The Works of Horace, with English Notes, by the Rev. A. J. Macleane, Revised and Edited by Reginald H. Chase

Transcriber’s Note

The individual works — odes (carmina), satires, epistles and treatises — and their respective sets of notes are hyperlinked to each other by way of their headings. For convenience, each book of poems has been provided with a set of hyperlinks to the individual works within the book.

The cover image that appears in e-book versions was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

Errata and other changes from the original text are found at the end of this digital version.

CONTENTS.

NOTES.

LIFE OF HORACE.

The materials for Horace’s life are derived almost entirely from his own works. A few additional facts are obtained from a short memoir, attributed to Suetonius.

He was born on the 8th of December, A. U. C. 689 (B. C. 65), at or near Venusia [1] (Venosa), in the Apennines, on the borders of Lucania and Apulia. His father was a freedman,[2] having, as his name proves, been the slave of some person of the Horatia gens. As Horace implies that he himself was ingenuus,[3] his father must have obtained his freedom before his birth. He afterwards followed the calling of a coactor,[4] a collector of money in some way or other, it is not known in what. He made, in this capacity, enough to purchase an estate, probably a small one, near the above town, where the poet was born. We hear nothing of his mother, except that Horace speaks of both his parents with affection.[5] His father, probably seeing signs of talent in him as a child, was not content to have him educated at a provincial school, but took him (at what age he does not say, but probably about twelve) to Rome, where he became a pupil of Orbilius Pupillus,[6] who had a school of much note, attended by boys of good family, and whom Horace remembered all his life as an irritable teacher, given unnecessarily to the use of the rod.[viii] With him he learnt grammar, the earlier Latin authors, and Homer. He attended other masters (of rhetoric, poetry, and music perhaps), as Roman boys were wont, and had the advantage (to which he afterwards looked back with gratitude) of his father’s care and moral training during this part of his education. It was usual for young men of birth and ability to be sent to Athens, to finish their education by the study of Greek literature and philosophy under native teachers; and Horace went there too, at what age is not known, but probably when he was about twenty. Whether his father was alive at that time, or dead, is uncertain. If he went to Athens at twenty, it was in B. C. 45, the year before Julius Cæsar was assassinated. After that event, Brutus and Cassius left Rome and went to Greece. Foreseeing the struggle that was before them, they got round them many of the young men at that time studying at Athens, and Horace was appointed tribune [7] in the army of Brutus, a high command, for which he was not qualified. He went with Brutus into Asia Minor, and finally shared his defeat at Philippi, B. C. 42. He makes humorous allusion to this defeat in his Ode to Pompeius Varus (ii. 7). After the battle he came to Italy, having obtained permission to do so, like many others who were willing to give up a desperate cause and settle quietly at home. His patrimony,[8] however, was forfeited, and he seems to have had no means of subsistence, which induced him to employ himself in writing verses, with the view, perhaps, of bringing himself into notice,[9] rather than for the purpose of making money by their sale. By some means he managed to get a place as scriba [10] in the Quæstor’s office, whether by purchase or interest does not appear. In either case, we must suppose he contrived soon to make friends, though he could not do so by the course he pursued,[ix] without also making many enemies. His Satires are full of allusions to the enmity his verses had raised up for him on all hands. He became acquainted, among other literary persons, with Virgil and Varius, who, about three years after his return (B. C. 39), introduced him to Mæcenas, who was careful of receiving into his circle a tribune of Brutus, and one whose writings were of a kind that was new and unpopular. He accordingly saw nothing of Horace for nine months after his introduction to him. He then sent for him (B. C. 38), and from that time continued to be his patron and warmest friend.

At his house, probably, Horace became intimate with Pollio, and the many persons of consideration whose friendship he appears to have enjoyed. Through Mæcenas, also, it is probable Horace was introduced to Augustus; but when that happened is uncertain. In B. C. 37, Mæcenas was deputed by Augustus to meet M. Antonius at Brundisium, and he took Horace with him on that journey, of which a detailed account is given in the fifth Satire of the first book. Horace appears to have parted from the rest of the company at Brundisium, and perhaps returned to Rome by Tarentum and Venusia. (See S. i. 5, Introduction.) Between this journey and B. C. 32, Horace received from his friend the present of a small estate in the valley of the Digentia (Licenza), situated about thirty-four miles from Rome, and fourteen from Tibur, in the Sabine country. Of this property he gives a description in his Epistle to Quintius (i. 16), and he appears to have lived there a part of every year, and to have been fond of the place, which was very quiet and retired, being four miles from the nearest town, Varia (Vico Varo), a municipium perhaps, but not a place of any importance. During this interval he continued to write Satires and Epodes, but also, it appears probable, some of the Odes, which some years later he published, and others which he did not publish. These compositions, no doubt, were seen by his friends, and were pretty well known before any of them were collected for publication. The first book of the Satires was published probably in B. C. 35, the Epodes in B. C. 30, and the second book of Satires in the following year, when Horace was about thirty-five years old.[x] When Augustus returned from Asia, in B. C. 29, and closed the gates of Janus, being the acknowledged head of the republic, Horace appeared among his most hearty adherents. He wrote on this occasion one of his best Odes (i. 2), and employed his pen in forwarding those reforms which it was the first object of Augustus to effect. (See Introduction to C. ii. 15.) His most striking Odes appear, for the most part, to have been written after the establishment of peace. Some may have been written before, and probably were. But for some reason it would seem that he gave himself more to lyric poetry after his thirty-fifth year than he had done before. He had most likely studied the Greek poets while he was at Athens, and some of his imitations may have been written early. If so, they were most probably improved and polished, from time to time, (for he must have had them by him, known perhaps only to a few friends, for many years,) till they became the graceful specimens of artificial composition that they are. Horace continued to employ himself in this kind of writing (on a variety of subjects, convivial, amatory, political, moral,—some original, many no doubt suggested by Greek poems) till B. C. 24, when there are reasons for thinking the first three books of the Odes were published. During this period, Horace appears to have passed his time at Rome, among the most distinguished men of the day, or at his house in the country, paying occasional visits to Tibur, Præneste, and Baiæ, with indifferent health, which required change of air. About the year B. C. 26 he was nearly killed by the falling of a tree, on his own estate, which accident he has recorded in one of his Odes (ii. 13), and occasionally refers to; once in the same stanza with a storm in which he was nearly lost off Cape Palinurus,[11] on the western coast of Italy. When this happened, nobody knows. After the publication of the three books of Odes, Horace seems to have ceased from that style of writing, or nearly so; and the only other compositions we know of his having produced in the next few years are metrical Epistles to different friends, of which he published a volume probably in B. C. 20 or 19. He seems to have taken[xi] up the study of the Greek philosophical writers, and to have become a good deal interested in them, and also to have been a little tired of the world, and disgusted with the jealousies his reputation created. His health did not improve as he grew older, and he put himself under the care of Antonius Musa, the emperor’s new physician.[12] By his advice he gave up, for a time at least, his favorite Baiæ. But he found it necessary to be a good deal away from Rome, especially in the autumn and winter.[13]

In B. C. 17, Augustus celebrated the Ludi Seculares, and Horace was required to write an Ode for the occasion, which he did, and it has been preserved. This circumstance, and the credit it brought him, may have given his mind another leaning to Ode-writing, and have helped him to produce the fourth book, a few pieces in which may have been written at any time. It is said that Augustus particularly desired Horace to publish another book of Odes, in order that those he wrote upon the victories of Drusus and Tiberius (4 and 14) might appear in it. The latter of these Odes was not written, probably, till B. C. 13, when Augustus returned from Gaul. If so, the book was probably published in that year, when Horace was fifty-two. The Odes of the fourth book show no diminution of power, but the reverse. There are none in the first three books that surpass, or perhaps equal, the Ode in honor of Drusus, and few superior to that which is addressed to Lollius. The success of the first three books, and the honor of being chosen to compose the Ode at the Ludi Seculares, seem to have given him encouragement. There are no incidents in his life during the above period recorded or alluded to in his poems. He lived five years after the publication of the fourth book of Odes, if the above date be correct, and during that time, I think it probable, he wrote the Epistles to Augustus and Florus which form the second book; and having conceived the intention of writing a poem on the art and progress of poetry, he wrote as much of it as appears in the Epistle to the Pisones which has been preserved among his works. It seems,[xii] from the Epistle to Florus, that Horace at this time had to resist the urgency of friends begging him to write, one in this style and another in that, and that he had no desire to gratify them and to sacrifice his own ease to a pursuit in which it is plain he never took any great delight. He was likely to bring to it less energy as his life was drawing prematurely to a close, through infirmities either contracted or aggravated during his irrational campaigning with Brutus, his inaptitude for which he appears afterwards to have been perfectly aware of. He continued to apply himself to the study of moral philosophy till his death, which took place, according to Eusebius, on the 27th of November, B. C. 8, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and within a few days of its completion. Mæcenas died the same year, also towards the close of it; a coincidence that has led some to the notion, that Horace hastened his own death that he might not have the pain of surviving his patron. According to Suetonius, his death (which he places after his fifty-ninth year) was so sudden, that he had not time to execute his will, which is opposed to the notion of suicide. The two friends were buried near one another “in extremis Esquiliis,” in the farthest part of the Esquiliæ, that is, probably, without the city walls, on the ground drained and laid out in gardens by Mæcenas. (See S. i. 8, Introduction.)

CARMEN I.
Maecenas atavis edite regibus
O et praesidium et dulce decus meum,
Sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum
Collegisse juvat metaque fervidis
Evitata rotis palmaque nobilis.	5
Terrarum dominos evehit ad Deos,
Hunc si mobilium turba Quiritium
Certat tergeminis tollere honoribus;
Illum si proprio condidit horreo
Quidquid de Libycis verritur areis.	10
Gaudentem patrios findere sarculo
Agros Attalicis conditionibus
Nunquam dimoveas, ut trabe Cypria
Myrtoum pavidus nauta secet mare.
Luctantem Icariis fluctibus Africum	15
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	20
Spernit, nunc viridi membra sub arbuto
[2]Stratus, nunc ad aquae lene caput sacrae.
Multos castra juvant et lituo tubae
Permixtus sonitus bellaque matribus
Detestata. Manet sub Jove frigido	25
Venator tenerae conjugis immemor,
Seu visa est catulis cerva fidelibus,
Seu rupit teretes Marsus aper plagas.
Me doctarum hederae praemia frontium
Dis miscent superis; me gelidum nemus	30
Nympharumque leves cum Satyris chori
Secernunt populo, si neque tibias
Euterpe cohibet nec Polyhymnia
Lesboum refugit tendere barbiton.
Quod si me lyricis vatibus inseris,	35
Sublimi feriam sidera vertice.

CARMEN II.
Jam satis terris nivis atque dirae
Grandinis misit Pater, et rubente
Dextera sacras jaculatus arces
Terruit Urbem,
Terruit gentes, grave ne rediret	5
Seculum Pyrrhae nova monstra questae,
Omne cum Proteus pecus egit altos
Visere montes,
Piscium et summa genus haesit ulmo
Nota quae sedes fuerat columbis,	10
Et superjecto pavidae natarunt
Aequore damae.
Vidimus flavum Tiberim retortis
Littore Etrusco violenter undis
Ire dejectum monumenta regis	15
Templaque Vestae;
Iliae dum se nimium querenti
[3]Jactat ultorem, vagus et sinistra
Labitur ripa Jove non probante u-
xorius amnis.	20
Audiet cives acuisse ferrum
Quo graves Persae melius perirent;
Audiet pugnas vitio parentum
Rara juventus.
Quem vocet divum populus ruentis	25
Imperi rebus? prece qua fatigent
Virgines sanctae minus audientem
Carmina Vestam?
Cui dabit partes scelus expiandi
Juppiter? Tandem venias precamur	30
Nube candentes humeros amictus,
Augur Apollo;
Sive tu mavis, Erycina ridens,
Quam Jocus circum volat et Cupido;
Sive neglectum genus et nepotes	35
Respicis auctor,
Heu nimis longo satiate ludo,
Quem juvat clamor galeaeque leves
Acer et Mauri peditis cruentum
Voltus in hostem;	40
Sive mutata juvenem figura
Ales in terris imitaris, almae
Filius Maiae, patiens vocari
Caesaris ultor:
Serus in caelum redeas diuque	45
Laetus intersis populo Quirini;
Neve te nostris vitiis iniquum
Ocior aura
Tollat: hic magnos potius triumphos,
Hic ames dici pater atque princeps,	50
Neu sinas Medos equitare inultos
Te duce, Caesar.

CARMEN III.
Sic te diva potens Cypri,
Sic fratres Helenae lucida sidera,
Ventorumque regat pater,
Obstrictis aliis praeter Iapyga:
Navis, quae tibi creditum	5
Debes Virgilium finibus Atticis
Reddas incolumem precor,
Et serves animae dimidium meae.
Illi robur et aes triplex
Circa pectus erat qui fragilem truci	10
Commisit pelago ratem
Primus, nec timuit praecipitem Africum
Decertantem Aquilonibus
Nec tristes Hyadas, nec rabiem Noti
Quo non arbiter Hadriae	15
Major tollere seu ponere volt freta.
Quem Mortis timuit gradum
Qui siccis oculis monstra natantia,
Qui vidit mare turgidum et
Infames scopulos Acroceraunia?	20
Nequicquam deus abscidit
Prudens Oceano dissociabili
Terras si tamen impiae
Non tangenda rates transiliunt vada.
Audax omnia perpeti	25
Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas.
Audax Iapeti genus
Ignem fraude mala gentibus intulit.
Post ignem aetheria domo
Subductum macies et nova febrium	30
Terris incubuit cohors,
Semotique prius tarda necessitas
[5]Leti corripuit gradum.
Expertus vacuum Daedalus aëra
Pennis non homini datis;	35
Perrupit Acheronta Herculeus labor.
Nil mortalibus ardui est;
Caelum ipsum petimus stultitia neque
Per nostrum patimur scelus
Iracunda Jovem ponere fulmina.	40

CARMEN IV.
Solvitur acris hiems grata vice veris et Favoni,
Trahuntque siccas machinae carinas,
Ac neque jam stabulis gaudet pecus aut arator igni;
Nec prata canis albicant pruinis.
Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus imminente Luna,	5
Junctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes
Alterno terram quatiunt pede, dum graves Cyclopum
Volcanus ardens urit officinas.
Nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput impedire myrto
Aut flore terrae quem ferunt solutae.	10
Nunc et in umbrosis Fauno decet immolare lucis,
Seu poscat agnam sive malit haedum.
Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres. O beate Sesti,
Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam.	15
Jam te premet nox fabulaeque Manes
Et domus exilis Plutonia: quo simul mearis,
Nec regna vini sortiere talis
Nec tenerum Lycidan mirabere, quo calet juventus
Nunc omnis et mox virgines tepebunt.	20

CARMEN V.
Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa
Perfusus liquidis urget odoribus
Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro?
Cui flavam religas comam
Simplex munditiis? Heu quoties fidem	5
Mutatosque deos flebit et aspera
Nigris aequora ventis
Emirabitur insolens
Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea;
Qui semper vacuam, semper amabilem	10
Sperat nescius aurae
Fallacis. Miseri quibus
Intentata nites! Me tabula sacer
Votiva paries indicat uvida
Suspendisse potenti	15
Vestimenta maris deo.

CARMEN VI.
Scriberis Vario fortis et hostium
Victor Maeonii carminis alite,
Quam rem cunque ferox navibus aut equis
Miles te duce gesserit.
Nos, Agrippa, neque haec dicere nec gravem	5
Pelidae stomachum cedere nescii
Nec cursus duplicis per mare Ulixei
Nec saevam Pelopis domum
Conamur tenues grandia, dum pudor
[7]Imbellisque lyrae Musa potens vetat	10
Laudes egregii Caesaris et tuas
Culpa deterere ingeni.
Quis Martem tunica tectum adamantina
Digne scripserit aut pulvere Troico
Nigrum Merionen aut ope Palladis	15
Tydiden superis parem?
Nos convivia, nos proelia virginum
Sectis in juvenes unguibus acrium
Cantamus vacui, sive quid urimur
Non praeter solitum leves.	20

CARMEN VII.
Laudabunt alii claram Rhodon aut Mytilenen
Aut Epheson bimarisve Corinthi
Moenia vel Baccho Thebas vel Apolline Delphos
Insignes aut Thessala Tempe.
Sunt quibus unum opus est intactae Palladis urbem	5
Carmine perpetuo celebrare et
Undique decerptam fronti praeponere olivam.
Plurimus in Junonis honorem
Aptum dicit equis Argos ditesque Mycenas.
Me nec tam patiens Lacedaemon	10
Nec tam Larissae percussit campus opimae,
Quam domus Albuneae resonantis
Et praeceps Anio ac Tiburni lucus et uda
Mobilibus pomaria rivis.
Albus ut obscuro deterget nubila caelo	15
Saepe Notus neque parturit imbres
Perpetuo, sic tu sapiens finire memento
Tristitiam vitaeque labores
Molli, Plance, mero, seu te fulgentia signis
Castra tenent, seu densa tenebit	20
Tiburis umbra tui. Teucer Salamina patremque
[8]Cum fugeret tamen uda Lyaeo
Tempora populea fertur vinxisse corona,
Sic tristes affatus amicos:
Quo nos cunque feret melior fortuna parente	25
Ibimus, o socii comitesque.
Nil desperandum Teucro duce et auspice Teucro;
Certus enim promisit Apollo
Ambiguam tellure nova Salamina futuram.
O fortes pejoraque passi	30
Mecum saepe viri, nunc vino pellite curas;
Cras ingens iterabimus aequor.

CARMEN VIII.
Lydia, dic, per omnes
Te deos oro, Sybarin cur properas amando
Perdere; cur apricum
Oderit campum patiens pulveris atque solis?
Cur neque militaris	5
Inter aequales equitat, Gallica nec lupatis
Temperat ora frenis?
Cur timet flavum Tiberim tangere? Cur olivum
Sanguine viperino
Cautius vitat, neque jam livida gestat armis	10
Brachia saepe disco,
Saepe trans finem jaculo nobilis expedito?
Quid latet, ut marinae
Filium dicunt Thetidis sub lacrymosa Trojae
Funera ne virilis	15
Cultus in caedem et Lycias proriperet catervas?

CARMEN IX.
Vides ut alta stet nive candidum
Soracte, nec jam sustineant onus
Silvae laborantes geluque
Flumina constiterint acuto.
Dissolve frigus ligna super foco	5
Large reponens, atque benignius
Deprome quadrimum Sabina,
O thaliarche, merum diota.
Permitte divis cetera, qui simul
Stravere ventos aequore fervido	10
Deproeliantes nec cupressi
Nec veteres agitantur orni.
Quid sit futurum cras fuge quaerere, et
Quem Fors dierum cunque dabit lucro
Appone, nec dulces amores	15
Sperne puer neque tu choreas,
Donec virenti canities abest
Morosa. Nunc et campus et areae
Lenesque sub noctem susurri
Composita repetantur hora;	20
Nunc et latentis proditor intimo
Gratus puellae risus ab angulo,
Pignusque dereptum lacertis
Aut digito male pertinaci.

CARMEN X.
Mercuri facunde nepos Atlantis,
[10]Qui feros cultus hominum recentum
Voce formasti catus et decorae
More palaestrae,
Te canam magni Jovis et deorum	5
Nuntium curvaeque lyrae parentem,
Callidum quidquid placuit jocoso
Condere furto.
Te boves olim nisi reddidisses
Per dolum amotas puerum minaci	10
Voce dum terret, viduus pharetra
Risit Apollo.
Quin et Atridas duce te superbos
Ilio dives Priamus relicto
Thessalosque ignes et iniqua Trojae	15
Castra fefellit.
Tu pias laetis animas reponis
Sedibus virgaque levem coërces
Aurea turbam, superis deorum
Gratus et imis.	20

CARMEN XI.
Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi
Finem di dederint, Leuconoë, nec Babylonios
Tentaris numeros. Ut melius quidquid erit pati,
Seu plures hiemes seu tribuit Juppiter ultimam,
Quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare	5
Tyrrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
Spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.

CARMEN XII.
Quem virum aut heroa lyra vel acri
Tibia sumis celebrare, Clio,
Quem deum? Cujus recinet jocosa
Nomen imago
Aut in umbrosis Heliconis oris	5
Aut super Pindo, gelidove in Haemo
Unde vocalem temere insecutae
Orphea silvae
Arte materna rapidos morantem
Fluminum lapsus celeresque ventos,	10
Blandum et auritas fidibus canoris
Ducere quercus?
Quid prius dicam solitis parentis
Laudibus, qui res hominum ac deorum,
Qui mare ac terras variisque mundum	15
Temperat horis?
Unde nil majus generatur ipso,
Nec viget quidquam simile aut secundum:
Proximos illi tamen occupavit
Pallas honores.	20
Proeliis audax, neque te silebo
Liber et saevis inimica Virgo
Beluis nec te, metuende certa
Phoebe sagitta.
Dicam et Alciden puerosque Ledae,	25
Hunc equis, illum superare pugnis
Nobilem; quorum simul alba nautis
Stella refulsit
Defluit saxis agitatus humor,
Concidunt venti fugiuntque nubes,	30
Et minax, quod sic voluere, ponto
Unda recumbit.
Romulum post hos prius an quietum
[12]Pompili regnum memorem an superbos
Tarquini fasces dubito, an Catonis	35
Nobile letum.
Regulum et Scauros animaeque magnae
Prodigum Paullum superante Poeno
Gratus insigni referam Camena
Fabriciumque.	40
Hunc et incomptis Curium capillis
Utilem bello tulit et Camillum
Saeva paupertas et avitus apto
Cum lare fundus.
Crescit occulto velut arbor aevo,	45
Fama Marcelli; micat inter omnes
Julium sidus velut inter ignes
Luna minores.
Gentis humanae pater atque custos
Orte Saturno, tibi cura magni	50
Caesaris fatis data: tu secundo
Caesare regnes.
Ille, seu Parthos Latio imminentes
Egerit justo domitos triumpho
Sive subjectos Orientis orae	55
Seras et Indos,
Te minor latum reget aequus orbem;
Tu gravi curru quaties Olympum,
Tu parum castis inimica mittes
Fulmina lucis.	60

CARMEN XIII.
Cum tu, Lydia, Telephi
Cervicem roseam, cerea Telephi
Laudas brachia vae meum
Fervens difficili bile tumet jecur.
Tunc nec mens mihi nec color	5
[13]Certa sede manet, humor et in genas
Furtim labitur, arguens
Quam lentis penitus macerer ignibus.
Uror, seu tibi candidos
Turparunt humeros immodicae mero	10
Rixae sive puer furens
Impressit memorem dente labris notam.
Non, si me satis audias,
Speres perpetuum dulcia barbare
Laedentem oscula, quae Venus	15
Quinta parte sui nectaris imbuit.
Felices ter et amplius
Quos irrupta tenet copula, nec malis
Divolsus querimoniis
Suprema citius solvet amor die.	20

CARMEN XIV.
O navis, referent in mare te novi
Fluctus! O quid agis? Fortiter occupa
Portum. Nonne vides ut
Nudum remigio latus
Et malus celeri saucius Africo	5
Antennaeque gemant ac sine funibus
Vix durare carinae
Possint imperiosius
Aequor? Non tibi sunt integra lintea,
Non di, quos iterum pressa voces malo.	10
Quamvis Pontica pinus,
Silvae filia nobilis,
Jactes et genus et nomen inutile;
Nil pictis timidus navita puppibus
Fidit. Tu, nisi ventis	15
Debes ludibrium, cave.
Nuper sollicitum quae mihi taedium,
[14]Nunc desiderium curaque non levis,
Interfusa nitentes
Vites aequora Cycladas.	20

CARMEN 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	5
Quam multo repetet Graecia milite,
Conjurata tuas rumpere nuptias
Et regnum Priami vetus.
Heu heu quantus equis, quantus adest viris
Sudor! quanta moves funera Dardanae	10
Genti! Jam galeam Pallas et aegida
Currusque et rabiem parat.
Nequicquam Veneris praesidio ferox
Pectes caesariem grataque feminis
Imbelli cithara carmina divides;	15
Nequicquam thalamo graves
Hastas et calami spicula Cnossii
Vitabis strepitumque et celerem sequi
Ajacem; tamen heu serus adulteros
Crines pulvere collines.	20
Non Laërtiaden, exitium tuae
Genti, non Pylium Nestora respicis?
Urgent impavidi te Salaminius
Teucer et Sthenelus sciens
Pugnae, sive opus est imperitare equis	25
Non auriga piger; Merionen quoque
Nosces. Ecce furit te reperire atrox
Tydides melior patre,
Quem tu cervus uti vallis in altera
[15]Visum parte lupum graminis immemor	30
Sublimi fugies mollis anhelitu,
Non hoc pollicitus tuae.
Iracunda diem proferet Ilio
Matronisque Phrygum classis Achilleï;
Post certas hiemes uret Achaïcus	35
Ignis Iliacas domos.

CARMEN XVI.
O matre pulchra filia pulchrior,
Quem criminosis cunque voles modum
Pones ïambis, sive flamma
Sive mari libet Hadriano.
Non Dindymene, non adytis quatit	5
Mentem sacerdotum incola Pythius,
Non Liber aeque, non acuta
Sic geminant Corybantes aera
Tristes ut irae, quas neque Noricus
Deterret ensis nec mare naufragum	10
Nec saevus ignis nec tremendo
Juppiter ipse ruens tumultu.
Fertur Prometheus, addere principi
Limo coactus particulam undique
Desectam, et insani leonis	15
Vim stomacho apposuisse nostro.
Irae Thyesten exitio gravi
Stravere, et altis urbibus ultimae
Stetere causae, cur perirent
Funditus imprimeretque muris	20
Hostile aratrum exercitus insolens.
Compesce mentem: me quoque pectoris
Tentavit in dulci juventa
Fervor et in celeres ïambos
Misit furentem; nunc ego mitibus	25
[16]Mutare quaero tristia, dum mihi
Fias recantatis amica
Opprobriis animumque reddas.

CARMEN XVII.
Velox amoenum saepe Lucretilem
Mutat Lycaeo Faunus et igneam
Defendit aestatem capellis
Usque meis pluviosque ventos.
Impune tutum per nemus arbutos	5
Quaerunt latentes et thyma deviae
Olentis uxores mariti,
Nec virides metuunt colubras
Nec Martiales Haedileae lupos,
Utcunque dulci, Tyndari, fistula	10
Valles et Usticae cubantis
Laevia personuere saxa.
Di me tuentur, dis pietas mea
Et Musa cordi est. Hic tibi copia
Manabit ad plenum benigno	15
Ruris honorum opulenta cornu.
Hic in reducta valle Caniculae
Vitabis aestus et fide Teïa
Dices laborantes in uno
Penelopen vitreamque Circen;	20
Hic innocentis pocula Lesbii
Duces sub umbra, nec Semeleïus
Cum Marte confundet Thyoneus
Proelia, nec metues protervum
Suspecta Cyrum, ne male dispari	25
Incontinentes injiciat manus
Et scindat haerentem coronam
Crinibus immeritamque vestem.

CARMEN 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.
Quis post vina gravem militiam aut pauperiem crepat?	5
Quis non te potius, Bacche pater, teque, decens Venus?
At ne quis modici transiliat munera Liberi
Centaurea monet cum Lapithis rixa super mero
Debellata, monet Sithoniis non levis Euius,
Cum fas atque nefas exiguo fine libidinum	10
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,	15
Arcanique Fides prodiga, perlucidior vitro.

CARMEN XIX.
Mater saeva Cupidinum
Thebanaeque jubet me Semeles puer
Et lasciva Licentia
Finitis animum reddere amoribus.
Urit me Glycerae nitor	5
Splendentis Pario marmore purius;
Urit grata protervitas
Et voltus nimium lubricus adspici.
In me tota ruens Venus
[18]Cyprum deseruit, nec patitur Scythas	10
Et versis animosum equis
Parthum dicere nec quae nihil attinent.
Hic vivum mihi caespitem, hic
Verbenas, pueri, ponite thuraque
Bimi cum patera meri:	15
Mactata veniet lenior hostia.

CARMEN XX.
Vile potabis modicis Sabinum
Cantharis Graeca quod ego ipse testa
Conditum levi, datus in theatro
Cum tibi plausus,
Care Maecenas eques, ut paterni	5
Fluminis ripae simul et jocosa
Redderet laudes tibi Vaticani
Montis imago.
Caecubum et prelo domitam Caleno
Tu bibes uvam: mea nec Falernae	10
Temperant vites neque Formiani
Pocula colles.

CARMEN XXI.
Dianam tenerae dicite virgines,
Intonsum, pueri, dicite Cynthium
Latonamque supremo
Dilectam penitus Jovi.
Vos laetam fluviis et nemorum coma,	5
[19]Quaecunque aut gelido prominet Algido
Nigris aut Erymanthi
Silvis aut viridis Cragi;
Vos Tempe totidem tollite laudibus,
Natalemque, mares, Delon Apollinis,	10
Insignemque pharetra
Fraternaque humerum lyra.
Hic bellum lacrumosum, hic miseram famem
Pestemque a populo et principe Caesare in
Persas atque Britannos	15
Vestra motus aget prece.

CARMEN XXII.
Integer vitae scelerisque purus
Non eget Mauris jaculis neque arcu
Nec venenatis gravida sagittis,
Fusce, pharetra,
Sive per Syrtes iter aestuosas	5
Sive facturus per inhospitalem
Caucasum vel quae loca fabulosus
Lambit Hydaspes.
Namque me silva lupus in Sabina,
Dum meam canto Lalagen et ultra	10
Terminum curis vagor expeditis,
Fugit inermem,
Quale portentum neque militaris
Daunias latis alit aesculetis,
Nec Jubae tellus generat leonum	15
Arida nutrix.
Pone me pigris ubi nulla campis
Arbor aestiva recreatur aura,
Quod latus mundi nebulae malusque
Juppiter urget;	20
Pone sub curru nimium propinqui
[20]Solis in terra domibus negata:
Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo,
Dulce loquentem.

CARMEN XXIII.
Vitas hinnuleo me similis, Chloë,
Quaerenti pavidam montibus aviis
Matrem non sine vano
Aurarum et silüae metu.
Nam seu mobilibus veris inhorruit	5
Adventus foliis seu virides rubum
Dimovere lacertae,
Et corde et genibus tremit.
Atqui non ego te tigris ut aspera
Gaetulusve leo frangere persequor:	10
Tandem desine matrem
Tempestiva sequi viro.

CARMEN XXIV.
Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus
Tam cari capitis? Praecipe lugubres
Cantus, Melpomene, cui liquidam pater
Vocem cum cithara dedit.
Ergo Quinctilium perpetuus sopor	5
Urget! cui Pudor, et Justitiae soror
Incorrupta Fides nudaque Veritas
Quando ullum inveniet parem?
Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit,
[21]Nulli flebilior quam tibi, Virgili.	10
Tu frustra pius heu non ita creditum
Poscis Quinctilium deos.
Quod si Threïcio blandius Orpheo
Auditam moderere arboribus fidem,
Non vanae redeat sanguis imagini,	15
Quam virga semel horrida
Non lenis precibus fata recludere
Nigro compulerit Mercurius gregi.
Durum: sed levius fit patientia
Quidquid corrigere est nefas.	20

CARMEN XXV.
Parcius junctas quatiunt fenestras
Ictibus crebris juvenes protervi,
Nec tibi somnos adimunt, amatque
Janua limen,
Quae prius multum facilis movebat	5
Cardines; audis minus et minus jam:
“Me tuo longas pereunte noctes,
Lydia, dormis?”
Invicem moechos anus arrogantes
Flebis in solo levis angiportu,	10
Thracio bacchante magis sub inter-
lunia vento,
Cum tibi flagrans amor et libido
Quae solet matres furiare equorum
Saeviet circa jecur ulcerosum,	15
Non sine questu
Laeta quod pubes hedera virente
Gaudeat pulla magis atque myrto,
Aridas frondes hiemis sodali
Dedicet Hebro.	20

CARMEN XXVI.
Musis amicus tristitiam et metus
Tradam protervis in mare Creticum
Portare ventis, quis sub Arcto
Rex gelidae metuatur orae,
Quid Tiridaten terreat unice	5
Securus. O, quae fontibus integris
Gaudes, apricos necte flores,
Necte meo Lamiae coronam,
Pimplea dulcis! Nil sine te mei
Prosunt honores: hunc fidibus novis,	10
Hunc Lesbio sacrare plectro
Teque tuasque decet sorores.

CARMEN XXVII.
Natis in usum laetitiae scyphis
Pugnare Thracum est: tollite barbarum
Morem, verecundumque Bacchum
Sanguineis prohibete rixis!
Vino et lucernis Medus acinaces	5
Immane quantum discrepat: impium
Lenite clamorem, sodales,
Et cubito remanete presso!
Voltis severi me quoque sumere
Partem Falerni? Dicat Opuntiae	10
Frater Megillae quo beatus
Volnere, qua pereat sagitta.
Cessat voluntas? Non alia bibam
[23]Mercede. Quae te cunque domat Venus
Non erubescendis adurit	15
Ignibus ingenuoque semper
Amore peccas. Quidquid habes age
Depone tutis auribus. Ah miser,
Quanta laborabas Charybdi,
Digne puer meliore flamma!	20
Quae saga, quis te solvere Thessalis
Magus venenis, quis poterit deus?
Vix illigatum te triformi
Pegasus expediet Chimaera.

CARMEN XXVIII.
Te maris et terrae numeroque carentis arenae
Mensorem cohibent, Archyta,
Pulveris exigui prope litus parva Matinum
Munera, nec quidquam tibi prodest
Aërias tentasse domos, animoque rotundum	5
Percurrisse polum morituro.
Occidit et Pelopis genitor, conviva deorum,
Tithonusque remotus in auras
Et Jovis arcanis Minos admissus, habentque
Tartara Panthoiden iterum Orco	10
Demissum, quamvis clipeo Trojana refixo
Tempora testatus nihil ultra
Nervos atque cutem morti concesserat atrae,
Judice te non sordidus auctor
Naturae verique. Sed omnes una manet nox	15
Et calcanda semel via leti:
Dant alios Furiae torvo spectacula Marti;
Exitio est avidum mare nautis;
Mixta senum ac juvenum densentur funera, nullum
Saeva caput Proserpina fugit.	20
Me quoque devexi rapidus comes Orionis
[24]Illyricis Notus obruit undis.
At tu, nauta, vagae ne parce malignus arenae
Ossibus et capiti inhumato
Particulam dare: sic quodcunque minabitur Eurus	25
Fluctibus Hesperiis Venusinae
Plectantur silvae te sospite, multaque merces
Unde potest tibi defluat aequo
Ab Jove Neptunoque sacri custode Tarenti.
Negligis immeritis nocituram	30
Postmodo te natis fraudem committere? Fors et
Debita jura vicesque superbae
Te maneant ipsum: precibus non linquar inultis,
Teque piacula nulla resolvent.
Quamquam festinas non est mora longa; licebit	35
Injecto ter pulvere curras.

CARMEN XXIX.
Icci, beatis nunc Arabum invides
Gazis, et acrem militiam paras
Non ante devictis Sabaeae
Regibus, horribilique Medo
Nectis catenas? Quae tibi virginum,	5
Sponso necato barbara serviet?
Puer quis ex aula capillis
Ad cyathum statuetur unctis,
Doctus sagittas tendere Sericas
Arcu paterno? Quis neget arduis	10
Pronos relabi posse rivos
Montibus et Tiberim reverti,
Cum tu coëmptos undique nobilis
Libros Panaeti Socraticam et domum
Mutare loricis Hiberis	15
Pollicitus meliora tendis?

CARMEN XXX.
O Venus, regina Cnidi Paphique,
Sperne dilectam Cypron, et vocantis
Thure te multo Glycerae decoram
Transfer in aedem.
Fervidus tecum puer et solutis	5
Gratiae zonis properentque Nymphae
Et parum comis sine te Juventas
Mercuriusque.

CARMEN XXXI.
Quid dedicatum poscit Apollinem
Vates? quid orat de patera novum
Fundens liquorem? Non opimae
Sardiniae segetes feraces,
Non aestuosae grata Calabriae	5
Armenta, non aurum aut ebur Indicum,
Non rura quae Liris quieta
Mordet aqua taciturnus amnis,
Premant Calena falce quibus dedit
Fortuna vitem, dives et aureis	10
Mercator exsiccet culullis
Vina Syra reparata merce,
Dis carus ipsis, quippe ter et quater
Anno revisens aequor Atlanticum
Impune. Me pascunt olivae,	15
Me cichorea, levesque malvae.
Frui paratis et valido mihi,
[26]Latoë, dones et precor integra
Cum mente, nec turpem senectam
Degere, nec cithara carentem.	20

CARMEN 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,	5
Qui ferox bello tamen inter arma,
Sive jactatam religarat udo
Litore navim,
Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi
Semper haerentem puerum canebat	10
Et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque
Crine decorum.
O decus Phoebi et dapibus supremi
Grata testudo Jovis, o laborum
Dulce lenimen, mihi cunque salve	15
Rite vocanti.

CARMEN XXXIII.
Albi, ne doleas plus nimio memor
Immitis Glycerae, neu miserabiles
Decantes elegos cur tibi junior
Laesa praeniteat fide.
Insignem tenui fronte Lycorida	5
[27]Cyri torret amor, Cyrus in asperam
Declinat Pholoën; sed prius Apulis
Jungentur capreae lupis
Quam turpi Pholoë peccet adultero.
Sic visum Veneri, cui placet impares	10
Formas atque animos sub juga aënea
Saevo mittere cum joco.
Ipsum me, melior cum peteret Venus,
Grata detinuit compede Myrtale
Libertina, fretis acrior Hadriae	15
Curvantis Calabros sinus.

CARMEN XXXIV.
Parcus deorum cultor et infrequens
Insanientis dum sapientiae
Consultus erro, nunc retrorsum
Vela dare atque iterare cursus
Cogor relictos; namque Diespiter,	5
Igni corusco nubila dividens
Plerumque, per purum tonantes
Egit equos volucremque currum
Quo bruta tellus et vaga flumina,
Quo Styx et invisi horrida Taenari	10
Sedes Atlanteusque finis
Concutitur. Valet ima summis
Mutare et insignem attenuat deus
Obscura promens; hinc apicem rapax
Fortuna cum stridore acuto	15
Sustulit, hic posuisse gaudet.

CARMEN 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	5
Ruris colonus, te dominam aequoris
Quicunque Bithyna lacessit
Carpathium pelagus carina.
Te Dacus asper, te profugi Scythae
Urbesque gentesque et Latium ferox	10
Regumque matres barbarorum et
Purpurei metuunt tyranni,
Injurioso ne pede proruas
Stantem columnam, neu populus frequens
Ad arma cessantes, ad arma	15
Concitet imperiumque frangat.
Te semper anteit saeva Necessitas
Clavos trabales et cuneos manu
Gestans aëna, nec severus
Uncus abest, liquidumque plumbum.	20
Te Spes et albo rara Fides colit
Velata panno nec comitem abnegat,
Utcunque mutata potentes
Veste domos inimica linquis.
At volgus infidum et meretrix retro	25
Perjura cedit, diffugiunt cadis
Cum faece siccatis amici
Ferre jugum pariter dolosi.
Serves iturum Caesarem in ultimos
Orbis Britannos et juvenum recens	30
Examen Eois timendum
Partibus Oceanoque rubro.
Eheu cicatricum et sceleris pudet
[29]Fratrumque. Quid nos dura refugimus
Aetas? quid intactum nefasti	35
Liquimus? unde manum juventus
Metu deorum continuit? quibus
Pepercit aris? O utinam nova
Incude diffingas retusum in
Massagetas Arabasque ferrum!	40

CARMEN XXXVI.
Et thure et fidibus juvat
Placare et vituli sanguine debito
Custodes Numidae deos,
Qui nunc Hesperia sospes ab ultima
Caris multa sodalibus,	5
Nulli plura tamen dividit oscula
Quam dulci Lamiae, memor
Actae non alio rege puertiae
Mutataeque simul togae.
Cressa ne careat pulchra dies nota,	10
Neu promptae modus amphorae,
Neu morem in Salium sit requies pedum,
Neu multi Damalis meri
Bassum Threïcia vincat amystide,
Neu desint epulis rosae,	15
Neu vivax apium, neu breve lilium.
Omnes in Damalin putres
Deponent oculos, nec Damalis novo
Divelletur adultero
Lascivis hederis ambitiosior.	20

CARMEN XXXVII.
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
Pulsanda tellus, nunc Saliaribus
Ornare pulvinar deorum
Tempus erat dapibus, sodales.
Antehac nefas depromere Caecubum	5
Cellis avitis, dum Capitolio
Regina dementes ruinas
Funus et imperio parabat
Contaminato cum grege turpium
Morbo virorum, quidlibet impotens	10
Sperare fortunaque dulci
Ebria. Sed minuit furorem
Vix una sospes navis ab ignibus,
Mentemque lymphatam Mareotico
Redegit in veros timores	15
Caesar, ab Italia volantem
Remis adurgens, accipiter velut
Molles columbas, aut leporem citus
Venator in campis nivalis
Haemoniae, daret ut catenis	20
Fatale monstrum: quae generosius
Perire quaerens, nec muliebriter
Expavit ensem nec latentes
Classe cita reparavit oras.
Ausa et jacentem visere regiam	25
Voltu sereno, fortis et asperas
Tractare serpentes, ut atrum
Corpore combiberet venenum,
Deliberata morte ferocior,
Saevis Liburnis scilicet invidens	30
Privata deduci superbo
Non humilis mulier triumpho.

CARMEN XXXVIII.
Persicos odi, puer, apparatus,
Displicent nexae philyra coronae;
Mitte sectari rosa quo locorum
Sera moretur.
Simplici myrto nihil allabores
Sedulus curo: neque te ministrum
Dedecet myrtus neque me sub arta
Vite bibentem.

CARMEN I.
Motum ex Metello consule civicum
Bellique causas et vitia et modos
Ludumque Fortunae gravesque
Principum amicitias et arma
Nondum expiatis uncta cruoribus,	5
Periculosae plenum opus aleae,
Tractas et incedis per ignes
Suppositos cineri doloso.
Paullum severae Musa tragoediae
Desit theatris: mox ubi publicas	10
Res ordinaris grande munus
Cecropio repetes cothurno,
Insigne maestis praesidium reis
Et consulenti, Pollio, curiae,
Cui laurus aeternos honores	15
Delmatico peperit triumpho.
Jam nunc minaci murmure cornuum
Perstringis aures, jam litui strepunt,
Jam fulgor armorum fugaces
Terret equos equitumque voltus:	20
Audire magnos jam videor duces
[33]Non indecoro pulvere sordidos,
Et cuncta terrarum subacta
Praeter atrocem animum Catonis.
Juno et deorum quisquis amicior	25
Afris inulta cesserat impotens
Tellure victorum nepotes
Rettulit inferias Jugurthae.
Quis non Latino sanguine pinguior
Campus sepulcris impia proelia	30
Testatur auditumque Medis
Hesperiae sonitum ruinae?
Qui gurges, aut quae flumina lugubris
Ignara belli? quod mare Dauniae
Non decoloravere caedes?	35
Quae caret ora cruore nostro?
Sed ne relictis, Musa procax, jocis,
Ceae retractes munera neniae:
Mecum Dionaeo sub antro
Quaere modos leviore plectro.	40

CARMEN II.
Nullus argento color est avaris
Abdito terris, inimice lamnae
Crispe Sallusti, nisi temperato
Splendeat usu.
Vivet extento Proculeius aevo	5
Notus in fratres animi paterni;
Illum aget penna metuente solvi
Fama superstes.
Latius regnes avidum domando
Spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis	10
Gadibus jungas et uterque Poenus
Serviat uni.
Crescit indulgens sibi dirus hydrops,
[34]Nec sitim pellit nisi causa morbi
Fugerit venis et aquosus albo	15
Corpore languor.
Redditum Cyri solio Phraaten
Dissidens plebi numero beatorum
Eximit Virtus, populumque falsis
Dedocet uti	20
Vocibus, regnum et diadema tutum
Deferens uni propriamque laurum
Quisquis ingentes oculo inretorto
Spectat acervos.

CARMEN III.
Aequam memento rebus in arduis
Servare mentem, non secus in bonis
Ab insolenti temperatam
Laetitia, moriture Delli,
Seu maestus omni tempore vixeris,	5
Seu te in remoto gramine per dies
Festos reclinatum bearis
Interiore nota Falerni.
Quo pinus ingens albaque populus
Umbram hospitalem consociare amant	10
Ramis? Quid obliquo laborat
Lympha fugax trepidare rivo?
Huc vina et unguenta et nimium breves
Flores amoenae ferre jube rosae,
Dum res et aetas et sororum	15
Fila trium patiuntur atra.
Cedes coëmptis saltibus et domo
Villaque flavus quam Tiberis lavit,
Cedes et exstructis in altum
Divitiis potietur heres.	20
Divesne prisco natus ab Inacho
[35]Nil interest an pauper et infima
De gente sub divo moreris,
Victima nil miserantis Orci.
Omnes eodem cogimur, omnium	25
Versatur urna serius ocius
Sors exitura et nos in aeternum
Exilium impositura cumbae.

CARMEN IV.
Ne sit ancillae tibi amor pudori,
Xanthia Phoceu! Prius insolentem
Serva Briseis niveo colore
Movit Achillem;
Movit Ajacem Telamone natum	5
Forma captivae dominum Tecmessae;
Arsit Atrides medio in triumpho
Virgine rapta,
Barbarae postquam cecidere turmae
Thessalo victore et ademptus Hector	10
Tradidit fessis leviora tolli
Pergama Grais.
Nescias an te generum beati
Phyllidis flavae decorent parentes:
Regium certe genus et penates	15
Maeret iniquos.
Crede non illam tibi de scelesta
Plebe dilectam, neque sic fidelem,
Sic lucro aversam potuisse nasci
Matre pudenda.	20
Brachia et voltum teretesque suras
Integer laudo; fuge suspicari,
Cujus octavum trepidavit aetas
Claudere lustrum.

CARMEN V.
Nondum subacta ferre jugum valet
Cervice, nondum munia comparis
Aequare nec tauri ruentis
In venerem tolerare pondus.
Circa virentes est animus tuae	5
Campos juvencae, nunc fluviis gravem
Solantis aestum, nunc in udo
Ludere cum vitulis salicto
Praegestientis. Tolle cupidinem
Immitis uvae: jam tibi lividos	10
Distinguet Auctumnus racemos
Purpureo varius colore.
Jam te sequetur: currit enim ferox
Aetas et illi quos tibi dempserit
Apponet annos; jam proterva	15
Fronte petet Lalage maritum:
Dilecta quantum non Pholoë fugax,
Non Chloris albo sic humero nitens,
Ut pura nocturno renidet
Luna mari, Cnidiusve Gyges,	20
Quem si puellarum insereres choro
Mire sagaces falleret hospites
Discrimen obscurum solutis
Crinibus ambiguoque vultu.

CARMEN VI.
Septimi, Gades aditure mecum et
Cantabrum indoctum juga ferre nostra et
Barbaras Syrtes ubi Maura semper
[37]Aestuat unda,
Tibur Argeo positum colono	5
Sit meae sedes utinam senectae,
Sit modus lasso maris et viarum
Militiaeque!
Unde si Parcae prohibent iniquae,
Dulce pellitis ovibus Galaesi	10
Flumen et regnata petam Laconi
Rura Phalantho.
Ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes
Angulus ridet ubi non Hymetto
Mella decedunt viridique certat	15
Baca Venafro;
Ver ubi longum tepidasque praebet
Juppiter brumas, et amicus Aulon
Fertili Baccho minimum Falernis
Invidet uvis.	20
Ille te mecum locus et beatae
Postulant arces: ibi tu calentem
Debita sparges lacrima favillam
Vatis amici.

CARMEN VII.
O saepe mecum tempus in ultimum
Deducte Bruto militiae duce,
Quis te redonavit Quiritem
Dis patriis Italoque caelo,
Pompei meorum prime sodalium,	5
Cum quo morantem saepe diem mero
Fregi coronatus nitentes
Malobathro Syrio capillos?
Tecum Philippos et celerem fugam
Sensi relicta non bene parmula,	10
Cum fracta virtus et minaces
[38]Turpe solum tetigere mento.
Sed me per hostes Mercurius celer
Denso paventem sustulit aëre;
Te rursus in bellum resorbens	15
Unda fretis tulit aestuosis.
Ergo obligatam redde Jovi dapem
Longaque fessum militia latus
Depone sub lauru mea nec
Parce cadis tibi destinatis.	20
Oblivioso levia Massico
Ciboria exple; funde capacibus
Unguenta de conchis. Quis udo
Deproperare apio coronas
Curatve myrto? quem Venus arbitrum	25
Dicet bibendi? Non ego sanius
Bacchabor Edonis: recepto
Dulce mihi furere est amico.

CARMEN VIII.
Ulla si juris tibi pejerati
Poena, Barine, nocuisset unquam,
Dente si nigro fieres vel uno
Turpior ungui,
Crederem. Sed tu, simul obligasti	5
Perfidum votis caput enitescis
Pulchrior multo, juvenumque prodis
Publica cura.
Expedit matris cineres opertos
Fallere et toto taciturna noctis	10
Signa cum caelo, gelidaque divos
Morte carentes.
Ridet hoc inquam Venus ipsa, rident
Simplices Nymphae ferus et Cupido
Semper ardentes acuens sagittas	15
[39]Cote cruenta.
Adde quod pubes tibi crescit omnis,
Servitus crescit nova nec priores
Impiae tectum dominae relinquunt
Saepe minati.	20
Te suis matres metuunt juvencis,
Te senes parci miseraeque nuper
Virgines nuptae, tua ne retardet
Aura maritos.

CARMEN 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	5
Menses per omnes aut Aquilonibus
Querceta Gargani laborant
Et foliis viduantur orni:
Tu semper urges flebilibus modis
Mysten ademptum, nec tibi Vespero	10
Surgente decedunt amores
Nec rapidum fugiente Solem.
At non ter aevo functus amabilem
Ploravit omnes Antilochum senex
Annos, nec impubem parentes	15
Troilon, aut Phrygiae sorores
Flevere semper. Desine mollium
Tandem querelarum, et potius nova
Cantemus Augusti tropaea
Caesaris et rigidum Niphaten,	20
Medumque flumen gentibus additum
Victis minores volvere vertices,
Intraque praescriptum Gelonos
Exiguis equitare campis.

CARMEN X.
Rectius vives, Licini, neque altum
Semper urgendo neque, dum procellas
Cautus horrescis, nimium premendo
Litus iniquum.
Auream quisquis mediocritatem	5
Diligit tutus caret obsoleti
Sordibus tecti, caret invidenda
Sobrius aula.
Saepius ventis agitatur ingens
Pinus et celsae graviore casu	10
Decidunt turres feriuntque summos
Fulgura montes.
Sperat infestis, metuit secundis
Alteram sortem bene praeparatum
Pectus. Informes hiemes reducit	15
Juppiter, idem
Summovet. Non si male nunc et olim
Sic erit: quondam cithara tacentem
Suscitat musam, neque semper arcum
Tendit Apollo.	20
Rebus angustis animosus atque
Fortis appare; sapienter idem
Contrahes vento nimium secundo
Turgida vela.

NOTES.

ODES.—BOOK I.

This Ode was probably written as a dedication to Mæcenas of the three first books, when they were collectively published, probably in the forty-second year of Horace’s age, B. C. 24. He says that different men have different tastes; the Greek loves the Olympic games, the Roman to get place or money; one is quiet, another restless, and so on; while he only loves the lyre, and seeks to be ranked by Mæcenas among lyric poets.

Argument.—Mæcenas, my protector, my pride, various are the aims of men. The Greek seeks glory from the race; the lords of the world are supremely happy, one in the honors of the state, the other in his well-filled barns. The farmer will not plough the seas; the merchant is restless on land. One man loves his ease and his wine; another, the camp and the din of war; while the huntsman braves all weathers for his sport. My glory is in the ivy crown, my delight to retire to the groves with the nymphs and the satyrs, where my muse breathes the flute or strikes the lyre. Placed by thee among the lyric choir, I shall lift my head to the skies.

1. atavis] A noun substantive, signifying properly an ancestor in the fifth degree, thus: ‘pater,’ ‘avus,’ ‘proavus,’ ‘abavus,’ ‘atavus’; compounded of ‘ad’ and ‘avus,’ and corresponding to ‘adnepos’ in the descending scale. Mæcenas belonged to the family of Cilnii, formerly Lucumones or princes of Etruria, and up to a late period possessed of influence in the Etrurian town of Aretium, whence they were expelled by their own citizens B. C. 300. See Liv. x. 3. Compare Propert. iii. 9. 1:

“Maecenas, eques Etrusco de sanguine regum,
Intra fortunam qui cupis esse tuam.”

Martial xii. 4. 2: “Maecenas atavis regibus ortus eques.” See also C. iii. 29. 1. S. i. 6. 1, sqq.

2. O et praesidium] ‘My protector, my delight, and pride.’ Virgil (G. ii. 40) addresses Mæcenas in the same affectionate terms:

3. Sunt quos] The Greeks say ἔστιν οὕς. The indicative is used with ‘sunt,’ or ‘est qui,’ when particular persons are alluded to, as here the Greeks in opposition to the Romans. So Epp. ii. 2. 182: “Argentum — sunt qui non habeant, est qui non curat habere,” where, by the latter, is distinctly indicated the wise man. Here Horace alludes to the Greeks of[240] former days, and is led to refer to them, because this was the chief subject of Pindar’s poetry.

— curriculo] This may mean either the chariot (formed from ‘curro,’ as ‘vehiculum’ from ‘veho’) or the course.

4. Collegisse] The perfect is used to express the frequent repetition of the action, like the Greek aorist. The best illustration of what follows is in the Iliad (xxiii. 338, sqq.). ‘Meta’ was the conical pillar at the end of the course round which the chariots turned on their way back to the starting place. By the Greeks it was called νύσση. It was the mark of a skilful driver to turn the goal as closely as possible without touching it, which is implied in ‘fervidis Evitata rotis.’

6. Terrarum dominos] That is, the Romans. Virgil (Aen. i. 282) calls them “Romanos rerum dominos.”

8. tergeminis] This refers to the three curule magistracies, those of the ædile, prætor, and consul. Though the quæstorship was usually the first step in the line of promotion, it is not included, because it was not a curule office. ‘Tergeminus’ here signifies no more than ‘triplex.’ ‘Geminus’ is used in this combination with cardinal numbers frequently. So Virgil (Aen. vi. 287) calls Briareus ‘centumgeminus.’ ‘Honoribus’ is the ablative case, as (C. i. 21. 9): “Vos Tempe totidem tollite laudibus.” Tac. Ann. i. 3: “Claudium Marcellum pontificatu et curuli aedilitate — M. Agrippam geminatis consulatibus extulit.”

Certat — tollere] The poets, following the Greek idiom, use for convenience and conciseness this construction of the infinitive with verbs, which in prose would require ‘ut’ with the subjunctive, or a supine, or ‘ad’ with a gerund or some other construction. In the next Ode we have “egit visere”; in the 12th, “sumis celebrare”; in the 26th, “tradam portare,” and so on. Verbs of all kinds signifying desire and the reverse are frequently used with the infinitive, as in this Ode: “demere spernit,” “refugit tendere”; C. 9. 13, “fuge quaerere,” &c. Propertius uses the infinitive after ‘ire,’ which the prose writers never do: “Ibat et hirsutas ille videre feras” (i. 1. 12).

10. de Libycis verritur areis.] The great mass of the corn consumed at Rome was imported from Sicily and Libya. See C. iii. 16. 26, 31. S. ii. 3. 87. The ‘area’ was a raised floor on which the corn was threshed, and, after the wind had winnowed it, the floor was swept, and the corn was thus collected. See Virgil (Georg. i. 178, sqq.), where directions are given for making an ‘area’.

11. findere sarculo] There is something of contempt in these words, where we should have expected ‘arare’. The soil must be poor that was worked by a hoe, and the owner ‘macro pauper agello’ (Epp. ii. 2. 12). ‘Scindere’ is the proper word for the plough; ‘findere,’ for the hoe or lesser instruments—‘Attalicis conditionibus’ signifies ‘the most extravagant terms.’ There were three kings of Pergamus of this name, which was proverbial for riches. The third left his great wealth to the Romans (B. C. 134). See C. ii. 18. 5. Compare for ‘conditionibus’ Cic. ad Qu. Fr. i. 2. 8: “Nulla conditio pecuniae te ab summa integritate deduxerit.”

13. dimoveas,] From the meaning of ‘de,’ ‘down from,’ ‘demoveo’ is more properly used when the place from which the removal takes place is expressed, and ‘dimoveo’ when the sentence is absolute, as here. For instance, ‘demovet’ is the proper reading in C. iv. 5. 14: “Curvo nec faciem littore demovet.” The MSS. have in many instances ‘dimovet’ where ‘demovet’ is wanted. The same remark applies to ‘diripio’ and ‘deripio’—‘Cypria,’ ‘Myrtoum,’ ‘Icarus’ (C. iii. 7. 21), ‘Africum,’ are all particular names for general, as ‘Bithyna carina’ (C. i. 35. 7). By adding names more life is given to the description—Horace’s epithets for Africus, which was the west southwest wind, and corresponded to the Greek λίψ, are ‘praeceps,’[241] ‘pestilens,’ ‘protervus.’ He uses the phrase ‘Africae procellae’ (C. iii. 23. 5) to signify the storms for which this wind was proverbial.—‘Luctari,’ ‘certare,’ ‘decertare,’ ‘contendere,’ are used by the poets with the dative case, instead of the ablative with ‘cum,’ after the manner of the Greek μάχεσθαί τινι.

16. otium et oppidi Laudat rura sui;] He commends the peaceful fields about his native town; for ‘otium et rura’ may be taken as one subject.

18. indocilis — pati.] Examples of this Greek construction for ‘ad patiendum’ are very numerous. To go no further than this book, we have ‘audax perpeti,’ ‘blandum dicere,’ ‘nobilem superare,’ ‘impotens sperare,’ ‘callidum condere,’ ‘doctus tendere,’ ‘praesens tollere,’ ‘ferre dolosi’—‘Pauperies,’ ‘paupertas,’ ‘pauper,’ are not usually by Horace taken to signify ‘privation,’ or anything beyond a humble estate, as, among many other instances, “meo sum pauper agello” (Epp. ii. 2. 12). “Probamque pauperiem sine dote quaero” (C. iii. 29. 56). ‘Paupertas,’ ‘inopia,’ ‘egestas,’ is the climax given by Seneca (de Tranq. Animi, 8).

19. Est qui] See above, v. 3. This is the only instance in which ‘est qui’ is followed by the indicative where the person is not expressed or clearly understood. Horace may have had some one in his mind, and the description would apply to many of his friends, or to himself.

— Massici] The wine grown on Mons Massicus in Campania was of delicate flavor. See S. ii. 4. 54.

20. solido demere de die] That is, to interrupt the hours of business. So (C. ii. 7. 6) “morantem saepe diem mero fregi.” ‘Solidus’ signifies that which has no vacant part or space; and hence ‘solidus dies’ comes to signify the business hours, or occupied part of the day.

The ‘solidus dies’ ended at the hour of dinner, which with industrious persons was the ninth in summer and tenth in winter. The luxurious dined earlier, the busy sometimes later. The commencement of the day varied with the habits of different people.

21. viridi] This is not an idle epithet, which Horace never uses. The arbutus is an evergreen, which is expressed by ‘viridi.’

22. caput] This is used for the mouth as well as the spring of a river. Virg. Georg. iv. 319, “Tristis ad extremi sacrum caput astitit amnis.” Caes. (B. G. iv. 10) says of the Rhine, “multis capitibus in Oceanum influit.” Here it is the spring. Shrines were usually built at the fountain-head of streams, dedicated to the nymphs that protected them, which explains ‘sacrae.’

23. lituo tubae] The ‘lituus’ was curved in shape and sharp in tone, and used by the cavalry: ‘tuba,’ as its name indicates, was straight and of deep tone, and used by the infantry. “Non tuba directi, non aeris cornua flexi” (Ov. Met. i. 98). The ‘lituus’ is said to have been in shape a mean between the ‘tuba’ and the ‘cornu’; not so straight as the one, nor so twisted as the other. See C. ii. 1. 17.

24. bellaque matribus Detestata.] ‘Detestatus’ is nowhere else used passively, except by the law-writers, who use it for one convicted by evidence: ‘modulatus’ (C. i. 32. 5), ‘metatus’ (ii. 15. 15), are likewise instances of deponent participles used passively.

25. sub Jove] The atmosphere, and so the sky. Epod. iii. 2: “Nivesque deducunt Jovem.” The Latin writers represented the atmosphere by Jupiter, the Greeks by Hera.

26. tenerae] This word occurs frequently in Horace in the sense of ‘young.’ See C. 5. 19 (tenerum Lycidam).

28. teretes] This word may be rendered ‘smooth and round.’ It has always more or less closely one of these meanings, or both. It contains the same root as ‘tero,’ ‘tornus,’ τείρω, and its cognate words, and its meaning[242] is got from the notion of rubbing and polishing. Horace applies it to a woman’s ankles, a smooth faced boy, the cords of a net, and a faultless man. It is applied by Ovid (Fast. ii. 320) to a girdle, and by Virgil (Aen. xi. 579) to the thong of a sling, where, as here, it represents the exact twisting of a cord. ‘Plagae’ were nets of thick rope with which the woods were surrounded to catch the larger beasts as they were driven out by dogs and beaters (Epod. ii. 32. Epp. i. 6. 58; 18. 46). Marsus for Marsicus, as Medus for Medicus, is the only form Horace uses. The country of the Marsi, east of Rome, Umbria, and Lucania were all famous for boars, being abundant in acorns, on which they fed and grew fat. Laurentian boars were also celebrated. See S. ii. 3. 234; 4. 41, 43.

29. Me doctarum hederae praemia frontium] The ivy, which was sacred to Bacchus, made a fit and usual garland for a lyric poet. “Doctarum frontium” is the proper description of poets, who by the Greeks were called σοφοί.

30. me gelidum nemus] This is an imaginary scene, in which Horace supposes himself wandering in cool groves, surrounded with dancing bands of wood nymphs (Dryads and Hamadryads) and satyrs, and listening to the flute of Euterpe, and the lyre of Lesbos struck by Polyhymnia. ‘Tibia’ was a sort of flageolet. When it is used in the plural (as here, C. iv. 15. 30, Epod. ix. 5), it has reference to two of these instruments played by one person. Their pitch was different, the low-pitched tibia being called ‘dextra,’ because it was held in the right hand, and the high pitched ‘sinistra,’ because it was held in the left. Euterpe, the Muse, was said to have invented the ‘tibia,’ and she especially presided over music. Polyhymnia, or Polymnia, another Muse, invented the lyre.

34. Lesboum — barbiton.] The lyre of Sappho and Alcæus, who were natives of Mytilene in the island of Lesbos, and flourished at the same time, about the end of the seventh century B. C. (C. 32. 5).

35. Quod si] Although the personal pronoun ‘tu’ is emphatic in this sentence, it is omitted, as is often the case in poetry, where no opposition of persons is intended—‘Lyricis’ is less common than ‘melicis,’ to describe the lyric poets of Greece.

Lyricis] The most celebrated of the lyric poets of Greece were Pindar, Alcæus, Sappho, Stesichorus, Ilycus, Bacchylides, Simonides, Alcmeon, and Anacreon.

This Ode seems to have been written on the return of Augustus to Rome, after the taking of Alexandria, when the civil wars were brought to a close and the temple of Janus was shut, B. C. 29. Horace here urges Augustus to take upon himself the task of reducing to order the elements of the state, which so many years of civil war had thrown into confusion, and he does so in the following manner. He refers to the prodigies at Julius Cæsar’s death, as evidences of the divine wrath for the guilt of the civil wars. He then invokes one god after another to come and restore the state, and finally fixes upon Mercury, whom he entreats to take upon himself the form of a man, and not to leave the earth till he has accomplished his mission and conquered the enemies of Rome. The man whose form Mercury is to take is Augustus.

If this Ode is read with C. ii. 15, and the others mentioned in the introduction to that Ode, the feeling with which Horace entered into the mission of Augustus as the reformer will be better understood.

Argument.—Portents enough hath Jove sent upon the earth, making it afraid lest a new deluge were coming, as the Tiber rolled back from its mouth, threatening destruction to the city, the unauthorized avenger of Ilia.

Our sons shall hear that citizens have whetted for each other the steel that should have smitten the enemy. What god shall we invoke to help us? What prayers shall move Vesta to pity? To whom shall Jove assign the task of wiping out our guilt? Come thou, Apollo; or thou, smiling Venus, with mirth and love thy companions; or thou, Mars, our founder, who hast too long sported with war; or do thou, son of Maia, put on the form of a man, and let us call thee the avenger of Cæsar; nor let our sins drive thee too soon away; here take thy triumphs; be thou our father and prince, and suffer not the Mede to go unpunished, whilst thou art our chief, O Cæsar.

1. Jam satis — ] These are the prodigies which are said to have followed the death of Julius Cæsar. They are related also by Virgil (Georg. i. 466-489), which description Horace may have had in his mind. See also Ovid, Met. xv. 782, sqq.

dirae] It is very common in Horace (though not peculiar to him) to find an epithet attached to the latter of two substantives, while it belongs to both, as here, and “fidem mutatosque Deos” (C. i. 5. 6), “poplitibus timidoque tergo” (C. iii. 2. 16), and many other places. Horace uses this construction so frequently that it may be looked upon as a feature in his style; and he often uses it with effect.

2, 3. rubente Dextera] With his right hand, glowing with the light of the thunderbolt which it grasped.

arces] The sacred buildings on the Capitoline Hill. They were called collectively Capitolium or Arx (from their position), Arx Capitolii, and sometimes “Arx et Capitolium.” (Livy, v. 39, &c.) They embraced the three temples of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno, and Minerva, of Jupiter Feretrius, and of Terminus. Horace uses ‘jaculari’ three times, and always with an accusative. Other writers use it absolutely. See C. ii. 16. 17; iii. 12. 9.

6. nova monstra] The prodigies alluded to are those enumerated in the following verses; namely, the occupation of the mountains by sea animals, of the waters by the deer, and the trees by the fishes.

7. pecus] The herds of Neptune, or the larger sea animals, fabulous or otherwise, which were said to be under the charge of Proteus. The deluge of Deucalion, the husband of Pyrrha, and its causes, are described at length by Ovid (Met. i. 125-347).

10. columbis,] The proper name for a wood-pigeon is ‘palumbus,’ of ‘-ba,’ or ‘-bes’; but ‘columbus,’ ‘-ba,’ are the generic terms for pigeons.—‘Damae’ is both masculine and feminine. Georg. iii. 539: “timidi damae cervique fugaces.”

11. superjecto] ‘Terris’ may be understood. Virgil uses the word (Aen. xi. 625), “Scopulisque superjacit undam.”

13. flavum] This common epithet of the Tiber arose out of the quantity of sand washed down in its stream. Aen. vii. 31: “Vorticibus rapidis et multa flavus arena.” By ‘vidimus’ Horace means that his generation had seen the prodigies he refers to, as Virgil says of the eruptions of Ætna:

“Quoties Cyclopum effervere in agros
Vidimus undantem ruptis fornacibus Aetnam.”—Aen. i. 471.

13, 14. retortis Littore Etrusco violenter undis] “Its waters driven violently back from the shore of the Etruscan sea,” into which the Tiber emptied itself. It is said that the overflowings of the Tiber are still by the common people accounted for by the violence of the sea driving back the stream. They were always held to be ominous, and many such are mentioned in Livy and other writers.

15. monumenta regis] This signifies the palace of Numa adjoining the temple of Vesta, hence called ‘atrium regium’ (Liv. xxvi. 27), as forming a kind of ‘atrium’ to the temple. Ovid (Fasti, vi. 263) thus alludes to this building:—

“Hic locus exiguus, qui sustinet atria Vestae,
Tunc erat intonsi regia magna Numae.”

17. Iliae — ultorem,] Tiber is represented as taking upon himself, without the sanction of Jove, and in consequence of Ilia’s complaints, to avenge the death of Julius Cæsar, the descendant of Iulus, her ancestor. Ilia, or Rea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus, is variously reported to have been married to the Tiber and the Anio, because into one of those streams she was thrown by order of Amulius. Jove may be supposed to have disapproved the presumption of the river-god, because he had reserved the task of expiation for other hands and happier means. One of the chief purposes professed by Augustus was the avenging of his adoptive father’s death, and his enemies made this a handle against him.

21. cives acuisse ferrum] ‘Inter se’ or ‘in semetipsos’ may be understood. ‘Audiet acuisse’ does not mean ‘shall hear them sharpen,’ but ‘shall hear of their having sharpened.’ Horace is not predicting what is to be, but lamenting what has been.

22. Quo — perirent,] ‘By which it were better that the hostile Parthians should die.’

Persians, Medes, and Parthians are names freely interchanged by Horace. The Parthian empire, at the time Horace wrote, extended nearly from the Indus to the Roman province of Syria; and the Parthians were in the habit of making incursions into that province, which fact is referred to in the last stanza of this Ode. Although the name of Augustus, assisted by their own disputes, did something towards keeping them in check, they were held by the Romans to be their most formidable enemies. Augustus meditated, but never carried out, war with the Parthians; and the Romans never till the reign of Trajan gained any successes against them. Their empire was broken up, and succeeded by the Persian kingdom of the Sassanidæ, during the reign of Alexander Severus, A. D. 226.—‘Perirent’ would in prose be ‘perituri forent.’

24. Rara juventus.] ‘Our children thinned by the crimes of their fathers.’ It took years of peace and the enactment of stringent marriage-laws to restore the population of Rome, which was thinned not only by bloodshed, but by indifference to marriage and laxity of morals.

25. Quem vocet divum] Vesta was the tutelary goddess of Rome. See Virg. Georg. i. 499, sqq.

“Dii patrii Indigetes, et Romule, Vestaque mater,
Quae Tuscum Tiberim et Romana palatia servas.”

She is represented as turning a deaf ear to the prayers of her virgins, because Cæsar as Pontifex Maximus had particular charge of her temple and rites. On vocet, see Z.

29. scelus] The guilt of the civil wars and of Cæsar’s death, which, as Horace implies in what follows, was to be expiated by Augustus in the character of Mercury, the messenger of peace—‘Partes’ means ‘office,’ ‘duty.’

Æneas was said to have preserved the fire of Vesta and brought her to Rome. ‘Carmina’ (‘hymns’) is opposed to ‘prece’ as a set formula to other prayers. ‘Carmen’ has that meaning in respect to legal or any other formal documents. Liv. i. 26: “Lex horrendi carminis.” Epp. ii. 1. 138: “Carmine Di superi placantur carmine Manes.”

31. Nube candentes humeros amictus] So Homer describes him, εἱμένος ὤμοιϊν νεφέλην (Il. xv. 308). Virg. (Aen. viii. 720): “candentis lumine[245] Phoebi.” ‘Humeros’ is the Greek accusative: ‘your bright shoulders veiled in a cloud.’

32. Augur] Applied to Apollo as the deliverer of oracles and god of divination.

33. Sive] See i. 3. 12, n. ‘Erycina ridens’ corresponds to φιλομμείδης Ἀφροδίτη. Venus is called Erycina, from Mount Eryx in Sicily, where she had a temple. Ἵμερος and Ἔρως (two forms of Love) were the sons of Venus. ‘Jocus’ is an invention of Horace’s. Apollo is appealed to as the steadfast friend of Troy, and, according to his flatterers, the father of Augustus; Venus, as the mother of Æneas and of the Julian family; and Mars, as the father of Romulus. Mercury (the son of Jove and Maia), as above stated (v. 29), is selected as the representative of Augustus, because he is the messenger of peace.

36. Respicis] ‘You regard.’ Cic. (de Legg. ii. 11) proposes the title ‘Fortuna respiciens,’ which he explains by ‘ad opem ferendam,’ for a temple of Fortune.

39. Mauri peditis] Translate in the following order: ‘et Vultus Mauri peditis Acer in cruentum hostem.’ The force of ‘peditis’ here appears to be that the rider has had his horse killed under him, or has dismounted to attack his enemy hand to hand, or in consequence of a wound. See S. ii. 1. 13: “Aut labentis equo describit vulnera Parthi.” The troops of Mauritania were chiefly cavalry. There is a particular meaning in the reference to them rather than to any other troops.

41. juvenem] So Augustus is called, though he was forty years old at this time. So Virg. (Georg. i. 500):—

See C. iii. 14. 9; Epp. i. 8. 14; and S. ii. 5. 62, where the word is again applied to Augustus.

‘Juvenis’ and ‘adolescens’ were used for any age between ‘pueritia’ and ‘senectus.’ Cicero speaks of himself as ‘adolescens’ at the time he put down Catiline’s conspiracy, when he was forty-four years old, and as ‘senex’ when he delivered his 2d Philippic, at which time he was sixty-two.

43. Filius] Is the nominative used for the vocative.—‘Patiens vocari,’ a Grecism. “Patiarque vel inconsultus haberi” (Epp. i. 5. 15). “Cum pateris sapiens emendatusque vocari” (Epp. i. 16. 30).

“Tarda sit illa dies et nostro serior aevo
Qua caput Augustum, quem temperat orbe relicto,
Accedat caelo.”

See also Trist. v. 2. 47. The adjective for the adverb is common in respect of time. The instances in Horace are very numerous.

49. triumphos,] Augustus had just celebrated, or was just about to celebrate, three triumphs on three successive days, for his victories, (1.) over the Gauls, Pannonians, and Dalmatians, (2.) at Actium, and (3.) at Alexandria. ‘Triumphos’ is governed by ‘ames,’ as ‘pocula’ is governed by ‘spernit’ (i. 1. 19); in both which cases we have an accusative case and an infinitive mood governed by the same verb.

50. pater] The title of ‘pater patriae’ was not assumed by Augustus till A. U. C. 752. It was the highest title of honor that could be conferred on a citizen, and was first given by the Senate to Cicero (the army had formerly bestowed it on Camillus), on the occasion of his suppressing Catiline’s conspiracy. Juv. viii. 243:—

where ‘libera’ seems to mean that the Senate were no longer free agents when Augustus took the name. See C. iii. 24. 27, n.

princeps,] Tac. Ann. i. 1: “Cuncta discordiis civilibus fessa principis sub imperium accepit.” In the Senate there was always one person who was called ‘princeps senatus,’ chosen at their own discretion by the censors. It was nominally as such that Augustus took the title of ‘princeps’ rather than ‘rex,’ which was odious to the Romans. He and his successors are more often styled ‘princeps’ than ‘imperator’ by the historians. The latter title, from which ‘emperor’ is derived, they had in virtue of the ‘imperium,’ for an explanation of which term see Smith’s Dict. Ant.

52. Te duce, Caesar] The name of Cæsar is introduced abruptly where that of Mercury might be expected. This abruptness increases the effect.

This Ode is addressed to the ship that was carrying Virgil the poet on some occasion to Greece. His constitution was weak, and he probably made several voyages for the sake of his health. He went and only returned to die in B. C. 19, but this ode was written before then. It is taken up with reproaches against him who first invented navigation, and a lament for the presumption of mankind.

Argument—We commit to thee Virgil, O thou ship! deliver him safe on the shores of Attica, and preserve him whom I love as my life, and may the skies and winds prosper thee. Hard and rash was the man who first tempted the sea and defied the winds. In what shape should he fear the approach of death, who unmoved could look on the monsters of the deep, and the swelling waves, and dangerous rocks? In vain did God separate lands, if man is to leap over the forbidden waters. So doth he ever rush into sin. Prometheus brought fire into the world, and with that theft came all manner of diseases, Dædalus soared on wings, and Hercules burst into hell. Deterred by nothing, we would climb heaven itself, and our guilt suffers not Jove to lay aside his bolts.

1. Sic] ‘Sic’ in this place amounts to no more than ‘utinam’ in a strong form, as ὡς does in Greek. There are other passages where ‘sic’ follows the prayer on which it depends, as C. i. 28. 25:

“Ne parce malignus arenae — particulam dare:
Sic quodcunque minabitur Eurus,” —

where the condition and its consequence are clearly marked, and an opposite wish is implied if the condition be not fulfilled. But such is not the case here; first Horace says, ‘May the stars and winds prosper thee,’ and then goes on, ‘O ship, deliver thy trust in safety.’

‘Potens,’ like its kindred word πότνια, is used with a genitive after it. Venus (a Latin divinity) is confounded by the poets with the Greek Aphrodite, who, from her supposed origin, was imagined to have power over the sea; hence Horace calls her ‘marina’ (C. iii. 26. 5; iv. 11. 15). She had the titles εὐπλοία, λιμένιας, had temples built for her in harbors and is represented on coins with a rudder, shell, and dolphin. Her principal temples were at Idalium and Paphos in Cyprus, in the island of Cythera off the Peloponnesus, Eryx (C. 2. 33) and Cnidus in Caria.

2. Sic fratres Helenae] Castor and Pollux had among other titles that of ἀρωγόναυται, ‘sailor helpers’. The appellation ‘lucida sidera’ is supposed to be derived from certain meteoric appearances after storms, which the ancients supposed to indicate the presence of Castor and Pollux. Similar phenomena are still called by the Italian sailors the fire of St. Elmo, a corruption (it is believed) from Helena, sister of Castor and Pollux. Compare Eurip. Helen. 1495, sqq., and C. iv. 8. 31.

3. pater,] Æolus is steward of the winds in Homer (Odyss. x. 21), king in Virgil, and father here.

4. praeter Iapyga:] The Iapygian or northwest wind, so called from Iapygia in Apulia, whence it blows down the Adriatic, was favorable for a voyage from Brundisium, where Virgil would embark for Greece.

6. finibus Atticis] ‘Deliver him safe on the shores of Attica’, ‘finibus’ being the ablative case. ‘Reddere’ is the word for delivering a letter.

8. animae dimidium meae] See C. ii. 17. 5. The definition of a friend ἥμισυ τῆς ψυχῆς is attributed to Pythagoras.

9. Illi robur et aes triplex] This too is an imitation of the Greek, as Aesch. Prom. 242: σιδηρόφρων τε κὰκ πέτρας εἰργασμένος. We are to understand a man whose heart is hard, as if cased in oak and a triple coat of bronze.

14. tristes Hyadas,] These were three stars in the head of Taurus, whose name (derived from ὕειν, to rain) explains the epithet ‘tristes,’ ‘dull,’ ‘unhappy.’

15. arbiter] This may be rendered ‘tyrant.’ ‘Notus’ is called ‘dux turbidus Hadriae’ (C. iii. 3. 5). ‘Ponere freta’ is like Virg. (Aen. i. 66), “placide straverunt aequora venti”, and Soph. Aj. 674: δεινῶν δ᾽ ἄημα πνευμάτων ἐκοίμισε στένοντα πόντον. ‘Sive’ is omitted before ‘tollere,’ as the Greeks frequently omitted εἴτε in the first clause. This is common in Horace.

17. gradum] This is not ‘degree,’ but ‘step’. It must be rendered in some such way as this: ‘in what shape should he fear the approach of death’.

18. siccis oculis] ξηροῖς ἀκλαύστοις ὄμμασιν (Aesch. S. c. Theb. 696). The ancients were less exact in ascribing the proper signs to emotion or they wept less sparingly than men do now. Cæsar, describing the effect of fear on his men, says, “Hi neque vultum fingere neque interdum lacrimas tenere potuerunt” (B. G. i. 39); and Ovid (Met. xi. 539), describing sailors in a storm, says:—

“Non tenet hic lacrimas: stupet hic: vocat ille beatos
Funera quos maneant”:

It was enough to make them weep, to think that their bodies could not meet with burial. ‘Sicci occuli’ are fitting accompaniments of a heart so hard as this venturous discoverer is said to have had.

20. Acroceraunia?] ‘Ceraunii montes’ was the ancient name for the range of mountains that runs down the coast of Epirus, the northern extremity of which was the promontory called ‘Acroceraunia’. The navigation in the neighborhood of this promontory appears to have been dangerous. Vessels going from Italy to Greece were liable to be driven upon it, which accounts for its mention here.

22. dissociabili] Used actively, as “penetrabile telum” (Aen. x. 48), “genitabilis aura Favoni” (Lucret. i. 11), and in Horace ‘amabilem’ (C. i. 5. 10), ‘illacrimabilem’ (ii. 14. 6), which is used passively C. iv. 9. 26. Tacitus uses ‘dissociabilis’ passively (Agr. 3), “res olim dissociabiles miscuerit principatum et libertatem.” ‘Prudens’ is ‘providens,’ foreseeing the evil to come.

25. Audax omnia perpeti] ‘Presumptuous (enough) to endure all sufferings.’ Compare with this Soph. Antig. 332, sqq.:—

πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ, κοὐδὲν ἀν-
θρώπου δεινότερον πέλει.
τοῦτο καὶ πολιοῦ πέραν
πόντου χειμερίῳ νότῳ
χωρεῖ, περιβρυχίοισιν
περῶν ὑπ᾽ οἴδμασιν.

‘Perpeti’ means to endure to the end. ‘Vetitum’ with ‘nefas’ is not altogether redundant. It expresses crimes which are obviously forbidden, as shown by the obstructions thrown in the way of their commission.

27. Iapeti genus] ‘Son of Iapetus’ (Prometheus). This is after the use of γένος, which occurs not rarely in the Tragedians. Eurip. (Cyclops 104) has δριμὺ Σισύφου γένος, for Ulysses, and Virg. (Aen. iv. 12) “genus esse Deorum.” Compare S. ii. 5. 63.—Prometheus also claimed to be the inventor of ships (Aesch. P. V. 467).

28. fraude mala] ‘Mala’ means mischievous or fatal theft, referring to its consequences. Technically ‘dolus malus’ means a fraud with bad intent, and ‘dolus bonus’ with good intent, a pious fraud.

30. Subductum] ‘stolen.’ ‘Sub’ in composition has sometimes that force of ὑπό which signifies ‘suppression’ and so ‘deception’ in every form. But it does not always convey a bad meaning.

31. incubuit] This word does not always take a dative case after it. Lucret. vi. 1141:—

In what follows ‘prius’ belongs to ‘semoti,’ and ‘tarda necessitas leti’ are one subject. Translate, ‘tardaque necessitas leti, prius semoti, corripuit gradum,’ ‘the power, once slow, of death remote before, hastened its step.’ So that ‘prius’ also affects ‘tarda.’ The story of the diseases and ills which issued from Pandora’s box, and which were a punishment for the theft of Prometheus, will be found in any classical dictionary.

36. Herculeus labor.] So Odyss. xi. 600, βιή Ἡρακληείη for Hercules. “Catonis virtus” (C. iii. 21. 11), “virtus Scipiadae et miris sapientia Laeli” (S. ii. 1. 72), may be taken in the same way. The descent of Hercules to Hades, for the purpose of bringing up Cerberus, was the twelfth labor imposed on him by Eurystheus.

L. Sestius, whose name is used in this Ode, was one of those who served with Horace under Brutus, and they were no doubt on terms of intimacy. The Ode professes to be written at the beginning of spring, and its subject is the uncertainty of life and the duty of enjoying it.

Argument.—The winter is thawing; the spring is returning; the ships are being launched; the herds quit their stalls and the ploughman his fireside; and the meadows are no longer white with frost. Venus and the Graces are leading the dance, and the Cyclops’ forge is burning. Let us bind the head with myrtle or the earth’s first flowers and sacrifice a lamb or kid to Pan. Death calls on rich and poor alike. Life is short, O Sestius! and our hopes we must contract. The grave awaits thee, and when there, no more shalt thou preside at the feast, or sigh for the fair young Lycidas.

2. machinae] The machines here mentioned are called by Cæsar (B. C. ii. 10) ‘phalangae.’ They were rollers. Vessels were drawn up on shore from the Ides of November to the Ides of March, during which time “Defendens pisces hiemat mare” (S. ii. 2. 17). As to ‘Favonius’ see C. iii. 7. 2. The usual word for ‘to launch’ (for which ‘trahunt’ is here used) is ‘deducere,’ the reverse of which, ‘to haul up on shore,’ is ‘subducere.’

3. neque — aut — nec] The two first of these form one branch of the sentence, and the last the other. “Neque (pecus aut arator) gaudet nec prata albicant.” See C. ii. 3, at the beginning.

5. imminente Luna,] ‘with the moon overhead.’ ‘Cytherea Venus’ is unusual, but is analogous to Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων.

6. Junctaeque Nymphis] ‘Nymphis’ is dative. Translate ‘decentes’ ‘comely.’ See C. 30. 5, and 7, n.

7. graves] This epithet may have a variety of meanings. Perhaps Horace meant ‘laborious.’ The eruptions of Ætna, where the thunderbolts of Jove were supposed to be forged, taking place chiefly in the summer and early autumn, the Cyclops are fitly represented as preparing these bolts in spring.

8. urit] This seems to be an adaptation of φλέγει, ‘lights up,’ and is an unusual sense for ‘uro.’ Ovid (Fast. iv. 473) has “Antraque Cyclopum, positis exusta caminis,” which was possibly imitated from this.

11. Fauno decet immolare] The Faunalia took place on the Ides of December. But a lesser festival was observed on the Ides of February, at the advent of Faunus (Pan, the two being identified by the later Romans). See C. iii. 18. At that time the flocks and herds went out to graze, and the god was invoked for their protection. ‘Immolare’ admits of two constructions: with an ablative, as (Livy xli. 14) “immolantibus Jovi singulis bubus”; and with an accusative, as (Virg. Aen. x. 519) “inferias quas immolet umbris.” Horace himself has the latter construction elsewhere (S. ii. 3. 164): “Immolet aequis hic porcum Laribus.” So Virgil (Ecl. iii. 77), “facias vitula.”

13. pulsat] Ovid, Heroid. xxi. 46, “Persephone nostras pulsat acerba fores.”

14. Reges] This word is commonly applied to the rich by Horace, and by Terence too, as Phormio (i. 2. 20): “O! regem me esse opportuit.” The Romans, after the expulsion of the kings, used the terms ‘rex,’ ‘regnum,’ ‘regnare,’ for the most part, in an invidious sense.—‘Beatus’ means one who is rich and lives free from misfortunes. Sestius shared the defeat of Brutus at Philippi, but returning to Rome he was favored by Augustus, and rose to be consul.

15. inchoare] ‘To enter upon.’ This word means properly to begin a thing and not to bring it to an end. The derivation is uncertain.

16. premet] From this word, which belongs more properly to ‘nox,’ we must understand appropriate words for ‘Manes’ and ‘domus.’ Orelli supplies ‘circumvolitabunt’ and ‘teget.’

“Esse aliquid (or aliquos) Manes —
Nec pueri credunt nisi qui nondum aere lavantur.”

Persicus has imitated Horace, S. v. 152: “cinis et Manes et fabula fies.” ‘Fabulae,’ therefore, signifies ‘unreal.’ See Epp. ii. 2. 209, n.—‘Exilis’ is ‘bare,’ as in Epp. i. 6. 45: “Exilis domus est qua non et multa supersunt.”—‘Simul’ is used commonly by Horace for ‘simul ac,’ ‘as soon as.’—‘Mirabere,’ as expressing affection, savors of the Greek θαυμάζειν. It occurs again Epod. iii. 10.—As to ‘talis,’ ‘dice,’ see S. ii. 3. 171, n. It was usual[250] at feasts for one to be chosen by lot, or by throw of dice, president, called by the the Greeks συμποσίαρχος, and by the Romans ‘rex bibendi’ or ‘magister bibendi,’ his office being principally to regulate the quantity and quality of wine to be drunk. Compare C. ii. 7. 25.

This is a graceful fancy poem. It expresses a lover’s jealousy, under the pretence of being glad to escape from the toils of an inconstant mistress. He supposes her to be at this time engaging the affections of some inexperienced youth unknown, who is embarked on the dangerous sea from which he has himself barely escaped. Milton has made a good translation of this Ode.

Argument.—What slender youth art thou toying with now, Pyrrha? He thinks, poor, credulous boy, it will always be thus with thee, and will timidly wonder when the tempest ariseth. I pity those who have no experience of thee; for my part, I have escaped out of the storm, as the walls of the Sea-god show, whereon my dripping garments and the picture of my wreck are hung.

5. Simplex munditiis?] ‘Munditia,’ in the singular and plural, signifies elegance of dress without pretension. Translate ‘plain in thy neatness.’

6. Mutatosque deos] ‘Mutatos’ applies equally to ‘fidem’ and ‘deos.’ See C. ii. 1, n.

8. Emirabitur] This word is not found in other good authors. It is a stronger form of ‘miror,’ which is a common effect of ‘e’ and ‘de’ in composition, as, among many other instances, ‘decertantem’ in the third Ode. ‘Demiror’ is a word used by Cicero and others, and adopted here by some editors.—‘Insolens’ is either used absolutely or with a genitive.

9. aurea:] ‘All gold’ is Milton’s translation, and none other that I know of will do. It implies perfection, just as ‘aurea mediocritas’ signifies that perfect state which transgresses neither to the right nor to the left. So Homer calls Venus χρυσέα frequently.

10. vacuam,] ‘heart free.’ “Elige de vacuis quam non sibi vindicet alter,” Ov. Herod. xx. 149. See also C. i. 6. 19: “Cantamus vacui sive quid urimur.”—‘Amabilem’ Gesner understands actively. It may be either, or both. See C. i. 3. 22.

13. tabula] This practice of persons escaped from shipwreck hanging up in the temple of Neptune or other sea-god a picture representing their wreck and the clothes they escaped in, is mentioned twice again by Horace, S. ii. 1. 33; A. P. 20. Also, among many others, by Virgil, Aen. xii. 768:

“Servati ex undis ubi figere dona solebant
Laurenti divo, et votas suspendere vestes.”

The temples of Isis in particular were thus adorned, after the introduction of her worship into Rome, which was not till quite the latter years of the Republic. She was worshipped in Greece as Πελαγία, and the Romans placed themselves under her protection at sea. Juvenal asks (S. xii. 28): “Pictores quis nescit ab Iside pasci?” There is a little confusion in the sentence; for Horace says, ‘the wall shows with its votive picture that he has hung up his clothes to the sea-god.’ This may be accounted for if we suppose that he meant to say, ‘the wall with its picture shows that he has[251] escaped drowning,’ to which the other is equivalent, but expresses more, namely, the hanging up of the clothes.

15. potenti — maris] ‘Potenti’ governs ‘maris,’ as “potens Cypri,” C. i. 3. 1.

This Ode is addressed to M. Vipsanius Agrippa, the friend and general, and at a later time the son-in-law, of Augustus. It was probably written after the battle of Actium, where Agrippa commanded the fleet of Augustus against M. Antonius. He may have asked Horace to write an ode in his honor, and he declines in a modest way, professing to be unequal to such high exploits, which he places on the same level with those of Homer’s heroes.

Argument.—Varius shall sing in Homeric strain of thy victories by sea and land. My humble muse does not sing of these, of the wrath of Achilles, or the wanderings of Ulysses, or the fate of Pelops’s house, nor will she disparage thy glories and Cæsar’s. Who can fitly sing of Mars, mail-clad,—of Meriones, black with the dust of Troy,—of Diomed, a match for gods? I sing but of feasts, and of the battles of boys and girls.

1. Scriberis] See next Ode, v. 1, n. L. Varius Rufus was a distinguished epic and tragic poet frequently mentioned by Horace, with whom he was intimate, and whom he introduced to Mæcenas. He was popular with his contemporaries, and much admired by them. Augustus also had an affection for him (see Epp. ii. 1. 247).

2. carminis alite,] ‘Alite’ is in apposition with ‘Vario.’ Translate, ‘bird of Homeric song.’ In prose the ablative of the agent without a preposition is not admissible. But Horace has the same construction, C. iii. 5. 24. S. ii. 1. 84. Epp. i. 1. 94. It is most frequently found in Ovid. Homer is called ‘Maeonius’ from the fact that Smyrna, a town of Lydia, more anciently called Mæonia, was one of those that claimed to be his birthplace.

3. Quam rem cunque] The construction is by attraction. The full expression would be ‘scriberis et scribetur omnis res quamcunque.’ Agrippa’s great successes up to this time had been in the Perusian war against L. Antonius, B. C. 41 (in which he had the principal command under Augustus), in Gaul and Germany, by land; and against Sex. Pompeius and at Actium, by sea.

5. neque haec — nec gravem] This is as if he had said: ‘I should not think of singing of these victories, any more than I should of the wrath of Achilles.’ Compare C. iii. 5. 27-30:

“Neque amissos colores
Lana refert medicata fuco,
Nec vera virtus cum semel excidit
Curat reponi deterioribus.”

‘As the stained wool does not recover its lost color, so true virtue once lost will not be restored to the degenerate.’ ‘Gravem stomachum’ is a translation of μῆνιν οὐλομένην (Il. i. 1), and ‘cedere nescii’ is explained by ‘inexorabilis,’ A. P. 121. This construction with ‘nescius’ is not uncommon. Virgil, Aen. xii. 527: “Rumpuntur nescia vinci pectora.” Ovid, Ep. ex Pont. ii. 9. 45: “Marte ferox et vinci nescius armis.”

7. duplicis] διπλοῦς, ‘double-minded or double-tongued,’ as he is described by Hecuba in Euripides’s play of the Trojan Women (v. 285):—

ὃς πάντα τἀκεῖθεν ἐνθάδ᾽
ἀντίπαλ᾽ αὖθις ἐκεῖσε διπτύχῳ γλώσσᾳ
φίλα τὰ πρότερ᾽ ἄφιλα τιθέμενος πάντων.

‘Ulixeï’ is a genitive of the second declension, ‘Ulixeus’ being an old Latin form of ‘Ulysses.’

8. saevam Pelopis domum] Alluding to Varius’s tragedy Thyestes. Tantalus, the founder of his house, served up his own son Pelops at a feast of the gods. Pelops, restored to life, murdered Œnomaus his father-in-law and his own son Chrysippus (Thucyd. i. 9). Atreus, the son of Pelops, murdered and placed before their father as a meal the children of Thyestes his brother, who had previously seduced the wife of Atreus. Atreus was killed by Ægisthus, his nephew and supposed son, who also seduced the wife of his cousin, Agamemnon (the son of Atreus), who was murdered by the said wife Clytemnestra, and she by her son Orestes, who was pursued to madness by the Erynnyes of his mother: all of which events furnished themes for the Greek tragedians, and were by them varied in their features as suited their purpose, or according to the different legends they followed.

11. Laudes] It is said that Varius wrote a panegyric on Augustus, and if so, it is possible Horace means indirectly to refer to it here.

13. tunica tectum adamantina] This expresses Homer’s epithet χαλκοχίτων.

15. Merionen] The charioteer of Idomeneus, king of Crete. ‘Pulvere Troico nigrum’ is like ‘non indecoro pulvere sordidos’ (C. ii. 1. 22). With the help of Pallas, Diomed encountered Mars and wounded him (Il. v. 858).

18. Sectis — acrium] The order is, ‘virginum in juvenes acrium, Sectis tamen unguibus.’

19. sive quid urimur] The construction has been noticed before (3. 15), and ‘vacuus’ occurs in the last Ode (v. 10). See Z. § 385.

20. Non praeter solitum leves.] ‘Trifling, according to my usual practice.’

Munatius Plancus, who followed Julius Cæsar both in Gaul and in his war with Pompeius, after Cæsar’s death attached himself to the republican party, but very soon afterwards joined Augustus; then followed Antonius to the East, and B. C. 32, the year before Actium, joined Augustus again. He was consul in B. C. 42. See C. iii. 14. 27,

He had a son Munatius, who is probably the person referred to in Epp. i. 3. 31. To which of them this Ode was addressed, if to either, is uncertain. It might have been addressed to any one else, for its only subject is the praise of a quiet life and convivial pleasure, which is supported by a story about Teucer, taken from some source unknown to us. Much of the language and ideas seems to have been copied from the Greek.

Argument.—Let others sing of the noble cities of Greece, and dedicate their lives to the celebration of Athens and all its glories. For my part, I care not for Lacedæmon and Larissa, as for Albunea’s cave, the banks of Anio, and the woods and orchards of Tibur. The sky is not always dark, Plancus: drown care in wine, whether in the camp or in the shades of Tibur. As Teucer, though driven from his father’s home, bound poplar on his head, and cheered his companions, saying: “Let us follow fortune,[253] my friends, kinder than a father: despair not, while Teucer is your chief; Apollo has promised us another Salamis: drown care in wine, for to-morrow we will seek the deep once more.”

1. Laudabunt] This future is like ‘scriberis’ in the last Ode (v. 1), ‘others shall if they please.’ ‘Claram’ means ‘bright,’ with reference to its cloudless skies. ‘Bimaris’ is an unusual word. It refers to the position of Corinth, which, standing at the south of the isthmus, commanded the shore of the Sinus Corinthiacus, by two long walls reaching from the town to the sea, and had its eastern port Cenchreæ on the Sinus Saronicus.

5. Sunt quibus] ‘There are those who make it the single business of their lives to tell of chaste Minerva’s city in unbroken song, and to gather a branch from every olive to entwine their brow.’ A ‘perpetuum carmen’ is a continuous poem, such as an Epic; and ‘a branch from every olive,’ or, more literally, an ‘olive-branch from every quarter,’ means that the various themes connected with the glory of Athens are as olive-trees, from each of which a branch is plucked to bind the poet’s brow. The figure is appropriate to the locality, where the olive flourished and was sacred to Minerva (see Herod. v. 8. Soph. Oed. Col. 694, sqq.). We do not know of any poem or poems to which Horace may have alluded, but Athens furnished subjects for the inferior poets of the day.

8. Plurimus] This word for ‘plurimi’ standing alone occurs nowhere else; with a substantive it is not uncommon, as ‘Oleaster plurimus,’ Georg. ii. 182. ‘Plurimus aeger,’ Juv. iii. 232. ‘In honorem,’ for the ablative, is an unusual construction. But Propertius (iv. 6. 13) says, “Caesaris in nomen ducuntur carmina,” which is an analogous case. See Hom. Il. iv. 51, where Here says:—

ἦ τοι ἐμοὶ τρεῖς μὲν πολὺ φίλταταί εἰσι πόληες,
Ἄργος τε Σπάρτη τε καὶ εὐρυάγυια Μυκήνη.

She had a celebrated temple between Argos and Mycenæ called the Ἡραῖον. Homer (Il. ii. 287) calls Argos ἱππόβατον (‘aptum equis’), the plain in which the city was placed being famous for breeding horses.

‘Dites Mycenas’ is later: Μυκήνας τὰς πολυχρύσους (Soph. Elect. 9). ‘Opimae Larissae’ is Homeric; Λάρισσα ἐριβώλαξ (Il. ii. 841). There were several towns of this name, and it is uncertain which Homer meant, but probably that in Thessaly. Horace perhaps took his town, with its epithet, without thinking much where it was. But he may have been at all these places while he was in Greece. ‘Patiens’ is the Spartan’s historical character, but also that of Horace’s age. Cicero (Tusc. v. 27) says, “Pueri Spartiatae non ingemiscunt verberum dolore laniati. Adolescentium greges Lacedaemone vidimus ipsi, incredibili contentione certantes pugnis, calcibus, unguibus, morsu denique, ut exanimarentur prius quam se victos faterentur.” ‘Percussit’ is generally used with the ablative of the instrument or cause. Standing alone in this way, and in the aoristic perfect, it savors very much of ἔπληξε which is used in the same sense.

12. Albuneae resonantis] Albunea, one of the Sibyls worshipped at Tibur, gave her name to a grove and fountain. See Virg. Aen. vii. 81, sqq.

13. Tiburni lucus] Tiburnus (or -tus), Catillus, and Coras were the mythical founders of Tibur. See Virg. Aen. vii. 671. The brothers were worshipped and had a grove there. Tiburnus was the tutelar deity of Tibur, as Tiberinus was of the river Tiber, Anienus of the Anio, &c. They are in fact adjectives. Tibur was famous for its orchards. As to ‘uda’ see C. iii. 29. 6, n. Close to Tibur there is a fall of the Anio, which explains ‘praeceps.’

15. Albus — Notus] This is the λευκόνοτος of the Greeks. We have also ‘candidi Favonii’ (C. iii. 7. 1) and ‘albus Iapyx’ (C. iii. 27. 19). In the latter place it represents a treacherous wind. Horace prefers the older forms in ‘eo,’ as ‘deterget,’ ‘tergere’ (S. ii. 2. 24), ‘densentur’ (C. i. 28. 19).

19. fulgentia signis] The standards in front of the ‘praetorium,’ the commander-in-chief’s quarters, were decorated with plates of burnished gold or silver.

21. Teucer] Teucer was brother of Ajax, and son of Telamon, king of Salamis, that island on the southern coast of Attica where Themistocles defeated the forces of Xerxes. When he returned from Troy, his father refused to receive him, because he came without his brother, whereupon he went with his followers to Cyprus, and built a city there, which he called after his native place, Salamis. ‘Cum fugeret tamen’ is an imitation of the Greek καὶ φεύγων ὅμως. But this use of ‘tamen’ is not uncommon in Cicero. Teucer selected Hercules as his protector, and so wore a crown of poplar, which was sacred to that hero. See Virg. Aen. viii. 276.

27. duce et auspice] Horace puts technical distinctions into Teucer’s lips, of which he could know nothing. The commander-in-chief of a Roman army had a power called ‘imperium’ given him, in virtue of which his acts in the war in which he was engaged were done on behalf of the state. He alone had the power of taking the auspices under which the war was carried on. The difference between ‘dux’ and ‘auspex’ was the difference between a commander who had the ‘imperium’ (and therefore the ‘auspicium’) and one who had not. If an ‘imperator’ commanded in person, the war was said to be carried on under his ‘ductus’ as well as his ‘auspicia’; otherwise only under his ‘auspicia,’ his ‘legatus’ being the ‘dux.’ Thus Tacitus says (Ann. ii. 41), “recepta signa cum Varo amissa ductu Germanici auspiciis Tiberii.” Tiberius as ‘imperator’ alone had the ‘auspicium,’ which the emperors rarely delegated to their generals. See last Ode, v. 4. C. iv. 14. 33. Epp. ii. 1. 254. ‘Certus’ is equivalent to σαφής in εἰ Ζεὺς ἔτι Ζεὺς χὠ Διὸς Φοῖβος σαφής (Oed. Col. 623).

29. Ambiguam] Of doubtful name, i.e. liable to be confounded with the old Salamis.

This Ode contains an expostulation with a damsel, Lydia, who is supposed to be spoiling by her charms a youth, Sybaris, once distinguished in all manly sports, which he has now forsaken. Sybaris was the name of a Greek town on the Sinus Tarentinus, the inhabitants of which were idle and luxurious. The name, which was proverbial though the town had long been destroyed, is given to this youth by way of representing the character into which he has fallen.

Argument.—Lydia, why art thou spoiling Sybaris thus, so that he shuns all manly exercises? He who was once so active, why does he no longer ride and swim and wrestle, and throw the quoit and javelin in the Campus Martius? Why does he hide himself with thee, like Achilles, in woman’s apparel?

3, 4. apricum campum] The Campus Martius, where the youth of Rome used to practise manly and warlike exercises.

6. Gallica nec lupatis] The best horses were bred in Cisalpine Gaul. Lupata (plur.) is used as a substantive by Virgil (Georg. iii. 208). It was the sharpest kind of bit, so called from the jagged teeth of the wolf, which it resembled. It was also called ‘lupus.’ The participle is not elsewhere used.

8. Tiberim tangere? Cur olivum] The Romans bathed often in the Tiber, before which, and before their exercises in the Campus Martius, they were wont to rub oil on their limbs. C. iii. 12. 6. S. i. 6. 123; ii. 1. 8.

10. armis] The discus (S. ii. 2. 13) and lance, the violent use of which strained and discolored the arms.

13. Quid latet,] ‘Why is he hiding himself in your house?’ as Achilles was hid in a woman’s dress, in the palace of Lycomedes, in the island of Scyros, lest he should be carried to Troy; a legend which Homer knew nothing of. Thetis foresaw that the siege of Troy would be fatal to Achilles. In Ovid (Met. xiii. 165, sqq.) Ulysses relates the story, and tells how he discovered Achilles and dragged him to the war.

16. Lycias — catervas?] The Lycians assisted the Trojans under the command of Sarpedon and Glaucus.

This is a drinking song for the winter, imitated from an Ode of Alcæus. A party is supposed to be assembled in the city, and one calls upon the master of the feast to bring out his best wine, and make the fire burn bright, that they may banish care and all thought for the future, since youth is the time for innocent enjoyment.

Argument.—You see how Soracte stands out with snow, and the woods are bending with their burden, and the sharp frost hath frozen the streams. Heap logs on the fire, and draw your best Sabine wine, feast-master, and leave the rest to the gods, at whose bidding the fierce winds are still and the woods have rest. Ask not what is to come; enjoy the present day; let the dance be ours while we are young, the Campus Martius, the promenade, the nightly assignation, and the coy girl that loves to be caught.

1. stet] ‘stands out.’ This signifies a fixed and prominent appearance. ‘Stant lumina flamma’ (Aen. vi. 300) may be rendered in the same way. Soracte was one of the Faliscan range of hills, about 2200 feet high and twenty-four miles from Rome. It is now called Monte Tresto, a corruption from ‘San Oreste.’ It is seen very clearly from the northern point of the city. Apollo had a temple there: “Summe deum sancti custos Soractis Apollo,” Aen. xi. 785.

4. constiterint] ‘have ceased flowing.’ See Ov. Tr. v. 10. 1: “Ut sumus in Ponto ter frigore constitit Ister.” ‘Acuto,’ as applied to cold, corresponds to the ὀξεῖα χιών of Pindar, and ‘penetrabile frigus’ of Virgil. But Horace also applies it to heat (Epp. i. 10. 17): “Cum semel accepit solem furibundus acutum.” In English, we say ‘a sharp frost,’ but do not use the same word for heat.

7. Deprome quadrimum Sabina, — diota.] The first of these words means here to draw the wine from the ‘diota’ into the crater or bowl in which it was mixed with water. The diota (so called from its having two handles or ears, ὦτα) was the same as the ‘amphora’ (so called for the same reason), ‘testa,’ or ‘cadus,’ which were names for the vessels of earthen-ware or glass in which the wine was kept, as we keep it in bottles, after it was drawn from[256] the ‘dolium,’ the larger vessel in which it was put to ferment when new. The name of the wine is applied to the vessel containing it here, as in ‘Graeca testa’ (i. 20. 2); ‘Laestrygonia amphora’ (iii. 16. 34). Sabine wine was not among the best, nor was it of the worst sort. It was a sweet wine, and probably after four years’ keeping was in its prime. Horace calls it elsewhere (C. i. 20. 1) “vile Sabinum,” but that was as compared with Mæcenas’s more expensive sorts.

14. Fors] ‘Chance.’ Cic. (de Legg. ii. 11) distinguishes ‘Fors’ from ‘Fortuna’ thus: “Fortuna valet in omnes dies; Fors in quo incerti casus significantur magis.” ‘Fors’ and ‘Sors’ differ as cause and effect. See S. i. 1. 1. ‘Quem dierum cunque’ is equivalent to ‘quemcunque diem’; ‘whatever day chance shall bestow.’

lucro Appone,] ‘set it down to good luck.’ Cic. Div. 9. 17: “de lucro prope jam quadriennium novimus,” i.e. of good luck and contrary to expectation. Liv. (xi. 8) has the same expression: “De lucro vivere me scito.” ‘Lucrari’ is said of things gained without our own effort, according to Forcellini’s explanation.

17. virenti] Epod. 13. 4: “dumque virent genua.” The Greeks used γόνυ χλωρόν. ‘Virere’ is also applied to old age, and we speak commonly of a ‘green old age.’ “Cruda ac viridis senectus,” Tac. Agr. 29.

18. areae] Courts and open places about the temples and in different parts of the town, used as promenades and for games. ‘Any place in a city not built upon,’ is the jurists’ definition of ‘area.’

24. male pertinaci.] ‘slyly obstinate,’ or ‘not obstinate,’ that is, which does not resist the snatching of the ring; for ‘male’ may be taken in either sense. See below, C. 17. 25, n.

In the following Ode, which is a translation or close adaptation of one written by Alcæus, the attributes and legends belonging to Hermes, the Greek divinity, are applied to Mercurius, the Latin, who was properly the god who presided over commerce. Ovid gives much the same account of Mercurius in the fifth book of the Fasti (663, sqq.). His description begins with the same apostrophe as this, ‘Clare nepos Atlantis.’

Argument.—Mercury, thou who in their infancy didst tame the human race by the gifts of speech and the palæstra, of thee will I sing, thou messenger of the gods, thou master of the lyre and prince of thieves. Why, while Apollo was threatening thee for stealing his cows, he turned and laughed to find his quiver gone. By thee Priam passed through the Grecian camp. Thou conductest souls to their last home, thou favorite of the gods above and gods below!

1. nepos Atlantis,] Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia the daughter of Atlas.

3. Voce formasti] Hermes was looked upon as the herald of the gods, and so as gifted above all others with eloquence; hence he was called λόγιος. He was said to have invented the first written language.

decorae More palaestrae,] ‘The practice (exercise) of the graceful palæstra,’ so called as giving grace to the limbs. As the inventor and patron of gymnastic exercises, Hermes was called ἀγώνιος.

6. lyrae parentem,] Hermes was said, when a child, to have taken the shell of a tortoise and put strings to it, and so to have invented the lyre.

7. Callidum quidquid] All arts of cunning were supposed to have originated with Hermes, who as the god of gain patronized thieving.

9. Te boves olim] Translate in the following order: ‘Olim Apollo, dum Te puerum terret (terrebat) minaci Voce, nisi reddidisses boves per dolum amotas, Risit viduus (spoliatus) pharetra.’ Hermes is also said to have stolen when a child some cows of Apollo’s. After some time, that god discovered the thief, and when threatening to punish him if he did not restore them, he turned and found his bow and arrows gone; and Horace says he smiled at the expertness of the theft. This story is said to have been first told by Alcæus. Ovid, in the place above mentioned, relates it.

14. Ilio dives Priamus] Horace uses the forms Ilios (feminine) and Ilion (neuter). The story of Priam going through the Grecian camp to beg the body of his son Hector of Achilles, is told by Homer in the 24th book of the Iliad (334, sqq.).

17. Tu pias laetis] As the conductor of the dead, Hermes was called ψυχοπομπός, and as the bearer of a golden wand, he was named χρυσόῤῥαπις. This wand the Greeks called κηρυκεῖον, the Latins ‘caduceus.’

The swarms of impostors from the East, who pretended to tell fortunes and cast nativities at Rome in the time of the empire, became a public nuisance, and they were expelled and laws passed against them, but without the effect of putting them down. Tacitus (Hist. i. 22) describes them as “Genus hominum infidum, sperantibus fallax, quod in civitate nostra et vetabitur semper et retinebitur.” They were becoming numerous in Cicero’s time. As might be supposed, they were most successful in engaging the attention of women (Juv. vi. 569, sqq.), and Horace here addresses himself to one of that sex, whom he calls Leuconoë, a name which appears to be equivalent to ‘folly.’

Argument.—Look not into the book of fate, Leuconoë, nor consult the astrologers. How much better to be satisfied, whether we have yet many winters to see, or this be the last! Be wise, strain the wine, think of the shortness of life, and cut your expectations short. Even while we speak, time flies. Live to-day; trust not to-morrow.

1. scire nefas,] ‘Nefas’ means that which is not permitted by the gods. It does not always signify what is wrong, but sometimes what is impossible for the above reason.

spatio brevi] This means ‘cut down distant hopes, and confine them within a narrow compass.’

The object of this Ode is to celebrate the popular divinities and heroes of Rome; but the design is so worked out as to draw the chief attention to[258] Augustus. The Muse is asked whom she will praise,—Jove and his children, or some one of the worthies of Rome, of whom many are mentioned, beginning with Romulus and ending with Augustus, of whom it is declared that he is under the especial care of Jove, and that he holds from him the sceptre of the world. These persons are mentioned without reference to chronological order, and it does not appear why some were chosen rather than others of more or equal note who are omitted.

Argument.—Whom wilt thou sing among gods or men, Clio? Whose name shall the echoes of Pindus or Helicon repeat, or of Hæmus, whose woods followed the sweet music of Orpheus? Whom, before the Almighty Father, who knows no equal or second? After him cometh Pallas, and then brave Liber, and the huntress Diana, and Phœbus the archer, and Hercules, and Leda’s sons, the horseman and the fighter, before whose star the tempests fly. Then shall it be Romulus, or the peaceful Numa, or proud Tarquin, or Cato, who nobly died? Regulus, and the Scauri, and Paulus, who gave up his great soul to the Carthaginian, gratefully I will sing, and Fabricius and Curius and Camillus, all trained for war in poverty’s school. The fame of Marcellus is growing up insensibly, like a tree, and the star of Julius is brighter than all stars. To thee, great Father, is given the care of Cæsar; share with him thy kingdom. Putting Parthians to flight, and subduing the nations of the East, he shall rule the world, as thy vicegerent, with a righteous sway, while thou dost shake Olympus, and hurlest thy bolts on the haunts of impiety.

1. Quem virum] This opening is taken from the beginning of the second Olympic Ode of Pindar:—

ἀναξιφόρμιγγες ὕμνοι
τίνα θεόν, τίν᾽ ἥρωα, τίνα δ᾽ ἄνδρα κελαδήσομεν;

2. sumis celebrare,] See C. i. 1. 8, n. Horace invokes the Muses without much discrimination; but Clio is not improperly invoked here, as the Muse of history, to which the names of the worthies recounted belong. Calliope, the Epic Muse, is invoked C. iii. 4. 2; Melpomene, the tragic, is asked for a dirge, i. 24. 3, and is invoked by Horace as his patroness in iv. 3; Euterpe and Polymnia, the proper lyric Muses, occur i. 1. 33. ‘Imago’ is used absolutely for the echo (for which the Romans had no corresponding term) by Cicero, Tusc. iii. 2: “ea (laus bonorum) virtuti resonat tanquam imago.” Virgil gives the full expression, Georg. iv. 50: “Vocisque offensa resultat imago.” See C. i. 20. 8. Our verse-writers are fond of Horace’s epithet, ‘sportive echo.’

5. Heliconis oris] Helico was a range of mountains in Bœotia, and Pindus between Thessaly and Epirus. Both were celebrated as the abodes of the Muses. Hæmus was a range on the north of Thrace, and Orpheus was a Thracian. See A. P. 391, 405, n.

“O qui res hominumque deumque
Aeternis regis imperiis et fulmine terres.”—Aen. i. 230.

variisque mundum — horis] ‘Mundum’ here signifies ‘the sky,’ as in Georg. i. 240, and ‘horis’ has its Greek signification,—‘seasons.’

17. Unde nil majus] ‘Unde’ occurs several times in Horace as referring to persons. See, among other places, Cicero de Senect. 4, fin., “fore unde discerem neminem.”

19. Proximos] This, signifying the next in order without reference to distance, does not contradict what goes before. ‘Secundum’ means close proximity. Pallas is said to hold the next place to Jupiter, not[259] absolutely, but among those ‘qui generantur ipso,’ and only these are mentioned.

21. Proeliis audax] Horace confounds the Latin divinity Liber with the Greek Dionysus or Bacchus, whose Indian wars and contests with the giants (ii. 19. 21) are here alluded to.

29. Defluit saxis agitatus humor,] The waters that in their fury covered the rocks flow back to their bed. See C. i. 3. 2, n.

33. Romulum post hos, etc.] The order is, ‘dubito utrum prius post hos memorem Romulum, an quietum Pompili regnum,’ etc.

34. superbos Tarquini fasces] Tarquinius Priscus is probably referred to, and ‘superbos’ must in that case be taken in a good sense.

35. Catonis] M. Cato, surnamed Uticensis from the fortress of Utica in Africa, where he died. He put himself to death, rather than fall into the hands of Julius Cæsar, B. C. 46.

37. Scauros] The plural is used for the singular (see S. i. 7. 8, n.), and M. Æmilius Scaurus is meant, who was consul B. C. 115. The story of M. Atilius Regulus, who as consul commanded the Roman army in the first Punic war, and was taken by the Carthaginians, is told in C. iii. 5. L. Æmilius Paullus commanded with Varro, his colleague in the consulship, at the battle of Cannæ, when the Romans were defeated by Hannibal, and Paullus lost his life by refusing to fly when he might have done so. C. Fabricius Luscinus was consul, and commanded in the war with Pyrrhus, B. C. 278, three years after which M. Curius Dentatus was consul and commander in the same war. Both of these consuls were celebrated for the simplicity of their habits, and for rejecting the bribes of the Samnites, in respect to which a notable saying of Curius is related by Cicero (De Senect. c. 16). The older Romans wore their hair and beards long. These heroes are represented as negligent of their appearance. L. Furius Camillus is he who was said to have forced the Gauls to raise the siege of the Capitol, B. C. 390.

43, 44. Saeva paupertas] ‘Saevus’ does not necessarily bear a bad sense, nor is it so used in C. iii. 16. 16. ‘Apto cum lare’ means ‘with a suitable house,’—a house of a size proportionate to the small ancestral farm.

45. occulto — aevo] ‘By an imperceptible growth,’ as Ovid, Met. x. 519: “Labitur occulte fallitque volatilas aetas.” Marcellus was he who took Syracuse in the second Punic war, B. C. 212, and his name stands for all his descendants, and particularly the young Marcellus, who married Julia, the daughter of Augustus, B. C. 25, and died in less than two years after. This allusion makes it probable he was alive when the Ode was written. The star of Julius Cæsar, and the lesser lights of that family, are meant by what follows. By ‘Julium sidus’ is meant Cæsar himself, at whose death a comet is reported to have appeared, which was supposed to be his spirit translated to the skies. (See Ovid, Met. xv. sub fin.)

53. Ille, seu Parthos] See C. 2. 21, n. The Romans had hopes that Augustus would conquer the Parthians, and redeem the disgrace they had suffered from them, and this is written in anticipation of that event. ‘Justo triumpho’ is a complete triumph. (See Cic. de Am. c. 20, ad Fam. xv. 6, with Long’s notes.)

This Ode expresses a lover’s jealousy, being addressed to his mistress, Lydia, who is supposed to be coquetting with a youth named Telephus.

Argument.—Lydia, while thou art praising Telephus’s neck, Telephus’s arms, oh! my heart is ready to burst. My mind tosses about; my color comes and goes; and the tear stealing down my cheek tells of the slow fire that burns within. It galls me when his rough hands hurt thy shoulders, or his teeth leave their mark on thy lips: think not he will be constant who could hurt that nectared mouth. How happy they whom love binds fast, to the day of their death!

2. cerea Telephi] ‘Cerea’ means ‘white as wax.’ The Romans wore their necks and arms bare, the tunic being cut so as to expose the throat and upper part of the chest, and having no sleeves.

4. difficili bile] ‘Jealousy.’ The Romans expressed anger by ‘splendida’ or ‘vitrea bilis,’ and melancholy by ‘atra bilis’ (μελαγχολία).

6. manet,] The lengthening of a short syllable in such positions is not uncommon. So C. ii. 13. 16: “Caeca timet aliunde fata.”

13. Non, — Speres] This more emphatic negative is used not uncommonly in prohibitive sentences, instead of ‘ne,’ as “non — sileas,” S. ii. 5. 91; “non ulceret,” Ep. i. 18. 72; “non sit qui tollere curet,” A. P. 460.

16. Quinta parte sui nectaris imbuit.] Some of the Greek poets had notions about the relative sweetness of nectar and honey which Horace has here imitated, and “quinta parte sui nectaris” probably means honey.

20. Suprema citius] This construction for ‘citius quam suprema’ only occurs once again in Horace, in “plus vice simplici” (C. iv. 14. 13).

During the troubles in Mitylene, his native city, Alcæus wrote an Ode, of which this seems to be a close imitation. It was written most probably during the civil wars, that is, between B. C. 41 and 30 (when Horace returned to Rome). The state is likened to a ship drifting out to sea with its rigging crippled, and in danger of destruction.

Argument.—Thou art drifting again to sea, thou ship; oh! haste, and make for the harbor; oars lost, mast split, yards crippled, and rigging gone, how canst thou weather the storm? Thy sails are torn, thy gods are gone, and, noble hull though thou be, there is no strength in thy beauty. If thou be not fated to destruction, avoid the rocks, thou who wert but late my grief, and art now my anxious care.

6. sine funibus] ‘deprived of her rigging.’ Some understand it to mean ‘without girding ropes,’ referring to St. Luke’s description of their undergirding the ship in which St. Paul was being conveyed to Rome (Acts xxvii. 16).

10. Non di,] “Accipit et pictos puppis adunca deos” (Ov. Heroid. xvi. 112). There was usually a niche in the stern of a ship where the image of the tutelary god was kept.

11, 12. Pontica pinus,] The best ship timber came from Pontus. ‘Pinus’ is in apposition with the subject of ‘Jactes,’ and ‘nobilis’ agrees with ‘Silvae.’

15. nisi — Debes ludibrium,] i.e. ‘if thou be not fated to destruction.’

17. Nuper sollicitum] Taking the Ode as an address to the state, we can only understand Horace to mean, that while he was attached to Brutus, or before he had received pardon, he had no other feelings than fear for his own safety and disgust with the state of the country; but now, under Augustus, he watches its fate with the affection and anxiety of a friend. The order is, ‘(Tu) quae nuper eras mihi sollicitum taedium (et quae) Nunc (es) desiderium curaque non levis, Vites aequora Interfusa (inter) nitentes Cycladas.’

19. nitentes] This is like ‘fulgentes’ (C. iii. 28. 14), shining, as cliffs will do in the sun. The Cyclades abound in white marble.

This is probably an early composition of Horace, made up of materials from the Greek, and written merely to exercise his pen.

Argument.—Paris is carrying off Helen, when Nereus causes a calm, and thus prophesies their fate: With dark omen art thou carrying home her whom Greece hath sworn to recover. Alas for the sweating horse and rider, and the deaths thou art bringing upon Troy! Pallas prepareth her arms and her fury. Under Venus’s shelter, comb thy locks and strike thy lyre, and hide thyself in thy chamber; but it shall not avail thee. Seest thou not Laertes’s son, Nestor of Pylos, Teucer of Salamis, and Sthenelus the fighter and bold charioteer? Merion too, and the son of Tydeus, from whom thou shalt flee panting, as the stag fleeth from the wolf,—thou, who didst boast better things to thy fair one? Achilles’s wrath may put off the evil day, but the fire of the Greek shall consume the homes of Troy.

2. Helenen] Horace uses the Greek inflections in his odes, and the Latin in his iambic verses, satires, and epistles (Bentley). This might be expected, especially when, as in this instance, the imitation of Greek writers is obvious.

5. Nereus] He is made to speak, because the sea-gods were endowed with the gift of prophecy. ‘Mala avi’ is like ‘alite lugubri,’ C. iii. 3. 61; “mala alite,” Epod. x. 1.

7. Conjurata — rumpere] This is a legitimate prose construction. “Conjuravere patriam incendere” (Sal. Cat. 52. 24. See Liv. 22. 38). ‘Rumpere’ governs ‘regnum’ as well as ‘nuptias,’ though for its sense it ought only to belong to ‘nuptias.’

11. aegida] The ‘aegis’ was properly the skin of the goat Amalthea, the nurse of Zeus, which he used as a shield or as a breastplate (see C. iii. 4. 57), where it is worn, as here, by Pallas. The word is not confined in use to the original meaning, but is taken for a metal shield or breastplate worn by Zeus, Pallas, or Apollo. It had a Gorgon’s head upon it.

13. Veneris praesidio] See Hom. Il. iii. 44, and on v. 16 see Il. iii. 380; vi. 321. Horace’s description of Paris is drawn, not from Homer, who makes him brave, but from later writers who altered the Homeric characters. See Heyne, Exc. i. Aen. ii. See also Aen. iv. 215, sqq.

17. Cnosii] Cnossus or Cnosus or Gnosus was the principal city of Crete. See C. iv. 9. 17, n.

19. Ajacem;] The son of Oileus. Homer calls him Ὀϊλῆος ταχὺς Aἴας (Il. ii. 527).

24. Teucer et] In this verse and in v. 36 Horace has introduced a trochee in the first foot, contrary to his own custom, but in accordance with the practice of the Greeks. ‘Sciens pugnae’ is Homer’s πολέμου εὖ εἰδώς, and ‘Tydides melior patre’ is taken from Sthenelus’s vaunt, Il. iv. 405: ἡμεῖς τοι πατέρων μέγ᾽ ἀμείνονες εὐχόμεθ᾽ εἶναι.

31. Sublimi — anhelitu] ‘Panting heavily,’ as the fleeing stag, with its head raised in the air.

33. diem] For ‘diem supremam.’ In this form the expression is like the Hebrew, which we meet with frequently in the Scriptures: “Remember the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” (Ps. cxxxvii. 7), and “they that come after him shall be astonished at his day, as they that went before were affrighted” (Job xviii. 20). The word which expresses the wrath of Achilles is applied to his fleet.

Horace appears to have written some severe verses against some woman or other, and this seems to be written in mock penitence for that offence. He represents the evils of anger, and begs her to destroy his verses and forgive him.

Argument.—Lovely daughter of a lovely mother, destroy those abusive verses how thou wilt. Cybele, Apollo, Liber, agitate not their votaries’ hearts as anger does, which is stopped neither by sword, nor by waves, nor by fire, nor by the falling of the skies themselves. When Prometheus was bidden to take a part from every animal to give to man, he implanted in our hearts the lion’s fury. Wrath laid Thyestes low, and hath brought proud cities to the dust. Be appeased. In the sweet season of youth I was tempted by hot blood to write those rash verses. I would now lay aside all unkindness, if thou wilt but let me recall my libel, and give me back thy heart.

5. Dindymene,] Cybele, the mother of the gods, so called from Mount Dindymus, in Galatia, where she had a temple. Her priests were called Galli (from this locality) and Corybantes. Her rites were celebrated by these priests in a very mad fashion, as were those of Bacchus.

13. Fertur Prometheus,] This story is not found elsewhere. ‘Principi limo,’ ‘the prime clay,’ corresponds to πρῶτον ἄρχον πηλόν in Soph. Frag. (432 Dind.), καὶ πρῶτον ἄρχον πηλὸν ὀργάζειν χεροῖν. It means the clay before the soul was put into it.

18. ultimae Stetere causae] Liv. vii. c. 1. “Ea ultima fuit causa cur bellum Tiburti populo indiceretur.” The final or proximate cause: that which immediately leads to a thing. See Virg. Aen. vii. 553: “Stant causae belli.”

24. celeres] A. P. 251: “iambus pes citus.” The quality of the measure is mentioned as some palliation, perhaps, of the severity of the verses.

This professes to be an invitation to a woman named Tyndaris to visit Horace at his farm. He promises her peace and plenty, and security from the jealousy of her husband or lover, Cyrus.

Argument.—Tyndaris, often doth Pan leave Lycæus to visit Lucretilis, protecting my flocks from sun and wind; my goats go unharmed, and fear not snake or wolf, when his sweet pipe sounds in the vale of Ustica. The gods love me for my piety and my muse. Here Plenty awaits thee; here shalt thou retire from the heat, and sing of the loves of Penelope and Circe for Ulysses. Here shalt thou quaff mild Lesbian wine in the shade, nor shall strife be mingled with the cup, nor shalt thou fear lest the jealous Cyrus lay his violent hand upon thee.

1. Lucretilem] ‘Mons Lucretilis’ is identified with the lofty mountain (or range) called Monte Gennaro, that overhangs the valley of the Licenza,—Horace’s Digentia (Epp. i. 18. 104),—in which his estate lay. Ustica was probably the name of a spot on the slope of the hills, and ‘cubantis’ in that case means ‘sloping.’

2. Mutat Lycaeo Faunus] Faunus is put for Pan (C. i. iv. 11, n.), who had his principal temple on Mount Lycæus in Arcadia.—The construction with ‘muto,’ ‘permuto,’ by which the remoter object becomes the nearer, is not peculiar to Horace, but it will be found to occur several times in his works. Virg. Georg. i. 8: “Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit arista.” Ἀλλάσσειν, ἀμείβειν also admit of this double construction, sometimes the thing given in exchange being in the accusative, sometimes the thing taken.

7. Olentis uxores mariti,] ‘the she-goats.’ See Georg. iii. 125, “Quem legere ducem et pecori dixere maritum.”

9. Nec Martiales Haediliae lupos,] ‘Haediliae’ was perhaps the name of one of the Sabine hills.

10. fistula] This instrument corresponded nearly to the Greek syrinx, and to what we call the Pandean pipe.

14. Hic tibi copia] The order of the words is ‘hic copia opulenta ruris honorum manabit ad plenum tibi benigno cornu.’ ‘Here Plenty, rich in the glories of the country, shall pour herself out for thee abundantly from her generous horn.’ ‘Ad plenum’ occurs in the same sense, Georg. ii. 244. The ‘cornu copiae,’ so common in ancient works of art as a horn filled with fruit and flowers, was a symbol belonging properly to the goddess Fortuna, to whom it is said to have been presented by Hercules, who won it from the river-god, Achelous. It was the horn of Amalthea, the goat-nurse of Zeus, who gave it such virtue that it was always filled with anything the owner wished. (See C. S. 60.)

18. fide Teïa] The lyre of Anacreon, who was born at Teos on the coast of Ionia. ‘Laborantes in uno’ means in love with the same person, that is, Ulysses. Circe was the daughter of a sea-nymph, Perse, and was herself reckoned among the sea-goddesses. Hence, perhaps, the epithet ‘vitrea,’ ‘glassy,’ which applies properly to the sea, is given to Circe, just as ‘caerula’ is applied to Thetis in Epod. xiii. 16, and ‘virides’ to the sea-gods in Ov. Tr. i. 2. 59: “Pro superi viridesque Dei quibus aequora curae.”

21. Lesbii] This is one of three Aegean wines mentioned by Horace, the others being from Cos and Chios. Lesbian was a mild wine.

22. Semeleïus — Thyoneus] Bacchus is here called by both the names of[264] his mother, Semele, who was also named Thyone, from θύειν, ‘to be frenzied,’ from which the Bacchanals were called Thyades.

25. male dispari] ‘By no means his match’. ‘Male’ is sometimes used as a negative, as S. ii. 3. 137, “male tutae mentis,” and sometimes to strengthen a word, as here and S. i. 3. 31, “male laxus calceus.”

This is a translation or close imitation of an ode of Alcæus in the same metre, one verse of which is almost literally translated in the first verse of this Ode, μηθὲν ἄλλο φυτεύσῃς πρότερον δένδρεον ἀμπέλω. It professes to be addressed to a friend who is making a plantation near his house at Tibur. The friend’s name is Varus, and that was the cognomen of Quinctilius, whose death is lamented in C. 24 of this book. But whether this is the person intended or not it is impossible to say, and it does not signify, since the scene is most probably imaginary. Varus is advised to plant the vine before all other trees, since wine, if used in moderation, drives care away, though if abused its attendants are strife, self-love, vainglory, and broken faith.

Argument.—The vine is the first tree thou shouldst plant, Varus, by the walls of Tibur. Hardships are only for the sober; wine drives away all cares. Who speaks of battles and poverty, rather than of Bacchus and Venus, when he is under the influence of wine? But that no man exceed, let him think of the bloody frays of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and of the Thracians, over their cups, when the appetite confounds right and wrong. I’ll not rouse thee unbidden, beautiful Bassareus, nor drag thy mysteries from their secret places. Silence the horn and drum, whose followers are vainglory and broken faith.

2. Tiburis et moenia Catili.] See C. i. 7. 13, n. Horace shortens the penultimate syllable of Catillus’s name for the sake of the metre, and the same liberty is taken with the name of Porsenna, Epod. xvi. 4.

4. aliter] By any other means than wine, which is not expressed, but sufficiently implied in ‘siccis.’

6. te potius,] A verb must be understood more suitable than ‘crepat,’ which is equivalent to ‘croaks,’ or something of that sort. ‘Laudat’ or ‘canit’ may be supplied.

8. super mero] ‘over their wine,’ that is, while they were drinking. ‘Super’ with the ablative generally means ‘about,’ ‘on behalf of,’ or ‘concerning,’ a thing; but it is also used to express time, as in Aen. ix. 61 we have ‘nocte super media.’ The story is, that at the marriage-feast of Peirithous, king of the Lapithæ, the Centaurs, being guests, attempted in their drunkenness to carry off the bride, Hippodamia, and the other women present, which led to a battle, in which the Centaurs were beaten.

9. Sithoniis non levis Euius,] The Sithonians were a people of Thrace, on the borders of the Euxine. Bacchus was angry with the Thracians, and visited habitual drunkenness upon them, because their king, Lycurgus, forbade the cultivation of the vine. See C. i. 27. 1, sq.

10. Cum fas atque nefas] ‘Cum’ refers to ‘super mero.’ ‘When the greedy of wine distinguish between right and wrong by the slender line of their lusts,’ that is, the slender distinction that lust so inflamed can draw.[265] ‘Avidus’ is used absolutely for ‘avidus pugnae,’ C. iii. 4. 58, as here it means ‘avidi vini.’

“Qualis commotis excita sacris
Thyas ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho
Orgia nocturnusque vocat clamore Cithaeron,”

‘I will not rouse thee against thy will, nor drag to light thy mysteries, hidden in leaves.’ There were sacred things contained in small chests, ‘cistae,’ which were carried in the processions at the Dionysia, covered with the leaves of vine and ivy. Bassareus was a title of Bacchus, of which the origin is uncertain. It is said to be derived from βασσαρίς, the fox-skin worn by the Bacchanals.

16. Arcanique Fides prodiga,] ‘The faith which betrays secrets.’ See C. iii. 21. 16. Epod. xi. 14. S. i. 4. 89. Epp. i. 5. 16.

The hero of this Ode, whoever he may be, says that, though he had meant to put away love from his heart, Glycera’s charms have taken such hold upon him, that he can no longer sing of grave subjects, which are nothing to him, but must build an altar, and offer sacrifice to propitiate the goddess of love.

Argument.—The mother of love, Semele’s son, and wantonness recall my heart to love, which I thought I had put away for ever. I burn for Glycera, fairer than marble, and the mischievous face so dangerous to look upon. With all her strength hath Venus come upon me, and bids me sing no more of idle themes,—the Scythian and the Parthian. Build me an altar, slaves; bring boughs and incense and wine, for I would soften the goddess with a victim.

1. Mater saeva Cupidinum] This verse occurs again C. iv. 1. 5. The multiplication of the forms of ἔρως was derived from the Greeks by the Romans.

8. lubricus] Forcellini derives this from the verb ‘labor.’ ‘Vultus lubricus adspici’ is a face dangerous to look upon, as slippery ground is dangerous to tread upon.

10. Scythas] Under this name Horace, with the historians of this period, understood all nations on and beyond the Tanais, as well as those on the north of the Danube, as the Geloni, Getæ, Daci, with one or more of whom the Romans were at this time perpetually at war. See Virg. Georg. iii. 31: “Fidentemque fuga Parthum versisque sagittis”; and C. ii. 13. 17: “Miles sagittas et celerem fugam Parthi.”

11. versis — equis] The Parthians are described as in the habit of pretending to fly in battle, and, as the enemy pursued, shooting their arrows or throwing their darts at them from horseback.

13. vivum — caespitem,] This rude sort of altar was enjoined upon the Israelites in the wilderness in preference to any other (Exod. xx. 24). The word ‘verbena’ was used for any boughs employed for crowning the altar or for sacred purposes. ‘Verb,’ and ‘herb’ in ‘herba,’ are the same root.

16. veniet] That is, Venus will come. When sacrifice was offered to Venus, the blood of the victim was not allowed to stain the altar (Tac. Hist. ii. 3).

This Ode informs Mæcenas of the wine he will get when he comes to sup with Horace, who had it appears invited him.

Argument.—You shall have some poor Sabine, Mæcenas, bottled at that time when the echoes of the Vatican resounded your praises. You drink Cæcuban and Calenian, but the vines of Falernum and Formiæ are not for me.

1. Vile potabis modicis Sabinum Cantharis] It has been said before (C. 9. 7, n.) that Sabine wine was none of the worst; but it was cheap and poor compared with the best, to which Mæcenas was used, and this probably had not had the benefit of keeping. Horace commends it, therefore, by referring to the circumstances under which it was bottled (as we should say)—The most ordinary kind of earthen-ware jug was called ‘cantharus,’ supposed to be the name of its inventor. Horace had tried to improve his wine by putting it into a ‘testa’ or ‘amphora,’ which had contained some of the rich wine of the Ægean.

3. levi,] The cork of the ‘testa’ was covered with pitch or gypsum after the wine was put into it, and this Horace says he did with his own hand. He would at the same time seal it with his own seal, and attach to it a label with the date, and he could so vouch for its being the wine he speaks of. And when he says he did it with his own hand, he means also to show the pains he had taken to celebrate Mæcenas’s recovery. ‘Condere’ and ‘diffundere’ were the words used for putting the wine into the ‘amphora.’ (C. 9. 7, n.)

5. Care Maecenas eques,] Mæcenas was content with the equestrian rank, and would take no higher; hence the frequent repetition of the title ‘eques,’ by Horace and others. (See C. iii. 16. 20.) It appears that Mæcenas recovered from a bad attack of fever the same year that Horace was nearly killed by the falling of a tree, and the first time he went to the theatre after his recovery the people received him with applause. The circumstance is referred to again in C. ii. 17. 22, sqq.

7. Vaticani Montis imago.] The theatre must have been that of Pompeius, which was opposite to the Vatican hill, on the left bank of the river, the hill being on the right or Etruscan bank, which gives propriety to the words ‘paterni fluminis ripae.’ The second syllable of Vaticanus is long in Martial and Juvenal. On ‘imago’ see above, C. 12. 3, n.

10. Tu bibes] The future has here the same signification as above, C. 6. 1, 7. 1. ‘You may drink, if you please, the richer wines. I have none such.’ ‘Caecubum’ was the finest sort of wine in Horace’s time. It was grown in the ‘Caecubus ager,’ in Latium, at the head of the bay of Amyclæ. The Calenian was from Cales (now Calvi) in Campania. Close by Cales was the ‘Falernus ager,’ which produced several varieties of the best quality. The hills about Formiæ on the Appia Via (see S. i. 5. 37, n.) produced a good wine.

The year after Augustus returned to Rome from the taking of Alexandria, that is, B. C. 28, he dedicated a temple to Apollo on the Palatine hill (C. i. 31), and instituted quinquennial games in honor of Apollo and Diana, and called them the ‘Ludi Actiaci.’ This or some like festival seems to have suggested these verses, in which a chorus of boys and girls are called upon to sing the praises of Diana and Apollo, and Latona, their mother.

Argument.—Sing, ye damsels, of Diana, sing, ye youths, of Apollo, and Latona, dear to Jove; of Diana, who rejoices in the streams and woods of Algidus, or Erymanthus, or Cragus. Praise ye no less Tempe and Delos, Apollo’s birthplace, and the shoulder that is graced with the quiver and the lyre,—that in answer to your prayer he may turn the griefs of war, famine, and plague from Rome and her prince upon the heads of her enemies.

6. Algido] Algidus was the name of a mountain in Latium, sacred to Diana (C. S. 69), so called from its cold temperature. It is elsewhere called ‘nivalis’ (iii. 23. 9). Cragus in Lycia and Erymanthus in Arcadia were mountains on which the goddess was supposed to hunt.

9. Vos Tempe] Tempe is mentioned because there Apollo purified himself after slaying the serpent Pytho.

13. Hic bellum lacrimosum,] Apollo was especially ἀλεξίκακος, ‘the averter of evil,’ particularly in respect of Augustus, his reputed son. ‘Lacrimosum’ corresponds to the δακρυόεις πόλεμος of Homer, and ‘lacrimabile bellum’ of Virgil.

Aristius Fuscus was an intimate friend of Horace, and the wag whom he represents as playing him false on the Sacra Via (S. i. 9. 61). Horace and he were

“paene gemelli,
Fraternis animis; quicquid negat alter, et alter;
Adnuimus pariter; vetuli notique columbi” (Epp. i. 10).

We know nothing more of him except that he is said to have been a writer of plays and a grammarian.

Fuscus, as usual, has not much to do with the Ode, which relates how a wolf fled from the poet as he was walking in the woods on his own estate, making verses on Lalage; showing that an honest man is always safe.

Argument.—An honest man, Fuscus, may go unarmed along the burning shores of Africa, over the wild Caucasus, or to the fabulous East. As I wandered careless in the woods, singing of my Lalage, a wolf, such as Apulia and Africa rear not, met me and fled! Set me in the cold and stormy North, or in the burning and uninhabited tropic, still will I love my smiling, prattling Lalage.

1. Integer vitae scelerisque purus] These are Grecisms, but not peculiar to Horace. Virgil, for instance, has ‘animi maturus Aletes’ (Aen. ix. 246);[268] ‘integer aevi’ (Aen. ix. 255); ‘amens animi’ (Aen. iv. 203); ‘praestans animi juvenis’ (Aen. xii. 19). Compare Ἁγνὰς μέν, ὦ παῖ, χεῖρας αἵματος φέρεις (Eurip. Hipp. 316). The more usual prose form with the ablative occurs S. ii. 3. 213: “purum est vitio tibi quum tumidum est cor?”

5. per Syrtes iter aestuosas] That is, along the burning coast that borders on the Syrtes. ‘Aestuosus’ is used again in this sense in C. i. 31. 5.

6. inhospitalem] Caucasus has the same epithet applied to it again, Epod. i. 12, and Aesch. (P. V. 20) calls it ἁπάνθρωπον πάγον.

7. fabulosus] On the Hydaspes, one of the tributaries of the Indus, Alexander the Great gained his victory over Porus. India was known to the Greeks and Romans chiefly through the Greek historians of Alexander’s campaigns, and the stories of merchants, which were often marvellous and false. The Hydaspes is now the Vitasta, in the Punjab.

11. curis — expeditis,] Like ‘solvo,’ ‘expedio’ admits of two constructions. See Catull. 31. 7, “O quid solutis est beatius curis?” But there is also “solvite corde metum, Teucri,” Aen. i. 562. Horace says (C. iii. 24. 8): “non animum metu Non mortis laqueis expedies caput.” It is common in this measure for the middle and last syllables to have the same sound. Besides this verse there will be found six instances in this one Ode, vv. 3, 9, 14, 17, 18, 22.

14. Daunias] This is properly an adjective, but here a substantive ἡ Δαυνιάς. Daunia is the ancient name of Apulia, or more properly the northern part of that which the Romans called Apulia. It was said to have been derived from Daunus, a native king, the father-in-law of Diomed (C. ii. 1. 34; iii. 30. 11; iv. 14. 26). In C. iv. 6. 27, Daunia is put for the whole of Italy. ‘Militaris’ means ‘famous for soldiers.’ We do not hear that the Apulians were particularly warlike. They were Horace’s own countrymen.

aesculetis,] This word is not found elsewhere. The slopes of the Apennines which run down into the plain of Apulia were thickly wooded.

15. Jubae tellus] Juba, the son of Hiempsal, was king of Numidia. His son, by favor of Augustus, was restored to that kingdom, but afterwards received in exchange for it Mauritania and parts of Gætulia. It is uncertain which of the two kings Horace had in mind, or whether he means generally the northern parts of Africa, which were famous for lions. See next Ode, v. 10.

17. pigris] ‘dull,’ that is, unfruitful. ‘Piger’ is here equivalent to the Greek ἀργός.

This appears to be imitated from a poem of Anacreon, of which a fragment has been preserved in Athenæus (ix. p. 396):—

ἀγανωστὶ
ἅτε νεβρὸν νεοθηλέα γαλαθηνὸν ὅστ᾽ ἐν ὕλῃς
κεροέσσης ἀπολειφθεὶς ὑπὸ μητρὸς ἐπτοήθη.

Argument.—Thou fliest from me, Chloe, as a fawn that has lost its dam, and trembles at every breeze. I follow not as a wild beast, to tear thee. O cease from following thy mother, for ’t is time to follow after man.

4. Aurarum et silüae metu.] Virg. (Aen. ii. 728): “Nunc omnes terrent aurae, sonus excitat omnis Suspensum.” ‘Silüae’ = ‘silvae.’

12. Tempestiva — viro.] Aen. vii. 53: “Jam matura viro, jam plenis nubilis annis.” ‘Tempestiva’ means ‘of a suitable age,’ old enough.

Quinctilius Varus was born at Cremona, and was a neighbor and friend of Virgil, through whom it is probable Horace made his acquaintance. He is referred to in the Epistle to the Pisones, v. 438, sqq., as a discerning critic. He died young, B. C. 24, and this Ode is intended to console Virgil for the loss of his friend.

Argument.—What bounds shall be set to our grief for one so dear? Teach us a mournful strain, Melpomene. Can it be that Quinctilius, whose like Modesty, Justice, Fidelity, and Truth shall not behold again, is gone to his everlasting rest? Many good men mourn for him, but none more truly than thou, Virgil. ’T was not for this thou didst commit him to the care of Heaven. But in vain thou dost ask him back. The lyre of Orpheus could not bring him to life again. ’T is hard to bear, but patience makes that lighter which no power can change.

2. capitis?] The Greek and Latin poets use the head for the whole person, especially when affection is meant to be expressed.

6. Pudor et Justitiae soror — Fides] These personages are associated again C. S. 57. Cicero (De Off. i. 7) says: “Fundamentum autem justitiae est fides, id est dictorum conventorumque constantia et veritas.”

8. inveniet.] It is Horace’s usual but not invariable practice to have the verb in the singular number after several substantives, as here.

11. Tu frustra pius heu non ita creditum] ‘It is vain, alas! that with pious prayers thou dost ask the gods to restore Quinctilius, whom thou didst intrust to their keeping, but not on these terms’ (i.e. that they should take him away).

13. Quodsi] Horace never uses ‘sin,’ which Virgil uses as often and in the same way as Horace uses ‘quodsi,’ ‘but if.’

15. imagini,] ‘Imago’ (‘spectre,’ ‘shade’) was that unsubstantial body in which the soul was supposed to dwell after death, called by the Greeks εἴδωλον. Such were the forms which Æneas saw:—

“Et ni docta comes tenues sine corpore vitas
Admoneat volitare cava sub imagine formae,
Irruat, et frustra ferro diverberet umbras.”
—Aen. vi. 292, sqq.

17. Non lenis precibus fata recludere] This Greek construction has been noticed before (1. 18). The expression ‘fata recludere’ seems to mean ‘to open the door of hell when Fate has closed it.’

18. Nigro compulerit — gregi.] ‘Has gathered to the dark crowd.’ The dative is only admissible in poetry. It is like S. ii. 5. 49: “Si quis casus pueram egerit Orco,” for ‘ad Orcum.’ As to ‘virga,’ and ‘Mercurius’ as conductor of the dead, see C. 10. 17, n.

19. Durum: sed levius] Donatus says that Virgil was much in the habit[270] of commending this virtue of patience, saying that the hardest fortunes might be overcome by a wise endurance of them. Therefore, says, Fabricius, Horace consoles Virgil with his own philosophy.

This Ode is addressed to a woman whose beauty has faded, and who, the poet says, must pay the penalty of her former pride, by seeing herself neglected in her old age.

Argument.—Thy windows are no longer assailed and thy slumbers broken by saucy youths; thy door turns no more on its hinges; the serenade is silent. Now ’t is thy turn, in some lone alley, on a dark night, with the winter wind blowing, and thy heart on fire with lust, to cry for lovers, and complain that young blood goes after the tender plant, and bids the old leaves go float upon the Hebrus.

3. amat] ‘it cleaves to,’ as ‘littus ama’ (Aen. v. 163). ‘Multum’ in this sense is rather a favorite expression with Horace, as ‘multum demissus homo,’ S. i. 3. 57; ‘multum celer,’ S. ii. 3. 147.

7. Me tuo] ‘While I, thy lover, am pining through the tedious nights.’ The possessive pronoun is used thus abruptly once before (i. 15. 32), “non hoc pollicitus tuae”, and Ov. Remed. Am. 492: “Frigidior glacie fac videare tuae.” The words are supposed to be those of a serenade, or lover’s song, sung under her windows. Such a serenade is C. iii. 10.

10. angiportu,] An alley, or narrow passage. It is compounded of a root ‘ang-’, which appears in ‘angustus,’ and ‘portus,’ which word was not, according to Festus, confined to a harbor for ships, but also meant a house.

11. Thracio bacchante] While the north-wind blows more bitterly than ever, in the intervals of the moon, that is, in dark nights when the moon does not shine.

18. pulla] This word, which means ‘dark,’ belongs to ‘myrto.’ Young beauties are compared to the fresh ivy and dark myrtle, while the faded old woman is likened to withered leaves which are tossed to the winds, to carry if they please to the cold and distant waters of the Hebrus, in Thrace. This expression is like that at the beginning of the next Ode.

This Ode is an invocation of the Muse, praying her to do honor to Lamia, respecting whom see C. iii. 17. It would appear that, at the time it was written, the affairs of the Parthians were occupying a good deal of attention at Rome, since Horace speaks of himself as the only one who gave no heed to them. The circumstances that may be supposed to be referred to are to be gathered from the following account. In the year B. C. 30, Phraates (Arsaces XV.) being on the Parthian throne, and having by his cruelties made himself obnoxious to his subjects, Tiridates, likewise one of the family of Arsacidæ, was set up as a rival to Phraates, but was defeated in his attempt to dethrone him, and fled for protection that same year to Augustus, who[271] was then in Syria after the death of M. Antonius. Shortly afterwards, however, the Parthians succeeded in getting rid of their king, and Tiridates was called to the throne. In B. C. 25, Phraates, having obtained assistance from the Scythians, returned and recovered his kingdom, and Tiridates fled to Augustus once more for protection. He was then in Spain. The assembling of the Scythian force, and the alarm of Tiridates, are evidently referred to here, and the two seem to be associated. It is natural to infer, therefore, that it was just before Tiridates fled from his kingdom, in B. C. 25, that the Ode was composed.

Argument.—As the friend of the Muses should, I toss care to the winds, and mind not, as every one else does, the alarms of Tiridates. Sweet Muse, weave a garland for my Lamia. All my honors, without thee, are naught; him shouldst thou with thy sisters consecrate with the lyre.

3. quis] This is the dative case, and refers to the terror implied in Tiridates and his party by the approach of the Scythians. See Introduction.

9. Pimplea] ‘Muse’; derived from Pimplea, a mountain of Thrace, in which was a fountain called by the same name, and sacred to the Muses.

10. fidibus novis,] ‘Lyric strains new’ to the Romans,—unknown, till introduced by Horace.

This is a convivial Ode, in which the poet supposes himself at table with a noisy drinking party. He bids them put away brawls, and when they call upon him to join them, he makes it a condition that a young man of the party, whose looks betray that he is in love, shall tell him the name of his mistress. The youth whispers it in his ear, and the poet breaks out into compassion for his hopeless situation. The Ode is said to be imitated from Anacreon.

Argument.—Let barbarous Thracians fight over their wine. Stop your unhallowed noises, my friends, and let each lie quietly on his couch. What, am I to join you? Then let that boy tell me who has got his heart. Will he not? Then I drink not. Whoever it is, thou hast no cause to be ashamed. Here, whisper it in my ear.—Ah! poor boy, into what a Charybdis hast thou been drawn! What witch, what god, shall deliver thee! Pegasus himself could not do it.

3. verecundum] In Epod. xi. 13 he is called ‘inverecundum,’ but the cases are different.

4. prohibete] ‘Prohibere’ and ‘arcere’ are used with the accusative of the person and the ablative of the thing or vice versa. The latter is the more usual construction. (See Epp. i. 1. 31; 8. 10. A. P. 64.)

5. Vino et lucernis] In prose these datives would be expressed by the ablative with ‘a.’ The same construction is found in ‘dissidens plebi,’ C. ii. 2. 18; “medio ne discrepet imum,” A. P. 152.

acinaces] This word, which signifies the Persian scymitar, or short sword, appears to have been introduced into Greece after the Persian wars. It is[272] commonly used by Herodotus. Horace seems to have been the first Latin writer who employed it.—Horace says quarrelling is vastly unsuited to those jovial meetings which are kept up to a late hour,—‘vino et lucernis.’ The Romans sat down to table seldom later than three or four o’clock, and commonly continued there till past midnight.

6. Immane quantum] This form is imitated from the Greek: οὐράνιον ὅσον, θαυμαστὸν ὅσον, ἀμύθητον ὅσον, θαυμαστὰ ἡλίκα, ἀμήχανον ὅσον,—phrases commonly met with in the Greek writers. The same expression occurs in Tacitus and Sallust, and ‘mirum quantum,’ ‘nimium quantum,’ are used by Cicero, and Livy (ii. 1, fin.). The indicative mood is right, ‘immane quantum’ being merely an expletive.

10. Opuntiae] The birthplace of Megilla (the Locrian Opus) is added, as Buttmann remarks, only “to give the poem a fresher look of individuality.” The same remark will apply in other instances, as, “Xanthia Phoceu,” C. ii. 4. 2.

13. Cessat voluntas?] ‘Are you reluctant’ to confess? The young man is shy, and will not tell at first; when he does, Horace is supposed to break out with ‘Ah miser,’ etc.

19. laborabas] Orelli may be right in saying the imperfect refers to the time when the question was put. But I am not sure that some finer sense of the imperfect tense is not to be traced in this word, as in “Tempus erat dapibus, sodales” (C. i. 37. 4, where see note).

Charybdi,] This whirlpool, which still exists near Messina, was the terror of ancient navigators. It is taken here to represent the dangerous position of the youth, through his love for some famous beauty and coquette.

24. Pegasus expediet Chimaera.] Bellerophon, being ordered by the king of Lycia to destroy the monster Chimæra, is said to have done so with the help of the winged horse Pegasus. This part of the story is later than Homer (see Il. vi. 179, sqq.). Chimæra was a mountain in Lycia, from which flames were always issuing. The spot has been identified, and this phenomenon is still visible. The ancients described it, from some fanciful conception, as a female monster, with the head of a lion, the waist of a goat, and the tail of a serpent. (See Aen. vi. 288.)

Septimius, one of Horace’s most intimate friends, had a villa at Tarentum (C. ii. 6), where it is likely Horace on some occasion, if not often, paid him a visit. He may have seen a body cast on shore at that place, where the scene of this Ode appears to be laid. The spirit of a shipwrecked man is introduced, moralizing upon death and asking for burial. His reflections take the form, in the first instance, of an address to Archytas, the philosopher, whose name was associated with the place; and he joins with him other worthies, whose wisdom and greatness had not saved them from the common lot of all. Then, seeing a seafaring man passing by, he calls upon him to cast dust upon his unburied body, in order that he may have rest.

Argument.—Even thee, thou measurer of earth and sea, thou counter of the sands, Archytas, how small a portion of earth contains thee now! It profits thee not to have searched the air and traversed the heavens, since thou wert to die. So Tantalus, Tithonus, and Minos have died, and Pythagoras[273] too, with all his learning, hath gone down once more to the grave. But so it is: all must die alike; some to make sport for Mars, some swallowed up in the deep: old and young go crowding to the grave: none escape: I, too, have perished in the waters. But grudge me not, thou mariner, a handful of earth: so may the storm spend itself on the woods, while thou art safe, and thy merchandise increases. Is it a small matter with thee to bring ruin on thy children? Yea, perhaps retribution awaits thyself: my curses will be heard, and then no atonement shall deliver thee. ’T is but the work of a moment,—thrice cast earth upon me, and hasten on.

1. Te maris et terrae] ‘Te’ is emphatic, ‘even thee,’ as the abruptness of the opening requires. ἄμμον μετρεῖν, κύματα μετρεῖν were proverbial expressions for lost labor. See Georg. ii. 104, sqq.:—

“Neque enim numero comprendere refert;
Quem qui scire velit, Libyci velit aequoris idem
Dicere quam multae Zephyro turbentur arenae.”

Archimedes wrote a work, ὁ ψαμμίτης, in which he computed the grains of sand on the shores of Sicily, and it may be alluded to here. There is no reason to suppose that Archytas ever attempted to solve any such problem.

2. Archyta,] Archytas was a native of Tarentum, born towards the end of the fifth century B. C. He was for a long time the leading man in that city, the power and consequence of which he was the means of extending. He was a celebrated philosopher and mathematician. It would seem, from this passage, that there was a legend to the effect that Archytas was buried on the shore under the promontory of Matinum, running out from the range called Mons Garganus, in Apulia. Possibly, a tomb was shown there as his. That Archytas was shipwrecked on a voyage down the Adriatic, (which is the general opinion,) cannot be proved from this Ode.

3. parva — Munera,] ‘a small portion.’ ‘Munus’ seems to contain the same element as μοῖρα. It is not properly equivalent to ‘donum.’

8. Tithonus] He was the husband of Aurora, carried by her into heaven, on her golden chariot (Eur. Tro. 852).

9. Minos] Called by Hom. (Odyss. xix. 149) Διὸς μεγάλου ὀαριστής, the grandson of him who became judge in Hades.

10. Panthoiden] The story alluded to is that of Pythagoras, who, to prove his doctrine of metempsychosis, declared that he had been Euphorbus, the son of Panthous, who fell in the Trojan war. In support of which he claimed as his own a shield hung up in the temple of Juno at Argos, which, when taken down, proved to have the name of Euphorbus engraved on it.

11. quamvis] “Tacitus and the later writers use ‘quamvis’ with an indicative, and, vice versa, ‘quanquam’ with a subjunctive.” (Key’s Gram. 1227, b. note.) The prose-writers of Horace’s time would not use ‘quamvis’ with an indicative; and he uses the subjunctive where the case is strictly hypothetical, as C. iv. 2. 39, or where it suits the metre, as C. iv. 6. 7.

quamvis clipeo] ‘although, by taking down the shield, and testifying to the season of the Trojan war, he proved that he had surrendered nothing but his sinews and his skin to death.’

non sordidus auctor Naturae verique.] i.e. ‘no mean teacher of truth, physical and moral,’ or, as we should say, ‘no mean authority’ on such subjects. ‘Auctor’ is one whose evidence may be relied upon.

17. Furiae] This name represents the Greek notion of the Erinnyes, as Ποῖναι, or Ἀραί, the divinities which executed vengeance on the guilty, and in that character stirred up strife, as here represented. So Virgil (Aen. iv.[274] 610) calls them ‘Dirae ultrices.’ See also Aen. vii. 324, and xii. 845-852. ‘Spectacula’ corresponds to ‘ludo’ in C. i. 2. 37. ‘Avarum’ is repeated C. iii. 29. 61.

19. densentur] ‘Densere’ occurs in Lucretius, Virgil, and Tacitus. Livy has only ‘densare.’

20. Proserpina fugit.] The perfect has the aoristic sense here. The allusion is explained by Virg. Aen. iv. 698:—

“Nondum illi (Didoni) flavum Proserpina vertice crinem
Abstulerat Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco.”

στείχω δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ὡς κατάρξωμαι ξίφει
ἱερὸς γὰρ οὗτος τῶν κατὰ χθονὸς θεῶν
ὅτου τόδ᾽ ἔγχος κρατὸς ἁγνίσῃ τρίχα.

The general practice in commencing a sacrifice (κατάρχεσθαι τῶν ἱερῶν) was to cut off the forelock of the victim.

21. devexi — Orionis] Orion sets about the beginning of November, a bad time for sailors. C. iii. 27. 18. Epod. xv. 7. Virg. Aen. vii. 712.

22. Illyricis — undis.] The waters of the Hadriatic, which wash the coast of Illyricum.

23. At tu, nauta,] ‘Nauta’ is not properly a common sailor, but ‘navicularius,’ a shipmaster. Such a person may be supposed to be passing, and the shade to appeal to him.

24. capiti inhumato] Other hiatuses occur, C. ii. 20. 13; iii. 14. 11. Epod. v. 100; xiii. 3.

26. Venusinae] See C. iii. 4. 9, n.; iv. 9. 2, n. The ghost prays that the east wind may spend its force on the forests of the Apennines, before it reaches the Etruscan Sea, where the sailor may be supposed to be voyaging.

29. custode Tarenti.] Taras, the founder of Tarentum, was a son of Neptune, who is represented on Tarentine coins as the tutelary deity of the place.

30. Negligis — fraudem committere?] ‘Art thou careless of doing a wrong which shall presently fall upon thine innocent sons?’ ‘Postmodo’ belongs to ‘nocituram,’ and ‘te’ is dependent on ‘natis.’ ‘Modo’ limits ‘post’ to a short time.

36. Injecto ter pulvere] The number three is so familiar in all ceremonies of a religious nature, that we need not be surprised to find it here. The watchman, speaking of the corpse of Polyneices, says, λεπτὴ δ᾽ ἄγος φεύγοντος ὣς ἐπὴν κόνις (Sop. Ant. 256). The chief object in respect to the burial of the dead was that the face should be covered (Cic. de Legg. ii. 22). The expiation required by the Roman law for neglect of this duty to the dead, was a sow, and the person neglecting it was said ‘porcam contrahere.’

In the year B. C. 24 an army was sent into Arabia Felix by Augustus, under Ælius Gallus, who was governor of Egypt. The force chiefly consisted of troops stationed in that province, but the prospect of wealth which the expedition held out, from the indefinite knowledge then possessed of the country, attracted young men at Rome, and induced, it would seem, Iccius,[275] a man of studious habits, to join it. The expedition was attended with nothing but disaster, and the greater part of the force perished. But Iccius survived, and we find Horace writing to him a few years later as Agrippa’s steward in Sicily (Epp. i. 12). Beyond this, nothing is known of Iccius. The Ode is a piece of good-tempered, jocular irony, of which the point lies in the man of books going forth as a conqueror to subdue fierce nations, untamed before, and to return laden with the spoils of the East. Later times have seen young and chivalrous men hastening to an El Dorado in expectation of wealth and distinction, and finding nothing but disappointment, and such appears to have been the case on the occasion of this expedition into Arabia.

Argument.—What, Iccius, after all, dost thou grudge the Arabs their wealth, and prepare chains for the princes of Sabæa and the fierce Mede? Which of the fair barbarians dost thou mean to bring home for thy bed, or what royal page for thy table? Sure, rivers shall flow back to their mountains, and the Tiber turn again, if Iccius can desert his books to put on the breastplate.

1. nunc] This word expresses surprise: ‘what now, to belie all expectations, and abandon all your pursuits!’

3. Sabaeae] The Romans had possession of parts of Arabia Petræa, but not of Arabia Felix. Hence Horace says, “Intactis opulentior Thesauris Arabum” (C. iii. 24. 1). It may have been reported that the army would proceed against the Parthians, after the Arabs were conquered, or, as is more probable, the ‘horrible Mede’ is only introduced to heighten the coloring of the picture in a jocular way.

5. Quae — virginum — barbara] A very uncommon construction for ‘quae virgo barbara’ or ‘quae virginum barbararum.’ There is humor in the question, as if Iccius had only to choose for himself some royal damsel, whose betrothed he was to slay with his own hand, and an Eastern page of great beauty, brought from his native wilds to wait upon one of the princes of this happy land. If Horace mixes up Tartars (Sericas) and Parthians, it only makes the picture more absurd.

Puer — ex aula] ‘A royal page.’ Boys whose office it was to pour out the wine, are called in inscriptions ‘pueri a cyatho’ or ‘ad cyathum,’ or ‘ab argento potorio,’ ‘ad argentum potorium,’ ‘a potione,’ and so forth.

9. sagittas tendere] For ‘arcum tendere.’ Virgil also says (Aen. ix. 606), “spicula tendere cornu,” and (Aen. v. 508) “pariterque oculos telumque tetendit.”

11. Pronos relabi posse rivos] The phrase ἄνω ποταμῶν became a proverb from Euripides (Med. 410): ἄνω ποταμῶν ἱερῶν χωροῦσι παγαί.

14. Socraticam et domum] Socrates’s school, as Plato, Xenophon, &c. Cicero speaks of the “familia Peripateticorum” (Div. ii. 1); and Horace supposes himself to be asked “quo me duce, quo Lare tuter” (Epp. i. 1. 13). Panætius was a philosopher of Rhodes, from whom Cicero appears to have gathered the substance of his work De Officiis. He professed the doctrines of the Stoics, but seems to have qualified them with opinions derived from the writings of Plato, and others of the Socratic school, which accounts for their being mentioned in connection with his name. He flourished in the second century B. C., and was intimate with the younger Scipio.

15. loricis Hiberis] ‘Spanish mail.’ The steel of Hiberia (Spain) was celebrated.

It is not improbable that the main incident of this Ode, that of a lady sacrificing or dedicating a little chapel to Venus, is taken from life; but there is a fragment of one of Alcman’s poems, running Κύπρον ἱμερτὰν λιποῖσα καὶ Πάφον περίῤῥυτον, which appears to have been imitated in the first two verses.

Argument.—Royal Venus, leave thy beloved Cyprus, and come, dwell in Glycera’s temple. Let Love come with thee, and the Graces and Nymphs, and Youth, who is unlovely without thee, and Mercury too.

4. aedem.] The humblest houses had their little chapel, set apart for an image.

5. solutis Gratiae zonis] The oldest painters and sculptors represented the Graces clothed; afterwards it became the fashion to represent them naked; but the latest practice lay between the two, and they were painted and sculptured with loose, transparent drapery. Horace varies in his descriptions. See C. i. 4. 6; iii. 19. 16; iv. 7. 6.

7. Et parum comis sine te Juventas] Cupid (‘fervidus puer’) or several Cupids (C. 19. 1), Youth (Ἥβη), Hermes, the god of eloquence, Persuasion (Πειθώ), and the Graces, were the principal companions of Venus, according to the notions of the Greeks. The nymphs of the woods, or of the hills, were likewise usually represented as her companions. (See C. iv. 6.)

In B. C. 28 (25th October), Augustus dedicated a temple, with a library attached, which he had built in honor of Apollo, on the Palatine Hill, to commemorate his victory at Actium. After the ceremonies of the day of dedication were over, we may suppose Horace putting in his own claim to the god’s favor in this Ode, in which he represents himself as offering a libation (whether in private or at the temple is uncertain) and asking for that which, according to Juvenal (x. 356), should be the end of all prayer, ‘mens sana in corpore sano!’

Argument.—What asks the poet of Apollo? Not cups, or herbs, or gold and ivory, or rich fields. Let those who may prune Calenian vines, and rich merchants drink rich wine out of cups of gold, favorites of heaven, who traverse the deep in safety. My food is the olive, the chicory, and the mallow. Let me enjoy what I have, thou son of Lato, sound in body and mind, and let my age pass with honor and the lyre.

1. dedicatum] This word is applied to the god as well as his temple. So Cic. de N. D. ii. 33, says, “ut Fides ut Mens quas in Capitolio dedicatas vidimus proxime a M. Aemilio Scauro.”

4. Sardiniae] This island supplied much of the corn consumed at Rome. ‘Ferax’ is properly applied to the soil which produces; here it is said of the produce itself, and means ‘abundant.’

5. Calabriae] Where flocks were pastured in the winter season. C. ii. 6. 10. Epod. i. 27, n.

7. Liris] This river, now called Garigliano, took its rise near the Lacus Fucinus, in the country of the Æqui, and, passing through the richest part of Latium, emptied itself below Minturnæ into the sea (S. i. 5. 40, n.). The upper part of the stream is much broken by waterfalls. Horace’s description applies only to the lower part, where, having left the Apennines and joined the Trerus (Sacco), it flows quietly through the cultivated lands of Latium.

9. Premant] Virgil uses this word in the same sense (Georg. i. 157): “et ruris opaci Falce premes umbras”; and Ovid (Met. xiv. 629). ‘Calena’ is transferred from the vine to the knife, as in ‘Sabina diota’ (9. 7), ‘Laestrygonia amphora’ (iii. 16. 34), ‘Graeca testa’ (i. 20. 2), where to the press that makes or the vessel which contains the wine is applied the name of the wine itself. As to Calenian wine, see C. 20. 10, n.

12. Vina Syra reparata merce,] Wine taken in exchange for Syrian goods, which includes all the costly merchandise of the East; elsewhere called ‘Tyriae merces.’ The seaports of Syria were entrepôts for goods from and for the East, and were frequented by a vast number of ships from all parts.—Horace uses many words compounded with ‘re’ without any perceptible difference of meaning from the simple words, as ‘retractare,’ ‘resecare,’ ‘resolvere,’ ‘revincere,’ ‘renare,’ ‘remittere.’ But there is the force of bartering in this word, as in ἀνταγοράζεσθαι. (See C. i. 37. 24, n.) ‘Mercator’ was a dealer in wares who generally sailed or travelled into foreign parts. The ‘mercatores’ were an enterprising class, and penetrated into barbarous and distant countries and dangerous seas. The mention of the Atlantic is a little out of place, immediately after ‘Syra merce’; but, as usual, Horace writes generally, and does not aim at strict accuracy. ‘Aequor Atlanticum’ suited his verse. The travelling merchants are often referred to by Horace. See C. i. 1. 15; iii. 24. 40; S. i. 1. 6, 4. 29. Epp. i. 1. 45, 16. 71, and elsewhere.

17. Frui paratis, etc.] The order is, ‘Precor (ut) dones mihi, et valido .... et integra Cum mente, frui paratis.’ ‘Latoë’ (Λατῷε); ‘O son of Lato,’ or Latona.

This is an address of the poet to his lyre, calling upon it to help him now and whenever he shall require its aid.

Argument.—I am asked to sing. If I have ever composed a song that shall not die, with thee, my lyre, come, help me to a Latin song,—thou whom Alcæus did first touch, who, in the field or on the deep, still sung of Liber, the Muses, Venus and her son and Lycus, with dark eyes and hair. Thou glory of Phœbus, welcome at the table of the gods, thou consoler of my toils, help me whenever I shall invoke thee.

1. Poscimur.] ‘Poscitur a nobis carmen.’ This may mean that the poetic afflatus is on him, and he feels called upon to sing.

2. Si quid vacui] ‘If ever, at my ease under the shade, with thee I have sung aught that shall live this year, yea more.’

4. Barbite,] Βάρβιτος is used as a feminine noun by the early Greek writers. The later make it masculine. Here it is masculine, and in C. 1. 34.

5. Lesbio — civi,] Alcæus of Mytilene (C. 1. 34, n.). He fought in the civil wars of his native country, and left his arms behind him on the field of[278] battle, in a war with the Athenians in Troas. He was exiled by Pittacus, tyrant of Mytilene, and travelled in different countries, particularly Egypt. Horace says, that in the midst of his battles and wanderings he still found time to sing of wine and love. But he also sang of dangers by sea and land (C. ii. 13. 27), and inspired his countrymen with martial odes (‘minaces Camenae,’ C. iv. 9. 7).

6. qui ferox bello, etc.] ‘Who, though a fierce warrior, would yet, if he were in the camp, or had moored his sea-tossed bark on the wet shore, sing of Bacchus and the Muses, and Venus and her ever-attendant son.’

10. haerentem] This verb ‘haerere’ is taken by Horace with a dative, as here and S. i. 10. 49; or with an ablative with ‘in,’ as S. i. 3. 32; or without ‘in,’ as C. i. 2. 9. S. ii. 3. 205.

11. Et Lycum] A young friend of Alcæus, whose name appears in a fragment still extant, οὐκ ἐγὼ Λύκον ἐν Μοΐσαις ἀλέγω.

15. cumque] As ‘quandoque’ is put for ‘quandocumque,’ ‘cumque’ is put for ‘cumcumque’ or ‘quumquumque,’ which occurs in Lucret. ii. 113. ‘Cumque’ belongs to ‘vocanti,’ ‘whenever I shall invoke thee,’ as if it were ‘quandocumque vocem.’

Albius Tibullus, the poet, was a favorite with his contemporaries. To him was addressed the fourth Epistle of the first book, as well as this Ode. He appears on some occasion to have been in bad spirits, and crossed in love, and Horace sent him this little poem, to amuse and cheer him.

Argument.—Come, Albius, do not be drawling pitiful poetry upon Glycera, because she prefers a younger man to you. Pretty Lycoris loves Cyrus, Cyrus inclines to Pholoë, who admires the vulgar sinner as the she-goat loves the wolf. Such are Love’s diversions, bringing opposites under the yoke together. So it happened to me,—a tender heart was attached to me, while I could not free myself from the fetters of Myrtale, more impetuous than the waves of the Adriatic.

2. neu miserabiles, etc.] ‘And do not (always) sing doleful strains, because,’ &c.

3. cur] ‘Cur’ or ‘quur’ is formed from ‘qui,’ and has the force of ‘quod’ here, as in Epp. i. 8. 10.

5. tenui fronte] A low forehead was considered a beauty, and the women braided their hair accordingly, as is seen in some statues. The same appears to have been considered an attraction in men. Epp. i. 7. 26: “reddes — nigros angusta fronte capillos.” Intellectual beauty, as we view it in men, is better described by Pliny, Epist. iii. 6. 2: “rari et cedentes capilli; lata frons.”

8. Jungentur capreae lupis] This is a common hyperbole. Epod. xvi. 30: “Novaque monstra junxerit libidine Mirus amor,” &c.

14. compede] This word is used twice again by Horace in the singular[279] number: “grata compede vinctum” (C. iv. 11. 24); “nivali compede vinctus” (Epp. i. 3. 3); and once by Tibullus: “Spes etiam valida solatur compede vinctum” (ii. 6. 25). These are the only instances till after the Augustan age. Myrtale was a common name among freedwomen.

16. Curvantis Calabros sinus.] ‘Breaking into bays the coast of Calabria’; that is, indenting the coast of Calabria, and so forming bays. By Calabria, the Romans understood the whole of the peninsula which was called by the Greeks Iapygia or Messapia, washed by the Hadriatic on one side, and the Gulf of Tarentum on the other.

If we are to take Horace at his word, he was one day startled by the phenomenon of a thunder-clap, or other noise, when the sky was clear; and he appears to have been frightened into considering the error of his ways, which led him to abandon the loose doctrines of Epicurus, by which he had been guided before.

Argument.—Careless of Heaven, I have been wandering in the darkness of an insane creed; I now retrace my steps, awakened by the sign of Jove’s chariot dashing through an unclouded sky,—that chariot with which he shakes the earth, the waters, and hell, and the ends of the world. God is strong to bring down the mighty and exalt the low, to take the crown from one and place it on the head of another.

2. Insanientis sapientiae] ‘A wild philosophy,’ the Greek σοφία ἄσοφος. The doctrines of Epicurus are here alluded to. This creed Horace professed, writing in his twenty-eighth year, to hold,

“Deos didici securum agere aevum
Nec si quid miri faciat natura, deos id
Tristes ex alto caeli demittere tecto.”

(Sat. i. 5. 101.) On ‘consultus,’ which is used like ‘jurisconsultus,’ see Forcelli.

5. relictos:] ‘Iterare cursus relictos’ signifies to return to the paths he had left; ‘iterare’ being equivalent to ‘repetere.’

Diespiter,] It is said that this name was given to Jove as ‘diei pater.’ ‘Dies’ is an old form of the genitive. But probably the first two syllables are only a different form of ‘Jup-’ in ‘Juppiter,’ and from the same root as Ζεύς.

7. per purum tonantes] The phenomenon of thunder heard in a clear sky is frequently alluded to by the ancients, and was held especially ominous. See Virg. Georg. i. 487. Aen. vii. 141, etc.

10. Taenari] Taenarum (Matapan) was the most southern promontory of the Peloponnesus, where was a cave, supposed to lead down to Hades.

11. Atlanteusque finis] Apparently imitated from Eurip. (Hipp. 3), τερμόνων τ᾽ Ἀτλαντικῶν. The African range Atlas was supposed to be the boundary of the world in that direction.

12. Valet ima summis] This language is like the opening of the next Ode. It may be compared with various familiar passages of the sacred Scriptures; as, “He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted them of low degree.” (Luke i. 52.) “Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” (Psalm lxxv. 6, 7.) The sentiment, however, is[280] common. Tacitus seems to have had Horace’s words in his mind, when he wrote of the public funeral given to Flavius Sabinus, and the overthrow of Vitellius, that they were “magna documenta instabilis fortunae summaque et ima miscentis” (Hist. iv. 47).

14. hinc apicem] ‘Apex’ signifies properly the tuft (composed of wool wrapped round a stick) or the top of the Flamen’s cap. It appears to stand for any covering of the head, and Horace applies it to the royal crown, here and in C. iii. 21. 20. ‘Valere’ with an infinitive is not used by prose-writers till after the Augustan age.

When Augustus was meditating an expedition against the Britons, and another for the East, Horace commended him to the care of Fortune the Preserver, to whom this Ode is addressed. The design of invading Britain was interrupted by an insurrection of the Salassians, an Alpine people. The goddess Fortuna, under different characters, had many temples at Rome; but her worship was most solemnly maintained, when Horace wrote, at Præneste and at Antium, where she had an oracle, and was worshipped under a double form, as ‘prospera’ and ‘adversa.’ Tacitus mentions a temple belonging to an Equestris Fortuna, in which the Equites set up a statue they had vowed for the recovery of Augusta (Ann. iii. 71). She was represented on Roman coins with a double ship’s rudder in one hand and a cornucopiæ in the other, which may furnish a clew to the allusions in the second stanza. There are passages which may have been drawn from paintings in the temple at Antium.

Argument.—Queen of Antium, all-powerful to exalt or to debase, the poor tenant cultivator worships thee, and the mariner on the deep. Thou art feared by the savage Dacian and nomad Scythian, by all cities and nations; yea, by proud Latium herself; by royal mothers trembling for their sons, and kings fearing for their crowns. Necessity, with her stern emblems, goes before thee. Hope and Fidelity go with thee, when thou leavest the house of prosperity, while false friends fall away. Preserve Cæsar as he goeth to conquer Britain; preserve the fresh levies destined for the East. It repenteth us of our civil strife and impious crimes. Let the sword be recast, and whetted for the Scythian and the Arab.

1. Antium,] A maritime town of Latium, now called Porto d’ Anzo. (See Introduction.)

2. Praesens] There is no other instance of ‘praesens’ with an infinitive. ‘Praesens’ is often used with the signification of ‘potens.’ In its application to the gods, it expresses their presence as shown by their power. “God is a very present help in trouble.” Ps. xlvi. 1. Cicero (Tusc. Disp. i. 12. 28) says of Hercules, “apud Graecos indeque prolapsus ad nos et usque ad Oceanum tantus et tam praesens habetur deus.”

9. profugi Scythae] This is to be explained by the wandering habits of the Scythians. It explains ‘campestres Scythae’ (C. iii. 24. 9), and corresponds to Σκύθας δ᾽ ἀφίξει νομάδας οἳ πλεκτὰς στέγας Πεδάρσιοι ναίους᾽ ἐπ᾽ εὐκύκλοις ὄχοις (Aesch. P. V. 709). ‘Profugus’ is repeated in C. iv. 14. 42.

11. Regumque matres barbarorum] Orelli quotes the description in the fifth[281] chapter of Judges, ver. 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 chariot?” There are four objects in respect of which Fortune is here said to be invoked,—the seasons, the winds, war, and faction. (See Introduction.) She is said to be an object of reverence to the distant and barbarous nations, as well as the cities and provinces of the Roman world, and Eastern mothers and tyrants fearing for their crowns.

14. Stantem columnam,] The figures of Peace, Security, Happiness, and others, are each represented on old monuments as resting on a column. What Horace means is, that tyrants are afraid lest Fortune should overthrow their power, represented figuratively by a standing column.

15. Ad arma — ad arma] The repetition of these words suggests the cry of the ‘thronging people’ (‘frequens populus’). ‘Cessantes’ means the peaceably disposed.

17. Te semper anteit saeva Necessitas] The several things that Necessity is here represented as holding, are emblems of tenacity and fixedness of purpose,—the nail, the clamp, and the molten lead: they have nothing to do with torture, as many have supposed. ‘Anteit’ is to be scanned as a dissyllable.

18. Clavos trabales] These were nails of the largest sort, for fastening beams in large houses. There is said to be one in the Museum of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, at Florence, weighing fifty pounds, made of bronze. ‘Clavi trabales’ had passed into a proverb with the Romans. Compare Cicero (in Verr. Act. ii. 5. 21) “ut hoc beneficium, quemadmodum dicitui, trabali clavo figeret.” ‘Cunei’ were also nails wedge-shaped. On the nails of Fate, see C. iii. 24. 7. The metaphor of molten lead, used for strengthening buildings, is used by Euripides (Androm. 267), καὶ γὰρ εἰ πέριξ σ᾽ ἔχει τηκτὸς μόλυβδος.

21. Te Spes et albo] The picture represented in this and the following stanzas, apart from the allegory, is that of a rich man in adversity, going forth from his home, with hope in his breast, and accompanied by a few faithful friends, but deserted by those who only cared for his wealth. In the person of Fortune, therefore, is represented the man who is suffering from her reverses; and in that of Fidelity, the small (‘rara’) company of his true friends. Fortune is represented in the garments of mourning (‘mutata veste’), and Fides in a white veil, emblematic of her purity. With such a veil on their heads, men offered sacrifice to her. She is called by Virgil (Aen. i. 292), ‘Cana Fides,’ but there it probably means ‘aged.’ According to Livy (i. 21), Numa established religious rites for Fides.

22. nec comitem abnegat,] ‘nor refuses herself for thy companion,’ as if ‘se’ were understood.

28. Ferre jugum pariter dolosi.] ‘Too faithless to bear the yoke together with him.’ This metaphor is taken from beasts unequally yoked.

ultimas Orbis Britannos] “Et penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos” (Virg. Ec. i. 67), “Extremique hominum Morini” (Aen. viii. 727), are like Horace’s phrase.

32. Oceanoque rubro.] The force that was to conquer Arabia (see C. i. 29) was probably at this time preparing.

39. diffingas retusum] ‘Diffingas’ is a word met with in no author but Horace, who uses it here and in C. iii. 29. 47: “neque Diffinget infectumque reddet.” It means here to break up or unmake, with the purpose of forging it again. ‘O I pray thee on new anvil recast the blunted sword for the Scythian and the Arab.’ It had been blunted in civil war, and was to be whetted again for the destruction of the barbarians.

40. Massagetas] These people are said by Herodotus (i. 204) to have inhabited[282] the great plain east of the Caspian; but the Romans had no distinct knowledge of them, and the name is used for the unknown regions of Northern Asia, like the name of the Scythians.

Who Numida was, we have no means of knowing. That he was an intimate friend of Horace’s appears from this Ode. He was also a great friend of Lamia’s (see C. 26 of this book). He appears to have lately returned from the army in Spain, and Horace writes this Ode for the occasion, calling upon Numida’s friends to celebrate his return with sacrifice, music, and wine.

Argument.—Let us sacrifice to the guardian gods of Numida, on his safe return from Spain; he is come to embrace his dear friends, but none more heartily than Lamia, in remembrance of their early days. Mark the fair day with a white mark; bring out the wine without stint; cease not the dance; let Bassus out-drink Damalis the drunken; bring the rose, the parsley, the lily, for our feast. Though all eyes shall languish for Damalis, she will cleave only to Numida.

4. Hesperia] In the year B. C. 26, Augustus went into Spain to put down an insurrection of the Cantabri. He returned to Rome two years afterwards, and Numida returned with him, or perhaps a little before, since Augustus was detained by sickness (C. iii. 14).

8. Actae non alio rege puertiae] ‘Rege’ may perhaps be put in a familiar way for their schoolmaster; if so, it was Orbilius Pupillus (Epp. ii. 1. 71). But the meaning is not quite certain.

puertiae] For ‘pueritiae.’ Other instances of syncope are ‘lamnae,’ ‘surpuerat,’ ‘surpite,’ ‘soldo,’ ‘caldior,’ etc.

9. Mutataeque simul togae.] They were of the same age, and therefore had taken the ‘toga virilis’ together. See Epod. v. 7, n.

10. Cressa ne careat pulchra dies nota,] The custom of marking fair days with a white stone or mark, and unlucky ones with a black, had passed, if not into practice, into a proverb with the Romans. Hence Persius (ii. 1, sqq.), writing to his friend on his birthday, says:

“Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo,
Qui tibi labentes apponit candidus annos.”

‘Cressa’ is the adjective formed from ‘creta,’ chalk, so called as coming from Cimolus, a small island near Crete.

11. Neu — amphorae] ‘And let there be no measured use of the wine-jar brought out.’

12. Neu morem in Salium] ‘Salium’ is an adjective like ‘Saliaris’ in the next Ode. It occurs again in C. iv. 1. 28, where see note.

13. multi Damalis meri] ‘Damalis, great drinker (as she is).’ Such is the expression ‘Multi Lydia nominis’ (C. iii. 9. 7). Ovid (Met. xiv. 252) has nearly the same words: “Eurylocumque simul, multique Elpenora vini.” Who Bassus was, we cannot tell, without knowing more of his friend Numida. Damalis may be anybody,—a woman like Lyde (C. ii. 11. 22), brought into the Ode to make up a scene. The name was common among freedwomen.

14. Threïcia vincat amystide,] ‘Amystis’ was a deep draught, taken without drawing breath or closing the lips (ἀ, μύειν). For Threïcia see i. 27. 2.

17. putres Deponent oculos,] ‘will fix their languishing eyes.’ The Greeks expressed ‘putres’ by τηκόμενοι.

20. ambitiosior.] This is the only passage in which the word occurs in this sense of ‘clinging,’ the nearest to ‘ambire’ in its primitive meaning.

The occasion that gave rise to this Ode, and the time therefore of its composition, are sufficiently clear. Intelligence of the deaths of M. Antonius and Cleopatra was brought to Rome in the autumn of B. C. 30, and on this occasion Horace wrote the following Ode, which is directed chiefly against Cleopatra. Horace appears to have started with an ode of Alcæus on the death of Myrsilus in his head. It began,

νῦν χρὴ μεθύσθην καί τινα πρὸς βίαν
πίνην ἐπειδὴ κάτθανε Μύρσιλος.

The historical facts referred to may be gathered from Plutarch’s Life of M. Antonius.

Argument.—’T is time to drink, to smite the earth, and set out a feast for the gods, my friends. We might not bring down the Cæcuban, while that mad queen with her foul herd was threatening Rome with destruction. But her fury is humbled, her fleet in flames, her drunken heart shook with fear when Cæsar hunted her from Italy, as the hawk pursues the dove or the hunter the hare, to chain the accursed monster; who feared not the sword nor fled to secret hiding-places, but chose to die, rather than submit to be led in triumph by the conqueror.

2. nunc Saliaribus] A Saliaric banquet is a rich banquet, fit for the Salii, the priests of Mars. The feasts of the Pontifices were proverbial for profusion. On great occasions, a banquet was set out, in place of a sacrifice, and images of the gods were placed upon couches, as for the purpose of eating. This sort of banquet was called a ‘lectisternium.’

3. pulvinar] Properly, the cushion of the couch, and so put here for the couch itself.

4. Tempus erat] This imperfect tense seems to mean that this was the time that the Fates had intended for such festivities. Ovid (Tr. iv. 8. 24, sq.) has it twice over in this unusual way:—

“Sic igitur tarda vires minuente senecta
Me quoque donari jam rude tempus erat;
Tempus erat nec me peregrinum ducere caelum
Nec siccam Getico fonte levare sitim.”

The Greeks used the imperfect ἐχρῆν in the same undefined way. See note on i. 27. 19.

6. Cellis] The ‘cella’ was, properly speaking, a chamber, partly above and partly under ground, in which the ‘dolia’ were kept. That in which the ‘amphorae’ were stored was called ‘apotheca,’ and was in the upper part of the house: hence the terms, ‘depromere,’ ‘deripere,’ ‘descendere.’ ‘Capitolio’ is equivalent to ‘urbi.’ See C. iii. 3. 42; iii. 30. 8. ‘Imperio’ is used for the sovereign power of Rome, as in C. iii. 5. 4.

7. Regina dementes ruinas] ‘Dementes’ is transferred from ‘regina’ to ‘ruinas’ as in Virg. (Aen. ii. 576): “Uleisci patriam et sceleratas sumere poenas,” where ‘sceleratas’ expresses the guilt of Helen.

9. Contaminato cum grege turpium Morbo virorum,] ‘with her filthy herd of men (forsooth) foul with disease.’ The corrupt lusts of that class of persons who were most about an Eastern queen, are properly called a disease. ‘Virorum’ is used ironically. In Epod. ix. 11, Horace complains:—

“Romanus eheu! posteri negabitis
Emancipatus foeminae
Fert vallum et arma miles, et spadonibus
Servire rugosis potest.”

10. impotens Sperare] ‘wild enough to expect anything.’ This is a common construction, noticed at C. i. 1. 18. ‘Impotens’ corresponds to ἀκρατής, and signifies violence, want of self-control. See Epod. xvi. 62.

13. Vix una sospes navis] Cleopatra’s fleet escaped from the battle of Actium, but M. Antonius saved no more than his own ship, in which he fled to Egypt. From motives of delicacy no allusion is made to M. Antonius throughout the Ode.

14. Mentemque lymphatam Mareotico] ‘Lymphatus’ is equivalent to νυμφόληπτος, ‘lympha’ and ‘nympha’ being the same word. Mareotic wine was from the shores of the Lake Mareotis in the neighborhood of Alexandria. ‘In veros timores’ is opposed to what the Greeks called τὰ κενὰ τοῦ πολέμου. Cleopatra’s fleet fled from Actium, before a blow was struck, under the influence of a panic; but Horace chooses to say it was a ‘verus timor.’ The historical facts are not accurately represented in this Ode. Though it is said that Cleopatra meditated a descent upon Italy, in the event of M. Antonius and herself proving successful at Actium, she fled from that place to Egypt, and never went near Italy, whither Augustus returned after the battle; and it was not till the next year, A. U. C. 724, that he went to Alexandria, and the deaths of M. Antonius and Cleopatra occurred.

24. reparavit] Literally, ‘took in exchange for her own kingdom shores out of the sight of men.’ It is said that Cleopatra contemplated quitting Egypt, to escape from Augustus, and that she transported vessels across the desert to the Red Sea; but they were destroyed by the Arabs, and she abandoned her design. Plut. Ant. c. 69. On the word ‘reparavit,’ see C. i. 31. 12, n.

26, 27. asperas — serpentes] ‘venomous asps.’ ‘Atrum’ is ‘deadly.’

29. Deliberata morte ferocior] ‘Growing bolder, when she had resolved to die.’

This Ode was probably written as a song, and set to music. There is not much to remark upon it. No great pains are usually bestowed on such matters. Some suppose it to be a translation, others an original composition. It is probably only a good imitation of Anacreon. The time is supposed to be Autumn (v. 4).

Argument.—I hate your Persian finery. Hunt not for the rose, boy; I care only for the myrtle, which equally becomes thee, the servant, and me, thy master.

2. philyra] The linden-tree was so called by the Greeks; and its thin inner bark was used for a lining, on which flowers were sewed to form the richer kind of chaplets, called ‘sutiles.’

5. allabores] This is a coined word, and signifies to labor for something[285] more. It corresponds to προσπονεῖν, and occurs again, Epp. viii. 20. The order is, ‘curo nihil sedulus allabores simplici myrto,’ ‘I wish you to take no trouble to add anything,’ &c.

This Ode is addressed to C. Asinius Pollio, the friend and companion in arms of Julius Cæsar. In B. C. 40 he was consul, and in the following year he was sent by M. Antonius against the Parthini, a tribe of Illyricum, and having defeated and subdued them he was allowed a triumph on his return to Rome. He then betook himself to literature, and practising as an orator in the courts of justice, and speaking in the senate. He patronized literary men, built a library, wrote poetry, particularly tragedies, and composed a history of the civil wars, in most of which he had taken an active part. The Ode was written after hearing Pollio recite part of this work, a practice which he is said to have been the first to introduce among literary men at Rome.

Argument.—The civil wars, their causes, their progress, and their fatal results,—a dangerous task is thine, and treacherous is the ground thou art treading.

Leave the tragic Muse for a little while, and thou shalt return to her when thou hast finished the historian’s task, O Pollio! advocate, senator, conqueror! Even now I seem to hear the trumpet and the clarion, the flashing of arms, and the voices of chiefs, and the whole world subdued but the stubborn heart of Cato. The gods of Africa have offered his victors’ grandsons on the tomb of Jugurtha. What land, what waters, are not stained with our blood? But stay, my Muse, approach not such high themes.

1. Motum ex Metello consule] The foundation of the civil wars is here laid in the formation of the (so-called) triumvirate by Cæsar, Pompeius, and Crassus, which took place in the consulship of Q. Caecilius Metellus Celer, and L. Afranius, A. U. C. 694, B. C. 60. But though this was the first great act of aggression on the liberties of Rome, the civil war did not break out till the year A. U. C. 704, B. C. 50, when Cæsar and Pompeius came to their final rupture. Pollio’s work was in seventeen books, and probably ended with the battle of Actium.

4. Principum amicitias] The alliance of Cæsar and Pompeius, and the subsequent coalition of M. Antonius and Augustus, more than once broken and renewed, and always maintained at the expense of the people’s liberties, and therefore called ‘graves,’ ‘oppressive,’ are here principally referred to. See Plutarch, Vit. Caes. c. 13. Pollio was himself the means of reconciling Antonius and Augustus, in the year of his consulship B. C. 40.

5. Nondum expiatis uncta cruoribus,] See C. i. 2, Introduction. The 29th verse of that Ode, “Cui dabit partes scelus expiandi,” compared with this, makes it probable the two were written about the same time. The plural[286] ‘cruoribus’ is unusual, and savors of the Greek. So Aesch. Supp. 265: παλαιῶν αἰμάτων μιάσμασιν.

6. Periculosae plenum opus aleae,] ‘A task full of hazard,’ literally, ‘full of perilous chance.’ Pollio had been faithful to Julius Cæsar, but after his death had sided rather with M. Antonius than Augustus; and therefore, when the latter had succeeded in putting an end to his rival, and had the entire power in his own hands, it was a bold and difficult task that Pollio had undertaken. It does not appear, however, that he involved himself in any difficulty with Augustus, for he lived quietly to a good old age, dying in his eightieth year at his villa at Tusculum, A. U. C. 758, A. D. 4. It is probable that his history was written with impartiality, and that Augustus was not jealous, and could afford to be otherwise. See Tac. Ann. iv. 34. ‘Aleae’ was the name for dice (see C. iii. 24. 58); here it means ‘hazard,’ ‘risk.’

7. Incedis per ignes] ‘Thou art treading on ashes that cover a smouldering fire,’ like the ashes at the mouth of a volcano, cool on the surface but burning below.

10. mox ubi publicas Res ordinaris] ‘When you shall have finished your history of public events.’ The Greeks used συντάσσειν for writing a book. Plutarch uses σύνταγμα for a book. Ἀνατάξασθαι occurs in the preface to St. Luke’s Gospel, and is thus rendered in the Vulgate translation, “Quoniam quidem multi conati sunt ordinare narrationem.” It seems that Pollio was writing tragedy at the same time with his history, and the style of the one may have affected the style of the other, so that Horace advises him to lay aside his tragedies, in order that he may do justice to his history. As the theme is delicate, and he is well able to adorn it, he should put aside the only obstacle to its proper accomplishment, viz. his tragedies. They were probably of no great merit. None have survived, and he has no credit for them, except with Horace and Virgil, who were under personal obligations to him. See S. i. 10. 42, and Virg. Ec. viii. 10.

11. grande munus] ‘Thou shalt put on the Attic cothurnus, and return to thy lofty task.’ The ‘cothurnus’ was a shoe worn by tragic actors, the use and name of which were borrowed by the Romans from the Athenians. It was usually ornamented with purple, and strapped up the leg nearly to the knee. When worn on the stage, it had a thick sole and a high heel, to add to the actor’s height. Men of rank wore the ‘cothurnus.’ Horace speaks figuratively, when he says that Pollio shall put on the ‘cothurnus,’ meaning that he shall return to writing tragedies (see last note).

17. Jam nunc] See C. iii. 6. 23, n. As to ‘cornua’ and ‘litui,’ see C. i. 1. 23, n.

21. Audire — videor] ‘I seem to myself to hear’ (as C. iii. 4. 6), referring to what he had heard Pollio read (see Int.). Cicero uses ‘videor’ with ‘videre’ not unfrequently, as (De Am. 12), “videre jam videor populum a senatu disjunctum.”

23. cuncta terrarum subacta] It is probable that Pollio had given a stirring account of Cæsar’s African campaign, in which he himself served, and that his description had made a great impression upon Horace. The victory of Thapsus, B. C. 46, made Cæsar master of the whole Roman world. ‘Cuncta terrarum’ is equivalent to ‘cunctas terras.’

25. Juno et deorum] ‘Juno and all the gods that favor Africa, who had departed helplessly (i.e. after the Jugurthine war) and left that land unavenged, have offered up as an atonement (‘rettulit’) the grandsons of those victors, on the grave of Jugurtha.’ ‘Inferiae’ or ‘parentalia’ were offerings presented by relatives at the tombs of the dead. Ten thousand of the Pompeian army alone fell at the battle of Thapsus. It has been suggested that[287] the Jugurthine, rather than any of the other African wars, is referred to, because Sallust’s history had lately come out, and was attracting much attention.

29. Quis non Latino] In this and the following stanza Horace amplifies a little. But during the civil wars of Julius Cæsar, Spain, Greece, and Africa were scenes of much bloodshed, and Romans fought against each other at Mutina, at Philippi, and at Actium. That the Parthian had heard the crash of Italy in its fall, is a poetical exaggeration, meaning, in plain prose, that the bitterest enemy of Rome had watched her dissensions, and rejoiced in the prospect of her downfall.

“Nec fuit indignum superis bis sanguine nostro
Emathiam et latos Haemi pinguescere campos.”

38. Ceae — neniae:] ‘The subjects which belong to the Cean Muse.’ ‘Nenia’ is used in various senses by Horace. As a dirge (C. ii. 20. 21); as a night song (C. iii. 28. 16); as a charm (Epod. xvii. 29); as a song of triumph (Epp. i. 1. 63). Here it stands for the melancholy poetry of Simonides of Ceos, who flourished in the sixth century B. C.

Horace, meaning to write an Ode on the moderate desire and use of wealth, dedicated it to C. Sallustius Crispus, grand-nephew of the historian, and inheritor of his property. He had previously alluded to him in no terms of praise in Sat. i. 2. 48, but that Satire was written many years before this Ode, and at this time Sallustius was in high favor with Augustus, and possessed of great riches, of which Horace implies that he made a good use.

Argument.—Silver hath no beauty while hid in the earth, Sallustius. Proculeius, for his generosity to his brethren, will live for ever, and the man who rules the spirit of avarice is a greater king than if from Carthage to Gades were all his own. The dropsy grows and grows, till its cause is expelled. Phraates, restored to his throne, is not happy; he only is a king and conqueror who looks on money with indifference.

2. Abdito terris,] Sallustius possessed some valuable mines in the Alps, and to this circumstance Horace seems to refer. The character given of Sallustius by Tacitus (Ann. iii. 30) is rather different from Horace’s description. Tacitus says he was inclined to luxurious living and fine clothes, different from the practice of the old times. Horace inverts the order of the cognomen and gentilician name, as Tacitus frequently does; as, ‘Agrippam Postumum’ (Ann. i. 3), and elsewhere. The eleventh Ode of this book is addressed to Quintius Hirpinus, and the names are inverted, as here.

“Jura dabat populis posito modo consul aratro
Et levis argenti lamina crimen erat.”

5. Vivet extento Proculeius aevo] C. Proculeius is said to have been brother of Licinius Murena, who, with one Fannius Caepio, entered into a conspiracy against the life of Augustus, and was put to death B. C. 22. See[288] C. ii. 10, Int. Who was the other brother of Proculeius is doubtful, and also on what occasion he assisted them. They may have lost their property in the civil wars, as the Scholiasts say. Proculeius was in great favor with Augustus, and was intimate with Mæcenas (who married his sister or cousin, Terentia), and probably with Sallustius. He was alive at this time, and did not die till after Horace. Proculeius was, like Mæcenas, a favorer of letters, and is so referred to by Juvenal (S. vii. 94). “Quis tibi Maecenas quis nunc erit aut Proculeius?”

6. Notus — animi] Horace’s adaptation of Greek constructions is one of the chief features of his style. He uses ‘metuente’ here in the same sense as in C. iv. 5. 20, “Culpari metuit Fides”: ‘wings that refuse to melt,’ as Icarius’s did. See C. iv. 2. 2.

9. Latius regnes] The only king was the sage, according to the Stoics, and the sage kept all his passions under control. See S. i. 3. 125, n., and below, v. 21.

10. remotis Gadibus] Gades (Cadiz) was taken poetically for the western limit of the world, so that when Horace would say his friend Septimius was willing to go with him to the ends of the earth, he says ‘Septimi Gades aditure mecum’ (C. ii. 6. 1). It was originally, like Carthage, a Phœnician settlement, of which there were many in Spain, whence Horace says ‘uterque Poenus,’ the Phœnicians in Africa and those in Hispania.

17. Phraaten] Phraates was restored to the Parthian throne B. C. 25 (C. i. 26, Introd.). It is called the throne of Cyrus, because the Parthians succeeded to the greater part of the Eastern empire founded by Cyrus the Great. See C. i. 2. 21, n.

18. plebi] See C. i. 27. 5, n. Observe the elision of the last syllable of this verse by the commencing vowel of the next; and see C. ii. 16. 34, and C. iii. 2. 22.

19. populumque, etc.] ‘And teaches men not to use wrong names for things.’

23. inretorto] ‘Who does not look with eyes askance (that is, with longing) at vast heaps of gold?’ Compare Epp. i. 14. 37. “Non istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quisquam Limat.”

The person to whom this Ode is nominally addressed is generally supposed to be Q. Dellius, who, from being a follower, first of Dolabella, and then of Brutus and Cassius, became a devoted adherent of M. Antonius, and his tool, throughout his intrigues with Cleopatra, till shortly before the battle of Actium, when he quarrelled with Cleopatra and joined Augustus, who received him with favor (Plut. Anton. c. 59). Plutarch calls him ἱστορικός. Dellius was called ‘desultor bellorum civilium,’ in allusion to the ‘desultor’ of the circus, who rode two horses at the same time. Horace’s way of giving a name to his odes has been sufficiently noticed and in this, as in other cases, there is nothing to guide us to the person whose name he uses. The Ode is on his usual commonplaces,—moderation, the enjoyment of the present moment, and the certainty of death.

Argument.—Be sober in prosperity or adversity, in sadness or in mirth. What is the use of the shade and purling stream, if we bring not thither wine and flowers, while circumstances and youth permit and life is our own? Soon thou must give up all to thine heir; rich and noble, or poor and humble, we must all come to one place in the end.

2. non secus in] ‘Non secus ac’ is the more usual phrase, but ‘non secus’ may stand alone.

8. Interiore nota Falerni.] The cork of the ‘amphora’ was stamped with the name of the consul in whose year it was filled, or a label with that inscription was fastened to the vessel, and the ‘amphorae’ being placed in the ‘apotheca’ as they were filled, the oldest would be the innermost.

9. Quo pinus ingens] ‘Quo’ signifies ‘to what purpose,’ as ‘quo mihi fortunam si non conceditur uti?’ (Epp. i. 5. 12).

albaque populus] The Greeks had two names for the poplar,—λευκή, which was white, and αἴγειρος, which was dark. Virgil calls the white ‘bicolor.’ ‘Amant,’ as in C. iii. 16. 10, is used like the Greek φιλοῦσι ‘are wont.’ Virgil has a like expression to ‘hospitalem’ (Georg. iv. 24) “Obviaque hospitiis teneat frondentibus arbor.”

11. obliquo laborat] ‘To what purpose does the flying stream struggle to haste down its winding channel?’ The stream is represented as striving to hurry on, in spite of the obstructions offered by its winding banks. As to ‘trepidare,’ see C. ii. 11. 4. Epp. i. 10. 21.

21. Inacho] The name of Inachus, the earliest mythical king of Argos, appears to have been used proverbially, for we have it again in C. iii. 19. 1.

23. moreris,] This reminds us of Cicero (de Senect. xxiii.): “Commorandi natura deversorium nobis, non habitandi locum dedit.”

25. cogimur,] ‘We are driven like sheep,’ “Tityre coge pecus” (Virg. Ec. iii. 20).

26. Versatur urna] Compare C. iii. 1. 16. “Omne capax movet urna nomen.” The notion is that of Fate standing with an urn, in which every man’s lot is cast. She shakes it, and he whose lot comes out must die. Ovid has imitated this passage (Met. x. 32):—

“Omnia debemur vobis paullumque morati
Serius aus citius sedem properamus ad unam.
Tendimus huc omnes.”

28. Exilium] This is put for the place of exile, as (Ov. Fast. vi. 666): “Exilium quodam tempore Tibur erat.” The word is only another form of ‘exsidium,’ from ‘ex sedeo.’ ‘Cumbae’ is in the dative case, and is the form usually found in inscriptions for ‘cymbae.’

This amusing Ode represents a gentleman in love with his maid-servant, and jocularly consoles him with examples of heroes who had been in the same condition, and with the assurance that one so faithful must be, like the slaves of the Homeric warriors, the daughter of a royal house. The name Xanthias must be fictitious, and Phoceus indicates that the person was also supposed to be a Phocian. Why Horace, assuming a Greek name for his real or supposed friend, should also make him a Phocian, is needless to inquire. There may have been a significance in it which has passed away or never existed but for the understanding of the person addressed and perhaps a few intimate friends. Xanthias was a name given to slaves, like Geta, Sosius, &c. in the “Frogs” and other plays of Aristophanes.

Horace was born B. C. 65, and he wrote this Ode when he was just finishing his eighth lustre, which would be in December, B. C. 25.

Argument.—Be not ashamed, Xanthias; heroes have loved their maids before thee,—Achilles his Briseis, Ajax his Tecmessa, and Agamemnon his Cassandra. Doubtless your Phyllis is of royal blood: one so faithful and loving and unselfish is no common maiden. Nay, be not jealous of my praises, my eighth lustre is hastening to its close.

3. Briseis] Hippodameia, so called from her father, Briseus, king of Lyrnessus, a town of Troas, taken, with eleven others, by Achilles. He delivered up the spoils for distribution, and got Briseis for his prize (Il. ix. 328, sqq.). Agamemnon took her from him, as a compensation for the loss of his own slave, Chryseis (Il. i. 320, sqq.).

6. Tecmessae;] Tecmessa was the daughter of Teleutas, king of Phrygia, who was killed by the Greeks during the Trojan war, and his daughter became the prize of Ajax, the son of Telamon. Homer alludes to her when he speaks of Αἴαντος γέρας (Il. i. 138). Sophocles, in his play of Ajax, represents her as tenderly attached to him.

7. Arsit — Virgine rapta,] That is, Cassandra, whom Agamemnon chose, when the spoils of Troy were divided among the Greeks. ‘Arsit’ is used by Horace three times with an ablative,—here, in C. iii. 9. 5, and in Epod. xiv. 9; and once as a transitive verb (C. iv. 9. 13): “Non sola comptos arsit adulteri crines”; as it is in Virgil’s second Eclogue: “Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexin.”

10. Thessalo victore] Achilles, whose native country was Phthiotis in Thessaly.

ademptus Hector] ‘the loss of Hector.’ This is from the Iliad (xxiv. 243):—

ῥηίτεροι γὰρ μᾶλλον Ἀχαιοῖσιν δὴ ἔσεσθε
κείνου τεθνηῶτος ἐναιρέμεν.

13. Nescias an] ‘You cannot tell but,’—‘You may well believe.’ All that follows, in this and the next stanza, is good-natured banter. See Introd. As to the phrase ‘nescio an,’ ‘I incline to think it is so,’ see Zumpt’s Latin Grammar, §§ 354 and 721. On ‘beati,’ see C. i. 4. 14.

17. Crede non illam] ‘Believe not that she whom thou lovest is of the villanous herd.’

23. Cujus octavum] See Introd.; and as to ‘lustrum,’ see C. ii. 15. 13, n.

This Ode professes to be a remonstrance with one who is courting a young girl not yet come to womanhood.

Argument.—That girl is too young for a yoke-fellow; as yet, she is like an unbroken heifer, or an unripe grape. She will come to thee of her own accord, when she is a little older; then will she wax wanton, and seek a mate, and thou wilt love her above coy Pholoe or Chloris or Gyges.

7. Solantis] This is the poetical word for satisfying hunger or thirst, as Virgil (Georg. i. 159): “Concussaque famem in silvis solabere quercu.”

12. Purpureo varius colore] ‘Erelong, autumn with its varied hues will dye the green grape with purple,’ which means, that she will soon be ripe for marriage, as the purple grape is for plucking.

13. feror Aetas] Time is compared to a wild horse, as in Ovid (Fast. vi. 772): “fugiunt freno non remorante dies.” The words that follow mean, ‘she will approach the flower of her age, as you recede from it’; which is expressed thus: ‘the years which time takes from your life, he will add to hers.’ The way of speaking is like that of Deianira, when, comparing her own age and attractions with those of her rival, she says:—

ὁρῶ γὰρ ἥβην τὴν μὲν ἕρπουσαν πρόσω,
τὴν δ᾽ αὖ φθίνουσαν.

(Soph. Trach. v. 547, sqq.) It is also explained by those verses in the Epistle to the Pisones:—

16. Lalage] This name is formed from λαλεῖν, “dulce loquentem” (C. i. 22. 24).

20. Cnidiusve Gyges,] This name, which is Lydian, Horace employs again (C. iii. 7. 5). This boy is represented as a slave from Cnidus in Caria, and he is said to be so beautiful that, if he were introduced at supper among the girls, the cleverest of the company could not detect him. ‘Discrimen obscurum’ means a difference hard to see.

24. ambiguoque vultu.] Ovid expresses the same ambiguity in the case of Atalanta very elegantly (Met. viii. 322):—

“Talis erat cultus; facies quam dicere vere
Virgineam in puero puerilem in virgine possis.”

Boys let their hair grow till they assumed the ‘toga virilis,’ about their fifteenth year.

Of Septimius, to whom this Ode is addressed, we know nothing, except that he was an intimate friend of Horace’s, as we gather also from the letter of introduction he gave him to Tiberius (Epp. i. 9). He had a house at Tarentum, where Horace probably paid him one or more visits. Beyond this we know nothing of Septimius.

It was probably on or after a visit to Septimius, that Horace composed the twenty-eighth Ode of the first book; and, probably, with the attractions of Tarentum fresh in his mind, he wrote this Ode. He says that, next to Tibur, it is the place where he would choose to end his days. He says the same in Epp. i. 7. 45.

Argument.—Septimius, I would that I might end my days at Tibur, or, if that be forbidden me, at Tarentum. Above all others I love that spot, with its honey, its olives, its long spring, and mild winter, and grapes on Mount Aulon. On that spot we ought to live together; and there thou shouldst lay my bones, and weep over them.

1. Septimi, Gades aditure mecum] That is, ‘who art ready to go with me, if need be, to the ends of the earth.’ See above C. 2. 10, n.

2. Cantabrum indoctum] At any time before B. C. 29, when the Cantabri were first reduced, they could have been called by Horace ‘indoctos juga ferre nostra,’ even though no attempt had been made to impose that yoke. In 29 they were reduced to subjection; in 26 they broke out again, and in the following year they were finally subdued, though an insurrection had to be put down by Agrippa, some years afterwards (see C. iii. 8. 21; iv. 14. 41.[292] Epp. i. 12. 26). They were one of the fiercest of the tribes of Hispania, and the last that submitted to the Romans. They occupied a part of the north coast, between the mountains and the sea.

5. Tibur] Tibur (Tivoli), which was sixteen miles east of Rome, Horace was in the habit of visiting (see C. iii. 4. 23. Epp. i. 7. 45). He here expresses a great affection for it. Some suppose he had a house there, which, as he nowhere mentions it, is improbable.

7. Sit modus lasso] ‘Lasso’ may be taken with ‘maris,’ etc. (as ‘fessi rerum,’ Aen. i. 178), or absolutely, leaving the genitives to depend on ‘modus’: or the genitives may depend upon both. It is probable Horace is only speaking generally, meaning that the weary need seek no happier resting place than Tibur, or Tarentum.

10. pellitis] This word refers to the practice of covering the sheep with skins, to preserve their wool. The Galæsus (Galaso) flowed through the ager Tarentinus, which was rich in gardens and corn land, as well as in pastures.

11. regnata] Similar passives are found in C. iii. 3. 43, “Medis triumphatis”; iii. 19. 4, “Bella pugnata”; Epod. i. 23, “Bellum militabitur”; S. ii. 5. 27, “Res certabitur”. ‘Regnata’ occurs again in C. iii. 29. 27; and Tacitus (Hist. i. 16) speaks of “gentes quae regnantur.” The word is not used by prose writers of an earlier age than Tacitus. Phalanthus of Lacedæmon headed a body of youths, called from the circumstances of their birth Partheniæ, in migrating from the Peloponnesus into Italy, where they got possession of Tarentum.

15. decedunt] This word is used again in the same sense of ‘giving place to’ in the second epistle of the second book, v. 213: “decede peritis.” The honey of Tarentum or Calabria (iii. 16. 33), and of Matinum (iv. 2. 27) in Italy, of Hybla in Sicily, and of Hymettus in Attica, are those Horace celebrates most. Venafrum (hod. Venafro) the most northern town of Campania was celebrated above all places in Italy for its olives. ‘Venafro’ is the dative case. See C. i. 1. 15, n.

18. Aulon] From the name, we may suppose this was a valley near Tarentum. It gave excellent pasturage to sheep. ‘Baccho’ depends on ‘amicus.’

21. beatae — arces;] Rich heights or hills near Tarentum. ‘Arx’ is akin to ἕρκος, and signifies primarily a fortified place; and fortified places being commonly on heights, ‘arx,’ in a derived sense, came to mean a hill generally.

23. favillam] The practice of burning the dead was not general among the Romans, till towards the end of the republic. Before that, they were usually buried, though burning was known even in old times.

Pompeius Varus was a companion of Horace’s in the army of Brutus, and fought at Philippi, after which it is probable he followed the fortunes first of Sextus Pompeius and afterwards of M. Antonius, and did not return to Rome till the civil war was over. This Ode was written on his return, to welcome him.

Argument.—O Pompeius, my earliest friend and best, with whom I have served and indulged, full many a day, who hath sent thee back to us, a[293] true citizen of Rome? We fought and fled together at Philippi, but while I was carried off by Mercury, the wave drew thee back into the stormy ocean again. Come, then, pay thy vows unto Jove, and lay thy weary limbs under my laurel. Bring wine and ointment and garlands, choose a master of the feast, for I will revel like any Thracian, for joy that my friend hath returned.

1. tempus in ultimum] During the two years between his leaving Rome and the battle of Philippi, Brutus went through many hard-fought battles with the native tribes in Macedonia and in Asia Minor, as well as in resisting the assumption of his province by C. Antonius, the triumvir’s brother, to whom the Senate had assigned it. ‘Tempus in ultimum’ does not mean so much to the brink of the grave, as we should say, as into extreme danger or need.

3. redonavit Quiritem] This word ‘redonare’ is peculiar to Horace. He uses it again, C. iii. 3. 33. ‘Quiritem’ has particular force as ‘unshorn of your citizenship.’ He had not been ‘capite deminutus.’ See Aesch. Eum. 757, Ἀργεῖος ἁνὴρ αὖθις. The singular ‘Quiris’ is not found in prose-writers. It occurs again in Epp. i. 6. 7.

5. prime sodalium,] ‘Prime’ means ‘earliest and best.’ It is probable that the days Horace enjoyed so much with his friend were spent at Athens when they were both young students. The language does not seem to suit a camp life, especially on such a service as the army of Brutus went through. On ‘fregi’ see C. i. 1. 20, n.

8. Malobathro] Oil produced from an Indian shrub of that name. ‘Syrio’ is only used in the same extended application in which Ovid uses ‘Assyrium’ (Amor. ii. 5. 40): “Maeonis Assyrium foemina tinxit ebur.” See C. ii. 11. 16.

9. Philippos et celerem fugam] ‘the rout at Philippi.’ We need not take Horace too much at his word. He was not born for a soldier, any more than his friend Iccius (C. i. 29); and he could afford to create a laugh against himself as a ῥίψασπις, a coward who runs away and leaves his shield behind him. He had in mind, no doubt, the misfortune that befell Alcæus, as related by Herodotus (v. 95). See C. i. 32. 5, n. There was nothing disgraceful in the flight from Philippi, which Brutus advised and necessity compelled.

11. minaces Turpe solum] All that seems to be meant is, that the bold were struck to the ground.

13. Mercurius celer Denso — sustulit aëre;] Poets were ‘Mercuriales viri’ (C. ii. 17. 29). Horace refers his preservation directly to the Muses in C. iii. 4. 26. He had in mind, no doubt, Paris’s rescue by Venus (Il. iii. 381), and Æneas’s by Phœbus in a thick cloud (Il. v. 344. Aen. x. 81).

15. resorbens Unda] Like the wave that, just as the shipwrecked man is struggling to shore, lifts him off his feet and throws him back again. See Introd.

17. obligatam] The sacrifice (and feast that followed) which he had vowed, or ought to have vowed if he had not, to Jove.

18. Longaque — militia] Pompeius had probably had no rest for more than thirteen years, beginning with the wars of Brutus, A. U. C. 710, and ending with the battle of Actium.

22. Ciboria] A drinking cup like the pod of an Egyptian bean, of which this was the name. ‘Funde’ means ‘pour upon your head.’ ‘Udo’ is like the Greek ὑγρῷ, ‘supple.’ Theocritus (vi. 68) calls it πολύγναμπτον σέλινον.

23. Unguenta de conchis.] The Romans used fragrant oils and ointments for the hair and body in great quantities, especially at meals, when slaves poured scents on their heads (see C. ii. 11. 15, n. S. ii. 7. 55. Epp. i. 14.[294] 32). ‘Concha’ was the name of a small liquid measure, but it was also used for different shell-shaped vessels.

24. Deproperare] ‘to prepare quickly.’ ‘De,’ as in many other instances, is intensive.

25. Curatve myrto?] Dillenbr. has given a variety of instances in which the enclitics ‘que,’ ‘ve,’ ‘ne’ are added to a word other than that which is to be coupled with the preceding word. There are two examples close to each other in C. ii. 19. 28, 32. Dillenbr. says this construction is adopted advisedly, to give force to the particular word to which the enclitic is added, and to strengthen the connection. The truth of this is more apparent in some other cases than in this; but it is true, and worth observing.

Venus] This was the highest cast of the dice, as ‘canis’ was the lowest. See Tacit. Ann. xiii. 15. As to ‘arbitrum bibendi,’ see above, C. i. 4. 18. ‘Dicet’ is used in the same sense as by Virgil (Georg. iii. 125): “Quem legere ducem et pecori dixere maritum”; where Servius explains ‘dixere’ by ‘designavere.’

28. furere] See C. iii. 19. 18, “Insanire juvat”; Epp. i. 5. 15; both being imitated from Pseudo-Anacreon, θέλω θέλω μανῆναι. The Edoni were a people of Thrace (see C. i. 27. 2).

This Ode is probably an imitation from the Greek, or a fancy of the poet’s. It professes to be addressed to a faithless woman under the barbarian name Barine, and complains that, in spite of all her perjury, she continues more beautiful and captivating than ever.

Argument.—Barine, if I could see thee punished for thy false vows, I might believe thee again. But the moment after thou hast forsworn thyself, thou art lovelier and more bright than ever. Perjury, then, is profitable; Venus and her train laugh at it. Fresh slaves follow thee, and the old ones cannot leave thy roof; mothers, and stingy fathers, and new-married brides, are afraid of thee.

1. juris — pejerati] Equivalent to ‘perjurii.’ This expression is not found elsewhere. It is formed by analogy from ‘jus jurandum.’

9. opertos] This word is not used elsewhere for ‘sepultos.’ There was no more common oath than by the ashes of the dead, and the moon and stars. The poet says it is worth while to swear falsely, if such is the reward.

15. Semper ardentes] This seems to be taken from a picture. Moschus (Id. i.) says of the weapons of love, πυρὶ πάντα βέβαπται. ‘Semper’ belongs to ‘ardentes.’

22. Senes parei] The frugal fathers fear that Barine will lead their sons into extravagance.

23. Virgines] Like ‘puellae’ (C. iii. 14. 10), this word does not belong exclusively to maids.

tua — Aura] ‘the breeze that sets them towards thee.’ ‘Popularis aura’ (C. iii. 2. 20) is used for the shifting breeze of popular opinion or favor.

C. Valgius Rufus was a poet of much merit, and appears to have been sad for the loss of a young slave. At a time of public rejoicing (probably at the closing of the temple of Janus, B. C. 24, after the Cantabri had been put down by Augustus, C. ii. 6. 2, n.), Valgius is called upon (as Tibullus was in C. i. 33) to cease from writing mournful verses on his loss, and to turn his thoughts to the praises of Augustus.

Argument.—The rain does not always fall, nor the storms rage, nor the frost continue for ever, Valgius. But thou mournest for Mystes from morning till night. Nestor did not always weep for Antilochus, nor his parents and sisters for Troilus. Cease thy wailings, and let us sing of the triumphs of Augustus.

3. inaequales] This epithet is equivalent to ‘informes,’ ‘shapeless,’ which is a way of expressing anything that is rough (C. ii. 10. 15). See C. i. 7. 15.

The table-lands of Armenia are intensely cold in winter, and covered with snow and ice. The summers are hot and dry.

7. Querceta] The Apulian range Garganus (Monte Gargano) terminated in the bold promontory of the same name, now called Punta di Viesti. It is still clothed with woods, but the forests of Italy are not what they were. See Epp. ii. 1. 202.

9, 10. Tu — ademptum] ‘But thou art ever dwelling in doleful strains upon the loss of Mystes.’

12. rapidum] Any one who has watched the rising of the sun in a cloudless horizon will understand this epithet.

13. ter aevo functus] ‘who had thrice completed the (usual) age of man.’ Cic. (de Senectut. c. 10) says, “Nestor tertiam jam aetatem hominum vivebat.” The foundation for the story is found in Homer (Il. i. 250):—

ἤδη δύο μὲν γενεαὶ μερόπων ἀνθρώπων
ἐφθίατο—μετὰ δὲ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν.

14. Antilochum] Antilochus, the son of Nestor and friend of Achilles, was killed by Memnon (Odyss. iv. 188). He was famed for his beauty and manliness, as well as for his filial piety.

16. Troïlon] The death of Troilus, son of Priam and Hecuba, who was killed by Achilles, is related by Virgil (Aen. i. 474), following, not Homer, but some of the Cyclic poets (see A. P. 136, n.), the event having taken place before the time at which the Iliad opens. His sisters were Creusa, Polyxena, Laodice, and Cassandra.

17. Desine mollium] A Greek construction, as ‘abstineto irarum’ (C. iii. 27. 69), ‘abstinens pecuniae’ (iv. 9. 37). Virgil too (Aen. x. 441) takes the same license, ‘tempus desistere pugnae.’ ‘Damnatus laboris’ (C. ii. 14. 19), ‘decipitur laborum’ (C. ii. 13. 38), ‘Ciceris invidit’ (S. ii. 6. 84), are other constructions with the genitive borrowed from the Greek.

20. rigidum Niphaten,] Niphates was a mountain range east of the Tigris. The name means the snow-mountain. Perhaps a part of it may have been covered with perpetual snow. The arms of Augustus were first carried into Armenia in B. C. 20 (Epp. i. 3, Int.); we must therefore suppose Horace to be speaking of conquests to come, as he does in C. i. 12. 53, sqq.

21. Medumque flumen] The Euphrates. ‘Flumen’ is the subject of ‘volvere,’ which verb depends on ‘Cantemus’ (v. 19).

22. vertices,] ‘Vertex’ is perhaps the right word, not ‘vortex,’ as it is[296] generally spelt when applied to water. Quintilian explains how ‘vertex’ passed into its applied meanings thus: “Vertex est contorta in se aqua, vel quicquid aliud similiter vertitur. Inde propter flexum capillorum pars est summa capitis, et ex hoc quod est in montibus eminentissimum. Recte inquam dixeris haec omnia vertices; proprie tamen, unde initium est” (viii. 2).

23. Gelonos] This was one of the tribes on the north bank of the Danube. ‘Intra praescriptum’ means within limits that Cæsar should prescribe them.

Licinius Murena, or A. Terentius Varro Murena, as he was called after his adoption by A. Terentius Varro, was apparently a man of restless and ambitious character, and, as we have seen, paid the penalty of his rashness with his life (C. ii. 2. 5). It is very probable that Horace wrote this Ode to his friend to warn him of the tendencies of his disposition, and to recommend to him the virtue of moderation. All else that we learn from Horace’s poems respecting Murena is, that he was of the college of augurs (C. iii. 19), and that he had a house at Formiæ, where he received Mæcenas and his party on their way to Brundisium (S. i. 5. 37, sq.).

Argument.—The way to live, Licinius, is neither rashly to tempt nor cowardly to fear the storm. The golden mean secures a man at once from the pinching of poverty and the envy of wealth. The loftiest objects fall soonest and most heavily. In adversity or prosperity the wise man looks for change. Storms come and go. Bad times will not continue for ever. Apollo handles the lyre, as well as the bow. In adversity show thyself brave, in prosperity take in sail.

5. Auream quisquis] ‘Whoso loves the golden mean (between poverty and immense riches), is safe and free from the squalor of a crazy roof, is sober and free from the envy of a palace.’

6. obsoleti] That which has gone out of use; therefore, old and decayed. This word has various applications.

9-12. ingens — celsae — summos] These words are emphatic. ‘It is the lofty pine that is oftenest shaken by the winds,’ and so forth. Translate ‘summos montes’ ‘the tops of mountains.’

15. Informes hiemes] This epithet is like ‘inaequales’ in the last Ode, ‘rough,’ ‘uncouth.’ Compare C. iii. 29. 43:—

17. olim Sic erit: quondam cithara] ‘Olim,’ being derived from the demonstrative pronoun ‘illo,’ of which the older form is ‘ōlo,’ or ‘ollo,’ and which only indicates the remoter object, signifies some time more or less distant, either in the past or future. So likewise ‘quondam,’ which is akin to ‘quum,’ an adverb relating to all parts of time, signifies any time not present. Translate here, ‘at times.’

Apollo is almost always represented with a bow and arrows, or a lyre, or both. Homer has many epithets describing him with his bow. The ancients believed him to be the punisher of the wicked and the author of all sudden deaths among men, as Diana (Artemis) was among women. He was the god of music, but got his lyre from Mercury (C. i. 21. 12, n).

23, 24. Contrahes — vela.] The order is ‘Contrahes vela nimium Turgida secundo vento.’

This Ode is addressed to one Hirpinus, who, if a real person, is quite unknown. The poet bids him cease to trouble himself about distant nations, and put away care, since old age is approaching.

Argument.—Never mind what distant nations are about, nor trouble thyself for the wants of life, which needs but little: youth is going, and age approaching: the flowers and the moon are not always bright: why worry thyself for ever? Let us drink under the shade of yonder tree. Mix wine, boy, and bring Lyde to sing to us.

1. Quid bellicosus] As to the Cantabri, see above, 6. 2, and for the Scythians, i. 19. 10. The description of the Scythian, separated from Italy by the Hadriatic, is not geographically accurate, but Horace does not mean to be very definite (see Introduction).

2. Hirpine Quinti,] The names are inverted, as in C. ii. 2. 3, “Crispe Sallusti.”

3. remittas] ‘Remitto’ has the sense of deferring, here and in other places (as, C. iv. 4. 21, “quaerere distuli”).

4. trepides] This word, the root or stem of which is ‘trep’ (τρέπω), signifies to hurry hither and thither. Hence to be eager or anxious, as here and elsewhere. ‘Usum aevi’ means the wants of life. ‘Be not anxious for the wants of a life that asks but little’: as Goldsmith says,

10. rubens] This word is not commonly used to express the brilliancy of the moon. It has many different applications, as to the moon (here), to the ripe yellow corn, to the golden waters of Pactolus, to the green fields in spring (Virg. Georg. iv. 306).

11. minorem] This, like ἥσσων, signifies ‘the victim of’ or ‘a slave to,’ as we should say.

14. sic temere] ‘Sic’ has a force of its own, signifying ‘carelessly,’ ‘just as we please.’ The Greek οὕτως, has the same force.

15. Canos] Horace, or his friend, or both, had gray hair. He describes himself as prematurely gray, in Epp. i. 20. 24. As to ‘odorati,’ see above, 7. 22, n.

16. Assyriaque nardo] It was not only the poets that confounded Syria and Assyria. Cicero (in Verr. ii. 3. 33) speaks of “reges Persarum ac Syrorum,” for the kings of Persia and Assyria. See also Pliny (N. H. v. 12). Horace uses ‘Syrio’ for an Indian commodity (above, C. 7. 8), “Malobathro Syrio”; and ‘Assyrii’ for the coast of Syria (C. iii. 4. 32), and ‘Assyrius’ for any Eastern person (A. P. 118), “Colchus an Assyrius.” This confusion is easily accounted for by the title of that great division of Alexander’s empire, which embraced the whole of Asia under the dominion of a Syrian monarch.

18. Quis puer] He imagines himself at the banquet, and calling to the slaves to bring wine, which the Romans usually drank mixed with water. See C. iii. 19. 11, n.

21. devium] One who lives out of the way, as (Ov., Heroid. ii. 118) “Et cecinit maestum devia carmen avis.” ‘Fidicinae’ and ‘tibicinae,’ women who played upon the lyre or the flute, were employed at dinners to entertain the company.

23. in comptum] ‘In comptum nodum’ signifies ‘into a plain knot,’ without ornament, such as the Lacedæmonian women wore.

This Ode is addressed to Mæcenas, and, from the language of it, we might suppose he had asked Horace to write something on a higher subject than he was accustomed to. Horace tells him that his lyre is not suited to wars and triumphs, but he loves to sing of the beauty of Licymnia, under which name it is supposed he means Terentia, the wife of Mæcenas. They may at this time have been lately married, but they did not long continue to live happily.

Argument.—Do not ask me with my soft lyre to sing of bloody wars, of centaurs, and of giants: as for the triumphs of Cæsar, Mæcenas, thou couldst tell them better in prose than I can in verse. My task is to sing of the beauty and faithfulness of Licymnia, who graces the dance and sports with the damsels on Diana’s holiday. Wouldst thou, for all the wealth of Persia, Phrygia, and Arabia, give a lock of Licymnia’s hair, or one of her kisses?

1. Numantiae,] The siege of Numantia, in Spain, by the Romans, lasted, like that of Troy, for ten years, when it was finished by Scipio Africanus Minor, who took the city B. C. 133. The bravery with which the Numantines behaved earned them from their enemies the title ‘feri,’ ‘savage.’

2. dirum Hannibalem,] This epithet is found three times in this connection. See C. iii. 6. 36; iv. 4. 42.

Siculum mare] Alluding to the naval victories of Duilius, Metellus, and Lutatius Catulus, in the first Punic war (see C. iii. 6. 34).

5. nimium mero] This use of ‘nimium’ is common in Tacitus, who also uses it with a genitive, as (Hist. iii. 75), “nimius sermonis erat.” Hylæus was a centaur. As to the Lapithæ, see C. i. 18. 8.

7. Telluris juvenes,] The Gigantes, who were called γηγενεῖς, ‘earth-born,’ made war upon Zeus, and were destroyed by him with the help of Hercules, and the bow and arrows given him by Apollo. Horace gives Bacchus the credit of their defeat in C. ii. 19. 21, sqq., and Pallas in C. iii. 4. 57, where Hercules is not mentioned.

9. tuque pedestribus] ‘But you, rather, in prose,’ and so forth. The conjunction couples this part of the Ode with the preceding, not with what follows. ‘Que,’ after negative sentences, has a qualified adversative sense, as, among other instances (C. ii. 20. 3):—

So τε often follows οὔτε, the fact being that every negative proposition may be resolved into an affirmative with a negation. Here the connection is between ‘nobis’ and ‘dices.’ Mæcenas was an author, though probably an indifferent one; and Horace may have put off his request that he should write a poetical account of Augustus’s achievements, by suggesting that he[299] should write one in prose. It does not follow that Mæcenas ever wrote, or that Horace ever seriously intended to advise his writing. ‘Pedestribus’ is an adaptation of the Greek πεζὸς λόγος for ‘prose,’ or ‘soluta oratio,’ which latter was the usual expression for prose in Horace’s time. He uses the word ‘pedester’ again twice to express a plain style of speech but not for prose as opposed to poetry (S. ii. 6. 17, and A. P. 95). Quintilian uses the word, but expressly as a Grecism. The word ‘prosa’ or ‘prorsa,’ as its correct form appears to be, is of later use than the age of Augustus.

11. ductaque per vias] This appears to refer to the the triumphs of Augustus noticed in C. i. 2. 49. See also C. iv. 2. 35, n. Epod. vii. 7.

12. Regum colla minacium.] The same as ‘reges minaces.’ Their necks are mentioned in allusion to their humbled pride.

13. dominae] If by Licymnia is meant Terentia (see Introduction), ‘dominae’ may stand for wife, as in Virg. (Aen. vi. 397): “Hi Ditis dominam thalamo deducere adorti.”

14. lucidum Fulgentes] The neuter adjective performs in this and like cases the office of an adverb, which is very common in all languages.

15. bene mutuis] ‘her faithful heart full of love happy and mutual’ (see Introduction).

20. Dianae celebris die.] Her festival was held on the ides of August. The dances at her festival were led by ladies of rank (see C. iv. 6. 31. A. P. 232). ‘Choris’ appear to be private, as opposed to the sacred dances. Dancing was not unusual in private society at this time, even among ladies. Therefore it was not degrading to Terentia, who was probably fond of this amusement. Other words used with ‘brachia,’ to express dancing, are ‘jactare,’ ‘deducere,’ ‘ducere,’ ‘mittere,’ ‘movere.’ The graceful motion of the arms seems to have been one of the chief attractions in dancing, as it is still, wherever it is practised as an art.

The expression ‘ferre pedem’ is used by Virgil (Georg. i. 11), and ‘ludere’ (Ec. vi. 27). ‘Dianae celebris die’ is the day on which the temple of Diana was crowded with worshippers. ‘Celebris’ and ‘creber’ are the same word under different forms.

21. dives Achaemenes,] Achæmenes was the great-grandfather of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian monarchy, and the Achæmenid dynasty of Persian kings, of which were Darius and Xerxes, took its name from him. His name is used here loosely for those kings, but he was not a king himself, though of a noble family. See C. iii. 1. 44. Epod. xiii. 8.

26. facili saevitia] ‘with complying cruelty’; that is, a cruelty that is only pretended and is easily overcome.

27. poscente magis] ‘more than thou who askest them.’ ‘Occupare’ has the force of φθάνειν, ‘to be beforehand,’ ‘to anticipate,’—‘sometimes she is the first to snatch.’

It is impossible to say with certainty when the accident happened which is referred to in this Ode, but there are reasons for supposing it was when Horace was about forty years old, B. C. 25 or 26. It appears that a tree on his farm fell and nearly struck him. In this Ode he describes the danger he had escaped, and abuses the tree and the man who planted it. A year afterwards,[300] we find him celebrating the anniversary of his escape with a sacrifice to Liber (C. iii. 8. 6), and in the 17th Ode of this book (v. 32) he speaks of offering a lamb to Faunus for his preservation.

The latter part of the Ode is a remarkable instance of Horace’s way of digressing into subjects only remotely connected with his principal theme. In speaking of his escape, he is led into a description of the company he should have been brought into if he had been sent so suddenly to Hades, dwelling particularly on Alcæus and Sappho, and the power of their music over the spirits of the dead.

Argument.—Whoever planted thee, thou tree, did so on an evil day, and with impious hand he reared thee. Parricide, guest-murder,—there is no crime he would not commit. No one can provide against all dangers. The sailor fears the sea, and nothing else; the soldier fears his enemy alone; but death comes often from an unexpected source. How nearly was I sent to the regions below, where all the shades wonder, Cerberus listens, the Furies are charmed, and the damned suspend their labors, while Sappho and Alcæus sing.

1. nefasto] A ‘dies nefastus’ was properly one on which, the day being dedicated to religion, it was not lawful for the prætor to hold his court. Ovid thus defines ‘dies fasti’ and ‘nefasti’ (Fast. i. 47):—

“Ille nefastus erit per quem tria verba silentur;
Fastus erit per quem lege licebit agi”;

where the three words alluded to are said to be ‘do,’ ‘dico,’ ‘addico,’ all of them familiar and of common occurrence in Roman civil procedure. Hence the name, which is compounded of ‘ne’ and ‘fari.’ And because no secular work but what was necessary could prosper on the days called ‘nefasti,’ all unlucky days came to bear that name as here, and the word was thence applied to express all that was bad, as C. i. 35. 35. The words may be rendered, “he not only planted thee on an evil day (whoever it was that first planted thee), but with impious hand reared thee.” The ‘pagus’ was Mandela, in a valley of the Sabine hills, where Horace had his farm.

6. Fregisse cervicem] This is the ordinary phrase for strangulation. It occurs again Epod. iii. 2. The force of ‘penetralia’ is, that in the inner part of the house the images of the Penates and the hearth of Vesta were placed, where, if anywhere, the person of a guest should be sacred.

10. Tractavit,] This word is sufficient for both substantives. There is no necessity for supplying ‘patravit’ for ‘nefas,’ as Orelli says. The word ‘tractare’ is widely applied.

11. caducum] This word signifies ‘falling’ (iii. 4. 44), ‘fallen,’ or ‘ready to fall.’ More generally the last, as here. Virgil has (Aen. vi. 481): “Hic multum fleti ad superos belloque caduci Dardanidae”; where it means ‘fallen.’

Bosporum] The form of the Greek βοῦς πόρος requires that the name should be written thus, and not Bosphorum, as it is often spelt. The Phœnicians were proverbial as sailors, and the name is so used here.

17. celerem fugam] C. i. 19. 11, n. The defeat of Crassus by the Parthians, B. C. 55, and of M. Antonius, B. C. 36, left a deep and long impression on the Romans.

18, 19. catenas — et Italum Robur;] ‘the bonds and the prowess of the Roman.’ Among the things which the Roman soldier carried to battle with him (an axe, a saw, &c.) was a chain to secure any prisoner he might take. To this Horace probably refers in ‘catenas,’ and below in C. iii. 8. 22.

21. furvae regna Proserpinae] ‘Furvus’ is an old word signifying ‘dark,’ and is not different from ‘fulvus,’ except in usage. It is much used in connection[301] with the infernal deities and their rites. From the same root Festus derives ‘furiae,’ ‘fuligo,’ and other words of the same kind. The first syllable in Proserpina is usually long in other writers.

23. Sedesque discretas piorum] According to the notions of the ancient poets, the great divisions of Orcus were three: 1st, Erebus, the region of darkness and mourning, but not of torment, which lay on the banks of the Styx, and extended thence over a considerable tract towards the other two; 2d, Tartarus, the place of punishment; and 3d, Elysium, the place of happiness. In the first of these Minos presided, in the second Rhadamanthus, and in the third, Æacus. In the Homeric times Elysium was upon earth in the μακάρων νῆσοι. See Odyss. iv. 563, and the Schol. thereon, and C. iv. 8. 25.

24. querentem Sappho puellis de popularibus,] Some of Sappho’s poetry, of which fragments remain, is addressed to her young female friends, and complains with jealousy of their transferring their affections to others. Horace alludes to this. The Æolians settled in Lesbos, Sappho’s native island (C. i. 1. 34), wherefore her lyre is called Æolian.

27. Alcaee, plectro dura navis,] See C. i. 32. 6, n. The ‘plectrum’ (πλῆκτρον) was a small stick (gilt or ivory or plain wood) with which the strings of the lyre were sometimes struck, instead of with the fingers.

30. Mirantur — dicere;] ‘Admire them both, as they sing’; a Grecism for ‘mirantur dicentes.’ ‘Magis’ modifies ‘bibit.’

32. Densum humeris] This is rather an unusual expression for ‘crowded together.’

33. carminibus] This is the ablative case, as (S. i. 4. 28) “Stupet Albius aere”; (S. ii. 7. 95) “Vel quum Pausiaca torpes, insane, tabella.”

34. centiceps] Elsewhere Horace represents Cerberus with three heads, C. ii. 19. 31, and C. iii. 11. 20; in the latter of which places, which greatly resembles this and should be compared with it, he describes him with a hundred snakes guarding his head. Hesiod represents him with fifty heads, but three is the more usual account.

36. Eumenidum] This name was given to the Erinnyes, as one of better omen than the other names which they bore. It signifies ‘the kind-hearted’ (εὖ μένος, ‘mens’). From Æschylus downwards they were represented in horrid forms and with snakes in their hair, as here. The Romans called them ‘Furiae,’ and, like the later Greeks, confined their number to three, whose names were Alecto, Megæra, and Tisiphone. See C. i. 28. 17, n.

37. Quin et] ‘moreover,’ or ‘nay, even.’ ‘Quin’ represents ‘qui’ with a negative particle affixed, and is strictly an interrogative, ‘why not?’ or ‘how should it not be so?’ but like οὐκοῦν it is used in direct affirmations, as here and in many other places. As to the punishments of Prometheus and Tantalus, see Epod. xvii. 65, sq. Orion the hunter is mentioned below, C. iii. 4. 71.

40. lyncas.] Elsewhere this word is only used in the feminine gender. Homer represents the heroes as following in Elysium the favorite pursuits of their lives on the earth. See Odyss. xi. 571, sqq. and Virgil, Aen. vi. 651, sqq.

Who Postumus was, or whether it is a real name, is uncertain. The subject of the Ode is the certainty of death, and it ends with a hint upon the folly of hoarding.

Argument.—Time is slipping away, Postumus, and piety will not retard the approach of age or death. No sacrifices will propitiate Pluto, who keeps even the giants Geryon and Tityos beyond that stream which all must cross, even though we expose not ourselves to the dangers of war, the sea, and climate. Thou must leave home, wife, and all thou hast, and thine heir will squander what thou hast hoarded.

6. illacrimabilem] Here this word is used in an active sense. It is used passively in C. iv. 9. 26: “Omnes illacrimabiles urgentur.” See note on C. i. 3. 32. Compare “Orcus — non exorabilis auro” (Epp. ii. 2. 178).

7. ter amplum] ‘Ter’ expresses the triple form of the monster, “forma tricorporis umbrae” (Aen. vi. 289). He was a mythical king of the island Erytheia (Gades), slain by Hercules (C. iii. 14. 1). Tityos was a giant who, for attempting to violate the goddess Artemis, was killed by Apollo and cast into Tartarus, where vultures devoured his liver (C. iii. 4. 77; iv. 6. 2).

“Tristique palus inamabilis unda
Alligat et novies Styx interfusa coercet,”—

which is repeated from Georg. iv. 479. Sophocles (Electra, 137) calls it πάγκοινον λίμναν.

9. scilicet] This is in reality a verb, ‘you may know,’ ‘you may be sure.’ It is used as an adverb, ‘assuredly,’ sometimes in a serious sense (as here), sometimes in an ironical.

10. Quicunque terrae munere vescimur,] This expresses the words of Homer, ὃς θνητός τ᾽ εἴη καὶ ἔδοι Δημήτερος ἀκτήν (Il. xiii. 322), οἳ ἀρούρης καρπὸν ἔδουσι (Il. vi. 142).

11. reges] This is Horace’s usual word for the rich, as observed on C. i. 4. 14. ‘Colonus’ was the lessee of a farm, the owner of which was called ‘dominus’ in respect to that property. ‘Reges,’ therefore, are ‘domini.’ A ‘colonus’ might be rich and the tenant of a large farm; but Horace refers to the poorer sort here and in C. i. 35. 6. ‘Inops’ he uses sometimes in an extreme, sometimes in a qualified sense of want, but more generally the latter, as he does ‘pauper,’ C. i. 1. 18, n. The opposition is between high and low, and the difference is one of position, as in the third Ode of this book (v. 21, sqq.). “The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.” (Job iii. 19.) This seems to express Horace’s meaning.

15. Frustra per auctumnos nocentem] See S. ii. 6. 18, n. With ‘nocentem’ connect ‘Corporibus.’

18. Cocytos] This was the name of a tributary of the river Acheron in Thesprotia, a part of Epirus. For some reason, these rivers came to be placed in Tartarus, and the Styx was added to them as a third. The language of the text expresses very well the character an infernal stream might be expected to wear.

Danai genus] ‘the family (or children) of Danaus.’ The punishment of the fifty daughters of Danaus is referred to in C. iii. 11.

19. damnatusque longi] ‘condemned to an endless task.’ This follows the Greek construction, καταγνωσθεὶς πόνου, as observed C. ii. 9. 17, n.

20. Sisyphus Aeolides] Homer too calls him Σίσυφος Αἰολίδης, and says he was κέρδιστος ἀνδρῶν, ‘the most gain-seeking of men’ (Il. vi. 153) and Horace calls him ‘vafer,’ S. ii. 3. 21. His punishment (‘longus labor’) was to roll a stone up a hill, down which it always rolled again when it was near the top. (See Epod. xvii. 68.) The cause of this punishment was variously stated in different legends.

23. invisas cupressos] He calls them ‘funebres’ in Epod. v. 18. The cypress was commonly planted by tombs.

24. brevem] ‘Brevis,’ is nowhere else used in this sense of ‘short-lived.’ It corresponds to ὀλιγοχρόνιος and μινυνθάδιος. With this passage compare C. ii. 3. 17, sqq.

dignior] This is ironical; the heir would at least know that wealth was made to spend, and so would be a worthier possessor than the man who had hoarded it.

27. superbo] The pride of the heir is transferred to the wine. Cicero (Phil. ii. 41) says, “natabant pavimenta mero, madebant parietes.” On the pontifical feastings, see C. i. 37. 2, n. As to ‘pavimenta,’ see notes on S. ii. 4. 83. Epp. i. 10. 19.

When Augustus had brought the civil wars to an end B. C. 29, he applied himself to the reformation of manners, and Horace probably wrote this and other Odes (ii. 18, iii. 1-6) to promote the reforms of Augustus, perhaps by his desire, or that of Mæcenas. They should be read together, and with C. i. 2. From the reference to the temples in the last stanza, it may be assumed perhaps that this Ode and the sixth of the third book were written about the same time, that is, B. C. 28, when Augustus set himself particularly to restore the public buildings, which had fallen into neglect during the civil wars.

Augustus passed several sumptuary laws to keep down the expensive habits of the rich citizens, regulating in particular the cost of festivals and banquets. But they soon fell into disuse and contempt, as Tiberius, writing to the Senate fifty years afterwards, declared: “Tot a majoribus refertae leges, tot quas divus Augustus tulit, illae oblivione, hae, quod flagitiosius est, contemptu abolitae securiorem luxum fecere.” (Tac. Ann. iii. 54). Horace in this Ode complains that the rich are wasting their means on fine houses and luxurious living, contrary to the example of their forefathers, who were content to live in huts while they built handsome temples for the gods.

Argument.—The rich man’s palaces and flower-gardens and ponds are occupying all our once fertile land. This was not the way of our ancestors, who had but little while the state was rich, who dwelt in no spacious houses, whom the law bade content themselves with a turf-roofed cottage, and beautify the towns and temples with marble.

1. Jam pauca aratro] Tiberius (see Introduction) complained to the Senate that Rome was entirely dependent on the provinces for her corn, and was at the mercy of the winds and waves, which might at any time cut off the supply and reduce the citizens to live on their ornamental woods and country-houses. (Compare Sall. Bell. Cat. 13.) ‘Regiae’ is used in the same way[304] as ‘rex’ elsewhere (see C. i. 4. 14). ‘Regal piles’ are the enormous villas of the rich. ‘Jam’ means ‘soon.’

2. undique latius] Cicero (ad Att. i. 18, 19, 20) complains that some of his contemporaries (‘piscinarii’ he calls them) were so devoted to their fish-ponds (‘stagna’), that they cared more for them than for all the interests of the state, as if this might fall and they still keep their playthings: “Ita sunt stulti ut amissa republica piscinas suas fore salvas sperare videantur” (18). Elsewhere he calls them ‘piscinarum Tritones’ (ii. 9). As to the ‘lacus Lucrinus,’ see A. P. 63, n.

6. Myrtus] This word is of two declensions. So likewise are ‘quercus,’ ‘laurus,’ ‘pinus,’ ‘cornus,’ ‘ficus.’

omnis copia narium] ‘Every abundance of sweet smells.’ ‘Narium’ is put for the perfumes of flowers. It is not so used elsewhere.

10. ictus.] ‘Ictus’ is used by other poets besides Horace for the fierce rays of the sun. See Ovid, Met. v. 389. Lucretius, ii. 808.

11. intonsi] This is equivalent to ‘antiqui.’ ‘Catonis’ is M. Porcius Cato, called the Censor from the stern way in which he executed the duties of that office, B. C. 184, doing all he could to put down luxurious and expensive habits.

13. census] A man’s property was called his ‘census’ because it was rated by the censors once in five years, and the period was called a ‘lustrum,’ because, when this duty was finished, the censors performed a lustration, or sacrifice of atonement for the city.

14. nulla decempedis] ‘Privatis’ agrees with ‘decempedis.’ Horace complains that the private houses of his day had verandahs (‘porticus’) so large as to be measured by a ten-foot rule. Here they dined in the hot weather, and caught the cool breezes of the north. This practice was called ‘coenatio ad Boream.’ ‘Opacam excipiebat Arcton’ is like Virgil’s ‘Frigus captabis opacum’ (Ec. i. 53), where ‘the shady coolness’ means ‘the coolness caused by the shade’: and ‘opacam Arcton’ combines the notions of the north wind and the coolness of the shady side of the house, which was the north side. ‘Metata’ is again used passively in S. ii. 2. 114, but no other writer so uses the word.

17. Fortuitum caespitem] ‘The turf that lies at hand,’ and so, ‘cheap.’ This means cottages roofed with turf, as Virgil says (Ec. i. 69), “tuguri congestum culmine caespes.” ‘Fortuitum’ is equivalent to τὸν τυχόντα. Horace alludes to the ruined state of the temples in C. ii. 18. 2.

The person to whom this Ode is addressed, Pompeius Grosphus, is said to have been of the equestrian order. He was possessed of large property in Sicily, of which island he was probably a native. On his return, Horace gave him a letter of introduction to his friend Iccius (Epp. i. 12), in which he speaks highly of his worth. He is not to be confounded with the Pompeius of C. ii. 7 (Introduction). He appears, from the latter part of the Ode, to have been in Sicily when it was written. Perhaps he had written Horace a letter which called up the particular train of thought that runs through the Ode, or had qualities which made it applicable to him. The object of the Ode is to reprove the craving for happiness which has been bestowed upon others.

Argument.—The sailor and the savage warrior alike pray for rest, but wealth cannot buy it. Riches and power cannot remove care from the dwelling. The humble alone are free. Why do we aim at so much happiness in this short life, and run away from home? We cannot fly from ourselves and care. We should be cheerful for the present, and not expect perfect happiness. One man lives many days, another has few. I may have opportunities of happiness which are denied to thee; and yet thou hast ample possessions, and I but a humble farm, a breath of the Grecian Muse, and a contempt for the vulgar.

2. Prensus Aegaeo,] ‘Deprensus’ (‘overtaken,’ ‘caught’) was a nautical term for a ship overtaken by a storm. The storms of the Ægean are mentioned C. iii. 29. 63. ‘Simul’ is the same as ‘simul ac.’

10. Summovet] This is the proper word to express the lictor’s duty of clearing the way. The lictor is called ‘consularis,’ because the consuls were attended by these officers, as were other high magistrates. As to ‘laqueata,’ see S. ii. 3. 273, n.

14. salinum,] See note on S. i. 3. 13. ‘Cupido,’ when it refers to the love of money, is always masculine in Horace.

Patriae — exsul] This is another Grecism, πατρίδος φυγάς. Ovid uses the same construction (Met. ix. 409): “Exsul mentisque domusque.”

21. Scandit aeratas] See C. iii. 1. 37, n. ‘Vitiosa’ may be rendered ‘morbid,’ arising from a diseased state of mind. ‘Æratas’ is ‘brazen-beaked.’ Like sentiments are found in S. ii. 7. 111-115. Epp. i. 11. 25, sqq.; 14. 12, sq.

26. Oderit] This is a strong way of expressing ‘nolit,’ ‘refuse,’ ‘avoid.’

29. cita mors] See C. iv. 6. 4, n. He was destined to an early death, and therefore calls himself μινυνθάδιος (Il. i. 352).

30. Tithonum] Eos (Aurora) obtained for her husband Tithonus the gift of immortality, of which, when old age became too great a burden, he repented, and was taken by her to heaven (see C. i. 28. 8).

31. Et mihi] ‘and perhaps to me Time shall give some blessing he denies to thee.’ He then goes on to compare their respective gifts and means to say that he is as satisfied with his humble condition as Grosphus should be with his riches.

35. equa,] Mares rather than horses were used for racing. Virg. Georg. i. 59: “Eliadum palmas Epiros equarum.” As to ‘quadriga,’ see Epp. i. 11. 29, n.

bis Afro Murice tinctae] These garments were called δίβαφα; compare Epod. xii. 21: “Muricibus Tyriis iteratae vellera lanae.” The purple dyes most prized were the Tyrian, the Sidonian (Epp. i. 10. 26), the Laconian (C. ii. 18. 8), and African (Epp. ii. 2. 181). The garment dyed with this color was the lacerna, an outer cloak worn over the toga. It was very costly. What these garments gained in appearance by their dye, they lost in savor; for Martial reckons among the worst smelling objects “bis murice vellus inquinatum.”

38. Spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae] ‘A slight breath of the Grecian Muse,’ which is a modest way of describing his talents as a follower of the lyric poets of Greece.

39. Parca non mendax] Elsewhere he addresses the Parcae as ‘veraces’[306] (C. S. 25). The Parcae, who correspond to the Greek Μοῖραι, were goddesses, whose office it was to execute the decrees of Jove (‘fata’), which therefore they knew, and were said sometimes to reveal. They attended men at their birth, and foretold their character and fortunes, and so Horace says Parca gave him the gifts he mentions. The original conception, which Homer adopts, supposed but one Μοῖρα, and Horace uses the singular number. But according to the later notions there were three. See next Ode, v. 16.

malignum] ‘spiteful,’ which Horace says feelingly, for he had suffered from their malice.

The last two lines of this Ode, showing that Horace had not yet paid the sacrifice he had vowed to Faunus for his preservation from death, makes it most probable that it was written not long after C. 13 of this book, B. C. 25 or 26. In the same year Mæcenas appears to have recovered from a fever, and to have been received with applause in the theatre on his first appearance after his illness (C. i. 20. 3). But his recovery seems to have been only partial, and it would appear that Horace had to listen to his complaints and apprehensions of death, his fear of which is said to have been great. Horace remonstrates with his friend in an affectionate way about his complaints and apprehensions.

Argument.—Why kill me with thy complaints? I cannot survive thee, Mæcenas; one half of my life being gone, how should the other stay behind? I have sworn to die with thee, and the monsters of hell shall not separate us. Our star is one and the same. The power of Jove rescued thee from the adverse influence of Saturn on that day when thou wert received with acclamations in the theatre, and Faunus at the same time rescued me from death. Offer thy sacrifice and dedicate thy temple, and I will offer my unpretending lamb.

2. amicum est] A translation of the Greek φίλον ἐστί, and equivalent to ‘placet.’

6. altera,] ‘I, the other part.’ Two definitions of friendship by Pythagoras are worth preserving. One is, σώματα μὲν δύο ψυχή δὲ μία, and the other ἐστὶ γὰρ ὣς φαμεν ὁ φίλος δεύτερος ἐγώ. Erasmus (Adag. Neaera et Charmion) speaks of a custom of the Egyptians, among whom it was usual for persons to bind themselves by an oath each not to survive the other, such persons being called οἱ συναποθνήσκοντες. This, if true, corresponds with Cæsar’s account of the Soldurii (B. G. iii. 22).

7. Nec carus aeque] ‘Carus’ requires ‘ipsi’ to be supplied, as (Epp. i. 3. 29), “Si patriae volumus, si nobis vivere cari.” ‘Neither so dear’ (to myself as you were to me), nor surviving with an entire life. Horace and Mæcenas died the same year, and it has been unreasonably surmised, from this coincidence and the language here used, that Horace hastened his own death in order to accompany his friend. (Compare Epod. i. 5.)

14. Gyas] This name is sometimes written Gyges. It belongs to one of the giants who made war upon Zeus.

16. Justitiae] Δίκη and the Μοῖραι were daughters of Zeus and Themis,[307] and the former is here introduced as associated with her sisters. See C. 16. 39, n.

17. Seu Libra] What Horace thought of astrology may be collected from C. i. 11. He introduces a little of it here to entertain his friend, showing, at the same time, but little care or knowledge of the subject, and rather a contempt for it. He says whatever the constellation may have been under which he was born, whether Libra, Scorpio, or Capricornus, his star no doubt coincided with that of Mæcenas, for that their fortunes were one.

20. Capricornus] The sun enters this constellation in the winter. It is therefore charged with the storms that then occur, and is called the tyrant of the western wave, as Notus is called the lord of the Hadriatic (C. i. 3. 15).

23. refulgens] Shining in opposition, so as to counteract his influences. Those who were born when Saturn was visible were supposed to be liable to all manner of ills. But the star of Jupiter, if it shone at the same time, would destroy the power of Saturn.

28. Sustulerat,] The use of the indicative in hypothetical cases of this kind is not easily reduced to rule; but it seems to correspond to the Greek construction of ἄν with the indicative. When the condition is not fulfilled, or is a negative condition, or implies a negation, then the consequent clause may be expressed by the indicative mood, in the pluperfect tense if the action be a complete action and past, in the perfect if it be present. “Sustulerat si non levasset: sed levavit.” Horace’s meaning might be thus expressed: “The trunk had killed me, had not Faunus lightened the blow.” It should be observed, that in sentences of this character the ‘nisi’ or ‘si’ always follows.

Horace was under the particular care of Mercury, the Muses, and Faunus, to each of whom, as well as to Liber (iii. 8. 7), he attributes his preservation on this occasion (C. iii. 4. 27). Faunus or Pan was the son of Hermes or Mercury.

30. Reddere victimas] Mæcenas had vowed an offering, a shrine probably to Apollo, the healer, for his recovery; Horace had vowed a lamb to Faunus (see Introduction).

This Ode, which deals with Horace’s favorite subjects, the levelling power of death, and the vanity of wealth, and the schemes of the wealthy, is dedicated to no particular friend. It is like C. iii. 24.

Argument.—No gold in my roof, no marble in my hall, no palace have I, nor female clients to serve me, but I have honesty and understanding and, though I be poor, I am courted by the rich: what more should I ask of the gods or my friend, content with my single Sabine estate? Days are passing on, and, though ready to drop into thy grave, thou art building and stretching thy borders, and tearing up the landmarks of thy client, and driving him from his home. But to what purpose is this? To Hades thou must go in the end: the earth opens to rich and poor; Prometheus the crafty, and Tantalus the proud, they cannot escape; and the poor man finds in death a release from his toils, whether he seek it or not.

3. trabes] ‘blocks.’ The architrave or base of the entablature resting[308] upon a column is probably meant. The marble from Mount Hymettus in Attica was white. The Numidian, referred to in the next verse, was yellowish.

5. Attali] See C. i. 1. 12, n. ‘I have not, a stranger heir, taken possession of the palace of Attalus.’ The meaning is, ‘I have not had the luck to come to an unexpected estate, as the Romans came in for the property of Attalus.’

8. honestae — clientae:] ‘respectable dependants,’ which may mean the rustic women on a man’s farms, the wives of the ‘coloni.’ This is not the technical sense of ‘cliens’ or ‘clienta,’ for which see Smith’s Dict. Ant.

14. unicis Sabinis] ‘my single Sabine estate.’ Supply ‘praediis.’ The farm which Mæcenas gave him in the valley of the Digentia, among the Sabine hills.

16. interire] This word seems to be an adaptation of φθίνειν, by which the Greek expressed the latter days of the month.

17. Tu secanda marmora Locas] You—i.e. any luxurious old man—‘You enter into contracts for the hewing of marble,’ to ornament your houses, in the way of pillars, wall-coating, and floors. ‘Locare’ may be said either of one who receives or of one who pays money: ‘locare rem faciendam’ or ‘utendam,’ to let out work to be done, or to let a thing (as a house, &c.) to be used. In the former case the ‘locator’ pays, in the latter he receives payment. Here the former is meant. The correlative terms are ‘redemptor’ and ‘conductor.’ See C. iii. 1. 35, n.

20. urges Summovere littora,] Compare with this C. iii. 1. 33, sqq. “Contracta pisces aequora sentiunt.” ‘Summovere’ is to push up or push out farther into the sea by artificial means, and so increase your grounds on which to build. As to ‘Baiae,’ see Epp. i. 1. 83, n.

22. ripa.] ‘Ripa’ is not used for ‘littus,’ ‘the shore of the sea’ (as here), so often as ‘littus’ is used for ‘ripa,’ ‘the bank of a river.’

23. Quid, quod usque] ‘Quid’ and ‘quid enim’ are commonly used to introduce a fresh instance or illustration of what has been said before, or else they carry on the flow of an argument, or something of that sort. It has been usual to insert a note of interrogation after it in these cases, which only makes an intelligible formula unintelligible.

24. Revellis agri terminos] A law of the twelve tables provided against this wrong. “Patronus si clienti fraudem fecerit, sacer esto.” Solomon thus exhorts the rich (Prov. xxiii. 10, 11); “Remove not the old landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless; for their Redeemer is mighty, he shall plead with thee.”

29. Nulla certior tamen] ‘There is no dwelling marked out (or defined) which more certainly awaits the wealthy landlord than the bounds of greedy Orcus.’ Horace means to say, ‘Though you think you may push the boundary of your estate farther and farther, you must go to a home marked out for you, and which you can neither expand nor escape from.’ In ‘destinata’ (agreeing with ‘aula’) and in ‘finis’ is contained the notion of prescribed and fixed limits, in which the force of the passage lies.

35. Callidum Promethea] This story of Prometheus trying to bribe Charon is not found elsewhere.

40. Vocatus atque non vocatus audit.] Horace’s language is bold, coupling[309] ‘audit’ with ‘non vocatus.’ ‘Functum laboribus,’ ‘when he has finished his labors,’ is derived from the Greek κεκμηκότα.

This Ode was perhaps composed at the time of the Liberalia, like the third elegy of the fifth book of Ovid’s Tristia. The scene is laid in the woods, and the poet is supposed to come suddenly upon the party, consisting of Bacchus, with his attendant nymphs and the wild creatures of the woods, all attending with admiration to the god as he sings his own achievements. The poet is smitten with terror, which gives place (v. 9) to the inspiration of the divinity, in virtue of which he breaks out into echoes of all he had heard.

Argument.—Among the far hills I saw Bacchus—O wonderful!—reciting, and the Nymphs learning, and the Satyrs all attention. Awe is fresh in my heart; the god is within me, and I am troubled with joy. O spare me, dread Liber! It is past, and I am free to sing of the Bacchanals; of fountains of wine and milk and honey; of Ariadne; of Pentheus, and Lycurgus; how thou tamedst the waters of the East, and dost sport with the Thracian nymphs; how thou hurledst the giant from heaven, and how Cerberus did crouch to thee, and lick thy feet.

1. Bacchum] The legends and attributes of Bacchus contained in this Ode are entirely of Greek origin. The Romans had no independent notions of this divinity, whose name Βάκχος, ‘the shouter,’ is properly no more than an adjunct of Διόνυσος.

2. docentem — discentes] These correspond to the terms διδάσκειν and μανθάνειν, as applied to the choragus who trained, and the chorus who learnt their parts in the Greek plays.

3. Nymphasque] The Naiades and Dryades (see C. iii. 25. 14). These nymphs were the nurses of Bacchus in his infancy, and are always represented as his companions.

4. Capripedum Satyrorum] The Satyrs are usually confounded with the Fauns, Faunus again being confounded with Pan, who was represented with goat’s feet like the Satyrs. Lucian describes the Satyrs as being ὀξεῖς τὰ ὦτα, but only describes Pan as having the lower extremities like a goat, τὰ κάτω αἰγὶ ἐοικώς. It is vain, therefore, trying to trace any consistency in the poet’s conceptions of these uncouth divinities.

9. Fas est] ‘the god permits me.’ Here the poet is supposed to recover from the terror inspired by the god, and to feel that he is at liberty to repeat what he has heard. ‘Fas est’ is equivalent to δυνατόν ἐστι. The power as well as the permission of the god is given. C. i. 11. 1, n.

Thyiadas] The attendants of Bacchus were so called, from the Greek word θύειν, ‘to rave.’

10. lactis — mella;] The same attribute that made Dionysus the god of wine also gave him milk and honey as his types. He represented the exuberance of nature, and was therein closely connected with Demeter. Any traveller in the East can tell of honeycombs on the trees as curiously wrought as any in garden-hives. Virgil says (Ec. iv. 30): “Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella.”

12. iterare] This means ‘to repeat’ what the poet had heard from the god, as he taught the nymphs to praise him.

13. Fas et] ‘Et’ is used by the poets as an enclitic, and put after the word it belongs to, which is not done by the prose-writers.

beatae conjugis] i.e. Ariadne, whose crown is one of the constellations, ‘corona,’ placed in heaven by Bacchus, according to the story recorded in his happy manner by Ovid (Fast. iii. 459-516).

14. tectaque Penthei] Pentheus, king of Thebes (Epp. i. 16. 74), having gone out to see the secret orgies of Bacchus, was torn to pieces by the Bacchanals, with his mother Agave at the head of them.

17. Tu flectis amnes,] The Hydaspes and Orontes, which Bacchus is said to have walked over dry-shod.

19. Nodo coërces] This is a variation of ‘nodo cohibere crinem’ (C. iii. 14. 22). ‘Bistonidum’ means the women of the Bistones, a Thracian tribe. ‘Fraus,’ in this sense of ‘harm,’ occurs again, C. S. 41.

21. Tu, cum parentis] Horace followed some legend not found by us elsewhere in this description of Bacchus changed into a lion and fighting with the giant Rhœtus. As to the wars of the Giants, see notes on C. ii. 12. 6, and iii. 4. 43, 50.

28. Pacis eras mediusque belli.] ‘You were the same, whether engaged in (in the midst of) peace or war’; the same, i.e. as vigorous in war as in the dance or jest.

30. Cornu decorum,] Dionysus was called by the Greeks χρυσόκερως, because he was the son of Jupiter Ammon, called the Horned. This symbol of power, common to the Greeks as well as to all the nations of the East (see the Hebrew Scriptures passim), was adopted from this divinity by Alexander the Great (who professed to be the brother of Bacchus and son of Ammon) and his successors, who have it represented on their coins. Compare C. iii. 21. 18: “Vires et addis cornua pauperi.”

leniter atterens Caudam,] There is a notion of tameness and pleasure in this action. ‘As you came he gently wagged his tail, as you departed he licked your feet.’ ‘Ter-’ is to turn or wag, and ‘adter-’ is to wag at or towards.

31. trilingui Ore] ‘three mouths,’ as ἑκατομπόδων Νηρηΐδων signifies the hundred Nereids (Soph. Oed. Col. v. 717). See note on ii. 13. 34.

This Ode appears to have been written impromptu, in a mock-heroic or but half serious style, in reply to an invitation of Mæcenas (v. 6). The poet says that he whom Mæcenas delights to honor cannot fail to live for ever, and that he already feels his immortality, and that wings have been given him with which he shall soar to heaven, and fly to the farthest corners of the earth.

Argument.—On a fresh, strong wing shall I soar to heaven, far above envy and the world. Whom thou, dear Mæcenas, delightest to honor, Styx hath no power to detain. Even now my plumage is springing, and I am ready to fly away and sing in distant places, and to teach barbarous nations. No wailings for me; away with the empty honors of a tomb.

4. invidia major] Horace was not too good to be maligned, but he could rise above it, which is the meaning of ‘major,’ κρείσσων. His birth drew contempt upon him while he held a command in Brutus’s army, and afterwards when he became intimate with Mæcenas (see Sat. i. 6. 46, sqq.); but those who envied tried as usual to make use of him (see Sat. ii. 6. 47, sqq.). He appears in some measure to have outlived detraction, according to his own words (C. iv. 3. 16):

6. quem vocas,] ‘whom thou honored by an invitation.’ See Introduction. It was on the strength of such invitations that he affirmed,

11. Superne,] As this is formed from ‘supernus,’ the last syllable would naturally be long; but it is short in Lucretius twice, and the same with ‘inferne.’

13. Daedaleo ocior] Orelli has collected many examples of hiatus like this from Horace, Virgil, and Ovid. See C. i. 28. 24.

16. Hyperboreosque campos.] There was a mystery attached to the distant regions of the north, to which Pindar (Pyth. x.) says no man ever found the way by land or sea. They did not however neglect the Muses. They were a happy race, ἀνδρῶν μακάρων ὅμιλος; a sacred family, ἱερὰ γενεά, free from old age, disease, and war. These considerations will explain Horace’s meaning.

18. Marsae cohortis] The Marsi were one of the hardiest of the Italian tribes, and supplied the best foot-soldiers for the Roman army, which is hence called ‘Marsa cohors’ (see C. iii. 5. 9).

Dacus — Geloni,] See C. i. 19. 10, n. The Daci were not finally subdued till the reign of Trajan.

19. peritus] Here the meaning is ‘instructed,’ as ‘juris peritus’ is one instructed and skilled in the law. Horace means that barbarous nations will become versed in his writings: ‘mei peritus me discet’ is perhaps the full sentence. But why he should class those who drank of the waters of the Rhone (of which many Romans drank) with the barbarians mentioned, is not easy to understand.

Rhodanique potor.] This mode of expression for the inhabitants of a country, as those who drink of their national river, is repeated twice, C. iii. 10. 1, and C. iv. 15. 21.

21. inani funere] That is, a funeral without a corpse. The poet says he shall have taken flight and shall not die. The idea is like that of Ennius in those verses (quoted by Cicero de Senect. c. 20),—

“Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu
Faxit. Cur? Volito vivu’ per ora virum.”

24. supervacuos] The prose-writers before Pliny used the form ‘supervacaneus.’

This and the five following Odes are generally admitted to be among the finest specimens of Horace’s manner. It has been already said (C. ii. 15, Introduction) that they appear all to have been written about the same time with one another and with other Odes, namely, that time when Augustus set himself the task of social reformation, after the close of the civil wars.

The general purport of this Ode is an exhortation to moderate living and desires.

The first stanza is generally understood to have been added as an introduction to the six Odes, viewed as a whole.

Argument.—The worldly I despise, but have new precepts for the young. Kings rule over their people, but are themselves the subjects of Jove. One may be richer, another nobler than his fellows, but all alike must die. No indulgence can get sleep for him who has a sword ever hanging over him, while it disdains not the dwellings of the poor. He who is content with a little, fears not storm or drought. The rich man builds him houses on the very waters, but anxiety follows him, go where he will. If, then, the luxuries of the wealthy cure not grief, why should I build me great houses, or seek to change my lot?

1. Odi profanum vulgus] The first stanza is an imitation of the language used by the priests at the mysteries, requiring “the multitude profane,” that is, all but the initiated, or those who were to be initiated, to stand aloof. ‘Favere linguis,’ like εὐφημεῖν, in its first meaning signifies the speaking words of good omen. But it came as commonly to signify total silence, as here. Horace speaks as if he despaired of impressing his precepts on any but the young, and bids the rest stand aside, as incapable of being initiated in the true wisdom of life.

5. Regum timendorum] He begins by saying that even kings, though they are above their people, are themselves inferior to Jove, and goes on to say that, though one man may be richer or nobler than another, all must die; that the rich have no exemption from care, but much more of it than the humble.

7. triumpho, Cuncta] There is some abruptness in this, from the absence of ‘et.’ But it is not wanted. As to the Giants’ wars, see C. ii. 12. 6, n., 19. 21; iii. 4. 43, 50.

9. Est ut] This is equivalent to ἐστὶν ὡς, ‘it may be.’ ‘Esto’ without ‘ut’ occurs in Sat. i. 6. 19. The meaning of the sentence is, that one man possesses more lands than another.

10. hic generosior] ‘Generosior’ is more noble by birth, as another is more distinguished for his character and deeds, and a third for the number of his clients, of whom it was the pride of the wealthy Romans to have a large body depending on them.

11. Descendat in Campum] The Campus Martius was an open space, which afterwards came to be encroached upon by buildings, outside the city walls on the northeast quarter, and on the left bank of the Tiber. The comitia centuriata, at which the election of magistrates took place, were held in the Campus Martius. ‘Descendere’ is the word used for gladiators going into the arena to fight, and is also applied to the contests for office.

13. Contendat,] ‘runs against him.’ This verb is used sometimes as a transitive verb for ‘petere,’ as in Cic. in Verr. (ii. 2. 53), “Hic magistratus a populo summa ambitione contenditur.”

18. Siculae dapes] The Sicilians were at one time proverbial for good living. The story alluded to is that of Damocles, told by Cicero (Tusc. Disp. v. 21), who was invited by Dionysius of Syracuse to a feast, and was set in the midst of luxuries, but with a sword hanging by a single hair over his head; by which the king meant him to understand the character of his own happiness, which had excited the admiration of Damocles. Horace says generally, that the rich cannot enjoy their riches, since they have ever a sword, in the shape of danger, hanging over them.

20. Non avium] It is said that Mæcenas sought sleep by the help of distant music. Aviaries were not uncommon in the houses of the rich.

27. Arcturi cadentis — orientis Haedi,] Arcturus sets early in November. The constellation Auriga, of which the kids (two stars) form a part, rises about the first of October.

29. verberatae grandine vineae] See Epp. i. 8. 4: “Grando contuderit vites.” ‘Mendax fundus’ is like “spem mentita seges” (Epp. i. 7. 87), and opposed to “segetis certa fides” (C. iii. 16. 30).

30. arbore nunc aquas] Horace says he who is content with a little has never to complain, like the rich, of storms by sea or land, or of the failing of his fruits through rain, heat, or frost, which last he expresses thus: “or his farm disappointing him, when his trees complain one while of the rains, another of the constellation (Sirius) that parches the fields, and again of the cruel frosts.”

33. Contracta pisces aequora sentiunt] Compare C. ii. 18. 20, and Epp. i. 1. 84.

35. Caementa demittit redemptor] Compare C. iii. 24. 3, sq. The walls were faced on either side with stone, and loose stones (‘caementa’) were thrown in between. ‘Frequens — redemptor’ means ‘many a contractor.’ ‘Dominus’ is the proprietor of the estate. ‘Redimere’ or ‘conducere’ was said of one who undertook to perform certain work for a stipulated price, and the person who gave him the work was said ‘locare.’ See C. ii. 18. 17, n.

39. triremi, et] The ‘aerata triremis’ was the rich man’s private yacht. The epithet is commonly applied to ships of war, because their rostra were ornamented and strengthened with bronze (‘aes’). See C. ii. 16. 21.

43. Delenit] The expression ‘purpurarum usus sidere clarior’ is uncommon. The first two words, which belong properly to ‘purpurarum,’ are transferred to ‘usus,’—‘the enjoyment or possession of purple brighter than a star’: which, though ‘sidus’ should be taken for the sun, as it may be, or a constellation, as it usually is, is rather a singular comparison for purple.

44. Achaemeniumque costum,] ‘Persian oil.’ See C. ii. 12. 21. ‘Costum’[314] was an Eastern aromatic shrub. The Greeks called it κόστος, but the name is probably Eastern. It is not the spikenard, as it is generally called.

45. Cur invidendis] ‘Why should I build a high palace, with a splendid entrance and in the modern style? Why change my Sabine vale for troublesome wealth?’ On the construction with ‘permutem,’ see C. i. 17. 2, n.

The purpose of this Ode is to commend public and social virtue, and the opening shows that it is a continuation of the preceding Ode. It is addressed chiefly to young men, and tells them that military virtue is the parent of contentment.

Argument.—Contentment is to be learned in arms and danger. To die for our country is glorious, and death pursues the coward. Virtue is superior to popular favor or rejection, and opens the way to the skies, and rises above the dull atmosphere of this world. Good faith, too, has its reward, and I would not be the companion of the man who neglects it, lest I share his sure reward.

1. amice] ‘Amice ferre’ is the reverse of the common phrase ‘moleste ferre.’ ‘Let the youth, made strong by active warfare, learn to endure contentedly privations.’

Ilium ex moenibus] This picture represents the fears of the Parthian mother and maiden, the danger of their son and lover, and the prowess of the Roman soldier, likened to a fierce lion. Helen, looking out with her damsels from the walls of Troy (Il. iii. 139, sqq.), or Antigone looking from the walls of Thebes (Eurip. Phoen. 88), was perhaps before Horace’s mind.

13. Dulce et decorum est] In Horace’s mind there was a close connection between the virtue of frugal contentment and devotion to one’s country. They are associated below (C. iv. 9. 49, sqq.).

‘Persequi’ signifies ‘to pursue and overtake.’ ‘Timido’ applies to both ‘poplitibus’ and ‘tergo’ (see note on C. i. 2. 1).

17. Virtus repulsae nescia sordidae] ‘Nescia’ seems to mean ‘unconscious of,’ because ‘indifferent to’ the disgrace of rejection, which, if disgraceful to any, is not so to the virtuous, but to those who reject them.

18. Intaminatis] This word is not found elsewhere. Like ‘contaminatus,’ ‘attaminatus,’ it is derived from the obsolete word ‘tamino,’ and contains the root ‘tag’ of ‘tango,’ as ‘integer’ does.

20. popularis aurae.] ‘the (fickle) favor of the people.’ This word, which means that the popular judgment is like a shifting breeze, setting now this way, now that, appears in Virgil (Aen. vi. 817):—

which words of Simonides it appears Augustus was acquainted with, and approved. Plutarch tells this story. When Athenodorus was about to leave Augustus’s camp, he embraced the emperor, and said, “O Cæsar, whenever thou art wroth, say nothing, do nothing, till thou hast gone over in thy mind the twenty-four letters of the alphabet.” Whereupon the emperor took him[315] by the hand, and said, “I have need of thee still”; and he detained him a whole year, saying, “Silence, too, hath its safe reward.” Horace’s indignation is levelled against the breaking of faith generally, and the divulging of the secrets of Ceres (whose rites, however, it appears, were only attended by women) is only mentioned by way of illustration. Secrecy is a sign of good faith, and not an easy one to practise. There are few moral qualities that can be said to take precedence of it. It is the basis of friendship, as Cicero says, and without it society cannot exist. (Compare S. i. 4. 84, n.) It is probable, if Plutarch’s story be true, that Horace had heard Augustus repeat his favorite axiom.

26, etc.] ‘I will not suffer the person who has divulged the sacred mysteries of Ceres to be under the same roof, or to sail in the same vessel, with me.’

29. Solvat phaselon;] That is, ‘de littore,’ ‘to unmoor.’ The precise character of the worship of Ceres at Rome is not easily made out. There were no mysteries among the Romans corresponding to the Eleusinian or any of the other Greek Μυστήρια.

Diespiter] See C. i. 34. 5, n. ‘Oft doth Jove neglected join the pure with the unclean,’ that is, punishes the innocent with the guilty who have offended him. For another example of ‘incesto,’ see next Ode (v. 19). ‘Addidit’ and ‘deseruit’ have the force of the aorist.

32. Deseruit pede Poena claudo.] The avengers of guilt are called by the Greek tragedians ὑστερόποινοι, ὑστεροφθόροι. ‘Pede claudo,’ ‘of limping foot,’ and so, ‘slow.’

This Ode commends the virtue of perseverance by the example of heroes who had secured divine honors by it. Juno is introduced as making a long speech to the assembled gods, when it was proposed to admit Romulus among them. This speech is contrived in order to introduce the glory and extent of the Roman empire and the praises of Augustus. It also contains indirect exhortations to abstinence and contentment, and so bears on the general scope of these Odes. It is said that Julius Cæsar meant to transfer the seat of empire to Alexandria in Troas, or to Ilium; and perhaps in Horace’s time, among the remedies proposed for the evils of the state, some may have freely spoken of transferring the seat of government to another spot. It is equally probable that the site of Troy, the city of their ancestors and the fountain of their race, may have been fixed upon for that purpose. To meet the spirit of avarice in some, and restlessness in all that would be mixed up with such a notion, seems to have been another purpose of this Ode. The Romans attached much importance to the legend which derived their origin from the Trojans. See S. ii. 5. 63.

Argument.—The upright man and firm no terrors can drive from his purpose. Through this virtue Pollux, Hercules, Augustus, Bacchus, have been translated to the skies. Romulus likewise, at the instance of Juno, who thus addressed the assembled gods: “Ilium hath paid the penalty of its founder’s crime. That impious umpire and his foreign strumpet have overthrown it. But his beauty is gone. Priam’s perjured house hath fallen; the war our quarrels protracted is at an end. My wrath then I remit. Let Mars have his hated grandson; let him come among us: only let seas roll between Ilium and Rome, and let the exiles reign where they will; let their capitol stand, and the Mede own their sway; but let the tomb of Priam and of Paris be the[316] lair of beasts. From Gades to the Nile let her be feared, but let her learn to despise the gold that lies buried in the ground. Let her stretch her arms to the limits of the earth, to the stormy North and the fiery East, but let her not dare to rebuild the walls of Troy. On an evil day would she rise again: thrice let her rise, thrice should she fall by the power of Jove’s sister and spouse.” But hold, my Muse, nor bring down such themes, to the sportive lyre.

2. jubentium,] This is the technical word for the passing of a law by the people. “Jubetisne Quirites?” was the way of putting the question. Other instances of ‘jubere’ with the accusative are S. ii. 3. 141, 5. 70. Epp. ii. 2. 63.

5. Dux inquieti turbidus Hadriae,] Compare C. ii. 17. 19, and i. 3. 15. This assemblage of terrible objects is heterogeneous enough, but the seventh and eighth verses present a fine picture. ‘Though the arch (of heaven) break and fall on (him), the wreck will strike a fearless man.’ ‘Orbis’ is used for the sky, as the Greek poets used κύκλος with or without οὐρανοῦ.

6. fulminantis] This is a word not used by prose-writers of Horace’s day. The same may be said of ‘triumphatis’ (v. 43).

7. illabatur] The regular construction would be with the future, as the future follows in ‘ferient.’ ‘Illabatur’ should have ‘feriant’ in prose. See below, C. 9. 12, n.

10. Enisus] This means struggling forward with earnestness, which is the force of ‘e.’ Compare C. iv. 8. 29. Epp. ii. 1. 5, sq.

12. Purpureo bibit ore nectar.] See note on Epp. ii. 1. 15. The epithet ‘purpureo’ is applied to ‘ore’ in its sense of ‘lips.’

16. Martis equis] This appears to have been the genuine old legend of the disappearance of Romulus. See Ovid, Met. xiv. 820, sqq. Fast. ii. 495, sq. See note on Epod. xvi. 13.

21. ex quo] ‘ever since.’ This signifies that the fall of Troy was determined from the time of Laomedon’s crime, and that the crime of Paris and Helen caused its accomplishment. ‘Destituo’ with an ablative is unusual. In the Iliad (xxi. 441, sqq.) Poseidon relates how he built the walls of Troy, while Apollo kept sheep for Laomedon, father of Priam, and how they were cheated of their pay and dismissed with threats, when their work was done. The same king cheated Hercules out of some horses he had promised him, and he lost his life for his pains. Juno and Minerva had their own quarrel with Troy for the judgment of Paris, which gave Venus the prize of beauty; but Juno here makes out a different case against the city.

23. damnatum] Agreeing with ‘Ilion’ (v.18). The feminine form ‘Ilios’ occurs elsewhere (Epod. xiv. 14).

25. adulterae] It is doubtful whether Horace meant that for the dative or genitive case, that is, whether it goes with ‘splendet’ or ‘hospes.’

29. ductum] ‘Ducere’ and ‘trahere’ are sometimes used for ‘producere’ and ‘protrahere.’

32. Troica] There is much scorn in Juno’s language, as in the words ‘mulier peregrina,’ ‘Troica sacerdos,’ ‘fatalis incestusque judex,’ ‘exsules.’ ‘Invisum nepotem’ was Romulus, her grandson through Mars. ‘Troica sacerdos’ was Rea Silvia, or Ilia, the Vestal virgin, daughter of Numitor, and descended from Æneas.

34. ducere nectaris] ‘Ducere’ is common in this sense of ‘quaffing.’ So the Greeks used ἕλκειν and σπᾷν. They both occur in one verse of Euripides (Cycl. 417),

35. quietus Ordinibus — deorum.] This savors of the Epicureanism Horace had learned in early life: “Deos didici securum agere aevum” (S. i. 5. 101).

“Scilicet is superis labor est, ea cura quietos
Sollicitat.” (Aen. iv. 379.)

40. Priami — busto] Priam had no tomb, according to Virgil’s account (Aen. ii. 557), but Horace assumes that he had one. No greater affront could be supposed than is here desired. Electra represents Ægisthus as leaping on her father’s grave intoxicated with wine (Eurip. Elect. 326, sq.). Compare Epod. xvi. 10, sqq., and Il. iv. 177.

48. rigat arva Nilus,] The connection between the two stanzas is this ‘Let Rome extend her arms as she will,—to the ends of the earth, to the pillars of Hercules, to the Nile,—only let her not, as her possessions increase, learn to prize gold above virtue’; which is thus expressed, ‘Only be she stronger by despising the gold that yet lies hid, and is better placed when concealed in the earth, than by gathering it for man’s use with hand that plunders all that is sacred.’ ‘Humanos in usus’ is opposed to ‘divinos’ implied in ‘sacrum.’

53. Quicunque mundo terminus obstitit,] ‘Whatever boundary presents itself to the world.’

58. ne nimium pii] She supposes the Romans to make it a reason for rebuilding Troy, that it was a pious duty they owed to their ancestors. See Introduction.

61. alite lugubri] The auspices were usually taken before the building of a town.

64. Conjuge me Jovis et sorore.] Both Horace and Virgil (Aen. i. 46) get this combination from Homer (Il. xvi. 432):

65. Ter si resurgat] Three is often used for an indefinite number, as here. See Georg. i. 281; iv. 384. Ovid, Met. x. 452; also below, C. 4. 79, “trecentae catenae.”

murus aëneus] Horace is partial to this epithet. See Epp. i. 1. 60. C. 9. 18. C. 16. 1. It means no more, in this derived use, than strength and stability. ‘Aëneus’ is never used as a word of three syllables.

66. Auctore Phoebo,] Virgil has “Troiae Cynthius auctor” (G. iii. 36). See note on v. 21.

72. Magna modis tenuare parvis] ‘To degrade lofty themes by your humble strains.’

Pursuing his purpose, Horace here commends the power of wisdom and learning in subduing brute force and violent passions, which he illustrates by a fabulous story about himself when he was an infant, and by the protection[318] he has always received from the Muses, by the love Augustus bore them, and by the destruction of the giants when they attacked the skies, which the poet attributes to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.

Argument.—Come down, Calliope, and sing a lofty strain. Is it a dream, or am I wandering in the Muses’ grove? I was a child, and, tired with play, I lay down to sleep on the Apulian hills. There doves made me a covering of leaves, and I slept safe, and men might well wonder how the gods were present with me. Yours am I, ye Muses, on the Sabine hills, at Tibur, at Præneste, or at Baiæ. Because I love your fountains and your choir, I perished not when the battle was turned, nor by the accursed tree, nor in the Sicilian waters. Be ye with me, and I will visit the mad Bosporus, the sands of the East, the savage Briton, the Concan, the Geloni, and the Tanais, unharmed. Ye refresh Augustus when he brings back his weary troops from the war. Mild are your counsels, and in peace is your delight. We know how that bold giant band struck terror into the heart of Jove; but what was their strength against the ægis of Pallas? ’T was that which drove them back, though Vulcan too, and Juno, and Apollo with his bow, were there. Brute force falls, self-destroyed: the gods detest violence, but tempered strength they promote: let Gyas be my witness, Orion the seducer, Earth mourning for her sons, Ætna with its ever-burning and unconsuming flame, the vulture of Tityus, and the chains of Peirithous.

2. longum] This seems to mean a sustained and stately song. Calliope was generally called the Muse of Epic poetry.

6. pios Errare per lucos] The woods are called ‘pios,’ as sacred to the Muses.

9. fabulosae] This word belongs to ‘palumbes,’ the ‘storied doves,’ as “fabulosus Hydaspes” (C. i. 22. 8). The range of the Apennines that bore the name ‘Vultur’ was partly in Apulia and partly in Lucania. It is still called Monte Vulture. Venusia, Horace’s birthplace, was near the boundary of those provinces, whence he calls Apulia his nurse, though elsewhere (S. ii. 1. 34) he says it is doubtful whether he was an Apulian or a Lucanian. Doves, which were sacred to Venus, have their part in sundry tales. Here Horace intimates they were sent to cover him with laurel and myrtle, in token of his future fame, and that he owed his safety to the Muses (see Introduction).

9, 10. Apulo — Apuliae] The quantity of the first two syllables in these words differs, thus: ‘Āpūlo’—‘Ăpūliae.’ Such variations in proper names are not unusual in the Latin poets. The word ‘Sicanus’ is used as three different feet. ‘Italus’ has the first syllable long or short, and so with other names.

11. Ludo fatigatumque somno] It is clear that some other word, like ‘oppressum,’ must be understood for ‘somno.’ It is a translation of καμάτῳ ἀδδηκότες ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ (Il. x. 98). Acherontia, Bantia, and Forentum were neighboring towns, and still retain their names under the forms Acerenza, Vanci, Forenza. Stories, such as Horace has here invented for himself, are told of Stesichorus, Pindar, Æschylus, Plato.

22. Tollor] Ovid uses the word in this sense (Met. vii. 779). The Sabine hills were part of the Apennines, which Horace had to climb when he went to his farm. ‘Seu’ is understood after ‘vester.’ The epithet ‘liquidae,’ applied to Baiæ, has reference to the clearness and purity of the atmosphere.

23. Praeneste seu Tibur] See Epp. i. 2. 2, n., as to ‘Praeneste,’ and C. ii. 6. 5, n., as to ‘Tibur,’ which rose from the plain on the right bank of the Anio, on the side of a hill, from which it is called ‘supinum.’

25. Vestris — fontibus] All retired streams and shady groves were held sacred to the Muses (v. 6). Parnassus had its fountain, Castalia; and Helicon two, Hippocrene and Aganippe.

28. Nec Sicula Palinurus unda.] Horace’s escape from shipwreck off Cape Palinurus is nowhere else related; and it is doubtful when it happened. ‘Sicula unda’ for the Tuscan Sea is an unusual limitation. It must not be confounded with Mare Siculum, which was on the other side of Sicily. Palinurus was on the western coast of Lucania. It retains its name as Capo di Palinuro.

33. Visam Britannos] The stories of the human sacrifices of the ancient Britons are too authentic to be doubted. See Tacitus (Ann. xiv. 30). Virgil (Georg. iii. 463) relates of the Geloni (C. i. 19. 10), that they used to eat cheese dipped in horse’s blood. Whether the Concani, who were a Cantabrian tribe, did the same, is doubtful. Horace, perhaps, got his idea from Virgil.

38. addidit] In the year B. C. 25, after the conquest of the Salassi, a people of the Gaulish Alps, Augustus assigned their territory to some of the prætorian troops, and there they built Augusta Prætoria (Aosta), and about the same time there were assigned to others lands in Lusitania on which they built Augusta Emerita (Merida). ‘Additis’ is used in a like case by Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 31): “Coloniae Capua atque Nuceria additis veteranis firmatae sunt.”

40. Pierio recreatis antro] Suetonius, in his Life of Augustus (84, 85), relates that he followed literary pursuits with great zeal, and dabbled in poetry. He could not have had much time for such pursuits when this Ode was written, but he may have said enough to let it be seen that he desired leisure to follow them. As to ‘Pierio,’ see A. P. 405.

41. Vos lene consilium] The penultimate vowel coalesces with the next, as in ‘principium’ (iii. 6. 6), ‘Alfenius’ (S. i. 3. 130), ‘Nasidieni’ (S. ii. 8. 1). So Virgil says (Aen. i. 73): “Connūbio jungam stabili.” ‘Ye give peaceful counsel, and rejoice in giving it, because ye are gentle (‘almae’),’ is the meaning of the words, which are to be taken generally.

43. Titanus immanemque turmam] The wars of the Titanes (with Uranus), the Gigantes, the Aloïdæ, Typhon, or Typhoëus (with Zeus), are all mixed up together in the description which follows. Virgil has given a description (Georg. i. 279, sqq.) where the Titans (Cœus and Iapetus), Typhon, and the Aloïdæ are brought together with little distinction. But neither Horace nor Virgil was writing a mythological history, and in this description of Horace there is great power.

45. terram inertem,] Elsewhere we have ‘bruta tellus’ in the same sense, ‘the dull, motionless earth’ (C. i. 34. 9).

50. Fidens juventus horrida] This appears to be an imitation of Homer’s χείρεσσι πεποιθότες (Il. xii. 135). ‘Horrida juventus’ means the Gigantes, a family different from the Titanes, and younger.

51. Fratresque tendentes] The brothers Horace speaks of were Otus and Ephialtes, the sons of Aloëus, whose exploit of piling Pelion on Ossa in their attack upon Olympus (Olympus, Ossa, and Pelion formed a continuous range, running down the coast of Thessaly), is first mentioned by[320] Homer (Odyss. xi. 314). See Virg. (Georg. i. 280),—

“Et conjuratos caelum rescindere fratres,
Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam
Scilicet, atque Ossae frondosum imponere Olympum,”

where ‘frondosum’ explains Horace’s ‘opaco.’ Ovid inverts the order, and puts Pelion uppermost, as Horace does:—

In the fifth book of the Fasti (v. 35, sqq.), he attributes to the hundred-handed giants (v. 69) the exploit which the oldest legend assigns to the Aloidæ. These variations are only worth noticing as they help to show that the Romans set little value by these stories, and only used them as ornaments of poetry; and to prevent students from wasting their time in attempting to reconcile statements which are not reconcilable—Typhoëus (Τυφωεύς) warred with Zeus on his own account. He belonged neither to the Titanes nor the Gigantes. Mimas and Rhœtus were of the Gigantes. Porphyrion and Enceladus were of the same family.

57. sonantem Palladis aegida] The ‘aegis’ was the skin of the goat Amalthea, the nurse of Zeus, and is said to have been worn by him first in these wars with the Gigantes. It is occasionally found in ancient representations of Jupiter, but more commonly of Minerva. To account for the epithet ‘sohantem,’ we must understand that the ‘aegis’ was taken to represent, not only the goat-skin folded over the breast, but also a shield (Il. xv. 229, sqq.), and a metal breastplate, either of which it may signify here. Homer represents both Apollo and Pallas as wearing their father’s ‘aegis.’

58. avidus] This means ‘avidus pugnae,’ as in Virg. (Aen. xii. 430), “Ille avidus pugnae suras incluserat auro.” Tacitus puts the word absolutely (Ann. i. 57), “Caesar avidas legiones quatuor in cuneos dispertit.” In enumerating the principal gods who assisted Zeus in the battle, Horace means to say that, although they were present, it was Pallas to whom the victory was mainly owing. See Introduction. ‘Hinc — hinc’; ‘in one place — in another.’

59. matrona Juno] The Greek Here was commonly represented naked, or partly so. The Roman Juno was always clad as a matron from head to foot. Her favorite character was Juno Matrona or Romana, which meant the same thing. Her introduction, therefore, under this title, is meant as a compliment to Rome.

61. Qui rore puro] The description of Apollo combines his various places of abode. Castalia was a fountain on Parnassus. ‘Lyciae dumeta’ are woods about Patara, a town in Lycia, where Apollo passed six months of the year, as he passed the other six at Delos, which place Horace means by ‘natalem silvam,’ i.e. the woods on Mount Cynthus. See Herod. i. 182.

69. Gyas] See note on C. ii. 17. 14. He belonged to another family consisting of three brothers, Gyas, Cottus, and Briareus or Ægæon, distinguished from the rest by having each of them a hundred arms. Most accounts represent these brothers as helping Zeus. Horace follows a different legend, and so does Virgil (Aen. x. 565, sqq.).

70. integrae] ‘Integer’ is equivalent to ‘intactus,’ and involves the same root (see above, C. iii. 2. 18, n).

71. Tentator Orion] ‘Tentator’ is not elsewhere used for a seducer. It is taken from the Greek πειράν. The story of Orion is told in a variety of ways. Here it is that he tried to seduce Artemis, and that she shot him with an arrow. He is referred to above (C. ii. 13. 39) as pursuing his favorite sport in Hades.

73. Terra] All the monsters above mentioned, except the Aloïdæ, were said to be the children of Γαῖα, the Earth, and Uranus, whence they were called γηγενεῖς (C. ii. 12. 6).

74. luridum] This word is perhaps a contraction of ‘livoridus,’ and akin to ‘lividus,’ and so to the Greek πελιδνός (see C. iv. 9. 33). It signifies dismal, dark, and so forth.

75. nec peredit] ‘Nor does the fire ever consume’ the mountain, and so liberate the giant placed under it. The offender on whom Ætna was laid is variously said to have been Typhon or Typhoëus, Enceladus, and Briareus. Which version Horace adopted does not appear.

78. nequitiae additus] ‘Nequitiae’ may mean ‘propter nequitiam’ by a Greek construction, or it may be put for ‘nequam,’ the crime for the criminal. As to Tityos and Pirithous, see C. ii. 14. 8, and C. iv. 7. 28.

79. amatorem] Supply ‘Proserpinae.’ Understand ‘trecentae’ as representing any large number, as we would say ‘a thousand.’

In the year B. C. 53, M. Licinius Crassus, as consul, with the province of Syria, marched an army into Mesopotamia against the Parthians. He sustained a disastrous defeat at the hands of Surenas, the Parthian general, and lost his own life, with 20,000 men killed and 10,000 prisoners, besides several eagles. Again, in the year B. C. 36, M. Antonius attacked the Parthians, and was obliged to retreat with great loss.

There would seem to have been generally prevalent at Rome a feeling of soreness and impatience under the disgrace, so long unredeemed, of these reverses; and this feeling it appears to be Horace’s purpose in this Ode to allay, and to discourage any hope or desire for the return of the Parthian prisoners. This desire Horace seems to impute to a degenerate spirit, and the story of Regulus is introduced apparently to call back men’s minds to the feeling of a former generation.

The standards and many of the prisoners were restored by Phraates, B. C. 20, as an act of conciliation towards Augustus, and their recovery was proclaimed as a triumph, and recorded upon coins with the inscription “Signis receptis.” This fiction is repeated in C. iv. 15. 6. Epp. i. 12. 27; 18. 56.

Argument.—Jove is in heaven; Augustus shall be a god upon earth when he hath subdued the Briton and the Persian. What! can a Roman forget his glorious home and live a slave with the Mede? ’T was not thus Regulus acted, when he saw the ruin a coward’s example would hang on those who should come after him; and he cried, “I have seen our standards hung on Punic walls; our freemen bound; their gates unbarred; their fields all tilled. Ye do but add ruin to shame: but virtue, like the former fair color of dyed wool, can never be restored. When the freed hind fights its captor, the prisoner released shall cope again with his foe, he who has cried for mercy and made peace for himself on the battle-field.” Then, though he knew the cruel fate which was in store for him, he parted from his wife, his children, and his friends, and went away as calmly as a man would go to Venafrum or Tarentum, to enjoy repose after concluding his labors in the city.

1. Caelo Tonantem] ‘Regnare’ goes with ‘caelo,’ and ‘Tonantem’ is absolute. Jupiter Tonans had a temple on Mons Capitolinus. ‘Credidimus’ has the force of the aorist. ‘Praesens’ means ‘praesens in terris,’ as opposed to ‘caelo.’

3. adjectis] This means ‘when he shall have added.’ Horace’s object seems to be to divert men’s attention from the Parthian prisoners and past defeat to new objects of hope and ambition, under the guidance of Augustus. (See Introduction.)

5. Milesne Crassi] It was about twenty-eight years since the disastrous campaign of Crassus. Orelli says Horace does not allude to M. Antonius’s losses in the same quarter eighteen years afterwards, partly because it would have been indelicate towards Augustus, and partly because of his affection for his son, L. Antonius.

conjuge barbara — maritus] ‘married to a barbarian wife.’ ‘Vixit’ is emphatic, since they married to save their lives. (Aen. viii. 688.) The disgrace lay in their intermarrying with those who not only had not ‘connubium’ with Rome, but were her enemies.

7. Pro curia inversique mores!] ‘Pro’ expresses vehemence varying in kind according to circumstances. It is followed by the nominative or accusative. In the common exclamation, “Pro deum hominumque fidem!” the accusative is always used. The Curia (called Hostilia, because it was said to have been built by Tullus Hostilius) was the senate-house, and the exclamation in the text is, “Alas for our senate and our altered manners!”

9. Marsus et Apulus,] See C. ii. 20. 18, n. It does not appear that the Apulians were particularly good soldiers, but the states of Italy all furnished troops (‘socii’), and the Roman army is here referred to. Perhaps Horace added the Apulians to the Marsi through affection for his native state.

10. Anciliorum] This genitive, from ‘ancile,’ is anomalous. Forcellini points out a similar irregularity in ‘Saturnaliorum,’ and Orelli adds ‘sponsaliorum.’ The ‘ancilia’ were twelve shields, of which, according to tradition, eleven were made by order of Numa after the pattern of one that was found in his house, and was supposed to have come down from heaven. It was prophesied, that while the ‘ancile’ was preserved, Rome should survive. The ‘ancilia’ were kept by the priests of Mars (Salii) in his temple. By ‘togae’ is meant his citizenship, since none but Roman citizens wore the toga. Horace collects the most distinguished objects of a Roman’s reverence, his name, his citizenship (‘togae’), the shield of Mars, only to be lost, and the fire of Vesta, only to be extinguished, when Rome should perish.

12. Incolumi Jove] That is, ‘while the Capitol is safe,’ which was Jove’s temple.

15. exemplo trahentis] Horace means to say, that Regulus had foreseen the danger to posterity of a precedent which should sanction the purchase of life upon dishonorable terms. ‘This the far-seeing mind of Regulus guarded against, when he refused to agree to dishonorable conditions, and drew from such a precedent a presage of ruin upon generations to come.’

17. Si non periret, etc.] ‘If the prisoners were not left to die unpitied.’

18. Captiva pubes.] In the year B. C. 256, during the first Punic war, M. Atilius Regulus, being consul, invaded Africa, and after many successes, taking many towns and laying waste the country, he was terribly defeated and taken prisoner with 500 others. After he had been five years a prisoner, the Carthaginians sent him to Rome to negotiate peace, which, at his own instigation, was refused. He returned, and according to the general account was put to death, it is said with torture, but that may be an invention.

23. Portasque non clausas] ‘the gates (of Carthage) wide open.’ The same image of security appears in A. P. 199: “Et apertis otia portis.” No attempt was made to carry the war into Africa after Regulus’s defeat, though it lasted fourteen years longer.

24. Marte] Equivalent to ‘a militibus nostris.’ This belongs to ‘populata.’ See C. i. 6. 2, n.

25. repensus] This word is not used in this sense of ‘redeemed’ elsewhere. On ‘scilicet,’ see C. ii. 14. 9.

26. Flagitio additis Damnum:] Horace says, ‘Ye are adding mischief to disgrace’; and from what follows it would seem that the mischief would arise from having among them again those who had sunk so low. The disgrace had already been incurred, in the surrender of the Roman troops.

30. reponi deterioribus.] This has sometimes been translated as if Horace meant that true virtue would not suffer itself to be replaced by false, or virtue of a lower sort. I rather think he means that true virtue, when it has once been lost, does not care to be restored to the degenerate. Horace does not seem to consider that he is making Regulus speak bitter things against himself. The argument of Regulus is not worth much, and is an invention of Horace’s. There is an opposite statement in Virgil (Aen. ii. 367):—

37. Hic unde vitam] ‘He (i.e. the coward) not considering to what he ought to owe his life (i.e. to his own sword, “una salus victis,” Aen. ii. 354), confounded peace with war’; that is to say, made peace for himself on the field of battle.

40. Altior Italiae ruinis!] On v. 52 of the last Ode was quoted from Ovid (Fast. iii. 441), “Pelion altior Ossa,” ‘Pelion raised upon the head of Ossa.’ So here is meant ‘Carthage raised above the ruins of Italy,’ and looking down upon them.

42. capitis minor] A Roman citizen taken prisoner by the enemy lost his status or civil rights, and he who had done so was said to be ‘capite minutus’ or ‘deminutus,’ or ‘capitis minor.’ Livy says the Romans always wanted compassion for their own soldiers taken in war (xxii. 61).

45. labantes] ‘wavering,’ ‘irresolute.’ ‘Consilio’ is the ablative of means with ‘Firmaret’; ‘by advice such as was never before given.’

46. auctor] One who proposed a measure was called its ‘auctor,’ as he who supported it was said ‘suadere.’

49. sciebat] Notice the force of the imperfect,—‘he knew all the while.’

52. reditus] The plural is adopted to avoid the recurrence of a final ‘m.’

53. Quam si, etc.] As if he had been settling a dispute, as ‘patroni’ were wont to do for their ‘clientes,’ and was going to his country-seat at Venafrum or Tarentum; respecting which places, see C. ii. 6. 11, 15. ‘Clientes’ were free persons under the protection of rich and noble citizens, who in their relation to their ‘clientes’ were called ‘patroni.’ See C. iii. 1. 10, n.

As the former Odes are addressed more to qualities of young men, this refers more especially to the vices of young women, and so Horace discharges the promise with which this series of Odes begins. The state of female morals at the time Horace wrote was probably not so bad as it became shortly afterwards, though his picture is dark enough.

Argument.—On you will be visited your fathers’ guilt, O Romans, unless ye shall restore the worship and acknowledge the sovereign power of the gods. Already have they afflicted on land; twice the Parthian hath checked[324] our arms; the barbarian hath well-nigh destroyed us in the midst of our strife, the age is so full of shameless adultery and lasciviousness. Not from such parents were born the conquerors of Pyrrhus, Antiochus, and Hannibal, the manly offspring of soldiers who had handled the plough and carried the fagot. So doth time spoil all things. Our fathers were not as their fathers, nor we as they, and our children shall be worse than ourselves.

1. immeritus] The Ode is addressed, like the others, ‘virginibus puerisque,’ and they could not be said to be responsible for the guilt of the civil wars (‘delicta’) just brought to a close, but if they failed to do their duty in restoring the temples, and so repairing the consequences of the wars, they must be prepared to reap the fruits of them in the displeasure of the gods. As before mentioned (C. ii. 15, Introduction), Augustus applied himself to the restoration of the sacred buildings, and Virgil amplifies his piety, saying he erected three hundred shrines to the gods after his triumph in B. C. 29 (Aen. viii. 714, sqq.). ‘Aedes,’ in this place corresponds with Virgil’s ‘delubra,’ which were mere way-side shrines, each containing an image or an altar, or both. Tiberius followed up the work that Augustus began (Tac. Ann. ii. 49): “Iisdem temporibus deum aedes vetustate aut igni abolitas, coeptasque ab Augusto dedicavit.” The temples he built or completed were three in number, dedicated to Liber, Libera, and Ceres, to Flora, and to Juno. See C. ii. 15. 20. S. ii. 2. 104.

2. Romane,] Horace uses the same form again (S. i. 4. 85); and Virgil likewise, “Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento” (Aen. vi. 852). Livy often expresses himself so.

6. Hinc omne, etc.] ‘Hinc’ means ‘from the power of the gods’; ‘huc,’ ‘to it.’

principium,] See note above on C. 4. 41. See Livy (45. 39): “Majores vestri omnium magnarum rerum et principia exorsi ab Dis sunt et finem statuerunt.”

9. Monaeses et Pacori manus] Pacorus was son of the Parthian king, Orodes (Arsaces XIV.), and appointed by his father to command the army against the Romans in the place of Surenas, who defeated Crassus B. C. 53, and whom Pacorus put to death. He was associated with the renegade Labienus, and overran Syria and a great part of Asia Minor, while M. Antonius was amusing himself with Cleopatra. Monaeses is supposed to be the same as Surenas, the latter being not a name but a title. Horace alludes, perhaps without strict accuracy, to the defeat, first of Crassus, and then of M. Antonius, who was twice defeated, first through his legate, Decidius Saxa, in B. C. 40, by Pacorus, and four years later, when he commanded in person, at which time, however, Pacorus was dead. See Introduction to last Ode.

10. Non auspicatos] ‘forbidden by the auspices.’ This is the usual way of accounting for defeat, by laying it to the neglect of the auspices, which were always taken before a war.

12. renidet.] Forcellini explains this word by ‘gaudere,’ ‘laetari.’ The word is not uncommonly used for smiling, and, as it seems to be only another form of ‘niteo,’ the lighting up of the face through pleasure is perhaps the origin of this derived sense.

14. Dacus et Aethiops,] These were auxiliaries in Antonius’s army at Actium, ‘Aethiops’ standing for Egyptian. Cleopatra supplied the fleet.

21. Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos] The Ionian was a voluptuous sort of dance, with which the Sicilians in particular were familiar, using it at the festivals of Diana. Dancing-masters were a class of slaves called Pantomimi.

23. Jam nunc] The meaning of ‘jam nunc’ is sufficiently marked in A.[325] P. 43. ‘Nunc’ is ‘now,’ and ‘jam’ gives intensive force to ‘nunc.’ ‘Jam jamque’ expresses what is expected every moment. Horace says, directly a girl has grown up, she is trained by lascivious teaching, and turns her thoughts to unchaste pleasures. The expression ‘de tenero ungui’ is taken from the Greek ἐξ ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων, which signifies ‘from tender years,’ when the nails are delicate, and such is the meaning here, but it does not contradict ‘matura,’ as some suppose: the expression will apply to a girl in the earliest stage of womanhood.

26. Inter — vina,] The same form occurs in Epp. i. 7. 28, ‘ad vina,’ in C. iv. 5. 31.

27. impermissa] This word occurs nowhere else. ‘Inconcessus’ is used by Virgil and Ovid, and Horace uses ‘interdicta.’

31. Hispanae] Metals appear to have been the chief articles imported from Spain, with red-lead and those stones which were polished into mirrors, whatever stones those may have been.

32. Dedecorum] There is no other instance of ‘pretiosus’ in an active sense, ‘one who gives a large price.’ ‘Magister’ was one who had sole charge of a ship. ‘Institor’ was a shopman. The latter was only an agent, and was usually a slave. The ‘magister’ might be a degree higher, but he was usually a person who received wages; nevertheless he had means of becoming rich, which the ‘institor’ could not, except by robbing his employer.

34. Infecit aequor] See C. ii. 12. 3, n.; and on ‘dirum’ see the verse before that. ‘Cecidit’ is used with some latitude. Their projects were cut short, but not their lives. Pyrrhus was driven from Italy through a defeat he sustained from Curius, the consul, near Beneventum, in B. C. 274, and lost his life two years afterwards, at Argos. Antiochus the Great was defeated by Acilius Glabrio, at Thermopylæ, B. C. 191, and by L. Scipio in Asia the next year. He lost his life in an attempt to plunder a temple in one of his own towns, three years later. Hannibal was defeated by P. Scipio, at Zama, B. C. 202, but lived twenty years after that battle.

38. Sabellis] ‘Sabelli’ was the name given by the Romans to all the tribes which issued from the Sabine stock. The Sabine mountaineers were particularly noted for the simplicity of their habits and the honesty of their characters. Here Horace contrasts them with the Romans of his own day. See Epod. ii. 41; Epp. ii. 1. 25; and compare the description Horace gives of his own neighbors, S. ii. 6. 77; Epp. i. 14. 3.

39, sqq. severae — fustes,] ‘to cut and carry home fagots, at the bidding of an exacting mother.’

41. sol ubi] There are not many poets who could incidentally have expressed in so few words, and so graphically, the hour of evening.

44. agens] ‘bringing on.’ The last stanza is a solemn and comprehensive conclusion to these six stirring and instructive Odes.

The idea of this graceful Ode is that of a young girl lamenting the absence of her lover, who is gone on a trading voyage to the Euxine. The names, as usual in these compositions, are foreign. Gyges is Lydian. The time is winter. The lover is supposed to be on his voyage home, and detained on the coast of Epirus, whither he had been driven by the southerly winds which prevailed at that season. He is waiting for the spring to return home, and is represented, for Chloe’s comfort, as resisting the temptations of his hostess, though she tries to frighten him with stories of women’s revenge. There is[326] great simplicity and beauty in this Ode. Whether it is original, or a free copy from the Greek, cannot be determined.

Argument.—Weep not, Asterie; Gyges is faithful, and will return with the spring, a rich man. He has been driven to Oricum, and is weeping with impatience for thee. Chloë, his hostess, is trying to seduce him, and frightens him with stories of rejected women’s revenge. But he is deaf to her seductions. Beware in thy turn of Enipeus, thy gallant neighbor. Shut thy doors and listen not to his songs.

2. Favonii] See C. i. 4. 1. Favonius, according to Pliny (ii. 47), blew ‘ab occasu aequinoctiali,’ that is, due west. It would therefore be a favorable wind for a vessel coming down the Adriatic, and not very unfavorable for sailing up the west coast of Italy. It would be in her teeth as she tried to make the Straits of Messina. But Horace’s winds are not more studied than his places and persons. The lover is waiting till the weather changes and the winds are mild and favorable. The Favonii are called ‘candidi,’ as Notus and Iapyx are each called ‘albus’ (C. i. 7. 15; iii. 27. 19).

3. Thyna merce] The Thyni and Bithyni were originally two different peoples of Thrace, who migrated into Asia Minor and displaced the natives. For some time they continued separate, but when Horace wrote, the distinction was not observed, and ‘Thyna merx’ was Bithynian merchandise (Epp. i. 6. 33). Bithynia, after it became a Roman province, included a great part of Pontus, and so comprised nearly the whole sea coast of Asia Minor, and all the trade along that coast would come under the title of ‘Thyna merx.’

4. fide,] The genitive. The older forms of genitives of this declension were four, ‘es,’ ‘ei,’ ‘i,’ and ‘e.’

5. Oricum] This was a town in Epirus, situated at the top of the bay formed by the Acroceraunian promontory. See Aen. x. 136. “Oricia terebintho.” The constellation of the goat Amalthea (Capra) rises at the beginning of October.

11. Dicens ignibus uri,] ‘Ignibus’ is used as Ovid uses it (Am. iii. 9. 56), “vixisti dum tuus ignis eram.” We may understand C. i. 27. 16, “Non erubescendis adurit Ignibus,” in the same way, i.e. the flame put for the person who causes it.

13. mulier perfida] Antea or Sthenobæa, wife of Prœtus, king of Argos, fell in love with Bellerophontes, and when he rejected her proposals, she accused him to her husband, as Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph.

14. Falsis impulerit] ‘Impello’ is used with the infinitive mood by Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 54; xiv. 60). The common construction is with ‘ut,’ as (Epp. ii. 2. 51) “impulit audax Ut versus facerem.”

17. Pelea] Astydamia or Hippolyte, the wife of Acastus, king of Iolcos, out of revenge for his rejection of her, induced her husband to expose Peleus to destruction by wild beasts on Mount Pelion, where he took him to hunt, and left him asleep without his sword. Hippolyte is called ‘Magnessam’ because Iolcos was in Magnesia. Joseph’s virtue has its parallels in Grecian fable.

20. Fallax historias movet.] ‘Mentionem movere’ occurs in Livy; ‘cantus movere’ in Virgil; ‘carmen movere’ in Ovid. ‘Historias movere’ is therefore a legitimate expression, ‘brings up,’ ‘calls to his mind.’

21. Frustra:] A complete and very comprehensive sentence. It occurs below (C. 13. 6). Some persons join the word on with the last line, which weakens its force. Icari is the Icarium Mare, that part of the Ægean which washes the coast of Caria. With these words compare Euripides (Med. 28),[327] ὡς δὲ πέτρος ἣ θαλάσσιος κλύδων ἀδούει. (See also Androm. 537, and Epod. xvii. 54, sq.).

“Sive ferocis equi luctantia colla recurvas
Exiguo flexos miror in orbe pedes,”

says Phaedra to Hippolytus (Heroid. iv. 79, sq.). Tacitus (Germ. vi.) says the German horses were not taught like the Roman ‘variare gyros.’

28. denatat] This word in used nowhere else. Compare C. i. 8. 3, sqq.; iii. 12. 7. ‘Tusco alveo’ is the stream of the Tiber which rises in Etruria.

29. neque in vias] This use of ‘neque’ for ‘neve,’ in connection with the imperative mood, is confined to the poets.

This Ode was composed on the anniversary of Horace’s accident with the tree (C. ii. 13). It is addressed to Mæcenas, whom he invites to join him in celebrating the day, which was the 1st of March, B. C. 25, or thereabouts.

Argument.—Wonderest thou, learned friend, what this sacrifice means on the Kalends of March, and I a bachelor? On this day I was delivered from death, and it shall be a holiday. Come, Mæcenas, a hundred cups of my oldest wine to the health of thy friend. Away with anxiety. The Dacian has fallen, the Mede is divided against himself, the Cantabrian is in chains, and the Scythian has unstrung his bow. Be here the private gentleman: never mind the people; enjoy thyself and unbend.

1. Martiis caelebs] The Matronalia, or feast of married persons in honor of Juno Lucina, when husbands made presents to their wives, and offered prayers for the continuance of happiness in their married life, was celebrated on the first of March.

2. acerra thuris] This is the proper word for a box of frankincense (λιβανωτίς). The derivation is uncertain.

5. Docte sermones utriusque linguae?] These words express a man well read in the literature of Greece and Rome. Elsewhere he addresses his patron as ‘Maecenas docte’ (Epp. i. 19. 1).

6. dulces epulas] A solemn sacrifice was commonly followed by a banquet, at which libations were poured to the god to whom the sacrifice had been offered.

7. Libero caprum prope funeratus] This last word is not found in any other writer earlier than Pliny. He and others after him use ‘funero’ for ‘to bury.’ Horace here attributes to Liber the deliverance he had before attributed to Mercury, Faunus, and the Muses, successively (see C. ii. 17. 28, n.).

11. Amphorae fumum] The amphoræ were kept in the apotheca in the upper part of the house, to which the smoke from the bath had access, as this was thought to hasten the ripening of the wine and to improve its flavor, just as Madeira wine is improved by being kept in a warm temperature. The amphora being lined with pitch or plaster, and the cork being also covered with pitch, the smoke could not penetrate if these were properly attended to. ‘Amphorae’ is the dative.

12. Consule Tullo.] L. Volcatius Tullus was consul B. C. 66, the year before Horace was born. This wine, therefore, had probably been in the amphora upwards of forty years. Sulla once treated the Romans with some[328] wine upwards of forty years old (Plut. Sull. c. 35), and this is not an extreme age for some modern wines. Juvenal (S. v. 34) speaks of wine:—

13. amici Sospitis] This is a Greek construction, which occurs again in C. iii. 19. 9, 10. Horace’s request may amount to this: ‘Pray that my life may be prolonged a hundred years.’

14. vigiles lucernas Perfer] In C. iii. 21. 23 we have “vivaeque producent lucernae,” where ‘vivae’ corresponds to ‘vigiles’ here. Virgil uses ‘ferre’ uncompounded in Aen. ix. 338: “Aequasset nocti ludum in lucemque tulisset.”

18. Daci Cotisonis] Cotiso was king of the Daci, one of the tribes of the Danube (C. i. 19. 10, n.). About B. C. 25 Augustus sent Lentulus against these tribes. Whether that is alluded to here or not is uncertain.

19. sibi] This word is so placed that it may depend on ‘infestus,’ ‘luctuosis,’ or ‘dissidet.’ I prefer the first. The quarrels of the Parthians among themselves are referred to in the Introduction to C. i. 26.

22. Cantaber] See C. ii. 6. 2, n.; and as to ‘catena,’ see C. ii. 13. 18, n.

23. Scythae] Some take these to be the Scythians who helped Phraates; others imagine them to be the Geloni and other trans-Danubian tribes. Horace meant no more than generally to say that the enemies of Rome were no longer disturbing her.

26. Parce privatus] This may mean, ‘Since you have no cause to be anxious about public affairs, do not be too anxious about your own.’ ‘Not anxious lest in aught the people suffer, spare for thyself excess of carefulness.’

This is an elegant trifle in the form of a dialogue, showing the process of reconciliation between two lovers, in which the desire for peace appears in the midst of pretended indifference, and mutual jealousy is made the means of reunion. The subject could hardly have been more delicately handled. Whether the treatment of it is original or not, it is impossible to say. It is just such a subject as one might expect to find among the erotic poetry of the Greeks.

Argument.—While thou didst love me better than all the world, no prince was happy as I.

While Lydia was dearest to thee of women, the name of Ilia was not so noble as mine.

Calaïs loves me, and I love him: for him I would gladly die. What if the old love were to unite us again, if Chloe were cast off and turned from my door, and I opened it to Lydia again?

Though Calaïs is handsome, and thou art fickle and passionate as the stormy sea, I would live and die with thee.

4. Persarum — rege beatior.] A proverbial expression for ‘the happiest of men.’

5. alia] Some MSS. have ‘aliam.’ Either construction is correct (see C. ii. 4. 7, n.). On ‘multi nominis,’ see C. i. 36. 13.

12. Si parcent animae] Cic. ad Fam. (xiv. 14): “Vos meae carissimae animae quam saepissime ad me scribite.” Since ‘metuam’ here and ‘patiar’ below (v. 15) are the present subjunctive, ‘parcent,’ following those words, should, in strict Latinity, be ‘parcant.’ But the same construction occurs above (C. iii. 3. 7). Why Chloë should be a Thracian, and Ornytus of Thurii (see S. ii. 8. 20, n.), is not worth questioning.

17. prisca] Forcellini gives other instances of this use of ‘priscus,’ where ‘pristinus’ is more usual.

18. jugo cogit] ‘Jugo’ is governed by ‘cogit,’ and ‘diductos’ stands alone, ‘parted though we be.’

22. improbo] On the meaning of ‘improbus’ as a word expressing ‘excess,’ see below (C. iii. 24. 62). Here it means ‘violent,’ ‘furious.’

This is supposed to be sung by a lover under the window of his mistress, who on a cold night refuses him admission. It is what the Greeks called a παρακλαυσίθυρον, such as that supposed one, of which a fragment is given in C. i. 25. This species of serenade was so common among the Greeks, that we may suppose Horace had some poem of the sort in his mind when he wrote this. The thirteenth Ode of the fourth book is nominally connected with this; but as there is no necessity for supposing, nor any likelihood, that Horace wrote this from his own experience, so neither is it likely that he wrote that to taunt in her decline the girl who is supposed to reject his addresses here.

Argument.—Were Scythia thy dwelling-place, Lyce, this inclement night should move thee to pity me. Hear how the wind howls; see how the snow lies freezing. Venus loves not pride: the rope may break and the wheel run back; though nothing bends thee, neither presents, nor prayers, nor these sallow cheeks of mine, nor thy husband’s faithlessness, though thou be hard as the oak and cruel as the serpent, yet as a goddess have pity! Flesh and blood will not stand this for ever.

1. Tanain si biberes,] This is the way of speaking adopted in C. ii. 20. 20, and iv. 15. 21.

3. objicere incolis] ‘thou wouldst grieve to expose me to the north-winds that there have their home.’

5. nemus] Shrubs and flowers were sometimes planted round the impluvium of a Roman house, but more largely in the peristylium, which was an open space at the back part of the house, surrounded by colonnades, and, like the impluvium, usually having a cistern or fountain in the middle. ‘Remugiat ventis,’ ‘echoes back to the winds their howling.’

7. ut glaciet] It is easy to supply ‘vides,’ or ‘sentis,’ or any other word more appropriate than ‘audis’ to the freezing of the snow. One verb of sense is often made to serve for two or three. ‘How Jove with his bright power freezeth the snow as it lies.’ ‘Jove’ is the atmosphere (see C. i. 1. 25, n.). ‘Puro’ is a good epithet to express a clear frosty night.

10. Ne currente retro funis eat rota] ‘Lest the wheel turn back and the rope with it,’ ‘retro’ applying to both ‘currente’ and ‘eat.’ The metaphor is taken from a rope wound round a cylinder, which being allowed to run back, the rope runs down and the weight or thing attached goes with it. The[330] proverb is applied to a coquette who continues her pride till she loses her power.

12. Tyrrhenus genuit parens.] Lyce is represented as an Etruscan woman, and being such, her lover says she need not think to imitate the chaste Penelope, to whom it appears the women of Etruria did not in general bear any resemblance.

15. Nec vir] He says she is not bent from her stubbornness even by her husband’s faithlessness, he being engaged with another woman, who is represented as a Pierian, just as Chloe, in the last Ode, was a Thracian, and on the same principle. Nearly all Horace’s women of this character are represented as Greeks. ‘Curvat’ is nowhere else used in this sense.

19. aquae Caelestis] He repeats the phrase Epp. ii. 1. 135. ‘Hoc latus’ is equivalent to ‘ego’; the part suffering from the threshold put for the whole person.

This is an address to the lyre, calling upon it for a song to win the heart of Lyde. The principal subject is the story of the Danaides, who murdered their husbands, but more particularly of the one who spared hers. The punishment of the sisters for their cruelty, and the tenderness of Hypermnestra, are the warning and example by which Lyde is to be won.

The common inscription Ad Mercurium is wrong, and calculated to mislead. The inscription should be Ad Testudinem, if anything; for Mercury disappears after the first two verses. The miracles alluded to, except Amphion’s, were those of Orpheus, and of the lyre in his hands, not Mercury’s, who is only introduced because he invented the lyre and taught Amphion. The Ode is of the same class as the two last. We have no means of tracing the original, if it is a copy.

Argument.—Mercury, who didst teach Amphion to move stones, and thou, lyre, once dumb, now welcome at feast and festival, tune me a strain to which even Lyde, though she be free as the young colt, must attend. Thou charmest tigers, woods, streams, and hell’s bloody sentinel, and Ixion, and Tityos, and the daughters of Danaus. Let Lyde hear of their crime and punishment, and how one was merciful and spared her young husband’s life, saying, “Rise up; begone, lest the sleep of death overtake thee. They have sprung upon their prey. My heart is not as their heart. I will do thee no harm. Let my father do with me as he will, yet go thou, while night and love protect thee. Farewell, and when I am gone, engrave a word of sorrow on my tomb.”

3. Tuque testudo] See C. i. 10. 6, n. The ‘testudo’ or ‘cithara’ had originally but four strings. Terpander added to it three more, about B. C. 676. The tetrachord was not however banished, though the heptachord was better adapted to more elaborate music (see S. i. 3. 8, n.).

5. Nec loquax olim neque grata] ‘Formerly dumb, and powerless to give pleasure.’

10. exsultim] This word is not found elsewhere. Other words found in Horace and not elsewhere are ‘allaborare,’ ‘tentator,’ ‘inaudax,’ ‘immetata,’ ‘faustitas,’ ‘belluosus,’ ‘applorans,’ ‘inemori,’ ‘emetere,’ ‘laeve,’ ‘insolabiliter,’[331] ‘defingere,’ ‘vepallidus,’ ‘emiror,’ ‘irruptus,’ ‘aesculetum,’ ‘ambitiosus,’ ‘depugis,’ ‘uvescere,’ ‘disconvenire,’ ‘diludium,’ ‘impariter,’ ‘delitigo,’ ‘juvenari,’ ‘socialiter,’ ‘iambeus,’ ‘abstare.’ It does not follow, because we have no other examples of these words, that Horace had none.

17. Cerberus, quamvis] This passage may be compared with C. ii. 13. 33, sqq. ‘Furiale,’ ‘fury-like,’ having snakes for hair.

21. Quin et Ixion] He was king of the Lapithæ. Having treacherously murdered his father-in-law, Deioneus, he returned the goodness of Zeus, who purified him, by trying to seduce Here, for which Horace calls him rightly ‘perfidus Ixion’ (A. P. 124), and he was punished by being bound to a wheel perpetually revolving, in Hades. As to Tityos, see C. ii. 14. 8, n. For ‘quin et,’ see C. ii. 13. 37, n. ‘Vultu risit invito’ is a happy description. (S. ii. 3. 72, n.)

23. Danai puellas] The daughters of Danaus (see C. ii. 14. 18) were punished by having to fill a vessel with a hole in the bottom. They were fifty in number, and married the fifty sons of Ægyptus, their uncle. At the bidding of their father, who was afraid of his nephews, they all murdered their husbands but Hypermnestra, who spared Lynceus. Horace puts a touching speech into her mouth, bidding her young husband rise and fly for his life.

28. Seraque fata] ὑστεροφθόρον δίκην. See note on C. iii. 2. 32.

31. potuere] ‘they had the heart.’ This would be expressed by ἕτλησαν in Greek. In a more familiar passage ‘possum’ occurs with the same kind of meaning (Epp. i. 5. 1): “Si potes Archiacis conviva recumbere lectis,” ‘if you can make up your mind.’

37. Surge, quae dixit] Ovid has borrowed all but the words of Horace in Hypermnestra’s letter to Lynceus, one of the most touching of his poems,—

“Surge age, Belida, de tot modo fratribus unus:
Nox tibi ni properas ista perennis erit.” (Her. xiv. 73, sq.)

This Ode represents a girl lamenting to herself over a love she must not indulge. Her name is Neobule, and that of the man she loves is Hebrus, whom she represents as the perfection of beauty and manliness. The Ode appears to have been imitated, if not translated, from one of Alcæus, of which one verse in the same metre is extant.

Argument.—Poor women! we must not love, we must not drown care in wine, or a cruel guardian scolds us to death. Alas, Neobule! thou canst not spin nor work, for love of Hebrus, so beautiful as he bathes in the waters of Tiber, a horseman like Belerophon, unsurpassed in the combat and the race, in piercing the flying deer or catching the lurking boar.

3. Patruae] Compare (Sat. ii. 3. 88) “ne sis patruus mihi.” On the form ‘lavere,’ see C. ii. 3. 18, n.

4. qualum] ‘my wool-basket.’ The name Neobule is found in a fragment of Archilochus. Hebrus’s birthplace is mentioned to give more reality to the person. Lipara, it must be admitted, was an odd place to choose. It was one of the Vulcaniae Insulae, and is still called Lipari.

7. Simul] ‘Soon as’ is an early English equivalent for ‘whenever,’ and ‘simul’ bears that sense here. The last syllable of ‘Bellerophonte’ is long, as from the Greek. Bellerophon was usually represented as leading or riding the winged horse Pegasus, on whose back he conquered Chimæra. See C. i. 27. 24, n.

9. Neque segni] The epithet belongs to both substantives: ‘never beaten for slothfulness of hand (in boxing) or foot (in running).’

The Ode is an address to a fountain about six miles from Venusia, which has been identified with one still existing, but in a very different state, bare of trees and choked up with dirt. We need only suppose that the name was suggested to Horace by the recollections of his childhood, without imagining him really on the point of offering sacrifice, or being in the neighborhood of his birthplace when he wrote. It has something of the nature of an epigramma or inscription, and is among the choicest of Horace’s small pieces.

Argument.—Fair fountain of Bandusia, thou art worthy of my libation and of the kid that shall fall for thee to-morrow, and dye thy cold stream with his blood. Thee the summer’s heat pierceth not; cool is thy water to flocks and herds. Thou, too, shalt be placed among the fountains of fame, when I sing of the oak that hangs from the rock whence thy babbling waters spring.

1. splendidior vitro,] The use of glass by the ancients was long a matter of dispute, but it is now generally allowed to have been brought by them to great perfection.

9. atrox hora Caniculae] ‘the burning season of the dog star.’ Canicula is another name for the well-known star of the first magnitude in the head of Canis Major, called by the Greeks Σείριος. It rises in July.

13. Fies nobilium] This is a Greek construction, ‘unus’ having to be supplied. ‘Tu quoque,’ ‘thou too,’ as well as the fountains celebrated by the Greek poets.

This Ode was composed at the close of the Cantabrian war, B. C. 25, when Augustus’s return was expected, or on his return the following year. He was detained by illness at Tarracona. The poet calls upon the citizens to rejoice, and bids the conqueror’s wife and sister go forth to offer sacrifice, declaring that he too will keep holiday.

Argument.—Cæsar is returning a conqueror from Spain, O ye people, he who but just went forth like Hercules to the field. Let his chaste wife and sister go forth to offer sacrifice with the matrons, while the young soldiers and their brides stand reverently by. I too will keep holiday; for I am safe while Augustus is lord of the world. Bring flowers, boy, and ointment, and my best old wine, and go bid Neæra come: if the churlish porter refuse[333] thee, come away; I have no mind for strife, though I might not have borne as much in the heyday of my youth.

1. Herculis ritu] As Hercules braved death, so did Augustus, and like Hercules he is returning from Spain victorious. Hercules went to Spain to get the oxen of Geryones for Eurystheus, his tenth labor. See C. ii. 14. 7, n.

o plebs,] ‘Plebs’ and ‘populus’ are used synonymously (C. ii. 2. 18, sq.), and either word stands for the common formula ‘populus plebsque Romana.’

6. justis operata sacris,] There are other examples of ‘operor’ in this sense of sacrificing. Ladies of birth appear to have been distinguished on these occasions from freedwomen by a wreath. The persons forming the procession are supposed to be the wife (Livia) and sister (Octavia) of Augustus, and the mothers of the soldiers who had returned and of their young wives, who are represented as looking on reverentially at the thanksgiving sacrifice.

9. juvenum] This and ‘pueri’ both mean the soldiers, as ‘virginum’ and ‘puellae’ both mean their wives.

11. virum expertae,] This is equivalent to ‘nuper virgines nuptae’ (C. ii. 8. 22). ‘Male ominatis’ may be pronounced as one word, as ‘maleolens,’ ‘suaveolens,’ &c. The phrase is expressed by εὐφημεῖτε in Greek.

14. tumultum Nec mori per vim] ‘Tumultus’ and ‘vis’ are well-distinguished terms. ‘Tumultus’ was a public affair, a sudden outbreak. ‘Vis,’ ‘violence,’ was either ‘publica’ or ‘privata,’ and the distinction between the two will be found on referring to the article ‘Vis’ in Smith’s Dict. Ant. Horace says he is not afraid of losing his life by any popular insurrection, and so forth, or by the hand of an assassin or private malice.

18. Marsi memorem duelli,] The Marsic or Social War continued from B. C. 91 to 89. It was a rising of the Socii, the states of Italy, for the purpose of getting the Roman franchise. The Marsi took a prominent part in the war, which was sometimes called by their name. The Servile War lasted from B. C. 73 to 71. It was an outbreak of the slaves of Italy, who, under Spartacus, himself a slave and gladiator, were formed into a vast army, and traversed the whole country from Rhegium to the Po. Horace speaks contemptuously of Spartacus, but the Romans never had a more able or more successful enemy. The wine Horace wanted would have been at least sixty-five years old. There seems to have been something remarkable in the vintage of that period so as to make it proverbial; for Juvenal, one hundred years afterwards, speaking of the selfish gentleman who keeps his best wine for his own drinking, says,—

“Ipse capillato diffusum consule potat
Calcatamque tenet bellis socialibus uvam.” (S. v. 30, sq.).

The ‘cadus,’ ‘testa,’ and ‘amphora,’ were all names for the same vessel.

28. Consule Planco.] L. Munatius Plancus was consul with M. Aemilius Lepidus, B. C. 42, at which time Horace was in his twenty-third year. He was now forty.

This Ode combines with the lyric something of the spirit of the Epodes. It professes to address an old woman, Chloris, telling her it is time to put an end to her intrigues, for she is poor and ready to drop into her grave.

Argument.—Put a stop to thy intrigues, for thou art old and poor. What becometh thy daughter becometh not thee, Chloris. She may go and besiege the young men’s doors: she is in love, and cannot help it. But do thou go spin; music and flowers and wine are not for thee.

1. pauperis] He means to say that a poor man’s wife should be thrifty and mind her work, especially if she be old.

6. Et stellis nebulam] ‘To spread a cloud over those fair stars.’ An old woman in a company of girls would be like a cloud in a starry sky.

10. tympano.] The ‘tympanum’ was a tambourine, played in all respects as now, and usually by women, who danced as they beat it. As to Thyias, see C. ii. 19. 9.

14. Luceriam,] This was a town of Apulia, now called Lucera, in the neighborhood of which was one of the largest tracts of public pasture-land.

Horace here dwells on his favorite theme,—contentment and moderation,—which he is able to illustrate by the example of Mæcenas (v. 20), as well as his own. The mischievous influence of gold is illustrated by the stories of Danae and others, and Horace describes his own contentment with his humble but independent condition.

Argument.—A stout prison and savage watch-dogs might have kept Danae from harm; but Jove and Venus smiled, for they knew that the god need but change himself to gold, and the way would be clear before him. Gold penetrates through guards; gold shall burst rocks; thereby fell the house of Amphiaraus; thereby the Macedonian won cities; thereby stern admirals are ensnared. And as it grows, the desire for more grows too. A high estate I dread. Mæcenas, thou good knight, the more a man denies himself, the more the gods will give him. I fly from the rich to the contented, and am more independent than any poor rich man in the world. My stream, and my little wood, and my trusty field, are a happier portion than all Africa. I have no honey of Calabria, nor wine of Formiæ, nor Gaulish fleece, yet poverty doth not pinch me; and if I wanted more, thou art ready to give it.

My small income will go further by the restricting of my wants, than if I had all Lydia and Phrygia for my own. Who ask much, lack much. It is well with him who has enough.

1. Inclusam Danaën] Acrisius, king of Argos, being informed by an oracle that his daughter Danae would bear a son who would kill him, shut her up. But Jupiter found his way to her in a shower of gold, and she became the mother of Perseus who, as predicted, killed his grandfather. The fable of the shower of gold has here its simplest explanation. ‘Tristes excubiae’[335] is like Ovid’s “tristis custodia servi” (A. A. iii. 601). On the construction with ‘munierant’ see C. ii. 17. 28, n.

7. fore enim] This is an elliptical form of the oratio obliqua, in translating which, ‘they said,’ or ‘they knew,’ must be supplied. ‘Pretium’ has reference to the corruption of the guards, the price at which they were bought.

10. amat] Used as φιλεῖ, like “consociare amant” (C. ii. 3. 10), and “amet quavis adspergere” (S. i. 4. 87).

ὄλετ᾽ ἐν Θήβαισι γυναίων εἵνεκα δώρων (Odyss. xv. 247),

ἣ χρυσὸν φίλου ἀνδρὸς ἐδέξατο τιμήεντα (Odyss. xi. 327).

Eriphyle, bribed by her brother Polyneices, induced her husband to join the expedition against Thebes, where he fell, leaving an injunction with his sons to put their mother to death, which Alcmæon did, and, like Orestes, was pursued by the Erinnyes of his mother, and was finally put to death in attempting to get possession of the gold necklace with which she had been bribed.

14. Portas vir Macedo] Plutarch, in his life of Paulus Æmilius (c. xiii.), says it was Philip’s gold, not Philip, that won the cities of Greece. And Cicero (Ad Att. i. 16) repeats a saying attributed to Philip, that he could take any town into which an ass could climb laden with gold. Juvenal, following the general report, calls Philip “callidus emptor Olynthi” (xii. 47).

15. munera navium Saevos illaqueant duces.] This is supposed to refer to Menas, otherwise called Menodorus, the commander of Sex. Pompeius’s fleet, who deserted from him to Augustus, and back to Pompeius, and then to Augustus again. He was rewarded beyond his merits. He was a freedman of Cn. Pompeius, and Suetonius (Octav. 74) states that Augustus made him ‘ingenuus.’ He is said to be alluded to by Virgil (Aen. vi. 612, sqq.):—

“Quique arma secuti
Impia nec veriti dominorum fallere dextras,
Inclusi poenam expectant.”

See Introduction to Epod. iv. Forcellini quotes only one other instance of ‘illaqueo’ from Prudentius, and one of the passive participle from Cicero. ‘Irretio,’ as Orelli says, is the more common word of the same meaning.

18. Majorumque fames] ‘Majorum’ is of the neuter gender, dependent on ‘fames,’ as in Theocritus (xvi. 65), αἰεὶ δὲ πλεόνων ἔχει ἵμερος αὐτόν. With ‘tollere verticem’ compare C. i. 18.15; and on ‘equitum decus’ see C. i. 20. 5, n.

21. Quanto quisque sibi] This sentiment approaches as near as possible to the fundamental rule of Christian morals. The accuracy of the picture in the next verses must not be insisted on too closely. It would imply that Horace, a wealthy Epicurean, had thrown up his riches in contempt, and gone over to the ranks of the Stoics. But as Horace never was rich, he could not have acted the deserter on these terms, though he changed his opinions. Horace may sometimes be supposed to put general maxims in the first person, without strict application to himself. ‘Nudus’ signifies one who has left everything he had behind him. By ‘contemptae’ he means that the rich man with fine houses had a contempt for his little property.

26. arat impiger] Apulia, with the exception of a comparatively small tract which was productive, was occupied with forests or pasture lands, or tracts of barren hills. But Horace likes to speak of his own country with respect (see above, C. 5. 9, n.). The license by which the first syllable in ‘arat’ is lengthened may be admitted in the cæsural place. ‘Occultare,’[336] ‘to hoard,’ which was commonly done to raise the price. ‘Meis’ is emphatic, as ‘proprio horreo’ (i. 1. 9).

29. Purae rivus aquae] The small river Digentia is that which Horace alludes to (see Epp. i. 16). On ‘certa fides’ see C. iii. 1. 30, n. ‘Fallit beatior’ is a Greek construction, λανθάνει ὀλβιώτερον ὄν. Horace says, ‘Mine is a happier lot than his who has all Africa for his possession, though he knows not that it is so.’ The construction is like “sensit medios delapsus in hostes” (Aen. ii. 377), for ‘se delapsum esse.’

34. Laestrygonia — amphora] This is used like ‘Sabina diota,’ which was the same sort of vessel (C. i. 9. 7), ‘an amphora of Formian wine.’ The inhabitants of Formiæ in Latium supposed it to be the same as the Læstrygonia mentioned by Homer (Odyss. x. 81),—

ἑβδομάτῃ δ᾽ ἱκόμεσθα Λάμου αἰπὺ πτολίεθρον,
τηλέπυλον Λαιστρυγονίην.

‘Languescere’ means ‘to lose its strength by keeping.’ The Formian wine is mentioned, C. i. 20. 11. The pasture lands in the basin of the Po (‘Gallica pascua’) were very extensive and rich.

38. Nec si plura velim] Compare Epod. i. 31: “Satis superque me benignitas tua Ditavit.” There was a Mygdonia in Mesopotamia, and Bithynia is said to have been called by that name of old. The Mygdonia of Asia Minor (part of Macedonia was also so called) was not very clearly defined. That Horace identifies it with Phrygia appears from C. ii. 12. 22. ‘Alyattei’ is the genitive of ‘Alyatteus,’ another form of ‘Alyattes’ (king of Lydia), as Achilleus -ei of Achilles, Ulixeus -ei of Ulixes. ‘Vectigalia’ means properly the public revenue, but is here used for a private fortune, not without reason, as he is comparing himself with kings. See S. ii. 2. 100, n.

42. Multa petentibus] The same sentiment in different words appears below (C. iii. 24. 63). ‘Bene est’ occurs again in S. ii. 6. 4, 8. 4. Epp. i. 1. 89. It is familiarly known in the formulas S. V. B. E. V. (‘si valeas bene est, valeo’), which the Romans prefixed to their letters.

The short Ode, C. i. 26, and this Ode, were addressed to the same person, L. Aelius Lamia (see Introduction to C. i. 26). He was a young man of good birth, being of the Aelia gens, who were plebeians, but of old standing. Like other families, the Lamiæ were, perhaps, glad to trace their origin to a fabulous hero, and believed their founder to be Lamus, mythical king of the Læstrygonians, and builder of Formiæ, whence they must have migrated to Rome (see last Ode, v. 33, n.). Horace had an affection for the young man, Lamia, whose father was a friend of Cicero’s, and died rich. It is not improbable that the Ode was written at his house in the country, whether at Formiæ or elsewhere. It is an exhortation to Lamia to make preparations for enjoying a holiday on the next day. The verses have no particular merit, and could have cost Horace little labor. He must have written many such that have never been published, and these two Odes were probably included in the collection out of compliment to Lamia. Lamia had a brother Quintus, who died early, to the great grief of Lucius (see[337] Epp. i. 14. 6). In two passages Juvenal alludes to the Lamiæ as a family of distinction (S. iv. 154, and vi. 385). Tacitus (Ann. vi. 27), mentioning the death of this Lamia, says his ‘genus’ was ‘decorum.’

Argument.—Ælius, ennobled with the blood of Lamus,—for like all the Lamias thou derivest thy birth from him who founded Formiæ and ruled on the banks of the Liris,—a storm is coming; get in the wood while it is dry: to-morrow the servants shall have holiday, and thou wilt do sacrifice to thy genius.

4. memores — fastos,] These were the family records and genealogies, not the Fasti Consulares, in which only this Lamia would appear, and that after Horace wrote. He was consul A. D. 3. The words occur again in C. iv. 14. 4: “Per titulos memoresque fastos.” ‘Fastos’ and ‘fastus’ (2d and 4th declension) are both found. See Epp. ii. 1. 48, n.

5. ducis] What Horace says is nearly as follows: ‘Since it is reported the first Lamiæ had their name from Lamus, and the same tradition has come down through their successors in the annals of the family, no doubt you draw your origin from that noble source’;—in which there is nothing more than a little jocular irony, which would amuse Lamia, whether it pleased his family pride or not. The poets, both Latin and Greek, often omit the personal pronoun, even when it is wanted for emphasis, as here and in C. i. 1. 35, “Quod si me lyricis vatibus inseris,” where Mæcenas is emphatically addressed; and in C. iv. 2. 33.

7. Maricae Litoribus] This means the coast of Minturnæ on the borders of Latium and Campania, where the nymph Marica, the mother of Latinus, first king of Latium, was worshipped.

12. aquae — augur] See below, C. iii. 27. 10, “Imbrium divina avis imminentum”; and Ovid (Am. ii. 6. 34), “pluviae graculus auctor aquae.”

14. cras Genium mero Curabis] ‘Genium curare’ is a phrase not found elsewhere. ‘Placare’ and ‘indulgere’ are the usual words. Lamia was going to keep holiday next day, on what occasion does not appear, but as it was usual to offer sacrifice to the Genius on birthdays, it may have been his birthday Lamia was going to keep. As to ‘Genius,’ see Epp. i. 7. 94.

16. operum solutis.] This construction, like “desine querelarum” (C. ii. 9. 17), and other expressions there quoted, is similar to the Greek, πόνου λελυμένοις. On these constructions Prof. Key says (L. G. § 940, and note): “Occasionally verbs of removal or separation have a genitive of the ‘whence’ in old writers and in poetry.” “The legal language here, as in so many cases, retained traces of the old construction, as in ‘liberare tutelae.’” “Me omnium jam laborum levas” is a like construction quoted by Mr. Key from Plautus.

It was usual to offer sacrifice to Faunus at the beginning of spring, though the Faunalia did not take place till the Nones of December. (See C. i. 4. 11, and i. 17.) This Ode is an invocation to that deity, and is very elegant, especially the picture of rustic security and cheerfulness in the last two stanzas. The confusion of the Greek Pan with the Latin god Faunus has been noticed before.

Argument.—Faunus, come with mercy to my fields, and depart gentle to my young lambs, for I sacrifice and pour libations to thee at the fall of the year. When thy Nones come round, the old altar smokes with incense; the flocks sport in safety, the oxen are at rest, and the village is gay; the wood sheds its leaves, and the clown smites his enemy, the earth, in the dance.

3. incedas abeasque] Faunus was not a stationary divinity. He was supposed to come in the spring, and depart after the celebration of his festival in December. From ‘parvis alumnis’ we may suppose this Ode was written in spring. The word occurs below (C. iii. 23. 7).

5. Si tener pleno cadit haedus anno,] ‘If a young kid is offered in sacrifice at the end of the year’; when the Faunalia took place. Horace claims the protection of Faunus for his lambs in the spring, on the ground of his due observance of the rites of December, which he then goes on to describe. Horace here makes the wine-cup the companion of Venus, as he made ‘Jocus’ in C. i. 2. 34. See also C. i. 30. 5, sqq. He uses both forms, ‘crater’ and ‘cratera.’ ‘Vetus ara’ may be an old altar Horace found on his farm when he came into possession of it.

14. Spargit — frondes;] It does not quite appear why the wood should be said to shed its leaves in honor of Faunus: it may be in sorrow for his departure, or as a carpet for him to tread upon, or for his worshippers to dance upon.

16. Ter] ‘Ter’ expresses the triple time of the dance, from which is derived the verb ‘tripudiare.’ ‘Fossor’ is put generally, I imagine, for a laboring husbandman, who may be supposed to have no love for the earth that he digs for another.

The impetuosity and liveliness of this Ode are remarkable. The occasion for which it was composed was a supper in honor of Murena’s installation in the college of augurs. In regard to this person see C. ii. 2 and 10. Telephus is no doubt a fictitious name. It occurs in two other Odes (i. 13 and iv. 11. 21), and efforts have been made to prove the person to be the same in each case. But there is no resemblance. All the names at the end are fictitious.

Argument.—Talk not of Codrus, and Inachus, and Trojan wars: tell us what we may get a cask of Chian for, who will give us bath and house-room, and at what hour we may dine to-day. A cup, boy, to the new moon, another to midnight, and a third to Murena the augur; three and nine, or nine and three; the rapt poet loves the nine; pure, the Graces forbid. Let us be mad: bring music, scatter roses, let old neighbor Lycus and his young ill-sorted partner hear our noise and envy us. Rhode runs after thee, Telephus, with thy beautiful hair and bright face: as for me, I am wasting with love of Glycera.

1. Quantum distet ab Inacho, &c.] The number of years between Inachus, first king of Argos, and Codrus, the last king of Athens, is said to be eight hundred.

3. genus Aeaci] The sons of Æacus, king of Ægina, were Telamon, the father of Ajax and Teucer, and Peleus, the father of Achilles.

4. sacro — sub Ilio:] This is Homer’s epithet, Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον.

5. Chium — cadum] This is the same form of expression as “Laestrygonia amphora,” “Sabina diota”; and the vessels were all the same. On the Chian wine see Sat. ii. 8. 15. The best foreign wines were Thasian, Lesbian, Chian, Sicyonian, Cyprian, and Clazomenian. Only the second and third are mentioned by Horace, who puts them together in Epod. ix. 34. They were mild wines. Lesbian he speaks of as ‘innocens’ (C. i. 17. 21).

6. quis aquam temperet ignibus,] This is equivalent to ‘who can give us a bath?’ So Cicero, writing to Pætus, with whom he was going to dine (ad Fam. ix. 16, sub fin.), says, “ego tibi unum sumptum afferam quod balneum calfacias oportebit.”

8. Pelignis — frigoribus] Cold as severe as the Peligni know, who inhabited a high part of the Apennines in the Samnite territory. ‘Quota’ means at what hour we may sup.

9. Da lunae propere novae,] The scene is suddenly shifted to the supper table. On the construction with the genitive, see above (C. iii. 8. 13). ‘Lunae novae’ means the Kalends, which was a feast day. (Compare iii. 23. 2, “nascente luna.”) The months of Numa’s calendar being lunar, the association of the new moon with the first day of the month remained after the calendar was altered. A cup for midnight does not appear to have any other meaning than an excuse for another toast. “Dicetur merita Nox quoque naenia,” he says below (C. iii. 28. 16).

11. tribus aut novem Miscentur cyathis] The ‘cyathus’ was a ladle with which the drink was passed from the mixing bowl to the drinking cup. The ladle was of certain capacity, and twelve ‘cyathi’ went to the sextarius. Horace therefore says in effect, “Let the wine be mixed in the proportion of three cyathi of wine to nine of water, or of nine of wine to three of water.” He says, also, the poet under the inspiration of the Muses likes the stronger proportion, but the Graces (in other words, good breeding and good temper) forbid the wine to be drunk pure, lest it lead to intoxication and strife. ‘Tres supra’ means the ‘three over’ the largest proportion of nine, which if added, would make the drink ‘merum.’ ‘Commodis,’ fit and proper ‘cyathi,’ that is, bumpers. ‘A proper man’ is ‘totus teres atque rotundus,’ in whom nothing is wanting.

13. Qui Musas amat] The Muses are ‘impares’ as being nine in number. ‘Attonitus’ is equivalent to ἐμβρόντητος, ‘struck from heaven,’ that is, inspired.

18. Insanire juvat:] This is a repetition of C. ii. 7. 28. Berecyntus was a mountain in Phrygia, where Semele was worshipped. Compare C. iv. 1. 22, sqq.

There can be very little doubt that this Ode is imitated from the Greek. It represents in heroic language a contest between Pyrrhus and a girl not named, for the affections of the handsome Nearchus. The last two stanzas furnish a striking group for a picture. The passion of the jealous girl, as of a lioness robbed of her whelps, and the conscious pride of the beautiful boy are happily painted.

Argument.—As well rob the lioness of her whelps, Pyrrhus. That girl will rush to the rescue of her lover, and, like a coward and thief, thou shalt[340] quit the field after a hard fought battle, in which he shall stand like Nireus or Ganymede, the umpire of the fight.

3. inaudax] This word, which is not found elsewhere, is a direct translation of ἄτολμος, ‘cowardly.’

5. per obstantes] i.e. ‘when, like the lioness bursting through a host of huntsmen, she shall rush to the rescue of Nearchus, more beautiful than all (insignem).’

8. Major an illi.] ‘A mighty struggle, whether the prize shall rather come to thee or to her.’ If this were expressed in Greek it might run πότερα ἡ λεῖα σοὶ μείζων ἥξει ἢ ἐκείνῃ, where μείζων would be equivalent, not to λείας μεῖζον μέρος, but to μᾶλλον. Probably Horace found μείζων, in the original he copied from, in some such combination as I have supposed. ‘Certamen’ has no regular government. The construction, however, is quite intelligible without supplying ‘est’ or ‘erit,’ as some propose.

11. Arbiter pugnae] Nearchus is represented as standing in doubt to which of the combatants he shall yield himself, with bare shoulder, his long perfumed hair floating in the wind, and his naked foot upon the palm of victory, looking like Nireus,

ὃς κάλλιστος ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἦλθεν
τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν μετ᾽ ἀμύμονα Πηλείωνα (Il. ii. 673),

or like Ganymede. The difference between the perfect ‘posuisse’ and the present ‘recreare,’ the one as representing a complete, and the other a continuing action, is here clearly marked. (See C. i. 1. 4, n.) Of ‘fertur’ it is difficult to fix the exact meaning. It looks like a literal copy, and indicates a composition not flowing from the mind of the writer, and therefore liable to some confusion, though to him it was plain enough.

15. aquosa Raptus ab Ida] Ganymede was said to have been the son of Tros, but the legends respecting him differ in every particular. Horace adopts that which supposes Jupiter to have sent his eagle to carry him away from Ida, which range was the source of most of the rivers of Troas, and is therefore called ‘aquosa.’

M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus was an acquaintance of Horace, probably as early as his residence at Athens, and they were together during the campaigns of Brutus and at the battle of Philippi, after which Messalla took part with M. Antonius, till, in consequence of his proceedings with Cleopatra, he left him and joined Augustus, for whom he fought at Actium, and who always held him in high esteem. After the peace, he took up literary pursuits and oratory, and having a large fortune, he patronized literary men, and Horace, it would seem, in particular. By Horace he is called indiscriminately Messalla (which means ‘of Messana’) and Corvinus, which name was given to a distinguished member of the Valeria gens three hundred years before Messalla was born.

This Ode is addressed to the ‘testa’ containing the wine intended to be drunk at a supper to which Messalla had invited himself.

Argument.—Thou amphora, who was filled at my birth, whether thy mission be one of sorrow or joy, of strife or love or sleep, come down, for Corvinus would have my better wine. Learned though he be, he will not despise thee, for neither did old Cato. Thou dost soften the inflexible, and open the heart, and bring back hope, and give strength and courage to the[341] humble. Liber, Venus, and the Graces shall keep thee company till the dawn of day.

1. O nata mecum] Horace was born B. C. 65, when L. Manlius Torquatus and L. Aurelius Cotta were consuls, in which year the amphora addressed is here said to have been filled. (See above, C. iii. 8. 12, n.) ‘Testa,’ which signifies properly any earthen vessel, was used to express the ‘dolium’ as well as the ‘amphora.’ Here it means the latter. In Epod. xiii. 6, Horace had before referred to this wine. The force of the epithet ‘pia’ is more easily felt than rendered. ‘Gentle’ is Francis’s translation, and I know no better, for the meaning is to be derived from its connection with ‘facilem somnum.’

5. Quocunque — nomine] ‘on whatever account.’ ‘Nomen’ signifies an entry in an account (see Epp. ii. 1. 105, n.). The derived sense of the word as used here is better illustrated by Cic. de Am. c. 25: “Multis nominibus est hoc vitium notandum,” i.e. on many accounts, or in many particulars. ‘Lectum’ applies to the gathering of the grape from which the wine was made. The word ‘descende’ is used because the apotheca was in the upper part of the house. (See above, C. iii. 8. 11, n.) For the same cause ‘deripe’ is used (C. iii. 28. 7). ‘Dignus’ is used sometimes by the later prose-writers with an infinitive. In Horace’s day and by Cicero it was used only with the relative pronoun in construction with a verb. ‘Languidiora’ corresponds to ‘languescit mihi’ above (C. iii. 16. 35).

9. madet] ‘is steeped in.’ This word would hardly have been used for ‘imbuitur’ in this sense on any other occasion.

11. Narratur et prisci Catonis] This is the Cato mentioned on C. ii. 15. 11. His being fond of wine is most likely an invention of Horace’s.

13. Tu lene tormentum ingenio] ‘Thou appliest a gentle spur to the usually ungenial temper.’ ‘Duro ingenio’ means the reserved temper whose sympathies and purposes are not easily drawn out, as in Terence (Phorm. iii. 2. 12), “Adeon’ ingenio esse duro te atque inexorabili.”

14. sapientium] This applies to the philosophical and thoughtful (as ‘sapientia’ is put for philosophy, C. i. 34. 2), who have little to do with mirth till they are brought out of themselves by cheerful company. It is said that in his Odes Horace always uses the termination ‘ium’ for the genitive plural of nouns ending in ‘ens,’ and for participles the termination ‘tum.’ But the instances of either are not numerous enough to determine a rule, and the so-called nouns are usually participles, as ‘sapiens’ is.

18. cornua] That is, strength, and confidence, of which horns were the symbol. See C. ii. 19. 30, n.

19. Post te] “Quis post vina gravem militiam aut pauperiem crepat?” (C. i. 18. 5.) As to ‘apices,’ see C. i. 34. 14.

21. Te Liber] He says, ‘Thee, Liber, and Venus (if she will be cheerful and come), and the Graces slow to loose the bond that binds them, and the burning lamps, shall protract even until Phœbus on his return puts the stars to flight.’ The meaning is, the wine shall go round and the lamps shall burn, with jollity and love (women commonly were of the company on these occasions) and good humor for our companions, till sunrise.

22. Segnesque nodum solvere] ‘unwilling to be separated.’ As Horace represents the Graces, naked, or with loose robes (C. i. 30. 5, n.), ‘nodum’ cannot signify the zone, as some commentators say. It seems to mean the bond that unites them. They are usually grouped with their arms intertwined. Here they represent good humor, as opposed to brawling.

Horace on some occasion thought fit to dedicate a pine in his garden to Diana, and wrote these two stanzas as an inscription perhaps. The dedication of trees to particular divinities was not uncommon.

Argument.—Diana, who protectest the mountains and woods, and deliverest women in childbirth, to thee I dedicate this pine, and will offer thee the sacrifice of a boar.

1. Montium — nemorumque,] See C. i. 21. 5, and C. S. 1. Diana shared with Juno the attributes of Lucina, the divinity that brings children to the birth, as explained on C. S. 13. Diana was ‘Diva triformis,’ as being Luna in Heaven, Diana on Earth, and Hecate in Hell; whence Virgil speaks of “Tergeminamque Hecaten tria virginis ora Dianae” (Aen. iv. 511), alluding (as Horace does) to the statues of the goddess, with three faces, set up where three roads met, so that she could look down all three at once, from which she was called Trivia.

6. Quam per exactos ego laetus annos] The antecedent to ‘quam’ is implied in ‘tua.’ ‘Per exactos annos’ means ‘every year,’ as each year is finished.

7. obliquum meditantis ictum] This expresses the way in which a boar strikes at an object with one of its projecting tusks, with which a wild hog has not rarely been known, when incautiously pursued, to rip open a horse’s belly. See Ovid, Met. viii. 344: “obliquo latrantes dissipat ictu.”

Horace, wishing to embody the principle that any offering to heaven is acceptable according to a man’s means (see note on v. 20), put it into the form of an address to the plain and pious Phidyle, a person of his own creation, bringing a humble offering to her Lares with doubts as to its acceptance, or lamenting that she could not, for her poverty, offer a worthier sacrifice.

Argument.—My humble Phidyle, lift thy hands to heaven, and bring the Lares but incense, fresh corn, and a sucking-pig, and they shall protect thy vines and fields and lambs. Herds and flocks, fed on Algidus or Alba, are for the pontifices: do thou but crown thy gods with rosemary and myrtle, for it is the clean hand and not the costly sacrifice that comes with acceptance to the altar.

1. supinas] The clasping of the hands in prayer does not seem to have been usual with the ancients. ‘Supinus’ and ὕπτιος contain the same element, and both signify ‘upturned.’ The ‘s’ in the Latin word corresponds to the aspirate of the Greek, as in ‘silva’ and ὕλη. As to ‘nascente Luna,’ see C. iii. 19. 9, n. Phidyle is derived from φείδεσθαι, and means ‘thrifty.’ The prose form of ‘hornus’ is ‘hornotinus.’

4. Lares] These were the Manes or spirits of deceased members of a family, who were worshipped as Penates or household gods (see below, v. 19, and Epp. ii. 2. 209, n.). Their altar was usually in the atrium or entrance-hall. They had libations and prayers offered to them daily at the principal meal, and had especial sacrifices on the Kalends, Nones, and Ides.

8. Pomifero grave tempus] ‘The deadly time when the year brings round the fruit,’ i.e. Autumn (S. ii. 6. 18).

10. Devota] In the oak woods of Mount Algidus (in Latium) and the pastures of Alba were fed swine and cattle, especially for sacrifice.

15. marino Rore] ‘Rosmarinus’ is the name of a plant which grows wild in warmer climates than ours. We call it rosemary, after the Latin name, which the ancients supposed to be composed of ‘ros’ and ‘marinum,’ ‘sea-dew.’ It is rather sea-rose, ‘rosa marina.’

17. Immunis aram] ‘If the hand be innocent that touches the altar (not more welcome with sumptuous victim), it appeaseth the angry Penates with pious meal and crackling salt.’ ‘Immunis’ signifies ‘pure.’ It does not occur elsewhere in this sense without a genitive.

19. Penates] The Penates of a family included the Lares, to whom Phidyle is supposed to be sacrificing. But other gods who were supposed to protect households and to promote the peace of families were counted Penates, and among them Jupiter, Juno, and Vesta.

20. Farre pro et saliente mica] This means the salted meal offered in sacrifice. The Roman practice and the Greek were different. The οὐλαί and οὐλοχύται were the entire grain of barley mixed with salt. The grain was not pounded by the Greeks; by the Romans it was, and the salt mixed with it. So “Dant fruges manibus salsas” (Aen. xii. 173). Socrates was the first among the ancients, as far as is known, who took the view here given of the gods and their offerings. His opinions are related by Xenophon (Memor. i. 3. 3), and they are confirmed by the highest authority, which tells us, that “if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, not according to that he hath not” (2 Cor. viii. 12).

This Ode is of the same class, and was probably written about the same time as the early ones of the third book, i.e. about A. U. C. 728. It deals with the licentious abuses of the times, and points indirectly to Augustus as the real reformer of them, as in the second Ode of the first book. The variety of images and illustrations in this Ode is very remarkable, and they are particularly well chosen and original. There is none that exhibits Horace’s peculiar style more completely than this does.

Argument.—Let a man be as rich and extravagant as he may, yet, when Fate overtakes him, fear and death will seize him. The wandering tribes of the North—with their free plains and toils equally shared, where step-mothers are kind and wives are obedient and chaste, and where crime meets with its reward—are happier than we are. He who would gain a name for future times (for merit is only recognized after death), let him put a check upon the licentiousness of the age. Of what use is it to complain, if crime goes unpunished? Of what use are laws without morals? We are running everywhere in quest of money, urged on by the shame of poverty. If we really repent, let us give our gold to the gods, or cast it into the sea, eradicate the seeds of avarice, and strengthen our minds with nobler pursuits. Our youth are idle: their fathers lay up wealth by fraud: for, let riches increase as they will, they always fall short of men’s desires.

1. Intactis] Cn. Pompeius, Marcellus, and others, had entered Arabia[344] Petræa; but Arabia Felix, which is here referred to, had not yet been invaded. The disastrous expedition under Ælius Gallus did not take place till B. C. 25, which was probably after the composition of this Ode. See C. i. 29, Int. India and Arabia are again coupled, Epp. i. 6. 6.

4. mare Apulicum,] This would apply to the bay on which Tarentum is situated, and there the Romans had handsome villas. Horace, however, had the other sea more in mind, perhaps with reference to Baiæ in particular, that place being situated on the northern projection of the Sinus Cumanus.

6. Summis verticibus] This has been variously explained. It probably means, ‘when stern Fate has driven her adamantine nails into thy head’ (that is, to kill thee).

8. Non mortis laqueis] Death entangling men in his net is not an uncommon idea with the poets. The same occurs in the Psalms: “The snares of death compassed me round about” (cxvi. 3).

12. Immetata] This does not occur elsewhere. Virgil assigns to the golden age this freedom from enclosures (Georg. i. 125, 126). ‘Liberas’ means ‘common property.’

14. Nec cultura placet] The habits of the Suevi, as described by Cæsar (Bell. Gall. iv. 1), are here assigned to the Getæ, who are included with the Scythians. “They had 100 districts (‘pagi’),” says he, “each of which supplied annually 1,000 soldiers, who served a year and were then relieved by others, who in their turn served a year and were relieved. Those who stayed at home cultivated the fields. They had no enclosures, and occupied the same ground only for one year.”

15. Defunctumque laboribus] This phrase is applied to death above (C. ii. 18. 38); here it is, ‘and when one has finished his work, a substitute relieves him with an equal share of the toil.’

19. Nec dotata] The wife who brought a large ‘dos’ with her might have a tendency to rule her husband. ‘Nec fidit’ means she does not trust her rich paramour (‘nitido,’ ‘sleek’) to shield her with his influence from her husband’s anger.

21. Dos est magna parentium] ‘An ample portion for wives is their virtue and that chastity which, living in unbroken bonds, shrinks from any other man (than the husband).’

27. Pater urbium] This is not a title found elsewhere, but is analogous to ‘Pater patriae’ (C. i. 2. 50, n.). With ‘refrenare licentiam’ compare C. iv. 15. 9, sqq. ‘Post-genitis’ does not occur elsewhere.

30. quatenus] Forcellini gives other instances of this sense, ‘quandoquidem,’ ‘since.’ See S. i. 1. 64, 3. 76. The sentiment is repeated and illustrated in the first epistle of the second book, vv. 10, sqq.

33. Quid tristes querimoniae] ‘What is the use of complaining so sadly, if crime is to go unpunished?’ There were many perhaps who complained, as Horace did, of the state of society, but he says active measures are wanted for the suppression of crime, and these Augustus resorted to, by the enactment of laws regulating expense, marriage, etc. See Epp. ii. 1. 3, n.

35. Quid leges sine moribus] ‘But then,’ he goes on, ‘laws are of little use, unless the character of the age supports them, for there are vices which the law cannot reach, such as the spirit of avarice,’ which he goes on to speak of. Tacitus has echoed Horace’s words: “Bonae leges minus valent quam boni mores” (Germ. 19). See C. iv. 5. 22, n.

40. Mercatorem] On the ‘mercatores,’ see C. i. 31. 12, n. The enterprise of these men, and the effects their visits had on uncivilized people, are illustrated by the passing notice they get from Cæsar (B. G. i. 1). Speaking of[345] the Belgæ, he says, “Of all these the bravest are the Belgæ, because they are farthest removed from the civilization and refinement of the Provincia (Gallia), and to them the ‘mercatores’ make less frequent visits than to others, importing those things which tend to make the mind effeminate.”

45. Vel nos in Capitolium] He recommends that the rich should take their wealth and offer it to the gods in the Capitol, or throw it into the sea.

46. Quo clamor vocat] Multitudes, he says, would applaud such a sacrifice, and accompany those who made it to the temple.

54. Formandae] ‘Formo’ occurs in the same sense, C. i. 10. 2. S. i. 4. 121. Epp. ii. 1. 128. A. P. 307.

Nescit equo rudis] The young are brought up in idle, dissipated habits, and instead of manly exercises they amuse themselves with the childish Greek sports and gambling (see S. ii. 2. 11, n.), while their fathers are employed in making money by fraud.

57. Seu Graeco jubeas trocho] The ‘trochus’ was a hoop of metal, and it was guided by a rod with a hook at the end, such as boys use now.

58. vetita legibus alea,] There were laws at Rome, as there are with us, against gaming, which practice was nevertheless very prevalent among all classes, in the degenerate times of the republic and the empire. Juvenal complains that young children learnt it from their fathers (xiv. 4).

60. Consortem socium] This means the partner whose capital (‘sors’) was embarked with his own. The Romans held it to be a very serious offence for a man to cheat his partner. Cicero (pro Rosc. Am. c. 40) says “in rebus minoribus fallere socium turpissimum est.” Horace couples the crimes of cheating a partner and a ward in Epp. ii. 1. 123.

62. improbae] This is one of the most difficult words to which to assign its proper meaning. Forcellini gives three or four separate heads with quotations illustrative of each, under any one of which most of the examples in the others might be classed. Orelli has quoted instances (on C. iii. 9. 22) in which it is applied to labor, a jackdaw, a man, a mountain, a tiger, winter, and the Hadriatic Sea. He might have added others, as self-love (S. i. 3. 24), an old woman (S. ii. 5. 84), an angry man (S. ii. 6. 29), etc. It implies ‘excess,’ and that excess must be expressed according to the subject described. ‘Of course, vile wealth increases; still the store falls short, and something’s lacking ever.’

This Ode reads at first like an introduction to one on a larger scale in honor of Augustus; but we need not suppose that such a sequel ever was composed. The occasion, to judge by the enthusiasm of the language, may have been the announcement of the taking of Alexandria, B. C. 30.

Argument.—Bacchus, whither dost thou hurry me? In what woods or caves shall I sing of Cæsar added to the gods, a new and noble strain unheard before?

As the sleepless Euiad looks out from the heights upon the sacred hills and rivers of Thrace, so do I love to wander by the river-side and in the silent grove. O thou lord of the Nymphs, no vulgar strain will I sing. I will follow thee, for the danger of thy company is sweet.

2. quae nemora] The preposition before ‘specus’ governs both nouns. ‘Spec-us’ seems to contain the same root as σπέ-ος, the original meaning of which is unknown. The derivation of ἄντρον is equally uncertain. If, therefore,[346] there is any distinction between them, etymology does not help us to determine it.

5. meditans] ‘Inserere’ may be governed by ‘audiar,’ or ‘meditans,’ or both. ‘Meditari,’ which is akin to μελετᾶν, signifies ‘to revolve in the mind,’ and often expresses the giving utterance to that which the mind has conceived. Here it has the same meaning as Virgil’s “musam meditaris avena,” “meditaris arundine musam.”

9. Exsomnis stupet Euias] This name for the attendants on Bacchus, like Euius, his own name (C. i. 18. 9; ii. 11. 17), is derived from εὐοῖ (Euoe, C. ii. 19. 7), the bacchanal cry. The Euiad catches inspiration by looking out from the hill-tops upon the haunts of the god, and so the poet turns aside from his wonted path to the river-banks and groves where Bacchus is found. The picture of the Euiad looking out with silent awe, through a moonlight winter’s night, upon the quiet plains of Thrace, and drawing inspiration from contemplating the scenes that her deity frequents, is very beautiful.

11. pede barbaro] This refers to the troops of Mænads (Μαινάδες from μαίνομαι, as Θυιάδες from θύειν, C. i. 17. 23, n.) celebrating the orgies of Bacchus.

12. Rhodopen,] This was a lofty chain which formed the western boundary of Thrace proper, and in which the Hebrus took its rise.

ut mihi] The word that usually follows ‘aeque’ is ‘ac.’ But Horace has ‘aeque ut’ (C. i. 16. 7-9), and other writers have ‘pariter ut,’ ‘non minus ut’ (Prop. i. 15. 7), ‘perinde ut,’ which are analogous to ‘non secus ut.’ Of this there seems to be no other instance, but perhaps ‘ut’ is used in preference to ‘ac,’ because that word occurs in the line before.

14. Naïadum potens Baccharumque] These are the Nymphs mentioned, C. ii. 19. 3. The Bacchæ, as distinguished from the Naïades, are the wood-nymphs (Dryades).

19. Lenaee,] This is a name of Bacchus derived from ληνός, a wine-press.

20. tempora pampino.] Compare C. iv. 8. 33: “Ornatus viridi tempora pampino Liber.”

This Ode represents a successful gallant’s first refusal, and his mortification and wrath at his defeat. It is a purely fanciful composition.

Argument.—Till now I have fought and won. Now I hang up my arms to Venus. Here, here hang my torches, my bars, and my bow. O thou queen of Cyprus and of Memphis, do but once lay thy rod upon the proud Chloe.

1. idoneus] He means ‘till now the women liked me, and my conquests were great and glorious.’ The words would be suitable to a youthful lover under the chagrin of a first disappointment. Ovid says love is a warfare, “Militiae species amor est, discedite segnes” (A. A. ii. 233); “Militat omnis amans et habet sua castra Cupido” (Am. i. 9. 1). The arms this lover proposes to hang up in the temple of Venus on the left wall, as being most propitious (but see next Ode, v. 15, n.), are the torch that lighted him to his mistress, the crowbar that broke open her door, and the bow and arrows which he carried as emblems of his passion perhaps. For what other purpose he could use them it is not easy to see.

10. Memphin] Herodotus (ii. 112) speaks of a temple at Memphis to Ξείνη Ἀφροδίτη, built by Proteus on the occasion of Paris and Helen being driven upon the coast of Egypt, according to a local legend, which makes Herodotus think that Helen herself was the Ἀφροδίτη in question. As to Sithonia, see C. i. 18. 9.

The subject of this Ode appears to be a journey to Greece (v. 19), proposed by a lady of Horace’s acquaintance, whom he pretends to deter from her purpose, by reciting the dangers she will have to encounter, and the fate that waits upon female obstinacy, as illustrated by the story of Europa, which story occupies two thirds of the Ode, and puts aside Galatea and her journey. The length of the digression is a way with Horace (as in the story of Regulus, C. iii. 5, and of Hypermnestra, iii. 11), and Pindar took the same liberty with greater freedom.

Argument.—Let the wicked go on their way with evil omens. I do but pray for thee that the storm may be averted. Be happy, go where thou wilt, and remember me, Galatea. Fear not those idle omens: but see the rising storm: I know the dangers it portends. May they fall upon my enemy rather than on thee. It was thus Europa left her girlish task, and crossed the sea by night, but feared not, till she stood on the shore of Crete. Then she cried out in anguish: “Alas! my father, a daughter’s name I have abandoned; love is swallowed up in madness. What an exchange is here! Many deaths do I deserve to die. Am I awake, or is it a dream? Was it better to cross the sea than to gather young flowers at home? O that I might avenge myself on that monster, once too dearly loved! Shame on me that I left my home; shame that I delay to die. Let me go naked among lions and perish by tigers, rather than waste away in a lingering death. ‘Vile girl!’ my father cries, ‘why dost thou not die? Here thou mayest hang by thy girdle, or dash thee on the rocks, or into the stormy waves, unless thou wouldst yield thyself a barbarian’s slave.’” Then came Venus and her son, and laughed mischievously, and said: “Cease thy wrath, when the monster shall come back to give thee thy revenge. What, knowest thou not that thou art the spouse of Jove? Away with sighs. Bear thy noble destiny, for one half the world shall take its name from thee.”

3. Rava decurrens] The meaning of ‘ravus’ is not certain. Horace applies it to a wolf or a lion (Epod. xvi. 33), in the latter case imitating perhaps Homer’s χαροποὶ λέοντες (Odyss. xi. 611), for ‘ravus’ is said to be akin to χαροπός. The wolf is represented as running down from the hills of Lanuvium, because that town was near the Appia Via leading to Brundisium, where Galatea would embark.

6. Si per obliquum] The image of the snake shooting across the road recalls Jacob’s prophecy in respect to his son Dan: “Dan shall be a serpent by the way; an adder in the path that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backwards” (Gen. xlix. 17).

7. ego cui timebo] ‘For my part, on behalf of her for whom I am anxious, like a far-seeing augur, before that bird (the crow) which tells of the coming storm shall go back to his stagnant pool, the croaking raven with my prayers[348] I will call up from the East,’ which would be an omen of good weather, and the crow flying to the marsh, of bad. ‘Oscines aves’ were birds whose omens were taken from their note, as ‘praepetes’ from their flight.

13. Sis licet felix] There is a tenderness apart from familiarity in these two stanzas, which gives much reality to the Ode.

15. laevus vetet ire picus] The woodpecker was a bird of ill-omen. There was some confusion among the Romans as to the right hand and left in augury, as to which was the propitious side. The confusion may have arisen from the different practice of the Greeks and Romans in taking note of birds, the former facing the north and the latter the south, as is commonly supposed. But what is confusion to us, was none to a Roman. (C. 26. 5.)

18. Pronus Orion.] Orion sets about the beginning of November. On ‘albus Iapyx,’ see C. 3. 4 and 7. 15 of the first book.

21. Hostium uxores] So in C. i. 21. 13, sqq., he prays Apollo to turn away war, famine, and pestilence from his country to her enemies, the Parthians and Britons. Such diversion is common with the poets, as Virgil (Georg. iii. 513), “Di meliora piis erroremque hostibus illum.” The Romans used ‘pueri’ for children of either sex. ‘Oriens’ is not usually applied to the rising of a wind, as Horace applies it here.

25. Sic et Europe] The story of Europa, the daughter of Agenor and sister of Cadmus, carried off from Phœnicia to Crete by Zeus, under the form of a bull, is told by Ovid, at the end of the second book of the Metamorphoses.

28. Palluit] So ‘expalluit’ (Epp. i. 3. 10) and ‘contremuit’ (C. ii. 12. 8) are used transitively.

33. centum — Oppidis] See Epod. ix. 29. The description is taken from Homer’s Κρήτην ἑκατόμπολιν (Il. ii. 649). Europa’s speech is that of one just awake to her real position, after the terror of her voyage and the departure of her companion; left alone in a strange land, with the consciousness of her folly first coming upon her. She begins distractedly, ‘Father,—alas! I have forfeited a daughter’s name, and love hath given place to madness.’

37. Unde quo veni?] This implies, not that she was so distracted that she had forgotten whence she had come, but ‘What an exchange have I made! So dear a home for this strange place!’ It is all very natural and beautiful. ‘Una mors’ is perhaps an imitation of Sophocles (Antig. 308): οὐχ ὗμιν Ἅιδης μοῦνος ἀρκέσει.

38. Vigilansne ploro] ‘Am I awake and weeping for my foul fault, or, free from guilt, doth some vain image mock me, which, taking flight from out the ivory gate, brings me a dream?’

41. porta fugiens eburna] Homer (Odyss. xix. 562) describes two gates in the house of Sleep, one of them horn and the other ivory, for the exit of dreams, of which those which came out of the ivory gate were false, those out of the other, true. Virgil has imitated Homer’s description, Aen. vi. 894, sqq.

44. Carpere flores?] Ovid makes her put flowers about the animal’s neck: “flores ad candida porrigit ora,” Met. ii. 861.

49. Impudens liqui] ‘For lack of shame I left my father’s house, for lack of shame I hesitate to die,’ either because she deserved to die, or because her chastity was in danger. ‘Orcum moror’ is equivalent to ‘dubito mori,’ like Ovid (Heroid. ix. 146): “Impia quid dubitas Deïanira mori”, but it is an unusual form. Seeing nothing but death before her, she prays to be killed at once, rather than die a lingering death by hunger, and go down to Hades robbed of her beauty. This notion is Greek, and from the Greek it is probably imitated. ‘Ere ugly leanness seize my lovely cheeks, and their young victim’s blood runs dry, thus in my beauty I would feed the tigers.’

60. Laedere collum] ‘Laedere’ corresponds to λωβᾶσθαι in Soph. Ant. 54, πλεκταῖσιν ἀρτάναισι λωβᾶται βίον. Several heroines ended their lives in this unromantic way,—Antigone, Jocasta, Phædra, Amata; and the tragedians have no stronger expression for suffering, than that it is enough to make one hang one’s self.

61. Sive te rupes] As to ‘sive,’ see i. 6. 19, n. ‘Acuta leto,’ ‘sharp to kill,’ whose sharp edges are fatal.

66. Aderat querenti] Venus and Cupid come to laugh her out of her fears, and to teach her the greatness of her destiny.

67. remisso] Cupid’s bow is unstrung, as the Scholiast says, because it has done its work with Europa.

69. Abstineto, — irarum] This is a Greek form, noticed before (C. ii. 9. 17).

73. esse nescis:] This may be ‘you know not how to be’ (that is, ‘to bear yourself as’), or ‘you know not that you are.’ ‘Scire’ in this last sense does not usually govern the infinitive mood.

76. Nomina] The plural is thus used for the singular in C. iv. 2. 4, and Ovid (Tr. i. 1. 90): “Icarus Icariis nomina fecit aquis.” Horace seems to give Europe half the world, and the other parts the rest. He is not speaking with exactness.

This Ode professes to be written on the day of the Neptunalia. The time is the afternoon, and the poet calls upon Lyde (an imaginary person) to come and drink with him, and sing an amebean address to the divinity of the day and the other gods usually honored on such occasions.

Argument.—Lyde, bring out the best Cæcuban, and take wisdom by storm, for what can I do better on Neptune’s holiday? The noon is past, make haste. Let us sing; I of Neptune and the Nereids, you of Latona and Diana; both of us together of Venus;—and we will not forget a song for Night.

2. reconditum] This is explained by (C. ii. 3. 8) “Interiore nota Falerni” (see note). ‘Strenua’ is put instead of the adverb.

4. Munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae.] This has something of the heroic in it: ‘lay siege to wisdom in her strong-hold.’

7. horreo] The ‘apotheca’ at the top of the house, where the ‘amphorae’ were kept (C. i. 37. 6; iii. 8. 11, n.).

8. Bibuli consulis] M. Calpurnius Bibulus was consul with Julius Cæsar, B. C. 59. See C. iii. 8. 12, n.

12. Cynthiae;] Diana, the Latin form of Artemis, was born, like her brother Apollo, on Mount Cynthus, in the island of Delos. Latona (the Latin name of Λητώ) was their mother, by Zeus.

13. Cnidon] See C. i. 30. 1. ‘Summo carmine’ is the conclusion of their duet, not their last song.

14. Fulgentes] See C. i. 14. 19. We do not hear elsewhere of Venus frequenting the Cyclades. As to Paphon, see C. i. 30. 1.

“Vecta levi curru medias Cytheraea per auras
Cypron olorinis nondum pervenerat alis.”

16. Dicetur merita Nox] See C. iii. 19. 10. ‘Nenia’ is here a sort of lullaby. See Epod. xvii. 29, n.

This is an invitation from the poet to his patron, pressing him to pay him a visit at his farm. He bids him throw off the cares of the state, and live for the enjoyment of the hour. The time is the dog-days. The year is uncertain.

Argument.—Come, Mæcenas, the wine and oil and the flowers are ready. Stay not for ever gazing from a distance at the pleasant fields of Tibur, buried in the magnificence and the uproar, the wealth and the smoke, of the city. The rich man often likes to sup at the poor man’s table. The days of drought are come back; the shepherd seeks the shade, the flock seeks the stream, not a breath is on the river-banks: but thou art distracting thyself with imaginary dangers. Heaven has wisely hidden the future from man, and does but smile at his fears. Live for the present; all else is like the stream, that now flows in peace, now is swollen to a flood, and sweeps all with it to the sea. He lives happy who lives to-day, and leaves to-morrow to Heaven, seeing that Jove himself cannot undo what is done.

As to Fortune, she is fickle, and changes from day to day. If she stays with me, I am glad; if she flies, I am resigned. If the storm rages, I have no merchandise to fear for, and can put out into any sea with safety in my little bark.

1. Tyrrhena regum progenies,] Compare C. i. 1. 1. ‘Verso’ is equivalent to ‘moveri’ in “moveri digna bono die” (C. iii. 21. 6). The ‘balanus’ was an oleaginous nut of some kind, and is here put for the oil expressed from it.

6. Ne semper udum] ‘Udum’ is an epithet commonly applied to Tibur, which stood on the banks of the Anio. The town itself was built on the side of a hill (C. iii. 4. 23), but the fields below seem to have been damp (see C. i. 7. 14) from a number of small streams which watered them. It appears that Mæcenas was sighing for the country all the time he was detained at Rome. Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe, was the reputed founder of Tusculum and Præneste. One of the legends of the death of Ulysses attributes it to this son. Æsula was probably a town between Præneste and Tibur, but no traces of its site remain, and Pliny says that it no longer existed in his time (iii. 5).

10. Molem] This signifies Mæcenas’s palace on the Esquiline Hill at Rome. It is mentioned in Epod. ix. 3.

11. Omitte] This is the only instance in this book of an iambus at the beginning of the third verse. It occurs four times in the first book, and twice in the second. It does not occur in the fourth.

15. aulaeis et ostro] The meaning of ‘aulaeis’ is explained in Sat. ii. 8. 54. It was usual to spread tapestry to catch any dust that might fall from the ceiling. ‘Aulaeis et ostro’ may form one subject, or ‘ostro’ may mean the coverings of the couches. See S. ii. 3. 118, n.

16. Sollicitam explicuere frontem.] This expression is repeated in Sat. ii. 2. 125: “Explicuit vino contractae seriae frontis.” The perfect has the force of the Greek aorist.

17. Andromedae pater] Cepheus, a northern star below Ursa Minor, rises at the beginning of July. Procyon, a star of the first magnitude, in the constellation[351] Canis Minor, and called ‘Ante Canem’ by a literal version of the Greek name, rises about the same time, and the sun enters Leo: see above, C. iii. 13. 8, n. ‘Stella’ is not commonly put for ‘sidus,’ the constellation, as it is here.

25. Tu civitatem] See Introduction. As to ‘regnata,’ see C. ii. 6. 11. The Seres represent indefinitely the farthest Eastern nations known to the Romans (see C. i. 12. 56). The Bactrians were formerly part of the Persian empire, and were at this time partly subject to the Parthians and partly to a Scythian race, the Tochari. Bactra was their capital. The meaning of Horace is, that Mæcenas should not trouble himself about improbable dangers.

34. aequore] ‘Aequore’ is equivalent to ‘alveo,’ the channel of the river. Virgil has “viridesque secant placido aequore silvas” (Aen. viii. 96). The next line describes well the quiet flow of a river.

43. cras vel atra] Compare C. ii. 10. 15. On ‘diffinget,’ see C. i. 35. 39. ‘Vexit’ is employed unusually for ‘avexit.’

49. Fortuna saevo] The caprice of Fortune, represented as a coquette transferring her favors from one favorite to another, and delighting to trifle with the happiness of men, is the lowest Epicurean view of life and the world’s government. But Horace writes conventionally. He has just assigned to the Father of all the ordering of men’s lives.

53. si celeres quatit] Horace uses ‘si’ where other writers would use ‘sin.’

54. resigno] This is equivalent to ‘rescribo’ in a money sense, ‘to pay back.’ ‘Mea virtute me involvo’ is a picture of self-satisfaction. The man wraps his cloak of virtue complacently around him, and sits down in contented indifference to the proceedings of Fortune, as if she had nothing to do with him, and unites himself to poverty, as to a bride without a portion.

60. Cypriae Tyriaeque merces] Cyprus abounded in copper and other metals, including gold and silver, together with precious stones. It exported wines also and oil. The trade of Phœnicia, which at this time formed part of the Roman province of Syria, was carried on through Sidon more largely than Tyre, which, however, was a port of some consequence under the emperors. Horace is speaking generally, and ‘Tyriae merces’ answered his purpose as well as any other expression.

62. biremis — scaphae] A two-oared boat, ἐλάτης δικώπου. ‘Biremis’ is not so used elsewhere, but for two banks of oars.

64. feret] See above, C. iii. 9. 12, n. ‘Geminusque Pollux’ is an elliptical way of expressing ‘Pollux cum gemino fratre.’ See C. i. 3. 2.

This Ode appears to have been written as an epilogue to the first three books, as C. i. 1 was the prologue. It expresses the conviction, which time has justified, that, through his Odes, Horace had achieved an immortal name. The same just pride had been shown by poets before him; as by Sappho in a poem of which the first line only has been preserved, μνάσασθαί τινά φαμι καὶ ὕστερον ἀμμέων (16 Bergk); and by Ennius, in the lines (see C. ii. 20. 21, n.),—

“Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu
Faxit. Cur? volito vivu’ per ora virum,”

which words Virgil has made his own (Georg. iii. 9). Propertius (iii. 1), Ovid (Met. xv. 871, sqq.), and Martial (x. 2. 7, sqq.) have all imitated Horace very closely.

Argument.—I have built myself a monument which storms shall not destroy, nor Time himself. I shall not die, but live in freshness of fame so long as the world endures.

It will be said, on the banks of my native river, that I, a humble man made great, was the first to fit the Grecian strain to the lyre of Italy.

2. situ] This word is nowhere else used in this sense. It here signifies the building, and not the site.

3. impotens] This word is equivalent to ‘impotens sui,’ ‘violent,’ ‘intemperate.’ See Epod. xvi. 62.

usque] In this sense of ‘continually,’ ‘usque’ only occurs in poetry and is always joined to a verb. What follows means ‘while the Pontifex Maximus shall, on the Ides of every month, go up to the Capitol to offer sacrifice, the Vestal virgins walking silently in the procession,’ as they did, and the boys at the same time sang hymns. With a Roman this was equivalent to saying ‘for ever.’

10. Dicar qua violens obstrepit Aufidus] See Introduction and C. iv. 9. 2, n. ‘Violens’ is not a common form of ‘violentus.’ It occurs again Epp. i. 10. 37, and in Persius (Sat. v. 171), “nunc ferus et violens.” ‘Obstrepere’ is used absolutely again, Epod. ii. 27.

11. Et qua pauper aquae] ‘Pauper’ takes a genitive in S. i. 1. 79; ii. 3. 142. As to Daunus, see C. i. 22. 14, n. Apulia was badly watered. Horace calls it elsewhere ‘Siticulosa’ (Epod. iii. 16, n.).

12. Regnavit] This word, though it is used in the passive voice (see last Ode, v. 27), here only has a noun after it. Horace gives it the genitive, in imitation of ἄρχειν. He wrote with his mind full of Greek constructions and words, and took the liberty of using them very freely.

ex humili potens,] Horace uses the expression ‘potentium vatum’ in the eighth Ode of the next book (v. 26). He considered Alcæus and Sappho as his chief models in lyric poetry, which he sums up in the formula ‘Aeolium carmen’ here and in C. iv. 3. 12. ‘Delphica lauro’ is the same as ‘laurea Apollinari’ in the next book (C. iv. 2. 9).

It is said that Augustus wished Horace to publish another book of Odes, in order that those he had written in honor of Drusus and Tiberius (4, 14) might appear in it. If so, he collected a few written since, and some perhaps before, the publication of the three books, among which was this. He tells us (v. 6) that he was about fifty, which age he attained 10th December, B. C. 15. He professes to deprecate the attacks of Love, now that he is old. The Ode is not unlike one he wrote when he was much younger (i. 19), and it is probable both are imitations from the Greek.

Argument.—Art thou at war with me again, Venus? Spare me, for I am old. Go to the young. Go to Paullus, for he is noble, handsome, clever.[353] Give him the victory, and he will give thee in return a marble statue in a shrine of citron, with incense, music, and dancing, in his home by the Alban lake. I have no longer a heart for love and wine, and yet, Ligurinus, why do I weep and dream of thee?

3. Non sum qualis eram] Epp. i. 1. 4. He here calls Cinara good, because she is dead, elsewhere he calls her ‘rapax’ (Epp. i. 14. 33). It seems likely that this name represents a real person, whether she appears under another name elsewhere or not, and that Horace had an affection for her. In the thirteenth Ode of this book (v. 22) her death is mentioned with feeling, and there is a reality in the references to her in all the places where she is alluded to, which cannot be connected with fiction. She was associated, in all probability, with Horace’s early days. Κυνάρα signifies, some say, a wild rose-thorn (κυνόσβατος); κινάρα, an artichoke.

5. Mater saeva Cupidinum] Repeated from i. 19. 1. Horace here does not copy himself, I believe, but some Greek original. ‘Flectere’ is a metaphor taken from the breaking in of a horse.

9. in domum] ‘More seasonably shalt thou keep thy revels in the house of Paullus Maximus, drawn by thy beautiful swans.’ So Livy (xl. 7), “Quin comissatum ad fratrem imus.” Here ‘comissabere’ is equivalent to ‘comissatum ibis,’ and therefore the reading ‘in domum’ is correct. Κωμάσδω ποτὶ τὰν Ἀμαρύλλιδα is an expression of Theocritus just like this (iii. 1). Κώμῳ χρέεσθαι ἐς ἀλλήλους occurs in Herodotus (i. 21). ‘Purpureis,’ (which signifies beauty without reference to color) savors of the Greek. ‘Torrere jecur’ is like Theocritus’s ὀπτεύμενος ἐξ Ἀφροδίτης (vii. 55).

14. sollicitis non tacitus reis] Compare C. ii. 1. 13, where he calls Pollio “Insigne moestis praesidium reis.”

16. Late signa feret] The idea corresponds to “militavi non sine gloria” (iii. 26. 2).

17. Et quandoque] i.e. ‘whenever, with thine aid, his smiles shall beat the rich presents of his rival, he shall set thee up in marble, under a citron roof, by the shore of the Alban lakes,’ of which there were two close together, the Albanus (Albano) and Nemorensis (Nemi), and on one of these it appears Fabius had a house. As to Berecyntiæ, compare C. iii. 19. 18. ‘Lyrae’ and ‘tibiae’ are in the dative case after ‘mixtis.’

22. Duces thura,] ‘Ducere’ is used for drinking, and here for inhaling. It has a great variety of meanings, which the context will generally explain.

28. ter quatient humum.] See C. iii. 18. 16. On the first few days of March, during the festival of Mars, the Salii, his priests, went in procession through the city singing and dancing, whence they are said to have derived their name. “Jam dederat Saliis (a saltu nomina ducunt)” (Ovid, F. iii. 387). The practice, according to Livy, was instituted by Numa (i. 20), “per urbem ire canentes carmina cum tripudiis sollennique saltatione jussi sunt.” See Epp. ii. 1. 86.

Iulus Antonius was son of M. Antonius the triumvir. He was a man of letters and a poet. In B. C. 17 the Sigambri, with two other German tribes, crossed the Rhine and laid waste part of the Roman territory in Gaul. They defeated the legate Lollius, and this disaster was sufficient to induce Augustus to go in person to Gaul, which he did, and at his approach the Germans withdrew into their own territories, and, giving hostages, obtained peace. The defeat of Lollius had caused great consternation at Rome, and the news of the barbarians’ subjection was hailed with proportionate joy. Augustus did not return for two years to Rome, having meanwhile restored order in Germany, Gaul, and Spain; but it is probable this Ode was written in the expectation of his return, and while the news respecting the Sigambri was still fresh, that is to say, about the end of B. C. 16. Augustus’s return to Rome was expected long before it took place (see C. 5 of this book). The general impression derived from the Ode is that Antonius had pressed Horace to write a poem in honor of Augustus’s victory in the style of Pindar’s ἐπινίκια, and that he very wisely declined. At the same time he pays Antonius the compliment of saying that he could celebrate Augustus’s victory better than himself.

Argument.—Whoso would rival Pindar must expect the fate of Icarus. His numbers roll like a swollen river. His is the bay, whether he tune the dithyramb or sing of gods and heroes, of victors or of women bereaved. The swan of Dirce soars to the clouds. I am but as a bee, sipping the flowers of Tibur.

Thou, Antonius, shalt sing of the triumphs of Cæsar, greatest and best, and of the holiday rejoicings that hail his return: and I will add my small voice to thine: and we will all sing songs of triumph, and will sacrifice, thou with bulls and cows, I with a young heifer.

2. Iule,] Virgil makes this name trisyllabic, after the Greek. Antonius’s grandmother on his father’s side was Julia, one of the Cæsars, though how related to the dictator is not known.

ceratis ope Daedalea] Dædalus, to escape from Crete, is said to have made for himself and Icarus, his son, wings, fastened to their shoulders with wax. Those of Icarus melted, and he fell into the Ægean, part of which was called after him (see C. iii. 7. 21). As to the plural ‘nomina,’ see C. iii. 27. 76.

10. nova — Verba] The ‘dithyrambus,’ of which word the etymology is uncertain, was a song in honor of Bacchus, and sung at his festivals. It was wild and enthusiastic in its character. ‘Nova verba’ signifies words coined for the occasion, as was common, and to be expected from the nature of the poetry, of which the metre seemed to a Roman irregular and arbitrary (‘lege solutis’). A few fragments remain of dithyrambic poems by Pindar. All his entire poems extant are ἐπινίκια, odes of triumph for victors at the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games.

13. Seu deos regesve] Among Pindar’s works were ὕμνοι, παῖανες, παρθένια, προσόδια, in honor of the gods, and ἐγκώμια, in honor of illustrious men. He may have written on the subject of the victory of Peirithous over the Centaurs (C. i. 18. 8, n.), and that of Bellerophon over the Chimæra (C. i. 27. 24).

17. Elea] This applies to the ἐπινίκια above mentioned. The plain of Olympia, on which the Olympic games were celebrated every fourth year, was in Elis, in the Peloponnesus. The chariot race and boxing (‘pugilemve[355] equumve’) were the most prominent of these games. ‘Equum’ is put for the rider, as in A. P. 84.

21. Flebili sponsae] This has reference to another class of poems, called θρῆνοι, ‘dirges for the dead.’

25. Multa Dircaeum] ‘A strong breeze lifts the swan of Dirce,’ that is, Pindar who was born at Thebes, near which was the fountain Dirce.

27. apis Matinae] See C. ii. 6. 15, n. Mons Matinus was in Apulia. The image here employed is very common. ‘Ripas’ signifies the banks of the Anio (see C. iii. 25. 13, n.). ‘Operosa’ describes, perhaps, the process by which nearly all Horace’s Odes were produced. No great poet is more artificial, and few more skilled in concealing their art, and giving it the appearance of nature. ‘Fingo’ corresponds to πλάττω, which word the Greeks used especially with reference to the making of honey. ‘Plurimum’ belongs to ‘laborem.’

33. Concines] The pronoun, though emphatic, is omitted, which is not uncommon. (See C. iii. 17. 5.) ‘Concines’ has particular force, expressing a chant in which many voices are joined.

34. feroces] The Sigambri had earned the epithet of ‘cruel’ by their treatment of the Roman officers, who, having gone to collect their tribute, were taken by them and hanged, which was the beginning of this revolt. See Introduction.

35. sacrum clivum] The ‘clivus sacer’ was a declivity between the Via Sacra and the Forum, down which the triumphal processions passed. A certain number of prisoners were usually kept to walk behind the victor, and when the procession reached a certain point in the Forum, they were carried off to prison and strangled. See Epod. vii. 8.

37. Quo nihil majus] This flattery is repeated Epp. ii. 1. 17. The unbounded kindness which Horace received from Augustus merited the word ‘melius’; in ‘majus’ he was not far wrong. ‘Divis bonis’ is repeated below (C. iv. 5. 1).

43. Fortis Augusti reditu] Orelli mentions that there are coins of the year B. C. 16, with the inscription S.P.Q.R.V.S. PRO S. ET RED. AVG. (vota suscepta pro salute et reditu Augusti).

44. Litibus orbum.] A ‘justitium’ had been ordered by the senate; that is, a suspension of business, during which the prætor did not hold his courts.

48. felix] Whether ‘felix’ refers to Horace himself, or to the sun, is doubtful.

49. Teque dum procedis,] ‘Triumphus’ is addressed as a divinity, as in Epod. ix. 21, and Horace says, ‘As thou marchest, we will shout thus thy name, Io Triumphe! and again, Io Triumphe!’

53. Te decem tauri] Iulus was rich. Five or six years after this he was consul.

54. Me tener solvet vitulus] So “nos humilem feriemus agnam” (C. ii. 17. 32).

58. Tertium — ortum,] ‘Its young horns just bent to the form of the moon’s crescent when she is three days old.’

59. duxit] That is, has contracted or received. ‘Traxit’ would do equally well, and appears in one MS.

The impression produced by the publication of his three books of Odes, which had previously been known only to a few, was such as, no doubt, to[356] silence envy, and to establish Horace in the high position he here asserts as “Romanae fidicen lyrae”; and when, after several years’ silence, he produced the Carmen Saeculare in B. C. 17, it was received probably with so much favor as to draw forth this Ode. It has all the appearance of genuine feeling, and shows how much Horace had suffered from the vexatious detractions to which he was at one time subjected. It is an address to the Muse, gratefully attributing to her all his success.

Argument.—He on whom thou lookest at his birth, Melpomene, derives his fame, not from the games, or from triumphs, but from the streams and woods of Tibur, inspiring him with Æolian song.

They have named me the tuner of the Roman lyre, and envy assaults me no longer as it did; and to thee I owe this gift of pleasing, O Muse, who rulest the shell, and art able to give the music of the swan to the voiceless fish, if thou wilt.

3. labor Isthmius] The Isthmian games were celebrated every third year, on the Isthmus of Corinth, and were attended, like the Olympian games, by all the Greek states. The games were the same generally at both.

6. Deliis — foliis] This is another way of expressing ‘laurea Apollinari,’ ‘Delphica lauro’ (C. iii. 30. 15).

9. Ostendet Capitolio:] The triumphal processions ended at the Capitol, whither the victors went to return thanks to Jove in his temple.

10. aquae] The river Anio. He says the waters that flow past Tibur and the leafy groves shall make him glorious with the song of Lesbos, which he practises by the stream and in the grove.

17. testudinis aureae] This is Pindar’s χρυσέας φόρμιγγος (Pyth. i. 1).

18. Pieri,] This singular is not common. Ovid uses it (Fast. iv. 222): “Pieris orsa loqui.”

19. mutis — piscibus] The Greek ἔλλοπας ἰχθῦς is thus explained by some, but the meaning of that word is doubtful.

23. Romanae fidicen lyrae,] In Epp. i. 19. 32, he calls himself “Latinus fidicen.” ‘Quod spiro’ means that I breathe the breath, not of life, but of poetry. Compare C. iv. 6. 29: “Spiritum Phoebus mihi — dedit.”

The history of this Ode is easily made out. The Vindelici were a tribe whose territories lay between the Danube and the Lake of Constanz, comprising the greater part of modern Bavaria and Suabia, and some part of the Tyrol. The Ræti lay to the south of the Vindelici, and reached to Lake Como on the south. These tribes, whom the historians describe as very fierce and warlike, commenced a system of predatory incursions into Cisalpine Gaul, in which they appear to have practised the greatest atrocities. Augustus was at this time (B. C. 16-15) in Transalpine Gaul, and Tiberius was with him. Drusus, his step-son, and younger brother of Tiberius, was Quæstor at Rome, and in his twenty-third year. He was required by Augustus to take the field against the offending tribes, whom he met under the Tridentine Alps and defeated signally. But, though driven from Italy, they continued their attacks upon Gaul, and Tiberius was accordingly sent by Augustus with more troops to his brother’s assistance, and they between them effectually humbled the[357] tribes, whose territories were constituted a Roman province under the united name of Rætiæ, Rætia Prima or Proper, and Secunda, which embraced the possessions of the Vindelici: these also comprised several other tribes, of whom Horace particularly mentions the Genauni and Breuni. The whole of this war took place in the spring and summer of the year B. C. 15, and we are led to suppose from C. iv. 14. 34-38, that it was brought to a conclusion in the month of August, on the anniversary of the capture of Alexandria by Augustus in the year 30 (C. i. 37, Introduction). In honor of these victories Horace composed this Ode and the fourteenth of this book, the one more expressly to celebrate the name of Drusus, the other of Tiberius. The two Odes therefore must historically be viewed together, though it seems likely that this Ode was written immediately after the victory of Drusus, while the other was composed two years afterwards, when Augustus returned to Rome.

Argument.—Like the young eagle just darting on its prey, or the young lion fresh from its dam, was Drusus when he met the rude Vindelici, and made them feel what hearts could do trained under the eye of Augustus. The brave give birth to the brave. The steer and the horse have the blood of their sires, and the eagle gives not birth to the dove. But education brings out the seeds of virtue. What Rome owes to the Nerones let the Meturus witness, and the day which saw Hasdrubal defeated, and drove the clouds and the fierce African from Latium. Our strength grew and our gods returned from that day, and Hannibal was forced to cry, “As the deer might pursue the wolf, we are pursuing those we should fly. Like the shorn oak, they gave strength with every blow, as the Hydra or the monsters of Thebes. Sink them in the deep, they rise more glorious than ever, and overthrow their victor in his strength. No more shall I send messengers of victory to Carthage; fallen, fallen are our hopes, and our fortune, for Hasdrubal is gone!”

The hand of a Claudius prospers, for Jove and his own sagacity deliver him from danger.

1. Qualem] The apodosis of this long opening (which, however, gains power as it proceeds) is to be found in the seventeenth verse. The best way to render it will be by changing the cases in ‘ministrum’ and ‘juventas’: ‘as the thunderbolt’s winged minister one day by youth and native strength from its nest is driven, and by the breezes of spring is fluttering taught,’ etc. Virgil calls the eagle “Jovis armiger” (Aen. v. 255), which Pliny (N. H. x. 3, 4) says is his conventional title.

2. aves vagas] ‘Vaga,’ as an epithet applied to birds, corresponds to the Greek ἠερόφοιτος. Horace follows a legend later than Homer in the story of Ganymede (see C. iii. 20. 16).

5. Olim] See C. ii. 10. 17, n. ‘Propulit,’ ‘docuere,’ ‘demisit,’ ‘egit,’ are used in an aoristic sense.

9. mox in ovilia] ‘Then on the fold by instinct quick is hurried hostile down, again on the writhing snake is sent by love of food and fight.’

13. Qualemve laetis] ‘Or as a she-goat, intent on glad pastures, sees the lion’s whelp, fresh from his tawny mother’s dugs, just weaned,—she by his young tooth soon to die.’

14. matris ab ubere] ‘Ab,’ like ἀπό, is used absolutely; ‘fresh from the dugs of his dam, yea, just weaned from the milk of his mother.’

18. quibus Mos unde] All we can gather from these verses is, that the Vindelici carried some species of battle-axe, that the Romans had felt the weight and edge of it, and that the Vindelici were counted a strange, wild race, whose origin and history the Romans professed to know nothing about.

21. quaerere distuli,] ‘I ask not now,’—the question would be out of[358] place, he means, and some commentators, agreeing with him, have discarded this stanza as an interpolation.

sed diu] ‘Sed’ is commonly used after digressions to recover the thread of the subject.

24. revictae] That ‘re’ is added to some verbs without materially changing their meaning, has been shown before (C. i. 31. 12, n.).

25. quid mens] The difference between ‘mens’ and ‘indoles’ is, that one refers to the head, the other to what we should call the heart, the disposition.

28. Nerones.] The father of Tiberius and Drusus was Tiberius Claudius Nero, which was also the emperor’s name. Drusus was Nero Claudius Drusus. The latter was not born till three months after his mother Livia married Augustus.

29. Fortes creantur] It is more than probable that Horace had in his mind the words of Euripides,—

ἐσθλῶν ἀπ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ἐσθλὰ γίγνεσθαι τέκνα,
κακῶν δ᾽ ὅμοια τῇ φύσει τῇ τοῦ πατρός (Fr. Alcm. 7).

‘Fortibus et bonis’ corresponds to the common Greek expression, which it is so difficult to render, καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς. Those words are in the ablative case. Horace does not refer to the father of these youths, who was a worthless person, but generally to their family, the Claudia gens, among whom were many persons of distinction. They were divided into a patrician and a plebeian branch. To the latter belonged the Marcelli. See C. i. 12. 46, n.

37. Neronibus] Claudius Nero, who was of the family of which Tiberius and Drusus came, defeated and slew Hasdrubal, when he was coming to the help of his brother Hannibal, B. C. 207, on the banks of the Metaurus, a river in the north of Italy. Hannibal had been nearly eleven years in Italy, and had met with few reverses, but after his brother’s defeat his cause failed, and, though he remained four years longer in Italy, it was far away in the mountains of the south, and the Romans ceased to be harassed by him. Horace, therefore, is accurate here.

38. Metaurum] See A. P. 18: “Aut flumen Rhenum.” The name is formed into an adjective in both cases.

41. adorea,] ‘Ador’ was a coarse grain called by the Greeks ζειά, but the name was applied to grain in general, and in the form ‘adorea’ signified the supply of corn given to soldiers after a victory, and hence was used as synonymous with victory itself.

42. Dirus] C. ii. 12. 2, n. This is the third time this epithet is applied to Hannibal, whom with reason the Romans held in greater respect than any enemy they ever had, though ‘perfidia plus quam Punica’ was freely attributed to him. ‘Ut,’ ‘ever since’ (Epod. vii. 19). ‘Taedas’ is not torches but a forest of pines, a conflagration in which is one of the most terrific sights that the eye can witness. ‘Equitavit’ seems to be taken from Eurip. (Phoen. 209),—

περιῤῥύτων
ὑπὲρ ἀκαρπίστων πεδίων
Σικελίας Ζεφύρου πνοαῖς
ἱππεύσαντος ἐν οὐρανῷ
κάλλιστον κελάδημα.

51. Sectamur ultro] ‘We are pushing on and pursuing those whom to evade and to escape is our noblest triumph.’ There is often some difficulty in translating ‘ultro.’ ‘Uls’ is an old preposition involving the same root as ‘ille,’ and signifying ‘on the other side of,’ opposed to ‘eis.’ ‘Ultro’ signifies to a place beyond, as ‘ultra’ at a place beyond. If ‘ultro,’ therefore, ever means ‘voluntarily,’ it is not as involving the root ‘vol’ of ‘volo,’ but[359] as implying the forwardness of the agent to do what he is not obliged or asked. With this speech of Hannibal may be compared the words Livy puts into his mouth (xxvii. 51).

54. Jactata Tuscis aequoribus] Virgil represents Æneas as having barely rounded the western promontory of Sicily, and entered the Mare Tyrrhenum, when the storm arose that drove him back to the coast of Africa (Aen. i. 67, iii. 705, sqq.). His voyage was prosperous after he left Sicily the second time, according to Virgil’s account.

sacra] Æneas is said to have brought with him to Rome the fire of Vesta and the images of the ‘Penates publici,’ who were ever after worshipped at Rome. They were the protectors of the city, as the ‘Penates domestici’ or ‘privati’ were of private houses, and like them they were worshipped as Lares. (See C. iii. 23. 19; iv. 4. 19; S. ii. 3. 26, n.)

59. Per damna,] See Livy (xxix. 3), “Illis Romanam plebem, illis Latium juventutem praebuisse majorem semper frequentioremque pro tot caesis adolescentibus subolescentem.”

62. Vinci dolentem] ‘Indignant at the thought of being beaten’, or ‘refusing to be beaten,’ as “penna metuente solvi” (C. ii. 2. 7), ‘a wing that will not melt.’ The destruction of the hydra, a monster with nine heads, each of which, as Hercules knocked it off with his club, was replaced by two new ones, is the second of the labors of that hero.

63. Colchi] Jason, when he went for the golden fleece, sowed at Colchis part of the teeth of the dragon which Cadmus had killed, and whose teeth he had sown at Thebes. From both sprung up armed men, to whom Hannibal here likens the Romans. Echion was one of the γηγενεῖς, ‘earth-borns,’ who helped Cadmus to build Thebes, which is therefore called after him.

76. acuta belli.] This corresponds to Hom. (Il. iv. 352), ὀξὺν Ἄρηα. The same construction occurs C. iv. 12. 19, “amara curarum.” ‘Expediunt’ means ‘carry them through’: ‘diligence and sagacity carry them through the dangers of war.’

This Ode was written after the German victories celebrated in the last Ode and C. 14, and perhaps sent to Augustus in Gaul B. C. 14. Its professed object is to induce Augustus to hasten his return, and to describe the blessings of his reign. What were the reasons for the emperor’s protracted absence, we cannot tell. It was perhaps the policy of Augustus to make his absence felt, and we may believe that the language of Horace, which bears much more the impression of real feeling than of flattery, represented the sentiments of great numbers at Rome, who felt the want of that presiding genius which had brought the city through its long troubles and given it comparative peace. There could not be a more comprehensive picture of security and rest obtained through the influence of one mind than is represented in this Ode, if we except that with which no merely mortal language can compare (Isaiah xi. and lxv.; Micah iv.). The Carmen Seculare contains much that is repeated here. Virgil’s description in his fourth Eclogue may be read in connection with this Ode.

Argument.—Too long hast thou left us, our guardian; fulfil thy promise and return as the spring to gladden our hearts. As the mother for her absent son, so does Rome sigh for her Cæsar. Our fields are at peace, the very[360] sea is at rest, our morals are pure, our women are chaste, the law is strong, our enemies are silenced, each man lives in quiet and blesses thy name, as Greece that of Castor or Hercules. Long mayest thou be spared to bless us, is our prayer, both morning and evening.

1. Divis orte bonis,] Compare C. iv. 2. 38. ‘Custos’ is repeated in “custode rerum Caesare” (C. iv. 15. 17). ‘Romulus’ or ‘Romuleus,’ ‘Dardanus’ or ‘Dardanius,’ are used as the metre requires by the poets.

10. Carpathii] The Carpathian Sea is that part of the Ægean which lies between Rhodes and Crete, taking its name from the island Carpathus, which lay half-way between those two islands.

13. Votis ominibusque et precibus] ‘with vows, and watching the omens, and prayers.’

18. Nutrit rura] The repetition of ‘rura’ is plainly designed. ‘The ox wanders in security over the fields, to the fields Ceres gives fertility.’ ‘Faustitas’ is a new name, not elsewhere met with, for ‘Felicitas.’ Velleius (ii. 89) thus describes the blessings secured by Augustus: “Rediit cultus agris, sacris honos, securitas hominibus, certa cuique rerum suarum possessio.”

19. Pacatum] This means ‘delivered from pirates,’ who infested the Mediterranean till Augustus put them down.

22. Mos et lex] This is the combination required in C. iii. 24. 35: “Quid leges sine moribus.” On the proper distinction between ‘mos’ and ‘lex,’ see article ‘Jus’ in Smith’s Dict. Ant.

23. Lauduntur simili prole puerperae,] This is a way of expressing chastity derived from the Greeks. Horace is referring in these verses to a law for the suppression of adultery, passed by Augustus, B. C. 17.

25. Quis Parthum] This stanza shows that the enemies mentioned were still objects of uneasiness; but the Parthians were at this time quiet; the most troublesome of the German tribes had been humbled by Augustus or his stepsons, and he was employed in quelling disturbances in Spain.

29. Condit] There are many examples of this use of ‘condo,’ which signifies to bring to an end, and as it were to lay up in store. “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon” (1 Kings iv. 25).

31, 32. et alteris Te mensis adhibet deum;] ‘and invites thee, as a god, to the second course.’

34. Laribus] At the second course, it was usual to offer libations and prayers to the Lares (see C. iii. 23. 4, n.). Dion Cass. (li. 19) says that after the battle of Actium the senate decreed that all men should offer libations to Augustus at private tables as well as in the public feasts, and that his name should be inserted in the hymns of praise as the name of the gods. As to ‘pateris’ see S. i. 6. 118.

37, 38. Longas — ferias Praestes Hesperiae!] ‘Mayest thou give to Italy long holidays,’ or ‘seasons of rejoicing.’ See Argument.

39. dicimus uvidi] ‘Uvidus’ is the same word as ‘udus,’ which is a contracted form. It is not formed from ‘uva,’ though it here means ‘drenched with wine.’

The appointment of Horace to compose the principal Ode at the Secular Games, B. C. 17, seems to have given him much pleasure, and to have given his mind a new stimulus in favor of ode-writing. To the honor thus conferred upon him we owe, perhaps as much as to Augustus’s bidding, this fourth book, of which the third, sixth, eighth, and ninth, all bear marks of the legitimate pride that circumstance awakened. This sixth Ode is a kind of preface to the Secular Ode, and dwells chiefly on the praises of Apollo as having been the slayer of Achilles, and thereby having preserved Æneas to be the founder of the Roman family; and having prayed for and obtained the help of that god for the task he is going to perform, Horace turns, as choragus, to the members of his chorus, consisting of twenty-seven boys and as many girls of noble birth (C. S., Int.), and instructs them in their duty.

Argument.—O thou, the punisher of Niobe and Tityos, and the slayer of Achilles, he who shook the walls of Troy was no match for thee, but fell under thy strength as the pine-tree laid low by the axe, or the cypress by the east wind. He would have taken Troy, not by guile but by cruel force, but that Jove had granted Æneas to thy prayers and those of his dear Venus. O Apollo, support the honor of the Roman Muse. His spirit is upon me: ye virgins and boys, keep time to my song, and sing of Apollo and Diana. O damsel! when a bride, thou shalt look back and say, “When the age brought back its festival, I sang the pleasant song that the poet Horace made.”

1. Dive,] The purpose of the Ode being to invoke the assistance of Apollo for the composition of the Secular Ode, the invocation is suspended here, and not taken up again till the praises of the god have been sung, as the avenger of crime and the destroyer of Achilles.

proles Niobea] The number of Niobe’s children is stated variously by different authors. The version best known is that which Achilles gives to Priam, when he is comforting him for Hector (Il. xxiv. 602-617), that she had six sons and as many daughters, and that, because she had boastfully compared the number of her offspring with that of Lato’s, who had but Artemis and Apollo, these two shot all her children, who were turned to stone by Zeus. She was afterwards changed to stone herself. Considerable remains of a group of figures, said to be by Scopas (C. 8. 6), representing Niobe and her children, exist in the Gallery at Florence.

magnae — linguae] This is a close copy of Ζεὺς γὰρ μεγάλης γλώσσης κόμπους Ὑπερεχθαίρει (Soph. Antig. 127).

4. Phthius Achilles,] See C. ii. 16. 19, n. The death of Achilles by the hand of Apollo was foretold by Hector (Il. xxii. 358, sqq.), and is stated by Sophocles (Philoct. 334),—

τέθνηκεν ἀνδρὸς οὐδενὸς θεοῦ δ᾽ ὕπο
τοξευτός, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἐκ Φοίβου δαμείς.

The common legend assigns it to Paris, but not without Apollo’s help (Virg. Aen. vi. 57). The country from which Achilles is said to have come was Phthiotis in Thessaly.

14. male feriatos] ‘keeping untimely holiday.’ The chorus in the Troades of Euripides (541, sqq.) relates how there was singing and dancing and joy in the city for the departure of the Greeks, when the cry of battle was suddenly heard, children clung to their mothers’ garments, armed men kept issuing[362] from the horse, and murdered the Trojan youth at the altars and in their beds. See also Virg. Aen. ii. 248.

23. ductos] Aen. i. 423: “Pars ducere muros.” The Greeks would say τοίχους ἐλαύνειν. ‘Potiore alite’ is ‘under better auspices.’ As observed before, the auspices were taken when a town was to be built. Here Rome is meant.

25. Doctor argutae] Apollo had in later times the title of μουσαγέτης as leader of the Muses’ choir and their instructor.

26. Xantho lavis amne crines,] See Epod. xv. 9, about Apollo’s hair. The river Xanthus here mentioned was in Lycia (see C. iii. 4. 62).

28. Levis Agyieu] The Greeks gave this name (ἀγυιεύς) to Apollo, as worshipped in and protecting the streets of cities.

31. Virginum primae] The chorus on this great occasion was chosen from noble families, as the passage shows. (See Introduction.) The Lesbian foot was the Sapphic. There is no example of this passive use of ‘tutela’ earlier than Horace.

38. Noctilucam,] This was a name given to Diana as the Moon, which she represented, as Janus (the masculine form of the same name) represented the Sun.

39. Prosperam frugum] This and ‘docilis modorum’ (v. 43) are Greek constructions. The first means ‘her who prospers the fruits of the earth,’ which Diana would do by bringing round the seasons, for she was ‘swift the onward months to roll.’

It is pretty certain that this Ode is addressed to the same person as the fifth Epistle of the first book. But who Torquatus was, we have no means of deciding. The Ode bears a strong likeness to C. i. 4, and may very likely have been written about the same time, and afterwards inserted here to help out a volume. It contains an exhortation to present enjoyment since Death is certainly at hand for all.

Argument.—The winter is gone, and the spring is returning with its green leaves, its gentler streams, and its Graces. The seasons change and remind us of our end, but the revolving year repairs its losses, while we go to the dust for ever, and we know not when it will be. What thou dost enjoy thyself, is so much taken from thy greedy heir. When thou art dead, Torquatus, thy family, thine eloquence, and thy piety will not restore thee to life, any more than the love of Diana could bring back Hippolytus, or the friendship of Theseus, Peirithous.

3. Mutat — vices] ‘undergoes its changes.’ This is no more than ‘subit vices.’ ‘Vices’ is what is termed a cognate accusative. The meaning of the next words is, that the streams, lately swollen by the winter rains or by the first melting of the snow, had subsided and no longer overflowed their banks, but flowed quietly along them. See C. iv. 12. 3. Respecting the Graces, see C. i. 4. 6; 30. 5, n.

13. Damna — caelestia] ‘Tamen’ shows that the changes and deteriorations of the weather and seasons are intended, and ‘celeres lunae’ are the quick-revolving months.

15. pius Aeneas] Horace’s purpose is to show that no means are sufficient to bring back the dead, not piety, nor wealth, nor power. There is a similar verse in Epp. i. 6. 27.

19. amico Quae dederis animo.] ‘Whate’er thou givest thine own dear soul.’ This seems to be a literal version of φίλῃ ψυχῇ χαρίζεσθαι.

21. splendida] ‘Judgment august hath passed.’ ‘Splendida’ is an unusual word for such a meaning. As to Minos, see C. ii. 13. 23, n.

26. Liberat Hippolytum,] This is in accordance with the legends of Greece respecting Artemis and Hippolytus. She was unable to bring him to life. The Latin poets make Hippolytus return from the dead, being brought to life by the skill of Æsculapius; and Diana, in Ovid’s account, takes him and gives him into the care of Egeria, in the woods of Aricia (Met. xv. 543, sqq.). See also Virg. Aen. vii. 765, sqq.

27. Nec Lethaea valet] The common story of Theseus and his friend is, that, both having been consigned to their punishment together, Hercules went down and delivered Theseus, leaving Peirithous to his fate. This may be the legend Horace follows: for it may be understood that Theseus pleaded for Peirithous when he was himself returning, but failed to obtain his release.

C. Marcius Censorinus, the person to whom this Ode is addressed, was a man of birth and education, a favorite with Augustus, and generally much beloved, according to Velleius, who says of his death (in A. D. 2), “Graviter tulit civitas.” Horace pays him the compliment of believing that he would esteem an Ode of his more highly than any costly gifts he could offer, in accordance with the common practice among friends of making each other presents (‘strenas’) on new-year’s day and other festivals. Censorinus was consul the year that Horace died.

Argument.—If I were rich in statues and pictures, I would give such to my friends, and the best to thee, Censorinus. But I have none, and thou desirest not these. What I have I offer,—verses in which thou delightest. No monuments of marble, not their own mighty deeds, could ennoble the Scipiones like the verses of Ennius. Thine own virtues must remain obscure but for the Muse. What would Æacus or Romulus have been without her? She raises men to the skies, as did Hercules, the Tyndaridæ, and Liber.

commodus,] ‘liberally.’ “Miscentur cyathis pocula commodis” (C. iii. 19. 12) is a like use of the word.

3. tripodas,] In the temple of Apollo, at Delphi, was a bronze altar on three legs, called from its form τρίπους. Imitations of this tripod were presented to the victors at the Pythian games. Herodotus mentions their being given at the games of Apollo at Triopium in Cnidus (i. 144).

5. artium] ‘Artes’ as ‘works of art’ occurs in Epp. i. 6. 17: “Marmor vetus aeraque et artes Suspice.” Also in Cic. (de Legg. ii. 2), “antiquorum artibus”; and in Virg. (Aen. v. 359), “clypeum — Didymaonis artes.”

6. Parrhasius] This painter flourished at Athens with Zeuxis about the end of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 404. Many of his pictures were to be seen at Rome when Horace wrote. Scopas, the sculptor and architect of Paros, who flourished (also at Athens) about the same time as Parrhasius, is the reputed author of some works that exist to this day; particularly the[364] group referred to on C. 6. 1, which, if not the original, is an ancient copy. The statue set up by Augustus in the temple he built to Apollo (C. S. 33, n.) was also by Scopas, and it appears on Roman coins as Apollo Actius or Palatinus.

protulit] ‘Proferre,’ meaning to ‘produce’ (as we say) a work of art, is not common. Perhaps it does not occur elsewhere. ‘Ponere’ is a more common word. See A. P. 34: “Quia ponere totum Nesciet.”

15. fugae] This is only a way of expressing his hasty departure from Italy at the summons of the Carthaginian senate.

16. Rejectaeque retrorsum] This refers to Hannibal’s final defeat at Zama, as is shown by the reference to the muse of Ennius (‘Calabrae Pierides,’ v. 20), which was employed in the praises of the elder Scipio.

17. Non incendia] Carthage was destroyed by Scipio Africanus Minor, B. C. 146.

18. nomen ab Africa Lucratus] These words refer to Scipio Africanus Minor. In S. ii. 1. 65 he is mentioned in the same way as the man

From a strict rendering of Horace’s words, therefore, it would seem as if Ennius had written the praises, not only of the elder, but also of the younger Scipio, who burnt Carthage twenty-three years after the death of Ennius. But, with a reader acquainted with the facts, no confusion could arise, and Horace wrote for those who knew them well.

20. Calabrae Pierides:] The muse of Calabria, i.e. of Ennius, who was born at Rudiæ, a Calabrian town, B. C. 239. He wrote, as observed above, a poem on the elder Scipio.

25. Aeacum] This was a mythical king of Ægina, and much celebrated for his justice. After his death he was made judge in Elysium (C. ii. 13. 23, n.), which, according to the later mythology, was one of the divisions of Tartarus, but which the earlier notions placed in certain blessed islands in the Western Ocean, by the Romans identified with the Azores. (See Epod. xvi, Int.) Horace says it was not only his virtue and the public esteem, but also the poet’s praise, that gained Æacus this honor. His praises and those of his family are frequent in Pindar.

29. Sic Jovis interest] These heroes are all referred to in C. iii. 3. 9, sqq.

34. Liber vota bonos] This only means, that, by the help of the muse, Liber was made a god, and as such receives and answers the prayers of his worshippers.

M. Lollius, to whom this Ode is addressed, as we have seen (C. iv. 2, Int.), was defeated by the Sigambri, B. C. 27, which disaster caused a great deal of alarm at Rome, and very probably raised a good many voices against him, and gave an advantage to his enemies. It is not improbable, therefore, that Horace wrote this Ode to meet their attacks, and to console Lollius under his defeat. He declares that his name shall not die, as many noble names have died, for lack of a poet to sing it. He praises him for his sagacity, uprightness, freedom from avarice, and hatred of corruption.

Argument.—Think not that my verses will die: though Homer stands first among poets, Pindar, Simonides, Alcæus, Stesichorus, Anacreon, Sappho,—these all survive. Helen was not the first woman that loved; nor[365] Ilium the only city that has been sacked; nor the heroes of the Iliad all that have fought; but the rest have been forgotten, because they have no poet to sing of them. Buried virtue is little better than buried dulness. I will not, therefore, let thy labors pass unsung, Lollius; thy sagacity and uprightness, thy mind free from avarice and secure from corruption. It is not the possessor of riches that is wealthy, but the man who knows how to use the gifts of Heaven, and to endure poverty, who hates corruption, and is ready to lay down his life for his country or his friends.

1. Ne forte] ‘Lest perchance you should suppose—remember that, even if Homer stands first, Pindar is not forgotten.’ For other examples of ‘ne’ thus used, see S. ii. 1. 80; Epp. i. 1. 13; 18. 58; ii. 1. 208; A. P. 406.

2. natus ad Aufidum] Though Horace says he was born near the Aufidus, Venusia, his native town, was fifteen miles south of that river, on that branch of the Via Appia which leads from Beneventum to Tarentum. The Aufidus (Ofanto) is invariably described by Horace as a boisterous river (see C. iii. 30. 10; iv. 14. 25; S. i. 1. 58). But the character of such streams varies with the season of the year.

8. Stesichorique graves Camenae:] The muse of Stesichorus is called ‘gravis,’ as, though a lyric poet, he chose for his subjects principally those which belonged to Epic poetry, as wars and heroes, and so forth. He was born at Himera in Sicily, about the middle of the seventh century B. C.

13. arsit] This governs ‘crines’ as ‘mirata’ governs the other accusatives. See C. ii. 4. 7, n. Laodamia writes thus to her husband of the charms by which Helen was won:—

“Venerat (Paris) ut fama est multo spectabilis auro,
Quique suo Phrygias corpore ferret opes:—
His ego te victam, consors Ledaea, gemellis,
Suspicor; haec Danais posse nocere puto”
(Ov. Her. 13. 57, sqq.);

ὅν γ᾽ εἰσιδοῦσα βαρβάροις ἐσθήμασι
χρυσῷ τε λαμπρὸν ἐξεμαργώθης φρένας.

17. tela Cydonio] Teucer is described by Homer as ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν τοξοσύνῃ (II. xiii. 313). Cydon was a town of Crete, and the Cretans were famous archers. See C. i. 15. 17, n., and compare Virg. Ecl. x. 59: “Torquere Cydonia cornu Spicula.”

20. Idomeneus Sthenelusve] The first of these led the Cretans, and the other the Argives, in the Trojan war. Deiphobus was Hector’s favorite brother (Il. xxii. 233), and was reckoned, next to him, the chief strength of the Trojans.

27. Urgentur] So C. i. 24. 5: “Ergo Quinctilium perpetuus sopor Urget?” ‘Illacrimabilis’ is used in an active sense, C. ii. 14. 6.

29. Paullum sepultae] Virtue, if it be left in obscurity, is in no better position than dulness (which signifies generally a gross, unspiritual nature), when that too is buried; one is on a par with the other as far as influence is concerned, for neither exercises any influence at all; and, as far as his reputation goes, a man may as well be buried in stupidity as have his virtues buried in oblivion. There are some well-known verses in Gray’s Churchyard Elegy that correspond closely to Horace’s.

32. Totve tuos patiar labores] These lines seem to have reference to the unpopularity of Lollius in connection with his defeat, which appears to be alluded to in the word ‘dubiis’ below. He may also have been the object of slander in respect to his personal character, which Horace here warmly defends, but which in after years was much blackened. There seems to be no other way of accounting for the earnestness with which Horace declares his friend’s innocence of the vice of avarice, for instance, than to suppose that fault had been laid to his charge, as it was so freely after his death (see Introduction).

33. carpere lividas] The plural ‘obliviones’ is nowhere else used. ‘Carpere’ is used in the sense of gradually consuming, and has something like that meaning here. ‘Lividus’ is akin to the Greek πελιδνός, and to the Latin ‘luridus’ (C. iii. 4. 74, n.). It means ‘dark,’ and is commonly associated with envy, which connects it with oblivion caused by envy. Horace says dark oblivion shall not swallow up the labors of Lollius with impunity; as if he were his champion, ready to defend him against the attacks of oblivion, his enemy.

34. Est animus tibi] ‘Rerum prudentia’ is a knowledge of the world. “Cato multarum rerum usum habebat” (Cic. de Am. ii. 6) expresses the same kind of experience. ‘Rectus’ means ‘erect,’ not stooping or bowed down, as “Fana deos habuere rectos” (C. iv. 4. 48). See also Ennius, quoted by Cicero (De Senect. c. 6): “Quo vobis mentes, rectae quae stare solebant Antehac, dementes sese flexere viai?”

39. Consulque non unius anni] Compare C. iii. 2. 19. Lollius was consul, B. C. 21, but Horace says that an upright ‘judex’ is always on a level with the highest magistrates, and such ever was Lollius, besieged like others with temptations to corruption, but resisting them all, and so overcoming the enemies who encompassed him, and delivering himself by his virtue from their calumnies.

41. Judex honestum] That it should be a matter of great merit and difficulty to maintain the character of an uncorrupt judex, does not say much for the honesty of those who exercised the functions of jurors. The corruption of the senatorian body led to the judicial power being transferred from them to the equites, but they in their turn were found so corrupt that it was given back to the senatores, and afterwards the judices were selected from both orders. See S. i. 4. 123, n.

44. Explicuit] ‘Through hostile crowds hath carried safe his arms victorious.’ ‘Explicare’ seems to correspond with ‘expedire’ in C. iv. 4. 76.

52. Non ille — timidus] ‘He fears disgrace worse than death,—not fearful he to die for his country,’ i.e. but he is not fearful. See C. iii. 19. 2. “Codrus pro patria non timidus mori.” See also C. iii. 2. 13, n.

Ligurinus is a merely poetical personage, and probably Horace composed this Ode with a Greek original before him or in his mind.

Argument.—Cruel and lovely boy; when the down shall have passed upon thy cheek, and thy flowing locks have fallen, and thy soft complexion vanished, thou shalt look in the glass, and say, “Why did I not, as a boy, feel as I do now; or why, with these feelings, have I not the beauty I had then?”

2. pluma] This word corresponds to the Greek πτίλον, used in the sense[367] of the early down upon a boy’s cheek. The word is nowhere else used in this sense. Ἄπτιλος was a name given by the Greeks to beardless boys. Boys’ hair was allowed to grow till they assumed the ‘toga virilis,’ when it was cut off, as observed on C. ii. 5. 24. The feathers of a bird are as good a likeness to the down on a young cheek as wool, from which ‘lanugo,’ the usual word in this sense, is derived.

6. te speculo videris] ‘Speculo’ here, without ‘in,’ is the ablative of the instrument. ‘Alterum’ is nowhere else used exactly in this sense, ‘mutatum,’ and, though the word admits of that use, it is so like the Greek ἕτερον, which is frequently so used, that I think it is a translation of that word. ‘Heu’ is an exclamation of the poet, not of Ligurinus. What follows is like two lines in Terence (Hec. i. 1. 17, sq.):—

“Eheu me miseram! cur non aut istaec mihi
Aetas et forma est aut tibi haec sententia?”

The mirrors of the Romans at this time were only of metal, glass mirrors having been introduced later, and then of an inferior quality.

This Ode professes to be an invitation to Phyllis to come and sup with Horace on the 15th of April, Mæcenas’s birthday. It is possible that the Ode was sent to Mæcenas himself, and was only thrown into the form of an address to Phyllis for poetical convenience.

Argument.—I have a good old amphora of Alban, with parsley and ivy to make thee a crown, Phyllis; silver on my board, and an altar that waits for the sacrifice; the slaves are busy, the fire is burning; come and celebrate the Ides of April, for it is Mæcenas’s birthday, more sacred to me than my own. Telephus is matched already, and is no match for thee. The fates of Phaëthon and Bellerophon teach thee to beware of ambition. Come, my last love, with thy sweet voice sing the song I shall teach thee; song shall drive care away.

2. Albani cadus;] The wine of the Alban hills was of the better kind; and at Nassidienus’s supper it was offered to the chief guest with Falernian (Sat. ii. 8. 16). Pliny (N. H. xiv. 6) places it third among the wines of Italy. Juvenal (v. 33) speaks of Albanian wine, and classes it with Setian, both of great age. The rich glutton drank it, he says, as a corrective of yesterday’s debauch.

8. Spargier agno;] It has been questioned whether the Romans shed blood on birthdays. In the earliest times, perhaps they did not, but the practice was different in Horace’s time, as this passage shows. See also Juv. xi. 84.

10. Cursitant mixtae pueris puellae;] ‘Puellae’ is most rarely used for female slaves. The word in use was ‘ancillae.’

12. Vertice fumum.] ‘Vertice’ is the top of the flame, which ‘flickers as it whirls the dark smoke on its crest’; a spiral flame, terminating in a column of smoke. It seems as if Horace were writing with a fire burning before him, and caught the idea as he wrote.

15. marinae] C. i. 3. 1. Venus (Ἀφροδίτη) was said to have risen from the sea in the month of April, which was therefore her month, the name of which Macrobius derives from ἀφρός: Varro, more probably, from ‘aperio,’[368] as the month that opens the year. The word ‘idus’ is derived from ‘iduare,’ which signifies to divide, and this explains ‘findit.’

21. Telephum,] Telephus is a favorite name with Horace. For what reason this is the name he chooses for youths whom maidens vainly love, does not appear; but such is the fact. ‘Occupavit’ signifies ‘has preoccupied’ (C. ii. 12. 28).

22. Non tuae sortis] This belongs to ‘juvenem,’ not to ‘puella.’ ‘A youth not of thy condition.’ “Si qua voles apte nubere, nube pari” (Ovid, Heroid. ix. 32).

25. Phaëthon] The story of Phaëthon getting permission to drive the horses of his father Helios (the sun), setting fire to the earth, and finally killed by lightning and falling into the Eridanus, is told at much length by Ovid (Met. ii. 1-324).

27. Pegasus] The story was, that the winged horse of Zeus was given by Athene or Poseidon to Bellerophon (C. i. 27. 24) to help him to kill the Chimæra, and that afterwards Bellerophon tried, with the help of Pegasus, to rise to heaven; but for his presumption he was thrown off.

29. et ultra] ‘And counting it impious to hope beyond what is allowed, avoid one who is not thy match.’

“Mi neque amare aliam neque ab hac discedere fas est;
Cynthia prima fuit, Cynthia finis erit.”

It is not necessary to infer from this, as some do, that Horace was old. However literally the words may be taken, they only mean that he intended to be constant to Phyllis.

34. condisce modos] These words correspond very closely to those of C. iv. 6. 43:

This is written in the form of an invitation to Virgil the poet (though this has been much disputed) to sup with him.

Argument.—The spring is come, the frost is fled, the stream flows gently, the swallow has built her nest, the shepherds are piping to Pan in the fields, and the days of drought have returned, Virgil. Bring me a box of nard, and I will bring thee in return some generous Calenian from Sulpicius’s cellar. If my bargain please thee, make haste; lay aside business; and, remembering that thou must die, relax while thou mayest into folly for a time.

1. temperant] This is explained by C. i. 3. 16 (see note). The Thracian winds are here the northeast winds of spring.

3. nec fluvii strepunt] This explains C. iv. 7. 3. The time is not quite the beginning of spring, when the snows melt and the rivers are swollen, but after they have subsided, which soon takes place.

5. Nidum ponit,] The story of Procne, daughter of Pandion, king of Attica (Cecropia), turned into a swallow, is gracefully introduced here to give ornament to a common fact and sign of spring. Horace elsewhere introduces the swallow with the west wind (Epp. i. 7. 13). One version of the story changes Philomela into the swallow, and Procne, the mother of[369] Itys, into the nightingale. Virgil makes Philomela the mother and slayer of Itys (Ecl. vi. 79):—

“Quas illi Philomela dapes, quae dona pararit?
Quo cursu deserta petiverit, et quibus ante
Infelix sua tecta supervolitaverit alis?”

7. male] This may go with ‘barbaras’ to strengthen it, as “rauci male” (S. i. 4. 66), or with ‘ulta.’

8. Regum] The lust of kings, as exemplified in one of them, Tereus, the Thracian king, who, having married one of the above sisters, concealed her, and married the other, under the pretence that she was dead. The fraud was discovered, and the first wife, whichever of the two it was (see above), murdered her son Itys, and put his limbs before his father as a banquet. The sisters then ran away, and Tereus pursuing them, they were all changed into birds.

15. juvenum nobilium cliens,] These are said by the Scholiasts to be Augustus and Mæcenas. ‘Juvenis’ is applied to the former in C. i. 2. 41 (see note).

17. Nardi parvus onyx] A pound of ‘nard’ was worth upwards of 300 denarii, which sum was equivalent to more than 10l. sterling. The ‘onyx’ was another name for alabaster, of which, as we find in the New Testament, as well as here and elsewhere, boxes were made for ointments.

18. Sulpiciis — horreis,] These were famous wine-cellars, which originally belonged to one of the Sulpician family, and, according to the Scholiasts, continued to bear the name of Galba, the cognomen of a branch of that gens, in their day. There are inscriptions extant in which mention is made of the ‘horrea Galbiana.’ Horace, professing to have no good wine of his own, says he will buy a cadus of Calenian. (C. i. 20. 10, n.)

19. amaraque Curarum] This is a Greek construction, but not uncommon in Horace, as “acuta belli” (C. iv. 4. 76); “corruptus vanis rerum” (S. ii. 2. 25), “fictis rerum” (S. ii. 8. 83); “vilia rerum” (Epp. i. 17. 21); “abdita rerum” (A. P. 49).

23. Immunem] ‘for nothing,’ as we say. It is equivalent to ‘asymbolus’ in Terence (Phorm. ii. 2. 25). “Ten’ asymbolum venire!” The drone is represented as “immunis sedens aliena ad pabula” (Virg. Georg. iv. 244), and Horace says of himself, “quem scis immunem Cinarae placuisse rapaci” (Ep. i. 14. 33).

26. Nigrorum — ignium] This epithet is commonly applied to the funeral fires, as (Aen. xi. 186), “subjectis ignibus atris.”

This Ode has been noticed in the introduction to C. iii. 10. It is not unlike the fifteenth of the same book. It is professedly addressed to an old woman, Lyce, who is trying to keep up her charms. The poet writes as if the gods had answered his prayers by taking away her beauty for the cruelty she had shown him. It is most probably an imitation.

Argument.—My prayers are answered, Lyce. Thou art old, and would captivate still; but love abides only on the fresh cheek, and runs away[370] from the withered trunk, and from thee, with thy black teeth, and wrinkles, and gray hairs. Try and hide thy years with purple and jewels, but the telltale records betray thee. Where is the girl that I loved only next to Cinara?—whom Fate carried off too soon, while it left Lyce to grow old, that her lovers might laugh at her decline.

7. Chiae] ‘Chia’ is a proper name. ‘Delia’ and ‘Lesbia’ are formed in the same way.

Ἔρως ὃς ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις
ὃς ἐν μαλακαῖς παρειαῖς
νεάνιδος ἐννυχεύεις.

9. aridas Quercus,] This corresponds to C. i. 25. 19, “aridas frondes”; as to ‘luridi,’ see C. iii. 4. 74, n.

13. Coae] These are thin, transparent textures of some sort, from the island of Cos in the Ægean.

14. clari lapides] The precious stones of the costlier sort most in use by Roman women were pearls (‘margaritae’) and emeralds (‘smaragdi’). They were chiefly worn in necklaces, and as ear drops and rings; and libertinae distinguished for their beauty could make a great display of jewels received as presents from their admirers.

15. Notis condita fastis] ‘Buried in the public annals.’ Horace means to say, that the days she has seen are all buried, as it were, in the grave of the public annals, and there any one may find them, but she cannot get them back. It is a graphic way of identifying the years, and marking their decease, to point to the record in which each is distinguished by its consuls and its leading events. ‘Notis’ merely expresses the publicity and notoriety of the record by which the lapse of time is marked. As to ‘fasti,’ see Epp. ii. 1. 48, n.

18. illius, illius,] This word is very emphatic, as in “quantum mutatus ab illo Hectare” (Aen. ii. 274). On ‘surpuerat’ compare “unum me surpite morti” (Sat. ii. 3. 283); C. i. 36. 8, n; S. i. 5. 79, n. Regarding Cinara, see C. iv. 1. 3, n; and for the form ‘nota artium gratarum’ compare “notus in fratres animi paterni” (C. ii. 2. 6). ‘Et’ is redundant, and the sentence is a little irregular: ‘What hast thou left of her, of her who breathed but love, who stole me from myself, blest next to Cinara, that fate, too, so familiar in its lovely charms?’

24. parem — temporibus] This means that Lyce and the crow go on together getting old and never dying. ‘Vetulae’ is a contemptuous form of ‘annosa,’ used elsewhere (C. iii. 17. 13). Martial speaks of an old woman who had survived all the crows (x. 67). She was the daughter (he says) of Pyrrha, and Nestor’s step-mother, an old woman when Niobe was a girl, grandmother of Laertes, nurse of Priam, and mother-in-law of Thyestes.

28. Dilapsam] This expresses well the crumbling of a burnt-out torch. The idea is very original. There is an intentional contrast in ‘fervidi.’ ‘That burning youths might see with loud laughter the torch’s flame crumbling away to ashes.’

The circumstances under which this Ode was written, and its probable date, are given in the Introduction to C. 4 of this book, to which the student is referred. The common inscriptions, which make it an address in honor of[371] Augustus, sufficiently describe the spirit of it, though its professed purpose is to celebrate the part that Tiberius took, with Drusus, in the victories over the German tribes. It is probable that, whereas the Ode for Drusus was written soon after his victory, this was not written till Augustus returned from Gaul, two years afterwards.

Argument.—With what honors shall we perpetuate thy virtues, O mightiest of princes, whose strength the insolent Vindelici have felt? With great slaughter Drusus cast them down from their heights, and Tiberius drove them before him, as the south wind drives the waves, or the swollen Aufidus lays waste the corn,—a scathless victory; and thou didst lend thine armies, thy counsels, and thine auspices. ’T was fifteen years from that day when Alexandria opened her gates to thee, that Fortune brought this glory to thine arms. All nations bow down to thee, from the east to the west, from the north to the south, O thou guardian of Italy and Rome!

4. fastos Aeternet,] As to ‘titulos,’ see S. i. 6. 17, n., and for ‘fastos,’ see Epp. ii. 1. 48, n. ‘Aeternare’ is a word which had probably become almost obsolete in Horace’s time. It is not found in any other author, except in a fragment of Varro. Many words used by Horace, and by no other extant writer, were probably common enough before the age of Cicero. ‘Habitabiles oras,’ like ἡ οἰκουμένη, so commonly used by Plutarch and the writers of the New Testament, signifies the Roman world.

7. Quem — didicere — Quid Marte posses.] This construction is not uncommon in Plautus, as (Asin. i. 1. 45), “verum meam uxorem, Libane, scis qualis siet”; and Terence, as (Eun. iv. 3. 15), “Ego illum nescio qui fuerit,” and other places. With the Greek poets nothing is more common, as in Sophocles (Trachin. 429):—

πρὸς θεῶν φράσον, φίλη
δέσποινα, τόνδε τίς ποτ᾽ ἐστὶν ὁ ξένος;

10. Genaunos,] The Genauni were one of the southern tribes of Rætia, lying between the lakes Verbanus (Maggiore) and Larius (Como), in the modern Val d’Agno. The Breuni were a small but warlike tribe, also occupying part of Raetia. The character Horace gives of these tribes is that which is given by all writers of the time. ‘Implacidum’ is a word not found in any writer earlier than Horace. It is as likely that he made as that he found it: either may be true.

13. plus vice simplici;] The literal version would thus be, ‘with more than an even exchange,’ i.e. of blood, he being ‘sine clade victor’ (v. 32). As to the construction ‘plus vice,’ see C. i. 13. 20.

17. Spectandus — Quantis] This seems imitated from the Greek idiom θαυμαστὸς ὅσοις. ‘A noble sight, how in the strife of war he drove with mighty slaughter those hearts devoted to a freeman’s death.’

20. Indomitas prope qualis] It may be observed, that the fourth verse of the Alcaic stanza is frequently constructed with a noun and its adjective in the first and last place, and corresponding in their last syllables. In this Ode we have vv. 12, 16, 20, 36, 52, answering to this rule or habit. ‘Prope’ has no particular force. Horace, whose ear was familiar with the language of the Greek tragedians, copied their σχεδόν τι (a common phrase in comparisons) here and in other places. The setting of the Pleiades, at the beginning of November, was reckoned as the commencement of winter; they therefore are said to burst the clouds (‘scindere nubes’), which poured down rain upon the earth.

25. tauriformis] This is taken from the Greek ταυρόμορφος, applied to the[372] Cephissus by Eurip. (Ion, 1261). The only other Italian river that was represented under this form was the Eridanus, of which Virgil says (Georg. iv. 371, sqq.):—

“Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu
Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta
In mare purpureum violentior effluit amnis.”

He was therefore represented not only with horns, but with gilded horns. Horace has probably invented this description of his native river, by way of magnifying its importance, and ranking it with the greater streams. Whence this conception of a bull, as representing the form of a river-god, may have arisen, it is not easy to say, but probably from the branching of so many large streams at their mouths, though that would not apply to the Aufidus.

31. metendo] ‘And, mowing down first and hindmost, strewed the earth, a scathless victor.’ Horace (like Virgil, Aen. x. 513, “Proxima quaeque metit gladio”) gets his word from Homer (II. xi. 67), οἱ δ᾽ ὥστ᾽ ἀμητῆρες ἐναντίοι ἀλλήλοισιν Ὄγμον ἐλαύνωσιν.

33. te — Praebente divos.] See C. i. 7. 27, n. Augustus had the ‘auspicium,’ and his step-sons were his ‘legati.’

40. Imperiis decus arrogavit.] ‘Claimed for the wars carried on under thy imperium the glory thou didst desire.’ What follows is a compendious review of the successes of Augustus, all of which have been noticed in these Odes. Before the present Ode was written, the Cantabri had been finally subdued by Agrippa; the Parthians had restored the standards of Crassus and M. Antonius; the Scythians had sent to ask to be taken into alliance; the distant nations of Asia had done the same (see C. S. 55, sq.); the successes of Lentulus had checked the inroads of the tribes of the Danube (ii. 9. 23); Egypt had long been a tributary province; Armenia (Tigris) had been ceded by the Parthians; Britain, though only threatened, had sent tokens of submission. Augustus was just returned from Gaul and Spain, where he had put down the last efforts of rebellion, having also driven back the German tribes (Sigambri), whose success against Lollius had thrown a stain upon the arms of Rome (see C. 2 of this book, Introduction).

45. Te fontium qui celat origines] This applies only to Nilus. The ancient representations of the Nile exhibit him as covering his head with his robe, or with the waters flowing from under his robe; while the Ister is exhibited with his urn in a medal of Trajan, on whose column he is represented as rising out of his stream to do homage to Rome.

47. belluosus] This word does not occur elsewhere in any classical writer. It reduces to the form of an adjective ‘scatentem belluis’ (C. iii. 27. 26). It corresponds to πολυθρέμμων of Æschylus, πολυκήτης of Theocritus, and Homer’s μεγακήτης.

49. Te non paventis funera Galliae] Caes. de B. G. vi. 14: “In primis hoc volunt persuadere (Druidae) non interire animos sed ab aliis post mortem transire ad alios, atque hoc maxime ad virtutem excitari putant, metu mortis neglecto.”

This Ode appears in early times to have been read as part of the fourteenth; but there can be little doubt the Odes were written separately, though[373] probably about the same time, on the return of Augustus to Rome, B. C. 13. All that is here said of the subjection of the world and the universal peace was said in effect at the close of the fourteenth Ode; but it was natural that if Horace had received the emperor’s commands to publish another book of Odes, he should conclude it with one addressed to Augustus himself, reviewing the blessings of his reign, which at this time had been crowned by a series of successes by which universal peace was established.

Argument.—When I would sing of wars, Phœbus checked me with his lyre. Thy reign, O Cæsar, hath brought back our lost honor, with plenty and peace and order, and the means by which our name and strength have become great. Under thy protection we fear no wars at home or abroad; the North and the East obey thy laws, and we with our wives and children will sing of the heroes of old, of Troy, and Anchises, and of Venus’s son.

“Haec ego cum canerem subito manifestus Apollo
Movit inauratae pollice fila lyrae.”

‘Increpuit lyra’ therefore signifies ‘checked me by touching the strings of his lyre, and leading me to a strain more fitted to my muse.’ The other metaphor is common enough. See Virgil (Georg. ii. 41): “Pelagoque volans da vela patenti.”

4. Tua, Caesar, aetas] The abruptness with which this is introduced is worth remarking. A longer preface would have weakened the Ode.

7. Derepta] As the standards were quietly and voluntarily sent to Augustus by Phraates, Horace’s language is somewhat exaggerated. The recovery (see C. iii. 5, Introd.) of the standards lost by Crassus was one of the greatest causes of rejoicing that ever happened at Rome. Without it, the restoration effected by Augustus, and of which Horace here gives a compendious picture, would have been wanting in one of its chief features; the honor, as well as the peace, of Rome was restored. These praises are repeated from or in (for we cannot say which was written first) Epp. ii. 1. 251, sqq. See also Epp. i. 18. 56.

9. Janum Quirini] If ‘Janum Quirini’ and not ‘Janum Quirinum’ be the true reading, Horace assigns to Romulus the building of the temple of Janus, which is usually assigned to Numa. The other would mean ‘Janus called Quirinus,’ a name given him as Janus of the Quirites. As to the shutting of the temple, see Epp. ii. 1. 255, n.

10. evaganti] This nowhere else appears with an accusative case, but ‘evadere’ and ‘exire’ are used with an accusative repeatedly. (Compare C. iii. 24. 29.) ‘Artes’ means those virtues in which the discipline of life is placed, as prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

17. furor Civilis aut vis] ‘Civilis’ belongs to ‘furor,’ and ‘vis,’ which is a technical word, means here ‘personal violence.’ ‘Ira’ applies to foreign quarrels. See C. iii. 14. 14, n.

20. inimicat] This is another word which Horace probably found in use by writers of a former day. Later writers have taken it from him. It means ‘sets at enmity.’ ‘Apprecati’ (v. 28), ‘remixto’ (v. 30), are also words first found in Horace.

21. qui profundum Danubium bibunt] The German tribes, particularly the Vindelici lately subdued. ‘Edicta Julia’ can only mean here the laws of Augustus, laid upon them at their conquest, though in its technical sense the word ‘edicta’ would not apply. The rules of a governor published in his province were his ‘edictum,’ and these people were not in a province. Horace[374] therefore does not use the word in its legal sense. The Getæ lay towards the mouths of the Danube, while the Daci were situated to the west of them, on the same or south side of the river.

23. Seres — Tanaïn] See C. iii. 29. 27, n. The Seres and Indi are not much distinguished by Horace (see C. i. 12. 56), and, when he is referring to the East, their names are generally associated with the Parthians, more for the sake of amplification than with historical or geographical accuracy. The Roman armies had not yet even crossed the Tigris. But when Augustus was in Syria, we are informed by Suetonius, ambassadors came from the far East to ask his protection and alliance.

“His etiam conjux apicati cincta Dialis
Lucibus impexas debet habere comas.”

29. Virtute functos] This is a concise way of expressing ‘virtutis munere functos,’ as in Cicero (Tusc. i. 45): “Nemo parum diu vixit qui virtutis perfectae perfecto functus est munere.”

more patrum] Cic. (Tusc. i. 2) tells us that in the Origines of Cato it is stated that it was the custom of old to sing songs at meals upon the virtues of great men. The practice may have been partially revived in Horace’s day. The conclusion of this Ode recalls C. iv. 5. 31, sq.

30. Lydis] Plato tells us that the Lydian and Ionian melodies were best suited to delicacy and feasting, the Dorian and Phrygian to war; and Aristotle that the Lydian were most suitable to the tender age of boyhood, as harmonizing the mind and training it to good. There is no particular force, however, here in the word ‘Lydis.’ As to ‘tibiis,’ see C. i. 1. 32, n. The pipes used by the Lydians themselves are called by Herodotus (i. 17) αὐλὸς ἀνδρήϊος and αὐλὸς γυναικήϊος, probably as representing the voices of a man and a woman respectively.

31. Anchisen] The family of Anchises, the grandfather of Iulus, are mentioned here, because Augustus belonged by adoption to the Julian family, of which Iulus was the reputed founder.

When Augustus had completed the period of ten years for which the imperial power was at first placed in his hands (B. C. 27-17), he determined to celebrate his successes at home and abroad by an extraordinary festival, and he took as his model the Ludi Tarentini or Taurii, which had in former times been observed as a means of propitiating the infernal deities, Dis and Proserpina, on occasions of great public calamities. It does not appear that this festival ever was held at regular intervals. How, therefore, the name Ludi Seculares arose, is not clear, but, as it was now for the first time given, it was probably convenient to have it believed that the games were no more than the observance of a periodical solemnity. The Quindecimviri were ordered to consult the Sibylline books, and they reported, no doubt as they were desired, that the time was come when this great national festival should be repeated, and the details of it were laid down as from the commands of the oracle in a set of hexameter Greek verses, composed of course for the occasion, and which have been preserved to us by the historian Zosimus.

Horace appears to have been much pleased at being chosen poet-laureate of the occasion (see C. iv. 6, Introd.). The Ode was sung at the most solemn part of the festival, while the emperor was in person offering sacrifice at the second hour of the night, on the river-side, upon three altars, attended by the fifteen men who presided over religious affairs. The chorus consisted of twenty-seven boys and twenty-seven girls of noble birth, well trained no doubt for the occasion (C. iv. 6). The effect must have been very beautiful, and no wonder that the impression on Horace’s feelings (for in all probability he was present) was strong and lasting.

Apollo and Diana, hear the prayers we offer you in obedience to the Sibyl’s commands (1-8).

O Sun, that rulest the day, thou lookest upon nothing mightier than Rome (9-12).

Ilithyia, protect our mothers and children, and prosper our marriage-law that so, in the cycle of years, this our festival may come again (13-24).

And ye, Parcæ, who do prophesy truly, let our future destiny be as the past. Let the earth and air give strength to our flocks and fruits (25-32).

Since Rome is your handiwork, and at your bidding Æneas brought his remnant to these shores (37-44).

Ye gods, give virtue to the young and peace to the old, and power and sons and glory to the family of Romulus (45-48).

Grant the prayers of the noble son of Anchises, for his victories shall be tempered with mercy (49-52).

May Phœbus, the augur, the prince of the bow and of song, the physician who favorably regardeth his Palatine temple and the fortunes of Rome and Latium, ever extend our blessings to another and still happier lustrum (61-68).

We, the choir of Phœbus and Diana, will go home believing that our prayers are heard (73-76).

1. silvarumque potens] Compare C. iii. 22. 1. ‘Lucidum caeli decus’ applies to both deities.

5. Sibyllini] See Introd. These were oracular books written, it is conjectured, on palm-leaves, in Greek verse, which were kept in the Capitol and consulted on extraordinary occasions. The leaves taken at random were supposed to give the directions required. They were under the care of certain persons, at this time fifteen in number (‘quindecimviri,’ v. 70), who alone had power to consult them. The books were said originally to have been sold to Tarquinius Superbus by an old woman, and to have been three in number. They were burnt with the Capitol, B. C. 82, but collections of these verses having accumulated in various towns of Italy, they were got together and deposited in the same building, and used as before.

7. septem placuere colles] The seven hills of Rome, which were Cœlius, Esquilinus, Viminalis, Quirinalis, Capitolinus, Palatinus, Aventinus.

9. Alme] This epithet is to be taken in its proper sense as derived from ‘alo.’ ‘Sun the nurturer.’ This stanza is addressed to Phœbus, and was sung perhaps by the boys. The two next, addressed to Diana, may have been taken up by the girls, but this is uncertain.

13. Rite maturos] ‘O thou whose office it is gently to bring babes to the birth in due season.’ ‘Rite’ means ‘according to thy province and functions.’ Εἰλειθυία, the Greek name for Hero and Artemis, or more properly in the plural number for their attendants, when presiding at the delivery of women, (which name is said to contain the root of ἐλθεῖν, but that seems doubtful,) is represented by the Latin ‘Lucina,’ “quae in lucem profert,” which title also was given indiscriminately to Juno and Diana. The title ‘Genitalis’ does not occur elsewhere in this sense, but appears to be a version of the Greek Γενετυλλίς, which was applied to Aphrodite as well as Artemis and her attendants.

18. Prosperes decreta] In B. C. 18, the year before this Ode was written, a law was passed which, after Augustus, was called “Lex Julia de Maritandis Ordinibus,” its object being the regulation and promotion of marriages. It is referred to in the note on C. i. 2. 24.

21. Certus undenos] The notion that the Secular Games were celebrated every 110 years, which seems to have been the length of a seculum as measured by the Etruscans, was a fiction invented probably at this time. There is no trace or probability of their having been so celebrated either before or after Augustus. They lasted three days and nights. They were celebrated by Claudius, A. D. 47, and again by Domitian, A. D. 88.

25. Vosque veraces cecinisse,] ‘Ye too who are true to declare, O Parcæ, that which hath been once decreed, and which the steadfast order of events is confirming’ (that is, the power of Rome). The orders of the oracle (see Introduction) directed a special sacrifice of lambs and goats, ποντογόνοις Μοίραις, which was the Greek name of the Parcæ (some writers derived their birth from Oceanus and Ge, the earth). ‘Semel’ in the sense of ‘once for all’ (καθάπαξ), is common enough. The Parcæ could not but be true exponents of the decrees (‘fata’) of Jove, since to them their execution was intrusted. That was their province (see C. ii. 16. 39). There may be some [377]inconsistency in asking them to give good fates to Rome, since they could only execute ministerially ‘quod semel dictum est.’ But such confusion is common.

33. Condito mitis placidusque telo] The boys take up the song for two lines, the girls for two more, and after that they probably join their voices.

On the promontory near Actium there was a statue of Apollo with his bow bent and a fierce aspect, which was an object of terror to the sailors who approached the coast. (See Virg. Aen. iii. 274, sq.) And again on the shield of Æneas (viii. 704) the same figure is represented. To this god Augustus paid his devotions before his battle with M. Antonius, and to him he attributed his success. Accordingly, on his return to Rome, he built a temple to Apollo of Actium on Mons Palatinus (v. 65; C. i. 31; Epp. i. 3. 17), and set up a statue (executed by Scopas, see C. iv. 8. 6, n.) of that god, but in a different character, the bow being laid aside and a lyre substituted for it in one hand, and a plectrum in the other. He was clad also in a long flowing robe. Propertius was present at the dedication of the temple, and gives a description of it (ii. 31); the last object he mentions being the statue of Apollo, as above described. This change of character is what Horace alludes to.

35. regina bicornis] In a rilievo on Constantine’s arch, Diana, as the moon, is represented in her chariot drawn by two horses, and with a small crescent on her forehead, which is a common way of representing her on gems and medals. In the above group Hesperus is flying in front of her.

37. Roma si vestrum est opus,] Æneas tells Dido (Virg. Aen. iv. 345) that it was the oracle of Apollo that bade him seek Italy, and Horace introduces this with good effect, associating Diana with her brother for the occasion. See C. iv. 6. 21, n.

42. Castus] C. iii. 2. 30, where the correlative term is used: “Neglectus incesto addidit integrum.” Aen. vi. 661: “Quique sacerdotes casti.”

43. Liberum munivit iter,] ‘Made a free course,’ ‘opened the way.’ ‘Munire’ is used commonly in this sense both literally and figuratively. See Livy (xxi. 37, where he is describing Hannibal’s passage of the Alps): “Inde ad rupem muniendam per quam unam via esse poterat milites ducti,” etc. Cicero (In Verrem, ii. 3. 68), “Existimat easdem vias ad omnium familiaritatem esse munitas.”

49. Quaeque vos bobus veneratur] ‘Veneratur’ is equivalent to ‘venerando precatur,’ and is used transitively here and in S. ii. 2. 124; 6. 8, as well as in other authors. The oracle required that milk-white bulls should be offered by day to Zeus.

51. bellante prior,] ‘Bellante’ is opposed to ‘jacentem,’ and ‘prior’ to ‘lenis.’ ‘Mightier than his enemy in the fight, but merciful when he is fallen.’ The chorus pray rather for the blessings of peace than the triumphs of war, and therefore praise Augustus’s clemency to his conquered enemies, which accorded with the warning of Anchises (Aen. vi. 852, where Virgil plainly had reference to Augustus):—

“Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento;
Hae tibi erunt artes, pacisque imponere morem,
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.”

54. Albanas — secures,] The Roman fasces, as “Albanique patres” (Aen. i. 7). Ascanius or Iulus, the son of Æneas, according to the legends from which the Romans had their notions of their own history, transferred the seat of his father’s kingdom to Alba Longa, and there it continued till Romulus, his descendant, founded a kingdom on the banks of the Tiber, about ten miles from Alba.

55. responsa] Replies to their offers of submission and petitions for friendship. This word is used for the replies of the gods, and here perhaps expresses the majesty of Augustus delivering his will as that of a god, like[378] Virgil (Ecl. i. 45): “Hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti.” But ‘responsum’ is also a technical term for the answer of a jurisconsult to a client, or a superior to an inferior, as of the emperor to the governor of a province.

57. Jam Fides et Pax] This group occurs nearly in the same combination in C. i. 24. 6. The figures are variously represented on medals, &c. ‘Fides’ represents honesty, good faith, and is called in the above place ‘justitiae soror.’ ‘Honos’ has nothing to do with what we call honor in the sense of honesty (‘fides’), but represents Gloria in her good character (for she had a bad, as vainglory, C. i. 18. 15). ‘Virtus’ is most usually represented in a military character, as Fortitudo; but the name embraced all moral courage and steadfastness in well-doing, with which military courage was closely associated in the mind of a Roman. ‘Pudor,’ or ‘pudicitia,’ represents conjugal fidelity. Juvenal speaks of her especially as having left the earth at the close of the reign of Saturn. But all these virtues are said to have left the earth with Astræa at the close of the golden age, and their return is intended to represent the return of that age.

60. Copia cornu.] Copia, whose horn was most properly the symbol of Fortune (C. i. 17. 14, n.), but was also given to many other divinities, as Fides, Felicitas, Concordia, Honos, &c., was herself represented under the forms of Abundantia and Annona, the latter signifying the supply of corn for consumption in the city.

61. Augur] All prophets and augurs were held to be servants of Apollo, and to derive their knowledge from him.

et fulgente decorus arcu] This seems to contradict the prayer in v. 33; but the bow of Apollo did not always inspire dread. He is sometimes represented with this unstrung at his back, and the lyre and plectrum in his hands (C. ii. 10. 19); and it is uncertain whether he did not so appear in the statue above referred to.

62. acceptusque novem Camenis,] See C. iv. 6. 25, n. In some ancient rilievi and paintings Apollo is represented as seated in the midst of the nine Muses, who are all paying attention to him.

63. Qui salutari] Apollo’s attribute as the healer is one of the oldest that was attached to him, and is most commonly exhibited in his statues and other representations. It is symbolized by the serpent which always attends the figures of Salus, Æsculapius, and others connected with the healing art. Ovid makes him say:—

“Inventum medicina meum est, opiferque per orbem
Dicor, et herbarum subjecta potentia nobis.” (Met. i. 521.)

65. Si Palatinas videt aequus arces,] See above, v. 33, n. ‘Felix’ agrees with ‘aevum,’ and ‘videt’ governs ‘arces,’ ‘rem,’ and ‘Latium.’ ‘May he prolong this happy age to another and another lustrum, and ever to a happier.’ It is common with Horace to put an adjective and its substantive at the two extremes of a period.

69. Quaeque Aventinum] Diana had a temple on Mons Aventinus and on Algidus (C. i. 21. 6). From this stanza it has been assumed by some that the sacred commissioners (the ‘quindecimviri,’ see Introd. and v. 5, n.) took part in the singing, which is not very probable. Their number, which was originally two, and was increased to ten about 150 years after the establishment of the Republic, was raised to fifteen either by Sulla or Julius Cæsar.

74. reporto,] The whole choir take up this last stanza, or else the leader does so for them, declaring their confidence that the prayers they have offered have been heard by Jove and all the gods.

When Augustus had determined on the expedition against M. Antonius and Cleopatra, which led to the battle of Actium, B. C. 31, he summoned, as we learn from Dion Cassius (50. 11), the leading senators and men of Equestrian rank to meet him at Brundisium, for the benefit of their counsel, and (the historian says) to keep the Equestrians from mischief, and also to show the world the harmony to which he had brought men of all orders at Rome. Mæcenas obeyed this summons, and went to Brundisium, but was sent back by Augustus to watch over the peace of the city and the affairs of Italy. It is very possible that Mæcenas may have had the offer of a command on the expedition against M. Antonius, and that both he and Horace believed he was going on that service, until, on his arrival at Brundisium, Augustus thought fit to send him back to discharge more important duties at Rome. Horace, supposing him to be going, wished to accompany him, but Mæcenas would not allow it (v. 7), which gave occasion for this Epode. It is an affectionate remonstrance against being left behind.

Argument.—Thou art going into the midst of danger, Mæcenas, to share the fortunes of Cæsar. Shall I stay at home at ease, or meet the danger with thee, on whose life my happiness depends? I will go with thee withersoever thou goest. To what end shall I go? As the bird fears less for her young when she is near them, so shall I fear less for thee, if I go with thee, and I go to win thy love, not thy favors. Thy love hath given me enough. I seek not wide lands or fine houses and cattle, and gold to hide or to squander.

1. Liburnis] These were light vessels, that took their name from the ships used by the Liburnians, a piratical tribe on the Illyrian coast. Augustus employed them in his expeditions against Sex. Pompeius, and they were of great use at Actium (C. i. 37. 30). All writers on the battle of Actium describe the ships of M. Antonius and Cleopatra as of enormous size. Like those of the Greeks, which the Romans copied, the Egyptian vessels were fitted with towers (‘propugnacula’), from which the men fought.

4. Subire, — tuo] ‘Tuo periculo,’ ‘meo,’ ‘suo,’ ‘nostro,’ are all common, and ‘periculum’ is used in the ablative case in ‘summo periculo,’ ‘minimo periculo,’ where the ablative is an ablative of cost, and is not to be explained by supplying ‘cum.’

9. mente laturi] This sentence is not complete; ‘ibimus,’ or something of that sort, must be supplied. ‘Shall I, at thy bidding, seek repose, which hath no pleasure if not shared by thee, or go to bear this danger with the heart with which the hardy soldier ought to bear it?’

16. firmus parum?] This is probably taken from the Greek ἄναλκις, which goes commonly with ἀπτόλεμος (as Doering says).

19. Ut assidens] ‘As a bird sitting on her unfledged brood fears the serpent’s stealthy coming more if she leave them, though not likely to help them more if she be near and they before her.’ ‘Relictis’ is the dative. ‘Supposing that’ is a common meaning of ‘ut’ with the subjunctive. ‘Ut adsit,’ followed by ‘praesentibus,’ is rather redundant. But such repetitions[380] are not uncommon. See Ter. (Adelph. iii. 3. 39): “Non quia ades praesens dico hoc.” Ib. (iv. 5. 34): “Cum hanc sibi videbit praesens praesentem eripi.”

23. militabitur Bellum] This phrase is like “bella pugnata” (C. iii. 19. 4), which expression is repeated, Epp. i. 16. 25. ‘In spem,’ ‘looking to the hope,’ is used where we should say ‘in the hope.’

27. Pecusve Calabris] Flocks of sheep were fed in the plains of Calabria during the cool months of the year, and driven up to the hills of Lucania in the summer. ‘Mutet’ is used for taking in exchange, as in C. i. 17. 2, and elsewhere. The heat of Calabria is referred to in C. i. 31. 5.

29. Neque ut] He says he does not want a villa near Tusculum, where there were many handsome houses, which he thus expresses: ‘Nor that for me a splendid house should touch Circæan walls of Tusculum on the hill.’ The ancient Tusculum was built on the top of the hill of which the modern town, Frascati, is built on the slope. ‘Circaea’ is explained by C. iii. 29. 8, n. ‘Candens’ means shining with marble.

31. Satis superque] This expression occurs again Epod. xvii. 19. The sentiment is repeated C. ii. 18. 12; iii. 16. 38.

34. Discinetus] ‘dissolute’; indicating by his slovenly dress his dissipated habits.

Horace, meaning to write on the praises of the country, put his poem into the shape of a rhapsody by a money-getting usurer, who, after reciting the blessings of a country life, and sighing for the enjoyment of them, resolving to throw up his business, and persuading himself that he desires nothing so much as retirement and a humble life, finds habit too strong for him, and falls back upon the sordid pursuits which, after all, are most congenial to him. Though the greater part of the speech must be admitted to be rather out of keeping with the supposed speaker, yet the picture is very beautiful, and the moral true. In the most sordid minds more genial impulses will sometimes arise; but the beauties of nature and the charms of a peaceful retirement are, like virtue itself, only attractive in the distance and at intervals to the minds that have grown addicted to the pursuit of gain for its own sake. To such minds domestic and innocent pleasures offer no lasting gratification, and the picture of rustic enjoyment on the one hand, and of the jaded but still grasping usurer struggling for a moment against his propensities on the other, affords a wholesome lesson for many.

Argument.—“Happy is the man who lives on his farm, remote from the troubles of the city and the dangers of war and of the sea. He trains his vines, or watches his flocks, or grafts his trees, or stores his honey, or shears his sheep, or brings offerings of fruit to Priapus and Silvanus, or lies in the shade or on the soft grass, where birds are singing and streams are murmuring; or hunts the boar, or lays nets for the birds and hares, and herein forgets the pangs of love. Give me a chaste wife, who shall care for my home and children, milk my goats, prepare my unbought meal, and no dainties shall please me like my country fare, as I sit and watch the kine and oxen and laborers coming home to their rest at even.” So said Alphius, the usurer, and, determining to live in the country, he got in all his money, but soon repented, and put it out to usury again.

4. Solutus omni fenore,] It must be remembered that a usurer is speaking. See Introduction.

9. Ergo] This is an adverb of emphasis, like δή, the use of which it is not easy to define. Here it expresses a feeling of pleasure in the contemplation of the scenes described. In the occupations and amusements that follow, no particular order of seasons is observed, but one recreation after another is mentioned as it occurs.

17. Vel cum] ‘Vel’ has here a copulative force, and not a disjunctive, as “Silvius Aeneas pariter pietate vel armis Egregius” (Aen. vi. 769). ‘Et’ would have made the sentence too much of a climax, especially with the exclamation ‘ut gaudet.’

19. gaudet — decerpens] This is after the Greek idiom δρέπων ἥδεται.

21. Priape,] This was one of the inferior order of divinities, only acknowledged as such in later times. He was accordingly treated with contempt sometimes, as in S. i. 8. He presided over gardens, protected flocks, and generally was worshipped in connection with the pursuits of husbandry.

22. Silvane, tutor finium!] Silvanus here only is called the protector of boundaries, which province belonged to the god Terminus. Virgil calls him the god of corn-fields and cattle (Aen. viii. 601); but, as his name implies, he was chiefly connected with woods and plantations.

24. tenaci] This is merely a redundant epithet. Grass, especially short turf grass, which is here meant, binds the soil and tenaciously adheres to it, both of which ideas seem to be included in this word.

25. interim] As we say, ‘the while.’ ‘Altis ripis’ are rocky, overhanging banks.

27. lymphis obstrepunt] ‘Obstrepunt’ is used absolutely, as in C. iii. 30. 10. ‘Lymphis’ is the ablative absolute.

28. Somnos quod invitet] Compare Virg. (Ecl. i. 56): “Saepe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro.”

29. annus] This is used for the season of the year, as in Virgil (Ecl. iii. 57), “formosissimus annus.”

31. Aut trudit acres] The hunters encompassed some large space (generally the foot of a wooded hill) with strong nets, which they gradually drew into a more and more narrow circle, while dogs and beaters with torches were set to drive the beasts into a given spot, where they were attacked and slain; or else they were driven down to the nets, with which they were entangled or stopped, unless they contrived, as they sometimes did, to break through them, which would give occasion for a chase in the open plain (see C. i. 1. 28). Plutarch, in his life of Alexander, speaks of toils twelve miles long. The poets, Latin and Greek, used the feminine gender in speaking of hunting-dogs, as mares are more often mentioned than horses for the race. ‘Amites’ were forked stakes on which the nets were stretched. ‘Plagae’ were the strong nets mentioned above; ‘retia’ were finer ones for birds and fish; ‘retia rara’ were those with wider meshes than fishing-nets, and therefore used only for birds. ‘Edacibus’ represents their depredations on the corn. ‘Laqueo’ may be pronounced as a dissyllable.

41. Sabina] See C. iii. 6. 37, n. Horace is fond of introducing his Sabine and Apulian friends. See C. iii. 5. 9, n.

42. Pernicis] ‘Pernix’ signifies patient, steadfast, being compounded of ‘per’ and ‘nitor.’ When applied to motion, it comes to mean swift, by the natural consequence of a steady movement of the wings or feet, which accomplishes distance more rapidly than irregular speed.

43. Sacrum vetustis] The fire-place was sacred to the Lares. The wood must be old that it might not smoke, like that which plagued the travellers at Trevicum (S. i. 5. 80). The ‘focus’ was either a fixture of stone or brick, in which case it was synonymous with ‘caminus’ or it was movable and made of bronze, and then it was usually called ‘foculus.’ In either case it was a wide and shallow receptacle for wood or charcoal, the smoke of which found its way out by apertures at the top of the room, or, in some rare instances, by chimneys.

‘Sub,’ with the accusative case, in phrases of time signifies ‘immediately after.’ ‘Sub adventum viri’ is not ‘in anticipation of her husband’s arrival’; but ‘as soon as he has made his appearance,’ weary with his day’s work, she puts wood on the fire and gets up a cheerful blaze. But in the phrases “sub lacrimosa funera” (C. i. 8. 14), “sub ipsum funus” (C. ii. 18. 18), ‘sub’ can only mean close upon, but before the event.

47. horna — dolio] Poor wine of that year, which had not been bottled for keeping, but was drunk direct from the ‘dolium.’ Like the other parts of this description, this is meant to convey the notion of primitive simplicity. The wine of the year is generally drunk now, in and about Rome.

50. rhombus] See S. ii. 2. 42, n. The ‘scarus,’ whatever that fish may be (for it is not certain), is said by Pliny to have abounded most in the Carpathian Sea. The storm, therefore, must come from the east that should drive it to the coast of Italy.

51. intonata] This participle occurs nowhere else in extant writers, but it is not likely Horace invented it. It represents the noise of the wind, rather than the thunder of the clouds, as Virgil (Georg. i. 371) says, “Eurique Zephyrique tonat domus.”

53. Afra avis] What bird is meant we cannot tell. The Greeks called them μελεαγρίδας. Martial (iii. 58. 15) speaks of “Numidicae guttatae,” ‘speckled,’ which seems to be the same bird and answers to the appearance of the guinea-fowl. The ‘attagen’ is usually said to be the moor-fowl. Martial says it was one of their most delicious birds (xiii. 61). It is repeatedly mentioned by Aristophanes. Aristotle, in his History of Animals, numbers it among κονιστικοὶ ὄρνιθες, birds which do not fly high.

57. Aut herba lapathi] Both the ‘lapathus’ and the ‘malva’ were gently purgative. See Sat. ii. 4. 29.

59. caesa Terminalibus,] The Terminalia took place in the early spring (23 February), about the time of lambing, and lambs were offered to Terminus, the god who protected boundaries. Plutarch says that sheep rescued from the jaws of the wolf were thought to be better flavored than others. The thrifty would eat them for economy. That is the idea Horace means to convey.

65. vernas, ditis examen domus,] ‘Verna’ was a slave born on the owner’s estate. There was a hearth near which the images of the Lares were placed, in the centre of the ‘atrium,’ the entrance room, and round it the slaves had their supper. ‘Renidentes’ means shining by the light of the fire.

67. fenerator Alphius,] A usurer of this name is mentioned by Columella, as an authority on the subject of bad debts. ‘Redigere’ is the technical word for getting in money out on loan, and ‘ponere’ for putting it out, as καταβάλλειν, βάλλειν, τιθέναι. The settling days at Rome were the Kalends, Nones, and Ides. Horace says that Alphius delivered the foregoing speech when he had made up his mind to turn farmer immediately, and that with[383] this view he got in all his money on the Ides (the middle of the month), but when the next Kalends came (the first of the month) he could not resist putting it out again.

Horace here vents his wrath against some garlic which he had eaten the day before at Mæcenas’s table, and which had disagreed with him. He seems to imply that Mæcenas had played a practical joke upon him, and the whole Epode is full of humor and familiarity.

Argument.—If a man has murdered his father, only make him eat garlic. What poison have I within me? Was a viper’s blood in the mess, or did Canidia tamper with it? Sure with such poison did Medea anoint Jason and his intended bride. Apulia in the dog days never burnt like this, nor the coat on Hercules’s shoulders. If thou dost ever take a fancy to such stuff, Mæcenas, mayst thou ask for a kiss and be refused!

1. Parentis olim] He uses the same illustration in cursing the tree that nearly killed him (C. ii. 13. 6).

3. Edit] The old form of the present subjunctive was ‘edim,’ ‘edis,’ ‘edit.’ It occurs again (Sat. ii. 8. 90). Cicero uses this form, and Plautus frequently.

4. O dura] ‘O the tough bowels of those country folk.’ Horace perhaps remembered Virgil’s line (Ecl. ii. 10):

“Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus aestu
Allia serpyllumque herbas contundit olentes.”

5. praecordiis?] This is sometimes put for the intestines, as in Sat. ii. 4. 26.

8. Canidia] This is one of the few names of which we may be pretty sure that it represents a real person. The Scholiasts on this place, and Sat. i. 8. 24, say that her real name was Gratidia, and that she was a Neapolitan seller of perfumes. She is mentioned always as a witch. In Epod. v. she is the principal person concerned in the murder of the boy; in Epod. xvii. Horace addresses his mock apologies to her. She figures in the scene on the Esquiliae represented in S. i. 8, and is incidentally mentioned in S. ii. 1. 48; 8. 95. It is impossible, from Horace’s poems, to gather the cause of his anger against this woman, or his connection with her.

9. praeter omnes] These words go with ‘mirata est.’ The Argonautae included fifty of the greatest heroes, and among them Hercules, the Dioscuri, Orpheus, Theseus, Nestor, etc. To all the rest Medea preferred Jason, the leader of the party, and married him, and helped him in the performance of his tasks, one of which was the yoking two fire-breathing oxen to a plough, and turning up the soil in which he was to sow the dragon’s teeth.

13. Hoc delibutis,] Horace assigns opposite qualities to the poison in Medea’s hands. It protects Jason and destroys Creusa (or Glauce), daughter of Creon, king of Corinth, whom Jason married, deserting Medea. Her revenge is well known. (See Epod. v. 63.)

14. Serpente fugit alite] After destroying her rival, Medea fled in a chariot drawn by winged serpents.

15. insedit vapor] ‘Vapor’ is equivalent to ‘calor,’ the effect to the cause. ‘Siderum vapor’ is the heat of the dog days. (Compare Epod. xvi. 61.)[384] The arid, unwatered character of Apulia has been noticed before (C. iii. 30. 11).

17. Nec munus humeris] i.e. the garment smeared with the blood of Nessus, given by Deianira to Hercules. She gave it as a love-charm, and it burnt him to death. See Epod. xvii. 31.

22. sponda] The side of the bed on which the person got in was called ‘sponda,’ the opposite side ‘pluteus.’

All the positive information we can derive from this Ode in respect to its purport and date is, that it contains a vehement invective against some person of low birth and contemptible character, who gave himself airs and disgusted the people of Rome; he was also a military tribune.

Argument.—I hate thee, thou whipped slave, as the lamb hates the wolf and the wolf the lamb. Be thou never so proud, luck doth not change the breed. See, as thou swaggerest down the road, how they turn and say, “Here is a scoundrel who was flogged till the crier was tired, and now he has his acres, and ambles on his nag, and sits among the Equites, and snaps his fingers at Otho and his law. What is the use of our sending ships to attack the pirates, if such a rascal as this is to be military tribune?”

1. sortito] ‘In virtue of their condition.’ ‘Sors’ is the condition which choice, accident, fate, or nature (as here) has assigned. See notes on C. i. 9. 14. S. i. 1. 1.

3. Hibericis — funibus] These were cords made of ‘spartum,’ usually said to be the Spanish broom. It was made into ropes, especially for ships’ rigging. In the army they flogged with vine twigs.

7. metiente] ‘As thou measurest the Sacred Way.’ ‘Metiri’ is used by the poets in expressing motion of various kinds, with ‘viam,’ ‘iter,’ ‘mare,’ etc. Here it shows the man’s strut and swagger. The Via Sacra was crowded with public buildings, and was a favorite lounge. See S. i. 9. 1.

8. bis trium ulnarum toga,] The Romans of this period used ‘ulna’ as an equivalent for ‘cubitus’, therefore ‘bis trium ulnarum’ must be understood to have reference to the width of the toga, not the length, which was much greater, about three times the height of the wearer from the shoulder to the ground. The effect of so wide a toga would be to give a broad imposing appearance to the man’s person. Compare S. ii. 3. 183. “Latus ut in Circo spatiere.”

9. vertat] This means that the passengers turned to one another, and also turned to look at the coxcomb and point at him.

huc et huc euntium] ‘Huc et huc,’ ‘hinc et hinc’ (Epod. ii. 31, v. 97), are poetical ways of expressing what in prose is expressed with ‘illuc,’ ‘illinc’ in the second place.

11. Sectus] This is supposed to be the language each man holds to his neighbor. The ‘triumviri capitales’ were magistrates of police, and they had the power of summarily punishing slaves. A crier stood by while floggings were going on, and kept proclaiming the offender’s crime. So Plato lays down, in the Laws, that the swindler shall be flogged at the rate of one blow for each drachma, while the crier declares his crime.

13. Arat Falerni] The Falernus ager, in Campania, was covered with[385] vines, but the vineyards were ploughed between the trees, and sown with corn. The Appian road, leading into Campania, would be passed and repassed by this man as he went to and from his estates. ‘Tero’ is equivalent to τρίβω, which is used in the same connection.

15. eques] If the person was a military tribune, he had equestrian rank; and, if of one of the four first legions, he had a seat in the Senate, and wore the ‘latus clavus.’ See S. i. 6. 25. If he had an income of 400,000 sesterces, he could, under the law of L. Roscius Otho (passed B. C. 67), take his place in any of the fourteen front rows in the theatre, and laugh at Otho, whose purpose was to keep those seats for persons of birth. See Epp. i. 1. 62.

19. Contra latrones] In the year B. C. 38 Augustus declared war against Sex. Pompeius, who had enlisted in his service pirates and slaves. These Horace alludes to.

20. tribuno militum?] Each legion in the Roman army had six tribunes (the post Horace held under Brutus), who were their principal officers, having each usually about a thousand men under them.

There is much likeness between this singular Ode and part of the eighth Satire of the first book. A scene is represented in which the unfortunate woman Canidia (Epod. iii. 8, n.), satirized by Horace for a succession of years, is the chief actress. She is passionately in love with one Varus, whom she calls an old sinner, but whose heart she is resolved to win. To this end she resorts to magical philters, for the composition of which, in company with three other witches, she gets a boy of good family, strips him naked, and buries him up to his chin in a hole, in order that there, with food put before him, he might wither away in the midst of longing, and so his liver might form, in conjunction with other ingredients, a love-potion, to be administered to the faithless Varus. What could have put such a scene into Horace’s head, it is hard to say.

Argument.—“Tell me, by the gods, by thy children, if Lucina hath ever blessed thee, by this purple toga, which should protect my childhood, tell me what meaneth this horrid scene! Why look ye at me so sternly?” As these words drop from the trembling and naked child, Canidia bids them bring branches from the tombs, a screech-owl’s wing, and eggs steeped in frogs’ blood, poisonous herbs of Thessaly and Hiberia, and bones snatched from the jaws of a hungry bitch, to burn in the magic flames. Sagana meanwhile sprinkles waters of Avernus over the chamber, and Veia digs a pit, where the boy must stand buried to the chin, that his marrow and liver may dry up, and become fit ingredients for the potion. Folia, too, is there, charming stars and moon from the sky. Then Canidia bursts forth, saying: “Night and Diana, avenge me on my enemies. Give me such an ointment to smear the old man with, that the dogs may bark at him as he goes to his vile haunts. But what is this? How did Medea succeed while I fail? I know every herb. I have anointed his bed. I see, I see. Some charm more skilled has set him free. No common potion therefore, no hackneyed spell, will I prepare for thee, Varus: the skies shall sink below the sea if thou burn not with love for me.” Then the boy bursts out into cursing, and says: “The destiny of man is unchangeable. I will curse you, and my curse no sacrifice shall avert. My ghost shall haunt you by night, and tear your flesh, and rob you of sleep. Men shall stone you, and wolves and vultures shall tear your unburied carcases, and my parents shall live to see it.”

1. At, o deorum] ‘At’ is the same word as ‘ad,’ and is not always or usually an adversative particle. It is contained in ‘atque’ and ‘autem,’ neither of which is adversative. So ἀλλά and δέ have not necessarily that force, but are used to open sentences, and carry on the meaning of a discourse. When ‘at’ is used at the opening, it expresses abruptness, and is as though the speaker were only continuing a sentiment previously conceived, but not expressed. It denotes a sudden emotion of the mind, and is employed in sudden transitions of speech. See S. ii. 2. 40, n.

deorum quidquid] Livy uses the same expression more than once (ii. 5, xxiii. 9). See also S. i. 6. 1.

6. veris] In this word a doubt is implied of the woman’s fertility. The charge is retracted in Epod. xvii. 50, sqq. As to Lucina, see C. S. 15, n.

7. purpurae decus] The ‘toga praetexta,’ with a purple stripe, the sign of nobility and of childhood, which should have turned his persecutors from their purpose, but did not. In addition to this toga, children of free parents wore a small round plate of gold (‘bulla’) suspended from their neck. Both were laid aside on the assumption of the ‘toga virilis’ (usually at about fifteen), and the ‘bulla’ was presented as an offering to the Lares. Pliny calls the ‘praetexta’ “majestas pueritiae” (ix. 36). ‘Odia novercalia’ were proverbial. (See Tac. Ann. xii. 2.)

12. Insignibus] That is, his ‘praetexta’ and ‘bulla.’ ‘Impube corpus’ is in apposition with ‘puer.’

21. Iolcos atque Hiberia] Iolcos was a town of Thessaly, and Hiberia a region east of Colchis and south of the Caucasus, now part of Georgia, which is referred to in C. ii. 20. 20. Elsewhere in Horace, Hiber and Hiberia have reference to Spain.

24. Flammis aduri Colchicis] Flames of Colchis mean magic flames, such as Medea used.

25. expedita] This answers to the description of Canidia herself, given Sat. i. 8. 23:—

26. Avernales aquas] So Dido, in her pretended magical ceremony, sprinkled “latices simulatos fontis Averni” (Aen. iv. 512).

28. currens aper] As Sagana is represented running about furiously, the rushing of a boar is not a bad simile. It is intelligible to any one who has seen a wild hog bursting from a jungle, and then tumbling along the open plain faster than dog or rider can follow him.

29. nulla — conscientia] Unconscious or careless of the horrible suffering the child was to endure. Though she groaned, it was only with the labor. We are to understand that the transaction was going on, and the grave being dug, in the open court, the ‘impluvium’ or ‘peristylium’ (C. iii. 10. 5, n.). The nature and purpose of the boy’s torture are sufficiently explained in the Introduction.

33. Longo die bis terque] ‘Longo’ belongs to ‘die,’ not to ‘spectaculo.’ On every weary day, food was to be put before him, and changed two or three times, that his soul might yearn for it, like Tantalus, and its longings might be worked into the spell that was to inflame the heart of Varus. ‘Inemori’ is not found anywhere else. The ordinary form is ‘immori.’ ‘Bis terque’ signifies ‘frequently’, ‘bis terve,’ ‘rarely.’

39. Interminato] This word, compounded of ‘inter’ and ‘minor,’ is a stronger way of expressing ‘interdicto,’ ‘forbidden.’ It is the interposition of a threat, instead of a plain command. ‘As soon as his eyeballs, fixed on[387] the forbidden food, should have wasted.’ Sat. ii. 1. 24: “Ut semel icto Accessit fervor capiti.”

42. Ariminensem Foliam] Folia of Ariminum (an Umbrian town) represents some woman of unnatural lewdness, well known at Naples and its neighborhood, where, Horace means to say, when this story was told, everybody believed she had had a hand in it. This is the most obvious way of explaining the passage, without supposing the scene to be laid at Naples, which it cannot be. See vv. 58 and 100.

45. Quae sidera excantata] This faculty of witches is sufficiently well known. Virg. (Ecl. viii. 69): “Carmina vel caelo possunt deducere Lunam.”

55. Formidolosis] This is equivalent to ‘horridis,’ as Virg. (Georg. iv. 468), “Caligantem nigra formidine lucum.” The word bears an active and a passive meaning.

57. Senem, quod omnes rideant,] She here prays that the dogs may bark at Varus, as he goes to the brothels of the Suburra, so that all may turn out and laugh at the vile old man, scented with the richest perfumes, such as even she, Canidia, had never made. (See Epod. iii. 8, n.).

58. Suburanae canes] Suburra was the name of that part of the city which lay between the Esquiline and the Viminal. It was very populous and profligate. Propertius (iv. 7. 15) describes it as the resort of thieves, and Martial of prostitutes (vi. 66).

61. Quid accidit?] She wonders why her drugs (which she calls the drugs of Medea, as imitating those) take no effect upon him, when she suddenly breaks out with the exclamation, “Ah! ah! I see; some stronger spell is at work, but I will find one that is stronger than any” (v. 71).

62. Venena Medeae] She speaks as if she had been actually using the drugs of Medea.

69. Indormit unctis] She had smeared the couch he slept on with drugs, to make him forget all women but herself. ‘Unctis’ goes with ‘oblivione.’

73. Vare,] Who Varus was, we cannot tell. Some ancient MSS. inscriptions call him ‘Alfius Varus.’

76. Marsis — vocibus:] That is, by common spells or charms, such as have been learnt from the Marsi, and were usually practised (Epod. xvii. 29). Virgil has (Aen. vii. 758): “Marsis quaesitae in montibus herbae.”

86. Thyesteas preces:] Curses such as Thyestes might have imprecated on the head of Atreus (see C. i. 6. 8, n.). The opening sentence of the boy’s speech is variously interpreted. The words may be translated as they stand: “Witchcraft, or the great powers of right and wrong, cannot change the fate of men”; i.e. nothing can, whether it be good or bad, which interpretation is the least strained, with reference to the collocation of the words. The omission of a connecting particle between ‘venena’ and ‘magnum’ is no argument against this version.

92. Nocturnus occurram Furor] He threatens to haunt them at night by his ghost, in the shape of madness, with sharp claws tearing their faces, and sitting like a nightmare on their breast. ‘Furor’ is nowhere else personified, as far as I am aware. ‘Diris’ means ‘curses.’

94. Quae vis deorum est manium,] The spirits of the dead were, to their surviving kindred, divinities, ‘Dii Manes.’ They had their sacred rites secured[388] them by the laws (see Cic. de Legg. ii. 9), and their annual festival, Feralia. In the early period of Rome they were identical with the Lares, the deities who protected each homestead, and whose hearth was in every hall. See Epp. ii. 1. 138, n.

100. Esquilinae alites;] On the Campus Esquilinus malefactors of the lower sort were executed, and their bodies left for the vultures and jackalls to devour. Compare Epod. xvii. 58, and S. i. 8. 8, n.

It is impossible to say with certainty who is the person attacked in this Ode. It is some virulent writer. Horace meets him on his own ground, challenging him to attack himself, rather than level his abuse at innocent strangers, who could not defend themselves.

Argument.—Why snarl at innocent strangers, dog, and run away from the wolf? Attack me, if thou darest. I am ever ready to hunt the prey, while thou dost but bark and turn aside to fill thy belly. Beware! for I have lifted my horns, even as Archilochus and Hipponax lifted theirs. If I am attacked, thinkest thou I will stand like a child, and cry?

3. Quin — vertis] ‘Quin’ is in this combination only equivalent to ‘qui’ and a negative, taken interrogatively. ‘Quin vertis’ is a direct question. An instance of ‘quin’ as a direct assertion, which is a conventional secondary usage, occurs in the Epode preceding, v. 91.

6. Amica vis pastoribus,] Lucretius (vi. 1221) speaks of “fida canum vis,” and Virg. (Aen. iv. 132), “odora canum vis.” ‘Vis’ signifies ‘a pack.’ Whatever the Molossian and Laconian dogs were, they were used for hunting, and were loved by shepherds because in packs they destroyed the wolves and beasts of prey. (See Georg. iii. 405, sqq.)

13. Lycambae — Bupalo.] Archilochus, the lyric poet of Paros, attacked Lycambes (a citizen of the island of Thasos, to which Archilochus migrated), who, after promising him his daughter Neobule in marriage, retracted his promise, so sharply that he is said to have hanged himself; and the same fate was supposed to have befallen Bupalus and Athenis, two sculptors, who turned into ridicule the ugly features of Hipponax, the lyric poet of Ephesus, who flourished in the sixth century B. C., about 150 years after Archilochus. The daughters of Lycambes were included, as the story goes, in Archilochus’s invectives, and also destroyed themselves. See Epp. i. 19. 25.

This Epode appears to have been written when some fresh war was breaking out. It may have been the last war between Augustus and M. Antonius, which ended in the battle of Actium and the taking of Alexandria. See Epod. i., Introduction. This is as likely a time as any other, but it is not easy to decide.

Argument.—Whither run ye to arms?—hath not blood enough of Romans been shed? ’T is not to burn the walls of Carthage, or humble the Briton, but that the Parthian may rejoice in seeing Rome fall by her own[389] hand. The beasts do not war upon their kind. Is it madness, or force irresistible, or wickedness, that drives you? They are dumb: they answer not. ’T is even so: the blood of Remus is visited on the destinies of Rome.

7. Intactus] See C. iii. 24. 1. What Horace means to say is, “The blood that has been spilt in these civil wars has been shed, not for the destruction of Carthage, as in the war that Scipio led, or that the Briton might be led in chains, as he was by Julius Cæsar, but for the destruction of Rome herself.” ‘Intactus’ means ‘untouched,’ till Julius Cæsar invaded them and carried away prisoners, many of whom walked in his triumph. The first time after Cæsar’s expeditions that a Roman army invaded Britain was in the expedition of Claudius, A. D. 43.

12. dispar] This signifies an animal of another species. ‘Feris,’ agreeing with ‘lupis’ and ‘leonibus,’ may be rendered ‘fierce though they be.’

13. vis acrior,] This seems to be an absolute expression (not comparative with ‘furor’), and equivalent to θεοῦ βία, θεοβλάβεια; and it is so explained by Gaius with reference to such a visitation of God as a storm, earthquake, and so forth (Dig. 11. 25. 6). “Vis major, quam Graeci θεοῦ βίαν, id est, vim divinam appellant, non debet conductori damnosa esse.” Horace means some irresistible force.

19. Ut immerentis] ‘Ut’ signifies ‘ever since,’ as C. iv. 4. 42, and elsewhere. Horace here fetches his reasons from a distant source, more fanciful than natural. He wrote more to the purpose afterwards, C. i. 2; ii. 1.

The date of this Ode is not to be mistaken. It was written when the news of Actium was fresh, in September, B. C. 31, immediately before the 37th of the first book. It is addressed to Mæcenas, who is called upon to celebrate with a feast at his new house the victory of Augustus, which is described as if by an eyewitness.

Argument.—When shall we drink under thy tall roof, Mæcenas, to Cæsar the conqueror, as late we did when the son of Neptune lost his fleet and fled,—he who threatened us all with the chains his slaves had worn? Will our sons believe it? Romans have sold themselves to serve a woman and her eunuchs, and the luxurious gauze hath fluttered among the standards of war! But their allies deserted to our side, and their ships skulked from the fight. Io Triumphe! bring forth the golden chariot and the sacrifice. So great a conqueror never came from Africa before. The enemy hath changed his purple for mourning, and hath fled to Crete or the Syrtes, or knoweth not whither to fly. Bigger cups, boy,—Chian, or Lesbian, or Cæcuban,—we will drown our old anxieties for Cæsar in wine.

3. sub alta — domo,] This was the house built by Mæcenas on the Campus Esquilinus. See Introduction to S. i. 8.

6. barbarum?] Phrygian, for which this was a common equivalent, as opposed to Grecian. So (Epp. i. 2. 7): “Graecia barbariae lento colliso duello.” Virg. Aen. ii. 504: “Barbarico postes auro spoliisque superbi.” Catull. (lxiv. 265): “Barbaraque horribili stridebat tibia cantu.” See C. i. 1. 32, n. on the plural ‘tibiis,’ and C. iv. 15. 30, n., as to Dorian and Phrygian music.

7. nuper,] This was between five and six years before, when Sextus Pompeius was defeated by Agrippa off Naulochus, on the coast of Sicily, B. C. 36, when his fleet was burnt, and he himself obliged to fly to Asia. Horace says he threatened to fasten upon the free citizens those chains which he had taken from the fugitive slaves, who formed a large part of his force. Sextus appears to have boasted that Neptune was his father, and the sea his mother. See Epod. iv. 19.

12. Emancipatus] There is no variation in the MSS. here, but the sense would seem to require ‘mancipatus.’ “‘Mancipatio’ is the form by which a person who was not ‘sui juris’ was transferred to the ‘potestas’ of another, as in the case of adoption. ‘Emancipare’ seems to be the proper term to express the making a person ‘sui juris’ by the act of ‘mancipatio’; but ‘mancipo’ and ‘emancipo’ are often confounded in the MSS.” Here, however, we must take ‘emancipatus’ as the true reading and it can only signify ‘sold into slavery.’ There may be a shade of difference in the meaning of the words, which it is not easy to trace.

13. Fert vallum et arma] ‘Valli’ were stakes, of which every soldier carried one or two for the purpose of defending the ‘agger’ or mound of earth, formed round an encampment or a besieged town. ‘Arma’ includes not only his weapons of offence and defence, but an axe, saw, chain, etc. The accoutrements of a Roman soldier were very heavy, but they had slaves (‘calones’) who helped to carry them. See C. ii. 13. 18, n.

17. At huc] ‘Huc’ is ‘to our side.’ ‘Frementes’ agrees with ‘equos.’ Horace means to say that part of the enemy’s force deserted to Cæsar. For the expression ‘canentes Caesarem’ compare Virg. (Aen. vii. 698): “Ibant aequati numero regemque canebant.” The Galli were cavalry of Galatia (or Gallogræcia) under Deiotarus their king, and his general (who afterwards succeeded him), Amyntas.

20. sinistrorsum citae.] This is probably a nautical term. The Greeks had an expression πρύμνην κρούσασθαι, ‘to back water.’ Something of that sort, connected with flight, is probably the meaning of ‘sinistrorsum citae.’ Whether Horace exactly states what he had heard, and whether the information was precisely correct, we cannot tell. He wrote while the tidings were fresh, and probably gave only popular reports. The defection of the Galatians is mentioned by Plutarch (Ant. 63). ‘Citae’ is the participle of ‘cieo.’

aureos Currus] A gilded chariot was used by conquerors in their triumphs. The form of the chariot was that of a round tower. Four horses, which on special occasions were white, were used for drawing the triumphal chariot. Heifers that had not been under the yoke, were offered in sacrifice at the close of the procession. Scipio Africanus Minor triumphed in A. U. C. 608 (B. C. 146), for the conquest of Carthage, and Marius in B. C. 104, for his victories over Jugurtha.

25. cui super Karthaginem] All that is here said about Scipio’s tomb is, that his valor built him one on the ruins of Carthage, which is no more than a repetition of C. iv. 8. 17. Horace is speaking of a tomb of renown, in which Scipio’s memory is enshrined, not his body.

27. Terra marique] There was no land engagement; but all the forces of Antonius, when he deserted them, laid down their arms. ‘Punicum sagum’[391] is called by the Greek writers φοινίκις. The ‘sagum’ was properly the cloak worn by the common soldier on service; but qualified as it is here by ‘punicum,’ ‘purple,’ it can only mean the ‘paludamentum,’ or officer’s military cloak. Horace says the enemy has changed his purple cloak for a black one, in token of mourning and shame for his defeat. It is to be observed, that, though M. Antonius is clearly the person uppermost in the writer’s mind, he only uses the general expressions ‘hostis,’ ‘Romanus’ (v. 11). ‘Mutavit’ signifies, as elsewhere, ‘has taken in exchange.’

29. centum — urbibus] See C. iii. 27. 33, n. ‘Ventis non suis’ means ‘unfavourable winds.’ Ovid (Met. iv. 373): “Vota suos habuere deos.”

33. Capaciores affer] The transition here is as abrupt and expressive as in C. iii. 19. 9.

36. Metire nobis] ‘Metire’ is equivalent to ‘misce,’ because the wine and the water were measured out and mixed in regular proportions, by means of the cyathus (C. iii. 19. 12).

Mævius was an inferior poet of the day, who appears to have employed himself in abusing his betters. He is most popularly known through Virgil’s familiar line, “Qui Bavium non odit amet tua carmina, Maevi” (Ecl. iii. 90). It appears that he went or meditated going to Greece, and Horace took a different leave of him from that he took of his friend Virgil on a like occasion (C. i. 3). He calls him the stinking Mævius, and promises an offering to the tempests if they will sink his ship.

Argument.—Bad luck go with the stinking Mævius. Blow, ye winds, and shatter his ship; no friendly star peep forth in the sky: let him be driven as the Greeks were by Pallas for the crime of Ajax. O how the sailors will sweat! and thou wilt turn deadly pale, and cry like a woman, and fall to thy prayers! Let me only hear the gulls are feasting upon thy carcass, and I will offer a goat and a lamb to the storms.

14. Ajacis] The son of Oïleus. The story is, that he was destroyed by Athene, on his return from Troy, for having dragged Cassandra from her altar and violated her. See Virg. Aen. i. 41. Homer tells the story a little differently (Odyss. iv. 499, sqq.). But either account suits Horace’s description.

19. Ionius — sinus] The southern part of the Hadriatic was called the Ionian sea, and it is called ‘sinus,’ as the Hadriatic itself is called so in C. iii. 27. 18.

23. immolabitur caper] See Virg. Aen. iii. 120; v. 772. Black animals were usually offered to the Tempests, to deprecate their wrath. The offerings Horace promised are in the way of thanksgiving.

This is a love poem, probably imitated from the Greek. The poet complains that he is so smitten by the heavy hand of love that he cannot write as he used. Two years before, he says, he had given up Inachia, who preferred[392] richer lovers to himself, but now the young Lyciscus has caught his heart, and nothing but some new love can deliver him from the snare. The poet addresses his friend Pettius, as one who had before been his confidant and adviser (v. 12).

Argument.—Pettius, I am so smitten with the heavy hand of love, who makes me above others his victim, that I cannot write as I used. ’T is two years since I gave up Inachia. Ah! what a by-word I was then! How I sighed in company and poured out my complaints to thee, when wine had opened my heart! “Has the poor man’s wit no chance against the rich man’s purse? My wrath is kindled. I cast my modesty and my sighs to the winds, I will contend with such rivals no more.” Thus did I boast, but my feet carried me still to her cruel door. And now, boasting that I have no woman to fear, Lyciscus has caught my heart, nor can counsel or raillery deliver me, nor aught but some new flame.

1. Petti,] This name is not found elsewhere. It may nevertheless be a real name, though it seems only to be introduced to give an air of reality to the Ode.

3. me praeter omnes expetit] ‘Me’ is governed by ‘expetit,’ not by ‘urere.’ ‘Expetit — urere’ is a Greek construction; ‘quem urat’ is the regular Latin.

4. in pueris] This use of ‘in’ is not very common. It occurs Ov. Met. iv. 234, “Neque enim moderatus in illa Solis amor fuerat.”

6. Inachia] This is another of those names from the Greek which Horace invariably adopts in his merely poetical compositions. See Introduction.

honorem decutit.] This expression is used by Virgil, who either borrowed it from Horace, or from some common original (Georg. ii. 404): “Frigidus et silvis Aquilo decussit honorem.” See C. i. 17. 16: “Ruris honorum opulenta.”

8. Fabula] Epp. i. 13. 9: “Fabula fias.” He means he was the talk of the town. ‘Arguit’ (v. 10) is the preterperfect tense.

11. Contrane] ‘Can it be that the honest genius of the poor man has no influence against gold?’ ‘Ne’ might be omitted, but then it would be a mere exclamation, ‘To think that,’ etc.

13. inverecundus deus] When Horace means to discourage brawling over wine, he calls Bacchus ‘verecundus’ (C. i. 27. 3). The best works of art represent this god as young and effeminately beautiful, with long hair, like Apollo, as the emblem of eternal youth. It is a coarse modern notion to represent him as a jolly round faced boy, or a drunken sot. This character belongs to Silenus, who is always drunk.

15. Quodsi meis] ‘But now that in my heart is boiling wrath so free that it doth scatter to the winds these thankless remedies that cure not my sad wound, my modesty removed shall cease to strive with rivals not mine equals.’ He means to say, that his wrath has got the better of his love and modesty, and he will cast his complaints and his shyness to the winds, and cease to contend with rivals that are unworthy of him. ‘Fomenta’ means sighs and complainings with which grief is sought to be relieved. ‘Libera bilis’ is like (Epod. iv. 10) “liberrima indignatio.” ‘Imparibus’ signifies his rivals who are beneath him in mind, though his betters in fortune. ‘Desinet certare summotus pudor’ is equivalent to ‘desinam certare summoto pudore.’ ‘Imparibus’ is the dative case. See C. i. 1. 15, n. ‘Inaestuo’ is not used elsewhere, but Horace is free in his use of prepositions in composition, after the manner of the Greeks.

19. palam laudaveram,] ‘Palam’ is used both as an adverb and a preposition. ‘Laudaveram’ is equivalent to ‘jactaveram.’

20. incerto pede] ‘With wavering foot,’ that is, with steps that would go one way, and are forced to go another. The poet represents himself as making fine boasts before his friend, but striving in vain to keep them when he leaves him.

21. non amicos heu mihi postes] Compare “asperas porrectum ante fores” (C. iii. 10. 2), where ‘porrectum’ explains ‘lumbos et infregi latus,’ which means that he wearied his body by lying on the hard ground.

24. mollitie amor] The hiatus in this verse, and the short syllable in v. 26, are explained by the rule, that, the two verses being composed of two separate measures, the last syllable in each is common, and independent of the syllable that follows. The name Lyciscus is probably formed from Lycus, Alcæus’s favorite boy.

26. Libera consilia] ‘Candid counsels,’ opposed to ‘contumeliae graves’; but neither are meant seriously.

28. teretis pueri] ‘Smooth-faced boy.’ See note on C. i. 1. 28. As to ‘longam comam,’ see C. iv. 10. 3, n. ‘Renodantis,’ which some render ‘untying, and allowing to flow upon the shoulders,’ means rather ‘tying up in a knot,’ like a girl.

This Ode is like the ninth of the first book,—a convivial song, written in winter. There can be little doubt of the subject as well as the metre being imitated from the Greek. The reference to Achilles reminds us of C. i. 7, and the allusion to Teucer. There is a fragment of Anacreon which bears some likeness to the opening of this Epode.

Argument.—The tempest is raging, let us make merry, my friends, while we are young, and leave the rest to the gods, who will give us a good turn yet.

Bring ointment and music, as Chiron taught his great pupil, saying, “To Troy thou must go, and not return; while there, drown care in wine and song, which are grief’s pleasant comforters.”

1. contraxit] This word is only to be explained by observing the different aspect of the sky when it is closed in with clouds, and when it is spread out in all its breadth and cloudless. A frowning sky is a notion easily understood, and common to all languages.

2. Jovem;] See C. i. 1. 25; 16. 12. Virgil (Ecl. vii. 60): “Juppiter et laete descendet plurimus imbri.” Georg. ii. 325:—

“Tum pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus aether
Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit.”

3. rapiamus, amici, Occasionem de die,] This is explained by C. iii. 8. 27: “Dona praesentis cape laetus horae.” ‘Die’ means the present day as opposed to to-morrow, not, as some take it, ‘from this stormy day.’

4. dumque virent genua] See C. i. 9. 17, n. The strength of an active man lies very much in his legs, and so they are put for his strength, as in the 147th Psalm (v. 10): “He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he[394] taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man”: and the knees are a chief part of the legs, therefore γούνατα λύειν is used for κτείνειν. ‘Dum virent genua,’ therefore, means merely ‘while our limbs are strong, and we are young.’ The tottering of the knees is one of the first signs of old age.

5. obducta — fronte] ‘Clouded brow.’ ‘Senectus’ is nowhere else used in this sense of ‘melancholy,’ though ‘senium’ is not uncommonly. ‘Tu’ is the master of the feast (C. i. 4. 18, n.). Sextus Manlius Torquatus was consul, B. C. 55, when Horace was born. Compare “O nata mecum consule Manlio” (C. iii. 21. 1).

7. Cetera] See C. i. 9. 9: “Permitto divis cetera.” Either it is a literal version of the Greek ἕτερα, in the sense of ‘adverse,’ or the troubles of the times may be referred to, or generally Horace may mean by ‘cetera,’ all troublesome thoughts opposed to mirth and wine.

8. vice.] The short syllables here and in vv. 10, 14, ‘pectora,’ ‘flumina,’ are explained on v. 24 of the last Ode.

Achaemenio] See C. ii. 12. 21, n. ‘Nardo’ is from ‘nardum,’ not ‘nardus,’ as in Epod. v. 59: “Nardo perunctum quale non perfectius.”

9. fide Cyllenea] The lyre invented by Mercury, born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.

11. grandi] Juvenal (vii. 210) describes Achilles as a big boy at school, “Metuens virgae jam grandis Achilles Cantabat patriis in montibus”; but ‘grandis’ has not that meaning here, though some have supposed it has.

Centaurus] Cheiron, the instructor of Achilles and other heroes. Whether Horace took what follows from any story or not, it is impossible to determine, as with the similar episode of Teucer in C. i. 7.

13. frigida] This is an adaptation of Homer’s description (Il. xxii. 151): ἡ δ᾽ ἑτέρη θέρεϊ προρέει εἰκυῖα χαλάζῃ Ἢ χιόνι ψυχρῇ. ‘Domus Assaraci,’ ‘proles Assaraci,’ are common in Virgil. Assaracus was great-grandfather of Æneas. Homer took a more heroic view of the dimensions of the river Scamander, which was μέγας ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης (Il. xx. 73).

15. subtemine] ‘The woof of the web.’ ‘Certo subtemine’ means only by an unalterable destiny. See Catull. 64. 328, &c.: “Currite ducentes subtemina currite fusi.” ‘Mater caerula’ means Thetis.

18. alloquiis.] ‘Alloquiis’ signifies ‘consolations,’ and is in apposition with ‘vino cantuque.’ There is no other instance of ‘alloquium’ being used otherwise than with reference to conversation. But Horace may have followed, after his custom of imitating the Greeks, the use of παραμύθιον, παρηγορία, which were applied, in a derived sense, to anything that gave relief to sorrow.

The object of this Ode is to excuse Horace for his indolence in not having finished a poem, or volume of poems, he had long promised (v. 7). He says it is love that has prevented him, and that Mæcenas ought to sympathize with him.

Argument.—Thou killest me, my noble Mæcenas, asking again and again if I have drunk the waters of Lethe. It is love, it is love that keeps back the verses I have promised,—such love as Anacreon wept, in his flowing numbers, for Bathyllus, the Samian. Thou, too, feelest the flame, and if thou art more blessed than I, be thankful. Thou lovest the most beautiful of women: I am in torment for a harlot.

1. imis — sensibus,] So Virgil (Ecl. iii. 54): “Sensibus haec imis (res est non parva) reponas.”

4. traxerim,] This is the earliest instance of this use of ‘traho.’ ‘Duco’ is more common (C. i. 17. 22; iii. 3. 34; iv. 12. 14). Ovid and later writers use ‘traho’ (see Forcell.). The Greeks used σπάω and ἕλκω commonly in this sense. ‘Candide’ seems to signify ‘generous,’ ‘true.’ It is used familiarly.

8. Ad umbilicum adducere.] The several sheets of parchment on which the contents of a book were written were joined together, and at the end of the last was fastened a stick on which the whole was rolled, like our maps; and in the same way, at the ends of this roller, were knobs, which were called ‘cornua’ or ‘umbilici.’ The former word is obvious enough. The latter belongs more properly, perhaps, to the shape that the ends of the roll would take when these knobs were wanting; but it was also applied to the knobs themselves, and so ‘ad umbilicum adducere’ is to bring a volume to the last sheet.

It has been disputed whether ‘carmen’ means a volume or a single poem. ‘Ad umbilicum adducere’ seems to refer to a volume, ‘carmen’ to a single poem; but the former might be taken in a derived sense, ‘ad finem adducere,’ as reasonably as the latter in a collective sense, and I think a single poem is meant. Perhaps it never was finished. Whether ‘olim’ belongs to ‘inceptos’ or ‘promissum’ is open to doubt. In sense it applies to both.

9. Bathyllo] C. ii. 4. 7, n. Anacreon’s verses were full of passionate addresses to boys. The name of Bathyllus does not occur in any of the fragments that have come down to us; but it is mentioned by others besides Horace, and he is known to have been one of Anacreon’s chief favourites. He was a graceful performer on the flute, which accomplishment Anacreon took delight in praising. One of the Odes falsely attributed to Anacreon is addressed εἰς νεώτερον Βάθυλλον· and from that we also learn that he was a Samian, ἢν δ᾽ ἐς Σάμον ποτ᾽ ἔλθῃς Γράφε Φοῖβον ἐκ Βαθύλλου. Anacreon, being driven from his native town, Teos in Ionia, lived many years at Samos, under the protection of Polycrates.

12. Non elaboratum ad pedem.] This means that his style was easy and his rhythm flowing, which is verified by the few fragments that remain. The poems that go by Anacreon’s name are of a later age.

13. Ureris ipse miser:] See Introduction. Terentia, Mæcenas’s wife, is here alluded to.

This is probably a composition from the Greek. It is addressed to an imaginary Neæra by the poet, in his own person. He complains of her deserting him for a wealthier rival. He bids her remember her vows, and beware of provoking him, lest he leave her for ever. And he pities the man whom she has caught, and warns him that, be he rich and wise as he may, she will soon leave him for another. Horace introduces the same name in a much later Ode (iii. 14. 21), and it is used throughout the third book of Elegies commonly attributed to Tibullus. The Ode is in Ovid’s style, and worthy to have been written by him.

Argument.—Remember that night when the moon was in the sky, and thou didst swear fidelity to me, saying, that so long as the sheep feared the[396] wolf, and storms vexed the winter’s sea, and Apollo’s locks floated in the breeze, our mutual love should last.

Thou shalt rue my firmness, Neæra. Flaccus will bear no rival. Let thy faithlessness drive him to wrath, and he will seek a true heart elsewhere. Let him once learn to hate thy beauty, and he will be its captive no more, when grief shall have settled in his soul. And thou, whosoever thou art, that boastest thyself in my sorrow, be thou rich in flocks and fields, and let Pactolus run gold for thee; be thou wise in the secrets of Pythagoras, and of form more beautiful than Nireus; yet shalt thou weep for her love transferred to another, and my turn to laugh shall come.

2. Inter minora sidera,] ‘Sidus’ properly signifies a collection of stars, a constellation; but here it is equivalent to ‘stella,’ which in its turn appears for ‘sidus’ in C. iii. 29. 19. In C. i. 12. 47 it is also a single star, and the moon is represented as she is here: “Micat inter omnes Julium sidus, velut inter ignes Luna minores.”

3. laesura] ‘Laedere’ is applied to injury by word or deed, to fraud (‘laesa fides’), or slander, or violence done to the person, or damage of any kind. It applies to high-treason, whereby the majesty of the sovereign power is violated, and to perjury, as blaspheming the name of God. Compare Ovid (Heroid. ii. 43):—

“Si de tot laesis sua numina quisque deorum
Vindicet, in poenas non satis unus eris.”

The offence, however, of lovers’ perjury was not supposed to weigh very heavily (see C. ii. 8. 13, n.). The Dii Magni were twelve in number: Juppiter, Minerva, Juno, Neptune, Venus, Mars, Vulcan, Vesta, Apollo, Diana, Ceres, and Mercury.

4. In verba jurabas mea,] This is the usual way of expressing the oath of obedience taken by soldiers, the words being dictated to the men. Hence the phrases ‘conceptis verbis jurare,’ ‘conceptis verbis pejerare.’ ‘Jurare in verba’ was conventionally applied to any oath of allegiance, and the poet says Neæra swore by the gods eternal devotion to his will. Elsewhere Horace expresses by these words the blind adherence to a particular teacher, declaring that he is “Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri” (Epp. i. 1. 14).

6. Lentis adhaerens brachiis:] ‘Lentissima brachia’ is used in a different sense in S. i. 9. 64. Here ‘lentis’ signifies ‘twining,’ as that which is soft and pliant.

7. Dum pecori lupus] ‘Infestus’ belongs to both clauses, but in the first ‘foret’ must be supplied. There is a slight irregularity in the sentence. As to ‘Orion,’ see C. i. 28. 21.

9. Intonsosque agitaret] Long hair was the mark of youth (C. iv. 10. 2, n.), and Apollo as well as Bacchus (see Epod. xi. 13, n.) was held to be always young. Hence in all ancient representations of Apollo he has long hair, either braided or flowing, in which respect he is frequently compared with Bacchus by the poets. See Ovid (Met. iii. 421), “Et dignos Baccho dignos et Apolline crines.” Hence the expression in the text is almost proverbial, and Neæra’s vow is one of eternal fidelity. Other allusions to Apollo’s hair will be found in C. i. 21. 2, “Intonsum pueri dicite Cynthium”; C. iii. 4. 62, “Qui rore puro Castaliae lavit Crines solutos”; and C. iv. 6. 26, “Phoebe qui Xantho lavis amne crines.”

11. virtute] ‘Virtus’ here signifies moral courage, determination, and firmness. See note on C. S. 58. The name Neæra is formed from νείαιρα, which is used by Homer, and is said to be an irregular comparative of νέος, so that Neæra signifies ‘the younger.’

15. Nec semel offensae] ‘Offensus’ is here used as the object of dislike. Horace says, ‘Nor shall his firmness yield to thy beauty, if he hate it once, when settled pain has entered his soul.’

19. licebit] This use of the future tense shows that ‘licet’ and some other words, which are called by the grammarians conjunctions, are in fact only verbs, after which ‘ut’ is understood. ‘Licebit’ is used below (S. ii. 2. 60), and by Ovid (Trist. v. 14. 3), “Detrahat auctori multum fortuna licebit.” The Pactolus, in Lydia, was not the only golden stream of the ancients. The Tagus, Hebrus, Po, and Ganges, all had the same repute. What the secret learning of Pythagoras was, is expressed in the epithet given him, ‘renati.’ His metempsychosis is referred to in C. i. 28. 10. As to Nireus, see C. iii. 20. 15.

This Ode is written with great care, and was probably one of those compositions by which Horace brought himself into public notice. It has more the appearance of having been written for fame than any other in the book. Probably it was written at the outbreak of the Perusian war, B. C. 41. Horace mourns over the civil wars, and proposes that all good citizens shall migrate to the Fortunate Islands.

Argument.—Another age is wasting in civil wars. She whom no enemy could tame, shall be destroyed by her own accursed children; the wild beast shall devour her; the barbarian shall trample upon her, and scatter the dust of her Romulus to the winds.

What are we to do? Go forth like the Phocæans, leave our homes and our temples to be the dens of beasts, and go wherever the winds shall waft us. Shall it be so? Then why delay? But let us swear:—When rocks shall swim, and the Po shall wash the tops of Matinus, and the Apennine be cast into the sea; when the tiger shall lie with the hind, and the dove with the hawk, and the herds fear not the lion, and the he-goat shall love the waves,—then we will return to our home. Thus let the nobler spirits resolve, while the craven clings to his couch. For us there are those happy isles where the earth yields her harvests and the trees their fruit, unbidden; where honey drops from the oak, and the stream leaps babbling from the hills; where the goat comes unbidden to the milk-pail, and udders are full, and the fold fears no beasts, and the ground bears no vipers; where the rain-flood and the drought are not known; whither the venturous sail comes not; where the flock is unhurt by pestilence or heat. Jove destined these shores for the pious, when the golden age had passed away, and thither the pious may resort and prosper.

1. Altera] The last being that of Sulla, which ended about forty years before.

4. Porsenae] The penultimate syllable of this name is usually long, but it is here short. Porsena was king of Clusium, in Etruria. He espoused the cause of Tarquinius Superbus, and attacked Rome with a large army. The Roman legends of Cocles, who defended the bridge, of Clœlia, who with her maidens swam over the river, and of Mucius Scævola, who thrust his hand into the fire, are all connected with this period. Though the Roman historians have thrown disguises over the fact, there is every reason to believe that Porsena reduced the city to submission, and took from her all the territory she had obtained north of the Tiber.

5. Aemula nec virtus] After the battle of Cannæ, Hannibal established himself in Capua, and Livy (xxiii. 6) relates a boasting speech of the Campanians,—how they expected that Hannibal, when he withdrew to Carthage, would leave Rome a wreck and the power over Italy in the hands of Capua. They also sent ambassadors to Rome, and demanded, as a condition of their assistance, that one of the consuls should always be a Campanian. Five years afterwards the Romans took the town, and dealt very severely with it, reducing it to a praefectura (see S. i. 5. 34, n.). As to Spartacus, see C. iii. 14. 19.

6. Allobrox,] The Allobroges, whose country lay on the left bank of the Rhone, between that river and the Isère, had ambassadors at Rome at the time of Catiline’s conspiracy, praying for redress for certain grievances. These men were tampered with by the conspirators, and promised to forward their designs, which, soon repenting, they betrayed, and became the principal witnesses against the conspirators (Sall. Cat. 41; Cic. in Catil. iii. 2-4). This explains Horace’s meaning. Two years afterwards these people, having broken out in war and invaded Gallia Narbonensis, were defeated by C. Pomptinus, governor of that province. Their restlessness is mentioned by Cæsar (B. G. iv. 5).

11. insistet] ‘Insistere’ is followed by the accusative case sometimes, particularly when it implies motion, as ‘insistere viam,’ which peculiarity is found in the Greek καθέζομαι. It more usually governs the dative case, or is followed by the ablative after ‘in.’ See Aen. vi. 563: “Sceleratum insistere limen.” Ezekiel’s prophecy against Tyre declares that Nebuchadnezzar “with the hoofs of his horses shall tread down all her streets” (xxvi. 11); and Jeremiah exclaims (viii. 1, 2): “At that time they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves, and they shall spread them before the sun: they shall not be gathered nor be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth.” Horace does not take account of the apotheosis of Romulus, which he himself refers to elsewhere (C. iii. 3. 16). Porphyrion, on the authority of Varro, says the tomb of Romulus was behind the Rostra.

15. expediat] This belongs to ‘carere’; ‘what course befits us best, that we be free from our vile sufferings,’ where the Greeks would express or (more commonly) understand ὥστε. The story of the Phocæans abandoning their city when Harpagus was besieging it, and declaring that they would not return till a bar of iron they threw into the sea should float, is told by Herodotus (i. 165). It must have been familiar to educated men, and the form of oath may have become proverbial. ‘Exsecrata’ is used in a middle sense, ‘binding themselves under a curse,’ ἐποιήσαντο ἰσχυρὰς κατάρας. So ‘agros’ is governed by ‘profugit,’ not by ‘exsecrata.’

23. Sic placet?] ‘Placetne?’ the usual formula addressed to the people at the comitia. The poet fancies himself addressing a meeting of the citizens. ‘Habet suadere’ is another Greek construction, πείθειν ἔχει.

25. Sed juremus in haec:] ‘but let us take an oath in this form’; to make our departure inevitable.

33. ravos] C. iii. 27. 3, n. ‘Levis hircus amet,’ ‘the goat become sleek, and love.’

46. Suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem,] ‘and the purple fig adorns its own tree’; that is, without grafting.

51. vespertinus] See C. 1. 2. 45. Virg. Georg. iii. 538: “Nocturnus obambulat.”[399]

57. Non huc Argoo] He means to say, that no venturous sail has reached these islands; not the Argo, in which Jason sailed for the golden fleece, nor Medea, who returned with him to Greece, nor the Phœnicians, who went everywhere with their merchandise, nor the crew of Ulysses, who wandered about the seas for ten years.

62. aestuosa — impotentia] ‘the burning excess’; that is, ‘the excessive heat.’

65. quorum] This depends on ‘fuga.’ ‘Safe flight from which is offered to the pious, if I be prophet.’

This poem is written with the ironical purpose of making peace between the poet and Canidia. The recantation is not less severe than the libels (see Epodes iii. and v., and S. i. 8). The poet humbly retracts his charges of base birth, sterility, witchcraft, &c., but in such language as to make them worse: and in the latter part of the Epode Canidia makes a reply refusing forgiveness, and vowing vengeance on her traducer.

Argument.—I yield, I yield; I pray thee by Proserpine, by Diana, by thine own mighty spells, Canidia, cease thy charms; stay, stay thy wheel. Achilles had compassion upon Telephus, and healed him. He was entreated, and gave back the body of Hector, and the matrons of Troy anointed him for burial. Circe restored the companions of Ulysses. Surely I have been punished enough, O thou that art loved of sailors and of hucksters! The complexion of youth is gone from me; my hair is white; I rest not day or night, and sighs give me no relief. I now believe what I once denied. What wouldst thou more? O sea and earth, I am on fire, like Hercules with the blood of Nessus, and Ætna’s everlasting flame. As a crucible filled with Colchian drugs, thou wilt burn till I shall be consumed, and my ashes scattered to the winds. What death or what penalty awaits me? Speak, and I will offer a hundred oxen, or praise thy chastity in lying song. The brothers of Helen were entreated, and gave the poet back his eyes; and do thou, for thou canst, loose me from my madness. Indeed thou art not debased by thy parents’ sins; thou dost not scatter the new-buried ashes of the poor; thy heart is kind, thy hands are pure, thy son is thine own, and thy births are no pretence. Why waste thy prayers upon ears that are deaf as the rock lashed by the waves? To think thou shouldst publish and laugh with impunity at our mystic rites, and fill the town with my name! What profit, then, have I of the skill I have learnt? Thus shalt thou live with strength ever renewed for fresh endurance, as Tantalus vainly seeks to be at rest, Prometheus to be delivered from his vulture, and Sisyphus to plant his stone on the top of his mountain. Thou wilt seek death in every form, and it shall not come. I will bestride thee, and spurn the earth in my pride. What! must I, who can move images, bring down the moon or raise the dead,—I, the mingler of love charms,—must I see my spells of no avail for such as thee?

1. Jam jam] The repetition denotes haste and eagerness, ‘See, see I yield.’ They are said ‘dare manus,’ who give their hands to the chains of a conqueror. The phrase is common enough. See Virgil (Aen. xi. 568): “neque ipse manus feritate dedisset.” Cæsar (B. G. v. 31): “tandem dat Cotta permotus manus; superat sententia Sabini.” Cicero uses it repeatedly.[400] The speaker invokes Proserpina and Hecate, as the divinities with whom the witch has most communication.

5. Refixa] Virgil says (Aen. v. 527) “Caelo ceu saepe refixa Transcurrunt crinemque volantia sidera ducunt.”

7. solve, solve turbinem.] ‘Turbo’ is a wheel of some sort used by sorceresses, often alluded to by the poets: ῥόμβος is the Greek name for it. Threads of various colors arranged artificially were spun round the wheel, and formed a magical web, supposed to involve somehow or other the affections or fortunes of him who was the object of the spell. ‘Retro solvere’ means to relax the onward motion of the wheel, which will then of itself roll back.

8. Movit nepotem] Telephus was king of Mysia, during the Trojan war, and his country being invaded by the Greeks, he was wounded by Achilles. It having been declared by an oracle that Troy could not be taken without the help of Telephus, and Telephus having learnt that his wound could only be cured by Achilles, he gave his services to the Greeks, and was cured. Achilles is called ‘nepos Nereius’ because he was the son of Thetis, the daughter of Nereus. Propertius refers to the story (ii. 1. 63). See also Ovid (Trist. i. 1. 99, sqq.).

11. Unxere] Achilles, moved by the entreaties of Priam (Il. xxiv. 510), gave back Hector’s body, which he had threatened the dogs should devour (Il. xxiii. 182). Homer does not mention the fact that the Trojan women anointed Hector’s body; but Horace only makes them do what the Greeks did for Patroclus (Il. xviii. 350), καὶ τότε δὴ λοῦσάν τε καὶ ἤλειψαν λίπ᾽ ἐλαίῳ. ‘Homicidam’ is a literal version of ἀνδροφόνον, Homer’s epithet for Hector. The rhythm of the line in which it occurs is without a precedent in Horace.

17. Circa] In the Epodes, Satires, and Epistles, Horace uses the Latin terminations, and in the Odes only the Greek.

20. Amata nautis] While he professes to flatter and pacify her, he provokes her by saying she was the admiration of vulgar shipmasters and shop-men. See C. i. 28. 23, n., and C. iii. 6. 30, n., as to ‘nauta’ and ‘institor.’

21. Fugit juventas] From this description of himself, it has been supposed that Horace was advanced in years when he wrote this. But the whole is ironical. He says the bloom of youth has left him, he is nothing but skin and bone, has lost his color, and is gray, all through her poisonous drugs or ointments.

24. ab labore] This preposition is used like ἀπό, ‘after,’ and ‘est’ in the next verse like ἔστι for ἔξεστι.

27. Ergo negatum] ‘Therefore I am compelled, poor wretch, to believe what I once denied, that Sabine charms are lashing my heart, and that my head is splitting with Marsic spell.’ ‘Increpare’ is used in a singular way. It is used elsewhere for the dashing of waves against the shore, and in almost every sense connected with loud noises. It is difficult to give it its exact meaning here. The Sabine, Pelignian, and Marsican women had credit above others for witchcraft. See S. i. 9. 29, and below, v. 60, and Epod. v. 76. ‘Nenia’ is used for a charm, as in Ovid (A. A. ii. 102). “Mixtaque cum magicis nenia Marsa sonis.” For its other meanings, see C. ii. 1. 38, n.

tu donec cinis] ‘Thou dost burn as a crucible filled with Colchian drugs (“venena Medeae,” Epod. v. 62), till, reduced to dry cinders, I shall be carried away by the insolent winds.’

36. stipendium?] It is possible this may mean ‘service,’ which is its military sense; or it may be ‘penalty,’ but the meaning is doubtful. ‘Quae finis’ means ‘what death?’ Captives led in triumph were always put to death. See C. iv. 2. 35, n.

40. sonari:] ‘Sono’ is used as an active verb only by the poets, after the manner of ἠχεῖν. The satire of what follows is very amusing. In his plea for forgiveness he repeats his offence, implying that to call her chaste he must lie, which, however, he is willing to do. The following words are the substance of what he promises to say in her praise, placing her, like Ariadne and other virtuous women, among the constellations.

42. Infamis Helenae] The story is, that Stesichorus (C. iv. 9. 8, n.) was struck with blindness for writing a libel on Helen, and that on writing a recantation (παλινῳδία) he was restored to sight by Helen, or, as Horace here says, by her brothers, Castor and Pollux. ‘Vicem’ means ‘on behalf of.’ In this independent form the word often occurs in Livy. The Greek poets used χάριν and μοῖραν in the same way.

45. potes nam,] This is a common formula in entreaties both in Greek (δύνᾳ γάρ) and Latin.

46. O nec paternis] ‘O thou who art not debased by the sins of thy parents, who art not an old witch skilled in sprinkling on the ninth day the ashes on the tombs of the poor.’ In this way, while he pretends to recant, he makes his language more libellous than ever.

obsoleta] This is applied in an unusual sense. It usually signifies that which is gone to decay (out of use), as clothes, houses, faded pictures, &c. (see Forcell.), and so it comes to mean generally that which is spoilt and worthless, as here. See C. ii. 10. 6.

48. Novendiales] It appears, if we are to believe the old commentators, to have been the practice to bury the ashes nine days after death. Therefore, Horace means to say that the witch dug up the ashes of the dead immediately after their burial, while they were fresh, and better suited on that account for magical ceremonies. The ashes of the poor are fixed upon, perhaps, because they were not watched as the rich man’s were. ‘Novendiales’ usually signifies ‘of nine days’ continuance,’ but it cannot have that meaning here. Hector was buried after nine days (Il. xxiv. 784).

50. Tuusque venter Pactumeius,] In Epod. v. 5 it is insinuated that Canidia is childless, that the children she pretends to have are not hers, and her childbirths are a fiction, perhaps to extract money from her lovers, on whom her pretended children were affiliated. Here the libel is withdrawn, but in such a way as to leave it untouched, for in the last line he insinuates that her travail is at least not very difficult. ‘Venter’ is used by the law-writers to signify the child in the womb, or a woman with child. ‘Pactumeius’ is a Roman name; why Horace uses it, no one can tell. There is some allusion that would have been intelligible at the time.

56. ut tu riseris] ‘Ut’ is an exclamation of scorn. ‘To think that you should.’ It occurs again (S. ii. 5. 18): “Utne tegam spurco Damae latus!” The festival in honor of Cotys or Cotytto was of Thracian origin, and transferred to Corinth and other Greek states. It found its way into Sicily, but was never introduced into the Italian states, and was unknown at Rome except to the learned. The rites of this goddess were very impure, and, like other works of darkness, professed secrecy, as Juvenal says (ii. 91):—

“Talia secreta coluerunt orgia taeda
Cecropiam soliti Baptae lassare Cotytto.”

Canidia is made to call her witch’s orgies Cotyttia, by which the libel that runs through the poem is maintained.

58. Et Esquilini pontifex venefici] She charges him with thrusting himself[402] upon the orgies as if he were the priest, who alone of men might attend them. As to the Campus Esquilinus, where the witches were supposed to hold their midnight meetings, see Epod. v. 100, and S. i. 8, Introduction.

60. Quid proderat ditasse] ‘What good, then, did I get by spending money upon the old Pelignian witches (i.e. to teach me my craft), and mingling for thee a more quick and potent draught? But though it be quick and potent, yet the death that awaits thee shall be slower than thou wouldst have it.’ The country of the Peligni lay to the north of the Marsi, who bordered on the Sabini. See note on v. 27.

66. Egens benignae] The poets of the Augustan age, in relating the punishment of Tantalus, refer only to that legend according to which, standing in the midst of water with fruit-trees over his head (‘benigna dapes’), he is not able to reach either (Hom. Odyss. xi. 582). The other story, followed by Pindar and other Greek poets, of a great stone suspended over his head, and ever threatening to fall on him, the Roman poets do not allude to. But Cicero does, and only to that (De Fin. i. 18; Tusc. Disp. iv. 16). See S. i. 1. 68.

67. Prometheus] Horace is not inconsistent in respect to Prometheus, whom in C. ii. 13. 37, 18. 85, he places in Tartarus. The story, as related prophetically by Hermes in the play of Æschylus (P. V. 1016, sqq.), is, that the Scythian rock on which Prometheus was first bound by Hephæstus was struck down, with him upon it, by Zeus into Hades, and that he was brought thence after a long time (μακρὸν μῆκος ἐκτελευτήσας χρόνου) to undergo upon earth the punishment awarded to Tityos in hell, of having his liver devoured by an eagle.

68. Sisyphus] See C. ii. 14. 20, n., where his punishment is called very aptly ‘longus labor.’

71. Norico] The steel of Noricum (Carynthia and Styria) is mentioned elsewhere (C. i. 16. 9).

74. Vectabor humeris] She threatens to bestride his hated shoulders in triumph, and to spurn the earth in the pride of her revenge.

76. movere cereas imagines,] To give life to waxen images made to represent an absent youth, and inspired with the tenderness or the pains he should feel. In S. i. 8. 30 such an image is introduced (see note), and the witch in Theocritus (ii. 28) melts a waxen image, and says:—

ὡς τοῦτον τὸν καρὸν ἐγὼ δαίμονι τάκω,
ὡς τάκοιθ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἔρωτος ὁ Μύνδιος αὐτίκα Δέλφις,

“Limus ut hic durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit
Uno eodemque igni, sic nostro Daphnis amore.”

“Devovet absentes simulacraque cerea figit,
Et miserum tenues in jecur urget acus.”

The professed purpose of this Satire, or that with which Horace seems to have begun, may be gathered from the first two lines. Discontent with the condition that Providence had assigned them; disappointment with the position many years’ labor, and perhaps dishonesty, have gained them; envy of their neighbors’ circumstances, even if they be worse than their own; dissatisfaction, in short, with what they have and are, and craving for something they have not and are not,—these are features common to the great majority of men. For this vice of discontent the Greeks had a comprehensive name, μεμψιμοιρία. It will be seen that, after propounding the whole subject in the shape of a question to Mæcenas, Horace confines himself to one solution of it, and that not the most comprehensive (see notes on vv. 28, 108). Avarice is the only reason he assigns for the universal disease, and any one will see that hereby he leaves many untouched who are as culpably restless as the avaricious, but not in their sordid way.

The Satire is put first in the order of this book, not as an introduction (of which it bears no signs), but because it is addressed to Mæcenas.

1. quam sibi sortem] See note on C. i. 9. 14, as to ‘sors’ and ‘fors.’ These two are opposed, as effect and cause, the condition and that which produces it. ‘Fors’ and ‘ratio’ are opposed as that which a man cannot help, and that which he carves out for himself. ‘Fors’ is ‘accident,’ ‘ratio’ is ‘choice.’

3. laudet] This sense of ‘laudare,’ ‘felicem praedicare,’ μακαρίζειν is repeated below, v. 9, and in v. 109, where it occurs in combination with, and as equivalent to, ‘probare.’ So Cicero (De Am. c. 7) says: “Ex quo illorum beata mors videtur, horum vita laudabilis.”

laudet diversa sequentes?] This is briefly expressed, for ‘sed quisque laudet.’ In the transition from negative to positive statements, the positive element which is contained in the former is often carried on in the mind, so as to affect the latter, as in those sentences which are coupled by ‘nec’ and ‘et,’ οὔτε and τε. ‘Nemo vivit’ is ‘quisque non vivit’. ‘Diversa’ indicates, not merely different, but ‘opposite’ careers.

4. gravis annis] Virgil says (Aen. ix. 246): “Hic annis gravis atque animi maturus Aletes.” And ‘gravis’ is one of the commonest words applied to old age, as may be gathered from Cicero’s treatise De Senect.; and βαρύς is equally common in the same connection. Horace, in his own campaigning, had undoubtedly heard many a veteran grumbling at his condition.

horae Momento] ‘Horae momento’ is a common phrase in Livy and other writers. Horace has below, ‘puncto mobilis horae.’ ‘Punctum’ is perhaps a little more precise than ‘momentum,’ which signifies the progress of time, though conventionally its smallest division. Pliny draws a distinction between them (Panegyr. iv. c. 56): “Quod momentum, quod immo temporis punctum aut beneficio sterile aut vacuum laude?”

9. juris legumque peritus] ‘Jurisperiti,’ ‘jurisconsulti,’ were persons who expounded the law. Their expositions were called ‘responsa,’ and they gave[404] them gratuitously. They were distinct from the professors or teachers (‘advocati’) and others, who were paid for their services, and from ‘oratores,’ though the ‘consultus’ sometimes combined with his calling as such that of the ‘orator’ or ‘patronus.’ If we are to believe this statement of Horace, and another to the same effect (Epp. ii. 1. 103), we must suppose that these learned persons sacrificed their own convenience to the anxiety of their clients, and received them at a very early hour in the morning. ‘Jus’ embodied all law. As to ‘leges,’ see Epp. i. 16. 41, n. On ‘laudat,’ see v. 3, n.

11. datis vadibus] ‘Vades’ were sureties provided by the defendant, to secure his appearance before the prætor at a time agreed upon between the plaintiff and himself. If he did not appear, he forfeited the amount of the ‘vadimonium’ or agreement, and his ‘vades’ were liable to pay it if he did not (see S. 9. 36, n.). The person here represented, therefore, is the defendant in an action, going up reluctantly to Rome, to appear before the prætor according to his agreement. ‘Ille’ is as if the man were before us.

14. Delassare valent] Though ‘delasso’ does not occur elsewhere, there is no reason to suspect the word, or alter it. The intensive force of ‘de’ is well added to ‘lasso.’ It corresponds to κατά, which has the same force. Who Fabius was, it is impossible even to conjecture with probability.

15. Si quis Deus,] This is not a Roman way of speaking but Greek, εἰ δαίμων τις. ‘En ego’ does not belong to ‘faciam,’ but is absolute: ‘Here am I.’ ‘Eia’ is an exclamation of haste, ‘Away!’ ‘Nolint,’ ‘they would not’ (οὐκ ἐθέλοιεν ἄν), is the apodosis to ‘si quis Deus.’ Compare S. ii. 7. 24. “Si quis ad illa deus subito te agat, usque recuses.” ‘Atqui’ is another form of ‘atquin,’ and ‘quin’ represents ‘qui,’ with a negative particle affixed.

18. partibus:] An expression taken from the language of the theatre: ‘the part you have to play’ in life.

21. Iratus buccas inflet,] An obvious, but not very reverential, representation of passion.

27. Sed tamen amoto] ‘Sed,’ ‘sed tamen,’ ‘veruntamen,’ are often used, and especially by Cicero, not to express opposition, but after a parenthesis or digression, as here and C. iv. 4. 22. See, for another instance among many, Cic. in Verr. ii. 3. 2.

28. Ille gravem] The cause of that discontent which was spoken of at the beginning is here traced to the love of money, each man thinking that his neighbor is getting it faster than he is, and wishing therefore to change places with him. But Horace does not mean that to be the only solution of the universal discontent. That would be absurd, and one at least of his own examples would contradict his theory, the jurisconsultus, who did not pursue his laborious vocation for pay. He therefore shifts or limits his ground a little, and dwells upon that which he supposes to be the most prevalent cause of discontent; and with his ground he changes his examples. ‘Nauta’ and ‘mercator’ here are the same person, the trader navigating his own ship. (See C. i. 28. 23.) ‘Perfidus caupo’ appears again in ‘cauponibus atque malignis’ (S. i. 5. 4). ‘Per omne Audaces mare qui currunt’ is repeated from C. i. 3. 9, sqq.

32. cibaria:] This word, which is generally used for the rations of soldiers or slaves, is used here ironically for the humblest provision that can be made for the latter years of life, as if that was all that these men set before their minds.

35. haud ignara ac non incauta futuri.] Experience tells her that times will change, and instinct teaches her to provide against that change; she knows[405] what is coming, and provides accordingly. This is what Horace means; but the ant is torpid in the winter, and lays up no store in her house for that season, though no error is more common than to suppose she does. These animals work hard during the warmer months of the year, but the food they gather is consumed before the winter.

36. Quae, simul inversum] ‘Quae’ is opposed to ‘quum te’ (v. 38): ‘now she.’ ‘Inversum annum’ is compounded of the two notions ‘inversum caelum’ and ‘mutatum annum.’ The sun enters Aquarius in the middle of January. Virgil uses the word ‘contristat’ (Georg. iii. 279): “unde nigerrimus Auster Nascitur, et pluvio contristat frigore caelum.” The ant is one of the “four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise,”—the ants, the conies, the locusts, and the spiders. (Prov. xxx. 24, sqq.)

39. ignis, mare, ferrum,] This is a mere proverbial way of speaking, common to all languages. No obstacles are too great for a man who has a selfish purpose to serve, if he has set his heart upon it. The second person is used to give force to the language. The self-deceiver is confronted with his own illustration.

43. Quod si comminuas] The miser is supposed to interrupt, and say, “But if you were to take from it, it would soon dwindle to a paltry ‘as.’” ‘Quod’ is always the neuter of the relative, but here, as often elsewhere, it is used to connect a new sentence with what precedes, and is not connected with ‘pondus’ as its antecedent.

45. Millia frumenti] ‘Modiorum’ must be supplied. As to ‘millia,’ ‘mille,’ see S. ii. 3. 197, n. On ‘area,’ see C. i. 1. 10, n. ‘Triverit,’ ‘suppose that it threshes.’ This is the concessive use of the subjunctive. The practice of putting a note of interrogation in such sentences as this is exploded. The older editions generally have it. Similar constructions are S. 10. 64, “Fuerit Lucilius inquam Comis et urbanus; fuerit limatior — sed ille,” etc.; S. 3. 15, “Decies centena dedisses:—quinque diebus nil erat in loculis”; S. ii. 6. 50; Epp. i. 1. 87; and many other places.

46. plus ac meus:] This construction occurs again, S. i. 6. 130; 10. 34, 59; ii. 3. 270. Cicero likewise uses ‘ac’ with the comparative (Ad Att. xiii. 2), “Diutius abfuturus ac nollem.” ‘Plus quam’ occurs immediately below. The scene that follows is that of a rich man’s household preceding him to the country, a pack of slaves (‘venales’), some carrying provisions and particularly town-made bread in netted bags (‘reticula’), and others with different burdens, and some with none at all. The man who carried the bread would not get any more of it on that account, when the rations were given out, but all would share alike.

49. Quid referat — viventi,] ‘Refert’ is ‘rem fert,’ and the construction ‘mea,’ ‘tua,’ etc.; ‘refert’ is no more than a corruption of ‘meam,’ ‘tuam,’ etc., ‘rem fert.’ So ‘magni refert’ is ‘rem magni fert,’ ‘it brings with it a matter of great price,’ and ‘refert viventi’ signifies ‘it brings something that concerns him who lives,’ that is, it affects him, and ‘quid refert’ is ‘wherein does it affect him?’

51. At suave est] ‘At’ introduces the supposed answer to the preceding question. A rejoinder immediately follows to this effect: “You might as well say, if you only wanted a pitcher of water, you had rather draw it from a broad stream, like the Aufidus, than from the little spring by your side. The consequence of which might be that you would be drowned.”

53. cumeris] Acron explains ‘cumera’ as a large basket of wicker-work, or earthen-ware vessel like a ‘dolium,’ in which the poorer sort kept their wheat.

54. liquidi] This word is used for ‘aqua’ by Ovid (Met. v. 454): “Cum liquido mixta perfundit diva polenta.” The ‘urna,’ one of the Roman liquid[406] measures, contained half an ‘amphora,’ or twenty four ‘sextarii.’ As observed before (C. iii. 19. 14), the ‘cyathus’ contained one twelfth of a ‘sextarius,’ which was one forty-eighth of an ‘amphora.’

55. malim] ‘Malim’ simply means ‘I would rather’; ‘mallem’ (the reading of the early editions), ‘I would have done it if I could, but the time is past.’ The Aufidus (Horace’s native river, C. iii. 30. 10) is still described as a rapid and violent stream at some seasons.

61. bona pars] ‘The greater part’. A. P. 297: “Bona pars non ungues ponere curat.” On ‘cupido,’ see C. ii. 16. 15, n.

62. quia tanti quantum habeas sis.] ‘because you are valued according to your wealth.’

63. illi?] ‘Such a man as this.’ ‘Quatenus’ signifies ‘since.’ ‘Bid him be miserable, since he likes to be so.’ ‘Facio’ is sometimes used in this way. See C. iii. 24. 30. The story that follows may have been picked up by Horace at Athens, or invented by him. The language (‘sibilat — plaudo’) is taken from the theatre.

69. Quid rides?] The miser is supposed to laugh at Horace’s trite illustration, and the solemn way in which it is announced.

71. tamquam parcere sacris] This appears to have been a proverbial expression. See S. ii. 3. 109, sq.

74. sextarius,] See v. 54, n. A ‘sextarius’ of wine would be enough for one temperate man’s consumption in a day.

79. pauperrimus — bonorum.] C. iii. 30. 11: “Pauper aquae Daunus.” S. ii. 3. 142.

80. At si condoluit] This is an argument urged by the avaricious man: ‘If you have money, you will have anxious friends to nurse you in sickness.’ The answer is, ‘Your nearest relatives have no wish you should live, and no wonder either, since you prefer your money to all the world.’

tentatum frigore] ‘Tentatum’ is the word commonly used in connection with diseases.

85. pueri atque puellae.] This, which appears to be a proverbial sort of expression, occurs again S. ii. 3. 130.

88. An si cognatos,] ‘But say, if you seek to retain and keep the affection of those relations whom nature gives you without any trouble of your own, would you lose your labor, like the luckless fool that tries to turn an ass into a racer?’ Training an ass to run in the Campus Martius among the thorough-bred horses that were there exercised (see C. i. 8. 5; iii. 12. 8) was perhaps a proverbial way of expressing lost labor. ‘Amicos’ belongs to ‘cognatos’ in the way I have translated it, and ‘servare amicos’ is ‘to keep them fond of you.’

95. Ummidius quidam;] Who this person was, is unknown. All that can be safely said of him is what Horace says, that he was very rich and mean, and that he was murdered by one of his freedwomen (his mistress probably), who, Horace says, was as stout-hearted as Clytemnestra, the bravest of her family, who killed her husband Agamemnon. ‘Tyndaridarum’ is masculine: ‘Tyndaridum’ would be the feminine form. The sons of Tyndarus, therefore, as well as his daughters, should, strictly speaking, be included.

97. adusque] Forcellini gives only two other instances of this word from writings of Horace’s day,—Virgil (Aen. xi. 262), and Horace himself (S. i. 5. 96). It is only an inversion of ‘usque ad,’ ‘every step to.’

101. ut vivam Maenius?] The construction is the same as “discinctus aut perdam nepos” (Epod. i. 34), where it has been proposed to insert ‘ut’ before ‘nepos.’ Mænius and Nomentanus appear to have been squanderers of money, and good livers, according to the obvious meaning of this passage. They are united again in S. i. 8. 11, ii. 1. 21, where the former appears under the name Pantolabus, one who lays his hands on anything he can get (πάντα λαβών), or borrows money from any one who will lend it. He spent his money and turned parasite. Both Mænius and Nomentanus are names used by Lucilius for characters of the same kind, and Horace may very probably have only borrowed the names to represent some living characters, whom he does not choose to point out by their own names. Nomentanus was the name of one of the guests at the dinner of Nasidienus (S. ii. 8. 25). He appears again, S. ii. 3. 224, sqq.

103. Frontibus adversis componere:] These words go together, ‘to bring face to face, and compare or match.’

104. vappam] ‘Vappa,’ wine which has got flat and sour, expresses a worn-out debauchee: ‘nebulo,’ a frivolous fellow, light as a mist (‘nebula’).

105. Tanaïn — socerumque Visellî.] The Scholiast says that Horace has conveyed under these names a well-known Greek proverb. What the distinction between them may have been, is unknown.

108. nemo ut avarus] ‘I return to that point from which I have digressed, how that no covetous man is satisfied with himself.’ The reading is not certain, and the hiatus is unusual. Horace qualifies the general assertion he made at the outset, by limiting his remark to the avaricious. See note on v. 28; and on ‘laudet,’ see v. 3.

114. Ut, quum carceribus] These lines are a little like the last three verses of Virgil’s first Georgic.

119. Cedat uti conviva satur,] These are so like the words of Lucretius (iii. 951), that perhaps Horace remembered them when he wrote,—

“Cur non ut plenus vitae conviva recedis,
Aequo animoque capis securam, stulte, quietem?”

120. Crispini scrinia lippi] We know nothing about Crispinus. The fertility of his pen has profited him nothing. He was more anxious to write much than to write well. See S. i. 4. 14, sqq. Crispinus appears in the third Satire of this book (v. 139), where he is the only attendant of the would-be ‘rex.’ He appears again in S. ii. 7. 45. ‘Lippi’ is used for mental blindness.

This Satire, the coarsest of all written by Horace, seems to have been suggested by the death of Tigellius, a celebrated musician of the time. It is directed against the tendency of men to run into extremes, and to pass from one extreme to the other. Illustrations of this subject are drawn from the social life of Rome. The ideas and the language are marked by a grossness which is unusual with Horace.

The last Satire was, as has been said, written on the death of one Tigellius, an eminent musician, a native of Sardinia, and a friend of Julius Cæsar. Some of the vices and follies of the age are attacked in strong language, and[408] besides Tigellius, who was dead, it is probable many living persons felt injured by that Satire, and perhaps by others that have not come down to us. We may infer from the present poem, that Horace wished to clear himself from the imputation of a censorious spirit, and so to set himself right with Mæcenas and his friends. The connection between the two Satires is seen in the opening of this, in which Tigellius is again introduced, and the peculiarities of his character described, for no other reason, as it would seem, than to serve as a text for the discourse that follows, on the duty of judging others charitably, as we wish to be judged ourselves. In the course of his remarks on this subject, Horace falls upon two of the Stoic absurdities; one, that all faults are alike (v. 96, sqq.), which he meets by the Epicurean absurdity that expediency is the foundation of right; and the other, that every wise man (that is, every Stoic) is endowed with all the gifts of art and fortune, from the skill of the mechanic to the power of a king. With a jest upon this folly the Satire closes.

4. Tigellius] See Introduction. This person is described as a capricious, inconsistent man, of whom you never could tell what he would do next.

6. ab ovo Usque ad mala] The ‘promulsis,’ otherwise called ‘gustus,’ preceded the regular meal, and consisted of things calculated to provoke the appetite, of which a list is given in the eighth Satire of the second book, v. 8, sq., where, however, eggs are not mentioned, but they were usual, and ‘ab ovo usque ad mala,’ ‘from the eggs to the dessert,’ was a common way of speaking. The ‘gustus’ was eaten with a draught of ‘mulsum’ (S. ii. 2. 15, n.) sometimes before they sat down, or even before they left the bath.

7. citaret, Io Bacche!] This use of ‘citare,’ ‘to shout,’ is not common. There were convivial songs among the Greeks to which they gave the name ἰόβακχοι. Several fragments of such songs by Archilochus have been preserved. The final syllable in ‘Bacche’ is lengthened, and should properly be pronounced as the singer might be supposed to pronounce it.

modo summa] The strings in the tetrachord, or harp with four strings, which continued to be used even after the heptachord was invented (see A. P. 83, n.), from which the low notes proceeded, were uppermost as the player held it in his hand, and the notes of the voice which corresponded with these are expressed by ‘summa voce.’ For the same reason, the high notes would be those which harmonized with the lowest of the strings. The ‘summa chorda’ was called in Greek ὑπάτη, and the ‘ima’ νήτη. ‘Chordis’ is the dative case, the literal translation being, ‘that voice which is the lowest (where, for the above reason, those notes are called the lowest which we should call the highest), and that echoes to the four strings.’

11. Junonis sacra ferret;] This refers to the ‘canephoroe,’ damsels who carried the basket of sacred instruments on their head at sacrifices. Those of Juno are mentioned here; but the practice was observed at all sacrifices.

habebat saepe ducentos,] Ten slaves were a very small household for a rich man, and Tigellius was rich. The number of slaves in wealthy houses in primitive times was small, but afterwards grew to an extraordinary number.

12. modo reges atque tetrarchas,] ‘Modo,’ as an adverb of time, signifies ‘now,’ or some time not far from the present. It is the ablative of ‘modus,’ ‘measure,’ and ‘modo’ is ‘within measure,’ and therefore its sense is confined to limited quantities. Compare the use of ‘modo’ and ‘admodum’ in Terence (Hec. iii. 5. 8): “Advenis modo? Pam. Admodum.” ‘Are you coming now?—Just now.’ ‘Modo’ thus comes to have the meaning of ‘nunc,’ and to be used in the same combinations, as here ‘nunc reges — loquens; nunc, sit mihi mensa tripes’ would have the same meaning; and likewise in S. 10. 11. Tetrarchs were properly governors of a fourth part of[409] a province or other territorial division; but the title was not so limited in practice. It was a title originally confined to the petty princes of Asia Minor; the Romans gave it to different members of Herod’s family, who succeeded to different parts of his dominions.

13. mensa tripes] This was the simplest and most old-fashioned shape, and the tables were small, only suited to a person dining by himself, or with one or two companions. The wealthy Romans were very extravagant about their tables. See S. ii. 2. 4, n. The salt-cellar was usually, except among the poorest sort, of silver, and an heirloom. It stood in the middle of the table, and had a sacred character. See C. ii. 16. 14. As to ‘concha,’ see C. ii. 8. 23, n. ‘Puri’ means ‘clean.’

15. Decies centena] ‘A million of sesterces,’—a common way of expressing the largest number. The sestertium was a sum of money equal to 1,000 sestertii, each sestertius being of the value of twopence and a very small fraction, of English money. After ‘centena’ must be understood ‘millia.’ On the construction, see above, S. 1. 45, n. ‘Erat’ is used in an uncommon way; ἦν ἄν would be the Greek equivalent. It is a loose, conversational way of speaking.

19. Nunc aliquis dicat mihi:] Here we leave Tigellius, and enter upon the subject of mutual charity in judging of each other.

20. Immo alia] Professor Key has given the precise meaning of ‘immo’ here (L. G. 1429): “‘Immo’ seems to have signified properly an assent with an important qualification.” This explanation is borne out by the etymology of the word, which is compounded of ‘in’ and ‘modo.’ The qualification is found in ‘et fortasse minora.’ Horace means to say, he admits he has his faults, though they may not be so glaring as those of Tigellius, and he is not so selfish and foolish as Mænius (see S. 1. 101 of this book), who reviled the man Novius behind his back, and, when told to look at his own faults, said he made excuses for himself which he would not make for others. Novius may be anybody: we know nothing about him. Whether he has any connection with the Novius mentioned in the sixth Satire of this book, v. 40, the plebeian tribune, or the usurer in v. 121 of the same Satire, it is impossible to say. ‘Dare verba’ means to give words in the place of facts, to deceive.

24. improbus] See C. iii. 24. 62, n. ‘Amor’ means ‘self-love.’ As to ‘notari,’ see S. 6. 14.

25. Cum tua pervideas] ‘While you see through your own faults, as well as a blear-eyed man sees with his eyes smeared with ointment.’

27. serpens Epidaurius?] The serpents of Epidaurus (on the Sinus Saronicus) were proverbial, in consequence of Æsculapius having been conveyed in the form of a serpent from that place, where above others he was worshipped, to Rome, to avert a pestilence. (See Liv. Epit. lib. xi.)

29. Iracundior est paulo,] Horace is illustrating here the tendency of those quick-sighted critics of their neighbors’ characters to magnify the faults they find. The first instance is of a man who is sensitive under (‘not suited for’) the sharp judgment of the men of that day (‘horum hominum’), men who had the keenness of a bloodhound’s scent in finding out defects, and no delicacy in proclaiming them. ‘Rusticius’ belongs to ‘tonso,’ and ‘defluit’ is absolute, ‘hangs down.’ ‘Male’ belongs to ‘laxus.’ (See v. 45, and C. i. 17. 25, n.) To be slipshod (μείζω τοῦ ποδὸς ὑποδήματα φορεῖν, Theophr. Char. 4) has always been the proverbial characteristic of a sloven. “Nec vagus in laxa pes tibi pelle natet” (Ovid, A. A. i. 516). ‘At’ is often repeated in the same way as here by Cicero.

35. Concute] The metaphor is probably derived from the shaking of a cloak, or anything of that sort, to see if there is anything hid in it. It[410] means ‘to search,’ as suspected persons are searched by the police. ‘Excutio’ is used in that connection. See Phædrus (Fab. v. 16):

“Sic porcelli vocem est imitatus sua
Verum ut subesse pallio contenderent
Et excuti juberent.”

37. Neglectis urenda filix] This has the appearance of a proverb. Virgil calls the fern “curvis invisam aratris.”

38. Illuc praevertamur,] ‘Before we go further, let us first turn our attention to this, namely, how lovers are blind to the faults of their mistresses.’ Balbinus and Hagna are persons unknown. The former is a Roman name. Hagna is derived from ἁγνή, ‘pure.’ The first syllable of ‘polypus’ is always long, though derived from πολὺς ποῦς, the Æolic form, πωλύς, being followed rather than the Attic.

42. nomen virtus posuisset] The Romans used ‘ponere nomen,’ after the Greek ὄνομα τιθέναι.

44. strabonem Appellat paetum] The difference between ‘strabo’ and ‘paetus’ is one only of degree; ‘strabo’ signifies ‘squinting’; ‘paetus,’ ‘a slight cast of the eye,’ which is by some considered a beauty, whence Venus had the epithet ‘paeta’ applied to her. Sisyphus was the name of a dwarf kept by M. Antonius. Dwarfs were kept by the rich to amuse them and play to them, for they were generally instructed in music. That ‘varus’ is a soft term for those who have bent legs, and ‘scaurus’ for one whose ankles are ricketty, we may gather from this passage. From ‘varus’ is derived ‘praevaricari,’ ‘to shuffle.’

Ineptus] This word signifies want of tact. Cicero thus defines the word (De Or. ii. 4): “Qui aut tempus quid postulet non videt, aut plura loquitur aut se ostentat — aut denique in aliquo genere aut inconcinnus aut multus est, is ineptus dicitur.” Such a man’s failing is to be softened down, Horace says, into a wish to make himself agreeable to his friends. ‘Truculentior’ means coarse and approaching to brutality in his behavior. ‘Acres’ means ‘high-spirited.’

56. Sincerum cupimus vas incrustare.] ‘We are ready and even anxious to foul the clean vessel.’ This is the original meaning of ‘sincerus.’

57. multum demissus homo:] ‘Demissus’ is used in a bad sense: ‘a very abject fellow,’ ‘a driveller.’ Compare v. 147 of S. ii. 3, “multum celer atque fidelis”; “multum similis metuenti” (S. ii. 5. 92).

58. Tardo cognomen] ‘Another because he is slow we call fat, lazy.’ The dative ‘pingui’ is correct, as “cui nunc cognomen Iulo Additur” (Aen. i. 267). It is the common construction, in prose as well as poetry, to put the name in the dative.

59. malo] This is masculine: he lays himself open to no malignant person, gives him no handle. ‘Hoc genus vitae’ means men who live on the principles of the present day; like ‘horum hominum’ (v. 30).

63. Simplicior quis et est,] By ‘simplicior’ Horace means ‘unsophisticated’: one who in the simplicity of his feelings may perhaps sometimes obtrude himself upon those he likes, thinking he must be welcome because he is himself pleased to meet them. He says he has often acted in that way with Mæcenas.

65. impellat] ‘Impellere’ means here ‘to interrupt’ or ‘intrude upon’: he breaks in upon one when reading or meditating, with some irrelevant talk. ‘Common sense,’ for which the Greeks had the expression ὁ κοινὸς νοῦς, is so called, not as being exercised upon common, every-day things, but as being supposed to be common property, and not confined to the learned.

67. legem sancimus] ‘Sancire legem’ is properly to give full effect to a law, by inserting a penalty for the breach of it. See Cic. de Am. c. 13 (Long): “Haec igitur prima lex amicitiae sanciatur.”

70. Cum mea compenset vitiis bona;] ‘Cum’ belongs to ‘vitiis.’ ‘Compensare’ is a legal term. ‘Compensatio’ is a ‘set-off.’

72. trutina] This word applies equally to the ‘libra,’ a balance with two scales (‘lances’), and to the ‘statera,’ or steelyard, both of which were in common use among the Romans. ‘In trutina ponetur eadem,’ ‘he shall be weighed in the same balance,’ is another, but not very exact, way of saying, he shall be tried by the same standard, his character shall be estimated in the same way. ‘Hac lege’ is ‘on this condition.’

76. quatenus excidi penitus] He now draws his conclusion from the preceding remarks. ‘In short, inasmuch as (C. iii. 24. 30) the vice of passion and all other vices that cleave to us fools cannot be entirely eradicated, we ought to judge others as we judge ourselves, and visit each fault with no more than its due censure.’ Literally, ‘Why does not our judgment use its own weights and measures, and, according to the circumstances of each case, check faults with their penalties?’ All were fools with the Stoics, who were not wise after their fashion.

80. patinam] ‘Pisces patinarii’ were boiled fish served up with sauce in an open dish.

82. In cruce suffigat,] Cicero has the expressions ‘in crucem sublatum’ (Verr. ii. 5. 3), ‘ad palum alligatos’ (Ib. c. 6), which have the same meaning. In the latter place he has the construction “damnatis crucem servis fixeras.” See Dict. Antt. art. ‘Crux,’ for an account of the punishment by crucifixion, which was only inflicted as a general rule upon slaves or the worst sort of malefactors. A master might put his slave to death, or punish him in any other way he pleased.

Labeone insanior] Different persons are identified with this Labeo, but it is impossible to say who is meant.

84. paulum deliquit amicus,] ‘Say your friend has committed a small fault; such that, if you do not excuse it, you must be looked upon as harsh; you hate him in your bitterness, and run away from him.’ ‘Concedo’ is used in this way by other writers.

86. Rusonem] Ruso, whoever he was, seems to have made a stipulation with his debtors that they should, besides paying interest, listen to his recitations of his own writings. ‘Historias’ means tales or narratives of some sort. See C. iii. 7. 20.

87. tristes — Kalendae] See note on Epod. ii. 70. ‘Merces’ is used only by Horace in the sense of ‘usurae,’ ‘interest’ (S. 2. 14). It signifies money paid for rent (see S. ii. 2. 115), or for the use of anything.

90. catillum Evandri manibus tritum] A plate that had been used by Evander, the old king and ally of Æneas; an exaggeration meant to heighten the absurdity of the man.

92. Aut positum ante] The words are not very regularly placed. ‘Or because to the chicken served on my part of the dish he helps himself before me, in the eagerness of his hunger.’ The meats were cut up on a side table by a slave called ‘structor,’ and the guests helped themselves with their fingers, and threw the bones and remnants on the floor. The man who had a dish before him, and fancied a particular part of it, might count it unmannerly if his neighbor stretched out his hand and took what he had set his heart upon.

95. fide] This is a form both of the genitive and dative. See C. iii. 7. 4: “Constantis juvenem fide.” As to ‘sponsum,’ see S. ii. 6. 23.

96. Quis paria esse fere] See Introduction. This common doctrine of the Stoics is noticed by Cicero (De Fin. iv. 19) and condemned on the principles of common sense and truth, as here. ‘Laborant,’ ‘they are in a dilemma.’

98. justi prope mater] In making expediency the parent of justice, or[412] something like it (‘prope,’ S. ii. 3. 32), Horace follows an Epicurean notion. One of the dogmas of Epicurus appears to have been, that justice was nothing by itself, but merely a social compact, by which men bound themselves to abstain from injuring one another: a very narrow view of the case. The Stoics had more true notions of Justice, whom they held to be the daughter of Zeus.

99. Cum prorepserunt] He goes on to illustrate this doctrine, saying that men lived at first like beasts, till expediency taught them to make laws.

102. usus,] Here this signifies ‘need.’ It generally occurs (in this sense) in combination with ‘est’ or ‘venit.’

103. Donec verba] ‘Verba nominaque’ embraces all the parts of speech, like the Greek ὀνόματα καὶ ῥήματα. (A. P. 234.) ‘Notae’ are symbols, as in short-hand writing for instance; and this line may perhaps be most accurately rendered, ‘till they invented language, whereby they could give a symbolical form to the sounds of their voice, and to their feelings.’

110. Viribus editior] ‘Superior in strength.’ ‘Editus’ is used for ‘exalted,’ ‘high.’ It nowhere else appears in the sense Horace gives it here.

111. Jura inventa metu injusti] If this be admitted, as of course it must be, then Injustice—and, if so, Justice—was anterior to any laws or social compact, express or implied; so that the doctrine above laid down falls to the ground; and that justice of which expediency is said to be the mother, turns out to be nothing more than magistrates’ justice,—the justice of statutes, which may be just or unjust.

112. evolvere] This word which signifies ‘to read,’ is taken from the unrolling of a parchment ‘usque ad umbilicum.’ See Epod. xiv. 8, n. As to ‘fastos,’ see C. iii. 17. 4, n. Epp. ii. 1. 48, n.

114. bona diversis,] ‘Bona’ means things which it is good to have and to get, not virtues, but the gifts of fortune and such like.

115. Nec vincet ratio hoc,] ‘Nor will any logic prove this.’ ‘Vincere causam’ is an ordinary expression for winning a cause. ‘Idem’ is explained by ‘tantundem,’ the same in degree of guilt.

117. sacra divum legerit.] ‘Legere’ is not uncommonly used in the sense of robbing. Hence our word ‘sacrilege.’

119. Ne scutica dignum] The epithet ‘horribili’ belongs to ‘flagello,’ which was a severer instrument than the ‘scutica,’ and was sometimes constructed with horrible cruelty, and fatal in its application. The ‘scutica’ had but one thong, of leather. ‘Ferula’ was a switch, usually from the vine. The Latin derivatives from σκῦτος are short in the first syllable. There are other instances (as ‘anchŏra’ from ἄγκῡρα, ‘crĕpida’ from κρηπίς, etc.) in which the quantity of the Greek vowel is changed in the Latin.

120. ut ferula caedas] The rule in respect to verbs of fearing is that “the Latin inserts a negative where the English has none, and vice versa,” that is, ‘vereor ne’ means ‘I fear it will’; ‘vereor ut,’ ‘I fear it will not.’ There is no deviation from the rule here; for the position of ‘ut’ makes it independent of ‘vereor.’ ‘For that you should beat,’ or ‘as to your beating with a switch one who deserves to undergo a severer flogging, of this I have no fear.’

122. Furta latrociniis] This is not strictly a technical distinction, nor is ‘latrocinium’ a technical term. All robbery was ‘furtum,’ whether attended with violence or not; but Horace means to distinguish between thefts without violence and robbery with violence (‘rapina’). ‘Cum dicas,’ ‘though you do say.’

124. Si dives qui sapiens est,] The word ‘regnum’ turns the discourse to another doctrine of the Stoics not connected with the main subject of the Satire, namely, that the sage is the only rich, capable, handsome man, and a king. The absurdity of the doctrine, which is repeated in Epp. i. 1. 107,[413] consists not so much in the statement that the wise man’s intelligence contains in itself the germ of all practical knowledge, and that such knowledge is power, as in the limitation of wisdom to the pale of a sect, and the attempt to give a practical application to a notion of this kind.

127. Chrysippus dicat:] The later Stoics looked to Chrysippus as the founder of their philosophy; but he adhered, with little essential deviation, to the doctrines taught him by his master Cleanthes, and Cleanthes was a devoted disciple of Zeno. He was born at a town in Cilicia, B. C. 280, and was a very voluminous writer. ‘Inquit’ means that some Stoic says this, including from ‘non nosti’ to ‘sapiens,’ and after ‘qui?’ to ‘sic rex’ (v. 133). What he means to affirm in reply to the taunt ‘cur optas quod habes?’ is, that a man may be, in the Stoic sense, a king, and yet not be in a condition to exercise authority, as an artisan or a singer may still be great in his calling, even when he has laid aside the practice of it.

crepidas — soleas] ‘Crepida’ (κρηπίς) was a low shoe or slipper copied from the Greeks and worn in undress: ‘solea’ was a plain sandal fastened over the instep by a strap, and worn by men as the ‘sandalium’ was worn by women. The ‘soccus’ was not materially different from the ‘crepida,’ and the ‘Gallica,’ adopted from Gaul, was like the ‘solea.’ None of these were walking shoes (‘calcei’) fit for wet or dirty roads, but were ordinarily worn only in the house.

129. Hermogenes] This person has been confounded with Tigellius, whose death is mentioned in the second Satire, and whose character is described at the beginning of this. Hermogenes is also called Tigellius in S. 4. 72; 10. 80, 90. But as he is always spoken of as alive, it is impossible he can be Tigellius the Sardinian, to whom there are no grounds for giving the name Hermogenes, though the Scholiasts give it him. Hermogenes Tigellius was a teacher of music (S. 10. 90), and (whether ironically or not it is not easy to say) Horace calls him a first-rate singer here, and implies as much in S. 9. 25. But he had a contempt for him in other respects as appears from S. 4. 72; 10. 17 (where he calls him a coxcomb); and 10. 79 (where he introduces him with a fool for his friend or parasite). He may have had some private pique against him.

130. Alfenius vafer,] Who Alfenius was, is very doubtful, and the reading ‘sutor’ is not quite certain. Some editions have ‘tonsor.’ From ‘erat’ it has been inferred that Alfenius was dead when the Satire was written. It merely means, that, though he threw up his trade, he still continued to be a ‘sutor.’

133. Vellunt tibi barbam] The Romans of this period did not usually wear beards. But those who affected philosophy let theirs grow, and may have been hooted and insulted by the boys in the streets for doing so (see S. ii. 3. 17).

137. Ne longum faciam:] The chief subject of the Satire is a censorious temper. To this Horace returns, and says that, as long as he can live on terms of mutual indulgence with his friends, the Stoics and their crabbed doctrines are nothing to him: he will be happier than all the self-styled kings in the world.

dum tu quadrante lavatum] ‘Quadrante lavari’ (Juvenal, S. vi. 447) was an expression equivalent to taking a public bath, because a ‘quadrans’ was the ordinary fee paid by each visitor. But it may be inferred from Horace’s words, that they who paid this sum were not the richer sort of bathers; for he seems to say, ‘While you, a fine king as you are, go and bathe for a quadrans.’ The rich may perhaps have paid more, and had more privacy and better bathing and attendance. The ‘quadrans,’ which was the fourth of an ‘as,’ and therefore the sixty-fourth part of a ‘denarius,’ after the reduction of the ‘as’ to one sixteenth of that coin, was of the value of about half a farthing[414] of English money, taking the value of the ‘denarius’ at 8½d. The Romans were great bathers.

139. Crispinum] See S. i. 1. 120, n. The bodyguards of kings were called ‘stipatores.’ Horace therefore uses the word ironically in that sense.

Here again Horace is at pains to defend himself from the charge of malevolence. This charge, no doubt, was loudly brought against him by those who were or thought themselves the objects of his satire; and he attributes it, as well as the neglect his poems experienced compared with the inferior poetry of the day and the old poetry of Lucilius, to the jealousy and fears of the multitude, every man apprehending that he may be attacked next; and also in some measure to a false taste, which preferred a wordy, flowing style to the terseness and accuracy of his own. His object is to contrast his own style and pretensions with those of Lucilius and of the Crispinuses and Fanniuses of the day, as well as to quiet the apprehensions of his friends, and disarm the malignity of his enemies. Everybody must admire the way in which he takes occasion, from the necessity of self-defence, to pay a tribute of grateful affection to his father’s memory; and it would be difficult to find a more pleasing picture of paternal solicitude and sound sense, as applied to a boy’s education, than Horace has drawn in the latter part of this Satire.

1. Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanesque] He begins by describing the character of Lucilius as a satirist, and says he followed in the steps of the old Greek comedians. The Greek comedy was divided by the Alexandrine grammarians into three periods, the Old, the Middle, and the New. The three persons here named were the chief poets of the Old Comedy. Cratinus was the eldest of the three, and died B. C. 422, when Aristophanes was a young man. He was the last of that period. The other writers of the Old Comedy, whom Horace alludes to with respect, are very little known to us. Horace fixes on the Comoedia Prisca, because the subsequent phases of the Greek Comic Drama were not of the same personally satirical cast, the license granted to the old writers having been taken away by law. The words ‘poëtae’ and ‘virorum’ are used emphatically, as below in S. 10. 16: “Illi scripta quibus comoedia prisca viris est.”

5. multa cum libertate notabant.] During the period of the Old Comedy, the law of Athens did not interfere with the poet’s liberty of speech, except upon two occasions, when psephisms were passed prohibiting the introduction upon the stage of living characters as objects of satire by name,—a restriction of no great force, since the substitution of a feigned name, slightly altered from the true, would make the allusions equally intelligible and more ridiculous. Neither of these psephisms lasted more than a couple of years. See S. i. 6. 14, n., on ‘notare.’

6. Hinc omnis pendet Lucilius,] ‘Hinc’ means ‘upon them,’ as ‘unde’ is elsewhere used with reference to persons. What Horace says of Lucilius is briefly this: that his whole strength was laid out on the satirizing of vice in the persons of living characters, that he especially imitated herein the writers of the Old Comedy, only changing their metre; that he was funny (‘facetus’) and acute (‘emunctae naris’), but harsh in his style of versification; wordy and sometimes vulgar, in consequence of the haste with which he wrote and his impatience of the trouble of correcting. He adds below (S. 10. 3), that the most idolatrous admirer of Lucilius could not deny that his style was uncouth. He there also adds, that Lucilius loved to mix up Greek words with[415] his own language (v. 20), that he was good-tempered, notwithstanding his satirical vein (v. 53), and again that he was very unreserved and frank (S. ii. 1. 30-34). The fragments of Lucilius that have come down to us are too short to form a very accurate opinion upon, but in some points, at least, (such as the absurd mixture of Greek and Latin,) they bear out Horace’s statements.

7. Mutatis tantum pedibus] The writings of Lucilius appear to have been very early divided by the grammarians into thirty books, of which two thirds were written in hexameter verse, and the rest in the iambic and trochaic measures. That Lucilius imitated the comedians in all but their measures, cannot be true. The character of their plays could not be transferred to satirical poems like his, though some of their features might suit, as their coarseness and personalities.

8. Emunctae naris,] ‘Emunctae naris’ is one who has his nose well wiped, and is therefore no driveller. Phædrus explains it in his description of Æsop (l. iii. f. 3, v. 14):—

“Aesopus ibi stans naris emunctae senex,
Natura nunquam verba cui poterit dare.”

‘Emungere’ is used by the comic writers for ‘cheating,’ as among other places (see A. P. 238) in the fragment from the Epiclerus of Cæcilius quoted by Cicero de Am. 26. “To wipe a man’s nose for him, is, to imply that he is a driveller who cannot do it for himself, and hence it means to ‘outwit’ and to ‘cheat’ him.” (Long in loco.) Others explain ‘emunctae naris’ as ‘keen-scented,’ like a hound, which is wrong.

10. versus dictabat] See S. 10. 92, n. The words ‘stans pede in uno’ mean with the utmost facility, or ‘standing at ease,’ as we might say. Others explain ‘stans pede in uno’ to mean within the time a man could stand on one foot. The other is right.

11. Cum flueret lutulentus] ‘Lutulentus’ combines two notions, dirtiness and obscurity. Lucilius may have imitated the obscenity of the old comedians; and in this, as in other respects, his verse may have been like a muddy stream. The word, no doubt, comprehends defects of taste as well as style.

12. piger scribendi ferre laborem,] ‘Piger ferre’ is a Greek construction, common in the Odes, but not so in the language of the Satires. (See C. i. 1. 18, n.) In C. iv. 14. 22, we have ‘impiger’ in the same construction.

14. Crispinus minimo] See S. i. 1. 120, n. ‘Minimo me provocat,’ ‘he offers me the greatest odds,’ literally, ‘he challenges me at the smallest amount’ to be staked on my side, while he puts down a large one on his. The mention of the negligent way in which Lucilius wrote, leads on to the mention of small poets of the day, Crispinus and Fannius. See Introduction.

15. Accipiam tabulas;] This is nothing more than a polite challenge to see which could write most verses in a given time. ‘Take tablets if you please, and I will take them too.’ The omission of the personal pronoun before ‘accipiam’ to express antithesis, is nothing in familiar talk, where there could be no mistake. ‘Custodes’ are umpires to see that there is no foul play.

18. raro et perpauca loquentis.] ‘The gods have done me a kindness in making me of a poor and unpretending disposition, that speaks but seldom, and very little at a time.’ This is Horace’s reply to the challenge, which he declines.

21. Beatus Fannius] This Fannius is spoken of in another place (S. i. 10. 80) as a contemptible person, and a parasite of Hermogenes Tigellius (S. 3. 129, n.). It appears probable, from Horace’s words, that he had his admirers,[416] as rant and emptiness will always have, and that they made him a present, by way of a testimonial as it is called, of a set of handsome ‘capsae’ and a bust. The ‘capsa’ was a round box, suited to hold one or more rolled volumes. The larger sort was called ‘scrinium.’

22. cum mea nemo] See Introduction. That Horace wrote many pieces which have not been preserved, appears clear from this passage and v. 71, sqq.

23. vulgo recitare timentis] See note on v. 73. The usage which leaves the personal pronoun to be inferred from the possessive, is common both in Greek and Latin. (See C. iii. 22. 6.) Compare Ovid (Heroid. v. 45): “Et flesti, et nostros vidisti flentis ocellos.” ‘Timeo’ and ‘metuo’ do not govern an infinitive mood in the prose writings of Horace’s day. ‘Vereor’ is used in that construction.

24. sunt quos] ‘There are some who are by no means pleased with this sort of writing, as being for the most part worthy of censure themselves.’ As to ‘sunt quos,’ see C. i. 1. 3, n. He seems to have particular persons or classes in view.

26. Aut ob avaritiam] ‘Laborare ob’ is an unusual construction, and the sentence begins with one form of expression and ends with another. ‘Ambitio’ generally had an epithet of a strong kind applied to it. Horace has ‘prava,’ ‘inanis,’ ‘mala,’ ‘misera’; and Cicero (De Off. i. 26) says, “Miserrima est omnino ambitio honorumque contentio.” The practice, therefore, seems to have been habitual, which, if we consider the evils that arose out of personal ambition, and the eagerness with which places of honor were sought at all times of the Republic, is not surprising.

28. Hunc capit argenti splendor;] Cups and other vessels curiously wrought in silver and Corinthian bronze, and very costly (such as Juvenal describes, S. i. 76), were among the many objects of extravagance at Rome. The exaggerated admiration of the persons Horace alludes to, for such works of art, might be comparatively harmless, if it did not lead them into dishonest ways of acquiring them, and beggaring their families, as Albius did, of whom we know nothing. His son is mentioned below (v. 108), as living in want through his father’s extravagance. ‘Stupet,’ with the ablative, occurs below (S. 6. 17); and ‘torpere,’ an equally strong word, is used in the same connection in S. ii. 7. 95.

surgente a sole, etc.] This means from east to west (“ad ortus Solis ab Hesperio cubili,” C. iv. 15. 15). ‘Mutare merces’ can hardly be applied to any but a mercator. ‘Mala’ means dangers and hardships.

34. Foenum habet in cornu;] A law of the XII. Tables gave an action to any man who was injured by a vicious animal. It became customary, therefore, that any ox or other animal of vicious propensities should be marked in such a way as to warn passengers, and enable them to get out of its way. Hence the proverb, “He has a wisp of hay on his horn.”

37. a furno] ‘Furnus’ is the bakehouse, to which the lower sort of people, old women and children, carried their bread to be baked. ‘Lacus’ were tanks distributed in all parts of the city, into which water was conveyed from the aqueducts, and to which poorer persons resorted who could not afford to have water laid on at their houses.

38. Agedum,] ‘Dum,’ as an enclitic, signifies ‘awhile’; ‘agedum,’ ‘come a moment.’

39. Primum ego me illorum] ‘Primum’ means ‘in the first place’; before I begin, let me dispose of the fallacy which classes writers like myself among poets (the word assumed above, “Omnes hi metuunt versus, odere poëtas,” v. 33). This question occupies twenty-four verses, after which he returns to the main point, which is the odium attaching to writers of Satire. The dative[417] is commonly used after ‘licet esse,’ ‘datur esse,’ etc. See S. i. 1. 19; 2. 51. A. P. 372.

40. concludere versum] This expression is repeated below (S. 10. 59: “si quis pedibus quid claudere senis”).

42. Sermoni propiora:] ‘Sermoni’ means common conversation. Hence the name ‘Sermones’ given to the Satires and Epistles.

43. os Magna sonaturum,] This form does not appear elsewhere in this word. Cicero uses ‘praestaturus,’ and Sall. (Jug. 47) ‘juvaturus.’ Horace has ‘intonata’ in Epod. ii. 51. See Virg. (Georg. iii. 294): “Nunc veneranda Pales, magno nunc ore sonandum.” The attributes of a poet, which Horace considers essential, are genius, inspiration, and dignified sentiments, and language suited to high subjects.

45. Idcirco quidam] ‘In reference to this, certain persons have raised the question whether a comedy was or was not a poem’: “utrum comoedia esset poëma necne esset.” This is a grammarian’s question, and depends upon the definition assumed for a poem, in which, however, imagination is generally supposed to have a conspicuous place, and this would exclude the comedies of Plautus and Terence, and their Greek originals of the New Comedy, from the title of poetry. But the same rule would exclude much more that has passed for poetry, with less pretension to the name even than Horace’s Satires, or the Heautontimorumenos. ‘Quidam’ signifies the grammarians of Alexandria.

48. Differt sermoni] ‘Discrepare,’ ‘dissidere,’ ‘distare,’ ‘differre,’ Horace uses with the dative (see C. i. 27. 5, n.), but the two last also with the ablative and ‘ab.’ “It must not be supposed, however, that ‘from’ can in any way be the signification of the dative,” which remark Professor Key applies to the analogous construction in use by the poets with verbs of taking away.

At pater ardens] Demea in the Adelphi of Terence, and Plautus’s Theuropides are instances in point. ‘At,’ which usually in such places introduces an objection, here seems to be the remark of one who supposed that the fury and ranting of the enraged father in the comedy might be supposed to partake of the fire of poetry. But Horace disposes of the objection very easily. Any father who had such a son as Pomponius, for instance, a dissolute youth (of whom we know nothing more), would probably storm at him in much the same terms that the man on the stage uses. It was the aim of the New Comedy, which the Roman writers followed, to put real life upon the stage by means of a plot natural and probable, and to represent men and women as they were seen and heard every day, in which it differed essentially from the Old Comedy, a mere vehicle for political and personal satire.

54. puris — verbis,] ‘Puris’ corresponds to ‘inornata’ (A. P. 234). It means plain language, free from any mixture of trope or other ornament. See Terence (Heaut. Prol. 44):—

“Si quae laboriosa est ad me curritur:
Si lenis est ad alium defertur gregem.
In hac est pura oratio.”

So Cicero (In Verr. ii. 4. 22) speaks of “purum argentum,” plate with the ornamental work taken off. He says it is not enough (to constitute a poem) that it should be written throughout in plain language, which, if you take to pieces, it will be found that any father in common life expresses his wrath in the same terms as the father in the play.

56. His ego quae nunc,] ‘From these verses that I now write and Lucilius wrote formerly, if you take away certain times and measures (measures regulated by beating time), and change the position of the words, you will not (as you would if you broke up such a verse as the following, Postquam, etc.) find the members of the poet thus torn to pieces.’ That is, his language would be unintelligible, or there would be no more of the poet left.

60. Postquam Discordia tetra] The Scholiasts imply that this is a verse of Ennius, but they do not say from what poem it is taken. Virgil (Aen. i. 294) has “claudentur belli portae.” As to the position of ‘non,’ see S. 6. 1.

63. alias justum sit necne poëma,] The question he has been discussing since v. 38, namely, whether he and such as he are or are not properly called poets, is not resumed, though we may perceive that Horace does not consider that his arguments have quite settled it. He goes on to show that the public have no reason to be afraid of him.

65. Sulcius acer Ambulat et Caprius] These persons are said by the Scholiasts to have been public informers, or else ‘causidici,’ ‘pleaders,’ and Horace may mean that they have made themselves hoarse with roaring in the courts. The ‘libelli’ they carried were their note-books. ‘Ambulat’ signifies their strutting through the streets with the consciousness that men were afraid of them. ‘Delatores,’ ‘informers,’ were more common in after years, but they were sufficiently abundant in Horace’s time. Cælius and Birrus are said by Acron to have been profligate youths, meaning probably that they were young men of fortune, who had run through their money and had taken to robbing.

69. Ut sis] ‘Say that you are.’ Horace says he is not like the informers, going about seeking whom they may charge, and no one with clean hands need be afraid of him.

71. Nulla taberna meos habeat] In the next place, he has no wish to see his books in the shops and thumbed by the vulgar. The ‘taberna’ was sometimes under a porticus, in which case the titles of the books for sale within were hung upon the columns (‘pilae’) in front. Horace alludes to this when he says (A. P. 372), “Mediocribus esse poëtis. Non Dii, non homines non concessere columnae,” which means that indifferent poets would not be patronized by the booksellers. ‘Habeat’ expresses a wish. On Hermogenes Tigellius, see S. 3. 129, n.

73. Nec recito cuiquam] Nor does he go about reciting his works in public. This practice grew to be an intolerable nuisance in the course of time. Persons who had money and dabbled in literature inflicted their productions upon their clients and others, whom they bribed to listen and applaud them. What Horace goes on to complain of are silly people reciting their own verses in public places (the forum and the baths) to chance acquaintances, or even strangers, and annoying the neighbors while they gratified themselves. Round the baths were spaces called ‘scholae.’ On these, people sat or walked about, and conceited authors could tease their acquaintance and the strangers that were compelled to listen to them, and in the act of bathing they could do the same.

77. haud illud quaerentes,] ‘Illud’ is thus used commonly to introduce something about to be mentioned.

78. Laedere gaudes, Inquit,] Horace has said, that, even if he does write or recite, it is only in a private way, and no one therefore need be afraid of him. He now disposes of the charge of writing with malicious intent. ‘Studio’ is used adverbally, ‘of set purpose in your malignity you do it.’

80. Est auctor quis denique eorum] ‘Quis’ may be taken as an interrogative or an enclitic. It is not easy to decide. As to ‘auctor,’ see C. 1. 28. 14, n.

84. commissa tacere Qui nequit;] This, which is too commonly softened into a weakness, the inability to keep a secret, Horace very justly marks as one of the most prominent signs of a mischievous character. See C. iii. 2. 25, n. On ‘Romane,’ see C. iii. 6. 2, n.

86. Saepe tribus lectis] Four persons on each ‘lectus tricliniaris’ would be an unusually large party at one table. Three on each was the usual number when the table was full. Respecting the arrangement of the guests, see S. ii. 8. 20, n.

87. E quibus unus amet] ‘Amet’ is used in the same sense as in “umbram hospitalem consociare amant” (C. ii. 3. 10). ‘Quavis’ is ‘qua ratione vis.’ ‘Qui praebet aquam’ is an uncommon expression, but it seems to be used for the host “qui aquam temperat ignibus.” See C. iii. 19. 6, n. On ‘verax Liber,’ see C. i. 18. 16; iii. 21. 16; Epod. xi. 14. Epp. i. 18. 38; 5. 16. A. P. 434.

92. Pastillos Rufillus olet,] This verse is quoted from a former Satire (2. 27) only to show the innocent subjects with which Horace’s satire dealt, and he goes on to show that his satire has none of the malignity which is common in society. ‘Pastillus’ is a diminutive form of ‘panis,’ and signifies ‘a small roll,’ whence in a derived sense it came to mean small balls of perfume. Who Rufillus and Gargonius may have been, we cannot tell.

94. De Capitolini furtis] Petillius Capitolinus was charged, according to some stories, with stealing the golden crown from the statue of Jupiter when he was in charge of the Capitol. That he was tried on some serious charge and acquitted, and that the verdict did not escape scandal, is clear from the context. See also S. 10. 26. The nature of the accusation must remain a matter of doubt. We may also gather that he was a person of influence from v. 97, which he must have been, if he was acquitted, or supposed to have been acquitted, through the corruption of the jury.

99. Sed tamen admiror,] There is sarcasm in this, which Horace calls ‘succus loliginis,’ the dark secretion of the cuttle-fish, black and malignant. ‘Aerugo mera,’ nothing but copper-rust, that eats into character and destroys it.

102. ut si quid] There is a little obscurity in the construction, but the sense is plain. ‘I promise, as I truly can, if I can promise of myself aught else with truth.’ ‘Promitto, ut vere possum si aliud quid vere de me promittere possum.’

104. hoc mihi juris] ‘So much liberty as this’;—‘hoc jus’ would not do.

105. insuevit pater optimus hoc me,] ‘Suesco’ and its compounds have an active as well as a neuter signification, taking usually an accusative of the person and dative of the thing, which order is inverted in Virg. (Aen. vi. 833): “Ne, pueri, ne tanta animis assuescite bella.” See below, S. ii. 2. 109: “Pluribus assuerit mentem corpusque superbum.” I am not aware of any instances of a double accusative after ‘suesco’ except this. The construction is that of the Greeks, who said ἐθίζειν τί τινα. ‘Notando’ has something of the technical sense. The father taught his son to avoid vices, and he did so by branding them in each instance by means of examples, which he says was the origin of his tendency to satire. See S. i. 6. 14, n., on ‘notare.’

108. quod mi ipse parasset:] Horace’s father had lived a life of frugal industry, and, in addition to any ‘peculium’ he may have laid by as a ‘servus,’ he made enough money by his occupation of ‘coactor’ (S. 6. 86) to purchase a farm of no great value at Venusia, to pay for his son’s education at Rome, and enable him to continue it at Athens.

109. Albi ut male vivat filius,] See above, v. 28, n. This person, of whom nothing is known, is to be distinguished from the coxcomb in the sixth Satire (v. 30). Scetanius (otherwise Sectanius) is not more known than Barrus. Trebonius was the name of a plebeian gens of some distinction, but which of them Horace alludes to, it is impossible to say.

115. Sapiens vitatu quidque petitu] ‘The philosopher may give you good reasons as to what is best to be avoided and what to be sought; I am satisfied if I can maintain the practice of my fathers,’ etc. Horace’s father had no mind to refine upon the foundation of morals, nor any pretension to a philosophical view of these matters. He knew that right was right and wrong was[420] wrong, and followed the beaten track, and would have his son do the same. Horace expresses the same below, S. 6. 82, sqq. The whole of the passage there should be compared with this. The elder Horace was no doubt a plain, sensible man. As to ‘sapiens,’ see C. i. 34. 2.

121. Formabat] This is Horace’s usual word for education. C. i. 10. 2: “Qui feros cultus hominum recentum Voce formasti.” See C. iii. 24. 54, n.

123. Unum ex judicibus selectis] It was the duty of the Prætor Urbanus annually to select a certain number of persons whose names were registered in the Album Judicum Selectorum, and from whom were chosen by lot the ‘judices’ for each trial. It is uncertain whether at this time, or by a subsequent ‘lex’ of Augustus, their functions were extended to civil as well as criminal proceedings. The number of these ‘judices’ varied. By the ‘lex Servilia Glaucia Repetundarum’ it was fixed at 450. The law that was in force at the time Horace refers to was the ‘lex Aurelia,’ by which the Judices Selecti were made eligible from the Senators, Equites, and Tribuni Aerarii. Horace’s father, as plain men are wont, looked up with reverence to the body in whom were rested such high functions; but the office was not an enviable one, nor always most purely exercised. See C. iv. 9. 39, n. As to ‘auctor,’ see above, v. 80.

129. Ex hoc ego sanus] Horace says that, owing to his father’s training (‘ex hoc’), he had been kept in a sound and healthy state, and preserved from those vices which in their worst form bring destruction, but which in a moderate degree may be overlooked. He implies that in this venial form he is liable to such faults; but even from this smaller measure, time, the candor of friends, and reflection will deduct a good deal. The sentence is a little irregular, but sufficiently intelligible. ‘Consilium proprium’ is the counsel a man takes with himself when he reviews his life, and is bent upon correcting the errors of it. This sort of reflection a man may pursue, if he be in earnest, either as he lies on his bed (see below, S. 6. 122, n.), or as he walks abroad, alone among crowds. By ‘porticus’ Horace means any one of the public porticoes, covered walks, of which there were many at Rome, and which were usually crowded by persons of all sorts, resorting thither for exercise, conversation, or business.

139. Illudo chartis.] This means, ‘I put it down in my notes by way of amusement.’ As to ‘chartae,’ see S. ii. 3. 2, n.

141. Multa poëtarum veniat manus] Horace, in winding up his discourse, stops the lips of his opponents with a sally of good humor, which they would find it hard to resist. He says, if they will not make excuses for this little sin of his (that of taking notes of his neighbors’ vices), he will bring a host of sinners (poets) as bad as himself, and, like the proselytizing Jews (S. 9. 69, n.), they will attack them till they have made converts and poets of them all. ‘Plures’ signifies any number more than one, as in Epp. i. 5. 28, “Locus est et pluribus umbris.” ‘Multo plures sumus’ means ‘there are many besides me.’

In the spring of the year B. C. 37, M. Antonius brought over an army to Italy, and a fleet of 300 ships (Plut. Ant. c. 35): ἔκ τινων διαβόλων παροξυνθεὶς πρὸς Καίσαρα, says Plutarch. He pretended, Dion says, to come for the purpose of helping to put down Sextus Pompeius, his real object being[421] rather to see what was going on, than to take any active part. He came to Brundisium, but the people would not let him come into the harbor (according to Plutarch), and he therefore went on to Tarentum. Negotiations were carried on between the two rivals (Cæsar being at Rome) through agents employed by both, but without effect, till Octavia undertook to mediate between her husband and brother, and was finally successful in reconciling them. It has been supposed, with every probability, that the mission which Horace accompanied was sent by Augustus to meet Antonius on his expected arrival at Brundisium, on this occasion.

Horace started from Rome with only one companion, Heliodorus the rhetorician (v. 2), and these two travelled together three days and one night, about fifty-six miles, till they reached Tarracina or Anxur, where, by appointment, they were to meet the official members of their party. These were Mæcenas and Cocceius, who had been employed in negotiating the first reconciliation between Augustus and Antonius (B. C. 40), and Fonteius, an intimate friend of the latter. Three days afterwards, they met at Sinuessa Horace’s three most intimate friends, Plotius Tucca, Varius, and Virgil; one of whom, Varius, kept them company only for six days, and left them, for reasons which are not mentioned, at Canusium (v. 93). The rest of the party went on together till they reached Brundisium, seventeen days after Horace had left Rome. The route they took was not the shortest or the easiest, which lay through Venusia and Tarentum. They preferred taking the northeastern road, which strikes across the country from Beneventum, and, reaching the coast at Barium continues along the shore till it comes to Brundisium. They were evidently not pressed for time, and probably took the road they did because it passed through Canusium, whither one of the party was bound. Mæcenas made his journey as agreeable as, under the circumstances, it could be, by taking with him such companions; and they all appear to great advantage in Horace’s good-humored diary. There was no restraint between the patron and his friends, and it is very pleasant to contemplate their affection for him and one another.

It is probable that, before Horace returned to Rome, he visited Tarentum and his native place, Venusia, through which he would naturally pass. He seems to have had in mind the description by Lucilius of a journey he took to Capua, of which three or four verses only have been preserved (see note on v. 6).

1. Egressum magna me excepit Aricia] They left Rome by the Porta Capena, between Mons Aventinus and Mons Cælius, in the southern quarter of the city. Aricia (La Riccia), one of the most ancient towns of Latium, was sixteen miles from Rome. It was situated on the side of a hill, sloping down to a valley called Vallis Aricina, through which the Appia Via passed. This part of the road is still in good preservation. The citadel was placed on the top of the hill (Strabo, v. p. 239), and on that spot stands the modern town. Aricia was a considerable town in Horace’s time, and for some centuries after. Cicero calls it “municipium — vetustate antiquissimum, splendore municipum honestissimum” (Phil. iii. 6). Its neighborhood to Rome, and accessible position, contributed to its prosperity, which was assisted by its association with the worship of Diana Aricina, who had a temple among the woods on the small lake (Lacus Nemorensis), a short way from the town, probably on the site of the modern town Nemi. The wealthy Romans had villas in the neighborhood.

By ‘hospitio modico’ Horace means an indifferent inn; but ‘hospitium’ is not the Latin for an ‘inn,’ which was called ‘caupona,’ or ‘taberna,’ or ‘diversorium,’ and its keeper ‘caupo.’ The inns at the different stages on the great roads were never very good, the chief reason being that travellers of[422] any importance usually found friends at the principal towns, who entertained them.

2. rhetor comes Heliodorus,] Horace jocularly exaggerates the merits of this Greek. Nothing is known of him from other sources. Appii Forum was thirty-nine miles from Rome, and was so called by Appius Claudius, surnamed Cæcus, who in his censorship (A. U. C. 441) constructed the Via Appia and the great aqueduct which bore his name. Some ruins of this town are said by Walckenaer still to exist. Its modern name is Borgo Lungo. The participle ‘differtus’ means ‘full,’ and is formed as from ‘differcio,’ which verb is not found. ‘Differtus’ occurs below (Epp. i. 6. 59). ‘Malignis’ belongs to ‘cauponibus’ in the same sense as ‘perfidus’ (S. 1. 29). ‘Nautae’ were the boatmen who plied on the canal mentioned below (v. 7, n.). It was to Appii Forum that some of the Christians, when they heard of St. Paul’s approach, went, from Rome, to meet him. Others met him at a place called Tres Tabernae (La Castella), which was about seven miles from Aricia, and sixteen from Appii Forum. Horace must have passed through this town without stopping. It was a well-known place, and from it a Christian bishop took his title, “Felix a Tribus Tabernis.”

5. Hoc iter] i.e. the journey from Rome to Appii Forum, which was usually made in one day, they took two to accomplish. ‘Praecinctus’ is opposed to ‘discinctus,’ and means ‘one well girt,’ εὔζωνος, and ready for active exertion, running, etc. Horace uses the word more literally, S. ii. 8. 70: “ut omnes Praecincti recte pueri comptique ministrent.” The Asiatics tuck up in their girdles their long garments, when they are preparing to run or walk quick. Hence such expressions as we meet with in Scripture, “Gird up the loins of your mind.” ‘Succinctus,’ ‘tucked up,’ is the more usual word.

6. minus est gravis Appia tardis.] Horace means, that the Via Appia was less fatiguing to the slow traveller than to the quick; that it was a rough road, over which the slower you went, the less unpleasant was the journey. This road was constructed with a foundation of large squared blocks of basaltic stone, over which was laid a coating of gravel, until the Emperors Nerva and Trajan laid it with silex, according to an inscription found on a mile-stone in the neighborhood of Forum Appii. Horace speaks elsewhere of the traveller “qui Romam Capua petit imbre lutoque Adspersus” (Epp. i. 11. 11). In one of the verses of the Satire of Lucilius, mentioned in the Introduction, he says, “Praeterea omne iter est labosum atque lutosum.”

7. Hic ego propter aquam,] At Appii Forum they were to embark at night in a boat that was to carry them by canal to Tarracina. A party were waiting at the same inn to go with them, and Horace waited with impatience till they had done supper. These he means by ‘comites.’ This canal was constructed by Augustus. There are still traces of it to be seen. It was nineteen miles long, and was called in consequence Decennovium. The road may have been defective hereabouts, as it was the general practice of travellers to exchange it for the canal, and to make the journey by night.

9. Jam nox inducere terris] This is a parody of the heroic style, unless it be taken from some poet, as Ennius.

12. Huc appelle!] “Put in here, and take us on board!” cries a servant. “How many more?—you’ll swamp the boat!” says another to the boatman, who wants to get as many as he can. The bank is crowded; the passengers all want to be attended to at once. The collection of the fare and putting-to the mule being accomplished, Horace goes on board. The boat starts, and he lies down to sleep, disturbed much by the mosquitos and the croaking of frogs. The boatman and one of the passengers, half drunk, sing songs till the one drops off to sleep, and the other, having a mind to do the same, stops the boat, turns the mule out to graze, lays himself down and[423] snores till the dawn of day, when one of the passengers wakes, starts up in a passion, and falls foul of the boatman and the poor mule, who is put to again, and a little after the fourth hour they reach their destination, a temple of Feronia, about seventeen miles from the place where they embarked. ‘Cerebrosus’ is an old word signifying ‘choleric.’ ‘Dolare’ is properly to turn a piece of wood with an axe, ‘dolabra.’ ‘He rough-hewed him with a cudgel.’ It is only here used in this sense. Feronia was a goddess, worshipped originally by the Sabines. On the site of the temple near which Horace and his party disembarked, there now stands an old tower, bearing the name Torre Ottofacia. Horace says they only washed their hands and face, which would be no little refreshment after a night spent in a canal-boat.

25. Millia tum pransi tria repimus] Three miles farther, on the top of a steep ascent, stood the town of Tarracina (Terracina), which by the Volscians was called Anxur, by which name it is always mentioned by the poets. The winding of the road up the hill, and the difficulty of the ascent, explains the word ‘repimus.’ The old town of Tarracina was built on the top of the hill, but this site was afterwards abandoned, and a new town built on the plain below, close upon the shore, which is the site of the modern Terracina. It was in Horace’s day, and had been for a long time, and long continued to be, a town of great importance, as it was one of great antiquity. The buildings of white marble, perhaps, gave it the appearance described in ‘late candentibus.’ The same appearance is observed still in the modern town. After leaving the boat, the party lunched before they proceeded. The ‘prandium’ was a light meal, usually eaten about noon, but sometimes earlier, as probably was the case in this instance.

27. Huc venturus erat] See Introduction. L. Cocceius Nerva was a friend of M. Antonius, and was among those whom Augustus found in Perusia when he took it (B. C. 41). He offered these persons no indignity, but made friends of them, and Cocceius seems to have become especially intimate with Augustus, without betraying his friendship for M. Antonius.

29. aversos soliti componere amicos.] After the taking of Perusia, war was threatened between Augustus and Antonius, which was averted by an arrangement made through the medium of Mæcenas, on the part of Augustus, and of Cocceius and Pollio, on the part of Antonius. This is what Horace alludes to.

30. nigra meis collyria lippus] ‘Collyrium,’ an ointment for sore eyes, was composed of juices expressed from the poppy and various shrubs, as the lycium, glaucion, acacia, hypocystis, etc. The etymology of the word is not known.

32. Capitoque simul Fonteius,] Not much is known of C. Fonteius Capito. He was deputed by Augustus on this occasion, as being a particular friend of M. Antonius, who afterwards, as Plutarch relates (Anton. 36), sent him, while he was in Syria, to fetch Cleopatra thither from Egypt. The expression ‘ad unguem factus’ is taken from the craft of the sculptor, who tries the surface of his statue by passing the nail over it; if the parts be put perfectly together, and the whole work well finished, the nail passes over the surface, and meets with no obstruction. See Persius, S. i. 64. Compare also A. P. 294. Below (S. ii. 7. 86) the perfect man is described as

“in se ipso totus, teres atque rotundus,
Externi ne quid valeat per leve morari,”

which is like the description of the text, though the metaphor is not quite the same.

34. Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore] They arrived at Tarracina about noon, and there the principal personages met them. At Tarracina they[424] slept, and proceeded next morning to Fundi (Fondi), sixteen miles farther to the northeast of Tarracina. Fundi was situated on the north shore of a lake, which was called after it Fundanus; and also Amyclanus from an old Greek town Amyclæ, the existence of which was only traditional when Horace wrote, but is occasionally mentioned by the poets. Fundi was one of that class of towns called ‘praefectura,’ which, instead of having the administration of its own affairs, was governed by a ‘praefectus’ sent annually from Rome by the Prætor Urbanus. At this time the ‘praefectus’ was one Aufidius Luscus (not otherwise known), an upstart whom Horace calls Prætor by way of ridicule. The officers of the other municipal towns were allowed to wear the ‘toga praetexta,’ the ‘toga’ with a purple border (Livy xxxiv. 7), but the ‘praefecti’ were not, and yet Luscus wore it. The ‘latus clavus’ was a broad purple stripe down the front of the tunic, and was a badge that belonged only to senators. ‘Prunae batillum’ was a pan of hot coals, which may have been used for burning incense or otherwise in connection with sacrifice. But its use is uncertain. Aufidius, it appears, had been a ‘scriba’ or clerk, probably in the prætor’s office,—such a situation as Horace held at this time in the quæstor’s. Persons in that capacity had opportunities of pushing their fortunes if they managed well, and the honors of Luscus are spoken of as ‘praemia,’ rewards of service rendered to his master.

37. In Mamurrarum] Disgusted with the officiousness of the promoted scribe, the party move on, in the course of the day, to Formiæ (Mola di Gaeta), about twelve miles farther, where the road, having taken an upward bend from Tarracina to Fundi, goes straight down from thence to the coast, where Formiæ was situated at the head of the Sinus Caietanus. Its supposed identity with the Læstrygonia of Homer has been noticed before (C. iii. 16. 34, n., and 17, Int.). As the scene of Cicero’s frequent retirement, and his death, it is a place of much interest. Its wines Horace mentions more than once. He here calls it the city of the Mamurræ,—a family of respectability in this town. When the party got to Formiæ, having travelled upwards of twenty-five miles, they were tired, and resolved to pass the night there. Licinius Murena (C. ii. 10, Int.), having a house at this place, gave them the use of it, but as he was not there himself, and probably had no establishment in the house suitable to the entertainment of such guests, Fonteius Capito invited his fellow travellers to dine with him. He therefore appears to have had a house at Formiæ likewise.

40. Sinuessae] Leaving Formiæ next day, the party set out for Sinuessa, eighteen miles distant. The road crossed the Liris (C. i. 31. 7) at Minturnæ, and went down the coast till it reached Sinuessa, the most southerly of the Latin towns. The site is now called Monte Dragone (Cramer). It was on the sea, and said to have been founded on the ruins of the Greek city Sinope. Strabo (v. 234) derives its name from the Sinus Vescinus on which it stood. Plotius Tucca appears to have been a native of Cisalpine Gaul. He was associated with L. Varius Rufus by Virgil, who loved them both, as the executor of his will, and he was employed in the task of editing the Æneid after his death. Nothing more is known of him, but what we gather from this passage and S. i. 10. 81, that he was one of Mæcenas’s friends, and on intimate terms with Horace. As to L. Varius, see C. i. 6. 1. S. i. 10. 44.

45. Proxima Campano ponti] After Sinuessa, the Appia Via continued to take a southerly direction, and crossed the Savo (Savone) about three miles from that town, and just within the borders of Campania. That river was crossed by a bridge bearing the name Pons Campanus, near which was a small house erected for the accommodation of persons travelling on public business, where there were officers appointed to supply them with ordinary necessaries. Hence they were called ‘parochi,’ from the Greek παρέχειν. In this house the party passed the night.

47. Hinc muli Capuae] When it reached the right bank of the Vulturnus, four miles below the Savo, the Appia Via turned, striking inland along that bank of the river, which it crossed at the town of Casilinum, where Hannibal met with stout resistance from the Romans who garrisoned it after the battle of Cannæ (Liv. xxiii. 17). This is perhaps the site of the modern Capua. About two miles farther on the road, which now took a southeasterly direction, lay Capua, on the site of which is the modern village Santa Maria di Capoa. There the party arrived ‘betimes,’—in time probably for dinner, after which meal Mæcenas and others of the party went to play at ball, while Horace, whose sight, and Virgil, whose digestion, interfered with that amusement, went early to bed. Virgil is said to have had uncertain health, and to have suffered frequently, either from toothache, headache, or complaints of the stomach.

50. Hinc nos Cocceii] The road, continuing in a southeast direction, passed through two small Campanian towns, Calatia (Le Galazze) and Ad Novas (La Nova), but the usual halting-place after Capua was the town of Caudium, which was the first Samnite town on the Appia Via, and was situated at the head of the pass called the Furcæ (or Fauces) Caudinæ, celebrated for the surprise and capture of the Roman army by C. Pontius, in the second Samnite war, B. C. 321. At Caudium, Cocceius had a handsome house, and Horace marks its situation by saying it lay beyond the public tavern. The town was twenty one miles from Capua.

51. Nunc mihi paucis] The scene that follows represents a scurrilous contest between two parasites, whom Mæcenas carried with him for the entertainment of himself and his party. The description begins with an invocation of the Muse, after the fashion of the Epic poets. Sarmentus was an Etrurian by birth, and originally a slave of M. Favonius (well known in the civil wars, and put to death by Augustus after the battle of Philippi). On the confiscation of the property of Favonius, Sarmentus passed by public sale into the hands of Mæcenas, who gave him his liberty. He then obtained the office of ‘scriba’ in the quæstor’s department, and affected the position of an Eques. He was brought to trial for pretending to a rank he had no claim to (perhaps under the law of Otho), and got off only by the favor of the judges, and by the accuser being put out of the way. When old, he was reduced to great poverty through his licentiousness and extravagance, and was obliged to sell his place as ‘scriba.’ When persons taunted him with this, he showed his ready wit by replying that he had a good memory; by which probably he meant that he had no occasion to write anything down, for he could carry it in his head. It appears that at the time Horace wrote he was free, and held his scribe’s office, though he continued to attend Mæcenas, for his adversary says, though he was a scribe, he was in fact only a runaway, and still belonged to his mistress, the widow of Favonius (v. 66), which is only a joke that would amuse Mæcenas, who had bought and manumitted Sarmentus. When Horace says that Messius was of the noble blood of the Osci, he only means, by way of joke, to say that he was of old and high descent. Perhaps he also alludes to the scar on his temple, which indicated the disease called Campanian (the Campanians were of Oscan descent), of which we are told that it consisted of great excrescences over the temples like horns, which used to be cut out, and left a scar. The Oscans also were the authors of the ‘Atellanae fabulae,’ which were full of broad raillery and coarse wit, which may have something to do with Horace’s joke. ‘Cicirrhus’ is a nickname from κίκιῤῥος, which signifies, according to Hesychius, ‘a cock.’ With these explanations most of the allusions will be intelligible.

58. Accipio, caput et movet.] Messius accepts Sarmentus’s joke as a challenge, and shakes his head fiercely at him, on which Sarmentus takes him up and pretends to be alarmed. The wild horse to which Messius is likened is[426] the unicorn, an imaginary animal described by Pliny as a very terrible beast.

63. Pastorem saltaret] That he should dance the Cyclops’ dance, in which the uncouth gestures of Polyphemus courting Galatea were represented. See Epp. ii. 2. 125. Ovid (Trist. ii. 519) uses ‘salto’ in the passive voice: “Et mea sunt populo saltata poëmata saepe.”

64. larva] The Greek actors always wore masks on the stage suited to the character they were performing. The Romans adopted them about B. C. 100. They were called πρόσωπα by the Greeks, and ‘personae’ or ‘larvae’ by the Romans. As to ‘cothurnus,’ see C. ii. 1. 12, n.

67. Nihilo deterius] ‘Nihilo’ is to be pronounced as a dissyllable, like “vehemens et liquidus” (Epp. ii. 2. 120).

68. una Farris libra] The allowance of ‘far’ to each slave was four or five ‘modii’ by the month, and it was served out to them monthly, or sometimes daily (Epp. i. 14. 40). That allowance would give three pints a day, which Messius considers would be three times as much as Sarmentes could possibly require, so he could not better himself by running away. The ‘far’ was otherwise called ‘adoreum’ (C. iv. 4. 41, n.), and seems to have been the same as the Greek ζειά or ὄλυρα. The nature of this grain is not exactly known. That two persons above the condition of slaves should be found in waiting on any man, great or otherwise, for the purpose of entertaining him with such low buffoonery as the above, seems surprising to us; but we know that there was no personal degradation to which this class of people, called ‘parasites’ (diners out), would not demean themselves for the pleasure of a good dinner and the company of the great. The entertainment of these persons would serve to keep the conversation from turning upon politics, which, as the deputies from both sides were now together, it was desirable to avoid.

71. Beneventum,] The Appia Via took a northeast turn from Caudium, for ten miles, till it came to Beneventum (Benevento), a very ancient town, by tradition said to have been founded by Diomed, and the name of which was originally, when the Samnites had it, Maleventum, or some name that sounded so like Maleventum to a Latin ear that the Romans thought fit to change it (for good luck) to Beneventum. Thither the party proceeded next day, and put up at an inn, when the host nearly set fire to his house through carelessness in roasting some indifferent thrushes for their dinner. ‘Hospes paene arsit,’ ‘the host nearly got himself on fire,’ means that he nearly burnt the house down, as the context shows. The expression is the same as in Aen. ii. 311. “Jam proximus ardet Ucalegon.” The position of ‘macros’ is a little careless.

78. quos torret Atabulus] This was a cold wind, said to be peculiar to Apulia. ‘Torret’ is a word which applies to the effect of cold, as well as heat. ‘Atabulus’ is generally looked upon by the commentators as the Sirocco, a hot land wind. But it came directly off the sea from the east, and Pliny speaks of it as a winter wind.

79. Nunquam erepsemus] This is one of the many abbreviated forms Horace uses. See C. i. 36. 8, n., and to the examples there given add the present, and also ‘surrexe,’ ‘divisse,’ ‘evasti.’ ‘Vixet,’ in Aen. xi. 118, is a like contraction of the same tense as ‘erepsemus.’ Horace says that they would never have got out of these hills (the range that borders Samnium and separates it from Apulia) had they not found an inn at the town of Trivicum (Trevico), at which they were able to put up for the night. He means that the next stage, which was twenty-four miles farther on, would have been too long a journey. Horace had been familiar with these mountains in his early childhood, for they overlooked his native town. ‘Notos’ refers to these[427] early reminiscences. Trivicum was probably on a cross road (Cramer, ii. 259) which lay between the two branches of the Appia Via, one of which took the most direct course from Beneventum through Venusia to Tarentum and Brundisium, and the other took a more northerly course across the Apennines, near Equus Tuticus; and then, striking directly eastward till it arrived very near the sea-coast, near Cannæ, proceeded down the line of coast till it reached Brundisium.

87. Mansuri oppidulo] It appears probable that the road on which Trivicum lay, entering Apulia about ten miles from that town, passed through or near the Apulian Asculum (Ascoli), and it is in that neighborhood that the little town with the unrhythmical name, at which the party stopped after Trivicum, is supposed to have stood. Of its name we must be content to be ignorant.

91. Nam Canusi lapidosus,] In a plain between the hills and the right bank of the Aufidus, about twelve miles from its mouth, stood the town of Canusium (Canosa), one of the ancient Greek settlements of Apulia. This town and others in Apulia (Venusia and Brundisium among them), and in other parts of Eastern Italy, were represented to have been founded by Diomed, when, after the Trojan war, he was driven to the coast of Apulia, and hospitably entertained and presented with land by Daunus, its king. His name was retained by the islands now called Tremiti, but by the ancients Diomedeæ. Many remains found among its ruins testify to the former importance and wealth of Canusium. The present town stands on a height where the citadel stood, and contains not above 300 houses. A supply of good water was brought into this town by Hadrian, the emperor. That Apulia was not well watered, has been observed before (Epod. iii. 16, n.). The turbid waters of the Aufidus must have been unfit for drinking. The bread of Canosa is described by modern travellers to be as bad as ever. It is accounted for by the softness of the millstones.

91. aquae non ditior urna] The only way of taking this regularly is to make ‘ditior’ agree with ‘locus,’ ‘which place, being not richer in water (than the last) by a single pitcher, was built by brave Diomed.’ So Orelli takes it. The construction is not very agreeable; but to avoid it we must suppose great irregularity.

94. Rubos] This town of the Peucetii retains its name under the form Ruvo, and was thirty miles from Canusium. The road from Canusium was called Via Egnatia, from the town it led to. A modern traveller describes the remains of it for twelve miles from Canosa as paved with common rough pebbles, and passing over a pleasant down.

97. Bari moenia piscosi;] Barium still retains its name Bari, occupying a rocky peninsula of a triangular form, about a mile in circumference. It was an important town on the coast, and a municipium. Its distance from Rubi was twenty-two miles, “a most disagreeable stony road through a vine country,” and half-way there lay the town Butuntum (Bitonto). There was a harbor here formerly, but there is scarcely any now.

Gnatia] This was perhaps the local way of pronouncing Egnatia. It was another seaport town, and thirty-seven miles from Barium. Between them lay formerly two small forts called Turris Juliana (Torre Pellosa) and Turris Aureliana (Ripagnola), the first eleven miles and the second twenty miles from Barium. Of Egnatia nothing important is recorded. Its ruins are still in existence near Torre d’Agnazzo, six miles from the town of Monopoli. Horace says it was built under the displeasure of the Nymphs, because the[428] water was so bad, and it is so still according to the statements of travellers. ‘Lymphae’ and ‘Nymphae’ are essentially the same word, but Nymphs are not elsewhere called Lymphæ. These Nymphs are the Naiades, who protected rivers and fountains. See C. i. 1. 22, n.

100. Judaeas Apella,] The majority of the Jews at Rome were freedmen, and ‘Apella’ was a common name for ‘libertini.’ Their creed was a superstition of the most contemptible kind, in the eyes of a Roman; and a Jew was only another name for a credulous fool. The Jews returned their contempt with hatred, which showed itself in a turbulent spirit that made them very troublesome. Horace intimates that he had learnt from the school of Epicurus that the gods were too happy to mind the small affairs of this world, which he expresses in the words of Lucretius (vi. 57): “Nam bene qui didicere deos securum agere aevum.” See C. i. 34. 2, n., and the Introduction to that Ode.

104. Brundisium] From this abrupt conclusion, we may judge that Horace had got tired of his journal as well as his journey. Brundisium (Brindisi) was for centuries the most important town on the eastern coast of Italy, chiefly through the convenience of its position for communicating with Greece, and the excellence of its harbor. Its distance from Egnatia was thirty-five miles. There was a station named Speluncæ (now Grotta Rosa) midway, where the party may have halted one night, and which Horace, having nothing he cared to tell us about it, has passed over in silence.

In addition to the obloquy brought upon him by his Satires, Horace, after his intimacy with Mæcenas had begun to be known, had to meet the envy such good fortune was sure to excite. His birth would furnish a handle for the envious, and he was probably called an upstart and hard names of that sort. In this Satire, which is nothing but an epistle to Mæcenas, he spurns the idea of his birth being any objection to him, while, at the same time, he argues sensibly against men trying to get beyond their own legitimate sphere, and aiming at honors which are only attended with inconvenience, fatigue, and ill-will. This Satire, besides the good sense and good feeling it contains, is valuable as bearing upon Horace’s life. His introduction to Mæcenas is told concisely, but fully, and with much propriety and modesty; and nothing can be more pleasing than the filial affection and gratitude shown in those parts that relate to his father, and the education he gave him. He takes pleasure in referring whatever merits he might have to this good parent, as he did in the fourth Satire.

The Satire, then, may be supposed to have been written chiefly for the purpose of disarming envy, by showing the modesty of the author’s pretensions, and the circumstances that led to his intimacy with Mæcenas. The views of public life which it contains were no doubt sincere, and the daily routine described at the end was better suited to Horace’s habit of mind than the fatigues and anxieties of office. There is not the least appearance in any of his writings of his having been spoiled by his good fortune and by his intercourse, on terms of rare familiarity, with Augustus, Mæcenas, and others; and probably malignity never attacked any one less deserving of attack than Horace.

1. Lydorum quidquid Etruscos] On Mæcenas’s connection with Etruria, see C. i. 1. 1, n. The legend of the Lydian settlement of Etruria is first mentioned by Herodotus (i. 94), as a tradition current among the Lydians[429] themselves. The tradition was, that on one occasion, when Lydia was suffering from famine, the king, Atys, divided the people into two equal parts, of whom one remained at home, and the other took ship and made the coast of Etruria, and there settled, under Tyrrhenus, the son of Atys. Horace and Virgil (Aen. ii. 781) both adopted this story, which was familiar to men of learning, and perhaps believed by many. ‘Lydorum quidquid,’ ‘all the Lydians that ever inhabited,’ etc., is like Epod. v. 1: “At, o deorum quidquid in caelo regit.”

3. avus tibi maternus] It seems from inscriptions to have been the practice of the Etrurians for men to be distinguished by the name of their mother, as well as their father.

5. naso suspendis adunco] This the Greeks expressed by μυκτηρίζειν. It is taken from that instinctive motion of the features which expresses contempt. How to account for it may not be easy, though it is so common. The expression ‘naso suspendere’ Horace may have invented. It occurs nowhere else, except in Persius (S. i. 118). It is repeated below, S. ii. 8. 64: “Balatro suspendens omnia naso.” ‘Ut’ occurring twice in these two lines introduces confusion. The second means ‘as for instance.’

6. libertino patre natum.] The difference between ‘libertus’ and ‘libertinus’ is, that the latter expressed a man who had been manumitted, the former a freedman in his relation to the master who had given him his freedom. The son of a ‘libertinus,’ born after his father’s manumission, and all other persons born free, were ‘ingenui’; and Horace says that Mæcenas, though he would not take into his intimacy a freedman, made no inquiry as to the parentage of any one born free, but would make him his friend if he deserved it.

9. Ante potestatem Tulli] Horace here follows the legend which made Servius Tullius the son of a slave-girl, and himself a slave in the palace of King Tarquinius (see Livy, i. 39). On this account his reign was ignoble, while in true nobility it was surpassed by none of the others. Another legend (which Ovid follows, Fast. vi. 627, sqq.) makes Tullius the son of Vulcan; but his mother is there also a slave, having been taken captive at Corniculum, a city taken by Tarquinius Priscus.

12. Laevinum, Valeri genus] The Valeria gens was one of the most ancient in Rome, and embraced some of the most distinguished families, among others that of Publicola, the earliest member of which mentioned in history is Valerius Publicola, the colleague of Brutus after the expulsion of the kings. The family of Lævinus was another distinguished branch of the same gens. The Lævinus in the text is said to have been a man of abandoned character, so bad that even the populace, who were not easily deterred from conferring their honors upon the vicious, could not be prevailed on by admiration of his high ancestry to advance him beyond the quæstorship; that is to say, he never held a curule office. As to ‘genus,’ see C. i. 3. 27. On ‘unde,’ which is equivalent to ‘a quo,’ see C. i. 12. 17, n.; ii. 12. 7. ‘Fugit’ is the historic present, as it is called.

14. pluris licuisse,] ‘Licere’ is ‘to be put up for sale,’ and its correlative term is ‘liceri,’ ‘to bid for an article at a sale by auction.’ ‘Notare’ is to set a bad mark upon, to brand, and was technically applied to the censors (see note on v. 20). ‘Judice quo nosti’ is an instance of attraction, which figure the Romans borrowed from the Greeks, but did not use so commonly.

17. titulis et imaginibus.] These were inscriptions, and waxen busts, recording the distinctions of any member of a family who had borne a curule office.

quid oportet Nos facere] Horace means to say, that those who by education and profession and experience were very far removed from the common people, ought to judge differently from them, and better. In this number he[430] places himself. ‘Longe longeque’ is not an uncommon phrase. See Cicero (De Fin. ii. 21), and Ovid (Met. iv. 325). The repetition is only analogous to many others in the Latin language, as ‘etiam atque etiam,’ ‘nimium nimiumque,’ ‘magis magisque,’ etc.

19. Namque esto] He goes on to show, that though the value set upon titles and birth by the populace might be exaggerated, yet the other extreme is not to be allowed; and that he who seeks to push himself beyond his sphere, might be justly rebuked for his presumption.

20. Quam Decio mandare novo,] P. Decius Mus, who devoted himself to death for his country at the battle of Vesuvius, in the Latin war, B. C. 340, was the first consul of his family. He held the office with T. Manlius Torquatus in that year. After the curule magistracies were opened to the plebeians, an order of nobility sprung up among themselves, based upon the holding of these offices. Those families of which any member had ever held a curule office were ‘nobiles,’ the rest ‘ignobiles,’ and he in whose person such dignity was first attained was called, originally no doubt through the contempt of the patricians, but afterwards conventionally by all, ‘novus homo.’ The Decia gens was plebeian.

censorque moveret Appius] The Appius who is here taken as the type of severe censorship is Appius Claudius Caecus, the constructor of the road and aqueduct that bore his name (see S. 5. 2). He was made Censor B. C. 312. It was the province of the Censors, till that office was merged in the imperial power, to supply vacancies in the senate from the list of those who were eligible, who were all citizens of at least equestrian rank, of not less than a certain age (which is not known exactly but it was between thirty and forty), and those persons who had served in the principal magistracies. But they could also, in revising the list of senators at the beginning of their censorship, degrade those who had previously been in the senate, as well as exclude such as by their official rank were entitled to be senators. This they did, at their own discretion, for various offences by which ‘ignominia’ was liable to be incurred, or from the senator having been chosen improperly. They effected this exclusion merely by marking the name, and their mark was called ‘nota censoria,’ and the act itself, ‘notare.’ Horace, therefore, means that if he, through the favor of Mæcenas or other means, sought as a freedman’s son to reach the dignity of a senator, and succeeded, the censors, if they did their duty strictly, would degrade him. The censor Appius, however, is notorious for his laxity in having chosen, for party purposes, the sons of freedmen, and other unqualified people, into the senate. But he was harsh and arbitrary in the exercise of his office, and his name was proverbial in connection with the censorship, which is enough to account for his appearance here. There was no money qualification for the senate, but only one of rank. ‘Movere’ is the technical word for degrading a senator, and those who were degraded, or not admitted, were called ‘praeteriti senatores’ from the circumstance of their being merely passed by when the lists were made out, and their names not appearing, which would prevent them from acting.

22. in propria non pelle quiessem.] This is the old story of the ass in the lion’s skin.

23. Sed fulgente trahit] This verse may or may not be taken from some heroic poem. It is introduced humorously, and yet with a serious meaning. ‘Let the populace set their hearts upon rank and descent, and let the censors make that their standard for the senate, yet the humbly born may have their honors as well’; that is, the honors that arise from virtue and genius. The picture of Glory mounted on her car is repeated in Epp. ii. 1. 177, where the epithet ‘fulgente’ is exchanged for ‘ventoso,’ ‘fickle as the winds.’

24. Quo tibi, Tilli,] This person is said to have been a senator, and to have been degraded by Julius Cæsar, as being of Pompeius’s party, but reinstated[431] after Cæsar’s death, and made a military tribune. Whether or not he is different from the person mentioned below, v. 107, it is not easy to say.

25. fierique tribuno?] Each legion in the Roman army (the number varied at different times, but at Philippi there were nineteen on each side, each legion consisting of about 6,000 men, rather less than more) had six tribunes (the post Horace held in the army of Brutus), who were their principal officers. The military tribunes of the first four legions were entitled to sit in the senate. (See Epod. iv. 15, n.) As to the ‘latus clavus,’ see note on the 34th verse of the last Satire. ‘Quo,’ ‘to what purpose.’ (See C. ii. 2. 9, n.)

27. Nam ut quisque insanus] The senators’ ‘calceus,’ an outdoor shoe, was fastened by four thongs (‘nigris pellibus’), two on each side, which went spirally up to the calf of the leg (‘medium crus’). These thongs were called ‘corrigiae,’ and were black. The shoe itself appears to have varied in color.

30. quo morbo Barrus,] His disease was a thirst for admiration among women. He was a man of bad passions, it is said. But we do not know much about him. He need not be identified with the man in S. 4. 110. A foul-mouthed person of the same name occurs in the next Satire (v. 8).

34. Sic qui promittit] This refers to the promises of candidates for office, and the three principal magistracies are implied: the city prætorship, in the words ‘urbem sibi curae’; the consulship, in ‘imperium et Italiam’; and the ædileship, in ‘delubra deorum,’ because it was the duty of the ædile to attend to the temples and other public buildings.

38. Syri, Damae, aut Dionysi] These were common names of slaves. The practice of executing criminals by throwing them from the Tarpeian Rock (part of the Mons Capitolinus) was not common in the latter period of the republic. It was never applied to slaves, who were put to death, chiefly by crucifixion, outside the city on the Esquiliæ. (See Epod. v. 99, n.) Cadmus is said to have been a public executioner of that day.

40. At Novius] The upstart who is supposed to be addressed in the previous lines, is a plebeian tribune, and he here affirms that, if his birth is low, that of his colleague Novius (who may be anybody, see note on S. 3. 21) is still lower. Freedmen, and persons following low trades, were admitted into the senate, and forced into high magistracies by Julius Cæsar, and it was not till some years after this Satire was written that Augustus purged the senate of these members. The words ‘gradu post me sedet uno’ may be a metaphor taken from the theatre, of which the first fourteen rows were assigned to the Equites (Epod. iv. 15, n.).

41. Hoc tibi Paullus Et Messalla] These were names belonging to two of the most distinguished families of Rome, the Æmilia and Valeria. Horace introduces the name Messalla probably out of compliment to his friend Corvinus, for whom he wrote C. iii. 21. As to ‘hoc,’ in the sense of ‘propter hoc,’ see above, S. 1. 46, n. The same person who puts the question ‘tune Syri, etc.?’ is here supposed to rejoin, saying, that, though this worthy tribune has a colleague a degree less illustrious than himself, he need not think himself a Paullus; and besides, though Novius be his inferior in one way, he beats him in strength of lungs, “and that is what we like,” where the speaker ironically puts himself for the people.

43. Concurrantque foro tria funera,] These would be public funerals, ‘funera indictiva,’ at which the corpse of the deceased was carried in procession from his house, with the noise of trumpets and horns and fifes; and women (‘praeficae’) singing dirges; and ‘mimi,’ dancers and stage-players, who recited passages suited to the occasion, and sometimes acted the part of merry-andrews, mixing mirth with woe; and after these came men who represented the ancestors of the deceased, wearing masks suited to each character; and then the corpse on an open bier, which was followed by the relations and friends, all dressed in black. They went thus in procession to the Forum,[432] when the bier was set down, and one of the relations pronounced a funeral oration, after which the body was taken up again, and the procession went on, with the same noisy accompaniments, to the place without the city (intramural burials were forbidden by the laws of the Twelve Tables) where the body was first to be burnt, and then buried. The idiom ‘magna sonabit’ occurs above, S. 4. 43, ‘os magna sonaturum.’

49. forsit] This word is compounded of ‘fors sit.’ Whether it occurs elsewhere, or whether the passages in which it is supposed to occur are correctly copied, is doubted. Horace says, it might be that people had cause to grudge him the honorable post of military tribune, because he was not qualified for it; but no one could deny that he deserved the friendship of Mæcenas, because he was so particular in choosing only the deserving. ‘Prava ambitione’ means low flattery, to which Mæcenas would not listen.

52. Felicem dicere] ‘Felix’ is ‘lucky.’ Horace means he did not owe his introduction to Mæcenas to his luck, but to his friends. As to ‘hoc,’ see above, v. 41, n.

59. Satureiano] A fine horse, bred in the pastures of Saturium in Calabria, near Tarentum. The lengthening of the antepenult is required by the metre.

64. sed vita et pectore puro.] ‘Not as being the son of a distinguished father, but because my life and heart were pure.’

68. aut mala lustra] ‘Bad haunts.’ Horace repeatedly introduces ‘aut’ after ‘neque,’ twice repeated. Other passages are C. iii. 23. 5; S. i. 9. 31; ii. 1. 15; 2. 22. The construction with ‘nec’ and ‘et’ is of the same kind, and has been noticed before.

71. macro pauper agello] This small farm of his father’s, at Venusia, was confiscated during the time he was with the army of Brutus and Cassius.

72. Noluit in Flavi ludum] His father, who knew the value of a good education, and formed a right estimate of Horace’s abilities, would not send him to a small provincial school, kept by one Flavius, where nothing but arithmetic was taught, but took him for his education to Rome, where, though Horace complains that the teaching lay chiefly in figures, and the pursuits of a practical life (Epp. ii. 1. 103, sqq.; A. P. 325, sqq.), there were means of acquiring a knowledge of literature and the arts, for those who chose to take advantage of them. Ovid in like manner was sent from Sulmo, his native town, to Rome (Trist. iv. 10. 16). ‘Magni,’ ‘magnis,’ may mean ‘big,’ ‘coarse,’ contemptuously, or they may mean ‘important,’ as centurions and their sons might be in a small municipal town.

74. Laevo suspensi loculos] This verse is repeated in Epp. i. 1. 56. Each boy went to school with a bag, in which he carried his books and pens, and perhaps his ‘calculi,’ or pebbles used in calculation. ‘Tabulam’ probably signifies the wooden tablet covered with wax, for writing upon. These country schoolboys did for themselves what at Rome was done for boys of good birth by slaves, ‘capsarii.’

75. Ibant octonis] The Ides were eight days (inclusive) after the Nones, and hence I imagine the epithet ‘octonis.’ ‘Aera’ means the teacher’s fee, which appears to have been paid monthly.

76. Sed puerum est ausus] At what age Horace was sent to Rome he does not inform us, but it is probable he went when he was about twelve years old.

77. Artes quas doceat] In the earlier days of Roman history, the education of a boy was of the simplest kind, consisting chiefly of reading, writing and arithmetic. ‘Calculator’ and ‘notarius’ continued until the time of Martial to be names for a schoolmaster; and, as observed before (v. 72, n.),[433] the majority of boys learned little more than the above, even in Horace’s time. When Cicero was a boy, the learning of the Twelve Tables formed a necessary part of education. Freer intercourse with Greece and the Greek towns of Italy brought a more liberal class of studies to Rome, where Horace says he studied Homer (Epp. ii. 2. 41, sq.). Rhetoric was a branch of study much pursued by the young Romans; poetry likewise, and the philosophy of Greece. Their studies commenced at an early age, at first under the teaching of their ‘paedagogi,’ and afterwards (till they assumed the ‘toga virilis,’ and in some cases longer) at the ‘ludi literarii,’ private schools which they attended as day scholars.

79. In magno ut populo,] ‘So far as one could see me in such a busy crowd.’

81. custos incorruptissimus] The ‘paedagogus’ (‘custos’), whose office was of late growth at Rome, and borrowed from Greece, had the same functions as the παιδαγωγός among the Greeks, and was a slave, as there. He was continually about the boy’s person, and went with him to his masters. This task Horace’s father, who could have had but few slaves, and had none whom he could trust with such important duties, performed himself. Besides the ‘paedagogus,’ as observed above (v. 74, n.), other slaves went with the boy, to carry his bag, etc., and to give him consequence.

86. praeco — coactor] The first of these functionaries was a crier, either at auctions (one of his duties being to induce persons to attend and buy, see A. P. 419), or in courts of justice, or the public assemblies. There was a ‘praeco’ at all punishments and executions, to declare the crime of the offender (Epod. iv. 12, n.); also town-criers, who cried lost property, as with us. There were other kinds of criers. Which class Horace refers to, we cannot tell. Nor is it decided what class of ‘coactores’ his father belonged to. There were persons employed by the ‘publicani’ to collect the revenue, and who were called ‘coactores.’ The person who collected the money bid at an auction, was also a ‘coactor,’ and, generally, persons employed to collect money bore that title. It is probable that the ‘coactores’ of the first class made a good deal of money. Matthew the Apostle was one, and he was rich. It is generally believed that the elder Horace belonged to the second of the above classes, and some color is given to this by the association of the word with ‘praeco.’ But Suetonius, or the author of Horace’s life attributed to him, says that he was in the employ of the ‘publicani.’

87. at hoc nunc] ‘Hoc,’ in the sense of ‘propter hoc,’ ἐπὶ τούτῳ, is commonly used by Horace. See in this Satire, vv. 41 and 52. It is also common in Cæsar.

89. Nil me poeniteat sanum] ‘I hope while I have my senses I may never be ashamed.’ Horace uses this mode of expression elsewhere, as in the last Satire, v. 44, and S. ii. 3. 322.

90. dolo] ‘Dolus’ is used like ‘fraus’ in C. i. 28. 30, for a fault generally: ‘dolo suo,’ ‘by his own fault.’

94. A certis annis] ‘From any given period.’ He means that, at all times from his cradle upwards, his father had been to him all that a father could be. ‘Legere ad fastum,’ to choose with reference to ambition whatever parents each man might desire. We know nothing of Horace’s mother, whom he probably lost in very early life; but he here intimates his respect for her memory, as well as his father’s.

97. Fascibus et sellis] The ‘fasces’ were bundles of sticks, with or without an axe in the middle, which were carried before the consuls and prætors by lictors. The ‘sella curulis’ was a chair ornamented with ivory, the use of which during the republic was confined to the consuls, prætors, curule ædiles, and censors.

98. fortasse] The Greeks used ἴσως this way, where a certain and not a doubtful proposition is intended.

101. salutandi plures,] This means, that in order to preserve his position he must sell his independence, bowing to persons he would not otherwise notice, and paying visits of ceremony early in the morning,—a trouble that Horace would feel more than most men. He must also, he says, hire one or two persons to go about with him in the character of clients; he must buy a number of horses and slaves of the lower sort.

103. plures calones] ‘Calones’ were properly slaves who went with the army, carrying the heavier part of the soldier’s accoutrements. But the word was also applied to domestic slaves employed on menial work.

104. ducenda petorrita] The ‘petorritum’ was a four-wheeled carriage, said to have been introduced from Gaul beyond the Alps.

curto Ire licet mulo] It is impossible to do more than conjecture what Horace means by ‘curto.’ Probably a stout, short-bellied animal is intended, an ugly beast.

105. usque Tarentum,] Along the most frequented of all the roads, the Via Appia, and to the farthest part of Italy, carrying his portmanteau behind him. Public officers could not go beyond a certain distance from Rome, without the permission of the senate.

107. Tilli,] See v. 24. He appears to have been a parsimonious person, going into the country with no company of friends, but only five slaves to attend him (see note on S. i. 3. 11), carrying a jar of their master’s cheap wine. The Via Tiburtina left Rome by the Esquiline gate, and bore that name as far as Tibur, whence the Via Valeria completed the communication with Aternum on the Hadriatic.

112. quanti olus ac far;] Horace means that he lounges in the market and talks freely to the market people, without fear of lowering his dignity, or being remarked.

113. Fallacem Circum] The Circus Maximus was said to have been built by Tarquinius Priscus for races and athletic exhibitions. Different writers mention that fortune tellers and other impostors resorted to the Circus, and gave it a bad name; but it was also frequented by prostitutes in vast numbers, who lined the vaults under the ‘cavea,’ and carried on their vile trade there, and was surrounded with shops established for the benefit of the spectators. The Circus Maximus was called Circus κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν. When there were no races or games going on, it was probably frequented as a lounge by all manner of people; but probably men of consequence did not care to be seen there among the vulgar, at such times. The Forum was not frequented in the evening by the richer class of people, who were then eating their dinner. Horace liked to stroll out at that hour, and take his light meal afterwards, and to stop and hear what the fortune-tellers had to say for themselves. Respecting these persons, see C. i. 11.

115. Ad porri et ciceris] This Pythagorean meal of leeks, pulse, and fritters, was partly perhaps matter of choice, and partly of necessity. Horace was poor at this time, and his health was indifferent. A vegetable diet was and is much more common in Italy than with us, and probably the most luxurious of the Romans, when by themselves, frequently abstained from meat. A dish of ‘cicer,’ ready boiled, was sold in the streets for an as, in the time of Martial (i. 104. 10). ‘Laganus’ is described by the Scholiasts as a flat, thin cake, fried and eaten with condiments. It was sometimes fried under roast meat or fowls, so as to get their dripping, and so would be like our Yorkshire pudding. Horace had no doubt the plainer sort.

116. pueris tribus,] This number was the lowest, probably, that at that time waited on any person who had any slaves at all. (See above, on v.[435] 107.) ‘Lapis albus’ was a small side-table of white marble. The wealthy Romans had a great variety of tables of the handsomest sort in their dining-rooms, for exhibiting their plate. (See below, S. 2. 4, n.; and above, S. 3. 13, n.) All the plate Horace had to show was two cups and a cyathus (C. iii. 19. 12), and these it is probable were usually empty. The ‘echinus’ is a vessel nowhere else mentioned by that name, and is variously interpreted as a salt-cellar (in the shape of an ‘echinus’ or sea-hedgehog), a glass bottle, a leather bottle, and a wooden bowl in which to wash the cups. ‘Paterae’ were broad, flat, saucer-shaped cups, and were much used in libations. ‘Guttus’ was a long, thin-necked bottle, from which wine or oil was poured very slowly, drop by drop. It was also used in libations, and these two vessels, as here joined, have reference to the practice of offering a libation at every meal to the Lares. See C. iv. 5. 34, n. These were of the commonest earthenware which came from Campania. See S. ii. 3. 144.

120. obeundus Marsya,] Horace says he goes to bed without the nervous feeling that he must be up early to go to the Forum, where a statue of Marsyas was erected near the Rostra. Marsyas was a fabulous person, who was said to have challenged Apollo to play the lyre against his flute. Apollo, having gained the victory, caused Marsyas to be flayed alive. Marsyas or Silenus was the symbol of a city having the Jus Italicum, one part of which was a free constitution of its own. It would therefore appear in the Forum as the symbol of free jurisdiction. The only representations of Marsyas that remain, exhibit him either in the agony of punishment, or in the suspense that preceded it. Wherefore “a Marsyas countenance” was synonymous with dejection and ill-humour; and Horace seems to indicate that his face was distorted, and ascribes it humorously to his detestation of the younger Novius, who is said to have been a usurer.

122. Ad quartam jaceo;] The first hour he considers late enough for any man to sleep (Epp. i. 17. 6). Sometimes he got up early and went out to walk (S. 9); but as a general rule he remained in bed till the fourth hour, after which he got up and took a stroll, as he had done the evening before; or else, after reading and writing (or thinking, as he says S. 4. 133) by himself (‘tacitum’) and in bed, as much as he felt inclined, he anointed himself with oil, and went to the Campus Martius to get some exercise. The Romans rubbed oil on their limbs, either before swimming in the Tiber (C. iii. 12. 7, S. ii. 1. 8), or before their more violent exercises (C. i. 8. 8, sqq.). The parsimonious Natta, who robbed the lamps to oil himself, was probably a person of good family, that being the cognomen of the Pinaria gens, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome.

125. Ast ubi me fessum] When the sun began to get hot about noon, and Horace was tired with his game, he went to the public baths to bathe, which was usual after playing, and then took a light luncheon (see above S. 5. 25, n.), after which he lounged at home till evening, when he went out for his stroll perhaps, and came home again to his supper, as he told us before. ‘Lusum trigonem’ was a game of ball only mentioned elsewhere by Martial. The players, as the name implies, were three in number, and stood in a triangle. Their skill appears to have been shown in throwing and catching the ball with the left hand.

127. quantum interpellet] ‘As much as would prevent me from going all day on an empty stomach.’ The prose construction would be ‘interpellet quin,’ or ‘quominus,’ or ‘ne durem.’

131. Quaestor] The office of ‘quaestor,’ which was at one time a high magistracy, when the ‘quaestores’ had charge of the ‘aerarium’ or public treasury, was at this time one of little weight. Its functions were not clearly defined. Horace was a scribe in the quaestor’s office, which perhaps leads him to speak of a quaestor. The office was high enough for the occasion.

The subject of this Satire is a dispute between Rupilius Rex, one of the officers on the staff of Brutus, and a merchant named Persius, of Clazomenæ (a town on the gulf of Smyrna), arising, it may be supposed, out of some money transactions. Horace treats the matter much in the same way as the dispute got up between the two parasites for the amusement of Mæcenas and his friends at Caudium (S. 5. 51, sqq.). He no doubt had some reason for disliking Rupilius, which the Scholiasts supply, whether with any sufficient authority it is impossible to say. They tell us that this man’s native place was Præneste (which may be gathered from v. 28); that he was banished from that town by his fellow-citizens; that he then served in Africa in the army of Attius Varus, proprætor of Cn. Pompeius; that he was received into favor by Julius Cæsar and made Prætor; that after Cæsar’s death he was proscribed by the Triumvirs, and joined the army of Brutus. Finally, that he was disgusted at Horace, a man of low birth, being made a military tribune, and continually insulted him, which indignities Horace retorted in this Satire. Persius, the Scholiasts say, was born of a Greek father and a Roman mother. Beyond this, which may or may not be true, we know nothing about him but what we gather from this Satire, that he was a wealthy man, and carried on a large business of some kind at Clazomenæ. The dispute arose when Brutus and his army were in Asia Minor, which was in B. C. 43-44 (see note on v. 18). How soon afterwards the Satire was written, it is impossible to say; not long, probably. It may have been made on the spot, and shown to those who would find most amusement in it, in the camp.

1. Proscripti Regis Rupili] The Rupilia gens was a plebeian family of no great note in Rome. The only one of the name who was distinguished was P. Rupilius, consul in B. C. 132, and the following year proconsul in Sicily. He was the intimate friend of Lælius and the Younger Scipio (Cic. de Amicit. 27). As to Rupilius Rex and Persius, see Introduction. By ‘proscripti’ it is perhaps intended to compare this Rex with the last of the Reges, Tarquinius. If so, the play upon the name is repeated in the last line. See note.

2. Hybrida quo pacto sit Persius ultus,] ‘Hybrida’ applies to all cross-bred animals, and was used for a man one of whose parents was a Roman and the other a foreigner.

3. Omnibus et lippis notum et tonsoribus] The apothecaries’ and barbers’ shops were constantly crowded with idlers, who had nothing to do but to gossip about the news of the hour. With the barbers it has been so in all ages and countries. The Romans were commonly afflicted with weakness of the eyes, and this caused the apothecary to be as much mixed up with idlers as the barber.

8. Sisennas Barros ut equis] Of Sisenna and Barrus nothing is known; but it may be conjectured, from this place, that their names were proverbial for foul-mouthed, abusive persons. The plural number is used here for the singular, according to a usage common to all languages. So Virg. Georg. ii. 169: “Haec Decios, Marios, magnosque Camillos, Scipiadas duros bello.” Cic. Cat. Maj. 6: “Fabricii Curii Coruncanii.” See also above, C. i. 12. 37, where Scauros is probably put for the best of that family, M. Æmilius. ‘Equis albis’ is equivalent to ‘fleet horses,’ according to that line of Virgil in which he describes the horses of Turnus, “Qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras” (Aen. xii. 84). The expression ‘equis praecurreret albis’ is proverbial, ‘he would soon outstrip them.’

9. Postquam nihil inter utrumque Convenit,] When they found they could not settle their quarrel privately, they went before the prætor (v. 18). The digression that intervenes is a comparison between such disputants and the warriors of the Iliad. When men fall out, says he, they fight after the fashion of two brave heroes engaged in a deadly feud, even as Hector and Achilles, who hated each other so mortally, and were so exceedingly brave, that they could not be separated when they came together in conflict till one or other was killed; or else they behave as when two cowards meet, and both are glad to give way; or as when the strong meets the weak, Diomed meets Glaucus, and the weak gives in, and humbles himself before his enemy.

11. inter Hectora — atque inter Achillem] This repetition of ‘inter’ is not uncommon. See Cic. Lael. c. 25: “Contio — judicare solet quid intersit inter popularem civem, et inter constantem, severum, et gravem.” See Epp. i. 2. 11. ‘Animosum’ belongs to ‘Achillem,’ ‘atque’ being often put by Horace after the first word of its clause. See Epod. xvii. 4. S. i. 5. 4; 6. 131.

15. vexet] The meeting between Glaucus and Diomed, in which the former loses heart and gives up his arms to his adversary, is related in Hom. Il. vi. 234, sqq. On ‘ultro,’ see C. iv. 4. 51, n.

18. Bruto praetore tenente] Brutus was ‘praetor urbanus’ in the year B. C. 44, when Cæsar was killed; and in the course of the same year he left Rome for the purpose of taking possession, as proprætor, of the two provinces of Macedonia and Bithynia, which had been assigned him by the senate, who revoked his appointment before he had reached his province, and assigned it to M. Antonius, and he made it over to his brother Caius. Brutus, however, in defiance of the senate, took possession of the province of Macedonia, and retained it after the formation of the coalition between Augustus and M. Antonius. Being then at war with the senate, he led his troops into Asia Minor as into a foreign country, and overran Lycia, and dealt with Asia as his own province. Proceeding through the country he probably held ‘conventus’ (see below, v. 22) at particular places, for the purpose of hearing disputes as proprætor; and it was at such a gathering at Clazomenæ that this cause of Persius and Rex was heard. Horace calls Brutus ‘praetor,’ though he was not entitled strictly to the name, particularly in respect to the province of Asia, which had never been assigned him. He called himself at this time ‘imperator,’ as appears from coins still existing.

20. Compositum melius cum Bitho Bacchius] ‘Compositum’ agrees with ‘par’ understood, that word being used as a substantive for ‘a pair,’ both in the singular, as here, and the plural, as Cic. Lael. c. 4: “Ex omnibus seculis vix tria aut quattuor nominantur paria amicorum.” Bithus and Bacchius are said to have been gladiators of great repute, who, after having in their time killed many antagonists, finally killed each other. As to ‘in jus,’ see S. 9. 77.

22. ridetur ab omni Conventu;] ‘Ridetur’ is used impersonally. ‘Conventus’ was a meeting, at fixed times and places, of the inhabitants of a province before the prætor or governor, for the purpose of settling disputes and transacting business. The name was also applied to certain districts out of which such meetings were composed.

23. laudatque cohortem:] The official staff of a provincial governor was called his ‘cohors’ and ‘comites.’ See Epp. i. 3. 6; 8. 2, 14. The lower officials, who did not belong to the ‘cohors,’ but were a good deal about the person of the governor, Cicero speaks of as those “qui quasi ex cohorte praetoris appellari solent” (Ad Qu. Fr. 1. i. Ep. 1. c. 4, where see Long’s note). ‘Comes’ was retained as a title of honor during the empire, and has survived to the present day in the word ‘count.’

25. canem] The ‘dog-star,’ as opposed to the ‘stellae salubres.’ ‘Excepto[438] Rege’ shows that Rupilius belonged to the ‘cohors,’ and therefore held a post of trust about Brutus.

27. fertur quo rara securis.] Between precipitous banks covered with trees, where the axe seldom comes, from their inaccessible position.

28. Tum Praenestinus] See Introduction. ‘Salso multoque fluenti’ means, as he went on with his bitterness, pouring on like a full stream. His abuse is salt, the other man’s vinegar.

29. Expressa arbusto] ‘Drawn from the vineyard.’ The illustration Horace chooses for the abuse which the enraged Rupilius hurls back (‘regerit’) upon his antagonist, is that which the vine-dresser retorts upon the passenger, who provokes him, in the first instance, by calling to him “Cuckoo!” but who is fain to retreat before the storm of foul language the vine-dresser returns him, still however calling as he retires, “Cuckoo, cuckoo!” He was considered a tardy person who had not got his vines trimmed by the arrival of the cuckoo, and the joke consists in the passenger telling the vine-dresser that the cuckoo was coming, and would find his trees unpruned, which was as much as to call him a lazy fellow. The Greeks had a proverb to the same effect, and modern travellers observe similar practices among the Neapolitan peasantry now. In ‘vindemiator’ the third syllable coalesces with the fourth. See C. iii. 4. 41, and add S. i. 8. 43; 5. 67; ii. 2. 21; 3. 245. Epp. ii. 2. 120. ‘Invictus’ means one who could not be beaten with his own weapons of abuse.

32. Italo perfusus aceto,] ‘Pus,’ ‘venenum,’ ‘sal,’ ‘acetum,’ are all words well chosen for describing the poisonous character of these men’s malice.

34. qui reges consueris tollere,] The man plays upon the name of Brutus, alluding to him whom the prætor claimed for his ancestor, L. Junius Brutus, who helped to expel the last of the kings. See note on v. 1.

On the outside of the city walls, in front of Mons Esquilinus, lay the Campus Esquilinus, in which was a public burial-ground for the poorest of the people, and the Sestertium or place of execution for slaves and others of the lower sort, whose bodies were left unburied, for the dogs and vultures to prey upon (see Epod. v. 100). This place, which must always have been a public nuisance and a source of malaria, was given (as some say) by a decree of the senate to Mæcenas, or else purchased by him, cleared, drained, and laid out in gardens, in which he afterwards built a handsome house. (See C. iii. 29. Epod. ix. 3. S. ii. 3. 309.) His example was afterwards followed by a member of the house of Lamia, in whose gardens Caligula was buried. (Suet. Calig. c. 59.) The following Satire was suggested by a figure of Priapus set up in Mæcenas’s garden. The god is represented as contrasting the present state of the ground with what it once was, by which a compliment is conveyed to Mæcenas for his public spirit in ridding the city of such a nuisance. Priapus is also made to complain of the trouble he has, in keeping the ground clear of trespassers, but more particularly of the witches, who, having formerly carried on their practices among the tombs and bones of the dead, continued to haunt the scene of their iniquity. This is introduced for the purpose of dragging in the woman whom Horace satirized under the name of Canidia (v. 23, sqq.). The description is in some parts very like that of the fifth Epode, and the two may have been written about the same time.

1. inutile lignum,] The uselessness of the wood of the fig-tree was proverbial.[439] Hence σύκινοι ἄνδρες meant men fit for nothing. Priapus was a rural divinity, borrowed by the Romans from the later mythology of the Greeks. He was the protector of flocks, fields, and gardens, and symbolized the fertility of nature generally. His images were made in a rough fashion, and the ancients had but little respect for him, unless it were those of the lowest sort; though Horace, who treats him so contemptuously here, speaks of him elsewhere (Epod. ii.), in conjunction with Silvanus, as receiving the sacrifice due to him. No one could better have appreciated than a Roman of Horace’s way of thinking, whether, in respect to this deity or any other, the ironical description of the prophet Isaiah (xliv. 9-20), which may be referred to with advantage. There is no smoke in the whole of that description more severe than Horace’s “incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum Maluit esse deum.” The figures of Priapus were generally busts, but sometimes they were full length, of the kind Horace describes. Usually they held a sickle or a club in their right hand, by way of frightening thieves, and a wisp of straw, or something of that sort, to frighten the birds.

6. importunas volucres] Virgil applies the same epithet to destructive birds “Obscoenaeque canes importunaeque volucres” (Georg. i. 470). The word is used with a variety of meanings, to reduce which to one character we must know more than we do of its etymology.

8. Huc prius angustis] See Introduction. The poor people were buried in ill-dug graves, which had the name ‘puticuli,’ probably a form of ‘putei.’ The manner of their funeral is here stated with painful satire. The poor wretch is neglected by his master; and a fellow-slave, out of his ‘peculium,’ goes to the expense of hiring (‘locabat’) ‘vespillones’ (common corpse-bearers, νεκροφόρους) to carry him out on a bier to the public burial ground, where his corpse was tossed naked into a pit into which other corpses had been tossed before. This scene could not have occurred in all its particulars very often, since every master was bound by law to bury his slave, and if any one did it for him, he was entitled to recover the cost of the funeral from the master of the slave. The ‘vilis arca’ was called ‘sandapila,’ a bier of narrow dimensions.

11. Pantolabo scurrae Nomentanoque nepoti:] As to these persons, see note on S. 1. 101. In consequence of their extravagance, Priapus foretells they will come to a pauper’s funeral.

12. Mille pedes in fronte,] This public burial ground was 1,000 feet in breadth and 300 in depth. ‘In fronte’ means facing the public road, the Via Tiburtina (6. 108), or the Via Praenestina, one of which, or both, must have passed very close to it. (See Cæsar, B. G. ii. 8, and Mr. Long’s note.) It was usual to engrave on monuments the following letters, H. M. H. N. S., which stand for “Hoc monumentum heredes non sequitur”, or H. M. AD H. N. TRANS. The words were sometimes given at full length. Sometimes EX T. (ex testamento) were inserted between H. and N. Such sepulchres were called ‘sepulcra familiaria’; those that were built for a man and his heirs were called ‘hereditaria.’ Horace writes as if there were a stone (‘cippus’) which defined (‘dabat’) the extent of this burial ground and bore the inscription usual on private monuments, H. M. H. N. S., which is obviously only a satire. The words could only apply to a private place of burial. All he really means is, that a space of ground of the extent he mentions was marked off for the burial of these poor people.

14. Nunc licet Esquiliis] The whole of the Esquiline or fifth region of Rome was called Esquiliæ. This, from having been an eye-sore and a plague-spot, became a healthy and pleasant residence. Suetonius tells us that Augustus, when he was ill, went to Mæcenas’s house in the Esquiliæ, to recruit (Octav. c. 72). The ‘agger’ here referred to was a raised terrace, commenced by Servius Tullius, and continued by Tarquinius Priscus, being[440] in all about twelve stadia in length, and about fifty feet in breadth. Here the Romans walked in cold weather to get the sun, and had a full view of the pestilent plain which Mæcenas converted into a paradise. Juvenal calls it ‘ventosus’ (S. viii. 43). ‘Quo’ is used in the sense of ‘ex quo.’

17. Cum mihi non tantum] ‘Cum’ is thus connected with what goes before. Priapus says the locality is now made healthy, and the citizens may take their walk without being sickened with the sight of bones bleaching upon the plain, whereas his vexations still remain,—the driving away of thieves and wild animals, which still frequented the spot, and, yet worse, the punishment and scaring away of the witches, who there continued to carry on their abominable practices. We may suppose that, though the place was cleared, the witches still continued, from habit, to haunt the scene of their iniquities, and that the ‘fures’ and ‘ferae’ are the depredators that came to rob the gardens which were the god’s particular care. There is no other instance of ‘suetus’ being used as a trisyllable. Lucretius so uses ‘suevit’ (vi. 854): “Qui ferri quoque vim penetrare suevit.”

23. Vidi egomet nigra] The god proceeds to relate a scene that happened before the tombs were cleared away (v. 36), in which the characters introduced are the notorious Canidia, of whom we have seen enough in the Epodes, and Sagana, who is associated with her in Epod. v. 25, sqq. Their appearance and behavior are much the same as there.

nigra succinctam vadere palla] The ‘palla’ was the upper garment worn by women out of doors, as the men wore the toga. (See S. 2. 29, n.) Here ‘succinctam’ signifies ‘expeditam,’ ‘swift in her movements,’ as in Epod. v. 25. It is equivalent to ‘praecinctis’ in S. 5. 6, where see note. It occurs again, S. ii. 6. 107.

25. Cum Sagana majore] ‘Majore’ probably signifies that Sagana was older than Canidia.

27. pullam] Æneas offers a black lamb to Nox and Terra (Aen. vi. 249): “Ipse atri velleris agnam Aeneas matri Eumenidum magnaeque sorori Ense ferit.” Tibullus uses the same word as Horace (i. 2. 61):—

“Et me lustravit taedis et nocte serena
Concidit ad magicos hostia pulla deos.”

“Haec cantu finditque solum, Manesque sepulcris
Elicit, et tepido devocat ossa rogo.”

30. Lanea et effigies erat, altera cerea:] The meaning of the woollen image, which was to punish the waxen one, is not very clear. The wax was to melt, and, as it melted, so was the lover to consume in the fires of love.

32. servilibus — modis.] There was scarcely any imaginable form of cruelty to which slaves were not liable, through the caprice of their owners, and this of roasting or half roasting alive may have happened to more than one poor wretch of this class.

34. serpentes — Infernas errare canes,] Snakes in her hair, round her waist, and in her hand for a whip, are insignia always to be found in the representations of Tisiphone. Virgil mentions the infernal hounds as howling at the approach of Hecate (Aen. vi. 257): ‘Visaeque canes ululare per umbram, Adventante Dea.” She was worshipped under three forms, as Luna in heaven; as Artemis (by the Greeks) or Diana (by the Romans) upon earth; and as Proserpina in Tartarus. In the first and last of these forms she was invoked by witches. Here it is in her infernal character.

36. sepulcra.] These were great barrows formed by the burial of a number of corpses in one pit (v. 8, n.).

39. Julius et fragilis Pediatia] The connection between these persons, Julius and Pediatius, is stated to have been of a kind not mentionable.[441] Julius may have been a freedman of the dictator, C. Julius Cæsar, and the other person is said to have been a Roman eques. The feminine termination is affixed to his name to indicate that he was addicted to the vilest practices. Of Voranus nothing is known; but he was some notorious thief.

41. resonarent triste et acutum,] This corresponds with Virgil’s description (Aen. vi. 492), “pars tollere vocem Exiguam.”

45. Furarium] Horace calls the two witches Furies, by a way of speaking common to all times since the decline of the reverential feeling which made the Greeks shrink from mentioning the name of these σεμναὶ θεαί. Before Euripides, no writer would have made so free with the name of the Erinnyes. He applies it to Helen (Orest. 1390, περγάμων Ἀπολλωνίων Ἐρινύν), and to Medea (Med. 1260, ἔξελ᾽ οἴκων τάλαιναν φονίαν τ᾽ Ἐρινὺν ὑπ᾽ ἀλαστόρων).

48. caliendrum] This is variously stated to be a wig, or a cap, or some ornament for the head. The etymology is uncertain.

50. Vincula] These may mean love-knots, or long grass woven into chains for refractory and faithless lovers.

This Satire, which is justly popular for its humor and great dramatic power, has an historical value as showing, undesignedly, but more clearly than almost any description could do, the character of Horace. It puts the man before us as in a picture.

He represents himself as sauntering alone and early on the Sacra Via, when a person he knew no more than by name, a forward coxcomb, comes up familiarly and falls into conversation with him, to his great annoyance, for he wanted to be alone, and knew the fellow’s character, which was probably notorious. Horace does his best to shake him off, but he is too amiable to cope with the effrontery of his companion, whose object is to get, through Horace, an introduction to Mæcenas. The man’s vulgarity and want of tact are conspicuous throughout the scene, while Horace exhibits in every part good breeding and an amiable temper, and though he is tried to the utmost by reflections on his patron and his friends, he is incapable of saying a rude word, is taken off his guard continually, and is amusingly conscious of his inferiority to the man of insolence on his own ground. The effect of this picture is heightened by the introduction, towards the end of the scene, of Fuscus Aristius, an old friend of the poet, and a man of the world, who, like Horace understood character, but had that sort of moral courage and promptitude which his friend wanted. The readiness with which he takes up the joke and enters into Horace’s absurd position, and the despair to which his desertion reduces the poet, are highly ludicrous. After various ineffectual attempts to get rid of the man, Horace is at last delivered by one who seizes upon the intruder and carries him off to appeal before the prætor on some suit he has against him.

1. Ibam forte via Sacra,] Horace does not mean that it was his custom to stroll on the Sacra Via, especially at that hour in the morning, about eight o’clock (v. 35); but that, when he walked, his mind generally diverted itself with trifles, being of an easy turn, and having few anxieties to trouble it. On the Via Sacra, see Epod. iv. 7, n., vii. 8, n.

5. Suaviter ut nunc est,] ‘Pretty well as times go’; by which he means nothing at all, not caring what he answers, but annoyed at the forwardness[442] of his assailant. ‘Cupio omnia quae vis’ is a common formula of politeness.

6. Num quid vis? occupo.] ‘Num quid vis quin abeam?’ ‘Is there any thing else I can do for you before I go?’ Professor Key (L. G. 1183) quotes this phrase from Terence (Ad. ii. 2. 39), and adds in a note, “This or a shorter form, ‘numquid vis’? was a civil mode of saying good-by.” ‘Occupo’ means ‘I anticipate him before he has time to speak.’

10. Dicere nescio quid puero,] When the Romans walked abroad even for a stroll on the most ordinary occasions, they had one or more slaves with them. They were a particular class in the ‘familia,’ and called, from their occupation, ‘pedisequi.’

11. O te, Bolane, cerebri Felicem!] The meaning of ‘cerebri’ is seen in the adjective ‘cerebrosus’ noticed above (5. 21). Horace, remembering an acquaintance of quick, strong temper, envies him that quality, for he is too mild to shake off his companion. Who Bolanus was, is unknown. It was a cognomen of one at least of the families at Rome, and derived from Bola, a town of the Æqui.

18. Trans Tiberim — cubat is] ‘Cubat’ means that his friend is lying sick. (See Sat. ii. 3. 289, and Epp. ii. 2. 68.) Julius Cæsar had some pleasure-grounds, which he bequeathed to the Roman people, on the right bank of the Tiber, a long way from the Sacra Via.

22. non Viscum pluris amicum,] Who Viscus was it is impossible to say with certainty. The name occurs in S. 10. 83, where there are two; and in S. ii. 8. 20, where mention is made of Viscus of Thurii. The name is always associated with Varius, concerning whom see S. 5. 40, n.

28. Felices! nunc ego resto.] This and what follows must be supposed to have been uttered inwardly. He wishes himself dead. The witch’s prophecy is only an absurd notion suggested by his present position. ‘Confice’ means ‘despatch me,’ ‘finish me.’ It is a technical word for the transaction and completion of business. As to the Sabine witches, see Epod. xvii. 28, and on ‘urna,’ see C. ii. 3. 25, n. As Fate, so the witch shakes her urn, and the lot or name of this or that person falls out, on which she pronounces her prophecies. All the three words, ‘divina,’ ‘mota,’ ‘urna,’ are in the ablative. ‘Quandocunque’ has sometimes, but rarely, the sense of ‘aliquando,’ ‘some time or other,’ which is its meaning here.

35. Ventum erat ad Vestae,] They had now had an hour’s walk, and, having passed through the Forum, were approaching the Tiber, not far from which, and to the west of Mons Palatinus, stood the temple of Vesta, with the Atrium Numæ and Lucus Vestæ attached (C. i. 2. 16, n.). The temple of Vesta was near one of the courts of law where the man had to make his appearance, or forfeit his ‘vadimonium.’ It was now past the third hour, when the business of the courts commenced.

36. casu tunc respondere vadato] The expression ‘vadari aliquem’ means to require ‘vades,’ ‘sureties,’ of a party. The corresponding term is ‘vadimonium promittere,’ which is said of him who gives ‘vades.’ The ‘vadatus’ therefore was the plaintiff in an action, in which the hero of this Satire was defendant. He had entered into an engagement (‘vadimonium’) to appear on a certain day to answer to the action, and if he failed he would lose his cause, forfeit the amount of his ‘vadimonium,’ and be liable to be arrested in satisfaction of the remainder of the debt, if that were not covered by the ‘poena desertionis’ deposited when the ‘vadimonium’ was entered into. The amount of this was sometimes equal to the sum in dispute, sometimes only one half. ‘Litem’ means the amount claimed by the plaintiff, as in a criminal action it was the amount of damages assessed under a ‘litis aestimatio.’

38. Si me amas, — hic ades.] “‘Adesse’ is a word of technical use to accompany a person to court, there to give him your aid and advice.” (Long on Cicero in Verr. ii. 2. 29.) ‘Hic’ shows they were within sight of the court to which the speaker points.

41. Tene relinquam an rem.] On the use of ‘ne — an,’ see Key’s L. G. § 1423, b. ‘Res’ is technically used here and elsewhere (in legal formulæ) as an equivalent for ‘lis.’

43. Maecenas quomodo tecum?] He asks abruptly, “How do you and Mæcenas get on together? a shrewd man, and does n’t make himself common. No man ever made a better use of his opportunities. Could you not introduce me to him? I should be very happy to play into your hands, and, if I am not very much mistaken, we should soon push aside your rivals.” ‘Paucorum hominum’ means a man of few acquaintances, as in Terence (Eun. iii. 1. 18):—

“Immo sic homo est
Perpaucorum hominum. Gn. Immo multorum arbitror
Si tecum vivit.”

46. Magnum adjutorem] ‘Ferre secundas’ and ‘adjutor’ are scenic terms, and are said, the first of the δευτεραγωνιστής (see Epp. i. 18. 14), the other of all the subordinate players. ‘Hunc hominem’ is the Greek τόνδ᾽ ἄνδρα. ‘Tradere’ is a conventional term for introductions, and ‘submovere’ for the duty of the lictor in clearing the way (see C. ii. 16. 10).

48. Non isto vivimus] Horace indignantly declares that these are not the terms on which they live with Mæcenas, intriguing and jostling one another to get the first place in his favor.

54. Velis tantummodo: quae tua virtus,] This is said ironically. ‘You have only to desire it, and of course, such is your virtue, you will be sure to gain your point and Mæcenas is a man who may be won, and for this reason (because he likes to be won) he is difficult of access at first.’ On the construction ‘quae tua virtus,’ see Key’s L. G. 1131.

56. Haud mihi deero:] The man professes to suppose Horace is serious, and takes him at his word.

59. deducam.] “Haec enim ipsa sunt honorabilia quae videntur levia atque communia, salutari, appeti, decedi, assurgi, deduci, reduci, consuli” (Cic. de Senect. c. 18). To attend upon a person when he leaves home is ‘deducere’; ‘reducere’ to accompany him on his return. Great men, when they went out of doors, were usually accompanied by friends, while numbers of parasites and expectants followed their steps, and were eager to be seen by them and to be known to have been in their company.

62. Unde venis? et Quo tendis?] This was a common mode of salutation. See S. ii. 4. 1, “Unde et quo Catius?”; Virg. Ecl. ix. 1, “Quo te, Moeri, pedes? an, quo via ducit, in urbem?”

64. lentissima brachia,] ‘Arms that had no feeling.’ Fuscus pretends not to perceive his friend’s hints, pulling his toga, pressing his arm, nodding and looking askance at him.

69. tricesima sabbata:] It is probable that Aristius Fuscus knew very little about the Jews, and invented the thirtieth Sabbath on the spot. I do not find that it is made out on any authority that the Jews had any Sabbath that they called the thirtieth. The plural σάββατα is commonly used by the writers of the New Testament for the Sabbath day. But among many superstitions prevalent, especially among women and persons of nervous habit and of the[444] lower orders (see S. ii. 3. 291, n.), curses denounced upon the transgressors of the Sabbath, which the Jews, who were zealous in making proselytes, propagated among them, were objects of terror to many.

72. Huncine solem Tam nigrum surrexe] ‘Huncine’ is compounded of the pronoun, the demonstrative enclitic ‘ce’ (for ‘ecce,’ ‘behold’), and the interrogative enclitic ‘ne’ (Key’s L. G. 293). As to ‘surrexe,’ see S. i. 5. 79; and Terence (Ad. iv. 2. 22), “Non tu eum rus hinc modo Produxe aiebas?”

76. Licet antestari?] This word signifies the calling a by-stander to witness that there was nothing illegal in the conduct of the plaintiff in such a case as the above, and that the defendant had resisted, and that force was necessary. The process was by touching the ear of the person whose testimony was asked, who could not be compelled to be a witness; but after he had consented, he was bound to appear and give evidence if required. Horace was only too glad to help in the forcible removal of his persecutor, and gave his ear with all readiness. The parties begin to wrangle: a crowd of idlers of course forms round them, and Horace makes his escape. By ‘vero’ he means ‘in good earnest.’

77. Rapit in jus;] ‘In jus vocare’ is a technical expression having reference to the first step in a civil action when both parties appeared before the prætor or other magistrates having ‘jurisdictio,’ with the view of fixing a day for the commencement of the trial. On this occasion the ‘vadimonium’ above described was entered into. ‘In jus vocare,’ therefore, being the first step, could not follow upon the neglect of the ‘vadimonium’ by Horace’s companion; and the ‘adversarius’ in this case cannot be the plaintiff in the other (v. 36), unless Horace is speaking loosely.

The line of self-defence Horace took in the fourth Satire (see Introduction, and v. 6, n.) led him into a criticism of Lucilius, which gave a fresh handle to his adversaries, who professed an admiration for that poet, but admired him for his worst faults of taste, and especially for his combination of Greek words with his mother tongue,—a practice the affectation of which no one would more instinctively feel and condemn than Horace. Horace adheres to his criticism, and says, if Lucilius had lived, he would have been the first to find faults in his own style, and to correct it.

3. At idem] “‘At’ denotes rather addition than opposition. It is commonly employed after a concession” (Key’s L. G. 1445). The concession here is in ‘nempe.’ ‘You say, and I admit it, still in the same Satire I praised him.’

4. defricuit] This word is nowhere else used in this sense. It means ‘to give a hard rub,’ as we say. There are other vulgarisms in our own language akin to this expression.

6. Et Laberi mimos] Laberius was the most distinguished writer of this particular kind of play that we know of. He died the year before the battle of Philippi, A. U. C. 711, and therefore before this Satire was written. The Roman mimes were, in the time of Laberius, represented in the theatres with the regular drama. They were a combination of grotesque dumb-show, of dances by men and women, of farcical representations in verse-dialogue, of incidents in low and profligate life, and of grave sentiments and satirical allusions interspersed with the dialogue. Augustus was a great patron of these licentious representations. See Tac. Ann. i. 54.

9. Est brevitate opus,] The want of this quality in Lucilius he condemns in S. 4. 9, sqq.

12. Defendente vicem] ‘Supporting the part,’ like “fungar vice cotis” (A. P. 304), and “Actoris partes chorus officiumque virile Defendat” (v. 193). On ‘modo,’ see S. 3. 12. The combination Horace commends is that of the orator sternly or gravely rebuking vice, of the humorous satirist (‘poëtae’) broadly ridiculing it, and of the polished wit, who, instead of throwing himself with all his strength upon his victim, substitutes sarcasm for invective, and lets his power be rather felt than seen. Of these three, the gravity of stern reproof Horace estimates lowest, saying that ridicule generally settles questions, of however grave importance, better and more decisively than severity.

15. secat res.] ‘Secare’ is used in the sense of ‘decidere’ in Epp. i. 16. 42. Cicero (De Or. ii. 58) says, “Est plane oratoris movere risum, — maxime quod tristitiam ac severum mitigat et relaxat odiosasque res saepe quas argumentis dilui non facile est joco risuque dissolvit.”

16. Illi scripta quibus] See S. 4. 2, n. ‘Hoc stabant,’ ‘stood on this ground,’ as ‘hinc pendet,’ S. 4. 6.

18. Hermogenes] See S. 3. 129, n. ‘Simius iste’ probably means Demetrius, whom we meet with below (v. 79) as an abuser of Horace and (v. 90) as a trainer of ‘mimae,’ like Hermogenes, with whom he is associated. We know nothing more of him. His only skill was to sing the love-songs of Calvus and Catullus, who were favorite poets of the last generation, and great friends.

20. quod verbis Graeca Latinis] This is a new fault in the style of Lucilius, not before mentioned. See the note on S. 4. 6.

21. Seri studiorum!] This phrase represents the Greek ὀψιμαθεῖς. In ‘quine putetis’ the interrogative enclitic is somewhat redundant, but not more than in many other instances, as S. ii. 2. 107, and 3. 295, 317.

22. Rhodio quod Pitholeonti] This person is unknown. His name probably was Pitholaus; if so, Horace changed that termination in conformity with the Greek usage, as Τιμόλαος and Τιμόλεων, Μενέλαος and Μενέλεως, &c., are different forms of the same word.

24. ut Chio nota si] On ‘nota’ see C. ii. 3. 8. Here the Chian, a sweet wine, would represent the Greek, as the rougher wine of Campania would stand for the less polished Latin.

27. Scilicet oblitus] The sense of the passage from v. 25 to 30 is this: “You say that the language is more elegant if it be set off with Greek. But I ask you yourself, is it only when you are writing poetry, or when you have on hand a difficult cause, such as that of Petillius? Would you then likewise, forgetting your country and your birth, while our great orators Pedius and Messalla are elaborating their speeches in their pure mother tongue (‘Latine’),—would you, I say, prefer mixing up a foreign jargon with your native language, like a double-tongued man of Canusium?” He puts the composition of verses on such themes as Lucilius chose, on a level with the gravity of forensic speaking, and asks why, if the man would not apply the rule to the latter, he should do so to the former.

28. Cum Pedius causas] Who Pedius was, is quite uncertain; but he must have been well known as an orator. It is also uncertain whether Poplicola belongs to Pedius or Corvinus, about whom see C. iii. 21. Quintilian describes him (x. 1. 113) as “orator nitidus et candidus et quodammodo prae se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam.” And Horace speaks again of his eloquence, A. P. 370. His intimacy with Horace began in the army of Brutus, and continued unbroken till Horace’s death.

30. Canusini more bilinguis?] As to Canusium, see S. 5. 91. It was one of those Greek towns which retained longest and most purely the language of its founders, as we may suppose from the text.

36. Turgidus Alpinus] This is supposed to be a bad poet named M. Furius Bibaculus, born at Cremona B. C. 102. ‘Turgidus’ refers to his person. Horace describes him elsewhere as “pingui tentus omaso” (S. ii. 5. 40), where a bombastic verse of his is quoted, which may account for his being called familiarly, by his contemporaries, Alpinus. Horace speaks of his murdering Memnon, and it is generally supposed that this refers to a translation he made of the Aethiopis of Arctinus, one of the Cyclic poets, in which Memnon was one of the principal heroes.

37. Defingit Rheni luteum caput,] Horace says that Furius, like some rude artist, had made a figure of Rhenus (the Rhine) with a head of clay, referring to the statues by which the different river-gods were represented, and to some description this poet had given of the Rhine, perhaps in a poem he is said to have written on the Gallic war. ‘Defingo’ is ‘to fashion out,’ and differs little from ‘fingo.’

38. Quae neque in aede sonent] Sp. Mæcius Tarpa was the officer who licensed plays before they were acted. He is mentioned again in the Ars Poëtica (v. 387). His duties had previously formed part of the functions of the ædiles, and it was not till political allusions became common, and the position of affairs too critical to bear them, that this special censorship was created. ‘Aedes’ in the singular signifies ‘a temple.’ Temples of Apollo and the Muses are referred to by Juvenal (S. vii. 37) as the resort of poets, and other temples besides (see Ovid. Trist. iii. 1. 69) had buildings attached where men of letters assembled. In one of these, therefore, or some building especially consecrated to the Muses, poets who had plays they wished to get represented recited them, probably in the presence of Tarpa.

42. Unus vivorum, Fundani;] Of this Fundanius, who Horace says was the only man of the day who could write a comedy in the style of Menander and that school, nothing whatever is known. He is the narrator of the scene in S. ii. 8, the supper of Nasidienus. Probably Horace exaggerated his merits, as well as Pollio’s, out of affection for the men. As to Pollio, see C. ii. 1, Int., and v. 10, n. ‘Regum,’ such as the “sacra Pelopis domus” (C. i. 6. 8, n.). ‘Pede ter percusso’ refers to the trimeter iambic, the common measure of tragedy.

44. Ut nemo Varius ducit;] As to Varius, see the Ode last mentioned, vv. 8, 11, and S. 5. 40. The derived significations of ‘ducere’ are various. As applied to a poem, it is probably taken from the process of spinning. See Epp. ii. 1. 225: “tenui deducta poëmata filo.” See also S. ii. 1. 4.

45. Virgilio] Whether Virgil had at this time published his Georgics or not is quite uncertain, from the doubt that hangs over both the date of this Satire and the publication of those poems. But, at any rate, Virgil had them in hand, and his friends had probably heard a great part of them recited in private. The Bucolics had been published some time, and they seem to have been thought well of, though until the Aeneid had made some progress we have no reason to suppose that Virgil was classed by his contemporaries with poets of the first rank. ‘Facetum’ signifies ‘elegant,’ as in a coxcomb it would be called ‘fine,’ S. 2. 26.

46. Hoc erat,] Horace says, ‘Fundanius may write comedy better than any man living, Pollio tragedy, Varius epics, Virgil pastorals: this (satire) was what, after Varro and some others had tried it in vain, I was able to write better than they, though not equal to its inventor’ (Lucilius). Who he means by ‘some others,’ it is impossible to say.

Varrone Atacino] P. Terentius Varro was a poet of the day some years older than Horace. He was called Atacinus from the Atax, a river of Gallia[447] Narbonensis, to distinguish him from M. Terentius Varro, who is sometimes called Reatinus. Different works are attributed to him. His attempts at satire—in which Horace says, most probably with justice, that he had failed—are nowhere noticed but here.

53. Nil comis tragici mutat Lucilius Acci?] See below, v. 65. Accius was born B. C. 170, and was a writer of tragedies, chiefly from the Greek. Cicero and Quintilian speak very highly of him, and the popular judgment was in his favor. See Epp. ii. 1. 56, and A. P. 259.

55. non ut majore reprensis?] ‘Not as if he were superior to those he finds fault with.’

59. Quid vetat et nosmet] Horace says he is at liberty to inquire whether it is not a natural consequence of Lucilius’s temperament, and the character of his subjects, that he wrote verses not more polished and smooth than might be expected of a man who was content with giving his lines the proper number of feet, and took delight in stringing together a vast number of them in the shortest possible time. ‘Pedibus quid claudere senis’ explains ‘hoc,’ ‘contented merely with this,’ that is to say, comprising something (that he calls a verse, for there is contempt in ‘quid’) in six feet.

61. Etrusci Quale fuit Cassi] Of this Cassius we know nothing, and what Horace says of him is no more than a jocular invention that his writings were so numerous and worthless that his funeral pile was made of them and the boxes that contained them.

66. Quam rudis et Graecis] ‘Allow that he is more polished than the inventor of a rude style of poetry unknown to the Greeks might be expected to be, and than the mass of the older poets certainly were; still, if he had lived to this our time, he would have corrected much that he had written.’

71. vivos et roderet ungues] ‘And would bite his nails to the quick,’ as men sometimes do when they are thinking very nervously.

72. Saepe stilum vertas] ‘Stilum vertere’ means to erase what had been written, one end of the iron pen (‘stilus’) being broad like the end of a chisel, for the purpose of obliterating the letters made upon the wax tablet by the sharp end, which they called ‘acumen.’

75. Vilibus in ludis] Such schools as Flavius’s, perhaps, if poetry was ever taught there, or in those cheap schools in the back streets mentioned in Epp. i. 20. 18. The word ‘dictari’ refers to the practice of the teacher reading out a passage for the pupil to repeat after him, one of the earliest steps in education being accurate pronunciation. The words ‘canere,’ ‘cantare,’ which are frequently applied to the recitation of the pupil, show that the modulation of the voice was a primary consideration in teaching. To help this most probably was one principal purpose of the master’s reciting to his scholars, which was done quite at the beginning, and probably before the boys could write; whence Horace says (Epp. ii. 1. 126), “Os tenerum pueri balbumque poëta figurat.” It was a good preparation for their subsequent training under the teacher of rhetoric. It is a practice which might be more generally revived, for nothing can be worse than the way in which boys usually read or repeat their lessons in our schools.

77. explosa Arbuscula] This was a celebrated actress in Cicero’s time. As she, when she was hissed off the stage, said she cared nothing for the rest of the spectators, and was satisfied if she pleased the front benches (the Equites), so Horace says he only wants to be read in the better sort of schools, where that class of people sent their sons.

78. cimex Pantilius,] This person, if it be a real name, is quite unknown. A more contemptible animal could not have been chosen to liken the man to,[448] whether for its odor, its skulking, or its sting. So that δήγματα κορέων, λαθρόδακναι κόρεες, seem to have been proverbial expressions for calumny.

79. Demetrius,] See above on v. 18; and as to Fannius, see S. 4. 21, n. On Plotius, see S. 5. 40; and on Valgius, C. ii. 9, Int. He was consul in B. C. 13. Who Octavius was, we cannot tell. Horace does not mean Augustus, for, after the death of the dictator, Octavius became C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus, and could not at this time be called Octavius. On Fuscus (to whom the epithet ‘optimus’ belongs), see C. i. 22, Int., and S. 9. 61, and Epp. i. 10.

83. Viscorum laudet uterque!] If Viscus be the correct reading in S. 9. 22, and S. ii. 8. 20, the persons there mentioned may be one or other or both of these brothers.

85. tuo cum fratre,] This may have been Gellius Poplicola, Messalla’s brother by adoption. He was with Brutus and Cassius in Asia Minor; but left them before the battle of Philippi, and joined M. Antonius, and commanded the right wing of his army at Actium. If therefore this be the person Horace alludes to, his acquaintance with him began in Brutus’s camp. He was consul in the year B. C. 36.

86. Vos, Bibule et Servi,] This Bibulus was probably the youngest son of M. Calpurnius Bibulus, who was consul in B. C. 59, and of his wife Porcia, who afterwards married M. Brutus. He wrote an account of his stepfather’s life, which Plutarch made use of. He must have been still quite young.

Servius Sulpicius Rufus was a distinguished lawyer and friend of Cicero, and he left a son named Servius. This son is perhaps the person Horace refers to. Cicero was very fond of him, to judge by his letters to his father. He must have been older than Horace, and very much older than Bibulus.

Furnius was also the son of a friend and correspondent of Cicero, and was a favorite with Augustus. The epithet ‘candidus’ applied to him by Horace shows that he deserved esteem. Shortly after the battle of Actium he got Augustus to take his father, who had followed M. Antonius, into favor.

91. Discipularum inter jubeo plorare cathedras.] Their pupils were chiefly ‘mimae,’ actresses, but some ladies of birth at this time learnt singing of professors, and it was not counted much to their praise. ‘Jubeo plorare’ corresponds to the Greek οἰμώζειν κελεύω, but ‘plorare’ represents, not only the above proverbial expression, but the drawling of the singing-master teaching his pupils sentimental or melancholy songs. ‘Cathedra’ was an easy-chair used chiefly by women.

92. I, puer,] Authors did not write themselves, but had slaves, called ‘pueri a studiis,’ or generally ‘librarii,’ to whom they dictated. See S. 4. 10. Epp. i. 10. 49; ii. 1. 110. We are to suppose that Horace extemporized this anathema against Demetrius and Tigellius, and then told his amanuensis to go before he forgot it and add it to the Satire as his ‘subscriptio’; which in letters was the word ‘vale,’ or something civil of that sort.

C. Trebatius Testa was a jurisconsult of eminence, and a man of honor. He was in the confidence of Augustus, and was consulted by him on legal matters. Horace seems to have been well acquainted with him, though he was many years younger than Trebatius.

Horace pretends to lay before the old lawyer a case for his opinion, and asks what he had better do to meet the malevolence of his enemies. Trebatius advises him to cease from writing, which Horace says is impossible. He was born to write, and must do it. He has no capacity for heroic subjects, and has a passion for imitating Lucilius, to whom he pays a graceful compliment by the way. Trebatius warns him that he runs the risk of being frozen to death by his great friends, or of legal penalties for libel. But, trusting in the goodness of his cause, he sets these dangers at defiance, and resolves to indulge his inclination.

1. Sunt quibus — videor] Horace had undoubtedly in his mind those particular opponents, on some of whom he had retorted in S. 10 of the last book, and, this being the case, the indicative mood is wanted, rather than the subjunctive, after ‘sunt quibus’ (see C. i. 1. 3, n., and compare S. i. 4. 24). By ‘tendere opus’ Horace means he is charged with carrying his work, or straining it, beyond the license properly allowed to satire. ‘Sine nervis’ means ‘without vigor.’ As to ‘deduci,’ see S. i. 10. 44, n.

7. Optimum erat:] Here as below (v. 16) the imperfect indicative is used where the subjunctive might be expected. The Greeks in similar cases sometimes used the imperfect indicative without ἄν, where the usual construction required that word.

Ter uncti Transnanto Tiberim] See S. i. 6. 123, n. The language is a little in the style of a ‘lex.’ ‘Sub noctem’ means immediately after night-fall. See Epod. ii. 44, n. S. ii. 7. 109. Epp. ii. 2. 169. It appears from Cicero’s letters to Trebatius that he was a great swimmer, and Cicero describes himself as having gone home from his house one night “bene potus seroque” (Ad Fam. vii. 22). He may therefore have lived pretty freely.

14. fracta pereuntes cuspide] Plutarch, in his Life of Marius (c. 25), relates how, on the occasion of a battle with the Cimbri, he altered the spears of the soldiers in such a way that they could not be of use to the enemy. He says that the spear-heads were formerly fastened to the shaft by two iron nails, and that Marius, removing one, substituted for it a wooden peg, which would give way when the spear struck the shield, where it would stick and drag along the ground. From the year B. C. 39 to 31, Augustus was engaged at different times in subduing the Gauls, and he included his victories over them in the first of his three days’ triumphs, in B. C. 29. (See C. i. 2. 49, n.)

15. Aut labentis equo] The Parthians falling under blows inflicted by the arms of Augustus, is a picture he draws from his own imagination, in anticipation[450] of future triumphs. But Augustus never engaged the Parthians in the field. On ‘labentis equo,’ see C. i. 2. 39, n.

16. poteras] See above, v. 7. As to ‘fortem,’ see what is said of ‘Fortitudo’ on C. S. 57. Trebatius says, if Horace cannot write of the victories of Augustus, he may of his virtues, his justice, and moral courage.

17. Scipiadam ut sapiens Lucilius] Virgil uses this form (Georg. ii. 170), “Scipiadas duros bello.” As the elder Scipio had Ennius to praise him (see C. iv. 8), so the younger had Lucilius, who was his intimate friend, and who served under him in the Numantian war. There is no necessity for supposing that Lucilius wrote a separate poem on the exploits of Scipio, though it is not improbable that he did so. ‘Sapiens’ is applied to the poet as ‘doctus’ is elsewhere. See note on C. i. 1. 29. “Haud mihi deero” Horace uses above, S. i. 9. 56.

18. dextro tempore] See below, S. 4. 4: “Cum te sic tempore laevo Interpellarim.”

20. Cui male si palpere] ‘If you stroke him clumsily, he kicks out, and protects himself on every side.’

21. Quanto rectius hoc] Horace says that he may attempt those subjects, but he must wait for an opportunity. And Trebatius continues, ‘How much better is this, than with bitter verses to offend such wretched creatures as Pantolabus and Nomentanus, by which he only excites the fears and hatred of every one!’

24. Quid faciam?] ‘What am I to do?’ says Horace. ‘Every man has his taste, and mine is to string verses together like Lucilius.’

Milonius,] This man is said to have been a ‘scurra,’ a parasite, a low fellow who has no respect for himself, who lets himself out, at the price of a dinner, to entertain rich people and their guests with buffoonery and small talk. Milonius, as soon as the wine got into his head, would get up and dance before the company, the lowest proceeding in the eyes of a Roman that could be imagined. ‘Icto,’ in this sense of ‘wine-struck,’ does not occur elsewhere. It is a Greek notion.

26. Castor gaudet equis,] This difference in the tastes of Castor and his brother is expressed in one line of the Iliad (iii. 237), Κάστορά θ᾽ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα.

27. quot capitum vivunt,] Compare “Quot homines tot sententiae: suus cuique mos” (Phormio, ii. 4. 14.)

31. neque si male cesserat] ‘Never resorting to anything else, whether matters had gone ill with him or well.’

33. Votiva — tabella] On the practice of hanging up a picture in the temples to commemorate escape from shipwreck, see C. i. 5. 12, n. It was probably not confined to sailors.

34. Vita senis.] Lucilius, the date of whose death is not certain, but who is said to have died in his forty-sixth year, B. C. 103, is here called old only in point of time, as in Epp. ii. 1. 56, “Aufert Pacuvius docti famam senis Accius alti”; and above (S. i. 10. 67), “poëtarum seniorum turba”; and as Aristophanes is called by Persius (i. 124), “praegrandis senex.”

Lucanus an Apulus anceps:] See C. iii. 4. 9, n. ‘Anceps’ is neuter. ‘Sub’ signifies ‘close up to,’ where ‘sub’ has its original meaning ‘up,’ and “the sense of ‘to’ belongs to the accusative termination, not to the preposition.” As to ‘colonus,’ see C. ii. 14. 12, n. ‘Romano’ is used for the Romans, as in Epod. vii. 6, and Tac. Ann. xii. 58.

The colony of Venusia was formed in B. C. 291, the last year of the third Samnite war, when L. Postumius Megellus and C. Junius Brutus Bubulcus were consuls. The town, which was on the borders of Lucania and Apulia,[451] belonged to the Samnites, from whom it was taken by Q. Fabius. (Sabelli was the name given by the Romans to all the tribes which issued from the Sabine stock, of whom the Samnites were one.) Apulia and Lucania were, at the beginning of this war, independent states in close alliance with the Samnites, but after the first year they found it for their interest to desert those allies, and joined the Romans, with whom they continued to unite their forces till the end of the war. Horace’s supposition that one or other of those states was meditating or carrying on war with Rome, is not, therefore, strictly accurate; but they were always very doubtful allies, and were glad to assist their old enemies the Greek cities in their resistance to Rome when they called in the help of Pyrrhus; and it was not till the fall of Tarentum, B. C. 272, that these, in common with the other southern states of Italy, finally acknowledged the supremacy of Rome and accepted their freedom from her. It was in consequence of the commanding position of Venusia, in reference to the three nations of the Samnites, Apulians, and Lucanians, that the Romans sent there in the above year (B. C. 291) a colony of twenty thousand persons. This place was of great use to the Romans in the war with Pyrrhus. After their reverse at the battle of Heraclea, A. U. C. 474, the remnant of their army retreated to Venusia, and here many found refuge after the defeat of Cannæ. The quantity of the second syllable in Venusinus, Horace makes short here, and in C. i. 28. 26. Juvenal lengthens it (vi. 167): “Malo Venusinam quam te, Cornelia, mater Gracchorum,” where, as here, the humble inhabitant of Venusia is contrasted with the proud matron of Rome. ‘Quo ne’ (v. 37) is an unusual expression, in which ‘quo’ is redundant.

39. Sed hic stilus haud petet ultro] On this use of ‘sed,’ see C. iv. 4. 22, n. ‘Ultro’ means here ‘wantonly,’ without provocation or cause. See C. iv. 4. 51, n.

43. ut pereat] ‘Ut’ is an imitation of the Greek use of ὡς, expressing a wish. He hopes that his adversaries will let him alone, and leave his sword (that is, his pen) to rust. From ‘at ille’ the construction is a little irregular, but the abruptness of the several clauses is well suited to the occasion: ‘but for that man that provokes me, he had better not touch me, I cry; he’ll suffer if he does,’ &c.

47. Cervius iratus — urnam,] Cervius appears to have been an informer. He is not the man mentioned in S. ii. 6. 77. ‘Urnam’ means either the urn into which the judices put their tablets, or that into which their names were put for drawing the jury. Either way it is equivalent to ‘judicium.’

48. Canidia Albuti quibus] Albutius was perhaps a person notorious for having poisoned somebody, and ‘Albuti venenum’ may have become proverbial. We meet with an Albutius below (S. 2. 67), who, from his character, may have been the same as this.

49. Grande malum Turius,] Of this person we know nothing. He threatens his adversary with an adverse judgment if he ever has a private suit tried before him.

50. Ut quo quisque valet] In what follows it is Horace’s purpose to show that it is a law of nature that every one should use the means of defence that are given him, and he is only acting on this law when he employs satire in self-defence. ‘Unde’ in v. 52 belongs to ‘monstratum,’ as, in the next Satire, v. 31, “Unde datum sentis” ‘by what suggested if not from within?’ Of Scæva we know nothing. What Horace says is, that he would, like other animals, resort to the means most natural to him, which were not violence, to which cowards have an aversion, but poison.

54. Mirum, Ut neque] ‘Strange! yes, as strange as that the wolf does not kick, nor the ox bite.’

58. seu Mors atris circumvolat alis,] This representation of death hovering over a man with dark wings, may have been taken from a painting.

60. Quisquis erit vitae scribam color] This loose collocation of words is not uncommon in Horace. It ought not to be imitated.

O puer, ut sis] See Introduction. This sentence illustrates the rule respecting verbs of fearing, that they “have the subjunctive with ‘ne’ if the object be not desired, with ‘ut’ if it be desired” (Key’s L. G. 1186), to which the note is “Observe that the Latin inserts a negative where the English has none, and vice versa.”

64. Detrahere et pellem,] Compare Epp. i. 16. 44. Each of the Scipiones had a Lælius for his intimate companion. This is C. Laelius Sapiens, the friend of P. Scipio Africanus Minor, and well known through Cicero’s treatises ‘De Senectute’ and ‘De Amicitia,’ in the former of which he is a listener, in the latter the principal speaker. As to the following verse, see C. iv. 8. 18, n. Lucilius was on terms of close intimacy with these two friends.

67. Metello] Q. Cæcilius Metellus had the cognomen Macedonicus given him, for his successes against Andriscus, the pretender to the throne of Perseus, king of Macedonia. Horace means to say that Scipio and Lælius were not offended at the wit of Lucilius, nor feared it might turn upon themselves, when they saw him attack Metellus. Why he did so is uncertain.

68. Lupo] Who Lupus was is not certain. His name appears in many of the fragments of Lucilius. The most probable person is L. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus, who was consul B. C. 156. What he had done to provoke Lucilius’s satire we do not know, but Cicero (De Nat. Deor. i. 23) has preserved a verse of his in which Lupus is classed with the perjured and profligate.

Atqui Primores populi] ‘Atqui,’ which is a form of ‘at quin,’ means ‘but he did, did he not?’ ‘Tributim,’ throughout all the tribes: he attacked the optimates and plebeians, and all without distinction. As to the tribes, see Epp. i. 6. 52, n. ‘Aequus’ means ‘favorable to.’

72. Virtus Scipiadae] On this form, see above, v. 17. See also S. i. 2. 32, n., on the expression ‘virtus Scipiadae.’ Lælius, as above mentioned, had the cognomen Sapiens given him, and any one who reads Cicero’s treatise that bears his name will understand Horace’s epithet ‘mitis.’ One of the Scholiasts relates a story of Lælius running round the dinner-table, and Lucilius pursuing him with a napkin, to flog him. Lucilius was born B. C. 148, and Scipio died B. C. 129. He was therefore but a boy when he thus played with these friends; and if, as Horace’s language implies, he wrote satires in Scipio’s lifetime, they were probably the more intemperate sallies of youth. But Horace may be mistaken. The fare of these great men was of the simplest kind. (See note on S. i. 6. 115.)

75. Infra Lucili censum] Horace had before intimated (v. 34, n.) that he, a poor man’s son, born in a provincial town, was not to be compared with Lucilius, a Roman citizen, who was rich, and had a fine house in the Forum.

78. nisi quid tu,] This is equivalent to saying, ‘This is what I think, Trebatius; but I shall be glad to defer to your opinion if you differ from me.’

79. nihil hinc diffindere possum.] The meaning of ‘diffindere’ is not quite clear. Perhaps it has the same sense as ‘secare’ above (S. i. 10. 15, and Epp. i. 16. 42); that is, ‘to decide.’ If so, Trebatius says he cannot decide the question from the premises Horace has put before him (‘hinc’).

80. Sed tamen] By the XII. Tables, the writing of scurrilous verses was among the few offences that were punishable with death. See Dict. Antt., Art. ‘Injuria,’ and compare Epp. ii. 1. 153. There was a ‘lex Cornelia de injuriis,’ which probably included the offence of writing scurrilous verses. When Trebatius says there is ‘jus judiciumque,’ he means that there is law, and also there are legal proceedings, for this case. ‘Ne forte’ is used as in C. iv. 9. 1, where see note, and compare Epp. i. 1. 13; 18. 58; ii. 1. 208. ‘Sanctarum’ is a participle, ‘quae sanciuntur.’ ‘Sancire legem’ was to affix the penalty to a ‘lex,’ and so give it effect. See Cic. de Am. c. 12.

85. latraverit,] ‘Latro’ is used as a transitive verb in Epod. v. 58, and Epp. i. 2. 66, and so it is here, ‘What if one barks at a man who deserves rebuke, he himself being untainted?’

86. Solventur risu tabulae,] The ‘tabulae’ are the tablets (‘tabellae judiciariae’) by which the judices declared their votes, and Trebatius probably means to say, that the votes of the judices will be decided by the amusement of the scene, or else that the severity of their votes will be melted by it; that is, that the matter will be treated as unworthy of serious consideration; the judices will laugh at the joke, and acquit the defendant.

The object of this Satire is to teach the advantages of moderate eating. Of Ofella, the person into whose mouth Horace puts the chief part of his precepts, we know no more than we may gather from the Satire itself,—that in Horace’s youth he was the owner of an estate near Venusia, and that his property was taken from him and made over to one of the veteran soldiers, named Umbrenus (v. 133), and that he afterwards rented, as ‘colonus,’ a farm on that estate which was once his own. This transfer took place, in all probability, when the troops returned to Italy after the battle of Philippi, B. C. 42, at which time (among several other districts) the Venusinus ager was distributed among the soldiers. It has been supposed that Horace visited his native place, and renewed his acquaintance with Ofella, on his return from Brundisium. (See Introduction to S. i. 5, sub fin.) The old man, unchanged by the reverses of fortune, industrious and uncomplaining, exhorting his sons to frugality and contentment, is a pleasant picture, and helps by contrast to illustrate the gluttonous and luxurious habits of the city.

3. abnormis sapiens, crassaque Minerva,] A man wise without rule, and of plain mother wit. Cicero (De Amicit. c. 5) uses the expression “agamus pingui Minerva” as a proverbial one. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, and ‘crassa Minerva’ therefore means, proverbially, a coarse kind of wisdom.

4. inter lances mensasque nitentes] The wealthy Romans had already learned to fill their rooms with costly furniture, and to make a display of their plate, whether in the shape of useful or ornamental vessels. Very much of the plate thus displayed was of foreign manufacture, and very costly, and much of it was of great antiquity, and a good deal taken from Greek and Asiatic temples, and brought to Rome by various conquerors (Marcellus and Mummius in particular), by extortionate governors, or by the travelling ‘mercatores,’ who thus brought home the proceeds of the goods they took abroad. The dishes of the rich were very generally of silver, so that the ‘lances’ here mentioned would be, not only those which appeared for show, but those also in which the viands were served. ‘Lances’ is here used as a generic name for dishes; but there were particular names, as ‘patina,’ ‘catinus,’ ‘scutula,’ ‘gabata,’ ‘paropsis,’ all of different shapes and for different uses.

There appears to have been no article in which the Romans showed more extravagance than their tables; and Pliny relates of Cicero that he gave a million sesterces for a table of the sort called ‘orbes.’ These consisted of single slabs, sometimes of great diameter.

9. Corruptus judex.] Horace likens the man whose judgment is biassed by a fine table and good dinner, to a judex who has been tampered with. (See C. iv. 9. 39, n.)

Leporem sectatus equove] There is some confusion raised in this long sentence by the introduction of the words ‘pete cedentem aëra disco.’ Horace means at first to say, “When you have tired yourself with hunting the hare, with riding an unbroken horse, or (supposing the rougher sports are too much for you) with ball-play or throwing the discus, and are dry and hungry, then see if you will despise the commonest food, and call for rich mulsum.” Instead of which he says: “After hunting the hare or wearying yourself with riding, or if (supposing you are only accustomed to Greek sports, and the Roman are too much for you) ball-play occupies you or the discus, then throw the discus, but when fatigue shall have banished fastidiousness, and you are dry and hungry, then see if,” etc.

11. seu pila velox] The ball play, which was so common an amusement in one shape or other among the Romans, was introduced from Greece, though the Romans had varieties perhaps of their own invention.

13. Seu te discus agit,] The throwing of the discus likewise was of Greek origin, and belonged to the heroic age. It had no resemblance to the quoit, by which name it is sometimes rendered, but was a round flat plate of metal or stone, sometimes nearly a foot in diameter.

14. Cum labor extuderit] ‘Extundo’ is nowhere else used in this sense, but it is a very apt word for the occasion. Hunger beating fastidiousness out of a man represents the power of the one, and the contemptible character of the other, very well.

15. nisi Hymettia mella Falerno] This constituted the drink called ‘mulsum,’ οἰνόμελι, which was commonly drunk at the preparatory course called ‘gustus’ or ‘promulsis’ (see S. i. 3. 6, n.), the former name being taken from the dishes that were eaten as a whet to the appetite, and the latter from the mulsum that was taken with them. The use of the strong Falernian wine for this mixture, in which the usual proportion was four of wine to one of honey, is condemned below, S. 4. 25.

16. promus] This was one of the ‘ordinarii’ or upper domestic slaves, whose duty it was to take charge of the wine-cellar and larder. He was hence called ‘cellarius,’ also ‘procurator peni,’ ‘steward of the provisions.’ Another name he bore was ‘condus,’ because he had to take into store (‘condere’) the provisions that were left or brought in for consumption, and, as the same person who locked up also took out the provisions (‘promere’), both names were united in one, ‘conduspromus.’

17. hiemat mare:] ‘Hiemat’ is copied from the Greek χειμάζεται.

18. Latrantem stomachum] Compare ‘iratum ventrem’ (S. ii. 8. 5). A hungry man is vulgarly said to “have a wolf in his belly,” to this day.

19. Qui partum?] The subject is only to be gathered from the context. ‘Whence do you suppose this appetite springs, or how is it obtained?’

20. pulmentaria quaere] The Scholiasts tell us a story of Socrates, that, when he was taking a long walk, he accounted for his activity by saying ὄψον συνάγω, ‘I am getting sauce for my dinner.’ See Epp. i. 18. 48.

21. ostrea Nec scarus] These were all served up with the ‘gustus,’ to stir up the appetite. Oysters were eaten raw or dressed. The ‘scarus’ was a fish not known in these days. It was rare, even among the Romans, and imported from the Ægean Sea. Martial says it was good for the stomach, but of poor flavor. The ‘lagois’ is described by the Scholiast as ‘a bird of the color of a hare’; beyond which we know nothing about it. ‘Ostrea’ is here used as a dissyllable. Of the other things of which the ‘promulsis’ usually consisted, some are given below (S. 8. 8, sq.). The peacock was a dish lately introduced when Horace wrote.

23. posito pavone] ‘Ponere,’ for putting on the table, occurs below (S. 4. 14).

28. Cocto num adest] The ‘m’ is pronounced with the following word, as is common in Terence.

30. deceptum te petere!] The infinitive ‘petere’ expresses a feeling of indignation. This infinitive is dependent on some such phrase as ‘credendum est.’ The sense is as follows: “To think that, although in the quality of the flesh there is no difference, you should prefer the pea-fowl to the other, deluded by the superiority of its beauty.” ‘Hac’ refers not to the bird last mentioned, but to that which the speaker prefers, or is defending; just as we have ‘his’ and ‘illis’ changing places below (36, 37).

31. Unde datum sentis] The sentence goes on thus ‘Be it so: grant that you may be taken in by the eye, in the matter of the bird with a fine tail; but what sense can tell you whether such and such a fish was caught in the Tiber or in the open sea, between the bridges or at the mouth of the river?’ This is not a very well chosen question. That part of the river which is meant by ‘inter pontes’ lay between the Pons Fabricius, which joined the Insula Tiberina with the left bank, and the Pons Sublicius, and between these bridges the Cloaca Maxima emptied itself. Here the stream was more than usually rapid, and ‘jactatus,’ ‘tossed,’ expresses this. It would not require a very keen epicure to distinguish a fish caught in those waters; and the fish taken at sea, if it was the same fish, would be out of season and coarse. The ‘lupus’ is said to have been of the pike kind.

33. Ostia sub Tusci?] ‘Sub’ with the accusative, in phrases of place, seems to have the meaning it has in phrases of time, ‘immediately after’ (see Epod. ii. 44, n.); so that ‘sub ostia’ would be ‘immediately on entering the mouth.’ But it usually in these phrases follows a verb of motion and means ‘close up to’; and if it be so understood here, the verb of motion must be supplied, ‘as you approach close up to.’ The Tiber is called ‘Tuscus amnis,’ as (C. i. 20. 5) it is said to be Mæcenas’s ‘paternum flumen,’ because it rises in Etruria.

34. Mullum] The mullet was a fish in high estimation for a great number of years. Martial speaks of one of two pounds as the least that should be put upon a fine dish. This, Pliny says, was a size it rarely exceeded. Juvenal tells a story of a man who bought a mullet of six pounds, at a thousand sesterces for each pound (iv. 15). The bearded mullet, as it was called, was held in highest esteem. Horace says the man is mad to admire a mullet of three pounds, since to be served up it must be divided into as many separate dishes (see Epp. i. 18. 48, n.).

36. Quia scilicet illis] ‘Illis’ does not refer to the more remote object here, but to the nearer, as in v. 29 (see note). ‘His’ refers to the mullet.

40. At vos, Praesentes Austri,] ‘Now may ye, O potent south winds.’ ‘At’ is a particle of exclamation, when a sudden emotion is expressed, as mentioned above (Epod. v. 1). The winds are invoked as deities. As to ‘praesens’ in this application, see C. i. 35. 2.

41. quamquam] ‘Though I need not invoke your help; for the boar and the fresh turbot lose their flavor, when the stomach is gorged and seeks stimulants.’

42. rhombus] This fish, if it was the turbot, was not less esteemed by the Romans than by ourselves. The finest were caught in the Hadriatic, near Ravenna, whence the fish that caused such a sensation in Juvenal’s story (iv. 37, sqq.) he calls “Hadriaci spatium admirabile rhombi.” But it is not certain that we know what fish is meant by the ‘rhombus.’ Respecting ‘rapula’ and ‘inulae,’ see below, S. 8. 51. On the use of eggs at the ‘promulsis,’ see S. i. 3. 6. The sense in which Horace uses the words ‘pauper’ and ‘rex’ is nowhere more marked than here (see C. i. 1. 18, and C. i. 4. 14).

47. Galloni praeconis erat acipensere] This person, who lived in the time of Lucilius and was noticed by him, is said to have introduced the ‘acipenser,’ which fish is said to be a sturgeon. In respect to ‘praeconis,’ see S. i. 6. 86, n.

50. auctor docuit praetorius.] It is said one Rufus was the first to bring into fashion the eating of young storks. When he lived, it is impossible to say. He must have served the office of prætor, from the epithet Horace gives him. The stork went out of fashion, as Ofella predicts; and though gulls did not take its place, cranes came into vogue. See S. ii. 8. 87. As to ‘auctor,’ see C. i. 28. 14, n. The word ‘edixerit’ is a play upon the ‘edictum’ of the ‘praetor.’

52. pravi docilis] ‘Ever ready to learn what is bad.’ The construction is like ‘docilis modorum,’ in C. iv. 6. 43. ‘Pravus’ signifies ‘crooked,’ as opposed to ‘rectus,’ ‘straight’; and so ‘pravum detorseris,’ below (v. 55), is literally ‘turn yourself awry.’ ‘Pravis talis’ (S. i. 3. 48) are ‘crooked ankles.’

53. Sordidus a tenui] Horace goes on to show that moderation is not meanness, and that propriety lies in a middle course.

55. Avidienus,] This man was a miser, but nothing more is known of him. He was ‘a dirty dog,’ and so the name Canis was properly applied to him.

58. defundere] ‘Diffundere’ means, as mentioned before, to draw wine from the ‘dolium’ into the ‘amphora,’ ‘testa,’ or ‘cadus,’ (all the same kind of vessel,) in which it was kept till it was fit to drink. When poured thence into the ‘crater,’ to be mixed for drinking, it was said to be ‘defusum.’ This miser’s wine was of a poor kind, probably not fit to be bottled in the first instance, but only to be drunk from the ‘dolium.’ He bottled it, and did not produce it for consumption till it was turned (‘mutatum’).

59. licebit Ille repotia] On ‘licebit,’ see Epod. xv. 19. ‘Repotia’ was a ‘coena’ sometimes given, the day after marriage, by the husband. I am not aware that any explanation of the custom is to be met with. The marriage-dinner was given by the husband. As that was usually a scene of nothing but unrestrained merriment, perhaps the religious ceremonies, required properly to inaugurate the new life of the married couple, and to propitiate the Penates and Lares, were usually deferred to this day; and the sobriety of the ‘repotia’ was probably designed to make amends for the license of the ‘coena nuptialis.’ The Romans observed their birthdays with religious accuracy. See note on C. iv. 11. 8.

61. albatus] They took care on every holiday to have their togas especially clean. The ordinary toga was not dyed. The natural whiteness of the wool was increased by the process of cleaning, in which it was rubbed with different kinds of fuller’s earth (‘creta fullonis’), and also exposed to steams of sulphur, which removed stains of any kind. ‘Albatus,’ therefore, signifies in a toga which has just come from the ‘fullo.’ It was usual for persons who were canvassing for offices to have their toga unusually whitened with an extra supply of ‘creta,’ whence they were called ‘candidati.’

cornu ipse bilibri] The ‘cornu’ was the horn vessel in which the oil was kept. Instead of having a cruet or small vessel suited to the dinner table, such as wealthy people usually had of silver and others of cheaper material, he would bring down the big horn, and with his own hand (‘ipse’), lest others should be too liberal, drop the smallest quantity of oil upon the cabbage, while of his old vinegar, which would turn his guests, if he had any, from the dish, he was free enough.

64. aiunt.] τὸ λεγόμενον, ‘as the saying is.’ It was perhaps a common proverb to express a dilemma, though not now met with elsewhere.

65. Mundus erit qua non] ‘A man will be decent so far as (‘qua’) he does not offend by meanness, and is on neither hand sordid in his way of living.’

67. Albuti senis] See S. ii. 1. 48, n. The Scholiasts say the savage old man used to flog his slaves before they did wrong, “because,” said he, “when you do wrong I may not be at leisure to flog you.” ‘Dido,’ ‘to distribute,’ is different in sense and etymology from ‘divido.’ The latter is connected with ‘iduo,’ ‘idus’ (C. iv. 11. 16, n.), the former with ‘do.’ ‘Dido’ is commonly used by Lucretius.

68. ut simplex Naevius] Of Nævius nothing is known. ‘Simplex’ is ironical. A story is told by Plutarch, in his Life of Julius Cæsar (c. 17), of Valerius Leo, who put before the dictator some asparagus covered with ointment instead of oil. Such ‘simplicity,’ amounting to an indifference to the decencies of life, and a want of consideration for others, which some people almost look upon as a virtue, Horace very properly describes as a great vice.

70. Accipe nunc] Horace now goes on to show the advantage of moderate living, especially as connected with health.

73. Quae simplex olim tibi sederit;] ‘Which, before you mixed it with other things (while it was ‘simplex’), remained quiet upon your stomach.’

76. Lenta — pituita.] The tough mucus secreted by the intestines. The first and third syllables of ‘pituita’ are long, the second, therefore, here coalesces with the third.

77. Coena — dubia?] This expression is copied from Terence, and means such a good dinner that you cannot tell what to eat first. Phorm. ii. 2. 28.

79. Atque affigit humo] Debauchery not only affects the body, but depresses the spirit, and unfits it for the duties of life. The expression ‘affigit humo’ reminds us of the words of David, “My soul cleaveth to the ground.” The same sense, though in a different connection, is conveyed by Cicero’s words (De Senect. c. xxi.): “Est enim animus caelestis ex altissimo domicilio depressus et quasi demersus in terram, locum divinae naturae aeternitatique contrarium,” which serves also to illustrate ‘divinae particulam aurae.’ This expression may have been taken from some old writer.

82. ad melius poterit transcurrere] ‘May betake himself to better fare.’ As to ‘quondam,’ see C. ii. 10. 17, n.

87. mollitiem,] ‘Indulgence,’ which, as applied to youth, must be understood in a bad sense; but to age or sickness in a good, as that which infirmity or disease requires.

89. Rancidum aprum] What Horace means to say is, that their hospitable forefathers, rather than eat their boar by themselves, while it was fresh, would keep it till it was high, in case a stranger should drop in to eat of it with them.

94. Das aliquid famae] ‘I suppose you allow something to good report, seeing that more welcome than music it comes to the ear of man. If so (he goes on), consider that these luxuries are as discreditable as they are noxious. Also, they leave you without friends, and will bring you to penury.’

95. patinaeque] The ‘patina’ was a covered dish in which meats were brought in hot from the kitchen. ‘Patruus’ was as proverbial a name for tyranny on the male side of the family, as ‘noverca’ on the female. See C. ii. 12. 3. S. ii. 3. 87.

Jure, inquit, Trausius] The glutton is supposed to answer, ‘This sort of language is suited to Trausius: but to one who is as rich as I am, it does not apply.’ Of Trausius the spendthrift, nothing is known. All we have to infer is, that he lived profusely upon small means, and ruined himself, which the speaker considers himself too rich ever to do. ‘Vectigalia’ is used for a private fortune, in C. iii. 16. 40. Its use is appropriate here, in connection with ‘regibus.’

101. Ergo Quod superat] ‘But if you have more than you want, cannot you find better objects to spend it on?’

103. indignus] This has the same sense as ‘immeritus’ (C. iii. 6. 1, and elsewhere), ‘innocent.’ Forcell. gives other examples. As to the state of the temples and their restoration, see C. ii. 15, Introduction, and note on C. iii. 6. 1.

106. Uni nimirum] “He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity” (Ps. x. 6), is very like the argument Horace puts in his rich man’s mouth,—the man whose fortune was large enough for three kings. He argues that he is so rich that he never can be otherwise. As to ‘nimirum,’ see Epp. i. 9. 1, n.

107. Uterne Ad casus dubios] On ‘ne,’ see S. i. 10. 21, and with ‘dubios’ compare C. iv. 9. 36.

112. Quo magis his credas,] He brings forward Ofella, as an instance, in particular, of the way in which a man who has been frugal in prosperity can meet the reverses of fortune.

113. latius] This word is used as ‘angustius’ in the opposite sense. It means ‘more profusely.’ I am not aware that it is so used anywhere else. ‘Metato in agello’ is the farm which has been marked out by the public surveyor (‘metator’), and assigned to Umbrenus. (See Introduction.) This participle is used passively in C. ii. 15. 15. ‘Fortem’ has been explained in the note on C. S. 58, and for ‘colonum,’ see C. ii. 14. 12, n. As ‘colonum’ signifies a tenant, ‘mercede’ (‘rent’) is only added to give additional force to the contrast. It makes rather a clumsy sentence. Farms were held either on payment of rent, or of a certain part of the produce of the land; but ‘merces’ could not mean the latter. A ‘colonus’ who held on the latter terms, was called ‘partiarius.’ ‘Temere’ signifies that which is done without consideration, because habitually done.

116. luce profesta] ‘Profesti dies’ were working days, as opposed to ‘festi’ or ‘feriati’ (S. 3. 144, sq.). ‘Profestis’ is opposed to ‘sacris’ in C. iv. 15. 25.

119. operum vacuo] Compare C. iii. 17. 16, “operum solutis,” and A. P. 212, “liberque laborum.”

122. cum duplice ficu.] Some take this for a large coarse kind of fig (‘marisca’), double the size of an ordinary one. Others take it for a fig split in two, and so dried. It is possible Horace may mean two figs.

123. Post hoc ludus erat] “After this we amused ourselves by drinking with ‘culpa’ for our ‘magister,’ or ‘rex bibendi,’ συμποσίαρχος” (C. i. 4. 18, n.). It appears that they agreed between themselves as to some mode of drinking, and established a penalty for the transgression of it, which transgression (‘culpa’) was to do that which at drinking parties, where a president was appointed, he might do arbitrarily; that is, either mulct a guest of a cup of wine, or make him drink an extra cup, or anything else he chose, as a fine for misbehavior. In short, Ofella means it was a quiet and primitive sort of way of proceeding, unlike the new fashion introduced from Greece, and followed in fine houses, of having a symposiarch to preside (S. ii. 6. 69, n.).

124. Ac venerata Ceres ita] On this use of ‘veneror,’ see C. S. 49, n. ‘Ita’ introduces the object of the prayer. It is usually followed by ‘ut’ introducing a condition. But as with ‘sic,’ that is not always the case. See note on C. i. 3. 1.

127. parcius — nituistis] ‘Have ye been in worse condition, less sleek and fat?’ ‘Ut,’ ‘ever since,’ as “Ut tetigi Pontum vexant insomnia” (Ovid, Trist. iii. 8. 27). ‘Propriae’ signifies one’s own in perpetuity, as below (v. 134), “erit nulli proprius”; and S. ii. 6. 5. Aen. (i. 73): “Connubio jungam stabili propriamque dicabo.”

131. vafri] The law was as plain as its subjects admitted, though to ignorant people it must often have appeared subtle, and that is the meaning of ‘vafri.’

This Satire appears to have been written during the Saturnalia, in the month of December, B. C. 32. The year before, Agrippa had been Ædile, and his ædileship is alluded to in v. 185. It was written at Horace’s country-house, not long, it may be supposed, after it was given him. He was improving the house at the time, as we may infer from v. 308. The Satire is general, taking in the leading vices and follies of human nature,—ambition, avarice, extravagance, lust, superstition, which are brought together with some ingenuity.

One Damasippus, a man who had wasted a good fortune in speculating as an amateur in all sorts of costly articles, particularly works of art, in which he was held to be a connoisseur, is introduced in a new character, as a Stoic philosopher, reproving Horace for his laziness, and urging him to write. He relates the story of his own conversion to philosophy, which was this. When he had lost all his fortune, and was hopelessly involved with money-lenders, and found himself laughed at and called madman wherever he went, he grew desperate, and was going to throw himself into the Tiber, when he was arrested by Stertinius, an oracle of the Stoics, who remonstrated with him and consoled him, and at the same time armed him against his enemies (v. 297) with a long homily, in the course of which he proved that all the world, but the good and wise, were as mad as he was. In this discourse he enumerates the chief features of this universal madness, and this forms the bulk of the Satire.

Of Damasippus very little is known. But he was a real person, though perhaps a little before Horace’s day. Why Horace should have chosen this man as the mouth-piece of his Satire does not appear. Damasippus says himself, it is true, that, having ruined his own affairs, he had nothing to do but to attend to the affairs of others; which Horace interprets to mean, that he had taken to giving advice when it was not asked (see v. 27, n.).

Stertinius appears to have been an authority among the Stoics of the day. The Scholiasts tell us he wrote 220 books on the doctrines of that school. Damasippus calls him (v. 296) “sapientum octavus.” His books, if he ever wrote them, have not rescued him from oblivion. Horace mentions him again, in Epp. i. 12. 20, as the representative of the sect.

The discourse of Stertinius turns upon this dogma, that every man in the world, high or low, is mad, except the sage (see note on v. 46). Cicero has argued the same doctrine of the Stoics in his Paradoxa (iii. ὅτι πᾶς ἄφρων μαίνεται), but he does not go very deep into the subject, or throw much light upon it.

2. Membranam poscas,] Horace speaks of parchment (‘membrana’) only twice (A. P. 389), ‘charta,’ which means the Egyptian papyrus, being his usual equivalent for a book. From the thin coats of the papyrus the name ‘liber’ was derived, and parchment was less generally used in Horace’s day than the papyrus; though that material was also commonly employed. ‘Texere chartam’ is a common expression for putting the pieces of the papyrus together. ‘Retexere scripta,’ therefore, means to take to pieces or tear up what is written, or to take out leaves and substitute others, with different writings upon them.

3. vini somnique benignus] This is a Greek construction ‘freely indulging in wine and sleep.’ ‘Dignum sermone’ means ‘worthy of being talked about.’

4. At ipsis Saturnalibus] The use of ‘at’ in replies is common. ‘But, say you, while the Saturnalia were going on, you ran away to this place’ (his farm); i.e. that he might write something worth reading. ‘Well, then,’ Damasippus proceeds, ‘since you have kept yourself sober, give us something equal to what you have led us to expect.’ The Saturnalia was celebrated on the 17th of December, to represent the liberty of the golden age of Saturn (S. ii. 7. 4, “libertate Decembri”), and therefore one of its chief features was the license granted, for the one day that the feast lasted, to slaves. They had all the mockery of freedom for a few hours, which they spent, like their betters, in rioting. The feast belonged more to the country than the town, and was properly a farmers’ festival. But it was attended with greater disturbances in the city; and one who wanted to be quiet at that time would be glad to retire to the country.

7. calami,] The reed used by the Romans for writing appears to have been precisely the same as the ‘kulum’ now used throughout the East. Like the papyrus, it was chiefly brought from Egypt, and, when cut and ready for use, differed scarcely at all from the pens we employ. As the bad workman finds fault with his tools, the poet is supposed to get in a passion with his pen and beat the wall by his bedside, because his ideas would not flow fast enough. He who was unfortunate was said to have been born when the gods were angry; here Damasippus adds, ‘and the poets too.’ Compare S. ii. 7. 14.

9. minantis] ‘Promising.’ So the Greeks sometimes used ἀπειλεῖν. And, on the other hand, ‘promittere’ is used in the sense of ‘minari.’

10. tepido] Horace was delicate, and disliked the cold, and in the winter was glad to retreat to his country-house, where he could get plenty of wood and a good fire. (See Epp. i. 7. 10, sq.) But his residence in the valley of the Licenza was itself sheltered, and probably at some seasons warmer than Rome.

11. Quorsum pertinuit stipare Platona Menandro,] ‘Quorsum’ is a contraction of ‘quo versum,’ ‘to what point turned or tending.’ Plato was a comic writer, and a rival of Aristophanes. As to Eupolis, see S. i. 4. 1, n., and for Archilochus, see Epod. vi. 13, n.

13. virtute relicta?] I have more than once had occasion to remark, that the notion of perseverance is involved in the Roman ‘virtus’ (see C. S. 59), and it is so here, being opposed to ‘desidia’ (v. 15). But it means more, for it implies moral courage and a strong will, which were in great esteem among the Romans. Damasippus supposes the poet to be consulting his ease and his cowardice at the same time; and says, if he thinks to silence jealousy by ceasing to write, he will only find himself the object of contempt; and if he means to be idle now, he must be content to lose the reputation won in his better days of energy. As to Siren, see Epp. i. 2. 23.

16. Damasippe,] See Introduction. Horace prays, in the words of a common formula, that Heaven will send Damasippus, to reward him for his good advice, a barber to shave his long beard. He may be supposed to have let his beard grow long, with the affectation peculiar to those who called themselves philosophers; and Horace means that to be delivered from that folly would be the best boon that could be bestowed upon him. (See below, v. 35, and note on S. i. 3. 133.) ἐκ πώγωνος σοφοί was the Greek way of representing such persons,—men whose wisdom lay in their beards.

18. Janum Ad medium] There appear to have been three arches dedicated to Janus in the Forum Romanum, one at each end, and one in the centre,[461] near to the Arcus Fabianus at the extremity of the Via Sacra. They are alluded to again, Epp. i. 1. 54: “Haec Janus summus ab imo Perdocet”; i.e. the whole Forum. Near the middle arch were the ‘tabernae’ of the principal money-lenders.

20. Olim nam] This position of ‘nam’ is peculiar to the poets. See below, v. 41, and elsewhere.

21. vafer — lavisset Sisyphus aere,] Homer (Il. vi. 153) calls Sisyphus κέρδιστος ἀνδρῶν. Damasippus says he used, before he lost all his money, to employ himself in purchasing and reselling all kinds of valuable property; among the rest, vessels of Corinthian bronze (often, but improperly, called brass), of such antiquity that Sisyphus, the founder of Corinth, might be supposed to have used them for washing his feet. The rage for antiquated pieces of furniture went on increasing, and appears to have gone to absurd lengths during the empire.

22. infabre,] ‘In an unworkmanlike manner.’ The reverse of this is ‘affabre,’ used by Cicero (in Verr. Act. i. c. 5). The art of founding is of great antiquity, though the earliest metal statues were beaten out of lumps with the hammer. It was a process of much nicety, and the fitting of the parts required great skill.

25. Mercuriale] Damasippus means that his skill in making bargains was so well known, that he was called, all over the town, a ward of Mercury. The more usual construction is with the dative. See below, v. 47, n. ‘Compita’ were those spots where two or more streets converged to a point, or crossed one another. At these places idlers lounged, and passengers stopped, if they were so disposed, to offer a prayer to the Lares publici or Compitales, whose altars were erected there. (See below, v. 281, n.)

27. morbi purgatum] This genitive follows the Greek construction. Horace calls the man’s mania for bargains a disease, and he is surprised how he ever got over it. ‘But,’ says he, ‘you have only exchanged that disorder for another (that of giving advice where it is not wanted), as the patient in a lethargy has been known suddenly to jump up and assault the doctor. Provided, however, you don’t follow his example, be it as you please.’ ‘Trajecto’ is a medical word. ‘Miser’ is also said to be a medical word for ‘diseased.’ ‘Hic’ means ‘any one,’ ‘such a one.’

31. O bone, ne te Frustrere:] ‘My good sir, don’t deceive yourself.’ We have ‘o bone’ below (S. 6. 51). It is like the Greek ὦ ᾽γαθέ.

32. prope omnes,] Stertinius would not allow of any exceptions to this rule (see note on v. 44), and ‘prope’ therefore may be looked upon, not as limiting ‘omnes,’ but perhaps as softening the expression a little. It is hard to give the word a distinct meaning in C. iv. 14. 20, and below in the 268th verse of this Satire (see note on the former passage). The Greeks would use ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν in the same way.

33. Stertinius] See Introduction. ‘Crepo’ is nowhere else used in a good sense, and it is put into Damasippus’s mouth ironically. ‘Unde’ means ‘from whom,’ i.e. Stertinius.

35. pascere barbam] See above, v. 17, n. πωγωνοτροφεῖν is a term used by the later Greek writers. The Pons Fabricius, from which Damasippus was going to throw himself into the river after he became bankrupt, connected the Insula Tiberina with the left bank, and was just outside the walls, facing the south end of the Mons Capitolinus. It had lately been rebuilt with stone, having been formerly (as may be supposed) made of wood. There are still ruins of this bridge, which now bears the name Ponte di Quattro Capi. The Fabricius who built it was Curator Viarum, as appears by an inscription upon one of the arches.

38. Cave faxis] The last syllable in ‘cave’ used with the subjunctive (sometimes with and sometimes without ‘ut’) is always short. ‘Pudor malus’ is what the French call ‘mauvaise honte.’

40. insanus haberi.] Those persons who called him a clever fellow as long as he appeared to be succeeding, now that he had failed called him a madman. Success was their criterion of wisdom, as it is with most people. ‘Qui vereare,’ ‘because you are afraid.’

41. Primum nam inquiram] ‘Nam’ is sometimes used to introduce an explanation, as here and in Epp. i. 1. 76. Compare Cæsar (B. G. iii. 28): “Morini Menapiique longe alia ratione ac reliqui Galli bellum gerere coeperunt. Nam quod intelligebant maximas nationes quae proelio contendissent, pulsas superatasque esse, continentesque silvas ac paludes habebant, eo se suaque omnia contulerunt.” (See Key’s L. G. 1452.)

42. pereas quin fortiter] ‘Why you should not resolutely destroy yourself.’

44. Chrysippi porticus] This was the στοὰ ποικίλη or picture-gallery at Athens, in which Zeno first taught, and from which his followers derived their name. The Stoics admitted no mean between perfect wisdom, or virtue, and absolute folly, or vice. The fool, therefore, was a madman, and he was a fool who was ignorant of the truth: and this maxim (‘formula’) applies to all men except the sage; the sage, therefore, is he who is perfectly acquainted with the truth, which is the Stoics’ equivalent for a virtuous man. This theory of virtue led to the doctrine of punishments ridiculed by Horace in the third Satire of the first book. The Stoics allowed no gradations of virtue, and therefore admitted no gradations of punishment. Their notion of a sage altogether was irrational, because no such being as they imagined a sage to be ever existed, and they did not suppose it possible he should. Their intention was good, namely, to put before the world the highest standard of virtue, wisdom, and self-control, and, by withholding all credit from any stage short of perfection, to lead men on to desire perfection.

51. hoc te Crede modo] ‘Believe yourself to be mad within this limit (or to this extent), namely, that he who laughs at you is no wiser, and drags his tail behind him (just as much as you do).’

53. caudam trahat] Mischievous boys play tricks upon half-witted people in the streets, such as tying something behind them to make them look ridiculous. In some such way the proverb may have arisen.

Est genus unum] This is the first class of fools, those who are afraid where no fear is: the second being those who care nothing for danger. Compare with this the language of Socrates in Xenophon (Mem. i. 1. 14), τῶν τε γὰρ μαινομένων τοὺς μὲν οὐδὲ τὰ δεινὰ δεδιέναι, τοὺς δὲ καὶ τὰ μὴ φοβερὰ φοβεῖσθαι.

56. varum] It is not certain whether ‘varum’ or ‘varium’ is the proper reading. ‘Varum’ signifies that which diverges. See S. i. 3. 47, n.

58. cum cognatis,] ‘Amica’ agrees with ‘mater.’ It is not a substantive. The word ‘cognatis’ embraces all blood relations who can trace back their origin to a common pair of ancestors.

59. serva!] ‘Take care!’ a word common in the comic writers (see Forcell.).

60. Fufius] Nothing more is known of this actor and of Catienus than is here mentioned. The ordinary story of Polydorus, the son of Priam, is that which Euripides relates in the Hecuba, that he was intrusted to the care of Polymestor, king of Thrace, and murdered by him for his gold. Another legend (see Dict. Biog. ‘Polydorus’) makes him intrusted to the care of his sister Ilione, who was wife of the above Polymestor. She, for some reason, put him in the place of her own son Deiphilus, and the latter was brought up [463]as her brother. When the Greeks took Troy, they required Polymestor to put Priam’s son to death, and he accordingly killed Deiphilus. On this story, Pacuvius founded a tragedy called Ilione, and in one of the scenes the ghost of Deiphilus is introduced in his mother’s bed-chamber, calling upon her to give his body burial in these words (preserved in Cic. Tusc. Disp. i. 44):—

“Mater, te adpello quae curam somno suspensam levas,
Neque te mei miseret; surge et sepeli natum.”

Fufius acted Ilione, and Catienus was Deiphilus. The former was so drunk that he fell fast asleep, and Horace says, if 200,000 Catienuses had screamed in his ear, he would not have heard them. His part was to start up and cry to the vanished ghost, like Hamlet,—“Age, adsta, mane, audi, iteradum eademmet ista mihi” (Cic. Acad. Prior. ii. 27). Cicero made a proverb of these words, ‘Mater, te appello,’ using them in various illustrations. See his speech Pro Sestio, c. 59.

62. Huic ego vulgus] Stertinius goes on to prove that the generality of men are as mad as the above persons.

63. Errori similem] ‘Errorem’ is understood, and it is governed by ‘insanire’ as a cognate accusative, ‘error’ being equivalent to ‘insania.’ Compare Epp. i. 1. 101.

64. Insanit veteres] In the first place, says he, if Damasippus is mad for buying old statues, is he less mad who trusts him?

65. Esto!] εἶεν, ‘be it so,’ a way of passing on to the disproving of the proposition by a reductio ad absurdum. ‘If I offer you a purse of money as a free gift,’ says Stertinius, ‘are you mad if you accept it? Is not he the fool who rejects the treasure that Mercurius in his bounty offers, seeing he may never be so kind again?’

68. quam praesens Mercurius fert?] This notion appears to be taken from a painting. It is common, in ancient works of art, to see Mercurius represented with a purse in his hand, and his wings on his cap or feet, offering the former, as in haste, to some figure by him.

69. Scribe decem Nerio;] These words, to v. 73, are an invective of the money-lender Perillius against his slippery debtor Nerius. And the Stoic replies to him in ver. 74 and the two following verses. The sense is this: ‘Make an entry (says Perillius) of ten (minae, or anything else) lent to Nerius; add by way of security a hundred such bonds as Cicuta employs, and to this any number of fetters you please (that is, take what security of him you choose), still the rascal will escape.’ To which the Stoic replies, ‘If he is mad who ruins himself and cannot pay his debts, you are more mad for lending him money which you have no chance of getting back again.’ The banker (‘argentarius’), through whom the money was advanced, would make an entry in his books, which entry was legal evidence of the debt, but Perillius says that with such a slippery fellow it would not be sufficient.

Nerius may stand for anybody of this character. Cicuta is said to be a nickname given to some notorious usurer, for his sour temper. Horace represents him as a shrewd person to have dealings with; one who, when he advanced money, looked well to the security, and when he bound a debtor, tied the knot tight.

71. Proteus.] For the story of Proteus, see Hom. Odyss. 410, sqq., 455, sqq. (which Virgil has imitated, Georg. iv. 405, sqq.); Ovid, Fast. i. 369, sqq.; A. A. i. 761:—

“Utque leves Proteus modo se tenuabit in undas;
Nunc leo, nunc arbor, nunc erit hirtus aper.”

72. rupies in jus] See note on S. i. 9. 77. ‘Malis ridentem alienis’ is a proverbial way of expressing a hypocrite, who puts on a face not his own. The words are taken, without strict regard to their application, from the Odyssey (xx. 347), οἱ δ᾽ ἤδη γναθμοῖσι γελοίων ἀλλοτρίοισι, where the[464] suitors of Penelope laugh when they would rather have cried, like “Quin et Ixion Tityosque vultu Risit invito” (C. iii. 11. 21). The sense is, that this cunning debtor, when his creditor sues him, will put on all kinds of characters, tell all manner of lies, get out of the obligation, and laugh at his creditor, let him do what he will to bind him.

75. Putidius] This Forcellini explains, I believe correctly, “insanius et quasi corruptius.” As ‘scribere’ signifies to make an entry, ‘rescribere’ signifies to cancel the entry, which would be done when the debt was paid, and not before. ‘Quod tu nunquam rescribere possis’ therefore means ‘what you can never recover.’ ‘Dictare’ is to dictate the form of bond for the borrower to write out, or the sum to be entered in his own books, and either way is equivalent to lending money. When the unjust steward in the parable told his master’s debtor to sit down quickly and write less than he owed, he was said ‘dictare,’ and the man was to write an acknowledgment in the form of a bond.

77. togam jubeo componere,] This only means to sit down and composedly attend to what he is going to say. He turns from Damasippus to an imaginary mixed audience, and addresses four classes chiefly: that is to say, the ambitious, the avaricious, the luxurious, and the superstitious.

83. Nescio an Anticyram] On the phrases ‘nescio an,’ ‘haud scio an,’ ‘I incline to think it is so,’ see Key’s L. G. 1421. Anticyra was a town of Phocis on the Sinus Corinthiacus, and was celebrated for the production of hellebore, a medicine used very generally in cases of madness. It would seem probable, from ver. 166 and other places, that patients went to reside at Anticyra sometimes. There were two other places of the name, one in Thessaly, another in Locris, each of which is said to have produced hellebore, but see note on A. P. 300. ‘Destinare’ is a medical term for prescribing. Stertinius says that he rather thinks reason would prescribe the whole produce of Anticyra for the covetous, whom he reckons the worst of the four.

84. Staberi] This person is unknown. The exhibition of gladiators was originally a funeral ceremony, and so continued after the practice became common as a popular entertainment. After the funeral of a wealthy man a distribution of meat to the people (‘visceratio’) was not unusual, and a public banquet (‘epulum’) was very common, to which persons of the highest distinction that the friends could get to attend were invited. The distribution of corn (‘frumentatio’) was also a common practice. This Staberius, who considered it a disgrace for any man to die poor, willed that the amount of his property should be recorded on his tomb, and his heredes, if they did not do this, were, by a condition in his testament, ‘damnati,’ under a penalty, to celebrate his funeral with gladiatorial shows and an epulum on a scale to be determined by Arrius, which would be a costly scale. ‘Damnati’ is a legal term, and penalties were common in Roman wills. We must infer from the text that 200 pairs of gladiators were in Horace’s day an extravagant number, but in later times it would not have been excessive.

86. arbitrio Arri,] Quintus Arrius (see below, v. 243) was well known in his day. He was a man of low character and origin, and rose by timeserving to honor and wealth. On one occasion he gave an extravagant funeral entertainment.

87. Frumenti quantum metit Africa.] This is a proverbial expression. See C. i. 1. 10.

88. ne sis patruus mihi.] This is as much as to say, ‘Don’t dictate or lay down the law for me.’ As to ‘patruus,’ see C. iii. 12. 3, and above, S. 2. 97.

89. prudentem] Cicero defines ‘prudentia’ thus: “Sapientis est providere, a quo sapientia est appellata prudentia.” What Staberius provided for is related in what follows.

90. summam patrimoni] It would seem from this as if he had not increased the property his father had left him, since the amount of his patrimony was the amount to be engraved on the tomb.

93. perisset] The pluperfect is properly joined with the imperfect in this construction. Compare S. i. 6. 79, and Terence, Phorm. i. 2. 69, “Non si redisset ei pater veniam daret”; and Adelph. ii. 1. 24, “Si attigisses ferres infortunium.” ‘Nequior’ has irony in it. But Staberius’s doctrine was that goodness was measured by wealth, and that if he should die poorer by the fourth part of an as, he would, in the same proportion, be in his own esteem a less virtuous man.

97. Sapiensne? Etiam, et rex,] ‘Wise? say you. Ay, and a king to boot, and anything he shall please.’ But ‘etiam’ in replies means ‘even so.’

99. Quid simile isti] ‘But what likeness,’ says some one, ‘is there between that person of yours and Aristippus’? If he is mad (the man means), surely Aristippus is more mad.

100. Graecus Aristippus?] Aristippus of Cyrene professed to be the slave of no passion, while he gratified all. He cared nothing for money, while he used it for the purpose of sensual indulgence. The story Horace mentions is derived with little variation from Diog. Laert. (ii. 77). See Epp. i. 1. 18, n.

103. litem quod lite resolvit.] Which settles one doubtful point by raising another. It supposes that the conduct of Aristippus may by some be considered noble.

104. Si quis emat citharas,] Sir Henry Halford relates an instance of lunacy which illustrates this: “In another well-known case which justified the Lord Chancellor’s issuing a writ ‘de lunatico inquirendo,’ the insanity of the gentleman manifested itself in appropriating everything to himself and parting with nothing. When strongly urged to put on a clean shirt, he would do it, but it must be over the dirty one; nor would he put off his shoes when he went to bed. He would agree to purchase anything that was to be sold, but he would not pay for it. He was, in fact, brought up from the King’s Bench prison, where he had been committed for not paying for a picture valued at £1,500 which he had agreed to buy; and in giving my opinion to the jury I recommended them to go over to his house in Portland Place, where they would find £15,000 worth of property of every description; this picture, musical instruments, clocks, baby-houses, and bawbles, all huddled in confusion together on the floor of his dining-room. I need not add, that the jury found the gentleman insane.” (Halford’s Essays, p. 63.)

106. formas] Here this signifies a shoemaker’s last. It is used for moulds in which castings are made, and would express any shape or block on which anything is made.

107. Aversus mercaturis:] The poets use the dative after verbs, participles, and adjectives, which signify removal or difference. See Key’s L. G. 987. Compare C. ii. 4. 19: “Tam lucro aversam.” ‘Istis’ (v. 108) is the dative under the same rule. This Latin use accounts for our own ‘averse to.’

115. Chii veterisque Falerni] Pliny says, respecting the age of Falernian, “Falernum nec in novitate nec in nimia vetustate corpori salubre est. Media ejus aetas a quinto decimo anno incipit.” (N. H. xxiii. 20.)

116. nihil est,] ‘A thousand,—nay, that is nothing.’ He might have said ‘immo.’ See S. i. 3. 20, n.

117. unde-Octoginta annos natus,] After he has completed seventy-nine years, that is, in his eightieth year.

118. stragula vestis,] The ancients had very expensive coverings for their beds, which were called ‘stragula’ or ‘stragulae vestes.’ They were usually purple, wide, and sometimes richly embroidered.

121. morbo jactatur eodem.] That is, madness. The word ‘jactari’ is applied medically to the tossing of the sick and writhing of those in pain.

123. Dis inimice senex,] This is an adaptation of θεοῖς ἐχθρός, a common Greek expression.

129. servosque tuos quos aere pararis,] ‘Quos aere pararis’ shows the folly of the man who, having laid out his money in the purchase of slaves, employs himself in breaking their heads with stones. Such a man, says Stertinius, would be counted mad by acclamation. ‘Well, then,’ he adds, to the miser, ‘are you not mad, who poison your mother or strangle your wife, to get rid of the expense of keeping them? Of course not; for you do it, not at Argos, but at Rome; not in the character of Orestes, but of a respectable citizen. But do you not believe Orestes was mad before he killed his mother, and when no one suspected it?’ As to ‘quid enim,’ see note on S. i. 1. 7.

130. pueri clamentque puellae:] “‘Que’ in the poets is sometimes placed, not after the second of the two words compared, but after a word which is the common predicate of both clauses.” (Key’s L. G. 1441.) In a note, Professor Key adds, “A construction that probably began with a repetition of the predicate, ‘pueri clament clamentque puellae.’” See below (v. 157), “furtis pereamque rapinis,” and many other instances.

137. male tutae mentis] ‘Tutus’ was in medical language equivalent to ‘sanus.’ ‘Incolumis’ is used in the same sense (v. 132).

141. Hanc Furiam, hunc aliud] What Horace alludes to when he speaks of Orestes calling Pylades names, is uncertain. In the Orestes of Euripides (v. 264) he says to his sister:

μέθες· μί᾽ οὖσα τῶν ἐμῶν ἐρινύων
μέσον μ᾽ ὀχμάζεις, ὡς βάλῃς ἐς Τάρταρον.

splendida bilis.] ‘Splendida’ is a redundant epithet. Persius, who imitates Horace frequently, calls it ‘vitrea bilis’ (iii. 8). Galen says, “The black bile is brighter than the blood itself, like the asphalt from the Dead Sea, which they call Jewish asphalt.”

142. Opimius] This man, who was ‘magnas inter opes inops’ (C. iii. 16. 28) is quite unknown except from this description. On the wine of Veii see note on C. i. 9. 7, and Persius (S. v. 147): “Veientanumque rubellum.” On ‘Campana trulla,’ see S. i. 6. 118. ‘Trulla,’ which has the same element as τρύβλιον, was a drinking cup of some shape. It was not necessarily of earthen-ware, as here. Cicero (in Verr. ii. 4. 27) mentions one made of a single precious stone of enormous size, with a gold handle.

155. Agedum, sume hoc ptisanarium oryzae.] On ‘agedum,’ see S. i. 4. 38. ‘Ptisanarium’ is a diminutive of ‘ptisana,’ and means a little broth. Rice was imported from Egypt.

157. furtis pereamque rapinis?] See note on S. i. 3. 122, and above, v. 130. The wretched man, when he hears the price of his food, conjures up the notion that everybody is conspiring to rob and plunder him.

158. Quisnam igitur sanus?] These questions and answers are all carried on by Stertinius himself. ‘Stultus et insanus’ means ‘he is a fool, and therefore mad’; not ‘he is a fool, and moreover he is mad,’ since folly and madness have already been declared to be identical.

161. Craterum dixisse putato] Craterus was an eminent physician of that day. Cicero speaks of him with confidence as attending the daughter of Atticus during her illness, B. C. 45. He is mentioned by Persius many years afterwards as representing the profession (S. iii. 65). ‘Cardiacus,’ according to Celsus’s definition, is “nothing else than excessive weakness of the body, which, from the stomach having lost its tone, is wasted with immoderate sweating.”

163. morbo tentantur acuto.] This whole verse is repeated, Epp. i. 6. 28. ‘Morbus acutus,’ ‘an acute disease,’ is opposed to ‘longus,’ ‘a chronic disease.’

165. porcum Laribus:] C. iii. 23. 4. ‘Let him offer a thanksgiving to his Lares who have protected him from those vices.’

168. Servius Oppidius] This person is unknown, except from this passage. He lived at Canusium, a town of Apulia (see S. v. 5. 91, n.). Horace says he was rich even with two farms, according to the standard of incomes in the old times. As to the form ‘divisse,’ see S. 1. 5. 79. This story serves to connect the subject of avarice with that of ambition, which is the next form of madness and profligacy which follows.

171. talos, — nucesque] The ‘talus’ was the knuckle bone of some animal, generally a sheep, the Greek name for which was ἀστράγαλος. The manner of playing with it was the same among the Greeks and the Romans, and the same bones are still used by boys in England. The ancients used them in games of skill and of chance; for the latter purpose they were marked as dice, and thrown usually from a box called ‘fritillus,’ ‘phimus,’ etc. (See S. ii. 7. 17, n.) Boys had also games of various kinds with nuts, as they have now. Suetonius relates that Augustus used to amuse himself by playing with little boys at these games. Oppidius observed that his son Aulus carried about his bones and his nuts in a careless way in a loose fold of his toga, ready to give them away to any of his companions, or to lose them at play; while Tiberius always counted his carefully and hid them away, carrying a serious face wherever he went; and from these early signs of character he foresaw that one would prove a spendthrift, and the other a miser. As to Nomentanus, see S. i. 1. 102, n.; and on Cicuta, see above, v. 69.

181. is intestabilis et sacer esto.] A person who was ‘intestabilis,’ as the word implies, could not appear as a witness before a magistrate, and so lost virtually much of his capacity for private rights. ‘Sacer’ was one condemned for some great crime, who might be put to death by anybody, without charge of murder. Thus Oppidius imprecates a curse upon his sons, if they should ever aspire so high as to the office of an ædile or a prætor.

182. In cicere atque faba] As if his sons were already seeking votes, he says to each of them (for ‘tu’ must be so understood), ‘So you would throw away your money in distributing largesses to the people (such as the ædiles were wont to give), in order that you may strut about in the Circus, and have a bronze statue voted you,—that is to say, that you may be loaded with the same honors as the great Agrippa, like a fox aping a lion.’ It was customary for the ædiles to distribute grain, or vegetables of the sort mentioned, to the common people, at the festival of the Floralia. See Persius (v. 177).

183. Latus — spatiere] This is explained in the note on Epod. iv. 7. As to ‘aëneus,’ see C. iii. 3. 65, n. The form of expression ‘aëneus ut stes’ is like that in C. iv. 1. 19: “Albanos prope te lacus Ponet marmoream”; and Virg. (Ecl. vii. 35):

“Nunc te marmoreum pro tempore fecimus; at tu
Si fetura gregem suppleverit aureus esto.”

The same way of speaking is common in Greek. Such statues as are here supposed were usually erected in the Forum, and one had probably been lately placed there in honor of Agrippa. It may be observed that Oppidius plainly means the first part of his address, from ‘In cicere,’ etc., to apply to the careless, extravagant Aulus, while the simile of the fox and lion is only applicable to Tiberius, who, if he spends his money, will look for a substantial return for it, in such honors and rewards as he saw Agrippa had won.

185. quos fert Aqrippa] Agrippa, after he had been prætor and consul, undertook the ædileship, which was the lowest of the curule offices, in B. C. 33, to gratify Augustus. His munificence was very great in the erection of[468] public buildings and the celebration of games on a splendid scale, and in large donations to the people.

186. Astuta ingenuum] This appears to be nothing but a suitable illustration invented by Horace. It is obvious enough, and we need not suppose it a proverb or a current fable of Æsop or any one else.

187. Ne quis humasse velit] This scene is taken from the remonstrance of Ulysses with Agamemnon, in the Ajax of Sophocles (v. 1328, sqq.), after Ajax has destroyed himself. ‘Veto’ usually governs the infinitive mood. Once more, as here, Horace uses it with ‘ne’ and the subjunctive (Epp. ii. 1. 239), and once with the subjunctive, but without ‘ne’ (C. iii. 2. 26). Tibullus has ‘veto’ with ‘ut’: “Illius ut verbis sis mihi lenta veto” (ii. 6. 36). ‘Atrida’ is the later form of the vocative. The Greek ‘Atride’ is used in Epp. i. 7. 43. ‘Cur’ is awkwardly placed, as it is in S. 7. 104. The connection with what precedes lies in the extravagant and imperious conduct of the king, as illustrating the excesses of pride, and proving that madness is found in high places and in the heart of kings. Stertinius, it must be remembered, is exposing the folly of ambition. The dialogue is supposed to be between Agamemnon and one of his soldiers, in view of the unburied corpse of Ajax. ‘I am a king,’ (‘I am one of the common sort, and dare ask no more!’ interposes the soldier humbly,)—‘and moreover the thing is just that I command.’ There is a good deal of irony here. The justice of the command is secondary to the will of the despot, and his subject is ready, with instinctive awe, to admit that it is so; but the tyrant condescends to justify his act; and the man of low degree, not without trembling and doubt and astonishment at such condescension, ventures to ask that his reason may be enlightened a little, in order that he may learn to acquiesce willingly. Stephens quotes a Greek proverb, μωρῷ καὶ βασιλεῖ νόμος ἄγραφος, ‘Fools and kings are governed by an unwritten law.’ Compare Juvenal, “Sic volo sic jubeo; stat pro ratione voluntas” (vi. 223).

191. Di tibi dent capta classem deducere Troja!] This is a version of the words of Chryses to the king (Il. i. 18):

ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ὀλύμπια δώματ᾽ ἔχοντες
ἐκπέρσαι Πριάμοιο πόλιν, εὖ δ᾽ οἴκαδ᾽ ἱκέσθαι.

‘Consulere’ is used humorously, as if the person addressed was a jurisconsultus. On ‘respondere,’ see C. S. 55, n.

194. Putescit] The two forms ‘putrescere’ and ‘putescere’ are in use, but there is no difference of meaning in them. ‘Putrescat’ is used above (v. 119).

195. Gaudeat ut populus Priami Priamusque] Comp. Il. i. 255: ἦ κεν γηθήσαι Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες.

197. Mille ovium] “‘Mille’ in the singular is commonly an adjective; in the plural, perhaps always a substantive.” An exception to the latter part of this rule occurs above (S. i. 6. 111). ‘Morti dedit’ is exactly equivalent to our ‘put to death.’ ‘Do’ means ‘to put’; so its compounds ‘abdo,’ ‘to put away’; ‘addo,’ ‘to put to’; ‘condo,’ ‘to put together’; ‘dedo,’ ‘to put down’ (one’s arms); ‘dido,’ ‘to put asunder or distribute’; ‘edo,’ ‘to put forth’; ‘indo,’ ‘to put on’; ‘trado,’ ‘to put across, to hand over,’ etc.

τί δῆτα ποίμναις τήνδ᾽ ἐπεμπίπτει βάσιν;
δοκῶν ἐν ὑμῖν χεῖρα χραίνεσθαι φόνῳ.

199. dulcem Aulide natam] Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, was brought to the altar to be sacrificed to Artemis, when the Greek fleet was detained in the port of Aulis, in Eubœa, on its way to Troy. But the goddess carried her off to be her priestess in Tauri.

200. spargisque mola caput,] This is the ‘mola salsa,’ the meal and salt with which the head of the victim was sprinkled. (See C. iii. 23. 20, n.)

201. Quorsum? — Insanus] ‘Quorsum?’ expresses a sudden and angry interruption of the king, astonished at the man’s boldness, while he, being warm, goes on without heeding Agamemnon’s anger, ‘for mad as he was, what did Ajax do?’

204. Non ille] ‘Non’ must not be separated from ‘ille.’ The meaning is ‘not even he,’ οὐδ᾽ ἐκεῖνος. So in C. iii. 21. 9:

205. adverso litore] The shore is called adverse because they wanted to get away from it, and could not. Properly the winds were adverse, not the coast. But the transfer of the epithet from the wind to the shore is in accordance with a common usage.

207. Meo, sed non furiosus.] This is a very polite reply, considering the provocation. The colloquy ends here. Horace, we may presume, had something before him to suggest what must appear to us a rather unnatural and far fetched scene.

208. Qui species alias veris] ‘He who shall entertain fancies foreign to the truth, and mixed up together by the confusion of his own wickedness, will be accounted mad.’

211. cum occidit desipit agnos:] This is an irregular collocation of words; but it is not mended by the commas by which ‘desipit’ is usually preceded and followed.

214. Si quis lectica] The ‘lectica’ of the Romans and φορεῖον of the Greeks were introduced from Asia, and differed very slightly from the palanquins in which, from time immemorial, the Asiatics have been carried.

217. interdicto huic omne adimat jus] The law of the XII. Tables assigned the charge of persons who were ‘furiosi’ to their relations in the male line, ‘agnati,’ and the prætor in later times chose the person who should act as ‘curator’ to the insane person. The same law applied to ‘prodigi,’ notorious spendthrifts. (See below, Epp. i. 1. 102, sq.) The story of Sophocles brought before an Athenian jury by his sons, and reading the celebrated chorus in his Œdipus Coloneus to prove his sanity, is told by Cicero in his treatise on Old Age, c. 7. ‘Omne jus’ means every legal right.

221. hic summa est insania;] ‘Insania’ signifies unsoundness of mind generally; ‘furor,’ the same, accompanied with violence. Horace’s climax of madmen is the fool, the man of crime, and the ambitious the worst of all.

223. Hunc circumtonuit] This verse, which has a grand Epic tone, Orelli thinks may be taken from Ennius. But Horace may have written it himself. He resorts occasionally to travesty to heighten the force of his satire. The worst stage of insanity is represented by one whom Bellona (the goddess of war) hovers round, with a trumpet of thunder and her bloody scourge, and urges on to madness. The Bellonarii, her priests, cut their own flesh to offer the blood in sacrifice.

224. Nunc age] He now passes on to the third kind of madness, profligate extravagance.

225. Vincet enim stultos ratio] See S. i. 3. 115, n. As to ‘talenta,’ see S. 7. 89.

228. Tusci turba impia vici,] The Vicus Tuscus was a street south of the Forum, and is said to have received its name from a body of fugitives from Porsena’s army, who were hospitably entertained by the Romans, and allowed to occupy this street. It appears to have been filled with shops, some apparently of the better sort.

229. Cum scurris fartor,] ‘Fartores’ were persons whose business was to[470] fatten fowls. The ‘scurrae,’ ‘parasites,’ were sent for to help to consume all this quantity of provisions, and to entertain the new heir.

cum Velabro] The Velabrum is said to have derived its name from the verb ‘vehere,’ because the ground was originally a swamp traversed by boats. It was the name of that part of the city which lay between Mons Capitolinus and Mons Aventinus, from the Tiber to the Circus Maximus. Here, too, there appears to have been a collection of shops of the better sort.

omne macellum,] There were in earlier times different markets for the sale of different provisions, as the ‘forum boarium’ for oxen, ‘olitorium’ for vegetables, ‘piscarium’ and ‘piscatorium’ for fish, ‘cupedinis’ for delicacies, etc. These were afterwards (the time is uncertain) all transferred to one large market, on the site of the ‘forum cupedinis,’ on the north side of the Sacra Via, not far from the Forum Romanum. This market was called Macellum, the diminutive form of ‘maceria,’ the wall with which it was surrounded.

233. aequus:] This is ironical. The young man, affecting to be just, shows a wanton extravagance towards the most profligate persons.

234. In nive Lucana] It appears from this passage and S. 8. 6, that Lucanian boars were particularly prized. Martial mentions an Etrurian boar as a great present he had received. Horace, in the next Satire (ver. 40), recommends the Umbrian boar above the Laurentian, or those found in the marshy land on the coast of Latium, in the neighborhood of Laurentum, about sixteen miles from the mouth of the Tiber. The same cause that gave the Umbrian boar its superiority would give value to the Lucanian: both were fed upon the acorns and chestnuts of the Apennines, which are still considered in Italy the best food for hogs, wild and tame. The boar was usually served up whole, at large tables, and formed the principal dish. The ‘ocrea’ was a leather garter that came up to the knee and round the calf like the soldier’s greaves, and was called from them.

235. verris.] ‘Verrere’ is a word used for fishing: ‘to sweep the waters.’ See note on S. 4. 37.

237. tibi decies:] ‘Decies centena millia sestertium’: ten hundred thousand sestertii, not much under nine thousand pounds. (See S. i. 3. 15.)

239. Filius Aesopi] Æsopus, the actor, amassed great wealth. The name of his son who inherited it was Clodius, which was the father’s name, given him perhaps as a freedman of some one belonging to the Clodia gens. Cæcilia Metella was the wife of P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, and was divorced by him B. C. 45, in consequence of her intrigues, chiefly with Dolabella, Cicero’s son in law, of whose profligacy Æsop’s son appears to have been a partner. The mad freak of Clodius is also (as is better known) related of Cleopatra. Æsopus, the actor, was not less extravagant than his son, see below, v. 245, n.

243. Quinti progenies Arri,] Of the father enough has been said above (ver. 86, n.). Of the sons nothing is known.

245. Luscinias] The second syllable is long; the third coalesces with the last (see i. 7. 30, n). A dish of nightingales would cost a large sum and afford little meat. Pliny mentions that Æsopus, the actor (see above, v. 239, n.), on one occasion had a dish of singing and talking birds, each of which cost 6,000 sestertii, and the whole dish 100,000, on which Pliny remarks, the man was worthy of his son, who melted the pearl and drank it.—‘Impenso’ is nowhere else used absolutely for ‘impenso pretio,’ which is a common expression for a high price.

246. Sanin creta, an carbone notandi?] The distinction of days by white and black marks has been mentioned, C. i. 36. 10, n. Horace here applies them to the distinction of character. The meaning of the sentence is, ‘Are[471] they as men of sound mind to be marked with a white mark, or (as unsound) with a black?’ ‘Sanin’ is a contraction of ‘sanine.’ ‘Quorsum abeant?’ ‘what is to become of them? are they to be marked, &c.?’

248. Ludere par impar,] A game fit only for children, in which one person guessed whether the number of things another person held in his hand was odd or even. The Greeks had the same game, and called it ἀρτιάζειν. Stertinius goes on to speak of the man of pleasure, whose madness is no less than that of the covetous, the ambitious, or the spendthrift. With the last he is closely allied.

250. ratio esse evincet] See above, v. 225. He says, “If reason convinces you that all these symptoms of madness are no worse than whining after women, is it not better to repent and lay aside such things?”

251. trimus Quale prius] Such a game as you used to play at formerly, when you were but three years old.

254. Mutatus Polemon?] Polemon was a youth given to pleasures and bad company. Passing the Academy with a garland on his head, and with a band of riotous companions, while Xenocrates was lecturing, he burst into the school, but was so struck with what he heard, that, having gone in a thoughtless profligate, he came out serious and quite converted. He succeeded Xenocrates at the head of the Academy (B. C. 315). Xenocrates himself, whose purity of life and sobriety of character are referred to in the word ‘impransi,’ became the head of the Platonic school on the resignation of Speusippus (B. C. 339). He was the disciple of Plato, and accompanied him on his travels.

255. Fasciolas, cubital, focalia,] These are all articles of dress, worn only by women, or by men who took great care of their person. ‘Fasciola’ was a bandage for the legs, ‘cubital’ a sleeve for the arm, ‘focale’ a bandage for the throat. ‘Impransus’ stands for ‘sobrius,’ because it was not usual for abstemious men to take the midday meal (‘prandium’). ‘Furtim’ is a happy touch of Horace’s. It expresses the shame of the young man, and his instinctive reverence for the philosopher and the place he was in, better than many sentences could have done. ‘Correptus’ means ‘arrested, conscience-smitten.’

258. Porrigis irato puero] The caprices of a spoilt child are no worse than those of lovers squabbling and making it up again.

259. Sume, catelle!] Such diminutives were expressions of endearment. There is a collection of such in a scene of Plautus (Asin. iii. 3. 76):

“Dic igitur me passerculum, gallinam, coturnicem,
Agnellum, haedillum me tuum dic esse vel vitellum”;

“Dic igitur me anaticulam, columbam, vel catellum,
Hirundinem, monedulam, passerculum putillum.”

260. agit ubi secum] With such a scene as this the Eunuchus of Terence opens, and a good deal is taken word for word from that scene. The lover’s indecision is represented elsewhere, in Epod. xi. 19, sqq.

270. nihilo plus explicet] ‘Explico’ signifies to gain a point or serve a purpose. There is a like use of this word in Cæsar (B. G. viii. 4): “Explicandae rei frumentariae causa.” It is also used in a peculiar sense in C. iv. 9. 44, where see note.

272. Picenis excerpens semina pomis] The orchards of Picenum, the district that lay between the country of the Sabines and the Hadriatic, appear to have been celebrated. In the next Satire (ver. 70) Picenian apples are said to be superior to those of Tibur, and they are mentioned many years later by Juvenal (xi. 74). The sport here alluded to is thus explained. Lovers were wont to take the pips of apples between their finger and thumb and shoot them up to the ceiling, and if they struck it, their wish would be accomplished. Some such games are common in our own nurseries.

273. si cameram percusti] ‘Camera,’ which is from the Greek καμάρα, and is sometimes spelt with an ‘a,’ was an arched ceiling, as ‘lacunar’ was flat. The latter was so called from panels with raised sides, and so having each the appearance of a ‘lacus’ or shallow reservoir, into which the ceiling was sometimes divided. It was common in rich houses for the ceiling to be richly ornamented. See C. ii. 18. 2. ‘Laquear’ is another form of ‘lacunar.’ Horace also uses the expression ‘laqueata tecta’ (C. ii. 16. 12), which is found in other writers.

penes te es?] This seems to correspond to the Greek ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἶναι, for a man in his right mind, or it may mean to ask if the man is ‘suo jure,’ which one who was ‘furiosus’ would not be.

274. cum balba feris] ‘You strike your lisping words against your old palate’ which means that he talks in a silly, childish way.

275. Adde cruorem Stultitiae] But childish nonsense is not the worst of this madness. Add bloodshed to folly and run into the most violent excesses of passion, and you will not do more than such lusts commonly lead to. Such is the Stoic’s meaning. ‘Ignem gladio scrutare’ is a translation of a Greek saying, πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ σκαλεύειν, ‘to stir the fire with the sword,’ which is attributed to Pythagoras. To stir the fire of lust with the sword, is to stir up strife and bloodshed in the indulgence of your lusts.

276. Modo, inquam, Hellade percussa] ‘To take a late instance,’ seems to be the meaning of ‘modo’. The story here referred to was probably well known at the time, but of the actors in it we know nothing.

278. Cerritus fuit, an commotae] ‘Cerritus’ means ‘mad,’ but its derivation is uncertain. ‘Commotus’ is used for different degrees of mental excitement. See v. 209, where the meaning is the same as here. Agrippina, who was of a hasty temper, is called ‘commotior’ by Tacitus (Ann. i. 33). ‘Cognata vocabula’ means words which may differ in sound, but are one in sense.

281. Libertinus erat,] The next folly noticed is superstition. Stertinius tells, by way of illustration, a story of an old ‘libertinus,’ who went from shrine to shrine erected in the ‘compita,’ spots where two or more streets met, praying to the Lares Compitales (for whom altars were built in such places, see above, v. 26, n.) that they would grant him immortality. This he did early in the morning, quite sober, and with hands washed, as became a serious worshipper. Now this man was sound in hearing and sight, but, says Stertinius, if his former master had ever wanted to part with him, in putting him up for sale he would have cautioned purchasers that he was not in his right mind, unless he wanted to get into an action to rescind the bargain on the ground of fraud. It was necessary for a person selling a slave to inform the buyer of any bodily or mental defect in him. To wash the hands and feet before offering prayer or sacrifice was a custom with the Greeks and Romans. Hector says (Il. vi. 266):

Χερσὶ δ᾽ ἀνίπτοισιν Διῒ λείβειν αἴθοπα οἶνον
Ἅζομαι.

287. in gente Meneni.] Of Menenius nothing is known. ‘Meneniae stultitiae’ or ‘ineptiae’ is spoken of as a proverb.

289. cubantis,] See note on S. i. 9. 18. ‘Illo die’ may mean ‘die Jovis.’ The Jews fasted on Thursdays and Mondays (“I fast twice in the week,” Luke xvii. 12), in commemoration, it is said, of the ascent of Moses into the Mount on the fifth day of the week, and of his return on the second. The practices of the Jews were the best illustrations of superstition in the eyes of Horace and men of the world, and their fast is here perhaps alluded to. See note on S. i. 9. 69. On special occasions fasts were ordered at Rome. The vow made by the mother for her sick child is, that, if he recovers, he shall[473] stand naked in the Tiber, to wash away his sins. This is intended to represent another foreign superstition, as the Romans held it, that of bathing the body in token of the purifying of the soul.

295. Quone malo] See S. i. 10. 21 on ‘quone.’ ‘Timor deorum’ is equivalent to δεισιδαιμονία in its usual sense of superstition. ‘Deorum metus’ expresses a right fear or reverence of the gods. But the distinction was not invariably observed.

296. sapientum octavus,] That is, he might take his place with the seven wise men of Greece.

297. ne compellarer inultus.] ‘Compellare’ is sometimes used absolutely and in a bad sense, that is to abuse, as here.

299. Respicere ignoto] This refers to Æsop’s fable of the two wallets, which is told, with its moral, in five lines by Phædrus (iv. 10):

“Peras imposuit Jupiter nobis duas:
Propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit,
Alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem.
Hac re videre nostra mala non possumus;
Alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus.”

300. sic vendas omnia pluris,] On ‘sic’ see C. i. 3. 1, n. ‘Pluris’ is simply put for ‘magno.’ Horace quietly hints to Damasippus that he had better leave off philosophy and return to his trade, in which he wishes him all success.

303. Agave] How she and the other Mænads tore her son Pentheus to pieces for intruding upon the orgies, is related at length by Ovid. (Met. iii. 701, sqq.)

308. Aedificas, hoc est,] ‘You are building, which is as much as to say, you, who are a dwarf two feet high, are aping the airs of a giant; and yet you laugh at Turbo (a gladiator of great courage, but small stature), swelling with a spirit too big for his little body.’ Horace may have been making some additions to his Sabine house, and about this time Mæcenas built his large house on the Esquiliæ. (See S. i. 8, Introduction.)

312. verum est] δίκαιόν ἐστι; ‘is it right?’ Compare Cæsar, B. G. iv. 8: “Neque verum esse qui suos fines tueri non potuerint alienos occupare.” See also Livy iii. 40.

313. Tantum dissimilem] A similar construction occurs immediately below (ver. 317), ‘tantum magna.’ ‘Multum similis’ (S. ii. 5. 92), ‘multum dissimilis’ (Epp. i. 10. 3), are like phrases. ‘Tanto’ is the dative governed by ‘certare.’

318. Major dimidio. Num tanto?] ‘Greater by half,’ is a way of speaking which must not be taken literally. By ‘num tanto’ the frog means to ask whether the calf was so much bigger than her natural size as, by puffing, she had made herself. ‘Is it so much bigger?’ she says, blowing herself out to proportions much greater than her own.

320. abludit] This word occurs nowhere else. It means to be out of harmony with.

322. sanus] See A. P. 296: “Excludit sanos Helicone poëtas Democritus.” There is not much consistency in Damasippus urging Horace to write at the beginning of the Satire, and calling him mad for doing so at the end of it.

323. horrendam rabiem.] This charge against himself need not be taken seriously. We have no reason to believe Horace was an ill-tempered man. He laments the facility of his temper on one occasion. (S. i. 9. 11.) But he says he is irritable. (Epp. i. 20. 25.)

Cultum majorem censu.] ‘Your living beyond your income.’ Horace tries to stop him, but the man goes on with one instance of his folly after another.

326. O major tandem] The scene winds up with a pretended deprecation of the severe truths of Damasippus, to whom the poet submits as the greater madman of the two, and humbles himself before him accordingly.

This Satire is an essay on good living, put in the form of precepts delivered to Horace at second hand by one Catius, who professes to have received them from some sage more learned in the art, whom he does not name. Horace meets him accidentally, as he is hurrying away from the Professor’s lecture, to think over what he had learnt, and to store it in his mind. Catius recites what he has heard, from memory or from notes, and enters without preface upon the question of the first course. The Professor may be supposed to have carried his hearers through an entire dinner, “ab ovo usque ad mala” (see S. i. 3. 6, n.). Catius only gives the heads of the lecture and one or two of the sage’s reflections. The precepts he delivers inflame Horace with a desire to see and hear the great man himself, and he prays Catius to introduce him. It may be that Horace had some third person in his eye, but we have no means of knowing who it was. If it be so, there were those, no doubt, who would understand the allusion at the time. As to the man Catius himself, he appears to have been a well known follower of the Epicurean school, but he must have been dead many years before this Satire was written. Probably, therefore, Horace only introduces his name as a handle for ridiculing the Epicureans.

1. Unde et quo Catius?] On Catius, see Introduction. On the formula, see S. i. 9. 62, n.

2. Ponere signa] The ancients practiced methods for helping the memory. The first ‘memoria technica’ was said by tradition to have been invented by Simonides of Ceos. ‘Signa’ were more technically called ‘imagines,’ objects which the person arranged so that his mind’s eye could rest upon them, and thus assist his memory. ‘Ponere signa’ seems also to have been commonly used in this sense.

3. Anytique reum] Anytus was one of the three (Meletus and Lycon were his associates) who got up and conducted the prosecution of Socrates.

4. tempore laevo] See above, S. ii. 1. 18: “Nisi dextro tempore Flacci Verba,” etc.

6. Quod si] Horace apologizes for interrupting and detaining him; but, he says, if he should thereby forget any part of his lesson for a moment, he will presently recover it, he has such a wonderful memory, either by nature or art, or both.

12. Longa quibus facies ovis erit] On ‘ova,’ see S. i. 3. 6, n. ‘Succus’ here is equivalent to ‘sapor.’ Why Horace should make Catius say that long eggs were more white than round ones, or what is gained by the whiteness of an egg, or by its containing a male rather than a female chicken, is not clear. He puts any nonsense, it appears, into the man’s mouth. ‘Ponere’ is to put upon the table, as ‘posito pavone’ (S. ii. 2. 23). The notion that from long eggs cocks were hatched, and from round, hens, appears to have been a vulgar error. ‘Callosa’ signifies ‘tough,’ and belongs in sense, though not in construction, to the yolk.

15. Caule suburbano] Artificial streams and fishponds were commonly introduced into the gardens of rich people. Hence Catius says the vegetables[475] grown in the suburbs were not so pleasant as those grown in the country on drier soil; meaning that they were insipid, from the quantity of water they imbibed.

17. vespertinus subito te oppresserit] On ‘vespertinus,’ see Epod. xvi. 51; ‘opprimere’ is to overtake or come upon one suddenly.

18. malum responset] ‘Responsare’ is used by Horace several times in the sense of resistance. See below, S. 7. 85: “Responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores”; and Epp. i. 1. 68. ‘Malum responset’ means ‘it disagrees with.’

20. Pratensibus optima fungis] He says the ‘fungi’ that grew in the open meadows were more to be trusted than others,—that is, those which grew in the shade. Truffles and different kinds of mushrooms were much eaten by the Romans, as they are still by the Italians. Of the latter there were and are great varieties. The mushroom most highly esteemed was the boletus, which was cultivated in gardens, and kept for the eating of the rich. But all such fungi had to be chosen with great care. Even the boletus served to carry off an emperor.

24. Aufidius] This may be M. Aufidius, who was remarkable as having been the first at Rome who bred and fattened peacocks for sale, and derived a large profit (as much as 600,000 sesterces a year) from that trade. As to the composition of ‘mulsum,’ see note on S. ii. 2. 15, n. Falernian wine, which Horace appears to have esteemed next to Cæcuban, is here called ‘forte,’ and elsewhere ‘severum’ and ‘ardens’ (C. i. 27. 9; ii. 11. 19). It was a very strong spirituous wine, and required long keeping to become mellow.

27. morabitur] This may have been a medical word for costiveness. ‘Mitulus,’ the limpet, was an inferior sort of shell-fish. The Greeks called it τελλίνη or ξιφύδριον. The ‘lapathus’ is mentioned above as a purgative (Epod. ii. 57, n.). ‘Brevis’ refers to the size of the plant.

30. Lubrica nascentes implent] That shell-fish were best at the time of the new moon, appears to have been generally believed among the ancients. They had many fancies respecting the influence of the moon on various objects, in which, however, modern ignorance and superstition have perhaps surpassed them. But in respect to shell-fish, modern observation is in conformity with that of the ancients.

32. Murice Baiano] This shell-fish, from which a purple dye was obtained, was found, it seems, in great abundance at Baiæ. It would seem not to have been as useful for the table as for its dye. The ‘peloris,’ which was found in the Lacus Lucrinus, close to Baiæ, appears to have been an insipid fish, though Catius says it is better than the murex. The rival oyster-beds were in the Lacus Lucrinus and at Circeii, the opposite point of the bay which is terminated by the promontory of that name, in Latium, and the promontory of Misenum, in Campania. Catius gives the preference to the oysters of Circeii, which Pliny also says were unsurpassed (xxxii. 21). See note on Epod. ii. 49. The best oysters, however, were found at Brundisium on the other coast, whence the spawn was carried to stock the beds on the coast of Campania and Latium.

34. Pectinibus patulis] The shell-fish called ‘pecten,’ it seems, was found in greatest perfection at Tarentum. From the epithet ‘patulis’ it must have been one of the bivalved sort.

molle Tarentum.] The degenerate character of the Tarentines, which gained their city the epithets ‘molle,’ ‘imbelle’ (Epp. i. 7. 45), dates from the death of Archytas, about the middle of the fourth century B. C. Among other symptoms of this degeneracy, it is recorded that their calendar contained more festivals than there were days in the year. For full two hundred years[476] (some make it much more) before the above period, they had flourished, above all the colonies of Magna Græcia, in arms and commerce.

36. exacta] For this meaning of ‘exigere,’ ‘to investigate,’ see Forcell. under ‘exigo’ and ‘exactus.’

37. cara pisces avertere mensa] ‘Mensa’ means the fishmonger’s board, which is called dear, instead of the fish exposed on it. ‘Avertere’ is ‘to carry off.’ Compare Virgil (Aen. x. 78): “Arva aliena jugo premere atque avertere praedas.” It is commonly used with ‘praeda,’ as in Cæsar, B. C. iii. 59: “Praedam omnem domum avertebant.” It may be applied humorously in this sense here, the man making a booty of the fish he loved. On ‘pisces patinarii’ (‘quibus jus est aptius’) and ‘assi,’ see note on S. i. 3. 81.

39. Languidus in cubitum] Catius says it is of no use for a man to buy expensive fish, if he does not know how to dress them; that is, which should be served up with sauce, and which, when fried, will tempt the guest, after he has laid himself down tired of eating, to raise himself on his elbow, and begin eating again.

43. Vinea submittit] He says, without much sense, as it would seem, that the flesh of wild deer fed in vineyards is not always eatable. The ‘caprea’ was a mountain goat, chamois, or some one of the deer kind. ‘Submittit’ is equivalent to ‘suppeditat,’ ‘supplies.’ See C. iv. 4. 63: “Monstrumve submisere Colchi.”

44. Fecundae leporis] ‘Lepus’ is of common gender. A modern epicure would not choose the shoulder of a hare as the most delicate part. It is so distinguished again, S. 8. 89.

51. Massica si caelo suppones] The wine in the amphora required clearing, before it could be drunk. One way of effecting this appears to have been exposing the vessel for some time to the open air, which process also took off some of its strength. Catius mentions the yolk of pigeons’ eggs as another means of precipitating the lees of the wine. White of egg was a more usual agent. Pliny mentions sulphur; several insoluble materials, such as pounded shells, gypsum, chalk, milk, etc., were used for the same purpose. But the commonest way was to strain the wine either through a ‘saccus,’ a bag of fine linen (which was apt to hurt the flavour), or through a metal sieve, ‘colum,’ these being in the hot weather filled with snow.

53. odor nervis inimicus;] This means what we call the bouquet, which helped the wine in its intoxicating effects upon the brain. With the inferior wines various aromatics were frequently introduced, for the purpose of giving them an agreeable perfume.

58. Tostis marcentem squillis] When the guest gets surfeited, or drinks so much he cannot digest any more, his appetite is to be tempted with fried shrimps and snails, of which the best sort came from the coast of Africa, and were called ‘Solitanae,’ the derivation of which name is uncertain; also with bacon and sausages. The lettuce, Catius says, ought not to be taken for this purpose, because it does not settle on the stomach when it is irritated. ‘Lactuca’ was commonly eaten at the ‘gustatorium,’ as an incentive to the appetite. Catius says the cloyed stomach would rather (‘malit’) have any coarse dish, brought in from the cook-shop, to stimulate it, than lettuce after drinking wine, which was a different thing from taking it before dinner.

61. Flagitat immorsus refici:] ‘Immorsus’ agrees with ‘stomachus,’ and signifies stimulated, ‘pervulsus,’ as “qualia lassum pervellunt stomachum” (S. 8. 9).

62. immundis fervent allata popinis.] The ‘popinae’ were the lowest sort of eating houses, where meat was cooked and usually eaten on the premises, but sometimes sent out. They were the same as the Greek καπηλεῖα. They [477]were a lower sort of ‘cauponae’ (see S. i. 5. 2, n.). Their keepers, ‘popae,’ were, as might be expected, usually persons of no credit. The shops were dirty, and the company very low. Compare Epp. i. 14. 21. There were great numbers of these shops about the city. They were also called ‘thermopolia,’ because there the Romans drank hot spiced wine and water, ‘calda.’

63. duplicis pernoscere juris] Catius goes on to describe the sauces, of which there are two kinds; one which he calls simple, but which was not entirely so, being made of sweet olive-oil mixed with rich wine and ‘muria,’ which is but ‘garum,’ made from certain shell-fish (S. 8. 53). There was a composite sauce which was made up of the above boiled with chopped herbs, with a sprinkling of saffron, and, when it had stood to cool, the finest olive-oil of Venafrum (C. ii. 6. 16, n.).

66. Byzantia putuit orca.] The ‘thynnus’ from which the best ‘garum’ was made was found best in the neighborhood of Byzantium (Pliny ix. 20). ‘Orca’ is a jar used for preserving sauces and pickles. As to the form ‘putuit,’ see S. 3. 194, n. The ‘crocus’ of Mons Corycus in Cilicia appears to have been most celebrated. ‘Stetit’ means ‘has ceased to boil.’

70. Picenis cedunt pomis Tiburtia] The apples of Tibur and Picenum have been referred to before (C. i. 7. 14; S. ii. 3. 272).

71. Venucula convenit ollis:] It is not known whence this grape derives its name. The word is variously spelt. Grapes were dried and preserved in jars for the winter. For drying in this way, Catius says the grape of the Alban hills is best. His opinion is not supported by any extant authority, as it is in the other instance.

73. Hanc ego cum malis,] Catius says he was the first to introduce Albanian raisins at the second course, and likewise ‘faex’ and ‘allec,’ two pickles, or two names for the same, being the lees of the ‘muria’ (v. 63, n.). Catius also claims the merit of introducing little dishes containing a mixture of salt and white pepper. The object of all this, as well as the pickles, was to promote thirst, and add to the pleasure of drinking after dinner. White pepper is milder than black. It is made by blanching the finer grains of the black, and taking off the rind. The ancients must have got their pepper from the East Indies. The best is grown on the Malabar coast.

75. Incretum] This comes from ‘incerno,’ ‘to sift,’ or ‘incernendo spargere’ (Forcell.), ‘to scatter with a sieve’ or ‘incerniculum.’ It therefore means that the pepper was sprinkled over the salt. ‘Catillus’ is a diminutive form of ‘catinus.’

76. millia terna macello] 3,000 sesterces (upwards of £26) for a dish of fish is a large sum, but not perhaps exaggerated. Larger sums were given for dainties. As to ‘macellum,’ see S. 3. 229, n. By ‘vagos pisces’ he means that it is a shame to confine in a narrow compass animals that have had the freedom and range of the seas. The liberty of the bird is expressed by the same epithet in C. iv. 4. 2.

79. calicem] The slave handing a drinking cup (‘calix’) to a guest, just after he had been gathering and licking up the remains of the dishes, would leave the marks of his fingers upon it, and this would turn the stomachs of the company, who would also be disgusted if they saw dirt upon the ‘cratera’ in which the wine and the water were mixed. The ‘calix’ was the same as the Greek κύλιξ. Its shapes and sizes and materials all varied very much. There were wooden and earthen-ware ‘calices,’ and others of common glass, and others of greater value of colored glass; but those that were most valued of all were the ‘crystallina,’ of a pure and highly transparent crystal glass. The colored glass cups came principally from Alexandria. The Romans were curious in collecting old vessels for their table (‘veteres craterae’), as observed before (S. 3. 21, n.).

81. Vilibus in scopis,] ‘Scopae’ were besoms for sweeping the floors, walls, and furniture of a room, usually made of the branches of the wild myrtle or tamarisk. The palm seems also to have been used. ‘Mappae’ here mean towels or dusters to clean the furniture and walls. ‘Scobe’ is sawdust, with which the floors were strewed. It was sometimes highly scented.

83. Ten lapides varios] ‘Tene?’ is it for such as you? ‘Tene decet?’ The floors in the houses of the rich were laid with slabs of marble and mosaic-work, and marble slabs were also introduced in the walls, though paintings were more common. ‘Torus’ meant properly a round pillow, as is shown by its root ‘ter’ (which appears in ‘tornus,’ ‘torqueo,’ etc.; see C. i. 1. 28, n.), and ‘toralia’ probably means coverings for the cushions, which were put over the rich ‘stragulae vestes’ (see last Satire, v. 118, n.), as we put chintz coverings over our furniture when it is not in use, or on ordinary occasions. Inviting his friend Torquatus to dinner, Horace tells him he will take care “ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa Corruget nares.” (Epp. i. 5. 22.)

85. Oblitum quanto] Catius says that the neglect of those matters which cost little money and attention is more reprehensible than the absence of furniture, which the rich only can afford. The case he supposes is that of a man who combines dirt with finery, slovenliness with ostentation.

88. Docte Cati,] Catius, having brought his discourse to an end with an exhortation upon decency and order, Horace entreats him, wherever it is he goes to get such lessons he will take him with him, that he may drink wisdom at the fountain-head. Catius, he says, no doubt repeats accurately what he has heard, but such precepts would be more highly commended by the aspect, bearing, voice, etc. of the teacher himself.

94. fontes ut adire remotos] Horace here parodies Lucretius (i. 926): “Juvat integros accedere fontes atque haurire.”

In this Satire, which has a good deal of humor in it, Horace takes up the practice of will-hunting, of which, as of many other degrading vices that afterwards pervaded Roman society, he saw only the beginning. Describing the rage for making money in Epp. i. 1. 77, he says:

“Pars hominum gestit conducere publica: sunt qui
Crustis et pomis viduas venentur avaras
Excipiantque senes quos in vivaria mittant.”

The practice was sufficiently common in Cicero’s time, and Pliny connects it with the growth of wealth, and the time when money began to be the instrument of ambition and the measure of respectability; that is, he dates its birth from the decline of the Republic.

Homer (Odyss. xi.) makes Ulysses go down to Hades and there meet Teiresias, the Theban prophet, who tells him of the hardships that awaited him in his journey home, where however in the end he is destined to arrive. Horace supposes a continuation of the interview, and makes Ulysses ask the soothsayer how he is to repair his fortunes when he gets home, and finds his property wasted by his wife’s suitors, as the prophet told him it would be (see note on v. 6). Teiresias, though he implies that the cunning Ulysses would be at no loss in such a matter if he once got home, gives him his advice, which is to lay himself out for pleasing old men and women of fortune, and getting named in their wills, for which he lays down a few ordinary rules: of these, a persevering and coarse servility is the chief. Ulysses appears in as low a character as he can,—an apt disciple, ready to be the shadow of a slave, and to prostitute his chaste Penelope if need be. The[479] Ulysses of all poets after Homer is a contemptible personage, and it must be said in favor of Horace that Penelope, whose character in the Odyssey is feminine and pure, is by later writers represented as less chaste than Homer has drawn her. Those who only know her as the virtuous wife and mother, will not easily forgive the coarse allusions to her in this Satire.

3. Quid rides?] These words are spoken by Ulysses. Teiresias may be supposed to smile at Ulysses for asking advice in a matter in which his own craftiness would help him better than any counsel he could receive. The prophet’s answer means, that, when he gets back to his home, his wits will soon teach him how to repair his fortune. ‘Jamne’ means, ‘what, now I have told you that you will get home?’

6. te vate,] See Hom. Odyss. xi. 110. The dialogue is supposed to be a continuation of that which Homer relates, and takes place in Hades. See Introduction.

9. missis ambagibus,] The ‘ambages’ were Ulysses’ fine words about birth and merit, and Teiresias perhaps means, ‘Since you will have my advice, let us waste no words, but begin.’

10. Turdus] This bird, the fieldfare, if well fattened, was considered a great delicacy by the Romans. In Epp. i. 15. 40, the glutton Mænius pronounces that there is nothing better than one of these birds, “obeso nil melius turdo”; and the host at Beneventum produced a dish of them in honor of his visitors, but they were poor things, and he did not know how to dress them (S. i. 5. 72). The fieldfare is still reckoned a delicate bird. ‘Privum’ means for your own private eating.

14. Ante Larem] The first fruits were offered to the Lares. See Tibull. i. 1. 13:

“Et quodcunque mihi pomum novus educat annus
Libatum agricolae ponitur ante deo.”

No divinity was dearer to a Roman than his Lares, whose images stood in his hall, who reminded him of his departed ancestors, and whom he invoked and sacrificed to every day at his meals (see C. iv. 5. 34).

15. sine gente,] Suppose him to be a ‘libertinus,’ and in former days to have run away from his master, in which case he would be branded on the forehead, and the shame of attending him would be greater. He would also be ‘sine gente,’ that is, he would belong to no ‘gens,’ if he were a freedman or the descendant of a freedman.

17. Tu comes exterior] Teiresias advises that, if the rich man should call upon him to attend him when he walks abroad, he should never refuse to go, taking the least honorable place, which was by his patron’s side, and usually between him and the road. The expressions ‘tegere latus,’ ‘claudere latus,’ were common, and meant to take that side which was most exposed.

18. Utne tegam] This is a short way of saying ‘hortarisne me ut tegam?’ ‘Damae’ is used generally as a common name of slaves (see S. i. 6. 38). ‘Spurcus’ is a word Lucilius used, as in that verse quoted by Cicero (Tusc. ii. 17), “Ergo hoc poterit ‘Samnis spurcus homo vita illa dignus locoque?’”

20. hoc] When Teiresias tells him he must be content to be poor, or do as he bids him, Ulysses consents to the degradation rather than incur the poverty, and makes a merit of doing so: he will bear the disgrace with his usual magnanimity. The hero’s language is a parody of that which Homer puts into his mouth (Odyss. xx. 18):

τέτλαθι δὴ, κραδίη· καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ᾽ ἔτλης.

ἤδη γὰρ μάλα πόλλ᾽ ἔπαθον καὶ πόλλ᾽ ἐμόγησα
Κύμασι καὶ πολέμῳ· μετὰ καὶ τόδε τοῖσι γενέσθω.

22. Divitias aerisque ruam] ‘Ruere’ is ‘to get together.’ Virgil uses the word in a similar sense (Georg. i. 105), “cumulosque ruunt male pinguis arenae.”

27. olim,] See C. ii. 10. 17, n. On ‘ultro,’ C. iv. 4. 51; on ‘vocet in jus,’ S. i. 9. 74, n.

32. Quinte, puta, aut Publi,] These names would be given a slave at his manumission.

38. Pelliculam curare jube;] This diminutive is frequently used without any particular force. The expression is like that in Ep. i. 2. 29:

“Me pinguem et nitidum bene curata cute vises,
Cum ridere voles Epicuri de grege porcum.”

‘Corpus curare’ is a common phrase, and Horace has “genium curare” (C. iii. 17. 15, n.).

— fi cognitor; ipse] ‘Cognitor’ means an attorney, one who is authorized to appear for another, either in maintaining or defending an action. He was appointed by and looked upon as the principal, and he was liable as such. The obsequiousness of the will-hunter was not to be deterred by such a responsibility. Horace says: “Become his cognitor, and let him go home, while you yourself persevere, and hold out for him, whatever the weather may be.”

39. seu rubra Canicula] He means in the height of summer or the depth of winter. The 41st verse, with the substitution of Furius for Juppiter is taken from Bibaculus; respecting whom, see S. i. 10. 36, n. Whether the other expressions are so, or whether they are only a parody of his style, or taken from some other poet, we cannot tell. The epithet ‘rubra’ for the dog-star, and ‘infantes’ as an ornamental epithet to express the speechlessness of the statues, are sufficiently absurd, and the hyperbole is not in good taste; there is vulgarity likewise in ‘conspuet.’ ‘Omaso’ signifies tripe, a vulgar dish even among the Romans. (See Epp. i. 15. 34.)

44. Plures adnabunt thunni] The tunny-fish is found in large shoals at particular seasons on either shore of the Mediterranean, into which it comes from the Atlantic to deposit its spawn. Vast quantities were and still are caught and salted. ‘Cetaria’ were artificial preserves, into which the fish were attracted and then taken. Salting-houses were built hard by. ‘Thunni’ here is put for the rich fools who would be caught by the servility of the fortune-hunter.

46. sublatus] This sense of ‘tollere,’ to educate, bring up, is said to be taken from the practice of fathers taking up in their arms immediately after their birth such of their children as they wished to be reared, while the others they left to be exposed. See Terence (Heaut. iv. 1. 13):

“So. Meministin’ me esse gravidam, et mihi te maximo opere edicere
Si puellam parerem nolle tolli?”
“Ch. Scio quid feceris,
Sustulisti.”

It is not to be supposed that the exposure of children, or infanticide in any form, was lawful at Rome; but it is probable that it was practiced to some extent even in late times.

47. Caelibis] ‘Caelebs’ is applied to a widower as well as a bachelor. ‘Nudare’ Horace uses in this sense of ‘exposing’ in S. 8. 73.

48. ut et scribare secundus Heres] Wills were not necessarily written, though latterly they generally were so, and in that case it was usually on tablets of wax; hence below (v. 54) ‘cera’ is used as synonymous with ‘tabula.’ When a man made his will, he commonly named a ‘secundus heres,’ or more than one, who would succeed to the ‘hereditas,’ if the first[481] ‘heres’ or ‘heredes’ refused it, or had become disqualified, or had failed to express his or their intention of accepting it within a time named in the will. These were called ‘substituti.’ He might also, if he pleased, make provision, in the case of naming his children his ‘heredes,’ that, if they died ‘impuberes,’ another person or persons named by him should get the ‘hereditas.’ This was called ‘pupillaris substitutio,’ and may be referred to by Horace in this place. ‘Vacua hereditas’ was a common legal term for an ‘hereditas’ made void by any of the above reasons, or any other.

49. puerum egerit Orco,] There is a little mock pathos in this. ‘Ago,’ with the dative, is not a prose construction. See C. i. 24. 18: “Nigro compulerit gregi.”

53. ut limis rapias] ‘Oculis’ is understood after ‘limis,’ ‘with eye askance.’ The advice given is, that, if the testator should give the man his will to read, he should affect indifference and put it from him, taking care first to get a side-glance at its contents, and see if his name appears in the next line after the testator’s. A will was commonly written on three pages, which were called severally ‘prima,’ ‘secunda,’ and ‘ima cera,’ ‘cera’ being equivalent to ‘tabula,’ the will being usually written on wax tablets. The testator’s name appeared in the first line of the first page, and after his came those of the ‘heredes.’ In the last page appeared the names of all but the ‘primi heredes,’ (that is, the ‘legatarii’ and ‘substituti,’ see note on v. 48,) together with the general provisions of the will. ‘Solus heres’ would be called ‘heres ex asse’; if there were several ‘heredes,’ they would be ‘heres ex dodrante,’ ‘ex quadrante,’ etc., according to the proportion of the estate devised to each, which was described by the different divisions of the as.

55. Plerumque recoctus Scriba ex quinqueviro] ‘Plerumque’ is used by Horace in the sense of ‘interdum’ here and elsewhere. (See A. P. v. 14 and 95.) The ‘scribae,’ of whom an example occurs above (S. i. 5. 35), were clerks in public offices. These places were often got by purchase, and the ‘scriba’ received public pay. Nevertheless the ‘quinqueviri’ appear from this passage to have ranked lower than the ‘scribae.’ They were officers appointed to relieve the other magistrates at night of the charge of the city. These were the permanent ‘quinqueviri’; but extraordinary commissions of five were often appointed for various purposes. (See Dict. Antt.) ‘Recoctus’ seems to mean that he had been a ‘quinquevir’ and was now a ‘scriba,’ the ‘re’ in ‘recoctus’ having no particular force. Teiresias means to say that Coranus, who had got into a situation in which he had acquired a good deal of money and some knowledge of business, was too wide awake to be caught in the snare, saw through the attentions of the fortune-hunter, and laughed at him. The ‘corvus hians’ is perhaps taken from Æsop’s fable of the fox and crow, copied by Phædrus (i. 13).

57. Captator] This word, and ‘captare’ above (v. 23), are commonly used for legacy-hunters. We know nothing more of the actors in this story, Nasica and Coranus, but it appears likely they were living persons, and the case well known.

58. Num furis?] Ulysses does not understand him, and asks if he is frenzied, as prophets were when inspired.

59. aut erit aut non:] This is a pompous way of stating a truism, put, by way of keeping up the humor of the scene, into the prophet’s mouth.

62. juvenis] See C. i. 2. 41, n. By his adoption into the Julia gens, Augustus claimed direct descent from Æneas. The Romans attached much importance to the legend which derived their origin from the Trojans. See C. iii. 3, Introduction. On ‘genus,’ see C. i. 3. 27, n.

64. forti nubet procera Corano] These epithets and the whole opening of the speech are mock-heroic, and adapted to the character of the speaker. Nasica owed money to Coranus, and gave him his handsome daughter by[482] way of discharging the debt and getting an interest in his son-in-law’s will. Coranus understands him, and begs him to read his will. He coquets with the proposal just as Teiresias advises his hearer to do, but allows his modesty to be overcome, and on reading it through in silence finds no legacy left to himself or his family. As to ‘plorare,’ see S. i. 10. 91.

65. metuentis reddere soldum.] On ‘metuo,’ see C. ii. 2. 7. He had neither power nor will to pay. ‘Solidum’ means the entire debt, including principal and interest. The contracted form is used before (S. i. 2. 111).

67. orabit;] The rich man is maliciously bent on seeing the disappointment of his father-in-law.

73. vincit longe prius] ‘It is better by a great deal first to take the head by storm.’

77. tam frugi] ‘Discreet’ is the nearest English word perhaps corresponding to ‘frugi,’ and σώφρων in Greek.

79. magnum donandi parca] The suitors are once only mentioned as offering presents to Penelope, and their value was not great. (Odyss. xviii. 290, sqq.) They were offered in consequence of the taunts of Penelope herself. It is likely Horace had this passage in mind.

80. studiosa culinae.] This corresponds with Homer’s description. See, among other places, Odyss. ii. 55.

84. anus improba Thebis] ‘Improba’ means ‘sly,’ which we too call ‘wicked.’ See S. i. 9. 73.

87. Scilicet elabi si posset] ‘Of course it was to see whether she could escape from him when dead,’ or ‘in hopes that she might.’ We are to suppose she had made it a condition in her will, that, if he did not carry her without letting her drop, he was to forfeit the inheritance. It is a strange story, perhaps taken from some mimus or farce. ‘Scilicet’ is in reality a verb, and signifies ‘you may know,’ ‘you may be sure.’

90. ultro; Non etiam sileas.] ‘Garrulus ultro’ means one who speaks much before he is spoken to. On ‘ultro’ see C. iv. 4. 51, n. It is a difficult word to translate, and seems awkwardly placed here. As to ‘non’ for ‘ne,’ compare Epp. i. 18. 72; and A. P. 460.

91. Davus sis comicus] Horace has introduced a Davus in this respectful attitude in S. 7 of this book: ‘Jamdudum auscultans et cupiens tibi dicere servus Pauca reformido.’

92. Stes capite obstipo.] ‘Obstipo’ means stiff, unbending, or bent downwards, with the eyes fixed on the ground. As to ‘multum similis,’ see S. i. 3. 57, n.

93. Obsequio grassare;] ‘Grassor’ is a frequentative form of ‘gradior,’ and signifies to go on, advance. The expression in the text is like ‘grassari dolo’ (Tac. Hist. iv. 16), and other like phrases. Livy and Tacitus use the word often.

95. aurem substringe loquaci.] ‘Stringo’ means to grasp in the hand; ‘aurem substringe’ therefore may mean to hold up the ear, as we commonly do when we wish to catch every word that is said. He was to pay the strictest attention to the old man, let him be as garrulous as he would.

96. donec Ohe jam!] If he is fond of flattery, ply him with it till even he is forced to cry, ‘Hold, enough!’ and blow him up with your fulsome breath like a bladder. Though the old man might say he had had enough, he was not to be taken at his word, but plied still harder, for he never could have too much. ‘Importunus’ is one who does not easily rest, is not soon satisfied. The expression ‘Ohe jam satis’ is common. See S. i. 5. 12.

“Incertum vigilans, a somno languida, movi
Thesea pressuras semisupina manus”;

‘Certum vigilans’ means ‘wide awake,’ not confusedly, as those who are half asleep.

— Quartae sit partis] The ‘heres’ of one fourth of the property would be ‘ex quadrante’ or ‘ex teruncio.’ (See note on v. 53, above.) The formula in wills was such as this: “Sola mihi uxor heres esto,” “Sempronius ex parte dimidia heres esto.”

101. Dama] See v. 18, n. He is to throw in now and then (‘sparge subinde’) a whine for the dear man that is gone, and squeeze out a tear if he possibly can.

102. Unde mihi tam fortem] This abrupt and elliptical way of speaking occurs again below (S. 7. 116): “Unde mihi lapidem? Quorsum est opus? Unde sagittas?” ‘Parabo’ may be understood, or some such word.

105. Permissam arbitrio] A sum of money was generally named in the will for the funeral expenses. Sometimes they appear to have been left expressly to the judgment and liberality of the ‘heres’ or ‘heredes,’ as here. But if no mention was made of this subject in the will, or if a man died intestate, those who succeeded to the property were bound to provide all that was decent for his interment. As to ‘funus,’ see note on S. i. 6. 43. See C. i. 9. 9: “Permitte divis caetera.”

108. seu fundi sive domus sit Emptor,] ‘Fundus’ is a landed estate together with the buildings upon it. ‘Domus,’ therefore, which is opposed to ‘fundus’ here, and in Epp. i. 2. 47, may mean a town-house. The advice is, that if one of the man’s ‘coheredes,’ who is old, and by a bad cough shows he is near his end, expresses a wish to have an estate or house which forms part of his share, he should declare himself delighted to make it over to him for a nominal price, a single ‘sestertius.’ This would be a bold game, but he might hope that such generosity on his part would be remembered in the sick man’s will.

109. addicere.] This is a legal term used in selling, “and signifies the declaration of him who sells as to the transfer of the thing to the buyer.” (Long, Verr. ii. 2. 32.) It was used in private bargains as here, and at public auctions it was the word used for declaring who was the purchaser.

In this Satire, Horace dwells upon the inconveniences of a town life and the delights of the country, the former as connected with the importunity of people asking for his influence with Mæcenas, or for information upon public affairs of which he knows nothing, though they will not believe it. The subject is illustrated by the story of a town and a country mouse. The town mouse visits the country mouse, and, taunting him with his seclusion, tempts him to accompany him to town, and then entertains him at a rich man’s table. But the servants, coming in suddenly at daybreak, frighten them both out of their wits, and the country mouse goes home again, resolving to keep to his own quiet hole in the fields, and try the town no more.

1. non ita magnus,] Compare with these lines C. iii. 16. 29, sqq. ‘Modus’ is used for any quantity.

2. jugis aquae fons] ‘Jugis’ belongs to ‘aquae.’ It signifies running water, and a good spring of this would be of great value to the property.

3. super his] ‘Besides these.’ In this sense, ‘super’ usually governs the accusative. ‘Super’ is used absolutely in this sense of ‘more,’ as in Epod. i. 31. “Satis superque me benignitas tua Ditavit,” which passage may be[484] compared with what follows: “auctius atque Di melius fecere.” ‘Bene est’ occurs in C. iii. 16. 43, and is familiar in the formula S. V. B. E. V. (si vales bene est; valeo), which the Romans prefixed to their letters.

5. Maia nate,] Respecting Mercury, the god of luck and gain, the protector of poets, and of Horace in particular, see S. ii. 3. 68; C. ii. 7. 13; ii. 17. 29. ‘Proprius’ signifies ‘permanent,’ see S. 2. 129, n. As to the form ‘faxim,’ see S. ii. 3. 38, n.

7. vitio culpave] ‘Culpa’ is often used by the law-writers in the sense of ‘negligence.’ ‘Vitium’ appears to mean a defect of the nature, ‘culpa’ of the conduct.

8. Si veneror stultus nihil horum:] As to ‘veneror,’ ‘to pray for,’ see C. S. 49. This passage has been imitated by Persius (S. ii. 9). ‘Denormare’ is ‘to disfigure,’ ‘norma’ being the rule by which carpenters or masons keep their work straight. ‘Mercenarius’ is a free laborer who works for pay.

12. amico Hercule!] Though Hercules was especially a Grecian hero, and was in no way connected historically with the Romans, he was held by them in high esteem. He was associated with Mercury in various ways, among others as the god of gain, as he is here. There are representations of the two gods in one, which combined form is called Ἑρμηρακλῆς, and appears to have been very common. The notion seems to be that of combining strength and cunning.

13. quod adest] See C. iii. 29. 32: “Quod adest memento Componere aequus.” It is an adaptation of the Greek τὸ παρóν. ‘Gratum juvat’ may either mean ‘satisfies me, for I am grateful,’ or ‘is welcome and satisfies me.’

16. in montes et in arcem] See C. iii. 4. 21. By ‘arcem’ he means his house on the Sabine hills. (See C. ii. 7. 21.)

17. Quid prius illustrem] ‘What subject should I take in preference to this’? that is, the country to which he retires. On ‘pedestri,’ see C. ii. 12. 9, n.

18. plumbeus Auster] The south-wind is so called, as depressing the energies and spirits. The epithet is very expressive, ‘the leaden south.’ Compare C. ii. 14. 15; iii. 23. 8; Epp. i. 7. 5. Auster and Notus are not distinguished by the poets. They are invariably represented as bringing heavy rains. “Quid cogitet humidus Auster” (Georg. i. 462).

19. Libitinae quaestus acerbae.] The goddess Libitina was one of the oldest Roman divinities. She presided over funerals and all things pertaining to the dead. There were kept in her temple all manner of things required at funerals, where the undertakers (hence called Libitinarii) might purchase or hire them. Also a register of funerals was kept in the temple, and when they were registered a fee was paid. From both the above sources the temple would derive increased revenues in a season of great mortality. Horace twice uses the name of Libitina as equivalent to Mors. See C. iii. 30. 6, and Epp. ii. 1. 49; and Juvenal does the same (S. iv. 122): “Nam si Libitinam evaserit aeger Delebit Tabulas.”

20. Matutine pater,] Janus was a Latin divinity, and one of the oldest. As he presided over the opening year, so he did also over the beginning of every month and of every day. Sacrifices were offered to him on the first of every month, as well as of his own (January), and prayer in the morning of every day. Hence he is called ‘Matutinus pater’, and hence he is confounded with the Sun. ‘Pater’ was the title by which he was commonly addressed, and the two words were sometimes joined thus ‘Januspater.’ See Epp. i. 16. 59. He was worshipped before the other gods, because he was the medium through whom men got access to the others (Ovid, Fast. i. 171). ‘Jane’ is put in the vocative case by a sort of attraction. (See C. ii. 20. 6, n.) ‘Audire,’ in the sense of ‘appellari,’ ἀκούειν, occurs again in S. [485] 7. 101; Epp. i. 7. 37, and 16. 17. The word is not commonly used in this sense except with ‘bene’ or ‘male.’

23. sponsorem me rapis.] ‘Sponsor’ was one who became security for another under the form of contract called ‘verborum obligatio,’ the contract taking place by question and answer, ‘ex interrogatione et responsione.’ One asked the other, “Dari spondes?” and he answered, “Spondeo.” The principals were called ‘stipulator,’ he who asked the question; and ‘promissor,’ he who answered. The sponsor was said ‘intercedere,’ and to him the same question was put, to which he returned the same answer. This explains ‘respondeat’ in v. 24, and “quod mi obsit clare certumque locuto,” v. 27. He answers “spondeo” in a clear, distinct voice, and becomes liable, possibly to his great detriment. The words, ‘Eja, ne prior,’ etc., Horace means for Janus, to whom he attributes the prompting of his zeal.

26. Interiore diem gyro trahit,] The notion is that of the heavenly bodies moving round a centre, in a series of orbits of which the diameters gradually diminish, and in the winter solstice traversing the innermost and shortest circle.

29. improbus urget Iratis precibus;] ‘Improbus’ means here ‘hot-tempered,’ and ‘precibus’ curses, as in Epod. v. 86. ‘Tu pulses’ is an angry way of speaking, ‘Are you the man to knock down everything in your way?’ as in the next Satire (v. 40). There is sarcasm in ‘memori,’ as if he was not likely to forget his duty to the great man. He says he feels an inward pleasure at the testimony thus borne to his intimacy with Mæcenas. ‘Si recurras’ means in the hopes of getting back, to see if you can get back. See S. 5. 87, n.

32. atras — Esquilias] See S. i. 8, Introduction. The former character of the place is expressed by ‘atras,’ gloomy. He says, that as soon as he gets near Mæcenas’s house he begins to remember a hundred different commissions entrusted to him by his acquaintance. They flit about him like a swarm of gnats, or anything else that is teasing.

35. Roscius orabat] Roscius may be anybody. It appears he had pressed Horace to meet him next day at the Puteal Libonis. This was some sort of building in the Forum Romanum, erected by one of the Scribonia gens, and therefore called ‘Scribonianum.’ The place or its neighbourhood was the resort of money lenders. It was probably an enclosed place, open at the top, and took its name from the stone enclosures built round wells, ‘putei.’ What Roscius wanted with Horace at this place is not certain. It is said that near the ‘puteal’ the prætor held his court, and that he wanted Horace to attend as his sponsor. But the prætor’s court did not open till the third hour.

36. De re communi scribae] The ‘scribae’ were classed in ‘decuriae,’ and were a numerous body. They formed a guild or company, and though they were employed in different branches of the public service, they had interests in common, and must have held meetings to discuss questions that concerned their body. As Horace had belonged to them, and was now known to have a good deal of influence, they wished him to attend their meeting on some particular occasion; so at least he puts it.

38. Imprimat his cura] While Augustus was absent in and after his last war with Antonius, Mæcenas, at first singly and afterwards in conjunction with M. Agrippa, was deputed to exercise those powers, in the city and in Italy, which Augustus himself would have exercised if he had been there (see Epod. 1, Introduction). The ‘tabellae’ of the text may have been a ‘diploma,’ so called from its consisting of two leaves, by which privileges of some sort were to be granted. ‘Signum’ expressed any work sculptured or engraved. Here it signifies a seal, which was usually set in the form of a[486] ring. The practice of kings delivering their rings to those whom they deputed to represent their own authority, is of the highest antiquity. Pharaoh delivered his ring to Joseph, and Ahasuerus to Mordecai.

40. Septimus octavo propior] Horace was introduced to Mæcenas about the beginning of the year B. C. 38, and this Satire was written B. C. 30.

42. quem tollere rheda] ‘Rheda’ is the name for a travelling carriage. The shape probably varied, but it appears to have gone upon four wheels, and to have been, sometimes at least, of capacious size, since Juvenal mentions a whole family travelling in one ‘rheda’ (S. iii. 10). The only other four-wheeled carriage we read of, is the ‘petorritum,’ mentioned above (S. i. 6. 104, n.). There were public ‘rhedae’ on the great roads, for the benefit of travellers, and Horace and his friends performed part of their journey to Brundisium in these conveyances (S. i. 5. 86), and it appears from his language, ‘hinc rapimur,’ that they went pretty fast.

44. Thrax est Gallina Syro par?] ‘Thraces,’ ‘secutores,’ and ‘retiarii,’ were three different kinds of gladiators. The first had their name from being armed like the Thracians, with a short sword and round shield, from which they were sometimes called ‘parmularii.’ Gallina was one of these, Syrus was probably one of another sort. Mæcenas is supposed to ask Horace, among other trifling questions, whether he has seen the famous gladiators, and which is the better of the two.

45. mordent:] ‘Mordere’ is said of both heat and cold. See Epp. i. 8. 5. ‘Rimosa’ does not occur in any such sense as this elsewhere. We use ‘leaky’ in the same way.

48. noster.] This is a familiar way of expressing ‘myself.’ As to the construction of the next sentence, see S. i. 1. 45. ‘Luserat’ refers to ball-play. ‘Fortunae filius’ was a conventional phrase. Sophocles uses it (Oed. Tyr. 1080), ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν παῖδα τῆς τύχης νέμων.

50. Frigidus a Rostris] Suppose some bad news has been published in the Forum and been circulated in the streets. The ‘rostra,’ which Niebuhr (i. 406, n.) describes as “a stage of considerable length, with steps at each end of it,” originally separated the comitium, where the patricians met, from the space where the plebeian assemblies were held, which was properly the Forum, though that name was popularly applied to the whole. Here persons of all ranks met, and from this centre reports would naturally take their rise, and then get disseminated in the city. The ‘rostra’ had its plural name from the beaks of vessels taken from the people of Antium (Liv. viii. 14), with which the stage was ornamented. As to the ‘compita,’ see note on S. ii. 3. 25.

53. Dacis] The Daci helped M. Antonius at Actium, B. C. 31, and the following year M. Crassus was sent against them.

55. Triquetra] The veterans who fought at Actium, having been sent back to Italy, were discontented, and broke out into mutiny because they had no reward. Augustus came from Asia to quell this mutiny, and gave money to some of the soldiers, and to others he distributed lands in those parts that had been favorable to Antonius. ‘Triquetra’ signifies triangular, and is a name for the island of Sicily, called also Trinacria, from its three promontories. Cæsar describes Britain also as “insula triquetra” (B. G. v. 13).

57. unum Scilicet — mortalem] The Greeks use εἷς ἀνήρ in this way, to express a superlative.

62. Ducere] ‘To quaff the cup of oblivion.’ See C. iii. 3. 34, n., Epod. 14. 3., and Aen. vi. 714.

63. faba Pythagorae cognata] The popular notion was, that Pythagoras had taught his disciples to abstain, as from meat, so from beans, which class of vegetables he connected somehow or other with the human species, in his doctrine of metempsychosis. They were therefore forbidden fare to his disciples,[487] under the fanciful notion that in eating them they might be devouring their own flesh and blood. Hence the expression ‘cognata,’ and this is the allusion in Epp. i. 12. 21: “seu porrum et caepe trucidas.” As to Horace’s vegetable meals, see S. i. 6. 115.

66. Ante Larem proprium] See note on Epod. ii. 66. ‘Libatis dapibus’ means that the master and his friends (‘meique’) dined lightly, and left the greater part of the dishes to his slaves. The master, in this instance, as well as his slaves, dined in the ‘atrium,’ where the images of the Lares were placed. ‘Libare’ is to touch lightly. See Aen. v. 91: “inter pateras et levia pocula serpens Libavitque dapes.” The distribution of the remains of the dinner to the slaves was a matter of course.

69. Legibus insanis,] See S. 2. 123, n. One of the strictest laws of a banquet directed by a presiding symposiarch, would have reference to the regulation of the quantity of wine to be drunk by each guest at each round. Horace’s notion of liberty here is to be able to drink as much or as little as he pleased, which is expressed by ‘inaequales calices.’

70. uvescit] ‘Uvescere’ does not occur elsewhere, but it corresponds with Horace’s word ‘uvidus,’ C. ii. 19. 18, and iv. 5. 39.

72. Nec male necne Lepos saltet;] Lepos was a ‘pantomimus’ who was so named from the grace with which he performed his part, as the name implies. The business of the ‘mimi,’ as of the ‘mimae,’ was to recite poetry, as well as to act parts in the farces that bore the same name (S. i. 10. 6, n.). The word ‘saltare’ was applied to all pantomimic acting, and the motion of the limbs in dumb show. See S. i. 5. 63, where Messius calls upon Sarmentus to act Polyphemus,—“Pastorem saltaret uti Cyclopa rogabat,” where ‘saltaret’ is equivalent to ‘movetur’ in “Nunc Satyrum nunc pastorem Cyclopa movetur” (Epp. ii. 2. 125).

75. usus rectumne] Cicero makes Lælius indignantly deny the doctrine that makes utility the foundation of friendship, and he says, with much truth and delicacy, “non enim tam utilitas parta per amicum quam amici amor ipse delectat” (Lael. c. xiv.). There is more in the same strain in c. viii., where he makes virtue the basis of friendship.

76. natura boni summumque] This subject is discussed at large in Cicero’s treatise ‘De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum,’ and was a commonplace in Horace’s day, as it has been in all ages. ‘Summum’ represents the Greek τέλος, ‘the end proposed’.

77. Cervius] This was an old neighbor of Horace’s. There is not the smallest clew to his history or to that of Arellius, who, however, must have been a rich man and careful about his money.

79. Olim] ‘Once upon a time’: a common way of beginning a story that does not profess to be true.

82. attentus] This is a common word for what we should call ‘close.’ See Epp. i. 7. 91; ii. 1. 172. ‘Ut tamen’ means ‘ita tamen ut.’ Compare S. 7. 4.

84. nec longae invidit avenae,] This construction is Greek: φθονεῖν τινί τινος. The Latin construction is with the accusative and dative, as S. i. 6. 49; Epp. i. 14. 41. The ‘avena’ here is the cultivated oat, and ‘longae’ describes the size of its grain. The wild-oat Virgil distinguishes from this by the epithet ‘sterilis’ (G. i. 153), and couples it with the ‘lolium,’ or tare, with which the host on this occasion satisfied himself.

93. mihi crede,] These words are parenthetical, as Ovid (Am. ii. 2. 9): “Si sapis, o custos, odium, mihi crede, mereri Desine.” The language that follows is very like that of Hercules in the Alcestis of Euripides (782, sqq.):

βροτοῖς ἅπασι κατθανεῖν ὀφείλεται,
κοὔκ ἐστι θνητῶν ὅστις ἐξεπίσταται
τὴν αὔριον μέλλουσαν εἰ βιώσεται. ——
ταῦτ᾽ οὖν ἀκούσας καὶ μαθὼν ἐμοῦ πάρα
εὔφραινε σαυτὸν, πῖνε, τὸν καθ᾽ ἡμέραν
βίον λογίζου σὸν, τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα τῆς τύχης.

103. canderet vestis eburnos,] On the ‘stragula vestis,’ see S. 3. 118, n. The sides of the couches were sometimes veneered with ivory. Fire is said ‘candere,’ and the flaming drapery of the bed is here described by the same word, which is not applied in this sense elsewhere. ‘Fercula’ was the name for the different courses, of which the ‘coena’ usually consisted of three, called ‘prima,’ ‘secunda,’ ‘tertia coena.’ The word, like ‘feretrum,’ contains the root ‘fer’ of ‘fero,’ and so its first meaning may have been the tray or dish on which the viands were brought. It here means the viands themselves; ‘many courses were left,’ would mean nothing. ‘Procul’ signifies ‘hard by,’ as in Epp. i. 7. 32. The remains of the evening’s ‘coena’ had been collected and put into baskets, and left in the ‘triclinium’ till the morning, and the purple coverings were still exposed, waiting till the servants should cover them (S. 4. 84, n.).

107. veluti succintus] ‘Like one tucked up,’ as the slaves when on duty. (See S. i. 5. 5, n.) The duties of the ‘structor’ are those the host is here represented as performing. It was his province to arrange the dishes, and see that they were properly served up. He runs about, puts one course after another on the table (‘continuatque dapes’), and tastes the dishes, to see if they are properly seasoned. ‘Praegustatores’ were regularly employed only at the tables of the emperors. The custom was imitated from Eastern courts. (See Xenoph. Cyrop. i. 8. 9.)

112. Valvarum strepitus] The servants, coming in early to clean the room, interrupt the banqueters, and rouse the watch-dogs, whose barking terrifies them still further. There was a dog, or more than one, kept in most houses, in the ‘cella ostiarii,’ the porter’s chamber at the side of the ‘ostium.’ ‘Conclave’ is the general term for any chamber or suit of chambers under one lock or bolt. As to Molossis, see Epod. vi. 5.

The substance of this Satire Horace puts into the mouth of his slave Davus, giving him liberty to express himself as he pleases, on the day of the Saturnalia, when much license was granted to slaves in particular. Davus takes advantage of the permission given him to abuse his master, and to taunt the rich with a slavery (to their passions and to the world) harder and more stupid than his own. He also taunts Horace with his instability and weakness of purpose, which part of the Satire is the most natural and amusing (see note on v. 23). The rest contains a great deal that is disagreeable, and much that is commonplace. It may perhaps represent the habit of talking trash, under the name of philosophy, which those who pretended to be of the Stoic school had established, and the humor would be more perceptible to a Roman of the day than it is now.

1. Jamdudum ausculto] We may suppose Horace has been talking to a friend upon subjects that have attracted his slave’s attention, and give rise to[489] the points he argues. Or he may have been giving Davus some good advice, and he offers him a homily in return, recommending him to practise what he preaches.

3. Mancipium] This word, which properly signifies the act of taking possession, ‘manu capiendo,’ is applied here to the ‘res mancipi,’ the object of ‘mancipium,’ which, in this instance, is a slave. It is so used in Epp. i. 6. 39. As to ‘frugi,’ see S. 5. 77, n.

4. Ut vitale putes.] ‘That you need not think him too good to live’ (S. 6. 82). As to the Saturnalia, see S. 3. 5, n. The month of December was dedicated to Saturnus. Horace speaks of the license of that festival being a custom handed down from their ancestors. The time of its institution is quite unknown.

6. Pars hominum] Davus avails himself, without preface, of his master’s permission, and begins to moralize on the instability of some men, who never know their own minds. This character he applies to his master in v. 23, sqq.

9. Cum tribus annellis,] This is mentioned as a large number. In later times the Romans wore a great profusion of rings on both hands. At this time they were only worn on the left, because they were more likely to be injured, and to be in the way, on the right hand. Priscus was a senator, and therefore entitled to wear a gold ring, which privilege did not descend, at this time, below the equestrian order. In later times it was conferred upon all manner of persons by the emperors. Those who were not entitled to wear rings of gold had them of iron, according to the most ancient practice; and such of the Romans of higher condition as adhered to the simplicity of earlier days continued to wear iron.

Priscus, as a senator, was entitled to go abroad with the ‘latus clavus,’ which he would do sometimes; while at others he would appear only as an ‘eques,’ with the ‘angustus clavus.’ He was rich enough to live in a fine house, and did so; but would from caprice go and take an obscure lodging, such as a poor man might be ashamed of. He put on first one character and then another: now a man about town, and now talking of going to Athens as a philosopher. He was just such an unstable person as Tigellius is described to be in S. i. 3. 18: “Nil fuit unquam Sic impar sibi.” He was “everything by turns, and nothing long.”

14. Vertumnis, quotquot sunt, natus iniquis.] Vertumnus, as his name indicates, was the god who represented change. Horace says Priscus was born when Vertumnus was angry (see S. 3. 8, n., “Iratis natus paries dis atque poëtis”), and he strengthens it by saying, ‘all the Vertumni that are to be found’; as if every image of the god were a separate divinity, and all were angry together, when this fickle man was born.

15. Scurra Volanerius,] Nothing is known of this person. He had the gout, which Horace says he richly deserved, and was so given to gambling (which was illegal, see C. iii. 24. 58, n.), that, when he could not handle the dice-box himself, he hired a boy to do it for him. ‘Phimus’ was the Greek word for what the Romans called ‘fritillus.’ From the shape it was also called ‘turricula’ or ‘pyrgus’ (πύργος). As to ‘talos,’ see S. 3. 171, n. They were not always thrown from a box, but sometimes with the hand.

19. levius miser ac prior illo,] ‘Levius miser’ is an unusual expression. ‘Prior illo’ means better off than that man who is always changing his character, one moment appearing strict, another loose, in his principles and conduct. The superiority of the man who is consistent in vice lies in his indifference to virtue, and the quietness of his conscience arising from that cause. In that sense he is better off, and less miserable, than the other.

21. Non dices hodie,] ‘Hodie’ is equivalent to ‘statim,’ ‘this moment.’ ‘Furcifer’ means a slave who for some slight offence was obliged to go about with a ‘furca’ round his neck, a sort of collar shaped like a V, in which the[490] hands also were inserted. The master begins to see that Davus is aiming a stroke at him, and is getting angry.

23. antiquae plebis,] ‘Plebs’ has not its distinctive meaning in this place. (See C. iii. 14. 1, n.) Horace is no doubt touching his own infirmity here. He was fond of praising the simplicity of the olden time, but he was not the man to extricate himself from the degenerate habits of his own day (‘nequicquam coeno cupiens evellere plantam,’ which is taken from the Greek proverb ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδα ἔχειν). He had been but lately, perhaps, writing the praises of a country life, and sighing for his farm (in the last Satire); but when there, we may believe he felt dull enough, and missed the society and elegances of the city. Whatever his ordinary fare may have been, he had no objection to the tables of the rich, and was proud to be invited to the Esquiliæ. There is much humor in this part of the Satire. He is supposed to be congratulating himself upon being suffered to dine quietly at home, when he gets an unexpected invitation from Mæcenas to a late dinner. He immediately shouts for his lantern, scolds the servants if they keep him waiting a moment, and runs off as fast as he can, leaving in the lurch some persons to whom he had promised a dinner, and who go away disappointed and muttering abuse.

33. sub lumina prima] ‘Immediately after the lighting of the lamps.’ (See Epod. ii. 44, n.) The ordinary dinner-hour was earlier (see C. i. 1. 20, n.), but Mæcenas’s occupations protracted his ‘solidus dies,’ at the end of which he was glad enough, no doubt, to get a cheerful companion, like Horace, to dine with him. ‘Blatero’ is to bawl, or more commonly to babble and talk nonsense. ‘Mulvius’ may be anybody, one of the numerous tribe of parasites. ‘Non referenda precati,’ uttering curses which the servants heard, but must not repeat. See last Satire, v. 30, “iratis precibus.”

37. dixerit ille,] Mulvius may be supposed to mutter this, as Horace goes off and leaves him without his expected dinner. ‘Nasum nidore supinor,’ ‘I snuff up my nose at the smell of a good dinner.’ ‘Nidor’ means ‘nidor culinae,’ as in Juv. v. 162: “Captum te nidore suae putat ille culinae.”

39. si quid vis adde popino.] ‘Popino’ is not a common word. It means an idle, dissolute fellow, a frequenter of ‘popinae,’ cook shops. (See above, S. 4. 62, n.)

40. Tu — ultro Insectere] ‘Are you the man to come forward and attack?’ that is, to be the first to do it. See S. 6. 30, and C. iv. 4. 51, n.

42. Quid, si me] Davus goes on in his own person. Five hundred drachmæ, reckoning the drachma and the denarius as nearly the same value (about 8½d.), which was the case about this time, amounts to 17l. 15s. of English money, and this was a small price, only given for inferior slaves. The price varied very widely, according to the beauty of the slaves (of either sex), which enhanced their value more than anything else, or according to their education, or skill in handicrafts, &c.

43. Aufer Me — terrere;] Literally, ‘Away with that frightening me.’ (See Epp. i. 7. 27, n.) It expresses alarm and haste, for Davus sees his master frowning, and lifting his hand to strike him.

45. Crispini docuit me janitor] About Crispinus, see S. i. 1. 120, n. Davus professes to have obtained at second hand, from the slave of this Stoic philosopher, the arguments he is going to propound. They are put generally, and he uses his own name; but the pronoun ‘te’ means any one. The ‘janitor,’ who was also called ‘ostiarius,’ kept the door of the house. He had a room on each side of the ‘ostium,’ which was a space between the outer and inner door. Crispinus’s janitor may be supposed to have overheard what his master had said, from time to time, to his friends, while sitting in the ‘atrium’ into which the inner door opened.

quem ter vindicta quaterque] ‘Vindicta’ is used for the ‘festuca,’ or rod, laid upon the shoulder of a slave by the prætor, in the act of giving him his freedom. Davus says that manumission, repeated over and over again (though that involves an absurdity), could not deliver his master, as he called himself, from the bondage he was under to the world.

78. Adde super dictis] ‘Dictis’ is governed by ‘adde,’ and ‘super’ is used absolutely.

79. vicarius] The property a slave might accumulate was called his ‘peculium,’ and among the rest he might have a ‘vicarius,’ a slave to do his duty or help him in it. He was held to be ‘quasi dominus’ in relation to his ‘vicarius.’ What Davus says is, whether you choose to call the slave’s slave his ‘vicarius,’ or substitute, as your law does, or his fellow-slave (as strictly speaking he is, for, except by sufferance, a slave can hold no property independent of his master), what is my relation to you? I am your slave; you are the slave of your passions, which will pull you about as the strings pull a puppet (which the Greeks called νευρόσπαστον). The ancients carried their mechanical skill in the construction of automaton figures further, perhaps, than it has been carried since. Artists in this line were common among the Greeks, and were called νευρόσπασται, αὐτοματουργοί. It appears from Herodotus (ii. 48) that ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, as he calls them, were in use among the Egyptians.

83. sibi qui imperiosus,] ‘He who has control over himself.’ Before Horace, no writer uses this word with a case after it.

85. Responsare cupidinibus,] ‘Responso’ is repeated in Epp. i. 1. 68. “Fortunae responsare superbae.” It seems to mean, to reply to on equal terms, and so to be a match for, and to overcome. The construction of the adjective and infinitive is common in the Odes, but not in the Satires or Epistles. See C. i. 1. 16, n.

86. in se ipso totus, teres, atque rotundus,] ‘In himself entire, smoothed, and rounded,’ that is, perfect as a sphere, and, as the next line explains, like a beautiful statue whose graces are all in itself, which is perfectly finished and polished. This is elsewhere expressed by ‘ad unguem factus homo’ (S. i. 5. 32, n.), the difference in the mode of expression being, that here it is meant there are no inequalities on the surface on which anything at all can rest. The other expression has been explained in its place. ‘In se ipso totus,’ means one who wants nothing from without to set him off, and whose resources, as well as his graces, are all in himself. The mud through which he passes as he goes through the world does not adhere to him (‘externi ne quid valeat per leve morari’); circumstances, prosperous or the reverse, do not affect his character; and, in all her assaults upon his happiness, Fortune proves but feeble, not being able to make any impression upon it. ‘Mancus’ means lame in the hand, as ‘claudus’ does in the foot. ‘Teres’ is explained in a note on C. i. 1. 28. ‘Rotundus’ is taken from the heavens, which Plato (Tim. p. 33) says the Deity σφαιροειδὲς ἐτορνεύσατο, as being most after his own image.

89. Quinque talenta] The Attic drachma of this period was worth about the same as the Roman denarius, nearly 8½d. (See above, v. 43, n.) The mina was equal to 100 drachmæ, and a talent to 60 minæ. It was worth therefore about 212l., and five talents 1,060l. The caprice of the man’s mistress is described as before, S. 3. 260, sqq.

95. Pausiaca torpes, insane, tabella,] Pausias was a native of Sicyon, one of the most celebrated schools of art, where there was a large collection of his pictures. Many were sold by the Sicyonian government, to pay their debts, and most of these found their way to Rome. His pictures were chiefly small, ‘tabellae,’ and among the most celebrated was the portrait of his[492] mistress Glycera as a flower girl, Στεφανηπλόκος. He flourished about the middle of the fourth century B. C. ‘Torpes’ is a like expression to that in S. i. 4. 28, “stupet Albius aere”, and 6. 17, “Qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus.”

96. Fulvi Rutubaeque Aut Pacideiani] These are all names of gladiators, as we may gather from the context. Pliny tells us it was the practice, when shows of gladiators were exhibited, for the exhibitor to set forth a picture of the games, to inform the public, such as we see now of conjurors, circus, and the like; and these are what Davus alludes to. They were done, no doubt, roughly, as he describes. Cicero mentions repeatedly a gladiator named Pacideianus. Horace may have taken the name for any gladiator in consequence of the celebrity of this man. ‘Contento poplite’ represents the attitude of the gladiators. The Scholiasts raise a doubt upon the point, thinking the words may apply to the spectator stretching himself on tiptoe to get a nearer view.

101. callidus audis,] See S. 6. 20, n., and 3. 23: “Callidus huic signo ponebam millia centum.”

103. coenis responsat opimis] ‘Responsat’ seems here to have the sense of ‘corresponds to,’ as ‘responsura’ in S. 8. 66. What Davus says amounts to this: ‘I am good for nothing, because I am attracted by a cake just hot from the oven; you, forsooth, are virtuous and noble, because you feast upon good things.’ So the same opposition appears in these lines as in the two before. ‘Libum’ was a coarse sort of cake made of pounded cheese, eggs, and flour, all mixed together and baked. There was another sort used in sacrifice, concerning which see Epp. i. 10. 10, n.

“Sed si intus et in jecore aegro
Nascuntur domini, qui tu impunitior exis
Atque hic quem ad strigiles scutica et metus egit herilis?”

110. Furtiva mutat strigili:] As to the construction with ‘muto,’ see C. i. 17. 2. The ‘strigil,’ which the Greeks called στλεγγίς, was a scraper of bone or metal, of a curved form and with a sharp edge, with which the skin was scraped after bathing, or exercise in the gymnasium.

112. Non horam tecum esse potes,] To a man who has no resources in himself, or is afraid of his own conscience or his own thoughts, and resorts to amusements or other means of distraction to divert his mind, these words apply. ‘Tecum habita,’ inhabit your own breast, make that your home, is a like expression of Persius, S. iv. 52.

113. fugitivus et erro,] ‘Fugitivus’ was a slave who ran away outright; ‘erro’ was an idle fellow, who skulked out of the way, to escape work or to amuse himself. There was the same distinction in the army between ‘desertor’ and ‘emansor.’ A ‘fugitivus’ was branded on the forehead, and hence he was termed ‘literatus,’ ‘notatus,’ ‘inscriptus,’ ‘stigmosus’; ‘stigma’ being the word to express the mark thus given. See above, S. 5. 15, n.

116. Unde mihi lapidem?] See above, S. 5. 102, n. Horace is supposed to get angry beyond endurance at this home-thrust of his slave, and calls out for a stone, arrows, anything, to throw at his head. The man is bewildered with fear, and thinks his master has gone mad, unless, which was as good, he was making verses. He is, or affects to be, unconscious of the license he has given himself, and the force of the truths he has been telling.

118. accedes opera agro nona] This means, ‘I will send you away to work with the other slaves (of whom therefore he appears to have had eight), at my farm.’ It was a common punishment, as it is now in slave countries, for a slave to be turned out of the ‘familia urbana,’ into the ‘familia rustica,’ and set to work in the fields. See Terence (Phorm. ii. 1. 19), where Geta looks forward to being punished in the above manner:—

“Molendum est in pistrino, vapulandum, habendae compedes,
Opus ruri faciundum.”

This Satire represents a dinner given by a rich, vulgar man to Mæcenas and five of his friends. There is not so much to distinguish it in the way of humor as the subject admitted of. Few subjects present more scope for facetious satire than the airs of low-born men, lately become rich, aping the ways of the fashionable world, and making wealth their one passport into what is called good society. This is a very slight sketch, and some of the force even of this is perhaps lost through our ignorance of little points of etiquette and culinary refinements observed by the Romans of that day.

Instead of telling the story himself, though it is probable from the tone of the Satire that he writes from a scene he had witnessed, Horace puts it into the mouth of his friend Fundanius, the comic writer mentioned in S. i. 10. 42, where see note.

1. Nasidieni] See Introduction. The third and fourth syllables coalesce. ‘Beati’ means wealthy and favored of fortune. See C. i. 4. 14, n.

2. here] ‘Heri’ is a dative form, ‘here’ an ablative, so we have ‘mani’ and ‘mane’ in the morning, ‘vesperi’ and ‘vespere’ in the evening. The termination in ‘i’ is the older of the two and it would seem as if the usage of the word was in a state of transition at this time.

3. De medio potare die.] Nasidienus dined early, to make the most of his feast. But ‘medio die’ need not be taken quite literally. The ‘prandium’ was usually taken at noon. The dinner-hour was later. (See C. i. 1. 20, n.) Busy men, as we saw in S. 7. 33, sat down by candle-light. ‘De medio die’ is like ‘de nocte’ in Epp. i. 2. 32, ‘media de luce,’ Epp. i. 14. 34. ‘De’ means ‘after,’ that is ‘de medio die’ means ‘after midday’; but it must note proximity to midday, or it would have no meaning at all.

4. fuerit melius.] See S. 6. 4, n. ‘I never was better off in my life.’ He says this ironically, or with reference to the amusement he had got from the vulgarity of Nasidienus.

Da, si grave non est,] There is a like use of ‘dare’ in Virgil (Ecl. i. 19), “sed tamen iste Deus qui sit da, Tityre, nobis.” Terence also uses it: “Nunc quam ob rem has partes didicerim paucis dabo” (Heaut. Prol. 10). From the meaning of this word, ‘to put,’ this application of it is easily derived.

5. iratum ventrem placaverit] Compare S. 2. 18: “Latrantem stomachum.” Both passages put together suggest the idea of a sop thrown to an angry dog to keep him quiet. Perhaps that notion, or something of the sort, suggested this line.

6. Lucanus aper;] See S. 3. 234; 4. 42, n. No mention is made of a ‘promulsis’ (S. i. 3. 6, n.), and the things of which it was usually in a great measure composed were sent up in the same dish with the boar, which was generally served whole, and was the chief dish, ‘caput coenae.’ Turnips, lettuces, radishes, parsnips, with pickles and sauces of various descriptions (see S. 4. 73, n.), generally formed part of the ‘gustus’ or ‘promulsis’ which preceded the ‘fercula,’ or courses of which the regular ‘coena’ consisted. The boar was killed, the host (called ‘coenae pater’ with a sort of mock respect) informed his guests, when the south wind was not at its worst,[494] meaning, perhaps, that when this wind (‘scirocco’) was blowing hard, the meat would soon spoil, if he had any meaning at all. But it was probably some notion of his own.

10. His ubi sublatis] The narrator is inclined to make a short business of the viands, but he is brought back to them afterwards. The meat being removed, (and though he only mentions one course here, we may gather from what comes presently that there was no lack of dishes, and therefore, probably, there were the usual courses,) a slave, with his clothes well tucked up, ‘succinctus’ (see S. 6. 107, n.), came and wiped the table with a handsome purple towel, and another gathered up whatever had fallen or had been thrown on the floor, which at the same time he strewed with saw-dust, perhaps scented (see S. ii. 4. 81). ‘Gausape, -is’ (other forms of which are ‘gausapa,’ ‘gausape, -es,’ ‘gausapum’) was a woollen cloth of foreign manufacture. The table was of maple wood (see S. 2. 4, n.).

13. ut Attica virgo] When the litter is cleared away and the table wiped, two slaves, one from the East and named after his native river, the other a Greek, walk in with two amphoræ, one of Cæcuban, the other of Chian wine. They are represented as coming in in a solemn and stately manner, like the κανηφόροι who carried the baskets in procession at the festival of Ceres. See S. i. 3. 11, n.

15. Chium maris expers.] Salt-water was mixed with the sweet wines imported from the Greek isles. Whether Horace refers to this practice, and means that the wine had not been prepared, and was of inferior quality, or whether he means that this pretended Chian had in fact never crossed the seas, but had been concocted at home, is doubted. Orelli and most of the commentators adopt the first opinion, after the Scholiasts. I am more inclined to the latter. Compare Persius (vi. 39):

18. Divitias miseras!] This exclamation is drawn from Horace by his friend’s description. It was money that had brought the man out of his proper obscurity, and caused him all the petty shifts and anxieties that wait upon the position he tried to maintain.

19. pulchre fuerit] See above, v. 4, “Nunquam In vita fuerit melius.” As to Fundanius, see Introduction. ‘Laboro’ is an amusing exaggeration, ‘I am in pain to know.’

20. Summus ego] The company consisted, as was usual, of nine persons, who reclined on three couches. These were arranged so as to form three sides of a square, with the table in the middle, the fourth end being open, as shown in the accompanying diagram.

On each couch were three persons. On the ‘summus,’ Fundanius says he himself, Viscus, and Varius reclined. On the ‘medius lectus’ were Mæcenas and the two uninvited friends he brought with him, Servilius Balatro, and Vibidius. On the middle seat of the ‘imus lectus’ lay Nasidienus, above him Nomentanus, who acted as nomenclator (see Epp. i. 6. 50, n.), and below him Porcius, another of his parasites. The place of honour was the corner-seat of the ‘medius lectus,’ and next to that, on the first seat of the ‘imus,’ was usually the place of the host. But it appears that Nasidienus resigned that place to Nomentanus, probably because he supposed him better able to entertain his guests than himself. The host usually reserved the ‘imus lectus’ for himself and his family. If they were not present, their places were usually occupied by dependents of the host (parasites), who filled up the table, and helped to flatter the host and entertain the company. This explains Epp. i. 18. 10, “imi Derisor lecti.” Sometimes these places were occupied by ‘umbrae,’ brought by the invited guests. By ‘summus ego’[495] Fundanius means that he occupied the farthest seat on the ‘summus lectus.’ The slaves in helping the wine began from this point, and went round till they came to the ‘imus,’ or third place in the ‘imus lectus.’

Viscus Thurinus] See S. i. 9. 22, n.; 10. 83, n. He appears to have been a native of Thurii, in Lucania, which was made a Latin colony (B. C. 195), and received the name of Copiæ. But its old name, given at its foundation by the Athenians (B. C. 444), continued to be used as well as the new. Viscus was highly esteemed by Horace. As to Varius, see S. i. 5. 40, n. Nothing whatever is known of Servilius Balatro or Vibidius. The second syllable of Servilius appears from inscriptions to be long; the third, therefore, coalesces with the last. Mæcenas had taken them with him as ‘umbrae,’ which means persons taken by guests without special invitation from the host. See Epp. i. 5. 28, n.

23. super ipsum,] This means on the seat above the host (see note on v. 20). As to Nomentanus, see S. i. 1. 102. Porcius seems to have been a notorious parasite. Here he seems to be occupied chiefly about filling his own belly, while the host and his other parasite are looking after the guests and doing the honours of the table.

24. obsorbere placentas;] ‘Placentæ’ were cakes, usually sweetened with honey. See Epp. i. 10. 11.

25. Nomentanus ad hoc, qui] ‘Nomentanus was there for this purpose, that he might —.’ His business was that of nomenclator, to direct the attention of the guests to any dainties they might have overlooked, and to explain to them the mystery of each dish; for, as Fundanius says, the commonest viands were so dressed up with sauces that they could hardly be recognized, or new sorts of dishes were put on the table, such as the entrails of different fish, turbot and plaice, for instance.

26. Indice monstraret digito:] ‘Indice digito’ is the forefinger: the middle[496] finger was called ‘famosus.’ This name is given to it as the finger of scorn. The third finger was called ‘medicus’ or ‘medicinalis,’ for the same reason probably that got it the name ‘annularis,’ its supposed anatomical connection with the heart. By ‘cetera turba’ Fundanius means the uninitiated, Mæcenas and his party.

29. Ut vel continuo patuit,] The nature and importance of the duties of Nomentanus were shown on that occasion, when he handed Fundanius a dainty he had never tasted before, or perhaps heard of, and yet these gentlemen knew what good living was.

passeris] ‘Passer’ was a flat fish, and is generally supposed to be the plaice.

31. melimela] These were a sweet sort of rosy apple. The derivation of the name sufficiently marks their flavour. That they had a higher colour when gathered at the wane of the moon, is an invention of the nomenclator. His reasoning on the subject was so abstruse, that Fundanius does not pretend to be able to recollect it.

“Ch. At ego si me metuis mores cave esse in te istos sentiam.
Cl. Quos? Ch. Si scire vis ego dicam: gerro, iners, fraus, helluo, Ganeo, damnosus.”

Vibidius means, that if this stupid dinner is to be the death of them, they had better have their revenge beforehand and drink ruinously of the host’s wine: if they do not, they will die unavenged. ‘Moriemur inulti’ is borrowed from the Epic style. See Aen. ii. 670; iv. 659.

35. Vertere pallor Tum parochi faciem] Fundanius gives two reasons why the host turned pale when he heard his guests call for larger cups: because when men have drank well they give a loose rein to their tongues, and because wine spoils the palate by destroying the delicacy of its taste. He might probably have added a third, for it seems that in the midst of his ostentation the man was a niggard. As to ‘parochi,’ see S. i. 5. 46. The host is so called as the man “qui praebet aquam” (S. i. 4. 88).

39. Invertunt Allifanis vinaria tota] Allifae was a town of Samnium. From the text we are led to suppose that cups were made there. ‘Vinaria’ is properly an adjective, and agrees with ‘vasa’ understood. It means here the ‘lagena’ or ‘amphora,’ which differed in shape, but not in use. Both were vessels either of clay, or sometimes latterly of glass, in which the wine was kept. Their contents were usually poured into a ‘crater’ for the purpose of being mixed with water. These persons helped themselves from the ‘lagena,’ and all followed their example, except the master and his two parasites (see above, v. 20). There was no ‘magister bibendi,’ and the guests drank as they pleased.

42. squillas inter muraena natantes] As to ‘squillas,’ see S. ii. 4. 58. ‘Muraena’ was a lamprey, and accounted a great delicacy by the Romans, who appear to have sometimes kept them tame. They were brought chiefly from the coast of Sicily. The prawns were swimming in sauce, the composition of which the host goes on to describe himself, as a matter of too much consequence to be left to the explanation of his nomenclator. The materials were Venafrian olive-oil (C. ii. 6. 16, n.); ‘garum,’ a sauce made of the entrails and blood of fish, and here made from the scomber, perhaps the mackerel, caught in greatest abundance off the coast of Spain; some Italian wine added while it was making, and some Chian when it was made; white pepper (see above, 4. 74, n.), and vinegar made from sour Lesbian wine (C. i. 17. 21). Of the other ingredients Nasidienus boasts of having invented two himself; one was the ‘eruca,’ which we call the rocket, and the ‘inula campana,’ ‘elecampane,’ a plant that grows in meadows and damp ground. It is used medicinally as a bitter. The last ingredient was the ‘echinus,’ a prickly[497] shell-fish, thrown in without being washed, for the benefit of its saline qualities; for which addition to the sauce he gives credit to one Curtillus, whoever he may have been. The superiority of the ‘echinus’ to ‘muria’ (see S. ii. 4. 65, n.) is here said to consist in the fact of the former coming fresh from the sea, and furnishing a more perfect brine.

54. aulaea] See C. iii. 29. 15, n. The host’s dissertation was brought to a sudden close by the falling of the tapestry from the ceiling, bringing down among the dishes an immense cloud of dust. The guests fancy the house is coming down, but when they find the extent of the damage, they recover themselves (‘erigimur’). Rufus (Nasidienus) was so disturbed by this untoward accident, that he put down his head and began to shed tears. Nomentanus comforts him with an apostrophe to Fortune, complaining of her caprices, the solemn hypocrisy of which makes Varius laugh so immoderately, that he is obliged to stuff his napkin into his mouth to check himself. Balatro, who has a sneer always ready (μυκτηρίζων, see S. i. 6. 5), begins a long sympathetic and flattering speech, with which Nasidienus is highly pleased and comforted under his misfortune. A brilliant thought suddenly strikes him, and he calls for his shoes and goes out, on which the guests begin to titter and to whisper to one another, not wishing to give offence, or to speak out before the parasites and the slaves (54-78).

72. agaso.] This was a groom or mule-driver, or otherwise connected with the stables. Balatro intends a sneer at the establishment, the out-door slaves being had in to wait at table and swell the number of attendants.

77. Et soleas poscit.] See S. i. 3. 127. The sandals were taken off before they sat down to dinner, for which therefore ‘soleas demere, deponere,’ were common expressions, as ‘soleas poscere’ was for getting up. The Greeks had the same custom and the same way of expressing themselves.

78. Stridere secreta] In this line an attempt seems to have been made to convey the notion of whispering by the sound of the s repeated.

83. Ridetur fictis rerum] They pretend to be laughing at something else when Nasidienus comes in. As to ‘fictis rerum’ see C. iv. 12. 19, n. ‘Balatrone secundo’ means that Balatro played δευτεραγωνιστής, who supported the principal actor, but was not so prominent. (See Epp. i. 18. 14.) Balatro was a wit and sarcastic. He supplied jokes and the others laughed.

86. Mazonomo] This was a large round dish, properly one from which grain (μάζα) was distributed.

87. Membra gruis] Cranes became a fashionable dish with the Romans, but not till after this time, when storks were preferred (see S. 2. 50, n.).

88. jecur anseris albae] The liver of a white goose fattened on figs, the legs of a hare served up separately, as being (according to the host) better flavoured when dressed without the loins, blackbirds burnt in roasting, and wood-pigeons with the hinder parts, which were most sought after, removed (perhaps from the ignorance of the host, who thought novelty was the best recommendation of his dishes),—these composed the last ‘ferculum,’ brought in as special delicacies to make up for the late catastrophe. But the officiousness of the host destroyed the relish of his dishes, such as they were, and the guests took their revenge by tasting nothing that he put before them, and presently taking their leave.

95. Canidia afflasset] Here is this woman again, the last time we meet with her. See Epodes iii., v., and xvii., and S. i. 8.

Some time after Horace had published his three books of Odes, and had, as it appears, laid aside that sort of writing, it seems that Mæcenas, and probably his other friends, begged him to return to it. That is the obvious meaning of the remonstrance with which the Epistle opens. He expresses an earnest wish to retire into privacy, to abandon poetry, and to devote himself to the study of philosophy and virtue, which he recommends as the only true wisdom.

1. Prima dicte mihi,] This is an affectionate way of speaking. It has no particular reference to anything Horace had written. It is like Virgil’s address to Pollio (Ec. viii. 11): “A te principium, tibi desinet”; or Nestor’s to Agamemnon (Il. ix. 96):

Ἀτρείδη κύδιστε, ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγάμεμνον,
Ἐν σοὶ μὲν λήξω, σέο δ᾽ ἄρξομαι.

2. Spectatum satis et donatum jam rude] When gladiators received their discharge, they were presented by the ‘lanista,’ or the ‘editor spectaculorum,’ who owned or hired them, with a ‘rudis,’ which was a blunt wooden instrument, some say a sword, others a cudgel. The name may have belonged to any weapon used in the ‘praelusio,’ or sham fight that generally preceded the real battle with sharp swords. The gladiators thus discharged were called ‘rudiarii,’ and, if they were freemen, ‘exauctorati.’ ‘Spectatum’ is a technical term. Tickets, with the letters SP upon them, were given to gladiators who had distinguished themselves. ‘Ludus’ means the place where the training took place, and the gladiators were kept. (See A. P. 32, n.)

4. Veianius armis Herculis ad postem] Veianius was a ‘rudiarius,’ and when he was discharged, he hung up his weapons in the temple of Hercules, just as the man is made to hang up the arms of love in the temple of Venus, when they had ceased to profit him, in C. iii. 26. 3; or as the slave hung up his chain to the Lares (see S. i. 5. 65, n.), to whom also boys dedicated their ‘bulla’ when they assumed the ‘toga virilis’; and, generally, those who gave up any trade or calling dedicated the instruments with which they had followed it to the gods, and to that god, in particular, under whose patronage they had placed themselves. Hercules would naturally be chosen by a gladiator, or by a soldier.

6. Ne populum extrema] The gladiatorial shows at this time were exhibited in the Circus. The arena was separated from the seats, which went round the building, by a wall called the ‘podium,’ near which a gladiator would station himself to appeal to the compassion of the people, at whose request it usually was that they got their freedom and the ‘rudis.’ We learn from Juvenal, that the persons of highest condition sat by the ‘podium,’ and to their influence the appeal would be more immediately made. Veianius, Horace says, retired into the country to escape the temptation to engage himself again, and to place himself in the position he had so often occupied, of a suppliant for the people’s favor. When they liked a man, they were not easily persuaded to ask for his discharge.

7. Est mihi purgatam] He has a voice within him, he says, the office of[499] which is to whisper in his attentive ear the precept that follows, the idea of which is taken from Ennius, who takes it from the Circus. His words in Cicero de Senect. (c. 5) are:

“Sicut fortis equus spatio qui saepe supremo
Vicit Olympia, nunc senio confectu’ quiescit.”

‘Purgatam aurem’ means an ear purged from all that could obstruct the entrance of the truth.

9. ilia ducat.] ‘Ilia trahere’ and ‘ducere’ are ordinary expressions for panting; they mean to contract the flanks, as is done in the act of recovering the breath. The reverse is ‘ilia tendere.’ See Virg. Georg. iii. 536, “imaque longo Ilia singultu tendunt.” ‘Ilia ducere’ here means to become broken-winded.

10. et versus et cetera ludicra pono,] He did not keep his word, for he wrote much of the fourth Book of Odes, and the Carmen Saeculare, after this; so that he says of himself (Epp. ii. 1. 111):

“Ipse ego qui nullos me affirmo scribere versus
Invenior Parthis mendacior.”

‘Ludicra’ means the follies of light poetry, jokes, amours, &c. See Epp. ii. 2. 55.

13. quo lare tuter,] This is equivalent to ‘qua in domo,’ respecting which see C. i. 29. 14, n.; and as to ‘jurare in verba,’ see note on Epod. xv. 4. The metaphor is taken from the oath of the gladiator (‘auctoramentum’), by which he bound himself to the ‘lanista’ to whom he hired himself, which was a very stringent oath indeed.

16. Quo me cunque rapit] Horace says he follows no school and knows no master, but, like a traveller always changing his abode, he follows the breeze that carries him hither and thither, just as his temper happens to be, or his judgment chances to be influenced; “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,” as St. Paul says, using the same sort of language.

16. Nunc agilis fio] That is, he agrees with the Stoics, whose virtue was essentially a Roman virtue (see C. S. 58, n.), and lay in action. With them, the perfection of virtue was the perfection of happiness, utility, wealth, power (see below, v. 106, n.).

18. Nunc in Aristippi] After holding for a time to the rigid school of virtue and the Stoics, he insensibly went over to the lax doctrines of the Cyrenaics, whose founder was Aristippus of Cyrene, one of the least worthy disciples of Socrates. He held that every man should control circumstances, and not be controlled by them. Hence he did not hesitate to expose himself to the greatest temptations. An instance of his indifference in another way is given above (S. ii. 3. 100). See Epp. 17. 23.

19. Et mihi res] ‘I try to bend circumstances to myself, not myself to circumstances.’ But Aristippus departed from his own theory, when he departed from the rule of his teacher, and took money from his pupils. He was the first of the Socratics that did so, and Xenophon is supposed to refer to him when he says that some of the disciples of Socrates got for nothing a little of his wisdom, and sold it at a high price to others (Mem. i. 2, § 60). Those that took money from their disciples, Socrates said, sold themselves into slavery, and he must therefore have held this opinion of Aristippus (Ib. § 6). His dialogue with Socrates (in Xen. Mem. ii. 1) throws light upon his opinions as here stated by Horace. The word ‘subjungere’ is taken from putting the neck of beasts of burden under the yoke.

21. ut piger annus Pupillis] Every boy who had lost his father was under a ‘tutor’ or guardian in respect of his property, while the care of his person belonged to his mother, or, in the case of her death, to his nearest relation, provided he was not a ‘pupillus’ himself. This lasted till the age of puberty[500] (fourteen). The boy was a ‘pupillus,’ not in relation to his mother, but to his tutor. Thus ‘tutela’ and ‘custodia’ were different things. ‘Tutela’ was a technical term, ‘custodia’ was not.

25. locupletibus aeque,] ‘Aeque’ is repeated, though not wanted, just as ‘inter’ is repeated in S. i. 7, and elsewhere (see note). The Greek writers used ὁμοίως in the same way.

27. Restat ut his] Horace says he is impatient, till he shall have reached the perfection of active virtue and wisdom. But as he has not done so, it only remains that he shall regulate and comfort his mind with such elementary knowledge of truth as he possesses, and be content with that; for, if he cannot reach perfection, he may make some steps towards it. ‘His’ means, that which he has at his command.

28. Non possis oculo] The keen sight of Lynceus, one of the Argonauts, who, as the story goes, could from Lilybæum count the number of vessels in a fleet coming out of the harbor of Carthage, has been proverbial in all ages.

30. invicti membra Glyconis,] This person is said to have been an athlete of prodigious strength.

31. Nodosa — prohibere cheragra.] The gout in the hand is called ‘nodosa’ from its twisting the joints of the fingers (S. ii. 7. 15). As to the construction of ‘prohibere,’ see C. i. 27. 4.

32. Est quadam prodire tenus] Horace is probably indulging a little irony at the expense of the philosophers, in the implied comparison of their perceptions and powers with those of Lynceus and Glycon, and in the humble tone he takes towards them. ‘Tenus,’ as a general rule, takes the ablative of the singular, and is so used in the compound words ‘hactenus,’ ‘eatenus,’ &c. The form ‘quadamtenus’ is used occasionally by Pliny; and the feminine gender appears in all the combinations of ‘tenus’ with pronouns.

εἰσὶν δ᾽ ἐπῳδαὶ καὶ λόγοι θελκτήριοι·
φανήσεταί τι τῆσδε φάρμακον νόσου.

Philosophy, Horace says, has remedies for every disease of the mind. The remedies he means are the precepts of the wise, to be derived from books (37). He also calls them ‘piacula’ (36), which is equivalent to ‘medicamenta,’ because, disease being attributed to the wrath of the gods, that which should remove their wrath (‘piaculum’) was the means of removing disease. ‘Ter’ is used by way of keeping up the religious notion (that number being common in all religious ceremonies, see C. i. 28. 36, n.): ‘pure’ is used in the same connection. The book must be read with a pure mind, as the body must be washed before sacrifice or libation can be offered. By ‘libello’ I understand Horace to mean any book that instructs the mind in virtue.

41. Virtus est vitium fugere] If you cannot all at once attain perfection, you may at least begin to learn, and the first step towards virtue is to put away vice. What follows is an illustration of this. ‘You see what trouble you take to escape from poverty, which you count the worst of all evils; but if you will only give heed to instruction, you shall learn well to care about it.’ This is the sense. As to ‘repulsa,’ see C. iii. 2. 17. He who would secure an election, must have a command of money.

44. capitisque labore.] ‘Caput’ is here put for the whole body. We do not use it so, but for the seat of intelligence, which the Romans placed in the heart, not in the brain. On ‘per saxa, per ignes,’ see C. iv. 14. 24; S. ii. 3. 56.

47. Ne cures ea] ‘In order that you may cease to care for those things which you now so foolishly admire and long for, will you not learn and listen, and trust the experience of a better man than yourself?’ As to this position of ‘ne,’ see C. iv. 9. 1.

49. Quis circum pagos] These were boxers, who went about the streets and the country villages, and fought for the amusement of the inhabitants, and for what they could pick up. ‘Coronari Olympia’ is a Greek way of speaking. Horace says, What boxer who goes about the country towns exhibiting, would despise the Olympic prizes, if he had a hope, still more a promise, that he should be crowned without a struggle? By this he means, men strive after happiness in the shape of riches, &c.; but if they will learn wisdom, that shall give them all they can desire without trouble or pain. The world may judge otherwise, he proceeds to say, and make wealth the standard of worth, but the world is not to be listened to,—it is foolish and inconsistent. ‘Sine pulvere’ seems to be taken from the Greek ἀκονιτί, and means without a struggle.

54. Janus summus ab imo] See S. ii. 3. 18. ‘Perdocet’ means it persists in teaching, it enforces. Horace breaks out into the praises of virtue, and says, that, as gold is more precious than silver, virtue is more precious than gold, whereas, from one end of the Forum to the other, the opposite doctrine is insisted upon, and old and young go there to learn it, as boys go to school, and repeat it as schoolboys repeat their tasks dictated to them by the master. Verse 56 is repeated from S. i. 6. 74. As to ‘dictata,’ see S. i. 10. 75, n.

58. Sed quadringentis sex septem] ‘Suppose you lack six or seven thousand out of 400,000 sesterces (which make an equestrian property), whatever your genius, character, eloquence, and uprightness may be, you are put down for one of the common sort, and will not be allowed, under Otho’s law, to sit in the front rows.’ (See Epod. iv. 15, n.) ‘Plebs’ is not used in its regular sense, but contemptuously, ‘a common fellow.’ The equestrian order consisted of all citizens who had the above income and were not senators; for when a man became a senator, he ceased to be an ‘eques.’

59. At pueri ludentes, Rex eris, aiunt,] See note on C. i. 36. 8. At Athens, it appears, the boys had a game, at which they who threw or caught the ball best were called kings, while they who were beaten were called asses. Some such game must have been in use among the Roman boys, and their king-making had become a proverb. The world may despise you, he says, because you are poor, but, according to the boys’ rule, which makes the best man king, you shall be a king if you do well. As to ‘murus aëneus,’ see C. iii. 3. 65, n. For the different senses in which Horace uses ‘nenia,’ see Epod. xvii. 29, n. Here it signifies a sort of song of triumph.

64. Et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis?] On this plural, see S. i. 7. 8. The persons referred to are M. Curius Dentatus, the conqueror of Pyrrhus, and M. Furius Camillus, the man who saved Rome from the Gauls. The contempt of money displayed by Curius is especially related by Cicero (De Senect. c. 16), in terms which account for Horace’s selecting him for an illustration here. The boys’ strain was ever in the mouths of these noble soldiers, giving honor to none but the worthy. ‘Mares’ is used in this sense in A. P. 402. We use ‘masculine’ in the same way.

67. lacrimosa poëmata Pupi,] Pupius appears to have been a writer of tragedies, which Horace says were pathetic, but he says it with some contempt. We know nothing more of him than this. ‘Lacrimosa’ is used ironically. As to ‘responsare,’ see S. ii. 7. 85. ‘Praesens’ means stands by you and urges you on, and teaches you to meet the insults of fortune with an independent heart and erect bearing. ‘Aptat’ is explained by “pectus praeceptis format amicis” (Epp. ii. 1. 128), which province belongs, Horace says, to the poet.

71. Non ut porticibus sic judiciis] As to ‘porticus,’ see S. i. 4. 134. He has said that the world are not fit guides, and he goes on to prove this by the inconsistencies of men, both rich and poor (71-93). He says, if people ask[502] him why he mixes with them in the ordinary way of society, in the promenades, etc., but does not form his judgment of things as they do, he answers them as the fox answered the lion in Æsop’s fable; and the meaning of the answer here is, that he found that, of all those who joined the world and made money their chief pursuit, none had survived or recovered their right judgment.

76. Bellua multorum es capitum.] ‘The avarice of the world is like the hydra with many heads; if you check it in one form, it springs up in another; whom, then, or what, is one to take for one’s guide?’ On the use of ‘nam’ in this verse, see S. ii. 3. 41, n. As to ‘conducere,’ see C. ii. 18. 17, n. On the subject of will-hunting, see S. ii. 5, and compare with ‘quos in vivaria mittant’ v. 44 of that Satire: “Plures adnabunt thunni et vivaria crescent.” There the ‘captator’ appears as a catcher of fish; here as a hunter of game. ‘Vivaria’ are preserves. ‘Excipere’ is the word used for catching the wild boar in C. iii. 12. 12. ‘Occulto fenore’ means interest which was greater than the law allowed (see S. i. 2. 14, n.), and therefore privately agreed upon. Of all the classes of money seekers in Rome, Horace fixes as the most prominent upon three, the ‘publicani,’ those who ingratiate themselves with old people in the hope of becoming their heirs, and extortionate usurers. ‘Publica’ may refer to public buildings and works.

80. Verum Esto aliis alios] But allow different men their different tastes, yet even this is of no use; for the same men, when they get rich, get capricious, and are always changing their minds.

83. Nullus in orbe sinus] If the rich man has set his heart upon building a house at Baiæ, he does not brook a moment’s delay; the waters of the Lacus Lucrinus on one side and the sea on the other, are disturbed with the eager preparations with which he begins to satisfy his desire. The allusion is the same as in C. ii. 18. 19, sqq., and iii. 1. 33, sqq., 24. 3, where see notes. Baiæ was for several generations a favorite resort of the wealthy Romans. Julius Cæsar had a house there, and also Cn. Pompeius.

84. lacus et mare] The Lucrinus lacus was an arm of the sea. Its basin was filled up by the rising of the volcanic hill called Monte Nuovo, in the middle of the sixteenth century.

85. vitiosa libido] This means a corrupt, capricious will, which is said ‘facere auspicium,’ to stand in the place of birds and other omens usually consulted before new enterprises were undertaken.

86. Cras ferramenta Teanum] Teanum (now Teano) was a town belonging to the Sidicini, an ancient people of Campania. It was situated on the Via Latina, and about thirty miles from Baiæ. The whim for the coast having vanished, and a desire to live inland, in a country town, having seized upon the man of money, he sends off the workmen with their tools to Teanum, at a day’s notice.

87. Lectus genialis in aula est,] ‘Aula’ means the ‘atrium,’ the entrance-room; and ‘lectus genialis,’ also called ‘adversus,’ because it was opposite the door, was the marriage-bed which was dedicated to the genii of the bride and bridegroom. The bed was a symbol of domestic love and peace, and was placed at the entrance of the house for a good omen. Respecting the genii, see below, Epp. i. 7. 94; ii. 2. 187.

91. coenacula,] All the rooms above the ground floor were called ‘coenacula.’ While the rich lived in their own houses, poorer persons (and it must be remembered that ‘paupertas’ is comparative poverty, not want) took single rooms in the upper story of houses which went by the name of ‘insulae,’ the inhabitants of which were called ‘coenacularii,’ and they who kept them were said ‘coenaculariam exercere.’ Horace speaks of persons changing from caprice and aping the ways of the rich.

92. conducto navigio] ‘Navigium’ expresses the vulgar craft which the poor man hires in imitation of the private yacht, as smartly built and well found as a trireme belonging to the rich man. He hires his boat, which he cannot afford to do, and goes through the horrors of sea sickness, that he may have the honor of serving as a foil to the elegance of his wealthy neighbor.

94. Si curatus inaequali tonsore] He goes on to tax Mæcenas, good-humoredly, with the prevailing inconsistency (94-105). ‘Capillos curare’ was a common expression. Domitian wrote a book ‘de cura capillorum,’ according to Suetonius (c. 18), which he addressed to a friend who was bald, like himself. ‘Subucula’ was a second tunic worn under the ‘intusium,’ which was the upper tunic. ‘Pexae’ signifies a cloth of which the nap was not closely shorn, and was still fresh. The upper tunic, therefore, would be new, while the under one was old and shabby. The ‘subucula’ had sleeves, which the ‘intusium’ had not. Any difference in the cloth, therefore, would be very perceptible. Out of doors the toga would conceal both, but in doors the toga was not worn. ‘Intusium’ is from ‘induo.’ ‘Subucula’ is connected with ‘duo’ (that is, ‘do’) likewise. ‘Disconvenit’ is a word only found in Horace. It occurs again, Epp. 14. 18.

100. mutat quadrata rotundis?] Orelli says this looks like a proverbial expression for one who did not know his own mind. It may be so, or it may have reference to alterations Horace was making on his estate, in which case the whole would be only a joke against himself or truth in jest, which Mæcenas would understand. He appears to have begun building as soon as he entered on his new property, if there is any meaning in the scolding he gets from Damasippus (S. ii. 3. 307).

102. nec curatoris egere] See S. ii. 3. 217, n. ‘Tutela’ was the guardianship of a ‘tutor,’ the protector of an orphan’s property till he came to the age of puberty. ‘Curatela’ was the office of ‘curator,’ who had the same relation to the orphan, in a modified form, till he was twenty five (see above, v. 22, n.). It was also that of the protector of insane persons. ‘Tutela,’ therefore, is not the precise word to keep up the previous notion. Horace means that Mæcenas looks after him anxiously, as if he was his ‘tutor,’ and he looks up to him as if he was his ‘pupillus,’ but that his guardian had better look to his greater faults, and correct those, than be put out by trifling defects such as negligence of dress, and so forth. What Horace says, is a repetition in a different form of “O et praesidium et dulce decus meum” (C. i. 1. 2).

105. respicientis] This word is much stronger than our term ‘respect,’ which is derived from it.

106. Ad summam:] This is an ordinary formula, ‘to come to the point,’ ‘to conclude.’ The pursuit of virtue and wisdom is the point from which he started, and, having digressed a little, he returns suddenly, and concludes with a definition of the sage, which is a repetition of S. i. 3. 124, sqq. Here it is added that he is the only freeman, and inferior to Jove alone.

108. Praecipue sanus,] Horace says jocularly, that the Stoic above all his other attributes is of course ‘sanus,’ except when his digestion is disturbed and the phlegm troublesome, ‘sanus’ bearing a double application to the body (from the pains of which no exemption was claimed for the Stoic sage, though he did not allow them to affect his will) and to the mind, the sanity of which no one could lay claim to but the sage himself (see S. ii. 3. 44, n.). As to ‘pituita,’ see S. ii. 2. 73, n.

The person to whom this Epistle and the eighteenth are written, was probably the son of M. Lollius, the consul, addressed in the ninth Ode of the fourth Book. He was young, but had been with Augustus to the wars, as we learn from the other Epistle (v. 55). When this Epistle was written, he was at Rome, continuing his education, and Horace was at Præneste. He had lately been reading Homer, and from the examples of the Iliad and Odyssey he takes occasion to derive some advice for Lollius, whom he urges to the study of philosophy.

1. maxime Lolli,] This is probably no more than a familiar and good-humored way of addressing the young man, ‘most noble Lollius.’

2. Dum tu declamas Romae] Horace writes to Lollius as to one familiar with Homer’s poems. He says of himself, referring to his early education at Rome (Epp. ii. 2. 41):

“Romae nutriri mihi contigit atque doceri
Iratus Graiis quantum nocuisset Achilles.”

After the Romans had begun to expand the course of their sons’ education, (as mentioned in the note on S. i. 6. 77,) Homer was one of the first authors a boy studied. Boys attended the schools of the rhetorical masters before they put on the ‘toga virilis,’ and there they learnt to declaim upon subjects given them from history. This practice was not introduced till the later years of the republic. Young men continued studying declamation long after they left school. They had teachers at home, who taught them the higher principles of oratory.

Praeneste relegi;] Præneste (Palestrina) was in Latium, about twenty three miles due east of Rome on the edge of the Apennines. It was a cool retreat, to which Horace appears sometimes to have gone in summer, even when he had a place of his own elsewhere. See C. iii. 4. 21, sqq.

4. Chrysippo et Crantore] As to Chrysippus the Stoic, see S. i. 3. 126, n. Both he and Crantor were born at the Cilician town Soli. Crantor studied philosophy in the Academia, under Xenocrates and with Polemo. (See S. ii. 3. 254, n.) They were both voluminous writers. But Horace says there is more instruction in the poems of Homer than in all they ever wrote, and that it is more clearly conveyed. Horace takes a wrong view of Homer’s poems, which are not philosophical, nor meant to be so, but noble specimens of art and poetical conception.

7. Barbariae] That is, Phrygia. (See Epod. ix. 6.) ‘Aestus’ is a metaphor from the ebbing and flowing of the tide, and represents the passions and variableness of the princes and people.

9. Antenor censet] At a meeting of the Trojan chiefs after the combat of Hector and Ajax, Antenor proposes to restore Helen to the Greeks, which Paris flatly refuses, ἀντικρὺ δ᾽ ἀπόφημι γυναῖκα μὲν οὐκ ἀποδώσω (Il. vii. 362, sqq.).

13. Hunc amor,] From its position this seems to belong to ‘Atriden.’ The allusion is to Nestor’s attempt to mediate between Agamemnon and Achilles, when the former angrily consents to restore Chryseis, whom he loved above Clytemnestra his wife (Il. i. 113, sqq.)

19. domitor Trojae] The epithet πτολίπορθος is frequently applied to Ulysses by Homer. The three first verses of the Odyssey are almost translated in these lines.

22. immersabilis] Compare C. iv. 4. 65: “Merses profundo pulchrior evenit.”

23. Sirenum voces] How by the directions of Circe Ulysses eluded the charming voice of the Sirens, is related in the twelfth book of the Odyssey, 165, sqq.; and the way in which Circe poisoned his companions and changed them into swine, will be found in the tenth book, 230, sqq. The Sirens were as proverbial with the ancients as with us.

27. Nos numerus sumus] This expression is not uncommon in the Greek dramatists. It means, a mere undistinguished heap, and ‘fruges consumere nati’ is an adaptation of Homer’s οἳ ἀρούρης καρπὸν ἔδουσι (Il. vi. 142). ‘Nos’ means the common sort of men, among whom Horace places himself, and all but the sage, who is like Ulysses, while the rest are no better than his wife’s suitors, gluttons, wine-drinkers, and lazy; or the subjects of Alcinous, king of Phæacia or Scheria (an island of which, if it had any existence, the position is unknown), the host of Ulysses, to whom he relates his adventures (Odyss. lib. ix. sqq.). The king describes his people thus:

αἰεὶ δ᾽ ἡμῖν δαίς τε φίλη, κίθαρίς τε, χοροί τε,
εἵματά τ᾽ ἐξημοιβὰ, λοετρά τε θερμὰ, καὶ εὐναί.
(Odyss. viii. 248.)

The Phæacians were proverbial in respect to good living. See Epp. i. 15. 24. On ‘cute curanda,’ see S. ii. 5. 38, n.

31. cessatum ducere curam.] ‘Duco,’ as a verb of motion, takes the accusative of the verbal substantive to denote the object, just as ‘venio’ and ‘mitto’ do. “The accusative of the verbal in ‘tu’ is often called the supine active, and the ablative of the same the supine passive; but there is nothing passive in the latter, and therefore the distinction is inappropriate.” ‘Factu’ is ‘in the doing,’ as ‘factum’ is ‘to the doing’; so neither is passive.

32. Ut jugulent homines] From the above examples of virtue, especially Ulysses, Horace urges his friend to the pursuit of it, and asks whether, if the robber can rise before daylight to take away other men’s lives, he will not wake up to save his own (32-43).

34. Si noles sanus curres hydropicus;] It appears that active exercise was recommended by the ancient physicians for dropsical patients. Horace means, that, if he will not learn wisdom while he is unharmed by the world, he will have to do so when it has spoilt him.

39. in annum?] So he says below (Epp. 11. 23), “neu dulcia differ in annum.” It is the habit of procrastinators to put off the work of to-day till to-morrow, of this week till next week, of this year till next year, and this is Horace’s meaning. ‘In annum’ is till next year. ‘Dimidium facti qui coepit habet’ is an adaptation of the Greek saying ἀρχὴ δὲ τοι ἥμισυ παντός, attributed variously to Hesiod and Pythagoras.

44. Quaeritur argentum] This is advanced as a reason why men put off the day of reformation, that they are anxious to make themselves comfortable and rich (44-54).

47. Non domus et fundus,] See S. ii. 5. 108, n. ‘Deduxit,’ in the next line, is used like the aorist.

52. fomenta podagram,] As to ‘fomenta’ in a derived sense, see Epod. xi. 17, n. Horace means to say, that fomentations go a small way towards curing the gout. Perhaps he means that they aggravate the pain.

55. Sperne voluptates,] This is part of the same subject. The pursuit of sensual pleasure is connected with the pursuit of money, which is wanted for it. The pursuit of money leads on to envy, and envy to wrath, so that all these pithy sayings hang together.

58. Invidia Siculi] Horace probably alludes to the bull of Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily. It was made of bronze. Persons were put inside, and the metal was gradually heated till they were roasted to death. But the tyrants of Sicily were proverbial.

61. poenas — festinat] ‘hurries after its revenge.’ So Horace uses ‘properare,’ in C. iii. 24. 62, “pecuniam Heredi properet”; and in the next Epistle (v. 28), “Hoc studium parvi properemus et ampli.” It is like the Greek σπεύδειν, which takes an accusative.

63. hunc tu compesce] In general precepts, emphasis is sometimes given by the insertion of the pronoun ‘tu.’ See C. i. 9. 16.

64. Fingit equum] Here he goes back to v. 40, “sapere aude; Incipe.” For to be wise, he must learn, and put himself in the hands of those who can teach him.

65. venaticus, ex quo] ‘Catulus’ is awkwardly placed at the end of the sentence. The practice of training dogs by means of stuffed animals was perhaps common. ‘Latro’ governs an accusative here and in Epod. v. 58. On ‘militat,’ see S. ii. 2. 10, n.

69. Quo semel est imbuta recens] ‘The testa keeps long the odor it imbibed when new.’ So, he means, the good or evil imbibed in youth clings to the mind for many years.

70. Quodsi cessas aut strenuus anteis,] Horace says he cannot wait for the dilatory, or trouble himself to keep up with those who are in a great hurry to get on. He means he shall go his own way in the pursuit of wisdom. At the same time, he hints that young persons are apt to get on a little too fast, and to mistake their own powers and attainments. The conclusion is abrupt, as Horace’s conclusions often are.

In B. C. 20 an embassy came from Armenia to Rome, expressing the dissatisfaction of the people with their king, Artaxias, and praying that Augustus would place upon the throne that king’s younger brother, Tigranes, who was then living in exile at Rome. Augustus assented, and sent Tiberius with Tigranes to dethrone Artaxias. This Tiberius did, and with his own hand crowned Tigranes. (See Epp. 12. 27, n.)

About his person Tiberius appears to have had a number of young men, such as Titius, Celsus, and Munatius, mentioned in this Epistle, and Julius Florus, to whom it is addressed. What little can be said about the first three will be found in the notes. Florus, it appears from this Epistle (v. 23), was practising to become an orator or a jurisconsultus, and wrote verses of the softer sort; in the second Epistle of the second Book (v. 59) we have the same information.

Quintilian (Inst. Orat. x. 3) tells an anecdote of one Julius Florus, whom he calls the first man in Gaul for eloquence. This may be the person Horace addresses, and if so, he carried out successfully in Gallia the pursuit of which Horace here supposes him to be beginning the practice. Horace had a great regard for him, as appears not only from this, but from the other Epistle, in which he makes his excuses to him for not having sent him any poetry.

Florus was evidently a young man at this time, and all the persons named were young. One of them (Celsus) was secretary to Tiberius. Whether the others had any definite occupation, or were merely travelling to enlarge their experience, and see the world, is not stated. Horace assumes that they are not wasting their time, but pursuing their studies and practising their pens. He inquires after his young friends in a way that shows his interest in them, offers them such advice and encouragement as he thinks they need, and especially begs Florus to be reconciled to Munatius, with whom he had for some reason quarrelled. This was probably Horace’s chief design in writing this Epistle.

3. Thracane vos Hebrusque] The first of these is the Latin form of the Greek Θρῄκη. It has been observed before, that Horace generally uses the Latin terminations in the Satires and Epistles, and the Greek in the Odes. The Hebrus he elsewhere calls “hiemis sodalem” (C. i. 25. 19). Tiberius passed through Macedonia and Thrace on his way to Armenia. (See Introduction.)

4. vicinas inter currentia turres,] ‘Turris’ may mean a castle or fortified place, and one of these that Horace mentions is probably Abydos, on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont. The other may have been Sestos, on the European side. The strait takes a bend to the northeast between the two towns, and Abydos stood directly south of Sestos, at the distance of thirty stadia. The current runs very strong between them, and this is expressed in the text; notwithstanding which, there is a popular story that Leander, a youth of Abydos, swam across repeatedly by night, to visit Hero, the priestess of Venus, at Sestos. Ovid has two Epistles, supposed to have passed between the lovers (Heroid. 18, 19); and Virgil (Georg. iii. 258, sqq.) refers to the story. The same adventure was accomplished by Lord Byron and a companion, in the year 1810, in the month of May.

6. Quid studiosa cohors operum] As to ‘cohors,’ see S. i. 7. 23, n. ‘Operum’ belongs to ‘quid,’ and signifies ‘writings,’ either prose or poetry.

7. scribere sumit?] Compare C. i. 12. 2, “sumis celebrare.” ‘Sumere’ is sometimes used in a bad sense, as we use ‘assume,’ ‘presume’; but it is not so here. It is the word Horace generally uses in this connection. See A. P. 38. With ‘diffundit in aevum,’ compare C. iv. 14, init.

9. Quid Titius Romana] Of Titius the Scholiasts say, that he was a tragic and lyric poet. According to Horace, he was not afraid to imitate Pindar. This young man was more rash than Horace himself (C. iv. 2. 1). There is no one upon record with whom the person in the text can be identified, though some suppose he may be the person Tibullus mentions (i. 4. 73), “Haec mihi quae canerem Titio Deus edidit ore.”

venturus in ora?] This expression may have taken its rise from Ennius’s “volito vivu’ per ora virum,” which Virgil has imitated once or twice.

10. expalluit] This is used as in C. iii. 27. 27, “mediasque fraudes Palluit audax.”

11. lacus et rivos ausus apertos.] These are opposed to the deep and hidden springs of Pindar’s genius.

14. An tragica desaevit et ampullatur] The first of these words refers to the passions represented in tragedy, the other to the pompous words employed by inferior writers to express them. ‘Ampulla’ signifies a sort of bottle with a big round belly, and corresponds to the Greek λήκυθος, which was used to signify great, swelling words. Horace appears to have been the first to substitute the Latin words ‘ampullari’ and ‘ampulla’ (the first of which he probably coined) for ληκυθίζειν and λήκυθος. See A. P. 97.

15. Quid mihi Celsus agit?] ‘Quid agis’ is the common formula for ‘How d’ ye do?’ See S. i. 9. 4; Epp. i. 8. 3. Celsus is most probably Celsus Albinovanus, to whom the eighth Epistle is addressed. We know nothing of him, except that he was one of the staff of Tiberius, and his secretary (“comiti scribaeque Neronis,” 8. 2). The advice Horace here sends him is, to write something original, and not confine himself to the ideas of other authors, either in the way of translation or imitation. It has been mentioned before (C. i. 31, Introduction) that Augustus attached a library to the temple he built for Apollo on the Mons Palatinus. Æsop’s fable of the jackdaw, who dressed himself in the peacock’s cast-off feathers, is told by Phædrus (i. 3). Αἰσώπιος κολοιός was a proverb.

21. Quae circumvolitas] This similitude of a bee gathering honey from[508] thyme, Horace applies to himself (C. iv. 2. 27, sqq.). As to ‘orator’ and ‘respondere,’ see S. i. 1. 9, n., and on ‘hederae praemia,’ see C. i. 1. 29.

23. seu civica jura Respondere] This is a singular expression for the usual ‘jus respondere,’ or ‘de jure respondere,’ which was said of the jurisconsultus. (See S. i. 1. 9.)

26. Frigida curarum fomenta] ‘Fomenta’ here seems to mean honor, riches, &c., by which care is sought to be alleviated, but which, after all, are but cold remedies, and ineffectual; “fomenta vulnus nil malum levantia,” as Horace says (Epod. 11. 17, where see note).

28. parvi properemus et ampli] As to ‘properemus,’ see Epp. 2. 61, n., and with the sentiment compare Epp. 1. 25, “Aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque.”

30. si tibi curae] Horace says, “You must write me back word whether you make as much of Munatius as he deserves, or whether your mutual regard, like a wound ill-sewn, refuses to unite, and is torn open again.” Munatius has been mentioned before (C. i. 7, Introduction) as the son of Munatius Plancus, the consul of B. C. 42. We know nothing more about him, except that he was consul in A. D. 13, and that he was afterwards sent as one of the commissioners from the senate to the mutinous German legions (Tac. Ann. i. 39). It appears he and Florus had quarrelled; we are not told what it was about; but Horace attributes it to youthful heat and ignorance of the world. He likens them to unbroke horses, and tells them that they ought to make it up, and that when they come home they will find the fatted calf ready for sacrifice. Compare C. i. 36 written on the return of Numida. It is impossible to put the different parts of the sentence together so as to make the construction regular and natural, but the sense is clear enough. Horace frequently uses ‘dignus’ with the infinitive. See C. iii. 21. 6, n. ‘Indignus’ he uses in the same way here, and in A. P. 231, but in the usual prose construction with ‘qui’ and the subjunctive in S. ii. 3. 236. By ‘fraternum foedus’ Horace only means that they were or had been and ought to be, “paene gemelli Fraternis animis,” as he says below, Epp. 10. 3.

This Epistle is addressed to Albius Tibullus, the poet, to whom also C. i. 33 is written. The letter only professes to be one to inquire after Tibullus; but occasion is taken to commend his fortunes and himself, and to bid him live every day as if it were the last. Horace writes to his friend (probably from Rome) at his place near Pedum, a town of Latium, not far from Præneste. There Tibullus had a good estate, inherited from his father, which before his death, he appears by some means to have diminished. That his losses must have occurred after this Epistle was written, we may perhaps infer from v. 7. He lived chiefly on his estate, in the quiet pursuits Horace here supposes him to be engaged in; though immediately after the battle of Actium he accompanied Messalla into Gaul and was absent about a year, which, as far as we know, comprised all his active life. Horace, among other blessings, assigns him good health; nevertheless he died young. It appears that, while many disparaged Horace’s writings, Tibullus judged them kindly, and the affection the two poets bore one another cannot be mistaken. Tibullus was probably ten or twelve years younger than Horace. Tibullus died the same year with Virgil (B. C. 20) or very soon after.

1. sermonum candide judex] See Introduction. The Satires must have been published some time, and some of the Epistles may have been written[509] and made known to Horace’s intimate friends. The word ‘sermones’ therefore applies probably (whether Horace published them with that title or not) to the Epistles as well as the Satires, and whatever Tibullus had seen he approved.

3. Cassi Parmensis opuscula] Parma (Parma) was a town belonging to the Boii, at the edge of the Macri Campi, in Cisalpine Gaul, on a river of the same name, which runs into the Po about twelve miles north of the town. The Via Æmilia passed through Parma. Cassius of Parma was one of the murderers of Julius Cæsar, and a ‘tribunus militum’ in the army of Brutus and Cassius. He was therefore, in all probability, well known to Horace. After following the fortunes of Sextus Pompeius, he joined M. Antonius, on whose side he fought at the battle of Actium. After that battle he retired to Athens, and there he was put to death by order of Augustus. What the ‘opuscula’ Horace refers to were, we do not know, but it is clear that he thought well of them.

4. silvas inter reptare salubres] ‘Repto’ (frequentative of ‘repo’), which contains the same root as ἕρπω, signifies to saunter, or go about quietly; and Lucretius applies it to flocks of sheep grazing on downs (ii. 317). The woods are called ‘salubres,’ because their shade protects from the heat of the sun, as Cicero says (Cat. M. c. 16): “Ubi enim potest illa aetas (senectus) aut calescere vel apricatione melius vel igni, aut vicissim umbris aquisve refrigerari salubrius?”

6. Non tu corpus eras sine pectore.] ‘Sine pectore’ is used twice by Ovid (Met. xiii. 290), “rudis et sine pectore miles.” Heroid. xvi. 305:

“Hunccine tu speres hominem sine pectore dotes
Posse satis formae, Tyndari, nosse tuae?”

It means ‘intellect,’ of which the ancients held the heart to be the seat. There is a difficulty in ‘eras.’ Terence uses ‘Tune eras?’ for ‘Is it you?’ The idiom is unlike anything of our own. The imperfect is used irregularly in C. i. 27. 19, and 31. 4.

6. formam,] In an old biography of Tibullus he is called “Eques Romanus insignis forma cultuque corporis observabilis.”

7. dederunt] The poets not uncommonly shorten the penult of the third plural of this tense.

10. Gratia,] Tibullus was generally popular, and ‘gratia’ means popularity.

11. mundus] This is explained by S. ii. 2. 65: “Mundus erit qui non offendat sordibus.”

15. Me pinguem et nitidum] This corresponds to Suetonius’s description of Horace’s person, “Habitu corporis brevis fuit atque obesus.” On ‘bene curata cute,’ see S. ii. 5. 38. Horace indulges his friend with a joke at his own expense. He was getting sleek and in good keeping.

As to Torquatus, the person whom Horace in this Epistle invites to dine with him, see C. iv. 7, Introduction. The occasion was the evening before the birthday of Augustus, which was the 23d of September. The Epistle contains a good-tempered invitation to dinner, nothing more.

1. Si potes Archiacis] These are said to be couches, named after their maker, Archias.

2. olus omne] The fare Horace offers would not be very inviting to a modern[510] diner-out; but he seems to have lived chiefly on the produce of the garden himself, and ‘olus omne’ may have been a sort of salad, or other dish, compounded of different vegetables. The dinner is fixed at a rather late hour for the time of year, to give Torquatus time to finish his business. (See S. ii. 7. 33, n.) ‘Patella’ is the diminutive of ‘patina,’ as ‘catillum’ of ‘catinum’ (S. i. 3. 90).

4. Vina bibes iterum Tauro diffusa] T. Statilius Taurus was consul for the second time B. C. 26. The age of the wine was usually noted by the consulship in which it was bottled. See C. iii. 8. 12, n., and as to ‘diffusa,’ see C. iv. 5. 34, n., and S. ii. 2. 58. As to Minturnae and Sinuessa, see S. i. 5. 40, n. Petrinus was a hill overhanging Sinuessa, or a tract of land in its neighbourhood. The overflowings of the Garigliano (Liris), on which Minturnæ stood, still render the surrounding country damp, and it is very thinly inhabited. The Falernus ager and Mons Massicus, with their celebrated vineyards, were in the neighbourhood of Sinuessa. It does not appear that Horace’s wine was of the best, but two vineyards close to each other may produce wines of very different quality.

6. arcesse vel imperium fer.] “Fetch it, or else put yourself under my ‘imperium,’” as if he as master had the ‘imperium’ at his own table. ‘Arcesso’ is compounded of ‘ar’ (which is equivalent to ‘ad’) and ‘cesso,’ which involves the same root (‘ci-’) as ‘cieo.’

7. Jamdudum splendet focus] See Epod. ii. 43, n. As it was summer, he does not mean that the fire was burning, but that the ‘focus,’ by which he means that which stood in the Atrium, near the images of the Lares, and which was probably of bronze, had been burnished and made gay for the occasion. ‘Supellex’ legally included all household furniture but such as was of gold or silver, gilded or plated; that is, it included tables of all sorts, chairs, benches, couches (even when they were ornamented with silver), with their drapery, footstools, napkins, candelabra, lamps, and all sorts of vessels of earthenware, glass, bronze, whether for eating or drinking. Wearing-apparel was not included, nor perhaps ivory ornaments.

9. Et Moschi causam:] If we can trust the Scholiasts, Moschus was a famous rhetorician of Pergamum, who was charged with the crime of poisoning, and his cause was undertaken by Torquatus, and also by Asinius Pollio (“insigne maestis praesidium reis,” C. ii. 1. 13).

cras nato Caesare] See Introduction. It happened that the 23d of September, Augustus’s birthday, was one of those days in which the early part was ‘nefastus’, that is, the prætor could not hold his court till a later hour than usual. Hence it is marked in the Calendar N. P. (‘Nefastus Prior’). So that it was doubly a holiday for Torquatus, and he could lie in bed without damaging his cause, and therefore might sit up late with his friend.

11. Aestivam] This word does not accurately apply, for the summer ended and the autumn began on the Ides of September. But in that month the nights are particularly oppressive in hot climates.

12. Quo mihi fortunam] This is an elliptical way of speaking, which must be filled up according to the context. ‘Quo mihi fortunam dedit Deus’ may do here. ‘Quo’ is ‘to what,’ that is, ‘to what purpose,’ as in C. ii. 3. 9, sqq., where there is an ellipse. Ovid has “Quo mihi fortunam quae nunquam fallere curet?” (Am. ii. 19. 7).

14. Assidet insano:] As ‘dissidet’ is used to signify difference, Horace uses ‘assidet’ to signify resemblance. It is not so used elsewhere. The guests not uncommonly wore wreaths of flowers on their heads, and carried them in their hands; and we can understand their scattering them about the table and floor, especially when they were merry. But it appears that the slaves scattered flowers about, for the sake of their perfume. Horace says: “Parcentes ego dexteras Odi: sparge rosas” (C. iii. 19. 21). Fresh flowers were probably scattered at intervals during the dinner.

16. Quid non ebrietas designat?] ‘Designat’ is to do anything out of the way, as in Terence (Adelph. i. 2. 6):

“quae facta sunt
Omitto: modo quid designavit. Mi. Quidnam id est?
De. Fores effregit atque in aedes irruit.”

Horace says, ‘What strange things will not ebriety do?’ As to ‘operta recludit,’ compare C. i. 18. 16; iii. 21. 16; Epod. 11. 14; and the places quoted in the note on S. i. 4. 87.

18. addocet artes.] That is, more particularly, the art of speech mentioned in the next line. ‘Addocet’ is an uncommon word, and is like the Greek προσδιδάσκει. ‘Fecundi calices’ are full cups. ‘Contracta paupertas’ corresponds to ‘angustam pauperiem’ (C. iii. 2. 1).

21. Haec ego procurare] The ‘procurator’ was one of the chief slaves, and general steward. But the ‘promus’ was also called ‘procurator peni’ (see S. ii. 2. 16), and Horace says he has undertaken or ordered himself to arrange everything for the dinner. ‘Haec’ refers to what follows. He says he is ‘idoneus,’ competent to the duty, and ‘non invitus,’ he likes it. ‘Imperor’ is nowhere else used as it is here. The proper construction is ‘imperatur mihi.’ So Horace alone uses ‘invideor’ (A. P. 56). As to ‘toral’ and ‘mappa,’ see S. ii. 4. 81. 84. ‘Corruget nares’ means to make the guests turn up their noses in disgust.

25. eliminet,] This is an old word for ‘to turn out of doors.’ Horace applies it to telling tales out of doors. Of the guests nothing at all is known. ‘Potior puella’ means one who has more attractions than Horace’s dinner.

28. locus est et pluribus umbris:] Horace says there is room for several ‘umbrae’ (S. ii. 8. 22, n.), that is, four; for a full ‘triclinium’ held nine persons. But, considering the heat of the weather, he thinks it as well not to have the full number. ‘Capra,’ ‘caper,’ ‘hircus,’ are all used to signify the smell from the arm-pits when they perspire.

30. Tu quotus esse velis] He had only to say how many persons he wished to have, and leave the rest to the host. Horace advises his friend not to come out at the front door, ‘ostium,’ or ‘janua atriensis,’ for fear he should find a client waiting to catch him, but at the back door, ‘posticum ostium,’ which the Greeks called ψευδόθυρον, a false door.

Who Numicius was, nobody can tell, and it is of no importance. Any other name would have done as well. Nothing turns upon the character or circumstances of the person nominally addressed.

As to the design of the Epistle, it is to support virtue, under the aspect of a calm self-content as the chief good. The ordinary standards of happiness are treated with contempt, and there is a strong vein of irony running through the greater part of the Epistle.

1. Nil admirari] It is self control, or the power of keeping the mind in an equable frame, that Horace says is the only means of making a man happy and keeping him so. ‘Nil admirari’ can only be said to be necessary to this rule when admiration amounts to a stupid wonder, excessive fear, excitement, or other effects by which the judgment is misled and the passions roused injuriously. As to ‘prope,’ see S. ii. 3. 32, n.

4. sunt qui formidine nulla] ‘Formido’ is here equivalent to δεισιδαιμονία,[512] a superstitious dread of the influences of the heavenly bodies, which acts upon vulgar minds. As to ‘sunt qui spectent,’ see C. i. 1. 3, n.

6. Arabas ditantis et Indos,] Comp. C. iii. 24. 1. The treasures of the sea, brought from the East, were chiefly pearls and coral.

7. Ludicra quid, plausus] This refers to the exhibition of gladiatorial and other shows, by which the favour of the people, and such rewards as they could bestow, were sought. As to the singular ‘Quiritis,’ see C. ii. 7. 3.

9. fere] This is used much as ‘prope’ is above. Horace says that fear and desire are much on a par, both indicating the want of that equanimity which he commends at starting. ‘Miratur’ expresses the astonishment of fear, as well as of admiration, and so does ‘stupet’ frequently, and ‘exterret’ applies, like ἐκπλήσσειν, to either state of mind. ‘Torpet’ does the same. (See S. ii. 7. 95.)

15. Insani sapiens] Whether ironically, or carried away by an unusual fit of enthusiasm, Horace maintains that a man may seek virtue itself “ultra quam satis est.” What he means, or should mean, is, that excitement is to be avoided in the pursuit of the chief good as well as of subordinate goods. But, by saying that virtue itself may be admired inordinately, he is able to introduce with more contemptuous force the vulgar objects of admiration that follow, respecting which see C. iv. 8. 2; S. i. 4. 28; ii. 3. 118; and other places in the Satires.

17. I nunc,] The general meaning is, ‘Now then, if you choose, go and run after fine things and wealth, after what I have said about excitement and excess.’

21. dotalibus emetat agris] This is equivalent to ‘metat ex agris dotalibus,’ as in S. ii. 2. 105 he says ‘emetiris acervo.’ ‘Emeto’ is not used elsewhere. Who is meant by Mutus, if anybody, is not known; probably no one in particular is alluded to. The name, though it occurs in inscriptions, and therefore is a Roman name, is perhaps adopted here by way of opposition to the eloquent man, who by his own exertions was running an unequal race with the other man’s luck.

ἅπανθ᾽ ὁ μακρὸς κἀναρίθμητος χρόνος
φύει τ᾽ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται.

‘In apricum’ means ‘to the rays of the sun,’ ‘to the light of day.’ Horace means by this reflection, that the man need not be in such a hurry to make himself a name, since time would swallow it up, while it brought forward the obscure.

26. Porticus Agrippae] In B. C. 25, Agrippa built the Pantheon near the Campus Martius, to which a ‘porticus’ was attached. He also built in the same year, in commemoration of the naval victories of Augustus, a porticus, to which he gave the name Porticus Argonautarum. Which of the two is referred to, it is impossible to say; perhaps the second is more likely to have been called ‘Porticus Agrippae.’

As to the Via Appia, see Epod. iv. 14; S. i. 5. Most of the towns on this road as far as Capua had country-houses belonging to wealthy Romans. Their equipages, therefore, would frequently be seen on the Via Appia.

27. Numa quo devenit et Ancus.] This is a proverbial way of speaking, differing little from C. iv. 7. 15, where see note.

28. Si latus aut renes] ‘If you are sick, take medicine; if you want to live properly, seek the proper means, virtue if you think virtue is the way, or riches, or honours, or good eating.’ This is the connection of the parts that follow, this advice being given ironically, as observed in the Introduction.

30. fortis omissis] ‘Be resolute, abandon all self-indulgences, and set about this work,’ that is, the pursuit of virtue. On ‘fortis,’ see C. S. 58, n. ‘Hoc age’ means ‘set about this’; that is, the pursuit of virtue.

31. Virtutem verba putas] Comp. “Aut virtus nomen inane est,” etc. (Epp. 17. 41). ‘Lucus’ is usually a grove dedicated to some divinity, and Horace may mean that the man had no regard for what others held sacred, but counted a consecrated grove no better than any other wood. Or, since ‘lucus’ was sometimes used indifferently for any wood, Horace may mean, ‘if you think virtue consists only of words, as a grove does of trees.’

32. cave ne portus occupet alter,] As to ‘occupo,’ see C. ii. 12. 27, n. Horace says, “If you think lightly of virtue as the means of happiness, be active and make money: see no one gets into harbour before you, to carry off the business before you arrive.” He supposes him a ‘negociator,’ the business of which class was chiefly that of banking and money-lending, but they also engaged in mercantile transactions, the difference between them and ‘mercatores’ being, that the latter travelled with their own wares, while the ‘negociatores’ did business in a general way.

33. Ne Cibyratica,] ‘Cibyra Major’ was situated on a branch of the Indus, on the northwest borders of Lycia. It was called ‘major,’ to distinguish it from a smaller town on the coast of Pamphylia. Twenty-five towns belonged to the conventus of Cibyra, and its commercial transactions were probably large. As to ‘Bithyna negotia,’ see C. iii. 7. 3, n. ‘Negotia’ is commonly used for the business transactions of a ‘negociator,’ as Cicero, in his letter introducing Manlius Sosis to Acilius, proconsul of Sicily (Ad Fam. xiii. 20), says, “habet negotia vetera in Sicilia sua.” He had debts to get in, and accounts of old standing to settle.

34. Mille talenta rotundentur] On ‘talenta,’ see S. ii. 7. 89, n. ‘Rotundo’ is not used in this sense elsewhere. The meaning is the same as ours when we talk of a round number: it is a complete number, leaving out fractions. ‘Porro’ means ‘farther.’ ‘Quadrat acervum,’ ‘makes the fourth side of the square,’ as it were. In the next verse ‘fidem’ signifies ‘credit.’

37. regina Pecunia] ‘Pecunia’ is here personified and made a loyal lady, and Juvenal apostrophises her thus:

“Funesta Pecunia, templo
Nondum habitas, nullas nummorum ereximus aras.” (i. 113.)

“Omnis enim res,
Virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris
Divitiis parent.”

38. Suadela Venusque.] ‘Suadela’ is another form of Suada, who represented the Greek divinity Πειθώ, Persuasion. The name, Cicero tells us, was Latinized by Ennius (Brut. 15). Πειθώ was usually associated with Ἀφροδίτη, and their statues stood together at Athens, where it is pretty certain Horace must have seen them. I cannot find that Suada had any temple or separate worship at Rome. She was supposed to assist Venus in presiding at marriages, and she, the Graces, and Mercury were the acknowledged companions of that goddess. Therefore Horace associates them here. Cicero tells us (Cat. Maj. xiv. 50) that Ennius called the eloquent M. Cethegus “Suadae medullam,” ‘the marrow of persuasion.’ (See Epp. ii. 2. 117, n.)

39. Mancipiis locuples] See S. ii. 7. 3, n. Cappadocia was governed by its own kings from a very early period. The last was Archelaus, who was appointed by M. Antonius, B. C. 36; Ariarathes VII., who represented the lineal kings of Cappadocia, having been deposed and put to death. Archelaus was king at the time this Epistle was written, and he reigned fifty years. At his death (A. D. 17) Cappadocia was reduced to the form of a Roman province, in the third year of Tiberius (Tacitus, Ann. ii. 42). He had lands and slaves on them, and property of that sort, but wanted the precious metal. Ariobarzanes, who was king of Cappadocia when Cicero was governor of Cilicia, is described by him as “rex perpauper” (Ad Att. vi. 3). “Nullum[514] aerarium, nullum vectigal habet. Nihil illo regno spoliatius, nihil rege egentius” (vi. 1). M. Brutus had advanced him large sums of money at exorbitant interest, which he was unable to pay, and Cicero, though he got 100 talents from him, was unable to extract all the debt. Cn. Pompeius too was his creditor, and all he could get was a promissory bond for 200 talents, payable in six months (vi. 3). Horace advises his man not to let himself be as poor as this king. ‘Hic’ is an adverb, like ἐνταῦθα: it means ‘in this position.’ (See Epp. 15. 42.)

40. Chlamydes Lucullus, ut aiunt,] L. Licinius Lucullus, being proconsul in Cilicia, conducted the war against Mithridates and Tigranes, king of Armenia, as related by Plutarch in his life, but being superseded in his command by Cn. Pompeius, he returned to Rome with great wealth accumulated by himself in Asia, which he devoted to every sort of costly self-indulgence. Plutarch relates this anecdote of Horace’s, with a little variation. A prætor who wished to get up a public spectacle on an ambitious scale (φιλοτιμουμένου περὶ θέας) applied to Lucullus to lend him some purple cloaks for a chorus. Lucullus said he would inquire, and if he had any he would let him have them. The next day he asked him how many he wanted, and when the prætor said a hundred, Lucullus bade him take twice that number.

The ‘chlamys’ was an upper garment worn by the Greeks, a light sort of shawl thrown loosely over the person in a variety of ways. The Romans did not wear it till the time of the empire, and it was never more than an occasional garment at Rome. Lucullus, it seems, had brought with him a large number of a costly kind from Asia, where they were worn in the Greek cities. What the representation may have been for which the praetor wanted these ‘chlamydes’ is not certain, but Greek characters must have been introduced.

50. Mercemur servum] There was a class of slaves called ‘nomenclatores’ or ‘fartores’ (crammers), ὀνοματολόγοι, whose office it was to accompany their master when walking, or attend him at home at the hour of ‘salutatio’ (when, if he was a person of consequence, people of all sorts came to pay him their respects), and to remind him of the names and circumstances of his visitors, and anything else that it might be necessary for the master to remember. If he was aiming at any office, he had to be particularly polite to the citizens of all classes, and his ‘nomenclator,’ if he were clever, would be of good service to him in this matter. Horace’s advice to the man who thinks happiness depends on such things as show and popularity (‘species et gratia’) is, that he should hire a clever ‘nomenclator,’ if he had not one of his own, to go with him through the streets and nudge him whenever he came to any one of influence, and remind him to shake hands and say something civil to him, calling him affectionately ‘my brother,’ ‘my father,’ according to his age. ‘Nomenclatores’ were also employed to explain to the guests the names and qualities of the dishes, and parasites sometimes took this office upon themselves, as we have seen in S. ii. 8.

51. cogat trans pondera dextram Porrigere.] ‘Cogat’ merely expresses the energy of the nomenclator. ‘Pondera’ means obstructions of various kinds, which were common in the narrow streets of Rome, as Horace describes, Epp. ii. 2. 72, sqq., and Juvenal (iii. 245). He was to stretch out his hand to shake hands with the voters. Cicero (Pro Planc.) speaks of P. Scipio Nasica, when a candidate for the ædileship, shaking hands with some rough voter, and asking him good humoredly “if he walked on his hands,” they were so hard.

52. Hic multum in Fabia valet,] Servius Tullius divided the Plebes into thirty tribes, of which four were of the city and twenty-six were of the country.[515] Of these twenty-six, ten appear to have been swallowed up by the conquests of Porsenna (see Epod. 16. 4), and of the remaining sixteen the Fabia was one. The number was gradually increased from sixteen to thirty-one; but it was not till B. C. 243, towards the end of the first Punic War, that the Quirina and Velina were added, being composed of persons belonging to Cures and Velinus in the Sabine territory. (Liv. Epit. xxx.) These were the last tribes that were formed.

53. his fasces dabit] On the ‘fasces’ and curule chair, see S. i. 6. 97. ‘Importunus’ means ‘obstinate’ or ‘ill-natured’; ‘facetus,’ ‘polite.’

56. lucet, eamus Quo ducit gula;] ‘The day has dawned, let us be off and lay in our supplies; let us hunt and fish, as Gargilius hunted when he bought a boar, and pretended he had caught it himself’; that is to say, let us go to market. Who is meant by Gargilius, we have no means of knowing. The name is Roman. It occurs in inscriptions. He wanted to establish his reputation as a huntsman: got up before daybreak and returned to the city before the morning was over, and passed through the Forum while it was full of people, with nets, spears, and men, and a mule carrying a boar, which he had not caught, but purchased.

58. plagas, venabula,] As to ‘plagae,’ see C. i. 1. 28, n. They were too large to be carried by men, and were laden on mules. (See Epp. 18. 46.) They were sometimes of enormous extent, as stated in Epod. ii. 32. The ‘venabulum’ was a long hunting-spear, with a barbed point. Virgil (Aen. iv. 131), describing the hunting-party of Æneas and Dido, says:

“Retia rara, plagae, lato venabula ferro,
Massylique ruunt equites et odora canum vis.”

61. Crudi tumidique lavemur,] It would seem that some gluttons, with the idea of renewing their appetite, went to bathe immediately after dinner, as well as (which was the general practice) immediately before. Sudden death was sometimes the effect of this folly. See Juvenal i. 142.

62. Caerite cera Digni,] Cære (Cervetri) was a very ancient town of Etruria, about twenty-seven miles north of Rome. About B. C. 354, the people of Tarquinii having taken up arms against the Romans, the Cærites were accused of aiding them, and were threatened with punishment; but having asked pardon, they obtained it at the expense of half their territory. They were also granted the Roman franchise, without the ‘suffragium’ or right of voting for magistrates. ‘Caeritum cerae,’ or ‘tabulae,’ would mean properly a register of the inhabitants of Cære, who would be registered when they came into the above relation to Rome. But it seems probable that, at this time, the name applied to the registers of all those who were in the position of ‘aerarii,’ that is, of the citizens of such towns as had not the perfect franchise, and of those citizens who had for any cause been degraded from their tribes. Thus Horace means, that they who took such a low view of life were not worthy of being Roman citizens, being more on an equality with the crew of Ulysses, whom Circe turned to swine (Epp. 2. 23, n.), and who slew and ate the kine sacred to the Sun, though they swore they would not, and their return home depended on their oath being kept. See Odyss. xi. 105, sqq.; xii. 303, sq.; 340, sqq. ‘Remigium’ is used for the rowers, as ‘mancipium,’ ‘servitium,’ are used for a slave, and many other words are used in the same way.

65. Si, Mimnermus uti censet,] Horace was familiar, we may be sure, with the writings of Mimnermus, the elegiac poet of Smyrna. He preferred him to Callimachus, as appears from Epp. ii. 2. 99, sqq. His poetry is of a melancholy cast, as far as we can judge from the few fragments that have come down to us: though love was their principal theme and the only remedy he recognizes for the ills of life, it does not seem as if he was very happy in his[516] experience of it. One fragment that has been preserved bears out what Horace says. He may have had many such passages in his mind. It begins:

τίς δὲ βίος, τί δὲ τερπνὸν ἄτερ χρυσέης Ἀφροδίτης;
τεθναίην ὅτε μοι μηκέτι ταῦτα μέλοι, κ. τ. λ.

Horace adds ‘jocisque,’ as elsewhere he makes Jocus the companion of Venus (C. i. 2. 34).

68. his utere mecum.] There is no difficulty in understanding that ‘his’ refers to the rule laid down at the beginning, and taken up in v. 30:

for all that follows is only recommended ironically, and in such a way as to hold up to contempt every rule of life but that of virtue.

On some occasion Horace, having gone into the country for change of air on account of his health, at the beginning of August, was tempted to stay away the whole month; and as he had promised Mæcenas to return in a few days, he had perhaps received a letter from his friend, reminding him of that promise, and begging him to come back. Mæcenas was a valetudinarian, and had probably some of the querulous selfishness that usually attends on that condition. We may infer as much from that Ode (ii. 17) which begins, “Cur me querelis exanimas tuis?” and he very likely felt the want of Horace’s society at this time. We can only gather the tone of his letter or message from the character of Horace’s reply. He says he has no mind to risk a return of his sickness by going back during the autumn to Rome; indeed, that he meant to be absent at some warm place on the coast through the winter; that he was no longer as young and cheerful as he had been; that he was sure Mæcenas’s liberality was bestowed upon him in a generous spirit, and that he did not mean to compromise his independence; for if he could suppose that was in danger, he would give up everything he had ever received rather than forfeit his liberty. He illustrates his position by two stories,—one that of the fox who got into a vessel of corn and grew so fat there that he could not get out again (which Horace was determined to prove was not his case), and the other a splenetic trick played by L. Philippus upon a worthy man, whom he seduced into leaving his home and vocation and settling on a farm in the country, the result of which unnatural change was the total destruction of his peace and independence. To this, too, Horace means to say he will never let himself be brought.

1. Quinque dies] This is a conventional phrase to express any short time. It occurs in S. i. 3. 16, “quinque diebus Nil erat in loculis.”

5. dum ficus prima calorque] See S. ii. 6. 18, n. The ‘designator’ was the man who arranged the procession at the funeral of any important person, and the ‘lictores’ were his attendants who kept order. (See S. i. 6. 43.)

8. Officiosaque sedulitas] That is, attending upon great people, and so forth. It does not seem as if the diminutive form ‘opella’ had any particular force. Horace uses diminutives when it suits the measure.

10. Quodsi bruma nives Albanis] ‘Si’ is used with reference to a future event, even if it be not hypothetical, when any action depends upon that event, as (S. ii. 3. 9),

[517] and elsewhere; so that it becomes nearly equivalent to ‘cum.’ He says, as soon as the snow begins to be on the Alban hills, he shall go down to the sea, whether to Tarentum or anywhere else, where it was milder than at his own place or at Rome. ‘Contractus’ expresses the attitude of a man sitting head and knees together, wrapped up by the fire to keep himself warm. The west wind set in about the second week in February.

14. Calaber jubet hospes,] The man is made a Calabrian only to give the story more point.

16. Benigne.] This is a polite way of declining the offer. “You are very good,” the refusal being expressed in action. (See below, v. 62.) It might mean acceptance, just as the French say ‘merci,’ meaning ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ according to circumstances.

22. dignis ait esse paratus,] ‘Dignis’ is masculine: he is ready to serve those who are worthy, but he is no simpleton; he knows the difference between true money and counterfeit. ‘Lupini’ were a kind of bean used for counters or sham-money on the stage; “comicum aurum” as it is called in Plautus (Poen. iii. 2. 20).

24. Dignum praestabo me] Horace means to say that he will endeavor to show himself worthy (referring to ‘dignis’ above) in proportion to the excellence of him (Mæcenas) who has laid him under such obligations. He says, in effect, that Mæcenas does not bestow his liberality stupidly, as one who gave his friends what he was just as ready to throw to the pigs, or the fool who does not know the value of his gifts. He only gave to the worthy, and such Horace would try to prove himself.

27. Reddes dulce loqui,] A similar instance, illustrating the nature of the infinitive as a neuter substantive, occurs above (S. ii. 7. 43), “Aufer Me vultu terrere.” “In the Greek language this is so completely the case, that the article may be prefixed to it in all its cases. The English also treat their infinitive as a substantive, when they place before it the preposition ‘to.’”

29. vulpecula] A fox eating corn is a little absurd, but this animal’s cunning brings him frequently into stories of this sort. In this instance he over-reaches himself. In respect to ‘cumera,’ see S. i. 1. 53, n.

34. Hac ego si compellor] As to ‘compellor,’ see S. ii. 3. 297. Horace says, if he is taunted with this illustration, he is willing to resign everything; by which he means, if he is compared to the fox who had got into a store and had become so fat he could not get out again; in other words, if it was supposed that he had become lazy and self-indulgent, and that he could not assert his own liberty till he should cast off the bounties of his patron, he was willing to give them up; for he loved the peace that waits upon poverty, not as those do who commend it at rich tables spread with dainties, but as one who would not exchange his ease and liberty for the wealth of Arabia (respecting which, compare C. i. 21. 1; iii. 24. 1; Epp. i. 6. 6). ‘Altilia’ were fattened poultry and other birds, for which service there were particular persons employed (‘fartores,’ σιτευταί).

37. rexque paterque Audisti coram,] ‘Rex,’ which is generally used in a bad sense (C. i. 4. 14, n.), is here used in a good. As to ‘audisti,’ see S. ii. 6. 20, n. ‘Verecundum’ means ‘reverential.’ It expresses that feeling which Cicero says is the greatest ornament of friendship, “Nam maximum ornamentum amicitiae tollit qui ex ea tollit verecundiam” (Lael. xxii. 82). Horace means to say that Mæcenas had always found him full of affectionate respect and gratitude, and what he was in his presence, he was no less in his absence; but he must not think so ill of him as to suppose he only behaved so because he wanted to keep his bounties; or, if he thought so, let him see[518] how willingly he could resign them all, even as readily as Telemachus declined the horses of Menelaus (Odyss. iv. 601, sq.).

45. vacuum Tibur] ‘Vacuum’ means ‘idle.’ Whether Horace had a house of his own at Tibur, or not, has been a subject of much discussion; it is more probable that he had not.

46. Philippus] This was L. Marcius Philippus, who was tribunus plebis B. C. 104, consul B. C. 81, and censor B. C. 76. He was a very distinguished man, an energetic supporter of the popular cause, a friend of Cn. Pompeius, and a powerful orator.

47. octavam circiter horam] The following is Martial’s description of the distribution of a Roman’s day:—The first and second hours were given to the ‘salutatio,’ or reception of clients and visitors. At the third hour the courts opened and business went on for three hours. The sixth hour was given up to rest (and the ‘prandium’), the seventh to winding up business, the eighth to exercise, and with the ninth began dinner. (Mart. iv. 8.) In the main this appears to have been the division of the day in Horace’s time likewise.

48. Foro nimium distare Carinas] The Carinæ was a collection of buildings on the north side of the Via Sacra under Mons Esquilinus. It comprised the houses of many persons of distinction, among whom was Philippus. The farthest part of the Carinæ could not have been above three quarters of a mile from the Forum Romanum; but Philippus was old. Horace means to show that he was inclined to be peevish, being tired with his work in the Forum; and in this splenetic humor, which, if this story be true, had become habitual with him, he fell in with the man Mena, whose easy enjoyment of life made a strong impression upon him. It made him jealous, and he resolved to spoil his independence if he could.

50. Adrasum quendam] He had just been shaved, and was paring and cleaning his nails leisurely for himself (‘proprios purgautem ungues’); he did not employ the barber for this operation, as people were in the habit of doing. The shop was empty, because those who would come for business came early, and those who came to lounge came later (S. i. 7. 3). ‘Umbra,’ which here means a shop, is used for different kinds of buildings by the poets, as a ‘porticus’ and a school. See Juvenal (vii. 173): “Ad pugnam qui rhetorica descendit ab umbra.” The shops were open, probably, as they are in Italy now.

54. unde domo,] This phrase, which is equivalent to ‘a qua domo,’ occurs in Virgil. (Aen. viii. 114): “Qui genus? unde domo?” Philippus sends to know who the man is, where he comes from, whether he is rich or poor; if ‘ingenuus,’ who is his father; if a freedman, who is his ‘patronus.’

55. Volteium nomine Menam,] This person is represented as a freedman of some person of the Volteia gens, of which one or two are mentioned in the Roman writers. A freedman took the Gentile name of his master on his manumission. The name Menas is akin to Menodorus, as Demas to Demetrius, Lucas to Lucanus, Silas to Sylvanus, Artemas to Artemius, etc.

56. sine crimine, notum Et] The description Menas gives of himself is, that he is a crier of small means, of unblemished character, well known as a person who could be active or quiet as the occasion required, and who enjoyed what he got; one who made himself happy in the company of humble people, in the possession of a house of his own, at the theatres and Circus, and with the amusements of the Campus Martius. ‘Et quaerere et uti,’ ‘to get and to enjoy,’ expresses the reverse of him who is ‘nescius uti Compositis’ (S. ii. 3. 109). ‘Lare certo’ is opposed to a lodging, ‘coenaculum’ (Epp. i. 1. 91, n.). It appears (v. 65) that he transacted business as a seller; probably he had some second hand things of his own to dispose of. But the ‘praeco’ was not usually the person who managed an ‘auctio,’ which was presided over by[519] an ‘argentarius,’ and he employed a ‘praeco.’ See S. i. 6. 86, n. ‘Certo lare’ is a common phrase, as Bentley himself has shown, as in Virgil (Georg. iv. 155), “Et patriam solae et certos novere penates”; and (Aen. vi. 673), “Nulli certa domus; lucis habitamus opacis.” Compare Epp. i. 15. 28: “Scurra vagus non qui certum praesepe teneret.”

61. Non sane credere Mena,] ‘Sane’ is not commonly used in negative sentences. It is an adverb of emphasis. As to ‘benigne,’ see above, v. 16, and on the subjunctive ‘neget,’ compare S. ii. 6. 31. “What, he deny me?”

65. tunicato scruta popello] To be without the toga in the streets was not considered respectable. It was confined to the lowest sort of people, which is expressed by the diminutive ‘popello.’ This word is used only here and by Persius (iv. 15). ‘Scruta’ signifies small wares, being derived from the Greek γρύτη. As to ‘occupat,’ see C. ii. 12. 28, n.

67. mercenaria vincla,] The bonds (that is, the occupations) of buying and selling. Mena offers these as his excuse for not having waited upon Philippus in the morning, at his ‘salutatio,’ as, after his attention of the previous day, he would have felt bound to do if he had had time.

72. dicenda tacenda locutus] This is a familiar adaptation of the Greek ῥητὸν ἄῤῥητόν τ᾽ ἔπος (Soph. Oed. Col. 1001), which was a conventional phrase. It means all manner of things. Persius (iv. 5) has “dicenda tacendaque calles.” Virgil (Aen. ix. 595), “digna atque indigna relatu Vociferans.” Horace means that Volteius was placed at his ease by his host, and being a simple man, talked of what came uppermost without waiting to see if it was out of season or not. ‘Dimittere’ was a word of politeness used among equals, as above, v. 18.

73. Hic ubi saepe] After he had broken the ice, Volteius was easily persuaded to repeat his visits, till at last he became an established guest and a daily attendant at the rich man’s morning receptions, till, on one occasion, he was invited to accompany Philippus to his country-seat in the Sabine country, during the ‘feriae Latinae.’ This festival was of the highest antiquity. Its proper name was Latiar. The holidays lasted six days, during which all manner of festivities went on, and business was suspended. They were ‘feriae conceptivae,’ that is, they were annual, but not held always at the same season, which is what Horace means by calling them ‘indictae.’ The magistrates appointed the time of their celebration.

79. dum requiem, dum risus] Philippus, tired with his work, refreshed himself by getting amusement at other people’s expense. He gave the man a sum equivalent to about £60 of English money, and offered to lend him as much more.

84. vineta crepat mera:] So Cicero says (Ad Att. ix. 12), “Mera scelara loquuntur.” (Ib. 13.) “Dolabella suis literis merum bellum loquitur.” (iv. 7) “Chaerippus mera monstra nuntiaret.”

91. Durus — attentusque] Philippus means that he appears to be too hard-working and anxious about his affairs. Compare S. ii. 6. 82, “Asper et attentus quaesitis”; and Epp. i. 16. 70, “sine pascat duras aretque.”

92. Pol me miserum,] Gellius (xi. 6) says, respecting oaths of this sort, that women never swore by Hercules, nor men by Castor, but both men and women would swear by the temple of Pollux, ‘Aedepol,’ and this, he says on the authority of Varro, was only adopted by men in later times, whereas it had always been used by women, who got it from the Eleusinian mysteries.

94. Quod te per Genium] See Epp. ii. 1. 144. This use of the relative ‘quod’ in entreaties is common, as in Virgil (Aen. vi. 363), and Terence (Andr. i. 5. 54). It was customary for slaves to pray to their masters by[520] their genius. The Romans believed that every man had a genius, though their notions on the subject were very confused apparently. According to the name (which involves the same element as γέν-εσις, γί-νομαι), it should be the attendant on a man’s birth, as it was believed to be the inseparable companion of his life. It represented his spiritual identity, and the character of the genius was the character of the man. Hence we understand why the marriage bed was sacred to the genius (Epp. i. 1. 87, n.). Hence Horace speaks of “genium memorem brevis aevi” (Epp. ii. 1. 143), and offerings of wine and flowers, and such like, were said to be presented to the genius when a man was indulging in that way himself (A. P. 209). This explains the expressions “genio indulgere” (Persius v. 151), “genium suum defraudare” (Terence, Phorm. i. 1. 10), “genium curare” (C. iii. 17. 14). Women had their genii, but they were named Junones.

Respecting the person to whom this Epistle was written, and the occasion, see Ep. 3 of this Book, Introduction, and note on v. 15. Horace, it appears, was not in very good humor with himself when he wrote it. He describes himself as suffering less from bodily than mental weakness, irritability, sluggishness, perverseness, and caprice. He may use rather stronger language than was necessary, but there can be no doubt he felt a good deal of what he says he felt. It shows that a man may give good advice to his friends which he cannot steadily apply to himself, and it helps us to understand the character of Horace, and his philosophical aspirations, described, probably about this time, in his Epistle to Mæcenas (i. 1).

2. comiti scribaeque Neronis] See S. i. 7. 23, n. The following words in this Epistle have been referred to in former notes: ‘quid agam’ (Epp. 3. 15), ‘minantem’ (S. ii. 3. 9), ‘momorderit’ (S. ii. 6. 45), ‘cur’ (C. i. 33. 3), ‘cohorti’ (S. i. 7. 23). ‘Suaviter’ occurs in the same connection in S. i. 9. 5. ‘Multa et pulchra minantem’ refers to his philosophical aspirations and professions. See Introduction.

6. longinquis armentum aegrotet in agris;] The pastures of Apulia, Calabria, and Lucania, and those of the basin of the Po, have been referred to before (C. iii. 16. 35; Epod. i. 27).

10. properent arcere veterno;] As to the construction, see C. i. 27. 4, n. ‘Veternus’ is a lethargy, here applied to the mind, and his faithful physicians are the friends who would cheer and rouse him, though we may take the word ‘medicis’ literally, and suppose he was under medical treatment. His feelings probably arose out of the state of his health.

14. Ut placeat juveni] Tiberius was now in his twenty-third year. But on ‘juvenis,’ see C. i. 2. 41.

As to Septimius, on whose behalf this letter of introduction is addressed to Tiberius, see C. ii. 6, Introduction. The occasion was that journey into Armenia which has been referred to twice before (Epp. 3 and 7). It is a well-considered and careful production. Horace would have written more warmly[521] for such an intimate friend, if he could have ventured to do so; but the character of Tiberius did not admit of warmth, and he would not have responded to any very earnest eulogy. Horace therefore satisfies himself with merely naming his friend, and excusing his own boldness in doing so.

1. nimirum] ‘Of course,’ it would be strange if it were otherwise. Horace sometimes uses the word seriously, sometimes ironically, as in S. ii. 2. 106; 3. 120. He says, ‘Of course Septimius knows my influence with you better than anybody else does (‘unus,’ see S. ii. 6. 57, n.), and better than I do myself, and thinks that I stand to you in the relation of an intimate friend, or he would not press me for an introduction.’ There is about the same amount of ironical meaning in ‘scilicet’ (v. 3) as in ‘nimirum.’ ‘Tradere’ is the usual word for introductions. (S. i. 9. 47.)

4. Dignum mente domoque] Tacitus says of Tiberius, that his genuine character did not come out fully till after the fall of Sejanus. At this time he was about twenty-two years of age, but even now was reserved and unpleasant in his manners, so much so that even Augustus could hardly be cheerful in his company. Horace speaks well of him, not only here, when he is writing to himself, but in Epp. ii. 2. 1, written probably at a later time, to his friend Julius Florus. The fourteenth Ode of the fourth Book was written in honor of his successes, but there no great amount of warmth is shown in his favor. ‘Domo’ means his family. Tiberius was the son of T. Claudius Nero, and the Nerones belonged to the patrician gens Claudia, which numbered many consuls and other high magistrates, from the first establishment of the family in B. C. 504. They were of Sabine origin.

5. Munere cum fungi] This phrase is like ‘officium facio’ below (Epp. 17. 21). It means to discharge the duties of friendship, but generally expresses the relation of an inferior to one above him in rank, and sometimes is used in a bad sense, to signify servility.

6. valdius] This comparative occurs again, in A. P. 321: “valdius oblectat populum.”

11. Frontis ad urbanae descendi praemia.] ‘Urbanae frontis’ seems to mean an ‘impudent front,’ such as one who had been bred in cities might show. ‘Praemia’ seems to be opposed to ‘opprobria’ and ‘descendere’ is commonly used in connection with the arena. Horace may mean (taking his metaphor from this source), that, to avoid the discredit of a greater fault, he has resolved to win the crown or prize of impudence, or something of that sort.

13. Scribe tui gregis] This construction with the genitive is more common in Greek. It occurs in C. iii. 13. 13: “Fies nobilium tu quoque fontium.” As to ‘fortem bonumque,’ see C. iv. 4. 29, n.

This Epistle is addressed to Fuscus Aristius, whose name appears in C. i. 22; S. i. 9. 61; 10. 83. For such particulars as can be stated about him, see the Introduction to the above Ode. It appears that his habits inclined him to a town life. He was making money in some way, and he was associated with all Horace’s literary and other friends. Horace praises the freedom, the natural beauties, and the healthiness of the country, and shows that they are natural to men’s tastes, from the attempts they make to get trees in their town houses, and a prospect over the fields. He follows this up with a few miscellaneous remarks on the pursuit of wealth, how it blinds the eyes to the distinction between truth and falsehood, and how prosperity only makes adversity[522] more hard to bear, and disappointment more bitter, and subjects the mind to a galling slavery.

8. Quid quaeris?] ‘Why need you ask?’ This is only a formula equivalent to ‘in short.’

9. fertis rumore secundo:] ‘Rumore secundo’ is a phrase which occurs in various combinations. Virgil (Aen. viii. 90) has “Ergo iter inceptum celerant rumore secundo,” where Wagner applies it to the song of the rowers. Tacitus, speaking of the honors conferred on Nero, says, “ut haec secundo rumore ita adversis animis acceptum, quod filio Claudii socer Sejanus destinaretur” (Ann. iii. 29). He uses ‘adverso rumore’ in the opposite sense (xiv. 11). Here it means with an unanimous assent, or loud assent.

10. fugitivus liba recuso;] He likens himself to the slave who ran away from the priest, his master, because he fed him too much on the sweet cakes offered in sacrifice. He got tired of them, and wanted plainer food. These cakes, ‘liba,’ which the Greeks called πέλανοι, were made of flour sweetened generally with honey, and sometimes made in the shape of animals as a substitute for more costly sacrifices. Horace appears to have had some story in his mind.

12. Vivere naturae] See S. i. 1. 49, n.: “quid referat intra Naturae fines viventi.” Horace considers the artificial state of society and mode of life in large towns, as all must, to be a wider departure from the natural condition of man than a country life.

13. Ponendaeque domo] There are three forms of this dative, ‘domui,’ ‘domo,’ ‘domi’. ‘Area’ is an open space, here for building on. The technical meaning of it is given on C. i. 9. 18.

16. rabiem Canis et momenta Leonis,] See C. iii. 13. 8, n.; 29. 18, n. ‘Momenta’ here seems to mean the violence of the heat that accompanies this constellation.

19. Deterius Libycis olet] Horace asks whether the field, covered with flowers, smells less sweet and looks less beautiful than marble floors, laid with mosaic pictures and strewed with flowers, or other perfumes. Respecting the Libyan and other marbles, see C. ii. 18. 3, n. By ‘lapillis’ Horace means the small pieces of different marbles with which the floors were laid, ‘tessellae’ or ‘crustulae,’ as they were called. Such pavements, which are now so costly as only to be found in the richest houses, were formerly very common in Italy. They were wrought in colored marbles, or the more ordinary ones in white and black.

20. aqua tendit rumpere plumbum] ‘Plumbum’ means leaden pipes, which were called ‘fistulae.’ Cisterns were called ‘castella,’ and there were three sorts: ‘publica,’ which received the water intended for public purposes; ‘privata,’ which were the common property of several persons who clubbed together to build it, and laid on pipes to conduct the water to their ‘castella domestica,’ the cisterns they had in their own houses. These pipes therefore intersected the whole city. As mentioned before (S. i. 4. 37, n.), those who could not afford to have water laid on at their houses, resorted to the ‘lacus’ or public tanks erected for their convenience, mostly by the liberality of individuals, in several parts of the town.

21. trepidat cum murmure] Compare C. ii. 3. 11: “obliquo laborat Lympha fugax trepidare rivo.”

24. Naturam expellas furca] This was a common expression ‘to toss out with a pitchfork,’ that is, forcibly and with contempt.

25. mala — fastidia] ‘Weary vices,’ such as occupy the dwellers in great towns.

26. Non qui Sidonio] On the position of ‘non,’ see S. i. 6. 1. ‘Not he who knows not skilfully to compare with Sidonian purple the wool that drinks the dye of Aquinum, shall suffer harm more certain or more deep than he who cannot tell truth from falsehood.’ There is strong irony in these words, and they follow naturally on what goes before, as representing the paltry objects with which the mind is employed in what is called fashionable life, to the destruction of the moral sense.

The foreign purples (enumerated on C. ii. 16. 36) were most esteemed, and these were imitated by the Italians (see Epp. ii. 1. 207). The ‘fucus’ was a marine plant of some kind, which yielded a red juice used for coloring. It was commonly used in imitation of the real dye. Hence it came to be used for deception in general. Aquinum (Aquino) the birth-place of Juvenal, was a large town of Latium on the Via Latina, between Fregellae and Venafrum.

31. Si quid mirabere] This maxim is consistent with the advice to Numicius, Epp. 6. 1.

34. Cervus equum pugna melior] Stesichorus is said to have spoken this fable to the citizens of Himera, when they were preparing to confer absolute power on Phalaris, and give him a body-guard. The fable is told by Phædrus (iv. 4), with the substitution of a boar for the stag.

37. Sed postquam victor violens] ‘Violens’ expresses the struggle with which the horse won his victory and his servitude.

39. potiore metallis] The ‘vectigalia’ from mines (‘metalla’) were very considerable at this time. The principal mines were the gold of Aquileia and Ictimuli in the Alps, and the silver of Spain.

42. ut calceus olim,] See S. i. 3. 31, n. ‘Olim’ is used quite indefinitely, as in S. i. 1. 25, “ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi Doctores.” See C. ii. 10. 17, n.

48. Tortum digna sequi] The metaphor is taken from a prisoner, led with a rope round his neck by his captor.

49. Haec tibi dictabam] The imperfect tense is generally used in letters, instead of the present, because the action is past to the person receiving the letter. As to ‘dictabam,’ see S. i. 10. 92, n. The Fanum Vacunae was about three miles from the confluence of the Digentia and the Anio, close to the modern town Rocca Giovane. Vacuna was originally a Sabine goddess, and seems to have been identical with Victoria.

This Epistle is addressed to one Bullatius, of whom we know nothing at all. He was travelling in the Ægean and in Asia Minor, and was absent longer than Horace wished, or thought good for him; and the object of this letter is to induce him to return.

1. Quid tibi visa Chios,] The island of Chios was rugged and mountainous, but had, as it still has, an excellent climate and choice wines; its women also were very handsome: in all of which particulars ancient and modern accounts agree. Its principal town, Chios, was a noble city, richly adorned with buildings and works of art. Not a trace of anything remains.

notaque Lesbos,] From the Trojan war to the times of the Roman Empire, when Tacitus calls it “insula nobilis et amoena” (Ann. vi. 3), the fortunes of Lesbos, its revolutions and conquests, its connection with Athens, its tradition of Orpheus, its poets and musicians and statesmen, its cities and works[524] of art, its fields and vineyards and climate, all contributed to make it the most conspicuous island in the Ægean.

2. concinna Samos,] Samos (the island) is rough, but the town is meant, and it is called ‘concinna’ from its buildings, of which a temple of Juno was one of the most conspicuous. Outside and inside, this temple was adorned with the finest works of art. There was also a celebrated mole at Samos, made to protect the harbor, which would be an object of interest to a traveller.

2. Croesi regia Sardes,] The town of Sardes (αἱ Σάρδεις), or the greater part of it, which was burnt to the ground in the revolt of the Ionians, B. C. 499, was originally built of slight materials, though it was the seat of enormous wealth during the reigns of the Lydian kings, and especially that of Crœsus, whose palace became the residence of the Persian Satraps and was beautified by them, especially by Cyrus the younger, whose gardens are celebrated (Cic. de Senect. c. 17).

3. Smyrna quid et Colophon?] Alexander the Great found Smyrna in ruins, and conceived the design of rebuilding it, being prompted by Nemesis in a dream. He did not live to do so, but Antigonus began and Lysimachus finished a new town on a magnificent scale. Strabo speaks of it as one of the most beautiful cities of Ionia. Among other objects of interest was a temple erected to Homer, and called Homerium. The inhabitants claimed him as their countryman, and showed a cave in which it was said he wrote his poems.

Colophon, also in Ionia, on the Hales, was destroyed by Lysimachus, with Lebedus (v. 6). Its chief attraction was its neighborhood to the shrine of the Clarian Apollo. At present, only a few huts stand on the site of this town.

Majora minorave fama,] ‘Be they greater or less than report makes them out to be (I care not which), are they not all tame compared with the Campus Martius and the Tiber?’ ‘Ve’ is probably formed from ‘vel,’ and had much the same meaning, being chiefly used in poetry. When ‘vel’ is used, an indifference in the speaker’s mind is implied as to which of the two cases or objects be taken. ‘Ne,’ being attached to ‘cuncta,’ shows that the emphasis lies on that word.

5. Attalicis ex urbibus] One of the towns of the kingdom of Pergamum, bequeathed by Attalus III. to the Roman people, and constituted a Roman province on the defeat of Aristonicus, B. C. 129. The kingdom of Pergamum, when it was handed over to the Romans, included Mysia, Lydia, Ionia, and part of Caria, the principal cities of which (μητροπόλεις) were Ephesus, Pergamum, Sardes, Smyrna, Lampsacus, Cyzicus. Other large towns were Tralles, Adramyttium, Thyatira, &c., nearly all of which are shown, by the ruins that remain, to have been built and ornamented on a magnificent scale.

6. An Lebedum laudas] Lysimachus, after the battle of Ipsus (B. C. 301), when he became master of the western part of Asia Minor, destroyed the towns of Lebedus and Colophon in Ionia, and transferred their inhabitants to Ephesus. Lebedus never seems to have been rebuilt so as to recover any of its former importance, and the ruins of the old town probably helped to cause the desolate appearance described by Horace. He writes as if he knew Lebedus, but did not know the other places he refers to before. He must have seen this place, if at all, in his campaigning with Brutus.

7. Gabiis desertior] Gabii was an ancient town of Latium, an Alban colony, 100 stadia from Rome. Juvenal mentions it as a place of resort for people in humble circumstances, and calls it “Simplicibus Gabiis?” (iii. 190). In Horace’s time, while cold bathing was the fashion under the advice of Antonius Musa, it appears Gabii was resorted to. Horace may have been there himself. See Epp. 15. 9.

8. Fidenis] Fidenæ was about five miles from Rome, in the Sabine territory,[525] and remains of it are still in existence near Castel Giubileo. In B. C. 425 the town was destroyed by Æmilius Mamercus (Liv. iv. 9), and it seems never to have risen to any great importance again.

Gabii and Fidenæ were proverbially joined together (see Juv. S. x. 99). Virgil mentions them together as colonies of Alba (Aen. vi. 773):—

“Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios urbemque Fidenam,
Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces”;

where, it may be observed, Virgil shortens the first syllable, whereas Horace and Juvenal and Silius (xv. 91) make it long.

tamen illic vivere vellem,] Horace seems to mean that, though Lebedus was a place deserted, he could enjoy living there, though it cut him off from all his friends, for the sake of the fine prospect it gave of the sea, which would be an exaggerated way of speaking. He had probably in mind some occasion when he had admired the sea from Lebedus, and the recollection came upon him strongly as he wrote; or Bullatius may have said something in a letter about the fine prospect, and Horace means that he agrees with him. ‘But,’ he goes on to say, ‘there is a time for all things. The traveller, when he gets splashed, may be glad of a tavern to retire to and clean himself, but he would not wish to stay there all his life; and the man who has got chilled may be glad of a fire or hot bath, but he does not reckon fires and hot baths the chief good of life; and though you may have been glad to get on shore in a foreign land, to escape from a storm, you will surely not think it necessary to stay there for ever. If a man is in health, Rhodes and Mytilene are not the places for him; so come back again while you may and if you must praise those distant parts, praise them at home.’ (vv. 11-21.) It appears as if Bullatius had been a good while absent, and meant to remain much longer.

11. qui Capua Romam] The road Appius made (B. C. 312) extended only as far as Capua. It was afterwards extended to Beneventum, and then on by two different branches to Brundisium (see S. i. 5. 79, n.).

12. nec qui Frigus collegit] ‘Colligere’ is not used in this sense elsewhere. The meaning is, he who has got chilled. ‘Furnos’ may be bakers’ ovens, or any furnaces to which a man might go to warm himself.

18. Paenula solstitio, campestre] The ‘paenula’ was a thick outer mantle worn in bad weather over the toga. The ‘campestre’ was a linen cloth worn round the loins, in games or exercises in which the body was otherwise stripped, as also in swimming.

26. effusi late maris arbiter] That is, a place which commands (as we say) a wide prospect over the sea, such as Lebedus was described to be above. The south wind is called ‘arbiter Hadriae’ in a different sense in C. i. 3. 15.

28. Strenua nos exercet inertia:] This is a very happy expression, and has become proverbial for a do-nothing activity, such exertions as tend to no point and produce no fruits. ‘Navibus atque quadrigis’ means ‘running about by sea and land.’ ‘Quadriga’ is any carriage drawn by four horses (abreast, two under the yoke attached to the pole, and two outside, ‘funales,’ fastened by traces), though the word is more generally used for a triumphal or racing chariot than for a travelling carriage, of which there were various kinds. ‘Rheda’ was the most general name for such a carriage on four wheels (see S. ii. 6. 42, n.). ‘Petorritum’ was another name, and a third was ‘carruca,’ a later name, not known in Horace’s time. There were others, each differing more or less from the rest: ‘cisium,’ ‘essedum,’ ‘carpentum,’ ‘pilentum,’ ‘covinus.’

30. Est Ulubris,] All that we know of Ulubræ is that it was a small town of Latium, not far from Velitræ, and that it was a place of no importance.

Iccius, to whom this Epistle is addressed, has been mentioned, with all that is known of him, in the Introduction to C. i. 29, and Pompeius Grosphus in C. ii. 16. It is a letter of introduction for Grosphus to Iccius, who was employed in managing Agrippa’s estates in Sicily. The Epistle begins with some general remarks on the position and circumstances of Iccius, exhorting him to contentment, and commending his pursuit of philosophy in the midst of common employments. It then passes on to the recommendation of Grosphus, and finishes with one or two items of public news.

1. Fructibus Agrippae] From what sources Agrippa derived his immense wealth we do not know. From this Epistle we learn that he had estates in Sicily, probably given him after his successes against Sextus Pompeius. Horace means to say to Iccius, that he has got a good post, and may be very comfortable if he is careful. He probably got a percentage on what he collected. He collected Agrippa’s rents, ‘fructus’.

4. cui rerum suppetit usus] ‘Rerum usus’ here seems to mean the supply of things needful. ‘Suppeto,’ meaning ‘to be sufficient,’ occurs in Epod. xvii. 64. ‘Pauper’ is here used more in the sense of privation than Horace generally uses it.

7. positorum] ‘Ponere’ is the usual word for putting dishes on the table, as observed on S. ii. 2. 23. Here fine dishes are meant, as we can tell by the context. The nettle, ‘urtica,’ forms an ingredient in the broth of poor people in this country, and still more in Scotland. ‘Protinus’ means ‘right on,’ and is applied in various ways. Here it means ‘in an uninterrupted course,’ that is, ‘always’. ‘Ut’ means ‘even supposing,’ as in Epod. i. 21. ‘Confestim,’ ‘straightway,’ has the same root as ‘festino.’ ‘Fortunae rivus’ seems, as Orelli says, to have been a proverbial expression.

10. naturam mutare] Horace says the same in a different application elsewhere (Epod. iv. 5):

12. Miramur si Democriti] “I am surprised that Democritus should have allowed his sheep to eat the corn off his fields, while his mind was wandering in swift flight far away, leaving his body; and yet you, in the midst of such sordid work and the infection of money, are bent on wisdom, and that of no mean sort, and continue to study things sublime.” Democritus of Abdera had a considerable patrimony, which he neglected for travel and study. It seems his name had passed into a proverb.

20. Empedocles an Stertinium] Empedocles was born about B. C. 520, and was a man of wealth and station at Agrigentum in Sicily. He was a philosopher, but his opinions are hard to trace. He pretended to a divine nature. (See A. P. 463, sqq.) His poems, of which fragments are extant, were much read and admired by the Romans. Horace refers perhaps to a dogma imputed to Empedocles, to which Cicero alludes (De Amic. vii.) when he says “Agrigentinum quidem doctum quendam virum carminibus Graecis vaticinatum ferunt, quae in rerum natura totoque mundo constarent quaeque moverentur, ea contrahere amicitiam, dissipare discordiam.”

Stertinius, of whom all that is known has been told in the Introduction to[527] S. ii. 3, is put again as the representative of the Stoics. ‘Stertinium’ is an adjective formed like ‘Sulpiciis’ in C. iv. 12. 18. ‘Stertinium acumen’ is an expression like ‘sententia Catonis’ and others (see ii. 1. 72, n.). ‘Deliret’ is used, perhaps, by way of jocular allusion to the Stoic theory noticed in S. ii. 3.

21. Verum seu pisces] This is only a way of changing the subject, and passing from Iccius and his habits to that which was the chief purpose of the Epistle, the introduction of Grosphus. Murdering leeks and onions is a humorous way of alluding to the notion of Pythagoras mentioned in S. ii. 6. 63, and the same is extended to fishes perhaps, because Empedocles, who believed in the metempsychosis and held that to take life was against the universal law, declared that he himself had once been a fish, among other things.

24. Vilis amicorum est annona] Horace means to say, that good friends are cheaply bought, because they do not ask more than is right; they are reasonable and modest in their demands, as Grosphus would be.

27. Armenius cecidit;] This is an exaggerated way of stating the case. He refers to the completion of the mission of Tiberius, mentioned in the Introduction to Ep. 3. At their own request, Augustus sent Tigranes to the Armenians, he having been for some time living in exile at Rome. They put the reigning king, Artaxias, to death and received Tigranes, because they had chosen to have him for their king. Nevertheless, a coin was struck for the occasion with the inscription Armenia capta.

— jus imperiumque Phraates] What Horace says is, that Phraates, king of the Parthians, accepted or put himself under the law and ‘imperium’ of Augustus, prostrating himself at his knees (‘genibus minor’),—a ridiculous exaggeration. (See Int. to C. iii. 5.) Ovid is nearly as strong (Trist. ii. 227):

“Nunc petit Armenius pacem; nunc porrigit arcus
Parthus eques timida captaque signa manu.”

29. Copia cornu.] See C. S. 60, n., and compare the expressions in C. iv. 5. 17, sqq., and 15. 4, sq.

This letter professes to be written by Horace to one Vinius Asella, the bearer of certain volumes of his to Augustus at Rome, Horace being probably at his own estate. He writes as if he had given his friend particular and anxious instructions when he started, as to how he was to behave, and as if this was to be sent after him, to overtake him on the road in order to impress those instructions upon his memory. It is probable that some such jokes may have passed between Horace and his messenger when he started, and that he amused himself afterwards by putting them into the form of this Epistle. The person is assumed to be ignorant of the world, and therefore liable to make mistakes in the execution of his mission, to intrude at an unseasonable time; in the eagerness of his affection for Horace to be too officious, to carry the books awkwardly, so as to draw attention or to stop in the streets in order to tell his curious friends what important business he was upon. The person addressed is called Vinius, and the allusion in v. 8 leads to the inference that his cognomen was Asellus, or Asina, or Asella, which belonged to different Roman families.

What the volumes were that Horace was sending to Augustus, it is impossible to say for certain.

2. signata volumina,] The number of volumes would depend upon the number of books into which the work was divided, as each book, if it was not very long, would be rolled on one stick. (See Epod. 14. 8, n.) Round each would be wrapped a piece of parchment, and to this Horace’s seal would be affixed.

10. lamas;] This is a rare word, signifying bogs. Horace writes as if the man was going some arduous journey over hills and rivers and bogs, whereas he had but thirty miles, or thereabouts, to go, along a good road, the Via Valeria, which passed very near the valley of the Digentia.

14. glomus furtivae Pyrrhia lanae,] Pyrrhia is said to be the name of a slave in a play of Titinius, who stole some wool, and carried it away so clumsily that she was detected. Titinius was a writer of comedies who lived before Terence. Pyrrhia is formed from Pyrrha, the name of a town in Lesbos, like Lesbia, Delia, &c. ‘Glomus’ is the singular number and neuter gender. It means a clew or ball of wool.

15. Ut cum pileolo soleas] The notion here is of a person of humble station invited to the table of a great man of his own tribe, who perhaps wanted his vote and influence. Having no slave to carry them for him, as was usual, he comes with his cap and slippers under his arm in an awkward manner, not being accustomed to the ways of fine houses. ‘Pileus’ was a skull-cap, made of felt, and worn at night or in bad weather. The man would bring it with him, to wear on his way home from the dinner-party. The ‘solea’ was the slipper, worn in the house, as ‘calceus’ was the walking shoe. (See S. i. 3. 127, n.)

16. Ne vulgo narres] “Don’t tell it to all the town, that you are the bearer of poems from Horace to Augustus; and though they should stop you, and entreat you to tell them your business, press on.” Horace, by way of keeping up the joke, supposes his messenger to arrive, hot from his journey, and to be besieged by inquisitive people, wanting to know what brings him to Rome.

19. cave ne titubes] This is perhaps another jocular allusion to his name, and, as an ass stumbling might chance to break what he was carrying, he adds, ‘mandataque frangas.’ In plain prose it means, ‘Take care you make no mistake, nor neglect to deliver your charge.’

Horace appears to have had a discontented ‘villicus,’ or steward of his property, whom he had promoted to that post from having been originally one of the lower sort of slaves in the town establishment. While in that position, he sighed for what he thought must be the superior freedom of the country; but as soon as he had reached the highest place he could be trusted with on the farm, he began to regret the former days when he could get access to the tavern and cook-shop, forgetting, as is common, the vexations that had made him long for deliverance before. This man’s discontent suggested to Horace this Epistle. It is such only in form, for we are not to suppose it was ever sent to the villicus. Horace means to describe his own feelings in respect to the country, and the change in his habits and character, and at the same time to draw a moral from his slave’s conduct as to the temper of those who never know what they want, who are envious, discontented, and lazy.

1. Villice silvarum] The ‘villicus’ was one of the principal slaves in the ‘familia rustica,’ who had the superintendence of a man’s farm and ‘villa rustica.’ He collected his rents, looked after his slaves, and had charge of everything but the cattle, of which there was a separate superintendent. Horace says his woods and fields restored him to himself; that is, they gave him liberty and enjoyment of life.

2. habitatum quinque focis] ‘Focis’ is put for ‘families.’ Horace says there lived on his estate five families, the heads of which were good men, who went up from time to time to the neighbouring town of Varia. Some suppose they were ‘coloni’ (C. ii. 14. 11, n.), lessees who farmed different parts of the estate. Varia was thirty miles from Rome, and ten from Tibur, on the Via Valeria. It was four miles from Horace’s farm. Its modern name is Vico Varo.

6. Lamiae] See Introd. to C. iii. 17. ‘Insolabiliter’ occurs nowhere else.

9. rumpere claustra.] At the end of the Circus were stalls (‘carceres’), in which the chariots remained till the race was ready to begin. They were then brought out, and ranged side by side behind a rope called ‘alba linea’ or ‘calx,’ which was stretched across the course, and formed a barrier, beyond which the chariots could not advance till the signal was given and the rope withdrawn. It is from this obstruction, or from the ‘carceres,’ that the metaphor in the text is taken.

14. Tu mediastinus] He had been one of the lowest slaves, used for all manner of work in the ‘familia urbana,’ and by his pitiful countenance (for he was afraid perhaps to speak) had shown how much he wished to be delivered from that condition, and to be sent to work on the farm, though that was generally considered to be the greatest punishment (see S. ii. 7. 118, n.). When there, he had risen, it may be supposed, to be villicus. ‘Mediastinus’ was the name for the lowest sort of slave, both in the town and country establishment. It is derived from ‘medius,’ from his standing in the midst, and being at every one’s call.

21. uncta popina] As to ‘popina’ (which Horace calls ‘uncta,’ because of the greasy viands cooked there), see S. ii. 4. 62, n.

23. Angulus iste feret] Horace writes as if he were repeating the contemptuous language of the villicus. ‘That little nook of yours would produce pepper and frankincense (which of course was impossible) sooner than grapes.’ The grapes grown on the farm he did not think worthy of the name. That Horace made his own wine and that it was not too bad to put before Mæcenas, we know from C. i. 20. Pepper the ancients must have obtained, through some channel, from India. ‘Thus’ or ‘tus olibanum,’ which is a gum resin, extracted from a tree called now the Boswellia Thurifera, was brought chiefly from Arabia. See Virgil (Georg. i. 57): “India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei.”

25. meretrix tibicina,] The ‘tibia’ was played by women as well as men, and chiefly by women at meals.

26. et tamen urges] This is said with a sort of mock compassion: ‘And yet, poor man! (though you have none of these comforts to help you on your way,) you have to go on turning up the rough soil, feeding the oxen, looking out for floods, and all that.’ ‘Jampridem non tacta’ implies that Horace’s property had been neglected before it came into his possession. Mæcenas had probably never resided there, and perhaps he had not been long owner of it when he gave it to Horace. One of the duties the ‘villicus’[530] had to attend to, was looking to the banks of the river (Digentia), which it was apt to burst or overflow when the rains came down heavily. Horace has ‘docere’ again in this connection (A. P. 67).

31. quid nostrum concentum dividat] ‘What disturbs our harmony,’ or prevents us from agreeing in opinion; which is, that whereas I can look back upon my past enjoyments with pleasure, and am glad to quit them, now that my time of life requires it, to retire to the country, where I am free from jealousies and vexations, you are longing to get back to your former life and give up the country, which many a poor slave in the town envies you. So the ox envies the horse, and the horse envies the ox, but my judgment is, that each should do the work he is best fitted for (31-fin.).

32. tenues decuere togae] The toga was generally made of a thick woollen cloth, but there were lighter and finer sorts for summer. These were called ‘rasae,’ because the nap was clipped close. ‘Nitidi capilli’ refers to the anointing of the head at meals. See C. ii. 7. 23, n.

33. immunem Cinarae] Though Cinara loved money, and he had none to give, yet she was fond of him. As to this woman, see C. iv. 1. 3, n.

34. media de luce] ‘Soon after noon’ (see S. ii. 8. 3, n.). It need not be taken too literally. Then drinking was not uncommonly carried on from three or four o’clock till past midnight, but with idle people, or on particular occasions, it began earlier. ‘Bibulum’ depends upon ‘scis.’ As to Falerni, see C. i. 20. 10, n.

36. sed non incidere ludum.] ‘I am not ashamed to amuse myself sometimes, but I am ashamed never to break off or interrupt my amusements.’ He liked relaxation, but thought it shame to be always idle.

42. calo argutus] The word ‘calo’ was applied to the menial slaves in general, though it is not a generic title for such, like ‘mediastinus’ (v. 14). See S. i. 6. 103, n. The meaning of ‘argutus’ here is doubtful. It may mean ‘sharp,’ or it may mean ‘noisy.’

43. ephippia] ‘Ephippium’ was a saddle, which the Romans appear to have used, having copied it from the Greeks. It did not differ materially from ours, except that it had no stirrups. A saddle cloth was worn under it, sometimes highly ornamented.

Nothing is known of the person to whom this Epistle was written. He is called, in the MSS. inscriptions, C. Numonius Vala. It appears that he was acquainted with the southern coast of Italy, and Horace, who had been recommended by his physician no longer to go (as he had been wont) to Baiæ, had a mind to try one of the southern ports; and he writes to Vala for information about them. It is an unconnected sort of Epistle, with a long digression upon the lament of Baiæ at the loss of her invalids, and another upon wines, and a third, which occupies half the Epistle, upon the profligacy of one Mænius, who squandered all his money on good living, and then turned to living at the expense of others. When he had nothing better, he ate tripe, and abused all spendthrifts; and as soon as he had got any money, he spent it in the same way again. Such am I, says Horace; when I am short of money, I commend the serenity of a humble life; when a windfall drops in, I am ready to be as extravagant as you please.

1. Quae sit hiems Veliae,] Velia or Elea, famous as the residence of Xenophanes, the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy, and the birthplace[531] of Parmenides and Zeno, was a town of Lucania, near the mouth of the river Heles or Elees (Alento). Salernum in Campania was situated at the head of the bay of Pæstum, now the gulf of Salerno, on the heights above the modern town, which is close to the sea. These places were not very much frequented, it would seem, at this time, but a new doctor was bringing them into fashion.

2. qualis via,] Salernum was situated on a very good road, the Via Aquilia, of which there was a branch from Picenum as far as Pæstum. Thence to Velia, about twenty miles, there was no Roman road.

Baias] The atmosphere of Baiæ appears to have been clear, and the place attractive. (Horace calls it ‘liquidae,’ C. iii. 4. 24, and ‘amoenae,’ Epp. i. 1. 83.) This made it the most favourite resort of wealthy Romans. To invalids there was the additional attraction of hot sulphurous springs. Horace had been in the habit of going to Baiæ, as we may infer from his connecting it with the Sabine hills, Præneste, and Tibur, in C. iii. 4; but it appears he was now advised to try a different treatment, and seek some other climate. ‘Supervacuus’ means ‘useless’; the place would do him no good. As to the form of the word, see C. ii. 20. 24.

3. Musa — Antonius] This physician was a freedman of Augustus, and came into notice chiefly through curing him of a bad illness he contracted in the Cantabrian expedition. Having found cold bathing successful with the emperor, Musa appears to have made that his general principle of treatment. At any rate, he recommended it to Horace, and he followed his advice, not without reluctance, as it would seem from this Epistle. The death of Marcellus may have contributed to making Baiæ unpopular for a time, but it soon recovered its character (see above, Epp. 1. 83). There are some fragments of medical works by Musa still extant, and he is frequently referred to as an authority by Galen. The order of the names is inverted, as in C. ii. 2. 3; 11. 2.

et tamen illis Me facit invisum,] The sentence is this: “Antonius Musa makes out that Baiæ is useless for me, and yet he makes Baiæ hate me, because I am drenching myself with cold water in the middle of winter.” Horace goes on to say that the town is angry with all the patients for deserting it.

5. Sane murteta relinqui] ‘Murteta’ means groves in which houses were erected over sulphur springs for vapour baths.

8. Qui caput et stomachum] A douche bath on the head or stomach would now be thought a strong remedy even by hydropathists; but it is one of those which ancient physicians recommended.

9. Clusinis Gabiosque] Clusium (Chiusi) was one of the chief towns of Etruria, the capital of Porsenna, and the place where the Gauls received that insult which led to their siege of Rome (Liv. v. 33). It was situated on the Via Cassia, about one hundred miles north of Rome. Strabo (v. 3) mentions several cold streams at this place, called τὰ Ἄλβουλα, which were useful in many complaints both for bathing and drinking.

10. deversoria] See S. i. 5. 2, n. There was a branch of the Via Appia at Sinuessa, leading to Cumæ, called the Via Domitiana; but that, as the name shows, was not constructed at this time, and probably the traveller would have to continue along the Via Appia till he came to Capua, from whence the Via Campana went to Cumæ to the right, and the Via Aquilia went straight on to Salernum, and the Appia branched off through Caudium to Beneventum. (See S. i. 5. 50. 71.) This explains ‘laeva habena.’ The horse would turn to the right as usual to go to Cumæ (whence the road was continued to the Lucrine Lake and to Bauli and Baiæ, about four or five miles from Cumæ).

16. vina nihil moror illius orae;] The nearest place to Salernum spoken[532] of as growing wines is Surrentum (Sorrento), at the end of the promontory that bears its name, and forms the southern boundary of the bay of Naples. This wine is mentioned in S. ii. 4. 55. Horace had no high opinion of it. He did not think it worth while to ask about the wine, which he knew was bad.

17. perferre patique,] This pleonasm occurs again in the next Satire, v. 74. It serves to make up a verse.

26. Maenius,] See S. i. 1. 101, n. ‘Fortiter’ is used ironically. ‘Urbanus’ means ‘witty.’ ‘Scurra vagus’ means a parasite who was ready to dine anywhere, paying for his dinner with his jokes.

31. Pernicies et tempestas barathrumque] All these words belong to ‘macelli,’ as to which see S. ii. 3. 229, n. He was a plague that wasted, a tempest that swept, a gulf that swallowed up, the whole contents of the market.

37. corrector Bestius.] The meaning is, that Mænius, whenever he could not get a good dinner from one of those who patronized or were afraid of him, would dine prodigiously off tripe and coarse mutton, and then declare all good livers ought to be branded on the belly: a censor as strict as Bestius, who was, no doubt, some person well known at the time, perhaps as a spare liver or reprover of profligate living, though nothing is known of him now. ‘Corrector’ is here used for a reformer of morals, as in Epp. ii. 1. 129 it is applied to poets.

39. Verterat in fumum et cinerem,] This was evidently an ordinary way of speaking. He got rid of all the plunder he made from fools who patronized him.

41. Nil melius turdo, nil vulva] As to ‘turdus,’ see S. ii. 5. 10, n. The womb and breast (‘sumen’) of a sow, especially after her first litter, were considered great delicacies.

42. Nimirum hic ego sum;] Compare Epp. 6. 40: “ne fueris hic tu.” ἐνταῦθ᾽ εἰμί is a common expression with the Tragedians. ‘Nimirum,’ ‘of course, as is natural: how could anything better be expected of me?’ (See Epp. 9. 1.) He means to say, that of course, like his neighbours, he professes love for poverty while he is poor, but as soon as he gets any money he is ready for any extravagance.

46. nitidis fundata pecunia villis.] ‘Villa’ was a country house, as opposed to ‘aedes,’ a town house. There were ‘villae rusticae,’ farm-houses, and ‘villae urbanae,’ houses in the neighbourhood of towns (to which sense we limit the word in our use of it) or in the country, but built in many respects after the fashion of town houses. The ‘urbanae villae’ were often built at great expense, with much marble about them, which is referred to in ‘nitidis.’ ‘Fundata’ means ‘invested.’ It is not so used elsewhere.

Quintius, to whom this Epistle is addressed, cannot be identified with any known person. The same name is connected with the eleventh Ode of the second Book; but there is no reason to suppose them to belong to one person. There is no more reason in the Epistle than in the Ode why a name should appear at all; for the subject is general, being the liability of men to be deceived in respect to their own goodness and that of others by the judgment of the multitude. This discourse is appended, rather abruptly, to a[533] short description of Horace’s residence, in anticipation of the inquiries he supposes Quintius might make on that subject.

2. Arvo pascat herum] Horace had some of his land under his own cultivation; but it was no great quantity, as we may infer from the number of slaves employed upon it (S. ii. 7. 118). The rest he seems to have let (Epp. 14. 2, n.). Part of his land was arable, and part of it meadow (Epp. 15. 26-30, and C. iii. 16. 30, “segetis certa fides meae”). He had a garden (Epp. 14. 42). He must also have had vines (23, n.). In short, it was an ordinary farm on a small scale. In the second and third verses Horace recounts the different productions of his farm, while he supposes Quintius to ask about them.

3. an amicta vitibus ulmo,] See C. ii. 15. 5: “platanusque caelebs Evincet ulmos.”

5. Continui montes] The valley of the Licenza is the only valley which cuts the range of mountains extending from the Campagna above Tibur to Carseoli, about forty-five miles from Rome. Without this valley this immense body would be a continuous mass. It lies nearly north and south, which corresponds with the description of the text. See C. i. 17. 1, n.

8. Temperiem laudes.] The position of the valley keeps it cool in summer and warm in winter, the latter by the exclusion of the north wind (Tramontana). The Scirocco (‘plumbeus Auster’) is modified in its strength and character as it penetrates the mountains.

Quid, si rubicunda] ‘Why, if I tell you that my thorns bear abundantly the red cornel and the plum, that my oaks and my ilexes delight my pigs with plenty of acorns, and their master with plenty of shade, you may say it is the woods of Tarentum, brought nearer to Rome.’ ‘Fruge’ is nowhere else used for acorns, the common food for pigs.

12. Fons etiam] There are two small streams which feed the Licenza in this valley, which that river nearly bisects. Either of these rivulets may be the one Horace alludes to.

15. dulces, etiam si credis amoenae,] A place may be ‘dulcis’ from association or other causes: it can only be ‘amoenus’ from its climate, its beauties, and so forth. As to ‘Septembribus horis,’ see S. ii. 6. 18, n., and for ‘audis’ see note on v. 20 of the same Satire.

17. Tu recte vivis] He goes on to compliment and advise his friend: ‘Your life is what it should be, if you are careful to be what you are accounted. For all Rome has long spoken of you as a happy man. But I am afraid lest you should trust the judgment of others about you, rather than your own.’

24. pudor malus] See S. ii. 3. 39, n. He says it is a false shame that would induce a patient to conceal his sores from the physician; and so it is for a man to hide his defects, rather than bring them to the wise to cure.

25. Si quis bella tibi] ‘Tibi’ depends on ‘pugnata,’ which is joined with ‘bella’ in C. iii. 19. 4. See note on C. ii. 6. 11. Quintius had no doubt seen service; but, says Horace, if any one were to speak of your campaigning in such language as this (then he quotes two lines, said to be taken from the panegyric of Varius on Augustus, referred to on C. i. 6. 11), you would recognize it as meant, not for you, but for Cæsar. But if you allow yourself to be called wise and correct, does your life correspond to that name any more than your military exploits to the above encomium? Literally, ‘Do you answer in your own name,’ or ‘on your own account?’ ‘Vacuas aures’ are ears which, being unoccupied, are ready to receive what is spoken.

27. Tene magis — populum] ‘Whether thy people care for thy safety more, or thou for theirs, may Jove ever doubtful keep, he who watches over both thee and Rome.’ The meaning of this is, ‘May thy country ever care for thee, and thou for thy country, with an equal affection.’

31. Nempe Vir bonus] Quintius is supposed to answer, ‘Yes, surely, I like to be called good and wise, and so do you.’ ‘Nay,’ replies Horace, ‘such praise as this is given one day, and may be withdrawn the next; and you are obliged to resign your claim, because you know you do not deserve it. But if a man attacks me with charges I know I am innocent of, is that to affect me and make me blush?’

40. Vir bonus est quis?] The answer is to this effect: “In the eyes of the people the good man is he who never transgresses the laws; who is seen acting as ‘judex’ in important causes, and has never been known to be corrupt; whom men choose as their sponsor, and whose testimony carries weight in court; but all the while the man’s own neighborhood and family may know him to be foul within, though fair enough without.”

41. Qui consulta patrum,] Of the component parts of the Roman civil law Horace mentions three. ‘Jura’ signifies legal rights and rules of law. It has the latter meaning here. ‘Leges,’ properly so called, were laws passed in the ‘comitia centuriata.’ They were first approved by the senate, and then proposed to the comitia by a magistratus of senatorial rank. ‘Plebiscita,’ laws passed by the plebs in their comitia tributa, were made binding on the whole people by the ‘lex Hortensia,’ passed B. C. 288, and thenceforward they had the force of leges. ‘Senatus consulta’ (‘consulta patrum’) appear, in some instances, to have had the force of law during the republic; under the empire, they superseded the legislation of the comitia. Horace might have added other parts of law, and more particularly ‘mores,’ which were all those laws that sprang from immemorial usage.

42. secantur] See S. i. 10. 15, n. ‘Tenere,’ in the sense of gaining a cause, is not common. It is used by Cicero (Pro Caecina, c. 24): “Scaevola causam apud centumviros non tenuit.”

43. Quo res sponsore] See S. ii. 6. 23, n. Horace means a man whose credit is good as a sponsor and a witness.

46. Nec furtum feci] There are some who think themselves very good, who would be bad if they dared. To such a one Horace answers as he answered his slave, when he boasted of his goodness. Vv. 46-56 are a dialogue between the slave and his master; the application, being easily made, is not expressed. Not to be very wicked does not make a man good; nor is it sufficient to abstain from crime through fear of punishment; our motive should be the love of virtue for her own sake. ‘Sabellus’ may mean the ‘villicus,’ or it may be taken for any plain-judging man. Many suppose Horace means himself. Orelli does so. ‘Frugi’ is explained on S. ii. 5. 77.

57. Vir bonus, omne forum] He whom the people believe to be good, whom everybody turns to look at as he walks through the Forum, and looks up to when he speaks in the courts. “Gaude quod spectant oculi te mille loquentem.” (Epp. 6. 19.) There were three principal ‘fora’ in Rome, in which judicial and other public (as well as mercantile) business was carried on. The Forum Romanum was simply called Forum, because it was the largest; and till the time of Julius Cæsar it was the only one. The dictator began the erection of another, adjoining the Forum Romanum, and it was called after him. It was finished by Augustus. Afterwards Augustus built a small forum in the same neighborhood, wherein none but judicial business was transacted. It was partially destroyed by fire, and restored by Hadrian. Other ‘fora’ were afterwards erected by different emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Vespasian). In every ‘forum’ there was a ‘basilica’ (or more than one), a[535] building devoted to the joint purposes of judicial and commercial business. At the end of the building was a part called ‘tribunal,’ devoted to law.

58. vel porco vel bove] The animals most commonly sacrificed by the Romans were sheep, pigs, and oxen. On public occasions these three were sacrificed together, and the sacrifice was called ‘suovetaurilia,’ being a combination of the three names. Private persons would only sacrifice the three on great occasions, and on some there would be several of each or any of them, offered together. Ordinarily they sacrificed but one, according to their means or their zeal.

59. Jane pater!] See S. ii. 6. 20, n. Silent devotion was not practised or understood by the ancients, any more than it is by the heathen or Mahometans now. μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεσθαι δεῖ is reported to have been a saying of Pythagoras. Silent prayers were supposed to be a veil either for improper petitions, or magical incantations, or something wrong. To speak with men as if the gods were listening, and with the gods so as men might overhear, is a rule found in more than one writer.

60. Pulchra Laverna,] Laverna was a goddess associated with Mercurius, as the god who presided over thieving. The derivation of the word is uncertain.

64. In triviis fixum] Persius, speaking of a man who was above sordid ways, says (v. 110), “Inque luto fixum possis transcendere nummum,” where there is a Scholium which says that boys used to fasten an as to the pavement, and amuse themselves with watching people stop to pick it up. Whether this is referred to by Horace, or whether any such practice existed, is doubtful. It is very likely Horace means no more than a man stooping to pick up an as from the mud.

65. qui cupiet metuet quoque;] Horace joins fear and desire in Epp. i. 2. 51, and ii. 2. 155.

67. Perdidit arma,] The man who is ever hurrying after money, and swallowed up in love of it, has cast away his arms and run away from the ranks of virtue. If you catch him, do not put him to death, but sell him for a slave, which is all he is fit for. He may do good service in keeping cattle, or ploughing, or going with his master, the mercator, to sea, replenishing the market, and so forth.

69. Vendere cum possis] One of the principal sources from which the Romans got their slaves, in earlier times, was the prisoners of war. Dealers always accompanied the camp for the purpose of purchasing them. They were sold on the spot by auction, ‘sub corona,’ that is, with a chaplet on their head to mark them for sale. See Cæsar (B. G. iii. 16). Captives reserved to follow the triumph of the commander were put to death when the procession was over (see Epod. 7. 8, n.). The law-writers derive ‘servus’ from ‘servare,’ as prisoners kept for slavery were not put to death. ‘Annona’ properly signifies the year’s supply of provisions from the harvest. ‘Penus’ signifies provisions of all sorts; here it means all sorts of imported provisions, preserves, etc. ‘Penus’ is of two declensions, the second and third.

73. Vir bonus et sapiens] ‘The virtuous and wise man can speak to Fortune as Dionysus did to Pentheus.’ The scene alluded to is that in the Bacchæ of Euripides (489, sqq.). Vv. 495, 496 are almost literally translated in vv. 77, 78. Pentheus, king of Thebes, hearing that a young stranger has come to his country, giving himself out to be Dionysus, and has tempted all the women to go out and do honor to him, sends his servants to apprehend him. The god allows himself to be taken, and, when brought before the king, describes himself as the servant of Dionysus. Then follows a dialogue, of which the verses above referred to form part. The application is obvious. The good man can bid defiance to the reverses of Fortune, since at any time he wishes he can call death to his assistance,—a bad doctrine for good men.[536] Cicero did not approve of it. He says, “vetat Pythagoras injussu imperatoris, id est Dei, de praesidio et statione vitae decedere” (Cat. Maj. c. 20). The ancients had very loose notions on suicide.

79. mors ultima linea rerum est] This refers to the ‘alba linea’ mentioned on Epp. 14. 9, which was the goal as well as starting-point in the chariot-races.

Who Scæva was there are no means of determining, and it is quite immaterial. He bears no part in the Epistle, which might have been addressed to anybody of his age. Its professed purpose is to instruct a young man how to rise in the world by paying court to great people, which is declared to be an art of no small merit. The chief secret of this art is said to be a well-affected modesty, and a tact in letting your wants be rather felt than heard by your patron, and this is the only advice that is offered. The Epistle ends abruptly, and is a mere fragment.

3. docendus adhuc,] He was young, and had yet much to learn. ‘Amiculus’ is a diminutive expressing endearment.

4. Caecus iter monstrare velit;] Erasmus quotes as a proverb μήτε τυφλὸν ὁδηγόν, μήτε ἐκνόητον σύμβουλον. Our Lord twice used it in instructing his disciples (Matt. xv. 14, Luke vi. 39).

8. Ferentinum] This was a municipium on the Via Latina, about forty-six miles from Rome, in the country of the Hernici. It still retains its name Ferentino. It appears not to have been much frequented, and Horace recommends his friend to go there, if the object of his wishes is to avoid the noise of the town, and to lead a quiet life, which he says is not without its recommendations.

10. moriensque fefellit.] Horace uses ‘fallere’ as the Greeks used λανθάνειν (see C. iii. 16. 32, n.). But it is only used absolutely here and in the next Epistle (v. 103). Horace takes his expression from the Greek proverb λάθε βιώσας, which appears to have been used by the Epicureans and Cyrenaics.

11. Si prodesse tuis] Horace’s argument for servility is, that it is necessary, if a man wants to be of use to his friends, and to make himself comfortable.

12. siccus ad unctum.] As a poor man to the rich. ‘Siccus’ means poor, as one who cannot command a dinner, or can only command a dry one; and ‘unctus’ means a rich man who fares sumptuously. The Cynics were called ξηρόφαγοι from their abstinence, and ξηροφαγία among the early Christians was a fast.

13. Si pranderet olus patienter] There is a story of Aristippus, that he was one day passing Diogenes, the Cynic, while he was washing some vegetables for his dinner, and he was accosted thus: “If you had learnt to put up with this, you would not have been a slave in the palace of kings,” alluding to his having been the guest of Dionysius of Syracuse. The answer of Aristippus was: “And if you knew how to associate with your fellows, you would not now be washing herbs.”

18. Mordacem Cynicum] The Cynics received their name from the place where Antisthenes taught, the Cynosarges, a gymnasium at Athens. The popular notion of a Cynic (expressed by ‘mordacem,’ ‘biting’) is derived rather from the conduct of the followers (of whom Diogenes was one) than of the founder of the school.

19. Scurror ego ipse mihi,] This verb does not occur elsewhere. The participle is used in the next Epistle (v. 2). Aristippus is supposed to parry the blow (‘eludere,’ a metaphor taken from the gladiators) of Diogenes by admitting, for the sake of argument, that he acted parasite to a king; yet it was for his own advantage; whereas the Cynic acted parasite to the populace for their amusement; he begged their dirty provisions, and gave them snarling jests in return; and by accepting their alms, he acknowledged himself their inferior, and this though he professed to want nothing of them or any one else. ‘Hoc’ refers to the remoter object, as in S. ii. 2, where see note on v. 30.

20. Equus me portet, alat rex,] The Greeks had a proverb, ἵππος με φέρει, βασιλεύς με τρέφει, which words are said to have been first uttered by a soldier of Philip of Macedon to his mother, who entreated him to ask exemption from service.

21. Officium facio:] ‘Officium’ is commonly applied to attendance on great people; and the most servile are wont to say they are only ‘doing their duty’ by their betters. As to ‘vilia rerum,’ see C. iv. 12. 19, n.; S. ii. 8. 83.

23. Omnis Aristippum decuit color] See Epp. i. 1. 18, n. ‘Color’ is ‘color vitae’ (S. ii. 1. 60), and corresponds to ‘vitae via’ below (v. 26). We use ‘complexion’ in the same double sense. Horace means that, while Aristippus paid court to the rich, he could do without them, if necessary. ‘On the other hand,’ he says, ‘he who, on the principle of endurance, puts on his double cloak, I should be surprised if a change of life would suit him’; that is, he is more the creature of habit than the man he condemns.

25. duplici panno] The asceticism of Diogenes was his way of carrying out the principle of endurance, which was a chief feature in his teacher’s system. A coarse ‘abolla,’ a garment thrown loosely over the person, served him for his dress, without tunic. He is said to have been the first to wear it double and to have slept in it, and those who followed him, adopting the same practice, were called διπλοείματοι and ἀχίτωνες. Juvenal says the Stoics differed from the Cynics only in the use of the tunic (S. xiii. 121).

30. Alter Mileti textam] The purple and wool of Miletus were held in great esteem by the Greeks. As to ‘chlamys,’ see Epp. i. 6. 40, n. It appears that there were several stories current among the ancients about the indifference of Aristippus to dress. ‘Cane pejus et angui’ is a proverbial way of speaking. ‘Pejus’ occurs in the same connection, C. iv. 9. 50, “Pejusque leto flagitium timet.”

33. Res gerere et captos] He says triumphs are fine things (they reach the throne of Jove and affect the skies), but there is no small merit in pleasing the great, and it is not everybody who can do it.

36. Non cuivis homini] Οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς εἰς Κόρινθον ἔσθ᾽ ὁ πλοῦς. There are various explanations given of this proverb, but none can safely be relied upon. ‘To go to Corinth’ involved a difficulty in some sense or other, and so the proverb applies to anything that is difficult and requires unusual clearness.

37. Sedit qui timuit] The perfect is used as the aorist. ‘He sits idle who is afraid he shall not succeed. Esto! Be it so (let him pass): but what of him who succeeds? Has he not done manfully?’

41. Aut virtus nomen inane est,] ‘Either virtue is an empty name, or the active man does well to look for his crown and his reward.’

42. experiens vir.] This means an active man, who tries every means of success.

45. caput hoc erat,] He means that modesty and the absence of importunity is the best way of succeeding with the great; not to be eager to ask,[538] but to be modest, and take what is offered (see Int.). ‘Erat’ seems to mean ‘this is the point I was coming to.’ But see C. i. 37. 4, n.; Epp. i. 4. 6, n.

47. nec vendibilis nec pascere firmus,] ‘Not salable (because worth nothing) nor sufficient for our support.’ ‘Firmus’ with the infinitive mood is the construction found so frequently in the Odes. See C. i. 1. 18, n.

48. clamat,] He does as good as cry, ‘Give me food!’ and the consequence is another chimes in with, ‘The boon must be divided, and a part cut off for me.’

49. dividuo findetur munere quadra.] ‘Dividuus’ is used in the sense of ‘divisus’: ‘quadra,’ a fourth part, is put for any fragment. See Forcell. for several examples.

50. Sed tacitus pasci] If the greedy fellow could only have been quiet, he might have kept it all to himself. A crow cawing over the morsel luck or thieving has thrown in his way, and thereby attracting the attention and envy of his brethren, applies to many a knave who loses his ill gotten gains through his own folly in parading them.

52. Brundisium comes aut Surrentum] To Brundisium a man might go on business; to Surrentum (Sorrento) for the climate and scenery, which are still very healthy and beautiful. Surrentum was made a Roman colony about this time. We do not hear much of it as a place of resort, though from this passage we may infer that it was one of the pleasant spots on the Campanian coast to which the wealthy Romans went for change of air. Its wines were celebrated (see Epp. 15. 16, n.). In mentioning Brundisium, Horace may have been thinking of his journey with Mæcenas. He says, if a man, going into the country with his great friend, talks of the roughness of the roads, the bitterness of the cold, the loss of his purse, and so on, in order to get money from his patron, he is like the woman who is always crying for the pretended loss of a trinket, in hopes her lover will give her more, till at last she is no longer believed; or the man who pretended he had broken his leg in order to get a ride, but when he broke his leg in earnest, no one would listen to him.

55. catellam,] This is a diminutive form of ‘catena,’ and is used for a bracelet or necklace: ‘periscelis’ appears to be an anklet, such as women, and young children of both sexes, in the East, wear universally. ‘Nota acumina’ means ‘the hackneyed tricks.’

59. Fracto crure planum,] The Romans adopted the Greek word πλάνος for a vagabond and impostor. As to ‘plurima,’ see C. i. 7. 8, n. Horace makes the man swear by the Egyptian Osiris, as if that were the most sacred of oaths. Among other new superstitions, the worship of Isis had been lately introduced into Rome. Efforts were made, from time to time, to put it down, and Augustus forbade its being exercised in the city. But under later emperors it became established, with the encouragement of the government, in conjunction with that of Serapis. Osiris was not worshipped separately, but shared, perhaps, the reverence paid to his wife (Isis).

This Epistle contains some more advice to a young man beginning life, as to how he should win the favor of the great. The person addressed is young Lollius, respecting whom see the Introduction to Epp. 2 of this book, which is also addressed to him. The counsel Horace gives is not creditable to himself or the age he lived in.

1. liberrime Lolli,] ‘My frank Lollius.’ See Introduction. On ‘metues,’ see C. ii. 2. 7; and as to ‘scurrantis,’ see last Ep., ver. 19.

7. tonsa cute,] With the hair cut short down to the very skin, which would show a want of regard to appearances.

10. imi Derisor lecti] See S. ii. 8. 20, n. ‘Derisor’ means a parasite whose business it was to keep the company amused with jokes, such as the man described in S. i. 4. 87, sq.

14. partes mimum tractare secundas.] ‘Secundas agere’ is a phrase taken from the stage. It applied to all the actors, except the chief. In the ‘mimi,’ which consisted chiefly of dumb show, the inferior parts were all arranged, and the actors played, so as to support the principal character. In most cases one of the parts was that of a parasite. The subordinates were also called ‘adjutores.’ (See S. i. 9. 45, n.; A. P. 192, n.)

15. de lana saepe caprina,] To quarrel about goats’ wool is plainly equivalent to quarrelling about nothing at all.

16. Scilicet ut non] ‘Forsooth, that I should not be believed before anybody else, and boldly bark out what I know to be true! Why, a second life would be a poor return’ (for such an indignity).

19. Castor sciat an Dolichos plus;] This is the same sort of gossip that Mæcenas is represented as discussing with Horace (S. ii. 6. 44, sqq.). If Dolichos be right, the name is that of a Greek slave, derived from Doliche, a town of Thessaly.

20. Brundisium Minuci] This road is only once more mentioned by any classical writer (Cic. ad Att. ix. 6), and it is impossible to say anything about it with certainty, except that it passed by the town of Alba. There was a Porta Minutia leading out of Rome, the site of which is unknown; but it is probable that this road led from that gate, and that it was in the southern part of the city.

26. veluti pia mater] Like a fond mother who wishes her child to be wiser and better than herself, the patron advises his client.

30. Arta decet sanum comitem toga;] ‘A narrow toga suits my humble friend if he be wise.’ The size and shape of the toga are referred to on Epod. iv. 8.

31. Eutrapelus] Aristotle defines εὐτραπελία as πεπαιδευμένη ὕβρις, a refined impertinence. It appears that for his wit this name was given to P. Volumnius, an eques, and friend of M. Antonius, to whom are addressed two of Cicero’s letters (Ad Fam. vii. 32, 33). From the way Horace writes, he must have been dead at this time.

34. honestum Officium,] This means the calls of duty, in a better sense than in the last Epistle (v. 21). See Epp. ii. 2. 68.

36. Thrax erit] See S. ii. 6. 44. Horace says he will get into debt, and be reduced to hire himself as a gladiator, or drive a costermonger’s hack. ‘Ad imum’ is not elsewhere used as ‘ad extremum,’ but it means ‘when he has got to the lowest point.’ As to ‘nummos alienos,’ see Epp. ii. 2. 12, n.

37. Arcanum neque tu] He must not be inquisitive about his patron’s secrets, or betray them, nor praise his own tastes at the expense of the great man’s, nor take to his books when he wants him to go hunting.

41. Amphionis atque Zethi] These fabulous brothers, the sons of Antiope by Zeus, were different in their dispositions, the one being given to music and the other to country pursuits. Zethus, it appears, had a contempt for Amphion’s lyre, and advised him roughly to throw it away, and take to arms, and to useful pursuits, like his own.

46. Aetolis onerata plagis] See Epp. i. 6. Ætolian toils are toils fit for Meleager, the king of Ætolia, and the destroyer of the Calydonian boar. With ‘senium’ compare ‘senectus’ (Epod. xiii. 5).

48. pulmenta laboribus empta;] Compare S. ii. 2. 20: “Tu pulmentaria quaere Sudando.” ‘Pulmentum’ originally signified anything eaten with ‘puls,’ porridge or gruel (a common dish with the early Romans), to give it a flavor. It came afterwards to signify any savory dish.

54. Proelia sustineas campestria;] Compare A. P. 379. The allusion is to the games on the Campus Martius.

57. et si quid abest] This is mere flattery, like that about the standards. Augustus had no intention of extending the Roman empire at this time. No further conquest was attempted till B. C. 15, when some of the Alpine tribes were beaten by Drusus and Tiberius, and their country made into a province. (See C. iv. 4, Introduction.)

58. Ac, ne te retrahas] Horace adds another reason why he should not refuse to join the amusements of his patron, that he cannot say he has no turn for that sort of thing, for he is wont to amuse himself at home with such sports as sham fights, though Horace does not mean to say he is given to wasting his time on such matters.

59. extra numerum — modumque] This is, literally, ‘out of time and tune.’

60. rure paterno;] Where the estates of the elder Lollius lay or who was his other son, is not known. The two brothers, it appears, got up a representation of the battle of Actium, on a pond perhaps in their father’s grounds, and they made the slaves (‘pueros’) act the soldiers and sailors, while they took the principal characters themselves, the elder acting Augustus, and his brother M. Antonius.

64. velox Victoria fronde coronet.] Victoria is always represented as a young female, with wings, and with a palm branch or a wreath in her hand, or both.

66. Fautor utroque — pollice] In the fights of gladiators, the people expressed their approbation by fanning their thumbs down, and the reverse by uplifting them. When a gladiator had got his adversary down, or disarmed him, he looked to the spectators for this signal, and according as the thumb was up or down he despatched or spared the man. Thus ‘fautor utroque pollice’ is a proverbial way of speaking. See Juvenal (iii. 36).

68. Quid de quoque viro et cui] ‘Quoque’ is from ‘quisque,’ ‘every man.’ ‘Percontator’ is a gossip who is always asking questions in order to retail the answers, generally in a perverted form. His ears are always open to pick up remarks (‘patulae’), and his tongue always active to repeat them.

72. Non ancilla tuum] See S. ii. 5. 91, n. as to the use of ‘non’ for ‘ne.’

75. Munere te parvo beet] ‘Lest he be generous, and make you happy with this trumpery present, or be cruel and refuse it you.’ This seems to be the meaning; that is to say, the patron may take it into his head to gratify his dependant with a present of the slave he admires, and then think he has done enough for him, or he may refuse to make him the present, and this would give him pain.

79. deceptus omitte tueri,] ‘When once you have found yourself deceived, do not take him under your protection, but reserve your influence for one[541] you thoroughly know, that, if need be, you may be able to shelter him from calumny; for when the good are slandered, what do you suppose may not happen to yourself?’ The Scholiasts say that Theon was a man of malignant wit in Horace’s time, and that he was a ‘libertinus’ who provoked his ‘patronus,’ and was turned out of his house with the present of a ‘quadrans,’ and told to go and buy a rope to hang himself. This is all we know of him, and this is very uncertain.

93. Nocturnos — vapores.] This must be taken to signify the feverish heats that come on after much drinking.

100. Virtutem doctrina paret,] Whether virtue is a science (ἐπιστήμη) and capable of being taught (διδακτή) was discussed by Socrates, who held that it was so, in a certain sense. The question was a common rhetorical theme in Horace’s day.

103. fallentis semita vitae.] See Epp. 17. 10, n., and compare Juvenal (x. 363): “semita certe Tranquillae per virtutem patet unica vitae.”

104. gelidus Digentia rivus,] The Digentia (Licenza), rising near Horace’s house (see Epp. 16. 12, n.), after a course of about six miles emptied itself into the Anio, about half a mile beyond the Via Valeria, which crossed it.

105. Quem Mandela bibit,] There is a village called Bardela, which probably stands on the site of Mandela. From its position at the head of the valley, and the winds that blow upon it from the northeast, it was colder than Horace’s residence, higher up the valley, which accounts for the description ‘rugosus frigore pagus’ as compared with ‘temperiem laudes’ in Epp. 16. 8. The expression may be suggested by pictures and other representations of Hiems, who is exhibited as a wrinkled old man, as Ovid describes him, apparently from a picture also: “Inde senilis Hiems tremulo venit horrida passu” (Met. xv. 212).

111. Sed satis est] Horace prays for a good supply of books and provisions, and a quiet mind; but retracts the last, and says he will pray to Jove for what he can give and take away, but a quiet mind he will secure himself.

It would appear that Horace had imitators among those who abused him; and if we are to understand him to mean what he says, there were those who took his convivial odes literally, and, coupling them with the example of the old Greek poets, conceived that the way to write verses was to propitiate Bacchus and drink a great deal of wine. Or else he means that they took to writing in the same strain, all about wine and driving dull care away, and so forth, which at second hand would be very poor stuff. Such servile imitators he speaks of with great disgust; and while he exposes their shallowness, he accounts for their malevolence towards himself by the fact of his not having sought their company or hired their applause. He at the same time claims to have been the first to dress the lyric measures in the Latin language, while he defends himself for having adopted the metres of another, by pointing to the examples of Sappho and Alcæus, and takes credit for having avoided the virulence of Archilochus, while he imitated his verse. This is introduced by the way, the chief purpose of the Epistle being to show the folly of his calumniators and the cause of their abuse.

1. Maecenas docte, Cratino,] He addresses Maecenas elsewhere as “doctus[542] utriusque linguae” (C. iii. 8. 5). Cratinus, though he lived to a good old age, and kept his powers to the last, as we have seen (S. i. 4. 1, n.), was a proverbial drunkard.

4. Adscripsit Liber] ‘Adscribere’ is a military term. As to Liber’s attendants, the Fauns, Pans, and Satyrs, see note on C. ii. 19. 4. The poets immediately under the protection of Dionysus were the lyric, the dithyramb having been performed first at the Dionysia. Compare C. i. 1. 31. So the poet is called “cliens Bacchi” (Epp. ii. 2. 78). Liber, the Latin divinity, is here, as elsewhere, confounded with the Greek Bacchus or Dionysus, with whom he had only this in common, that he presided over vines. ‘Ut’ means ‘ever since’ (C. iv. 4. 42).

5. Vina fere dulces] The ancients did not spare the reputation of their poets in this matter; for besides the fame of Cratinus mentioned above, Alcæus, Anacreon, Æschylus, Aristophanes, and many others, have the credit of indulging freely in wine. As to Homer, there is no foundation in his poetry for Horace’s libel, which is simply absurd. David might as well be charged with excess because he speaks of wine as making glad the heart of man. Ennius said of himself that he only wrote when he had got the gout: “Nunquam poëtor nisi podager.”

8. forum putealque Libonis] See S. ii. 6. 35, n. Horace speaks as if he had delivered an ‘edictum’ that the business of the Forum was only fit for the sober and dull, who had nothing to do with poetry; whereupon all that would be thought poets took to drinking day and night. ‘Putere’ is a stronger word for ‘olere,’ used above, v. 5.

12. Quid, si quis vultu torvo] Cato of Utica is here referred to, of whom Plutarch says, that from his childhood he showed in his voice and countenance, and also in his amusements, an immovable, unimpressive, and firm temper. He seldom laughed, or even smiled; and though not passionate, when his anger was roused it was not easy to pacify him. He set himself against the fashions of the times, in dress as in other things, and often went out of doors after dinner without his shoes and tunic; and the fashion being to wear a ‘lacerna’ of bright colour, he chose to wear a dark one. (Cat. c. 1. 6.) He may have worn his toga of smaller dimensions than other people, from the same dislike to the usages of the day. For ‘textore’ we should expect ‘textura’ in this place.

15. Rupit Iarbitam Timagenis] It appears that the person here called Iarbitas (from Virgil’s Numidian king, Iarbas) was a Mauritanian by birth, and that his Roman name was Cordus or Codrus. Timagenes was a native of Alexandria, where he was taken prisoner by A. Gabinius, and sold as a slave. He was sent to Rome, and bought by Faustus, the son of Sulla, who gave him his freedom. He afterwards taught rhetoric, and became famous. It seems that Cordus, endeavouring to imitate Timagenes, and failing, broke his heart with envy.

18. biberent exsangue cuminum.] The fruit of this plant, which is a pleasant condiment, is described by Pliny (xx. 15) as giving a pallid hue to the complexion. It is a plant of Eastern origin. We are familiar with it through the proverbial use of the name by our Lord in his denunciation of the Pharisees, who gave tithes of mint, anise, and cumin, but neglected the weightier matters of the law. It was used to express littleness or meanness in any shape. Horace says, if he happened to look pale by any chance, his imitators would eat cumin-seeds to make themselves look interesting and poetical like him.

23. Parios ego primus iambos] The iambics of Archilochus of Paros. As to his attacks upon Lycambes, see Epod. vi. 13, n.

26. ne me foliis] ‘And that you may not crown me with less noble wreath.’ As to this position of ‘ne,’ see C. iv. 9. 1, n. Horace says he is[543] not to be blamed for imitating Archilochus in his measure and the structure of his verse, for Alcæus and Sappho (he says, and we must take his word for it) did the same; they tempered their Muse with the measure of Archilochus. The iambics of Archilochus are imitated by Horace in the Epodes. Other measures of his he has imitated in the Odes. There is little left of Archilochus but his iambics. The vigorous style of Sappho’s fragments shows the reason why Horace calls her ‘mascula.’ See C. ii. 13. 24, n.

and 3. 23: “Romanae fidicen lyrae.” ‘Hunc’ Orelli refers to Alcæus, comparing C. iii. 30. 13:

It may refer to Archilochus. I do not feel certain about it. Forcellini only mentions one other example of ‘immemoratus’ from Ausonius. ‘Ingenuis’ means ‘candid’ or ‘uncorrupted.’

35. ingratus] He means that the reader is ungrateful who gets gratification from his poems at home, and yet abuses them abroad. ‘Ingratus’ belongs to the second clause as well as ‘iniquus.’ The reason Horace gives is, that he does not go about seeking the good opinion of vulgar critics, giving them dinners and cast-off clothes, and so on, but keeps himself to the company of respectable authors, listening to their writings and getting them to listen to his own. The language is taken from the notion of canvassing for votes at an election.

39. auditor et ultor] These words are reciprocal. The man who listens to a stupid recitation has his revenge when he recites in return. Here it is meant in a good-humored way. Juvenal’s first Satire begins, “Semper ego auditor tantum? nunquamne reponam?” As to the practice of recitation among friends and in public, see C. ii. 1, Int., and S. i. 4. 73, n.

40. Grammaticas ambire tribus] Those who made a profession of literature were called ‘literati,’ ‘eruditi,’ or ‘grammatici.’ The last name was applied principally to those who kept schools or gave lectures, of whom there were a great many at this time at Rome. Inferior writers would give a good deal for their favorable opinion, which would help their books into demand among their scholars. Horace calls them ‘critici’ elsewhere (A. P. 78). ‘Pulpitum’ meant any raised platform from which speeches were delivered. Here it applies to that from which the teachers delivered their lectures.

41. Hinc illae lacrimae.] This became a common way of speaking after Terence (Andr. i. 1. 99): “Atat hoc illud est: Hinc illae lacrimae, haec illa est misericordia.”

Spissis indigna theatris] ‘Theatra’ here means any audience before which recitations of this kind might take place, though the poetry of popular writers was recited in the theatres by ‘mimi’ and ‘mimae.’

43. Jovis auribus] This is the same sort of expression as S. ii. 6. 52: “deos quoniam propius contingis.” ‘Manare’ is not commonly used as a transitive verb. In this construction we find the like words, ‘flere,’ ‘pluere,’ ‘stillare,’ ‘rorare,’ &c. The expressions ‘nugis,’ ‘poëtica mella,’ ‘tibi pulcher,’ all seem to apply rather to the lyrical compositions than to the Satires, and the former appear to have been the objects of all this servile imitation.

45. naribus uti] See S. i. 6. 5, n., and Persius (i. 40): “nimis uncis Naribus indulges.”

47. diludia posco.] This word occurs nowhere else. It means, in the first instance, an interval allowed to gladiators between their contests. ‘Iste locus’ must mean the ‘pulpita’ or ‘spissa theatra’ above mentioned. It seems as if the speaker meant to gain time, and, without declining the contest,[544] made objections to the ground, and asked for a postponement, the language of the arena or palæstra being kept up. The meaning, in plain terms, is, that he does not wish to be brought into competition with others in the way of public recitations or criticism, because such matters, though they may begin in good temper, generally issue in strife and bad passions. ‘Iste’ expresses ‘that place which you propose.’

With this composition addressed to his book (which can hardly be any other than this collection of Epistles) Horace sends it forth to take its chance in the world. He addresses it as a young and wanton maiden, eager to escape from the retirement of her home and to rush into dangers she knows nothing of. He tells her it will be too late to repair her error when she discovers it; that she will be caressed for a time and then thrown away, and, when her youth and the freshness of her beauty are gone, she will end her days in miserable drudgery and obscurity. He concludes with a description of himself, his person, his character, and his age.

1. Vertumnum Janumque,] The Vicus Thurarius, in which the Scholiasts say Vertumnus had a temple, was part of the Vicus Tuscus (S. ii. 3. 228), and the Argiletum was a street leading out of that street. In the Argiletum Janus had a temple. The Sosii were Horace’s booksellers (see A. P. 345), and their shop may have stood near temples of Vertumnus and Janus, at which Horace says his book is casting longing glances. The Scholiasts say they were brothers. The outside skin of the parchment-rolls were polished with pumice-stone, to make them look well.

3. Odisti claves] The ‘capsae’ or ‘scrinia’ (S. i. 4. 21, n.) were locked, or sealed, or both; and women and young persons were locked or sealed up in their chambers, that they might not get into mischief, which restraint Horace says they liked, if they were chaste. He professes to reproach his book for being tired of staying at home, and being shown only to his friends, and wanting to go out to be exposed for sale, to which purpose he had not trained it. There can be no doubt that what is here distinctly said of the Epistles is true of the other works of Horace, that they were shown to his friends, and circulated privately before they were collected and published.

8. In breve te cogi] As applied to the book, this means that it will be rolled up and put into a case, and not taken out again. The metaphorical language is kept up in the following words, in ‘peccantis,’ and in the notion of its being thrown aside when the freshness of youth shall have left it.

9. Quodsi non odio peccantis] ‘But if the prophet is not blinded by his aversion to the offender,’ that is, if I am not led by my aversion to your wantonness to prophesy too harshly of your fate. ‘Aetas’ is used for any time of life, according to the context; but more frequently for old age than youth.

13. Aut fugies Uticam] You will be shipped off to Utica (in Libya), or to Ilerda (Lerida) in Spain, or anywhere else in the remote provinces, tied up as a bundle of goods (‘vinctus’), and I shall laugh, for what is the use of trying to save such a willful thing? as the driver said, when his ass would go too near the edge of the precipice, and he drove him over in a passion. It is not known where this fable comes from. Compare A. P. 467.

18. balba senectus.] This keeps up the image in v. 10. Horace says his book will be reduced in its old age to the poor people’s schools in the back[545] streets (see S. i. 10. 75, n.). His writings came very soon to take their place with Homer and Virgil in all the schools. See Juvenal (vii. 226):

“Quot stabant pueri, cum totus decolor esset
Flaccus, et haereret nigro fuligo Maroni.”

19. Cum tibi sol tepidus] In the heat of the day, and before dinner in the baths, people read to themselves or one another. It is not easy to see the connection of this line with what goes before. It is something of a contradiction. But he supposes the book may perhaps be popular for a time.

23. Me primis Urbis] This he considers no small praise. See Epp. i. 17. 35, and S. ii. 1. 75. He does not mind at this time referring to his old generals, Brutus and Cassius. The description he gives of himself corresponds with that we find in his biographer. See also C. ii. 11. 15. Epp. i. 4. 15.

24. solibus aptum,] This means that he liked warm weather. See S. ii. 3. 10, n.

28. Collegam Lepidum] Horace was born on the 8th of December, B. C. 65, in the year of the consulship of L. Manlius Torquatus and L. Aurelius Cotta. He completed his forty-fourth year, therefore, in December, B. C. 21. In that year M. Lollius (to whom C. iv. 9 is addressed) and Q. Æmilius Lepidus were consuls. ‘Duxit’ merely means that he had Lepidus for his colleague. Why Horace should be so particular in letting the world know his present age in the above year I cannot tell. He was in a communicative mood when he wrote, and tells us in a few words a good deal about himself.

Among other anecdotes connected with Augustus, Suetonius, in his Life of Horace, says that he complained, after reading the Epistles, that he had not written one to him, whereupon Horace wrote the following Epistle to the Emperor.

The parts of the Epistle do not hang together very closely, especially after the first ninety lines. They consist of compliments to Augustus; a remonstrance about the patronage bestowed on the old poets; a description of the rapid growth of art in Greece after the Persian war; a complaint that everybody at Rome has taken to writing verses, whether they can or no; a commendation of poets as good and useful citizens and contributors to the national piety; a history of the growth of poetry in Italy; a comparison between tragedy and comedy; an account of the troubles of dramatic authors through the caprices and bad taste of their audiences, which at that time is stated to have been especially depraved; an appeal to Augustus on behalf of the poets of the day; and a reproof to such poets as are unreasonable or officious, and attempt themes too exalted for them.

There is much polish in the versification of this Epistle. The flattery with which it opens is cleverly written, and the verses towards the end, in which Horace compendiously states the military successes of Augustus, are terse and elegant. His commendation of the poet is a fair tribute to his own profession. The description of the vulgar taste for spectacles is natural, and reminds[546] us of our own times; and there is enough in the Epistle to account for the high estimation it is held in by the general reader.

2. moribus ornes,] See Introduction to C. ii. 15, and the Odes there referred to.

3. Legibus emendes,] The principal laws passed in the time of Augustus are given in Smith’s Dict. Antt., under the head ‘Juliae Leges.’ See C. iii. 24. 33, n.

5. Romulus et Liber pater] All these heroes are joined, in C. iii. 3. 9, sqq. As to ‘Liber,’ see Epp. i. 19. 4, n. There is additional confusion here by the Latin adjunct ‘pater’ being affixed to his name. Dionysus, Hercules, Castor, and Pollux were the favorite heroes of the Greeks, who attributed chiefly to their labors the civilization of the world, and to their care its preservation.

11. fatali] The labors of Hercules are called ‘fatales,’ because thereby he fulfilled his destiny. Virgil so describes them in Aen. viii. 291.

13. Urit enim fulgore suo] ‘For that man scorches with his brightness who overpowers capacities inferior to his own’; that is, inferior minds are galled by the consciousness of their inferiority, and extinguished by his greatness. ‘Artes’ here probably means attainments of any kind.

15. Praesenti tibi maturos] See note on C. iv. 5. 29, sqq., and C. iii. 5. 1, sqq. Augustus during his life refused to receive the honor of a temple at Rome, and in the provinces he would only have them if the name of Rome was coupled with his own. He had two of this sort in Asia Minor, and one built by Herod the Great at Cæsarea. A temple in the provinces was an honor which the governors often enjoyed. During his life, Augustus desired to be accounted the son of Apollo, and was represented on coins in the character of that god playing on a harp. After his death, several temples were erected to him, and his worship was regularly established, but the altars Horace speaks of were those which were raised in the provinces, like that below.

16. Jurandasque tuum per nomen] The person who swore by the altar laid his hand upon it, and invoked the name of the divinity to whom it was consecrated.

18. Sed tuus hic populus,] They who are wise in honoring you while among them, are not wise in their excessive admiration for all other things that are old and gone, and contempt for things modern.

20. simili ratione modoque] This is the third time Horace uses this combination. See S. ii. 3. 266, 271.

23. Sic fautor veterum] Augustus was particularly simple in his language, and had a contempt for affectation of any kind. He would therefore, as Orelli says, be pleased with these remarks of Horace.

24. Quas bis quinque viri sanxerunt,] In B. C. 452 ten patricians were appointed, with absolute powers for one year, to draw up a code of laws, of which the greater part was finished in that year, and engraved upon ten tables of ivory or bronze. In the following year the decemvirate was renewed, with the difference that three plebeians were elected among them, and two more tables were added. These tables contained the fundamental principles of Roman law to the latest times. Down to Cicero’s time they were committed to memory by boys at school. As to ‘sanxerunt,’ see S. ii. 1. 81, n.

foedera regum] A story is told by Livy (i. 53, sqq.) respecting the way in which Gabii (Epp. i. 11. 7, n.) came into the hands of the Romans. Another historian mentions having seen a treaty made on that occasion. ‘Gabiis’ and ‘Sabinis’ are both governed by ‘cum.’ Compare C. iii. 25. 2, “quae [547]nemora aut quos agor in specus.” As to ‘rigidis Sabinis,’ see C. iii. 6. 38. The treaty Horace alludes to may be that between Romulus and Tatius, king of the Sabines, by which the two nations became one (Livy i. 13). ‘Aequatus,’ in this sense of treaties or agreements made on equal terms, does not occur elsewhere.

26. Pontificum libros,] The College of Pontiffs had books containing the regulations by which they were guided, and all matters pertaining to their office and the worship of the gods, the general supervision of which was their principal duty. The original books were, according to tradition, given to them by Numa at their first creation; but they were added to from time to time, and they must have been numerous when Horace wrote. Some parts were no doubt very antiquated in expression and ideas.

annosa volumina vatum,] Not long after this Epistle was written, Augustus caused a multitude of books professing to be Sibylline oracles, and others of a prophetic character, to be burnt (see C. 9. 5, n.). Those that were counted genuine he preserved in the Capitol.

27. Dictitet Albano] There is force in ‘dictitet,’ ‘would persist in affirming,’ that the Muses themselves had uttered them (not on Parnassus, but) on the Alban Mount; that the Muses had changed their habitation to dwell in Latium.

31. Nil intra est oleam,] This may be a proverb, meaning we may believe any absurdity, or disbelieve our senses; if because the oldest poets of Greece are the best, therefore Roman poets must be weighed in the same scale, why then the olive is hard without and the nut is soft; we are at the height of good fortune; we paint, we sing, we wrestle, better than the Greeks; which every one knows is not the case.

35. quotus arroget annus.] See C. iv. 14. 40, n. Horace uses ‘decidere’ (v. 36) in the same sense in C. iv. 7. 14.

45. caudaeque pilos ut equinae] When the soldiers of Sertorius insisted on attacking the enemy against his wish, and were beaten, he took the following means of showing them their error and the policy he chose to pursue. He put before them two horses, one old and infirm, the other young and fresh, with a remarkably fine tail. A strong man stood by the old horse, a small man by the young one. They were desired to pull the hair out of the tails of the animals, and the strong man pulled at his with great force, while the little man proceeded to pull out the hairs of the other, one by one. The weak man soon accomplished his work, while the strong man of course failed. (Plutarch, Vit. Sert. c. 16.) Horace appears to refer to this story, which was probably well known. The application here is plain, though it has no very close analogy to the original.

46. demo et item] Terence uses ‘et item.’ Andria (i. 1. 49): “Sed postquam amans accessit pretium pollicens Unus et item alter”; and Lucretius (iv. 553):

“Asperitas autem vocis fit ab asperitate
Principiorum, et item levor levore creatur.”

47. ratione ruentis acervi] The Greeks had a logical term called σωρίτης (from σωρός, ‘acervus,’ a heap), signifying a series of propositions linked together and depending each upon the one before it, till a conclusion is come to which connects the first proposition with the last; but it may go on for ever without any conclusion at all. The invention of the σωρίτης is attributed to Chrysippus the Stoic.

48. Qui redit in fastos] The word ‘fasti,’ as applied to records, belonged properly to the sacred books or tables in which the ‘fasti’ and ‘nefasti dies’ were distinguished, that is, the Calendar. When these were made public (Livy ix. 46), calendars became common, and in these (which were usually engraved on tables of stone) remarkable events were inserted, so that they[548] became a source of historical information. There were also consular annals, or registers of the consuls and other chief magistrates, kept among the records of the state, and these were also called ‘fasti,’ or ‘annales,’ either of which words came, in consequence, to be used generally for historical registers of any kind, particularly by the poets. Horace applies it to the family genealogies of the Lamia family (C. iii. 17. 4). See also C. iv. 13. 15, 14. 4, and S. i. 3. 112, where it is applied in the most general way to the history of the world.

50. Ennius et sapiens] Ennius was born at Rudiæ, in Calabria, B. C. 239. He followed the opinions of Pythagoras, holding the doctrine of the transmigration of souls; and in the beginning of his epic poem, called ‘Annales,’ he declared that the spirit of Homer had passed into his body, having meanwhile inhabited, among others, that of a peacock. This is what Horace alludes to in ‘somnia Pythagorea.’ He says, however, that Ennius need not mind what was thought of his professions and his dreams, since he was certainly worshipped as if he were a second Homer. As to ‘critici,’ see Epp. i. 19. 40, n. Ennius is called ‘fortis,’ not for his personal bravery (though he saw some service), but for the boldness of his style.

53. Naevius in manibus non est] Cn. Nævius was born about the middle of the third century B. C., and wrote plays and an epic poem on the first Punic war, in which he served. To the latter poem Virgil seems to have owed some of his ideas. Terence ranks him, with Plautus and Ennius, as one of his models. Nævius was perhaps rather the oldest of the three. Cicero often has ‘non est’ in interrogative sentences.

56. Pacuvius docti famam senis,] Pacuvius was nephew to Ennius, and was born, like his uncle, in Calabria, about B. C. 220. His chief compositions were tragedies, and they were nearly all translated from the Greek. A scene from his Orestes is referred to by Cicero (De Amicit. c. 7), and he elsewhere places him at the head of the Roman tragedians.

57. Dicitur Afrani toga] Comedies written after a Greek model, with Greek scenes and characters, were called ‘palliatae’; those of which the incidents and persons were Roman were called ‘togatae,’ from the dress of the actors, the Greek ‘pallium’ corresponding to the Roman ‘toga.’ Afranius wrote principally ‘togatas,’ and Horace says that, according to the judgment of the critics, his toga would have suited Menander; that is, Menander need not have been ashamed of his plays. Afranius was some years younger than Cæcilius and Terence.

Of Menander, who flourished at Athens during the latter part of the fourth century B. C., mention has been made on S. i. 4. 1. Horace seems to have studied Menander. (See S. ii. 3. 11, n.)

58. Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi,] As to Horace’s opinion of Plautus, see below (170, sqq.). What his critics meant, when they said what Horace here attributes to them, I do not know; and since we have no means of comparing the writings of Plautus and Epicharmus, I do not see how the question can be decided. Epicharmus, a native of Cos, lived from B. C. 540 to the age of ninety. The chief part of his literary life was spent at the court of Gelon and his successor Hiero, at Syracuse, with Pindar, Æschylus, and other poets who were patronized at that court, where he composed comedies, thirty-five of which are known by their titles and some by fragments. He is commonly called the inventor of comedy, the fact being, perhaps, that his were the first that were written.

59. Vincere Caecilius gravitate,] This comic poet was born at Mediolanum[549] (Milan). He was a slave, but afterwards received his freedom. He died B. C. 168, the year after Ennius. His contemporaries held him in high estimation. Cicero places him at the head of the comic poets, but speaks ill of his Latin. What is meant by ‘gravitate’ is as uncertain as ‘properare’ in the verse before, and for the same reason.

Terentius arte.] The exact sense in which Horace meant this word is equally uncertain with the others; perhaps it has reference to the elegance of Terence’s language, or the skill with which he draws real life in his plays. There are few like him now. His name was P. Terentius Afer. He was a slave in the family of one P. Terentius Lucanus, whose prænomen and gentile name he took, on his manumission, retaining as a cognomen the name which he derived from the place of his birth, Carthage. The plays we have of his are all ‘palliatae,’ derived more or less from the Greek, chiefly of Menander.

60. arcto stipata theatro] The plays of Terence and all the earlier and more celebrated poets were performed, at first, either on scaffoldings erected in the Circus, and afterwards taken down, or in temporary wooden theatres, usually on a very large scale; the notion being that a systematic encouragement of plays, by the erection of permanent buildings, was injurious to public morals. The first permanent stone theatre at Rome (for they had them in the country towns some time before) was built by Cn. Pompeius, after the Mithridatic war, outside the walls, near the Campus Martius.

62. Livi scriptoris ab aevo.] T. Livius Andronicus is spoken of by Quintilian as the first Roman poet. The date of his birth is uncertain, but he died B. C. 221, or thereabouts. He wrote a translation of the Odyssey, and plays. These were all, as far as we know, ‘palliatae,’ from the Greek. Cicero says they were not worth a second reading.

63. Interdum vulgus] The multitude, he means, are not altogether blind to the defects of these old writers, though many think there is nothing like them.

66. dure — ignave] The first represents the harshness of the style, the second its carelessness. Compare A. P. 445. ‘Jove aequo’ is the opposite of ‘Jove non probante’ (C. i. 2. 19).

70. plagosum mihi parvo Orbilium dictare;] Orbilius Pupillus was a native of Beneventum. In his fiftieth year (B. C. 63) he came to Rome and set up a school. He seems to have held the rod as the principle of school government. He lived in great poverty, in a garret, to nearly a hundred years of age, having long lost his memory. His townspeople were proud of him, and erected a marble statue to his memory. Orbilius was in his forty-eighth year when Horace was born. He was therefore not young when the poet went to his school. As to ‘dictare,’ see S. i. 10. 75, n.

75. ducit venditque poëma.] ‘It brings forward and gives a value to the whole poem.’ Compare Juvenal (vii. 135): “Purpura vendit Causidicum, vendunt amethystina.”

79. crocum floresque perambulet Attae Fabula] Atta was a writer of comedies (‘togatae’), of which a few fragments remain. He died B. C. 78. It is not clear that Horace had any particular play in mind, but it may have been an affectation of Atta’s to have flowers scattered on the stage, on which it was usual to sprinkle a perfume extracted from the crocus. The perfume was mixed with water and thrown up through pipes, so as to sprinkle not only the stage, but the spectators. The most famous crocus was that of Mount Corycus, in Cilicia (see S. ii. 4. 68, n.).

82. Quae gravis Aesopus,] Claudius Æsopus, the tragic actor, was an intimate friend of Cicero’s, and most of the distinguished men of that time. He was older than Cicero, though the date of his birth is not known, or that[550] of his death. He was a freedman of some person belonging to the Clodia gens. ‘Gravis’ is a good epithet for a tragic actor.

82. quae doctus Roscius egit:] Q. Roscius, the comic actor, was also an intimate friend of Cicero, who often speaks of him, and pleaded a cause for him in a speech still in part extant. The meaning of ‘doctus’ can only be explained by the study he gave to his profession, and the accurate knowledge he acquired of the principles of his art. He died about B. C. 62, and was enormously rich, like Æsopus, whose wealth has been referred to on S. ii. 3. 239.

86. Jam Saliare Numae carmen] See C. iv. 1. 28, n. The hymns of the Salii appear to have been very obscure; but there were those who thought themselves clever enough to make them out, which Horace takes leave to doubt. It may be that popular belief attributed the composition of these verses to Numa, who established the Salii of Mars.

93. Ut primum positis] Here follows a description of the Athenians, as they quickly became after the Persian war (B. C. 480), and especially under the administration of Pericles and afterwards. It is only to Athens that Horace’s language will accurately apply. On this subject the student may refer to Thirlwall’s Greece, Vol. III. 62, sq., 70, sq.; IV. 256.

95. athletarum studiis,] The term ἀθλητής (from ἆθλα, the prizes of victory) was applied by the Greeks only to those who contended in the great games (the Olympian, Isthmian, Nemean, and Pythian) for prizes in exercises of personal strength, as wrestling, running, boxing, leaping, throwing the discus or javelin. The honour that was paid to successful ‘athletae’ was enormous. They were introduced at Rome about two centuries B. C., and under the emperors were a privileged class, and formed a ‘collegium.’

96. Marmoris aut eboris fabros aut aeris] All the great artists of this period, as Pheidias, Polycleitus, Myron, wrought in bronze as well as marble, and were scarcely less distinguished for engraving and chasing, than in the higher departments of art. The most celebrated works in ivory were the statues of Jupiter Olympius at Elis, and of Minerva in the Parthenon at Athens, executed by Pheidias.

101. Quid placet aut odio est] Horace introduces the example of Athens to show that greatness was reached by their love, not of what was old, but what was new. Peace and prosperity brought with it tastes and elegances of a high order; and though, no doubt, there was fickleness in the pursuit of these things, this was to be expected, says he, and may be excused, seeing what human nature is.

104. Mane domo vigilare,] See S. i. 1. 10, n. Horace goes on to compare the change which had come upon the character of the Romans through their new taste for poetry, with that which passed upon the Athenians when they turned from arms to the arts of peace, and he justifies the change (103-167).

105. Cautos nominibus rectis] To lend money on security to good debtors. ‘Expendere’ is equivalent to ‘expensum referre,’ which means to debit a person in one’s books with money lent (see S. ii. 3. 69, n.). ‘Cavere’ is the usual word for giving or taking security. ‘Nomen’ signifies an item or entry in a book of accounts, and ‘referre nomina’ to make such entries. It also is used for a debt, and ‘nomen solvere’ is to pay a debt; ‘nomen facere,’ either to incur a debt or to lend money; for ‘facere’ is used in both senses but ‘nomen’ is also used for the debtor himself.

110. carmina dictant.] ‘Dictare’ is equivalent to ‘scribere,’ because they did not usually write themselves, but dictated to a slave who wrote. See S. i. 10. 92, n.

112. Parthis mandacior,] This expression, which seems as if it were proverbial, savors of the jealousy the Romans of that day felt towards the Parthians. Elsewhere Horace calls them ‘infidi,’ C. iv. 15. 23. As[551] to ‘calamus’ and ‘charta,’ see S. ii. 3. 2. 7, and for ‘scrinia,’ see S. i. 4. 21, n.

114. abrotonum] This is the plant which we call southern-wood, which is still used for medicinal purposes.

119. avarus Non temere est animus;] ‘Not readily given to avarice.’ In S. ii. 2. 116 he says, “Non temere edi luce profesta Quidquam praeter olus” (see note), and in Epp. ii. 2. 13, “Non temere a me Quivis ferret idem,” where the sense is much the same as here.

122. Non fraudem socio puerove] See C. iii. 24. 60, n., and as to ‘pupillo,’ see Epp. i. 1. 21, n.

123. siliquis et pane secundo;] ‘Siliqua’ is the pod or husk of any leguminous vegetable; but it was applied particularly to a plant, the ‘siliqua Graeca,’ which is still found in Italy and Spain. It has no English name. ‘Panis secundus,’ or ‘secundarius,’ is bread made from inferior flour.

127. jam nunc] See C. iii. 6. 23, n. As to ‘formo,’ see C. iii. 24. 54; S. i. 4. 121; A. P. 307, and other places. For ‘corrector,’ see Epp. i. 15. 37. ‘Orientia tempora’ means the time of youth; as we say, the dawn of life.

132. Castis cum pueris] The Carmen Saeculare was sung by a choir consisting of twenty-seven boys, and as many girls, of noble birth (see Introduction); and such choruses were usual on special occasions of that sort.

133. Disceret unde preces] The vestal virgins addressed their prayers to their goddess, ‘docta prece,’ the equivalent for which is ‘carmine.’ See C. i. 2. 26, where ‘prece’ is opposed to ‘carmina,’ though the latter too were prayers, and perhaps in verse, but in a set form, ‘doctae preces.’

138. carmine Manes.] The great annual festival at which the Manes, the souls of the departed, were worshipped, was the Lemuria, which was celebrated in May, on the 9th, 11th, and 13th days of the month. They were also worshipped shortly after a funeral at the ‘feriae denicales,’ when the family of the deceased went through a purification. The Lares being also the spirits of the dead, differed only in name from the Manes, which were ordinarily inserted in sepulchral inscriptions, as the Dii Manes of the departed. The name is derived from a root signifying ‘good,’ for none but the good could become Manes. Their existence was a matter of some scepticism, as observed on C. i. 4. 16. Here the name seems to embrace all the infernal deities, as Dis, Proserpina, Tellus, the Furiæ, &c., as, well as the spirits of the dead.

143. Tellurem porco,] The temple of Tellus in the Carinæ has been mentioned before, Epp. i. 7. 48, n. She was worshipped among the ‘dii inferi,’ or Manes. Her annual festival, the Fordicidia, was celebrated on the 15th of April. ‘Forda’ in the old language signified a cow. See Ovid, Fast. iv. 629, sqq. But it appears that sacrifices were also offered after harvest, and that the victim was a hog, which was commonly offered to the Lares. (C. iii. 23. 4, where the feminine is used; S. ii. 3. 165; C. iii. 17. 5; Epp. i. 16. 58.)

Silvanum lacte piabant,] In Epod. ii. 22 the offerings to Silvanus are fruits, and there he is spoken of as ‘tutor finium’: in Tibullus (i. 5. 27) he is called ‘deus agricola,’ and the offerings are different for wine, corn, and flocks, all of which he protected:

“Illa deo sciet agricolae pro vitibus uvam,
Pro segete spicas, pro grege terre dapem.”

Juvenal (vi. 447) mentions a hog as an offering to this god, to whom women were not allowed to sacrifice, as appears from that passage.

145. Fescennina per hunc inventa licentia] There was a sort of rude jesting dialogue carried on in extempore verse at these rustic festivals, full of good-tempered raillery and coarse humor. These were called ‘Fescennina carmina,’[552] as is generally supposed from the town Fescennia or Fescennium, belonging to the Falisci. From these verses others took their name, which were more licentious and scurrilous, and satires got the same name, but the sort of poetry with which it originated was harmless, as Horace says. Compare Virgil, Georg. ii. 385, sqq.

152. quin etiam lex Poenaque lata] See S. ii. 1. 80, n. ‘Lata’ properly belongs to ‘lex.’ When a penalty was inserted in the ‘lex,’ it was ‘lex sancta,’ as stated in the note just referred to.

154. Describi;] This is used in the same sense in S. i. 4. 3: “Si quis erat dignus describi.” ‘Fustuarium’ was a mode of putting to death by beating with sticks and stoning, usually, but not only, as the passage shows, inflicted on soldiers. (See Dict. Antt.)

156. Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit] The taking of Syracuse by Marcellus, B. C. 212, the seventh year of the second Punic War, led to the introduction into Rome of a taste for Greek art, many fine works being at that time first made known to the Romans. In B. C. 146, the last year of the third Punic war, Corinth was taken by Mummius, and Southern Greece was formed into the Roman province of Achaia. Horace had probably both these periods in his mind, as well as the conquest of Southern Italy, in the towns of which were some of the finest works of Grecian art. The first play copied from the Greek was not exhibited at Rome till after the first Punic war, which ended in B. C. 241. It was by Livius. See v. 62, n.

158. Defluxit numerus Saturnius] The Saturnian verse, according to Niebuhr (i. 259, n.), continued in use till about B. C. 100. Horace says traces of the old rudeness remained in his day, probably in the less polished ‘mimes,’ and in the ‘Fescennina carmina,’ which were not extinct.

163. Quid Sophocles et Thespis et Aeschylus] Thespis is here introduced as being the reputed founder of Greek tragedy. It is doubtful whether any of his plays were translated by or known to the Roman tragedians, of whom Horace has mentioned Livius, Ennius, Nævius, Pacuvius, and Accius. We know of no others earlier than Accius, the last of these; and the number of tragedies by these writers, the titles of which have been preserved, is one hundred and nineteen. As to Thespis, see A. P. 275, n.

167. metuitque lituram.] ‘But ignorantly thinks an erasure discreditable, and shuns it.’ That is, they were bold enough in their style, and had the spirit of tragedy in them, but they did not look sufficiently to the correction and polishing of their language; they admitted words which were out of taste, and thought too much care in composition beneath them. This is pretty much what he says of Lucilius (S. i. 10. 56, sqq.).

168. arcessit] See Epp. i. 5. 6, n. ‘Ex medio’ is from common life. Horace says comedy is supposed to be very easy, because the matter is common; but, in fact, it gives more trouble in proportion to the readiness with which it is criticised and faults are detected and condemned. The following remarks on the stage grew out of the allusion to the Greek writers, but they are not closely connected with what is passed. They are introduced for the purpose of deprecating the excessive admiration and support bestowed on the drama at the expense of other poetry (168-213).

170. Plautus] It appears that Horace had no great opinion of Plautus, all whose greatness, he says, lay in the drawing of small parts. Niebuhr judges otherwise: he calls him one of the greatest poetical geniuses of antiquity. The language of Plautus would be rough to the ears of Horace, and his jokes and allusions, drawn principally from the lower orders, or taken from the Greek and adapted to the common sort of people, did not interest him.

173. Quantus sit Dossennus] This person, who is not mentioned elsewhere, must have been a comic writer of the day.

174. percurrat pulpita socco;] The front part of the stage where the actors spoke was called ‘pulpitum,’ by the Greeks λογεῖον. As to ‘soccus,’ see S. i. 3. 127, n. It was worn by comic actors, as being a less dignified order of covering for the feet than the ‘cothurnus.’ A good representation of it will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquities. Other shoes worn in comedy were ‘baxeae’ and ‘crepidae,’ for the same reason, each being a loose sort of slipper, and the latter not materially different from the ‘soccus.’ Horace means that Dossennus is careless in the composition of his plays, which he expresses by his running about the stage with loose slippers. His only care, he says, is to make money.

186. Aut ursum aut pugiles;] Augustus himself had a liking for boxers, as mentioned on Epp. i. 1. 49. The interruptions to the regular drama which Horace here mentions appear to have been of common occurrence. Though the acting of plays was in Horace’s time carried on in a theatre (v. 60, n.) erected for this special purpose, it appears the people insisted sometimes on having a bear-bait or a boxing match there to amuse them, in spite of the remonstrances of the equites in the front rows, who, however, Horace says, were themselves taken too much with processions and shows that appealed more to the eye than to the ear.

187. Verum equitis] ‘But with the eques, too, all his pleasure was shifted from the ear to the erring eye and vain delights.’ He means that the eye is easily dazzled and deluded. The ear takes in what it receives, and conveys it to the mind without error.

189. aulaea premuntur] At the back of the stage was the ‘scena,’ or wall on which was painted some scene suitable to the performance. Before this ‘scena’ was a curtain, which was let down below the stage when the acting began, and raised when it was over. This curtain was called ‘aulaeum.’ The raising of the curtain at the end of the play is referred to in A. P. 154, sq.

191. regum fortuna] This is equivalent to ‘fortunati reges.’ The expression is like those noticed at S. i. 2. 32; ii. 1. 72.

192. Esseda festinant,] The ‘essedum’ was originally the name of a British or Gaulish war-chariot, derived from a Celtic root. The name came to be applied to a travelling carriage on two wheels and drawn by two horses. The ‘pilentum’ was a carriage used in processions, and appears to have been usually of a luxurious kind, with well-stuffed cushions, and used by women. It was also a travelling carriage. As to ‘petorritum,’ see S. i. 6. 104, n., and Epp. i. 11. 28, n.

193. captiva Corinthus.] The taking of Corinth may have been represented by spoils of Corinthian bronze.

194. Democritus,] See Epp. i. 12. 12, n. Democritus had the character of a laughing philosopher, one who turned things habitually into ridicule.

196. Sive elephas albus] The king of Ava has for one of his many titles the Lord of the White Elephant; and it has been usual for the British government, when an elephant of this color was caught in their territories, to send it with due ceremony as a present to his Majesty. White elephants are merely lusus naturae; they are not a distinct species, as some have supposed. They have pink eyes, like other albinos, but do not differ from the brown animal in other respects. They are not common.

207. Lana Tarentino] The different shades of the purple dye were obtained by different mixtures of the juice of the ‘murex’ with that of the ‘purpura,’ both of which were shell-fish, found in great abundance on both coasts of Italy.[554] Those of Baiæ were most celebrated on the west coast (S. ii. 4. 32), and those of Tarentum on the east. The violet color was much in fashion at this time, together with the scarlet peculiar to Tarentum. The Tarentines imitated all the foreign varieties. But these imitations, whether made from the fish or the ‘fucus,’ never came up to the original dyes, and were easily detected. (See Epp. i. 10. 26, n.)

208. quae facere ipse recusem] That is, what his nature refuses to do, what he has no capacity for. Horace denies that he is disposed to detract from the merits of good dramatic poets; on the contrary, he considers that he who could succeed in exciting his feelings with fictitious griefs and fears, and transport him in imagination to distant places, could do anything he chose to try, dance on a tight rope if he pleased, in which there is a little jocular irony perhaps. Dancing on the tight rope was carried, it seems, to great perfection among the ancients. The Greek name for a rope dancer was σχοινοβάτης, the Latin ‘funambulus’; those who exhibited at Rome were usually Greeks.

216. Curam redde brevem,] ‘Reddere’ is ‘to pay,’ and ‘curam redde brevem’ is ‘pay a slight, passing attention.’ ‘Munus Apolline dignum,’ ‘an offering worthy of Apollo,’ means the library mentioned, C. i. 31, Introduction.

220. Ut vineta egomet caedam mea,] The man who damages his own vines hurts himself more than any one else, and this is the meaning of the proverb. Horace goes on jocularly to relate many offences of poets arising out of their want of tact and knowledge of the world.

223. revolvimus irrevocati;] The compounds of ‘volvo’ are used for reading from the shape of the books rolled up. ‘Revolvere’ is to read again. One of the ways that he says authors get themselves into trouble is by reading over again and again passages they think very fine, but which their patron has not taken the trouble to ask for again.

230. Aedituos] This word means the keeper of a temple. Horace says, it is worth while to see what kind of persons should be intrusted with the keeping of the fame of Augustus, what poets should be allowed to tell of it,—and with this subject he concludes.

233. Choerilus,] Chœrilus of Iasos was a poet who accompanied Alexander and wrote verses on his battles. They were very poor, according to Horace. This poet has been confounded with a native of Samos, who was in the pay of Xerxes. He is mentioned again, A. P. 357. ‘Male natis versibus’ means verses made by a poet who was not born such, seeing that ‘poëta nascitur non fit.’

234. Rettulit acceptos,] See note on S. ii. 3. 69. ‘Philippi’ were gold coins with Philip’s head on them, the Macedonian ‘stater,’ of which many specimens are in existence. Its value is reckoned at £1 3s. 6d. of English money. (See Dict. Antt.)

236. Atramenta,] Ink was used by the ancients. The Greeks called it μέλαν, the Romans ‘atramentum scriptorium’ or ‘librarium,’ to distinguish it from shoemaker’s dye, also called ‘atramentum,’ and a paint which had the same name. See Dictionary of Antiquities. Horace says it is a common thing for poets to defile great deeds with bad verses, as the fingers are defiled when they handle ink.

239. ne quis se praeter Apellen] Apelles flourished during the latter half of the fourth century B. C., at the court of Philip and in the camp of Alexander. This story—that Alexander would not suffer himself to be painted by any but Apelles—is referred to by Cicero, Pliny, and Plutarch (Alex. c. 4). His reputation as a painter stood higher than any other of antiquity.

240. alius Lysippo] Lysippus was a younger contemporary of Apelles, and a native of Sicyon. He wrought almost entirely in bronze. He made[555] several statues of Alexander, whom he appears, like Apelles, to have followed into Asia.

244. Boeotum in crasso] The dulness and sensuality of the Bœotians were proverbial. The cause it is not easy to assign. Polybius says it was unparalleled in Grecian history.

245. tua de se judicia atque Munera,] Respecting Virgil and Varius, see S. i. 5. 40, n. Augustus had an affection for them both, and a Scholiast says he made each of them a present of a million sesterces.

248. aënea signa,] The word ‘signum’ applies generally to all carved or cast figures, while ‘statua’ applies only to full length figures.

251. Repentes per humum] This is expressed by ‘pedestris.’ See C. ii. 12. 9, n.

252. arces Montibus impositas,] See C. iv. 14. 12, and 33, n. This description would especially apply to the conquest of the Cantabri, and the Illyrian and Alpine tribes.

255. Claustraque custodem pacis cohibentia] That which is commonly called the Temple of Janus was a passage enclosed between two gates leading out of the city. A statue of Janus was placed there, and from this and the two gates the place was called Janus Geminus. It was built, according to tradition, by Numa (Livy i. 19). The gates were open in war and closed in peace. Horace’s explanation is, that the gates were shut during peace to prevent its guardian from leaving the city. The first time the gates were shut during the Republic was B. C. 235. By Augustus they were closed three times (see C. iv. 15. 9, n.), after the battle of Actium and taking of Alexandria, A. U. C. 725, and after the Cantabrian war, A. U. C. 729. The third occasion is not known.

262. Discit enim citius] ‘Quis’ belongs both to ‘discit’ and to ‘deridet.’ Horace says men are more apt to remember what is ridiculous than that which is good and serious; and therefore it is not pleasant to have one’s name associated with silly verses or an ugly wax image, such as the admirers of public men might think to honor them with. Busts of literary and other distinguished men were put up in the public libraries (see S. i. 4. 21, n.), and were probably multiplied for sale. They were sometimes made of wax, of which material were made the family busts preserved in the atria of private houses.

268. capsa porrectus aperta,] As to ‘capsa,’ see the note last referred to. Horace speaks of being stretched out in an open box as if he were a corpse being carried on a ‘vilis arca’ (S. i. 8. 9, n.) to the common burial ground, that is, to the grocer’s shop. ‘Vicum’ may mean the ‘Vicus Thurarius,’ which was a part of the Vicus Tuscus mentioned S. ii. 3. 228. ‘Porrectus’ is used commonly for corpses. ‘Aperta’ keeps up the notion of a ‘sandapila,’ or common bier, on which the poor were carried out to burial. In plain language, Horace says he might expect his panegyrist’s verses to be carried to the grocer (to whom and the trunk-maker waste paper goes still), and himself to be held up to ridicule with the author.

This Epistle is addressed to Julius Florus, to whom also the third of the first Book was written. (See Introduction.) Its professed purpose is to excuse Horace for not having sent Florus any verses. He says he had warned him before he went that he should not be able to write, that he had[556] grown lazy. He reminds him, too, that he had originally only written verses to bring himself into notice because he was poor, and now he had not the same stimulus. Besides, he was getting on in years, and people’s tastes were so various, and the noises and engagements of the town so distracting, and the trouble of giving and receiving compliments so great, that he had abandoned poetry in disgust. It was better to study philosophy, in respect to which he reasons with himself through nearly a hundred lines, the substance of which is that he had better be content with what he has got by his profession, set to work to purge his mind, and leave jests and wantonness to younger men.

This Epistle furnishes materials for a considerable part of Horace’s biography, and makes us acquainted with his poetical career in particular.

It is probable that Florus continued attached to Tiberius, and was with him when he was campaigning with Augustus some years after the Armenian expedition, on which they were engaged when the other Epistle was written.

1. Flore, bono claroque] See Introduction; and as to the character of Tiberius, see Epp. i. 9. 4, n. His name was that of his father, Tiberius Claudius Nero, till his adoption by Augustus, A. D. 4, when he became Tiberius Claudius Nero Cæsar.

2. natum Tibure vel Gabiis,] That is, ‘anywhere you please.’ The poets like to give reality to their illustrations by being specific. This is Dillenburger’s remark. As to Gabii, see Epp. i. 11. 7, n.

5. nummorum millibus octo,] 8,000 sesterces, ‘nummus’ being used as an equivalent for ‘sestertius.’ This sum was about 65l. sterling. Much larger sums were given for handsome slaves, and this boy’s accomplishments, if they were real, would make him worth a good price. There would be reason, therefore, to suspect, in such a case, that the owner was anxious to get rid of him. See S. ii. 7. 42, n.

7. Litterulis Graecis] The ‘literati’ were a separate class in the slave family, and were subdivided into ‘anagnostae’ or ‘lectores’ (who read to their masters, chiefly at their meals, or, if their masters were authors, they read their productions aloud for the benefit of the guests), and ‘librarii’ or ‘scribae,’ used for writing from dictation, taking care of the library, keeping accounts, etc., and hence called pueri or servi ‘a studiis,’ ‘ab epistolis,’ ‘a bibliotheca,’ ‘notarii,’ etc. There were also architects, sculptors, painters, engravers, and other artists, who all came under the same general head of ‘literati.’ The boy in this place might also be put among the ‘cantores’ or ‘symphoniaci,’ the choir or band who sang and played to their master at meals. In short, he was fit for any of the above employments, according to his owner’s estimate; which he professes to put in a modest way, for fear he should seem to be puffing his property, and so depreciate its value. The diminutive ‘litterulis’ is used with this design.

12. meo sum pauper in aere.] ‘Aes alienum’ is used for a debt, and ‘aes proprium,’ ‘suum,’ etc. is therefore money not borrowed. The man here says he is not rich, but what he has is his own. “I am poor, (but live) on my own means.”

13. Nemo hoc mangonum faceret tibi;] He professes to deal as a friend. The ‘mangones’ were slave-dealers, a class in no favor, but often very rich. The name is derived from the Greek μάγγανον, μαγγανεύω, to juggle, cheat. They were distinguished from ‘mercatores,’ being called ‘venaliciarii,’ ‘venales’ signifying slaves. The way of ‘raising’ slaves for the market and selling them differed but little from the practice in modern times.

14. Semel hic cessavit] He once was behind his time, and hid himself under or on the staircase for fear of a flogging. ‘Cessator’ and ‘erro’ were synonymous[557] words. (See S. ii. 7. 100, 113, n.) The stairs may have been dark sometimes, and, as in most houses the principal accommodation was on the ground floor, it is probable that so much regard was not had to the lighting of the staircase as we pay now. It appears a whip was hung up in some conspicuous place.

17. poenae securus,] Among the faults the seller of a slave was bound to tell was running away. See S. ii. 3. 285.

21. ne mea saevus Jurgares] ‘Mea’ belongs to ‘epistola’. ‘Jurgo’ is intransitive. ‘Do not be cruel, and complain because I sent you no letter in reply’. Florus had written, probably, more than once, expostulating with him on his silence, and had got no answer.

24. Si tamen attentas?] ‘Attentare’ is to attack, or attempt to overthrow. ‘Mecum facientia’ means that they are on his side.

super hoc] It is doubtful whether this means ‘besides this,’ as in S. ii. 6. 3, “Et paulum silvae super his” (see note), or ‘about this,’ as “Pallescet super his” (A. P. 429). Orelli takes it the former way.

25. non mittam carmina] ‘Carmina’ means lyric verses, which Florus seems to have asked for.

26. Luculli miles collecta viatica] As to Lucullus, see Epp. i. 6. 40, n. Whatever groundwork of truth there may be in this story, Horace has evidently altered it to suit his purpose. ‘Viatica’ would include money as well as baggage. Cicero uses the word metaphorically for money (Cat. Maj. c. 18): “Avaritia senilis quid sibi velit non intelligo. Potest enim quidpiam esse absurdius quam quo minus viae restat eo plus viatici quaerere?”

30. Praesidium regale] This would be a fortress in which Mithridates kept some part of his treasures.

33. bis dena super sestertia] The ‘sestertium’ (1,000 sestertii) was a sum equal to about 8l. 17s. of English money, twenty of which (166l. 13s. 4d.) would not be a large sum for an officer of rank. But he must be supposed, from his exploits, to have held some command.

34. Forte sub hoc tempus] ‘Soon after this time’ (see Epod. 2. 44, n. in respect to ‘sub’ with an accusative in phrases of time). Lucullus had the title of ‘proconsul’ of Cilicia. But he is here called ‘praetor’. He had been ‘praetor urbanus,’ but went into Asia at the expiration of his consulship, and therefore with the title of ‘proconsul.’ A ‘praetor’ taking a province went with the title of ‘propraetor,’ as Brutus did into Macedonia. (See S. i. 7. 18.)

40. qui zonam perdidit,] The Romans wore a girdle when walking or actively occupied, to hold up the end of their tunic. Hence the expressions ‘praecinctus,’ ‘succinctus,’ for those who were hastening or engaged in active work. (See S. i. 5. 6, n.) In this girdle (‘zona’ or ‘cingulum’) they often carried their money. Hence ‘zona’ came to be used generally for a purse. The more common word ‘crumena’ was a bag, generally of leather, hung on the arm or round the neck, or sometimes perhaps to the ‘zona.’

43. Adjecere bonae] The knowledge acquired at Athens was not only philosophy in all its branches, but Greek literature, with which Horace became familiar, especially with the lyric poets, whose works were probably never taught in the schools at Rome. But he here only refers to his dialectical studies, which he pursued in the school of the Academy, the head of which at this time was Theomnestus, whose lectures Brutus attended (Plut. Brut. c. 24). Academus was an Attic hero, and there was a spot of ground about three quarters of a mile from the city, on the banks of the Cephisus, which was dedicated to him and planted with olives, and called after his name, Academia. Here Plato taught, and hence his school was named.

44. curvo dignoscere rectum,] ‘Curvum’ is used here like ‘pravum,’ for ‘falsehood.’

48. non responsura lacertis.] Not destined to match the strength of Augustus. (See S. ii. 7. 85, n.) In the first engagement at Philippi (A. U. C. 712), Brutus defeated the forces of Augustus, and got possession of his camp, while M. Antonius on the other hand defeated Cassius, who destroyed himself. But twenty days afterwards a second engagement went against Brutus, and he likewise put an end to himself. Brutus attached to his cause the young Romans studying at Athens, and the battles and wanderings he led them through are related by Plutarch in his Life (c. 24, sqq.).

51. Et laris et fundi,] ‘Laris’ is equivalent to ‘domus’. As to the difference between ‘domus’ and ‘fundus,’ see S. ii. 5. 108, n. Horace’s patrimony was forfeited because he was of the republican party. He says nothing of the scribe’s place which Suetonius says he bought (with what means does not appear), nor does he mention how he got his pardon and permission to return to Rome. He only says he was driven by poverty to write verses, which therefore he first wrote for fame, that is, to bring himself into the notice of those who were able to relieve his wants, as Mæcenas did. It is impossible to tell what he wrote at first. It is probable that he suppressed much of his early poetry.

53. Quae poterunt unquam] The ‘cicuta,’ κώνειον, hemlock, was used as an antifebrile medicine. Horace asks what amount of ‘cicuta’ would be sufficient to cool his veins, if he were so feverishly bent upon writing as to do so when he could live without it.

60. Ille Bioneis sermonibus] Bion was born on the Borysthenes, and was hence called Borysthenites. He flourished about the middle of the third century B. C. He studied philosophy at Athens, and, after passing through various sects, became at last a Peripatetic. It is said he wrote certain books on the follies of mankind of a very bitter character. As ‘sal’ is put for wit (S. i. 10. 3), ‘sale nigro’ means coarse wit.

61. Tres mihi convivae] He treats his friends, all asking him for different sorts of verse, as guests at a dinner each liking different fare, so that he does not know what to give them.

68. cubat hic in colle Quirini,] As to ‘cubat’ see S. i. 9. 18, n. Mons Quirinalis was in the sixth, or most northern division of the city; Mons Aventinus, in the opposite quarter, the thirteenth region.

70. Intervalla vides humane commoda.] ‘A pretty convenient distance, you see.’ ‘Humane’ is not used in this ironical way elsewhere.

71. Purae sunt plateae,] This is a supposed answer, the rejoinder to which is in v. 72. ‘Platea’ is a less general name than ‘vicus.’ It applies only to the broader streets. The word, being derived from the Greek πλατεῖα, would properly have its penult long. It suits Horace to shorten it. As to the obstructions in the streets of Rome, the best of which were but narrow, see Epp. i. 6. 51, n. ‘Purae’ means unobstructed.

72. redemptor,] See C. ii. 18. 18, n.; iii. 1. 35, n. ‘Calidus’ only strengthens ‘festinat,’ he is in hot haste: the substantives are in the ablative, ‘cum’ being omitted.

73. machina] Probably a pulley raising a large stone or beam for the upper part of a building, and swinging it over the heads of the passengers. As to ‘funera,’ see S. i. 6. 43, n.

80. contracta sequi vestigia] ‘To follow the confined steps of the poets,’ by which he means that the poets walk in a path narrowed by fixed rules; and that it requires thought and diligence to tread in their steps.

81. vacuas desumpsit Athenas,] See Epp. i. 7. 45, n. for ‘vacuas.’ Horace[559] says the man who has retired to study, as he had done at Athens, and has shut himself up for several years, and got dull over his books and his meditations, cannot open his lips when he gets to Rome, and is only laughed at by the people for his sobriety. This is an odd defence for one who had written so much as he had done at Rome. It is meant for a joke. ‘Septem annis’ is not to be taken literally, as if Horace had been seven years at Athens, which is very improbable, but for any considerable number. He was only twenty-two when he joined Brutus, A. U. C. 711.

87. Frater erat Romae] Who these brothers were Horace does not tell us, and it does not matter. One was a jurisconsultus (see S. i. 1. 9, n.), and the other a teacher of rhetoric. The lawyer said the rhetorician was a perfect Gracchus for eloquence, and he returned the compliment by declaring that his brother was a second Scævola for legal learning. And this sort of mutual flattery goes on, Horace says, among poets, and he cannot keep pace with their passion for praise. Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Caius were both, in Cicero’s opinion, great orators. We need not therefore attempt to decide which Horace means us to understand here. Q. Mucius Scævola the augur, son-in-law of C. Lælius, and an early instructor of Cicero (Lael. c. 1), was learned in the law; but his namesake and younger contemporary, the Pontifex Maximus (mentioned in the same treatise), was more celebrated still. This name, therefore, like that of Gracchus for oratory, stands for a consummate jurist.

90. argutos] Compare iv. 6. 25: “Doctor argutae fidicen Thaliae.” It means melodious, and is a sort of mock compliment.

92. Caelatumque novem Musis opus] It is likened to a perfect piece of carved work, in which all the Muses had a hand.

93. quanto molimine] This expresses the pompous strut with which they pass the library of Apollo, in which they take it for granted a place is reserved for them. As to ‘aedem,’ see S. i. 10. 38.

95. procul] This word signifies any distance, great or small. Here it means hard by, as in S. ii. 6. 105; Epp. i. 7. ‘Quid ferat’ means what each has to say.

97. Caedimur et totidem plagis] They carry on such a contest of mutual flattery, that they are like two gladiators, each trying to get the better of the other. ‘Samnites’ were a particular class of gladiators, so called because they wore the same arms as that people, particularly an oblong shield. See S. ii. 6. 44, n. ‘Ad lumina prima’ would be usually till the second course, when the lights were brought in. Among the amusements that rich men had at their dinners were gladiators who fought with blunt weapons; and here the contest is said to be protracted (‘lento’) till the lights came in. It was a long trial of skill.

99. puncto illius;] In his judgment or by his vote. When an election took place, there were certain persons called ‘custodes’ appointed to take the votes and prick off the number given for each candidate. From this process votes came to be called ‘puncta.’ See A. P. 343, n.

101. Fit Mimnermus] See Epp. i. 6. 65, n. Horace seems to think him superior to Callimachus, who was a grammarian and voluminous prose-writer as well as a poet, a native of Cyrene, and established at Alexandria in the reigns of the Ptolemies, Philadelphus and Euergetes, in the third century B. C. ‘Optivo,’ signifying ‘desired,’ does not occur elsewhere.

105. impune legentibus] He says, when he has done writing and recovered his senses (which was the same thing), he should stop his ears, and they might recite without fear of reprisals. See Epp. i. 19. 39.

113. Verba movere loco,] The notion of the censor is kept up. See note on S. i. 6. 20.

114. Et versentur adhuc] This is a way of saying that the verses, though they may be expunged, still are kept in the author’s desk, because he has a regard for them, and cannot make up his mind to destroy them. The sanctuary of Vesta could only be entered by her own priestesses, and Horace calls his desk ‘penetralia Vestae’ because it was private.

116. speciosa vocabula rerum,] ‘Expressive terms’; words which make themselves intelligible at once. So in A. P. 319 a play is said to be ‘speciosa locis,’ that is, ‘plain in its points,’ its commonplaces or sentiments clearly put.

117. Catonibus atque Cethegis] As to the use of the plural number, see note on S. i. 7. 8. M. Porcius Cato Censorius was born about B. C. 234, and was therefore contemporary with Ennius, with whom he is associated, A. P. 56, as successfully importing new words into the language. Fragments remain of his treatise De Re Rustica, embracing a variety of instructions on husbandry and subjects connected with domestic economy; and of his Origines, an account of the early history of Italy. There are also fragments of his orations, which Cicero appears to have studied (Brutus, c. 17). He had the highest opinion of Cato, and complains that he was not studied enough even in his day. M. Cornelius Cethegus was older than Cato, since he was curule ædile when Cato was no more than twenty. His eloquence was such that Ennius called Cethegus “Suadae medulla, orator suaviloquenti ore.” (Cic. Brut. c. 15; Cat. Maj. c. 14; see Epp. i. 6. 36, n.) But it does not appear that any of his orations were extant in Cicero’s time, for he only mentions them on the authority of Ennius, who had heard him speak. His reputation was sufficient at the time Horace wrote, for him to name him twice as an authority on the language (see A. P. 50, n.).

119. quae genitor produxerit usus.] ‘Usus’ is ‘custom,’ which has always been the parent of novelties in language. Compare A. P. 70, sqq.

120. Vehemens] The first two syllables are pronounced as one. Compare S. i. 5. 67.

123. virtute carentia tollet,] ‘He will remove what lacks merit.’ He will work hard to produce a result which shall appear playful and easy, the turns being as easy as those of the ‘mimus,’ who dances either the light measure of the nimble Satyr, or the clumsy dance of the Cyclops (on which see S. i. 5. 63, n.). The poet’s art is to conceal his art, and to make that appear easy which has cost him a good deal of trouble.

126. Praetulerim scriptor] This is supposed to be the remark of one who would be a poet without the necessary trouble. He would rather be pleased with his own bad verses, even though he might be deceiving himself, than be so learned and be perpetually vexed with himself. ‘Ringi’ is properly applied to the grinning of a dog when it snarls.

128. Fuit haud iqnobilis Argis,] Sir Henry Halford furnishes a parallel story (Essays, p. 61): “One case, that of the gentleman of Argos, whose delusion led him to suppose that he was attending the representation of a play, as he sat in his bedchamber, is so exact, that I saw a person of exalted rank (George III.) under those very circumstances of delusion, and heard him call upon Mr. Garrick to exert himself in the performance of Hamlet.”

131. Caetera qui vitae servaret] “Though he observed all the other duties of life.”

134. Et signo laeso] The ‘amphorae’ or ‘lagenae’ were sealed with the owner’s seal when they were filled. Horace says that the man was not one who would get furious if he found the slaves had opened a ‘lagena,’ and drunk the contents. See C. iii. 8. 11. 12.

135. puteum vitare patentem.] Wells were usually surrounded with a wall [561](‘puteal’) two or three feet high. See Dict. Antt.

136. cognatorum opibus] See S. ii. 3. 217, n., and as to ‘elleborum,’ see v. 83 of that Satire. ‘Meracus’ is generally applied only to wine.

158. quod quis libra mercatur et aere,] There was a mode of sale which was called ‘per aes et libram.’ A third person held a pair of scales (‘libra’), which the purchaser touched with a piece of money, at the same time laying his hand on the thing purchased. According to a set form of words he claimed the thing as his own, and handed the money to the seller as a token of the sum agreed upon. This form of purchase was called ‘mancipatio.’ The seller was said ‘mancipio dare’ (to which ‘mancipare’ in this place is equivalent), and the purchaser was said ‘mancipio accipere.’ A man might become owner of ‘res mancipii’ by having been in possession for a certain time, as much as if he had received it by ‘mancipatio.’ Hence ‘usus’ is said ‘mancipare,’ because the effect is the same whether a man got his ownership by ‘usus,’ that is, possession, or by ‘mancipatio.’ ‘Usus’ here means that sort of possession which consists in the enjoyment of the fruits by paying for them. Before ‘quaedam,’ ‘si’ must be supplied again.

160. villicus Orbi,] Who is meant by Orbius, if anybody, it is impossible to say. He had landed property and sold the produce. As to ‘villicus,’ see Epp. 1. 14. 1, n.

163. cadum temeti:] ‘Temetum’ is an old word signifying ‘wine.’ See Forcell.

164. trecentis — nummorum millibus] ‘Three hundred sestertia.’ Taking the value of the ‘sestertium’ at 8l. 17s. 1d., this sum would be 2,656l. 5s. of English money.

167. Emptor Aricini quondam] ‘Emptor quondam,’ as Orelli says, is equivalent to ‘is qui quondam emit,’ ‘he who buys at any time.’ As to Aricia, see S. i. 5. 1, n. The old Veii had long ceased to exist. It had been replaced (whether on the same site or not is uncertain) by a new city, which again fell into ruin in the civil wars. Julius Cæsar divided its lands among his soldiers. It appears, however, that Augustus restored it, and made it a municipium.

170. qua populus adsita certis Limitibus] ‘Usque’ in this verse is an adverb of place, not of time. It means ‘all the way up to where the poplar stands.’ There were many different kinds of private boundaries, as, for instance, a stone or an image of the god Terminus, with a tree or a clump planted near it, such as Horace alludes to. A ditch or a hedge, a stream or path, and many other marks, were sufficient to define the limits of property, and prevent neighbors from quarrelling (‘vicina refugit jurgia’).

177. Quid vici prosunt] ‘Vicus’ is used for any collection of houses. ‘Vicus urbanus’ was a street in the city; ‘vicus rusticus,’ a village. Here it appears to mean a villa with the adjoining cottages.

Calabris Saltibus adjecti Lucani,] ‘Saltus’ expresses ‘pastures,’ wooded or otherwise, on hills or in valleys and plains. Those of Calabria were low and without wood; those of Lucania were among the hills. See Epod. 1. 27, n.

180. Tyrrhena sigilla,] Small images of the gods, of Etrurian workmanship, in bronze.

184. Herodis palmetis pinguibus,] Herod the Great derived a large revenue from the woods of palm which abounded in Judæa. They were most thickly planted about Jericho and on the banks of the Jordan. The date-palm is that which most abounded there.

187. Scit Genius] See Epp. 1. 7. 94, n. ‘Albus et ater’ signifies ‘cheerful and gloomy.’

192. Quod non plura datis] ‘Because he finds that I have not left him more’; lit. ‘because he finds not more than what I have left him’; in short, he gets less than he expected.

193. simplex hilarisque] ‘A guileless cheerful man,’ and so liberal. He says he is anxious to learn the difference between such a one and a prodigal, and between the thrifty and covetous, and of course to act the part of the former of the two in either case. ‘Plura’ means ‘more than enough.’

197. festis Quinquatribus olim,] The Quinquatria was a festival in honor of Minerva, held on the 19th of March and four following days. Boys had holidays during this festival, that they might pay their devotions to Minerva, the goddess of learning.

199. domus] This word is omitted, and an imperfect verse given in some MSS. It has no meaning here. The best MSS. vary, and the commentators seem agreed to give it up without being able to find out what Horace really wrote. (See note on C. iv. 6. 17.)

205. Non es avarus: abi;] ‘You are no miser: go to; what, do all your faults vanish with that?’ See Forcell. for a variety of uses of ‘abi.’

209. Nocturnos lemures] The belief in ghosts was as common with the ancients as with the superstitious among ourselves. The spirits of the dead were worshipped as Manes, Lares, Lemures, and Larvæ. Under the two former names were recognized the spirits of the good (see Epp. ii. 1. 138, n.); the other two represented cruel spirits coming up to terrify and torment the living. The Thessalians had the credit of extraordinary power in magic and drugs. (See C. i. 27. 21; Epod. 5. 45.)

210. Natales grate numeras?] ‘Are you happy when you count up your birthdays?’ that is, ‘Are you content to see yourself advancing in life and drawing near the end of it?’ As to ‘natales,’ see S. ii. 2. 60, n.; C. iv. 11. 8, n.

213. decede peritis.] ‘If you do not know how to live properly, go off the stage and give place to those that do.’

216. lasciva decentius aetas.] ‘A time of life which may be wanton with less indecency’; that is, youth, to which it is more natural.

There are no internal evidences, at all fit to be trusted, of the time when this poem was written, or of the persons to whom it is addressed. They are three in number, a father and two sons.

The poem professes to contain a history of the progress of poetry, and rules for composition, with criticisms of different authors and different styles. The rules are miscellaneous, and have little or no method, and the history is more fanciful than real. It is impossible to look upon it as a finished poem.

1. Humano capiti] The picture supposed is monstrous enough; a woman’s head and a fish’s tail, with a horse’s neck, limbs from all manner of beasts, and feathers from all sorts of birds. This portentous medley (invented of course by himself, for we are not bound to suppose he had ever seen a pictorial[563] monster of this kind), Horace considered a good illustration of some of the poetry of his day, in which figures and images were thrown together without order or purpose.

9. Pictoribus atque poëtis] This is a supposed reply, that painters and poets have always been privileged people, which Horace admits, but within certain limits. They must not outrage common sense, not should they patch their verses with images which, however pretty, have nothing to do with the matter in hand.

18. flumen Rhenum] This is the same form as “Metaurum flumen” (C. iv. 4. 38).

19. fortasse cupressum Scis simulare:] The Scholiasts all agree in saying this refers to a Greek proverb, μή τι καὶ κυπαρίσσου θέλεις; the origin of which was an answer given by a bad painter to a shipwrecked sailor, who asked him for a picture of his wreck (see C. i. 5. 13, n.). The man considered himself clever at drawing a cypress, and asked the sailor if he should introduce him one in his picture.

21. Amphora coepit Institui;] Of the ‘amphora,’ ‘diota,’ ‘cadus,’ ‘testa,’ ‘lagena,’ (all which names represent the same kind of vessel for keeping wine, oil, honey, &c.,) drawings will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquities. It was usually of clay, but sometimes of glass. ‘Urceus’ was the name for a jug of earthenware or glass, of which specimens of many different shapes have been found at Pompeii. As to the ‘rota figularis’ and other matters connected with the art of poetry as practised by the ancients, all necessary information will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquities.

24. pater et juvenes patre digni,] See Introduction. Horace passes on to say that there are those who are led into error by some standard of correctness that they have set themselves, some rule to which they adhere at all costs. One man thinks brevity the right thing, another smoothness of versification, another grandiloquence, another caution, another vanity, and to avoid the opposites of these they run into the excess of them.

32. Aemilium circa ludum] This illustrates the case of those who can invent details, but cannot compose an entire poem. The ‘Aemilius ludus,’ near which this artist lived, is said to have been a gladiator’s school, built by Æmilius Lepidus, but by which of those who bore that name is unknown. There were many celebrated persons so called. ‘Unus’ means ‘singular,’ surpassing all others, which sense it bears in S. i. 10. 42; ii. 3. 24; 6. 57 (where see note).

38. Sumite materiam] The next consideration is the choice of a subject, which should be well weighed with reference to the powers of the writer (‘potenter,’ κατὰ δύναμιν, v. 40).

42. Ordinis haec virtus] Having said that, if a man chooses his subject well, he will be at no loss to arrange his poem, Horace proceeds to explain what arrangement consists in, which is, saying everything in its right place and time.

45. promissi carminis] A poem he is known to have in hand, and which the public are expecting.

46. tenuis cautusque serendis,] ‘Judicious and careful in planting his words.’ ‘Tenuis’ signifies a nice discernment. The use of words is the next point noticed,—skill in giving by its connection new force to an old word, or in the introduction of new terms sometimes borrowed from the Greek, for the fashion of words is conventional and liable to change.

49. Indiciis] This means words, as being the signs by which things are made known. As to ‘abdita rerum,’ see C. iv. 12. 19, n.

50. Cethegis] See Epp. ii. 2. 117, n. ‘Cinctutus’ means one that is only girt about the lower part of his body, having the arms free from the encumbrance[564] of the tunic-sleeves. The use of the tunic by the Romans was introduced, with other indulgences, from Greece and the Greek colonies, the ancients having worn only the toga.

54. Caecilio Plautoque] See Epp. ii. 1. 59. 170. As to ‘Romanus,’ see C. iii. 6. 2, n. ‘Virgilio Varioque,’ S. i. 5. 40, n. ‘Catonis et Enni,’ Epp. ii. 2. 117, n.

55. Ego cur] The words which Horace appears to have used for the first time have been observed in the course of these notes. Those which do not appear in any other author are mentioned on C. iii. 11. 10. The construction he here employs is unusual, and so illustrates what he is saying. ‘Ego invideor’ should, according to usage, be ‘mihi invidetur,’ as ‘ego imperor’ should be ‘mihi imperatur’ (Epp. i. 5. 21, where see note).

59. Signatum praesente nota producere] To give currency to a word stamped with a modern mark, a metaphor taken from the coinage of the mint, respecting which see Dict. Antt., art. ‘Moneta.’

60. Ut silvae foliis] ‘As woods in respect of their leaves at the close of the year are changed, yea they are the first to fall.’ There is a little irregularity in the construction, but the meaning is clear.

63. Debemur morti nos nostraque;] Horace probably remembered very well the verses of Simonides:

χαίρει τις Θεόδωρος ἐπεὶ θάνεν· ἄλλος ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ
χαιρήσει· θανάτῳ πάντες ὀφειλόμεθα.

receptus Terra Neptunus] The ‘lacus Lucrinus’ was separated from the bay of Baiæ by a narrow causeway, the construction of which tradition attributed to Hercules. Beyond the Lucrinus lay the Avernus lacus (lago d’Averno), a basin without any outlet, about a mile and a half in circumference, and fed by streams from Mons Gaurus (Monte Barbaro). The space between the two lakes was covered with wood. In the war with Sextus Pompeius, B. C. 37, Augustus, advised by Agrippa, to whom he had entrusted the task of reforming his fleet, opened a communication between the lakes, and between lacus Avernus and the sea, whereby he made a harbor in which he was able to practise his ships. This he called ‘portus Julius.’ This is the work Virgil alludes to (Georg. ii. 161). The basin of the Lucrine lake has been filled up by the rising of a volcanic hill (Monte Nuovo), and is now a swamp.

65. Regis opus,] This (like ‘regiae moles,’ C. ii. 15. 1) means a work worthy of a king.

Sterilisve diu palus] What work Horace here alludes to is very doubtful. The Scholiasts say that Augustus drained the Pomptine marshes. That Julius Cæsar contemplated such a work we learn from Suetonius (Caes. 44), and Plutarch (Caes. 58). That Augustus may have contemplated it likewise, and made the canal mentioned on S. i. 5. 7, while that design was in his mind, is possible. The canal extended from Forum Appii to Terracina, which is said to have been the length of the marshes at that time. Horace appears to be speculating upon a work which, though often attempted, has never succeeded.

67. Seu cursum mutavit] Suetonius tells us that Augustus, to put an end to the inundations of the Tiber, cleared out its bed, which had got filled with rubbish. To some such work as this Horace probably refers, in language a little exaggerated.

68. Doctus iter melius,] So it is said of the river in Epp. i. 14. 29: “rivus si decidit imber Multa mole docendus aprico parcere prato.”

69. Nedum sermonum stet honos] This construction is explained by supposing the verb ‘existumes’ understood for the sake of brevity. ‘Nedum’ is ‘not for a moment’ or ‘not ever so little.’

71. si volet usus,] See Epp. ii. 2. 119, n. Horace uses the words in the[565] next verse without reference to their technical distinction. ‘Arbitrium’ was the judgment of an arbitrator, as ‘judicium’ was that of a judex. ‘Jus,’ in one of its senses, was a rule of law (Epp. i. 16. 41). ‘Norma,’ a carpenter’s or mason’s square. The deciding, ordering, and shaping of words is all that Horace means.

73. Res gestae] Here Horace begins a sort of history of different kinds of poetry, which is dropped at v. 85, and taken up again at v. 202.

75. Versibus impariter junctis querimonia] ‘Impariter’ is not used elsewhere. What Horace here calls ‘querimonia’ is ἐλεγεία θρηνητική, mourning for the dead. The earliest writers of elegy were Callinus of Ephesus, Tyrtæus of Attica, Archilochus of Paros, and Asius of Samos, all in the seventh century B. C. It was therefore of Ionian origin, whichever of these poets first employed it. That question, which was not settled in Horace’s day, is not likely to be settled now.

79. Archilocum proprio rabies] See Epp. i. 19. 23, n.; Epod. vi. 13. The principal Iambic writers who followed Archilochus were Simonides of Amorgus, a younger contemporary of Solon, and Hipponax of Ephesus (B. C. 540).

80. Hunc socci cepere pedem] In respect to ‘soccus’ and ‘cothurnus,’ as the characteristics of comedy and tragedy, see Epp. ii. 1. 174, n. The metre most used in the dialogue of the earliest Greek tragedies was the trochaic tetrameter, which metre is used in many passages of the Persae of Æschylus. But the iambic trimeter appears to have been used by Phrynicus.

81. Alternis aptum sermonibus] By ‘alternis sermonibus’ Horace means dialogue generally; not those dialogues in which verse answers to verse, στιχομυθία.

82. Vincentem strepitus] When he says that the iambic overcomes the noise of the theatre, it may be that he refers to the clear intonation which that metre admits of, or to its engaging the popular attention from its adaptation to the understandings of all.

83. Musa dedit fidibus] As to ‘fidibus,’ see C. iii. 11. 3. Though the flute (‘tibia’) came very early into use as an accompaniment to lyric poetry, it has always retained the name it originally derived from the lyre. The description of Horace includes the choral lyric of the Doric school, and the poetry of the Æolic school. The former was adapted to a choir, the latter only to a single voice. The former was so called, because it was cultivated by the Dorians of the Peloponnesus and Sicily; the latter flourished among the Æolians of Asia Minor, and particularly in the island of Lesbos. The one celebrated gods and heroes or renowned citizens, and was used at public festivals or at marriages and funerals; the other expressed individual thoughts and feelings. Alcæus and Sappho are the chief representatives of the latter school, of the former, Alcman and Stesichorus, Ibycus, Simonides, Bacchylides, and Pindar. Stesichorus and Ibycus were most celebrated for their poems on mythological subjects (‘divos puerosque deorum’), while Simonides and Pindar were the greatest in ἐπινίκια, hymns in honor of the victors at public games (‘et pugilem victorem et equum certamine primum’), and the poets of wine and passion (‘juvenum curas et libera vina’) were Alcæus, Sappho, Simonides, and Bacchylides. Horace does not mention one class of lyric poems, the threnes or dirges for the dead, of which Simonides was the greatest master.

86. Discriptas servare vices] He passes on to style (having alluded to various sorts of poetry), and says a man cannot be called a poet unless he can observe the characteristics of each style. This question involves the[566] language, the characters, the plot, and the subjects handled. But the drama is the sort of poetry chiefly noticed henceforward. ‘Vices’ are the parts (S. i. 10. 12, ‘defendente vicem’), and with ‘discriptas’ it means the parts assigned to each class of poetry. ‘Operum colores,’ ‘the coloring of poems.’

88. pudens prave] ‘Through a false shame,’ ‘pudor malus’ (Epp. i. 16. 24).

94. Iratusque Chremes] ‘Chremes’ is put generally for any father in a comedy. The intensive compound of ‘litigo’ does not occur elsewhere. As to ‘plerumque,’ in the sense of ‘interdum,’ see S. ii. 5. 55, n., and on ‘pedestri,’ see C. ii. 12. 9, n.

96. Telephus et Peleus,] These persons were the subjects of many tragedies. Each of the three tragedians wrote upon them, and fragments of their plays are extant. Telephus’s abject condition, when he went to seek for one to cure him of his wound (see Epod. xvii. 8, n.), and Peleus, driven from Ægina, and wandering in quest of a purifier for the murder of his brother Phocus, appear to have been the points in the history of these persons chiefly dwelt upon. As to ‘ampullas,’ see Epp. i. 3. 14, n. ‘Sesquipedalia’ (‘pes semisque’), ‘a foot and a half long.’

99. Non satis est pulchra esse] ‘Pulchra,’ as opposed to ‘dulcia,’ describes that sort of faultless beauty which fails to make an impression on the feelings. Of the accidental rhyme that occurs in these two verses, Orelli has collected several parallel instances from Virgil and Homer.

104. male si mandata loqueris] ‘Male’ belongs to ‘mandata’: ‘words improperly assigned you,’ that is, not suited to your character (see v. 177).

105. Tristia maestum] Horace says there is a voice of nature within us which adapts itself to every phase of our fortunes, and speaks out in language expressing the emotions that belong to each.

113. equites peditesque] This is a comprehensive way of expressing all the citizens of Rome, with reference to their division by Servius Tullius (Livy i. 43). When the census was completed, the king issued a proclamation, “Ut omnes cives Romani equites peditesque in suis quisque centuriis in Campo Martio prima luce adessent.”

114. divusne loquatur an heros,] The Scholiasts are divided between ‘divus’ and ‘Davus’; the MSS. are also at variance. ‘Deus’ and ‘heros’ are brought together below (v. 227): “Ne quicunque deus, quicunque adhibebitur heros.”

116. matrona potens] This epithet seems to have the same meaning as its kindred word πότνια, so common in Homer and the Tragedians. The officious nurse has always been a favorite character on the stage. We find it in Æschylus (Choëphoroe), in Sophocles (Trachiniae), and Euripides (Hippolytus). An ἔμπορος (‘mercator’) is introduced in the Philoctetes of Sophocles, and the prologue of the Electra (Euripides) is spoken by an αὐτουργός (‘cultor agelli’).

118. Colchus an Assyrius,] The Colchian may be put perhaps for any of the barbarous tribes on the shores of the Euxine, and the Assyrian for any of the Eastern nations. (See C. i. 2. 21, n., and C. ii. 11. 16, n.) The opposition between Thebes and Argos has reference partly perhaps to the play of Æschylus, Sept. c. Thebas, in which Polynices comes with an Argive army to get possession of the crown of Thebes, or to the Supplices of Euripides, which turns on the burial of the seven leaders who formed that expedition. But Horace may have had in mind many other plays of which the scene lay either at Argos or Thebes, in connection with Œdipus, the quarrel of his sons, the expedition of the Epigoni, etc.

119. Aut famam sequere] ‘Either you should follow tradition and common[567] belief, or at least, if you invent, your inventions should be consistent with themselves.’

120. Scriptor honoratum si forte reponis] ‘Honoratus’ is only an ornamental epithet, corresponding to Homer’s κλυτός, etc. ‘Reponis’ means ‘put upon the stage again’. The word is used in a different sense, v. 190: “Fabula, quae posci vult et spectata reponi.”

122. nihil non arroget armis.] ‘Let him claim everything for arms,’ that is, let him make arms his one appeal.

123. flebilis Ino,] There are several fragments remaining of a play by Euripides bearing the name of Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, and wife of Athamas, who threw herself into the sea with her son Melicerta, and went through various sorrows through the wrath of Here, and the rivalry of her husband’s other wives, Nephele and Themisto. She was worshipped after her death as Leucothea, or Matuta Mater.

124. Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga,] Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides each wrote a tragedy entitled ‘Ixion,’ of which fragments remain. See C. iii. 11. 21. The wanderings of Io, the daughter of Inachus, king of Argos, in the form of a cow (whose passage across the strait that separates the Propontis from the Euxine gave it the name of Bosporus), are related in many ways. The most remarkable passage on this subject is contained in the Prometheus of Æschylus, in a scene in which she is herself introduced.

128. Difficile est proprie communia dicere:] ‘Communia’ means here what everybody knows, or what is common property, as opposed to fictions of one’s own creating, and ‘proprie dicere’ is to tell it so as to make it one’s own.

131. Publica materies privati juris erit,] ‘Public materials will become private property.’ Horace uses (without strict accuracy) terms which have distinct legal significations. ‘Proprie communia dicere,’ above, is the same as making that which is ‘publica materies’ ‘privati juris.’ ‘Communia’ is usual in the sense of partnership property, and is different from ‘publica’; but here they have the same meaning. Horace seems to have followed a Greek proverb, χαλεπὸν τὰ κοινὰ ἰδιῶσαι. As to ‘deducis,’ see S. i. 10. 44, n.

132. vilem patulumque moraberis orbem,] ‘If you linger not about the vulgar and wide round.’ What Horace means, is the hackneyed round of subjects, phrases, and illustrations, ground which anybody may tread, and many have trod already. ‘Patulus’ is opposed to ‘arctus’ (v. 133); the latter means difficult, narrow ground, in which it is not easy to move except by treading precisely in the steps of him whom you are following, ‘out of which diffidence or the plan of the work forbids you to advance,’ that is, hampers your steps, and prevents you from showing any originality.

136. ut scriptor cyclicus olim:] A class of Epic poets arose some time after Homer, who, perhaps from the habit of reciting as rhapsodists the Iliad and Odyssey, were led to adopting subjects akin to Homer’s, and connecting their poems with his; and their design appearing to have been to form their poems and Homer’s into one cycle, embracing the whole history of the Trojan times, they came to be called by the grammarians Cyclic poets. Of these the oldest was Arctinus of Miletus, whose poem was a continuation of the Iliad, and nearly as long. One of them, Lesches, a Lesbian contemporary with Archilochus, wrote a poem known as the Μικρὰ Ἰλιάς. It opened with these two lines, which Horace may or may not have had in mind:

Ἴλιον ἀείδω καὶ Δαρδανίην εὔπωλον,
ἧς πέρι πολλὰ πάθον Δαναοὶ θεράποντες Ἄρηος.

139. Parturiunt montes,] ‘Parturio’ has the same relation to ‘pario’ that ‘esurio’ has to ‘edo,’ meaning the effort or desire to bring forth, the being in labor. Porphyrion quotes the proverb on which this and the fable that Phædrus[568] has imitated (iv. 22) of the mountain in labor, are founded: ὤδινεν οὖρος, εἶτα μῦν ἀπέκτεκεν, which in Athenæus (xiv. 6) is quoted a little differently: ὤδινεν ὄρος, Ζεὺς δ᾽ ἐφοβεῖτο, τὸ δ᾽ ἔτεκεν μῦν.

141. Dic mihi, Musa, virum] This is a version of the opening verses of the Odyssey. Compare Epp. i. 2. 19, sq.

143. Non fumum ex fulgore] Horace says of Homer, that he does not begin with a flash which ends in smoke, but with him out of smoke comes a bright light; that is, out of a modest beginning the reader is led on to beauties and objects of interest; and he is carried rapidly forward, instead of being detained over matters preliminary and irrelevant. It is obvious that ‘fumo’ in the second clause is out of place, and is only used to maintain a verbal antithesis; and the beauties selected (‘speciosa miracula,’ ‘striking marvels’) are not the most striking.

145. Antiphaten Scyllamque] These are all stories from the Odyssey. Antiphates was king of the Læstrygones, a gigantic race in Sicily, who devoured three of the companions of Ulysses, and destroyed his ships (x. 80, sqq.). The adventure with Polyphemus, the Cyclops, forms the leading event of the ninth book. The description of Scylla and Charybdis is contained in the twelfth book (vv. 85, sqq.).

146. Nec reditum Diomedis] This was related in a Cyclic poem called Νόστοι. Meleager, who was one of the Argonauts and was still more famous for the destruction of the boar sent by Diana to vex the inhabitants of Calydon in Ætolia, was uncle to Diomed, being brother to Tydeus. The cause of his death is variously related. According to Homer, he was cursed by his mother, Althæa, for the slaughter of her two brothers (Il. ix. 567, sqq.), and her Erinnys pursued him to his death. But as this was before the Trojan war, and had nothing to do with it, to begin an account of Diomed’s return with an account of his uncle’s death would be absurd enough. It would seem as if some poet had been guilty of this absurdity.

147. gemino — ab ovo;] That is, from the birth of Helen, who was born from one of the eggs brought forth by Leda, while Castor and Pollux issued from the other. (See S. ii. 1. 26, “ovo prognatus eodem.”) This introductory matter was handled in the poem Κύπρια of Stasinus, a Cyclic poet, of which the following fragment has been preserved:

τοῖς δὲ μετὰ τριτάτην Ἑλένην τέκε, θαῦμα βροτοῖσι.
τήν ποτε καλλίκομος Νέμεσις φιλότητι μιγεῖσα
Ζηνί, θεῶν βασιλῆι, τέκε κρατερῆς ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης.

148. in medias res] The ancients appear particularly to have remarked this quality of Homer’s poems. See Quintil. vii. 10. 11: “ubi ab initiis incipiendum, ubi more Homerico e mediis vel ultimis?”

151. Atque ita mentitur, sic veris] “‘Ita,’ ‘so,’ (the oldest form of the neuter pronoun ‘id,’) differs from ‘sic,’ ‘so,’ as the logical ‘i’ or ‘eo,’ ‘this,’ differs from the demonstrative ‘ho,’ ‘this’”. ‘Ita,’ therefore, is the usual word with ‘ut’ following. But the poets (and sometimes even the prose-writers) use ‘sic’ in the same construction, and in others in which ‘ita’ is more usual. Compare C. i. 3. 1, “Sic te Diva potens Cypri”; and Epp. i. 7. 69, “Sic ignovisse putato.”

154. aulaea manentis] See Epp. ii. 1. 189. In the next verse ‘canto’ is used for the actor. Cicero uses it in the same sense. (See Forcellini.) ‘Vos plaudite’ were the words with which a play usually concluded.

157. Mobilibusque decor naturis] Horace means that men’s characters shift and change with the different stages of life, and that these changes must be attended to. He goes on to explain them in a clear and elegant manner.

161. custode remoto] This means the ‘paedagogus,’ as in S. i. 6. 81, where see note. This person’s functions ceased when the boy assumed the ‘toga virilis.’ ‘Campi,’ as elsewhere means the Campus Martius.

172. spe longus,] ‘Slow to hope.’ ‘Avidus futuri’ means ‘eager to live longer,’ or ‘greedy of life.’ Both these expressions are unusual.

175. Multa ferunt anni] See C. ii. 5. 14, n., and Epp. ii. 2. 55. The remark seems to be drawn forth by the dark picture of old age contained in the preceding verses. It has not much otherwise to do with the subject.

178. adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.] Both ‘adjunctis’ and ‘aptis’ go with ‘aevo,’ ‘we shall dwell upon that which attaches and is fitted to the age we have in hand.’

180. Segnius irritant animos] When Candaules proposes to exhibit his wife’s beauty to Gyges, Herodotus (i. 8) makes him say ὦτα γὰρ τυγχάνει ἀνθρώποισι ἐόντα ἀπιστότερα ὀφθαλμῶν, and Seneca (Epp. vi.) has a like saying, “Homines amplius oculis quam auribus credunt.”

184. facundia praesens,] An eyewitness, who tells the spectators what he has seen, and does it in the flow of a long, set speech. This is the part of the messengers and heralds, of which one or more appears in every Greek tragedy. ‘Praesens’ means ‘before the audience.’

186. coquat exta nefarius Atreus,] See C. i. 6. 8, n.; and as to Procne, see C. iv. 12. 5, n. Short fragments of the Atreus of Sophocles and Cadmus of Euripides are extant. The story of Cadmus and his wife Harmonia changed into snakes is told by Ovid (Met. iv. 563, sqq.). Such barbarities and miraculous changes, Horace says, may answer in narration, but if represented on the stage are both incredible and disgusting. He may have had some instance of this kind in view. See C. i. 6. 8, n.; ii. 1. 10, n.; S. i. 10. 42, n.

191. nec deus intersit] It was a reproach against the tragedians, that, when they did not know how to bring their plot to a close, they had recourse to a god. The gods were introduced on a platform above. Hence the proverb, “Deus ex machina,” for any summary way of winding up a plot, or extricating one’s self from a difficulty. ‘Dignus vindice’ means worthy of such intervention.

192. nec quarta loqui persona laboret.] Thespis first introduced a single actor on the stage, who perhaps told a story and served to relieve the chorus. Æschylus introduced a second, and so brought regular dialogue into the drama. Sophocles added a third, and this number was rarely if ever exceeded. (See Epp. i. 18. 14, n.) The Romans observed no such restriction, but it must always be the case, if more than three actors are on the stage at once, that some of them can have but little to say.

193. Actoris partes chorus] The chorus should sustain in its place, and to the best of its power, the part of an actor; that is, instead of singing what is irrelevant to the plot, it ought to carry on the action. ‘Officiumque virile defendat’ is a way of expressing ‘it must sustain a strenuous part,’ or ‘do its duty strenuously.’ Horace uses the expression ‘defendente vicem’ in the same sense (S. i. 10. 12).

196. Ille bonis faveatque] The chorus is to utter sentiments showing favor to the good, and giving them friendly counsel, tempering the wrath of the passionate, and affectionate to the virtuous (which is in some degree a repetition of the first clause), commending temperance, justice, laws, and peace. The business of the chorus was to utter such reflections as any indifferent persons might conceive on the action before it, and to address those reflections to the characters represented, as one might address them to real persons under the same circumstances.

198. mensae brevis] Compare Epp. i. 14. 35, “coena brevis juvat”; and with “apertis otia portis,” compare C. iii. 5. 23, “portasque non clausas,” representing a picture of national security and peace. The chorus, to whom the principal persons communicated their intended crimes and deepest plots, [570]were held to secrecy as a prime duty. Thus, Medea tells the chorus her intention to murder her children and her rival, and reckons upon their secrecy as a matter of course. Other instances are numerous.

202. Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta] The ‘tibia’ was an instrument originally made of a hollow reed (Pliny, xvi. 36. 66), or a boxwood pipe (Ovid, Fast. vi. 697), or the shin-bone of some animal, from which the name is derived. Afterwards it was brought to greater perfection, and was made of ivory sometimes. It resembled the flageolet or clarionet. It was usual to play two ‘tibiae’ together, as observed on C. i. 1. 32, where see note. Those in the British Museum have six holes. Probably in the days of Horace they had more. The metal which the ancients called ‘orichalcum’ is unknown. It was not to be found even in Pliny’s time. The probable derivation is from ὄρος and χαλκός, the meaning being ‘mountain-bronze.’ With this the parts of the ‘tibia,’ which took to pieces as our flutes do, were bound at the joinings. Horace says that in simpler days the ‘tibia’ served for an accompaniment to the chorus, but afterwards it came to drown it. In those days the population of the city was smaller, the theatres less crowded, and the audience more reverential and attentive. What times Horace alludes to, it is difficult to say. Orelli thinks his history of choral music is a fanciful account, fluctuating wonderfully between the practice of the Greeks, that of the Romans, and that which his own imagination has drawn; and this is perhaps the case.

208. Postquam coepit agros] That is, “post Punica bella” (see Epp. ii. 1. 162, n.) if we take the Romans, and the Persian war if we suppose the Greeks to be meant. (See v. 93 of the same Epistle.) As to ‘placari Genius,’ see Epp. ii. 1. 144, and i. 7. 94, n.

211. numerisque modisque] This combination occurs above, Epp. ii. 2. 144. ‘Liber laborum’ is a poetical construction like “operum solutis” (C. iii. 17. 16) and “operum vacuo” (S. ii. 2. 119).

215. traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:] The ‘palla’ worn by tragic actors had a train called ‘syrma,’ from σύρειν, because it swept the stage. This is what Horace alludes to. The Roman dress was probably not so splendid as the Greek. As to ‘pulpita,’ see Epp. ii. 1. 174.

216. Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere severis,] See above, v. 83, n. The sedate and serious Doric style would be expressed by ‘fidibus severis’; but Horace is speaking generally, and probably from his own imagination, when he says that in the course of time the grave style of music to which the choruses were once sung gave way to a more vehement style, as the eloquence of the chorus grew more impetuous, and it began to speak in language obscure, prophetic, and oracular. There is no historical accuracy in this account, though in respect to the obscurity of some of the Greek choruses Horace wrote from what he knew of them.

220. Carmine qui tragico] Horace here passes on to the Satyric Drama of the Greeks. A goat was the prize contended for in the composition of the choral songs or dithyrambs to which the name τραγῳδία first belonged. The name may have been derived from the prize. (See below, v. 275, n.) The chorus appeared in the character of Satyrs as attendants on Dionysus, at whose festival they performed. Their subjects were originally confined to the adventures, serious and sportive, of that god, and therefore were a mixture of mirth and gravity. Chœrilus, an older contemporary of Æschylus, seems to have laid the foundation of an independent Satyric Drama, the entire separation of which from tragedy, as we now understand the word, was effected a few years later by Pratinas of Phlius in Argolis, about B. C. 500; thenceforward it was usual for the tragic poets to exhibit four plays at a time (tetralogies), of which the fourth was a Satyric Drama, such as the Cyclops of Euripides.

224. potus et exlex.] This expresses the freedom which attended the Dionysiac festivals after the sacrifices were over.

228. auro nuper et ostro,] ‘He who but now came forward in gold and purple (which ornaments gods and heroes wore), let him not pass into low language, as if he were a frequenter of taverns,’—which were commonly vaults under ground, and are therefore called ‘obscuras.’

230. nubes et inania captet.] As to the construction with ‘indigna’ in the next verse, see C. iii. 21. 6, n., and Epp. i. 3. 35, n.

234. dominantia nomina solum Verbaque,] As to ‘nomina verbaque,’ see S. i. 3. 103, n. ‘Dominantia nomina’ is an adaptation of the Greek κύρια ὀνόματα; that is, literal words as opposed to figurative. Horace says he shall not confine himself to these if he ever takes to writing Satyric Dramas.

236. tragico differre colori] As to ‘differre’ with the dative, see S. i. 4. 48, n.

238. Pythias emuncto] This seems to be the name of a slave-girl who got money out of her master, Simo. As to ‘emuncto,’ see S. i. 4. 8, n.

239. Silenus] This god is said to have educated Bacchus. He represented the ‘crassa Minerva’ of the ancients, ‘wisdom under a rough exterior,’ and it is in his graver character that Horace here views him. All ancient representations of Silenus exhibit him as a gross impersonation of sensuality and low fun, usually drunk, and riding upon an ass, with Fauns dancing about him. Modern ideas have confounded him with Bacchus, his foster-child.

240. Ex noto fictum carmen sequar,] ‘Ex noto’ perhaps means that the subject must be familiar.

244. Fauni,] See C. ii. 19. 4, n. Horace says that these rough beings introduced from the woods should not talk as if they had been born in the city and were loungers in the Forum, or languish in love-verses like a silly youth; but neither should low language be put into their mouth, for this is sure to offend the refined part of the audience, even if the vulgar applaud it. ‘Juvenor’ is a word not found elsewhere: it is adapted from the Greek νεανιεύεσθαι.

248. et pater] ‘Those who had a father’ means ‘ingenui,’ those who were born free and of lawful wedlock, since none others were ‘in patria potestate.’ As to ‘cicer,’ see S. i. 6. 115, n.

251. Syllaba longa brevi] As to the ‘iambus,’ see above, v. 79, sq. Horace here calls it ‘pes citus,’ a rapid foot, as elsewhere (C. i. 16. 24) he speaks of ‘celeres iambos.’ He says the rapidity of the foot caused the division of the verse into the form of a trimeter, whereas it was a ‘senarius,’ having six distinct iambic feet. The admission of a spondee in the odd feet, he says, was an after invention, in order to give more weight to the measure. ‘Non ita pridem’ means comparatively lately; but the verses of Archilochus had spondees in them. The history is not very accurate. Horace has himself imitated the pure iambic measure in the alternate verses of Epod. 16. ‘In jura paterna recepit’ is to be rendered ‘gave a share of its patrimony.’ The meaning is clear enough from the context. The politeness of the ‘iambus’ in making way for the spondee, and giving up some of its just rights, but not disposed to be so accommodating as to give up the even places in the verse, seems rather a heavy joke. ‘Socialiter,’ ‘in a friendly way,’ does not occur elsewhere.

258. Hic et in Acci] See Epp. ii. 1. 50. 56. The iambus, Horace says, is not commonly used in the verses of Accius and Ennius. Those of the former he calls noble trimeters, by which he means famed. He was no great admirer of them himself. The great weight he attributes to the verses of Ennius arose from the gravity of the measure, consisting, as v. 260 does, chiefly of spondees. But the absence of the iambus, in the opinion of Horace, convicts him either of slovenly writing, or of ignorance of his art. ‘Hic’ governs ‘premit’ (v. 262), as it does ‘apparet.’ ‘This,’ that is, ‘the absence of this.’

265. an omnes] Horace says it is not every critic that can tell a rhythmical verse from an unrhythmical, and so an indulgence they do not deserve is accorded to our poets. ‘But am I on this account to take all manner of liberties? Or, on the other hand, am I to suppose that every one will see my faults, and keep safely and cautiously within the limits of forgiveness? Why, if I do this, I may have avoided a fault, but I shall have earned no praise.’

270. Plautinos et numeros et Laudavere sales:] See Epp. ii. 1. 170, n. ‘But, you will say, your fathers praised Plautus both for his numbers and his wit. Yes, they admired too patiently, not to say stupidly, both the one and the other.’ Horace never has a good word to say for Plautus, and he here depreciates his wit as well as his versification. Both no doubt wanted polish; and Horace does not scruple to insinuate (in the above place) that it was only through haste to get paid that he turned out his works so unfinished. But his style and his defects were incidental to the period and manner of his life; his simplicity and drollery were given him by nature. If Horace did not admire Plautus, more learned men did, and Varro was one of them, and Cicero another.

275. Ignotum tragicae] The first representation of a play at Thespis was in B. C. 535. The name τραγῳδία belonged, as observed above (on v. 220), to the dithyrambic songs of the Bacchic festivals, and these are of uncertain origin, but of great antiquity. The extent to which Thespis can be considered the author of tragedy is, that he introduced an actor independent of the chorus, who sustained various parts under the disguise of a linen mask. (See v. 192, n.) This account, therefore, of the invention of tragedy at the vintage, the faces smeared with lees of wine, the wagon with which Thespis went round Attica, and so forth, may be rejected.

278. Post hunc personae pallaeque] Horace makes Æschylus the inventor of the mask and tragic dress (v. 215, n.). But there can be no doubt that he who first put an actor upon the stage, if he, as most suppose, gave him various parts to sustain, must have employed masks suited to the different characters. There were symbolical masks for different ages and classes and there were descriptive masks for different persons, representing peculiarities by which they would be known. The derivation of ‘persona’ is unknown. Roscius first introduced masks on the Roman stage about B. C. 100. The garment Horace means by ‘palla’ was an upper dress, which had a train to it (see v. 215, n.). For the proper meaning of ‘palla,’ see S. i. 8. 23, n. As to ‘pulpita’ and ‘cothurnus,’ see Epp. ii. 1. 174, n. Æschylus may have made improvements in what is called among us the property of a theatre, but there is no reason to suppose that he invented any of the above things. ‘Magnum loqui’ means that he taught the actor how to articulate loudly.

281. Successit vetus his comoedia,] Horace takes no account of the earliest form of comedy, from which its name is derived, the song of the revellers (κῶμος) at the Dionysia; or of the labors of Susarion, who as early at least as Thespis, at Icaria, a village in Attica, contended with a comic chorus for a prize. That which was before composed of jests and obscenities connected with the worship of Bacchus had now added to it personal ribaldry and political jokes, the former levelled at the spectators or against public men. Between Susarion and the period of the old comedy there were several distinguished writers, as Chionides, Magnes, Ecphantines, and others. The earliest writer of the old comedy was Cratinus. See S. i. 4. 1, n.

288. Vel qui praetextas] ‘Fabulae praetextae,’ or ‘praetextatae,’ were tragedies, as ‘togatae’ were comedies, with plots connected with Roman stories and manners. (See Epp. ii. 1. 57, sqq.) The Greek tragedies to which ‘praetextae’ were opposed, were called by the Romans ‘crepidatae.’ ‘Docere’ is used as the Greeks used διδάσκειν, for exhibiting a play, because the poet also trained the chorus as χοροδιδάσκαλος.

292. Pompilius sanguis,] The ‘Calpurnia gens,’ to which the Pisones belonged, claimed descent from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius.

295. Ingenium misera] The following verses to 308 have little connection with what goes before. Horace says, because genius is above art, and all poets, according to Democritus, are mad, many neglect their persons and let their nails and their beards grow, affecting insanity. The question about education and nature in connection with poetry is taken up again at v. 408. We are accustomed to subscribe to the doctrine “poeta nascitur, non fit.” The ancients were divided on that point, some assigning more to education, others to natural gifts. Cicero more than once alludes to the opinion of Democritus, that no man could be a poet without inspiration.

300. Si tribus Anticyris] There were three places of this name, each of which is assumed from this passage to have produced hellebore, a very improbable coincidence. Horace puts ‘tribus’ as we might say a dozen, or any other indefinite number. (See S. ii. 3. 83.)

301. Tonsori Licino commiserit.] This name was probably that of a well-known barber of the day. (See S. ii. 3. 16, 35, n.)

302. Qui purgor bilem] The hellebore which the ancients used in cases of madness is a violent purgative, and they tried to act on the brain by relieving the stomach. Horace says he must be a fool, since madness is essential to poetry, for taking medicines to keep his stomach in order.

304. fungar vice cotis,] As to ‘vice,’ see above, v. 86, and S. i. 10. 12. Horace says if he only kept the bile from escaping, he would beat them all at poetry. However, it does not matter, he goes on; he will act as the grind-stone which whets the iron, though its own office is not to cut (exsors ipsa secandi). This is said to be a proverbial way of speaking.

310. Rem tibi Socraticae — chartae,] The writings of Socrates’s disciples, such as Plato, Xenophon, Æschines, Antisthenes, Aristippus, will supply matter for the true (dramatic) poet, by teaching him the science and duties of human life.

314. Quod sit conscripti,] After the expulsion of the kings, the senate having lost many of its number under the last of them, the vacancies were filled up from the ‘equites,’ who were called ‘conscripti senatores.’ The others were ‘patres’; and the whole body thus constituted was called collectively ‘patres et conscripti,’ or shortly ‘patres conscripti.’ Horace here uses ‘conscriptus’ as equivalent to ‘senator.’ It is nowhere else so used. As to ‘judicis,’ see S. i. 4. 123, n.

318. vivas hinc ducere voces.] Living words are those that represent nature to the life, or which convey a vivid sense to the understanding.

319. speciosa locis] Full of telling commonplaces, sentiments, examples, and so on.

323. Graiis ingenium,] He says the Greeks had a natural taste for poetry, and cultivated it from an ambition to excel and thirst for praise. But this comparison of the Greeks and Romans does not appear to be connected with the subject that goes before, or the rules that follow from v. 333.

325. Romani pueri] See S. i. 6. 72, 77, n. The ‘as’ was divided into twelve parts, ‘unciae,’ of which the ‘quincunx’ contained five, and the ‘triens’ four, being one third of the whole, whence the name. The ‘semis’ (semi-as) contained six, being half an as. Albinus is said to have been the name of a usurer. Horace is representing a scene in a boys’ school. “Master: Let the son of Albinus tell me: if you take an uncia from a quincunx, how much remains? (The boy hesitates.) You used to know. Boy: A triens. Master: Very well. You will know how to take care of your money. Now add an uncia: what is the sum? Boy: A semis.”

332. linenda cedro] Books were smeared with oil of cedar to keep them[574] from the insects. ‘Capsae cupressinae,’ ‘book-cases of cypress-wood,’ were costly, and would only be used for valuable books.

333. Aut prodesse volunt] ‘Poets wish either to profit or to please, or to join both these together,’ on which assumption several miscellaneous rules are founded.

337. Omne supervacuum] ‘All that is superfluous flows away from a mind that is full,’ that is, when the mind is full, it discards all superfluous words, it has no room for superfluities; as in a vessel that is full, if you pour more, it runs over and escapes. As to ‘supervacuus,’ see C. ii. 20. 24, n.

340. Neu pransae Lamiae] ‘Lamiae’ were hags, ogresses, who had the reputation of devouring children.

341. Centuriae seniorum] This language is taken from the ‘classes’ or ‘centuriae’ of Servius Tullius. Those who were more than forty-five were classed with the ‘seniores.’ The grave seniors like no poetry that has not something profitable and instructive in it. The Ramnes were the highest of the three centuries of equites which Romulus is said to have formed. They were patricians, and Horace calls them ‘celsi,’ ‘proud.’ The distinction of the original tribes had ceased to exist; the Ramnes are mentioned in opposition to the ‘centuriae seniorum,’ as young men to old, the reason of which is not plain.

343. Omne tulit punctum] ‘He carries every vote.’ See Epp. ii. 2. 99, n.; and as to the Sosii, see Epp. i. 20. 2, n.

347. Sunt delicta tamen] He means perfection must not be looked for, and allowance must be made for occasional blots.

353. Quid ergo est?] ‘What are we to say then?’ The expression occurs in Cicero sometimes, as in the speech Pro P. Quintio, c. 18.

354. scriptor — librarius] ‘Scriptor’ is the ‘scriba.’ See Epp. ii. 2. 5, n.

366. O major juvenum,] There were two sons, and both ‘juvenes’; both must have taken the ‘toga virilis.’ Horace goes on to tell them, that mediocrity, though tolerable in some things, is intolerable in poetry.

369. Consultus juris et actor Causarum] See S. i. 1. 9, n. As to Messalla, see C. iii. 21. A. Cascellius was a jurisconsultus. Little is known of him. He must have been alive when this poem was written, but very old. The names are inverted.

373. non concessare columnae.] That is, the booksellers’ stalls. See S. i. 4. 71, n.

375. Sardo cum melle] Sardinian and Corsican honeys appear to have been of inferior quality. See S. ii. 2. 15, n. Poppy-seeds roasted and mixed with honey were served in early times at the second course.

377. Sic animis] ‘So poetry, which was born and invented only to give pleasure to the soul, if it fail but a little of the highest point, inclines to the lowest.’ He says, as at a pleasant supper, bad music, bad ointment, and bad honey are worse than none at all, (for the meal can go on very well without them,) so a poem must either be extremely good, or it will be very bad, and had better not be written.

380. pilae discive trochive] See S. ii. 9, n. ‘Coronae’ are the crowds of spectators standing round to watch the games.

382. Quidni?] This is ironical. ‘Why not?’ He is a free man, and born free, and has a good property, and is a good man; why then should he not write?

383. census equestrem Summam] ‘Census’ is a participle. His property was not less than 400,000 sesterces. See Epod. 4. 15, n.; Epp. i. 1. 57, n.

385. Tu nihil invita — Minerva;] See S. ii. 2. 3. The expression is proverbial. Cicero explains it: “Invita ut aiunt Minerva; id est adversante et[575] repugnante natura” (De Off. i. 31). ‘Tu’ is emphatic. “You are too sensible to judge thus, or to try and write against the grain.”

387. in Maeci descendat judicis aures] As to Sp. Mæcius Tarpa, see S. i. 10. 38, n.

391. Silvestres homines] Horace goes on to ascribe the noblest results to the cultivation of true poetry, the civilization of mankind (represented under the legend of Orpheus taming wild beasts), the building of cities, the enactment of laws, and the ordering of society. Of Orpheus, the Thracian poet, the traditions are vague, and though there are fragments still extant that bear his name, he must be looked upon more as the representative of the earliest poetry and music of Greece, than in the light of an historical personage. Compare C. i. 12. 7, sqq.

394. Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,] This legend is mentioned in C. iii. 11. 2: “Movit Amphion lapides canendo.” It is not noticed by Homer, who only knew Cadmus as the founder of Thebes. See Epp. i. 18. 41, n.

397. Publica privatis — sacra profanis,] This is a fundamental division of things (‘res’) in the Roman law.

399. leges incidere ligno:] Plutarch says of Solon’s laws, that they were inscribed on wooden tables, called ἄξονες or κύρβεις, and that fragments were in existence in his day in the Prytaneum (Vit. Sol. c. 25).

400. divinis vatibus] Eumolpus, Orpheus, Musæus, Pamphus, Thamyris, are the principal names associated with the origin of Grecian poetry, and they are all called Thracian (see below, v. 405, n.). They are called ‘divine,’ not merely from the quality of their art, but from their connection with the worship of Apollo, Demeter, and Dionysus, whence above (v. 391) Orpheus is called “sacer interpresque deorum.”

402. Tyrtaeusque mares animos] Tyrtæus, as mentioned before (v. 75, n.), was a native of Attica, and wrote in the elegiac measure. He left Attica and took up his abode at Sparta during the second war between the Spartans and Messenians, which began B. C. 685. His verses were chiefly exhortations to bravery addressed to the Spartans. There are three fragments, amounting in the aggregate to upwards of a hundred verses, which have a great deal of vigor and feeling in them, corresponding to Horace’s description.

405. Pieriis tentata modis;] The country of Pieria lay between Macedonia and Thessalia, north of the range of Olympus, and on the coast of the Sinus Thermaicus. This accounts for the Muses being both Pierian and Olympian; and as by the southern Greeks all the north went by the name of Thrace, this may account for the traditions which assigned the birth of poetry to bards of Thrace (v. 400, n.), a country of which the language was pronounced barbarous by the civilized Greeks.

406. Et longorum operum finis:] The rural Dionysia (v. 275, n.), called τὰ κατ᾽ ἀγρούς, or τὰ μικρά, took place at the end of the year, in the month Ποσειδέων, when the labors of the vintage were over.

413. Multa tulit fecitque puer,] ‘He takes great pains when he is young,’ ‘puer’ being emphatic, as in C. i. 9. 16.

414. qui Pythia cantat Tibicen] At the Pythian games there was a musical contest in which flute-players and harp-players took part, the subject being the contest of Apollo with the serpent Pytho. The name given to this music was νόμος Πυθικός.

417. Occupet extremum scabies;] The Scholiasts say this expression was used by boys in their races.

419. Ut praeco,] See S. i. 6. 86, n. The rich poet, he goes on, purchases flattery.

422. unctum qui recte ponere possit] ‘Who can put a good dinner before one handsomely.’ As to ‘spondere,’ see S. ii. 6. 23, n. ‘Levi paupere’ is[576] ‘a poor man without weight,’ whose name has as little weight as his purse. ‘Atris’ is ‘melancholy,’ as “minuentur atrae Carmine curae” (C. iv. 11. 35). As to ‘beatus,’ see C. i. 4. 14, n.

434. culullis] This the Scholiasts (on C. i. 31. 11) say was the name of earthen-ware cups, used by the pontifices and Vestal Virgins. It was afterwards used generally for drinking-cups. With ‘torquere mero’ compare Epp. i. 18. 38, “et vino tortus et ira.”

437. animi sub vulpe latentes] ‘If you ever write poetry, do not be taken in by flatterers, who have a bad heart under a cunning face.’

441. Et male tornatos incudi reddere] The metaphors of the turning-lathe and the anvil are common enough for the composition of verses. The lathe was used by the ancients in the polishing and turning of metals, as well as of wood and ivory.

450. Fiet Aristarchus;] Aristarchus, whose name was proverbial among the ancients as a critic, was born in Samothracia about B. C. 230. He passed the greater part of his life at Alexandria, under the patronage of Ptolemæus Philopator, Epiphanes, and Philometor, the second of whom he educated.

453. morbus regius] This, which is otherwise called ‘arquatus morbus,’ ‘aurugo,’ and by the Greeks ἴκτερος, is the jaundice. Celsus says it is so called because the remedies resorted to were chiefly amusements and indulgences to keep up the spirits, such as none but the rich could afford. No disorder depresses the spirits more than jaundice. Here it is supposed to be infectious, which it is not.

454. Aut fanaticus error] ‘Fanaticus’ (from ‘fanum’) was properly applied to the priests of Bellona. See S. ii. 3. 223, n., and Juvenal iv. 123, “fanaticus oestro Percussus, Bellona, tuo.” Juvenal also applies it to the priests of Cybele (ii. 112), “crine senex fanaticus albo, Sacrorum antistes.” The influence of the moon (‘iracunda Diana’) in producing mental derangement is one of the earliest fallacies in medicine. The Greeks called persons supposed to be so affected σεληνιακοί.

455. tetigisse timent] ‘The wise avoid him, as if he were infectious; fools run after him, like children after a crazy man in the streets.’

459. longum Clamet,] This is like Homer’s μακρὸν ἄϋσε (Il. iii. 81).

464. Deus immortalis haberi] See Epp. i. 12. 20. There are various marvellous stories told of the death of Empedocles, suited to the character he bore in his life, of a magician, a controller of the elements, &c. This story of his throwing himself into Ætna is supported by very insufficient authority.

467. Invitum qui servat] See Epp. i. 20. 15, n. This is apparently a proverb. The construction of ‘idem occidenti’ is Greek, ταὐτὸ τῷ ἀποκτείνοντι. Orelli observes that this is the only spondaic hexameter in Horace.

469. Fiet homo] He keeps up the allusion to Empedocles, saying that the frenzied poet is as resolved to rush to his fate (that is, into verse) as the philosopher was, and if you save him he will not drop his pretension to inspiration.

470. Nec satis apparet] The crime for which he has been thus sent mad does not appear; whether it be for fouling his father’s grave, or setting foot upon polluted ground. ‘Bidental’ was a spot struck by lightning, so called from the sacrifice offered upon it for expiation. I agree with Orelli in taking ‘moverit’ in the sense of ‘violaverit,’ as in “Dianae non movenda numina” (Epod. xvii. 3). Some take it to mean the removal of the mark placed on the spot.

The metre of the Satires, Epistles, and Ars Poetica of Horace is the heroic or dactylic hexameter. The only spondaic verse is the 467th of the Ars Poetica.

The Odes are written in various metres, the verses of which are usually combined into stanzas. To these verses and stanzas names have been given in honor of ancient personages, and these names are generally retained.

A large part of the metres of the Odes belong to the class known as logaoedic. This name, derived from λόγος [speech] and ἀοιδή [song], is intended to show that the verses having the appearance of metrical irregularity, partake of the nature of ordinary conversational prose. Logaoedic verse may be defined as a variety of trochaic verse in which the irrational, or cyclic, dactyl is assigned a place: besides this, in most cases, the irrational spondee is also allowed. The cyclic dactyl is a dactyl compressed into the time of a trochee and is represented by the symbol

; in like manner, the irrational spondee is a spondee compressed into the time of a trochee and is represented by the symbol

. Each foot of logaoedic verse is, therefore, to be read as having the time of a trochee, or of three short syllables. If a verse is catalectic the place of the last syllable is supplied by a pause, which is indicated thus:

In trochaic and iambic verse the unit of measure is two feet: thus the trochaic or iambic dimeter contains four feet, and the trimeter six feet. But in logaoedic verse, it is customary to reckon by the single foot; thus, a logaoedic verse of two feet is called a dipody; of three feet, a tripody; of four feet a tetrapody; and of five feet, a pentapody.

The logaoedic dipody, having the cyclic dactyl in the first foot, is called the Adonic verse; it is written thus:

The logaoedic tripody is called the Pherecratic verse. If the cyclic dactyl is in the first foot, the verse is called the First Pherecratic,

; if the cyclic dactyl is in the second foot, it is called the [578]Second Pherecratic,

The ordinary logaoedic tetrapody is called the Glyconic verse. If the cyclic dactyl is in the first place, it is called the First Glyconic,

; if in the second place, the Second Glyconic,

; if in the third place, the Third Glyconic,

There is also a logaoedic tetrapody, having cyclic dactyls in both the first and the second feet, which is called the Lesser Alcaic; it has the following scheme:

Horace uses two forms of the logaoedic pentapody. One, called the Lesser Sapphic, has the cyclic dactyl in the third foot, and an irrational spondee in the second foot, thus:

The other, called the Greater Alcaic, differs from the former in being catalectic and having an anacrusis, or unaccented syllable, prefixed, thus:

. In the Lesser Sapphic, there is always a caesura in the cyclic dactyl; in the Greater Alcaic, the cyclic dactyl always begins with the beginning of a word.

Five of the stanzas employed by Horace in his Odes are known as Asclepiadic; they consist of logaoedic verses in different combinations, the first foot in each complete verse being changed to an irrational spondee.

1. The First Asclepiadic stanza is composed of Lesser Asclepiadics, each of which is a Second Pherecratic followed by a First Pherecratic, both being catalectic, thus:—

2. The Second Asclepiadic stanza is composed of three Lesser Asclepiadics and one Second Glyconic catalectic, sometimes called simply a Glyconic, thus:—

3. In the Third Asclepiadic stanza, the first and third verses are Second Glyconics catalectic, and the second and fourth are Lesser Asclepiadics, thus:—

4. In the Fourth Asclepiadic stanza, the first and second verses are Lesser Asclepiadics, the third is a Second Pherecratic, and the fourth is a Second Glyconic catalectic, thus:—

5. The Fifth Asclepiadic stanza is composed of Greater Asclepiadic verses, each of which consists of a Second Pherecratic, an Adonic, and a First Pherecratic, all catalectic, thus:—

6. The Lesser Sapphic, or Sapphic and Adonic, stanza is composed of three Lesser Sapphic verses and one Adonic verse, thus:—

7. The Greater Sapphic stanza is composed of the First Pherecratic (known as Aristophanic) alternating with the Greater Sapphic verse, which latter consists of a Third Glyconic catalectic with an irrational spondee in the second foot followed by a First Pherecratic, thus:—

8. The stanza most frequently used by Horace in his Odes is known as the Alcaic or Horatian. It is composed of two Greater Alcaics, one Archilochian or trochaic dimeter with anacrusis (the second foot being an irrational spondee), and a Lesser Alcaic, thus:—

9. The Alcmanian is composed of dactylic hexameters alternating with dactylic tetrameters. It is found in Odes i. 7 and 28.

10. The First Archilochian is found in iv. 7. It is composed of the dactylic hexameter alternating with the dactylic penthemim. (A penthemim is two feet and a half.)

11. The Fourth Archilochian is found in i. 4. It is composed of the Greater Archilochian (which is a dactylic tetrameter followed by a trochaic tripody) alternating with the iambic trimeter catalectic (which allows irrational spondees in the first and third feet).

12. The Hipponactean is found in ii. 18. It is composed of the trochaic dimeter catalectic alternating with the iambic trimeter catalectic.

13. The Lesser Ionic stanza is found in iii. 12. It is composed of ten Lesser Ionics (

), which are variously arranged into verses by different editors.

In the Epodes, Horace uses once (Epode 12) the Alcmanian metre; once (Epode 17) the Iambic trimeter; ten times (Epodes 1-10) the Iambic strophe, composed of iambic trimeters alternating with iambic dimeters, in both which irrational spondees may stand in the odd-numbered feet; and also the following:—

In Epode 13, the Second Archilochian, in which the dactylic hexameter alternates with the iambelic verse, the latter being an iambic dimeter followed by a dactylic penthemim.

In Epode 11, the Third Archilochian, in which the iambic trimeter alternates with the elegiambic verse, the latter being a dactylic penthemim followed by an iambic dimeter.

In Epodes 14 and 15, the First Pythiambic, in which the dactylic hexameter alternates with the iambic dimeter.

In Epode 16, the Second Pythiambic, in which the dactylic hexameter alternates with the iambic trimeter.

It is sometimes convenient for those familiar with musical notation to write the scheme of verses and stanzas in musical notes. In such cases a long syllable is represented by a quarter-note,

, and a short syllable by an eighth-note,

; a spondee is written

; a dactyl,

; and a trochee,

. Dactylic verse is therefore written in

time, and trochaic or logaoedic verse in

time. The cyclic dactyl may be written with sufficient accuracy

, and the irrational spondee

From the examples which follow, the student will see how the scheme of any metre may be expressed in musical notation.

Transcriber’s Note: Errata and Other Changes

The Table of Contents has been modified to include a missing entry for the ‘Index to the Metres of the Odes of Horace’.

In accordance common digital book practice, a long dash that signals a break is transcribed with no space before or after. In contrast, a long dash used by Macleane to mark an ellipsis in the text is transcribed with a space before and after. This distinction between break and ellipsis, which was not made in the original text, may be useful to modern readers.

Typographical inconsistencies that may be unintended yet which occur more than once are left unchanged, such as the marking of dieresis in names like Pholoë most but not all of the time, or occasional spellings of Latin names with ae instead of the usual digraph æ in the English text of the notes.

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected when encountered. Several errors, however, that are not necessarily obvious are singled out below, in case the transcriber’s judgment is wrong:

A. P. 398 (p. 233):
Concubitu probibere vago => Concubitu prohibere vago

A. P. 416 (p. 233):
Ego mira poëmate pango => Ego mira poëmata pango

C. i. 3. 31, n. (p. 248):
Incubuit tanden populum Pandionis omnem => Incubuit tandem populum Pandionis omnem

C. iv. 15. 9, n. (p. 383):
Janum Quirim => Janum Quirini

S. i. 10. 30, n. (p. 446):
Greek towns which remained => Greek towns which retained

S. ii. 1. 85, n. (p. 453):
lantraverit => latraverit

S. ii. 3. 62, n. (p. 463):
Huic ego vulgis => Huic ego vulgus

A. P. 332, n. (p. 574):
linendra cedro => linenda cedro

Index to the Metres, Book I, 18 (p. 581):
Nullum Vare sacra => Nullam Vare sacra

Return to the top Transcriber’s Note

	PAGE
Odes.—Book I.	239
Odes.—Book II.	285
Odes.—Book III.	312
Odes.—Book IV.	352
The Secular Hymn	375
The Book of Epodes	379
Satires.—Book I.	403
Satires.—Book II.	449
Epistles.—Book I.	498
Epistles.—Book II.	545
The Art of Poetry	562
Beck’s Introduction to the Metres of Horace	577
Index to the Metres of the Odes of Horace	581

CONTENTS.

NOTES.

LIFE OF HORACE.

CARMINUM

LIBER PRIMUS.

LIBER SECUNDUS.

LIBER TERTIUS.

LIBER QUARTUS.

CARMEN SAECULARE.

EPODON

LIBER.

SATIRARUM

LIBER PRIMUS.

LIBER SECUNDUS.

EPISTOLARUM

LIBER PRIMUS.

LIBER SECUNDUS.

EPISTOLA AD PISONES

DE ARTE POËTICA LIBER.

NOTES.

ODES.—BOOK I.

ODES.—BOOK II.

ODES.—BOOK III.

ODES.—BOOK IV.

THE SECULAR HYMN.

EPODES.

SATIRES.—BOOK I.

SATIRES.—BOOK II.

EPISTLES.—BOOK I.

EPISTLES.—BOOK II.

THE ART OF POETRY.

METRES OF HORACE.

INDEX TO THE METRES OF THE ODES OF HORACE.

	PAGE
Life of Horace	vii
Carminum Liber Primus	1
Carminum Liber Secundus	32
Carminum Liber Tertius	51
Carminum Liber Quartus	83
Carmen Saeculare	101
Epodon Liber	104
Satirarum Liber Primus	124
Satirarum Liber Secundus	152
Epistolarum Liber Primus	181
Epistolarum Liber Secundus	210
Epistola ad Pisones (De Arte Poëtica)	223

Quid bellicosus Cantaber et Scythes,
[41]Hirpine Quinti, cogitet Hadria
Divisus objecto remittas
Quaerere, nec trepides in usum
Poscentis aevi pauca. Fugit retro	5
Levis juventas et decor, arida
Pellente lascivos amores
Canitie facilemque somnum.
Non semper idem floribus est honor
Vernis neque uno Luna rubens nitet	10
Voltu: quid aeternis minorem
Consiliis animum fatigas?
Cur non sub alta vel platano vel hac
Pinu jacentes sic temere et rosa
Canos odorati capillos,	15
Dum licet, Assyriaque nardo
Potamus uncti? Dissipat Euius
Curas edaces. Quis puer ocius
Restinguet ardentis Falerni
Pocula praetereunte lympha?	20
Quis devium scortum eliciet domo
Lyden? Eburna dic age cum lyra
Maturet in comptum Lacaenae
More comas religata nodum.

Nolis longa ferae bella Numantiae,
Nec dirum Hannibalem, nec Siculum mare
Poeno purpureum sanguine mollibus
Aptari citharae modis;
Nec saevos Lapithas et nimium mero	5
Hylaeum domitosque Herculea manu
Telluris juvenes, unde periculum
Fulgens contremuit domus
Saturni veteris; tuque pedestribus
[42]Dices historiis proelia Caesaris,	10
Maecenas, melius ductaque per vias
Regum colla minacium.
Me dulces dominae Musa Licymniae
Cantus, me voluit dicere lucidum
Fulgentes oculos et bene mutuis	15
Fidum pectus amoribus;
Quam nec ferre pedem dedecuit choris,
Nec certare joco nec dare brachia
Ludentem nitidis virginibus, sacro
Dianae celebris die.	20
Num tu quae tenuit dives Achaemenes,
Aut pinguis Phrygiae Mygdonias opes
Permutare velis crine Licymniae,
Plenas aut Arabum domos?
Dum flagrantia detorquet ad oscula	25
Cervicem, aut facili saevitia negat,
Quae poscente magis gaudeat eripi,
Interdum rapere occupet.

Ille et nefasto te posuit die,
Quicunque primum, et sacrilega manu
Produxit, arbos, in nepotum
Perniciem opprobriumque pagi;
Illum et parentis crediderim sui	5
Fregisse cervicem et penetralia
Sparsisse nocturno cruore
Hospitis; ille venena Colchica
Et quidquid usquam concipitur nefas
Tractavit, agro qui statuit meo	10
Te, triste lignum, te caducum
In domini caput immerentis.
Quid quisque vitet nunquam homini satis
[43]Cautum est in horas: navita Bosporum
Poenus perhorrescit neque ultra	15
Caeca timet aliunde fata,
Miles sagittas et celerem fugam
Parthi, catenas Parthus et Italum
Robur; sed improvisa leti
Vis rapuit rapietque gentes.	20
Quam paene furvae regna Proserpinae
Et judicantem vidimus Aeacum
Sedesque discretas piorum et
Aeoliis fidibus querentem
Sappho puellis de popularibus,	25
Et te sonantem plenius aureo,
Alcaee, plectro dura navis,
Dura fugae mala, dura belli!
Utrumque sacro digna silentio
Mirantur umbrae dicere; sed magis	30
Pugnas et exactos tyrannos
Densum humeris bibit aure volgus.
Quid mirum, ubi illis carminibus stupens
Demittit atras belua centiceps
Aures et intorti capillis	35
Eumenidum recreantur angues?
Quin et Prometheus et Pelopis parens
Dulci laborum decipitur sono;
Nec curat Orion leones
Aut timidos agitare lyncas.	40

Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
Labuntur anni, nec pietas moram
Rugis et instanti senectae
Afferet indomitaeque morti,—
Non, si trecenis, quotquot eunt dies,	5
[44]Amice, places illacrumabilem
Plutona tauris, qui ter amplum
Geryonen Tityonque tristi
Compescit unda, scilicet omnibus
Quicunque terrae munere vescimur,	10
Enaviganda sive reges
Sive inopes erimus coloni.
Frustra cruento Marte carebimus,
Fractisque rauci fluctibus Hadriae,
Frustra per auctumnos nocentem	15
Corporibus metuemus Austrum:
Visendus ater flumine languido
Cocytos errans et Danai genus
Infame damnatusque longi
Sisyphus Aeolides laboris.	20
Linquenda tellus et domus et placens
Uxor, neque harum quas colis arborum
Te praeter invisas cupressos
Ulla brevem dominum sequetur.
Absumet heres Caecuba dignior	25
Servata centum clavibus, et mero
Tinget pavimentum superbo
Pontificum potiore coenis.

Jam pauca aratro jugera regiae
Moles relinquent; undique latius
Extenta visentur Lucrino
Stagna lacu, platanusque caelebs
Evincet ulmos; tum violaria et	5
Myrtus et omnis copia narium
Spargent olivetis odorem
Fertilibus domino priori,
Tum spissa ramis laurea fervidos
[45]Excludet ictus. Non ita Romuli	10
Praescriptum et intonsi Catonis
Auspiciis veterumque norma.
Privatus illis census erat brevis,
Commune magnum: nulla decempedis
Metata privatis opacam	15
Porticus excipiebat Arcton,
Nec fortuitum spernere caespitem
Leges sinebant, oppida publico
Sumptu jubentes et deorum
Templa novo decorare saxo.	20

Otium divos rogat in patente
Prensus Aegaeo, simul atra nubes
Condidit lunam neque certa fulgent
Sidera nautis;
Otium bello furiosa Thrace,	5
Otium Medi pharetra decori,
Grosphe, non gemmis neque purpura ve-
nale neque auro.
Non enim gazae neque consularis
Summovet lictor miseros tumultus	10
Mentis, et curas laqueata circum
Tecta volantes.
Vivitur parvo bene cui paternum
Splendet in mensa tenui salinum,
Nec leves somnos timor aut cupido	15
Sordidus aufert.
Quid brevi fortes jaculamur aevo
Multa? Quid terras alio calentes
Sole mutamus? Patriae quis exsul
Se quoque fugit?	20
Scandit aeratas vitiosa naves
[46]Cura nec turmas equitum relinquit,
Ocior cervis et agente nimbos
Ocior Euro.
Laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est	25
Oderit curare et amara lento
Temperet risu; nihil est ab omni
Parte beatum.
Abstulit clarum cita mors Achillem,
Longa Tithonum minuit senectus,	30
Et mihi forsan tibi quod negarit,
Porriget hora.
Te greges centum Siculaeque circum
Mugiunt vaccae, tibi tollit hinnitum
Apta quadrigis equa, te bis Afro	35
Murice tinctae
Vestiunt lanae: mihi parva rura et
Spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae
Parca non mendax dedit et malignum
Spernere volgus.	40

Cur me querelis exanimas tuis?
Nec dis amicum est nec mihi te prius
Obire, Maecenas, mearum
Grande decus columenque rerum.
Ah te meae si partem animae rapit	5
Maturior vis, quid moror altera,
Nec carus aeque nec superstes
Integer? Ille dies utramque
Ducet ruinam. Non ego perfidum
Dixi sacramentum: ibimus, ibimus	10
Utcunque praecedes, supremum
Carpere iter comites parati.
Me nec Chimaerae spiritus igneae
[47]Nec, si resurgat, centimanus Gyas
Divellet unquam: sic potenti	15
Justitiae placitumque Parcis.
Seu Libra seu me Scorpios adspicit
Formidolosus pars violentior
Natalis horae, seu tyrannus
Hesperiae Capricornus undae,	20
Utrumque nostrum incredibili modo
Consentit astrum. Te Jovis impio
Tutela Saturno refulgens
Eripuit volucrisque Fati
Tardavit alas, cum populus frequens	25
Laetum theatris ter crepuit sonum:
Me truncus illapsus cerebro
Sustulerat, nisi Faunus ictum
Dextra levasset, Mercurialium
Custos virorum. Reddere victimas	30
Aedemque votivam memento:
Nos humilem feriemus agnam.

Non ebur neque aureum
Mea renidet in domo lacunar;
Non trabes Hymettiae
Premunt columnas ultima recisas
Africa; neque Attali	5
Ignotus heres regiam occupavi;
Nec Laconicas mihi
Trahunt honestae purpuras clientae:
At fides et ingeni
Benigna vena est, pauperemque dives	10
Me petit; nihil supra
Deos lacesso, nec potentem amicum
Largiora flagito,
Satis beatus unicis Sabinis.
Truditur dies die,	15
[48]Novaeque pergunt interire lunae.
Tu secanda marmora
Locas sub ipsum funus, et sepulcri
Immemor struis domos
Marisque Baiis obstrepentis urges	20
Summovere litora,
Parum locuples continente ripa.
Quid, quod usque proximos
Revellis agri terminos et ultra
Limites clientium	25
Salis avarus? Pellitur paternos
In sinu ferens deos
Et uxor et vir sordidosque natos;
Nulla certior tamen
Rapacis Orci fine destinata	30
Aula divitem manet
Herum. Quid ultra tendis? Aequa tellus
Pauperi recluditur
Regumque pueris, nec satelles Orci
Callidum Promethea	35
Revexit auro captus. Hic superbum
Tantalum atque Tantali
Genus coërcet; hic levare functum
Pauperem laboribus
Vocatus atque non vocatus audit.	40

Bacchum in remotis carmina rupibus
Vidi docentem—credite posteri—
Nymphasque discentes et aures
Capripedum Satyrorum acutas.
Euoe, recenti mens trepidat metu	5
Plenoque Bacchi pectore turbidum
Laetatur. Euoe, parce Liber,
[49]Parce, gravi metuende thyrso!
Fas pervicaces est mihi Thyiadas
Vinique fontem lactis et uberes	10
Cantare rivos, atque truncis
Lapsa cavis iterare mella;
Fas et beatae conjugis additum
Stellis honorem tectaque Penthei
Disjecta non leni ruina,	15
Thracis et exitium Lycurgi.
Tu flectis amnes, tu mare barbarum,
Tu separatis uvidus in jugis
Nodo coërces viperino
Bistonidum sine fraude crines:	20
Tu, cum parentis regna per arduum
Cohors Gigantum scanderet impia,
Rhoetum retorsisti leonis
Unguibus horribilique mala;
Quamquam choreis aptior et jocis	25
Ludoque dictus non sat idoneus
Pugnae ferebaris: sed idem
Pacis eras mediusque belli.
Te vidit insons Cerberus aureo
Cornu decorum, leniter atterens	30
Caudam, et recedentis trilingui
Ore pedes tetigitque crura.

Non usitata nec tenui ferar
Penna biformis per liquidum aethera
Vates, neque in terris morabor
Longius, invidiaque major
Urbes relinquam. Non ego pauperum	5
Sanguis parentum, non ego quem vocas,
Dilecte Maecenas, obibo,
[50]Nec Stygia cohibebor unda.
Jam jam residunt cruribus asperae
Pelles, et album mutor in alitem	10
Superne, nascunturque leves
Per digitos humerosque plumae.
Jam Daedaleo ocior Icaro
Visam gementis litora Bospori
Syrtesque Gaetulas canorus	15
Ales, Hyperboreosque campos.
Me Colchus et qui dissimulat metum
Marsae cohortis Dacus et ultimi
Noscent Geloni, me peritus
Discet Hiber Rhodanique potor.	20
Absint inani funere neniae
Luctusque turpes et querimoniae;
Compesce clamorem ac sepulcri
Mitte supervacuos honores.

Odi profanum vulgus et arceo;
Favete linguis: carmina non prius
Audita Musarum sacerdos
Virginibus puerisque canto.
Regum timendorum in proprios greges,	5
Reges in ipsos imperium est Jovis
Clari Giganteo triumpho,
Cuncta supercilio moventis.
Est ut viro vir latius ordinet
Arbusta sulcis, hic generosior	10
Descendat in Campum petitor,
Moribus hic meliorque fama
Contendat, illi turba clientium
Sit major: aequa lege Necessitas
Sortitur insignes et imos;	15
Omne capax movet urna nomen.
Districtus ensis cui super impia
Cervice pendet non Siculae dapes
Dulcem elaborabunt saporem,
Non avium citharaeque cantus	20
Somnum reducent. Somnus agrestium
Lenis virorum non humiles domos
Fastidit umbrosamque ripam,
[52]Non Zephyris agitata Tempe.
Desiderantem quod satis est neque	25
Tumultuosum sollicitat mare,
Nec saevus Arcturi cadentis
Impetus aut orientis Haedi,
Non verberatae grandine vineae
Fundusque mendax, arbore nunc aquas	30
Culpante nunc torrentia agros
Sidera nunc hiemes iniquas.
Contracta pisces aequora sentiunt
Jactis in altum molibus; huc frequens
Caementa demittit redemptor	35
Cum famulis dominusque terrae
Fastidiosus. Sed Timor et Minae
Scandunt eodem quo dominus, neque
Decedit aerata triremi, et
Post equitem sedet atra Cura.	40
Quodsi dolentem nec Phrygius lapis
Nec purpurarum sidere clarior
Delenit usus nec Falerna
Vitis Achaemeniumque costum,
Cur invidendis postibus et novo	45
Sublime ritu moliar atrium?
Cur valle permutem Sabina
Divitias operosiores?

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
[53]Sponsus lacessat regius asperum	10
Tactu leonem, quem cruenta
Per medias rapit ira caedes.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
Mors et fugacem persequitur virum,
Nec parcit imbellis juventae	15
Poplitibus timidoque tergo.
Virtus repulsae nescia sordidae
Intaminatis fulget honoribus,
Nec sumit aut ponit secures
Arbitrio popularis aurae.	20
Virtus recludens immeritis mori
Caelum negata tentat iter via,
Coetusque volgares et udam
Spernit humum fugiente penna.
Est et fideli tuta silentio	25
Merces: vetabo qui Cereris sacrum
Vulgarit arcanae sub isdem
Sit trabibus fragilemve mecum
Solvat phaselon; saepe Diespiter
Neglectus incesto addidit integrum:	30
Raro antecedentem scelestum
Deseruit pede Poena claudo.

Justum et tenacem propositi virum
Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
Non voltus instantis tyranni
Mente quatit solida, neque Auster
Dux inquieti turbidus Hadriae,	5
Nec fulminantis magna manus Jovis;
Si fractus illabatur orbis
Impavidum ferient ruinae.
Hac arte Pollux et vagus Hercules
Enisus arces attigit igneas,	10
Quos inter Augustus recumbens
[54]Purpureo bibit ore nectar.
Hac te merentem, Bacche pater, tuae
Vexere tigres indocili jugum
Collo trahentes; hac Quirinus	15
Martis equis Acheronta fugit,
Gratum elocuta consiliantibus
Junone divis: Ilion, Ilion
Fatalis incestusque judex
Et mulier peregrina vertit	20
In pulverem, ex quo destituit deos
Mercede pacta Laomedon, mihi
Castaeque damnatum Minervae
Cum populo et duce fraudulento.
Jam nec Lacaenae splendet adulterae	25
Famosus hospes nec Priami domus
Perjura pugnaces Achivos
Hectoreis opibus refringit,
Nostrisque ductum seditionibus
Bellum resedit. Protinus et graves	30
Iras et invisum nepotem
Troica quem peperit sacerdos
Marti redonabo; illum ego lucidas
Inire sedes, ducere nectaris
Succos, et adscribi quietis	35
Ordinibus patiar deorum.
Dum longus inter saeviat Ilion
Romamque pontus qualibet exsules
In parte regnanto beati;
Dum Priami Paridisque busto	40
Insultet armentum et catulos ferae
Celent inultae stet Capitolium
Fulgens, triumphatisque possit
Roma ferox dare jura Medis.
Horrenda late nomen in ultimas	45
Extendat oras, qua medius liquor
Secernit Europen ab Afro,
Qua tumidus rigat arva Nilus,
Aurum irrepertum et sic melius situm
Cum terra celat spernere fortior,	50
Quam cogere humanos in usus
[55]Omne sacrum rapiente dextra.
Quicunque mundo terminus obstitit
Hunc tangat armis, visere gestiens
Qua parte debacchentur ignes,	55
Qua nebulae pluviique rores.
Sed bellicosis fata Quiritibus
Hac lege dico, ne nimium pii
Rebusque fidentes avitae
Tecta velint reparare Troiae.	60
Troiae renascens alite lugubri
Fortuna tristi clade iterabitur,
Ducente victrices catervas
Conjuge me Jovis et sorore.
Ter si resurgat murus aëneus	65
Auctore Phoebo ter pereat meis
Excisus Argivis, ter uxor
Capta virum puerosque ploret.
Non hoc jocosae conveniet lyrae:
Quo, Musa, tendis? Desine pervicax	70
Referre sermones deorum et
Magna modis tenuare parvis.

Descende caelo et dic age tibia
Regina longum Calliope melos,
Seu voce nunc mavis acuta,
Seu fidibus citharaque Phoebi.
Auditis, an me ludit amabilis	5
Insania? Audire et videor pios
Errare per lucos amoenae
Quos et aquae subeunt et aurae.
Me fabulosae Vulture in Apulo
Altricis extra limen Apuliae	10
Ludo fatigatumque somno
[56]Fronde nova puerum palumbes
Texere, mirum quod foret omnibus,
Quicunque celsae nidum Acherontiae
Saltusque Bantinos et arvum	15
Pingue tenent humilis Forenti,
Ut tuto ab atris corpore viperis
Dormirem et ursis, ut premerer sacra
Lauroque collataque myrto,
Non sine dis animosus infans.	20
Vester, Camenae, vester in arduos
Tollor Sabinos, seu mihi frigidum
Praeneste seu Tibur supinum
Seu liquidae placuere Baiae.
Vestris amicum fontibus et choris	25
Non me Philippis versa acies retro,
Devota non exstinxit arbos,
Nec Sicula Palinurus unda.
Utcunque mecum vos eritis, libens
Insanientem navita Bosporum	30
Tentabo et urentes arenas
Litoris Assyrii viator;
Visam Britannos hospitibus feros
Et laetum equino sanguine Concanum,
Visam pharetratos Gelonos	35
Et Scythicum inviolatus amnem.
Vos Caesarem altum, militia simul
Fessas cohortes addidit oppidis,
Finire quaerentem labores
Pierio recreatis antro.	40
Vos lene consilium et datis et dato
Gaudetis almae. Scimus, ut impios
Titanas immanemque turmam
Fulmine sustulerit caduco,
Qui terram inertem, qui mare temperat	45
Ventosum, et urbes regnaque tristia,
Divosque mortalesque turbas
Imperio regit unus aequo.
Magnum illa terrorem intulerat Jovi
Fidens juventus horrida brachiis,	50
Fratresque tendentes opaco
[57]Pelion imposuisse Olympo.
Sed quid Typhoëus et validus Mimas,
Aut quid minaci Porphyrion statu,
Quid Rhoetus evolsisque truncis	55
Enceladus jaculator audax
Contra sonantem Palladis aegida
Possent ruentes? Hinc avidus stetit
Volcanus, hinc matrona Juno et
Nunquam humeris positurus arcum,	60
Qui rore puro Castaliae lavit
Crines solutos, qui Lyciae tenet
Dumeta natalemque silvam,
Delius et Patareus Apollo.
Vis consili expers mole ruit sua:	65
Vim temperatam di quoque provehunt
In majus; idem odere vires
Omne nefas animo moventes.
Testis mearum centimanus Gyas
Sententiarum, notus et integrae	70
Tentator Orion Dianae
Virginea domitus sagitta.
Injecta monstris Terra dolet suis
Maeretque partus fulmine luridum
Missos ad Orcum; nec peredit	75
Impositam celer ignis Aetnen,
Incontinentis nec Tityi jecur
Reliquit ales, nequitiae additus
Custos; amatorem trecentae
Pirithoum cohibent catenae.	80

Caelo Tonantem credidimus Jovem
Regnare: praesens divus habebitur
Augustus adjectis Britannis
[58]Imperio gravibusque Persis.
Milesne Crassi conjuge barbara	5
Turpis maritus vixit et hostium,
Pro curia inversique mores!
Consenuit socerorum in armis
Sub rege Medo Marsus et Apulus,
Anciliorum et nominis et togae	10
Oblitus aeternaeque Vestae,
Incolumi Jove et urbe Roma?
Hoc caverat mens provida Reguli
Dissentientis condicionibus
Foedis et exemplo trahentis	15
Perniciem veniens in aevum,
Si non periret immiserabilis
Captiva pubes. Signa ego Punicis
Adfixa delubris et arma
Militibus sine caede, dixit,	20
Derepta vidi; vidi ego civium
Retorta tergo brachia libero
Portasque non clausas et arva
Marte coli populata nostro.
Auro repensus scilicet acrior	25
Miles redibit. Flagitio additis
Damnum: neque amissos colores
Lana refert medicata fuco,
Nec vera virtus quum semel excidit
Curat reponi deterioribus.	30
Si pugnat extricata densis
Cerva plagis erit ille fortis
Qui perfidis se credidit hostibus,
Et Marte Poenos proteret altero,
Qui lora restrictis lacertis	35
Sensit iners timuitque mortem.
Hic unde vitam sumeret inscius
Pacem duello miscuit. O pudor!
O magna Karthago, probrosis
Altior Italiae ruinis!	40
Fertur pudicae conjugis osculum
Parvosque natos ut capitis minor
Ab se removisse et virilem
[59]Torvus humi posuisse voltum:
Donec labantes consilio patres	45
Firmaret auctor nunquam alias dato,
Interque maerentes amicos
Egregius properaret exsul.
Atqui sciebat quae sibi barbarus
Tortor pararet; non aliter tamen	50
Dimovit obstantes propinquos,
Et populum reditus morantem,
Quam si clientum longa negotia
Dijudicata lite relinqueret,
Tendens Venafranos in agros	55
Aut Lacedaemonium Tarentum.

Delicta majorum immeritus lues,
Romane, donec templa refeceris
Aedesque labentes deorum et
Foeda nigro simulacra fumo.
Dis te minorem quod geris imperas:	5
Hinc omne principium, huc refer exitum.
Di multa neglecti dederunt
Hesperiae mala luctuosae.
Jam bis Monaeses et Pacori manus
Non auspicatos contudit impetus	10
Nostros et adjecisse praedam
Torquibus exiguis renidet.
Paene occupatam seditionibus
Delevit Urbem Dacus et Aethiops,
Hic classe formidatus, ille	15
Missilibus melior sagittis.
Fecunda culpae secula nuptias
Primum inquinavere et genus et domos;
Hoc fonte derivata clades
[60]In patriam populumque fluxit.	20
Motus doceri gaudet Ionicos
Matura virgo et fingitur artibus;
Jam nunc et incestos amores
De tenero meditatur ungui:
Mox juniores quaerit adulteros	25
Inter mariti vina, neque eligit
Cui donet impermissa raptim
Gaudia luminibus remotis;
Sed jussa coram non sine conscio
Surgit marito, seu vocat institor	30
Seu navis Hispanae magister,
Dedecorum pretiosus emptor.
Non his juventus orta parentibus
Infecit aequor sanguine Punico,
Pyrrhumque et ingentem cecidit	35
Antiochum Hannibalemque dirum;
Sed rusticorum mascula militum
Proles, Sabellis docta ligonibus
Versare glebas et severae
Matris ad arbitrium recisos	40
Portare fustes, sol ubi montium
Mutaret umbras et juga demeret
Bobus fatigatis, amicum
Tempus agens abeunte curru.
Damnosa quid non imminuit dies?	45
Aetas parentum pejor avis tulit
Nos nequiores, mox daturos
Progeniem vitiosiorem.

Quid fles, Asterie, quem tibi candidi
Primo restituent vere Favonii
Thyna merce beatum,
[61]Constantis juvenem fide,
Gygen? Ille Notis actus ad Oricum	5
Post insana Caprae sidera frigidas
Noctes non sine multis
Insomnis lacrimis agit.
Atqui sollicitae nuntius hospitae,
Suspirare Chloën et miseram tuis	10
Dicens ignibus uri,
Tentat mille vafer modis.
Ut Proetum mulier perfida credulum
Falsis impulerit criminibus nimis
Casto Bellerophonti	15
Maturare necem, refert.
Narrat paene datum Pelea Tartaro,
Magnessam Hippolyten dum fugit abstinens;
Et peccare docentes
Fallax historias movet.	20
Frustra: nam scopulis surdior Icari
Voces audit adhuc integer. At tibi
Ne vicinus Enipeus
Plus justo placeat cave;
Quamvis non alius flectere equum sciens	25
Aeque conspicitur gramine Martio,
Nec quisquam citus aeque
Tusco denatat alveo.
Prima nocte domum claude neque in vias
Sub cantu querulae despice tibiae,	30
Et te saepe vocanti
Duram difficilis mane.

Martiis caelebs quid agam Kalendis,
Quid velint flores et acerra thuris
Plena miraris, positusque carbo in
[62]Caespite vivo,
Docte sermones utriusque linguae?	5
Voveram dulces epulas et album
Libero caprum prope funeratus
Arboris ictu.
Hic dies anno redeunte festus
Corticem adstrictum pice dimovebit	10
Amphorae fumum bibere institutae
Consule Tullo.
Sume, Maecenas, cyathos amici
Sospitis centum et vigiles lucernas
Perfer in lucem; procul omnis esto	15
Clamor et ira.
Mitte civiles super urbe curas:
Occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen,
Medus infestus sibi luctuosis
Dissidet armis,	20
Servit Hispanae vetus hostis orae
Cantaber sera domitus catena;
Jam Scythae laxo meditantur arcu
Cedere campis.
Neglegens ne qua populus laboret	25
Parce privatus nimium cavere;
Dona praesentis cape laetus horae et
Linque severa.

Donec gratus eram tibi
Nec quisquam potior brachia candidae
Cervici juvenis dabat,
Persarum vigui rege beatior.
Donec non alia magis	5
Arsisti neque erat Lydia post Chloën,
Multi Lydia nominis
[63]Romana vigui clarior Ilia.
Me nunc Thressa Chloë regit
Dulces docta modos et citharae sciens,	10
Pro qua non metuam mori
Si parcent animae fata superstiti.
Me torret face mutua
Thurini Calais filius Ornyti,
Pro quo bis patiar mori	15
Si parcent puero fata superstiti.
Quid si prisca redit Venus
Diductosque jugo cogit aëneo,
Si flava excutitur Chloë
Rejectaeque patet janua Lydiae?	20
Quamquam sidere pulchrior
Ille est, tu levior cortice et improbo
Iracundior Hadria,
Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.

Extremum Tanain si biberes, Lyce,
Saevo nupta viro, me tamen asperas
Porrectum ante fores objicere incolis
Plorares Aquilonibus.
Audis quo strepitu janua, quo nemus	5
Inter pulchra satum tecta remugiat
Ventis, et positas ut glaciet nives
Puro numine Juppiter?
Ingratam Veneri pone superbiam,
Ne currente retro funis eat rota.	10
Non te Penelopen difficilem procis
Tyrrhenus genuit parens.
O quamvis neque te munera nec preces
Nec tinctus viola pallor amantium
Nec vir Pieria pellice saucius	15
[64]Curvat, supplicibus tuis
Parcas, nec rigida mollior aesculo
Nec Mauris animum mitior anguibus.
Non hoc semper erit liminis aut aquae
Caelestis patiens latus.	20

Mercuri,—nam te docilis magistro
Movit Amphion lapides canendo,—
Tuque testudo resonare septem
Callida nervis,
Nec loquax olim neque grata, nunc et	5
Divitum mensis et amica templis,
Dic modos Lyde quibus obstinatas
Applicet aures,
Quae velut latis equa trima campis,
Ludit exsultim metuitque tangi,	10
Nuptiarum expers et adhuc protervo
Cruda marito.
Tu potes tigres comitesque silvas
Ducere et rivos celeres morari;
Cessit immanis tibi blandienti	15
Janitor aulae
Cerberus, quamvis furiale centum
Muniant angues caput ejus atque
Spiritus teter saniesque manet
Ore trilingui.	20
Quin et Ixion Tityosque voltu
Risit invito, stetit urna paullum
Sicca dum grato Danai puellas
Carmine mulces.
Audiat Lyde scelus atque notas	25
Virginum poenas et inane lymphae
Dolium fundo pereuntis imo,
[65]Seraque fata
Quae manent culpas etiam sub Orco.
Impiae,—nam quid potuere majus?—	30
Impiae sponsos potuere duro
Perdere ferro!
Una de multis face nuptiali
Digna perjurum fuit in parentem
Splendide mendax et in omne virgo	35
Nobilis aevum,
Surge, quae dixit juveni 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	50
Omine et nostri memorem sepulcro
Scalpe querelam.

Miserarum est neque amori dare ludum neque dulci
Mala vino lavere, aut exanimari metuentes
Patruae verbera linguae.
Tibi qualum Cythereae puer ales, tibi telas
Operosaeque Minervae studium aufert, Neobule,	5
Liparaei nitor Hebri,
Simul unctos Tiberinis humeros lavit in undis,
[66]Eques ipso melior Bellerophonte, neque pugno
Neque segni pede victus;
Catus idem per apertum fugientes agitato	10
Grege cervos jaculari et celer alto latitantem
Fruticeto excipere aprum.

O fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro,
Dulci digne mero non sine floribus,
Cras donaberis haedo
Cui frons turgida cornibus
Primis et venerem et proelia destinat;	5
Frustra: nam gelidos inficiet tibi
Rubro sanguine rivos
Lascivi suboles gregis.
Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae
Nescit tangere, tu frigus amabile	10
Fessis vomere tauris
Praebes et pecori vago.
Fies nobilium tu quoque fontium,
Me dicente cavis impositam ilicem
Saxis, unde loquaces	15
Lymphae desiliunt tuae.

Herculis ritu modo dictus, o plebs,
Morte venalem petiisse laurum
Caesar Hispana repetit penates
[67]Victor ab ora.
Unico gaudens mulier marito	5
Prodeat justis operata sacris,
Et soror clari ducis et decorae
Supplice vitta
Virginum matres juvenumque nuper
Sospitum. Vos, o pueri et puellae	10
Jam virum expertae, male ominatis
Parcite verbis.
Hic dies vere mihi festus atras
Eximet curas; ego nec tumultum
Nec mori per vim metuam tenente	15
Caesare terras.
I pete unguentum, puer, et coronas
Et cadum Marsi memorem duelli,
Spartacum si qua potuit vagantem
Fallere testa.	20
Dic et argutae properet Neaerae
Murrheum nodo cohibere crinem;
Si per invisum mora janitorem
Fiet, abito.
Lenit albescens animos capillus	25
Litium et rixae cupidos protervae;
Non ego hoc ferrem calidus juventa
Consule Planco.

Uxor pauperis Ibyci,
Tandem nequitiae fige modum tuae
Famosisque laboribus:
Maturo propior desine funeri
Inter ludere virgines	5
Et stellis nebulam spargere candidis.
Non si quid Pholoën satis
[68]Et te, Chlori, decet: filia rectius
Expugnat juvenum domos,
Pulso Thyias uti concita tympano.	10
Illam cogit amor Nothi
Lascivae similem ludere capreae:
Te lanae prope nobilem
Tonsae Luceriam, non citharae decent,
Nec flos purpureus rosae	15
Nec poti vetulam faece tenus cadi.

Inclusam Danaën turris aënea
Robustaeque fores et vigilum canum
Tristes excubiae munierant satis
Nocturnis ab adulteris,
Si non Acrisium virginis abditae	5
Custodem pavidum Juppiter et Venus
Risissent, fore enim tutum iter et patens
Converso in pretium deo.
Aurum per medios ire satellites
Et perrumpere amat saxa potentius	10
Ictu fulmineo: concidit auguris
Argivi domus ob lucrum
Demersa exitio; diffidit urbium
Portas vir Macedo et subruit aemulos
Reges muneribus; munera navium	15
Saevos illaqueant duces.
Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam
Majorumque fames. Jure perhorrui
Late conspicuum tollere verticem,
Maecenas, equitum decus.	20
Quanto quisque sibi plura negaverit,
Ab dis plura feret: nil cupientium
Nudus castra peto et transfuga divitum
[69]Partes linquere gestio,
Contemptae dominus splendidior reï,	25
Quam si quidquid arat impiger Apulus
Occultare meis dicerer horreis,
Magnas inter opes inops.
Purae rivus aquae silvaque jugerum
Paucorum et segetis certa fides meae	30
Fulgentem imperio fertilis Africae
Fallit sorte beatior.
Quamquam nec Calabrae mella ferunt apes
Nec Laestrygonia Bacchus in amphora
Languescit mihi nec pinguia Gallicis	35
Crescunt vellera pascuis,
Importuna tamen pauperies abest,
Nec si plura velim tu dare deneges.
Contracto melius parva cupidine
Vectigalia porrigam,	40
Quam si Mygdoniis regnum Alyattei
Campis continuem. Multa petentibus
Desunt multa: bene est cui deus obtulit
Parca quod satis est manu.

Aeli vetusto nobilis ab Lamo,
(Quando et priores hinc Lamias ferunt
Denominatos et nepotum
Per memores genus omne fastos,
Auctore ab illo ducit originem	5
Qui Formiarum moenia dicitur
Princeps et innantem Maricae
Litoribus tenuisse Lirim
Late tyrannus) cras foliis nemus
Multis et alga litus inutili	10
Demissa tempestas ab Euro
[70]Sternet, aquae nisi fallit augur
Annosa cornix. Dum potis aridum
Compone lignum: cras Genium mero
Curabis et porco bimestri	15
Cum famulis operum solutis.

Faune, Nympharum fugientum amator,
Per meos fines et aprica rura
Lenis incedas abeasque parvis
Aequus alumnis,
Si tener pleno cadit haedus anno,	5
Larga nec desunt Veneris sodali
Vina craterae. Vetus ara multo
Fumat odore,
Ludit herboso pecus omne campo,
Cum tibi Nonae redeunt Decembres;	10
Festus in pratis vacat otioso
Cum bove pagus;
Inter audaces lupus errat agnos;
Spargit agrestes tibi silva frondes;
Gaudet invisam pepulisse fossor	15
Ter pede terram.

Quantum distet ab Inacho
Codrus pro patria non timidus mori
Narras, et genus Aeaci
[71]Et pugnata sacro bella sub Ilio:
Quo Chium pretio cadum	5
Mercemur, quis aquam temperet ignibus,
Quo praebente domum et quota
Pelignis caream frigoribus, taces.
Da lunae propere novae,
Da noctis mediae, da, puer, auguris	10
Murenae: tribus aut novem
Miscentur cyathis pocula commodis.
Qui Musas amat impares
Ternos ter cyathos attonitus petet
Vates; tres prohibet supra	15
Rixarum metuens tangere Gratia
Nudis juncta sororibus.
Insanire juvat: cur Berecyntiae
Cessant flamina tibiae?
Cur pendet tacita fistula cum lyra?	20
Parcentes ego dexteras
Odi: sparge rosas; audiat invidus
Dementem strepitum Lycus
Et vicina seni non habilis Lyco.
Spissa te nitidum coma,	25
Puro te similem, Telephe, Vespero,
Tempestiva petit Rhode:
Me lentus Glycerae torret amor meae.