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Title: The Works of Horace, With English Notes
       Twentieth Edition

Author: A. J. Macleane

Editor: Reginald H. Chase

Release Date: September 22, 2014 [EBook #46938]

Language: Latin

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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THE

WORKS OF HORACE,

WITH

ENGLISH NOTES,

BY THE

REV. A. J. MACLEANE, M.A.

HEAD-MASTER OF KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL, BATH

REVISED AND EDITED

BY

REGINALD H. CHASE, A.M.

Boston:

ALLYN AND BACON.

1895.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by

JOHN BARTLETT.

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts

TWENTIETH EDITION.

University Press John Wilson & Son,

Cambridge.




CONTENTS.


                                                   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 Poėtica)           223


NOTES.

    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





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. 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 Cęsar 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 Quęstor'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, 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 Męcenas,
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 Męcenas, also, it is probable Horace was introduced to Augustus;
but when that happened is uncertain. In B.C. 37, Męcenas 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. 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,
Pręneste, and Baię, 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 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 Baię. 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, 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. Męcenas 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 Esquilię, that is, probably, without the city walls, on the ground
drained and laid out in gardens by Męcenas. (See S. i. 8,
Introduction.)


FOOTNOTES

[Footnote 1: C. iii. 4. 9; C. iv. 9. 2; S. ii. 1. 34.]

[Footnote 2: S. i. 6. 6. 46, 47.]

[Footnote 3: S. i. 6. 8.]

[Footnote 4: S. i. 6. 86.]

[Footnote 5: S. i. 6. 96.]

[Footnote 6: Epp. ii. 1. 71; ibid. 2. 41.]

[Footnote 7: S. i. 6. 48.]

[Footnote 8: Epp. ii. 2. 50.]

[Footnote 9: Some persons reject this notion, supposing Horace to mean,
in the passage on which it is founded (Epp. ii. 2. 51), that poverty
made him desperate and careless of consequences, but that when he became
comparatively rich he lost that stimulus.]

[Footnote 10: Suet. Vit. S. ii. 6. 36.]

[Footnote 11: C. iii. 4. 28.]

[Footnote 12: Epp. i. 15.]

[Footnote 13: Epp. i. 7. 1-13.]




CARMINUM LIBER PRIMUS.


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
    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
    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
      Leti corripuit gradum.
    Expertus vacuum Daedalus aėra
      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
    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
      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,
    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 coėrces
    Aurea turbam, superis deorum
          Gratus et imis.                                     20


CARMEN XI.

    Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi
    Finem di dederint, Leuconoė, 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
    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
    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,
    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 Laėrtiaden, 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
    Visum parte lupum graminis immemor                        30
    Sublimi fugies mollis anhelitu,
      Non hoc pollicitus tuae.
    Iracunda diem proferet Ilio
    Matronisque Phrygum classis Achilleļ;
    Post certas hiemes uret Achaļcus                          35
      Ignis Iliacas domos.


CARMEN XVI.

    O matre pulchra filia pulchrior,
    Quem criminosis cunque voles modum
      Pones ļambis, 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 ļambos
    Misit furentem; nunc ego mitibus                          25
    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 Teļa
      Dices laborantes in uno
        Penelopen vitreamque Circen;                          20
    Hic innocentis pocula Lesbii
    Duces sub umbra, nec Semeleļus
      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
    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
    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
    Solis in terra domibus negata:
    Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo,
        Dulce loquentem.


CARMEN XXIII.

    Vitas hinnuleo me similis, Chloė,
    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,
    Nulli flebilior quam tibi, Virgili.                       10
    Tu frustra pius heu non ita creditum
      Poscis Quinctilium deos.
    Quod si Threļcio 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
    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
    Aėrias 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
      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 coėmptos 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,
    Latoė, 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
    Cyri torret amor, Cyrus in asperam
    Declinat Pholoėn; sed prius Apulis
            Jungentur capreae lupis
    Quam turpi Pholoė peccet adultero.
    Sic visum Veneri, cui placet impares                      10
    Formas atque animos sub juga aėnea
            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 aėna, 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
    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 Threļcia 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.




CARMINUM LIBER SECUNDUS


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
    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,
    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 coėmptis saltibus et domo
    Villaque flavus quam Tiberis lavit,
      Cedes et exstructis in altum
        Divitiis potietur heres.                              20
    Divesne prisco natus ab Inacho
    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 Pholoė 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
             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
        Turpe solum tetigere mento.
    Sed me per hostes Mercurius celer
    Denso paventem sustulit aėre;
      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
             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.


CARMEN XI.

    Quid bellicosus Cantaber et Scythes,
    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.


CARMEN XII.

    Nolis longa ferae bella Numantiae,
    Nec dirum Hannibalem, nec Siculum mare
    Poeno purpureum sanguine mollibus
            Aptari citharae modis;
    Nec saevos Lapithas et nimium mero                         5
    Hylaeum domitosque Herculea manu
    Telluris juvenes, unde periculum
            Fulgens contremuit domus
    Saturni veteris; tuque pedestribus
    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.


CARMEN XIII.

    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
    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


CARMEN XIV.

    Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
    Labuntur anni, nec pietas moram
      Rugis et instanti senectae
        Afferet indomitaeque morti,--
    Non, si trecenis, quotquot eunt dies,                      5
    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.


CARMEN XV.

    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
    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


CARMEN XVI.

    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
    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


CARMEN XVII.

    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
    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.


CARMEN XVIII.

      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
    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 coėrcet; hic levare functum
      Pauperem laboribus
    Vocatus atque non vocatus audit.                          40


CARMEN XIX.

    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,
        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 coėrces 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.


CARMEN XX.

    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,
        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.




CARMINUM LIBER TERTIUS.


CARMEN I.

    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,
        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?


CARMEN II.

    Angustam amice pauperiem pati
    Robustus acri militia puer
      Condiscat, et Parthos feroces
        Vexet eques metuendus hasta,
    Vitamque sub divo et trepidis agat                         5
    In rebus. Illum ex moenibus hosticis
      Matrona bellantis tyranni
        Prospiciens et adulta virgo
    Suspiret, eheu, ne rudis agminum
    Sponsus lacessat regius asperum                           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.


CARMEN III.

    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
        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
        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 aėneus                              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.


CARMEN IV.

    Descende caelo et dic age tibia
    Regina longum Calliope melos,
      Seu voce nunc mavis acuta,
        Seu fidibus citharaque Phoebi.
    Auditis, an me ludit amabilis                              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
        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
        Pelion imposuisse Olympo.
    Sed quid Typhoėus 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


CARMEN V.

    Caelo Tonantem credidimus Jovem
    Regnare: praesens divus habebitur
      Augustus adjectis Britannis
        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
        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.


CARMEN VI.

    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
        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.


CARMEN VII.

    Quid fles, Asterie, quem tibi candidi
    Primo restituent vere Favonii
      Thyna merce beatum,
        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 Chloėn 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.


CARMEN VIII.

    Martiis caelebs quid agam Kalendis,
    Quid velint flores et acerra thuris
    Plena miraris, positusque carbo in
              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.


CARMEN IX.

      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 Chloėn,
      Multi Lydia nominis
    Romana vigui clarior Ilia.
      Me nunc Thressa Chloė 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 aėneo,
      Si flava excutitur Chloė
    Rejectaeque patet janua Lydiae?                           20
      Quamquam sidere pulchrior
    Ille est, tu levior cortice et improbo
      Iracundior Hadria,
    Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.


CARMEN X.

    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
            Curvat, supplicibus tuis
    Parcas, nec rigida mollior aesculo
    Nec Mauris animum mitior anguibus.
    Non hoc semper erit liminis aut aquae
            Caelestis patiens latus.                          20


CARMEN XI.

    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,
            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.


CARMEN XII.

    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,
    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.


CARMEN XIII.

    O fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro,
    Dulci digne mero non sine floribus,
      Cras donaberis haedo
        Cui frons turgida cornibus
    Primis et venerem et proelia destinat;                     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.


CARMEN XIV.

    Herculis ritu modo dictus, o plebs,
    Morte venalem petiisse laurum
    Caesar Hispana repetit penates
            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.


CARMEN XV.

      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 Pholoėn satis
    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.


CARMEN XVI.

    Inclusam Danaėn turris aėnea
    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
      Partes linquere gestio,
    Contemptae dominus splendidior reļ,                       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.


CARMEN XVII.

    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
        Sternet, aquae nisi fallit augur
    Annosa cornix. Dum potis aridum
    Compone lignum: cras Genium mero
      Curabis et porco bimestri                               15
        Cum famulis operum solutis.


CARMEN XVIII.

    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.


CARMEN XIX.

      Quantum distet ab Inacho
    Codrus pro patria non timidus mori
      Narras, et genus Aeaci
    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.


CARMEN XX.

    Non vides, quanto moveas periclo,
    Pyrrhe, Gaetulae catulos leaenae?
    Dura post paullo fugies inaudax
            Proelia raptor
    Cum per obstantes juvenum catervas                         5
    Ibit insignem repetens Nearchum,
    Grande certamen tibi praeda cedat
            Major an illi.
    Interim, dum tu celeres sagittas
    Promis, haec dentes acuit timendos,                       10
    Arbiter pugnae posuisse nudo
            Sub pede palmam
    Fertur, et leni recreare vento
    Sparsum odoratis humerum capillis,
    Qualis aut Nireus fuit aut aquosa                         15
            Raptus ab Ida.


CARMEN XXI.

    O nata mecum consule Manlio,
    Seu tu querelas sive geris jocos
      Seu rixam et insanos amores
        Seu facilem, pia testa, somnum,
    Quocunque lectum nomine Massicum                           5
    Servas, moveri digna bono die,
      Descende, Corvino jubente
        Promere languidiora vina.
    Non ille, quamquam Socraticis madet
    Sermonibus, te negleget horridus:                         10
      Narratur et prisci Catonis
        Saepe mero caluisse virtus.
    Tu lene tormentum ingenio admoves
    Plerumque duro; tu sapientium
      Curas et arcanum jocoso                                 15
        Consilium retegis Lyaeo;
    Tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis
    Viresque, et addis cornua pauperi,
      Post te neque iratos trementi
        Regum apices neque militum arma.                      20
    Te Liber et, si laeta aderit, Venus
    Segnesque nodum solvere Gratiae
      Vivaeque producent lucernae,
        Dum rediens fugat astra Phoebus.


CARMEN XXII.

    Montium custos nemorumque, Virgo,
    Quae laborantes utero puellas
    Ter vocata audis adimisque leto,
            Diva triformis,
    Imminens villae tua pinus esto,                            5
    Quam per exactos ego laetus annos
    Verris obliquum meditantis ictum
            Sanguine donem.


CARMEN XXIII.

    Caelo supinas si tuleris manus
    Nascente Luna, rustica Phidyle,
      Si thure placaris et horna
        Fruge Lares avidaque porca,
    Nec pestilentem sentiet Africum                            5
    Fecunda vitis nec sterilem seges
      Robiginem aut dulces alumni
        Pomifero grave tempus anno.
    Nam quae nivali pascitur Algido
    Devota quercus inter et ilices                            10
      Aut crescit Albanis in herbis
        Victima pontificum secures
    Cervice tinget: te nihil attinet
    Tentare multa caede bidentium
      Parvos coronantem marino                                15
        Rore deos fragilique myrto.
    Immunis aram si tetigit manus,
    Non sumptuosa blandior hostia
      Mollivit aversos Penates
        Farre pio et saliente mica.                           20


CARMEN XXIV.

      Intactis opulentior
    Thesauris Arabum et divitis Indiae
      Caementis licet occupes
    Tyrrhenum omne tuis et mare Apulicum,
      Si figit adamantinos                                     5
    Summis verticibus dira Necessitas
      Clavos, non animum metu,
    Non mortis laqueis expedies caput.
      Campestres melius Scythae
    Quorum plaustra vagas rite trahunt domos                  10
      Vivunt, et rigidi Getae
    Immetata quibus jugera liberas
      Fruges et Cererem ferunt,
    Nec cultura placet longior annua,
      Defunctumque laboribus                                  15
    Aequali recreat sorte vicarius.
      Illic matre carentibus
    Privignis mulier temperat innocens,
      Nec dotata regit virum
    Conjux nec nitido fidit adultero.                         20
      Dos est magna parentium
    Virtus et metuens alterius viri
      Certo foedere castitas;
    Et peccare nefas aut pretium est mori.
      O quisquis volet impias                                 25
    Caedes et rabiem tollere civicam,
      Si quaeret Pater Urbium
    Subscribi statuis, indomitam audeat
      Refrenare licentiam,
    Clarus postgenitis; quatenus, heu nefas!                  30
      Virtutem incolumem odimus,
    Sublatam ex oculis quaerimus invidi.
      Quid tristes querimoniae
    Si non supplicio culpa reciditur?
      Quid leges sine moribus                                 35
    Vanae proficiunt, si neque fervidis
      Pars inclusa caloribus
    Mundi nec Boreae finitimum latus
      Durataeque solo nives
    Mercatorem abigunt, horrida callidi                       40
      Vincunt aequora navitae,
    Magnum pauperies opprobrium jubet
      Quidvis et facere et pati
    Virtutisque viam deserit arduae?
      Vel nos in Capitolium                                   45
    Quo clamor vocat et turba faventium,
      Vel nos in mare proximum
    Gemmas et lapides aurum et inutile,
      Summi materiem mali,
    Mittamus scelerum si bene poenitet.                       50
      Eradenda cupidinis
    Pravi sunt elementa, et tenerae nimis
      Mentes asperioribus
    Formandae studiis. Nescit equo rudis
      Haerere ingenuus puer                                   55
    Venarique timet, ludere doctior,
      Seu Graeco jubeas trocho
    Seu malis vetita legibus alea,
      Cum perjura patris fides
    Consortem socium fallat et hospitem                       60
      Indignoque pecuniam
    Heredi properet.  Scilicet improbae
      Crescunt divitiae; tamen
    Curtae nescio quid semper abest reļ.


CARMEN XXV.

      Quo me, Bacche, rapis tui
    Plenum? quae nemora aut quos agor in specus
      Velox mente nova? quibus
    Antris egregii Caesaris audiar
      Aeternum meditans decus                                  5
    Stellis inserere et consilio Jovis?
      Dicam insigne recens adhuc
    Indictum ore alio. Non secus in jugis
      Exsomnis stupet Euias
    Hebrum prospiciens et nive candidam                       10
      Thracen ac pede barbaro
    Lustratam Rhodopen, ut mihi devio
      Ripas et vacuum nemus
    Mirari libet. O Naļadum potens
      Baccharumque valentium                                  15
    Proceras manibus vertere fraxinos,
      Nil parvum aut humili modo,
    Nil mortale loquar. Dulce periculum est,
      O Lenaee, sequi deum
    Cingentem viridi tempora pampino.                         20


CARMEN XXVI.

    Vixi puellis nuper idoneus
    Et militavi non sine gloria;
      Nunc arma defunctumque bello
        Barbiton hic paries habebit,
    Laevum marinae qui Veneris latus                           5
    Custodit. Hic hic ponite lucida
      Funalia et vectes et arcus
        Oppositis foribus minaces.
    O quae beatam diva tenes Cyprum et
    Memphin carentem Sithonia nive,                           10
      Regina, sublimi flagello
        Tange Chloėn semel arrogantem.


CARMEN XXVII.

    Impios parrae recinentis omen
    Ducat et praegnans canis aut ab agro
    Rava decurrens lupa Lanuvino
            Fetaque vulpes.
    Rumpat et serpens iter institutum                          5
    Si per obliquum similis sagittae
    Terruit mannos: ego cui timebo
            Providus auspex,
    Antequam stantes repetat paludes
    Imbrium divina avis imminentum,                           10
    Oscinem corvum prece suscitabo
            Solis ab ortu.
    Sis licet felix ubicunque mavis,
    Et memor nostri, Galatea, vivas,
    Teque nec laevus vetet ire picus                          15
            Nec vaga cornix.
    Sed vides quanto trepidet tumultu
    Pronus Orion. Ego quid sit ater
    Hadriae novi sinus et quid albus
            Peccet Iapyx.                                     20
    Hostium uxores puerique caecos
    Sentiant motus orientis Austri et
    Aequoris nigri fremitum et trementes
            Verbere ripas.
    Sic et Europe niveum doloso                               25
    Credidit tauro latus et scatentem
    Beluis pontum mediasque fraudes
            Palluit audax.
    Nuper in pratis studiosa florum et
    Debitae Nymphis opifex coronae                            30
    Nocte sublustri nihil astra praeter
            Vidit et undas.
    Quae simul centum tetigit potentem
    Oppidis Creten: Pater, o relictum
    Filiae nomen pietasque, dixit,                            35
            Victa furore!
    Unde quo veni? Levis una mors est
    Virginum culpae. Vigilansne ploro
    Turpe commissum, an vitiis carentem
            Ludit imago                                       40
    Vana quae porta fugiens eburna
    Somnium ducit? Meliusne fluctus
    Ire per longos fuit an recentes
            Carpere flores?
    Si quis infamem mihi nunc juvencum                        45
    Dedat iratae lacerare ferro et
    Frangere enitar modo multum amati
            Cornua monstri.
    Impudens liqui patrios Penates,
    Impudens Orcum moror. O deorum                            50
    Si quis haec audis, utinam inter errem
            Nuda leones!
    Antequam turpis macies decentes
    Occupet malas, teneraeque sucus
    Defluat praedae, speciosa quaero                          55
            Pascere tigres.
    Vilis Europe, pater urget absens:
    Quid mori cessas? Potes hac ab orno
    Pendulum zona bene te secuta
            Laedere collum.                                   60
    Sive te rupes et acuta leto
    Saxa delectant age te procellae
    Crede veloci, nisi herile mavis
            Carpere pensum
    Regius sanguis dominaeque tradi                           65
    Barbarae pellex.--Aderat querenti
    Perfidum ridens Venus et remisso
            Filius arcu.
    Mox ubi lusit satis: Abstineto,
    Dixit, irarum calidaeque rixae                            70
    Cum tibi invisus laceranda reddet
            Cornua taurus.
    Uxor invicti Jovis esse nescis:
    Mitte singultus; bene ferre magnam
    Disce fortunam; tua sectus orbis                          75
            Nomina ducet.


CARMEN XXVIII.

      Festo quid potius die
    Neptuni faciam? Prome reconditum
      Lyde strenua Caecubum
    Munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae.
      Inclinare meridiem                                       5
    Sentis ac, veluti stet volucris dies,
      Parcis deripere horreo
    Cessantem Bibuli consulis amphoram.
      Nos cantabimus invicem
    Neptunum et virides Nereļdum comas;                       10
      Tu curva recines lyra
    Latonam et celeris spicula Cynthiae;
      Summo carmine quae Cnidon
    Fulgentesque tenet Cycladas et Paphon
      Junctis visit oloribus;                                 15
    Dicetur merita Nox quoque nenia.


CARMEN XXIX.

    Tyrrhena regum progenies, tibi
    Non ante verso lene merum cado
      Cum flore, Maecenas, rosarum et
        Pressa tuis balanus capillis
    Jamdudum apud me est. Eripe te morae;                      5
    Ne semper udum Tibur et Aesulae
      Declive contempleris arvum et
        Telegoni juga parricidae.
    Fastidiosam desere copiam et
    Molem propinquam nubibus arduis;                          10
      Omitte mirari beatae
        Fumum et opes strepitumque Romae.
    Plerumque gratae divitibus vices,
    Mundaeque parvo sub lare pauperum
      Coenae sine aulaeis et ostro                            15
        Sollicitam explicuere frontem.
    Jam clarus occultum Andromedae pater
    Ostendit ignem, jam Procyon furit
      Et Stella vesani Leonis,
        Sole dies referente siccos.                           20
    Jam pastor umbras cum grege languido
    Rivumque fessus quaerit et horridi
      Dumeta Silvani, caretque
        Ripa vagis taciturna ventis.
    Tu civitatem quis deceat status                           25
    Curas et Urbi sollicitus times
      Quid Seres et regnata Cyro
        Bactra parent Tanaisque discors.
    Prudens futuri temporis exitum
    Caliginosa nocte premit deus,                             30
      Ridetque si mortalis ultra
        Fas trepidat. Quod adest memento
    Componere aequus; cetera fluminis
    Ritu feruntur, nunc medio aequore
      Cum pace delabentis Etruscum                            35
        In mare, nunc lapides adesos
    Stirpesque raptas et pecus et domus
    Volventis una non sine montium
      Clamore vicinaeque silvae,
        Cum fera diluvies quietos                             40
    Irritat amnes. Ille potens sui
    Laetusque deget, cui licet in diem
      Dixisse Vixi: cras vel atra
        Nube polum Pater occupato
    Vel sole puro; non tamen irritum                          45
    Quodcunque retro est efficiet, neque
      Diffinget infectumque reddet
        Quod fugiens semel hora vexit.
    Fortuna saevo laeta negotio et
    Ludum insolentem ludere pertinax                          50
      Transmutat incertos honores,
        Nunc mihi, nunc alii benigna.
    Laudo manentem; si celeres quatit
    Pennas resigno quae dedit, et mea
      Virtute me involvo probamque                            55
        Pauperiem sine dote quaero.
    Non est meum si mugiat Africis
    Malus procellis ad miseras preces
      Decurrere, et votis pacisci
        Ne Cypriae Tyriaeque merces                           60
    Addant avaro divitias mari:
    Tunc me biremis praesidio scaphae
      Tutum per Aegaeos tumultus
        Aura feret geminusque Pollux.


CARMEN XXX.

    Exegi monumentum aere perennius
    Regalique situ pyramidum altius,
    Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens
    Possit diruere aut innumerabilis
    Annorum series et fuga temporum.                           5
    Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei
    Vitabit Libitinam: usque ego postera
    Crescam laude recens dum Capitolium
    Scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex.
    Dicar qua violens obstrepit Aufidus                       10
    Et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium
    Regnavit populorum, ex humili potens,
    Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos
    Deduxisse modos. Sume superbiam
    Quaesitam meritis et mihi Delphica                        15
    Lauro cinge volens, Melpomene, comam.




CARMINUM LIBER QUARTUS.


CARMEN I.

      Intermissa, Venus, diu
    Rursus bella moves? Parce, precor, precor.
      Non sum qualis eram bonae
    Sub regno Cinarae. Desine, dulcium
      Mater saeva Cupidinum,                                   5
    Circa lustra decem flectere mollibus
      Jam durum imperiis: abi
    Quo blandae juvenum te revocant preces.
      Tempestivius in domum
    Paulli purpureis ales oloribus                            10
      Comissabere Maximi,
    Si torrere jecur quaeris idoneum:
      Namque et nobilis et decens
    Et pro sollicitis non tacitus reis
      Et centum puer artium                                   15
    Late signa feret militiae tuae,
      Et quandoque potentior
    Largi muneribus riserit aemuli
      Albanos prope te lacus
    Ponet marmoream sub trabe citrea.                         20
      Illic plurima naribus
    Duces thura, lyraeque et Berecyntiae
      Delectabere tibiae
    Mixtis carminibus non sine fistula;
      Illic bis pueri die                                     25
    Numen cum teneris virginibus tuum
      Laudantes pede candido
    In morem Salium ter quatient humum.
      Me nec femina nec puer
    Jam nec spes animi credula mutui,                         30
      Nec certare juvat mero
    Nec vincire novis tempora floribus.
      Sed cur heu, Ligurine, cur
    Manat rara meas lacruma per genas?
      Cur facunda parum decoro                                35
    Inter verba cadit lingua silentio?
      Nocturnis ego somniis
    Jam captum teneo, jam volucrem sequor
      Te per gramina Martii
    Campi, te per aquas, dure, volubiles.                     40


CARMEN II.

    Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari,
    Iule, ceratis ope Daedalea
    Nititur pennis vitreo daturus
            Nomina ponto.
    Monte decurrens velut amnis imbres                         5
    Quem super notas aluere ripas
    Fervet immensusque ruit profundo
            Pindarus ore,
    Laurea donandus Apollinari,
    Seu per audaces nova dithyrambos                          10
    Verba devolvit numerisque fertur
            Lege solutis;
    Seu deos regesve canit deorum
    Sanguinem per quos cecidere justa
    Morte Centauri, cecidit tremendae                         15
            Flamma Chimaerae;
    Sive quos Elea domum reducit
    Palma caelestes pugilemve equumve
    Dicit et centum potiore signis
            Munere donat:                                     20
    Flebili sponsae juvenemve raptum
    Plorat et vires animumque moresque
    Aureos educit in astra nigroque
            Invidet Orco.
    Multa Dircaeum levat aura cycnum                          25
    Tendit, Antoni, quotiens in altos
    Nubium tractus. Ego apis Matinae
            More modoque
    Grata carpentis thyma per laborem
    Plurimum circa nemus uvidique                             30
    Tiburis ripas operosa parvus
            Carmina fingo.
    Concines majore poėta plectro
    Caesarem quandoque trahet feroces
    Per sacrum clivum merita decorus                          35
            Fronde Sygambros,
    Quo nihil majus meliusve terris
    Fata donavere bonique divi,
    Nec dabunt quamvis redeant in aurum
            Tempora priscum.                                  40
    Concines laetosque dies et Urbis
    Publicum ludum super impetrato
    Fortis Augusti reditu forumque
            Litibus orbum.
    Tum meae si quid loquar audiendum                         45
    Vocis accedet bona pars et, O Sol
    Pulcher! o laudande! canam, recepto
            Caesare felix.
    Teque dum procedis, io Triumphe!
    Non semel dicemus, io Triumphe!                           50
    Civitas omnis dabimusque divis
            Thura benignis.
    Te decem tauri totidemque vaccae,
    Me tener solvet vitulus relicta
    Matre qui largis juvenescit herbis                        55
            In mea vota,
    Fronte curvatos imitatus ignes
    Tertium lunae referentis ortum,
    Qua notam duxit niveus videri
            Cetera fulvus.                                    60


CARMEN III.

      Quem tu, Melpomene, semel
    Nascentem placido lumine videris,
      Illum non labor Isthmius
    Clarabit pugilem, non equus impiger
      Curru ducet Achaico                                      5
    Victorem, neque res bellica Deliis
      Ornatum foliis ducem,
    Quod regum tumidas contuderit minas,
      Ostendet Capitolio:
    Sed quae Tibur aquae fertile praefluunt                   10
      Et spissae nemorum comae
    Fingent Aeolio carmine nobilem.
      Romae principis urbium
    Dignatur suboles inter amabiles
      Vatum ponere me choros,                                 15
    Et jam dente minus mordeor invido.
      O, testudinis aureae
    Dulcem quae strepitum, Pieri, temperas,
      O mutis quoque piscibus
    Donatura cycni, si libeat, sonum,                         20
      Totum muneris hoc tui est:
    Quod monstror digito praetereuntium
      Romanae fidicen lyrae,
    Quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est.


CARMEN IV.

    Qualem ministrum fulminis alitem,
    Cui rex deorum regnum in aves vagas
      Permisit expertus fidelem
        Juppiter in Ganymede flavo,
    Olim juventas et patrius vigor                             5
    Nido laborum propulit inscium,
      Vernique jam nimbis remotis
        Insolitos docuere nisus
    Venti paventem, mox in ovilia
    Demisit hostem vividus impetus,                           10
      Nunc in reluctantes dracones
        Egit amor dapis atque pugnae:
    Qualemve laetis caprea pascuis
    Intenta fulvae matris ab ubere
      Jam lacte depulsum leonem                               15
        Dente novo peritura vidit:
    Videre Raetis bella sub Alpibus
    Drusum gerentem Vindelici;--quibus
      Mos unde deductus per omne
        Tempus Amazonia securi                                20
    Dextras obarmet quaerere distuli,
    Nec scire fas est omnia;--sed diu
      Lateque victrices catervae
        Consiliis juvenis revictae
    Sensere quid mens rite, quid indoles                      25
    Nutrita faustis sub penetralibus
      Posset, quid Augusti paternus
        In pueros animus Nerones.
    Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis;
    Est in juvencis, est in equis patrum                      30
      Virtus, neque imbellem feroces
        Progenerant aquilae columbam:
    Doctrina sed vim promovet insitam,
    Rectique cultus pectora roborant;
      Utcunque defecere mores                                 35
        Indecorant bene nata culpae.
    Quid debeas, o Roma, Neronibus,
    Testis Metaurum flumen et Hasdrubal
      Devictus et pulcher fugatis
        Ille dies Latio tenebris                              40
    Qui primus alma risit adorea,
    Dirus per urbes Afer ut Italas
      Ceu flamma per taedas vel Eurus
        Per Siculas equitavit undas.
    Post hoc secundis usque laboribus                         45
    Romana pubes crevit et impio
      Vastata Poenorum tumultu
        Fana deos habuere rectos;
    Dixitque tandem perfidus Hannibal:
    Cervi luporum praeda rapacium                             50
      Sectamur ultro quos opimus
        Fallere et effugere est triumphus.
    Gens quae cremato fortis ab Ilio
    Jactata Tuscis aequoribus sacra
      Natosque maturosque patres                              55
        Pertulit Ausonias ad urbes,
    Duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus
    Nigrae feraci frondis in Algido,
      Per damna, per caedes, ab ipso
        Ducit opes animumque ferro.                           60
    Non hydra secto corpore firmior
    Vinci dolentem crevit in Herculem,
      Monstrumve submisere Colchi
        Maius Echioniaeve Thebae.
    Merses profundo, pulchrior evenit:                        65
    Luctere, multa proruet integrum
      Cum laude victorem geretque
        Proelia conjugibus loquenda.
    Karthagini jam non ego nuntios
    Mittam superbos: occidit, occidit                         70
      Spes omnis et fortuna nostri
        Nominis Hasdrubale interempto.
    Nil Claudiae non perficient manus,
    Quas et benigno numine Juppiter
      Defendit et curae sagaces                               75
        Expediunt per acuta belli.


CARMEN V.

    Divis orte bonis, optime Romulae
    Custos gentis, abes jam nimium diu;
    Maturum reditum pollicitus patrum
            Sancto concilio redi.
    Lucem redde tuae, dux bone, patriae:                       5
    Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus
    Affulsit populo, gratior it dies
            Et soles melius nitent.
    Ut mater juvenem, quem Notus invido
    Flatu Carpathii trans maris aequora                       10
    Cunctantem spatio longius annuo
            Dulci distinet a domo,
    Votis ominibusque et precibus vocat,
    Curvo nec faciem litore demovet:
    Sic desideriis icta fidelibus                             15
            Quaerit patria Caesarem.
    Tutus bos etenim rura perambulat,
    Nutrit rura Ceres almaque Faustitas,
    Pacatum volitant per mare navitae,
            Culpari metuit Fides,                             20
    Nullis polluitur casta domus stupris,
    Mos et lex maculosum edomuit nefas,
    Laudantur simili prole puerperae,
            Culpam poena premit comes.
    Quis Parthum paveat, quis gelidum Scythen,                25
    Quis Germania quos horrida parturit
    Fetus, incolumi Caesare? quis ferae
            Bellum curet Hiberiae?
    Condit quisque diem collibus in suis
    Et vitem viduas ducit ad arbores;                         30
    Hinc ad vina redit laetus et alteris
            Te mensis adhibet deum;
    Te multa prece, te prosequitur mero
    Defuso pateris, et Laribus tuum
    Miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris                        35
            Et magni memor Herculis.
    Longas o utinam, dux bone, ferias
    Praestes Hesperiae! dicimus integro
    Sicci mane die, dicimus uvidi
            Cum Sol Oceano subest.                            40


CARMEN VI.

    Dive, quem proles Niobea magnae
    Vindicem linguae Tityosque raptor
    Sensit et Trojae prope victor altae
            Phthius Achilles,
    Ceteris major, tibi miles impar;                           5
    Filius quamvis Thetidis marinae
    Dardanas turres quateret tremenda
            Cuspide pugnax.
    Ille, mordaci velut icta ferro
    Pinus aut impulsa cupressus Euro,                         10
    Procidit late posuitque collum in
            Pulvere Teucro.
    Ille non inclusus equo Minervae
    Sacra mentito male feriatos
    Troas et laetam Priami choreis                            15
            Falleret aulam;
    Sed palam _captis_ gravis, heu nefas heu,
    Nescios fari pueros Achivis
    Ureret flammis, etiam latentem
            Matris in alvo,                                   20
    Ni tuis victus Venerisque gratae
    Vocibus divom pater annuisset
    Rebus Aeneae potiore ductos
            Alite muros.
    Doctor argutae fidicen Thaliae,                           25
    Phoebe, qui Xantho lavis amne crines,
    Dauniae defende decus Camenae,
            Levis Agyieu.
    Spiritum Phoebus mihi, Phoebus artem
    Carminis nomenque dedit poėtae.                           30
    Virginum primae puerique claris
            Patribus orti,
    Deliae tutela deae fugaces
    Lyncas et cervos cohibentis arcu,
    Lesbium servate pedem meique                              35
            Pollicis ictum,
    Rite Latonae puerum canentes,
    Rite crescentem face Noctilucam,
    Prosperam frugum celeremque pronos
            Volvere menses.                                   40
    Nupta jam dices: Ego dis amicum,
    Seculo festas referente luces,
    Reddidi carmen, docilis modorum
            Vatis Horati.


CARMEN VII.

    Diffugere nives, redeunt jam gramina campis
            Arboribusque comae;
    Mutat terra vices et decrescentia ripas
            Flumina praetereunt;
    Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet              5
            Ducere nuda choros.
    Immortalia ne speres monet annus et almum
            Quae rapit hora diem.
    Frigora mitescunt Zephyris, ver proterit aestas
            Interitura simul                                  10
    Pomifer Auctumnus fruges effuderit, et mox
            Bruma recurrit iners.
    Damna tamen celeres reparant caelestia lunae:
            Nos ubi decidimus,
    Quo pius Aeneas quo dives Tullus et Ancus                 15
            Pulvis et umbra sumus.
    Quis scit an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summae
            Tempora di superi?
    Cuncta manus avidas fugient heredis amico
            Quae dederis animo.                               20
    Cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos
            Fecerit arbitria,
    Non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te
            Restituet pietas;
    Infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum                25
            Liberat Hippolytum,
    Nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere caro
            Vincula Pirithoo.


CARMEN VIII.

    Donarem pateras grataque commodus,
    Censorine, meis aera sodalibus,
    Donarem tripodas, praemia fortium
    Graiorum, neque tu pessima munerum
    Ferres, divite me scilicet artium                          5
    Quas aut Parrhasius protulit aut Scopas,
    Hic saxo, liquidis ille coloribus
    Sollers nunc hominem ponere, nunc deum.
    Sed non haec mihi vis, non tibi talium
    Res est aut animus deliciarum egens.                      10
    Gaudes carminibus; carmina possumus
    Donare et pretium dicere muneri.
    Non incisa notis marmora publicis,
    Per quae spiritus et vita redit bonis
    Post mortem ducibus, non celeres fugae                    15
    Rejectaeque retrorsum Hannibalis minae,
    Non incendia Karthaginis impiae,
    Ejus qui domita nomen ab Africa
    Lucratus rediit clarius indicant
    Laudes, quam Calabrae Pierides: neque                     20
    Si chartae sileant quod bene feceris
    Mercedem tuleris. Quid foret Iliae
    Mavortisque puer si taciturnitas
    Obstaret meritis invida Romuli?
    Ereptum Stygiis fluctibus Aeacum                          25
    Virtus et favor et lingua potentium
    Vatum divitibus consecrat insulis.
    Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori;
    Caelo Musa beat. Sic Jovis interest
    Optatis epulis impiger Hercules,                          30
    Clarum Tyndaridae sidus ab infimis
    Quassas eripiunt aequoribus rates,
    Ornatus viridi tempora pampino
    Liber vota bonos ducit ad exitus.


CARMEN IX.

    Ne forte credas interitura quae
    Longe sonantem natus ad Aufidum
      Non ante vulgatas per artes
        Verba loquor socianda chordis:
    Non si priores Maeonius tenet                              5
    Sedes Homerus Pindaricae latent
      Ceaeque et Alcaei minaces
        Stesichorique graves Camenae;
    Nec si quid olim lusit Anacreon
    Delevit aetas; spirat adhuc amor                          10
      Vivuntque commissi calores
        Aeoliae fidibus puellae.
    Non sola comptos arsit adulteri
    Crines, et aurum vestibus illitum
      Mirata regalesque cultus                                15
        Et comites Helene Lacaena,
    Primusve Teucer tela Cydonio
    Direxit arcu; non semel Ilios
      Vexata; non pugnavit ingens
        Idomeneus Sthenelusve solus                           20
    Dicenda Musis proelia; non ferox
    Hector vel acer Deiphobus graves
      Excepit ictus pro pudicis
        Conjugibus puerisque primus.
    Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona                             25
    Multi; sed omnes illacrumabiles
      Urgentur ignotique longa
        Nocte, carent quia vate sacro.
    Paullum sepultae distat inertiae
    Celata virtus. Non ego te meis                            30
      Chartis inornatum silebo,
        Totve tuos patiar labores
    Impune, Lolli, carpere lividas
    Obliviones. Est animus tibi
      Rerumque prudens et secundis                            35
        Temporibus dubiisque rectus,
    Vindex avarae fraudis, et abstinens
    Ducentis ad se cuncta pecuniae,
      Consulque non unius anni
        Sed quoties bonus atque fidus                         40
    Judex honestum praetulit utili,
    Rejecit alto dona nocentium
      Vultu, per obstantes catervas
        Explicuit sua victor arma.
    Non possidentem multa vocaveris                           45
    Recte beatum: rectius occupat
      Nomen beati qui deorum
        Muneribus sapienter uti
    Duramque callet pauperiem pati,
    Pejusque leto flagitium timet,                            50
      Non ille pro caris amicis
        Aut patria timidus perire.


CARMEN X.

    O crudelis adhuc et Veneris muneribus potens,
    Insperata tuae cum veniet pluma superbiae,
    Et quae nunc humeris involitant deciderint comae,
    Nunc et qui color est puniceae flore prior rosae
    Mutatus Ligurinum in faciem verterit hispidam,             5
    Dices heu quotiens te speculo videris alterum:
    Quae mens est hodie, cur eadem non puero fuit?
    Vel cur his animis incolumes non redeunt genae?


CARMEN XI.

    Est mihi nonum superantis annum
    Plenus Albani cadus; est in horto,
    Phylli, nectendis apium coronis;
            Est hederae vis
    Multa, qua crines religata fulges;                         5
    Ridet argento domus; ara castis
    Vincta verbenis avet immolato
            Spargier agno;
    Cuncta festinat manus, huc et illuc
    Cursitant mixtae pueris puellae;                          10
    Sordidum flammae trepidant rotantes
            Vertice fumum.
    Ut tamen noris quibus advoceris
    Gaudiis, Idus tibi sunt agendae,
    Qui dies mensem Veneris marinae                           15
            Findit Aprilem;
    Jure sollemnis mihi sanctiorque
    Paene natali proprio, quod ex hac
    Luce Maecenas meus adfluentes
            Ordinat annos.                                    20
    Telephum, quem tu petis, occupavit
    Non tuae sortis juvenem puella
    Dives et lasciva, tenetque grata
            Compede vinctum.
    Terret ambustus Phaėthon avaras                           25
    Spes, et exemplum grave praebet ales
    Pegasus, terrenum equitem gravatus
            Bellerophontem,
    Semper ut te digna sequare et ultra
    Quam licet sperare nefas putando                          30
    Disparem vites. Age jam, meorum
            Finis amorum--
    Non enim posthac alia calebo
    Femina--condisce modos amanda
    Voce quos reddas; minuentur atrae                         35
            Carmine curae.


CARMEN XII.

    Jam veris comites quae mare temperant
    Impellunt animae lintea Thraciae;
    Jam nec prata rigent nec fluvii strepunt
            Hiberna nive turgidi.
    Nidum ponit, Ityn flebiliter gemens,                       5
    Infelix avis et Cecropiae domus
    Aeternum opprobrium, quod male barbaras
            Regum est ulta libidines.
    Dicunt in tenero gramine pinguium
    Custodes ovium carmina fistula,                           10
    Delectantque deum cui pecus et nigri
            Colles Arcadiae placent.
    Adduxere sitim tempora, Virgili;
    Sed pressum Calibus ducere Liberum
    Si gestis, juvenum nobilium cliens,                       15
            Nardo vina merebere.
    Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum
    Qui nunc Sulpiciis accubat horreis,
    Spes donare novas largus amaraque
            Curarum eluere efficax.                           20
    Ad quae si properas gaudia, cum tua
    Velox merce veni: non ego te meis
    Immunem meditor tingere poculis,
            Plena dives ut in domo.
    Verum pone moras et studium lucri,                        25
    Nigrorumque memor, dum licet, ignium
    Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem:
            Dulce est desipere in loco.


CARMEN XIII.

    Audivere, Lyce, di mea vota, di
    Audivere, Lyce: fis anus, et tamen
      Vis formosa videri
        Ludisque et bibis impudens
    Et cantu tremulo pota Cupidinem                            5
    Lentum sollicitas. Ille virentis et
      Doctae psallere Chiae
        Pulchris excubat in genis.
    Importunus enim transvolat aridas
    Quercus, et refugit te quia luridi                        10
      Dentes, te quia rugae
        Turpant et capitis nives.
    Nec Coae referunt jam tibi purpurae
    Nec clari lapides tempora, quae semel
      Notis condita fastis                                    15
        Inclusit volucris dies.
    Quo fugit venus, heu, quove color? decens
    Quo motus? quid habes illius, illius,
      Quae spirabat amores,
        Quae me surpuerat mihi,                               20
    Felix post Cinaram, notaque et artium
    Gratarum facies? Sed Cinarae breves
      Annos fata dederunt,
        Servatura diu parem
    Cornicis vetulae temporibus Lycen,                        25
    Possent ut juvenes visere fervidi
      Multo non sine risu
        Dilapsam in cineres facem.


CARMEN XIV.

    Quae cura patrum quaeve Quiritium
    Plenis honorum muneribus tuas,
      Auguste, virtutes in aevum
        Per titulos memoresque fastos
    Aeternet, o qua sol habitabiles                            5
    Illustrat oras maxime principum?
      Quem legis expertes Latinae
        Vindelici didicere nuper
    Quid Marte posses. Milite nam tuo
    Drusus Genaunos, implacidum genus,                        10
      Breunosque veloces, et arces
        Alpibus impositas tremendis
    Dejecit acer plus vice simplici;
    Major Neronum mox grave proelium
      Commisit immanesque Raetos                              15
        Auspiciis pepulit secundis,
    Spectandus in certamine Martio,
    Devota morti pectora liberae
      Quantis fatigaret ruinis;
        Indomitas prope qualis undas                          20
    Exercet Auster, Pleļadum choro
    Scindente nubes, impiger hostium
      Vexare turmas et frementem
        Mittere equum medios per ignes.
    Sic tauriformis volvitur Aufidus,                         25
    Qua regna Dauni praefluit Apuli,
      Cum saevit horrendamque cultis
        Diluviem meditatur agris,
    Ut barbarorum Claudius agmina
    Ferrata vasto diruit impetu                               30
      Primosque et extremos metendo
        Stravit humum sine clade victor,
    Te copias, te consilium et tuos
    Praebente divos. Nam tibi, quo die
      Portus Alexandrea supplex                               35
        Et vacuam patefecit aulam,
    Fortuna lustro prospera tertio
    Belli secundos reddidit exitus,
      Laudemque et optatum peractis
        Imperiis decus arrogavit.                             40
    Te Cantaber non ante domabilis
    Medusque et Indus, te profugus Scythes
      Miratur, o tutela praesens
        Italiae dominaeque Romae.
    Te fontium qui celat origines                             45
    Nilusque et Ister, te rapidus Tigris,
      Te beluosus qui remotis
        Obstrepit Oceanus Britannis,
    Te non paventis funera Galliae
    Duraeque tellus audit Hiberiae,                           50
      Te caede gaudentes Sigambri
        Compositis venerantur armis.


CARMEN XV.

    Phoebus volentem proelia me loqui
    Victas et urbes increpuit lyra,
      Ne parva Tyrrhenum per aequor
        Vela darem. Tua, Caesar, aetas
    Fruges et agris rettulit uberes                            5
    Et signa nostro restituit Jovi
      Derepta Parthorum superbis
        Postibus, et vacuum duellis
    Janum Quirini clausit, et ordinem
    Rectum evaganti frena licentiae                           10
      Injecit, emovitque culpas,
        Et veteres revocavit artes
    Per quas Latinum nomen et Italae
    Crevere vires famaque et imperi
      Porrecta majestas ad ortus                              15
        Solis ab Hesperio cubili.
    Custode rerum Caesare non furor
    Civilis aut vis exiget otium,
      Non ira quae procudit enses
        Et miseras inimicat urbes.                            20
    Non qui profundum Danubium bibunt
    Edicta rumpent Julia, non Getae,
      Non Seres infidive Persae,
        Non Tanaļn prope flumen orti.
    Nosque et profestis lucibus et sacris                     25
    Inter jocosi munera Liberi
      Cum prole matronisque nostris,
        Rite deos prius apprecati,
    Virtute functos more patrum duces
    Lydis remixto carmine tibiis                              30
      Trojamque et Anchisen et almae
        Progeniem Veneris canemus.




CARMEN SAECULARE.


    Phoebe silvarumque potens Diana,
    Lucidum caeli decus, o colendi
    Semper et culti, date, quae precamur
            Tempore sacro,
    Quo Sibyllini monuere versus                               5
    Virgines lectas puerosque castos
    Dis quibus septem placuere colles
            Dicere carmen.
    Alme Sol, curru nitido diem qui
    Promis et celas aliusque et idem                          10
    Nasceris, possis nihil urbe Roma
            Visere majus.
    Rite maturos aperire partus
    Lenis, Ilithyia, tuere matres,
    Sive tu Lucina probas vocari                              15
            Seu Genitalis.
    Diva, producas subolem patrumque
    Prosperes decreta super jugandis
    Feminis prolisque novae feraci
            Lege marita,                                      20
    Certus undenos decies per annos
    Orbis ut cantus referatque ludos
    Ter die claro totiesque grata
            Nocte frequentes.
    Vosque veraces cecinisse, Parcae,                         25
    Quod semel dictum est stabilisque rerum
    Terminus servat, bona jam peractis
            Jungite fata.
    Fertilis frugum pecorisque Tellus
    Spicea donet Cererem corona;                              30
    Nutriant fetus et aquae salubres
            Et Jovis aurae.
    Condito mitis placidusque telo
    Supplices audi pueros, Apollo:
    Siderum regina bicornis audi,                             35
            Luna, puellas.
    Roma si vestrum est opus, Iliaeque
    Litus Etruscum tenuere turmae,
    Jussa pars mutare Lares et urbem
            Sospite cursu,                                    40
    Cui per ardentem sine fraude Trojam
    Castus Aeneas patriae superstes
    Liberum munivit iter, daturus
            Plura relictis:
    Di, probos mores docili juventae,                         45
    Di, senectuti placidae quietem,
    Romulae genti date remque prolemque
            Et decus omne!
    Quaeque vos bubus veneratur albis
    Clarus Anchisae Venerisque sanguis,                       50
    Impetret, bellante prior, jacentem
            Lenis in hostem!
    Jam mari terraque manus potentes
    Medus Albanasque timet secures,
    Jam Scythae responsa petunt, superbi                      55
            Nuper, et Indi.
    Jam Fides et Pax et Honos Pudorque
    Priscus et neglecta redire Virtus
    Audet, apparetque beata pleno
            Copia cornu.                                      60
    Augur et fulgente decorus arcu
    Phoebus acceptusque novem Camenis,
    Qui salutari levat arte fessos
            Corporis artus,
    Si Palatinas videt aequus arces                           65
    Remque Romanam Latiumque, felix
    Alterum in lustrum meliusque semper
            Proroget aevum.
    Quaeque Aventinum tenet Algidumque,
    Quindecim Diana preces virorum                            70
    Curet et votis puerorum amicas
            Applicet aures.
    Haec Jovem sentire deosque cunctos
    Spem bonam certamque domum reporto,
    Doctus et Phoebi chorus et Dianae                         75
            Dicere laudes.




EPODON LIBER


CARMEN I.

    Ibis Liburnis inter alta navium,
      Amice, propugnacula,
    Paratus omne Caesaris periculum
      Subire, Maecenas, tuo.
    Quid nos, quibus te vita si superstite                     5
      Jucunda, si contra gravis?
    Utrumne jussi persequemur otium,
      Non dulce ni tecum simul,
    An hunc laborem mente laturi decet
      Qua ferre non molles viros?                             10
    Feremus et te vel per Alpium juga
      Inhospitalem et Caucasum,
    Vel Occidentis usque ad ultimum sinum
      Forti sequemur pectore.
    Roges tuum labore quid juvem meo,                         15
      Imbellis ac firmus parum?
    Comes minore sum futurus in metu,
      Qui major absentes habet;
    Ut assidens implumibus pullis avis
      Serpentium allapsus timet                               20
    Magis relictis, non, ut adsit, auxili
      Latura plus praesentibus.
    Libenter hoc et omne militabitur
      Bellum in tuae spem gratiae,
    Non ut juvencis illigata pluribus                         25
      Aratra nitantur mea,
    Pecusve Calabris ante sidus fervidum
      Lucana mutet pascuis,
    Neque ut superni villa candens Tusculi
      Circaea tangat moenia.                                  30
    Satis superque me benignitas tua
      Ditavit: haud paravero
    Quod aut avarus ut Chremes terra premam,
      Discinctus aut perdam nepos.


CARMEN II.

    Beatus ille qui procul negotiis,
      Ut prisca gens mortalium,
    Paterna rura bobus exercet suis,
      Solutus omni fenore.
    Neque excitatur classico miles truci,                      5
      Neque horret iratum mare,
    Forumque vitat et superba civium
      Potentiorum limina.
    Ergo aut adulta vitium propagine
      Altas maritat populos,                                  10
    Aut in reducta valle mugientium
      Prospectat errantes greges,
    Inutilesque falce ramos amputans
      Feliciores inserit,
    Aut pressa puris mella condit amphoris,                   15
      Aut tondet infirmas oves;
    Vel cum decorum mitibus pomis caput
      Auctumnus agris extulit,
    Ut gaudet insitiva decerpens pira,
      Certantem et uvam purpurae,                             20
    Qua muneretur te, Priape, et te, pater
      Silvane, tutor finium!
    Libet jacere modo sub antiqua ilice,
      Modo in tenaci gramine.
    Labuntur altis interim ripis aquae,                       25
      Queruntur in silvis aves,
    Fontesque lymphis obstrepunt manantibus,
      Somnos quod invitet leves.
    At cum tonantis annus hibernus Jovis
      Imbres nivesque comparat,                               30
    Aut trudit acres hinc et hinc multa cane
      Apros in obstantes plagas,
    Aut amite levi rara tendit retia,
      Turdis edacibus dolos,
    Pavidumque leporem et advenam laqueo gruem                35
      Jucunda captat praemia.
    Quis non malarum quas amor curas habet
      Haec inter obliviscitur?
    Quodsi pudica mulier in partem juvet
      Domum atque dulces liberos,                             40
    Sabina qualis aut perusta solibus
      Pernicis uxor Apuli,
    Sacrum vetustis exstruat lignis focum
      Lassi sub adventum viri,
    Claudensque textis cratibus laetum pecus                  45
      Distenta siccet ubera,
    Et horna dulci vina promens dolio
      Dapes inemptas apparet:
    Non me Lucrina juverint conchylia
      Magisve rhombus aut scari,                              50
    Si quos Eois intonata fluctibus
      Hiems ad hoc vertat mare;
    Non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum,
      Non attagen Ionicus
    Jucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis                     55
      Oliva ramis arborum
    Aut herba lapathi prata amantis et gravi
      Malvae salubres corpori,
    Vel agna festis caesa Terminalibus,
      Vel haedus ereptus lupo.                                60
    Has inter epulas ut juvat pastas oves
      Videre properantes domum,
    Videre fessos vomerem inversum boves
      Collo trahentes languido,
    Positosque vernas, ditis examen domus,                    65
      Circum renidentes Lares!
    Haec ubi locutus fenerator Alphius,
      Jam jam futurus rusticus,
    Omnem redegit Idibus pecuniam,
      Quaerit Kalendis ponere.                                70


CARMEN III.

    Parentis olim si quis impia manu
      Senile guttur fregerit,
    Edit cicutis allium nocentius.
      O dura messorum ilia!
    Quid hoc veneni saevit in praecordiis?                     5
      Num viperinus his cruor
    Incoctus herbis me fefellit? an malas
      Canidia tractavit dapes?
    Ut Argonautas praeter omnes candidum
      Medea mirata est ducem,                                 10
    Ignota tauris illigaturum juga
      Perunxit hoc Jasonem;
    Hoc delibutis ulta donis pellicem
      Serpente fugit alite.
    Nec tantus unquam siderum insedit vapor                   15
      Siticulosae Apuliae,
    Nec munus humeris efficacis Herculis
      Inarsit aestuosius.
    At si quid unquam tale concupiveris,
      Jocose Maecenas; precor                                 20
    Manum puella savio opponat tuo
      Extrema et in sponda cubet.


CARMEN IV.

    Lupis et agnis quanta sortito obtigit,
      Tecum mihi discordia est,
    Hibericis peruste funibus latus
      Et crura dura compede.
    Licet superbus ambules pecunia,                            5
      Fortuna non mutat genus.
    Videsne, Sacram metiente te viam
      Cum bis trium ulnarum toga,
    Ut ora vertat huc et huc euntium
      Liberrima indignatio?                                   10
    Sectus flagellis hic triumviralibus
      Praeconis ad fastidium
    Arat Falerni mille fundi jugera
      Et Appiam mannis terit,
    Sedilibusque magnus in primis eques                       15
      Othone contempto sedet!
    Quid attinet tot ora navium gravi
      Rostrata duci pondere
    Contra latrones atque servilem manum
      Hoc, hoc tribuno militum?                               20


CARMEN V.

    At, o deorum quidquid in caelo regit
      Terras et humanum genus,
    Quid iste fert tumultus? aut quid omnium
      Vultus in unum me truces?
    Per liberos te, si vocata partubus                         5
      Lucina veris affuit,
    Per hoc mane purpurae decus precor,
      Per improbaturum haec Jovem,
    Quid ut noverca me intueris aut uti
      Petita ferro belua?                                     10
    Ut haec trementi questus ore constitit
      Insignibus raptis puer,
    Impube corpus quale posset impia
      Mollire Thracum pectora,
    Canidia brevibus implicata viperis                        15
      Crines et incomptum caput
    Jubet sepulcris caprificos erutas,
      Jubet cupressus funebres,
    Et uncta turpis ova ranae sanguine,
      Plumamque nocturnae strigis,                            20
    Herbasque quas Iolcos atque Hiberia
      Mittit venenorum ferax,
    Et ossa ab ore rapta jejunae canis
      Flammis aduri Colchicis.
    At expedita Sagana per totam domum                        25
      Spargens Avernales aquas
    Horret capillis, ut marinus asperis
      Echinus aut currens aper.
    Abacta nulla Veia conscientia
      Ligonibus duris humum                                   30
    Exhauriebat ingemens laboribus,
      Quo posset infossus puer
    Longo die bis terque mutatae dapis
      Inemori spectaculo,
    Cum promineret ore quantum exstant aqua                   35
      Suspensa mento corpora;
    Exsucca uti medulla et aridum jecur
      Amoris esset poculum,
    Interminato cum semel fixae cibo
      Intabuissent pupulae.                                   40
    Non defuisse masculae libidinis
      Ariminensem Foliam
    Et otiosa credidit Neapolis
      Et omne vicinum oppidum,
    Quae sidera excantata voce Thessala                       45
      Lunamque caelo deripit.
    Hic irresectum saeva dente livido
      Canidia rodens pollicem
    Quid dixit aut quid tacuit? O rebus meis
      Non infideles arbitrae,                                 50
    Nox et Diana quae silentium regis
      Arcana cum fiunt sacra,
    Nunc, nunc adeste, nunc in hostiles domos
      Iram atque numen vertite!
    Formidolosis dum latent silvis ferae                      55
      Dulci sopore languidae,
    Senem, quod omnes rideant, adulterum
      Latrent Suburanae canes
    Nardo perunctum, quale non perfectius
      Meae laborarint manus.--                                60
    Quid accidit? Cur dira barbarae minus
      Venena Medeae valent?
    Quibus superbam fugit ulta pellicem,
      Magni Creontis filiam,
    Cum palla, tabo munus imbutum, novam                      65
      Incendio nuptam abstulit.
    Atqui nec herba nec latens in asperis
      Radix fefellit me locis.
    Indormit unctis omnium cubilibus
      Oblivione pellicum.--                                   70
    Ah ah! solutus ambulat veneficae
      Scientioris carmine.
    Non usitatis, Vare, potionibus,
      O multa fleturum caput,
    Ad me recurres, nec vocata mens tua                       75
      Marsis redibit vocibus:
    Maius parabo, maius infundam tibi
      Fastidienti poculum.
    Priusque caelum sidet inferius mari,
      Tellure porrecta super,                                 80
    Quam non amore sic meo flagres uti
      Bitumen atris ignibus.--
    Sub haec puer jam non ut ante mollibus
      Lenire verbis impias,
    Sed dubius unde rumperet silentium                        85
      Misit Thyesteas preces:
    Venena magnum fas nefasque non valent
      Convertere humanam vicem;
    Diris agam vos; dira detestatio
      Nulla expiatur victima.                                 90
    Quin ubi perire jussus exspiravero
      Nocturnus occurram Furor
    Petamque vultus umbra curvis unguibus,
      Quae vis deorum est manium,
    Et inquietis assidens praecordiis                         95
      Pavore somnos auferam.
    Vos turba vicatim hinc et hinc saxis petens
      Contundet obscoenas anus;
    Post insepulta membra different lupi
      Et Esquilinae alites;                                  100
    Neque hoc parentes heu mihi superstites
      Effugerit spectaculum.


CARMEN VI.

    Quid immerentes hospites vexas canis
      Ignavus adversum lupos?
    Quin huc inanes, si potes, vertis minas
      Et me remorsurum petis?
    Nam qualis aut Molossus aut fulvus Lacon,                  5
      Amica vis pastoribus,
    Agam per altas aure sublata nives
      Quaecunque praecedet fera:
    Tu, cum timenda voce complesti nemus
      Projectum odoraris cibum.                               10
    Cave, cave: namque in malos asperrimus
      Parata tollo cornua,
    Qualis Lycambae spretus infido gener
      Aut acer hostis Bupalo.
    An si quis atro dente me petiverit                        15
      Inultus ut flebo puer?


CARMEN VII.

    Quo, quo scelesti ruitis? aut cur dexteris
      Aptantur enses conditi?
    Parumne campis atque Neptuno super
      Fusum est Latini sanguinis,
    Non ut superbas invidae Karthaginis                        5
      Romanus arces ureret,
    Intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet
      Sacra catenatus via,
    Sed ut secundum vota Parthorum sua
      Urbs haec periret dextera?                              10
    Neque hic lupis mos nec fuit leonibus
      Unquam nisi in dispar feris.
    Furorne caecus, an rapit vis acrior,
      An culpa? Responsum date.
    Tacent et albus ora pallor inficit                        15
      Mentesque perculsae stupent.
    Sic est: acerba fata Romanos agunt
      Scelusque fraternae necis,
    Ut immerentis fluxit in terram Remi
      Sacer nepotibus cruor.                                  20


CARMEN VIII.

    Rogare longo putidam te seculo,
      Vires quid enervet meas!
    Cum sit tibi dens ater et rugis vetus
      Frontem senectus exaret,
    Hietque turpis inter aridas nates                          5
      Podex velut crudae bovis.
    Sed incitat me pectus et mammae putres,
      Equina quales ubera,
    Venterque mollis et femur tumentibus
      Exile suris additum.                                    10
    Esto beata, funus atque imagines
      Ducant triumphales tuum,
    Nec sit marita, quae rotundioribus
      Onusta baccis ambulet.
    Quid, quod libelli Stoici inter sericos                   15
      Jacere pulvillos amant:
    Illiterati num minus nervi rigent,
      Minusve languet fascinum?
    Quod ut superbo provoces ab inguine,
      Ore allaborandum est tibi.                              20


CARMEN IX.

    Quando repostum Caecubum ad festas dapes
      Victore laetus Caesare
    Tecum sub alta--sic Jovi gratum--domo,
      Beate Maecenas, bibam
    Sonante mixtum tibiis carmen lyra,                         5
      Hac Dorium, illis barbarum?
    Ut nuper, actus cum freto Neptunius
      Dux fugit ustis navibus,
    Minatus Urbi vincla, quae detraxerat
      Servis amicus perfidis.                                 10
    Romanus,--eheu, posteri negabitis--
      Emancipatus feminae
    Fert vallum et arma miles, et spadonibus
      Servire rugosis potest,
    Interque signa turpe militaria                            15
      Sol adspicit conopium.
    At huc frementes verterunt bis mille equos
      Galli, canentes Caesarem,
    Hostiliumque navium portu latent
      Puppes sinistrorsum citae.                              20
    Io Triumphe, tu moraris aureos
      Currus et intactas boves?
    Io Triumphe, nec Jugurthino parem
      Bello reportasti ducem,
    Neque Africanum, cui super Karthaginem                    25
      Virtus sepulcrum condidit.
    Terra marique victus hostis punico
      Lugubre mutavit sagum.
    Aut ille centum nobilem Cretam urbibus
      Ventis iturus non suis,                                 30
    Exercitatas aut petit Syrtes Noto,
      Aut fertur incerto mari.
    Capaciores affer huc, puer, scyphos
      Et Chia vina aut Lesbia,
    Vel, quod fluentem nauseam coėrceat,                      35
      Metire nobis Caecubum:
    Curam metumque Caesaris rerum juvat
      Dulci Lyaeo solvere.


CARMEN X.

    Mala soluta navis exit alite
      Ferens olentem Maevium:
    Ut horridis utrumque verberes latus,
      Auster, memento fluctibus!
    Niger rudentes Eurus inverso mari                          5
      Fractosque remos differat;
    Insurgat Aquilo quantus altis montibus
      Frangit trementes ilices;
    Nec sidus atra nocte amicum appareat
      Qua tristis Orion cadit;                                10
    Quietiore nec feratur aequore,
      Quam Graia victorum manus,
    Cum Pallas usto vertit iram ab Ilio
      In impiam Ajacis ratem!
    O quantus instat navitis sudor tuis,                      15
      Tibique pallor luteus
    Et illa non virilis ejulatio
      Preces et aversum ad Jovem,
    Ionius udo cum remugiens sinus
      Noto carinam ruperit!                                   20
    Opima quodsi praeda curvo litore
      Projecta mergos juveris,
    Libidinosus immolabitur caper
      Et agna Tempestatibus.


CARMEN XI.

    Petti, nihil me sicut antea juvat
      Scribere versiculos amore percussum gravi,
    Amore qui me praeter omnes expetit
      Mollibus in pueris aut in puellis urere.
    Hic tertius December, ex quo destiti                       5
      Inachia furere, silvis honorem decutit.
    Heu me, per Urbem--nam pudet tanti mali--
      Fabula quanta fui! Conviviorum et poenitet;
    In quis amantem et languor et silentium
      Arguit et latere petitus imo spiritus.                  10
    Contrane lucrum nil valere candidum
      Pauperis ingenium? querebar applorans tibi,
    Simul calentis inverecundus deus
      Fervidiore mero arcana promorat loco.
    Quodsi meis inaestuat praecordiis                         15
      Libera bilis, ut haec ingrata ventis dividat
    Fomenta vulnus nil malum levantia,
      Desinet imparibus certare summotus pudor.
    Ubi haec severus te palam laudaveram,
      Jussus abire domum ferebar incerto pede                 20
    Ad non amicos heu mihi postes et heu
      Limina dura, quibus lumbos et infregi latus.
    Nunc gloriantis quamlibet mulierculam
      Vincere mollitie amor Lycisci me tenet,
    Unde expedire non amicorum queant                         25
      Libera consilia nec contumeliae graves,
    Sed alius ardor aut puellae candidae
      Aut teretis pueri longam renodantis comam.


CARMEN XII.

    Quid tibi vis, mulier nigris dignissima barris?
      Munera quid mihi, quidve tabellas
    Mittis nec firmo juveni neque naris obesae?
      Namque sagacius unus odoror,
    Polypus an gravis hirsutis cubet hircus in alis,           5
      Quam canis acer ubi lateat sus.
    Qui sudor vietis et quam malus undique membris
      Crescit odor, cum pene soluto
    Indomitam properat rabiem sedare; neque illi
      Jam manet humida creta colorque                         10
    Stercore fucatus crocodili, jamque subando
      Tenta cubilia tectaque rumpit!
    Vel mea cum saevis agitat fastidia verbis:
      Inachia langues minus ac me;
    Inachiam ter nocte potes, mihi semper ad unum             15
      Mollis opus. Pereat male quae te
    Lesbia quaerenti taurum monstravit inertem,
      Cum mihi Cous adesset Amyntas,
    Cujus in indomito constantior inguine nervus
      Quam nova collibus arbor inhaeret.                      20
    Muricibus Tyriis iteratae vellera lanae
      Cui properabantur? Tibi nempe,
    Ne foret aequales inter conviva, magis quem
      Diligeret mulier sua quam te.
    O ego non felix, quam tu fugis ut pavet acres             25
      Agna lupos capreaeque leones!


CARMEN XIII.

    Horrida tempestas caelum contraxit et imbres
      Nivesque deducunt Jovem; nunc mare, nunc siluae
    Threļcio Aquilone sonant: rapiamus, amici,
      Occasionem de die, dumque virent genua
    Et decet, obducta solvatur fronte senectus.                5
      Tu vina Torquato move consule pressa meo.
    Cetera mitte loqui: deus haec fortasse benigna
      Reducet in sedem vice. Nunc et Achaemenio
    Perfundi nardo juvat et fide Cyllenea
      Levare diris pectora sollicitudinibus;                  10
    Nobilis ut grandi cecinit Centaurus alumno:
      Invicte, mortalis dea nate puer Thetide,
    Te manet Assaraci tellus, quam frigida parvi
      Findunt Scamandri flumina lubricus et Simoļs,
    Unde tibi reditum certo subtemine Parcae                  15
      Rupere, nec mater domum caerula te revehet.
    Illic omne malum vino cantuque levato,
      Deformis aegrimoniae dulcibus alloquiis.


CARMEN XIV.

    Mollis inertia cur tantam diffuderit imis
      Oblivionem sensibus,
    Pocula Lethaeos ut si ducentia somnos
      Arente fauce traxerim,
    Candide Maecenas, occidis saepe rogando:                   5
      Deus, deus nam me vetat
    Inceptos, olim promissum carmen, iambos
      Ad umbilicum adducere.
    Non aliter Samio dicunt arsisse Bathyllo
      Anacreonta Teļum,                                       10
    Qui persaepe cava testudine flevit amorem
      Non elaboratum ad pedem.
    Ureris ipse miser: quodsi non pulchrior ignis
      Accendit obsessam Ilion,
    Gaude sorte tua; me libertina neque uno                   15
      Contenta Phryne macerat.


CARMEN XV.

    Nox erat et caelo fulgebat luna sereno
      Inter minora sidera,
    Cum tu magnorum numen laesura deorum
      In verba jurabas mea,
    Artius atque hedera procera adstringitur ilex,             5
      Lentis adhaerens brachiis:
    Dum pecori lupus et nautis infestus Orion
      Turbaret hibernum mare,
    Intonsosque agitaret Apollinis aura capillos,
      Fore hunc amorem mutuum.                                10
    O dolitura mea multum virtute Neaera!
      Nam si quid in Flacco viri est,
    Non feret assiduas potiori te dare noctes,
      Et quaeret iratus parem,
    Nec semel offensae cedet constantia formae,               15
      Si certus intrarit dolor,
    Et tu, quicunque es felicior atque meo nunc
      Superbus incedis malo,
    Sis pecore et multa dives tellure licebit
      Tibique Pactolus fluat,                                 20
    Nec te Pythagorae fallant arcana renati,
      Formaque vincas Nirea,
    Eheu translatos alio maerebis amores:
      Ast ego vicissim risero.


CARMEN XVI.

    Altera jam teritur bellis civilibus aetas,
      Suis et ipsa Roma viribus ruit:
    Quam neque finitimi valuerunt perdere Marsi
      Minacis aut Etrusca Porsenae manus,
    Aemula nec virtus Capuae nec Spartacus acer                5
      Novisque rebus infidelis Allobrox,
    Nec fera caerulea domuit Germania pube
      Parentibusque abominatus Hannibal,
    Impia perdemus devoti sanguinis aetas,
      Ferisque rursus occupabitur solum.                      10
    Barbarus heu cineres insistet victor et Urbem
      Eques sonante verberabit ungula,
    Quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini,
      Nefas videre! dissipabit insolens.
    Forte quid expediat communiter aut melior pars            15
      Malis carere quaeritis laboribus:
    Nulla sit hac potior sententia, Phocaeorum
      Velut profugit exsecrata civitas
    Agros atque Lares patrios habitandaque fana
      Apris reliquit et rapacibus lupis,                      20
    Ire pedes quocunque ferent, quocunque per undas
      Notus vocabit aut protervus Africus.
    Sic placet? an melius quis habet suadere?--Secunda
      Ratem occupare quid moramur alite?
    Sed juremus in haec: Simul imis saxa renarint             25
      Vadis levata, ne redire sit nefas;
    Neu conversa domum pigeat dare lintea, quando
      Padus Matina laverit cacumina,
    In mare seu celsus procurrerit Apenninus,
      Novaque monstra junxerit libidine                       30
    Mirus amor, juvet ut tigres subsidere cervis,
      Adulteretur et columba miluo,
    Credula nec ravos timeant armenta leones,
      Ametque salsa levis hircus aequora.
    Haec et quae poterunt reditus abscindere dulces           35
      Eamus omnis exsecrata civitas,
    Aut pars indocili melior grege; mollis et exspes
      Inominata perprimat cubilia,
    Vos quibus est virtus muliebrem tollite luctum
      Etrusca praeter et volate litora.                       40
    Nos manet Oceanus circumvagus: arva, beata
      Petamus arva divites et insulas,
    Reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis
      Et imputata floret usque vinea,
    Germinat et nunquam fallentis termes olivae,              45
      Suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem,
    Mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis
      Levis crepante lympha desilit pede.
    Illic injussae veniunt ad mulctra capellae,
      Refertque tenta grex amicus ubera;                      50
    Nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile,
      Neque intumescit alma viperis humus.
    Pluraque felices mirabimur: ut neque largis
      Aquosus Eurus arva radat imbribus,
    Pinguia nec siccis urantur semina glebis,                 55
      Utrumque rege temperante caelitum.
    Non huc Argoo contendit remige pinus,
      Neque impudica Colchis intulit pedem,
    Non huc Sidonii torserunt cornua nautae
      Laboriosa nec cohors Ulixei.                            60
    Nulla nocent pecori contagia, nullius astri
      Gregem aestuosa torret impotentia.
    Jupiter illa piae secrevit litora genti,
      Ut inquinavit aere tempus aureum;
    Aere, dehinc ferro duravit secula: quorum                 65
      Piis secunda vate me datur fuga.


CARMEN XVII.

    Jam jam efficaci do manus scientiae,
    Supplex et oro regna per Proserpinae,
    Per et Dianae non movenda numina,
    Per atque libros carminum valentium
    Refixa caelo devocare sidera,                              5
    Canidia, parce vocibus tandem sacris
    Citumque retro solve, solve turbinem.
    Movit nepotem Telephus Nereļum,
    In quem superbus ordinarat agmina
    Mysorum et in quem tela acuta torserat.                   10
    Unxere matres Iliae addictum feris
    Alitibus atque canibus homicidam Hectorem,
    Postquam relictis moenibus rex procidit
    Heu pervicacis ad pedes Achilleļ.
    Setosa duris exuere pellibus                              15
    Laboriosi remiges Ulixeļ
    Volente Circa membra; tunc mens et sonus
    Relapsus atque notus in vultus honor.
    Dedi satis superque poenarum tibi,
    Amata nautis multum et institoribus.                      20
    Fugit juventas et verecundus color
    Reliquit ossa pelle amicta lurida;
    Tuis capillus albus est odoribus;
    Nullum a labore me reclinat otium;
    Urget diem nox et dies noctem, neque est                  25
    Levare tenta spiritu praecordia.
    Ergo negatum vincor ut credam miser
    Sabella pectus increpare carmina
    Caputque Marsa dissilire nenia.
    Quid amplius vis? O mare, o terra, ardeo,                 30
    Quantum neque atro delibutus Hercules
    Nessi cruore, nec Sicana fervida
    Virens in Aetna flamma; tu donec cinis
    Injuriosis aridus ventis ferar
    Cales venenis officina Colchicis.                         35
    Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?
    Effare; jussas cum fide poenas luam,
    Paratus expiare, seu poposceris
    Centum juvencos, sive mendaci lyra
    Voles sonari: Tu pudica, tu proba                         40
    Perambulabis astra sidus aureum.
    Infamis Helenae Castor offensus vicem
    Fraterque magni Castoris victi prece
    Adempta vati reddidere lumina.
    Et tu, potes nam, solve me dementia,                      45
    O nec paternis obsoleta sordibus,
    Neque in sepulcris pauperum prudens anus
    Novendiales dissipare pulveres.
    Tibi hospitale pectus et purae manus,
    Tuusque venter Pactumeius, et tuo                         50
    Cruore rubros obstetrix pannos lavit,
    Utcunque fortis exsilis puerpera.
      Quid obseratis auribus fundis preces?
    Non saxa nudis surdiora navitis
    Neptunus alto tundit hibernus salo.                       55
    Inultus ut tu riseris Cotyttia
    Vulgata, sacrum liberi Cupidinis,
    Et Esquilini Pontifex venefici
    Impune ut Urbem nomine impleris meo!
    Quid proderat ditasse Pelignas anus,                      60
    Velociusve miscuisse toxicum?
    Sed tardiora fata te votis manent:
    Ingrata misero vita ducenda est in hoc
    Novis ut usque suppetas laboribus
    Optat quietem Pelopis infidi pater,                       65
    Egens benignae Tantalus semper dapis,
    Optat Prometheus obligatus aliti,
    Optat supremo collocare Sisyphus
    In monte saxum; sed vetant leges Jovis.
    Voles modo altis desilire turribus,                       70
    Modo ense pectus Norico recludere,
    Frustraque vincla gutturi nectes tuo
    Fastidiosa tristis aegrimonia.
    Vectabor humeris tunc ego inimicis eques,
    Meaeque terra cedet insolentiae.                          75
    An quae movere cereas imagines,
    Ut ipse nosti curiosus, et polo
    Deripere lunam vocibus possim meis,
    Possim crematos excitare mortuos
    Desiderique temperare pocula,                             80
    Plorem artis in te nil agentis exitus?




SATIRARUM LIBER PRIMUS.


SATIRA I.

    Qui fit, Maecenas, ut nemo quam sibi sortem
    Seu ratio dederit seu fors objecerit illa
    Contentus vivat, laudet diversa sequentes?
    "O fortunati mercatores!" gravis annis
    Miles ait multo jam fractus membra labore.                 5
    Contra mercator, navem jactantibus Austris:
    "Militia est potior. Quid enim, concurritur: horae
    Momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta."
    Agricolam laudat juris legumque peritus,
    Sub galli cantum consultor ubi ostia pulsat.              10
    Ille datis vadibus qui rure extractus in urbem est
    Solos felices viventes clamat in urbe.
    Cetera de genere hoc, adeo sunt multa, loquacem
    Delassare valent Fabium. Ne te morer, audi
    Quo rem deducam. Si quis Deus, "En ego," dicat,           15
    "Jam faciam quod vultis: eris tu, qui modo miles,
    Mercator; tu, consultus modo, rusticus: hinc vos,
    Vos hinc mutatis discedite partibus: Eia!
    Quid statis?" nolint. Atqui licet esse beatis.
    Quid causae est merito quin illis Juppiter ambas          20
    Iratus buccas inflet, neque se fore posthac
    Tam facilem dicat votis ut praebeat aurem?
    Praeterea ne sic, ut qui jocularia, ridens
    Percurram (quamquam ridentem dicere verum
    Quid vetat? ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi           25
    Doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima);
    Sed tamen amoto quaeramus seria ludo.
    Ille gravem duro terram qui vertit aratro,
    Perfidus hic caupo, miles, nautaeque per omne
    Audaces mare qui currunt, hac mente laborem               30
    Sese ferre, senes ut in otia tuta recedant,
    Aiunt, quum sibi sint congesta cibaria: sicut
    Parvula, nam exemplo est, magni formica laboris
    Ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo,
    Quem struit haud ignara ac non incauta futuri.            35
    Quae, simul inversum contristat Aquarius annum,
    Non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante
    Quaesitis sapiens; quum te neque fervidus aestus
    Demoveat lucro, neque hiems, ignis, mare, ferrum,
    Nil obstet tibi dum ne sit te ditior alter.               40
    Quid juvat immensum te argenti pondus et auri
    Furtim defossa timidum deponere terra?
    "Quod si comminuas vilem redigatur ad assem."
    At ni id fit quid habet pulchri constructus acervus?
    Milia frumenti tua triverit area centum,                  45
    Non tuus hoc capiet venter plus ac meus: ut si
    Reticulum panis venales inter onusto
    Forte vehas humero, nihilo plus accipias quam
    Qui nil portarit. Vel dic quid referat intra
    Naturae fines viventi, jugera centum an                   50
    Mille aret? "At suave est ex magno tollere acervo."
    Dum ex parvo nobis tantundem haurire relinquas,
    Cur tua plus laudes cumeris granaria nostris?
    Ut tibi si sit opus liquidi non amplius urna,
    Vel cyatho, et dicas, "Magno de flumine malim             55
    Quam ex hoc fonticulo tantundem sumere." Eo fit
    Plenior ut si quos delectet copia justo
    Cum ripa simul avulsos ferat Aufidus acer.
    At qui tantuli eget quanto est opus is neque limo
    Turbatam haurit aquam neque vitam amittit in undis.       60
    At bona pars hominum decepta cupidine falso,
    "Nil satis est," inquit; "quia tanti quantum habeas sis."
    Quid facias illi? Jubeas miserum esse libenter
    Quatenus id facit; ut quidam memoratur Athenis
    Sordidus ac dives, populi contemnere voces                65
    Sic solitus: "Populus me sibilat; at mihi plaudo
    Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplor in arca."
    Tantalus a labris sitiens fugientia captat
    Flumina.... Quid rides? mutato nomine de te
    Fabula narratur: congestis undique saccis                 70
    Indormis inhians et tamquam parcere sacris
    Cogeris aut pictis tamquam gaudere tabellis.
    Nescis quo valeat nummus? quem praebeat usum?
    Panis ematur, olus, vini sextarius, adde
    Quis humana sibi doleat natura negatis.                   75
    An vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque
    Formidare malos fures, incendia, servos
    Ne te compilent fugientes, hoc juvat? Horum
    Semper ego optarim pauperrimus esse bonorum.
    "At si condoluit tentatum frigore corpus,                 80
    Aut alius casus lecto te adfixit, habes qui
    Adsideat, fomenta paret, medicum roget ut te
    Suscitet ac gnatis reddat carisque propinquis."
    Non uxor salvum te vult, non filius; omnes
    Vicini oderunt, noti, pueri atque puellae.                85
    Miraris, quum tu argento post omnia ponas,
    Si nemo praestet quem non merearis amorem?
    An si cognatos, nullo natura labore
    Quos tibi dat, retinere velis servareque amicos,
    Infelix operam perdas? ut si quis asellum                 90
    In Campo doceat parentem currere frenis.
    Denique sit finis quaerendi, quumque habeas plus
    Pauperiem metuas minus et finire laborem
    Incipias, parto quod avebas, ne facias quod
    Ummidius quidam; non longa est fabula: dives              95
    Ut metiretur nummos; ita sordidus ut se
    Non unquam servo melius vestiret; adusque
    Supremum tempus, ne se penuria victus
    Opprimeret metuebat. At hunc liberta securi
    Divisit medium, fortissima Tyndaridarum.                 100
    "Quid mi igitur suades? ut vivam Maenius? aut sic
    Ut Nomentanus?" Pergis pugnantia secum
    Frontibus adversis componere: non ego avarum
    Quum veto te fieri vappam jubeo ac nebulonem.
    Est inter Tanaļn quiddam socerumque Visellī.             105
    Est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines,
    Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum.
    Illuc unde abii redeo, nemo ut avarus
    Se probet ac potius laudet diversa sequentes,
    Quodque aliena capella gerat distentius uber             110
    Tabescat, neque se majori pauperiorum
    Turbae comparet, hunc atque hunc superare laboret.
    Sic festinanti semper locupletior obstat,
    Ut, quum carceribus missos rapit ungula currus,
    Instat equis auriga suos vincentibus, illum              115
    Praeteritum temnens extremos inter euntem.
    Inde fit ut raro qui se vixisse beatum
    Dicat, et exacto contentus tempore vita
    Cedat uti conviva satur, reperire queamus.
    Jam satis est. Ne me Crispini scrinia lippi              120
    Compilasse putes, verbum non amplius addam.


SATIRA II.

    Ambubaiarum collegia, pharmacopolae,
    Mendici, mimae, balatrones, hoc genus omne
    Maestum ac sollicitum est cantoris morte Tigelli.
    Quippe benignus erat. Contra hic, ne prodigus esse
    Dicatur metuens, inopi dare nolit amico                    5
    Frigus quo duramque famem propellere possit.
    Hunc si perconteris avi cur atque parentis
    Praeclaram ingrata stringat malus ingluvie rem,
    Omnia conductis coėmens obsonia nummis,
    Sordidus atque animi quod parvi nolit haberi,             10
    Respondet. Laudatur ab his, culpatur ab illis.
    Fufidius vappae famam timet ac nebulonis,
    Dives agris, dives positis in fenore nummis:
    Quinas hic capiti mercedes exsecat atque
    Quanto perditior quisque est tanto acrius urget;          15
    Nomina sectatur modo sumpta veste virili
    Sub patribus duris tironum. Maxime, quis non,
    Juppiter! exclamat simul atque audivit? At in se
    Pro quaestu sumptum facit hic. Vix credere possis
    Quam sibi non sit amicus, ita ut pater ille Terenti       20
    Fabula quem miserum gnato vixisse fugato
    Inducit non se pejus cruciaverit atque hic.
    Si quis nunc quaerat, Quo res haec pertinet? illuc:
    Dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt.
    Maltinus tunicis demissis ambulat; est qui                25
    Inguen ad obscoenum subductis usque facetus;
    Pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum.
    Nil medium est. Sunt qui nolint tetigisse nisi illas
    Quarum subsuta talos tegat instita veste;
    Contra alius nullam nisi olenti in fornice stantem.       30
    Quidam notus homo cum exiret fornice, "Macte
    Virtute esto," inquit sententia dia Catonis.
    Nam simul ac venas inflavit tetra libido
    Huc juvenes aequum est descendere, non alienas
    Permolere uxores. "Nolim laudarier," inquit,              35
    "Sic me," mirator cunni Cupiennius albi.
    Audire est operae pretium, procedere recte
    Qui moechos non vultis, ut omni parte laborent;
    Utque illis multo corrupta dolore voluptas,
    Atque haec rara, cadat dura inter saepe pericla.          40
    Hic se praecipitem tecto dedit; ille flagellis
    Ad mortem caesus; fugiens hic decidit acrem
    Praedonum in turbam; dedit hic pro corpore nummos;
    Hunc perminxerunt calones; quin etiam illud
    Accidit, ut quidam testes caudamque salacem               45
    Demeteret ferro. Jure omnes; Galba negabat.
    Tutior at quanto merx est in classe secunda,
    Libertinarum dico, Sallustius in quas
    Non minus insanit quam qui moechatur. At hic si
    Qua res, qua ratio suaderet, quaque modeste               50
    Munifico esse licet, vellet bonus atque benignus
    Esse, daret quantum satis esset nec sibi damno
    Dedecorique foret. Verum hoc se amplectitur uno,
    Hoc amat et laudat: "Matronam nullam ego tango."
    Ut quondam Marsaeus, amator Originis ille,                55
    Qui patrium mimae donat fundumque laremque,
    "Nil fuerit mi," inquit, "cum uxoribus unquam alienis."
    Verum est cum mimis, est cum meretricibus, unde
    Fama malum gravius quam res trahit. An tibi abunde
    Personam satis est, non illud quidquid ubique             60
    Officit evitare? Bonam deperdere famam,
    Rem patris oblimare, malum est ubicunque. Quid inter
    Est in matrona, ancilla, peccesne togata?
    Villius in Fausta Sullae gener, hoc miser uno
    Nomine deceptus, poenas dedit usque superque              65
    Quam satis est, pugnis caesus ferroque petitus,
    Exclusus fore cum Longarenus foret intus.
    Huic si mutonis verbis mala tanta videntis
    Diceret haec animus: "Quid vis tibi? numquid ego a te
    Magno prognatum deposco consule cunnum                    70
    Velatumque stola mea cum conferbuit ira?"
    Quid responderet? "Magno patre nata puella est."
    At quanto meliora monet pugnantiaque istis
    Dives opis natura suae, tu si modo recte
    Dispensare velis ac non fugienda petendis                 75
    Immiscere. Tuo vitio rerumne labores,
    Nil referre putas? Quare ne poeniteat te
    Desine matronas sectarier, unde laboris
    Plus haurire mali est quam ex re decerpere fructus.
    Nec magis huic inter niveos viridesque lapillos           80
    (Sit licet hoc, Cerinthe, tuum) tenerum est femur aut crus
    Rectius, atque etiam melius persaepe togatae est.
    Adde huc quod mercem sine fucis gestat, aperte
    Quod venale habet ostendit, nec si quid honesti est
    Jactat habetque palam, quaerit quo turpia celet.          85
    Regibus hic mos est: ubi equos mercantur opertos
    Inspiciunt, ne si facies ut saepe decora
    Molli fulta pede est emptorem inducat hiantem,
    Quod pulchrae clunes, breve quod caput, ardua cervix.
    Hoc illi recte: ne corporis optima Lyncei                 90
    Contemplere oculis, Hypsaea caecior illa
    Quae mala sunt spectes. O crus! o brachia! Verum
    Depugis, nasuta, brevi latere ac pede longo est.
    Matronae praeter faciem nil cernere possis,
    Cetera, ni Catia est, demissa veste tegentis.             95
    Si interdicta petes, vallo circumdata (nam te
    Hoc facit insanum), multae tibi tum officient res,
    Custodes, lectica, ciniflones, parasitae,
    Ad talos stola demissa et circumdata palla,
    Plurima quae invideant pure apparere tibi rem.           100
    Altera nil obstat: Cois tibi paene videre est
    Ut nudam, ne crure malo, ne sit pede turpi;
    Metiri possis oculo latus. An tibi mavis
    Insidias fieri pretiumque avellier ante
    Quam mercem ostendi? "Leporem venator ut alta            105
    In nive sectetur, positum sic tangere nolit,"
    Cantat et apponit: "Meus est amor huic similis; nam
    Transvolat in medio posita et fugientia captat."
    Hiscine versiculis speras tibi posse dolores
    Atque aestus curasque graves e pectore pelli?            110
    Nonne cupidinibus statuat natura modum quem,
    Quid latura sibi quid sit dolitura negatum,
    Quaerere plus prodest et inane abscindere soldo?
    Num tibi cum fauces urit sitis aurea quaeris
    Pocula? num esuriens fastidis omnia praeter              115
    Pavonem rhombumque? Tument tibi cum inguina, num si
    Ancilla aut verna est praesto puer impetus in quem
    Continuo fiat malis tentigine rumpi?
    Non ego: namque parabilem amo venerem facilemque.
    Illam, "Post paulo," "Sed pluris," "Si exierit vir,"     120
    Gallis, hanc Philodemus ait sibi quae neque magno
    Stet pretio neque cunctetur cum est jussa venire.
    Candida rectaque sit; munda hactenus ut neque longa
    Nec magis alba velit quam dat natura videri.
    Haec ubi supposuit dextro corpus mihi laevum             125
    Ilia et Egeria est: do nomen quodlibet illi,
    Nec vereor ne dum futuo vir rure recurrat,
    Janua frangatur, latret canis, undique magno
    Pulsa domus strepitu resonet, vepallida lecto
    Desiliat mulier, miseram se conscia clamet,              130
    Cruribus haec metuat, doti deprensa, egomet mī.
    Discincta tunica fugiendum est ac pede nudo,
    Ne nummi pereant aut puga aut denique fama.
    Deprendi miserum est; Fabio vel judice vincam.


SATIRA III.

    Omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, inter amicos
    Ut nunquam inducant animum cantare rogati,
    Injussi nunquam desistant. Sardus habebat
    Ille Tigellius hoc: Caesar, qui cogere posset,
    Si peteret per amicitiam patris atque suam non             5
    Quidquam proficeret; si collibuisset ab ovo
    Usque ad mala citaret, Io Bacche! modo summa
    Voce, modo hac resonat quae chordis quattuor ima.
    Nil aequale homini fuit illi; saepe velut qui
    Currebat fugiens hostem, persaepe velut qui               10
    Junonis sacra ferret; habebat saepe ducentos,
    Saepe decem servos; modo reges atque tetrarchas,
    Omnia magna loquens; modo, "Sit mihi mensa tripes et
    Concha salis puri et toga quae defendere frigus
    Quamvis crassa queat." Decies centena dedisses            15
    Huic parco paucis contento, quinque diebus
    Nil erat in loculis. Noctes vigilabat ad ipsum
    Mane, diem totum stertebat; nil fuit unquam
    Sic impar sibi.--Nunc aliquis dicat mihi: "Quid tu?
    Nullane habes vitia?" Immo alia et fortasse minora.       20
    Maenius absentem Novium cum carperet, "Heus tu,"
    Quidam ait, "ignoras te, an ut ignotum dare nobis
    Verba putas?" "Egomet mi ignosco," Maenius inquit.
    Stultus et improbus hic amor est dignusque notari.
    Cum tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis,            25
    Cur in amicorum vitiis tam cernis acutum
    Quam aut aquila aut serpens Epidaurius? At tibi contra
    Evenit, inquirant vitia ut tua rursus et illi.
    Iracundior est paulo, minus aptus acutis
    Naribus horum hominum; rideri possit eo quod              30
    Rusticius tonso toga defluit et male laxus
    In pede calceus haeret: at est bonus ut melior vir
    Non alius quisquam, at tibi amicus, at ingenium ingens
    Inculto latet hoc sub corpore. Denique te ipsum
    Concute num qua tibi vitiorum inseverit olim              35
    Natura, aut etiam consuetudo mala; namque
    Neglectis urenda filix innascitur agris.
    Illuc praevertamur, amatorem quod amicae
    Turpia decipiunt caecum vitia, aut etiam ipsa haec
    Delectant, veluti Balbinum polypus Hagnae.                40
    Vellem in amicitia sic erraremus; et isti
    Errori nomen virtus posuisset honestum.
    At pater ut gnati sic nos debemus amici
    Si quod sit vitium non fastidire: strabonem
    Appellat paetum pater, et pullum male parvus              45
    Si cui filius est, ut abortivus fuit olim
    Sisyphus: hunc varum distortis cruribus; illum
    Balbutit scaurum pravis fultum male talis.
    Parcius hic vivit, frugi dicatur. Ineptus
    Et jactantior hic paulo est, concinnus amicis             50
    Postulat ut videatur. At est truculentior atque
    Plus aequo liber, simplex fortisque habeatur;
    Caldior est, acres inter numeretur. Opinor
    Haec res et jungit junctos et servat amicos.
    At nos virtutes ipsas invertimus, atque                   55
    Sincerum cupimus vas incrustare. Probus quis
    Nobiscum vivit, multum demissus homo: illi
    Tardo cognomen pingui damus. Hic fugit omnes
    Insidias nullique malo latus obdit apertum,
    Cum genus hoc inter vitae versetur ubi acris              60
    Invidia atque vigent ubi crimina, pro bene sano
    Ac non incauto fictum astutumque vocamus.
    Simplicior quis et est, qualem me saepe libenter
    Obtulerim tibi, Maecenas, ut forte legentem
    Aut tacitum impellat quovis sermone molestus,             65
    Communi sensu plane caret, inquimus. Eheu,
    Quam temere in nosmet legem sancimus iniquam!
    Nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur; optimus ille est
    Qui minimis urgetur. Amicus dulcis ut aequum est
    Cum mea compenset vitiis bona; pluribus hisce             70
    (Si modo plura mihi bona sunt) inclinet, amari
    Si volet: hac lege in trutina ponetur eadem.
    Qui ne tuberibus propriis offendat amicum
    Postulat ignoscet verrucis illius; aequum est
    Peccatis veniam poscentem reddere rursus.                 75
    Denique, quatenus excidi penitus vitium irae
    Cetera item nequeunt stultis haerentia, cur non
    Ponderibus modulisque suis ratio utitur, ac res
    Ut quaeque est ita suppliciis delicta coėrcet?
    Si quis eum servum patinam qui tollere jussus             80
    Semesos pisces trepidumque ligurierit jus
    In cruce suffigat, Labeone insanior inter
    Sanos dicatur. Quanto hoc furiosius atque
    Majus peccatum est: paullum deliquit amicus,
    Quod nisi concedas habeare insuavis, acerbus:             85
    Odisti et fugis ut Rusonem debitor aeris,
    Qui nisi cum tristes misero venere Kalendae
    Mercedem aut nummos unde unde extricat, amaras
    Porrecto jugulo historias captivus ut audit.
    Comminxit lectum potus mensave catillum                   90
    Evandri manibus tritum dejecit, ob hanc rem
    Aut positum ante mea quia pullum in parte catini
    Sustulit esuriens, minus hoc jucundus amicus
    Sit mihi? Quid faciam si furtum fecerit, aut si
    Prodiderit commissa fide sponsumve negarit?               95
    Quis paria esse fere placuit peccata laborant
    Cum ventum ad verum est; sensus moresque repugnant
    Atque ipsa utilitas, justi prope mater et aequi.
    Cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris,
    Mutum et turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter      100
    Unguibus et pugnis, dein fustibus, atque ita porro
    Pugnabant armis quae post fabricaverat usus,
    Donec verba quibus voces sensusque notarent
    Nominaque invenere; dehinc absistere bello,
    Oppida coeperunt munire et ponere leges,                 105
    Ne quis fur esset, neu latro, neu quis adulter.
    Nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus teterrima belli
    Causa, sed ignotis perierunt mortibus illi,
    Quos venerem incertam rapientes more ferarum
    Viribus editior caedebat, ut in grege taurus.            110
    Jura inventa metu injusti fateare necesse est,
    Tempora si fastosque velis evolvere mundi.
    Nec natura potest justo secernere iniquum,
    Dividit ut bona diversis, fugienda petendis;
    Nec vincet ratio hoc, tantundem ut peccet idemque        115
    Qui teneros caules alieni fregerit horti
    Et qui nocturnus sacra divum legerit. Adsit
    Regula peccatis quae poenas irroget aequas,
    Ne scutica dignum horribili sectere flagello.
    Nam ut ferula caedas meritum majora subire               120
    Verbera non vereor, cum dicas esse pares res
    Furta latrociniis et magnis parva mineris
    Falce recisurum simili te, si tibi regnum
    Permittant homines. Si dives qui sapiens est,
    Et sutor bonus et solus formosus et est rex,             125
    Cur optas quod habes? Non nosti quid pater, inquit,
    Chrysippus dicat: Sapiens crepidas sibi nunquam
    Nec soleas fecit, sutor tamen est sapiens. Qui?
    Ut quamvis tacet Hermogenes, cantor tamen atque
    Optimus est modulator; ut Alfenius vafer, omni           130
    Abjecto instrumento artis clausaque taberna,
    Sutor erat, sapiens operis sic optimus omnis
    Est opifex solus, sic rex. Vellunt tibi barbam
    Lascivi pueri; quos tu nisi fuste coėrces
    Urgeris turba circum te stante miserque                  135
    Rumperis et latras, magnorum maxime regum.
    Ne longum faciam: dum tu quadrante lavatum
    Rex ibis neque te quisquam stipator ineptum
    Praeter Crispinum sectabitur, et mihi dulces
    Ignoscent si quid peccaro stultus amici,                 140
    Inque vicem illorum patiar delicta libenter,
    Privatusque magis vivam te rege beatus.


SATIRA IV.

    Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanesque poėtae,
    Atque alii quorum comoedia prisca virorum est,
    Si quis erat dignus describi quod malus ac fur,
    Quod moechus foret aut sicarius aut alioqui
    Famosus, multa cum libertate notabant.                     5
    Hinc omnis pendet Lucilius, hosce secutus
    Mutatis tantum pedibus numerisque, facetus,
    Emunctae naris, durus componere versus.
    Nam fuit hoc vitiosus: in hora saepe ducentos
    Ut magnum versus dictabat stans pede in uno.              10
    Cum flueret lutulentus erat quod tollere velles;
    Garrulus atque piger scribendi ferre laborem,
    Scribendi recte: nam ut multum nil moror. Ecce,
    Crispinus minimo me provocat: "Accipe, si vis
    Accipiam tabulas; detur nobis locus, hora,                15
    Custodes; videamus uter plus scribere possit."
    "Di bene fecerunt inopis me quodque pusilli
    Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis.
    At tu conclusas hircinis follibus auras,
    Usque laborantes dum ferrum molliat ignis,                20
    Ut mavis imitare." Beatus Fannius ultro
    Delatis capsis et imagine; cum mea nemo
    Scripta legat vulgo recitare timentis ob hanc rem,
    Quod sunt quos genus hoc minime juvat, utpote plures
    Culpari dignos. Quemvis media erue turba:                 25
    Aut ob avaritiam aut misera ambitione laborat.
    Hic nuptarum insanit amoribus, hic puerorum;
    Hunc capit argenti splendor; stupet Albius aere;
    Hic mutat merces surgente a sole ad eum quo
    Vespertina tepet regio, quin per mala praeceps            30
    Fertur uti pulvis collectus turbine, ne quid
    Summa deperdat metuens aut ampliet ut rem.
    Omnes hi metuunt versus, odere poėtas.
    "Foenum habet in cornu; longe fuge: dummodo risum
    Excutiat sibi non hic cuiquam parcet amico;               35
    Et quod cunque semel chartis illeverit omnes
    Gestiet a furno redeuntes scire lacuque
    Et pueros et anus." Agedum, pauca accipe contra.
    Primum ego me illorum dederim quibus esse poėti
    Excerpam numero: neque enim concludere versum             40
    Dixeris esse satis; neque si qui scribat uti nos
    Sermoni propiora: putes hunc esse poėtam.
    Ingenium cui sit, cui mens divinior atque os
    Magna sonaturum, des nominis hujus honorem.
    Idcirco quidam comoedia necne poėma                       45
    Esset quaesivere, quod acer spiritus ac vis
    Nec verbis nec rebus inest, nisi quod pede certo
    Differt sermoni sermo merus. At pater ardens
    Saevit, quod meretrice nepos insanus amica
    Filius uxorem grandi cum dote recuset,                    50
    Ebrius et, magnum quod dedecus, ambulet ante
    Noctem cum facibus. Numquid Pomponius istis
    Audiret leviora, pater si viveret? Ergo
    Non satis est puris versum perscribere verbis,
    Quem si dissolvas, quivis stomachetur eodem               55
    Quo personatus pacto pater. His ego quae nunc,
    Olim quae scripsit Lucilius, eripias si
    Tempora certa modosque, et quod prius ordine verbum est
    Posterius facias, praeponens ultima primis,
    Non ut si solvas "Postquam Discordia tetra                60
    Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit"
    Invenias etiam disjecti membra poėtae.
    Hactenus haec: alias justum sit necne poėma,
    Nunc illud tantum quaeram, meritone tibi sit
    Suspectum genus hoc scribendi. Sulcius acer               65
    Ambulat et Caprius rauci male cumque libellis,
    Magnus uterque timor latronibus; at bene si quis
    Et vivat puris manibus contemnat utrumque.
    Ut sis tu similis Caeli Birrique latronum,
    Non ego sum Capri neque Sulci: cur metuas me?             70
    Nulla taberna meos habeat neque pila libellos,
    Quis manus insudet volgi Hermogenisque Tigelli;
    Nec recito cuiquam nisi amicis, idque coactus,
    Non ubivis coramve quibuslibet. In medio qui
    Scripta foro recitent sunt multi quique lavantes:         75
    Suave locus voci resonat conclusus. Inanes
    Hoc juvat, haud illud quaerentes, num sine sensu,
    Tempore num faciant alieno. "Laedere gaudes,"
    Inquit, "et hoc studio pravus facis." Unde petitum
    Hoc in me jacis? Est auctor quis denique eorum            80
    Vixi cum quibus? Absentem qui rodit amicum;
    Qui non defendit alio culpante; solutos
    Qui captat risus hominum famamque dicacis;
    Fingere qui non visa potest; commissa tacere
    Qui nequit; hic niger est, hunc tu, Romane, caveto.       85
    Saepe tribus lectis videas coenare quaternos,
    E quibus unus amet quavis adspergere cunctos
    Praeter eum qui praebet aquam; post hunc quoque potus,
    Condita cum verax aperit praecordia Liber.
    Hic tibi comis et urbanus liberque videtur,               90
    Infesto nigris. Ego si risi quod ineptus
    Pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum,
    Lividus et mordax videor tibi? Mentio si qua
    De Capitolini furtis injecta Petilli
    Te coram fuerit, defendas ut tuus est mos:                95
    "Me Capitolinus convictore usus amicoque
    A puero est causaque mea permulta rogatus
    Fecit, et incolumis laetor quod vivit in urbe;
    Sed tamen admiror, quo pacto judicium illud
    Fugerit." Hic nigrae succus loliginis, haec est          100
    Aerugo mera. Quod vitium procul afore chartis
    Atque animo prius, ut si quid promittere de me
    Possum aliud vere, promitto. Liberius si
    Dixero quid, si forte jocosius, hoc mihi juris
    Cum venia dabis: insuevit pater optimus hoc me,          105
    Ut fugerem exemplis vitiorum quaeque notando.
    Cum me hortaretur, parce, frugaliter, atque
    Viverem uti contentus eo quod mi ipse parasset:
    "Nonne vides Albi ut male vivat filius, utque
    Barrus inops? Magnum documentum ne patriam rem           110
    Perdere quis velit." A turpi meretricis amore
    Cum deterreret: "Scetani dissimilis sis."
    Ne sequerer moechas concessa cum venere uti
    Possem: "Deprensi non bella est fama Treboni,"
    Aiebat. "Sapiens vitatu quidque petitu                   115
    Sit melius causas reddet tibi: mi satis est si
    Traditum ab antiquis morem servare tuamque,
    Dum custodis eges, vitam famamque tueri
    Incolumem possum; simul ac duraverit aetas
    Membra animumque tuum nabis sine cortice." Sic me        120
    Formabat puerum dictis; et sive jubebat
    Ut facerem quid: "Habes auctorem quo facias hoc;"
    Unum ex judicibus selectis objiciebat;
    Sive vetabat: "An hoc inhonestum et inutile factu
    Necne sit addubites, flagret rumore malo cum             125
    Hic atque ille? Avidos vicinum funus et aegros
    Exanimat, mortisque metu sibi parcere cogit;
    Sic teneros animos aliena opprobria saepe
    Absterrent vitiis." Ex hoc ego sanus ab illis
    Perniciem quaecunque ferunt, mediocribus et quis         130
    Ignoscas vitiis teneor; fortassis et istinc
    Largiter abstulerit longa aetas, liber amicus,
    Consilium proprium; neque enim cum lectulus aut me
    Porticus excepit desum mihi. "Rectius hoc est:
    Hoc faciens vivam melius: Sic dulcis amicis              135
    Occurram: Hoc quidam non belle: numquid ego illi
    Imprudens olim faciam simile?" Haec ego mecum
    Compressis agito labris; ubi quid datur oti
    Illudo chartis. Hoc est mediocribus illis
    Ex vitiis unum; cui si concedere nolis                   140
    Multa poėtarum veniat manus auxilio quae
    Sit mihi (nam multo plures sumus), ac veluti te
    Judaei cogemus in hanc concedere turbam.


SATIRA V.

    Egressum magna me excepit Aricia Roma
    Hospitio modico; rhetor comes Heliodorus,
    Graecorum longe doctissimus; inde Forum Appi,
    Differtum nautis cauponibus atque malignis.
    Hoc iter ignavi divisimus, altius ac nos                   5
    Praecinctis unum; minus est gravis Appia tardis.
    Hic ego propter aquam, quod erat deterrima, ventri
    Indico bellum, coenantes haud animo aequo
    Exspectans comites. Jam nox inducere terris
    Umbras et caelo diffundere signa parabat;                 10
    Tum pueri nautis, pueris convicia nautae
    Ingerere. Huc appelle! Trecentos inseris: ohe
    Jam satis est! Dum aes exigitur, dum mula ligatur,
    Tota abit hora. Mali culices ranaeque palustres
    Avertunt somnos, absentem ut cantat amicam                15
    Multa prolutus vappa nauta atque viator
    Certatim. Tandem fessus dormire viator
    Incipit, ac missae pastum retinacula mulae
    Nauta piger saxo religat stertitque supinus.
    Jamque dies aderat, nil cum procedere lintrem             20
    Sentimus, donec cerebrosus prosilit unus
    Ac mulae nautaeque caput lumbosque saligno
    Fuste dolat: quarta vix demum exponimur hora.
    Ora manusque tua lavimus, Feronia, lympha.
    Milia tum pransi tria repimus atque subimus               25
    Impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur.
    Huc venturus erat Maecenas optimus atque
    Cocceius, missi magnis de rebus uterque
    Legati, aversos soliti componere amicos.
    Hic oculis ego nigra meis collyria lippus                 30
    Illinere. Interea Maecenas advenit atque
    Cocceius Capitoque simul Fonteius, ad unguem
    Factus homo, Antoni non ut magis alter amicus.
    Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore libenter
    Linquimus, insani ridentes praemia scribae,               35
    Praetextam et latum clavum prunaeque batillum.
    In Mamurrarum lassi deinde urbe manemus,
    Murena praebente domum, Capitone culinam.
    Postera lux oritur multo gratissima; namque
    Plotius et Varius Sinuessae Virgiliusque                  40
    Occurrunt, animae quales neque candidiores
    Terra tulit neque quis me sit devinctior alter.
    O qui complexus et gaudia quanta fuerunt!
    Nil ego contulerim jucundo sanus amico.
    Proxima Campano ponti quae villula, tectum                45
    Praebuit, et parochi quae debent ligna salemque.
    Hinc muli Capuae clitellas tempore ponunt.
    Lusum it Maecenas, dormitum ego Virgiliusque;
    Namque pila lippis inimicum et ludere crudis.
    Hinc nos Cocceii recipit plenissima villa                 50
    Quae super est Caudi cauponas. Nunc mihi paucis
    Sarmenti scurrae pugnam Messique Cicirrhi,
    Musa, velim memores, et quo patre natus uterque
    Contulerit lites. Messi clarum genus Osci;
    Sarmenti domina exstat: ab his majoribus orti             55
    Ad pugnam venere. Prior Sarmentus: "Equi te
    Esse feri similem dico." Ridemus, et ipse
    Messius "Accipio," caput et movet. "O, tua cornu
    Ni foret exsecto frons," inquit, "quid faceres, cum
    Sic mutilus miniteris?" At illi foeda cicatrix            60
    Setosam laevi frontem turpaverat oris.
    Campanum in morbum, in faciem permulta jocatus,
    Pastorem saltaret uti Cyclopa rogabat:
    Nil illi larva aut tragicis opus esse cothurnis.
    Multa Cicirrhus ad haec: donasset jamne catenam           65
    Ex voto Laribus, quaerebat; scriba quod esset,
    Nihilo deterius dominae jus esse. Rogabat
    Denique cur unquam fugisset, cui satis una
    Farris libra foret gracili sic tamque pusillo.
    Prorsus jucunde coenam produximus illam.                  70
    Tendimus hinc recta Beneventum, ubi sedulus hospes
    Paene macros arsit dum turdos versat in igni:
    Nam vaga per veterem dilapso flamma culinam
    Vulcano summum properabat lambere tectum.
    Convivas avidos coenam servosque timentes                 75
    Tum rapere, atque omnes restinguere velle videres.
    Incipit ex illo montes Apulia notos
    Ostentare mihi, quos torret Atabulus et quos
    Nunquam erepsemus nisi nos vicina Trivici
    Villa recepisset, lacrimoso non sine fumo,                80
    Udos cum foliis ramos urente camino.
    Hic ego mendacem stultissimus usque puellam
    Ad mediam noctem exspecto; somnus tamen aufert
    Intentum veneri; tum immundo somnia visu
    Nocturnam vestem maculant ventremque supinum              85
    Quattuor hinc rapimur viginti et milia rhedis,
    Mansuri oppidulo quod versu dicere non est,
    Signis perfacile est: venit vilissima rerum
    Hic aqua; sed panis longe pulcherrimus, ultra
    Callidus ut soleat humeris portare viator;                90
    Nam Canusi lapidosus, aquae non ditior urna
    Qui locus a forti Diomede est conditus olim.
    Flentibus hinc Varius discedit maestus amicis.
    Inde Rubos fessi pervenimus utpote longum
    Carpentes iter et factum corruptius imbri.                95
    Postera tempestas melior, via pejor ad usque
    Bari moenia piscosi; dein Gnatia lymphis
    Iratis exstructa dedit risusque jocosque,
    Dum flamma sine thura liquescere limine sacro,
    Persuadere cupit. Credat Judaeus Apella,                 100
    Non ego; namque deos didici securum agere aevum,
    Nec si quid miri faciat natura deos id
    Tristes ex alto caeli demittere tecto.
    Brundisium longae finis chartaeque viaeque est.


SATIRA VI.

    Non quia, Maecenas, Lydorum quidquid Etruscos
    Incoluit fines nemo generosior est te,
    Nec quod avus tibi maternus fuit atque paternus
    Olim qui magnis legionibus imperitarent,
    Ut plerique solent, naso suspendis adunco                  5
    Ignotos, ut me libertino patre natum.
    Cum referre negas quali sit quisque parente
    Natus dum ingenuus, persuades hoc tibi vere,
    Ante potestatem Tulli atque ignobile regnum
    Multos saepe viros nullis majoribus ortos                 10
    Et vixisse probos amplis et honoribus auctos;
    Contra Laevinum, Valeri genus unde superbus
    Tarquinius regno pulsus fugit, unius assis
    Non unquam pretio pluris licuisse, notante
    Judice quo nosti populo, qui stultus honores              15
    Saepe dat indignis et famae servit ineptus,
    Qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus. Quid oportet
    Nos facere a volgo longe longeque remotos?
    Namque esto populus Laevino mallet honorem
    Quam Decio mandare novo, censorque moveret                20
    Appius ingenuo si non essem patre natus:
    Vel merito quoniam in propria non pelle quiessem.
    Sed fulgente trahit constrictos Gloria curru
    Non minus ignotos generosis. Quo tibi, Tilli,
    Sumere depositum clavum fierique tribuno?                 25
    Invidia accrevit privato quae minor esset.
    Nam ut quisque insanus nigris medium impediit crus
    Pellibus et latum demisit pectore clavum,
    Audit continuo: "Quis homo hic est? quo patre natus?"
    Ut si qui aegrotet quo morbo Barrus, haberi               30
    Ut cupiat formosus, eat quacunque puellis
    Injiciat curam quaerendi singula, quali
    Sit facie, sura, quali pede, dente, capillo:
    Sic qui promittit cives, urbem sibi curae,
    Imperium fore et Italiam, delubra deorum,                 35
    Quo patre sit natus, num ignota matre inhonestus,
    Omnes mortales curare quaerere cogit.
    "Tune Syri, Damae aut Dionysi filius, audes
    Dejicere e saxo cives aut tradere Cadmo?"
    "At Novius collega gradu post me sedet uno;               40
    Namque est ille pater quod erat meus." "Hoc tibi Paullus
    Et Messalla videris? At hic, si plostra ducenta
    Concurrantque foro tria funera magna, sonabit
    Cornua quod vincatque tubas; saltem tenet hoc nos."
    Nunc ad me redeo libertino patre natum,                   45
    Quem rodunt omnes libertino patre natum,
    Nunc, quia sum tibi, Maecenas, convictor; at olim,
    Quod mihi pareret legio Romana tribuno.
    Dissimile hoc illi est; quia non ut forsit honorem
    Jure mihi invideat quivis ita te quoque amicum,           50
    Praesertim cautum dignos assumere prava
    Ambitione procul. Felicem dicere non hoc
    Me possum casu quod te sortitus amicum;
    Nulla etenim mihi te fors obtulit: optimus olim
    Virgilius, post hunc Varius dixere quid essem.            55
    Ut veni coram singultim pauca locutus,
    Infans namque pudor prohibebat plura profari,
    Non ego me claro natum patre, non ego circum
    Me Satureiano vectari rura caballo,
    Sed quod eram narro. Respondes ut tuus est mos            60
    Pauca: abeo; et revocas nono post mense jubesque
    Esse in amicorum numero. Magnum hoc ego duco
    Quod placui tibi qui turpi secernis honestum,
    Non patre praeclaro sed vita et pectore puro.
    Atqui si vitiis mediocribus ac mea paucis                 65
    Mendosa est natura alioqui recta, velut si
    Egregio inspersos reprehendas corpore naevos;
    Si neque avaritiam neque sordes aut mala lustra
    Objiciet vere quisquam mihi, purus et insons
    (Ut me collaudem) si et vivo carus amicis;                70
    Causa fuit pater his, qui macro pauper agello
    Noluit in Flavi ludum me mittere, magni
    Quo pueri magnis e centurionibus orti,
    Laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto,
    Ibant octonis referentes Idibus aera;                     75
    Sed puerum est ausus Romam portare docendum
    Artes quas doceat quivis eques atque senator
    Semet prognatos. Vestem servosque sequentes,
    In magno ut populo, si quis vidisset, avita
    Ex re praeberi sumptus mihi crederet illos.               80
    Ipse mihi custos incorruptissimus omnes
    Circum doctores aderat. Quid multa? Pudicum,
    Qui primus virtutis honos, servavit ab omni
    Non solum facto verum opprobrio quoque turpi;
    Nec timuit sibi ne vitio quis verteret olim,              85
    Si praeco parvas aut, ut fuit ipse, coactor
    Mercedes sequerer; neque ego essem questus: at hoc nunc
    Laus illi debetur et a me gratia major.
    Nil me poeniteat sanum patris hujus, eoque
    Non, ut magna dolo factum negat esse suo pars             90
    Quod non ingenuos habeat clarosque parentes,
    Sic me defendam. Longe mea discrepat istis
    Et vox et ratio: nam si natura juberet
    A certis annis aevum remeare peractum
    Atque alios legere ad fastum quoscunque parentes          95
    Optaret sibi quisque, meis contentus honestos
    Fascibus et sellis nollem mihi sumere, demens
    Judicio volgi, sanus fortasse tuo, quod
    Nollem onus haud unquam solitus portare molestum.
    Nam mihi continuo major quaerenda foret res              100
    Atque salutandi plures, ducendus et unus
    Et comes alter uti ne solus rusve peregreve
    Exirem; plures calones atque caballi
    Pascendi, ducenda petorrita. Nunc mihi curto
    Ire licet mulo vel si libet usque Tarentum,              105
    Mantica cui lumbos onere ulceret atque eques armos:
    Objiciet nemo sordes mihi quas tibi, Tilli,
    Cum Tiburte via praetorem quinque sequuntur
    Te pueri lasanum portantes oenophorumque.
    Hoc ego commodius quam tu, praeclare senator,            110
    Millibus atque aliis vivo. Quacunque libido est,
    Incedo solus, percontor quanti olus ac far;
    Fallacem Circum vespertinumque pererro
    Saepe Forum; adsisto divinis; inde domum me
    Ad porri et ciceris refero laganique catinum;            115
    Coena ministratur pueris tribus, et lapis albus
    Pocula cum cyatho duo sustinet; adstat echinus
    Vilis, cum patera guttus, Campana supellex.
    Deinde eo dormitum, non sollicitus mihi quod cras
    Surgendum sit mane, obeundus Marsya, qui se              120
    Voltum ferre negat Noviorum posse minoris.
    Ad quartam jaceo; post hanc vagor; aut ego, lecto
    Aut scripto quod me tacitum juvet, ungor olivo,
    Non quo fraudatis immundus Natta lucernis.
    Ast ubi me fessum sol acrior ire lavatum                 125
    Admonuit fugio Campum lusumque trigonem.
    Pransus non avide, quantum interpellet inani
    Ventre diem durare, domesticus otior. Haec est
    Vita solutorum misera ambitione gravique;
    His me consolor victurum suavius ac si                   130
    Quaestor avus, pater atque meus patruusque fuisset.


SATIRA VII.

    Proscripti Regis Rupili pus atque venenum
    Hybrida quo pacto sit Persius ultus, opinor
    Omnibus et lippis notum et tonsoribus esse.
    Persius his permagna negotia dives habebat
    Clazomenis, etiam lites cum Rege molestas,                 5
    Durus homo atque odio qui posset vincere Regem,
    Confidens tumidusque, adeo sermonis amari
    Sisennas Barros ut equis praecurreret albis.
    Ad Regem redeo. Postquam nihil inter utrumque
    Convenit, (hoc etenim sunt omnes jure molesti             10
    Quo fortes quibus adversum bellum incidit: inter
    Hectora Priamiden animosum atque inter Achillem
    Ira fuit capitalis ut ultima divideret mors,
    Non aliam ob causam nisi quod virtus in utroque
    Summa fuit; duo si discordia vexet inertes                15
    Aut si disparibus bellum incidat, ut Diomedi
    Cum Lycio Glauco, discedat pigrior ultro
    Muneribus missis:) Bruto praetore tenente
    Ditem Asiam Rupili et Persi par pugnat, uti non
    Compositum melius cum Bitho Bacchius. In jus              20
    Acres procurrunt, magnum spectaculum uterque.
    Persius exponit causam; ridetur ab omni
    Conventu; laudat Brutum laudatque cohortem:
    Solem Asiae Brutum appellat, stellasque salubres
    Appellat comites excepto Rege: canem illum,               25
    Invisum agricolis sidus venisse; Ruebat
    Flumen ut hibernum fertur quo rara securis.
    Tum Praenestinus salso multoque fluenti
    Expressa arbusto regerit convicia, durus
    Vindemiator et invictus, cui saepe viator                 30
    Cessisset magna compellans voce cucullum.
    At Graecus, postquam est Italo perfusus aceto,
    Persius exclamat: Per magnos, Brute, deos te
    Oro qui reges consueris tollere, cur non
    Hunc Regem jugulas? Operum hoc, mihi crede, tuorum est.


SATIRA VIII.

    Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum,
    Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,
    Maluit esse deum. Deus inde ego furum aviumque
    Maxima formido: nam fures dextra coėrcet
    Obscoenoque ruber porrectus ab inguine palus;              5
    Ast importunas volucres in vertice arundo
    Terret fixa vetatque novis considere in hortis.
    Huc prius angustis ejecta cadavera cellis
    Conservus vili portanda locabat in arca.
    Hoc miserae plebi stabat commune sepulcrum,               10
    Pantolabo scurrae Nomentanoque nepoti:
    Mille pedes in fronte, trecentos cippus in agrum
    Hic dabat: Heredes monumentum ne sequeretur.
    Nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus atque
    Aggere in aprico spatiari, quo modo tristes               15
    Albis informem spectabant ossibus agrum;
    Cum mihi non tantum furesque feraeque, suėtae
    Hunc vexare locum curae sunt atque labori,
    Quantum carminibus quae versant atque venenis
    Humanos animos. Has nullo perdere possum                  20
    Nec prohibere modo, simul ac vaga luna decorum
    Protulit os, quin ossa legant herbasque nocentes.
    Vidi egomet nigra succinctam vadere palla
    Canidiam pedibus nudis passoque capillo,
    Cum Sagana majore ululantem; pallor utrasque              25
    Fecerat horrendas adspectu. Scalpere terram
    Unguibus et pullam divellere mordicus agnam
    Coeperunt; cruor in fossam confusus, ut inde
    Manes elicerent, animas responsa daturas.
    Lanea et effigies erat, altera cerea: major               30
    Lanea, quae poenis compesceret inferiorem;
    Cerea suppliciter stabat servilibus, ut quae
    Jam peritura modis. Hecaten vocat altera, saevam
    Altera Tisiphonen: serpentes atque videres
    Infernas errare canes, Lunamque rubentem                  35
    Ne foret his testis post magna latere sepulcra.
    Mentior at si quid merdis caput inquiner albis
    Corvorum, atque in me veniat mictum atque cacatum
    Julius et fragilis Pediatia furque Voranus.
    Singula quid memorem? quo pacto alterna loquentes         40
    Umbrae cum Sagana resonarent triste et acutum,
    Utque lupi barbam variae cum dente colubrae
    Abdiderint furtim terris et imagine cerea
    Largior arserit ignis, et ut non testis inultus
    Horruerim voces Furiarum et facta duarum.                 45
    Nam displosa sonat quantum vesica pepedi
    Diffissa nate ficus; at illae currere in urbem.
    Canidiae dentes, altum Saganae caliendrum
    Excidere atque herbas atque incantata lacertis
    Vincula cum magno risuque jocoque videres.                50


SATIRA IX.

    Ibam forte via Sacra, sicut meus est mos,
    Nescio quid meditans nugarum, totus in illis:
    Accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum,
    Arreptaque manu, "Quid agis, dulcissime rerum?"
    "Suaviter ut nunc est," inquam, "et cupio omnia quae vis."  5
    Cum assectaretur: "Num quid vis?" occupo. At ille,
    "Noris nos," inquit; "docti sumus." Hic ego, "Pluris
    Hoc," inquam, "mihi eris." Misere discedere quaerens
    Ire modo ocius, interdum consistere, in aurem
    Dicere nescio quid puero, cum sudor ad imos               10
    Manaret talos. O te, Bolane, cerebri
    Felicem! aiebam tacitus; cum quidlibet ille
    Garriret, vicos, urbem laudaret. Ut illi
    Nil respondebam, "Misere cupis," inquit, "abire;
    Jamdudum video; sed nil agis; usque tenebo;               15
    Persequar: hinc quo nunc iter est tibi?" "Nil opus est te
    Circumagi; quendam volo visere non tibi notum;
    Trans Tiberim longe cubat is prope Caesaris hortos."
    "Nil habeo quod agam et non sum piger; usque sequar te."
    Demitto auriculas ut iniquae mentis asellus,              20
    Cum gravius dorso subiit onus. Incipit ille:
    "Si bene me novi non Viscum pluris amicum,
    Non Varium facies; nam quis me scribere plures
    Aut citius possit versus? quis membra movere
    Mollius? Invideat quod et Hermogenes ego canto."          25
    Interpellandi locus hic erat: "Est tibi mater,
    Cognati, quis te salvo est opus?"--"Haud mihi quisquam.
    Omnes composui."--Felices! nunc ego resto.
    Confice; namque instat fatum mihi triste Sabella
    Quod puero cecinit divina mota anus urna:                 30
    Hunc neque dira venena nec hosticus auferet ensis
    Nec laterum dolor aut tussis nec tarda podagra:
    Garrulus hunc quando consumet cunque; loquaces
    Si sapiat vitet simul atque adoleverit aetas.
    Ventum erat ad Vestae, quarta jam parte diei              35
    Praeterita, et casu tunc respondere vadato
    Debebat, quod ni fecisset perdere litem.
    "Si me amas," inquit, "paulum hic ades." "Inteream si
    Aut valeo stare aut novi civilia jura;
    Et propero quo scis." "Dubius sum quid faciam," inquit,   40
    "Tene relinquam an rem." "Me sodes." "Non faciam" ille;
    Et praecedere coepit. Ego ut contendere durum est
    Cum victore sequor. "Maecenas quomodo tecum?"
    Hinc repetit; "paucorum hominum et mentis bene sanae;
    Nemo dexterius fortuna est usus. Haberes                  45
    Magnum adjutorem posset qui ferre secundas,
    Hunc hominem velles si tradere; dispeream ni
    Submosses omnes." "Non isto vivimus illic
    Quo tu rere modo; domus hac nec purior ulla est
    Nec magis his aliena malis; nil mi officit unquam,        50
    Ditior hic aut est quia doctior; est locus uni
    Cuique suus." "Magnum narras, vix credibile!" "Atqui
    Sic habet." "Accendis, quare cupiam magis illi
    Proximus esse." "Velis tantummodo: quae tua virtus,
    Expugnabis; et est qui vinci possit, eoque                55
    Difficiles aditus primos habet." "Haud mihi deero:
    Muneribus servos corrumpam; non hodie si
    Exclusus fuero desistam; tempora quaeram,
    Occurram in triviis, deducam. Nil sine magno
    Vita labore dedit mortalibus." Haec dum agit, ecce        60
    Fuscus Aristius occurrit, mihi carus et illum
    Qui pulchre nosset. Consistimus. Unde venis? et
    Quo tendis? rogat et respondet. Vellere coepi
    Et prensare manu lentissima brachia, nutans,
    Distorquens oculos, ut me eriperet. Male salsus           65
    Ridens dissimulare: meum jecur urere bilis.
    "Certe nescio quid secreto velle loqui te
    Aiebas mecum." "Memini bene, sed meliore
    Tempore dicam; hodie tricesima sabbata: vin tu
    Curtis Judaeis oppedere?" "Nulla mihi, inquam,            70
    Religio est." "At mi; sum paulo infirmior, unus
    Multorum; ignosces; alias loquar." Huncine solem
    Tam nigrum surrexe mihi! Fugit improbus ac me
    Sub cultro linquit. Casu venit obvius illi
    Adversarius et: "Quo tu turpissime?" magna                75
    Inclamat voce; et "Licet antestari?" Ego vero
    Oppono auriculam. Rapit in jus; clamor utrinque;
    Undique concursus. Sic me servavit Apollo.


SATIRA X.

    Nempe incomposito dixi pede currere versus
    Lucili. Quis tam Lucili fautor inepte est
    Ut non hoc fateatur? At idem quod sale multo
    Urbem defricuit charta laudatur eadem.
    Nec tamen hoc tribuens dederim quoque cetera; nam sic      5
    Et Laberi mimos ut pulchra poėmata mirer.
    Ergo non satis est risu diducere rictum
    Auditoris (et est quaedam tamen hic quoque virtus).
    Est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia neu se
    Impediat verbis lassas onerantibus aures;                 10
    Et sermone opus est modo tristi saepe jocoso,
    Defendente vicem modo rhetoris atque poėtae,
    Interdum urbani, parcentis viribus atque
    Extenuantis eas consulto. Ridiculum acri
    Fortius et melius magnas plerumque secat res.             15
    Illi scripta quibus comoedia prisca viris est
    Hoc stabant, hoc sunt imitandi; quos neque pulcher
    Hermogenes unquam legit neque simius iste
    Nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum.
    "At magnum fecit quod verbis Graeca Latinis               20
    Miscuit." O seri studiorum! quine putetis
    Difficile et mirum Rhodio quod Pitholeonti
    Contigit? "At sermo lingua concinnus utraque
    Suavior, ut Chio nota si commixta Falerni est."
    Cum versus facias, te ipsum percontor, an et cum          25
    Dura tibi peragenda rei sit causa Petilli?
    Scilicet oblitus patriaeque patrisque, Latine
    Cum Pedius causas exsudet Poplicola atque
    Corvinus, patriis intermiscere petita
    Verba foris malis, Canusini more bilinguis?               30
    Atque ego cum Graecos facerem natus mare citra
    Versiculos, vetuit me tali voce Quirinus,
    Post mediam noctem visus cum somnia vera:
    "In silvam non ligna feras insanius ac si
    Magnas Graecorum malis implere catervas."                 35
    Turgidus Alpinus jugulat dum Memnona, dumque
    Defingit Rheni luteum caput, haec ego ludo,
    Quae neque in aede sonent certantia judice Tarpa,
    Nec redeant iterum atque iterum spectanda theatris.
    Arguta meretrice potes Davoque Chremeta                   40
    Eludente senem comis garrire libellos
    Unus vivorum, Fundani; Pollio regum
    Facta canit pede ter percusso; forte epos acer
    Ut nemo Varius ducit; molle atque facetum
    Virgilio annuerunt gaudentes rure Camenae.                45
    Hoc erat, experto frustra Varrone Atacino
    Atque quibusdam aliis, melius quod scribere possem,
    Inventore minor; neque ego illi detrahere ausim
    Haerentem capiti cum multa laude coronam.
    At dixi fluere hunc lutulentum, saepe ferentem            50
    Plura quidem tollenda relinquendis. Age, quaeso,
    Tu nihil in magno doctus reprehendis Homero?
    Nil comis tragici mutat Lucilius Acci?
    Non ridet versus Enni gravitate minores,
    Cum de se loquitur non ut majore reprensis?               55
    Quid vetat et nosmet Lucili scripta legentes
    Quaerere, num illius, num rerum dura negarit
    Versiculos natura magis factos et euntes
    Mollius ac si quis pedibus quid claudere senis,
    Hoc tantum contentus, amet scripsisse ducentos            60
    Ante cibum versus, totidem coenatus; Etrusci
    Quale fuit Cassi rapido ferventius amni
    Ingenium, capsis quem fama est esse librisque
    Ambustum propriis? Fuerit Lucilius, inquam,
    Comis et urbanus, fuerit limatior idem                    65
    Quam rudis et Graecis intacti carminis auctor,
    Quamque poėtarum seniorum turba; sed ille,
    Si foret hoc nostrum fato dilatus in aevum,
    Detereret sibi multa, recideret omne quod ultra
    Perfectum traheretur, et in versu faciendo                70
    Saepe caput scaberet vivos et roderet ungues.
    Saepe stilum vertas iterum quae digna legi sint
    Scripturus, neque te ut miretur turba labores,
    Contentus paucis lectoribus. An tua demens
    Vilibus in ludis dictari carmina malis?                   75
    Non ego: nam satis est equitem mihi plaudere, ut audax
    Contemtis aliis explosa Arbuscula dixit.
    Men' moveat cimex Pantilius, aut cruciet quod
    Vellicet absentem Demetrius, aut quod ineptus
    Fannius Hermogenis laedat conviva Tigelli?                80
    Plotius et Varius, Maecenas Virgiliusque,
    Valgius et probet haec Octavius optimus atque
    Fuscus, et haec utinam Viscorum laudet uterque!
    Ambitione relegata te dicere possum,
    Pollio, te, Messala, tuo cum fratre, simulque             85
    Vos, Bibuli et Servi, simul his te, candide Furni,
    Complures alios, doctos ego quos et amicos
    Prudens praetereo; quibus haec, sint qualiacunque,
    Arridere velim, doliturus si placeant spe
    Deterius nostra. Demetri, teque, Tigelli,                 90
    Discipularum inter jubeo plorare cathedras.
    I, puer, atque meo citus haec subscribe libello.




SATIRARUM LIBER SECUNDUS.


SATIRA I.

    "Sunt quibus in satira videor nimis acer et ultra
    Legem tendere opus; sine nervis altera quidquid
    Composui pars esse putat, similesque meorum
    Mille die versus deduci posse. Trebati,
    Quid faciam praescribe." "Quiescas." "Ne faciam, inquis,   5
    Omnino versus?" "Aio." "Peream male si non
    Optimum erat: verum nequeo dormire." "Ter uncti
    Transnanto Tiberim somno quibus est opus alto,
    Irriguumque mero sub noctem corpus habento.
    Aut si tantus amor scribendi te rapit aude                10
    Caesaris invicti res dicere, multa laborum
    Praemia laturus." "Cupidum, pater optime, vires
    Deficiunt: neque enim quivis horrentia pilis
    Agmina nec fracta pereuntes cuspide Gallos
    Aut labentis equo describat vulnera Parthi."              15
    "Attamen et justum poteras et scribere fortem,
    Scipiadem ut sapiens Lucilius." "Haud mihi deero
    Cum res ipsa feret. Nisi dextro tempore Flacci
    Verba per attentam non ibunt Caesaris aurem,
    Cui male si palpere recalcitrat undique tutus."           20
    "Quanto rectius hoc quam tristi laedere versu
    _Pantolabum scurram Nomentanumque nepotem_,
    Cum sibi quisque timet, quamquam est intactus, et odit!"
    "Quid faciam? Saltat Milonius, ut semel icto
    Accessit fervor capiti, numerusque lucernis.              25
    Castor gaudet equis, ovo prognatus eodem
    Pugnis; quot capitum vivunt, totidem studiorum
    Millia: me pedibus delectat claudere verba
    Lucili ritu nostrūm melioris utroque.
    Ille velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim                    30
    Credebat libris, neque si male cesserat unquam
    Decurrens alio, neque si bene; quo fit ut omnis
    Votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella
    Vita senis. Sequor hunc, Lucanus an Apulus anceps:
    Nam Venusinus arat finem sub utrumque colonus,            35
    Missus ad hoc pulsis, vetus est ut fama, Sabellis,
    Quo ne per vacuum Romano incurreret hostis,
    Sive quod Apula gens seu quod Lucania bellum
    Incuteret violenta. Sed hic stilus haud petet ultro
    Quemquam animantem et me veluti custodiet ensis           40
    Vagina tectus; quem cur distringere coner
    Tutus ab infestis latronibus? O pater et rex
    Juppiter, ut pereat positum rubigine telum,
    Nec quisquam noceat cupido mihi pacis! At ille
    Qui me commorit,--melius non tangere! clamo;              45
    Flebit et insignis tota cantabitur urbe.
    Cervius iratus leges minitatur et urnam,
    Canidia Albuti quibus est inimica venenum,
    Grande malum Turius, si quid se judice certes.
    Ut quo quisque valet suspectos terreat, utque             50
    Imperet hoc natura potens, sic collige mecum:
    Dente lupus, cornu taurus petit: unde nisi intus
    Monstratum? Scaevae vivacem crede nepoti
    Matrem; nil faciet sceleris pia dextera: mirum,
    Ut neque calce lupus quemquam neque dente petit bos;      55
    Sed mala tollet anum vitiato melle cicuta.
    Ne longum faciam: seu me tranquilla senectus
    Exspectat seu Mors atris circumvolat alis,
    Dives, inops, Romae, seu fors ita jusserit, exsul,
    Quisquis erit vitae scribam color." "O puer, ut sis       60
    Vitalis metuo et majorum ne quis amicus
    Frigore te feriat." "Quid, cum est Lucilius ausus
    Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem,
    Detrahere et pellem, nitidus qua quisque per ora
    Cederet, introrsum turpis, num Laelius aut qui            65
    Duxit ab oppressa meritum Karthagine nomen,
    Ingenio offensi aut laeso doluere Metello
    Famosisque Lupo cooperto versibus? Atqui
    Primores populi arripuit populumque tributim,
    Scilicet uni aequus virtuti atque ejus amicis.            70
    Quin ubi se a volgo et scena in secreta remorant
    Virtus Scipiadae et mitis sapientia Laeli,
    Nugari cum illo et discincti ludere donec
    Decoqueretur olus soliti. Quidquid sum ego, quamvis
    Infra Lucili censum ingeniumque, tamen me                 75
    Cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque
    Invidia, et fragili quaerens illidere dentem
    Offendet solido; nisi quid tu, docte Trebati,
    Dissentis." "Equidem nihil hinc diffindere possum.
    Sed tamen ut monitus caveas, ne forte negoti              80
    Incutiat tibi quid sanctarum inscitia legum:
    Si mala condiderit in quem quis carmina, jus est
    Judiciumque." "Esto, si quis mala; sed bona si quis
    Judice condiderit laudatus Caesare? si quis
    Opprobriis dignum latraverit, integer ipse?"              85
    "Solventur risu tabulae, tu missus abibis."


SATIRA II.

    Quae virtus et quanta, boni, sit vivere parvo,
    Nec meus hic sermo est, sed quae praecepit Ofella
    Rusticus abnormis sapiens crassaque Minerva,
    Discite, non inter lances mensasque nitentes
    Cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus et cum                 5
    Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat,
    Verum hic impransi mecum disquirite. Cur hoc?
    Dicam si potero. Male verum examinat omnis
    Corruptus judex. Leporem sectatus equove
    Lassus ab indomito, vel si Romana fatigat                 10
    Militia assuetum graecari, seu pila velox
    Molliter austerum studio fallente laborem,
    Seu te discus agit, pete cedentem aėra disco;
    Cum labor extuderit fastidia, siccus, inanis
    Sperne cibum vilem; nisi Hymettia mella Falerno           15
    Ne biberis diluta. Foris est promus et atrum
    Defendens pisces hiemat mare: cum sale panis
    Latrantem stomachum bene leniet. Unde putas aut
    Qui partum? Non in caro nidore voluptas
    Summa sed in te ipso est. Tu pulmentaria quaere           20
    Sudando; pinguem vitiis albumque neque ostrea
    Nec scarus aut poterit peregrina juvare lagois.
    Vix tamen eripiam posito pavone velis quin
    Hoc potius quam gallina tergere palatum,
    Corruptus vanis rerum, quia veneat auro                   25
    Rara avis et picta pandat spectacula cauda;
    Tamquam ad rem attineat quidquam. Num vesceris ista
    Quam laudas pluma? Cocto num adest honor idem?
    Carne tamen quamvis distat nil, hac magis illam
    Imparibus formis deceptum te petere! Esto:                30
    Unde datum sentis lupus hic Tiberinus an alto
    Captus hiet, pontesne inter jactatus an amnis
    Ostia sub Tusci? Laudas, insane, trilibrem
    Mullum in singula quem minuas pulmenta necesse est.
    Ducit te species video: quo pertinet ergo                 35
    Proceros odisse lupos? Quia scilicet illis
    Majorem natura modum dedit, his breve pondus.
    Jejunus raro stomachus volgaria temnit.
    "Porrectum magno magnum spectare catino
    Vellem," ait Harpyiis gula digna rapacibus. At vos,       40
    Praesentes Austri, coquite horum obsonia,--quamquam
    Putet aper rhombusque recens, mala copia quando
    Aegrum sollicitat stomachum, cum rapula plenus
    Atque acidas mavolt inulas. Necdum omnis abacta
    Pauperies epulis regum; nam vilibus ovis                  45
    Nigrisque est oleis hodie locus. Haud ita pridem
    Galloni praeconis erat acipensere mensa
    Infamis. Quid, tunc rhombos minus aequora alebant?
    Tutus erat rhombus tutoque ciconia nido
    Donec vos auctor docuit praetorius. Ergo                  50
    Si quis nunc mergos suaves edixerit assos,
    Parebit pravi docilis Romana juventus.
    Sordidus a tenui victu distabit, Ofella
    Judice: nam frustra vitium vitaveris illud
    Si te alio pravum detorseris. Avidienus,                  55
    Cui Canis ex vero dictum cognomen adhaeret,
    Quinquennes oleas est et silvestria corna,
    Ac nisi mutatum parcit defundere vinum, et,
    Cujus odorem olei nequeas perferre, licebit
    Ille repotia natales aliosve dierum                       60
    Festos albatus celebret, cornu ipse bilibri
    Caulibus instillat, veteris non parcus aceti.
    Quali igitur victu sapiens utetur, et horum
    Utrum imitabitur? Hac urget lupus, hac canis, aiunt.
    Mundus erit qua non offendat sordibus, atque              65
    In neutram partem cultus miser. Hic neque servis,
    Albuti senis exemplo, dum munia didit
    Saevus erit; nec sic ut simplex Naevius unctam
    Convivis praebebit aquam: vitium hoc quoque magnum.
    Accipe nunc victus tenuis quae quantaque secum            70
    Afferat. In primis valeas bene: nam variae res
    Ut noceant homini credas memor illius escae
    Quae simplex olim tibi sederit; at simul assis
    Miscueris elixa, simul conchylia turdis,
    Dulcia se in bilem vertent stomachoque tumultum           75
    Lenta feret pituita. Vides, ut pallidus omnis
    Coena desurgat dubia? Quin corpus onustum
    Hesternis vitiis animum quoque praegravat una,
    Atque affigit humo divinae particulam aurae.
    Alter ubi dicto citius curata sopori                      80
    Membra dedit vegetus praescripta ad munia surgit.
    Hic tamen ad melius poterit transcurrere quondam,
    Sive diem festum rediens advexerit annus,
    Seu recreare volet tenuatum corpus, ubique
    Accedent anni et tractari mollius aetas                   85
    Imbecilla volet; tibi quidnam accedet ad istam
    Quam puer et validus praesumis mollitiem, seu
    Dura valetudo inciderit seu tarda senectus?
    Rancidum aprum antiqui laudabant, non quia nasus
    Illis nullus erat sed credo hac mente, quod hospes        90
    Tardius adveniens vitiatum commodius quam
    Integrum edax dominus consumeret. Hos utinam inter
    Heroas natum tellus me prima tulisset!
    Das aliquid famae quae carmine gratior aurem
    Occupet humanam: grandes rhombi patinaeque                95
    Grande ferunt una cum damno dedecus; adde
    Iratum patruum, vicinos, te tibi iniquum,
    Et frustra mortis cupidum, cum deerit egenti
    As laquei pretium. "Jure," inquit, "Trausius istis
    Jurgatur verbis; ego vectigalia magna                    100
    Divitiasque habeo tribus amplas regibus." Ergo
    Quod superat non est melius quo insumere possis?
    Cur eget indignus quisquam te divite? Quare
    Templa ruunt antiqua deum? Cur, improbe, carae
    Non aliquid patriae tanto emetiris acervo?               105
    Uni nimirum recte tibi semper erunt res.
    O magnus posthac inimicis risus! Uterne
    Ad casus dubios fidet sibi certius? Hic qui
    Pluribus adsuerit mentem corpusque superbum,
    An qui contentus parvo metuensque futuri                 110
    In pace ut sapiens aptarit idonea bello?
    Quo magis his credas, puer hunc ego parvus Ofellam
    Integris opibus novi non latius usum
    Quam nunc accisis. Videas metato in agello
    Cum pecore et gnatis fortem mercede colonum,             115
    "Non ego," narrantem, "temere edi luce profesta
    Quidquam praeter olus fumosae cum pede pernae.
    Ac mihi seu longum post tempus venerat hospes,
    Sive operum vacuo gratus conviva per imbrem
    Vicinus, bene erat non piscibus urbe petitis,            120
    Sed pullo atque haedo; tum pensilis uva secundas
    Et nux ornabat mensas cum duplice ficu.
    Post hoc ludus erat culpa potare magistra,
    Ac venerata Ceres ita culmo surgeret alto,
    Explicuit vino contractae seria frontis.                 125
    Saeviat atque novos moveat Fortuna tumultus,
    Quantum hinc imminuet? Quanto aut ego parcius aut vos,
    O pueri, nituistis ut huc novus incola venit?
    Nam propriae telluris herum natura neque illum
    Nec me nec quemquam statuit: nos expulit ille;           130
    Illum aut nequities aut vafri inscitia juris,
    Postremum expellet certe vivacior heres.
    Nunc ager Umbreni sub nomine, nuper Ofellae
    Dictus, erit nulli proprius, sed cedet in usum
    Nunc mihi nunc alii. Quocirca vivite fortes              135
    Fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus."


SATIRA III.

    "Sic raro scribis, ut toto non quater anno
    Membranam poscas, scriptorum quaeque retexens,
    Iratus tibi quod vini somnique benignus
    Nil dignum sermone canas. Quid fiet? At ipsis
    Saturnalibus huc fugisti. Sobrius ergo                     5
    Dic aliquid dignum promissis: incipe. Nil est:
    Culpantur frustra calami, immeritusque laborat
    Iratis natus paries dis atque poėtis.
    Atqui voltus erat multa et praeclara minantis
    Si vacuum tepido cepisset villula tecto.                  10
    Quorsum pertinuit stipare Platona Menandro,
    Eupolin, Archilochum, comites educere tantos?
    Invidiam placare paras virtute relicta?
    Comtemnere miser; vitanda est improba Siren
    Desidia, aut quidquid vita meliore parasti                15
    Ponendum aequo animo." "Di te, Damasippe, deaeque
    Verum ob consilium donent tonsore. Sed unde
    Tam bene me nosti?" "Postquam omnis res mea Janum
    Ad medium fracta est aliena negotia curo,
    Excussus propriis. Olim nam quaerere amabam,              20
    Quo vafer ille pedes lavisset Sisyphus aere,
    Quid sculptum infabre, quid fusum durius esset
    Callidus huic signo ponebam millia centum;
    Hortos egregiasque domos mercarier unus
    Cum lucro noram; unde frequentia Mercuriale               25
    Imposuere mihi cognomen compita." "Novi,
    Et miror morbi purgatum te illius. Atqui
    Emovit veterem mire novus, ut solet, in cor
    Trajecto lateris miseri capitisve dolore,
    Ut lethargicus hic cum fit pugil et medicum urget.        30
    Dum ne quid simile huic esto ut libet." "O bone, ne te
    Frustrere: insanis et tu stultique prope omnes,
    Si quid Stertinius veri crepat, unde ego mira
    Descripsi docilis praecepta haec, tempore quo me
    Solatus jussit sapientem pascere barbam                   35
    Atque a Fabricio non tristem ponte reverti.
    Nam male re gesta cum vellem mittere operto
    Me capite in flumen, dexter stetit et, Cave faxis
    Te quidquam indignum: pudor, inquit, te malus angit,
    Insanos qui inter vereare insanus haberi.                 40
    Primum nam inquiram quid sit furere: hoc si erit in te
    Solo nil verbi pereas quin fortiter addam.
    Quem mala stultitia et quemcunque inscitia veri
    Caecum agit, insanum Chrysippi porticus et grex
    Autumat. Haec populos, haec magnos formula reges          45
    Excepto sapiente tenet. Nunc accipe quare
    Desipiant omnes aeque ac tu qui tibi nomen
    Insano posuere. Velut silvis ubi passim
    Palantes error certo de tramite pellit,
    Ille sinistrorsum hic dextrorsum abit: unus utrique       50
    Error, sed variis illudit partibus; hoc te
    Crede modo insanum, nihilo ut sapientior ille
    Qui te deridet caudam trahat." Est genus unum
    Stultitiae nihilum metuenda timentis, ut ignes,
    Ut rupes fluviosque in campo obstare queratur;            55
    Alterum et huic varum et nihilo sapientius ignes
    Per medios fluviosque ruentis: clamet amica
    Mater, honesta soror cum cognatis, pater, uxor:
    "Hic fossa est ingens, hic rupes maxima, serva!"
    Non magis audierit, quam Fufius ebrius olim,              60
    Quum Ilionam edormit, Catienis mille ducentis,
    "Mater, te appello! clamantibus. Huic ego vulgus
    Errori similem cunctum insanire docebo.
    Insanit veteres statuas Damasippus emendo:
    Integer est mentis Damasippi creditor? Esto.              65
    Accipe quod nunquam reddas mihi si tibi dicam,
    Tune insanus eris si acceperis, an magis excors
    Rejecta praeda quam praesens Mercurius fert?
    Scribe decem Nerio; non est satis: adde Cicutae
    Nodosi tabulas centum, mille adde catenas:                70
    Effugiet tamen haec sceleratus vincula Proteus.
    Cum rapies in jus malis ridentem alienis,
    Fiet aper, modo avis, modo saxum et cum volet arbor.
    Si male rem gerere insani est, contra bene sani,
    Putidius multo cerebrum est mihi crede, Perilli,          75
    Dictantis quod tu nunquam rescribere possis.
    Audire atque togam jubeo componere, quisquis
    Ambitione mala aut argenti pallet amore,
    Quisquis luxuria tristive superstitione
    Aut alio mentis morbo calet; huc propius me,              80
    Dum doceo insanire omnes, vos ordine adite.
    Danda est ellebori multo pars maxima avaris;
    Nescio an Anticyram ratio illis destinet omnem.
    Heredes Staberi summam incidere sepulcro:
    Ni sic fecissent gladiatorum dare centum                  85
    Damnati populo paria atque epulum arbitrio Arri,
    Frumenti quantum metit Africa. Sive ego prave
    Seu recte hoc volui, ne sis patruus mihi. Credo
    Hoc Staberi prudentem animum vidisse. Quid ergo
    Sensit cum summam patrimoni insculpere saxo               90
    Heredes voluit? Quoad vixit credidit ingens
    Pauperiem vitium et cavit nihil acrius, ut si
    Forte minus locuples uno quadrante perisset
    Ipse videretur sibi nequior: omnis enim res,
    Virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris            95
    Divitiis parent; quas qui construxerit ille
    Clarus erit, fortis, justus. Sapiensne? Etiam, et rex,
    Et quidquid volet. Hoc veluti virtute paratum
    Speravit magnae laudi fore. Quid simile isti
    Graecus Aristippus? qui servos projicere aurum           100
    In media jussit Libya, quia tardius irent
    Propter onus segnes. Uter est insanior horum?
    Nil agit exemplum, litem quod lite resolvit.
    Si quis emat citharas, emptas comportet in unum,
    Nec studio citharae nec Musae deditus ulli;              105
    Si scalpra et formas non sutor, nautica vela
    Aversus mercaturis: delirus et amens
    Undique dicatur merito. Quī discrepat istis
    Qui nummos aurumque recondit, nescius uti
    Compositis metuensque velut contingere sacrum?           110
    Si quis ad ingentem frumenti semper acervum
    Porrectus vigilet cum longo fuste, neque illinc
    Audeat esuriens dominus contingere granum,
    Ac potius foliis parcus vescatur amaris;
    Si positis intus Chii veterisque Falerni                 115
    Mille cadis--nihil est, tercentum millibus, acre
    Potet acetum; age, si et stramentis incubet, unde-
    Octoginta annos natus, cui stragula vestis,
    Blattarum ac tinearum epulae, putrescat in arca;
    Nimirum insanus paucis videatur, eo quod                 120
    Maxima pars hominum morbo jactatur eodem.
    Filius aut etiam haec libertus ut ebibat heres,
    Dis inimice senex, custodis?--Ne tibi desit?
    Quantulum enim summae curtabit quisque dierum,
    Ungere si caules oleo meliore caputque                   125
    Coeperis impexa foedum porrigine? Quare,
    Si quidvis satis est, perjuras, surripis, aufers
    Undique? Tun sanus? Populum si caedere saxis
    Incipias servosve tuos, quos aere pararis,
    Insanum te omnes pueri clamentque puellae:               130
    Cum laqueo uxorem interimis matremque veneno,
    Incolumi capite es? Quid enim, neque tu hoc facis Argis,
    Nec ferro ut demens genitricem occidis Orestes.
    An tu reris eum occisa insanisse parente,
    Ac non ante malis dementem actum Furiis quam             135
    In matris jugulo ferrum tepefecit acutum?
    Quin ex quo est habitus male tutae mentis Orestes
    Nil sane fecit quod tu reprehendere possis:
    Non Pyladen ferro violare aususve sororem
    Electram, tantum maledicit utrique vocando               140
    Hanc Furiam, hunc aliud jussit quod splendida bilis.
    Pauper Opimius argenti positi intus et auri,
    Qui Veientanum festis potare diebus
    Campana solitus trulla vappamque profestis,
    Quondam lethargo grandi est oppressus, ut heres          145
    Jam circum loculos et claves laetus ovansque
    Curreret. Hunc medicus multum celer atque fidelis
    Excitat hoc pacto: mensam poni jubet atque
    Effundi saccos nummorum, accedere plures
    Ad numerandum; hominem sic erigit; addit et illud:       150
    Ni tua custodis avidus jam haec auferet heres.
    Men' vivo? Ut vivas igitur vigila. Hoc age! Quid vis?
    Deficient inopem venae te ni cibus atque
    Ingens accedit stomacho fultura ruenti.
    Tu cessas? Agedum, sume hoc ptisanarium oryzae.          155
    Quanti emptae? Parvo. Quanti ergo? Octussibus. Eheu!
    Quid refert, morbo an furtis pereamque rapinis?--
    Quisnam igitur sanus? Qui non stultus. Quid avarus?
    Stultus et insanus. Quid, si quis non sit avarus,
    Continuo sanus? Minime. Cur, Stoļce? Dicam.              160
    Non est cardiacus--Craterum dixisse putato--
    Hic aeger: recte est igitur surgetque? Negabit,
    Quod latus aut renes morbo tentantur acuto.
    Non est perjurus neque sordidus; immolet aequis
    Hic porcum Laribus: verum ambitiosus et audax;           165
    Naviget Anticyram. Quid enim differt, barathrone
    Dones quidquid habes, an nunquam utare paratis?
    Servius Oppidius Canusi duo praedia, dives
    Antiquo censu, gnatis divisse duobus
    Fertur et hoc moriens pueris dixisse vocatis             170
    Ad lectum: Postquam te talos, Aule, nucesque
    Ferre sinu laxo, donare et ludere vidi,
    Te, Tiberi, numerare, cavis abscondere tristem
    Extimui, ne vos ageret vesania discors,
    Tu Nomentanum, tu ne sequerere Cicutam.                  175
    Quare per divos oratus uterque Penates,
    Tu cave ne minuas, tu ne majus facias id
    Quod satis esse putat pater et natura coėrcet.
    Praeterea ne vos titillet gloria jure
    Jurando obstringam ambo: uter aedilis fueritve           180
    Vestrum praetor, is intestabilis et sacer esto.
    In cicere atque faba bona tu perdasque lupinis,
    Latus ut in circo spatiere et aėneus ut stes,
    Nudus agris, nudus nummis, insane, paternis;
    Scilicet ut plausus quos fert Agrippa, feras tu,         185
    Astuta ingenuum vulpes imitata leonem!--
    Ne quis humasse velit Ajacem, Atrida, vetas cur?
    Rex sum. Nil ultra quaero plebeius. Et aequam
    Rem imperito; ac si cui videor non justus, inulto
    Dicere quod sentit permitto. Maxime regum,               190
    Di tibi dent capta classem deducere Troja!
    Ergo consulere et mox respondere licebit?
    Consule. Cur Ajax, heros ab Achille secundus,
    Putescit toties servatis clarus Achivis,
    Gaudeat ut populus Priami Priamusque inhumato,           195
    Per quem tot juvenes patrio caruere sepulcro?
    Mille ovium insanus morti dedit, inclitum Ulixen
    Et Menelaum una mecum se occidere clamans.
    Tu cum pro vitula statuis dulcem Aulide natam
    Ante aras spargisque mola caput, improbe, salsa,         200
    Rectum animi servas? Quorsum? Insanus quid enim Ajax
    Fecit cum stravit ferro pecus? Abstinuit vim
    Uxore et gnato; mala multa precatus Atridis,
    Non ille aut Teucrum aut ipsum violavit Ulixen.
    Verum ego, ut haerentes adverso litore naves             205
    Eriperem, prudens placavi sanguine divos.
    Nempe tuo, furiose. Meo, sed non furiosus.
    Qui species alias veris scelerisque tumultu
    Permixtas capiet commotus habebitur, atque
    Stultitiane erret nihilum distabit an ira.               210
    Ajax immeritos cum occidit desipit agnos:
    Cum prudens scelus ob titulos admittis inanes,
    Stas animo et purum est vitio tibi, cum tumidum est, cor?
    Si quis lectica nitidam gestare amet agnam,
    Huic vestem, ut gnatae, paret ancillas, paret aurum,     215
    Rufam aut Pusillam appellet fortique marito
    Destinet uxorem; interdicto huic omne adimat jus
    Praetor et ad sanos abeat tutela propinquos.
    Quid? si quis gnatam pro muta devovet agna
    Integer est animi? Ne dixeris. Ergo ubi prava            220
    Stultitia hic summa est insania; qui sceleratus,
    Et furiosus erit; quem cepit vitrea fama,
    Hunc circumtonuit gaudens Bellona cruentis.
    Nunc age luxuriam et Nomentanum arripe mecum:
    Vincet enim stultos ratio insanire nepotes.              225
    Hic simul accepit patrimoni mille talenta,
    Edicit piscator uti, pomarius, auceps,
    Unguentarius ac Tusci turba impia vici,
    Cum scurris fartor, cum Velabro omne Macellum,
    Mane domum veniant. Quid tum? Venere frequentes.         230
    Verba facit leno: Quidquid mihi, quidquid et horum
    Cuique domi est, id crede tuum et vel nunc pete vel cras.
    Accipe quid contra juvenis responderit aequus:
    In nive Lucana dormis ocreatus ut aprum
    Coenem ego; tu pisces hiberno ex aequore verris.         235
    Segnis ego, indignus qui tantum possideam: aufer:
    Sume tibi decies; tibi tantumdem; tibi triplex
    Unde uxor media currit de nocte vocata.
    Filius Aesopi detractam ex aure Metellae,
    Scilicet ut decies solidum absorberet, aceto             240
    Diluit insignem baccam: quī sanior ac si
    Illud idem in rapidum flumen jaceretve cloacam?
    Quinti progenies Arri, par nobile fratrum,
    Nequitia et nugis pravorum et amore gemellum,
    Luscinias soliti impenso prandere coėmptas,              245
    Quorsum abeant? Sanin creta an carbone notandi?
    Aedificare casas, plostello adjungere mures,
    Ludere par impar, equitare in arundine longa,
    Si quem delectet barbatum amentia verset.
    Si puerilius his ratio esse evincet amare,               250
    Nec quidquam differre utrumne in pulvere trimus
    Quale prius ludas opus, an meretricis amore
    Sollicitus plores, quaero faciasne quod olim
    Mutatus Polemon? punas insignia morbi,
    Fasciolas, cubital, focalia, potus ut ille               255
    Dicitur ex collo furtim carpsisse coronas
    Postquam est impransi correptus voce magistri?
    Porrigis irato puero cum poma recusat:
    Sume, catelle! negat; si non des optet: amator
    Exclusus quī distat agit ubi secum eat an non            260
    Quo rediturus erat non arcessitus, et haeret
    Invisis foribus? Nec nunc cum me vocat ultro
    Accedam? An potius mediter finire dolores?
    Exclusit; revocat: redeam? Non si obsecret. Ecce
    Servus non paulo sapientior: O here, quae res            265
    Nec modum habet neque consilium ratione modoque
    Tractari non volt. In amore haec sunt mala, bellum,
    Pax rursum: haec si quis tempestatis prope ritu
    Mobilia et caeca fluitantia sorte laboret
    Reddere certa sibi, nihilo plus explicet ac si           270
    Insanire paret certa ratione modoque.
    Quid, cum Picenis excerpens semina pomis
    Gaudes si cameram percusti forte, penes te es?
    Quid, cum balba feris annoso verba palato,
    Aedificante casas quī sanior? Adde cruorem               275
    Stultitiae atque ignem gladio scrutare. Modo, inquam,
    Hellade percussa Marius cum praecipitat se
    Cerritus fuit, an commotae crimine mentis
    Absolves hominem et sceleris damnabis eundem,
    Ex more imponens cognata vocabula rebus?                 280
    Libertinus erat, qui circum compita siccus
    Lautis mane senex manibus currebat et, Unum--
    Quid tam magnum? addens--, unum me surpite morti,
    Dis etenim facile est! orabat; sanus utrisque
    Auribus atque oculis; mentem, nisi litigiosus,           285
    Exciperet dominus cum venderet. Hoc quoque volgus
    Chrysippus ponit fecunda in gente Meneni.
    Juppiter, ingentes qui das adimisque dolores,
    Mater ait pueri menses jam quinque cubantis,
    Frigida si puerum quartana relinquerit, illo             290
    Mane die quo tu indicis jejunia nudus
    In Tiberi stabit. Casus medicusve levarit
    Aegrum ex praecipiti mater delira necabit
    In gelida fixum ripa febrimque reducet;
    Quone malo mentem concussa? Timore deorum.               295
    Haec mihi Stertinius, sapientum octavus, amico
    Arma dedit, posthac ne compellarer inultus.
    Dixerit insanum qui me totidem audiet atque
    Respicere ignoto discet pendentia tergo."
    "Stoice, post damnum sic vendas omnia pluris,            300
    Qua me stultitia, quoniam non est genus unum,
    Insanire putas? ego nam videor mihi sanus."
    "Quid, caput abscissum demens cum portat Agave
    Gnati infelicis, sibi tum furiosa videtur?"
    "Stultum me fateor, liceat concedere veris,              305
    Atque etiam insanum; tantum hoc edissere, quo me
    Aegrotare putes animi vitio?" "Accipe: primum
    Aedificas, hoc est, longos imitaris ab imo
    Ad summum totus moduli bipedalis, et idem
    Corpore majorem rides Turbonis in armis                  310
    Spiritum et incessum: quī ridiculus minus illo?
    An quodcunque facit Maecenas te quoque verum est
    Tantum dissimilem et tanto certare minorem?
    Absentis ranae pullis vituli pede pressis,
    Unus ubi effugit, matri denarrat, ut ingens              315
    Bellua cognatos eliserit. Illa rogare:
    Quantane? num tantum, sufflans se, magna fuisset?
    Major dimidio. Num tanto? Cum magis atque
    Se magis inflaret, Non si te ruperis, inquit,
    Par eris. Haec a te non multum abludit imago.            320
    Adde poėmata nunc, hoc est, oleum adde camino;
    Quae si quis sanus fecit sanus facis et tu.
    Non dico horrendam rabiem. Jam desine." Cultum
    Majorem censu. Teneas, Damasippe, tuis te.
    Mille puellarum, puerorum mille furores.                 325
    O major tandem parcas, insane, minori!


SATIRA IV.

    "Unde et quo Catius?" "Non est mihi tempus aventi
    Ponere signa novis praeceptis, qualia vincant
    Pythagoran Anytique reum doctumque Platona."
    "Peccatum fateor cum te sic tempore laevo
    Interpellarim; sed des veniam bonus oro.                   5
    Quod si interciderit tibi nunc aliquid repetes mox,
    Sive est naturae hoc sive artis, mirus utroque."
    "Quin id erat curae quo pacto cuncta tenerem,
    Utpote res tenues tenui sermone peractas."
    "Ede hominis nomen, simul et Romanus an hospes."          10
    "Ipsa memor praecepta canam, celabitur auctor.
    Longa quibus facies ovis erit illa memento,
    Ut succi melioris et ut magis alba rotundis,
    Ponere; namque marem cohibent callosa vitellum.
    Caule suburbano qui siccis crevit in agris                15
    Dulcior; irriguo nihil est elutius horto.
    Si vespertinus subito te oppresserit hospes,
    Ne gallina malum responset dura palato,
    Doctus eris vivam mixto mersare Falerno:
    Hoc teneram faciet. Pratensibus optima fungis             20
    Natura est: aliis male creditur. Ille salubres
    Aestates peraget qui nigris prandia moris
    Finiet, ante gravem quae legerit arbore solem.
    Aufidius forti miscebat mella Falerno,
    Mendose, quoniam vacuis committere venis                  25
    Nil nisi lene decet: leni praecordia mulso
    Prolueris melius. Si dura morabitur alvus,
    Mitulus et viles pellent obstantia conchae
    Et lapathi brevis herba, sed albo non sine Coo.
    Lubrica nascentes implent conchylia lunae;                30
    Sed non omne mare est generosae fertile testae.
    Murice Baiano melior Lucrina peloris,
    Ostrea Circeiis, Miseno oriuntur echini,
    Pectinibus patulis jactat se molle Tarentum.
    Nec sibi coenarum quivis temere adroget artem,            35
    Non prius exacta tenui ratione saporum.
    Nec satis est cara pisces avertere mensa
    Ignarum quibus est jus aptius et quibus assis
    Languidus in cubitum jam se conviva reponet.
    Umber et iligna nutritus glande rotundas                  40
    Curvat aper lances carnem vitantis inertem:
    Nam Laurens malus est, ulvis et arundine pinguis.
    Vinea submittit capreas non semper edules.
    Fecundae leporis sapiens sectabitur armos.
    Piscibus atque avibus quae natura et foret aetas          45
    Ante meum nulli patuit quaesita palatum.
    Sunt quorum ingenium nova tantum crustula promit.
    Nequaquam satis in re una consumere curam,
    Ut si quis solum hoc mala ne sint vina laboret,
    Quali perfundat pisces securas olivo.                     50
    Massica si caelo suppones vina sereno
    Nocturna si quid crassi est tenuabitur aura,
    Et decedet odor nervis inimicus; at illa
    Integrum perdunt lino vitiata saporem.
    Surrentina vafer qui miscet faece Falerna                 55
    Vina columbino limum bene colligit ovo,
    Quatenus ima petit volvens aliena vitellus.
    Tostis marcentem squillis recreabis et Afra
    Potorem cochlea: nam lactuca innatat acri
    Post vinum stomacho; perna magis ac magis hillis          60
    Flagitat immorsus refici; quin omnia malit
    Quaecunque immundis fervent allata popinis.
    Est operae pretium duplicis pernoscere juris
    Naturam. Simplex e dulci constat olivo,
    Quod pingui miscere mero muriaque decebit,                65
    Non alia quam qua Byzantia putuit orca.
    Hoc ubi confusum sectis inferbuit herbis
    Corycioque croco sparsum stetit, insuper addes
    Pressa Venafranae quod baca remisit olivae.
    Picenis cedunt pomis Tiburtia succo:                      70
    Nam facie praestant. Venucula convenit ollis;
    Rectius Albanam fumo duraveris uvam.
    Hanc ego cum malis, ego faecem primus et allec,
    Primus et invenior piper album cum sale nigro
    Incretum puris circumposuisse catillis.                   75
    Immane est vitium dare millia terna macello
    Angustoque vagos pisces urgere catino.
    Magna movet stomacho fastidia, seu puer unctis
    Tractavit calicem manibus dum furta ligurit,
    Sive gravis veteri craterae limus adhaesit.               80
    Vilibus in scopis, in mappis, in scobe quantus
    Consistit sumtus? Neglectis flagitium ingens.
    Ten lapides varios lutulenta radere palma
    Et Tyrias dare circum inluta toralia vestes,
    Oblitum quanto curam sumtumque minorem                    85
    Haec habeant tanto reprehendi justius illis
    Quae nisi divitibus nequeant contingere mensis?"
    "Docte Cati, per amicitiam divosque rogatus,
    Ducere me auditum perges quocunque memento.
    Nam quamvis memori referas mihi pectore cuncta,           90
    Non tamen interpres tantundem juveris. Adde
    Vultum habitumque hominis, quem tu vidisse beatus
    Non magni pendis quia contigit; at mihi cura
    Non mediocris inest, fontes ut adire remotos
    Atque haurire queam vitae praecepta beatae."              95


SATIRA V.

    "Hoc quoque, Tiresia, praeter narrata petenti
    Responde, quibus amissas reparare queam res
    Artibus atque modis. Quid rides?" "Jamne doloso
    Non satis est Ithacam revehi patriosque penates
    Adspicere?" "O nulli quidquam mentite, vides ut            5
    Nudus inopsque domum redeam, te vate, neque illic
    Aut apotheca procis intacta est aut pecus; atqui
    Et genus et virtus nisi cum re vilior alga est."
    "Quando pauperiem, missis ambagibus, horres,
    Accipe qua ratione queas ditescere. Turdus                10
    Sive aliud privum dabitur tibi, devolet illuc
    Res ubi magna nitet domino sene; dulcia poma
    Et quoscunque feret cultus tibi fundus honores
    Ante Larem gustet venerabilior Lare dives;
    Qui quamvis perjurus erit, sine gente, cruentus           15
    Sanguine fraterno, fugitivus, ne tamen illi
    Tu comes exterior si postulet ire recuses."
    "Utne tegam spurco Damae latus? Haud ita Trojae
    Me gessi certans semper melioribus." "Ergo
    Pauper eris." "Fortem hoc animum tolerare jubebo;         20
    Et quondam majora tuli. Tu protinus unde
    Divitias aerisque ruam dic, augur, acervos."
    "Dixi equidem et dico: captes astutus ubique
    Testamenta senum, neu, si vafer unus et alter
    Insidiatorem praeroso fugerit hamo,                       25
    Aut spem deponas aut artem illusus omittas.
    Magna minorve foro si res certabitur olim,
    Vivet uter locuples sine natis, improbus, ultro
    Qui meliorem audax vocet in jus, illius esto
    Defensor; fama civem causaque priorem                     30
    Sperne, domi si natus erit fecundave conjux.
    Quinte, puta, aut Publi, (gaudent praenomine molles
    Auriculae,) tibi me virtus tua fecit amicum;
    Jus anceps novi, causas defendere possum;
    Eripiet quivis oculos citius mihi, quam te                35
    Contemptum cassa nuce pauperet; haec mea cura est,
    Ne quid tu perdas neu sis jocus. Ire domum atque
    Pelliculam curare jube; fi cognitor; ipse
    Persta atque obdura, seu rubra Canicula findet
    Infantes statuas, seu pingui tentus omaso                 40
    Furius hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpes.
    Nonne vides, aliquis cubito stantem prope tangens
    Inquiet, ut patiens, ut amicis aptus, ut acer?
    Plures adnabunt thunni et cetaria crescent.
    Si cui praeterea validus male filius in re                45
    Praeclara sublatus aletur, ne manifestum
    Caelibis obsequium nudet te, leniter in spem
    Adrepe officiosus, ut et scribare secundus
    Heres et, si quis casus puerum egerit Orco,
    In vacuum venias: perraro haec alea fallit.               50
    Qui testamentum tradet tibi cunque legendum,
    Abnuere et tabulas a te removere memento,
    Sic tamen ut limis rapias quid prima secundo
    Cera velit versu; solus multisne coheres,
    Veloci percurre oculo. Plerumque recoctus                 55
    Scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludet hiantem,
    Captatorque dabit risus Nasica Corano."
    "Num furis? an prudens ludis me obscura canendo?"
    "O Laėrtiade, quidquid dicam aut erit aut non:
    Divinare etenim magnus mihi donat Apollo."                60
    "Quid tamen ista velit sibi fabula, si licet, ede."
    "Tempore quo juvenis Parthis horrendus, ab alto
    Demissum genus Aenea, tellure marique
    Magnus erit, forti nubet procera Corano
    Filia Nasicae metuentis reddere soldum.                   65
    Tum gener hoc faciet: tabulas socero dabit atque
    Ut legat orabit; multum Nasica negatas
    Accipiet tandem et tacitus leget, invenietque
    Nil sibi legatum praeter plorare suisque.
    Illud ad haec jubeo: mulier si forte dolosa               70
    Libertusve senem delirum temperet, illis
    Accedas socius; laudes, lauderis ut absens.
    Adjuvat hoc quoque, sed vincit longe prius ipsum
    Expugnare caput. Scribet mala carmina vecors:
    Laudato. Scortator erit: cave te roget; ultro             75
    Penelopam facilis potiori trade." "Putasne?
    Perduci poterit tam frugi tamque pudica,
    Quam nequiere proci recto depellere cursu?"
    "Venit enim magnum donandi parca juventus,
    Nec tantum veneris, quantum studiosa culinae.             80
    Sic tibi Penelope frugi est, quae si semel uno
    De sene gustarit tecum partita lucellum,
    Ut canis a corio nunquam absterrebitur uncto.
    Me sene quod dicam factum est: anus improba Thebis
    Ex testamento sic est elata: cadaver                      85
    Unctum oleo largo nudis humeris tulit heres,
    Scilicet elabi si posset mortua; credo
    Quod nimium institerat viventi. Cautus adito:
    Neu desis operae neve immoderatus abundes.
    Difficilem et morosum offendet garrulus ultro;           90
    Non etiam sileas. Davus sis comicus atque
    Stes capite obstipo, multum similis metuenti.
    Obsequio grassare; mone, si increbuit aura,
    Cautus uti velet carum caput; extrahe turba
    Oppositis humeris; aurem substringe loquaci.              95
    Importunus amat laudari; donec Ohe jam!
    Ad caelum manibus sublatis dixerit, urge,
    Crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem.
    Cum te servitio longo curaque levarit,
    Et certum vigilans, Quartae sit partis Ulixes,  100
    Audieris, Heres: Ergo nunc Dama sodalis
    Nusquam est? Unde mihi tam fortem tamque fidelem?
    Sparge subinde; et, si paulum potes, illacrimare: est
    Gaudia prodentem voltum celare. Sepulcrum
    Permissum arbitrio sine sordibus exstrue; funus          105
    Egregie factum laudet vicinia. Si quis
    Forte coheredum senior male tussiet, huic tu
    Dic, ex parte tua seu fundi sive domus sit
    Emptor, gaudentem nummo te addicere. Sed me
    Imperiosa trahit Proserpina; vive valeque."              110


SATIRA VI.

    Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus
    Hortus ubi et tecto vicinus jugis aquae fons
    Et paulum silvae super his foret. Auctius atque
    Di melius fecere. Bene est. Nil amplius oro,
    Maia nate, nisi ut propria haec mihi munera faxis.         5
    Si neque majorem feci ratione mala rem
    Nec sum facturus vitio culpave minorem;
    Si veneror stultus nihil horum: "O si angulus ille
    Proximus accedat qui nunc denormat agellum!
    O si urnam argenti fors quae mihi monstret, ut illi       10
    Thesauro invento qui mercenarius agrum
    Illum ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico
    Hercule!" si quod adest gratum juvat, hac prece te oro:
    Pingue pecus domino facias et cetera praeter
    Ingenium, utque soles custos mihi maximus adsis.          15
    Ergo ubi me in montes et in arcem ex urbe removi,
    Quid prius illustrem satiris musaque pedestri?
    Nec mala me ambitio perdit nec plumbeus Auster
    Auctumnusque gravis, Libitinae quaestus acerbae.
    Matutine pater, seu Jane libentius audis,                 20
    Unde homines operum primos vitaeque labores
    Instituunt, sic dis placitum, tu carminis esto
    Principium. Romae sponsorem me rapis. Eja,
    Ne prior officio quisquam respondeat, urge.
    Sive Aquilo radit terras seu bruma nivalem                25
    Interiore diem gyro trahit, ire necesse est.
    Postmodo, quod mi obsit clare certumque locuto,
    Luctandum in turba et facienda injuria tardis.
    "Quid vis, insane, et quas res agis?" improbus urget
    Iratis precibus; "tu pulses omne quod obstat,             30
    Ad Maecenatem memori si mente recurras?"
    Hoc juvat et melli est; non mentiar. At simul atras
    Ventum est Esquilias aliena negotia centum
    Per caput et circa saliunt latus. "Ante secundam
    Roscius orabat sibi adesses ad Puteal cras."              35
    "De re communi scribae magna atque nova te
    Orabant hodie meminisses, Quinte, reverti."
    "Imprimat his cura Maecenas signa tabellis."
    Dixeris, "Experiar:" "Si vis, potes," addit et instat.
    Septimus octavo propior jam fugerit annus                 40
    Ex quo Maecenas me coepit habere suorum
    In numero; dumtaxat ad hoc, quem tollere rheda
    Vellet iter faciens et cui concredere nugas
    Hoc genus: "Hora quota est? Thrax est Gallina Syro par?
    Matutina parum cautos jam frigora mordent;"               45
    Et quae rimosa bene deponuntur in aure.
    Per totum hoc tempus subjectior in diem et horam
    Invidiae noster. Ludos spectaverat una,
    Luserat in Campo: Fortunae filius! omnes.
    Frigidus a Rostris manat per compita rumor:               50
    Quicunque obvius est me consulit: "O bone, nam te
    Scire deos quoniam propius contingis oportet;
    Numquid de Dacis audisti?" "Nil equidem." "Ut tu
    Semper eris derisor!" "At omnes di exagitent me
    Si quidquam." "Quid, militibus promissa Triquetra         55
    Praedia Caesar an est Itala tellure daturus?"
    Jurantem me scire nihil mirantur ut unum
    Scilicet egregii mortalem altique silenti.
    Perditur haec inter misero lux non sine votis:
    O rus, quando ego te adspiciam? quandoque licebit         60
    Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis
    Ducere sollicitae jucunda oblivia vitae?
    O quando faba Pythagorae cognata simulque
    Uncta satis pingui ponentur oluscula lardo?
    O noctes coenaeque deum! quibus ipse meique               65
    Ante Larem proprium vescor vernasque procaces
    Pasco libatis dapibus. Prout cuique libido est
    Siccat inaequales calices conviva, solutus
    Legibus insanis, seu quis capit acria fortis
    Pocula seu modicis uvescit laetius. Ergo                  70
    Sermo oritur, non de villis domibusve alienis,
    Nec male necne Lepos saltet; sed quod magis ad nos
    Pertinet et nescire malum est agitamus: utrumne
    Divitiis homines an sint virtute beati;
    Quidve ad amicitias, usus rectumne, trahat nos;           75
    Et quae sit natura boni summumque quid ejus.
    Cervius haec inter vicinus garrit aniles
    Ex re fabellas. Si quis nam laudat Arelli
    Sollicitas ignarus opes, sic incipit: "Olim
    Rusticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur                 80
    Accepisse cavo, veterem vetus hospes amicum,
    Asper et attentus quaesitis, ut tamen artum
    Solveret hospitiis animum. Quid multa? neque ille
    Sepositi ciceris nec longae invidit avenae,
    Aridum et ore ferens acinum semesaque lardi               85
    Frusta dedit, cupiens varia fastidia coena
    Vincere tangentis male singula dente superbo;
    Cum pater ipse domus palea porrectus in horna
    Esset ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens.
    Tandem urbanus ad hunc: 'Quid te juvat,' inquit, 'amice,  90
    Praerupti nemoris patientem vivere dorso?
    Vis tu homines urbemque feris praeponere silvis?
    Carpe viam, mihi crede, comes; terrestria quando
    Mortales animas vivunt sortita, neque ulla est
    Aut magno aut parvo leti fuga: quo, bone, circa,          95
    Dum licet in rebus jucundis vive beatus;
    Vive memor quam sis aevi brevis.' Haec ubi dicta
    Agrestem pepulere domo levis exsilit; inde
    Ambo propositum peragunt iter, urbis aventes
    Moenia nocturni subrepere. Jamque tenebat                100
    Nox medium caeli spatium cum ponit uterque
    In locuplete domo vestigia, rubro ubi cocco
    Tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos,
    Multaque de magna superessent fercula coena,
    Quae procul exstructis inerant hesterna canistris.       105
    Ergo ubi purpurea porrectum in veste locavit
    Agrestem, veluti succinctus cursitat hospes
    Continuatque dapes nec non verniliter ipsis
    Fungitur officiis, praelambens omne quod affert.
    Ille cubans gaudet mutata sorte bonisque                 110
    Rebus agit laetum convivam, cum subito ingens
    Valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque.
    Currere per totum pavidi conclave, magisque
    Exanimes trepidare, simul domus alta Molossis
    Personuit canibus. Tum rusticus: 'Haud mihi vita         115
    Est opus hac,' ait, 'et valeas; me silva cavusque
    Tutus ab insidiis tenui solabitur ervo.'"


SATIRA VII.

    "Jamdudum ausculto et cupiens tibi dicere servus
    Pauca reformido." "Davusne?" "Ita, Davus, amicum
    Mancipium domino et frugi quod sit satis, hoc est,
    Ut vitale putes." "Age, libertate Decembri,
    Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere; narra."               5
    "Pars hominum vitiis gaudet constanter et urget
    Propositum; pars multa natat, modo recta capessens,
    Interdum pravis obnoxia. Saepe notatus
    Cum tribus annellis, modo laeva Priscus inani,
    Vixit inaequalis, clavum ut mutaret in horas,             10
    Aedibus ex magnis subito se conderet, unde
    Mundior exiret vix libertinus honeste;
    Jam moechus Romae, jam mallet doctus Athenis
    Vivere, Vertumnis, quotquot sunt, natus iniquis.
    Scurra Volanerius, postquam illi justa cheragra           15
    Contudit articulos, qui pro se tolleret atque
    Mitteret in phimum talos, mercede diurna
    Conductum pavit; quanto constantior isdem
    In vitiis, tanto levius miser ac prior illo,
    Qui jam contento, jam laxo fune laborat."                 20
    "Non dices hodie, quorsum haec tam putida tendant,
    Furcifer?" "Ad te, inquam." "Quo pacto, pessime?" "Laudas
    Fortunam et mores antiquae plebis, et idem
    Si quis ad illa deus subito te agat usque recuses,
    Aut quia non sentis quod clamas rectius esse,             25
    Aut quia non firmus rectum defendis, et haeres
    Nequicquam coeno cupiens evellere plantam.
    Romae rus optas, absentem rusticus urbem
    Tollis ad astra levis. Si nusquam es forte vocatus
    Ad coenam laudas securum olus ac, velut usquam            30
    Vinctus eas, ita te felicem dicis amasque
    Quod nusquam tibi sit potandum. Jusserit ad se
    Maecenas serum sub lumina prima venire
    Convivam: 'Nemon oleum fert ocius? Ecquis
    Audit?' cum magno blateras clamore fugisque.              35
    Mulvius et scurrae tibi non referenda precati
    Discedunt. Etenim fateor me, dixerit ille,
    Duci ventre levem, nasum nidore supinor,
    Imbecillus, iners, si quid vis adde popino.
    Tu, cum sis quod ego et fortassis nequior, ultro          40
    Insectere velut melior verbisque decoris
    Obvolvas vitium? Quid, si me stultior ipso
    Quingentis emto drachmis deprenderis? Aufer
    Me vultu terrere; manum stomachumque teneto,
    Dum, quae Crispini docuit me janitor edo.                 45
    Te conjux aliena capit, meretricula Davum:
    Peccat uter nostrum cruce dignius? Acris ubi me
    Natura intendit, sub clara nuda lucerna
    Quaecunque excepit turgentis verbera caudae,
    Clunibus aut agitavit equum lasciva supinum,              50
    Dimittit neque famosum neque sollicitum ne
    Ditior aut formae melioris meiat eodem.
    Tu cum projectis insignibus, annulo equestri
    Romanoque habitu, prodis ex judice Dama
    Turpis, odoratum caput obscurante lacerna,                55
    Non es quod simulas? Metuens induceris, atque
    Altercante libidinibus tremis ossa pavore.
    Quid refert uri, virgis ferroque necari
    Auctoratus eas, an turpi clausus in arca,
    Quo te demisit peccati conscia herilis,                   60
    Contractum genibus tangas caput? Estne marito
    Matronae peccantis in ambo justa potestas?
    In corruptorem vel justior? Illa tamen se
    Non habitu mutatve loco, peccatve superne.
    Cum te formidet mulier neque credat amanti,               65
    Ibis sub furcam prudens, dominoque furenti
    Committes rem omnem et vitam et cum corpore famam.
    Evasti, credo metues doctusque cavebis;
    Quaeres quando iterum paveas iterumque perire
    Possis, o toties servus! Quae bellua ruptis,              70
    Cum semel effugit, reddit se prava catenis?
    Non sum moechus ais. Neque ego hercule fur ubi vasa
    Praetereo sapiens argentea: tolle periclum,
    Jam vaga prosiliet frenis natura remotis.
    Tune mini dominus, rerum imperiis hominumque              75
    Tot tantisque minor, quem ter vindicta quaterque
    Imposita haud unquam misera formidine privet?
    Adde super dictis quod non levius valeat: nam
    Sive vicarius est qui servo paret, uti mos
    Vester ait, seu conservus; tibi quid sum ego? Nempe       80
    Tu mihi qui imperitas alii servis miser atque
    Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum.
    Quisnam igitur liber? Sapiens sibi qui imperiosus,
    Quem neque pauperies neque mors neque vincula terrent,
    Responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores                85
    Fortis, et in se ipso totus, teres, atque rotundus,
    Externi ne quid valeat per leve morari,
    In quem manca ruit semper fortuna. Potesne
    Ex his ut proprium quid noscere? Quinque talenta
    Poscit te mulier, vexat foribusque repulsum               90
    Perfundit gelida, rursus vocat; eripe turpi
    Colla jugo; Liber, liber sum, dic age. Non quis;
    Urget enim dominus mentem non lenis et acres
    Subjectat lasso stimulos versatque negantem.
    Vel cum Pausiaca torpes, insane, tabella,                 95
    Quī peccas minus atque ego, cum Fulvi Rutubaeque
    Aut Pacideiani contento poplite miror
    Proelia rubrica picta aut carbone, velut si
    Re vera pugnent, feriant, vitentque moventes
    Arma viri? Nequam et cessator Davus; at ipse             100
    Subtilis veterum judex et callidus audis.
    Nil ego si ducor libo fumante: tibi ingens
    Virtus atque animus coenis responsat opimis
    Obsequium ventris mihi perniciosius est cur?
    Tergo plector enim. Qui tu impunitior illa               105
    Quae parvo sumi nequeunt obsonia captas?
    Nempe inamarescunt epulae sine fine petitae.
    Illusique pedes vitiosum ferre recusant
    Corpus. An hic peccat, sub noctem qui puer uvam
    Furtiva mutat strigili: qui praedia vendit,              110
    Nil servile gulae parens habet? Adde, quod idem
    Non horam tecum esse potes, non otia recte
    Ponere, teque ipsum vitas, fugitivus et erro,
    Jam vino quaerens, jam somno fallere curam:
    Frustra; nam comes atra premit sequiturque fugacem."     115
    "Unde mihi lapidem?"--"Quorsum est opus?"--"Unde sagittas?"
    "Aut insanit homo aut versus facit." "Ocius hinc te
    Ni rapis, accedes opera agro nona Sabino."




    SATIRA VIII.


    "Ut Nasidieni juvit te coena beati?
    Nam mihi quaerenti convivam dictus here illic
    De medio potare die." "Sic ut mihi nunquam
    In vita fuerit melius." "Da, si grave non est,
    Quae prima iratum ventrem placaverit esca."                5
    "In primis Lucanus aper; leni fuit Austro
    Captus, ut aiebat coenae pater; acria circum
    Rapula, lactucae, radices, qualia lassum
    Pervellunt stomachum, siser, allec, faecula Coa.
    His ubi sublatis puer alte cinctus acernam                10
    Gausape purpureo mensam pertersit, et alter
    Sublegit quodcunque jaceret inutile quodque
    Posset coenantes offendere; ut Attica virgo
    Cum sacris Cereris procedit fuscus Hydaspes
    Caecuba vina ferens, Alcon Chium maris expers.            15
    Hic herus: Albanum, Maecenas, sive Falernum
    Te magis appositis delectat, habemus utrumque."
    "Divitias miseras! Sed quis coenantibus una,
    Fundani, pulchre fuerit tibi, nosse laboro."
    "Summus ego et prope me Viscus Thurinus et infra          20
    Si memini Varius; cum Servilio Balatrone
    Vibidius, quas Maecenas adduxerat umbras.
    Nomentanus erat super ipsum, Porcius infra
    Ridiculus totas semel obsorbere placentas;
    Nomentanus ad hoc, qui si quid forte lateret              25
    Indice monstraret digito: nam cetera turba,
    Nos, inquam, coenamus aves, conchylia, pisces,
    Longe dissimilem noto celantia succum;
    Ut vel continuo patuit, cum passeris atque
    Ingustata mihi porrexerat ilia rhombi.                    30
    Post hoc me docuit melimela rubere minorem
    Ad lunam delecta. Quid hoc intersit ab ipso
    Audieris melius. Tum Vibidius Balatroni:
    Nos nisi damnose bibimus moriemur inulti:
    Et calices poscit majores. Vertere pallor                 35
    Tum parochi faciem nil sic metuentis ut acres
    Potores, vel quod male dicunt liberius vel
    Fervida quod subtile exsurdant vina palatum.
    Invertunt Allifanis vinaria tota
    Vibidius Balatroque, secutis omnibus; imi                 40
    Convivae lecti nihilum nocuere lagenis.
    Affertur squillas inter muraena natantes
    In patina porrecta. Sub hoc herus: 'Haec gravida,' inquit,
    'Capta est, deterior post partum carne futura.
    His mixtum jus est: oleo quod prima Venafri               45
    Pressit cella; garo de succis piscis Hiberi;
    Vino quinquenni, verum citra mare nato,
    Dum coquitur--cocto Chium sic convenit, ut non
    Hoc magis ullum aliud;--pipere albo, non sine aceto,
    Quod Methymnaeam vitio mutaverit uvam.                    50
    Erucas virides, inulas ego primus amaras
    Monstravi incoquere; inlutos Curtillus echinos,
    Ut melius muria quod testa marina remittat.'
    Interea suspensa graves aulaea ruinas
    In patinam fecere, trahentia pulveris atri                55
    Quantum non Aquilo Campanis excitat agris.
    Nos majus veriti postquam nihil esse pericli
    Sensimus erigimur. Rufus posito capite, ut si
    Filius immaturus obisset, flere. Quis esset
    Finis ni sapiens sic Nomentanus amicum                    60
    Tolleret: 'Heu, Fortuna, quis est crudelior in nos
    Te deus? Ut semper gaudes illudere rebus
    Humanis!' Varius mappa compescere risum
    Vix poterat. Balatro suspendens omnia naso,
    'Haec est condicio vivendi,' aiebat, 'eoque               65
    Responsura tuo nunquam est par fama labori.
    Tene ut ego accipiar laute torquerier omni
    Sollicitudine districtum, ne panis adustus,
    Ne male conditum jus apponatur, ut omnes
    Praecincti recte pueri comptique ministrent!              70
    Adde hos praeterea casus, aulaea ruant si
    Ut modo; si patinam pede lapsus frangat agaso.
    Sed convivatoris uti ducis ingenium res
    Adversae nudare solent, celare secundae.'
    Nasidienus ad haec: 'Tibi di quaecunque preceris          75
    Commoda dent! Ita vir bonus es convivaque comis.'
    Et soleas poscit. Tum in lecto quoque videres
    Stridere secreta divisos aure susurros."
    "Nullos his mallem ludos spectasse; sed illa
    Redde age quae deinceps risisti." "Vibidius dum           80
    Quaerit de pueris num sit quoque fracta lagena,
    Quod sibi poscenti non dantur pocula, dumque
    Ridetur fictis rerum Balatrone secundo,
    Nasidiene, redis mutatae frontis, ut arte
    Emendaturus fortunam; deinde secuti                       85
    Mazonomo pueri magno discerpta ferentes
    Membra gruis sparsi sale multo, non sine farre;
    Pinguibus et ficis pastum jecur anseris albae
    Et leporum avolsos, ut multo, suavius, armos,
    Quam si cum lumbis quis edit; tum pectore adusto          90
    Vidimus et merulas poni et sine clune palumbes,
    Suaves res, si non causas narraret earum et
    Naturas dominus; quem nos sic fugimus ulti,
    Ut nihil omnino gustaremus, velut illis
    Canidia afflasset pejor serpentibus Afris."               95




EPISTOLARUM LIBER PRIMUS.


EPISTOLA I.

    Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena,
    Spectatum satis et donatum jam rude quaeris,
    Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo.
    Non eadem est aetas, non mens. Veianius armis
    Herculis ad postem fixis latet abditus agro,               5
    Ne populum extrema toties exoret arena.
    Est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem:
    Solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne
    Peccet ad extremum ridendus et ilia ducat.
    Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono,             10
    Quid verum atque decens curo et rogo, et omnis in hoc sum;
    Condo et compono quae mox depromere possim.
    Ac ne forte roges quo me duce, quo lare tuter,
    Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri
    Quo me cunque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.            15
    Nunc agilis fio et mersor civilibus undis,
    Virtutis verae custos rigidusque satelles;
    Nunc in Aristippi furtim praecepta relabor,
    Et mihi res non me rebus subjungere conor.
    Ut nox longa quibus mentitur amica, diesque               20
    Longa videtur opus debentibus, ut piger annus
    Pupillis quos dura premit custodia matrum;
    Sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae spem
    Consiliumque morantur agendi naviter id quod
    Aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque,             25
    Aeque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit.
    Restat ut his ego me ipse regam solerque elementis.
    Non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus,
    Non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungi;
    Nec quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis,                30
    Nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra.
    Est quadam prodire tenus si non datur ultra.
    Fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus,
    Sunt verba et voces quibus hunc lenire dolorem
    Possis et magnam morbi deponere partem.                   35
    Laudis amore tumes, sunt certa piacula quae te
    Ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello.
    Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,
    Nemo adeo ferus est ut non mitescere possit,
    Si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.                40
    Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima
    Stultitia caruisse. Vides quae maxima credis
    Esse mala, exiguum censum turpemque repulsam,
    Quanto devites animi capitisque labore.
    Impiger extremos curris mercator ad Indos,                45
    Per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignes:
    Ne cures ea quae stulte miraris et optas
    Discere, et audire, et meliori credere non vis?
    Quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax
    Magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui spes,               50
    Cui sit condicio dulcis sine pulvere palmae?
    Vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum.
    "O cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est;
    Virtus post nummos." Haec Janus summus ab imo
    Perdocet, haec recinunt juvenes dictata senesque,         55
    Laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto.
    Est animus tibi, sunt mores et lingua fidesque;
    Sed quadringentis sex septem milia desunt,
    Plebs eris. At pueri ludentes, "Rex eris," aiunt,
    "Si recte facies." Hic murus aėneus esto,                 60
    Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.
    Roscia, dic sodes, melior lex an puerorum est
    Nenia, quae regnum recte facientibus offert,
    Et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis?
    Isne tibi melius suadet qui rem facias, rem,              65
    Si possis recte, si non quocunque modo rem,
    Ut propius spectes lacrimosa poėmata Pupi,
    An qui Fortunae te responsare superbae
    Liberum et erectum praesens hortatur et aptat?
    Quodsi me populus Romanus forte roget, cur                70
    Non ut porticibus sic judiciis fruar isdem,
    Nec sequar aut fugiam quae diligit ipse vel odit,
    Olim quod vulpes aegroto cauta leoni
    Respondit referam: Quia me vestigia terrent,
    Omnia te adversum spectantia, nulla retrorsum.            75
    Belua multorum es capitum. Nam quid sequar aut quem?
    Pars hominum gestit conducere publica, sunt qui
    Crustis et pomis viduas venentur avaras,
    Excipiantque senes quos in vivaria mittant;
    Multis occulto crescit res fenore. Verum                  80
    Esto aliis alios rebus studiisque teneri:
    Idem eadem possunt horam durare probantes?
    Nullus in orbe sinus Baiis praelucet amoenis,
    Si dixit dives, lacus et mare sentit amorem
    Festinantis heri; cui si vitiosa libido                   85
    Fecerit auspicium, "Cras ferramenta Teanum
    Tolletis, fabri." Lectus genialis in aula est,
    Nil ait esse prius, melius nil caelibe vita;
    Si non est jurat bene solis esse maritis.
    Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo?                   90
    Quid pauper? Ride: mutat coenacula, lectos,
    Balnea, tonsores, conducto navigio aeque
    Nauseat ac locuples quem ducit priva triremis.
      Si curatus inaequali tonsore capillos
    Occurri, rides; si forte subucula pexae                   95
    Trita subest tunicae vel si toga dissidet impar,
    Rides: quid, mea cum pugnat sententia secum,
    Quod petiit spernit, repetit quod nuper omisit,
    Aestuat et vitae disconvenit ordine toto,
    Diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis?              100
    Insanire putas sollemnia me neque rides,
    Nec medici credis nec curatoris egere
    A praetore dati, rerum tutela mearum
    Cum sis et prave sectum stomacheris ob unguem
    De te pendentis, te respicientis amici.                  105
      Ad summam: sapiens uno minor est Jove, dives,
    Liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique regum;
    Praecipue sanus, nisi cum pituita molesta est.


EPISTOLA II.

    Trojani belli scriptorem, maxime Lolli,
    Dum tu declamas Romae Praeneste relegi;
    Qui quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non,
    Planius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore dicit.
    Cur ita crediderim, nisi quid te detinet audi.             5
    Fabula qua Paridis propter narratur amorem
    Graecia Barbariae lento collisa duello
    Stultorum regum et populorum continet aestus.
    Antenor censet belli praecidere caussam:
    Quid Paris? Ut salvus regnet vivatque beatus              10
    Cogi posse negat. Nestor componere lites
    Inter Peliden festinat et inter Atriden:
    Hunc amor, ira quidem communiter urit utrumque.
    Quidquid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi.
    Seditione, dolis, scelere atque libidine et ira           15
    Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra.
    Rursus quid virtus et quid sapientia possit
    Utile proposuit nobis exemplar Ulixen,
    Qui domitor Trojae multorum providus urbes
    Et mores hominum inspexit, latumque per aequor,           20
    Dum sibi dum sociis reditum parat, aspera multa
    Pertulit adversis rerum immersabilis undis.
    Sirenum voces et Circae pocula nosti;
    Quae si cum sociis stultus cupidusque bibisset,
    Sub domina meretrice fuisset turpis et excors,            25
    Vixisset canis immundus vel amica luto sus.
    Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati,
    Sponsi Penelopae, nebulones, Alcinoique
    In cute curanda plus aequo operata juventus,
    Cui pulchrum fuit in medios dormire dies et               30
    Ad strepitum citharae cessatum ducere curam.
    Ut jugulent homines surgunt de nocte latrones:
    Ut te ipsum serves non expergisceris? Atqui
    Si noles sanus curres hydropicus; et ni
    Posces ante diem librum cum lumine, si non                35
    Intendes animum studiis et rebus honestis,
    Invidia vel amore vigil torquebere. Nam cur
    Quae laedunt oculos festinas demere, si quid
    Est animum differs curandi tempus in annum?
    Dimidium facti qui coepit habet: sapere aude;             40
    Incipe. Qui recte vivendi prorogat horam
    Rusticus exspectat dum defluat amnis; at ille
    Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum.
    Quaeritur argentum puerisque beata creandis
    Uxor, et incultae pacantur vomere silvae:                 45
    Quod satis est cui contingit nil amplius optet.
    Non domus et fundus, non aeris acervus et auri
    Aegroto domini deduxit corpore febres,
    Non animo curas. Valeat possessor oportet
    Si comportatis rebus bene cogitat uti.                    50
    Qui cupit aut metuit juvat illum sic domus et res
    Ut lippum pictae tabulae, fomenta podagram,
    Auriculas citharae collecta sorde dolentes.
    Sincerum est nisi vas quodcunque infundis acescit.
    Sperne voluptates, nocet empta dolore voluptas.           55
    Semper avarus eget: certum voto pete finem.
    Invidus alterius macrescit rebus opimis:
    Invidia Siculi non invenere tyranni
    Majus tormentum. Qui non moderabitur irae
    Infectum volet esse, dolor quod suaserit et mens,         60
    Dum poenas odio per vim festinat inulto.
    Ira furor brevis est: animum rege, qui nisi paret
    Imperat: hunc frenis, hunc tu compesce catena.
    Fingit equum tenera docilem cervice magister
    Ire viam, qua monstret eques; venaticus, ex quo           65
    Tempore cervinam pellem latravit in aula,
    Militat in silvis catulus. Nunc adbibe puro
    Pectore verba, puer, nunc te melioribus offer.
    Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem
    Testa diu. Quodsi cessas aut strenuus anteis,             70
    Nec tardum opperior nec praecedentibus insto.


EPISTOLA III.

    Juli Flore, quibus terrarum militet oris
    Claudius Augusti privignus, scire laboro.
    Thracane vos Hebrusque nivali compede vinctus,
    An freta vicinas inter currentia turres,
    An pingues Asiae campi collesque morantur?                 5
    Quid studiosa cohors operum struit? Hoc quoque curo.
    Quis sibi res gestas Augusti scribere sumit?
    Bella quis et paces longum diffundit in aevum?
    Quid Titius Romana brevi venturus in ora?
    Pindarici fontis qui non expalluit haustus,               10
    Fastidire lacus et rivos ausus apertos?
    Ut valet? ut meminit nostri? Fidibusne Latinis
    Thebanos aptare modos studet auspice Musa,
    An tragica desaevit et ampullatur in arte?
    Quid mihi Celsus agit? monitus multumque monendus         15
    Privatas ut quaerat opes, et tangere vitet
    Scripta Palatinus quaecunque recepit Apollo,
    Ne si forte suas repetitum venerit olim
    Grex avium plumas moveat cornicula risum
    Furtivis nudata coloribus? Ipse quid audes?               20
    Quae circumvolitas agilis thyma? Non tibi parvum
    Ingenium, non incultum est et turpiter hirtum.
    Seu linguam caussis acuis seu civica jura
    Respondere paras seu condis amabile carmen,
    Prima feres hederae victricis praemia. Quodsi             25
    Frigida curarum fomenta relinquere posses
    Quo te caelestis sapientia duceret ires.
    Hoc opus, hoc studium parvi properemus et ampli
    Si patriae volumus, si nobis vivere cari.
    Debes hoc etiam rescribere, si tibi curae                 30
    Quantae conveniat Munatius; an male sarta
    Gratia nequicquam coit et rescinditur. At vos
    Seu calidus sanguis seu rerum inscitia vexat
    Indomita cervice feros, ubicunque locorum
    Vivitis, indigni fraternum rumpere foedus,                35
    Pascitur in vestrum reditum votiva juvenca.


EPISTOLA IV.

    Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide judex,
    Quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana?
    Scribere quod Cassi Parmensis opuscula vincat,
    An tacitum silvas inter reptare salubres,
    Curantem quidquid dignum sapiente bonoque est?             5
    Non tu corpus eras sine pectore. Di tibi formam,
    Di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi.
    Quid voveat dulci nutricula majus alumno,
    Qui sapere et fari possit quae sentiat, et cui
    Gratia, fama, valetudo contingat abunde,                  10
    Et mundus victus non deficiente crumena?
    Inter spem curamque, timores inter et iras,
    Omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum:
    Grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora.
    Me pinguem et nitidum bene curata cute vises              15
    Cum ridere voles Epicuri de grege porcum.


EPISTOLA V.

    Si potes Archiacis conviva recumbere lectis
    Nec modica coenare times olus omne patella,
    Supremo te sole domi, Torquate, manebo.
    Vina bibes iterum Tauro diffusa palustres
    Inter Minturnas Sinuessanumque Petrinum.                   5
    Si melius quid habes, arcesse vel imperium fer.
    Jamdudum splendet focus et tibi munda supellex.
    Mitte leves spes et certamina divitiarum
    Et Moschi causam: cras nato Caesare festus
    Dat veniam somnumque dies; impune licebit                 10
    Aestivam sermone benigno tendere noctem.
    Quo mihi fortunam si non conceditur uti?
    Parcus ob heredis curam nimiumque severus
    Assidet insano; potare et spargere flores
    Incipiam, patiarque vel inconsultus haberi.               15
    Quid non ebrietas designat? Operta recludit,
    Spes jubet esse ratas, ad proelia trudit inertem;
    Sollicitis animis onus eximit, addocet artes.
    Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum?
    Contracta quem non in paupertate solutum?                 20
    Haec ego procurare et idoneus imperor et non
    Invitus, ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa
    Corruget nares, ne non et cantharus et lanx
    Ostendat tibi te, ne fidos inter amicos
    Sit qui dicta foras eliminet, ut coėat par                25
    Jungaturque pari. Butram tibi Septiciumque,
    Et nisi coena prior potiorque puella Sabinum
    Detinet, assumam; locus est et pluribus umbris:
    Sed nimis arta premunt olidae convivia caprae.
    Tu quotas esse velis rescribe, et rebus omissis           30
    Atria servantem postico falle clientem.


EPISTOLA VI.

    Nil admirari prope res est una, Numici,
    Solaque quae possit facere et servare beatum.
    Hunc solem et stellas et decedentia certis
    Tempora momentis sunt qui formidine nulla
    Imbuti spectent: quid censes munera terrae,                5
    Quid maris extremos Arabas ditantis et Indos,
    Ludicra quid, plausus et amici dona Quiritis?
    Quo spectanda modo, quo sensu credis et ore?
    Qui timet his adversa fere miratur eodem
    Quo cupiens pacto; pavor est utrobique molestus,          10
    Improvisa simul species exterret utrumque.
    Gaudeat an doleat, cupiat metuatne, quid ad rem,
    Si quidquid vidit melius pejusve sua spe
    Defixis oculis animoque et corpore torpet?
    Insani sapiens nomen ferat, aequus iniqui,                15
    Ultra quam satis est virtutem si petat ipsam.
    I nunc, argentum et marmor vetus aeraque et artes
    Suspice, cum gemmis Tyrios mirare colores;
    Gaude quod spectant oculi te mille loquentem;
    Navus mane forum et vespertinus pete tectum,              20
    Ne plus frumenti dotalibus emetat agris
    Mutus et, indignum quod sit, pejoribus ortus
    Hic tibi sit potius quam tu mirabilis illi.
    Quidquid sub terra est in apricum proferet aetas;
    Defodiet condetque nitentia. Cum bene notum               25
    Porticus Agrippae et via te conspexerit Appi,
    Ire tamen restat Numa quo devenit et Ancus.
    Si latus aut renes morbo tentantur acuto
    Quaere fugam morbi. Vis recte vivere: quis non?
    Si virtus hoc una potest dare, fortis omissis             30
    Hoc age deliciis. Virtutem verba putas ut
    Lucum ligna: cave ne portus occupet alter,
    Ne Cibyratica, ne Bithyna negotia perdas;
    Mille talenta rotundentur, totidem altera, porro et
    Tertia succedant et quae pars quadret acervum.            35
    Scilicet uxorem cum dote fidemque et amicos
    Et genus et formam regina Pecunia donat,
    Ac bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque.
    Mancipiis locuples eget aeris Cappadocum rex:
    Ne fueris hic tu. Chlamydes Lucullus, ut aiunt,           40
    Si posset centum scenae praebere rogatus,
    "Qui possum tot?" ait; "tamen et quaeram et quot habebo
    Mittam:" post paulo scribit sibi millia quinque
    Esse domi chlamydum; partem vel tolleret omnes.
    Exilis domus est ubi non et multa supersunt               45
    Et dominum fallunt et prosunt furibus. Ergo,
    Si res sola potest facere et servare beatum,
    Hoc primus repetas opus, hoc postremus omittas.
    Si fortunatum species et gratia praestat,
    Mercemur servum qui dictet nomina, laevum                 50
    Qui fodicet latus et cogat trans pondera dextram
    Porrigere. "Hic multum in Fabia valet, ille Velina;
    Cui libet hic fasces dabit eripietque curule
    Cui volet importunus ebur." Frater, Pater, adde;
    Ut cuique est aetas ita quemque facetus adopta.           55
    Si bene qui coenat bene vivit, lucet, eamus
    Quo ducit gula; piscemur, venemur, ut olim
    Gargilius, qui mane plagas, venabula, servos
    Differtum transire forum populumque jubebat,
    Unus ut e multis populo spectante referret                60
    Emptum mulus aprum. Crudi tumidique lavemur,
    Quid deceat, quid non, obliti, Caerite cera
    Digni, remigium vitiosum Ithacensis Ulixei,
    Cui potior patria fuit interdicta voluptas.
    Si, Mimnermus uti censet, sine amore jocisque             65
    Nil est jucundum, vivas in amore jocisque.
    Vive, vale. Si quid novisti rectius istis
    Candidus imperti; si non his utere mecum.


EPISTOLA VII.

    Quinque dies tibi pollicitus me rure futurum,
    Sextilem totum mendax desideror. Atqui
    Si me vivere vis sanum recteque valentem,
    Quam mihi das aegro dabis aegrotare timenti,
    Maecenas, veniam, dum ficus prima calorque                 5
    Designatorem decorat lictoribus atris,
    Dum pueris omnis pater et matercula pallet,
    Officiosaque sedulitas et opella forensis
    Adducit febres et testamenta resignat.
    Quodsi bruma nives Albanis illinet agris,                 10
    Ad mare descendet vates tuus et sibi parcet
    Contractusque leget; te, dulcis amice, reviset
    Cum Zephyris, si concedes, et hirundine prima.
    Non quo more piris vesci Calaber jubet hospes
    Tu me fecisti locupletem. "Vescere sodes."                15
    "Jam satis est." "At tu quantum vis tolle." "Benigne."
    "Non invisa feres pueris munuscula parvis."
    "Tam teneor dono, quam si dimittar onustus."
    "Ut libet; haec porcis hodie comedenda relinques."
    Prodigus et stultus donat quae spernit et odit;           20
    Haec seges ingratos tulit et feret omnibus annis.
    Vir bonus et sapiens dignis ait esse paratus,
    Nec tamen ignorat quid distent aera lupinis:
    Dignum praestabo me etiam pro laude merentis.
    Quodsi me noles usquam discedere, reddes                  25
    Forte latus, nigros angusta fronte capillos,
    Reddes dulce loqui, reddes ridere decorum et
    Inter vina fugam Cinarae maerere protervae.
    Forte per angustam tenuis vulpecula rimam
    Repserat in cumeram frumenti, pastaque rursus             30
    Ire foras pleno tendebat corpore frustra;
    Cui mustela procul, "Si vis," ait, "effugere istinc,
    Macra cavum repetes artum quem macra subisti."
    Hac ego si compellor imagine cuncta resigno;
    Nec somnum plebis laudo satur altilium, nec               35
    Otia divitiis Arabum liberrima muto.
    Saepe verecundum laudasti, rexque paterque
    Audisti coram, nec verbo parcius absens:
    Inspice si possum donata reponere laetus.
    Haud male Telemachus, proles patientis Ulixei:            40
    "Non est aptus equis Ithace locus, ut neque planis
    Porrectus spatiis nec multae prodigus herbae;
    Atride, magis apta tibi tua dona relinquam."
    Parvum parva decent; mihi jam non regia Roma,
    Sed vacuum Tibur placet aut imbelle Tarentum.             45
    Strenuus et fortis causisque Philippus agendis
    Clarus ab officiis octavam circiter horam
    Dum redit, atque Foro nimium distare Carinas
    Jam grandis natu queritur, conspexit, ut aiunt,
    Adrasum quendam vacua tonsoris in umbra                   50
    Cultello proprios purgantem leniter ungues.
    "Demetri,"--puer hic non laeve jussa Philippi
    Accipiebat--"abi, quaere et refer, unde domo, quis,
    Cujus fortunae, quo sit patre quove patrono."
    It, redit et narrat, Volteium nomine Menam,               55
    Praeconem, tenui censu, sine crimine, notum
    Et properare loco et cessare et quaerere et uti,
    Gaudentem parvisque sodalibus et lare certo
    Et ludis et post decisa negotia Campo.
    "Scitari libet ex ipso quodcunque refers; dic             60
    Ad coenam veniat." Non sane credere Mena,
    Mirari secum tacitus. Quid multa? "Benigne,"
    Respondet. "Neget ille mihi?" "Negat improbus et te
    Negligit aut horret." Volteium mane Philippus
    Vilia vendentem tunicato scruta popello                   65
    Occupat et salvere jubet prior. Ille Philippo
    Excusare laborem et mercenaria vincla,
    Quod non mane domum venisset, denique quod non
    Providisset eum. "Sic ignovisse putato
    Me tibi si coenas hodie mecum." "Ut libet." "Ergo         70
    Post nonam venies: nunc i, rem strenuus auge."
    Ut ventum ad coenam est, dicenda tacenda locutus
    Tandem dormitum dimittitur. Hic ubi saepe
    Occultum visus decurrere piscis ad hamum
    Mane cliens et jam certus conviva, jubetur                75
    Rura suburbana indictis comes ire Latinis.
    Impositus mannis arvum caelumque Sabinum
    Non cessat laudare. Videt ridetque Philippus,
    Et sibi dum requiem, dum risus undique quaerit,
    Dum septem donat sestertia, mutua septem                  80
    Promittit, persuadet uti mercetur agellum.
    Mercatur. Ne te longis ambagibus ultra
    Quam satis est morer, ex nitido fit rusticus atque
    Sulcos et vineta crepat mera; praeparat ulmos,
    Immoritur studiis et amore senescit habendi.              85
    Verum ubi oves furto, morbo periere capellae,
    Spem mentita seges, bos est enectus arando,
    Offensus damnis media de nocte caballum
    Arripit iratusque Philippi tendit ad aedes.
    Quem simul adspexit scabrum intonsumque Phillippus,       90
    "Durus," ait, "Voltei, nimis attentusque videris
    Esse mihi." "Pol me miserum, patrone, vocares,
    Si velles," inquit, "verum mihi ponere nomen!
    Quod te per Genium dextramque deosque Penates
    Obsecro et obtestor, vitae me redde priori."              95
    Qui semel adspexit quantum dimissa petitis
    Praestent, mature redeat repetatque relicta.
    Metiri se quemque suo modulo ac pede verum est.


EPISTOLA VIII.

    Celso gaudere et bene rem gerere Albinovano
    Musa rogata refer, comiti scribaeque Neronis.
    Si quaeret quid agam, dic multa et pulchra minantem
    Vivere nec recte nec suaviter: haud quia grando
    Contuderit vites oleamque momorderit aestus,               5
    Nec quia longinquis armentum aegrotet in agris;
    Sed quia mente minus validus quam corpore toto
    Nil audire velim, nil discere, quod levet aegrum;
    Fidis offendar medicis, irascar amicis,
    Cur me funesto properent arcere veterno;                  10
    Quae nocuere sequar, fugiam quae profore credam;
    Romae Tibur amem ventosus, Tibure Romam.
    Post haec ut valeat, quo pacto rem gerat et se,
    Ut placeat juveni percontare utque cohorti.
    Si dicet, Recte, primum gaudere, subinde                  15
    Praeceptum auriculis hoc instillare memento:
    Ut tu fortunam sic nos te, Celse, feremus.


EPISTOLA IX.

    Septimius, Claudi, nimirum intelligit unus
    Quanti me facias: nam cum rogat et prece cogit
    Scilicet ut tibi se laudare et tradere coner,
    Dignum mente domoque legentis honesta Neronis
    Munere cum fungi propioris censet amici,                   5
    Quid possim videt ac novit me valdius ipso.
    Multa quidem dixi, cur excusatus abirem;
    Sed timui mea ne finxisse minora putarer,
    Dissimulator opis propriae, mihi commodus uni.
    Sic ego majoris fugiens opprobria culpae                  10
    Frontis ad urbanae descendi praemia. Quodsi
    Depositum laudas ob amici jussa pudorem,
    Scribe tui gregis hunc et fortem crede bonumque.


EPISTOLA X.

    Urbis amatorem Fuscum salvere jubemus
    Ruris amatores, hac in re scilicet una
    Multum dissimiles, at caetera paene gemelli;
    Fraternis animis, quidquid negat alter et alter;
    Annuimus pariter vetuli notique columbi.                   5
    Tu nidum servas; ego laudo ruris amoeni
    Rivos et musco circumlita saxa nemusque.
    Quid quaeris? Vivo et regno simul ista reliqui
    Quae vos ad caelum fertis rumore secundo:
    Utque sacerdotis fugitivus liba recuso;                   10
    Pane egeo jam mellitis potiore placentis.
    Vivere naturae si convenienter oportet
    Ponendaeque domo quaerenda est area primum,
    Novistine locum potiorem rure beato?
    Est ubi plus tepeant hiemes, ubi gratior aura             15
    Leniat et rabiem Canis et momenta Leonis,
    Cum semel accepit solem furibundus acutum?
    Est ubi divellat somnos minus invida cura?
    Deterius Libycis olet aut nitet herba lapillis?
    Purior in vicis aqua tendit rumpere plumbum               20
    Quam quae per pronum trepidat cum murmure rivum?
    Nempe inter varias nutritur silva columnas,
    Laudaturque domus longos quae prospicit agros.
    Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret,
    Et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix.                25
    Non qui Sidonio contendere callidus ostro
    Nescit Aquinatem potantia vellera fucum
    Certius accipiet damnum propiusque medullis,
    Quam qui non poterit vero distinguere falsum.
    Quem res plus nimio delectavere secundae,                 30
    Mutatae quatient. Si quid mirabere pones
    Invitus. Fuge magna; licet sub paupere tecto
    Reges et regum vita praecurrere amicos.
    Cervus equum pugna melior communibus herbis
    Pellebat, donec minor in certamine longo                  35
    Imploravit opes hominis frenumque recepit;
    Sed postquam victor violens discessit ab hoste
    Non equitem dorso, non frenum depulit ore.
    Sic qui pauperiem veritus potiore metallis
    Libertate caret, dominum vehit improbus atque             40
    Serviet aeternum, quia parvo nesciet uti.
    Cui non conveniet sua res, ut calceus olim,
    Si pede major erit, subvertet, si minor uret.
    Laetus sorte tua vives sapienter, Aristi,
    Nec me dimittes incastigatum ubi plura                    45
    Cogere quam satis est ac non cessare videbor.
    Imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique,
    Tortum digna sequi potius quam ducere funem.
    Haec tibi dictabam post fanum putre Vacunae,
    Excepto quod non simul esses caetera laetus.              50


EPISTOLA XI.

    Quid tibi visa Chios, Bullati, notaque Lesbos,
    Quid concinna Samos, quid Croesi regia Sardes,
    Smyrna quid et Colophon? Majora minorave fama,
    Cunctane prae Campo et Tiberino flumine sordent?
    An venit in votum Attalicis ex urbibus una,                5
    An Lebedum laudas odio maris atque viarum?
    Scis Lebedus quid sit: Gabiis desertior atque
    Fidenis vicus; tamen illic vivere vellem,
    Oblitusque meorum obliviscendus et illis
    Neptunum procul e terra spectare furentem.                10
    Sed neque qui Capua Romam petit imbre lutoque
    Adspersus volet in caupona vivere; nec, qui
    Frigus collegit furnos et balnea laudat
    Ut fortunatam plene praestantia vitam.
    Nec, si te validus jactaverit Auster in alto,             15
    Idcirco navem trans Aegaeum mare vendas.
    Incolumi Rhodos et Mytilene pulchra facit quod
    Paenula solstitio, campestre nivalibus auris,
    Per brumam Tiberis, Sextili mense caminus.
    Dum licet ac vultum servat fortuna benignum,              20
    Romae laudetur Samos et Chios et Rhodos absens
    Tu quamcunque deus tibi fortunaverit horam
    Grata sume manu, neu dulcia differ in annum,
    Ut quocunque loco fueris vixisse libenter
    Te dicas: nam si ratio et prudentia curas,                25
    Non locus effusi late maris arbiter aufert,
    Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt.
    Strenua nos exercet inertia; navibus atque
    Quadrigis petimus bene vivere. Quod petis hic est,
    Est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit aequus.             30


EPISTOLA XII.

    Fructibus Agrippae Siculis quos colligis, Icci,
    Si recte frueris non est ut copia major
    Ab Jove donari possit tibi. Tolle querelas:
    Pauper enim non est cui rerum suppetit usus.
    Si ventri bene, si lateri est pedibusque tuis, nil         5
    Divitiae poterunt regales addere majus.
    Si forte in medio positorum abstemius herbis
    Vivis et urtica, sic vives protinus ut te
    Confestim liquidus Fortunae rivus inauret:
    Vel quia naturam mutare pecunia nescit,                   10
    Vel quia cuncta putas una virtute minora.
    Miramur si Democriti pecus edit agellos
    Cultaque dum peregre est animus sine corpore velox;
    Cum tu inter scabiem tantam et contagia lucri
    Nil parvum sapias et adhuc sublimia cures:                15
    Quae mare compescant caussae, quid temperet annum,
    Stellae sponte sua jussaene vagentur et errent,
    Quid premat obscurum lunae, quid proferat orbem,
    Quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors,
    Empedocles an Stertinium deliret acumen.                  20
    Verum seu pisces seu porrum et caepe trucidas
    Utere Pompeio Grospho, et si quid petet ultro
    Defer: nil Grosphus nisi verum orabit et aequum.
    Vilis amicorum est annona bonis ubi quid deest.
    Ne tamen ignores quo sit Romana loco res:                 25
    Cantaber Agrippae, Claudi virtute Neronis
    Armenius cecidit; jus imperiumque Phraates
    Caesaris accepit genibus minor; aurea fruges
    Italiae pleno defundit Copia cornu.


EPISTOLA XIII.

    Ut proficiscentem docui te saepe diuque
    Augusto reddes signata volumina, Vini,
    Si validus, si laetus erit, si denique poscet;
    Ne studio nostri pecces odiumque libellis
    Sedulus importes opera vehemente minister.                 5
    Si te forte meae gravis uret sarcina chartae,
    Abjicito potius quam quo perferre juberis
    Clitellas ferus impingas, Asinaeque paternum
    Cognomen vertas in risum et fabula fias.
    Viribus uteris per clivos, flumina, lamas;                10
    Victor propositi simul ac perveneris illuc,
    Sic positum servabis onus, ne forte sub ala
    Fasciculum portes librorum ut rusticus agnum,
    Ut vinosa glomus furtivae Pyrrhia lanae,
    Ut cum pileolo soleas conviva tribulis.                   15
    Ne vulgo narres, te sudavisse ferendo
    Carmina, quae possint oculos auresque morari
    Caesaris; oratus multa prece nitere porro.
    Vade, vale, cave ne titubes mandataque frangas.


EPISTOLA XIV.

    Villice silvarum et mihi me reddentis agelli,
    Quem tu fastidis habitatum quinque focis et
    Quinque bonos solitum Variam dimittere patres,
    Certemus spinas animone ego fortius an tu
    Evellas agro, et melior sit Horatius an res.               5
    Me quamvis Lamiae pietas et cura moratur
    Fratrem maerentis, rapto de fratre dolentis
    Insolabiliter, tamen istuc mens animusque
    Fert et amat spatiis obstantia rumpere claustra.
    Rure ego viventem, tu dicis in urbe beatum:               10
    Cui placet alterius sua nimirum est odio sors.
    Stultus uterque locum immeritum causatur inique:
    In culpa est animus, qui se non effugit unquam.
    Tu mediastinus tacita prece rura petebas,
    Nunc urbem et ludos et balnea villicus optas;             15
    Me constare mihi scis, et discedere tristem
    Quandocunque trahunt invisa negotia Romam.
    Non eadem miramur; eo disconvenit inter
    Meque et te: nam quae deserta et inhospita tesca
    Credis amoena vocat mecum qui sentit, et odit             20
    Quae tu pulchra putas. Fornix tibi et uncta popina
    Incutiunt urbis desiderium, video, et quod
    Angulus iste feret piper et thus ocius uva,
    Nec vicina subest vinum praebere taberna
    Quae possit tibi, nec meretrix tibicina, cujus            25
    Ad strepitum salias terrae gravis: et tamen urges
    Jampridem non tacta ligonibus arva bovemque
    Disjunctum curas et strictis frondibus exples;
    Addit opus pigro rivus, si decidit imber,
    Multa mole docendus aprico parcere prato.                 30
    Nunc age quid nostrum concentum dividat audi.
    Quem tenues decuere togae nitidique capilli,
    Quem scis immunem Cinarae placuisse rapaci,
    Quem bibulum liquidi media de luce Falerni,
    Coena brevis juvat et prope rivum somnus in herba;        35
    Nec lusisse pudet sed non incidere ludum.
    Non istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quisquam
    Limat, non odio obscuro morsuque venenat;
    Rident vicini glebas et saxa moventem.
    Cum servis urbana diaria rodere mavis;                    40
    Horum tu in numerum voto ruis; invidet usum
    Lignorum et pecoris tibi calo argutus et horti.
    Optat ephippia bos, piger optat arare caballus;
    Quam scit uterque libens censebo exerceat artem.


EPISTOLA XV.

    Quae sit hiems Veliae, quod caelum, Vala, Salerni,
    Quorum hominum regio et qualis via, (nam mihi Baias
    Musa supervacuas Antonius, et tamen illis
    Me facit invisum, gelida cum perluor unda
    Per medium frigus. Sane murteta relinqui                   5
    Dictaque cessantem nervis elidere morbum
    Sulphura contemni vicus gemit, invidus aegris,
    Qui caput et stomachum supponere fontibus audent
    Clusinis Gabiosque petunt et frigida rura.
    Mutandus locus est et deversoria nota                     10
    Praeteragendus equus. Quo tendis? Non mihi Cumas
    Est iter aut Baias, laeva stomachosus habena
    Dicet eques; sed equi frenato est auris in ore.)
    Major utrum populum frumenti copia pascat,
    Collectosne bibant imbres puteosne perennes               15
    Jugis aquae; (nam vina nihil moror illius orae;
    Rure meo possum quidvis perferre patique,
    Ad mare cum veni generosum et lene requiro,
    Quod curas abigat, quod cum spe divite manet
    In venas animumque meum, quod verba ministret,            20
    Quod me Lucanae juvenem commendet amicae.)
    Tractus uter plures lepores, uter educet apros,
    Utra magis pisces et echinos aequora celent,
    Pinguis ut inde domum possim Phaeaxque reverti,
    Scribere te nobis, tibi nos accredere par est.            25
      Maenius, ut rebus maternis atque paternis
    Fortiter absumptis urbanus coepit haberi,
    Scurra vagus non qui certum praesepe teneret,
    Impransus non qui civem dinosceret hoste,
    Quaelibet in quemvis opprobria fingere saevus,            30
    Pernicies et tempestas barathrumque macelli,
    Quidquid quaesierat ventri donabat avaro.
    Hic ubi nequitiae fautoribus et timidis nil
    Aut paulum abstulerat patinas coenabat omasi
    Vilis et agninae, tribus ursis quod satis esset;          35
    Scilicet ut ventres lamna candente nepotum
    Diceret urendos, correctus Bestius. Idem
    Quidquid erat nactus praedae majoris ubi omne
    Verterat in fumum et cinerem, Non hercule miror,
    Aiebat, si qui comedunt bona, cum sit obeso               40
    Nil melius turdo, nil vulva pulchrius ampla.
    Nimirum hic ego sum; nam tuta et parvula laudo
    Cum res deficiunt, satis inter vilia fortis;
    Verum ubi quid melius contingit et unctius idem
    Vos sapere et solos aio bene vivere, quorum               45
    Conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis.


EPISTOLA XVI.

    Ne perconteris fundus meus, optime Quinti,
    Arvo pascat herum an baccis opulentet olivae,
    Pomisne et pratis an amicta vitibus ulmo,
    Scribetur tibi forma loquaciter et situs agri.
    Continui montes ni dissocientur opaca                      5
    Valle, sed ut veniens dextrum latus adspiciat Sol,
    Laevum discedens curru fugiente vaporet.
    Temperiem laudes. Quid, si rubicunda benigni
    Corna vepres et pruna ferant, si quercus et ilex
    Multa fruge pecus multa dominum juvet umbra,              10
    Dicas adductum propius frondere Tarentum.
    Fons etiam rivo dare nomen idoneus, ut nec
    Frigidior Thracam nec purior ambiat Hebrus,
    Infirmo capiti fluit utilis, utilis alvo.
    Hae latebrae dulces, etiam si credis amoenae,             15
    Incolumem tibi me praestant Septembribus horis.
    Tu recte vivis si curas esse quod audis.
    Jactamus jampridem omnis te Roma beatum;
    Sed vereor ne cui de te plus quam tibi credas,
    Neve putes alium sapiente bonoque beatum,                 20
    Neu si te populus sanum recteque valentem
    Dictitet occultam febrem sub tempus edendi
    Dissimules, donec manibus tremor incidat unctis.
    Stultorum incurata pudor malus ulcera celat.
    Si quis bella tibi terra pugnata marique                  25
    Dicat et his verbis vacuas permulceat aures:
    "Tene magis salvum populus velit an populum tu
    Servet in ambiguo qui consulit et tibi et urbi:
    Juppiter;" Augusti laudes agnoscere possis:
    Cum pateris sapiens emendatusque vocari,                  30
    Respondesne tuo dic sodes nomine? Nempe
    Vir bonus et prudens dici delector ego ac tu.
    Qui dedit hoc hodie cras si volet auferet, ut si
    Detulerit fasces indigno detrahet idem.
    "Pone, meum est:" inquit. Pono tristisque recedo.         35
    Idem si clamet furem, neget esse pudicum,
    Contendat laqueo collum pressisse paternum;
    Mordear opprobriis falsis mutemque colores?
    Falsus honor juvat et mendax infamia terret
    Quem nisi mendosum et medicandum? Vir bonus est quis?     40
    Qui consulta patrum, qui leges juraque servat,
    Quo multae magnaeque secantur judice lites,
    Quo res sponsore et quo causae teste tenentur.
    Sed videt hunc omnis domus et vicinia tota
    Introrsum turpem, speciosum pelle decora.                 45
    "Nec furtum feci nec fugi," si mihi dicat
    Servus, "Habes pretium, loris non ureris," aio.
    "Non hominem occidi." "Non pasces in cruce corvos."
    "Sum bonus et frugi." "Renuit negitatque Sabellus:
    Cautus enim metuit foveam lupus accipiterque              50
    Suspectos laqueos et opertum miluus hamum.
    Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore;
    Tu nihil admittes in te formidine poenae:
    Sit spes fallendi, miscebis sacra profanis;
    Nam de mille fabae modiis cum surripis unum,              55
    Damnum est non facinus mihi pacto lenius isto."
    Vir bonus, omne forum quem spectat et omne tribunal,
    Quandocunque deos vel porco vel bove placat,
    Jane pater! clare, clare cum dixit, Apollo!
    Labra movet metuens audiri: "Pulchra Laverna,             60
    Da mihi fallere, da justo sanctoque videri,
    Noctem peccatis et fraudibus objice nubem."
    Quī melior servo, qui liberior sit avarus,
    In triviis fixum cum se demittit ob assem,
    Non video; nam qui cupiet metuet quoque; porro,           65
    Qui metuens vivet liber mihi non erit unquam.
    Perdidit arma, locum virtutis deseruit, qui
    Semper in augenda festinat et obruitur re.
    Vendere cum possis captivum occidere noli;
    Serviet utiliter: sine pascat durus aretque,              70
    Naviget ac mediis hiemet mercator in undis;
    Annonae prosit; portet frumenta penusque.
    Vir bonus et sapiens audebit dicere: "Pentheu,
    Rector Thebarum, quid me perferre patique
    Indignum coges?" "Adimam bona." "Nempe pecus, rem,
    Lectos, argentum: tollas licet." "In manicis et           76
    Compedibus saevo te sub custode tenebo."
    "Ipse deus simul atque volam me solvet." Opinor
    Hoc sentit: "Moriar; mors ultima linea rerum est."


EPISTOLA XVII.

    Quamvis, Scaeva, satis per te tibi consulis, et scis
    Quo tandem pacto deceat majoribus uti,
    Disce, docendus adhuc, quae censet amiculus, ut si
    Caecus iter monstrare velit; tamen adspice si quid
    Et nos quod cures proprium fecisse loquamur.
    Si te grata quies et primam somnus in horam
    Delectat, si te pulvis strepitusque rotarum,
    Si laedit caupona, Ferentinum ire jubebo;
    Nam neque divitibus contingunt gaudia solis.
    Nec vixit male qui natus moriensque fefellit              10
    Si prodesse tuis pauloque benignius ipsum
    Te tractare voles, accedes siccus ad unctum.
    "Si pranderet olus patienter regibus uti
    Nollet Aristippus." "Si sciret regibus uti
    Fastidiret olus qui me notat." Utrius horum               15
    Verba probes et facta doce, vel junior audi
    Cur sit Aristippi potior sententia; namque
    Mordacem Cynicum sic eludebat, ut aiunt:
    "Scurror ego ipse mihi, populo tu; rectius hoc et
    Splendidius multo est. Equus ut me portet, alat rex,      20
    Officium facio: tu poscis vilia rerum,
    Dante minor quamvis fers te nullius egentem."
    Omnis Aristippum decuit color et status et res,
    Tentantem majora, fere praesentibus aequum.
    Contra quem duplici panno patientia velat                 25
    Mirabor vitae via si conversa decebit.
    Alter purpureum non exspectabit amictum,
    Quidlibet indutus celeberrima per loca vadet,
    Personamque feret non inconcinnus utramque;
    Alter Mileti textam cane pejus et angui                   30
    Vitabit chlamydem, morietur frigore si non
    Rettuleris pannum. Refer et sine vivat ineptus.
    Res gerere et captos ostendere civibus hostes
    Attingit solium Jovis et caelestia tentat:
    Principibus placuisse viris non ultima laus est.          35
    Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum.
    Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet. Esto!
    Quid qui pervenit, fecitne viriliter? Atqui
    Hīc est aut nusquam quod quaerimus. Hic onus horret,
    Ut parvis animis et parvo corpore majus:                  40
    Hic subit et perfert. Aut virtus nomen inane est,
    Aut decus et pretium recte petit experiens vir.
    Coram rege suo de paupertate tacentes
    Plus poscente ferent; distat sumasne pudenter
    An rapias. Atqui rerum caput hoc erat, hic fons.          45
    "Indotata mihi soror est, paupercula mater,
    Et fundus nec vendibilis nec pascere firmus,"
    Qui dicit, clamat, "Victum date." Succinit alter:
    "Et mihi dividuo findetur munere quadra."
    Sed tacitus pasci si posset corvus haberet                50
    Plus dapis et rixae multo minus invidiaeque.
    Brundisium comes aut Surrentum ductus amoenum
    Qui queritur salebras et acerbum frigus et imbres,
    Aut cistam effractam et subducta viatica plorat,
    Nota refert meretricis acumina, saepe catellam,           55
    Saepe periscelidem raptam sibi flentis, uti mox
    Nulla fides damnis verisque doloribus adsit.
    Nec semel irrisus triviis attollere curat
    Fracto crure planum, licet illi plurima manet
    Lacrima, per sanctum juratus dicat Osirim:                60
    "Credite non ludo; crudeles, tollite claudum."
    "Quaere peregrinum," vicinia rauca reclamat.


EPISTOLA XVIII.

    Si bene te novi metues, liberrime Lolli,
    Scurrantis speciem praebere professus amicum.
    Ut matrona meretrici dispar erit atque
    Discolor, infido scurrae distabit amicus.
    Est huic diversum vitio vitium prope majus,                5
    Asperitas agrestis et inconcinna gravisque,
    Quae se commendat tonsa cute, dentibus atris,
    Dum vult libertas dici mera veraque virtus.
    Virtus est medium vitiorum et utrinque reductum.
    Alter in obsequium plus aequo pronus et imi               10
    Derisor lecti sic nutum divitis horret,
    Sic iterat voces et verba cadentia tollit,
    Ut puerum saevo credas dictata magistro
    Reddere vel partes mimum tractare secundas
    Alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina,                      15
    Propugnat nugis armatus: "Scilicet ut non
    Sit mihi prima fides, et vere quod placet ut non
    Acriter elatrem! Pretium aetas altera sordet."
    Ambigitur quid enim? Castor sciat an Dolichos plus;
    Brundisium Minuci melius via ducat an Appi.               20
    Quem damnosa Venus, quem praeceps alea nudat,
    Gloria quem supra vires et vestit et ungit,
    Quem tenet argenti sitis importuna famesque,
    Quem paupertatis pudor et fuga, dives amicus
    Saepe decem vitiis instructior odit et horret:            25
    Aut si non odit regit, ac veluti pia mater
    Plus quam se sapere et virtutibus esse priorem
    Vult, et ait prope vera: "Meae (contendere noli)
    Stultitiam patiuntur opes; tibi parvula res est:
    Arta decet sanum comitem toga; desine mecum               30
    Certare." Eutrapelus cuicunque nocere volebat
    Vestimenta dabat pretiosa: beatus enim jam
    Cum pulchris tunicis sumet nova consilia et spes,
    Dormiet in lucem, scorto postponet honestum
    Officium, nummos alienos pascet, ad imum                  35
    Thrax erit aut olitoris aget mercede caballum.
    Arcanum neque tu scrutaberis illius unquam,
    Commissumque teges et vino tortus et ira;
    Nec tua laudabis studia aut aliena reprendes,
    Nec cum venari volet ille poėmata panges.                 40
    Gratia sic fratrum geminorum Amphionis atque
    Zethi dissiluit, donec suspecta severo
    Conticuit lyra. Fraternis cessisse putatur
    Moribus Amphion: tu cede potentis amici
    Lenibus imperiis, quotiesque educet in agros              45
    Aetolis onerata plagis jumenta canesque,
    Surge et inhumanae senium depone Camenae,
    Coenes ut pariter pulmenta laboribus empta.
    Romanis sollemne viris opus, utile famae
    Vitaeque et membris, praesertim cum valeas et             50
    Vel cursu superare canem vel viribus aprum
    Possis. Adde virilia quod speciosius arma
    Non est qui tractet:--scis, quo clamore coronae
    Proelia sustineas campestria; denique saevam
    Militiam puer et Cantabrica bella tulisti                 55
    Sub duce qui templis Parthorum signa refigit
    Nunc, et, si quid abest Italis adjudicat armis.
    Ac, ne te retrahas et inexcusabilis absis,
    Quamvis nil extra numerum fecisse modumque
    Curas, interdum nugaris rure paterno;                     60
    Partitur lintres exercitus; Actia pugna
    Te duce per pueros hostili more refertur;
    Adversarius est frater, lacus Hadria, donec
    Alterutrum velox Victoria fronde coronet.
    Consentire suis studiis qui crediderit te,                65
    Fautor utroque tuum laudabit pollice ludum.
    Protinus ut moneam, si quid monitoris eges tu
    Quid de quoque viro et cui dicas saepe videto.
    Percontatorem fugito, nam garrulus idem est,
    Nec retinent patulae commissa fideliter aures,            70
    Et semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum.
    Non ancilla tuum jecur ulceret ulla puerve
    Intra marmoreum venerandi limen amici,
    Ne dominus pueri pulchri caraeve puellae
    Munere te parvo beet aut incommodus angat.                75
    Qualem commendes, etiam atque etiam adspice, ne mox
    Incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem.
    Fallimur et quondam non dignum tradimus: ergo
    Quem sua culpa premet deceptus omitte tueri,
    Ut penitus notum, si tentent crimina, serves              80
    Tuterisque tuo fidentem praesidio: qui
    Dente Theonino cum circumroditur, ecquid
    Ad te post paulo ventura pericula sentis?
    Nam tua res agitur paries cum proximus ardet,
    Et neglecta solent incendia sumere vires.                 85
    Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici;
    Expertus metuit. Tu dum tua navis in alto est
    Hoc age, ne mutata retrorsum te ferat aura.
    Oderunt hilarem tristes tristemque jocosi,
    Sedatum celeres, agilem navumque remissi;                 90
    Potores bibuli media de nocte Falerni
    Oderunt porrecta negantem pocula, quamvis
    Nocturnos jures te formidare vapores.
    Deme supercilio nubem: plerumque modestus
    Occupat obscuri speciem, taciturnus acerbi.               95
    Inter cuncta leges et percontabere doctos,
    Qua ratione queas traducere leniter aevum;
    Num te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido,
    Num pavor et rerum mediocriter utilium spes;
    Virtutem doctrina paret, naturane donet;                 100
    Quid minuat curas, quid te tibi reddat amicum;
    Quid pure tranquillet, honos an dulce lucellum,
    An secretum iter et fallentis semita vitae.
    Me quoties reficit gelidus Digentia rivus,
    Quem Mandela bibit, rugosus frigore pagus,               105
    Quid sentire putas? quid credis, amice, precari?
    Sit mihi quod nunc est, etiam minus; et mihi vivam
    Quod superest aevi, si quid superesse volunt di;
    Sit bona librorum et provisae frugis in annum
    Copia, neu fluitem dubiae spe pendulus horae.            110
    Sed satis est orare Jovem quae donat et aufert:
    Det vitam, det opes, aequum mi animum ipse parabo.


EPISTOLA XIX.

    Prisco si credis, Maecenas docte, Cratino,
    Nulla placere diu nec vivere carmina possunt
    Quae scribuntur aquae potoribus. Ut male sanos
    Adscripsit Liber Satyris Faunisque poėtas
    Vina fere dulces oluerunt mane Camenae.                    5
    Laudibus arguitur vini vinosus Homerus;
    Ennius ipse pater nunquam nisi potus ad arma
    Prosiluit dicenda. "Forum putealque Libonis
    Mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis:"
    Hoc simul edixi non cessavere poėtae                      10
    Nocturno certare mero, putere diurno.
    Quid, si quis vultu torvo ferus et pede nudo
    Exiguaeque togae simulet textore Catonem,
    Virtutemne repraesentet moresque Catonis?
    Rupit Iarbitam Timagenis aemula lingua,                   15
    Dum studet urbanus tenditque disertus haberi.
    Decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile: quodsi
    Pallerem casu biberent exsangue cuminum.
    O imitatores, servum pecus, ut mihi saepe
    Bilem, saepe jocum vestri movere tumultus!                20
    Libera per vacuum posui vestigia princeps,
    Non aliena meo pressi pede. Qui sibi fidit
    Dux reget examen. Parios ego primus iambos
    Ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus
    Archilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben.            25
    Ac ne me foliis ideo brevioribus ornes
    Quod timui mutare modos et carminis artem,
    Temperat Archilochi Musam pede mascula Sappho,
    Temperat Alcaeus, sed rebus et ordine dispar,
    Nec socerum quaerit quem versibus oblinat atris,          30
    Nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit.
    Hunc ego non alio dictum prius ore Latinus
    Vulgavi fidicen; juvat immemorata ferentem
    Ingenuis oculisque legi manibusque teneri.
    Scire velis mea cur ingratus opuscula lector              35
    Laudet ametque domi, premat extra limen iniquus?
    Non ego ventosae plebis suffragia venor
    Impensis coenarum et tritae munere vestis;
    Non ego nobilium scriptorum auditor et ultor
    Grammaticas ambire tribus et pulpita dignor:              40
    Hinc illae lacrimae. "Spissis indigna theatris
    Scripta pudet recitare et nugis addere pondus,"
    Si dixi: "Rides," ait, "et Jovis auribus ista
    Servas; fidis enim manare poėtica mella
    Te solum, tibi pulcher." Ad haec ego naribus uti          45
    Formido, et luctantis acuto ne secer ungui,
    "Displicet iste locus," clamo, "et diludia posco."
    Ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen et iram,
    Ira truces inimicitias et funebre bellum.


EPISTOLA XX.

    Vertumnum Janumque, liber, spectare videris,
    Scilicet ut prostes Sosiorum pumice mundus.
    Odisti claves et grata sigilla pudico;
    Paucis ostendi gemis et communia laudas,
    Non ita nutritus. Fuge quo descendere gestis.              5
    Non erit emisso reditus tibi. "Quid miser egi?
    Quid volui?" dices ubi quis te laeserit; et scis
    In breve te cogi cum plenus languet amator.
    Quodsi non odio peccantis desipit augur,
    Carus eris Romae donec te deserat aetas;                  10
    Contrectatus ubi manibus sordescere vulgi
    Coeperis, aut tineas pasces taciturnus inertes,
    Aut fugies Uticam aut vinctus mitteris Ilerdam.
    Ridebit monitor non exauditus, ut ille
    Qui male parentem in rupes protrusit asellum              15
    Iratus: quis enim invitum servare laboret?
    Hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem
    Occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus.
    Cum tibi sol tepidus plures admoverit aures,
    Me, libertino natum patre et in tenui re,                 20
    Majores pennas nido extendisse loqueris,
    Ut quantum generi demas virtutibus addas;
    Me primis Urbis belli placuisse domique;
    Corporis exigui, praecanum, solibus aptum,
    Irasci celerem, tamen ut placabilis essem.                25
    Forte meum si quis te percontabitur aevum,
    Me quater undenos sciat implevisse Decembres
    Collegam Lepidum quo duxit Lollius anno.




EPISTOLARUM LIBER SECUNDUS.


EPISTOLA I.

    Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia solus,
    Res Italas armis tuteris, moribus ornes,
    Legibus emendes, in publica commoda peccem
    Si longo sermone morer tua tempora, Caesar.
    Romulus et Liber pater et cum Castore Pollux,              5
    Post ingentia facta deorum in templa recepti,
    Dum terras hominumque colunt genus, aspera bella
    Componunt, agros assignant, oppida condunt,
    Ploravere suis non respondere favorem
    Speratum meritis. Diram qui contudit hydram               10
    Notaque fatali portenta labore subegit,
    Comperit invidiam supremo fine domari.
    Urit enim fulgore suo qui praegravat artes
    Infra se positas; exstinctus amabitur idem.
    Praesenti tibi maturos largimur honores,                  15
    Jurandasque tuum per nomen ponimus aras,
    Nil oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes.
    Sed tuus hic populus, sapiens et justus in uno,
    Te nostris ducibus, te Graiis anteferendo,
    Cetera nequaquam simili ratione modoque                   20
    Aestimat, et nisi quae terris semota suisque
    Temporibus defuncta videt, fastidit et odit;
    Sic fautor veterum ut tabulas peccare vetantes
    Quas bis quinque viri sanxerunt, foedera regum
    Vel Gabiis vel cum rigidis aequata Sabinis,               25
    Pontificum libros, annosa volumina vatum,
    Dictitet Albano Musas in monte locutas.
    Si quia Graecorum sunt antiquissima quaeque
    Scripta vel optima Romani pensantur eadem
    Scriptores trutina, non est quod multa loquamur;          30
    Nil intra est oleam, nil extra est in nuce duri;
    Venimus ad summum fortunae; pingimus atque
    Psallimus et luctamur Achivis doctius unctis.
    Si meliora dies ut vina poėmata reddit,
    Scire velim chartis pretium quotus arroget annus.         35
    Scriptor abhinc annos centum qui decidit inter
    Perfectos veteresque referri debet, an inter
    Viles atque novos? Excludat jurgia finis.
    Est vetus atque probus centum qui perficit annos.
    Quid, qui deperiit minor uno mense vel anno,              40
    Inter quos referendus erit? veteresne poėtas,
    An quos et praesens et postera respuat aetas?
    Iste quidem veteres inter ponetur honeste
    Qui vel mense brevi vel toto est junior anno.
    Utor permisso caudaeque pilos ut equinae                  45
    Paullatim vello et demo unum, demo et item unum,
    Dum cadat elusus ratione ruentis acervi
    Qui redit in fastos et virtutem aestimat annis,
    Miraturque nihil nisi quod Libitina sacravit.
    Ennius et sapiens et fortis et alter Homerus,             50
    Ut critici dicunt, leviter curare videtur
    Quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea.
    Naevius in manibus non est et mentibus haeret
    Pene recens? Adeo sanctum est vetus omne poėma.
    Ambigitur quotiens uter utro sit prior, aufert            55
    Pacuvius docti famam senis, Accus alti,
    Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro,
    Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi,
    Vincere Caecilius gravitate, Terentius arte.
    Hos ediscit et hos arto stipata theatro                   60
    Spectat Roma potens; habet hos numeratque poėtas
    Ad nostrum tempus Livi scriptoris ab aevo.
    Interdum vulgus rectum videt, est ubi peccat.
    Si veteres ita miratur laudatque poėtas
    Ut nihil anteferat, nihil illis comparet, errat:          65
    Si quaedam nimis antique, si pleraque dure
    Dicere credit eos, ignave multa fatetur,
    Et sapit et mecum facit et Jove judicat aequo.
    Non equidem insector delendaque carmina Livi
    Esse reor, memini quae plagosum mihi parvo                70
    Orbilium dictare; sed emendata videri
    Pulchraque et exactis minimum distantia miror;
    Inter quae verbum emicuit si forte decorum, et
    Si versus paullo concinnior unus et alter,
    Injuste totum ducit venditque poėma.                      75
    Indignor quidquam reprehendi, non quia crasse
    Compositum illepideve putetur, sed quia nuper;
    Nec veniam antiquis sed honorem et praemia posci.
    Recte necne crocum floresque perambulet Attae
    Fabula si dubitem, clament periisse pudorem               80
    Cuncti pene patres, ea cum reprehendere coner
    Quae gravis Aesopus, quae doctus Roscius egit:
    Vel quia nil rectum nisi quod placuit sibi ducunt,
    Vel quia turpe putant parere minoribus, et quae
    Imberbes didicere senes perdenda fateri.                  85
    Jam Saliare Numae carmen qui laudat, et illud
    Quod mecum ignorat solus vult scire videri,
    Ingeniis non ille favet plauditque sepultis,
    Nostra sed impugnat, nos nostraque lividus odit.
    Quod si tam Graecis novitas invisa fuisset                90
    Quam nobis, quid nunc esset vetus? aut quid haberet
    Quod legeret tereretque viritim publicus usus?
    Ut primum positis nugari Graecia bellis
    Coepit et in vitium fortuna labier aequa,
    Nunc athletarum studiis, nunc arsit equorum,              95
    Marmoris aut eboris fabros aut aeris amavit,
    Suspendit picta vultum mentemque tabella,
    Nunc tibicinibus, nunc est gavisa tragoedis;
    Sub nutrice puella velut si luderet infans,
    Quod cupide petiit mature plena reliquit.                100
    Quid placet aut odio est quod non mutabile credas?
    Hoc paces habuere bonae ventique secundi.
    Romae dulce diu fuit et sollemne reclusa
    Mane domo vigilare, clienti promere jura,
    Cautos nominibus rectis expendere nummos,                105
    Majores audire, minori dicere, per quae
    Crescere res posset, minui damnosa libido.
    Mutavit mentem populus levis et calet uno
    Scribendi studio; puerique patresque severi
    Fronde comas vincti coenant et carmina dictant.          110
    Ipse ego qui nullos me adfirmo scribere versus
    Invenior Parthis mendacior, et prius orto
    Sole vigil calamum et chartas et scrinia posco.
    Navim agere ignarus navis timet; abrotonum aegro
    Non audet nisi qui didicit dare; quod medicorum est      115
    Promittunt medici; tractant fabrilia fabri:
    Scribimus indocti doctique poėmata passim.
    Hic error tamen et levis haec insania quantas
    Virtutes habeat sic collige: vatis avarus
    Non temere est animus; versus amat, hoc studet unum;     120
    Detrimenta, fugas servorum, incendia ridet;
    Non fraudem socio puerove incogitat ullam
    Pupillo; vivit siliquis et pane secundo;
    Militiae quamquam piger et malus, utilis urbi,
    Si das hoc parvis quoque rebus magna juvari.             125
    Os tenerum pueri balbumque poėta figurat,
    Torquet ab obscoenis jam nunc sermonibus aurem,
    Mox etiam pectus praeceptis format amicis,
    Asperitatis et invidiae corrector et irae;
    Recte facta refert, orientia tempora notis               130
    Instruit exemplis, inopem solatur et aegrum.
    Castis cum pueris ignara puella mariti
    Disceret unde preces vatem ni Musa dedisset?
    Poscit opem chorus et praesentia numina sentit,
    Caelestes implorat aquas docta prece blandus,            135
    Avertit morbos, metuenda pericula pellit,
    Impetrat et pacem et locupletem frugibus annum.
    Carmine di superi placantur, carmine Manes.
    Agricolae prisci, fortes parvoque beati,
    Condita post frumenta levantes tempore festo             140
    Corpus et ipsum animum spe finis dura ferentem,
    Cum sociis operum, pueris et conjuge fida,
    Tellurem porco, Silvanum lacte piabant,
    Floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis aevi.
    Fescennina per hunc inventa licentia morem               145
    Versibus alternis opprobria rustica fudit,
    Libertasque recurrentes accepta per annos
    Lusit amabiliter, donec jam saevus apertam
    In rabiem coepit verti jocus et per honestas
    Ire domos impune minax. Doluere cruento                  150
    Dente lacessiti; fuit intactis quoque cura
    Condicione super communi; quin etiam lex
    Poenaque lata malo quae nollet carmine quemquam
    Describi; vertere modum, formidine fustis
    Ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti.                 155
    Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes
    Intulit agresti Latio: sic horridus ille
    Defluxit numerus Saturnius et grave virus
    Munditiae pepulere; sed in longum tamen aevum
    Manserunt hodieque manent vestigia ruris.                160
    Serus enim Graecis admovit acumina chartis,
    Et post Punica bella quietus quaerere coepit
    Quid Sophocles et Thespis et Aeschylus utile ferrent.
    Tentavit quoque rem, si digne vertere posset,
    Et placuit sibi, natura sublimis et acer:                165
    Nam spirat tragicum satis et feliciter audet,
    Sed turpem putat inscite metuitque lituram.
    Creditur ex medio quia res arcessit habere
    Sudoris minimum, sed habet comoedia tanto
    Plus oneris quanto veniae minus. Adspice, Plautus        170
    Quo pacto partes tutetur amantis ephebi,
    Ut patris attenti, lenonis ut insidiosi;
    Quantus sit Dossennus edacibus in parasitis,
    Quam non adstricto percurrat pulpita socco;
    Gestit enim nummum in loculos demittere, post hoc        175
    Securus cadat an recto stet fabula talo.
    Quem tulit ad scenam ventoso Gloria curru
    Exanimat lentus spectator, sedulus inflat:
    Sic leve, sic parvum est, animum quod laudis avarum
    Subruit aut reficit. Valeat res ludicra si me            180
    Palma negata macrum, donata reducit opimum.
    Saepe etiam audacem fugat hoc terretque poėtam,
    Quod numero plures, virtute et honore minores,
    Indocti stolidique et depugnare parati
    Si discordet eques, media inter carmina poscunt          185
    Aut ursum aut pugiles: his nam plebecula plaudit.
    Verum equitis quoque jam migravit ab aure voluptas
    Omnis ad incertos oculos et gaudia vana.
    Quattuor aut plures aulaea premuntur in horas,
    Dum fugiunt equitum turmae peditumque catervae;          190
    Mox trahitur manibus regum fortuna retortis,
    Esseda festinant, pilenta, petorrita, naves,
    Captivum portatur ebur, captiva Corinthus.
    Si foret in terris rideret Democritus, seu
    Diversum confusa genus panthera camelo,                  195
    Sive elephas albus vulgi converteret ora;
    Spectaret populum ludis attentius ipsis,
    Ut sibi praebentem mimo spectacula plura;
    Scriptores autem narrare putaret asello
    Fabellam surdo. Nam quae pervincere voces                200
    Evaluere sonum referunt quem nostra theatra?
    Garganum mugire putes nemus aut mare Tuscum,
    Tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur et artes
    Divitiaeque peregrinae, quibus oblitus actor
    Cum stetit in scena concurrit dextera laevae.            205
    Dixit adhuc aliquid? Nil sane. Quid placet ergo?
    Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.
    Ac ne forte putes me quae facere ipse recusem
    Cum recte tractent alii laudare maligne;
    Ille per extentum funem mihi posse videtur               210
    Ire poėta, meum qui pectus inaniter angit,
    Irritat, mulcet, falsis terroribus implet,
    Ut magus, et modo me Thebis, modo ponit Athenis.
    Verum age et his qui se lectori credere malunt
    Quam spectatoris fastidia ferre superbi                  215
    Curam redde brevem, si munus Apolline dignum
    Vis complere libris et vatibus addere calcar,
    Ut studio majore petant Helicona virentem.
    Multa quidem nobis facimus mala saepe poėtae,
    (Ut vineta egomet caedam mea,) cum tibi librum           220
    Sollicito damus aut fesso; quum laedimur unum
    Si quis amicorum est ausus reprehendere versum;
    Cum loca jam recitata revolvimus irrevocati;
    Cum lamentamur non apparere labores
    Nostros et tenui deducta poėmata filo;                   225
    Cum speramus eo rem venturam ut simul atque
    Carmina rescieris nos fingere commodus ultro
    Arcessas, et egere vetes, et scribere cogas.
    Sed tamen est operae pretium cognoscere, quales
    Aedituos habeat belli spectata domique                   230
    Virtus, indigno non committenda poėtae.
    Gratus Alexandro regi Magno fuit ille
    Choerilus, incultis qui versibus et male natis
    Rettulit acceptos, regale nomisma, Philippos
    Sed veluti tractata notam labemque remittunt             235
    Atramenta, fere scriptores carmine foedo
    Splendida facta linunt. Idem rex ille poėma
    Qui tam ridiculum tam care prodigus emit,
    Edicto vetuit ne quis se praeter Apellen
    Pingeret, aut alius Lysippo duceret aera                 240
    Fortis Alexandri vultum simulantia. Quodsi
    Judicium subtile videndis artibus illud
    Ab libros et ad haec Musarum dona vocares,
    Boeotum in crasso jurares aėre natum.
    At neque dedecorant tua de se judicia atque              245
    Munera, quae multa dantis cum laude tulerunt
    Dilecti tibi Virgilius Variusque poėtae;
    Nec magis expressi vultus per aėnea signa,
    Quam per vatis opus mores animique virorum
    Clarorum apparent. Nec sermones ego mallem               250
    Repentes per humum quam res componere gestas,
    Terrarumque situs et flumina dicere, et arces
    Montibus impositas, et barbara regna, tuisque
    Auspiciis totum confecta duella per orbem,
    Claustraque custodem pacis cohibentia Janum,             255
    Et formidatam Parthis te principe Romam,
    Si quantum cuperem possem quoque; sed neque parvum
    Carmen majestas recipit tua nec meus audet
    Rem tentare pudor quam vires ferre recusent.
    Sedulitas autem stulte quem diligit urget,               260
    Praecipue cum se numeris commendat et arte:
    Discit enim citius meminitque libentius illud
    Quod quis deridet, quam quod probat et veneratur.
    Nil moror officium quod me gravat, ac neque ficto
    In pejus vultu proponi cereus usquam,                    265
    Nec prave factis decorari versibus opto,
    Ne rubeam pingui donatus munere, et una
    Cum scriptore meo, capsa porrectus aperta,
    Deferar in vicum vendentem thus et odores
    Et piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis.           270


EPISTOLA II.

    Flore, bono claroque fidelis amice Neroni,
    Si quis forte velit puerum tibi vendere natum
    Tibure vel Gabiis, et tecum sic agat: "Hic et
    Candidus et talos a vertice pulcher ad imos
    Fiet eritque tuus nummorum millibus octo,                  5
    Verna ministeriis ad nutus aptus heriles,
    Litterulis Graecis imbutus, idoneus arti
    Cuilibet; argilla quidvis imitaberis uda;
    Quin etiam canet indoctum sed dulce bibenti:
    Multa fidem promissa levant, ubi plenius aequo            10
    Laudat venales qui vult extrudere merces.
    Res urget me nulla: meo sum pauper in aere.
    Nemo hoc mangonum faceret tibi; non temere a me
    Quivis ferret idem. Semel his cessavit et, ut fit,
    In scalis latuit metuens pendentis habenae.               15
    Des nummos, excepta nihil te si fuga laedat;"--
    Ille ferat pretium poenae securus, opinor;
    Prudens emisti vitiosum; dicta tibi est lex:
    Insequeris tamen hunc et lite moraris iniqua?
    Dixi me pigrum proficiscenti tibi, dixi                   20
    Talibus officiis prope mancum, ne mea saevus
    Jurgares ad te quod epistola nulla rediret.
    Quid tum profeci mecum facientia jura
    Si tamen attentas? Quereris super hoc etiam, quod
    Exspectata tibi non mittam carmina mendax.                25
    Luculli miles collecta viatica multis
    Aerumnis, lassus dum noctu stertit, ad assem
    Perdiderat; post hoc vehemens lupus et sibi et hosti
    Iratus pariter, jejunis dentibus acer,
    Praesidium regale loco dejecit, ut aiunt,                 30
    Summe munito et multarum divite rerum.
    Clarus ob id factum donis ornatur honestis,
    Accipit et bis dena super sestertia nummum.
    Forte sub hoc tempus castellum evertere praetor
    Nescio quod cupiens, hortari coepit eundem                35
    Verbis quae timido quoque possent addere mentem:
    "I, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto,
    Grandia laturus meritorum praemia. Quid stas?"
    Post haec ille catus, quantumvis rusticus: "Ibit,
    Ibit eo quo vis qui zonam perdidit," inquit.              40
    Romae nutriri mihi contigit atque doceri
    Iratus Graiis quantum nocuisset Achilles.
    Adjecere bonae paullo plus artis Athenae,
    Scilicet ut vellem curvo dignoscere rectum,
    Atque inter silvas Academi quaerere verum.                45
    Dura sed emovere loco me tempora grato,
    Civilisque rudem belli tulit aestus in arma
    Caesaris Augusti non responsura lacertis.
    Unde simul primum me dimisere Philippi,
    Decisis humilem pennis inopemque paterni                  50
    Et laris et fundi, paupertas impulit audax,
    Ut versus facerem; sed quod non desit habentem
    Quae poterunt unquam satis expurgare cicutae,
    Ni melius dormire putem quam scribere versus?
    Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes:                  55
    Eripuere jocos, venerem, convivia, ludum;
    Tendunt extorquere poėmata: quid faciam vis?
    Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque:
    Carmine tu gaudes, hic delectatur iambis,
    Ille Bioneis sermonibus et sale nigro.                    60
    Tres mihi convivae prope dissentire videntur,
    Poscentes vario multum diversa palato.
    Quid dem? quid non dem? renuis tu quod jubet alter;
    Quod petis id sane est invisum acidumque duobus.
    Praeter caetera, me Romaene poėmata censes                65
    Scribere posse inter tot curas totque labores?
    Hic sponsum vocat, hic auditum scripta relictis
    Omnibus officiis; cubat hic in colle Quirini,
    Hic extremo in Aventino, visendus uterque;
    Intervalla vides humane commoda. Verum                    70
    Purae sunt plateae, nihil ut meditantibus obstet.
    Festinat calidus mulis gerulisque redemptor,
    Torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina tignum,
    Tristia robustis luctantur funera plaustris,
    Hac rabiosa fugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit sus:          75
    I nunc et versus tecum meditare canoros.
    Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbem,
    Rite cliens Bacchi somno gaudentis et umbra:
    Tu me inter strepitus nocturnos atque diurnos
    Vis canere et contracta sequi vestigia vatum?             80
    Ingenium sibi quod vacuas desumpsit Athenas,
    Et studiis annos septem dedit insenuitque
    Libris et curis, statua taciturnius exit
    Plerumque et risu populum quatit: hic ego rerum
    Fluctibus in mediis et tempestatibus urbis                85
    Verba lyrae motura sonum connectere digner?
    Frater erat Romae consulti rhetor, ut alter
    Alterius sermone meros audiret honores,
    Gracchus ut hic illi, foret huic ut Mucius ille,
    Qui minus argutos vexat furor iste poėtas?                90
    Carmina compono, hic elegos. "Mirabile visu
    Caelatumque novem Musis opus!" Adspice primum,
    Quanto cum fastu, quanto molimine circum-
    Spectemus vacuam Romanis vatibus aedem!
    Mox etiam, si forte vacas, sequere et procul audi,        95
    Quid ferat et quare sibi nectat uterque coronam.
    Caedimur et totidem plagis consumimus hostem
    Lento Samnites ad lumina prima duello.
    Discedo Alcaeus puncto illius; ille meo quis?
    Quis nisi Callimachus? Si plus adposcere visus,          100
    Fit Mimnermus, et optivo cognomine crescit.
    Multa fero ut placem genus irritabile vatum,
    Cum scribo et supplex populi suffragia capto;
    Idem, finitis studiis et mente recepta,
    Obturem patulas impune legentibus aures.                 105
    Ridentur mala qui componunt carmina; verum
    Gaudent scribentes et se venerantur, et ultro,
    Si taceas, laudant quidquid scripsere beati.
    At qui legitimum cupiet fecisse poėma
    Cum tabulis animum censoris sumet honesti;               110
    Audebit quaecunque parum splendoris habebunt
    Et sine pondere erunt et honore indigna ferentur
    Verba movere loco, quamvis invita recedant
    Et versentur adhuc intra penetralia Vestae.
    Obscurata diu populo bonus eruet atque                   115
    Proferet in lucem speciosa vocabula rerum,
    Quae priscis memorata Catonibus atque Cethegis
    Nunc situs informis premit et deserta vetustas;
    Adsciscet nova quae genitor produxerit usus.
    Vehemens et liquidus puroque simillimus amni             120
    Fundet opes Latiumque beabit divite lingua;
    Luxuriantia compescet, nimis aspera sano
    Levabit cultu, virtute carentia tollet,
    Ludentis speciem dabit et torquebitur, ut qui
    Nunc Satyrum, nunc agrestem Cyclopa movetur.             125
    Praetulerim scriptor delirus inersque videri,
    Dum mea delectent mala me vel denique fallant,
    Quam sapere et ringi. Fuit haud ignobilis Argis,
    Qui se credebat miros audire tragoedos,
    In vacuo laetus sessor plausorque theatro;               130
    Caetera qui vitae servaret munia recto
    More, bonus sane vicinus, amabilis hospes,
    Comis in uxorem, posset qui ignoscere servis
    Et signo laeso non insanire lagenae,
    Posset qui rupem et puteum vitare patentem.              135
    Hic ubi cognatorum opibus curisque refectus
    Expulit helleboro morbum bilemque meraco
    Et redit ad sese: "Pol me occidistis, amici,
    Non servastis," ait, "cui sic extorta voluptas
    Et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error."            140
    Nimirum sapere est abjectis utile nugis,
    Et tempestivum pueris concedere ludum;
    Ac non verba sequi fidibus modulanda Latinis,
    Sed verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae.
    Quocirca mecum loquor haec tacitusque recordor:          145
    "Si tibi nulla sitim finiret copia lymphae,
    Narrares medicis: quod quanto plura parasti
    Tanto plura cupis, nulline faterier audes?
    Si vulnus tibi monstrata radice vel herba
    Non fieret levius, fugeres radice vel herba              150
    Proficiente nihil curarier. Audieras, cui
    Rem di donarent illi decedere pravam
    Stultitiam; et cum sis nihilo sapientior ex quo
    Plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus isdem?
    At si divitiae prudentem reddere possent,                155
    Si cupidum timidumque minus te, nempe ruberes
    Viveret in terris te si quis avarior uno.
    Si proprium est quod quis libra mercatur et aere,
    Quaedam, si credis consultis, mancipat usus;
    Qui te pascit ager tuus est, et villicus Orbi,           160
    Cum segetes occat tibi mox frumenta daturas,
    Te dominum sentit. Das nummos, accipis uvam,
    Pullos, ova, cadum temeti: nempe modo isto
    Paullatim mercaris agrum fortasse trecentis
    Aut etiam supra nummorum millibus emptum.                165
    Quid refert vivas numerato nuper an olim?
    Emptor Aricini quondam Veientis et arvi
    Emptum coenat olus, quamvis aliter putat; emptis
    Sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat aėnum;
    Sed vocat usque suum, qua populus adsita certis          170
    Limitibus vicina refugit jurgia: tamquam
    Sit proprium quidquam, puncto quod mobilis horae
    Nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte suprema
    Permutet dominos et cedat in altera jura.
    Sic quia perpetuus nulli datur usus, et heres            175
    Heredem alterius velut unda supervenit undam,
    Quid vici prosunt aut horrea? quidve Calabris
    Saltibus adjecti Lucani, si metit Orcus
    Grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro?
    Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena sigilla, tabellas,        180
    Argentum, vestes Gaetulo murice tinctas,
    Sunt qui non habeant, est qui non curat habere.
    Cur alter fratrum cessare et ludere et ungi
    Praeferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus, alter
    Dives et importunus ad umbram lucis ab ortu              185
    Silvestrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum,
    Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum,
    Naturae deus humanae, mortalis in unum
    Quodque caput, vultu mutabilis, albus et ater.
    Utar et ex modico quantum res poscet acervo              190
    Tollam, nec metuam quid de me judicet heres,
    Quod non plura datis invenerit; et tamen idem
    Scire volam quantum simplex hilarisque nepoti
    Discrepet et quantum discordet parcus avaro.
    Distat enim spargas tua prodigus an neque sumptum        195
    Invitus facias neque plura parare labores,
    Ac potius, puer ut festis Quinquatribus olim,
    Exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim.
    Pauperies immunda _domus_ procul absit: ego, utrum
    Nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem.           200
    Non agimur tumidis velis aquilone secundo;
    Non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus austris,
    Viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re,
    Extremi primorum, extremis usque priores.
    Non es avarus: abi; quid, caetera jam simul isto         205
    Cum vitio fugere? Caret tibi pectus inani
    Ambitione? Caret mortis formidine et ira?
    Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas,
    Nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala rides?
    Natales grate numeras? Ignoscis amicis?                  210
    Lenior et melior fis accedente senecta?
    Quid te exempta levat spinis de pluribus una?
    Vivere si recte nescis decede peritis.
    Lusisti satis, edisti satis atque bibisti;
    Tempus abire tibi est, ne potum largius aequo            215
    Rideat et pulset lasciva decentius aetas."




EPISTOLA AD PISONES SIVE DE ARTE POĖTICA LIBER.


    Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
    Jungere si velit, et varias inducere plumas
    Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
    Desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne,
    Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici?                   5
    Credite, Pisones, isti tabulae fore librum
    Persimilem cujus, velut aegri somnia, vanae
    Fingentur species, ut nec pes nec caput uni
    Reddatur formae. Pictoribus atque poėtis
    Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.             10
    Scimus et hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim;
    Sed non ut placidis coėant immitia, non ut
    Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
    Inceptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis
    Purpureus, late qui splendeat, unus et alter              15
    Assuitur pannus, cum lucus et ara Dianae
    Et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros,
    Aut flumen Rhenum aut pluvius describitur arcus:
    Sed nunc non erat his locus. Et fortasse cupressum
    Scis simulare; quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes         20
    Navibus aere dato qui pingitur? Amphora coepit
    Institui: currente rota cur urceus exit?
    Denique sit quidvis simplex duntaxat et unum.
    Maxima pars vatum, pater et juvenes patre digni,
    Decipimur specie recti. Brevis esse laboro,               25
    Obscurus fio; sectantem levia nervi
    Deficiunt animique; professus grandia turget;
    Serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae;
    Qui variare cupit rem prodigialiter unam,
    Delphinum silvis appingit, fluctibus aprum.               30
    In vitium ducit culpae fuga si caret arte.
    Aemilium circa ludum faber unus et ungues
    Exprimet et molles imitabitur aere capillos,
    Infelix operis summa quia ponere totum
    Nesciet. Hunc ego me, si quid componere curem,            35
    Non magis esse velim quam naso vivere pravo,
    Spectandum nigris oculis nigroque capillo.
    Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis aequam
    Viribus et versate diu quid ferre recusent,
    Quid valeant humeri. Cui lecta potenter erit res,         40
    Nec facundia deseret hunc nec lucidus ordo.
    Ordinis haec virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor,
    Ut jam nunc dicat jam nunc debentia dici,
    Pleraque differat et praesens in tempus omittat;
    Hoc amet, hoc spernat promissi carminis auctor.           45
    In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque serendis,
    Dixeris egregie notum si callida verbum
    Reddiderit junctura novum. Si forte necesse est
    Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum,
    Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis                   50
    Continget, dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter;
    Et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem si
    Graeco fonte cadant, parce detorta. Quid autem
    Caecilio Plautoque dabit Romanus ademptum
    Virgilio Varioque? Ego cur acquirere pauca                55
    Si possum invideor, cum lingua Catonis et Enni
    Sermonem patrium ditaverit et nova rerum
    Nomina protulerit? Licuit, semperque licebit
    Signatum praesente nota producere nomen.
    Ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos,                60
    Prima cadunt; ita verborum vetus interit aetas,
    Et juvenum ritu florent modo nata vigentque.
    Debemur morti nos nostraque: sive receptus
    Terra Neptunus classes aquilonibus arcet,
    Regis opus, sterilisve diu palus aptaque remis            65
    Vicinas urbes alit et grave sentit aratrum,
    Seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis
    Doctus iter melius, mortalia facta peribunt,
    Nedum sermonum stet honos et gratia vivax.
    Multa renascentur quae jam cecidere, cadentque            70
    Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus,
    Quem penes arbitrium est et jus et norma loquendi.
    Res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella
    Quo scribi possent numero, monstravit Homerus.
    Versibus impariter junctis querimonia primum,             75
    Post etiam inclusa est voti sententia compos;
    Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit auctor,
    Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice lis est.
    Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo:
    Hunc socci cepere pedem grandesque cothurni,              80
    Alternis aptum sermonibus et populares
    Vincentem strepitus et natum rebus agendis.
    Musa dedit fidibus divos puerosque deorum
    Et pugilem victorem et equum certamine primum
    Et juvenum curas et libera vina referre.                  85
    Descriptas servare vices operumque colores
    Cur ego si nequeo ignoroque poėta salutor?
    Cur nescire pudens prave quam discere malo?
    Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult;
    Indignatur item privatis ac prope socco                   90
    Dignis carminibus narrari coena Thyestae.
    Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decenter.
    Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit,
    Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore;
    Et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri              95
    Telephus et Peleus, cum pauper et exsul uterque
    Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,
    Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela.
    Non satis est pulchra esse poėmata; dulcia sunto
    Et quocunque volent animum auditoris agunto.             100
    Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adsunt
    Humani vultus: si vis me flere dolendum est
    Primum ipsi tibi; tunc tua me infortunia laedent,
    Telephe vel Peleu: male si mandata loqueris
    Aut dormitabo aut ridebo. Tristia maestum                105
    Vultum verba decent, iratum plena minarum,
    Ludentem lasciva, severum seria dictu.
    Format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem
    Fortunarum habitum; juvat aut impellit ad iram,
    Aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit;             110
    Post effert animi motus interprete lingua.
    Si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta
    Romani tollent equites peditesque cachinnum.
    Intererit multum divusne loquatur an heros,
    Maturusne senex an adhuc florente juventa                115
    Fervidus, et matrona potens an sedula nutrix,
    Mercatorne vagus cultorne virentis agelli,
    Colchus an Assyrius, Thebis nutritus an Argis.
    Aut famam sequere aut sibi convenientia finge.
    Scriptor honoratum si forte reponis Achillem,            120
    Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer
    Jura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis.
    Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino,
    Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.
    Si quid inexpertum scenae committis et audes             125
    Personam formare novam, servetur ad imum
    Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet.
    Difficile est proprie communia dicere; tuque
    Rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,
    Quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus.              130
    Publica materies privati juris erit, si
    Non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem,
    Nec verbo verbum curabis reddere fidus
    Interpres, nec desilies imitator in arctum
    Unde pedem proferre pudor vetet aut operis lex.          135
    Nec sic incipies, ut scriptor cyclicus olim:
    "Fortunam Priami cantabo et nobile bellum."
    Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu?
    Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.
    Quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte:              140
    "Dic mihi, Musa, virum, captae post tempora Trojae
    Qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes."
    Non fumum ex fulgore sed ex fumo dare lucem
    Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat,
    Antiphaten Scyllamque et cum Cyclope Charybdin.          145
    Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
    Nec gemino bellum Trojanum orditur ab ovo;
    Semper ad eventum festinat et in medias res
    Non secus ac notas auditorem rapit, et quae
    Desperat tractata nitescere posse relinquit;             150
    Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet,
    Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
    Tu quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi:
    Si plausoris eges aulaea manentis et usque
    Sessuri donec cantor 'Vos plaudite' dicat,               155
    Aetatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores,
    Mobilibusque decor naturis dandus et annis.
    Reddere qui voces jam scit puer et pede certo
    Signat humum, gestit paribus colludere, et iram
    Colligit ac ponit temere, et mutatur in horas.           160
    Imberbis juvenis tandem custode remoto
    Gaudet equis canibusque et aprici gramine campi,
    Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper,
    Utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris,
    Sublimis cupidusque et amata relinquere pernix.          165
    Conversis studiis aetas animusque virilis
    Quaerit opes et amicitias, inservit honori,
    Commisisse cavet quod mox mutare laboret.
    Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda, vel quod
    Quaerit et inventis miser abstinet ac timet uti,         170
    Vel quod res omnes timide gelideque ministrat,
    Dilator, spe longus, iners, avidusque futuri,
    Difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti
    Se puero, castigator censorque minorum.
    Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,               175
    Multa recedentes adimunt. Ne forte seniles
    Mandentur juveni partes pueroque viriles,
    Semper in adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.
    Aut agitur res in scenis, aut acta refertur.
    Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem,               180
    Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quae
    Ipse sibi tradit spectator: non tamen intus
    Digna geri promes in scenam, multaque tolles
    Ex oculis quae mox narret facundia praesens.
    Ne pueros coram populo Medea trucidet,                   185
    Aut humana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus,
    Aut in avem Procne vertatur, Cadmus in anguem.
    Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic incredulus odi.
    Neve minor neu sit quinto productior actu
    Fabula, quae posci vult et spectata reponi;              190
    Nec deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus
    Inciderit; nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
    Actoris partes chorus officiumque virile
    Defendat, neu quid medios intercinat actus
    Quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte.             195
    Ille bonis faveatque et consilietur amice,
    Et regat iratos et amet peccare timentes;
    Ille dapes laudet mensae brevis, ille salubrem
    Justitiam legesque et apertis otia portis;
    Ille tegat commissa deosque precetur et oret,            200
    Ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.
    Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta tubaeque
    Aemula, sed tenuis simplexque foramine pauco
    Adspirare et adesse choris erat utilis atque
    Nondum spissa nimis complere sedilia flatu;              205
    Quo sane populus numerabilis, utpote parvus,
    Et frugi castusque verecundusque coļbat.
    Postquam coepit agros extendere victor, et urbes
    Latior amplecti murus vinoque diurno
    Placari Genius festis impune diebus,                     210
    Accessit numerisque modisque licentia major;
    Indoctus quid enim saperet liberque laborum
    Rusticus urbano confusus, turpis honesto?
    Sic priscae motumque et luxuriem addidit arti
    Tibicen traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem;              215
    Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere severis,
    Et tulit eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps,
    Utiliumque sagax rerum et divina futuri
    Sortilegis non discrepuit sententia Delphis.
    Carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum,            220
    Mox etiam agrestes Satyros nudavit, et asper
    Incolumi gravitate jocum tentavit, eo quod
    Illecebris erat et grata novitate morandus
    Spectator, functusque sacris et potus et exlex.
    Verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces                225
    Conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo,
    Ne quicunque deus, quicunque adhibebitur heros,
    Regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro,
    Migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas,
    Aut dum vitat humum nubes et inania captet.              230
    Effutire leves indigna Tragoedia versus,
    Ut festis matrona moveri jussa diebus,
    Intererit Satyris paullum pudibunda protervis.
    Non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum
    Verbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo;             235
    Nec sic enitar tragico differre colori
    Ut nihil intersit Davusne loquatur et audax
    Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum,
    An custos famulusque dei Silenus alumni.
    Ex noto fictum carmen sequar, ut sibi quivis             240
    Speret idem, sudet multum frustraque laboret
    Ausus idem: tantum series juncturaque pollet,
    Tantum de medio sumptis accedit honoris.
    Silvis deducti caveant me judice Fauni,
    Ne velut innati triviis ac paene forenses                245
    Aut nimium teneris juvenentur versibus unquam,
    Aut immunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta:
    Offenduntur enim quibus est equus et pater et res,
    Nec, si quid fricti ciceris probat et nucis emptor,
    Aequis accipiunt animis donantve corona.                 250
    Syllaba longa brevi subjecta vocatur iambus,
    Pes citus; unde etiam trimetris accrescere jussit
    Nomen iambeis, cum senos redderet ictus
    Primus ad extremum similis sibi. Non ita pridem,
    Tardior ut paulo graviorque veniret ad aures,            255
    Spondeos stabiles in jura paterna recepit
    Commodus et patiens, non ut de sede secunda
    Cederet aut quarta socialiter. Hic et in Acci
    Nobilibus trimetris apparet rarus, et Enni
    In scenam missos cum magno pondere versus                260
    Aut operae celeris nimium curaque carentis
    Aut ignoratae premit artis crimine turpi.
    Non quivis videt immodulata poėmata judex,
    Et data Romanis venia est indigna poėtis.
    Idcircone vager scribamque licenter? an omnes            265
    Visuros peccata putem mea, tutus et intra
    Spem veniae cautus? Vitavi denique culpam,
    Non laudem merui. Vos exemplaria Graeca
    Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.
    At vestri proavi Plautinos et numeros et                 270
    Laudavere sales; nimium patienter utrumque,
    Ne dicam stulte, mirati, si modo ego et vos
    Scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto
    Legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure.
    Ignotum tragicae genus invenisse Camenae                 275
    Dicitur et plaustris vexisse poėmata Thespis,
    Quae canerent agerentque peruncti faecibus ora.
    Post hunc personae pallaeque repertor honestae
    Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis
    Et docuit magnumque loqui nitique cothurno.              280
    Successit vetus his comoedia, non sine multa
    Laude; sed in vitium libertas excidit et vim
    Dignam lege regi: lex est accepta chorusque
    Turpiter obticuit sublato jure nocendi.
    Nil intentatum nostri liquere poėtae,                    285
    Nec minimum meruere decus vestigia Graeca
    Ausi deserere et celebrare domestica facta,
    Vel qui praetextas vel qui docuere togatas.
    Nec virtute foret clarisve potentius armis
    Quam lingua Latium, si non offenderet unum               290
    Quemque poėtarum limae labor et mora. Vos, o
    Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite quod non
    Multa dies et multa litura coėrcuit, atque
    Perfectum decies non castigavit ad unguem.
    Ingenium misera quia fortunatius arte                    295
    Credit et excludit sanos Helicone poėtas
    Democritus, bona pars non ungues punere curat,
    Non barbam, secreta petit loca, balnea vitat.
    Nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque poėtae,
    Si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile nunquam             300
    Tonsori Licino commiserit. O ego laevus,
    Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam!
    Non alius faceret meliora poėmata. Verum
    Nil tanti est. Ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum
    Reddere quae ferrum valet exsors ipsa secandi;           305
    Munus et officium, nil scribens ipse docebo,
    Unde parentur opes, quid alat formetque poėtam;
    Quid deceat quid non; quo virtus, quo ferat error.
    Scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons:
    Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae,          310
    Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur.
    Qui didicit patriae quid debeat et quid amicis,
    Quo sit amore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes,
    Quod sit conscripti, quod judicis officium, quae
    Partes in bellum missi ducis, ille profecto              315
    Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique.
    Respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo
    Doctum imitatorem et vivas hinc ducere voces.
    Interdum speciosa locis morataque recte
    Fabula nullius veneris, sine pondere et arte,            320
    Valdius oblectat populum meliusque moratur
    Quam versus inopes rerum nugaeque canorae.
    Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo
    Musa loqui, praeter laudem nullius avaris.
    Romani pueri longis rationibus assem                     325
    Discunt in partes centum diducere. "Dicat
    Filius Albini: Si de quincunce remota est
    Uncia, quid superat? Poteras dixisse." "Triens." "Eu!
    Rem poteris servare tuam. Redit uncia, quid fit?"
    "Semis." At haec animos aerugo et cura peculi            330
    Cum semel imbuerit, speramus carmina fingi
    Posse linenda cedro et levi servanda cupresso?
    Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poėtae,
    Aut simul et jucunda et idonea dicere vitae.
    Quidquid praecipies esto brevis, ut cito dicta           335
    Percipiant animi dociles teneantque fideles:
    Omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat.
    Ficta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris,
    Nec quodcunque volet poscat sibi fabula credi,
    Neu pransae Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo.           340
    Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis,
    Celsi praetereunt austera poėmata Ramnes:
    Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci,
    Lectorem delectando pariterque monendo.
    Hic meret aera liber Sosiis; hic et mare transit         345
    Et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum.
    Sunt delicta tamen quibus ignovisse velimus:
    Nam neque chorda sonum reddit quem vult manus et mens,
    Poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum;
    Nec semper feriet, quodcunque minabitur, arcus.          350
    Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine non ego paucis
    Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit
    Aut humana parum cavit natura. Quid ergo est?
    Ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
    Quamvis est monitus venia caret; ut citharoedus          355
    Ridetur chorda qui semper oberrat eadem:
    Sic mihi qui multum cessat fit Choerilus ille,
    Quem bis terve bonum cum risu miror, et idem
    Indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus;
    (Verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.)             360
    Ut pictura poėsis: erit quae si propius stes,
    Te capiat magis, et quaedam si longius abstes:
    Haec amat obscurum, volet haec sub luce videri,
    Judicis argutum quae non formidat acumen;
    Haec placuit semel, haec decies repetita placebit.       365
    O major juvenum, quamvis et voce paterna
    Fingeris ad rectum et per te sapis, hoc tibi dictum
    Tolle memor, certis medium et tolerabile rebus
    Recte concedi. Consultus juris et actor
    Caussarum mediocris abest virtute diserti                370
    Messalae nec scit quantum Cascellius Aulus,
    Sed tamen in pretio est; mediocribus esse poėtis
    Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.
    Ut gratas inter mensas symphonia discors
    Et crassum unguentum et Sardo cum melle papaver          375
    Offendunt, poterat duci quia coena sine istis;
    Sic animis natum inventumque poėma juvandis,
    Si paulum summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
    Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis,
    Indoctusque pilae discive trochive quiescit,             380
    Ne spissae risum tollant impune coronae:
    Qui nescit versus tamen audet fingere. Quidni?
    Liber et ingenuus, praesertim census equestrem
    Summam nummorum vitioque remotus ab omni.
    Tu nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva;                  385
    Id tibi judicium est, ea mens. Si quid tamen olim
    Scripseris in Maeci descendat judicis aures
    Et patris et nostras, nonumque prematur in annum,
    Membranis intus positis: delere licebit
    Quod non edideris; nescit vox missa reverti.             390
    Silvestres homines sacer interpresque deorum
    Caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus,
    Dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones
    Dictus et Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,
    Saxa movere sono testudinis et prece blanda              395
    Ducere quo vellet. Fuit haec sapientia quondam,
    Publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis,
    Concubitu prohibere vago, dare jura maritis,
    Oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno:
    Sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atque                 400
    Carminibus venit. Post hos insignis Homerus,
    Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella
    Versibus exacuit; dictae per carmina sortes,
    Et vitae monstrata via est; et gratia regum
    Pieriis tentata modis; ludusque repertus                 405
    Et longorum operum finis: ne forte pudori
    Sit tibi Musa lyrae sollers et cantor Apollo.
    Natura fieret laudabile carmen an arte,
    Quaesitum est; ego nec studium sine divite vena
    Nec rude quid possit video ingenium: alterius sic        410
    Altera poscit opem res et conjurat amice.
    Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam
    Multa tulit fecitque puer, sudavit et alsit,
    Abstinuit venere et vino; qui Pythia cantat
    Tibicen didicit prius extimuitque magistrum.             415
    Nec satis est dixisse: "Ego mira poėmata pango;
    Occupet extremum scabies; mihi turpe relinqui est
    Et quod non didici sane nescire fateri."
    Ut praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas,
    Assentatores jubet ad lucrum ire poėta                   420
    Dives agris, dives positis in fenore nummis.
    Si vero est unctum qui recte ponere possit
    Et spondere levi pro paupere et eripere atris
    Litibus implicitum, mirabor si sciet inter-
    Noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum.                 425
    Tu seu donaris seu quid donare voles cui,
    Nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
    Laetitiae; clamabit enim Pulchre! bene! recte!
    Pallescet super his, etiam stillabit amicis
    Ex oculis rorem, saliet, tundet pede terram.             430
    Ut qui conducti plorant in funere dicunt
    Et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo, sic
    Derisor vero plus laudatore movetur.
    Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis
    Et torquere mero quem perspexisse laborant,              435
    An sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes
    Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes.
    Quintilio si quid recitares, "Corrige sodes
    Hoc," aiebat, "et hoc:" melius te posse negares
    Bis terque expertum frustra, delere jubebat              440
    Et male tornatos incudi reddere versus.
    Si defendere delictum quam vertere malles,
    Nullum ultra verbum aut operam insumebat inanem
    Quin sine rivali teque et tua solus amares.
    Vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes,         445
    Culpabit duros, incomptis adlinet atrum
    Traverso calamo signum, ambitiosa recidet
    Ornamenta, parum claris lucem dare coget,
    Arguet ambigue dictum, mutanda notabit,
    Fiet Aristarchus; non dicet: "Cur ego amicum             450
    Offendam in nugis?" Hae nugae seria ducent
    In mala derisum semel exceptumque sinistre.
    Ut mala quem scabies aut morbus regius urget
    Aut fanaticus error et iracunda Diana,
    Vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poėtam               455
    Qui sapiunt; agitant pueri incautique sequuntur.
    Hic, dum sublimis versus ructatur et errat,
    Si veluti merulis intentus decidit auceps
    In puteum foveamve, licet, "Succurrite," longum
    Clamet, "Io cives!" non sit qui tollere curet.           460
    Si curet quis opem ferre et demittere funem,
    "Quī scis an prudens huc se projecerit atque
    Servari nolit?" dicam, Siculique poėtae
    Narrabo interitum. Deus immortalis haberi
    Dum cupit Empedocles, ardentem frigidus Aetnam           465
    Insiluit. Sit jus liceatque perire poėtis:
    Invitum qui servat idem facit occidenti.
    Nec semel hoc fecit, nec, si retractus erit jam
    Fiet homo et ponet famosae mortis amorem.
    Nec satis apparet cur versus factitet, utrum             470
    Minxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidental
    Moverit incestus: certe furit ac velut ursus
    Objectos caveae valuit si frangere clathros,
    Indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus;
    Quem vero arripuit tenet occiditque legendo,             475
    Non missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo.




NOTES.



ODES.--BOOK I.


ODE I.

This Ode was probably written as a dedication to Męcenas 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 Męcenas among lyric
poets.


Argument.--Męcenas, 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. Męcenas 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 Męcenas in the same affectionate terms:

    "O decus, O famae merito pars maxima nostrae,
     Maecenas";

and Propertius, ii. 1. 73.

3. _Sunt quos_] The Greeks say [Greek: estin hous]. 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 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 [Greek:
nussź]. 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 ędile, prętor, and consul. Though the quęstorship 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 [Greek: lips], are 'praeceps,' '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 [Greek: machesthai
tini].

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,' [Greek: teirō], and its cognate
words, and its meaning 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 [Greek: sophoi].

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 Alcęus, 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,
Alcęus, Sappho, Stesichorus, Ilycus, Bacchylides, Simonides, Alcmeon,
and Anacreon.


ODE II

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 Cęsar'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 Cęsar; 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 Cęsar.


1. _Jam satis_--] These are the prodigies which are said to have
followed the death of Julius Cęsar. 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
Ętna:

    "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 Cęsar, 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
Sassanidę, 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 Cęsar 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 Cęsar'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.'

Ęneas 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, [Greek:
heimenos ōmoiļn nephelźn] (Il. xv. 308). Virg. (Aen. viii. 720):
"candentis lumine 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 [Greek:
philommeidźs Aphroditź]. Venus is called Erycina, from Mount Eryx in
Sicily, where she had a temple. [Greek: Himeros] and [Greek: Erōs] (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 Ęneas 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.

37. _ludo,_] See C. i. 28. 17: "Dant alios Furiae torvo spectacula
Marti."

38. _leves,_] 'Polished' or 'burnished.'

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):--

    "Hunc saltem everso juvenen succurrere saeclo
     Ne prohibete."

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.

42. _Ales_] Agreeing with 'Filius.'

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).

45. _Serus in caelum redeas_] Ovid, Met. xv. 868, sqq.:--

    "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:--

    "Roma parentem,--
     Roma patiem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit,"

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.

51. _Medos equitare inultos,_] That is, the Parthians. See above, v. 21,
n.

52. _Te duce, Caesar_] The name of Cęsar is introduced abruptly where
that of Mercury might be expected. This abruptness increases the effect.


ODE III.

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, Dędalus 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 [Greek: hōs] 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 [Greek: potnia], 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 [Greek: euploia, limenias], 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 [Greek: arōgonautai], '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,_] Ęolus 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
[Greek: hźmisu tźs psuchźs] is attributed to Pythagoras.

9. _Illi robur et aes triplex_] This too is an imitation of the Greek,
as Aesch. Prom. 242: [Greek: sidźrophrōn te kak petras eirgasmenos]. We
are to understand a man whose heart is hard, as if cased in oak and a
triple coat of bronze.

13. _Aquilonibus_] The dative, depending on 'decertantem'.

14. _tristes Hyadas,_] These were three stars in the head of Taurus,
whose name (derived from [Greek: huein], 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: [Greek:
deinōn d' aźma pneumatōn ekoimise stenonta ponton]. 'Sive' is omitted
before 'tollere,' as the Greeks frequently omitted [Greek: eite] 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_] [Greek: xźrois aklaustois ommasin] (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. Cęsar,
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.:--

    [Greek:
    polla ta deina, kouden an-
    thrōpou deinoteron pelei.
    touto kai poliou peran
    pontou cheimeriō notō
    chōrei, peribruchioisin
    perōn hup' oidmasin.
    ]

'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 [Greek: genos], which occurs not rarely in the Tragedians. Eurip.
(Cyclops 104) has [Greek: drimu Sisuphou genos], 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 [Greek: hupo] 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:--

                   "Mortifer aestus--
    Incubuit tandem populum Pandionis omnem."

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, [Greek: biź Hźraklźeiź] 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.


ODE IV.

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 Cęsar (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.

4. _canis-pruinis_] The hoar-frost.

5. _imminente Luna,_] 'with the moon overhead.' 'Cytherea Venus' is
unusual, but is analogous to [Greek: Phoibos Apollōn].

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 Ętna, 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 [Greek: phlegei], '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.

9. _nitidum_] i.e. with oil. C. ii. 7. 22, n.; Epp. i. 5. 14, n.

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.'

_fabulaeque Manes_] This is explained by Juv. S. ii. 149:--

    "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
[Greek: thaumazein]. It occurs again Epod. iii. 10.--As to 'talis,'
'dice,' see S. ii. 3. 171, n. It was usual at feasts for one to be
chosen by lot, or by throw of dice, president, called by the the Greeks
[Greek: symposiarchos], 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.


ODE V.

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.


1. _multa--in rosa_] 'on a bed of roses.'

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 [Greek: chrysea] 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 [Greek:
Pelagia], 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 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.


ODE VI.

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 Cęsar'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 Męcenas. 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 Męonia, 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.

4. _te duce_] See next Ode, v. 27, n.

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 [Greek: mźnin oulomenźn] (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_] [Greek: diplous], 'double-minded or double-tongued,' as
he is described by Hecuba in Euripides's play of the Trojan Women (v.
285):--

    [Greek:
    hos panta takeithen enthad'
    antipal' authis ekeise diptychō glōssa
    phila ta proter' aphila tithemenos pantōn.
    ]

'Ulixeļ' 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 OEnomaus 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 Ęgisthus, 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 [Greek:
chalkochitōn].

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.'


ODE VII.

Munatius Plancus, who followed Julius Cęsar both in Gaul and in his war
with Pompeius, after Cęsar'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,

    "Non ego hoc ferrem, calidus juventa,
     Consule Planco."

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 Lacedęmon 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, 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 Cenchreę 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:--

    [Greek:
    ź toi emoi treis men poly philtatai eisi polźes,
    Argos te Spartź te kai euryaguia Mykźnź.
    ]

She had a celebrated temple between Argos and Mycenę called the [Greek:
Hźraion]. Homer (Il. ii. 287) calls Argos [Greek: hippobaton] ('aptum
equis'), the plain in which the city was placed being famous for
breeding horses.

'Dites Mycenas' is later: [Greek: Mykźnas tas polychrysous] (Soph.
Elect. 9). 'Opimae Larissae' is Homeric; [Greek: Larissa eribōlax] (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
[Greek: eplźxe] 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 [Greek: leukonotos] 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 [Greek: kai pheugōn homōs]. 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.

25. _Fortuna melior parente_] 'Fortune, kinder than my father.'

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 [Greek: saphźs] in [Greek: ei Zeus eti Zeus chō Dios
Phoibos saphźs] (Oed. Col. 623).

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


ODE VIII.

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.

5. _militaris_] 'as a soldier should.'

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.


ODE IX.

This is a drinking song for the winter, imitated from an Ode of Alcęus.
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 [Greek: oxeia chiōn] 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, [Greek: ōta]) 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 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 Męcenas'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
[Greek: gonu chlōron]. '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.


ODE X.

In the following Ode, which is a translation or close adaptation of one
written by Alcęus, 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 palęstra, 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
[Greek: logios]. He was said to have invented the first written
language.

_decorae More palaestrae,_] 'The practice (exercise) of the graceful
palęstra,' so called as giving grace to the limbs. As the inventor and
patron of gymnastic exercises, Hermes was called [Greek: agōnios].

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 Alcęus. 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.).

15. _Thessalos ignes_] The watch-fires of the troops of Achilles.

17. _Tu pias laetis_] As the conductor of the dead, Hermes was called
[Greek: psychopompos], and as the bearer of a golden wand, he was named
[Greek: chrysorrapis]. This wand the Greeks called [Greek: kźrykeion],
the Latins 'caduceus.'

20. _imis._] That is, Pluto and Proserpine.


ODE XI.

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 Leuconoė, a name
which appears to be equivalent to 'folly.'


Argument.--Look not into the book of fate, Leuconoė, 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.

2. _Babylonios numeros._] 'The calculations of the Chaldeans.'

6. _vina liques,_] 'strain the wine.' See S. ii. 4. 51, n.

_spatio brevi_] This means 'cut down distant hopes, and confine them
within a narrow compass.'

8. _Carpe diem_] 'Seize the (present) day.'


ODE XII.

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 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 Hęmus, 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 Phoebus 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 Cęsar; 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:--

    [Greek:
    anaxiphorminges hymnoi
    tina theon, tin' hźrōa, tina d' andra keladźsomen;
    ]

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 Boeotia, and
Pindus between Thessaly and Epirus. Both were celebrated as the abodes
of the Muses. Hęmus was a range on the north of Thrace, and Orpheus was
a Thracian. See A. P. 391, 405, n.

9. _Arte materna_] Orpheus was the son of the Muse Calliope.

15, 16. _Qui mare ac terras_] Virgil addresses Jove in the same way:--

    "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
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.

26. _Hunc equis,--_] S. ii. 1. 26.

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 Cęsar, B.C. 46.

37. _Scauros_] The plural is used for the singular (see S. i. 7. 8, n.),
and M. Ęmilius 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.
Ęmilius Paullus commanded with Varro, his colleague in the consulship,
at the battle of Cannę, 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 Cęsar, and the lesser lights of that
family, are meant by what follows. By 'Julium sidus' is meant Cęsar
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.)

56. _Seras et Indos,_] See notes on C. iii. 29. 27; iv. 15. 23.


ODE XIII.

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' ([Greek:
melancholia]).

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

12. _memorem_] 'lasting'; which will long tell the tale of his violence.

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.

18. _irrupta_] This word is not found elsewhere.

20. _Suprema citius_] This construction for 'citius quam suprema' only
occurs once again in Horace, in "plus vice simplici" (C. iv. 14. 13).


ODE XIV.

During the troubles in Mitylene, his native city, Alcęus 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.


ODE XV.

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.

14. _Pectes caesariem_] See C. iv. 9. 13.

15. _divides;_] 'Dividere carmina' is perhaps to sing and play
alternately.

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 [Greek: Oilźos tachys
Aias] (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 [Greek:
polemou eu eidōs], and 'Tydides melior patre' is taken from Sthenelus's
vaunt, Il. iv. 405: [Greek: hźmeis toi paterōn meg' ameinones euchometh'
einai].

31. _Sublimi--anhelitu_] 'Panting heavily,' as the fleeing stag, with
its head raised in the air.

32. _tuae._] C. i. 25. 7.

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.


ODE XVI.

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.


2. _criminosis_] 'abusive.'

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.

9. _Noricus_] The best steel for sword-blades came from Noricum, on the
Danube.

13. _Fertur Prometheus,_] This story is not found elsewhere. 'Principi
limo,' 'the prime clay,' corresponds to [Greek: prōton archon pźlon] in
Soph. Frag. (432 Dind.), [Greek: kai prōton archon pźlon orgazein
cheroin]. 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.


ODE XVII.

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 Lycęus 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 Lycęus 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." [Greek: Allassein, ameibein] also admit of this double
construction, sometimes the thing given in exchange being in the
accusative, sometimes the thing taken.

3. _capellis_] The dative.

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 Teļa_] 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. _Semeleļus--Thyoneus_] Bacchus is here called by both the names of
his mother, Semele, who was also named Thyone, from [Greek: thyein], '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."

28. _immeritam vestem._] 'your innocent robe.'


ODE XVIII.

This is a translation or close imitation of an ode of Alcęus in the same
metre, one verse of which is almost literally translated in the first
verse of this Ode, [Greek: mźthen allo phyteusźs proteron dendreon
ampelō]. 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 Lapithę, 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 Lapithę, 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. 'Avidus' is used absolutely for 'avidus pugnae,' C. iii. 4.
58, as here it means 'avidi vini.'

12. _quatiam,_] This is explained by Aen. iv. 301:--

                   "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 [Greek: bassaris], 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.


ODE XIX.

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 [Greek: erōs] was derived from the Greeks
by the Romans.

3. _Licentia_] This is the same impersonation as the Greek [Greek:
Hubris].

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, Getę, 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.

12. _quae nihil attinent._] They were nothing to a man in love.

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).


ODE XX.

This Ode informs Męcenas 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, Męcenas, bottled at that
time when the echoes of the Vatican resounded your praises. You drink
Cęcuban and Calenian, but the vines of Falernum and Formię 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 Męcenas 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 Ęgean.

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 Męcenas's recovery.
'Condere' and 'diffundere' were the words used for putting the wine into
the 'amphora.' (C. 9. 7, n.)

5. _Care Maecenas eques,_] Męcenas 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
Męcenas 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
Amyclę. 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 Formię on the Appia Via (see S. i. 5. 37,
n.) produced a good wine.


ODE XXI.

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.


2. _Intonsum_] 'Ever-youthful,' the Greek [Greek: akersekomźs].

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.

12. _Fraterna_] Invented by Mercury (C. 10. 6).

13. _Hic bellum lacrimosum,_] Apollo was especially [Greek: alexikakos],
'the averter of evil,' particularly in respect of Augustus, his reputed
son. 'Lacrimosum' corresponds to the [Greek: dakryoeis polemos] of
Homer, and 'lacrimabile bellum' of Virgil.

15. _Persas_] The Parthians. See C. 2. 21, n.


ODE XXII.

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); 'integer aevi' (Aen. ix. 255); 'amens animi (Aen. iv.
203); 'praestans animi juvenis' (Aen. xii. 19). Compare [Greek: Hagnas
men, ō pai, cheiras haimatos phereis] (Eurip. Hipp. 316). The more usual
prose form with the ablative occurs S. ii. 3. 213: "purum est vitio tibi
quum tumidum est cor?"

2. _Mauris_] The same as 'Mauretanicis.'

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 [Greek: hapanthrōpon pagon].

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
[Greek: hź Daunias]. 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 Gętulia. 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 [Greek: argos].

20. _urget_] 'lies heavily upon.'

22. _domibus negata_] 'uninhabitable.'


ODE XXIII.

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

    [Greek:
    aganōsti
    hate nebron neothźlea galathźnon host' en hulźs
    keroessźs apoleiphtheis hupo mźtros eptoźthź.
    ]


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.


1. _hinnuleo_] The same as 'hinnulo.'

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.


ODE XXIV.

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.

3. _Melpomene,_] See C. i. 12. 2, n.

5. _Ergo_] From the Greek [Greek: ergō] 'indeed,' 'can it be?'

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 [Greek: eidōlon]. Such were the forms which Ęneas 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.

16. _virga_] The caduceus.

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
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.

20. _nefas._] 'impossible.' See C. 11. 1.


ODE XXV.

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.


2. _Ictibus_] Throwing of stones.

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.

14. _furiare_] This word we do not meet with before Horace.

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.


ODE XXVI.

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 Arsacidę, 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 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.


1. _Musis amicus_] See C. iii. 4. 25: "Vestris amicum fontibus et
choris."

2. _Tradam protervis_] See the last note on C. 25.

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.

6. _integris_] 'pure.'

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.


ODE XXVII.

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.


1. _Natis--laetitiae_] 'Intended by nature for purposes of merriment.'

2. _Thracum_] See C. 18. 9, n.

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 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: [Greek:
ouranion hoson, thaumaston hoson, amuthźton hoson, thaumasta hźlika,
amźchanon hoson],--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.

8. _cubito--presso_] 'with elbow rested' on the cushion of the couch.

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.

21. _Thessalis_] The Thessalians were famous for witchcraft. See Epod.
v. 45.

24. _Pegasus expediet Chimaera._] Bellerophon, being ordered by the king
of Lycia to destroy the monster Chimęra, 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.). Chimęra 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.)


ODE XXVIII.

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 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. [Greek: ammon metrein, kumata
metrein] 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, [Greek: ho psammitźs], 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 [Greek: moira]. It is not properly equivalent to
'donum.'

7. _Pelopis genitor,_] See C. 6. 8, n.

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) [Greek: Dios megalou
oaristźs], 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.'

14. _Judice te_] Archytas professed to follow the doctrines of
Pythagoras.

_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
[Greek: Poinai], or [Greek: Arai], the divinities which executed
vengeance on the guilty, and in that character stirred up strife, as
here represented. So Virgil (Aen. iv. 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."

     In Eurip. (Alc. 74) Death says in respect to his victim,

    [Greek:
    steichō d' ep' autźn hōs katarxōmai xiphei
    hieros gar houtos tōn kata chthonos theōn
    hotou tod' enchos kratos hagnisź tricha.
    ]

The general practice in commencing a sacrifice ([Greek: katarchesthai
tōn hierōn]) 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.

25. _sic_] See note on i. 3. 1.

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.

32. _vicesque superbae_] 'stern retribution.'

33. _precibus_] 'curses.' See Epod. v. 86. S. ii. 6. 30.

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,
[Greek: leptź d' agos pheugontos ōs epźn konis] (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.'


ODE XXIX.

In the year B.C. 24 an army was sent into Arabia Felix by Augustus,
under Ęlius 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, 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 Sabęa 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 Petręa, 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 [Greek: anō potamōn] became
a proverb from Euripides (Med. 410): [Greek: anō potamōn hierōn chōrousi
pagai].

12. _Montibus_] The dative.

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). Panętius 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.


ODE XXX.

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 [Greek: Kupron
himertan lipoisa kai Paphon perirrhyton], 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.


1. _Cnidi Paphique,_] See C. 3. 1, n.

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 ([Greek: Hźbź]), Hermes, the god of eloquence,
Persuasion ([Greek: Peithō]), 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.)


ODE XXXI.

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."

2. _novum_] Libations were made with wine of the current year.

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 Ęqui, and, passing through the
richest part of Latium, emptied itself below Minturnę 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 entrepōts 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
[Greek: antagorazesthai]. (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.

16. _leves_] 'Setting lightly' on the stomach.

17. _Frui paratis,_ etc.] The order is, 'Precor (ut) dones mihi, et
valido .... et integra Cum mente, frui paratis.' 'Latoė'
[Greek:(Latōe)]; 'O son of Lato,' or Latona.


ODE XXXII.

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
Alcęus 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 Phoebus, 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,_] [Greek: Barbitos] 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,_] Alcęus 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 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).

_modulate_] See C. i. 1. 24, n.

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 Alcęus, whose name appears in a
fragment still extant, [Greek: ouk egō Lukon en Moisais alegō].

14. _testudo_] See C. 10. 6, n.

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.'


ODE XXXIII.

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 Pholoė, 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.


1. _memor_] 'ever thinking of.'

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."

7. _Cyrus in asperam Declinat Pholoėn_] All these are imaginary persons.

8. _Jungentur capreae lupis_] This is a common hyperbole. Epod. xvi. 30:
"Novaque monstra junxerit libidine Mirus amor," &c.

9. _adultero._] 'libertine.'

10, 11. _impares--animos_] 'ill-matched persons and dispositions.'

12. _Saevo cum joco_] 'In cruel sport.'

14. _compede_] This word is used twice again by Horace in the singular
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.


ODE XXXIV.

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 [Greek:
sophia asophos]. 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 [Greek: Zeus].

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),
[Greek: termonōn t' Atlantikōn]. 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 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.


ODE XXXV.

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 Pręneste 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 cornucopię 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 Cęsar 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."

4. _funeribus_] The same as 'in funera.'

6. _colonus,_] See C. ii. 14. 12, n.

7, 8. _Bithyna--carina_] A vessel built of the timber of Bithynia.

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 [Greek: Skuthas d' aphixei nomadas hoi plektas stegas
Pedarsioi naious' ep' eukuklois ochois] (Aesch. P. V. 709). 'Profugus'
is repeated in C. iv. 14. 42.

11. _Regumque matres barbarorum_] Orelli quotes the description in the
fifth 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),
[Greek: kai gar ei perix s' echei tźktos molybdos].

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.

29. _Serves iturum_] See Introduction.

_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.

36. _unde_] 'From what?'

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 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.


ODE XXXVI.

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).

7. _Lamiae,_] See Introduction.

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. _Threļcia vincat amystide,_] 'Amystis' was a deep draught, taken
without drawing breath or closing the lips ([Greek: a, muein]). For
Threļcia see i. 27. 2.

17. _putres Deponent oculos,_] 'will fix their languishing eyes.' The
Greeks expressed 'putres' by [Greek: tźkomenoi].

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.


ODE XXXVII.

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
Alcęus on the death of Myrsilus in his head. It began,

    [Greek:
    nun chrź methusthźn kai tina pros bian
    pinźn epeidź katthane Mursilos.
    ]

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 Cęcuban, 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 Cęsar 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 [Greek: echrźn] 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
[Greek: akratźs], 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
[Greek: nympholźptos], '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 [Greek: ta kena tou polemou]. 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.

20. _Haemoniae,_] This is an ancient name for Thessaly.

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.

25. _jacentem_] On Cleopatra's death, etc., see Plut. Ant. c. 84.

26, 27. _asperas--serpentes_] 'venomous asps.' 'Atrum' is 'deadly.'

29. _Deliberata morte ferocior_] 'Growing bolder, when she had resolved
to die.'

30. _Liburnis_] See Epod. i. 1, n.


ODE XXXVIII.

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.'

3. _Mitte_] 'forbear,' equivalent to 'omitte.'

5. _allabores_] This is a coined word, and signifies to labor for
something more. It corresponds to [Greek: prosponein], 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.

7. _sub arta Vite_] 'Arta' signifies 'thick,' 'close-leaved.'




ODES.--BOOK II.


ODE I.

This Ode is addressed to C. Asinius Pollio, the friend and companion in
arms of Julius Cęsar. 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 Cęsar, 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 Cęsar and
Pompeius came to their final rupture. Pollio's work was in seventeen
books, and probably ended with the battle of Actium.

2. _modos_] The 'plans' pursued by the opposing parties.

4. _Principum amicitias_] The alliance of Cęsar 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 'cruoribus' is unusual, and savors of the Greek. So Aesch.
Supp. 265: [Greek: palaiōn haimatōn miasmasin].

6. _Periculosae plenum opus aleae,_] 'A task full of hazard,' literally,
'full of perilous chance.' Pollio had been faithful to Julius Cęsar, 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 [Greek: syntassein] for
writing a book. Plutarch uses [Greek: syntagma] for a book. [Greek:
Anataxasthai] 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).

16. _Delmatico--triumpho_] See Introduction.

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 Cęsar'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 Cęsar master of the whole
Roman world. 'Cuncta terrarum' is equivalent to 'cunctas terras.'

24. _atrocem_] 'stubborn.'

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 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 Cęsar, 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.

_pinguior_] Comp. Virg. (Georg. i. 491):--

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

34. _Dauniae_] 'Roman.' See C. i. 22. 14, n; iii. 30. 11; iv. 6. 27.

35. _decoloravere_] 'have deeply dyed.'

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.

_retractes_] Equivalent to 'tractes.' See note on i. 31. 12.

39. _Dionaeo--antro_] A cave dedicated to Venus, the daughter of Dione.


ODE II.

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.

_lamnae_] Ovid (Fast. i. 207):--

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

For examples of syncope, see i. 36. 8, n.

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 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 Męcenas (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 Męcenas, 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 Phoenician settlement, of which there were many in Spain,
whence Horace says 'uterque Poenus,' the Phoenicians 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.'

22. _propriam_] See S. ii. 2. 129, n.

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."


ODE III.

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 [Greek: historikos]. 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.

6. _remoto gramine_] 'in a secluded grassy spot.'

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,--[Greek:
leukź], which was white, and [Greek: aigeiros], which was dark. Virgil
calls the white 'bicolor.' 'Amant,' as in C. iii. 16. 10, is used like
the Greek [Greek: philousi] '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.

17. _Cedes coėmptis_] Compare C. 14. 21, sqq. of this book.

18. _lavit,_] Horace uses this form, not 'lavat.'

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.'


ODE IV.

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.


2. _Xanthia Phoceu!_] See Introd.

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 [Greek: Aiantos geras] (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):--

    [Greek:
    rhźiteroi gar mallon Achaioisin dź esesthe
    keinou tethnźōtos enairemen.
    ]

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.'

22. _Fuge_] The same as 'noli,'--'do not.'

23. _Cujus octavum_] See Introd.; and as to 'lustrum,' see C. ii. 15.
13, n.


ODE V.

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.


5. _Circa_] The Greeks use [Greek: peri] in this way, 'occupied with.'

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:--

    [Greek:
    horō gar hźbźn tźn men herpousan prosō,
    tźn d' au phthinousan.
    ]

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

    "Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,
     Multa recedentes adimunt."

(v. 175, sq.)

16. _Lalage_] This name is formed from [Greek: lalein], "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.


ODE VI.

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. 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.

3. _Syrtes_] The modern Gulfs of Sydra and Gabis.

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.

_Argeo--colono_] Catillus, or his brother Tiburtus (see C. i. 18. 2,
n.).

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 Galęsus (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 Lacedęmon headed a body of youths, called from
the circumstances of their birth Parthenię, 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 [Greek: herkos], 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.


ODE VII.

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
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, [Greek: Argeios hanźr authis]. 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 [Greek: rhipsaspis], a coward who runs away
and leaves his shield behind him. He had in mind, no doubt, the
misfortune that befell Alcęus, 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 aėre;_] 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 Ęneas's by Phoebus in a thick cloud (Il. v.
344. Aen. x. 81).

14. _Denso aėre_] 'a cloud.'

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 [Greek: hygrō], 'supple.' Theocritus (vi. 68) calls it [Greek:
polygnampton selinon].

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. 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, [Greek: thelō thelō manźnai]. The
Edoni were a people of Thrace (see C. i. 27. 2).


ODE VIII.

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.'

2. _nocuisset_] 'impaired your beauty.'

4. _Turpior_] 'plainer,' or 'less attractive.'

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, [Greek: puri panta bebaptai].
'Semper' belongs to 'ardentes.'

20. _Saepe minati_] 'Though they have often threatened it.'

21. _juvencis,_] This is used as the Greeks would say [Greek: pōlois].

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.


ODE IX.

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):--

    [Greek:
    źdź dyo men geneai meropōn anthrōpōn
    ephthiato--meta de tritatoisin anassen.
    ]

The duration of an age cannot now be determined.

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. _Troļlon_] 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 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 Cęsar should
prescribe them.


ODE X.

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 Formię,
where he received Męcenas 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.'

14. _Alteram sortem_] The object of 'metuit' and 'sperat.'

15. _Informes hiemes_] This epithet is like 'inaequales' in the last
Ode, 'rough,' 'uncouth.' Compare C. iii. 29. 43:--

               "Cras vel atra
    Nube polum Pater occupato
    Vel sole puro."

17. _olim Sic erit: quondam cithara_] 'Olim,' being derived from the
demonstrative pronoun 'illo,' of which the older form is 'olo,' 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).

22. _idem_] 'and yet you.'

23, 24. _Contrahes--vela._] The order is 'Contrahes vela nimium Turgida
secundo vento.'


ODE XI.

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' ([Greek:
trepō]), 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,

    "Man wants but little here below,
       Nor wants that little long."

6. _Levis_] 'smooth,' 'beardless.'

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 [Greek: hźssōn], 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 [Greek: houtōs], 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.

19. _Restinguet_] 'will temper,' or 'dilute.'

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 Lacedęmonian women wore.


ODE XII.

This Ode is addressed to Męcenas, 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 Męcenas. 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 Cęsar, Męcenas, 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."
Hylęus was a centaur. As to the Lapithę, see C. i. 18. 8.

7. _Telluris juvenes,_] The Gigantes, who were called [Greek: gźgeneis],
'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.

_unde_] See C. i. 12. 17.

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):--

           "Neque in terris morabor
    Longius, invidiaque major
    Urbes relinquam."

So [Greek: te] often follows [Greek: oute], the fact being that every
negative proposition may be resolved into an affirmative with a
negation. Here the connection is between 'nobis' and 'dices.' Męcenas
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 should write one in
prose. It does not follow that Męcenas ever wrote, or that Horace ever
seriously intended to advise his writing. 'Pedestribus' is an adaptation
of the Greek [Greek: pezos logos] 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).

18. _certare joco_] 'to engage in a contest of wit.'

19. _nitidis_] 'in festive garb.'

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,_] Achęmenes was the great-grandfather of Cyrus,
the founder of the Persian monarchy, and the Achęmenid 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.

22. _Phrygiae Mygdonias opes_] See C. iii. 16. 41, n.

23. _Permutare_] See C. i. 17. 2, n. 'Crine' here means a lock of hair.

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 [Greek: phthanein], 'to be beforehand,' 'to
anticipate,'--'sometimes she is the first to snatch.'


ODE XIII.

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, 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 Alcęus 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 Alcęus sing.


1. _nefasto_] A 'dies nefastus' was properly one on which, the day being
dedicated to religion, it was not lawful for the prętor 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.'

14. _in horus_] 'from hour to hour.'

_Bosporum_] The form of the Greek [Greek: bous poros] requires that the
name should be written thus, and not Bosphorum, as it is often spelt.
The Phoenicians 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 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, Ęacus. In the Homeric times Elysium was
upon earth in the [Greek: makarōn nźsoi]. 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 Ęolians settled in Lesbos, Sappho's
native island (C. i. 1. 34), wherefore her lyre is called Ęolian.

26. _plenius_] 'in grander strains.'

27. _Alcaee, plectro dura navis,_] See C. i. 32. 6, n. The 'plectrum'
([Greek: plźktron]) 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.

29. _sacro--silentio_] 'Strains worthy of profound (religious) silence.'

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.

35. _intorti_] 'Anguis' is more commonly feminine than masculine.

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' ([Greek: eu menos], 'mens'). From Ęschylus 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, Megęra, 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 [Greek: oukoun] 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.

38. _laborum decipitur_] See ii. 9. 17, n. 'Is beguiled of his
sufferings.'

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.


ODE XIV.

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.


1. _fugaces_] 'fleeting.'

4. _indomitae_] The Greek [Greek: adamastos].

5. _trecenis quotquot eunt dies_] 'three hundred every day.'

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).

8. _tristi Compescit unda,_] This is Virgil's description (Aen. vi.
438),--

    "Tristique palus inamabilis unda
     Alligat et novies Styx interfusa coercet,"--

which is repeated from Georg. iv. 479. Sophocles (Electra, 137) calls it
[Greek: pankoinon limnan].

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, [Greek: hos thnźtos t' eiź kai edoi Dźmźteros aktźn] (Il. xiii.
322), [Greek: hoi arourźs karpon edousi] (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, [Greek: katagnōstheis ponou], as observed C. ii.
9. 17, n.

20. _Sisyphus Aeolides_] Homer too calls him [Greek: Sisuphos Aiolidźs],
and says he was [Greek: kerdistos andrōn], '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 [Greek: oligochronios] and [Greek:
minunthadios]. With this passage compare C. ii. 3. 17, sqq.

25. _Caecuba_] See C. i. 20. 9, n.

_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.


ODE XV.

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 Męcenas. 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 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.

5. _tum violaria_] This is opposed to 'tum laurea' (v. 9).

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.

12. _Auspiciis_] 'Example.'

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
[Greek: ton tuchonta]. Horace alludes to the ruined state of the temples
in C. ii. 18. 2.


ODE XVI.

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 Ęgean are
mentioned C. iii. 29. 63. 'Simul' is the same as 'simul ac.'

3. _certa fulgent_] 'shine distinctly.'

5. _Thrace_] For 'Thracia.' See C. iii. 15. 2, n.

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.

17. _jaculamur_] See C. i. 2. 3, n.

18, 19. _Quid--mutamus_] 'Why do we seek in exchange' for our own?

_Patriae--exsul_] This is another Grecism, [Greek: patridos phygas].
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. 'Ęratas' is
'brazen-beaked.' Like sentiments are found in S. ii. 7. 111-115. Epp. i.
11. 25, sqq.; 14. 12, sq.

25. _quod ultra est_] 'what lies beyond'; that is, 'the future.'

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 [Greek: minynthadios] (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.

33. _Siculae_] See Introduction.

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 [Greek: dibapha];
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'
(C. S. 25). The Parcae, who correspond to the Greek [Greek: Moirai],
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 [Greek:
Moira], 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.


ODE XVII.

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 Męcenas 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,
Męcenas; 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 [Greek: philon esti], and
equivalent to 'placet.'

6. _altera,_] 'I, the other part.' Two definitions of friendship by
Pythagoras are worth preserving. One is, [Greek: sōmata men duo psychź
de mia], and the other [Greek: esti gar hōs phamen ho philos deuteros
egō]. 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 [Greek: oi
synapothnźskontes]. This, if true, corresponds with Cęsar'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 Męcenas 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.)

11. _Utcunque_] For 'quandocunque,' 'whenever.'

13. _Chimaerae_] See C. i. 27. 24.

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

16. _Justitiae_] [Greek: Dikź] and the [Greek: Moirai] were daughters of
Zeus and Themis, 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 Męcenas, 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.

26. _Laetum theatris_] See Introd.

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 [Greek: an] 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.

29. _levasset_] 'had averted.'

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


ODE XVIII.

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.


2. _lacunar,_] See S. ii. 3. 273, n.

3. _trabes_] 'blocks.' The architrave or base of the entablature
resting 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.'

7. _Laconicas_] See C. 16. 35, n.

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.

10. _Benigna vena_] 'a productive vein.' This metaphor is from a mine.

11. _Me petit_] 'seeks my company.'

14. _unicis Sabinis_] 'my single Sabine estate.' Supply 'praediis.' The
farm which Męcenas gave him in the valley of the Digentia, among the
Sabine hills.

16. _interire_] This word seems to be an adaptation of [Greek:
phthinein], 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.

34. _Regumque pueris,_] C. i. 4. 14, n.

35. _Callidum Promethea_] This story of Prometheus trying to bribe
Charon is not found elsewhere.

36. _Hic_] i.e. Orcus, "non exorabilis auro" (Epp. ii. 2. 179).

37. _Tantali Genus_] See C. i. 6. 8, n.

38. _coėrcet_] 'confines.'

40. _Vocatus atque non vocatus audit._] Horace's language is bold,
coupling 'audit' with 'non vocatus.' 'Functum laboribus,' 'when he has
finished his labors,' is derived from the Greek [Greek: kekmźkota].


ODE XIX.

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 [Greek: Bakchos], 'the shouter,' is
properly no more than an adjunct of [Greek: Dionysos].

2. _docentem--discentes_] These correspond to the terms [Greek:
didaskein] and [Greek: manthanein], 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
[Greek: oxeis ta ōta], but only describes Pan as having the lower
extremities like a goat, [Greek: ta katō aigi eoikōs]. It is vain,
therefore, trying to trace any consistency in the poet's conceptions of
these uncouth divinities.

6, 7. _turbidum Laetatur_] 'beats wildly.'

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 [Greek: dunaton
esti]. 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 [Greek: thuein], '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.

16. _Lycurgi._] See C. i. 18. 8, n.

17. _Tu flectis amnes,_] The Hydaspes and Orontes, which Bacchus is said
to have walked over dry-shod.

19. _Nodo coėrces_] 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 Rhoetus. 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 [Greek:
chrusokerōs], 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 [Greek: hekatompodōn Nźrźļdōn]
signifies the hundred Nereids (Soph. Oed. Col. v. 717). See note on ii.
13. 34.


ODE XX.

This Ode appears to have been written impromptu, in a mock-heroic or but
half serious style, in reply to an invitation of Męcenas (v. 6). The
poet says that he whom Męcenas 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 Męcenas, 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.


1, 2. _Non usitata nec tenui--Penna_] 'On no common or mean wing.'

_biformis_] As swan and poet.

4. _invidia major_] Horace was not too good to be maligned, but he could
rise above it, which is the meaning of 'major,' [Greek: kreisson]. His
birth drew contempt upon him while he held a command in Brutus's army,
and afterwards when he became intimate with Męcenas (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):

    "Jam dente minus mordeor invido."

6. _quem vocas,_] 'whom thou honored by an invitation.' See
Introduction. It was on the strength of such invitations that he
affirmed,

               "Pauperemque dives
    Me petit." (C. ii. 18. 10.)

9, 10. _asperae Pelles_] Like the skin on a swan's legs.

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.

15. _canorus Ales_] The swan. See C. iv. 2. 25, 3. 20. Virgil (Ec. ix.
27) has,

    "Vare tuum nomen--
     Cantantes sublime ferent ad sidera cycni."

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, [Greek: andrōn makarōn homilos]; a sacred
family, [Greek: hiera genea], 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.

20. _Hiber_] By Hiber is probably meant the Caucasian people of that
name.

_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."

22. _Luctusque turpes_] 'disfiguring grief.'

24. _supervacuos_] The prose-writers before Pliny used the form
'supervacaneus.'




ODES.--BOOK III.


ODE I.

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 [Greek: euphźmein], 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.

3. _Musarum sacerdos_] Ovid calls himself the same (Amor. iii. 8. 23):--

    "Ille ego Musarum purus Phoebique sacerdos."

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 [Greek: estin hōs], '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.

12. _meliorque fama_] For 'famaque melior.'

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."

16. _Omne capax_] Compare C. ii. 3. 26, and likewise i. 4. 13; ii. 18.
32.

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.

19. _Dulcem elaborabunt saporem,_] 'shall force sweet appetite.'

20. _Non avium_] It is said that Męcenas sought sleep by the help of
distant music. Aviaries were not uncommon in the houses of the rich.

21. _Somnus agrestium_] 'Virorum' depends on 'domos.'

24. _Tempe_] The word is plural,--in Greek [Greek: ta Tempź].

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.

36, 37. _terrae Fastidiosus_] 'disdaining the land.'

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.

41. _Phrygius lapis_] See C. ii. 18. 3, n.

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' was an Eastern aromatic shrub. The Greeks called it [Greek:
kostos], 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.


ODE II.

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.'

5, 6. _trepidis In rebus._] 'in danger.'

_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.).

14. _persequitur_] This line is a translation from Simonides,--

    [Greek:
    ho d' au thanatos kiche kai ton phygomachon.
    ]

'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):--

    "Nimium gaudens popularibus auris."

Compare, for the sentiments, C. iv. 9. 39, sqq.

25. _Est et fideli tuta silentio_]

    [Greek:
    esti kai sigas akindunon geras,
    ]

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 Cęsar, 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 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 [Greek: Mystźria].

_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 [Greek: hysteropoinoi], [Greek: hysterophthoroi].
'Pede claudo,' 'of limping foot,' and so, 'slow.'


ODE III.

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 Cęsar 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 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.


1. _Justum_] i.e. "qui jus servat."

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.

3. _instantis_] 'menacing.'

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 [Greek: kyklos]
with or without [Greek: ouranou].

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.

9. _arte_] 'quality' or 'virtue.'

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.

17. _Gratum elocuta_] See Introd.

19. _incestusque_] See C. 2. 30.

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.'

28. _refringit,_] Equivalent to 'repellit.'

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 Ęneas.

33. _redonabo;_] This word occurs only here and above (ii. 7. 3).

34. _ducere nectaris_] 'Ducere' is common in this sense of 'quaffing.'
So the Greeks used [Greek: helkein] and [Greek: span]. They both occur
in one verse of Euripides (Cycl. 417),

    [Greek:
    Espasen t' amustin helkusas.
    ]

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.)

37. _Dum longus inter_] See Introd.

38. _exsules_] The Romans.

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 Ęgisthus as
leaping on her father's grave intoxicated with wine (Eurip. Elect. 326,
sq.). Compare Epod. xvi. 10, sqq., and Il. iv. 177.

42. _inultae_] 'unmolested.' 'Capitolium'; see C. i. 2. 3, n.

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.'

54. _tangat_] 'reach.'

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):

    [Greek:
    Hźrźn de proseeipe kasignźtźn alochon te.
    ]

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 aėneus_] 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. 'Aėneus' 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.

70. _pervicax_] 'bold.'

72. _Magna modis tenuare parvis_] 'To degrade lofty themes by your
humble strains.'


ODE IV.

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 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 Pręneste, or at Baię. 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 ęgis 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, Ętna 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.

3. _acuta_] 'clear,' 'musical.'

4. _fidibus citharaque_] By hendiadys for 'citharae fidibus.'

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: 'Apulo'--'Apuliae.' 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
[Greek: kamatō addźkotes źde kai hupnō] (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, Ęschylus, Plato.

17. _Ut--Dormirem_] This is connected with 'mirum'; 'how I slept.'

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 Baię, 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.

26. _Philippis_] See C. ii. 7. 9.

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.

32. _Littoris Assyrii_] The Syrian coast. See note on C. ii. 11. 16.

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.

36. _Scythicum--amnem._] The Tanais.

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 prętorian troops, and there they built Augusta Prętoria (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): "Connubio 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 Aloļdę, Typhon, or Typhoėus (with Zeus), are all mixed
up together in the description which follows. Virgil has given a
description (Georg. i. 279, sqq.) where the Titans (Coeus and
Iapetus), Typhon, and the Aloļdę 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.

44. _caduco_] 'swift-descending,' as [Greek: kataibatźs] in Ęschylus.

45. _terram inertem,_] Elsewhere we have 'bruta tellus' in the same
sense, 'the dull, motionless earth' (C. i. 34. 9).

46. _regna tristia_] 'the gloomy realms' (of Pluto).

50. _Fidens juventus horrida_] This appears to be an imitation of
Homer's [Greek: cheiressi pepoithotes] (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 Aloėus, 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 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:--

    "Ignibus Ossa novis et Pelion altior Ossa
     Arsit." (Fast. iii. 441.)

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 Aloidę. 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--Typhoėus ([Greek: Typhōeus]) warred with Zeus on his own
account. He belonged neither to the Titanes nor the Gigantes. Mimas and
Rhoetus 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.

66. _temperatam_] 'governed and regulated' (by reason).

67. _idem_] 'and yet they.' 'Vires' signifies 'brute force.'

69. _Gyas_] See note on C. ii. 17. 14. He belonged to another family
consisting of three brothers, Gyas, Cottus, and Briareus or Ęgęon,
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 [Greek: peiran]. 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 Aloļdę, were
said to be the children of [Greek: Gaia], the Earth, and Uranus, whence
they were called [Greek: gźgeneis] (C. ii. 12. 6).

74. _luridum_] This word is perhaps a contraction of 'livoridus,' and
akin to 'lividus,' and so to the Greek [Greek: pelidnos] (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 Ętna was laid
is variously said to have been Typhon or Typhoėus, 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.'


ODE V.

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.)

4. _gravibus_] This epithet is applied to the Parthians before (C. i. 2.
22).

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!"

8. _in armis_] The Roman prisoners may have served in the Parthian
armies.

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.

22. _tergo_] Dative, for 'in tergum.'

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.

27. _neque amissos_] See C. i. 6. 5, n., as to this way of speaking.

28. _fuco,_] See Epp. i. 10. 27, n.

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):--

    "Quondam etiam victis redit in praecordia virtus."

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.'

50. _non aliter_] 'as calmly.'

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.


ODE VI.

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 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.

20. _In patriam populumque_] These words are those of a common formula.

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.

22. _artibus_] 'seductive accomplishments.'

23. _Jam nunc_] The meaning of 'jam nunc' is sufficiently marked in A.
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 [Greek: ex hapalōn onychōn], 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 Thermopylę, 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.

42. _Mutaret_] That is, by lengthening them.

44. _agens_] 'bringing on.' The last stanza is a solemn and
comprehensive conclusion to these six stirring and instructive Odes.


ODE VII.

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 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. Chloė, 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.

12. _Tentat mille vafer modis._] On 'tentat,' see note on C. iii. 4. 71.

13. _mulier perfida_] Antea or Sthenobęa, wife of Proetus, 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.

19. _peccare docentes_] 'inciting to sin.'

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
Ęgean which washes the coast of Caria. With these words compare
Euripides (Med. 28), [Greek: hōs de petros ź thalassios klydōn adouei.]
(See also Androm. 537, and Epod. xvii. 54, sq.).

25. _flectere equum_] This was to wheel the horse round in a small
circle:

    "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.


ODE VIII.

This Ode was composed on the anniversary of Horace's accident with the
tree (C. ii. 13). It is addressed to Męcenas, 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, Męcenas, 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
([Greek: libanōtis]). The derivation is uncertain.

4. _Caespite vivo,_] 'on an altar of green turf.' See C. i. 19. 13.

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.).

10. _dimovebit_] See C. i. 1. 13, n.

11. _Amphorae fumum_] The amphorę 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
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:--

    "cujus patriam titulumque senectus
     Delevit multa veteris fuligine testae."

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."

17. _Mitte civiles super urbe curas:_] See iii. 29. 25, n.

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.'


ODE IX.

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.

Chloe, the sweet singer, is my queen: for her I would gladly die.

Calaļs 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 Calaļs is handsome, and thou art fickle and passionate as the
stormy sea, I would live and die with thee.


1. _Donec_] Equivalent to 'dum.'

2. _potior_] 'more favored.'

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 Chloė 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.'

19. _excutitur_] The English "cast off" expresses the meaning best.

22. _improbo_] On the meaning of 'improbus' as a word expressing
'excess,' see below (C. iii. 24. 62). Here it means 'violent,'
'furious.'


ODE X.

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 [Greek: paraklausithyron], 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.

2. _Saevo nupta viro,_] 'wedded to a barbarian husband.'

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 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.

14. _tinctus viola_] See Argument.

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.


ODE XI.

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."


2. _Amphion_] See Epp. i. 18. 41. A. P. 394, n.

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.).

4. _Callida_] 'skilled.'

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,' '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.

13. _Tu potes_] See C. i. 12. 7, sqq.

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 Lapithę. 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 Ęgyptus, 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.

27. _fundo pereuntis imo_] 'escaping by (through) the bottom.'

28. _Seraque fata_] [Greek: hysterophthoron dikźn]. See note on C. iii.
2. 32.

31. _potuere_] 'they had the heart.' This would be expressed by [Greek:
etlźsan] 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.)


ODE XII.

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 Alcęus, 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.


1. _Miserarum est_] 'It is the fate of unhappy women.'

2. _aut_] 'or, if we do.'

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 Chimęra.
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).'

11. _jaculari_] C. i. 2. 3, n.

12. _excipere_] This seems to be a hunting word. See Epp. i. 1. 79.


ODE XIII.

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.

6. _Frustra:_] See above (C. iii. 7. 21, n.).

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 [Greek: Seirios]. 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.


ODE XIV.

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.--Cęsar 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 Neęra come: if the
churlish porter refuse 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.'

2. _Morte venalem_] 'whose price is death.'

5. _Unico gaudens--marito_] A poetical periphrasis for 'chaste.'

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 [Greek:
euphźmeite] 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.

19. _si qua_] 'if in any way.' Supply 'ratione.'

21. _argutae_] 'the sweet singer.'

22. _Myrrheum_] 'perfumed.'

27. _ferrem_] For 'tulissem.'

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.


ODE XV.

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.

13. _Te lanae_] See Argument.

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.


ODE XVI.

Horace here dwells on his favorite theme,--contentment and
moderation,--which he is able to illustrate by the example of Męcenas
(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. Męcenas, 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
Formię, 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 Danaėn_] 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' is like Ovid's "tristis custodia servi" (A. A. iii.
601). On the construction with 'munierant' see C. ii. 17. 28, n.

4. _adulteris_] 'lovers.'

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 [Greek: philei], like "consociare amant" (C. ii. 3.
10), and "amet quavis adspergere" (S. i. 4. 87).

11. _concidit auguris Argivi domus_] The story is that of Amphiaraus,
who

    [Greek: olet' en Thźbaisi gynaiōn heineka dōrōn] (Odyss. xv. 247),

and of his wife Eriphyle,

    [Greek: hź chryson philou andros edexato timźenta] (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 Alcmęon 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 Ęmilius (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), [Greek: aiei de pleonōn echei
himeros auton]. 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 cęsural place.
'Occultare,' '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, [Greek: lanthanei olbiōteron
on]. 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.'

33. _Calabrae--apes_] See C. ii. 6. 14, n.

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 Formię in Latium supposed it to be the same as the
Lęstrygonia mentioned by Homer (Odyss. x. 81),--

    [Greek:
    hebdomatź d' hikomestha Lamou aipu ptoliethron,
    tźlepulon Laistrugoniźn.
    ]

See Introduction to the next Ode, and Ovid (Met. xiv. 233):--

    "Inde Lami veterem Laestrygonis, inquit, in urbem
     Venimus."

'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.


ODE XVII.

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 Lamię were, perhaps, glad to
trace their origin to a fabulous hero, and believed their founder to be
Lamus, mythical king of the Lęstrygonians, and builder of Formię, 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 Formię 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 Epp. i. 14. 6). In two passages
Juvenal alludes to the Lamię 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.--Ęlius, ennobled with the blood of Lamus,--for like all the
Lamias thou derivest thy birth from him who founded Formię 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.


2. _Quando_] The same as 'quoniam,' 'since.'

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 Lamię 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 Męcenas
is emphatically addressed; and in C. iv. 2. 33.

6. _Formiarum_] See Introduction.

7. _Maricae Litoribus_] This means the coast of Minturnę on the borders
of Latium and Campania, where the nymph Marica, the mother of Latinus,
first king of Latium, was worshipped.

8. _Lirim_] See C. i. 31. 7.

9. _Late tyrannus_] 'lord of a wide domain.'

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,
[Greek: ponou lelymenois]. 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.


ODE XVIII.

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.

13. _audaces_] 'fearless,' on account of the presence of Faunus.

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.


ODE XIX.

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 Ęacus, king of Ęgina, were Telamon, the
father of Ajax and Teucer, and Peleus, the father of Achilles.

4. _sacro--sub Ilio:_] This is Homer's epithet, [Greek: Troiźs hieron
ptoliethron].

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 Pętus, 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).

10. _auguris Murenae:_] See Introduction.

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 [Greek: embrontźtos], 'struck from heaven,'
that is, inspired.

17. _Nudis_] See C. i. 30. 5.

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.

22. _sparge rosas;_] See Epp. i. 5. 14.


ODE XX.

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 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 [Greek: atolmos], '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
[Greek: potera hź leia soi meizōn hźxei ź ekeinź], where [Greek: meizōn]
would be equivalent, not to [Greek: leias meizon meros], but to [Greek:
mallon]. Probably Horace found [Greek: meizōn], 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,

    [Greek:
    hos kallistos anźr hypo Ilion źlthen
    tōn allōn Danaōn met' amymona Pźleiōna] (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.'


ODE XXI.

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 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 Phoebus 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.

23. _Vivaeque producent lucernae,_] See C. iii. 8. 14.


ODE XXII.

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.

2. _laborantes utero_] For 'parturientes.'

5. _tua--esto_] 'be sacred to thee.'

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."


ODE XXIII.

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 [Greek: huptios] 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 [Greek:
hulź]. As to 'nascente Luna,' see C. iii. 19. 9, n. Phidyle is derived
from [Greek: pheidesthai], 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.

5. _Africum_] See C. i. 1. 15.

7. _dulces alumni_] 'Alumnus,' for a lamb, occurs above (C. iii. 18. 4).

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 [Greek:
oulai] and [Greek: oulochytai] 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).


ODE XXIV.

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
Petręa; but Arabia Felix, which is here referred to, had not yet been
invaded. The disastrous expedition under Ęlius 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.

3. _Caementis licet occupes_] This is explained by C. ii. 18. 20; iii.
1. 35.

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 Baię 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).

9. _Campestres melius Scythae_] See C. i. 19. 10, n.; 35. 9, n. Herod.
iv. 46.

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 Cęsar
(Bell. Gall. iv. 1), are here assigned to the Getę, 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.'

18. _temperat_] 'holds her hands from,' 'parcit.'

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 Cęsar (B. G.
i. 1). Speaking of the Belgę, he says, "Of all these the bravest are
the Belgę, 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.'


ODE XXV.

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 Cęsar 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 [Greek: spe-os], the
original meaning of which is unknown. The derivation of [Greek: antron]
is equally uncertain. If, therefore, 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 [Greek: meletan], 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."

7. _Dicam insigne_] 'Aliquid' or 'carmen' must be supplied.

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
[Greek: euoi] (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 Męnads ([Greek:
Mainades] from [Greek: mainomai], as [Greek: Thuiades] from [Greek:
thuein], 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. _Naļadum potens Baccharumque_] These are the Nymphs mentioned, C.
ii. 19. 3. The Bacchę, as distinguished from the Naļades, are the
wood-nymphs (Dryades).

19. _Lenaee,_] This is a name of Bacchus derived from [Greek: lźnos], a
wine-press.

20. _tempora pampino._] Compare C. iv. 8. 33: "Ornatus viridi tempora
pampino Liber."


ODE XXVI.

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.

5. _marinae_] See C. i. 3. 1, n.

9. _beatam--Cyprum_] See C. 29. 60.

10. _Memphin_] Herodotus (ii. 112) speaks of a temple at Memphis to
[Greek: Xeinź Aphroditź], 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 [Greek:
Aphroditź] in question. As to Sithonia, see C. i. 18. 9.

11. _sublimi_] 'lifted high,' that the blow might be the sharper.


ODE XXVII.

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."


1. _parrae_] What this bird was is not determined.

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 [Greek: charopoi leontes] (Odyss. xi. 611),
for 'ravus' is said to be akin to [Greek: charopos]. 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 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 Phoenicia 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 [Greek: Krźtźn hekatompolin] (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):
[Greek: ouch hymin Haidźs mounos arkesei].

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 Deļanira
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 [Greek: lōbasthai] in
Soph. Ant. 54, [Greek: plektaisin artanaisi lōbatai bion]. Several
heroines ended their lives in this unromantic way,--Antigone, Jocasta,
Phędra, 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).

71. _invisus_] They speak ironically.

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.


ODE XXVIII.

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 Cęcuban, 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
Cęsar, B.C. 59. See C. iii. 8. 12, n.

9. _Nos cantabimus invicem_] See Argument.

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 [Greek: Lźtō]) 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.

15. _oloribus;_] Compare Ovid (Met. x. 717):

    "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.


ODE XXIX.

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, Męcenas, 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.

5. _Eripe te morae;_] 'Morae' is the dative.

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 Męcenas 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 Pręneste. One of the legends of the
death of Ulysses attributes it to this son. Ęsula was probably a town
between Pręneste 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 Męcenas'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 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 Męcenas 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.

51. _Transmutat incertos honores,_] Compare C. i. 34. 12, sqq.

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 Phoenicia, 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, [Greek: elatźs dikōpou].
'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.


ODE XXX.

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,
[Greek: mnasasthai tina phami kai husteron ammeōn] (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.

Put on the bay that thou hast earned, my Muse.


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.

7. _Libitinam:_] See S. ii. 6. 19, n.

_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 [Greek: archein]. 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 Alcęus 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).




ODES.--BOOK IV.


ODE I.

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. 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?


2. _Rursus bella moves?_] See Introduction.

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. [Greek: Kynara] signifies, some say, a wild rose-thorn
([Greek: kynosbatos]); [Greek: kinara], 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.

6. _lustra_] C. ii. 15. 13, n. See Introduction.

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.
[Greek: Kōmasdō poti tan Amaryllida] is an expression of Theocritus just
like this (iii. 1). [Greek: Kōmō chreesthai es allźlous] occurs in
Herodotus (i. 21). 'Purpureis,' (which signifies beauty without
reference to color) savors of the Greek. 'Torrere jecur' is like
Theocritus's [Greek: opteumenos ex Aphroditźs] (vii. 55).

14. _sollicitis non tacitus reis_] Compare C. ii. 1. 13, where he calls
Pollio "Insigne moestis praesidium reis."

15. _centum_] This is a large definite number for an indefinite.

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 Berecyntię, 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.

30. _spes animi_] 'the fond trust of mutual love.'

35. The last syllable in this line is cut off.

40. _per aquas,_] C. i. 8. 8. He dreams he sees him swimming in the
Tiber.


ODE II.

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
[Greek: epinikia], 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 Cęsar, 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
Cęsars, though how related to the dictator is not known.

_ceratis ope Daedalea_] Dędalus, 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 Ęgean, 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 [Greek: epinikia], odes of
triumph for victors at the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games.

13. _Seu deos regesve_] Among Pindar's works were [Greek: hymnoi,
paianes, parthenia, prosodia], in honor of the gods, and [Greek:
enkōmia], 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 Chimęra (C. i. 27. 24).

17. _Elea_] This applies to the [Greek: epinikia] 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 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 [Greek: thrźnoi], 'dirges for the dead.'

23. _Aureos_] See C. i. 5. 9, n.

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 [Greek: plattō], 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 prętor 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.


ODE III

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 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 Ęolian 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.

4. _Clarabit_] This word occurs nowhere else in this sense.

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.

12. _Aeolio carmine_] See C. iii. 30. 13, n.

16. _Et jam dente minus_] See Introduction.

17. _testudinis aureae_] This is Pindar's [Greek: chryseas phormingos]
(Pyth. i. 1).

18. _Pieri,_] This singular is not common. Ovid uses it (Fast. iv. 222):
"Pieris orsa loqui."

19. _mutis--piscibus_] The Greek [Greek: ellopas ichthys] 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."


ODE IV.

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 Ręti 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 Quęstor 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 tribes, whose
territories were constituted a Roman province under the united name of
Rętię, Rętia 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 [Greek: źerophoitos]. 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 [Greek: apo], is used absolutely;
'fresh from the dugs of his dam, yea, just weaned from the milk of his
mother.'

17. _Raetis_] See Introduction.

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
place, he means, and some commentators, agreeing with him, have
discarded this stanza as an interpolation.

22. _Nec scire fas est_] C. i. 11. 1.

_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,--

    [Greek:
    esthlōn ap' andrōn esthla gignesthai tekna,
    kakōn d' homoia tź physei tź tou patros] (Fr. Alcm. 7).

'Fortibus et bonis' corresponds to the common Greek expression, which it
is so difficult to render, [Greek: kalois kagathois]. 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 [Greek:
zeia], 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),--

    [Greek:
    perirrhytōn
    hyper akarpistōn pediōn
    Sikelias Zephyrou  pnoais
    hippeusantos en houranō
    kalliston keladźma.
    ]

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 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 Ęneas 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_] Ęneas 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 [Greek:
gźgeneis], 'earth-borns,' who helped Cadmus to build Thebes, which is
therefore called after him.

66. _integrum_] That is, 'in all his strength,' 'intact,' 'unhurt.'

73. _Claudiae_] See note on v. 29.

76. _acuta belli._] This corresponds to Hom. (Il. iv. 352), [Greek: oxyn
Arźa]. 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.'


ODE V.

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 Cęsar. Our fields are at peace,
the very 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.

5. _Lucem_] 'joy.'

7. _it dies_] C. ii. 14. 5, "Quotquot eunt dies."

10. _Carpathii_] The Carpathian Sea is that part of the Ęgean 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.

20. _Culpari metuit Fides,_] 'men's faith is without reproach.'

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.

24. _Culpam poena premit comes._] 'Crime is followed close by
punishment.'

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.'


ODE VI.

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 Ęneas 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 Ęneas 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 [Greek: Zeus gar megalźs
glōssźs kompous Hyperechthairei] (Soph. Antig. 127).

2. _Tityos_] See C. ii. 14. 8, n.

3. _altae_] This is an Homeric epithet for Troy, [Greek: Ilios aipeinź].

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),--

    [Greek:
    tethnźken andros oudenos theou d' hypo
    toxeutos, hōs legousin, ek Phoibou dameis.
    ]

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 from the horse, and murdered the
Trojan youth at the altars and in their beds. See also Virg. Aen. ii.
248.

17. _captis_] This is not a genuine reading, but the true word is lost.

23. _ductos_] Aen. i. 423: "Pars ducere muros." The Greeks would say
[Greek: toichous elaunein]. '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 [Greek:
mousagetźs] 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).

27. _Dauniae_] See C. i. 22. 14, n.

28. _Levis Agyieu_] The Greeks gave this name ([Greek: aguieus]) 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.

36. _Pollicis ictum,_] The beating of time by the motion of the thumb.

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.'

42. _festas--luces,_] The Secular Games lasted three days and nights.


ODE VII.

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 [Greek: philź psychź
charizesthai].

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 Ęsculapius; 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.


ODE VIII.

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 Ęacus or Romulus have been
without her? She raises men to the skies, as did Hercules, the
Tyndaridę, and Liber.


1. _pateras_] See S. i. 6. 118, n.

_commodus,_] 'liberally.' "Miscentur cyathis pocula commodis" (C. iii.
19. 12) is a like use of the word.

2. _aera_] See S. i. 4. 28, n.

3. _tripodas,_] In the temple of Apollo, at Delphi, was a bronze altar
on three legs, called from its form [Greek: tripous]. 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 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

                                   "qui
    Duxit ab oppressa meritum Carthagine nomen."

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 Rudię, 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 Ęgina, 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 Ęacus 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.

32. _eripiunt aequoribus_] See C. i. 3. 2, n.

33. _Ornatus viridi_] See C. iii. 25. 20.

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.


ODE IX.

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, Alcęus, Stesichorus, Anacreon,
Sappho,--these all survive. Helen was not the first woman that loved;
nor 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.

7. _Alcaei minaces_] See C. i. 32. 5, n.

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.

12. _Aeoliae--puellae._] Sappho. See C. i. 1. 34.

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.);

and Hecuba upbraids Helen with the same weakness (Eur. Tro. 991):--

    [Greek:
    hon g' eisidousa barbarois esthźmasi
    chrusō te lampron exemargōthźs phrenas.
    ]

See C. i. 15. 14.

17. _tela Cydonio_] Teucer is described by Homer as [Greek: aristos
Achaiōn toxosunź] (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.

31. _Chartis_] See S. ii. 3. 2.

_silebo,_] So C. i. 12. 21: "Neque te silebo, Liber."

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 [Greek:
pelidnos], 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?"

37. _abstinens--pecuniae,_] For similar Grecisms, see C. ii. 9. 17, n.

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.


ODE X.

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 [Greek: ptilon], used in
the sense of the early down upon a boy's cheek. The word is nowhere
else used in this sense. [Greek: Aptilos] 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 [Greek: heteron], 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.


ODE XI.

This Ode professes to be an invitation to Phyllis to come and sup with
Horace on the 15th of April, Męcenas's birthday. It is possible that the
Ode was sent to Męcenas 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 Męcenas's birthday, more sacred
to me than my own. Telephus is matched already, and is no match for
thee. The fates of Phaėthon 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.

5. _qua crines religata fulges;_] 'Crowned with which thou art
beautiful.'

7. _verbenis_] See C. i. 19. 14, n.

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 ([Greek: Aphroditź]) 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 [Greek: aphros]: Varro, more
probably, from 'aperio,' as the month that opens the year. The word
'idus' is derived from 'iduare,' which signifies to divide, and this
explains 'findit.'

19. _adfluentes Ordinat annos._] 'Reckons each year as it succeeds.'

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
pre-occupied' (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).

23. _grata Compede_] This is repeated from C. i. 33. 14.

25. _Phaėthon_] The story of Phaėthon 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
Chimęra, 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.'

32. _Finis_] Compare Propert. i. 12. 19:--

    "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:

    "Reddidi carmen docilis modorum Vatis Horati."


ODE XII.

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 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?"

In short, the legend is more varied than almost any other.

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.

9. _Dicunt_] C. iii. 4. 1.

11. _deum_] Pan, who was chiefly worshipped in Arcadia.

14. _Calibus_] See C. i. 20. 9. As to 'ducere,' see C. iii. 3. 34, n.

15. _juvenum nobilium cliens,_] These are said by the Scholiasts to be
Augustus and Męcenas. '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 10_l._ 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).

25. _studium lucri,_] This looks like a joke, but the point of it is
lost.

26. _Nigrorum--ignium_] This epithet is commonly applied to the funeral
fires, as (Aen. xi. 186), "subjectis ignibus atris."


ODE XIII.

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
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.

8. _excubat in genis._] This is a close imitation of Sophocles (Antig.
782):--

    [Greek:
    Erōs hos en ktźmasi pipteis
    hos en malakais pareiais
    neanidos ennucheueis.
    ]

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 Ęgean.

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.'


ODE XIV.

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 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 [Greek: hź oikoumenź], 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):--

    [Greek:
    pros theōn phrason, philź
    despoina, tonde tis pot' estin ho xenos;
    ]

10. _Genaunos,_] The Genauni were one of the southern tribes of Rętia,
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.

14. _Major Neronum_] Tiberius. See C. iv. 4. 28, n.

17. _Spectandus--Quantis_] This seems imitated from the Greek idiom
[Greek: thaumastos hosois.] '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 [Greek:
schedon ti] (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.

24. _medios per ignes._] 'Ignes' means the flames of war.

25. _tauriformis_] This is taken from the Greek [Greek: tauromorphos],
applied to the 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.

26. _Dauni_] See C. i. 22. 14, n.

28. _meditatur_] See C. iii. 25. 5, n.

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), [Greek: hoi d'
hōst' amźtźres enantioi allźloisin Ogmon elaunōsin].

32. _sine clade_] See note on v. 13.

33. _te--Praebente divos._] See C. i. 7. 27, n. Augustus had the
'auspicium,' and his step-sons were his 'legati.'

34. _quo die_] See C. i. 37, Introduction, iv. 4, Introduction.

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 [Greek: polythremmōn] of Ęschylus,
[Greek: polykźtźs] of Theocritus, and Homer's [Greek: megakźtźs].

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."


ODE XV.

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 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, Phoebus checked me with his
lyre. Thy reign, O Cęsar, 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.


2. _increpuit lyra,_] This is explained by Ovid (A. A. ii. 493):--

    "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.

5. _Fruges et agris_] This is a repetition of C. iv. 5. 17, sq.

6. _nostro--Jovi_] To the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

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 therefore does not use the word in its legal
sense. The Getę 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--Tanaļn_] 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.

25. _lucibus_] This word is used for 'diebus' by Ovid (Fast. iii.
397):--

    "His etiam conjux apicati cincta Dialis
       Lucibus impexas debet habere comas."

The singular is more common.

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) [Greek: aulos andrźļos] and [Greek: aulos gynaikźļos],
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.




THE SECULAR HYMN.


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.



Argument.

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, Parcę, 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).

Hide thy weapon, Apollo, and hear thy suppliant boys (33, 34).

Queen of the stars, O Moon, hear thy maidens (35, 36).

Since Rome is your handiwork, and at your bidding Ęneas 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).

Humbled are the Mede, the proud Scythian, and the Indian (53-56).

Peace, plenty, and all the virtues have returned to our land (57-60).

May Phoebus, 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).

May Diana, who inhabiteth the Palatine and Algidus, hear our prayers
(69-72).

We, the choir of Phoebus 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.

6. _Virgines lectas_] See Introd.

7. _septem placuere colles_] The seven hills of Rome, which were
Coelius, 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 Phoebus,
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.' [Greek: Eileithuia], 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
[Greek: elthein], 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
[Greek: Genetullis], which was applied to Aphrodite as well as Artemis
and her attendants.

17. _producas_] This signifies 'to rear,' as in C. ii. 13. 3.

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
Parcę, 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, [Greek: pontogonois Moirais], which was the Greek name of the
Parcę (some writers derived their birth from Oceanus and Ge, the earth).
'Semel' in the sense of 'once for all' ([Greek: kathapax]), is common
enough. The Parcę 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 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 Ęneas (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,_] Ęneas 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.

41. _fraude_] C. ii. 19. 20.

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 Ęneas, 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 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
Astręa 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, Ęsculapius, 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 Cęsar.

71. _puerorum_] This includes the whole choir of boys and girls.

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.

75. _Doctus_] C. iv. 6. 43: "docilis modorum Vatis Horati."




EPODES.


EPODE I.

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. Męcenas 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 Męcenas 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 Męcenas 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, Męcenas, to share
the fortunes of Cęsar. 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?'

12. _Inhospitalem--Caucasum,_] This is repeated from or in C. i. 22. 6.

16. _firmus parum?_] This is probably taken from the Greek [Greek:
analkis], which goes commonly with [Greek: aptolemos] (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 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 Circęan 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.

33. _Chremes_] The allusion is to a character in some play of
Menander's.

34. _Discinetus_] 'dissolute'; indicating by his slovenly dress his
dissipated habits.


EPODE II.

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 [Greek: dź], 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.

15. _amphoris,_] These vessels were used for keeping honey, as well as
wine.

16. _infirmas_] This is no more than an ornamental epithet.

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 [Greek: drepōn
hźdetai].

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.

39. _in partem_] 'on her part.' The Greeks said [Greek: en merei].

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.

48. _inemptus_] Georg. iv. 132:--

                       "seraque revertens
    Nocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis."

As to the oysters of the lacus Lucrinus, see S. ii. 4. 32.

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 [Greek: meleagridas]. 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 [Greek: konistikoi ornithes],
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.

61. _ut juvat_] See v. 19, "ut gaudet."

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 [Greek: kataballein, ballein, tithenai]. 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 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.


EPODE III.

Horace here vents his wrath against some garlic which he had eaten the
day before at Męcenas's table, and which had disagreed with him. He
seems to imply that Męcenas 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, Męcenas, 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.

6. _viperinus--cruor_] See C. i. 8. 9.

7. _fefellit?_] C. iii. 16. 32, n.

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.) 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.

20. _Jocose_] See Introduction.

21. _savio opponat tuo_] 'Savium' means 'a lip.'

22. _sponda_] The side of the bed on which the person got in was called
'sponda,' the opposite side 'pluteus.'


EPODE IV.

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
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 [Greek: tribō], 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.


EPODE V.

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 [Greek: alla] and [Greek: de] 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.)

8. _Per improbaturum_] Compare C. i. 2. 19.

12. _Insignibus_] That is, his 'praetexta' and 'bulla.' 'Impube corpus'
is in apposition with 'puer.'

14. _Thracum_] The Thracians are put for any barbarians.

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:--

    "Vidi egomet nigra _succinctam_ vadere palla
     Canidiam."

Sagana is there again introduced in her company.

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 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.

43. _otiosa_] So Ovid calls it "in otia natam Parthenopen" (Met. xv.
711).

45. _Quae sidera excantata_] This faculty of witches is sufficiently
well known. Virg. (Ecl. viii. 69): "Carmina vel caelo possunt deducere
Lunam."

_Thessala_] C. i. 27. 21.

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.

63. _fugit ulta pellicem,_] See Epod. iii. 13.

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.'

74. _caput_] See C. i. 24. 2, n.

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.

90. _Nulla expiatur victima_] See C. i. 28. 34.

91. Quin] See next Epod. v. 3, n.

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 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.


EPODE VI.

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.

16. _Inultus ut flebo puer?_] The construction is 'inultus, flebo ut
puer.'


EPODE VII.

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 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.


2. _conditi?_] Swords which were 'lately sheathed.'

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 Cęsar, but for the
destruction of Rome herself." 'Intactus' means 'untouched,' till Julius
Cęsar invaded them and carried away prisoners, many of whom walked in
his triumph. The first time after Cęsar's expeditions that a Roman army
invaded Britain was in the expedition of Claudius, A.D. 43.

8. _Sacra catenatus via,_] See C. iv. 2. 35, n.

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 [Greek: theou bia,
theoblabeia]; 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 [Greek: theou bian], 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.


EPODE VIII.

Addressed to a licentious old woman.


EPODE IX.

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 Męcenas, 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, Męcenas, to Cęsar
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 Cęcuban,--we will drown our old anxieties for Cęsar in wine.


3. _sub alta--domo,_] This was the house built by Męcenas 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.

16. _conopium_] A gauze mosquito curtain.

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 Cęsar.
For the expression 'canentes Caesarem' compare Virg. (Aen. vii. 698):
"Ibant aequati numero regemque canebant." The Galli were cavalry of
Galatia (or Gallogręcia) 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 [Greek: prumnźn krousasthai], '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.'

21. _Io Triumphe,_] Triumphus is personified, as in C. iv. 2. 49.

_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'
is called by the Greek writers [Greek: phoinikis]. 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).


EPODE X.

Męvius 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 Męvius,
and promises an offering to the tempests if they will sink his ship.


Argument.--Bad luck go with the stinking Męvius. 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.


10. _tristis Orion_] See C. i. 28. 21, n.

14. _Ajacis_] The son of Oļleus. 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.

17. _illa_] He speaks as though he heard the man crying.

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.


EPODE XI.

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 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.

12. _applorans_] This word is not found elsewhere, except in Seneca.

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, Alcęus'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.


EPODE XII.

This Ode is addressed to a licentious woman.


EPODE XIII.

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 taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man": and the knees are
a chief part of the legs, therefore [Greek: gounata luein] is used for
[Greek: kteinein]. '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 [Greek: hetera], 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): [Greek: hź d' heterź thereļ proreei eikuia chalazź Ź chioni
psychrź]. 'Domus Assaraci,' 'proles Assaraci,' are common in Virgil.
Assaracus was great-grandfather of Ęneas. Homer took a more heroic view
of the dimensions of the river Scamander, which was [Greek: megas
potamos bathydinźs] (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 [Greek: paramythion, parźgoria], which were applied, in a
derived sense, to anything that gave relief to sorrow.


EPODE XIV.

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 Męcenas ought to
sympathize with him.


Argument.--Thou killest me, my noble Męcenas, 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 [Greek: spaō]
and [Greek: helkō] commonly in this sense. 'Candide' seems to signify
'generous,' 'true.' It is used familiarly.

6. _Deus_] That is, love.

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 [Greek: eis neōteron
Bathyllon·] and from that we also learn that he was a Samian, [Greek: źn
d' es Samon pot' elthźs Graphe Phoibon ek Bathyllou]. 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, Męcenas's wife, is
here alluded to.


EPODE XV.

This is probably a composition from the Greek. It is addressed to an
imaginary Neęra 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 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, Neęra. 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 Neęra 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 Neęra'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 Neęra is formed from [Greek:
neiaira], which is used by Homer, and is said to be an irregular
comparative of [Greek: neos], so that Neęra signifies 'the younger.'

14. _parem,_] One who is his match, equally loving and true.

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.


EPODE XVI.

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 Phocęans, 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.

3. _Marsi_] This refers to the Social War, mentioned in C. iii. 14. 18.

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
Cloelia, who with her maidens swam over the river, and of Mucius
Scęvola, 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 Cannę, 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 Isčre, 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 Cęsar (B. G. iv. 5).

8. _Parentibus_] This is like "bella matribus detestata" (C. i. 1. 24).

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 [Greek: kathezomai]. 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 [Greek: hōste]. The story of the
Phocęans 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,' [Greek: epoiźsanto ischuras kataras]. 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, [Greek:
peithein echei].

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.'

41. _Oceanus_] The Atlantic.

42. _divites et insulas,_] See C. iv. 8. 25, n.

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."

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
Phoenicians, 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.'


EPODE XVII.

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 Ętna'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." Cęsar (B. G. v. 31): "tandem dat
Cotta permotus manus; superat sententia Sabini." Cicero uses it
repeatedly. The speaker invokes Proserpina and Hecate, as the
divinities with whom the witch has most communication.

4. _Per atque libros_] This position of 'atque' is peculiar to the
poets.

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: [Greek: rhombos] 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), [Greek: kai tote dź lousan te
kai źleipsan lip' elaiō]. 'Homicidam' is a literal version of [Greek:
androphonon], Homer's epithet for Hector. The rhythm of the line in
which it occurs is without a precedent in Horace.

16. _Laboriosi_] This epithet is repeated from the last Epode (v. 60).

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.

23. _odoribus;_] This is equivalent to 'unguentis' or 'venenis.'

24. _ab labore_] This preposition is used like [Greek: apo], 'after,'
and 'est' in the next verse like [Greek: esti] for [Greek: exesti].

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.

31. _Quantum neque atro_] See Epod. iii. 17.

33. _Virens_] This probably means 'undying,' 'ever fresh.'

_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 [Greek: źchein]. 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 ([Greek: palinōdia]) 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 [Greek: charin] and [Greek: moiran]
in the same way.

45. _potes nam,_] This is a common formula in entreaties both in Greek
([Greek: dunai gar]) 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.

53. _Quid obseratis_] From this point Canidia is supposed to reply.

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 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.

63. _in hoc_] 'For this purpose.'

65. _Pelopis infidi_] See C. i. 6. 8, n.

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 Ęschylus (P. V. 1016,
sqq.), is, that the Scythian rock on which Prometheus was first bound by
Hephęstus was struck down, with him upon it, by Zeus into Hades, and
that he was brought thence after a long time ([Greek: makron mźkos
ekteleutźsas chronou]) 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:--

    [Greek:
    hōs touton ton karon egō daimoni takō,
    hōs takoith' hup' erōtos ho Mundios autika Delphis,
    ]

which Virgil has imitated in his eighth Eclogue (v. 80):--

    "Limus ut hic durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit
     Uno eodemque igni, sic nostro Daphnis amore."

And Hypsipyle says of Medea (Ovid, Heroid. vi. 91):--

    "Devovet absentes simulacraque cerea figit,
     Et miserum tenues in jecur urget acus."

80. _Desideri--pocula_] Love potions.

81. _in te nil agentis_] 'Of no avail against thee.'




SATIRES.--BOOK I.


SATIRE I.

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, [Greek: mempsimoiria]. It will be seen that, after
propounding the whole subject in the shape of a question to Męcenas,
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 Męcenas.


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,' [Greek:
makarizein] 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,' [Greek: oute] and [Greek: te]. '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 [Greek: barus] is equally common in the same connection.
Horace, in his own campaigning, had undoubtedly heard many a veteran
grumbling at his condition.

7. _Quid enim, concurritur:_] See C. ii. 18. 23, n.

_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 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 prętor 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 prętor 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 [Greek: kata], 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,
[Greek: ei daimōn tis]. 'En ego' does not belong to 'faciam,' but is
absolute: 'Here am I.' 'Eia' is an exclamation of haste, 'Away!'
'Nolint,' 'they would not' ([Greek: ouk etheloien an]), 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.

25. _olim_] See C. ii. 10. 17, n.

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.

33. _nam exemplo est,_] 'for this is their model.'

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 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 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.

68. _Tantalus_] See Epod. xvii. 66, n.

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.

72. _Cogeris_] 'you force yourself.'

74. _sextarius,_] See v. 54, n. A 'sextarius' of wine would be enough
for one temperate man's consumption in a day.

78. _compilent fugientes,_] 'rob you, and run away.'

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.

86. _argento post omnia ponas,_] i.e. 'postponas omnia argento.'

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.'

92. _quaerendi,_] 'money-getting.' 'Plus' means 'a superfluity.'

94. _ne facias_] 'Lest you fare,' [Greek: mź prassźs].

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.' Męnius 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 ([Greek: panta labōn]), or borrows money from any
one who will lend it. He spent his money and turned parasite. Both
Męnius 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. _Tanaļn--socerumque Visellī._] 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.


SATIRE II.

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.


SATIRE III.

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 Cęsar. Some of the vices and follies of the age are attacked in
strong language, and 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 Męcenas 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 [Greek: iobakchoi]. 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 [Greek: hupatź],
and the 'ima' [Greek: nźtź]. '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 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; [Greek: źn an] 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 Męnius (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 Ęsculapius 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
([Greek: meizō tou podos hupodźmata phorein], 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.

34. _hoc sub corpore._] He speaks as if the man were before him.

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 means 'to search,' as suspected persons are searched by the police.
'Excutio' is used in that connection. See Phędrus (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 [Greek: hagnź], 'pure.' The first
syllable of 'polypus' is always long, though derived from [Greek: polus
pous], the Ęolic form, [Greek: pōlus], being followed rather than the
Attic.

42. _nomen virtus posuisset_] The Romans used 'ponere nomen,' after the
Greek [Greek: onoma tithenai].

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.'

49. _frugi_] See S. ii. 5. 77, n.

_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 Męcenas.

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 [Greek: ho
koinos nous], 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 Ęneas; 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
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 [Greek: onomata kai rhźmata]. (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 [Greek: skutos] are short in
the first syllable. There are other instances (as 'anchora' from
[Greek: ankura], 'crepida' from [Greek: krźpis], 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, 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' ([Greek: krźpis]) 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 of English money, taking the value
of the 'denarius' at 8½_d_. 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.


SATIRE IV.

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 'poėtae' 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 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. Phędrus explains it in his
description of Ęsop (1. 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 Cęcilius
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.

19. _At tu conclusas_] Persius imitates this, S. v. 10.

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, 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.

29. _Hic mutat merces_] See C. i. 31. 12, n.

_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
poėtas," 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 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 poėma 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 poėma,_] 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. Cęlius 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 poėtis. 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.

95. _ut tuus est mos:_] 'In your peculiar way,' that is, sarcastically.

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
[Greek: ethizein ti tina]. '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 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 Prętor 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.

126. _Avidos_] This signifies 'intemperate,' as in C. i. 18. 11.

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.

137. _olim_] See C. ii. 10. 17, n.

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 poėtarum 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.'


SATIRE V.

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): [Greek: ek tinōn
diabolōn paroxuntheis pros Kaisara], says Plutarch. He pretended, Dion
says, to come for the purpose of helping to put down Sextus Pompeius,
his real object being 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 (Cęsar
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 Męcenas 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. Męcenas 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 Cęlius, 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 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 Cęcus, 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,' [Greek: euzōnos],
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 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 Męcenas, 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.

33. _non ut magis alter_] This is equivalent to 'quam qui maxime' in
prose.

34. _Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore_] They arrived at Tarracina about
noon, and there the principal personages met them. At Tarracina they
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 Amyclę, 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 Prętor Urbanus. At this
time the 'praefectus' was one Aufidius Luscus (not otherwise known), an
upstart whom Horace calls Prętor 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 prętor's office,--such a situation as Horace held
at this time in the quęstor'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 Formię (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 Formię was situated at the head of the Sinus Caietanus.
Its supposed identity with the Lęstrygonia 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
Mamurrę,--a family of respectability in this town. When the party got to
Formię, 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
Formię likewise.

40. _Sinuessae_] Leaving Formię next day, the party set out for
Sinuessa, eighteen miles distant. The road crossed the Liris (C. i. 31.
7) at Minturnę, 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 Ęneid 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 Męcenas'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
[Greek: parechein]. 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 Cannę (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 Męcenas 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 Furcę (or Fauces) Caudinę,
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 Męcenas 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 Męcenas, who gave him his
liberty. He then obtained the office of 'scriba' in the quęstor'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
Męcenas, 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 Męcenas, 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
[Greek: kikirrhos], 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 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 poėmata 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 [Greek: prosōpa] by the Greeks, and 'personae' or
'larvae' by the Romans. As to 'cothurnus,' see C. ii. 1. 12, n.

65. _Donasset jamne catenam_] See Epp. i. 1. 4, 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 [Greek: zeia] or [Greek: olyra]. 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 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 Cannę, proceeded down the line of coast till it reached
Brundisium.

81. _camino._] See Epod. ii. 43, n.

86. _rhedis,_] See S. ii. 6. 42.

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 Diomedeę. 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.

93. _Varius_] See above, v. 40, n.

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.

96. _ad usque_] See S. i. 1. 97, n.

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 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 Lymphę. 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
Speluncę (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.


SATIRE VI.

In addition to the obloquy brought upon him by his Satires, Horace,
after his intimacy with Męcenas 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
Męcenas, 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 Męcenas 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
Męcenas. 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, Męcenas, and others; and probably malignity
never attacked any one less deserving of attack than Horace.


1. _Lydorum quidquid Etruscos_] On Męcenas'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 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 [Greek:
myktźrizein]. 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 Męcenas, 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 Lęvinus was another distinguished
branch of the same gens. The Lęvinus 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 quęstorship; 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 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 Męcenas 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 Cęsar, as being of Pompeius's party, but
reinstated after Cęsar'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
prętorship, in the words 'urbem sibi curae'; the consulship, in
'imperium et Italiam'; and the ędileship, in 'delubra deorum,' because
it was the duty of the ędile 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 Esquilię. (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 Cęsar, 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 Ęmilia 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, 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.'

48. _Quod mihi pareret_] See above, on v. 25.

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 Męcenas, because he was so particular in choosing only the
deserving. 'Prava ambitione' means low flattery, to which Męcenas would
not listen.

52. _Felicem dicere_] 'Felix' is 'lucky.' Horace means he did not owe
his introduction to Męcenas to his luck, but to his friends. As to
'hoc,' see above, v. 41, n.

55. _Virgilius, post hunc Varuis_] See S. 5. 40, n.

56. _singultim_] Catching his breath, as a nervous man might.

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.), 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 [Greek: paidagōgos] 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,' [Greek: epi
toutō], is commonly used by Horace. See in this Satire, vv. 41 and 52.
It is also common in Cęsar.

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.'

93. _Et vox et ratio:_] 'My language and my judgment.'

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
prętors by lictors. The 'sella curulis' was a chair ornamented with
ivory, the use of which during the republic was confined to the consuls,
prętors, curule ędiles, and censors.

98. _fortasse_] The Greeks used [Greek: isōs] 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.

111. _Millibus atque aliis_] See note on S. ii. 3. 197.

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 [Greek: kat' exochźn]. 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. 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.


SATIRE VII.

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
Clazomenę (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 Męcenas 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 Pręneste (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, proprętor of Cn. Pompeius; that he was received into favor by
Julius Cęsar and made Prętor; that after Cęsar'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 Clazomenę. 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 Lęlius 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.

7. _Confidens tumidusque,_] See C. iii. 4. 50, n.

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. Ęmilius. '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 prętor (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 Cęsar was killed; and in the course of the same year he
left Rome for the purpose of taking possession, as proprętor, 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 proprętor; and
it was at such a gathering at Clazomenę 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 prętor 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 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 prętor claimed for his ancestor, L.
Junius Brutus, who helped to expel the last of the kings. See note on v.
1.


SATIRE VIII.

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 Męcenas, 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
Męcenas'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 Męcenas 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. Hence [Greek: sukinoi andres] 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, [Greek: nekrophorous]) 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 Cęsar, 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 Esquilię. 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 Męcenas's house in the Esquilię,
to recruit (Octav. c. 72). The 'agger' here referred to was a raised
terrace, commenced by Servius Tullius, and continued by Tarquinius
Priscus, being 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 Męcenas 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_] Ęneas 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."

28. _confusus_] 'Poured and stirred.' Compare Tibull. (i. 2. 45):--

    "Haec cantu finditque solum, Manesque sepulcris
     Elicit, et tepido devocat ossa rogo."

29. _Manes_] See Epp. ii. 1. 138, n.

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.
Julius may have been a freedman of the dictator, C. Julius Cęsar, 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."

43. _cerea_] The last two syllables coalesce. See S. 7. 30, n.

45. _Furiarum_] 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
[Greek: semnai theai]. Before Euripides, no writer would have made so
free with the name of the Erinnyes. He applies it to Helen (Orest. 1390,
[Greek: pergamōn Apollōniōn Erinun]), and to Medea (Med. 1260, [Greek:
exel' oikōn talainan phonian t' Erinun hup' alastorōn]).

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.


SATIRE IX.

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 Męcenas. 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 prętor
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.

4. _Quid agis,_] See Epp. i. 3. 15.

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 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 Ęqui.

18. _Trans Tiberim--cubat is_] 'Cubat' means that his friend is lying
sick. (See Sat. ii. 3. 289, and Epp. ii. 2. 68.) Julius Cęsar 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.

25. _Hermogenes_] See S. 3. 129, 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 Numę and Lucus Vestę 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.

39. _Aut valeo stare_] 'Stare' here means 'to stop.'

40. _quo scis._] See v. 18.

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 formulę)
as an equivalent for 'lis.'

43. _Maecenas quomodo tecum?_] He asks abruptly, "How do you and Męcenas
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 [Greek: deuteragōnistźs] (see Epp. i. 18.
14), the other of all the subordinate players. 'Hunc hominem' is the
Greek [Greek: tond' andra]. '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 Męcenas, intriguing and jostling one
another to get the first place in his favor.

53. _Sic habet._] This is a literal adaptation of [Greek: houtōs echei].

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 Męcenas 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.

61. _Fuscus Aristius_] See Introduction, and C. i. 22.

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.

65. _Male salsus_] 'The wicked wag,' as we should say.

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 [Greek: sabbata] 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 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 prętor 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.


SATIRE X.

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.


1. _Nempe incomposito_] See Introduction.

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.

11. _modo tristi_] 'Tristi' signifies 'serious.'

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
('poėtae') 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 [Greek:
opsimatheis]. 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 [Greek: Timolaos] and [Greek: Timoleōn], [Greek:
Menelaos] and [Greek: Meneleōs], &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.

26. _causa Petilli?_] See S. 4. 94, n.

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. Męcius Tarpa was the officer who
licensed plays before they were acted. He is mentioned again in the Ars
Poėtica (v. 387). His duties had previously formed part of the functions
of the ędiles, 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 poėmata 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 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.

63. _capsis_] See S. 4. 22, n.

64. _Fuerit_] See S. i. 1. 45.

65. _Comis et urbanus_] 'Agreeable and refined.'

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 poėta
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, whether for its odor, its skulking, or its sting. So that
[Greek: dźgmata koreōn, lathrodaknai korees], 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 Cęsar 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.

84. _Ambitione relegata_] 'Dismissing flattery.'

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.

88. _Prudens_] 'Designedly,' 'on purpose.'

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 [Greek: oimōzein keleuō], 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.




SATIRES.--BOOK II.


SATIRE I.

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.

4. _Trebati,_] See Introduction.

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 [Greek: an], 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.

10. _rapit_] There is force in this word, 'hurries you on like a
torrent.'

13. _quivis_] This corresponds to [Greek: ho tuchōn] in Greek.

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 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!'

22. _Pantolabum_] S. i. 8. 11.

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), [Greek:
Kastora th' hippodamon kai pyx agathon Polydeukea].

27. _quot capitum vivunt,_] Compare "Quot homines tot sententiae: suus
cuique mos" (Phormio, ii. 4. 14.)

28. _claudere_] See S. i. 10. 59.

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), "poėtarum
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,
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 Cannę. 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 [Greek: hōs],
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 Scęva 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 Lęlius 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. Cęcilius 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 Lęlius
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.' Lęlius, 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 Lęlius 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.


SATIRE II.

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.


2. _quae praecepit Ofella_] See Introduction.

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 aėra 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.

10. _Romana--Militia_] This is a way of expressing Roman sports.

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,' [Greek: oinomeli], 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 [Greek:
cheimazetai].

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 [Greek: opson synagō], '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 Ęgean 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).

24. _tergere palatum,_] 'To wipe the palate,' is a novel expression.

25. _vanis rerum,_] See C. iv. 12. 19, n.

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
Męcenas'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 prętor, 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._] [Greek: to legomenon], '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 Nęvius nothing is known. 'Simplex' is
ironical. A story is told by Plutarch, in his Life of Julius Cęsar (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.

93. _tellus me prima_] See S. i. 3. 99.

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.

99. _As laquei pretium._] This was a proverb, or became so after Horace.

_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.

111. _aptarit_] 'Has fitted on his armor,' as it were.

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."

120. _bene erat_] 'We made ourselves happy.' See C. iii. 16. 43.

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,' [Greek:
symposiarchos]" (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.'

133. _Umbreni_] See Introduction.


SATIRE III.

This Satire appears to have been written during the Saturnalia, in the
month of December, B.C. 32. The year before, Agrippa had been Ędile, and
his ędileship 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. [Greek:
hoti pas aphrōn mainetai]), 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.

6. _Nil est:_] 'It's no use,' as if Horace were preparing an excuse.

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 [Greek:
apeilein]. 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.) [Greek: ek pōgōnos sophoi]
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,
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
[Greek: kerdistos andrōn]. 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.

24. _unus_] See S. ii. 6. 57; A. P. 32.

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 [Greek: ō
'gathe].

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 [Greek: hōs epos eipein] 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. [Greek: pōgōnotrophein] 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 Cęsar (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 [Greek: stoa poikilź] 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.

47. _qui tibi nomen Insano_] The dative is right. See above, v. 25, n.

50. _utrique_] Horace uses both the singular and plural of this word.

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),
[Greek: tōn te gar mainomenōn tous men oude ta deina dedienai, tous de
kai ta mź phobera phobeisthai].

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 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!_] [Greek: eien], '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), [Greek: hoi d' źdź gnathmoisi
geloiōn allotrioisi], where the 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.

74. _Si male rem gerere_] See v. 40, n.

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.

91. _Quoad_] This is to be pronounced as a monosyllable.

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 [Greek: theois
echthros], a common Greek expression.

127. _perjuras,_] 'Pejerare' is the common form of this word.

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:

    [Greek:
    methes mi' ousa tōn emōn erinyōn
    meson m' ochmazeis, hōs balźs es Tartaron.
    ]

_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 [Greek: tryblion], 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.

147. _multum celer_] See S. i. 3. 57.

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 [Greek:
astragalos]. 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.

178. _coėrcet._] Keeps within bounds, defines, limits.

179. _Gloria_] See S. i. 6. 23.

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
ędile or a prętor.

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 ędiles 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 ędiles 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 'aėneus,' see C. iii. 3. 65, n. The form of expression 'aėneus 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 prętor and consul,
undertook the ędileship, which was the lowest of the curule offices, in
B.C. 33, to gratify Augustus. His munificence was very great in the
erection of 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 Ęsop 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, [Greek: mōrō kai
basilei nomos agraphos], '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):

    [Greek:
    hymin men theoi doien Olympia dōmat' echontes
    ekpersai Priamoio polin, eu d' oikad' hikesthai.
    ]

'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: [Greek: ź
ken gźthźsai Priamos Priamoio te paides.]

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.

198. _mecum se occidere clamans._] See Soph. Aj. 42:

    [Greek:
    ti dźta poimnais tźnd' epempiptei basin;
    dokōn en hymin cheira chrainesthai phonō.
    ]

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 Euboea, 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?'

203. _Uxore et gnato;_] Tecmessa and Eurysaces.

204. _Non ille_] 'Non' must not be separated from 'ille.' The meaning is
'not even he,' [Greek: oud' ekeinos.] So in C. iii. 21. 9:

    "Non ille quanquam Socraticis madet
     Sermonibus te negliget horridus."

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 [Greek:
phoreion] 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 prętor 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 Oedipus 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.

222. _vitrea_] This probably means the glitter of fame.

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 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.

232. _vel nunc pete vel cras._] This seems to mean 'whenever you
please.'

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_] Ęsopus, 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. Cęcilia 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 Ęsop's
son appears to have been a partner. The mad freak of Clodius is also (as
is better known) related of Cleopatra. Ęsopus, 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 Ęsopus, 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 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
[Greek: artiazein]. 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";

and ver. 103:

    "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 Cęsar (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 [Greek:
kamara], 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 [Greek: en heautō
einai], 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, [Greek: pur machaira skaleuein], '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):

    [Greek:
    Chersi d' aniptoisin Diļ leibein aithopa oinon
    Hazomai
    ]

283. _surpite_] See C. i. 36. 8.

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 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 [Greek: deisidaimonia] 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 Ęsop's fable of the two wallets,
which is told, with its moral, in five lines by Phędrus (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 Męnads 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 Męcenas built his large house on the Esquilię. (See S. i. 8,
Introduction.)

312. _verum est_] [Greek: dikaion esti]; 'is it right?' Compare Cęsar,
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.'

314. _Absentis ranae_] This fable is told by Phędrus (i. 24).

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 poėtas
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.

324. _Teneas,--tuis te._] 'Mind your own business.'

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.


SATIRE IV.

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.

11. _celabitur auctor._] See Introduction.

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 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.'

19. _vivam mixto mersare Falerno;_] 'Mixto' means mixed with water.

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 Cęcuban,
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 [Greek: tellinź] or [Greek: xiphudrion]. 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 Baię. 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 Baię, 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 (some make it much more) before the above
period, they had flourished, above all the colonies of Magna Gręcia, 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 Cęsar,
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.

41. _Curvat aper_] On 'aper,' see above, S. 3. 234.

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
[Greek: kapźleia]. They 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.'

69. _Venafranae_] See C. ii. 6. 16, n.

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 [Greek: kulix]. 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."


SATIRE V.

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 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.

7. _apotheca_] See C. iii. 8. 11, n.

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 Męnius
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):

    [Greek:
    tetlathi dź, kradiź. kai kunteron allo pot' etlźs.
    ]

And v. 223:

    [Greek:
    źdź gar mala poll' epathon kai poll' emogźsa
    Kumasi kai polemō. meta kai tode toisi genesthō.
    ]

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:

    "In cute curanda plus aequo operata juventus";

and 4. 15:

    "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 '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 Ęsop's fable of the fox and crow,
copied by Phędrus (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 Ęneas. 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 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 [Greek: sōphrōn] 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.'

89. _neve--abundes._] 'Don't overdo it.'

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.

100. _Et certum vigilans,_] Compare Ovid, Heroid. x. 9:

    "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.

103. _est_] This is equivalent to [Greek: exesti].

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.


SATIRE VI.

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 Męcenas, 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 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
[Greek: Hermźraklźs], 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 [Greek: to parón]. '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,' [Greek: akouein], occurs again in S. 7. 101; Epp. i. 7.
37, and 16. 17. The word is not commonly used in this sense except with
'bene' or 'male.'

21. _Unde_] 'From whom' (C. i. 12. 17).

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 Męcenas. '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 Męcenas'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 prętor held his court, and that he
wanted Horace to attend as his sponsor. But the prętor'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, Męcenas, 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 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 Męcenas 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.
Męcenas 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), [Greek: egō d' emauton paida tźs tychźs nemōn].

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. Cęsar describes Britain also as
"insula triquetra" (B. G. v. 13).

57. _unum Scilicet--mortalem_] The Greeks use [Greek: heis anźr] 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, 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 Lęlius 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 [Greek: telos], '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: [Greek:
phthonein tini tinos]. 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.

87. _male_] This goes with 'tangentis,' and is equivalent to 'vix.'

89. _Esset ador_] See C. iv. 4. 41, n.

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.):

    [Greek:
    brotois hapasi katthanein opheiletai,
    koyk esti thnźtōn hostis exepistatai
    tźn aurion mellousan ei biōsetai. ----
    taut' oun akousas kai mathōn emou para
    euphraine sauton, pine, ton kath' hźmeran
    bion logizou son, ta d' alla tźs tuchźs.
    ]

98. _pepulere_] This is used absolutely in the sense of 'movere.'

100. _nocturni_] See C. i. 2. 45, n.

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.


SATIRE VII.

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 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 poėtis"), 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' ([Greek: purgos]). 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 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 [Greek: ektos pźlou poda echein]).
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 Esquilię.
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 Męcenas 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 Męcenas'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
drachmę, reckoning the drachma and the denarius as nearly the same value
(about 8½_d._), which was the case about this time, amounts to 17_l._
15_s._ 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.

76. _minor,_] [Greek: hźssōn], a slave to (C. ii. 11. 11, n.).

_quem ter vindicta quaterque_] 'Vindicta' is used for the 'festuca,' or
rod, laid upon the shoulder of a slave by the prętor, 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 [Greek: neurospaston]). 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 [Greek: neurospastai,
automatourgoi]. It appears from Herodotus (ii. 48) that [Greek: agalmata
neurospasta], 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 [Greek: sphairoeides
etorneusato], 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 8½_d._ (See above, v. 43, n.) The
mina was equal to 100 drachmę, and a talent to 60 minę. It was worth
therefore about 212_l._, and five talents 1,060_l._ The caprice of the
man's mistress is described as before, S. 3. 260, sqq.

92. _Non quis;_] This is the second person of 'queo.'

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 mistress Glycera as a flower girl, [Greek:
Stephanźplokos]. 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.

105. _Qui tu impunitior_] Persius has copied this way of speaking (v.
129):

                   "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 [Greek: stlengis],
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."


SATIRE VIII.

This Satire represents a dinner given by a rich, vulgar man to Męcenas
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.

The host's name is Nasidienus Rufus. Who he was, it is impossible to
say.

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, 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 amphorę, one of Cęcuban, the other
of Chian wine. They are represented as coming in in a solemn and stately
manner, like the [Greek: kanźphoroi] 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):

                   "Postquam sapere urbi
    Cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers,"

where he means a learning bred not in Greece, but at home.

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
Męcenas 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' 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.'

[Illustration: Reclining Couches Showing Imus, Medius Lectus, Summus.]

_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 Copię. 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. Męcenas 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;_] 'Placentę' 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 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, Męcenas 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.

34. _Nos nisi damnose bibimus_] See Terence (Heaut. v. 4. 9):--

    "_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 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 ([Greek:
myktźrizōn], 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 [Greek:
deuteragōnistźs], 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 ([Greek: maza]) 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.




EPISTLES.--BOOK I.


EPISTLE I.

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 Męcenas,
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):

    [Greek:
    Atreidź kydiste, anax andrōn Agamemnon,
    En soi men lźxō, seo d' arxomai.
    ]

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 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 (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 [Greek: homoiōs] 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 Lilybęum 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.

34. _Sunt verba et voces_] Compare Euripides (Hippol. 478):

    [Greek:
    eisin d' epōdai kai logoi thelktźrioi;
    phanźsetai ti tźsde pharmakon nosou.
    ]

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 [Greek: akoniti,] 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 aėneus,' 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 poėmata 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 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
Ęsop'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 Baię, 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. Baię was for several generations a
favorite resort of the wealthy Romans. Julius Cęsar 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 Baię. 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.

90. _Protea_] See S. ii. 3. 71.

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 Męcenas,
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 Męcenas 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 Męcenas 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.


EPISTLE II.

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
Pręneste. 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;_] Pręneste (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, [Greek: antikru d' apophźmi gunaika men ouk
apodōsō] (Il. vii. 362, sqq.).

12. _Inter Peliden--inter Atriden;_] See S. i. 7. 11, n; Epp. 1. 25, n.

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 [Greek: ptoliporthos] 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 [Greek: hoi arourźs karpon edousi]
(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 Phęacia 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:

    [Greek:
    aiei d' hźmin dais te philź, kitharis te, choroi te,
    heimata t' exźmoiba, loetra te therma, kai eunai.
    ]
                (Odyss. viii. 248.)

The Phęacians 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
[Greek: archź de toi hemisu pantos], 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.

60. _et mens,_] 'Mens' signifies passion, [Greek: menos].

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 [Greek: speudein], 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.


EPISTLE III.

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 [Greek: Thrźkź]. 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 [Greek:
lźkuthos], 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 [Greek:
lźkuthizein] and [Greek: lźkuthos]. 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. Ęsop's
fable of the jackdaw, who dressed himself in the peacock's cast-off
feathers, is told by Phędrus (i. 3). [Greek: Aisōpios koloios] was a
proverb.

21. _Quae circumvolitas_] This similitude of a bee gathering honey from
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.


EPISTLE IV.

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 Pręneste. 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 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.

2. _regione Pedana?_] See Introduction.

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 Ęmilia passed through Parma. Cassius of Parma was one of
the murderers of Julius Cęsar, 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 [Greek: herpō], 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.


EPISTLE V.

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 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 Minturnę 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 prętor 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.

15. _patiarque vel inconsultus haberi._] See C. ii. 7. 28; iii. 19. 18.

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 [Greek: prosdidaskei]. '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 [Greek: pseudothyron],
a false door.


EPISTLE VI.

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 [Greek:
deisidaimonia], 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 [Greek: ekplźssein], 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.

24. _Quidquid sub terra est_] This is like Sophocles (Aj. 646):

    [Greek:
    hapanth' ho makros kanarithmźtos chronos
    phyei t' adźla kai phanenta kryptetai.
    ]

'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.)

Horace here repeats in effect what he said in S. ii. 3. 94:

                   "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 [Greek: Peithō], Persuasion. The name,
Cicero tells us, was Latinized by Ennius (Brut. 15). [Greek: Peithō] was
usually associated with [Greek: Aphroditź], 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 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 [Greek: entautha]: 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 prętor who wished to get up a
public spectacle on an ambitious scale ([Greek: philotimoumenou peri
theas]) 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 prętor
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.

45. _Exilis domus est_] This is said ironically.

50. _Mercemur servum_] There was a class of slaves called
'nomenclatores' or 'fartores' (crammers), [Greek: onomatologoi], 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.

_laevum Qui fodicet latus_] As to 'laevum latus,' see S. ii. 5. 17, n.

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 ędileship, 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. 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 Ęneas and Dido, says:

    "Retia rara, plagae, lato venabula ferro,
     Massylique ruunt equites et odora canum vis."

They were used, not for throwing, but thrusting.

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,_] Cęre (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 Cęrites
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 Cęre,
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 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:

    [Greek:
    tis de bios, ti de terpnon ater chryseźs Aphroditźs;
    tethnaiźn hote moi mźketi tauta meloi, k. t. l.
    ]

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:

    "Si virtus hoc una potest dare fortis omissis
     Hoc age deliciis";

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.


EPISTLE VII.

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 Męcenas 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. Męcenas 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 Męcenas'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."

2. _Sextilem_] In B.C. 8 this month first received the name of Augustus.

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),

               "multa et praeclara minantis
    Si vacuum tepido cepisset villula tecto,"

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 (Męcenas) who has laid him under such obligations. He
says, in effect, that Męcenas 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.

26. _angusta fronte_] See C. i. 33. 5, n.

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.'"

28. _Cinarae_] See C. iv. 1. 4, n.

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,' [Greek: siteutai]).

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 Męcenas 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 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 Carinę 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 Carinę 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 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 [Greek: grytź]. 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.

71. _Post nonam venies;_] See above, v. 47, n., and C. i. 1. 20, n.

72. _dicenda tacenda locutus_] This is a familiar adaptation of the
Greek [Greek: rhźton arrhźton t' epos] (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."

87. _Spem mentita seges,_] See C. iii. 1. 30, n.

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 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 [Greek:
gen-esis, gi-nomai]), 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.

98. _verum est,_] See S. ii. 3. 312.


EPISTLE VIII.

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 Męcenas (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.


EPISTLE IX.

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 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.


EPISTLE X.

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 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 [Greek:
pelanoi], 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.

15. _plus tepeant hiemes,_] See S. ii. 3. 10, n.

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."

22. _nutritur silva columnas,_] See note on C. iii. 10. 5.

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 Phędrus (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.


EPISTLE XI.

This Epistle is addressed to one Bullatius, of whom we know nothing at
all. He was travelling in the Ęgean 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 of art, its fields and vineyards and climate, all
contributed to make it the most conspicuous island in the Ęgean.

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 ([Greek: hai Sardeis]), 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 Croesus, 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 ([Greek:
mźtropoleis]) 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_] Fidenę was about five miles from Rome, in the Sabine
territory, and remains of it are still in existence near Castel
Giubileo. In B.C. 425 the town was destroyed by Ęmilius Mamercus (Liv.
iv. 9), and it seems never to have risen to any great importance again.

Gabii and Fidenę 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.

17. _Incolumi_] See S. ii. 3. 137, n.

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.

19. _caminus._] See Epod. ii. 43, n.

23. _in annum,_] See Epp. i. 2. 38.

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 Ulubrę is that it was a small
town of Latium, not far from Velitrę, and that it was a place of no
importance.


EPISTLE XII.

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):

    "Licet superbus ambules pecunia,
       Fortuna non mutat genus."

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 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.

23. _verum_] See Epp. 7. 98.

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.

26. _Cantaber Agrippae_] See C. ii. 6. 2, n.

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.


EPISTLE XIII.

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.

3. _Si validus,_] Augustus had very uncertain health.

6. _chartae,_] See S. ii. 3. 2, n.

9. _fabula fias._] Compare Epod. xi. 8: "fabula quanta fui."

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.'


EPISTLE XIV.

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.

5. _an res._] His land. 'Praedia' were 'res mancipi.'

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.

13. _se non effugit unquam._] Compare C. ii. 16. 19.

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.

_tacita prece_] See Epp. i. 16. 59, n.

18. _eo disconvenit_] 'To this comes the difference between me and you.'

19. _tesca_] 'Tesca' means any rough wilderness. It is a rare word.

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 Męcenas, 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. Męcenas 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' 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.

40. _urbana diaria_] See S. i. 5. 69.

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.


EPISTLE XV.

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 Baię, 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 Baię at the loss of her
invalids, and another upon wines, and a third, which occupies half the
Epistle, upon the profligacy of one Męnius, 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.

All this has not much connection with the professed object of the
letter.


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 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 Pęstum, 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 Pęstum.
Thence to Velia, about twenty miles, there was no Roman road.

_Baias_] The atmosphere of Baię 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 Baię, as we
may infer from his connecting it with the Sabine hills, Pręneste, 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 Baię 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 Baię is useless for me, and yet he makes Baię 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
[Greek: ta Alboula], 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 Cumę, 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 Cumę 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 Cumę (whence the road
was continued to the Lucrine Lake and to Bauli and Baię, about four or
five miles from Cumę).

16. _vina nihil moror illius orae;_] The nearest place to Salernum
spoken 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.

21. _Lucanae_] This supposes he was going to Velia.

24. _Phaeaxque reverti,_] See Epp. i. 2. 28.

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 Męnius, 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."
[Greek: entauth' eimi] 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.


EPISTLE XVI.

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 short description of Horace's
residence, in anticipation of the inquiries he supposes Quintius might
make on that subject.


1. _fundus_] See S. ii. 5. 108, n.

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.

2. _opulentet_] This is a rare word, and does not occur in any earlier
writer.

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.

14. _fluit utilis,_] See note on v. 8 of the last Epistle.

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 Cęsar. 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.'

30. _Cum pateris sapiens_] See C. i. 2. 43, n.

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 Cęsar 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 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. [Greek: meta phōnźs euchesthai dei] 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 Cęsar (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 Bacchę 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. 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.


EPISTLE XVII.

Who Scęva 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 [Greek:
mźte tuphlon hodźgon, mźte eknoźton sumboulon]. 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
[Greek: lanthanein] (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 [Greek: lathe biōsas], 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
[Greek: xźrophagoi] from their abstinence, and [Greek: xźrophagia] 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."

15. _qui me notat._] 'Notare' is used in a bad sense (see S. i. 6. 20,
n.).

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, [Greek:
hippos me pherei, basileus me trephei], 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 [Greek:
diploeimatoi] and [Greek: achitōnes]. Juvenal says the Stoics differed
from the Cynics only in the use of the tunic (S. xiii. 121).

28. _celeberrima per loca_] See C. ii. 12. 20, n.

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_] [Greek: Ou pantos andros eis Korinthon esth' ho
plous]. 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, 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 Męcenas.
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.

54. _viatica_] See Epp. ii. 2. 26, n.

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 [Greek:
planos] 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).


EPISTLE XVIII.

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.

4. _Discolor,_] This means no more than 'different.'

5. _prope majus,_] See C. iv. 14. 20; S. ii. 3. 32.

6. _Asperitas_] A roughness, clownish, uncouth, and disgusting.

7. _tonsa cute,_] With the hair cut short down to the very skin, which
would show a want of regard to appearances.

9. _Virtus est medium vitiorum_] See C. ii. 10. 5, n.

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.

13. _dictata magistro_] See S. i. 10. 75, n.

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 Męcenas 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.

22. _Gloria quem--vestit_] See S. i. 6. 23, n.

25. _decem vitiis instructior_] 'Furnished with ten times as many
defects.'

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 [Greek: eutrapelia] as [Greek:
pepaideumenź hubris], 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.

38. _vino tortus_] This expression is repeated in A. P. 435.

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. Ętolian toils are toils fit
for Meleager, the king of Ętolia, 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.

55. _Cantabrica bella_] See C. ii. 6. 2.

56. _Parthorum signa_] See C. iii. 5, Introduction.

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.

78. _quondam_] See C. ii. 10. 17, n. S. ii. 2. 82.

79. _deceptus omitte tueri,_] 'When once you have found yourself
deceived, do not take him under your protection, but reserve your
influence for one 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.

91. _media de nocte_] See S. ii. 8. 3, n.

93. _Nocturnos--vapores._] This must be taken to signify the feverish
heats that come on after much drinking.

95. _obscuri_] 'Reserved.'

100. _Virtutem doctrina paret,_] Whether virtue is a science ([Greek:
epistźmź]) and capable of being taught ([Greek: didaktź]) 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.


EPISTLE XIX.

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 Alcęus, 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 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, Alcęus, Anacreon, Ęschylus, 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 poėtor 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 not to be blamed for imitating Archilochus in his measure and the
structure of his verse, for Alcęus 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.

32. _Hunc ego non alio dictum_] Compare C. iv. 9. 3:

    "Non ante vulgatas per artes
       Verba loquor socianda chordis";

and 3. 23: "Romanae fidicen lyrae." 'Hunc' Orelli refers to Alcęus,
comparing C. iii. 30. 13:

    "Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos
     Deduxisse modos."

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,' 'poėtica
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, made objections to the ground, and asked for a
postponement, the language of the arena or palęstra 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.'


EPISTLE XX.

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 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.

20. _Me, libertino natum patre_] Compare S. i. 6. 6, 46, 47.

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.
Ęmilius 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.




EPISTLES.--BOOK II.


EPISTLE I.

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 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.

12. _Comperit invidiam_] See C. iii. 24. 31, sq.

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 Cęsarea. 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.

17. _Nil oriturum alias,_] This is a repetition of C. iv. 2. 37.

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 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.

29. _pensantur eadem Scriptores trutina,_] See S. i. 3. 72, n.

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
[Greek: sōritźs] (from [Greek: sōros], '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 [Greek: sōritźs] 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 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.

49. _Libitina_] See S. ii. 6. 19, n.

50. _Ennius et sapiens_] Ennius was born at Rudię, 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. Nęvius 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. Nęvius was perhaps rather the oldest of the three.
Cicero often has 'non est' in interrogative sentences.

54. _Paene recens?_] 'As if he were almost modern.'

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.

In respect to Accius, see S. i. 10. 53, n.

As to 'senis,' see S. ii. 1. 34, n.

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 Cęcilius 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, Ęschylus, 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 (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
pręnomen 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.

73. _verbum emicuit_] 'If a decent word starts up.'

75. _ducit venditque poėma._] '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 Ęsopus, 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 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 Ęsopus, 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 [Greek: athlźtźs] (from [Greek:
athla], 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
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.

117. _indocti doctique_] See C. i. 1. 29, n.

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 Furię, &c., as, well as the spirits of the dead.

143. _Tellurem porco,_] The temple of Tellus in the Carinę 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.

144. _Genium memorem brevis aevi._] See Epp. i. 7. 94, n.

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,' 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.

161. _Serus enim_] 'Romanus' must be understood here.

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, Nęvius,
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 [Greek: logeion]. 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.

177. _ventoso Gloria curru_] See S. i. 6. 23, n.

185. _Si discordet eques,_] See S. i. 10. 76, n.

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.

198. _mimo_] See S. i. 10. 6, n.

202. _Garganum mugire putes_] See C. ii. 9. 7.

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. Those of Baię 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 [Greek: schoinobatźs],
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.

225. _deducta poėmata filo;_] See S. i. 10. 44, n.

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,_] Choerilus 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 'poėta 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 3_s._ 6_d._
of English money. (See Dict. Antt.)

236. _Atramenta,_] Ink was used by the ancients. The Greeks called it
[Greek: melan], 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
several statues of Alexander, whom he appears, like Apelles, to have
followed into Asia.

244. _Boeotum in crasso_] The dulness and sensuality of the Boeotians
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. _aėnea 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.

254. _Auspiciis_] See C. i. 7. 27, n.

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.

256. _Et formidatam Parthis_] See Epp. i. 12. 27, n.

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.


EPISTLE II.

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 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 Cęsar.

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 65_l._ 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 [Greek: manganon, manganeuō],
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 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 8_l._ 17_s._ of English money, twenty of which
(166_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._) 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.'

42. _Iratus Graiis_] See Epp. i. 2. 2, n.

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
Męcenas 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,' [Greek: kōneion], 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.

67. _Hic sponsum vocat,_] This is a repetition of S. ii. 6. 23.

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 [Greek: plateia], 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.

77. _amat nemus_] See C. i. 1. 30, n. Compare Juvenal (vii. 53, sqq.).

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 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 Scęvola 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 Scęvola the augur, son-in-law of C.
Lęlius, 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.

88. _meros audiret honores,_] Compare Epp. i. 7. 84, "vineta crepat
mera."

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 ędile 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 ('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.

141. _Nimirum sapere est_] See Introduction.

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 8_l._ 17_s._ 1_d._, this sum would be
2,656_l._ 5_s._ 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 Cęsar 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.

181. _Gaetulo murice_] See C. ii. 16. 35, n.

182. _Sunt qui non habeant,_] See C. i. 1. 3, n.

184. _Herodis palmetis pinguibus,_] Herod the Great derived a large
revenue from the woods of palm which abounded in Judęa. 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 Larvę. 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.




THE ART OF POETRY.


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 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 poėtis_] 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, [Greek: mź ti kai kyparissou
theleis]; 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.

29. _Prodigialiter_] 'Monstrously.' This belongs to 'variare.'

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 Ęmilius 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,' [Greek: kata dynamin], 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 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:

    [Greek:
    chairei tis Theodōros epei thanen· allos ep' autō
    chairźsei· thanatō pantes opheilometha.
    ]

_receptus Terra Neptunus_] The 'lacus Lucrinus' was separated from the
bay of Baię 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 Cęsar 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 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 [Greek: elegeia
thrźnźtikź], mourning for the dead. The earliest writers of elegy were
Callinus of Ephesus, Tyrtęus 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.

78. _Grammatici certant_] See Epp. i. 19. 40, n.

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 Ęschylus. 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,
[Greek: stichomythia].

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.

_Natum rebus agendis_] This means, that the metre suits the language of
action.

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 Ęolic 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 Ęolians 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. Alcęus 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 [Greek: epinikia], 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 Alcęus, 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.

As to 'libra vina,' see S. i. 4. 87, n.

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 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).

90. _privatis_] 'The language of common daily life.'

91. _coena Thaestae_] See C. i. 6. 8, n.

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 Ęgina, 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 [Greek: potnia], so common in Homer and the Tragedians.
The officious nurse has always been a favorite character on the stage.
We find it in Ęschylus (Choėphoroe), in Sophocles (Trachiniae), and
Euripides (Hippolytus). An [Greek: emporos] ('mercator') is introduced
in the Philoctetes of Sophocles, and the prologue of the Electra
(Euripides) is spoken by an [Greek: autourgos] ('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 Ęschylus, 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 Oedipus, the quarrel of his sons, the expedition of the Epigoni,
etc.

119. _Aut famam sequere_] 'Either you should follow tradition and
common 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 [Greek: klytos], 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,_] Ęschylus, 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 Ęschylus, 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, [Greek: chalepon ta koina
idiōsai]. 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 [Greek: Mikra Ilias]. It opened with these two lines, which Horace
may or may not have had in mind:

    [Greek:
    Ilion aeidō kai Dardaniźn eupōlon,
    hźs peri polla pathon Danaoi therapontes Arźos.
    ]

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 Phędrus has imitated (iv. 22) of the mountain in labor, are
founded: [Greek: ōdinen ouros, eita myn apekteken], which in Athenęus,
(xiv. 6) is quoted a little differently: [Greek: ōdinen oros, Zeus d'
ephobeito, to d' eteken myn].

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 Lęstrygones, 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
[Greek: Nostoi]. 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 Ętolia, 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, Althęa, 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 [Greek: Kypria] of Stasinus,
a Cyclic poet, of which the following fragment has been preserved:

    [Greek:
    tois de meta tritatźn Helenźn teke, thauma brotoisi.
    tźn pote kallikomos Nemesis philotźti migeisa
    Zźni, theōn basilźi, teke kraterźs hyp' anankźs.
    ]

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.

165. _Sublimis cupidusque_] 'Soaring and ambitious.'

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 [Greek: ōta gar
tynchanei anthrōpoisi eonta apistotera ophthalmōn], 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. Ęschylus 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, 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 [Greek: oros] and [Greek: chalkos], 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 [Greek: syrein], 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 [Greek: tragōdia] 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. Choerilus, an
older contemporary of Ęschylus, 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
[Greek: kyria onomata]; 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 [Greek: neanieuesthai].

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 [Greek: tragōdia] 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 Ęschylus 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. Ęschylus 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 ([Greek: kōmos]) 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 [Greek: didaskein], for exhibiting a
play, because the poet also trained the chorus as [Greek:
chorodidaskalos].

292. _Pompilius sanguis,_] The 'Calpurnia gens,' to which the Pisones
belonged, claimed descent from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius.

294. _ad unguem_] See S. i. 5. 32, n.

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, Ęschines, 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
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.

357. _fit Choerilus ille,_] See Epp. ii. 1. 231, n.

361. _erit quae_] See C. i. 1. 3, 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 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. Męcius 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 [Greek: axones] or [Greek:
kurbeis], and that fragments were in existence in his day in the
Prytaneum (Vit. Sol. c. 25).

400. _divinis vatibus_] Eumolpus, Orpheus, Musęus, 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_] Tyrtęus, 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 [Greek: ta kat' agrous], or [Greek: ta mikra], took place at the
end of the year, in the month [Greek: Poseideōn], when the labors of the
vintage were over.

408. _Natura fieret laudabile_] See v. 295, n.

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 [Greek: nomos Pythikos].

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 '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.

431. _Ut qui conducti_] See S. i. 6. 43, 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.'

438. _Quintilio_] See C. i. 24, Introduction.

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 Ptolemęus 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 [Greek: ikteros], 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 [Greek:
selźniakoi].

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 [Greek: makron aüse] (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 Ętna 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, [Greek: tauto tō
apokteinonti]. 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.




INTRODUCTION TO THE METRES OF HORACE.


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 [Greek: logos] [speech] and [Greek:
aoidź] [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: [^].

     [Note--Instead of writing the long syllable of a trochee followed
     by a pause--[^], we may consider the long syllable as protracted by
     half its length and may write it thus, [|--]; the former method is
     adopted in what follows. The student may need to be reminded that
     the last syllable of a verse may be either long or short, though in
     writing the scheme it is assumed that it conforms to the law of the
     verse.]

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 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:--

    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

     This is found in three Odes: i. 1; iii. 30; iv. 8.

=2.= The Second Asclepiadic stanza is composed of three Lesser
Asclepiadics and one Second Glyconic catalectic, sometimes called simply
a Glyconic, thus:--

    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^] [_Thrice._]
    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

     This is found in nine Odes: i. 6, 15, 24, 33; ii. 12; iii. 10, 16;
     iv. 5, 12.

=3.= In the Third Asclepiadic stanza, the first and third verses are
Second Glyconics catalectic, and the second and fourth are Lesser
Asclepiadics, thus:--

    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^]
    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^]. [_Repeat._]

     This is found in twelve Odes: i. 3, 13, 19, 36; iii. 9, 15, 19, 24,
     25, 28; iv. 1, 3.

=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:--

    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^] [_Twice._]
    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)]
    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

     This is found in seven Odes: i. 5, 14, 21, 23; iii. 7, 13; iv. 13.

=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:--

    -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

     This is found in three Odes: i. 11, 18; iv. 10.

Two Sapphic stanzas are found in the Odes.

=6.= The Lesser Sapphic, or Sapphic and Adonic, stanza is composed of
three Lesser Sapphic verses and one Adonic verse, thus:--

    -- [)] | -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [)]  [_Thrice._]
    [--)] [)] | -- [)].

     This is found in twenty-five Odes: i. 2, 10, 12, 20, 22, 25, 30,
     32, 38; ii. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16; iii. 8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 22, 27; iv.
     2, 6, 11. It is also the metre of the Carmen Saeculare.

=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:--

    [--)][)] | -- [)] | -- [)]
    -- [)] | -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [)].

     This is found only in Ode i. 8.

=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:--

    [_)] [...] -- [)] | -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^] [_Twice._]
    [_)] [...] -- [)] | -- > | -- [)] | -- [)]
            [--)] [)] | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [)].

     This is found in thirty-seven Odes: i. 9, 16, 17, 26, 27, 29, 31,
     34, 35, 37; ii. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20; iii. 1,
     2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 21, 23, 26, 29; iv. 4, 9, 14, 15.


Horace also uses in his Odes, though rarely, five other metres.

=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, [P], and a short
syllable by an eighth-note, [P/]; a spondee is written [P][P]; a dactyl,
[P][P/][P/]; and a trochee, [P][P/]. Dactylic verse is therefore written
in 2/4 time, and trochaic or logaoedic verse in 3/8 time. The cyclic
dactyl may be written with sufficient accuracy [P/.][P//][P], and the
irrational spondee [P/.][P/.]. From the examples which follow, the
student will see how the scheme of any metre may be expressed in musical
notation.

Lesser Sapphic stanza:--

     [P][P/] | [P/.][P/.] | [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/] | [P][P/]
     [_Thrice._] [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/]

Alcaic stanza:--

     [(.P/] [...] [P][P/] | [P/.][P/.] | [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/] |
     [P][-][rest] [_Twice._] [(.P/] [...] [P][P/] | [P/.][P/.] | [P][P/]
     | [P][P/] [P/.][P//][P/] | [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/] | [P][P/]




INDEX TO THE METRES OF THE ODES OF HORACE.


     [The number placed after the opening words of each ode refers to
     the full-faced numeral prefixed to the description of its metre in
     the preceding pages.]


    Book I.

    1. Maecenas atavis, 1.
    2. Iam satis terris, 6.
    3. Sic te diva, 3.
    4. Solvitur acris hiems, 11.
    5. Quis multa gracilis, 4.
    6. Scriberis Vario, 2.
    7. Laudabunt alii, 9.
    8. Lydia dic per omnes, 7.
    9. Vides ut alta, 8.
    10. Mercuri facunde, 6.
    11. Tu ne quaesieris, 5.
    12. Quem virum, 6.
    13. Cum tu Lydia, 3.
    14. O navis referent, 4.
    15. Pastor cum traheret, 2.
    16. O matre pulchra, 8.
    17. Velox amoenum, 8.
    18. Nullam Vare sacra, 5.
    19. Mater saeva, 3.
    20. Vile potabis, 6.
    21. Dianam tenerae, 4.
    22. Integer vitae, 6.
    23. Vitas hinnuleo, 4.
    24. Quis desiderio, 2.
    25. Parcius iunctas, 6.
    26. Musis amicus, 8.
    27. Natis in usum, 8.
    28. Te maris et terrae, 9.
    29. Icci beatis, 8.
    30. O Venus regina, 6.
    31. Quid dedicatum, 8.
    32. Poscimur si quid, 6.
    33. Albi ne doleas, 2.
    34. Parcus deorum, 8.
    35. O diva gratum, 8.
    36. Et thure et fidibus, 3.
    37. Nunc est bibendum, 8.
    38. Persicos odi, 6.


    Book II.

    1. Motum ex Metello, 8.
    2. Nullus argento, 6.
    3. Aequam memento, 8.
    4. Ne sit ancillae, 6.
    5. Nondum subacta, 8.
    6. Septimi Gades, 6.
    7. O saepe mecum, 8.
    8. Ulla si iuris, 6.
    9. Non semper imbres, 8.
    10. Rectius vives, 6.
    11. Quid bellicosus, 8.
    12. Nolis longa, 2.
    13. Ille et nefasto, 8.
    14. Eheu fugaces, 8.
    15. Iam pauca aratro, 8.
    16. Otium divos, 6.
    17. Cur me querelis, 8.
    18. Non ebur, 12.
    19. Bacchum in remotis, 8.
    20. Non usitata, 8.


    Book III.

    1. Odi profanum, 8.
    2. Angustam amice, 8.
    3. Iustum et tenacem, 8.
    4. Descende caelo, 8.
    5. Caelo tonantem, 8.
    6. Delicta maiorum, 8.
    7. Quid fles, 4.
    8. Martiis caelebs, 6.
    9. Donec gratus eram, 3.
    10. Extremum Tanain, 2.
    11. Mercuri nam te, 6.
    12. Miserarum est, 13.
    13. O fons Bandusiae, 4.
    14. Herculis ritu, 6.
    15. Uxor pauperis, 3.
    16. Inclusam Danaen, 2.
    17. Aeli vetusto, 8.
    18. Faune nympharum, 6.
    19. Quantum distet, 3.
    20. Non vides, 6.
    21. O nata mecum, 8.
    22. Montium custos, 6.
    23. Caelo supinas, 8.
    24. Intactis opulentior, 3.
    25. Quo me Bacche, 3.
    26. Vixi puellis, 8.
    27. Impios parrae, 6.
    28. Festo quid potius, 3.
    29. Tyrrhena regum, 8.
    30. Exegi monumentum, 1.


    Book IV.

    1. Intermissa Venus, 3.
    2. Pindarum quisquis, 6.
    3. Quem tu Melpomene, 3.
    4. Qualem ministrum, 8.
    5. Divis orte bonis, 2.
    6. Dive quem proles, 6.
    7. Diffugere nives, 10.
    8. Donarem pateras, 1.
    9. Ne forte credas, 8.
    10. O crudelis adhuc, 5.
    11. Est mihi nonum, 6.
    12. Iam veris comites, 2.
    13. Audivere Lyce, 4.
    14. Quae cura patrum, 8.
    15. Phoebus volentem, 8.


Transcriber's Note:

The Table of Contents has been modified to include a missing entry for
the 'Index to the Metres of the Odes of Horace'.

Typographical inconsistencies that may be unintended yet which occur
more than once are left unchanged, such as the marking of dieresis in
names like Pholoė most but not all of the time, or occasional spellings
of Latin names with ae instead of the usual digraph ę 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 poėmate pango => Ego mira poėmata 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





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