS. of Horace's time words were not separated, nor is there anything unusual
in the elision qua e; cf. 2. 1. 71, where se is elided before a; 1. 1. 44 ni before
id; 1. 2. 100 quae before invideant; Prop. 4. 2. 57 te qui ad vadimonia
curris. Reading quae the construction of chordis is very obscure. Orelli
suggests three explanations:-(1) ima in chordis; (2) chordis as instrumental
abl.; (3) chordis as dat. Schütz and Kiessling take chordis='from the
strings,' but a preposition would be absolutely necessary. For voces, of
musical notes, see A. P. 216, Virg. Aen. 6. 646 septem discrimina vocum.
9. nil aequale, 'he had no uniformity,' no consistency. velut qui
currebat. The construction is, saepe currebat velut qui fugiens hostem (cur-
reret), sacpe (incedebat) velut qui Iunonis sacra ferret. The reference is to the
SATIRE III
389
NOTES
+
reges
kavηpópoɩ, or 'basket-bearers,' maidens who at various Greek religious festivals
(e.g. of Demeter, Dionysus, and Athena) carried the sacred things on their
heads. Their gait would be slow and solemn; cf. 2. 8. 14. 12. decem:
ten slaves seems a large number to us, but it was about the smallest number
which, consistent with respectability, a Roman gentleman could have. Horace
had eight on his farm, 2. 7. 118; three served his dinner, 1. 6. 116.
atque tetrarchas, 'kings and pashas.' The most notable tetrarchies were
those of Galatia and of Judaea. 13. mensa tripes: the earliest and
simplest kind with three legs: the more fashionable kind at this period and
later had only one central leg of ivory or bronze. The three-legged tables
were sometimes called Delphicae from their resemblance to the tripod; cf.
Mart. 12. 66. 7 aurum non simplex Delphica portat. 14. concha. In-
stead of the silver salt-cellar, usual even in humble households (Od. 2. 16. 14),
he would be content with a shell of salt, and the salt would be sufficient
condiment for his food, cf. 2. 2. 17.
•
•
·
15. deciens centena (milia sestertium), ‘a million sesterces,' about £8000.
dedisses: for si dedisses; but si is often omitted in putting hypothetical
cases, cf. 1. 1. 45, and the case is put somewhat more strongly than if si were
used: 'suppose you gave.' 17. erat, 'there was sure to be nothing.'
18.
nil: more comprehensive than nemo. We scarcely have this idiom in English,
but it is common in Latin; cf. Nep. Alcib. 1 constat nihil illo fuisse ex-
cellentius vel in vitiis vel in virtutibus. 19. quid tu. Horace makes this
retort the link to connect his exordium with his chief subject, viz. the duty
of being gentle towards the failings of our friends. 20. immo alia, ay,
I have, but different from these, and perhaps of a lesser kind.' immo is used
like ye in answers where something more than an affirmative is given: it also
γε
has the force of μèv oûv, corrective; 'nay.' It combines both ineanings here,
'yes, but.'
minora: cf. 1. 4. 130; 6. 65.
21. Maenius: 1. 1. 101 n. Novium: possibly one of the Novii,
usurers mentioned 1. 6. 121.
carperet, was running down.' heus tu:
OÛTOS (VOC.), ‘hark you, sir!' 22. dare verba: to give words (for things),
hence to cajole, deceive. Note the play on sound of ignoras, ignotum, ignosco :
cf. ingenium ingens line 33. 23. putas, 'do you think you are deceiving
us as a stranger?' not 'do you think to,' i.e. 'expect' (doкeîs), a use which
puto does not seem to have. 24. inprobus, 'brazen,' 'impudent': see
line 56 n. dignusque notari, 'deserving of censure'; for the inf. cf. Od.
1. 3. 25 n. The Augustan poets do not use the common prose construction of
dignus with relative. 25. pervideas, 'examine.' mala, 'faults': cf.
Ep. 2. 2. 127; Phaedr. 4. 10. 4 hac re videre nostra mala non possumus: |
alii simul delinquunt censores sumus.
inunctis: cf. lippus inungui Ep. 1.
1. 29. Your eyes are rheumy, and covered with eye-salve, when you survey
your own faults.
26. in, 'in the case of.' 27. aquila: cf. Hom. Il.
17. 674 αἰετὸς ὅν ῥά τέ φασιν | ὀξύτατον δέρκεσθαι ὑπουρανίων πετεηνῶν.
serpens Epidaurius: all serpents were considered sharp-sighted (Spáκwv,
déρкoμaι). They were sacred to Aesculapius who was worshipped in the form
δέρκομαι).
of a serpent at Epidaurus, and a serpent, believed to be the god himself, was
brought thence to Rome to heal a pestilence, 293 B.C. This serpent made its
way to the island in the Tiber, and a temple to Aesculapius was built there.
29. iracundior: Acron and Schol. Cruq. say that Hor. refers to Virgil
here. He is probably not referring to any particular individual, although he
mixes up many of his own traits in the picture: he was hot-tempered, 2. 3.
390
BOOK I
HORACE
323; Ep. 1. 20. 25; careless in externals, Ep. 1. 1. 94: and he speaks of his
compensating ingeni benigna vena Od. 2. 18. 9. minus aptus acutis
naribus horum hominum, 'scarce fit to face the polished banter of the
men of our day': cf. 1. 6. 5; Epod. 12. 3 naris obesae, the opp. of acutae.
30. horum hominum: cf. Catull. 24. 1 o qui flosculus es Iuventiorum, |
non horum modo, sed quot aut fuerunt | aut posthac aliis erunt in annis; Cic.
ad Att. 13. 6 hic Spurius of one of his contemporaries, contrasting him with
a preceding Spurius. eo: causal: cf. 1. 6. 89; 9. 55; 2. 3. 120; 8. 65.
31. rusticius: with tonso; his hair is cut in clownish style. defluit,
'trails,' expressing carelessness. male: most easily taken with haereat,
'scarcely hangs on to his foot.' Cf. Theophrast. Char. 4 ỏ dè dypoiкos TоLOÛTÓS
ἄγροικος τοιοῦτός
τις οἷος
μείζω τοῦ ποδὸς τὰ ὑποδήματα φορεῖν.
• •
32. The triple at replies to the triple censure in 29, 30. 35. concute,
'shake yourself': the metaphor is from shaking out the sinus or folds of the
toga over the bosom. excutere is more common in this sense. num qua
vitiorum=num quae vitia, rather a favourite idiom with Hor. inseverit,
'has planted in you.' This verb suits consuetudo mala rather than natura.
36. namque: the Greek yáp, supposing an ellipse: 'and it is sure to do so,
for . or something of that sort. 37. filix, 'ferns which must be
got rid of by burning'; cf. Virg. G. 2. 189.
>
38. praeverti means to pay attention to one thing in preference to
others a common Plautine verb. Let us in friendship have our attention en-
gaged by the fact that the blemishes of a mistress escape the notice of a lover
as though blind, or actually give him pleasure, as Hagna's wen did Balbinus.
39. decipiunt here almost-fallunt. 40. pōlypus, 'a wen,' from the
Ionic form πουλύπος (= πολύπους), or the Doric πώλυπος. Hagna (ἁγνή), whence
our Agnes, probably a liberta; not uncommon in Inscriptions. 42. virtus,
"good feeling'; cf. Od. 2. 2. 19.
posuisset : like τιθέναι ὀνόματα.
43. ut nati: sc. si quod sit vitium non fastidit, 'as a father in his child (does
not sneer at any defect) so we in a friend . . .' 44. strabonem (σтpáßwv,
σтpéow) is 'squinting,' while paetus is 'having a slight cast': the latter defect
was sometimes considered a beauty, attributed to Venus herself; cf. Varro
Sat. Men. p. 178, 1 non haec res de Venere paeta strabam facit. The fact
that the adjectives here are real cognomina of Roman houses is an accident.
Horace could scarcely select an epithet describing a bodily peculiarity without
its being a Roman name. Instances of surnames derived from such peculi-
arities are Barbatus, Capito, Naso, Scaevola, Rufus, Balbus, Niger. 45.
male parvus, 'wretchedly small'; cf. Od. 1. 9. 24 n. 46. abortivus,
'dwarfish,' i.e. as small as if he had been an abortion. 47. Sisyphus:
a favourite dwarf of M. Antony's, evidently so called from his sharpness.
Dwarfs (nani) were often kept by the rich at Rome: Prop. 4. 8. 41; Juv. 8. 32.
varum, 'knock-knee'd': varus means 'having the knees bent inwards,' pacßós:
opp. to valgus, bow-legged,' ẞlacobs. The kind father calls his child only
knock-knee'd, when his legs are twisted out of all shape. 48. balbutit,
'calls lispingly,' in fond imitation of his child's talk. The father calls the son
merely big-ankled, scaurum, when he can scarcely stand on his misshapen
shins. The most famous passage in Latin where defects are called by euphe-
mistic names, токорíσμата, is Lucr. 4. 1160 seq. For the short syllable
ὑποκορίσματα,
before strabonem, cf. 1. 5. 35; 2. 3. 43.
49. parcius, 'somewhat stingily.' frugi (dat. of frux or frugis, used
as adj.; in old Latin it is often a noun with bonae joined to it), always a term
SATIRE III
391
NOTES
of praise opposed to nequam, combines the ideas of thrift and respectability:
'thrifty.' ineptus is the man devoid of taste and tact. Cicero remarks
that the Greeks had no word for it, nor have we: his definition exactly agrees
with this passage, de Or. 2. 4. 17 qui aut, tempus quid postulet, non videt, aut
plura loquitur aut se ostentat aut eorum, quibuscum est, vel dignitatis vel com-
modi rationem non habet aut denique in aliquo genere aut inconcinnus aut
multus est, is ineptus dicitur. 50. iactantior, 'talks too much about
51. postulat, 'his object is to make himself entertaining, and
he thinks that is the way to do it.' postulo=ȧğıŵ: cf. Plaut. Capt. 1. 2. 83
numquam istoc vinces me Hegio, ne postules. 53. caldior: by syncope
for calidior; cf. 2. 5. 65 soldum; Ep. 1. 9. 6 valdius, and see 1. 5. 79 n.
himself.'
•
•
56. sincerum cupimus vas incrustare, 'we wish to coat with foulness
even the clean vessel,' i.e. so far from calling vices by the name of virtues, we
call virtues vices. The metaphor is probably derived from the incrustation
left by wine, especially sour wine, in a bottle. Cf. Ep. 1. 2. 54 n.; Lucil. 489
incrustatu' calix. probus . damus, 'we have a modest acquaint-
ance, a very retiring fellow: we give him the sobriquet of a slow coach, a
dullard.' probus from its being the opposite of inprobus, 'bold,' and from
the fact that it is now and then joined with demissus, must have meant modest.
Cic. de Or. 2. 43. 182 joins probi and demissi; cf. Ċatull. 42. 24 pudica et
proba. Both tardus and pinguis are terms of reproach, the latter somewhat
the stronger of the two. 57. multum : Horace is fond of the adverbial
use of multum; cf. 2. 3. 147; 5.92; Ep. 2. 2. 62. 59. malo: masc., 'he
exposes his flank to no enemy'; a military metaphor, and not unfrequent.
60. cum: elliptical; (and he acts rightly) since he has to move in a world
where envy and calumny are rife. 61. bene sano: a man of thoroughly
sound sense; bene strengthens praise.
•
•
63. simplicior quis et est, qualem. The construction is usually said to
be simplicior quis (est) et est (talis) qualem but this makes Horace say
that he would gladly interrupt Maecenas when reading or silent; for it dis-
tinctly separates qualem from simplicior. A translation will show this: 'one
is somewhat simple, and of the character in which I hope I may have ex-
hibited myself to you, namely, such as to interrupt one when reading or silent
with random talk.' We must take et as simply joining the sentence to the
preceding: 'another too is somewhat simple (in which character I hope I may
have exhibited myself to you, Maecenas), so as to interrupt his friend when
reading or silent with random talk. 65. inpellat: lit. 'push,' 'jostle,'
here'interrupts rudely.' 66. communi sensu, 'ordinary tact.'
Juv. 8. 73 rarus enim ferme sensus communis in illa | fortuna, Mayor's note;
Sen. Benef. 1. 12. 3 sit in beneficio sensus communis: tempus, locum observet,
personas, quibus momentis, quae grata et ingrata sunt.
Cf.
70. cum mea compenset vitiis bona, 'let him take my good qualities
as a set-off against my faults.' cum is here preposition, not conjunction, for
compensare never means literally 'to weigh against,' which is the meaning
demanded by cum, 'when,' but either (1) to set off one (good) thing against
another (bad) thing, or (2) to compensate for one (bad) thing by another
(good) thing. In (1) compensare cum is generally used in (2) simply com-
pensare; (1) cf. Cic. Pis. 30. 75 nonne compensabit cum uno versiculo tot mea
volumina laudum suarum? 'will he not accept as a set-off against a single
line so many volumes of panegyric?' and (2) Cic. Or. 64. 216 spondeus pauci-
tatem pedum gravitate sua et tarditate compensat. At the same time the notion
392
BOOK I
HORACE
of weighing in a balance is of course present in compenset, and this idea is
more clearly worked out in inclinet and trutina. Many editors take cum as
the conjunction; but the mood of compenset as well as the force of this verb
are both against this. For the separation of the preposition from its case see
1. 6. 115; 10. 91; 2. 6. 34; Ep. 1. 2. 6. pluribus hisce is dat. or
abl. It is generally taken as dat., but the dat. with inclino is very doubtful.
It is better to take hisce as abl. let him be weighed down, i.e. be influenced
by these, as being more numerous, if only they are more numerous. hisce :
sc. bonis.
71. inclinet. The friend himself is compared to a balance.
inclinet is intrans., for that is the best Augustan construction of the verb, and
there is no acc. here. 72. hac lege: he shall be weighed in the same
scale, on this condition (viz. that he weighs my character thus).
=
74. ver-
73. tuberibus, 'tumours' (the beam that is in thine own eye).
rucis, 'warts' (the mote that is in thy brother's eye). 76. Horace, repri-
manding the severity with which we judge our neighbour's venial faults, is
reminded of the Stoic paradox that all offences are equal, and from this point
leads up to it and its refutation. The Stoics will not allow that any but the
perfect sapiens can ever be free from faults. quatenus, 'since,' 1. 1. 64.
excidi: supply nequit out of next line. Since neither anger nor the other
faults ingrained in fools can be thoroughly eradicated, why enact a too severe
general law for punishing offences? Reason should have weights and measures
of her own, and mete out her punishment fairly, proportioned to each par-
ticular case. 77. stultis: from the Stoic point of view; all save the sapiens.
80. tollere, 'remove from table.' 81. tepidum . . . ius, 'cold gravy.'
82. Labeone. Said by the scholiasts to be M. Antistius Labeo, a great
jurisconsult, famous for his outspoken attacks on the emperor, propter quod
Horatius adulans Augusto insanum eum dixit. He was son of Labeo who
was a comrade of Horace at Philippi; but at the time this Satire was written
was not more than twenty, and could not yet have become famous for his free
opinions. Others refer to C. Atinius Labeo, cf. Liv. Epit. 59 C. Atinius Labeo
tribunus plebis Q. Metellum censorem, a quo in senatu legendo praeteritus erat,
de saxo deici iussit; quod ne fieret, ceteri tribuni plebis auxilio fuerunt. But
this was in 131 B.C., so that the reference is remote. Bentley conjectures
Labieno: but Labienus, a famous orator, nicknamed Rabienus for his savage
attacks on the emperor and others, is later than the date of this Satire.
83. hoc nominative, 'the following': ill-treatment of slaves was not
thought much of at Rome. 85. concedas: with acc. of thing: cf. Ov.
Trist. 2. 31 sed nisi peccassem, quid tu concedere posses? 86. Ruso (called
Octavius Ruso by Porph.) is unknown, but Ruso was a cognomen of the
Octavii, Calvisii, and Occii. He had a mania for writing history, but could
get no one to read his works or listen to him reading them: so he lent money,
and expected his debtors in arrear to listen to his readings. Horace ironically
pretends great horror at such a fate. So Juv. 3. 9 enumerates the recitations
of poets in the month of August as the last and worst danger of a city life.
87. Kalendae. Money was lent and called in, and interest paid, at the
Kalends, Nones, or Ides, the first and last more commonly than the Nones:
cf. Epod. 2. 69; Ov. Rem. Am. 561 qui Puteal Ianumque timet celeresque
Kalendas, | torqueat hunc aeris mutua summa sui. 88. mercedem aut
nummos, 'interest or principal': the former also usura or faenus; the latter,
generally sors or caput. unde unde, 'by hook or crook.' extricat,
screws out.'
89. porrecto iugulo; as if preparing for the headsman's axe.
SATIRE III
393
NOTES
91. Euandri manibus tritum, either (1) 'worn by the hands of
Evander,' the mythical Italian king, i.e. of venerable antiquity; like the
brazen foot - bath of Sisyphus, 2. 3. 21; or (2) shaped by the hands of
Evander,' a caelator (chaser of silver) and statuary (plastes statuarum), said
to have been brought by M. Antony from Athens to Alexandria, thence to
Rome by Octavian after the battle of Actium. This is the explanation of
Porph., who says he derived it from those qui de personis Horatianis scrip-
serunt, and Avianius Evander a statuary is mentioned Cic. ad Fam. 7. 23;
13. 2 and Pliny 36. 5. 32. But Horace is clearly satirising the fashionable
craze for antiques at Rome, cf. Mart. 8. 6. 9 hi duo longaevo censentur Nestore
fundi | pollice de Pylio trita columba nitet, where trita exactly answers to
tritum here, while to use tritum of a caelator or sculptor is most unnatural.
92. positum ante antepositum, 'served up.' mea in parte, ‘in the
part of the dish next to me.' 95. fide, the old dat. and genit., frequent in
Plautus, cf. Od. 3. 7. 4.
sponsumve negarit, 'disowned his bond': refer-
ring to a man becoming security for his friend, and then denying his liability.
96. quis=quibus, cf. 1. 1. 75: the form is used by Horace only in his
earliest writings, the Satires and Epodes. The Stoics held that offences were
equal. fere, to be joined with paria: see on 2. 3. 32. placuit, dédok-
Taι, 'they have laid it down.' laborant, ȧropoûow, they are at a loss when
they come to deal with practical life, ad verum. 97. sensus, sing. 'in-
stinct,' as Cic. de Fin. 4. 19. 55, arguing against the same paradox, says,
sensus enim cuiusque et natura rerum atque ipsa veritas clamabat quodam
modo, non posse adduci, ut inter eas res quas Zeno exaequaret nihil interesset.
moresque, 'the rules of life,' cf. Od. 4. 4. 35 n. 98. utilitas . . . aequi.
That the distinctions of right and wrong are founded in utility has been held
without the prope by a numerous school of modern philosophers from Hobbes
to Mill. Cp. Plato, Rep. v. 457 B. It is clearly an Epicurean view. 101.
Nails, fists, cudgels, and so on step by step (porro) till they fought with arms.
In our civilised days we have got on to grape-shot and torpedoes. 102.
arma includes both tela and armour. usus, 'experience,' or 'necessity.'
103. donec verba: language was the first step in civilisation; next law.
verba, þýµara, articulate words, with which men gave meaning and shape to
voces, the inarticulate sounds of the savage voice. 104. nomina, óvóμaтa,
names for external things. Cf. A. P. 234.
111. iura inventa metu. Laws, embodying distinctions of right and
wrong, were invented: they were not made by nature ready to man's hand.
Nature of herself drew no clear and evident line between right and wrong.
They slide into each other by gradations, and there are gradations of crime,
and ought to be gradations of punishment. The Stoics, on the other hand,
said that τὸ δίκαιον existed φύσει )( θέσει = inventa. 113. iusto. ini-
quum, neuter, 'Nature cannot discriminate between what is just and un-
just in the same way as she distinguishes between good things and their
opposites' (as, for instance, she distinguishes between health and sickness,
pain and pleasure).
115. nec vincet ratio hoc, 'nor shall philosophy
prove this, that,' etc.
vincere hoc, to carry this point, like vikâv yvwunv:
and vincere causam. This is an exceptional use of ut with subj. for the usual
acc. and inf. (for which cf. 2. 3. 225): ut is due to the interposition of hoc, of
which ut peccet is epexegetic. 116. qui teneros caules. By the laws of
Draco idle persons and those who stole vegetables, τοὺς λάχανα κλέψαντας,
were punished equally with sacrilegious thieves (iepóσvλo) and homicides.
394
BOOK I
HORACE
117. sacra . . legerit, used with reference to sacrilegus.
to pick, gather, hence steal.
•
• •
·
•
•
lego, prop.
118. aequas, 'just,' proportioned to the magnitude of the offence. 119.
scutica (σKÛTOS or σKÚтos), a whip of hide, used by schoolmasters, or for the
milder offences of slaves. flagello, a scourge, of several cords, some-
times with knots in which were inserted pieces of metal, then named scor-
piones; a terrible cat-o'-nine-tails, used for beating slaves for their worst
offences. Its severity is often referred to: Epod. 4. 11; Juv. 14. 19. Many
expired under it. 120. nam ut caedas: For I have no fear lest
you should beat with the cane one who deserves a severer lashing.' If the
reading is sound, ut is here used where ne is required, owing to its clause pre-
ceding vereor, and causing a sort of anacoluthon, e.g. the sentence might have
been nam ut caedas, id vero non est verisimile. Or, more probably, ut
caedas is put loosely for illud ut caedas (cf. hoc ut peccet 115) 'of (this, viz.)
your beating I am not afraid.' On the other hand Horace is very care-
ful about the idiom in question, cf. 2. 1. 60 o puer ut sis | vitalis metuo; 1. 4.
31 ne quid | summa deperdat metuens aut ampliet ut rem. Hence Palmer cou-
jectures nunc for non in 121. With nunc the words mean 'for as matters
stand at present, I fear there is no chance of your merely caning with
your saying all offences are equal.' The ferula or cane (properly the stalk of the
fennel-plant, váp◊n§) was milder even than the scutica. It was the school-
master's rod; cf. Mart. 10. 62. 10 ferulaeque tristes sceptra paedagogorum ;
Dom. Marsus ap. Suet. Gramm. 9 mentions both scutica and ferula as
belonging to schoolmasters, si quos Orbilius ferula scuticaque cecidit. 122.
furta, larceny, petty thefts: latrociniis, highway robbery. magnis, to
be joined with simili, a short way of saying falce simili eius falcis qua magna
recidis, 123. si tibi regnum: the Stoic says unguardedly, ‘if I were
only king, I would do so and so': Horace at once silences him with the
retort, 'But with you the wise man is a king! so you are one: why wish for
what you have?'
•
· **
125. According to the Stoics the sapiens was perfect in everything. Porph.
quotes Lucilius here, a passage which Horace evidently copied : non dum etiam
qui haec omnia habebit, | formosus dives liber rex solu' vocetur. He is rich, he
is a first-rate shoemaker, he is handsome, he is a king. Cicero several times
refers to the same doctrine, Mur. 29. 61; Acad. 2. 44. 136; de Fin. 4. 27 ;
3. 22. 75. The subject of the sixth Stoic Paradox treated by Cicero is: solum
sapientem esse divitem. 127. Chrysippus, B.C. 280-207, succeeded
Cleanthes as head of the Stoic sect. He is often spoken of as the chief Stoic
philosopher, and it was currently said εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἦν Χρύσιππος οὐκ ἂν ἦν
Στοά,
Zroά, Diog. Laert. 7. 7 (183). The Stoic here tries to explain the Stoic
paradox thus: the wise man is potentially a good shoemaker, though he never
made shoes; as Hermogenes is a famous singer, although not singing at the
time; as Alfenus remained a barber after giving up his trade: in this sense a
wise man may even be called a king. crepidas (кρηπis): shoes of Greek
fashion, perhaps affected by philosophers. 128. qui, 'how so?' evidently
the true reading, though not so well supported as quo: cf. Pers. 1. 127.
129. Hermogenes Tigellius, a famous musician, apparently spoken of as
alive, and, if so, not to be confounded with Tigellius Sardus of 1. 2. 3, though
probably a relative. 130. Alfenus. The scholiasts say that this is a hit
at Alfenus Varus of Cremona, who having given up his business as a shoe-
maker there (abiecta sutrina or tonstring according to one MS.), came to Rome,
*
SATIRE IV.
395
NOTES
and after studying under Ser. Sulpicius Rufus, attained fame as a jurisconsult,
obtained the consulship, and at his death was accorded a public funeral. The
word vafer, 'shrewd,' suits this account, as it is now and then found applied
to jurisconsults. 131. instrumento, 'stock-in-trade,' i.e. if a barber, his
razors, novaculae; shears, axicia; towels, lintea; curling-tongs, calamistrum,
etc. if a shoemaker, his lasts, formae; knives, scalpra; awl, subula, etc.
132. tonsor: so Bent. from the vet. Bland. against all other MSS. which
have sutor. The Stoic wants to prove the wise man potentially a shoemaker.
He naturally goes to other professions for his illustrations: as Hermogenes is
potentially a singer: as Alfenus still remained a barber so the wise man is
potentially a shoemaker. It would show poverty of thought to select another
shoemaker as the second illustration, and sutor sounds awkward after sutor
twice preceding. sic, 'in this sense,' i.e. potentially, duváμe, not actually,
ἐνεργεία.
133. barbam. A beard was affected by professors of philosophy, especi-
ally the Stoics and Cynics. Cf. 2. 3. 35; Pers. Sat. 1. 133 si Cynico barbam
petulans nonaria vellat. 134. coerces, ‘keep at bay.' 135. urgueris,
'you are mobbed.' 136. rumperis et latras=latrando rumperis, 'you burst
yourself with scolding'; cf. Ep. 1. 19. 15; Plaut. Capt. Prol. 14. 137.
dum rather rare with future: here it denotes a habit. quadrante lava-
tum, 'to bathe for a farthing'; cf. Juv. 6. 447 quadrante lavari. The Stoic
is represented as going shabbily to the public baths, where the price for the
cheapest bath was only a quadrans, of an as, about a farthing. 138.
rex, 'your majesty. stipator, ‘in your retinue.' King though you are,
the offensive åpeтaλbyos, Crispinus, will be your only escort.
que, 'both
.. and,' a rare correspondence, cf. Liv. 4. 2 id
versisque semper honori fuisse; Madv. de Fin. 5. 22. 64.
ironically opposed to the vaunted wisdom of the sapiens.
that he would have many of them, in opposition to the lonely state of the
harsh philosopher.
•
SATIRE IV
•
139. et
et singulis uni-
140. stultus,
amici, implying
A Defence of Horace's Satires from the charge of malevolence. DATE, 38 B.C.
This Satire was written by Horace for the purpose of defending himself
and Satire from the charge of malevolence. He claims the same right to
castigate vice that the Greek poets of the Old Comedy arrogated to themselves,
1-5; the same right that Lucilius enjoyed, 6. The mention of Lucilius
introduces a slight digression, in which his rugged verse and diffuse and
unpolished style are blamed. It is easy to write empty nothings, like Crispinus,
14: or Fannius, the popular idol, 21. But satire is feared, hence the satirical
poet is not popular, 23-38. But, in the first place, it is wrong to call him a
poet indeed it is doubtful whether the writer of comedy deserves this title,
38-62; in the second place, you have got no right to charge my writings with
malevolence. I do not write for publication, 73; my object is not to give
pain, 77; I have as good a right to have a hearty laugh at the follies of my
neighbours as a wit at a dinner-table, 87. The scandal-monger, the backbiter,
are odious characters, 94-100: I have nothing in common with them. My
father taught me to mark other men's faults, for the purpose of avoiding them,
106-126; I still carry on the practice, hence my immunity from the more
serious vices. I have faults of less heinousness; one of them is wasting paper
by writing, but you must allow me that privilege, or I and my brother poets
will make a proselyte of you by force.
}
396
BOOK I
HORACE
1. Eupolis 446-410, Cratinus 519-422, Aristophanes 448-380 B.C., are also
mentioned together as true satirists by Horace's imitator, Persius 1. 123 au-
daci quicumque afflate Cratino | iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles.
2. alii. Among the other most famous poets of the old comedy are Crates,
Pherecrates, Teleclides, Hermippus, Amipsias, Phrynichus, and Plato. The
old comedy dated from 460 to 404; its characteristic was the most unsparing
exposure of public characters. alii quorum virorum stands for alii viri
3.
quorum; cf. 1. 10. 16 illi, scripta quibus comoedia prisca viris est.
dignus with inf., cf. Od. 1. 3. 25 n. malus is several times used as a
subst. by Hor.; cf. 1. 3. 59; Epod. 6. 11.
6. hinc omnis pendet Lucilius, 'Lucilius is entirely derived from
them.' The satire of Lucilius certainly discharged the same function among
the Romans as the Old Comedy did among the Greeks, the function of public
criticism on public men which in our days is discharged by the press. But as
Quintilian says that Roman satire is wholly original (10. 1. 93 satira tota
nostra est), Sellar considers (Roman Poets p. 219) that Horace here only
points out this parallelism. Palmer, however (see his Preface), holds that
Horace clearly describes Lucilius as copying the Old Comedy, and that Quin-
tilian's words must refer to the outward form rather than to the inward
substance of Roman satire. C. Lucilius was a Roman knight, of good
family and fortune, great-uncle of Pompey the Great: he served under
P. Africanus in the Numantine war, and was the intimate friend of that
general and Laelius; he died 103 B.C. He wrote thirty books of Satires :
the first twenty and the thirtieth in hexameters; the twenty-second apparently
in elegiacs; the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh in trochaics; the twenty-
eighth and twenty-ninth in iambics, trochaics, and hexameters.
We possess
about 1100 lines of his in fragments. 7. mutatis tantum pedibus.
Hor. here ignores those of Lucilius' satires which were written in iambics and
trochaics, and what is more important, ignores the absence of the dramatic
form. facetus, 'humorous. Cf. Cic. Leg. 2. 15. 37 Aristophanes facetis-
simus poeta veteris comoediae. It seems to be applied to Virgil in a different
sense, 1. 10. 44.
8. emunctae naris, 'of sarcastic power'; properly
one with a well-wiped nose, hence, one who has that organ in a fit state for
appreciating the ludicrous. Cf. the use of ȧroμúттe, Plat. Rep. 343 a.
See on 1. 3. 29; 6. 5. For the omission of poeta or vir, see on 1. 1. 33.
durus componere, rugged in the composition of his verse; for the inf. cf.
Od. 1. 3. 25 n.
9. hoc, abl., 'on this account.' in hora, 'within an hour': the
preposition is especially used with numerals, Madvig 276. 3. 10. stans
pede in uno: a proverbial expression for doing anything with facility.
11. cum flueret lutulentus, ' as he flowed muddily along, there was always
something you would wish to have removed.' Cf. 1. 10. 50; Quintil. 10. 1.
94 ego ab Horatio dissentio qui Lucilium fuere lutulentum, et esse aliquid,
quod tollere possis, putat. As far as we can judge from the fragments preserved,
perhaps most people now would agree with Horace, not with Quintilian, on
the literary question. 12 garrulus, of dictating, as loquax 1. 1. 13.
This line naturally follows the train of thought interrupted by the three
lines, 9-11, garrulus taking up facetus, emunctae naris, and durus. Every
conceivable plan for bringing the verse into more strict syntax has been
reverted to by German critics. Schütz puts a comma at erat, making it personal:
erat (quod tollere velles), garrulus: destroying the sense. He wisely does not
SATIRE IV
397
NOTES
quote Quintilian's words, esse aliquid, quod tollere possis. Bothe puts a full
stop at velles, and makes garrulus and piger go with Crispinus: the position
of ecce is against this. Probably 13 should be struck out, and 12 placed after
8 or 9, if any alteration is made. 13. This has all the signs and tokens of
a spurious verse: the epanalepsis of scribendi: the solecistic construction of
nil moror: the ease with which the line may be omitted without damaging
the sense, and the obviousness of a hypothesis to account for its invention,
are points all of which are in favour of its excision. It seems likely that it
was inserted owing to the scribe not seeing that scribendi by itself is right;
the lazy bard will not write himself, but merely dictate. The usual construc-
tion of nil moror is an acc. or an infinitive: here we have ut, and not only so,
but the verb, scribat, is understood. It is true, as Schütz says, the transition
from the infinitive to ut with subj. is not a violent one; he compares concedo
so used Cic. Am. 5. 18; probo Tusc. 3. 3. 5; assentior Leg. 2. 5. 11.
would be impossible to take ut multumquam multum or quantum.
It
14. Crispinus: 1. 1. 120 n. minimo, 'at long odds.' Crispinus offers
heavy odds that he can write more than Horace. So Palmer with Acron:
minimo provocare dicuntur ii qui in stipulatione plus ipsi promittunt quam
exigunt ab adversario. Surely, however, the man who lays 'long odds '
challenges with a great sum and not with a very little,' and therefore we may
perhaps accept the explanation of the other scholiasts, minimo digito solent
provocare qui volunt ostendere plus esse virium in suo digito minimo quam in
alterius toto corpore. Bentley read nummo. 15. accipiam: an infinitely
better reading than accipe iam in fact iam is utterly inconsistent with hora,
which is yet to come, and Crispinus's statement of his own readiness to enter
the lists is necessary.
tabulas, sc. ceratas, for writing on with the stilus.
17. di bene fecerunt: an expression of thanks: cf. κaλŵs toleîv, eû moleîv.
19. hircinis follibus, 'goat-skin bellows'; windbags, a man who prides
himself in the quantity he writes, produces empty nothings, mere wind.
21. ut mavis: like ut facis, according to your preference for so doing.'
beatus, because he got many readers.
21. Fannius, called Quadratus by the schol., was, as we may judge from
this passage, a bad poet, though a wordy one; he was a great card with
Horace's bête noire Hermogenes Tigellius, and a frequent guest at his table,
where they ran down Horace together: 1. 10. 80. ultro delatis capsis
et imagine. Probably some admirer or admirers of Fannius had made him
a presentation of a set of ornamental bookcases, together with a bust of himself.
For ultro deferre, of giving something to an individual unasked, cf. Ep. 1. 12.
22; Cic. ad Fam. 4. 13. 2 quod non ultro mihi Caesar detulerit; ad Fam. 13.
55. 1 ultro ei detulerim legationem. The scholiasts give other explanations.
They tell us that Fannius was childless, and that his heredipetae (legacy-hunters).
without his orders, sent his poems and busts to the public libraries. That
does not suit the use of ultro delatis, and is historically impossible: for in the
first public library at Rome, that founded by Asinius Pollio in 38 B.C., the
only one existing at this time, the writings of living authors were not admitted ;
the sole exception being made in the case of M. Varro (Plin. H. N. 7. 30. 115).
Another scholastic explanation is that Fannius had left in his will a direction.
that he should be burnt with his own writings; but this is a confusion with
the account given (1. 10. 62) of Cassius, and Fannius was now living (1. 10. 80).
22. imagine: cf. Juv. 7. 29 ut dignus venias hederis et imagine macra,
Mayor's note. mea... timentis: cf. Cic. Phil. 2. 43. 111 tuum hominis
398
BOOK I
HORACE
simplicis pectus vidimus; Ov. Her. 5. 45 nostros vidisti flentis ocellos; Mart.
7. 51. 7 sic tenet absentis nostros cantatque libellos. A genitive is contained
in the possessive, and the partic. agrees with it: Roby, S. G. 441b, note.
•
25.
24. sunt quos, with ind., denoting a simple fact, as 2. 4. 47; Od. 1. 1.
3 11.
genus hoc: sc. scribendi, satire. plures, most people,' acc.
attracted to quos. People fear satire, knowing their own weak points.
elige, 'pick out any one you please.' Some object to elige as inconsistent
with quemvis: but even in picking at random some degree of choice exists.
28. argenti.. aere: one dabbles in plate, another in bronzes, for which
latter Corinth was especially famous. stupet: a very strong word like
torpes, 2. 7. 95, both used of the mania of art connoisseurs. Albius is
unknown. 29. mutat, 'barters.' surgente from east to west,
not 'from morning till evening.' Pers. 5. 54 mercibus hic Italis mutat sub
sole recenti | rugosum piper. 30. tepet, 'is moderately warmed.' The
west is here spoken of as cooler than the east. 31. fertur, 'rushes.'
φέρεσθαι has the same sense. pulvis: the comparison is to the dust-cloud
of a tornado. 31, 32. ne quid rem, 'fearfully anxious lest he
should loose aught from his total, or not add to his estate. A good example
of the difference between ne and ut after verbs of fearing. Schütz takes ut as
final in order to,' which is weak, and all but makes nonsense of the passage.
·
•
• •
•
•
>
34. faenum. cornu. A satirist is like a vicious ox, to whose horns
a_wisp of hay was tied as a warning that he was dangerous. According to
Plutarch, Sicinius, when asked why he refrained from assailing only Crassus,
χόρτον αὐτὸν ἔχειν ἔφησεν ἐπὶ τοῦ κέρατος. 35. sibi, i.e. at his witticisms, a
dat. commodi. 36. inleverit, 'scrawled,' used, with some contempt, of
hasty writing. 37. furno: a baking oven, where the poorer classes got their
loaves and pies baked. lacu: one of the public tanks whence the people
drew their water. Agrippa is said to have made 700 of these in the city.
38. pueros et anus, 'slaves and old women,' the former carrying the
loaves of bread, the latter water for washing. 39. poetis: attracted into
the same case as quibus: 1. 1. 19 n. Most MSS. have poetas.
concludere versum, 'to confine a verse within metrical limits'; cf. 1. 10.
59; 2. 1. 28. 42. sermoni propiora, 'nearer to prose,' the language of
talk, sermo quotidianus, sermo pedester. Horace calls his satire Musa pedestris,
2. 6. 17, and speaks of the satires as sermones repentes per humum, Ep. 2. 1. 250.
40.
45. And so not only cannot the satirist be called a poet, but it is doubtful
whether his predecessor, the writer of comedy, can. The construction is
quidam quaesivere (utrum) comoedia poema esset, necne. utrum is usually
omitted when necne is used; cf. line 63. 47. verbis, 'dialogue'; rebus,
'subjects'; both belonging to common life. 48. differt with dat., as
words compounded with this prefix generally, like discolor; cf. Od. 2. 2. 18
dissidens plebi. sermo merus: in apposition to comoedia in line 45.
There is no asyndeton; 'comedy being, in fact, absolute prose, save that it
differs from prose by having a regular beat. at pater ardens. An
objector may say comedy has 'acer spiritus,' pointing to the rage fathers in
the play exhibit when scolding their prodigal
saevit, 'storms.' nepos, 'prodigal.'
struction; amica is an instrumental ablative,
with a harlot mistress.' Cf. Od. 3. 9. 5 n.
It was customary with wild young men to revel through the streets at
night, with their slaves carrying torches, to their mistresses' doors or else-

"
sons; cf. A. P. 93, 94. 49.
insanus amica: a rare con-
'maddened by,' 'madly in love
51. magnum quod dedecus.
SATIRE IV
399
NOTES
where (kwµášeiv, comissari). To begin this masquerading before night set in
was scandalous.
•
58.
52. numqui Pomponius. The reply of Horace. The dissolute Pom-
ponius, if his father were alive, would be rated by him in just the same terms
as the prodigal in the play; proving that the language of every-day life and
of comedy are the same. Pomponius is not mentioned elsewhere. qui:
the use of this form with comparatives is so common that Keller rightly
prefers it to quid of many MSS.; cf. Plaut. Aul. Prol. 16 ecqui maiorem filius
mihi honorem haberet. 54. puris verbis: plain, simple language.
Quint. 8. 3. 14 purus sermo et dissimilis curae. 56. personatus
pater, the father in the play,' wearing the mask of a father.
tempora certa modosque, 'a regular beat and rhythm.' 60. non, with
invenias line 62, 'you would not find the limbs of the dismembered poet, as you
would if you were to take to pieces "After foul discord brast the iron-bound
posts and gates of war. The line is from Ennius and imitated by Virgil, Aen.
7. 622 belli ferratos rumpit Saturnia postes. In both passages the opening of the
temple of Janus in time of war is referred to. 62. etiam, to be joined to
disiecti, 'tossed in different places,' which rather refers to membra than to
its noun poetae. Horace seems to have had the fate of Orpheus pictured to
his mind through the similar fate of Pentheus. Eur. Bacch. 1135 seq. mâoa
δ᾽ ἡματωμένη | χεῖρας, διεσφαίριζε σάρκα Πενθέως. | κεῖται δὲ χωρὶς σῶμα, τὸ
μὲν ὑπὸ στύφλοις | πέτραις, τὸ δ᾽ ὕλης ἐν βαθυξύλῳ φόβῃ, | οὐ ῥᾴδιον ζήτημα.
65. Sulcius and Caprius were two informers (quadruplatores, not dela-
tores, as the schol. calls them, for the delatores belong to later times), who
are here depicted as carrying in their hands their informations (libelli accusa-
torii), hoarse with speaking and declaiming in the actions they bring the
highwaymen are afraid of them, but a quiet man of spotless character need
have no fear of either. 68. puris manibus, 'with hands pure from guilt,'
i.e. from blood-guiltiness. Cf. ka@apòs xeîpas Her. 1. 35; κa@apàs xeîpas Aesch.
Eum. 313. 69. ut sis tu, 'even supposing you are.'
70. non ego
sim, which has much more MS. authority than sum, is borne out by Horace's
usage of the potential, especially with negatives: 'I never can be like an in-
former.' Cf. next line: nulla taberna habeat; 1. 6. 89 nil me paeniteat
sanum patris huius. It is a mistake to regard these as optatives.
71. taberna: a general name for a shop, here a book-shop. pila =
taberna; cf. Mart. 7. 61. 5 nulla catenatis pila est praecincta lagoenis, of a
wine-shop; Catull. 37. 2 a pileatis nona fratribus pila, where Ellis says pila
was the pillar or column in front of the taberna, used to indicate the occupa-
tion of the possessor.' columnae, A. P. 373, means the same thing. Books
(volumina) were, in the case of a bookseller's shop, probably tied to these
pilae, and it was there that the vulgar turned over and thumbed them.
Horace, at the time of writing this satire, one of his earliest, had not the
intention of publishing his writings, which Maecenas probably afterwards
persuaded him to do. He wrote for writing's sake, and for the appreciation
of his friends; cf. line 73. 72. Hermogenes Tigellius. Cf. 1. 2. 3;
3. 3. Does Horace hint that Hermogenes was too mean to buy books, and
got what he could by turning them over at the pilae? 73. recito: to
recite was a necessary preliminary to publication at Rome, and a sort of pub-
lication in itself. By such recitations Horace's fame was first created, and
reached the ears of Maecenas. But Horace did not, when he wrote this satire,
intend to go beyond reciting, and he did not even recite vulgo, line 23. For
400
BOOK I
HORACE
the best account of literary recitations, which formed such a striking feature
of Roman life, see Mayor on Juv. 3. 9. Ovid heard some of Horace's recita-
tions, some of the Odes probably; cf. Trist. 4. 10. 49 et tenuit nostras
numerosus Horatius aures, | dum ferit Ausonia carmina culta lyra. idque,
καὶ ταῦτα. coactus, 'after much pressing.' 75. lavantes. Martial
3. 44. 12, complaining of a recitator, says in thermas fugio, sonas ad aurem.
For the horror with which reciters were looked upon, see Mayor on Juv. 1. 17
and 3. 9. 77. illud, ¿keîvo, 'this,' referring to what follows.
ἐκεῖνο,
'good breeding,' 'tact' = communi sensu, 1. 3. 66.
sensu,
Some one says that
79. inquit, 'quoth one': aliquis understood.
Horace takes pleasure in wounding, and, bad-hearted man as he is (pravus),
wounds (hoc facit) from pure love of wounding (studio). For studio=con
amore cf. Cic. Rosc. Am. 32. 91 ut omnes intellegant me non studio accusare,
sed officio defendere. unde petitum iacis, 'where have you
found this reproach to throw at me?' iacere probra is a common expression.
80. denique, 'in short, is any one of my intimates your authority for it?'
denique means 'I will not say "is this man or that man of my friends your
authority"; but I will cut the matter short by grouping all my friends
together, and asking you whether any one of them would support such a charge.'
81. rodit, 'backbites,' like carpere, vellicare. 82. defendit: cf. 1.5. 90 n.
85. niger, 'black-hearted,' 'bad'; Cic. Caecin. 10. 27 Phormio, nec minus
niger nec minus confidens quam ille Terentianus est Phormio. Romane:
as a true son of Rome, of the old, honest Roman stock. The Romans liked
the sound of their name, and were proud of the character it connoted; cf.
Virg. Aen. 6. 851.
86. tribus lectis: cf. 2. 8. 20 n. quaternos: four on each couch,
twelve in all. The usual number was nine. The fourth side of the table was
open for the slaves to approach. 87. unus, 'one of the guests.' Some
MSS. have imus = the guest occupying the last seat on the lectus imus; cf. 2.
8. 20 n.
The host often invited, for the amusement of himself and the rest
of the company, scurrae, men whose wits were sharpened by their appetites,
who were expected to say smart things in return for their dinner. These
poor wits (quibus sunt verba sine penu et pecunia, Plaut. Capt. 3. 1. 12) had
seats on the third or imus lectus. Cf. Ep. 1. 18. 10 imi | derisor lecti. amet,
is wont' (piλeî), the reading of one of the Blandinian MSS. is better than avet
of other MSS. quavis, ‘in any way,' not used adverbially elsewhere, though
qualubet occurs twice in Catullus, 40. 6; 76. 14. adspergere: sc. sale,
'to banter,' 'to chaff.' 88. qui praebet aquam: a colloquial expression,
perhaps derived from an epavos, for the host who supplied the water for the
guests to wash their hands in before dinner. Cf. 2. 2. 69; Od. 3. 19. 6.
This was a regular practice of the Greek banquets, and is often referred to in
the Comedians as vdwp κaтà xeipós. Others explain of water for the feet,
ὕδωρ κατὰ χειρός.
Plaut. Pers. 5. 2. 14 fer aquam pedibus; or of the hot and cold water for
mixing with wine, Juv. 5. 63 quando rogatus adest calidae gelidaeque minister ?
89. condita.. Liber: cf. Ep. 1. 5. 16 n. 92. Rufillus, a fop who
ate comfits to give his breath a sweet smell, and Gargonius, a clownish
fellow, were satirised 1. 2. 27: for the former habit, cf. Mart. 1. 87 ne gravis
hesterno fragres, Fescennia, vino, | pastillos Cosmi luxuriosa voras.
93. si quae: restored by Holder, with best MS. authority, for si qua. Cf. 2.
6. 10 si fors quae mihi monstret; Kennedy, Public Sch. Gr. p. 289, note.
94. Petillius Capitolinus was accused of peculation, tried, and acquitted,
•
SATIRE IV
401
NOTES
96. ami-
although the evidence was strongly against him; cf. 1. 10. 26.
coque: the only other hypermetric hexameter in Horace is 1. 6. 102 peregreve.
Cf. Virg. G. 1. 295; Aen. 1. 332. 100. hic sucus; haec aerugo:
notice the Latin idiom to attract the pronoun into the gender of the substan-
tive in such cases; as hic labor, hoc opus est. lolligo or sepia, the cuttle-
fish, said to emit a black, inky fluid to discolour the water when it was
pursued: Plin. H. N. 9. 29. 84. 101. aerugo, malice, properly the rust
of copper; cf. Mart. 10. 33. 5 viridi tinctos aerugine versus. The malice
of course is in the 'but still I do wonder' with which the pretended friend
concludes. 102. ut si quid. The construction is ut (promitto), si quid
aliud vere de me promittere possum ita promitto afore.
105. insuevit here takes a double acc., 'accustomed me to this.' adsue-
scere takes acc. and abl. 2. 2. 109. 106. ut fugerem, epexegetic of hoc.
vitiorum quaeque, 'the several vices,' to be taken ȧTÒ Kоwou both with
fugerem and notando. 109. Albi: unknown. male vivat: not 'lives
a bad life,' but as the context demands, 'scarcely keeps himself alive,' 'lives
wretchedly,' the opposite of bene vivere, not of recte vivere. 110. docu-
mentum, 'a lesson.' 116. causas reddet, 'will explain': the two words
make up a single verbal idea, on which quid melius vitatu petituque depends.
122. auctorem, 'an example.' 123. iudicibus selectis, 'the special
jurymen' empanelled annually by the praetor for the trial of criminal cases,
and usually men of high character; cf. Cic. pro Cluent. 43. 121 praetores
urbani qui iurati debent optimum quemque in selectos iudices referre. obicie-
bat, 'held up to me': a rare use of the word, when an example is held up,
especially an example for imitation, in which sense proponere is usual, Ep. 1.
2. 18. 124. The construction is an addubites (utrum) hoc inhonestum et
inutile sit factu, necne? utrum before hoc must be supplied. an is not used
as correlative to necne, but either utrum or ne; but these are more idiomatic-
ally omitted; cf. line 45. 126. avidos, 'gluttons'; cf. 1. 5. 75. 127.
sibi parcere, i.e. not overload their stomachs.
129. ex hoc, 'owing to this,' my early training. Supply sum before sanus.
Many make the sentence go on to teneor, but that makes Horace thank
his early education for his small faults. 132. liber, 'outspoken'; μerà
παρρησίας νουθετῶν. 133. consilium proprium, 'my own reflections.'
lectulus: sc. lucubratorius, a couch for reclining on while reading or re-
flecting. Suet. Aug. 78 a cena in lecticulam se lucubratoriam recipiebat.
134. porticus, 'a colonnade'; cf. Ep. 1. 1. 71 n. The Romans used to
stroll in them, and Kiessling refers to the porticus Pompeii near his theatre
as popular at this time, see Catull. 55. 6; Prop. 2. 32. 11.
quidam non belle, sc. fecit, 'this was not nice of so and so.'
prudens, åкwv, 'without intending it.'
ἄκων,
olim, 'at any time.'
136. hoc
137. in-
139. inludo chartis, 'I mock paper,' by scribbling on it, and so disap-
point as it were the paper, when I tear up my abortive attempts. Orelli
renders quasi ludens conicio in chartas, but this use of inludo is unsupported,
and with dat. it is regularly='make a mock of,' 'spoil.' So inludere rebus
humanis 2. 8. 62; pecuniae inludere Tac. Hist. 2. 94; cui (frondi)... silvestres
uri assidue capreaeque sequaces | inludunt Virg. G. 2. 373. hoc: this
fault, sc. writing poetry. 140. concedere, 'to pardon,' 'make allow-
Cf. Cic. Verr. 2. 3. 96. 223 quos alienis peccatis concessuros putes.
141. multa poetarum The large number of poets, or would-be poets,
has both in ancient and modern times been made a subject for hyperbolical
ance for.'
·
2D
402
BOOK I
HORACE
jesting: see Ep. 2. 1. 117 scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim, and Bon
Gaultier Ballads describing the tournament to decide the succession to the
Laureateship on Southey's death :-Eight hundred minstrels slunk away, two
hundred stayed to draw. 142. multo plures means that the majority of
men are poets. Oreili reads veniet: if so nolis should be noles, cf. 2. 1. 20 n.
143. Iudaei. The proselytising spirit of the Jews is referred to. Cf.
Matt. xxiii. 15 περιάγετε τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν ποιῆσαι ἕνα προσή
AUTOV. There were numbers of Jews at Rome, cf. Cic. Flacc. 28. 66 scis quanta
sit (Iudaeorum) manus, quanta concordia, quantum valeat in concionibus.
SATIRE V
SUBJECT:-A Journey to Brundisium. DATE, 38 or 37 B.C.
Horace gives an account of a journey to Brundisium in company with
Maecenas, Cocceius, Fonteius Capito, Virgil, Plotius Tucca, Varius, and the
rhetor Heliodorus. Of these the first three joined Horace and Heliodorus at
Anxur: the others at Sinuessa. The poem is interesting, but on the whole
disappointing: considering the company he was travelling in, it is wonderful
how little Horace has told us worth remembering. It is written in imitation
of Lucilius, who in his third book described a journey from Rome to Capua,
and thence to the Sicilian strait. The occasion of Horace's journey was an
embassy on which Maecenas and Cocceius were sent (line 29), probably that of
Maecenas to Athens, in the autumn of 38 B. C., to meet Antony there. In that
year Octavian had suffered two severe defeats from the fleet of Sex. Pompey,
and the people were becoming unruly, and refused to pay taxes. Accordingly
he sent Maecenas to Antony to arrange the subjects in dispute between them.
Appian 5. 92 δεινὸς δὲ ὢν ἀεὶ τὸ συμφέρον συνιδεῖν, ἔπεμπε Μαικήναν ἐς
Αντώνιον, μεταδιδάξοντα περὶ ὧν ἔναγχος ἐπεμέμφοντο ἀλλήλοις, καὶ ἐς συμ-
μαχίαν ὑπαξόμενον. Maecenas was successful in his attempts at conciliation,
and in the following spring (åpxoµévov îpos) Antony set sail from Athens to
Tarentum with 300 ships, to give Octavian the help he had asked for. The
embassy here mentioned cannot refer to the negotiations which Maecenas
carried on between Octavian and Antony at the so-called peace of Brundisium,
B.C. 40, for (1) it is certain that Horace was not known to Maecenas at that
time (2. 6. 40); (2) the treaty of Brundisium, which was arranged by Maecenas,
Cocceius, and Pollio, is referred to in line 29 as a thing of the past-aversos
soliti componere amicos.
1. magna. The Romans were much impressed with the size of Rome, in
this respect the London of the ancient world. Its population has been
estimated at over a million at the beginning of the empire. With mighty
Rome and its tumult is contrasted Aricia with its little inn. excepit and
accepit are both well-supported and good readings. accepit, 'entertained,'
is, however, made more likely by the addition of hospitio; cf. 2. 6. 80, 81;
Cic. ad Att. 2. 16. 4 te in Arpinati videbimus et hospitio agresti accipiemus. ex-
cipere is joined with hospitio sometimes, but not so commonly. Áricia, La
Riccia, 160 stadia=20 Roman miles distant from Rome, according to Strabo,
was celebrated for the worship of Diana, her priest being a runaway slave,
who had slain his predecessor; cf. Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome From
the still, glassy lake that sleeps | Beneath Aricia's trees; | The trees in whose
dim shadow | The ghastly priest doth reign: | The priest who slew the slayer,
| And shall himself be slain.' 2. hospitio modico, 'in a little inn.'
For this use of hospitium, cf. Cic. Sen. 23. 84 ex vita ita discedo tamquam ex
SATIRE V
403
NOTES
hospitio non tamquam ex domo. It more commonly means 'a lodging'; cf.
Juv. 3. 166; 7. 69. For modico cf. Ep. 1. 5. 2 modica patella. Helio-
dorus, the rhetor, is not mentioned elsewhere. 3. Forum Appi: sc. me
accepit. This town was in the Pomptine marshes, 20 Roman miles from
Aricia. It was named after Appius Claudius Caecus, who built the Appian
road, see line 6 n. Here St. Paul was met by friends from Rome; cf. Acts
xxviii. 15. 4. differtum nautis, 'crammed with sailors,' i.e. boatmen,
because a canal began here, and ran through the Pomptine marshes as far as
the temple of Feronia, near Anxur; cf. line 12. malignis: they gave short
measure ; cf. 1. 1. 29.
divisimus,
εὐζώνῳ
5. hoc iter, 'this stage,' i.e. from Rome to Forum Appi.
we broke into two.'
ἀνδρί is regular in Herodotus to describe a fairly quick walker. The expres-
sion here ought naturally to mean that Horace and Heliodorus went on foot
as far as Forum Appi. That is scarcely likely, and probably the words refer
to the lecticarii, the slaves who carried the litters. So umeris, line 90, though
said of the traveller himself, really refers to the slaves. 6. minus est
gravis Appia tardis, 'the Appian way is the less tiring to those who travel
slowly': the Appian road is not meant to contrast with other roads in this
respect. If the travellers were in carriages, these, having no springs, would
cause much jolting: if in litters, it is sufficient to suppose the tediousness of
the journey made the way seem gravis. via is often omitted with Appia :
cf. Epod. 4. 14 Appiam mannis terit. The Appian way was built by the
Censor Appius Claudius Caecus, from Rome to Capua, in 312 B.C.
It was
continued at a later date to Brundisium, it is not known exactly when, or by
whom, but certainly before Horace's time; cf. Ep. 1. 18. 20 Brundisium
Minuci melius via ducat an Appi. Strabo describes the reverse journey to
Rome (cc. 282, 283): δύο δέ εἰσι (ὁδοὶ εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην), μία μὲν ἡμιονικὴ διὰ
Πευκετίων, οὓς Ποιδίκλους καλοῦσι, καὶ Δαυνίων καὶ Σαυνιτῶν μέχρι Βενεουεν-
τοῦ, ἐφ᾽ ᾗ ὁδῷ Εγνατία πόλις εἶτα Καιλία καὶ Νήτιον καὶ Κανύσιον καὶ
Ερδωνία· ἡ δὲ διὰ Τάραντος μικρὸν ἐν ἀριστερᾷ ὅσον δὴ μιᾶς ἡμέρας περίοδον
κυκλεύσαντι, ἡ ᾿Αππία λεγομένη, ἁμαξήλατος μᾶλλον· ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ πόλις
Οὐρία τε καὶ Οὐενουσία, ἡ μὲν μεταξὺ Τάραντος καὶ Βρεντεσίου, ἡ δ᾽ ἐν
μεθορίοις Σαυνιτῶν καὶ Λευκανῶν. συμβάλλουσι δὲ ἄμφω κατὰ Βενεουεντὸν
καὶ τὴν Καμπανίαν ἐκ τοῦ Βρεντεσίου. τοὐντεῦθεν δ᾽ ἤδη μέχρι τῆς Ῥώμης
Αππία καλείται διὰ Καυδίου καὶ Καλατίας καὶ Καπύης και Βασιλίνου
μέχρι Σινοέσσης· ἡ δὲ πᾶσά ἐστιν ἐκ Ρώμης εἰς Βρεντέσιον μίλια τριακόσια
ἑξήκοντα. From Beneventum, as we thus see, there were two routes to
Brundisium: one, the continued Appian way by Venusia and Tarentum; the
other, stretching eastwards across the mountains to the valley of the Aufidus,
by Canusium, to the coast of the Adriatic, and thence southward by Rubi,
Barium, and Egnatia to Brundisium. The latter was the route taken by
Maecenas on this occasion, and it is probably identical with the via Minuci
of Ep. 1. 18. 20, where see notes.
altius praecinctis, to smarter travellers.
7. aquam. Bad water was the curse of travelling in Italy. It is four
times referred to in this poem: at Forum Appi; at the place with the un-
metrical name; at Canusium; and at Egnatia. 9. comites : Heliodorus
and the slaves, or the rest of the passengers about to travel by the canal-boat.
iam nox: a sort of epic solemnity occasionally affected by Horace, cf. line
51; 2. 6. 100. 12. huc appelle : sc. lintrem, put in here'; τὴν ἄκατον
παραβάλλου Arist. Eq. 762; παραβαλοῦ Ran. 180. They are the words of
a slave on the bank carrying some luggage to the boat.
trecentos inseris
404
BOOK I
HORACE
may be a complaint of the same slave to the skipper for allowing his boat to
be overcrowded, or with Orelli we may take it and ohe iam satis est as ex-
clamations of other pueri. trecentos, of a large number like ducenti,
sexcenti. Of this canal Strabo gives the following account (233): πλnolov dè
τῆς Ταρρακίνης (he is taking the route towards Rome) βαδίζοντι ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥώμης
παραβέβληται (runs parallel) τῇ ὁδῷ τῇ ᾿Αππίᾳ διώρυξ ἐπὶ πολλοὺς τόπους
πληρουμένη τοῖς ἑλείοις τε καὶ τοῖς ποταμίοις ὕδασι· πλεῖται δὲ μάλιστα μὲν
νύκτωρ ὥστ᾽ ἐμβάντας ἀφ' ἑσπέρας ἐκβαίνειν πρωίας καὶ βαδίζειν τὸ λοιπὸν τῇ
ὁδῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν· ῥυμουλκεῖται δὲ δι᾿ ἡμιόνων. The canal-boat was
used at night, because passengers slept on board, and so saved time: hence
most people tried to reach Forum Appi in one day so as to take the boat at
night. 13. aes, the fare (ναύλος, ναῦλον).
15. ut, 'while,' joined by Bentley to the preceding words as in the text.
This is an unusual sense of ut, and in the two passages referred to by Bentley
in support of it ut forte is the phrase (Ter. Ad. 3. 3. 53; Plaut. Men. prol.
63). The passage is still more difficult, however, if ut is joined to what
follows, and ut may be spurious. It is omitted in some MSS., and without
it the asyndeton avertunt, cantat, incipit is graphic and vigorous. 16.
prolutus, 'soaked'; cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 739: so madidus, uvidus, inriguus
are used, cf. 2. 1. 9. vappa: 1. 1. 104 n. The sailor who had charge of
the boat kept up a singing match with a passenger, as drunk as himself, until
the latter went to sleep; then he coolly went to sleep himself, having first
tethered the mule that drew the boat. 19. religare, 'to moor to'; cf.
Od. 1. 32. 7. 20. nil procedere, 'was making no way.' 21. cere-
brosus unus, 'a choleric party.' The unfortunate passengers woke up at
dawn to find themselves stock-still, and the mule tethered. This was more
than a cerebrosus could stand; cf. 1. 9. 11 o te, Bolane, cerebri | felicem : accord-
ingly he administers a sound drubbing (dolat) with a willow cudgel to the
sleeping conductor.
23. quarta: somewhere about 10 o'clock. There is some uncertainty,
when these numbers are used, whether the beginning or the end of the hour
is meant see Becker's Gallus p. 317. But when the hour is mentioned
absolutely without any word which denotes its beginning or progress, the
completed hour is probably intended. There must, however, have been con-
siderable vagueness in such expressions, owing to the length of the hour
varying with the seasons, and the want of accurate clocks. exponimur:
to land, opp. to inponere, to embark. 24. lavimus, of dipping the
hands in the spring and laving the face, is much better than the neutral
lavimur of Bentley, which would rather suit the notion of a bath. This
would be a profanation: the laving the hands and face would be a religious
ceremony and mark of respect. Feronia: an ancient Italian goddess,
consort of Jupiter Anxurus; Virg. Aen. 7. 799 quis Iuppiter Anxurus arvis |
praesidet, et viridi gaudens Feronia luco. 25. repimus, 'we crawl': for
Anxur, the old Volscian name of Tarracina, was on a mountain, with white
limestone cliffs (candidus Anxur Mart. 5. 1. 6). It was twenty miles from
Forum Appi. Here the Appian Way first touches the sea-coast. 28.
Cocceius: M. Cocceius Nerva, great-grandfather of the emperor Nerva.
29. aversos
See Intr. at end.
•
30. collyria: perhaps derived from кoλúpa, a roll of bread; 'eye-salve,'
probably a sort of doughy paste. 31. inlinere. Horace is fond of the
historical or narrative infinitive: cf. 1. 9. 10, where it has the first person, as
SATIRE V
405
NOTES
=
here; 1. 9. 66; 2. 3. 316; 6. 113; 8. 35, 59. 32. Fonteius Capito:
legate of Antony in Asia, and consul suffectus 33 B.C. Comm. Cruq. states
that he had acted as Antony's commissioner in arranging the peace of Brundi-
sium. ad unguem factus homo, ‘a polished gentleman': the metaphor
is from workers in marble or wood, who test the smoothness of the material
by passing their nail over it. Cf. A.P. 294; Pers. 1. 64 ut per leve severos |
effundat iunctura ungues; Colum. 2. 12. 13 materiem roboream dolare ad
unguem; Apul. Flor. 23 lapis ad unguem coaequatus. 33. Antoni non
'a friend of Antony, so that no other is more so,' 'Antony's bosom friend.'
Corn. Nep. Epam. 2 eruditus sic ut nemo Thebanus magis; Cic. Fin. 1. 4. 11
scripta multa sunt (nobis) sic ut plura nemini e nostris.
• •
Aufidio Lusco
34. Fundos: Fondi, twelve R. miles from Tarracina.
praetore, 'in the praetorship of Aufidius Luscus': as if he was grand as a
consul, and gave a date to the year. We learn from the Corp. Inscr. L. (1.
1187) that Fundi was governed by three aediles, but Horace is scoffing at the
assumed magnificence of Luscus. Cf. Cic. Agr. 2. 34. 93, where the duumviri
of Capua call themselves 'praetors.' libenter: they were glad to get rid
of Fundi and its 'praetor,' whose attentions must have been as boring to
the illustrious travellers as the addresses read by modern corporations to
distinguished visitors. 35. praemia, 'the decorations.' scribae: he
had been a treasury clerk, a profession not held in very high honour. Horace
himself was a quaestorius scriba; cf. 2. 6. 36 n. 36. praetextam et
latum clavum. To do honour to the visitors Aufidius dressed himself in a
robe with purple border, praetexta, usually worn by high magistrates, and a
tunic with the latus clavus, or broad purple stripe, to which senators only had
a right. prunaeque vatillum, 'and his pan of coals,' which he had
carried before him to sacrifice (a ceremony which he could not omit on such
an important occasion) or on which he offered incense. 37. Mamurrarum
urbe. Formiae, near Molo di Gaeta, 13 Roman miles from Fundi. The
Mamurrae are said to have had large estates here. Catullus calls Mamurra,
Caesar's notorious friend, and his praefectus fabrum, the bankrupt of Formiae,
decoctor Formianus, 43. 5. 38. Murena. See Od. 2. 10 Intr. He does not
seem to have been at Formiae, but merely to have lent his house in his absence.
>
40. M. Plotius Tucca and L. Varius, who edited the Aeneid after
Virgil's death, are twice mentioned by Horace in the same line with Virgil,
here and 1. 10. 81. Sinuessa, on whose site is Vagnoli or Bagnoli, was
18 Roman miles from Formiae. It was famous for its baths, from which its
modern name is derived. 41. quales neque candidiores: exactly the
same construction is found Epod. 5. 59 quale non perfectius. It seems a
mixture of quibus non candidiores and quales candidissimos. 42. quis:
dative. 44. sanus: cf. 1. 6. 89 nil me paeniteat sanum patris huius.
45. The pons Campanus was a bridge over the Savo (Saona), 3 R. miles
from Sinuessa, now Molino Ceppani. The villula near it was, probably, a
villa publica set apart for the use of those travelling on state affairs. 46.
parochi, 'commissaries,' whose duty was to supply (rapéxei) those travelling
on the public service with wood, hay, salt, and shelter. Cicero ad Att. 5. 16. 3
boasts of the little he accepted from the parochi on his way to his province.
47. hinc, 'next,' as in line 50. Capua was 22 R. miles from Pons
Campanus. The village of Santa Maria di Capoa is on the site of ancient
Capua. Modern Capua is on the site of Casilinum, 3 miles farther on.
clitellas, their packsaddles.' tempore, 'early,' 'betimes': more fre-
406
BOOK I
HORACE
quently in the form temperi or tempori, comparative temperius. 48.
lusum, to play ball (pila): a game of which the great minister was fond ; 2.
6. 49. 49. crudis: the dyspeptic, as Virgil. 50. plenissima, 'well
stocked.' Cf. Juv. 8. 100 plena domus tunc omnis; the opposite is exilis,
shabbily furnished. 51. super, 'above,' i.e. on higher ground, looking
down on the shops of Caudium. Caudium was 21 R. miles from Capua,
and famous for the 'Caudine forks' furculae Caudinae, the pass where the
Roman army surrendered to the Samnites, B.C. 321.
crow.
52. Sarmentus and Messius Cicirrus were probably two scurrae in
the train of Maecenas. Cicirrus is a nickname derived from кiкippos, which,
according to Hesychius=¿λeктpuúv, a cock; perhaps from the sound of its
ἀλεκτρυών,
The scholiast on Juvenal 5. 3, quae nec Sarmentus iniquas | Caesaris
ad mensas nec vilis Galba tulisset, tells us that Sarmentus was a slave of M.
Favonius, who was put to death by Octavian after the battle of Philippi, on
the sale of whose property he came into the possession of Maecenas, who
manumitted him, and obtained for him a post as a scriba quaestorius. He
pushed his way forma et urbanitate, assumed the position of an eques in the
theatre, and was tried for pretending to a rank to which he had no title, but
acquitted. 53. Musa: a parody of epic exordia: cf. Hom. Il. 1. 1, Od. 1.1.
54. Messi 'the Oscans are the famous ancestry of Messius': ironical,
for the Oscans were regarded with contempt by the Romans as an effeminate
race. 55. domina: possibly the widow of M. Favonius, cf. 52 n.
exstat, 'is still alive.' maioribus: the Oscans are mentioned as the
ancestors of Messius; Sarmentus was nullis maioribus as a slave.
56. equi . . . feri, 'the wild horse,' i.e. the fabulous unicorn. Cf. Plin.
H. N. 8. 21. 76 asperrimam autem feram monocerotem, reliquo corpore equo
similem, capite cervo, pedibus elephanto, cauda apro, mugitu gravi, uno cornu
nigro media fronte cubitorum duum eminente. 58. accipio, like édeέáµnv
Tò ¿ηlév, ‘granted': and he shakes his head with a threatening gesture, as if
the horn was there in reality. 59. quid faceres: a regular expression,
asking what greater things could be done in more favourable circumstances,
when under the present (unfavourable) circumstances so much is actually
accomplished. It is much more common in the elliptical form quid si. 60.
mutilus (kóλos) is especially used of animals which have lost one or both
horns. minitaris, after quid faceres, is perhaps better than miniteris of
some MSS., as is shown by Cic. Verr. 1. 10. 28 quid faceres pro innocenti
homine et propinquo, cum propter hominem perditissimum atque alienissimum
de officio ac dignitate. decedis et committis ? at, explanatory, like
autem. Messius had a scar on his left brow: Sarmentus supposes a horn used
to grow there. 62. Campanum morbum: unknown. Some suppose it was
a tendency to large warts, as in the case of Messius, whose wart was cut out.
63. saltare Cyclopa is 'to dance the Cyclops,' i.e. to go through the dance
which the Cyclops was represented dancing in some farce or play. Cf. Ep. 2. 2.
125 nunc Satyrum, nunc agrestem Cyclopa movetur; Juv. 6. 63 Ledam saltante
Bathyllo. For the dance of the Cyclops, cf. Aristoph. Plut. 290. 64. Messius
was ugly enough to do without a mask; tall enough to do without buskins.
•
·
65. catenam. Messius retaliates by reminding Sarmentus of the time
when he was a slave of the lowest type who had been kept at work in chains.
On being manumitted he would dedicate them 'in accordance with a vow to
the Lares,' cf. Od. 3. 26 Intr. 66. scriba, cf. 52 n. Messius pretends to
be ignorant of the fact of his manumission, and hints that he had run away

SATIRE V
407
NOTES
deterius milo- nevertheless
from his mistress, who might yet claim her rights.
67. dominae.
Many
69.
MSS. have domini which might be = dominii or used as a general term.
The daily allowance of slaves was usually as much as four or five pounds of
corn or meal. According to the XII. Tables, at least one pound of meal was
to be allowed by a creditor to a debtor whom he kept vinctum.
foret:
subj., because it gives the reason. gracili sic tamque pusillo, ‘slender
as he was, and so very tiny.' sic is by no means the same as tam here.
71. Beneventum: twelve miles from Caudium, formerly Maleventum, a
Latinised form of the stem of Maλóes (like Tarentum from Tápas, Agrigentum
from 'Aκpáyas); then the name was changed to avoid the evil omen (Plin. N. H.
3. 16. 105), as was the case with Epidamnus (Dyrrhachium), Segesta (Egesta).
sedulus, 'officious.' 72. arsit, 'had his house burned down'; cf. Virg.
Aen. 2. 311 ardet | Ucalegon; Juv. 3. 201. dum versat, while he was
turning'; for the present tense cf. Od. 1. 10. 11 n. 73. dilapso Vulcano
means that the fire fell in pieces, and the logs of which it was composed slipped
out on to the kitchen floor. 75. avidos, 'hungry.' timentes: the
slaves were afraid they would be punished for the loss of the supper.
77. ex illo, 'next' = ex illo tempore; cf. Ov. Her. 14. 85 scilicet ex illo
Iunonia permanet ira, | cum bos ex homine est, ex bove facta dea. Apūlia :
the regular scansion; but Apulus, the adjective, has the penult. short.
Ăpūliae in Od. 3. 4. 10, and Apūlicum in Od. 3. 24. 4, are doubtful readings.
montes
notos: there is a natural touch in this. Mount Voltur near
Venusia is the chief of Horace's native hills here referred to. 78. Ata-
bulus, a hot parching wind or Sirocco, now called in Apulia Altino; cf. Sen.
Q. Nat. 5. 17 Atabulus Apuliam infestat, Calabriam Iapyx.
79. erep-
semus = erepsissemus; cf. surrexe 1. 9. 73; divisse 2. 3. 169; evasti, per-
custi, etc. erepere takes an acc. as evehi, egredi, and other verbs compounded
with e: this verb is especially used of crawling upwards, in this also resem-
bling evehi and egredi. vicina Trivici, near Trivicum,' a town not
mentioned elsewhere.
87. oppidulo, quod versu dicere non est. Porph. here tells us that
Lucilius, speaking of the Sigillaria, had written servorum est festus dies hic,
| quem plane hexametro versu non dicere possis; and Horace here directly
imitates him, applying his words to a certain little town whose name he
cannot accommodate to his verse. The scholiasts say this place was Equus
Tuticus or Equotutium, a town which was on the route to Brundisium,
cf. Cic. ad Att. 6. 1. 1 where he tells Atticus he has received all his letters,
praeter eas quas scribis Lentuli pueris et Equotutico et Brundisio datas.
It is mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus as on the road from Beneventum
to Canusium, being 22 miles from the former and 62 from the latter. It
cannot therefore be the unknown place referred to, for the place they stopped
at was one day's journey from Beneventum +24 miles, i.e. about 50 miles.
non est, 'it is not possible,' ouk ěžeσti: cf. 2. 5. 103; Epod. 17. 25. 88.
signis, ‘by tokens,' which follow, namely, the bad water and the good bread;
cf. Ov. Met. 15. 595 signo non nomine dicam. venit, 'is sold'; cf. line
7 n. Orelli quotes Plato, Euthyd. p. 304 в тò vdwp evwvóтaтov åρioтov öv
is ễøn Пivdapos: the meaning, however, here does not seem to be water
which is the cheapest thing in the world,' but 'the worst water in the world,'
vilissima being contrasted with pulcherrimus applied to the bread.
90. callidus, 'knowing.' soleāt umeris: the quantity of the third
person was originally long, and in arsis is often made long in Augustan writers.
408
BOOK I
HORACE
Horace restricted this caesural lengthening to this case of verbs ending in -t,
while Virgil is much more lax. Horace, in the Odes, lengthens arāt 3. 16. 26
ridēt 2. 6. 14; figit 3. 24. 5; perrupīt 1. 3. 36; timēt 2. 13. 16: perirēt
3. 5. 17 in thesis is doubtful. In the Satires we have defendit 1. 4. 82; subiīt
1. 9. 21; velīt 2. 3. 187; agīt 2. 3. 260; erāt 2. 2. 47; condiderit 2. 1. 82;
perhaps ageret 2. 3. 174. umeris is literally 'on his own shoulders,' but
the shoulders of the slaves are meant: cf. line 5 n.; 1. 1. 47. 91. lapi-
dosus, 'hard as a stone'; others render 'gritty,' and lapidosus means both
'full of stones,' as l. terra Varr. R. R. 1. 9, and hard as a stone,' as l. corna
Virg. G. 2. 34. Canusium (Canosa) was 84 miles from Beneventum.
urna is abl.: 'which place, not richer in water by a pitcher (or not richer
by a pitcher of water), was founded.' Diomede is said to have been the
founder of Beneventum and Equus Tuticus also.
• •
93. flentibus. amicis may be abl. abs., but more probably is the
ethical dative, 'to the grief of his weeping friends.' hinc, at this point,'
viz. Canusium. Varius probably went back to Rome. 94. Rubi (Ruvo)
in one Itinerary 24, in another 30 miles from Canusium. 95. carpere iter,
viam, are common phrases, 2. 6. 93 ; Od. 2. 17. 12; Prop. 1. 6. 33 seu pedibus
terras seu pontum carpere remis. carpentes, present part. shows the
poverty of the Latin language: a perfect would be expected. 96. postera
tempestas for postridie tempestas, 'the weather the next day.' 97.
Barium (Bari), 22 miles from Rubi, said to be a fishing station to this day.
97. Gnatia, a vulgar or local form for Egnatia, 37 miles from Barium ;
it is now Monopoli or Torre d'Anazzo. It was badly off for water, hence
lymphis iratis exstructa, built in the anger of the water nymphs.'
lympha is the same word as nympha, and the words are often confounded in
MSS. In Varro, R. R. 1. 1, 6 Lympha is a water goddess, and Horace here
appears to use the word in that sense. Cf. 2. 3. 8 iratis natus paries dis atque
poetis; 2. 7. 14 Vertumnis natus iniquis.
•
•
99. A different version of the
miracle is given by Pliny, H. N. 2. 107. 240 reperitur apud auctores . in
Salentino oppido Egnatia inposito ligno in saxum quoddam ibi sacrum pro-
tinus flammam éxsistere. 100. cupit: sc. Gnatia. The town was proud
of its miracle. Iudaeus Apella: the Jews were regarded as specially
superstitious by the Romans; cf. Juv. 14. 96-106. Apella, a name of Greek
origin, perhaps corrupted from Apollodorus, often borne by slaves and freed-
men; Cic. ad Fam. 7. 25. 2. 101. namque deos didici: copied from
Lucr. 5. 82 nam bene qui didicere deos securum agere aevum.
For this belief
of the Epicureans and their attribution of miracles to natural causes, see Od.
1. 34 Intr. 102. nec, si quid miri . . . 'and if nature does any wonder,
it is not the gods who, in their anger, send it down from their high home in
the sky.' 104. Brundisium (Brindisi), then, as now, the Dover of Italy,
with Dyrrhachium for the Calais of Greece, 44 miles from Egnatia.
According to Orelli, the whole journey took fifteen days, or seventeen days,
if we suppose the long stages between Barium and Egnatia, and between
Egnatia and Brundisium to have been broken at two places not mentioned by
Horace. According to E. Desjardins, who went over the route himself in 1852,
the journey was completed in 13 days, but he supposes the travellers not to
have spent a night either at Capua or at Beneventum, but to have continued
their journey in the afternoon to Caudium and Trivicum. Gibbon only
allowed 12 days for the entire journey. He does not suppose a night to have
been spent at Anxur. The following Table may be useful for reference :
SATIRE VI
409
NOTES

Day
Place
Distance in
R. miles
Distance in
Day
Place
R. miles
123K CN∞
Aricia
16
CO
9
Forum Appi
20
10
Trivicum
Oppidulum
? 25
24
Fanum Feroniae, Anxur 17+ 3=20
11
Canusium
? 35
4 Fundi, Formiae
12+13=25
12
Rubi
30
5
Sinuessa, Pons Campanus 18+ 3=21
13
Barium
22
6
Capua
22
14
Egnatia
37
7
Caudium
21
15
Brundisium
44
8
Beneventum
12
374
SATIRE VI
Horace, the Freedman's Son. DATE, ? 36 B.C.
The intimacy between Maecenas and Horace, a freedman's son, exposed
the latter to jealousy. The last Satire especially, wherein he figured as one
of Maecenas's chosen companions in the journey to Brundisium, made people
say that the minister was making too much of a parvenu.
This Satire is
written in reply to these obtrectatores. It has a double scope: a defence of
Maecenas, and a defence of Horace himself. Maecenas is praised (1-18) for
not looking down on those of humble birth; and those who censure him are
reminded first, parenthetically, that, Maecenas did not extend his intimacy
except to those of free birth; and secondly, that all history supplies precedent
for his behaviour. From 20 ad fin. the Satire is a most clever deprecation of
censure levelled at the poet himself. Horace in effect says: 'I know my
place; I am not going to thrust myself forward like Tillius, the upstart (24-
44). I am a freedman's son; I am not ashamed of it; and if, as I hope and
believe, I won Maecenas's esteem by merit, it is to my freedman father that I
owe all the merit I possess (65-99). I repeat, I am not going to thrust myself
into stations beyond my place: I have neither the ostentation nor the mean-
ness of Tillius (103-109). My life and habits are those of a quiet Roman
gentleman; and I have no ambition for anything beyond' (111-131). The
only indications for fixing the date are the fact that his friendship with
Maecenas, which began about 38 B.C., is now of pretty long standing (olim,
line 54). On the other hand, he is not yet in possession of his Sabine farm,
which he received about 34 or 33.
1. 'Maecenas, you do not look with scorn on the lowly born, because your
ancestors were the noblest among the Lydians who colonised Etruria.'
Lydorum. Herod. 1. 94 relates that after a famine had lasted 18 years
half the Lydians emigrated with the king's son Tyrsenus and settled in Italy,
in the territory called after him Tupoŋvín, Etruria. Lydorum quidquid :
cf. Epod. 5. 1 n. For the Etruscan lineage of Maecenas cf. Od. 1. 1. 1 n. ;
3. 29. 1.
As we do not know that any of Maecenas's
ancestors held the consulship, we must take legionibus of the Etruscan hosts.
legiones is used not only of the Roman legions but of foreign armies: Sall.
Cat. 53; Liv. 10. 5; 8. 24. In maternus some see a reference to the Etruscan
custom of giving pedigrees with the mother's, not the father's name. 4.
imperitarent, which has the best authority, makes the statement more
3. avus
410
BOOK I
HORACE
general than imperitarunt. The word is heroic, cf. Lucr. 3. 1027 inde alii
multi reges rerumque potentes | occiderunt, magnis qui gentibus imperitarunt.
5. naso suspendis adunco: cf. 2. 8. 64 Balatro suspendens omnia naso;
Pers. 1. 40 rides, ait, et nimis uncis | naribus indulges; Plin. 11. 37. 158 novi
mores subdolae inrisioni dicavere nasum: cf. μUктηpíšεw. 6. ignoto
aut, ut me, natos, 'those born from an unknown, or, like myself,
from a freedman sire.' Most read ignotos ut me l. p. natum, where ignotos=
ignobiles, cf. lines 24, 36, but ignoto is Palmer's emendation and accounts for
the readings aut in many MSS., aut ut in two, at ut in one, et ut in one,
together with their variation between natum and natos.
•
7. cum referre negas. This is the protasis; the apodosis is per-
suades. 8. ingenuus, 'freeborn.' Maecenas drew the line at slaves and
freedmen, in this following the example of Augustus; cf. Suet. Octav. 74
Valerius Messalla tradit, neminem umquam libertinorum adhibitum ab eo cenae,
excepto Mena, sed asserto in ingenuitatem. Maecenas would not, for instance,
have associated with Horace's father. vere, 'sincerely.' 9. Tulli: cf.
Juv. 8. 259 ancilla natus trabeam et diadema Quirini | et fasces meruit, regum
ultimus ille bonorum. Servius Tullius himself was a notable proof of the vanity
of long descent; but before even his time there were many other instances.
•
12. contra . . . licuisse, 'on the other hand Laevinus, though a de-
scendant of Valerius Publicola, was never held of higher value than the
worth of a single as.' Of this Laevinus, we are told by Porph. that he was
of such utterly abandoned character that he never attained a magistracy
higher than the quaestorship. Valerius Publicola was consul with Brutus
after the expulsion of the Tarquins, B. C. 509. genus: often, as here, of
a single individual, in apposition with a name, with the meaning 'of the race
of' cf. 2. 5. 62 iuvenis. ab alto | demissum genus Aenea; Cat. 61. 2
Uraniae genus (Hymen). unde a quo 1. 12. 17 n. 13. fugit: the
present is used of remote events, after relatives, both in Greek and Latin; cf.
Eur. Bacch. 2 dv TíкTEL Tоl'ǹ Kádμον кóрn: Virg. Aen. 9. 266 cratera anti-
τίκτει ποθ᾽ ἡ Κάδμου κόρη:
quum quem dat Sidonia Dido. fuit of some MSS. is hardly Latin; see 2. 8.
6 n.
14. licuisse, 'was valued at.' licere 'to be valued at,' cf. Cic. ad
Att. 12. 23. 3 de Drusi hortis quanti licuisse tu scribis; liceri=‘to bid for’•
cf. Pers. 3 ad fin. et centum Graecos curto centusse licetur. The construction
is pluris pretio unius assis, 'at more than the value of a single as.' Cf. Pers.
5.76 non tressis agaso. notante nosti. The construction is quo iudice
notante nosti (nempe) populo, 'and you know well who was the judge that
so rated him, (namely) the people.' populo is in apposition to quo iudice.
Most take the passage as an instance of attraction, i.e. quo populo=quem popu-
lum; cf. Ter. Heaut. 1. 1. 35 hac quidem causa, qua dixi tibi. See Palmer's
• • •
=
Additional Notes,' where Madvig on de Fin. 1. 8. 29 is quoted at length.
15. honores: especially the public offices of consulship, praetorship, curule
aedileship. 17. stupet in, 'is lost in admiration of'; cf. Virg. Aen. 10.
446 stupet in Turno, corpusque per ingens | lumina volvit. titulis et
imaginibus: the busts of a long line of ancestors (cerae or imagines), with
the inscriptions thereon recounting their deeds. 18. nos: men of educa-
tion and philosophic judgment like you and me, and our literary circle.
argument is a fortiori.

The
19. esto, 'let us grant, suppose for argument's sake, that the people would
have preferred Laevinus to Decius' (which they certainly would not, for
Laevinus never got beyond the quaestorship, whereas Decius Mus was elected
f
SATIRE VI
411
NOTES
consul), and that Appius the censor would have turned me out of the senate,
for my ignoble birth' (which he would not have done, for he admitted the
sons of freedmen to the senate). So far all is sensible and consistent. But
the natural conclusion that we expect does not follow.
We should expect
'granting such to be the judgment of the multitude, surely our judgment is
different, and we men of culture at any rate should see no reason why a man
of low birth should be excluded from the senate.' Instead of this, quite rapà
πроodоklav, the words vel merito are introduced, wrenching the satire into
a different theme. Up to line 22 the subject is the vanity of long descent;
from line 22 the subject is the folly of a novus homo seeking public office.
esto: a concessive particle, frequently used by Horace (cf. 2. 2. 30)
when passing from a point which he is willing to concede for argument's
sake, to a point which cannot be conceded. Orelli punctuates namque esto :
populus . explaining 'for grant (that I sought office): the people would
prefer a Laevinus to a novus homo even if he were a Decius, and the censor
would degrade him, quite rightly too, for I ought to have kept in my place.'
So too Kiessling.
4
20. Decio. Decius Mus, consul 340 B.C., in which year he devoted himself
at the battle of Mt. Vesuvius in the Latin war, was the first consul of his
family; hence he was a novus homo. movere was the regular phrase for
degradation from the senate by the censors: cf. also tribu movere.
21.
Appius. The explanation given above demands that this should refer to
Appius Claudius Caecus, censor 312 B. C. It is generally taken to refer to the
severe censorship of Appius Claudius Pulcher, 50 B.C., of which Caelius writes
to Cicero (ad Fam. 8. 14. 4) scis Appium censorem hic ostenta facere... acerrime
agere ? persuasum est ei censuram lomentum aut nitrum esse: errare mihi
videtur; nam sordes eluere vult, venas sibi omnes et viscera aperit. But as
the example of Decius is taken from antiquity, the example of Appius ought
to be ancient likewise; and as the supposition in the case of Decius and
Laevinus is an impossible one, the supposition in the case of Appius should
be an impossible one also, and it would not be an impossible one if it referred
to Appius of 50 B.C. For he would have rejected the low-born; Appius
Caecus would not, and did not. Livy tells us 9. 46 that he in his censorship
senatum primus libertinorum filiis lectis inquinaverat. Horace has this
historical fact in his mind's eye, and he gives his obtrectatores a gentle re-
minder, that if he did aim at senatorial rank he would not be the first freed-
man's son who had attained it. 22. vel merito: vel, like ye, intensifies
the word it is joined to: 'ay, and I should have deserved degradation.'
in propria pelle: a proverbial expression, derived from the fable of the Ass
in the Lion's Skin; cf. 2. 1. 64 detrahere et pellem. Horace often refers to
the fables of Aesop as the Fox and the Crow, 2. 5. 56; the Frog and the
Ox, 2. 3. 314; the Two Wallets, 2. 3. 299; the Fox and the Old Lion, Ep. 1.
1. 73. 23. sed fulgente. This truth, however, does not commend itself
to the crowd of nobodies, whom we see struggling after office and honour.
Cf. Ep. 2. 1. 177 quem tulit ad scaenam ventosa Gloria curru.
•
γε,
24. quo tibi Cf. Ov. A. A. 1. 303 quo tibi, Pasiphae, pretiosas sumere
vestes? Am. 3. 8. 47 quo tibi turritis incingere moenibus urbes? Tilli :
Tillius hic senatu motus est a Caesare quasi Pompeianus; occiso vero Caesare
recepit latum iterum clavum, id est, senatoriam dignitatem, et tribunus militum
factus est: Comm. Cruq. He is supposed to have been brother of Tillius
Cimber, one of Caesar's murderers. 25. clavum: the broad purple
412
BOOK I
HORACE
stripe on the tunic of a senator.
first four legions had senatorial rank.
27. ut simul ac, 'as soon as.
of the senatorial shoe was composed of four corrigiae, or bands of black leather
(nigra aluta Juv. 7. 192) wrapped crosswise across the calf; on the ankle
was an ivory crescent (lunula); the shoe was white or purple.
medium,
tribuno: the military tribunes of the
For the case of tribuno, cf. 1. 1. 19.
nigris.. pellibus: the upper part
'up to the middle.' 28. pectore, 'on (or down) his breast.' The stripe
(in the tunic) began at the neck.
31. et cupiat: et as well as the other reading, ut, explains morbus. et,
however, has a great preponderance of MS. authority. 34. promittit:
Orelli takes this to refer to the promises of a candidate for office. It more
likely refers to the form of oath taken by elected magistrates. 35. im-
perium, 'the empire' external to Italy; properly, the sway held by Rome
over conquered countries. The omission of et before delubra better contrasts
things profane and sacred than if the copula were present. 36. ignota
matre: cf. line 6.
· inhonestus, ‘dishonoured by '; cf. honestos with abl.
line 96.
:
38. Syrus, Dama, Dionysius are names of slaves taken at haphazard.
Dama is a Latinised form of Δημᾶς, which is a shortened form of Δημόδωρος :
cf. Apella, 1. 5. 100. 39. deicere: three syllables; cf. reice, two syl-
lables, Virg. Ecl. 3. 96. saxo: the Tarpeian rock. Cic. ad Att. 14. 15
o mirificum Dolabellam meum !...de saxo, in crucem: Dolabella was consul and
acting with great severity. Cadmo: Cadmus is supposed to have been
the name of a public executioner; Porph. says: Cadmus carnifex illo tempore
fuisse dicitur. The carnifex, however, executed slaves or foreigners, not
citizens, and probably Cadmus was the name of a gaoler. This would suit
tradere as well or better; see many instances in Dict. of tradere used of
handing a person over in custodiam. 40. at the reply of the ignobilis.
The name Novius is selected by Horace with some reference to novus: 'New-
man.'
gradu . . . sedet, 'takes his seat one grade behind me,' a meta-
phor from the theatre and the rows there allotted the spectators, of whom the
knights were entitled to the front fourteen rows next to the orchestra, which
was occupied by the senators; Ep. 1. 1. 62 n. 43. tria funera, magna
sonabit. So Heind., Holder in his larger edition, Dill., L. Müller, Schütz,
etc. point. Orelli, Fritzsche, Holder ed. min., and others join magna to
funera; magna, however, so applied, seems to weaken rather than strengthen
the expression; plaustra has no epithet denoting size. It is the number of
the waggons, and of the funerals, not their size, that is referred to. magna
sonare is a stock phrase, used of fluent spouters: cf. 1. 4. 43 os | magna sona-
turum; Juv. 7. 108 ipsi magna sonant. Hence magna sonabit is, in fact,
equivalent to a single word, so that there is no difficulty in quod. Translate,
'he will bawl loud enough to drown the horns and trumpets.' Aristophanes,
enumerating the qualifications for a popular leader, says, Eq. 217 rà ♂ áλλa
σοι πρόσεστι δημαγωγικά, | φωνὴ μιαρά, γέγονας κακῶς, ἀγόραιος εἶ. 44.
Horns and trumpets were used at funerals, the latter especially. Cf. Prop.
4. 11. 9 sic maestae cecinere tubae; Pers. 3. 103 hinc tuba, candelae.
45. nunc ad me redeo, a reminiscence of Lucil. 1092 nunc ad te redeo.
47. sim, which has decidedly better MS. authority than sum, is supported by
pareret. The subjunctive assigns the reason, from the point of view of those
who ran Horace down. convictor (vivo) implies close familiarity; one
who is admitted within the inner circle of domestic life. Ov. Ep. 4. 3. 15 ille

SATIRE VI
413
NOTES
:
ego convictor densoque domesticus usu. 49. forsit the only place where
this word, contracted for fors sit, occurs. 52. ambitione procul: sc.
Ŏvras, ‘those who are far removed from base self-seeking'; for the ellipse cf.
Ov. Met. 1. 19 frigida pugnabant calidis | mollia cum duris, sine pondere
habentia pondus. Others wrongly refer the words to Maecenas who selects
his friends apart from any respect to persons,' i.e. uninfluenced by their rank
and station: but no one could suppose that Maecenas showed prava ambitio
in choosing his intimates.
• •
•
53. sortitus: sc. sim. The omission of the auxiliary verb is common in
the Satires: see on 2. 8. 2. casu is emphatic. 55. quid essem,
'what sort of a man I was,' 'what I was made of'; cf. Ov. Her. 12. 31 tunc
ego te vidi, tunc coepi scire, quid esses. 57. infans, 'tongue-tied.' Note
the stammering alliteration of the line. 59. Satureiano Tarentino; cf.
the oracle given to Phalantus Strab. vi. 3 Σατυρίον τοι δῶκα Τάραντά τε πίονα
δῆμον | οἰκῆσαι : Diod. Sic. Exc. Vat. 12 (Dind.) Σατύριον φράζου τὸ Τάραντός
T'ȧyλadv üdwp. The first syllable was long in Greek, as these passages
show. caballo, ‘a hack': from this unpoetic word, which would not be
admissible in lyrics or heroics, and so is especially appropriate to the Sermones,
came cheval, cavalier. 63. turpi, honestum: probably masculine.
•
neque
•
65. atqui, ‘but after all' it is to this very freedman father of mine I owe
everything good about me. 68. sordes, 'meanness': cf. line 107; 2. 5.
105. neque
.aut: this seems to have been quite a
favourite syntax with Horace. Bentley, accepting aut from Porph. against
nec of vet. Bland. and ac of most MSS., quotes Od. 3. 12. 1; 23. 5; S. 2. 2.
22; 1. 9. 31; 2. 1. 13. mala lustra, 'haunts of vice'; Lucr. 4. 1136
desidiose agere aetatem lustrisque perire. 70. ut me collaudem, 'to
blow my own trumpet.' 72. The school of Flavius was at Venusia.
magni: centurions and their sons were looked on as great people in the
little country town. 74. laevo lacerto, 'having their satchel and
slate hanging on their left shoulder.' loculi (in this sense always in plur.)
is the same as the capsa, or receptacle for holding books, etc. Cf. Juv. 10. 116
quisquis adhuc uno partam colit asse Minervam | quem sequitur custos angustae
vernula capsae.
Horace hints that these great centurions' sons, in spite of
their greatness, carried their own satchels, having no paedagogi or capsarii to
carry them for them. suspensi is a direct translation of ἐξηρτημένοι,
'having hanging to them': cf. Aristoph. Eccl. 494 πwywvas ¿¿nptnµévai :
Roby, L. G. 1126, S. G. 471. tabulam: strictly a tablet of wood or metal
covered with wax, for doing writing lessons or arithmetic on. 75. octonos
aeris: sc. asses, 'eight asses,' the monthly stipend (dídaктρov). Acron
had this reading (which has strong MS. authority), as his comment shows
octonos asses aeris; cf. Plin. N. H. 14. 14. 95 censores edixerunt ne quis vinum
Graecum octonis aeris singula quadrantalia venderet; Orell. Inscr. Lat. 7115
municipes praesentes acciperent aeris octonos; Cic. Rosc. Com: 10. 28 merere
per se non amplius poterant duodecim aeris. Idibus: cf. 1. 3. 87 n. The
old reading, octonis Idibus aera, could only mean on eight Ides in
•
the year, four months of the year (from July to Oct., cf. Mart. 10. 62) being
supposed to have been holidays. 76. est ausus, 'had the face'; he did
not shrink from being considered pushing for the sake of his boy.
artes, i.e. liberales, all the branches of a gentleman's education.
77.
79. in magno ut populo. Cf. Ov. Trist. 1. 1. 17 si quis, ut in populo,
nostri non inmemor illic; Ep. 4. 5. 11 si quis, ut in populo, qui sitis et unde
414
BOOK 1
HORACE
The
requirat. The full construction would be something of this sort, ut in populo
(fieri potest): if my dress and slaves had attracted the gaze of any one, as may
or may not happen in the throng.' 80. crederet: cf. 1. 3. 4 n.
imperf. subj. both in prose and verse is frequently used where the pluperfect
might be expected: cf. Virg. Aen. 8. 643 at tu dictis, Albane, maneres, 'you
should have stood by your word'; Plaut. Pseud. 1. 3. 53 iam haberes: in-
venires mutuom, 'you should have had it by this time: you should have
borrowed.' 81. ipse. Horace's father would not trust him to any paed-
agogus, but acted in that capacity himself.
85. olim, 'one day,' 'bye-and-bye.' 86. praeco. It would seem
from this passage that Horace was originally intended to become an auctioneer.
coactor, 'a collector,' either of taxes or of money bid at auctions. See Intr.
P. viii.
87. at hoc nunc, i.e. because he might have made me a praeco
or coactor, I owe him, as matters stand (nunc), all the more gratitude. 89.
nil me paeniteat, 'I never can be ashamed of such a father, while in my
senses' paeniteat is potential, not optative, equivalent to a future, and the
words are a strong denial. · 90. dolo suo=culpa sua, a juristic use. 92.
istis: dat., cf. 1. 4. 48; Od. 2. 2. 18.
94. a certis annis, 'beginning at some fixed year' (for instance, let us
suppose, five, or six). 95. ad fastum, 'to suit his pride. quoscumque
is best joined to optaret, and so most editors print. Holder and Fritzsche,
placing a colon at parentes, take optaret sibi quisque separately: 'each
man might choose for himself'; but a parallel to alios quoscumque, taken
absolutely, is hard to find. 96. honestos decoratos: cf. line 36. 97.
fascibus. The consuls and praetors had the right to the fasces: they and
the censors and curule aediles had the sella curulis, an ivory chair without
back or arms. 98. sanus [iudicio] tuo: egregie hoc dixit quia Maecenas
eques Romanus permansit contempto senatorio ordine-Acron.
101. salutandi. This includes calling on others, and receiving their calls.
The best commentary on the words is furnished by Jerome, Ep. 43 pudet
dicere frequentiam salutandi qua aut ipsi quotidie ad alios pergimus aut ad
nos venientes ceteros exspectamus. The duty of attending morning levees
became a great burden, repeatedly referred to by Juvenal and Martial.
ducendus et et ducendus. 102. peregreve: for the hypermeter,
cf. 1. 4. 96; Virg. G. 1. 295; 2. 344; 3. 242, 449. peregre is 'to
foreign parts,' or, elsewhere, 'from foreign parts.' peregri is abroad.'
103. calones, 'grooms.' 104. petorritum is a four-wheeled carriage,
especially used by servants, pilenta vehicula matronarum sicut petorrita famu-
lorum Comm. Cruq. on Ep. 2. 1. 192. This suits ducenda here well; the
meaning being, 'I should have to bring along with me a train of waggons
carrying the slaves and luggage.' The word, like reda and essedum, is of
Celtic origin, from petor=quattuor; rit=rota. curto sometimes ex-
plained 'bobtailed,' curtata cauda, but better humble, unpretending ; cf.
curta supellex, curta res. 105. ire mulo. So ire pedibus, equis, curru,
etc. 106. mantica, portmanteau' (manus). armi nearly always in
good Latin the shoulders of a beast: umeri, of a man. When Ovid says, Met.
12. 396, ex umeris medios coma dependebat in armos, one might guess he was
speaking of the Centaurs who had both. Porph. obseryed that Horace is here
copying Lucilius (1023 Lach.) mantica cantheri costas gravitate premebat.
6
107. Tillius having re-acquired senatorial rank (line 24 n.) and obtained
the praetorship, exhibits ostentation and meanness combined. His ostentation
SATIRE VI
415
NOTES
..
appears in the fact that he will not go as far as Tibur (Tivoli, 16 miles NE.
of Rome) without a train of slaves: his meanness appears in his having so few
as five, whereas a praetor, if he had any train with him, should have a hand-
some one and also in the fact that these slaves carry with them necessary
articles to avoid the expense of putting up at inns. 108. Tiburte: nom.
Tiburs. 109. lasanum, λáσavov, ‘a commode.' 111. milibus atque aliis:
parallel to hoc, 'in this and in thousands of other things.' 113. fallacem
circum: the circus was the haunt of fortune-tellers, astrologers, and such-
like impostors. Cf. Cic. de Divin. 1. 58. 132 de circo astrologos; Juv. 6. 582.
114. adsisto divinis, 'I stand beside the fortune-tellers,' who carried on a
busy trade with the lower orders in superstitions Rome: cf. divina, 1. 9. 30.
116. pueris tribus: when an abl. of the agent without a or ab is used,
the circumstances or result, rather than the agent, are called attention to.
Here the fact that the slaves were three in number is called attention to; but
see Od. 1. 6. 1 n. That three was not a large number of slaves to wait at
dinner, we may perhaps infer from 1. 3. 11 habebat saepe ducentos, | saepe decem
servos: on the other hand, it is not meant for a small number. Horace kept
the mean a gentleman should between ostentation and meanness. lapis
albus, a table consisting of a slab of white marble, supported on three legs :
see 1. 3. 13 n. 117. pocula duo: a pair of cups are put on the table
because such articles were generally in pairs, cf. Cic. Verr. 2. 2. 19. 47 scyphorum
paria complura. A second clean cup might be wanted for a fresh sort of
wine. cyatho, ‘a ladle,' containing th of the sextarius. echinus :
an unknown vessel somewhat in the shape of a 'sea-urchin.' exivos, XÚTρAS
χύτρας
eidos Erotianus p. 170; Pollux 6. 13. 91. 118. cum patera gutus, ‘an
oil-flask with its saucer,' for dropping oil on the salad. gutus is any flask
with a narrow neck for pouring liquids, especially oil guttatim: cf. Gell. 17.
8. 5. It would naturally have a saucer (patera), to prevent drops running
down on the table. Campana supellex, i.e. fictilis, of cheap pottery (cf.
2. 3. 144), not silver.
120. Marsya: statues of Marsyas, or Silenus, the attendant of Bacchus,
were erected in the market-place of many free towns, as a symbol of liberty.
The statue had the hand uplifted (Serv. on Aen. 4. 58 Marsyas .
in foro
positus libertatis indicium est, qui erecta manu testatur nihil urbi deesse), and
Horace here comically explains the uplifted hand as a gesture of disgust at the
face of the younger of the Novii, usurers, who carried on their business in
the Forum. 122. ad quartam iaceo, 'I lie until the fourth hour,' not
sleeping; for though Horace was somni benignus,.yet he considered sleep to
the first hour as a long night's sleep, Ep. 1. 17. 6; but, after waking and
probably taking his ientaculum, or light breakfast, still lying in bed reading
or meditating; cf. Ep. 1. 2. 35 posces ante diem librum cum lumine.
'stroll.' lecto and scripto are abl. absolute. Horace after rising either
takes a walk or continues his studies more methodically than he could in his
bed. 123. unguor olivo, preparatory to engaging in athletic exercises, as
the game of ball; cf. Od. 1.-8. 8. 124. Natta, unknown elsewhere, used
lamp oil to rub himself with, thus cheating his lamps.
vagor,
125. lavatum: the usual hour for bathing was the eighth, one hour before
dinner cena (Becker's Gallus p. 396). But Horace's hours seem to have been
differently arranged from those usual in Martial's time. For we find him
taking his bath before luncheon (prandium), probably about one o'clock, while
his ordinary dinner hour seems to have been much later than the ninth hour;
416
BOOK I
HORACE
cf. lines 113 and 115, and supremo sole on the 23rd September, Ep. 1. 5. 3, i.e. 6
o'clock. 126. campum, the Campus Martius, where games and manly
exercises were carried on: cf. Od. 1. 8. 4. lusumque trigonem, ‘and
the game of ball I have now done playing': lusum is part. passive. The word
is necessary here, and intentionally inserted to supply the omission of any
previous mention by Horace of his playing the game. ludere often takes an
acc. in the active voice; cf. ludum ludere Od. 3. 29. 50; ludere par inpar
S. 2. 3. 248; ludas opus 2. 3. 252. Against the ordinary interpretation of
lusumque trigonem, viz. 'the game of ball,' it is to be urged that ludum trigonis
would be expected. trigon, a sort of three-cornered game of hand ball, from
Tpíywvos. This is the only passage where the word occurs in Latin before Martial,
who several times uses it. For this reading, which is that of vet. Bland., other
MSS. give fugio rabiosi tempora signi, and this is explained to mean (1) the
season of the dog-star; (2) the meridian heat of the sun. The first explanation
cannot stand, for it was not in Horace's power to avoid the tempora of the dog-
star, and his habits during the whole year, not only during the month of the
dog-star, are described. And one's whole feeling revolts against the idea that
Horace could have called the sun rabiosum signump 127. pransus, 'having
eaten at lunch,' quantum interpellet, 'enough to prevent me going
fasting the whole day': interpellare in this sense in prose has quin, quominus
or ne. 128. domesticus simply-domi, at home. 131. quaestor.
Horace contemptuously chooses the lowest rung in the ladder of public offices.
fuisset: for the singular verb after more than one singular nominative cf.
Od. 2. 13. 38 n.
• •
•
SATIRE VII
A repartee made in Brutus's Court at Clazomenae.
DATE, 43 or 42 B.C.
The
Apparently the earliest of all the extant compositions of Horace.
event it describes happened in the year 43 or 42 B.C., at which time M.
Brutus, the tyrannicide, was acting as propraetor in Asia, and it seems to have
been composed at the time, or shortly after; certainly before the battle of
Philippi. This is probable for several reasons. There is no allusion to the
sad fate of Brutus: the murder of Caesar would be an unhappy subject to
joke about if the power of Octavian, his heir, was established at Rome: the
mention in line 18 of Brutus's usurpation as a regular praetorship looks as if
his power was as yet not overthrown. Besides this, though the poor pun
celebrated might at the time it was uttered be deemed worthy of a poetic
dress-jokes in court always excite unbounded admiration-to recur to it
after years would show weakness and silliness of mind.
1. proscripti: in 43 B.C. P. Rupilius Rex, of Praeneste, had been
elected praetor in 43 B.C., but was proscribed by the triumvirs and fled to
Brutus in Asia. The intentional juxtaposition of proscripti and Regis is to be
noted. pus atque venenum, a periphrasis like virtus Catonis, etc., 'the
foul-mouthed and venomous.' 2. hybrida, 'cross-breed': the scholiasts
say his father was an Asiatic, his mother a Roman. The word hybrida (also
spelt hibrida, ibrida) is generally connected with üßpis, but Kiessling refers to
a gloss of Philoxenus iber nulovos, and to imbri the name of cross-bred sheep in
Pliny (8. 49. 199), cf. Gk. ößpia. 3. lippis: patients with sore eyes, a common
complaint in Italy, would collect and talk in the apothecaries' shops (medicinae).
Barbers' shops (tonstrinae) were proverbially the place for gossip. These places
are joined together by Plautus, Amph. 4. 1. 5 in medicinis in tonstrinis apud
**
SATIRE VII
417
NOTES
omnes aedes sacras | sum defessus quaeritando. Among the Greeks likewise
barbers' shops, κoupeîa, served the same purpose of gossip: Ar. Plut. 338.
man to.'
4. negotia as a money-lender. 5. Clazomenis: Brutus was holding
a conventus or circuit court here. lites: Cicero (ad Fam. 13. 9. 2) mentions
P. Rupilius as magister in societate publicanorum in Bithynia. This is prob-
ably the same person as our Rex, and it is easy to imagine a farmer of the
taxes having a lawsuit with a money-lender. 6. qui posset, 'the sort of
odio, 'tediousness,' 'importunity.' Ter. Phorm. 5. 6. 9 num-
quam tuo odio me vinces. 7. confidens has a bad sense: Lucil. 334 (Lach.)
inprobus confidens nequam malus ut videatur: 'self-reliant' in a good sense is
sibi fidens.
tumidusque: the variant tumidus is unlikely, for though
both Virgil and Ovid sometimes lengthen us in arsis, Horace does not, but
only avails himself of caesural lengthening in the case of verbs in -t: see on
1. 5. 90. 8. Sisennas, Barros: Sisenna and Barrus were men of bitter
tongue, elsewhere unknown. The names of individuals taken as types of a
class are made plural in Latin as in Greek and English, and probably all
languages. equis albis, 'with white steeds,' because white horses were
considered the swiftest, cf. Plaut. Asin. 2. 2. 12 nam si se huic occasioni tempus
subterduxerit, | numquam edepol quadrigis albis indipiscet postea; Virg. Aen.
12. 84, of the horses of Turnus qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras.
We might paraphrase, 'he could give weight to,' 'could beat in a canter.'
•
•
9. nihil
convenit, 'no terms were come to,' no compromise.
hoc sunt iure: arrogate to themselves the same right of action, as doughty
champions. From hoc in line 10 to missis in line 18 is parenthetical.
molesti, 'those at loggerheads.' 11. inter, inter for the double pre-
position cf. Ep. 1. 2. 12 n. 12. animosum, 'fiery,' a regular epithet of
Achilles cf. Ov. Her. 8. 1 Pyrrhus Achillides animosus imagine patris.
13. capitalis, 'deadly, so that death (and death alone), which ends all things
(ultima), could part them.' Horace had in mind the fierce words of Achilles
11. 22. 261 Εκτορ, μή μοι, ἄλαστε, συνημοσύνας ἀγόρευε . | ὡς οὐκ ἔστ᾽ ἐμὲ
καὶ σὲ φιλήμεναι, οὐδέ τι νῶϊν | ὅρκια ἔσσονται πρίν γ' ἢ ἕτερόν γε πεσόντα |
αἵματος ἆσαι "Αρηα ταλαύρινον πολεμιστήν. 15. inertes ignavos, cowards;
so pigrior in 17; cf. Od. 3. 5. 36 n. 17. Glauco: the meeting of Glaucus
and Diomede, where Glaucus declines to fight, and exchanges armour with him
Xpúσea xaλkeiwv, is finely told Il. 6. 119 seq. ultro denotes doing some-
thing beyond what may be expected of a person, 'into the bargain,' 'to boot.'
18. Brutus was praetor urbanus in 44 B.C., the year of Caesar's assassination.
The next year he would naturally be propraetor with a provincial government;
and in that capacity he took possession of Macedonia, which had been allotted
to him along with Bithynia, but taken away from him by the Senate under
the influence of Antony and Octavian. He also overran Asia, and treated it
as part of his province. 19. par, 'the pair': especially applied to a pair of
gladiators. 20. compositum: the construction is ut non melius com-
positum (fuerit par) Bacchius cum Bitho. par, understood, is in apposition
with the words cum Bitho Bacchius, Bithus and Bacchius were famous
gladiators. componere=uviéval, to pit together, a technical word for
matching combatants; Cic. ad Fam. 2. 8. 1 gladiatorum compositiones; Sen.
Prov. 2. 9 ecce par deo dignum, vir fortis cum adversa fortuna compositus.
21. spectaculum, 'a sight to see.
23. conventu, 'the court,' properly the judicial assembly in a circuit
town of a provincial governor. cohortem, 'the staff,' of a provincial
2 E
418
BOOK I
HORACE
governor; cf. Ep. 1. 3. 6 n. 25. Canem: Sirius, 'the dog-star,' con-
sidered an evil constellation; Hom. Il. 22. 30. 27. fertur quo rara
securis, 'where the woodcutter's axe is seldom carried,' one of the few
poetical touches in the Satires. In many countries trees are chiefly found on
river banks, especially in mountain ravines; cf. 2 Kings vi. 4.
28. multo fluenti, ‘on him (Persius) so witty and so glib the Praenestine
retorts with abuse, true essence of the copse, like some tough and invincible
vine-dresser, by whom the passer-by on the road shouting "cuckoo" at him,
must have often owned himself beaten.' multo fluenti, a common use of peîv
with πολύς and μέγας : cf. Dem. de Cor. § 136 πολλῷ ῥέοντι καθ᾽ ὑμῶν: Eur.
Hipp. 443 Κύπρις γὰρ οὐ φορητὸς ἢν πολλὴ ῥυῇ: Thuc. 2. 5. 2 ὁ ᾿Ασωπός ποταμὸς
éppúŋ μéyas. Cf. 1. 4. 11 flueret lutulentus. 29. expressa, lit. 'squeezed
•
out of,' and so here 'the true essence of,' 'extract of,' words such as would
naturally suggest the rough repartees used by vine-dressers to passers-by, who
ventured to make them a butt for their witticisms. 30. vindemiator,
four syllables: cf. 2. 8. 1 n. 31. cucullum: passers-by used this epithet
to jibe at vine-dressers, who were behindhand with their pruning, which ought
to be finished before the cuckoo is heard; Plin. H. N. 18. 66. 249. ex-
probrationem foedam putantium vites per imitationem cantus alitis temporarii
quem cucullum vocant. 34. reges the plural adds to the absurdity.
Brutus had only slain one who could be called a king, Caesar, but Persius
addresses him as if he were a habitual regicide. consueris (consueveris):
the subj. assigns a reason why Brutus should slay another 'Rex.' The poor
pun was also made by Cicero in a retort on Clodius in the senate: Cic. ad Att.
1. 16. 10. Puns (ambigua) were popular at Rome, and Cicero was an in-
veterate punster. 35. tuorum agrees with operum.
SATIRE VIII
A statue of Priapus describes how he witnessed the nocturnal witch-work of
two hags, Canidia and Sagana. This satire is distinctly referred to three
times in the 17th Epode, lines 47, 58, 77. DATE:-about 35 B.C.
1. ficulnus . . . the wood of the fig-tree was considered useless, because
it was easily broken ; hence the proverb συκίνη ἐπικουρία = 'a broken
reed'; so σúkol avopes Theocr. 10. 45 'good-for-nothing men'; yvwun
γνώμη
OUкívη Luc. adv. Indoct. 6. 2. Priapum: the worship of Priapus
came originally from Lampsacus. His statue was set up in gardens, to
frighten birds and thieves away, and his outstretched hand held a wooden
sickle; cf. Virg. G. 4. 110 et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna |
Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi. 3. maluit esse deum: note the
sarcasm and cf. Is. xliv. 16, 17 'and the residue thereof he maketh a god.'
7. novis in hortis, 'the new park.' So Propert. calls the same place novi
agri 4. 8. 2. The reference is to the new gardens of Maecenas on the Esquiline
both on (cf. line 15) and outside the agger of Servius Tullius.
8. This place had once been a miserable burying-ground for the poorest of
the people. The language here is very forcible. eiecta, 'cast contemptu-
ously out.' angustis cellis, 'from their narrow cells'; the small bed-
chambers they used to occupy. Cf. Cic. Phil. 2. 27. 67 servorum in cellis.
9. conservus, a pathetic touch. No one cared for the dead slave's body;
his 'fellow slave' was assigned the duty of seeing it disposed of; he made a
SATIRE VIII
419
NOTES
bargain (locabat) with the vespillones or sandapilarii to carry the body to the
wretched graveyard in a cheap shell (arca, or, as elsewhere, sandapila).
Orelli quotes an inscription which shows that slaves had burial-societies.
10. stabat, was fixed by fate,' seems to be the meaning. commune
sepulchrum: a reminiscence of Lucr. 5. 259 omniparens eadem rerum com-
mune sepulchrum. 11. Pantolabus (=ravroλáßos) is said by Porph. to
have been a nickname for one Mallius Verna, from his habit of borrowing
sums of money from his friends, when reduced to penury. This line is nearly
repeated 2. 1. 22. Observe the power with which Horace briefly notices the
fact, that a slave's burial is the destined end of the rake and spendthrift.
13. hic, 'here.' cippus, a pillar, with an inscription on it (e.g. IN AG·
P. XII. IN. FR. P. XXIV.—Corp. Ins. 4374) stating the limits of the ceme-
tery, which were a frontage (in fronte) of 1000 feet, a depth (in agrum) of 300.
heredes monumentum ne sequeretur, '(with an injunction) that the
monument was not to descend to the heirs.' It was customary to inscribe on
monuments of the dead the letters H M H. N. 8, i.e. hoc monumentum
heredes non sequitur, or HM. AD H. N. TRANS· (ne transito). Horace dwells
with humorous pathos on the amplitude of the poor man's resting - place,
and represents special pains being taken to prevent its alienation should his
heirs part with the rest of his property.
•
-
14. nunc licet Esquiliis. Maecenas somehow or other came into posses-
sion of this burial-ground and other waste land lying on the Esquiline outside
the walls. He cleared the spot, beautified and improved it, and built there a
handsome mansion, which men called turris Maecenatiana (Od. 3. 29. 10 n.).
salubribus: before this time, owing to bad drainage and malaria from the
cemetery, the Esquiline was unhealthy. 15. aggere; the agger of Servius
Tullius, who included the Esquiline and Viminal in the city, heightened by
Tarquinius Superbus: it ran from the Esquiline Gate to the Colline Gate.
quo in quo and so 'where,' the preposition not being repeated after in aprico.
So most, but Palmer accepts Peerlkamp's qui. 16. Note the spondees.
17. cum refers back to nunc line 14. suëtae: cf. Lucr. 1. 60 appellare
suëmus; 2. 903 sentire suëti. 19. carminibus atque venenis,
'spells and potions.' versant, 'practise on.' 21. vaga: so Virg. Aen.
1. 742 hic canit errantem lunam: 'the moving moon went up the sky,' Cole-
ridge. 22. protulit os: Virg. Aen. 8. 589 qualis ubi Oceani perfusus
Lucifer unda... extulit os sacrum caelo; G. 4. 232 Taygete simul os terris
ostendit honestum. legant: legere is properly used both with ossa and
herbas: it is the regular word for gathering bones from the ashes of the
funeral pyre: cf. Propert. 2. 24. 50 vix venit extremo qui legat ossa die.
• • •
•
•
•
23. vidi egomet As remarked by Comm. Cruq., these lines habent
aliquid tragicae descriptionis; cf. Virg. Aen. 3. 623 vidi egomet duo...
succinctam, 'with her robe tucked up': cf. Epod. 5. 25; Ovid, Met. 7. 182
of Medea, the arch-witch egreditur tectis vestes induta recinctas, | nuda pedem,
nudos umeris infusa capillos. 24. Canidiam: see Epod. 5 Intr. 25.
Sagana mentioned also Epod. 5. 25 as an accomplice of Canidia. Probably
the word is a pseudonym invented by Horace, and connected by him with
sāga, ‘a witch,' in spite of the difference in quantity, and so too Canidia a
canitie. maiore: either 'the elder' (she had a younger sister according to
Comm. Cruq.), or 'more powerful' than Canidia herself, or 'taller' than Canidia.
ululantem, 'whooping her witch-chant.' ululatus is nearly always of
females, and often used of chants in sacred rites; so Medea Ov. Met. 7. 190
420
BOOK I
HORACE
•
ternis ululatibus ora solvit. utrasque: either utramque or utrasque is
good Latin. 27. pullam, 'black' (cf. πeλλós, πeλɩrvós), seems to have been
especially used to denote dark colour of fleeces and wool. mordicus, ¿dáğ.
28. cruor ..
In the véκvia of Ulysses Od. 11. 36 seq., the pouring of
blood into a trench is the means whereby the spirits are called from the vasty
deep; undoubtedly the original idea was that they actually came to drink the
blood. inde: from the pit or trench they had scraped out. 29.
animas in apposition to Manes.
30. lanea et=lanea effigies erat et altera cerea-Porph. The image of
wool is of Canidia: the waxen one is that of the man whom she proposes to
torture for his falseness by her witch-charms: cf. Epod. 17. 76 n.; Virg. Ecl.
8. 81; Ov. Her. 6. 91 devovet absentes, simulacraque cerea fingit, | et miserum
tenues in iecur urguet acus. See Theocr. Idyll. 2; Lucian, Dial. Mer. 4; Plat.
Legg. 11 p. 933; Ov. Am. 1. 8; Rossetti's ballad of Sister Helen, for more
about ancient and modern φαρμακεύτριαι. 32. ut quae, probably
elliptical: ut quae iam peritura (stat). servilibus modis: as if about
to be crucified, or beaten to death. 35. infernas, x0ovías: cf. Apoll.
Rhod. 3. 1216 ἀμφὶ δὲ τήν γε (i.e. Hecate) ὀξείῃ ὑλακῇ χθόνιοι κύνες ἐφθέγ-
YOVTO: Virg. Aen. 6. 257 visaeque canes ululare per umbram, adventante
dea; 'the misbegotten dogs of hell,' Scott, Wild Huntsman. rubentem :
the moon blushed and hid her face behind the highest monuments.
'
41. umbrae: the ghosts who answered the call of the witches. cum:
join with loquentes. resonarint: if resonarent, which has more MSS.
support, is sound, it means 'kept up all along' a sad, shrilly sound.
acutum : TEтpyvîa is used by Homer, II. 23. 101, of a departed spirit's
voice, like the shrill chirping of a bird. 42. variae, 'spotted.' Cf. the
ingredients in the witches' cauldron in Macbeth, among which are the ‘fillet
of a fenny snake . . . scale of dragon, tooth of wolf.' Pliny tells us that a
wolf's muzzle (rostrum) was a counter-charm against witchcraft, and was often
nailed up on the gates of country houses for this reason. The witches bury
it here to overcome its influence. 43. cerea: dissyllable, as ostrea 2. 2.
21, aureo Virg. Aen. 10. 116. imagine cerea is instrumental: and how a
fire was kindled, made larger by the waxen image' which they held over it, or
threw into it. 45. Furiarum : the witches are called Furies on account
of their ugliness and cruelty. 48. The midnight hags are frightened by
hearing a noise made by Priapus in his fright, and run away, leaving their
false teeth, hair, and charms behind them. caliendrum, 'a chignon' of
false hair: probably corrupted from κάλλυντρον or καλλυντήριον, ornament.
49. lacertis goes with excidere. incantatus and cantatus are used in
the same sense, 'enchanted.' 50. vincula: generally taken as licia, magic
threads which were tied to the rhombus, the witches' wheel; cf. Ov. Fast. 2.
575 tum cantata ligat cum fusco licia rhombo; Am. 1. 8. 7; Virg. Ecl. 8. 73.
But as the witches carried these vincula on their arms, and as there is no
mention of a rhombus in the satire, perhaps it is better to suppose a sort of
magic bracelets or armlets: 'love-knots.'
SATIRE IX
An Encounter with a Bore. DATE:-about 35 B.C.
Horace describes how he was encountered by a pushing fellow, who vaunted
his learning and accomplishments, and asked the poet for an introduction into
>
SATIRE IX
421
NOTES
the circle of literary men whom Maecenas had gathered about him; how
Aristius Fuscus met them, and enjoyed Horace's discomfiture, and would not
help him to get rid of the bore, from whom at last he was saved by the accident
of his adversary in a lawsuit falling in with him, and taking him off to Court.
Vulpius guessed that this bore was Propertius, the young Umbrian poet;
and it is pointed out that Propertius never mentions Horace by name, nor
Horace Propertius, though Horace repeatedly mentions Virgil, Varius, Tibul-
lus, and other contemporary poets, while Propertius mentions Virgil with
admiration; cf. Ep. 2. 2. 100, where quis nisi Callimachus is probably a sneer
at Propertius, and see separate edition. Chronology, however, is decidedly
against this, for Propertius could not have been born before 52, probably not
earlier than 49; while this Satire can hardly be later than 34.
1. ibam forte: a fragment of Lucilius begins with the words ibat forte
aries. via Sacra: the principal street in Rome: it ran through the Forum
on to the Capitol. 2. meditans, 'composing'; cf. Od. 3. 25. 5 n.
nugarum, some poetic trifle'; cf. Catull. 1. 4 meas esse aliquid putare
nugas; Mart. 5. 80. 3 dum nostras legis exigisque nugas. totus in illis,
'quite absorbed in it.' Cf. Ep. 1. 1. 11 omnis in hoc sum; 1 Tim. iv. 15
ταῦτα μελέτα, ἐν τούτοις ἴσθι. 3. accurrit and arrepta: stronger than
occurrit and prehensa, denote the forwardness of the man at once. 4. quid
agis, 'how are you?' a common formula of greeting; cf. Mart. 2. 67 occurris
quocumque loco mihi, Postume, clamas | protinus et prima est haec tua vox
quid agis?' dulcissime rerum, 'dearest in the world'; cf. Ov. Her.
4. 125 pulcherrime rerum; 9. 107 maxime rerum. Acron joined quid rerum
together: and quid rerum is often used, but much more often with gerere
than agere; e.g. Catull. 28. 4 quid rerum geritis? 5. ut nunc est, 'at
present.' Cf. Cic. ad Att. 15. 5. 3 ut nunc quidem est. cupio omnia quae
vis is a neutral form of polite address; cf. Plaut. Pers. 5. 1. 14 omnia quae
tu vis, ea cupio. Having said which, Horace walks on.
6. numquid vis: a broader hint that he wants no more of the intruder's
company, for numquid vis is the regular form for parting company: 'have
you any commands?
occupo, 'I break in,' before he had time to begin.
7. noris nos, 'yes; I want you to make my acquaintance': in answer to
Horace's question, numquid vis, which he refuses to take as the close of the
interview. It was common enough to reply to this formula by a statement of
what was desired. Cf. Plaut. Capt. 1. 2. 82 numquid vis? Heg. venias temperi;
Mil. Glor. 2. 6. 92 numquid nunc aliud me vis? Pe. ne me noveris. docti:
the epithet of doctus was assumed by those who were versed in Greek literature
and mythology, and especially by those poets who imitated the learned style
of the Alexandrine school. Hence the word constantly is='poetic,' cf. Od.
1. 1. 29. 10. puero, i.e. pedisequo, a page. 11. Bolane: a choleric
man, cerebrosus, who would have told such a bore to go és kópakas, without
ἐς κόρακας,
more ado.
So the cerebrosus, 1. 5. 21, belabours the sleeping sailor.
cerebri felicem, 'happy in thy hot temper,' a usage common in Greek ; e.g.
Arist. Eq. 186 ὦ μακάριε τῆς τύχης.
15. iamdudum video, ráλaι opŵ, 'I have noticed this long time':
iamdudum in this sense always takes a present. nil agis, 'it's no use,' a
common phrase. 16. prosequar, 'I will escort you,' has less MS.
authority than persequar, 'I will stick to you'; but Horace's reply is in
favour of prosequar, as it is a polite declining of an offer of company.
circumagi, 'go out of your way.' visere, 'to call on a sick friend.'
17.
:
422
BOOK I
HORACE
18. cubat,
visere, or visere ad, often has this meaning; cf. Ep. 2. 2. 69.
'keeps his bed,' from illness. Cf. 2. 3. 289 mater ait pueri menses iam
quinque cubantis; Ep. 2. 2. 68; Ov. Her. 20. 164 haec cubat, ille valet.
hortos: Caesar's gardens, left in his will to the people as a public park, were
on the Janiculum, close to the Tiber. 21. dorso, 'with his back'; cf. Virg.
Aen. 2. 708 ipse subibo umeris. subiit: cf. 1. 5. 90 n. onus: accusative.
• •
22. si bene me novi: so Circe, Ovid Met. 14. 356 si modo me novi.
Viscum: cf. 1. 10. 83. The two Visci, sons of Vibius Viscus, a Roman
knight, were literary men, and intimate friends of Horace. 23. plures:
cf. 1. 4. 16 videamus uter plus scribere possit. 25. mollius, 'more lightly,'
in the dance. mollis in this sense preserves a reference to its assumed deriva-
tion, mobilis. Cf. Lucr. 4. 980 cernere saltantis et mollia membra moventis ;
Ov. A. A. 1. 595 si vox est, canta; si mollia bracchia, salta. membra :
see Munro on Lucr. 4. 790, where he shows that the motions of the arms were
of more importance in ancient dancing than the legs. 26. est tibi mater .
Why does Horace ask this? Schütz and Kiessling think it is a hint that the
stranger was mad, and wanted some one to look after him; Orelli that he
wishes to turn the subject, and to stop the bore's account of himself. Others
make other suggestions, but the real reason why the question is asked is to
introduce the excellent point which follows. 28. composui, ‘I have laid
them all to rest.' componere is properly to lay the bones of the dead together
in the urn, after they have been gathered from the pyre (cf. Prop. 2. 24. 35
tu mea compones et dices 'ossa, Properti, haec tua sunt'; Ov. Met. 4. 157);
but is also used of arranging the limbs of the dead together on the bier, or bed
of death (cf. Ov. Met. 9. 504 toroque | mortua componar; Pers. 3. 104 alto |
compositus lecto), and it is in this sense Pope writes, "By foreign hands thy
decent limbs composed'; but that is not the meaning here. felices: from
this word to aetas, in 34, is to be taken as spoken aside, or rather as the un-
uttered expression of Horace's thought: "lucky they' (in being beyond the
reach of your tongue). nunc ego resto: sc. tibi componendus, ‘my
turn next!' cf. Pers. 3. 97 iampridem hunc sepeli, tu restas.
|
29. confice, 'despatch me!' Sabella: the Sabellian tribes were
noted for witchcraft, especially the Marsi and Peligni; cf. Epod. 17. 28, 29, 60;
5. 76. 30. divina, 'fortune-telling'; cf. Od. 3. 27. 10. Palmer, holding
that divinā motā anus urnā jars harshly on the ear, accepts Bentley's trans-
position mota divină anus. mota: she shook her lots in an urn, and then
drew out some, from which she told Horace's fortune; cf. Od. 2. 3. 26; 3. 1.
16. 32. laterum dolor: pleurisy. tarda podagra, 'halting gout';
cf. Prop. 2. 1. 59 tarda Philoctetae sanavit crura Machaon. 33. quando
cumque, ‘some time or other.' quandocumque generally means 'when-
soever': quandoque, 'some time or other'; but they interchange in meaning
with each other. Cf. Ov. Met. 6. 544 quandocumque mihi poenas dabis, and
for the reverse, Od. 4. 1. 17; A. P. 359.
•
35. ad Vestae: sc. templum; so in Greek els 'Atóλλwvos, eis 'Aokλnπɩoû:
in English 'to St. Paul's,' etc. Vesta's fane was near the Forum between the
Capitol and Palatine. quarta iam parte: it was about 9 o'clock, which
was Horace's usual hour for a morning stroll. This was the time when busi-
ness went on in the law-courts, Mart. 4. 8. 2 exercet raucos tertia causidicos.
36. respondere: a technical word, 'to put in an appearance in court.'
Varr. ap. Gell. 11. 1. 4 M. Terentio, quando citatus neque respondit neque
excusatus est, ego ei unum ovem multam dico. vadato is an impersonal
•
·
SATIRE IX
423
NOTES
abl. abs. like intestato, auspicato, 'having been held to bail'; cf. Cic. ad Att. 16.
6. 3 hoc quod satisdato debeo. Others take vadato=illi qui eum vadatus
erat, 'the man who had summoned him'; cf. Livy 3. 13 tot vadibus accusator
vadatus est reum : but respondere is always in this sense used absolutely.
38. si mě amas: hiatus in the first thesis of the dactyl; cf. 2. 2. 28 cocto
num adest; Virg. Ecl. 8. 108 credimus? an, qui amant; Aen. 6. 507 tě, amice,
nequivi. This hiatus is common in Lucretius and Catullus: see Munro on
Lucr. 2. 404. hic, in the forum, close to which they were. ades, 'give
me your help in court,' i.e. give me the support of your presence, as an advo-
catus. 39. valeo stare: (1) 'if I am able to appear as an advocate in
court.' stare=adesse, cf. Plaut. Men. 5. 2. 47 hinc stas illinc causam dicis ;
Rud. 4. 4. 57 atque nunc abs te stat: verum hinc cibit testimonium. (2) ‘if I
am strong enough to stand so long in court.' So Comm. Cruq.
41. rem,
"
'my case. sodes, ‘if you please' (si audes); cf. Ep. 1. 1. 62 n.
43. Maecenas quomodo tecum: sc. vivit or agit, 'how does Maecenas
stand with you? 44. repetit, 'he resumes' at the point he left off, line 25.
Orelli, Schütz, and others give all that follows, down to omnes in 48, to the
stranger: Fritzsche, with most of the older edd., prints as in the text, making
paucorum hominum.
... usus the answer of Horace. That paucorum hominum
et mentis bene sanae are the words of Horace seems clear; but it would give
equally good sense whether we assign nemo . usus to the stranger or to
Horace. paucorum hominum, ‘a man of few acquaintances'; cf. the
play in Ter. Eun. 3. 1. 19 immo sic homo est perpaucorum hominum. Gn.
immo nullorum arbitror, si tecum vivit. Horace gives the intruder a hint
there is no use in his trying to force his way into the narrow circle. bene
sanae: of thoroughly sound mind (not to be taken in by every pushing fellow).
• •
45. nemo dexterius fortuna est usus, 'no one ever dealt more adroitly
with Fortune,' or 'no one ever employed his high position more happily' than
Maecenas. Horace seems to mean that Maecenas is not carried away by his
high position, but that he soberly and discreetly chooses his friends, not ready
to listen to every flatterer. Those who assign these words to the intruder are
divided between supplying quam Maecenas and quam tu; if the latter is right,
we are again embarrassed by two rival interpretations: 'there never was a
cleverer fellow than you,' i.e. in making your way into the society of one whom
you describe as so exclusive: or, 'never was a man luckier than you in meeting
me.'
46. secundas: sc. partes: play second fiddle to you: act as
DEVTEPAYWVIOTŃs—partes is often left out with primas, secundas, tertias.
hunc hominem, тóvd' ävdpa, 'me,' deɩktikŵs: Ter. Heaut. 2. 3. 115 tibi
sunt parata verba, huic homini verbera. tradere, 'introduce,' i.q. com-
mendare: cf. Ep. 1. 9. 3 scilicet ut tibi se laudare et tradere coner; 18. 78
fallimur et quondam non dignum tradimus. 48. summosses: 'clear out
of your way': cf. Od. 2. 16. 10. The pluperf. is much stronger than summo-
veres: the action is contemplated as at once performed: so rapidly that it is
a thing to be looked back upon.
47.
inquam,
53.
50. malis, abl., 'a greater stranger to vices like these.'
emphatic, 'I can tell you,' much better than umquam of some MSS.
sic habet, oűrws exel, for sic se res habet. accendis quare is pregnant:
'you kindle higher my desire (giving additional reasons) why I should try to
win his friendship.' 55. expugnabis, 'you will carry him' as if he were
a fort to be stormed. 56. aditus, 'approaches,' 'outworks.'
tempora, 'the auspicious moments'; not so much opportunities,' as the
58.
424
BOOK I
HORACE
nil
moments when Maecenas should be in a suitable humour. So Virg. Aen. 4.
423 gives aditus and tempora together: sola viri molles aditus et tempora noras.
59. deducam, 'escort him' from his house into the forum ; Cic. Mur. 34.
70 si domus nostra celebratur, si interdum ad forum deducimur.
sine .. Cf. Hesiod, Works and Days 287 τῆς δ᾽ ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ προ-
πάροιθεν ἔθηκαν : Epicharm. fr. ap. Χen. Μem. 2. 1. 20 τῶν πόνων πωλοῦσιν
ἡμῖν πάντα τἀγάθ' οἱ θεοί : Soph. Εl. 945 δρα, πόνου του χωρὶς οὐδὲν εὐτυχεῖ.
oi
61. Fuscus Aristius: see Ep. 1. 10 Intr. 62. qui pulchre nosset,
who knew the fellow through and through.' Cf. Cic. ad Fam. 10. 23. 1 Lepidum
enim pulchre noram, where it is implied, as here, that the character was a bad
one. pulchre bene is common in Plautus and Terence; it belonged to the
'language of talk.’
nosset, not norat, is used here, because there is an
implied reason why Horace was glad of the meeting with Fuscus : he was in
the first place mihi carus; secondly, he knew the character of the bore: hence
Horace expected he would help him to get rid of him. unde venis et quo
tendis: cf. 2. 4. 1 unde et quo Catius? 63. respondet: sc. Fuscus, in his
turn, to me, when I asked him the same questions. vellere, 'pinch':
Virg. Ecl. 6. 3 Cynthius aurem | vellit et admonuit; Copa 38 mors aurem
Tellens 'vivite' ait 'venio.' 64. pressare: many MSS. give prensare.
lentissima, 'unfeeling.' 65. male salsus, 'witty out of season.' 66.
dissimulare, 'pretended he did not see what I wanted.' bilis; cf. Od. 1.
13. 4 fervens difficili bile tumet iecur.
69. tricensima sabbata: probably there was no such Jewish festival or
fast; and Fuscus knew there was not, but invented it for the occasion. The
Jewish sabbath is often referred to by Roman poets; Ov. A. A. 1. 76 cultaque
Iudaeo septima sacra Syro; Juv. 14. 96 quidam sortiti metuentem sabbata
patrem. Other explanations make tricensima sabbata to be either, (1) the feast
of trumpets; or (2) the day of atonement; or (3) the feast of tabernacles,
which fell on the 1st, 10th, and 15th of the 7th Jewish month, respectively,
Levit. xxiii. 24, 27, 34; either of which may be by different computations
made out to be the 30th sabbath from the beginning of the Jewish year.
vin tu simply asks a question; vis tu is a command or exhortation: see on
2. 6. 92. 71. religio, 'religious scruple.' infirmior, 'a weak brother.'
73. surrexe: cf. 1. 5. 79 n. 74. sub cultro, i.e. like a victim, with
the knife ready to descend.
"
75. adversarius, 'the plaintiff who had summoned him to appear.' The
plaintiff was on his way to court, and finds his man strolling away from it.
76. inclamat, 'shouts at him,' stronger and better supported than exclamat.
licet antestari, 'may I have you as a witness to the arrest ? A fragment
of the XII Tables has SI IN IVS VOCAT NI IT ANTESTATOR IGITVR EM CAPITO:
'if he summons a party into court, and he refuses to go, let him appeal to a
witness and forthwith seize him.' The word is probably from ante and testor.
licet antestari? was the regular question put to a bystander to know whether
he would be willing to become a witness to the seizure. In case he assented,
the prosecutor touched the tip of his ear. The ceremony existed without
change from early times. Cf. Plaut. Pers. 4. 9. 8 seq.; Curc. 5. 2. 23 Ph.
ambula in ius. Th. non eo. Ph. licet antestari? Th. non licet. 78. sic
me servavit Apollo, a reminiscence of Homer, Il. 20. 443 тòv d' ¿¿ýρπažev
Απόλλων.
is ne

SATIRE X
425
NOTES
SATIRE X
Horace's Criticisms of, and his Relation to, Lucilius. DATE, ? 35 B.c.
The criticisms Horace had made on Lucilius and his style (4. 6-13) had
given offence to some of the admirers of the old bard. Horace defends his
remarks, does not retract them, in this Satire. He allows that Lucilius was
caustic, 4, and farcical, 8; but that is not enough. Terseness is essential, 9 :
the mixture of fun and gravity, of poetry, rhetoric, and wit, which the poets
of the old comedy possessed, ought to belong to the satirist, 11-18. Lucilius'
use of Greek words was a positive blemish, 20-30. Satire was the only branch
of poetry left open for Horace, and he has had fair success in it, though he
avows himself inferior to Lucilius; but still he claims the right to point out
the obvious defects in Lucilius, which he himself would be the first to acknowledge
if he were alive, 56-71. Care and revision are necessary for the production of
poetry which shall win the approbation of the select few: the fit audience
that he himself has found in Virgil, Varius, Maecenas, and others, whose
approval is more to be valued than that of the multitude.
The eight verses in brackets are to be condemned as spurious on both
external and internal evidence. They are not found in the best MSS.; the
scholiasts are silent about them; the fourth verse has a false quantity vir,
which it is not easy to emend; ut redeam illuc in 8 has no meaning.
2. tam is separated from inepte, to which it belongs, as from dives, 1. 1.
95. fautor: technically a claqueur in the theatre, used by Horace for a
literary partisan, 'admirer': cf. fautor veterum Ep. 2. 1. 23. 3. sale: both
in its literal sense and its derived sense of wit, sarcasm; cf. Ep. 2. 2. 60 sale
nigro. 4. defricuit, scoured the city with plenty of salt': defricare is
properly used of scouring with some liquid. Catullus uses it of brushing the
teeth, 37. 20. Salt mixtures were used for scouring; cf. Aristoph. Nub.
1237 ἁλσὶν διασμηχθεὶς ἔναιτ᾽ ἂν ουτοσί. 5. sic, 'in that case, on the
same principle.' 6. D. Laberius, a Roman knight constrained by Julius
Caesar to act in his own mimes on the stage, 45 B.C., in a dramatic contest
with Publilius Syrus. On this occasion Laberius had the courage to insert
the well-known lines porro Quirites! libertatem perdimus and necesse est
multos timeat quem multi timent. mimi were lax farces: mimos obscena
iocantes Ov. Trist. 2. 497.
7. risu diducere rictum, 'to make the audience grin from ear to ear.'
rictus (ringi) is the drawing back of the lips so as to show the teeth. 11.
et sermone 'Happy who in his verse can gently steer From grave to
light, from pleasant to severe,' Dryden Art of Poetry 1. 75, imitated in Pope's
line 'From grave to gay, from lively to severe' Essay on Man 4. 379. 12.
defendente vicem, 'taking the place of'; cf. A. P. 193 actoris partes chorus
officiumque virile | defendat: for vicem cf. A. P. 304 fungar vice cotis. rhe-
toris here simply=oratoris. 13. urbani, ‘a polished talker': Domitius
Marsus ap. Quintil. 6. 3. 105 urbanus homo erit qui. in sermonibus,
circulis, conviviis, item in concionibus, omni denique loco ridicule commodeque
dicet. 15. secat, 'decides'; cf. Ep. 1. 16. 42 quo secantur iudice lites.
16. comoedia prisca: cf. 1. 4. 2 n. 17. stabant, 'succeeded';
stare is regularly used of a successful play, cf. Ep. 2. 1. 176 n. pulcher,
with some contempt: 'the pretty youth,' 'the fop'; cf. Cic. ad Att. 1. 16. 10
surgit pulchellus puer. 18. For Tigellius Hermogenes see 1. 3. 129;
• •
•
426
BOOK I
HORACE
4. 72; 9. 25. lēgit, perf. simius iste: according to the scholiasts this
was M. Demetrius, a musician (modulator), who is joined with Hermogenes
line 90. They say he is here called a monkey, on account of his ugliness and
small stature; cf. the contrast with pulcher; and Arist. Ran. 707 ô tíðnкos
οὗτος ὁ νῦν ἐνοχλῶν | Κλειγένης ὁ μικρός. Others take simius to mean the ape,
i.e. imitator of Hermogenes. 19. C Valerius Catullus (86- ?54 B.C.), and
C. Licinius Calvus (82-47) contemporaries and friends, who wrote poetry of
the same sort, chiefly erotic, and epigrammatic; the former one of the
greatest poets of his time: it is difficult to account for Horace's want of
appreciation of him. He violently lampooned Julius Caesar, and his poems
may, for this reason, have found little favour with Octavian; but Horace,
who attacks Tigellius, the friend, and speaks without censure of Brutus, the
murderer of Caesar, is not likely to have been prevented praising a poet
through fear of the disapprobation of Octavian. He imitates Catullus in one
or two passages, however: cf. 2. 1. 43.
20. Graeca : the fragments of Lucilius contain a good deal of Greek.
21. o seri studiorum: ¿uabeîs: Cic. ad Fam. 9. 20. 2 ỏiμaleîs homines
scis quam insolentes sint. quine: qui is the nom. plur.; cf. Ter. Ad. 2.
3. 8 festivum caput, | quine omnia sibi post putarit esse prae meo commodo ;
Plaut. Rud. 2. 6. 54 C. optimo me iure elavisse arbitror. L. qui? C. quine
auderem tecum in navem ascendere. ne keeps its interrogative force, though
it is latent. 'O you late learned (for are you not so to be named ?), you who
think that a wonderful thing which even the Rhodian Pitholeon achieved.'
22. Pitholeonti: Pitholeon is put for Pitholaus; so Tuoλéwv is derived from
Tiμóλews, Tiμóλaos. He is said by Suetonius, Caes. 75, to have lampooned
Julius Caesar, and is probably the M. Otacilius Pitholaus mentioned by Ma-
crobius, Saturn. 2. 2. 13. This would make him out to have been the slave
of one Otacilius, whose name he prefixed to his own on manumission. He
was by birth a Rhodian probably. 23. concinnus, 'happily blended.'
24. The Chian wines were sweet: Falernian was dry (austerum). nota,
'brand,' cf. Od. 2. 3. 8 n. 25. cum ...
Horace asks: 'Is this admixture
of Greek allowable in poetry only, or in speeches in the forum as well?' (et).·
The supposition would be absurd to a Roman. 26. Petilli, 1. 4. 94.
27. oblitus with malis. patriaeque patrisque: the language of
your fatherland and forefathers is Latin. Latine, 'in Latin,' cf. Latine
loqui; and Latine c. exsudare is satirical for Latine c. orare. Latini (so ·
Orelli, Kiessling) has better authority and then the reference is to pater
Latinus (cf. Virg. Aen. 7. 61, 92 and the mention of Quirinus in line 32), who
is referred to as the eponymous hero of Latin speech. 28. Pedius Poplicola
supposed by some to have been a brother of the Messalla Corvinus here men-
tioned, and to have been adopted by J. Caesar's nephew or great-nephew Q.
Pedius, who was consul suffect. with Octavian 43 B.C., and died that year.
29. Corvinus: cf. Od. 3. 21 Intr. The scholiasts tell us he was such a purist,
that he refused to employ the Greek word oxowoßárns, and was the first to
use the term funambulus instead for a rope-dancer. 30. foris peregre,
'abroad.' Canusini bilinguis, the inhabitants of Canusium, in Apulia,
had a population partly Greek and partly Oscan, and spoke both languages.
Lucilius and Ennius both have Bruttace bilingui.
=
33. somnia vera: Moschus 2. 5; Ov. Her. 19. 196. 34. in silvam
ligna: yλaûk' és ’A¤ývas (an owl to Athens, whose patron goddess was
γλαυκώπις Αθήνη): ἰχθὺς εἰς Ελλήσποντον (from whence half the world was
•
SATIRE X
427
NOTES
ac si,
supplied with fish): 'Coals to Newcastle' are parallel proverbs.
'than if.' 36. turgidus, 'bombastic,'=oiduv Arist. Ran. 940. Al-
pinus: so Horace nicknames M. Furius Bibaculus of Cremona. He had
written a poem on Caesar's Gallic wars, in which occurred the bombastic line
Iuppiter hibernas cana nive conspuit Alpes (see 2. 5. 41): hence his nickname
Alpinus here. He had also composed an Aethiopis, perhaps translated from
Arctinus, in which he introduced the slaying of Memnon by Achilles.
iugulat, 'cuts the throat of,' 'murders,' refers both to Achilles and to the
bad poetry of Bibaculus.
37. defingit, 'botches,' 'disfigures'; for this bad sense of de cf. defor-
mare, describo Ep. 2. 1. 154 n. luteum: the epithet 'muddy' may have
been introduced by Bibaculus himself, and been laughed at as out of place in
an epic. caput, either the source, as often, or the mouth, as Caes. B. G
4. 10; Livy 33. 41; or, more probably, the head of the Rhine, described as
personified in the poem of Bibaculus (as rivers were personified in triumphal
processions: Pers. 6. 47; Prop. 2. 1. 31; Ov. A. A. 1. 223). 38. aede:
in aede Musarum ubi poetae carmina sua recitabant: Porph. This is very
vague. Horace probably means a temple, where dramatists, who were seek-
ing the privilege of having their plays acted, rehearsed them before Tarpa.
iudice Tarpa: Sp. Maecius Tarpa was a public licenser of plays. He had
been appointed to discharge this duty by Pompey in 55 B.C. Cic. ad Fam. 7.
1. 1 nobis autem erant ea perpetienda quae Sp. Maecius probavisset.
40. arguta, 'tricky,' 'sly': cf. calo argutus Ep. 1. 14. 42. Davus is
the accepted type of a clever slave (e. g. in the Andria of Terence) and Chremes
(cf. A. P. 94 n.) of an old man. Fundanius is only known from this passage
and 2. 8. 19. 41. comis, nominative; not, as many comes. comis is
always of persons, or of personal qualities. garrire, of the sermo quoti-
dianus of comedy: 'write chatty plays,' cf. below canit of tragedy, ducit of
epic poetry. 42. Pollio, one of the most remarkable figures of the age—
soldier, orator, tragedian, historian; see Od. 2. 1. 9 seq. 43. pede ter
percusso, i.e. in Iambic trimeter verse, in which the ictus occurs thrice. pede
is here 'metre,' and does not refer to the beat of a musician's foot accompany-
ing the metre, as it is taken by Orelli: translate, 'in metre thrice accented.'
44. ut nemo : ὡς οὐδεὶς ἄλλος. Varius: see on 1. 5. 40. Varius was con-
sidered as the epic poet of Rome until Virgil eclipsed him. ducit, 'draws
out'; the metaphor is from spinning, and deducere is more common, cf. Ep. 2.
1. 225 n. molle atque facetum, 'tenderness and grace.' Quintil. 6.
3. 19, struck by this attribution of facetum to Virgil, says: facetum quoque
non tantum circa ridicula opinor consistere. neque enim diceret Horatius
facetum carminis genus natura concessum esse Virgilio. decoris hanc magis
et excultae cuiusdam elegantiae appellationem puto. The reference is to the
Eclogues which were published B.C. 37, and Sellar (p. 165) explains the two
adjectives as denoting '(1) the yielding susceptibility to outward influences
and (2) the vivacity which gives them back in graceful forms.' Palmer takes
facetum of 'humour' or 'gaiety,' and refers to Virgil's early writings, e.g. the
Copa and Culex; see his note. 45. adnuĕrunt: so verterunt Epod. 9.
17; dederunt Ep. 1. 4. 7. rure points clearly to the Bucolics.
46. erat: satire was the only branch of literature left for one to take up.
P. Terentius Varro, surnamed Atacinus, from Atax, a vicus or town, as well
as a river of Gallia Narbonensis, was about seventeen years senior to Horace,
82-37 B.C., not to be confounded with his namesake, the famous polymath M.
428
BOOK I SATIRE X
HORACE
Terentius Varro Reatinus, among whose numerous writings were the so-called
Menippean Satires, a medley of verse and prose. 48. inventore : Lucilius
2. 1. 63. 51. tollenda, 'to be done away with,' cf. 1. 4. 11.
52. doctus, i.e. does not your learning lead you to criticise mighty Homer?
53. comis, 'without acerbity'; perhaps ironical, for Lucilius was noted for
his sarcastic attacks on preceding poets; Gell. 17. 21. 49 clariorque tunc in
poematis eorum (i.e. of Ennius, Pacuvius, Accius, etc.) obtrectandis Lucilius
fuit. mutat, 'alter,' 'propose to emend,' 'censure.' Acci: Accius, the
famous tragedian, born 170 B.C. (altus senex Ep. 2. 1. 56). 54. ridet:
as for example at the line of Ennius at tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit
(Serv. on Aen. 9. 503), and at his sparsis hastis longis campus splendet et horret,
where Lucilius sarcastically proposed horret et alget (Servius on Aen. 11. 602).
gravitate minores, 'in dignity inferior' to the demands of epic poetry.
55. cum de se loquitur, 'without speaking of himself as superior to those
whom he has criticised.' The sense is 'Does he not criticise Ennius and Accius
without claiming to be their superior, just as I make no such claims when
criticising him?' Palmer, with Heindorf, takes non-nonne (and parallel to
nil, non above) 'when he speaks of himself is it not as greater than . . .
..?'
57. illius, only here in Horace: illius, eleven times.
rerum, 'his sub-
jects.' 58. factos, 'highly wrought'; Cic. de Or. 3. 48. 184 oratio polita
et facta quodam modo. 59. ac si, 'than if.' The construction is: ac si quis
contentus hoc (ablat.) tantum, pedibus quid claudere senis, amet, etc., 'than if
any one content with this alone, namely, confining his subject in hexameter
verses, were to choose,' etc. claudere: 2. 1. 28. 62. Cassius Etrus-
cus, of whom we know nothing beyond this passage, wrote so much bad
poetry, that it was said his manuscripts and their cases served for fuel for his
funeral pile. He must not be confounded with Cassius Parmensis of Ep. 1. 4.
3, who was alive much later he may have been a relative of his. 64.
ambustum generally' scorched,' is here combustum, cf. Od. 4. 11. 25;
Tac. Hist. 5. 12 magna vis frumenti ambusta.
•
•
•
64. fuerit, 'grant that Lucilius was pleasant and witty.' 65. limatior,
'more polished.' 66. quam rudis auctor, 'than an inventor of a
new branch of poetry unattempted by the Greeks (might be expected to be).'
auctor can only be Lucilius himself, who is called the inventor of Satire
line 48 (cf. 2. 1.63). Many, however (e.g. Orelli 4, Kiessling), considering that
Lucilius cannot be compared with himself, take auctor to refer to Ennius or to
someone unknown to Horace whom he regards as the author of satire. In that
case Lucilius can only be spoken of in line 48 as the 'inventor' of 'satire' in
a special sense, which excludes the loose 'medleys' (saturae) of Ennius and
other poets.
rudis is 'new,' 'unworked,' as rudis terra, 'virgin soil,'
Varr. R. R. 1. 27. 2; rudem Amphitriten, the ocean as yet unsailed on,
Catull. 64. 11. Graecis intacti : Quintil. 10. 1. 93 satira quidem tota
nostra est. 67. ille, Lucilius. 68. dilatus, ‘if his life had been postponed.'
Most MSS. have dilapsus, which should mean 'falling in pieces.'
detereret: sc. lima, 'would file off many asperities.' 70. traheretur,
'trailed.' 71. scabo, which smacks of the vernacular, is twice quoted
from Lucilius, 296 (pluperf. scāberat), and 800 (caput scabit). vivos, 'to the
quick' proleptic, cf. Pers. 1. 106 nec pluteum caedit nec demorsos sapit ungues.
69.
72. stilum vertas, the reverse end of the stilus was flat for the purpose
of smoothing the wax on the tablet, and obliterating what had been written;
cf. Cic. de Or. 2. 23. 96 luxuries (orationis) stilo depascenda est. saepě,
BOOK II SATIRE I
429
NOTES
before stilum: see 3. 44 for a short vowel before st in the second foot of a
dactyl; in the third foot see 2. 3. 43; 3. 296. So also before sc 1. 5. 35;
2.2.36. 74. paucis lectoribus: cf. Milton, Par. L. 7. 30: 'Still govern
thou my song, | Urania, and fit audience find though few.' 75. vilibus in
ludis: Horace prophesied this fate for his books, Ep. 1. 20. 17; and this
was his fate: cf. Juv. 7. 226 quot stabant pueri cum totus decolor esset | Flaccus,
et haereret nigro fuligo Maroni.
•
'76. equitem, 'the stalls': the knights occupied the first 14 rows in the
theatre next to the orchestra, which was occupied by the senators according
to the law of Roscius Otho 67 B.C., Juv. 3. 159 sic libitum vano qui nos di-
stinxit Othoni. 77. Arbuscula: a mima, or actress, famous about twenty
years before this satire was written; Cic. ad Att. 4. 15. 6 quaeris nunc de
Arbuscula: valde placuit. She was hissed (explosa) apparently by the ground-
lings of the pit on one occasion. 78. Pantilius: the name is found in
inscriptions. Horace, however, evidently selects it here because it seems to
suggest the derivation he assigns to it. For, as he compares the man to a bug,
he evidently connects Pantilius with râv. τίλλειν. Who was the person
intended is unknown. 79. Demetrius, line 18 n. 80. Fannius
(Quadratus), 1. 4. 21. 81. Plotius (Tucca), 1. 5. 40. 82. C. Valgius
Rufus (probably consul in 12 B.C.) was a poet-friend of Horace; amice Valgi
Od. 2. 9. 5. Octavius, not Octavian, whom Horace always calls either Caesar,
or, later, Augustus, but probably the poet and historian, whose death is
referred to, Virg. Catal. 14 scripta quidem tua nos multum mirabimur et te |
raptum et Romanam flebimus historiam.
• •
84. ambitione relegata, 'without flattery': repudiata assentatione,
Schol. Cruq. It might look like adulation to say he only cared for their
good opinion. One of the commonest meanings of ambitio is a desire to please
by paying compliments: cf. Cic. ad Att. 15. 1b. 2 Brutus noster misit ad me
orationem suam... petivitque a me ut eam ne ambitiose corrigerem. 85. fratre,
Pedius Poplicola, cf. line 28. 86. Bibule: probably L. Calpurnius
Bibulus, who may have been a fellow-student with Horace at Athens, and a
comrade in military service; for he went to Athens in 45 B.C., and afterwards
joined Brutus, who was his step-father. Servi, voc. sing., perhaps Servius
Sulpicius Rufus the younger, praised by Cicero ad Fam. 4. 3; 4. 5; 13. 27.
candide, 'open-hearted,' opposite of niger. Furnius, probably the C.
Furnius, distinguished as an orator, who is mentioned by Plutarch, Ant. 58,
as δεινότατος εἰπεῖν Ρωμαίων. 91. discipularum, 'your lady pupils,' to
whom Demetrius and Tigellius gave music and singing lessons. cathedrae
are properly comfortable chairs for ladies: cf. Juv. 6. 91; Mart. 3. 63. 7
femineas
iubeo plorare : κλάειν κελεύω, οἰμώζειν
λέγω. 92. Addressed to an amanuensis. haec: this satire, which
Horace orders to be added to the preceding, cf. Prop. 3. 23. 23, where, after
penning a sort of poetical advertisement respecting his lost tablets, he adds :
i puer, et citus haec aliqua propone columna.
cathedras.
BOOK II
SATIRE I
Horace's Mission as a Satirist. DATE:-about 30 B.C.
This Satire forms a sort of general apologetic preface to Book II, and
though prefixed to that collection, was perhaps the last composed. Horace
430
BOOK II
HORACE
found that his Satires had made him unpopular, as we have seen before (1.
4).
He had probably been advised to abandon them, and to take to some
other branch of poetry; and this poem may be regarded as an answer to
those who advised him so. Keeping to the dramatic form, which he has
cultivated all through the second book, he represented himself as consulting
the famous jurist C. Trebatius Testa on the point. This wiseacre at first
advises him to give up writing, line 5; then to compose an epic poem in
honour of Augustus, 11; or at any rate a eulogium on his virtues, 16; Satire
makes enemies, 23. To this Horace replies that he cannot rest from writing,
that epic poetry is beyond him, 13; that Caesar is a dangerous theme for
a man to handle, 20, and that it is his bent to be a satirist, 25-56. Lucilius
did not lose the friendship of his great patrons Scipio and Laelius by casti-
gating the vices of the day; and Horace follows in his steps, not only as
a satirist, but as the welcome friend of great men, 62-79. To Trebatius's
warning to beware of the penalties to which lampoons are subject he replies
with a joke, 80-86. As regards the date, it is clear from the beginning that
Horace had not yet done much in lyric poetry; so the date could not have
been much after 30. On the other hand the direct and marked praises of
Octavian (invicti line 11) shows that the poem was written after his power
had received its final confirmation, i.e. after Actium.
·
1. satura: not used in Book I; in Book II here and 2. 6. 17. 2.
legem: like operis lex A. P. 135; cf. line 63 operis morem. sine
nervis: cf. delumbe Pers. 1. 104, 'nerveless stuff. 4. deduci, 'turned
out'; but the metaphor is from spinning, cf. Ep. 2. 1. 225 n. Trebati :
C. Trebatius Testa was a famous jurisconsult, formerly a friend of Cicero's.
Seventeen of the letters of the 7th book ad Fam. are addressed to him, and
the 5th of that book is a letter introducing him to Caesar, in Gaul. In this
letter (about B. C. 55) Cicero speaks highly of his character and also says that
he was the greatest lawyer of the day (familiam ducit in iure civili) while
freely chaffing him as a good-natured old fellow. 5. praescribe: very
generally used of advice given by any person in authority. quiescas, i.e.
praescribo ut quiescas: 'be still. ne faciam, i.e. (praescribis) ne faciam ;
cf. Cic. ad Att. 16. 3. 6 quum ei praescriptum esset, ne quid sine Sestii nostri
sententia ageret.
•
6. peream male = κάκιστ᾽ ἀπολοίμην. si . erat, if it would
not have been best.' The imperfect implies that Horace sees difficulties in the
way of following the advice of Trebatius, as it denotes that he has not hitherto
acted as he suggests. For this imperfect of neglected duty cf. Ov. Her. 1. 112
in patrias artes erudiendus erat; and perhaps Od. 1. 37. 4 tempus erat. So
poteras line 16. 7. verum . . . dormire: of course the excuse is pure
invention (cf. 2. 3. 3 somni benignus). He sleeps badly, he says, and finds
making verses a sedative. Trebatius takes him seriously and prescribes hard
exercise. ter with transnanto: the objection that if a man swam thrice
across a river he would find himself on the far side from his clothes did not
occur to Trebatius. For ter, which was a favourite number with physicians
and witches, cf. Od. 1. 28. 36; 3. 22. 3; Ep. 1. 1. 37; Juv. 6. 523. So in
all modern fairy tales and legends, the third time is the charm. The forms
transnanto, habento, are used by Trebatius as having a legal sound, such
forms being always used in statutes. transnanto: Trebatius was himself
very fond of swimming, as we learn from Cicero ad Fam. 7. 10. 2, where he
thus writes to Trebatius joking him on his unwillingness to face the British
campaign: qui neque in Oceano natare volueris studiosissimus homo natandi.
SATIRE I
431
NOTES
9. inriguumque mero: to go to bed ßeßpeyμévov, ‘soaked' with wine,
seems really to have been believed by the Romans to be a cure for sleepless-
ness; Prop. 3. 17. 13 quod si, Bacche, tuis per fervida tempora donis | arces-
situs erit somnus in ossa mea. Trebatius himself, like many lawyers, was
fond of wine, cf. Cic. ad Fam. 7. 22. Trebatius and Cicero were supping
together, and Trebatius made fun of Cicero over their cups for ignorance on
a certain legal point (illuseras heri inter scyphos). Cicero looked up the
authorities when he went home etsi bene potus seroque; and finding he was
right, sent Trebatius a note next day to tell him so.
•
res: sc.
10. rapit, 'hurries you along,' with an irresistible impulse. 11.
Caesaris: he did not take the title of Augustus until 27 B.C.
gestas, martial exploits. 12. praemia: the approbation of Caesar and
the applause of men, according to Orelli, but Trebatius certainly had also
more substantial praemia in his mind. pater: a title of respect and
familiarity; cf. Ep. 1. 6. 54. Old Trebatius was about twice Horace's age,
and calls him puer line 60. 13. horrentia pilis agmina: the Roman
legions whose special weapon was the pilum. They are contrasted with
fracta Gallos, 'the Gauls perishing with broken lance': cf. a similar
contrast in Byron, Childe Harold 2. 90 The flying Mede, his shaftless, broken
bow; The fiery Greek, his red pursuing spear.' cuspis is explained by
Orelli and others of the Roman javelins, reference being made to a plan devised
by Marius by which the head was partly broken off the shaft after striking its
mark, so that it could not be hurled back by the enemy, Plutarch, Marius c.
23; but such a recondite reference is out of place in these brilliant and vivid
lines. 14. Gallos: Octavian had carried on various wars against Gallic
tribes since 40 B.C.; Agrippa defeated the Aquitani in 38; M. Valerius Mes-
salla triumphed over the Gauls after the Battle of Actium. 15. labentis
with simple abl., as lapsum temone Virg. Aen. 12. 470. describit and de-
scribat are both excellent readings, equally supported by MSS. For the
indicative cf. A. P. 263; Ep. 1. 17. 36. On the other hand, Horace is fond
of the potential with negatives: 1. 4. 70, 71; 6. 89. Parthi: cf. Od.
1. 19. 11 n.
16. poteras: like erat line 7, 'you might have': if you could not tell of
his exploits you might have described his virtues. 17. Scipiadam: an
irregular patronymic used by Lucilius, Lucretius, and Virgil, for Scipionem,
which could not be brought into a hexameter. A true patronymic would be
Scipionides. The Scipio was Scipio Africanus the younger. sapiens is
'knowing,' 'worldly wise'; see on 1. 1. 38 (sapiens formica). Horace hints
that Lucilius showed his savoir faire in selecting a theme which would repay
him. 18. cum res ipsa feret, 'when circumstances of themselves shall
prompt,' 'when opportunity shall permit': cf. Cic. ad Fam. 10. 21. 6 si occasio
tulerit; Virg. Aen. 2. 34. 20. si palpere, recalcitrat: the indica-
tive present, unexpectedly following a subjunctive, perhaps describes the
suddenness and unexpectedness of a horse's kick.
22. Cf. 1. 8. 11. 24. quid faciam, 'how can I help it,' excusandi
formula. I must follow my bent, says Horace, like Milonius and others;
Pers. 1. 12 quid faciam? sed sum petulanti splene cachinno. Milonius:
unknown. ut semel, 'as soon as ever,' stronger than simul ac. icto:
cf. Plaut. Cas. 3. 5. 16 haec meraclo se uspiam percussit flore Liberi; Tib. 1.
2. 3 multo percussum tempora Baccho. 25. numerusque lucernis:
'drunken men see double'; cf. Juv. 6. 304 vertigine tectum | ambulat et geminis
432
BOOK II
HORACE
exsurgit mensa lucernis; Ov. A. A. 3. 764. Pentheus under the influence of
Bacchus sees two suns and a double Thebes, Eur. Bacch. 918. 26.
Even twins like Castor and Pollux follow divers pursuits: Il. 3. 237 Káσropá
θ᾽ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα. 27. Pers. 5. 52 mille hominum
species et rerum discolor usus; | velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno ;
Ter. Phorm. 2. 4. 14 quot homines tot sententiae. 29. nostrum melioris
utroque: a great compliment to Lucilius; not only his poetical faculty but
his high social position is referred to: cf. line 75.
30. sodalibus: so Southey of his Books: 'My never-failing friends are
they, With whom I converse day by day.' 31. cesserat=evenerat, ‘if
matters had gone ill with him.' cedit is sometimes impersonal like procedit,
especially with bene, male, etc., cf. Ov. Met. 10. 80 seu quod male cesserat illi.
33. votiva... tabella: sailors saved from shipwreck often hung pictures
of the storm in a temple; cf. Od. 1. 5. 14; Cic. Nat. Deor. 3. 37. 89; Juv.
12. 26 pars dira quidem, sed cognita multis, | et quam votiva testantur fana
tabella | plurima: pictores quis nescit ab Iside pasci? 34. senis: prob-
ably literally and not because Lucilius belonged to ancient times (cf. 1. 10. 67
poetarum seniorum). Jerome, in the chronicle of Eusebius, says that he died
in 103 B.C. aged 46, but Haupt and L. Müller show that he was born in 180
B.C., Jerome confusing the consuls of that year, A. Postumius and C. Cal-
purnius, with Sp. Postumius and L. Calpurnius who were consuls in 148 B.C.
·
quo ne
·
34. anceps: masc., cf. Liv. 31.12 incertus infans natus masculus an femina
esset, not 'I am uncertain,' but 'a man about whom men may be uncertain,'
etc. Some take anceps as neuter, like Liv. 31. 41 clauserant portas, incertum
vi an voluntate. But anceps est is not used impersonally, like incertum and
dubium. 35. sub, 'close to,' 'up to.' Venusia was colonised 291 B.C. 36.
ad hoc
'for this purpose
that thereby (quo=ut eo)
the foe might not . . .' Palmer objects to this use of quo ne as unparalleled,
and renders 'To the intent that the foe might not break in on Roman territory
through a space unguarded by him,' i.e. by the Venusian colonus, joining quo
vacuum together; cf. Ov. Met. 7. 653 vacuos cultoribus agros.
collective for Romanis, as Epod. 7. 6; cf. Venusinus line 35. 38. quod=
aliquod, agreeing with bellum. 39. incuteret, 'threatened'; incutere
regularly joined with metum, formidinem, etc., the metaphor being taken from
shaking a whip at a person. stilus there is an allusion to the double
sense of stilus-(1) a dagger, (2) a pen. Cic. Phil. 2. 14. 34 et si meus stilus
ille fuisset, ut dicitur, non solum unum actum sed totam fabulam confecissem;
Cic. Cluent. 44. 123. ultro, 'unprovoked'; cf. 2. 7. 40; Od. 4. 4. 51 n.
42. tutus, 'so long as I am unassailed,' like sanum 1. 6. 89.
...
•
37. Romano:
43. Iuppiter, ut pereat
telum: both in form and sentiment
directly imitated from Catullus 66. 48 Iuppiter ut Chalybon (nation of steel-
workers) omne genus pereat, who there translates Callimachus Zeû Táтeρ,
ὡς Χαλύβων πᾶν ἀπόλοιτο γένος. ut utinam. positum, 'laid aside,
disused. 45. melius non tangere, clamo: parenthetical. Let sleeping
dogs lie' is my advice. 46. debit, οιμώξεται, κλαύσεται. cantabitur,
i.e. his name shall be bandied from mouth to mouth, as men repeat my
satire on him ; cf. Αesch. Sept. c. Τ. 7 ὑμνοῖθ᾽ ὑπ' ἀστῶν φροιμίοις πολυρρόθοις.
47. Cervius, an informer (quadruplator), or rabula, i.e. a low causidicus,
given to dragging people into court. urnam: the judge's urn, in which the
voting tablets were put. 48. Canidia, Epod. 5 Intr. Albuci goes with
venenum. Porph. tells us that Albucius took off his wife by poison.
It
.
SATIRE I
433
NOTES
•
seems, however, to weaken Horace's words to make him kill two birds with
one stone, making out that two poisoners are mentioned; and more probably
he hints that Canidia or some one else had poisoned Albucius. Acron's inter-
pretation that filia or uxor is understood is most unlikely. 49. Turius:
evidently a corrupt judge, who threatened grande malum, severe punishment
or heavy damages, to those of his enemies who might come into his court.
50. ut .. terreat, 'how every one menaces the objects of his dislike
(suspectos) with that in which his strength lies.' 51. collige, 'gather,' 'infer.'
52. intus, ‘from within,' 'by instinct.' intus, in this sense of 'from within,'
probably belonged to the sermo quotidianus, as it is chiefly found in Plautus
and Terence; its general meaning is rest within; intus ire for intro ire is
unclassical. 53. Scaevae: a prodigal, who, we may judge from the text,
poisoned his mother. vivacem: for the sentiment, cf. Juv. 14. 250 iam
torquet iuvenem longa et cervina senectus. 54. pia, 'filial,' 'dutiful,'
ironical; he would not cut her throat, or strangle her, being a poisoner by
nature, not a cut-throat. mirum . bos: ironical and parenthetical=
(it's a wonder, how that the wolf does not kick, nor the ox bite!) For mirum
ut cf. Od. 3. 4. 13 mirum quod foret omnibus . . ut tuto ab atris corpore
viperis dormirem; Tac. Hist. 1. 79 mirum dictu ut sit omnis Sarmatarum
virtus velut extra ipsos. Generally in Plautus and Terence the ironical phrase
is mirum ni or mirum quin. 56. vitiato, 'drugged.' melle: here=
mulsum, 'mead,' a drink generally made with wine and honey.
•
58. circumvolat, 'is at this moment hovering round my head.' A heroic
line, cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 866. 60. scribam: for an equally strong hyperbaton
used to emphasise the word, cf. 2. 3. 211 Aiax inmeritos cum occidit desipit,
agnos. color, 'complexion'; cf. Ep. 1. 17. 23 omnis Aristippum decuit
color et status et res. ut sis, 'I fear you won't be long-lived'; Hom. Il.
18. 95 ὠκύμορος δή μοι, τέκος, ἔσσεαι οι' ἀγορεύεις. 61. maiorum, i.e.
potentiorum, 'from among the great'; Epod. 2. 8. Maecenas or Augustus
is referred to. 62. frigore te feriat, 'strike you with a deadly chill.'
frigus is used metaphorically of the coldness of his patrons. Cf. Sen.
Ep. 122. 11 Montanus Iulius .. et amicitia Tiberii notus et frigore; Pers.
1. 108 vide sis ne maiorum tibi forte | limina frigescant.
64. pellem, 1. 6. 22. Cf. Ep. 1. 16. 45. nitidus, 'bedight.' per
ora, 'before the faces of men,' a common phrase; cf. Sall. Jug. 31. 10 incedunt
per ora vestra magnifici; Ennius's Epitaph nemo me lacrimis decoret, neque
funera fletu | faxit. cur? volito vivus per ora virum. 65. cederet,
'moved,' 'stalked,' which meaning belongs usually to incedere; but cedere in
this sense probably belonged to the sermo quotidianus, cf. Plaut. Cas. 2. 8. 10
at candidatus cedit hic mastigia; Pseud. 1. 3. 74; 4. 1. 45. C. Laelius,
surnamed Sapiens, consul 140 B.C., the intimate friend of Scipio Africanus the
younger, one of the patrons of Terence, and the chief interlocutor in Cicero's
dialogue de Amicitia. aut: Bentley preferred et, arguing that the dis-
junctive aut would demand offensus doluit; but cf. Cic. de Off. 1. 41. 148 neċ
quemquam hoc errore duci oportet, ut, si quid Socrates aut Aristippus
fecerint, where Holden says 'aut loses its disjunctive force in a negative
clause.' 66. duxit
Cf. Od. 4. 8. 18 n. 67. ingenio, 'by his
wit. Q. Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus triumphed over the usurper
Andriscus in 146 B.C. He was a bitter enemy of Africanus, but he was
greatly moved by the sudden death or murder of the latter, and said to his
sons: ite filii, celebrate exsequias, numquam civis maioris funus videbitis Plín.
•
2 F
434
BOOK II
HORACE
H. N. 7. 44. 144. 68. famosis, 'libellous'; cf. Ep. 1. 19. 31 n. Lupo:
L. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus, consul 156 B. C. Lucilius attacked him fiercely;
cf. Pers. 1. 114 secuit Lucilius urbem, | te, Lupe, te, Muci, et genuinum
fregit in illis. cooperto, 'overwhelmed with,' as with a volley of stones or
javelins. atqui still belongs to Horace; and yet' he was unsparing in
his satire. 69. tributim: properly 'tribe by tribe,' i.e. he made no
distinctions; cf. vicatim Epod. 5. 97.
mitis:
71. a vulgo et scaena, 'from the throng and theatre of public life.'
For scaena in this metaphorical sense, cf. Cic. Lael. 26. 67 in scaena, id est,
in concione. 72. virtus Scipiadae sapientia Laeli: cf. Od.
3. 21. 11 Catonis... virtus; Juv. 4. 81 Crispi iucunda senectus.
Laelius was always regarded as the personification of 'mild,' or 'mellow'
wisdom. Sen. Ep. 11 fin. contrasts him with the strict Cato as remissioris
animi virum. 73. nugari, 'fool'; like dulce est desipere in loco Od. 4.
12. 28. Cicero tells us (de Or. 2. 6. 22) how Laelius and Scipio used to
become boys again (repuerascere), when they had scampered off to the country
from town, as if from bondage, how they picked shells on the shore, and
stooped to every method of relaxing the mind: ad omnem animi remissionem
ludumque descendere. discincti, lit. 'ungirt,' without the cingulum or
zona: here metaphorically 'without restraint. donec
'till the cabbage was boiled': coquere often='to boil,' as 2. 8. 48; so the
German kochen. Whenever the Roman poets wished to sing the praises of a
frugal diet, vegetables are the fare, e.g. Ep. 1. 5. 2. 75. censum, 'fortune,'
'rank.' Lucilius was an eques, granduncle of Pompey the Great. 76. cum
magnis: so Ep. 1. 20. 23 me primis urbis belli placuisse domique. 78.
offendet solido: the metaphor is probably from unexpectedly coming on
a grit in a piece of bread.
•
holus,
79. hinc, in what you have said.' diffingere, 'alter,' 'improve upon';
cf. the use of the word Od. 1. 35. 39; 3.29. 47. MS. authority is equally good
for diffindere, which is explained 'break off from'; cf. 2. 2. 127 quantum hinc
inminuet, but this sense of the word (which='split open') is unexampled.
80. ut, 'in order that,' belongs to caveas, not to monitus: after legum, in line
81, understand 'let me remind you of this,' hoc scito. So 2. 2. 112; Ep. 1. 1.
13;
Cic. de N. D. 1. 7. 17 sed ut hic qui intervenit me intuens inquit ne ignoret
quae res agatur: de natura agebamus deorum. 82. mala: Horace plays on
the double meaning of the word. In Trebatius' mouth it meant 'libellous':
Horace uses it as simply 'bad,' i. e. poor poetry; perhaps 'scandalous verse' would
preserve both meanings. condiderit was the very word used in the XII Tables.
Cic. de Rep. 4. 10. 12 nostrae XII tabulae cum perpaucas res capite sanxissent
in his hanc quoque sanciendam putaverunt si quis occentavisset sive carmen
condidisset, quod infamiam faceret flagitiumve alteri. For condiderit, cf. 1.
5. 90 n.
84. There is no necessity to take Caesare with laudatus. iudice
Caesare may be abl. abs., as Orelli takes it. See Od. 1. 6. 1 n. 85. Horace
three times uses latrare for allatrare 'to bay at,' Epod. 5. 58; Ep. 1. 2. 66.
Το υλακτεῖν takes an accusative. integer ipse is not a new question, but
'while he himself is whole,' i.e. pure from vice; cf. Od. 1. 22. 1. 86.
solventur risu tabulae, 'the indictment will be laughed out of court.
tabulae is not elsewhere used for an indictment: but it is a word of very
general use, and here would naturally denote the tabulae ceratae on which
the indictment was written, at any rate in early times: cf. Aristoph. Nub. 770,
where Strepsiades proposes to get a burning-glass to melt the letters out of
SATIRE II
435
NOTES
his summons (τὰ γράμματ᾽ ἐκτήξαιμι τῆς ἐμῆς δίκης); and in tabulae solventur
we probably have the words of a well-known legal formula, though only found
here. Cf. Quint. 5. 10. 67 cum risu tota res solvitur; Cic. de Or. 2. 58. 236
odiosas res saepe quas argumentis dilui non facile est ioco risuque dissolvit.
Others, as Schütz, understand, 'the very statutes themselves will melt with
laughter,' tabulae being those of the XII Tables which prescribed penalties for
libellous writing. Orelli took tabulae to mean the votes of the iudices, which
he says leniores fient risu; but the voting tablets of the iudices are always
tabellae, never tabulae.
SATIRE II
A Simple Diet. DATE (?) 33 B. C.
An essay on the advantages of simple fare. Horace says he learned the
substance, or perhaps the very words of his discourse, from one Ofellus, a
farmer of the old style, whose land had been taken from him, and assigned by
Octavian to one of his veterans, named Umbrēnus (lines 114, 133). Ofellus
probably was a neighbour of Horace, near Venusia, which, we are told by
Appian (Bell. Civ. 4. 3) was one of the towns whose lands were taken for the
reward of the soldiers after the battle of Philippi, 42 B.C.
2. nec meus
•
quae, 'the
1. virtus: worth, value, advantage. boni: voc., wyalol, 'sirs.' parvo,
on a little,' an abl. of the means. Man wants but little' is the idea. Cf.
Od. 2. 16. 13; Tibull. 1. 1. 25 possim contentus vivere parvo; Ep. 2. 1. 139
agricolae prisci, fortes parvoque beati, a class of whom Ofellus was a type.
Cf. Eur. fr. Melanippe οὐκ ἐμὸς ὁ μῦθος ἀλλ' ἐμῆς μητρὸς
Tápa, a phrase which had become proverbial for putting your own words in
some one else's mouth: Plat. Symp. 177 a; Apol. 20 E.
words which.' Probably Ofellus is the speaker all through down to line
112. 3. abnormis sapiens, ‘an unschooled philosopher'; lit. 'not bound
by the rules of any sect': many MSS. give abnormi. crassaque Minerva,
'of home-spun mother-wit' (Beare). Minerva, as the goddess of learning,
is often put for a person's intelligence, stock of brains. But she was also
patroness of spinning and weaving; and Minerva is sometimes used for
spinning or weaving: cf. Virg. Aen. 8. 409 tolerare colo vitam tenuique
Minerva. Both ideas seem to be combined in crassa Minerva. Similar
phrases are invita Minerva A. P. 385; pingui Minerva Cic. Lael. 5. 19.
5. stupet acies, 'the eye is dazed'; see 1. 6. 17. insanis, 'extrava-
gant,' used of things carried beyond proper bounds, as the insanae substruc-
tiones, ‘outbuildings,' of Clodius, Cic. Mil. 20. 53. 6. adclinis, 'prone
to'; generally in its literal sense 'leaning against,' Virg. Aen. 10. 835 arboris
adclinis trunco. adclinare is used metaphorically by Livy, 4. 48. 7. hic:
the scene is uncertain. Orelli says in familiari nostro circulo, i.e. Horace's
own circle at Rome; but it is much better to understand hic to refer to some
spot in Ofellus' farm, where rural simplicity offered a strong contrast to the
splendours of the city. inpransi, 'fasting.' hoc refers to inpransi.
9. corruptus, 'bribed.' The judge in this case would have his judgment
warped by the enjoyment of his food, if not inpransus. sectatus, past
part., 'after tracking a hare.' 10. lassus ab, 'tired after riding an un-
broken steed': cf. Ov. Her. 10. 138 ab imbre graves. ab with adjectives or
intransitive verbs seems always to denote sequence or result rather than agency.
Romana militia, 'Roman field-sports.' militia is used metaphorically of
436
BOOK II
HORACE
severe manly exercises, especially hunting, which would seem regular hard
service to the effeminate man of fashion. Cf. Ep. 1. 2. 67 militat in silvis
catulus. We find another metaphorical use of militia when Cicero ad Att. 13.
22. 4 dreading the visit of certain parties, says: a quibus sine te opprimi militia
est, i.e. it would be real hard campaigning to have to receive them. For
manly Roman exercises contrasted with the effeminate sports of Greece, cf.
Od. 3. 24. 53. 11. graecari, lit. 'to live like the Greeks,' with a connota-
tion of effeminacy: cf. congraeco, pergraecor; Plautus also has graecissare.
pila: a Greek origin is assigned to the game of ball here; perhaps the trigon
is especially referred to, 1. 6. 126. The game of ball, opaîpa, was common
among the Greeks from early times. The first mention of it is in Homer, Od. 6.
100, where Nausicaa plays with her maidens. Herodotus 1. 94 tells us the
Lydians invented it and all other games, save chess, to keep them from wishing
for food during a famine. 12. austerum, 'stern.' studio, instru-
mental abl., by its excitement.' fallente, 'baffling,' causing you to forget.
Cf. 2. 7. 114 somno fallere curam. 13. discus (dikeîv, to throw), also of
Greek origin, and often mentioned by Homer; cf. Od. 1. 8. 11. agit,
'occupies,' 'exercises.' There is a remarkable anacoluthon in the passage 9-16;
pete cedentem aera disco being quite unexpectedly introduced; and not only
so, but there is a similar clause, lude pila, to be supplied after pila velox (te
agit): no wonder Lambinus says totus hic locus videtur claudicare. Kiessling
makes pete... disco a parenthesis. 14. extuderit, 'has hammered your
daintiness out of you'; cf. Celsus 4. 4. 5 frequens tussis sanguinem quoque
extundit; Phaedr. 1. 21. 9 calcibus frontem extudit (asinus leoni). 15.
sperne: i.e. if you can, a challenge. nisi Hymettia: refuse all but the
very best mead, which, we are told by Macrobius, Sat. 7. 12, ought to be
made, according to gourmets, of new Hymettian honey and old Falernian wine.
Cf. 2. 4. 24.
16. foris est promus: the cellarer is out (and has the keys of the larder
with him). atrum, black with tempest. 17. hiemat, 'is stormy,
χειμάζεται
Xeiµášeтαi: hiemps is often a tempest in poetry. The fishermen will not
put out in a tempest, and the fish are safe. cum sale panis: often the
fare of a poor man; 1. 3. 14. 18. latrantem: cf. Lucr. 2. 17 nil aliud
sibi naturam latrare; 2. 8. 5 iratum ventrem. leniet: so placaverit 2. 8. 5.
19. partum, 'whence or how is this result obtained,' namely, that bread and
salt will satisfy you. caro nidore, 'high-priced savours.
,
20. pulmentarium, a lengthened form of pulmentum, which is a con-
traction for pulpamentum (though it is by others connected with puls, not
pulpa), was the same as oyov, everything eaten with bread. The expression
pulmentaria quaere is almost proverbial. The scholiasts tell us that Socrates,
when asked why he was walking so long, replied byov ovváyw. Cf. Plin.
H. N. 31. 41 sal pulmentarii vicem implet; Cic. Tusc. 5. 32. 90 pulpamentum
fames. 21. vitiis, 'excesses'; cf. line 78. album, 'pale' with over-
feeding; cf. Od. 2. 2. 15 album corpus, of a dropsical man; Pers. 3. 98 turgidus
hic epulis atque albo ventre lavatur. ostrea, dissyllable: see 1. 8. 43.
22. scarus, the most highly-prized fish among the Romans (Plin. H. N. 9. 17.
62; cf. Epod. 2. 50), chiefly found in the Carpathian sea. It has not been
certainly identified. lagois: an unknown bird, perhaps grouse. 23.
eripiam=prohibebo, but stronger. posito, 'served up' at table, like
apponere. pavone: Q. Hortensius, the orator, introduced the fashion of
eating peacocks. 24. tergere, 'to wipe,' ' tickle.' 25. vanis rerum=
SATIRE II
437
NOTES
vanis rebus: cf. 2. 8. 83 fictis rerum; A. P. 49 abdita rerum, and see Ep. 1.
17. 21 n.; rerum is a partitive gen., but Propertius loses sight of this
when he goes so far as to write omnia rerum, 3. 9. 7.
•
28. nŭm adest: a relic of the time when a syllable ending in -m was re-
garded as short, and as not cut off before a vowel, any more than a syllable ending
in -n; cf. Lucr. 3. 1082 sed dum abest quod avemus id exsuperare videtur ;
Enn. Ann. 336, p. 51 (Vahlen) insignita fere tum milia militum octo; ibid.
486, p. 72 dum quidèm unus homo Romanus toga superescit; Lucil. 19 (Lach.)
inritata canes quam homo quod planius dicit. 29. carne tamen
petere, 'nevertheless, though there is no difference in flesh, to think that you
prefer the one (illam, the flesh of the peacock) to the other, taken in by disparity
of outward appearance!' For the inf. of exclamation, cf. Epod. 8. 1 rogare
longo putidam te saeculo | vires quid enervet meas! Porph. joined esto with
petere, 'grant that you may prefer' (and so Kiessling, placing a colon after
esto), and this explanation is also satisfactory, though Bentley objects that
the concessive esto always begins a sentence, as Ep. 1. 1. 81 esto aliis alios
rebus studiisque teneri. The reading patet found in some MSS. and illa found
in many have caused much difficulty. Madvig suggests carne tamen, quam vis,
distat nihil hac magis illa. | inparibus formis deceptum te patet. esto
taking magis (=µayís, cf. Pliny, H. N. 33. 11) as 'a dish,' i.e. in flesh however,
not appearance, one dish does not differ from the other. High praise has been
given to this suggestion, but the improbability of magis after an abl. having
this strange meaning is immense. See Palmer. quamvis distat for
Horace's fondness for quamvis with ind. see Palmer.
:
•
30. esto, 'let that pass': concessive. Grant there is some reason why
you should be taken in in the case of the peacock, what grounds have you for
distinguishing between fishes? 31. unde datum sentis, 'where did you
get your sense of perception': imitated by Pers. 5. 124 unde datum hoc sumis?
Tiberinus, i.e. Tiberinusne sit. Lucilius calls the pike Tiberinus catillo, ‘the
lick-plate of the Tiber,' 1181 D illum sumina ducebant atque altilium lanx |
hunc pontes Tiberinus duo inter captus catillo, and Macrobius, Sat. 3. 16,
quotes from C. Titius, who lived in the time of Lucilius lupum germanum qui
inter duos pontes captus fuit. What two bridges are meant in these passages
is uncertain: but probably the expression means off the Insula Tiberina, which
was commonly spoken of as inter duos pontes. 32. hiet, of the dead fish
with its open mouth. iactatus: Columella, R. R. 8. 16. 4 docta et erudita
palata fastidire docuit (Marcius Philippus) fluvialem lupum nisi quem Tiberis
adverso torrente defetigasset. 33. sub, 'just outside': see on 2. 8. 43.
Tusci, the Tiber, which rises in Etruria; Od. 3. 7. 28. trilibrem mullum:
a mullet seldom exceeded 2 lbs., Plin. H. N. 9. 17. 64: a monster of 6 lbs. was
bought by Crispinus for 6000 sesterces (£50); Juv. 4. 15; cf. Mart. 3. 45.
5; 10. 37. 7. 34. quem
necesse est: not mentioned as an ad-
vantage, or reason why the gourmet prefers a large mullet, but as an objection,
as necesse shows. Horace says you may as well have small fish, for if you
have a large one, you have to cut it into separate helps (pulmenta), which
comes to the same thing as giving each person a whole small one.
• • •
35. ducit=allicit, 'attracts.'
the peacock and the large mullet.
64. 261. quiă before scilicet:
small pikes, large mullets.
38.
species, 'outward form,' as in the case of
36. proceros, 'long': proceris palmis Cat.
see 1. 10. 72. 37. What is rare is prized:
ieiunus raro are to be closely joined.
39. magno magnum: the amplitude of the mullet is expressed in grand
438
BOOK II
HORACE
epic language ; cf. Hom. Il. 16. 776 κεῖτο μέγας μεγαλωστί. 40. Harpyiis
gula digna, a throat more fitting for such greedy monsters than for a man.
at vos at is properly a particle of transition, not necessarily of opposition.
It is especially one of transition to an imprecation, as here, cf. Epod. 5. 1 n.
41. praesentes, 'mighty': praesens is regularly used of the present power of
the gods; cf. Od. 1. 35. 2; Juv. 3. 18 quanto praesentius esset | numen aquae.
coquite, 'do ye be the cooks of,' i.e. taint.' quamquam, and yet what
need is there for me to utter this prayer: for, to the sated appetite of the
cloyed epicure, the freshest provisions are tainted already. 43. aegrum,
sick with over-feeding. sollicitat stomachum, 'makes the stomach turn'
Cels. 1. Praef. sollicitare stomachum vomitu. rapula, some sort of radishes,
2. 8. 8. 44. acidas inulas, 'tart elecampane'; called amaras 2. 8. 51.
The scholiasts say they are called acidae because dressed with vinegar.
45. pauperies, 'the poor man's fare.' regum, 'the rich,' 'the great.'
ovis, 1. 3. 6: the modern parallel would undoubtedly be potatoes, in the
respect that they are served up alike to the peasant and the king. 46.
haud ita and non ita are nearly our own idiom: 'not so very'; cf. 2. 6. 1
modus agri non ita magnus. 47. Gallonius, the praeco or auctioneer, lived
about eighty or a hundred years before this Satire was written. For him see
Cic. de Fin. 2. 8. 24 who quotes from Lucilius, o Publi o gurges Galloni, es
homo miser, inquit. | cenasti in vita numquam bene, cum omnia in ista | con-
sumis squilla atque acipensere cum decumano. 48. infamis, ‘notorious,'
because Gallonius was the first to serve up a sturgeon. He would not have
been infamis in Horace's days, as the sturgeon had come to be held a luxury,
Cic. Tusc. 3. 18. It had ceased to be so in Pliny's time: 9. 17. 60 nullo in
honore. rhombus, the turbot; or perhaps rather the skate, whose
figure is really a rhomb; the name of which figure is derived from the fish.
Horace means, though there were just as many rhombi then as in his day, no
one had ever set the fashion of eating them.
49. tuto nido, descriptive ablative. The young ones of the stork were
safe. 50. auctor praetorius: the man who first proposed the cooking
and eating of young storks is variously called by the scholiasts Plotius Plancus,
or Rufus, or Sempronius Rufus, or Asellius. He was a candidate for some
office, and was defeated, hence the following epigram in scazons was written
by him according to Porph.: ciconiarum Rufus iste conditor, | hic est duobus
elegantior Plancis: | suffragiorum puncta non tulit septem; | ciconiarum
populus ultus est mortem. 51. mergos, 'divers'; Ov. Met. 11. 795 aequor
amat nomenque tenet quia mergitur illo. edixerit, 'were to pronounce,"
'issue an edict,' as if he were praetor, like Plancus or Rufus. Cf. Ep. 1. 19. 10
hoc simul edixi. 52. pravi docilis: for the gen. cf. Od. 1. 15. 24 n.
the sentiment, cf. Ep. 1. 19. 17; Juv. 14. 40 quoniam dociles imitandis |
turpibus ac pravis omnes sumus. Romana iuventus: ironical, in refer-
ence to Ennius, optima cum pulchris animis Romana iuventus.
For
53. distabit: most MSS. have distabat which cannot stand, cf. vitaveris.
For Ofello iudice, if Ofellus is still speaking, cf. Ov. Her. 4. 74 pro rigido,
Phaedra iudice, fortis erat, where Phaedra is speaking, and Od. 1. 7. 27 Teucro
duce. 55. pravum: proleptic. Avidienus, a miser's name, probably
connected by Horace, in spite of the long A, with avidus, as Sagana with saga,
1. 8. 25. 56. Canis: on account of his snarling temper: hence the
Cynics got their name. ex vero ductum, 'based on fact'; Plaut. Stich.
2. 1. 88 nunc Miccotrogus nomine ex vero vocor; Ov. Fast. 2. 859 ex vero
SATIRE II
439
NOTES
positum permansit Equiria nomen. ductum is the reading of vet. Bland.,
dictum of other MSS. adhaeret: we use the same figure when we talk
of a nickname 'sticking.'
57. quinquennes: stale with keeping so long. 58. nisi mutatum,
'until it has turned'; been spoiled by keeping. parcit used in prose also
with inf., Livy 34. 32 parce sis fidem ac iura societatis iactare; but here in a
stronger sense, 'is too sparing.' defundere: 'pour out'-into cups for
drinking, or into the cratera for mixing; for diffundere, 'bottle,' which is in
some MSS., cf. Ep. 1. 5. 4 n. 59. olei=oleum, attracted by cuius into its
case, cf. Epod. 2. 37. licebit, although' licet; cf. Ov. Met. 14. 355 non
tamen effugies vento rapiare licebit. 60. repotia: marriage-feasts, held
the day after the wedding at the house of the bridegroom, so-called, accord-
ing to Festus, quia quasi reficitur potatio. aliosve dierum: like vanis
rerum line 25. 61. albatus, in holiday attire, which was white, opp.
atratus, in mourning: cf. Pers. 2. 40. cornu: the miser kept his oil in
a common horn. ipse: he was too mean to trust a slave. bilibri :
though it held the large quantity of two pounds, he brought it to table, being
too economical to buy a neat flask for table use, or fearing some oil might be
spilt in drawing it from the large horn. 62. instillat, 'pours drop by
drop.' veteris non parcus aceti: probably, as Kiessling takes it, he
is preparing a salad for which plenty of oil and only a little vinegar would be
needed, but stints the oil and drenches it with vinegar instead.
64. utrum: Avidienus or Gallonius. aiunt, as the saying is, TÒ
λεγόμενον. 65. mundus erit, qua non .
The wise man will be
refined (but only) so far as not to give offence by meanness.
qua marks the
point at which he will limit his refinement, and is much better than qui of
many MSS. For even munditia may be in excess, and Horace's precept
exactly agrees with Cicero, de Off. 1. 36. 130 adhibenda praeterea munditia
est non odiosa neque exquisita nimis, tantum quae fugiat agrestem et inhumanam
negligentiam. For mundus cf. Od. 3. 29. 14 n. 66. miser: supply erit.
The wise man will not be unhappy in his mode of life through excess on either
side. For cultus miser cf. cerebri felicem 1. 9. 11; Stat. Theb. 4. 403 a
miseri morum; Plin. Pan. 58 miseros ambitionis. 67. Albucius may or
may not be the Albucius of 2. 1. 48. munia didit, 'while appointing
their several tasks.' didere is a poetical verb especially used by Lucretius.
68. simplex, homely. He thought too little of refinement to look after his
servants, who offered greasy water to his guests to wash their hands in, üdwp
κατὰ χειρός.
71. valeas: a potential or modified future, a usage of which Horace is
fond in the Satires: cf. credas in line 72; sim 1. 4. 70; paeniteat 1. 6. 89;
panis ematur 1. 1. 74. 72. ut: quantopere, 'how much.' 73. tibi:
ethic dat. sederit, 'sat well on your
'sat well on your stomach.' 74. miscueris: 2nd pl.
miscuerītis, fut. perf.; cf. 2. 3. 67 n. 76. pituita: trisyllabic; cf. Ep. 1.
1. 108 n. 77. cena dubia, i.e. a magnificent banquet, to express which
Horace makes use of a well-known joke of Terence, Phorm. 2. 2. 28: P. cena
dubia apponitur. G. quid istuc verbi est? P. ubi tu dubites quid sumas potis-
simum. 78. vitiis, 'excesses,' cf. line 21. 79. adfigit: προσηλοί,
'nails to the ground'; cf. Plat. Phaed. 83 D ékáoтn ǹdovǹ kal Xúπŋ woπep
ἦλον ἔχουσα προσηλοῖ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν) πρὸς τὸ σῶμα καὶ προσπερονᾷ καὶ
ποιεί σωματοειδή. divinae: the divinity of the mind or soul was a definite
dogma of the Stoics and Pythagoreans. Cic. Senect. 21. 78 audiebam Pytha-
440
BOOK II
HORACE
goran Pythagoreosque numquam dubitasse quin ex universa mente divina
animos delibatos haberemus; Virg. 6. 746 seq.; Cic. Tusc. 5. 13. 38 humanus
animus, decerptus ex mente divina; M. Aurelius 12. 26 ò ÉKÁσTOV VOûs Debs:
2. 4 ἀπόρροια θεοῦ : 5. 27 ἀπόσπασμα θεοῦ.
80. alter, 'the other,' i.e. the man of spare diet. dicto citius belongs
both to curata and sopori dedit. The light meal is quickly despatched: sleep
comes as soon as courted.
84. tenuatum, by poor living; cf. Tac. Ann.
15. 63 senile corpus et parvo victu tenuatum. ubique et ubi, and when.'
85. Palmer inserts et before tractari. 86. quidnam accedet... Cf.
Cels. 1.1 fin. cavendum ne in secunda valetudine adversae praesidia consumantur.
The
89. rancidum, 'high.' non quia . . . erat: Kennedy, Pub. Sch.
Grammar p. 460, says of non quia with indicative: If the cause denied
is one which is not conceivable, non quod, non quia take the indicative'; and
he quotes this passage, and Livy 10. 41 non quia plus animi victis est.
Ciceronian rule, however, seems to be that non quia is used with ind. when a
real fact is stated, the application of which is denied in the case considered :
Planc. 32. 68 non quia multis debeo. Later writers, however, used non quia of
false reasons: Livy 33. 27 non quia satis dignos eos credebat; Tac. Hist. 3. 4
non quia industria Flaviani egebat. There is no inconceivability in these
two passages. According to the Ciceronian rule, the words of Horace here
would imply that the ancients had no noses. 91. tardius: when it was
too late to kill and prepare anything. vitiatum, 'turned.' 92. in-
tegrum, 'fresh,' opp. vitiatum. 93. heroas, 'heroes,' as being able to
face such gastronomic terrors. tellus prima: 'the primal earth' is always
supposed to have produced men of heroic mould, true ymyeveîs. 89-93.
Palmer (see his Crit. Notes) holds these lines spurious, but whatever in them
is illogical may be defended on the ground that Horace is obviously joking.
► •
94. das aliquid famae, 'you set some store by good report, in that it
(quae=quippe quae) enthralls the ears more grateful than song.' 95. oc-
cupet has much more authority than occupat. Porph. here tells of Antisthenes
the following story is enim cum vidisset adolescentem luxuriosum Acro-
amatibus deditum, ait, miserum te, adolescens, qui numquam audisti summum
acroama, laudem tuam. Cf. Plin. Ep. 7. 32 est enim, ut Xenophon ait, dotov
ἄκουσμα ἔπαινος.
grandes. grande: the same epithet is purposely
repeated. 97. patruum: the uncle, the type of severe respectability;
cf. Od. 3. 12. 3. vicinos: sc. iratos. 99. as, ‘a penny to buy a rope
to hang yourself ; cf. Lucian, Tim. 20 ἐγὼ δέ τοι πολλοὺς ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοιμί σοι
χθὲς μὲν οὐδὲ ὀβολὸν ὥστε πρίασθαι βρόχον ἐσχηκότας ἄφνω δὲ τήμερον
πλovσious: Plaut. Pseud. 1. 1. 86 Ps. sed quid de drachma facere vis? Ca.
restim volo mihi emere. Some MSS. give aes. inquit: sc. quispiam, cf.
1. 4. 79. Trausius: some penniless bankrupt.
102. quod superat: accusative after insumere. Can you not find a better
use for your superfluous wealth? 103. indignus: sc. qui egeat; cf. Plaut.
Curc. 4. 2. 27 indignis si male dicitur, male dictum id esse dico; Arist. Nub.
525 ηττηθεὶς οὐκ ἄξιος ὤν. 104. templa ruunt
Cf. Od. 3. 6. 1.
106. nimirum: ironical, 'you will of course prove the one exception to the
general rule, that change and disaster is the lot of men.' 107. risus,
yλws, a laughing-stock, as you will very likely be one day, when you are left
penniless. uterne: so quone 2. 3. 295; quantane 2. 3. 317. ne is pleonastic.
108. ad casus dubios, 'against the changes and chances of life.' 109.
adsuerit: transitive, like insuevit 1. 4. 105. superbum belongs both
SATIRE II
441
NOTES
to mentem and corpus. 110. metuens futuri, ‘afraid of the future'
doubting as to what to-morrow may bring forth. For the gen. cf. Od. 3. 19.
16 n.
111. aptare specially means to put on, or to get ready for putting
on, armour and weapons. Hence idonea bello means arms for personal use
in time of war, and is not to be made too general.
112. quo magis his credas: Horace now inculcates what has gone before
by showing that Ofellus practised what he preached. puer: probably about
the year 55 B.C. 113. integris: so 2. 4. 54; but integrum line 92. novi:
notice the construction: ego puer parvus is equivalent to me puero parvo. Cf.
Cic. de Sen. 9. 30 ego L. Metellum memini puer... ita bonis esse viribus extremo
tempore aetatis; Plat. Charm. 156 a µéµvnµai dè xai ëywye кal πaîs ŵv Kpiria
τῷδε συνόντα σε. latius usum: Juv. 14. 234 indulgere sibi latius; Caes.
Bell. Civ. 3. 16 rem frumentariam expediendam qua anguste utebatur. 114.
metato: after the battle of Philippi the veterans of Octavian were allotted
lands in different parts of Italy. The former owners were dispossessed without
compensation. Virgil thus lost his property, and thus Propertius lost his.
A survey of the lands to be assigned was necessary; metari is regularly used
of this survey; pertica or decempeda was the pole, or measuring rod, used by
the metatores; so Propertius, lamenting his losses, says, 4. 1. 130 abstulit
excultas pertica tristis opes. Hence metato, 'surveyed,' comes to have the
meaning of 'forfeited' here. For metatus, passive, from metor, cf. Od. 1. 1. 25 n.
115. fortem mercede colonum, 'a hardy tiller of the soil for hire.' Um-
brenus, the veteran, seems to have been a sensible man, and to have recognised
the fact that he would get more out of the farm by leaving an honest farmer
like Ofellus to work it, than by taking it on his own hands. He, therefore,
left him and his family on the farm, paying him so much for working it.
pro-
119.
116. non temere, 'not lightly,' où padiws: not without a cause.
festa: on a working day, opp. to festus or sacer; cf. Od. 4. 15. 25.
per imbrem: when the rustics are forced to be idle; cf. Arist. Pax 1140.
120. bene erat, 'we had good cheer': cf. 2. 8. 4, 19. bene esse is a
general phrase, but sometimes limited in application to the enjoyments of the
table. urbe: Rome. 121. pensilis, 'hung up for winter use. Plin.
H. N. 14. 1. 16 durant aliae per hiemes pensili concameratae nodo. secundas
mensas: second course our dessert; called mensae, because the tables
were removed, to be cleared and reloaded. Several small tables were often used
hence the plural. duplice ficu: the fig slit up for drying, and so doubled.
•
·
123. post hoc .. magistra, 'afterwards we had a game at drinking
under the presidency of a forfeit.' Cf. Plaut. Stich. 5. 4. 43 agedum, Stiche:
uter demutassit poculo multabitur si peccassiș multam hic retinebo illico.
culpa is a violation of the laws of the drinking bout, to be followed by multa,
a fine or forfeit; in Plautus the fine is losing a cup of wine (not having to
drink an extra one); and this culpa involving a multa, a forfeit, would serve
instead of an arbiter bibendi, or magister. 124. venerata: passive, as
in Virg. Aen. 3. 460, and cf. Od. 1. 1. 25 n. ita. alto: the very
words of the prayer to Ceres quoted in oblique narration; an offering was
made to the goddess, perhaps with words to this effect: ita Ceres alto culmo
surgas, ut ego hanc molam tibi lubens facio; or else a prayer thus: ita Ceres
alto culmo surgas: seria frontis nobis explica: see on 2. 3. 300. Cf. Plaut. Most.
1. 3. 25, where Scapha's words ita Philolaches tuus te amet are referred to by
Philolaches thus: quid ais scelesta? quomodo adiurasti? ita ego istam amarem?
125. explicuit, 'smoothed,' as Od. 3. 29. 16. contractae, ‘knitted.
442
BOOK II
HORACE
128. pueri, ‘my sons.' We cannot look upon Ofellus now as possessing
a number of slaves, ditis examen domus; so the pueri are the nati, line 115.
nituistis: nitere is used of those who are in good case, well-fed and well-
dressed; cf. Dan. i. 15 'fairer and fatter in flesh' of Daniel and his fellow-
captives. ut, 'since,' Od. 4. 4. 42 n. 129. propriae telluris erum,
as lord of the soil to hold it as his own.' propriae, a tertiary predicate, is
much better than the weakly-supported proprie. Lucil. 478 proprium nil
neminem habere; and 664 cum sciam nil esse in vita proprium mortali datum |
iam qua tempestate vivo, chresin ad me recipio, where chresin (xpñσɩv)=usum,
line 134. 130. statuit, 'has fixed,' as the abiding possessor. 132.
postremum, 'at last': supposing neither want of thrift, nor ignorance of
law, cause his ejection, death certainly will. Palmer reads postremo, denying
that postremum (which Kiessling makes masc. 'when at his last hour ') can be
an adverb. 133. nunc ager: Anthol. Pal. 9. 74. 1; 3. pp. 238, 410
᾿Αγρός Αχαιμενίδου γενόμην ποτε νῦν δὲ Μενίππου | καὶ πάλιν ἐξ ἑτέρου
βήσομαι εἰς ἕτερον. | καὶ γὰρ κεῖνος ἔχειν μέ ποτ' ᾤετο καὶ πάλιν οὗτος | οἴεται,
εἰμὶ δ᾽ ὅλως οὐδενός, ἀλλὰ Τύχης. sub nomine: to be taken with Umbreni
only, not with dictus. Ofelli dictus go together, 'called that of Ofellus.'
136. Cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 95 tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito; 1. 207
durate et vosmet rebus servate secundis.
SATIRE III
All save the Sapiens are Mad.
ABOUT 33 B.C.
DAMASIPPUS (line 16 n.), who had lost all his property through dealing in
antiques, and had been converted, when on the point of committing suicide,
to the Stoic view that the above text is true, by the sage Stertinius, repeats
to Horace the discourse of Stertinius on that text: Madness is folly and
ignorance of truth, 43. There are many kinds of madness-there is the
raving lunatic, 53-62; but Damasippus, who wastes his all on curiosities,
and the creditor, who rashly trusts him, are mad, too, 64-76. Ambition,
avarice, luxury, superstition, are all phases of madness, 78-80; in fact, all
but the Sapiens are mad, 81; but especially the man of avarice, 82-98.
Staberius thought so much of riches that he forced his heirs to inscribe the
amount of their inheritance on his tombstone. It is difficult to say whether
he or Aristippus, who made his slaves throw away their burden of gold, was
more insane, 102-105. The miser who hoards his wealth, never to use it, is
insane, 105-128; he often goes mad worse than Orestes, poisoning his relatives
for their money, 131-141. Opimius the miser was mad, who would rather
die of starvation than pay for what would keep him alive. The two most
common types of madness are avarice and its opposite, prodigality, as exempli-
fied in Aulus and Tiberius Oppidius, 168-175. Ambition, too, is another
kind of madness, 179-186. Agamemnon, who slew his daughter from a con-
fusion of the ideas of right and wrong, was as mad as mad Ajax, who slew
sheep, taking them for men, 187-223. The prodigal is next exposed: Nomen-
tanus, who gave away his property wholesale; young Aesopus, who dissolved
and drank a pearl; the young Arrii, who lunched on nightingales, were all
mad, 225-246. The infatuated lover is as mad as a grown man playing
hobby-horse and other children's games, 247-272. Love is bad enough when
it only makes men silly; though the lover who seeks for an omen of his
sweetheart's affection by shooting apple-pips at the ceiling, and the old dotard
SATIRE III
443
NOTES
lisping amorously, are both out of their senses; but what of the murders and
suicides occasioned by love? 272-280. Next, the superstitious are mad; for
instance, a man who prayed to the gods every day to grant him immortality:
or the mother who kills her child by plunging him in the Tiber to fulfil a vow,
280-295. 'I, Damasippus, may be mad, but woe to the man who calls me so !
He shall be told to look behind him,' 295-299. Damasippus then, at Horace's
request, points out wherein Horace's insanity consists, namely, in building fine
houses, and in aping the great in other ways-like the frog trying to equal in
size the calf-in writing poetry, in ill-temper, and in living beyond his means,
300 ad fin. The date of the Satire is fixed from the mention of the aedileship
of Agrippa, line 185, in 33 or 32 B.C.
what will
1. si raro scribis, ut . . . 'if you write rarely (so) that
become of you?' sic has more authority than si and, if read, a full stop must be
placed after canas. It is, however, probably a correction due (1) to the apodosis
quid fiet? being so distant, and (2) to the desire to provide an antecedent to ut.
For the omission of such an antecedent cf. 1. 7. 13 ira fuit capitalis, ut
2.7.10 vixit inaequalis ut. For scribis many MSS. give scribes, which Palmer
prints (see his Crit. Notes) but which looks like a correction metri gratia.
On the other hand the lengthening of scribis is unparalleled, and quite different
from miscuerīs 2. 2. 74. 2. membranam, 'parchment,' for transferring
his notes to from his tabulae. In Horace's time completed books were
still written on rolls of papyrus; and parchment, membrana Pergamena,
which was still expensive, was only used either for the wrapper of the papyrus-
roll, or for the author to make his fair copy on. retexens, 'cancelling':
lit. unweaving, like Penelope her web. 3. benignus, with gen. like par-
cus 2. 2. 62; prodigus Ep. 1. 7. 42. 4. dignum sermone, 'worth
mention, λόγου ἄξιον. quid filet, 'what will come of it? 5. Satur-
nalibus: from the 17th to the 19th of December, the chief festival of the
Roman year, when great licence was permitted-drinking, gambling, and all
sorts of rioting were legal: slaves enjoyed temporary freedom, 2. 7. 4. Our
Christmas holidays have taken the place of the old Roman festival. huc,
i.e. to your country house, his Sabine villa, given him by Maecenas about 34
B.C. fugisti: we have several instances of thoughtful Romans enjoying
an escape from the tumultuous Roman festivals or games: cf. Cic. ad Att. 2.
1. 1 gladiatores cupide relinquenti; Juv. 11. 191. sobrius: though you
might have indulged a little at such a season, when every one else was drink-
ing; cf. Juv. 7. 96 vinum toto nescire Decembri.
>
8. iratis natus dis
The addition of atque
paries: the innocent
it is the back of the
6. promissis: cf. A. P. 138. nil est, 'there's nothing forthcoming.'
7. calami: pens made of reeds. The indolent writer blames his pen, Pers.
3. 12 tunc queritur, crassus calamo quod pendeat umor.
is a poetic common-place: cf. 1. 5. 98; Juv. 10. 129.
poetis πaρà πрoσdoкíav introduces a comic touch.
wall gets thumped by the sterile bard. In Persius
studying couch, 1. 106 nec pluteum caedit nec demorsos sapit ungues.
minantis: cf. Ep. 1. 8. 3, and άπeiλeîv='to boast' Hom. Od. 8. 383 ημèv
ἀπείλησας βητάρμονας εἶναι ἀρίστους, or to promise Il. 23. 863.
'if only,' 'once, as soon as'; cf. Catull. 14. 17; Ep. 1. 7. 10 n.
'free from cares,' as he expected to be in the country.
winter time, and so tepidus is 'warm,' cf. Ep. 1. 20. 19 n.
9.
'10. si,
vacuum,
tepido, it was
11. Platona: not the philosopher, but the comic poet Plato, who flourished
428-389 B.C. The other three mentioned are poets; and Horace, as we have
444
BOOK II
HORACE
seen from 1. 4 and 1. 10, regarded the poets of the old comedy as the true
precursors of satire. Eupolis and Plato both were of the old comedy, 1.
4. 1. Menander, the chief poet of the new comedy, lived 342-291 B.C.
Archilochus, the inventor of Iambic verse, and a true satirist, lived 714-676 û.c.
13. invidiam placare paras, i.e. by giving up satire, which had made him
unpopular. We see evident attempts to appease this envy, as in 1. 4. 64 seq.,
1. 6; 2. 1. 39 seq. virtute relicta: giving up the castigation of vice is
meant. 14. contemnere people will not cease to dislike you; they
will, besides, despise you. inproba Siren, 'the bold Siren'; bold or
shameless, because of their forwardness in inviting Ulysses to come to their
island. inprobus: see 1. 3. 56. For the Sirens, see Hom. Od. 12. 39 seq.
15. quidquid: namely 'fame.' vita: instr. abl. 16. Damasippe: a
well-known amateur of bric-a-brac, cf. Cic. ad Fam. 7. 23. 3 si Damasippus in
sententia non manebit, aliquem Pseudodamasippum vel cum iactura reperiemus.
17. verum: may be either 'sincere,' or 'sound.' tonsore: Damasippus
had turned philosopher, and grown a large beard as such, line 35.
παρὰ προσδοκίαν.
tonsore is
18. Ianum ad medium, 'at the central Arcade,' where many bankers
and money-lenders did business' on 'Change.' All thoroughfares or arcades
(transitiones perviae Cic. N. D. 2. 27. 67) might be called Iani, because of
the double entrance; and in or leading into the forum were three Jani, per-
haps covered ways, or arcades; and Livy 41. 27 speaks of Ianos tres faciendos
in a certain town, probably in imitation of those in Rome. Becker, however,
supposes that the Jani were three buildings, similar to the Janus Quadrifrons,
which still stands in the Forum Boarium, constructed of four archways joined
in a square, with an attica, or chamber, above them. He thinks that the
bankers transacted business partly in those chambers, and partly below, under
the archways (Burn, 'Rome and the Campagna,' p. 105). In any case 'the
middle Janus' was the place where, perhaps not excepting the Puteal Libonis,
most business was done in lending and investing money in Rome. It corre-
sponded to our Stock Exchange to some extent. Cic. Off. 2. 25. 87 de quae-
renda, de collocanda pecunia, vellem etiam de utenda, commodius a quibusdam
optimis viris ad Ianum medium sedentibus quam ab ullis philosophis ulla in
schola disputatur; Cic. Phil. 6. 5. 15 itane? Ianus medius in L. Antonii
clientela est ? quis umquam in illo Iano inventus est qui L. Antonio mille num-
mum ferret expensum? Cf. Ep. 1. 1. 54. 19. fracta est, 'was wrecked':
the metaphor is either from shipwreck (cf. Cic. Sull. 14. 41 patrimonii nau-
fragus) or from chariot-racing, excussus suiting equally with either, see
Dict. Note the sarcasm of aliena . propriis and the contrasted position
of the contrasted words.
•
• •
• •
•
20. quaerere, 'to ask': he wished to have its exact description, so as to
be able to recognise it. 21. quo vafer aere, 'what was the genuine
bronze in which the wily Sisyphus had bathed his feet. In a fragment of the
Sisyphus, a satyric drama of Aeschylus (fr. 229 Dind.) occur the words XEOVTO-
βάμων που σκάφη χαλκήλατος; where is the brazen pan mounted on a lion ?
Damasippus refers to that particular pan. There were forged ones in circula-
tion, though, and he used to try and find which was the genuine one.
the mania for antiquities cf. 1. 3. 90 n. vafer: Sisyphus was proverbially
the cunningest of men, d képdɩσtos yévet' åvôpŵv Hom. Il. 6. 153. Corinthian
bronze (aes Corinthium) was famous from early times. Sisyphus was king
of Corinth. 22. fusum durius, 'stiffly cast,' opp. mollius, Virg. Aen. 6.
For
SATIRE III
445
NOTES
•
847 excudent alii spirantia mollius aera. 23. callidus. ponebam,
'I knew to a nicety the exact value to place on a given statue.' ponebam:
like our 'put a price on.' milia centum, 100,000 sesterces, about £870.
24. unus, the one of all others': 'I excelled,' 2. 6. 57. 25. Owing to
his cleverness in bargains, Damasippus was surnamed by the crowded street-
corners (compita), where auctions were held, Mercurialis, 'the favourite of
Mercury' (cf. Od. 2. 17. 28), the god of gain (merx), épioúvios 'Epuns. MSS.
have Mercuriale in agreement with cognomen which would indicate that he was
called 'Mercury.' Krüger, however, takes cognomen Mercuriale= 'the nick-
name Mercurialis,' cf. Tac. Ann. 1. 53 Sempronio nomine.
27. purgatum: with gen., like кa@apēĥvaι TŶs vóσov. 28. mire:
with emovit and in strong opposition to ut solet. The case of Damasippus
presents an astonishing' instance of the 'common' phenomenon of one dis-
ease driving out another. In his case the new disease is woλvπpayμoσúvŋ,
busying himself about other people's affairs. cor, the stomach = xapdía,
32 is a person with disease
cum: to be
Thuc. 2. 49. 3; so cardiacus line 161 and Juv. 5.
of the stomach. 29. traiecto: according to Porph. a technical word with
physicians for diseases changing their seat. 30. ut
joined together, as in the case of a person afflicted with lethargy, who
suddenly, owing to the malady changing its seat, takes to boxing, and assails
his doctor.'
• •
•
31. simile huic: i.e. 'provided you don't assault me.' o bone:
ŵyaðé, a familiar, but rather short mode of address, used in remonstrances.
ne te frustrere in comedy often ne frustra sis, 'don't deceive yourself, in
supposing you are in your senses.' Damasippus is slightly nettled by Horace's
answer, which seemed to imply that he, Damasippus, was a dangerous lunatic.
32. insanis et tu stultique, 'you are mad as well as I, and so are all fools.'
Note that et que are not 'both. and.' stultique prope omnes :
the Stoic doctrine was that all fools were mad, πᾶς ἄφρων μαίνεται: prope
somewhat modifies the harsh paradox, cf. 1. 3. 96 quis paria esse fere placuit
peccata. Notice how Horace connects his main subject, viz., the madness of
mankind, with his exordium, by seeming accident. He seems to have con-
sidered that this apparent drifting into his subject showed art by concealment
of it: cf. 1. 3 and 1. 6. 33. Stertinius, an oracle among the Stoics, but
unknown to us, save from this passage and Ep. 1. 12. 20 (Empedocles an
Stertinium deliret acumen), where Acron tells us he wrote two hundred and
twenty volumes in Latin on the Stoic philosophy. crepat cf. Od. 1. 18.
5. unde, 'from whose lips'=a quo: cf. 1. 6. 12; 2. 6. 21.
sapientem pascere barbam, 'to cultivate a philosophic beard'; cf. 1. 3.
133.
sapientem is to be joined to barbam, as sapiens to porticus in Pers. 3.
53 quaeque docet sapiens braccatis illita Medis | porticus. ÈK Twywvos σopós
was a Greek proverb. pascere, as тpépew (cf. the late Greek яwушνотродεîv),
is used of letting the hair grow long; Virg. Aen. 7. 391 sacrum tibi pascere
crinem. 36. The Fabrician bridge still connects the island in the Tiber
with the left bank. It was called from Fabricius, by whom, when curator
viarum in 62 B.C., it was built of stone. On one of the still remaining arches
we read L. FABRICIVS C · F · CVR · VIAR · FACIVNDUM COERAVIT IDEMQVE PROBAVIT.
37. male re gesta, 'after my failure.' cum vellem, 'when I was
about to'; vellem is often used as an auxiliary verb in this sense. operto
capite it was customary with those about to destroy themselves, or to
devote themselves to death, to shroud their head. So Plat. Phaed. 118 a of
35.
446
BOOK II
HORACE
LE
•
•
Socrates; Xen. Cyrop. 8. 7. 28 of Cyrus; Suet. Caes. 82 of Caesar; Livy 8.
9 of Decius; Livy 4. 12 multi ex plebe capitibus obvolutis se in Tiberim
praecipitaverunt. 38. dexter, 'on the right,' and so with propitious omen.
cavě: and so Ep. 1. 13. 19, but cave Epod. 6. 11; Ep. 1. 6. 32: cf.
vidě sis Pers. 1. 108 and pută 2. 5. 32; Pers. 4. 9. These shortenings are
a relic of the old freedom of the dramatists, who allowed a long syllable to be
shortened by the influence of the tone on another. The pronunciation cau is
not on the whole so probable though supported by the story in Cic. de Div.
2. 40. 84 where cauneas is made=cave ne eas. faxis: Roby S. G. 291.
3. 39. pudor malus, 'false shame.' angit, a very strong word:
ἄγχει, ἀπάγχει are so used.
43. cumque belongs to the first quem, as well as to the second. Observe
mală before st, 1. 10. 72. 44. Chrysippus: 1. 3. 127. porticus:
the σToà Tоkin at Athens, where Zeno lectured, whence the name Stoic.
grex: the flock, i.e. the school. In Ep. 1. 4. 16 Horace calls himself Epicuri
de grege porcum: cf. Cic. Fin. 1. 20. 65; de Orat. 1. 10. 42. 45. autu-
mat, 'names': an archaic word common in Plautus: once in Terence; not
used by Cicero. formula (opos, кavúv), 'definition.'
51. variis partibus: a pregnant instrumental ablative, 'by leading
them in different directions,' lit. by different directions.' 53. caudam
trahat: Porph. is probably right in saying that this is derived from the
custom of children tying a tail (a dish-clout?) to those they wished to make
fun of. 54. nihilum metuenda: nihilum here used adverbially.
timentis: the simplest way is to take this as masc., 'of the man who fears
so ruentis in 57, and we thus get a personal nom. to queratur and audierit
(60), or we may say that Horace passes imperceptibly from the general idea
of 'folly that fears' to the 'fool who complains,' etc. 55. campo, ‘a plain,'
not the Campus Martius here.
56. varum, 'differing from'; the dat. is like meretrici dispar Ep. 1. 18.
3; so differt sermoni 1. 4. 48. varus, prop. of men with the legs bent out
from the knees, 'knock-kneed,' opp. vatius and valgus: hence 'distorted,
crooked, diverging.' 57. amica mater, 'his loving mother,' píλN µÝTNP.
amica is used with emphasis as the first word, to point out that the madman
might well listen to the voice of those who naturally must have friendly feel-
ings towards him. The punctuation of some editors amica, mater (‘his mis-
tress,' 'his mother ') shows little taste and destroys the balance of the sentence.
58. honesta, 'honoured,' 'virtuous.' 59. serva, ‘take heed!' 'look out!
puλárтov, a common exclamation in Plautus and Terence. 60. Fufius,
an actor. 61. cum Ilionam edormit, 'while sleeping through the part
of Iliona.' edormit, pres., the usual tense with dum in sense of 'while,' after
past tenses, and sometimes, see line 277, with cum in that sense.
Iliona was
the eldest daughter of Priam, married to Polymestor, king of Thrace, by whom
she had a son Deiphilus or Deipylus. Her young brother Polydorus was
committed to her charge, and she changed him and her son Deiphilus, repre-
senting Polydorus to be her son. When Polymestor was bribed to slay Poly-
dorus, he accordingly slew his own son Deiphilus. Pacuvius, the tragedian,
made this the subject of his tragedy 'Iliona,' in which the murdered Deiphilus
appeared to his sleeping mother Iliona, and addressed her in these words:
mater, te adpello, tu, quae curam somno suspensum levas, neque te mei miseret,
surge et sepeli gnatum tuum priusquam ferae . . . Iliona should have sprung
from sleep, and replied age, adsta, mane, audi! iteradum eadem istaec mihi!
SATIRE III
447
NOTES
but the drunken Fufius fell fast asleep in reality; and though the whole house
took up the words mater, te adpello from Catienus, the actor of the part of
Deiphilus, and shouted them at Fufius, he slept on. mille ducentis: 1200,
indefinitely of a large number, cf. sexcenti, trecenti, ducenti.
62. huic errori: that of the downright madman. 63. similem: sc.
errorem, cognate acc.; cf. Aesch. Prom. 977 kλúw o' ¿yù µeµŋvór' ov σµikpàv
vóσov: Prop. 2. 34. 25 Lynceus ipse meus seros insanit amores; Ep. 1. 1. 101
insanire putas sollemnia. 65. integer mentis, 'sound in mind'; cf.
Od. 1. 22. 1. esto, ‘let us grant it,' and all the absurdities it will lead to.
67. acceperis: the last syllable short, but cf. 2. 3. 74 miscueris: the last
syllable of 2nd pers. sing., of the future perf., and perf. subj., are common,
the second person plural being -ritis or -rītis. magis excors, 'more wit-
less'; 'still more out of your senses' than even an insanus. The heart was
regarded as the seat of intelligence: hence vecors, 'senseless,' and such expres-
sions as corde sapere. 68. praesens Mercurius: propitious Mercury,
the god of luck: hence épμacov, ‘a windfall,' 'a god-send.' Cf. line 25 n.
69. scribe decem a Nerio: the general sense is clear; no legal
formulae are strong enough to bind a dishonest debtor. Two interpreta-
tions are given according as (1) tabulas is supplied with decem, or (2)
sestertia understood. (1) Perellius in 75 is a money-lender, who lends
money to Damasippus. He is the person addressed in scribe. Nerius is
Perellius's banker. Cicuta (='hemlock,' a slang name) is a second
money-lender, more cautious even than Perellius. scribere is said of the
creditor paying out money which at the same time he 'enters' in his ledgers,
this act of expensilatio being evidence of the loan. But a still further act of
security was to enter the money as paid through a banker, a Nerio, here. In
such cases, a or ab was used with the name of the person on whom the pay-
ment was charged: cf. Plaut. Curc. 5. 2. 20 solvi ab trapessita meo; Cic. ad Att.
7. 18. 4 ab Egnatio solvat; Plaut. 42. 103 a vobis persolvere; Flacc. 19. 44 si
praetor dedit, a quaestore numerabit, quaestor a publica mensa. Perellius not
only enters the loan in his own books, but dictates (dictat line 76) to his
banker to make a similar entry in his books: hence greater security is
obtained. Translate: Enter "ten sestertia paid out by Nerius": that will
not be enough; add a hundred documents (tabulas, a general word, including
syngraphae, 'notes of hand'), such as the knotty money-lender Cicuta
employs; add a thousand fetters, that Proteus of a borrower will evade them
all.' (2) Understanding tabulas with Orelli and Ritter, the words are supposed
to be addressed to the rash creditor: 'Write out (for the borrower to sign)
ten bonds after the form employed by Nerius (a usurer): 'tis not enough:
add a hundred bonds of the knotty Cicuta: add a thousand fetters: that
Proteus of a borrower will elude them all.' Orelli supplies dictatas with a
Nerio, quoting Cic. ad Att. 16. 7.7 Antonii edictum legi a Bruto (sc. acceptum):
but the letters of Cicero are full of strong ellipses of the verb or participle,
which are not admissible in Horace. The chief argument for this view is that,
if tabulas is supplied, then decem non est satis
centum
mille
form a climax. 70. nodosi, i.e. who knows how to tie up the borrower
tightly by legal bonds. 71. Proteus: see Virg. G. 4. 387-391; Hom.
Od. 4. 455 seq.
• ❤ •
•
•
•
•
72. malis ridentem alienis: an imitation of Hom. Od. 20. 347 oi d' ñồn
yvalµoîoɩ yeλolwv åXXorpiai: there, however, the meaning is different:
laughed the wrong side of their mouths,' as our saying is. Horace may have
448
BOOK II
HORACE
misunderstood the passage, and taken 'to laugh with other people's jaws' to
mean 'quite unconcernedly,' which is the meaning here. 75. putidius,
more addled,' 76. dictantis, 'lending,' because the creditor dictated the
entries of the money lent to his secretary and banker. rescribere, 'to
pay back': Ter. Phorm. 5. 8. 28 sed transi sodes ad forum atque illud mihi |
argentum rursum iube rescribi, Phormio.
81. ordine: the comma should come after this word, and not (with
Orelli) after omnes. The Stoic doctrine was not that all men were mad,
but that all fools were mad. Hence omnes vos go together. The audience
were not to come up to Stertinius one by one, but he was going to prove
them mad one after the other, ordine, ¿pe§îs.
έφεξῆς. 82. ellebori: ¿λλé-
Bopos, veratrum, 'hellebore,' a recognised cure for insanity. The best grew
at Anticyra in Phocis, Strab. 9. 3. The proper name of the place was
'Avтikippa, so called from being on the opposite side of a peninsula to the
East of the Crissaean gulf from Cirrha. Cf. A. P. 300 tribus Anticyris caput
insanabile. 83. nescio an, 'I dare say,' 'for aught know I,' 'I rather
think that.' ratio, ‘a just view': 1. 3. 115.
84. Staberi: unknown. summam, 'the amount left to them.' On
the tomb of Trimalchio in Petronius 71 pius fortis fidelis ex parvo crevit,
sestertium reliquit trecenties nec umquam philosophum audivit. 85. cen-
tum paria: 100 pairs of gladiators would be a very large number.
Augustus limited the number to be exhibited by the praetors to 60 pairs at
most, twice a-year. The first gladiatorial show at Rome was in 264 B.C.,
exhibited by Marcus and Decimus Brutus Pera at the funeral games in honour
of their father. 25 pairs was thought a large number at funeral games,
Livy 31. 50. Caesar allowed the aediles to exhibit 320 pairs. Gladiatorial
shows were finally forbidden by Constantine. 86. damnati, participle,
'bound': damnare was technically used of obligations in wills: in par-
ticular the archaic word damnas, an indecl. noun in the phrases damnas esto,
damnas sunto. epulum, either a banquet at a religious festival, or a
public banquet given to a large number of people, as here: epulae, ‘a
private entertainment.' arbitrio Arri, 'at the discretion of Arrius.' Q.
Arrius (cf. line 243 n.) is mentioned by Cicero in Vat. 12. 31 as having him-
self given an epulum funebre to the people at which many thousands were
present. 87. frumenti quantum, 'and, as much corn': an asyndeton.
Africa, the great feeder of the Roman corn market; cf. Od. 1. 1. 10. sive
mihi: the supposed words of Staberius, replying to a supposed re-
monstrance of his heirs on the absurdity of such a provision.
•
·
88. ne sis patruus mihi, 'don't you lecture me,' 'don't you come the
uncle over me'; cf. 2. 2. 97 n. Staberius means, whatever my will is, you,
my heirs, must take what you get, and be thankful, and not presume to
remonstrate. 89. hoc Damasippus says, 'I believe this was what
Staberius being far-seeing had in view,' on which remark some one asks 'what
then was his view?' to which Damasippus answers, 'while alive he thought
wealth everything and so he wanted people after his death to know what he
was worth.' Thus hoc is explained by quoad vixit
95. pulchris
97. sa-
divitiis: cf. 1. 1. 44; Juv. 13. 33 quas habeat veneres aliena pecunia;
Aristoph. Plut. 146 ἅπαντα τῷ πλουτεῖν γάρ ἐσθ᾽ ὑπήκοα.
piensne: the point of the passage is the ironical inversion of the Stoic
theory, the dives taking the place of the sapiens: this, says Stertinius, is the
view of the world, as well as of Staberius: see 1. 3. 124. There the sapiens
SATIRE III
449
NOTES
is dives; here the dives is sapiens. etiam, 'yes.' Plaut. Am. 1. 3. 46
Iupp. numquid vis? Alc. etiam (yes): ut actutum advenias. Cic. Ac. 2. 32.
104 aut etiam' aut non' respondere possit (can answer aye or no).
hoc: this agglomeration of money.
98.
99. quid simile, 'how different was the conduct of Aristippus'; cf. Cic.
Mil. 14. 38 quid simile Milonis ? 100. Aristippus: circ. 370 B.C., the
founder of the Cyrenaic hedonistic school of philosophy; cf. Ep. 1. 1. 18;
1. 17. 23. The story here told is given slightly differently by Diog.
Laert. 2. 8. 77 τοῦ θεράποντος ἐν ὁδῷ βαστάζοντος ἀργύριον καὶ βαρυνομένου
ἀπόχεε, ἔφη, τὸ πλέον καὶ ὅσον δύνασαι βάσταζε. 101. irent, subj.,
'because he thought they went too slow.'
•
•
•
·
103. That illustration is of no use, which solves one question by raising
another.' lis: metaphorically of any disputed question, A. P. 78. 104.
emat. emptas: cf. Ov. Met. 9. 74 crescentemque malo domui, domitam-
que peremi; Fast. 3. 21 Mars videt hanc visamque cupit potiturque cupita; Livy
1. 5 latrones Remum cepisse captum regi Amulio tradidisse. As Orelli
says, there is some haste expressed in such combinations, 'buys harps, and no
sooner bought but he carries them to one spot.' 106. scalpra
formas: cf. 1. 136 n. 107. mercaturis, dat., Tac. Ann. 1. 66 aversa
hosti. The abl. with ab is most frequent. 108. undique, 'on all hands'
=ab omnibus. istis, dat. and masc., 'such men,' as those described in
104, 106. 110. compositis, 'laid by'; cf. Virg. Aen. 8. 316 nec... aut
componere opes norant, aut parcere parto. 112. porrectus 'stretching himself
out' there instead of in bed. 115. positis intus, 'stored up in his house
in his apotheca. 116. nihil est, '(a thousand, do I say?) that's nothing!
three hundred thousand would be nearer the mark.' Cf. non est satis line 69.
117. acetum, put for 'sour wine'; cf. Plaut. Rud. 4. 2. 32 sed hic rex cum
aceto pransurust et sale sine bono pulmento. unde octoginta: seventy-
nine years old, in his eightieth year.
For the division of unde octoginta,
cf. Ep. 2. 2. 93 n. 118. stragula vestis: stragulus is an adj. ='for
spreading' (sterno), and stragula vestis means 'bed-clothes,' σтρúμатα, cf.
λéxos σтоρéσαi: but the words contain an idea of luxury, inasmuch as the
λέχος
coverlets of the Romans were often very expensive, purple and embroidered.
121. iactatur: of restless tossing on a bed of sickness; Cic. Cat. 1. 13. 31
aestu febrique iactantur; Lucr. 3. 505. For the sense cf. Hamlet v. i. 170
"Twill not be seen in him there; there the men are as mad as he.'
122. ebibat goes with haec in a double sense; in so far as haec refers to
the wine of 115-117, it is to be taken literally; the heir will soon empty your
precious bins (cf. Od. 2. 14. 25): in so far as it refers to the gold and general
property of the miser, ebibat is to waste in drink'; cf. Plaut. Trin. 2. 4. 5
exesum expotum exunctum elutum in balineis. 123. dis inimice: like
Beoîs éx@pós, 'God-forsaken.' ne tibi desit: 'for fear you should run
short' cf. Ter. Ad. 5. 4. 27 derit: id mea minime refert qui sum natu
maximus. 124. summae, dat. incomm., 'what a trifle will each day
clip off the sum total.' 126. porrigo is 'dandruff,' 'scurf.' It is joined
with scabies by Lucilius 881 tristem et corruptum scabie et porriginis plenum,
and by Juv. 2. 80. 127. si quidvis satis est, if the meanest diet
satisfies you'; cf. Plaut. Mil. 3. 1. 155 commodulum obsona ne magno sumptu :
mihi quidvis sat est.
129. tuos, 'your slaves whom you have paid hard cash for'; cf. Sall.
Jug. 31. 11 servi aere parati. tuo has poor authority. 131. The properans
•
2 G
450
BOOK II
HORACE
avarus (Juv. 14. 178) is here supposed to strangle his wife and poison his
mother for their money. He is mad, as mad as Orestes. The points of
difference are immaterial, 132. Orestes, it is true, used steel, and did the
deed at Argos, not at Rome. But let the avarus compare himself with him
before he actually slew his mother, and these points cannot be urged. 132.
quid enim? a conversational phrase=τi yap, 'of course,' cf. 1. 1. 7. 'Are
you sane? Of course. You do not do this at Argos etc.,' the last sentence
being ironical. Argis cf. Ep. 2. 2. 128 n. 137. male tutaemale
sanae, insanae; cf. Od. 1. 9. 24 n. 141. Orestes calls Electra a Fury,
Eur. Or. 264 μέθες· μί᾽ οὖσα τῶν ἐμῶν Ἐρινύων | μέσον μ' ὀχμάζεις, ὡς βάλῃς
els Táρтaрov. No such abuse of Pylades is found in any extant tragedy.
Τάρταρον.
splendida bilis: 'his shining bile,' from the physical appearance of black
bile, which the ancients regarded as the cause of madness (ueλayxoλía); cf.
Galen, περὶ αἰτ. συμπτ. 2. 50 μέλαινα χολή στιλπνοτέρα (more glistening)
AνTOû TOû alμatós éσrw, and he compares it to bitumen from the Dead Sea;
Persius 3. 8 vitrea bilis.
142. pauper, 'poor in,' cf. Od. 3. 30. 11 pauper aquae. Opimius (the
name is selected from its resemblance to opes, opimus) was rich in gold and
silver; but as he was afraid to use his riches, it came to the same thing as
being poor: he was magnas inter opes inops (Od. 3. 16. 28). So all editors,
but how could Opimius be called 'poor in silver stored up'? he was surely
'rich in silver stored up' and only 'poor though he had silver stored up.'
143. Veientanum: a very poor red wine, called Veientanum rubellum by Pers.
5. 147, and Mart. 1. 103. 9. It was the best wine Opimius allowed himself,
however. 144. Campana trulla, 'out of a mug of Campanian (cf. 1.6. 118n.)
pottery': it is not quite clear what trulla means here: it sometimes means a
wine-scoop, and some think it means here that Opimius used no poculum, or
cup, which was too large, but drank out of the trulla, or wine-scoop itself.
vappam : 1. 1. 104. profestis: 2. 2. 116. 147. multum
celer: multum is often used as an adv. strengthening adjectives in the
Satires 1. 3. 57 m. demissus; 2. 5. 67 m. negatas; 2. 5. 92 m. similis.
This use is common in Plautus, and is another instance of Horace's use of the
sermo quotidianus. 149. plures, 'several people.'
152. hoc age, 'give me your whole attention.' hoc age was a formula
commonly used at sacrifices, by which the complete attention of those present
was demanded. Hence hoc agere in Latin is perpetually 'to do a thing with
your might.' Cf. Ep. 1. 6. 31; Munro on Lucret. 1. 41. 154. ingens:
a very strong word is purposely chosen to rouse the man from his stupor.
fultura: fulcire is often used of food, e.g. Lucr. 4. 867 propterea capitur cibus
ut suffulciat artus. So we speak of taking 'support.' Here the word is
contrasted with ruenti: 'the support' is to keep the stomach from 'giving'
or 'collapsing.' 155. tisanarium: properly a diminutive of πriσávn,
πτισάνη,
barley (πrioow, 'to winnow') a decoction of barley, then transferred to any
decoction; here of rice, 'rice-gruel.' Cf. Plin. H. N. 18. 7. 71 (Indi) maxime
oryza gaudent ex qua tisanam conficiunt, quam reliqui mortales ex hordeo.
156. quanti ergo, 'well, but how much?' repeating his previous question
with emphasis. 157. pereamque: for que joined to the verb instead of
its noun, cf. Od. 3. 4. 11 ludo fatigatumque somno. -que is much better than
ve which has very poor authority. furtis rapinisque are opposed as one idea
to morbo: there are not three co-ordinates
158. quisnam igitur sanus? These brief interjected questions were
SATIRE III
451
NOTES
characteristic of the Stoics, cf. line 97; Cic. Par. 1 Cato perfectus Stoicus
minutis interrogatiunculis quasi punctis quod proposuit effecit. qui non
stultus: 'the man who is no fool'; non stultus are to be taken closely
together, and contain a positive idea: cf. Cic. Font. 6 quid mihi opus est
sapiente iudice? quid oratore non stulto?
161. cardiacus, suffering from disease of the stomach,' perhaps 'dyspep-
tic': cf. 2. 3. 28 n. Craterus was a physician of repute in Cicero's time:
he attended Attica, daughter of Atticus; Cic. ad Att. 12. 14. 4 de Attica
doleo: credo tamen Cratero. putato, 'suppose,' generally puta, 2. 5. 32.
162. recte est: impersonal, cf. 2. 2. 106; Cic. ad Att. 1. 7. 1 apud matrem recte
est. Schütz says aeger is the nom. to est, but does not quote any instance of
this personal use of recte est. 163. temptentur: better than temptantur
of many MSS., as it gives Craterus' reason for not allowing the patient to get
up. The line is repeated Ep. 1. 6. 28. 165. porcum Laribus: as a
thank-offering for freedom from these vices. A pig was regularly offered to the
Lares, cf. Od. 3. 23. 4, but there is also a reminiscence of the custom of sacrificing
a pig to cure a lunatic, cf. Plaut. Men. 2. 2. 15. 166. naviget Anticyram :
for hellebore, cf. line 82 n. barathrone, 'what difference does it make
whether you fling away your all into an abyss, or never enjoy your wealth.'
The connexion is this-the ambitious man is reckless of spending money, he
is like a man flinging his money into a gully, and must therefore be put on a
par with the miser in point of insanity. 167. paratis=partis, line 98, cf.
Od. 1. 31. 17 frui paratis.
168. Canusi: 1. 5. 91. 169. antiquo censu, 'rich, as fortunes
were rated in old times'; cf. Herod. 1. 30 βίου εὖ ἥκοντι ὡς τὰ παρ' ἡμῖν.
divisse: 1. 5. 79. 171. talos: ảσтpayáλovs, knucklebones, for playing
chucky-stones, or jack-stones, and odd and even with. Tevтeλlíčew is to
play with five dorpáyaλoı, or tali, as the modern game of jack-stones is played.
nuces: probably used for boyish gambling at odd and even. 172. sinu :
the bosom of the toga was often used as a pocket. So Propertius says of his
mercenary mistress, 2. 16. 12 semper amatorum ponderat una sinus, 'she
weighs the pockets of her lovers.' ludere, 'gamble'; sc. iis with them :
that is to say, play games of chance with them, in which there would be the
risk of losing them-a risk the cautious brother would not face. 173.
cavis, 'in holes.' tristem, 'with a serious face.' 174. ageret: cf.
1. 5. 90 n. insania and vesania have about equal authority, the former
perhaps the better. A scribe would naturally try to correct what he thought
was a false quantity. 175. Nomentanus, the prodigal, 1. 1. 102.
Cicuta, the cautious money-lender, cf. line 69.
sacer,
178. Supply quo before coercet, out of the preceding quod, 'within the
bounds of which nature confines you.' 179. vos: both sons are warned
against ambition (gloria). titillet, 'tickle' (yapyaλšew); several times used
by Cicero, generally with voluptas. 180. aedilis, praetor: i.e. probably
at Canusium: Kiessling. 181. intestabilis: incapable of making a will, or
of being a witness (Dig. 28. 1. 18)—dishonoured in the sight of men.
'accursed '—rejected in the sight of the gods. Both words are taken from old
formulae. 182. 'Vetches,' 'beans,' and 'lupines' mean the largesses of
provisions given to the people by the aediles and praetors at the games. The
words are chosen with contempt, while their ruinous consequences are pointed
out by perdas bona: cf. Pers. 5. 177 vigila et cicer ingere large | rixanti populo,
nostra ut Floralia possint | aprici meminisse senes. 183. latus ut in circo
452
BOOK II
HORACE
spatiere, ‘that you may strut proudly in the circus.' latus refers to the
expanded toga (cf. Epod. 4. 8), as well as to the mental elation, the swagger,
of a man pacing proudly along. For this meaning of latus cf. Cic. Acad. 2.
41. 127 erigimur, latiores fieri videmur, humana despicimus (v.1. elatiores,
altiores); Sen. Ep. 76. 31 cum praesente populo lati (v.l. elati) incesserunt
et cothurnati, simul exierunt excalceantur et ad staturam suam redeunt. The
magistrate struts about the course during the intervals of racing as officials are
always fond of doing. Palmer points out that there is no evidence for such
promenading on the part of the praetor, and suggests altus . spectere.
stes: of a statue, like ponet marmoream Od. 4. 1. 20; statuaris Ov. Her. 2. 67.
185. M. Vipsanius Agrippa (cf. Od. 1. 6 Intr.) was aedile 33 B.C., when
this satire was probably written. His aedileship was famous for its magnifi-
cence. 186. vulpes: the fable of the fox in the lion's skin is referred to:
see 1. 6. 22; 2. 1. 64.
:
• •
187. The madness of Ajax occurs to the mind of the speaker, and he shows
that the man whose notions of right and wrong are so confused as to lead him
to commit a crime for the sake of glory (ob titulos inanes) is just as mad.
Agamemnon is as mad as Ajax. The poet has in view the scene at the end
of the Ajax of Sophocles, where Agamemnon and Menelaus forbid Teucer to
bury the body of Ajax. ne quis velit taken from the language of
ancient statutes, e.g. in the S. C. de Bacchanalibus: ´ne quis eorum baccanal
habuisse velet. velit: 1. 5. 90. Atridă: here voc. of Atrida, the early
Latinised form, through the Aeolic dialect; but Atride Ep. 1. 7. 43, voc.,
after the regular Greek model. 188. plebeius: from this word some have
supposed the dialogue to be imagined between Agamemnon and a common
soldier; but it is better to suppose it as an imaginary conversation between a
Stoic, like Stertinius himself, and Agamemnon. He calls himself plebeius,
conveying a rebuke on the arrogance of the king's rex sum, which the latter
feels, and at once moderates his tone. 191. The prefatory wish in Homer,
11. 1. 18 ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ολύμπια δώματ' ἔχοντες | ἐκπέρσαι Πριάμοιο
πόλιν ἐν δ᾽ οἴκαδ᾽ ἱκέσθαι. reducere occurs, with the first syllable long
in Lucretius 1. 228; 4. 992; 5. 1337, where the best MSS. mostly
give redducere. Some copyists, offended by a seeming licence, give deducere
here. 192. consulere, respondere: to question and answer in my turn.
193. ab Achille secundus, 'next after Achilles,' the position regularly
awarded to Ajax by Greek writers, Il. 2. 768; Od. 11. 550; Soph. Aj. 1339.
For this use of ab cf. Juv. 10. 126 volveris a prima quae proxima; Virg. Ecl.
5. 49 fortunate puer, tu nunc eris alter ab illo. 195. ut, 'is it in order
that?iva; The line is a reminiscence of Il. 1. 255 ǹ kev yoñσaι Пρíaμos
Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες. inhumato: sc. illo (Aiace).
197. mille ovium :
mille is always used as a subst. followed by a genitive in Plautus, sometimes
in the best age: the plural, milia, is always a subst. See on 1. 6. 111. This
is the only passage where Horace uses mille as a noun: he uses it twelve times
as adj. morti dedit: cf. Pind. Ol. 2. 82 laváтw Tóρev. 198. occidere,
'that he was actually slaying.' 199. natam, Iphigenia: see Class. Dict.
200. mola salsa: cf. Od. 3. 27. 20 n. 201. rectum . . . cursum :
cf. 2. 5. 78 recto depellere cursu. MSS. give rectum animi servas? quorsum? but
quorsum quorsum haec tendunt (cf. 2. 7. 21) seems unwarranted, and Bothe's
cursum seems certain. 202. abstinuit vim : the transitive use of abstinere
is common in the comic writers and Cicero, especially with acc. of pronouns,
and with manus, iram, etc. This is its literal meaning, to 'keep off,' like
SATIRE III
453
NOTES
ἀπέχειν χεῖρας. 203. uxore: his concubine Tecmessa. nato: his
little son Eurysaces. 204. non ille: cf. Od. 4. 9. 51: non ille is, in
such cases, strongly emphatic, contrasting the conduct of one person with what
that of others might have been under the same circumstances. Teucrum,
half-brother of Ajax, who, on his return to Salamis, was banished by his
father Telamon for not avenging Ajax, and founded Salamis in Cyprus; cf.
Od. 1. 7. 21 seq.
•
•
205. haerentes | with simpl. abl. is without example. It generally takes
dat. or abl. with in. Schütz compares religarat udo | litore navem Od. 1. 32. 7.
adverso litore, 'on the angry shore' at Aulis-so called because it refused
to let the ships depart. 208. qui species alias veris
alias veris
is 'different from true': cf. Ep. 1. 16. 20 alium sapiente; 2. 1. 240 alius Ly-
sippo; Varr. R. R. 3. 16. 2 aliud melle; Brut. et Cass. ap. Cic. ad Fam. 11. 2
aliud libertate; Xen. Mem. 4. 4. 25 ☎λλa Tŵv dikalwv. The sense is: 'who-
ever shall embrace ideas different from true ones, and confused in that dis-
turbance of mind which leads to guilt' (tumultu sceleris). species=
pavraσías, 'conceptions,' which in Stoic language are (1) in accordance with
reality (καт' aŮTÒ TÒ ÚñαρXOV) or (2) not in accordance (alias veris). tumultus
=Taρaxń, that unphilosophic perturbation which leads to crime. Bentley, who
read veri with some MSS. printed thus: qui species alias, veri scelerisque
tumultu permixtas, and took alias by itself to be equivalent to alias veris=
'false,' which it cannot be. To take alias veri=alias veris, 'averse from truth,'
is also more than doubtful Latin. 211. desipit: for the hyperbaton cf.
2. 1. 60 n. 212. prudens, 'deliberately,' ékúv.
i.e. for the sake of being hailed as conqueror of Troy.
cf. Lucian, Philops. 5 ἄρτι μὲν ὡς μεμήνοι καὶ ἔξω εἴη τοῦ καθεστηκότος.
tumidum: inflated with pride.
214. nitidam, 'gaily bedight.' gestare: the regular word for carrying
in litters or carriages, boats, etc.; hence gestatio, 'an airing.' 216. Rufa
and Pusilla are common enough names for females: the lunatic addresses
the lamb as if it were a woman. forti, 'gallant,' 'handsome,' a sense fortis
bears in Plautus. It is used ironically of an old bridegroom, 2. 5. 64.
interdicto: the interdictum was an injunction of the praetor in special
cases. Madmen (furiosi) and prodigals were by the XII. Tables placed under
the curatorship of their agnati; cf. Ulpian, frag. 12. 2 lex XII tabularum
furiosum itemque prodigum, cui bonis interdictum est, in curatione iubet esse
agnatorum. 218. abeat tutela, ‘his guardianship would pass to his sane
relations,' or 'he would be handed over as a charge to,' for tutela has this
meaning: Od. 4. 6. 33; Prop. 4. 8. 3; Ov. Trist. 1. 10. 1. abeat is rather
in favour of the second explanation; cf. line 246. 220. integer animi:
ob titulos inanes,
213. stas animo :
217.
cf. line 65. 222. et=etiam, ‘as well.' furiosus, 'raving mad.' vitrea,
'glassy,' perhaps combining both the glitter and brittleness of glass. Publil.
Syr. Sent. 171 fortuna vitrea est: tum cum splendet frangitur. 223. cir-
cum tonuit, 'thunders around,' and so renders éμßρóvтntos, the strongest
word to express the idea of insanity. Note the climax: insanus, furiosus,
ἐμβρόντητος. Bellona: an ancient Sabellian war-goddess, into whose cult
rites belonging to an Asiatic deity were introduced after the time of Sulla ;
her priests worked themselves into frenzy and goaded themselves with knives
like the priests of Baal (1 Kings xviii. 28), to please the goddess who delights
in deeds of blood' (gaudens cruentis). Cf. Lucan 1. 565 tum quos sectis
Bellona lacertis | saeva movet cecinere deos; crinemque rotantes | sanguineum
populis ulularunt tristia Galli.
454
BOOK II
HORACE
225.
227.
224. Nomentanum: cf. line 175. arripe, 'arraign,' 2. 1. 69.
ratio: 1.3. 115. 226. mille talenta=£245,000 sterling, nearly.
edicit: a word well chosen to express the grandeur of the young heir, 2. 2.
51. piscator: a fishmonger, as well as a fisherman. The termination for
a dealer in anything was generally -arius (see Plaut. Aul. 3. 5), as pomarius,
a fruiterer.
auceps: a dealer in game, as well as a fowler; cf. Plaut.
Trin. 2. 4. 6 piscator pistor abstulit lanii coqui | holitores myropolae aucupes,
where myropolae are 'perfumers'=unguentarii here. 228. Tusci... vici:
an ancient busy street of low repute between the Forum Romanum and Boarium.
Comm. Cruq. says: Tusci aliquando ab Aricinis pulsi contulere se Romam et
vicum, qui modo Turarius dicitur, insederunt eique suum nomen dederunt. It
is supposed to be the street referred to Ep. 2. 1. 269. 229. scurris,
'wits'; professional diners out, parasites who earned dinners in return for
their smart sayings; cf. Ep. 1. 15. 27 n. fartor, 'a sausage-maker,' or
a fattener of fowls, i. e. 'a poulterer.' For the latter sense cf. Colum. 8. 7
pinguem facere gallinam quamvis fartoris non rustici sit officium. Velabro:
a street between the Vicus Tuscus and the Forum Boarium occupied by pro-
vision-merchants; C. I. L. 6. 9671 negotiator fenoris et vinorum de Velabro.
The name was attributed by the ancients to the fact that it was formerly a
navigable lake or marsh (Tibull. 2. 5. 33; Prop. 4. 9. 5) from velum.
macellum: the general meat and fish market at Rome; cf. Ep. 1. 15. 31 n.
230. quid tum, 'what next?' often used by Cicero, generally when
something emphatic is to follow, and so here. It denotes that the extraordi-
nary thing that is to be told is now to come. 232. domi, lit. at home' =
' of our own,' a common use in Plautus. cras: this word makes the offer
more formal, for cras pete was a regular phrase in promising payment: cf.
Plaut. Most. 3. 1. 121 petito cras; Curc. 4. 2. 40 cras peti iubeto; Merc. 4. 4.
30 cras petito: dabitur: mox abi. 234. Lucana: Lucania was a hunting-
ground for boars; cf. 2. 8. 6 Lucanus aper. ocreatus, 'with leggings on';
cf. caligatus, 'with boots on. 235. hiberno, 'stormy'; cf. 2. 2. 17.
verris: with a sweep of a net, everriculum; cf. Sil. Ital. 14. 262 seu silvis
sectare feras seu retibus aequor verrere. Horace uses averrere of taking fish
from a fishmonger's stall, with this technical sense in his mind, 2. 4. 37.
236. aufer: sc. my gold, the acc. being supplied from tantum possideam.
237. deciens: 1. 3. 15.
239. Aesopus, the famous tragic actor, contemporary of Roscius, the famous
comic actor, and friend of Cicero, left an enormous fortune to his prodigal son,
of whom Cicero writes, ad Att. 11. 15. 3 Aesopi filius me excruciat: according
to Val. Max. 9. 1. 2, he was a youth non solum perditae sed etiam furiosae
luxuriae. He carried on an amour with Metella, a notorious adulteress,
wife of P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther. 240. solidum: the lump sum of
one million sesterces. Aesopus was rivalled by Cleopatra, who made a bet
with Antony that she alone would consume at a meal H. S. centies (ten million
sesterces), and dissolved the largest of the pearls in her earrings in vinegar,
and drank it; Plin. H. N. 9. 58. 117. 241. baca has better support than
`bacca=unio, margarita, a pearl. qui: cf. 108, 260. ac si, 'than if,'
1. 10. 34; 1. 1. 46.
242. illud idem: sc. deciens solidum.
cf. barathro dones line 166.
iaceret:
243. Arri, the magnificent epulo of line 86, and, according to Kiessling,
a low-born fellow who pushed his way forward as a parasite of Crassus (cf.
Cic. Brut. 69. 243), becoming praetor in 64 B.C. and a candidate for the
;
SATIRE III
455
NOTES
consulship of 59 B.C., while he is also the Arrius who mispronounced his
aspirates of Catull. 84. par, 'pair,' 1. 7. 19. 244. gemellum, 'twinned,'
neut. nom. agreeing with par. 245. luscinias: although Comm. Cruq.
says this is to be pronounced as three syllables, yet all classical authority favours
the view that the second syllable is short: Mart. 7. 87. 8 lusciniae tumulum
si Thelesina dedit; Phaedr. 3. 18. 2. If the ci were long, surely we should
have found the nom. sing. in hexameters. Plin. H. N. 10. 29. 84 tells us that
nightingales fetched as high a price as slaves. inpenso at a high price,
regardless of expense; pretio is generally joined to inpenso, e.g. in Cic. ad Att.
14. 13. 5; it is here left out as it is with magno, etc. coemptas: of a
large number; cf. 1. 2. 9 omnia conductis coemens obsonia nummis. 246.
quorsum abeant, sani ut creta, an carbone notati? 'to which class
are they to go after being marked with chalk as sane, or with charcoal (as
insane)? The common reading quorsum abeant? sanin creta an carbone
notandi? has very little MS. authority. The metaphor is from the custom of
marking lucky days with white, unlucky with black stones; cf. Od. 1. 36. 10.
247-280. Stertinius passes on to the madness of lovers. 247. aedificare
casas: to make houses of bricks, or cards; cf. Juv. 9. 61 rusticus infans |
cum matre et casulis et collusore catello; Tibull. 2. 1. 24. 248. ludere
par inpar, 'to play odd and even,' ȧpriášev. Ar. Plut. 816 σтaтîρσι d' oi
στατῆρσι
θεράποντες ἀρτιάζομεν | χρυσοῖς. ludere often takes an acc. of the game played ;
cf. 1. 6. 126 n. 250. ratio evincet: cf. line 225; 1. 3. 115. 251. in
pulvere for children building castles in the sand only to pull them down
cf. Hom. Π. 15. 362 ὡς ὅτε τις ψάμαθον πάις ἄγχι θαλάσσης | ὅς τ᾽ ἐπεὶ οὖν
oûv
ποιήσῃ ἀθύρματα νηπιέησιν | αψ αὖτις συνέχευε ποσὶν καὶ χερσὶν ἀθύρων.
252. ludas opus, 'play at work.' 254. mutatus, 'reformed,' converted.
Polemon: a profligate Athenian youth who, roving after a drinking-bout
through the city, and hearing the voice of Xenocrates at his lecture, burst in,
and was in spite of himself converted to temperance by the eloquence of the
lecturer: so that on the spot he flung away his coronal of flowers, and there-
after devoted himself to philosophy; in the cultivation of which he so
progressed that he was chosen successor to Xenocrates by the school, the
Academy, in 315 B.C. insignia morbi, 'the badges of your malady.'
255. fasciolas, 'cross-garters,' bandages for the calf of the leg, worn by
dandies: cf. Shak. Twelfth Night II. v. So Cicero of Pompey, when he suspected
him of being engaged in some intrigue, mihi caligae eius et fasciae cretatae non
placebant, ad Att. 2. 3. 1. cubital: a pillow for resting the elbow on at dinner.
fōcalia (from fauces), 'neckcloths,' worn apparently only by effeminate persons.
256. furtim: when he thought no one was looking. coronas: the
garlands worn by guests are often referred to. 257. inpransi, ‘fasting,'
'sober,' opp. potus, line 255. correptus, 'chidden.'
:
259. catelle, 'doggie,' a term of endearment, cf. Plaut. Asin. 3. 3. 103
dic igitur me tuam anaticulam columbam vel catellum | hirundinem, mone-
dulam, passerculum, putillum. 260. qui distat: cf. line 108. agit:
1. 5. 90 n. 261. The following dialogue is transposed, with wonderful
closeness, from the beginning of the Eunuchus of Terence: the speakers
are Phaedria and the slave Parmeno :- - Ph. quid igitur faciam? non
eam, ne nunc quidem, | cum arcessor ultro? an potius ita me comparem | non
perpeti meretricum contumelias? | exclusit; revocat: redeam? non si me obsecret.
Par. ere, quae res in se neque consilium neque modum habet ullum, eam consilio
regere non potes. | in amore haec omnia insunt vitia: iniuriae | suspiciones
|
456
BOOK II
HORACE
:
inimicitiae induciae | bellum pax rursum: incerta haec tu si postules | ratione
certa facere nihilo plus agas | quam si des operam ut cum ratione insanias.
262. nec nunc=ne nunc quidem, 'not even now.' Madvig has laid down
that ne nunc is not used for ne nunc quidem in good authors, but that nec
nunc is de Fin. ed. 3, p. 82: excursus, pp. 803 seq. nec has much better
authority here than ne. vocet: there is not reason to change this to vocat
against the MSS., though Terence has arcessor. Cicero always uses nunc cum
with subj. where the clause, while designating time, also implies a reason for
the principal action='now that'; e.g. Cic. Mur. 3. 6
causae ad misericordiam. . . vocent. See on 1. 3. 121.
her way to invite me': not only is willing to receive me,
me. 263. finire dolores: by conquering my passion.
deliberative subjunctive. 266. habet, 'admits of.'
ratione modoque, 'to go mad by rule and method': cf. Hamlet II. ii.
207 'Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't.'
nunc cum omnes me
ultro, 'goes out of
but actually invites
264. redeam :
271. insanire..
272. Picenis . . . pomis: one of the follies of lovers was to try to hit
the ceiling (cameram) with apple-pips: if they succeeded their love was re-
turned. Picenian apples were one of the best kinds: cf. Juv. 11. 74 aemula
Picenis: see 2. 4. 70. Picens is used of the inhabitants, Picenus of things.
273. percusti=percussisti: cf. 1. 5. 79 n. penes te es, ' are you in
your senses?' lit. ‘are you in your own possession?' thus corresponding exactly
to the Greek σαυτοῦ εἶναι, γενέσθαι. 274. There is no fool like an old
fool.
verba are the lisping words of lovers: hence Horace
gives the name Balbinus to a doating lover 1. 3. 40. feris perhaps='coin,'
like kóπtel: cf. Juv. 7. 55 communi feriat carmen triviale moneta. Orelli
and Kiessling explain verba aere feriendo reddis balba, referring to passages
in which voice is said to be produced by striking the air, e.g. Diog. L. 7. 1. 15
φωνὴ ἀὴρ πεπληγμένος: but this is very recondite. 275. qui, 'how,' 'in
what respect': cf. lines 108, 241.
balba
•
•
·
4
275. adde cruorem: not only the follies of lovers, but the bloodshed
that love leads to-murders and suicides convince us that it is madness.
276. ignem gladio scrutare, 'stir fire with a sword'; the reference is to
the Pythagorean precept πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ μὴ σκαλεύειν : explained Athen. 10. 452
ἀντὶ τοῦ τεθυμωμένον ἄνδρα μὴ ἐριδαίνειν· πῦρ γὰρ ὁ θυμός, ἡ δὲ ἔρις μάχαιρα.
modo, 'lately,' to take an instance that happened the other day: was Marius
mad when, after stabbing Hellas, he threw himself out of a window? Marius
was evidently a Roman, who was driven by his love for Hellas (a freedwoman,
or slave, to judge by her name) to murder her, and commit suicide. The
other arrangement of the passage first put forward by Voss, and preferred by
many editors, is ignem gladio scrutare modo, inquam, taking modo with the
imperative, as often in Plautus and Terence, in such phrases as vide modo,
cave modo, perge modo: 'just stir the fire with a sword. 278. cerritus,
crazed,' an old word of uncertain derivation, perhaps for cerebritus. The
ancients connected it with Ceres, and Kiessling gives 'possessed by Cerrus'
(cf. laruatus, lymphatus) an old name of a creative (cf. creo) deity, who in a
fem. form is Ceres. 280. ex more, according to common usage. cog-
nata, 'related,' i.e. nearly the same, in the view of the philosopher one
name, insanus would have done.
281. Damasippus or Stertinius passes on to another phase of madness, viz.
superstition, of which he gives two instances. libertinus: a freedman was
a libertus with reference to his patron; libertinus, with reference to his ordo.
SATIRE III
457
NOTES
compita: at the compita were images of the Lares compitales (qui compita
servant Ov. Fast. 2. 615). siccus, not drunk, though one might think
he was; opp. uvidus, cf. Od. 4. 5. 39. 282. lautis : Hom. Il. 6. 266
χερσὶ δ᾽ ἀνίπτοισιν Διὶ λείβειν αἴθοπα οἶνον | ἅζομαι: Hes. O. et D. 724.
283. quid tam magnum, 'what is there in my request so great or difficult'
(that I may not pray for it to be granted by you?) surpite=surripite:
cf. acpite in Ennius, Cic. de Off. 1. 12. 38; porgite Virg. Aen. 8. 274. 284.
dis facile : cf. Theognis 11 σοὶ μὲν τοῦτο, θεά, μικρόν, ἐμοὶ δὲ μέγα. 285.
nisi litigiosus, 'unless he were fond of law-suits,' as a law-suit would be
sure to follow for fraudulent sale, cf. Ep. 2. 2. 16 n.; Cic. de Off. 3. 17. 71
in mancipiorum venditione venditoris fraus omnis excluditur.
qui enim
scire debuit de sanitate de fuga de furtis praestat edicto aedilium; Varro, R. R.
2. 10. 5 in (servorum) emptione solet stipulatio intercedere sanum eum esse, furtis
noxisque solutum. 287. Chrysippus: 1. 3. 126. Meneni: some lunatic.
289. cubantis: cf. 1. 9. 18. 290. quartana: sc. febris, the quartan
ague, recurring every fourth day. 291. die . . . ieiunia: Porph. says dies
lovis, i.e. Thursday. The oriental division of time into weeks, and the names
of the days of the weeks derived from the sun, moon, and five planets, though
not adopted by the Romans until the time of Theodosius (end of 4th cent.),
must have been known to them much earlier: cf. Tibull. 1. 3. 18 Saturni-
diem, i.e. Saturday. Kiessling considers that there is a reference to the fact
that Thursday is one of the two days on which the Pharisees fasted (cf. Comm.
on Luke xviii. 12). Orelli also refers the phrase to Jewish beliefs (legem
Iudaeorum pulsat Acron) but explains of the actual Sabbath which the Jews
were supposed to keep as a fast. The immersion of the boy in a stream by
way of purification seems certainly to point to some oriental belief being hinted
at. 292. casus medicusve: note the satire. levarit, i.e. si levarit,
1. 4. 18. 293. ex praecipiti, from his peril': in praecipiti is a
technical term used of the critical state of a sick person, Cels. 2. 6. 295.
quone: cf. 2. 2. 107 n. timore deorum: the moral is that of Lucretius,
1. 101 tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.
4
296. sapientum octavus, 'the eighth of the wise men,' with a reference
to the 'seven wise men' of Greece. So Sappho is called 'the tenth muse.'
297. compellarer, absolutely 'called names,' meaning the particular name
of insanus, as we see from the next line: compellare often means to assail
with bad names; cf. Ep. 1. 7. 34; Cic. Phil. 3. 7. 17 Ciceronem compellat
edicto nec sentit amens commendationem esse compellationem suam. inultus,
'with impunity.'
totidem, sc. verba.
The
298. totidem audiet, ‘shall hear as much in his turn.'
audiet is not, perhaps, here quite = 'to be called,' as 2.
6. 20; Ep. 1. 7. 38; 1. 16. 17, but is like Plaut. Pseud. 4. 7. 77 contumeliam
si dicis audies. 299. respicere ignoto discet pendentia tergo, ‘shall
be told to look at what hangs from the back which he cannot survey.'
reference is to the well-known fable of the two wallets; cf. Phaedr. 4. 10
veras imposuit Iuppiter nobis duas: | propriis repletam vitiis post tergum
dedit: alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem; Pers. 4. 23; Catull. 22. 21.
300. Stoice ..: Horace is the speaker. sic, 'so may you sell
with what folly am I mad?'='so may you sell . . . tell me with what .
For sic in appeals, cf. Od. 1. 3. 1 n. pluris, 'at a profit.' Horace sup-
poses Damasippus to be passing through the bankruptcy court; and he wishes
that his assets (his statues, bric-a-brac, etc.), may realise more than twenty
shillings in the pound, so as to pay his creditors, and leave him a balance.
•
•
•
•
•
?
458
BOOK II
HORACE
303. All MS. authority of weight is for abscisum here, from abscido, which
means to cut off; but the sense decidedly favours abscissum, from abscindo,
which means to rend off, for Agave and the other Bacchae tore Pentheus in
pieces with their hands, Eur. Bacch. 1125 seq. manibus: Euripides again
and again mentions the fact of Agave carrying in her own hands the head of
her son, as the striking point of horror; e.g. Bacch. 1139 крâта d' ǎ0λɩov |
ὅπερ λαβοῦσα τυγχάνει μήτηρ χεροίν | πήξασ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἄκρον θύρσον. 305. veris :
'the truth': cf. line 223 cruentis.
308. aedificas: Horace was probably building on his Sabine farm, which
he had received from Maecenas about a year before this time: Damasippus
hints that he was exceeding his means and station in doing so. Dama-
sippus tells him that is much the same thing as if he were to ape tall
men (longos), when he himself was puny in stature. longus, of a tall
man, occurs Catull. 67. 47 longus homo est. 309. bipedalis, 'you are
like a dwarf two feet high aping tall men': Horace was, according to
his own account, corporis exigui Ep. 1. 20. 24; and for his figure
see Intr. p. x. 310. corpore maiorem, 'too big for his body'; cf. Ov.
Her. 12. 184 nunc animis audi verba minora meis. Turbo was a plucky
gladiator of small stature, like Tydeus, who μικρὸς μὲν ἔην δέμας ἀλλὰ μαχή-
της. 311. spiritum et incessum, 'the fire and strut.' 312. verum,
proper, reasonable, just: sc. facere; cf. Ep. 1. 7. 98. 313. tantum dis-
similem: the reading of vet. Bland., much better than tanto of many MSS.
for this abl. of difference is only used with comparatives. On the other hand,
for tantum cf. 2. 5. 92 multum similis; Ep. 1. 10. 3 multum dissimiles. The
construction is te quoque verum est (facere) tantum dissimilem, et certare (cum
illo) tantum minorem, i.e. cum tanto minor sis. Maecenas' magnificent
mansion on the Esquiline is especially referred to 1. 8. 7.
314. The well-known Aesopian fable of the frog and the ox-here a calf.
pullis: the young of any animal (akin to puer). 316. eliserit, regularly
used of squeezing, crushing to death. 317. quantane? ne is superfluous;
cf. 2. 2. 107 n. tantum magna, like tantum dissimilem line 313=tam
magna=tanta. Cf. Babr. 28. 6 ἡ δὲ φρύνος ἠρώτα | φυσῶσ᾽ ἑαυτήν, εἰ τοσοῦ-
τον ἦν ὄγκῳ | τὸ ζῶον, Phaedr. 1. 24. 318. maior dimidio, 'bigger by
half': an absurd answer for the young frog to give, as the calf must have
appeared to it 1000 times bigger than its mother. To avoid this, many take
maior dimidio of the old frog=maior facta dimidio, 'when grown half as large
again she asked "was he that big? Horace puts, however, maior dimidio into
the mouth of the young frog, with the intention of producing a ridiculous effect.
num tantum: sc. magna. MSS. give tanto. Notice num, 'surely not?'
ära‡
320. abludit: äraέ eipnμévov=abhorret, åπáde, 'does not much dis-
agree.' 321. oleum adde camino, 'throw oil on the furnace,' a pro-
verbial expression, cf. Lucian, Tim. 44 πίττῃ καὶ ἐλαίῳ (πῦρ) κατασβεννύναι.
From caminus comes chimney, through cheminée. 322. si quis sanus
fecit: cf. 2. 7. 117 aut insanit homo aut versus facit; A. P. 296 excludit
sanos Helicone poetas Democritus. Poetry is a divine madness, and the poet
must be in a 'fine frenzy'; cf. Cic. de Div. 1. 37. 80 negat sine furore Demo-
critus quemquam poetam magnum esse posse, quod idem dicit Plato; Plat.
Phaedr. 245 Α ὃς δ᾽ ἂν ἄνευ μανίας Μουσῶν ἐπὶ ποιητικὰς θύρας ἀφίκηται . .
ἀτελὴς αὐτός τε καὶ ἡ ποίησις ηφανίσθη, Ion 533 E and the connexion be-
tween μάντις and μανία. 323. horrendam rabiem: this is the strongest
expression which Horace uses to describe his passionate temper, of which he
SATIRE IV
459
NOTES
speaks several times: cf. Od. 3. 9. 23 iracundior Hadria; Ep. 1. 20. 25
irasci celerem, tamen ut placabilis essem. cultum maiorem censu, 'living
beyond your means': cf. corpore maiorem line 310. 324. teneas. tuis
te, 'mind your own business': more lit., 'confine yourself by the limit of
your own affairs'; tuis is a limitative abl., like castris se tenuisset Caes. B. G. 1.
40.
insane: the postponement of insane to the end of
the line makes Damasippus expect a compliment until he is undeceived.
326. maior
•
•
• •
SATIRE IV
Catius on Cookery.
DATE:-about 32 B.C.
Horace relates how he met one Catius, who was hurrying home to commit
to writing certain precepts on gastronomy, which he had just heard from a
person whose name he refuses to reveal; he, however, recites the precepts
themselves at length, 12-86. Of these, roughly, 12-34 refer to the gustatio,
35-46 to the mensa prima, 48-69 to drink and sauces, 70-75 to the mensa
secunda, and 76-87 to cleanliness. When he has concluded Horace feigns
rapturous admiration, and implores Catius to introduce him to the author.
Ennius had written a poem in imitation of the 'Hdupayŋtiká of Archestratus,
and Varro a satire περὶ ἐδεσμάτων.
To the question who Catius was different answers have been given. (1) It
has been supposed by some that he was the Catius Insuber mentioned by
Cicero (ad Fam. 15. 16. 1) as an Epicurean writer then lately deceased, and
of whom Quintilian, 10. 1. 124, says: in Epicureis levis quidem sed non in-
iucundus tamen auctor est Catius. This Catius must have died before 44 B.C.,
and there seems no reason why Horace should introduce him here. (2) Comm.
Cruq. tells us that M. Catius was an Epicurean who wrote four books, de
rerum natura et de summo bono, but on line 47 the same commentator says:
inridet eum quod de opere pistorio in suo libro scripsit de se ipso: haec primus
invenit et cognovit Catius Miltiades. Hence Orelli has put forward the theory
that Catius was one Miltiades, who was a freedman of Cicero's Catius, and had
taken the name of his patronus, in addition to his own, as was customary.
Manso's view, that Catius is a disguise for Matius (see Od. 2. 12. 13 n.;
Palmer Pref. p. xvii.) is generally discarded and yet seems certainly true.
This C. Matius was a friend of Julius Caesar, and afterwards of Octavian.
He was also intimate with Cicero, and, what is very striking, with Trebatius
(cf. Cic. ad Fam. 11. 27; 11. 28; ad Att. 9. 15). He was also noted for his
endeavours to raise gastronomy to an art; cf. Columella 12. 4. 2 tum demum
nostri generis postquam a bellis otium fuit quasi quoddam tributum victui
humano conferre non dedignati sunt ut M. Ambivius et Maenas Licinius tum
etiam C. Matius quibus studium fuit pistoris et coqui nec minus cellarii dili-
gentiam suis praeceptis instruere; 12. 44. 1 quae C. Matius diligentissime
persecutus est . illi enim propositum fuit urbanas mensas et lauta convivia
instruere, libros tres edidit quos inscripsit nominibus Coci et Cetarii et
Salgamarii: 'the Cook,' 'the Fishmonger,' 'the Picklemaker.' His unknown
teacher (lines 10-11) may reasonably be regarded as a figment into whose lips
he puts his own wisdom, cf. 'Mrs. Harris.'
1. unde et quo Catius? Cf. Plat. Phaedr. p. 227 a ☎ plλe Paîdpe woî
καὶ πόθεν ; cf. 1. 9. 62. For the 3rd person, cf. Plat. Menex. 234 a ¿§ ȧyopâs
†πódev Mevéževos; tempus: sc. consistendi et conloquendi. 2. ponere
460
BOOK II
HORACE
signa means 'to commit to writing,' taking signa for the letters, the symbols
of things: cf. Plaut. Rud. 5. 1. 14 longis litteris signabo. Orelli and Kiessling,
however, explain signa of shorthand symbols. vincunt Pythagoran:
surpass P.' i.e. the precepts of Pythagoras, cf. line 16 n. 3. Anytique reum.
Socrates: his three accusers were Meletus, Anytus, Lycon. 4. peccatum: noun,
'I confess my fault.' sic: not to be joined with laevo, but with interpellarim:
in that I have accosted you as I have done, at an inauspicious moment.
tempore laevo: opp. t. dextro 2. 1. 19. 5. bonus, 'of your grace'
or 'goodness'; with mock respect. The mock seriousness throughout should
be noticed carefully. 6. interciderit, shall have slipped from your memory.'
7. hoc: this faculty of reminiscence.
invention of which was ascribed to the
Orat. 2. 86. 351; Quint. 11. 2. 11;
memoriae, una naturalis, altera artificiosa etc.
artis refers to artificial memory, the
lyric poet Simonides of Ceos, Cic. de
Auct. ad Herenn. 3. 16 sunt duae
9. tenues; 'subtle,' cf. line 36.
11. canam, 'recite,' a word applied to oracles and epic poetry: it is
selected by Catius as in keeping both with the mystery and dignity of his
subject: see 1. 9. 30. 12. As Comm. Cruq. remarks, bene ab ovis incipit,
i.e. ab initio cenae ut alibi (1. 3. 7) ab ovo usque ad mala citaret io Bacche.
Long-shaped eggs had better flavour (gratioris saporis, as Pliny, H. N. 10. 74,
explained suci melioris). 13. magis alba, 'whiter,' i.e. whiter inside, referring
both to the white and yolk of the egg. The white was a purer white, and the
yolk a paler red. Cf. Plin. H. N. 10. 74. 144, where the contrary is stated of the
eggs of water-fowl: aquaticis lutei plus quam albi, idque ipsum magis luridum
quam ceteris. Others understand alba to refer only to the white of the egg,
which is here said to be whiter in long-shaped eggs. 14. ponere: serve
up, 2. 2. 23.
namque marem cohibent callosa vitellum, 'for they
are compact, and enclose a male yolk.' That oval eggs were more likely to
produce cocks than round ones is stated by Columella, 8. 5. 11; Pliny, H.
N. 10. 74. 145; but the opposite is laid down by Aristotle, H. N. 6. 2. 2.
15. cole=caule, 'cabbage,' is much the better attested form here. Cf. caupo
and copo, plaustrum and plostrum, plaudo and plodo, cauda and coda, claudo
and clodo, Caurus and Corus, raudus and rodus, si audes and sodes, fauces and
suffoco, focalia. In most of these cases the form with o was the more vulgar
one. suburbano: much of the land close to Rome was flat and marshy.
It is generally taken to refer to the artificial watering of the rich men's gardens
near Rome. 16. elutius, 'insipid,' lit. washed out. inriguo horto,
a compendious comparative for 'than the cabbage of a well-watered garden.'
17. oppresserit, 'drops in on you': opprimere is generally to come upon
by surprise. Juv. 10. 75 si oppressa foret secura senectus | principis, if the
old emperor had been caught off his guard.' 18. malum responset, 'offer
an unkind resistance to.' responsare always means 'resist,' 'defy,' in Horace,
cf. 2. 7. 85, 103; Ep. 1. 1. 68. malum is used adverbially, cf. Od. 1. 22.
23 n. 19. doctus eris: not=docebere, as Orelli, but 'you will show
your science by plunging it living into Falernian must.' doctus is adj., and
the construction is the same as 2. 8. 24 ridiculus absorbere; 2. 7. 85 fortis respon-
musto Falerno, Bentley's nearly certain emendation for mixto of the
MSS. Must, i.e. the unfermented juice of the grape, was kept for a year, and
was used in cookery: Cato R. R. 120; Colum. 12. 29. Of course it would be
very much cheaper than old wine. mersare: according to Bentley, this
means to kill by drowning: he quotes Cic. Mur. 29. 61 nec minus delinquere
cum qui gallum gallinaceum, cum opus non fuerit, quam eum qui patrem suffo-
sare.
SATIRE IV
461
NOTES
caverit. The addition of vivam, however, seems to show it means merely
'plunge,' and suffoco in the passage he quotes may mean 'to throttle.'
21.
male creditur: Ov. Her. 7. 54 expertae totiens tam male credis aquae? Virg.
Ecl. 3. 94 non bene ripae | creditur. 22. prandia, 'his luncheon.'
'mulberries.' 23. finiet, 'end,' 'conclude,' not 'limit to.'
arbore: notice arbore without ab, 'from the tree.' The sense of removal is
in the verb.
moris,
legerit
24. Aufidius may well be the M. Aufidius Lurco mentioned by Pliny, H.
N. 10. 20. 45, as having been the first to fatten peacocks for sale, from which
trade he derived a large fortune during Pompey's war with the pirates, 67 B.c.
25. vacuis venis, 'an empty stomach': the ancients seem to have regarded
the veins as directly connected with and fed by the stomach, 2. 3. 153;
Ep. 1. 15. 20. 26. mulsum (oivbµeλɩ), ‘mead,' was a mixture of wine
and honey: Catius says that Aufidius made the mistake of using Falernian
wine, which was strong, in its composition. mulsum was regularly taken
at the gustatio, beginning of a banquet: hence vacuae venae: from this custom
that part of the meal was called promulsis. leni, 'light,' 'weak' the
emphasis is on leni, not on mulso. praecordia=the stomach: 'the cockles
of the heart' (Con.) 27. si dura morabitur alvus, 'if the bowels shall
be costive.' 28. mitulus: the sea-mussel. The word is connected with
μυς. obstantia= quae obstant. conchae, a general name for shell-fish.
Celsus 2. 29 mentions musculi et omnes fere conchulae as having the effect
here attributed to them. 29. lapathi brevis herba, 'groundling
sorrel.' Shell-fish were filled with sorrel, mallows, etc., Athen. 3. 92, referred
to by Heindorf. Catius is still at the gustatio: in an oft-quoted bill of fare
of a pontifex given by Macrob. Saturn. 3. 12 we find ante cenam echinos, ostreas
crudas quantum vellent, peloridas, sphondylos, turdum, asparagos subtus
gallinam altilem, patinam ostrearum, peloridum, balanos nigros, balanos albos.
albo Coo: Pliny, H. N. 14. 8. 78, mentions white Coan wine (leucocoum) as
one which was made by mixing white must largely with sea-water.
30. The theory that shell-fish fill as the moon does is stated by Lucilius,
1062 luna alit ostrea et implet echinos, muribus fibras | et pecui addit; and
by Plin. H. N. 2. 41. 109. lubrica refers to the slimy body of the fish.
conchylia: the y is long in Latin poetry, Lucr. 6. 1074.
32. murex,
the purple fish.' The comparison between two totally different things is
strange, and, perhaps, we should read murex Baianus, 'the Baian purple fish
is a superior kind, the Lucrine giant mussel.' For Baiae cf. Od. 3. 4. 24 n.
The Lucrine lake was part of the Bay of Cumae, connected with the latter and
with the lake Avernus, to form the Portus Julius, by Augustus. peloris,
the giant mussel.' 33. Circeiis: on the coast of Latium, a few miles
from Rome. Juvenal 4. 140 tells us that Montanus could tell where oysters
came from by their taste, cf. Circeiis nata forent an | Lucrinum ad saxum
Rutupinove edita fundo | ostrea callebat primo deprendere morsu. echini,
'sea-urchins,' cf. Ep. 1. 15. 23 n. 34. pectines are scallops (KTÉVES).
patulis, 'opening' (áváπrʊɣo‹), an epithet which may be applied to most
bivalves. molle Tarentum: so Ep. 1. 7. 45 imbelle T.; Juv. 6. 297
coronatum et petulans madidumque T.; Sidon. Carm. 5. 430 uncta Tarentus.
It was noted for its luxury.
36. non prius . . . 'before he has mastered the subtle theory of flavours.'
exigere is sometimes to find out clearly, Ov. Fast. 3. 637 non tamen exactum
quid agat. 37. cara mensa,
a dear fish-stall.' mensa is the slab, or table,
462
BOOK II
HORACE
•
on which the fish were exposed for sale. averrere, to sweep off, is used
because verro, averriculum are regularly applied to catching fish in the sea with
nets: see on 2. 3. 235. Horace means that it is no use paying a high price for
fish if you cannot cook them properly. 38. ignarum quibus est: one would
expect the subj., but the poets are sometimes not particular in this regard,
when their metre is to be protected; cf. Prop. 3. 4. 25-46, where he uses ind.
and subj. indiscriminately; Virg. G. 4. 149; Ecl. 4. 52; Aen. 6. 615.
ius:
those which were boiled were served with sauce, apparently, not those which
were broiled (assi); cf. the pun in Varro R. R. 3. 3. 9 in ius vocat pisces cocus.
38, 39. quibus assis reponet generally taken and for which ones
broiled the tired guest shall again place himself on his elbow,' as if the mere
sight of certain fishes broiled would incite the guest to begin eating again, and
as though resting on the elbow were peculiarly the attitude while eating. It
seems better to take quibus assis as instrumental abl. after languidus (like
vino languidus Cic. Cat. 2. 5. 10), or else as abl. absol. 'which ones being
broiled, the guest, after eating his fill of them, shall at length replace himself
on his elbow.' reponet means that the guest, after eating till he was sated
(languidus), leaned back in his former position, resting on his elbow on the
pillow. The ordinary attitude at dinner was to recline in cubitum: the eating
attitude was to lean forward towards the table over the large cubital, or pillow.
See Smith's Dict. Ant. s. v. coena, ‘Each man, in order to feed himself, lay flat
on his breast, or nearly so, and stretched out his hand towards the table;
but afterwards, when his hunger was satisfied, he turned upon his left side,
leaning on his elbow'; also the illustration in Becker's Charicles p. 327; and
cf. Plaut. Mil. 3. 1. 21 sed procellunt sese in mensam dimidiati dum appetunt,
and so perhaps cubito presso Od. 1. 27. 8, of the after-dinner attitude
reclining on the elbow.
41. curvat: bends the dishes, which were often of silver. inertem :
flat, insipid. 42. Laurens, 'the Laurentian jungle, the wild hog's reedy
home' (Macaulay), was about Laurentum, which was near the coast, between
Ardea and Ostia. 43. vinea: a he-goat was sacrificed to Bacchus, on
account of the mischief he did the vines, Ov. Met. 15. 114, etc. summittit,
'breeds.' summittere is not only used with flores, pabula, and the like, but is
the technical term for rearing animals or plants, Varr. R. R. 3. 2. 18, etc.
non semper belongs to edules. 44. fecundae: either 'prolific' or
'fruitful,' ¿.e. that has had young (Kiessling). Most MSS. have fecundi, and
elsewhere lepus is masc., but vet. Bland. has fecundae. sapiens sectabitur,
'the connoisseur will affect.' armos, 'the wings,' as the forelegs of hares
are generally called: see 1. 6. 106. 46. quaesita agrees with both aetas
and natura. 47. crustula, 'pastry,' a Lucilian word. 48. The only
place out of twenty-four in Horace where est is omitted with satis in the
phrase satis est. 50. olivo: the fish were fried in oil.
51. Massic was a Campanian wine of the third rank, according to Pliny,
H. N. 14. 5. 64; and of Campanian wines Pliny says, 14. 21. 136 exposita
sub diu in cadis verberari sole luna imbre ventis aptissimum videtur.
quid crassi, 'any thickness they may have will be clarified.'
prefers any roughness will be toned down.'
52. si
Palmer
53. odor
nervis
inimicus: according to Lucretius, the 'scent' (or perhaps the fumes')
of wine was in certain cases of bodily illness most pernicious, like ‘a felling
blow,' 6. 804 at cum membra domans percepit fervida febris | tum fit odor vini
plagae mactabilis instar. 54. Another way to take the thickness out of
SATIRE IV
463
NOTES
•
wine was to strain it through linen. Catius says wine is thus spoiled (vitiata).
55. Surrentine was a light Campanian wine suited to invalids. To give it
more body, a knowing man (vafer) mixes it with the lees of Falernian, the
best of Italian wines, and one of the strongest. 56. limum, 'the sediment,'
which the Falernian lees would have in them. 57. quatenus, ‘inasmuch
as,' 1. 1. 64.
volvens aliena, 'carrying all foreign matters with it.'
•
58. tostis squillis: usually taken to mean 'fried prawns,' as in 2. 8. 42,
but probably here squillae are a sort of onion much used by the ancients (e.g.
for a medicinal wine scillites, Col. 12. 33) and here employed to give fresh
relish for wine. marcentem, ‘jaded.' 59. nam, (‘but not with lettuce)
for lettuce . . . 60. perna, hillis, 'ham and sausages.' hillae is a
diminutive of hirae, the intestines. 61. inmorsus: part. roused,'
properly 'bitten.' Kiessling gives in morsus, but the lines are about drinking
not eating. 62. quaecumque... popinis, 'whatever is fetched smoking
hot from untidy cookshops.' Mart. 1. 41. 9 describes hot sausages hawked
round by the owners of such popinae: quod fumantia qui tomacla raucus |
circumfert tepidis coquus popinis. For popinis without ab, cf. Pers. 5. 134
saperdas advehe Ponto.
63. est operae pretium, heroic; from Ennius, Ann. 478 audire est operae
pretium. duplicis iuris, 'two kinds of sauce. The simplex ius consisted
of sweet olive oil, thick wine, and the liquor of a Byzantine pickle-jar: the
compound consisted of the same ingredients boiled with a mixture of chopped
herbs and sprinkled with saffron, and an addition of the best Venafran oil
when cool. Some harshly take d. iuris 'a compound sauce,' making simplex
olivo parenthetical. 64. dulci: not a general epithet, means that
the oil must be sweet and good; so too pingui, 'rich,' not thin.
66. By-
zantia orca: a jar of Byzantium containing pickled fish. The Pontus, by
which name the ancients designated the straits leading to the Black Sea, as
well as that sea itself, teemed with fish it was the place whence most pre-
served fish came to Greece and Rome. Hence the proverbial expression
ἰχθὺς εἰς Ἑλλήσποντον = coals to Newcastle. The fragments of the Greek
comic poets swarm with reference to these preserved fish from the Pontus :
cf. Hermippus, Phorm. 1. 5 ἐκ δ᾽ Ἑλλησπόντου σκόμβρους καὶ πάντα ταρίχη:
Pers. 5. 134 saperdas advehe Ponto. 67. herbis goes rather with inferbuit
than with confusum. herbis is dat. after inferbuit, 'when this has been mixed,
and been boiled with chopped herbs (lit. over, or on, chopped herbs), and has
stood for a while (stetit) after being sprinkled with Corycian saffron.' 68.
Corycus: a mountain in Cilicia famous for saffron. addes: a mild imperative,
'you shall add.'
69. quod cf. 2. 8. 53 quod testa marina remittit.
:
The
Venafran oil was the best in the world; Od. 2. 6. 15; Plin. H. N. 15. 2. 8.
70. Picenis: 2. 3. 272. 71. nam facie praestant: a good example
of nam, used elliptically like yáp, '(which is surprising,) for they excel them
in appearance,' cf. line 59. vennuncula
'the vennuncula is best for
pots,' i.e. for preserving, a statement confirmed by Pliny, H. N. 14. 2. 34
vennunculam ollis aptissimam. The word is not a proper name, but
a species. 73. faecem, allec: lees of wine and tartar. These are men-
tioned, 2. 8. 9, among the things placed on the table for the purpose of rousing
a tired eater. 74. primus et invenior, 'I am found to have been the
first' (i.e. by those who examine into the records of great discoveries). White
pepper is mentioned by Pliny as milder than black. Varro R. R. 1. 7 speaks
of a salt prepared by the Germans from wood ashes (carbones salsi); cf. Pliny
•
•
464
BOOK II
HORACE
H. N. 31. 40 quicumque ligno confit sal niger est; it seems to have been
specially sharp, Ep. 2. 2. 60. 75. incretum, from incerno, sifted on to
clean plates.' catillis is dat. after incretum: the pepper and salt were
sifted through an incerniculum or cribrum, to fine them.
76. The inconsistency of buying dear viands and then serving them shabbily
is rebuked, as in 37. milia terna: 3000 sesterces, about £25. macello:
•
·
·
2
2. 3. 229. 77. vagos, 'straggling,' too large for the dish: others take it
'that once roamed through the sea. urguere, 'cramp.' In Juv. 4. 133
Montanus proposes a new dish be made on purpose to contain the huge
rhombus, debetur magnus patinae subitusque Prometheus. 78. movet :
impersonal. unctis dum furta ligurrit, i.e. quas unxit dum
furta ligurrit. 80. gravis, 'offensive.' limus is the sediment which
formed an incrustation on the bottom and sides of the cratera. veteri :
old and valuable; hence the offensive inconsistency. 81. scopis: after
each course the table (cf. 2. 8. 10) and floor were swept by the lecticarius with
a broom, sometimes made of palm-leaves, cf. line 83 palma : Kiessling. Cf.
Mart. 14. 82. mappis, 'napkins'; it is not certain that napkins for the
use of the guests are meant, either here or in Ep. 1. 5. 22 ne turpe toral ne
sordida mappa | conruget nares. In Martial's time guests certainly brought
their own napkins, 12. 29. 21. Perhaps mappae were napkins to lie on the
table to receive the dishes, like our dish-mats. scobe, 'sawdust,' for
sweeping the floor; cf. Juv. 14. 66. quantus, 'how little'quantulus
quantillus: cf. Prop. 4. 6. 65 di melius ! quantus mulier foret una triumphus !
82. flagitium ingens, 'a monstrous scandal.'
•
•
83. ten radere: the acc. and infin. of indignant question; cf.
Virg. Aen. 1. 37 mene incepto desistere victam ? lapides varios, a tes-
sellated pavement. 84. inluta toralia is the object, and Tyrias vestes
depends on circum, 'to place soiled hangings round purple couches.' vestes
are the coverings of the couches of Tyrian purple (cf. 2. 6. 102 rubro ubi cocco |
tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos; ibid. 106 ubi purpurea porrectum
in veste locavit); the toralia are hangings on the front of the couch (toral quod
ante torum Varro), which would get soiled with falling bits and look as bad as a
dirty table-cloth with us. 86. haec... reprehendi iustius illis: haec
and illis are both pregnant: 'their absence can be more justly found fault
with than the absence of those things which' etc. Supply neclecta with haec,
and neclectis with illis. 87. nequeant has no MS. authority of weight; at
first sight it seems a better reading than nequeunt; but illis is emphatic
and marked in 86: cf. 2. 5. 12 n. 92. vidisse belongs both to beatus
and pendis. 93. quia contigit: vidisse, 'because you have been blessed.'
94. fontes ut adire remotos: a sarcastic application of Lucr. 1. 927
iuvat integros accedere fontes | atque haurire. 95. vitae praecepta,
'rules of life.'
SATIRE V
Legacy-Hunting. DATE:-about 31 B.C.
The following poem, which more truly deserves the title of a Satire in the
modern sense than any other of Horace's poems, assails legacy-hunters
(captatores), a class which in ancient Rome throve wonderfully. Owing to
the prevalence of celibacy and other causes there was always, during and after
the late republic, a large number of childless persons (orbi) at Rome, many
of them rich, who became marks for the legacy-hunters. Large fortunes were
SATIRE VY
465
NOTES
left to persons to whom the testators were in no way related. Cicero notices
the practice of legacy-hunting in his own day; Parad. 5. 2. 39 hereditatis
spes quid iniquitatis in serviendo non suscipit quem nutum locupletis orbi
?
senis non observat? loquitur ad voluntatem: quicquid denuntiatum est facit,
adsectatur, adsidet, munerat. Horace himself classes legacy-hunting as a
regular profession, to be set beside others, like contracting and money-lending,
cf. Ep. 1. 1. 77. Sen. de Benef. 6. 38 speaks of it as a recognised calling,
qui captandorum testamentorum artem professi sunt: and so Pliny, H. N. 14.
1. 5 captatio in quaestu fertilissimo. Juvenal is full of references to it: see
especially 5. 131 seq., 12. 93 ad fin. To be childless and rich was to be
courted and powerful: Plin. 1. c. orbitas in auctoritate summa. Some rich
men actually disowned their children, in order to gain the attentions that
orbitas attracted, Sen. ad Marc. 19. 2. In order to turn his lamp on this
remarkable feature of Roman society, Horace introduces Ulysses in consulta-
tion with the shade of the Theban seer Tiresias in Hades. He is supposed to
continue his conversation with him at the point where it is concluded in the
Odyssey, 11. 149. There Tiresias had told Ulysses of the wanderings and
perils yet in store for him, and how he would return to Ithaca after them
all here Ulysses asks him how he is to repair his broken fortunes when he
has reached Ithaca, and Tiresias bids him become a toady on some rich old
man, in the hope of becoming his heir; and an admirable description of the
arts of the legacy-hunter is given in the form of precepts as to the best
manner of obtaining success in that profession, reminding one in this respect
of Swift's Directions to Servants.
3. quid rides: Tiresias had smiled at the assurance of Ulysses in asking
for more.
doloso is not tibi doloso, but is the third person: so Con.,
'and yet it craves for more, that heart of guile. 4. revehi, 'to sail
back' vehi regularly used thus: hence, rather anomalously, vector, 'a pas-
senger. 5. nulli quicquam mentite: Tiresias was a Greek 'true
Thomas.' Soph. Oed. Tyr. 298 4 | тåληlès éµπéÓνкEV ȧvOρúжwv μóvų: Antig.
1092. 7. apotheca (άπoðýêŋ) in Latin acquired most usually the sense of
'wine-cellar,' though the Roman wine-room was in the upper part of the
house; Od. 3. 8. 10 n. From apotheca comes the Italian bottega, Spanish
bodega, French boutique. procis generally of the μvηorêpes of Penelope.
8. re, 'money,' the one thing needful; cf. Ep. 1. 1. 65 rem, | si possis, recte,
si non, quocumque modo rem. vilior alga est: a proverbial comparison;
Virg. Ecl. 7. 42 proiecta vilior alga; Od. 3. 17. 10 alga inutili.
9. missis ambagibus, 'to cut the matter short,' 'in plain words,' åπλŵ
λόγῳ. 10. turdus: the thrush, or fieldfare, was esteemed a great delicacy,
Ep. 1. 15. 40; 5. 72. Martial 13. 92 gives it the first place among birds.
11. privum (=proprium) dabitur: a phrase used by Lucil. 21 ad cenam ad-
ducam et primum hisce abdomina thunni | advenientibus priva dabo cepha-
laeaque acharnae. Cf. Ep. 1. 1. 93 priva triremis; Juv. 8. 68. The transition
of privus from its original meaning of singulus to that of proprius is easy.
devolet, to be rendered literally, 'let it fly away,' referring to the thrush.
12. nitet after illuc ubi defends nequeunt in the last Satire, 87, after illis
quae. poma: cf. Ep. 1. 1. 78. 13. honores, 'glories,' such as
fine fruits, flowers, vegetables; Od. 1. 17. 16 ruris honorum. 14. ante
Larem: first-fruits were offered to the Lares; cf. Tib. 1. 1. 13 et quodcum-
que mihi pomum novus educat annus | libatum agricolae ponitur ante deo.
15. sine gente, of no family; a novus homo, who belonged to no gens, as
2 H
466
BOOK II
HORACE
a freedman, or one who had suffered capitis deminutio, been deprived of his
civic rights, as a criminal. 16. fugitivus, a runaway slave. 17.
comes exterior is like our 'to give a person the wall,' and tegere latus,
claudere latus may also be so rendered: but that is not the origin of
the Latin expression, which is to go on the left-hand side of a person:
so Acron here, and the schol. on Juv. 3. 131 (divitis hic servi claudit
latus ingenuorum | filius) explains claudit latus as = in sinistra ambulat.
As the right hand carries the weapon the left side is unprotected, and it was
a mark of respect and politeness to take it. 18. The ne in such a phrase
as utne tegam properly belongs to iubes, or some other verb understood:
cf. Ter. And. 1. 5. 28 eine ego ut adverser. Dama was a common name for a
slave: see 1. 6. 38. spurcus, 'filthy,' is often applied to people of base
position: cf. Varro ap. Non. 4. 425 ne quis lictorem spurcum hominem liberum
prehendere iussisse velit. 19. me gessi: exactly our 'I bore myself.'
certans melioribus: a reminiscence of the Homeric κpelooooi îpi µáxe-
σlai Il. 21. 486. melioribus is dat., Epod. 2. 20; Virg. Ecl. 5. 8 tibi certat
Amyntas. 20. hoc sc. latus Damae tegere. 21. et quondam maiora
tuli: from Hom. Od. 20. 17 στῆθος δὲ πλήξας κραδίην ηνίπαπε μύθῳ· | τέτλαθι
δή, κραδίη· καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ᾽ ἔτλης.
22. ruam, 'scrape' or 'rake together'; cf. rutrum, a hoe, and Lucil. 901
ruis haec (hoc MSS.) et colligis omnia furtim, and so of the sea raking up as it
were its sand in a storm, Lucr. 6. 726. The familiar and easy metaphor of a
farmer hoeing a hill round his roots is at the bottom of the word; corruere
divitias is thus used, Plaut. Rud. 2. 6. 58. On the other hand Virg. G. 1.
105 cumulos ruit is to 'rake down.' 25. praeroso hamo, 'having taken
the bait off the end of the hook': cf. praerodere digitos Plaut. Ps. 3. 2. 93.
prae has this force in praeuro, to burn at the end, praeacuo, praecido etc.
captatores are often compared to anglers; see Mayor on Juv. 12. 123 who
refers to Lucian, Dial. Mort. 6. 4, where a young captator aged thirty com-
plains to Pluto that the old man past ninety (to whom he had made many
valuable presents), after swallowing so large a bait (Toσoûтóv μoi déλeap
Kataжɩwv), had come to his funeral and crowed over him: cf. Mart. 6. 63. 5
munera magna quidem misit sed misit in hamo. 26. artem, 'your cun-
ning' as an angler, rather than your 'profession,' as Orelli takes it: though
Seneca (see Introduction) speaks of the ars, i.e. profession of legacy-hunters:
Lucian, Dial. Mort. 6. 3, calls their trade kaιvýν TIVα TÉxvnv.
•
•
•
27. res, 'case,' cf. 1. 9. 41. 28. inprobus, ultro and audax are
all parts of the same idea: the hardened villain, who will have the impudence
to drag his betters into court, when he himself should be the subject of prose-
cution, for this is the force of ultro. 30. priorem = meliorem. 31.
fecunda coniunx: cf. Juv. 5. 137 dominus tamen et domini rex | si
vis tu fieri, nullus tibi parvulus aula | luserit Aeneas, nec filia dulcior illo.
32. Quinte. Publi: slaves had no praenomina, but received one on
manumission; Pers. 5. 78 verterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit |
Marcus Dama. The freedman (Dama) would be proud of his new title.
puta, 'suppose': the last syllable may be short: Pers. 4. 9 hoc, puta, non
iustum est. molles, 'sensitive'; ready to be tickled with flattery. 36.
cassa nuce te pauperet, 'rob you of an empty nut'; i.e. something
worthless, cf. Plaut. Ps. 1. 3. 152 amatorem inanem, quasi cassam nucem.
MSS. here have the spelling quassa. paupero comes from the language of
everyday life; it is used by Plautus several times, and with an abl. as here
=frag. ap. Non. 157, 7 quam ego tanta pauperavi per dolum pecunia.
SATIRE V
467
NOTES
1
37. iocus, 'a mark for jests,' 'a laughing-stock.' Prop. 2. 24. 15 sed me |
fallaci dominae iam pudet esse iocum.
38. pelliculam curare, 'nurse himself'; cutem curare is the ordinary
expression, Ep. 1. 2. 29; 4. 15. The sense of 'hide' is not lost: cf. Juv. 10.
192 deformem pro cute pellem, of an old man.
f: this imperat. is found
Plaut. Curc. 1. 1. 87 fi mi obsequens; Pers. 1. 1. 40 age fi benignus subveni :
the plural in Curc. 1. 1. 89 fite mihi volentes.
cognitor is an advocate
who took the charge of the case of another party, and represented him in the
strictest sense. He was given a power of attorney by his principal to act for
him, therein differing from a procurator, whose acts did not bind his principal
necessarily. cum enim certis et quasi sollemnibus verbis in locum domini sub-
stituatur cognitor merito domini loco habetur. procurator vero . . . satis dare
iubetur ratam rem dominum habiturum Gaius 4. 97, 98. 39. seu rubra
•
•
•
: Furius Bibaculus, nicknamed Alpinus (cf. 1. 10. 36), had probably
introduced in some of his poems two lines which are laughed at here—one
may have been infantes statuas iam rubra Canicula findit: another, we know
from Quintil. 8. 6. 17, was Iuppiter hibernas cana nive conspuit Alpes.
conspuet (41), 'sputter over,' being a word manifestly out of place in heroic
verse. For Iuppiter Horace conically substitutes Furius, the author's own
name, adding a description of Furius himself as pingui tentus omaso,
distended with fat tripe,' which accounts for his sickness. Many editors
hold there is no parody in rubra statuas, but that they are Horace's
own words. This is most unlikely: a more ranting line was never penned,
and it exactly suits turgidus, applied by Horace to this same Furius, 1. 10.
36. The general meaning is, 'persevere in the heat of the dog-days; per-
severe in the depth of winter.' 40. infantes statuas, 'the dumb
statues'; an expression introduced by Furius, of which he was probably very
proud. There was a proverb statua taciturnius Ep. 2. 2. 83, and statues
were often made of wood (as that of Priapus, 1. 8. 1), and that would split
and crack (cf. findet) in hot weather. omaso, 'tripe.' Tripe was a
cheap dish; see Ep. 1. 15. 34: probably Furius, an unsuccessful poet, could
afford no better, and, being a greedy man, stuffed himself with it.
åykŵvi
42. cubito . . . tangens, 'nudging with the elbow,' ảyкŵVI VÚTTWV. Pers.
4. 34 est prope te ignotus cubito qui tangat. 44. adnabunt thunni seems
to have been proverbial, from Herodotus 1. 62, where the oracle says to Peisi-
stratus ἔρριπται δ᾽ ὁ βόλος, τὸ δὲ δίκτυον ἐκπεπέτασται, | θύννοι δ' οἰμήσουσι
σεληναίης διά νυκτός. cetaria, 'fish-ponds,' cf. vivaria, 'preserves,' Ep.
1. 1. 79. 46. 'If any one has a sickly son heir-apparent to a fine fortune.'
sublatus, 'reared,' from the custom of the father taking up from the ground
a child he intended to own and to keep (tollere). 47. caelibis obsequium
'homage to a bachelor.' The caelebs is of course not the man with the sick
son, but the locuples of 28 seq. Tiresias tells Ulysses to choose people with
heirs as a mark for toadying, as well as orbi, to divert suspicion. 48.
adrepe officiosus, 'worm your way by your attentions.'
ut is epexe-
getic of in spem in 47, and is not 'in order that.' The captator is directed to
worm his way towards the hope of two things: first, that he will be made
secundus heres; secondly, that the heres will die: both were necessary; hence
et... et. What is here described as in spem, ut scribare secundus heres is by
Tac. Ann. 1. 8 expressed as in spem secundam, speaking of the will of
Augustus. For in spem followed by ut, see Plaut. Bacch. 3. 1. 3 nisi quem
spes reliquere omnes, esse ut frugi possiet; Ausonius, Id. 2. 46 consul ut ipse
468
BOOK II
HORACE
foret spes mihi certa fuit; Cic. Lael. 19. 68 novitates (amicitiae) si spem
afferunt ut tanquam in herbis non fallacibus fructus appareant, non sunt illae
quidem repudiandae. secundus heres, or substitutus, was an heir
named in case the first heir declined the inheritance, or was in any way dis-
qualified, or died before entering on it, or in his minority, as here. 49.
egerit Orco: cf. the Homeric "Audi πpoïáfai. 50. vacuum: a legal
word for property left without an owner by death. alea and casus
perhaps emphatic.
·
·
•
او
53. sic ut qualifies a command, Ps. -Ovid. Her. 19. 182 sic facito
spernas, ut vereare, fretum. limis: sc. oculis, with a side-glance: Ter.
Eun. 3. 5. 53 ego limis specto | sic per flabellum clanculum; Plaut. Mil. Glor.
4. 6. 2. quid prima secundo cera velit versu, 'what the first
page says in the second line.' Wills were generally written on cerae, waxen
tablets; there were often several of these: in the first line of the first of these
the testator's name was generally written; in the second line generally the name
of his heir. solus heres ex asse. 55. In order to inculcate the neces-
sity of great caution in the profession of will-hunting, Tiresias, in oracular
style, predicts an event which had probably actually happened at Rome in
Horace's own day. One Nasica, who had a tall daughter, gave her in marriage
to a rich old man, Coranus, expecting to be remembered in his will. But his
object was too transparent: Coranus made his will indeed, but left his father-
in-law and wife nothing. recoctus scriba ex quinqueviro, 'the police
magistrate turned treasury-clerk.' The quinqueviri seem to have been deputy
magistrates, the assistants to the tresviri capitales, or police magistrates.
They are mentioned by Cic. (Acad. Pr. 2. 44. 136) as the lowest rank of
dignitaries, but what the position of a quinquevir compared with a scriba (for
whom see 2. 6. 36 n.) was, is not clear. Coranus had been a quinquevir;
but he took up the profession of a scriba afterwards. For ex quinqueviro,
after being a quinquevir (a common idiom in Greek, like Tuøλòs ék dedopkótoOS,
EXЄÚDEρOS EK doúλov), cf. Cic. Part. 17. 57 ex beato miser; Plaut. Rud. 2. 6.
34 te ex insulso salsum feci. recoctus scriba, 'turned into a notary';
recoquere is to fashion anything anew, and apply it to a different use from its
original one. Others explain here 'rejuvenated'; cf. Catull. 54. 5 tibi et
Fuficio seni recocto, where he probably refers to the fable of the daughters of
Pelias boiling their father to give him back his youth. corvum
hiantem: an allusion here to the fable of the fox and the crow with the
cheese, Phaedr. 1. 13.
•
•
•
•
58. furis, ¿vlovσiášeis: opposed to deliberate (prudens) fooling. 59.
quidquid dicam, aut erit aut non: intentionally ambiguous, after the
manner of oracles.
62. tempore quo
: oracles often began by
fixing the date by a circumlocution: Herod. 1. 55 åλX' öтav ǹµíovos Baσiλevs
Μήδοισι γένηται: Arist. Εq. 197. iuvenis Parthis horrendus: this
gives no near indication of the date; for Augustus might have been so spoken
of any time from the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. until the restoration of the
standards of Crassus in 20. alto: cf. Caesarem altum Od. 3. 4. 37; but
the accessory idea of ancient is in the word here: cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 500 genus
alto a sanguine Teucri; Scott, Lord of the Isles, has, 'Of Hereford's high
blood he came. 63. demissum: Virg. Aen. 1. 288 Iulius a magno de-
missum nomen Iulo. genus, a descendant,' 1. 6. 12 Valeri genus: so
yévos is often used of a single person. 64. forti, 'gallant'; also applied
to a bridegroom: here of course ironically. 65. metuentis reddere
6
SATIRE V
469
NOTES
soldum may mean that Nasica had borrowed money from Coranus, and was
afraid he would be called upon to pay, and gave him his daughter as a set-off:
but it is better to take it more generally, that Nasica was unable to meet his
debts: metuentis would then be like Od. 2. 2. 7 pinna metuente solvi=
'unable' or 'unwilling.' soldum=solidum, seems to have been technically
used of paying the full amount, 'twenty shillings in the pound,' as we say;
cf. Cic. Rab. Post. 17. 46 ita bona veneant ut solidum suum cuique solvatur.
66. tabulas=ceras, 'his will.' 69. praeter plorare: it is difficult in
such cases to say whether praeter is prep. or adv.; cf. Ov. Her. 7. 164 quod
crimen dicis praeter amasse meum ? 70. illud, ‘this,' like ékeîvo, refers to
what follows: cf. 1. 4. 64; 2. 3. 150.
-
84. me sene: if a living person,
ad haec, 'moreover.'
not a shade, had been speaking, he
most likely would have said me puero. inproba, 'bold,' as her audacious
codicil showed. 85. ex, 'in accordance with.'
elata, 'carried to her
pyre'; cf. ἐκφέρειν, ἐκφορά. 87. si, 'to try if,' a common use of ei. 89.
operae; dative, but opera must be supplied after abundes. Siesbyus' opera
is, however, very likely: cf. Caes. ap. Gell. 13. 3. 5 equidem mihi videor non
labore non opera non industria defuisse. 90. difficilem, dúσкоλoν, 'peevish.'
morosum, 'wayward,' 'capricious.' ultra non etiam sileas, 'you
must not be too silent either,' or 'don't be too silent either,' according as non
sileas is regarded as 'potential conjunctive' (Kiessling, Orelli ) or as a pro-
hibition, non being put for ne; which Nettleship (on Aen. 12. 78 non Teucros
agat in Rutulos) says can be done 'if a particular part of the sentence is to
be emphasised,' or where there is strong opposition. Cf. Ep. 1. 18. 72; Pers.
1. 5; 5. 45; Ov. A. A. 3. 129, 133. Quintilian 1. 5. 50 calls non feceris for ne
feceris a solecism. For ultra cf. Quint. 8. 6. 76 meliusque ultra quam citra
stat oratio, where ultra is adverb, equivalent to ultra modum.
comicus, ‘like Davus in the play,' what particular play is uncertain: cf.
A. P. 95 tragicus Telephus; Prop. 4. 5. 44 comica moecha. 92. obstipo:
on one side, and stooped forward in the attitude of eager attention. Pers. 3.
80 obstipo capite et figentes lumine terram.
91. Davus
gras-
93. obsequio, 'by civilities.' grassare, 'make your advances.'
sari has not here its stronger sense of 'attack,' whence grassator, a footpad
or highwayman, is derived. si increbruit aura, 'if the wind freshens.'
95. aurem substringe, 'gather your ear up' (with your hand). The
action is that of a person who is afraid of losing a syllable, commonly seen in
deaf persons.
96. inportunus: Prof. J. B. Mayor (Cic. de N. D. 32.
81) explains this word as strictly, like inportuosus, of a coast which has no
harbours: then (1) 'unfavourable,' 'unseasonable,' the opposite of opportunus;
(2) 'storm-tost,' 'restless,' 'troublesome' (our 'importunate'), as in Ep. 1.
18. 23 argenti sitis inportuna; (3) threatening,' 'dangerous,' 'pitiless.'
Horace uses it Od. 4. 13. 9='pitiless'; Od. 3. 16. 37='troublesome,' and so
S. 1. 8. 6; Ep. 2. 2. 85, where it is perhaps 'restless.' Here it seems to mean
'in season and out of season,' so that the man becomes a nuisance, and so
too Ep. 1. 6. 54 of a man who can make himself 'awkward.'
ŏhe iam,
'hold, enough.' ohe iam satis est is the full phrase. Persius uses ōhe even
without iam in this sense, 1. 23. In 1. 5. 12 ōhe is the quantity. Cf. Mart.
4. 91. 1 ohe iam satis est ohe libelle, where both quantities are given in one
line. 97. urgue, 'ply him with praise.' 98. crescentem utrem,
'blow him up like a wine-skin, so as to swell with your turgid praise'; cf.
Falstaff in 1 Henry IV I. iv. 365 A plague of sighing and grief! it blows a
man up like a bladder.'
470
BOOK II
HORACE
'.
1. 24. 5 and note.
100. certum vigilans, 'wide-awake.' certum adverbially; cf. Od. 1.
22. 23 n. 101. audieris: see 2. 3. 67 n. ergo, 'and so'; cf. Od.
Dama, line 18.
102. nusquam est, 'is no more';
cf. Prop. 3. 13. 58 delapsis nusquam est Amphiaraus equis. unde: sc.
parabo, 2. 7. 116 unde mihi lapidem ? Ov. Her. 12. 84 sed mihi tam faciles
unde meosque deos? 103. subinde, 'from time to time,' 'now and then.'
inlacrimare: pres. imperat. of inlacrimor, which is used elsewhere as a
deponent, Cic. N. D. 3. 33. 82 quid dicam de Socrate cuius morti inlacrimari
soleo Platonem legens ? est, it is possible, it is easy,᾽ ἔξεστιν, ἔστιν, ἔνι.
Epod. 17. 25 neque est | levare tenta spiritu praecordia. 105. permissum
arbitrio: left to your discretion (in the will). 108. ex parte tua: in
your share of the inheritance. sit, 'is inclined to be.' 109. nummo,
'for a sesterce,' i.e. a nominal sum, 'a peppercorn.' addicere, 'knock it
down,' a word applied to auctions: cf. Cic. Rab. Post. 17. 45 ecquis est ex
tanto populo qui bona C. Rabirii Postumi nummo sestertio sibi addici velit?
A formal sale before witnesses prevented many legal difficulties which might
arise out of a gift: Gaius 2. 252 in usu erat ei cui restituebatur hereditas
nummo uno eam hereditatem dicis causa venire. 110. imperiosa, ‘stern,'
ἐπαινὴ Περσεφόνεια, called saeva Od. 1. 28. 20. vive valeque: a
common formula of farewell; Ep. 1. 6. 67.
Ep. 1. 6. 67. For the sense cf. Hamlet I. v. 88.
SATIRE VI
Life in the Town and Life in the Country. 31 or 30 B.C.
The following Satire takes rank as one of the finest of the compositions of
Horace. Its object is the exaltation of a quiet life in the country, compared
with the ceremony and the annoyances of town: an air of calm pervades the
whole. Made happy by his Sabine farm, the poet asks no more, 1-15. What
theme then so fit to celebrate as his mountain farm? 16, 17. Most poets
begin their works with an invocation to some god; so Horace calls on Janus,
father of the morning, the patron saint of the beginnings of all human works,
20-23. This invocation reminds the poet what a different sort of day is
ushered in by Janus at Rome and in the country. At Rome he has to go
first thing to the law-courts, to give bail for a friend, 24; then, although a
visit to Maecenas is like honey to him, the rude jostling and sneers he meets
with on his way thither are hard to endure, 29-33; while at Maecenas' levee
importunate people thrust their affairs upon him, 35-37, and others beg his
intercession with Maecenas, making too much of his supposed friendship with
the minister, 38-60. How he longs for the country amidst it all! his books,
idleness, vegetables, and simple fare! his suppers half divine, with his country
neighbours as his guests; his merry and contented slaves, 60-70; the rational
conversation on subjects of high concern, not gossip about this man's house,
or a famous dancer's steps, 70-76; and then good old neighbour Cervius
will tell us his old fables to enforce contentment, and teach us country mice
not to envy the luxurious dangers of the city. The date of the Satire is
pretty accurately fixed in the end of 31, or the beginning of 30 B.C. by lines
40, 53, 55: see the notes on these lines.
1. in votis: Pers. 3. 49.
modus agri: so Cic. Flacc. 32. 80; Juv.
14. 172. non ita: 2. 2. 46. 2. iugis, 'ever-flowing'; with aquae,
as in Ep. 1. 15. 16. 3. paulum silvae: Horace fondly describes his
'bit of wood,' Ep. 1. 16. 5 seq. It was of the extent of a few acres, Od. 3.
SATIRE VI
471
NOTES
16. 29.
super his, 'in addition to these'; a very rare use of super, cf. 2.
7. 78. In prose it would be super haec, but even this is rare. 4. bene
est, 'I am satisfied,' κaλŵs EXEL. 5. Maia nate: Mercury, the prosper-
ing god, κερδῷος, έριούνιος, 2. 3. 25 n. propria, 'fast,' 'inalienable':
cf. Od. 2. 2. 22 n.
11.
6. ratione mala, 'by any evil way.' 7. vitio, 'excess,' 2. 2. 21.
culpa, 'thriftlessness,' 'neglect,' a meaning the word had in juridical Latin.
8. veneror: offer a prayer; Cic. ad Fam. 6. 7. 2 qui multa deos venerati sint.
9. denormat, 'spoils the shape of.' 10. quae aliqua. si quae is perhaps
archaic for si qua, like si qui for si quis: cf. Ter. Heaut. Prol. 44 si quae
laboriosa est, ad me curritur: see 1. 4. 93; Madvig de Fin. 1. 8. 26.
mercennarius: a labourer for hire. The sentence would naturally be illi
mercennario qui, but the attraction is like illi, scripta quibus comoedia prisca
viris est 1. 10. 16. 12. illum ipsum: that very field where he was
working, and found the treasure. aravit tilled it as his own.
:
13.
Hercule: treasure-trove was generally credited to Mercury, cf. 2. 3. 25 n.,
but the Italian Hercules, the god of the enclosed homestead (from hercere),
was the god of property and gain, and it was common to vow a tithe of spoil
or profit to him (cf. pars Herculanea Plaut. Bacch. 4. 4. 11 and Mommsen,
Hist. I. c. xii). gratum: masc. probably; cf. Ep. 1. 11. 22 tu quamcum-
que deus tibi fortunaverit horam | grata sume manu. But many take it as
neut.=‘received with thanks,' a passive meaning which gratus often has.
16. montes: the Sabine hills, in a valley between which Horace's farm
lay; cf. Ep. 1. 16. 5 and note. et in arcem ex urbe: the whole point
would be lost if we did not take these words closely together. The line
means 'when I have moved to my mountains, and exchanged the city for a
citadel.' Horace could call his villa an arx for two reasons- -(1) it was up in
the mountain, and mountains are often called arces; (2) it was really a fort
of refuge to him from city life, as a citadel in a city. 17. quid prius :
what subject before my mountains and my citadel, and the peaceful life I lead
there. saturis: abl. of instr. Musaque pedestri, 'my prosaic Muse';
an admirable epithet to describe the homely language of the Satires, which
Horace calls, Ep. 2. 1. 251, sermones | repentes per humum. Horace uses the
word pedester three times always in the metaphorical sense it bears here :
pedestres historiae Od. 2. 12. 9 are prose histories: sermo pedester A. P. 95,
is homely language. The Greeks used refós in the same way; Luc. de Conscr.
Hist. 8 describes a bombastic history as πεζή τις ποιητική : so πεζῇ μοι φράσον
Ar. Frag. 713 'tell me in prose.' The metaphor is from a person soberly
jogging on on foot, contrasted with the dashing pace of a mounted cavalier.
Quint. 10. 1. 81 remarks of Plato that he rises multum supra prosam orationem
et quam pedestrem Graeci vocant.
18. nec mala ...: a reason why he should sing his country life above
all things. (Here) no ceremony worries me to death. ambitio means, not
what we call ambition, but the duties necessary in town to keep up a certain
position in society; cf. Ov. Met. 11. 765 inambitiosa colebat | rura. plum-
beus, 'leaden-hued': the colour of the sky clouded by Auster is attributed
to the wind itself; so albus Notus Od. 1. 7. 15. Others render 'oppressive,'
giving a sense of leaden weight to the atmosphere; both ideas may be com-
bined in 'leaden.' 19. Libitinae: cf. Ep. 2. 1. 49 n. quaestus, 'a
source of gain to': autumn, the proverbially unhealthy season, brought in grist
to Libitina, in the number of victims to disease; cf. Od. 2. 14. 15 frustra per
472
BOOK II
HORACE
L
autumnos nocentem | corporibus metuemus Austrum. The unhealthy season
did not affect. Horace in his mountains. acerbae is often of death, esp.
'untimely death."
20. Matutine pater, 'father of the morning.' Janus, who gets this title
only in this place, is so called because he was the god of all beginnings-of
the beginning of the day, as well as of the year. audis, 'hearest thyself
called,' like ȧkoveis, kλúeis: four times in Horace in this sense, 2. 7. 101; Ep.
1. 16. 17 tu recte vivis si curas esse quod audís; Ep. 1. 7. 37 rexque paterque |
audisti coram. Milton, P. L. iii. 7, imitates the idiom Or hearest thou
rather pure ethereal stream.' Iane: Ianus might be expected; the very
vocative used is given instead; it might be printed in inverted commas. This
is not a parallel case to attractions of the nom. to a voc., as Pers. 3. 29 cen-
soremve tuum vel quod trabeate salutas, etc. 21. primos labores operum
vitaeque is the construction-a confused one at the best-'the first labours
of their daily life.' 22. tu: emphatic. Horace most happily selects Janus
as the god he is to address: first, he is the god of all beginnings; secondly,
he introduces at once by mentioning him the duties of early morning at Rome,
the most irksome time of the whole day, thus at the very outset setting off
his subject by a strong contrast.
23. Romae, 'at Rome,' most emphatic by position. sponsorem, 'as
a security' for some friend in a legal difficulty. rapis sc. into court;
rapere in ius is common. heia 1. 1. 18. 24. officio respondeat,
answer duty's call,' i.e. the duty owed to one's friend. ne prior cf.
Juv. 3. 130 ne prior Albinam et Modiam collega salutet.
urgue, 'make
haste.' For the intrans. use, cf. the common employment of raûe='stop.' 26.
interiore gyro, 'a narrower circle'; cf. Cic. de N. D. 2. 106 nam cursu in-
teriore brevi convertitur orbe. The sun is described as moving in circles, which
get smaller up to the winter solstice (bruma=brevima). trahit, 'drags on,'
of the tediousness of winter days. 27. postmodo, quod mi obsit, 'what
may one day do me a hurt,'.when his friend, for instance, should fail, and his
security should be forfeited. It is better to join postmodo with obsit, on
account of Od. 1. 28. 31, the only other place where Horace uses the word,
nocituram | postmodo te natis. This seems to be quite decisive, though most
join it with luctandum. There was a proverb attributed to Bias, ¿yyúa
πáρа d' ǎта (‘give your bond for another, and woe is at your door'); and so
Epicharmus in a troch. tetram. ἐγγύα θυγάτηρ μὲν ἄτας ἐγγύας δὲ ζημία. Cf.
Prov. xi. 15 'he that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that
hateth suretiship is sure.' clare certumque locuto: evidently derived
from the very words of a legal formula which commanded a sponsor to give his
promise in a loud and clear voice. certum, adverbially; cf. Od. 1. 22. 23 n.
29. quid vis, insane: the best MSS. read quid tibi vis, which gives
half a foot too much, and Bentley kept this, altering quas res to quam
rem`; but most omit tibi. Palmer suggests quid tibi vis, asine,
quas res agis? 'what are you driving at?' inprobus, a rude
fellow.' 30. precibus, 'curses'; cf. Epod. 5. 86 Thyesteas preces.
pulses, better, perhaps, not as a question, and so satirically 'you must of
course knock over everything in your way should you be hurrying' etc.
hoc ad Maecenatem recurrere, or the fact that they know I am hurrying to
the house of Maecenas.' atras, on account of the burials which once took
place there, 1. 8. It seems slightly bad taste in the poet to remind Maecenas of
the fact. 34. ante secundam: before seven o'clock, or thereabouts. Banks

32.
SATIRE VI
473
NOTES
35. Roscius
and public offices seem to have opened at that hour. Cic. Quinct. 6. 25 Naevius
suos necessarios corrogat ut ad tabulam Sextiam sibi adsint hora secunda
postridie.
cras, Roscius wants (lit. 'wanted') you
to meet him on 'Change to-morrow.' We do not know what Roscius this was.
The words are those of some slave or friend of Roscius. The imperf. is used
quite regularly, much in the same way as it is used in letter-writing, save that
in the latter case the writer projects himself in imagination forward to the
time when the letter is delivered, Madv. 345. Here there is no such projection,
and the imperf. is really a more natural tense than our present. Cf. Aristoph.
Ach. 1073 lévai o' ékéλevov oi oτpatnyol týμepov: Ter. Eun. 3. 3. 26 Thais
maxumo te orabat opere ut cras redires. puteal sc. Libonis, or Scribo-
nianum, the Roman Exchange. puteal was a wall put round a well, to save
people from falling in: then puteal was applied to an erection of similar shape
placed round a sacred spot. A chapel in the Forum had been struck by
lightning, and one Scribonius Libo (probably as aedile) expiated it, and put a
puteal round it. About this puteal the business men of Rome congregated.
A coin of the Scribonia gens, with a representation of the puteal on it, is in
the British Museum, and is figured in Smith's Dict. Ant. Cf. Ep. 1. 19. 8
forum putealque Libonis | mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis; Ov. Rem.
Am. 561 qui puteal Ianumque timet celeresque Kalendas; Cic. Sest. 8. 18
puteali et feneratorum gregibus inflatus.
37.
36. scribae, 'the government clerks': scribae qui rationes publicas
conficiunt in tabulis Festus. They were a regular ordo; divided into decuriae ;
generally of humble rank, often freedmen. They were, however, honestus ordo,
Cic. Verr. 3. 79; and Cic. speaks of them immediately after the senate and
equites, pro Domo sua, 28. 74. They were probably permanently attached to
the offices of the high magistrates in Rome, especially the quaestors and aediles,
and must have been very numerous. In the Satires, besides Horace himself,
we find mentioned as scribae Aufidius Luscus, Sarmentus, and Coranus. The
other sense of scriba, viz. a private secretary, does not occur in the Satires.
The scribae regard Horace as still one of themselves, hence communi. Plaut.
Aul. 2. 2. 22 est quod te volo | de communi re appellare et mea et tua.
Quinte: the scribae, as old acquaintances, familiarly use Horace's praenomen,
as though he were still one of themselves. reverti, 'to go back to the
forum.' 38. signa: during the absence of Augustus from before the
battle of Actium 31 B.C. until his return in 29 B.C., Maecenas had authority
to affix his seal to documents. In the end of 31 Agrippa was associated with
him in the commission. We are told by Plin. H. N. 37. 1. 10 that Augustus'
usual seal had a sphinx on it, and that during his absence his friends sealed
with one.
Pliny also says that Maecenas' seal was a frog, and was looked
upon with great fear, on account of its being affixed to requisitions for
money: Maecenatis rana per collationes pecuniarum in magno terrore erat.
tabellis, 'papers.'
40. septimus octavo
the seventh year-nay, nearer the eighth
than the seventh-will soon have flown,' i.e. rather a confused way of saying
that he had been intimate with Maecenas nearly eight years. This Satire
having been written at the very end of 31 or beginning of 30, this will make
his intimacy with Maecenas to have begun in the spring of 38 B.C., which quite
agrees with the probable date of the journey to Brundisium in the autumn of
that year (Con. rightly renders: 'Seven years, or rather eight '). 42. dum-
taxat ad hoc, 'merely so far.' For quem, taking up ad hoc, cf. 2. 8. 25
474
BOOK II
HORACE
Nomentanus ad hoc, qui. tollere, 'give a lift to,' as in the journey to
Brundisium. reda: see on 1.5. 86. 44. Thraex est Gallina Syro par ?
'Is the Thracian Gallina a match for Syrus?' One class of gladiators were
called Thracians, who were armed with a small round shield (parma) and a
short sword (sica): one of these champions at Rome seems to have been
nicknamed Gallina (the 'Chicken'). Syrus is the proper name of some
gladiator, not the name of a class. He was probably a mirmillo, for Thracians
were regularly matched with mirmillones. These had Gallic
These had Gallic arms, and a fish
(μopμúρos, μopμúλos) for a crest; hence their name: cf. Suet. Dom. 10 patrem
familias quod Threcem mirmilloni parem munerario imparem dixerat canibus
obiecit. Many commentators quote the powerful and pathetic attack of Cic. on
L. Antonius, Phil. 7. 6. 17 mirmillo in Asia depugnavit (L. Antonius).
ornasset Threcidicis comitem et familiarem suum, illum miserum fugientem
iugulavit. 45. mordent: cf. Hamlet I. iv. 1 'the air bites shrewdly; it
is very cold.'
46. rimosa aure, 'a leaky ear.' bene, 'safely,' 2. 4. 21.
deponuntur, of trusting secrets, Od. 1. 27. 18.
-
сит
47. subiectior invidiae: Juv. 10. 56 quosdam praecipitat subiecta
potentia magnae | invidiae.
48. noster, our friend,' i.e. he himself,
Horace. Cf. Plaut. Rud. 4. 7. 19 minume istuc faciet noster Daemones (where
Daemones is speaking himself); Plaut. Amph. 1. 1. 243 certe edepol tu me
alienabis numquam quin noster siem. The idiom was no doubt a vulgarism.
spectaverit: so Bentley (and also luserit) for the spectaverat of nearly all
MSS., the confusion between the 3rd person of the pluperf. ind. and perf. subj.
being very common, and the latter tense regularly used in suppositions.
along with Maecenas. 49. luserit in campo: 1. 6. 126. Fortunae
flius : cf. Soph. Ο. Τ. 1080 ἐγὼ δ' ἐμαυτὸν παῖδα τῆς Τύχης νέμων. 50.
frigidus: кpvepós, that freezes the blood, alarming. rostris: in the
una,
forum, whence orators addressed the people, so called from the beaks of ships
with which the platform was decorated at the end of the great Latin war.
compita: the street corners where people congregated. 52. deos: a strong
expression for the great ministers-stronger even than reges, which Horace
often uses for great men. 53. Dacis: the Dacians had taken Antony's
part, and war was declared against them in the beginning of 30 B.C. For the
dread of them cf. Od. 1. 26. 3 n. ; 3. 6. 13. They were not reduced into a
Roman province until Trajan conquered them in A.D. 101-106. The province
of Dacia comprehended Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia, and part of
Hungary.
ut tu semper
'what a mocker (elpwv) you always
will be.' ut, 'how,' to be joined closely with semper eris. Cf. 2. 8. 62 ut
semper gaudes inludere rebus | humanis! 54. exagitent, confound.'
55. si quicquam: sc. audivi.
55. militibus: Octavian returned from Asia to Brundisium in the
beginning of 30 B.c. to quiet the veterans disbanded after Actium. At the
time this Satire was composed it seems it was still uncertain whether the lands
he was going to assign them would be in Italy or Sicily. Triquetra:
'Sicilian,' properly 'three-cornered,' from the triangular shape of the island:
its three promontories were Pachynus, Lilybaeum, and Pelorus: Lucr. 1. 717
insula quem triquetris terrarum gessit in oris. 57. unum: 2. 3. 24:
Catull. 22. 10 unus caprimulgus, ‘a regular clown,'' an out-and-out bumpkin.'
58. Well rendered by Con. : they think me deep, miraculously mum.
59. perditur: the only instance in classical Latin where the pres. pass.
of perdo is found instead of pereo. lux, 'the day.' 61. veterum libris:
SATIRE VI
475
NOTES
2. 3. 11. Horace had a real affection for his books. somno: the siesta.
inertibus horis: quel dolce far niente (Or.) 62. ducere: λкew, 'to
quaff, as nectaris | sucos Od. 3. 3. 34; Liberum Od. 4. 12. 14; pocula Od.
1. 17. 22; Virg. Aen. 6. 714 Lethaei ad fluminis undam | securos latices et
|
longa oblivia potant. 63. faba Pythagorae cognata: Pythagoras
enjoined vegetable diet, but forbade beans (Juv. 15. 174 ventri indulsit non
omne legumen), either because, holding, as he did, the doctrine of metem-
psychosis, he thought that the 'soul of his grandam might inhabit a bean
(Comm. Cruq.), or, as Cic. Div. 1. 30. 62 tells us, because they caused
inflationem tranquillitati mentis quaerentis vera contrariam, or because beans
and men originally sprang from a similar 'decay' of lifeless substances åπò
τῆς αὐτῆς σηπεδόνος ἀνθρώπους συστῆναι καὶ κυάμους βλαστῆσαι Porph. Vita
Pyth. 44. 64. uncta satis: sufficiently greased by the bacon they were
boiled with, without any more oil. Cabbage, beans, and bacon were then, as
now, good simple country fare, 2. 2. 116; Mart. 5. 78 ponetur digitis tenendus
unctis | nigra cauliculus virens patella. | et pallens faba cum rubente lardo.

The
65. cenaeque deum: the banquets of the gods are often referred to
in Greek and Latin, e.g. Od. 1. 28. 7; 1. 32. 13 dapibus supremi Iovis.
meique: sc. amici. 66. vernasque procaces: the forward home-born
slaves, who were allowed greater liberty of speech than foreign purchased slaves.
Hence Sen. de prov. 1. 6 cogita nos filiorum modestia delectari, vernularum
licentia; Mart. 1. 42. 1 (of a talkative man who thought himself a wit)
urbanus tibi Caecili videris? | non es crede mihi; quid ergo? verna.
picture of the happy slaves is recalled Epod. 2. 65. 67. libatis, 'lightly
tasted.' The dishes, after Horace and his guests had taken what they wanted,
were sent down to the slaves' table. libatis implies that plenty was left for
the slaves. prout seems only found in poetry here and Ausonius, Idyll.
10. 372 mille alii prout quemque suus magis impetus urguet. 68. inaequales,
'unequal,' whether in size or strength. The guests drank as little or as much
wine as they chose. They had no σvμñoσíaρxos, or arbiter bibendi, to fix laws
which each guest was compelled to observe, leges insanae, as Horace calls them.
69. capit properly=xwpeî, contains; as we say, can carry.' Cf. Plaut. Curc.
1. 2. 14 Ph. sitit haec anus. Pa. quantillum sitit? Ph. modica 'st; capit
quadrantal. acria pocula, 'fiery cups': cf. acres | potores 2. 8. 36.
fortis either with a strong head' or 'like a man,' a laudatory epithet, cf.
Ep. 1. 15. 27; Virg. Aen. 1. 738. 70. uvescit, 'becomes moist. uvidus
Od. 2. 19. 18; 4. 5. 39. lentius: MSS. give laetius, 'more merrily,' but
lentius seems a sure correction. Con., in spite of himself, has to translate,
or gently sip, and mellow by degrees,' that is lentius,not laetius.
70. ergo, ‘and then,' 'and so,' is often not an illative particle, but=‘and
so,' 'well,' 'next,' 'to proceed,' like dń, denoting natural consecution: Od. 1. 24.
5; Prop. 3. 7. 1; 3. 3. 29. 72. Lepos: an archimimus, or theatrical dancer,
admired by Caesar, according to the scholiasts, who got this name quod iucunde
et molliter saltaret: hence the name perhaps is connected with lepus rather
than lepor.
73. utrumne: other instances of this superfluous ne are
uterne 2. 2. 107; quone 2. 3. 295; quantane 2. 3. 317; Epod. 1. 7.
75. usus, 'interest,' rò xphoμov, which Aristotle places with rò nồú and rò
ȧyalóv as the causes of friendship, Eth. Nic. 8. 2. 1.
76. et quae .
τί ἐστι τὸ ἀγαθόν ; and τί τὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τέλος ;
certainly not the Cervius of 2. 1. 47.
fables.' Cf, veteres avias Pers. 5. 92.
77. Cervius: any one
aniles fabellas, 'old wives'
78. ex re, adapted to the subject.
476
BOOK II
HORACE
Arelli, a rich man; probably a miserly old fellow. 79. sollicitas in
sense belongs closely to ignarus, though not in syntax; 'ignorant of the cares
they bring' (cf. Od. 3. 6. 17).
79. olim, 'once on a time.' 82. attentus quaesitis, 'with a close
eye to his hoard.' attentus is often used absol. for 'close,' 'frugal.' Ep. 1.
7. 91; 2. 1. 172. ut tamen qualifies attentus: ita ut or sic ut are
generally used in this sense. 83. solveret hospitiis, 'expand,' 'open his
heart in hospitality': solveret is in opposition to artum. ille emphatic ;
'he was not the mouse to grudge.' 84. sepositi ciceris: his precious
vetches had a place to themselves. The genitive with invidere is a Greek
construction, ploveîv Tivi Tivos. longae: probably of the long shape of the
grain: not the tall stalk, nor the long glume at the end of the grain, as Comm.
Cruq. explains it. 87. tangentis male singula, 'scarcely trying one by
one,' and rejecting as soon as tried. 88. pater domus: the Amphitryon :
like cenae pater 2. 8. 7.
91. patientem, картeроûvтα, 'roughing it.' 92. vis tu, 'can't you?'
'won't you?' a strong exhortation: vin tu simply a question, 'will you?' as
Bent. showed. See on 1. 9. 69. 94. The town mouse propounds the
Epicurean theory of the mortality of the soul: festive mus urbanus Epi-
cureum philosophum agit (Orelli). sortita, λeλoyxóra, 'having been
allotted by fate.' 95. quo, bone, circa: the only instance extant of
tmesis in quocirca. Lucilius was famous, as Ennius was too, for more re-
markable tmeses than this, and it is not unlikely that this very tmesis is
taken from Lucilius: cf. Ausonius, Epist. 5. 36 villa Lucani—mox potieris—
aca (for Lucaniaca), adding Lucili vates sic imitator eris, and every one knows
the saxo cere-comminuit-brum of Ennius. 96. dum licet: Od. 2. 11.
16; 4. 12. 26.
•
98. pepulere, smote, influenced: Cic. de Off. 3. 10. 41. 100. iamque
tenebat: the parody of epic poetry is obvious. It is but one step from the
sublime to the ridiculus mus. 103. canderet, 'blazed.' candere is rarely
used save of white things, or of iron at a 'white heat': here it is applied to
the peculiar sheen of purple; Od. 4. 1. 20 n. 105. procul, 'close by.'
Ep. 1. 7. 32 cui mustela procul; Ter. Hec. 607 quem sermonem habueris,
procul huic stans accepi; Virg. Ecl. 6. 16; G. 4. 424. hesterna, 're-
maining from yesterday,' kwλa. 106. ergo, 'well,' line 70. 107. veluti
succinctus: like a slave girt up for waiting at dinner: cf. praecincti 2. 8.
70; Juv. 8. 162 et cum venali Cyane succincta lagena. The epithet well
describes the empressement of the host. cursitat, runs hither and thither
supplying the wants of his guest. 108. continuatque dapes, 'serves
course after course. nec non verniliter: the town mouse could not
resist the temptation of taking a lick at the things he offered his guest, therein
resembling slaves who furtively dipped their fingers into the dish and licked
them (dum furta ligurrit 2. 4. 79).
111. agit laetum convivam, 'plays the well-pleased guest.' Cf. Ov.
Her. 2. 78 heredem patriae, perfide, fraudis agis. 112. valvarum stre-
pitus, 'banging of the doors." valvae are usually the double doors of a
temple here the large double doors of the banqueting-room; see Kiessling.
113. conclave, dining-room.' 114. simul, 'as soon as. Molossis :
cf. Epod. 6. 5 n. 117. solabitur especially refers to appeasing hunger.
Virg. G. 1. 159 concussaque famem in silvis solabere quercu.
SATIRE VII
477
NOTES
SATIRE VII
The wise man alone is Free.
This Satire is a companion to 2. 3, in which the Stoic theory that all fools
were mad is defended by Damasippus. Here Horace's slave Davus plays the
philosopher at second hand like Damasippus, his oracle being the hall-porter
of the pedant Crispinus, and argues that none but the wise are free. Before
the main text is reached, 45 seq., Davus, tired of always being listener to his
master's tirades, takes on him to lecture his master. The vice of inconsistency
(one by the way which Horace often attacks in others) he shows attaches to
Horace himself, 20-35. The exposure of Horace's vices is carried on with the
most unsparing candour. How can Horace be called free, the slave of pas-
sion, 45-94; of picture-mania, 95-101; of gluttony, 101-111; of a restless
disposition, 111-115 ?
Orelli says of this Satire miras rursus Stoicorum exaggerationes inridet, a
remark which is equally inapplicable to this and to the Third Satire. There
is no ridicule. We feel as we read that Horace felt his slave's censure was
just, and that he was a slave, and knew it. Though no Stoic, Horace could
not but recognise the truth of some of these so-called paradoxes. The only
Stoic paradoxes he really ridicules are the only ones which deserve ridicule,
viz. the equality of offences, and the doctrine of the external perfection of the
Sapiens (1. 3). No Satire made a stronger impression on Persius than this:
his Fifth Satire is founded on it. For much of his treatment Horace is in-
debted to Cicero's Essay on the Stoic Paradox: ὅτι μόνος ὁ σοφὸς ἐλεύθερος, καὶ
πᾶς ἄφρων δοῦλος (Parad. 5).
1. iamdudum ausculto, 'I've been long listening': to what? possibly
while Horace was reading out or talking to himself (Orelli), or while he was
scolding some slaves (old comm.) Perhaps, however, ausculto only describes
the expectant attitude of a slave ready to receive orders or obey a summons—
'I've been long waiting.' 2. reformido: his master's hot temper was
well known to him. ita=etiam, 'yes.' amicum: emphatic, to show
that in the lecture that follows Davus had his master's welfare at heart; cf. 2.
3. 58 n.
3. frugi quod sit satis, 'tolerably honest.' hoc est, ut
vitale putes: I mean by that, that you need not suppose me in any danger
of dying young owing to my being over honest, referring to the proverb that
those whom the gods loved died young. Menand. Frag. 4. 105 Mein. dv oi leoì
piλoûσw ảπoðvýσkel véos, translated by Plaut. Bacch. 4. 6. 18 quem di dili-
gunt adulescens moritur; Soph. Phil. 448; Burns 'O why has worth so short
a date, When villains ripen gray with time'; Byron, Childe Harold, 4. 102
|
The doom Heaven gives its favourites-early death.' 4. libertate De-
cembri: the freedom which slaves enjoyed during the Saturnalia, 2. 3. 6.
>
6. constanter: emphatic. urguet, 'sticks to.' 7. pars multa
=magna pars; cf. Od. 3. 30. 6 multaque pars mei. natat, 'wavers'; cf.
Sen. Ep. 35. 4 mutatio voluntatis indicat animum natare. 8. obnoxia,
sing. notatus has a connotation of censure: 'was a subject for remark.
9. tribus anellis: for a man to wear more than one ring was considered
foppish (Isidore, Orig. 19. 32), and the wealthy Crassus only allowed himself
two. laeva: the ring was worn on the left hand, as being the least used,
Macrob. Sat. 7. 13 hinc factus est ut usus anulorum exemptus dexterae quae
multum negotiorum gerit in laevam relegaretur: on the third finger. Pris-
478
BOOK II
HORACE
1.
cus, of whom we know nothing save from this passage, seems to have worn
the broad stripe of a senator or the narrow stripe of an eques, according as
the whim seized him. 10. inaequalis, ut, 'inconsistent to such an ex-
tent that.' For the omission of tam cf. 1. 5. 33; 7. 13.
clavum: 1. 5. 36.
11. Carry on ut to conderet, 'as to move from a splendid mansion and bury
himself in a dwelling, out of which a freedman of the better class could
scarcely be seen coming.' 13. Athenis, one of the universities of the
ancient world: itself called doctae Ov. Her. 2. 83. 14. Vertumnis
iniquis: cf. lymphis iratis 1. 5. 97 n. Vertumnus, the god of the changing
year (a relic of a passive participle vertomenus), who could assume any shape
he pleased. See Prop. 4. 2. Priscus was born 'under the ban of all the
Vertumni'; because he seemed condemned to be changing, and to be just as
far from contentment as ever.
He
15. scurra, 'the diner-out'; cf. Ep. 1. 15. 28. iusta cheragra,
'well deserved gout in the hand' (Ep. 1. 1. 31 n.) brought on by his own fond-
ness for good feeding: podagra is gout in the feet. 16. articulos, 'his
finger-joints'; Pers. 5. 58 cum lapidosa cheragra | fregerit articulos.
combined a love of gambling, with a love of dining out at other people's
expense. Dice were often produced after dinner, and gambling was thus a
part of his daily life. The story here told of Volanerius has its parallel in
the modern whist-player who, having palsy, used to get a friend to sort his
hand, and draw his cards. tolleret, 'take up.' 17. phimum, pupós,
'dice-box': only here in Latin. fritillus and pyrgus, or turricula, are
generally supposed to mean the same thing. 18. conductum pavit, 'kept
a person whom he hired for a daily wage'; cf. Juv. 3. 141 quot pascit servos
(βόσκειν). 19. levius miser, 'more lightly afflicted.' 'Lord Shaftesbury
goes so far as to assert, that even the man who is uniformly and systematically
bad enjoys more happiness (perhaps he would have been nearer the truth if
he had contented himself with saying that he suffers less misery) than one of
a more mixed and more inconsistent character '-Stewart, Active and Moral
Powers, p. 210, quoting this passage. illo: so one Blandinian for ille of
other MSS.
20. contento laxo fune: abl. of instrument. The origin of the pro-
verb seems to be from towing a boat or drawing a vehicle. Cf. Luc. Dial.
Mer. 3 ad fin. ὅρα μὴ κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν ἀπορρήξωμεν πάνυ τείνουσαι τὸ
καλώδιον. 21. hodie: this use of hodie is taken from the language of
every-day life; cf. Ter. Ad. 4. 2. 31 verum hodie numquam monstrabo—' will
you keep me all day waiting till you tell me?' 23. idem: of an incon-
sistent person, as often, 2. 3. 309; Od. 2. 10. 16 n. 24. si quis ..
deus. : the sentiment and hypothesis of 1. 1. 15. 25. clamas,
'what you are shouting,' 'ranting,' 1. 1. 12. 27. caeno: cf. Ter. Phorm.
5. 2. 15 in eodem luto haesitas: but here there is a reference to the slough of
wickedness and depravity. Cf. Catull. 17. 25 et supinum animum in gravi
derelinquere caeno.
29. levis, ‘fickle'; Od. 3. 9. 22; Prop. 1. 18. 11 sic mihi te referas levis.
30. ac velut usquam vinctus eas, 'and would go out anywhere as it
were in chains': as though it would take chains to drag you. Most put a
comma after ac, whereby the true sense seems lost: ac is to be joined to eas,
not to dicis: and velut goes with vinctus and is not here-velut si. This is
the only construction which allows its proper force to ita, which means, as
often, 'to judge from the way in which'; 'so much do you bless your lot.'
SATIRE VII
479
NOTES
31. amasque, 'you hug yourself with delight.' Cf. 1. 2. 53 hoc se amplec-
titur uno | hoc amat hoc laudat; Cic. ad Att. 4. 16. 10 in eo me valde amo.
33. serum refers to the lateness of his getting the invitation. There is
modesty in this: Maecenas sees uni locum esse, to use the Roman phrase, and
sends a message to his humble friend. sub lumina prima, repì λúxvwv
ȧpás, just after nightfall, perhaps about six o'clock. 34. oleum, i.e. a
lantern to escort him through the streets. For the habit of the Romans to be
escorted by slaves with lanterns, see Juv. 3. 285, with Mayor's note; Mart.
8. 75. 6 ingenti domino servulus unus erat, | tam macer ut minimam posset vix
ferre lucernam. fert is much better than feret of many MSS.: the present
belongs to the language of daily life; cf. Plaut. Bacch. 4. 1. 10 ecquis hoc
aperit ostium? Ter. Phorm. 1. 2. 102 puer heus! nemon huc prodit?
blateras, ‘rant,' 'blather out,' belongs only to the sermo cotidianus.
que, 'you are off like a runaway.' There is some irony in Davus choosing a
word often applied to runaway slaves; the word happens to fit in with his
sermon proving his master a slave. For fugio, of rapid flight, not without
this allusion to the fuga of slaves, cf. Asin. 2. 2. 113 quin tuum officium facis
ergo ac fugis? Poen. 1. 3. 17 Mi. propera atque abi. Ag. Fugio. Mi. meum
est istuc magis officium quam tuum. Vet. Bland. has furis.
35.
fugis-
36. Mulvius and the other scurrae, or parasitical diners-out, had, we
may suppose, come to Horace's house, either by invitation or in the hope of
being asked to dinner, and been unceremoniously dismissed by Horace on
receiving the minister's commands. precati imprecati; cf. iratis pre-
cibus 2. 6. 30. 37. ille, Mulvius. He is no hypocrite: he likes a good
dinner, and is not ashamed to own it. 38. levem, 'weak.' nasum
nidore supinor, 'I curl my nose at a savoury smell.' nasum, acc. of
respect, or rather supinor is used in a middle sense. 39. si quid vis, eť tɩ
βούλει.
Bouλel. Cic. ad Att. 7. 2. 3 adde, si quid vis, probum. popino, a haunter of
taverns. Many nouns in -o have a sensual meaning. Lucilius is very fond of
this formation, and has lurco, comedo, mando, catillo, all meaning gluttons;
cf. ganeo, nebulo, debauchees. 40. ultro: Od. 4. 4. 51 n.
42. quid deprenderis, 'what if you are detected as being a greater fool
than I, a slave whom you bought for 500 drachmae?' about £20. The price
of slaves varied very much. In Ep. 2. 2. 5 a clever slave is offered at 8000
sesterces, about £70. Martial 1. 59 and 2. 70 mentions slaves brought
centenis millibus, over £800; and 3. 62, twice that price. The price here
mentioned seems that of an ordinary slave without special accomplishments.
43. aufer takes the inf. terrere as object-'drop frightening me. Cf. Plaut.
'Curc. 2. 1. 30 aufer istaec quaeso, 'a truce to that.' 45. Crispini ianitor.
Horace himself was afraid, 1. 1. 120, lest he should be suspected of having
plagiarised from Crispinus: here his slaye owns his obligations to Crispinus'
hall-porter; cf. Arist. Acharn. 400 & тpioμaкápi' Evpiπídŋ | 80' ỏ doûλos
ούτωσὶ σοφῶς ὑποκρίνεται. As Davus is about to tell his master some home
truths, he thinks it as well to represent he got them from some one else.
76. minor, Twv, 'the slave of'; Ar. Nub. 1081 kåkeîvos (sc. ỏ Zeûs)
ὡς ἥττων ἔρωτος. vindicta, the praetor's rod, which was laid upon a
slave when being manumitted; cf. Pers. 5. 88 vindicta postquam meus a
praetore recessi. 78. super, 'in addition to'; see on 2. 6. 3: it might
also be taken as adv. insuper. 79. vicarius: a slave of a slave, bought
by a slave out of his peculium to help him. 80. vester, 'of you masters.'
vester, when addressed to an individual, always, in the Augustan age at least,
480
BOOK II
HORACE
meant the class to which that individual belonged. So Prop. 3. 15. 12 nescit
vestra ruens ira referre pedem, ‘a woman's anger knows no appeasing'; Ov.
Her. 17. 40 verbaque dicuntur vestra carere fide, 'a man never keeps his
promises.' tibi quid sum ego: the answer expected is either 'your
vicarius' or 'your fellow slave'; for Horace is a slave himself—the slave of
his passions. 81. alii: another master, viz. his passions; cf. line 93.
servis, verb. Cf. Pers. 5. 125 an dominum ignoras nisi quem vindicta
relaxat ? 82. duceris lignum, 'you are guided like a puppet
which is moved by strings from without. For these wooden puppets
(vevpóoraora) cf. Apuleius de Mund. 125 illi qui in ligneolis figuris gestus
movent quando filum membri quod agitari solet traxerint torquebitur cervix,
nutabit caput, oculi vibrabunt-totus videbitur vivere, and for the metaphor
Plat. Legg. 1. 644 Ε τόδε δὲ ἴσμεν ὅτι ταῦτα τὰ πάθη ἐν ἡμῖν οἷον νεῦρα ἢ
μήρινθοί τινες ἐνοῦσαι σπῶσί τε ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀλλήλαις ἀνθέλκουσιν.
•
•
85. re-
83. sibi imperiosus, 'who owns no master but himself.'
sponsare, answer back,' 'defy,' used of servants, cf. Plaut. Men. 4. 2. 56
num ancillae aut servi tibi responsant? Hence it is excellently used here where
the meaning is that a man should not be the willing slave of his passions. See
too 2. 4. 18; Ep. 1. 1. 68. contemnere fortis: for construction cf. Od.
1. 3. 25 n. 86. in se ipso totus, 'all self-contained,' aνтáρкηя. Bent.
first pointed the line thus, though totus teres atque rotundus is still a common
quotation; cf. Cic. Paradox. 2 non potest non beatissimus esse qui totus aptus
ex sese, qui in se uno sua ponit omnia. teres atque rotundus, 'smooth
and round,' ¿.e. like a perfect sphere, which the Stoics adopted as a simile for
the wise man; cf. M. Anton. 8. 41 TÀU YÊU. οὐ σίδηρος οὐ τύραννος οὐ
βλασφημία οὐχ ὁτιοῦν ἅπτεται ὅταν γένηται σφαῖρος κυκλοτερής, the last two
words being from the description of the universe by Empedocles as opaîpos
κυκλοτερής μονίῃ περιηγέϊ γαίων. Simonides likened the good man to a
square; Plato, Protag. 339 Δ ἄνδρ' ἀγαθὸν μὲν ἀλαθέως γενέσθαι χαλεπὸν |
χερσίν τε καὶ ποσὶ καὶ νόῳ τετράγωνον ἄνευ ψόγου τετυγμένον.
terni
87. ex-
morari, 'on whose smooth surface no speck of stain from with-
out may tarry.' 88. in quem manca, 'against whom all Fortune's
assaults are powerless,' or the meaning may be even stronger, 'in her assaults
on whom Fortune maims herself." Cf. Sen. Prov. 1. 2. 9 ecce par deo dignum
vir fortis cum adversa fortuna compositus. Shakespeare speaks of those |
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled, | That they are not a pipe
for fortune's finger | To sound what stop she please' (Hamlet III. ii. 73), and
Cic. Par. 5. 1, of the free man cui quidem etiam Fortuna ipsa cedit.
91.
89. his, the virtues just enumerated. quid=aliquid, 'anything.'
90. Cf. Cic. Parad. 5. 2 an ille mihi liber cui mulier imperat? etc.
gelida: sc. aqua. Juv. 5. 63 quando vocatus adest calidae gelidaeque
minister? 92. non quis, 'you can't'; Cic. oftener uses non queo than
nequeo. 93. The metaphor of a man's passion driving him like a horse is a
striking one; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 100 where the same metaphor is used to describe
the mastery of Apollo over the Sibyl ea frena furenti | concutit et stimulos sub
pectore vertit Apollo. 94. subiectat stimulos, 'drives in the goad,' cf.
Virg. 1. c. versatque negantem: åкovтa oтpéeɩ. agitare is the usual
word for 'driving' a horse. agitator bonus, 'a good driver': Lucil. 1020.
ļ
95. Not only is the man of lust a slave, but the man who lets himself be
carried away by a mania for works of art. Horace is here nearly versifying
Cicero, Parad. 5. 2, who after speaking of the slave of a woman, says: ego vero
SATIRE VII
481
NOTES
1
istum non modo servum sed nequissimum servum, etiam si in amplissima familia
natus sit, appellandum puto, and goes on to the art connoisseur : atque ut in
magna familia sunt alii lautiores (ut sibi videntur) servi sed tamen servi atri-
enses ac topiarii (ornamental gardeners), pari stultitia sunt quos Corinthia aera
(opera), quos aedificia magnifica nimio opere delectant. Pausias of Sicyon,
a famous painter, circ. 370 B.C. His 'flower girl,' σтeþаvηπλóкos, was bought
by L. Lucullus at Athens for two talents. torpes: cf. Cic. Parad. 5. 2 Echionis
tabula te stupidum detinet aut signum aliquod Polycleti. 96. Fulvius
and Rutuba were gladiators, perhaps contemporary with Davus. 97.
Pacideianus is borrowed, like others of Horace's proper names, from Lucilius
who has (136 Lach.) cum Pacideiano componitur, optimus multo | post homines
natos gladiator qui fuit unus. He was a very famous gladiator, and is
mentioned by Cic. more than once, e.g. Tusc. 4. 21. 48. poplite: the
strained muscles in the back of the legs of the contending gladiators. 98.
rubrica, carbone: these delineations in red chalk or charcoal were like the
modern illustrated posters of a circus, which seem works of high art to the
vulgar. 100. cessator, 'loiterer,' 'truant.' 101. audis: 2. 6. 20.
102. nil, ‘naught,' 'good for nothing.'
105. Although my back comes
in for it (see Ep. 1. 2. 14 n.), when I filch a cake, you don't get off scot free
when you indulge in gormandising; your health suffers. qui: abl. 'by
what,' 'how.' 107. inamarescunt, 'turn sour on the stomach': dulcia
se in bilem vertent 2. 2. 75. It is äraέ eipnµévov. 108. inlusi, 'baffled,'
disappointed': the feet try to stand, and fail. vitiosum, 'pampered':
vitium is excess, 2. 6. 7. 109. an hic peccat . . . This is an instance
of paratactic structure common with an: 'Is the slave guilty who steals a
flesh-scraper and swops it for a bunch of grapes? the master who sells all his
acres to gratify his appetite not guilty of a slave's fault?' 110. mutat,
'takes in exchange,' cf. Od. 1. 17. 2. 111. gulae parens belongs to
praedia vendit: the man who sells his estates to supply money to buy
luxurious viands is described.
112. tecum esse, 'to be in your own company' (the opp. of se fugere
Od. 2. 16. 20), explained by next line. This restlessness seems here attributed
by Horace, and attributed justly, to overfeeding and intemperance. 113.
ponere, which often means to 'invest money' as 1. 2. 13, here is used of
making a proper use of leisure. fugitivus et erro: fugitivus is the
runaway slave, erro is the slave who stays out beyond his time, who loiters:
a truant. The picture of the restless man has been suggested by the beautiful
lines of Lucretius, 3. 1057 seq. 115. frustra: Lucretius often uses nequi-
quam thus in a sort of despairing way, to express the futility of human effort,
as Prof. Sellar expresses it. atra: Od. 3. 1. 40 post equitem sedet atra Cura.
116. Horace's temper at last gets the better of him. unde with acc., 2. 5.
102. 117. It was a customary threat with masters to hold out to their
slaves the prospect of their being sent to the slave prisons, ergastula, in the
country: Plaut. Most. 1. 1. 17 cis hercle paucas tempestates, Tranio, | augebis
ruri numero genus ferratile. Horace here threatens Davus he shall join the
eight slaves working on his Sabine farm, and bid farewell to the pleasures of
city life.
2 I
482
BOOK II
HORACE
SATIRE VIII
A Snob's Dinner-party.
Fundanius, the comic poet (1. 10. 42), describes to Horace a banquet given
by Nasidienus Rufus, at which Maecenas and he were present. The host was
a wealthy man, without the breeding of a gentleman. Accordingly, the
banquet was a lamentable failure. The host's vulgarity appears chiefly in the
fact that he makes remarks about everything that is put on his table lines
6, 17, 31, 44-53, 92. In this he is backed up by his parasite Nomentanus,
who is specially deputed to point out everything that escapes the notice of the
guests. An accident happens, the dusty hangings falling from the wall, and,
instead of cheerfully apologising, the host weeps, 54. But to add to his
vulgarity he has a bad cook, 28, 68, 90; he has his groom waiting, and he
waits badly, 72. In short, the Nemesis overtakes him which overtakes all
who give dinner parties without the art of doing it. It is a mistake to regard
him as a miser: he has very expensive viands; the best kind of boar; costly
fish, fowl, game, fruit, all suaves res, line 92, and the best wine. He is a
simple sort of fellow, and does not see any malice in Balatro's sarcastic
remarks, line 75. Unfortunately, our ignorance of Roman manners may keep
us from detecting some of the points in which the awkwardness of Nasidienus
lay; and it is possible, too, that we may be led into the opposite error of
imagining ridicule where there is none intended.
1. ut . . . iuvit? cf. Ep. 1. 3. 12: ut valet? the use of ut to introduce
a question is conversational. Nasidieni: to be scanned Nasidjeni. The
second syllable is short, if we may trust Mart. 7. 54. 8 aut vigila aut dormi
Nasidiene tibi. So fluviorum, ariete, parietibus in Virg. Cf. Od. 3. 4. 41 con-
silium, 3. 6. 6 principium. In Servilio line 21, vindemiator 1. 7. 30, the
synaeresis is after a long vowel. beati: there is some irony in the word
he was really dives, but scarcely beatus: cf. Od. 4. 9. 46. 2. dictus=
dictus es; the ellipse is very harsh, but to be explained as conversational
(Kiessling; Orelli), cf. Plaut. Aul. 347 Cererin, Strobile, has facturi nuptias?
sc. estis. Among other ellipses of the auxiliary verb, sortitus= sortitus sim,
1. 6. 53, comes next in harshness. here this form, which occurs a few
times in Plaut., rarely in the golden age, perhaps once in Cic., was in the post-
Augustan age the regular form. heri is spoken of by Quint. 1. 4. 7 as quite
archaic. 3. de medio die: the more fashionable banquets were the
earlier they began, convivia tempestiva. Cf. Catull. 47. 5 vos convivia lauta
sumptuose | de die facitis, with Ellis' note: the ninth hour was a more usual
one for a dinner-party: imperat extructos frangere nona toros Mart. 4. 8. 6 ;
Cic. ad Fam. 9. 26. 1; or later, the 10th hour, Mart. 7. 51. 11; or later still
sub lumina prima 2. 7. 33; supremo sole Ep. 1. 5. 3. Nasidienus, like a
vulgarian, aping the height of fashion, begins his dinner at the very early hour
of noon.
4. fuerit melius, 'I never had a better time'; cf. Plaut. Most.
3. 2. 1 melius anno hoc mihi non fuit. Like ut iuvit the phrase is ironical: he
'enjoyed the dinner' and 'had a good time,' in a sense which his questioner does
not yet suspect. dic has more MS. authority, but da is very idiomatic; and
the change from da to dic is more likely than the reverse. Ter. Heaut. Prol. 10
paucis dabo; Virg. Ecl. 1. 18 da, Tityre, nobis; Cic. Acad. Post. 1. 3. 10 da
mihi nunc.
stomachum
5. With iratum ventrem placaverit cf. 2. 2. 18 latrantem
leniet. Obbar says on Ep. 1. 2. 45 'pacare opponitur fere
SATIRE VIII
483
NOTES
hostili, placare irato.' Hence pacare is used of taming feras, incultas silvas,
etc.; while placare is to put in a good humour, appease, satisfy: used in
Horace of appeasing the gods, Od. 3. 23; envy, 2. 3. 13; the irritable race of
poets, Ep. 2. 2. 102.
6. in primis: Kiessling (followed by Orelli) rightly makes the boar served
cold and forming with the other piquant edibles the gustatio. That a boar,
which usually formed the caput cenae, should be thus served marks extravagance.
Cf. Pliny, H. N. 8. 51. 210 in principio (cenae) bini ternique manduntur apri.
Lucanus aper: cf. 2. 3. 234. leni Austro: the host at once begins to
speak of the peculiar excellences of his viands: a gentle south wind had, he said,
given the boar a delicate flavour; boar's flesh was preferred rather high. fuit
firstly there was a L. boar which had been caught . . .'; captus is participle.
So Madvig, but most put colon after aper, 'firstly a L. boar it was one.
caught
In no case is captus fuit=captus est, cf. 1. 6. 13. 7. cenae
pater, like pater domus 2. 6. 88. 8. rapula and radices are both
species of radishes, the former perhaps the round white kind, resembling small
turnips in shape. 9. siser, 'skirret.' allec, 'fish-pickle.' faecula,
tartar lees.'
11.
13.
The point is the
10. acernam: next to the high-priced orbes of citrus wood, maple tables
were most prized at Rome; Plin. H. N. 16. 15. 66 acer operum elegantia
ac subtilitate citro secundum; Mart. 14. 90; Mayor on Juv. 1. 137.
gausape, a towel with a thick nap; nom. sing. gausapes or gausape;
also gausapum: in plur. gausapa. The line is from Lucil. 517 purpureo
tersit tum latas gausape mensas. purpureo: both the table and the
towel are quite grand. pertersit: the table had no cloth on it; but that
was not strange; the use of table-cloths was later: Becker's Gallus 2. 153.
12. sublegit: such slaves were called analectae. Mart. 7. 20. 17 colligere
longa turpe nec putat dextra | analecta quidquid et canes reliquerunt.
Attica virgo: one of the κavηpóρo: cf. 1. 3. 9 n.
kavnpópoɩ:
solemn air with which Hydaspes advances with the wine in his hands, as
though such wine were not to be met with at every house. 14. fuscus
Hydaspes: a black slave from India who was called after the river of his
native land. So Enipeus Od. 3. 7. 23; Hebrus 3. 12. 6. Fritzsche mentions
a philosopher Euphrates, Plin. Ep. 1. 10. 1. 15. Caecuba: a very choice
wine ; see Dict. Ant. s. v. vinum. vina: poetic for vinum; cf. Epod. 2.
47 et horna dulci vina promens dolio. So Caecubum Od. 1. 37. 5, but Caecuba
2. 14. 25. Chium: one of the best Greek wines; cf. Od. 3. 19. 5. maris
expers, i.e. the very best that could be got. To the choice wines of Chios
and Lesbos no brine was added: see Galen x. p. 833 où µǹv ovdè eiwbaoɩ Toîs
εὐγένεσιν οἴνοις μίγνυναι τῆς θαλάσσης ἐν Λέσβῳ, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἐν Χίῳ.
év
The poorer sorts were thus doctored, Telaλaoowμévol. So in Italy resinata
τεθαλασσωμένοι.
vina were inferior (Mart. 3. 77. 8); cf. Columella 12. 19. 2 quaecumque vini
nota sine condimento valet perennare optimam esse censemus. So we talk of
'brut' wines.
•
• ·
16. Albanum and Falernum were not ranked as high as Caecuban by
Pliny: Alban was placed in the third, Falernian in the second class, though
in his day equal to any. 17. habemus utrumque: the words mark
the ostentation of Nasidienus: he produces the choicest Caecuban, but not
content with that, remarks that if his guest prefers these other fine wines they
are both at hand. It is this ostentation which wrings from Horace the ex-
clamation divitias miseras! 'what wretched riches!' i.e. what a wretched
484
BOOK II
HORACE
rich man, who does not know how to use his riches like a gentleman. 19.
pulchre fuerit, 'you enjoyed yourself': pulchre esse=bene esse; Plaut.
Merc. 3. 3. 22 has pulchre ut simus: cf. 1. 9. 62. laboro, 'I am anxious'
for the infin. cf. Od. 1. 15. 27 n.
•
20. summus ego: see Triclinium in Smith's Dict. Ant. The following
sketch shows how the guests were disposed on this occasion:-
summus
L
imus
Medius lectus
medius
ՏՂԱՂՈՆՈՆՂԱՏ

6
Maecenas
5
Vibidius
4
Balatro
Porcius
Nasidienus | Nomentanus
Imus lectus
medius
S
imus
6
mensa
imus
Summus lectus
medius
3
2
1
Varius
Viscus
Fundanius
SUMMUS
Nine was the regular number for a triclinium: three on each couch, though
the number was often exceeded, 1. 4. 86. Varro, ap. Gell. 13. 11, says the
number of the diners ought to begin with that of the Graces, three, and not
exceed that of the Muses, nine. The lowest couch was generally reserved for
the host and his family or friends. He was usually summus (7), the place
here occupied by Nomentanus. No. 6 (imus of the middle couch) was re-
served for the most honoured guest; it was called locus consularis (úñatikós),
Plut. Quaest. Conviv. 1. 3. Viscus Thurinus: probably one of the Visci
mentioned 1. 10. 83. 21. Varius: 1. 5. 40; 1. 9. 23, where he is men-
tioned with Viscus. Servilio: trisyllabic, for the antepenult. is long;
Juv. 10. 319; Claud. Eutr. 1. 217. This person had the nickname Balatro,
from his buffoonery: see on 1. 2. 2; he plays the part referred to in
1. 4. 87. 22. Vibidius: not mentioned elsewhere. umbras: unin-
vited guests, left to a guest to bring with him; cf. Ep. 1. 5. 28. Maecenas
seems to have been fond, not only of literary men, but also of scurrae,
and hangers-on generally. Augustus, in a letter to him, quoted by Suet.
in his life of Horace, tells him to let Horace come to him to be his
private secretary ab ista parasitica mensa. 23. Nomentanus is not
necessarily the prodigal of 1. 1. 102; 2. 3. 224, but probably a man of that
character, a ruined spendthrift. It was bad taste in Nasidienus to ask such a
man to meet Maecenas, but his circle was not a fashionable one.
ipsum,
Nasidienus, the master of the house; so aúrós is used. Porcius: unknown;
he ate like a pig, hence Horace selects the name for him. 24. ridiculus
absorbere : Od. 1. 3. 25 n. totas simul (which many MSS. give) and totas
:
SATIRE VIII
485
NOTES
semel mean the same thing from different points of view, namely, that Porcius
swallows his cakes whole. simul would lead us to think of the cake not
broken, as was usual, into fragments, but swallowed whole. semel would
refer to the one gulp made by Porcius.
25. ad hoc, qui for ad hoc, 'for this purpose,' taken up by a
relative, cf. 2. 6. 42; 2. 1. 37. Why Nasidienus gave Nomentanus his seat
next Maecenas is obscure; perhaps for the reason indicated in this line, that
he could better there point out to Maecenas what might escape his notice.
26. indice, the forefinger; the other fingers were called medius (or famosus
or infamis), medicus, minimus. cetera turba, nos, inquam probably
refer to the occupants of the summus lectus. Nasidienus only cared about
Maecenas and his umbrae; so Nomentanus is posted next to them, to point
out to them what was good. 'We, on our couch,' says Fundanius, ‘had to
get on as best we could.' 28. celantia, 'hiding,' not merely 'containing':
there is some irony in the word; they would expect the ordinary flavour, but
are disappointed. The neuter is regularly used when a plural adj. connects
things of different genders; see Madv. 214 B. 29. ut vel continuo
patuit, 'as at once became apparent,' i.e. the strange flavour of the viands.
The odour of the passer and of the ilia rhombi was enough to convince Fundanius
of this, without tasting them (ingustata). The nom. to porrexerat is probably
'our host.' It was Nasidienus who held out the plaice (passer) and the
turbot to Fundanius: this is also shown by melimela me docuit rubere, for
these subtle disquisitions belong to Nasidienus all through the Satire. Kiess-
ling explains 'as for instance (vel, cf. 1. 6. 105) was at once made apparent
when he (? Nomentanus) had handed to me a dish that I refused to taste,'
not having any idea what it was. The passage is very obscure.
31. melimela, honey apples, formerly called mustea: Varr. R. R. 1. 59.
minorem ad lunam delecta, 'gathered by the light of a waning moon';
not merely gathered when the moon is on the wane, for ad lunam always
means by moonlight. Virg. Aen. 4. 513 messae ad lunam; Juv. 10. 21 ad
lunam motae trepidabis arundinis umbram; cf. 2. 4. 30. 32. hoc: their
being gathered so. ipso, i.e. from Nasidienus. 34. damnose bibimus,
'drink him bankrupt.' moriemur inulti: an epic phrase. Virg. Aen. 2.
670 numquam omnes hodie moriemur inulti, 4.659. Vibidius means': Nasidienus
is killing us with his vulgarity, poisoning us with his bad cookery: let us
have revenge before we die. 35. calices poscit maiores: to call for
larger cups was not unusual with hard drinkers; generally, however, after
the second course was put on the table. Cf. Epod. 9. 33 capaciores affer huc,
puer, scyphos; Cic. Verr. 2. 1. 26. 66 poscunt maioribus poculis. ver-
tere: Eur. Med. 1168 χροίαν ἀλλάξασα. 36. parochi, 'our caterer,' 'our
inessman': see on 1. 5. 46; here a contemptuous expression for their host.
37. vel quod . He fears, as a parvenu might, what language his guests
might use to himself when they began to express their real thoughts, or else
that they would dull the sensibility of their palate to the flavour of his dishes.
Palmer and Orelli say that his real reason is that he could not bear to see his
good wine drunk freely. So too, they say, line 17, he brags of his Alban and
other wines, but does not produce them; cf. too lines 40, 81. 39. inver-
tunt, tilt into': cf. Lucil. 113 vertitur oenophoris fundus, sententia nobis ;
Virg. Aen. 9. 165 vertunt crateras aënos, which is taken from Ennius. Alli-
fanis sc. scyphis, large earthenware cups made at Allifae, in Samnium.
vinaria, 'decanters.'
486
BOOK 11
HORACE
40. secutis omnibus, imi . . . i.e. though every one else followed the
example of Servilius and Balatro, the parasites of the host were careful to
comply with his humour and drink little. Editors place the colon after
omnibus, but H. W. Moss rightly places it after Balatroque. 42. squillas,
'prawns,' 2. 4. 58: these were swimming, as it were, in sauce round a
large lamprey. 43. porrecta implies that the dish was a large one,
2.2. 39. sub hoc, 'on this.' So sub haec Epod. 5. 83. 44. partum,
'spawning.' 45. his mixtum ius est, 'the sauce is composed of the
following ingredients.' prima: olives were pressed three times, we are
told by Colum. 12. 52. 11. The oil primae pressurae was naturally the
richest and best. Venafri: 2. 4. 69. 46. garo, 'caviare.' piscis
Hiberi, 'mackerel. 48. dum coquitur, 'while boiling,' the sauce was
to have Italian wine added to it; after boiling,' some Chian: cf. the
composition of the two kinds of sauce, 2. 4. 64 seq.; there plain sweet
oil is put in before boiling; the best Venafran oil was added afterwards.
50. The vinegar must be vinegar made from Methymnaean, i. e. Lesbian wine.
The line literally means which has turned the grape (i.e. the wine) of
Methymna by its spoiling,' i.e. by fermentation. The essential principle of
the vinegar (which is in the wine) has worked on the wine until it has soured
it; cf. mutatum vinum 2. 2. 58. 51. Nasidienus has a discovery to boast
of, like Catius' preceptor, 2. 4. 74. It consists of boiling with the other
ingredients (incoquere) erucas, 'rockets' (and these must be green and fresh),
and inulas, 'elecampane.' 52. incoquere, 'boil in the sauce.' Curtillus
claims, and is allowed, a niche in the temple of culinary fame. His invention
was to boil in the sauce sea-urchins without washing them (inlutos), so as to
retain the 'liquor.' 53. ut melius muria quod : explanatory of
inlutos, 'inasmuch as that which the sea-shell itself yields is better than the
fish-pickle liquor.' In Catius' sauce, 2. 4. 65, muria is an ingredient:
Curtillus' invention makes it unnecessary. ut melius ὡς κρείσσον ὄν.
muria: 2. 4. 65. quod=id quod. remittit: cf. 2. 4. 69.
•
=
These
54. aulaea, 'hangings'; cf. Od. 3. 29. 15 sine aulaeis et ostro.
were hung from the walls, like tapestry, merely for decoration; cf. Val. Max.
9.1.5 Attalicis aulaeis contectos parietes. See Illustration in Becker's Charicles,
319; Marquardt, Privatleben, ed. 2, 311. 56. The Campanian level
plains were dry and dusty. 58. erigimur, 'we regain courage,' a common
use of the word. tolleret, 'cheered up,' in 61 has the same metaphor.
Rufus Nasidienus Rufus, the host. 59. flere instead of cheerfully
apologising, he cried as if his heart would break. The dramatic infin. gives a
mock-heroic tone, cf. vertere 35; note too the position of the word. 62. ut
semper, 'how you will always make game of human affairs'; cf. Od. 3. 29.
49, and for ut gaudes 2. 6. 54.
63. mappa, which he stuffed in his mouth. Horace does not give any
hint as to Maecenas' behaviour. It was probably that of a polite gentleman.
64. naso: 1.6.5. 65. eo, 'on that account,' 1. 3. 30. 67. tene: addressed
to Nasidienus. ego is part of Balatro's raillery. Nasidienus did not go to
such trouble for men of Balatro's mark. 68. It will give sting to Balatro's
remarks if we suppose all the anxious care of Nasidienus was vain; that the
bread was really burnt, and so forth. 72. agaso: a clumsy groom pressed
to wait at table, who, we may suppose, removing the patina, lets it drop.
75. tibi di . . . a common formula of blessing; Plaut. Mil. 4. 2. 47 di tibi
dent quaecumque optes; Stich. 3. 2. 15 di dent quae velis. 76. Nasidienus
SATIRE VIII
487
NOTES
was minus aptus acutis | naribus horum hominum, and could not see through
Balatro's ill-natured raillery. 77. soleas poscit: Nasidienus calls for his
slippers to leave the table, in order to go out and personally see to the safe
bringing in of new dishes, to make up for the one that was spoilt. In the
house the Romans wore slippers, soleae: these were taken off before lying
down at dinner; hence demere soleas is equivalent to lying down at table;
poscere soleas, to rising from it. Plaut. Truc. 2. 4. 12 cedo soleas mihi, when
about to leave the table; the same speaker, changing his mind about going,
says, line 16, iam rediit animus, deme soleas, cedo bibam. Cf. Ep. 1. 13. 15.
videres you might see the guests putting their heads together as they
whispered. 78. The whispering is imitated by the sigmatismus.
81. quoque, which should follow the word it belongs to, is here somewhat
irregularly placed, as it clearly refers to lagoena, 'whether the wine flagon is
broken as well as the dish' containing the lamprey. 82. The table had
been cleared when the curtains fell; but the slaves, perhaps acting on a hint
from Nasidienus, had not set fresh cups before Vibidius, who, he thought, had
drunk as much as was good for him. 83. ridetur: impers. fictis
rerum at pretended subjects. So vanis rerum 2. 2. 25; abdita rerum
A. P. 49. Balatrone secundo, 'by the help of Balatro,' who invented
subjects for the guests to pretend to laugh at. The expression is a burlesque
of phrases like Iunone secunda, Marte secundo. 84. Nasidiene: the
apostrophe is also epic. mutatae frontis: a very strong gen. of quality
with a verb like redire, 1. 1. 33.
86. mazonomo, a large dish, properly a trencher, from which bread was
served (μάζα, νέμειν). discerpta, 'pulled asunder,' not cut. 87. The
flesh of the crane is spoken of by Pliny, H. N. 10. 23. 60, as highly prized.
It is remarkable that grus is here masc. contrary to the ordinary rule: so
too anser is regularly masc., but vet. Bland. gives albae for which albi of most
MSS. is probably a correction. 89. avulsos: the wings of the hare
were to be separated from the loins, and separated by tearing. 90.
edit: the archaic form of the subj. used by Hor. also Epod. 3. 3; Virg.
Aen. 12. 801; it is used in Cic.'s letters, and very frequently in Plautus.
91. vidimus, C
we looked on while they were served,' did not touch
them. merulas, blackbirds, a delicacy among the Greeks and Romans :
Aristoph. Av. 1081. sine clune: the rump was thought the best
part of birds, Gell. 15. 8. 2. Nasidienus or his cook thought differently.
92. causas et naturas : as if Nasidienus were lecturing on some
physiological theme. As Virg. says of Lucretius, who wrote de Rerum
Natura, Georg. 2. 490 felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. 93. sic
ut describes the manner of their revenge. 94. velut=velut si. illis,
dat., like Prop. 2. 29. 17 adflabunt tibi non Arabum de gramine odores;
Tibull. 2. 1. 80 felix cui placidus leniter adflat Amor. 95. The breath of
certain serpents was supposed to be deadly. Colum. 8. 5. 18 cavendum ne a
serpentibus (pulli) adflentur. C. Rabirius, p. 226, ed. Kreyssig (ap. Or.) percutit
adflatu brevis hunc sine morsibus anguis. For the witch Canidia, cf. 1. 8.
EPISTLES-BOOK I
EPISTLE I
Maecenas, as is plain from the opening words, had urged Horace to resume
the composition of lyric verse. If any special occasion for this advice is to be
sought, it may probably be found in the journey of Augustus to the East in
21 B.C., followed by the expedition of Tiberius to Armenia, and the restoration
<of the Roman standards taken by Crassus (cf. 1. 12. 26). It would be natural
for Maecenas to wish that his friend and protégé should not lose the opportunity
thus supplied for a panegyric on the Emperor and his policy. Horace here
expresses the reasons which had led him to devote himself for the future
rather to the study of philosophy; differing from the mass of mankind who
value wealth above virtue, he declares that it is only in the pursuit of the
latter that true happiness is to be found.
•
1-19. You would fain, Maecenas, press me into service again, but I have
received my discharge; an old soldier may well be allowed to hang up his arms
and rest, for fear of a break-down at last. I am laying aside all trifling
pursuits, and storing up provision of wisdom, following no special school, but
borne along wherever the breeze may take me.
1. prima . . . Camena, 'theme of my earliest, destined theme of my
latest Muse': Camena, one of the Italian goddesses of song (earlier form
Casmena or Carmena from √kas 'sing'), cannot cover any reference to the Satires,
which were merely sermones. Either the phrase is a conventional expression
of high esteem, cf. Hom. Il. 9. 97 ἐν σοὶ μὲν λήξω, σέο δ' ἄρξομαι, Theoc. 17. 1
ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα καὶ ἐς Δία λήγετε, Μοίσαι, Virg. Εcl. 8. 11 a te principium,
tibi desinet: or possibly the reference is to the Epodes, dedicated to Maecenas,
as Horace's first effort in lyrics, cf. Epod. 1. 1, also Od. 1. 1. 1. summa=
ultima as in Od. 3. 28. 13; Virg. Aen, 2. 324, for which supremus is more
common both in prose and verse. 2. spectatum, 'approved': the technical
term, stamped on the tessera (prize medal) which a gladiator received, after
distinguishing himself in the arena. A large number of these tesserae have
been discovered, made of bone or ivory, and bearing the inscription SP. or
SPECT. See Wilkins. donatum iam rude, 'already discharged.' rudis
was the wooden foil with which gladiators practised, Livy 26. 51. 4; hence
a rudis was presented to a veteran as a sign that he was no longer to take
part in serious encounters. Cf. Suet. Calig. 32 Murmillonem e ludo, rudibus
secum batuentem et sponte prostratum, confodit ferrea sica; and for the applied
meaning Cic. Phil. 2. 29. 74 tam bonus gladiator rudem tam cito? Ovid, Am.
2. 9. 22 deposito poscitur ense rudis; Trist. 4. 8. 24 me quoque donari iam
rude tempus erat; Juv. 7. 171. 3. antiquo in its more strict sense, 'in
which I served of old.' includere after quaeris, a usage confined to poetry
· (e.g. S. 1. 9. 8; Od. 3. 4. 39, and later prose, e.g. Tac. Germ. 2; Roby 1344).
ludo, 'the training school' ludus gladiatorius, cf. Caes. de Bell. Civ. 1. 14
gladiatores quos ibi Caesar in ludo habebat.
BOOK I EPISTLE I
489
NOTES
4. Veianius: Porphyrion writes nobilis gladiator post multas palmas
consecratis Herculi Fundano armis tandem in agellum se contulit: there seems
no positive evidence that gladiators were regarded as under the protection of
Hercules; but this god would be naturally selected by a gladiator. So a
soldier in Anth. Pal. 1. 241 writes: δέξαι μ', Ηράκλεις, ᾿Αρχεστράτου ἱερὸν
ὅπλον, | ὄφρα ποτὶ ξεστὰν παστάδα κεκλιμένα | γηραλέα τελέθοιμι. For the
dedication of the instruments of a profession on leaving it cf. Od. 3. 26 Intr.
6. extrema harena, i.e. at the outside edge of the circus, under the podium,
where the more distinguished spectators had their seats.
spectators had their seats. Veterans who had
received their discharge were sometimes induced to reappear on special
occasions (cf. Suet. Tib. 7 munus gladiatorium dedit, rudiariis quibusdam
revocatis auctoramento centenum milium). Veianius, however, after his discharge,
retired altogether that he might not, after so many victories, break down and
be compelled again and again to appeal as a defeated combatant for the mercy
of the spectators. The desire that mercy should be shown to a defeated
gladiator was expressed by turning down the thumbs (Pliny, H. N. 28. 2. 5
pollices, cum faveamus, premere etiam proverbio iubemur: cf. 1. 18. 66; Juv. 3.
36, Mayor's note). As exoro in itself is always 'to prevail upon,' we must
here press the imperfect force of the present 'attempt to prevail upon': Roby
1454, 3, S. G. 591. 7. purgatam, 'well rinsed,' for which purpose
vinegar was sometimes used; cf. Pers. 5. 86. qui: for the 'inner voice
cf. ib. 5. 96 stat contra ratio et secretam gannit in aurem. 8. sanus=si
sapis. 9. peccet, 'break down.' ilia ducat, 'strain his panting
Aen. 9. 415 longis singultibus ilia
non tussientibus modo sed ilia
flanks'; cf. ilia tendunt Virg. G. 3. 507;
pulsat; Plin. H. N. 26. 6. 15 iumentis
quoque trahentibus: all these phrases mean 'to become broken-winded.'
10. itaque: not found second in a sentence in prose before Livy. ludicra,
'toys,' i.e. trifles, cf. 1. 6. 7. pono=depono, as sometimes even in Cicero,
e.g. de Orat. 3. 12. 46; de Off. 3. 10. 43; and often, especially with arma,
in Livy.
11. quid verum: sc. sit, a rare omission in prose: cf. Cic. de
Off. 1. 43. 152 (Holden). For verum, 'right' тò πρéπov, cf. 1. 12. 24; S.
2. 3. 312; idne est verum Ter. Andr. 3. 4. 5. It is not so much speculative
as moral truth of which. Horace is in quest. omnis in hoc sum, 'I am
wholly absorbed in this':. cf. S. 1. 9. 2 totus in illis. 12. condo et
compono, 'I store up and arrange,' so as to be able to produce at once, like
a good condus promus.
• •
·
14.
13. ne forte roges: cf. 2. 1. 208 ac ne forte putes; Roby 1662, S.G.
690. quo tuter, 'who is my leader, and what the home in which
I find shelter.' dux=head of a school: Quint. 5. 13. 59 duos diver-
sarum sectarum quasi duces. The terms domus and familia were often
used of a philosophic school (e.g. de Orat. 1. 10. 42; 3. 16. 21): hence
the transition to lar, properly the household god, is natural.
addictus: as strongly supported by MSS. as adductus, and unquestionably
right here; for the metaphor of the gladiatorial school is still retained: cf.
Petron. 117 uri vinciri verberari ferroque necari, et quicquid aliud Eumolpus
iussisset: tamquam legitimi gladiatores domino corpora animasque religiosissime
addicimus; Quint. 3. 1. 22 neque me cuiusquam sectae velut quadam super-
stitione imbutus addixi. The word is strictly used of an insolvent debtor,
'adjudged' by the praetor as the slave of his creditor, but is here employed
in a reflexive or middle sense 'not binding myself to swear obedience to
any master.'
The inf. is like that in 1. 2. 27. magister Samnitium is
490
BOOK I
HORACE
•
•
iurare in
used of the trainer' of gladiators in Cic. de Orat. 3. 23. 86.
verba: cf. Epod. 15. 4 n. 15. quo
cumque: tmesis, cf. Od. 1. 6. 3 n.
deferor: cf. Cic. Acad. 2. 3. 8 ad quamcunque sunt disciplinam quasi tem-
pestate delati.
16. agilis=πрактɩкós, i.e. I adopt the doctrines of the Stoics, which make
it a duty to take an active part in civic life. If virtue does not consist in
idle contemplation, but in action, how dare the wise man lose the opportunity
of promoting good and repressing evil by taking part in political life?' (Zeller,
Stoics and Epicureans 320 E. T.) Later Stoics however advised philosophers
not to intermeddle at all in civil matters (ib. 323). 18. Aristippi: Cic.
Acad. 2. 42 alii voluptatem finem bonorum esse voluerunt, quorum princeps
Aristippus Cyrenaicus. Aristippus who regarded the bodily gratification of
the moment as the highest pleasure represents a lower stage of the philosophy
of mere enjoyment than Epicurus himself. 19. mihi res... conor, i.e.
I endeavour to subdue all events and circumstances to my own enjoyment,
and not to become a slave to circumstances. Cf. 1. 17. 23 n.
20-26. I pass my time in weariness and impatience until I can attain to
that virtue which alone blesses rich and poor alike. 20. quibus mentitur
amica, 'whose love proves jade.' 21. opus debentibus
debentibus = operariis,
'those who are bound to give their service,' 'hirelings': cf. Job vii. 1 'Are
not his days also like the days of an hireling? As a servant earnestly desireth
the shadow' etc. 22. custodia, 'charge,' i.e. general oversight, to be dis-
tinguished from the legal guardianship (tutela), which was never assigned to
the mother, for women were themselves always under tutela, so that strictly
speaking no one could be pupillus to his mother. 23. spem
antur, 'delay the fulfilment of my hope'; cf. Livy 23. 14 si spem morarentur.
25. aeque, aeque, repeated for the sake of emphasis by anaphora to show
that there is absolutely no exception. Cf. Tac. Agric. 15 aeque discordiam
praepositorum, aeque concordiam subiectis exitiosam. 26. neclectum,
'while its neglect,' a participle in agreement for an abstract noun with the
genitive; cf. Od. 2. 4. 10 n.
• •
mor-
27-32. If I cannot attain to perfection, I can still put into practice the
elementary knowledge which I possess. 27. restat, i.e. in spite of the hind-
rances which I meet with in my attempts at progress. elementa = στοιχεία
TOû Xoyou of Zeno, the κúpiai doğal of Epicurus (Zeller 408), general ethical
principles. 28. possis: Roby 1552, S. G. 650. oculo: oculos,
though adopted by Bentley, who proves that both constructions are legiti-
mate, has much less MS. authority. Lynceus, one of the Argonauts,
famed for his keen sight, cf. Pind. Nem. 10. 62 keivov yàp éπixlovíwv távτwv
γένετ᾽ ὀξύτατον ὄμμα, Aristoph. Plut. 210 βλέπειν ὀξύτερον τοῦ Λυγκέως.
30. desperes: Roby 1740, S. G. 740. Glyconis, shown by Lessing
(Werke 8. 526) from a Greek epigram (Anth. Pal. 7. 692 гλúkwv, тò ПIEрyа-
μηνὸν 'Ασίδι κλέος, ὁ παμμάχων κεραυνός, ὁ πλατὺς πόδας, ὁ καινὸς ῎Ατλας,
αἵ τ᾽ ἀνίκατοι χέρες ἔρροντι κτλ.) to have been a famous athlete contemporary
with the poet. This quite disposes of the notion that there may be a reference
to the Farnese Hercules, the work of the sculptor Glycon. 31. nodosa :
gout produces chalk-stones in the fingers, as with Milton, who in his later
years was 'pale but not cadaverous, his hands and fingers gouty and with
chalk-stones': cf. S. 2. 7. 15 cheragra .contudit articulos. corpus pro-
hibere cheragra: for the construction of prohibere='guard from' cf. Cic.
de Off. 2. 12. 41 cum prohibent iniuria tenuiores; Od. 1. 27. 4 Bacchum pro-
EPISTLE I
491
NOTES
•
·
tenus,
hibete rixis: similarly with arcere 1. 8. 10. 32. quadam
formed like hactenus, eatenus etc. and common in Pliny the elder: the earlier
reading quodam has equal MS. authority, but is a copyist's correction and
would not be good Latin, tenus never being employed with an adverb of
direction, Roby 2164.
33-40. The cure for all diseases of the mind is to be found in the magic
spells of philosophy. 33. fervet, 'is fevered.' For the mood cf. est line 32;
Roby 1553, S. G. 651. Horace appears to have been especially struck by
the greed for money in his own time, and refers to this with great frequency:
2. 1. 119; 2. 2. 148; S. 1. 4. 26; 2. 3. 82, etc. cupidine, always mascu-
line in Horace, never in Virgil: Ovid's practice varies. 34. verba et
voces, 'spells and strains,' the former apparently magic formulae (Virg. G.
2. 129 miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia verba), the latter incantations, so
that Horace inverts the order of Euripides (Hipp. 478) eloìv d' ¿πwdai kal
λόγοι θελκτήριοι· | φανήσεταί τι τῆσδε φάρμακον νόσου. The term voces how-
ever probably also includes music (cf. 1. 2. 23; S. 1. 3. 8; A. P. 216), to which
great efficacy was ascribed in allaying pain; e.g. Aul. Gell. 4. 13 creditum
est ischiaci cum maxime doleant, tum si modulis lenibus tibicen incinat,
minui dolores. 35. morbi, the Tálos of the Stoics. 36. certa piacula,
specific remedies': as antiquissimo tempore morbi ad iram deorum im-
mortalium referebantur (Cels. Praef. 1), the remedies provided by philosophy
are spoken of as 'propitiatory offerings.' These 'remedies' are the precepts
contained in the books of the philosophers, which must be read through thrice,
after previous purification. For the magic efficacy of the number three cf. S.
2. 1. 8 n. libellus is not without a reference to the books of magic charms
(cf. Acts xix. 19), though it denotes primarily the writings of philosophers.
38. amator, 'licentious'; cf. Od. 3. 4. 79 n. 40. culturae: Tusc. 2.
5. 13 ut ager quamvis Fertilis sine cultura fructuosus esse non potest : sic sine
doctrina animus . . cultura autem animi philosophia est.
•
41-52. At any rate the first step in a virtuous life can be taken. Even this
would free you from the toils which many undergo, though they would escape
them if they knew the true value of things. 41. virtus: sc. prima; cf.
Quint. 8. 3. 41 prima virtus est vitio carere.
42. vides: Horace has now
quite passed away from Maecenas, and is addressing the reader, as often.
43. repulsam: a technical word for losing an election, cf. Od. 3. 2. 17. At
this time the elections were nominally left in the hands of the people (Suet.
Oct. 40 comitiorum pristinum ius reduxit), although Augustus reserved to
himself the right of nominating half the magistrates, and of exercising a veto
upon unworthy candidates. Cf. Merivale c. 44. 44. animi capitis-
que, ‘of mind and head'; i.e. generally of all your faculties. 46. per mare,
etc.: proverbial expressions, not to be pressed in detail, cf. S. 2. 3. 56; Solon
Fragm. 13. 43 σπεύδει δ᾽ ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος· ὁ μὲν κατὰ πόντον ἀλᾶται | ἐν νηυσὶν
χρήζων οἴκαδε κέρδος ἄγειν | ἰχθυόεντ', ἀνέμοισι φορεύμενος ἀργαλέοισιν,
φειδωλὴν ψυχῆς οὐδεμίαν θέμενος. 47. ne cures ut non-cures.
meliori, masc.: cf. 1. 2. 68.
48.
49. circum pagos, 'who goes the round of the villages': cf. S. 1. 6. 82
circum doctores aderat; Cic. pro Quinct. 6. 25 Naevius pueros circum amicos
dimittit. compita, 'cross-ways,' where spectators might easily collect,
especially at the festivals known as Paganalia and Compitalia, the former in
January, the latter about the same time. 50. magna, the famous games
at Elis. There were other less celebrated Olympic games in Greece.
coro-
492
BOOK I
HORACE
68
nari Olympia: a Gk. construction, σrepavoûolaι 'Оλúµπia 'to be crowned
as victor in the Olympian games.' 51. sine pulvereȧkovití. Pliny, H.
N. 35. 11 Alcimachus pinxit Dexippum, qui pancratio Olympia citra pulveris
tactum, quod vocant ȧkovití, vicit; Milton, Areopagitica, 'the race, where that
immortal garland is to be run for not without dust and heat.' 52. Horace
throws out somewhat abruptly a philosophic common-place, and then goes on
to point out how it is practically denied by the conduct of most men.
53-69. All Rome is full of lessons of self-seeking, and a man is measured
by what he has, but even the boys know that this is not the true standard; and
we are conscious that the pursuit of virtue is worthier than that of money.
54. Ianus summus ab imo, 'the whole Janus from the top to the bottom.'
For Ianus, 'the exchange,' see S. 2. 3. 18 n. For summus ab imo cf. Ovid,
Ib. 181 iugeribusque novem summus qui (Tityos) distat ab imo.
55. pro-
docet=palam docet, 'holds forth,' or perhaps rather docendo praeit: the
word is only found here; in πρodidáσкew the preposition sometimes seems to
retain very little force.
56. laevo...
lacerto: repeated from S. 1. 6.
74 q.v. and rejected by many recent editors. But it is found in all MSS., and
may be defended as heightening the irony: old and young all repeat the
same lesson, like a pack of school-boys on their way to school. 57, 58.
These two lines are inverted in the earlier editions, and in most good MSS.
lingua, a ready tongue.' fides: either 'credit,' that is, a respectable
position in money matters, though not quite up to the standard for a
knight (cf. 1. 6. 36), or perhaps better 'loyalty' to your friends, to be con-
nected closely with lingua, and hence not, as Orelli thinks, tautologous
after mores. 58. quadringentis: sc. milibus sestertium, the 400,000
sesterces fixed as the rating of the equites by the lex iudiciaria of C. Gracchus.
sex septem: for the asyndeton cf. Ter. Eun. 2. 3. 41 his mensibus sex
septem; Cic. ad Att. 10. 8. 6 sex septem diebus. It does not seem to occur
with any other numerals; but cf. ter quater. 59. plebs, not in its legal
sense, but in the general meaning a 'low fellow.' So Hom. Il. 12. 213 dîμov
εόντα, on which Hesych. comments δημότην, καὶ ἕνα τῶν πολλῶν: cf. 1. 19.
37; S. 1. 8. 10. rex eris si recte facies: Isidor. Or. 8. 3. 4 gives the
full trochaic tetrameter réx eris, si rêcte facies, sí non facies nón eris.
meaning is 'if you play well, we will make you our king'; Horace, however,
takes advantage of the ambiguous meaning of recte facies, 'play well' or
'do right.'
The
61. nil conscire sibi, 'to be conscious of no guilt': the use of sibi after
an imperative is somewhat like that in Cic. de Nat. D. 1. 30. 84 sibi displicere,
ib. 44. 122 utilitatum suarum, where the subject is indefinite, although in the
one case the second person, in the other the first has preceded. 62. Roscia
lex: L. Roscius Otho, trib. pl. in 67 B.C., carried a law that the first
fourteen rows of the cavea at the theatre, next to the orchestra which was
occupied by the senators, should be reserved for the equites: the law was very
unpopular, and in 63 B.C. Roscius was hissed in the theatre (Plut. Cic. 13), but
the people were pacified by Cicero, and Roscio theatralis auctori legis ignove-
runt, notatasque se (sc. tribus) discrimine sedis aequo animo tulerunt (Pliny,
H. N. 7.30. 117). Cf. Epod. 4. 15; Juv. 3. 153-159. 'sodes, 'please' = si
audes; cf. Cic. Orat. 45. 154 libenter verba iungebant, ut sodes pro si audes, sis
pro si vis.
si audes is found in Plaut. Trin. 2. 1. 22, and audeo=avidus sum
originally. For o as the popular pronunciation of au cf. Roby 250. 63.
nenia, 'ditty' or 'jingle.' 64. Curiis: especially Curius Dentatus, the
EPISTLE I
493
NOTES
teen rows.
de-
conqueror of Pyrrhus. The plural just as we might talk of 'Nelsons.'
cantata, ever on the lips of.' Cic. de Orat. 2. 32. 140. 65. facias,
jussive subjunctive in quasi-dependence on a repeated suadet: Roby 1606,
S. G. 672. rem, 'money.' 67. propius, i.c. from one of the four-
lacrimosa, 'tear-drawing': cf. S. 1. 5. 80 lacrimoso fumo.
Pupi, a poet of the time of whom nothing is known. The scholiasts quote
an epigram as composed by him, which is far more probably due to some
' good-natured friend': flebunt amici et bene noti mortem meam, | nam populus
in me vivo lacrimatust satis. 68. responsare liberum et erectum, 'to
stand up boldly, like a free man, and defy.' For responsare cf. S. 2. 7. 85 n.
69. praesens, standing by your side to help you; cf. 2. 1. 134.
•
•
70-93. I have learned that the views commonly followed lead only to ruin :
and besides, men vary so much in the means they adopt, and even are capri-
cious in the objects they pursue. 71. porticibus: long covered colonnades,
used largely for resort in the heat of the day, or in wet weather, and fre-
quently wide and long enough to drive in, cf. S. 1. 4. 134; Mart. 1. 12. 5-8 ;
Juv. 7. 178-180. The Campus Martius under the Emperor became a forest of
marble colonnades and porticoes' (Burn's Rome 300). iudiciis, ' opinions.'
73. quod vulpes respondit: the fable is found in Babrius 103.
76. belua multorum capitum: Plat. Rep. 9. 588 c Onplov Tokiλov Kai
Toλukeþáλov, Shakespeare, Coriol. IV. i. 1 'the beast | With many heads
butts me away'; Scott 'Thou many-headed monster-thing' (Lady of the
Lake, 5. 30). 77. conducere publica, 'to take state-contracts,' not
merely the collectors of the taxes but all quis facile est aedem conducere,
flumina, portus, | siccandam eluviem, portandum ad busta cadaver (Juv. 3.
30). sunt qui venentur, i.e. the captatores, or 'legacy-hunters';
see S. 2. 5 Intr. 78. frustis et pomis, 'tit-bits and fruit,' instances of
the attentions (officia) or as Tacitus, Germ. 20, calls them orbitatis pretia, which
were usual in such cases: cf. Mayor on Juv. 3. 129; 5. 98.
All MSS. of any
value have frustis: the crustis of recent editors seems simply an emendation.
viduas includes the unwedded, as well as the widowed: cf. Livy 1. 46. 7 se
rectius viduam et illum caelibem futurum fuisse, where viduam acts as the
feminine of caelibem. 79. excipiant, a hunting term; cf. Od. 2. 15. 16 n.
vivaria, ‘preserves,' where animals were kept and fattened: Pliny, H. N. 8. 52.
211 says of wild boars vivaria eorum ceterorumque silvestrium primus togati
generis invenit Fulvius Lippinus . . .: nec diu imitatores defuere L. Lucullus
et Q. Hortensius: so that the custom was new in Horace's time. The word
is more general than cetaria, 'fish-ponds,' S. 2. 5. 44. 80. occulto, (1)
'secret,' as being either higher than that legally allowed, or derived from
loans to minors, who were protected by the lex Plaetoria; or (2) of the
'unnoticed growth' of interest: cf. Od. 1. 12. 45 crescit occulto . aero.
81. esto, 'granted that,' a common phrase with Horace, generally mark-
ing a transition from that which may be conceded for argument's sake to
another point which cannot be conceded. 82. idem, nom. plur. durare,
intrans. 83. sinus, 'retreat,' not 'bay.' Baiae was a favourite resort
of the wealthy Romans; cf. Od. 3. 4. 24 n. 84. lacus: sc. Lucrinus (Od.
2. 15. 3); mare: sc. Tuscum. The rich man who has taken a fancy to Baiae
at once begins building out into the lake or the sea the substructions for a
splendid villa; cf. Od. 3. 1. 33-36; 2. 18. 17-22. Baiae itself was at least two
miles from the lake, but the whole coast was covered with villas, and the
name was not strictly limited; in fact there was no distinct town of Baiae.
494
BOOK I
HORACE
85. vitiosa libido, 'morbid caprice.' 86. fecerit auspicium, 'has lent
its sanction': the auspicium was properly the indication of the will of heaven;
hence there is an intentional oxymoron in the juxtaposition of libido and aus-
picium, the thought being like that in Virg. Aen. 9. 185 an sua cuique deus
fit dira cupido? The auspicium never suggested an action, but only indi-
cated approval or disapproval; hence avoid rendering 'has prompted him.'
Teanum: sc. Sidicinum, an inland town of Campania, about thirty miles from
Baiae, where it was now his whim to have a villa. There was another Teanum
in Apulia. 87. tolletis, perhaps future for imperative (Roby 1589, S. G.
665 (b)), or, as in the text, the words are used by Horace himself, not put
into the mouth of the erus.
88.
87. lectus genialis, 'a marriage-couch,' sacred to the Genius of the
family, because he provides that the house shall never be without offspring.
aula, properly 'front-court,' here atrium, 'hall,' where the lectus genialis
was placed, opposite the door (hence called adversus Propert. 5. 11. 85).
prius, 'preferable.' caelibe: cf. Quint. 1. 6. 36 ingenioseque visus est
Gavius caelibes dicere veluti caelites, quod onere gravissimo vacent, idque Graeco
argumento iuvit: ïléovs enim eadem de causa dici adfirmat, a theory which
Quintilian justly includes among foedissima ludibria. 89. bene esse, ‘it
is well with.' 90. Protea: S. 2. 3. 71; Hom. Od. 4. 455. 91. cena-
cula, 'garrets': Varro L. L. 5. 162 ubi cenabant, cenaculum vocitabant :
posteaquam in superiore parte cenitare coeperunt, superioris domus universa
cenacula dicta. The word is never found='dining-room.' Cf. Mayor on
Juv. 10. 18. 92. conducto .. he hires a boat, and goes to sea for
a change, though he gets sea-sick there just as much as the rich man.
•
94-105. This inconsistency is so universal that you do not notice it in
me, although you ridicule me for any carelessness in dress. 94. inaequali
tonsore: abl. of attendant circumstances (Roby 1240), when the barber
cut awry' see, however, Od. 1. 6. 1 n. 95. subucula, ‘a shirt.'
Cf. Varro in Non. p. 542. 23 posteaquam binas tunicas habere coeperunt,
instituerunt vocare subuculam et indusium. sub-u-cula contains the same
root u as ind-u-o, ex-u-o. pexae: properly 'combed,' hence 'with the
nap on, fresh'; cf. Mart. 2. 58. 1 pexatus pulchre rides mea, Zoile, trita.
96. dissidet inpar, 'sits awry, and does not fit.' 97. rides: Maecenas
was himself noted for dandyism. What follows shows that Horace is now
directly addressing Maecenas, not the reader. 99. aestuat, 'is as
changeful as the sea; cf. James i. 6 ὁ γὰρ διακρινόμενος ἔοικε κλύδωνι
θαλάσσης ἀνεμιζομένῳ καὶ ῥιπιζομένῳ. disconvenit, 'is out of joint,'
only here and 1. 14. 18 in classical Latin. 100. diruit, aedificat:
for building as a 'craze,' cf. S. 2. 3. 308. mutat quadrata rotundis,
doubtless a proverbial expression, 'turn round to square and square again to
round' (Pope).
>
>
101. insanire sollemnia me, 'that my madness is but the universal
one'; an acc. of extent, Roby 1094, S. G. 461. The Stoics regarded all
except the wise' man as mad; cf. S. 2. 3. 44. 102. curatoris, the
guardian appointed by the praetor by an interdictum to look after a lunatic;
cf. S. 2. 3. 217, 218 and notes. 103. tutela, not in its legal sense, but not
without a reference to it, though you charge yourself with my fortunes.'
104. unguem: the Romans usually had their nails carefully trimmed by
the barber (cf. 1. 7. 50 n.). 105. respicientis: Bentley objects that
respicere is always used of the regard that a superior has for an inferior (cf.
EPISTLE II
495
NOTES
Ps. cxxxviii. 6 'Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly'),
and therefore reads suspicientis, 'looking up to you.' But cf. Caesar, B. C. 1. 1
sin Caesarem respiciant atque eius gratiam sequantur. The word differs from
our 'respect' as implying rather regard for the wishes or interests of some
one.
106-109. The virtuous man is indeed as blest as the Stoics deem him, except
when his digestion troubles him. Horace here, as elsewhere, gives a humorous
turn at the close to the argument which he has been seriously propounding.
106. ad summam: Cic. de Off. 1. 41. 149 ad summam, ne agam de singulis;
Juv. 3. 79 in summa, non Maurus erat; and often in Pliny. For the Stoic
sapiens who is perfect in everything, cf. S. 1. 3. 125 seq. uno minor
Iove: Senec. Prov. 1. 5 bonus ipse tempore tantum a Deo differt; Sen. Ep.
73. 13 Iuppiter quo antecedit virum bonum? diutius bonus est. dives:
'he is absolutely rich, since he who has a right view of everything has
everything in his intellectual treasury,' Zeller, Stoics, 270. Cf. Cic. Parad.
6 ὅτι μόνος ὁ σοφὸς πλούσιος. 107. liber: 'the wise man only is free,
because he only uses his will to control himself' (Zeller, 1.c.) Cic. Parad.
5 ὅτι μόνος ὁ σοφὸς ἐλεύθερος καὶ πᾶς ἄφρων δοῦλος. honoratus=ad
honores evectus: 'the wise only know how to obey, and they also only know
how to govern' (Zeller). pulcher, 'he only is beautiful, because only virtue
108.
is beautiful and attractive' (Zeller). rex regum: S. 1. 3. 125 n.
pituita: the phlegm produced by the inflammation of any mucous membrane;
hence probably here, as in S. 2. 2. 76, of a disordered stomach, or else of
catarrh; so that the meaning may be 'except when a cold in the head troubles
you.' The word is scanned as a trisyllable, as S. 2. 2. 76; cf. Juv. 13. 255
fortuitus. Catullus 23. 17 has pituita nasi.
EPISTLE II
This Epistle is addressed to Lollius Maximus, probably the elder son of M.
Lollius, to whom Od. 4. 9 was afterwards addressed. The date is not certain.
Epistle 18 of this book is, probably, also addressed to the same Lollius, and
we learn from that (line 55) that he had served under Augustus in the Canta-
brian war 25-24 B.C. Perhaps after serving (as puer) in that war he returned
to Rome, and took up again the practice of declamation, just as Cicero did
after his service in the Social War. In that case 23 B.C. would be a plausible
date; but the use of puer in line 68 is not inconsistent with a date a year or two
later. The practice of rhetoric under teachers was often carried on long after
the years of manhood had been reached. Cicero studied under Molo when 28.
1-4. I have been reading through Homer again, and find him a better
teacher than all the philosophers. 1. Maxime : the cognomen of
Lollius, the usual order being inverted as in Crispe Sallusti Od. 2. 2. 3;
Hirpine Quinti Od. 2. 11. 2. 2. declamas: Roby 1458, S. G. 595.
Praeneste, abl. always in e, except once in Propertius (3. [2.] 32. 3).
Praeneste was a favourite retreat for Horace, especially in summer; cf. Od.
3. 4. 22 n. 4. planius has better authority than plenius; besides, Chry-
sippus is said to have written 750 books, and the commentarii of Crantor
extended to 30,000 lines (Diog. Laert. 4. 24), so that plenius would be a
singularly ill-chosen term. On the other hand planius points a contrast with
the obscure style for which Stoic writers were famous. For Chrysippus, 'the
second founder of Stoicism' cf. S. 1. 3. 127 n. Crantor was said to have
496
BOOK I
HORACE
been the first to expound the writings of Plato, and Cicero warmly praises his
work on Sorrow (reρì πévlovs): he assisted Polemo, the fourth head of the
Academy, and in Academia vel imprimis fuit nobilis (Cic. Tusc. 3. 6. 12).
5. It is not certain whether crediderim would have been credidi 'I formed
this opinion' or crediderim in direct speech; probably the former. dis-
tinet undoubtedly right; detinet (adopted by many) is only a correction of
the corrupt destinet found in some MSS.
6-16. Homer has given us in the Iliad a picture of the suffering caused by
the folly and the passions of kings and nations. 7. barbariae, i.e. Phrygia ;
cf. Virg. Aen. 2. 504 barbarico postes auro spoliisque superbi, with the note of
Servius ad loc. râs µn "EXŋv Bápßapos: Ennius in Cic. Tusc. 1. 35. 85
adstante ope barbarica. The Phrygian language was closely related to Greek,
but probably not more closely than Latin, a connexion which did not prevent
the Greeks from speaking of the Romans as barbari (cf. Plaut. Asin. prol. 10),
and Italy as barbaria (Poen. 3. 2. 21). Homer in the Iliad nowhere represents
the Trojans as unintelligible to the Greeks, and uses ßapßapóøwvoɩ only of the
Carians (2. 867). duello, the earlier form of bellum, which is derived from
it, as bis from duis, etc. Horace uses this form in 2. 1. 254; 2. 2. 98; Od.
3. 5. 38; 3. 14. 18; 4. 15. 8. Here he employs the word to give a heroic
tone to his verse, cf. Od. 1. 34. 5 n. 8. aestus, 'fiery passions,' not, perhaps,
with any reference to the tide, but rather to the primary meaning of the word
(root idh 'burn,' as in aestas, aïow, etc.)
9. Antenor: cf. Hom. Il. 7. 350 δεῦτ᾽ ἄγετ', Αργείην Ελένην καὶ κτήμαθ᾽
ἅμ᾽ αὐτῇ | δώομεν Ατρείδησιν ἄγειν. censet praecidere: the inf. because
censeo contains the idea ‘advise,' 'recommend.' 10. quid Paris? just like
•
•
quid pauper ? 1. 1. 91. Cf. Π. 7. 362 ἀντικρὺς δ᾽ ἀπόφημι, γυναῖκα μὲν οὐκ
ἀποδώσω. 11. For the omission of se before posse cf. Virg. Aen. 3. 201 ipse
diem noctemque negat discernere caelo; Roby 1346. Nestor: Hom. Il. 1.
254 seq.; 9.96 seq. 12. inter inter, repeated exactly as in S. 1.7.
11. Bentley there (as here) attacks the reading, but it is well supported by
Cicero's practice with interesse, e.g. de Fin. 1. 9. 30, de Am. 25. 95. Livy
10. 7 has the repetition with certatum. Peliden: the termination -en in
the acc. of patronymics is everywhere much better established than the form
in -em, and is often necessary to the metre, as in S. 1. 7. 11; Roby 473, S.
G. 150. In feminine names Horace uses the Greek form in the Odes, the
Latin in the Satires and Epistles, except perhaps S. 2. 5. 81. 13. hunc,
Agamemnon, not Achilles. The 'love' of Achilles is not noticed in the first
book of the Iliad, to which Horace is here referring, but in 9. 342 ŵs kal éyì
τὴν | ἐκ θυμοῦ φίλεον. On the other hand Agamemnon says in l. 113 καὶ γάρ
ρα Κλυταιμνήστρης προβέβουλα. urit, 'fires,' a term as applicable to love
(S. 1. 9. 66) as to rage. 14. quidquid, Roby 1094, S. G. 461. plec-
tuntur: S. 2. 7. 105 tergo plector, 'I pay for it with my back.' The word
is often used of undeserved or vicarious punishment; cf. Ov. Her. 11. 110 a
miser, admisso plectitur ille meo ! 15. seditione: as in the case of Ther-
sites Il. 2. 115 seq. dolis: Pandarus, Il. 4. 134 seq. scelere perhaps
especially referring to Paris, libidine including the passion of Paris for Helen,
and also the tyrannous caprice of Agamemnon.
•
•
1.
17-26. The Odyssey on the other hand shows us the value of courage and
self-control. 19. qui domitor undis: an imitation of Hom. Od. 1.
1-5; cf. A. P. 141. providus, a very inadequate substitute for roXÚµNTIS.
21. dum parat, 'in trying to secure,' åpvúμevos: the attempt was unsuccess-
EPISTLE II
497
NOTES
ful in the case of the socii. 23. Sirenum voces: Od. 12. 39 seq., 154-
200. Circae pocula: Od. 10. 136 seq. 24. stultus cupidusque,
in foolish greed': Odysseus did drink of Circe's cup, but only after he had
been supplied by Hermes with a prophylactic antidote (Od. 10. 318). 25.
meretrice: intentionally chosen for emphasis, 'a harlot mistress.' Circe is
a type of sensual pleasure, but nothing in the legend attaching to her justifies
so strong a term. turpis, 'hideous,' i.e. in the shape of a brute.
cors, 'void of reason,' i.e. with the intelligence of a brute. For excors cf. S.
2. 3. 67 n. Homer leaves the comrades of Odysseus in possession of reason
(Od. 10. 239) οἱ δὲ συῶν μὲν ἔχον κεφαλὰς φωνήν τε τρίχας τε | καὶ δέμας,
αὐτὰρ νοῦς ἦν ἔμπεδος ὡς τὸ πάρος περ.
ex-
27-31. We are not like Odysseus, but like the wooers of Penelope or the
Phaeacian nobles, lazy and worthless. 27. numerus, 'but ciphers,' a
Grecism : cf. Eur. Heracl. 997 οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἀλλ᾽ ἐτητύμως | ἄνδρ' ὄντα, Troad.
475 ἐγεινάμην τέκνα, | οὐκ ἀριθμὸν ἄλλως, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπερτάτους Φρυγῶν, Ar. Nub.
1203. Conington gives 'Just fit for counting roughly in the mass.' fruges
consumere nati: a humorous application of the Homeric Spoтol of ȧpoúpns
kapπòv ědovσi (Il. 6. 142); for the inf. see Od. 1. 3. 25 n.; Roby 1363, S. G.
540 (3). 28. sponsi=proci, 'wooers': the desired relation is similarly
anticipated in Epod. 6. 13 Lycambae spretus infido gener; Virg. Aen. 4. 35
aegram nulli quondam flexere mariti. nebulones, 'losel,' S. 1. 1. 104 ;
1. 2. 12. The close imitation in Ausonius (Epist. 9. 13-15 qualem Penelopae
nebulonum mensa procorum | Alcinoique habuit nitidae cutis uncta iuventus)
shows that the word goes with sponsi. Alcinoi iuventus: cf. Hom.
Od. 8. 248 αἰεὶ δ᾽ ἡμῖν δαίς τε φίλη κιθαρίς τε χοροί τε | εἵματά τ ἐξημοιβὰ
λοετρά τε θερμὰ καὶ εὐναί. 29. in cute curanda: so S. 2. 5. 38 pelliculam
curare of living at ease; cf. 1. 4. 15; Juv. 11. 203 nostra bibat vernum con-
tracta cuticula solem. operata, 'busied,' an oxymoron. 30. pulchrum
=кaλóv, honestum, 'glorious.' 31. cessatum ducere curam, 'to lead
care to rest.' The Blandinian MSS., however, and Acron read somnum. With
somnum Kiessling explains cessatum=qui cessavit (cf. Ov. Fast. 4. 617; Met.
10. 669) and ducere 'bring on'; Bentley suggests cessantem, 'to bring on the
sleep that is slow to come,' cf. Od. 3. 1. 20.
32-43. If men will not practise self-denial to preserve their health, bodily
and mental, they will suffer for it. But they care less for the latter than for
the former, and are always postponing the effort to live aright. 32. homi-
nem: much better than homines, not only on MS. evidence, but because
hominem occidere was the usual phrase for 'to commit murder': cf. 1. 16.
48; Ovid, Amor. 3. 8. 21 quotiens hominem iugulaverit. de nocte, 'ere
night is gone': cf. Ter. Adelph. 5. 3. 54 rus cras cum filio | cum primo luci
ibo hinc. de nocte censeo. latrones, 'bandits.' 33. expergisceris,
in the first place literally, but not without a more general reference: 'won't
you wake up?' For the tense cf. Roby 1461, S. G. 597. 34. noles:
sc. currere. The connexion of thought is missed by Orelli. Horace does not
imply that men never omit proper bodily exercise, because they know that
they will become diseased if they do but says that if they neglect it in health,
they will be forced to take to it as a remedy; and in the same way, if men
prefer indolent ease to the study of philosophy, they will lose their rest from
the disquieting pain caused by jealousy or love. hydropicus: cf. Celsus
3. 21 hydropicis multum ambulandum, currendum aliquando est. 35. posces
librum: as Horace himself may have done, cf. S. 1. 6. 122 n.
36. studiis
2 K
498
BOOK I
HORACE
}
et rebus honestis: probably not a hendiadys: but studiis='studies,' as
in 2. 2. 82; S. 1. 10. 21. 37. nam marks surprise or indignation; cf.
Plaut. Aul. 42 nam cur me verberas? Ter. Andr. 3. 5. 6 nam quid dicam
patri? Luke xxiii. 22 rí yàp kaкòv ẻπolŋσev; The force is the same as that
κακὸν ἐποίησεν
of the interrogative with nam suffixed, and some MSS. here have curnam.
38. festinas differs the omission of the copula is usual in the case
of two contrasted questions. 39. est animum: cf. Hom. II. 6. 202 dv
Ovμdv kaтédwv, Cic. Tusc. 3. 26. 63 ipse suum cor edens; Od. 1. 17. 4 n.
•
40. dimidium. habet: there is a Greek proverb ἀρχὴ δέ τοι ἥμισυ
Tаvтós (cf. Soph. Frag. 715), our own 'well begun is half done.' aude,
'have courage'; Virg. Aen. 8. 364 aude, hospes, contemnere opes. 42. rus-
ticus exspectat,' is like the clown waiting.' defluat: Roby 1664,
S. G. 692. This seems to be a reference to some fable of a rustic waiting
by a river until all the water had run by; but as no trace of such a fable has
been discovered, it may be only invented by Horace for this passage.
Cf.
Juv. 14. 25 rusticus exspectas. 43. in omne volubilis aevum, like
Tennyson's brook, 'but I go on for ever.' The rapid rhythm is imitative.
44-54. Men aim at securing the good things of life, but no worldly pos-
sessions can give health of body or of mind, and these are both needed for
enjoyment. 44. argentum, 'money,' as in 1. 18. 23; S. 1. 1. 86; 2. 6. 10,
a meaning common in Plautus, Juvenal, and late prose, but not found in good
prose. A more common meaning is 'silver-plate,' as in 1. 6. 17; 16. 76; S. 1.
beata, 'rich,' Od. 1. 4. 14; 3. 7. 3; S. 2. 8. 1
4. 28; Od. 4. 11. 6.
ὄλβιος for πλούσιος in Homer. pueris creandis, 'to bear children.' The
phrase is probably a technical one. Gellius (4. 3) says that Sp. Carvilius
divorced a wife to whom he was warmly attached, because she bore him no
children, regarding this as a religious duty quod iurare a censoribus coactus
erat, uxorem se liberum quaerundum gratia habiturum: cf. Plaut. Aul. 2. 1.
volo te uxorem
26 quod tibi sempiternum salutare sit, liberis procreandis .
domum ducere; Suet. Jul. 52 uxores liberorum quaerendorum causa. There is
an intentional irony in the use of beata, as if a rich wife were needed to bear
offspring. 45. pacantur, 'are brought into subjection' like barbarous
lands, subdued by the Roman arms: cf. Ov. Pont. 1. 2. 109 pacatius
arvum. We speak of the 'struggle' of the pioneers of civilisation with the
forests of the backwoods. So Herod. 1. 126 Tov Xŵpov ¿§nµepŵтaL. 46.
contingit: pres. as in 1. 4. 10, from the continuous result produced.
optet, jussive; Roby 1596, S. G. 668.
•
SO
50.
48. deduxit: perfect of repeated action; in principal sentences only in
Augustan poets and later writers: Roby 1479, S. G. 608. 2 (d).
cogitat, 'means'; so often in Cicero's speeches and in lighter prose and verse.
52. tabula, 'a plank,' sometimes has picta added, when it is used='picture';
cf. Plaut. Men. 1. 2. 34 tabulam pictam in pariete, but more commonly the
epithet is omitted. fomenta: the parallelism with paintings and music
shows that this denotes something which is agreeable to the healthy, but not
to the diseased. Hence any reference to medicinal applications here is quite out
of place. Düntzer shows from Seneca (de Provid. 4. 9 quem specularia semper
ab afflatu vindicarunt, cuius pedes inter fomenta subinde mutata tepuerunt,
cuius cenationes subditus et parietibus circumfusus calor temperavit, hunc levis
aura non sine periculo stringet) that such fomenta (? hot-water bottles) were
actually used by the luxurious to keep the feet warm: but a man suffering
54, sincerum
from the gout in his feet would get little pleasure from them.
EPISTLE III
499
NOTES
in its primary sense='clean.' The connexion of the thought is an unhealthy
body or mind spoils everything, just as a foul vessel turns any contents sour.
Then Horace goes on to warn Lollius against various diseases of the mind.
55-71. Pleasure is not worth the pain it brings: greed is never satisfied :
envy is the worst of torments: anger is short-lived madness, and is followed by
regret; it must be mastered, and that when one is young, and the task is easy,
and the gain enduring. 56. voto: dat., cf. S. 1. 1. 92, 106. 57.
alterius: the i is always short except in Ter. Andr. 4. 1. 4 and Enn. Sat. 6;
cf. 1. 17. 15 n. 58. Siculi tyranni : proverbially cruel, especially Phalaris
of Agrigentum, the Dionysii and Agathocles at Syracuse. Cf. Cic. in Verr. 2. 5.
56. 145 tulit illa quondam insula (Sicilia) multos et crudeles tyrannos; Juv. 6.
486 Sicula non mitior aula. 59. irae: moderor in classical Latin with dat.
='curb,' with acc. 'govern,' 'direct.' 60. infectum volet esse: Menand.
247 ἅπανθ' ὅσ' ὀργιζόμενος ἄνθρωπος ποιεῖ, | ταῦθ᾽ ὕστερον λάβοις ἂν ἡμαρτημένα.
dolor, 'indignation,' the sting of a wrong suffered, as often.
Ovuós, 'wrath': Od. 1. 16. 22; Virg. Aen. 2. 519.
'for his unslaked thirst for vengeance.'
mens, like
61. odio inulto, dat.
festinat, 'is eager to exact': for
the acc. cf. Od. 2. 13. 26 n. 62. nisi paret, imperat: aut servus est aut
dominus: nihil enim est tertium, Bentley. Cf. Plaut. Trin. 2.2.33 tu si animum
vicisti potius quam animus te, est quod gaudeas. 63. tu: Od. 1. 9. 16 n.
•
•
65. ire viam qua: qua has less MS. authority than quam, but it is rightly
preferred by most editors as the reading more likely to have been corrupted: cf.
Virg. Aen. 1. 418 corripuere viam interea, qua semita monstrat; Livy 32. 11
pedites (iubet) qua dux monstraret viam ire. For ire viam cf. Virg. G. 3. 77
primus et ire viam. venaticus catulus, 'for hunting, (only) after
it has barked at the stuffed stag's hide in the yard, does the young hound see
service in the woods.' venaticus is thrown forward to mark the change of
subject, and catulus put last for emphasis, to bring it near to nunc and puer.
It is the early training that is needed: the young dog gets it, so must the
young lad.
66. latravit with acc. also in Epod. 5. 58. aula, ‘courtyard,'
as in Homer often (e.g. Il. 4. 433), for the usual Latin cohors or cors. 67.
adbibe, 'drink in'; cf. Od. 2. 13. 32 n. 68. melioribus, masc.: cf. 1.
1. 48.
69. inbuta, not 'saturated' but 'tinged' for the first time: cf. Quint.
1. 1. 5 natura tenacissimi sumus eorum, quae rudibus annis percepimus, ut
sapor, quo nova inbuas, durat. 70. quodsi cessas, etc. Horace here
expresses his real sentiments in favour of moderation, but in a humorous
half-serious fashion. 'I have said my say: if you lag behind in the race,
or are fired with an enthusiasm which carries you on ahead of all others, in
neither case can you expect my company: I go on the even tenor of my way,
waiting for no one, and treading on no one's heels.' The happy turn thus
given to the conclusion is in his regular manner.
EPISTLE III
The date is fixed by line 1 to 20 B.C. Julius Florus was one of the
comites of Tiberius Claudius in his mission to the East, when he was sent by
Augustus to place Tigranes on the throne of Armenia in the room of Artaxias,
who had been murdered by his own subjects. According to Porphyrio, Florus
wrote satires, among them some selected from Ennius, Lucilius and Varro,'
i.e. he rewrote some of the poems of these earlier authors, adapting them to the
500
BOOK I
HORACE
taste of his own day, much as Pope and Dryden rewrote Chaucer's tales. This
Epistle gives us a pleasant conception of the literary tastes of the young nobles
whom Tiberius had gathered round him in his suite (cf. 1. 9. 4), and a charm-
ing picture of the relations of Horace, now in his 45th year, with the younger
aspirants to poetic fame, in its tone of kindly admonition.
1-5. I want news of Tiberius. Are you in Thrace, at the Hellespont, or
already in Asia? 1. quibus terrarum oris, like Virg. Aen. 1. 331 quibus
militet, 'is
serving.' Tiberius was accompanied by a considerable force to secure respect,
but fought no battles. 2. privignus, 'stepson': he was not adopted by
Augustus until A.D. 3, after the death of his grandchildren Gaius and Lucius
Caesar, the sons of Julia. laboro: stronger than cupio; cf. S. 2. 8. 19 nosse
laboro. 3. Thraca: a poetical form (=Oрáкn) used also 1. 16. 13. In
the Odes (2. 16. 5; 3. 25. 11) Horace according to his custom uses the Greek
form Thrace; so does Ovid, Fast. 5. 257; Pont. 4. 5. 5.
Hebrus: pro-
verbially cold; cf. 1. 16. 13; Od. 1. 25. 20. 4. freta: the Hellespont.
currentia in consequence of the large rivers which flow into the Euxine, there
is always a strong current outwards in the Hellespont. Cf. Shaks. Oth. III. iii.
453 'Like to the Pontic sea, Whose icy current and compulsive course Ne'er
feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on To the Propontic and the Hellespont.'
turres of Sestos and Abydos. The tower of Hero at Sestos is often mentioned,
and Strabo 13. 22 speaks of πύργον τινὰ κατ᾿ ἀντικρὺ τῆς Σηστοῦ. The terras
of vet. Bland. seems an ingenious critical recension.
orbis in oris with the notion of 'on what distant shores.'
:
6-20. Tell me too what is being written by you.
Who is attempting history?
Is Titius still writing Odes, or trying his hand at tragedy? Does Celsus
remember the warnings he has received to be more original in his poetry?
6. cohors, 'suite.' Mommsen (Hermes 4. 120) writes 'comites are the
attendants selected by the Emperor for a particular journey, amici the persons
admitted by the Emperor at a reception, especially his more intimate acquaint-
Thus every comes is an amicus, but by no means every amicus also a
comes: cohors amicorum=comites expeditionis cuiusdam. The political suite
of the Emperor on a journey are generally described as comites: on the other
hand cohors amicorum is more commonly used of those who accompany princes
and governors.' Join quid operum, 'what sort of works': quae scripta
curo scire laboro.
ances.
componit Schol.
=
infin. after it cf. Od. 1. 12. 2 n.
7. sumit, 'chooses'; for the
Roby 1362, S. G. 540. 8. paces,
'times of peace': cf. 2. 1. 102; Lucr. 5. 1230 ventorum paces.
9. Titius: possibly a son of M. Titius consul suffectus in the year of the
battle at Actium, where he held a high command. Horace does not appear to
be 'deriding' him, but combines with the expression of his belief that Rome
would hear of him before long,' a gentle warning against too high-flown a style.
venturus in ora: cf. Prop. 4. 9. 32 venies tu quoque in ora virum; Virg.
G. 3. 9 victorque virum volitare per ora, the phrase being borrowed from the
epitaph written by Ennius for himself volito vivus per ora virum (Cic. Tusc. 1.
15. 34).
10. expalluit haustus: cf. Od. 3. 27. 28 and 2. 13. 26 n. :
Roby 1123, S. G. 469. 11. apertos: accessible to all, a metaphorical
expression for the easier styles of poetry. 12. ut: S. 2. 8. 1. 13.
Thebanos: i.e. of Pindar, 'the Theban eagle.' auspice: cf. Od. 1. 7. 27.
14. desaevit, 'does he work his rage out'; cf. Od. 1. 3. 13 n. ampullatur,
'dash on his colours,' a metaphor derived not from the shape of the ampulla,
but from its use to hold pigments; cf. Cic. ad Att. 1. 14. 3 nosti illas Xŋkúlovs,
{
EPISTLE III
501
NOTES
'you know how I put the paint on there'; Plin. Ep. 1. 2.4: so Xŋkvðíčew
in later Greek, and Callimachus called tragedy Aŋkúdeios Moûσa (Frag. 319).
The more usual interpretation, however, of ampullari is 'to swell,' 'use swelling
words,' assuming that the reference is to the round belly of the ampulla: cf.
A. P. 97. Kiessling says λýkʊoos is 'the Adam's apple' in the throat (see
Schol. Plat. Hipp. Min. 368 c) and so λŋêv¤íšew describes deep-voiced mouthing.
15. mihi: Roby 1150, S. G. 473. Celsus probably the Celsus Al-
binovanus, to whom 1. 8 is addressed. 16. privatas opes, stores of his
own,' avoiding too close an imitation of the classic writers who had already
found their place in the public library. Horace is giving a kindly warning
rather than gravely censuring Celsus for plagiarism. 17. Palatinus Apollo:
in 28 B.C. Augustus had built a temple on the Palatine to Apollo in com-
memoration of his victory at Actium (Dio Cass. 53. 1): and addidit porticus
cum bibliotheca Latina Graecaque (Suet. Aug. 29). This building was close
behind the palace of Augustus, so that when the emperor was in ill-health, the
senate was summoned to assemble there. Mr. Burn (Rome, 175) says 'the
cloisters which surrounded the temple united it with the famous Greek and
Latin library' but it seems rather that the porticus contained the libraries,
and not a distinct building, of which there is no trace. It is plain, too, from
inscriptions in which they are mentioned separately, that the Greek and the
Latin Libraries were quite distinct, e.g. in the famous columbarium discovered
in 1852 (Wilmanns, Ex. Inscr. Lat. pp. 125 seq.) we find two sons described
as both a bybliothece Latina Apollinis, another as ab bybliothece Graeca
templi Apollinis.; and we find mention also of a Ti. Claudius Alcibiades
mag. a bybliotheca Latina Apollinis item scriba ab epistulis Lat. The
splendid columns, doors and statues of the aurea porticus are described
by Propert. 3. 29. For the busts of authors which adorned it cf. Tac.
Ann. 2. 83. recepit, 'has taken under his charge,' so that they may
not be touched with impunity. 19. cornicula: Horace departs from
the familiar Aesopian fable (Babr. 72, Phaedr. 1. 3) in two ways, by substituting
a 'crow' or 'rook' for a graculus 'jackdaw,' or possibly 'jay,' and by repre-
senting the feathers as dropped by various birds, each one of whom comes to
reclaim his own. 20. coloribus, 'plumis rariorum colorum' Schol.
•
20-29. What are you attempting yourself? You have ability enough to
win distinction in either oratory, law or poetry, if you would put aside lower
aims, and remember your duty to your country. 21. agilis: not of ver-
satility as Orelli, but simply studio indefesso, as Ritter says. thyma: so
Horace compares himself to a bee, gathering honey from the blossoms of the
thyme (Od. 4. 2. 27), and Sophocles was called 'Arols µéλiooa: cf. too Plato,
Ion 534 Α λέγουσι . γὰρ πρὸς ἡμᾶς οἱ ποιηταί, ὅτι ἀπὸ κρηνῶν μελιρρύτων
ἐκ Μουσῶν κήπων τινῶν καὶ ναπῶν δρεπόμενοι τὰ μέλη ἡμῖν φέρουσιν ὥσπερ αἱ
μέλιτται καὶ αὐτοὶ οὕτω πετόμενοι. 22. hirtum, 'rough,' as the result of
neglect, the metaphor being from land overgrown with weeds: we should say
rather 'unpolished.' In good prose an adverb of quality, as distinguished
from one of degree, is not used with an adjective, as here, and A. P. 3 turpiter
atrum; Od. 3. 11. 35 splendide mendax. 23. acuis: a metaphor derived
from sharpening a weapon, Cic. Brut. 97. 331 tu illuc (in forum) veneras unus,
qui non linguam modo acuisses exercitatione dicendi etc. Το θήγειν γλῶσσαν.
The reference is to the practice of declamation, cf. 1. 2. 2. civica iura
respondere: in prose ius civile respondere. For respondere with an acc. 'to
put forward in a reply,' disputare 'to put forward in a discussion,' cf. Reid on
502
BOOK I
HORACE
Cic. Acad. 2. 29. 93. civicus is poetical for civilis (cf. Od. 2. 1. 1; 3. 24. 26),
like hosticus (Od. 3. 2. 6) for hostilis; it is not used by Cicero, except in the
technical phrase civica corona. 24. amabile, 'charming,' with no direct
reference to amatory poetry, though doubtless including this. 25. hederae :
for ivy as the reward of poets cf. Od. 1. 1. 29 n.
26. frigida curarum fomenta: fomenta (from foveo) are medical
applications whether hot or cold, cf. Suet. (Aug. 81) who says that Augustus
quia calida fomenta non proderant, frigidis curari coactus auctore Antonio
Musa. curarum is gen. of material (Roby 1304, S. G. 523); the curae
form the frigida fomenta which serve to chill the ardour of the soul and prevent
it mounting on high where 'heavenly philosophy leads.' The curae themselves
are the 'cares' mentioned in the preceding lines, viz. the study of rhetoric, law,
or even of poetry (cf. the silver age use of curae literary work), for all these
studies hinder the true philosophic aspirations of the soul.
Some take curarum
-
You
30.
as objective genitive, fomenta as 'remedies,' and translate frigida 'feeble,'
'powerless.' But this is very harsh, and also leaves it quite obscure what is
meant by 'the unavailing remedies against cares' which Florus is to abandon.
28. opus: the task assigned (ěpyov), studium the chosen pursuit (πpоal-
(προαί-
peois). So Ritter: Orelli's practical and theoretical pursuit of wisdom is less
probable. parvi et ampli: small and great alike can devote themselves
to wisdom.
properemus, with acc.: cf. Od. 2. 13. 26 n. 29. nobis
cari: cf. 1. 18. 101. carus is not so much beloved,' as 'highly esteemed.'
30-36. Let me know if you are on good terms now with Munatius.
ought to be friends, and I shall be glad to see you both safe back again.
sit has much more authority than si: either would stand by itself (cf. 1. 7.
39; Roby 1755, S. G. 747). 31. male sarta gratia: a metaphor from
the sewing up of a wound, which, if it does not heal, will break open again :
sarcire is the technical term for surgical sewing, and coire for a wound joining
so as to heal up; cf. Cels. 8. 10 potest ea ratione et os coire et volnus sanescere ;
Ov. Trist. 4. 4. 41 neve retractando nondum coeuntia rumpam | vulnera.
32. rescinditur: Petron. 113 credo veritus, ne inter initia coeuntis grata
cicatricem rescinderet; Cic. Lael. 21. 76 amicitiae sunt dissuendae magis quam
discindendae. 'You must write me word of this too, whether you make as
much of Munatius as you should. Or does your mutual regard, like an ill-
sewn wound, join to no purpose, and break open again, and does some cause-
be it your hot blood, or your ignorance of the world-chafe you wild as you
are with your untamed necks?' 33. rerum inscitia, 'ignorance of the
world.' 35. indigni rumpere, ''t were shame to break the ties, which
made you once sworn brethren and allies'—-Conington. For the inf. cf. Od.
1. 3. 25 n. 36. in vestrum reditum, evidently, from your Eastern
campaign, cf. Od. 1. 36. Note vestrum, 'your return,' the return of you both
together.
EPISTLE IV
Albius Tibullus the poet was ten or twelve years younger than Horace; he
died shortly after Virgil (19 B.C.) when still young. Ovid (Trist. 2. 463) tells
us that he was known as a poet only after Augustus became princeps, i.e. after
28 B.C. His ancestral estate at Pedum (between Tibur and Praeneste in Latium)
had been reduced from what it once had been (Tib. 1. 1. 19), perhaps in con-
sequence of the confiscations of 42 B.C. He speaks of himself as poor, an
.
EPISTLE IV
503
NOTES
expression which, in view of line 7 of this Epistle, may be explained either by
poetic modesty, or by the hypothesis of a subsequent addition to his property
by the favour of Messala, his patron. The tone of the two (genuine) extant
books of his elegies confirms the impression of his character which we derive
from the language of Horace. He appears as a gentle, tender, somewhat
melancholy soul, marked more by genuineness of natural feeling than by
learning or force of expression. Od. 1. 33 is also addressed to him. The
date of the Epistle cannot be precisely determined, but it may be safely
placed within the limits assigned to the Epistles generally, 24-20 B.C.
•
1-16. Are you writing anything, Tibullus, or quietly living a wise man's
life? You have all the blessings that heart could wish. Live as if each day
were to be your last; and come and see me, when you want amusement.
1.
sermonum, 'Satires': there is no reason to include any Epistles here,
although they seem to be included in 2. 1. 250. candide, 'fair,' not
necessarily favourable, but unprejudiced; opposed to niger as used S. 1. 4.
85. 2. Pedana: the town of Pedum seems to have disappeared even in
the time of Horace; Pliny (3. 69. 30) ranks the Pedani among the Latin
peoples who interiere sine vestigiis. 3. Cassi opuscula: Acron
tells us that he wrote elegiacs and epigrams, and was tribunus militum along
with Horace at Philippi, adding Q. Varus ab Augusto missus, ut eum inter-
ficeret, studentem repperit, et perempto eo scrinium cum libris tulit. Cf. Velleius
2. 87 ultimus autem ex interfectoribus Caesaris Parmensis Cassius morte poenas
dedit, ut dederat primus Trebonius. This was after the battle of Actium, for
Cassius served both with Sex. Pompeius and with Antonius against Augustus.
For opuscula of literary works cf. 1. 19. 35; Cic. Parad. 5. 4. reptare,
'stroll' the frequently asserted identity of repo and serpo is more than
doubtful the meaning differs, serpo never being used of men, except meta-
phorically (A. P. 28), and repo often, and the phonetic process assumed is
extremely doubtful. salubres: cf. 2. 2. 77. Tibullus says of himself (4. 13.
9) sic ego secretis possum bene vivere silvis, | qua nulla humano sit via trita pede.
:
6. eras, 'you used not to be,' i.e. when we were together, in antithesis to
nunc line 2. Prof. Palmer takes erases but stronger, 'you are not and never
were,' cf. Prop. 1. 13. 34 non alio limine dignus eras. pectore: not the
'intellect,' but the 'soul,' including of course the mental faculties, but denoting
especially the emotional side. Cf. the famous saying of Augustine ‘pectus facit
theologum.' So in Ov. Met. 13. 290 rudis et sine pectore miles, 'a rough and
soulless soldier': Her. 16. 305 huncine tu speras hominem sine pectore dotes |
posse satis formae, Tyndari, nosse tuae? where it is a man without 'a soul' for
beauty. Often we may best translate 'heart,' e.g. de Orat. 3. 30. 121. There
are however instances where the intellectual part seems the more prominent :
e.g. S. 2. 4. 90; Ov. Met. 13. 326, 369; Prop. 3. (4.) 5. 8 ille parum cauti
pectoris egit opus. 7. dedĕrunt: S. 1. 10. 45 n.; Roby 577, S. G. 274.
8. quid voveat 'what greater boon could a nurse implore for her dear
foster-child, if he could' etc.
The suppressed comparison is 'than he already
enjoys, supposing that he' etc. 9. sapere et fari, 'to think aright and
to utter his thoughts'; cf. Pericles in Thuc. 2. 60 ovdevds ot̃opai ñoowv elvai
γνῶναί τε τὰ δέοντα καὶ ἑρμηνεύσαι ταῦτα. 10. contingat: 1. 2. 46.
11. mundus, 'decent': cf. Od. 3. 29. 14 n. Some MSS. have et modus et
which is only a corruption of mūdus. crumena: Juv. 11. 38 quis enim te
deficiente crumena | et crescente gula manet exitus ?
12. inter
•
iras, 'in the midst of,' not felt by Tibullus himself especi-
504
BOOK I
HORACE
• •
ally, but marking human life generally. Cf. 1. 6. 12 n. 13. diluxisse
'that every day which breaks is your last': cf. Bp. Ken's Morning Hymn, 'and
live this day as if thy last.' dilucesco is less common than illucesco: the former
describes the light as breaking through the clouds, the latter as shining upon the
earth. 14. grata: Ter. Phorm. 2.1.21 quidquid praeter spem eveniet, omne id
deputabo esse in lucro; Plut. de Tranq. An. 16 ò тîs avpiоv йкισтα debμevos,
ὥς φησιν Επίκουρος, ἥδιστα πρόσεισι πρὸς τὴν αὔριον. 15. me: i.e. I have
observed the Epicurean rule, which I give you, as you will find, when you come
and see me. pinguem: cf. Intr. p. ix. nitidum, 'sleek,' S. 2. 2. 128.
bene curata cute, 'in fine condition'; cf. 1. 2. 29. vises: Roby 1466,
S. G. 602 'you must come and see'; cf. Od. 1. 20. 1 n. 16. voles: it
is better to place a comma after this, so that porcum is in apposition to me,
not the object of ridere. grege: common for a philosophic 'school'; cf.
S. 2. 3. 44 n., but here used to lighten the metaphor in porcum. Epicurus
himself was not open to the charge of undue indulgence in sensual pleasures.
Cf. Aelian, Var. Hist. 4. 13 'Epicurus the Gargettian cried aloud and said,
"To whom a little is not enough, nothing is enough. Give me a barley-cake
and water, and I am ready to vie even with Zeus in happiness"'; Od. 2. 11. 4 n.
EPISTLE V
For Torquatus see Od. 4. 7 Intr. Horace invites the busy and wealthy
advocate to a simple dinner with him, if he can put up with the plain fare
which he will furnish. There is nothing to exactly determine the date of the
Epistle, but it must have been written (cf. line 4) at least a year or two, prob-
ably somewhat more, after the second consulship of Statilius Taurus in 26 B.C.
1-6. If you can put up with my humble home and fare, I shall expect you
to dinner this evening. I will give you the best wine I have, and all shall be
ready. 1. Archiacis, so called from the maker Archias (cf. Phidiacus
from Phidias, Pausiacus from Pausias), a faber lectorius at Rome, whose
couches were evidently not luxurious. recumbere, as in Od. 3. 3. 11 and
2. omne generally explained as
elsewhere, for the more usual accumbere.
'all sorts of,' 'any kind that may be served up.' But it is better to take it as
'nothing but,' as in Cic. de Nat. D. 2. 21. 56 omnis ordo, 'nothing but order':
cf. Halm on Cic. Cat. 3. 2. 5. So wâs is sometimes used in Greek: cf. Dobree's
note on Dem. F. L. § 86 in Shilleto's edition (not. crit.) patella: dim.
from patina, as femella from femina, lamella from lamina; Roby 869.
3. supremo sole, 'at sunset' (cf. Ov. Met. 9. 93 primo sole; Phaedr. 3. 19.
8 medio sole), later than was usual, the ninth hour being that generally chosen
for dinner (1. 7. 70, 71; Mart. 4. 8. 6). A late dinner would be, according
to the Roman notions, a modest one; just as a banquet which began early
was supposed to be a luxurious one (cf. S. 2. 8. 3). Torquatus would also have
time to finish his business, as in S. 2. 7. 33 Maecenas is too busy to dine before
the lamps are lit. Cf. Juv. 1. 49 exul ab octava Marius bibit, Mayor's note.
4. iterum: sc. consule. T. Statilius Taurus was consul (along with
Augustus) for a second time in 26 B.C., having been consul (suffectus) for the
first time in 37 B.C. In 36 B.C. he commanded a fleet against Sex. Pompeius
in Sicily; in 34 B. C. he received a triumph for successes in Africa; at Actium
in 31 B.C. he commanded the land forces of Augustus; and in 29 B. C. he
defeated the Cantabri and other Spanish tribes. In 16 B. C. he was left in
charge of Rome and Italy during the absence of the Emperor. iterum is the word
EPISTLE V
505
NOTES
always used of a second consulship. diffusa, 'racked off' from the dolium or
cask into the amphora or jar, which was then sealed up and labelled with the
date of the year. Some MSS. have defusa, 'poured out.'
palustres: the
ground round Minturnae on the Appian Way, near the mouth of the Liris in
Latium, was very marshy. In these marshes Marius attempted to conceal
himself 88 B.C. 5. Minturnas: the Roman colonies at Minturnae and
at Sinuessa (more than nine miles to the south) were founded at the same
time in 296 B.C. (Livy 10. 21), and were coloniae maritimae with the right of
Roman citizens: the two are often mentioned together. The famous Mons
Massicus overlooked Sinuessa, but the wine grown in the plain was not of a
first-rate quality: cf. Mart. 13. 111 de Sinuessanis venerunt Massica prelis: |
condita quo quaeris consule? nullus erat. 6. arcesse: here the word has
its less common meaning 'send,' one as legitimately derived from the primary
force 'make to approach,' as the more usual 'fetch,' which is here quite out of
place. imperium fer, 'put up with my directions.' Horace represents
himself as the dominus convivii (Gell. 13. 11), cf. Od. 1. 14. 8 n.
9.
7-15. Lay aside all your cares. To-morrow is a holiday, and so we will be
merry to-night. 7. splendet: not of the brightness of the fire, which
would not be lit in summer, but of the cleansing of the hearth or rather brazier,
and the images of the Lares. 8. certamina divitiarum, 'the struggle
for wealth' (for the gen. obj. cf. Livy 1. 17 certamen regni et cupido), possibly
of the clients of Torquatus, for the lex Cincia as confirmed by a senatus-
consultum of the time of Augustus (Dio Cass. 54. 18) forbade an advocate to
receive any fee under pain of refunding four times the amount: and in any
case no reproach to the invited guest, as some have strangely supposed.
Moschi: said to be a famous rhetorician of Pergamum, accused of poisoning,
in whose trial the most eminent orators of the day were engaged. nato
Caesare. By a Roman under Augustus Caesar thus used without qualifica-
tion must Augustus. Horace uses it in 32 other places, and in all but two
(S. 1. 9. 18; Od. 1. 2. 44 where the context shows that Julius Caesar is meant)
of the Emperor. So that July 12 the birthday of Julius Caesar cannot be
meant. As, however, the birthday of Augustus fell on Sept. 23, some
question aestivam; but the heat of Rome in September is intense (Juv.
14. 129); nor is the difficulty that Horace and his friends would be absent from
Rome in September insuperable, for in 1. 7 we have Maecenas expecting Horace
at Rome in September. Moreover, the whole poem is a fancy piece not neces-
sarily in close relation with facts.
10. somnumque, i.e. to sleep late into
the day, not of the noon-day siesta. dies: the birthday of Augustus is
marked in the calendars as NP, a sign which, as Mommsen (C. I. Lat. 1. 367)
has shown, denotes a dies feriatus, on which no business was to be done.
Hence Torquatus would not have to appear in the law-courts.
12. quo mihi fortunam : MSS. are in favour of fortunam rather than
fortuna. For this use of quo (='to what end' or 'purpose?') followed by
an accusative, cf. Ov. Am. 2. 19. 7 quo mihi fortunam, quae numquam fallere
curet? 3. 4. 41 quo tibi formosam, si non nisi casta placebat? 3. 7. 49 quo mihi
fortunae tantum? Phaedr. 3. 18. 9; Cato, Distich. 4. 16 quo tibi divitias, si
semper pauper abundas? Ar. Lysistr. 193 roî XEUкÒν Iππоν; The accusative
is governed by some verb understood, though what particular verb is to be
supplied was probably not distinctly conceived (cf. Roby 1128, 1441; S. G.
472, 583). Conington on Aen. 4. 98 endeavours to defend fortuna here.
fortunam='wealth,' for which the plural is much more common in classical
506
BOOK I
HORACE
Latin. 13. ob heredis curam: cf. Od. 4. 7. 10. The bitterness with
which the prospect of wealth passing to an heir was viewed was naturally
increased by the childlessness so common at this time at Rome. Augustus,
Maecenas, Horace, and Virgil all left no son: cf. Pind. Ol. 11. 88 éπel TλOÛTOS
ὁ λαχὼν ποιμένα | ἐπακτὸν ἀλλότριον | θνάσκοντι στυγερώτατος. 14. adsidet,
is next door to.’ The word seems used nowhere else in this sense. 15. vel
inconsultus, 'a madman, if you will': cf. Od. 2. 7. 28; 3. 19. 18; 4. 12. 28.
•
•
16-20. Wine has wonderful power to open the heart, to raise the spirits
and to quicken the wits. 16. dissignat: unquestionably right, as better
supported than designat, and as the rarer word being more likely to be cor-
rupted. dissignare is properly 'to break the seal,' hence to open.' operta,
'the secrets of the heart': cf. 1. 18. 38; A. P. 434 ; S. 1. 4. 89; Plat. Symp.
217 Ε εἰ μὴ πρῶτον μὲν τὸ λεγόμενον οἶνος ἄνευ τε παίδων καὶ μετὰ παίδων ἦν
aλnons, Theocr. 29. 1. 2. Compare the proverbs in vino veritas and oivos
καὶ παῖδες ἀληθεῖς. 17. spes: cf. Ar. Eth. Nic. 3. 8. 13 dλX' oi µèv
ἀνδρεῖοι διὰ τὰ προειρημένα θαρραλέοι τοιοῦτον δὲ ποιοῦσι καὶ οἱ μεθυσκό
μενοι· εὐέλπιδες γὰρ γίγνονται. inertem, 'coward' (Od. 3. 5. 36 n.),
common in the language of the camp as contrasted with strenuus miles: cf. 1.
11. 28 and Tac. Hist. 1. 46 iners pro strenuo: hence much better than the
reading inermem, the point being the inspiriting power of wine, not the follies
which it can cause. Our Dutch courage.' 18. addocet: only here
and Cic. Cluent. 37. 104 addocti iudices, the ad being intensive, or denoting
increase and progress; Roby 1833-4. 19. fecundi, 'teeming' like our
own 'flowing bowl': or perhaps 'pregnant,' like our 'pregnant wit.' facundi,
which has good MS. support, would lead to an intolerable tautology with
disertos. 20. contracta, 'cramped.'
21-31. I will take care that all is in good order, and that the guests are
well chosen, so let nothing keep you away. 21. imperor, 'I charge myself,'
apparently with the reflexive force of the passive. For the rare use of verbs
which govern the dat. in pass. cf. A. P. 56 invideor; Munro, Lucr. 2. 156.
22. turpe, 'dirty.' toral, ‘hangings' in front of the couch, quickly soiled
cf. S. 2. 4. 84 n.
:
For the form cf. capital, cervical.
with falling bits etc.
23. conruget nares, 'make you turn up your nose' in disgust. ne non...
ostendat, 'that... fail not to show you. 24. ne fidos... cf. the 'catch'
in Mart. 1. 27. 7 μισῶ μνάμονα συμπόταν. 25. eliminet, 'carry abroad,' a
word used in the early poets in a literal sense, and here in a somewhat
more extended application: cf. Pomponius in Non. 38 vos istic manete: elimi-
nabo extra aedes coniugem. The force of the English derivative seems to be
due to mathematicians of a later age.
26. iungaturque pari: for as Seneca (Ep. 19) says, ante conspiciendum cum
quibus edas et bibas, quam quid edas et bibas. Butram... Septiciumque,
unknown persons, friends of Torquatus. 27. cena prior, 'an earlier en-
gagement." potiorque puella, 'a girl whom he prefers': -que appears here to
have the force of coupling alternatives, which are regarded as both acting to
prevent his presence, though not together; hence it is virtually disjunctive, as
in Virg. G. 2. 87, 139, 312; 3. 121 (Conington), and often in Lucretius (cf.
Munro's index): the engagement is not necessarily to the puella, though it
may be. Martin rightly renders 'unless he be engaged elsewhere or flirting
with some girl whom he prefers to any company.' 28. adsumam, 'I will
have S. too.' Almost all MSS. have ad summam. umbris, 'guests whom you
may bring': the umbrae were guests not invited by the host, but brought by
}
EPISTLE VI
507
NOTES
an invited guest of distinction, as Maecenas brought Vibidius and Balatro to
the dinner given by Nasidienus (S. 2. 8. 22). 29. premunt, 'annoy.'
caprae=hircus: caper is similarly used by Catull. 69. 5; 71. 1, and by Ŏv.
A. A. 3. 193: the feminine form only here. 30. quotus esse velis, 'how
large you would like the party to be,' 'name your number': cf. Mart. 14. 217
dic quotus et quanti cupias cenare. quotus asks a question, the answer to
which is to be given by an ordinal: hence we may compare the Gk. phrase
ᾑρέθη πρεσβεύτης δέκατος αὐτός. Cf. 2. 1. 35. 31. postico, 'the back-door'
such as has been found in many Pompeian houses. falle, ‘give the slip to.'
EPISTLE VI
Nothing is known of the Numicius to whom this Epistle is addressed, nor
is there any hint to assist us in determining the date. Its general purpose is
to recommend a philosophic calm as the true way of regarding the various
objects of human desire. But from line 31 to the end Horace adopts a tone
of strong irony, urging Numicius, if he will not accept this theory of life, to
pursue with resolute energy whatever end he may choose to propose to himself.
1-8. The happy man is he who cares for nothing over-much. Some can gaze
unmoved even on the grand phenomena of the heavens. How do you think that
we ought to feel with regard to wealth and honour? 1. nil admirari
corresponds to Tennyson's 'wise indifference of the wise'; it is the ȧ0aµßía
ἀθαμβία
of Democritus (Cic. de Fin. 5. 29), cf. Strabo 61 c Tǹv ålavµаσтíav, v vµveî
Δημόκριτος : the ἀταραξία of the Epicureans ; the ἀπάθεια of the Stoics. The
admirari would naturally bring along with it the optare and expetere, with
which it is often conjoined; e.g. Cic. de Off. 1. 20. 66, where one of the marks
of a 'fortis animus et magnus' is cum persuasum est nihil hominem nisi quod
honestum decorumque sit aut admirari aut optare aut expetere oportere.
3. hunc, 'yon.' 4. momentis, 'courses,' the тρоπn of Epicurus (Diog.
Laert. 10. 76); cf. 1. 10. 16. formidine, 'dread,' i.e. superstitious
alarm. 5. inbuti: cf. 1. 2. 69 n.; Cic. de Fin. 1. 18. 60 superstitio, qua
qui est inbutus, quietus esse nunquam potest: translate without a touch of
dread.' quid censes, 'what think you of?' 'what about the gifts ...?'
The words rhetorically introduce a fresh subject; Orelli quotes Cic. de Off. 2. 7.
25 quid censemus superiorem illum Dionysium, quo cruciatu timoris angi soli-
tum? pro Rosc. 17. 49 quid censes hunc ipsum Sex. Roscium, quo studio et
qua intelligentia esse in rusticis rebus? 7. ludicra quid, plausus . . .
This line is punctuated and explained in many ways: (1) ludicra quid,
plausus, et ludicra being taken=' games,' but (a) though the sing. has
this sense, the plur. is without authority, (b) with et following another copula
is needed before plausus; (2) ludicra quid plausus et..., plausus being gen.
after ludicra 'the toys of applause,' i.e. 'worthless applause,' so that line 7
refers to the prizes of ambition as line 6 to those of covetousness, but (a)
plausus is not a word which lends itself naturally to this genitival construc-
tion, and (b) Horace would hardly, in asking what value is to be set upon
these things, express his own opinion in the very form of the question; (3)
ludicra? quid . connecting ludicra with maris, but (a) this is open to the
last objection, and (b) ludicra maris is less natural than munera maris; (4)
ludicra quid, plausus et... where plausus et dona are in apposition to ludicra,
'what of such toys as the cheers and honours . . . ?' This involves the same
prejudging of the question as (2) and (3), but is perhaps safest. dona: sc.
508
BOOK I
HORACE
honores et imperia; cf. Od. 1. 1. 7. Quiritis, collective, as so often in
Livy, but apparently not elsewhere before his time: cf. Tac. Germ. 37 non
Samnis, non Poeni.
9-16. The fear of loss or suffering is not less disturbing than the greed for
gain or honour, and they are alike in their effects: virtue herself should not be
pursued to an extreme. 9. fere, 'as a rule'; cf. Caes. B. G. 3. 18 fere
libenter homines id quod volunt, credunt. miratur, etc., 'over-esteems
them in the same way as he who craves.' For mirari in this sense of caring
about, with some feeling of dread, cf. Luc. 2. 28 necdum est ille dolor, sed iam
metus; incubat amens, | miraturque malum. 10. pavor, 'the excitement'
(cf. Cic. Tusc. 4. 8. 19 pavorem, metum mentem loco moventem): the láµßos or
ễкπλŋğıs which is inconsistent with real happiness. Cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 137
exsultantiaque haurit | corda pavor pulsans of the excitement of a race.
utrobique, 'in either case.' 11. simul=simul ac; Roby 1717, S. G.
721. species, 'appearance' of any object of fear or desire. exterret,
'flutters' with the pavor which it excites. Jacobs, approved by Lachmann,
conjectures externat (i.e. exsternat, 'scares,' cf. consternat); but exterret is
sufficiently defended by Virg. Aen. 11. 806 fugit ante omnes exterritus
Arruns, | laetitia mixtoque metu; Lucr. 2. 1040 novitate exterritus ipsa.
•
12. gaudeat 'whether he rejoices or fears,
what matter?
This classification of the emotions under four heads originated with the
Stoics, but had become a commonplace. Cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 733 hinc metuunt
cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque; Plat. Phaed. 83 в ndovŵv кaì èπiðvµiŵv kal
λvπŵv kaì þóßwv. 13. spe, 'expectation,' with the ambiguous meaning shown
λυπῶν καὶ φόβων.
also in pavor and exterret. This is more common with the verb spero (cf.
Virg. Aen. 1. 543, 2. 658) than with the substantive; but cf. Sall. Jug. 88. 1
contra spem suam laetissimis animis excipitur. 14. defixis oculis, 'you
stare, look blank, grow numb from top to toe '-Con. 16. ultra quam
satis est
The need of moderation in pursuit even of virtue is a com-
monplace with philosophers: cf. Cic. pro Mur. 30. 63 nostri illi . . . a Platone
et Aristotele, moderati homines et temperati, aiunt . omnes virtutes medio-
critate quadam esse moderatas; Tusc. 4. 25. 55 studia vel optimarum rerum
sedata tamen et tranquilla esse debent.
• ·
17-27. Set your affections on the treasures of art, on fame and on wealth, if
you will: but remember that you will soon have to abandon all.
17. i nunc,
C
•
go now,' an ironical command to do something which after what has been
said is impossible, or absurd; usually followed by et, as in 2. 2. 76. Cf. Juv.
10. 310; 12. 57; Pers. 4. 19 i nunc suffla where Jahn remarks 'irri-
dentis vel exprobantis formula.' argentum, here 'plate,' as S. 1. 4. 28;
not 'money.' artes, 'works of art,' cf. Od. 4. 8. 5 n. 18. suspice,
opp. of despice. colores, 'dyes,' i.e. vestes purpureas. 19. loquentem,
20.
very rarely used, as here, of public speaking, which is almost always dicere,
opposed to conversational talk (loqui): cf. Cic. Orat. 32. 113 nec idem loqui est
quod dicere; de Orat. 3. 10. 38 neque enim conamur docere eum dicere, qui
loqui nesciat; Eupolis (Dem. 8) λαλεῖν ἄριστος, ἀδυνατώτατος λέγειν.
forum for business purposes, as in 1. 19. 8, not for legal or political pursuits :
cf. cedere foro to become bankrupt, and Cic. de Imp. Pomp. 7. 19 haec ratio
pecuniarum .. quae in foro versatur. vespertinus: Roby 1017, S. G.
452. 21. dotalibus, coming to him through his wife, and therefore not
due either to inheritance, or to his own energy and skill. emetat, only
found here. 22. Mutus, probably a real person, known to Horace's
•
EPISTLE VI
509
NOTES
readers.
indignum, an exclamation, as in Ov. Met. 5. 36 nisi post altaria
Phineus | isset, et, indignum, scelerato profuit ara; Am. 1. 6. 1 ianitor, indig-
num, dura religate catena. So malum, mirum, nefas, etc.
Roby 1740, S. G. 740.
•
quod sit:
24. quidquid : cf. Soph. Αj. 646 ἅπανθ᾽ ὁ μακρὸς κἀναρίθμητος
χρόνος | φύει τ᾽ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται. in apricum, 'to the light
of day' in apertum; if the word be, as is commonly supposed, contracted
from aperi-cu-s it is used here, but apparently here only, in its primary sense
(Roby 774). 26. porticus Agrippae: erected by M. Vipsanius
Agrippa in honour of Neptune, and adorned with paintings of the exploits of
the Argonauts; hence called porticus Vipsania, or Neptuni, or Argonautarum
(Juv. 6. 153). It was thrown open to the public in 25 B. C. (Dio Cass. 53. 27)
and would naturally be a fashionable lounge. via Appi: the regina
viarum (Stat. Silv. 2. 2. 12) led to Capua and Brundisium (S. 1. 5. 6), and
would often be crowded by Roman nobles travelling to their villas in Campania,
or to Greece and the East. 27. Numa and Ancus are joined, as being
the two most popular of the early kings; cf. Ennius' line adopted by Lucr. 3.
1025 lumina sis [=suis] oculis etiam bonus Ancu' reliquit; Od. 4. 7. 14.
&
28-35. If you are suffering in body, seek the remedy. So, if virtue is the
true path to a happy life, aim at securing this. If wealth, then do your utmost
to grow rich.
29. vis: a direct statement for a hypothetical one. Roby
1553, S. G. 651. recte, aright,' here-beate, not in a moral sense as in
1. 2. 41. 30. virtus una, as the Stoics taught. 31. hoc age, 'attend
to this alone'; cf. S. 2. 3. 152 n. deliciis voluptatibus. verba,
'mere words'; cf. the last utterance of Brutus in Dio 47. 49 ☎ тλñμov
ἀρετή, λόγος ἄρ᾽ ἦσθ'· ἐγὼ δέ σε | ὡς ἔργον ἤσκουν· σὺ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐδούλευες τύχῃ.
32. lucum ligna, 'a sacred grove but logs.' Notice virtutem verba and
lucum ligna: they sound the same, are they the same? portus
occupet, 'reaches the port before you,' and so anticipates you in the market.
33. Cibyra was in the extreme S. of Phrygia on the borders of Lycia and
famous for its iron. Bithynia had some important ports, and large navi-
gable rivers, which brought down the produce of the interior, especially timber
and marble: cf. Od. 1. 35. 7; 3. 7. 3. 34. rotundentur, 'be rounded
off,' an expression not elsewhere used, but Petron. 76 has uno cursu centies
sestertium corrotundavi. altera, a second set of talents, as numerous, toti-
dem being equivalent to mille talenta: cf. Catull. 5. 7 basia mille, deinde
centum, dein mille altera, dein secunda centum; Virg. Ecl. 3. 71 aurea mala
decem misi: cras altera mittam. 35. quadrat: better supported than
quadret, which seems a careless assimilation to the preceding subjunctives:
the part which squares the heap' is a periphrasis for a fourth thousand.
36-48. Wealth of course brings many blessings in its train, and a rich man
is better off than a king; so if this is your goal, push on towards it stoutly.
36. fidemque, 'credit,' not solely in money matters; cf. Juv. 3. 143 quantum
37. regina
quisque sua nummorum servat in arca | tantum habet et fidei.
Pecunia, 'queen cash': Juv. 1. 112 inter nos sanctissima divitiarum | ma-
38. Suadela =
iestas, etsi, funesta Pecunia, templo nondum habitas.
Heiow, also called Suada by Ennius in Cic. Brut. 15. 59 ut quam deam in
Pericli labris scripsit Eupolis sessitavisse, huius hic medullam nostrum ora-
torem fuisse dixerit. 39. Cappadocum rex, Archelaus: Cicero says of his
predecessor Ariobarzanes in ad Att. 6. 1. 3 nullum aerarium nullum vectigal
habet nihil illo regno spoliatius, nihil rege egentius. The Cappadocian
•
510
BOOK I
HORACE
41.
slaves were regarded as of little value: cf. Pers. 6. 77; Mart. 10. 76. 3.
si posset: Roby 1754, S. G. 748. 42. qui: Roby 379, S. G. 206.
The chlamys, being a Greek garment, would not naturally be found in large
numbers in a Roman house. 44. tolleret: Roby 1783, S. G. 765;
the subject is the giver of the show, who had made the request. 46. fal-
lunt = λανθάνει.
furibus, 'pilferers,' whether slaves of the house or
others. 48. repetas, 'return with each new day to.'
49-55. If the honours of the state are what you desire, then busily canvass
for them. 49. species, 'state,' especially of a magistrate: Tac. Ann. 4. 6
sua consulibus, sua praetoribus species. gratia, 'popularity.' 50. qui
dictet nomina, the nomenclator, who accompanied a candidate on his
canvass (ambitio), in order to whisper to him the names of voters. Cf. Cic.
pro Mur. 36. 77 quid? quod habes nomenclatorem? in eo quidem fallis et de-
cipis, nam si nomine appellari abs te cives tuos honestum est, turpe est eos
notiores esse servo tuo quam tibi. In 72 B.C. when Cato was standing for the
military tribuneship, the employment of nomenclatores was forbidden by law,
though the law was rarely obeyed. Nine years later it had been repealed
or was regarded as obsolete, even by Cato. 51. fodicet, 'nudge': the
nomenclator is of course on the outside of the path, his master having the wall
to his right: cf. S. 2. 5. 17. For the action cf. Ter. Hec. 3. 5. 17 La. dic
iussisse te. Ph. noli fodere. iussi. Almost all MSS. have saevum for
laevum. cogat, 'press,' with energy. trans pondera: the old inter-
preters explain of 'stepping-stones' placed in the road: thus Comm. Cruq.
pondera lapides qui per vias porriguntur aut (qui per) latera viarum positi
altiores (sunt). Gesner (followed by Lachmann, Haupt, Conington) gives
ultra aequilibrium corporis cum periculo cadendi, 'at risk of tumbling
down'; cf. Ov. Met. 1. 12 nec circumfuso pendebat in aere tellus | ponderibus
librata suis; Lucr. 2. 218, 6. 574; Lucan 1. 57. Orelli takes it
of the weights on the counter of a shop, supporting his interpretation
by the picture of a shop at Pompeii; but is it possible to understand
so important a limiting notion as of the shop'? The first view has
recently been advocated by T. Mommsen and Krüger. Overbeck Pom-
peii 3 56 describes the broader streets as having three such stepping-stones
(Fig. 19), the narrower, one. It is admitted that there is no evidence, except
in the scholiasts, that these were called pondera: but their view must have
been based upon some traditional authority. The picture thus suggested is
that of a candidate in the cumbrous whitened toga, pressed by his attendant
to hurry across the street in order to shake hands with an influential elector
on the path opposite. The street was usually narrow, in Pompeii never more
than about 24 feet broad, and often only 9 or 10, inclusive of the paths
(margines), but the latter were as a rule much raised.
52. Fabia: sc. tribu, one of the original country-tribes. Velina, one of
the two added latest, in 241 B.C. 53. hic: sc. a third man. cui dare
libet: the forms of free election were allowed to remain during the time of
Augustus, who himself took part in the canvassing (cf. Suet. Oct. 40 comitiorum
ius pristinum reduxit), and the elections of 19 B.C. gave rise to serious disturb-
ances: it was only Tiberius who made the sanction of the comitia merely
formal. curule ebur: the sella curulis, a distinction enjoyed by the curule
aediles, praetors, and consuls. 54. inportunus, 'making himself awkward,'
cf. S. 2. 5. 96 n. 55. facetus blande et comiter, 'politely,' apparently a
colloquial usage: cf. Ter. Heaut. 3. 2. 10 mulier commoda, faceta haec meretrix.
EPISTLE VII
511
NOTES
adopta: Spartianus says of the emperor Didius Julianus (c. 4) senatum et
equestrem ordinem in palatium venientem admisit, atque unumquemque, ut
erat aetas, vel patrem vel filium vel parentem affatus blandissime est.
56-64. If good dining is good living, then be off to the market betimes, to
secure its choicest dainties, and take Gargilius for your model. 56. lucet,
'day has dawned,' ¿.e. it is time to be off in quest of dainties. 57. piscemur,
venemur: not of real 'fishing' and 'hunting' but, as in the case of Gargilius,
of buying fish and game in the market-place. 59. differtum forum popu-
lumque=forum differtum populo. Bentley took objection to the repetition
of populum and populo (which is due to a desire to emphasise the presence of
the people as spectators), and very confidently read campum for populum.
But, while the forum was crowded in the morning, the campus was not fre-
quented till the afternoon.
60. unus . . .
e multis, 'one of all the train.'
61. crudus, properly 'raw' (connected with cruor, кpéas, etc.), is applied
alike to undigested food, and (as here) to the eater who has not yet digested
it. Indulgence in a hot bath too soon after dinner is censured as a mark of a
glutton; Juv. 1. 142; Pers. 3. 98. It was regarded as a means of hastening
digestion, though one dangerous to health. 62. Caerite cera=Caeritibus
tabulis, the lists of those citizens who were without the franchise (sine suf-
fragio). Gellius 16. 13 states that the inhabitants of Caere were made muni-
cipes sine suffragii iure because they took charge of the Roman sacra at the
time of the Gallic invasion (cf. Livy 5. 40): and that the name was afterwards
applied versa vice to those whom the censors degraded and deprived of their
votes. 63. remigium: cf. 1. 2. 24 seq. 64. interdicta voluptas,
i.e. the slaughtering of the sacred cattle of the Sun-god: Hom. Od. 1. 8; 12.
340 seq.
65. Mimnermus: an elegiac poet of Colophon, contemporary
with Solon; a fragment is preserved in Stobaeus (Frag. 1, Bergk) tís dè ßios,
τί δὲ τερπνὸν ἄτερ χρυσέης Αφροδίτης; | τεθναίην ὅτε μοι μηκέτι ταῦτα μέλοι.
Propertius (1. 9. 11) says of him plus in amore valet Mimnermi versus Homero.
67. istis, 'than what you have now before you.' 68. candidus, 'frankly.'
EPISTLE VII
"This Epistle will always rank among the most valued of Horace's poems,
It shows the man in his most attractive aspect,-simple, frank, affectionate.
tactical, manly, and independent. No one can read it without feeling that
dear as Maecenas was to Horace, and deeply grateful to him as he was for his
generosity, and for the friendly spirit without which generosity itself would
have been odious to the poet, not even for him would Horace forego a tittle of
that freedom of thought and action which he deemed to be essential, not iess
for his self-respect than for his personal happiness'-Sir T. Martin.
1-13. I have stayed away from Rome much longer than I told you I should:
but I am sure you will excuse me, Maecenas, for I am afraid to be in town at
such an unhealthy season. I intend to go down to the sea for the winter, but
I shall be back again with you in the spring. 1. quinque dies, ‘five days
or so,' a colloquial phrase, for any short period: cf. S. 1. 3. 16. rure: this
form for the locative ruri occurs again in 1. 14. 10, twice in Ovid and twice
in Tibullus. With an epithet the form rure is always used. 2. Sextilem :
this month received the name 'August' in 8 B.C. desideror: Roby 1460;
S. G. 596. 3. sanum recteque valentem, 'free from disease, and in
sound health,' as in 1. 16. 21. Cf. Cic. Acad. 2. 7. 19 si (sensus) et suni sunt ac
512
BOOK I
HORACE
7.
valentes. 4. mihi das aegro, 'you are ready to give me, if I am sick.'
5. ficus prima: the fig ripens towards the end of August and the beginning
of September; cf. Od. 3. 23. 8 pomifero grave tempus anno. There were also
early spring figs, formed even before the leaves (cf. Plin. H. N. 15. 18. 71 sunt
praeterea serotinae et praecoces, biferae, alba ac nigra, cum messe vindemiaque
maturescentes; 16. 26. 113; Matt. xxi. 19; Trench Miracles, 451), but these are
of course not referred to here. 6. dissignatorem: this form only, and not
designator, is found in good MSS. and inscriptions; cf. 1. 5. 16. The dissig-
nator was the man who marshalled the funeral procession. Acron says here
designatores dicuntur qui ad locum (? lucum) Libitinae in funere praestanti
conducuntur, ut defuncti cum honore efferantur. The name was also given to
the officials who assigned places in the theatre: cf. Plaut. Poen. prol. 18.
pueris: cf. Mart. 10. 62. 12 aestate pueri si valent, satis discunt. 8. officiosa,
"in showing attentions': for officia in the sense of the duties of civility due from
clients and from citizens generally see Mayor on Juv. 3. 126. The term would
include the morning salutatio, the deductio in forum, visits to the sick, attend-
ance at weddings, funerals, or when the toga virilis was assumed, and the like.
opella, 'petty business': cf. 2. 2. 67. 9. testamenta resignat, 'unseals
wills,' i.e. causes deaths. A will was usually written on tablets of wood or wax;
a senatus-consultum of the time of Nero (Suet. Ner. 17) enacted that they were
to be tied up with a triple thread, and then wax was to be put over the thread
and sealed by the testator, and also by witnesses. When sealed a will was de-
posited with some friend, or in a temple, or with the Vestal virgins. After the
testator's death as many of the witnesses as possible were collected, and after
they had acknowledged their seals, the thread was broken, and the will read.
10. quodsi: cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 64 praeterea, si nona diem mortalibus
almum | Aurora extulerit: Catull. 14. 17 si luxerit 'come dawn' (Ellis). So we
find often dicam. . . si prius dixero: Cic. Acad. 2. 20. 64; de Off. 2. 6. 22;
Plaut. Capt. 248, etc. Albanis: the snow would naturally lie on the Alban
hills earlier than on the plain of the Campagna. 11. vates tuus, i.e. the
humble friend whom you honour with the exalted title of 'bard': cf. Od. 1. 1. 35
quodsi me lyricis vatibus inseres; 2. 6. 24 vatis amici, etc. This old-fashioned
name fell into contempt in the early Latin poetry, and regained all its earlier
honour with Virgil (e.g. Ecl. 9. 34). Cf. 2. 1. 26; Munro on Lucr. 1. 102.
12. contractus, 'huddled up,' èπɩкeкupús as in Lucian Saturn. 9. 9 éπike-
κυφότες . . . ἀμφὶ τὴν κάμινον, with a secondary idea of 'in retirement.
13. hirundine: the return of the swallow was the first sign of spring:
cf. Ov. Fast. 2. 853 veris praenuntia venit hirundo; Anth. Pal. 2. 279 ò
πλόος ὡραῖος. καὶ γὰρ λαλαγεῦσα χελιδών | ἤδη μέμβλωκεν, Ar. Eq. 419
ώρα νέα, χελιδών.
14-24. You have not enriched me, as the boor did his guests, with what had
no value for him. This would have been a natural reason for ingratitude.
But you, while ready to satisfy the wants of those who deserve it, know the
value of your gifts, and I will meet you worthily.
is chosen only to make the story more vivid.
14. Calaber. The name
16. benigne, 'I'm much
obliged,' a polite phrase for refusing the offer (cf. line 62), like kaλŵs, káλλı-
ora in Gk. (Ar. Ran. 503 seq.) 20. spernit et odit, 'does not value and
in fact dislikes.' 22. dignis, ‘for the worthy,' i.e. to meet their needs.
ait esse paratus, a Gk. construction, cf. Plaut. Asin. 634 quas... Dia-
bulus ipsi daturus dixit; Catull. 4. 1 phaselus ille . . . | ait fuisse navium
celerrimus; Od. 3. 27. 73; Roby 1350. 23. lupinis used to represent
EPISTLE VII
513
NOTES
money on the stage, or for counters in games. They are still so used
in Italy. 24. dignum pro laude, 'worthy in accordance with the
renown of my benefactor'; laude is the praise which Maecenas receives, not
that which he gives. For dignum pro cf. Munro on Lucr. 5. 1. merentis:
sc. bene merentis, my benefactor'; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 664 quique sui memores
alios fecere merendo; Prop. 5. 11. 101 sim digna merendo; Ov. Pont. 2. 2.
89 laurea decreta merenti. So very often in inscriptions.
25-28. But the service I can render must be proportional to my powers, and
I am not young as I once was. 25. usquam, with a verb of motion, also
in S. 1. 1. 37; 2. 7. 30: quoquam and nequoquam are not common after Terence.
26. latus, chest, i.e. lungs : cf. 1. 12. 5; Quint. 12. 11. 2 neque enim scientia
modo constet orator ... sed voce, latere, firmitate. nigros: Horace de-
scribes himself as praecanus (1. 20. 24): at this time he could not have been
more than 45 at most. A frons angusta or tenuis (Od. 1. 33. 5) or brevis
(Mart. 4. 42. 9), i.e. one on which the hair grew down low, was regarded as a
beauty: Pliny describes the statue of an old man as having rari et cedentes
capilli, lata frons (Ep. 3. 6. 2). 27. loqui Tò λaλeîv, my pleasant voice
and laugh, the tears I shed'—Con. 28. Cinarae, perhaps the only one of
the women's names mentioned by Horace, which points to a real attachment on
his part: cf. 1. 14. 33; Od. 4. 1. 3 bonae Cinarae; 4. 13. 21.
:
29-36. If I am attacked as being like the fox which could not escape from
the corn-bin in which it had eaten its fill, I will give you back everything: I
am sincere in my preference of a simple life, and prefer my freedom to bound-
less wealth. 29. vulpecula: Bentley protests that a fox cannot eat corn,
and confidently restores nitedula 'a shrew-mouse,' which Lachmann and Con-
ington accept: but the soundest verdict is Munro's, 'Bentley's famous nite-
dula for vulpecula deserves all praise: it is brilliant; is what Horace ought to
have written :—but I sadly fear did not write, not from ignorance probably,
but because he had in his thoughts some old-world fable, whose foxes were not
as our foxes.' 30. cumeram: cf. S. 1. 1. 53 n. pasta, the participle of
the reflexive form pascor, used actively. Roby, S. G. 567. 31. pleno of a
distended body: cf. Aesop ảλwπnè̟ ¿¿oyкwleioа Tην Yaσrépa: so Babr. lxxxvi.
32. procul, 'hard by: cf. S. 2. 6. 105 n. 33. cavum: for a mouse's
hole in S. 2. 6. 116. 34. compellor, 'assailed': cf. S. 2. 3. 297 n.
resigno, 'I transfer back to you': Fest. 281 м resignare antiqui dicebant
pro rescribere; cf. Od. 3. 29. 54; S. 2. 3. 76 dictantis quod tu numquam
rescribere possis. 35. satur altilium, i.e. only when I have myself had
my fill of dainties. Od. 3. 16. 21-44 is the best commentary on this passage.
37-45. You know that I have always been modest and grateful: but I will
gladly give back your gifts which, if purchased at the cost of my independence,
would be as unfit for me to receive, as horses were for Telemachus. 37.
verecundum, i.e. my modesty in not pushing my own claims, although,
Horace goes on to add, I have always fully acknowledged my debts to you,
both in your presence and in your absence. rex, 'patron,' as in 1. 17. 20, 43,
38. audisti, 'you have been addressed': cf. S. 2. 6. 20 n. 39. si
possum: Roby 1755, S. G. 747. reponere resignare. 40.
Telemachus : Hom. Od. 4. 601 ἵππους δ᾽ εἰς Ιθάκην οὐκ ἄξομαι, 605 ἐν
δ' Ιθάκῃ οὔτ᾽ ἂρ δρόμοι εὐρέες οὔτε τι λειμών· ¦ αἰγίβοτος καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπήρατος
ἱπποβότοιο. | οὐ γάρ τις νήσων ἱππήλατος οὐδ᾽ εὐλείμων. patientis the
Homeric πολύτλας, πολυτλήμων, ταλασίφρων. 42. spatiis, cf. orádiov,
Doг. στádiov, 'courses': cf. 1. 14. 9; Virg. G. 1. 513, etc. 43. Atridē :
2 L
514
BOOK I
HORACE
but S. 2. 3. 187 Atridă, vetas cur? Roby 473, S. G. 150. tibi: both
with apta and relinquam. 44. regia of Rome as the princeps urbium (Od.
4. 3. 13), the domina (Od. 4. 14. 44) not merely 'magnificent,' as in Od. 2.
45. vacuum: cf. 2. 2. 81 vacuas Athenas: 'quiet,' free from dis-
inbelle, 'peaceful': cf. S. 2. 4. 34 molle Tarentum.
•
15. 1.
turbance,
46-98. A story will show how ill-suited gifts often bring ruin to the re-
cipient. 46. Philippus, L. Marcius (consul 91 B.c.), an orator distinguished
for his energy and biting wit. Cf. Cic. de Orat. 3. 1. 4 homini et vehementi et
diserto et imprimis forti ad resistendum, Philippo: Brut. 47. 173 (there was
in Philippus) summa libertas in oratione, multae facetiae : in altercando
cum aliquo aculeo et maledicto facetus. He was an adherent of Sulla in the civil
wars. fortis refers to his boldness in oratory. 47. octavam circiter
horam, i.e. between 1 and 2 P.M. Philippus had had a long morning's work :
Martial (4. 8) says in quintam varios extendit Roma labores: | sexta quies
lassis, septima finis erit. After the work of the day followed exercise and
the bath. 48. Carinas: a quarter (vicus) lying chiefly in the fourth regio
of Rome, on that part of the Esquiline Mount, towards the west or south-west,
which in earlier times was called the M. Oppius, above the Subura. It was a
fashionable quarter (cf. Virg. Aen. 8. 361 lautis Carinis) where Q. Cicero
had a house, and also Pompeius, Tiberius, and others. nimium distare :
the farthest part of the Carinae can hardly have been more than half a mile
from the Forum. 49. ut aiunt, as the story goes': cf. 1. 6. 40; 17. 18.
50. adrasum: not abrasum, which is badly supported and incorrect, for
homo adraditur, barba abraditur: ad is intensive (Roby 1834, S. G. 801),
'closely shaven.' umbra, 'booth,' as in Greek σkiά for σкŋvý. The booth
was empty, because the busier customers had been trimmed earlier in the day;
the man was sitting, leisurely paring his own nails, a duty generally undertaken
by the barber (cf. Plaut. Aul. 2. 4. 33 quin ipsi pridem tonsor ungues dempserat ;
Mart. 3. 74), and his comfortable repose attracted the interest of Philippus.
•
•
·
52. non laeve = où σkaιŵs: the adverb is not found elsewhere.
was the usual pedisequus of Philippus.
Demetrius
53. unde domo, 'where he comes
from: cf. Virg. Aen. 8. 114 unde domo Tb0ev oiкóðev.
54. quove
patrono a freedman had no father in the eyes of the law, but his place was
taken to a certain extent by his patronus. In the account brought back by
Demetrius the mention of the name Menas a Greek name contracted from
Menodorus, like Hermas for Hermodorus, Demas for Demodorus) sufficed to
show that he was a freedman; hence no further answer is given to this question,
for Vulteius must have been his patron. 55. Vulteium: several of this
gens are mentioned in history. esse is understood, and the following accusatives
are in apposition. 56. praeconem: line 65 shows that he was not an
official herald, but an auctioneer; cf. A. P. 419; Cic. de N. D. 3. 34. 84 haec
per praeconem vendidit. sine crimine: for a preposition with its case
serving as an adjective cf. Ov. Am. 1. 3. 13 sine crimine mores; Trist. 4. 10.
71 sine crimine coniunx; Cic. de Orat. 1. 23. 105 loquacitatem sine_usu.
notum properare, 'well known for working with energy': for the construc-
tion cf. Od. 1. 3. 25 n. 57. loco, 'at the right time,' ev kaιpų: cf. Od. 4. 12.
28. cessare, 'taking holiday': cessare otiari et iucunde vivere Comm.
Cruq.; cf. 1. 10. 46; 2. 2. 183, etc. 58. parvis, “humble' like himself.
lare certo, 'a house of his own.' 59. ludis: sc. scaenicis et circensibus :
these were held only on days of general holiday, so the limitation post decisa
negotia is not needed in this case. campo: sc. Martio; cf. Od. 1. 8. 4 n.
EPISTLE VII
515
NOTES
61. non sane=où távv, but in both cases the question has been raised
whether the negative is strengthened or weakened by the added particle. The
former seems to be the case: cf. 2. 1. 106; S. 2. 3. 138; Cope's Gorgias
App. ii.; Cic. de Orat. 2. 1. 5; de Off. 2. 2. 5 haud sane intellego.
62. benigne: cf. line 16 n. 63. neget, 'is he to refuse me?' Roby, S.
G. 674. inprobus, 'the impudent fellow,' from the point of view of
Demetrius.
•
•
64. mane, 'next morning.' 65. tunicato: the cumbrous toga was
seldom worn by the poorer classes at Rome, except on ceremonial occasions.
Augustus was annoyed at the disuse of the national dress, and forbade the
citizens to appear in the forum or circus without the toga (Suet. Aug. 40).
In the country it was still less used: Juv. 3. 171 pars magna Italiae est
in quo nemo togam sumit nisi mortuus; Mart. 10. 47. 5 toga rara; 51. 6
tunicata quies. scruta, 'odds and ends.' 66. occupat=plável, comes
upon him before he sees him. prior: the inferior would naturally be the
first to offer a salutation; cf. Mart. 3. 95. 1 numquam dicis 'ave,' sed reddis,
Naevole, semper : cur hoc expectes a me, rogo, Naevole, dicas, | nam puto, nec
melior, Naevole, nec prior es. 67. excusare, 'began pleading.
reason': Cic. Phil. 9. 4. 8 excusare morbum. mercennaria: all good
MSS. here give nn, where the first n represents the assimilated d of merced,
the second a suffix -on: cf. Roby 942. 1. The meaning therefore cannot be
'the bonds of buying and selling,' which would involve no merces, but 'his
salaried duties,' 'hireling bonds': cf. S. 1. 6. 86 si praeco parvas ... | mercedes
sequerer. 68. domum venisset: for the morning salutatio, which would
be expected from an inferior after the compliment of such an invitation.
69. providisset: cf. Plaut. Asin. 2. 4. 44 non hercle te provideram: quaeso
ne vitio vortas; Ter. And. 2. 1. 12 erus est, neque provideram. sic... si,
on condition that.' 70. ut libet, 'as you please,' i.e. if you wish it.
• •
as his
72. dicenda tacenda, i.e. whatever came into his head, with no sugges-
tion of blame, as in Demosth. de Cor. § 157 κai Boas pηrà кal åрρηта
ovoμáčov. There is a similar asyndeton in fanda nefanda Catull. 64. 405:
cf. Cic. Tusc. 5. 39. 114. 74. piscis: the particle of comparison is omitted,
and the metaphor is incorporated with the main clause, as often: cf. 1. 1. 2.
75. certus, 'regular,' one who could be relied upon. 76. rura, 'estates,'
has the construction of rus. indictis Latinis: the feriae Latinae were
not statae but conceptivae, i. e. were held at a time fixed each year by the consuls,
and proclaimed by a praeco. Until they had held this festival on the Alban
Mount, the consuls were not allowed to leave Rome (Livy 21. 63): The festival
was made the occasion for a general holiday, and was always accompanied
by a iustitium, so that Philippus had no legal business to keep him in the city.
77. inpositus mannis, not 'on horseback,' in which case the plural
would barely be justifiable; but in a carriage drawn by manni: cf. Ov. Pont.
3. 4. 100 filius et iunctis, ut prius, ibit equis; Virg. Aen. 12. 735 cum prima
in proelia iunctos | conscendebat equos. Homer often has lππо in this sense,
e.g. Il. 5. 13 τὼ μὲν ἀφ᾽ ἵπποιιν, 46 ἵππων ἐπιβησόμενον. manni 'were
small Gallic horses (cobs) famous for swiftness and evidently in great demand
at Rome for use in harness,' Munro on Lucr. 3. 1063 currit agens mannos
ad villam praecipitantes. Cf. Od. 3. 27. 7; Ov. Am. 2. 16. 49 rapientibus esseda
mannis.
arvum caelumque, i.e. the fertility of the soil and the pleasant
climate. Sabinum: the shortness of the holiday (six days) prevented!
Philippus from visiting any of the sea-side retreats in Campania.
79.
.
516
BOOK I
HORACE
requiem, 'recreation.'
risus, 'amusement': S. 2. 2. 107.
·
•
undique,
'from any source.' 80. dum donat, 'by giving him': dum is used
with an intentional negligence in two slightly varying senses. 80. septem
sestertia: about £60. 83. nitido, 'trim townsman': Martin 'dapper cit.'
84. crepat : cf. Od. 1. 18. 5; S. 1. 3. 12 reges atque tetrarchos, | omnia magna
loquens: 'has nothing but furrows and vineyards on his lips.' praeparat
ulmos, i.e. for vines, which were trained to grow up them, as still in Italy:
cf. Od. 4. 5. 30 n. ; 2. 15. 4; Epod. 2. 10. 85. studiis, dat. as in Quinct.
9. 3. 73 inmori legationi. senescit: 2. 2. 82.
87. mentita: Od. 3. 1. 30 fundus mendax; 3. 16. 30 segetis certa fides ;
Sil. Ital. 7. 160 of the Falernian district dives ea et numquam tellus mentita
colono. enectus cf. Livy 21. 41 fame frigore, illuvie squalore enecti ;
Cic. Tusc. 1. 5. 10 enectus siti Tantalus (in a quotation from an unknown
poet). enecatus seems only found in Pliny. Ritter thinks that Menas
worked his ox to death in trying to make up for his losses: it is simpler to
suppose that the soil of the farm was stony. 88. media de nocte, 'while
it is still the middle of the night' (cf. 1. 2. 32; Roby 1911, S. G. 812):
he will not wait for the daylight before he carries out his impatient resolve.
caballum: usually of a riding horse, as in 1. 14. 43; S. 1. 6. 59, but here
probably of a cart-horse, as in 1. 18. 36. Menas is not likely to have kept a
'cob,' as some render it. 91. durus=duri patiens laboris : cf. 1. 16. 70.
5. 3. 48): cf. S. 2. 6. 82 attentus quaesitis.
•
attentus ad rem (Ter. Ad.
92. pol: cf. 2. 2. 138. This expression was used both by men and women
(Gell. 11. 6; Macrob. 1. 12. 28), though the latter preferred as a rule mecastor,
probably because of the resemblance in sound to castum and castitas (Preller,
Röm. Myth. 653). 93. ponere=inponere: cf. S. 1. 3. 41 isti | errori nomen
virtus posuisset honestum: 80 Tilévαi Ŏvoµa. 94. quod, wherefore':
Roby 2214, S. G. 871. 5. Cf. Virg. Aen. 2. 141 quod te per superos
oro; Ter. And. 1. 5. 54 quod ego per hanc te dextram oro et genium tuum.
Genium: for this tutelary spirit cf. 2. 2. 187 and Preller, Röm. Myth. 567 :
'the genius as such is always good, and the source of the good gifts and hours
which brighten the life of the individual man, and also the source of his
physical and mental health, in a word, his good spirit: hence the oaths and
conjurings by one's own genius or that of another, in which latter case along
with the genius of a friend, his right hand, i.e. his honour, his eyes, i.e. the
light of his body, or his Penates, i.e. the sanctities of his house and home, are
often named.' 96. qui semel aspexit Horace, after his fashion,
semel is found only in one
98. pede: apparently only
verum, 'right': cf. 1. 12.
sums up the lesson of the foregoing story in brief.
MS.: all others have the meaningless simul.
a variation of the idea in modulo, 'foot-rule.'
23; S. 2. 3. 212.
EPISTLE VIII
This Epistle was written in 20 B.C., and is addressed to the Celsus Albino-
vanus who is mentioned in 1. 3. 15 as one of the suite accompanying Tiberius
in his expedition to Armenia. The tone is curiously self-reproachful; it is
not likely to have been adopted by Horace simply in order to relieve his own
feelings such a view would be inconsistent with the relations which seem to
have existed between Horace and Celsus, who was probably young enough to
have been his son. It is more likely assumed to prepare for, and at the same
EPISTLE IX
517
NOTES
*
time to soften, the kindly warning to a friend whose pride in his advancement
at court seemed to require a check.
1.
1-12. Bear my greetings, Muse, to Celsus; and if he asks of me, tell him
that I am but ill content with my own temper, sloth and fickleness.
gaudere et bene rem gerere, 'greeting and good wishes'xaíper kal eû
πрáттЄш: cf. Plaut. Trin. 3. 3. 43 salutem ei nuntiet verbis patris: illum bene
gerere rem et valere et vivere. Perhaps there is here a reference also to his
duties as secretary (scriba): 'wishes for his success in his new office.'
Albinovano: an instance of an agnomen added to a cognomen, as in the
case of the poet Pedo Albinovanus. The origin of the name is obscure;
Ritter suggests Albium Intimalium (now Ventimiglia) in Liguria as its
possible derivation. 2. rogata: sc. a me, 'at my request.' refer, 'bear,'
'deliver,' as often with mandata etc., where re has the meaning not of 'back,'
but of execution of a duty; cf. the similar use of ảπodidwμ. comiti: cf.
1. 3. 6 n. 3. multa et pulchra minantem, 'in spite of many fine
promises,' not limited to literary work, but extending to the conduct of life
generally. For the phrase see S. 2. 3. 9. 4. grando: cf. Od. 3. 1. 29.
5. momorderit: S. 2. 6. 45. aestus: Od. 1. 17. 18. 6. longin-
quis: cattle were driven from farms in the mountains to the 'distant'
pastures of Apulia and Lucania in the summer-time. Cf. 2. 2. 177 n.; Epod.
1. 27 n. 8. velim: reported reason after dic. 10. cur, '(asking)
why'; Od. 1. 33. 3 decantes elegos cur
Cic. ad Att. 3. 13. 2 me saepe
accusas, cur hunc meum casum tam graviter feram; in Verr. 3. 7. 16 illud
accuso, cur in re tam vetere quicquam novi feceris. arcere: the construc-
tion is as in 1. 1. 31; A. P. 64. 12. ventosus, 'fickle as the wind'; cf.
1. 19. 37. vet. Bland. and some other MSS. have venturus, against the express
testimony of Servius on Aen. 4. 244, which is older than any of our MSS. It
is evidently only the correction of a grammarian who thought that Tibure
must mean from Tibur.' Tibur: for Horace's fondness for Tibur cf. Od.
1. 7. 13-21; 2. 6. 5, etc.
•
•
•
13-17. If all is well with him, bid him bear his fortune wisely, if he wishes
to retain our regard. 13. rem gerat et se, 'he prospers in his duties
and in himself.' 14. iuveni: at this time 23 years of age. ut: cf.
1. 3. 12. 15. subinde, 'then '; not as in S. 2. 5. 103 'from time to time.'
The word is often used in both senses by Livy: cf. 8. 27. 1 aliud subinde
bellum with 9. 16. 4 itaque subinde exsecuntur legati: but is not used by any
earlier author.
The tendency to vanity, which seems to
have exposed Celsus to the danger of publishing poems with little originality
in them (1. 3. 15), here called for a friendly warning, strangely misunderstood
by some editors, who have found in it a serious censure.
17. ut tu
•
EPISTLE IX
Septimius, on whose behalf this charming letter of introduction was addressed
to Tiberius Claudius, was undoubtedly the friend who is greeted with so much
affection in Od. 2. 6. There is nothing to determine the date.
1-13. Septimius of course knows better than I do, Claudius, what influence
I have with you. I have tried to excuse myself, but I would rather appear
forward than selfish, and therefore I venture to introduce him to you as worthy
of your friendship. 1. nimirum, ‘of course'; used by Horace ironically
in S. 2. 2. 106, but not in 1. 14. 11; 15. 42; 2. 2. 141; S. 2. 3. 120.
518
BOOK I
HORACE
Lucretius and Cicero seem always to use the word seriously: Livy and Tacitus
have the ironical force. unus, 'is the only man who, not quite 'better
than all others' as in S. 2. 6. 57 and often with superlatives. 3. scilicet,
you must know,' i.e. just fancy! S. 2. 2. 140. tradere, introduce'
cf. S. 1. 9. 47 n. 4. mente, 'judgment,' i.e. approval. Neronis, 'of
a man like Nero,' more emphatic than tua. legentis honesta: cf. Tac.
Ann. 6. 51 of Tiberius egregius vita famaque, quoad privatus vel in imperio
sub Augusto fuit; 1. 3. 6. The discretion of Tiberius was so conspicuous
at an early age that he was called ò πρcσßúrηs: cf. Philo, Leg. ad Caium
§ 26 πρὸς τὸ σεμνότερόν τε καὶ αὐστηρότερον σχέδον ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας ἐπι-
Kλivŵs eixev. Horace shows admirable tact in the manner in which he adapts
his language at once to the elevated tastes and the reserved temper of Tiberius.
honesta, 'all that is virtuous, more general, and therefore more compli-
mentary, than if the masculine had been used, as in S. 1. 6. 51 cautum dignos
adsumere. 6. valdius, 'better'; cf. A. P. 321.
nostrae.
selfishness.
T
9.
8. mea minora, i.e. my influence as less than it really was.
dissimulator: like the εἴρων who δοκεῖ ἀρνεῖσθαι τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ἢ ἐλάττω
TOLETV (Ar. Eth. 4. 3). opis, 'power'; cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 601 non opis est
commodus, 'willing to oblige.' 10. maioris culpae, i.e.
11. frontis urbanae, the cool assurance of a man accustomed
to society (1. 15. 27), as opposed to the pudor rusticus (cf. Cic. ad Fam. 5.
12. 1 deterruit pudor quidam paene subrusticus). frons never (like os, e.g.
Cic. de Orat. 1. 38. 175) carries in itself the meaning of boldness or impudence,
but derives this force from the adjective: cf. Od. 2. 5. 15 proterva | fronte;
Quint. 2. 4. 16 inverecunda frons. praemia, not 'prizes,' but 'privileges
or advantages. descendi, 'I have made up my mind to avail myself
with a certain notion of reluctance: cf. Cic. ad Fam. 8. 8. 9 alteram utram ad
condicionem descendere vult Caesar; Virg. Aen. 5. 782 preces descendere in
omnes. 12. depositum laudas pudorem, 'you praise me for putting
my blushes by.' 13. tui gregis, 'as one of your company,' not cohors
'suite,' but much more general: cf. Cic. de Orat. 2. 62. 253 gregales; ad
Fam. 7. 33. 1 gregalibus illis, quibus te plaudente vigilamus amissis. For the
gen. cf. Od. 3. 13. 13 fies nobilium tu quoque fontium; Cic. pro Caec. 35.
102 Ariminenses, quos quis ignorat duodecim coloniarum fuisse? Cf. Roby
1290, S. G. 520. fortem bonumque, a conventional phrase of com-
mendation like kaλòv kåyaðóv, 'true-hearted worthy man': cf. S. 2. 5. 102.

EPISTLE X
Aristius Fuscus was an intimate friend of Horace, addressed by him in Od.
1. 22, and mentioned also S. 1. 9. 61; 10. 83, in the former case as playing a
mischievous joke upon him, in the latter among other friends as optimus.
Some MSS. here have the heading Ad Aristium Fuscum Grammaticum, and
Acron on S. 1. 9. 61 says hic fuit grammaticus illius temporis doctissimus: here
he says he was a writer of tragedies, while Porphyrion calls him a writer of
comedies. It is clear that he was a literary man, and from this epistle it
appears that he did not share Horace's love for the country and its pursuits.
1-11. Greeting to my friend Fuscus, so like me in everything, except that he
is a lover of the town, I of the country; for I can now only enjoy a simple life.
1. iubemus, plural for the singular, as so commonly in Cicero: it is less
common to have a plural substantive: but cf. Cic. ad Att. 1. 1. 2 excurremus
EPISTLE X.
519
NOTES
legati ad Pisonem: Roby 2298, S. G. 904.
3. at cetera: many MSS.
give ad cetera, the grammatical correction of a copyist, who did not see the
construction of cetera 'as to all other things,' as below in line 50; cf. Od. 4.
2. 60; Virg. Aen. 3. 594 at cetera Graius. Translate 'A lover of the country,
I send my greeting to Fuscus, a lover of the city. In this one matter, to be
sure, much unlike, but in all else all but twins, with the hearts of brothers;
whatever one denies, the other denies too, and we assent alike: we are like a
pair of pigeons long attached and well known to each other, but you keep
your nest, I praise' etc. The punctuation of the lines is however very un-
certain (see Wilkins). Krüger and Kiessling give gemelli fraternis animis
(quidquid negat alter et alter) adnuimus pariter, vetuli notique columbi.
nidum. thus bringing adnuimus into close connexion with columbi in
reference to the well-known 'billing' (columbari) of doves. 5. vetuli:
Fuscus appears intimate with Horace in S. 1. 9, i.e. about fifteen years before
this Epistle.
7. circumlita, 'overspread': the word suggests the smooth
softness of the moss.
•
tu'
8. quid quaeris? 'in short': a very common phrase, especially in
Cicero's letters, when a writer drops details and makes a general statement.
regno, 'I feel myself a king.' 9. effertis too strongly supported to allow
us to reject it as simply a gloss on fertis of many MSS. Cf. Cic. ad Fam. 9.
14. 1 te summis laudibus ad caelum extulerunt. rumore secundo, 'with
loud applause,' lit. 'with approving cries.' The phrase seems to have been a
poetical common-place, being found in Ennius (Ann. 7) populi rumore secundo;
an old poet in Cic. de Div. 1. 16. 29 solvere imperat secundo rumore adversaque
avi; Virg. Aen. 8. 90; Tac. Ann. 3. 29. 10. liba, 'cakes' made of flour
and milk or oil (Athen. 3. 125 πλακοῦς ἐκ γάλακτος ἰτρίων τε καὶ μέλιτος δν
'Pwμaîo Nißov κaλoûσi), and often spread with honey. Cato de R. R. 75
directs that they should be made of pounded cheese, fine flour, and an egg.
For the placenta (which is here identical with the libum) he gives much more
elaborate directions in c. 76. placenta is a curious instance of a Greek loan-
word (πλaкbevтa acc.) transformed by popular etymology (= quod placet) at
an early stage: libum is identical with our loaf, and has lost an initial c, as
that has lost an h (A. S. hláƒ). The priest's slave ran away, because he was
tired of being fed on the sacrificial cakes.
12-21. There is no place better than the country for leading a life of simple
conformity with nature: the climate is so mild, the herbage so fragrant, the
water so pure.
12. naturae convenienter, i.e. if we are to take the rule
of the Stoics as our guide, which makes it the summum bonum ¿µoλoyovµévws
Tŷ þúσeɩ sŷv: this Cicero (de Off. 3. 3. 13) explains to mean cum virtute con-
gruere semper, cetera autem, quae secundum naturam essent, ita legere, si ea
virtuti non repugnarent. But probably Horace used the phrase in a looser
fashion. 13. ponendaeque domo: the thought is compressed, and, if
expanded, would run somewhat thus, and if the first thing to be done is to
choose the suitable sphere, as you would first choose the site if you were
building a house." 15. tepeant: of course the winters are not milder in
the country than in town; but Horace is thinking of his own country-house,
sheltered by hills from the colder winds. 16. rabiem Canis: the dog-
star rises on July 20th, but becomes visible only on July 26th. The sun
enters the constellation Leo on July 23rd. momenta: perhaps best taken
as in 1. 6. 4 of 'motions,' i.e. the celestial movements which bring the Sun
near to the Lion, which his keen rays are represented as stinging into a fury,
520
BOOK I
HORACE
thus causing intense heat. Others give 'influence' or 'attacks.' momentum
means sometimes a motion, sometimes a moving force. 18. divellat=
abrumpat; better than the v. 1. depellat, both as better supported on the
whole, and as a less obvious reading. Cf. Virg. G. 3. 530 somnos abrumpit cura.
>
19. olet: the mosaic pavements, so well known to us from the remains of
Roman villas, were often sprinkled with perfumes. Libycis: Numidian
marble is often mentioned, e.g. Od. 2. 18. 4. lapillis: 2000 distinct pieces
of coloured marble have been counted in a single square foot of one of the
mosaics at Pompeii. 20. vicis, 'quarters or 'streets' of the city.
plumbum: in the time of Horace water was brought into Rome by five or
six large aqueducts (afterwards increased to fourteen), each supplying one
large reservoir (castellum). Sometimes leaden pipes (fistulae or tubuli) were
used instead of or within the water-channel (specus) of the aqueduct; but
more commonly they were employed to distribute the water from the castellum
to the public pools and fountains (lacus et salientes), from which water was
fetched for domestic purposes (cf. S. 1. 4. 37), or afterwards to castella privata.
22-25. Even those who live in towns endeavour to imitate the charms of the
country: so powerful is nature. 22. nempe, 'why,' quoting something which
is universally admitted; cf. S. 1. 10. 1. varias, 'variegated,' referring to
the diversified colours of the marble. Becker, Gallus 1. 36, mentions six
different kinds of variegated marble in fashion at Rome, Numidian, Phrygian
(or Synnadic), Taenarian, Laconian, Thessalian, and Carystian. silva: at
the back of a Roman house there was often a garden surrounded by a colonnade
(peristylium), cf. Od. 3. 10. 5. 23. quae prospicit agros, e.g. like the
turris Maecenatis, cf. Od. 3. 29. 10 n. 24. expelles, not expellas, is
found in all the best MSS. The tense seems to carry here the notion of an
incomplete action, i.e. a fruitless endeavour. For the same metaphor used
for violent and contumelious ejection, cf. Catull. 105. 2 Musae furcillis prae-
cipitem eiciunt; Cic. ad Att. 16. 2. 4 furcilla extrudimur; Ar. Pax 637 dɩkpoîs
ὠθεῖν. 25. mala fastidia, 'perverse daintiness.' furtim : 1. 1. 18.
26-33. A knowledge of the truth, indifference to fortune, and contentment
with a little are the true essentials to happiness. 26. Sidonio.. the
very expensive true Tyrian or Sidonian purple was imitated by a dye extracted
from a kind of lichen or litmus (now called archil or cudbear): cf. Quint. 12.
10. 75 ut lana tincta fuco citra purpuras (i.e. without any admixture of the
genuine purple) placet; at si contuleris Tyriae lacernae, conspectu melioris
obruatur. Aquinum was at this time a large and flourishing city, but there is
nowhere else any reference to its dye-works. callidus, ‘as a connoisseur,'
S. 2. 7. 101. 28. propiusve medullis, 'closer to his heart,' i.e. one
which he will feel more deeply. 30. plus nimio, vπeрáyаv, 'quite too
much,' lit. much more than they should: nimio is the abl. of measure, and is
used in the sense so common in comedy,multo. So not only in a letter by
Antonius (Cic. ad Att. 10. 8 a) but five or six times in Livy, e.g. 1. 2. 3 tum
nimio plus quam satis tutum esset accolis rem Troianam crescere ratus; 2. 37. 4
nimio plus quam vellem nostrorum ingenia sunt mobilia. It is somewhat con-
versational, but cf. Od. 1. 18. 15; 33. 1. 31. quatient: Od. 3. 3. 4 mente
quatit solida.
pones, ‘lay down' as in 1. 1. 10; 16. 35; S. 2. 3. 16;
Od. 3. 10. 9. 33. reges, 'princes,' i.e. the wealthy, as in S. 1. 2. 86.
34-50. The horse who took a rider in order to drive away the stag never
got rid of him again, and the man who, through fear of poverty, devotes
himself to money-making may soon become its slave. cervus equum:
EPISTLE XI
521
NOTES
this familiar story is said to have been invented by Stesichorus, in order
to warn the people of Himera not to place themselves in the power of
Phalaris (Arist. Rhet. 2. 20. 5). 35. minor= ήττων, as melior = κρείττων.
37. victor violens: the adj. em-
36. opes, 'help,' cf. 2. 2. 136 n.
phasises his conduct when victorious as violent and outrageous, and so glaringly
in contrast with his former lack of spirit. Haupt (followed by Munro and
L. Müller) conjectured victo ridens. 40. inprobus, 'in his greed.'
•
42. olim: of any indefinite time, cf. S. 1. 1. 25 n. 43. uret, 'will
gall'; cf. 1. 13. 6; Prop. 4. (5.) 3. 23 num teneros urit lorica lacertos? so uri,
'to smart,' 1. 16. 47. As in 1. 1. 2; 7. 74, etc. the main thought and the
comparison are blended in the form of the expression. If a man has a fortune
too large for his position and needs, he will be led into extravagance and so
ruined; if he has too small a one, he will be pinched. 44. laetus, 'if you
are well pleased with your lot': vives is the future after an expression,
equivalent to a hypothetical clause, analogous to the subjunctives in Roby
1534; but dimittes is equivalent to an imperative, Roby 1589, S. G. 665
(b). 46. cessare: 1. 7. 57. 48. tortum digna sequi
funem: the general meaning of the metaphor is plain enough: its exact
reference has been much disputed. Various commentators have thought of a
prisoner led by his captor, an animal led to sacrifice, a rope wound round a
windlass, a tow-rope, the 'tug of war.' As tortus is a standing epithet of a
rope (Virg. Aen. 4. 575; Ov. Met. 3. 679; Pers. 5. 146), no special force
need be assigned to it here: hence the first or second view is the simplest.
Wickham, however, makes tortum emphatic by position, and refers it to the
turning of a rope on a windlass. 49. dictabam: the epistolary past
imperfect, used from the point of view of the recipient, Roby 1468, S. G.
604. putre, 'crumbling': an extant inscription refers to the restoration
of this very temple, ‘(vetus)tate dilapsam,' by Vespasian; and the ruins of
the temple have been discovered. Vacunae: the name of a Sabine goddess
very variously identified. Acron quotes Varro as identifying her with Victoria;
others compared her with Minerva, Bellona, Diana, Ceres or Venus, so little
did her attributes suit any goddess in particular. The fact that Vespasian in
restoring her temple dedicated it to Victoria proves that this identification
became the official one. But Horace is here playing on an assumed connexion
of her name with vacare, as the patron goddess of holidays. 50. excepto :
Roby 1250, S. G. 505.
esses: Roby 1744, S. G. 740. 2.
cetera:
line 3 n.
EPISTLE XI
Bullatius is unknown, and there is nothing to determine the date.
1-6. What did you think of the famous cities of Asia? Have they no
charm in your eyes in comparison with Rome ? Or are you enchanted with one
of the towns in Pergamus? Or are you so tired of travelling that you are
contented with any quiet resting-place ? 1. quid tibi visa, 'what did you
think of? nota: as the birthplace of Sappho and Alcaeus. 2. concinna,
'handsome,' apparently from the fine buildings which adorned it, especially
the famous temple of Juno. Augustus spent two winters there, 31-30 B.C., and
30-29 B.C. regia, 'royal seat.' Sardis: nom. plur. ai Zápdels.
Zmyrna: no good MSS. give Smyrna, either here or in Cicero (cf. de Rep. 1.
8. 13; pro Balb. 11. 28; Phil. 11. 2. 5). minorave fama: a much disputed
passage. MS. evidence seems decidedly in favour of minorave, not minorane.
Keller warmly supports the former, reading fama? and takes it 'what did you
3.
F
522
BOOK I
HORACE
think of the other towns, whether greater or less in repute?' e.g. Ephesus,
Miletus, Pergamum, etc. Munro has the same reading, without comment. It
is not possible to translate 'were they greater or less than their reputation?'
for -ve is never used in disjunctive questions, where two alternatives are
contrasted. If this is to be the meaning, it is necessary to read minorane fama?
But it is better with Dillenburger to place a comma after minorave fama,
translating 'are all, whether greater or less than their reputation, of little
account in your eyes compared with?' etc. 4. campo: at once the finest
part of Rome, since the erection of stately buildings there by Agrippa and
others, and the scene of its most fashionable life. 5. an venit, etc., 'or
are you setting your heart upon one of the cities of Attalus as your home?'
e.g. Pergamum, Apollonia, Thyatira. 6. Lebedum: a small town on the
sea between Smyrna and Colophon. odio maris
•
•
maris et viarum; Tac. Ann. 2. 14 taedio viarum ac maris.
•
cf. Od. 2. 6. 7 lasso
7-10. Lebedus is a desolate place, but I should be glad to live there
in retirement, watching the raging sea. These lines are marked in vet.
Bland. as a dialogue between Bullatius and Horace, thus: B. scis.
sit? H. Gabiis vicus. B. tamen
B. tamen . . . furentem. We need not assign
Gabiis. vicus to Horace: but it is very probable that the whole
passage is to be regarded as spoken by Bullatius. There is a close parallel in
1. 16. 41-43, where the answer of a supposed interlocutor is similarly brought
in without any introductory word, and Horace demurs with a sentence
beginning with sed. 7. Gabiis: cf. Juv. 6. 56, 10. 100, where Gabii and
Fidenae are coupled as unimportant places. Of Gabii, Dionys. Hal. Ant. R.
4. 53 says νῦν μὲν οὐκέτι συνοικουμένη πᾶσα, πλὴν ὅσα μέρη πανδοκεύεται κατὰ
τὴν ὁδόν (i.e. the road to Praeneste), τότε δὲ πολυάνθρωπος καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλη
μeɣáλŋ. 8. Fīdenis: but Virg. Aen. 6. 773 urbemque Fidenam. vellem :
Roby 1536, S. G. 644. 9. oblitus, 'my friends forgetting, by my friends
forgot'-Conington; cf. Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, 207: 'How happy is the
blameless Vestal's lot, | The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
11-16. Nay, but what may be good enough for a time, will not satisfy one
always. 12. caupona: the metaphor of an inn was commonly employed
by the philosophers of the time, e.g. Arrian, Epict. 2. 23. 36. Dean Alford
had inscribed on his tomb DEVERSORIUM VIATORIS HIEROSOLYMAM PROFICI-
SCENTIS. 13. frigus collegit, 'has got thoroughly chilled': cf. Virg. G.
3. 327 ubi sitim collegerit hora. It is more common to find frigus contrahere.
furnos, public bake-houses, cf. S. 1. 4. 37. Horace means to say that when
a man has got very cold, he will go anywhere where he can be well warmed,
without meaning to stay there.
17-21. The pleasure resorts of the East do not suit one who is in sound
health. 17. incolumi facit (id) quod, 'is to a healthy man what.'
Editors generally quote as parallel the use of facere with the dative=‘to
suit,' as in Prop. 4. (3.) 1. 20 non faciet capiti dura corona meo, or more
commonly with ad, Ov. Her. 6. 128 Medeae faciunt ad scelus omne manus.
But in this construction an object is never expressed or (as here) implied.
18. paenula: a rough woollen or leather cloak worn in rainy weather: cf.
Juv. 5. 79 cum . . .
multo stillaret paenula nimbo. The Greek form pawóλns
φαινόλης
is perhaps only an attempt at assimilation from the better-established peλóns:
cf. 'Westcott and Hort' on 2 Tim. iv. 13. Nothing is known of the derivation
of the word. campestre, i.q. subligaculum, a light apron, originally worn
under the toga in the place of the tunic, a custom retained by candidates for
EPISTLE XII
523
NOTES
caminus
office, and by some old-fashioned people (cf. on A. P. 50), but more commonly
retained only as the sole garment worn in the exercises of the Campus. 19.
Tiberis: for bathing in the Tiber, cf. Od. 3. 12. 6 ; S. 2. 1. 8.
(whence our chimney, Fr. cheminée), a fixed 'stove,' as compared with the
moveable foculus or brazier. 20. vultum, 'look,' expression; cf. Ov. Trist.
1. 5. 27 dum iuvat et vultu ridet Fortuna sereno. 21. laudetur: 'be praised
(but not visited),' cf. Virg. G. 2. 412 laudato ingentia rura, | exiguum colito.
22-30. Enjoy then thankfully and without delay any happiness that Heaven
may grant you, and never mind where you are living. That does not secure
happiness; it is not a change of place but a tranquil mind which makes one
happy. 22. fortunaverit, 'has made a happy one.' 23. in annum :
of an indefinite time, as in 1. 2. 38. 24. vixisse libenter, 'that you
have enjoyed your life.' 26. arbiter, 'that commands,' quite like our
own idiom. Lebedus stands quite out into the sea, and commands a view of
the Caystrian gulf. 27. non animum mutant: cf. 1. 14. 12; Od. 2.
16. 19; Aesch. in Ctes. § 78 οὐ γὰρ τὸν τρόπον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τόπον μόνον
μετήλλαξεν. 28. strenua inertia, 'busy idleness,' oxymoron: cf. Senec.
de Tranq. 12. 2 inquieta inertia, de Brev. 11. 3 desidiosa occupatio. exercet,
30. Ulubris: called vacuas by Juv. 10. 102; a dull village
in the Pomptine marshes.
'torments.'
EPISTLE XII
In Od. 1. 29 Iccius is represented as about to join the unsuccessful expedition
of Aelius Gallus against the Arabs (25 B.C.), and Horace makes merry over his
abandonment of philosophical studies for military aspirations. From this
Epistle, written about five years later (line 26), we learn that he had been
placed in charge of the Sicilian estates of Agrippa, and that he was now acting
as his agent (procurator), a position with which, Horace tells him, he ought to
be well content. Agrippa had doubtless received land in Sicily in acknowledg-
ment of his services in the war against Sextus Pompeius (36 B.C.), possibly also
when he was summoned to Sicily to marry the emperor's daughter Julia (22
B.C.) This letter seems to be an answer to one from Iccius, in which he appears
to have lamented that the claims of his duties left him little leisure for his
studies. Pompeius Grosphus, to whom Od. 16 is addressed and whom
Horace here introduces to his friend, was a rich Sicilian knight.
1.
1-6. You need pray for no greater blessings, Iccius, than are within your
reach already. With health, a competence is all that is to be desired.
fructibus, 'revenues,' lit. produce. 2. recte: not 'wisely,' or 'with
discretion,' but 'aright,' as you are entitled to. non est ut= οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως:
cf. Od. 3. 1. 9 est ut viro vir latius ordinet | arbusta sulcis; Lucr. 5. 146 illud
item non est ut possis credere. 3. tolle querellas, 'a truce to murmuring,'
Con. 4. rerum usus, 'the right to enjoy things,' as contrasted with the
actual ownership: cf. 2. 2. 158 seq. suppetit, 'is sufficiently supplied':
cf. Cic. de Orat. 3. 35. 142 cui res non suppetat.
5-6. From Theognis
719 ισόν τοι πλουτοῦσιν ὅτῳ πολὺς ἄργυρός ἐστιν . . καὶ ᾧ τὰ δέοντα πάρεστιν
| γαστρί τε καὶ πλευραῖς καὶ ποσὶν ἁβρὰ παθεῖν. 5. lateri: cf. 1. 7. 26.
7-11. A man who is accustomed to live simply, will not change his habits,
if he grows wealthy. 7. in medio positorum, 'what is within your reach';
cf. S. 1. 2. 108 transvolat in medio posita et fugientia captat, Cic. de Orat. 1. 3.
12. The genitive is governed by abstemius: cf. Plin. H. N. 22. 24. 115 mulieres
vini abstemiae: Roby 1336, S. G. 530. 8. urtica, 'nettles' (Plin. H. N. 21.
524
BOOK I
HORACE
55. 15), a common article of food among the poor, as indeed they are still.
Sea-urchins (urtica marina) are a delicacy, and cannot be meant here. sic
vives protinus, 'you will go on to live in the same way.' ut, 'even if,'
'although. 9. fortunae rivus: Midas, by bathing in the Pactolus,
transferred to that river his gift of turning all that he touched to gold. Cf.
Ov. Met. 11. 142-5; Prop. 1. 14. 11 tum mihi Pactoli veniunt sub tecta
liquores. 10. vel quia vel quia i.e. if a man's previous ab-
stemiousness was due to a love of economy, this will not be changed with his
fortune; or if it was due to a contempt for pleasure in comparison with virtue,
this will be equally unchanged. 11. cuncta: as the Stoics would teach.
•
•
:
12.
12-20. You have shown much greater wisdom than Democritus in not
neglecting your duties, and yet continuing your interest in philosophy.
miramur, ‘we wonder,' not in admiration, but rather in astonishment that a
philosopher should be so abstracted, although it is much more astonishing that
you with all your business cares should find leisure for such profound enquiries.
pecus edit agellos: cf. Cic. de Fin. 5. 29. 87 Democritus. . . ut quam
minime animus a cogitationibus abduceretur, patrimonium neglexit, agros
deseruit incultos.
13. peregre est, 'was roaming.' 14. cum tu, ‘and
that though you.' inter, 'surrounded by,' cf. 1. 4. 12. scabiem et
contagia lucri, 'contagious itching for pelf.' Iccius must have been fre-
quently brought into contact with men whose hearts were set upon making
money, but was not carried away by their example. 15. nil parvum :
litotes ; cf. Thuc. 7. 87. 4 οὐδὲν ὀλίγον ἐς οὐδὲν κακοπαθήσαντες. adhuc,
'still, as of old.' sublimia=rà µeréwpa, caelestia, themes such as those
mentioned in the following lines. 16. quae mare . . . cf. Virg. G. 2.
479 qua vi maria alta tumescant | obicibus ruptis rursusque in se ipsa residant.
quid temperet annum, i.e. causes the various seasons: cf. Od. 1. 12. 15.
17. sponte as the Epicureans would maintain. stellae here are probably
the planets; cf. Cic. de Rep. 1. 14. 22 earum quinque stellarum quae errantes
et quasi vagae nominarentur. iussae as the Stoics held, who believed in a
controlling Deity. 18. premat obscurum, 'hides in darkness': obscurum
is predicative. The reference is to the phases of the moon, not to eclipses.
19. quid velit et possit, 'what is the purpose, and what the effects of
concordia discors: oxymoron; cf. 1. 11. 28. So Seneca, Nat. Quaest. 7.
27. 3 non vides quam contraria inter se elementa sint? gravia et levia sunt,
frigida et calida, umida et sicca, tota huius mundi concordia ex discordibus
constat. The doctrine of Empedocles was (Diog. Laert. 8. 76) σтoxeîa µèv eivaι
τέτταρα, πῦρ, ὕδωρ, γῆν, ἀέρα, φιλίαν τε ᾗ συγκρίνεται καὶ νεῖκος ᾧ διακρίνεται.
20. Stertinium acumen : for Stertinius cf. S. 2. 3. 33 n., and for the word
used as adj. Od. 1. 15. 10 n. Translate whether E. or the shrewdness of
Stertinius dotes.'
1
• •
21-24. Whatever your views on philosophy, it will be worth your while to
make a friend of Grosphus. 21. seu pisces seu, etc., i.e. whatever the
simple fare that you are living on, for simple I know it is. Fish is probably
not mentioned here as a delicacy, as it is in 1. 15. 23; S. 2. 2. 120; 4.
37; and the thought sive laute sive parce vivis (Comm. Cruq.) is out of place
in connexion with the philosophic Iccius. trucidas satirises the Pytha-
gorean doctrine of metempsychosis, accepted by Empedocles: cf. Hieronym.
ad Iovin. 2. 331 probabo non Empedoclis et Pythagorae nos dogma sectari, qui
propter μeтeμчúxwoi omne quod movetur et vivit edendum non putant, et eius-
dem criminis reos arbitrantur, qui abietem quercumque succiderint, cuius
EPISTLE XIII
525
NOTES
parricidae sunt et venefici. 'Whatever the lives which you are butchering for
your food, whether those of fishes, or only those of leeks and onions,' i.e.
whether you follow Empedocles in believing that even vegetables have souls,
or do not.
22. utere, 'make a friend of'; cf. 1. 17. 2.
ultro: per-
haps after si quid petet=‘readily' rather than 'unasked.'
23. verum,
'right,' cf. 1. 7. 98; Milton, P. L. 4. 750. 24. vilis est annona, 'the
price is low'; cf. Xen. Mem. 2. 10. 4 vûv dè dià tà πρáyμata evwvoTÁTOVS ĔOTI
πράγματα εὐωνοτάτους
φίλους ἀγαθοὺς κτήσασθαι, but whereas Socrates there means to say the times
are so bad, that a small service is enough to secure a man's friendship,' Horace's
thought seems to be rather that when a good man is in want, his demands are not
likely to be exorbitant, and hence it will not cost much to secure his friendship.
25-29. I can send you news from Rome of victories in the West and East,
and of an excellent harvest. 25. ne ignores . loco res: for the
accidental Leonine verse, produced by the assonance of these two phrases, cf.
1. 14. 7; Wagner on Virg. G. 1. 157; Aen. 9. 634 i, verbis virtutem inlude
superbis, where the rhythm is perhaps intentional. For the construction cf.
•
•
1. 1. 13; 18. 58; 19. 26; 58; 2. 1. 208. 26. Cantaber: cf. Od. 2. 6.
2 n.
27. Armenius: the submission of Armenia to Tiberius had been
a bloodless one. Cf. Tac. Ann. 2. 3. At the request of the Armenians Augustus
had sent to them Tigranes, a prince who had been living in exile at Rome, to
take the place of a king whom they had dethroned and murdered. For the
various coins of Augustus, bearing the legend ARMENIA Capta, cf. Mommsen
Mon. Ancyr. p. 77. 28. genibus minor=supplex : genibus is to be referred
to Prahates, 'inferior by his (bended) knees,' i.e. thus testifying his humbled
position, not, as Orelli, at the knees of Caesar. In the Mon. Ancyr. (p. 84
Momms.) Augustus says Parthos trium exercituum Romanorum spolia et signa
reddere mihi supplicesque amicitiam populi Romani petere coegi. For the
surrender of the standards of Crassus 20 B.C., cf. Od. 1. 2. 22 n. For Prahates
Od. 1. 26 Intr.
EPISTLE XIII
This Epistle is nominally addressed to a certain Vinius, who has been charged
with the delivery of some of Horace's poems to Augustus. From the jest in
line 8 it is clear that his cognomen was Asina, or perhaps (as Porphyrion calls
him) Asella; the more usual form of the name being however Asellus (e.g.
Claudius Asellus, Cic. de Orat. 2. 64. 258; Annius Asellus, Cic. in Verr. Act.
2. 1. 41, 104). From his possession of three names it is clear that he was not
a slave: on the other hand the tone, which Horace adopts in addressing him,
shows that he was not, as some have supposed, a friend of the Emperor :
possibly he was one of the five yeomen farmers on Horace's Sabine estate (1.
14. 3). The real purpose of the letter was doubtless to indicate to Augustus
that Horace had no intention to thrust his trifles upon him, when not in the
humour for them. It has been generally assumed that the volumina contained
the first three books of the Odes, which were published together probably in
23 B.C. (but see Wilkins).
1-9. Give my volumes, Vinius, to Augustus, if you find he is in the humour
for them, but do not annoy him by obtrusiveness. If the burden is too much
for you, drop it rather than deliver it clumsily. 2. reddes: cf. 1. 10. 44 n.
3. validus: Augustus was always a valetudinarian (Suet. Aug. 81
graves et periculosas valetudines per omnem vitam aliquot expertus est), and
had several serious illnesses at this time of his life. Cf. S. 2. 1. 18 nisi dextro
tempore, Flacci | verba per attentam non ibunt Caesaris aurem ; Ov. Trist. 1.
526
BOOK I
HORACE
1. 93 si poteris (sc. liber) vacuo tradi, si cuncta videbis | mitia, si vires fregerit
iru suas.
4. ne pecces: '(I say this) lest you blunder'; ne final. 5.
sedulus, ' officious': cf. 2. 1. 260; S. 1. 5. 71. opera vehemente, 'by
your impetuous zeal.' 6. uret, 'galls,' cf. 1. 10. 43. sarcina: the
quantity of the i is to be accounted for by the fact that sarcio has also the
shorter stem sarc-. chartae: 'In Catullus' days the Romans used only
papyrus, never parchment, for a regular liber or volumen. Books made up
like ours and written on parchment seem to have come into use about Martial's
time '-Munro on Catullus 53. 7. perferre like abicito has for its object
sarcinam, not clitellas. To quo supply the antecedent ibi, to go with inpingas,
dash down.' 8. ferus, 'wildly,' like an unbroken animal. 9. fabula,
'the talk of the town': cf. Epod. 11. 8 fabula quanta fui.
10-19. Push on to Rome: but don't carry my book like a clown, a drunken
slave-girl, or a humble guest: nor tell every one that you are on your way to
Caesar. Take good care of it. 10. lamas: lacunas maiores, continentes
aquam pluviam seu caelestem, ảπd тoû Xaiµoû, quae ingluvies est et vorago
viarum seu fossae fluviorum. hinc quoque dictae sunt Lamiae puerorum vora-
trices. Ennius: silvarum saltus, latebras lamasque lutosas-Comm. Cruq. The
derivation which he suggests is of course absurd: lāma is for lac-ma (cf. lūna
for luc-na, examen for exag-men, limus for lic-mus), while Lămia (A. P. 340)
=Aáμa is akin to λaµvpós 'greedy.' The word is found nowhere else except
in Festus, and seems to have belonged to the popular dialect.
'Push on
stoutly over hills, streams and bogs." 11. victor propositi, achieving
your purpose,' ¿YKPATǹS TOû σKOTTOй: 'But when you've quell'd the perils of
the road'-Con. 12. sic . . . ne: A. P. 152; Roby 1650, S. G. 684.
13. rusticus agnum: imaginem ridiculam propter continuas bestiolae motus et
curam hominis ne in solum desiliat, ne ab ipso fortasse laedatur—Or. 14.
Pyrria or the corrupted Pirria is the reading of all MSS. collated by Keller.
Most editors have adopted the form Pyrrhia, but as Lachmann (on Lucret.
p. 408) first remarked neque Graecae neque Romanae feminae nomen est. The
derivation of the word is unknown, but the name of a male slave, Pyrria, in
the Andria of Terence seems a corruption of Пuppías, which occurs in Aristo-
phanes and elsewhere, and is derived from Túρpos, 'red.' The Scholiasts tell
us that Pyrria was the name of an ancilla in a play by Titinius, who stole a
ball of wool, but being drunk at the time, carried it so clumsily that she was
easily detected. 15. tribulis properly means a man of the same tribe,
and perhaps it is best taken so here, the notion being that a wealthy man at
Rome has invited to dinner a poor member of the same tribe, living in the
country, doubtless with a view to his vote and interest. But as the tribus
came to be used in contrast with the equites and the Senate (cf. Mart. 8. 15.
3 dat populus, dat gratus eques, dat tura Senatus, et ditant Latias tertia dona
tribus) so tribulis acquired the meaning of plebeian: cf. Mart. 9. 50. 7 of a toga
nunc anus et tremulo vix accipienda tribuli, ib. 58. 8. Hence it is possible
that this may be the meaning here: but we have no evidence of this force of
the word in the time of Horace. The humble guest comes bringing under his
arm the dress-shoes (soleae) in which he would be expected to appear in the
dining-room, although he would put them off when he took his place at table
(S. 2. 8. 77), and the felt cap which he would need when he went home at
night. He cannot afford to come in a litter, nor even to have a slave to attend
upon him.
16. ne has far more support than neu. ne narres is most
simply taken as imperative, cf. S. 2. 3. 88 and perhaps line 4 above. Some,
however, prefer ne narres nitere, 'that you may not say
•
•
.
·
U
keep
EPISTLE XIV
527
NOTES
steadily on.' ferendo is emphatic: Vinius is not to tell everybody that
he is in such hot haste because he is carrying a book to Augustus. 18.
nitere porro, 'push on.
on.' Horace humorously supposes that people will
come crowding round his messenger, eager to know what he has brought.
For porro of place, not time, cf. Liv. 1. 7. 6 agere porro armentum occepit;
9. 2.8 si ire porro pergas. 19. cave: scanned căvě; cf. S. 2. 3. 38 n.
titubes, often used, like our 'trip,' of blundering generally, and so perhaps
mandata frangas (cf. fidem, iura, leges frangere), 'bring the task entrusted
to you to grief'; but it is better to take both expressions literally, the poems
being regarded as fragile ware which Asina breaks by stumbling.
EPISTLE XIV
Nominally addressed to Horace's farm-bailiff, but really an apology for his
love for the country, intended for his friends at Rome. It thus takes up the
theme of 1. 10 and of the earlier part of 1. 7, while it is the reverse of S. 2. 7.
1-5. Come, bailiff, let us see whether you or 1 best do our duty. 1. vilice:
the form invariably found in good MSS. and inscriptions. Lachmann on
Lucr. 1. 331 showed that l not ll was used between a long i and a short one:
so mille but milia, villa but vilicus: cf. Roby 177. The vilicus was the
head slave on a farm, whose duty it was to look after the proper discharge of
all farm works: Cato de Re Rust. 142 vilici officia quae sunt, quae dominus
praecepit, ea omnia quae in fundo fieri oportet, quaeque emi pararique oportet,
eadem uti curet faciatque moneo, dominique dicto audiens sit. mihi me
reddentis, 'that makes me my own master again,' i. e. where I can live as I
please, without being distracted by the endless claims made upon me at Rome.
The woods on Horace's Sabine estate are mentioned 1. 16. 9 ; Od. 3. 16. 29.
2. habitatum quinque focis, 'though it furnishes a home for five families.'
Horace in S. 2. 7. 118 speaks of his familia rustica as consisting of eight
operae ('hands'). But perhaps they tilled the 'home-farm' under the vilicus,
while the patres were free coloni (Od. 1. 35. 6 pauper ruris colonus; 2. 14.
12 sive inopes erimus coloni), who tilled the rest of the estate, paying to
Horace as the dominus either a fixed rent, or as so often now in Italy (the
métayer system) a portion of the produce. Others, as Ritter, explain which
was once inhabited by five households of free coloni,' but we cannot so force
the meaning of habitatum. focis, 'households': cf. Herod. 1. 176 ai dè
ὀγδώκοντα ἱστίαι αὗται ἔτυχον τηνικαῦτα ἐκδημέουσαι, καὶ οὕτω περιεγένοντο.
3. Variam, a town on the Anio, eight miles above Tibur, on the via Valeria,
just where the valley of the Digentia, in which Horace's estate lay, joined that
of the Anio. The patres probably went there to market, and for local elections,
etc. It is now called Vicovaro. 4. spinas, used of vices or lesser failings
in 2. 2. 212: cf. also S. 1. 3. 34-37. 'Let us see which can root out the thorns
the more stoutly, I from my breast, or you from the land.' 5. res=fundus.
6-10. We differ very widely in our views of town and country life. 6.
Lamiae pietas et cura, ‘Lamia's love and trouble': this cannot mean, as
some have taken it, 'my love for Lamia': pietas seems never to be used with
an objective genitive, and it does not seem often to denote an affection not
based upon any natural ties, such as exist in the case of parents or kinsmen.
For L. Aelius Lamia see Od. 3. 17 Intr. moratur has much more authority
6
• •
than moretur; for quamvis in Horace cf. S. 2. 2. 30 n. 7. maerentis
dolentis: the assonance is imitative; cf. 2. 2. 79. maereo is to express grief,
•
528
BOOK I
HORACE
doleo is to feel it: cf. Cic. ad Att. 12. 28. 2 maerorem minui, dolorem nec
potui, nec, si possem, vellem. 8. insolabiliter, a äπağ λeyóμevov. About
eighty of these have been noted in the works of Horace. istuc, 'where
you are now,' i.e. to the woods and fields. mens animusque =νοῦς καὶ
Ovµós: mens meliora intellegit, animus adesse cupit, Ritter; 'my judgment
and my heart.' 9. fert, 'would fain hurry me. amat, 'would gladly':
cf. Od. 3. 9. 24 tecum vivere amem. spatiis: cf. 1. 7. 42. claustra :
the bars in front of the carceres or stalls, in which the chariots and horses
were posted, kept them from the course, until the signal was given. 10.
rure: cf. 1. 7. 1 n.: 'you praise the townsman's,
you praise the townsman's, I the rustic's state
state'-Con.
12.
11-17. The fault is not in the place. You are fickle, but I am consistent.
11. nimirum, 'of course,' carries with it no irony here: cf. 1. 9. 1 n.
stultus, 'in his folly.' uterque although Horace passed in line 11 from
the case of his bailiff and himself to a general reflexion, he still has in his
mind the position of two men wishing to exchange stations. We may retain
the indefiniteness of 'either' in translation. Inmeritum, 'innocent': Od. 1.
17. 28 inmeritam . vestem; S. 2. 3. 7 inmeritus . paries. 13. se
effugit cf. Od. 2. 16. 20. 14. mediastinus, 'drudge,' one who was
placed in medio, at every one's beck and call. The Scholiasts suppose some
connexion with ǎoru, and limit the use to town-slaves; but the word may be
used of any kind of drudge: cf. Columella 1. 9. 3 mediastinus qualiscumque
status potest esse, dummodo perpetiendo labori sit idoneus. astu was not indeed
unknown to archaic Latin: but more probably the word was formed after the
analogy of clandestinus. tacita prece: cf. 1. 16. 60; Pers. 5. 184 labra
moves tacitus.
18-30. You care only for the low sensual pleasures of the town; and hate
hard work. 18. miramur: cf. 1. 6. 9. disconvenit: cf. 1. 1. 99.
19. tesqua, 'wilds.' The Scholiasts call this a Sabine word; it seems to
have no extant cognates, except perhaps in the Sanskrit tuk'k'ha (phonetically
equivalent to tuska), 'empty.' Lucan, Phars. 6. 41 has saltus nemorosaque
tesca: otherwise the word is found only in archaic writers. 20. amoena:
1. 16. 15. 21. fornix, 'brothel,' originally an arched vault; Juv. 3. 156;
11. 171. uncta, 'greasy.' Orelli prefers the explanation of the Comm.
Cruq. nidore redolens, et optimis cibis plena, because Horace elsewhere uses
the word in the sense of 'luxurious' or 'rich': 1. 15. 44; 17. 12. But here
some contempt is evidently implied: cf. S. 2. 4. 62 quaecumque inmundis
fervent allata popinis. The popina 'cook-shop' was a place of low resort:
the form of the word points probably to a Campanian origin; it would regu-
larly correspond in Oscan to a Latin coquina, only found in late writers.
22. incutiunt, 'inspire'; more commonly with metum, timorem, and the
like but cf. Lucr. 1. 19 omnibus incutiens blandum per pectora amorem.
23. angulus iste: a contemptuous term used by the vilicus, as we might
say 'hole and corner.' Pepper and frankincense of course did not grow in
Italy at all; Horace nowhere speaks of wine as produced on his own estate
(cf. 1. 16; Od. 2. 18. 14): the vile Sabinum of Od. 1. 20. 1 may have been
bought in the dolium and only bottled by Horace. uva=quam uvam.
24. taberna: the villa of Horace was some three or four miles from the
nearest high road, which might be expected to be supplied with tabernae
diversoriae; cf. Varro de R. R. 1. 2. 23 si ager secundum viam et opportunus
viatoribus locus, aedificandae tabernae diversoriae, quae sunt fructuosae.
26. strepitum, 'strains'; not contemptuously='din,' as Orelli takes it:
·
EPISTLE XIV
529
NOTES
cf. 1. 2. 31; Od. 4. 3. 18 dulcem strepitum. terrae gravis, with lumber-
ing tread,' lit. a heavy burden to the earth.' et tamen, i.e. and yet,
though you can get no diversions as you complain, you have to work hard.
27. iampridem : either a reproach to the vilicus who ought to have seen to
these fields long before, or implying that the land had been long neglected
when it came into the hands of Horace. 28. strictis frondibus: Virg.
Ecl. 9. 60 hic ubi densas agricolae stringunt frondes. This was done when
the herbage was parched, in the summer and autumn: cf. Columella 6. 3 totu
aestate et deinde autumno (boves) satientur fronde. 29. pigro, i.e. if you
have nothing else to do. rivus, the Digentia (1. 18. 104).
cendus: cf. A. P. 67 amnis doctus iter melius.
• •
•
30. do-
31-39. I once liked a gay town-life: now I care only for the quiet of the
country. 31. nostrum concentum dividat, 'breaks up our harmony.'
32. tenues togae, opposed to crassae (S. 1. 3. 15), were worn by men
who cared about their dress. They were of a 'finer' stuff than the ordinary
toga. nitidi, i.e. with perfumed oils, not only at banquets, but in some
cases all day long: cf. Cic. in Cat. 2. 10. 22 pexo capillo nitidos; pro Sest. 8.
18 unguentis affluens, calamistrata coma; Ov. A. A. 3. 443 nec coma vos fallat
liquido nitidissima nardo, |... nec toga decipiat filo tenuissima. 33.
inmunem, 'though I brought no gift': cf. Od. 3. 23. 17; 4. 12. 22.
Cinarae: 1. 7. 28 n. 34. liquidi, 'clear,' i.e. strained through a
colum, or otherwise refined: cf. S. 2. 4. 51-58; Mart. 12. 60 ut liquidum
potet Alauda merum, | turbida sollicito transmittere Caecuba sacco.
process was necessary for the stronger wines. 36. incidere, 'to cut short
Virg. Ecl. 9. 14 novas incidere lites. There is a kind of zeugma, puderet
being understood with incidere. 'No shame I deem it to have had my sport:
| The shame had been in frolics not cut short -Con.
This
38. limat, from lima, 'a file,' hence 'to diminish' or 'disparage.' But
Horace also intends a play upon the phrase limis oculis (S. 2. 5. 53)=' askance.'
morsuque: cf. Od. 4. 3. 16 iam dente minus mordeor invido.. 39. rident:
doubtless good-humouredly, but Horace's figure and habits must have unfitted
him for active service. Madvig (Advers. Crit. 2. 61) would punctuate
moventem cum servis. urbana . The emphasis, he says, lies upon
urbana, which must therefore be brought into prominence, and cum servis is
out of place in the second sentence, for the vilicus would be in the company of
slaves quite as much in the country as in the town. But a vilicus would not
be allowanced in the country, and, besides, horum becomes unintelligible.
The juxtaposition of servis and urbana, though not quite a hypallage, naturally
suggests to the mind the notion of town-slaves, which horum takes up.
40-44. You would fain change your place, though others envy you. Every
one should be contented with what he is most fit for. 40. rodere, 'munch,'
suggests poor and limited fare. 41. horum voto ruis, 'you would fain
hasten to join their number.'
invidet usum . . . Nonius 164 quotes
from Pomponius the Atellan poet, longe ab urbe vilicari, quo erus rarenter
venit, non vilicari sed dominari est mea sententia. 42. calo: properly
a soldier's servant, then a groom (S. 1. 6. 103), or any low servant, or
drudge (S. 1. 2. 44; Senec. Ep. 110. 17 lectica formosis inposita calonibus):
hence here=mediastinus. argutus, 'shrewd,' as in S. 1. 10. 40; A. P.
364: the man is sharp enough to know where he would be better off. 43.
piger goes best with caballus; it is not only laziness which makes one dis-
satisfied with his condition; and the ox would have had a more active life, if
2 M
530
BOOK I
HORACE
44. quam scit
•
he could have taken the place of the horse. The rhythm points in the same
direction, but not very cogently: cf. 1. 5. 7; 6. 48; 2. 2. 75. Kiessling puts
a comma after piger.
The line of Aristophanes
(Vesp. 1431) ἔρδοι τις ἣν ἕκαστος εἰδείη τέχνην had passed into a proverb: cf.
Cic. Tusc. 1. 18. 41 bene enim illo proverbio Graeco praccipitur: 'quam quisque
norit artem, in hac se exerceat.'
EPISTLE XV
This Epistle must have been written after the famous physician Antonius
Musa had brought the cold-water treatment into fashion by his cure of
Augustus in the year 23 B.C.; and probably not long after. Horace writes to
a friend, who is called in the MSS. inscriptions C. Numonius Vala, to tell him
that he cannot spend the coming winter, as he had previously done, at Baiae,
and to make enquiries about Velia and Salernum. He humorously compares
himself to a certain Maenius who liked to have the best of fare, when he could
get it, but put up readily with plain dishes, when nothing better offered.
1-25. You must tell me all about the climate, the food, the water, the game
and fish of Velia and Salernum; for my doctor tells me I may no longer winter
at Baiae, much as the place grumbles at my desertion. 1. sit (like pascat
in line 14, bibant in 15, educet in 22, and celent in 23) depends upon
scribere in line 25. The involved structure of these lines, with their two long
parentheses, is intended to preserve the negligent tone of a familiar letter.
Veliae: a town of Lucania founded by the Phocaeans, when driven out of
Corsica, where they had for a time found a home after the destruction of
Phocaea, about 540 B.C. Its Greek name was Τέλη or Ελέα. It was a
prosperous commercial town, and was noted for its excellent climate, so that
Aemilius Paullus, the conqueror of Perseus, was sent there by his physicians
when suffering from a troublesome disease (Plut. Aem. 35). Not long after
its foundation it became the seat of the famous Eleatic School (Xenophanes,
Parmenides, Zeno). Salerni a Campanian town delightfully situated
on the north shore of the modern gulf of Salerno. It was of much importance
in the Middle Ages, and still has a population of over 20,000. 2. via:
Horace would travel from Capua as far as Salernum by the excellent via
Popilia, a branch of the via Appia: he could get on to Paestum (about half
way to Velia) by a fair branch road; but there seems to have been no Roman
road for the rest of the way. Baias: the Brighton of Rome; cf. Od. 3. 4.
3. Antonius Musa, a freedman physician, had cured Augustus in
23 B.C. of a serious liver complaint by the cold-water treatment (Suet. Oct.
81) and by a free use of lettuces (Plin. N. H. 19. 8. 38). He now recom-
mended the former to Horace, who therefore had no need to resort to the
vapour baths over the sulphur springs at Baiae. tamen: although it is
Musa's fault, not mine. 4. gelida: Plin. H. N. 29. 1. 5 mentions a
certain Charmis of Massilia, who frigida etiam hibernis algoribus lavari per-
suasit. mersit aegros in lacus. cum, 'now that.
24 n.
•
5. murteta, 'myrtle groves' above Baiae, in which were natural jets of
sulphurous vapour; cf. Celsus 3. 27 siccus calor est quarundam natura-
lium sudationum ubi a terra profusus calidus vapor aedificio includitur, sicut
super Baias in murtetis habemus. 6. cessantem, 'chronic,' lingering.
nervis: apparently these vapour baths were especially efficacious in cases of
muscular rheumatism. elidere, 'to drive out,' a technical medical term:
cf. Cels. 2. 15 gestatio utilissima est, .. eis quibus lentae morborum reliquiae
EPISTLE XV
531
NOTES
remanent, neque aliter eliduntur. Baiae is represented as bearing a grudge
against invalids who have courage to follow Musa's severe régime. 8.
caput: Celsus (1. 4; 4. 5) recommends the douche for strengthening the
head and stomach. 9. Clusinis: we do not know of any baths at Clusium,
but at S. Casciano de Bagni, about twelve miles to the south, there are baths
of ancient date, and it has been suggested (Dennis, Cities of Etruria, 2. 291)
that Horace may have been referring to these. But perhaps his language
does not require anything more than the ordinary springs, not wanting in the
hilly country round Clusium itself. Gabios cf. 1. 11. 7; Strabo 5. 3 év dè
τῷ πεδίῳ τούτῳ ὁ ᾿Ανίων διέξεισι καὶ τὰ ῎Αλβουλα καλούμενα ῥεῖ ὕδατα ψυχρά
ἐκ πολλῶν πηγών, πρὸς ποικίλας νόσους καὶ πίνουσι καὶ ἐγκαθημένοις ὑγιεινά.
•
10. nota: sc. equo. The horse wanted to turn down to the right, as usual,
where the road branched off, and led through Cumae to Baiae. This was
apparently at Capua: the via Domitiana, which led straight from Sinuessa
to Cumae along the coast, was made by the Emperor Domitian (Stat. Silv. 4.
3). 12. stomachosus habena, 'pulling angrily at the rein': habena
is abl. of instrument; 'venting his anger with.' 13. sed, i.e. but it is
no good saying anything, for, etc. equis: Bentley, regarding this
clause as a general reflexion, substituted the plur. for equi of most MSS.
14. populum, not an uncommon expression for the inhabitants of a muni-
cipium: cf. Wilmanns, Ex. Inscr. Lat. 1194, 1804, 1809, etc., where we
have S. P. Q. T. of Tibur. 15. collectos imbres, i.e. in tanks
(lacus). 16. iugis might seem redundant after perennes: hence some
read dulcis with vet. Bland. and a few other MSS. But dulcis is here
out of place: rain-water is not less dulcis, i.e. not more salt or bitter, than
spring-water. iugis may be used either of the water (Cic. de Div. 2. 13. 31
aquae iugis colore; S. 2. 6. 2) or of the spring (de Div. 1. 50. 112 haustam
aquam de iugi puteo; de N. D. 2. 9. 25 ex puteis iugibus aquam calidam
trahi). nihil moror, 'I don't care about': cf. Plaut. Trin. 2. 2. 21 nil ego
istos moror faeceos mores. Horace knew that the wine was indifferent, and
was therefore prepared to take his own supply with him. The wine of Sur-
rentum, not far from Salernum, was a thin light wine, recommended to con-
valescents (Plin. H. N. 14. 8), called by Tiberius generosum acetum and by
Caligula nobilis vappa, though Persius speaks of it as lene (3. 93). Cf.
S. 2. 4. 55 n.
17. quidvis, 'anything,' not 'any kind of wine,' which would necessarily
have been quodvis. 19. cum spe divite . . . : cf. 1. 5. 17. 21.
Lucanae shows that Horace is now thinking of Velia, not of Salernum.
iuvenem, i.e. as though I were young again. 22. apros: Lucanian boars
are mentioned in S. 2. 3. 234; 8.6. educet, 'rears,' cf. Ov. Pont. 1. 10. 9
quod mare, quod tellus, adpone, quod educat aer. 23. echinos, ‘sea-
urchins': cf. S. 2. 4. 33 Miseno oriuntur echini; Juv. 4. 143 semel aspecti
litus dicebat echini: Plin. Ep. 1. 15. 3 mentions ostrea, vulvas, echinos as the
dainties at a banquet. Athenaeus 3. 41 says 'echini if eaten with vinegar and
honey, parsley and mint, are sweet and easy of digestion.' 24. Phaeax,
i.e. like one of the courtiers of Alcinous: cf. 1. 2. 28.
25-46. Maenius of old liked to get the daintiest fare he could, by the exer-
cise of his wit; but if at any time his gluttony was reduced to satisfy itself on
plain coarse food, he was a merciless censurer of epicures. I am like him, and
fully appreciate comfort when I can get it. 26. Many MSS. begin a new
Epistle here, failing to notice the connexion between this sketch of Maenius
532
BOOK I
HORACE
the glutton, and Horace's humorous expression of his intention to live on the
best fare that he can get. Maenius, a character attacked also by Lucilius;
cf. S. 1. 1. 101 n. 27. fortiter, 'in a spirited fashion'; ironical, like
Pers. 6. 21 hic bona dente | grandia magnanimus peragit puer.
urbanus
(cf. 1. 9. 11) is best connected with scurra, as in Plaut. Most. 15 tu urbanus
vero scurra, deliciae popli, rus mihi tu obiectas? From Plaut. Trin. 1. 1. 165
urbani assidui cives, quos scurras vocant, we see that scurra had not quite the
same sense as in Horace, but meant rather lounger,' 'gossip.' In Catull. 22. 2
the urbanus equals the scurra of 5. 12, a 'wit,' quite in a good sense, a
meaning which is found even in Cicero (pro Quinct. 3. 11 nam neque parum
facetus scurra Sex. Naevius neque inhumanus praeco est umquam existimatus),
although from de Orat. 2. 60. 247 it appears that the bad sense was beginning
to be predominant. Horace, S. 1. 5. 52, shows the change complete; scurra
=parasitus 'spunger.' 28. praesaepe, ‘crib': cf. Plaut. Curc. 2. 1. 13
tormento non retineri potuit ferreo | quin reciperet se huc esum ad praesepim
suam : so Eur. Eurysth. fr. 6 ἤν τις οἴκων πλουσίαν ἔχῃ φάτνην. 29. in-
pransus, ¿. e. if he had had no meal that day: the prandium was the first sub-
stantial meal of the day, usually taken at mid-day. civem .. hoste,
'friend from foe.' 30. fingere saevus: for the inf. cf. Od. 1. 3. 25 n.
31. pernicies . macelli, 'the ruin, and storm and abyss of the market,'
because he burst down upon it, carrying havoc with him, and swept off every-
thing into his insatiable maw. For barathrum cf. S. 2. 3. 166. macellum
originally a slaughter-house (cf. µáxaipa, macto), thence a meat-market, and
so a market for all kinds of provisions. 32. donabat: the main verb.
•
33. nequitiae, 'his wicked wit.' 35. vilis is evidently needed with
agninae more than with omasi (like 'tripe' a Keltic word) which was
always a cheap coarse food; there are many instances in the Satires of et in
the second place in its clause: e.g. 1. 3. 54; 6. 11; 10. 71 etc. Plautus
(Capt. 4. 2. 40) complains of the butchers who sold lamb dear: apparently he
expected it to be cheap. It is nowhere mentioned as a dainty. 36. lamna :
contracted for lamina (better spelt lammina), as in Od. 2. 2. 2. Torture
by the application of red-hot plates of metal is often mentioned, e.g.
Plaut. As. 3. 2. 4; Lucr. 3. 1017 verbera, carnifices, robur, pix, lammina,
taedae. scilicet ut diceret: the man's coarse fare is humorously
represented as entitling him to censure severely epicures and spendthrifts.
nepotum, 'prodigals'; cf. Epod. 1. 34 and note; S. 1. 4. 49 nepos filius.
The word is also common in Cicero in this sense, but not apparently else-
where. 37. Bestius: unknown, but evidently an extravagant liver so
long as his means held out, and afterwards an unsparing critic of extrava-
gance. Most MSS. have correctus, some few correptus: the latter gives no
good sense; but the former may well be interpreted 'like Bestius after his
reformation.' Lambinus asserted that he had found ‘in antiquissimo codice'
corrector, which would give good sense, 'a Bestius turned censor.' Maenius
is of course the subject of diceret, and Bestius is in apposition.
39. verterat in fumum: a proverbial expression for 'consumed.'
miror si: Roby 1757, S. G. 747; cf. Oavµášw ei.
•
•
•
41. turdo :
S. 2. 2. 74; 5.10. vulva: the matrix of a sow was and still is considered
a great delicacy in Italy. It was prepared with spices and vinegar, and eaten
as a relish with wine (Athen. 3. 59). Prof. Palmer quotes very happily
Alexis (Meineke, Com. Graec. 738 ed. min.) væÈρ Tάτρаs μèv râs Tis áπolvý-
σκειν θέλει, | ὑπὲρ δὲ μήτρας Καλλιμέδων ὁ Κάραβος | έφθῆς ἴσως προσεῖτ᾽ ἂν
EPISTLE XVI
533
NOTES
ἄλλως ἀποθανεῖν. 42. hic: cf. 1. 6. 40, ‘such an one.' 44. unctius,
'richer' of food, as in 1. 17. 12 of persons; cf. Mart. 5. 44. 7 unctior cena.
46. fundata, 'based upon,' not quite 'invested in': the meaning seems to
be that no man is in this case considered wise and fortunate, unless all can see
from his handsome marble (nitidis) villas how firm is the basis on which his
financial prosperity rests. Cf. Cic. p. C. Rab. Post. 1. 1 fortunas fundatas atque
optime constitutas. The wealthier Romans possessed a surprising number of
country seats. Cicero was never accounted a very rich man; but he had
fourteen or fifteen, eight of them of considerable size and beauty.
EPISTLE XVI
The tone adopted in line 17 seq. makes it pretty clear that the Quinctius
who is addressed was younger than Horace. The Eleventh Ode of Book II is
addressed to a Quinctius Hirpinus, who is probably the same man. He
appears to have already attained conspicuous success in his ambitious career;
and may possibly be identified with T. Quinctius Crispinus, the consul of
9 B.C. The date is uncertain.
1-16. I will tell you all about my Sabine estate, Quinctius, that you may not
have the trouble of asking me as to its produce. It lies in a shady valley: the
climate is good, trees abundant, and the stream as cool and clear as the Hebrus.
This dear and charming retreat keeps me in health even in autumn. 1. ne:
not imperative, but dependent on scribetur line 4. 2. arvo: properly land
prepared for corn, but not yet sown: cf. Varro, R. R. 1. 29. 1 seges dicitur quod
aratum satum est; arvum, quod aratum necdum satum est: but the word is
commonly used for corn-land generally. opulentet: a rare word, found
for the first time here. 3. an pratis: Bentley restored an, from vet.
Bland. and other good MSS. et pratis would join two substantives not
more closely connected than any other two in the list. amicta:
cf. Od. 4. 5. 30 n. 4. forma, 'nature' or 'character': Varro, R. R. 1. 6. 1
formae cum duo genera sint, una, quam natura dat, altera, quam sationes
imponunt etc. loquaciter: i.e. with all the fulness of a proud owner.
For
recent descriptions of the estate cf. Martin's Horace 2. 233; Antiquarian
Magazine, June, 1883; Milman's Life of Horace 101; G. Boissier Proménades
Archéologiques vol. I. pp. 1-62. The main point at issue is whether the
farm lay on an elevated plateau near Rocca Giovane (as Rosa thinks), or on
the right bank of the Digentia, two or three miles further up the valley, opposite
to the village of Licenza. The latter view is far more probable.
5. continui montes: not quite, as Conington, 'in long continuous lines
the mountains run': there are no marked mountain chains in this part of the
Sabine territory, but rather a broad continuous mass, broken only by the valley
of the Digentia, running from north to south. The most conspicuous of these
mountains is the Monte Gennaro (4163 ft.), rising high above the rest as seen
from the plain of the Campagna, and this was probably Horace's Lucretilis.
ni, 'except that': with continui we must understand sunt; a general
statement is made, and then a qualification is introduced, which modifies it
(Roby 1574, S. G. 654). The full expression of the thought would be 'the
mass of the hills is unbroken, at least it would be, supposing they were not to
be parted by' etc. Kiessling (with Keller) accepts the si of some MSS. and
places a comma after vaporet, making temperiem laudes apodosis to si
dissocientur, which he explains as 'a subjective representation,' like si.
•
—
534
BOOK I
HORACE
ferant line 8; 'if you represent to yourself that the continuous chains of
mountains are only parted by a valley which runs from north to south, and
which is therefore not too cold and also not exposed to the noontide sun, you
can imagine how mild it is here.' 6. sed ut, limiting: the valley is on the
whole shady, but yet such that the sun shines upon one side of it in the morning,
upon the other in the evening. dextrum: i.e. the side of the valley on
the right, i.e. the western bank of the river. 7. vaporet may mean simply
warms' as often in Lucretius vapor means 'heat' (cf. 5. 1131); but perhaps
it is better to interpret with Orelli tepido vapore obducat.'
8. quid, si ferant: sc. dicas. The subj. pres. does not here suggest that
the hypothesis is merely imaginary, but ferant is attracted into the mood of
dicas: if you were to learn this, you would say' etc. Several good MSS.
omit si and have et in line 9, and some have quodsi here, which facts seem to
point to some corruption. Certainly quid si as it stands here, seems quite
unparalleled. benigni has better authority, and is more poetical than
benigne: some MSS. have benignae: Lucretius 4. 60 uses vepris as a feminine,
and Priscian (5. 8. 42) says that the gender was common with 'vetustissimi’;
but Virgil (G. 3. 444; Aen. 8. 645) and Columella treat it as masculine. 9.
vepres, 'bushes': usually thorn-bushes, as in Virg. G. 3. 444 hirsuti secuerunt
corpora vepres; but not necessarily, nor apparently here, for although the
sloe-tree (prunus spinosa) has thorns, the wild cherry (cornus mascula) has
not. The wild cherry is indigenous in Italy, although the cherry proper was
only introduced in Cicero's time. For sloes cf. Plin. N. H. 15. 13. 44 pruna
silvestria ubique nasci certum est. 10. fruge: here equivalent to glandibus,
but in Cic. Or. 9. 30 of corn contrasted with acorns: ut inventis frugibus glande
vescantur. 11. Tarentum: the charms of Tarentum are sung of in Od. 2.
6. 9-20, where Horace places it next to Tibur. 12. fons: identified by the
scholiasts with the fons Bandusiae of Od. 3. 13. 1: but it is not even certain
that the latter was not in Apulia. The name of this spring must have been
the same as that of the stream, i.e. Digentia (1. 18. 104). dare idoneus:
cf. Od. 1. 3. 25 n. 13. frigidior: cf. 1. 3. 3 n. ambiat, 'flows winding
through,' not 'flows around.' We should say rather 'so that Hebrus is not
cooler or clearer in its winding course through Thrace.' 14. capiti..
alvo: cf. 1. 15. 8 n. 15. dulces, 'dear to me.' amoenae, 'charming
in themselves,' objectively. Bentley read et (iam si credis), ' and, if you believe
it, now that you have heard my account', but there is sufficient distinction
between dulces and amoenae in meaning, to bear the weight of the etiam ‘and
even.'
16. Septembribus horis: cf. 1. 7. 5 seq.; S. 2. 6. 19.
:
17-24. You are universally accounted a happy man: but don't trust the
judgment of others in this: for they may not know your weak points, and no
one is really happy but the good. 17. quod audis, 'what you are said to
be' cf. 1. 7. 38; S. 2. 3. 298; 6. 20; Xen. Mem. 2. 6. 39 åλλà σvvтoµWTÁTN
τε καὶ ἀσφαλεστάτη καὶ καλλίστη ὁδός, ὦ Κριτόβουλε, ὅ τι ἂν βούλῃ δοκεῖν ἀγαθὸς
εἶναι, τοῦτο καὶ γενέσθαι ἀγαθὸν πειρᾶσθαι, translated by Cic. Off. 2. 12. 43.
18. iactamus omnis te Roma: for the construction cf. Od. 4. 2. 50
non semel dicemus, io Triumphe, | civitas omnis. 19. plus quam tibi: for
the thought cf. Pers. 1. 7 nec te quaesiveris extra. 20. alium sapiente,
'other than the wise man'; for the construction cf. S. 2. 3. 208 n.
sanum: the metaphor, as is frequently the case in these epistles, is made the
main proposition. We should say rather and act like a man who should
conceal a disease' etc. 22. sub, 'towards, just before'; cf. Od. 1. 8. 14 n.
•
21.
EPISTLE XVI
535
NOTES
23. unctis: food was commonly taken in the fingers, forks being unknown
except for kitchen purposes, and spoons little used: cf. Ov. A. A. 3. 755 carpe
cibos digitis. 24. pudor malus, ‘a false shame.'
25-31. Praise only suited to Augustus you would refuse to take to yourself.
Why take credit for wisdom and virtue? 25. tibi with pugnata, 'by you.'
26. vacuas, 'open' to flattery; called by Persius 4. 50 bibulas aures.
27-28. tene. Iuppiter: a quotation, according to the scholiasts, from
the Panegyricus Augusti by L. Varius, the tragic poet. 30. pateris . .
vocari: a Grecism, cf. 1. 5. 15 and Od. 1. 2. 43 patiens vocari | Caesaris ultor.
• •
31-40. The pleasure naturally derived from a reputation for virtue rests on
no sure basis: and unfounded praise is as worthless as groundless blame. 31.
sodes: cf. 1. 1. 62 n. respondesne i.e., as Wickham puts it, 'do
you virtually claim the title?' The metaphor is derived from a levy or a
census, where the citizen answers, when he hears his own name called; cf.
Livy 3. 41 edicitur dilectus : iuniores ad nomina respondent. nempe admits
the justice of the implied assertion: 'to be sure I do, for' etc. 33. qui:
sc. populus. 34. indigno: sc. cui deferantur fasces. detrahet has
somewhat better support than detrahit. The illustration is not very suitable:
for the abrogatio imperii, although theoretically possible, was exceedingly rare.
35. pone depone; Od. 3. 2.19 nec sumit aut ponit secures | arbitrio popularis
aurae. The object of pone is hoc, i.e. nomen viri boni et prudentis; the
intervening mention of the fasces, being thrown in parenthetically by way of
comparison. If we take fasces as the object, we are compelled to give a forced
meaning to meum, 'it is my prerogative to give and to take away offices':
besides, we lose the contrast between tristis and delector.
36. idem, i.e. populus. furem : sc. me esse.
pudicum: always
in a sense more restricted than our chaste,' of freedom from the worst forms
of vice. 37. laqueo collum used for the extreme of villainy, cf. Od.
2. 13. 5; Epod. 3. 1. 38. colores: much better supported than colorem.
Bentley admitted that the singular was much more common (cf. Od. 1. 13. 5;
4. 13. 17), but held that the plural could be explained of the colour coming
and going, the man turning red, then pale, then red again. And this is probably
right. He quotes Prop. 1. 15. 39 quis te cogebat multos pallere colores? Lucian,
Eun. 11 παντοῖος ἦν ἐς μυρία τραπόμενος χρώματα. So too Plato, Lys. 222 Β
παντοδαπὰ ἠφίει χρώματα. 40. medicandum: unquestionably right,
being supported alike by the weight of MS, authority, and by the requirements
of the sense. The old reading mendacem involves a false antithesis: for there
is no reason why mendax infamia should terrify mendaces especially. The
genesis of this blunder is made clear by the various readings in the inferior
MSS. a copyist's slip must have given mendicandum by assimilation to mendax
and mendosum, and from this came by conjectural correction mendacem and
mendicum. A mendosus requires curatio; he is conscious of serious faults,
though not those which a mendax infamia ascribes to him.
41-45. The popular judgment of a man is often erroneous, being based on
mere external correctness of conduct. 41. qui servat: the definition of
the 'good man' is that which would be given by the popular judgment, one
having in view only external rectitude of conduct, and a good reputation. But
Horace shows that these may go along with grave moral defects, known to all
who are familiar with the man as he really is. Schütz well reminds us of
the Pharisees of the Gospels. consulta patrum, i.e. the man is bonus in
Cicero's sense of the word, a 'good' Conservative. leges iuraque: leges
536
BOOK I
HORACE
are the positive enactments or 'statutes' of the comitia centuriata, with which
the plebiscita of the comitia tributa came to be practically identical: ius is
'law' in its widest sense, iura being either the various component parts of
ius, or 'rules of law,' legal provisions, either contained in the XII Tables,
or added by the praetors. Cf. Gaius 1. 2 constant autem iura populi Romani
ex legibus, plebis consultis, constitutionibus principum, edictis eorum qui ius
edicendi habent, responsis prudentium. 42. iudice: in private suits a
single iudex decided questions of fact, after a praetor had put the case into
the proper form for hearing, and settled any question of law involved. 43.
res sponsore: all MSS. except vet. Bland. have responsore, but responsor is
never used for qui iura respondet, and if it was, the word would be out of
place here, for a good man is not required to be a learned lawyer. On the
other hand sponsor is the regular word for one who stands as surety, and thus
secures a man his property; cf. Corn. Nep. Att. 9 ipsi autem Fulviae tanta
diligentia officium suum praestitit, ut nullum stiterit vadimonium sine Attico,
sponsor omnium rerum fuerit. 44. vicinia: the people of the same quarter
or vicus; 1. 17. 62; S. 2. 5. 106.
46-56. A man may possess some merits without possessing all, and he may
be kept from sin only by the fear of detection. 47. loris non ureris: cf.
Epod. 4. 3. Ibericis peruste funibus. 49. bonus et frugi, ‘bonus servus
honesta sequitur, frugi domino utilia' Ritter. negitatque is unques-
tionably right, although many good MSS. have carelessly enough negat atque.
Sabellus: Porphyrion says this means Horace himself, being='a plain Sabine
like myself.' Lachmann takes it as='a man who speaks his mind,' any one who
is plain and straightforward like a Sabine. 50. foveam, 'the pitfall': A.
P. 459. Cicero, Phil. 4. 5. 12, compares Antonius to an inmanis tetraque belua
quae in foveam incidit. 51. opertum: sc. escā; cf. 1. 7. 74. miluus,
a dactyl, as in Epod. 16. 32, and always in Plautus and Phaedrus; the trochaic
scansion appears first in Pers. 4. 26. The 'kite-fish' is mentioned by Pliny,
H. N. 9. 26. 82, along with the hirundo as a flying fish.
53. tú is anybody, not Quinctius in particular nor the slave addressed.
in te added because of the indefiniteness of nihil: with a more definite object
like scelus, dedecus, facinus, it would not have been used. 54. sit, jussive :
cf. Mart. 8. 56. 5 sint Maecenates, non deerunt, Flacce, Marones. miscebis,
'you will make no difference between': cf. A. P. 397. 55. unum: sc.
modium: the suggested unam would involve a ridiculous exaggeration. 56.
nón facinus: Horace is not adopting the Stoic paradox that all sins are
equal, which he ridicules in S. 1. 3. 96; but he simply asserts that if the
extent of the pilfering is limited only by the fear of detection, this does not
affect the character of the act, a view in which there is nothing paradoxical.
57-62. One who is virtuous to outward appearance may cherish evil desires
in secret. 57. omne forum: not 'all the fora,' but like omnis domus in
line 44, 'the whole forum.' At the date of this Epistle the forum Augusti
was probably not finished, and only the forum Romanum and the small forum
Iulium were in use. There were several tribunalia in the forum, but the vir
bonus would only attract the eyes of those around the one, at which he hap-
pened to be acting at the time as iudex. 59. clare: Martial (1. 39. 6)
quotes among the signs of a good man nihil arcano qui roget ore deos; and
the rule of Pythagoras was μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεσθαι. This passage of Horace is
imitated by Pers. 2. 3-16; and in Ovid, Fast. 5. 675-690, a merchant is repre-
sented as coming to the fountain of Mercury near the Capene gate, in order to
EPISTLE XVII
537
NOTES
get the god's pardon for his deceit in the past, and his aid for similar tricks in
the future. 60. Laverna, the Roman equivalent to our Saint Nicholas :
cf. Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV, II. i. 67 'if they meet not with Saint Nicholas'
clerks, I'll give thee this neck.' Schol. Cruq. derives the name from latere,
because thieves, he says, were once called laterniones and laverniones (cf.
Gadshill's words in Shakespeare, 1. c. 95 'we have the receipt of fern-seed, we walk
invisible'). Acron connects it with lavare, thieves being called lavatores,
perhaps because they 'clean out' travellers. But the only legitimate derivation
is from the root lu or lau 'to gain,' found in ảπo-Xaú-w, Xŋîs, lucrum, latro,
etc. (Curt. Gr. Etym. 536). 61. da with inf., as dones in Od. 1. 31. 17.
iusto sanctoque restored by Bentley from vet. Bland. and other good MSS.
for the old reading iustum sanctumque, which is only a copyist's alteration :
cf. S. 1. 1. 19 atqui licet esse beatis, 1. 6. 25; Roby 1357, S. G. 537 (c).
64. in
66.
63-72. One who is a slave to his baser passions is no free man, but should
be treated as a cowardly prisoner of war, and set to some useful toil. 63.
qui, 'how': cf. 1. 6. 42; S. 2. 2. 19; 3. 241, 260, 275, 311, etc.
triviis fixum: repeated by Pers. 5. 111 inque luto fixum possis transcendere
nummum, where the scholiast says that it was a common joke with boys at
Rome to solder a coin to the pavement (assem in silice plumbatum infigere) in
order to ridicule those who stooped to pick it up, crying 'try again!
mihi, ‘in my eyes.' 67. perdidit arma, i.e. is a piyaonis, a coward who
has flung away his arms. 69. captivum, i.e. a man who is absorbed in
the pursuit of money, is not worthy of the name of a free man: treat him as
a captive, and let him do the work for which he is fit. 70. durus, 'un-
sparingly': 1. 7. 91. 72. annonae prosit, i.e. let him serve to keep down
the price of corn, by bringing in plenty from abroad. For the effect of im-
ported corn on agriculture in Italy, cf. Mommsen, Hist. 3. 77. penusque :
this neuter form is quoted from Horace by Servius and Priscian: some inferior
MSS. have penum: Roby 398, S. G. 121. Cf. Cic. de Nat. D. 2. 27.68 est
omne, quo vescuntur homines, penus.
73-79. A truly good man will maintain his fearless independence. An
admirably vivid and dramatic adaptation of Eur. Bacch. 492-498. Dionysus,
in the guise of a young Lydian stranger, is brought before Pentheus, king of
Thebes, charged with introducing the Bacchic orgies among the Theban women.
74. patique: cf. 1. 15. 17; Cic. Tusc. 2. 7. 17 patietur, perferet, non suc-
cumbet. 75. indignum: cf. line 34. bona, in Euripides the long
tresses and the thyrsus, borne in honour of the god. 76. lectos, the most
•
valuable part of the furniture of the house. Cf. Cic. Parad. 1. 8 neque ego
umquam bona perdidisse dicam, si quis pecus aut supellectilem amiserit.
argentum: cf. 1. 6. 17. in manicis: εἱρκταῖσι τ' ἔνδον σῶμα σὸν
φυλάξομεν, Eur. 79. hoc sentit. in Eur. the delivery is brought
about by a miraculous shaking of the palace of Pentheus (line 605), but. Horace
interprets to suit his own purpose. moriar: cf. Sen. de Prov. 6. 7 ante
omnia cavi (deus), ne quid vos teneret invitos: patet exitus: si pugnare non
vultis, licet fugere. linea, the calc or winning line (our ‘tape') at the end
of a race-course=ypaµµń: cf. Eur. Antig. fr. 13 éπ' åкрàv hкoμev yрaµµnu
κακών, Electr. 955 πρὶν ἂν τέλος | γραμμῆς ἵκηται καὶ τέλος κάμψῃ βίου.
EPISTLE XVII
This Epistle contains advice to a certain Scaeva as to the course which should
be adopted to secure and to profit by the favour of the great. There is no
538
BOOK I
HORACE
indication of its date, unless perhaps in writing line 33 Horace had in mind the
triumph of Augustus in 29 B.C. But in any case the Epistle must have
been written after that date. Some critics have found grievous fault with the
tone which Horace here adopts. But it does not come to much more than
this, that a cynic's life is not necessarily the best, and that modesty is the best
policy: no very degrading doctrine, if not ideally elevated.
1-5. I will give you some advice, Scaeva, as your elder, though I know you
do not need it. 1. consulis: 1. 14. 6 n. 2. tandem: for the rare use
of the impatient interrogative tandem in indirect questions, cf. Cic. Cat. 3. 20.
72 quaerenti qua tandem re fretus sibi obsisteret. uti, 'to associate with':
χρῆσθαι. 3. docendus with amiculus: it would be superfluous, if re-
ferred to Scaeva. The diminutive='your humble friend.'
si quid: Roby 1754, S. G. 748. 5. cures velis. For the perf. inf.
4. aspice
cf. A. P. 98; S. 2. 3. 187; the construction is archaic and poetic, not in
Cicero or Caesar.
6-12. Choose the line of life which has most attractions for you.
There is
much to be said for a life of retirement, as well as for one of self-advancement.
6. primam in horam: the client would have to be up and out before sun-
rise, in order that he might greet his patron betimes: cf. Mart. 4. 8. 1 prima
salutantes atque altera conterit hora. 8. laedit: most MSS. have laedet,
a careless assimilation to iubebo. Ferentinum, a lonely place in the
Hernican country, according to the Schol. Cruq. municipium viae Labicanae
ad xlviii lapidem. The town is often mentioned by Livy: Horace evidently
speaks of it as a proverbially quiet place, although the extant remains show
that it was a considerable town. There is no mention of it in history after
211 B.C., so that it may have been a decaying place in the time of Horace.
10. fefellit, 'has passed unnoticed,' =λéλn@ev. Cf. 1. 18. 103; Ovid, Trist.
3. 4. 25 crede mihi bene qui latuit, bene vixit: both Horace and Ovid borrow
the thought from the saying ascribed to Epicurus, λále Biwσas.
11. prod-
esse tuis: cf. line 46. 12. siccus: not quite, as in 1. 19. 9; Od. 1.
18. 3; 4. 5. 39; S. 2. 3. 281, 'sober,' but rather 'hungry' as in S. 2. 2. 14;
cf. faucibus siccis of hungry wolves in Virg. Aen. 2. 358. ad unctum :
Comm. Cruq. explains pauper et tenuis ad opulentum et locupletem. But it is
very doubtful whether unctus applied to persons ever has this force. On the
other hand unctum is used several times for 'a rich meal': cf. A. P. 422 ;
Pers. 6. 16 cenare sine uncto; so 1. 15. 44 melius et unctius. Hence it is
better taken here too as neuter. Kiessling gives unctus=unguentis delibutus.
13-42. A life such as Aristippus led is pleasant and profitable (13-22), fits
a man for any position (23-32), and is no dishonour (33-42).
13. si pran-
deret holus
The story is told by Diog. Laert. 2. 8. 68 Tapιóvтa
ποτὲ αὐτὸν ('Αρίστιππον) λάχανα πλύνων Διογένης ἔσκωψε καὶ φησίν, εἰ ταῦτα
ἔμαθες προσφέρεσθαι, οὐκ ἂν τυράννων αὐλὰς ἐθεράπευες. ὁ δὲ καὶ σύ, εἶπεν,
εἴπερ ᾔδεις ἀνθρώποις ὁμιλεῖν, οὐκ ἂν λάχανα ἔπλυνες. pranderet, simply
'make a meal of,' as S. 2. 3. 245, with no special reference to the prandium.
patienter, 'contentedly.'
regibus: the words of Diog. Laert. show that
we need not take this here 'the wealthy,' as in S. 1. 2. 86: the reference is
to Dionysius the elder, at whose court Aristippus spent some time. 14.
si sciret regibus uti: Orelli quotes the saying of Epicurus (Diog. Laert.
10. 121) καὶ μόναρχον ἐν καιρῷ θεραπεῦσαι τὸν σοφόν. 15. utrius: Horace
has illius always with the exception of S. 1. 10. 67, and so alterius, utržus,
utriusque, ullius, unius (but unius in Od. 4. 9. 390), nullius (but nullīus in
EPISTLE XVII
539
NOTES
line 22, and in 1. 1. 14).
18. eludebat, 'parried': the reading illudebat
has poor authority and is unsuited to the passage, in which there is no mockery.
19. mihi, 'for my own profit.' hoc, 'this conduct of mine,' not re-
ferring to the latter of the two alternatives, but to that which is nearer to the
thought of the speaker. Cf. S. 2. 2. 29. 20. equus ut me portet :
Bentley first showed that this goes with officium facio, not as previous editors
had taken it with est. The phrase was proverbial in Greek : ἵππος με φέρει,
Baσiλeús µe тpépeɩ: cf. Diogen. Paroem. 5. 31, where a certain Corraeus in
service under Philip so answers his mother when she begs him to ask for his
discharge. 21. officium facio, 'I pay my court': for officia in this sense
cf. 1. 7. 8 n. vilia, verum: the reading of the Scholiast, supported by
all MSS. of any critical value, and rightly adopted by most editors, as Ritter,
Schütz and Keller. vilia rerum might be defended by ficta rerum S. 2. 8. 83;
vana rerum S. 2. 2. 25; abdita rerum A. P. 49: but on the other hand Horace
is fond of ending a line with verum; cf. 1. 1. 80; 2. 2. 70 (where some MSS.
have rerum, as here, against the sense), 106; S. 1. 2. 92 ; A. P. 303: hence there
is no reason for departing from the great preponderance of authority. The
construction apparently is tu poscis vilia, verum poscis dante minor, i.e. but
in making your demand you place yourself in a position of inferiority to the
bestower. 22. fers, 'you boast.' nullius is masculine: neminis occurs
in Plaut. Capt. 3. 5. 106, but fell out of use before the time of Cicero.
23. color, 'form of life': S. 2. 1. 60 quisquis erit vitae color. 24.
temptantem, 'aiming at.' praesentibus aequum: cf. Od. 3. 29. 33
quod adest memento | componere aequus. praesentibus appears to be dat.
of the neuter plural, 'equal to the circumstances of the moment'; although
some take it as abl., 'content with his present lot.' But is there any parallel
to this use of aequus? fere: 1. 6. 9 n. Diog. Laert. 2. 8. 66 says of
Aristippus ἣν ἱκανὸς ἁρμόσασθαι καὶ τόπῳ καὶ χρόνῳ καὶ προσώπῳ καὶ
πᾶσαν περίστασιν ἁρμοδίως ὑποκρίνασθαι· διὸ καὶ παρὰ Διονυσίῳ τῶν ἄλλων
εὐδοκίμει μᾶλλον ἀεὶ τὸ προσπεσον εὖ διατιθέμενος. 25. duplici panno,
the dirλots of the Cynics, a large cloak (abolla) also called тpißwv, worn
doubled to serve at once as a XITúv (tunica) and xλaµús (pallium). Cf.
Mayor on Juv. 3. 115 audi facinus maioris abollae: Diog. Laert. 6. 22
τρίβωνα διπλώσας πρῶτος, κατά τινας διὰ τὸ ἀνάγκην ἔχειν καὶ ἐνεύδειν αὐτῷ,
πήραν τε ἐκομίσατο. panno, 'rag,' páкos, is used contemptuously.
patientia=κaρprepía ‘endurance,' like patienter above.
27. alter, sc. Aristippus: cf. Diog. L. 2. 8. 67 dió πоте Zтpáтwva, oi dè
Πλάτωνα πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν· σοὶ μόνῳ δέδοται καὶ χλαμύδα φορεῖν καὶ ῥάκος.
29. non inconcinnus, 'not disagreeably': cf. 1. 18. 6; S. 1. 3. 50.
utramque, i.e. of the richly-dressed man, or of the ill-clad one. 30.
Mileti: for the purples of Miletus cf. Virg. G. 3. 306 quamvis Milesia magno |
vellera mutentur Tyrios incocta rubores. As a rule it is the wool of Miletus,
not its dye, which is celebrated: cf. Ar. Lys. 729, Ran. 541, Theocr. 15. 125,
etc. cane et angui: the dog and the snake were both regarded as animals
of evil omen; cf. Ter. Phorm. 4. 4. 24 monstra evenerunt mihi : | introiit in
aedis ater alienus canis, | anguis in impluvium decidit de tegulis. peius
vitabit : a less natural expression than peius timet Od. 4. 9. 50. Serenus in
Stob. Flor. 5. 46 tells a story which admirably illustrates Horace's account of
Aristippus : Διονύσιος Αρίστιππον ἔπειθεν ἀποθέμενον τὸν τρίβωνα πορφυροῦν
ἱμάτιον περιβαλέσθαι, καὶ πεισθεὶς ἐκεῖνος τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ Πλάτωνα ποιεῖν ἠξίου.
ὁ δὲ ἔφη “ οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην θῆλυν ἐνδῦναι στολήν.” καὶ Αρίστιππος· τοῦ αὐτοῦ,
âv
540
BOOK I
HORACE
σε
ἔφη, ἐστὶ ποιητοῦ· “ καὶ γὰρ ἐν βακχεύμασιν οὖσ᾽ ἥ γε σώφρων οὐ διαφθαρήσεται.”
The quotations are from Euripides, Bacchae 836, and 317, 318.
33. res gerere: there is a general reference here to the successes of
Augustus, but probably no direct allusion to his triumph of 29 B.C. 34.
caelestia temptat, i.e. is the way to scale the sky: cf. Od. 3. 2. 21. 36.
non cuivis, etc., it is not the lot of every one to be able to visit Corinth,'
i.e. every one has not the means to indulge in the pleasures provided so
abundantly, but at so high a price, at Corinth. According to the testimony
of Gellius (1. 8. 4), Strabo (8. 6. 20), and others, the proverb oẻ πavròs åvôpòs
ἐς Κόρινθον ἔσθ᾽ ὁ πλοῦς originated in the exorbitant demands made by
Lais and other courtesans of the place, on those who sought their favours.
But the context shows that this origin had been almost if not entirely for-
gotten, or Horace could not have used it thus of the prizes due to pre-eminent
virtue. The old notion that contingere was only used of good fortune has
long been discarded. Cf. note on Cic. Cat. 1. 7. 16; Mayor on Phil. 2. 7. 17.
37. sedit, ‘renounces the attempt'; like кa@ĥσ@aɩ of remaining inactive: cf.
Ter. Ad. 4. 5. 38 an sedere oportuit domi tam grandem virginem, where Donatus
remarks 'sedere proprie ignavae cessationis est': Virg. G. 3. 456 meliora deos
sedet omnia poscens. The perfects are 'gnomic'; cf. 1. 2. 48 n., A. P. 343.
non succederet, impersonally 'things should not go well with him'; cf. Ter.
Andr. 4. 1. 46 hac non successit; alia adgrediemur via. Sometimes succedo has
res, or inceptum, but never like our 'succeed' a person as the nominative.
esto, 'very good': cf. 1. 81 n. 38. fecitne nonne fecit, as so often in
Plautus and Terence. 39. hic, i.e. in the answer which we give to this
question. 42. recte petit, 'is right in seeking.' experiens, 'enter-
prising': Cic. pro Cluent. 8. 23 A. Aurius vir fortis et experiens: in Verr. II.
3. 21. 53 homo navus et industrius, experientissimus (ac diligentissimus) arator.
43-62. One who is paying court to a great man should abstain from (1)
direct begging (43-51) and more indirect attempts to extract money (52-62), or
real causes of complaint will not meet with attention. 43. sua has far less
authority than suo, but it certainly gives more point to say 'those who say
nothing before a patron of their own poverty.' The great probability that sua
would be assimilated to rege by transcribers, influenced, it may be, by the
caesura, outweighs the MS. evidence. 45. atqui, etc., but this was the
·
main point, this the source of your conduct': erat, referring back to lines
11, 12 'this was the point which we had in view,' viz. to get as much as pos-
sible out of your patron. 46. indotata: to allow a sister to marry with-
out a proper dowry, was regarded as a great disgrace; cf. Plaut. Trin. 3. 2. 55.
47. nec vendibilis, 'not saleable,' i.e. I can find no purchaser for it.
pascere firmus: Od. 1. 3. 25 n. firmus, 'safe,' 'trustworthy.' 48.
succinit, 'chimes in,' like another of a troop of beggars, joining in the cry.
49. findetur 'the cake will be divided, and the gift parted between
you.' Horace means 'if you beg so shamelessly, you will attract other beggars
who will clamour for their portion, and so you will have to share with them
what otherwise you might have kept all to yourself.' Some make the whole
line the cry of the second beggar, but if so the fut. findetur must be taken as
=an imperative, and this is too strong for a beggar however impudent.
quadra: cf. Virg. Aen. 7. 115; Juv. 5. 2; Athen. 3. 114 c åρrovs . οὓς
Ρωμαῖοι κοδράτους λέγουσιν. They were probably scored with a cross so as
to be easily divided. 50. corvus: the reference cannot be to the familiar
fable of the crow and the fox (Phaedr. 1. 13; Babr. 77), as in it there is no
·
EPISTLE XVIII
541
NOTES
1
:
rica, no invidia. Horace may be thinking of some different story, in which a
crow by the noise which it makes over some booty which it has discovered
attracts others to claim a share in it.
52. Brundisium might be visited for business or on state-affairs, as by
Maecenas; cf. S. 1. 5. Surrentum for pleasure: it was especially famous
for its mild and salubrious climate, Sil. Ital. 5. 466 Zephyro Surrentum molle
salubri. 53. salebras=asperitates itineris Acron; cf. Mart. 9. 58. 5 quae
Flaminiam secant salebrae. The roads to Brundisium and Surrentum were
among the best in Italy. 55. refert, 'repeats,' i.e. imitates: cf. 1. 13. 62 ;
Tac. Ann. 1. 26 easdem artes Drusum rettulisse. catellam: probably
here a diminutive of catena, not of catulus. The chain is a more natural
accompaniment of the periscelis than the favourite dog.
58. triviis, chosen by the impostor as the scene of his accident, because
at 'cross-roads' there would be most passers-by. 59. planum: cf. Matt. xxvii.
63 ékeîvos ô πλávos eîπev ëтɩ ¿ŵr, Cic. Cluent. 26. 72 ille planus inprobissimus.
60. dicat: an asyndeton, though he says. Osirim: the worship of
Egyptian deities was at this time much on the increase at Rome, so that
Augustus (Dio Cass. 53. 2) did not allow their rites within the city. The
people looked upon them with great awe (Val. Max. 1. 3. 3); and hence the
oath of the impostor. 62. peregrinum, i.e. one who does not know your
tricks. rauca: Porph. says=ad ravim, i.e. 'till they are hoarse.' But why
should the neighbours bawl so long at the impostor, as to ruin their voices?
The word merely denotes the harsh dissonant cries of the mocking crowd.
EPISTLE XVIII
,
This Epistle is in some MSS. and by the scholiasts taken as a continuation
of the preceding one, and the latter even speak of 'Lollius Scaeva.
The only
justification for this is that at first sight the main theme, the manner in which
an inferior should associate with a superior in rank and wealth, appears to be
the same in both. But a little consideration shows that the position of
Lollius is very different from that of Scaeva. The latter is evidently of
narrow means, and probably of humble origin: his object in courting a patron
is to obtain a decent livelihood: the former is in possession of an ancestral
estate (line 60) with a lake on it large enough to be made the scene of a sham
sea-fight, represented by two fleets of boats manned by numerous slaves. The
date is fixed by lines 55-57 to about 20 B.C.: it is therefore exceedingly im-
probable that the Epistle was addressed to the Lollius who was consul in 21
B.C. (for whom see Od. 4. 9 Intr.): but it may probably have been addressed
to his son (see 1. 2 Intr.) The tone of the Epistle has been severely censured
by some editors; but the key to it seems to be found in the epithet liberrime
of line 1, which, taken in connexion with line 5 seq., plainly denotes an out-
spoken frankness, in danger of passing into offensive rudeness. Horace blames
in the most explicit language all unworthy servility, and points out the
dangers and vexations of a court-life very frankly. But seeing that his young
friend is embarked upon it, he gives him the advice which his temperament
seemed most to require, namely that a man who seeks the patronage of one
superior to himself in social station should not offend him by persistently
obtruding his own opinions on matters of trifling importance, by displaying
his own vices and follies, by prying into secrets, and betraying them, by find-
ing fault with his friend's tastes and pursuits, by incontinent loquacity, and
542
BOOK 1
HORACE
by introducing to him unworthy acquaintances. It is in the concluding lines
96-103 that Horace gives his genuine advice, enforcing it by his own example
104-112, and that advice is to be contented and independent.
1-9. A true friend, Lollius, will not stoop to play the parasite: but it is
almost a worse fault, if he becomes boorish and rude. Virtue lies in the mean.
2. scurrantis: 1. 17. 19. professus, sc. te: cf. Od. 1. 35. 22 nec comi-
tem abnegat, 'nor does she refuse her companionship.' Perhaps however we
may take amicum as directly governed by professus, like agere amicum, mentiri
iuvenem. 4. discolor: prostitutes were required to wear a dark toga,
while matrons wore the white stola, and some find a reference to that practice
here. But probably discolor, as in Pers. 5. 32 mille hominum species et
rerum discolor usus, is merely='different': cf. vitae color 1. 17. 23; S. 2. 1. 60.
distabit with dat. as in Od. 4. 9. 29 distat inertiae virtus. So the
dat. follows dissidens Od. 2. 2. 18; differt S. 1. 4. 48; A. P. 236; discrepat
Od. 1. 27. 5; S. 1. 6. 92; 2. 3. 108; Ep. 2. 2. 193; A. P. 152, 219.
6.
5. diversum, 'the opposite to this fault is almost a greater fault.'
inconcinna: 1. 17. 29. 7. commendat, not for commendare vult, but
with a certain irony; cf. 2. 1. 261. tonsa cute, 'with hair clipped to
the skin,' as a sign of severe virtue: cf. Conington on Pers. 3. 54, where detonsa
iuventus is the term applied to students of Stoicism. The Cynics too were
distinguished Tŷ EV XPŵ KOUρâ, cf. Diog. Laert. 6. 2. 31. In Gk. κομᾶν is
often a sign of dissipation. Cf. too the contrast in this respect between the
Roundheads and Cavaliers. 8. dum vult: cf. 1. 19. 16. dici mera:
the old reading was more dici: but the fourth foot composed of a single word,
and that a spondee, is very inelegant. 9. medium (=μéσov тi) vitiorum :
cf. Aristotle's definition, Eth. Nic. 2. 6 15 čσтw ǹ åpeтǹ ëέis πрoαιρeтiký,
ἐν μεσότητι οὖσα τῇ πρὸς ἡμᾶς . . . μεσότης δὲ δύο κακιῶν, τῆς μὲν καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν
τῆς δὲ κατ᾽ ἔλλειψιν. See note on Odl. 2. 10. 5.
dè
WN
dè
10-20. One man obsequiously catches up his patron's words, while another
wrangles about the merest trifles. 10. imi lecti: see note on S. 2. 8. 20,
where the imus lectus is occupied by the host with a scurra on either hand.
The derisor, while flouting at others, would be servile towards the patron.
12. tollit, i.e. he calls attention to words that drop from his patron's lips,
and might otherwise pass unnoticed. Cf. A. P. 368. 14. reddere: cf. 1.
1. 55; Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1. 26. 72 ista a vobis quasi dictata redduntur.
magistro, dat. after reddere. partes secundas: in the mimes the rôle of the
actor who played the second part seems to have been to follow the lead of the
chief actor, and to imitate him in word and gesture, with perhaps something
of caricature. Suetonius (Calig. 57) tells a curious story: cum in Laureolo
mimo in quo actor proripiens se ruina sanguinem vomit, plures secundarum
certatim experimentum artis darent, cruore scaena abundavit. 15. rixatur:
the vet. Bland. has rixatus='wrangling,' for which rixans would be required.
The asyndeton between rixatur and propugnat is objected to by many editors.
Muretus removed it by reading rixator, but this is not found before Quintilian
(11. 1. 29). de lana caprina: most take this as a proverbial expression=
something non-existent, and quote as parallel Lucian, Hermotim. § 71 (p. 818)
πάντες, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς μάχονται οἱ φιλοσοφοῦντες. Surely an
ass has a shadow! (Cf. Ar. Vesp. 191, where the scholiast explains the origin
of the proverb.) Porphyrion shows better judgment: de villo ut quidam
dicunt, caprorum, pilos non setam dicens esse, sed lanam. He is ready to
come to blows on the question whether goats' hair, used for weaving into
EPISTLE XVIII
543
NOTES
cloth (cilicium: cf. Acts xviii. 3), is properly to be called wool or not.
According to the Roman jurists it was.
16. propugnat. . . 'takes up arms and fights in defence of trifles.'
Others harshly join nugis armatus, maintains his own view, with no other
weapon than nonsense. scilicet ut, 'to think that': this phrase occurs
five times in the Epistles, but nowhere quite in this sense. Perhaps, as scilicet
is very rare in interrogative sentences, we should read scilicet: ut...i.e. 'to
be sure the notion that' etc. If so, for ut sit? cf. S. 2. 5. 18 utne tegam ?
non sit mihi 'I should not be believed before every one else.' 17.
vere with placet, not with elatrem, which is already provided with acriter.
18. sordet: cf. 1. 11. 4. Some put a comma after elatrem, making ut non
sit and ut non elatrem both depend on sordet, in the sense of 'on the condition
that,' but this is very awkward. The abruptness of the text is much more
pointed. 'I would not care to have my life over again at that price.' 19.
Docilis has much the best MS. authority, and is found elsewhere as the name
of a freedman. The other reading Dolichos, 'Long,' would be suitable enough
as the name of a gladiator, if it had more authority. 20. Minuci via:
from Strabo (quoted S. 1. 5. 6 n.) we learn that there were two roads
from Beneventum to Brundisium, one, the Appian road, passing through
Tarentum, and better adapted for carriages, the other adapted only 'for mules,'
passing through Herdonia, Canusium, and Egnatia. The latter was that taken
by Maecenas and his suite on the journey described by Horace in S. 1. 5.
Mr. Bunbury (Dict. G. 2. 1282 A) thinks it 'not improbable' that this was
the Via Minucia: Schütz (on S. 1. 5. 77) states the same view positively; if
Kiessling's reading ǹ Mivvкía for noviкn in Strabo is right the point is settled.
21-36. A rich friend will not tolerate vice, gambling, vanity, or ostentation
in one beneath him, even though he is by no means free from faults himself;
and the wish to make a show may lead to ruin. 21. damnosa, 'ruinous":
cf. 2. 1. 107 damnosa libido. praeceps, 'fatal': cf. Pers. 5. 57 hunc alea
decoquit, ille in Venerem putris. 22. gloria, 'vanity': Kevodocia, which
leads a man to spend too much on dress, etc. 23. argenti: the close
parallelism to auri sacra fames (Virg. Aen. 3. 57) and the like, strongly points
to the meaning 'money.' Some, however, give 'plate' (as 1. 6. 17; 16. 76; 2. 2.
181), urging that the character described is reproved not for greed of money,
but for wishing to make as much display as a far richer man. inportuna,
'insatiate.
25. decem vitiis instructior cannot be 'furnished with
ten times as many defects,' as some translate: decem is merely a definite
number chosen for the sake of vividness, instead of the indefinite 'many,' as
we might use 'a dozen'; cf. A. P. 365; Plaut. Merc. 2. 3. 11 ita animi decem
in pectore incerti certant. The ablative is that of measure after a comparative,
'better equipped (than you) by ten defects.' 26. regit, 'schools him.'
28. prope vera, 'pretty nearly true': cf. 1. 6. 1.
30. arta toga, 'a toga of little breadth.' The toga was of an oval form,
and folded, as a rule, along the greater axis of the ellipse. Hence in wearing
it the breadth would be measured from the shoulders downwards; and a toga,
if too broad, would either trail or have to be arranged in elaborate folds. For
a trailing toga as a sign of conceit cf. Epod. 4. 8. comitem = clientem.
31. Eutrapelus, a name given to P. Volumnius, a Roman knight (to whom
Cicero addressed ad Familiares 7. 32 and 33) on account of his polished wit.
Cf. Ar. Rhet. 2. 12. 16 ἡ γὰρ εὐτραπελία πεπαιδευμένη ὕβρις ἐστίν, Eth.
Nic. 2. 7. 13 and 4. 8. 10, where evтраreλía is defined as the just mean
544
BOOK I
HORACE
• • •
between Bwμoloxía 'buffoonery' and ȧypoikia, the 'boorishness' which is
βωμολοχία
deficient as regards tò nồù tò év πaidia. For the history of the word, and
the stages by which it reaches the bad meaning found Eph. v. 3, 4 (undè
ὀνομαζέσθω ἐν ὑμῖν μωρολογία ἢ εὐτραπελία [‘jesting R. V.], τὰ οὐκ
ȧvýкovтa) see Trench, Synonyms, p. 118, where he says justly 'there is cer-
tainly nothing particularly amiable in the story which Horace here tells.
cuicumque = si cui. 32. beatus, etc., haec cogitabat vel dicere
solebat Eutrapelus—Schol. 34. in lucem: cf. 1. 17. 6. honestum
officium: not, as in 1. 17. 21, of the attentions due to his patron, though
some take it so, but more generally. 35. nummos alienos pascet, 'he
will let his debts grow,' especially by ȧvaтokioμós, the interest due being
added to the principal, as often now by usurers renewing bills. ad imum,
finally,' when he has sunk to the lowest point. 36. Thraex erit, i.e. he
will turn gladiator, the last resource of the fast young Roman nobleman: cf.
Juv. 11. 1-23. Many MSS. spell Thrax.
37-38. Do not be inquisitive, but keep secrets entrusted to you. 37.
illius: MS. authority is strong for ullius, which Bentley first rejected as out
of place here; it is evidently only due to a false assimilation to unquam.
illius refers to the potens (line 44) and venerandus (line 73) amicus, whoever
he may have been, who appears as ille in line 40. The counsel here given is
nearly identical with that of lines 62-71, and comes in with a certain abrupt-
ness after what has been said of the extravagant and self-indulgent dependent.
Hence Lehrs places lines 72-75 immediately after line 36, a course which makes
the connexion more natural, and supplies in dominus a natural reference for
illius. Schütz, accepting this, further places lines 69-71 after line 38, and
thereby brings line 68 into very suitable juxtaposition with line 76. 38.
tortus, 'racked': cf. Od. 3. 21. 13. ira: the irritation felt by Lollius, if
ever his patron treated him with harshness or injustice. Some explain of
angry threats used to make him disclose the secret.
d'
39-66. Do not obtrude your own pursuits, or disparage and avoid those of
your patron. You are well able to distinguish yourself in hunting or the
games. 39. aliena, here those of the patron. 41. Amphionis: Euri-
pides in his Antiope introduced Amphion and Zethus, the two sons of Antiope,
as at variance on the value of music, and in an extant fragment (188 Dind.)
Zethus remonstrates with his brother: ἀλλ' ἐμοὶ πιθοῦ· ' παῦσαι μελωδῶν,
πολεμίων δ᾽ εὐμουσίαν | ἄσκει· τοιαῦτ᾽ ἄειδε καὶ δόξεις φρονεῖν, | σκάπτων,
ἀρῶν γῆν, ποιμνίοις ἐπιστατῶν, | ἄλλοις τὰ κομψὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἀφεὶς σοφίσματα, |
ἐξ ὧν κενοῖσιν ἐγκατοικήσεις δόμοις. The story was familiar to Roman readers
from the Antiopa of Pacuvius, perhaps the most famous and admired of his
plays. gratia... dissiluit, 'the friendship was severed.' 42. sus-
pecta, as leading to effeminacy. severo: Prop. 4. (3.) 15. 29 et durum
Zethum et lacrimis Amphiona mollem.
46. Aetolis: a 'literary' epithet, recalling the famous Calydonian hunt.
For the significance of such epithets cf. Sellar's Virgil 235 seq. Aeoliis, found
in an inferior MS., has been adopted by some. It is explained as a reference
to the very fine but strong nets made of the flax grown near Cumae (Plin.
H. N. 19. 1. 10), a colony from Cyme in Aeolia. But such a far-fetched
reference seems impossible. 47. inhumanae, 'discourteous,' not as a
perpetual epithet, but only under the circumstances. senium, 'gloom' or
moroseness': cf. Pers. 1. 26 en pallor seniumque! of poets; Sen. Hipp. 917
morum senium triste. In Epod. 13. 5 senectus is used in just the same way.
EPISTLE XVIII
545
NOTES
48. pariter, i.e. like your patron.
pulmenta=pulmentaria, cf. S. 2. 2.
20 n.
49. sollemne opus: in apposition to the preceding clause, not an
independent proposition. Hunting is called Romana militia S. 2. 2. 10.
•
·
53. coronae, 'the ring' of spectators: cf. A. P. 381; Mart. 7. 72. 9 sic
palmam tibi unctae det favor arbiter coronae. 54. proelia cam-
pestria, the fencing matches and similar amusements of the Campus Martius.
55. Cantabrica bella, i.e. in 27-25 B.C.: cf. Od. 2. 6. 2 n. 56. reflgit,
'is taking down': Od. 1. 28. 11 clipeo refixo. For the recovery of the
standards of Crassus from the Parthians in 20 B.C., cf. Od. 1. 2. 22 n.
•
•
61.
58. ac... nugaris: the clause ne .. absis is parenthetical, and
suggests, not the purpose of the principal action, but the reason of mentioning
it: Roby 1660, S. G. 690. 'And further-that you may not back out, etc.-
you do sometimes go into the country and amuse yourself.' 59. quamvis ..
curas: for the indicative cf. S. 2. 2. 30 n. extra numerum = παρὰ τὸν
ῥυθμὸν (τοῦ βίου) : extra modum = παρὰ μέλος, out of time and tune.
exercitus, 'your forces,' i.e. of slaves. Actia pugna: Virg. Aen. 8. 675
Actia bella and elsewhere: the more regular form is Actiacus, but cf. Od. 1.
15. 10 n. 62. hostili more, i.e. quasi re vera hostes inter vos essetis.
63. lacus, i.e. the lake on your father's estate. 64. velox, 'swift' as being
winged, in accordance with the usual representation of Nike or Victoria in
works of art. Cf. S. 1. 1. 8. 66. utroque pollice: cf. Plin. H. N. 28.
2. 25 pollices, cum faveamus, premere etiam proverbio iubemur. The opposite to
this is pollicem vertere: cf. Juv. 3. 36 verso pollice vulgi, cum libet, occidunt
populariter, where Mayor writes 'those who wished the death of a conquered
gladiator turned (vertebant, convertebant) their thumbs towards their breasts,
as a signal to his opponent to stab him: those who wished him to be spared
turned their thumbs downwards (premebant), as a signal for dropping the sword.'
67-85. Be careful of your words: avoid curious questions: do not allow
yourself to be enamoured of any of your patron's household: be cautious in
introductions, and do not attempt to defend the unworthy.
68. de quoque,
71.
perhaps best taken et de quo: there are three questions quid dicas, de quo
dicas, cui dicas. So Cic. in Pis. 31.75 tu quid, tu apud quos, tu de quo dicas,
intellegis? It is however quite legitimate to take quoque as abl. of quisque
and then it implies that in each individual case care is to be used.
emissum, 'let slip': A. P. 390 nescit vox missa reverti. The generally
assumed reference to an arrow hardly allows sufficiently for the idea of care-
lessness here involved. Cf. Menander, Frag. 607 oor' ÈK XEρÒS μEÔÉvтa kaρ-
τερᾶς λίθον | ῥᾷον κατασχεῖν, οὔτ᾽ ἀπὸ γλώσσης λόγον.
•
•
72. non ulla: to be taken closely together=nulla: but for non
with imperatives cf. S. 2. 5. 91 n. iecur: the seat of the emotions: cf.
Od. 1. 13. 4 n. 75. beet aut angat if the patron grants your
request, he will think that he has discharged all obligations, though his gift is
really of little value: if he is churlish and refuses you, this will cause you pain.
78. quondam, 'at times': cf. Od. 2. 10. 18; S. 2. 2. 82; Virg. Aen. 2.
367 quondam etiam victis redit in praecordia virtus: cf. ib. 6. 877. It is doubtful
whether this usage is found in Cicero. Cf. the similar use of olim. tradimus,
'introduce'; cf. 1. 9. 3. 79. premet, 'crushes,' with a stronger force
than in 1. 19. 36.
80. ut ... serves. If you have been deceived and
have introduced a man who proves unworthy, do not attempt to stand by him,
in order that you may not exhaust your influence, but may preserve it unim-
paired for the protection of one whom you know well, and who looks to you
2 N
546
BOOK I
HORACE
•
for help, when assailed by calumny. 81. qui . . takes the argument a
step further-' and remember that when he (the man last mentioned) is attacked,
the danger is getting very near yourself.' Theon was some freedman notorious
for his biting slanders. 82. For dente cf. Od. 4. 3. 16. circumroditur:
cf. S. 1. 4. 81. ecquid sentis, 'do you feel at all?' i.e. 'don't you feel?'
84. tua res agitur: cf. Juv. 3. 198-200.
86-95. It is a hard task to retain the favour of the powerful, for you must
always fall in with their humours. 88. hoc age, 'give all your mind to
it': S. 2. 3. 152 n.; Ter. And. 2. 1. 15; 2. 5. 4. 91. The spuriousness of this
line does not admit of a question. It is not found in any of the good MSS.,
and contains two inexplicable difficulties: (1) bibuli potores is little better
than potantes potores, while to connect bibuli with Falerni is to do violence to
the meaning of the word: (2) media de nocte could only mean 'as early as
midnight'; cf. 1. 2. 32; 14. 34. It is evident that some copyist (not before
the 11th century) feeling the need of a subject to oderunt introduced potores
and then attempted to make up the line by a clumsy adaptation of 1. 14. 34
quem bibulum liquidi media de luce Falerni. Vahlen, however, defends the
line as 'wine-bibbers ready to drink Falernian after midnight,' i.e. ready,
after a long debauch, to call for a fresh wine of the strongest sort. 93.
tepores has far more authority than vapores. tepor, however, generally
denotes a mild warmth, and the earliest instance quoted for it='feverishness'
is from Ammianus 19. 4. 2 tepore febrium arescunt. 94. nubem, a common
metaphor, which we may retain in translation: 'banish the cloud from your
brow.' Cf. Soph. Αnt. 528 νεφέλη δ' οφρύων ὕπερ αἱματόεν | ῥέθος αἰσχύνει,
Eur. Hipp. 172 oтvyvòv ♪ ¿épúwv védos avžáveral, Shakespeare, Ant. and
Cleop. III. ii. 52 Will Caesar weep? He has a cloud in's face.'
obscuri="mysterious,' кpvívous. The modesty which prompts to reserve
often makes a man appear to be disguising his thoughts with a view to deceive.
Cf. Cic. de Off. 3. 13. 57 hoc celandi genus ... non aperti, non simplicis, non
ingenui, non iusti, non viri boni (est), versuti potius, obscuri, astuti, fallacis,
96-103. Whatever you do, study philosophy, which alone can give you the
secret of a happy life. 96. leges: Roby 1466, S. G. 602: 'you must
study for yourself (to learn) how' etc. 98. num
agitet,
'whether greed ever unsatisfied is to torment you.' agitet represents the jussive
subj. of direct question [Roby 1612, S. G. 674 (b)], for obviously the question
which the man must study to understand is not whether he is tormented
but whether he is to be tormented. Or we may say that the direct question
would have been agitatne me semper, with the present used for the future.
99. mediocriter utilium, 'things indifferent,' the ȧdiápopa of the Stoics
which included all things generally considered by men good and advantageous,
with the exception of virtue, which is the summum bonum. Cf. Cic. de Fin. 3.
16. 53.
•
•
•
95.
100. doctrina: the familiar inquiry of the philosophers: cf. Plat. Meno
ad init. ἆρα διδακτὸν ἡ ἀρετή ; ἢ οὐ διδακτὸν ἀλλ᾽ ἀσκητόν; ἢ οὔτε ἀσκητὸν
οὔτε μαθητόν, ἀλλὰ φύσει παραγίγνεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις; Cic. Part. Or. 64
quonam pacto virtus pariatur, naturane an ratione an usu; Od. 4. 4. 34.
Horace here does not mention the third alternative-doкnois, usus, 'practice.'
101. quid te tibi reddat amicum: another reminiscence of Plato; Rep. 10.
621 ο δικαιοσύνην μετὰ φρονήσεως παντὶ τρόπῳ ἐπιτηδεύσομεν, ἵνα καὶ ἡμῖν
αὐτοῖς φίλοι ὦμεν καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς. 102. pure sincere, 'what gives you
untroubled calm.' honos: public honours, especially office, which is often
EPISTLE XIX
547
NOTES
inconsistent with money-making. Hence Schütz's proposal to read ac for an
would really injure the sense. lucellum: a remembrance of this or of S.
2. 5. 82 would have enlightened those who were puzzled by Mr. Lowe's proposed
motto for the match-tax stamp, ex luce lucellum. 103. fallentis: cf. 1. 17.10.
104-112. In my own quiet country-home, my prayers are only for competence
and independence. Contentment I will provide for myself, if Jove gives me
life and prosperity. 105. Mandela: the river Licenza, Horace's Digentia,
flows through the bottom of the valley far beneath us (at Vico Varo), a limpid
stream, speeding to join the Anio. On the opposite side of the river, situate
upon a lofty eminence, is a village now called Cantalupo Bardella, which is
Horace's Mandela, described by him as 'rugosus frigore pagus' from its lofty
position. We may well fancy Horace, as he ambled along this road, observing
the villagers coming down from the hill to draw their supplies of water from
the Digentia flowing at its base' (Mr. Justice Lawson in the Antiquarian
Magazine June 1883). 107. ut mihi vivam: the clear preponder-
ance of the best MSS. is in favour of ut which Porph. read and explained=
'provided that'—'May I have as much as I now have or even less provided
that I may live for myself (mihi emphatic, not to satisfy the frivolous claims
of society), for all of life that yet remains, if it is the will of the gods that aught
should yet remain.' For ut cf. Cic. ad Fam. 9. 6. 4 libenter omnibus omnes
opes concesserim, ut (=if only) mihi liceat vi nulla interpellante isto modo vivere.
Reading et with vet. Bland. etc. it is best taken='and then
' and then '-'let me have
•
and then I will live,' cf. Virg. Ecl. 3. 104. Or.4 takes et vivam and may
Horace takes out a collection
110. neu .
•
I live.' 109. librorum: cf. S. 2. 3. 11, where
of Greek poets to his retirement in the country.
Nor make
my life one flutter of suspense '-Con. Cf. aestuat 1. 1. 99; natat S. 2. 7. 7.
111. ‘qui donat et quae donat et qui ponit et quae ponit paribus fere singula
testimoniis comprobantur '-Bentl. The Blandinian MSS. (among others) have
qui ponit, but qui is generally recognised as due to a false assimilation to lovis.
ponit: MSS. vary between this and donat which is probably a gloss. Usually
in Horace ponere is=‘lay down' (Od. 3. 2. 19; 10. 9; 4. 12. 25; S. 2. 3. 16);
but here the word seems to have the metaphorical sense corresponding to its
literal use of banquets (S. 2. 2. 23; 4. 14; 6. 64; 8. 91). Jupiter 'sets before'
us things as his guests, and this is supported by the similar use of aufert.
112. det vitam: cf. Ov. Pont. 2. 1. 53 di tibi dent annos, a te nam cetera
sumes; Trist. 5. 11. 15 nec vitam nec opes nec ius mihi civis ademit.
EPISTLE XIX
This Epistle recalls the tone of S. 1. 4 and 10. The epistolary form is
more completely than elsewhere in this book a mere form; but it is natural
that Horace's scorn of his imitators and rejoinder to his critics should be
addressed in the first instance to his patron Maecenas. The letter cannot be
earlier than the publication of the first three books of the Odes: otherwise
there is nothing to fix its date. It is evidently separated by a considerable
interval from Od. 4. 3. 13-16, when carping criticism had been silenced by the
general recognition of the poet's merits.
1-20. Cratinus of old, Maecenas, held that poems destined to immortality
were always inspired by wine; and from the earliest days poets have been topers.
I said that the sober were better fitted for business than poetry: and since then
my imitators have always been drinking. But more is needed for successful
548
BOOK I
HORACE
rivalry, than an aping of dress and looks. 1. docte: cf. Od. 3. 8. 5.
Cratino: the fondness of Cratinus for wine was the subject of many jests
among his contemporaries. Aristophanes in the Peace (700-703) says that he
died of grief at seeing a jar full of wine smashed in an invasion of the Lacedae-
monians. The schol. on Eq. 400 states that in his play of the IIurivŋ Cratinus
represented himself as lawfully married to Kwuwdia, who wished to leave him,
and to bring an action against him for neglect, because he had deserted her for
Μέθη. 2. placere diu go together, for vivere needs no adverb, cf. Od. 4. 9.
11. 3. potoribus: some take this as ablative, cf. textore line 13. Most
strongly support the dative (Roby 1146, S. G. 476), a construction found
twice at least in Virgil (Aen. 1. 440 neque cernitur ulli; 3. 398 malis
habitantur moenia Grais), several times in Ovid (Her. 9. 46; Fast. 2. 61;
3. 108, 325; 5. 110; 303), while Madvig allows in Livy 5. 6. 14 non uni
aut alteri militi . . . audiuntur and 1. 23. 10 quaerentibus utrinque ratio
initur. For apparent instances in Cicero (e.g. de Sen. 11. 38) cf. Madvig on
de Fin. 1. 4. 11. Here direct agency is denoted in line 13 textore indicates
rather the instrumentality, 'by the help of' or 'thanks to.' Both these
cases differ materially from those in which the abl. of the substantive is
accompanied by an adj., for which see 1. 1. 94 n. ut, ever since,'
cf. Od. 4. 4. 42 n., Roby 1719, S. G. 723. The Muses drank at first
only from springs like Castalia and Hippocrene: but since the days when
Bacchus 'enrolled' (tanquam in legionem suam: nam hoc verbum militare est
Porph.) the frenzied poets among his troop of followers, they too have borne
the traces of their nightly potations. male sanos: cf. Od. 1. 9. 24 n.
The inspired frenzy of poets has been a commonplace at least since the days of
Democritus. Cf. Cic. Div. 1. 37. 80 negat sine furore Democritus quemquam
poetam magnum esse posse, quod idem dicit Plato (Phaedr. 245 a). ˜Cf. A. P.
295; S. 2. 3. 322. 4. Satyris Faunisque: the Satyrs were always
regarded as attendants of Bacchus cf. Od. 2. 19. 4. The Fauns are here
introduced as typifying the earliest Italian poetry: ef. Ennius in Cic. Brut. 19.
71 versibus quos olim Fauni vatesque canebant; Mommsen, Hist. 1. 230: 'the
earliest chant in the view of the Romans, was that which the leaves sang to
themselves in the green solitude of the forest. The whispers and pipings of
the "favourable spirit" (Faunus from favere) in the grove were repeated to men
by the singer (vates), or by the songstress (casmena, carmenta) who had the gift
of listening to him, with the accompaniment of the pipe, and in rhythmically
measured language (casmen, afterwards carmen, from canere).'
5. fere,
'as a rule': cf. 1. 6. 9.
6. laudibus vini: i.e. by the epithets which he applies to it, µeλɩndńs,
μελίφρων, ἡδύποτος, εὐήνωρ, μενοεικής : cf. Π. 6. 261 ἀνδρὶ δὲ κεκμηώτι μένος
μέγα οἶνος ἀέξει. vinosus vinosus fuisse. 7. pater, a term of
respect for the father of Roman poetry: cf. Prop. 3. 2. 6 unde pater sitiens
Ennius ante bibit: and Plato's ò raτǹρ ǹµŵv Пapμevions. There may also be
a reference to the fact that he lived in days of old (cf. senis of Lucilius in S. 2.
1.34). Ennius said of himself numquam poetor, nisi si podager. 8. prosiluit,
sprang forth,' as if eager to take part himself in the wars of which he was
singing. He dwelt most fully in his Annals on the war with Pyrrhus,
the Second Punic war, the Macedonian, the Aetolian and the Istrian
wars. For the puteal Libonis in the forum used by business men and
money-lenders, cf. S. 2. 6. 35 n. 9. siccis: cf. Od. 1. 18. 3. severis:
cf. Catull. 5. 2 rumoresque senum severiorum. 10. edixi: used with mock
solemnity 'I laid down this law,' as in S. 2. 2. 51; 3. 227, with a reference to
EPISTLE XIX
549
NOTES
•
•
the praetor's edict. edixit has good MS. authority but neither Cratinus, Ennius,
or Liber fits in as a nom. and it is clear that Horace is ridiculing his own slavish
imitators, cf. line 18. 11. nocturno. diurno: this line curiously
resembles in rhythm A. P. 269 nocturna versate manu, versate diurna. For
certare cf. Od. 4. 1. 31.
putere: a stronger word than olere line 5. The
epithet diurno is not quite strictly applied to the wine itself: the meaning is 'they
stink all day of the wine which they vie with each other in drinking at night.'
12. pede nudo: Plutarch says of Cato of Utica (c. 6) πoλλáñís ÅVUπÓdηTOS
καὶ ἀχίτων εἰς τὸ δημόσιον προῄει μετ᾽ ἄριστον, and in c. 1 speaks of the firm
and immovable expression of his face. Some think that Horace refers to the
elder Cato, but it is more in harmony with the context to understand a con-
temporary as the object of imitation, than one who had died more than a
century before. Cf. Mommsen, Hist. 4. 156: 'A strange caricature of his
ancestor ..
he even formed a school, and there were individuals-it is true
they were but a few-who in their turn copied and caricatured afresh the
living pattern of a philosopher.' Cic. ad Att. 2. 1. 10 speaks of Servilius as
Catonis aemulator, and often mentions Favonius, who we learn from Dio 38.
7 was called the 'ape of Cato.' Cf. the proverb cucullus non facit monachum.
13. textore: a kind of instrumental ablative. 15. rupit, ‘ruined': many
editors suppose that Iarbitas strained himself till he burst, in the attempt to
rival Timagenes in loudness of voice and fluency of speech; but this is quite
inconsistent with urbanus. It seems rather that he brought himself into
trouble by imitating the bitter wit of Timagenes. Krüger well compares Val.
Flacc. 5. 341 lumina rumpere fletu with Ov. A. A. 1. 129 lacrimis corrumpere
ocellos. Conington's rendering 'The wretched Moor, who matched himself in
wit | With keen Timagenes, in sunder split' is based upon the story given by
Acron: cum Timagenem philosophum post convivium et inter pocula decla-
mantem vellet imitari et non posset, invidia quodammodo discerptus est, though
he seems rightly to reject the notion that rupit means simply rupit invidia.
Any notion of envious rivalry seems out of keeping with the next line.
Iarbitam: the Scholiasts say that he was a Mauretanian, named Cordus-
possibly the Codrus of Virg. Ecl. 7. 26 invidia rumpantur ut ilia Codro-who
was nicknamed Iarbitas from Iarbas, the king of the Gaetulians who appears
in the Aeneid (4. 196). Timagenes was a rhetorician of Alexandria, brought
as a prisoner to Rome by A. Gabinius in 55 B.C., and at first employed as a
cook and a litter-bearer, but afterwards ransomed by Faustus Sulla. He
opened a school of rhetoric, and met with much success, acquiring the favour
of Augustus. But afterwards he offended the emperor by some bitter jests
upon his wife and family, and was compelled to retire to the estate of Asinius
Pollio at Tusculum. Cf. Quintil. 10. 75.
17. vitiis with imitabile, not with decipit, which can well stand alone.
Cf. Juv. 14. 40 quoniam dociles imitandis turpibus ac pravis omnes sumus.
18. pallerem can only mean 'if I were pale' which I am not. Horace
describes himself as sun-burnt in 1. 20. 24. exsangue cuminum: cf.
Plin. H. N. 20. 14. 57 omne (cuminum) pallorem bibentibus gignit. ita certe
ferunt Porcii Latronis clari inter magistros dicendi assectatores similitudinem
coloris studiis contracti imitatos. exsangue here='causing paleness.'
19. servum: hoc novum et fortius quam servile-Ritter. Ovid has serva manus
(Fast. 6. 558) and serva aqua (Am. 1. 6. 26). 20. bilem, 'wrath'; S. 1. 9.
66; 2. 3. 141. tumultus, 'the coil you make '—Con.
21-34. I am no slavish imitator myself. Like my Greek predecessors, I
550
BOOK I
HORACE
21. per
22.
have maintained my own originality, in spite of my debt to them.
vacuum, 'on ground unclaimed by others,' a legal term. Gaius 2. 51.
pressi: Lucr. 3. 3 inque tuis nunc | fixa pedum pono pressis vestigia signis.
23. reget examen: imitatus regem apium se sequentium ducem-Porph.
Parios: Archilochus was born at Paros, but lived a roving life. Though
not strictly speaking the inventor of the iambic metre (Mahaffy, Greek
Literature 1. 157) he was the first to use it largely in literature. But he also
employed the elegiac verse, introduced shortly before his time by Callinus.
primus: Catullus had previously employed iambic trimeters. (to say nothing
of the dramatic poets); but Horace in his Epodes had been the first to imitate
the more complex Επῳδοί. 24. animos, 'spirit.' 25. agentia, which
pursued' agitare is more usual in this sense. When Lycambes of Paros re-
fused to give his youngest daughter Neobule to Archilochus, as he had promised
to do, the latter assailed him with such bitter verses that he hanged himself.
26. brevioribus, 'humbler,' 'scantier,' rather than 'less enduring' (for
which cf. Od. 1. 36. 16). Horace is arguing in defence of his own originality.
It is true, he says, that I imitated the metres of Archilochus: but so did Sappho
and Alcaeus, and no one accuses them of plagiarism, for their themes and
style are altogether different and so are mine. 27. artem, 'technique.'
28. temperat... Sappho, 'masculine Sappho moulds her Muse by the
measure of Archilochus': temperare is the regular word for giving artistic
shape to a composition, especially of music: Od. 4. 3. 18; Prop. 2. 34
(=3. 26) 79 tale facis carmen docta testudine quale | Cynthius inpositis
temperat articulis. pede is not 'foot' but 'measure,' denoting the whole
line, as in Od. 4. 6. 35; A. P. 81. 29. ordine: best understood with
Bentley of the arrangement of the various lines used by Archilochus in a
strophe: e.g. the Archilochus minor (-~-~-) was coupled by Alcaeus
with a dactylic hexameter (cf. Od. 4. 7), by Archilochus himself with an
iambic trimeter (Frag. 104). 30. nec
In reality Alcaeus seems
to have attacked Pittacus with no less bitterness than Archilochus showed
to Lycambes, though on political as much as on personal grounds. atris:
cf. Epod. 6. 15 atro dente: so niger in S. 1. 4. 85. 31. famoso, 'libellous,'
cf. S. 2. 1. 68; Suet. Caes. 73 famosa epigrammata; Tac. Ann. 1. 72 famosi
libelli. The earliest instance in which the word has a neutral meaning, if not
a positively good one, is in A. P. 469 'much talked of.' Even in Tacitus it has
hardly acquired the meaning of 'renowned': cf. Hist. 3. 38.
•
32. hunc: unquestionably Alcaeus. Archilochus was not included among
the lyric poets, strictly speaking. Catullus and perhaps Calvus had already
used the Sapphic metre; but no one as yet the metre of Alcaeus. Cp. Od. 3.
30. 13 princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos | deduxisse modos. 34. ingenuis,
.'gentle,' contrasted with the ventosa plebs of line 37. The audience for whom
Horace wrote was one of 'gentlemen,' such as those named S. 1. 10. 81-90.
Conington happily renders 'Well may the bard feel proud, whose pen supplies
| Unhackneyed strains to gentle hands and eyes.'
36.
35-41. I am disparaged in public though liked in private, because I take no
unworthy steps to secure applause. 35. opuscula : cf. 1. 4. 3 n.
premat, 'disparages,' A. P. 262; Virg. Aen. 11. 401 extollere vires | gentis
bis victae, contra premere arma Latini; Quintil. 12. 10. 14 praecipue pres-
serunt eum (M. Tullium), qui videri Atticorum imitatores cupiebant, and so often
in Tacitus. 37. ventosae: 1.8. 12 n. plebis: all who could be gathered
to listen to a recitation. For recitations at Rome see Mayor on Juv. 3. 9.
EPISTLE XX
551
NOTES
38. tritae: cf. Pers. 1. 54 scis comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna ;
Mart. 12. 72. 4 tritae praemia certa togae. 39. nobilium: is this ironical
or not? If it is, we must take it thus: 'I never listen to these illustrious
writers, and retaliate upon them by reciting my own poems, and therefore I
have no need to stoop to court the critics.' But it seems better, as there is
no indication of irony in the context, and nothing pointing to poetasters rather
than to critics as in his thoughts, to take it as seriously meant, and as referring
to Pollio, Virgil, Varius and others of the circle round Maecenas: ultor is
then an expression of kindly humour, and not of bitterness, as in Juv. 1. 1,
'I who listen only to writers of name and fame, and retaliate upon them, do
not deign to court' etc. Horace did recite his poems to his friends, cf. S. 1.
4. 73. 40. grammaticas-grammaticorum, 'critics,' 'professors of litera-
ture,' cf. A. P. 78. tribus: the metaphor is that of a candidate courting
the suffrages of the Roman tribes at an election. The word has also a touch
of contempt in it, like our own 'tribe' and pûλov. The pulpitum was properly
the platform of the stage (2. 1. 174; A. P. 215, 274), but here it is the dais
on which the teacher's chair (cathedra S. 1. 10. 91) is placed.
41. hinc illae lacrimae: in the Andria of Terence old Simo tells how
his son Pamphilus shed tears at the funeral of a neighbour named Chrysis.
At first the father took it to be a sign of his son's affectionate character, that
he was so much touched by the death of a mere acquaintance. But it turned
out that Chrysis had left a charming sister: and when the old man saw her
(line 125) he cried out atat, hoc illud est, hinc illae lacrimae, haec illast miseri-
cordia. The phrase became proverbial, and was used as here even when there
was no question of actual tears. Cf. Cic. pro Cael. 25. 61.
41.
41-49. My critics ridicule my modesty as affected, but I will not cross swords
with them, and so I decline a combat, which could only lead to ill feeling.
spissis, 'thronged': cf. A. P. 205 spissa sedilia. theatris: not public
theatres, but private halls lent by rich patrons to poets for recitations, cf.
Mayor on Juv. 7. 40. 42. nugis: a modest word for his own productions,
cf. S. 1. 9. 2 n. 43. rides, 'you are laughing at us.' ait, 'says one';
Pers. 1. 40 rides, ait; Juv. 9. 63. inquit is more common (cf. S. 1. 4. 79; 3.
126; 2. 2. 99), where the speaker's words are directly quoted, but Virg. often
has ait. Iovis Augusti. Horace never directly applies this name to the
Emperor, as Ovid does without scruple: and in the mouth of his critics it
perhaps carries something of a sneer. 44. manare with a quasi-transitive
force, like peîv. 45. tibi, 'in your own eyes.' naribus uti, 'to sneer
at them openly,' cf. S. 1. 6. 5 n. 46. acuto. ungui: cf. Od. 1. 6.
18. Horace implies that the malice of his opponents is such that they will
stoop to scratching or any kind of attack. 47. iste locus, 'the place you
have chosen.' diludia dicuntur tempora, quae gladiatoribus conceduntur,
ut intra dies quinque pugnent'—Acron. 48. ludus plays upon diludia :
'I call for a respite of the struggle, for a struggle though only in sport' etc.
genuit: gnomic aorist, cf. 1. 2. 48 n. trepidum, 'excited.'
EPISTLE XX
•
An epilogue to the First Book. The book is humorously addressed as though
it were a young slave, eager to escape from the safe retirement of his master's
house, to see the great city, and to find lovers there, while he is ignorant of
the dangers that await him, and the risk of desertion and neglect, when return
552
BOOK I
HORACE
F
1,
will be impossible. The special interest for us lies in the lines which give so
graphic a sketch of Horace's personal appearance and character. -Ovid in
Trist. 1. 1 addresses his own book in very similar language; cf. Mart. 1. 3.
1-8. You will not stay modestly at home, my book? Then be off; but you
will be sorry for it. 1. Vertumnum: the god of the annus vertens (cf.
Colum. 10. 308; Prop. 4. 2. 11), and also possessed of the power to change
himself into any form that he pleased, and so the god of exchange and traffic
(praeses rerum vertendarum Porph.) His temple was in the Vicus Tuscus,
one of the busiest streets in Rome, full of all kinds of shops, and also of
houses of ill repute. Ianum: Richter takes this of an arch at the end of
the Vicus Tuscus where it entered the Forum (Top. v. Rom. 802). spec-
tare, 'to have your eyes upon,' with wistful longing. 2. scilicet, 'of course
ironically, giving the reason in the book's mind.
prostes, 'be offered for
sale,' not without a double entendre. Sosiorum: freedmen of the family of the
Sosii; mentioned as booksellers also A. P. 345. pumice, 'after the volumen
was completed and rolled up, both ends of the closed roll were smoothed and
polished with pumice' Munro, Criticisms of Catullus, 54; cf. Cat. 1. 1 quoi
dono lepidum novum libellum arido modo pumice expolitum? Ov. Trist. 1. 1.
11 nec fragili geminae poliantur pumice frontes; Mart. 8. 72. 1 nondum
murice cultus aridoque | morsu pumicis aridi politus. 3. claves: books
not offered for sale were kept in locked and sometimes sealed cases (scrinia)
or chests (armarii), usually of cedar to keep off moths; cf. Mart. 1.
66. 5-7 secreta quaere carmina et rudes curas | quas novit unus scrinioque
signatas | custodit ipse virginis pater chartae, where an unpublished poem
is compared to a young girl, as here to a boy. Menander speaks of keep-
ing a wife not only barred, but even sealed up: ὅστις δὲ μοχλοῖς καὶ διὰ
σφραγισμάτων | σώζει δάμαρτα, δρᾶν τι δὴ δοκῶν σοφόν, | μάταιος ἐστι καὶ
φρονῶν οὐδὲν φρονεῖ. 4. paucis: S. 1. 4. 73. ostendi gemis: for
the construction cf. 1. 15. 7. communia, 'what is open to all' : com-
munis locus was a euphemism for a house of ill-fame.
5. fuge, 'be off to where
(but remember) there will be no return for
you.' For fugere can mean simply 'to hurry off' or 'away'; cf. Seneca,
Epist. 108. 25 numquam Vergilius dies dicit ire, sed fugere, quod currendi
genus concitatissimum est. Others explain 'shun the place you long to go to,
for remember there is no return.' But, as this is a valedictory address, and
as Horace in lines 19 seq. gives his book a commission to discharge, it seems
quite necessary that he should express somewhere his assent, however re-
luctantly, to its departure. descendere: regular word for going down
into the Forum. 6. emisso: cf. 1. 18. 71. 7. quid volui? cf. Virg.
Ecl. 2. 58 heu heu! quid volui misero mihi ? ubi quid: MS. authority
is wholly in favour of quid, though most editors read quis, referring to amator.
laeserit still keeps up the double reference; cf. Ov. Her. 5. 103 nulla repa-
rabilis arte laesa pudicitia est. 8. in breve te cogi: applied to the
book='that you are rolled up and replaced in your case
case'; in reference to
the young slave' that you are brought into sad straits.' Cf. Ter. Haut. 4.
2. 2. hac re in angustum oppido nunc meae coguntur copiae. plenus, 'sated.'
9-18. You may be liked well enough when you are young, but the time will
come when you will be neglected, or sent out of the country; and a dismal old
age awaits you. 9. quodsi . augur, 'if the prophet (i.e. Horace) does
not lose his foresight in his vexation with the offender. 10. deserat, the
reading of the archetype, expresses the anticipation in the mind of Horace
•
•
EPISTLE XX
553
NOTES
•
•
•
that it will be so; cf. A. P. 155 sessuri, donec cantor dicat. deseret
would stand, but has very little support in MSS. aetas, ‘youth,' rarely
so used, unless the context clearly points to this meaning: in most, if not all
the passages quoted as parallel, e.g. Ter. Andr. 1. 1. 54, 'time of life' is a
better translation: but Cic. de Off. 2. 13. 45 tua aetas incidit in id bellum is
a clear instance of this force. So ❝pa in Greek and aetatula in Plautus. 11.
sordescere, 'to lose your bloom.' 12. tineas : cf. S. 2. 3. 118; Ov. Pont. 1.
1. 72 conditus ut tineae carpitur ore liber. inertes, 'barbarous' in the
earlier sense of the word: cf. Cic. de Fin. 2. 34. 115 (artes) quibus qui carebant
inertes a maioribus nominantur. For the sense cf. Juv. 3. 207 divina opici
rodebant carmina mures. Others render 'sluggish.' 13. fugies of your
own accord to find kindlier treatment in the provinces, where what was out
of date at Rome, might be regarded as a welcome novelty. vinctus,
'tied up' as a parcel of goods: there is also a reference to the fate which
might befall a slave who had fallen into habits of vice, cf. Livy 25. 2. Africa
and Spain were at a later time famous seats of Latin learning. In A. P. 345
Horace mentions as a sign of a good book that it was sent into the
provinces: cf. Mart. 12. 3. So now-a-days the book-markets of the colonies
are supplied both with popular novelties, and with 'remainders.' mit-
teris, by the bookseller. 14. monitor: Horace.
ut ille ... The
allusion is to some story of a donkey-driver, who could not get his ass away
from the edge of a precipice and so, losing his temper, gave him a push which
sent him over. 15. rupes, 'cliffs,' as in Caes. B. G. 2. 29 oppidum egregie
natura munitum cum ex omnibus in circuitu partibus altissimas rupes despec-
tusque haberet.
16. servare: cf. A. P. 467 invitum qui servat, idem facit
occidenti. 18. occupet, 'should come upon you': Tibull. 1. 10. 39 quem
occupat in parva pigra senecta casa. The language is still that which
might be used alike of a book and a boy: 'stammering age shall find you
teaching boys their letters in distant (and therefore low) quarters of the town.'
For the use of Horace as a school-book see Intr. xvi.
·
•
•
19-28. When you can get an audience, tell them of my humble birth, and
the favour I have found with the great, of my looks, my temper, and my age.
19. sol tepidus: the word tepidus indicates a mean between 'hot' and
cold.' In Horace the notion suggested is usually that of comfortable warmth
(cf. Od. 2. 6. 17; S. 2. 3. 10), and the phrase sol tepidus clearly describes
some time when it is neither too hot nor too cold but just comfortable to sit
and listen. Orelli argued for the time towards evening when the sun has already
lost something of its heat (cf. Mart. 4. 8. 7 hora libellorum decima est, Eupheme,
meorum; 10.19. 18 haec hora est tua, cum furit Lyaeus), supposing that Horace's
benevoli lectores, after scattering to their houses for dinner, would gather again
to listen to his book reciting the poems it contained. But Martial is intention-
ally disparaging his own epigrams, when he represents them as only fit for the
after-dinner amusement of revellers, and there is no reason to suppose that
evening was the time usually chosen for public recitations. Krüger therefore
explains of the loiterers round the shop of the Sosii, who would be more numerous
in the evening than at any other time (cf. Horace's description of his own
practice S. 1. 6. 113), but this explanation takes no note of aures='listeners' not
'readers.' Others suppose that Horace is still regarding his book as a school-
master; and that sol tepidus refers to the cooler days after the summer holi-
days (cf. S. 1. 6. 75 n.), when the schools would be full again. In that case
he would be giving a gloomy prophecy that few but schoolboys would read
his poems.
This is barely in keeping with the tone of the following part of
554
BOOK I EP. XX
HORACE
:
the letter, which is much better fitted to be addressed to the general public
than to boys using the poems as a first reading-book. 20. libertino
patre: S. 1. 6. 45. in tenui re: his father was macro pauper agello,
S. 1. 6. 71. 21. nido with maiores, 'too great for my nest to hold': cf.
S. 2. 3. 310 corpore maiorem; Od. 2. 11. 11.
· • •
23. belli domique: the rhythm of the line seems to connect these
words with placuisse rather than with primis, but sense demands that they
should go with the latter. Horace could not have ventured to assert that his
military exploits won him favour with the primi urbis. Besides Augustus,
Pollio, Munatius Plancus, Messala and others were distinguished in war as
well as in peace.
24. corporis exigui: sc. esse, 'short' not slight: see
Intr. x.
praecanum, 'grey before my time': so the scholiasts explain
the word. Usually prae compounded with an adj. is simply intensive, e.g.
praealtus, praecalidus, praecelsus, praeceler etc.; and it is as a rule only when
compounded with verbs that it has the meaning of 'before-hand'; hence
some maintain that the meaning must be 'very grey.' But the formation of
praematurus differs in no way from that of praecanus, and that of praecox,
praesagus, praenuntius very slightly. So we may rest content with the tradi-
tional explanation. solibus aptum, 'fond of sunning myself'; cf. S. 2.
5. 45 aptus amicis; S. 1. 3. 29 aptus acutis naribus; Juv. 7. 58 cupidus sil-
varum aptusque bibendis | fontibus Aonidum. For the practice of sunning
one's self (apricatio) cf. Plin. Ep. 3. 5. 10 (of the elder Pliny) aestate, si quid
otii, iacebat in sole post solem plerumque frigida lavabatur; ib. 6. 16. 5
usus ille sole, mox frigida; 3. 1. 8 (of Spurinna) in sole, si caret vento, am-
bulat nudus. The usual place for this was the helio-caminus, 'sun-oven,'
built on purpose: cf. Mayor on Juv. 11. 203, and Pers. 5. 179 aprici senes.
Many needless emendations have been made for aptum, e.g. ustum, assum, atrum.
• ..
27. Decembres: Suetonius gives the date of Horace's birth as sexto idus
Decembris. The year of his birth is fixed by Od. 3. 21. 1 o nata mecum con-
sule Manlio, and by Epod. 13. 6 tu vina Torquato move consule pressa meo to
the consulship of L. Manlius Torquatus and L. Aurelius Cotta in 65 B.C.
28. dixit has no authority worth considering. duxit was unquestionably the
reading of the archetype. On the other hand collegam dicere is the regular
technical term for the 'nomination' of a consul after his election by a col-
league who for any reason had been previously elected (cf. Mommsen, Röm.
Staatsr. 12. 209). The question then arises whether it is more probable that
Horace should have employed a phrase nowhere else found, and extremely
hard to explain by the usage of the language, or that an error of one slight
stroke should have crept into the archetype. When we consider passages like
1. 5. 28; 7. 96; Epod. 1. 15; 4. 8; S. 1. 6. 102; 10. 86, to take only
cases where the archetype was unquestionably corrupt, we can hardly hesitate
which way we should decide. Porph. explains duxit by sortitus est quia
sortem duci dicimus': but there was no question of the lot in the election of
consuls. Orelli says veluti praecedens Lollius post se quasi comitem ali-
quanto tardiorem duxit Lepidum. Lollius (see Od. 4. 9 Intr.) was consul in
21 B.C., and the other consulship, at first intended for Augustus himself, was
ultimately filled up by the appointment of Aemilius Lepidus.
BOOK 11 EP. I
555
NOTES
BOOK II
EPISTLE I
an
Suetonius (vit. Horat.) tells us that Augustus entertained such a high opinion
of Horace's work that he urged him to write the Fourth Book of the Odes
(see Intr. to Book IV) and also post sermones quosdam lectos complained that
there was no mention made of himself, saying to the poet irasci me tibi scito,
quod non in plerisque eiusmodi scriptis mecum potissimum loquaris.
vereris, ne apud posteros infame tibi sit, quod videaris familiaris nobis esse?'
In this way expressit eclogam ad se cuius initium est: cum tot sustineas, etc.
The date of the Epistle may therefore be fairly assigned to 13 B.C., when
Augustus returned to Rome after an absence of three years in Gaul. The phrase
sermones quidam can hardly apply to the Satires, which had been published
many years previously, but may refer to the first Book of the Epistles, or to
the second and third Epistles of this Book, which were probably written before
the first.
This Epistle has always been a favourite one. It contains much shrewd
criticism, with some of those happy autobiographical touches which Horace
knew so well how to throw in. Mommsen calls these three Epistles 'the most
graceful and delightful works in all Roman literature.'
1-4. With all the claims upon your time, Caesar, I should be unpatriotic,
if I were to address you at length. 1. solus: Augustus did not lose the
support of Agrippa until 12 B.C., but since 17 B.C. he had been in the East,
returning to Rome this year, about the same time as Augustus returned from
Gaul. But Horace is speaking of the responsibility of empire; and with a
natural license. 2. moribus: the position which Augustus assumed as a
'saviour of society' and reformer of morals is often dwelt upon by the poets
of his time. For leges see Od. 3. 6 Intr. 4. morer tua tempora, 'waste
your time'; cf. 1. 13. 17 oculos auresque morari, 'to make eyes and ears
dwell upon a thing.' The time which Augustus had at his command for
important business, is represented as in danger of being taken up with Horace's
poetry. The plural tempora in prose always seems to carry with it something
of the force of kaιpoí 'opportunities' for doing anything, not merely the lapse
of time: thus often='crisis,' 'emergencies.'
You alone receive due honours while still with us.
5.
5-17. The most illustrious heroes have not found recognition, while on earth,
because of envy.
Romulus.. .: cf. Od. 3. 3. 9 seq. 6. deorum in templa: cf. Ennius in
Varro de L. L. 7. 6 unus erit quem tu tolles in caerula caeli | templa. The
phrase may merely='heaven,' templum being used in its augural sense of a
'quarter' of the sky, or we may explain admitted to share the worship
of the gods' in earthly temples. 7. colunt, connected by a sort of zeugma
with terras and genus. With the former it would more naturally mean
'dwell on,' but from its connexion with the latter it acquires a kind of re-
flected force of 'caring for.' Cf. Virg. Ecl. 3. 60 ab Iove principium ille
culit terras. 8. agros adsignant, i.e. institute property in land; S. 1. 3.
105. The technical force of the word comes out in the official designation of
the tresviri agris dandis adsignandis. 11. fatali, assigned by the fates':
The twelve labours enjoined upon
cf. Od. 3. 3. 19 fatalis incestusque iudex.
•
·
556
BOOK II
HORACE
Hercules by Eurystheus were made obligatory by the cunning of Juno, who
had induced Jupiter to swear that the descendant of Perseus born first on
that day should rule the other. 12. supremo, 'only by his last end,'
'by death at last,' but by nothing before.
artes-
13. urit: two metaphors are combined: genius outshines and dims every-
thing, while it also presses on and galls spirits of lower degree. For urit in
this latter sense, cf. 1. 13. 6 gravis uret sarcina. See Kiessling.
ÉTITηdeúμатα, 'qualities': cf. Od. 3. 3. 9. 15. praesenti, 'while still
with us,' as contrasted with the demi-gods who received honours only
after their deaths. Augustus is the one exception to the rule virtutem
incolumem odimus Od. 3. 24. 31. 16. iurandas aras: iurare takes
an accusative of that by which one swears (Virg. Aen. 12. 197 terram,
mare, sidera iuro): hence it can be used in the passive. numen: so vet.
Bland., though most MSS. have nomen, but these words are constantly con-
fused, and the regular phrase is not iurare per numen but iurare in nomen, see
Dict. Mommsen holds that this phrase cannot refer either to the altar to
Fortuna redux dedicated when Augustus returned to Rome in 19 B.C., or to
that of Pax Augusta of July, 13 B.C., because neither of these deities could
have found a place in oaths. It must refer, he holds, to the invocation of the
genius Augusti between Iuppiter optimus maximus and the Di Penates, which
was part of the remodelling of the worship of the Lares Compitales. This
appears to have been due to a decree of the senate, passed during the Emperor's
absence, although not fully carried out until a later date. Cf. Od. 4. 5. 34
Laribus tuum | miscet numen; Corp. I. Lat. 2. 172 si sciens fallo fefellerove,
tum me liberosque meos Iupiter optimus maximus ac divus Augustus ceterique
omnes di immortales expertem patria incolumitate fortunisque omnibus faciant
(found at Aritium vetus in Lusitania).
18-27. But in other respects the Romans now scorn contemporary merit,
and are blindly partial to what is ancient. 18. tuus hic, 'this people of
thine,' i.e. the Roman people, so devoted to thee. 21. suis temporibus,
'the measure of life assigned to them.' The epithet which would more
properly belong to the authors is transferred to their works. 23. veterum,
neuter, not masculine, as is shown by cetera, semota, and defuncta; cf.
Tac. Ann. 2. 88 vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi. tabulas, the laws
of the XII Tables, carried by the decemvirs. 25. Gabiis: supply
cum from the following clause; cf. line 31 n. Dionysius Halic. (4. 58) says
that he saw in the temple of Zeùs πíσrios on the Quirinal a treaty made by
Tarquinius Superbus with Gabii, written on the hide of the ox slain at the
ratification of the treaty. aequata, ‘made on equal terms,' an unexampled
force of the word. 26. pontificum libros: properly the books con-
taining the laws of ritual and worship (Cic. de Orat. 1. 43. 193; Macrob.
S. 1. 12. 21), but probably including also the annales pontificum or annafés
maximi. Cf. Cic. de Orat. 2. 12. 52 where Cicero speaks of the entire absence
of ornament in their style. volumina vatum: the oracles of the Silyl
were written in Greek; but there were current at Rome certain carmina Mar-
ciana in Saturnian verse, ascribed to a prophetic Marcius (Livy 25. 12; Pliny
H. N. 7. 33), which foretold the defeat of Cannae, and enjoined games in
honour of Apollo. Their date is unknown. 27. dictitet i.e. he
asserts that these dull old documents are the perfection of style. There seems
to have been a grove dedicated to the Camenae (and especially to Egeria) at
Aricia at the foot of the Alban mount.
•
•
EPISTLE I
557
NOTES
Cf.
28-33. It is absurd to argue that because the oldest Greek writers are the
best, it is so also at Rome. 28. Graiorum: so Bentley with vet. Bland.
and some few MSS.; most have Graecorum. antiquissima quaeque
points to the oldest writings as a class as better than later works, whereas
antiquissimum quodque would have indicated that their merit was in each
case in proportion to the antiquity. 29. pensantur: very rarely used
in this primary sense of 'weigh,' and not in its derived meaning of 'repay
by any writer earlier than Horace. 30. trutina = тρνтávη (the first
τρυτάνη
syllable of which is long); so machina=µnxavý, bucina=ẞukávη.
Roby 239. 31. olea: Bentley's correction for oleam of almost all MSS.
It seems impossible to suppose that intra is a preposition, while extra is so
evidently an adverb. It is necessary then to supply in to govern olea from
the following in nuce, precisely as cum above in vel Gabiis vel cum Sabinis;
cf. Od. 3. 25. 2 quae nemora aut quos agor in specus, where in has to be
anticipated; Virg. Aen. 6. 692 quas ego te terras et quanta per aequora vectum
| accipio. The sense is: if we are to be led astray by comparing things
which though alike in some respects differ in others, like Greek and Roman
literature, then we may as well argue that an olive has no stone because a nut
has none, or a nut no shell because an olive has not. We may go on to say
that there is nothing lacking to our perfect success, even in painting, in music,
or in athletics. 32. fortunae: Schütz (who suggests culturae) objects to
this word; and says that it was a very poor compliment to Augustus for
Horace to regard it as absurd to suppose that the Romans had reached the
height of fortune under him. The words which follow, however, make per-
fectly plain in what sense Horace uses the phrase 'height of fortune.' 'We
have indeed reached the height of fortune; we surpass the Greeks in painting,
music, and gymnastics,' a conclusion which is obviously absurd and contains
no reference whatever to the general condition of the Romans under Augustus.
pingimus: the four main branches of a liberal education among the Greeks
were γράμματα, γυμναστική, μουσική, and (as some added) γραφική. Litera-
ture is here omitted, perhaps because the superiority of contemporary Greeks
was not so clear in this as in the other three. Painting, music, and athletics
were alike despised by the Romans until the days of the Empire.
34-49. It is quite impossible to draw any fixed line between the old and the
new. 34. vina: Pindar praises old wine and new poems (Ol. 9. 48 aïvei
δὲ παλαιὸν μὲν οἶνον, ἄνθεα δ᾽ ὕμνων νεωτέρων). 35. quotus: the answer
would have been expressed by an ordinal. arroget, 'secures' or 'grants
(as an addition),' cf. Od. 4. 14. 40 n. 36. decidit, 'has dropped off' like
falling leaves: cf. Plaut. Trin. 2. 4. 143 solstitiali morbo decidunt. 38.
finis, 'limit.'
42. respuat: the reading of the best MSS., and also the
only tense which will suit both praesens and postera. Earlier editions had
either respuit or respuet. In the preceding line Bentley proposed to replace
poetas by probosque, a suggestion which certainly improves the 'concinnity' of
the passage, but is not needful. For the rhyming of the two lines poetas.
aetas, which was one of his objections to the reading of the MSS., cf. A. P.
99-100, 176-7; Virg. Aen. 1. 319-20, 625-6; 3. 656-7: Gossrau quotes eleven
more instances from the Aeneid. Most of these seem to be purely accidental,
like those in Horace: but in the more archaic poets there are traces of an
intentional use of rhyme (cf. Ennius in Cic. Tusc. 1. 35. 85), and in a later
age Eustathius expresses his admiration of Hom. II. 22. 383-4.
43. honeste, 'with honour,' i.e. he will not disgrace those among whom
558
BOOK II
HORACE
he is ranked. 45. caudae pilos: it is possible that there is a reference
here to the story told by Plutarch (Sert. 16) of how Sertorius taught his troops
the value of quiet perseverance instead of violence by setting a strong man to
pull fiercely at the tail of a feeble horse, and a weak man to pull out the hairs
one by one from the tail of a powerful steed. But as Horace is not teaching
a moral lesson here, but simply illustrating a logical process, there seems very
little reason to suppose that this story was in his mind at all. The hairs in a
tail may very well have been a current example in the schools, like the grains in
a heap. The fallacy of the paλaкpós (the number of hairs which make a man
'bald') invented by the eristic Eubulides is a somewhat similar instance.
46. etiam is supported by the majority of good MSS., and confirmed by the
imitation in Pers. 6. 58 adde etiam unum, unum etiam : it means 'still,' as in
its common use with comparatives. Some good MSS. read et item; cf. Ter.
Andr. 1. 1. 49 sed postquam amans accessit, pretium pollicens, unus et item alter.
47. cadat elusus, foiled and overthrown,' a metaphor from a gladiator.
ruentis acervi, 'the diminishing heap,' in Greek σwpós, whence σwpeiτns,
acervalis argumentatio, cf. Cic. de Div. 2. 4. 11. The nature of it is explained
by Cic. Acad. 2. 16. 49 captiosissimo genere interrogationis utuntur, quod genus
minime in philosophia probari solet, cum aliquid minutatim et gradatim addi-
tur aut demitur. Soritas hoc vocant, quia acervum efficiunt uno addito grano.
48. redit in fastos, 'goes back upon the annals.' 49. Libitina: an
ancient Italian goddess, originally of gardens and of pleasure generally,
called also Lubentina (from lubet, lubido, etc.) Afterwards she came to be
regarded as the goddess of burial, by a transition strange to us, but not un-
exampled in Italy, where the Sabine Feronia is compared both with Flora and
with Persephone, and in Greece where Aphrodite sometimes is represented as
Persephone. Servius Tullius is said to have ordained that in every case of
death a piece of money should be contributed to her chest; and biers and
other necessaries for funerals were kept in her grove (lucus Libitinae) on the
Esquiline, and let out on hire. Here too the undertakers (Libitinarii) had
their quarters. Cf. Od. 3. 30. 6; S. 2. 6. 19; Mart. 10. 97; Liv. 40. 19. 3
pestilentia. tanta erat, ut Libitina ad funera vix sufficeret.
•
•
50-54. There is a conventional style of laudation of our older poets now
current, which secures them general approval. 50. Ennius is called fortis
mainly because of the brave spirit in which he sung of the battles of Rome.
At the same time he served with distinction among the Messapian allies of
Rome in the second Punic War. Prof. Sellar in his admirable study of Ennius
says: "This actual service in a great war left its impress on the work done by
Ennius. Fragments both of his tragedies and his Annals prove how thoroughly
he understood and appreciated the best qualities of the soldierly character.
This fellowship in hardship and danger fitted him to become the national poet
of a race of soldiers' (Roman Poets, 67). But to compare him with Homer is
to put him to a test which he cannot be expected to stand: ib. 102. 51.
leviter curare=securus esse Porph.: Ennius is now sure of his harvest of
fame, about which he had previously been anxious, and so cares little for the
promises of his Pythagorean dreams. Horace is here setting forth the high
reputation which the older poets were enjoying in his own day, not criticising
them from his own point of view, and censuring Ennius for carelessness, as
some editors have wrongly supposed.-Bergk has shown that Horace probably
takes Varro as his type of the critici, several of the judgments here passed
closely agreeing with those of Varro in various works. 52. quo cadant,
'what becomes of.' somnia P.: Ennius indulged in the 'Pythagorean
EPISTLE I
559
NOTES
dream' that his soul had once occupied the body of Homer, cf. Od. 1. 27.
10 n.; Pers. 6. 10 cor iubet hoc Enni, postquam destertuit esse | Maeonides
Quintus pavone ex Pythagoreo. Of course if he is as good a poet as Homer
he need not trouble himself whether he had once been Homer or not. 53.
non=nonne, as in Od. 3. 20. 1 non vides, and often elsewhere. Bentley first
gave the true meaning to this passage, by making it interrogative, 'Did I say
that Ennius is now sure of his place? Why even Naevius, so much more
archaic a writer, is still always in our hands, and familiar to us, as if he were
almost one of our own time.' Naevius served in the first Punic War, and
therefore could not have been born later than about 260 B.C.: he died about
200 B.C., while Ennius was born 239 B.C., and died 169 B.C.
His poetry
was decidedly more archaic than that of Ennius.
55-62. Even when the early writers are set against each other, the question
is only which has the more striking merits, not what are the faults of each; and
the fashionable critics think they can be labelled by appropriate epithets in each
case. 55. aufert, 'carries off' as his special distinction. 56. Pacuvius
(219-129 B.C.), the sister's son of Ennius. The extant fragments of his tragedies
(about 400 lines) do not enable us to determine precisely why the epithet of
doctus is given to him, but it is probably because of his wide acquaintance
with Greek literature. Accius (170 B.C.-about 90 B.C.): oratorical fervour
and passionate energy are conspicuous in his fragments (cf. Sellar, 146-7).
Quintilian says (10. 1. 97) virium Attio plus tribuitur, Pacuvium videri docti-
orem, qui esse docti adfectant, volunt. Both Pacuvius and Accius attained to
a great age, but perhaps senis means only 'writer of the olden time,' see
S. 2. 1. 34 n.
•
57. Afrani toga: bene toga: togatas enim scripsit Afranius—Porph. The
togatae were comedies, depicting Roman or Italian characters and manners, as
opposed to the palliatae, comedies like those of Plautus and Terence derived
from Greek sources, and retaining Greek dramatis personae. L. Afranius was
born about 150 B.C.: his plays were of a very immoral character, but in style
they attained to something of the elegance of Terence. He freely borrowed
from Menander, as well as from other writers (cf. Macrob. S. 6. 1. 4 Afranius
togatarum scriptor non inverecunde respondens arguentibus quod plura
sumpsisset a Menandro 'Fateor,' inquit 'sumpsi non ab illo modo sed ut quis-
que habuit conveniret quod mihi, quod me non posse melius facere credidi, etiam
a Latino') and the critics pronounced that his style was worthy of his model.
58. ad exemplar Epicharmi: it is difficult to determine the exact mean-
ing of this line, because we have not the means of comparing Plautus with
Epicharmus, of whose comedies we have few considerable fragments preserved.
Orelli takes properare (=ad eventum festinare A. P. 148) of the rapid pro-
gress of the action of the plays. Mahaffy says that 'it seems only to apply
to the easy flow of the dialogue' (Greek Lit. 1. 403); but Sellar is more nearly
right in extending it to 'the extreme vivacity and rapidity of gesture, dialogue,
declamation and recitative, by which his scenes were characterised' (Roman
Poets, 194). It must always be remembered, though many critics seem to
forget this, that Horace is not giving his own opinions, but those which were
commonly current. Epicharmus was born in Cos about 540 B.C., but was
brought as an infant to Megara in Sicily, and enjoyed much reputation at the
court of Hiero in Syracuse about 490 B.C. 59. Caecilius Statius, an
Insubrian Gaul by birth, flourished at Rome at the same time as Ennius, dying
one year after him in 168 B.C. He was placed at the head of all the Roman
219-160BC
560
BOOK II
HORACE
comic poets by Volcatius Sedigitus (a critic quoted by A. Gellius 15. 24) Cae-
cilio palmam statuo dandam comico, Plautus secundus facile exsuperat ceteros,
etc., while Terence only comes sixth in his list. He is often quoted by Cicero,
who however censures his bad style (Brut. 74. 258; ad Att. 7. 3. 10), and was
distinguished especially for skill in the management of his plots. His gravitas
seems to have been shown in his sententious maxims. The 'art' of Terence
appears in the careful finish of his style. Cf. Caesar's lines quoted by Sueton.
Vit. Terent., where he calls him dimidiate Menander and puri sermonis amator.
60. arto, 'thronged,' too narrow for the numbers: cf. spissis ... theatris
in 1. 19. 41. There however the theatra are the private recitation-halls: here
they are the public theatres, of which there were three permanent ones in Rome
at this time, one built by Cn. Pompeius in 55 B.C. near the Circus Flaminius,
one built by Augustus in honour of Marcellus (not finished however until 11
B.C.), important remains of which are still standing near the Tarpeian Hill, and
a third built by Cornelius Balbus between the other two. It had previously
been the custom to perform plays in temporary wooden theatres, often of great
magnificence. 61. potens: so mighty, and yet so wanting in critical dis-
cernment. The strange lack of great dramatists or poets of any kind in the
half century preceding Lucretius and Catullus seems due partly to the 'separa-
tion in taste and sympathy between the higher classes and the mass of the
people' (Sellar 265), which made literature the amusement of a narrow circle,
and partly to the disturbed political conditions of the time. The continued
popularity of the old tragedians may be ascribed to the extent to which they
represented some of the best features in the old Roman character (ib. 151).
62. Livi: Livius Andronicus, who in 240 B.C. first brought upon the stage a
Latin translation of a Greek tragedy.
63-75. A sound critic must admit that these early writers have many defects
of archaism, harshness, and carelessness. A few happy phrases or lines must
not lead us to regard a whole poem as perfect. 63. est ubi=ëσTw Öтe, 'at
times': hence peccat, not peccet, which has very slight authority, is the
right mood. Cf. 2. 2. 182; S. 1. 4. 24; Roby 1687. 66. pleraque,
'much,' not 'the greater part.' 68. mecum facit, 'supports my
view'; cf. 2. 2. 23. Iove aequo, 'with the favour of Heaven,' i.e.
in his sound senses. Cf. S. 2. 7. 14 iniquis Vertumnis; 2. 3. 8 dis iratis.
iniquus meaning 'unfavourable,' its opposite aequus comes to mean not merely
'impartial' but 'favourable': Virg. Aen. 6. 129 pauci quos aequus amavit |
Iuppiter; and so often. 70. plagosum : the word does not appear to be used
elsewhere in this active sense: it is found in Apuleius in the sense of 'much-
beaten.' The primary force of -osus 'abounding in' (cf. nodosus 1. 1. 31; S. 2.
3. 69; damnosus, animosus, etc.) lends itself to either usage. 71. Orbilium:
one of the masters at Rome, to whose lessons Horace was taken by his father (S.
1.6.76-82). According to Suetonius he was a native of Beneventum who, after
serving for a time in the army, taught for several years in his native town, and
came to Rome when fifty years of age in the consulship of Cicero (63 B.C.),
where he taught maiore fama quam emolumento. He died in poverty when nearly
a hundred years of age. For his severity towards his pupils, see Intr. i.
dictare: i.e. that the pupils might learn it by heart, cf. 1. 1. 55; 1. 18. 13.
72. exactis, 'perfectly finished,' properly of works of art. Cf. Ov. Met. 1.
405 forma hominis . . . sed uti de marmore coepto, non exacta satis. 74.
concinnior, 'better-turned': the word is properly used of regular beauty;
1. 11. 2. 75. ducit, 'brings after it,' 'carries with it'; the good verse
EPISTLE I
561
NOTES
is quoted and the whole poem gets the reputation of being wonderful. The
metaphor in vendit is from vendors of fruit, etc., who put good specimens at
the top and so sell the rubbish underneath.
76-89. It makes me indignant to hear the new blamed, because it is new,
the old honoured, solely because it is old. Honest criticism of the earlier writers
is forbidden owing to self-sufficience, false pride, and ill-will towards contem-
voraries. 76. quicquam: used where we might have expected aliquid,
because indignor=ferre non possum, and is thus virtually negative. crasse,
'coarsely'; cf. S. 2. 2. 3 crassa Minerva. The opposite is tenui filo in line
225. Cic. ad Fam. 9. 12. 2 calls his speech for Deiotarus munusculum levi-
dense crasso filo. 77. putetur: Roby 1744, S. G. 740. 2. The subj.
does not depend here upon the non quia, as contrasted with the sed quia, but
it is equally to be understood after the latter, as expressing the alleged reason
for the censure.
79. crocum: flowers were strewn upon the stage, and saffron juice
sprinkled upon it, for the sake of the fragrance; cf. Lucr. 2. 416 et cum scena
croco Cilici perfusa recens est; Ov. A. A. 1. 104 nec fuerant liquido pul-
vita rubra croco. Attae: T. Quinctius Atta was a writer of comoediae
togatae, who died according to Jerome on Euseb. Chron. in 78 B.C. His
fragments abound in archaisms, but are vigorous in style. The cognomen is
explained by Festus as proper to those qui propter vitium crurum aut
pedum plantis insistunt et attingunt magis terram quam ambulant, not
differing therefore much from Plautus. Some suppose that there is a
reference to this in perambulet; but undoubtedly the primary meaning
of this is explained aright by Acron: in scenam recepta est, ubi flores
sparguntur. 81. patres, 'elders,' as in line 109. 82. Aesopus,
especially distinguished for tragedy; Roscius, equally eminent in tragedy
and comedy; hence gravis='impressive'; doctus, skilful.' Cic. often
speaks of both these great actors; cf. de Orat. 1. 28. 129; 61. 258; pro
Sest. 57. 121; 58. 123, etc. The former of them was living in 55 B.C., the
latter died in 62 B.C. 85. inberbi is probably the reading of vet. Bland.
and most good editors have adopted it here, though Keller prefers imberbes,
found in all his MSS. perdenda: the only instance in classical Latin of a
finite passive form from perdo is in S. 2. 6. 59, but perditus of course is com-
mon and perdundus occurs in Sall. Cat. 46. 2. 86. iam iam vero, ‘in
fact.' Saliare carmen: the chants (axamenta) of the Salii or priests of
Mars, instituted according to Livy 1. 20 by Numa, had become almost unin-
telligible even to the priests themselves by the time of Quintilian (1. 6. 40
Saliorum carmina vix sacerdotibus suis satis intellecta): for the extant frag-
ments cf. Wordsworth's Fragments and Specimens 564-566. 89. lividus,
'in his envy'; S. 1. 4. 93.
:
90-102. The Greeks, who furnish our models, never showed this jealousy of
what was new: they gladly welcomed all fresh forms of art, turning readily
from one to another. 92. tereret, 'thumb': viritim, 'each for himself.'
publicus usus, i.q. populus, dum utitur. "To be read and thumbed by the
public, as they severally enjoy it.' 93. positis bellis clearly Horace is
thinking mainly of Athens, and refers to the great outburst of Athenian art
and literature which followed upon the close of the Persian wars; cf.
Aristot. Pol. 5. 6. p. 1341. nugari is commonly used of amusements,
which are not directed by any serious purpose: cf. 1. 18. 60; 2. 2. 141;
S. 2. 1. 73; 1. 9. 2. 94. vitium denotes an undue devotion to pleasure,
20
562
BOOK II
HORACE
labier,
inconsistent with the rigours and warlike pursuits of earlier times.
'drift.' Horace uses this archaic form of the infinitive also in 2. 2. 148, 151;
Od. 4. 11. 8; S. 1. 2. 35, 78, 104; 2. 3. 24; 8. 67. Virgil has the form six
times it is common in Catullus and Lucretius, but occurs only occasionally in
later poets. For the origin of the inflexion cf. Corssen 22. 478, 479. Roby 615.
96. marmoris aut eboris: the chief sculptors in marble or ivory (and gold)
flourished at Athens: but the leading school of workers in bronze was at Sicyon
and Argos. The earliest bronze statues are referred to Samos, the earliest
marble ones to Chios. 97. suspendit, 'let eyes and thoughts dwell in rapt
attention': cf. S. 2. 7. 95-97. 98. tibicinibus may refer to dithyrambs
(Müller, Greek Lit. 2. 77 seq.) in which the music took a prominent place, and
cannot denote, as Lambinus supposed, comedies, for tibicines were employed as
much for tragedies as for comedies. Probably, however, it is an instance of
the species put for the genus, and so denotes music generally.
liquit the subject is Graecia, not puella. 101. quid placet. This
line is evidently out of place after line 100, and breaks the connexion of
the thought: which is when wars were over, Greece took to various forms of
art, turning readily from one to another. This was the result of peace and
prosperity there. At Rome tastes in old days were different.' Hence Lachmann
suggested that it should be placed after line 107: then mutabile is taken up very
naturally by mutavit in line 108, as vidit by videre in Od. 4. 4. 16, 17; and
we have a suitable introduction to the sketch of the changed tastes at Rome.
102. paces, 'times of peace' as in 1. 3. 8; cf. Lucr. 5. 1230 ventorum paces.
100. re-
103-117. At Rome men were in old days taken up wholly with practical
duties: but now everyone takes to writing, even I myself, who had renounced
it; and though for all other pursuits some knowledge is required, no one thinks
himself too ignorant to make verses. 103. diu: Horace paints more in
detail the early customs of Rome, whereas he had been content to hint at the
warlike activity of the Greeks in the phrase positis bellis. sollemne,
'time-honoured': cf. 1. 18. 49. 104. mane: cf. S. 1. 1. 10 n. pro-
mere gives the reason for the vigilare: 'to be up betimes with open house,
and to give legal advice to clients': promere, because legal rules and methods
of procedure were long kept as the exclusive property of the patricians; cf.
Cic. pro Mur. 11. 25. 105. cautos, 'secured,' the technical term in law; cf.
Dig. 50. 13. 1 si cui cautum est honorarium videamus an petere possit. nomina
is used for debtors' also in S. 1. 2. 16, much as we might speak of a 'good
name' on a bill: cf. Cic. ad Fam. 5. 6. 2 ut bonum nomen existimer; ad Att.
5. 21 nam aut bono nomine centesimis contentus erat; aut non bono quaternas
centesimas sperabat: in Verr. 5. 7. 17 clamare ille . . . pecuniam sibi esse in
nominibus; numeratam (cash) in praesentia non habere. Translate to lend
out money secured by good names. 106. maiores audire goes with per
quae etc. by a slight zeugma, as well as minori dicere; 'to learn from
elders and to teach a junior the means by which' etc. 107. damnosa :
•
cf. 1. 18. 21 damnosa Venus. The reference is here only to the injury which
self-indulgence may cause to one's fortune.
108. calet, 'is fired' or 'fevered': so Lucian (de conscr. hist. 1) describes
the people of Abdera as seized with a fever (TUρET) for tragedy; cf. Juv. 7.
52 insanabile scribendi cacoethes. 110. fronde comas vincti: the diners
assume the poet's bays. dictant, dictate,' the verses being composed ex
tempore, and the poet desiring that every word should be taken down by the
guests: cf. S. 1. 4. 10. 111. nullos versus: cf. 1. 1. 10. The reference
EPISTLE I
563
NOTES
is of course only to lyric verse.
112. Parthis mendacior: cf. Od. 4. 15.
23 n.
This passage must have been written after 17 B.C. when Horace re-
turned for a while to lyric poetry. prius orto sole, not like the old
Romans, to give advice to their clients, but to begin composing. This is not
inconsistent with ad quartam iaceo of S. 1. 6. 122, for there he is not repre-
sented as sleeping, but as reading and writing in his lectulus. 113. scrinia
are cases of books, which he might wish to refer to; cf. S. 1. 1. 120.
114. habrotonum, 'southernwood' or 'Pontic wormwood.' (Munro on
Lucr. 4. 125), is mentioned elsewhere as a useful medicine. Plin. 21. 92. 160
usus et foliis (habrotoni), sed maior semini ad excalfaciendum, ideo nervis utile,
tussi, orthopnoeae, convulsis, ruptis, lumbis, urinae angustiis. 115. quod
medicorum est: Bentley found fault with the tautology involved in the
mention of physicians, after habrotonum dare, and suggested melicorum
melici. But melicus='a musician is very doubtful. 117. indocti
doctique, 'unskilled and skilled alike': doctus like σopós is a common
epithet of a poet; cf. Od. 1. 1. 29.
•
118-138. Yet the love of poetry has its practical advantages: poets escape
many vices; they help to train the young to virtue, and aid in the worship of
the gods. 119. sic collige: S. 2. 1. 51 sic collige mecum.
avarus: so
Ovid, A. A. 3. 541 nec nos ambitio nec amor nos tangit habendi. Pope's
imitation is 'And rarely Av'rice taints the tuneful mind.' 120. non
temere, 'not lightly'; 2. 2. 13; S. 2. 2. 116; A. P. 160, i.e. 'seldom.'
hoc studet: this construction of studeo and similar verbs is only found with
neuter pronouns or adjectives like omnia. Roby 1094. 122. socio,
partner,' Od. 3. 24. 60; cf. Cic. pro Rosc. Am. 40 in rebus minoribus fallere
socium turpissimum est. Condemnation in an action pro socio involved in-
famia (Gaius 4. 182). incogitat is a άπ. λey. Horace is fond of new
ἅπ. λεγ.
compounds of in: cf. Epod. 3. 18; 5. 31, 34; 11. 15, etc. 123. pupillo :
1. 1. 22. siliquis, 'pulse,' 'husks'; cf. Juv. 11. 58; Pers. 3. 55 where it
is used, as here, of the coarsest, simplest fare. secundo, not made of
siligo ('fine wheat flour' Juv. 5. 70), but secundarius panis, 'brown bread,'
such as Augustus preferred (Suet. Aug. 76). 124. militiae: genitive
denoting that in point of which the adjective is used; Roby 1320, S. G.
526. Cf. S. 1. 10. 21 seri studiorum; Tac. Hist. 1. 87 urbanae militiae
inpiger; 2.5 acer militiae; 3. 43 strenuus militiae. Others less correctly
take it as the locative. 125. si das i.e. if you allow that the state
can be served by the more retiring virtues, which the poet teaches.
127. iam nunc: before the time comes when he will have to apply such
lessons, i.e. 'in earliest youth'; cf. Propert. 4. (5.) 11. 93 discite venturam iam
nunc sentire senectam; A. P. 43 ut iam nunc dicat iam nunc (=at once)
debentia dici. 130. orientia tempora, 'his rising years,' i.e. the time
while he is growing and developing; cf. Vell. 2. 99. 1 orientium iuvenum
ingenia; Virg. Aen. 7. 51 primaque oriens erepta iuventa est.
131.
aegrum, 'sick at heart,' as often in Cicero.
132. cum pueris puella: unquestionably a reference to the choirs of
youths and maidens for whom Horace had written the Carmen Saeculare. In
Od. 1. 21 we have a similar but briefer hymn. Livy 27. 37 describes how a
chorus of twenty-seven maidens sang hymns composed for them by Livius
Andronicus in honour of Juno Regina. 134. praesentia numina, 'the
favour of the gods': for praesens 'propitious' cf. 1. 1. 69; Cic. in Cat. 2. 9. 19.
135. caelestes aquas, i.e. rain; cf. Od. 3. 10. 19. docta, 'taught by the
564
BOOK II
HORACE
as in C. S. 75.
poet
blandus: cf. Od. 4. 1. 8 blandae iuvenum preces;
3. 23. 18 non sumptuosa blandior hostia; 1. 24. 13 Threicio blandius Orpheo.
The notion is that of winning favour by entreaty. 138. Manes, here 'the
gods of the lower world,' not the shades of the departed: cf. Virg. Aen. 12.
646 vos o mihi Manes | este boni, quoniam superis aversa voluntas; G. 4. 505
quo fletu Manes, qua numina voce moveret? The word meaning originally
'the good ones' (Preller, Röm. Myth. 73, 455; Curt. Gr. Etym. 1. 408), it is
applied primarily to the spirits of ancestors, worshipped as still powerful for
good over the fortunes of their descendants, and then to all the deities of the
lower world, among whom these came to be reckoned.
139-160. Poetry had its rise with us in the rustic merry-makings of har-
vest, and the jests bandied to and fro, at first innocent, but afterwards growing
scurrilous. Then this rough style of verse was checked by law; but it was
only acquaintance with the literature of Greece which banished the earlier
coarseness. 139. fortes, 'stout fellows': cf. S. 2. 2. 115 fortem colonum;
Virg. G. 2. 472 patiens operum exiguoque adsueta iuventus of the inhabitants
of the country. 140. condita post frumenta: so Aristotle (Nic. Eth.
8. 9. 5) finds the source of the earliest festivals in harvest-homes, when men
met together τιμὰς ἀπονέμοντες τοῖς θεοῖς, καὶ αὑτοῖς ἀναπαύσεις πορίζοντες
μεθ᾿ ἡδονῆς. 142. pueris et coniuge, in apposition to sociis
operum: the wife and children are the partners of his toils, slavery being
regarded as unknown in those good old days. 143. Tellurem: of
the twelve gods of 'husbandmen' mentioned by Varro (R. R. 1. 1. 4) the
first pair are Jupiter and Tellus. Roughly carved altars to Silvanus are
not uncommon: several such have been found in England, one of which
records the slaying of a great wild boar which had defied earlier hunters.
porco should strictly be porca, but porcus is really epicene; cf. Cato, R. R.
134 porco femina. lacte: milk is offered to Priapus in Virg. Ecl. 7. 33.
piabant = pie colebant, or more exactly pium (i.e. propitium) faciebant.
144. Genium: cf. 1. 7. 94 n.; A. P. 209. memorem: the genius, re-
membering how brief is the life of the man, with whom his own is bound up,
desires to be merry as long as he can.
There was
145. Fescennina licentia: Livy (7. 2) in describing the origin of
dramatic representations at Rome says vernaculis artificibus, quia ister Tusco
verbo ludio vocabatur, nomen histrionibus inditum : qui non, sicut ante, Fes-
cennino versu similem incompositum temere ac rudem alternis iaciebant, sed
impletas modis saturas descripto iam ad tibicinem cantu motuque congruenti
peragebant. The original Fescennine verses therefore consisted of a rude and
extempore exchange of repartees. Paul. Diac. (p. 85 Müll.) gives two derivations
of the word: Fescennini versus, qui canebantur in nuptiis, ex urbe Fescennina
dicuntur allati, sive ideo dicti, quia fascinum putabantur arcere.
an Etruscan town Fescennia or Fescennium on the Tiber, near Falerii,
and the unquestioned connexion of the Atellan plays with Atella in
Campania seems to lend some support to this local origin of the term.
But on the whole the second explanation is to be preferred, though not quite
in the form given (from Festus) by Paulus. fascinum denotes primarily the
evil eye, but as this was supposed to be averted by the use of an obscene
symbol, fascinum came to be a synonym for the symbol itself; and as the
effects of the evil eye were especially to be dreaded in marriage the chanting
of obscene verses was considered an essential part of the nuptial ceremony,
and it was almost solely in this connexion that the Fescennine verses survived
EPISTLE I
565
NOTES
in the later days of the Republic. Cf. Catull. 61. 119 ne diu taceat procax
Fescennina iocatio; Sen. Med. 113 festa dicax fundat convicia Fescenninus ;
and see Munro's Criticisms of Catullus 76-78. 147. accepta, 'handed down,'
from one year to another, as the time of harvest came round.
Orelli gives
'welcome.' 148. amabiliter, 'in friendly fashion.' iam saevus, 'now
growing savage.' 149. coepit verti: it is not necessary to defend this con-
struction, by pointing to the middle force of verti. Although in classical
prose coeptus sum is as a rule used with a passive infinitive, Tacitus regularly
uses coepi: we find in Lucret. 2. 613 coepisse creari; Ov. Met. 3. 106 coepere
moveri, and cf. 1. 15. 27 ; A. P. 21. Livy uses coepi with passives. 150.
inpune minax, 'assailing with impunity,' because no law as yet checked
cruento, 'that drew blood.'
excess.
152. super: this use of super for de is not found in good prose between
Cato super tali re, and Livy, except in Cicero's letters (e.g. ad Att. 10. 8. 10
sed hac super re nimis), where he often adopts the more conversational style
of the comedians. From Plautus five instances are quoted.
lex: the first
law enacted as to mala carmina was that passed by the decemvirs in the XII
Tables: cf. Cic. de Rep. 4. 10. 12 nostrae XII tabulae cum perpaucas res
capite sanxissent, in his hanc quoque sanciendam putaverunt, si quis occenta-
visset sive carmen condidisset, quod infamiam faceret flagitiumve alteri. There
was in the time of Horace a further lex Cornelia, passed by Sulla in 81 B.C.,
de iniuriis, which included libellous publications. As the punishment was
capite, it seems that fustis refers to the old punishment of the fustuarium or
cudgelling to death. 153. lata: the phrase ferre legem strictly means only
to bring forward' a law, not to 'carry' it, which is perferre; but where there
is no necessity sharply to distinguish between the proposal of a law and the
passing of it, ferre is occasionally used, as here, perferre. 154. describi :
J
=
cf. S. 1. 4. 3 si quis erat dignus describi, quod malus ac fur, | quod moechus foret.
So often in Cicero for depicting the bad features in a character. vertere
modum, 'changed their tone. The supervision of the authorities over public
literary efforts seems to have been severe and continuous (cf. Mommsen, Hist.
1. 474), and the result not simply what Horace here describes (ib. 2. 432
'the restrictions thus stringently and laboriously imposed by custom and
police on Roman poetry stifled its very breath'). 155. bene, opposed to
male, of the moral tone, not the artistic quality of the writing.
156. Graecia capta: Greece cannot be said to have been subdued before
the capture of Corinth in 146 B.C.; but Greek literature was familiar to the
educated at Rome, and the Greek dramas brought upon the stage in the form
of translations and adaptations more than half a century earlier by Naevius,
Ennius, and Plautus. Horace, however, is looking rather at the general fact
that Greece though conquered in arms proved victorious in letters than at the
precise chronological sequence. 158. defluxit, 'dropped away,' 'passed
out of use.' numerus Saturnius: its general character is well de-
scribed by Macaulay in the Introduction to his Lays of Ancient Rome.
The metre appears to have been used very rarely after the time of Naevius.
There are, however, some rude instances in sepulchral inscriptions, e.g.
C. I. R. 1. 34. The typical instance is dabúnt malúm Metélli | Naévió poétae :
but the numerous irregularities, which are admissible, fully justify Horace's
epithet of horridus. Cf. Wordsworth's Specimens 396. grave virus,
'the noisome venom': virus is any offensive fluid; for its metaphorical
use cf. Cic. Lael. 23. 87 apul quem evomet virus acerbitatis suae.
159.
དྲྭ་
:
•
566
HORACE
BOOK II
munditiae, 'elegance.' The verse and diction of Ennius, though rough in
themselves, were polished as compared with the poetry of Livius and Naevius.
160. hodieque, ' and even yet,' in the Fescennine verses and the Atellan plays.
161-176. The Romans were late in taking to the drama: for tragedy they
have sufficient elevation and passion, but lack painstaking finish. Their
comedy, which they think easier, though failure here is more inexcusable, is
ruined by haste in production, due to greed. 161. serus refers to ferus
victor, i.e. the Romans, and 'late' must mean 'late in the history of the city.'
162. post Punica bella: the Third Punic War is not here included, as of
less importance than the other two. Aulus Gellius 17. 21. 45 quotes from
Porcius Licinus (flor. 100 B.c.) Poenico bello secundo Musa pinnato gradu |
intulit se bellicosam in Romuli gentem feram. This is somewhat more accurate
than Horace, for 'even during the Second Punic War dramatic performances
went on uninterruptedly, inasmuch as most of Naevius' works and one half of
Plautus' literary exertions (though perhaps the less fertile half) fall into the
time of this war' (Teuffel, Röm. Lit. 1. 104). But perhaps
But perhaps it is better to
connect quietus closely with post Punica bella, 'enjoying peace after the close
of the Punic wars.' 163. Thespis, the traditional founder of the Attic
tragedy: cf. A. P. 276. Horace here neglects the chronological order, as in
S. 1. 4. 1 Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanesque poetae. Euripides could not
have been brought into a hexameter verse, at any rate in the nominative case.
164. temptavit rem, 'made the attempt': rem is not, as some editors
suppose, the object of vertere, attracted out of its place; the construction is
like that in Livy 1. 57. 2 temptata res est, si capi Ardea posset ; 2. 35. 4
temptata res est, si disicere rem possent. vertere, 'translate,' without an
object expressed. 165. placuit sibi: Prof. Sellar admirably brings out
in his Roman Poets of the Republic, 5. 151, the reasons for the satisfaction
found by the Romans in the drama: 'The popularity and power of Roman
tragedy, during the century preceding the downfall of the Republic, are to be
attributed chiefly to its didactic and oratorical force, to the Roman bearing of
the persons represented, to the ethical and occasionally the political cast
of the sentiments expressed by them, and to the plain and vigorous style in
which they are enunciated.' 166. spirat tragicum satis, 'has sufficient
tragic inspiration.' feliciter audet refers apparently to the boldness of
the language, especially in Pacuvius and Accius. Cf. A. P. 56 seq. 167.
lituram: cf. S. 1. 10. 72; A. P. 292-4; Caecina in Cic. ad Fam. 6. 7. 1
mendum scripturae litura tollitur; and Pope's imitation: 'Even copious
Dryden wanted or forgot | The last and greatest art, the art to blot.'
168. ex medio, 'from daily life.' arcessit: vet. Bland. has accessit ;
but it is clearly better to take res as acc. plur. rather than nom. sing.: the
perfect tense is out of place; and if res is the subject of arcessit, it must also
be taken as the subject of creditur, instead of comoedia; but the latter gives
a much more satisfactory sense. 170. veniae, 'indulgence': even un-
educated spectators can see the absurdities of unnatural comedies. 171.
quo pacto, 'in what a fashion.' Is this blame or praise? Editors are
divided in their judgment. Porph. has quam indecenter, incongrue; and so
Conington: What ill-sustained affairs Are his close fathers and his love-
sick heirs!' Lambinus on the other hand argued that as Horace in A. P.
270 seq. blames his rough metre and coarse wit, there would be little left, if he
did not allow him even the credit of vigorous character-painting and Schütz
points out that in criticising Roman tragedy Horace first recognises merit,
:
EPISTLE I
NOTES
567
then adds blame, and that the blame in the case of Plautus comes in clearly
in line 174. But Horace is here pointing out that comedy, though thought
to be easy, is really difficult, and it is not unnatural that he should at once
give proofs of his position. That his criticism is hardly warranted, and that
Plautus really shows much power in his vivid sketches of character, is not
reason enough for us to reject the view that Horace's words imply censure.
ephebi: properly a youth between 18 and 20 years of age. 172. attenti :
1. 7. 91.
173. Dossennus: Atellanarum scriptor Comm. Cruq. This is probably
only an unlucky guess, as the evidence for the existence of such a writer is
very slight and untrustworthy, and it seems quite clear that Horace is speaking
throughout of Plautus. More probably Dossennus was a standing character
in the Atellan plays, and Ritschl and Müller explain 'how great a buffoon he
(Plautus) is in (depicting) greedy parasites.' The former, however, says that
the character is that of a hump-backed (Dossennus a dorsi gibbere) sharper, the
latter that of a glutton, quoting Varro de L. L.7.95 dictum mandier a mandendo,
unde manducari, a quo in Atellanis ad obsenum vocant Manducum, where he
corrects the corrupt words to Dossennum. 174. quam non adstricto socco,
'with how loose a sock': the soccus (кpηπis) or 'slipper' of comedy is contrasted
with the cothurnus (кóðopvos) or 'buskin' of tragedy in A. P. 80. Cf. Milton,
L'Allegro 132 'If Jonson's learned sock be on.' 175. loculos: properly
any sort of a casket or satchel (cf. 1. 1. 56), used of a purse or money-box,
also in S. 1. 3. 17; 2. 3. 146; Juv. 1. 89. The charge here brought against
Plautus 'may very probably be true, and is by no means to his discredit'
(Sellar, Roman Poets 164). The play-wright sold his play to the magistrate
who gave the shows at which they were acted. Terence is said to have re-
ceived 8000 sesterces for his Eunuchus, more than any play had produced
before. 176. cadat, 'fails,' for which Aristotle uses éktíπtei (Poet. 17.
1; 18. 5; 20. 5). stet, 'holds its own,' i.e. succeeds: cf. Ter. Hecyr. 15
partim sum earum exactus, partim vix steti; Cic. Orat. 28. 98 magnus orator
si semel constiterit, numquam cadet. recto talo, ‘steadily'; borrowed
from the Greek, e.g. Pind. Isthm. 6. 12 ỏр0ų čoraσas ènì opupŵ, and imitated
by Pers. 5. 104 recto vivere talo. "This criticism is to a great extent true
Sellar 1.c. Not that Plautus was without a natural pride in the success of
some of his plays, but 'his delight was that of a vigorous creator, not of a
painstaking artist.'
177-207. A dramatic writer is dependent upon his audience; and very
often upon the baser part of them. Even the better educated care for little
now but spectacle. 177. Gloria, 'fame,' as opposed to the desire of making
money. ventoso, 'airy,' not without a suggestion of the fickleness of fame;
cf. 1. 8. 12; 19. 37. 178. lentus, 'indifferent,' 'irresponsive'; cf. S. 1.
9. 64 lentissima bracchia. inflat, 'inspires,' almost equivalent to reficit
below. There does not seem to be any suggestion of pride here, any more
than in Cic. in Pis. 36. 89 cum tibi spe falsa animos rumor inflasset.
180. valeat, 'no more of!' or 'good-bye to.' res ludicra, i.e. the drama.
So we have partes ludicras sustinuerunt in Suet. Ner. 11, and qui artem ludi-
cram faciunt is a jurist's term for actors. 181. macrum, opimum: with
a humorous exaggeration for 'depressed' and 'triumphant.'
182. audacem, i.e. the poet who is bold enough to run the risk of failure
from popular indifference. 195. eques: the knights, i.e. the wealthier and
better educated part of the audience (cf. 1. 1. 62 n.), would naturally differ in
1
568
BOOK II
HORACE
their tastes from the mass of the spectators. Cf. S. 1. 10. 76; A. P. 113, 248.
media inter carmina: Terence (Hecyr. Prol. 1. 1-5, and 2. 25-34) patheti-
cally complains that the first time his Hecyra was acted the audience went off
to see a rope-dancer, and the second time they deserted him in order to get
good places at a gladiatorial show. carmen is used of a tragedy in A. P.
220, and includes dramatic poetry in line 69; cf. Tac. Ann. 11. 13 is carmina
scaenae dabat.
186. ursum: bears were brought in to fight with mastiffs
(molossi): forty bears were baited in the circus at the games given by the
aediles in 169 B.C. (Livy 44. 18): one hundred at the games in 61 B.C. (Pliny,
H. N. 8. 36. 131). Sometimes tame bears were shown (Mart. 1. 105. 5).
pugiles, 'boxers,' were a favourite sight with Augustus: Suet. Oct. 45 spec-
tavit studiosissime pugiles, et maxime Latinos.
188. incertos, 'wandering,' turning restlessly from one object to another
and therefore not caring to give the fixed attention needed for a drama, not
accompanied by much spectacular display. 189. aulaea, cf. S. 2. 8. 54 n.;
originally of any 'hangings' in a hall (aula), then specially of the curtain in
a theatre. This was dropped at the beginning of the performance below the
level of the stage, and raised at the conclusion. Cf. Virg. G. 3. 25 purpurea
intexti tollant aulaea Britanni; Ov. Met. 3. 111 sic ubi tolluntur festis
aulaea theatris. premuntur, 'are kept down.' 190. fugiunt, 'are
flying across the stage,' with no notion of flight, as Orelli supposes. Cicero
ad Fam. 7. 1. 2 says quo quidem apparatu non dubito quin animo aequissimo
carueris: quid enim delectationis habent sexcenti muli in Clytaemnestra aut in
Equo Troiano creterrarum tria milia aut armatura varia peditatus et equitatus
in aliqua pugna? quae popularem admirationem habuerunt, delectationem tibi
nullam attulissent. 191. regum fortuna=reges infortunati. 192. es-
seda, ‘chariots,' light open two-wheeled carriages, said to have been used first
by the Belgae (Caes. B. G. 4. 33; 5. 16) and employed by the Britons as war-
chariots. pilenta, 'carriages,' covered two-wheeled vehicles, easily swing-
ing (and thus connected with pilum the 'swung' or hurled weapon) and used
for ladies and for religious processions. petorrita: cf. S. 1. 6. 104 n.
naves: either the rostra of captured ships, or perhaps even ships themselves,
drawn in a triumphal procession by means of machinery. 193. ebur, i.e.
statues of ivory and gold: Livy speaks of tusks carried in procession in the
triumph over Antiochus (37. 59 tulit in triumpho eburneos dentes
MCCXXXI) but these would not be suited for a display on the stage.
Corinthus not restricted to vessels of Corinthian bronze, though doubtless
including these, but all the spoils of Corinth, and also probably a painting of
the city. So Porphyrion quia imagines eius oppidi fabricantur, ut in trium-
phali pompa transire possint. Cp. Cic. in Pis. 25. 60 quid tandem habet iste
currus? quid vincti ante currum duces? quid simulacra oppidorum? quid
aurum? quid argentum? Tibull. 2. 5. 115 ut Messalinum celebrem cum
praemia belli | ante suos currus oppida victa feret.
•
194. Democritus, the laughing philosopher, Heraclitus being the weep-
ing one: cf. Juv. 10. 28; Sen. de Ira 2. 10. 5 Democritum aiunt numquam
sine risu in publico fuisse. 195. diversum confusa genus, 'a panther
having its unlike nature mingled with a camel,' i.e. the giraffe or camelopard:
cf. Pliny, H. N. 8. 18. 27 camelopardalis dictatoris Caesaris Circensibus ludis
(46 B.C.) primum visa Romae. 196. elephans albus: white elephants
are proverbially very rare, being really albinoes.
elephants of Siam are really of a slate colour.
Even the famous white
197. ludis ipsis = quam
EPISTLE I
569
NOTES
ludos ipsos; S. 1. 1. 97 se non umquam servo melius vestiret; Virg. Aen. 1.
15 quam Iuno fertur terris magis omnibus unam coluisse. This usage with an
adverb seems limited to poets. 198. nimio has more authority than
mimo, being supported by vet. Bland. and good MSS. It is also doubtful
whether mimus can be used, as Orelli says, 'pro quovis histrione,' and it is
not easy to see why Horace should not have used the plural for the actors
on the stage. For plus nimio cf. note on 1. 10. 30. 199. asello surdo :
Horace has packed two proverbial expressions into one, for the sake of greater
emphasis: cf. Ter. Haut. 2. 1. 10 ne ille hauscit quam mihi nunc surdo
narret fabulam, and Zenob. 5. 42 ὄνῳ τις ἔλεγε μῦθον· ὁ δὲ τὰ ὦτα ἐκίνει· εἰς
ἀναισθησίαν τινῶν ἡ παροιμία εἴρηται.
202. Garganum: cf. Od. 2. 9. 6. The forests of Garganus have now
almost entirely disappeared, as is also the case very largely in the Apennines.
203. ludi, i.e. ludi scaenici, not ludi circenses, to which there is no reference
here. artes, 'works of art': 1. 6. 17. 204. oblitus, 'bedizened'; cf.
Milton, Par. L. 5. 356 'besmeared with gold.' The word is used in the sense
of 'overloaded' in Cic. ad Her. 4. 11. 16 si crebrae conlocabuntur (exornationes),
oblitam reddent orationem; Cic. Brut. 13. 51. 206. sane emphasising nil,
'not a word.' 207. veneno, 'drug,' i.e. dye. The purple (murex) of
Tarentum was considered second only to that of Tyre (Pliny, H. N. 9. 39. 63).
'At the spot called Fontanella is the Monte di Chiocciole (snail-shells), a hill
entirely formed of the shells used in making the purple dye'-Hare, Southern
Italy 332. The wool of Tarentum was also famous; cf. Od. 2. 6. 10.
208-213. I am not speaking from any disinclination to the theatre: a great
dramatic poet seems to me a true magician. 208. me laudare maligne,
'that I am niggardly in my praise.' 210. per extentum funem. . . ire,
a proverbial expression for anything difficult: cf. Arrian, Epict. 3.12.2 dúσxoλÓv
ἐστι καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ σχοινίου περιπατεῖν· καὶ οὐ μόνον δύσκολον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπικίν
δυνον. 211. inaniter, 'by illusions,' i.e. without any real cause for it all.
Exactly so used in Cic. Acad. 2. 11. 34 cum sit incertum, vere inaniterque
moveatur; ib. 15. 47 cum animi inaniter moveantur eodem modo rebus eis,
quae nullae sint ut eis quae sint, where Cic. is representing the кevoжábeια or
diákevos éλkvoµós of Sextus; de Fin. 5. 1. 3.
214-218. Let other poets too have a share in your patronage. 214. et
his, 'to these too': et is not used after age as a simple copulative, but always
has the force of 'also'; cf. Mayor on Nat. Deor. 1. 30. 83. 215. fastidia
ferre: cf. Virg. Ecl. 2. 14 Amaryllidis . . . superba pati fastidia. superbi,
'fastidious,' as in S. 2. 2. 109; 6. 87. 216. redde, 'give' as due, not 'give
back'; cf. Od. 2. 7. 17 n. munus Apolline dignum: cf. 1. 3. 17 n.
219-228. That we do not enjoy this more often, is due to our own intrusive-
ness, susceptibility, and vanity. 220. ut vineta caedam mea: evidently
a proverbial expression, though not found elsewhere. But cf. Tibull. 1. 2. 98
quid messes uris acerba tuas? Horace good-humouredly includes himself in
the number of the pestering poetasters, though no one could have been more
free from the faults which he here describes, than he was himself. 223. loca,
used, for metrical convenience, for locos 'passages,' the form always used in
prose in this sense. Conversely loci is occasionally used in poetry (Lucr. 4.
509; Virg. Aen. 1. 306; 2. 28, etc.), once in Livy (5. 35. 1) and often in
Tacitus in the sense of 'places' for loca. inrevocati, 'though not en-
cored': for the 'scenic' use of revocare cf. Livy 7. 2 Livius cum saepius
revocatus vocem obtudisset; Ov. Am. 3. 2. 73 sed enim revocate, Quirites, | et
•
570
BOOK II
HORACE
date iactatis undique signa togis. 225. tenui deducta filo, 'fine-spun.'
For the metaphor cf. S. 1. 10. 43 forte epos acer, | ut nemo, Varius ducit; 2.
1.3 putat ..
mille die versus deduci posse. For filum see Reid on Cic. Lael.
7. 25 aliud quoddam filum orationis tuae, and Cic. de Orat. 2. 22. 93 erant
paullo uberiore filo. Translate 'that the toil and fine workmanship spent upon
our poems is not noticed.' 227. commodus, 'obligingly'; cf. Od. 4. 8. 1.
228. egere vetes, 'bid us want no longer.'
229-250. But after all great merits should be celebrated by great poets.
Alexander was a ridiculously bad judge of verse, though a sound critic of art.
You on the other hand have shown yourself a better judge in the case of Virgil
and Varius. 229. est operae pretium, 'it is worth while,' a phrase of
transition; cf. S. 2. 4. 63. operae is of course gen., but in est operae it is
dat., cf. Roby 1283. 230. aedituos, 'temple-keepers,' vewкópovs. Merit is
personified as a goddess, whose shrine is kept by the poets who sing her praises.
233. Choerilus. There were three poets of this name. (1) Choerilus
of Athens, who exhibited tragedies, 523-483 B.C.: (2) Ch. of Samos, the
composer of an epic poem on the Persian wars, a younger contemporary
and friend of Herodotus: (3) Ch. of Iasos, also an epic poet, but of a very in-
ferior kind, who followed Alexander to Asia. This last is the one here meant:
in A. P. 357 he is taken as the type of a poet who sometimes 'deviates into
excellence. Acron here says that he had only seven good lines in his poem on
the exploits of Alexander, for each of which he received a gold piece. On
A. P. 357 he adds that Alexander had bargained to give him this reward, on
condition that the bard should receive a blow for every bad verse, and that he
died of the blows. The king is reported to have said malle se Thersiten Homeri
esse quam Choerili Achillem, which does not look as if he was so bad a judge
of poetry as Horace represents him to have been; and indeed he was not only
the pupil of Aristotle, but also himself an enthusiastic student of Homer.
incultis et male natis, 'rough and misbegotten': versibus is dat. as in
Ovid, Trist. 2. 10 acceptum refero versibus esse nocens. 234. rettulit ac-
ceptos, 'set down to the credit of': acceptum referre is regular- to enter
on the receipt side of accounts, opposed to expensum ferre: cf. Cic. Phil.
2. 16. 40 ego enim amplius sestertium ducentiens acceptum hereditatibus ret-
tuli. regale: the right of coining gold was reserved to themselves by the
kings of Macedon, as by the kings of Persia and afterwards by the Romans,
while subject states and districts were often permitted to coin silver (cf.
Gardner's Greek Coins 26); and there may probably be a reference to this
here. Cf. our sovereign and dapeikós, which is apparently derived not from
Darius, but from the Persian dard, 'king.' The coins of Philip had on one
side a head of Ares, on the other a chariot, not as some editors say the king's
head (Gardner 188). There is no instance of a realistic portrait of an earlier
time than Alexander (ib. 175). nomisma: the earliest instance in which
this Greek word occurs in Latin: Martial has it several times. Philippos:
the Philippus or Philippeus (with or without nummus) was a gold piece,
coined by Philip II. of Macedon to replace the Persian darics, which had up
to his time been the gold coinage most widely current in Greece, probably as
a preparation for his great scheme of conquest (Mommsen, Röm. Münzw. 52).
Five of them were equal to the mina, so that their value was about a pound.
235. notam labemque, 'mark and blot.' remittunt, 'produce'; cf.
S. 2. 4. 69; 8. 53. 236. atramenta includes writing-ink, painter's black,
blacking for boots, and in short all kinds of dark fluids.
EPISTLE I
571
NOTES
239. edicto: cf. Pliny, H. N. 7. 37. 125 idem hic imperator edixit, ne quis
ipsum alius quam Apelles pingeret, quam Pyrgoteles sculperet, quam Lysippus
ex aere duceret. But as there were representations of the king by other
artists we can only understand this to mean either that Alexander gave com-
missions himself to no others, or that he never sat to any one else. Apellen:
cf. 1. 2. 12 n. 240. Lysippo: for the case cf. 1. 16. 20 n. The advance in
statuary made by Lysippus is thus described by Pliny, H. N. 34. 8. 19 plurimum
traditur contulisse capillum exprimendo, capita minora faciendo quam antiqui,
corpora graciliora siccioraque, per quae proceritas signorum maior videretur.
He limited himself to bronze casting, and never worked in marble. Propert.
4. (3.) 9. 9 says gloria Lysippi est animosa effingere signa. duceret,
'model.' 242. subtile, 'exact': Pliny (H. N. 35. 10. 85) gives a very
different account of Alexander's critical faculty: Alexandro Magno frequenter
in officinam ventitanti imperite multa disserenti (Apelles) silentium
comiter suadebat, rideri eum dicens a pueris, qui colores tererent. videndis
artibus: probably the dative, 'for viewing works of art.' videre is used with
an extended force visu aestimare or videndo diiudicare. 244. Boeo-
tum, gen. plur., Roby 365, S. G. 115. The dull, heavy air of Boeotia (due
to the, vapour arising from the valleys and lakes) is often contrasted with
that enjoyed by the Athenians, who were ἀεὶ διὰ λαμπροτάτου βαίνοντες
áßpŵs ailépos (Eur. Med. 829); cf. Cic. Fat. 4. 7 Athenis tenue caelum, ex
quo acutiores etiam putantur Attici: crassum Thebis, itaque pingues Thebani :
Juv. 10. 50. Pindar, Ol. 6. 152, speaks jestingly of the proverbial Bowría üs.
245. dedecorant: the subjects Vergilius Variusque are transferred,
as often, to the relative clause. 246. munera, i.e. the gifts which the
poets had received from Augustus. At his death in 19 B.C.—some years
before the date of this Epistle-Virgil's fortune is said to have amounted to
10,000,000 sesterces, mostly if not entirely due to the bounty of patrons. For
Varius cf. Od. 1. 6. 1 n. multa dantis cum laude, i.e. all men warmly
praise such judicious liberality, instead of laughing at it, as in the case of
Alexander and Choerilus. 248. expressi, 'reproduced': the metaphor
is taken from plastic figures in clay or wax, and then becomes more general,
and is used of imitation generally: cf. Cic. de Orat. 3. 12. 47 vitia imitatione
ex aliquo expressa; pro Arch. 6. 14 multas nobis imagines fortissimorum
vivorum expressas scriptores Graeci et Latini reliquerunt.
250-270. I would myself gladly sing of your deeds, if I had the power,
and did not fear to bring my august theme into ridicule as well as myself.
250. sermones here includes both Satires and Epistles. The style of the
Epistles, though somewhat more careful than that of the Satires, is essentially
the sermo quotidianus. Conington renders "Nor is it choice (ah, would that
choice were all !) | Makes my dull Muse in prose-like numbers crawl." So in
S. 2. 6. 17 Horace speaks of his musa pedestris. 251. res componere
gestas, i.e. to write a historical epic poem. 252. arces montibus
inpositas, stormed by the Roman armies: cf. Od. 4. 14. 11 arces Alpibus in-
positas. 253. tuis auspiciis: Augustus from 23 B.C. onwards held a
perpetual proconsulare imperium over the whole empire, and even in the
senatorial provinces he had an imperium maius, which made their governors
formally subordinate to him. Hence the iustus triumphus could no longer be
enjoyed by successful generals, who were only serving under his auspices, not
under their own. During the earlier part of his rule, he sometimes allowed a
triumph, but afterwards (apparently after 15 B.C.) this honour was reserved to
·
572
BOOK II
HORACE
members of the imperial house. Cf. Suet. Aug. 38 super triginta ducibus
iustos triumphos et aliquanto pluribus triumphalia ornamenta decernenda
curavit; and 21 domuit partim ductu partim auspiciis suis Cantabriam,
Aquitaniam, Pannoniam, Dalmatiam cum Illyrico omni; item Raetiam et
Vindelicos ac Salassos; Od. 1. 7. 27 n. 255. Ianum: cf. Od. 4. 15. 9 n.
256. Parthis: cf. Od. 1. 19. 11 n.; C. S. 53. 257. cuperem, attracted into
the tense of possem. 258. recipit, 'admits of'; cf. Suet. Aug. 89 ingenia
saeculi sui omnibus modis fovit: recitantes et benigne et patienter audivit, nec
tantum carmina et historias, sed et orationes et dialogos. componi tamen ali-
quid de se nisi serio et a praestantissimis offendebatur, admonebatque praetores,
ne paterentur nomen suum commissionibus ('prize declamations') obsolefieri.
For maiestas cf. Od. 4. 15. 15 n. 259. ferre recusent: cf. A. P. 39.
260. stulte, quem diligit, urguet: stulte must go with urguet and not
with diligit, for stulte diligit would be very inappropriate if referred to Augustus.
262. discit: sc. aliquis, to be supplied from the quis in the relative clause.
People remember a ridiculous poem or a ridiculous portrait more readily
than a good one. Of course there is no reference to intentional caricature.
264. nil moror: Horace puts himself for the moment in the place of the
emperor: 'I care nothing-and therefore I am sure that you do not.' ficto
in peius vultu: cf. Pliny, Ep. 5. 10 pictores pulchram absolutamque formam
raro nisi in peius effingunt. 265. proponi cereus, 'to be exposed as a
waxen image,' i.e. to have a caricatured portrait of myself offered for sale. It
was customary to make the imagines of deceased ancestors of wax (Pliny, H.
N. 35. 2. 6 expressi cera vultus singulis disponebantur armariis); and the art
may naturally have been transferred to living persons of celebrity. 267.
pingui, 'stupid'; cf. S. 2. 6. 14. una cum scriptore meo: Horace
does not seem to mean more than 'I should be involved in the disgrace which
will come upon the poet who makes me his theme, when his worthless poem
is sent off to be used for waste paper.' 268. capsa, properly a book-case
(S. 1. 4. 22), here humorously put for a bier. porrectus, stretched out
at length like a corpse. operta: sometimes a corpse was carried out to
burial on an open couch or bier (lectus, feretrum), sometimes in a coffin
(capulus) carried on a frame (sandapila); cf. Marquardt, Privatalt. 1. 360,
and the latter was more usual with the poorer classes. Orelli needlessly read
aperta. 269. vicum, probably the vicus Tuscus of S. 2. 3. 228. 270.
quidquid: Pers. 1. 43 adds mackerel, nec scombros metuentia carmina nec
tus; which he gets from Catull. 95. 5 Volusi annales laxas scombris
saepe dabunt tunicas. Our modern equivalent is to be found in the trunk-
makers and pastry-cooks. Cf. Martial 6. 60 7 quam multi tineas pascunt
blattasque diserti, | et redimunt soli carmina docta coqui.
EPISTLE II
•
·
•
For Florus cf. 1. 3 Intr. There is a great similarity of tone between this
Epistle and the first of the first book. In both Horace pleads that increasing
years have left him no taste or power for lyric poetry; and make it a duty
for him to study philosophy. Here he lays stress also on the hindrances
arising from city life, and his disgust at the 'mutual admiration' cliques of
contemporary versifiers. The date is probably about 19 B.C.
1-24. If you were to buy a slave, Florus, knowing well his faults, you
would have no right to complain of the vendor. 1. bono: cf. 1. 9. 4 n.
EPISTLE II
573
NOTES
claroque, 'illustrious,' whether by birth and position or by his exploits.
3. Tibure vel Gabiis: the boy was of Latin birth, not one of the less
valuable slaves, imported from the East. 4. candidus, 'fair of com-
plexion,' not fuscus, like Hydaspes in S. 2. 8. 14; or perhaps without
blemish.' It would be out of place to refer it here to his moral qualities.
talos ad imos, a proverbial expression: cf. Cic. pro Rosc. C. 7. 20 nonne
ab imis unguibus usque ad verticem summum ex fraude, fallaciis, mendaciis
constare totus videtur } 5. flet eritque: mere tautology on the part of
the fluent slave-dealer with an imitation of legal surplusage.
nummorum
milibus octo, about £70, a very low price for a slave with any attractions
and accomplishments. The servi litterati of Calvisius Sabinus cost 100,000
sesterces each (Seneca, Ep. 27. 7). The value of slaves at Rome naturally
ranged within very wide limits (cf. Wallon, Histoire de l'Esclavage, 2. 159-
174): Cato the Censor never gave more than 1500 drachmas (about £54) for
any slave (Plut. Cat. 1), and in his censorship required that a slave under
twenty years of age, who had been purchased for 10,000 asses (about £30)
or more, should be assessed at ten times the price paid for him, on which
assessment he then laid a triple tax in order to discourage this form of ex-
travagance (Livy 39. 44). Martial on the other hand (1.59. 1; 2. 63. 1)
speaks of young slaves as sold for 100,000 sesterces (£800). Perhaps from
£50 to £60 may be taken as an average price for an ordinary slave: Davus in
S. 2. 7. 43 speaks of himself as bought for 500 drachmae, i.e. about £20.
6. verna, a slave bred at home, and therefore fit for domestic duties, not
mere field-work. ministeriis, dat. with aptus. ad nutus, 'at the
beck': cf. Cic. Or. 8. 24 ad eorum arbitrium et nutum totos se fingunt. 7.
litterulis inbutus, 'with some slight knowledge of letters': inbutus of
itself has a depreciatory force: cf. 1. 2. 69 n.; Cic. Tusc. 1. 7. 14 an tu dia-
lecticis ne inbutus quidem es? Suet. de Gramm. 4 non perfectum litteris, sed
inbutum. The diminutive litterulis adds to the disparaging tone.
cuilibet: an educated slave might be used as a reader (anagnostes), copyist
(librarius, scriba) or amanuensis (servus ab epistolis). Cf. Ter. Eun. 3. 2. 19
en eunuchum tibi,... fac periclum in litteris, fac in palaestra, in musicis: quae
liberum scire aequomst adulescentem sollertem dabo. 9. indoctum, 'in
arti
an untrained fashion': Roby 1096, S. G. 461. bibenti, when a man
would be less critical. The dealer does not lay too much stress upon his
slave's accomplishments, for fear of leading the purchaser to think that there
must be serious faults to account for his being offered so cheap.
10. levant: leviorem faciunt, minuunt Comm. Cruq. 11. extru-
dere, quite our 'push off.' Many MSS. have excludere. 12. meo in
aere: cf. Cic. in Verr. Act. 2. 4. 6. 11 hominem video...non modo in aere alieno
nullo, sed in suis nummis multis esse ac semper fuisse.
pauper often
denotes not poverty but means slender yet sufficient, as contrasted with
indigus or egens; cf. Od. 1. 12. 43 n. 13. mangonum, 'the slave-
dealers.' The word is probably identical with our -monger (A.-S. mangere ‘a
dealer'), Germ. -menger, from mangian 'to traffic,' and ultimately from mang
'a mixture.' non temere: cf. 2. 1. 120 n. I would not do this for
everybody. 14. cessavit, shirked his work'; cf. cessator S. 2. 7. 100.
ut fit, 'as usual,' as boys will do; cf. Cic. Verr. Act. 2. 2. 23. 56 queri, ut fit,
incipiunt. 15. in scalis latuit: the wooden staircase in the corner of the
house (so always at Pompeii) furnished the most natural temporary hiding-
place; cf. Cic. pro Mil. 15. 40 cum se ille (Clodius) fugiens in scalarum late-
574
BOOK II
HORACE
bras abdidisset; Phil. 2. 9. 21 nisi se ille in scalas tabernae librariae coniecisset.
pendentis: the whip (habena=lorum, as in Virg. Aen. 7. 380 of the whip used
by a boy to lash his top) was hung up in some conspicuous part of the house.
16. des nummos: a jussive subjunctive: 'let me have the money, if the
fact which I have mentioned, that he once ran away, does not trouble you';
cf. Roby 1575, S. G. 657 (b). laedit is the reading of vet. Bland. and is
probably original, the laedat of most MSS. being due to assimilation by copyists
to the neighbouring subjunctives. With laedat the speech of the mango
must end at habenae and des is the apodosis to si quis velit in line 2 and
parallel to ferat in the next line: 'you would pay the price (and) he would
pocket it.' excepta: cf. S. 2. 3. 285; Gell. 4. 2. 1 in edicto aedilium
curulium, qua parte de mancipiis vendundis cautum est, scriptum sic fuit :
titulus servorum singulorum utei scriptus sit, coerato, ita utei intellegi recte
possit, quid morbi vitiive quoique sit, quis fugitivus errove noxave solutus non
sit. 17. poenae securus: 'without any fear of a penalty' for selling a
slave without giving due notice of his defects. 18. prudens, 'with your eyes
open,' deliberately. A. P. 426; S. 1. 10. 88; 2. 5. 58. lex, 'the conditions
of sale.' 19. insequeris=diúkels, 'prosecute. moraris, 'annoy.'
21. talibus officiis: i.e. such friendly attentions as you are now demanding
from me.
The case is probably dative 'of work contemplated' (Roby 1156,
S. G. 481). mancum: S. 2. 7. 88.
mea is curiously out of place.
22. iurgares, 'scold'; cf. line 171 n. rediret: much better in itself,
and far better supported than veniret of the older editions. Florus expected
a letter from Horace in answer to his own; cf. 1. 13. 2. 23. tum, i.e.
at the time when I told you this. mecum facientia: 2. 1. 68.
24-54. You complain too that I do not send you the poems which I promised.
A soldier who had fought bravely when poor would not do the same when
enriched. So I was once compelled, after I had left Athens and taken part in
the civil war, to take to poetry as a means of getting a living. But now that
I have a competence, I should be mad indeed not to prefer rest to writing.
24. adtemptas, 'assail,' try to upset. super hoc, 'besides'; hoc is acc.
as the common super haec shows. 26. Luculli: in the war with Mithridates
74-67 B.C. The point of the comparison between Horace and the soldier is
given in line 52. viatica properly 'travelling money' (whence the usage
in the Church for the administration of the Eucharist in preparation for the
last journey), then a soldier's private stock of money, his savings, as here, cf.
Tac. Hist. 1. 57. 5; Suet. Caes. 68. 27. ad assem, 'to a penny': cf. ad
unum Virg. Aen. 5. 687, 'to a man.' 28. vehemens: so all MSS. and
also line 120 where the metre makes vemens necessary. Lachmann on Lucret.
2. 1024 (nam tibi vementer nova res molitur ad aures accedere) shows that
vehemens is not necessarily an anapaest anywhere before a letter of Marcus
Aurelius. lupus: another instance of the use of metaphor for simile,
which is so common in Horace; cf. 1. 1. 2, 42; 7. 74; 10. 42. 30.
praesidium, 'garrison,' øpovpá, not opoúpcov, which is = locus summe munitus.
31. divite rerum: cf. Od. 4. 8. 5 divite artium.
32. donis honestis, 'gifts of honour,' such as the corona muralis, the
hasta pura, phalerae, torques aureae, etc. The vet. Bland. has opimis. 33.
super, in addition,' adverbial. bis dena sestertia, about £170.
nummum, not very commonly used after sestertia, denotes here 'in cash.'
34. sub hoc tempus: cf. 1. 16. 22 n. praetor here in its original
sense, as 'general': σтparnyós is the regular Greek representative of the word.
EPISTLE II
575
NOTES
36. mentem, vigour,' 'spirit,' cf. 1. 2. 60 n. 40. zonam: for the
custom of carrying money in a belt cf. the passage from a speech by Gaius
Gracchus, preserved in Gell. 15. 12 cum Romam profectus sum, zonas, quas
plenas argenti extuli, eas ex provincia inanes rettuli. This practice does not
seem to be mentioned in classical Greek; but cf. Matt. x. 9 µǹ ktĤonod€
χρυσὸν μηδὲ ἄργυρον μηδὲ χαλκὸν εἰς τὰς ζώνας ὑμῶν, Livy 33. 29. 4 negotiandi
ferme causa argentum in zonis habentes commeatibus erant.
• •
43.
41. contigit: cf. 1. 2. 46 n. doceri
i.e. he studied Homer,
according to the established rule in schools; cf. Quint. 1. 8. 5 optime institutum
est ut ab Homero atque Vergilio lectio inciperet; Pliny, Ep. 2. 14. 2 in foro
pueros a centumviralibus causis auspicari ut ab Homero in scholis.
bonae agreeing with Athenae ‘kind,' almost equivalent to grato below.
Others, not so well, connect the word with artis, cf. Tac. Ann. 1. 3. 4 Agrippam
rudem bonarum artium. 44. vellem: MSS. vary here between vellem,
possim, and possem: the first has the most authority, while the last (though
preferred by many good recent editors) has the least. rectum carries with
45.
it the mathematical sense of a 'right' line, as well as the moral sense; and
hence is opposed to curvus: so pravus originally means 'crooked,' and our
wrong' is what is 'wrung' aside or perverted. Skeat quotes from Wyclif
'wrung nose' for 'crooked nose.' Persius 4. 12 again imitates Horace:
rectum discernis, ubi inter | curva subit, vel cum fallit pede regula varo.
silvas Academi: cf. Eupolis frag. 32 Mein. év evσкíos dpóµoiσiv 'Aкadýµov
Ocoû. The enclosure sacred to the hero Academus lay about three-quarters of
θεοῦ.
a mile outside the walls of Athens on the road which ran through the Outer
Ceramicus to Colonus. Its olive groves and plane-trees were famous: they
were planted by Cimon, for 'the Academy, which was before a bare, dry and
dirty spot, he converted into a well-watered grove, with shady alleys to walk
in, and open courses for races' (Plutarch, Cimon 13). Sulla in his siege of
Athens is said to have cut down the trees, but they must have been replanted
by this time. Plato had been wont to teach there, a custom followed by his
successors (cf. Cic. de Fin. 5. 1. 2), and when Horace was at Athens the head
of the Academic school was Theomnestus, whose lectures Brutus attended after
the murder of Caesar (Plut. Brut. 24). The expression however seems to be
here a general one for the study of philosophy: Horace nowhere shows any
special attachment to the Academic doctrines, being rather an Epicurean with
occasional leanings to some Stoic views.
46. dura tempora, i.e. the struggles between the murderers and the
avengers of Caesar.
emovere, 'tore me away.' Brutus induced Horace
to follow him into Asia; cf. S. 1. 7. 18; 6. 48. 47. civilisque..
The order is civilisque aestus (1. 2. 8) tulit (me) rudem belli in arma non
responsura etc. 48. Caesaris Augusti: so united only here by Horace :
Virgil has the title twice, Aen. 6. 793; 8. 678. responsura, 'fated to
prove a match for': cf. S. 2. 7. 85 responsare cupidinibus; ib. 103; 2. 4. 18,
a usage apparently confined to Horace. 49. unde=ab armis. simul
primum: a rare combination, rejected by Drakenborch on Livy 6. 1. 6
interim Q. Fabio simul primum magistratu abiit, dies dicta est, and pro-
nounced 'everywhere suspicious' by Draeger, Hist. Synt. 2. 573; but
sufficiently established by this passage. simul ac primum is used by Cic. in
Verr. Act. 2. 1. 13. 34, and by Suet. Caes. 30; Nero 43. Horace did not, like
Pompeius Varus and other of his friends, join the forces of Sextus Pompeius
and continue the struggle, but gave up arms at once. 50. inopem :
576
BOOK II
HORACE
•
•
•
μόνα τὰς
Horace's father's estate had evidently been confiscated after the victory of the
triumvirs. 51. paupertas. cf. Theocrit. 21. 1 à Tevla
τέχνας ἐγείρει.
Téxvas èɣeipeɩ. Possibly it was with the proceeds, direct or indirect, of these
early verses that Horace bought himself the clerkship in the Quaestors' office
(see Intr. p. viii), which put him out of the reach of absolute want, before he
secured the patronage of Maecenas.
of the earlier Epodes and Satires.
habentem = nunc, cum habeo.
=
The verses themselves may include some
52. quod non desit quod satis sit:
53. cicutae: the plural='doses of
ni putem:
hemlock.' Hemlock was used as a febrifuge; cf. Pliny, H. N. 25. 13. 95
cicutae semini et foliis refrigeratoria vis.
Roby 1574, S. G. 654. 2.
•
·
poterunt
• • •
55.
55-57. Then again, with my youth my poetical powers have left me.
anni: cf. Virg. Ecl. 9. 51 omnia fert aetas, animum quoque; Plat. Epinom.
976 Α ὅσων ὡραι ληΐζονται τὴν τῶν ζῴων φύσιν. euntes, 'as they
go'; Od. 2. 14. 5 quotquot eunt dies; Ov. A. A. 3. 62 ludite: eunt anni more
fluentis aquae.
56. iocos: cf. 1. 7. 26-28. 57. quid faciam vis?
what am I to do?' i.e. how am I to resist them? with something of the
impatience of the French que voulez-vous? Roby 1606, S. G. 672.
59.
58-64. Thirdly, tastes vary so much, that I cannot please every one.
carmine, 'an Ode,' 'lyrics.' iambis, i.e. such as the Epodes: 1. 19. 23.
60. Bioneis: Bion the Borysthenite, a teacher of philosophy at Athens
towards the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the third, a pupil
of the Academy, Crates, Theophrastus, but especially Theodorus the Cyrenaic
(called the Atheist), was more distinguished as a wit than as a philosopher.
Diog. Laert. 4. 46-57. Acron says in libro, quem edidit, mordacissimis salibus
ea quae apud poetas sunt ita laceravit, ut ne Homero quidem parceret, and Cic.
Tusc. Disp. 3. 26. 62 gives an example of his coarse wit as directed against
Agamemnon: in quo facetum illud Bionis, perinde stultissimum regem in luctu
capillum sibi evellere, quasi calvitio maeror levaretur. sermonibus,
'satires': Horace's Satires have with one exception little or nothing of the
cynical profligacy which seems to have marked the writings of Bion. sale
nigro, 'coarse wit': for black salt cf. S. 2. 4. 74 n. 61. tres: the smallest
number of guests, who could form a party: cf. Gell. 13. 11. 2 (M. Varro in
satiris Menippeis) dicit convivarum numerum incipere oportere a Gratiarum
numero et progredi ad Musarum. But even in so small a number there would
be differences of tastes. prope=fere, 'I might almost say,' 'well nigh,'
cf. 1. 6. 1. 62. multum: cf. 1. 10. 3 multum dissimiles.
64. sane,
not concessive, as Orelli, but intensive with invisum: cf. line 132; 2. 1. 206.
acidum keeps up the metaphor of the feast, and seems especially to refer to wine.
65-80. Fourthly, the distractions of life in Rome are so great that it is
impossible to compose. 65. praeter, 'beyond,' rather than 'beside': ´cf.
Reid on Cic. pro Sull. 3. 7. 67. sponsum, 'to stand security'; cf. 1. 16.
43; S. 2. 6. 23. auditum scripta: the nuisance of recitations soon
became almost intolerable at Rome: cf. 1. 19. 39; Cic. Att. 2. 2. 2 coniurasse
mallem quam restitisse coniurationi, si illum mihi audiendum putassem; Mayor
on Juv. 3. 9. 68. cubat, 'lies sick'; cf. S. 1. 9. 18 n. The Quirinal was at
the extreme NE., the Aventine quite at the SW. of the city. 70. humane,
' prorsus ut È™ieikŵs' Or. i.e.=probe, admodum; and so Kiessling treats it as a
synonym strengthening commoda, cf. Plaut. Most. 2. 2. 64 inepte stultus; Trin.
4. 3. 1 propere celerem. We may render 'nicely convenient.' Conjectures are
haud sane and insane. verum: 'yes but you say,' introducing an objection,
EPISTLE II
577
NOTES
with the force which at enim so often has in prose. verum assents, but
introduces a qualification. 71. purae, 'clear'; i.e. free from obstructions :
cf. Ov. Met. 3. 709 purus ab arboribus, spectabilis undique campus; Livy
24. 14. 6 puro ac patenti campo. plateae is often marked plătea in diction-
aries with this passage and Catull. 15. 7 noted as exceptional instances of the
short penultimate. But it is often short in Terence, and no instance is quoted
of the long penultimate, which might have been expected from the derivation
of the word from #λareîα, earlier than Prudentius. We have a parallel to the
shortening in baliněum from ẞaλaveîov, chorěa, gynaecèum etc. (Roby 229).
72. calidus, 'in hot haste': cf. S. 1. 3. 53; Od. 3. 14. 27, where however
the meaning is rather 'impetuous.' redemptor, 'a contractor' for build-
ings; cf. Od. 3. 1. 35. mulis gerulisque, instrumental ablatives, indicating
how the contractor showed his impetuosity; cf. Livy 9. 38. 7 armis virisque
ad opprimendum C. Marcium concurrunt. Krüger compares military ex-
pressions such as ingenti exercitu, omnibus copiis, quadrato agmine: but the
addition of the epithet makes all the difference. 73. machina, apparently
' a crane which 'swings' (torquet) stones or beams needed for building,
properly called tolleno, but sometimes by a metaphor like our own, ciconia,
cf. γέρανος. 74. robustis, i.e. built for heavy loads; cf. S. 1. 6. 42 si
plaustra ducenta | concurrantque foro tria funera. The use of wheeled
vehicles was forbidden in Rome until ten hours after sunrise, except in the
case of those employed in connexion with public buildings, temples, etc., of
market-carts leaving the city, and of certain privileged persons.
cf. 1. 6. 17 n. : 'now,' i.e. after suffering all these things.
•
76. i nunc :
77. scriptorum, of poets especially, as in 2. 1. 36 and elsewhere.
urbem: the great preponderance of MS. authority is in favour of the
singular. Many editors however prefer the plural, on the ground that the
singular after what has gone before can only='Rome.' This would certainly
be the case, if nemus, used in a generic sense, had not come between: but the
parallelism justifies us in following the MSS., and taking urbem generally=
'the town' as opposed to 'the country.' 78. rite cliens Bacchi, 'in
loyal allegiance to Bacchus.' rite'as is fit.' Cf. Od. 2. 19; 3. 25. 79.
strepitus: Od. 3. 29. 12 fumum et opes strepitumque Romae. The continual
noise at Rome is one of its worst terrors, as painted by Juv. Sat. 3. The
rhyme in nocturnos diurnos seems intentional and imitative. 80.
contracta: the great majority of MSS. have contacta, which seems indefen-
sible, though Dillenburger explains contacta sequi as=contingere et sequi. con-
tracta 'narrow' describes a track which few have trodden, not broad and beaten.
81-86. Even those who give years to study in quiet Athens sometimes
ludicrously fail to produce anything: how then do you expect me to do so here
amid the turmoil of Rome ? 81. sibi desumpsit, 'has chosen as his home.'
vacuas: 1. 7. 45 n. 83. curis, 'efforts'; here clearly poetic efforts,
composition. statua taciturnius: cf. S. 2. 5. 40 infantes statuas; Lucian,
Imag. 1 ἀχανῆ σε καὶ τῶν ἀνδριάντων ἀκινητότερον ἀποφανεί. exit, 'turns
out.' 86. digner; i.e. am I to think myself fit for this task, and so set my
heart upon achieving it?' A rhetorical question of this kind is usually not
introduced in Latin by the 'and,' which would be natural in English.
87-105., Fifthly, mutual admiration has reached such a pitch here, that I
can find no favour unless I am willing to humour and flatter every one in my
turn, but if I refuse to write, I can live at my ease.
87. frater... . ut..
So all MSS., and, if the text is genuine, we must (with Orelli and Kiessling)
•
2 P
578
BOOK II
HORACE
L
•
•
explain frater ut as = tam fraterno animo ut, and cf. 1. 16. 12; S. 1. 1. 95
quidam (so MSS.)... dives | ut metiretur nummos; 7. 13 ira fuit capitalis, ut
|
ultima divideret mors. frater is then to be regarded as strongly emphatic by
position, and the sense is: 'there were once two brothers-a lawyer and a
barrister-(so brotherly) that one was always complimenting the other.' Many
editors on the other hand regard the construction as indefensible and the line as
corrupt. Bentley suggested pactus erat Romae consulto rhetor, ‘a rhetorician
at Rome had bargained with a lawyer.' Meineke thought that a line must
have been lost, owing to the copyist's eye falling on two similar syllables
recurring; and would read frater erat Romae consulti rhetor, ut [erque | alterius
laudum sic admirator ut] alter. Schütz suggests fautor, which is a favourite
word with Horace in very similar expressions (cf. 1. 15. 33 nequitiae fauto-
ribus; 18. 66 fautor laudabit; 2. 1. 23 sic fautor veterum; S. 1. 10. 2 tam
Lucili fautor), and which perhaps from its meaning might dispense with an
adverb, such as tam before it, like the adjectives quoted above. ~ Palmer pro-
poses auctor erat consulto, ' a rhetorician proposed to a lawyer.' 88. meros
honores, 'nothing but compliments': cf. 1. 7. 84. 89. Gracchus :
undoubtedly Gaius, who is praised by Cicero, Brut. 33. 126, as a greater orator
than his elder brother Tiberius: eloquentia quidem nescio an habuisset parem
neminem. For Mucius see Class. Dict. s.v. Scaevola; many of the family
were eminent as jurisconsults. foret huic ut Mucius ille: all MSS. have
hic ut Mucius illi, but as early as 1516 this was corrected into the now all
but universally received huic ille. It is impossible to believe that Horace
wrote ut hic illi Gracchus foret, hic illi Mucius. Keller adduces examples of
hic hic, but none where ille is also used in the passage. This line is one of
the instances in which the archetype was clearly corrupt.
•
90. qui minus, 'in what way less?' S. 2. 3. 311 qui ridiculus minus illo ?
7. 96 qui peccas minus atque ego? Translate and are our tuneful poets less
troubled by this madness?' 91. carmina compono, 'I am a writer of
lyrics'; though for the time being Horace had abandoned this form of com-
position, he speaks of it as his most distinctive style. hic, probably
Propertius, who delighted to be regarded as the Roman Callimachus (line 100:
cf. Propert. 5. 1. 63-6, and see note in separate edition). mirabile
opus: an admiring exclamation of mutual compliment. Bentley objected (1)
that visu could only be used of external appearance, which is out of the question
here; (2) that caelatum Musis could only mean adorned with figures of Muses'
(as in Ov. Met. 13. 110 caelatus imagine mundi). Hence he wished to govern
these words by circum spectemus, taking them in apposition to aedem. But (1)
mirabile visu had become a stereotyped compound expression for 'admirable,
(2) the construction of caelo with the abl. does not exclude an entirely different
construction with the dat. of the agent. Cf. 2. 1. 27. 92. novem: all the
Muses must have had a hand in such an exquisite piece of art! 93.
fastu, 'airs.' molimine, 'importance,' the bearing of a man ‘qui magna
molitur.' circumspectemus: so S. 1. 2. 62, 63 inter | est; 2. 3. 117, 118
unde | octoginta; A. P. 424, 425 inter | noscere. Here the rhythmical effect is
intended to suggest the slow important look. 94. vatibus, dat. 'free to
receive the works of.' aedem, the temple of Apollo on the Palatine, with
its annexed libraries; cf. 1. 3. 17. 95. sequere, i.e. to the place of
recitation, wherever it was, not necessarily to the temple. procul, 'hard
by': S. 2. 6. 105; Virg. Ecl. 6. 16. 96. ferat, 'brings,' as his contribu-
tion to the recitation. quare, i.e. what the grounds are, on which etc.
97. caedimur . . . Samnites: Livy 9. 40 Romani ad honorem deum
EPISTLE II
579
NOTES
insignibus armis hostium usi sunt: Campani ab superbia et odio Samnitium
gladiatores (quod spectaculum inter epulas erat) eo ornatu armarunt, Samniti-
umque nomine compellaverunt. Horace humorously represents the stock of
poems which the two poets bring and alternately inflict upon each other,
drawing out mutual compliments, but really inflicting painful weariness, as
inexhaustible; and compares the contest between them to that of two heavy-
armed, well-matched gladiators, whose protracted struggle lasts till the dark-
ness of evening puts an end to it. 99. discedo, 'I come off' from the
contest. Alcaeus: 1. 19. 29; Od. 2. 13. 26. puncto, 'vote,' a meaning
of the word retained from the days of viva voce voting, when the rogatores
would ask each voter, as he passed along the pontes, for whom he voted, and
record the answer by pricking a tablet. So we still retain the term 'polling
booth' even under the ballot. punctum is used for 'vote' similarly in A. P.
343; Cic. pro Planc. 22. 53 non nullas (tribus tulerunt) punctis paene totidem ;
pro Mur. 34. 72 recordor quantum punctorum nobis detraxerint. 100.
adposcere, 'to demand in addition,' only found elsewhere in Ter. Haut. 4.
7.10. 101. Mimnermus: cf. 1. 6. 65. Although Callimachus (flor. 260-
240 B.C.) was ranked by some critics (e.g. Quintilian 10. 1. 58 princeps habetur
Callimachus) as the first of elegiac poets, Horace seems to have agreed with
Ovid, Am. 1. 15. 14 quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet. In any case Mim-
nermus (flor. 640-600 B.C.) was the first to use elegiac verse for love poetry
(cf. Prop. 1. 9. 11 plus in amore valet Mimnermi versus Homero), and it was
naturally a higher compliment to give to an erotic poet the name of the
founder of his style of poetry, than that of one who was not especially dis-
tinguished in this department, and who had devoted himself also to so many
branches of literature, prose as well as verse. optivo = adoptivo, adscito
Porph. The word is properly a legal term: Gaius 1. 154 vocantur autem hi
qui nominatim testamento tutores dantur, dativi; qui ex optione sumuntur,
optivi. Hence it means 'any which he may choose.' crescit, 'is glorified.'
•
•
•
103-105. So long as I am myself composing, and am a candidate for popu-
larity, I have to put up with much: but as soon as I return to my senses, I
would stop my ears when poets recite, and fear no revenge on their part. Orelli
argues that the rhythm of the verse requires us to take inpune with legen-
tibus, understanding that the poetasters can thenceforward recite without
any fear of retaliation on the part of Horace (as in Juv. 1. 1-3). But the
context requires us rather to regard Horace as now able to do what he dared
not do before. 104. studiis, 'ambition,' not as in line 82. mente
recepta: cf. A. P. 296. 105. obturem: Roby 1534, S. G. 642.
106-125. Bad poets, though ridiculed, are delighted with their own pro-
ductions. But good poetry requires rigorous self-criticism, with a careful
treatment of the diction; and ease in writing comes only of laborious training.
107. scribentes, 'while they are writing,' i.e. in the mere act of doing so.
Cf. Catull. 22. 15 neque idem umquam | aeque est beatus ac poema cum scribit.
108. si taceas, laudant, i.e. it is their habit to praise their compositions,
and they would do so, even if you should say nothing about them. Cf. Mayor
on Juv. 10. 141, Roby 1574, S. G. 654. 109. legitimum, 'according
to the rules of art'; A. P. 274. fecisse: the perfect because the result
rather than the process is the object of desire: cf. 1. 17. 5; Od. 1. 1. 4 n.
110. cum tabulis, along with his tablets,' i.e. when he begins to write.
Wax tablets were used for the first rough draft, which might need correction
(cf. S. 1. 10. 72 saepe stilum vertas); then the fair copy was made upon paper.
These tablets for notes were often called pugillares (Pliny, Ep. 1. 6. 1; 3. 5.
580
BOOK II
HORACE
15) or simply cerae. There may be a side reference also to the tabulae censoriae,
and in the following lines words are used, which certainly point to the censor's
functions: splendor is a word especially applied to the ordo equester (e.g.
Cic. de Fin. 2. 18. 58 eques Romanus splendidus; pro Sext. Rosc. 48. 140
equestrem splendorem); and loco movere recalls tribu movere. honesti,
'conscientious,' one who will act loyally as duty bids him. 111. audebit,
'he will resolve': cf. line 148; 1. 2. 40. quaecumque: sc. verba. 112.
ferentur, 'will be current' when published. So Keller and Schütz, quoting
Lucil. 30. 4 м et sola ex multis nunc nostra poemata ferri. Kiessling 'will
be judged'; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 822 utcumque ferent ea facta minores. Orelli,
less probably, takes the metaphor as that of a river quae rapido cursu
fertur: cf. S. 1. 4. 11 flueret lutulentus. 113. invita keeps up
the personification of the verba which has been suggested by the metaphor
of the censor, and perhaps too by honore indigna. 114. versentur
intra penetralia Vestae: (1) Schütz (after Porph. id est, domi) takes this to
mean simply the privacy of the poet's own house, from which the poems are
not yet sent forth by publication; and accounts for the unusual expression by
saying that the poet is regarded as the keeper of a shrine. He thinks the
point to be that the poet is to exercise a severe criticism upon his writings
before entrusting them to the general judgment. But it is doubtful whether
penetralia Vestae could thus be used of a private house, even though there
was usually an altar to Vesta on the hearth. (2) It is better therefore to render
'although they may be reluctant to retire, and may still cling to the sanctuary
of Vesta's fane.' In the temple of Vesta there were certain mysterious
objects, accessible only to the Vestals and the Pontiffs, and carefully
guarded from the eyes of the multitude: they were kept in the pcne-
trale of the temple, shut up in earthen vessels, and were regarded as the
pignora imperii (Livy 26. 27; Ovid, Fast. 6. 359, 439). The most famous
among these was the Palladium: but there were also other divine figures
(especially of the Penates) and mystic emblems. The only difficulty is that
there is no positive evidence that the temple of Vesta had the privileges of an
asylum. But the notion of a sacred protection was always associated with the
Vestal Virgins: if they met a condemned criminal in the street he was set
free; and their intercession carried the greatest weight (Preller, Rom. Myth.
540). Hence it is not too much to assume that those in danger might have ·
recourse to the temple for at least temporary protection. So Conington, ‘And
cling and cling like suppliant to a shrine.'
115. populo with eruet (='exhume'), ethic dat. 'for the benefit of the
people.' 116. speciosa, 'brilliant' or 'beautiful,' opposed to verba quae
verba_quae
parum splendoris habent; cf. Quint. 1. 5. 3 licet enim dicamus aliquod pro-
prium speciosum, sublime. 117. Cethegis: M. Cornelius Cethegus (consul
204 B.C.) is mentioned by Cic. Brut. 15. 57 as the first de quo sit memoriae
proditum eloquentem fuisse, et ita esse habitum. Ennius praised his suavilo-
quens os (Annal. 9. 304) and said he was called 'flos delibatus populi Suadacque
medulla.' Cato 'the Censor' was consul in 195 B.C. The plural denotes 'men
like C.' 118. situs, properly 'neglect,' 'letting alone,' hence the result of
neglect, 'mould,' 'rust': cf. Virg. Aen. 7. 440 victa situ ... senectus; G. 1.72
et segnem patiere situ durescere campum. informis, 'unseemly.' Horace
himself indulges but rarely in archaisms and more commonly in his earlier
than in his later writings. 119. nova, 'newly coined' words. usus,
personified as in A. P. 71, and spoken of here as a 'begetter' of new words,
while there it is the despot who decides upon their fate. Horace is not
EPISTLE II
581
NOTES
speaking here of coining new terms, but of a writer adopting and so stamping
with his sanction those which have but lately become current, and are not
yet recognised as classical. Hence adsciscet which is used of admitting
strangers to the franchise, or recruits into a legion. New phrases, in the
world of books unknown, | So use but father them, he makes his own'-Con.
120. vemens: cf. line 28 n. The poet must have the swift strong rush
of a full stream, without losing clearness and purity of style. Cicero, Brut.
79. 274, says of M. Calidius primum ita pura erat (oratio), ut nihil liquidius,
ita libere fluebat, ut nusquam adhaeresceret. 122. luxuriantia: sc. verba,
of a redundancy in style, compared to the rank growth of trees not duly pruned,
a metaphor which is also kept up by conpescet. Cf. Virg. G. 2. 370 ramos com-
pesce fluentes; 1.112 luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba; Cic. de Orat.
2. 23. 96 luxuries stilo depascenda est (i.e. must be kept down by the practice
of writing); Quintil. 10. 4. 1 luxuriantia adstringere duplicis operae.
•
sano, i.e. one which does not emasculate: cf. A. P. 26. 123. virtute,
not 'merit,' but rather 'energy, vigour.' The other faults can be set right:
this admits of nothing but complete excision. 'But show no mercy to an
empty line'-Pope. 124. ludentis, 'of one in sport.' et torquebitur,
'and yet he will exert himself to the utmost.' As the proverb has it, 'easy
writing makes hard reading,' so a writer to seem at his ease, must put forth
all his powers. One of the most striking illustrations is Addison's style, which
attained its consummate ease only after the most careful revision. Pope has
again caught the point admirably: 'But ease in writing flows from art, not
chance, As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance.' The apparent ease
of motion of the trained dancer is due only to long-continued effort. 125.
Satyrum movetur: Roby 1120 (a), S. G. 469; cf. S. 1. 5. 63 saltaret
Cyclopa. The Satyr would dance lightly, the Cyclops heavily and clumsily.
•
•
·
126-140. A man who is labouring under a delusion may be a very happy
man, and it is not always kind to dispel it. 126. praetulerim .
ringi: Horace has been throughout proving to Florus why he must expect
no poems from him. Here he argues that as great exertions are necessary
to success, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle. There are some people who are
blissfully unconscious of the worthlessness of their own productions, and live
in a pleasing state of self-satisfaction. This he confesses, with some irony, to
be the happier state. But it is over for him now. He is like a man who has
been cured of an agreeable delusion, and restored to the hard realities of life.
He knows he cannot write good poetry without an effort, and it is not worth
his while to make it. It seems therefore that there is no need of a note of
interrogation at ringi, as Krüger and others print. praetulerim: Roby
1540, S. G. 644 (b). 128. ringi, 'to be worried': cf. Ter. Phorm. 2. 2. 27
dum tibi fit quod placeat, ille ringitur: ringi is to show the teeth, used of
an angry dog. Here the meaning is to be vexed with a sense of failure.
128. haud ignobilis: quidam may be understood from the relative in
the next line. Argis: the Romans changed "Apyos into Argi on the
analogy of names like Delphi, Veii, Gabii etc., and perhaps misunderstanding
the termination as an acc. plur. No form but Argis is found for the dat. and
abl.; the gen. does not occur: the acc. Argos is usually masc. plur. (perhaps
always in the historians) as Virg. Aen. 2. 95 patrios ad Argos: but occasion-
ally neuter, as Od. 1. 7. 9 aptum dicit equis Argos (so in Ovid, but not in
Virg.) 130. sessor, 'sitting regularly'; cf. Juv. 14. 86. 133. igno-
scere servis: for reluctance to do this treated as a sign of insanity cf. S. 1.
582
BOOK II
HORACE
is a
3.80 seq.
134. signo lagoenae: wine flasks were always sealed up; cf.
Mart. 9. 87. 7 nunc signat meus anulus lagoenam. lagoena and lagona are
both legitimate forms, but not lagena. 135. rupem: S. 2. 3. 56-60;
A. P. 459. 136. opibus: some say=ope, but it is doubtful whether even
in verse the two words can be thus interchanged. In Od. 3. 3. 28 Hectoreis
opibus is 'by the might of H.': in Ep. 1. 10. 36 perhaps 'resources
better rendering than 'aid'; cf. Cic. ad Att. 9. 16 Caesar iam opes meas, non
ut superioribus litteris, opem expectat. 137. elleboro : cf. S. 2. 3. 83 n.
;
A. P. 300 n. bilemque: bile, especially when black (uéλaiva xoλń), was
considered to cause frenzy or melancholy; cf. Plaut. Capt. 3. 4. 64 atra bilis
agitat hominem; Cic. Tusc. 3. 5. 11 quem nos furorem, peλayxoλíav illi
vocant. Sir A. Grant (Ar. Eth. Nic. 7. 7. 8) says 'With the moderns the term
melancholy is restricted to the cold and dejected mood: while the ancients
much more commonly applied the term ueλayxoλikós to denote warmth, passion,
and eccentricity of genius: cf. Ar. Probl. 11. 38 Tò Tŷ paνтаσíą ȧкоλov@eîv
ταχέως τὸ μελαγχολικὸν εἶναι ἐστίν. 138. pol: 1. 7. 92 n.
141-144. Sixthly, (and in all soberness) the right occupation for a man of
my years is to care less about harmony in verses, and more about a true har-
mony of life. 141. sapere, i.e. the study of philosophy, not as in line 128
of a knowledge of the laws of poetry. nugis are the ludicra of 1. 1. 10.
142. pueris primarily with concedere, but supplied again after tempes-
tivum, 'to give up to boys the sport which is seasonable for them': cf. 1. 14.
36. 143. sequi, 'to try to find': A. P. 240 carmen sequar. fidibus,
ablative, as we see from Virg. Ecl. 10. 51 carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor
avena; the lyre plays the tune, by which the rhythm of the verse is regulated.
ac non is used rather than et non where the meaning is and therefore not'
cf. 1. 10. 46; S. 2. 3. 135. 144. numerosque modosque: cf. 1. 18. 59;
Plat. Prot. 326 Β ὁ βίος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὐρυθμίας τε καὶ εὐαρμοστίας δεῖται.
145-154. Hence I set myself to reflect upon the true cure for the common
disease of avarice. 146. sitim, as having the dropsy; cf. Od. 2. 2. 13.
lymphae: used for the water of a spring in Od. 2. 3. 12; 11. 20; 3. 11. 26;
13. 16; S. 1. 5. 24 (as in Lucr., Virg. and Ovid): for the water-nymphs S. 1.
5.97. LVMPHIEIS corresponding to NTM AIZ appears in a bilingual in-
scription in the Naples Museum (C. I. L. 1. 1238), but it is doubtful whether
the old Latin lumpa (cf. limpidus) had originally anything to do with nympha,
and perhaps it is only popular etymology which connected it with that word
-in early Latin transliterated as numpa-and so led to the spelling lympha.
147. quod, 'seeing that,' not directly dependent upon faterier. Horace
returns so frequently to the vice of avarice that it is clear that he considered
it one of the most common failings of his time: cf. 1. 1. 53. 149. mon-
strata, 'prescribed.' Virg. Aen. 4. 636 monstrata piacula; G. 4. 549 mon-
stratas aras; Juv. 10. 363. 151. curarier, 'to be treated,' of course not
'to be cured.' For the form of the inf. cf. 2. 1. 94 n. audieras, from the
talk of people in general, who are apt to think that wealth means happiness:
cf. 1. 1. 53. 152. donarent: past in accordance with the principle that
even in stating a general truth, the tense of the verb on which another depends
determines the sequence; cf. Cic. de Off. 2. 1. 1 quem ad modum officia du-
cerentur ab honestate satis explicatum arbitror; Roby 1508, S. G. 620.
154. plenior-ditior; Od. 2. 12. 24 plenas Arabum domos.
• • •
155-179. If wealth made you wise, you ought to devote yourself to this.
But really all you can secure is the enjoyment of what you need. What is
EPISTLE II
583
NOTES
commonly regarded as ownership gives no more pleasure to the temporary pro-
prietor than is derived from the use of the produce by any one who can buy it:
and no one can really own anything in perpetuity. 156. nempe, 'of
course,' often ironically, but not so here or below line 163: cf. nimirum above:
so S. 1. 10. 1; 2. 3. 207; 7. 80. 107. 158. libra et aere: Gaius 1. 119
thus describes the process: est autem mancipatio ... imaginaria quaedam
venditio: quod et ipsum ius proprium civium Romanorum est; eaque res ita
agitur. adhibitis non minus quam quinque testibus civibus Romanis puberibus,
et praeterea alio eiusdem condicionis qui libram aeneam teneat, qui appellatur
libripens, is qui mancipio accipiat rem, aes tenens ita dicit: hunc ego hominem
ex iure Quiritium meum esse aio, isque mihi emptus est hoc aere aeneaque
libra: deinde aere percutit libram, idque aes dat ei a quo mancipio accipit,
quasi pretii loco. The articles sold by mancipation were slaves, oxen, horses,
mules and asses, and landed property in Italy. The coin or ingot was of
bronze, because in the early days that metal was alone used for coinage: the
balance was employed because all money was originally weighed out by the
purchaser. 159. consultis as in line 87. mancipat, 'makes your
property.' Strictly speaking mancipare could be used only of the transference
of chattels by the formal mancipatio just described. But uninterrupted en-
joyment (usus, usucapio) of moveable property for one year, of immoveable
for two years, gave a legal title in the case of res mancipi and res nec mancipi
alike; and this is here loosely described by the term mancipare. The line of
thought is 'If not merely purchase, but also continuous enjoyment makes
property your own, then there is no advantage in the ownership of a large
estate you enjoy it just as much if you can purchase enough of its produce
to supply your needs'; cf. Cic. ad Fam. 7. 30 id cuiusque est proprium, quo
quisque fruitur atque utitur. 161. daturas: so the codd. Bland, and
other good MSS., and the reading is preferable to the alternative daturus, as
the word seems to go better with the 'corn-fields' (segetes) than with the
bailiff: cf. Virg. G. 2. 440, 520.
163. temeti: an old word used by Plautus, and by Cato according to Pliny,
H. N. 14. 13. 90 Cato ideo propinquos feminis osculum dare (scripsit), ut scirent
an temetum olerent. hoc tum vino nomen erat, unde et temulentia appellata.
abstemius is akin: cf. Gell. 10. 23. 1 aetatem abstemias egisse, hoc est vino
semper, quod temetum prisca lingua appellabatur, abstinuisse. 164.
mercaris: the purchaser of the estate has to pay the price down, while a
man who buys the produce secures all the advantage of it, and has only to
pay by instalments. But Horace seems to forget that after the full value of the
land had been paid in these instalments, the purchaser of the produce would
still have to go on paying for all that he wanted. 166. numerato, not
here in the technical sense of 'ready money' (cf. 2. 1. 105 n.), but ‘by what
you have paid down.' You must pay in any case, says Horace; the only
question is whether you have just paid, or paid long ago. For the construc-
tion cf. vivere rapto Virg. Aen. 7. 749, and often in Livy.
olim quon-
dam of the next line.
=
167. emptor quondam go together, 'a man who bought of old,' cf. Od.
3. 17. 9 n. The great preponderance of MS. authority is in favour of quoniam,
which Keller warmly defends, placing a comma at olim, and the note of interro-
gation at aenum. But quondam and quoniam would be represented in the
MSS. by almost indistinguishable abbreviations, and the former clearly makes
the better construction. Aricini Veientis et arvi: suburbana praedia
584
BOOK II
HORACE
at Aricia or Veii would be of more value than those at a distance from Rome.
Veii had been lying in ruins since its capture by Camillus (396 B.C.), and its
land had been divided among the soldiers of Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. These
formed a small colony, which was dispersed during the wars of the triumvirs,
and Propertius 4. (5.) 10. 29 in a poem probably written about the time of
this Epistle speaks of the land within its walls as given up to herdsmen and
reapers. For Aricia cf. S. 1. 5. 1.
168. emptum is the emphatic word :
‘if a man has bought land of old
bought bought too are the logs' etc.
•
the vegetables on which he dines are
169. sub noctem, 'towards night-
fall,' 'as the chill of night comes on,' cf. Od. 2. 1. 14 n.
·
=
170. suum, i.e. 'he calls all (the land) his own': usque
qua, ‘as
far as the spot where': adsita, 'planted near' or close by the limites to mark
them. The poplar is used to mark the boundaries; like the beeches in Virg.
Ecl. 9. 9 usque ad aquam et veteres, iam fracta cacumina, fagos. 171.
limitibus: the limites were properly strips or balks of land, left uncul-
tivated in order to mark the boundaries of estates and used as highways. The
case may be either dat. or abl. of place. Schütz less probably takes it as an
abl. of instrument: but the limites were certi before the tree was planted.
refugit: the tree is said itself to avoid the quarrels, which it enables the
owner to avoid. So Varro, in speaking of this very custom of planting trees
to mark boundaries, says (R. R. 1. 15) praeterea sine saeptis fines praedii
sationibus notis arborum tutiores fiunt, ne familiae rixentur cum vicinis, ac
limites ex litibus iudicem quaerant. The perfect tense probably has
ever since it was planted avoided. Bentley with poor authority read
refigit (=resolvit). vicina iurgia, 'differences with the neighbours':
so Soph. Ant. 793 νείκος ξύναιμον. 172. sit: Roby 1580, S. G.
660. The pres. subj. is used in such sentences, unless there is historic
sequence, even though the hypothesis is not one viewed as possible. For the
sentiment cf. S. 2. 129-133. puncto mobilis horae: the 'fleeting hour'
is regarded as a mere 'speck' or 'point' of time. punctum temporis is a very
usual expression, but Lucr. 4. 201 has puncto diei. Cf. S. 1. 1. 7 horae
momento. 173. nunc prece, nunc pretio : with intentional alliteration,
cf. Ov. Fast. 2. 805 instat amans hostis precibus pretioque minisque: nec prece
nec pretio nec movet ille minis. morte suprema, 'by death which closes
all'; cf. 2. 1. 12; 1. 16. 79; so ultima mors S. 1. 7. 13. 174. in altera
iura in alterius iura, i.e. potestatem. Cf. Virg. G. 4. 37 utraque vis (sc.
frigoris et caloris); Aen. 4. 357 testor utrumque caput; Munro on Lucr. 2. 433.
177. vici: sc. rustici; Acron explains villae, but the word conveys more
than that: rather 'estates' or 'manors'; cf. Cic. ad Att. 1. 4 Crassum divi-
tiis supero, atque omnium vicos et prata contemno. Calabris... Lucani:
flocks of sheep were pastured in the plains of Calabria or Apulia during the
winter, and driven up into the hills of Lucania or Samnium for the summer.
Cf. Epod. 1. 27; Varro, R. R. 2. 1. 16 itaque greges ovium longe abiguntur ex
Apulia in Samnium aestivatum; a similar practice is still observed in Spain
for the Merino sheep. 178. metit: Orcus is the true reaper after all; the
reaper whose name is Death.'
180-189. Some men value highly what others care nothing for. Even
brothers have strangely different tastes, and the reason for this is mysterious.
180. Tyrrhena sigilla: little bronze statuettes of deities, of which numbers
are still preserved in museums. Cf. Dennis, Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria,
12. lxxiv. and 2. 233 for a figure of one of the most archaic. Cic. de N. D. 1.
EPISTLE II
585
NOTES
=
85 novi Epicureos omnia sigilla venerantes. These were often carried about
attached to the person, like Louis XI.'s little leaden images of the saints.
181. argentum, here clearly 'plate': cf. 1. 2. 44 n. Gaetulo Afro:
cf. Od. 2. 16. 35 te bis Afro | murice tinctae | vestiunt lanae.
"
182. curat:
the indic. is given in all MSS. But if Horace had meant, as most editors say,
'the wise man,' could he have used the indicative? The poet rather denotes
himself, 'I know one at least who does not care to have.' So Conington and
Kennedy, P. S. G. 456. Cf. Roby 1680, 1681, S. G. 703, 704.
183. cessare: cf. 1. 2. 31; 7. 57. Brothers unlike in character and
tastes are common enough in history and in fiction: but probably Horace was
most familiar with the pairs who appear in the Adelphi and the Hautonti-
morumenos of Terence. 184. Herodis, i.e. Herod the Great who reigned
39-4 B.C. The most famous palmgroves were near Jericho, 'the city of palm-
trees' Deut. xxxiv. 3. Strabo 16. 2. 41 says of it évтaûða d' éσrìv å polvikúv,
μεμιγμένην ἔχων καὶ ἄλλην ὕλην ἥμερον καὶ εὔκαρπον, πλεονάζων δὲ τῷ φοίνικι,
ἐπὶ μῆκος σταδίων ἑκατὸν διάρρυτος ἅπας καὶ μεστὸς κατοικιῶν· ἔστι δ' αὐτοῦ
καὶ βασίλειον καὶ ὁ τοῦ βαλσάμου παράδεισος. pinguibus, 'rich,' i.e. pro-
ductive, as often of soil: e.g. 1. 3. 5; Virg. G. 1. 14 pinguia dumeta; ib. 4.
118 pingues hortos, etc. Schütz says 'productive of rich palm-oil,' but palm-
oil was probably not known to the ancients, and the palms of Jericho were
certainly date-palms. 185. inportunus, merciless,' both to others and
to himself; cf. S. 2. 5. 96 n. 186. flammis: 'Palladius directs that when
land is covered with trees, a distinction must be made between that which is
naturally good and that which is poor, as from the former the timber should
be merely removed, and the land ploughed up (cf. ferro): whereas in the
latter it should be burned, in order that the soil may be enriched with the
ashes' (Daubeny, Roman Husbandry 94). mitiget, ‘reclaims,' cf. pacantur
1. 2. 45.
187. Genius: cf. 1. 7. 94 n.
• •
natale
·
•
astrum. Horace tells us
(S. 1. 6. 114) that he was fond of standing by the astrologers in the Circus,
and listening to their predictions, without any great faith in them: in Od. 2.
17. 17-22 he uses the language of astrology merely as poetical ornament, and
in a manner which shows his own indifference to it; in Od. 1. 11 he condemns
it as an idle superstition. After his time, astrology received a considerable im-
pulse at Rome from the patronage of Tiberius: cf. Tac. Ann. 2. 27.2; 32. 5,
and Hist. 1. 22. 2 mathematicis genus hominum . . . quod in civitate
nostra et vetabitur semper et retinebitur. temperat, 'controls.' 188.
mortalis: viewed in itself, and as a part of the divinity which rules the
universe, the genius is immortal, as Apuleius says (de deo Socr. c. 15) is deus,
qui est animus suus cuique, quamquam sit immortalis, tamen quodammodo cum
homine gignitur. But as regards the individual (in unum quodque caput)
it is mortal, and on the death of the man to whom it is attached, it returns
into the universal soul of the world. Some Stoics believed that all souls
existed independently until the end of the world's course, when they would be
resolved into the Divine Being; others that only the souls of the wise retained
for a time this independent existence. The notion that the genius of the
individual is a part of the World-soul explains how it can be regarded as
controlling the natal star.' 189. albus et ater, 'fair and gloomy,'
according as men are fortunate (evdaíμoves) or unfortunate (kakodalµoves).
190-204. For my own part, I believe that the pleasures of life should be
enjoyed, but with moderation; and therefore my wishes are limited.
190.
586
BOOK II
HORACE
utar.
utar: best taken absolutely, 'I will enjoy what I have,' not, as Schütz, either
understanding Genio, or anticipating modico acervo. Cf. Pers. 6. 22 utar ego,
ex modico acervo: the miser in S. 1. 1. 51 defends himself by the
plea at suave est ex magno tollere acervo. res, 'the occasion,' 191. heres:
cf. 1. 5. 13. Horace had no natural heirs, and ultimately left his property by
a verbal declaration to Augustus cum urguente vi valetudinis non sufficeret ad
obsignandas testamenti tabulas (Suet. Vit. Horat.) 192. datis, i.e. than
what he actually receives under my will. 193. volam, 'it will be my wish.'
The future is occasioned by the preceding futures tollam and metuam: other-
wise the present would be more natural. simplex, 'open-hearted,' cf. Tac.
Hist. 3. 86 simplicitas et liberalitas. nepoti, 'spendthrift,' cf. 1. 15. 36 n.
195. an neque. neque, 'or whether without being unwilling to spend
you yet do not strive to amass, but rather. . . . 197. For ac potius cf. Cic.
de Orat. 2. 18. 74 n. quinquatribus, the 'spring holidays' (Juv. 10. 115),
observed not only in schools, but as general festivities, from March 19 to
March 23. Ovid (Fast. 3. 809 fiunt sacra Minervae | nomina quae iunctis
quinque diebus habent) derives the name from the fact that the holiday ex-
tended over five days: but Festus (254 M), by quoting forms like Triatrus,
Sexatrus etc. shows that the word was applied originally only to the first day
of the festival, and that it denotes the fifth day after the Ides. olim: 1. 3. 18.
• •
199. domus. Bentley attacked this reading, as inconsistent with the
metaphor of a ship in the next line. One MS. of no great excellence repeats
procul, which he accepted. But this repetition, though common enough in
passages of earnest and impressive diction (e.g. Virg. Aen. 6. 258 procul o pro-
cul este profani; Ov. Fast. 2. 623; Metam. 8. 589, etc.) is not well suited to
the quiet tone of Horace here. Some MSS. of the third class omit domus and
absit (not, as Bentley supposed, domus only): but this is clearly due to an
accident, and does not justify the suspicion of Orelli and others that the
genuine word has been lost, and that domus is due only to conjecture. Meineke
approved the conjecture modo, but in Horace we always find modo, and that
only after dum or si. Jeep, followed by Krüger, proposed modo ut procul.
But domus is defensible. Horace goes back in thought to the costly orna-
ments of the house mentioned in lines 180-182, and says that all these may
well be spared: provided the straitened means are not such as to produce
sordid surroundings, a man's lodging makes no more difference to himself than
the size of a ship would, in which he might be sailing. utrum
a startling substitution of the dependent double interrogative for the alternative
hypothesis sive . . . sive, but to be explained by supposing that some ex-
pression like nihil distat was present to the mind of Horace, for which he
afterwards substituted ferar unus et idem. Cf. Ov. Rem. Am. 797 Daunius
an Libycis bulbus tibi missus ab oris, | an veniat Megaris, noxius omnis erit,
where the explanation is similar. 201. non agimur: concessive, ‘we are
not driven on, it is true': cf. 1. 1. 33; 6. 29. Aquilone secundo: the
strong north wind, even if favourable, might swell the sails to a dangerous
extent: hence it is here used of perilous prosperity. Cf. Od. 2. 10. 23 con-
trahes vento nimium secundo | turgida vela. 202. aetatem ducimus, 'we
drag out our life.' Epod. 17. 63 ingrata misero vita ducenda est. Austris:
the south wind is usually regarded as stormy (turbidus Od. 3. 3. 4), rainy
(umidus Virg. G. 1. 462, pluvius Ov. Met. 1. 66), and cold (frigidus Virg.
G. 4. 261, hibernus Tib. 1. 1. 47). 203. loco, 'position.' 204. extremi
priores: cf. 1. 2. 70, 71. usque, 'ever'; A. P. 154, 354 and often.
•
. an:
EPISTLE II
587
NOTES
205-216. But true wisdom consists in avoiding not only avarice, but also
all other distracting passions and fears, and in renouncing the pleasures of
life, when you can no longer enjoy them in accordance with the rules of virtue.
205. non es, again concessive. Horace is not addressing Florus, but any
reader: cf. 1. 1. 28. abi, 'very good,' a colloquial use: cf. Plaut. Asin.
3. 3. 114 em sic: abi, laudo; Ter. Adelph. 4. 2. 25 laudo: Ctesipho, patrissas :
abi, virum te iudico. 206. fugere: the codd. Bland. and other good MSS.
have fuge: rite caret; but there is at least as much authority for the text,
which seems to have been altered because the copyists did not understand the
perfect tense. inani: cf. 2. 1. 211 n. 207. ira: sc. mortis: for the
sense cf. Lucr. 3. 1045 tu vero dubitabis et indignabere obire? For ira 'rage'
followed by a genitive of that which occasions it cf. Livy 1. 5 ob iram praedae
amissae; 21. 2. ob iram interfecti domini. 'Anger' would not come in natur-
ally before lines 210, 211. 208. sagas: cf. Cic. de Div. 1. 31. 65 sagire
enim sentire acute est: ex quo sagae anus, quia multa scire volunt, et sagaces
dicti canes.
From the notion of prophetic power that of witchcraft was easily
developed cf. Od. 1. 27. 21. 209. lemures: Porphyrion explains umbras
vagantes hominum ante diem mortuorum et ideo metuendos: et putant lemures
esse dictos quasi Remulos a Remo, cuius occisi umbras frater Romulus cum
placare vellet, Lemuria instituit, id est, Parentalia quae mense Maio per
triduum celebrari solebant. This derivation is simply due to 'popular ety-
mology' the origin of the word is uncertain. The Lemures were usually
identified with the larvae, spirits who in consequence either of wicked lives or
of a violent death were doomed to restless roamings about the world at night;
while the lares were the spirits of the good departed ones. The festival of
the Lemuria, at which they were honoured for three nights (on May 9th, 11th,
and 13th), is described by Ovid, Fast. 5. 419-492. Thessala: Thessalian
witches were said to draw down the moon from heaven; cf. Epod. 5. 45, 46 n.
210. grate numeras: cf. Mart. 10. 23. 1-4 iam numerat placido felix
Antonius aevo | quindeciens actas Primus Olympiadas, | praeteritosque dies et
totos respicit annos, | nec metuit Lethes iam propioris aquas; Pers. 2. 1. 2.
212. levat is much more pointed than iuvat, and is adopted by most good
recent editors since Bentley, though it has not much MS. authority: cf. 1.
8. 8; Epod. 2. 17, 20; C. S. 63; S. 2. 3. 292. spinis: 1. 14. 4.
213. recte, ‘aright,' i.e. in accordance with virtue: so rectum = xaróp0wµa.
decede peritis, 'make way for those who have learned the lesson': peritis is
dat., as in Virg. Ecl. 8. 88 serae decedere nocti. 214. lusisti: 'ludere ubi
cum verbis edendi bibendique consociatur, semper amoris ludum denotat, ut
in Graeco παíšei, éơ0íeiv, πivew' (Ritter). Festus (11 M) quotes from Livius
παίζειν, ἐσθίειν, πίνειν
Andronicus affatim edi, bibi, lusi. Plut. de Fort. Alex. 2. p. 336 c has éσble,
πῖνε, ἀφροδισίαζε· τἆλλα δὲ οὐδέν. Cf. 1. 14. 36. 215. abire, as from a
banquet; cf. S. 1. 1. 119 n. 216. pulset, 'drive you out,' or 'cuff you
about.' lasciva decentius, 'that may more becomingly make merry';
cf. A. P. 106.
588
ARS
HORACE
ARS POETICA
>
THE place now generally assigned to the Epistola ad Pisones, as the third
Epistle of the second book, rests upon no ancient authority. In the MSS. it
always appears, detached from the other Epistles, either after the fourth book
of the Odes or after the Carmen Saeculare. H. Stephanus first placed it at
the end of his edition: and Cruquius set the fashion, which has recently been
revived, of denoting it as Epistolarum Lib. 2. Ep. 3. The editors who have
given it this position seem to have been led to do so by their view as to the
date of its production. It has been commonly supposed to be the latest of
the works of Horace; and the want of structural completeness, which it un-
doubtedly displays, if regarded as a poetical treatise 'On the Art of Poetry,'
has been considered as a proof that it was never finished, and probably was
not published by the poet himself. This theory has been further confirmed
by the assumption made as to the identity of the Pisones, to whom the Epistle
was addressed. Porphyrion begins his commentary with the words: hunc
librum, qui inscribitur de arte poetica, ad Lucium Pisonem, qui postea urbis
custos fuit, eiusque liberos misit; nam et ipse Piso poeta fuit et studiorum
liberalium antistes. This Lucius Piso was the son of the enemy of Cicero: he
was born 48 B.C., was consul in 15 B.C., and under Tiberius became praefectus
urbi, an office which he held for twenty years, according to Tacitus, dying in
A.D. 32 at the age of eighty. Now it is just possible that this Piso had two sons,
old enough to be addressed as iuvenes, before the death of Horace in 8 B.C.
But it is only by straining probabilities to the utmost, that we can bring these
young Pisos into connexion with Horace; and the difficulty thus arising makes
us inclined to look for other indications of an earlier date, which would show
that the statement of Porphyrion is erroneous. Some of these indications, as
put together by A. Michaelis and supplemented by Prof. Nettleship, are :-
(1) P. Maecius Tarpa is mentioned in line 387 as a critic whose judgment
would be of value to a young composer. Now in 55 B.C. Maecius was en-
trusted by Pompeius with the superintendence of the plays and other spectacles
to be produced in the stone theatre, which he had just built. It is indeed
conceivable that at that time he was not more than thirty years of age, and
that in 8 B.C. he was still living at the age of seventy-seven; but it is much
easier to understand the reference, if it was made some ten or twelve years earlier.
Horace mentions him as a critic of plays in S. 1. 10. 38, i.e. about 35 B.C.
(2) In line 371 Aulus Cascellius is mentioned as a type of a learned lawyer,
in connexion with Messalla, who is a type of eloquence. The language used
indicates that both were living, and certainly Messalla was. But Cascellius
was already famous in 56 B.C., and could hardly be living in 8 B.C.
(3) On the other hand in line 438 Quintilius Varus is spoken of in a manner
which implies that he was dead, but as though he had been known to the
young Pisos, and was not long dead. Now he died 24 B.C.; cf. Od. 1. 14 Intr.
(4) The reference to Virgil and Varius in line 55 is much more appropriate,
if we suppose them both to be living, or at any rate that the Aeneid had been
very recently published. Horace is evidently contending for a right which
was disputed by the critics of his time, and in the thick of the battle: he is
POETICA
589
NOTES
defending the school to which he himself, as well as Virgil and Varius, belonged.
But in the latest years of his life the 'Augustan' school of poetry had already
won a decisive victory, and its leading writers were recognised as classic
models. There was no longer need for the warm and strenuous pleading for
that freedom in dealing with language, which was now generally conceded: it
was sufficient to assert it quietly in the tone of Ep. 2. 2. 115 seq.
(5) Horace's tone in speaking of himself points to the earlier rather than
to the later date. There is no reference to his advancing years, as e.g. in Ep.
2. 2.55 seq. "There is nothing of the air of a man who is weary and feels that
his work is done' (Nettleship). It is true that in line 306 he says that he is
now writing nothing himself; but this expression may be referred just as well
to that period of inactivity which followed the publication of Odes I.-III.,
as to that which marked the latest years of his life.
(6) The arguments for the traditional date drawn from lines 63 seq. break down
upon a more correct interpretation of that passage, for which see notes in loc.
(7) There is no trace of intimacy with Augustus in this Epistle.
His
name is not even mentioned. Now Horace was probably in very close re-
lations with the Emperor after his return to Rome from the East in 19 B.C.
Many indications therefore agree in pointing to a time not far removed
from the date of the first book of the Epistles, i.e. about 20 B.C., as the date
of composition. But this date is quite incompatible with the identification of
the Pisos given by Porphyrion, and we should therefore regard this as an
unlucky guess of the scholiast, or rather of the unknown authority on whom
he drew. Possibly the young Pisos referred to may be the sons of Gnaeus
Calpurnius Piso, consul 23 B.C. He had fought against Caesar in Africa, and
had afterwards joined Brutus and Cassius. After the amnesty which followed
the battle of Philippi, he had kept aloof from public life, until Augustus
urged him to accept the consulship. He was probably some ten or twelve
years older than Horace. His eldest son Gnaeus was consul in 7 B.C., and
inust therefore have been born not later than 40 B.C.; while the younger son
Lucius was consul in 1 B.C., and therefore born not later than 34 B.C.
The title 'Ars Poetica,' or 'De Arte Poetica Liber,' is found in almost all
MSS. Quintilian 8. 3. 60 writes id tale est monstrum, quale Horatius in prima
parte libri de arte poetica fingit; and in the Epist. ad Tryph. 2 (prefixed to
his Institutio) says usus Horatii consilio, qui in arte poetica suadet, ne prae-
cipitetur editio, nonumque prematur in annum. Later grammarians regularly
use the same title. There is no evidence that it comes from Horace himself ;
it was probably invented by an early editor, and it is not very suitable to the
contents of the Epistle, suggesting, as it does, a regularity and completeness
of treatment to which the poem makes no claim, and which indeed seems to
be intentionally avoided. But a name which has been so long in use cannot
be abandoned without inconvenience; and it may be accepted on the authority
of tradition, provided we do not allow it to mislead us as to the real character
of the Epistle. The Epistle is certainly not a complete Art of Poetry.' Some
important branches of the subject are omitted altogether: others are discussed
with a fulness quite disproportionate to their importance. It is sometimes
difficult to trace the sequence of the remarks; and digressions and repetitions
appear to abound. Many attempts have been made to remedy this disorder,
but they have had no real basis, and have rarely satisfied any but their pro-
pounders, while each suggested rearrangement has been declared by later critics
to make matters only worse. It has been too commonly overlooked that probably
Horace intentionally avoided in this as in other Epistles, the appearance of a
590
ARS
HORACE
formal regularity of treatment. The Epistle, like the Satura, from which it
originated, was of the nature of a familiar chat, rather than a set treatise, and
precisely marked divisions and subdivisions were quite foreign to its nature.
The Epistle may be divided into three main sections. In the first (1-72)
the poet is enjoined to look to the unity of his style and conception, and to
avoid all that is out of keeping. In the second (73-288) these general
principles are applied to the various kinds of poetry, and especially to the
drama, which is discussed at length. In the third (289-476) the manifold
requisites for a successful cultivation of poetry are dwelt upon, and the young
Pisos are warned of the difficulties which surround the poet who is not fitted
by learning, genius, and painstaking labour for his high vocation. The further
development of these general divisions must be reserved for the running
analysis. But one point calls for further remark in the space which is given
to the criticism of the drama. While only 24 lines are assigned to epic poetry,
no less than 170 are devoted to dramatic poetry. For this various reasons
have been given. It has been suggested that Horace himself, who was
certainly not without dramatic power, may have contemplated writing for the
stage. Others invent the hypothesis that the young Pisos had shown ten-
dencies in that direction. But without denying the possibility of these
suppositions, it may be suggested that Horace has rather in view the awakened
interest in the drama, prevalent in his own day, and among his own set.
In the generation of Cicero dramatic literature had fallen out of favour and
though Quintus Cicero was proud of having written four tragedies in sixteen
days, the rapidity of the production shows how little it was regarded as a
serious pursuit. But of Horace's contemporaries some of those of highest
mark had devoted themselves to tragedy. Asinius Pollio, Varius, and Ovid,
all won distinction in this branch of literature, and although Augustus had
the good sense to cancel his own tragedy of Ajax, the fact that he had written
it shows the direction which the current was taking. It is probable that
Horace, in devoting so much attention to the criticism of the drama, did so
in recognition of the prevalent literary tastes, and with the wish to influence
them in the direction of profounder study of the true classical models.
•
1.
1-37. The first requisite for a work of art is harmony and proportion
between the various parts, which alone can secure unity. Porphyrion says
primum praeceptum est πεpì rîs ȧkoλovlías, i.e. consistency in dealing with
the several portions (lines 1-9). In painting the neglect of organic unity
results in a ridiculous monster: the effect is not less absurd in poetry.
humano equinam: the inverted order (chiasmus) adds emphasis.
2. velit: Roby 638. inducere, penicillo adiungere Comm. Cruq., which
Orelli adopts. But Acron is more correct with his inponere 'lay on,' cf.
Plin. H. N. 35. 6. 26 si purpuram facere malunt (pictores) caeruleum sub-
linunt, mox purpurissum ex ovo inducunt. 3. undique collatis membris:
probably the dative after inducere, not the abl. abs. (as Orelli thinks), for the
indirect object after inducere can hardly be spared: sic is understood from
the following ut, as in line 8 etc., and to spread feathers of varied hues over
limbs brought together from all sides in such a way that' etc. turpiter
atrum go together; cf. Ep. 1. 3. 22 turpiter hirtum: atrum=foedum
'hideous'; Ep. 2. 2. 189. 4. in piscem, in beluam marinam, i.e. pis-
tricem Acron, whence some have read atram in pristim: cf. Virg. Aen.
3. 427 postrema inmani corpore pistrix of Scylla; 10. 211 in pristim desinit
alvus of Triton. But the general term is at least as good as the more specific
one, if not better. 5. spectatum, 'to a private view'; the supine.
POETICA
591
NOTES
to.'
7. vanae, 'unreal'; cf. Ep. 2. 1. 211 n. 8. species, 'fancies':
vanae species, as Schütz points out, are not in themselves blameworthy in a
work of imagination: only they must not be inconsistent, like the dreams of
a man suffering from fever. nec pes nec caput, a metaphor suggested
by the comparison with a picture: cf. Plaut. Asin. 3. 3. 139 nec caput nec pes
sermoni adparet; Capt. 3. 4. 81 garriet quoi neque pes umquam neque caput
compareat. uni, proleptic: ita ut una fiat. 9. reddatur, 'is adapted
natura rerum dat, poeta reddit ut debitum-Orelli. pictoribus
potestas: the objection of a critic. 10. aequa: Acron interprets
this as 'equal.' The connexion then is: 'poets have just as much licence of
unrestricted imagination as painters have: but we have seen that there are
limits in the one case; therefore there must be also in the other.' Orelli and
Schütz give 'reasonable,' as in aequum ius etc. But a reasonable power of
unlimited licence' is a contradiction in terms, not to be defended by saying
that quidlibet is an intentional exaggeration, corrected in the next line.
petimus quasi poetae, damus quasi critici—Acron. 12. coeant: cf.
Ep. 1. 5. 25. 13. geminentur, ‘are paired.'
•
•
11.
18.
14. inceptis, 'plans.' 15. purpureus, 'brilliant': cf. Od. 3. 15.
15 n.
Orelli takes the word='purple' and refers to the latus clavus which
bordered the toga praetexta, or to the flounce (instita), sometimes attached to
the stola. This hardly suits the context: the panni are not attached as
appendages to the body of the work, but incorporated here and there in it.
16. lucus et ara: this and the following instances are probably taken from
contemporary poets, but we cannot identify any of them. There may, how-
ever, be a reference to the worship of Diana Nemorensis at Aricia.
Rhenum, an adjective; cf. Od. 1. 15. 10 n. 19. nunc, 'at the moment.'
erat, from the point of view of the reader, who goes back to the time of writ-
ing the poem. cupressum: the scholiasts tell a story of a bad painter,
who could paint nothing but a cypress. A shipwrecked man requested him
to paint a picture of his disaster, that he might, according to the custom,
carry it about, and get alms (cf. Juv. 14. 301). The painter asked if he did
not want a cypress introduced; whence the Gk. proverb µý ti kal kvπápiσoov
Oéλas; applied to one who wishes to introduce ornaments out of place.
coepit institui: cf. Ep. 2. 1. 149 n. The urceus or 'pitcher,' though not
necessarily smaller than the amphora, was so as a rule: and the sentence
gains in point if we suppose that to a vessel of the size of an amphora, the
shape of an urceus was given; at any rate, it was something very different.
22. rota, the potter's wheel; cf. Senec. Ep. 90. 31 Anacharsis, inquit, invenit
rotam figuli, cuius circuitu vasa formantur; Hom. Il. 18. 600. exit: cf.
Pers. 1. 45 non ego, cum scribo, si forte quid aptius exit, .. laudari metuam.
23. quidvis: restored by Bentley for quod vis of almost all MSS. sim-
plex, i.e. constituting a single and uniform whole. dumtaxat, 'provided
only it be.'
•
21.
24-31. The desire to avoid a fault must be directed by knowledge, or the
opposite fault is incurred. 25. specie recti, ‘by our idea of what is
right': species is not here in a bad sense, a mere phantom. The word is often
used in Cicero with the meaning of 'general notion' = ¿déa. 26. levia, ‘smooth-
ness,' Thy Xeɩornra of the rhetoricians, to which vigour and energy (devorns)
were in danger of being sacrificed. nervi : cf. Cic. Brut. 31. 121 quis Aristotele
nervosior? Quint. 8. proem. 18 resistam iis, qui omissa rerum, qui nervi sunt
in causis, diligentia quodam inani circa voces studio senescunt. In good Latin
592
ARS
HORACE
nervus, like veûpov, always denotes sinews or tendons (literal or metaphorical);
cf. Celsus 8. 1 nervi quos révоvтas Graeci appellant, but sometimes appears
to include also what we call 'nerves.' Galen (born A.D. 130) was the first to
limit veûpov to the meaning 'nerve,' in its present sense. 27. animi,
'spirit.' professus grandia: cf. Quint. 10. 2. 16 plerumque (imitatores)
declinant in peius et proxima virtutibus vitia comprehendunt fiuntque pro
grandibus tumidi. 28. serpit humi: Horace mixes the metaphors of one
who fears to soar and so creeps along the ground, and of a sailor who hugs
the shore in his dread of a storm; cf. Od. 2. 10. 1 seq. Perhaps there is a
reference to pedestris oratio. 29. prodigialiter occurs in good Latin only
here and Colum. 3. 3. 3. In Plaut. Amph. 732 prodigialis Iuppiter is the
god who sends marvels. Hence the word seems to mean 'so as to produce a
marvellous effect.' Wickham gives 'by exceeding the bounds of nature.'
unam: perhaps better taken as merely denoting 'one and the same,'
rather than as 'simple.' 30. delphinum: the Gk. deλpiv or deλpis be-
comes usually delphinus in Latin, as éλépas becomes elephantus; but Ovid
has twice delphin as the nom. (found occasionally in other poets), and five
times delphina as the acc. sing.: Virgil (once Aen. 8. 673) and Ovid (three
times) have delphines as nom. sing., and Virgil (Ecl. 8. 56) has delphinas as
acc. plur. Ovid has the abl. delphine in Met. 11. 237, and the gen. plur.
delphinum is found thrice in Virgil and once in Propertius. But these Gk.
forms are entirely confined to poetry.
32. Aemilium ludum, according to Porph. a gladiatorial school near
the Forum, built by an Aemilius Lepidus, who cannot now be identified.
imus was confessedly the reading of the archetype, but Bentley's conjecture
unus (='better than any one else') has found much acceptation. Ritter,
Krüger and Schütz are, however, right in defending imus = 'the lowest in
rank,' .e. the poorest, or most unskilful. It is surely legitimate to say 'the
poorest smith who lives by the Aemilian school will represent you nails, and
imitate waving hair in bronze': and if so, there is no reason to depart from
the MSS. Jordan (Hermes 9. 416 seq.) shows that probably around the outer
walls of the ludus there were tabernae, let out to fabri by the builder or
lessee of the school: he, however (and so Kiessling), gives imus a local sense=
'dwelling in the last or bottom shop'; cf. Porphyrion in angulo ludi taber-
nam habentem. Orelli, who read unus, seems wrong in regarding elaborate
accuracy in the representation of the hair as a great merit in a sculptor.
After the path had once been pointed out (according to Pliny, H. N. 34. 8. 19,
by Pythagoras of Rhegium) it was not hard to follow it. 33. molles,
'waving,' as often in Virgil, e.g. Ecl. 3. 45 molli acantho; applied to hair by
Tibull. 1. 8. 9 quid tibi nunc molles prodest coluisse capillos 34. infelix
operis summa, 'failing in his work as a whole.' ponere, 'represent,'
often used of plastic art; cf. Od. 4. 8. 8. 35. me esse velim: cf. Cic. in
Cat. 1. 4 cupio me esse clementem, with note. 36. pravo: cf. Ep. 2. 2. 44 n.
37. spectandum dignum qui specter: cf. Od. 1. 32. 11 Lycum nigris
oculis nigroque | crine decorum.
=
38-41. The subject chosen must be within the poet's powers. 38. aequam
=parem, 'not too much for.' 39. versate, 'consider'; cf. Plaut. Trin.
2. 1. 1 multas res simitu in meo corde vorso. ferre recusent: Ep. 2. 1.
258. 40. potenter: Porphyrion explains asкatà tò duvatóv, ‘in accord-
ance with his powers,' and this view has been generally adopted, although the
word occurs nowhere else in anything like this sense. May not the meaning
POETICA
593
NOTES
be rather with self-restraint,' as opposed to the common force of inpotens
and inpotenter? Mr. Reid suggests 'he who spends all his powers on the
choice,' i.e. who uses every effort to choose aright. 41. facundia: cf.
Cato's golden rule for an orator ‘rem tene, verba sequentur.'
42-44. The virtue of arrangement lies in a choice of what has to be said at
the time. 42. ordinis, repeated by anaphora, as the subject matter of
this and the next two lines. The general rule repì tôs eửtaglas (Porph.) is
given in brief, for the detailed precepts depend entirely on the nature of the
matter dealt with. venus, 'charm,' line 320. aut ego fallor, ‘or
else I am quite mistaken = ni fallor: cf. Ov. Met. 1. 607 aut ego fallor,
aut ego laedor; Livy praef. aut me amor suscepti negotii fallit, aut etc.
43. iam nunc, 'at once,' 'at this very time'; cf. Ep. 2. 1. 127; Od. 2. 1.
17; 3. 6. 23: the proper arrangement is secured by not saying anything
which is not immediately necessary to the clear comprehension of the narrative
or the sentiment. 44. pleraque, 'much' as in Ep. 2. 1. 66 n.: so plerum-
que, 'often,' in Ep. 1. 18. 94, and above in line 14.
differat expresses
rather the purpose of the poet, omittat his action: hence there is no tautology.
46-45. Bentley first transposed these two lines, so that hoc . . . hoc means
' one word . . another word'; many of the best recent editors have followed
him, and his reasoning seems to be irresistibly cogent. No error is more com-
mon in MSS. than the omission of a line, which afterwards is restored to a
·
•
wrong place and hoc hoc seems almost inexplicable, if referred to the
topic of order. It is extremely otiose to say that the composer of a poem long
promised is to make a selection of his subject matter. Schütz attempts to
defend the traditional order, but with little success. His argument that dicat,
differat, and omittat need auctor as a subject is not strong; the subject is
easily supplied from hunc of line 41: and the change to the second person
dixeris is not harsh, and does not require the introduction of a new theme.
45-59. Familiar words acquire freshness in a new connexion; and new
words may be coined with discretion. 46. tenuis, here a word of praise,
not blame=subtilis, λeπtós: cf. Od. 2. 16. 38. serendis, 'connecting,'
suggesting both the avoidance of hiatus, and awkward juxtaposition, and also
fresh syntactic combinations. 47. callida iunctura: Orelli quotes as
instances from Horace himself splendide mendax, insanientis sapientiae con-
sultus, animae magnae prodigus. Prof. Nettleship happily refers to the charge
brought against Virgil by Agrippa that he had been suborned by Maecenas to
invent a new kind of affectation, which consisted in an unusual employment of
ordinary words, and was therefore difficult of detection (Sueton. 44); and
quotes phrases like recens caede, tela exit, tendit iter velis (Conington's Virgil 1.*
xxix-xxxiii). 49. indiciis=onμelois. indicia verba appellavit: philosophi
enim dicunt indicandarum rerum causa inventas esse voces-Porph.
dita rerum, 'new conceptions,' not previously brought to view.
majority of MSS. read rerum, et; if so we get et fingere continget
habebunt fidem. 50. cinctutis qui cinctu induebantur.
was a broad waistband, or loin-cloth, worn by the old Romans instead of the
tunica under the toga, and by the younger men in their exercises in the
Campus, whence it was also called campestre. Porph. here says: omnes enim
Cethegi unum morem servaverunt Romae numquam enim tunica usi sunt:
ideo cinctutos eos dixit quoniam cinctus est genus tunicae infra pectus aptatae.
51. continget, 'you will be allowed': not very commonly used so without
the dative expressed, as in Ep. 1. 17. 36; 2. 2. 41. pudenter cum
=
•
•
ab-
The great
•
• •
et ficta
The cinctus
2 Q
594
ARS
HORACE
·
pudore, i.e. 'with moderation.' 52. habebunt fidem, 'will find accept-
ance' or 'credit. si Graeco The limitation is at first sight by no
means clear. Why should newly-coined words find favour only if they come
from a Gk. source? Is Greek alone the lawful fountain-head of a new
vocabulary? Lehrs supposed a line to be lost, closing with aut si, so as to
supply the missing alternative. But Schütz correctly points out that two ways
of supplying needful words are touched upon in lines 45-53: (1) by a skilful
connexion which adds new force to current words: (2) by new words coined
to express new ideas. The second cannot be supplied from the stores of the
Latin language, or this method comes to coincide with the first (as e.g. when
'booking' is used to describe the purchase of railway tickets): hence it must
be met from the Greek. Probably Graeco fonte cadent refers to words
formed on the analogy of Greek or on a Greek model, e.g. inaudax (Od. 3. 20. 3)
=άтoλµos, ampullari (Ep. 1. 3. 14) = λŋkv0išeiv, dominantia = kúpɩa: and
parce detorta means that such words are to be 'derived' (i.e. coined) only
in moderate numbers. Others however give 'with only slight modification in
form,' e.g. amphora from ảµpopeús, placenta from πλakoûs.
•
53. quid autem is used in introducing a statement which removes an
objection which might have been made to a previous statement: 'why indeed?'
54. dabit ademptum, 'grant to and refuse to V. These critics
allowed a free use of words borrowed from Greek to the old dramatists; why
refuse it to contemporary poets? Virgil was attacked for his use of Greek
words: cf. Conington's Virgil 1.4 xxxiii. Among the words censured are dius,
daedala, trieterica, choreas, hyalus. Cf. Cic. de Fin. 3. 4. 15 si Zenoni licuit
cum rem aliquam invenisset inusitatam, inauditum quoque ei rei nomen in-
ponere, cur non liceat Catoni? 55. Varioque connected with Virgil also
in Ep. 2. 1. 247. For the freedom with which Plautus adopts Greek words
in a Latinised form cf. Sellar, Roman Poets of the Republic 165. 56. in-
videor for the more usual invidetur mihi=p0ovoûµaï : cf. imperor Ep. 1. 5. 21 ;
credor Ov. Trist. 3. 10. 35. Catonis: the modernised form in which his
only important extant treatise De Re Rustica has come down to us precludes
us from ascertaining in what way he enriched the Latin language. Ennius
did very much to fix the literary pronunciation of Latin, and to determine its
vocabulary. 59. signatum . 'give to the world words that bear the
mint mark of the day'-Wickham. The metaphor of coinage applied to
language is a very common one: cf. Quint. 1. 6. 3 utendum plane sermone ut
nummo, cui publica forma est.
•
60-72. All mortal things are doomed to change and to perish; and so
too words. 60. foliis mutantur: cf. Cic. Balb. 31 mutari civitate;
Livy 5. 46. 11 mutari finibus; Cic. ad Fam. 5. 21. 1 mutari voluntate. In
all these cases the abl. is strictly one of respect, but the notion of sever-
ance comes in. The silva corresponds to the aetas, the folia to the indi-
vidual verba. Bentley suggested privos for pronos, comparing Lucr. 5. 274
privas mutatur in horas, and 733 inque dies privos, with the explanation of
Paulus 226 M privos privasque antiqui dicebant pro singulis; but Horace
elsewhere (e.g. Ep. 1. 1. 93) uses privus as=proprius 'one's own,' and as in
annos can mean 'each year' (cf. Od. 2. 13. 4 in horas) there is no reason why
pronos a. should not='each passing year.' Acron well explains pronos as
declives et cito labentes, instabiles, volubiles. 61. prima cadunt, 'the old
ones fall,' the completion of the phrase being supplied naturally 'and new
ones take their places.' So an old commentary has prima, scilicet, folia cadunt,
in
POETICA
595
NOTES
nova succrescunt, and Nettleship would consequently read here prima cadunt,
nova succrescunt. Housman would punctuate prima cadunt ita verborum.
vetus interit aetas, et . . . The metaphor is suggested by Homer, Il. 6. 146-149
οἴη περ φύλλων γενεή, τοίη δὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν. | φύλλα τὰ μέν τ᾽ ἄνεμος χαμάδις
χέει, ἄλλα δέ θ᾽ ὕλη | τηλεθόωσα φύει, ἔαρος δ᾽ ἐπιγίγνεται ὥρη· | ὣς
ἀνδρῶν γενεὴ ἢ μὲν φύει ἡ δ᾽ ἀπολήγει--a passage which has found many other
echoes in literature; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 309.
†
63. debemur: cf. Simonides frag. 122 Bergk laváty távtes ỏpeiλbµela,
Ov. Met. 10. 32 omnia debemur vobis (dis inferis). sive receptus, etc.:
the W. coast of Italy was very deficient in good harbours. Hence when
Sextus Pompeius was threatening Rome with a strong fleet, Agrippa, the
admiral of Augustus, found it necessary to construct an artificial port. On
the coast of Campania, between Misenum and Puteoli, there were two small
lakes, the Avernus and the Lucrinus, separated from each other by a strip of
land about a mile in breadth, while the latter, the outer lake, was divided
from the sea by a narrow belt of sand or shingle. Agrippa strengthened this
barrier by facing it with stone, but pierced it with a channel to admit ships,
and also connected the two lakes by a canal, so as to form a safe and capacious
harbour, called the Portus Julius. Virgil (G. 2. 161-164) speaks of this work
as one of the glories of Italy. But whether there is any reference to it here,
as is almost universally assumed, is very doubtful: see on line 67 below.
64. arcet: here with the acc. of the thing defended, and the abl. of that
from which it is defended. In prose it is more common to have the acc. of
the thing kept off, and the abl. (with ab) of that from which it is kept off.
65. regis opus: the phrase marks the work as comparable with that of the
Egyptian and Babylonian kings. Meineke would read regium (cf. regiae moles
Od. 2. 15. 1), urging that the text must mean 'the work of one who was a
king,' a title always rejected by Augustus, as by Julius. palus diu: the
MSS. read diu palus. Gesner's palus diu (approved by Lachmann), in
which the long vowel is not elided but shortened in hiatus, has in its favour
si mě amas of S. 1. 9. 38 and Virgil, Ecl. 8. 108 an qui amant, Aen. 6. 507 tě
amice. The hiatus is common in Lucretius and Catullus: cf. Munro on Lucr.
2. 404. Although we cannot very confidently ascribe it to Horace here,
especially as the instances apparently similar shorten the vowel in the first
not the second thesis, it is less improbable than the shortening of the final
syllable of palūs, to which no sort of parallel can be adduced. Hence the
best recent editors admit it. But perhaps Bentley's palus prius is a safer
correction: PRIV would easily become DIV. The scholiasts refer to the
draining of the Pomptine marshes by Augustus: Pomptinas paludes Augustus
exsiccavit et habitabiles reddidit iniecto aggere lapidum et terrae. But although
Julius Caesar intended to attempt this work (Suet. Jul. 44), and perhaps met with
some partial success, there is no evidence that it was carried out by Augustus.
67. seu cursum
Porphyrion says Tiberim intellegamus: hunc
enim Agrippa derivavit, qua nunc vadit: antea per Velabrum fluebat, and
so too Acron. But the Velabrum was drained by the Cloaca Maxima
in the time of the kings, and the Tiber never flowed through it.
the other hand the three instances of great works of men here mentioned
as perishing are strikingly parallel to what Plut. Caes. 58 says of the
schemes of Julius Caesar: 'He had also a design of diverting the Tiber,
and carrying it by a deep channel directly from Rome to Circeii, and so
into the sea near Tarracina
Besides this he intended to drain all the
On
596
ARS
HORACE
marshes by Pomentium and Setia . He proposed further to make great
mounds on the shore nearest Rome, to hinder the sea from breaking in upon
the land, to clear the coast at Ostia of all the hidden rocks and shoals that
made it unsafe for shipping, and to form ports and harbours fit to receive the
large number of vessels that would frequent them. These things were designed
without being carried into effect.' Now it seems pretty clear that the draining
of the Pomptine marshes was never carried out to an extent sufficient to
justify Horace's language, if taken strictly. There is great probability there-
fore in the view of Preller (Aufsätze 515 seq.) that Horace has in view through-
out the designs of Julius rather than any works actually executed by Augustus.
It would be a very doubtful compliment to the reigning emperor to take great
engineering operations of his as instances of works doomed to pass away;
whereas it would be natural for him to speak thus of gigantic schemes com-
menced a quarter of a century before and never completely carried out. We
must therefore suppose Horace to be using a kind of poetic anticipation,
'assuming the great dictator's plans to have been achieved, still they are
destined to fail in the long run.'
69. nedum
• • •
68. facta, not often used for opera, perhaps never in prose: but cf. Ovid,
Her. 10. 60 non hominum video, non ego facta boum, where the last words:
ἔργα βοῶν.
stet: Roby 1658, S. G. 688. But in
cases like the present Mr. Roby's way of stating the usage needs to be modified
or rather inverted: the 'greater event,' i.e. the perishing of all works of men,
is rhetorically regarded as having for its purpose the prevention of the 'less
event,' the continued currency of words. sermonum, a very rare, perhaps
unparalleled use of the plural, for 'style' or 'language.'
70. multa
renascentur: archaisms were much affected by the writers of the second
century after Christ, such as Fronto, A. Gellius, and Apuleius. Our own
time has similarly witnessed a great revival of archaic words in poetry. 72.
'arbitrium quod statuimus nulla causa allata; ius facultas quam ceteri ultro
agnoscunt; norma regula a nobis praescripta cui ceteri obtemperant '-Orelli.
penes personifies usus, 'in whose hands. Cf. Ep. 2. 2. 119.
73-309. In this second main section of the poem Horace applies his general
principles to the treatment of different kinds of poetry, passing from one to
the other with little formality, but dwelling mainly upon the drama.
73-85. Homer first wrote hexameters; then followed elegiac verse of un-
certain origin: iambics were invented by Archilochus for his lampoons, and
adopted both by comedy and tragedy. Lyric verse is fitted for hymns, for odes
of victory, and for songs about love and wine. 74. Homerus: the inven-
tion of the hexameter was ascribed to the Delphic priests, and probably the
earliest epic poetry-which must have existed for centuries before the Iliad
assumed its present form-was of purely religious origin. Cf. Mahaffy's Greek
Lit. 1. 15-17. The hexameter arose from a combination of two short lines,
the first normally-|-|-, the second the same but with an anacrusis,
and an added syllable at the end- |-~~|-~|-||-. From this the
pentameter was formed by the omission of the added elements in the second
half. Thus the character of the verse was entirely changed. Cf. Coleridge's
version of Schiller's lines: 'In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery
column: In the pentameter aye falling in melody back.'
100-100-1
75. inpariter, one of Horace's ärrağ λeyóµeva. querimonia, i.e. elegy.
Horace seems to allude to the popular derivation of čλeyos from ề ề Xéyew
'to say ah me.' The word is probably of Phrygian origin, denoting primarily
POETICA
597
NOTES
a plaintive tune played on the Phrygian pipe, which there is reason to believe
was especially used in 'laments over the dead' (querimoniae). 76. voti sen-
tentia compos, not 'the feelings of one who has gained his prayer' i.e. of a
successful lover; but almost certainly with reference to 'epigrams,' i.e. in-
scriptions placed on objects dedicated to some god on the fulfilment of a vow.
See the Gk. Anthology. 77. quis tamen εὑρετὴν δὲ τοῦ ἐλεγείου
φασιν οἱ μὲν τὸν ᾿Αρχίλοχον, οἱ δὲ Μίμνερμον, οἱ δὲ Κάλλινον—Orion 58.
exiguos refers to the slighter and less dignified character of elegiacs as
compared with hexameters. 78. grammatici, 'our teachers,' i.e. pro-
fessors of literature, as in Ep. 1. 19. 40.
Ĥ
•
•
•
79. Archilochum: cf. Ep. 1. 19. 23-25. iambo: the word laußos is
derived from láπтw 'to fling,' and denotes originally a flinging, or a verse
flung at another, whence laußisw 'to lampoon.' When Aristotle, Poet. 5. 6,
says of Crates πρῶτος ἦρξεν ἀφέμενος τῆς ἰαμβικῆς ἰδέας καθόλου ποιεῖν λόγους
kal µúðovs he refers to the change from the mere abuse of the earliest stages
to a regular comedy. 80. socci: cf. Ep. 2. 1. 174 n. Comedy is men-
tioned before tragedy, though later in origin, or at any rate, later in reaching
literary development, perhaps as being more akin in subject to the satire of
Archilochus. Undoubtedly the reason for the choice of this metre both in
comedy and tragedy is that given by Horace, that it comes nearest to the
ordinary rhythm of prose. Cf. Arist. Rhet. 3. 8. 4 ò d' aµßos avτý čoтw ǹ
λέξις ἡ τῶν πολλῶν· διὸ μάλιστα πάντων τῶν μέτρων ἰαμβεῖα φθέγγονται
λέγοντες. So in 3. 1. 9 he speaks of tragic poets who ἐκ τῶν τετραμέτρων εἰς
tò iaµßeîov µetéßnoav (cf. Poet. 4. 18, where he also says that the earliest
tragedies were in tetrameters) διὰ τὸ τῷ λόγῳ τοῦτο τῶν μέτρων ὁμοιότατον
εἶναι τῶν ἄλλων, and in the Poet. 4. 18 he says μάλιστα γὰρ λεκτικὸν τῶν
μέτρων τὸ ἰαμβεῖόν ἐστι σημεῖον δὲ τούτου· πλεῖστα γὰρ ἰαμβεῖα λέγομεν ἐν τῇ
diaλékтw Tη πρòs ¿λλýλovs: a remark repeated by Cic. Orat. 56. 189: cf.
Cic. de Orat. 3. 47. 182. 81. populares strepitus, the murmur which
always rises from any large assembly, and drowns everything but the clearest
and most marked elocution. The frequent recurrence of the ictus in iambic
rhythm makes it sharper and more easily audible than a metre which contains
more short syllables. Cf. Cic. de Orat. 3. 47. 182 n. 82. natum rebus
agendis, 'suited by their nature to action.' So Arist. Poet. 24. 10 tò dè
ἰαμβικὸν καὶ τετράμετρον κινητικά, τὸ μὲν ὀρχηστικόν, τὸ δὲ πρακτικόν.
•
•
83. fidibus, dat., 'to the lyre.' The object of dedit is referre: cf. Roby
S. G. 534, and line 323 dedit loqui. The two main divisions of lyric
(or more properly melic) poetry were (1) the Dorian, or choric poetry, be-
ginning with Terpander of Lesbos, who flourished at Sparta 670-640 B.C., and
including Aleman, Thaletas, Arion, Stesichorus, Ibycus, and most famous of
all Simonides and Pindar: this was public, choral, and elaborate in rhythm,
and its subjects were religious or national, including the glory of victors in
the games: (2) the Aeolic, of which Alcaeus, Sappho, and Anacreon were the
chief representatives and in which personal emotions were expressed in simpler
metrical forms. To the former Horace refers in lines 83, 84, to the latter in
line 85. 85. libera vina, 'the freedom of wine'; i.e. the free speech of
those who have drunk much wine (cf. S. 1. 4. 89 ; 2. 8. 37).
86-118. Not only must the right diction (45-72) and the fitting metre (73-
86) be chosen, but also the proper tone and style must be maintained. Horace
here begins to deal especially with dramatic poetry, which he keeps in view
almost exclusively up to line 294. One who cannot keep up the right tone in
598
ARS
HORACE
treating his characters does not deserve the name of poet. Tragedy and
comedy have each their appropriate style, though sometimes they seem to pass
into each other. A successful play must touch the feelings of the audience,
and for this language well adapted to the position and character of the person-
ages must be employed. 86. descriptas, 'marked out,' assigned to tragedy
and comedy respectively. vices seems never to mean 'parts,' the transla-
tion often given to it here. Comparing Od. 4. 7. 3 mutat terra vices we see
that vices may denote the states into which a thing passes by change, as well
as the changes themselves. Here it is 'the differences.' operumque
colores is added to explain vices: cf. line 236, and S. 2. 1. 60 vitae color.
We must say 'style' or 'tone.' 88. pudens prave, 'from a false shame.'
90. privatis, i.e. suited to daily life: a shocking tragedy in the life of a king
ought not to be described in verse suited to the ordinary affairs of a simple
citizen. 91. cena Thyestae: the story of Thyestes, tricked by his
brother Atreus into eating the flesh of his own two sons, is told by Aeschylus,
Agam. 1517-1536, and was the subject of a tragedy by Varius, the friend of
Horace, which according to Quint. 10. 1. 98 cuilibet Graecarum comparari potest.
92. This line has been transposed to after line 98 by L. Müller, and re-
jected by Lehrs and Ribbeck. 'After the negative considerations mentioned
in lines 86-91 it sums up with the positive requirement that every metre and
every style should keep to the place which through the historical development
of poetry has become its proper one'-Kiessling, who however reads decentem.
93. et comoedia, 'even comedy,' as well as tragedy. 94. Chremes, a
name borne by old men in the Andria, Phormio, Hautontimorumenus of Terence.
The reference here is probably to the severe language of Chremes in Haut. 5. 4.
Horace uses the word of a miser in Epod. 1. 33, borrowing it from some un-
known comedy. Perhaps the name was applied to old men from a belief in
the absurd old etymology 'a xрéµπтeσlαi screare, quia senes screare solent.'
It is really connected with xpeμ-išw 'to snort,' and grim, etc. delitigat:
only found here. For the form cf. Od. 1. 3. 13 n.
95. plerumque, 'often,' as in line 14. tragicus, ‘in a tragedy,' like
Davus comicus in S. 2. 5. 91: cf. Cic. in Pis. 20. 47 tragico illo Oreste et
Athamante dementiorem; Caec. ap. Cic. Lael. 26. 99 comicos stultos senes.
sermone pedestri: cf. S. 2. 6. 17 n. 96. Telephus see Class. Dict.
Plays were written about him by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Agathon,
Ennius, and Accius. He was wounded by Achilles and finally cured by him
with the rust of the spear which wounded him, according to the oracle he
received at Delphi ỏ тpwσas kal iάoetal. Euripides in a play, which was
mercilessly satirised by Aristophanes in the Acharnians, introduces him as
seeking the aid of Agamemnon in rags and squalor, and he became a stock
example of fallen greatness. Peleus was banished from Aegina by his
father Aeacus for the murder of his half-brother Phocus, and fled to Phthia.
From Phthia he fled to Iolcus, and Sophocles in his Peleus seems to have
represented him as driven thence when old and childish by the sons of Acastus
(Frag. 434-442 D), Euripides as banished by Acastus (Frag. 620-626 d).
But as Isocr. Evag. 192 b speaks of him as κатȧ TOMOυs åλλovs kidúvovs
evdokiµńoas, we cannot say what part of his life of varied adventure was
especially in the mind of Horace. 97. proicit, 'throws aside.' ampullas:
cf. Ep. 1. 3. 14 n. sesquipedalia, polysyllables, such as those much in
favour with the early Latin dramatists. Gellius 19. 7 quotes from Laevius
foedifragus, pudoricolor, trisaeclisenex, dulcioriloquus, and others. Pacuvius
POETICA
599
NOTES
wrote Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus. Crates (quoted by Athen.
10. 418 c) speaks of ἔπη τριπήχη Θετταλικῶς τετμημένα, i.e. cut into big
pieces, such as the Thessalian gluttons loved. 98. si curat cor: the
neglect of the caesura is intentional, to imitate the carelessness of artistic form
in one feeling deeply. For the perf. infin. cf. Ep. 1. 17. 5 n.
99. pulchra, 'fine' when judged by the canons of art: dulcia,
'charming' to the feelings and hearts of the readers. Gesner quotes the
French saying: La beauté est pour l'esprit, la douceur est pour le cœur.
101. adsunt is the reading of the MSS. supported by Acron's in praesto sunt.
Bentley eagerly accepted adflent, the suggestion of some earlier scholars. But
the threefold repetition of flere would be far from elegant, and the antithesis
would be disagreeably forced with this reading. For adesse 'to support'
with help and sympathy cf. line 204, Ep. 1. 17. 57: so often in Cic. and Livy.
102. dolendum est: Acron here quotes illud Ciceronis ardeat orator, si
vult iudicem incendere,' apparently an inaccurate reminiscence of Cic. de Orat.
2. 45. 189, 190. Porphyrion quotes a story of Demosthenes declining to
plead the cause of a man who said he had been beaten, because he told the
story without any emotion, and only undertaking the case when the man
repeated the tale of his wrongs for the third time, with tears of indignation.
104. male mandata go together, and the participle really expresses the
main proposition: if the words which you utter are ill assigned to you,' i.e.
unsuited to your position and emotions.
105. maestum, 'dejected,' almost always of an outward expression of
grief: hence dolor and maeror are contrasted in Cic. ad Att. 12. 28; Phil.
11. 1. 107. lasciva, 'sportive,' with no evil connotation. The word is
used ten times by Horace, and never in a distinctly bad sense: cf. Ep. 2. 2. 216.
severum seria: 'inter serius et severus hoc discriminis est, ut prius fere
semper dicitur de rebus, posterius de hominibus '--Ruhnken on Ter. Eun. 3.
3. 7. 109. iuvat, 'gladdens,' rare in this sense as a personal verb; and
perhaps only here with a person not a thing as the subject. habitum=
ἕξιν οι σχῆμα condition. 111. motus, probably never, even in poetry,
interprete lingua, 'by the agency
used without animi for 'emotion.'
of the tongue.'
113. equites peditesque, 'one and all' from the highest to the lowest.
Bentley objects (1) that the phrase is never used to cover the whole people,
except with a distinctly military reference, or as in Livy 1. 44 edixit ut omnes
cives Romani, equites peditesque, in suis quisque centuriis in campo Martio
adessent; (2) that Horace professes elsewhere to care only for the judgment
of the educated (cf. S. 1. 10. 76 satis est equitem mihi plaudere); and therefore
bids us read equitesque patresque librariorum populo valere iusso.' This read-
ing receives some support from Mart. 14. 120, where the phrase is used of the
educated as opposed to the unlearned: quamvis me ligulam dicant equitesque
patresque, dicor ab indoctis lingula grammaticis. But here the expression is
more forcible, if all the audience is supposed to laugh at the incongruity of
language, and there is nothing unnatural in the phrase, used with a certain
tone of sportiveness. cachinnum est verbum secundum όνοματοποιΐαν
fictum a sono risus—Acron. 114. divusne an heros: this reading has
the support of by far the most and the best MSS. But some have thought
that the contrast between a god and a hero is not as great as the context
requires hence Erasmus cleverly suggested divesne.
the Odyssey), while Landinus would read Davusne
•
•
an Irus (the beggar of
herusne, accepting
600
ARS
HORACE
•
the Davus of a few inferior MSS., which is doubtless due only to an untimely
remembrance of line 237: and there is a very strong objection to it in the fact
that Horace is here dealing solely with tragedy, where a comic slave is quite
out of place. The text is clearly right, for where the gods appear in tragedy
(as in the Eumenides, the Ajax, the Hippolytus and elsewhere) their tone is
calmer and more dignified than that of human characters, however heroic. Cf.
Plut. Arist. et Men. comp. 1 οὐκ ἂν διαγνοίης . . . εἴτε θεός, εἴτε γραύς, εἴτε
ἥρως ὁ διαλεγόμενος. 116. sedula nutrix: such as the garrulous gossip
of the Choephoroe, whose language (lines 734-765) would ill suit a lady of high
degree. 117. mercator vagus: a part assumed as a disguise by the
attendant of Odysseus in the Philoctetes 542 seq. cultor: like the
αὐτουργὸς Μυκηναίος in the Electra of Euripides. 118. Colchus: a fierce
barbarian, like Aeetes. Assyrius: soft and effeminate, like Xerxes in the
Persae. The word 'Assyrian' was used with great latitude by the Latin poets,
for any Oriental: cf. Od. 2. 11. 16; 3. 4. 32 litoris Assyrii viator: Virg.
Ecl. 4. 25; G. 2. 465. Thebis: the Thebans were often represented as
rude, lawless, and overbearing, e.g. Creon in the Antigone and Oed. Col.,
Eteocles in the Sept. Theb. and the Phoenissae. Argis (Ep. 2. 2. 128 n.):
the Argives are contrasted with the Thebans, probably because of the prominence
of the legends, dealing with the struggle between them, in the tragic cycle. If
Agamemnon is the typical Argive, the character is one of proud dignity.
119-135. Either (1) follow the accepted tradition, or (2) be careful that
your characters are consistent. (1) If you describe Achilles, Medea, Ino, etc.,
let them exhibit their well-known qualities, or (2) if you try something new,
your personages must be true to themselves throughout; but (2) as it is difficult
thus to give individual shape to common types of character, you are wiser to
dramatise the tale of Troy, and (1) you can make this public material your own
by a little originality, avoiding the beaten track and not translating literally.
Line 119 gives a two-fold rule for composition; 120-124 deal with the first
half of it; 125-127 with the second; then Horace 128-130 advises not
trying the second method, and 131-135 point out why the first is preferable.
The paragraph exactly balances with sections of 5 lines and 3 lines answered
by sections of 3 and 5. 119. fama, 'the current tradition.' 120.
scriptor, 'when writing,' not a vocative, as many take it. It is almost
necessary to define reponis. honoratum: this use of the word for
'illustrious' (cf. Ep. 1. 1. 107 n.) is so rare, and seems so otiose in itself here,
that Bentley boldly replaced it by Homereum, for which L. Müller prefers
Homeriacum. The epithet, however, may be well defended, by bringing out
its full meaning='when in the receipt of his due honours': where he complains
that he is åríuntos as in Il. 9. 644 seq., or is lamenting over Patroclus, the
epithets of line 121 are less suitable to him. 123. Ino, the wife of Athamas,
king of Thebes, fled from her maddened husband, carrying with her her two sons
Learchus and Melicertes. Athamas seized the former and tore him to pieces :
Ino flung herself into the sea with the latter, and they were changed, the
mother into the sea-goddess Leucothea, the son into Palaemon. Cf. Ovid,
Met. 4. 416-541; Hom. Od. 5. 333 seq. The woes of Ino ('Ivoûs äxn) became
proverbial, and 'she was made especially by Euripides a true ideal of sorrow,'
Preller, Gr. Myth. 1. 473 note. The schol. on Aristoph. Vesp. 1414 says eio-
ήγαγεν γὰρ Εὐριπίδης τὴν Ἰνὼ ὠχρὸν ὑπὸ τῆς κακοπαθείας. 124. perfidus
Ixion. For his faithlessness to his father-in-law Eioneus and to Zeus see
Class. Dict. and cf. Od. 3. 11. 21. Aeschylus wrote a tragedy upon his
story, Fragm. 86-90 D. Io vaga: her wanderings are described in the
POETICA
601
NOTES
Prometheus of Aeschylus. Orestes was tristis during his exile after the
murder of his mother, as in Aesch.'s Eumenides, and Eur.'s Orestes and Iph. Taur.
126. ad imum, 'to the last' as in line 152. 128. proprie com-
munia dicere, 'to give individual shape to common types of human char-
acter.' communia covers all general and abstract notions, such as anger,
cruelty, cowardice and the like; and proprie dicere is='to give a concrete
character to,' i.e. to embody in consistent and vivid pictures of individuals.
Kiessling quotes the heading of a chapter in Hermogenes the rhetorician ŵs
κοινὰ διανοήματα ἰδιώσομεν ; 129. deducis: the tense and mood of the
verb (especially in contrast with proferres and in connexion with the emphatic
tu) require us to suppose that one of the Pisos was already engaged upon a
tragedy based upon the Iliad. The metaphor is the familiar one from spinning;
cf. Ep. 2. 1. 225. Aristotle (Poet. 23) says that the Iliad and the Odyssey
furnish material for one or at most two tragedies each, while several could be
made from Cyclic poems such as the Little Iliad or the Cypria.
131. publica materies, ¿.e. themes already handled, which can be made
all a poet's own, by originality of treatment. 132. vilem patulumque
orbem, 'the cheap and easy round' of the mode of treatment previously
adopted. There is probably also in orbis a reference to the 'cyclic' style of
mimicking Homer, cf. Pollianus, Anth. Pal. 1. 130 TOùs KUKλíOUS TOÚTOVS TOÙS
“ αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα” λέγοντας | μισῶ, λωποδύτας ἀλλοτρίων ἐπέων. 133. verbo
verbum reddere: the earlier Roman dramatists often did little more than
translate very closely their Greek originals. Ennius e.g. translates almost
literally Eur. Med. 502 seq. in his Medea, frag. 10. 134. desilies in artum,
'plunge into a place where you will be cramped.' A writer who begins by
copying too closely a Greek original either in treatment, or in diction, will soon
find that he is as it were working in fetters. 135. pudor: the copyist
will either be ashamed to abandon a method which he has once adopted; or
if not, he will find that it is impossible to deviate from the line which he has
taken up, without falling into incongruity.
136-152. nec . . . incipies: Horace appears to pass here, by one of his
rapid transitions so common in this epistle, from the drama to the epos, to
which indeed the cautions of the last five lines are almost as applicable as to
the drama itself. cyclicus: the 'cyclic poets' were those epic poets, who,
probably after the Iliad and Odyssey had assumed their present form, wrote
upon various legends, more or less closely connected with the Theban and
Trojan wars. They did not, as has been erroneously supposed, intentionally
write a cycle of poems; but the grammarians put together by their aid a cycle
of legends. The most noteworthy were Stasinus, Arctinus, Lesches, Agias and
Eugammon. The poet to whom Horace here refers, has not been identified,
and probably he had no particular writer in view, but is censuring the lack of
simplicity in the school as a whole. In that case olim aliquando. The line,
it is to be noted, contains nothing in itself too high-flown, but, though not
extravagant in itself, yet it contrasts unfavourably with the modest and un-
assuming tone of Homer's introduction. 138. feret, 'produce': hiatu,
'mouthing.' 139. parturient, the reading of all MSS., for which Bentley
read parturiunt, urging that verbs in urio have even in the present a future
force (parturio='am about to bring forth '). But parturient may be defended,
as parallel to incipies of line 136 'if you do begin so, it will be a case of
"Mountains in labour, and out comes a mouse" The expression was pro-
verbial. Athenaeus 14. 6 p. 616 d, says that Tachos, the king of Egypt, insulted

602
ARS
HORACE
Agesilaus, who was of small stature, by quoting &divev opos, Zevs d'èpoßeîтo,
τὸ ἔτεκεν
tò d' ễtekev µûv. For the rhythm cf. Virg. G. 1. 181.
•
•
•
•
141. dic urbes. Horace gives a compressed rendering of the first
three lines of the Odyssey (cf. Ep. 1. 2. 19), clearly, however, reading vóμov
(mores) in line 3: ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ |
πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσε, | πολλῶν δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν
ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω. tempora: cf. Od. 1. 28. 11 Troiana tempora, Ov.
Met. 11. 757 novissima Troiae tempora. Bentley (and so Kiessling) read
moenia. 144. cogitat, 'his plan is': speciosa miracula, 'striking
marvels.' 145. Antiphaten, king of the Laestrygonian cannibals Od.
10. 100 seq. For Scylla and Charybdis cf. Od. 12. 87 seq. and for the Cyclops,
whom Odysseus encounters, Od. 9. 160 seq. 146. reditum orditur,
a compressed expression for 'nor does he act like the writer who began' etc.
Homer of course himself says nothing about the return of Diomede. The
scholiasts say that Antimachus, in relating the return of Diomede, began with
the history of Meleager, the brother of his father Tydeus, and filled twenty-
four books before he even got as far as the campaign of the Seven against
Thebes, in which Tydeus fell. But as the Thebais of Antimachus-a poem,
which though not generally popular, won for its writer in the judgment of
some critics a place next to Homer (cf. Quintil. 10. 1. 53)—can barely have
touched upon the return of Diomede from the Trojan War, there is probably
some error in the tradition.
147. gemino . . . ab ovo, i.e. from the birth of Helen. Servius on
Virg. 3. 338 says Ledam Iuppiter in cygnum mutatus gravidam fecit, quae
ovum peperisse dicitur, unde nati sunt Helena, Castor et Pollux. Horace
here follows another form of the story, according to which Castor and Pollux
were born from one egg (cf. S. 2. 1. 26 ovo prognatus eodem), Helen from
another. 148. ad eventum festinat, 'goes straight on to the crisis' with-
out undue digressions, or losing the thread of his arrative. in medias
res: as in Hom. Od. 1. 11 ἔνθ᾽ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες, ὅσοι φύγον αἰπὸν ὄλεθρον
| Oľkoι čσAV KTλ. So the Iliad begins with a scene in the tenth year of the
siege; and Virgil plunges into the midst of his narrative (Aen. 1. 34) with the
words vix e conspectu Siculae telluris in altum | vela dabant laeti etc. Cf.
Cic. ad Att. 1. 16. 1 respondebo tibi üσrepov πротероν, 'Oμnpikŵs, Quint. 7.
10. 11 ubi ab initiis incipiendum, ubi more Homerico e mediis vel ultimis ?
151. mentitur, 'uses fiction': cf. Aristot. Poet. 24. 18 dedidaxe dè µáλiora
Ομηρος καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ψευδή λέγειν ὡς δεῖ. ita ne: cf. Ep. 1.
13. 12. 152. discrepet: cf. Cic. de Fin. 5. 28. 83 respondent extrema
primis, media utrisque, omnia omnibus.
153-178. The characters of the drama are to be handled in accordance with
the tendencies of their several times of life. 154. plausoris, i.e. spectators
who will applaud all through until the final vos plaudite. Bentley objects to
the word followed by plaudite in the next line and reads fautoris, but ef.
S. 1. 3. 1 cantoris followed by cantare. aulaea: cf. Ep. 2. 1. 189 n.
155. cantor. The word is ambiguous; for canere is used both of playing
on the flute, and of singing with the voice. Bentley assumed that the cantor
was the flute-player, and wrote 'cantoris erat depositis ex ore tibiis plaudite
insonare.' Hermann on the other hand (Opusc. 1. 302) argues that the cantor
and the histrio were one. Wilkins takes it of the 'singer' who sang the cantica
(lyric monologues); cf. Livy 7. 2, who tells us that Livius Andronicus, having
been encored in these until he lost his voice, introduced the practice of having a
POETICA
603
NOTES
young slave near the flute-player to sing them while the actor accompanied
him with appropriate gestures. 157. mobilibus naturis et annis: a
hendiadys, 'natures that change with years.'
158. reddere voces, 'reply in words,' not 'repeat words' (as Orelli)
heard from the mother or the nurse: cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 409 veras audire
et reddere voces, and Catull. 64. 166 nec missas audire queunt nec reddere
voces. pede signat humum=imprimit vestigiis suis-Acron. 159.
colludere, in this sense only here. Cicero has the word in the sense of
'to act in collusion.' iram colligit: so Virg. Aen. 9. 63 collecta rabies
edendi; Ov. Met. 1. 234 colligit os rabiem. 160. ponit: cf. Ep. 1. 16. 35 n.
mutatur: cf. Roby, S. G. 566. in horas, 'every hour,' cf. S. 2. 7. 10.
161. inberbus: so vet. Bland.: cf. Ep. 2. 1. 85 n. custode, i.e. the
paedagogus, whose office Horace's father himself discharged for his son: cf. S.
1. 4. 118; 6. 81. 162. campi: sc. Martii: Od. 1. 8. 3; Ep. 1. 18. 54.
163. cereus flecti, 'soft as wax (= easy) to be moulded'; for the epexegetic
inf. cf. Od. 1. 3. 25 n. The characters here assigned to youths, to men in mature
life, and to old men follow closely those of Aristotle, Rhet. 2. 12, from whom
they were probably borrowed: thus cereus flectievμeтáßoλos.
εὐμετάβολος. 164.
utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris: Arist. piλoxphμaтο dè
ἥκιστα διὰ τὸ μήπως ἐνδείας πεπειρᾶσθαι. 165. sublimis=μeɣaλó¥vxos.
cupidus: Arist. καὶ φιλότιμοι μέν εἰσι, μᾶλλον δὲ φιλόνικοι. ὑπεροχῆς γὰρ
ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡ νεότης. ἡ δὲ νίκη υπεροχή τις. "The piλoriµía of youth seems to
be represented by Horace's cupidus, "desirous," that is of honour or glory,
not of course of money'-Cope ad loc. amata relinquere pernix :
Arist. καὶ ἁψίκοροι πρὸς τὰς ἐπιθυμίας· καὶ σφόδρα μὲν ἐπιθυμοῦσι, ταχέως
δὲ παύονται.
•
167. inservit honori: Arist. piλoriμeîraι πρòs &λλovs, 'he devotes him-
self to securing honour'; cf. Cic. de Fin. 2. 35. 117 adulescentes quos suis
commodis inservituros arbitrabimur. 168. commisisse: cf. line 98 n.
169. vel... vel, 'both... and,' used where both reasons might be correctly
alleged. 170. quaerit: cf. Ep. 1. 7. 57; Arist. 1.c. πрès тò σvμpéρov
ζῶσιν (οἱ πρεσβύτεροι), ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πρὸς τὸ καλόν, μᾶλλον ἢ δεῖ, διὰ τὸ φίλαυτοι
είναι . οὔτ᾽ ἐπιθυμητικοὶ οὔτε πρακτικοὶ κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας, ἀλλὰ κατὰ
τὸ κέρδος.
TÒ Kéρdos. 'Aristotle as well as Horace confines himself almost exclusively to
the delineation of the unfavourable side of the character of old age, suppressing
its redeeming features '-Cope ad loc. 171. gelide: Arist. Kareyvyμévoi
γάρ εἰσιν, οἱ δὲ (νέοι) θερμοί. ὥστε προωδοποίηκε τὸ γῆρας τῇ δειλίᾳ· καὶ γὰρ
ὁ φόβος κατάψυξίς τις ἐστίν. 172. spe longus: Aristotle describes old
men as dvoéxπidas, i.e. slow to form hopes, but this cannot be the meaning of
spe longus. spes longa is twice used by Horace to denote a 'far-reaching
hope,' a hope which requires much time for its fulfilment; cf. Od. 1. 4. 15;
11. 6 spatio brevi spem longam reseces. In connexion with dilator and iners
it must mean that he forms plans and expectations which may not be fulfilled
for years and so is 'dilatory' and 'inactive,' whereas young men are impatient,
restless, and expect their hopes to be fulfilled at once. avidusque
futuri: Arist. καὶ φιλόζωοι καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῇ τελευταίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ. Hence the
meaning is 'eager for longer life'; cf. Soph. Frag. Acris. 64 D Toû Sîv yàp
ovdeis is ó ynрáσкwv ¿pą. Nettleship compares Sen. Epist. 32. 4 o quando
οὐδεὶς γηράσκων ἐρᾷ.
illud videbis tempus quo scies tempus ad te non pertinere! quo tranquillus
placidusque eris et crastini negligens, et in summa tui satietate ! vis scire quid
sit, quod faciat homines avidos futuri ? nemo sibi contigit. 173. difficilis,
604
ARS
HORACE
'cross-grained'; cf. S. 2. 5. 90.
querulus: Arist. Rhet. 2. 13. 15 ö0ev
laudator
ὀδυρτικοί εἰσιν καὶ οὐκ εὐτράπελοι οὐδὲ φιλογέλοιοι.
'given
to praise the days he passed when a lad '; ib. § 12 διατελοῦσι γὰρ τὰ γενόμενα
λέγοντες· ἀναμιμνησκόμενοι γὰρ ἤδονται. Like Nestor in Homer.
· •
175. multa. adimunt: 'anni venire dicuntur ad quadragesimum
sextum usque annum, inde abire iam accedente senecta -Comm. Cruq. Cf.
Od. 2. 15. 14 ; Soph. Τrach. 547 ὁρῶ γὰρ ἥβην τὴν μὲν ἕρπουσαν πρόσω, τὴν
dè plivovσav. The phrase implies that there is a point up to which life
ascends, after which it descends, cf. Burns: John Anderson, my jo, John |
We clamb the hill thegither | . . . Now we maun totter down, John, etc. The
French say Un homme sur son retour. 176. ne forte, etc. You must
Schütz and
remember this, lest you should assign the characters wrongly.
Orelli 4 connects this with morabimur, not with adimunt: and certainly the
connexion of thought with line 178 is closer than with line 175. For the rhyme
cf. line 99 note. 178. aevo goes with adiunctis as well as with aptis.
The adiuncta are according to Acron quae bene haereant et congruant aetati :
=attributes, rà каl' avтà σνµßeßηкóта, or 'necessary accidents.' Cf. Cic.
Acad. 1. 5. 21 quae beatae vitae adiuncta sunt,' things inseparable from a happy
life.' apta indicates that the connexion denoted by adiuncta is a natural one.
aevo, 'time of life,' cf. Ep. 1. 20. 26; Virg. G. 3. 100 animos aevumque
notabis. morabimur, 'dwell with care upon.'
179-188. Things seen on the stage impress the audience, more than things
reported: but there are some scenes not fit to be represented in action. 179.
in scaenis: the plural, used also in Virg. Aen. 1. 429; 4. 471 scaenis agitatus
Orestes, seems to refer to the various occasions on which a play would be acted;
"in theatres' it is apparently never used of a single stage. acta refertur:
as in the Greek tragedies by an ayyeλos from a distance or an ¿¿áyyeλos from
the house before which the scene was laid. 180. segnius: cf. Cic. de
Orat. 3. 41. 163 facilius ad ea, quae visa, quam ad illa quae audita sunt, mentis
oculi feruntur. 181. fdelibus : cf. Herod. 1. 8 ὦτα γὰρ τυγχάνει ἀνθρώ
ποισιν ἐόντα ἀπιστότερα ὀφθαλμῶν. 182. ipse tradit: ipse mihi trado
quod video; at alter mihi tradit quod narrat——Acron. 183. digna geri:
cf. Od. 1. 3. 25 n. promes: cf. Ep. 1. 1. 87 n. 184. facundia praesens,
'the eloquence of one who is now on the stage': this is better than to take it
of one who witnessed the deed, as many editors do, for praesens is naturally
contrasted with ex oculis.
185. ne=iva µn, not un. In the Medea of Euripides, the cries of the
children, as they are being murdered behind the scenes, are heard by the
audience (lines 1271, 1277): the chorus tells Jason of their fate (line 1309), and
then Medea appears in a chariot drawn by dragons, with the bodies of the
children (line 1317). In Seneca's play, in spite of the rule of Horace, the
murder took place on the stage. 186. Atreus: cf. line 91. 187.
Procne, according to the Greek form of the story, was changed into a night-
ingale, Philomela, her sister, into a swallow: the Romans generally made
Philomela the nightingale, and Procne the swallow, perhaps wrongly connecting
the name of the former with μέλος. Cadmus in anguem: cf. M. Arnold,
Empedocles on Etna: And there, they say, two bright and aged snakes, | Who
once were Cadmus and Harmonia, | Bask in the glens or on the warm sea-shore,
In breathless quiet, after all their ills. Cf. Eur. Bacch. 1330 seq., where
Sandys remarks: 'In another play Eur. actually represented on the stage the
commencement of the change, as is shown by the following somewhat
POETICA
605
NOTES
ludicrous lines, fragm. 922 οἴμοι, δράκων μοι γίγνεται τό γ' ἥμισυ· | τέκνον,
πepiπXákη0i Tŵ Xoiπŵ πarpi. Cf. Ov. Met. 4. 584, and Milton, P. L. 9. 505.'
189-192. A play must be of due length, and the intervention of a deity must
not be needlessly employed. 189. quinto actu: Greek tragedies were
divided into a πρόλογος, ἐπεισόδια, and an έξοδος, divided by choric songs (cf.
Aristot. Poet. 12), but the number of the éreιobdia was not always the same.
In the Oedipus Tyrannus for instance there are six 'episodes' (cf. Jebb p. 8);
in the Oedipus Coloneus there are five. The establishment of the rule requiring
three acts (nam tragoedia in tria dividitur, expectationem, gesta, exitum :
Donat. on Ter. Adelph. 3. 1), or including the prologue and the epilogue five,
has been assigned to Varro (cf. Ribbeck, Röm. Trag. 642). It was quite
unknown to the comic dramatists; the division of each of the plays of Plautus
and Terence into five acts is due only to the grammarians, and is often very
unskilfully made, being perhaps due only to this dictum in Horace. Still there
were no doubt pauses in the action of most, if not of all plays; and these were
filled up by the music of the flute-player; cf. Plaut. Pseud. I. v. 160 (at the
end of Act) tibicen vos interea hic delectaverit. Cicero knew a division into
three acts; cf. ad Quint. fr. 1. 1. 16. 46 illud te ad extremum et oro et hortor,
ut tanquam poetae boni et actores industrii solent, sic tu in extrema parte et
conclusione muneris ac negotii tui diligentissimus sis, ut hic tertius annus
imperii tui tanquam tertius actus perfectissimus et ornatissimus fuisse videntur.
The justice of the 'five-act' rule has been often, and not without reason,
disputed and some of the greatest modern playwrights, especially among the
French, prefer the division into three acts. 190. spectanda reponi, 'to
be reproduced as deserving to be seen.' spectata (='after being once
seen') is easier but has less MS. authority.
191. nec deus intersit Cf. the proverbial deus ex machina and Plat.
Cratyl. 425 D ὥσπερ οἱ τραγῳδοποιοί, ἐπειδάν τι ἀπορῶσιν, ἐπὶ τὰς μηχανὰς
KatαþeÚɣovσɩ Deoùs alρovтes, Cic. de Nat. D. 1. 20. 53 ut tragici poetae, cum
explicare argumenti exitum non potestis, confugitis ad deum; Arist. Poet.
15. 11 φανερὸν ὅτι καὶ τὰς λύσεις τῶν μύθων ἐξ αὐτοῦ δεῖ τοῦ μύθου συμβαίνειν,
καὶ μὴ ἀπὸ μηχανῆς. In the nine plays of Euripides where the deus ex
machina appears, 'the distinct purpose is to bring the action to a peaceful
close, and calm the minds excited and disturbed with the calamities, and still
more the apparent injustices, suffered by the actors' (Mahaffy, Euripides 122).
In the Philoctetes of Sophocles the appearance of Heracles ex machina is
needful in order that the struggle between two human wills, neither of which
could yield without an inconsistency fatal to the dramatic picture, might be
terminated by an expression of the divine will. 192. quarta. persona:
tragedy began with a dialogue between a single actor and the leader of the chorus
Aeschylus introduced a second actor, Sophocles a third (Arist. Poet. 4. 16 kal
τό τε τῶν ὑποκριτῶν πλῆθος ἐξ ἑνὸς εἰς δύο πρῶτος Αἰσχύλος ἤγαγε . τρεῖς
δὲ καὶ σκηνογραφίαν Σοφοκλής), employed also by Aeschylus in his later plays,
i.e. in the trilogy of the Orestea. These three actors formed a troop, and one
troop was assigned by the archon to an approved dramatist. loqui laboret,
'show anxiety to speak.'
•
·
• •
•
•
193-201. The part of the chorus in tragedy. 193. actoris partis .
defendat: the chorus should not stand outside the action of the piece, and
simply fill up the intervals between the scenes with songs slightly, if at all,
connected with the plot (éµßóλua) as often in Euripides and especially in
Agathon, but should take as direct a part in it as an actor does. Aristotle
606
ARS
HORACE
says (Poet. 18. 19) καὶ τὸν χορὸν δὲ ἕνα δεῖ ὑπολαβεῖν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν καὶ μόριον
εἶναι τοῦ ὅλου καὶ συναγωνίζεσθαι, μὴ ὥσπερ παρ' Εὐριπίδῃ ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ παρὰ
Zoookλeî. In Seneca's tragedies the choruses are quite unconnected with the
plot. 194. intercinat followed by the accusative without a preposition
as in Od. 1. 14. 19 interfusa nitentes aequora Cycladas. This construction of
a compound verb becomes very common in Tacitus: e.g. Ann. 2. 9 flumen
Visurgis Romanos Cheruscosque interfluebat; 3. 23 qui cognitionem intervene-
rant. 196. bonis faveat: the chorus almost invariably expresses the view
of right-minded spectators. 197. amet peccare timentes is the reading
of almost all MSS. Bentley objected to it as otiose after faveat bonis, suggesting
pacare tumentes which is certainly otiose after regat iratos. Kiessling, with
very slight authority, reads pacare timentes, 'to calm the timorous,' but the
phrase is a very strange one. 198. mensae brevis, i.e. of a table on which
there is a cena brevis Ep. 1. 14. 35. salubrem iustitiam, the blessings
of justice.' 199. apertis portis: cf. Od. 3. 5. 23 portasque non clausas.
200. tegat commissa: as in Soph. Electr. 469; Philoct. 391; Eur. Hippol.
712; Elect. 271, etc.
202-219. The music, which accompanied the chorus, underwent great
changes as luxury increased, and the language of the chorus became more
ornate. 202. tibia: see illustrations etc. in Dict. Ant.
·
•
orichalco :
a kind of yellow copper or natural brass quod praecipuam bonitatem admiratio-
nemque diu obtinuit nec reperitur longo iam tempore effeta tellure (Plin. H. N.
34. 2. 2). The Greeks called it ỏρeixaλкos (Hes. Scut. 122): the word is
common in Plautus in the form aurichalcum (e.g. Curc. 1. 3. 46) and seems to
be used vaguely for a precious metal, though in Curc. 1. c. it is distinguished
from aurum. Virg. Aen. 12. 87 has alboque orichalco, where the force of the
epithet is doubtful: cf. Conington ad loc. Cic. de Off. 3. 23. 92 speaks of
it as only worth one-thousandth part of the value of gold. tubaeque
aemula: the lengthening of the tibia by means of the brass vincturae would
tend to make it as powerful as a trumpet. 203. tenuis of sound 'thin,
weak.' foramine: Varro ait
quattuor foraminum fuisse tibias
apud antiquos, et se ipsum ait in templo Marsyae vidisse tibias quattuor fora-
minum. quare quaterna tantum foramina antiquae tibiae habuerunt: alii
dicunt, non plus quam tria--Acron. The tibiae pares in the British Museum
(found at Athens) are about 15 inches long, and have five holes at the top and
one underneath. pauco very rare in the singular: but Gell. 20. 1. 31
has iniurias factas XXV assibus sanxerunt. non omnino omnes iniurias aere
isto pauco diluerunt; Bell. Afric. 67. 2 pauco tritici numero; Vitruv. 1. 1. 6
paucum manum. The parvo of some MSS. is clearly a correction.
adspirareσvvavλeîv 'to give the note to.' adesse, 'accompany.'
quo in quae.
=
numerabilis, easily counted': Horace was the first to
use the word, which is probably derived from the similar use of evapilμntos :
cf. Theocr. 16. 87 ἀριθματοὺς ἀπὸ πολλῶν. sane not with numerabilis,
but of course.'
204.
206.
208. urbes: Schütz reads urbem, arguing that the reference can only be
to Rome, as in the preceding lines. But there is no reason to doubt that
Greece, and especially Athens, was in the mind of Horace quite as much as
Rome, if not more so, for there was apparently no great change in the music
or diction of the chorus at Rome. 209. latior: not of course actually
'thicker,' but with amplecti, 'to enfold in a broader circuit.' diurno: to
drink wine by day was regarded as excessive self-indulgence in earlier
POETICA
607
NOTES
times. 210. placari Genius: a Latin idiom (cf. Ep. 2. 1. 143; Od. 3.
17. 15 curabis Genium), but this does not show that Horace is necessarily
thinking only of Rome. inpune: non contradicente aut lege aut moribus
-Acron, with no fear of blame or punishment.' 211. numerisque mo-
disque: cf. Ep. 2. 2. 144. 212. liber laborum: cf. Virg. Aen. 10. 154
libera fati; Lucan 6. 301 libera legum Roma; Od. 3. 17. 16 operum solutis.
213. turpis honesto: special seats in the theatre (the orchestra) were not
assigned even to senators before 194 B.C.; cf. Livy 34. 54: for the lex Roscia
cf. Ep. 1. 1. 62.
motum and luxuriem
214. sic, quia indoctus erat populus-Acron.
seem naturally to describe 'rapid (musical) movements' and 'florid variations,'
but Orelli and others, referring to Cic. de Leg. 2. 49 and Arist. Poet. 26 where
extravagant gestures on the part of players are condemned, so explain the
words here. 216. voces, 'notes.' crevere according to the current
story the harp had but four strings at first, and this number was increased
to seven by Terpander (flor. 670-640 B.C.), and to ten by Timotheus (fl. 420-
380). severis: the music of the harp was always regarded as much
graver and less passionate than that of the flute, and therefore was the only
music allowed by Plato in his ideal State. 217. tulit, 'produced,' i.e.
brought along with it, as in Virg. Aen. 10. 792 fidem latura vetustas.
eloquium, a poetical form for eloquentia, used by Virg. Aen. 11. 383 tona
eloquio; Juv. 10. 114, and in later prose. The abruptness of the transition
from the music to the diction of the chorus, led Ribbeck to consider lines
217-219 spurious: but it is not out of place to note the change in language as
well. The language of the chorus became, like its music, no longer simple
but bombastic and oracular (i.e. unintelligible). praeceps, 'bold,' 'daring';
cf. Quint. 12. 10. 73 vitiosum et corruptum dicendi genus quod praecipitia
pro sublimibus habet. 218. sagax, 'skilled in,' with gen. as in Columell. 1.
praef. 22 sagacissimus rerum naturae. divina futuri: cf. Od. 3. 27. 10
imbrium divina avis. 219. sortilegis: divination by sortes, strictly speaking,
was not practised at Delphi, although it was at Dodona, and especially in
Italy at Praeneste and Antium: but the term was commonly extended to any
utterance of an oracle, as in Virg. Aen. 4. 346 Lyciae sortes; Ov. Met. 3. 130
Phoebeis sortibus; Cic. de Div. 2. 56. 115, where sors is used of the answer
sent from Delphi to Croesus. non discrepuit sententia Delphis,
'a compressed comparison,' for sententiae Delphorum: expressions like ‘that of’
are avoided in Latin, either by such compression or by the repetition of the sub-
stantive; cf. Od. 2. 6. 14 n. ; Cic. de Orat. 1. 4. 15 n.; Mayor on Juv. 3. 74.
•
•
220-224. The satyric drama developed out of tragedy, and was intended to
amuse the spectators towards the close of the day. 220. vilem ob hircum:
although the derivation of rpaywdia from τpáyos, 'a he-goat,' because this was
the prize offered for success in it, is now abandoned by the best authorities,
who derive the word rather from the goat-like appearance of the chorus, who
were dressed as satyrs, it was that generally adopted by the ancients; and
there is no doubt that a goat was regularly offered in sacrifice to Bacchus (cf.
Virg. G. 2. 380) and that this goat was assigned as the prize to the leader of
the victorious chorus. 221. mox etiam: Aristotle (Poet. 4. 17 dià tò ék
σατυρικοῦ μεταβαλεῖν) represents tragedy as originating in the song of a band
of men dressed as satyrs. Kiessling holds that Horace either did not know
or rejects this view. But the fact seems to be that while tragedy origin-
ated in the song of a band of satyrs, yet, as it developed, the chorus
608
ARS
HORACE
became very differently constituted; until Pratinas of Phlius, a contem-
porary of Aeschylus, restored the chorus of satyrs, and wrote plays for
them, which were the beginning of a new satyric drama. Satyros
nudavit: introduced a chorus of naked satyrs, i.e. began to write 'satyric
dramas.' These were a sort of afterpieces introduced after tragedies, lighter
in character and distinguished by a chorus of satyrs. The only extant
specimen is the Cyclops of Euripides. The length at which Horace discusses
the satyric drama, which is commonly supposed to have been unknown to
Roman literature, and took a subordinate place in Gk., is rather remarkable.
The grammarian Diomedes, however, describes the well-known Atellanae
fabulae as similes Satyricis fabulis Graecis, and Horace may be thinking of
these. Porphyrion says hoc est: satyrica (?= burlesques) coeperunt scribere,
ut Pomponius Atalanten vel Sisyphon vel Ariadnen. asper, 'roughly,'
'coarsely.' 222. incolumi gravitate, 'without any sacrifice of dignity,
sc. of the tragic characters who were introduced at the same time ;-there is
nothing comic in the character of Odysseus in the Cyclops of Euripides: nor
apparently in that of Herakles in the Syleus. Perhaps, however, we should
explain without sacrificing his own dignity as a tragic poet.'
223. morandus: spectator grata erat novitate retinendus, qui veniebat
post sacrificia iam pransus, iam potus-Acron. 224. functusque sacris :
dramatic representations at the Dionysiac festivals began very early in the
morning, but Horace's language here implies that the satyric dramas were
played towards the evening, a view which is inconsistent with the prevalent
opinion that plays were produced in tetralogies, a satyric drama coming after
each tragic trilogy. That satyric dramas, however, frequently were played
independently is clear from the statement of Suidas that Pratinas wrote fifty
plays, of which thirty-two were satyric. We do not know when the sacrifices,
with which a banquet was always associated, were offered: perhaps during the
interval for the second or later äpiorov (Bergk 3. 31), which may have come
between the tragedies and the satyric dramas. At the Dionysia it was con-
sidered the duty of all loyal worshippers of the deity to drink freely, and
reeling own the mighty wine-god's power' (Becker, Charicles 178); cf. Plato,
Leg. 6. 775 πίνειν δὲ εἰς μέθην οὔτε ἄλλοθί που πρέπει, πλὴν ἐν ταῖς τοῦ τὸν
οἶνον δόντος θεοῦ ἑορταῖς. exlex, i.e. ready to defy all laws, with no re-
ference to any special enactment.
•
·
ne, 'only so far as
commendare,
225-233. But in the satyric drama care must be taken that the language is
not low, or on the other hand bombastic. 225. ita
not to': less common than ita. . . ut; but cf. line 151.
i.e. to try to win the favour of the audience for the satyrs, by putting jests
into their mouths. 226. seria, the grave language of the heroic characters
in the satyric drama: ludo, the jests of the chorus of satyrs: 'to pass from
grave to gay.' 228. nuper: not necessarily in a tragedy performed on
the same day, though, when this was the case, it would give additional point
to the warning; nuper is used with great latitude of meaning. 229.
migret in tabernas, 'should descend to dingy hovels,' i.e. use the language
common in such places: tabernae usually denotes booths or workshops
(cf. Od. 1. 4. 13) and very rarely (without any qualifying adjective) 'taverns.'
230. nubes et inania, i.e. high-flown, empty verbiage, especially out of keep-
ing with the general tone of the drama. 231. effutire indigna: for the
infinitive cf. Ep. 1. 3. 35, and Od. 1. 3. 25 n. 232. moveri, 'dance,' cf.
Ep. 2. 2. 125: sunt enim quaedam sacra, in quibus saltant matronae, sicut in
POETICA
609
NOTES
sacris Matris deum-Acron. This refers doubtless to the Hilaria on March
25th. So Licymnia (probably=Terentia, the wife of Maecenas) in Od. 2. 12. 17
joins the dance sacro Dianae celebris die, where see note.
66
κύριον
•
•
234-243. The language of the satyric drama is to be something between
that of tragedy and that of comedy. 234. dominantia: a translation of
the Gk. Kúpia 'proper.' Cope, Introduction to Aristotle's Rhetoric p. 282 n.,
writes 'Kúpov (ovoua) is the "proper" word by which any object is designated,
and which is commonly employed to denote it. It is therefore opposed to all
the other kinds of words: to all figurative, foreign, archaic, or in any way
" words
uncommon
any words which strike us as strange or unusual.'
Cic. de Orat. 3. 37. 149 contrasts propria verba with metaphorical (quae trans-
feruntur) and newly introduced or coined (quae novamus et facimus ipsi)
expressions; cf. Quint. 8. 3. 24 propria, ficta, translata. nomina
verba: ὀνόματα phμатa, 'nouns and verbs' put for the whole of
language; cf. S. 1. 3. 103; Plat. Crat. 431 B. 235. Satyrorum scriptor,
i.e. if I were to write satyric dramas: the Greek critics sometimes use the
word σárupo in this sense, e.g. Demetr. de Eloc. 169 èπel σátvρov ypáŸei åvtì
Tрaywdías. Horace means to say that he would not confine himself strictly
to the plainest language, and avoid so completely the elevated tone of tragedy
as to reduce his semi-divine characters to the level of slaves in comedy.
ῥήματα,
236. differre with dat.; cf. Ep. 2. 2. 193; S. 1. 4. 48. colori: cf.
Ep. 1. 17. 23. 237. Davus: said to be from Aâos, a Dacian, the older
name of this tribe having been Aâo, according to Strabo 7. 304; the name is
typical for a clever slave, cf. S. 1. 10. 40 n. et audax: so vet. Bland.
though most MSS. have an, which is clearly wrong as only two classes of
speakers are distinguished. 238. Pythias, some girl who gets money out
of the old man Simo in some comedy. emuncto: a coarse expression,
chosen intentionally to illustrate the style too low for the satyric drama,
'chiselled'; cf. Terence, Phorm. 4. 4. 1 emunxi argento senes; Plautus, Epid.
3. 4. 62 qui me emunxisti mucidum minumi preti; Menand. Fragm. 482 yépwv
ἀπεμέμυκτ᾽ ἄθλιος. 239. Silenus, the oldest of the satyrs, and their
leader (cf. Eur. Cyclops), though riotous and fond of wine, was yet always
represented as full of knowledge and wisdom; cf. Virg. Ecl. 6. 31 seq.; Diod.
Sic. 4. 4 φασὶ δὲ καὶ παιδαγωγὸν καὶ τροφέα συνέπεσθαι κατὰ τὰς στρατείας
αὐτῷ (Διονύσῳ) Σειληνόν, εἰσηγητὴν καὶ διδάσκαλον γινόμενον τῶν καλλίστων
ἐπιτηδευμάτων, καὶ μεγάλα συμβάλλεσθαι τῷ Διονύσῳ πρὸς ἀρετήν. Evidently
it was not proper to put into his mouth the language of a low and knavish slave.
240. ex noto fictum carmen sequar: Horace has been speaking
hitherto only of the language of the satyric drama, and to this he returns in
line 244; hence it is best to explain carmen not of the substance of the poem
but of 'poetical style,' 'a style of verse.' Then fictum is 'artistically com-
posed,' and ex noto 'out of familiar materials,' ordinary words.'
'I will aim at'; cf. Ep. 2. 2. 143. ut sibi quivis . . . Orelli well
quotes Pascal, Pensées 1. 3 les meilleurs livres sont ceux que chaque lecteur croit
qu'il aurait pu faire. 242. series: cf. line 46 in verbis serendis. iunc-
tura: cf. line 48. 243. de medio sumptis: cf. Cic. Or. 49. 163 verba
legenda sunt . non ut poetae exquisita ad sonum sed sumpta de medio;
Quint. 5. 7. 31 verbis quam maxime ex medio sumptis.
•
sequar,
244-250. If the Fauns use the language of the streets, the better class of the
audience will be offended. 244. deducti: sc. in scaenam. Fauni :
virtually the Latin representatives of the Satyrs. Cf. Ep. 1. 19. 4. 245.
2 R
610
ARS
HORACE
ne velut innati triviis . . . 'born in the streets and almost dwellers in the
forum' is simply a phrase for townspeople. The Fauns are not to speak as if
they were natives of the city, and so fall into one of the two opposite vices of
language, affected sentimentality, and disgraceful coarseness. For forenses,
cf. circumforanei, subrostrani, Act. Ap. xvii. 5 åɣopaîoi ävdpes. It is a stronger
phrase than innati triviis, cf. Quint. 10. 1. 55 Musa rustica et pastoralis, quae
non forum modo, sed ipsam etiam urbem reformidat. 246. iuvenentur :
a word coined doubtless by Horace, on the analogy of augurari, auspicari,
interpretari, velitari etc., to represent veavieveσbai, which is used (1)= 'to show
youthful spirit,' (2) and, most usually, 'to act wantonly.' Here it seems to
describe an affected sentimental style of a lascivious (cf. teneris) character.
247. crepent: Ep. 1. 7. 84. dicta, 'jests.' 248. quibus est equus,
i.e. the equites. pater: only ingenui born in wedlock had a legal father
(cf. 1. 7. 54 n.), hence slaves and freedmen are excluded.
res, i.e. sub-
stantial citizens. 249. fricti ciceris, still a common article of food in Italy
(cecio fritto): cf. Plaut. Bacch. 4. 5.7. In Plaut. Poen. 1. 2. 116 we have triticum
et frictas nuces, which shows that fricti goes also with nucis 'roast chestnuts.
Martial speaks of cicer as the cheapest kind of food, 1. 104. 10 asse cicer tepidum
constat. The Añμos кvaµотρwg of Aristoph. Eq. 41 refers not only to his
favourite diet of beans, but also to the use of them in the ballot. 250
aequis . animis, 'with favour'; cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 129 quos aequus amavit
Iuppiter, and often.
•
251-274. The iambic metre originally consisted of six iambi until spondees
were introduced to give weight. It is a metre which must be handled with great
care, and the Greek models, not the rough Latin tragedians are to be imitated.
252. unde ='and therefore (i.e. because of its rapid character) it (the
iambus) bade the name "trimeter " attach itself to the iambic lines, although it
gave six beats (to a line) from beginning to end like itself (i.e. each foot being
an iambus).' adcrescere denotes the gradual adhesion of the name trimetrum
(as a sort of adgnomen) to the name iambeum (=laµßeîov) as a designation of
the verse.
The fact of the line being called 'trimeter' though there were six
beats is quoted to show the 'rapidity' of the iambic foot. For Ribbeck's
conjecture momen see Wilkins. 254. primus ad extremum: cf. Ep. 1.
1. 54 n. non ita pridem . .. these words present a grave difficulty, for in
the earliest iambics known, written 600 years before this time, spondees are
found frequently in the uneven places; cf. Archil. fr. 22 Bergk¹ кaí µ² oʊʊ'
ἰάμβων οὔτε τερπωλέων μέλει, and the same holds good for the earliest Latin
iambics. The difficulty is solved by supposing, with Orelli, that Horace is
giving, not a historically exact, but rather an ideal and half-humorous sketch
of the development of the verse, describing its various stages as they ought to
have been in theory, rather than as he had reason to know that they had been.
Iambic lines, he says, were originally pure, and have only admitted spondees
into their 'hereditary rights not so very long ago.' The spondee is only a
comparatively modern and pushing intruder. 256. paterna: Ribbeck
cannot get quite clear about the ancestry of the iambus, and therefore prefers
the conjecture of a certain Dutchman, alterna. This is to miss the sportive
tone of the whole passage, in which the iambus is made to 'give orders,' 'to
welcome' to be 'obliging' and 'long-suffering,' and to act 'in friendly fashion.'
A foot that can do all this, may surely be allowed 'hereditary rights.' 258.
socialiter: the iambic is 'obliging' and 'long-suffering' but cannot carry
the principle of 'taking the spondee into partnership' so far as to give up the
2nd and 4th places. Peerlkamp conjectures sextave, sed!
POETICA
611
NOTES
258. hic: sc. iambus, not, as some have taken it, an adverb ('here'=in
the 2nd and 4th places). Horace means that the iambus appeared so rarely
that they were hardly deserving to be called iambic trimeters; in some of the
extant fragments of Accius there are lines which consist wholly of spondees, with
the exception of the last foot. 260. cum magno: this position of the
words, for which Virgil would certainly have written magno cum, along with
the spondaic character of the line, produces a rhythm which imitates the sense.
262. premit: cf. Livy 3. 13. 1 premebat reum praeter vulgatam invidiam
crimen unum. It is not of course the iambic but the iambic by its rare
appearance which 'crushes' the verse of Accius.
ignoratae artis, 'of
ignorance of art' i.e. of the laws of poetry.
265.
263. non quivis . . . This and the next line are a concession made by
Horace: 'I admit that every one cannot tell a faulty line, etc., but am I on
that account (265) to take any liberties I like?' Note that 263 is itself
versus inmodulatus. 264. et I poetis, and indulgence is granted to
Roman poets, which poets ought not to need.' poetis is strictly the dative,
but requires to be understood again as an ablative after indigna.
vager, 'am I to move unchecked by law?' an : 'or am I to assume that
all will notice my faults, and therefore avoid them, cautiously keeping within
the sphere in which I may hope for indulgence?' The latter is the alternative
to be chosen: but Horace immediately goes on to say that this is not enough
of itself. The Greek models show that more than a mere avoidance of faults
is needed for excellence. For tutus, 'cautious,' cf. line 28.
•
•
268. vos: sc. Pisones. 269. nocturna diurna: cf. Ep. 1. 19.
11. 270. Plautinos: for Horace's opinion of Plautus, cf. Ep. 2. 1. 170 seq.
274. digitis: the fingers were used, not only to count the feet, but to mark
the ictus cf. Od. 4. 6. 35 pollicis ictum: Quintil. 9. 4. 51 tempora etiam
animo metiuntur et pedum et digitorum ictu intervalla signant quibusdam notis.
275-284. Thespis is said to have been the inventor of tragedy, and Aeschylus
to have improved it. Comedy followed, and was highly approved, until its licence
had to be checked by law. 275. tragicae genus Camenae, i.e. a class
of poetry called after the tragic muse. 276. Thespis (flor. 536 B.C.) was
undoubtedly the inventor of tragedy; but Horace has strangely mixed up
the origin of tragedy with that of comedy. The bands of revellers (κŵμo) who
went about the country παρὰ τοῖς ᾽Αθηναίοις ἐπὶ ἁμαξῶν καθήμενοι and
ἔσκωπτον ἀλλήλους καὶ ἐλοιδοροῦντο πολλά (Schol. on Lucian Ζεὺς Τραγωδός 6.
p. 388), developed into the Old Comedy, and jesting from waggons (rà ¿¿
ȧµá‡NS OKWµµAra) is frequently mentioned in connexion with merry-making,
but these jesters 'in waggons' have no connexion with the festal choir of the
Dionysia, nor, on the other hand, do we hear of travelling companies of
tragedians. 277. canerent agerentque: rather a loose expression,
seeing that there was as yet only one actor, i.e. the leader of the chorus, the
rest being merely singers. peruncti faecibus ora: this was limited to
comedy, where the actors are said to have smeared their faces with the wine-
lees of the new vintage (rpúč), and hence to have got their name rρvywôol,
a contemptuous word never used of tragedians.
278. personae: Horace here ascribes to Aeschylus inventions which must
have been made long before his time, probably in consequence of his reputation
as an improver of scenic properties generally. Cf. Suidas: Aloxúλos eûpe
προσωπεία δεινὰ καὶ χρώμασι κεχρισμένα ἔχειν τοὺς τραγικούς, καὶ ταῖς ἀρβύλαις,
ταῖς καλουμέναις ἐμβάταις, κεχρῆσθαι. On the Roman stage the mask was first
612
ARS
HORACE
• •
•
•
used, according to Donatus, by Minucius Prothymus about 120-100 B.C. ;
others say that Roscius first used it. As the orchestra was seated for spectators
at Rome, they were brought much nearer to the actors than in Greece, and
the innovation was disliked, cf. Cic. de Orat. 3. 59. 221 senes . personatum
ne Roscium quidem magno opere laudabant. Aesopus seems to have acted, at
least sometimes, without a mask; cf. Cic. de Div. 1. 37. 80 vidi in Aesopo
tantum ardorem vultuum atque motuum etc. honestae, 'handsome,' Virg.
G. 2. 392. 279. pulpita in Greek ỏкpíẞas: cf. Plat. Symp. 194 B
ἀναβαίνοντος ἐπὶ τὸν ὀκρίβαντα μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτών. 280. magnumque
loqui: both of loud utterance and also of high-flown distinction for which
Aeschylus was celebrated: cf. Arist. Ran. 823 Bрvxwμevos noeɩ þýμaтa Yoµdo-
παγή, and 1004 ἀλλ᾽ ὦ πρῶτος τῶν Ἑλλήνων πυργώσας ῥήματα σεμνά | καὶ
κοσμήσας τραγικὸν λῆρον κτλ.
281. his, ie. to Thespis and Aeschylus. Susarion, the reputed founder
of the Attic comedy, was at least as early as Thespis: but 'comedy did not
attract attention at first because it was not a serious pursuit. Thus the archon
did not assign a chorus to the comic poets till late . . . but it was not until
it had attained to some degree of form that its poets were recorded' (Arist. Poet.
c. 5). 282. libertas excidit: rappηola inpetu quodam suo delapsa est in
petulantiam-Orelli: liberty of speech degenerated into licence. 283. lege :
Suidas s. v. ᾿Αντίμαχος says ἐδόκει οὗτος ψήφισμα πεποιηκέναι μὴ δεῖν κωμῳδεῖν
¿¿ óvóμatos: this was in 440 B.C.; but the law was repealed three years
afterwards. The law passed by Syracosius (415 B.C.) seems to have been solely
to restrict comic writers from taking as their subject the profanation of the
mysteries. The oligarchs of 411 B.C. seem to have silenced political comedy
by terror not by law. 284. turpiter with obticuit; the disgrace lay
in the fact that the outrageous violence of the chorus had brought upon it the
restraint of the law.
285-294. Versatility and talent are by no means wanting to the Roman
poets: they have even shown originality in the dramas taken from their national
history; they might rival the Greeks if they were not so deficient in patient finish.
288. praetextas: on the analogy of togata and palliata this word (derived
from the toga praetexta worn by magistrates at Rome) ought strictly to be
praetextata, and both forms exist. The praetextae are defined by Paulus p.
223 м as plays quae res gestas Romanorum habent, and were first written by
Naevius, who composed two on the early history of Rome, Lupus and Romulus,
and one Clastidium, on contemporary history. Two are ascribed to Ennius,
one to Pacuvius, and two to Accius. For the comoedia togata of Afranius and
others, cf. Ep. 2. 1. 57 n. 291. o Pompilius sanguis: the nominative for
the vocative in solemn address as in Od. 1. 2. 43 almae filius Maiae; Livy 1.
24. 7 audi tu, populus Albanus; 8. 9. 4 agedum pontifex publicus populi
Romani: cf. too Virg. Aen. 8. 77; Ov. Heroid. 14. 73. According to Plutarch,
Num. 21, Numa Pompilius had four sons, Pompus, Pinus, Calpus, and
Mamercus, from whom the Pomponii, Pinarii, Calpurnii, and Mamercii were
respectively descended. 293. dies, 'time' and therefore feminine (Roby
337, S. G. 106), not singular for plural. coercuit, 'pruned.'
294. praesectum: so vet. Bland. and the oldest Berne MS. for the
vulgate perfectum, which would agree with quod and must be taken as pro-
leptic after castigavit, 'to perfection.' For ad unguem, used of workers in
wood or stone testing the finish of their work by passing the nail over it, cf.
S. 1. 5. 32 n. Now it is a common experience that the nail is more sensitive
POETICA
613
NOTES
to irregularities, when it has just been pared; and this is the meaning sug-
gested by praesectum, so that praesectum ad unguem' to the finest touch,' so
that the most sensitive criticism can detect no flaw. If perfectum is read it is
impossible to account for the much rarer word praesectum having got into our
older authorities.
295-308. This careful polishing is quite inconsistent with the notion that
poetry is produced in a kind of inspired frenzy. I would rather keep my
sanity as a critic, and teach others, without attempting verse myself. 296.
excludit sanos: cf. S. 2. 3. 322 n. 297. bona pars: just like our ‘a
good part,' 'a good many'; cf. Od. 4. 2. 46 meae vocis bona pars ; S. 1. 1. 61
bona pars hominum; Lucr. 5. 1025 bona magnaque pars; so Ter. Eun. 1. 2. 43.
Cicero has it in his dialogues (de Orat. 2. 3. 14), not in his speeches. It
seems a somewhat colloquial usage. non ungues ponere, i.e. neglects
personal appearance; cf. Ep. 1. 7. 50 n., and Tatian's description of the
Cynics (adv. Graecos p. 87) κόμην ἐπιειμένοι πωγωνοτροφοῦσιν ὄνυχας θηρίων
πeρipéрovтes. The long nails of these foolish fellows are also contrasted with
the 'pared nail' of true judgment, line 294. 298. barbam: properly the
mark of a philosopher (cf. S. 2. 3. 35 sapientem pascere barbam), but allowed to
grow by all who were careless of their appearance. The public baths were great
centres for social reunion. 299. nanciscetur, the subject is 'a man,' any
one of the 'good many' just mentioned. 300. Anticyris for Anticyra
in Phocis, cf. S. 2. 3. 82 n. There was another Anticyra on the Spercheius at
the head of the Maliac Gulf, and attempts have even been made to find a
third, but Horace clearly means any number of Anticyras,' just as we might
say 'ten Karlsbads would not cure you. 301. tonsori Licino: an unknown
barber. There is no reason for identifying him, as the scholiasts do, with the
famous Licinus who was a Gaul, taken prisoner by Caesar, and made his dis-
pensator. He was afterwards emancipated and high in favour with Augustus,
who made him procurator of Gaul in 16 and 15 B.C. There he acquired great
wealth, which became proverbial: cf. Pers. 2. 36; Juv. 1. 109 ego possideo
plus Pallante et Licinis; 14. 305 praedives Licinus. On him was written the
excellent epigram quoted here by the scholiasts: marmoreo tumulo Licinus
iacet, at Cato nullo, | Pompeius parvo: quis putet esse deos?
301. o ego laevus, 'how stupid I am'; laevus=σkaιós, cf. Virg. Aen.
2. 54 si mens non laeva fuisset. 302. purgor bilem: the verb is here
used strictly in a middle sense, like κa@aípоual, 'get rid of my bile'; cf. Roby
1102, 1126-7, S. G. 462, 471. sub horam, 'as the season of spring
comes on'; cf. Od. 1. 18. 14 n. Celsus 2. 13 says that hellebore, which was
in spring; and Porph. here has omnes verno
303. faceret,
• • •
a strong purgative, is best taken
tempore purgationem sumunt, quod vocatur xаðαρтiкÓν.
304.
i.e. if I did not keep my head clear by taking a purgative in spring.
nil tanti est, 'nothing is worth such a cost,' i.e. even the reputation of a
poet is not worth the loss of one's reason: the phrase is like our 'it's not good
enough,' or le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle. cotis: so Isocrates, when
asked why he taught others to speak but never spoke himself, replied κal ai
ἀκόναι αὐται μὲν τεμεῖν οὐ δύνανται, τὸν δὲ σίδηρον ὀξέα καὶ τμητικὸν ποιοῦσιν
(ps.-Plut. Vit. X Orat. 4). 306. munus et officium: sc. scribendi, to
be understood from nil scribens: of the two words officium is the stronger,
as carrying with it the idea of moral obligation. 307. opes, 'stores' of
material: formet, 'moulds'; cf. lines 108, 126; Ep. 2. 1. 128. 308.
virtus, i.e. a true knowledge of the canons of the poetic art: ȧperý.
614
ARS
HORACE
309. Here begins the third main division of the poem, and the rest of it is
but an expansion of the ideas of lines 307, 308.
309-322 (unde parentur opes). The first requisite for writing is sound
judgment and wide knowledge of human character, which can best be gained by
a study of philosophy: and this will win favour for a play. 309. recte
sapere, 'a sound judgment and correct knowledge' of the matter to be dealt
with. 310. rem, i.e. especially the facts of human nature and character.
Socraticae chartae, i.e. the writings of the followers of Socrates. Besides
Plato and Xenophon, Horace probably was thinking also of the writings of
Aeschines and perhaps Antisthenes: whether he included the later Academics
and Stoics is very doubtful. 311. verbaque . . . sequentur: cf. Cic.
de Orat. 3. 31. 125 rerum enim copia verborum copiam gignit; Cato's rule rem
tene, verba sequentur; and the saying of Asinius Pollio, male hercle eveniat
verbis nisi rem sequantur. 312. quid debeat, 'his duties towards' etc.,
not, of course, with any special reference to himself, but generally what duties
are owed by men. 314. conscripti, 'a senator': the word used alone in
this sense only occurs here. For the origin of the phrase patres conscripti,
see Wilkins. iudicis: cf. S. 1. 4. 123 n. 315. partes: Ep. 2. 1. 171.
318. doctum, picking up qui didicit 312; after learning all that can be
learned from books then study nature. vivas voces, 'language faithful
to life': cf. Plat. Phaedr. 276 Α λόγον ζῶντα καὶ ἔμψυχον, οὗ ὁ γεγραμμένος
εἴδωλον ἄν τι λέγοιτο δικαίως. 319. interdum . . . 'sometimes a play
with brilliant passages and correct drawing of character, though it has no grace
(cf. 1. 6. 38) from its lack of weighty and artistic language, gives more pleasure to
the people, and keeps their attention better than lines wanting in matter and
melodious trifles.' For speciosa locis cf. Quint. 7. 1. 41 plerique . . con-
tenti sunt locis speciosis modo vel nihil ad probationem conferentibus. Others
take loci of the loci communes of rhetoric, i.e. general remarks on subjects such
as piety, friendship, justice etc., which the orator has ready to hand so that
he can apply them to any particular case (cf. Quint. 5. 10. 20 loci . . . sedes
argumentorum in quibus latent, ex quibus sunt petenda). But a writer who
had the technical skill to use these could hardly be said to be sine arte, and
what Horace points out is that brilliant passages and characters that 'talk
like life' are often more effective than great technical skill in producing lines
with no stuff in them though exquisite in sound.
323. ore rotundo, the σтóμa σтρоyyúλοv of the Greeks, denoted a smooth,
easy style of utterance, so that Dionys. Hal. de vi Demosth. 19 uses σтpoyyúλn
λέξις πλατεία
Mégis as opposed to μaкρά and Tλareîa of 'well-rounded' periods, and
ascribes to Lysias (Jud. Lys. 6) ἡ συστρέφουσα τὰ νοήματα καὶ στρογγύλως
ἐκφέρουσα λέξις. The style of Lysias is nearly the exact opposite of what
some people mean when they talk of speaking ore rotundo. Conington's
'ready wit and rounded phrase' will do. 326. in partes centum: the
language is here not intended to be exact; the duodecimal, not the decimal
method of subdivision was always used at Rome. The as was divided into 12
unciae, the uncia again into 4 sicilici, or 24 scriptula or scripula; sometimes
even the scripulum was divided into 2 simplia, each
dicat:
cf. Od. 1. 27. 10 dicat Opuntiae frater Megillae.
327. quincunce: cf. Roby 447 seq., S. G. 189.
MSS.; one or two have superest, but supero not supersum seems to be the
technical word in such a case. poteras: so most MSS.; a few have
poterat. The past impf. is best explained as an expression of some slight im-
ठ
of an as.
Albinus is unknown.
328. superat: so most
POETICA
615
NOTES
patience: 'you might have told me by this time'; cf. Roby 1535, S. G. 643.
eueu, often used by the comic poets in approval. 329. redit, 'is added'
sc. to the quincunx: it denotes the opposite of the previous action, not merely
its reversal. fit, 'is the amount.'
330. an: so vet. Bland. and a few others; most have ad which points to
at, but an introducing a question which cannot be answered is better.
aerugo, used in S. 1. 4. 101 of the canker of malice, here denotes the canker
of avarice. Properly it is the rust upon copper coin. 331. speramus
has more authority than speremus; as Bentley says 'utrumque probum est, ut
nescias utrum utri praeferendum sit.' 332. cedro, the resinous exudation
of the cedrus or juniper-tree, was used to preserve books from decay: it was
smeared on the unwritten side of the roll; cf. Vitruv. 2. 9. 13 ex cedro oleum,
quod cedrium dicitur, nascitur, quo reliquae res unctae, uti etiam libri, a tineis
et a carie non laeduntur; Ov. Trist. 3. 1. 13 quod neque sum cedro flavus nec
pumice levis; Pers. 1. 42 has cedro digna locutus. cupresso: cf. Schol.
Cruq. cupressus autem est cedri species, unde confici solent capsulae, in quibus
reponebantur scripta poetarum contra tineas.
333-365 (quid deceat, quid non). A poet must be brief, not extravagant,
and neither empty nor too severe. Some slips may be pardoned; and a poem
must be judged as a whole; and with regard to its general style. 335.
brevis: Horace is himself one of the first masters of the terse speech that
sticks. 336. dociles and fideles are predicates and may be translated
best by adverbs. 339. ne, the reading of most MSS., though some give
nec, is final, not imperative. velit has the support of the better MSS.,
but many of the best editors prefer volet. 340. Lamiae: Lamia was
said to be a beautiful queen beloved by Zeus, but bereft of all her children
by Hera, whereupon she retired into a lonely cavern in the midst of wild
rocks, and there became a treacherous and greedy monster devouring the
children of others from spite; cf. Aristoph. Pac. 758; Vesp. 1035, 1177.
The word is derived from λáuos, 'maw,' with which is connected Xáμia=
λάμος,
χάσματα. extrahat, i.e. describe how it is drawn.
341. centuriae seniorum: consisting, in each division of the Servian
classification, of those who were over forty-five years of age. These older men
cared nothing for plays which had no useful lessons in them. 342.
Ramnes: the first of the three original centuries of knights, the other two
being Tities and Luceres (Livy 1. 13). The term refers only to knights equo
publico, who served as cavalry, and not to those who belonged to the ordo
equester by virtue of their census; and the period of service for cavalry was
limited to ten campaigns, so that all these equites would be under thirty.
celsi, 'haughty,' whether we take it as an epithet, or as an adverbial predicate
with praetereunt; cf. Livy 7. 16 celsi et feroces in proelium vadunt. 343.
punctum: cf. Ep. 2. 2. 99 n. 345. Sosiis: cf. Ep. 1. 20. 2; the book
pays the publishers. mare transit: here just in the opposite sense to
Ep. 1. 20. 13 (cf. note). Martial was read in Gaul, Spain, and Britain, and
complains that he gets no profit from his British readers (11. 3. 6.) Pliny,
Ep. 9. 11, is delighted to find that his works have a good sale at Lugdunum.
346. longum prorogat, 'extends to a distant day,' proleptic: as Soph.
Trach. 679 μείζον᾽ ἐκτενῶ λόγον.
348. nam neque . . . just as the string of a lyre may give the wrong
note, or a bow miss its mark, so a man cannot always produce the result at
which he aims. 350. quodcumque minabitur: sc. ferire; minor here
616
ARS
HORACE
being used as a stronger expression for peto. Madvig's suggestion quocunque=
quoicunque is needless. 352. offendar, fut. ind. rather than pres. subj.
aut...
aut: it would seem at first that there is not sufficient distinction
between the sources of error for the strongly disjunctive particles; but in-
curia appears to refer to faults arising simply from carelessness, parum
cavit to those due to the difficulties of the task, against which sufficient care
had not been taken.
"
353. quid ergo est? 'how stands the case then? 354. scriptor
librarius, ‘a copying clerk,' a slave set to this employment by his owner in
order to produce books either for his own library or for sale; cf. Marquardt,
Röm. Privatalt. 1. 157. 355. quamvis, 'however much': for the con-
struction cf. Ep. 1. 16..6; 17. 1. 22. et citharoedus: Bentley (followed
by most editors) read ut, which is good in itself, but has very slight authority.
357. multum cessat, 'often neglects his duty': cf. Ep. 2. 2. 14. Choe-
rilus cf. Ep. 2. 1. 232. 358. bis terve, 'twice, or even thrice,' whereas bis
terque (line 440) is 'twice, ay and thrice': the former raro, the latter=
saepe; cf. Bentley on Epod. 5. 33, where he rightly restored bis terque. Here
most MSS. have bis terque. 359. quandoque quandocunque. dor-
mitat Homerus: the Greek grammarians and philosophers delighted to
discover inconsistencies and errors in Homer, most of all Zoilus, known as
Ομηρομάστιξ. The connexion of thought in et idem
=
•
•
seems to be
'If a poet commits but few faults, these can be overlooked. If he is always
blundering, we ridicule him, even when to our astonishment he occasionally
goes right. But if he is to be judged by a high standard, then even occasional
slips annoy us, although after all he ought to be pardoned for them, if his task
is a long one. 360. operi longo: so most good MSS. Some have opere
in longo, which would have required fuit: besides the personification of the
work is pleasing rather than otherwise, though Ribbeck holds that Bentley
has by no means proved that a work can sleep.
361. ut pictura poesis: the comparison was made by Simonides: ¿
Σιμωνίδης τὴν μὲν ζωγραφίαν ποίησιν σιωπῶσαν προσαγορεύει, τὴν δὲ ποίησιν
Swyρapíav Xaλoûσav (Plut. de glor. Ath. 3), repeated in Cic. ad Herenn. 4. 28.
39 poema loquens pictura, pictura tacitum poema debet esse. See Lessing's
Laocoon. 362. abstes : a ἅπ. λεγ. 364. argutum acumen : Reid
on Cic. Acad. 1. 2. 7 points out how often argute is joined with acute in Cic.
366-384 (quo virtus, quo ferat error). Mediocrity is permitted in things
necessary, not in things which are produced only to give pleasure.
Hence no
one should write poetry without the requisite skill. 368. tolle: cf. Ep. 1.
18. 12. certis, not the same as quibusdam, but defining more precisely.
Cicero de Orat. 1. 26. 118 explains why we are such severe critics of those arts
which exist only to give us pleasure, and which miss their end altogether if
they fail to do so. 370. diserti, strictly speaking not so strong as
'eloquent' (cf. Cic. Brut. 5. 18 M. Antonius... disertos ait se vidisse
multos, eloquentem omnino neminem), but here practically equivalent to it.
371. Messallae: cf. Od. 3. 21 Intr. Of his eloquence Tacitus, Dial.
18, says Cicerone mitior Corvinus et dulcior et in verbis magis elaboratus ;
cf. Quintil. 10. 1. 113 at Messalla nitidus et candidus et quodam modo
praeferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam. Cascellius: an eminent lawyer,
distinguished however not so much for his learning (Dig. 1 tit. 2. 2. 45
Trebatius peritior Cascellio, Cascellius Trebatio eloquentior fuisse dicitur, Ofilius
utroque doctior) as for his wit and boldness (Macrob. 2. 6, 1 iuris consultus
POETICA
617
NOTES
urbanitatis mirae libertatisque: cf. Val. Max. 6. 2. 12 vir iuris civilis scientia
clarus, quam periculose contumax !). 372. in pretio est, ‘has his value':
a regular phrase of persons or things which not holding the highest place, are
yet of some value; cf. Plaut. Asin. 1. 1. 46 tu primus sentis: nos tamen in
pretio sumus; Poen. 1. 2. 117 primum prima salva sis et secunda tu secundo
salve in pretio : tertia salve extra pretium. 373. non homines, non di:
some MSS. invert these clauses, but columnae comes in much better as an anti-
climax with the order in the text: the word is itself a burlesque exaggeration
of the usual term pilae (cf. S. 1. 4. 71 n.) for the posts in front of the book-
sellers' shops. We may translate 'counters.'
374. symphonia: any kind of orchestral or choral music: so pueri
symphoniaci (Cic. pro Mil. 21. 55) are singing-boys: but the oxymoron is
doubtless intentional. Cicero often speaks of the symphonia as an accompani-
ment of banquets. 375. crassum: thickness was generally considered a
fault in the perfumed unguents, supplied by the hosts at a dinner, for which
cf. Od. 2. 3. 13; 7. 23; 3. 14. 7. Sardo melle: Porph. says Corsicum
et Sardum mel pessimi saporis est: this was in consequence of the bitter
plants (Virg. Ecl. 7. 41 ego Sardoniis videar tibi amarior herbis) and the
yews which grew there. papaver: cf. Pliny H. N. 19. 53. 168 papaver
candidum, cuius semen tostum in secunda mensa cum melle apud antiquos
dabatur. The Spartans in Sphacteria were supplied with μýкwv μeµeλitwµévn,
to allay hunger; Thuc. 4. 26. 376. duci cena: like aetatem ducimus Ep.
2. 2. 202; vita ducenda est Epod. 17. 63, etc. The sense is such things
being unnecessary, should be of the best quality or not offered at all. 377.
natum: cf. line 82. 378. decessit, 'has fallen short of.' vergit ad
imum, 'approaches the lowest': i.e. is little better than the worst.
•
380. pilae: indoctus nowhere else is followed by the gen. but cf. sollers
lyrae line 407, Od. 1. 15. 24 n. For ball-play cf. S. 2. 2. 11 n. The ball
and quoit were held in high esteem, but the hoop (trochus) was rather despised:
cf. Od. 3. 24. 57. 381. spissae: cf. line 205 and Ep. 1. 19. 41. inpune
=merito.
coronae: Ep. 1. 18. 53. 382. versus not governed by nescio,
but rather by fingere repeated. quidni: sc. audeat, of course; why shouldn't
he write poetry? He is free, has a good income, etc.' The reasons given for
his writing are intentionally absurd. 383. liber, opposed to servus,
ingenuus opposed to libertinus. census
summam, lit. 'having
had the summa equestris entered against you in the censor's books'; for the
construction cf. Cic. pro Flacc. 32. 80 voluisti magnum agri modum censeri
census es praeterea numeratae pecuniae centum triginta HS. milia. The
construction with abl. is more common. For the equestrian census cf. Ep. 1. 1.
384. vitio. i.e. 'there is nothing against him': cf. Ep. 1. 7. 56.
385-390. Even if you are well qualified to write do not be in haste to publish.
385. tu: sc. maior Pisonum. dices, 'will, I am sure, say.' invita
Minerva: explained by Cic. de Off. 1. 31. 110 neque enim attinet naturae
repugnare nec quicquam sequi, quod assequi non queas, ex quo magis emergit,
quale sit decorum illud, ideo quia nihil decet invita Minerva, ut aiunt, id est
adversante et repugnante natura. Cf. note on crassa Minerva S. 2. 2. 3.
386. id. . . iudicium, ‘such is your judgment,' a construction more common
with the relative. olim, 'at any time.' 387. Maeci: cf. S. 1. 10. 38
n., and Intr. 388. nonumque in annum: there is probably a
reference to the Smyrna of C. Helvius Cinna on which he spent nine years, cf.
Catull, 95. 1 Smyrna mei Cinnae nonam post denique messem | quam coepta
57.
•
•
•
·
618
ARS
HORACE
•
est nonamque edita post hiemem. But Horace refers here not so much to the
time spent upon the composition, as to the interval to be allowed to lapse
between the completion of a poem and its publication. Cf. Quintilian's
dedicatory letter to Tryphon: quibus componendis paulo plus quam
biennium. impendi; • usus deinde Horati consilio, qui in arte poetica
suadet, ne praecipitetur editio . . . dabam iis otium, ut refrigerato inventionis
amore diligenter repetitos tamquam lector perpenderem. 389. membranis :
usually membrana denotes the parchment case or wrapping of the papyrus roll,
which formed the liber (cf. Ellis on Catull. 22. 7); and so Kiessling takes the
word here (and S. 2. 3. 2), the finished poem in its envelope being put away
nine years before publication. 390. nescit reverti: cf. Ep. 1. 18. 71.,
•
391-407. The power of poetry is shown by the stories of Orpheus and
Amphion: it laid the foundations of civilization: and men were roused to war
and taught wisdom by its strains. 391. silvestres, i.e. when 'wild in
woods the noble savage ran'; cf. S. 1. 3. 99 seq. sacer sacerdos Threicius
of Virg. Aen. 6. 645. interpres Eur. Rhes. 936 µvoтηpiwv te tŵv
ἀπορρήτων φανὰς | ἔδειξεν Ορφεύς, and Plato (Protag. 316 D) mentions him with
Musaeus as having introduced τελετὰς καὶ χρησμῳδίας. He is the type of the
true seer, who is inspired to declare the will of heaven, and who is at once
prophet, priest, and poet. 392. caedibus: Aristoph. Ran. 1032 'Oppeùs
μὲν γὰρ τελετάς θ᾽ ἡμῖν κατέδειξε φόνων τ' ἀπέχεσθαι. victu foedo:
cannibalism. 393. tigres: the beasts appear following Orpheus first in
Eur. Bacch. 564 ἐν ταῖς Ὀλύμπου θαλάμαις, ἔνθα ποτ᾽ Ορφεὺς κιθαρίζων
ξύναγεν δένδρεα Μούσαις, ξύναγεν θῆρας ἀγρώτας. Cf. too Od. 1. 12. 11 n.
rabidosque: so many of the best MSS. including vet. Bland. Many however
give rapidos, but the use of the word 'ravening' is not justified by its
apparently active use scorching' in Virgil of heat (Ecl. 2. 10), of the
sun (G. 1. 92), of fire (ib. 4. 263) and of the dog-star (ib. 425). 394.
urbis has much more authority than arcis, and is clearly right. The arx
Thebana was founded by Cadmus, hence called Cadmea, while (Pausanias 9. 5.
1-3) Amphion and Zethus built the lower city. For Amphion cf. Od. 3. 11. 2
movit Amphion lapides canendo.
•
•
•
395. blanda: cf. Ep. 2. 1. 135. 396. sapientia, predicate, with the
infinitives in apposition, 'this was wisdom, viz. to. and it is implied
that poetry was originally of this gnomic and didactic character, e.g. in the
Hesiodic poems. 397. publica. Horace follows the division of the
Roman law: cf. Gaius 2. 2 summa itaque rerum divisio in duos articulos
diducitur: nam aliae sunt divini iuris, aliae humani. divini iuris sunt
veluti res sacrae et religiosae. 10. hae autem quae humani iuris sunt aut
publicae sunt aut privatae. 398. concubitu vago, 'promiscuous unions.'
The Epicurean conception of the early history of man upon the earth, which
Horace has in view here, is given fully in Lucr. 5. 925-1457. On much of
it Darwin's Descent of Man furnishes an interesting commentary. maritis,
the wedded'; Dig. 24. 1. 52 inter maritos nihil agitur. 399. ligno:
aereis enim tabulis antiqui non sunt usi, sed roboreis. in has incidebant leges,
unde adhuc Athenis legum tabulae džoves vocantur-Porph.
400. sic, i.e. as civilisation grew. honor: but in line 69 honōs.
honos is far more common in Cicero and Livy than honor, and is the
only form used by Virgil. Horace, Ovid, Tacitus and the later poets use the
vatibus: Horace is thinking of mythical poets
like Linus, Orpheus, Musaeus. 401. insignis: not an epithet of Homerus
two forms indiscriminately.
POETICA
619
NOTES
but 'gaining fame after these.' 402. Tyrtaeus, an Athenian sent (about
640 B.C.) to the aid of the Spartans, when hard pressed by the war with the
revolted Messenians. We have about 120 lines of his elegiac poetry, contain-
ing exhortations to valour, and smaller fragments of his eußarńpia, anapaestic
marching songs. His poetry was highly prized at Sparta, and sung in time
of war: on the strength of it Leonidas pronounced him ἀγαθὸς νέων ψυχὰς
αἰκάλλειν. mares: cf. Ep. 1. 1. 64. 403. exacuit: for the verb in
sing. cf. Od. 2. 13. 38 n. sortes, '(then) oracles (cf. line 219 n.) were
uttered in verse .' The oracles of Delphi, of Bakis, and of the Sibyl are
probably especially intended.
•
•
•
404. vitae monstrata via est, by the gnomic poets, Solon, Theognis,
Phocylides. gratia regum: Pindar, Simonides and Bacchylides were
patronised by Hiero and Thero, Anacreon by Polycrates of Samos. The rise
and prevalence of tyrants in Greece, and their desire of spreading culture
about them, created a demand, and a comfortable prospect for professional
court poets'-Mahaffy, Gk. Lit. 1. 206. 405. ludus, 'festivals'; cf. Ep. 2. 1.
140 seq. Acron refers this to the lyre, Orelli to the dramatic representations at
the Dionysia тà kaт' ¿ypoús in December, which marked the close of the year's
toil: both unduly limit the meaning. But Acron is right in taking et
finis as a quasi-adjectival addition, 'to finish their long toils.'
406. ne,
final: '(this I say) lest' etc.; cf. Ep. 1. 1. 13; Od. 2. 4. 1; 4. 9. 1.
408-418. Not only natural ability, but also trained skill is needful for
success in poetry. 408. natura an arte: a theme often discussed.
Pindar was perhaps the first to lay stress on the great importance of ouý, as
compared with μeλérn: cf. Olymp. 2. 86; ib. 9. 100 тò dè quậ KρátiσTov
ἅπαν· πολλοὶ δὲ διδακταῖς ἀνθρώπων ἀρεταῖς κλέος ὤρουσαν ἄρεσθαι, ἄνευ δὲ
θεοῦ σεσιγαμένον οὐ σκαιότερον χρῆμ᾽ ἕκαστον, though in Ol. 11. 20 he admits
Oý§ais dé ke þúvт' åpeтâ. Naturally Horace's solution of the question—that
both natural gifts and training are needed-is the one generally accepted. As
regards oratory Plato says (Phaedr. 269 D) ei µév σoɩ vπáρxei þúσei дntopikų
εἶναι, ἔσει ῥήτωρ ἐλλόγιμος, προσλαβὼν ἐπιστήμην καὶ μελέτην : and so Cicero
in his de Oratore often expresses his opinion that the first requisite for the
orator is natural capacity (e.g. 1. 25. 113 sic sentio, naturam primum atque in-
genium ad dicendum vim adferre maximam) but that he must also be omnibus
eis artibus, quae sunt libero dignae, perpolitus (72). Cf. also Ovid, Trist. 2. 424
Ennius ingenio maximus, arte rudis: and Am. 1. 15. 14 quamvis ingenio non
valet, arte valet, of Callimachus. Quintil. I. Prooem. 26 illud tamen in primis
testandum est, nihil praecepta atque artes valere, nisi adiuvante natura.
sic, 'to
409. divite vena: cf. Od. 2. 18. 10 n. 410. rude, 'untrained.'
quid prosit, 'what use it is,' is supported by all MSS. of any value; cf.
Od. 1. 26. 10 nil sine te mei prosunt honores. Bentley read possit.
such a degree.' 411. coniurat: Cicero never uses the word except in
the bad sense 'to conspire'; but Virgil and Livy have it simply for 'band
together.' Here the word seems specially chosen to denote the alliance of
two things generally reckoned enemies-genius and technical skill.
412. metam, properly denoting the two turning-posts in the Circus:
hence the word acquires two distinct meanings (1) turning-post, (2), as here,
goal. The former is far the more common, the regular word for 'goal' being
calx, cf. Ep. 1. 14. 9: see Wilkins. 413. puer, 'when a boy': sudavit et
alsit, 'has borne heat and cold': the tense is the true perfect, not the gnomic
or aoristic perfect. 414. Pythia cantat, 'plays at the Pythian games'; the
620
ARS
HORACE
•
•
construction is like that of Ep. 1.1. 50 coronari Olympia; cf. saepe Olympia
vicit Enn. in Cic. de Sen. 5. 14. At the Pythian games one of the chief con-
tests was in the νόμος Πυθικός, a description in music of the fight of Apollo
with the Python, including a song of victory and a dirge over the monster.
416. nunc is the reading of all our older authorities, and is right: 'now-
adays men think it enough to say ' etc., nowadays all you need do is to profess
yourself a great poet: the task needs no training but is as simple as not
coming in last in a child's game. Bentley contended that the contrast was not
between the present time and the past, but between athletes and poets; and
therefore read on very slight authority nec, which has been largely accepted.
417. occupet extremum scabies, 'deuce take the hindmost': hoc ex lusu
puerorum sustulit, qui ludentes solent dicere: quisquis ad me novissimus venerit,
habeat scabiem--Porphyrion. 418. sane, not 'modestly' (more sani
hominis), nor yet 'certainly' (=utique Or.), but 'altogether,' like sane sapis
often in Plautus.
419-452. The judgment of flatterers must not be accepted, but a rich poet
can hardly tell true friends from false ones. Quintilius was an honest critic;
and a good man will never conceal his friend's errors from him. 420. ad
lucrum, 'to make their profit out of him.' A crier endeavours to attract
purchasers by promising them good bargains; a rich man, who writes verse,
attracts an audience of flatterers by the hope that they will gain something.
The satirists are full of instances in which a dinner was the reward for listen-
ing to the host's poetry: e.g. Mart. 3. 1 haec tibi, non alia, est ad cenam
causa vocandi, | versiculos recites ut, Ligurine, tuos, etc.; cf. 2. 27; 3. 45; 7.
42; 9.14. Line 421 is repeated from S. 1. 2. 13. 422. si vero est: vero
does not here introduce a climax, as Schütz thinks, but is simply adversative :
a rich poet can get plenty of admirers, but I shall be surprised if he can tell
a true friend from a deceiver. unctum: cf. Ep. 1. 15. 44. ponere,
'serve up': S. 2. 2. 23; 4. 14; 6. 64; 8. 91; Pers. 1. 53 calidum scis ponere
sumen. 423. levi, 'of little credit'levi fide: the word has no reference
here to moral character. But as this use is rare of persons, and as pauper is
very seldom accompanied by an epithet, Geel has ingeniously conjectured velit.
atris, 'gloomy,' like atrae curae Od. 4. 11. 35. 424. mirabor: Ep. 1. 17.
26.
internoscere: cf. Ep. 2. 2. 93 n.; S. 1. 2. 63 quid inter | est.
425. beatus, 'for all his fancied happiness.'
?
427. versus tibi factos, 'verses composed by you,' cf. Ep. 1. 16. 25.
428. pulchre, etc. cf. Mart. 2. 27 laudantem Selium cenae cum retia tendit
| accipe, sive legas, sive patronus agas: | effecte ! graviter! cito ! nequiter !
euge! beate!' | hoc volui. facta est iam tibi cena; tace. 429. super
his: for super cf. Ep. 2. 1. 152 n.: his denotes 'one set of lines,' i.e. those
intended to inspire terror. In S. 2. 6. 3 super his is='moreover,' but with
etiam following it can hardly be so taken here. 430. saliet: admiration
was expressed by rising; Mart. 10. 10. 9 saepius assurgam recitanti carmina?
Cic. de Am. 7. 24 stantes plaudebant. The parasite over-does his delight: cf.
Quint. 2. 2. 9 at nunc proni atque succincti ad omnem clausulam non exsurgunt
modo, verum etiam excurrunt, et cum indecora exsultatione conclamant; Pers.
1. 82 Trossulus exultat tibi per subsellia levis.
431. conducti: in the earlier times of the republic women (praeficae)
were hired to sing a dirge over the departed one, in accordance with a custom
which seems to have been almost universal in the ancient world; cf. the com-
mentators on Eccles. xii. 5, St. Matth. ix. 23. So Lucilius (22 frag. 1 m lines
POETICA
621
NOTES
culullis
808-9 Lachm.) has mercede quae conductae flent alieno in funere | praeficae multo
et capillos scindunt et clamant magis. The masculine is due to the comparison
with false friends. 433. derisor: cf. Ep. 1. 18. 11. plus, more usual
than magis with verbs of emotion. 434. reges, 'princes,' i.e. wealthy men,
as in S. 2. 2. 45 epulis regum, or it may have its regular force here.
(or culillis): the derivation is uncertain, but the word is probably akin to
culigna=кvλíxvn (Fest. p. 51). 435. torquere: cf. Ep. 1. 18. 38. per-
spexisse: cf. line 98. laborent is on the whole better supported than
laborant; Bentley says sane quid modus subiunctivus hic faciat, non video, and
most recent editors (even Keller) follow him. But surely the relative clause
is suboblique. If the construction had been dicunt reges etc., the subjunctive
would have been almost necessary; as it is, it is at least legitimate. 436.
an, 'to see whether.' condes: cf. Ep. 1. 3. 24. 437. fallent, fut.
will not deceive you' i.e. if you take my advice='take care that they do
not deceive you.' sub vulpe: the reference is to Aesop's Fable (Phaedr.
1. 3) in which the fox praises the crow's voice, in order to make her drop the
cheese which he covets. So the flatterers of the rich poet are 'foxes,' and he
will do well to study their 'concealed purpose.'
438. Quintilio: Quintilius Varus of Cremona, whose death in 24 B.C.
Horace laments in Od. 1. 24, where he ascribes to him incorrupta fides nudaque
veritas. aiebat shows that he was dead at this time. sodes: cf. Ep. 1. 1.
62 n.
recitares: frequentative; Roby 1716, S. G. 720; Livy 3. 36. 8 si
quis collegam appellasset, ita discedebat etc. S. 1. 3. 4 is not parallel, because
the verb in the apodosis is also in the subjunctive, which makes the sentence
a pure hypothesis. 439. negares: Roby 1552, S. G. 650. 440. bis
terque: line 358 n. 441. tornatos incudi: the double metaphor is not
harsh, for the tornus was used for metals, e.g. brass, and the meaning is 'if
the finishing tool has been thrice applied without success, the misshapen thing
must be placed upon the anvil and hammered up, so that a new start may be
made.' Both metaphors are very commonly used of poetry. Cf. Ovid, Trist.
1. 7. 29 ablatum mediis opus est incudibus illud (sc. Metamorphoses), defuit et
scriptis ultima lima meis; Propert. 3. 32. 43 incipe iam angusto versus includere
torno; and see ἄκμων, ἀκονή, Pind. Pyth. 1. 86 ἀψευδεῖ δὲ πρὸς ἄκμονι
χάλκευε γλῶσσαν.. ἀποτορνεύειν in Greek. 442. vertere, 'to change
(cf. Ep. 1. 25. 39); but Orelli gives 'erase' with a reference to the phrase stilum
vertere. 444. quin, 'to hinder you from ': cf. S. 2. 3. 42 nil verbi pereas
quin fortiter addam. Roby 1646, S. G. 682. sine rivali: cf. Cic. ad
Quint. Fr. 3. 8. 4 o di, quam ineptus, quam se ipse amans sine rivali.
445. inertes, 'weak,' the virtute carentia of Ep. 2.2. 123. 446. incomptis
=incultis of Ep. 2. 1. 233. atrum: both 'black' in colour and also 'gloomy'
as being a sign of condemnation; so Pers. 4. 13 nigrum vitio praefigere theta
'to obelise wrong with a staring black mark.' 447. signum, the obelus —,
which was made with a cross stroke of the pen (transverso calamo) to
signify condemnation : cf. Lucian 40. 24 ô và xóa Ėinunduevos TÔI CU
ἐν τῇ παραγραφῇ τῶν ὀβελῶν. Aχ was similarly used, and that may perhaps
be rather intended here. ambitiosa recidet: cf. luxuriantia conpescet
Ep. 2. 2. 122 and for ambitiosus which is perhaps='pretentious' cf. Quint. 1. 2.
27 si ambitiosis utilia praeferet: 12. 10. 40 affectatio et ambitiosa in loquendo
iactantia. 448. parum claris: Horace like Virgil is singularly free from
the affected obscurity of the imitators of the Alexandrian literature. 449.
arguet,' will point out.' 450. Aristarchus: the great Alexandrian critic,
622
ARS
HORACE
•
who did so much to establish the text of Homer in the middle of the second
century B.C. Pope (Dunciad 4. 203) calls Bentley 'that awful Aristarch,' in
a passage which does infinite injustice to one who was among the freshest and
most vigorous of writers, as well as in the foremost rank of our scholars. Cicero
ad Att. 1. 14. 3 meis orationibus, quarum tu Aristarchus es.
451. nugae,
'trifling faults.' 452. derisum. 'flattered and treated uncandidly.'
453-476. A poet is as dangerous as a man with an infectious disease: if
he gets hold of you, he will bore you to death with his recitations. 453.
morbus regius: Celsus 3. 24 derives this name for 'the jaundice' from the
costly remedies which had to be applied, which were only within the reach of
the wealthy (reges): per omne tempus utendum est exercitatione, frictione .
lecto etiam et conclavi cultiore, lusu, ioco, ludis, lascivia, per quae mens exhilare-
tur, ob quae regius morbus dictus videtur. It is not contagious. 454.
fanaticus error: properly the frenzy of worshippers in the shrine (fanum)
of (the oriental) Bellona: cf. Juv. 4. 123 ut fanaticus oestro percussus, Bellona,
tuo divinat; here it is probably 'lunacy,' for iracunda Diana is an explana-
tory addition, not, as Schütz thinks, a different kind of disorder. For Diana
= Luna cf. Catull. 34. 15. 16 tu potens trivia et notho es dicta lumine Luna:
cf. Od. 4. 6. 38. The word lunaticus is not common before the Vulgate, but
ef. σεληνιακός, σεληνόβλητος, σεληνιάζομαι. 456. agitant, tease, worry':
cf. S. 1. 3. 133.
457. sublimis, 'with head in air,' nom. sing. A misunderstanding has
led to the reading sublimes in some MSS. ructatur: a rather coarse
expression used designedly. épeúyoμai in Hellenistic Greek is simply="utter,'
cf. St. Matth. xiii. 35 èpeúžoµaι кекρνµµéνа åπò катаßоλîs, Ps. xlv. 1 eructavit
cor meum. 459. in puteum: cf. Ep. 2. 2. 133. The story of Thales who
fell into a well as he was looking up at the stars, is referred to by Plato, Theaet.
174 A.
longum, ‘aloud,' so that the sound goes far; imitated from Homer's
μακρὸν ἄυσεν, Il. 3. 81. 460. non sit, the simple hypothetical subjunctive,
'although he cries out, no one would . . .' being='if he cried out no one
would. tollere: cf. Ep. 1. 17. 61.
461. si curet quis: the editions before Bentley had for the most part si
quis curet against the MSS. Bentley corrected, calling attention to the practice
of Horace, when a word is repeated, not to allow the accent to fall in the same
place; tollere cúret, si curét quis. Keightley has collected a number of instances
from Greek and Latin, and from various modern languages, in a note on Milton's
Lycidas 5.165 'weep nó more, woful shepherds, weep no móre'; e.g. Soph. Phil.
1041 τίσασθε, τίσασθ᾽ ἀλλὰ τῷ χρόνῳ ποτέ. Cf. also Lachmann on Propert.
p. 111.
462. qui scis, an: cf. line 436; Plaut. Most. 58 qui scis an
tibi istuc prius eveniat quam mihi? Roby 1764. prudens, 'deliberately.'
proiecerit has quite as much authority as deiecerit: ideo hic praeferendum
proiecerit, quia proicere animam, proicere se, quae in bonis scriptoribus saepe
occurrunt, ubique habent significationem voluntarii discriminis deque eo
dicuntur, qui servari aut nolit aut desperet'-Bentley.
463. Siculique poetae: the accounts of the death of Empedocles varied:
the best authenticated is that after an active political life in Agrigentum he
was compelled to leave it and retire to the Peloponnesus, where he died
(probably about 432 B.C.): his followers seem afterwards to have invented in
his honour a myth that he had disappeared mysteriously at a sacrificial banquet ;
while his enemies accounted for his disappearance by saying that he had thrown
himself down the crater of Etna, in the hope that he might be considered to
POETICA
623
NOTES
have been carried to heaven, but that the trick was discovered when one of his
bronze sandals was cast up by the volcano. 464. deus: cf. Emped. frag.
χαίρετ', ἐγὼ δ' ἔμμιν θεὸς ἄμβροτος, οὐκέτι θνητός Empedocles was a strong
believer in metempsychosis, and this may have been distorted into the basis of
such a charge. 465. frigidus, 'in cold blood,' jocularly contrasted with
ardentem. Acron has 'in his folly': 'Empedocles enim dicebat tarda ingenia
frigido circa praecordia sanguine impediri' (his own line is alua yàp áv0pú-
ποις περικάρδιον ἐστι νόημα), but the reference seems too obscure to be intended
here. 467. idem occidenti: for the dat. 'the same with,' 'the same as
cf. Lucret. 3. 1038 eadem aliis sopitu' quietest; 4. 1174 eadem facit . omnia
turpi 'she does, in all things, the same as the ugly woman,' Roby 1142. Seneca
Phoen. 100 has occidere est vetare cupientem mori, an exaggerated imitation, for
Horace only means that in each case violence is done to the wishes of the person
concerned. This is the only spondaic hexameter in Horace. 468. iam, 'at
once' with fiet. 469. famosae, 'notorious'; cf. Ep. 1. 19. 32.
•
470. cur, i.e. what sin he has committed, in consequence of which the
gods have sent upon him this frenzy. 471. bidental: when a place was
struck with lightning, it was the custom condere fulmen, with a sacrifice of
sheep (bidentes), and to enclose the spot with a wall. Another derivation quod
bis fulmine percussum est is evidently wrong, though Acron prefers it. 473.
valuit, common in poetry for potuit, 'has succeeded in bursting.' Roby 1454,
S.G. 591. 2. 476. non missura hirudo, 'like a leech, which will
not let go': the simile passes into a metaphor, as often in Horace: cf. Ep. 1.2.42.
•
a Nerio, S. 2. 3. 69
abi, Ep. 2. 2, 105
INDEX
(Chiefly to the Notes)
ablative of agent without ab, Od. 1.
6. 1; S. 1. 6. 116; Ep. 1. 1. 94
abnormis, S. 2. 2. 3
abscissus, S. 2. 3. 303
Academus, Ep. 2. 2. 45
Accius, S. 1. 10. 53; Ep. 2. 1. 56
accusative of reference, S. 1. 1. 5 ; 1.
6. 76; 2. 7. 38
in apposition to sentence, Od. 3.
20.7
acervus ruens, Ep. 2. 1. 47
acetum, S. 1. 8. 32; 2. 3. 117
adjectives followed by the gen. when
they signify power, Od. 1. 6. 10;
knowledge, 1. 15. 24; abundance,
3. 6. 17; desire, 3. 27. 29
verbal in -ax, with gen., Od. 3. 3. 1
admirari nil, Ep. 1. 6. 1
adnuo, Od. 4. 6. 22
adorea, Od. 4. 4. 41
adrasus, Ep. 1. 7. 50
adscribo, Od. 3. 3. 35
adsidet, Ep. 1. 5. 14
adsitus, Ep. 2. 2. 170
adspergo, S. 1. 4. 87
Achaemenes, Od. 2. 12. 21; 3. 1. 44; adverso litore, S. 2. 3. 184
Epod. 13. 8
Achaicus, Od. 4. 3. 5
Achilles, Od. 1. 8. 13; gen. of, 1. 15.
33; character of, 2. 4. 2; A. P. 120;
Od. 4. 6. 13; short-lived, 2. 16. 29 ;
spear of, 4. 6. 7
acinaces, Od. 1. 27. 5
acipenser, S. 2. 2. 47 ·
Actia pugna, Ep. 1. 18. 61
actus, A. P. 189
ad unguem, S. 1. 5. 32
ad Vestae, S. 1. 9. 35
addictus, Ep. 1. 1. 14
additus, Od. 3. 4. 78
adesse, S. 1. 9. 38; 2. 6. 35
adfigo, S. 1. 1. 81
adflo with dat., S. 2. 8. 95
adjectives in -bilis, Od. 1. 3. 22
-bilis, Od. 1. 24. 7
|
adverb qualifying noun, Od. 3. 17. 9
Aeacus, Od. 2. 13. 24; 3. 19. 3
aedes, Od. 1. 30. 41
Aefula, Od. 3. 29. 6
aegis, Od. 1. 15. 11; 3. 4. 57
Aemilius ludus, A. P. 32
aemulari, Od. 4. 2. 1
aeneus, Od. 1. 33. 11; 3. 3. 65
Aeolius= 'connected with Sappho,'
Od. 2. 13. 24; 4. 9. 11; lyric, 3.
30. 13
aequalis, Od. 1. 8. 5
aequatus, Ep. 2. 1. 25
aequus, Od. 3. 4. 48; Ep. 1. 17. 24;
A. P: 10
aer=mist, Od. 2. 7. 13
aera, Od. 4. 8. 2
aere in meo, Ep. 2. 2. 12
aerugo, S. 1. 4. 101; A. P. 330
formed from past. part. adj. in Aesop's fables, S. 1. 6. 22; 2. 3. 299
neuter=adverb, Od. 1. 22. 23
with inf., Od. 1. 3. 25
Aesopus, the actor, S. 2. 3. 239; Ep.
2. 1. 82
aestivus, Ep. 1. 5. 9
2 S
626
HORACE
aestuosus, Od. 1. 22. 5; 1. 31. 5
aestus, Ep. 1. 2. 8
aetas, Ep. 1. 20. 10
Aethiops, Od. 3. 6. 14
Aetolus, Ep. 1. 18. 46
aevuma generation, Od. 2. 9. 13
Afranius, Ep. 2. 1. 57
Africanus, Epod. 9. 23
Africus='Sirocco,' Od. 3. 23. 5
agaso, S. 2. 8. 72
agger of Servius, S. 1. 8. 15
agilis, Ep. 1. 1. 16; 1. 3. 21
agnina, Ep. 1. 15. 35
ago act a part, S. 2. 6. 111
amoebaeic verse, Od. 3. 9 Int.
amoenus, Ep. 1. 16. 15
Amphiaraus, Od. 3. 16. 11
Amphion, Od. 3. 11. 2; Ep. 1. 18. 40
ampulla, A. P. 97
ampullor, Ep. 1. 3. 14
amystis, Od. 1. 36. 14
Anacreon, Od. 1. 7. 18; 4. 9. 9 ;
Epod. 14. 12; copied, Epod. 13. 2
analectae, S. 2. 8. 12
ancilia, Od. 3. 5. 10
Ancus, Ep. 1. 6. 27
animosus, Od. 3. 4. 20
anser, gender of, S. 2. 8. 87
Agrippa, Od. 1. 6 Int. ; S. 2. 3. 185; antemnae, Od. 1. 14. 6
Ep. 1. 6. 26
Agyieus, Od. 4. 6. 28
Ajax (Oilei), Od. 1. 15. 18; Epod. 10. 13
son of Telamon, Od. 2. 4. 5; S. 2.
3. 187
Alban wine, Od. 4. 11. 2; Alban
mount, Ep. 1. 7. 10; 2. 1. 27
Albinovanus, Ep. 1. 8. 1
Albucius, S. 2. 1. 48; 2. 2. 67
albus, Ep. 2. 2. 189
Alcaeus, Od. 1. 32. 5; imitated, 1.
9 Int.; 1. 14 Int.; 1. 18. 1; 1.
37. 1
Antenor, Ep. 1. 2. 9
antestor, S. 1. 9. 76
Anticyra, S. 2. 3. 83; A. P. 300
Antilochus, Od. 2. 9. 14
Antimachus, A. P. 146
Antiochus, Od. 3. 6. 35
Antium, Od. 1. 35. 1
Antonius (Iulus), Od. 4. 2 Int.
- Musa, Ep. 1. 15. 3
M., not mentioned, Od. 1. 37
Int.; 3. 4. 79; 3. 8. 18; S. 1. 5. 33
Anxur, S. 1. 5. 26
Apella, S. 1. 5. 100
ales=an omen, Od. 1. 15. 5; Epod. Apelles, Ep. 2. 1. 239
10. 1
Alfenus, S. 1. 3. 130
alga, Od. 3. 17. 10; S. 2. 5. 8
apex=a crown, Od. 1. 34. 14; 3. 21.
19
apium, Od. 2. 7. 23
Algidus, Od. 1. 21. 6 ; 3. 23. 9; 4. Apollo healer, Od. 1. 21. 13; temple
4. 58
alius, with abl., S. 2. 3. 208; Ep. 1.
16. 20; 2. 1. 240
allegory, Od. 1. 14 Int.
Allifae, S. 2. 8. 39
alliteration, Od. 3. 2. 1; 3. 6. 20; 4.
2. 28
Allobrox, Epod. 16. 6
of, Ep. 1. 3. 17; 2. 2. 94; statue
of, Od. 1. 31. 1; destroyer, 2. 10.
19; archer, 3. 4. 60; Lycian, 3. 4.
62; god of poets, 3. 30. 15; born
at Delos, 4. 3. 6; god of the lyre,
4. 15. 1
Apollo and Diana, Od. 1. 21 Int.; 4.
6 Int.
almus, Od. 3. 4. 42; 4. 7. 7; C. S. 9 apotheca, S. 2. 5. 7
alumnus, Od. 3. 18. 4
Alyattes, Od. 3. 16. 41
amator, Od. 3. 4. 79
ambiguus, Od. 1. 7. 29
ambitio='flattery,' S. 1. 6. 52; 1. 10.
84;='ceremony,' S. 2. 6. 18
ambitiosus, Od. 1. 36. 20
ambubaiae, S. 1. 2. 1
ambulo, Epod. 4. 5; 5. 71
amice pati, Od. 3. 2. 1
Appi forum, S. 1. 5. 3
Appia via, Epod. 4. 14; S. 1. 5. 6;
Ep. 1. 6. 26
Appius Claudius, S. 1. 6. 21
apricus, Ep. 1. 6. 24
aptus solibus, Ep. 1. 20. 24
Apulia, quantity of, Od. 3. 4. 9; S.
1. 5. 77
Apulicus, Od. 3. 24. 4
Aquarius, S. 1. 1. 36
INDEX
627
Aquilo, Ep. 2. 2. 201
Aquinum, Ep. 1. 10. 26
Arabes, Od. 1. 29. 1
ater='deadly,' Od. 1. 37. 27; 2. 14.
17; Epod. 6. 15; Ep. 2. 2. 189;
A. P. 3, 446
arbiter, Od. 1. 3. 15; Epod. 5. 50; Atlas, the limit of the world, Od. 1.
Ep. 1. 11. 26
arbiter bibendi, Od. 1. 4. 18
arbitrio, S. 2. 3. 86; 2. 5. 105
Arbuscula, S. 1. 10. 77
arbustum, Od. 3. 1. 9
arceo, A. P. 64
arcesso, Ep. 1. 5. 6 ; 2. 1. 167
archaic words, Od. 1. 34. 5; 2. 19.
20; 3. 5. 38; 4. 11. 8
Archiacus, Ep. 1. 5. 1
Archilochus, S. 2. 3. 12; Ep. 1. 19. 23
Archytas, Od. 1. 28. 2
Arctos, Od. 2. 15. 16
Arcturus, Od. 3. 1. 27
ardens, Od. 1. 4. 7
ardeo='am in love,' Od. 2. 4. 7 ; 3.
9. 5; 4. 2. 23; 4. 9. 13
ἀρετάλογοι, S. 1. 1. 120
argentum, Ep. 1. 2. 44; 1. 6. 17; 1.
18. 23
Argeus, Od. 2. 6. 5
Argos, Od. 1. 7. 9; Ep. 2. 2. 128
argutus, Od. 4. 6. 25; Ep. 1. 14. 42
Aricia, S. 1. 5. 1
Aristarchus, A. P. 450
Aristippus, S. 2. 3. 100; Ep. 1. 1.
18; 1. 17. 13
Aristophanes, S. 1. 4. 1
Armenius, Ep. 1. 12. 27
armus, S. 1. 6. 106; 2. 4. 44; 2. 8.
89
Arrius, S. 2. 3. 86
arrogare, Od. 4. 14. 40; Ep. 2. 1. 35
ars=a virtue, Od. 3. 3. 9; 4. 15. 12;
Ep. 2. 1. 13; artes='works of
art,' 4. 8. 5
artus, Ep. 1. 18. 30
arvum, Ep. 1. 16. 2
arx, Od. 1. 2. 32
Asella, Ep. 1. 13 Int.
assonance, Od. 1. 2. 1; 2. 1. 20; 2.
1. 35; 3. 4. 69; 3. 18. 14
Assyrius, A. P. 118
astrology, Od. 1. 11. 3; 2. 17. 17
asyndeton, Od. 3. 25. 7; Epod. 17. 21
at in curses, Epod. 5. 1
Atabulus, S. 1. 5. 78
atavus, Od. 1. 1. 1
34. 11
atqui, Od. 1. 23. 9
Atridă, vocat., S. 2. 3. 187; Atridē,
Ep. 1. 7. 42
atrium, Od. 3. 1. 45
Atta, Ep. 2. 1. 79
Attalus, Od. 1. 1. 12; 2. 18. 5
attraction, S. 1. 4. 2; 1. 6. 15; 1.
10. 16; 2. 2. 59
auctor, Od. 3. 3. 66 ; 3. 5. 46
audio='am called,' S. 2. 6. 20; 2. 7.
101; Ep. 1. 16. 17
aufer with inf., S. 2. 7. 43
Aufidius Lurco, S. 2. 4. 24
Aufidus, Od. 3. 30. 10; S. 1. 1. 58
augur, Od. 1. 2. 32
Augustus, triple triumph, Od. 1. 2
Int.; princeps senatus, 1. 2. 50; 1.
21. 14; defeats Cantabri, 2. 6. 2 ;
reforms morals, 2. 15 Int.; 3. 6
Int.; 4. 5. 21; restores temples, 3.
6 Int.; 2. 15. 20; deified, 1. 2.
45; 3. 3. 11; 4. 5. 34; called
Augustus, 3. 3. 11; S. 2. 1. 11; Od.
4. 14. 3; Caesar, 4. 15. 4; original
name, 3. 14. 7; S. 1. 3. 4; pater
patriae, Od. 1. 2. 50 ; 3. 24. 27; in
Gaul, 4. 5 Int. ; founds ludi saecu-
lares, 4. 6 Int.; his health, Ep. 1.
13. 3; his policy, 2. 1. 2
aula, Ep. 1. 1. 87; 1. 2. 65
aulaea, Od. 3. 29. 15; S. 2. 8. 54 ;
Ep. 2. 1. 189
Aulon, Od. 2. 6. 18
aurem substringe, S. 2. 5. 95
aureus, Od. 1. 5. 9 ; 2. 10. 5; 4. 2. 23
auritus, Od. 1. 12. 11
auspex, Od. 1. 7. 27; 3. 27. 8; Ep.
1. 3. 13
auspicia, Ep. 2. 1. 253
auspicium facere, Ep. 1. 1. 86
Auster Sirocco, Od. 2. 14. 15; Ep.
2.2. 202
autumo, S. 2. 3. 45
autumn unhealthy, Od. 2. 14. 15
Avernalis, Epod. 5. 26
averro, S. 2. 4. 37
avis=an omen, Od. 1. 15. 5
628
HORACE
Babylonian astrologers, Od. 1. 11. 2
baca pearl, S. 2. 3. 241
=
Bacchus Dionysus, Od. 2. 19 Int. ;
god of inspiration, 2. 19. 6; 3. 8.
6; deified hero, 3. 3. 9
Baiae, Od. 3. 4. 24; Ep. 1. 1. 83; 1.
15. 2
balanus, Od. 3. 29. 4
balatro, S. 1. 2. 2
Balatro Servilius, S. 2. 8. 21
Balbinus, S. 1. 3. 41
balbutio, S. 1. 3. 48
ball, game of, S. 1. 5. 48
Bandusia, Od. 3. 13 Int.
barbaria Phrygia, Ep. 1. 2. 7
=
books, Ep. 1. 13. 6; locked up, 1.
20. 3; exported, 1. 20. 13
boots of senators, S. 1. 6. 27
Bosphorum, Od. 2. 13. 14
Brenni, Od. 4. 14. 10
brevis' short-lived,' Od. 2. 3. 13
Britanni, Od. 1. 21. 15; 1. 35. 30; 3.
4. 33; 3. 5. 3; 4. 14. 47; Epod.
7.7
bruma, Od. 2. 6. 18
Brundisium, S. 1. 5 Int. ; 1. 5. 104;
Ep. 1. 17.52
Brutus, M., Od. 2. 7. 2; S. 1. 7. 18
Bullatius, Ep. 1. 11 Int.
Bupalus, Epod. 6. 13
barbarus, Od. 2. 4. 9; 3. 25. 11; burial, Ep. 2. 1. 268
Epod. 5. 61
barbitos, Od. 1. 32. 4
Byzantine pickles, S. 2. 4. 66
barbers, Od. 1. 12. 41; 2. 15. 11; caballus, S. 1. 6. 59; Ep. 1. 7. 88
shops of, S. 1. 7. 3
Barium, S. 1. 5. 97
Bassareus, Od. 1. 18. 11
beards of philosophers, S. 2. 3. 35
beatus of a lover, Od. 1. 27. 11;=
‘rich,' 1. 29. 1; Ep. 1. 2. 44
double meaning, Od. 2. 2. 18; 4.
9. 46; 'deified,' 2. 19. 13
Bellerophontes, Od. 3. 12. 8
Bellona, S. 2. 3. 223
beluosus, Od. 4. 14. 47
bene with adj., Od. 2. 12. 15; bene
est, 3. 16. 43; S. 2. 2. 120; 2.
6. 4
Beneventum, S. 1. 5. 71
benigne, Ep. 1. 7. 16, 62
benignus, Od. 1. 9. 6
Berecyntus, Od. 1. 18. 13; 3. 19. 18
Bestius, Ep. 1. 15. 37
Cadmus, S. 1. 6. 39; A. P. 187, 394
Caecilius, Ep. 2. 1. 59
Caecuban wine, Od. 1. 20. 9; 1. 37.
5; 2. 14. 25; Epod. 9. 1; S. 2.
8. 15
caecus, Od. 2. 13. 16; 3. 27. 21
caelebs, Od. 2. 15. 4; Ep. 1. 1. 88
caelestis, Od. 4. 2. 18
caementa, Od. 3. 1. 33
Caerite cera, Ep. 1. 6. 62
Caesar, Jul., Od. 1. 2 Int.
caesural lengthening, S. 1. 5. 90
Calaber, Od. 4. 8. 20; Ep. 1. 7. 14
Calabria, pastures of, Od. 1. 31. 5;
Epod. 1. 27
Cales, wine of, Od. 1. 20. 9; 1. 31. 9;
4. 12. 14
calices maiores, S. 2. 8. 35
caliendrum, S. 1. 8. 48
Bibulus, Od. 3. 28. 8; L. Calpurnius, caliginosus, Od. 3. 29. 30
S. 1. 10. 86
bidental, A. P. 471
Callimachus, S. 2. 1. 43; Ep. 2. 2.
100
bilis, Od. 1. 13. 4; S. 2. 3. 141; Ep. Calliope, Od. 3. 4. 2
2.2.137
Bion, Ep. 2. 2. 60
Bistonides, Od. 2. 19. 20
Bithynus, Ep. 1. 6. 33
blandus, Od. 3. 23. 17
blatero, S. 2. 7. 35
boars, Umbrian, S. 2. 4. 40; Luca-
nian, 2. 3. 234; 2. 8. 6; Lauren-
tian, 2. 4. 42
Boeoti, Ep. 2. 1. 244
calo, Ep. 1. 14. 42
Calvus, C. Licinius, S. 1. 10. 19
Camena, Od. 1. 12. 39; 2. 16. 38;
Ep. 1. 1. 1
camera, S. 2. 3. 272
caminus, S. 2. 3. 321; Ep. 1. 11. 19
Campanian earthenware, S. 1. 6. 118;
2. 3. 144
Campanus pons, S. 1. 5. 45
campestre, Ep. 1. 11. 18
INDEX
629
-
campus Campus Martius, Od. 1. 8.
3; 3. 1. 11; Ep. 1. 7. 59; 1. 11. 4
Campus Martius, used for exercise,
Od. 1. 8. 3; 4. 1. 40
candidus, Od. 1. 18. 11; 3. 7. 1; 4.
1. 27; Epod. 3. 9
Canidia, Epod. 5 Int. ; S. 1. 8. 24
Canis, S. 1. 7. 25; Ep. 1. 10. 16
cano, Od. 1. 15. 4; Epod. 13. 11
Cantaber, Od. 2. 6. 2; Ep. 1. 12. 26
cantor, A. P. 155
Canusium, S. 1. 5. 92; 1. 10. 30
capitis minor, Od. 3. 5. 42
Capito Fonteius, S. 1. 5. 32
Capitolium, Od. 1. 37. 6
Cappadoces, Ep. 1. 6. 39
capra, Ep. 1. 5. 29
Capra, Od. 3. 7. 6
caprea, Od. 4. 4. 13
capsa, S. 1. 4. 22; 1. 10. 63
captator, S. 2. 5 Int.
Capua, Epod. 16. 5
caput of persons, Epod. 5. 73
carbo, S. 2. 3. 246
cardiacus, S. 2. 3. 161
Carinae, Ep. 1. 7. 48
carmen, Od. 1. 2. 28
Carpathius, Od. 1. 35. 7
carpo, Od. 4. 2. 29
Carthage, destroyed, Od. 2. 1. 26; 4.
5. 17; Epod. 9. 23; perfidy of, 3.
5. 33
new, Od. 2. 2. 10
Cascellius, A. P. 371
cassa nuce, S. 2. 5. 36
Cassius Parmensis, Ep. 1. 4. 3
Etruscus, S. 1. 10. 61
Castor, a rider, Od. 1. 12. 26; deified
hero, 4. 5. 35
catella, Ep. 1. 17. 55
catellus, S. 2. 3. 259
cathedra, S. 1. 10. 91
Catienus, S. 2. 3. 61
Catilus, Od. 1. 18. 2
Catius, S. 2. 4 Int.
Cato, Ep. 1. 19. 12; suicide of, Od.
1. 12. 35; 2. 1. 24
the Censor, Od. 2. 15. 11; 3. 6.
14; 3. 21. 11; Ep. 2. 2. 116
Catullus, S. 1. 10. 19 ; 2. 1. 43
catus, Ep. 2. 2. 39
Caucasus, Od. 1. 22. 6
caudam traho, S. 2. 3. 53
Caudium, S. 1. 5. 51
caupo, S. 1. 1. 29; 1. 5. 4
caupona, Ep. 1. 11. 12
cautus, Ep. 2. 1. 105
cavě, S. 2. 3. 38; Ep. 1. 13. 19
Cecropius, Od. 2. 1. 12
cedo=incedo, S. 2. 1. 65
cedrus, A. P. 332
cella, S. 1. 8. 8
Celsus, Ep. 1. 3. 15; 1. 8. 1
cena dubia, S. 2. 2. 77
cenacula, Ep. 1. 1. 91
censeo with inf., Ep. 1. 2. 9; census
with acc., A. P. 383
Censorinus, Od. 4. 8 Int.
census'income,' Od. 2. 15. 13
Centaurs, Od. 1. 18. 7; 1. 27. 2
centum indefinite, Od. 2. 14. 26
cera prima, S. 2. 5. 53
Cerberus, Od. 2. 13. 34; 3. 11. 15-18
cereus, Ep. 2. 1. 265; A. P. 163
cerritus, S. 2. 3. 276
Cervius, S. 2. 1. 47; 2. 6. 77
cesso, Ep. 1. 7. 56; 2. 2. 14, 183
cetaria, S. 2. 5. 44
Cethegi, Ep. 2. 2. 117
Ceus, Od. 2. 1. 38; 4. 9. 7
cheragra, S. 2. 7. 15; Ep. 1. 1. 31
Chian wine, Od. 1. 17. 21; 3. 19. 5;
Epod. 9. 34; S. 1. 10. 24; maris
expers, S. 2. 8. 15
chiasmus, Od. 4. 5. 17; A. P. 1
Chimaera, Od. 1. 27. 24; 2. 17. 13 ;
4. 2. 16
Choerilus, Ep. 2. 1. 233; A. P. 357
chorus, A. P. 193
Chremes, A. P. 94
Chrysippus, S. 1. 3. 127
ciborium, Od. 2. 7. 22
Cibyra, Ep. 1. 6. 33
cicer, A. P. 249
cicuta, Ep. 2. 2. 53
Cicuta, S. 2. 3. 69
Cinara, Od. 4. 1. 3; Ep. 1. 7. 28
cinctutus, A. P. 50
cippus, S. 1. 8. 12
Circaeus, Epod. 1. 29; Circe, Epod.
17. 15; Circeii, S. 2. 4. 33
circus, S. 1. 6. 113; 2. 3. 183
citrus, tables of, S. 2. 8. 10
civicus, Ep. 1. 3. 23
630
HORACE
civil wars, Od. 1. 2. 21 ; 2. 1. 1
civilis, Od. 3. 8. 17
claustra, Ep. 1. 14. 9
clavus, Od. 1. 35. 18; 3. 24. 5
latus, S. 1. 5. 36; 1. 6. 28
Cleopatra, Od. 1. 37 Int.; 1. 37. 21
cliens, Od. 2. 18. 25 ; 3. 5. 53
Clusium, Ep. 1. 15. 9
Cnidus, Od. 1. 30. 1; 3. 28. 13
coactor, S. 1. 6. 86
Coan purple, Od. 4. 13. 13; wine, S.
2. 4. 29
Cocceius Nerva, S. 1. 5. 28
Cocytus, Od. 2. 14. 18
Codrus, Od. 3. 19. 1
cognitor, S. 2. 5. 38
cohors, S. 1. 7. 23; Ep. 1. 3. 6
Colchian poisons, Od. 2. 13. 8
collegium, Od. 1. 36. 12; S. 1. 2. 1
collyrium, S. 1. 5. 30
columen, Od. 2. 17. 4
columnae, A. P. 373
coma='foliage,' Od. 1. 21. 5
Comedy, Old, S. 1. 4. 1; 1. 10. 16;
2. 3. 11
comissor, Od. 4. 1. 11
communia, A. P. 128
communis sensus, S. 1. 3. 66
comparatio compendiaria, Od. 2. 6. 14
compellare, S. 2. 3. 297
compenso, S. 1. 3. 70
compesco, Ep. 1. 2. 63
compita, S. 2. 3. 26; 2. 6. 50; Ep.
1. 1. 49
compono= 'reconcile,' S. 1. 1. 103; 1.
5. 29;='pit together,' 1. 7. 20; =
'bury,' 1. 9. 28
Concani, Od. 3. 4. 34
concha salis, S. 1. 3. 14
conchylia, S. 2. 4. 30
concilium, Od. 4. 5. 4
concinnus, Ep. 1. 11. 2
condicio, Od. 1. 1. 12
condisco, Od. 3. 2. 3
condo, Od. 1. 10. 8; condo diem, 4.
5. 29
conducti, A. P. 431
conopium, Epod. 9. 16
consilium, Od. 3. 4. 41
consors, Od. 3. 24. 60
conspicio, Od. 3. 7. 26
consultus, Od. 1. 34. 3
continens, Od. 2. 18. 21
continuare, Od. 3. 16. 41
contractus, Ep. 1. 7. 12
co-ordination of contrasted clauses,
Od. 1. 25. 18; 3. 19. 3; 3. 20. 9
Coranus, S. 2. 5. 55
Corinth, Od. 1. 7. 2; Ep. 1. 17. 36;
2. 1. 193
corn, supply of, Od. 1. 1. 10
cornicula, Ep. 1. 3. 19
cornu, Od. 2. 19. 29
corona, Ep. 1. 18. 53; A. P. 381
coronari with acc., Ep. 1. 1. 50
correctus, Ep. 1. 15. 37
cortex, Od. 3. 8. 10
Corvinus, Od. 3. 21 Int.
corvus, Ep. 1. 17. 50
Corycus, S. 2. 4. 68
cothurnus, Od. 2. 1. 12; A. P. 80
Cotiso, Od. 3. 8. 18
Cotytto, Epod. 17. 56
Cous, Od. 4. 13. 13
Cragus, Od. 1. 21. 7
crasis, S. 1. 8. 43
crassa Minerva, S. 2. 2. 3
Crassus, defeat of, Od. 1. 2. 22; 2. 1.
2; 3. 5. 5
crater, Od. 3. 18. 7
Craterus, S. 2. 3. 161
Cratinus, S. 1. 4. 1; Ep. 1. 19. 1
crepida, S. 1. 3. 127
crepo, Od. 1. 18. 5; Ep. 1. 7. 84; A.
P. 247
Cressa nota, Od. 1. 36. 10
creta, S. 2. 3. 246
Crete, Od. 3. 27. 33
Crispinus, S. 1. 1. 120; 1. 3. 139; 1.
4. 14; 2. 7. 45
Crispus Sallustius, Od. 2. 2 Int.
crocus, Ep. 2. 1. 79
crudus, Od. 3. 11. 12; Ep. 1. 6. 61
crustula, S. 1. 1. 25; 2. 4. 47
cubital, S. 2. 3. 255
cubo, S. 1. 9. 18; Ep. 2. 2. 68
culpa magistra, S. 2. 2. 133
culullus, Od. 1. 31. 11
cumba, Od. 2. 3. 28
cumera, S. 1. 1. 53; Ep. 1. 7. 30
cumque, Od. 1. 32. 15
cupido, Od. 2. 16. 15; Ep. 1. 1. 33
curator, Ep. 1. 1. 102
curia='senate,' Od. 3. 5. 7
INDEX
631
Curii, Ep. 1. 1. 64
curo, Qd. 3. 17. 13; Ep. 2. 2. 151
curro='sail,' S. 1. 1. 30
cursim, Od. 3. 11. 9
Curtillus, S. 2. 8. 52
custodia, Ep. 1. 1. 22
cyathus, Od. 3. 8. 13; 3. 19. 11
Cyclades, Od. 1. 14. 19
cyclicus, A. P. 136
Cyclopes, Od. 1. 4. 7
Cydonius, Od. 4. 9. 17
Cylleneus, Epod. 13. 8
Cynthius, Od. 1. 21. 2; 3. 28. 12
Cyprus, Od. 1. 1. 13
Cytherea, Od. 1. 4. 5
da=dic, S. 2. 8. 4
Dacus, Od. 3. 6. 14; 3. 8. 18; S. 2. 6.
53
Daedaleus, Od. 2. 20. 13
Daedalus, Od. 1. 3. 34; 4. 2. 2
Dellius, Od. 2. 3 Int.
Delmaticus, Od. 2. 1. 16
delphis, A. P. 30
Demetrius, S. 1. 10. 18
Democritus, Ep. 1. 12. 12; 2. 1. 194
denormo, S. 2. 6. 9
deponent verbs used passively in part.,
Od. 1. 1. 25
descendo, Od. 3. 1. 9
desiderium, Od. 1. 24. 1; 4. 5. 15
desino, Od. 2. 9. 17
detortus, A. P. 52
diadema, Od. 2. 2. 21
dicere collegam, Ep. 1. 20. 28
dicto of a money-lender, S. 2. 3. 76
Diespiter, Od. 1. 34. 5; 3. 2. 29
diffingo, S. 2. 1. 78
diffusus, Ep. 1. 5. 4
digitus, Od. 4. 3. 22
dilucesco, Ep. 1. 4. 13
diludia, Ep. 1. 19. 47
Dama, S. 1. 6. 38; 2. 5. 18; 2. 7. 54 Dindymene, Od. 1. 16. 5
Damasippus, S. 2. 3. 16
damnatus, S. 2. 3. 86; with gen., Od.
2. 14. 19
Danaus, Od. 2. 14. 18
dancing, Od. 2. 12. 17; 3. 6. 21 ; A.
P. 232
dare verba, S. 1. 3. 22
dative of agent, Od. 1. 6. 1; 1. 26. 4;
2. 6. 5; Ep. 1. 18. 3
of purpose, Od. 2. 4. 1; 4. 11. 3
with verbs and adj. of discrepancy,
S. 1. 4. 47; 2. 3. 56, 107; Ep. 1.
18. 3
Daunius, Od. 1. 22. 14; 2. 1. 34; 4.
6. 27
Davus, A. P. 237
de, verbs compounded with, Od. 1. 3.
13
decedere, Od. 2. 6. 15
decempeda, Od. 2. 15. 14
decipio, Od. 2. 13. 38
Decius Mus, S. 1. 6. 20
dedicatus, Od. 1. 31. 1
deduco, Od. 3. 30. 14; S. 1. 9. 60;
of verses, S. 2. 1. 4; deducam rem,
S. 1. 1. 15
defingo, S. 1. 10. 37
defrico, S. 1. 10. 4
deicere, three syllables, S. 1. 6. 39
Delius, Od. 4. 3. 5
dinner, attitude at, S. 2. 4. 39
Dioscuri, Od. 1. 3. 2; 4. 8. 31
diota, Od. 1. 9. 8
Dircaeus cycnus, Od. 4. 2. 25
dirus, Od. 2. 12. 2
discolor, Ep. 1. 18. 4
discrepo, S. 1. 6. 92
discrimen, Od. 2. 5. 23
discus, Od. 1. 8. 11
disiectus, S. 1. 4. 62
dissignator, Ep. 1. 7. 6
dissociabilis, Od. 1. 3. 22
dithyrambus, Od. 4. 2. 10
dius or divus, Od. 1. 1. 25; 2. 3. 23 ;
2. 19. 24
divinus with gen., Od. 3. 27. 10
Docilis, Ep. 1. 18. 19
doctus='poetic,' S. 1. 9. 7
=
dolium, Od. 3. 11. 27; Epod. 2. 47
dolus culpa, S. 1. 6. 90
domi, S. 2. 3. 232
dominantia, A. P. 234
dominus, Od. 2. 19. 24
domitus, Od. 1. 20. 9
domo, dative, Ep. 1. 10. 13
dormitat, A. P. 359
Dossennus, Ep. 2. 1. 173
drinking, rules of, Od. 3. 19. 11
Drusus, Od. 4. 4 Int.; 4. 14 Int.
dubia cena, S. 2. 2. 77
632
HORACE
duco, Ep. 2. 1.75;= 'drink,' Od. 1. 17. | -ĕrunt in perf. ind., Epod. 9. 17 ; S.
22; ducat ilia, Ep. 1. 1. 8
duellum, Od. 3. 5. 38; Ep. 1. 2. 7
dum with pres. indicative, Od. 1. 10.
12; S. 1. 5. 72;
1. 16. 26
dummodo, Od.
ebur curule, Ep. 1. 6. 54
echinus, S. 1. 6. 117; Ep. 1. 15.
23
edictum, Od. 4. 15. 22
edit, Epod. 3. 3; S. 2. 8. 90
edomo, Od. 4. 5. 22
Edoni, Od. 2. 7. 27
egeo=cupio, S. 1. 1. 59
eggs, S. 2. 4. 12
elections, Ep. 1. 1. 43; 1. 6. 53
elegi, A. P. 75
elementa, S. 1. 1. 26; Ep. 1. 1. 27
elimino, Ep. 1. 5. 25
elleborum, S. 2. 3. 82
elms for vines, Ep. 1. 7. 28
emancipatus, Epod. 9. 12
emotions, expression of, Od. 1. 3. 18
Empedocles, A. P. 463
emungo, A. P. 463; emunctae naris,
S. 1. 4. 8
enectus, Ep. 1. 7. 87
Enipeus, a river, Od. 3. 7. 23
enitor, Od. 3. 3. 10
Ennius, Od. 4. 8. 20; quoted, S. 1. 4.
60; satirised by Lucilius, S. 1. 10.
54; Ep. 1. 19. 7; 2. 1. 50
ephebus, Ep. 2. 1. 171
Epicharmus, Ep. 2. 1. 58
Epicurean philosophy, Od. 1. 9. 13;
2. 3 Int.; 2. 11 Int.
Epicureanism, Od. 2. 11. 4; Ep. 1. 4.
16
Epidaurius serpens, S. 1. 3. 27
epithets, care in use of, Od. 1. 1. 14
epulum, S. 2. 3. 86
eques='the stalls,' S. 1. 10. 76
equis albis, S. 1. 7. 8
equitare, Od. 1. 2. 51
erado, Od. 3. 24. 51
erepsemus, S. 1. 5. 79
ergastula, S. 2. 7. 118
ergo, Od. 1. 24. 5; S. 2. 5. 101; 2.
6. 70
erro, S. 2. 7. 113
eruca, S. 2. 8. 52
1. 10. 45; Ep. 1. 4. 7
Erycina, Od. 1. 2. 33
Esquiline, Epod. 5. 100; 17. 58; S.
1. 8. 14; 2. 6. 33
esseda, Ep. 2. 1. 192
est ut, Od. 3. 1. 9
esto, S. 1. 6. 19; 2. 1. 83; 2. 2. 30;
2. 3. 31
et='or,' Od. 1. 31. 13; 'also,' S. 2.
3. 32; 2. 3. 222
Euhias, Od. 3. 25. 9
Euhius, Od. 2. 11. 17
euhoe, Od. 2. 19. 5
Eumenides, Od. 2. 13. 36
Euphorbus, Od. 1. 28. 11
Eupolis, S. 1. 4. 1; 2. 3. 12
Eutrapelus, Ep. 1. 18. 31
Evander, S. 1. 3. 91
evinco, Od. 2. 15. 5
examen, Od. 1. 35. 30
excipere, Od. 2. 15. 16; 4. 9. 22
excubo, Od. 4. 13. 8
excussus of shipwreck, S. 2. 3. 20
expedio, Od. 1. 22. 11; 3. 24. 8; 4.
4. 76; Epod. 5. 25
experiens, Ep. 1. 17. 42
exsultim, Od. 3. 11. 10
exterret, Ep. 1. 16. 11
extundo, S. 2. 2. 14
Fabia (tribus), Ep. 1. 6. 52
Fabius, S. 1. 1. 14
Fabricius pons, S. 2. 3. 36
fabulosus, Od. 3. 4. 9
facetus, S. 1. 10. 44; Ep. 1. 6. 55
facilis, S. 1. 1. 22
factus, S. 1. 10. 58
faenum in cornu, S. 1. 4. 34
Falernian wine, Od. 2. 3. 8; 2. 11.
19; S. 2. 3. 115; 2. 4. 24; 2. 8.
16
fallo, Od. 3. 16. 30; Ep. 1. 17. 10
famosus, Ep. 1. 19. 31; A. P. 469
fanaticus, A. P. 454
Farnius, S. 1. 4. 21; 1. 10. 80
fasciolae, S. 2. 3. 255
fasti, Od. 4. 14. 4
fastidiosus, Od. 3. 1. 36; 3. 29. 9;
Epod. 17. 73
fatalis, Od. 3. 3. 19; Ep. 2. 1. 11
fatigo, Od. 2. 11. 11
INDEX
633
Faunalia, Od. 3. 18. 5
Faunus Pan, Od. 1. 17. 10; 2. 17.
28; god of the country, 3. 18 Int.;
Fauni, Ep. 1. 19. 4; A. P. 244
favete linguis, Od. 3. 1. 2
Favonius, Od. 3. 7. 2
faxim, S. 2. 3. 39
frusta, Ep. 1. 1. 78
Fufius, S. 2. 3. 60
fultura, S. 2. 3. 154
functus, Od. 4. 15. 29
Fundanius, S. 1. 10. 42; 2. 8. 19
Fundi, S. 1. 5. 34
funem sequi, Ep. 1. 10. 48
feast, master of, Od. 1. 6. 1; 1. 16. 3; funeratus, Od. 3. 8. 7
1. 20. 10
contributory, Od. 3. 19. 6
fecundus, Od. 3. 6. 17; Ep. 1. 5. 19
felix with gen., S. 1. 9. 11
Ferentinum, Ep. 1. 17. 8
feriae Latinae, Ep. 1. 7. 76
ferire of metrical ictus, S. 1. 10. 43
verba, S. 2. 3. 274
Feronia, S. 1. 5. 24
Fescenninus, Ep. 2. 1. 145
fi, S. 2. 5. 38
ficus, Ep. 1. 7. 5; wood of, S. 1. 8. 1
fide, dative, S. 1. 3. 95
Fidenae, Ep. 1. 11. 8
filum, Ep. 2. 1. 225
fishponds, Od. 2. 15. 4
fistula, Od. 1. 17. 10; 4. 1. 24; 4.
12.9
flagellum, S. 1. 3. 119
Flavius, S. 1. 6. 72
focale, S. 2. 3. 255
foci, Ep. 1. 14. 2
fodico, Ep. 1. 6. 51
fomenta, Ep. 1. 2. 52; 1. 3. 26
Fontanalia, Od. 3. 13. 2
Fonteius Capito, S. 1. 5. 33
forensis, A. P. 245
formare, A. P. 307
Formiae, Od. 3. 17 Int.
Formian wine, Od. 1. 20. 9
formula, S. 2. 3. 45
fortis="handsome,' S. 2. 3. 216
Fortuna, Od. 1. 35 Int.; 3. 29. 49
forum, Ep. 1. 16. 57
frangere diem, Od. 2. 7. 6
fraud in sales, S. 2. 3. 285
fraus="harm,' Od. 2. 19. 20; C. S.
41; fraus mala, 1. 3. 28
frequens, Od. 3. 1. 34
frictus, A. P. 249
frigidus, A. P. 465
frigus, S. 2. 1. 62; frigus colligo, Ep.
1. 11. 13
frons, Ep. 1. 9. 11
fures, Ep. 1. 6. 46
furiosus, S. 2. 3. 222
Furius Bibaculus, S. 1. 10. 36; 2. 5.
41
furnus, S. 1. 4. 37; Ep. 1. 11. 12
Fuscus Aristius, Ep. 1. 10 Int.
future, special use of, Od. 1. 6. 1; 1.
16. 3; 1. 20. 11
Gabii, Ep. 1. 11. 7; 1. 15. 9
Gades, Od. 2. 3. 11 ; 2. 6. 1
Gaetulus, Ep. 2. 2. 181
Galaesus, Od. 2. 6. 10
Gallia, Od. 4. 14. 49; Galli, Epod. 4.
17; S. 2. 1. 14
Gallic horses, Od. 1. 8. 6; words, 3.
27.7
Gallina, S. 2. 6. 54
Gallonius, S. 2. 2. 47
Gallus, Aelius, Od. 1. 29 Int.
Ganymedes, Od. 3. 20. 16; 4. 4. 3
Gargilius, Ep. 1. 6. 58
garum, S. 2. 8. 46
gausape, S. 2. 8. 11
gelida, sc. aqua, S. 2. 7. 91
Geloni, Od. 2. 9. 23
Genauni, Od. 4. 14. 10
genitive of words in ium contracted,
Od. 1. 6. 12
– of quality without apposition, S. 1.
1. 33; 2. 8. 84
Genius, Od. 3. 17. 13; Ep. 1. 7. 94;
2. 1. 144; 2. 2. 187
Geryones, Od. 2. 14. 8
gladiatorial shows, S. 2. 3. 85
Glycera, Od. 1. 33. 2
Gnatia, S. 1. 5. 97
goat sacrificed to Bacchus, A. P. 220
Gracchus, Ep. 2. 2. 89
graecari, S. 2. 2. 11
grammatici, A. P. 78
Gratia, in sing., Od. 4. 7. 5
Greek wines, Od. 1. 17. 21; 1. 20. 2
words used scornfully, Od. 3. 24. 57
634
HORACE
grex, Ep. 1. 9. 13
Grosphus, Od. 2. 16 Int.
gustatio, S. 2. 4. 12
gutus, S. 1. 6. 118
Hadria, Od. 2. 11. 1
haedilia, Od. 1. 17. 9
Haemonia, Od. 1. 37. 20
haereo, with abl., S. 2. 3. 205
Hagna, S. 1. 3. 41
Hannibal, dirus, Od. 2. 12. 2; 3. 6.
36; 4. 4. 42; perfidus, 4. 4. 49
defeated, 4. 8. 15
haud ita, S. 2. 2. 46
Hebrus, Od. 1. 25. 17; Ep. 1. 3. 3
hedera, Od. 1. 1. 29
heia, S. 1. 1. 18
Helicon, Ep. 2. 1. 218
Heliodorus, S. 1. 5. 2
Hellas, S. 2. 3. 275
hendiadys, Od. 2. 7. 9
Hercules, deified hero, Od. 3. 3. 9; 3.
14. 1; 4. 5. 35; god of treasure, S.
2. 6. 13
here, S. 2. 8. 2
heres secundus, S. 2. 5. 49
Herodes, Ep. 2. 2. 184
Hesperia, Od. 2. 1. 31
heteroclite nouns, Od. 2. 4. 12
hexameter, A. P. 74
hiatus, Od. 1. 1. 2; 1. 28. 24; 2. 20.
13; 3. 14. 10; Epod. 5. 100; 13.
3; S. 1. 9. 38; 2. 2. 28
Hiberi, learning of, Od. 2. 19. 19
Hiberus piscis, S. 2. 8. 46
hic, of contemporaries, S. 1. 3. 30
hillae, S. 2. 4. 60
Hippolytus, Od. 4. 7. 25
hirtus, Ep. 1. 3. 22
hirundo, Ep. 1. 7. 13
Hister, Od. 4. 14. 45
' a story,' 3. 7. 20
Horace, birthplace, Od. 4. 9. 2; age,
2. 4. 23; 3. 21. 1; 4. 1. 6 first
Roman lyric poet, 1. 26. 10; 3. 33.
10; 4. 3. 23; at Philippi, 2. 7. 9; S.
1. 6. 48 ; Od. 3. 4. 27; nearly killed
by a tree, 2. 13 Int.; philosophy,
1. 34 Int. ; 2. 10. 1; not ashamed
of his birth, 2. 20. 5; views about
energy, 3. 24. 40; 3. 29. 31; 4. 2.
2; Poet-Laureate, 2. 15 Int.; Bk.
4 Int.; 4. 8 Int. ; apology for not
writing national Odes, 2. 12 Int.;
a freedman's son, S. 1. 6. 6; his
father a coactor, 1. 6. 86; a native
of Venusia, 2. 1. 34; his debt to
his father, 1. 6. 71; introduced to
Macenas, 1. 6. 55; his Sabine farm,
2. 3. 308; 2. 6. 16
style of-fondness for special-
izing general words, Od. 1. 1. 13; 1.
35.7; 2.9.2; 3. 5. 55; 4. 5.9; for
sing. verb after two nom., 2. 13.
2. 13. 38;
for repeating words, 2. 14. 1; for
connecting clauses by repetition, 1.
2. 4; for use of gen. after adjectives,
1. 6. 10; 1. 15. 24; 3. 3. 1; 3. 6.
17; 3. 27. 29; for epexegetic in-
finitive after adjectives, 1. 3. 25;
and verbs, 1. 15. 27; for oxymoron,
3. 11. 35; for use of pronouns in
prominent positions to mark anti-
thesis, 1. 1. 29; 1. 6. 17; 2. 7. 13;
2. 9. 9; 2. 12. 13; 2. 16. 33;
brevity, 3. 6. 46; quiet ending to
Odes, 4. 2. 60; 4. 14. 52
horn, a sign of strength, Od. 2. 19. 29
horreum, Od. 3. 28. 7 ; 4. 12. 18
horridus='bristling,' Od. 3. 4. 50;
='boorish,' 3. 21. 10; 'wooded,'
3. 29. 22; 4. 5. 26
=
horses, keeping of, Od. 2. 16. 35
historiaa history,' Od. 2. 12. 10; hospitium, S. 1. 5. 1
hoc age, S. 2. 3. 152; Ep. 1. 6. 31
hodie, S. 2. 7. 21
hostis, Ep. 1. 15. 29
humane, Ep. 2. 2. 70
Hyades, Od. 1. 3. 14
Homer, copied, Od. 2. 9. 13; satirized, hybrida, S. 1. 7. 2
1. 6. 3; 2. 7. 13
homicida, Epod. 17. 12
honestum, Od. 4. 9. 41
honor='magistracy,' Od. 1. 1. 8; 3.
2. 18; 4. 14. 2; A. P. 400
honoratus, A. P. 120
Hydaspes, Od. 1. 22. 7; S. 2. 8. 14
hydrops, Od. 2. 3. 13
Hymettus, Od. 2. 6. 14; marble of, 2.
18. 3
hypallage, Od. 3. 1. 42
hyperbaton, S. 2. 1. 60; 2. 3. 211
INDEX
635
hypermetric verses, Od. 2. 16. 34; 3.
29. 35; 4.1. 35; 4. 2. 22; S. 1.
4. 96; 1. 6. 102
Hypermnestra, Od. 3. 11. 51
i pronounced as y, Od. 3. 4. 41
iam nunc, A. P. 43
iambi, Od. 1. 16. 3; A. P. 79, 252
Ianus, S. 2. 6. 20; Ep. 1. 1. 54; 1.
20. 1
medius, S. 2. 3. 18
Quirini, Od. 4. 15. 9
Iapetus, Od. 1. 3. 27
Iapyx, Od. 1. 3. 4; 3. 27. 18
Iarbitas, Ep. 1. 19. 15
Icaros, Od. 3. 7. 21
Iccius, Ep. 1. 12 Int.
Ida, Od. 3. 20. 15
idem, adversative, Od. 2. 10. 16; of
inconsistency, S. 2. 3. 309; 2. 7.
23; with dat., A. P. 467
idus, Od. 4. 11. 14; idibus octonis, S.
1. 6. 75
iecur, Od. 1. 13. 4; 1. 25. 15; 4. 1.
12; Ep. 1. 18. 72
ignem gladio scrutari, S. 2. 3. 276
Ilia, Od. 1. 2. 17; 3. 9. 7
Iliona, S. 2. 3. 61
Ilithyia, C. S. 14
illĭus and illīus, S. 1. 10. 57
ima chorda or ima vox, S. 1. 3. 8
imago, Od. 1. 12. 3 ;=' vision,' Od. 3.
27.38
imperfect=Gk. imp. with åpa, Od. 1.
27. 19; 1. 37. 4; in giving message,
S. 2. 6. 35; of neglected duty, 2.
1. 6; imp. subj. for pluperf. 1. 6.
80
imperium, Od. 1. 2. 26; 4. 15. 14
imperor, Ep. 1. 5. 21
imum ad, Ep. 1. 18. 35; A. P. 126
imus, A. P. 32
incohare, Od. 1. 4. 15
incolumis, A. P. 222
incorruptus, Od. 1. 24. 7
increpo, Od. 4. 15. 2; Epod. 17. 27
incrusto, S. 1. 3. 56
incubo, Od. 1. 3. 20
Indi, Od. 1. 12. 55; 4.14.42; wealthy,
1. 31. 6
indicative in hypothet. sentence, Od. 2.
17. 28; S. 1. 3. 17; in indirect
question, 2. 4. 38
indignum, Ep. 1. 6. 22
indoctus, with gen., A. P. 380
indomitus, Od. 2. 14. 3
indormio, S. 1. 1. 71
induco, A. P. 2
iners, Od. 3. 5. 36; 2. 9. 5; 3. 4. 45;
4. 7. 12
inertia, Od. 4. 9. 29
infectus' undone,' Ep. 1. 2. 60
infinitive epexegetic
after adj., Od. 1. 3. 25
after verbs, Od. 1. 15. 27
after verbs of 'wishing,' Od. 1.12. 2
of purpose, Od. 1. 2. 7
historical, S. 1. 5. 31
in exclamations, S. 2. 2. 30; 2. 4.
83; 2. 8. 67
substantival, Ep. 1. 8. 1
ingenium, Od. 2. 18. 9
ingenuus, S. 1. 6. 8
inhio, S. 1. 1. 71
inhorresco, Od. 1. 23. 5
inimico, Od. 4. 15. 20
iniuriosus, Od. 1. 35. 13
inlacrimabilis, Od. 2. 14. 6; 4. 9. 26
inlacrimor, S. 2. 5. 103
inludo, S. 1. 4. 139; 2. 8. 62
inmane quantum, Od. 1. 27. 6
inmanis, Od. 3. 4. 42; 3. 11. 15
inmetatus, Od. 3. 24. 12
inmolo, Od. 1. 4. 11
lectus, S. 2. 8. 40; Ep. 1. 18. 10 inmorsus, S. 2. 4. 61
in cubitum, S. 2. 4. 39
in medio, Ep. 1. 12. 7
in silvam ligna ferre, S. 1. 10. 34
inaequalis, Od. 2. 9. 3
Inachus, Od. 2. 3. 21; 3. 19. 1
inanis, Od. 3. 11. 26
inaniter, Ep. 2. 1. 211
inmunis, Od. 3. 23. 17; 4. 12. 23
Ino, A. P. 123
inops, Od. 3. 16. 28
inpar, Od. 4. 6. 5
inpenso (pretio), S. 2. 3. 245
inpius, Od. 2. 1. 30; 3. 24. 25; Epod.
3. 1
inbutus, Ep. 1. 2. 69; 1. 6. 5; 2. 2.7 inportunus, S. 2. 5. 96; Ep. 1. 6.
inclino, S. 1. 3. 71
54
636
HORACE
-.
inpotens, Od. 1. 37. 9; 2. 1. 26; 3. | Iulus, Od. 4. 1. 2
30. 3; Epod. 16. 61
inprobus, Od. 3. 9. 22; S. 1. 3. 24;
2. 5. 28; Ep. 1. 7. 63
insanio, with acc., S. 2. 3. 63
inservio, A. P. 167
Iuno, of Carthage, Od. 2. 1. 25; wife
and sister, 3. 3. 64
Iupiter='god of atmosphere,' Od. 1.
1. 25; 1. 16. 11; 2. 6. 18; 2. 10. 16;
Epod. 13. 2
insolens, Od. 1. 5. 8; 1. 16. 21; 2. 3. iurandus, Ep. 2. 1. 16
3; 2. 4. 2; Epod. 17. 75
instar, Od. 4. 5. 6
institor, Od. 3. 6. 30; Epod. 17. 20
instrumentum, S. 1. 3. 131
integer, Od. 1. 4. 22; 1. 22. 1; 1. 26.
6; 2. 4. 22; 2. 17. 7; 3. 2. 30; 4.
4. 66; 4. 5. 38
intercino, A. P. 194
interim, Epod. 2. 25
interminatus, Epod. 5. 39
intestabilis, S. 2. 3. 181
intonatus, Epod. 2. 51
intonsus, Od. 2. 15. 11
intransitive verbs used transitively,
Od. 2. 13. 26
inulae, S. 2. 8. 52
inutilis, Od. 3. 24. 48
inversus annus, S. 1. 1. 36
invidendus, Od. 2. 10. 6
invideo, with acc. and dat., S. 1. 6.
50; with gen., 2. 6. 84; invideor,
A. P. 56
Io, A. P. 124
io Bacchae, S. 1. 3. 7
io Triumphe, Od. 4. 2. 49
Iolcos, Epod. 5. 21
irony, Od. 1. 31. 13
is, eius, Od. 3. 11. 18; 3. 24. 48
-is final, common in perf. subj. and
fut. perf., S. 2. 3. 67; 2. 6. 39
ita in prayers, S. 2. 2. 124
Ithaca, S. 2. 4. 4
Itys, Od. 4. 12. 4
Iuba, Od. 1. 22. 15
Iudaei, S. 1. 4. 143; 1. 9. 70
Apella, S. 1. 6. 100
iurgia, Ep. 2. 2. 171
iuro in verba, Epod. 15. 4; Ep. 1.
1. 14
ius and leges, S. 1. 1. 9
ius='sauce,' S. 2. 4. 63
iuvenari, A. P. 246
iuvenca = puella, Od. 2. 5. 1
iuvencus = puer, Od. 2. 8. 21
iuvenis, Od. 1. 2. 41
juxtaposition to heighten antithesis,
Od. 1. 3. 10; 1. 5. 9; 1. 6. 9; 1.
15. 2; 1. 17. 25; 2. 4. 6; 2. 16.
17; 3. 5. 9; 3. 11. 42; 4. 1. 4;
4. 4. 31; 4. 5. 9; Epod. 16. 39
Kalendae, S. 1. 3. 87
κανηφόροι, S. 1. 3. 11 ; 2. 8. 14
Labeo, S. 1. 3. 82
Laberius, S. 1. 10. 6
labi, Od. 2. 14. 2; 3. 6. 3
Labienus, S. 1. 3. 82
laboro, Od. 2. 9. 7; of love, 1. 27. 19
Lacaena, Od. 4. 9. 16
Lacedaemon, Od. 1. 7. 10
lacesso, Od. 3. 2. 10
Lacon, Epod. 6. 5
Laconian purple, Od. 2. 18. 7
lacunar, Od. 2. 18. 1
lacus, S. 1. 4. 37
Laelius, S. 2. 1. 65
Laestrygonius, Od. 3. 16. 34
Laevinus, S. 1. 6. 12
laevus, Od. 3. 27. 15; laeve, Ep. 1.
7.52
lagois, S. 2. 2. 22
iudex, Ep. 1. 16. 42; iudices selecti, lama, Ep. 1. 13. 10
S. 1. 4. 123
iuga ferre, Od. 2. 6. 2
iugis, Ep. 1. 15. 16
Iugurtha, Od. 2. 1. 28
Iugurthinus, Epod. 9. 23
Iulium Sidus, Od. 1. 12. 47
Lamia, Od. 1. 26 Int.; 3. 17 Int.
Ep. 1. 16. 6; A. P. 340
lamna, Ep. 1. 15. 36
lana caprina, Ep. 1. 18. 15
Lanuvinus, Od. 3. 27. 3
Laomedon, Od. 3. 3. 20
Iulius Florus, Ep. 1. 3 Int. ; 2. 2 lapathus, S. 2. 4. 29
Int.
Lapithae, Od. 1. 18. 7
INDEX
637
laqueatus, Od. 2. 16. 11
Lares, Od. 4. 5. 34
lasanum, S. 1. 6. 109
lascivus, A. P. 107
Latona, Od. 1. 21. 3
latro, with acc., S. 2. 1. 85
Liris, Od. 1. 31. 7; 3. 17. 1
litotes, Od. 1. 18. 9; 1. 28. 14; 3. 24.
48; Epod. 5. 7; 9. 29
litterulae, Ep. 2. 2. 7
lituus, Od. 1. 1. 23
lividus, Od. 2. 5. 10; 4. 9. 32
lătus, Ep. 1. 7. 26; 1. tego, S. 2. 5. 17 | Livius, Ep. 2. 1. 62
lātus spatior, S. 2. 3. 183
lavere, Od. 2. 3. 18
Laverna, Ep. 1. 16. 60
loca, Ep. 2. 1. 223
locare, S. 1. 8. 9
loculi, S. 1. 6. 74; 2. 3. 146
lecti at dinner, S. 1. 4. 86; 2. 8. 20; | lolligo, S. 1. 4. 100
Ep. 1. 1. 91; 1. 16. 76
lectulus, S. 1. 4. 133
leges and iura, Ep. 1. 16. 41
lemures, Ep. 2. 2. 209
Lenaeus, Od. 3. 25. 18
lengthening syllable by ictus, Od. 1. 3.
36; 1. 13. 6; 2. 13. 16; S. 1. 5. 90
lenis='mellow,' Od. 3. 29. 2
lentus, Od. 2. 16. 26; 3. 19. 28;
Epod. 15. 6
Leonine verse, Ep. 1. 12. 25
Lepos, S. 2. 6. 72
lepus, gender of, S. 2. 4. 44
Lesbian wine, Od. 1. 17. 21
Lollius, Od. 4. 9 Int.; Ep. 1. 2 Int.
longus, Od. 2. 16. 30
loqui, Ep. 1. 6. 19
lots, method of drawing, Od. 2. 3. 26
Luceria, Od. 3. 15. 13
Lucilius imitated, S. 1. 1. 62; 1. 3.
125; 1. 6. 45; 1. 9. 1; 2. 2. 31,
47, 129; 2. 4. 30; 2. 8. 11; style
censured, 1. 4. 8; 1. 10. 1; in-
ventor of satire, 2. 1. 62; 1. 10. 48;
his obligations to the old comedy,
1. 4. 6; mixture of Greek and Latin
words, 1. 10. 20
Lucina, Epod. 5. 6; C. S. 14
Lesbius = 'Sapphic,' Od. 4. 6. 35; Lucretilis, Od. 1. 17. 1
'lyric,' 1. 26. 11
Lesbous, Od. 1. 1. 34
Lethe, Od. 4. 7. 27
lēvis, Od. 1. 2. 38; 2. 11. 6; 4. 6.
28; Epod. 2. 33
libelli of informers, S. 1. 4. 65
liber, with gen., A. P. 212
libertinus, S. 2. 3. 281
Libitina, Ep. 2. 1. 49
libraries, public, S. 1. 4. 22
librarius, A. P. 354
Lucretius imitated, S. 1. 1. 13
Lucrinus, Od. 2. 15. 3; S. 2. 4. 32
ludi saeculares, Od. 4. 6 Int.
ludicra, Ep. 1. 1. 10; 1. 6. 7
ludo, Od. 1. 32. 1; Ep. 2. 2. 214
ludus, Od. 1. 2. 37 ;
lupata, Od. 1. 8. 6
lupini, Ep. 1. 7. 23
2. 1. 3; 3.29. 50
=
lupus, Ep. 2. 2. 28; 'pike,' S. 2.
2. 31
Lupus, S. 2. 1. 68
lusciniae, S. 2. 3. 245
Liburni, Od. 1. 37. 30; Liburnae, lustrum, Od. 2. 4. 24; C. S. 67
libum, Ep. 1. 10. 10
Epod. 1. 1
Libyan corn, Od. 1. 1. 10
Lyaeus, Od. 1. 7. 22; 3. 21. 15;
Epod. 9. 38
licet esse, with two datives, S. 1. 1. 19 Lycambes, Epod. 6. 13; Ep. 1. 19. 25
Licinius Murena, Od. 2. 10 Int.
Licinus, A. P. 301
Licymnia, Od. 2. 12. 13
limare, Ep. 1. 14. 38
Lycia, Od. 3. 4. 62
Lydae tibiae, Od. 4. 15. 30
lympha, Ep. 2. 2. 146
lymphatus, Od. 1. 37. 14
limis oculis, S. 2. 5. 53
limites, Ep. 2. 2. 171
linea, Ep. 1. 16. 79
lippus, S. 1. 1. 120; 1. 5. 30 ; 1. 7. 3
liquidum='water,' S. 1. 1. 54
liquidus, Od. 2. 20. 2; 3. 4. 24
Lynceus, Ep. 1. 1. 28
Macedo, Od. 3. 16. 14
macellum, S. 2. 3. 229
macto, Od. 1. 19. 16
Manlius, Od. 3. 21. 1
638
HORACE
Maecenas, Od. 1. 1. 1; remained an
eques, 1. 20. 5; 3. 16. 20; recovery
from illness, 1. 20. 4; 2. 17 Int.;
wife of, 2. 12 Int.; an invalid, 2.
17 Int.; learning of, 3. 8. 5; prae-
fectus urbis, 3. 8. 17; 3. 29 Int.;
house of, 3. 29. 10; S. 1. 8. 7;
retirement, Od. 4. 11 Int. ; at
Actium, Epod. 1 Int. ; 9 Int.,
see too S. 1. 1. 1 ; 1. 3. 64; 1. 5.
27, 31; 1. 6. 1; 1. 9. 43, etc.
Maecius Tarpa, S. 1. 10. 38
Maenius, S. 1. 1. 101; Ep. 1. 15. 26
Maeonius, Od. 4. 9. 5
Maevius, Epod. 10 Int.
magna lingua, Od. 4. 6. 1
Magnessa, Od. 3. 7. 18
maiestas, Od. 4. 15. 15
male, Od. 1. 9. 24; 1. 17. 25 ; S. 1.
9. 65; 2. 3. 137; Ep. 1. 19. 3;
male creditur, S. 2. 4. 21; male
vivere, 1. 4. 109
malignus, Od. 1. 28. 23
malis alienis rideo, S. 2. 3. 72
malobathrum, Od. 2. 7. 8
Mamurrae, S. 1. 5. 37
mancipo, Ep. 2. 2. 159
Mandela, Ep. 1. 18. 105
Manes, Epod. 5. 94; Ep. 2. 1. 138
mango, Ep. 2. 2. 13
mannus, Od. 3. 27. 7; Epod. 4. 14;
Ep. 1. 7. 77
Marcellus, Od. 1. 12. 46
Marica, Od. 3. 17. 7
maris expers, S. 2. 8. 15
mariti, A. P. 398
Marius, S. 2. 3. 277
Mars Ultor, Od. 1. 2. 35
Marsi, Od. 3. 5. 9; M. war, 3. 14. 18;
Epod. 16. 3
Marsyas, S. 1. 6. 120
meditor, Od. 3. 22. 7 ; 3. 25. 5
Medum flumen, Od. 2. 9. 21
melimela, S. 2. 8. 31
Melpomene, Od. 1. 24. 3 ; 4. 3. 1
membrana, S. 2. 3. 2
Memphis, Od. 3. 26. 10
Menander, S. 2. 3. 11
Menas, Od. 3. 16. 16; Epod. 4 Int. ;
Ep. 1. 7. 54
Menenius, S. 2. 3. 287
mensa tripes, S. 1. 3. 13; acerna, S.
2. 8. 11
mensae, Od. 4. 5. 31; S. 2. 2. 122
merces="interest,' S. 1. 2. 14; 1. 3.
88;='wages,' 2. 2. 115; 2. 7. 17
Mercurius, attributes of, Od. 1. 10
Int.; with Venus, Od. 1. 30. 8
- god of poets, Od. 1. 10. 1; 2. 7.
13; of luck, S. 2. 3. 25, 68
meridies, Od. 3. 28. 5
merulae, S. 2. 8. 91
Messalla Corvinus, Od. 3. 21 Int.;
S. 1. 10. 29; A. P. 370
meta, A. P. 412
metalla, Ep. 1. 10. 39
metatus, S. 2. 2. 114
Metaurus, Od. 4. 4. 38
Metellus, Od. 2. 1. 1 ; S. 2. 1. 67
metempsychosis, Od. 1. 28. 10; Ep. 1.
12. 21
metuo, with inf., Od. 2. 2.7; metuens,
with gen., Od. 3. 19. 16
militia, S. 2. 2. 11
Milonius, S. 2. 1. 24
Milton, translation by, Od. 1. 5 Int.
miluus, Ep. 1. 16. 51
Mimnermus, Ep. 1. 6. 65; 2. 2. 101
Minerva, Od. 3. 12. 6; invita M.,
A. P. 385; crassa M., S. 2. 2. 3
minor, S. 2. 3. 9
Minos, Od. 4. 7. 21
Massic wine, Od. 2. 7. 21; 3. 21. 5; | Minuci via, Ep. 1. 18. 20
S. 2. 4. 51
materies, Od. 3. 24. 49
Matinus, Od. 1. 28. 2
Matronalia, Od. 3. 8. 1
Maximus, Ep. 1. 2. 1
mazonomus, S. 2. 8. 86
mediastinus, Ep. 1. 14. 14
-
Medi Parthi, Od. 1. 2. 51
medico, Od. 3. 5. 28
mediocritas, Od. 2. 10. 5
miror, Ep. 1. 6. 9; miror ut, Od. 3.
4. 7; Epod. 16. 53
Misenum, S. 2. 4. 33
miser, with gen., S. 2. 2. 66
mola salsa, Od. 3. 23. 20
mollis, A. P. 33
Molossus, Epod. 6. 5; S. 2. 6. 114
momentum, S. 1. 1. 8; Ep. 1. 6. 4;
1. 10. 16
Monaeses, Od. 3. 6. 9
INDEX
639
mōratus, A. P. 319
moriturus, Od. 1. 28. 6; 2. 3. 4
moror nihil, Ep. 1. 15. 16; morer
tempora, Ep. 2. 1. 4
morosus, Od. 1. 9. 18
mos, Od. 4. 5. 22
Moschus, Ep. 1. 5. 9
Mucius, Ep. 2. 2. 89
mulsum, S. 2. 2. 15; 2. 4. 26
multus fluo, S. 1. 7. 28
munditiae, Od. 1. 5. 5
mundus='sky,' Od. 1. 2. 15; mun-
dus, adj., 3. 29. 14; S. 2. 2. 65
Murena, Od. 2. 10 Int.; S. 1. 5. 38
murex, S. 2. 4. 32
murteta, Ep. 1. 15. 5
muto, Od. 1. 17. 2; Epod. 9. 29; S.
2. 7. 110
Mutus, Ep. 1. 6. 22
mutuus, Od. 4. 1. 30
Mygdonius, Od. 2. 12. 22; 3. 16. 41
Mystes, Od. 2. 9. 10
mythological instances, Od. 1. 7. 21 ;
2. 16. 29
Naevius, Ep. 2. 1. 53
Naiades, Od. 3. 25. 14
Nasidienus, S. 2. 8 Int.
Natta, S. 1. 6. 124
navigation, time of, Od. 3. 9. 6
ne, in prohibitions, Od. 1. 11. 1; 2. 4.
1; 3. 29. 6; 4. 9. 1
Neapolis, Epod. 5. 43
nescio an, Od. 2. 4. 13
Nestor, Od. 2. 9. 13; Ep. 1. 2. 11
nidus, Od. 3. 4. 14
niger, S. 1. 4. 85
nihil est, S. 2. 3. 116
Nile, rising of, Od. 3. 3. 46
nimirum, Ep. 1. 9. 1; 1. 14. 11; 1.
15. 42; 2. 2. 141
nimius, Od. 2. 12. 5
Niphates, Od. 2. 9. 20
Nireus, Od. 3. 20. 15; Epod. 15. 22
niti, A. P. 280
Noctiluca, Od. 4. 6. 38
nomen='account,' Od. 3. 21. 5; no-
mina, S. 1. 2. 16;
234
non ita, S. 2. 6. 1
non sine, Od. 3. 6. 29
Noric steel, Od. 1. 16. 9
noster-ego, S. 2. 6. 48
'nouns,' A. P.
notus, with gen., Od. 2. 2. 6; 4. 13. 21
novendialis, Epod. 17. 47
noverca, Epod. 5. 9
Novius, S. 1. 3. 21; 1. 6. 121
nudo, A. P. 221
Numa Pompilius, Od. 1. 12. 38
Numantia, Od. 2. 12. 1
numen, Ep. 2. 1. 16
numerato, Ep. 2. 2. 166
Numicius, Ep. 1. 6 Int.
nusquam est, S. 2. 5. 102
obire, Od. 2. 17. 3
obliviosus, Od. 2. 7. 21
Necessitas, Od. 1. 36. 17; 3. 1. 14; obstipus, S. 2. 5. 92
nec nunc, S. 2. 3. 262
3. 24. 5
necne, S. 1. 4. 45
neclego, Od. 1. 28. 30
nedum, A. P. 69
nefastus, Od. 1. 35. 35; 2. 13. 1
nempe, Ep. 1. 10. 22
nenia, Od. 3. 28. 16; Ep. 1. 1. 63;
A. P. 431
Neobule, 3. 12 Int.
nepos, adj., Epod. 1. 33; Ep. 1. 15.
36; 2. 2. 193
Neptunalia, Od. 3. 28 Int.
nequitia, Od. 3. 4. 78 ; 3. 15. 2
Nereus, Od. 1. 15. 5
Nerius, S. 2. 3. 69
Nero, Od. 4. 4. 29, 37
nervi, A. P. 26
obstrepo, Epod. 2. 27
occupo, Od. 1. 14. 2; S. 1. 9. 6;
Ep. 1. 7. 66
Oceanus, Epod. 16. 31
ruber, Od. 1. 35. 32
Octavia, Od. 3. 14. 7
octoni aeris, S. 1. 6. 75
oew, Od. 2. 1. 9
Ofellus, S. 2. 2. 2
offensus, Epod. 15. 15
officiosus, Ep. 1. 7. 8
olim, Od. 2. 10. 17; 4. 4. 5; Epod.
3. 1; S. 1. 1. 25; 2. 6. 79; Ep.
1. 10. 42
Olympia, Ep. 1. 1. 50
omasum, S. 2. 5. 40
omne holus, Ep. 1. 5. 2
640
HORACE
onyx, Od. 4. 12. 17
opella, Ep. 1. 7. 8
operari, Od. 3. 14. 6
opes, Ep. 1. 10. 36; 2. 2. 136
Opimius, S. 2. 3. 142
opimus, Od. 4. 4. 51; Epod. 10. 21
opprimo, S. 2. 4. 17
optivus, Ep. 2. 2. 101
ora, venio in, Ep. 1. 3. 9
Orbilius, Ep. 2. 1. 71
Orcus, Od. 2. 18. 29; 3. 11. 29
ordino, Od. 2. 1. 11
Orestes, S. 2. 3. 133
orichalchum, A. P. 202
Oricum, Od. 3. 7. 5
Orion, setting of, Od. 1. 28. 21; 3. 27.
17; Epod. 10. 10; hunter, Od. 2.
13.39
Orpheus, Od. 1. 12. 11; A. P. 391
oryza, S. 2. 3. 155
oscen, Od. 3. 27. 11
Osci, S. 1. 5. 54
Osiris, Ep. 1. 17. 60
Otho Roscius, Epod. 4. 16
otium, Od. 2. 16. 1; Epod. 1. 7
ovo ad mala, ab, S. 1. 3. 7
oxymoron, Od. 3. 11. 35
Pacorus, Od. 3. 6. 9
Pacuvius, Ep. 2. 1. 56
paelex, Od. 3. 10. 15; Epod. 3. 13
Paeligni, Od. 3. 19. 7; Epod. 17. 60
paenula, Ep. 1. 11. 18
paetus, S. 1. 3. 45
palinode, Od. 1. 16 Int. ; Epod. 17. 42
Palinurus, Od. 3. 4. 28
pallor, Epod. 10. 16
palma, Od. 1. 1. 5
palus, A. P. 65
Panaetius, Od. 1. 29. 14
pannus, Ep. 1. 17. 25 ; A. P. 15
Panthoides, Od. 1. 28. 10
Pantilius, S. 1. 10. 78
Pantolabus, S. 1. 8. 11; 2. 1. 22
par, Od. 1. 6. 16; 1. 24. 8; S. 1. 7.
19; 2. 3. 244
παρὰ προσδοκίαν, S. 2. 3. 8, 17, 326
Paris, a shepherd, Od. 1. 15. 1; ap-
pearance of, 3. 3. 25
parmula, Od. 2. 7. 10
parochi, S. 1. 5. 46; 2. 8. 36
Parrhasius, Od. 4. 8. 6
partes='duty,' Od. 1. 2. 29; ='part'
in acting, S. 1. 1. 16
Parthi, Od. 3. 6. 9; retreat of, 1. 19.
11; internal troubles, 1. 26 Int.;
Ep. 2. 1. 112, 256
parturio, A. P. 139
passer, S. 2. 8. 29
past part. of deponents used passively,
Od. 1. 1. 25
pastilli, S. 1. 4. 92
pater patriae, Od. 3. 24. 27
patruus, Od. 3. 12. 3; S. 2. 3. 88
paucus, A. P. 203
Paulus, L. Aemilius, Od. 1. 12. 38
Paulus Fab. Max., Od. 4. 1. 10
pauperies, Od. 3. 16. 37
paupertas, Od. 1. 12. 43
Pausias, S. 2. 7. 95
pavor, Ep. 1. 6. 10
peacocks, S. 1. 2. 23
pectines, S. 2. 4. 34
pectus, Ep. 1. 4. 6
pedestris Musa, S. 2. 6. 17
Pedius Poplicola, S. 1. 10. 28
Pedum, Ep. 1. 4. 2
Pegasus, Od. 1. 27. 23
Peleus, Od. 3. 7. 17; A. P. 96;
Peliden, Ep. 1. 2. 12
pellicula, S. 2. 5. 38
pellitus, Od. 2. 6. 10
Pelops, Od. 1. 6. 8; Epod. 17. 65
peloris, S. 2. 4. 32
penetralia, Od. 2. 13. 6; penetralia
Vestae, Ep. 2. 2. 114
pensum, Od. 3. 27. 63
Pentheus, S. 2. 3. 303
penus, Ep. 1. 16. 72
perambulo, Od. 4. 5. 17; Epod. 17. 40
Perellius, S. 2. 3. 75
pereo, Od. 3. 11. 27
perfect infinitive, Od. 1. 1. 4; 1. 34.
16; 3. 4. 51
- aoristic, Od. 1. 28. 20.
subj. in affirmations, Od. 2. 13. 5
perfidus, Od. 3. 5. 33
Pergama, Od. 2. 4. 12
permuto, Od. 3. 1. 47
perpetuus, Od. 1. 7. 6; 1. 24. 5
Persae=Parthi, Od. 1. 2. 22
Persian king, the, Od. 3. 9. 4
Persius, S. 1. 7. 2
persona, A. P. 278
INDEX
641
perstringo, Od. 2. 1. 18
pervideo, S. 1. 3. 25
pes='metre,' S. 1. 10. 43
Petillius Capitolinus, S. 1. 4. 94; 1.
10. 26
petorritum, S. 1. 6. 104; Ep. 2. 1. 192
pexus, Ep. 1. 1. 95
Phaeax, Ep. 1. 15. 24
Phalanthus, Od. 2. 6. 11
Phidyle, Od. 3. 23 Int.
Philip of Macedon, Od. 3. 16. 14; L.
Marcius, Ep. 1. 7. 46
Philippi, Od. 2. 7. 9; of coins, Ep. 2.
1. 234
philosophical terms, Od. 2. 10 Int.
philyra, Od. 1. 38. 2
phimus, S. 2. 7. 17
Phocaei, Epod. 16. 17
Phraates, Od. 1. 26 Int. ; 2. 2. 17
Phrygian marble, Od. 3. 1. 41; music,
Od. 3. 19. 18; Epod. 9. 3
Phrygius, Od. 2. 9. 16
piacula, Ep. 1. 1. 36
Picenian apples, S. 2. 3. 272; 2. 4. 70
Pieris, Od. 4. 3. 18; Pierides, 4. 8. 20;
Pierius, A. P. 405
pietas, Od. 1. 17. 13
pila, S. 1. 4. 71
píla, S. 1. 5. 49; 2. 2. 11 ; A. P. 380
pilenta, Ep. 2. 1. 192
Pimpleis, Od. 1. 26. 9
Pindar imitated, Od. 1. 12. 1; 4. 2.
1-26
Pirithous, Od. 3. 4. 79
Pitholeon, S. 1. 10. 22
pituita, S. 2. 2. 76; Ep. 1. 108
pius, Od. 2. 1. 30; 3. 3. 58; 3. 21. 4
plagosus, Ep. 2. 1. 70
Plancus, Munatius, Od. 1. 7 Int.
planius, Ep. 1. 2. 4
pleiades, Od. 4. 14. 21
Plotius Tucca, S. 1. 5. 40; 1. 10. 81
plural, rhetorical, Od. 4. 8. 15
plus nimio, Od. 1. 18. 15; Ep. 1. 10. 30
poet, sacred, Od. 1. 22. 1; 2. 13. 29;
3. 1. 3
poet-laureate, Od. 1. 2 Int.
pol, Ep. 1. 7. 92
Polemon, S. 2. 3. 254
pollex, Ep. 1. 18. 66
;
Pollio, Od. 2. 1 Int. ; S. 1. 10. 42
Pollux, a boxer, Od. 1. 12. 26; dei-
fied hero, 3. 3. 9; 4. 5. 35
Pompeius Sextus, Epod. 4. 19; 7.
Int. ; 9. 7
9.7
theatre of, Od. 1. 20. 7
Pompilius, A. P. 292
Pomponius, S. 1. 4. 52
pondera, trans, Ep. 1. 6. 51
pono, Od. 4. 8. 8; S. 1. 2. 13; 2.
2. 23; 2. 4. 14; 2. 6. 64; 2. 7.
113; Ep. 1. 1. 10; 1. 7. 93; 1.
16. 35; A. P. 34, 422
pons Fabricius, S. 2. 3. 36
pontifices, Od. 2. 14. 28; Ep. 2. 1. 26
Pontus, ship timber from, Od. 1. 14.
11
popina, Ep. 1. 14. 21
popino, S. 2. 7. 39
porcus, Ep. 2. 1. 143
porro, S. 1. 3. 101
porticus, S. 1. 4. 134; Ep. 1. 1. 71
Portus Julius, A. P. 63
possum, Od. 3. 11. 30; Epod. 9. 14
potenter, A. P. 40
potis, Od. 3. 17. 13
praecanus, Ep. 1. 20. 24
praeceps, Od. 1. 3. 12
praeco, Ep. 1. 7. 56; Epod. 4. 12
platanus, Öd. 2. 11. 13
platea, Ep. 2. 2. 71
Plato, comic poet, S. 2. 3. 11
plausor, A. P. 154
plaustrum, Ep. 2. 2. 74
Plautus, Ep. 2. 1. 58, 171
praegestio, Od. 2. 5. 8
Praeneste, Od. 3. 4. 22; Ep. 1. 2. 2
praesectus, A. P. 294
praesens, Od. 1. 35. 2; S. 2. 2. 41;
2. 3. 68; Ep. 1. 1. 69
praetexta, A. P. 288
praeverti, S. 1. 3. 38
play on words, Od. 1. 33. 2; 2. 7. 1; prando, with acc., Ep. 1. 17. 13
3. 28. 8
plebecula, Ep. 2. 1. 186
plebs, Od. 2. 2. 18
plecto, Od. 1. 28. 26
plectrum, Od. 1. 26. 11; 2. 1. 40
prayer, attitude of, Od. 3. 23. 1
premo='prune,' Od. 1. 31. 9
prensus, Od. 2. 16. 2
present, prophetic, Od. 1. 14. 9
present part of verb 'to be' to be
2 T
642
HORACE
supplied, Od. 2. 3. 21; 3. 16. 30; |
4. 1. 6
Priamus, Od. 1. 10. 14; Prïamides,
S. 1. 7. 13
princeps, Od. 4. 14. 6
priscus, Od. 3. 21. 11; Epod. 2. 2
Priscus, S. 2. 7. 9
privignus, Od. 3. 24. 18
privus, S. 2. 5. 11
probus, S. 1. 3. 56
Procne, A. P. 187
procul, S. 2. 6. 105; Ep. 1. 7. 32
Proculeius, Od. 2. 2. 5
Procyon, Od. 3. 29. 18
prodigialiter, A. P. 29
profanus, Od. 3. 1. 1
profesti dies, S. 2. 2. 116; 2. 3. 144
proleptic use of adj., Od. 2. 1. 19; 2. |
5. 10; 3. 16. 19; 4. 3. 12; S. 1.
10. 71
Prometheus, Od. 1. 3. 27;= Fore- |
thought, 1. 16. 13; in hell, 2. 13.
37
pronoun in second of two clauses, Od.
1. 9. 16
pronouns in prominent position to
mark antithesis, Od. 1. 1. 29; 1.6.
17; 2. 7. 13; 2. 9. 9; 2. 12. 13;
2. 16. 33
propago, Epod. 2. 9
prope, S. 2. 3. 32
proper names as adjectives, Od. 1.15.10
Propertius, S. 1. 9 Int.; Ep. 2. 2. 91
proprius, Od. 2. 2. 22
prosequor, Od. 4. 5. 33
Proserpina, quantity of, Od. 2. 13. 21
protero, Od. 4. 7. 9
Proteus, Od. 1. 2. 7; Ep. 1. 1. 90
protinus, Od. 3. 3. 30
prout, S. 2. 6. 67
prudens, Ep. 2. 2. 18; A. P. 462
prudentia, Od. 4. 9. 35
psallo, Od. 4. 13. 7.
ptisanarium, S. 2. 3. 156
Pudor, Od. 1. 24. 6
puella, Od. 3. 14. 10
puer, Od. 3. 14. 17
pulchre, S. 1. 9. 62; 2. 8. 19
pulmenta, Ep. 1. 18. 48
pulmentaria, S. 2. 2. 21
pumice, Ep. 1. 20. 2
punctum, Ep. 2. 2. 99, 172
punicus, Epod. 9. 27
Pupius, Ep. 1. 1. 67
pupula, Epod. 5. 30
purpura, Od. 2. 16. 7; 2. 16. 33; 2.
18. 7; 3. 1. 42; Epod. 5. 7; Ep.
1. 10. 26; 1. 17. 30; 2. 1. 207
purpureus, Od. 1. 35. 12; 2. 16. 35;
2. 18. 7; 3. 15. 15; 4. 1. 10;
A. P. 15
puteal, S. 2. 6. 35; Ep. 1. 19. 9
putre, Ep. 1. 10. 49
Pyrrha, Od. 1. 5. 3
Pythagoras, Od. 1. 28. 10; Epod. 15.
21; S. 2. 4. 3; 2. 6. 63
Pythia, A. P. 414
Pythias, A. P. 238
quadam tenus, Ep. 1. 1. 32
quadra, Ep. 1. 17. 49
quadrigae, Od. 2. 16. 35
quadrimus, Od. 1. 9. 7
quamvis, S. 2. 2. 30
quando, Epod. 9. 1
quandoque, Od. 4. 1. 17
quantity, variation in, Od. 1. 32. 11 ;
3. 4. 9
quarta persona, A. P. 192
quartana, S. 2. 3. 290
quatenus, Od. 3. 24. 30; S. 1. 1.
64
que, out of place, Od. 2. 19. 28
querella, Od. 2. 9. 71
qui=quomodo, S. 1. 1. 1 ; 1. 1. 108;
2. 2. 19; 2. 3. 241, etc.
quid enim, S. 1. 1. 7; 2. 3. 132
quid quod, Od. 2. 18. 23
quin et, Od. 3. 11. 21
quinae mercedes, S. 1. 2. 14
Quinctilius Varus, Od. 1. 24 Int. ;
A. P. 438
Quinctius, Ep. 1. 16 Int.
quindecim viri, C. S. 70
Quinquatrus, Ep. 2. 2. 197
quintessence, Od. 1. 13. 16
quippe ironical, Od. 1. 31. 13
Quirinus, Epod. 16. 13
Quirites, Od. 2. 7. 3
quisque, Ep. 2. 1. 28
quo mihi, Ep. 1. 5. 12
quo ne, S. 2. 1. 37
quod, with subj., Od. 4. 3. 8
quondam, Ep. 1. 18. 78
INDEX
643
quorsum, S. 2. 3. 11; 2. 3. 246;
2. 7. 21
quotus, Od. 3. 19. 7; Ep. 1. 5. 30;
2. 1. 35
rabidus, A. P. 393
rabiosi signi, S. 1. 6. 126
Raeti, Od. 4. 4 Int. ; 4. 14 Int.
Ramnes, A. P. 342
rapere in ius, S. 2. 3. 72
rapidus, Od. 1. 28. 21
ravus, Epod. 16. 33
repulsa, Od. 3. 2. 17; Ep. 1. 1. 43
rescribo='repay,' S. 2. 3. 76
resigno, Od. 3. 29. 54
resorbeo, Od. 2. 7. 15
respicio, Od. 1. 2. 36; Ep. 1. 1. 105
responso, S. 2. 4. 18; Ep. 1. 1. 68
rettulit, spelling of, Od. 4. 15. 5
rex, Ep. 1. 7. 37; A. P. 434
rhetor, S. 1. 5. 2; 1. 10. 12
Rhoetus, Od. 2. 19. 21
rhombus, S. 2. 2. 42; 2. 8. 30
rhyming lines, Ep. 2. 1. 42
re-, in compounds='duly,' Od. 1. 9. ringi, Ep. 2. 2. 128
6; 1. 10. 17
recens, Od. 1. 10. 2
recido, Od. 3. 24. 34
recino, Od. 3. 27. 1
recitations, S. 1. 4. 73
recoctus, S. 2. 5. 55
reconditus, Od. 3. 28. 2
rectus, Od. 2. 10. 1
reddo, Od. 2. 17. 17; Ep. 2. 1. 216
redemptor, Od. 3. 1. 34
redono, Od. 2. 7. 3 ; 3. 3. 33
reduco, S. 2. 3. 191
refert, with dat., S. 1. 1. 50
refigo, Od. 1. 28. 11; Epod. 17. 5
refringo, Od. 3. 3. 28
regius morbus, A. P. 453
regna vini, Od. 1. 4. 18
regnatus, Od. 2. 6. 11
regno, with gen., Od. 3. 30. 12
religo, Od. 1. 32. 7
reluctans, Od. 4. 4. 11
remisceo, Od. 4. 15. 30
renideo, Od. 3. 6. 11
12;
reparo, Od. 1. 31. 12 ; 1. 37. 24
repeated word with different accent,
Od. 1. 32. 11
repetition used to connect clauses, Od.
1. 2. 4
express fondness, Od. 1. 13. 1; 3.
19. 5
express exultation, Od. 1. 35. 15;
4. 2. 49; Epod. 2. 61; 16. 21
express sadness, Od. 2.14.1; 4.4.70
express derision, Od. 1. 16. 24; 3.
19. 25; 4. 13. 10, 18
repono, Od. 1. 9. 6; 1. 10. 17; Epod.
9. 1
repotia, 8. 2. 2. 60
repto, Ep. 1. 4. 4
rixari, Ep. 1. 18. 15
Robur Tullianum, Od. 2. 13. 19
robustus, Od. 3. 16. 2
rodo, S. 1. 4. 81
Rome, size of, S. 1. 5. 1
Roscia lex, Ep. 1. 1. 62
rostra, S. 2. 6. 50
Rubi, S. 1. 5. 94
ructor, A. P. 457
rudis, Ep. 1. 1. 2
ruo='scrape together,' S. 2. 5. 22
Rupilius Rex, S. 1. 7. 1
Ruso, S. 1. 3. 86
sabbata, S. 1. 9. 69
Sabellus, Ep. 1. 16. 49
Sabine Farm, Od. 1. 17 Int.; 3. 13
Int.; Ep. 1. 16. 4
wine, Od. 1. 20. 1
Sabini, hardy, Od. 3. 6. 38
Sabini = estate among the Sabines,
Od. 2. 18. 14
sacer clivus, Od. 4. 2. 35; sacra Via,
S. 1. 9. 1
sacramentum, Od. 2. 17. 10
saga, Ep. 2. 2. 208
Sagana, S. 1. 8. 25
sal, Ep. 2. 2. 60
Salamis ambigua, Od. 1. 7. 29
salebrae, Ep. 1. 17. 53
Salernum, Ep. 1. 15. 1
Salii, Od. 1. 36. 22; 1. 37. 2; Saliare
carmen, Ep. 2. 1. 86
salinum, Od. 2. 16. 13
saltare Cyclopa, S. 1. 5. 63
saltus, Od. 2. 3. 17
Samnites, Ep. 2. 2. 97
sane, Ep. 2. 2. 64, 132
sanguis=‘offspring,' Od. 2. 20. 5
644
HORACE
sapiens='a philosopher,' Od. 1. 34. 2
2. 10. 22; 4. 9. 48; S. 1. 3. 127;
2. 3. 46; 2. 3. 97
sapienter, Od. 2. 10. 22; 4. 9. 48
sapio, Ep. 1. 4. 9
sapphic stanza, third and fourth lines
of, Od. 1. 2. 19
caesura in, Od. 4. 2. 7 ; C. S. 58.
Sardinian corn, Od. 1. 31. 4
Sardum mel, A. P. 375
Sarmentus, S. 1. 5. 52
sarta gratia, Ep. 1. 3. 31
Saturnalia, Od. 4. 1. 1; S. 2. 3. 5;
2. 7. 4
Saturnius, Ep. 2. 1. 158
Scaeva, S. 2. 1. 53; Ep. 1. 18 Int.
scalae, Ep. 2. 2. 15
scapha, Od. 3. 29.62
scarus, S. 2. 2. 22
Scaurus, Od. 1. 12. 37 ; S. 1. 3. 48
scelestus, Od. 2. 4. 17
schools, S. 1. 6. 72; 1. 10. 75
scilicet, Od. 1. 37. 33; 2. 14. 9;
3. 24. 62; ironical, 3. 5. 25
Scipiades, S. 2. 1. 17
Scipio Afr., Od. 4. 8. 18
scitor, Ep. 1. 7. 60
sconcing, Od. 1. 36. 14
Scopas, Od. 4. 8. 6
sententia, Od. 3. 4. 65
sentio, Od. 2. 7. 10
September, Ep. 1. 16. 16
Septimius, Od. 2. 6. 1; Ep. 1. 9 Int.
Seres, Od. 1. 12. 55; 3. 29. 26; 4.
15. 23
Sericus = 'Eastern,' Od. 1. 29. 9
sermo, Od. 3. 8. 5; S. 1. 4. 42; Ep.
2. 1. 250
Servilius Balatro, S. 2. 8. 21
Servius Tullius, S. 1. 6. 9
seu, omitted, Od. 1. 3. 16
severus of wine, Od. 1. 27. 9
Sextilis, Ep. 1. 7. 2
si in appeals, Od. 1. 32. 1; Epod. 5.
5; C. S. 37; omitted, Od. 4. 4. 65
sibilo, with acc., S. 1. 1. 66
Sibylline Books, C. S. 5
sic in appeals, Od. 1. 3. 1
sic temere, Od. 2. 11. 14
sic visum, Od. 1. 33. 10
siccus, Od. 1. 18. 3; 3. 29. 20; 4. 5.
39; Ep. 1. 17. 12
Siculae dapes, Od. 3. 1. 18
Siculus, Od. 2. 12. 2
Sidonius, Epod. 16. 59; Ep. 1. 10. 26
sigilla, Ep. 2. 2. 180
Silenus, A. P. 239
siliquae, Ep. 2. 1. 123
scriba, S. 1. 5. 35, 66; 2. 5. 56; 2. Silvanus, Od. 3. 29. 22; Epod. 2. 22;
6. 36
scrinia, Ep. 2. 1. 113
scruta, Ep. 1. 7. 65
scurra, S. 1. 5. 52; 1. 8. 11; 2. 1.
22; 2. 3. 229; Ep. 1. 15. 27
scutica, S. 1. 3. 119
Scythae, Od. 3. 3. 23; 4. 5. 25; 4.
14. 42; virtues of, 3. 24. 9-24
Scythicus, Od. 3. 4. 36
second pers. sing. used indefinitely,
Od. 1. 1. 13; 2. 2.9
secundae partes, S. 1. 9. 45
secundus='next,' Od. 1. 12. 18;=
'favourable,' 2. 10. 23
secures, Od. 3. 2. 19; C. S. 53
sed=d' ovv, Od. 4. 4. 22
sedeo, Ep. 1. 17. 37
seditio, Od. 3. 3. 29
seges, Od. 1. 31. 4
semel, Od. 3. 5. 29
senectus, Epod. 13. 5
senium, Ep. 1. 18. 47
Ep. 2. 1. 143
Simonides, Od. 2. 1. 38
simul=simul ac, Od. 1. 9. 9; 2. 8. 5;
2. 16. 2; 3. 4. 37; 3. 12. 7
sincerus, Ep. 1. 2. 54
singular verb after two nominatives,
Od. 2. 13. 38
sinistrorsum, Epod. 9. 19
Sinuessa, S. 1. 5. 40
sinus, Epod. 1. 13
Sisyphus, Od. 2. 14. 19
Sithonius, Od. 3. 26. 10
situs, Od. 3. 30. 2; Ep. 2. 2. 118
sive omitted, Od. 1. 3. 16
slaves, value of, S. 2. 7.43; Ep. 2. 2. 6;
number of, S. 1. 3. 12; 1. 6. 116
sobrius, Od. 2. 10. 6
Socrates, S. 2. 4. 3; A. P. 310
Socratic philosophy, Od. 1. 29. 14; 3.
21. 9
sodes, S. 1. 9. 41; Ep. 1. 1. 62; 1.
16. 31
INDEX
645
soleas poscere, S. 2. 8. 77
soles='days,' Od. 4. 5. 7
solidus dies, Od. 1. 1. 20; solida mens
3. 3. 4
sollicitus, Od. 3. 7. 9
solutus, with gen., Od. 3. 17. 16
solvo, of warmth, Od. 1. 4. 1; of vows,
4. 2. 54; solventur tabulae, S. 2.
1.86
Soracte, Od. 1. 9. 1
sortes, A. P. 219, 403
Sosii, Ep. 1. 20. 2; A. P. 345
sound, accommodation of, to sense, Od.
1.2. 1; 1. 3. 36; 1. 5. 8; 1. 15. 14;
1. 25. 6; 1. 29. 11; 3. 29. 35; 4.
6. 10; 4. 13. 1
Spartacus, Od. 3. 14. 19
spatia, Ep. 1. 7. 42
specialization, Od. 1. 1. 13; 2. 9. 2;
3. 6. 55
species, A. P. 25
speciosus, Ep. 2. 2. 116; A. P. 144
spectatus, Ep. 1. 1. 2
spiritus=Ovμós, Od. 2. 2. 9; 'inspira-
tion,' 2. 16. 38; 4. 6. 29
sponsi, Ep. 1. 2. 28
sponsor, S. 2. 6. 23
sponsum, S. 1. 3. 95
ss=}, Od. 4. 1. 11
stagnum, Od. 2. 15. 4
Stertinius, S. 2. 3. 33; Ep. 1. 12. 20
Stesichorus, palinode of, Od. 1. 16
Int.
stilus, S. 1. 10. 72 ; 2. 1. 39
;
sto, Od. 1. 9. 1 ; 2. 9. 5 ; 3. 3. 42
Stoic paradoxes, Od. 3. 2. 17; 4. 9.
39; S. 1. 3. 96, 124
stomachus, Od. 1. 6. 6
strabo, S. 1. 3. 44
stragulus, S. 2. 3. 118
strepitus, Od. 3. 10. 5; 4. 3. 18
stringere rem, S. 1. 2. 8; stringere
frondes, Ep. 1. 14. 28
sublustris, Od. 3. 27. 31
submitto, Od. 4. 4. 63
suboles, Od. 4. 3. 14
subucula, Ep. 1. 1. 95
Subura, Epod. 5. 57
succedo, Ep. 1. 17. 37
suicide, Od. 1. 12. 35
Sulcius, S. 1. 4. 65
Sulpicii, Od. 4. 12. 18
summa=ultima, Ep. 1. 1. 1
- Vox, S. 1. 3. 8
summoveo, Od. 2. 16. 10; 2. 18. 21
sunt qui, Od. 1. 1. 3 ; 1. 7. 5
super, Ep. 2. 1. 152; 2. 2. 24;
A. P. 53; in addition to, S. 2.
6. 3; 2. 7. 18
supinus, Od. 3. 4. 23
supremus, Od. 2. 17. 11; supremo
sole, Ep. 1. 5. 3
Surrentine wine, S. 2. 4. 55
suspensi loculos, S. 1. 6. 74
swan musical, Od. 2. 20. 15
Sybaris, Od. 1. 8. 2
Sygambri, Od. 4. 2. 36
syllable lengthened by ictus, Od. 1. 3. 36
symphonia, A. P. 374
syncope, Od. 1. 36. 8; 4. 13. 20;
Epod. 9. 1; S. 1. 5. 79
synizesis, Od. 3. 7. 28; S. 1. 7. 30;
2. 8. 1
Syrian merchandise, Od. 1. 31. 12
Syrtes, Od. 1. 22. 5
taberna, Ep. 1. 14. 24; A. P. 229
tabulae, S. 1. 4. 15; 2. 1. 86; 2. 5.
52; Ep. 2. 2. 110
Taenarus, Od. 1. 34. 9
tali, Od. 1. 4. 18; S. 2. 3. 171; talus
rectus, Ep. 2. 1. 176
Tanais, S. 1. 1. 105
Tantalus, Od. 2. 18. 27; S. 1. 1. 68
tanti est, A. P. 304
tantum, with adjs., S. 2. 3. 313
stultus, in the Stoic view, S. 1. 3. 77, Tarentum, S. 2. 4. 30; Ep. 1. 16. 11
140; 2. 3. 32, 305
stupeo, S. 1. 4. 28; 1. 6. 17
Styx, Od. 2. 14. 8
Suadela, Ep. 1. 6. 38
sub, with acc., Od. 1. 8. 14; 2. 18. 18;
Epod. 5. 83; Ep. 1. 16. 22; 2. 2.
169; A. P. 302; abl., Od. 3. 7. 30
subinde, Ep. 1. 8. 15
Tarpa, Sp. Maecius, S. 1. 10. 38
Tarquinius Sup., Od. 1. 12. 34
tauriformis, Od. 4. 14. 25
Taurus (Statilius), Ep. 1. 5. 4
Teanum, Ep. 1. 1. 86
Tecmessa, quantity of, Od. 2. 4. 6
Telegoni iuga, Od. 3. 29. 6
Telemachus, Ep. 1. 7. 40
646
HORACE
Telephus, Epod. 17. 8; A. P. 96
Tellus, Ep. 2. 1. 143
temere, Od. 1. 12. 7
temetum, Ep. 2. 2. 163
Tempe, Od. 1. 7. 4; 3. 1. 24
tempero, Od. 1. 20. 11
templa, Ep. 2. 1. 6
tempto, of diseases, S. 1. 1. 80
tempus erat, Od. 1. 37. 1; tempora,
Ep. 2. 1. 4
tenax, Od. 3. 3. 1
tenuis, Od. 2. 16. 38; A. P. 46
tepidus sol, Ep. 1. 20. 19
tepor, Ep. 1. 18. 93
teres, Od. 2. 4. 21; S. 2. 7. 86
Terminalia, Epod. 2. 59
termini, Od. 2. 18. 24; C. S. 26
terrenum, Od. 3. 24. 4
tesqua, Ep. 1. 14. 19
tessera, Ep. 1. 1. 2
testamenta, Ep. 1. 7. 9
testudo, Od. 3. 11. 3
tetrarchae, S. 1. 3. 12
Teucer, Od. 1. 7. 21
Thaliarchus, Od. 1. 9. 8
theatra, Ep. 2. 1. 60
Thebanus, Ep. 1. 3. 13
Thespis, A. P. 276
Tigellius Sardus, S. 1. 2. 3; 1. 3. 3
Tillius, S. 1. 6. 24
Tiresias, S. 2. 5. 1
Tiridates, Od. 1. 26 Int. ; 3. 8. 19
tirones, S. 1. 2. 17
Titanes, Od. 3. 4. 42-54
Tithonus, Od. 2. 16. 30
titillo, S. 2. 3. 179
Titius, Ep. 1. 3. 9
Tityos, Od. 2. 14. 8; 4. 6. 1
tmesis, Od. 1. 6. 3; 1. 32. 15; S. 1.
1. 86; 1. 6. 58; 2. 6. 95
toga, Od. 3. 5. 10; Epod. 4. 8; S.
1. 3. 31; Ep. 1. 18. 30; 1. 19. 13
tonsus, Ep. 1. 18. 7
tormentum, Od. 3. 21. 13
tornatus, A. P. 441
torpeo, S. 2. 7. 95
Torquatus Manlius, Od. 3. 21. 1; Ep.
1. 5 Int.
trabes, Od. 2. 18. 3; 4. 1. 20
trado='introduce,' S. 1. 9. 47; Ep.
1. 9. 3
tragicus, A. P. 95
tragoedia, Od. 2. 1. 9 ; A. P. 220
;
traho='drink,' Epod. 14. 3
transilio, Od. 1. 18. 7
Trebatius, S. 2. 1. 4
Thessalian wizards, Od. 1. 27. 21; trepidae res, Od. 3. 2. 5
Epod. 5. 45; Ep. 2. 2. 209
Thetis, Od. 1. 8. 13
Thraces, Od. 1. 27. 2; 1. 36. 14; 2.
19. 20; Epod. 5. 14; Thraca, Ep.
1. 3. 3; Thraex, S. 2. 6. 64; Ep.
1. 18. 36
Thraciae animae, Od. 4. 12. 1
Thressa, Od. 3. 9. 9
Thyestes, Epod. 5. 85
Thyiades, Od. 2. 19. 9
Thynus, Od. 3. 7. 3
Thyoneus, Od. 1. 17. 23
Tiber, floods of, Od. 1. 2. 13; for
bathing, 1. 8. 8; yellow, 2. 3. 18;
diverted, A. P. 67
Tiberius, Od. 4. 4 Int.; 4. 14 Int.;
Ep. 1. 9. 4
trepido, Od. 2. 4. 24; 2. 11. 4; 3.
29. 32; 4. 11. 11
tribulis, Ep. 1. 13. 15
triformis, Od. 3. 22. 4
trigon, S. 1. 6. 126
trilinguis, Od. 2. 19. 31
tripos, Od. 4. 8. 3
tripudium, Od. 4. 1. 28
Triquetra, S. 2. 6. 55
tritus, S. 1. 3. 91
triumphatus, Od. 3. 3. 43
Trivicum, S. 1. 5. 79
Troilus, Od. 2. 9. 16
tropaeum, Od. 2. 9. 19
Troy, rebuilding of, Od. 3. 3 Int.
trulla, S. 2. 3. 144
trutina, S. 1. 3. 72; Ep. 2. 1. 30
tibiae, plural, Od. 1. 1. 32 ; A. P. 202 tuba, Od. 1. 1. 23
Tibullus, Ep. 1. 4 Int.
Tibur, Od. 1. 7 Int.; 1. 18. 2; 2. 6.
5 ; 3. 4. 23; 3. 29. 6; Ep. 1. 8. 12
Tigellius, Hermogenes, S. 1. 3. 129; 1.
4. 72; 1. 9. 25; 1. 10. 18
tuber, S. 1. 3. 73
Tullus, Od. 3. 8. 12
tumultus, Od. 4. 4. 47
tunicatus, Ep. 1. 7. 65
Turbo, S. 2. 3. 310
INDEX
647
turbo, Epod. 17. 7
Turius, S. 2. 1. 49
Tusculum, Epod. 1. 29
Tuscus vicus, S. 2. 3. 228
tutela, S. 2. 3. 218
Tyndaridae, S. 1. 1. 100
Typhoeus, Od. 3. 4. 53
Tyrrhenum, Od. 3. 24. 4
Tyrtaeus, A. P. 402
udus='drunk,' Od. 1. 7. 22
Ulixeus, gen. of, Od. 1. 6. 7; Epod.
16. 60
ultra, S. 2. 5. 90
altro, Od. 4. 4. 51
Ulubrae, Ep. 1. 11. 30
umbra, Ep. 1. 7. 50
umbrae, S. 2. 8. 22; Ep. 1. 7. 50
Umbrenus, S. 2. 2. 133
umerus, Od. 1. 2. 31
Ummidius, S. 1. 1. 95
uncles, cruelty of, Od. 3. 12. 3
unctus, Ep. 1. 15. 44; 1. 17. 12
unde='from whom,' Od. 1. 12. 17;
2. 12. 7; with acc., S. 2. 5. 102;
2. 7. 116
unguis tener, Od. 3. 6. 24
unicus, Od. 2. 18. 14; 3. 14. 5
unus, S. 2. 3. 24
urbs = Rome, Od. 1. 2. 4
urgueo, Od. 1. 24. 6; 2. 9. 9; urgue,
intrans., S. 2. 6. 24
uro, Ep. 1. 2. 13; 1. 10. 43; 1. 13.
6; 2. 1. 13
urtica, Ep. 1. 12. 8
usitatus, Od. 2. 20. 1
usus, Ep. 2. 2. 119
ut=‘since,' Od. 4. 4. 42; ='while,'
S. 1. 5. 15; =utinam, S. 2. 1. 43
utcunque, Od. 1. 17. 10
uterne, S. 2. 2. 107
uti='enjoy,' S. 1. 1. 37; = ‘as-
sociate with,' Ep. 1. 7. 2
utile, Od. 4. 9. 41
utrobique, Ep. 1. 6. 10
uvidus, Od. 2. 19. 18; 4. 5. 39
v, a semivowel, Od. 1. 23. 4
Vacuna, Ep. 1. 10. 49
vadato, S. 1. 9. 36
vades, S. 1. 1. 11
Valgius, Od. 2. 9 Int. ; S. 1. 10. 82
vallus, Epod. 9. 13
vanus, A. P. 7
vaporo, Ep. 1. 16. 6
vappa, S. 1. 1. 104; 2. 3. 144
Varia, Ep. 1. 14. 3
Varius, L., Od. 1. 6. 1; S. 1. 5. 40;
1. 6. 55; 1. 10. 43; Ep. 2. 1. 246
Varro Atacinus, S. 1. 10. 46
varus, S. 1. 3. 47; 2. 3. 56
vates, Ep. 1. 7. 11 ; 2. 1. 26
Vaticanus mons, Od. 1. 20. 7
ve, out of place, Od. 2. 7. 25
vectigalia, Od. 3. 16. 40
vehemens, Ep. 2. 2. 28
Veianius, Ep. 1. 1. 4
Veientanum vinum, S. 2. 3. 143
Veii, Ep. 2. 2. 167
Velabrum, S. 2. 3. 229
Velia, Ep. 1. 15. 1
Velina, Ep. 1. 6. 52
Venafrum, Od. 2. 6. 16; S. 2. 4. 69
veneror, C. S. 49; S. 2. 6. 8
venientes anni, A. P. 175
vennuncula, S. 2. 4. 71
Venus, marina, Od. 3. 26. 5; 4. 11.
15; 'a beauty,' 1. 27. 14
=
drawn by swans, Od. 4. 1. 10;
='beauty,' 4. 13. 17; of dice, 2. 7.
25
Venusia, S. 2. 1. 35
vepris, Ep. 1. 16. 8
verb in sing. after two nominatives,
Od. 2. 13. 38
verbs followed by gen., Od. 2. 9. 17;
2. 13. 38; 3. 30. 12
of sacrifice, construction of, Od.
1. 4. 11
verbenae, Od. 1. 19. 14
verruca, S. 1. 3. 73
verticem tollere, Od. 3. 16. 19
Vertumnus, Od. 1. 14. 6; S. 2. 7.
14; Ep. 1. 20. 1
verum, Ep. 1. 7. 98; 1. 12. 23; 1.
17. 21
vesanus, S. 2. 3. 174
Vesperus, Od. 2. 9. 10
Vesta, temple of, Od. 1. 2. 15
Vestal virgins, Od. 1. 2. 27
Via Sacra, Epod. 4. 5; 7. 7; S. 1.
9. 1
viatica, Ep. 2. 2. 26
vicarius, Od. 3. 24. 16; S. 2. 7. 79
648
HORACE
vice, Od. 1. 4. 1; Epod. 17. 42;
vicem, Epod. 5. 88
vices, Od. 4. 7. 3; plus vice simplici,
4. 14. 13
vicus, Ep. 2. 2. 177
viduus, Ep. 1. 1. 78
villa, Ep. 1. 15. 46
Vindelici, Od. 4. 4. 18
vindicta, S. 2. 7. 76
vine, training of, Od. 4. 5. 30
Vinius, Ep. 1. 12 Int.
viola, colour of, Od. 3. 10. 14
virens, Epod. 17. 33;
4. 13. 6
'young,' Od.
vireo, Epod. 13. 4
Virgilius, friend of Hor., Od. 1. 3
Int.; of Quinctilius, 1. 24 Int.
imitated, Od. 2. 9 Int.; not the
poet, 4. 12 Int.; S. 1. 5. 40, 48;
1. 6. 55; 1. 10. 81
virtus, Od. 2. 2. 18 ; 3. 2. 17 ; Epod.
15. 11
vis, Od. 3. 4. 65; ='abundance,' Od.
4. 8. 9
Visci, S. 1. 10. 83
Viscus Thurinus, S. 2. 8. 20
Visellius, S. 1. 1. 105
viso='visit the sick,' S. 2. 8. 20
vitellus, 8. 2. 4. 14
vitium='excess,' S. 2. 2. 78; 2. 6. 6
vivaria, Ep. 1. 1. 79
vivere = 'to enjoy life,' Od. 3. 29. 42
voces, Ep. 1. 1. 34
volens, Od. 3. 30. 16
vows, Od. 1. 36. 2; 2. 7. 17; 3. 29.
59; 4. 2. 54
vulpecula, Ep. 1. 7. 29
Vultur, Od. 3. 4. 9
vulva, Ep. 1. 15. 41
wine, methods of keeping, Od. 1. 20. 3 ;
3. 8. 10
Xanthus, Epod. 13. 13
Xenocrates, S. 2. 3. 254
y, where occurring in Latin, Od. 1. 16.
5; 4. 2. 36
Zethus, Ep. 1. 18. 40
zeugma, Od. 2. 16. 34; 3. 10. 5
Zmyrna, Ep. 1. 11. 3
zona, Ep. 2. 2. 40
THE END
Printed by R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, Edinburgh
13



Ritiousness
H
Windon
Вилаему
Fear of

деца
}