6. Si per obliquum] The image of the snake shooting across the road recalls Jacob’s prophecy in respect to his son Dan: “Dan shall be a serpent by the way; an adder in the path that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backwards” (Gen. xlix. 17).
7. ego cui timebo] ‘For my part, on behalf of her for whom I am anxious, like a far-seeing augur, before that bird (the crow) which tells of the coming storm shall go back to his stagnant pool, the croaking raven with my prayers I will call up from the East,’ which would be an omen of good weather, and the crow flying to the marsh, of bad. ‘Oscines aves’ were birds whose omens were taken from their note, as ‘praepetes’ from their flight.
13. Sis licet felix] There is a tenderness apart from familiarity in these two stanzas, which gives much reality to the Ode.
15. laevus vetet ire picus] The woodpecker was a bird of ill-omen. There was some confusion among the Romans as to the right hand and left in augury, as to which was the propitious side. The confusion may have arisen from the different practice of the Greeks and Romans in taking note of birds, the former facing the north and the latter the south, as is commonly supposed. But what is confusion to us, was none to a Roman. (C. 26. 5.)
18. Pronus Orion.] Orion sets about the beginning of November. On ‘albus Iapyx,’ see C. 3. 4 and 7. 15 of the first book.
21. Hostium uxores] So in C. i. 21. 13, sqq., he prays Apollo to turn away war, famine, and pestilence from his country to her enemies, the Parthians and Britons. Such diversion is common with the poets, as Virgil (Georg. iii. 513), “Di meliora piis erroremque hostibus illum.” The Romans used ‘pueri’ for children of either sex. ‘Oriens’ is not usually applied to the rising of a wind, as Horace applies it here.
25. Sic et Europe] The story of Europa, the daughter of Agenor and sister of Cadmus, carried off from Phœnicia to Crete by Zeus, under the form of a bull, is told by Ovid, at the end of the second book of the Metamorphoses.
28. Palluit] So ‘expalluit’ (Epp. i. 3. 10) and ‘contremuit’ (C. ii. 12. 8) are used transitively.
33. centum — Oppidis] See Epod. ix. 29. The description is taken from Homer’s Κρήτην ἑκατόμπολιν (Il. ii. 649). Europa’s speech is that of one just awake to her real position, after the terror of her voyage and the departure of her companion; left alone in a strange land, with the consciousness of her folly first coming upon her. She begins distractedly, ‘Father,—alas! I have forfeited a daughter’s name, and love hath given place to madness.’
37. Unde quo veni?] This implies, not that she was so distracted that she had forgotten whence she had come, but ‘What an exchange have I made! So dear a home for this strange place!’ It is all very natural and beautiful. ‘Una mors’ is perhaps an imitation of Sophocles (Antig. 308): οὐχ ὗμιν Ἅιδης μοῦνος ἀρκέσει.
38. Vigilansne ploro] ‘Am I awake and weeping for my foul fault, or, free from guilt, doth some vain image mock me, which, taking flight from out the ivory gate, brings me a dream?’
41. porta fugiens eburna] Homer (Odyss. xix. 562) describes two gates in the house of Sleep, one of them horn and the other ivory, for the exit of dreams, of which those which came out of the ivory gate were false, those out of the other, true. Virgil has imitated Homer’s description, Aen. vi. 894, sqq.
44. Carpere flores?] Ovid makes her put flowers about the animal’s neck: “flores ad candida porrigit ora,” Met. ii. 861.
49. Impudens liqui] ‘For lack of shame I left my father’s house, for lack of shame I hesitate to die,’ either because she deserved to die, or because her chastity was in danger. ‘Orcum moror’ is equivalent to ‘dubito mori,’ like Ovid (Heroid. ix. 146): “Impia quid dubitas Deïanira mori”, but it is an unusual form. Seeing nothing but death before her, she prays to be killed at once, rather than die a lingering death by hunger, and go down to Hades robbed of her beauty. This notion is Greek, and from the Greek it is probably imitated. ‘Ere ugly leanness seize my lovely cheeks, and their young victim’s blood runs dry, thus in my beauty I would feed the tigers.’
60. Laedere collum] ‘Laedere’ corresponds to λωβᾶσθαι in Soph. Ant. 54, πλεκταῖσιν ἀρτάναισι λωβᾶται βίον. Several heroines ended their lives in this unromantic way,—Antigone, Jocasta, Phædra, Amata; and the tragedians have no stronger expression for suffering, than that it is enough to make one hang one’s self.
61. Sive te rupes] As to ‘sive,’ see i. 6. 19, n. ‘Acuta leto,’ ‘sharp to kill,’ whose sharp edges are fatal.
66. Aderat querenti] Venus and Cupid come to laugh her out of her fears, and to teach her the greatness of her destiny.
67. remisso] Cupid’s bow is unstrung, as the Scholiast says, because it has done its work with Europa.
69. Abstineto, — irarum] This is a Greek form, noticed before (C. ii. 9. 17).
71. invisus] They speak ironically.
73. esse nescis:] This may be ‘you know not how to be’ (that is, ‘to bear yourself as’), or ‘you know not that you are.’ ‘Scire’ in this last sense does not usually govern the infinitive mood.
76. Nomina] The plural is thus used for the singular in C. iv. 2. 4, and Ovid (Tr. i. 1. 90): “Icarus Icariis nomina fecit aquis.” Horace seems to give Europe half the world, and the other parts the rest. He is not speaking with exactness.
This Ode professes to be written on the day of the Neptunalia. The time is the afternoon, and the poet calls upon Lyde (an imaginary person) to come and drink with him, and sing an amebean address to the divinity of the day and the other gods usually honored on such occasions.
Argument.—Lyde, bring out the best Cæcuban, and take wisdom by storm, for what can I do better on Neptune’s holiday? The noon is past, make haste. Let us sing; I of Neptune and the Nereids, you of Latona and Diana; both of us together of Venus;—and we will not forget a song for Night.
2. reconditum] This is explained by (C. ii. 3. 8) “Interiore nota Falerni” (see note). ‘Strenua’ is put instead of the adverb.
4. Munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae.] This has something of the heroic in it: ‘lay siege to wisdom in her strong-hold.’
7. horreo] The ‘apotheca’ at the top of the house, where the ‘amphorae’ were kept (C. i. 37. 6; iii. 8. 11, n.).
8. Bibuli consulis] M. Calpurnius Bibulus was consul with Julius Cæsar, B. C. 59. See C. iii. 8. 12, n.
9. Nos cantabimus invicem] See Argument.
12. Cynthiae;] Diana, the Latin form of Artemis, was born, like her brother Apollo, on Mount Cynthus, in the island of Delos. Latona (the Latin name of Λητώ) was their mother, by Zeus.
13. Cnidon] See C. i. 30. 1. ‘Summo carmine’ is the conclusion of their duet, not their last song.
14. Fulgentes] See C. i. 14. 19. We do not hear elsewhere of Venus frequenting the Cyclades. As to Paphon, see C. i. 30. 1.
15. oloribus;] Compare Ovid (Met. x. 717):
“Vecta levi curru medias Cytheraea per auras
Cypron olorinis nondum pervenerat alis.”
16. Dicetur merita Nox] See C. iii. 19. 10. ‘Nenia’ is here a sort of lullaby. See Epod. xvii. 29, n.
This is an invitation from the poet to his patron, pressing him to pay him a visit at his farm. He bids him throw off the cares of the state, and live for the enjoyment of the hour. The time is the dog-days. The year is uncertain.
Argument.—Come, Mæcenas, the wine and oil and the flowers are ready. Stay not for ever gazing from a distance at the pleasant fields of Tibur, buried in the magnificence and the uproar, the wealth and the smoke, of the city. The rich man often likes to sup at the poor man’s table. The days of drought are come back; the shepherd seeks the shade, the flock seeks the stream, not a breath is on the river-banks: but thou art distracting thyself with imaginary dangers. Heaven has wisely hidden the future from man, and does but smile at his fears. Live for the present; all else is like the stream, that now flows in peace, now is swollen to a flood, and sweeps all with it to the sea. He lives happy who lives to-day, and leaves to-morrow to Heaven, seeing that Jove himself cannot undo what is done.
As to Fortune, she is fickle, and changes from day to day. If she stays with me, I am glad; if she flies, I am resigned. If the storm rages, I have no merchandise to fear for, and can put out into any sea with safety in my little bark.
1. Tyrrhena regum progenies,] Compare C. i. 1. 1. ‘Verso’ is equivalent to ‘moveri’ in “moveri digna bono die” (C. iii. 21. 6). The ‘balanus’ was an oleaginous nut of some kind, and is here put for the oil expressed from it.
5. Eripe te morae;] ‘Morae’ is the dative.
6. Ne semper udum] ‘Udum’ is an epithet commonly applied to Tibur, which stood on the banks of the Anio. The town itself was built on the side of a hill (C. iii. 4. 23), but the fields below seem to have been damp (see C. i. 7. 14) from a number of small streams which watered them. It appears that Mæcenas was sighing for the country all the time he was detained at Rome. Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe, was the reputed founder of Tusculum and Præneste. One of the legends of the death of Ulysses attributes it to this son. Æsula was probably a town between Præneste and Tibur, but no traces of its site remain, and Pliny says that it no longer existed in his time (iii. 5).
10. Molem] This signifies Mæcenas’s palace on the Esquiline Hill at Rome. It is mentioned in Epod. ix. 3.
11. Omitte] This is the only instance in this book of an iambus at the beginning of the third verse. It occurs four times in the first book, and twice in the second. It does not occur in the fourth.
15. aulaeis et ostro] The meaning of ‘aulaeis’ is explained in Sat. ii. 8. 54. It was usual to spread tapestry to catch any dust that might fall from the ceiling. ‘Aulaeis et ostro’ may form one subject, or ‘ostro’ may mean the coverings of the couches. See S. ii. 3. 118, n.
16. Sollicitam explicuere frontem.] This expression is repeated in Sat. ii. 2. 125: “Explicuit vino contractae seriae frontis.” The perfect has the force of the Greek aorist.
17. Andromedae pater] Cepheus, a northern star below Ursa Minor, rises at the beginning of July. Procyon, a star of the first magnitude, in the constellation Canis Minor, and called ‘Ante Canem’ by a literal version of the Greek name, rises about the same time, and the sun enters Leo: see above, C. iii. 13. 8, n. ‘Stella’ is not commonly put for ‘sidus,’ the constellation, as it is here.
25. Tu civitatem] See Introduction. As to ‘regnata,’ see C. ii. 6. 11. The Seres represent indefinitely the farthest Eastern nations known to the Romans (see C. i. 12. 56). The Bactrians were formerly part of the Persian empire, and were at this time partly subject to the Parthians and partly to a Scythian race, the Tochari. Bactra was their capital. The meaning of Horace is, that Mæcenas should not trouble himself about improbable dangers.
34. aequore] ‘Aequore’ is equivalent to ‘alveo,’ the channel of the river. Virgil has “viridesque secant placido aequore silvas” (Aen. viii. 96). The next line describes well the quiet flow of a river.
43. cras vel atra] Compare C. ii. 10. 15. On ‘diffinget,’ see C. i. 35. 39. ‘Vexit’ is employed unusually for ‘avexit.’
49. Fortuna saevo] The caprice of Fortune, represented as a coquette transferring her favors from one favorite to another, and delighting to trifle with the happiness of men, is the lowest Epicurean view of life and the world’s government. But Horace writes conventionally. He has just assigned to the Father of all the ordering of men’s lives.
51. Transmutat incertos honores,] Compare C. i. 34. 12, sqq.
53. si celeres quatit] Horace uses ‘si’ where other writers would use ‘sin.’
54. resigno] This is equivalent to ‘rescribo’ in a money sense, ‘to pay back.’ ‘Mea virtute me involvo’ is a picture of self-satisfaction. The man wraps his cloak of virtue complacently around him, and sits down in contented indifference to the proceedings of Fortune, as if she had nothing to do with him, and unites himself to poverty, as to a bride without a portion.
60. Cypriae Tyriaeque merces] Cyprus abounded in copper and other metals, including gold and silver, together with precious stones. It exported wines also and oil. The trade of Phœnicia, which at this time formed part of the Roman province of Syria, was carried on through Sidon more largely than Tyre, which, however, was a port of some consequence under the emperors. Horace is speaking generally, and ‘Tyriae merces’ answered his purpose as well as any other expression.
62. biremis — scaphae] A two-oared boat, ἐλάτης δικώπου. ‘Biremis’ is not so used elsewhere, but for two banks of oars.
64. feret] See above, C. iii. 9. 12, n. ‘Geminusque Pollux’ is an elliptical way of expressing ‘Pollux cum gemino fratre.’ See C. i. 3. 2.
This Ode appears to have been written as an epilogue to the first three books, as C. i. 1 was the prologue. It expresses the conviction, which time has justified, that, through his Odes, Horace had achieved an immortal name. The same just pride had been shown by poets before him; as by Sappho in a poem of which the first line only has been preserved, μνάσασθαί τινά φαμι καὶ ὕστερον ἀμμέων (16 Bergk); and by Ennius, in the lines (see C. ii. 20. 21, n.),—
“Nemo me lacrimis decoret nec funera fletu
Faxit. Cur? volito vivu’ per ora virum,”
which words Virgil has made his own (Georg. iii. 9). Propertius (iii. 1), Ovid (Met. xv. 871, sqq.), and Martial (x. 2. 7, sqq.) have all imitated Horace very closely.
Argument.—I have built myself a monument which storms shall not destroy, nor Time himself. I shall not die, but live in freshness of fame so long as the world endures.
It will be said, on the banks of my native river, that I, a humble man made great, was the first to fit the Grecian strain to the lyre of Italy.
Put on the bay that thou hast earned, my Muse.
2. situ] This word is nowhere else used in this sense. It here signifies the building, and not the site.
3. impotens] This word is equivalent to ‘impotens sui,’ ‘violent,’ ‘intemperate.’ See Epod. xvi. 62.
7. Libitinam:] See S. ii. 6. 19, n.
usque] In this sense of ‘continually,’ ‘usque’ only occurs in poetry and is always joined to a verb. What follows means ‘while the Pontifex Maximus shall, on the Ides of every month, go up to the Capitol to offer sacrifice, the Vestal virgins walking silently in the procession,’ as they did, and the boys at the same time sang hymns. With a Roman this was equivalent to saying ‘for ever.’
10. Dicar qua violens obstrepit Aufidus] See Introduction and C. iv. 9. 2, n. ‘Violens’ is not a common form of ‘violentus.’ It occurs again Epp. i. 10. 37, and in Persius (Sat. v. 171), “nunc ferus et violens.” ‘Obstrepere’ is used absolutely again, Epod. ii. 27.
11. Et qua pauper aquae] ‘Pauper’ takes a genitive in S. i. 1. 79; ii. 3. 142. As to Daunus, see C. i. 22. 14, n. Apulia was badly watered. Horace calls it elsewhere ‘Siticulosa’ (Epod. iii. 16, n.).
12. Regnavit] This word, though it is used in the passive voice (see last Ode, v. 27), here only has a noun after it. Horace gives it the genitive, in imitation of ἄρχειν. He wrote with his mind full of Greek constructions and words, and took the liberty of using them very freely.
ex humili potens,] Horace uses the expression ‘potentium vatum’ in the eighth Ode of the next book (v. 26). He considered Alcæus and Sappho as his chief models in lyric poetry, which he sums up in the formula ‘Aeolium carmen’ here and in C. iv. 3. 12. ‘Delphica lauro’ is the same as ‘laurea Apollinari’ in the next book (C. iv. 2. 9).
It is said that Augustus wished Horace to publish another book of Odes, in order that those he had written in honor of Drusus and Tiberius (4, 14) might appear in it. If so, he collected a few written since, and some perhaps before, the publication of the three books, among which was this. He tells us (v. 6) that he was about fifty, which age he attained 10th December, B. C. 15. He professes to deprecate the attacks of Love, now that he is old. The Ode is not unlike one he wrote when he was much younger (i. 19), and it is probable both are imitations from the Greek.
Argument.—Art thou at war with me again, Venus? Spare me, for I am old. Go to the young. Go to Paullus, for he is noble, handsome, clever. Give him the victory, and he will give thee in return a marble statue in a shrine of citron, with incense, music, and dancing, in his home by the Alban lake. I have no longer a heart for love and wine, and yet, Ligurinus, why do I weep and dream of thee?
2. Rursus bella moves?] See Introduction.
3. Non sum qualis eram] Epp. i. 1. 4. He here calls Cinara good, because she is dead, elsewhere he calls her ‘rapax’ (Epp. i. 14. 33). It seems likely that this name represents a real person, whether she appears under another name elsewhere or not, and that Horace had an affection for her. In the thirteenth Ode of this book (v. 22) her death is mentioned with feeling, and there is a reality in the references to her in all the places where she is alluded to, which cannot be connected with fiction. She was associated, in all probability, with Horace’s early days. Κυνάρα signifies, some say, a wild rose-thorn (κυνόσβατος); κινάρα, an artichoke.
5. Mater saeva Cupidinum] Repeated from i. 19. 1. Horace here does not copy himself, I believe, but some Greek original. ‘Flectere’ is a metaphor taken from the breaking in of a horse.
6. lustra] C. ii. 15. 13, n. See Introduction.
9. in domum] ‘More seasonably shalt thou keep thy revels in the house of Paullus Maximus, drawn by thy beautiful swans.’ So Livy (xl. 7), “Quin comissatum ad fratrem imus.” Here ‘comissabere’ is equivalent to ‘comissatum ibis,’ and therefore the reading ‘in domum’ is correct. Κωμάσδω ποτὶ τὰν Ἀμαρύλλιδα is an expression of Theocritus just like this (iii. 1). Κώμῳ χρέεσθαι ἐς ἀλλήλους occurs in Herodotus (i. 21). ‘Purpureis,’ (which signifies beauty without reference to color) savors of the Greek. ‘Torrere jecur’ is like Theocritus’s ὀπτεύμενος ἐξ Ἀφροδίτης (vii. 55).
14. sollicitis non tacitus reis] Compare C. ii. 1. 13, where he calls Pollio “Insigne moestis praesidium reis.”
15. centum] This is a large definite number for an indefinite.
16. Late signa feret] The idea corresponds to “militavi non sine gloria” (iii. 26. 2).
17. Et quandoque] i.e. ‘whenever, with thine aid, his smiles shall beat the rich presents of his rival, he shall set thee up in marble, under a citron roof, by the shore of the Alban lakes,’ of which there were two close together, the Albanus (Albano) and Nemorensis (Nemi), and on one of these it appears Fabius had a house. As to Berecyntiæ, compare C. iii. 19. 18. ‘Lyrae’ and ‘tibiae’ are in the dative case after ‘mixtis.’
22. Duces thura,] ‘Ducere’ is used for drinking, and here for inhaling. It has a great variety of meanings, which the context will generally explain.
28. ter quatient humum.] See C. iii. 18. 16. On the first few days of March, during the festival of Mars, the Salii, his priests, went in procession through the city singing and dancing, whence they are said to have derived their name. “Jam dederat Saliis (a saltu nomina ducunt)” (Ovid, F. iii. 387). The practice, according to Livy, was instituted by Numa (i. 20), “per urbem ire canentes carmina cum tripudiis sollennique saltatione jussi sunt.” See Epp. ii. 1. 86.
30. spes animi] ‘the fond trust of mutual love.’
35. The last syllable in this line is cut off.
40. per aquas,] C. i. 8. 8. He dreams he sees him swimming in the Tiber.
Iulus Antonius was son of M. Antonius the triumvir. He was a man of letters and a poet. In B. C. 17 the Sigambri, with two other German tribes, crossed the Rhine and laid waste part of the Roman territory in Gaul. They defeated the legate Lollius, and this disaster was sufficient to induce Augustus to go in person to Gaul, which he did, and at his approach the Germans withdrew into their own territories, and, giving hostages, obtained peace. The defeat of Lollius had caused great consternation at Rome, and the news of the barbarians’ subjection was hailed with proportionate joy. Augustus did not return for two years to Rome, having meanwhile restored order in Germany, Gaul, and Spain; but it is probable this Ode was written in the expectation of his return, and while the news respecting the Sigambri was still fresh, that is to say, about the end of B. C. 16. Augustus’s return to Rome was expected long before it took place (see C. 5 of this book). The general impression derived from the Ode is that Antonius had pressed Horace to write a poem in honor of Augustus’s victory in the style of Pindar’s ἐπινίκια, and that he very wisely declined. At the same time he pays Antonius the compliment of saying that he could celebrate Augustus’s victory better than himself.
Argument.—Whoso would rival Pindar must expect the fate of Icarus. His numbers roll like a swollen river. His is the bay, whether he tune the dithyramb or sing of gods and heroes, of victors or of women bereaved. The swan of Dirce soars to the clouds. I am but as a bee, sipping the flowers of Tibur.
Thou, Antonius, shalt sing of the triumphs of Cæsar, greatest and best, and of the holiday rejoicings that hail his return: and I will add my small voice to thine: and we will all sing songs of triumph, and will sacrifice, thou with bulls and cows, I with a young heifer.
2. Iule,] Virgil makes this name trisyllabic, after the Greek. Antonius’s grandmother on his father’s side was Julia, one of the Cæsars, though how related to the dictator is not known.
ceratis ope Daedalea] Dædalus, to escape from Crete, is said to have made for himself and Icarus, his son, wings, fastened to their shoulders with wax. Those of Icarus melted, and he fell into the Ægean, part of which was called after him (see C. iii. 7. 21). As to the plural ‘nomina,’ see C. iii. 27. 76.
10. nova — Verba] The ‘dithyrambus,’ of which word the etymology is uncertain, was a song in honor of Bacchus, and sung at his festivals. It was wild and enthusiastic in its character. ‘Nova verba’ signifies words coined for the occasion, as was common, and to be expected from the nature of the poetry, of which the metre seemed to a Roman irregular and arbitrary (‘lege solutis’). A few fragments remain of dithyrambic poems by Pindar. All his entire poems extant are ἐπινίκια, odes of triumph for victors at the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games.
13. Seu deos regesve] Among Pindar’s works were ὕμνοι, παῖανες, παρθένια, προσόδια, in honor of the gods, and ἐγκώμια, in honor of illustrious men. He may have written on the subject of the victory of Peirithous over the Centaurs (C. i. 18. 8, n.), and that of Bellerophon over the Chimæra (C. i. 27. 24).
17. Elea] This applies to the ἐπινίκια above mentioned. The plain of Olympia, on which the Olympic games were celebrated every fourth year, was in Elis, in the Peloponnesus. The chariot race and boxing (‘pugilemve equumve’) were the most prominent of these games. ‘Equum’ is put for the rider, as in A. P. 84.
21. Flebili sponsae] This has reference to another class of poems, called θρῆνοι, ‘dirges for the dead.’
23. Aureos] See C. i. 5. 9, n.
25. Multa Dircaeum] ‘A strong breeze lifts the swan of Dirce,’ that is, Pindar who was born at Thebes, near which was the fountain Dirce.
27. apis Matinae] See C. ii. 6. 15, n. Mons Matinus was in Apulia. The image here employed is very common. ‘Ripas’ signifies the banks of the Anio (see C. iii. 25. 13, n.). ‘Operosa’ describes, perhaps, the process by which nearly all Horace’s Odes were produced. No great poet is more artificial, and few more skilled in concealing their art, and giving it the appearance of nature. ‘Fingo’ corresponds to πλάττω, which word the Greeks used especially with reference to the making of honey. ‘Plurimum’ belongs to ‘laborem.’
33. Concines] The pronoun, though emphatic, is omitted, which is not uncommon. (See C. iii. 17. 5.) ‘Concines’ has particular force, expressing a chant in which many voices are joined.
34. feroces] The Sigambri had earned the epithet of ‘cruel’ by their treatment of the Roman officers, who, having gone to collect their tribute, were taken by them and hanged, which was the beginning of this revolt. See Introduction.
35. sacrum clivum] The ‘clivus sacer’ was a declivity between the Via Sacra and the Forum, down which the triumphal processions passed. A certain number of prisoners were usually kept to walk behind the victor, and when the procession reached a certain point in the Forum, they were carried off to prison and strangled. See Epod. vii. 8.
37. Quo nihil majus] This flattery is repeated Epp. ii. 1. 17. The unbounded kindness which Horace received from Augustus merited the word ‘melius’; in ‘majus’ he was not far wrong. ‘Divis bonis’ is repeated below (C. iv. 5. 1).
43. Fortis Augusti reditu] Orelli mentions that there are coins of the year B. C. 16, with the inscription S.P.Q.R.V.S. PRO S. ET RED. AVG. (vota suscepta pro salute et reditu Augusti).
44. Litibus orbum.] A ‘justitium’ had been ordered by the senate; that is, a suspension of business, during which the prætor did not hold his courts.
48. felix] Whether ‘felix’ refers to Horace himself, or to the sun, is doubtful.
49. Teque dum procedis,] ‘Triumphus’ is addressed as a divinity, as in Epod. ix. 21, and Horace says, ‘As thou marchest, we will shout thus thy name, Io Triumphe! and again, Io Triumphe!’
53. Te decem tauri] Iulus was rich. Five or six years after this he was consul.
54. Me tener solvet vitulus] So “nos humilem feriemus agnam” (C. ii. 17. 32).
58. Tertium — ortum,] ‘Its young horns just bent to the form of the moon’s crescent when she is three days old.’
59. duxit] That is, has contracted or received. ‘Traxit’ would do equally well, and appears in one MS.
The impression produced by the publication of his three books of Odes, which had previously been known only to a few, was such as, no doubt, to silence envy, and to establish Horace in the high position he here asserts as “Romanae fidicen lyrae”; and when, after several years’ silence, he produced the Carmen Saeculare in B. C. 17, it was received probably with so much favor as to draw forth this Ode. It has all the appearance of genuine feeling, and shows how much Horace had suffered from the vexatious detractions to which he was at one time subjected. It is an address to the Muse, gratefully attributing to her all his success.
Argument.—He on whom thou lookest at his birth, Melpomene, derives his fame, not from the games, or from triumphs, but from the streams and woods of Tibur, inspiring him with Æolian song.
They have named me the tuner of the Roman lyre, and envy assaults me no longer as it did; and to thee I owe this gift of pleasing, O Muse, who rulest the shell, and art able to give the music of the swan to the voiceless fish, if thou wilt.
3. labor Isthmius] The Isthmian games were celebrated every third year, on the Isthmus of Corinth, and were attended, like the Olympian games, by all the Greek states. The games were the same generally at both.
4. Clarabit] This word occurs nowhere else in this sense.
6. Deliis — foliis] This is another way of expressing ‘laurea Apollinari,’ ‘Delphica lauro’ (C. iii. 30. 15).
9. Ostendet Capitolio:] The triumphal processions ended at the Capitol, whither the victors went to return thanks to Jove in his temple.
10. aquae] The river Anio. He says the waters that flow past Tibur and the leafy groves shall make him glorious with the song of Lesbos, which he practises by the stream and in the grove.
12. Aeolio carmine] See C. iii. 30. 13, n.
16. Et jam dente minus] See Introduction.
17. testudinis aureae] This is Pindar’s χρυσέας φόρμιγγος (Pyth. i. 1).
18. Pieri,] This singular is not common. Ovid uses it (Fast. iv. 222): “Pieris orsa loqui.”
19. mutis — piscibus] The Greek ἔλλοπας ἰχθῦς is thus explained by some, but the meaning of that word is doubtful.
23. Romanae fidicen lyrae,] In Epp. i. 19. 32, he calls himself “Latinus fidicen.” ‘Quod spiro’ means that I breathe the breath, not of life, but of poetry. Compare C. iv. 6. 29: “Spiritum Phoebus mihi — dedit.”
The history of this Ode is easily made out. The Vindelici were a tribe whose territories lay between the Danube and the Lake of Constanz, comprising the greater part of modern Bavaria and Suabia, and some part of the Tyrol. The Ræti lay to the south of the Vindelici, and reached to Lake Como on the south. These tribes, whom the historians describe as very fierce and warlike, commenced a system of predatory incursions into Cisalpine Gaul, in which they appear to have practised the greatest atrocities. Augustus was at this time (B. C. 16-15) in Transalpine Gaul, and Tiberius was with him. Drusus, his step-son, and younger brother of Tiberius, was Quæstor at Rome, and in his twenty-third year. He was required by Augustus to take the field against the offending tribes, whom he met under the Tridentine Alps and defeated signally. But, though driven from Italy, they continued their attacks upon Gaul, and Tiberius was accordingly sent by Augustus with more troops to his brother’s assistance, and they between them effectually humbled the tribes, whose territories were constituted a Roman province under the united name of Rætiæ, Rætia Prima or Proper, and Secunda, which embraced the possessions of the Vindelici: these also comprised several other tribes, of whom Horace particularly mentions the Genauni and Breuni. The whole of this war took place in the spring and summer of the year B. C. 15, and we are led to suppose from C. iv. 14. 34-38, that it was brought to a conclusion in the month of August, on the anniversary of the capture of Alexandria by Augustus in the year 30 (C. i. 37, Introduction). In honor of these victories Horace composed this Ode and the fourteenth of this book, the one more expressly to celebrate the name of Drusus, the other of Tiberius. The two Odes therefore must historically be viewed together, though it seems likely that this Ode was written immediately after the victory of Drusus, while the other was composed two years afterwards, when Augustus returned to Rome.
Argument.—Like the young eagle just darting on its prey, or the young lion fresh from its dam, was Drusus when he met the rude Vindelici, and made them feel what hearts could do trained under the eye of Augustus. The brave give birth to the brave. The steer and the horse have the blood of their sires, and the eagle gives not birth to the dove. But education brings out the seeds of virtue. What Rome owes to the Nerones let the Meturus witness, and the day which saw Hasdrubal defeated, and drove the clouds and the fierce African from Latium. Our strength grew and our gods returned from that day, and Hannibal was forced to cry, “As the deer might pursue the wolf, we are pursuing those we should fly. Like the shorn oak, they gave strength with every blow, as the Hydra or the monsters of Thebes. Sink them in the deep, they rise more glorious than ever, and overthrow their victor in his strength. No more shall I send messengers of victory to Carthage; fallen, fallen are our hopes, and our fortune, for Hasdrubal is gone!”
The hand of a Claudius prospers, for Jove and his own sagacity deliver him from danger.
1. Qualem] The apodosis of this long opening (which, however, gains power as it proceeds) is to be found in the seventeenth verse. The best way to render it will be by changing the cases in ‘ministrum’ and ‘juventas’: ‘as the thunderbolt’s winged minister one day by youth and native strength from its nest is driven, and by the breezes of spring is fluttering taught,’ etc. Virgil calls the eagle “Jovis armiger” (Aen. v. 255), which Pliny (N. H. x. 3, 4) says is his conventional title.
2. aves vagas] ‘Vaga,’ as an epithet applied to birds, corresponds to the Greek ἠερόφοιτος. Horace follows a legend later than Homer in the story of Ganymede (see C. iii. 20. 16).
5. Olim] See C. ii. 10. 17, n. ‘Propulit,’ ‘docuere,’ ‘demisit,’ ‘egit,’ are used in an aoristic sense.
9. mox in ovilia] ‘Then on the fold by instinct quick is hurried hostile down, again on the writhing snake is sent by love of food and fight.’
13. Qualemve laetis] ‘Or as a she-goat, intent on glad pastures, sees the lion’s whelp, fresh from his tawny mother’s dugs, just weaned,—she by his young tooth soon to die.’
14. matris ab ubere] ‘Ab,’ like ἀπό, is used absolutely; ‘fresh from the dugs of his dam, yea, just weaned from the milk of his mother.’
17. Raetis] See Introduction.
18. quibus Mos unde] All we can gather from these verses is, that the Vindelici carried some species of battle-axe, that the Romans had felt the weight and edge of it, and that the Vindelici were counted a strange, wild race, whose origin and history the Romans professed to know nothing about.
21. quaerere distuli,] ‘I ask not now,’—the question would be out of place, he means, and some commentators, agreeing with him, have discarded this stanza as an interpolation.
22. Nec scire fas est] C. i. 11. 1.
sed diu] ‘Sed’ is commonly used after digressions to recover the thread of the subject.
24. revictae] That ‘re’ is added to some verbs without materially changing their meaning, has been shown before (C. i. 31. 12, n.).
25. quid mens] The difference between ‘mens’ and ‘indoles’ is, that one refers to the head, the other to what we should call the heart, the disposition.
28. Nerones.] The father of Tiberius and Drusus was Tiberius Claudius Nero, which was also the emperor’s name. Drusus was Nero Claudius Drusus. The latter was not born till three months after his mother Livia married Augustus.
29. Fortes creantur] It is more than probable that Horace had in his mind the words of Euripides,—
ἐσθλῶν ἀπ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ἐσθλὰ γίγνεσθαι τέκνα,
κακῶν δ᾽ ὅμοια τῇ φύσει τῇ τοῦ πατρός (Fr. Alcm. 7).
‘Fortibus et bonis’ corresponds to the common Greek expression, which it is so difficult to render, καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς. Those words are in the ablative case. Horace does not refer to the father of these youths, who was a worthless person, but generally to their family, the Claudia gens, among whom were many persons of distinction. They were divided into a patrician and a plebeian branch. To the latter belonged the Marcelli. See C. i. 12. 46, n.
37. Neronibus] Claudius Nero, who was of the family of which Tiberius and Drusus came, defeated and slew Hasdrubal, when he was coming to the help of his brother Hannibal, B. C. 207, on the banks of the Metaurus, a river in the north of Italy. Hannibal had been nearly eleven years in Italy, and had met with few reverses, but after his brother’s defeat his cause failed, and, though he remained four years longer in Italy, it was far away in the mountains of the south, and the Romans ceased to be harassed by him. Horace, therefore, is accurate here.
38. Metaurum] See A. P. 18: “Aut flumen Rhenum.” The name is formed into an adjective in both cases.
41. adorea,] ‘Ador’ was a coarse grain called by the Greeks ζειά, but the name was applied to grain in general, and in the form ‘adorea’ signified the supply of corn given to soldiers after a victory, and hence was used as synonymous with victory itself.
42. Dirus] C. ii. 12. 2, n. This is the third time this epithet is applied to Hannibal, whom with reason the Romans held in greater respect than any enemy they ever had, though ‘perfidia plus quam Punica’ was freely attributed to him. ‘Ut,’ ‘ever since’ (Epod. vii. 19). ‘Taedas’ is not torches but a forest of pines, a conflagration in which is one of the most terrific sights that the eye can witness. ‘Equitavit’ seems to be taken from Eurip. (Phoen. 209),—
περιῤῥύτων
ὑπὲρ ἀκαρπίστων πεδίων
Σικελίας Ζεφύρου πνοαῖς
ἱππεύσαντος ἐν οὐρανῷ
κάλλιστον κελάδημα.
51. Sectamur ultro] ‘We are pushing on and pursuing those whom to evade and to escape is our noblest triumph.’ There is often some difficulty in translating ‘ultro.’ ‘Uls’ is an old preposition involving the same root as ‘ille,’ and signifying ‘on the other side of,’ opposed to ‘eis.’ ‘Ultro’ signifies to a place beyond, as ‘ultra’ at a place beyond. If ‘ultro,’ therefore, ever means ‘voluntarily,’ it is not as involving the root ‘vol’ of ‘volo,’ but as implying the forwardness of the agent to do what he is not obliged or asked. With this speech of Hannibal may be compared the words Livy puts into his mouth (xxvii. 51).
54. Jactata Tuscis aequoribus] Virgil represents Æneas as having barely rounded the western promontory of Sicily, and entered the Mare Tyrrhenum, when the storm arose that drove him back to the coast of Africa (Aen. i. 67, iii. 705, sqq.). His voyage was prosperous after he left Sicily the second time, according to Virgil’s account.
sacra] Æneas is said to have brought with him to Rome the fire of Vesta and the images of the ‘Penates publici,’ who were ever after worshipped at Rome. They were the protectors of the city, as the ‘Penates domestici’ or ‘privati’ were of private houses, and like them they were worshipped as Lares. (See C. iii. 23. 19; iv. 4. 19; S. ii. 3. 26, n.)
59. Per damna,] See Livy (xxix. 3), “Illis Romanam plebem, illis Latium juventutem praebuisse majorem semper frequentioremque pro tot caesis adolescentibus subolescentem.”
62. Vinci dolentem] ‘Indignant at the thought of being beaten’, or ‘refusing to be beaten,’ as “penna metuente solvi” (C. ii. 2. 7), ‘a wing that will not melt.’ The destruction of the hydra, a monster with nine heads, each of which, as Hercules knocked it off with his club, was replaced by two new ones, is the second of the labors of that hero.
63. Colchi] Jason, when he went for the golden fleece, sowed at Colchis part of the teeth of the dragon which Cadmus had killed, and whose teeth he had sown at Thebes. From both sprung up armed men, to whom Hannibal here likens the Romans. Echion was one of the γηγενεῖς, ‘earth-borns,’ who helped Cadmus to build Thebes, which is therefore called after him.
66. integrum] That is, ‘in all his strength,’ ‘intact,’ ‘unhurt.’
73. Claudiae] See note on v. 29.
76. acuta belli.] This corresponds to Hom. (Il. iv. 352), ὀξὺν Ἄρηα. The same construction occurs C. iv. 12. 19, “amara curarum.” ‘Expediunt’ means ‘carry them through’: ‘diligence and sagacity carry them through the dangers of war.’
This Ode was written after the German victories celebrated in the last Ode and C. 14, and perhaps sent to Augustus in Gaul B. C. 14. Its professed object is to induce Augustus to hasten his return, and to describe the blessings of his reign. What were the reasons for the emperor’s protracted absence, we cannot tell. It was perhaps the policy of Augustus to make his absence felt, and we may believe that the language of Horace, which bears much more the impression of real feeling than of flattery, represented the sentiments of great numbers at Rome, who felt the want of that presiding genius which had brought the city through its long troubles and given it comparative peace. There could not be a more comprehensive picture of security and rest obtained through the influence of one mind than is represented in this Ode, if we except that with which no merely mortal language can compare (Isaiah xi. and lxv.; Micah iv.). The Carmen Seculare contains much that is repeated here. Virgil’s description in his fourth Eclogue may be read in connection with this Ode.
Argument.—Too long hast thou left us, our guardian; fulfil thy promise and return as the spring to gladden our hearts. As the mother for her absent son, so does Rome sigh for her Cæsar. Our fields are at peace, the very sea is at rest, our morals are pure, our women are chaste, the law is strong, our enemies are silenced, each man lives in quiet and blesses thy name, as Greece that of Castor or Hercules. Long mayest thou be spared to bless us, is our prayer, both morning and evening.
1. Divis orte bonis,] Compare C. iv. 2. 38. ‘Custos’ is repeated in “custode rerum Caesare” (C. iv. 15. 17). ‘Romulus’ or ‘Romuleus,’ ‘Dardanus’ or ‘Dardanius,’ are used as the metre requires by the poets.
5. Lucem] ‘joy.’
7. it dies] C. ii. 14. 5, “Quotquot eunt dies.”
10. Carpathii] The Carpathian Sea is that part of the Ægean which lies between Rhodes and Crete, taking its name from the island Carpathus, which lay half-way between those two islands.
13. Votis ominibusque et precibus] ‘with vows, and watching the omens, and prayers.’
18. Nutrit rura] The repetition of ‘rura’ is plainly designed. ‘The ox wanders in security over the fields, to the fields Ceres gives fertility.’ ‘Faustitas’ is a new name, not elsewhere met with, for ‘Felicitas.’ Velleius (ii. 89) thus describes the blessings secured by Augustus: “Rediit cultus agris, sacris honos, securitas hominibus, certa cuique rerum suarum possessio.”
19. Pacatum] This means ‘delivered from pirates,’ who infested the Mediterranean till Augustus put them down.
20. Culpari metuit Fides,] ‘men’s faith is without reproach.’
22. Mos et lex] This is the combination required in C. iii. 24. 35: “Quid leges sine moribus.” On the proper distinction between ‘mos’ and ‘lex,’ see article ‘Jus’ in Smith’s Dict. Ant.
23. Lauduntur simili prole puerperae,] This is a way of expressing chastity derived from the Greeks. Horace is referring in these verses to a law for the suppression of adultery, passed by Augustus, B. C. 17.
24. Culpam poena premit comes.] ‘Crime is followed close by punishment.’
25. Quis Parthum] This stanza shows that the enemies mentioned were still objects of uneasiness; but the Parthians were at this time quiet; the most troublesome of the German tribes had been humbled by Augustus or his stepsons, and he was employed in quelling disturbances in Spain.
29. Condit] There are many examples of this use of ‘condo,’ which signifies to bring to an end, and as it were to lay up in store. “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon” (1 Kings iv. 25).
31, 32. et alteris Te mensis adhibet deum;] ‘and invites thee, as a god, to the second course.’
34. Laribus] At the second course, it was usual to offer libations and prayers to the Lares (see C. iii. 23. 4, n.). Dion Cass. (li. 19) says that after the battle of Actium the senate decreed that all men should offer libations to Augustus at private tables as well as in the public feasts, and that his name should be inserted in the hymns of praise as the name of the gods. As to ‘pateris’ see S. i. 6. 118.
37, 38. Longas — ferias Praestes Hesperiae!] ‘Mayest thou give to Italy long holidays,’ or ‘seasons of rejoicing.’ See Argument.
39. dicimus uvidi] ‘Uvidus’ is the same word as ‘udus,’ which is a contracted form. It is not formed from ‘uva,’ though it here means ‘drenched with wine.’
The appointment of Horace to compose the principal Ode at the Secular Games, B. C. 17, seems to have given him much pleasure, and to have given his mind a new stimulus in favor of ode-writing. To the honor thus conferred upon him we owe, perhaps as much as to Augustus’s bidding, this fourth book, of which the third, sixth, eighth, and ninth, all bear marks of the legitimate pride that circumstance awakened. This sixth Ode is a kind of preface to the Secular Ode, and dwells chiefly on the praises of Apollo as having been the slayer of Achilles, and thereby having preserved Æneas to be the founder of the Roman family; and having prayed for and obtained the help of that god for the task he is going to perform, Horace turns, as choragus, to the members of his chorus, consisting of twenty-seven boys and as many girls of noble birth (C. S., Int.), and instructs them in their duty.
Argument.—O thou, the punisher of Niobe and Tityos, and the slayer of Achilles, he who shook the walls of Troy was no match for thee, but fell under thy strength as the pine-tree laid low by the axe, or the cypress by the east wind. He would have taken Troy, not by guile but by cruel force, but that Jove had granted Æneas to thy prayers and those of his dear Venus. O Apollo, support the honor of the Roman Muse. His spirit is upon me: ye virgins and boys, keep time to my song, and sing of Apollo and Diana. O damsel! when a bride, thou shalt look back and say, “When the age brought back its festival, I sang the pleasant song that the poet Horace made.”
1. Dive,] The purpose of the Ode being to invoke the assistance of Apollo for the composition of the Secular Ode, the invocation is suspended here, and not taken up again till the praises of the god have been sung, as the avenger of crime and the destroyer of Achilles.
proles Niobea] The number of Niobe’s children is stated variously by different authors. The version best known is that which Achilles gives to Priam, when he is comforting him for Hector (Il. xxiv. 602-617), that she had six sons and as many daughters, and that, because she had boastfully compared the number of her offspring with that of Lato’s, who had but Artemis and Apollo, these two shot all her children, who were turned to stone by Zeus. She was afterwards changed to stone herself. Considerable remains of a group of figures, said to be by Scopas (C. 8. 6), representing Niobe and her children, exist in the Gallery at Florence.
magnae — linguae] This is a close copy of Ζεὺς γὰρ μεγάλης γλώσσης κόμπους Ὑπερεχθαίρει (Soph. Antig. 127).
2. Tityos] See C. ii. 14. 8, n.
3. altae] This is an Homeric epithet for Troy, Ἴλιος αἰπεινή.
4. Phthius Achilles,] See C. ii. 16. 19, n. The death of Achilles by the hand of Apollo was foretold by Hector (Il. xxii. 358, sqq.), and is stated by Sophocles (Philoct. 334),—
τέθνηκεν ἀνδρὸς οὐδενὸς θεοῦ δ᾽ ὕπο
τοξευτός, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἐκ Φοίβου δαμείς.
The common legend assigns it to Paris, but not without Apollo’s help (Virg. Aen. vi. 57). The country from which Achilles is said to have come was Phthiotis in Thessaly.
14. male feriatos] ‘keeping untimely holiday.’ The chorus in the Troades of Euripides (541, sqq.) relates how there was singing and dancing and joy in the city for the departure of the Greeks, when the cry of battle was suddenly heard, children clung to their mothers’ garments, armed men kept issuing from the horse, and murdered the Trojan youth at the altars and in their beds. See also Virg. Aen. ii. 248.
17. captis] This is not a genuine reading, but the true word is lost.
23. ductos] Aen. i. 423: “Pars ducere muros.” The Greeks would say τοίχους ἐλαύνειν. ‘Potiore alite’ is ‘under better auspices.’ As observed before, the auspices were taken when a town was to be built. Here Rome is meant.
25. Doctor argutae] Apollo had in later times the title of μουσαγέτης as leader of the Muses’ choir and their instructor.
26. Xantho lavis amne crines,] See Epod. xv. 9, about Apollo’s hair. The river Xanthus here mentioned was in Lycia (see C. iii. 4. 62).
27. Dauniae] See C. i. 22. 14, n.
28. Levis Agyieu] The Greeks gave this name (ἀγυιεύς) to Apollo, as worshipped in and protecting the streets of cities.
31. Virginum primae] The chorus on this great occasion was chosen from noble families, as the passage shows. (See Introduction.) The Lesbian foot was the Sapphic. There is no example of this passive use of ‘tutela’ earlier than Horace.
36. Pollicis ictum,] The beating of time by the motion of the thumb.
38. Noctilucam,] This was a name given to Diana as the Moon, which she represented, as Janus (the masculine form of the same name) represented the Sun.
39. Prosperam frugum] This and ‘docilis modorum’ (v. 43) are Greek constructions. The first means ‘her who prospers the fruits of the earth,’ which Diana would do by bringing round the seasons, for she was ‘swift the onward months to roll.’
42. festas — luces,] The Secular Games lasted three days and nights.
It is pretty certain that this Ode is addressed to the same person as the fifth Epistle of the first book. But who Torquatus was, we have no means of deciding. The Ode bears a strong likeness to C. i. 4, and may very likely have been written about the same time, and afterwards inserted here to help out a volume. It contains an exhortation to present enjoyment since Death is certainly at hand for all.
Argument.—The winter is gone, and the spring is returning with its green leaves, its gentler streams, and its Graces. The seasons change and remind us of our end, but the revolving year repairs its losses, while we go to the dust for ever, and we know not when it will be. What thou dost enjoy thyself, is so much taken from thy greedy heir. When thou art dead, Torquatus, thy family, thine eloquence, and thy piety will not restore thee to life, any more than the love of Diana could bring back Hippolytus, or the friendship of Theseus, Peirithous.
3. Mutat — vices] ‘undergoes its changes.’ This is no more than ‘subit vices.’ ‘Vices’ is what is termed a cognate accusative. The meaning of the next words is, that the streams, lately swollen by the winter rains or by the first melting of the snow, had subsided and no longer overflowed their banks, but flowed quietly along them. See C. iv. 12. 3. Respecting the Graces, see C. i. 4. 6; 30. 5, n.
13. Damna — caelestia] ‘Tamen’ shows that the changes and deteriorations of the weather and seasons are intended, and ‘celeres lunae’ are the quick-revolving months.
15. pius Aeneas] Horace’s purpose is to show that no means are sufficient to bring back the dead, not piety, nor wealth, nor power. There is a similar verse in Epp. i. 6. 27.
19. amico Quae dederis animo.] ‘Whate’er thou givest thine own dear soul.’ This seems to be a literal version of φίλῃ ψυχῇ χαρίζεσθαι.
21. splendida] ‘Judgment august hath passed.’ ‘Splendida’ is an unusual word for such a meaning. As to Minos, see C. ii. 13. 23, n.
26. Liberat Hippolytum,] This is in accordance with the legends of Greece respecting Artemis and Hippolytus. She was unable to bring him to life. The Latin poets make Hippolytus return from the dead, being brought to life by the skill of Æsculapius; and Diana, in Ovid’s account, takes him and gives him into the care of Egeria, in the woods of Aricia (Met. xv. 543, sqq.). See also Virg. Aen. vii. 765, sqq.
27. Nec Lethaea valet] The common story of Theseus and his friend is, that, both having been consigned to their punishment together, Hercules went down and delivered Theseus, leaving Peirithous to his fate. This may be the legend Horace follows: for it may be understood that Theseus pleaded for Peirithous when he was himself returning, but failed to obtain his release.
C. Marcius Censorinus, the person to whom this Ode is addressed, was a man of birth and education, a favorite with Augustus, and generally much beloved, according to Velleius, who says of his death (in A. D. 2), “Graviter tulit civitas.” Horace pays him the compliment of believing that he would esteem an Ode of his more highly than any costly gifts he could offer, in accordance with the common practice among friends of making each other presents (‘strenas’) on new-year’s day and other festivals. Censorinus was consul the year that Horace died.
Argument.—If I were rich in statues and pictures, I would give such to my friends, and the best to thee, Censorinus. But I have none, and thou desirest not these. What I have I offer,—verses in which thou delightest. No monuments of marble, not their own mighty deeds, could ennoble the Scipiones like the verses of Ennius. Thine own virtues must remain obscure but for the Muse. What would Æacus or Romulus have been without her? She raises men to the skies, as did Hercules, the Tyndaridæ, and Liber.
1. pateras] See S. i. 6. 118, n.
commodus,] ‘liberally.’ “Miscentur cyathis pocula commodis” (C. iii. 19. 12) is a like use of the word.
2. aera] See S. i. 4. 28, n.
3. tripodas,] In the temple of Apollo, at Delphi, was a bronze altar on three legs, called from its form τρίπους. Imitations of this tripod were presented to the victors at the Pythian games. Herodotus mentions their being given at the games of Apollo at Triopium in Cnidus (i. 144).
5. artium] ‘Artes’ as ‘works of art’ occurs in Epp. i. 6. 17: “Marmor vetus aeraque et artes Suspice.” Also in Cic. (de Legg. ii. 2), “antiquorum artibus”; and in Virg. (Aen. v. 359), “clypeum — Didymaonis artes.”
6. Parrhasius] This painter flourished at Athens with Zeuxis about the end of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 404. Many of his pictures were to be seen at Rome when Horace wrote. Scopas, the sculptor and architect of Paros, who flourished (also at Athens) about the same time as Parrhasius, is the reputed author of some works that exist to this day; particularly the group referred to on C. 6. 1, which, if not the original, is an ancient copy. The statue set up by Augustus in the temple he built to Apollo (C. S. 33, n.) was also by Scopas, and it appears on Roman coins as Apollo Actius or Palatinus.
protulit] ‘Proferre,’ meaning to ‘produce’ (as we say) a work of art, is not common. Perhaps it does not occur elsewhere. ‘Ponere’ is a more common word. See A. P. 34: “Quia ponere totum Nesciet.”
15. fugae] This is only a way of expressing his hasty departure from Italy at the summons of the Carthaginian senate.
16. Rejectaeque retrorsum] This refers to Hannibal’s final defeat at Zama, as is shown by the reference to the muse of Ennius (‘Calabrae Pierides,’ v. 20), which was employed in the praises of the elder Scipio.
17. Non incendia] Carthage was destroyed by Scipio Africanus Minor, B. C. 146.
18. nomen ab Africa Lucratus] These words refer to Scipio Africanus Minor. In S. ii. 1. 65 he is mentioned in the same way as the man
“qui
Duxit ab oppressa meritum Carthagine nomen.”
From a strict rendering of Horace’s words, therefore, it would seem as if Ennius had written the praises, not only of the elder, but also of the younger Scipio, who burnt Carthage twenty-three years after the death of Ennius. But, with a reader acquainted with the facts, no confusion could arise, and Horace wrote for those who knew them well.
20. Calabrae Pierides:] The muse of Calabria, i.e. of Ennius, who was born at Rudiæ, a Calabrian town, B. C. 239. He wrote, as observed above, a poem on the elder Scipio.
25. Aeacum] This was a mythical king of Ægina, and much celebrated for his justice. After his death he was made judge in Elysium (C. ii. 13. 23, n.), which, according to the later mythology, was one of the divisions of Tartarus, but which the earlier notions placed in certain blessed islands in the Western Ocean, by the Romans identified with the Azores. (See Epod. xvi, Int.) Horace says it was not only his virtue and the public esteem, but also the poet’s praise, that gained Æacus this honor. His praises and those of his family are frequent in Pindar.
29. Sic Jovis interest] These heroes are all referred to in C. iii. 3. 9, sqq.
32. eripiunt aequoribus] See C. i. 3. 2, n.
33. Ornatus viridi] See C. iii. 25. 20.
34. Liber vota bonos] This only means, that, by the help of the muse, Liber was made a god, and as such receives and answers the prayers of his worshippers.
M. Lollius, to whom this Ode is addressed, as we have seen (C. iv. 2, Int.), was defeated by the Sigambri, B. C. 27, which disaster caused a great deal of alarm at Rome, and very probably raised a good many voices against him, and gave an advantage to his enemies. It is not improbable, therefore, that Horace wrote this Ode to meet their attacks, and to console Lollius under his defeat. He declares that his name shall not die, as many noble names have died, for lack of a poet to sing it. He praises him for his sagacity, uprightness, freedom from avarice, and hatred of corruption.
Argument.—Think not that my verses will die: though Homer stands first among poets, Pindar, Simonides, Alcæus, Stesichorus, Anacreon, Sappho,—these all survive. Helen was not the first woman that loved; nor Ilium the only city that has been sacked; nor the heroes of the Iliad all that have fought; but the rest have been forgotten, because they have no poet to sing of them. Buried virtue is little better than buried dulness. I will not, therefore, let thy labors pass unsung, Lollius; thy sagacity and uprightness, thy mind free from avarice and secure from corruption. It is not the possessor of riches that is wealthy, but the man who knows how to use the gifts of Heaven, and to endure poverty, who hates corruption, and is ready to lay down his life for his country or his friends.
1. Ne forte] ‘Lest perchance you should suppose—remember that, even if Homer stands first, Pindar is not forgotten.’ For other examples of ‘ne’ thus used, see S. ii. 1. 80; Epp. i. 1. 13; 18. 58; ii. 1. 208; A. P. 406.
2. natus ad Aufidum] Though Horace says he was born near the Aufidus, Venusia, his native town, was fifteen miles south of that river, on that branch of the Via Appia which leads from Beneventum to Tarentum. The Aufidus (Ofanto) is invariably described by Horace as a boisterous river (see C. iii. 30. 10; iv. 14. 25; S. i. 1. 58). But the character of such streams varies with the season of the year.
7. Alcaei minaces] See C. i. 32. 5, n.
8. Stesichorique graves Camenae:] The muse of Stesichorus is called ‘gravis,’ as, though a lyric poet, he chose for his subjects principally those which belonged to Epic poetry, as wars and heroes, and so forth. He was born at Himera in Sicily, about the middle of the seventh century B. C.
12. Aeoliae — puellae.] Sappho. See C. i. 1. 34.
13. arsit] This governs ‘crines’ as ‘mirata’ governs the other accusatives. See C. ii. 4. 7, n. Laodamia writes thus to her husband of the charms by which Helen was won:—
“Venerat (Paris) ut fama est multo spectabilis auro,
Quique suo Phrygias corpore ferret opes:—
His ego te victam, consors Ledaea, gemellis,
Suspicor; haec Danais posse nocere puto”
(Ov. Her. 13. 57, sqq.);
and Hecuba upbraids Helen with the same weakness (Eur. Tro. 991):—
ὅν γ᾽ εἰσιδοῦσα βαρβάροις ἐσθήμασι
χρυσῷ τε λαμπρὸν ἐξεμαργώθης φρένας.
See C. i. 15. 14.
17. tela Cydonio] Teucer is described by Homer as ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν τοξοσύνῃ (II. xiii. 313). Cydon was a town of Crete, and the Cretans were famous archers. See C. i. 15. 17, n., and compare Virg. Ecl. x. 59: “Torquere Cydonia cornu Spicula.”
20. Idomeneus Sthenelusve] The first of these led the Cretans, and the other the Argives, in the Trojan war. Deiphobus was Hector’s favorite brother (Il. xxii. 233), and was reckoned, next to him, the chief strength of the Trojans.
27. Urgentur] So C. i. 24. 5: “Ergo Quinctilium perpetuus sopor Urget?” ‘Illacrimabilis’ is used in an active sense, C. ii. 14. 6.
29. Paullum sepultae] Virtue, if it be left in obscurity, is in no better position than dulness (which signifies generally a gross, unspiritual nature), when that too is buried; one is on a par with the other as far as influence is concerned, for neither exercises any influence at all; and, as far as his reputation goes, a man may as well be buried in stupidity as have his virtues buried in oblivion. There are some well-known verses in Gray’s Churchyard Elegy that correspond closely to Horace’s.