1. Poscimur.] ‘Poscitur a nobis carmen.’ This may mean that the poetic afflatus is on him, and he feels called upon to sing.
2. Si quid vacui] ‘If ever, at my ease under the shade, with thee I have sung aught that shall live this year, yea more.’
4. Barbite,] Βάρβιτος is used as a feminine noun by the early Greek writers. The later make it masculine. Here it is masculine, and in C. 1. 34.
5. Lesbio — civi,] Alcæus of Mytilene (C. 1. 34, n.). He fought in the civil wars of his native country, and left his arms behind him on the field of 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 Alcæus, whose name appears in a fragment still extant, οὐκ ἐγὼ Λύκον ἐν Μοΐσαις ἀλέγω.
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.’
Albius Tibullus, the poet, was a favorite with his contemporaries. To him was addressed the fourth Epistle of the first book, as well as this Ode. He appears on some occasion to have been in bad spirits, and crossed in love, and Horace sent him this little poem, to amuse and cheer him.
Argument.—Come, Albius, do not be drawling pitiful poetry upon Glycera, because she prefers a younger man to you. Pretty Lycoris loves Cyrus, Cyrus inclines to Pholoë, who admires the vulgar sinner as the she-goat loves the wolf. Such are Love’s diversions, bringing opposites under the yoke together. So it happened to me,—a tender heart was attached to me, while I could not free myself from the fetters of Myrtale, more impetuous than the waves of the Adriatic.
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 Pholoën] 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.
If we are to take Horace at his word, he was one day startled by the phenomenon of a thunder-clap, or other noise, when the sky was clear; and he appears to have been frightened into considering the error of his ways, which led him to abandon the loose doctrines of Epicurus, by which he had been guided before.
Argument.—Careless of Heaven, I have been wandering in the darkness of an insane creed; I now retrace my steps, awakened by the sign of Jove’s chariot dashing through an unclouded sky,—that chariot with which he shakes the earth, the waters, and hell, and the ends of the world. God is strong to bring down the mighty and exalt the low, to take the crown from one and place it on the head of another.
2. Insanientis sapientiae] ‘A wild philosophy,’ the Greek σοφία ἄσοφος. The doctrines of Epicurus are here alluded to. This creed Horace professed, writing in his twenty-eighth year, to hold,
“Deos didici securum agere aevum
Nec si quid miri faciat natura, deos id
Tristes ex alto caeli demittere tecto.”
(Sat. i. 5. 101.) On ‘consultus,’ which is used like ‘jurisconsultus,’ see Forcelli.
5. relictos:] ‘Iterare cursus relictos’ signifies to return to the paths he had left; ‘iterare’ being equivalent to ‘repetere.’
Diespiter,] It is said that this name was given to Jove as ‘diei pater.’ ‘Dies’ is an old form of the genitive. But probably the first two syllables are only a different form of ‘Jup-’ in ‘Juppiter,’ and from the same root as Ζεύς.
7. per purum tonantes] The phenomenon of thunder heard in a clear sky is frequently alluded to by the ancients, and was held especially ominous. See Virg. Georg. i. 487. Aen. vii. 141, etc.
10. Taenari] Taenarum (Matapan) was the most southern promontory of the Peloponnesus, where was a cave, supposed to lead down to Hades.
11. Atlanteusque finis] Apparently imitated from Eurip. (Hipp. 3), τερμόνων τ᾽ Ἀτλαντικῶν. The African range Atlas was supposed to be the boundary of the world in that direction.
12. Valet ima summis] This language is like the opening of the next Ode. It may be compared with various familiar passages of the sacred Scriptures; as, “He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted them of low degree.” (Luke i. 52.) “Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” (Psalm lxxv. 6, 7.) The sentiment, however, is common. Tacitus seems to have had Horace’s words in his mind, when he wrote of the public funeral given to Flavius Sabinus, and the overthrow of Vitellius, that they were “magna documenta instabilis fortunae summaque et ima miscentis” (Hist. iv. 47).
14. hinc apicem] ‘Apex’ signifies properly the tuft (composed of wool wrapped round a stick) or the top of the Flamen’s cap. It appears to stand for any covering of the head, and Horace applies it to the royal crown, here and in C. iii. 21. 20. ‘Valere’ with an infinitive is not used by prose-writers till after the Augustan age.
When Augustus was meditating an expedition against the Britons, and another for the East, Horace commended him to the care of Fortune the Preserver, to whom this Ode is addressed. The design of invading Britain was interrupted by an insurrection of the Salassians, an Alpine people. The goddess Fortuna, under different characters, had many temples at Rome; but her worship was most solemnly maintained, when Horace wrote, at Præneste and at Antium, where she had an oracle, and was worshipped under a double form, as ‘prospera’ and ‘adversa.’ Tacitus mentions a temple belonging to an Equestris Fortuna, in which the Equites set up a statue they had vowed for the recovery of Augusta (Ann. iii. 71). She was represented on Roman coins with a double ship’s rudder in one hand and a cornucopiæ in the other, which may furnish a clew to the allusions in the second stanza. There are passages which may have been drawn from paintings in the temple at Antium.
Argument.—Queen of Antium, all-powerful to exalt or to debase, the poor tenant cultivator worships thee, and the mariner on the deep. Thou art feared by the savage Dacian and nomad Scythian, by all cities and nations; yea, by proud Latium herself; by royal mothers trembling for their sons, and kings fearing for their crowns. Necessity, with her stern emblems, goes before thee. Hope and Fidelity go with thee, when thou leavest the house of prosperity, while false friends fall away. Preserve Cæsar as he goeth to conquer Britain; preserve the fresh levies destined for the East. It repenteth us of our civil strife and impious crimes. Let the sword be recast, and whetted for the Scythian and the Arab.
1. Antium,] A maritime town of Latium, now called Porto d’ Anzo. (See Introduction.)
2. Praesens] There is no other instance of ‘praesens’ with an infinitive. ‘Praesens’ is often used with the signification of ‘potens.’ In its application to the gods, it expresses their presence as shown by their power. “God is a very present help in trouble.” Ps. xlvi. 1. Cicero (Tusc. Disp. i. 12. 28) says of Hercules, “apud Graecos indeque prolapsus ad nos et usque ad Oceanum tantus et tam praesens habetur deus.”
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 Σκύθας δ᾽ ἀφίξει νομάδας οἳ πλεκτὰς στέγας Πεδάρσιοι ναίους᾽ ἐπ᾽ εὐκύκλοις ὄχοις (Aesch. P. V. 709). ‘Profugus’ is repeated in C. iv. 14. 42.
11. Regumque matres barbarorum] Orelli quotes the description in the fifth chapter of Judges, ver. 28. “The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariot?” There are four objects in respect of which Fortune is here said to be invoked,—the seasons, the winds, war, and faction. (See Introduction.) She is said to be an object of reverence to the distant and barbarous nations, as well as the cities and provinces of the Roman world, and Eastern mothers and tyrants fearing for their crowns.
14. Stantem columnam,] The figures of Peace, Security, Happiness, and others, are each represented on old monuments as resting on a column. What Horace means is, that tyrants are afraid lest Fortune should overthrow their power, represented figuratively by a standing column.
15. Ad arma — ad arma] The repetition of these words suggests the cry of the ‘thronging people’ (‘frequens populus’). ‘Cessantes’ means the peaceably disposed.
17. Te semper anteit saeva Necessitas] The several things that Necessity is here represented as holding, are emblems of tenacity and fixedness of purpose,—the nail, the clamp, and the molten lead: they have nothing to do with torture, as many have supposed. ‘Anteit’ is to be scanned as a dissyllable.
18. Clavos trabales] These were nails of the largest sort, for fastening beams in large houses. There is said to be one in the Museum of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, at Florence, weighing fifty pounds, made of bronze. ‘Clavi trabales’ had passed into a proverb with the Romans. Compare Cicero (in Verr. Act. ii. 5. 21) “ut hoc beneficium, quemadmodum dicitui, trabali clavo figeret.” ‘Cunei’ were also nails wedge-shaped. On the nails of Fate, see C. iii. 24. 7. The metaphor of molten lead, used for strengthening buildings, is used by Euripides (Androm. 267), καὶ γὰρ εἰ πέριξ σ᾽ ἔχει τηκτὸς μόλυβδος.
21. Te Spes et albo] The picture represented in this and the following stanzas, apart from the allegory, is that of a rich man in adversity, going forth from his home, with hope in his breast, and accompanied by a few faithful friends, but deserted by those who only cared for his wealth. In the person of Fortune, therefore, is represented the man who is suffering from her reverses; and in that of Fidelity, the small (‘rara’) company of his true friends. Fortune is represented in the garments of mourning (‘mutata veste’), and Fides in a white veil, emblematic of her purity. With such a veil on their heads, men offered sacrifice to her. She is called by Virgil (Aen. i. 292), ‘Cana Fides,’ but there it probably means ‘aged.’ According to Livy (i. 21), Numa established religious rites for Fides.
22. nec comitem abnegat,] ‘nor refuses herself for thy companion,’ as if ‘se’ were understood.
28. Ferre jugum pariter dolosi.] ‘Too faithless to bear the yoke together with him.’ This metaphor is taken from beasts unequally yoked.
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.
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. Threïcia vincat amystide,] ‘Amystis’ was a deep draught, taken without drawing breath or closing the lips (ἀ, μύειν). For Threïcia see i. 27. 2.
17. putres Deponent oculos,] ‘will fix their languishing eyes.’ The Greeks expressed ‘putres’ by τηκόμενοι.
20. ambitiosior.] This is the only passage in which the word occurs in this sense of ‘clinging,’ the nearest to ‘ambire’ in its primitive meaning.
The occasion that gave rise to this Ode, and the time therefore of its composition, are sufficiently clear. Intelligence of the deaths of M. Antonius and Cleopatra was brought to Rome in the autumn of B. C. 30, and on this occasion Horace wrote the following Ode, which is directed chiefly against Cleopatra. Horace appears to have started with an ode of Alcæus on the death of Myrsilus in his head. It began,
νῦν χρὴ μεθύσθην καί τινα πρὸς βίαν
πίνην ἐπειδὴ κάτθανε Μύρσιλος.
The historical facts referred to may be gathered from Plutarch’s Life of M. Antonius.
Argument.—’T is time to drink, to smite the earth, and set out a feast for the gods, my friends. We might not bring down the Cæcuban, while that mad queen with her foul herd was threatening Rome with destruction. But her fury is humbled, her fleet in flames, her drunken heart shook with fear when Cæsar hunted her from Italy, as the hawk pursues the dove or the hunter the hare, to chain the accursed monster; who feared not the sword nor fled to secret hiding-places, but chose to die, rather than submit to be led in triumph by the conqueror.
2. nunc Saliaribus] A Saliaric banquet is a rich banquet, fit for the Salii, the priests of Mars. The feasts of the Pontifices were proverbial for profusion. On great occasions, a banquet was set out, in place of a sacrifice, and images of the gods were placed upon couches, as for the purpose of eating. This sort of banquet was called a ‘lectisternium.’
3. pulvinar] Properly, the cushion of the couch, and so put here for the couch itself.
4. Tempus erat] This imperfect tense seems to mean that this was the time that the Fates had intended for such festivities. Ovid (Tr. iv. 8. 24, sq.) has it twice over in this unusual way:—
“Sic igitur tarda vires minuente senecta
Me quoque donari jam rude tempus erat;
Tempus erat nec me peregrinum ducere caelum
Nec siccam Getico fonte levare sitim.”
The Greeks used the imperfect ἐχρῆν in the same undefined way. See note on i. 27. 19.
6. Cellis] The ‘cella’ was, properly speaking, a chamber, partly above and partly under ground, in which the ‘dolia’ were kept. That in which the ‘amphorae’ were stored was called ‘apotheca,’ and was in the upper part of the house: hence the terms, ‘depromere,’ ‘deripere,’ ‘descendere.’ ‘Capitolio’ is equivalent to ‘urbi.’ See C. iii. 3. 42; iii. 30. 8. ‘Imperio’ is used for the sovereign power of Rome, as in C. iii. 5. 4.
7. Regina dementes ruinas] ‘Dementes’ is transferred from ‘regina’ to ‘ruinas’ as in Virg. (Aen. ii. 576): “Uleisci patriam et sceleratas sumere poenas,” where ‘sceleratas’ expresses the guilt of Helen.
9. Contaminato cum grege turpium Morbo virorum,] ‘with her filthy herd of men (forsooth) foul with disease.’ The corrupt lusts of that class of persons who were most about an Eastern queen, are properly called a disease. ‘Virorum’ is used ironically. In Epod. ix. 11, Horace complains:—
“Romanus eheu! posteri negabitis
Emancipatus foeminae
Fert vallum et arma miles, et spadonibus
Servire rugosis potest.”
10. impotens Sperare] ‘wild enough to expect anything.’ This is a common construction, noticed at C. i. 1. 18. ‘Impotens’ corresponds to ἀκρατής, and signifies violence, want of self-control. See Epod. xvi. 62.
13. Vix una sospes navis] Cleopatra’s fleet escaped from the battle of Actium, but M. Antonius saved no more than his own ship, in which he fled to Egypt. From motives of delicacy no allusion is made to M. Antonius throughout the Ode.
14. Mentemque lymphatam Mareotico] ‘Lymphatus’ is equivalent to νυμφόληπτος, ‘lympha’ and ‘nympha’ being the same word. Mareotic wine was from the shores of the Lake Mareotis in the neighborhood of Alexandria. ‘In veros timores’ is opposed to what the Greeks called τὰ κενὰ τοῦ πολέμου. Cleopatra’s fleet fled from Actium, before a blow was struck, under the influence of a panic; but Horace chooses to say it was a ‘verus timor.’ The historical facts are not accurately represented in this Ode. Though it is said that Cleopatra meditated a descent upon Italy, in the event of M. Antonius and herself proving successful at Actium, she fled from that place to Egypt, and never went near Italy, whither Augustus returned after the battle; and it was not till the next year, A. U. C. 724, that he went to Alexandria, and the deaths of M. Antonius and Cleopatra occurred.
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.
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 προσπονεῖν, and occurs again, Epp. viii. 20. The order is, ‘curo nihil sedulus allabores simplici myrto,’ ‘I wish you to take no trouble to add anything,’ &c.
7. sub arta Vite] ‘Arta’ signifies ‘thick,’ ‘close-leaved.’
This Ode is addressed to C. Asinius Pollio, the friend and companion in arms of Julius Cæsar. In B. C. 40 he was consul, and in the following year he was sent by M. Antonius against the Parthini, a tribe of Illyricum, and having defeated and subdued them he was allowed a triumph on his return to Rome. He then betook himself to literature, and practising as an orator in the courts of justice, and speaking in the senate. He patronized literary men, built a library, wrote poetry, particularly tragedies, and composed a history of the civil wars, in most of which he had taken an active part. The Ode was written after hearing Pollio recite part of this work, a practice which he is said to have been the first to introduce among literary men at Rome.
Argument.—The civil wars, their causes, their progress, and their fatal results,—a dangerous task is thine, and treacherous is the ground thou art treading.
Leave the tragic Muse for a little while, and thou shalt return to her when thou hast finished the historian’s task, O Pollio! advocate, senator, conqueror! Even now I seem to hear the trumpet and the clarion, the flashing of arms, and the voices of chiefs, and the whole world subdued but the stubborn heart of Cato. The gods of Africa have offered his victors’ grandsons on the tomb of Jugurtha. What land, what waters, are not stained with our blood? But stay, my Muse, approach not such high themes.
1. Motum ex Metello consule] The foundation of the civil wars is here laid in the formation of the (so-called) triumvirate by Cæsar, Pompeius, and Crassus, which took place in the consulship of Q. Caecilius Metellus Celer, and L. Afranius, A. U. C. 694, B. C. 60. But though this was the first great act of aggression on the liberties of Rome, the civil war did not break out till the year A. U. C. 704, B. C. 50, when Cæsar and Pompeius came to their final rupture. Pollio’s work was in seventeen books, and probably ended with the battle of Actium.
2. modos] The ‘plans’ pursued by the opposing parties.
4. Principum amicitias] The alliance of Cæsar and Pompeius, and the subsequent coalition of M. Antonius and Augustus, more than once broken and renewed, and always maintained at the expense of the people’s liberties, and therefore called ‘graves,’ ‘oppressive,’ are here principally referred to. See Plutarch, Vit. Caes. c. 13. Pollio was himself the means of reconciling Antonius and Augustus, in the year of his consulship B. C. 40.
5. Nondum expiatis uncta cruoribus,] See C. i. 2, Introduction. The 29th verse of that Ode, “Cui dabit partes scelus expiandi,” compared with this, makes it probable the two were written about the same time. The plural ‘cruoribus’ is unusual, and savors of the Greek. So Aesch. Supp. 265: παλαιῶν αἰμάτων μιάσμασιν.
6. Periculosae plenum opus aleae,] ‘A task full of hazard,’ literally, ‘full of perilous chance.’ Pollio had been faithful to Julius Cæsar, but after his death had sided rather with M. Antonius than Augustus; and therefore, when the latter had succeeded in putting an end to his rival, and had the entire power in his own hands, it was a bold and difficult task that Pollio had undertaken. It does not appear, however, that he involved himself in any difficulty with Augustus, for he lived quietly to a good old age, dying in his eightieth year at his villa at Tusculum, A. U. C. 758, A. D. 4. It is probable that his history was written with impartiality, and that Augustus was not jealous, and could afford to be otherwise. See Tac. Ann. iv. 34. ‘Aleae’ was the name for dice (see C. iii. 24. 58); here it means ‘hazard,’ ‘risk.’
7. Incedis per ignes] ‘Thou art treading on ashes that cover a smouldering fire,’ like the ashes at the mouth of a volcano, cool on the surface but burning below.
10. mox ubi publicas Res ordinaris] ‘When you shall have finished your history of public events.’ The Greeks used συντάσσειν for writing a book. Plutarch uses σύνταγμα for a book. Ἀνατάξασθαι occurs in the preface to St. Luke’s Gospel, and is thus rendered in the Vulgate translation, “Quoniam quidem multi conati sunt ordinare narrationem.” It seems that Pollio was writing tragedy at the same time with his history, and the style of the one may have affected the style of the other, so that Horace advises him to lay aside his tragedies, in order that he may do justice to his history. As the theme is delicate, and he is well able to adorn it, he should put aside the only obstacle to its proper accomplishment, viz. his tragedies. They were probably of no great merit. None have survived, and he has no credit for them, except with Horace and Virgil, who were under personal obligations to him. See S. i. 10. 42, and Virg. Ec. viii. 10.
11. grande munus] ‘Thou shalt put on the Attic cothurnus, and return to thy lofty task.’ The ‘cothurnus’ was a shoe worn by tragic actors, the use and name of which were borrowed by the Romans from the Athenians. It was usually ornamented with purple, and strapped up the leg nearly to the knee. When worn on the stage, it had a thick sole and a high heel, to add to the actor’s height. Men of rank wore the ‘cothurnus.’ Horace speaks figuratively, when he says that Pollio shall put on the ‘cothurnus,’ meaning that he shall return to writing tragedies (see last note).
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 Cæsar’s African campaign, in which he himself served, and that his description had made a great impression upon Horace. The victory of Thapsus, B. C. 46, made Cæsar master of the whole Roman world. ‘Cuncta terrarum’ is equivalent to ‘cunctas terras.’
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 Cæsar, Spain, Greece, and Africa were scenes of much bloodshed, and Romans fought against each other at Mutina, at Philippi, and at Actium. That the Parthian had heard the crash of Italy in its fall, is a poetical exaggeration, meaning, in plain prose, that the bitterest enemy of Rome had watched her dissensions, and rejoiced in the prospect of her downfall.
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.
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 Mæcenas (who married his sister or cousin, Terentia), and probably with Sallustius. He was alive at this time, and did not die till after Horace. Proculeius was, like Mæcenas, a favorer of letters, and is so referred to by Juvenal (S. vii. 94). “Quis tibi Maecenas quis nunc erit aut Proculeius?”
6. Notus — animi] Horace’s adaptation of Greek constructions is one of the chief features of his style. He uses ‘metuente’ here in the same sense as in C. iv. 5. 20, “Culpari metuit Fides”: ‘wings that refuse to melt,’ as Icarius’s did. See C. iv. 2. 2.
9. Latius regnes] The only king was the sage, according to the Stoics, and the sage kept all his passions under control. See S. i. 3. 125, n., and below, v. 21.
10. remotis Gadibus] Gades (Cadiz) was taken poetically for the western limit of the world, so that when Horace would say his friend Septimius was willing to go with him to the ends of the earth, he says ‘Septimi Gades aditure mecum’ (C. ii. 6. 1). It was originally, like Carthage, a Phœnician settlement, of which there were many in Spain, whence Horace says ‘uterque Poenus,’ the Phœnicians in Africa and those in Hispania.
17. Phraaten] Phraates was restored to the Parthian throne B. C. 25 (C. i. 26, Introd.). It is called the throne of Cyrus, because the Parthians succeeded to the greater part of the Eastern empire founded by Cyrus the Great. See C. i. 2. 21, n.
18. plebi] See C. i. 27. 5, n. Observe the elision of the last syllable of this verse by the commencing vowel of the next; and see C. ii. 16. 34, and C. iii. 2. 22.
19. populumque, etc.] ‘And teaches men not to use wrong names for things.’
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.”
The person to whom this Ode is nominally addressed is generally supposed to be Q. Dellius, who, from being a follower, first of Dolabella, and then of Brutus and Cassius, became a devoted adherent of M. Antonius, and his tool, throughout his intrigues with Cleopatra, till shortly before the battle of Actium, when he quarrelled with Cleopatra and joined Augustus, who received him with favor (Plut. Anton. c. 59). Plutarch calls him ἱστορικός. Dellius was called ‘desultor bellorum civilium,’ in allusion to the ‘desultor’ of the circus, who rode two horses at the same time. Horace’s way of giving a name to his odes has been sufficiently noticed and in this, as in other cases, there is nothing to guide us to the person whose name he uses. The Ode is on his usual commonplaces,—moderation, the enjoyment of the present moment, and the certainty of death.
Argument.—Be sober in prosperity or adversity, in sadness or in mirth. What is the use of the shade and purling stream, if we bring not thither wine and flowers, while circumstances and youth permit and life is our own? Soon thou must give up all to thine heir; rich and noble, or poor and humble, we must all come to one place in the end.
2. non secus in] ‘Non secus ac’ is the more usual phrase, but ‘non secus’ may stand alone.
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,—λευκή, which was white, and αἴγειρος, which was dark. Virgil calls the white ‘bicolor.’ ‘Amant,’ as in C. iii. 16. 10, is used like the Greek φιλοῦσι ‘are wont.’ Virgil has a like expression to ‘hospitalem’ (Georg. iv. 24) “Obviaque hospitiis teneat frondentibus arbor.”
11. obliquo laborat] ‘To what purpose does the flying stream struggle to haste down its winding channel?’ The stream is represented as striving to hurry on, in spite of the obstructions offered by its winding banks. As to ‘trepidare,’ see C. ii. 11. 4. Epp. i. 10. 21.
17. Cedes coëmptis] 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.’
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 Αἴαντος γέρας (Il. i. 138). Sophocles, in his play of Ajax, represents her as tenderly attached to him.
7. Arsit — Virgine rapta,] That is, Cassandra, whom Agamemnon chose, when the spoils of Troy were divided among the Greeks. ‘Arsit’ is used by Horace three times with an ablative,—here, in C. iii. 9. 5, and in Epod. xiv. 9; and once as a transitive verb (C. iv. 9. 13): “Non sola comptos arsit adulteri crines”; as it is in Virgil’s second Eclogue: “Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexin.”
10. Thessalo victore] Achilles, whose native country was Phthiotis in Thessaly.
ademptus Hector] ‘the loss of Hector.’ This is from the Iliad (xxiv. 243):—
ῥηίτεροι γὰρ μᾶλλον Ἀχαιοῖσιν δὴ ἔσεσθε
κείνου τεθνηῶτος ἐναιρέμεν.
13. Nescias an] ‘You cannot tell but,’—‘You may well believe.’ All that follows, in this and the next stanza, is good-natured banter. See Introd. As to the phrase ‘nescio an,’ ‘I incline to think it is so,’ see Zumpt’s Latin Grammar, §§ 354 and 721. On ‘beati,’ see C. i. 4. 14.
17. Crede non illam] ‘Believe not that she whom thou lovest is of the villanous herd.’
22. Fuge] The same as ‘noli,’—‘do not.’
23. Cujus octavum] See Introd.; and as to ‘lustrum,’ see C. ii. 15. 13, n.
This Ode professes to be a remonstrance with one who is courting a young girl not yet come to womanhood.
Argument.—That girl is too young for a yoke-fellow; as yet, she is like an unbroken heifer, or an unripe grape. She will come to thee of her own accord, when she is a little older; then will she wax wanton, and seek a mate, and thou wilt love her above coy Pholoe or Chloris or Gyges.
5. Circa] The Greeks use περί 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:—
ὁρῶ γὰρ ἥβην τὴν μὲν ἕρπουσαν πρόσω,
τὴν δ᾽ αὖ φθίνουσαν.
(Soph. Trach. v. 547, sqq.) It is also explained by those verses in the Epistle to the Pisones:—
“Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum,
Multa recedentes adimunt.”
(v. 175, sq.)
16. Lalage] This name is formed from λαλεῖν, “dulce loquentem” (C. i. 22. 24).
20. Cnidiusve Gyges,] This name, which is Lydian, Horace employs again (C. iii. 7. 5). This boy is represented as a slave from Cnidus in Caria, and he is said to be so beautiful that, if he were introduced at supper among the girls, the cleverest of the company could not detect him. ‘Discrimen obscurum’ means a difference hard to see.
24. ambiguoque vultu.] Ovid expresses the same ambiguity in the case of Atalanta very elegantly (Met. viii. 322):—
“Talis erat cultus; facies quam dicere vere
Virgineam in puero puerilem in virgine possis.”
Boys let their hair grow till they assumed the ‘toga virilis,’ about their fifteenth year.
Of Septimius, to whom this Ode is addressed, we know nothing, except that he was an intimate friend of Horace’s, as we gather also from the letter of introduction he gave him to Tiberius (Epp. i. 9). He had a house at Tarentum, where Horace probably paid him one or more visits. Beyond this we know nothing of Septimius.
It was probably on or after a visit to Septimius, that Horace composed the twenty-eighth Ode of the first book; and, probably, with the attractions of Tarentum fresh in his mind, he wrote this Ode. He says that, next to Tibur, it is the place where he would choose to end his days. He says the same in Epp. i. 7. 45.
Argument.—Septimius, I would that I might end my days at Tibur, or, if that be forbidden me, at Tarentum. Above all others I love that spot, with its honey, its olives, its long spring, and mild winter, and grapes on Mount Aulon. On that spot we ought to live together; and there thou shouldst lay my bones, and weep over them.
1. Septimi, Gades aditure mecum] That is, ‘who art ready to go with me, if need be, to the ends of the earth.’ See above C. 2. 10, n.
2. Cantabrum indoctum] At any time before B. C. 29, when the Cantabri were first reduced, they could have been called by Horace ‘indoctos juga ferre nostra,’ even though no attempt had been made to impose that yoke. In 29 they were reduced to subjection; in 26 they broke out again, and in the following year they were finally subdued, though an insurrection had to be put down by Agrippa, some years afterwards (see C. iii. 8. 21; iv. 14. 41. 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 Galæsus (Galaso) flowed through the ager Tarentinus, which was rich in gardens and corn land, as well as in pastures.
11. regnata] Similar passives are found in C. iii. 3. 43, “Medis triumphatis”; iii. 19. 4, “Bella pugnata”; Epod. i. 23, “Bellum militabitur”; S. ii. 5. 27, “Res certabitur”. ‘Regnata’ occurs again in C. iii. 29. 27; and Tacitus (Hist. i. 16) speaks of “gentes quae regnantur.” The word is not used by prose writers of an earlier age than Tacitus. Phalanthus of Lacedæmon headed a body of youths, called from the circumstances of their birth Partheniæ, in migrating from the Peloponnesus into Italy, where they got possession of Tarentum.
15. decedunt] This word is used again in the same sense of ‘giving place to’ in the second epistle of the second book, v. 213: “decede peritis.” The honey of Tarentum or Calabria (iii. 16. 33), and of Matinum (iv. 2. 27) in Italy, of Hybla in Sicily, and of Hymettus in Attica, are those Horace celebrates most. Venafrum (hod. Venafro) the most northern town of Campania was celebrated above all places in Italy for its olives. ‘Venafro’ is the dative case. See C. i. 1. 15, n.
18. Aulon] From the name, we may suppose this was a valley near Tarentum. It gave excellent pasturage to sheep. ‘Baccho’ depends on ‘amicus.’
21. beatae — arces;] Rich heights or hills near Tarentum. ‘Arx’ is akin to ἕρκος, and signifies primarily a fortified place; and fortified places being commonly on heights, ‘arx,’ in a derived sense, came to mean a hill generally.
23. favillam] The practice of burning the dead was not general among the Romans, till towards the end of the republic. Before that, they were usually buried, though burning was known even in old times.
Pompeius Varus was a companion of Horace’s in the army of Brutus, and fought at Philippi, after which it is probable he followed the fortunes first of Sextus Pompeius and afterwards of M. Antonius, and did not return to Rome till the civil war was over. This Ode was written on his return, to welcome him.
Argument.—O Pompeius, my earliest friend and best, with whom I have served and indulged, full many a day, who hath sent thee back to us, a true citizen of Rome? We fought and fled together at Philippi, but while I was carried off by Mercury, the wave drew thee back into the stormy ocean again. Come, then, pay thy vows unto Jove, and lay thy weary limbs under my laurel. Bring wine and ointment and garlands, choose a master of the feast, for I will revel like any Thracian, for joy that my friend hath returned.
1. tempus in ultimum] During the two years between his leaving Rome and the battle of Philippi, Brutus went through many hard-fought battles with the native tribes in Macedonia and in Asia Minor, as well as in resisting the assumption of his province by C. Antonius, the triumvir’s brother, to whom the Senate had assigned it. ‘Tempus in ultimum’ does not mean so much to the brink of the grave, as we should say, as into extreme danger or need.
3. redonavit Quiritem] This word ‘redonare’ is peculiar to Horace. He uses it again, C. iii. 3. 33. ‘Quiritem’ has particular force as ‘unshorn of your citizenship.’ He had not been ‘capite deminutus.’ See Aesch. Eum. 757, Ἀργεῖος ἁνὴρ αὖθις. The singular ‘Quiris’ is not found in prose-writers. It occurs again in Epp. i. 6. 7.
5. prime sodalium,] ‘Prime’ means ‘earliest and best.’ It is probable that the days Horace enjoyed so much with his friend were spent at Athens when they were both young students. The language does not seem to suit a camp life, especially on such a service as the army of Brutus went through. On ‘fregi’ see C. i. 1. 20, n.
8. Malobathro] Oil produced from an Indian shrub of that name. ‘Syrio’ is only used in the same extended application in which Ovid uses ‘Assyrium’ (Amor. ii. 5. 40): “Maeonis Assyrium foemina tinxit ebur.” See C. ii. 11. 16.
9. Philippos et celerem fugam] ‘the rout at Philippi.’ We need not take Horace too much at his word. He was not born for a soldier, any more than his friend Iccius (C. i. 29); and he could afford to create a laugh against himself as a ῥίψασπις, a coward who runs away and leaves his shield behind him. He had in mind, no doubt, the misfortune that befell Alcæus, as related by Herodotus (v. 95). See C. i. 32. 5, n. There was nothing disgraceful in the flight from Philippi, which Brutus advised and necessity compelled.
11. minaces Turpe solum] All that seems to be meant is, that the bold were struck to the ground.
13. Mercurius celer Denso — sustulit aëre;] Poets were ‘Mercuriales viri’ (C. ii. 17. 29). Horace refers his preservation directly to the Muses in C. iii. 4. 26. He had in mind, no doubt, Paris’s rescue by Venus (Il. iii. 381), and Æneas’s by Phœbus in a thick cloud (Il. v. 344. Aen. x. 81).
14. Denso aëre] ‘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 ὑγρῷ, ‘supple.’ Theocritus (vi. 68) calls it πολύγναμπτον σέλινον.
23. Unguenta de conchis.] The Romans used fragrant oils and ointments for the hair and body in great quantities, especially at meals, when slaves poured scents on their heads (see C. ii. 11. 15, n. S. ii. 7. 55. Epp. i. 14. 32). ‘Concha’ was the name of a small liquid measure, but it was also used for different shell-shaped vessels.
24. Deproperare] ‘to prepare quickly.’ ‘De,’ as in many other instances, is intensive.
25. Curatve myrto?] Dillenbr. has given a variety of instances in which the enclitics ‘que,’ ‘ve,’ ‘ne’ are added to a word other than that which is to be coupled with the preceding word. There are two examples close to each other in C. ii. 19. 28, 32. Dillenbr. says this construction is adopted advisedly, to give force to the particular word to which the enclitic is added, and to strengthen the connection. The truth of this is more apparent in some other cases than in this; but it is true, and worth observing.
Venus] This was the highest cast of the dice, as ‘canis’ was the lowest. See Tacit. Ann. xiii. 15. As to ‘arbitrum bibendi,’ see above, C. i. 4. 18. ‘Dicet’ is used in the same sense as by Virgil (Georg. iii. 125): “Quem legere ducem et pecori dixere maritum”; where Servius explains ‘dixere’ by ‘designavere.’
28. furere] See C. iii. 19. 18, “Insanire juvat”; Epp. i. 5. 15; both being imitated from Pseudo-Anacreon, θέλω θέλω μανῆναι. The Edoni were a people of Thrace (see C. i. 27. 2).
This Ode is probably an imitation from the Greek, or a fancy of the poet’s. It professes to be addressed to a faithless woman under the barbarian name Barine, and complains that, in spite of all her perjury, she continues more beautiful and captivating than ever.
Argument.—Barine, if I could see thee punished for thy false vows, I might believe thee again. But the moment after thou hast forsworn thyself, thou art lovelier and more bright than ever. Perjury, then, is profitable; Venus and her train laugh at it. Fresh slaves follow thee, and the old ones cannot leave thy roof; mothers, and stingy fathers, and new-married brides, are afraid of thee.
1. juris — pejerati] Equivalent to ‘perjurii.’ This expression is not found elsewhere. It is formed by analogy from ‘jus jurandum.’
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, πυρὶ πάντα βέβαπται. ‘Semper’ belongs to ‘ardentes.’
20. Saepe minati] ‘Though they have often threatened it.’
21. juvencis,] This is used as the Greeks would say πώλοις.
22. Senes parei] The frugal fathers fear that Barine will lead their sons into extravagance.
23. Virgines] Like ‘puellae’ (C. iii. 14. 10), this word does not belong exclusively to maids.
tua — Aura] ‘the breeze that sets them towards thee.’ ‘Popularis aura’ (C. iii. 2. 20) is used for the shifting breeze of popular opinion or favor.
C. Valgius Rufus was a poet of much merit, and appears to have been sad for the loss of a young slave. At a time of public rejoicing (probably at the closing of the temple of Janus, B. C. 24, after the Cantabri had been put down by Augustus, C. ii. 6. 2, n.), Valgius is called upon (as Tibullus was in C. i. 33) to cease from writing mournful verses on his loss, and to turn his thoughts to the praises of Augustus.
Argument.—The rain does not always fall, nor the storms rage, nor the frost continue for ever, Valgius. But thou mournest for Mystes from morning till night. Nestor did not always weep for Antilochus, nor his parents and sisters for Troilus. Cease thy wailings, and let us sing of the triumphs of Augustus.
3. inaequales] This epithet is equivalent to ‘informes,’ ‘shapeless,’ which is a way of expressing anything that is rough (C. ii. 10. 15). See C. i. 7. 15.
The table-lands of Armenia are intensely cold in winter, and covered with snow and ice. The summers are hot and dry.
7. Querceta] The Apulian range Garganus (Monte Gargano) terminated in the bold promontory of the same name, now called Punta di Viesti. It is still clothed with woods, but the forests of Italy are not what they were. See Epp. ii. 1. 202.
9, 10. Tu — ademptum] ‘But thou art ever dwelling in doleful strains upon the loss of Mystes.’
12. rapidum] Any one who has watched the rising of the sun in a cloudless horizon will understand this epithet.
13. ter aevo functus] ‘who had thrice completed the (usual) age of man.’ Cic. (de Senectut. c. 10) says, “Nestor tertiam jam aetatem hominum vivebat.” The foundation for the story is found in Homer (Il. i. 250):—
ἤδη δύο μὲν γενεαὶ μερόπων ἀνθρώπων
ἐφθίατο—μετὰ δὲ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν.
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. Troïlon] The death of Troilus, son of Priam and Hecuba, who was killed by Achilles, is related by Virgil (Aen. i. 474), following, not Homer, but some of the Cyclic poets (see A. P. 136, n.), the event having taken place before the time at which the Iliad opens. His sisters were Creusa, Polyxena, Laodice, and Cassandra.