Chapter 84

[1] In the consulship of L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus. "_O nate mecum consule Manlio_," Od. III. xxi. 1; Epod xiii. 6.

[2] _Libertino patre natum_, Sat. I. vi. 46.

[3] _Natus dum ingenuus, ib._ v. 8.

[4] Sat. I. vi. 86.

[5] _Me fabulosae Vulture in Apulo_, &c.; Od. iii. 4, 9.

[6] Ep. II. i. 71.

[7] S. I. vi. 8.

[8] Juv. vii. 218.

[9] Sat. I. iv. 113.

[10] Ep. II. ii. 43.

[11] _Quae mihi pareret legio Romana tribuno_, Sat. I. vi, 48.

[12] _O saepe mecum tempus in ultimum deducte_, Od. II. vii. 1.

[13] Ib. 5.

[14] Ep. II. ii. 51.

[15] Sueton. Vit. Hor.; cf. Sat. II. vi. 37, _De re communi scribae te orabant ...reverti_.

[16] Ep. ii. 2, 51.

[17] S. I. vi. 55.

[18] _Iubesque esse in amicorum numero_.--Ib. This expression is important, since many scholars have found a difficulty in Horace's accompanying Maecenas so soon after his accession to his circle, and have supposed that Sat. I. v. refers to another expedition to Brundisium, undertaken two years later. This is precluded, however, by the mention of Cocceius Nerva.

[19] S. ii. 3. 11.

[20] Ep. I. vi. 16.

[21] _Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri_, Ep. I. i. 14.

[22] S. I. ii. 25.

[23] Suet. Vit. Hor. Fragments of four letters are preserved. One to Maecenas, "_Ante ipse sufficiebam scribendis epistolis amicorum; nunc occupatissimus et infirmus, Horatium nostrum te cupio adducere. Veniet igiur ab ista parasitica mensa ad hanc regiam, et nos in epistolis scribendis adiuvabit_." Observe the future tense, the confidence that his wish will not be disputed. He received to his surprise the poet's refusal, but to his credit did not take it amiss. He wrote to him, "_Sume tibi aliquid iuris apud me, tanquam si convictor mihi fueris; quoniam id usus mihi tecum esse volui, si per valetudinem tuam fieri potuisset_." And somewhat later, "_Tui qualem habeam memoriam poteris ex Septimio quoque nostro audire; nam incidit, ut illo coram fieret a me tui mentio. Neque enim, si tu superbus amicitiam nostram sprevisti, ideo nos quoque anthuperphronoumen_." The fourth fragment is the one translated in the text.

[24] _Quem rodunt omnes ... quia sum tibi, Maecenas, convictor_, S. I. vi. 46. Contrast his tone, Ep. I. xix. 19, 20; Od. iv. 3.

[25] Sat. I. ix.

[26] Sat. II. vi. 30, _sqq._

[27] S. II. vi. 1.

[28] O. II. xviii. 14; III. xvi. 28, _sqq._

[29] The year in which he received the Sabine farm is disputed. Some (_e.g._ Grotefend) date it as far back as 33 B.C.; others, with more probability, about 31 B.C.

[30] They were probably published simultaneously in 23 B.C. If we take the earlier date for his possession of the Sabine farm, he will have been nearly ten years preparing them.

[31] Ep. I. ix.

[32] Ep. I. xvii. and xviii.

[33] Ep. I. xiv.

[34] The first seven stanzas of IV. 6, with the prelude (III. i. 1-4), are supposed to have been sung on the first day; I. 21 on the second; and on the third the C. S. followed by IV. vi. 28-44.

[35] See p.38.

[36] C. xxxii.

[37] Od. IV. 4.

[38] Ep. I. i. 10.

[39] Ep. I. xx.

[40] Od. II. xvii. 5.

[41] _E.g._ the infamous Sextus Menas who is attacked in Ep. 4.

[42] Epod. 5 and 17, and Sat. I. viii.

[43] Epod. viii. xii.; Od. iv. xiii.

[44] The sorceresses or fortune-tellers. Some have without any authority supposed her to have been a mistress of the poet's, whose real name was Gratidia, and with whom he quarrelled.

[45] I. xxxv.

[46] II. xvii.

[47] Cf. _Troiae renascens alite lugubri..._ with _Occidit occideritque sinas cum nomine Troia_. In both cases Juno is supposed to utter the sentiment. This can hardly be mere accident.

[48] Ep. I. i. 33, _Fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus; Sunt verba et voces quibus hunc lenire dolorem Possis._

[49] Od. I. xii. 17.

[50] Od. I. ii. 43.

[51] Od. IV. v. 1.

[52] Od. III. iii. 9.

[53] Ep. II. i. 15.

[54] The best instance is Od. III. vi. 45, where it is expressed with singular brevity.

[55] Od. I. xi. among many others.

[56] A. P. 391, _sqq._; S. I. iii. 99.

[56] Ep. I. iv. and ii. 55.

[57] _E.g. laborum decepitur_, Od. II. xiii. 38. The reader will find them all in Macleane's _Horace_.

[58] The most extraordinary instance of this is Od. IV. iv. 17, where in the very midst of an exalted passage, he drags in the following most inappropriate digression--_Quibus Mos unde deductus per omne Tempus Amazonia securi Dextras obarmet quaerere distuli, Nec scire fas est omnia._ Many critics, intolerant of the blot, remove it altogether, disregarding MS. authority.

[59] _Ego apis Matinae more modoque_ ... operosa _parvus carmina fingo_, Od. IV. ii. 31.

[60] Od. IV. iv. 33.

[61] Od. III. iii. 17.

[62] Od. III. xxviii.

[63] Od. III. xi.

[64] Od. III. ix.

[65] _I.e._ the hall where rhetorical exhibitions were given.

[66] _Nisi quod pede certo differt sermoni, sermo merus_, S. I. iv. So the title _sermones_.

[67] We learn this from the life by Suetonius.

[68] _E.g. invideor, imperor, se impediat_ (S. I. x. 10) = impediatur; _amphora coepit institui_ for _coepta est_. Others might easily be collected.

[69] S. I. iv. 10; S. II. i. in great part.

[70] S. L. iv 60, _Postquam Discordia tetra Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit_. These are also imitated by Virgil; but they do not appear to show any particular beauty.

[71] S. I. v. 101; Ep. I. iv. 16.

[72] _Neque simius iste Nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum_ (S. I. x. 19). I cannot agree with Mr. Martin (_Horace for English Readers_. p. 57), who thinks the allusion not meant to be umcomplimentary.

[73] _Parios iambos_ has been ingeniously explained to mean the epode, _i.e._ the iambic followed by a shorter line in the same or a different rhythm, _e.g. pater Lukámba poion ephraso tode; ti sas paraeeire phrenas_; but it seems more natural to give _Parios_ the ordinary sense. Cf. _Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo_, A. P. 79.

[74] Ep. I. xix. 24.

[75] S. i. 118, _Omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico Tangit, et admissus circum praecordia ludit, Callidus excusso populum suspendere naso_.

[76] Tib. IV. i. 179, _Est tibi qui possit magnis se accingere rebus Valgius: aeterno propior non alter Homero_.

[77] Od. II. ix. 19.

[78] Quint. III. i. 18. Unger, quoted by Teuffel, § 236, conjectures that for _Nicandrum frustra secuti Macer atque_ Virgilius, we should read _Valgius_, in Quint. X. i. 56.

[79] Sat. I. ix. 61.

[80] _Arguta meretrice potes Davoque Chremeque Eludente senem comis garrire libellas Unus vivorum, Fundani_. After all, this praise is equivocal.

[81] _Pindarici fontis qui non expalluit haustus.... An tragica desaevit et ampullatur in arte?_ Ep. I. iii. 10.

[82] Ep. I. viii. 2.

[83] Ep. I. iii. 15.

[84] Od. IV. ii. 2.

[85] Od. iv. ii. 2, quoted by Teuffel.

[86] Od. I. xxxiii.; Ep. I. iv.