41. Qui consulta patrum,] Of the component parts of the Roman civil law Horace mentions three. ‘Jura’ signifies legal rights and rules of law. It has the latter meaning here. ‘Leges,’ properly so called, were laws passed in the ‘comitia centuriata.’ They were first approved by the senate, and then proposed to the comitia by a magistratus of senatorial rank. ‘Plebiscita,’ laws passed by the plebs in their comitia tributa, were made binding on the whole people by the ‘lex Hortensia,’ passed B. C. 288, and thenceforward they had the force of leges. ‘Senatus consulta’ (‘consulta patrum’) appear, in some instances, to have had the force of law during the republic; under the empire, they superseded the legislation of the comitia. Horace might have added other parts of law, and more particularly ‘mores,’ which were all those laws that sprang from immemorial usage.
42. secantur] See S. i. 10. 15, n. ‘Tenere,’ in the sense of gaining a cause, is not common. It is used by Cicero (Pro Caecina, c. 24): “Scaevola causam apud centumviros non tenuit.”
43. Quo res sponsore] See S. ii. 6. 23, n. Horace means a man whose credit is good as a sponsor and a witness.
46. Nec furtum feci] There are some who think themselves very good, who would be bad if they dared. To such a one Horace answers as he answered his slave, when he boasted of his goodness. Vv. 46-56 are a dialogue between the slave and his master; the application, being easily made, is not expressed. Not to be very wicked does not make a man good; nor is it sufficient to abstain from crime through fear of punishment; our motive should be the love of virtue for her own sake. ‘Sabellus’ may mean the ‘villicus,’ or it may be taken for any plain-judging man. Many suppose Horace means himself. Orelli does so. ‘Frugi’ is explained on S. ii. 5. 77.
57. Vir bonus, omne forum] He whom the people believe to be good, whom everybody turns to look at as he walks through the Forum, and looks up to when he speaks in the courts. “Gaude quod spectant oculi te mille loquentem.” (Epp. 6. 19.) There were three principal ‘fora’ in Rome, in which judicial and other public (as well as mercantile) business was carried on. The Forum Romanum was simply called Forum, because it was the largest; and till the time of Julius Cæsar it was the only one. The dictator began the erection of another, adjoining the Forum Romanum, and it was called after him. It was finished by Augustus. Afterwards Augustus built a small forum in the same neighborhood, wherein none but judicial business was transacted. It was partially destroyed by fire, and restored by Hadrian. Other ‘fora’ were afterwards erected by different emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Vespasian). In every ‘forum’ there was a ‘basilica’ (or more than one), a building devoted to the joint purposes of judicial and commercial business. At the end of the building was a part called ‘tribunal,’ devoted to law.
58. vel porco vel bove] The animals most commonly sacrificed by the Romans were sheep, pigs, and oxen. On public occasions these three were sacrificed together, and the sacrifice was called ‘suovetaurilia,’ being a combination of the three names. Private persons would only sacrifice the three on great occasions, and on some there would be several of each or any of them, offered together. Ordinarily they sacrificed but one, according to their means or their zeal.
59. Jane pater!] See S. ii. 6. 20, n. Silent devotion was not practised or understood by the ancients, any more than it is by the heathen or Mahometans now. μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεσθαι δεῖ is reported to have been a saying of Pythagoras. Silent prayers were supposed to be a veil either for improper petitions, or magical incantations, or something wrong. To speak with men as if the gods were listening, and with the gods so as men might overhear, is a rule found in more than one writer.
60. Pulchra Laverna,] Laverna was a goddess associated with Mercurius, as the god who presided over thieving. The derivation of the word is uncertain.
64. In triviis fixum] Persius, speaking of a man who was above sordid ways, says (v. 110), “Inque luto fixum possis transcendere nummum,” where there is a Scholium which says that boys used to fasten an as to the pavement, and amuse themselves with watching people stop to pick it up. Whether this is referred to by Horace, or whether any such practice existed, is doubtful. It is very likely Horace means no more than a man stooping to pick up an as from the mud.
65. qui cupiet metuet quoque;] Horace joins fear and desire in Epp. i. 2. 51, and ii. 2. 155.
67. Perdidit arma,] The man who is ever hurrying after money, and swallowed up in love of it, has cast away his arms and run away from the ranks of virtue. If you catch him, do not put him to death, but sell him for a slave, which is all he is fit for. He may do good service in keeping cattle, or ploughing, or going with his master, the mercator, to sea, replenishing the market, and so forth.
69. Vendere cum possis] One of the principal sources from which the Romans got their slaves, in earlier times, was the prisoners of war. Dealers always accompanied the camp for the purpose of purchasing them. They were sold on the spot by auction, ‘sub corona,’ that is, with a chaplet on their head to mark them for sale. See Cæsar (B. G. iii. 16). Captives reserved to follow the triumph of the commander were put to death when the procession was over (see Epod. 7. 8, n.). The law-writers derive ‘servus’ from ‘servare,’ as prisoners kept for slavery were not put to death. ‘Annona’ properly signifies the year’s supply of provisions from the harvest. ‘Penus’ signifies provisions of all sorts; here it means all sorts of imported provisions, preserves, etc. ‘Penus’ is of two declensions, the second and third.
73. Vir bonus et sapiens] ‘The virtuous and wise man can speak to Fortune as Dionysus did to Pentheus.’ The scene alluded to is that in the Bacchæ of Euripides (489, sqq.). Vv. 495, 496 are almost literally translated in vv. 77, 78. Pentheus, king of Thebes, hearing that a young stranger has come to his country, giving himself out to be Dionysus, and has tempted all the women to go out and do honor to him, sends his servants to apprehend him. The god allows himself to be taken, and, when brought before the king, describes himself as the servant of Dionysus. Then follows a dialogue, of which the verses above referred to form part. The application is obvious. The good man can bid defiance to the reverses of Fortune, since at any time he wishes he can call death to his assistance,—a bad doctrine for good men. Cicero did not approve of it. He says, “vetat Pythagoras injussu imperatoris, id est Dei, de praesidio et statione vitae decedere” (Cat. Maj. c. 20). The ancients had very loose notions on suicide.
79. mors ultima linea rerum est] This refers to the ‘alba linea’ mentioned on Epp. 14. 9, which was the goal as well as starting-point in the chariot-races.
Who Scæva was there are no means of determining, and it is quite immaterial. He bears no part in the Epistle, which might have been addressed to anybody of his age. Its professed purpose is to instruct a young man how to rise in the world by paying court to great people, which is declared to be an art of no small merit. The chief secret of this art is said to be a well-affected modesty, and a tact in letting your wants be rather felt than heard by your patron, and this is the only advice that is offered. The Epistle ends abruptly, and is a mere fragment.
3. docendus adhuc,] He was young, and had yet much to learn. ‘Amiculus’ is a diminutive expressing endearment.
4. Caecus iter monstrare velit;] Erasmus quotes as a proverb μήτε τυφλὸν ὁδηγόν, μήτε ἐκνόητον σύμβουλον. Our Lord twice used it in instructing his disciples (Matt. xv. 14, Luke vi. 39).
8. Ferentinum] This was a municipium on the Via Latina, about forty-six miles from Rome, in the country of the Hernici. It still retains its name Ferentino. It appears not to have been much frequented, and Horace recommends his friend to go there, if the object of his wishes is to avoid the noise of the town, and to lead a quiet life, which he says is not without its recommendations.
10. moriensque fefellit.] Horace uses ‘fallere’ as the Greeks used λανθάνειν (see C. iii. 16. 32, n.). But it is only used absolutely here and in the next Epistle (v. 103). Horace takes his expression from the Greek proverb λάθε βιώσας, which appears to have been used by the Epicureans and Cyrenaics.
11. Si prodesse tuis] Horace’s argument for servility is, that it is necessary, if a man wants to be of use to his friends, and to make himself comfortable.
12. siccus ad unctum.] As a poor man to the rich. ‘Siccus’ means poor, as one who cannot command a dinner, or can only command a dry one; and ‘unctus’ means a rich man who fares sumptuously. The Cynics were called ξηρόφαγοι from their abstinence, and ξηροφαγία among the early Christians was a fast.
13. Si pranderet olus patienter] There is a story of Aristippus, that he was one day passing Diogenes, the Cynic, while he was washing some vegetables for his dinner, and he was accosted thus: “If you had learnt to put up with this, you would not have been a slave in the palace of kings,” alluding to his having been the guest of Dionysius of Syracuse. The answer of Aristippus was: “And if you knew how to associate with your fellows, you would not now be washing herbs.”
15. qui me notat.] ‘Notare’ is used in a bad sense (see S. i. 6. 20, n.).
18. Mordacem Cynicum] The Cynics received their name from the place where Antisthenes taught, the Cynosarges, a gymnasium at Athens. The popular notion of a Cynic (expressed by ‘mordacem,’ ‘biting’) is derived rather from the conduct of the followers (of whom Diogenes was one) than of the founder of the school.
19. Scurror ego ipse mihi,] This verb does not occur elsewhere. The participle is used in the next Epistle (v. 2). Aristippus is supposed to parry the blow (‘eludere,’ a metaphor taken from the gladiators) of Diogenes by admitting, for the sake of argument, that he acted parasite to a king; yet it was for his own advantage; whereas the Cynic acted parasite to the populace for their amusement; he begged their dirty provisions, and gave them snarling jests in return; and by accepting their alms, he acknowledged himself their inferior, and this though he professed to want nothing of them or any one else. ‘Hoc’ refers to the remoter object, as in S. ii. 2, where see note on v. 30.
20. Equus me portet, alat rex,] The Greeks had a proverb, ἵππος με φέρει, βασιλεύς με τρέφει, which words are said to have been first uttered by a soldier of Philip of Macedon to his mother, who entreated him to ask exemption from service.
21. Officium facio:] ‘Officium’ is commonly applied to attendance on great people; and the most servile are wont to say they are only ‘doing their duty’ by their betters. As to ‘vilia rerum,’ see C. iv. 12. 19, n.; S. ii. 8. 83.
23. Omnis Aristippum decuit color] See Epp. i. 1. 18, n. ‘Color’ is ‘color vitae’ (S. ii. 1. 60), and corresponds to ‘vitae via’ below (v. 26). We use ‘complexion’ in the same double sense. Horace means that, while Aristippus paid court to the rich, he could do without them, if necessary. ‘On the other hand,’ he says, ‘he who, on the principle of endurance, puts on his double cloak, I should be surprised if a change of life would suit him’; that is, he is more the creature of habit than the man he condemns.
25. duplici panno] The asceticism of Diogenes was his way of carrying out the principle of endurance, which was a chief feature in his teacher’s system. A coarse ‘abolla,’ a garment thrown loosely over the person, served him for his dress, without tunic. He is said to have been the first to wear it double and to have slept in it, and those who followed him, adopting the same practice, were called διπλοείματοι and ἀχίτωνες. Juvenal says the Stoics differed from the Cynics only in the use of the tunic (S. xiii. 121).
28. celeberrima per loca] See C. ii. 12. 20, n.
30. Alter Mileti textam] The purple and wool of Miletus were held in great esteem by the Greeks. As to ‘chlamys,’ see Epp. i. 6. 40, n. It appears that there were several stories current among the ancients about the indifference of Aristippus to dress. ‘Cane pejus et angui’ is a proverbial way of speaking. ‘Pejus’ occurs in the same connection, C. iv. 9. 50, “Pejusque leto flagitium timet.”
33. Res gerere et captos] He says triumphs are fine things (they reach the throne of Jove and affect the skies), but there is no small merit in pleasing the great, and it is not everybody who can do it.
36. Non cuivis homini] Οὐ παντὸς ἀνδρὸς εἰς Κόρινθον ἔσθ᾽ ὁ πλοῦς. There are various explanations given of this proverb, but none can safely be relied upon. ‘To go to Corinth’ involved a difficulty in some sense or other, and so the proverb applies to anything that is difficult and requires unusual clearness.
37. Sedit qui timuit] The perfect is used as the aorist. ‘He sits idle who is afraid he shall not succeed. Esto! Be it so (let him pass): but what of him who succeeds? Has he not done manfully?’
41. Aut virtus nomen inane est,] ‘Either virtue is an empty name, or the active man does well to look for his crown and his reward.’
42. experiens vir.] This means an active man, who tries every means of success.
45. caput hoc erat,] He means that modesty and the absence of importunity is the best way of succeeding with the great; not to be eager to ask, but to be modest, and take what is offered (see Int.). ‘Erat’ seems to mean ‘this is the point I was coming to.’ But see C. i. 37. 4, n.; Epp. i. 4. 6, n.
47. nec vendibilis nec pascere firmus,] ‘Not salable (because worth nothing) nor sufficient for our support.’ ‘Firmus’ with the infinitive mood is the construction found so frequently in the Odes. See C. i. 1. 18, n.
48. clamat,] He does as good as cry, ‘Give me food!’ and the consequence is another chimes in with, ‘The boon must be divided, and a part cut off for me.’
49. dividuo findetur munere quadra.] ‘Dividuus’ is used in the sense of ‘divisus’: ‘quadra,’ a fourth part, is put for any fragment. See Forcell. for several examples.
50. Sed tacitus pasci] If the greedy fellow could only have been quiet, he might have kept it all to himself. A crow cawing over the morsel luck or thieving has thrown in his way, and thereby attracting the attention and envy of his brethren, applies to many a knave who loses his ill gotten gains through his own folly in parading them.
52. Brundisium comes aut Surrentum] To Brundisium a man might go on business; to Surrentum (Sorrento) for the climate and scenery, which are still very healthy and beautiful. Surrentum was made a Roman colony about this time. We do not hear much of it as a place of resort, though from this passage we may infer that it was one of the pleasant spots on the Campanian coast to which the wealthy Romans went for change of air. Its wines were celebrated (see Epp. 15. 16, n.). In mentioning Brundisium, Horace may have been thinking of his journey with Mæcenas. He says, if a man, going into the country with his great friend, talks of the roughness of the roads, the bitterness of the cold, the loss of his purse, and so on, in order to get money from his patron, he is like the woman who is always crying for the pretended loss of a trinket, in hopes her lover will give her more, till at last she is no longer believed; or the man who pretended he had broken his leg in order to get a ride, but when he broke his leg in earnest, no one would listen to him.
54. viatica] See Epp. ii. 2. 26, n.
55. catellam,] This is a diminutive form of ‘catena,’ and is used for a bracelet or necklace: ‘periscelis’ appears to be an anklet, such as women, and young children of both sexes, in the East, wear universally. ‘Nota acumina’ means ‘the hackneyed tricks.’
59. Fracto crure planum,] The Romans adopted the Greek word πλάνος for a vagabond and impostor. As to ‘plurima,’ see C. i. 7. 8, n. Horace makes the man swear by the Egyptian Osiris, as if that were the most sacred of oaths. Among other new superstitions, the worship of Isis had been lately introduced into Rome. Efforts were made, from time to time, to put it down, and Augustus forbade its being exercised in the city. But under later emperors it became established, with the encouragement of the government, in conjunction with that of Serapis. Osiris was not worshipped separately, but shared, perhaps, the reverence paid to his wife (Isis).
This Epistle contains some more advice to a young man beginning life, as to how he should win the favor of the great. The person addressed is young Lollius, respecting whom see the Introduction to Epp. 2 of this book, which is also addressed to him. The counsel Horace gives is not creditable to himself or the age he lived in.
1. liberrime Lolli,] ‘My frank Lollius.’ See Introduction. On ‘metues,’ see C. ii. 2. 7; and as to ‘scurrantis,’ see last Ep., ver. 19.
4. Discolor,] This means no more than ‘different.’
5. prope majus,] See C. iv. 14. 20; S. ii. 3. 32.
6. Asperitas] A roughness, clownish, uncouth, and disgusting.
7. tonsa cute,] With the hair cut short down to the very skin, which would show a want of regard to appearances.
9. Virtus est medium vitiorum] See C. ii. 10. 5, n.
10. imi Derisor lecti] See S. ii. 8. 20, n. ‘Derisor’ means a parasite whose business it was to keep the company amused with jokes, such as the man described in S. i. 4. 87, sq.
13. dictata magistro] See S. i. 10. 75, n.
14. partes mimum tractare secundas.] ‘Secundas agere’ is a phrase taken from the stage. It applied to all the actors, except the chief. In the ‘mimi,’ which consisted chiefly of dumb show, the inferior parts were all arranged, and the actors played, so as to support the principal character. In most cases one of the parts was that of a parasite. The subordinates were also called ‘adjutores.’ (See S. i. 9. 45, n.; A. P. 192, n.)
15. de lana saepe caprina,] To quarrel about goats’ wool is plainly equivalent to quarrelling about nothing at all.
16. Scilicet ut non] ‘Forsooth, that I should not be believed before anybody else, and boldly bark out what I know to be true! Why, a second life would be a poor return’ (for such an indignity).
19. Castor sciat an Dolichos plus;] This is the same sort of gossip that Mæcenas is represented as discussing with Horace (S. ii. 6. 44, sqq.). If Dolichos be right, the name is that of a Greek slave, derived from Doliche, a town of Thessaly.
20. Brundisium Minuci] This road is only once more mentioned by any classical writer (Cic. ad Att. ix. 6), and it is impossible to say anything about it with certainty, except that it passed by the town of Alba. There was a Porta Minutia leading out of Rome, the site of which is unknown; but it is probable that this road led from that gate, and that it was in the southern part of the city.
22. Gloria quem — vestit] See S. i. 6. 23, n.
25. decem vitiis instructior] ‘Furnished with ten times as many defects.’
26. veluti pia mater] Like a fond mother who wishes her child to be wiser and better than herself, the patron advises his client.
30. Arta decet sanum comitem toga;] ‘A narrow toga suits my humble friend if he be wise.’ The size and shape of the toga are referred to on Epod. iv. 8.
31. Eutrapelus] Aristotle defines εὐτραπελία as πεπαιδευμένη ὕβρις, a refined impertinence. It appears that for his wit this name was given to P. Volumnius, an eques, and friend of M. Antonius, to whom are addressed two of Cicero’s letters (Ad Fam. vii. 32, 33). From the way Horace writes, he must have been dead at this time.
34. honestum Officium,] This means the calls of duty, in a better sense than in the last Epistle (v. 21). See Epp. ii. 2. 68.
36. Thrax erit] See S. ii. 6. 44. Horace says he will get into debt, and be reduced to hire himself as a gladiator, or drive a costermonger’s hack. ‘Ad imum’ is not elsewhere used as ‘ad extremum,’ but it means ‘when he has got to the lowest point.’ As to ‘nummos alienos,’ see Epp. ii. 2. 12, n.
37. Arcanum neque tu] He must not be inquisitive about his patron’s secrets, or betray them, nor praise his own tastes at the expense of the great man’s, nor take to his books when he wants him to go hunting.
38. vino tortus] This expression is repeated in A. P. 435.
41. Amphionis atque Zethi] These fabulous brothers, the sons of Antiope by Zeus, were different in their dispositions, the one being given to music and the other to country pursuits. Zethus, it appears, had a contempt for Amphion’s lyre, and advised him roughly to throw it away, and take to arms, and to useful pursuits, like his own.
46. Aetolis onerata plagis] See Epp. i. 6. Ætolian toils are toils fit for Meleager, the king of Ætolia, and the destroyer of the Calydonian boar. With ‘senium’ compare ‘senectus’ (Epod. xiii. 5).
48. pulmenta laboribus empta;] Compare S. ii. 2. 20: “Tu pulmentaria quaere Sudando.” ‘Pulmentum’ originally signified anything eaten with ‘puls,’ porridge or gruel (a common dish with the early Romans), to give it a flavor. It came afterwards to signify any savory dish.
54. Proelia sustineas campestria;] Compare A. P. 379. The allusion is to the games on the Campus Martius.
55. Cantabrica bella] See C. ii. 6. 2.
56. Parthorum signa] See C. iii. 5, Introduction.
57. et si quid abest] This is mere flattery, like that about the standards. Augustus had no intention of extending the Roman empire at this time. No further conquest was attempted till B. C. 15, when some of the Alpine tribes were beaten by Drusus and Tiberius, and their country made into a province. (See C. iv. 4, Introduction.)
58. Ac, ne te retrahas] Horace adds another reason why he should not refuse to join the amusements of his patron, that he cannot say he has no turn for that sort of thing, for he is wont to amuse himself at home with such sports as sham fights, though Horace does not mean to say he is given to wasting his time on such matters.
59. extra numerum — modumque] This is, literally, ‘out of time and tune.’
60. rure paterno;] Where the estates of the elder Lollius lay or who was his other son, is not known. The two brothers, it appears, got up a representation of the battle of Actium, on a pond perhaps in their father’s grounds, and they made the slaves (‘pueros’) act the soldiers and sailors, while they took the principal characters themselves, the elder acting Augustus, and his brother M. Antonius.
64. velox Victoria fronde coronet.] Victoria is always represented as a young female, with wings, and with a palm branch or a wreath in her hand, or both.
66. Fautor utroque — pollice] In the fights of gladiators, the people expressed their approbation by fanning their thumbs down, and the reverse by uplifting them. When a gladiator had got his adversary down, or disarmed him, he looked to the spectators for this signal, and according as the thumb was up or down he despatched or spared the man. Thus ‘fautor utroque pollice’ is a proverbial way of speaking. See Juvenal (iii. 36).
68. Quid de quoque viro et cui] ‘Quoque’ is from ‘quisque,’ ‘every man.’ ‘Percontator’ is a gossip who is always asking questions in order to retail the answers, generally in a perverted form. His ears are always open to pick up remarks (‘patulae’), and his tongue always active to repeat them.
72. Non ancilla tuum] See S. ii. 5. 91, n. as to the use of ‘non’ for ‘ne.’
75. Munere te parvo beet] ‘Lest he be generous, and make you happy with this trumpery present, or be cruel and refuse it you.’ This seems to be the meaning; that is to say, the patron may take it into his head to gratify his dependant with a present of the slave he admires, and then think he has done enough for him, or he may refuse to make him the present, and this would give him pain.
78. quondam] See C. ii. 10. 17, n. S. ii. 2. 82.
79. deceptus omitte tueri,] ‘When once you have found yourself deceived, do not take him under your protection, but reserve your influence for one you thoroughly know, that, if need be, you may be able to shelter him from calumny; for when the good are slandered, what do you suppose may not happen to yourself?’ The Scholiasts say that Theon was a man of malignant wit in Horace’s time, and that he was a ‘libertinus’ who provoked his ‘patronus,’ and was turned out of his house with the present of a ‘quadrans,’ and told to go and buy a rope to hang himself. This is all we know of him, and this is very uncertain.
91. media de nocte] See S. ii. 8. 3, n.
93. Nocturnos — vapores.] This must be taken to signify the feverish heats that come on after much drinking.
95. obscuri] ‘Reserved.’
100. Virtutem doctrina paret,] Whether virtue is a science (ἐπιστήμη) and capable of being taught (διδακτή) was discussed by Socrates, who held that it was so, in a certain sense. The question was a common rhetorical theme in Horace’s day.
103. fallentis semita vitae.] See Epp. 17. 10, n., and compare Juvenal (x. 363): “semita certe Tranquillae per virtutem patet unica vitae.”
104. gelidus Digentia rivus,] The Digentia (Licenza), rising near Horace’s house (see Epp. 16. 12, n.), after a course of about six miles emptied itself into the Anio, about half a mile beyond the Via Valeria, which crossed it.
105. Quem Mandela bibit,] There is a village called Bardela, which probably stands on the site of Mandela. From its position at the head of the valley, and the winds that blow upon it from the northeast, it was colder than Horace’s residence, higher up the valley, which accounts for the description ‘rugosus frigore pagus’ as compared with ‘temperiem laudes’ in Epp. 16. 8. The expression may be suggested by pictures and other representations of Hiems, who is exhibited as a wrinkled old man, as Ovid describes him, apparently from a picture also: “Inde senilis Hiems tremulo venit horrida passu” (Met. xv. 212).
111. Sed satis est] Horace prays for a good supply of books and provisions, and a quiet mind; but retracts the last, and says he will pray to Jove for what he can give and take away, but a quiet mind he will secure himself.
It would appear that Horace had imitators among those who abused him; and if we are to understand him to mean what he says, there were those who took his convivial odes literally, and, coupling them with the example of the old Greek poets, conceived that the way to write verses was to propitiate Bacchus and drink a great deal of wine. Or else he means that they took to writing in the same strain, all about wine and driving dull care away, and so forth, which at second hand would be very poor stuff. Such servile imitators he speaks of with great disgust; and while he exposes their shallowness, he accounts for their malevolence towards himself by the fact of his not having sought their company or hired their applause. He at the same time claims to have been the first to dress the lyric measures in the Latin language, while he defends himself for having adopted the metres of another, by pointing to the examples of Sappho and Alcæus, and takes credit for having avoided the virulence of Archilochus, while he imitated his verse. This is introduced by the way, the chief purpose of the Epistle being to show the folly of his calumniators and the cause of their abuse.
1. Maecenas docte, Cratino,] He addresses Maecenas elsewhere as “doctus utriusque linguae” (C. iii. 8. 5). Cratinus, though he lived to a good old age, and kept his powers to the last, as we have seen (S. i. 4. 1, n.), was a proverbial drunkard.
4. Adscripsit Liber] ‘Adscribere’ is a military term. As to Liber’s attendants, the Fauns, Pans, and Satyrs, see note on C. ii. 19. 4. The poets immediately under the protection of Dionysus were the lyric, the dithyramb having been performed first at the Dionysia. Compare C. i. 1. 31. So the poet is called “cliens Bacchi” (Epp. ii. 2. 78). Liber, the Latin divinity, is here, as elsewhere, confounded with the Greek Bacchus or Dionysus, with whom he had only this in common, that he presided over vines. ‘Ut’ means ‘ever since’ (C. iv. 4. 42).
5. Vina fere dulces] The ancients did not spare the reputation of their poets in this matter; for besides the fame of Cratinus mentioned above, Alcæus, Anacreon, Æschylus, Aristophanes, and many others, have the credit of indulging freely in wine. As to Homer, there is no foundation in his poetry for Horace’s libel, which is simply absurd. David might as well be charged with excess because he speaks of wine as making glad the heart of man. Ennius said of himself that he only wrote when he had got the gout: “Nunquam poëtor nisi podager.”
8. forum putealque Libonis] See S. ii. 6. 35, n. Horace speaks as if he had delivered an ‘edictum’ that the business of the Forum was only fit for the sober and dull, who had nothing to do with poetry; whereupon all that would be thought poets took to drinking day and night. ‘Putere’ is a stronger word for ‘olere,’ used above, v. 5.
12. Quid, si quis vultu torvo] Cato of Utica is here referred to, of whom Plutarch says, that from his childhood he showed in his voice and countenance, and also in his amusements, an immovable, unimpressive, and firm temper. He seldom laughed, or even smiled; and though not passionate, when his anger was roused it was not easy to pacify him. He set himself against the fashions of the times, in dress as in other things, and often went out of doors after dinner without his shoes and tunic; and the fashion being to wear a ‘lacerna’ of bright colour, he chose to wear a dark one. (Cat. c. 1. 6.) He may have worn his toga of smaller dimensions than other people, from the same dislike to the usages of the day. For ‘textore’ we should expect ‘textura’ in this place.
15. Rupit Iarbitam Timagenis] It appears that the person here called Iarbitas (from Virgil’s Numidian king, Iarbas) was a Mauritanian by birth, and that his Roman name was Cordus or Codrus. Timagenes was a native of Alexandria, where he was taken prisoner by A. Gabinius, and sold as a slave. He was sent to Rome, and bought by Faustus, the son of Sulla, who gave him his freedom. He afterwards taught rhetoric, and became famous. It seems that Cordus, endeavouring to imitate Timagenes, and failing, broke his heart with envy.
18. biberent exsangue cuminum.] The fruit of this plant, which is a pleasant condiment, is described by Pliny (xx. 15) as giving a pallid hue to the complexion. It is a plant of Eastern origin. We are familiar with it through the proverbial use of the name by our Lord in his denunciation of the Pharisees, who gave tithes of mint, anise, and cumin, but neglected the weightier matters of the law. It was used to express littleness or meanness in any shape. Horace says, if he happened to look pale by any chance, his imitators would eat cumin-seeds to make themselves look interesting and poetical like him.
23. Parios ego primus iambos] The iambics of Archilochus of Paros. As to his attacks upon Lycambes, see Epod. vi. 13, n.
26. ne me foliis] ‘And that you may not crown me with less noble wreath.’ As to this position of ‘ne,’ see C. iv. 9. 1, n. Horace says he is not to be blamed for imitating Archilochus in his measure and the structure of his verse, for Alcæus and Sappho (he says, and we must take his word for it) did the same; they tempered their Muse with the measure of Archilochus. The iambics of Archilochus are imitated by Horace in the Epodes. Other measures of his he has imitated in the Odes. There is little left of Archilochus but his iambics. The vigorous style of Sappho’s fragments shows the reason why Horace calls her ‘mascula.’ See C. ii. 13. 24, n.
32. Hunc ego non alio dictum] Compare C. iv. 9. 3:
“Non ante vulgatas per artes
Verba loquor socianda chordis”;
and 3. 23: “Romanae fidicen lyrae.” ‘Hunc’ Orelli refers to Alcæus, comparing C. iii. 30. 13:
“Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos
Deduxisse modos.”
It may refer to Archilochus. I do not feel certain about it. Forcellini only mentions one other example of ‘immemoratus’ from Ausonius. ‘Ingenuis’ means ‘candid’ or ‘uncorrupted.’
35. ingratus] He means that the reader is ungrateful who gets gratification from his poems at home, and yet abuses them abroad. ‘Ingratus’ belongs to the second clause as well as ‘iniquus.’ The reason Horace gives is, that he does not go about seeking the good opinion of vulgar critics, giving them dinners and cast-off clothes, and so on, but keeps himself to the company of respectable authors, listening to their writings and getting them to listen to his own. The language is taken from the notion of canvassing for votes at an election.
39. auditor et ultor] These words are reciprocal. The man who listens to a stupid recitation has his revenge when he recites in return. Here it is meant in a good-humored way. Juvenal’s first Satire begins, “Semper ego auditor tantum? nunquamne reponam?” As to the practice of recitation among friends and in public, see C. ii. 1, Int., and S. i. 4. 73, n.
40. Grammaticas ambire tribus] Those who made a profession of literature were called ‘literati,’ ‘eruditi,’ or ‘grammatici.’ The last name was applied principally to those who kept schools or gave lectures, of whom there were a great many at this time at Rome. Inferior writers would give a good deal for their favorable opinion, which would help their books into demand among their scholars. Horace calls them ‘critici’ elsewhere (A. P. 78). ‘Pulpitum’ meant any raised platform from which speeches were delivered. Here it applies to that from which the teachers delivered their lectures.
41. Hinc illae lacrimae.] This became a common way of speaking after Terence (Andr. i. 1. 99): “Atat hoc illud est: Hinc illae lacrimae, haec illa est misericordia.”
Spissis indigna theatris] ‘Theatra’ here means any audience before which recitations of this kind might take place, though the poetry of popular writers was recited in the theatres by ‘mimi’ and ‘mimae.’
43. Jovis auribus] This is the same sort of expression as S. ii. 6. 52: “deos quoniam propius contingis.” ‘Manare’ is not commonly used as a transitive verb. In this construction we find the like words, ‘flere,’ ‘pluere,’ ‘stillare,’ ‘rorare,’ &c. The expressions ‘nugis,’ ‘poëtica mella,’ ‘tibi pulcher,’ all seem to apply rather to the lyrical compositions than to the Satires, and the former appear to have been the objects of all this servile imitation.
45. naribus uti] See S. i. 6. 5, n., and Persius (i. 40): “nimis uncis Naribus indulges.”
47. diludia posco.] This word occurs nowhere else. It means, in the first instance, an interval allowed to gladiators between their contests. ‘Iste locus’ must mean the ‘pulpita’ or ‘spissa theatra’ above mentioned. It seems as if the speaker meant to gain time, and, without declining the contest, made objections to the ground, and asked for a postponement, the language of the arena or palæstra being kept up. The meaning, in plain terms, is, that he does not wish to be brought into competition with others in the way of public recitations or criticism, because such matters, though they may begin in good temper, generally issue in strife and bad passions. ‘Iste’ expresses ‘that place which you propose.’
With this composition addressed to his book (which can hardly be any other than this collection of Epistles) Horace sends it forth to take its chance in the world. He addresses it as a young and wanton maiden, eager to escape from the retirement of her home and to rush into dangers she knows nothing of. He tells her it will be too late to repair her error when she discovers it; that she will be caressed for a time and then thrown away, and, when her youth and the freshness of her beauty are gone, she will end her days in miserable drudgery and obscurity. He concludes with a description of himself, his person, his character, and his age.
1. Vertumnum Janumque,] The Vicus Thurarius, in which the Scholiasts say Vertumnus had a temple, was part of the Vicus Tuscus (S. ii. 3. 228), and the Argiletum was a street leading out of that street. In the Argiletum Janus had a temple. The Sosii were Horace’s booksellers (see A. P. 345), and their shop may have stood near temples of Vertumnus and Janus, at which Horace says his book is casting longing glances. The Scholiasts say they were brothers. The outside skin of the parchment-rolls were polished with pumice-stone, to make them look well.
3. Odisti claves] The ‘capsae’ or ‘scrinia’ (S. i. 4. 21, n.) were locked, or sealed, or both; and women and young persons were locked or sealed up in their chambers, that they might not get into mischief, which restraint Horace says they liked, if they were chaste. He professes to reproach his book for being tired of staying at home, and being shown only to his friends, and wanting to go out to be exposed for sale, to which purpose he had not trained it. There can be no doubt that what is here distinctly said of the Epistles is true of the other works of Horace, that they were shown to his friends, and circulated privately before they were collected and published.
8. In breve te cogi] As applied to the book, this means that it will be rolled up and put into a case, and not taken out again. The metaphorical language is kept up in the following words, in ‘peccantis,’ and in the notion of its being thrown aside when the freshness of youth shall have left it.
9. Quodsi non odio peccantis] ‘But if the prophet is not blinded by his aversion to the offender,’ that is, if I am not led by my aversion to your wantonness to prophesy too harshly of your fate. ‘Aetas’ is used for any time of life, according to the context; but more frequently for old age than youth.
13. Aut fugies Uticam] You will be shipped off to Utica (in Libya), or to Ilerda (Lerida) in Spain, or anywhere else in the remote provinces, tied up as a bundle of goods (‘vinctus’), and I shall laugh, for what is the use of trying to save such a willful thing? as the driver said, when his ass would go too near the edge of the precipice, and he drove him over in a passion. It is not known where this fable comes from. Compare A. P. 467.
18. balba senectus.] This keeps up the image in v. 10. Horace says his book will be reduced in its old age to the poor people’s schools in the back streets (see S. i. 10. 75, n.). His writings came very soon to take their place with Homer and Virgil in all the schools. See Juvenal (vii. 226):
“Quot stabant pueri, cum totus decolor esset
Flaccus, et haereret nigro fuligo Maroni.”
19. Cum tibi sol tepidus] In the heat of the day, and before dinner in the baths, people read to themselves or one another. It is not easy to see the connection of this line with what goes before. It is something of a contradiction. But he supposes the book may perhaps be popular for a time.
20. Me, libertino natum patre] Compare S. i. 6. 6, 46, 47.
23. Me primis Urbis] This he considers no small praise. See Epp. i. 17. 35, and S. ii. 1. 75. He does not mind at this time referring to his old generals, Brutus and Cassius. The description he gives of himself corresponds with that we find in his biographer. See also C. ii. 11. 15. Epp. i. 4. 15.
24. solibus aptum,] This means that he liked warm weather. See S. ii. 3. 10, n.
28. Collegam Lepidum] Horace was born on the 8th of December, B. C. 65, in the year of the consulship of L. Manlius Torquatus and L. Aurelius Cotta. He completed his forty-fourth year, therefore, in December, B. C. 21. In that year M. Lollius (to whom C. iv. 9 is addressed) and Q. Æmilius Lepidus were consuls. ‘Duxit’ merely means that he had Lepidus for his colleague. Why Horace should be so particular in letting the world know his present age in the above year I cannot tell. He was in a communicative mood when he wrote, and tells us in a few words a good deal about himself.
Among other anecdotes connected with Augustus, Suetonius, in his Life of Horace, says that he complained, after reading the Epistles, that he had not written one to him, whereupon Horace wrote the following Epistle to the Emperor.
The parts of the Epistle do not hang together very closely, especially after the first ninety lines. They consist of compliments to Augustus; a remonstrance about the patronage bestowed on the old poets; a description of the rapid growth of art in Greece after the Persian war; a complaint that everybody at Rome has taken to writing verses, whether they can or no; a commendation of poets as good and useful citizens and contributors to the national piety; a history of the growth of poetry in Italy; a comparison between tragedy and comedy; an account of the troubles of dramatic authors through the caprices and bad taste of their audiences, which at that time is stated to have been especially depraved; an appeal to Augustus on behalf of the poets of the day; and a reproof to such poets as are unreasonable or officious, and attempt themes too exalted for them.
There is much polish in the versification of this Epistle. The flattery with which it opens is cleverly written, and the verses towards the end, in which Horace compendiously states the military successes of Augustus, are terse and elegant. His commendation of the poet is a fair tribute to his own profession. The description of the vulgar taste for spectacles is natural, and reminds us of our own times; and there is enough in the Epistle to account for the high estimation it is held in by the general reader.
2. moribus ornes,] See Introduction to C. ii. 15, and the Odes there referred to.
3. Legibus emendes,] The principal laws passed in the time of Augustus are given in Smith’s Dict. Antt., under the head ‘Juliae Leges.’ See C. iii. 24. 33, n.
5. Romulus et Liber pater] All these heroes are joined, in C. iii. 3. 9, sqq. As to ‘Liber,’ see Epp. i. 19. 4, n. There is additional confusion here by the Latin adjunct ‘pater’ being affixed to his name. Dionysus, Hercules, Castor, and Pollux were the favorite heroes of the Greeks, who attributed chiefly to their labors the civilization of the world, and to their care its preservation.
11. fatali] The labors of Hercules are called ‘fatales,’ because thereby he fulfilled his destiny. Virgil so describes them in Aen. viii. 291.
12. Comperit invidiam] See C. iii. 24. 31, sq.
13. Urit enim fulgore suo] ‘For that man scorches with his brightness who overpowers capacities inferior to his own’; that is, inferior minds are galled by the consciousness of their inferiority, and extinguished by his greatness. ‘Artes’ here probably means attainments of any kind.
15. Praesenti tibi maturos] See note on C. iv. 5. 29, sqq., and C. iii. 5. 1, sqq. Augustus during his life refused to receive the honor of a temple at Rome, and in the provinces he would only have them if the name of Rome was coupled with his own. He had two of this sort in Asia Minor, and one built by Herod the Great at Cæsarea. A temple in the provinces was an honor which the governors often enjoyed. During his life, Augustus desired to be accounted the son of Apollo, and was represented on coins in the character of that god playing on a harp. After his death, several temples were erected to him, and his worship was regularly established, but the altars Horace speaks of were those which were raised in the provinces, like that below.
16. Jurandasque tuum per nomen] The person who swore by the altar laid his hand upon it, and invoked the name of the divinity to whom it was consecrated.
17. Nil oriturum alias,] This is a repetition of C. iv. 2. 37.
18. Sed tuus hic populus,] They who are wise in honoring you while among them, are not wise in their excessive admiration for all other things that are old and gone, and contempt for things modern.
20. simili ratione modoque] This is the third time Horace uses this combination. See S. ii. 3. 266, 271.
23. Sic fautor veterum] Augustus was particularly simple in his language, and had a contempt for affectation of any kind. He would therefore, as Orelli says, be pleased with these remarks of Horace.
24. Quas bis quinque viri sanxerunt,] In B. C. 452 ten patricians were appointed, with absolute powers for one year, to draw up a code of laws, of which the greater part was finished in that year, and engraved upon ten tables of ivory or bronze. In the following year the decemvirate was renewed, with the difference that three plebeians were elected among them, and two more tables were added. These tables contained the fundamental principles of Roman law to the latest times. Down to Cicero’s time they were committed to memory by boys at school. As to ‘sanxerunt,’ see S. ii. 1. 81, n.
foedera regum] A story is told by Livy (i. 53, sqq.) respecting the way in which Gabii (Epp. i. 11. 7, n.) came into the hands of the Romans. Another historian mentions having seen a treaty made on that occasion. ‘Gabiis’ and ‘Sabinis’ are both governed by ‘cum.’ Compare C. iii. 25. 2, “quae nemora aut quos agor in specus.” As to ‘rigidis Sabinis,’ see C. iii. 6. 38. The treaty Horace alludes to may be that between Romulus and Tatius, king of the Sabines, by which the two nations became one (Livy i. 13). ‘Aequatus,’ in this sense of treaties or agreements made on equal terms, does not occur elsewhere.
26. Pontificum libros,] The College of Pontiffs had books containing the regulations by which they were guided, and all matters pertaining to their office and the worship of the gods, the general supervision of which was their principal duty. The original books were, according to tradition, given to them by Numa at their first creation; but they were added to from time to time, and they must have been numerous when Horace wrote. Some parts were no doubt very antiquated in expression and ideas.
annosa volumina vatum,] Not long after this Epistle was written, Augustus caused a multitude of books professing to be Sibylline oracles, and others of a prophetic character, to be burnt (see C. 9. 5, n.). Those that were counted genuine he preserved in the Capitol.
27. Dictitet Albano] There is force in ‘dictitet,’ ‘would persist in affirming,’ that the Muses themselves had uttered them (not on Parnassus, but) on the Alban Mount; that the Muses had changed their habitation to dwell in Latium.
29. pensantur eadem Scriptores trutina,] See S. i. 3. 72, n.
31. Nil intra est oleam,] This may be a proverb, meaning we may believe any absurdity, or disbelieve our senses; if because the oldest poets of Greece are the best, therefore Roman poets must be weighed in the same scale, why then the olive is hard without and the nut is soft; we are at the height of good fortune; we paint, we sing, we wrestle, better than the Greeks; which every one knows is not the case.
35. quotus arroget annus.] See C. iv. 14. 40, n. Horace uses ‘decidere’ (v. 36) in the same sense in C. iv. 7. 14.
45. caudaeque pilos ut equinae] When the soldiers of Sertorius insisted on attacking the enemy against his wish, and were beaten, he took the following means of showing them their error and the policy he chose to pursue. He put before them two horses, one old and infirm, the other young and fresh, with a remarkably fine tail. A strong man stood by the old horse, a small man by the young one. They were desired to pull the hair out of the tails of the animals, and the strong man pulled at his with great force, while the little man proceeded to pull out the hairs of the other, one by one. The weak man soon accomplished his work, while the strong man of course failed. (Plutarch, Vit. Sert. c. 16.) Horace appears to refer to this story, which was probably well known. The application here is plain, though it has no very close analogy to the original.
46. demo et item] Terence uses ‘et item.’ Andria (i. 1. 49): “Sed postquam amans accessit pretium pollicens Unus et item alter”; and Lucretius (iv. 553):
“Asperitas autem vocis fit ab asperitate
Principiorum, et item levor levore creatur.”
47. ratione ruentis acervi] The Greeks had a logical term called σωρίτης (from σωρός, ‘acervus,’ a heap), signifying a series of propositions linked together and depending each upon the one before it, till a conclusion is come to which connects the first proposition with the last; but it may go on for ever without any conclusion at all. The invention of the σωρίτης is attributed to Chrysippus the Stoic.
48. Qui redit in fastos] The word ‘fasti,’ as applied to records, belonged properly to the sacred books or tables in which the ‘fasti’ and ‘nefasti dies’ were distinguished, that is, the Calendar. When these were made public (Livy ix. 46), calendars became common, and in these (which were usually engraved on tables of stone) remarkable events were inserted, so that they became a source of historical information. There were also consular annals, or registers of the consuls and other chief magistrates, kept among the records of the state, and these were also called ‘fasti,’ or ‘annales,’ either of which words came, in consequence, to be used generally for historical registers of any kind, particularly by the poets. Horace applies it to the family genealogies of the Lamia family (C. iii. 17. 4). See also C. iv. 13. 15, 14. 4, and S. i. 3. 112, where it is applied in the most general way to the history of the world.
49. Libitina] See S. ii. 6. 19, n.
50. Ennius et sapiens] Ennius was born at Rudiæ, in Calabria, B. C. 239. He followed the opinions of Pythagoras, holding the doctrine of the transmigration of souls; and in the beginning of his epic poem, called ‘Annales,’ he declared that the spirit of Homer had passed into his body, having meanwhile inhabited, among others, that of a peacock. This is what Horace alludes to in ‘somnia Pythagorea.’ He says, however, that Ennius need not mind what was thought of his professions and his dreams, since he was certainly worshipped as if he were a second Homer. As to ‘critici,’ see Epp. i. 19. 40, n. Ennius is called ‘fortis,’ not for his personal bravery (though he saw some service), but for the boldness of his style.
53. Naevius in manibus non est] Cn. Nævius was born about the middle of the third century B. C., and wrote plays and an epic poem on the first Punic war, in which he served. To the latter poem Virgil seems to have owed some of his ideas. Terence ranks him, with Plautus and Ennius, as one of his models. Nævius was perhaps rather the oldest of the three. Cicero often has ‘non est’ in interrogative sentences.
54. Paene recens?] ‘As if he were almost modern.’
56. Pacuvius docti famam senis,] Pacuvius was nephew to Ennius, and was born, like his uncle, in Calabria, about B. C. 220. His chief compositions were tragedies, and they were nearly all translated from the Greek. A scene from his Orestes is referred to by Cicero (De Amicit. c. 7), and he elsewhere places him at the head of the Roman tragedians.
In respect to Accius, see S. i. 10. 53, n.
As to ‘senis,’ see S. ii. 1. 34, n.
57. Dicitur Afrani toga] Comedies written after a Greek model, with Greek scenes and characters, were called ‘palliatae’; those of which the incidents and persons were Roman were called ‘togatae,’ from the dress of the actors, the Greek ‘pallium’ corresponding to the Roman ‘toga.’ Afranius wrote principally ‘togatas,’ and Horace says that, according to the judgment of the critics, his toga would have suited Menander; that is, Menander need not have been ashamed of his plays. Afranius was some years younger than Cæcilius and Terence.
Of Menander, who flourished at Athens during the latter part of the fourth century B. C., mention has been made on S. i. 4. 1. Horace seems to have studied Menander. (See S. ii. 3. 11, n.)
58. Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi,] As to Horace’s opinion of Plautus, see below (170, sqq.). What his critics meant, when they said what Horace here attributes to them, I do not know; and since we have no means of comparing the writings of Plautus and Epicharmus, I do not see how the question can be decided. Epicharmus, a native of Cos, lived from B. C. 540 to the age of ninety. The chief part of his literary life was spent at the court of Gelon and his successor Hiero, at Syracuse, with Pindar, Æschylus, and other poets who were patronized at that court, where he composed comedies, thirty-five of which are known by their titles and some by fragments. He is commonly called the inventor of comedy, the fact being, perhaps, that his were the first that were written.
59. Vincere Caecilius gravitate,] This comic poet was born at Mediolanum (Milan). He was a slave, but afterwards received his freedom. He died B. C. 168, the year after Ennius. His contemporaries held him in high estimation. Cicero places him at the head of the comic poets, but speaks ill of his Latin. What is meant by ‘gravitate’ is as uncertain as ‘properare’ in the verse before, and for the same reason.
Terentius arte.] The exact sense in which Horace meant this word is equally uncertain with the others; perhaps it has reference to the elegance of Terence’s language, or the skill with which he draws real life in his plays. There are few like him now. His name was P. Terentius Afer. He was a slave in the family of one P. Terentius Lucanus, whose prænomen and gentile name he took, on his manumission, retaining as a cognomen the name which he derived from the place of his birth, Carthage. The plays we have of his are all ‘palliatae,’ derived more or less from the Greek, chiefly of Menander.
60. arcto stipata theatro] The plays of Terence and all the earlier and more celebrated poets were performed, at first, either on scaffoldings erected in the Circus, and afterwards taken down, or in temporary wooden theatres, usually on a very large scale; the notion being that a systematic encouragement of plays, by the erection of permanent buildings, was injurious to public morals. The first permanent stone theatre at Rome (for they had them in the country towns some time before) was built by Cn. Pompeius, after the Mithridatic war, outside the walls, near the Campus Martius.
62. Livi scriptoris ab aevo.] T. Livius Andronicus is spoken of by Quintilian as the first Roman poet. The date of his birth is uncertain, but he died B. C. 221, or thereabouts. He wrote a translation of the Odyssey, and plays. These were all, as far as we know, ‘palliatae,’ from the Greek. Cicero says they were not worth a second reading.
63. Interdum vulgus] The multitude, he means, are not altogether blind to the defects of these old writers, though many think there is nothing like them.
66. dure — ignave] The first represents the harshness of the style, the second its carelessness. Compare A. P. 445. ‘Jove aequo’ is the opposite of ‘Jove non probante’ (C. i. 2. 19).
70. plagosum mihi parvo Orbilium dictare;] Orbilius Pupillus was a native of Beneventum. In his fiftieth year (B. C. 63) he came to Rome and set up a school. He seems to have held the rod as the principle of school government. He lived in great poverty, in a garret, to nearly a hundred years of age, having long lost his memory. His townspeople were proud of him, and erected a marble statue to his memory. Orbilius was in his forty-eighth year when Horace was born. He was therefore not young when the poet went to his school. As to ‘dictare,’ see S. i. 10. 75, n.
73. verbum emicuit] ‘If a decent word starts up.’
75. ducit venditque poëma.] ‘It brings forward and gives a value to the whole poem.’ Compare Juvenal (vii. 135): “Purpura vendit Causidicum, vendunt amethystina.”
79. crocum floresque perambulet Attae Fabula] Atta was a writer of comedies (‘togatae’), of which a few fragments remain. He died B. C. 78. It is not clear that Horace had any particular play in mind, but it may have been an affectation of Atta’s to have flowers scattered on the stage, on which it was usual to sprinkle a perfume extracted from the crocus. The perfume was mixed with water and thrown up through pipes, so as to sprinkle not only the stage, but the spectators. The most famous crocus was that of Mount Corycus, in Cilicia (see S. ii. 4. 68, n.).
82. Quae gravis Aesopus,] Claudius Æsopus, the tragic actor, was an intimate friend of Cicero’s, and most of the distinguished men of that time. He was older than Cicero, though the date of his birth is not known, or that of his death. He was a freedman of some person belonging to the Clodia gens. ‘Gravis’ is a good epithet for a tragic actor.
82. quae doctus Roscius egit:] Q. Roscius, the comic actor, was also an intimate friend of Cicero, who often speaks of him, and pleaded a cause for him in a speech still in part extant. The meaning of ‘doctus’ can only be explained by the study he gave to his profession, and the accurate knowledge he acquired of the principles of his art. He died about B. C. 62, and was enormously rich, like Æsopus, whose wealth has been referred to on S. ii. 3. 239.
86. Jam Saliare Numae carmen] See C. iv. 1. 28, n. The hymns of the Salii appear to have been very obscure; but there were those who thought themselves clever enough to make them out, which Horace takes leave to doubt. It may be that popular belief attributed the composition of these verses to Numa, who established the Salii of Mars.
93. Ut primum positis] Here follows a description of the Athenians, as they quickly became after the Persian war (B. C. 480), and especially under the administration of Pericles and afterwards. It is only to Athens that Horace’s language will accurately apply. On this subject the student may refer to Thirlwall’s Greece, Vol. III. 62, sq., 70, sq.; IV. 256.
95. athletarum studiis,] The term ἀθλητής (from ἆθλα, the prizes of victory) was applied by the Greeks only to those who contended in the great games (the Olympian, Isthmian, Nemean, and Pythian) for prizes in exercises of personal strength, as wrestling, running, boxing, leaping, throwing the discus or javelin. The honour that was paid to successful ‘athletae’ was enormous. They were introduced at Rome about two centuries B. C., and under the emperors were a privileged class, and formed a ‘collegium.’
96. Marmoris aut eboris fabros aut aeris] All the great artists of this period, as Pheidias, Polycleitus, Myron, wrought in bronze as well as marble, and were scarcely less distinguished for engraving and chasing, than in the higher departments of art. The most celebrated works in ivory were the statues of Jupiter Olympius at Elis, and of Minerva in the Parthenon at Athens, executed by Pheidias.
101. Quid placet aut odio est] Horace introduces the example of Athens to show that greatness was reached by their love, not of what was old, but what was new. Peace and prosperity brought with it tastes and elegances of a high order; and though, no doubt, there was fickleness in the pursuit of these things, this was to be expected, says he, and may be excused, seeing what human nature is.
104. Mane domo vigilare,] See S. i. 1. 10, n. Horace goes on to compare the change which had come upon the character of the Romans through their new taste for poetry, with that which passed upon the Athenians when they turned from arms to the arts of peace, and he justifies the change (103-167).
105. Cautos nominibus rectis] To lend money on security to good debtors. ‘Expendere’ is equivalent to ‘expensum referre,’ which means to debit a person in one’s books with money lent (see S. ii. 3. 69, n.). ‘Cavere’ is the usual word for giving or taking security. ‘Nomen’ signifies an item or entry in a book of accounts, and ‘referre nomina’ to make such entries. It also is used for a debt, and ‘nomen solvere’ is to pay a debt; ‘nomen facere,’ either to incur a debt or to lend money; for ‘facere’ is used in both senses but ‘nomen’ is also used for the debtor himself.
110. carmina dictant.] ‘Dictare’ is equivalent to ‘scribere,’ because they did not usually write themselves, but dictated to a slave who wrote. See S. i. 10. 92, n.
112. Parthis mandacior,] This expression, which seems as if it were proverbial, savors of the jealousy the Romans of that day felt towards the Parthians. Elsewhere Horace calls them ‘infidi,’ C. iv. 15. 23. As to ‘calamus’ and ‘charta,’ see S. ii. 3. 2. 7, and for ‘scrinia,’ see S. i. 4. 21, n.
114. abrotonum] This is the plant which we call southern-wood, which is still used for medicinal purposes.
117. indocti doctique] See C. i. 1. 29, n.
119. avarus Non temere est animus;] ‘Not readily given to avarice.’ In S. ii. 2. 116 he says, “Non temere edi luce profesta Quidquam praeter olus” (see note), and in Epp. ii. 2. 13, “Non temere a me Quivis ferret idem,” where the sense is much the same as here.
122. Non fraudem socio puerove] See C. iii. 24. 60, n., and as to ‘pupillo,’ see Epp. i. 1. 21, n.
123. siliquis et pane secundo;] ‘Siliqua’ is the pod or husk of any leguminous vegetable; but it was applied particularly to a plant, the ‘siliqua Graeca,’ which is still found in Italy and Spain. It has no English name. ‘Panis secundus,’ or ‘secundarius,’ is bread made from inferior flour.
127. jam nunc] See C. iii. 6. 23, n. As to ‘formo,’ see C. iii. 24. 54; S. i. 4. 121; A. P. 307, and other places. For ‘corrector,’ see Epp. i. 15. 37. ‘Orientia tempora’ means the time of youth; as we say, the dawn of life.
132. Castis cum pueris] The Carmen Saeculare was sung by a choir consisting of twenty-seven boys, and as many girls, of noble birth (see Introduction); and such choruses were usual on special occasions of that sort.
133. Disceret unde preces] The vestal virgins addressed their prayers to their goddess, ‘docta prece,’ the equivalent for which is ‘carmine.’ See C. i. 2. 26, where ‘prece’ is opposed to ‘carmina,’ though the latter too were prayers, and perhaps in verse, but in a set form, ‘doctae preces.’
138. carmine Manes.] The great annual festival at which the Manes, the souls of the departed, were worshipped, was the Lemuria, which was celebrated in May, on the 9th, 11th, and 13th days of the month. They were also worshipped shortly after a funeral at the ‘feriae denicales,’ when the family of the deceased went through a purification. The Lares being also the spirits of the dead, differed only in name from the Manes, which were ordinarily inserted in sepulchral inscriptions, as the Dii Manes of the departed. The name is derived from a root signifying ‘good,’ for none but the good could become Manes. Their existence was a matter of some scepticism, as observed on C. i. 4. 16. Here the name seems to embrace all the infernal deities, as Dis, Proserpina, Tellus, the Furiæ, &c., as, well as the spirits of the dead.
143. Tellurem porco,] The temple of Tellus in the Carinæ has been mentioned before, Epp. i. 7. 48, n. She was worshipped among the ‘dii inferi,’ or Manes. Her annual festival, the Fordicidia, was celebrated on the 15th of April. ‘Forda’ in the old language signified a cow. See Ovid, Fast. iv. 629, sqq. But it appears that sacrifices were also offered after harvest, and that the victim was a hog, which was commonly offered to the Lares. (C. iii. 23. 4, where the feminine is used; S. ii. 3. 165; C. iii. 17. 5; Epp. i. 16. 58.)
Silvanum lacte piabant,] In Epod. ii. 22 the offerings to Silvanus are fruits, and there he is spoken of as ‘tutor finium’: in Tibullus (i. 5. 27) he is called ‘deus agricola,’ and the offerings are different for wine, corn, and flocks, all of which he protected:
“Illa deo sciet agricolae pro vitibus uvam,
Pro segete spicas, pro grege terre dapem.”
Juvenal (vi. 447) mentions a hog as an offering to this god, to whom women were not allowed to sacrifice, as appears from that passage.
144. Genium memorem brevis aevi.] See Epp. i. 7. 94, n.
145. Fescennina per hunc inventa licentia] There was a sort of rude jesting dialogue carried on in extempore verse at these rustic festivals, full of good-tempered raillery and coarse humor. These were called ‘Fescennina carmina,’ as is generally supposed from the town Fescennia or Fescennium, belonging to the Falisci. From these verses others took their name, which were more licentious and scurrilous, and satires got the same name, but the sort of poetry with which it originated was harmless, as Horace says. Compare Virgil, Georg. ii. 385, sqq.
152. quin etiam lex Poenaque lata] See S. ii. 1. 80, n. ‘Lata’ properly belongs to ‘lex.’ When a penalty was inserted in the ‘lex,’ it was ‘lex sancta,’ as stated in the note just referred to.
154. Describi;] This is used in the same sense in S. i. 4. 3: “Si quis erat dignus describi.” ‘Fustuarium’ was a mode of putting to death by beating with sticks and stoning, usually, but not only, as the passage shows, inflicted on soldiers. (See Dict. Antt.)
156. Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit] The taking of Syracuse by Marcellus, B. C. 212, the seventh year of the second Punic War, led to the introduction into Rome of a taste for Greek art, many fine works being at that time first made known to the Romans. In B. C. 146, the last year of the third Punic war, Corinth was taken by Mummius, and Southern Greece was formed into the Roman province of Achaia. Horace had probably both these periods in his mind, as well as the conquest of Southern Italy, in the towns of which were some of the finest works of Grecian art. The first play copied from the Greek was not exhibited at Rome till after the first Punic war, which ended in B. C. 241. It was by Livius. See v. 62, n.