This and the five following Odes are generally admitted to be among the finest specimens of Horace’s manner. It has been already said (C. ii. 15, Introduction) that they appear all to have been written about the same time with one another and with other Odes, namely, that time when Augustus set himself the task of social reformation, after the close of the civil wars.
The general purport of this Ode is an exhortation to moderate living and desires.
The first stanza is generally understood to have been added as an introduction to the six Odes, viewed as a whole.
Argument.—The worldly I despise, but have new precepts for the young. Kings rule over their people, but are themselves the subjects of Jove. One may be richer, another nobler than his fellows, but all alike must die. No indulgence can get sleep for him who has a sword ever hanging over him, while it disdains not the dwellings of the poor. He who is content with a little, fears not storm or drought. The rich man builds him houses on the very waters, but anxiety follows him, go where he will. If, then, the luxuries of the wealthy cure not grief, why should I build me great houses, or seek to change my lot?
1. Odi profanum vulgus] The first stanza is an imitation of the language used by the priests at the mysteries, requiring “the multitude profane,” that is, all but the initiated, or those who were to be initiated, to stand aloof. ‘Favere linguis,’ like εὐφημεῖν, in its first meaning signifies the speaking words of good omen. But it came as commonly to signify total silence, as here. Horace speaks as if he despaired of impressing his precepts on any but the young, and bids the rest stand aside, as incapable of being initiated in the true wisdom of life.
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 ἐστὶν ὡς, ‘it may be.’ ‘Esto’ without ‘ut’ occurs in Sat. i. 6. 19. The meaning of the sentence is, that one man possesses more lands than another.
10. hic generosior] ‘Generosior’ is more noble by birth, as another is more distinguished for his character and deeds, and a third for the number of his clients, of whom it was the pride of the wealthy Romans to have a large body depending on them.
11. Descendat in Campum] The Campus Martius was an open space, which afterwards came to be encroached upon by buildings, outside the city walls on the northeast quarter, and on the left bank of the Tiber. The comitia centuriata, at which the election of magistrates took place, were held in the Campus Martius. ‘Descendere’ is the word used for gladiators going into the arena to fight, and is also applied to the contests for office.
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 Mæcenas 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 τὰ Τέμπη.
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 κόστος, but the name is probably Eastern. It is not the spikenard, as it is generally called.
45. Cur invidendis] ‘Why should I build a high palace, with a splendid entrance and in the modern style? Why change my Sabine vale for troublesome wealth?’ On the construction with ‘permutem,’ see C. i. 17. 2, n.
The purpose of this Ode is to commend public and social virtue, and the opening shows that it is a continuation of the preceding Ode. It is addressed chiefly to young men, and tells them that military virtue is the parent of contentment.
Argument.—Contentment is to be learned in arms and danger. To die for our country is glorious, and death pursues the coward. Virtue is superior to popular favor or rejection, and opens the way to the skies, and rises above the dull atmosphere of this world. Good faith, too, has its reward, and I would not be the companion of the man who neglects it, lest I share his sure reward.
1. amice] ‘Amice ferre’ is the reverse of the common phrase ‘moleste ferre.’ ‘Let the youth, made strong by active warfare, learn to endure contentedly privations.’
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,—
ὁ δ᾽ αὖ θάνατος κίχε καὶ τὸν φυγόμαχον.
‘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]
ἐστὶ καὶ σιγᾶς ἀκίνδυνον γέρας,
which words of Simonides it appears Augustus was acquainted with, and approved. Plutarch tells this story. When Athenodorus was about to leave Augustus’s camp, he embraced the emperor, and said, “O Cæsar, whenever thou art wroth, say nothing, do nothing, till thou hast gone over in thy mind the twenty-four letters of the alphabet.” Whereupon the emperor took him by the hand, and said, “I have need of thee still”; and he detained him a whole year, saying, “Silence, too, hath its safe reward.” Horace’s indignation is levelled against the breaking of faith generally, and the divulging of the secrets of Ceres (whose rites, however, it appears, were only attended by women) is only mentioned by way of illustration. Secrecy is a sign of good faith, and not an easy one to practise. There are few moral qualities that can be said to take precedence of it. It is the basis of friendship, as Cicero says, and without it society cannot exist. (Compare S. i. 4. 84, n.) It is probable, if Plutarch’s story be true, that Horace had heard Augustus repeat his favorite axiom.
26, etc.] ‘I will not suffer the person who has divulged the sacred mysteries of Ceres to be under the same roof, or to sail in the same vessel, with me.’
29. Solvat phaselon;] That is, ‘de littore,’ ‘to unmoor.’ The precise character of the worship of Ceres at Rome is not easily made out. There were no mysteries among the Romans corresponding to the Eleusinian or any of the other Greek Μυστήρια.
Diespiter] See C. i. 34. 5, n. ‘Oft doth Jove neglected join the pure with the unclean,’ that is, punishes the innocent with the guilty who have offended him. For another example of ‘incesto,’ see next Ode (v. 19). ‘Addidit’ and ‘deseruit’ have the force of the aorist.
32. Deseruit pede Poena claudo.] The avengers of guilt are called by the Greek tragedians ὑστερόποινοι, ὑστεροφθόροι. ‘Pede claudo,’ ‘of limping foot,’ and so, ‘slow.’
This Ode commends the virtue of perseverance by the example of heroes who had secured divine honors by it. Juno is introduced as making a long speech to the assembled gods, when it was proposed to admit Romulus among them. This speech is contrived in order to introduce the glory and extent of the Roman empire and the praises of Augustus. It also contains indirect exhortations to abstinence and contentment, and so bears on the general scope of these Odes. It is said that Julius Cæsar meant to transfer the seat of empire to Alexandria in Troas, or to Ilium; and perhaps in Horace’s time, among the remedies proposed for the evils of the state, some may have freely spoken of transferring the seat of government to another spot. It is equally probable that the site of Troy, the city of their ancestors and the fountain of their race, may have been fixed upon for that purpose. To meet the spirit of avarice in some, and restlessness in all that would be mixed up with such a notion, seems to have been another purpose of this Ode. The Romans attached much importance to the legend which derived their origin from the Trojans. See S. ii. 5. 63.
Argument.—The upright man and firm no terrors can drive from his purpose. Through this virtue Pollux, Hercules, Augustus, Bacchus, have been translated to the skies. Romulus likewise, at the instance of Juno, who thus addressed the assembled gods: “Ilium hath paid the penalty of its founder’s crime. That impious umpire and his foreign strumpet have overthrown it. But his beauty is gone. Priam’s perjured house hath fallen; the war our quarrels protracted is at an end. My wrath then I remit. Let Mars have his hated grandson; let him come among us: only let seas roll between Ilium and Rome, and let the exiles reign where they will; let their capitol stand, and the Mede own their sway; but let the tomb of Priam and of Paris be the 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 κύκλος with or without οὐρανοῦ.
6. fulminantis] This is a word not used by prose-writers of Horace’s day. The same may be said of ‘triumphatis’ (v. 43).
7. illabatur] The regular construction would be with the future, as the future follows in ‘ferient.’ ‘Illabatur’ should have ‘feriant’ in prose. See below, C. 9. 12, n.
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 Æneas.
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 ἕλκειν and σπᾷν. They both occur in one verse of Euripides (Cycl. 417),
Ἔσπασέν τ᾽ ἄμυστιν ἑλκύσας.
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 Ægisthus 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):
Ἥρην δὲ προσέειπε κασιγνήτην ἄλοχόν τε.
65. Ter si resurgat] Three is often used for an indefinite number, as here. See Georg. i. 281; iv. 384. Ovid, Met. x. 452; also below, C. 4. 79, “trecentae catenae.”
murus aëneus] Horace is partial to this epithet. See Epp. i. 1. 60. C. 9. 18. C. 16. 1. It means no more, in this derived use, than strength and stability. ‘Aëneus’ is never used as a word of three syllables.
66. Auctore Phoebo,] Virgil has “Troiae Cynthius auctor” (G. iii. 36). See note on v. 21.
70. pervicax] ‘bold.’
72. Magna modis tenuare parvis] ‘To degrade lofty themes by your humble strains.’
Pursuing his purpose, Horace here commends the power of wisdom and learning in subduing brute force and violent passions, which he illustrates by a fabulous story about himself when he was an infant, and by the protection he has always received from the Muses, by the love Augustus bore them, and by the destruction of the giants when they attacked the skies, which the poet attributes to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.
Argument.—Come down, Calliope, and sing a lofty strain. Is it a dream, or am I wandering in the Muses’ grove? I was a child, and, tired with play, I lay down to sleep on the Apulian hills. There doves made me a covering of leaves, and I slept safe, and men might well wonder how the gods were present with me. Yours am I, ye Muses, on the Sabine hills, at Tibur, at Præneste, or at Baiæ. Because I love your fountains and your choir, I perished not when the battle was turned, nor by the accursed tree, nor in the Sicilian waters. Be ye with me, and I will visit the mad Bosporus, the sands of the East, the savage Briton, the Concan, the Geloni, and the Tanais, unharmed. Ye refresh Augustus when he brings back his weary troops from the war. Mild are your counsels, and in peace is your delight. We know how that bold giant band struck terror into the heart of Jove; but what was their strength against the ægis of Pallas? ’T was that which drove them back, though Vulcan too, and Juno, and Apollo with his bow, were there. Brute force falls, self-destroyed: the gods detest violence, but tempered strength they promote: let Gyas be my witness, Orion the seducer, Earth mourning for her sons, Ætna with its ever-burning and unconsuming flame, the vulture of Tityus, and the chains of Peirithous.
2. longum] This seems to mean a sustained and stately song. Calliope was generally called the Muse of Epic poetry.
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: ‘Āpūlo’—‘Ăpūliae.’ Such variations in proper names are not unusual in the Latin poets. The word ‘Sicanus’ is used as three different feet. ‘Italus’ has the first syllable long or short, and so with other names.
11. Ludo fatigatumque somno] It is clear that some other word, like ‘oppressum,’ must be understood for ‘somno.’ It is a translation of καμάτῳ ἀδδηκότες ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ (Il. x. 98). Acherontia, Bantia, and Forentum were neighboring towns, and still retain their names under the forms Acerenza, Vanci, Forenza. Stories, such as Horace has here invented for himself, are told of Stesichorus, Pindar, Æschylus, Plato.
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 Baiæ, has reference to the clearness and purity of the atmosphere.
23. Praeneste seu Tibur] See Epp. i. 2. 2, n., as to ‘Praeneste,’ and C. ii. 6. 5, n., as to ‘Tibur,’ which rose from the plain on the right bank of the Anio, on the side of a hill, from which it is called ‘supinum.’
25. Vestris — fontibus] All retired streams and shady groves were held sacred to the Muses (v. 6). Parnassus had its fountain, Castalia; and Helicon two, Hippocrene and Aganippe.
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 prætorian troops, and there they built Augusta Prætoria (Aosta), and about the same time there were assigned to others lands in Lusitania on which they built Augusta Emerita (Merida). ‘Additis’ is used in a like case by Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 31): “Coloniae Capua atque Nuceria additis veteranis firmatae sunt.”
40. Pierio recreatis antro] Suetonius, in his Life of Augustus (84, 85), relates that he followed literary pursuits with great zeal, and dabbled in poetry. He could not have had much time for such pursuits when this Ode was written, but he may have said enough to let it be seen that he desired leisure to follow them. As to ‘Pierio,’ see A. P. 405.
41. Vos lene consilium] The penultimate vowel coalesces with the next, as in ‘principium’ (iii. 6. 6), ‘Alfenius’ (S. i. 3. 130), ‘Nasidieni’ (S. ii. 8. 1). So Virgil says (Aen. i. 73): “Connūbio jungam stabili.” ‘Ye give peaceful counsel, and rejoice in giving it, because ye are gentle (‘almae’),’ is the meaning of the words, which are to be taken generally.
43. Titanus immanemque turmam] The wars of the Titanes (with Uranus), the Gigantes, the Aloïdæ, Typhon, or Typhoëus (with Zeus), are all mixed up together in the description which follows. Virgil has given a description (Georg. i. 279, sqq.) where the Titans (Cœus and Iapetus), Typhon, and the Aloïdæ are brought together with little distinction. But neither Horace nor Virgil was writing a mythological history, and in this description of Horace there is great power.
44. caduco] ‘swift-descending,’ as καταιβάτης in Æschylus.
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 χείρεσσι πεποιθότες (Il. xii. 135). ‘Horrida juventus’ means the Gigantes, a family different from the Titanes, and younger.
51. Fratresque tendentes] The brothers Horace speaks of were Otus and Ephialtes, the sons of Aloëus, whose exploit of piling Pelion on Ossa in their attack upon Olympus (Olympus, Ossa, and Pelion formed a continuous range, running down the coast of Thessaly), is first mentioned by 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 Aloidæ. These variations are only worth noticing as they help to show that the Romans set little value by these stories, and only used them as ornaments of poetry; and to prevent students from wasting their time in attempting to reconcile statements which are not reconcilable—Typhoëus (Τυφωεύς) warred with Zeus on his own account. He belonged neither to the Titanes nor the Gigantes. Mimas and Rhœtus were of the Gigantes. Porphyrion and Enceladus were of the same family.
57. sonantem Palladis aegida] The ‘aegis’ was the skin of the goat Amalthea, the nurse of Zeus, and is said to have been worn by him first in these wars with the Gigantes. It is occasionally found in ancient representations of Jupiter, but more commonly of Minerva. To account for the epithet ‘sohantem,’ we must understand that the ‘aegis’ was taken to represent, not only the goat-skin folded over the breast, but also a shield (Il. xv. 229, sqq.), and a metal breastplate, either of which it may signify here. Homer represents both Apollo and Pallas as wearing their father’s ‘aegis.’
58. avidus] This means ‘avidus pugnae,’ as in Virg. (Aen. xii. 430), “Ille avidus pugnae suras incluserat auro.” Tacitus puts the word absolutely (Ann. i. 57), “Caesar avidas legiones quatuor in cuneos dispertit.” In enumerating the principal gods who assisted Zeus in the battle, Horace means to say that, although they were present, it was Pallas to whom the victory was mainly owing. See Introduction. ‘Hinc — hinc’; ‘in one place — in another.’
59. matrona Juno] The Greek Here was commonly represented naked, or partly so. The Roman Juno was always clad as a matron from head to foot. Her favorite character was Juno Matrona or Romana, which meant the same thing. Her introduction, therefore, under this title, is meant as a compliment to Rome.
61. Qui rore puro] The description of Apollo combines his various places of abode. Castalia was a fountain on Parnassus. ‘Lyciae dumeta’ are woods about Patara, a town in Lycia, where Apollo passed six months of the year, as he passed the other six at Delos, which place Horace means by ‘natalem silvam,’ i.e. the woods on Mount Cynthus. See Herod. i. 182.
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 Ægæon, distinguished from the rest by having each of them a hundred arms. Most accounts represent these brothers as helping Zeus. Horace follows a different legend, and so does Virgil (Aen. x. 565, sqq.).
70. integrae] ‘Integer’ is equivalent to ‘intactus,’ and involves the same root (see above, C. iii. 2. 18, n).
71. Tentator Orion] ‘Tentator’ is not elsewhere used for a seducer. It is taken from the Greek πειράν. The story of Orion is told in a variety of ways. Here it is that he tried to seduce Artemis, and that she shot him with an arrow. He is referred to above (C. ii. 13. 39) as pursuing his favorite sport in Hades.
73. Terra] All the monsters above mentioned, except the Aloïdæ, were said to be the children of Γαῖα, the Earth, and Uranus, whence they were called γηγενεῖς (C. ii. 12. 6).
74. luridum] This word is perhaps a contraction of ‘livoridus,’ and akin to ‘lividus,’ and so to the Greek πελιδνός (see C. iv. 9. 33). It signifies dismal, dark, and so forth.
75. nec peredit] ‘Nor does the fire ever consume’ the mountain, and so liberate the giant placed under it. The offender on whom Ætna was laid is variously said to have been Typhon or Typhoëus, Enceladus, and Briareus. Which version Horace adopted does not appear.
78. nequitiae additus] ‘Nequitiae’ may mean ‘propter nequitiam’ by a Greek construction, or it may be put for ‘nequam,’ the crime for the criminal. As to Tityos and Pirithous, see C. ii. 14. 8, and C. iv. 7. 28.
79. amatorem] Supply ‘Proserpinae.’ Understand ‘trecentae’ as representing any large number, as we would say ‘a thousand.’
In the year B. C. 53, M. Licinius Crassus, as consul, with the province of Syria, marched an army into Mesopotamia against the Parthians. He sustained a disastrous defeat at the hands of Surenas, the Parthian general, and lost his own life, with 20,000 men killed and 10,000 prisoners, besides several eagles. Again, in the year B. C. 36, M. Antonius attacked the Parthians, and was obliged to retreat with great loss.
There would seem to have been generally prevalent at Rome a feeling of soreness and impatience under the disgrace, so long unredeemed, of these reverses; and this feeling it appears to be Horace’s purpose in this Ode to allay, and to discourage any hope or desire for the return of the Parthian prisoners. This desire Horace seems to impute to a degenerate spirit, and the story of Regulus is introduced apparently to call back men’s minds to the feeling of a former generation.
The standards and many of the prisoners were restored by Phraates, B. C. 20, as an act of conciliation towards Augustus, and their recovery was proclaimed as a triumph, and recorded upon coins with the inscription “Signis receptis.” This fiction is repeated in C. iv. 15. 6. Epp. i. 12. 27; 18. 56.
Argument.—Jove is in heaven; Augustus shall be a god upon earth when he hath subdued the Briton and the Persian. What! can a Roman forget his glorious home and live a slave with the Mede? ’T was not thus Regulus acted, when he saw the ruin a coward’s example would hang on those who should come after him; and he cried, “I have seen our standards hung on Punic walls; our freemen bound; their gates unbarred; their fields all tilled. Ye do but add ruin to shame: but virtue, like the former fair color of dyed wool, can never be restored. When the freed hind fights its captor, the prisoner released shall cope again with his foe, he who has cried for mercy and made peace for himself on the battle-field.” Then, though he knew the cruel fate which was in store for him, he parted from his wife, his children, and his friends, and went away as calmly as a man would go to Venafrum or Tarentum, to enjoy repose after concluding his labors in the city.
1. Caelo Tonantem] ‘Regnare’ goes with ‘caelo,’ and ‘Tonantem’ is absolute. Jupiter Tonans had a temple on Mons Capitolinus. ‘Credidimus’ has the force of the aorist. ‘Praesens’ means ‘praesens in terris,’ as opposed to ‘caelo.’
3. adjectis] This means ‘when he shall have added.’ Horace’s object seems to be to divert men’s attention from the Parthian prisoners and past defeat to new objects of hope and ambition, under the guidance of Augustus. (See Introduction.)
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.
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 ἐξ ἁπαλῶν ὀνύχων, which signifies ‘from tender years,’ when the nails are delicate, and such is the meaning here, but it does not contradict ‘matura,’ as some suppose: the expression will apply to a girl in the earliest stage of womanhood.
26. Inter — vina,] The same form occurs in Epp. i. 7. 28, ‘ad vina,’ in C. iv. 5. 31.
27. impermissa] This word occurs nowhere else. ‘Inconcessus’ is used by Virgil and Ovid, and Horace uses ‘interdicta.’
31. Hispanae] Metals appear to have been the chief articles imported from Spain, with red-lead and those stones which were polished into mirrors, whatever stones those may have been.
32. Dedecorum] There is no other instance of ‘pretiosus’ in an active sense, ‘one who gives a large price.’ ‘Magister’ was one who had sole charge of a ship. ‘Institor’ was a shopman. The latter was only an agent, and was usually a slave. The ‘magister’ might be a degree higher, but he was usually a person who received wages; nevertheless he had means of becoming rich, which the ‘institor’ could not, except by robbing his employer.
34. Infecit aequor] See C. ii. 12. 3, n.; and on ‘dirum’ see the verse before that. ‘Cecidit’ is used with some latitude. Their projects were cut short, but not their lives. Pyrrhus was driven from Italy through a defeat he sustained from Curius, the consul, near Beneventum, in B. C. 274, and lost his life two years afterwards, at Argos. Antiochus the Great was defeated by Acilius Glabrio, at Thermopylæ, B. C. 191, and by L. Scipio in Asia the next year. He lost his life in an attempt to plunder a temple in one of his own towns, three years later. Hannibal was defeated by P. Scipio, at Zama, B. C. 202, but lived twenty years after that battle.
38. Sabellis] ‘Sabelli’ was the name given by the Romans to all the tribes which issued from the Sabine stock. The Sabine mountaineers were particularly noted for the simplicity of their habits and the honesty of their characters. Here Horace contrasts them with the Romans of his own day. See Epod. ii. 41; Epp. ii. 1. 25; and compare the description Horace gives of his own neighbors, S. ii. 6. 77; Epp. i. 14. 3.
39, sqq. severae — fustes,] ‘to cut and carry home fagots, at the bidding of an exacting mother.’
41. sol ubi] There are not many poets who could incidentally have expressed in so few words, and so graphically, the hour of evening.
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.
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. Chloë, his hostess, is trying to seduce him, and frightens him with stories of rejected women’s revenge. But he is deaf to her seductions. Beware in thy turn of Enipeus, thy gallant neighbor. Shut thy doors and listen not to his songs.
2. Favonii] See C. i. 4. 1. Favonius, according to Pliny (ii. 47), blew ‘ab occasu aequinoctiali,’ that is, due west. It would therefore be a favorable wind for a vessel coming down the Adriatic, and not very unfavorable for sailing up the west coast of Italy. It would be in her teeth as she tried to make the Straits of Messina. But Horace’s winds are not more studied than his places and persons. The lover is waiting till the weather changes and the winds are mild and favorable. The Favonii are called ‘candidi,’ as Notus and Iapyx are each called ‘albus’ (C. i. 7. 15; iii. 27. 19).
3. Thyna merce] The Thyni and Bithyni were originally two different peoples of Thrace, who migrated into Asia Minor and displaced the natives. For some time they continued separate, but when Horace wrote, the distinction was not observed, and ‘Thyna merx’ was Bithynian merchandise (Epp. i. 6. 33). Bithynia, after it became a Roman province, included a great part of Pontus, and so comprised nearly the whole sea coast of Asia Minor, and all the trade along that coast would come under the title of ‘Thyna merx.’
4. fide,] The genitive. The older forms of genitives of this declension were four, ‘es,’ ‘ei,’ ‘i,’ and ‘e.’
5. Oricum] This was a town in Epirus, situated at the top of the bay formed by the Acroceraunian promontory. See Aen. x. 136. “Oricia terebintho.” The constellation of the goat Amalthea (Capra) rises at the beginning of October.
11. Dicens ignibus uri,] ‘Ignibus’ is used as Ovid uses it (Am. iii. 9. 56), “vixisti dum tuus ignis eram.” We may understand C. i. 27. 16, “Non erubescendis adurit Ignibus,” in the same way, i.e. the flame put for the person who causes it.
12. Tentat mille vafer modis.] On ‘tentat,’ see note on C. iii. 4. 71.
13. mulier perfida] Antea or Sthenobæa, wife of Prœtus, king of Argos, fell in love with Bellerophontes, and when he rejected her proposals, she accused him to her husband, as Potiphar’s wife accused Joseph.
14. Falsis impulerit] ‘Impello’ is used with the infinitive mood by Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 54; xiv. 60). The common construction is with ‘ut,’ as (Epp. ii. 2. 51) “impulit audax Ut versus facerem.”
17. Pelea] Astydamia or Hippolyte, the wife of Acastus, king of Iolcos, out of revenge for his rejection of her, induced her husband to expose Peleus to destruction by wild beasts on Mount Pelion, where he took him to hunt, and left him asleep without his sword. Hippolyte is called ‘Magnessam’ because Iolcos was in Magnesia. Joseph’s virtue has its parallels in Grecian fable.
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 Ægean which washes the coast of Caria. With these words compare Euripides (Med. 28), ὡς δὲ πέτρος ἣ θαλάσσιος κλύδων ἀδούει. (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.
This Ode was composed on the anniversary of Horace’s accident with the tree (C. ii. 13). It is addressed to Mæcenas, whom he invites to join him in celebrating the day, which was the 1st of March, B. C. 25, or thereabouts.
Argument.—Wonderest thou, learned friend, what this sacrifice means on the Kalends of March, and I a bachelor? On this day I was delivered from death, and it shall be a holiday. Come, Mæcenas, a hundred cups of my oldest wine to the health of thy friend. Away with anxiety. The Dacian has fallen, the Mede is divided against himself, the Cantabrian is in chains, and the Scythian has unstrung his bow. Be here the private gentleman: never mind the people; enjoy thyself and unbend.
1. Martiis caelebs] The Matronalia, or feast of married persons in honor of Juno Lucina, when husbands made presents to their wives, and offered prayers for the continuance of happiness in their married life, was celebrated on the first of March.
2. acerra thuris] This is the proper word for a box of frankincense (λιβανωτίς). The derivation is uncertain.
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 amphoræ were kept in the apotheca in the upper part of the house, to which the smoke from the bath had access, as this was thought to hasten the ripening of the wine and to improve its flavor, just as Madeira wine is improved by being kept in a warm temperature. The amphora being lined with pitch or plaster, and the cork being also covered with pitch, the smoke could not penetrate if these were properly attended to. ‘Amphorae’ is the dative.
12. Consule Tullo.] L. Volcatius Tullus was consul B. C. 66, the year before Horace was born. This wine, therefore, had probably been in the amphora upwards of forty years. Sulla once treated the Romans with some 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.’
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.
Calaïs loves me, and I love him: for him I would gladly die. What if the old love were to unite us again, if Chloe were cast off and turned from my door, and I opened it to Lydia again?
Though Calaïs is handsome, and thou art fickle and passionate as the stormy sea, I would live and die with thee.
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 Chloë should be a Thracian, and Ornytus of Thurii (see S. ii. 8. 20, n.), is not worth questioning.
17. prisca] Forcellini gives other instances of this use of ‘priscus,’ where ‘pristinus’ is more usual.
18. jugo cogit] ‘Jugo’ is governed by ‘cogit,’ and ‘diductos’ stands alone, ‘parted though we be.’
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.’
This is supposed to be sung by a lover under the window of his mistress, who on a cold night refuses him admission. It is what the Greeks called a παρακλαυσίθυρον, such as that supposed one, of which a fragment is given in C. i. 25. This species of serenade was so common among the Greeks, that we may suppose Horace had some poem of the sort in his mind when he wrote this. The thirteenth Ode of the fourth book is nominally connected with this; but as there is no necessity for supposing, nor any likelihood, that Horace wrote this from his own experience, so neither is it likely that he wrote that to taunt in her decline the girl who is supposed to reject his addresses here.
Argument.—Were Scythia thy dwelling-place, Lyce, this inclement night should move thee to pity me. Hear how the wind howls; see how the snow lies freezing. Venus loves not pride: the rope may break and the wheel run back; though nothing bends thee, neither presents, nor prayers, nor these sallow cheeks of mine, nor thy husband’s faithlessness, though thou be hard as the oak and cruel as the serpent, yet as a goddess have pity! Flesh and blood will not stand this for ever.
1. Tanain si biberes,] This is the way of speaking adopted in C. ii. 20. 20, and iv. 15. 21.
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.’