v. 26, are explained by the rule, that, the two verses being composed of

two separate measures, the last syllable in each is common, and independent of the syllable that follows. The name Lyciscus is probably formed from Lycus, Alcæus's favorite boy.

26. _Libera consilia_] 'Candid counsels,' opposed to 'contumeliae graves'; but neither are meant seriously.

28. _teretis pueri_] 'Smooth-faced boy.' See note on C. i. 1. 28. As to 'longam comam,' see C. iv. 10. 3, n. 'Renodantis,' which some render 'untying, and allowing to flow upon the shoulders,' means rather 'tying up in a knot,' like a girl.

EPODE XII.

This Ode is addressed to a licentious woman.

EPODE XIII.

This Ode is like the ninth of the first book,--a convivial song, written in winter. There can be little doubt of the subject as well as the metre being imitated from the Greek. The reference to Achilles reminds us of C. i. 7, and the allusion to Teucer. There is a fragment of Anacreon which bears some likeness to the opening of this Epode.

Argument.--The tempest is raging, let us make merry, my friends, while we are young, and leave the rest to the gods, who will give us a good turn yet.

Bring ointment and music, as Chiron taught his great pupil, saying, "To Troy thou must go, and not return; while there, drown care in wine and song, which are grief's pleasant comforters."

1. _contraxit_] This word is only to be explained by observing the different aspect of the sky when it is closed in with clouds, and when it is spread out in all its breadth and cloudless. A frowning sky is a notion easily understood, and common to all languages.

2. _Jovem;_] See C. i. 1. 25; 16. 12. Virgil (Ecl. vii. 60): "Juppiter et laete descendet plurimus imbri." Georg. ii. 325:--

"Tum pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus aether Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit."

3. _rapiamus, amici, Occasionem de die,_] This is explained by C. iii. 8. 27: "Dona praesentis cape laetus horae." 'Die' means the present day as opposed to to-morrow, not, as some take it, 'from this stormy day.'

4. _dumque virent genua_] See C. i. 9. 17, n. The strength of an active man lies very much in his legs, and so they are put for his strength, as in the 147th Psalm (v. 10): "He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man": and the knees are a chief part of the legs, therefore γούνατα λύειν is used for κτείνειν. 'Dum virent genua,' therefore, means merely 'while our limbs are strong, and we are young.' The tottering of the knees is one of the first signs of old age.

5. _obducta--fronte_] 'Clouded brow.' 'Senectus' is nowhere else used in this sense of 'melancholy,' though 'senium' is not uncommonly. 'Tu' is the master of the feast (C. i. 4. 18, n.). Sextus Manlius Torquatus was consul, B.C. 55, when Horace was born. Compare "O nata mecum consule Manlio" (C. iii. 21. 1).

7. _Cetera_] See C. i. 9. 9: "Permitto divis cetera." Either it is a literal version of the Greek ἕτερα, in the sense of 'adverse,' or the troubles of the times may be referred to, or generally Horace may mean by 'cetera,' all troublesome thoughts opposed to mirth and wine.

8. _vice._] The short syllables here and in vv. 10, 14, 'pectora,' 'flumina,' are explained on v. 24 of the last Ode.

_Achaemenio_] See C. ii. 12. 21, n. 'Nardo' is from 'nardum,' not 'nardus,' as in Epod. v. 59: "Nardo perunctum quale non perfectius."

9. _fide Cyllenea_] The lyre invented by Mercury, born on Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.

11. _grandi_] Juvenal (vii. 210) describes Achilles as a big boy at school, "Metuens virgae jam grandis Achilles Cantabat patriis in montibus"; but 'grandis' has not that meaning here, though some have supposed it has.

_Centaurus_] Cheiron, the instructor of Achilles and other heroes. Whether Horace took what follows from any story or not, it is impossible to determine, as with the similar episode of Teucer in C. i. 7.

13. _frigida_] This is an adaptation of Homer's description (Il. xxii. 151): ἡ δ᾽ ἑτέρη θέρεϊ προρέει εἰκυῖα χαλάζῃ Ἢ χιόνι ψυχρῇ. 'Domus Assaraci,' 'proles Assaraci,' are common in Virgil. Assaracus was great-grandfather of Æneas. Homer took a more heroic view of the dimensions of the river Scamander, which was μέγας ποταμὸς βαθυδίνης (Il. xx. 73).

15. _subtemine_] 'The woof of the web.' 'Certo subtemine' means only by an unalterable destiny. See Catull. 64. 328, &c.: "Currite ducentes subtemina currite fusi." 'Mater caerula' means Thetis.

18. _alloquiis._] 'Alloquiis' signifies 'consolations,' and is in apposition with 'vino cantuque.' There is no other instance of 'alloquium' being used otherwise than with reference to conversation. But Horace may have followed, after his custom of imitating the Greeks, the use of παραμύθιον, παρηγορία, which were applied, in a derived sense, to anything that gave relief to sorrow.

EPODE XIV.

The object of this Ode is to excuse Horace for his indolence in not having finished a poem, or volume of poems, he had long promised (v. 7). He says it is love that has prevented him, and that Mæcenas ought to sympathize with him.

Argument.--Thou killest me, my noble Mæcenas, asking again and again if I have drunk the waters of Lethe. It is love, it is love that keeps back the verses I have promised,--such love as Anacreon wept, in his flowing numbers, for Bathyllus, the Samian. Thou, too, feelest the flame, and if thou art more blessed than I, be thankful. Thou lovest the most beautiful of women: I am in torment for a harlot.

1. _imis--sensibus,_] So Virgil (Ecl. iii. 54): "Sensibus haec imis (res est non parva) reponas."

4. _traxerim,_] This is the earliest instance of this use of 'traho.' 'Duco' is more common (C. i. 17. 22; iii. 3. 34; iv. 12. 14). Ovid and later writers use 'traho' (see Forcell.). The Greeks used σπάω and ἕλκω commonly in this sense. 'Candide' seems to signify 'generous,' 'true.' It is used familiarly.

6. _Deus_] That is, love.

8. _Ad umbilicum adducere._] The several sheets of parchment on which the contents of a book were written were joined together, and at the end of the last was fastened a stick on which the whole was rolled, like our maps; and in the same way, at the ends of this roller, were knobs, which were called 'cornua' or 'umbilici.' The former word is obvious enough. The latter belongs more properly, perhaps, to the shape that the ends of the roll would take when these knobs were wanting; but it was also applied to the knobs themselves, and so 'ad umbilicum adducere' is to bring a volume to the last sheet.

It has been disputed whether 'carmen' means a volume or a single poem. 'Ad umbilicum adducere' seems to refer to a volume, 'carmen' to a single poem; but the former might be taken in a derived sense, 'ad finem adducere,' as reasonably as the latter in a collective sense, and I think a single poem is meant. Perhaps it never was finished. Whether 'olim' belongs to 'inceptos' or 'promissum' is open to doubt. In sense it applies to both.

9. _Bathyllo_] C. ii. 4. 7, n. Anacreon's verses were full of passionate addresses to boys. The name of Bathyllus does not occur in any of the fragments that have come down to us; but it is mentioned by others besides Horace, and he is known to have been one of Anacreon's chief favourites. He was a graceful performer on the flute, which accomplishment Anacreon took delight in praising. One of the Odes falsely attributed to Anacreon is addressed εἰς νεώτερον Βάθυλλον· and from that we also learn that he was a Samian, ἢν δ᾽ ἐς Σάμον ποτ᾽ ἔλθῃς Γράφε Φοῖβον ἐκ Βαθύλλου. Anacreon, being driven from his native town, Teos in Ionia, lived many years at Samos, under the protection of Polycrates.

12. _Non elaboratum ad pedem._] This means that his style was easy and his rhythm flowing, which is verified by the few fragments that remain. The poems that go by Anacreon's name are of a later age.

13. _Ureris ipse miser:_] See Introduction. Terentia, Mæcenas's wife, is here alluded to.

EPODE XV.

This is probably a composition from the Greek. It is addressed to an imaginary Neæra by the poet, in his own person. He complains of her deserting him for a wealthier rival. He bids her remember her vows, and beware of provoking him, lest he leave her for ever. And he pities the man whom she has caught, and warns him that, be he rich and wise as he may, she will soon leave him for another. Horace introduces the same name in a much later Ode (iii. 14. 21), and it is used throughout the third book of Elegies commonly attributed to Tibullus. The Ode is in Ovid's style, and worthy to have been written by him.

Argument.--Remember that night when the moon was in the sky, and thou didst swear fidelity to me, saying, that so long as the sheep feared the wolf, and storms vexed the winter's sea, and Apollo's locks floated in the breeze, our mutual love should last.

Thou shalt rue my firmness, Neæra. Flaccus will bear no rival. Let thy faithlessness drive him to wrath, and he will seek a true heart elsewhere. Let him once learn to hate thy beauty, and he will be its captive no more, when grief shall have settled in his soul. And thou, whosoever thou art, that boastest thyself in my sorrow, be thou rich in flocks and fields, and let Pactolus run gold for thee; be thou wise in the secrets of Pythagoras, and of form more beautiful than Nireus; yet shalt thou weep for her love transferred to another, and my turn to laugh shall come.

2. _Inter minora sidera,_] 'Sidus' properly signifies a collection of stars, a constellation; but here it is equivalent to 'stella,' which in its turn appears for 'sidus' in C. iii. 29. 19. In C. i. 12. 47 it is also a single star, and the moon is represented as she is here: "Micat inter omnes Julium sidus, velut inter ignes Luna minores."

3. _laesura_] 'Laedere' is applied to injury by word or deed, to fraud ('laesa fides'), or slander, or violence done to the person, or damage of any kind. It applies to high-treason, whereby the majesty of the sovereign power is violated, and to perjury, as blaspheming the name of God. Compare Ovid (Heroid. ii. 43):--

"Si de tot laesis sua numina quisque deorum Vindicet, in poenas non satis unus eris."

The offence, however, of lovers' perjury was not supposed to weigh very heavily (see C. ii. 8. 13, n.). The Dii Magni were twelve in number: Juppiter, Minerva, Juno, Neptune, Venus, Mars, Vulcan, Vesta, Apollo, Diana, Ceres, and Mercury.

4. _In verba jurabas mea,_] This is the usual way of expressing the oath of obedience taken by soldiers, the words being dictated to the men. Hence the phrases 'conceptis verbis jurare,' 'conceptis verbis pejerare.' 'Jurare in verba' was conventionally applied to any oath of allegiance, and the poet says Neæra swore by the gods eternal devotion to his will. Elsewhere Horace expresses by these words the blind adherence to a particular teacher, declaring that he is "Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri" (Epp. i. 1. 14).

6. _Lentis adhaerens brachiis:_] 'Lentissima brachia' is used in a different sense in S. i. 9. 64. Here 'lentis' signifies 'twining,' as that which is soft and pliant.

7. _Dum pecori lupus_] 'Infestus' belongs to both clauses, but in the first 'foret' must be supplied. There is a slight irregularity in the sentence. As to 'Orion,' see C. i. 28. 21.

9. _Intonsosque agitaret_] Long hair was the mark of youth (C. iv. 10. 2, n.), and Apollo as well as Bacchus (see Epod. xi. 13, n.) was held to be always young. Hence in all ancient representations of Apollo he has long hair, either braided or flowing, in which respect he is frequently compared with Bacchus by the poets. See Ovid (Met. iii. 421), "Et dignos Baccho dignos et Apolline crines." Hence the expression in the text is almost proverbial, and Neæra's vow is one of eternal fidelity. Other allusions to Apollo's hair will be found in C. i. 21. 2, "Intonsum pueri dicite Cynthium"; C. iii. 4. 62, "Qui rore puro Castaliae lavit Crines solutos"; and C. iv. 6. 26, "Phoebe qui Xantho lavis amne crines."

11. _virtute_] 'Virtus' here signifies moral courage, determination, and firmness. See note on C. S. 58. The name Neæra is formed from νείαιρα, which is used by Homer, and is said to be an irregular comparative of νέος, so that Neæra signifies 'the younger.'

14. _parem,_] One who is his match, equally loving and true.

15. _Nec semel offensae_] 'Offensus' is here used as the object of dislike. Horace says, 'Nor shall his firmness yield to thy beauty, if he hate it once, when settled pain has entered his soul.'

19. _licebit_] This use of the future tense shows that 'licet' and some other words, which are called by the grammarians conjunctions, are in fact only verbs, after which 'ut' is understood. 'Licebit' is used below (S. ii. 2. 60), and by Ovid (Trist. v. 14. 3), "Detrahat auctori multum fortuna licebit." The Pactolus, in Lydia, was not the only golden stream of the ancients. The Tagus, Hebrus, Po, and Ganges, all had the same repute. What the secret learning of Pythagoras was, is expressed in the epithet given him, 'renati.' His metempsychosis is referred to in C. i. 28. 10. As to Nireus, see C. iii. 20. 15.

EPODE XVI.

This Ode is written with great care, and was probably one of those compositions by which Horace brought himself into public notice. It has more the appearance of having been written for fame than any other in the book. Probably it was written at the outbreak of the Perusian war, B.C. 41. Horace mourns over the civil wars, and proposes that all good citizens shall migrate to the Fortunate Islands.

Argument.--Another age is wasting in civil wars. She whom no enemy could tame, shall be destroyed by her own accursed children; the wild beast shall devour her; the barbarian shall trample upon her, and scatter the dust of her Romulus to the winds.

What are we to do? Go forth like the Phocæans, leave our homes and our temples to be the dens of beasts, and go wherever the winds shall waft us. Shall it be so? Then why delay? But let us swear:--When rocks shall swim, and the Po shall wash the tops of Matinus, and the Apennine be cast into the sea; when the tiger shall lie with the hind, and the dove with the hawk, and the herds fear not the lion, and the he-goat shall love the waves,--then we will return to our home. Thus let the nobler spirits resolve, while the craven clings to his couch. For us there are those happy isles where the earth yields her harvests and the trees their fruit, unbidden; where honey drops from the oak, and the stream leaps babbling from the hills; where the goat comes unbidden to the milk-pail, and udders are full, and the fold fears no beasts, and the ground bears no vipers; where the rain-flood and the drought are not known; whither the venturous sail comes not; where the flock is unhurt by pestilence or heat. Jove destined these shores for the pious, when the golden age had passed away, and thither the pious may resort and prosper.

1. _Altera_] The last being that of Sulla, which ended about forty years before.

3. _Marsi_] This refers to the Social War, mentioned in C. iii. 14. 18.

4. _Porsenae_] The penultimate syllable of this name is usually long, but it is here short. Porsena was king of Clusium, in Etruria. He espoused the cause of Tarquinius Superbus, and attacked Rome with a large army. The Roman legends of Cocles, who defended the bridge, of Clœlia, who with her maidens swam over the river, and of Mucius Scævola, who thrust his hand into the fire, are all connected with this period. Though the Roman historians have thrown disguises over the fact, there is every reason to believe that Porsena reduced the city to submission, and took from her all the territory she had obtained north of the Tiber.

5. _Aemula nec virtus_] After the battle of Cannæ, Hannibal established himself in Capua, and Livy (xxiii. 6) relates a boasting speech of the Campanians,--how they expected that Hannibal, when he withdrew to Carthage, would leave Rome a wreck and the power over Italy in the hands of Capua. They also sent ambassadors to Rome, and demanded, as a condition of their assistance, that one of the consuls should always be a Campanian. Five years afterwards the Romans took the town, and dealt very severely with it, reducing it to a praefectura (see S. i. 5. 34, n.). As to Spartacus, see C. iii. 14. 19.

6. _Allobrox,_] The Allobroges, whose country lay on the left bank of the Rhone, between that river and the Isère, had ambassadors at Rome at the time of Catiline's conspiracy, praying for redress for certain grievances. These men were tampered with by the conspirators, and promised to forward their designs, which, soon repenting, they betrayed, and became the principal witnesses against the conspirators (Sall. Cat. 41; Cic. in Catil. iii. 2-4). This explains Horace's meaning. Two years afterwards these people, having broken out in war and invaded Gallia Narbonensis, were defeated by C. Pomptinus, governor of that province. Their restlessness is mentioned by Cæsar (B. G. iv. 5).

8. _Parentibus_] This is like "bella matribus detestata" (C. i. 1. 24).

11. _insistet_] 'Insistere' is followed by the accusative case sometimes, particularly when it implies motion, as 'insistere viam,' which peculiarity is found in the Greek καθέζομαι. It more usually governs the dative case, or is followed by the ablative after 'in.' See Aen. vi. 563: "Sceleratum insistere limen." Ezekiel's prophecy against Tyre declares that Nebuchadnezzar "with the hoofs of his horses shall tread down all her streets" (xxvi. 11); and Jeremiah exclaims (viii. 1, 2): "At that time they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their graves, and they shall spread them before the sun: they shall not be gathered nor be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth." Horace does not take account of the apotheosis of Romulus, which he himself refers to elsewhere (C. iii. 3. 16). Porphyrion, on the authority of Varro, says the tomb of Romulus was behind the Rostra.

15. _expediat_] This belongs to 'carere'; 'what course befits us best, that we be free from our vile sufferings,' where the Greeks would express or (more commonly) understand ὥστε. The story of the Phocæans abandoning their city when Harpagus was besieging it, and declaring that they would not return till a bar of iron they threw into the sea should float, is told by Herodotus (i. 165). It must have been familiar to educated men, and the form of oath may have become proverbial. 'Exsecrata' is used in a middle sense, 'binding themselves under a curse,' ἐποιήσαντο ἰσχυρὰς κατάρας. So 'agros' is governed by 'profugit,' not by 'exsecrata.'

23. _Sic placet?_] 'Placetne?' the usual formula addressed to the people at the comitia. The poet fancies himself addressing a meeting of the citizens. 'Habet suadere' is another Greek construction, πείθειν ἔχει.

25. _Sed juremus in haec:_] 'but let us take an oath in this form'; to make our departure inevitable.

33. _ravos_] C. iii. 27. 3, n. 'Levis hircus amet,' 'the goat become sleek, and love.'

41. _Oceanus_] The Atlantic.

42. _divites et insulas,_] See C. iv. 8. 25, n.

46. _Suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem,_] 'and the purple fig adorns its own tree'; that is, without grafting.

51. _vespertinus_] See C. 1. 2. 45. Virg. Georg. iii. 538: "Nocturnus obambulat."

57. _Non huc Argoo_] He means to say, that no venturous sail has reached these islands; not the Argo, in which Jason sailed for the golden fleece, nor Medea, who returned with him to Greece, nor the Phœnicians, who went everywhere with their merchandise, nor the crew of Ulysses, who wandered about the seas for ten years.

62. _aestuosa--impotentia_] 'the burning excess'; that is, 'the excessive heat.'

65. _quorum_] This depends on 'fuga.' 'Safe flight from which is offered to the pious, if I be prophet.'

EPODE XVII.

This poem is written with the ironical purpose of making peace between the poet and Canidia. The recantation is not less severe than the libels (see Epodes iii. and v., and S. i. 8). The poet humbly retracts his charges of base birth, sterility, witchcraft, &c., but in such language as to make them worse: and in the latter part of the Epode Canidia makes a reply refusing forgiveness, and vowing vengeance on her traducer.

Argument.--I yield, I yield; I pray thee by Proserpine, by Diana, by thine own mighty spells, Canidia, cease thy charms; stay, stay thy wheel. Achilles had compassion upon Telephus, and healed him. He was entreated, and gave back the body of Hector, and the matrons of Troy anointed him for burial. Circe restored the companions of Ulysses. Surely I have been punished enough, O thou that art loved of sailors and of hucksters! The complexion of youth is gone from me; my hair is white; I rest not day or night, and sighs give me no relief. I now believe what I once denied. What wouldst thou more? O sea and earth, I am on fire, like Hercules with the blood of Nessus, and Ætna's everlasting flame. As a crucible filled with Colchian drugs, thou wilt burn till I shall be consumed, and my ashes scattered to the winds. What death or what penalty awaits me? Speak, and I will offer a hundred oxen, or praise thy chastity in lying song. The brothers of Helen were entreated, and gave the poet back his eyes; and do thou, for thou canst, loose me from my madness. Indeed thou art _not_ debased by thy parents' sins; thou dost _not_ scatter the new-buried ashes of the poor; thy heart is kind, thy hands are pure, thy son is thine own, and thy births are no pretence. Why waste thy prayers upon ears that are deaf as the rock lashed by the waves? To think thou shouldst publish and laugh with impunity at our mystic rites, and fill the town with my name! What profit, then, have I of the skill I have learnt? Thus shalt thou live with strength ever renewed for fresh endurance, as Tantalus vainly seeks to be at rest, Prometheus to be delivered from his vulture, and Sisyphus to plant his stone on the top of his mountain. Thou wilt seek death in every form, and it shall not come. I will bestride thee, and spurn the earth in my pride. What! must I, who can move images, bring down the moon or raise the dead,--I, the mingler of love charms,--must I see my spells of no avail for such as thee?

1. _Jam jam_] The repetition denotes haste and eagerness, 'See, see I yield.' They are said 'dare manus,' who give their hands to the chains of a conqueror. The phrase is common enough. See Virgil (Aen. xi. 568): "neque ipse manus feritate dedisset." Cæsar (B. G. v. 31): "tandem dat Cotta permotus manus; superat sententia Sabini." Cicero uses it repeatedly. The speaker invokes Proserpina and Hecate, as the divinities with whom the witch has most communication.

4. _Per atque libros_] This position of 'atque' is peculiar to the poets.

5. _Refixa_] Virgil says (Aen. v. 527) "Caelo ceu saepe refixa Transcurrunt crinemque volantia sidera ducunt."

7. _solve, solve turbinem._] 'Turbo' is a wheel of some sort used by sorceresses, often alluded to by the poets: ῥόμβος is the Greek name for it. Threads of various colors arranged artificially were spun round the wheel, and formed a magical web, supposed to involve somehow or other the affections or fortunes of him who was the object of the spell. 'Retro solvere' means to relax the onward motion of the wheel, which will then of itself roll back.

8. _Movit nepotem_] Telephus was king of Mysia, during the Trojan war, and his country being invaded by the Greeks, he was wounded by Achilles. It having been declared by an oracle that Troy could not be taken without the help of Telephus, and Telephus having learnt that his wound could only be cured by Achilles, he gave his services to the Greeks, and was cured. Achilles is called 'nepos Nereius' because he was the son of Thetis, the daughter of Nereus. Propertius refers to the story (ii. 1. 63). See also Ovid (Trist. i. 1. 99, sqq.).

11. _Unxere_] Achilles, moved by the entreaties of Priam (Il. xxiv. 510), gave back Hector's body, which he had threatened the dogs should devour (Il. xxiii. 182). Homer does not mention the fact that the Trojan women anointed Hector's body; but Horace only makes them do what the Greeks did for Patroclus (Il. xviii. 350), καὶ τότε δὴ λοῦσάν τε καὶ ἤλειψαν λίπ᾽ ἐλαίῳ. 'Homicidam' is a literal version of ἀνδροφόνον, Homer's epithet for Hector. The rhythm of the line in which it occurs is without a precedent in Horace.

16. _Laboriosi_] This epithet is repeated from the last Epode (v. 60).

17. _Circa_] In the Epodes, Satires, and Epistles, Horace uses the Latin terminations, and in the Odes only the Greek.

20. _Amata nautis_] While he professes to flatter and pacify her, he provokes her by saying she was the admiration of vulgar shipmasters and shop-men. See C. i. 28. 23, n., and C. iii. 6. 30, n., as to 'nauta' and 'institor.'

21. _Fugit juventas_] From this description of himself, it has been supposed that Horace was advanced in years when he wrote this. But the whole is ironical. He says the bloom of youth has left him, he is nothing but skin and bone, has lost his color, and is gray, all through her poisonous drugs or ointments.

23. _odoribus;_] This is equivalent to 'unguentis' or 'venenis.'

24. _ab labore_] This preposition is used like ἀπό, 'after,' and 'est' in the next verse like ἔστι for ἔξεστι.

27. _Ergo negatum_] 'Therefore I am compelled, poor wretch, to believe what I once denied, that Sabine charms are lashing my heart, and that my head is splitting with Marsic spell.' 'Increpare' is used in a singular way. It is used elsewhere for the dashing of waves against the shore, and in almost every sense connected with loud noises. It is difficult to give it its exact meaning here. The Sabine, Pelignian, and Marsican women had credit above others for witchcraft. See S. i. 9. 29, and below, v. 60, and Epod. v. 76. 'Nenia' is used for a charm, as in Ovid (A. A. ii. 102). "Mixtaque cum magicis nenia Marsa sonis." For its other meanings, see C. ii. 1. 38, n.

31. _Quantum neque atro_] See Epod. iii. 17.

33. _Virens_] This probably means 'undying,' 'ever fresh.'

_tu donec cinis_] 'Thou dost burn as a crucible filled with Colchian drugs ("venena Medeae," Epod. v. 62), till, reduced to dry cinders, I shall be carried away by the insolent winds.'

36. _stipendium?_] It is possible this may mean 'service,' which is its military sense; or it may be 'penalty,' but the meaning is doubtful. 'Quae finis' means 'what death?' Captives led in triumph were always put to death. See C. iv. 2. 35, n.

40. _sonari:_] 'Sono' is used as an active verb only by the poets, after the manner of ἠχεῖν. The satire of what follows is very amusing. In his plea for forgiveness he repeats his offence, implying that to call her chaste he must lie, which, however, he is willing to do. The following words are the substance of what he promises to say in her praise, placing her, like Ariadne and other virtuous women, among the constellations.

42. _Infamis Helenae_] The story is, that Stesichorus (C. iv. 9. 8, n.) was struck with blindness for writing a libel on Helen, and that on writing a recantation (παλινῳδία) he was restored to sight by Helen, or, as Horace here says, by her brothers, Castor and Pollux. 'Vicem' means 'on behalf of.' In this independent form the word often occurs in Livy. The Greek poets used χάριν and μοῖραν in the same way.

45. _potes nam,_] This is a common formula in entreaties both in Greek (δύνᾳ γάρ) and Latin.

46. _O nec paternis_] 'O thou who art not debased by the sins of thy parents, who art not an old witch skilled in sprinkling on the ninth day the ashes on the tombs of the poor.' In this way, while he pretends to recant, he makes his language more libellous than ever.

_obsoleta_] This is applied in an unusual sense. It usually signifies that which is gone to decay (out of use), as clothes, houses, faded pictures, &c. (see Forcell.), and so it comes to mean generally that which is spoilt and worthless, as here. See C. ii. 10. 6.

48. _Novendiales_] It appears, if we are to believe the old commentators, to have been the practice to bury the ashes nine days after death. Therefore, Horace means to say that the witch dug up the ashes of the dead immediately after their burial, while they were fresh, and better suited on that account for magical ceremonies. The ashes of the poor are fixed upon, perhaps, because they were not watched as the rich man's were. 'Novendiales' usually signifies 'of nine days' continuance,' but it cannot have that meaning here. Hector was buried after nine days (Il. xxiv. 784).

50. _Tuusque venter Pactumeius,_] In Epod. v. 5 it is insinuated that Canidia is childless, that the children she pretends to have are not hers, and her childbirths are a fiction, perhaps to extract money from her lovers, on whom her pretended children were affiliated. Here the libel is withdrawn, but in such a way as to leave it untouched, for in the last line he insinuates that her travail is at least not very difficult. 'Venter' is used by the law-writers to signify the child in the womb, or a woman with child. 'Pactumeius' is a Roman name; why Horace uses it, no one can tell. There is some allusion that would have been intelligible at the time.

53. _Quid obseratis_] From this point Canidia is supposed to reply.

56. _ut tu riseris_] 'Ut' is an exclamation of scorn. 'To think that you should.' It occurs again (S. ii. 5. 18): "Utne tegam spurco Damae latus!" The festival in honor of Cotys or Cotytto was of Thracian origin, and transferred to Corinth and other Greek states. It found its way into Sicily, but was never introduced into the Italian states, and was unknown at Rome except to the learned. The rites of this goddess were very impure, and, like other works of darkness, professed secrecy, as Juvenal says (ii. 91):--

"Talia secreta coluerunt orgia taeda Cecropiam soliti Baptae lassare Cotytto."

Canidia is made to call her witch's orgies Cotyttia, by which the libel that runs through the poem is maintained.

58. _Et Esquilini pontifex venefici_] She charges him with thrusting himself upon the orgies as if he were the priest, who alone of men might attend them. As to the Campus Esquilinus, where the witches were supposed to hold their midnight meetings, see Epod. v. 100, and S. i. 8, Introduction.

60. _Quid proderat ditasse_] 'What good, then, did I get by spending money upon the old Pelignian witches (i.e. to teach me my craft), and mingling for thee a more quick and potent draught? But though it be quick and potent, yet the death that awaits thee shall be slower than thou wouldst have it.' The country of the Peligni lay to the north of the Marsi, who bordered on the Sabini. See note on v. 27.

63. _in hoc_] 'For this purpose.'

65. _Pelopis infidi_] See C. i. 6. 8, n.

66. _Egens benignae_] The poets of the Augustan age, in relating the punishment of Tantalus, refer only to that legend according to which, standing in the midst of water with fruit-trees over his head ('benigna dapes'), he is not able to reach either (Hom. Odyss. xi. 582). The other story, followed by Pindar and other Greek poets, of a great stone suspended over his head, and ever threatening to fall on him, the Roman poets do not allude to. But Cicero does, and only to that (De Fin. i. 18; Tusc. Disp. iv. 16). See S. i. 1. 68.

67. _Prometheus_] Horace is not inconsistent in respect to Prometheus, whom in C. ii. 13. 37, 18. 85, he places in Tartarus. The story, as related prophetically by Hermes in the play of Æschylus (P. V. 1016, sqq.), is, that the Scythian rock on which Prometheus was first bound by Hephæstus was struck down, with him upon it, by Zeus into Hades, and that he was brought thence after a long time (μακρὸν μῆκος ἐκτελευτήσας χρόνου) to undergo upon earth the punishment awarded to Tityos in hell, of having his liver devoured by an eagle.

68. _Sisyphus_] See C. ii. 14. 20, n., where his punishment is called very aptly 'longus labor.'

71. _Norico_] The steel of Noricum (Carynthia and Styria) is mentioned elsewhere (C. i. 16. 9).

74. _Vectabor humeris_] She threatens to bestride his hated shoulders in triumph, and to spurn the earth in the pride of her revenge.

76. _movere cereas imagines,_] To give life to waxen images made to represent an absent youth, and inspired with the tenderness or the pains he should feel. In S. i. 8. 30 such an image is introduced (see note), and the witch in Theocritus (ii. 28) melts a waxen image, and says:--

ὡς τοῦτον τὸν καρὸν ἐγὼ δαίμονι τάκω, ὡς τάκοιθ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἔρωτος ὁ Μύνδιος αὐτίκα Δέλφις,

which Virgil has imitated in his eighth Eclogue (v. 80):--

"Limus ut hic durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit Uno eodemque igni, sic nostro Daphnis amore."

And Hypsipyle says of Medea (Ovid, Heroid. vi. 91):--

"Devovet absentes simulacraque cerea figit, Et miserum tenues in jecur urget acus."

80. _Desideri--pocula_] Love potions.

81. _in te nil agentis_] 'Of no avail against thee.'

SATIRES.--BOOK I.

SATIRE I.

The professed purpose of this Satire, or that with which Horace seems to have begun, may be gathered from the first two lines. Discontent with the condition that Providence had assigned them; disappointment with the position many years' labor, and perhaps dishonesty, have gained them; envy of their neighbors' circumstances, even if they be worse than their own; dissatisfaction, in short, with what they have and are, and craving for something they have not and are not,--these are features common to the great majority of men. For this vice of discontent the Greeks had a comprehensive name, μεμψιμοιρία. It will be seen that, after propounding the whole subject in the shape of a question to Mæcenas, Horace confines himself to one solution of it, and that not the most comprehensive (see notes on vv. 28, 108). Avarice is the only reason he assigns for the universal disease, and any one will see that hereby he leaves many untouched who are as culpably restless as the avaricious, but not in their sordid way.

The Satire is put first in the order of this book, not as an introduction (of which it bears no signs), but because it is addressed to Mæcenas.

1. _quam sibi sortem_] See note on C. i. 9. 14, as to 'sors' and 'fors.' These two are opposed, as effect and cause, the condition and that which produces it. 'Fors' and 'ratio' are opposed as that which a man cannot help, and that which he carves out for himself. 'Fors' is 'accident,' 'ratio' is 'choice.'

3. _laudet_] This sense of 'laudare,' 'felicem praedicare,' μακαρίζειν is repeated below, v. 9, and in v. 109, where it occurs in combination with, and as equivalent to, 'probare.' So Cicero (De Am. c. 7) says: "Ex quo illorum beata mors videtur, horum vita laudabilis."

_laudet diversa sequentes?_] This is briefly expressed, for 'sed quisque laudet.' In the transition from negative to positive statements, the positive element which is contained in the former is often carried on in the mind, so as to affect the latter, as in those sentences which are coupled by 'nec' and 'et,' οὔτε and τε. 'Nemo vivit' is 'quisque non vivit'. 'Diversa' indicates, not merely different, but 'opposite' careers.

4. _gravis annis_] Virgil says (Aen. ix. 246): "Hic annis gravis atque animi maturus Aletes." And 'gravis' is one of the commonest words applied to old age, as may be gathered from Cicero's treatise De Senect.; and βαρύς is equally common in the same connection. Horace, in his own campaigning, had undoubtedly heard many a veteran grumbling at his condition.

7. _Quid enim, concurritur:_] See C. ii. 18. 23, n.

_horae Momento_] 'Horae momento' is a common phrase in Livy and other writers. Horace has below, 'puncto mobilis horae.' 'Punctum' is perhaps a little more precise than 'momentum,' which signifies the progress of time, though conventionally its smallest division. Pliny draws a distinction between them (Panegyr. iv. c. 56): "Quod momentum, quod immo temporis punctum aut beneficio sterile aut vacuum laude?"

9. _juris legumque peritus_] 'Jurisperiti,' 'jurisconsulti,' were persons who expounded the law. Their expositions were called 'responsa,' and they gave them gratuitously. They were distinct from the professors or teachers ('advocati') and others, who were paid for their services, and from 'oratores,' though the 'consultus' sometimes combined with his calling as such that of the 'orator' or 'patronus.' If we are to believe this statement of Horace, and another to the same effect (Epp. ii. 1. 103), we must suppose that these learned persons sacrificed their own convenience to the anxiety of their clients, and received them at a very early hour in the morning. 'Jus' embodied all law. As to 'leges,' see Epp. i. 16. 41, n. On 'laudat,' see v. 3, n.

11. _datis vadibus_] 'Vades' were sureties provided by the defendant, to secure his appearance before the prætor at a time agreed upon between the plaintiff and himself. If he did not appear, he forfeited the amount of the 'vadimonium' or agreement, and his 'vades' were liable to pay it if he did not (see S. 9. 36, n.). The person here represented, therefore, is the defendant in an action, going up reluctantly to Rome, to appear before the prætor according to his agreement. 'Ille' is as if the man were before us.

14. _Delassare valent_] Though 'delasso' does not occur elsewhere, there is no reason to suspect the word, or alter it. The intensive force of 'de' is well added to 'lasso.' It corresponds to κατά, which has the same force. Who Fabius was, it is impossible even to conjecture with probability.

15. _Si quis Deus,_] This is not a Roman way of speaking but Greek, εἰ δαίμων τις. 'En ego' does not belong to 'faciam,' but is absolute: 'Here am I.' 'Eia' is an exclamation of haste, 'Away!' 'Nolint,' 'they would not' (οὐκ ἐθέλοιεν ἄν), is the apodosis to 'si quis Deus.' Compare S. ii. 7. 24. "Si quis ad illa deus subito te agat, usque recuses." 'Atqui' is another form of 'atquin,' and 'quin' represents 'qui,' with a negative particle affixed.

18. _partibus:_] An expression taken from the language of the theatre: 'the part you have to play' in life.

21. _Iratus buccas inflet,_] An obvious, but not very reverential, representation of passion.

25. _olim_] See C. ii. 10. 17, n.

27. _Sed tamen amoto_] 'Sed,' 'sed tamen,' 'veruntamen,' are often used, and especially by Cicero, not to express opposition, but after a parenthesis or digression, as here and C. iv. 4. 22. See, for another instance among many, Cic. in Verr. ii. 3. 2.

28. _Ille gravem_] The cause of that discontent which was spoken of at the beginning is here traced to the love of money, each man thinking that his neighbor is getting it faster than he is, and wishing therefore to change places with him. But Horace does not mean that to be the only solution of the universal discontent. That would be absurd, and one at least of his own examples would contradict his theory, the jurisconsultus, who did not pursue his laborious vocation for pay. He therefore shifts or limits his ground a little, and dwells upon that which he supposes to be the most prevalent cause of discontent; and with his ground he changes his examples. 'Nauta' and 'mercator' here are the same person, the trader navigating his own ship. (See C. i. 28. 23.) 'Perfidus caupo' appears again in 'cauponibus atque malignis' (S. i. 5. 4). 'Per omne Audaces mare qui currunt' is repeated from C. i. 3. 9, sqq.

32. _cibaria:_] This word, which is generally used for the rations of soldiers or slaves, is used here ironically for the humblest provision that can be made for the latter years of life, as if that was all that these men set before their minds.

33. _nam exemplo est,_] 'for this is their model.'

35. _haud ignara ac non incauta futuri._] Experience tells her that times will change, and instinct teaches her to provide against that change; she knows what is coming, and provides accordingly. This is what Horace means; but the ant is torpid in the winter, and lays up no store in her house for that season, though no error is more common than to suppose she does. These animals work hard during the warmer months of the year, but the food they gather is consumed before the winter.

36. _Quae, simul inversum_] 'Quae' is opposed to 'quum te' (v. 38): 'now she.' 'Inversum annum' is compounded of the two notions 'inversum caelum' and 'mutatum annum.' The sun enters Aquarius in the middle of January. Virgil uses the word 'contristat' (Georg. iii. 279): "unde nigerrimus Auster Nascitur, et pluvio contristat frigore caelum." The ant is one of the "four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise,"--the ants, the conies, the locusts, and the spiders. (Prov. xxx. 24, sqq.)

39. _ignis, mare, ferrum,_] This is a mere proverbial way of speaking, common to all languages. No obstacles are too great for a man who has a selfish purpose to serve, if he has set his heart upon it. The second person is used to give force to the language. The self-deceiver is confronted with his own illustration.

43. _Quod si comminuas_] The miser is supposed to interrupt, and say, "But if you were to take from it, it would soon dwindle to a paltry 'as.'" 'Quod' is always the neuter of the relative, but here, as often elsewhere, it is used to connect a new sentence with what precedes, and is not connected with 'pondus' as its antecedent.

45. _Millia frumenti_] 'Modiorum' must be supplied. As to 'millia,' 'mille,' see S. ii. 3. 197, n. On 'area,' see C. i. 1. 10, n. 'Triverit,' 'suppose that it threshes.' This is the concessive use of the subjunctive. The practice of putting a note of interrogation in such sentences as this is exploded. The older editions generally have it. Similar constructions are S. 10. 64, "Fuerit Lucilius inquam Comis et urbanus; fuerit limatior--sed ille," etc.; S. 3. 15, "Decies centena dedisses:--quinque diebus nil erat in loculis"; S. ii. 6. 50; Epp. i. 1. 87; and many other places.

46. _plus ac meus:_] This construction occurs again, S. i. 6. 130; 10. 34, 59; ii. 3. 270. Cicero likewise uses 'ac' with the comparative (Ad Att. xiii. 2), "Diutius abfuturus ac nollem." 'Plus quam' occurs immediately below. The scene that follows is that of a rich man's household preceding him to the country, a pack of slaves ('venales'), some carrying provisions and particularly town-made bread in netted bags ('reticula'), and others with different burdens, and some with none at all. The man who carried the bread would not get any more of it on that account, when the rations were given out, but all would share alike.

49. _Quid referat--viventi,_] 'Refert' is 'rem fert,' and the construction 'mea,' 'tua,' etc.; 'refert' is no more than a corruption of 'meam,' 'tuam,' etc., 'rem fert.' So 'magni refert' is 'rem magni fert,' 'it brings with it a matter of great price,' and 'refert viventi' signifies 'it brings something that concerns him who lives,' that is, it affects him, and 'quid refert' is 'wherein does it affect him?'

51. _At suave est_] 'At' introduces the supposed answer to the preceding question. A rejoinder immediately follows to this effect: "You might as well say, if you only wanted a pitcher of water, you had rather draw it from a broad stream, like the Aufidus, than from the little spring by your side. The consequence of which might be that you would be drowned."

53. _cumeris_] Acron explains 'cumera' as a large basket of wicker-work, or earthen-ware vessel like a 'dolium,' in which the poorer sort kept their wheat.

54. _liquidi_] This word is used for 'aqua' by Ovid (Met. v. 454): "Cum liquido mixta perfundit diva polenta." The 'urna,' one of the Roman liquid measures, contained half an 'amphora,' or twenty four 'sextarii.' As observed before (C. iii. 19. 14), the 'cyathus' contained one twelfth of a 'sextarius,' which was one forty-eighth of an 'amphora.'

55. _malim_] 'Malim' simply means 'I would rather'; 'mallem' (the reading of the early editions), 'I would have done it if I could, but the time is past.' The Aufidus (Horace's native river, C. iii. 30. 10) is still described as a rapid and violent stream at some seasons.

61. _bona pars_] 'The greater part.' A. P. 297: "Bona pars non ungues ponere curat." On 'cupido,' see C. ii. 16. 15, n.

62. _quia tanti quantum habeas sis._] 'because you are valued according to your wealth.'

63. _illi?_] 'Such a man as this.' 'Quatenus' signifies 'since.' 'Bid him be miserable, since he likes to be so.' 'Facio' is sometimes used in this way. See C. iii. 24. 30. The story that follows may have been picked up by Horace at Athens, or invented by him. The language ('sibilat--plaudo') is taken from the theatre.

68. _Tantalus_] See Epod. xvii. 66, n.

69. _Quid rides?_] The miser is supposed to laugh at Horace's trite illustration, and the solemn way in which it is announced.

71. _tamquam parcere sacris_] This appears to have been a proverbial expression. See S. ii. 3. 109, sq.

72. _Cogeris_] 'you force yourself.'

74. _sextarius,_] See v. 54, n. A 'sextarius' of wine would be enough for one temperate man's consumption in a day.

78. _compilent fugientes,_] 'rob you, and run away.'

79. _pauperrimus--bonorum._] C. iii. 30. 11: "Pauper aquae Daunus." S. ii. 3. 142.

80. _At si condoluit_] This is an argument urged by the avaricious man: 'If you have money, you will have anxious friends to nurse you in sickness.' The answer is, 'Your nearest relatives have no wish you should live, and no wonder either, since you prefer your money to all the world.'

_tentatum frigore_] 'Tentatum' is the word commonly used in connection with diseases.

85. _pueri atque puellae._] This, which appears to be a proverbial sort of expression, occurs again S. ii. 3. 130.

86. _argento post omnia ponas,_] i.e. 'postponas omnia argento.'

88. _An si cognatos,_] 'But say, if you seek to retain and keep the affection of those relations whom nature gives you without any trouble of your own, would you lose your labor, like the luckless fool that tries to turn an ass into a racer?' Training an ass to run in the Campus Martius among the thorough-bred horses that were there exercised (see C. i. 8. 5; iii. 12. 8) was perhaps a proverbial way of expressing lost labor. 'Amicos' belongs to 'cognatos' in the way I have translated it, and 'servare amicos' is 'to keep them fond of you.'

92. _quaerendi,_] 'money-getting.' 'Plus' means 'a superfluity.'

94. _ne facias_] 'Lest you fare,' μὴ πράσσης.

95. _Ummidius quidam;_] Who this person was, is unknown. All that can be safely said of him is what Horace says, that he was very rich and mean, and that he was murdered by one of his freedwomen (his mistress probably), who, Horace says, was as stout-hearted as Clytemnestra, the bravest of her family, who killed her husband Agamemnon. 'Tyndaridarum' is masculine: 'Tyndaridum' would be the feminine form. The sons of Tyndarus, therefore, as well as his daughters, should, strictly speaking, be included.

97. _adusque_] Forcellini gives only two other instances of this word from writings of Horace's day,--Virgil (Aen. xi. 262), and Horace himself (S. i. 5. 96). It is only an inversion of 'usque ad,' 'every step to.'

101. _ut vivam Maenius?_] The construction is the same as "discinctus aut perdam nepos" (Epod. i. 34), where it has been proposed to insert 'ut' before 'nepos.' Mænius and Nomentanus appear to have been squanderers of money, and good livers, according to the obvious meaning of this passage. They are united again in S. i. 8. 11, ii. 1. 21, where the former appears under the name Pantolabus, one who lays his hands on anything he can get (πάντα λαβών), or borrows money from any one who will lend it. He spent his money and turned parasite. Both Mænius and Nomentanus are names used by Lucilius for characters of the same kind, and Horace may very probably have only borrowed the names to represent some living characters, whom he does not choose to point out by their own names. Nomentanus was the name of one of the guests at the dinner of Nasidienus (S. ii. 8. 25). He appears again, S. ii. 3. 224, sqq.

103. _Frontibus adversis componere:_] These words go together, 'to bring face to face, and compare or match.'

104. _vappam_] 'Vappa,' wine which has got flat and sour, expresses a worn-out debauchee: 'nebulo,' a frivolous fellow, light as a mist ('nebula').

105. _Tanaïn--socerumque Visellî._] The Scholiast says that Horace has conveyed under these names a well-known Greek proverb. What the distinction between them may have been, is unknown.

108. _nemo ut avarus_] 'I return to that point from which I have digressed, how that no covetous man is satisfied with himself.' The reading is not certain, and the hiatus is unusual. Horace qualifies the general assertion he made at the outset, by limiting his remark to the avaricious. See note on v. 28; and on 'laudet,' see v. 3.

114. _Ut, quum carceribus_] These lines are a little like the last three verses of Virgil's first Georgic.

119. _Cedat uti conviva satur,_] These are so like the words of Lucretius (iii. 951), that perhaps Horace remembered them when he wrote,--

"Cur non ut plenus vitae conviva recedis, Aequo animoque capis securam, stulte, quietem?"

120. _Crispini scrinia lippi_] We know nothing about Crispinus. The fertility of his pen has profited him nothing. He was more anxious to write much than to write well. See S. i. 4. 14, sqq. Crispinus appears in the third Satire of this book (v. 139), where he is the only attendant of the would-be 'rex.' He appears again in S. ii. 7. 45. 'Lippi' is used for mental blindness.

SATIRE II.

This Satire, the coarsest of all written by Horace, seems to have been suggested by the death of Tigellius, a celebrated musician of the time. It is directed against the tendency of men to run into extremes, and to pass from one extreme to the other. Illustrations of this subject are drawn from the social life of Rome. The ideas and the language are marked by a grossness which is unusual with Horace.

SATIRE III.

The last Satire was, as has been said, written on the death of one Tigellius, an eminent musician, a native of Sardinia, and a friend of Julius Cæsar. Some of the vices and follies of the age are attacked in strong language, and besides Tigellius, who was dead, it is probable many living persons felt injured by that Satire, and perhaps by others that have not come down to us. We may infer from the present poem, that Horace wished to clear himself from the imputation of a censorious spirit, and so to set himself right with Mæcenas and his friends. The connection between the two Satires is seen in the opening of this, in which Tigellius is again introduced, and the peculiarities of his character described, for no other reason, as it would seem, than to serve as a text for the discourse that follows, on the duty of judging others charitably, as we wish to be judged ourselves. In the course of his remarks on this subject, Horace falls upon two of the Stoic absurdities; one, that all faults are alike (v. 96, sqq.), which he meets by the Epicurean absurdity that expediency is the foundation of right; and the other, that every wise man (that is, every Stoic) is endowed with all the gifts of art and fortune, from the skill of the mechanic to the power of a king. With a jest upon this folly the Satire closes.

4. _Tigellius_] See Introduction. This person is described as a capricious, inconsistent man, of whom you never could tell what he would do next.

6. _ab ovo Usque ad mala_] The 'promulsis,' otherwise called 'gustus,' preceded the regular meal, and consisted of things calculated to provoke the appetite, of which a list is given in the eighth Satire of the second book, v. 8, sq., where, however, eggs are not mentioned, but they were usual, and 'ab ovo usque ad mala,' 'from the eggs to the dessert,' was a common way of speaking. The 'gustus' was eaten with a draught of 'mulsum' (S. ii. 2. 15, n.) sometimes before they sat down, or even before they left the bath.

7. _citaret, Io Bacche!_] This use of 'citare,' 'to shout,' is not common. There were convivial songs among the Greeks to which they gave the name ἰόβακχοι. Several fragments of such songs by Archilochus have been preserved. The final syllable in 'Bacche' is lengthened, and should properly be pronounced as the singer might be supposed to pronounce it.

_modo summa_] The strings in the tetrachord, or harp with four strings, which continued to be used even after the heptachord was invented (see A. P. 83, n.), from which the low notes proceeded, were uppermost as the player held it in his hand, and the notes of the voice which corresponded with these are expressed by 'summa voce.' For the same reason, the high notes would be those which harmonized with the lowest of the strings. The 'summa chorda' was called in Greek ὑπάτη, and the 'ima' νήτη. 'Chordis' is the dative case, the literal translation being, 'that voice which is the lowest (where, for the above reason, those notes are called the lowest which we should call the highest), and that echoes to the four strings.'

11. _Junonis sacra ferret;_] This refers to the 'canephoroe,' damsels who carried the basket of sacred instruments on their head at sacrifices. Those of Juno are mentioned here; but the practice was observed at all sacrifices.

_habebat saepe ducentos,_] Ten slaves were a very small household for a rich man, and Tigellius was rich. The number of slaves in wealthy houses in primitive times was small, but afterwards grew to an extraordinary number.

12. _modo reges atque tetrarchas,_] 'Modo,' as an adverb of time, signifies 'now,' or some time not far from the present. It is the ablative of 'modus,' 'measure,' and 'modo' is 'within measure,' and therefore its sense is confined to limited quantities. Compare the use of 'modo' and 'admodum' in Terence (Hec. iii. 5. 8): "Advenis modo? Pam. Admodum." 'Are you coming now?--Just now.' 'Modo' thus comes to have the meaning of 'nunc,' and to be used in the same combinations, as here 'nunc reges--loquens; nunc, sit mihi mensa tripes' would have the same meaning; and likewise in S. 10. 11. Tetrarchs were properly governors of a fourth part of a province or other territorial division; but the title was not so limited in practice. It was a title originally confined to the petty princes of Asia Minor; the Romans gave it to different members of Herod's family, who succeeded to different parts of his dominions.

13. _mensa tripes_] This was the simplest and most old-fashioned shape, and the tables were small, only suited to a person dining by himself, or with one or two companions. The wealthy Romans were very extravagant about their tables. See S. ii. 2. 4, n. The salt-cellar was usually, except among the poorest sort, of silver, and an heirloom. It stood in the middle of the table, and had a sacred character. See C. ii. 16. 14. As to 'concha,' see C. ii. 8. 23, n. 'Puri' means 'clean.'

15. _Decies centena_] 'A million of sesterces,'--a common way of expressing the largest number. The sestertium was a sum of money equal to 1,000 sestertii, each sestertius being of the value of twopence and a very small fraction, of English money. After 'centena' must be understood 'millia.' On the construction, see above, S. 1. 45, n. 'Erat' is used in an uncommon way; ἦν ἄν would be the Greek equivalent. It is a loose, conversational way of speaking.

19. _Nunc aliquis dicat mihi:_] Here we leave Tigellius, and enter upon the subject of mutual charity in judging of each other.

20. _Immo alia_] Professor Key has given the precise meaning of 'immo' here (L. G. 1429): "'Immo' seems to have signified properly an assent with an important qualification." This explanation is borne out by the etymology of the word, which is compounded of 'in' and 'modo.' The qualification is found in 'et fortasse minora.' Horace means to say, he admits he has his faults, though they may not be so glaring as those of Tigellius, and he is not so selfish and foolish as Mænius (see S. 1. 101 of this book), who reviled the man Novius behind his back, and, when told to look at his own faults, said he made excuses for himself which he would not make for others. Novius may be anybody: we know nothing about him. Whether he has any connection with the Novius mentioned in the sixth Satire of this book, v. 40, the plebeian tribune, or the usurer in v. 121 of the same Satire, it is impossible to say. 'Dare verba' means to give words in the place of facts, to deceive.

24. _improbus_] See C. iii. 24. 62, n. 'Amor' means 'self-love.' As to 'notari,' see S. 6. 14.

25. _Cum tua pervideas_] 'While you see through your own faults, as well as a blear-eyed man sees with his eyes smeared with ointment.'

27. _serpens Epidaurius?_] The serpents of Epidaurus (on the Sinus Saronicus) were proverbial, in consequence of Æsculapius having been conveyed in the form of a serpent from that place, where above others he was worshipped, to Rome, to avert a pestilence. (See Liv. Epit. lib. xi.)

29. _Iracundior est paulo,_] Horace is illustrating here the tendency of those quick-sighted critics of their neighbors' characters to magnify the faults they find. The first instance is of a man who is sensitive under ('not suited for') the sharp judgment of the men of that day ('horum hominum'), men who had the keenness of a bloodhound's scent in finding out defects, and no delicacy in proclaiming them. 'Rusticius' belongs to 'tonso,' and 'defluit' is absolute, 'hangs down.' 'Male' belongs to 'laxus.' (See v. 45, and C. i. 17. 25, n.) To be slipshod (μείζω τοῦ ποδὸς ὑποδήματα φορεῖν, Theophr. Char. 4) has always been the proverbial characteristic of a sloven. "Nec vagus in laxa pes tibi pelle natet" (Ovid, A. A. i. 516). 'At' is often repeated in the same way as here by Cicero.

34. _hoc sub corpore._] He speaks as if the man were before him.

35. _Concute_] The metaphor is probably derived from the shaking of a cloak, or anything of that sort, to see if there is anything hid in it. It means 'to search,' as suspected persons are searched by the police. 'Excutio' is used in that connection. See Phædrus (Fab. v. 16):

"Sic porcelli vocem est imitatus sua Verum ut subesse pallio contenderent Et excuti juberent."

37. _Neglectis urenda filix_] This has the appearance of a proverb. Virgil calls the fern "curvis invisam aratris."

38. _Illuc praevertamur,_] 'Before we go further, let us first turn our attention to this, namely, how lovers are blind to the faults of their mistresses.' Balbinus and Hagna are persons unknown. The former is a Roman name. Hagna is derived from ἁγνή, 'pure.' The first syllable of 'polypus' is always long, though derived from πολὺς ποῦς, the Æolic form, πωλύς, being followed rather than the Attic.

42. _nomen virtus posuisset_] The Romans used 'ponere nomen,' after the Greek ὄνομα τιθέναι.

44. _strabonem Appellat paetum_] The difference between 'strabo' and 'paetus' is one only of degree; 'strabo' signifies 'squinting'; 'paetus,' 'a slight cast of the eye,' which is by some considered a beauty, whence Venus had the epithet 'paeta' applied to her. Sisyphus was the name of a dwarf kept by M. Antonius. Dwarfs were kept by the rich to amuse them and play to them, for they were generally instructed in music. That 'varus' is a soft term for those who have bent legs, and 'scaurus' for one whose ankles are ricketty, we may gather from this passage. From 'varus' is derived 'praevaricari,' 'to shuffle.'

49. _frugi_] See S. ii. 5. 77, n.

_Ineptus_] This word signifies want of tact. Cicero thus defines the word (De Or. ii. 4): "Qui aut tempus quid postulet non videt, aut plura loquitur aut se ostentat--aut denique in aliquo genere aut inconcinnus aut multus est, is ineptus dicitur." Such a man's failing is to be softened down, Horace says, into a wish to make himself agreeable to his friends. 'Truculentior' means coarse and approaching to brutality in his behavior. 'Acres' means 'high-spirited.'

56. _Sincerum cupimus vas incrustare._] 'We are ready and even anxious to foul the clean vessel.' This is the original meaning of 'sincerus.'

57. _multum demissus homo:_] 'Demissus' is used in a bad sense: 'a very abject fellow,' 'a driveller.' Compare v. 147 of S. ii. 3, "multum celer atque fidelis"; "multum similis metuenti" (S. ii. 5. 92).

58. _Tardo cognomen_] 'Another because he is slow we call fat, lazy.' The dative 'pingui' is correct, as "cui nunc cognomen Iulo Additur" (Aen. i. 267). It is the common construction, in prose as well as poetry, to put the name in the dative.

59. _malo_] This is masculine: he lays himself open to no malignant person, gives him no handle. 'Hoc genus vitae' means men who live on the principles of the present day; like 'horum hominum' (v. 30).

63. _Simplicior quis et est,_] By 'simplicior' Horace means 'unsophisticated': one who in the simplicity of his feelings may perhaps sometimes obtrude himself upon those he likes, thinking he must be welcome because he is himself pleased to meet them. He says he has often acted in that way with Mæcenas.

65. _impellat_] 'Impellere' means here 'to interrupt' or 'intrude upon': he breaks in upon one when reading or meditating, with some irrelevant talk. 'Common sense,' for which the Greeks had the expression ὁ κοινὸς νοῦς, is so called, not as being exercised upon common, every-day things, but as being supposed to be common property, and not confined to the learned.

67. _legem sancimus_] 'Sancire legem' is properly to give full effect to a law, by inserting a penalty for the breach of it. See Cic. de Am. c. 13 (Long): "Haec igitur prima lex amicitiae sanciatur."

70. _Cum mea compenset vitiis bona;_] 'Cum' belongs to 'vitiis.' 'Compensare' is a legal term. 'Compensatio' is a 'set-off.'

72. _trutina_] This word applies equally to the 'libra,' a balance with two scales ('lances'), and to the 'statera,' or steelyard, both of which were in common use among the Romans. 'In trutina ponetur eadem,' 'he shall be weighed in the same balance,' is another, but not very exact, way of saying, he shall be tried by the same standard, his character shall be estimated in the same way. 'Hac lege' is 'on this condition.'

76. _quatenus excidi penitus_] He now draws his conclusion from the preceding remarks. 'In short, inasmuch as (C. iii. 24. 30) the vice of passion and all other vices that cleave to us fools cannot be entirely eradicated, we ought to judge others as we judge ourselves, and visit each fault with no more than its due censure.' Literally, 'Why does not our judgment use its own weights and measures, and, according to the circumstances of each case, check faults with their penalties?' All were fools with the Stoics, who were not wise after their fashion.

80. _patinam_] 'Pisces patinarii' were boiled fish served up with sauce in an open dish.

82. _In cruce suffigat,_] Cicero has the expressions 'in crucem sublatum' (Verr. ii. 5. 3), 'ad palum alligatos' (Ib. c. 6), which have the same meaning. In the latter place he has the construction "damnatis crucem servis fixeras." See Dict. Antt. art. 'Crux,' for an account of the punishment by crucifixion, which was only inflicted as a general rule upon slaves or the worst sort of malefactors. A master might put his slave to death, or punish him in any other way he pleased.

_Labeone insanior_] Different persons are identified with this Labeo, but it is impossible to say who is meant.

84. _paulum deliquit amicus,_] 'Say your friend has committed a small fault; such that, if you do not excuse it, you must be looked upon as harsh; you hate him in your bitterness, and run away from him.' 'Concedo' is used in this way by other writers.

86. _Rusonem_] Ruso, whoever he was, seems to have made a stipulation with his debtors that they should, besides paying interest, listen to his recitations of his own writings. 'Historias' means tales or narratives of some sort. See C. iii. 7. 20.

87. _tristes--Kalendae_] See note on Epod. ii. 70. 'Merces' is used only by Horace in the sense of 'usurae,' 'interest' (S. 2. 14). It signifies money paid for rent (see S. ii. 2. 115), or for the use of anything.

90. _catillum Evandri manibus tritum_] A plate that had been used by Evander, the old king and ally of Æneas; an exaggeration meant to heighten the absurdity of the man.

92. _Aut positum ante_] The words are not very regularly placed. 'Or because to the chicken served on my part of the dish he helps himself before me, in the eagerness of his hunger.' The meats were cut up on a side table by a slave called 'structor,' and the guests helped themselves with their fingers, and threw the bones and remnants on the floor. The man who had a dish before him, and fancied a particular part of it, might count it unmannerly if his neighbor stretched out his hand and took what he had set his heart upon.

95. _fide_] This is a form both of the genitive and dative. See C. iii. 7. 4: "Constantis juvenem fide." As to 'sponsum,' see S. ii. 6. 23.

96. _Quis paria esse fere_] See Introduction. This common doctrine of the Stoics is noticed by Cicero (De Fin. iv. 19) and condemned on the principles of common sense and truth, as here. 'Laborant,' 'they are in a dilemma.'

98. _justi prope mater_] In making expediency the parent of justice, or something like it ('prope,' S. ii. 3. 32), Horace follows an Epicurean notion. One of the dogmas of Epicurus appears to have been, that justice was nothing by itself, but merely a social compact, by which men bound themselves to abstain from injuring one another: a very narrow view of the case. The Stoics had more true notions of Justice, whom they held to be the daughter of Zeus.

99. _Cum prorepserunt_] He goes on to illustrate this doctrine, saying that men lived at first like beasts, till expediency taught them to make laws.

102. _usus,_] Here this signifies 'need.' It generally occurs (in this sense) in combination with 'est' or 'venit.'

103. _Donec verba_] 'Verba nominaque' embraces all the parts of speech, like the Greek ὀνόματα καὶ ῥήματα. (A. P. 234.) 'Notae' are symbols, as in short-hand writing for instance; and this line may perhaps be most accurately rendered, 'till they invented language, whereby they could give a symbolical form to the sounds of their voice, and to their feelings.'

110. _Viribus editior_] 'Superior in strength.' 'Editus' is used for 'exalted,' 'high.' It nowhere else appears in the sense Horace gives it here.

111. _Jura inventa metu injusti_] If this be admitted, as of course it must be, then Injustice--and, if so, Justice--was anterior to any laws or social compact, express or implied; so that the doctrine above laid down falls to the ground; and that justice of which expediency is said to be the mother, turns out to be nothing more than magistrates' justice,--the justice of statutes, which may be just or unjust.

112. _evolvere_] This word which signifies 'to read,' is taken from the unrolling of a parchment 'usque ad umbilicum.' See Epod. xiv. 8, n. As to 'fastos,' see C. iii. 17. 4, n. Epp. ii. 1. 48, n.

114. _bona diversis,_] 'Bona' means things which it is good to have and to get, not virtues, but the gifts of fortune and such like.

115. _Nec vincet ratio hoc,_] 'Nor will any logic prove this.' 'Vincere causam' is an ordinary expression for winning a cause. 'Idem' is explained by 'tantundem,' the same in degree of guilt.

117. _sacra divum legerit._] 'Legere' is not uncommonly used in the sense of robbing. Hence our word 'sacrilege.'

119. _Ne scutica dignum_] The epithet 'horribili' belongs to 'flagello,' which was a severer instrument than the 'scutica,' and was sometimes constructed with horrible cruelty, and fatal in its application. The 'scutica' had but one thong, of leather. 'Ferula' was a switch, usually from the vine. The Latin derivatives from σκῦτος are short in the first syllable. There are other instances (as 'anchŏra' from ἄγκῡρα, 'crĕpida' from κρηπίς, etc.) in which the quantity of the Greek vowel is changed in the Latin.

120. _ut ferula caedas_] The rule in respect to verbs of fearing is that "the Latin inserts a negative where the English has none, and _vice versa_," that is, 'vereor ne' means 'I fear it will'; 'vereor ut,' 'I fear it will not.' There is no deviation from the rule here; for the position of 'ut' makes it independent of 'vereor.' 'For that you should beat,' or 'as to your beating with a switch one who deserves to undergo a severer flogging, of this I have no fear.'

122. _Furta latrociniis_] This is not strictly a technical distinction, nor is 'latrocinium' a technical term. All robbery was 'furtum,' whether attended with violence or not; but Horace means to distinguish between thefts without violence and robbery with violence ('rapina'). 'Cum dicas,' 'though you do say.'

124. _Si dives qui sapiens est,_] The word 'regnum' turns the discourse to another doctrine of the Stoics not connected with the main subject of the Satire, namely, that the sage is the only rich, capable, handsome man, and a king. The absurdity of the doctrine, which is repeated in Epp. i. 1. 107, consists not so much in the statement that the wise man's intelligence contains in itself the germ of all practical knowledge, and that such knowledge is power, as in the limitation of wisdom to the pale of a sect, and the attempt to give a practical application to a notion of this kind.

127. _Chrysippus dicat:_] The later Stoics looked to Chrysippus as the founder of their philosophy; but he adhered, with little essential deviation, to the doctrines taught him by his master Cleanthes, and Cleanthes was a devoted disciple of Zeno. He was born at a town in Cilicia, B.C. 280, and was a very voluminous writer. 'Inquit' means that some Stoic says this, including from 'non nosti' to 'sapiens,' and after 'qui?' to 'sic rex' (v. 133). What he means to affirm in reply to the taunt 'cur optas quod habes?' is, that a man may be, in the Stoic sense, a king, and yet not be in a condition to exercise authority, as an artisan or a singer may still be great in his calling, even when he has laid aside the practice of it.

_crepidas--soleas_] 'Crepida' (κρηπίς) was a low shoe or slipper copied from the Greeks and worn in undress: 'solea' was a plain sandal fastened over the instep by a strap, and worn by men as the 'sandalium' was worn by women. The 'soccus' was not materially different from the 'crepida,' and the 'Gallica,' adopted from Gaul, was like the 'solea.' None of these were walking shoes ('calcei') fit for wet or dirty roads, but were ordinarily worn only in the house.

129. _Hermogenes_] This person has been confounded with Tigellius, whose death is mentioned in the second Satire, and whose character is described at the beginning of this. Hermogenes is also called Tigellius in S. 4. 72; 10. 80, 90. But as he is always spoken of as alive, it is impossible he can be Tigellius the Sardinian, to whom there are no grounds for giving the name Hermogenes, though the Scholiasts give it him. Hermogenes Tigellius was a teacher of music (S. 10. 90), and (whether ironically or not it is not easy to say) Horace calls him a first-rate singer here, and implies as much in S. 9. 25. But he had a contempt for him in other respects as appears from S. 4. 72; 10. 17 (where he calls him a coxcomb); and 10. 79 (where he introduces him with a fool for his friend or parasite). He may have had some private pique against him.

130. _Alfenius vafer,_] Who Alfenius was, is very doubtful, and the reading 'sutor' is not quite certain. Some editions have 'tonsor.' From 'erat' it has been inferred that Alfenius was dead when the Satire was written. It merely means, that, though he threw up his trade, he still continued to be a 'sutor.'

133. _Vellunt tibi barbam_] The Romans of this period did not usually wear beards. But those who affected philosophy let theirs grow, and may have been hooted and insulted by the boys in the streets for doing so (see S. ii. 3. 17).

137. _Ne longum faciam:_] The chief subject of the Satire is a censorious temper. To this Horace returns, and says that, as long as he can live on terms of mutual indulgence with his friends, the Stoics and their crabbed doctrines are nothing to him: he will be happier than all the self-styled kings in the world.

_dum tu quadrante lavatum_] 'Quadrante lavari' (Juvenal, S. vi. 447) was an expression equivalent to taking a public bath, because a 'quadrans' was the ordinary fee paid by each visitor. But it may be inferred from Horace's words, that they who paid this sum were not the richer sort of bathers; for he seems to say, 'While you, a fine king as you are, go and bathe for a quadrans.' The rich may perhaps have paid more, and had more privacy and better bathing and attendance. The 'quadrans,' which was the fourth of an 'as,' and therefore the sixty-fourth part of a 'denarius,' after the reduction of the 'as' to one sixteenth of that coin, was of the value of about half a farthing of English money, taking the value of the 'denarius' at 8½_d_. The Romans were great bathers.

139. _Crispinum_] See S. i. 1. 120, n. The bodyguards of kings were called 'stipatores.' Horace therefore uses the word ironically in that sense.

SATIRE IV.

Here again Horace is at pains to defend himself from the charge of malevolence. This charge, no doubt, was loudly brought against him by those who were or thought themselves the objects of his satire; and he attributes it, as well as the neglect his poems experienced compared with the inferior poetry of the day and the old poetry of Lucilius, to the jealousy and fears of the multitude, every man apprehending that he may be attacked next; and also in some measure to a false taste, which preferred a wordy, flowing style to the terseness and accuracy of his own. His object is to contrast his own style and pretensions with those of Lucilius and of the Crispinuses and Fanniuses of the day, as well as to quiet the apprehensions of his friends, and disarm the malignity of his enemies. Everybody must admire the way in which he takes occasion, from the necessity of self-defence, to pay a tribute of grateful affection to his father's memory; and it would be difficult to find a more pleasing picture of paternal solicitude and sound sense, as applied to a boy's education, than Horace has drawn in the latter part of this Satire.

1. _Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanesque_] He begins by describing the character of Lucilius as a satirist, and says he followed in the steps of the old Greek comedians. The Greek comedy was divided by the Alexandrine grammarians into three periods, the Old, the Middle, and the New. The three persons here named were the chief poets of the Old Comedy. Cratinus was the eldest of the three, and died B.C. 422, when Aristophanes was a young man. He was the last of that period. The other writers of the Old Comedy, whom Horace alludes to with respect, are very little known to us. Horace fixes on the Comoedia Prisca, because the subsequent phases of the Greek Comic Drama were not of the same personally satirical cast, the license granted to the old writers having been taken away by law. The words 'poëtae' and 'virorum' are used emphatically, as below in S. 10. 16: "Illi scripta quibus comoedia prisca viris est."

5. _multa cum libertate notabant._] During the period of the Old Comedy, the law of Athens did not interfere with the poet's liberty of speech, except upon two occasions, when psephisms were passed prohibiting the introduction upon the stage of living characters as objects of satire by name,--a restriction of no great force, since the substitution of a feigned name, slightly altered from the true, would make the allusions equally intelligible and more ridiculous. Neither of these psephisms lasted more than a couple of years. See S. i. 6. 14, n., on 'notare.'

6. _Hinc omnis pendet Lucilius,_] 'Hinc' means 'upon them,' as 'unde' is elsewhere used with reference to persons. What Horace says of Lucilius is briefly this: that his whole strength was laid out on the satirizing of vice in the persons of living characters, that he especially imitated herein the writers of the Old Comedy, only changing their metre; that he was funny ('facetus') and acute ('emunctae naris'), but harsh in his style of versification; wordy and sometimes vulgar, in consequence of the haste with which he wrote and his impatience of the trouble of correcting. He adds below (S. 10. 3), that the most idolatrous admirer of Lucilius could not deny that his style was uncouth. He there also adds, that Lucilius loved to mix up Greek words with his own language (v. 20), that he was good-tempered, notwithstanding his satirical vein (v. 53), and again that he was very unreserved and frank (S. ii. 1. 30-34). The fragments of Lucilius that have come down to us are too short to form a very accurate opinion upon, but in some points, at least, (such as the absurd mixture of Greek and Latin,) they bear out Horace's statements.

7. _Mutatis tantum pedibus_] The writings of Lucilius appear to have been very early divided by the grammarians into thirty books, of which two thirds were written in hexameter verse, and the rest in the iambic and trochaic measures. That Lucilius imitated the comedians in all but their measures, cannot be true. The character of their plays could not be transferred to satirical poems like his, though some of their features might suit, as their coarseness and personalities.

8. _Emunctae naris,_] 'Emunctae naris' is one who has his nose well wiped, and is therefore no driveller. Phædrus explains it in his description of Æsop (1. iii. f. 3, v. 14):--

"Aesopus ibi stans naris emunctae senex, Natura nunquam verba cui poterit dare."

'Emungere' is used by the comic writers for 'cheating,' as among other places (see A. P. 238) in the fragment from the Epiclerus of Cæcilius quoted by Cicero de Am. 26. "To wipe a man's nose for him, is, to imply that he is a driveller who cannot do it for himself, and hence it means to 'outwit' and to 'cheat' him." (Long in loco.) Others explain 'emunctae naris' as 'keen-scented,' like a hound, which is wrong.

10. _versus dictabat_] See S. 10. 92, n. The words 'stans pede in uno' mean with the utmost facility, or 'standing at ease,' as we might say. Others explain 'stans pede in uno' to mean within the time a man could stand on one foot. The other is right.

11. _Cum flueret lutulentus_] 'Lutulentus' combines two notions, dirtiness and obscurity. Lucilius may have imitated the obscenity of the old comedians; and in this, as in other respects, his verse may have been like a muddy stream. The word, no doubt, comprehends defects of taste as well as style.

12. _piger scribendi ferre laborem,_] 'Piger ferre' is a Greek construction, common in the Odes, but not so in the language of the Satires. (See C. i. 1. 18, n.) In C. iv. 14. 22, we have 'impiger' in the same construction.

14. _Crispinus minimo_] See S. i. 1. 120, n. 'Minimo me provocat,' 'he offers me the greatest odds,' literally, 'he challenges me at the smallest amount' to be staked on my side, while he puts down a large one on his. The mention of the negligent way in which Lucilius wrote, leads on to the mention of small poets of the day, Crispinus and Fannius. See Introduction.

15. _Accipiam tabulas;_] This is nothing more than a polite challenge to see which could write most verses in a given time. 'Take tablets if you please, and I will take them too.' The omission of the personal pronoun before 'accipiam' to express antithesis, is nothing in familiar talk, where there could be no mistake. 'Custodes' are umpires to see that there is no foul play.

18. _raro et perpauca loquentis._] 'The gods have done me a kindness in making me of a poor and unpretending disposition, that speaks but seldom, and very little at a time.' This is Horace's reply to the challenge, which he declines.

19. _At tu conclusas_] Persius imitates this, S. v. 10.

21. _Beatus Fannius_] This Fannius is spoken of in another place (S. i. 10. 80) as a contemptible person, and a parasite of Hermogenes Tigellius (S. 3. 129, n.). It appears probable, from Horace's words, that he had his admirers, as rant and emptiness will always have, and that they made him a present, by way of a testimonial as it is called, of a set of handsome 'capsae' and a bust. The 'capsa' was a round box, suited to hold one or more rolled volumes. The larger sort was called 'scrinium.'

22. _cum mea nemo_] See Introduction. That Horace wrote many pieces which have not been preserved, appears clear from this passage and v. 71, sqq.

23. _vulgo recitare timentis_] See note on v. 73. The usage which leaves the personal pronoun to be inferred from the possessive, is common both in Greek and Latin. (See C. iii. 22. 6.) Compare Ovid (Heroid. v. 45): "Et flesti, et nostros vidisti flentis ocellos." 'Timeo' and 'metuo' do not govern an infinitive mood in the prose writings of Horace's day. 'Vereor' is used in that construction.

24. _sunt quos_] 'There are some who are by no means pleased with this sort of writing, as being for the most part worthy of censure themselves.' As to 'sunt quos,' see C. i. 1. 3, n. He seems to have particular persons or classes in view.

26. _Aut ob avaritiam_] 'Laborare ob' is an unusual construction, and the sentence begins with one form of expression and ends with another. 'Ambitio' generally had an epithet of a strong kind applied to it. Horace has 'prava,' 'inanis,' 'mala,' 'misera'; and Cicero (De Off. i. 26) says, "Miserrima est omnino ambitio honorumque contentio." The practice, therefore, seems to have been habitual, which, if we consider the evils that arose out of personal ambition, and the eagerness with which places of honor were sought at all times of the Republic, is not surprising.

28. _Hunc capit argenti splendor;_] Cups and other vessels curiously wrought in silver and Corinthian bronze, and very costly (such as Juvenal describes, S. i. 76), were among the many objects of extravagance at Rome. The exaggerated admiration of the persons Horace alludes to, for such works of art, might be comparatively harmless, if it did not lead them into dishonest ways of acquiring them, and beggaring their families, as Albius did, of whom we know nothing. His son is mentioned below (v. 108), as living in want through his father's extravagance. 'Stupet,' with the ablative, occurs below (S. 6. 17); and 'torpere,' an equally strong word, is used in the same connection in S. ii. 7. 95.

29. _Hic mutat merces_] See C. i. 31. 12, n.

_surgente a sole_, etc.] This means from east to west ("ad ortus Solis ab Hesperio cubili," C. iv. 15. 15). 'Mutare merces' can hardly be applied to any but a mercator. 'Mala' means dangers and hardships.

34. _Foenum habet in cornu;_] A law of the XII. Tables gave an action to any man who was injured by a vicious animal. It became customary, therefore, that any ox or other animal of vicious propensities should be marked in such a way as to warn passengers, and enable them to get out of its way. Hence the proverb, "He has a wisp of hay on his horn."

37. _a furno_] 'Furnus' is the bakehouse, to which the lower sort of people, old women and children, carried their bread to be baked. 'Lacus' were tanks distributed in all parts of the city, into which water was conveyed from the aqueducts, and to which poorer persons resorted who could not afford to have water laid on at their houses.

38. _Agedum,_] 'Dum,' as an enclitic, signifies 'awhile'; 'agedum,' 'come a moment.'

39. _Primum ego me illorum_] 'Primum' means 'in the first place'; before I begin, let me dispose of the fallacy which classes writers like myself among poets (the word assumed above, "Omnes hi metuunt versus, odere poëtas," v. 33). This question occupies twenty-four verses, after which he returns to the main point, which is the odium attaching to writers of Satire. The dative is commonly used after 'licet esse,' 'datur esse,' etc. See S. i. 1. 19; 2. 51. A. P. 372.

40. _concludere versum_] This expression is repeated below (S. 10. 59: "si quis pedibus quid claudere senis").

42. _Sermoni propiora:_] 'Sermoni' means common conversation. Hence the name 'Sermones' given to the Satires and Epistles.

43. _os Magna sonaturum,_] This form does not appear elsewhere in this word. Cicero uses 'praestaturus,' and Sall. (Jug. 47) 'juvaturus.' Horace has 'intonata' in Epod. ii. 51. See Virg. (Georg. iii. 294): "Nunc veneranda Pales, magno nunc ore sonandum." The attributes of a poet, which Horace considers essential, are genius, inspiration, and dignified sentiments, and language suited to high subjects.

45. _Idcirco quidam_] 'In reference to this, certain persons have raised the question whether a comedy was or was not a poem': "utrum comoedia esset poëma necne esset." This is a grammarian's question, and depends upon the definition assumed for a poem, in which, however, imagination is generally supposed to have a conspicuous place, and this would exclude the comedies of Plautus and Terence, and their Greek originals of the New Comedy, from the title of poetry. But the same rule would exclude much more that has passed for poetry, with less pretension to the name even than Horace's Satires, or the Heautontimorumenos. 'Quidam' signifies the grammarians of Alexandria.

48. _Differt sermoni_] 'Discrepare,' 'dissidere,' 'distare,' 'differre,' Horace uses with the dative (see C. i. 27. 5, n.), but the two last also with the ablative and 'ab.' "It must not be supposed, however, that 'from' can in any way be the signification of the dative," which remark Professor Key applies to the analogous construction in use by the poets with verbs of taking away.

_At pater ardens_] Demea in the Adelphi of Terence, and Plautus's Theuropides are instances in point. 'At,' which usually in such places introduces an objection, here seems to be the remark of one who supposed that the fury and ranting of the enraged father in the comedy might be supposed to partake of the fire of poetry. But Horace disposes of the objection very easily. Any father who had such a son as Pomponius, for instance, a dissolute youth (of whom we know nothing more), would probably storm at him in much the same terms that the man on the stage uses. It was the aim of the New Comedy, which the Roman writers followed, to put real life upon the stage by means of a plot natural and probable, and to represent men and women as they were seen and heard every day, in which it differed essentially from the Old Comedy, a mere vehicle for political and personal satire.

54. _puris--verbis,_] 'Puris' corresponds to 'inornata' (A. P. 234). It means plain language, free from any mixture of trope or other ornament. See Terence (Heaut. Prol. 44):--

"Si quae laboriosa est ad me curritur: Si lenis est ad alium defertur gregem. In hac est pura oratio."

So Cicero (In Verr. ii. 4. 22) speaks of "purum argentum," plate with the ornamental work taken off. He says it is not enough (to constitute a poem) that it should be written throughout in plain language, which, if you take to pieces, it will be found that any father in common life expresses his wrath in the same terms as the father in the play.

56. _His ego quae nunc,_] 'From these verses that I now write and Lucilius wrote formerly, if you take away certain times and measures (measures regulated by beating time), and change the position of the words, you will not (as you would if you broke up such a verse as the following, Postquam, etc.) find the members of the poet thus torn to pieces.' That is, his language would be unintelligible, or there would be no more of the poet left.

60. _Postquam Discordia tetra_] The Scholiasts imply that this is a verse of Ennius, but they do not say from what poem it is taken. Virgil (Aen. i. 294) has "claudentur belli portae." As to the position of 'non,' see S. 6. 1.

63. _alias justum sit necne poëma,_] The question he has been discussing since v. 38, namely, whether he and such as he are or are not properly called poets, is not resumed, though we may perceive that Horace does not consider that his arguments have quite settled it. He goes on to show that the public have no reason to be afraid of him.

65. _Sulcius acer Ambulat et Caprius_] These persons are said by the Scholiasts to have been public informers, or else 'causidici,' 'pleaders,' and Horace may mean that they have made themselves hoarse with roaring in the courts. The 'libelli' they carried were their note-books. 'Ambulat' signifies their strutting through the streets with the consciousness that men were afraid of them. 'Delatores,' 'informers,' were more common in after years, but they were sufficiently abundant in Horace's time. Cælius and Birrus are said by Acron to have been profligate youths, meaning probably that they were young men of fortune, who had run through their money and had taken to robbing.

69. _Ut sis_] 'Say that you are.' Horace says he is not like the informers, going about seeking whom they may charge, and no one with clean hands need be afraid of him.

71. _Nulla taberna meos habeat_] In the next place, he has no wish to see his books in the shops and thumbed by the vulgar. The 'taberna' was sometimes under a porticus, in which case the titles of the books for sale within were hung upon the columns ('pilae') in front. Horace alludes to this when he says (A. P. 372), "Mediocribus esse poëtis. Non Dii, non homines non concessere columnae," which means that indifferent poets would not be patronized by the booksellers. 'Habeat' expresses a wish. On Hermogenes Tigellius, see S. 3. 129, n.

73. _Nec recito cuiquam_] Nor does he go about reciting his works in public. This practice grew to be an intolerable nuisance in the course of time. Persons who had money and dabbled in literature inflicted their productions upon their clients and others, whom they bribed to listen and applaud them. What Horace goes on to complain of are silly people reciting their own verses in public places (the forum and the baths) to chance acquaintances, or even strangers, and annoying the neighbors while they gratified themselves. Round the baths were spaces called 'scholae.' On these, people sat or walked about, and conceited authors could tease their acquaintance and the strangers that were compelled to listen to them, and in the act of bathing they could do the same.

77. _haud illud quaerentes,_] 'Illud' is thus used commonly to introduce something about to be mentioned.

78. _Laedere gaudes, Inquit,_] Horace has said, that, even if he does write or recite, it is only in a private way, and no one therefore need be afraid of him. He now disposes of the charge of writing with malicious intent. 'Studio' is used adverbally, 'of set purpose in your malignity you do it.'

80. _Est auctor quis denique eorum_] 'Quis' may be taken as an interrogative or an enclitic. It is not easy to decide. As to 'auctor,' see C. 1. 28. 14, n.

84. _commissa tacere Qui nequit;_] This, which is too commonly softened into a weakness, the inability to keep a secret, Horace very justly marks as one of the most prominent signs of a mischievous character. See C. iii. 2. 25, n. On 'Romane,' see C. iii. 6. 2, n.

86. _Saepe tribus lectis_] Four persons on each 'lectus tricliniaris' would be an unusually large party at one table. Three on each was the usual number when the table was full. Respecting the arrangement of the guests, see S. ii. 8. 20, n.

87. _E quibus unus amet_] 'Amet' is used in the same sense as in "umbram hospitalem consociare amant" (C. ii. 3. 10). 'Quavis' is 'qua ratione vis.' 'Qui praebet aquam' is an uncommon expression, but it seems to be used for the host "qui aquam temperat ignibus." See C. iii. 19. 6, n. On 'verax Liber,' see C. i. 18. 16; iii. 21. 16; Epod. xi. 14. Epp. i. 18. 38; 5. 16. A. P. 434.

92. _Pastillos Rufillus olet,_] This verse is quoted from a former Satire (2. 27) only to show the innocent subjects with which Horace's satire dealt, and he goes on to show that his satire has none of the malignity which is common in society. 'Pastillus' is a diminutive form of 'panis,' and signifies 'a small roll,' whence in a derived sense it came to mean small balls of perfume. Who Rufillus and Gargonius may have been, we cannot tell.

94. _De Capitolini furtis_] Petillius Capitolinus was charged, according to some stories, with stealing the golden crown from the statue of Jupiter when he was in charge of the Capitol. That he was tried on some serious charge and acquitted, and that the verdict did not escape scandal, is clear from the context. See also S. 10. 26. The nature of the accusation must remain a matter of doubt. We may also gather that he was a person of influence from v. 97, which he must have been, if he was acquitted, or supposed to have been acquitted, through the corruption of the jury.

95. _ut tuus est mos:_] 'In your peculiar way,' that is, sarcastically.

99. _Sed tamen admiror,_] There is sarcasm in this, which Horace calls 'succus loliginis,' the dark secretion of the cuttle-fish, black and malignant. 'Aerugo mera,' nothing but copper-rust, that eats into character and destroys it.

102. _ut si quid_] There is a little obscurity in the construction, but the sense is plain. 'I promise, as I truly can, if I can promise of myself aught else with truth.' 'Promitto, ut vere possum si aliud quid vere de me promittere possum.'

104. _hoc mihi juris_] 'So much liberty as this';--'hoc jus' would not do.

105. _insuevit pater optimus hoc me,_] 'Suesco' and its compounds have an active as well as a neuter signification, taking usually an accusative of the person and dative of the thing, which order is inverted in Virg. (Aen. vi. 833): "Ne, pueri, ne tanta animis assuescite bella." See below, S. ii. 2. 109: "Pluribus assuerit mentem corpusque superbum." I am not aware of any instances of a double accusative after 'suesco' except this. The construction is that of the Greeks, who said ἐθίζειν τί τινα. 'Notando' has something of the technical sense. The father taught his son to avoid vices, and he did so by branding them in each instance by means of examples, which he says was the origin of his tendency to satire. See S. i. 6. 14, n., on 'notare.'

108. _quod mi ipse parasset:_] Horace's father had lived a life of frugal industry, and, in addition to any 'peculium' he may have laid by as a 'servus,' he made enough money by his occupation of 'coactor' (S. 6. 86) to purchase a farm of no great value at Venusia, to pay for his son's education at Rome, and enable him to continue it at Athens.

109. _Albi ut male vivat filius,_] See above, v. 28, n. This person, of whom nothing is known, is to be distinguished from the coxcomb in the sixth Satire (v. 30). Scetanius (otherwise Sectanius) is not more known than Barrus. Trebonius was the name of a plebeian gens of some distinction, but which of them Horace alludes to, it is impossible to say.

115. _Sapiens vitatu quidque petitu_] 'The philosopher may give you good reasons as to what is best to be avoided and what to be sought; I am satisfied if I can maintain the practice of my fathers,' etc. Horace's father had no mind to refine upon the foundation of morals, nor any pretension to a philosophical view of these matters. He knew that right was right and wrong was wrong, and followed the beaten track, and would have his son do the same. Horace expresses the same below, S. 6. 82, sqq. The whole of the passage there should be compared with this. The elder Horace was no doubt a plain, sensible man. As to 'sapiens,' see C. i. 34. 2.

121. _Formabat_] This is Horace's usual word for education. C. i. 10. 2: "Qui feros cultus hominum recentum Voce formasti." See C. iii. 24. 54, n.

123. _Unum ex judicibus selectis_] It was the duty of the Prætor Urbanus annually to select a certain number of persons whose names were registered in the Album Judicum Selectorum, and from whom were chosen by lot the 'judices' for each trial. It is uncertain whether at this time, or by a subsequent 'lex' of Augustus, their functions were extended to civil as well as criminal proceedings. The number of these 'judices' varied. By the 'lex Servilia Glaucia Repetundarum' it was fixed at 450. The law that was in force at the time Horace refers to was the 'lex Aurelia,' by which the Judices Selecti were made eligible from the Senators, Equites, and Tribuni Aerarii. Horace's father, as plain men are wont, looked up with reverence to the body in whom were rested such high functions; but the office was not an enviable one, nor always most purely exercised. See C. iv. 9. 39, n. As to 'auctor,' see above, v. 80.

126. _Avidos_] This signifies 'intemperate,' as in C. i. 18. 11.

129. _Ex hoc ego sanus_] Horace says that, owing to his father's training ('ex hoc'), he had been kept in a sound and healthy state, and preserved from those vices which in their worst form bring destruction, but which in a moderate degree may be overlooked. He implies that in this venial form he is liable to such faults; but even from this smaller measure, time, the candor of friends, and reflection will deduct a good deal. The sentence is a little irregular, but sufficiently intelligible. 'Consilium proprium' is the counsel a man takes with himself when he reviews his life, and is bent upon correcting the errors of it. This sort of reflection a man may pursue, if he be in earnest, either as he lies on his bed (see below, S. 6. 122, n.), or as he walks abroad, alone among crowds. By 'porticus' Horace means any one of the public porticoes, covered walks, of which there were many at Rome, and which were usually crowded by persons of all sorts, resorting thither for exercise, conversation, or business.

137. _olim_] See C. ii. 10. 17, n.

139. _Illudo chartis._] This means, 'I put it down in my notes by way of amusement.' As to 'chartae,' see S. ii. 3. 2, n.

141. _Multa poëtarum veniat manus_] Horace, in winding up his discourse, stops the lips of his opponents with a sally of good humor, which they would find it hard to resist. He says, if they will not make excuses for this little sin of his (that of taking notes of his neighbors' vices), he will bring a host of sinners (poets) as bad as himself, and, like the proselytizing Jews (S. 9. 69, n.), they will attack them till they have made converts and poets of them all. 'Plures' signifies any number more than one, as in Epp. i. 5. 28, "Locus est et pluribus umbris." 'Multo plures sumus' means 'there are many besides me.'

SATIRE V.

In the spring of the year B.C. 37, M. Antonius brought over an army to Italy, and a fleet of 300 ships (Plut. Ant. c. 35): ἔκ τινων διαβόλων παροξυνθεὶς πρὸς Καίσαρα, says Plutarch. He pretended, Dion says, to come for the purpose of helping to put down Sextus Pompeius, his real object being rather to see what was going on, than to take any active part. He came to Brundisium, but the people would not let him come into the harbor (according to Plutarch), and he therefore went on to Tarentum. Negotiations were carried on between the two rivals (Cæsar being at Rome) through agents employed by both, but without effect, till Octavia undertook to mediate between her husband and brother, and was finally successful in reconciling them. It has been supposed, with every probability, that the mission which Horace accompanied was sent by Augustus to meet Antonius on his expected arrival at Brundisium, on this occasion.

Horace started from Rome with only one companion, Heliodorus the rhetorician (v. 2), and these two travelled together three days and one night, about fifty-six miles, till they reached Tarracina or Anxur, where, by appointment, they were to meet the official members of their party. These were Mæcenas and Cocceius, who had been employed in negotiating the first reconciliation between Augustus and Antonius (B.C. 40), and Fonteius, an intimate friend of the latter. Three days afterwards, they met at Sinuessa Horace's three most intimate friends, Plotius Tucca, Varius, and Virgil; one of whom, Varius, kept them company only for six days, and left them, for reasons which are not mentioned, at Canusium (v. 93). The rest of the party went on together till they reached Brundisium, seventeen days after Horace had left Rome. The route they took was not the shortest or the easiest, which lay through Venusia and Tarentum. They preferred taking the northeastern road, which strikes across the country from Beneventum, and, reaching the coast at Barium continues along the shore till it comes to Brundisium. They were evidently not pressed for time, and probably took the road they did because it passed through Canusium, whither one of the party was bound. Mæcenas made his journey as agreeable as, under the circumstances, it could be, by taking with him such companions; and they all appear to great advantage in Horace's good-humored diary. There was no restraint between the patron and his friends, and it is very pleasant to contemplate their affection for him and one another.

It is probable that, before Horace returned to Rome, he visited Tarentum and his native place, Venusia, through which he would naturally pass. He seems to have had in mind the description by Lucilius of a journey he took to Capua, of which three or four verses only have been preserved (see note on v. 6).

1. _Egressum magna me excepit Aricia_] They left Rome by the Porta Capena, between Mons Aventinus and Mons Cælius, in the southern quarter of the city. Aricia (La Riccia), one of the most ancient towns of Latium, was sixteen miles from Rome. It was situated on the side of a hill, sloping down to a valley called Vallis Aricina, through which the Appia Via passed. This part of the road is still in good preservation. The citadel was placed on the top of the hill (Strabo, v. p. 239), and on that spot stands the modern town. Aricia was a considerable town in Horace's time, and for some centuries after. Cicero calls it "municipium--vetustate antiquissimum, splendore municipum honestissimum" (Phil. iii. 6). Its neighborhood to Rome, and accessible position, contributed to its prosperity, which was assisted by its association with the worship of Diana Aricina, who had a temple among the woods on the small lake (Lacus Nemorensis), a short way from the town, probably on the site of the modern town Nemi. The wealthy Romans had villas in the neighborhood.

By 'hospitio modico' Horace means an indifferent inn; but 'hospitium' is not the Latin for an 'inn,' which was called 'caupona,' or 'taberna,' or 'diversorium,' and its keeper 'caupo.' The inns at the different stages on the great roads were never very good, the chief reason being that travellers of any importance usually found friends at the principal towns, who entertained them.

2. _rhetor comes Heliodorus,_] Horace jocularly exaggerates the merits of this Greek. Nothing is known of him from other sources. Appii Forum was thirty-nine miles from Rome, and was so called by Appius Claudius, surnamed Cæcus, who in his censorship (A.U.C. 441) constructed the Via Appia and the great aqueduct which bore his name. Some ruins of this town are said by Walckenaer still to exist. Its modern name is Borgo Lungo. The participle 'differtus' means 'full,' and is formed as from 'differcio,' which verb is not found. 'Differtus' occurs below (Epp. i. 6. 59). 'Malignis' belongs to 'cauponibus' in the same sense as 'perfidus' (S. 1. 29). 'Nautae' were the boatmen who plied on the canal mentioned below (v. 7, n.). It was to Appii Forum that some of the Christians, when they heard of St. Paul's approach, went, from Rome, to meet him. Others met him at a place called Tres Tabernae (La Castella), which was about seven miles from Aricia, and sixteen from Appii Forum. Horace must have passed through this town without stopping. It was a well-known place, and from it a Christian bishop took his title, "Felix a Tribus Tabernis."

5. _Hoc iter_] i.e. the journey from Rome to Appii Forum, which was usually made in one day, they took two to accomplish. 'Praecinctus' is opposed to 'discinctus,' and means 'one well girt,' εὔζωνος, and ready for active exertion, running, etc. Horace uses the word more literally, S. ii. 8. 70: "ut omnes Praecincti recte pueri comptique ministrent." The Asiatics tuck up in their girdles their long garments, when they are preparing to run or walk quick. Hence such expressions as we meet with in Scripture, "Gird up the loins of your mind." 'Succinctus,' 'tucked up,' is the more usual word.

6. _minus est gravis Appia tardis._] Horace means, that the Via Appia was less fatiguing to the slow traveller than to the quick; that it was a rough road, over which the slower you went, the less unpleasant was the journey. This road was constructed with a foundation of large squared blocks of basaltic stone, over which was laid a coating of gravel, until the Emperors Nerva and Trajan laid it with silex, according to an inscription found on a mile-stone in the neighborhood of Forum Appii. Horace speaks elsewhere of the traveller "qui Romam Capua petit imbre lutoque Adspersus" (Epp. i. 11. 11). In one of the verses of the Satire of Lucilius, mentioned in the Introduction, he says, "Praeterea omne iter est labosum atque lutosum."

7. _Hic ego propter aquam,_] At Appii Forum they were to embark at night in a boat that was to carry them by canal to Tarracina. A party were waiting at the same inn to go with them, and Horace waited with impatience till they had done supper. These he means by 'comites.' This canal was constructed by Augustus. There are still traces of it to be seen. It was nineteen miles long, and was called in consequence Decennovium. The road may have been defective hereabouts, as it was the general practice of travellers to exchange it for the canal, and to make the journey by night.

9. _Jam nox inducere terris_] This is a parody of the heroic style, unless it be taken from some poet, as Ennius.

12. _Huc appelle!_] "Put in here, and take us on board!" cries a servant. "How many more?--you'll swamp the boat!" says another to the boatman, who wants to get as many as he can. The bank is crowded; the passengers all want to be attended to at once. The collection of the fare and putting-to the mule being accomplished, Horace goes on board. The boat starts, and he lies down to sleep, disturbed much by the mosquitos and the croaking of frogs. The boatman and one of the passengers, half drunk, sing songs till the one drops off to sleep, and the other, having a mind to do the same, stops the boat, turns the mule out to graze, lays himself down and snores till the dawn of day, when one of the passengers wakes, starts up in a passion, and falls foul of the boatman and the poor mule, who is put to again, and a little after the fourth hour they reach their destination, a temple of Feronia, about seventeen miles from the place where they embarked. 'Cerebrosus' is an old word signifying 'choleric.' 'Dolare' is properly to turn a piece of wood with an axe, 'dolabra.' 'He rough-hewed him with a cudgel.' It is only here used in this sense. Feronia was a goddess, worshipped originally by the Sabines. On the site of the temple near which Horace and his party disembarked, there now stands an old tower, bearing the name Torre Ottofacia. Horace says they only washed their hands and face, which would be no little refreshment after a night spent in a canal-boat.

25. _Millia tum pransi tria repimus_] Three miles farther, on the top of a steep ascent, stood the town of Tarracina (Terracina), which by the Volscians was called Anxur, by which name it is always mentioned by the poets. The winding of the road up the hill, and the difficulty of the ascent, explains the word 'repimus.' The old town of Tarracina was built on the top of the hill, but this site was afterwards abandoned, and a new town built on the plain below, close upon the shore, which is the site of the modern Terracina. It was in Horace's day, and had been for a long time, and long continued to be, a town of great importance, as it was one of great antiquity. The buildings of white marble, perhaps, gave it the appearance described in 'late candentibus.' The same appearance is observed still in the modern town. After leaving the boat, the party lunched before they proceeded. The 'prandium' was a light meal, usually eaten about noon, but sometimes earlier, as probably was the case in this instance.

27. _Huc venturus erat_] See Introduction. L. Cocceius Nerva was a friend of M. Antonius, and was among those whom Augustus found in Perusia when he took it (B.C. 41). He offered these persons no indignity, but made friends of them, and Cocceius seems to have become especially intimate with Augustus, without betraying his friendship for M. Antonius.

29. _aversos soliti componere amicos._] After the taking of Perusia, war was threatened between Augustus and Antonius, which was averted by an arrangement made through the medium of Mæcenas, on the part of Augustus, and of Cocceius and Pollio, on the part of Antonius. This is what Horace alludes to.

30. _nigra meis collyria lippus_] 'Collyrium,' an ointment for sore eyes, was composed of juices expressed from the poppy and various shrubs, as the lycium, glaucion, acacia, hypocystis, etc. The etymology of the word is not known.

32. _Capitoque simul Fonteius,_] Not much is known of C. Fonteius Capito. He was deputed by Augustus on this occasion, as being a particular friend of M. Antonius, who afterwards, as Plutarch relates (Anton. 36), sent him, while he was in Syria, to fetch Cleopatra thither from Egypt. The expression 'ad unguem factus' is taken from the craft of the sculptor, who tries the surface of his statue by passing the nail over it; if the parts be put perfectly together, and the whole work well finished, the nail passes over the surface, and meets with no obstruction. See Persius, S. i. 64. Compare also A. P. 294. Below (S. ii. 7. 86) the perfect man is described as

"in se ipso totus, teres atque rotundus, Externi ne quid valeat per leve morari,"

which is like the description of the text, though the metaphor is not quite the same.

33. _non ut magis alter_] This is equivalent to 'quam qui maxime' in prose.

34. _Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore_] They arrived at Tarracina about noon, and there the principal personages met them. At Tarracina they slept, and proceeded next morning to Fundi (Fondi), sixteen miles farther to the northeast of Tarracina. Fundi was situated on the north shore of a lake, which was called after it Fundanus; and also Amyclanus from an old Greek town Amyclæ, the existence of which was only traditional when Horace wrote, but is occasionally mentioned by the poets. Fundi was one of that class of towns called 'praefectura,' which, instead of having the administration of its own affairs, was governed by a 'praefectus' sent annually from Rome by the Prætor Urbanus. At this time the 'praefectus' was one Aufidius Luscus (not otherwise known), an upstart whom Horace calls Prætor by way of ridicule. The officers of the other municipal towns were allowed to wear the 'toga praetexta,' the 'toga' with a purple border (Livy xxxiv. 7), but the 'praefecti' were not, and yet Luscus wore it. The 'latus clavus' was a broad purple stripe down the front of the tunic, and was a badge that belonged only to senators. 'Prunae batillum' was a pan of hot coals, which may have been used for burning incense or otherwise in connection with sacrifice. But its use is uncertain. Aufidius, it appears, had been a 'scriba' or clerk, probably in the prætor's office,--such a situation as Horace held at this time in the quæstor's. Persons in that capacity had opportunities of pushing their fortunes if they managed well, and the honors of Luscus are spoken of as 'praemia,' rewards of service rendered to his master.

37. _In Mamurrarum_] Disgusted with the officiousness of the promoted scribe, the party move on, in the course of the day, to Formiæ (Mola di Gaeta), about twelve miles farther, where the road, having taken an upward bend from Tarracina to Fundi, goes straight down from thence to the coast, where Formiæ was situated at the head of the Sinus Caietanus. Its supposed identity with the Læstrygonia of Homer has been noticed before (C. iii. 16. 34, n., and 17, Int.). As the scene of Cicero's frequent retirement, and his death, it is a place of much interest. Its wines Horace mentions more than once. He here calls it the city of the Mamurræ,--a family of respectability in this town. When the party got to Formiæ, having travelled upwards of twenty-five miles, they were tired, and resolved to pass the night there. Licinius Murena (C. ii. 10, Int.), having a house at this place, gave them the use of it, but as he was not there himself, and probably had no establishment in the house suitable to the entertainment of such guests, Fonteius Capito invited his fellow travellers to dine with him. He therefore appears to have had a house at Formiæ likewise.

40. _Sinuessae_] Leaving Formiæ next day, the party set out for Sinuessa, eighteen miles distant. The road crossed the Liris (C. i. 31. 7) at Minturnæ, and went down the coast till it reached Sinuessa, the most southerly of the Latin towns. The site is now called Monte Dragone (Cramer). It was on the sea, and said to have been founded on the ruins of the Greek city Sinope. Strabo (v. 234) derives its name from the Sinus Vescinus on which it stood. Plotius Tucca appears to have been a native of Cisalpine Gaul. He was associated with L. Varius Rufus by Virgil, who loved them both, as the executor of his will, and he was employed in the task of editing the Æneid after his death. Nothing more is known of him, but what we gather from this passage and S. i. 10. 81, that he was one of Mæcenas's friends, and on intimate terms with Horace. As to L. Varius, see C. i. 6. 1. S. i. 10. 44.

45. _Proxima Campano ponti_] After Sinuessa, the Appia Via continued to take a southerly direction, and crossed the Savo (Savone) about three miles from that town, and just within the borders of Campania. That river was crossed by a bridge bearing the name Pons Campanus, near which was a small house erected for the accommodation of persons travelling on public business, where there were officers appointed to supply them with ordinary necessaries. Hence they were called 'parochi,' from the Greek παρέχειν. In this house the party passed the night.

47. _Hinc muli Capuae_] When it reached the right bank of the Vulturnus, four miles below the Savo, the Appia Via turned, striking inland along that bank of the river, which it crossed at the town of Casilinum, where Hannibal met with stout resistance from the Romans who garrisoned it after the battle of Cannæ (Liv. xxiii. 17). This is perhaps the site of the modern Capua. About two miles farther on the road, which now took a southeasterly direction, lay Capua, on the site of which is the modern village Santa Maria di Capoa. There the party arrived 'betimes,'--in time probably for dinner, after which meal Mæcenas and others of the party went to play at ball, while Horace, whose sight, and Virgil, whose digestion, interfered with that amusement, went early to bed. Virgil is said to have had uncertain health, and to have suffered frequently, either from toothache, headache, or complaints of the stomach.

50. _Hinc nos Cocceii_] The road, continuing in a southeast direction, passed through two small Campanian towns, Calatia (Le Galazze) and Ad Novas (La Nova), but the usual halting-place after Capua was the town of Caudium, which was the first Samnite town on the Appia Via, and was situated at the head of the pass called the Furcæ (or Fauces) Caudinæ, celebrated for the surprise and capture of the Roman army by C. Pontius, in the second Samnite war, B.C. 321. At Caudium, Cocceius had a handsome house, and Horace marks its situation by saying it lay beyond the public tavern. The town was twenty one miles from Capua.

51. _Nunc mihi paucis_] The scene that follows represents a scurrilous contest between two parasites, whom Mæcenas carried with him for the entertainment of himself and his party. The description begins with an invocation of the Muse, after the fashion of the Epic poets. Sarmentus was an Etrurian by birth, and originally a slave of M. Favonius (well known in the civil wars, and put to death by Augustus after the battle of Philippi). On the confiscation of the property of Favonius, Sarmentus passed by public sale into the hands of Mæcenas, who gave him his liberty. He then obtained the office of 'scriba' in the quæstor's department, and affected the position of an Eques. He was brought to trial for pretending to a rank he had no claim to (perhaps under the law of Otho), and got off only by the favor of the judges, and by the accuser being put out of the way. When old, he was reduced to great poverty through his licentiousness and extravagance, and was obliged to sell his place as 'scriba.' When persons taunted him with this, he showed his ready wit by replying that he had a good memory; by which probably he meant that he had no occasion to write anything down, for he could carry it in his head. It appears that at the time Horace wrote he was free, and held his scribe's office, though he continued to attend Mæcenas, for his adversary says, though he was a scribe, he was in fact only a runaway, and still belonged to his mistress, the widow of Favonius (v. 66), which is only a joke that would amuse Mæcenas, who had bought and manumitted Sarmentus. When Horace says that Messius was of the noble blood of the Osci, he only means, by way of joke, to say that he was of old and high descent. Perhaps he also alludes to the scar on his temple, which indicated the disease called Campanian (the Campanians were of Oscan descent), of which we are told that it consisted of great excrescences over the temples like horns, which used to be cut out, and left a scar. The Oscans also were the authors of the 'Atellanae fabulae,' which were full of broad raillery and coarse wit, which may have something to do with Horace's joke. 'Cicirrhus' is a nickname from κίκιῤῥος, which signifies, according to Hesychius, 'a cock.' With these explanations most of the allusions will be intelligible.

58. _Accipio, caput et movet._] Messius accepts Sarmentus's joke as a challenge, and shakes his head fiercely at him, on which Sarmentus takes him up and pretends to be alarmed. The wild horse to which Messius is likened is the unicorn, an imaginary animal described by Pliny as a very terrible beast.

63. _Pastorem saltaret_] That he should dance the Cyclops' dance, in which the uncouth gestures of Polyphemus courting Galatea were represented. See Epp. ii. 2. 125. Ovid (Trist. ii. 519) uses 'salto' in the passive voice: "Et mea sunt populo saltata poëmata saepe."

64. _larva_] The Greek actors always wore masks on the stage suited to the character they were performing. The Romans adopted them about B.C. 100. They were called πρόσωπα by the Greeks, and 'personae' or 'larvae' by the Romans. As to 'cothurnus,' see C. ii. 1. 12, n.

65. _Donasset jamne catenam_] See Epp. i. 1. 4, n.

67. _Nihilo deterius_] 'Nihilo' is to be pronounced as a dissyllable, like "vehemens et liquidus" (Epp. ii. 2. 120).

68. _una Farris libra_] The allowance of 'far' to each slave was four or five 'modii' by the month, and it was served out to them monthly, or sometimes daily (Epp. i. 14. 40). That allowance would give three pints a day, which Messius considers would be three times as much as Sarmentes could possibly require, so he could not better himself by running away. The 'far' was otherwise called 'adoreum' (C. iv. 4. 41, n.), and seems to have been the same as the Greek ζειά or ὄλυρα. The nature of this grain is not exactly known. That two persons above the condition of slaves should be found in waiting on any man, great or otherwise, for the purpose of entertaining him with such low buffoonery as the above, seems surprising to us; but we know that there was no personal degradation to which this class of people, called 'parasites' (diners out), would not demean themselves for the pleasure of a good dinner and the company of the great. The entertainment of these persons would serve to keep the conversation from turning upon politics, which, as the deputies from both sides were now together, it was desirable to avoid.

71. _Beneventum,_] The Appia Via took a northeast turn from Caudium, for ten miles, till it came to Beneventum (Benevento), a very ancient town, by tradition said to have been founded by Diomed, and the name of which was originally, when the Samnites had it, Maleventum, or some name that sounded so like Maleventum to a Latin ear that the Romans thought fit to change it (for good luck) to Beneventum. Thither the party proceeded next day, and put up at an inn, when the host nearly set fire to his house through carelessness in roasting some indifferent thrushes for their dinner. 'Hospes paene arsit,' 'the host nearly got himself on fire,' means that he nearly burnt the house down, as the context shows. The expression is the same as in Aen. ii. 311. "Jam proximus ardet Ucalegon." The position of 'macros' is a little careless.

78. _quos torret Atabulus_] This was a cold wind, said to be peculiar to Apulia. 'Torret' is a word which applies to the effect of cold, as well as heat. 'Atabulus' is generally looked upon by the commentators as the Sirocco, a hot land wind. But it came directly off the sea from the east, and Pliny speaks of it as a winter wind.

79. _Nunquam erepsemus_] This is one of the many abbreviated forms Horace uses. See C. i. 36. 8, n., and to the examples there given add the present, and also 'surrexe,' 'divisse,' 'evasti.' 'Vixet,' in Aen. xi. 118, is a like contraction of the same tense as 'erepsemus.' Horace says that they would never have got out of these hills (the range that borders Samnium and separates it from Apulia) had they not found an inn at the town of Trivicum (Trevico), at which they were able to put up for the night. He means that the next stage, which was twenty-four miles farther on, would have been too long a journey. Horace had been familiar with these mountains in his early childhood, for they overlooked his native town. 'Notos' refers to these early reminiscences. Trivicum was probably on a cross road (Cramer, ii. 259) which lay between the two branches of the Appia Via, one of which took the most direct course from Beneventum through Venusia to Tarentum and Brundisium, and the other took a more northerly course across the Apennines, near Equus Tuticus; and then, striking directly eastward till it arrived very near the sea-coast, near Cannæ, proceeded down the line of coast till it reached Brundisium.

81. _camino._] See Epod. ii. 43, n.

86. _rhedis,_] See S. ii. 6. 42.

87. _Mansuri oppidulo_] It appears probable that the road on which Trivicum lay, entering Apulia about ten miles from that town, passed through or near the Apulian Asculum (Ascoli), and it is in that neighborhood that the little town with the unrhythmical name, at which the party stopped after Trivicum, is supposed to have stood. Of its name we must be content to be ignorant.

91. _Nam Canusi lapidosus,_] In a plain between the hills and the right bank of the Aufidus, about twelve miles from its mouth, stood the town of Canusium (Canosa), one of the ancient Greek settlements of Apulia. This town and others in Apulia (Venusia and Brundisium among them), and in other parts of Eastern Italy, were represented to have been founded by Diomed, when, after the Trojan war, he was driven to the coast of Apulia, and hospitably entertained and presented with land by Daunus, its king. His name was retained by the islands now called Tremiti, but by the ancients Diomedeæ. Many remains found among its ruins testify to the former importance and wealth of Canusium. The present town stands on a height where the citadel stood, and contains not above 300 houses. A supply of good water was brought into this town by Hadrian, the emperor. That Apulia was not well watered, has been observed before (Epod. iii. 16, n.). The turbid waters of the Aufidus must have been unfit for drinking. The bread of Canosa is described by modern travellers to be as bad as ever. It is accounted for by the softness of the millstones.

91. _aquae non ditior urna_] The only way of taking this regularly is to make 'ditior' agree with 'locus,' 'which place, being not richer in water (than the last) by a single pitcher, was built by brave Diomed.' So Orelli takes it. The construction is not very agreeable; but to avoid it we must suppose great irregularity.

93. _Varius_] See above, v. 40, n.

94. _Rubos_] This town of the Peucetii retains its name under the form Ruvo, and was thirty miles from Canusium. The road from Canusium was called Via Egnatia, from the town it led to. A modern traveller describes the remains of it for twelve miles from Canosa as paved with common rough pebbles, and passing over a pleasant down.

96. _ad usque_] See S. i. 1. 97, n.

97. _Bari moenia piscosi;_] Barium still retains its name Bari, occupying a rocky peninsula of a triangular form, about a mile in circumference. It was an important town on the coast, and a municipium. Its distance from Rubi was twenty-two miles, "a most disagreeable stony road through a vine country," and half-way there lay the town Butuntum (Bitonto). There was a harbor here formerly, but there is scarcely any now.

_Gnatia_] This was perhaps the local way of pronouncing Egnatia. It was another seaport town, and thirty-seven miles from Barium. Between them lay formerly two small forts called Turris Juliana (Torre Pellosa) and Turris Aureliana (Ripagnola), the first eleven miles and the second twenty miles from Barium. Of Egnatia nothing important is recorded. Its ruins are still in existence near Torre d'Agnazzo, six miles from the town of Monopoli. Horace says it was built under the displeasure of the Nymphs, because the water was so bad, and it is so still according to the statements of travellers. 'Lymphae' and 'Nymphae' are essentially the same word, but Nymphs are not elsewhere called Lymphæ. These Nymphs are the Naiades, who protected rivers and fountains. See C. i. 1. 22, n.

100. _Judaeas Apella,_] The majority of the Jews at Rome were freedmen, and 'Apella' was a common name for 'libertini.' Their creed was a superstition of the most contemptible kind, in the eyes of a Roman; and a Jew was only another name for a credulous fool. The Jews returned their contempt with hatred, which showed itself in a turbulent spirit that made them very troublesome. Horace intimates that he had learnt from the school of Epicurus that the gods were too happy to mind the small affairs of this world, which he expresses in the words of Lucretius (vi. 57): "Nam bene qui didicere deos securum agere aevum." See C. i. 34. 2, n., and the Introduction to that Ode.

104. _Brundisium_] From this abrupt conclusion, we may judge that Horace had got tired of his journal as well as his journey. Brundisium (Brindisi) was for centuries the most important town on the eastern coast of Italy, chiefly through the convenience of its position for communicating with Greece, and the excellence of its harbor. Its distance from Egnatia was thirty-five miles. There was a station named Speluncæ (now Grotta Rosa) midway, where the party may have halted one night, and which Horace, having nothing he cared to tell us about it, has passed over in silence.

SATIRE VI.

In addition to the obloquy brought upon him by his Satires, Horace, after his intimacy with Mæcenas had begun to be known, had to meet the envy such good fortune was sure to excite. His birth would furnish a handle for the envious, and he was probably called an upstart and hard names of that sort. In this Satire, which is nothing but an epistle to Mæcenas, he spurns the idea of his birth being any objection to him, while, at the same time, he argues sensibly against men trying to get beyond their own legitimate sphere, and aiming at honors which are only attended with inconvenience, fatigue, and ill-will. This Satire, besides the good sense and good feeling it contains, is valuable as bearing upon Horace's life. His introduction to Mæcenas is told concisely, but fully, and with much propriety and modesty; and nothing can be more pleasing than the filial affection and gratitude shown in those parts that relate to his father, and the education he gave him. He takes pleasure in referring whatever merits he might have to this good parent, as he did in the fourth Satire.

The Satire, then, may be supposed to have been written chiefly for the purpose of disarming envy, by showing the modesty of the author's pretensions, and the circumstances that led to his intimacy with Mæcenas. The views of public life which it contains were no doubt sincere, and the daily routine described at the end was better suited to Horace's habit of mind than the fatigues and anxieties of office. There is not the least appearance in any of his writings of his having been spoiled by his good fortune and by his intercourse, on terms of rare familiarity, with Augustus, Mæcenas, and others; and probably malignity never attacked any one less deserving of attack than Horace.

1. _Lydorum quidquid Etruscos_] On Mæcenas's connection with Etruria, see C. i. 1. 1, n. The legend of the Lydian settlement of Etruria is first mentioned by Herodotus (i. 94), as a tradition current among the Lydians themselves. The tradition was, that on one occasion, when Lydia was suffering from famine, the king, Atys, divided the people into two equal parts, of whom one remained at home, and the other took ship and made the coast of Etruria, and there settled, under Tyrrhenus, the son of Atys. Horace and Virgil (Aen. ii. 781) both adopted this story, which was familiar to men of learning, and perhaps believed by many. 'Lydorum quidquid,' 'all the Lydians that ever inhabited,' etc., is like Epod. v. 1: "At, o deorum quidquid in caelo regit."

3. _avus tibi maternus_] It seems from inscriptions to have been the practice of the Etrurians for men to be distinguished by the name of their mother, as well as their father.

5. _naso suspendis adunco_] This the Greeks expressed by μυκτηρίζειν. It is taken from that instinctive motion of the features which expresses contempt. How to account for it may not be easy, though it is so common. The expression 'naso suspendere' Horace may have invented. It occurs nowhere else, except in Persius (S. i. 118). It is repeated below, S. ii. 8. 64: "Balatro suspendens omnia naso." 'Ut' occurring twice in these two lines introduces confusion. The second means 'as for instance.'

6. _libertino patre natum._] The difference between 'libertus' and 'libertinus' is, that the latter expressed a man who had been manumitted, the former a freedman in his relation to the master who had given him his freedom. The son of a 'libertinus,' born after his father's manumission, and all other persons born free, were 'ingenui'; and Horace says that Mæcenas, though he would not take into his intimacy a freedman, made no inquiry as to the parentage of any one born free, but would make him his friend if he deserved it.

9. _Ante potestatem Tulli_] Horace here follows the legend which made Servius Tullius the son of a slave-girl, and himself a slave in the palace of King Tarquinius (see Livy, i. 39). On this account his reign was ignoble, while in true nobility it was surpassed by none of the others. Another legend (which Ovid follows, Fast. vi. 627, sqq.) makes Tullius the son of Vulcan; but his mother is there also a slave, having been taken captive at Corniculum, a city taken by Tarquinius Priscus.

12. _Laevinum, Valeri genus_] The Valeria gens was one of the most ancient in Rome, and embraced some of the most distinguished families, among others that of Publicola, the earliest member of which mentioned in history is Valerius Publicola, the colleague of Brutus after the expulsion of the kings. The family of Lævinus was another distinguished branch of the same gens. The Lævinus in the text is said to have been a man of abandoned character, so bad that even the populace, who were not easily deterred from conferring their honors upon the vicious, could not be prevailed on by admiration of his high ancestry to advance him beyond the quæstorship; that is to say, he never held a curule office. As to 'genus,' see C. i. 3. 27. On 'unde,' which is equivalent to 'a quo,' see C. i. 12. 17, n.; ii. 12. 7. 'Fugit' is the historic present, as it is called.

14. _pluris licuisse,_] 'Licere' is 'to be put up for sale,' and its correlative term is 'liceri,' 'to bid for an article at a sale by auction.' 'Notare' is to set a bad mark upon, to brand, and was technically applied to the censors (see note on v. 20). 'Judice quo nosti' is an instance of attraction, which figure the Romans borrowed from the Greeks, but did not use so commonly.

17. _titulis et imaginibus._] These were inscriptions, and waxen busts, recording the distinctions of any member of a family who had borne a curule office.

_quid oportet Nos facere_] Horace means to say, that those who by education and profession and experience were very far removed from the common people, ought to judge differently from them, and better. In this number he places himself. 'Longe longeque' is not an uncommon phrase. See Cicero (De Fin. ii. 21), and Ovid (Met. iv. 325). The repetition is only analogous to many others in the Latin language, as 'etiam atque etiam,' 'nimium nimiumque,' 'magis magisque,' etc.

19. _Namque esto_] He goes on to show, that though the value set upon titles and birth by the populace might be exaggerated, yet the other extreme is not to be allowed; and that he who seeks to push himself beyond his sphere, might be justly rebuked for his presumption.

20. _Quam Decio mandare novo,_] P. Decius Mus, who devoted himself to death for his country at the battle of Vesuvius, in the Latin war, B.C. 340, was the first consul of his family. He held the office with T. Manlius Torquatus in that year. After the curule magistracies were opened to the plebeians, an order of nobility sprung up among themselves, based upon the holding of these offices. Those families of which any member had ever held a curule office were 'nobiles,' the rest 'ignobiles,' and he in whose person such dignity was first attained was called, originally no doubt through the contempt of the patricians, but afterwards conventionally by all, 'novus homo.' The Decia gens was plebeian.

_censorque moveret Appius_] The Appius who is here taken as the type of severe censorship is Appius Claudius Caecus, the constructor of the road and aqueduct that bore his name (see S. 5. 2). He was made Censor B.C. 312. It was the province of the Censors, till that office was merged in the imperial power, to supply vacancies in the senate from the list of those who were eligible, who were all citizens of at least equestrian rank, of not less than a certain age (which is not known exactly but it was between thirty and forty), and those persons who had served in the principal magistracies. But they could also, in revising the list of senators at the beginning of their censorship, degrade those who had previously been in the senate, as well as exclude such as by their official rank were entitled to be senators. This they did, at their own discretion, for various offences by which 'ignominia' was liable to be incurred, or from the senator having been chosen improperly. They effected this exclusion merely by marking the name, and their mark was called 'nota censoria,' and the act itself, 'notare.' Horace, therefore, means that if he, through the favor of Mæcenas or other means, sought as a freedman's son to reach the dignity of a senator, and succeeded, the censors, if they did their duty strictly, would degrade him. The censor Appius, however, is notorious for his laxity in having chosen, for party purposes, the sons of freedmen, and other unqualified people, into the senate. But he was harsh and arbitrary in the exercise of his office, and his name was proverbial in connection with the censorship, which is enough to account for his appearance here. There was no money qualification for the senate, but only one of rank. 'Movere' is the technical word for degrading a senator, and those who were degraded, or not admitted, were called 'praeteriti senatores' from the circumstance of their being merely passed by when the lists were made out, and their names not appearing, which would prevent them from acting.

22. _in propria non pelle quiessem._] This is the old story of the ass in the lion's skin.

23. _Sed fulgente trahit_] This verse may or may not be taken from some heroic poem. It is introduced humorously, and yet with a serious meaning. 'Let the populace set their hearts upon rank and descent, and let the censors make that their standard for the senate, yet the humbly born may have their honors as well'; that is, the honors that arise from virtue and genius. The picture of Glory mounted on her car is repeated in Epp. ii. 1. 177, where the epithet 'fulgente' is exchanged for 'ventoso,' 'fickle as the winds.'

24. _Quo tibi, Tilli,_] This person is said to have been a senator, and to have been degraded by Julius Cæsar, as being of Pompeius's party, but reinstated after Cæsar's death, and made a military tribune. Whether or not he is different from the person mentioned below, v. 107, it is not easy to say.

25. _fierique tribuno?_] Each legion in the Roman army (the number varied at different times, but at Philippi there were nineteen on each side, each legion consisting of about 6,000 men, rather less than more) had six tribunes (the post Horace held in the army of Brutus), who were their principal officers. The military tribunes of the first four legions were entitled to sit in the senate. (See Epod. iv. 15, n.) As to the 'latus clavus,' see note on the 34th verse of the last Satire. 'Quo,' 'to what purpose.' (See C. ii. 2. 9, n.)

27. _Nam ut quisque insanus_] The senators' 'calceus,' an outdoor shoe, was fastened by four thongs ('nigris pellibus'), two on each side, which went spirally up to the calf of the leg ('medium crus'). These thongs were called 'corrigiae,' and were black. The shoe itself appears to have varied in color.

30. _quo morbo Barrus,_] His disease was a thirst for admiration among women. He was a man of bad passions, it is said. But we do not know much about him. He need not be identified with the man in S. 4. 110. A foul-mouthed person of the same name occurs in the next Satire (v. 8).

34. _Sic qui promittit_] This refers to the promises of candidates for office, and the three principal magistracies are implied: the city prætorship, in the words 'urbem sibi curae'; the consulship, in 'imperium et Italiam'; and the ædileship, in 'delubra deorum,' because it was the duty of the ædile to attend to the temples and other public buildings.

38. _Syri, Damae, aut Dionysi_] These were common names of slaves. The practice of executing criminals by throwing them from the Tarpeian Rock (part of the Mons Capitolinus) was not common in the latter period of the republic. It was never applied to slaves, who were put to death, chiefly by crucifixion, outside the city on the Esquiliæ. (See Epod. v. 99, n.) Cadmus is said to have been a public executioner of that day.

40. _At Novius_] The upstart who is supposed to be addressed in the previous lines, is a plebeian tribune, and he here affirms that, if his birth is low, that of his colleague Novius (who may be anybody, see note on S. 3. 21) is still lower. Freedmen, and persons following low trades, were admitted into the senate, and forced into high magistracies by Julius Cæsar, and it was not till some years after this Satire was written that Augustus purged the senate of these members. The words 'gradu post me sedet uno' may be a metaphor taken from the theatre, of which the first fourteen rows were assigned to the Equites (Epod. iv. 15, n.).

41. _Hoc tibi Paullus Et Messalla_] These were names belonging to two of the most distinguished families of Rome, the Æmilia and Valeria. Horace introduces the name Messalla probably out of compliment to his friend Corvinus, for whom he wrote C. iii. 21. As to 'hoc,' in the sense of 'propter hoc,' see above, S. 1. 46, n. The same person who puts the question 'tune Syri, etc.?' is here supposed to rejoin, saying, that, though this worthy tribune has a colleague a degree less illustrious than himself, he need not think himself a Paullus; and besides, though Novius be his inferior in one way, he beats him in strength of lungs, "and that is what we like," where the speaker ironically puts himself for the people.

43. _Concurrantque foro tria funera,_] These would be public funerals, 'funera indictiva,' at which the corpse of the deceased was carried in procession from his house, with the noise of trumpets and horns and fifes; and women ('praeficae') singing dirges; and 'mimi,' dancers and stage-players, who recited passages suited to the occasion, and sometimes acted the part of merry-andrews, mixing mirth with woe; and after these came men who represented the ancestors of the deceased, wearing masks suited to each character; and then the corpse on an open bier, which was followed by the relations and friends, all dressed in black. They went thus in procession to the Forum, when the bier was set down, and one of the relations pronounced a funeral oration, after which the body was taken up again, and the procession went on, with the same noisy accompaniments, to the place without the city (intramural burials were forbidden by the laws of the Twelve Tables) where the body was first to be burnt, and then buried. The idiom 'magna sonabit' occurs above, S. 4. 43, 'os magna sonaturum.'

48. _Quod mihi pareret_] See above, on v. 25.

49. _forsit_] This word is compounded of 'fors sit.' Whether it occurs elsewhere, or whether the passages in which it is supposed to occur are correctly copied, is doubted. Horace says, it might be that people had cause to grudge him the honorable post of military tribune, because he was not qualified for it; but no one could deny that he deserved the friendship of Mæcenas, because he was so particular in choosing only the deserving. 'Prava ambitione' means low flattery, to which Mæcenas would not listen.

52. _Felicem dicere_] 'Felix' is 'lucky.' Horace means he did not owe his introduction to Mæcenas to his luck, but to his friends. As to 'hoc,' see above, v. 41, n.

55. _Virgilius, post hunc Varuis_] See S. 5. 40, n.

56. _singultim_] Catching his breath, as a nervous man might.

59. _Satureiano_] A fine horse, bred in the pastures of Saturium in Calabria, near Tarentum. The lengthening of the antepenult is required by the metre.

64. _sed vita et pectore puro._] 'Not as being the son of a distinguished father, but because my life and heart were pure.'

68. _aut mala lustra_] 'Bad haunts.' Horace repeatedly introduces 'aut' after 'neque,' twice repeated. Other passages are C. iii. 23. 5; S. i. 9. 31; ii. 1. 15; 2. 22. The construction with 'nec' and 'et' is of the same kind, and has been noticed before.

71. _macro pauper agello_] This small farm of his father's, at Venusia, was confiscated during the time he was with the army of Brutus and Cassius.

72. _Noluit in Flavi ludum_] His father, who knew the value of a good education, and formed a right estimate of Horace's abilities, would not send him to a small provincial school, kept by one Flavius, where nothing but arithmetic was taught, but took him for his education to Rome, where, though Horace complains that the teaching lay chiefly in figures, and the pursuits of a practical life (Epp. ii. 1. 103, sqq.; A. P. 325, sqq.), there were means of acquiring a knowledge of literature and the arts, for those who chose to take advantage of them. Ovid in like manner was sent from Sulmo, his native town, to Rome (Trist. iv. 10. 16). 'Magni,' 'magnis,' may mean 'big,' 'coarse,' contemptuously, or they may mean 'important,' as centurions and their sons might be in a small municipal town.

74. _Laevo suspensi loculos_] This verse is repeated in Epp. i. 1. 56. Each boy went to school with a bag, in which he carried his books and pens, and perhaps his 'calculi,' or pebbles used in calculation. 'Tabulam' probably signifies the wooden tablet covered with wax, for writing upon. These country schoolboys did for themselves what at Rome was done for boys of good birth by slaves, 'capsarii.'

75. _Ibant octonis_] The Ides were eight days (inclusive) after the Nones, and hence I imagine the epithet 'octonis.' 'Aera' means the teacher's fee, which appears to have been paid monthly.

76. _Sed puerum est ausus_] At what age Horace was sent to Rome he does not inform us, but it is probable he went when he was about twelve years old.

77. _Artes quas doceat_] In the earlier days of Roman history, the education of a boy was of the simplest kind, consisting chiefly of reading, writing and arithmetic. 'Calculator' and 'notarius' continued until the time of Martial to be names for a schoolmaster; and, as observed before (v. 72, n.), the majority of boys learned little more than the above, even in Horace's time. When Cicero was a boy, the learning of the Twelve Tables formed a necessary part of education. Freer intercourse with Greece and the Greek towns of Italy brought a more liberal class of studies to Rome, where Horace says he studied Homer (Epp. ii. 2. 41, sq.). Rhetoric was a branch of study much pursued by the young Romans; poetry likewise, and the philosophy of Greece. Their studies commenced at an early age, at first under the teaching of their 'paedagogi,' and afterwards (till they assumed the 'toga virilis,' and in some cases longer) at the 'ludi literarii,' private schools which they attended as day scholars.

79. _In magno ut populo,_] 'So far as one could see me in such a busy crowd.'

81. _custos incorruptissimus_] The 'paedagogus' ('custos'), whose office was of late growth at Rome, and borrowed from Greece, had the same functions as the παιδαγωγός among the Greeks, and was a slave, as there. He was continually about the boy's person, and went with him to his masters. This task Horace's father, who could have had but few slaves, and had none whom he could trust with such important duties, performed himself. Besides the 'paedagogus,' as observed above (v. 74, n.), other slaves went with the boy, to carry his bag, etc., and to give him consequence.

86. _praeco--coactor_] The first of these functionaries was a crier, either at auctions (one of his duties being to induce persons to attend and buy, see A. P. 419), or in courts of justice, or the public assemblies. There was a 'praeco' at all punishments and executions, to declare the crime of the offender (Epod. iv. 12, n.); also town-criers, who cried lost property, as with us. There were other kinds of criers. Which class Horace refers to, we cannot tell. Nor is it decided what class of 'coactores' his father belonged to. There were persons employed by the 'publicani' to collect the revenue, and who were called 'coactores.' The person who collected the money bid at an auction, was also a 'coactor,' and, generally, persons employed to collect money bore that title. It is probable that the 'coactores' of the first class made a good deal of money. Matthew the Apostle was one, and he was rich. It is generally believed that the elder Horace belonged to the second of the above classes, and some color is given to this by the association of the word with 'praeco.' But Suetonius, or the author of Horace's life attributed to him, says that he was in the employ of the 'publicani.'

87. _at hoc nunc_] 'Hoc,' in the sense of 'propter hoc,' ἐπὶ τούτῳ, is commonly used by Horace. See in this Satire, vv. 41 and 52. It is also common in Cæsar.

89. _Nil me poeniteat sanum_] 'I hope while I have my senses I may never be ashamed.' Horace uses this mode of expression elsewhere, as in the last Satire, v. 44, and S. ii. 3. 322.

90. _dolo_] 'Dolus' is used like 'fraus' in C. i. 28. 30, for a fault generally: 'dolo suo,' 'by his own fault.'

93. _Et vox et ratio:_] 'My language and my judgment.'

94. _A certis annis_] 'From any given period.' He means that, at all times from his cradle upwards, his father had been to him all that a father could be. 'Legere ad fastum,' to choose with reference to ambition whatever parents each man might desire. We know nothing of Horace's mother, whom he probably lost in very early life; but he here intimates his respect for her memory, as well as his father's.

97. _Fascibus et sellis_] The 'fasces' were bundles of sticks, with or without an axe in the middle, which were carried before the consuls and prætors by lictors. The 'sella curulis' was a chair ornamented with ivory, the use of which during the republic was confined to the consuls, prætors, curule ædiles, and censors.

98. _fortasse_] The Greeks used ἴσως this way, where a certain and not a doubtful proposition is intended.

101. _salutandi plures,_] This means, that in order to preserve his position he must sell his independence, bowing to persons he would not otherwise notice, and paying visits of ceremony early in the morning,--a trouble that Horace would feel more than most men. He must also, he says, hire one or two persons to go about with him in the character of clients; he must buy a number of horses and slaves of the lower sort.

103. _plures calones_] 'Calones' were properly slaves who went with the army, carrying the heavier part of the soldier's accoutrements. But the word was also applied to domestic slaves employed on menial work.

104. _ducenda petorrita_] The 'petorritum' was a four-wheeled carriage, said to have been introduced from Gaul beyond the Alps.

_curto Ire licet mulo_] It is impossible to do more than conjecture what Horace means by 'curto.' Probably a stout, short-bellied animal is intended, an ugly beast.

105. _usque Tarentum,_] Along the most frequented of all the roads, the Via Appia, and to the farthest part of Italy, carrying his portmanteau behind him. Public officers could not go beyond a certain distance from Rome, without the permission of the senate.

107. _Tilli,_] See v. 24. He appears to have been a parsimonious person, going into the country with no company of friends, but only five slaves to attend him (see note on S. i. 3. 11), carrying a jar of their master's cheap wine. The Via Tiburtina left Rome by the Esquiline gate, and bore that name as far as Tibur, whence the Via Valeria completed the communication with Aternum on the Hadriatic.

111. _Millibus atque aliis_] See note on S. ii. 3. 197.

112. _quanti olus ac far;_] Horace means that he lounges in the market and talks freely to the market people, without fear of lowering his dignity, or being remarked.

113. _Fallacem Circum_] The Circus Maximus was said to have been built by Tarquinius Priscus for races and athletic exhibitions. Different writers mention that fortune tellers and other impostors resorted to the Circus, and gave it a bad name; but it was also frequented by prostitutes in vast numbers, who lined the vaults under the 'cavea,' and carried on their vile trade there, and was surrounded with shops established for the benefit of the spectators. The Circus Maximus was called Circus κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν. When there were no races or games going on, it was probably frequented as a lounge by all manner of people; but probably men of consequence did not care to be seen there among the vulgar, at such times. The Forum was not frequented in the evening by the richer class of people, who were then eating their dinner. Horace liked to stroll out at that hour, and take his light meal afterwards, and to stop and hear what the fortune-tellers had to say for themselves. Respecting these persons, see C. i. 11.

115. _Ad porri et ciceris_] This Pythagorean meal of leeks, pulse, and fritters, was partly perhaps matter of choice, and partly of necessity. Horace was poor at this time, and his health was indifferent. A vegetable diet was and is much more common in Italy than with us, and probably the most luxurious of the Romans, when by themselves, frequently abstained from meat. A dish of 'cicer,' ready boiled, was sold in the streets for an as, in the time of Martial (i. 104. 10). 'Laganus' is described by the Scholiasts as a flat, thin cake, fried and eaten with condiments. It was sometimes fried under roast meat or fowls, so as to get their dripping, and so would be like our Yorkshire pudding. Horace had no doubt the plainer sort.

116. _pueris tribus,_] This number was the lowest, probably, that at that time waited on any person who had any slaves at all. (See above, on v. 107.) 'Lapis albus' was a small side-table of white marble. The wealthy Romans had a great variety of tables of the handsomest sort in their dining-rooms, for exhibiting their plate. (See below, S. 2. 4, n.; and above, S. 3. 13, n.) All the plate Horace had to show was two cups and a cyathus (C. iii. 19. 12), and these it is probable were usually empty. The 'echinus' is a vessel nowhere else mentioned by that name, and is variously interpreted as a salt-cellar (in the shape of an 'echinus' or sea-hedgehog), a glass bottle, a leather bottle, and a wooden bowl in which to wash the cups. 'Paterae' were broad, flat, saucer-shaped cups, and were much used in libations. 'Guttus' was a long, thin-necked bottle, from which wine or oil was poured very slowly, drop by drop. It was also used in libations, and these two vessels, as here joined, have reference to the practice of offering a libation at every meal to the Lares. See C. iv. 5. 34, n. These were of the commonest earthenware which came from Campania. See S. ii. 3. 144.

120. _obeundus Marsya,_] Horace says he goes to bed without the nervous feeling that he must be up early to go to the Forum, where a statue of Marsyas was erected near the Rostra. Marsyas was a fabulous person, who was said to have challenged Apollo to play the lyre against his flute. Apollo, having gained the victory, caused Marsyas to be flayed alive. Marsyas or Silenus was the symbol of a city having the Jus Italicum, one part of which was a free constitution of its own. It would therefore appear in the Forum as the symbol of free jurisdiction. The only representations of Marsyas that remain, exhibit him either in the agony of punishment, or in the suspense that preceded it. Wherefore "a Marsyas countenance" was synonymous with dejection and ill-humour; and Horace seems to indicate that his face was distorted, and ascribes it humorously to his detestation of the younger Novius, who is said to have been a usurer.

122. _Ad quartam jaceo;_] The first hour he considers late enough for any man to sleep (Epp. i. 17. 6). Sometimes he got up early and went out to walk (S. 9); but as a general rule he remained in bed till the fourth hour, after which he got up and took a stroll, as he had done the evening before; or else, after reading and writing (or thinking, as he says S. 4. 133) by himself ('tacitum') and in bed, as much as he felt inclined, he anointed himself with oil, and went to the Campus Martius to get some exercise. The Romans rubbed oil on their limbs, either before swimming in the Tiber (C. iii. 12. 7, S. ii. 1. 8), or before their more violent exercises (C. i. 8. 8, sqq.). The parsimonious Natta, who robbed the lamps to oil himself, was probably a person of good family, that being the cognomen of the Pinaria gens, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome.

125. _Ast ubi me fessum_] When the sun began to get hot about noon, and Horace was tired with his game, he went to the public baths to bathe, which was usual after playing, and then took a light luncheon (see above S. 5. 25, n.), after which he lounged at home till evening, when he went out for his stroll perhaps, and came home again to his supper, as he told us before. 'Lusum trigonem' was a game of ball only mentioned elsewhere by Martial. The players, as the name implies, were three in number, and stood in a triangle. Their skill appears to have been shown in throwing and catching the ball with the left hand.

127. _quantum interpellet_] 'As much as would prevent me from going all day on an empty stomach.' The prose construction would be 'interpellet quin,' or 'quominus,' or 'ne durem.'

131. _Quaestor_] The office of 'quaestor,' which was at one time a high magistracy, when the 'quaestores' had charge of the 'aerarium' or public treasury, was at this time one of little weight. Its functions were not clearly defined. Horace was a scribe in the quaestor's office, which perhaps leads him to speak of a quaestor. The office was high enough for the occasion.

SATIRE VII.

The subject of this Satire is a dispute between Rupilius Rex, one of the officers on the staff of Brutus, and a merchant named Persius, of Clazomenæ (a town on the gulf of Smyrna), arising, it may be supposed, out of some money transactions. Horace treats the matter much in the same way as the dispute got up between the two parasites for the amusement of Mæcenas and his friends at Caudium (S. 5. 51, sqq.). He no doubt had some reason for disliking Rupilius, which the Scholiasts supply, whether with any sufficient authority it is impossible to say. They tell us that this man's native place was Præneste (which may be gathered from v. 28); that he was banished from that town by his fellow-citizens; that he then served in Africa in the army of Attius Varus, proprætor of Cn. Pompeius; that he was received into favor by Julius Cæsar and made Prætor; that after Cæsar's death he was proscribed by the Triumvirs, and joined the army of Brutus. Finally, that he was disgusted at Horace, a man of low birth, being made a military tribune, and continually insulted him, which indignities Horace retorted in this Satire. Persius, the Scholiasts say, was born of a Greek father and a Roman mother. Beyond this, which may or may not be true, we know nothing about him but what we gather from this Satire, that he was a wealthy man, and carried on a large business of some kind at Clazomenæ. The dispute arose when Brutus and his army were in Asia Minor, which was in B.C. 43-44 (see note on v. 18). How soon afterwards the Satire was written, it is impossible to say; not long, probably. It may have been made on the spot, and shown to those who would find most amusement in it, in the camp.

1. _Proscripti Regis Rupili_] The Rupilia gens was a plebeian family of no great note in Rome. The only one of the name who was distinguished was P. Rupilius, consul in B.C. 132, and the following year proconsul in Sicily. He was the intimate friend of Lælius and the Younger Scipio (Cic. de Amicit. 27). As to Rupilius Rex and Persius, see Introduction. By 'proscripti' it is perhaps intended to compare this Rex with the last of the Reges, Tarquinius. If so, the play upon the name is repeated in the last line. See note.

2. _Hybrida quo pacto sit Persius ultus,_] 'Hybrida' applies to all cross-bred animals, and was used for a man one of whose parents was a Roman and the other a foreigner.

3. _Omnibus et lippis notum et tonsoribus_] The apothecaries' and barbers' shops were constantly crowded with idlers, who had nothing to do but to gossip about the news of the hour. With the barbers it has been so in all ages and countries. The Romans were commonly afflicted with weakness of the eyes, and this caused the apothecary to be as much mixed up with idlers as the barber.

7. _Confidens tumidusque,_] See C. iii. 4. 50, n.

8. _Sisennas Barros ut equis_] Of Sisenna and Barrus nothing is known; but it may be conjectured, from this place, that their names were proverbial for foul-mouthed, abusive persons. The plural number is used here for the singular, according to a usage common to all languages. So Virg. Georg. ii. 169: "Haec Decios, Marios, magnosque Camillos, Scipiadas duros bello." Cic. Cat. Maj. 6: "Fabricii Curii Coruncanii." See also above, C. i. 12. 37, where Scauros is probably put for the best of that family, M. Æmilius. 'Equis albis' is equivalent to 'fleet horses,' according to that line of Virgil in which he describes the horses of Turnus, "Qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras" (Aen. xii. 84). The expression 'equis praecurreret albis' is proverbial, 'he would soon outstrip them.'

9. _Postquam nihil inter utrumque Convenit,_] When they found they could not settle their quarrel privately, they went before the prætor (v. 18). The digression that intervenes is a comparison between such disputants and the warriors of the Iliad. When men fall out, says he, they fight after the fashion of two brave heroes engaged in a deadly feud, even as Hector and Achilles, who hated each other so mortally, and were so exceedingly brave, that they could not be separated when they came together in conflict till one or other was killed; or else they behave as when two cowards meet, and both are glad to give way; or as when the strong meets the weak, Diomed meets Glaucus, and the weak gives in, and humbles himself before his enemy.

11. _inter Hectora--atque inter Achillem_] This repetition of 'inter' is not uncommon. See Cic. Lael. c. 25: "Contio--judicare solet quid intersit inter popularem civem, et inter constantem, severum, et gravem." See Epp. i. 2. 11. 'Animosum' belongs to 'Achillem,' 'atque' being often put by Horace after the first word of its clause. See Epod. xvii. 4. S. i. 5. 4; 6. 131.

15. _vexet_] The meeting between Glaucus and Diomed, in which the former loses heart and gives up his arms to his adversary, is related in Hom. Il. vi. 234, sqq. On 'ultro,' see C. iv. 4. 51, n.

18. _Bruto praetore tenente_] Brutus was 'praetor urbanus' in the year B.C. 44, when Cæsar was killed; and in the course of the same year he left Rome for the purpose of taking possession, as proprætor, of the two provinces of Macedonia and Bithynia, which had been assigned him by the senate, who revoked his appointment before he had reached his province, and assigned it to M. Antonius, and he made it over to his brother Caius. Brutus, however, in defiance of the senate, took possession of the province of Macedonia, and retained it after the formation of the coalition between Augustus and M. Antonius. Being then at war with the senate, he led his troops into Asia Minor as into a foreign country, and overran Lycia, and dealt with Asia as his own province. Proceeding through the country he probably held 'conventus' (see below, v. 22) at particular places, for the purpose of hearing disputes as proprætor; and it was at such a gathering at Clazomenæ that this cause of Persius and Rex was heard. Horace calls Brutus 'praetor,' though he was not entitled strictly to the name, particularly in respect to the province of Asia, which had never been assigned him. He called himself at this time 'imperator,' as appears from coins still existing.

20. _Compositum melius cum Bitho Bacchius_] 'Compositum' agrees with 'par' understood, that word being used as a substantive for 'a pair,' both in the singular, as here, and the plural, as Cic. Lael. c. 4: "Ex omnibus seculis vix tria aut quattuor nominantur paria amicorum." Bithus and Bacchius are said to have been gladiators of great repute, who, after having in their time killed many antagonists, finally killed each other. As to 'in jus,' see S. 9. 77.

22. _ridetur ab omni Conventu;_] 'Ridetur' is used impersonally. 'Conventus' was a meeting, at fixed times and places, of the inhabitants of a province before the prætor or governor, for the purpose of settling disputes and transacting business. The name was also applied to certain districts out of which such meetings were composed.

23. _laudatque cohortem:_] The official staff of a provincial governor was called his 'cohors' and 'comites.' See Epp. i. 3. 6; 8. 2, 14. The lower officials, who did not belong to the 'cohors,' but were a good deal about the person of the governor, Cicero speaks of as those "qui quasi ex cohorte praetoris appellari solent" (Ad Qu. Fr. 1. i. Ep. 1. c. 4, where see Long's note). 'Comes' was retained as a title of honor during the empire, and has survived to the present day in the word 'count.'

25. _canem_] The 'dog-star,' as opposed to the 'stellae salubres.' 'Excepto Rege' shows that Rupilius belonged to the 'cohors,' and therefore held a post of trust about Brutus.

27. _fertur quo rara securis._] Between precipitous banks covered with trees, where the axe seldom comes, from their inaccessible position.

28. _Tum Praenestinus_] See Introduction. 'Salso multoque fluenti' means, as he went on with his bitterness, pouring on like a full stream. His abuse is salt, the other man's vinegar.

29. _Expressa arbusto_] 'Drawn from the vineyard.' The illustration Horace chooses for the abuse which the enraged Rupilius hurls back ('regerit') upon his antagonist, is that which the vine-dresser retorts upon the passenger, who provokes him, in the first instance, by calling to him "Cuckoo!" but who is fain to retreat before the storm of foul language the vine-dresser returns him, still however calling as he retires, "Cuckoo, cuckoo!" He was considered a tardy person who had not got his vines trimmed by the arrival of the cuckoo, and the joke consists in the passenger telling the vine-dresser that the cuckoo was coming, and would find his trees unpruned, which was as much as to call him a lazy fellow. The Greeks had a proverb to the same effect, and modern travellers observe similar practices among the Neapolitan peasantry now. In 'vindemiator' the third syllable coalesces with the fourth. See C. iii. 4. 41, and add S. i. 8. 43; 5. 67; ii. 2. 21; 3. 245. Epp. ii. 2. 120. 'Invictus' means one who could not be beaten with his own weapons of abuse.

32. _Italo perfusus aceto,_] 'Pus,' 'venenum,' 'sal,' 'acetum,' are all words well chosen for describing the poisonous character of these men's malice.

34. _qui reges consueris tollere,_] The man plays upon the name of Brutus, alluding to him whom the prætor claimed for his ancestor, L. Junius Brutus, who helped to expel the last of the kings. See note on v. 1.

SATIRE VIII.

On the outside of the city walls, in front of Mons Esquilinus, lay the Campus Esquilinus, in which was a public burial-ground for the poorest of the people, and the Sestertium or place of execution for slaves and others of the lower sort, whose bodies were left unburied, for the dogs and vultures to prey upon (see Epod. v. 100). This place, which must always have been a public nuisance and a source of malaria, was given (as some say) by a decree of the senate to Mæcenas, or else purchased by him, cleared, drained, and laid out in gardens, in which he afterwards built a handsome house. (See C. iii. 29. Epod. ix. 3. S. ii. 3. 309.) His example was afterwards followed by a member of the house of Lamia, in whose gardens Caligula was buried. (Suet. Calig. c. 59.) The following Satire was suggested by a figure of Priapus set up in Mæcenas's garden. The god is represented as contrasting the present state of the ground with what it once was, by which a compliment is conveyed to Mæcenas for his public spirit in ridding the city of such a nuisance. Priapus is also made to complain of the trouble he has, in keeping the ground clear of trespassers, but more particularly of the witches, who, having formerly carried on their practices among the tombs and bones of the dead, continued to haunt the scene of their iniquity. This is introduced for the purpose of dragging in the woman whom Horace satirized under the name of Canidia (v. 23, sqq.). The description is in some parts very like that of the fifth Epode, and the two may have been written about the same time.

1. _inutile lignum,_] The uselessness of the wood of the fig-tree was proverbial. Hence σύκινοι ἄνδρες meant men fit for nothing. Priapus was a rural divinity, borrowed by the Romans from the later mythology of the Greeks. He was the protector of flocks, fields, and gardens, and symbolized the fertility of nature generally. His images were made in a rough fashion, and the ancients had but little respect for him, unless it were those of the lowest sort; though Horace, who treats him so contemptuously here, speaks of him elsewhere (Epod. ii.), in conjunction with Silvanus, as receiving the sacrifice due to him. No one could better have appreciated than a Roman of Horace's way of thinking, whether, in respect to this deity or any other, the ironical description of the prophet Isaiah (xliv. 9-20), which may be referred to with advantage. There is no smoke in the whole of that description more severe than Horace's "incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum Maluit esse deum." The figures of Priapus were generally busts, but sometimes they were full length, of the kind Horace describes. Usually they held a sickle or a club in their right hand, by way of frightening thieves, and a wisp of straw, or something of that sort, to frighten the birds.

6. _importunas volucres_] Virgil applies the same epithet to destructive birds "Obscoenaeque canes importunaeque volucres" (Georg. i. 470). The word is used with a variety of meanings, to reduce which to one character we must know more than we do of its etymology.

8. _Huc prius angustis_] See Introduction. The poor people were buried in ill-dug graves, which had the name 'puticuli,' probably a form of 'putei.' The manner of their funeral is here stated with painful satire. The poor wretch is neglected by his master; and a fellow-slave, out of his 'peculium,' goes to the expense of hiring ('locabat') 'vespillones' (common corpse-bearers, νεκροφόρους) to carry him out on a bier to the public burial ground, where his corpse was tossed naked into a pit into which other corpses had been tossed before. This scene could not have occurred in all its particulars very often, since every master was bound by law to bury his slave, and if any one did it for him, he was entitled to recover the cost of the funeral from the master of the slave. The 'vilis arca' was called 'sandapila,' a bier of narrow dimensions.

11. _Pantolabo scurrae Nomentanoque nepoti:_] As to these persons, see note on S. 1. 101. In consequence of their extravagance, Priapus foretells they will come to a pauper's funeral.

12. _Mille pedes in fronte,_] This public burial ground was 1,000 feet in breadth and 300 in depth. 'In fronte' means facing the public road, the Via Tiburtina (6. 108), or the Via Praenestina, one of which, or both, must have passed very close to it. (See Cæsar, B. G. ii. 8, and Mr. Long's note.) It was usual to engrave on monuments the following letters, H. M. H. N. S., which stand for "Hoc monumentum heredes non sequitur", or H. M. AD H. N. TRANS. The words were sometimes given at full length. Sometimes EX T. (ex testamento) were inserted between H. and N. Such sepulchres were called 'sepulcra familiaria'; those that were built for a man and his heirs were called 'hereditaria.' Horace writes as if there were a stone ('cippus') which defined ('dabat') the extent of this burial ground and bore the inscription usual on private monuments, H. M. H. N. S., which is obviously only a satire. The words could only apply to a private place of burial. All he really means is, that a space of ground of the extent he mentions was marked off for the burial of these poor people.

14. _Nunc licet Esquiliis_] The whole of the Esquiline or fifth region of Rome was called Esquiliæ. This, from having been an eye-sore and a plague-spot, became a healthy and pleasant residence. Suetonius tells us that Augustus, when he was ill, went to Mæcenas's house in the Esquiliæ, to recruit (Octav. c. 72). The 'agger' here referred to was a raised terrace, commenced by Servius Tullius, and continued by Tarquinius Priscus, being in all about twelve stadia in length, and about fifty feet in breadth. Here the Romans walked in cold weather to get the sun, and had a full view of the pestilent plain which Mæcenas converted into a paradise. Juvenal calls it 'ventosus' (S. viii. 43). 'Quo' is used in the sense of 'ex quo.'

17. _Cum mihi non tantum_] 'Cum' is thus connected with what goes before. Priapus says the locality is now made healthy, and the citizens may take their walk without being sickened with the sight of bones bleaching upon the plain, whereas his vexations still remain,--the driving away of thieves and wild animals, which still frequented the spot, and, yet worse, the punishment and scaring away of the witches, who there continued to carry on their abominable practices. We may suppose that, though the place was cleared, the witches still continued, from habit, to haunt the scene of their iniquities, and that the 'fures' and 'ferae' are the depredators that came to rob the gardens which were the god's particular care. There is no other instance of 'suetus' being used as a trisyllable. Lucretius so uses 'suevit' (vi. 854): "Qui ferri quoque vim penetrare suevit."

23. _Vidi egomet nigra_] The god proceeds to relate a scene that happened before the tombs were cleared away (v. 36), in which the characters introduced are the notorious Canidia, of whom we have seen enough in the Epodes, and Sagana, who is associated with her in Epod. v. 25, sqq. Their appearance and behavior are much the same as there.

_nigra succinctam vadere palla_] The 'palla' was the upper garment worn by women out of doors, as the men wore the toga. (See S. 2. 29, n.) Here 'succinctam' signifies 'expeditam,' 'swift in her movements,' as in Epod. v. 25. It is equivalent to 'praecinctis' in S. 5. 6, where see note. It occurs again, S. ii. 6. 107.

25. _Cum Sagana majore_] 'Majore' probably signifies that Sagana was older than Canidia.

27. _pullam_] Æneas offers a black lamb to Nox and Terra (Aen. vi. 249): "Ipse atri velleris agnam Aeneas matri Eumenidum magnaeque sorori Ense ferit." Tibullus uses the same word as Horace (i. 2. 61):--

"Et me lustravit taedis et nocte serena Concidit ad magicos hostia pulla deos."

28. _confusus_] 'Poured and stirred.' Compare Tibull. (i. 2. 45):--

"Haec cantu finditque solum, Manesque sepulcris Elicit, et tepido devocat ossa rogo."

29. _Manes_] See Epp. ii. 1. 138, n.

30. _Lanea et effigies erat, altera cerea:_] The meaning of the woollen image, which was to punish the waxen one, is not very clear. The wax was to melt, and, as it melted, so was the lover to consume in the fires of love.

32. _servilibus--modis._] There was scarcely any imaginable form of cruelty to which slaves were not liable, through the caprice of their owners, and this of roasting or half roasting alive may have happened to more than one poor wretch of this class.

34. _serpentes--Infernas errare canes,_] Snakes in her hair, round her waist, and in her hand for a whip, are insignia always to be found in the representations of Tisiphone. Virgil mentions the infernal hounds as howling at the approach of Hecate (Aen. vi. 257): "Visaeque canes ululare per umbram, Adventante Dea." She was worshipped under three forms, as Luna in heaven; as Artemis (by the Greeks) or Diana (by the Romans) upon earth; and as Proserpina in Tartarus. In the first and last of these forms she was invoked by witches. Here it is in her infernal character.

36. _sepulcra._] These were great barrows formed by the burial of a number of corpses in one pit (v. 8, n.).

39. _Julius et fragilis Pediatia_] The connection between these persons, Julius and Pediatius, is stated to have been of a kind not mentionable. Julius may have been a freedman of the dictator, C. Julius Cæsar, and the other person is said to have been a Roman eques. The feminine termination is affixed to his name to indicate that he was addicted to the vilest practices. Of Voranus nothing is known; but he was some notorious thief.

41. _resonarent triste et acutum,_] This corresponds with Virgil's description (Aen. vi. 492), "pars tollere vocem Exiguam."

43. _cerea_] The last two syllables coalesce. See S. 7. 30, n.

45. _Furiarum_] Horace calls the two witches Furies, by a way of speaking common to all times since the decline of the reverential feeling which made the Greeks shrink from mentioning the name of these σεμναὶ θεαί. Before Euripides, no writer would have made so free with the name of the Erinnyes. He applies it to Helen (Orest. 1390, περγάμων Ἀπολλωνίων Ἐρινύν), and to Medea (Med. 1260, ἔξελ᾽ οἴκων τάλαιναν φονίαν τ᾽ Ἐρινὺν ὑπ᾽ ἀλαστόρων).

48. _caliendrum_] This is variously stated to be a wig, or a cap, or some ornament for the head. The etymology is uncertain.

50. _Vincula_] These may mean love-knots, or long grass woven into chains for refractory and faithless lovers.

SATIRE IX.

This Satire, which is justly popular for its humor and great dramatic power, has an historical value as showing, undesignedly, but more clearly than almost any description could do, the character of Horace. It puts the man before us as in a picture.

He represents himself as sauntering alone and early on the Sacra Via, when a person he knew no more than by name, a forward coxcomb, comes up familiarly and falls into conversation with him, to his great annoyance, for he wanted to be alone, and knew the fellow's character, which was probably notorious. Horace does his best to shake him off, but he is too amiable to cope with the effrontery of his companion, whose object is to get, through Horace, an introduction to Mæcenas. The man's vulgarity and want of tact are conspicuous throughout the scene, while Horace exhibits in every part good breeding and an amiable temper, and though he is tried to the utmost by reflections on his patron and his friends, he is incapable of saying a rude word, is taken off his guard continually, and is amusingly conscious of his inferiority to the man of insolence on his own ground. The effect of this picture is heightened by the introduction, towards the end of the scene, of Fuscus Aristius, an old friend of the poet, and a man of the world, who, like Horace understood character, but had that sort of moral courage and promptitude which his friend wanted. The readiness with which he takes up the joke and enters into Horace's absurd position, and the despair to which his desertion reduces the poet, are highly ludicrous. After various ineffectual attempts to get rid of the man, Horace is at last delivered by one who seizes upon the intruder and carries him off to appeal before the prætor on some suit he has against him.

1. _Ibam forte via Sacra,_] Horace does not mean that it was his custom to stroll on the Sacra Via, especially at that hour in the morning, about eight o'clock (v. 35); but that, when he walked, his mind generally diverted itself with trifles, being of an easy turn, and having few anxieties to trouble it. On the Via Sacra, see Epod. iv. 7, n., vii. 8, n.

4. _Quid agis,_] See Epp. i. 3. 15.

5. _Suaviter ut nunc est,_] 'Pretty well as times go'; by which he means nothing at all, not caring what he answers, but annoyed at the forwardness of his assailant. 'Cupio omnia quae vis' is a common formula of politeness.

6. _Num quid vis? occupo._] 'Num quid vis quin abeam?' 'Is there any thing else I can do for you before I go?' Professor Key (L. G. 1183) quotes this phrase from Terence (Ad. ii. 2. 39), and adds in a note, "This or a shorter form, 'numquid vis'? was a civil mode of saying good-by." 'Occupo' means 'I anticipate him before he has time to speak.'

10. _Dicere nescio quid puero,_] When the Romans walked abroad even for a stroll on the most ordinary occasions, they had one or more slaves with them. They were a particular class in the 'familia,' and called, from their occupation, 'pedisequi.'

11. _O te, Bolane, cerebri Felicem!_] The meaning of 'cerebri' is seen in the adjective 'cerebrosus' noticed above (5. 21). Horace, remembering an acquaintance of quick, strong temper, envies him that quality, for he is too mild to shake off his companion. Who Bolanus was, is unknown. It was a cognomen of one at least of the families at Rome, and derived from Bola, a town of the Æqui.

18. _Trans Tiberim--cubat is_] 'Cubat' means that his friend is lying sick. (See Sat. ii. 3. 289, and Epp. ii. 2. 68.) Julius Cæsar had some pleasure-grounds, which he bequeathed to the Roman people, on the right bank of the Tiber, a long way from the Sacra Via.

22. _non Viscum pluris amicum,_] Who Viscus was it is impossible to say with certainty. The name occurs in S. 10. 83, where there are two; and in S. ii. 8. 20, where mention is made of Viscus of Thurii. The name is always associated with Varius, concerning whom see S. 5. 40, n.

25. _Hermogenes_] See S. 3. 129, n.

28. _Felices! nunc ego resto._] This and what follows must be supposed to have been uttered inwardly. He wishes himself dead. The witch's prophecy is only an absurd notion suggested by his present position. 'Confice' means 'despatch me,' 'finish me.' It is a technical word for the transaction and completion of business. As to the Sabine witches, see Epod. xvii. 28, and on 'urna,' see C. ii. 3. 25, n. As Fate, so the witch shakes her urn, and the lot or name of this or that person falls out, on which she pronounces her prophecies. All the three words, 'divina,' 'mota,' 'urna,' are in the ablative. 'Quandocunque' has sometimes, but rarely, the sense of 'aliquando,' 'some time or other,' which is its meaning here.

35. _Ventum erat ad Vestae,_] They had now had an hour's walk, and, having passed through the Forum, were approaching the Tiber, not far from which, and to the west of Mons Palatinus, stood the temple of Vesta, with the Atrium Numæ and Lucus Vestæ attached (C. i. 2. 16, n.). The temple of Vesta was near one of the courts of law where the man had to make his appearance, or forfeit his 'vadimonium.' It was now past the third hour, when the business of the courts commenced.

36. _casu tunc respondere vadato_] The expression 'vadari aliquem' means to require 'vades,' 'sureties,' of a party. The corresponding term is 'vadimonium promittere,' which is said of him who gives 'vades.' The 'vadatus' therefore was the plaintiff in an action, in which the hero of this Satire was defendant. He had entered into an engagement ('vadimonium') to appear on a certain day to answer to the action, and if he failed he would lose his cause, forfeit the amount of his 'vadimonium,' and be liable to be arrested in satisfaction of the remainder of the debt, if that were not covered by the 'poena desertionis' deposited when the 'vadimonium' was entered into. The amount of this was sometimes equal to the sum in dispute, sometimes only one half. 'Litem' means the amount claimed by the plaintiff, as in a criminal action it was the amount of damages assessed under a 'litis aestimatio.'

38. _Si me amas,--hic ades._] "'Adesse' is a word of technical use to accompany a person to court, there to give him your aid and advice." (Long on Cicero in Verr. ii. 2. 29.) 'Hic' shows they were within sight of the court to which the speaker points.

39. _Aut valeo stare_] 'Stare' here means 'to stop.'

40. _quo scis._] See v. 18.

41. _Tene relinquam an rem._] On the use of 'ne--an,' see Key's L. G. § 1423, b. 'Res' is technically used here and elsewhere (in legal formulæ) as an equivalent for 'lis.'

43. _Maecenas quomodo tecum?_] He asks abruptly, "How do you and Mæcenas get on together? a shrewd man, and does n't make himself common. No man ever made a better use of his opportunities. Could you not introduce me to him? I should be very happy to play into your hands, and, if I am not very much mistaken, we should soon push aside your rivals." 'Paucorum hominum' means a man of few acquaintances, as in Terence (Eun. iii. 1. 18):--

"Immo sic homo est Perpaucorum hominum. _Gn._ Immo multorum arbitror Si tecum vivit."

46. _Magnum adjutorem_] 'Ferre secundas' and 'adjutor' are scenic terms, and are said, the first of the δευτεραγωνιστής (see Epp. i. 18. 14), the other of all the subordinate players. 'Hunc hominem' is the Greek τόνδ᾽ ἄνδρα. 'Tradere' is a conventional term for introductions, and 'submovere' for the duty of the lictor in clearing the way (see C. ii. 16. 10).

48. _Non isto vivimus_] Horace indignantly declares that these are not the terms on which they live with Mæcenas, intriguing and jostling one another to get the first place in his favor.

53. _Sic habet._] This is a literal adaptation of oὕτως ἔχει.

54. _Velis tantummodo: quae tua virtus,_] This is said ironically. 'You have only to desire it, and of course, such is your virtue, you will be sure to gain your point and Mæcenas is a man who may be won, and for this reason (because he likes to be won) he is difficult of access at first.' On the construction 'quae tua virtus,' see Key's L. G. 1131.

56. _Haud mihi deero:_] The man professes to suppose Horace is serious, and takes him at his word.

59. _deducam._] "Haec enim ipsa sunt honorabilia quae videntur levia atque communia, salutari, appeti, decedi, assurgi, deduci, reduci, consuli" (Cic. de Senect. c. 18). To attend upon a person when he leaves home is 'deducere'; 'reducere' to accompany him on his return. Great men, when they went out of doors, were usually accompanied by friends, while numbers of parasites and expectants followed their steps, and were eager to be seen by them and to be known to have been in their company.

61. _Fuscus Aristius_] See Introduction, and C. i. 22.

62. _Unde venis? et Quo tendis?_] This was a common mode of salutation. See S. ii. 4. 1, "Unde et quo Catius?"; Virg. Ecl. ix. 1, "Quo te, Moeri, pedes? an, quo via ducit, in urbem?"

64. _lentissima brachia,_] 'Arms that had no feeling.' Fuscus pretends not to perceive his friend's hints, pulling his toga, pressing his arm, nodding and looking askance at him.

65. _Male salsus_] 'The wicked wag,' as we should say.

69. _tricesima sabbata:_] It is probable that Aristius Fuscus knew very little about the Jews, and invented the thirtieth Sabbath on the spot. I do not find that it is made out on any authority that the Jews had any Sabbath that they called the thirtieth. The plural σάββατα is commonly used by the writers of the New Testament for the Sabbath day. But among many superstitions prevalent, especially among women and persons of nervous habit and of the lower orders (see S. ii. 3. 291, n.), curses denounced upon the transgressors of the Sabbath, which the Jews, who were zealous in making proselytes, propagated among them, were objects of terror to many.

72. _Huncine solem Tam nigrum surrexe_] 'Huncine' is compounded of the pronoun, the demonstrative enclitic 'ce' (for 'ecce,' 'behold'), and the interrogative enclitic 'ne' (Key's L. G. 293). As to 'surrexe,' see S. i. 5. 79; and Terence (Ad. iv. 2. 22), "Non tu eum rus hinc modo Produxe aiebas?"

76. _Licet antestari?_] This word signifies the calling a by-stander to witness that there was nothing illegal in the conduct of the plaintiff in such a case as the above, and that the defendant had resisted, and that force was necessary. The process was by touching the ear of the person whose testimony was asked, who could not be compelled to be a witness; but after he had consented, he was bound to appear and give evidence if required. Horace was only too glad to help in the forcible removal of his persecutor, and gave his ear with all readiness. The parties begin to wrangle: a crowd of idlers of course forms round them, and Horace makes his escape. By 'vero' he means 'in good earnest.'

77. _Rapit in jus;_] 'In jus vocare' is a technical expression having reference to the first step in a civil action when both parties appeared before the prætor or other magistrates having 'jurisdictio,' with the view of fixing a day for the commencement of the trial. On this occasion the 'vadimonium' above described was entered into. 'In jus vocare,' therefore, being the first step, could not follow upon the neglect of the 'vadimonium' by Horace's companion; and the 'adversarius' in this case cannot be the plaintiff in the other (v. 36), unless Horace is speaking loosely.

SATIRE X.

The line of self-defence Horace took in the fourth Satire (see Introduction, and v. 6, n.) led him into a criticism of Lucilius, which gave a fresh handle to his adversaries, who professed an admiration for that poet, but admired him for his worst faults of taste, and especially for his combination of Greek words with his mother tongue,--a practice the affectation of which no one would more instinctively feel and condemn than Horace. Horace adheres to his criticism, and says, if Lucilius had lived, he would have been the first to find faults in his own style, and to correct it.

1. _Nempe incomposito_] See Introduction.

3. _At idem_] "'At' denotes rather addition than opposition. It is commonly employed after a concession" (Key's L. G. 1445). The concession here is in 'nempe.' 'You say, and I admit it, still in the same Satire I praised him.'

4. _defricuit_] This word is nowhere else used in this sense. It means 'to give a hard rub,' as we say. There are other vulgarisms in our own language akin to this expression.

6. _Et Laberi mimos_] Laberius was the most distinguished writer of this particular kind of play that we know of. He died the year before the battle of Philippi, A.U.C. 711, and therefore before this Satire was written. The Roman mimes were, in the time of Laberius, represented in the theatres with the regular drama. They were a combination of grotesque dumb-show, of dances by men and women, of farcical representations in verse-dialogue, of incidents in low and profligate life, and of grave sentiments and satirical allusions interspersed with the dialogue. Augustus was a great patron of these licentious representations. See Tac. Ann. i. 54.

9. _Est brevitate opus,_] The want of this quality in Lucilius he condemns in S. 4. 9, sqq.

11. _modo tristi_] 'Tristi' signifies 'serious.'

12. _Defendente vicem_] 'Supporting the part,' like "fungar vice cotis" (A. P. 304), and "Actoris partes chorus officiumque virile Defendat" (v. 193). On 'modo,' see S. 3. 12. The combination Horace commends is that of the orator sternly or gravely rebuking vice, of the humorous satirist ('poëtae') broadly ridiculing it, and of the polished wit, who, instead of throwing himself with all his strength upon his victim, substitutes sarcasm for invective, and lets his power be rather felt than seen. Of these three, the gravity of stern reproof Horace estimates lowest, saying that ridicule generally settles questions, of however grave importance, better and more decisively than severity.

15. _secat res._] 'Secare' is used in the sense of 'decidere' in Epp. i. 16. 42. Cicero (De Or. ii. 58) says, "Est plane oratoris movere risum,--maxime quod tristitiam ac severum mitigat et relaxat odiosasque res saepe quas argumentis dilui non facile est joco risuque dissolvit."

16. _Illi scripta quibus_] See S. 4. 2, n. 'Hoc stabant,' 'stood on this ground,' as 'hinc pendet,' S. 4. 6.

18. _Hermogenes_] See S. 3. 129, n. 'Simius iste' probably means Demetrius, whom we meet with below (v. 79) as an abuser of Horace and (v. 90) as a trainer of 'mimae,' like Hermogenes, with whom he is associated. We know nothing more of him. His only skill was to sing the love-songs of Calvus and Catullus, who were favorite poets of the last generation, and great friends.

20. _quod verbis Graeca Latinis_] This is a new fault in the style of Lucilius, not before mentioned. See the note on S. 4. 6.

21. _Seri studiorum!_] This phrase represents the Greek ὀψιμαθεῖς. In 'quine putetis' the interrogative enclitic is somewhat redundant, but not more than in many other instances, as S. ii. 2. 107, and 3. 295, 317.

22. _Rhodio quod Pitholeonti_] This person is unknown. His name probably was Pitholaus; if so, Horace changed that termination in conformity with the Greek usage, as Τιμόλαος and Τιμόλεων, Μενέλαος and Μενέλεως, &c., are different forms of the same word.

24. _ut Chio nota si_] On 'nota' see C. ii. 3. 8. Here the Chian, a sweet wine, would represent the Greek, as the rougher wine of Campania would stand for the less polished Latin.

26. _causa Petilli?_] See S. 4. 94, n.

27. _Scilicet oblitus_] The sense of the passage from v. 25 to 30 is this: "You say that the language is more elegant if it be set off with Greek. But I ask you yourself, is it only when you are writing poetry, or when you have on hand a difficult cause, such as that of Petillius? Would you then likewise, forgetting your country and your birth, while our great orators Pedius and Messalla are elaborating their speeches in their pure mother tongue ('Latine'),--would you, I say, prefer mixing up a foreign jargon with your native language, like a double-tongued man of Canusium?" He puts the composition of verses on such themes as Lucilius chose, on a level with the gravity of forensic speaking, and asks why, if the man would not apply the rule to the latter, he should do so to the former.

28. _Cum Pedius causas_] Who Pedius was, is quite uncertain; but he must have been well known as an orator. It is also uncertain whether Poplicola belongs to Pedius or Corvinus, about whom see C. iii. 21. Quintilian describes him (x. 1. 113) as "orator nitidus et candidus et quodammodo prae se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam." And Horace speaks again of his eloquence, A. P. 370. His intimacy with Horace began in the army of Brutus, and continued unbroken till Horace's death.

30. _Canusini more bilinguis?_] As to Canusium, see S. 5. 91. It was one of those Greek towns which retained longest and most purely the language of its founders, as we may suppose from the text.

36. _Turgidus Alpinus_] This is supposed to be a bad poet named M. Furius Bibaculus, born at Cremona B.C. 102. 'Turgidus' refers to his person. Horace describes him elsewhere as "pingui tentus omaso" (S. ii. 5. 40), where a bombastic verse of his is quoted, which may account for his being called familiarly, by his contemporaries, Alpinus. Horace speaks of his murdering Memnon, and it is generally supposed that this refers to a translation he made of the Aethiopis of Arctinus, one of the Cyclic poets, in which Memnon was one of the principal heroes.

37. _Defingit Rheni luteum caput,_] Horace says that Furius, like some rude artist, had made a figure of Rhenus (the Rhine) with a head of clay, referring to the statues by which the different river-gods were represented, and to some description this poet had given of the Rhine, perhaps in a poem he is said to have written on the Gallic war. 'Defingo' is 'to fashion out,' and differs little from 'fingo.'

38. _Quae neque in aede sonent_] Sp. Mæcius Tarpa was the officer who licensed plays before they were acted. He is mentioned again in the Ars Poëtica (v. 387). His duties had previously formed part of the functions of the ædiles, and it was not till political allusions became common, and the position of affairs too critical to bear them, that this special censorship was created. 'Aedes' in the singular signifies 'a temple.' Temples of Apollo and the Muses are referred to by Juvenal (S. vii. 37) as the resort of poets, and other temples besides (see Ovid. Trist. iii. 1. 69) had buildings attached where men of letters assembled. In one of these, therefore, or some building especially consecrated to the Muses, poets who had plays they wished to get represented recited them, probably in the presence of Tarpa.

42. _Unus vivorum, Fundani;_] Of this Fundanius, who Horace says was the only man of the day who could write a comedy in the style of Menander and that school, nothing whatever is known. He is the narrator of the scene in S. ii. 8, the supper of Nasidienus. Probably Horace exaggerated his merits, as well as Pollio's, out of affection for the men. As to Pollio, see C. ii. 1, Int., and v. 10, n. 'Regum,' such as the "sacra Pelopis domus" (C. i. 6. 8, n.). 'Pede ter percusso' refers to the trimeter iambic, the common measure of tragedy.

44. _Ut nemo Varius ducit;_] As to Varius, see the Ode last mentioned, vv. 8, 11, and S. 5. 40. The derived significations of 'ducere' are various. As applied to a poem, it is probably taken from the process of spinning. See Epp. ii. 1. 225: "tenui deducta poëmata filo." See also S. ii. 1. 4.

45. _Virgilio_] Whether Virgil had at this time published his Georgics or not is quite uncertain, from the doubt that hangs over both the date of this Satire and the publication of those poems. But, at any rate, Virgil had them in hand, and his friends had probably heard a great part of them recited in private. The Bucolics had been published some time, and they seem to have been thought well of, though until the Aeneid had made some progress we have no reason to suppose that Virgil was classed by his contemporaries with poets of the first rank. 'Facetum' signifies 'elegant,' as in a coxcomb it would be called 'fine,' S. 2. 26.

46. _Hoc erat,_] Horace says, 'Fundanius may write comedy better than any man living, Pollio tragedy, Varius epics, Virgil pastorals: this (satire) was what, after Varro and some others had tried it in vain, I was able to write better than they, though not equal to its inventor' (Lucilius). Who he means by 'some others,' it is impossible to say.

_Varrone Atacino_] P. Terentius Varro was a poet of the day some years older than Horace. He was called Atacinus from the Atax, a river of Gallia Narbonensis, to distinguish him from M. Terentius Varro, who is sometimes called Reatinus. Different works are attributed to him. His attempts at satire--in which Horace says, most probably with justice, that he had failed--are nowhere noticed but here.

53. _Nil comis tragici mutat Lucilius Acci?_] See below, v. 65. Accius was born B.C. 170, and was a writer of tragedies, chiefly from the Greek. Cicero and Quintilian speak very highly of him, and the popular judgment was in his favor. See Epp. ii. 1. 56, and A. P. 259.

55. _non ut majore reprensis?_] 'Not as if he were superior to those he finds fault with.'

59. _Quid vetat et nosmet_] Horace says he is at liberty to inquire whether it is not a natural consequence of Lucilius's temperament, and the character of his subjects, that he wrote verses not more polished and smooth than might be expected of a man who was content with giving his lines the proper number of feet, and took delight in stringing together a vast number of them in the shortest possible time. 'Pedibus quid claudere senis' explains 'hoc,' 'contented merely with this,' that is to say, comprising something (that he calls a verse, for there is contempt in 'quid') in six feet.

61. _Etrusci Quale fuit Cassi_] Of this Cassius we know nothing, and what Horace says of him is no more than a jocular invention that his writings were so numerous and worthless that his funeral pile was made of them and the boxes that contained them.

63. _capsis_] See S. 4. 22, n.

64. _Fuerit_] See S. i. 1. 45.

65. _Comis et urbanus_] 'Agreeable and refined.'

66. _Quam rudis et Graecis_] 'Allow that he is more polished than the inventor of a rude style of poetry unknown to the Greeks might be expected to be, and than the mass of the older poets certainly were; still, if he had lived to this our time, he would have corrected much that he had written.'

71. _vivos et roderet ungues_] 'And would bite his nails to the quick,' as men sometimes do when they are thinking very nervously.

72. _Saepe stilum vertas_] 'Stilum vertere' means to erase what had been written, one end of the iron pen ('stilus') being broad like the end of a chisel, for the purpose of obliterating the letters made upon the wax tablet by the sharp end, which they called 'acumen.'

75. _Vilibus in ludis_] Such schools as Flavius's, perhaps, if poetry was ever taught there, or in those cheap schools in the back streets mentioned in Epp. i. 20. 18. The word 'dictari' refers to the practice of the teacher reading out a passage for the pupil to repeat after him, one of the earliest steps in education being accurate pronunciation. The words 'canere,' 'cantare,' which are frequently applied to the recitation of the pupil, show that the modulation of the voice was a primary consideration in teaching. To help this most probably was one principal purpose of the master's reciting to his scholars, which was done quite at the beginning, and probably before the boys could write; whence Horace says (Epp. ii. 1. 126), "Os tenerum pueri balbumque poëta figurat." It was a good preparation for their subsequent training under the teacher of rhetoric. It is a practice which might be more generally revived, for nothing can be worse than the way in which boys usually read or repeat their lessons in our schools.

77. _explosa Arbuscula_] This was a celebrated actress in Cicero's time. As she, when she was hissed off the stage, said she cared nothing for the rest of the spectators, and was satisfied if she pleased the front benches (the Equites), so Horace says he only wants to be read in the better sort of schools, where that class of people sent their sons.

78. _cimex Pantilius,_] This person, if it be a real name, is quite unknown. A more contemptible animal could not have been chosen to liken the man to, whether for its odor, its skulking, or its sting. So that δήγματα κορέων, λαθρόδακναι κόρεες, seem to have been proverbial expressions for calumny.

79. _Demetrius,_] See above on v. 18; and as to Fannius, see S. 4. 21, n. On Plotius, see S. 5. 40; and on Valgius, C. ii. 9, Int. He was consul in B.C. 13. Who Octavius was, we cannot tell. Horace does not mean Augustus, for, after the death of the dictator, Octavius became C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus, and could not at this time be called Octavius. On Fuscus (to whom the epithet 'optimus' belongs), see C. i. 22, Int., and S. 9. 61, and Epp. i. 10.

83. _Viscorum laudet uterque!_] If Viscus be the correct reading in S. 9. 22, and S. ii. 8. 20, the persons there mentioned may be one or other or both of these brothers.

84. _Ambitione relegata_] 'Dismissing flattery.'

85. _tuo cum fratre,_] This may have been Gellius Poplicola, Messalla's brother by adoption. He was with Brutus and Cassius in Asia Minor; but left them before the battle of Philippi, and joined M. Antonius, and commanded the right wing of his army at Actium. If therefore this be the person Horace alludes to, his acquaintance with him began in Brutus's camp. He was consul in the year B.C. 36.

86. _Vos, Bibule et Servi,_] This Bibulus was probably the youngest son of M. Calpurnius Bibulus, who was consul in B.C. 59, and of his wife Porcia, who afterwards married M. Brutus. He wrote an account of his stepfather's life, which Plutarch made use of. He must have been still quite young.

Servius Sulpicius Rufus was a distinguished lawyer and friend of Cicero, and he left a son named Servius. This son is perhaps the person Horace refers to. Cicero was very fond of him, to judge by his letters to his father. He must have been older than Horace, and very much older than Bibulus.

Furnius was also the son of a friend and correspondent of Cicero, and was a favorite with Augustus. The epithet 'candidus' applied to him by Horace shows that he deserved esteem. Shortly after the battle of Actium he got Augustus to take his father, who had followed M. Antonius, into favor.

88. _Prudens_] 'Designedly,' 'on purpose.'

91. _Discipularum inter jubeo plorare cathedras._] Their pupils were chiefly 'mimae,' actresses, but some ladies of birth at this time learnt singing of professors, and it was not counted much to their praise. 'Jubeo plorare' corresponds to the Greek οἰμώζειν κελεύω, but 'plorare' represents, not only the above proverbial expression, but the drawling of the singing-master teaching his pupils sentimental or melancholy songs. 'Cathedra' was an easy-chair used chiefly by women.

92. _I, puer,_] Authors did not write themselves, but had slaves, called 'pueri a studiis,' or generally 'librarii,' to whom they dictated. See S. 4. 10. Epp. i. 10. 49; ii. 1. 110. We are to suppose that Horace extemporized this anathema against Demetrius and Tigellius, and then told his amanuensis to go before he forgot it and add it to the Satire as his 'subscriptio'; which in letters was the word 'vale,' or something civil of that sort.

SATIRES.--BOOK II.

SATIRE I.

C. Trebatius Testa was a jurisconsult of eminence, and a man of honor. He was in the confidence of Augustus, and was consulted by him on legal matters. Horace seems to have been well acquainted with him, though he was many years younger than Trebatius.

Horace pretends to lay before the old lawyer a case for his opinion, and asks what he had better do to meet the malevolence of his enemies. Trebatius advises him to cease from writing, which Horace says is impossible. He was born to write, and must do it. He has no capacity for heroic subjects, and has a passion for imitating Lucilius, to whom he pays a graceful compliment by the way. Trebatius warns him that he runs the risk of being frozen to death by his great friends, or of legal penalties for libel. But, trusting in the goodness of his cause, he sets these dangers at defiance, and resolves to indulge his inclination.

1. _Sunt quibus--videor_] Horace had undoubtedly in his mind those particular opponents, on some of whom he had retorted in S. 10 of the last book, and, this being the case, the indicative mood is wanted, rather than the subjunctive, after 'sunt quibus' (see C. i. 1. 3, n., and compare S. i. 4. 24). By 'tendere opus' Horace means he is charged with carrying his work, or straining it, beyond the license properly allowed to satire. 'Sine nervis' means 'without vigor.' As to 'deduci,' see S. i. 10. 44, n.

4. _Trebati,_] See Introduction.

7. _Optimum erat:_] Here as below (v. 16) the imperfect indicative is used where the subjunctive might be expected. The Greeks in similar cases sometimes used the imperfect indicative without ἄν, where the usual construction required that word.

_Ter uncti Transnanto Tiberim_] See S. i. 6. 123, n. The language is a little in the style of a 'lex.' 'Sub noctem' means immediately after night-fall. See Epod. ii. 44, n. S. ii. 7. 109. Epp. ii. 2. 169. It appears from Cicero's letters to Trebatius that he was a great swimmer, and Cicero describes himself as having gone home from his house one night "bene potus seroque" (Ad Fam. vii. 22). He may therefore have lived pretty freely.

10. _rapit_] There is force in this word, 'hurries you on like a torrent.'

13. _quivis_] This corresponds to ὁ τυχών in Greek.

14. _fracta pereuntes cuspide_] Plutarch, in his Life of Marius (c. 25), relates how, on the occasion of a battle with the Cimbri, he altered the spears of the soldiers in such a way that they could not be of use to the enemy. He says that the spear-heads were formerly fastened to the shaft by two iron nails, and that Marius, removing one, substituted for it a wooden peg, which would give way when the spear struck the shield, where it would stick and drag along the ground. From the year B.C. 39 to 31, Augustus was engaged at different times in subduing the Gauls, and he included his victories over them in the first of his three days' triumphs, in B.C. 29. (See C. i. 2. 49, n.)

15. _Aut labentis equo_] The Parthians falling under blows inflicted by the arms of Augustus, is a picture he draws from his own imagination, in anticipation of future triumphs. But Augustus never engaged the Parthians in the field. On 'labentis equo,' see C. i. 2. 39, n.

16. _poteras_] See above, v. 7. As to 'fortem,' see what is said of 'Fortitudo' on C. S. 57. Trebatius says, if Horace cannot write of the victories of Augustus, he may of his virtues, his justice, and moral courage.

17. _Scipiadam ut sapiens Lucilius_] Virgil uses this form (Georg. ii. 170), "Scipiadas duros bello." As the elder Scipio had Ennius to praise him (see C. iv. 8), so the younger had Lucilius, who was his intimate friend, and who served under him in the Numantian war. There is no necessity for supposing that Lucilius wrote a separate poem on the exploits of Scipio, though it is not improbable that he did so. 'Sapiens' is applied to the poet as 'doctus' is elsewhere. See note on C. i. 1. 29. "Haud mihi deero" Horace uses above, S. i. 9. 56.

18. _dextro tempore_] See below, S. 4. 4: "Cum te sic tempore laevo Interpellarim."

20. _Cui male si palpere_] 'If you stroke him clumsily, he kicks out, and protects himself on every side.'

21. _Quanto rectius hoc_] Horace says that he may attempt those subjects, but he must wait for an opportunity. And Trebatius continues, 'How much better is this, than with bitter verses to offend such wretched creatures as Pantolabus and Nomentanus, by which he only excites the fears and hatred of every one!'

22. _Pantolabum_] S. i. 8. 11.

24. _Quid faciam?_] 'What am I to do?' says Horace. 'Every man has his taste, and mine is to string verses together like Lucilius.'

_Milonius,_] This man is said to have been a 'scurra,' a parasite, a low fellow who has no respect for himself, who lets himself out, at the price of a dinner, to entertain rich people and their guests with buffoonery and small talk. Milonius, as soon as the wine got into his head, would get up and dance before the company, the lowest proceeding in the eyes of a Roman that could be imagined. 'Icto,' in this sense of 'wine-struck,' does not occur elsewhere. It is a Greek notion.

26. _Castor gaudet equis,_] This difference in the tastes of Castor and his brother is expressed in one line of the Iliad (iii. 237), Κάστορά θ᾽ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα.

27. _quot capitum vivunt,_] Compare "Quot homines tot sententiae: suus cuique mos" (Phormio, ii. 4. 14.)

28. _claudere_] See S. i. 10. 59.

31. _neque si male cesserat_] 'Never resorting to anything else, whether matters had gone ill with him or well.'

33. _Votiva--tabella_] On the practice of hanging up a picture in the temples to commemorate escape from shipwreck, see C. i. 5. 12, n. It was probably not confined to sailors.

34. _Vita senis._] Lucilius, the date of whose death is not certain, but who is said to have died in his forty-sixth year, B.C. 103, is here called old only in point of time, as in Epp. ii. 1. 56, "Aufert Pacuvius docti famam senis Accius alti"; and above (S. i. 10. 67), "poëtarum seniorum turba"; and as Aristophanes is called by Persius (i. 124), "praegrandis senex."

_Lucanus an Apulus anceps:_] See C. iii. 4. 9, n. 'Anceps' is neuter. 'Sub' signifies 'close up to,' where 'sub' has its original meaning 'up,' and "the sense of 'to' belongs to the accusative termination, not to the preposition." As to 'colonus,' see C. ii. 14. 12, n. 'Romano' is used for the Romans, as in Epod. vii. 6, and Tac. Ann. xii. 58.

The colony of Venusia was formed in B.C. 291, the last year of the third Samnite war, when L. Postumius Megellus and C. Junius Brutus Bubulcus were consuls. The town, which was on the borders of Lucania and Apulia, belonged to the Samnites, from whom it was taken by Q. Fabius. (Sabelli was the name given by the Romans to all the tribes which issued from the Sabine stock, of whom the Samnites were one.) Apulia and Lucania were, at the beginning of this war, independent states in close alliance with the Samnites, but after the first year they found it for their interest to desert those allies, and joined the Romans, with whom they continued to unite their forces till the end of the war. Horace's supposition that one or other of those states was meditating or carrying on war with Rome, is not, therefore, strictly accurate; but they were always very doubtful allies, and were glad to assist their old enemies the Greek cities in their resistance to Rome when they called in the help of Pyrrhus; and it was not till the fall of Tarentum, B.C. 272, that these, in common with the other southern states of Italy, finally acknowledged the supremacy of Rome and accepted their freedom from her. It was in consequence of the commanding position of Venusia, in reference to the three nations of the Samnites, Apulians, and Lucanians, that the Romans sent there in the above year (B.C. 291) a colony of twenty thousand persons. This place was of great use to the Romans in the war with Pyrrhus. After their reverse at the battle of Heraclea, A.U.C. 474, the remnant of their army retreated to Venusia, and here many found refuge after the defeat of Cannæ. The quantity of the second syllable in Venusinus, Horace makes short here, and in C. i. 28. 26. Juvenal lengthens it (vi. 167): "Malo Venusinam quam te, Cornelia, mater Gracchorum," where, as here, the humble inhabitant of Venusia is contrasted with the proud matron of Rome. 'Quo ne' (v. 37) is an unusual expression, in which 'quo' is redundant.

39. _Sed hic stilus haud petet ultro_] On this use of 'sed,' see C. iv. 4. 22, n. 'Ultro' means here 'wantonly,' without provocation or cause. See C. iv. 4. 51, n.

43. _ut pereat_] 'Ut' is an imitation of the Greek use of ὡς, expressing a wish. He hopes that his adversaries will let him alone, and leave his sword (that is, his pen) to rust. From 'at ille' the construction is a little irregular, but the abruptness of the several clauses is well suited to the occasion: 'but for that man that provokes me, he had better not touch me, I cry; he'll suffer if he does,' &c.

47. _Cervius iratus--urnam,_] Cervius appears to have been an informer. He is not the man mentioned in S. ii. 6. 77. 'Urnam' means either the urn into which the judices put their tablets, or that into which their names were put for drawing the jury. Either way it is equivalent to 'judicium.'

48. _Canidia Albuti quibus_] Albutius was perhaps a person notorious for having poisoned somebody, and 'Albuti venenum' may have become proverbial. We meet with an Albutius below (S. 2. 67), who, from his character, may have been the same as this.

49. _Grande malum Turius,_] Of this person we know nothing. He threatens his adversary with an adverse judgment if he ever has a private suit tried before him.

50. _Ut quo quisque valet_] In what follows it is Horace's purpose to show that it is a law of nature that every one should use the means of defence that are given him, and he is only acting on this law when he employs satire in self-defence. 'Unde' in v. 52 belongs to 'monstratum,' as, in the next Satire, v. 31, "Unde datum sentis" 'by what suggested if not from within?' Of Scæva we know nothing. What Horace says is, that he would, like other animals, resort to the means most natural to him, which were not violence, to which cowards have an aversion, but poison.

54. _Mirum, Ut neque_] 'Strange! yes, as strange as that the wolf does not kick, nor the ox bite.'

58. _seu Mors atris circumvolat alis,_] This representation of death hovering over a man with dark wings, may have been taken from a painting.

60. _Quisquis erit vitae scribam color_] This loose collocation of words is not uncommon in Horace. It ought not to be imitated.

_O puer, ut sis_] See Introduction. This sentence illustrates the rule respecting verbs of fearing, that they "have the subjunctive with 'ne' if the object be not desired, with 'ut' if it be desired" (Key's L. G. 1186), to which the note is "Observe that the Latin inserts a negative where the English has none, and _vice versa_."

64. _Detrahere et pellem,_] Compare Epp. i. 16. 44. Each of the Scipiones had a Lælius for his intimate companion. This is C. Laelius Sapiens, the friend of P. Scipio Africanus Minor, and well known through Cicero's treatises 'De Senectute' and 'De Amicitia,' in the former of which he is a listener, in the latter the principal speaker. As to the following verse, see C. iv. 8. 18, n. Lucilius was on terms of close intimacy with these two friends.

67. _Metello_] Q. Cæcilius Metellus had the cognomen Macedonicus given him, for his successes against Andriscus, the pretender to the throne of Perseus, king of Macedonia. Horace means to say that Scipio and Lælius were not offended at the wit of Lucilius, nor feared it might turn upon themselves, when they saw him attack Metellus. Why he did so is uncertain.

68. _Lupo_] Who Lupus was is not certain. His name appears in many of the fragments of Lucilius. The most probable person is L. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus, who was consul B.C. 156. What he had done to provoke Lucilius's satire we do not know, but Cicero (De Nat. Deor. i. 23) has preserved a verse of his in which Lupus is classed with the perjured and profligate.

_Atqui Primores populi_] 'Atqui,' which is a form of 'at quin,' means 'but he did, did he not?' 'Tributim,' throughout all the tribes: he attacked the optimates and plebeians, and all without distinction. As to the tribes, see Epp. i. 6. 52, n. 'Aequus' means 'favorable to.'

72. _Virtus Scipiadae_] On this form, see above, v. 17. See also S. i. 2. 32, n., on the expression 'virtus Scipiadae.' Lælius, as above mentioned, had the cognomen Sapiens given him, and any one who reads Cicero's treatise that bears his name will understand Horace's epithet 'mitis.' One of the Scholiasts relates a story of Lælius running round the dinner-table, and Lucilius pursuing him with a napkin, to flog him. Lucilius was born B.C. 148, and Scipio died B.C. 129. He was therefore but a boy when he thus played with these friends; and if, as Horace's language implies, he wrote satires in Scipio's lifetime, they were probably the more intemperate sallies of youth. But Horace may be mistaken. The fare of these great men was of the simplest kind. (See note on S. i. 6. 115.)

75. _Infra Lucili censum_] Horace had before intimated (v. 34, n.) that he, a poor man's son, born in a provincial town, was not to be compared with Lucilius, a Roman citizen, who was rich, and had a fine house in the Forum.

78. _nisi quid tu,_] This is equivalent to saying, 'This is what I think, Trebatius; but I shall be glad to defer to your opinion if you differ from me.'

79. _nihil hinc diffindere possum._] The meaning of 'diffindere' is not quite clear. Perhaps it has the same sense as 'secare' above (S. i. 10. 15, and Epp. i. 16. 42); that is, 'to decide.' If so, Trebatius says he cannot decide the question from the premises Horace has put before him ('hinc').

80. _Sed tamen_] By the XII. Tables, the writing of scurrilous verses was among the few offences that were punishable with death. See Dict. Antt., Art. 'Injuria,' and compare Epp. ii. 1. 153. There was a 'lex Cornelia de injuriis,' which probably included the offence of writing scurrilous verses. When Trebatius says there is 'jus judiciumque,' he means that there is law, and also there are legal proceedings, for this case. 'Ne forte' is used as in C. iv. 9. 1, where see note, and compare Epp. i. 1. 13; 18. 58; ii. 1. 208. 'Sanctarum' is a participle, 'quae sanciuntur.' 'Sancire legem' was to affix the penalty to a 'lex,' and so give it effect. See Cic. de Am. c. 12.

85. _latraverit,_] 'Latro' is used as a transitive verb in Epod. v. 58, and Epp. i. 2. 66, and so it is here, 'What if one barks at a man who deserves rebuke, he himself being untainted?'

86. _Solventur risu tabulae,_] The 'tabulae' are the tablets ('tabellae judiciariae') by which the judices declared their votes, and Trebatius probably means to say, that the votes of the judices will be decided by the amusement of the scene, or else that the severity of their votes will be melted by it; that is, that the matter will be treated as unworthy of serious consideration; the judices will laugh at the joke, and acquit the defendant.

SATIRE II.

The object of this Satire is to teach the advantages of moderate eating. Of Ofella, the person into whose mouth Horace puts the chief part of his precepts, we know no more than we may gather from the Satire itself,--that in Horace's youth he was the owner of an estate near Venusia, and that his property was taken from him and made over to one of the veteran soldiers, named Umbrenus (v. 133), and that he afterwards rented, as 'colonus,' a farm on that estate which was once his own. This transfer took place, in all probability, when the troops returned to Italy after the battle of Philippi, B.C. 42, at which time (among several other districts) the Venusinus ager was distributed among the soldiers. It has been supposed that Horace visited his native place, and renewed his acquaintance with Ofella, on his return from Brundisium. (See Introduction to S. i. 5, sub fin.) The old man, unchanged by the reverses of fortune, industrious and uncomplaining, exhorting his sons to frugality and contentment, is a pleasant picture, and helps by contrast to illustrate the gluttonous and luxurious habits of the city.

2. _quae praecepit Ofella_] See Introduction.

3. _abnormis sapiens, crassaque Minerva,_] A man wise without rule, and of plain mother wit. Cicero (De Amicit. c. 5) uses the expression "agamus pingui Minerva" as a proverbial one. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, and 'crassa Minerva' therefore means, proverbially, a coarse kind of wisdom.

4. _inter lances mensasque nitentes_] The wealthy Romans had already learned to fill their rooms with costly furniture, and to make a display of their plate, whether in the shape of useful or ornamental vessels. Very much of the plate thus displayed was of foreign manufacture, and very costly, and much of it was of great antiquity, and a good deal taken from Greek and Asiatic temples, and brought to Rome by various conquerors (Marcellus and Mummius in particular), by extortionate governors, or by the travelling 'mercatores,' who thus brought home the proceeds of the goods they took abroad. The dishes of the rich were very generally of silver, so that the 'lances' here mentioned would be, not only those which appeared for show, but those also in which the viands were served. 'Lances' is here used as a generic name for dishes; but there were particular names, as 'patina,' 'catinus,' 'scutula,' 'gabata,' 'paropsis,' all of different shapes and for different uses.

There appears to have been no article in which the Romans showed more extravagance than their tables; and Pliny relates of Cicero that he gave a million sesterces for a table of the sort called 'orbes.' These consisted of single slabs, sometimes of great diameter.

9. _Corruptus judex._] Horace likens the man whose judgment is biassed by a fine table and good dinner, to a judex who has been tampered with. (See C. iv. 9. 39, n.)

_Leporem sectatus equove_] There is some confusion raised in this long sentence by the introduction of the words 'pete cedentem aëra disco.' Horace means at first to say, "When you have tired yourself with hunting the hare, with riding an unbroken horse, or (supposing the rougher sports are too much for you) with ball-play or throwing the discus, and are dry and hungry, then see if you will despise the commonest food, and call for rich mulsum." Instead of which he says: "After hunting the hare or wearying yourself with riding, or if (supposing you are only accustomed to Greek sports, and the Roman are too much for you) ball-play occupies you or the discus, then throw the discus, but when fatigue shall have banished fastidiousness, and you are dry and hungry, then see if," etc.

10. _Romana--Militia_] This is a way of expressing Roman sports.

11. _seu pila velox_] The ball play, which was so common an amusement in one shape or other among the Romans, was introduced from Greece, though the Romans had varieties perhaps of their own invention.

13. _Seu te discus agit,_] The throwing of the discus likewise was of Greek origin, and belonged to the heroic age. It had no resemblance to the quoit, by which name it is sometimes rendered, but was a round flat plate of metal or stone, sometimes nearly a foot in diameter.

14. _Cum labor extuderit_] 'Extundo' is nowhere else used in this sense, but it is a very apt word for the occasion. Hunger beating fastidiousness out of a man represents the power of the one, and the contemptible character of the other, very well.

15. _nisi Hymettia mella Falerno_] This constituted the drink called 'mulsum,' οἰνόμελι, which was commonly drunk at the preparatory course called 'gustus' or 'promulsis' (see S. i. 3. 6, n.), the former name being taken from the dishes that were eaten as a whet to the appetite, and the latter from the mulsum that was taken with them. The use of the strong Falernian wine for this mixture, in which the usual proportion was four of wine to one of honey, is condemned below, S. 4. 25.

16. _promus_] This was one of the 'ordinarii' or upper domestic slaves, whose duty it was to take charge of the wine-cellar and larder. He was hence called 'cellarius,' also 'procurator peni,' 'steward of the provisions.' Another name he bore was 'condus,' because he had to take into store ('condere') the provisions that were left or brought in for consumption, and, as the same person who locked up also took out the provisions ('promere'), both names were united in one, 'conduspromus.'

17. _hiemat mare:_] 'Hiemat' is copied from the Greek χειμάζεται.

18. _Latrantem stomachum_] Compare 'iratum ventrem' (S. ii. 8. 5). A hungry man is vulgarly said to "have a wolf in his belly," to this day.

19. _Qui partum?_] The subject is only to be gathered from the context. 'Whence do you suppose this appetite springs, or how is it obtained?'

20. _pulmentaria quaere_] The Scholiasts tell us a story of Socrates, that, when he was taking a long walk, he accounted for his activity by saying ὄψον συνάγω, 'I am getting sauce for my dinner.' See Epp. i. 18. 48.

21. _ostrea Nec scarus_] These were all served up with the 'gustus,' to stir up the appetite. Oysters were eaten raw or dressed. The 'scarus' was a fish not known in these days. It was rare, even among the Romans, and imported from the Ægean Sea. Martial says it was good for the stomach, but of poor flavor. The 'lagois' is described by the Scholiast as 'a bird of the color of a hare'; beyond which we know nothing about it. 'Ostrea' is here used as a dissyllable. Of the other things of which the 'promulsis' usually consisted, some are given below (S. 8. 8, sq.). The peacock was a dish lately introduced when Horace wrote.

23. _posito pavone_] 'Ponere,' for putting on the table, occurs below (S. 4. 14).

24. _tergere palatum,_] 'To wipe the palate,' is a novel expression.

25. _vanis rerum,_] See C. iv. 12. 19, n.

28. _Cocto num adest_] The 'm' is pronounced with the following word, as is common in Terence.

30. _deceptum te petere!_] The infinitive 'petere' expresses a feeling of indignation. This infinitive is dependent on some such phrase as 'credendum est.' The sense is as follows: "To think that, although in the quality of the flesh there is no difference, you should prefer the pea-fowl to the other, deluded by the superiority of its beauty." 'Hac' refers not to the bird last mentioned, but to that which the speaker prefers, or is defending; just as we have 'his' and 'illis' changing places below (36, 37).

31. _Unde datum sentis_] The sentence goes on thus 'Be it so: grant that you may be taken in by the eye, in the matter of the bird with a fine tail; but what sense can tell you whether such and such a fish was caught in the Tiber or in the open sea, between the bridges or at the mouth of the river?' This is not a very well chosen question. That part of the river which is meant by 'inter pontes' lay between the Pons Fabricius, which joined the Insula Tiberina with the left bank, and the Pons Sublicius, and between these bridges the Cloaca Maxima emptied itself. Here the stream was more than usually rapid, and 'jactatus,' 'tossed,' expresses this. It would not require a very keen epicure to distinguish a fish caught in those waters; and the fish taken at sea, if it was the same fish, would be out of season and coarse. The 'lupus' is said to have been of the pike kind.

33. _Ostia sub Tusci?_] 'Sub' with the accusative, in phrases of place, seems to have the meaning it has in phrases of time, 'immediately after' (see Epod. ii. 44, n.); so that 'sub ostia' would be 'immediately on entering the mouth.' But it usually in these phrases follows a verb of motion and means 'close up to'; and if it be so understood here, the verb of motion must be supplied, 'as you approach close up to.' The Tiber is called 'Tuscus amnis,' as (C. i. 20. 5) it is said to be Mæcenas's 'paternum flumen,' because it rises in Etruria.

34. _Mullum_] The mullet was a fish in high estimation for a great number of years. Martial speaks of one of two pounds as the least that should be put upon a fine dish. This, Pliny says, was a size it rarely exceeded. Juvenal tells a story of a man who bought a mullet of six pounds, at a thousand sesterces for each pound (iv. 15). The bearded mullet, as it was called, was held in highest esteem. Horace says the man is mad to admire a mullet of three pounds, since to be served up it must be divided into as many separate dishes (see Epp. i. 18. 48, n.).

36. _Quia scilicet illis_] 'Illis' does not refer to the more remote object here, but to the nearer, as in v. 29 (see note). 'His' refers to the mullet.

40. _At vos, Praesentes Austri,_] 'Now may ye, O potent south winds.' 'At' is a particle of exclamation, when a sudden emotion is expressed, as mentioned above (Epod. v. 1). The winds are invoked as deities. As to 'praesens' in this application, see C. i. 35. 2.

41. _quamquam_] 'Though I need not invoke your help; for the boar and the fresh turbot lose their flavor, when the stomach is gorged and seeks stimulants.'

42. _rhombus_] This fish, if it was the turbot, was not less esteemed by the Romans than by ourselves. The finest were caught in the Hadriatic, near Ravenna, whence the fish that caused such a sensation in Juvenal's story (iv. 37, sqq.) he calls "Hadriaci spatium admirabile rhombi." But it is not certain that we know what fish is meant by the 'rhombus.' Respecting 'rapula' and 'inulae,' see below, S. 8. 51. On the use of eggs at the 'promulsis,' see S. i. 3. 6. The sense in which Horace uses the words 'pauper' and 'rex' is nowhere more marked than here (see C. i. 1. 18, and C. i. 4. 14).

47. _Galloni praeconis erat acipensere_] This person, who lived in the time of Lucilius and was noticed by him, is said to have introduced the 'acipenser,' which fish is said to be a sturgeon. In respect to 'praeconis,' see S. i. 6. 86, n.

50. _auctor docuit praetorius._] It is said one Rufus was the first to bring into fashion the eating of young storks. When he lived, it is impossible to say. He must have served the office of prætor, from the epithet Horace gives him. The stork went out of fashion, as Ofella predicts; and though gulls did not take its place, cranes came into vogue. See S. ii. 8. 87. As to 'auctor,' see C. i. 28. 14, n. The word 'edixerit' is a play upon the 'edictum' of the 'praetor.'

52. _pravi docilis_] 'Ever ready to learn what is bad.' The construction is like 'docilis modorum,' in C. iv. 6. 43. 'Pravus' signifies 'crooked,' as opposed to 'rectus,' 'straight'; and so 'pravum detorseris,' below (v. 55), is literally 'turn yourself awry.' 'Pravis talis' (S. i. 3. 48) are 'crooked ankles.'

53. _Sordidus a tenui_] Horace goes on to show that moderation is not meanness, and that propriety lies in a middle course.

55. _Avidienus,_] This man was a miser, but nothing more is known of him. He was 'a dirty dog,' and so the name Canis was properly applied to him.

58. _defundere_] 'Diffundere' means, as mentioned before, to draw wine from the 'dolium' into the 'amphora,' 'testa,' or 'cadus,' (all the same kind of vessel,) in which it was kept till it was fit to drink. When poured thence into the 'crater,' to be mixed for drinking, it was said to be 'defusum.' This miser's wine was of a poor kind, probably not fit to be bottled in the first instance, but only to be drunk from the 'dolium.' He bottled it, and did not produce it for consumption till it was turned ('mutatum').

59. _licebit Ille repotia_] On 'licebit,' see Epod. xv. 19. 'Repotia' was a 'coena' sometimes given, the day after marriage, by the husband. I am not aware that any explanation of the custom is to be met with. The marriage-dinner was given by the husband. As that was usually a scene of nothing but unrestrained merriment, perhaps the religious ceremonies, required properly to inaugurate the new life of the married couple, and to propitiate the Penates and Lares, were usually deferred to this day; and the sobriety of the 'repotia' was probably designed to make amends for the license of the 'coena nuptialis.' The Romans observed their birthdays with religious accuracy. See note on C. iv. 11. 8.

61. _albatus_] They took care on every holiday to have their togas especially clean. The ordinary toga was not dyed. The natural whiteness of the wool was increased by the process of cleaning, in which it was rubbed with different kinds of fuller's earth ('creta fullonis'), and also exposed to steams of sulphur, which removed stains of any kind. 'Albatus,' therefore, signifies in a toga which has just come from the 'fullo.' It was usual for persons who were canvassing for offices to have their toga unusually whitened with an extra supply of 'creta,' whence they were called 'candidati.'

_cornu ipse bilibri_] The 'cornu' was the horn vessel in which the oil was kept. Instead of having a cruet or small vessel suited to the dinner table, such as wealthy people usually had of silver and others of cheaper material, he would bring down the big horn, and with his own hand ('ipse'), lest others should be too liberal, drop the smallest quantity of oil upon the cabbage, while of his old vinegar, which would turn his guests, if he had any, from the dish, he was free enough.

64. _aiunt._] τὸ λεγόμενον, 'as the saying is.' It was perhaps a common proverb to express a dilemma, though not now met with elsewhere.

65. _Mundus erit qua non_] 'A man will be decent so far as ('qua') he does not offend by meanness, and is on neither hand sordid in his way of living.'

67. _Albuti senis_] See S. ii. 1. 48, n. The Scholiasts say the savage old man used to flog his slaves before they did wrong, "because," said he, "when you do wrong I may not be at leisure to flog you." 'Dido,' 'to distribute,' is different in sense and etymology from 'divido.' The latter is connected with 'iduo,' 'idus' (C. iv. 11. 16, n.), the former with 'do.' 'Dido' is commonly used by Lucretius.

68. _ut simplex Naevius_] Of Nævius nothing is known. 'Simplex' is ironical. A story is told by Plutarch, in his Life of Julius Cæsar (c. 17), of Valerius Leo, who put before the dictator some asparagus covered with ointment instead of oil. Such 'simplicity,' amounting to an indifference to the decencies of life, and a want of consideration for others, which some people almost look upon as a virtue, Horace very properly describes as a great vice.

70. _Accipe nunc_] Horace now goes on to show the advantage of moderate living, especially as connected with health.

73. _Quae simplex olim tibi sederit;_] 'Which, before you mixed it with other things (while it was 'simplex'), remained quiet upon your stomach.'

76. _Lenta--pituita._] The tough mucus secreted by the intestines. The first and third syllables of 'pituita' are long, the second, therefore, here coalesces with the third.

77. _Coena--dubia?_] This expression is copied from Terence, and means such a good dinner that you cannot tell what to eat first. Phorm. ii. 2. 28.

79. _Atque affigit humo_] Debauchery not only affects the body, but depresses the spirit, and unfits it for the duties of life. The expression 'affigit humo' reminds us of the words of David, "My soul cleaveth to the ground." The same sense, though in a different connection, is conveyed by Cicero's words (De Senect. c. xxi.): "Est enim animus caelestis ex altissimo domicilio depressus et quasi demersus in terram, locum divinae naturae aeternitatique contrarium," which serves also to illustrate 'divinae particulam aurae.' This expression may have been taken from some old writer.

82. _ad melius poterit transcurrere_] 'May betake himself to better fare.' As to 'quondam,' see C. ii. 10. 17, n.

87. _mollitiem,_] 'Indulgence,' which, as applied to youth, must be understood in a bad sense; but to age or sickness in a good, as that which infirmity or disease requires.

89. _Rancidum aprum_] What Horace means to say is, that their hospitable forefathers, rather than eat their boar by themselves, while it was fresh, would keep it till it was high, in case a stranger should drop in to eat of it with them.

93. _tellus me prima_] See S. i. 3. 99.

94. _Das aliquid famae_] 'I suppose you allow something to good report, seeing that more welcome than music it comes to the ear of man. If so (he goes on), consider that these luxuries are as discreditable as they are noxious. Also, they leave you without friends, and will bring you to penury.'

95. _patinaeque_] The 'patina' was a covered dish in which meats were brought in hot from the kitchen. 'Patruus' was as proverbial a name for tyranny on the male side of the family, as 'noverca' on the female. See C. ii. 12. 3. S. ii. 3. 87.

99. _As laquei pretium._] This was a proverb, or became so after Horace.

_Jure, inquit, Trausius_] The glutton is supposed to answer, 'This sort of language is suited to Trausius: but to one who is as rich as I am, it does not apply.' Of Trausius the spendthrift, nothing is known. All we have to infer is, that he lived profusely upon small means, and ruined himself, which the speaker considers himself too rich ever to do. 'Vectigalia' is used for a private fortune, in C. iii. 16. 40. Its use is appropriate here, in connection with 'regibus.'

101. _Ergo Quod superat_] 'But if you have more than you want, cannot you find better objects to spend it on?'

103. _indignus_] This has the same sense as 'immeritus' (C. iii. 6. 1, and elsewhere), 'innocent.' Forcell. gives other examples. As to the state of the temples and their restoration, see C. ii. 15, Introduction, and note on C. iii. 6. 1.

106. _Uni nimirum_] "He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity" (Ps. x. 6), is very like the argument Horace puts in his rich man's mouth,--the man whose fortune was large enough for three kings. He argues that he is so rich that he never can be otherwise. As to 'nimirum,' see Epp. i. 9. 1, n.

107. _Uterne Ad casus dubios_] On 'ne,' see S. i. 10. 21, and with 'dubios' compare C. iv. 9. 36.

111. _aptarit_] 'Has fitted on his armor,' as it were.

112. _Quo magis his credas,_] He brings forward Ofella, as an instance, in particular, of the way in which a man who has been frugal in prosperity can meet the reverses of fortune.

113. _latius_] This word is used as 'angustius' in the opposite sense. It means 'more profusely.' I am not aware that it is so used anywhere else. 'Metato in agello' is the farm which has been marked out by the public surveyor ('metator'), and assigned to Umbrenus. (See Introduction.) This participle is used passively in C. ii. 15. 15. 'Fortem' has been explained in the note on C. S. 58, and for 'colonum,' see C. ii. 14. 12, n. As 'colonum' signifies a tenant, 'mercede' ('rent') is only added to give additional force to the contrast. It makes rather a clumsy sentence. Farms were held either on payment of rent, or of a certain part of the produce of the land; but 'merces' could not mean the latter. A 'colonus' who held on the latter terms, was called 'partiarius.' 'Temere' signifies that which is done without consideration, because habitually done.

116. _luce profesta_] 'Profesti dies' were working days, as opposed to 'festi' or 'feriati' (S. 3. 144, sq.). 'Profestis' is opposed to 'sacris' in C. iv. 15. 25.

119. _operum vacuo_] Compare C. iii. 17. 16, "operum solutis," and A. P. 212, "liberque laborum."

120. _bene erat_] 'We made ourselves happy.' See C. iii. 16. 43.

122. _cum duplice ficu._] Some take this for a large coarse kind of fig ('marisca'), double the size of an ordinary one. Others take it for a fig split in two, and so dried. It is possible Horace may mean two figs.

123. _Post hoc ludus erat_] "After this we amused ourselves by drinking with 'culpa' for our 'magister,' or 'rex bibendi,' συμποσίαρχος" (C. i. 4. 18, n.). It appears that they agreed between themselves as to some mode of drinking, and established a penalty for the transgression of it, which transgression ('culpa') was to do that which at drinking parties, where a president was appointed, he might do arbitrarily; that is, either mulct a guest of a cup of wine, or make him drink an extra cup, or anything else he chose, as a fine for misbehavior. In short, Ofella means it was a quiet and primitive sort of way of proceeding, unlike the new fashion introduced from Greece, and followed in fine houses, of having a symposiarch to preside (S. ii. 6. 69, n.).

124. _Ac venerata Ceres ita_] On this use of 'veneror,' see C. S. 49, n. 'Ita' introduces the object of the prayer. It is usually followed by 'ut' introducing a condition. But as with 'sic,' that is not always the case. See note on C. i. 3. 1.

127. _parcius--nituistis_] 'Have ye been in worse condition, less sleek and fat?' 'Ut,' 'ever since,' as "Ut tetigi Pontum vexant insomnia" (Ovid, Trist. iii. 8. 27). 'Propriae' signifies one's own in perpetuity, as below (v. 134), "erit nulli proprius"; and S. ii. 6. 5. Aen. (i. 73): "Connubio jungam stabili propriamque dicabo."

131. _vafri_] The law was as plain as its subjects admitted, though to ignorant people it must often have appeared subtle, and that is the meaning of 'vafri.'

133. _Umbreni_] See Introduction.

SATIRE III.

This Satire appears to have been written during the Saturnalia, in the month of December, B.C. 32. The year before, Agrippa had been Ædile, and his ædileship is alluded to in v. 185. It was written at Horace's country-house, not long, it may be supposed, after it was given him. He was improving the house at the time, as we may infer from v. 308. The Satire is general, taking in the leading vices and follies of human nature,--ambition, avarice, extravagance, lust, superstition, which are brought together with some ingenuity.

One Damasippus, a man who had wasted a good fortune in speculating as an amateur in all sorts of costly articles, particularly works of art, in which he was held to be a connoisseur, is introduced in a new character, as a Stoic philosopher, reproving Horace for his laziness, and urging him to write. He relates the story of his own conversion to philosophy, which was this. When he had lost all his fortune, and was hopelessly involved with money-lenders, and found himself laughed at and called madman wherever he went, he grew desperate, and was going to throw himself into the Tiber, when he was arrested by Stertinius, an oracle of the Stoics, who remonstrated with him and consoled him, and at the same time armed him against his enemies (v. 297) with a long homily, in the course of which he proved that all the world, but the good and wise, were as mad as he was. In this discourse he enumerates the chief features of this universal madness, and this forms the bulk of the Satire.

Of Damasippus very little is known. But he was a real person, though perhaps a little before Horace's day. Why Horace should have chosen this man as the mouth-piece of his Satire does not appear. Damasippus says himself, it is true, that, having ruined his own affairs, he had nothing to do but to attend to the affairs of others; which Horace interprets to mean, that he had taken to giving advice when it was not asked (see v. 27, n.).

Stertinius appears to have been an authority among the Stoics of the day. The Scholiasts tell us he wrote 220 books on the doctrines of that school. Damasippus calls him (v. 296) "sapientum octavus." His books, if he ever wrote them, have not rescued him from oblivion. Horace mentions him again, in Epp. i. 12. 20, as the representative of the sect.

The discourse of Stertinius turns upon this dogma, that every man in the world, high or low, is mad, except the sage (see note on v. 46). Cicero has argued the same doctrine of the Stoics in his Paradoxa (iii. ὅτι πᾶς ἄφρων μαίνεται), but he does not go very deep into the subject, or throw much light upon it.

2. _Membranam poscas,_] Horace speaks of parchment ('membrana') only twice (A. P. 389), 'charta,' which means the Egyptian papyrus, being his usual equivalent for a book. From the thin coats of the papyrus the name 'liber' was derived, and parchment was less generally used in Horace's day than the papyrus; though that material was also commonly employed. 'Texere chartam' is a common expression for putting the pieces of the papyrus together. 'Retexere scripta,' therefore, means to take to pieces or tear up what is written, or to take out leaves and substitute others, with different writings upon them.

3. _vini somnique benignus_] This is a Greek construction 'freely indulging in wine and sleep.' 'Dignum sermone' means 'worthy of being talked about.'

4. _At ipsis Saturnalibus_] The use of 'at' in replies is common. 'But, say you, while the Saturnalia were going on, you ran away to this place' (his farm); i.e. that he might write something worth reading. 'Well, then,' Damasippus proceeds, 'since you have kept yourself sober, give us something equal to what you have led us to expect.' The Saturnalia was celebrated on the 17th of December, to represent the liberty of the golden age of Saturn (S. ii. 7. 4, "libertate Decembri"), and therefore one of its chief features was the license granted, for the one day that the feast lasted, to slaves. They had all the mockery of freedom for a few hours, which they spent, like their betters, in rioting. The feast belonged more to the country than the town, and was properly a farmers' festival. But it was attended with greater disturbances in the city; and one who wanted to be quiet at that time would be glad to retire to the country.

6. _Nil est:_] 'It's no use,' as if Horace were preparing an excuse.

7. _calami,_] The reed used by the Romans for writing appears to have been precisely the same as the 'kulum' now used throughout the East. Like the papyrus, it was chiefly brought from Egypt, and, when cut and ready for use, differed scarcely at all from the pens we employ. As the bad workman finds fault with his tools, the poet is supposed to get in a passion with his pen and beat the wall by his bedside, because his ideas would not flow fast enough. He who was unfortunate was said to have been born when the gods were angry; here Damasippus adds, 'and the poets too.' Compare S. ii. 7. 14.

9. _minantis_] 'Promising.' So the Greeks sometimes used ἀπειλεῖν. And, on the other hand, 'promittere' is used in the sense of 'minari.'

10. _tepido_] Horace was delicate, and disliked the cold, and in the winter was glad to retreat to his country-house, where he could get plenty of wood and a good fire. (See Epp. i. 7. 10, sq.) But his residence in the valley of the Licenza was itself sheltered, and probably at some seasons warmer than Rome.

11. _Quorsum pertinuit stipare Platona Menandro,_] 'Quorsum' is a contraction of 'quo versum,' 'to what point turned or tending.' Plato was a comic writer, and a rival of Aristophanes. As to Eupolis, see S. i. 4. 1, n., and for Archilochus, see Epod. vi. 13, n.

13. _virtute relicta?_] I have more than once had occasion to remark, that the notion of perseverance is involved in the Roman 'virtus' (see C. S. 59), and it is so here, being opposed to 'desidia' (v. 15). But it means more, for it implies moral courage and a strong will, which were in great esteem among the Romans. Damasippus supposes the poet to be consulting his ease and his cowardice at the same time; and says, if he thinks to silence jealousy by ceasing to write, he will only find himself the object of contempt; and if he means to be idle now, he must be content to lose the reputation won in his better days of energy. As to Siren, see Epp. i. 2. 23.

16. _Damasippe,_] See Introduction. Horace prays, in the words of a common formula, that Heaven will send Damasippus, to reward him for his good advice, a barber to shave his long beard. He may be supposed to have let his beard grow long, with the affectation peculiar to those who called themselves philosophers; and Horace means that to be delivered from that folly would be the best boon that could be bestowed upon him. (See below, v. 35, and note on S. i. 3. 133.) ἐκ πώγωνος σοφοί was the Greek way of representing such persons,--men whose wisdom lay in their beards.

18. _Janum Ad medium_] There appear to have been three arches dedicated to Janus in the Forum Romanum, one at each end, and one in the centre, near to the Arcus Fabianus at the extremity of the Via Sacra. They are alluded to again, Epp. i. 1. 54: "Haec Janus summus ab imo Perdocet"; i.e. the whole Forum. Near the middle arch were the 'tabernae' of the principal money-lenders.

20. _Olim nam_] This position of 'nam' is peculiar to the poets. See below, v. 41, and elsewhere.

21. _vafer--lavisset Sisyphus aere,_] Homer (Il. vi. 153) calls Sisyphus κέρδιστος ἀνδρῶν. Damasippus says he used, before he lost all his money, to employ himself in purchasing and reselling all kinds of valuable property; among the rest, vessels of Corinthian bronze (often, but improperly, called brass), of such antiquity that Sisyphus, the founder of Corinth, might be supposed to have used them for washing his feet. The rage for antiquated pieces of furniture went on increasing, and appears to have gone to absurd lengths during the empire.

22. _infabre,_] 'In an unworkmanlike manner.' The reverse of this is 'affabre,' used by Cicero (in Verr. Act. i. c. 5). The art of founding is of great antiquity, though the earliest metal statues were beaten out of lumps with the hammer. It was a process of much nicety, and the fitting of the parts required great skill.

24. _unus_] See S. ii. 6. 57; A. P. 32.

25. _Mercuriale_] Damasippus means that his skill in making bargains was so well known, that he was called, all over the town, a ward of Mercury. The more usual construction is with the dative. See below, v. 47, n. 'Compita' were those spots where two or more streets converged to a point, or crossed one another. At these places idlers lounged, and passengers stopped, if they were so disposed, to offer a prayer to the Lares publici or Compitales, whose altars were erected there. (See below, v. 281, n.)

27. _morbi purgatum_] This genitive follows the Greek construction. Horace calls the man's mania for bargains a disease, and he is surprised how he ever got over it. 'But,' says he, 'you have only exchanged that disorder for another (that of giving advice where it is not wanted), as the patient in a lethargy has been known suddenly to jump up and assault the doctor. Provided, however, you don't follow his example, be it as you please.' 'Trajecto' is a medical word. 'Miser' is also said to be a medical word for 'diseased.' 'Hic' means 'any one,' 'such a one.'

31. _O bone, ne te Frustrere:_] 'My good sir, don't deceive yourself.' We have 'o bone' below (S. 6. 51). It is like the Greek ὦ ᾽γαθέ.

32. _prope omnes,_] Stertinius would not allow of any exceptions to this rule (see note on v. 44), and 'prope' therefore may be looked upon, not as limiting 'omnes,' but perhaps as softening the expression a little. It is hard to give the word a distinct meaning in C. iv. 14. 20, and below in the 268th verse of this Satire (see note on the former passage). The Greeks would use ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν in the same way.

33. _Stertinius_] See Introduction. 'Crepo' is nowhere else used in a good sense, and it is put into Damasippus's mouth ironically. 'Unde' means 'from whom,' i.e. Stertinius.

35. _pascere barbam_] See above, v. 17, n. πωγωνοτροφεῖν is a term used by the later Greek writers. The Pons Fabricius, from which Damasippus was going to throw himself into the river after he became bankrupt, connected the Insula Tiberina with the left bank, and was just outside the walls, facing the south end of the Mons Capitolinus. It had lately been rebuilt with stone, having been formerly (as may be supposed) made of wood. There are still ruins of this bridge, which now bears the name Ponte di Quattro Capi. The Fabricius who built it was Curator Viarum, as appears by an inscription upon one of the arches.

38. _Cave faxis_] The last syllable in 'cave' used with the subjunctive (sometimes with and sometimes without 'ut') is always short. 'Pudor malus' is what the French call 'mauvaise honte.'

40. _insanus haberi._] Those persons who called him a clever fellow as long as he appeared to be succeeding, now that he had failed called him a madman. Success was their criterion of wisdom, as it is with most people. 'Qui vereare,' 'because you are afraid.'

41. _Primum nam inquiram_] 'Nam' is sometimes used to introduce an explanation, as here and in Epp. i. 1. 76. Compare Cæsar (B. G. iii. 28): "Morini Menapiique longe alia ratione ac reliqui Galli bellum gerere coeperunt. Nam quod intelligebant maximas nationes quae proelio contendissent, pulsas superatasque esse, continentesque silvas ac paludes habebant, eo se suaque omnia contulerunt." (See Key's L. G. 1452.)

42. _pereas quin fortiter_] 'Why you should not resolutely destroy yourself.'

44. _Chrysippi porticus_] This was the στοὰ ποικίλη or picture-gallery at Athens, in which Zeno first taught, and from which his followers derived their name. The Stoics admitted no mean between perfect wisdom, or virtue, and absolute folly, or vice. The fool, therefore, was a madman, and he was a fool who was ignorant of the truth: and this maxim ('formula') applies to all men except the sage; the sage, therefore, is he who is perfectly acquainted with the truth, which is the Stoics' equivalent for a virtuous man. This theory of virtue led to the doctrine of punishments ridiculed by Horace in the third Satire of the first book. The Stoics allowed no gradations of virtue, and therefore admitted no gradations of punishment. Their notion of a sage altogether was irrational, because no such being as they imagined a sage to be ever existed, and they did not suppose it possible he should. Their intention was good, namely, to put before the world the highest standard of virtue, wisdom, and self-control, and, by withholding all credit from any stage short of perfection, to lead men on to desire perfection.

47. _qui tibi nomen Insano_] The dative is right. See above, v. 25, n.

50. _utrique_] Horace uses both the singular and plural of this word.

51. _hoc te Crede modo_] 'Believe yourself to be mad within this limit (or to this extent), namely, that he who laughs at you is no wiser, and drags his tail behind him (just as much as you do).'

53. _caudam trahat_] Mischievous boys play tricks upon half-witted people in the streets, such as tying something behind them to make them look ridiculous. In some such way the proverb may have arisen.

_Est genus unum_] This is the first class of fools, those who are afraid where no fear is: the second being those who care nothing for danger. Compare with this the language of Socrates in Xenophon (Mem. i. 1. 14), τῶν τε γὰρ μαινομένων τοὺς μὲν οὐδὲ τὰ δεινὰ δεδιέναι, τοὺς δὲ καὶ τὰ μὴ φοβερὰ φοβεῖσθαι.

56. _varum_] It is not certain whether 'varum' or 'varium' is the proper reading. 'Varum' signifies that which diverges. See S. i. 3. 47, n.

58. _cum cognatis,_] 'Amica' agrees with 'mater.' It is not a substantive. The word 'cognatis' embraces all blood relations who can trace back their origin to a common pair of ancestors.

59. _serva!_] 'Take care!' a word common in the comic writers (see Forcell.).

60. _Fufius_] Nothing more is known of this actor and of Catienus than is here mentioned. The ordinary story of Polydorus, the son of Priam, is that which Euripides relates in the Hecuba, that he was intrusted to the care of Polymestor, king of Thrace, and murdered by him for his gold. Another legend (see Dict. Biog. 'Polydorus') makes him intrusted to the care of his sister Ilione, who was wife of the above Polymestor. She, for some reason, put him in the place of her own son Deiphilus, and the latter was brought up as her brother. When the Greeks took Troy, they required Polymestor to put Priam's son to death, and he accordingly killed Deiphilus. On this story, Pacuvius founded a tragedy called Ilione, and in one of the scenes the ghost of Deiphilus is introduced in his mother's bed-chamber, calling upon her to give his body burial in these words (preserved in Cic. Tusc. Disp. i. 44):--

"Mater, te adpello quae curam somno suspensam levas, Neque te mei miseret; surge et sepeli natum."

Fufius acted Ilione, and Catienus was Deiphilus. The former was so drunk that he fell fast asleep, and Horace says, if 200,000 Catienuses had screamed in his ear, he would not have heard them. His part was to start up and cry to the vanished ghost, like Hamlet,--"Age, adsta, mane, audi, iteradum eademmet ista mihi" (Cic. Acad. Prior. ii. 27). Cicero made a proverb of these words, 'Mater, te appello,' using them in various illustrations. See his speech Pro Sestio, c. 59.

62. _Huic ego vulgus_] Stertinius goes on to prove that the generality of men are as mad as the above persons.

63. _Errori similem_] 'Errorem' is understood, and it is governed by 'insanire' as a cognate accusative, 'error' being equivalent to 'insania.' Compare Epp. i. 1. 101.

64. _Insanit veteres_] In the first place, says he, if Damasippus is mad for buying old statues, is he less mad who trusts him?

65. _Esto!_] εἶεν, 'be it so,' a way of passing on to the disproving of the proposition by a reductio ad absurdum. 'If I offer you a purse of money as a free gift,' says Stertinius, 'are you mad if you accept it? Is not he the fool who rejects the treasure that Mercurius in his bounty offers, seeing he may never be so kind again?'

68. _quam praesens Mercurius fert?_] This notion appears to be taken from a painting. It is common, in ancient works of art, to see Mercurius represented with a purse in his hand, and his wings on his cap or feet, offering the former, as in haste, to some figure by him.

69. _Scribe decem Nerio;_] These words, to v. 73, are an invective of the money-lender Perillius against his slippery debtor Nerius. And the Stoic replies to him in ver. 74 and the two following verses. The sense is this: 'Make an entry (says Perillius) of ten (minae, or anything else) lent to Nerius; add by way of security a hundred such bonds as Cicuta employs, and to this any number of fetters you please (that is, take what security of him you choose), still the rascal will escape.' To which the Stoic replies, 'If he is mad who ruins himself and cannot pay his debts, you are more mad for lending him money which you have no chance of getting back again.' The banker ('argentarius'), through whom the money was advanced, would make an entry in his books, which entry was legal evidence of the debt, but Perillius says that with such a slippery fellow it would not be sufficient.

Nerius may stand for anybody of this character. Cicuta is said to be a nickname given to some notorious usurer, for his sour temper. Horace represents him as a shrewd person to have dealings with; one who, when he advanced money, looked well to the security, and when he bound a debtor, tied the knot tight.

71. _Proteus._] For the story of Proteus, see Hom. Odyss. 410, sqq., 455, sqq. (which Virgil has imitated, Georg. iv. 405, sqq.); Ovid, Fast. i. 369, sqq.; A. A. i. 761:--

"Utque leves Proteus modo se tenuabit in undas; Nunc leo, nunc arbor, nunc erit hirtus aper."

72. _rupies in jus_] See note on S. i. 9. 77. 'Malis ridentem alienis' is a proverbial way of expressing a hypocrite, who puts on a face not his own. The words are taken, without strict regard to their application, from the Odyssey (xx. 347), οἱ δ᾽ ἤδη γναθμοῖσι γελοίων ἀλλοτρίοισι, where the suitors of Penelope laugh when they would rather have cried, like "Quin et Ixion Tityosque vultu Risit invito" (C. iii. 11. 21). The sense is, that this cunning debtor, when his creditor sues him, will put on all kinds of characters, tell all manner of lies, get out of the obligation, and laugh at his creditor, let him do what he will to bind him.

74. _Si male rem gerere_] See v. 40, n.

75. _Putidius_] This Forcellini explains, I believe correctly, "insanius et quasi corruptius." As 'scribere' signifies to make an entry, 'rescribere' signifies to cancel the entry, which would be done when the debt was paid, and not before. 'Quod tu nunquam rescribere possis' therefore means 'what you can never recover.' 'Dictare' is to dictate the form of bond for the borrower to write out, or the sum to be entered in his own books, and either way is equivalent to lending money. When the unjust steward in the parable told his master's debtor to sit down quickly and write less than he owed, he was said 'dictare,' and the man was to write an acknowledgment in the form of a bond.

77. _togam jubeo componere,_] This only means to sit down and composedly attend to what he is going to say. He turns from Damasippus to an imaginary mixed audience, and addresses four classes chiefly: that is to say, the ambitious, the avaricious, the luxurious, and the superstitious.

83. _Nescio an Anticyram_] On the phrases 'nescio an,' 'haud scio an,' 'I incline to think it is so,' see Key's L. G. 1421. Anticyra was a town of Phocis on the Sinus Corinthiacus, and was celebrated for the production of hellebore, a medicine used very generally in cases of madness. It would seem probable, from ver. 166 and other places, that patients went to reside at Anticyra sometimes. There were two other places of the name, one in Thessaly, another in Locris, each of which is said to have produced hellebore, but see note on A. P. 300. 'Destinare' is a medical term for prescribing. Stertinius says that he rather thinks reason would prescribe the whole produce of Anticyra for the covetous, whom he reckons the worst of the four.

84. _Staberi_] This person is unknown. The exhibition of gladiators was originally a funeral ceremony, and so continued after the practice became common as a popular entertainment. After the funeral of a wealthy man a distribution of meat to the people ('visceratio') was not unusual, and a public banquet ('epulum') was very common, to which persons of the highest distinction that the friends could get to attend were invited. The distribution of corn ('frumentatio') was also a common practice. This Staberius, who considered it a disgrace for any man to die poor, willed that the amount of his property should be recorded on his tomb, and his heredes, if they did not do this, were, by a condition in his testament, 'damnati,' under a penalty, to celebrate his funeral with gladiatorial shows and an epulum on a scale to be determined by Arrius, which would be a costly scale. 'Damnati' is a legal term, and penalties were common in Roman wills. We must infer from the text that 200 pairs of gladiators were in Horace's day an extravagant number, but in later times it would not have been excessive.

86. _arbitrio Arri,_] Quintus Arrius (see below, v. 243) was well known in his day. He was a man of low character and origin, and rose by timeserving to honor and wealth. On one occasion he gave an extravagant funeral entertainment.

87. _Frumenti quantum metit Africa._] This is a proverbial expression. See C. i. 1. 10.

88. _ne sis patruus mihi._] This is as much as to say, 'Don't dictate or lay down the law for me.' As to 'patruus,' see C. iii. 12. 3, and above, S. 2. 97.

89. _prudentem_] Cicero defines 'prudentia' thus: "Sapientis est providere, a quo sapientia est appellata prudentia." What Staberius provided for is related in what follows.

90. _summam patrimoni_] It would seem from this as if he had not increased the property his father had left him, since the amount of his patrimony was the amount to be engraved on the tomb.

91. _Quoad_] This is to be pronounced as a monosyllable.

93. _perisset_] The pluperfect is properly joined with the imperfect in this construction. Compare S. i. 6. 79, and Terence, Phorm. i. 2. 69, "Non si redisset ei pater veniam daret"; and Adelph. ii. 1. 24, "Si attigisses ferres infortunium." 'Nequior' has irony in it. But Staberius's doctrine was that goodness was measured by wealth, and that if he should die poorer by the fourth part of an as, he would, in the same proportion, be in his own esteem a less virtuous man.

97. _Sapiensne? Etiam, et rex,_] 'Wise? say you. Ay, and a king to boot, and anything he shall please.' But 'etiam' in replies means 'even so.'

99. _Quid simile isti_] 'But what likeness,' says some one, 'is there between that person of yours and Aristippus'? If he is mad (the man means), surely Aristippus is more mad.

100. _Graecus Aristippus?_] Aristippus of Cyrene professed to be the slave of no passion, while he gratified all. He cared nothing for money, while he used it for the purpose of sensual indulgence. The story Horace mentions is derived with little variation from Diog. Laert. (ii. 77). See Epp. i. 1. 18, n.

103. _litem quod lite resolvit._] Which settles one doubtful point by raising another. It supposes that the conduct of Aristippus may by some be considered noble.

104. _Si quis emat citharas,_] Sir Henry Halford relates an instance of lunacy which illustrates this: "In another well-known case which justified the Lord Chancellor's issuing a writ 'de lunatico inquirendo,' the insanity of the gentleman manifested itself in appropriating everything to himself and parting with nothing. When strongly urged to put on a clean shirt, he would do it, but it must be over the dirty one; nor would he put off his shoes when he went to bed. He would agree to purchase anything that was to be sold, but he would not pay for it. He was, in fact, brought up from the King's Bench prison, where he had been committed for not paying for a picture valued at £1,500 which he had agreed to buy; and in giving my opinion to the jury I recommended them to go over to his house in Portland Place, where they would find £15,000 worth of property of every description; this picture, musical instruments, clocks, baby-houses, and bawbles, all huddled in confusion together on the floor of his dining-room. I need not add, that the jury found the gentleman insane." (Halford's Essays, p. 63.)

106. _formas_] Here this signifies a shoemaker's last. It is used for moulds in which castings are made, and would express any shape or block on which anything is made.

107. _Aversus mercaturis:_] The poets use the dative after verbs, participles, and adjectives, which signify removal or difference. See Key's L. G. 987. Compare C. ii. 4. 19: "Tam lucro aversam." 'Istis' (v. 108) is the dative under the same rule. This Latin use accounts for our own 'averse to.'

115. _Chii veterisque Falerni_] Pliny says, respecting the age of Falernian, "Falernum nec in novitate nec in nimia vetustate corpori salubre est. Media ejus aetas a quinto decimo anno incipit." (N. H. xxiii. 20.)

116. _nihil est,_] 'A thousand,--nay, that is nothing.' He might have said 'immo.' See S. i. 3. 20, n.

117. _unde-Octoginta annos natus,_] After he has completed seventy-nine years, that is, in his eightieth year.

118. _stragula vestis,_] The ancients had very expensive coverings for their beds, which were called 'stragula' or 'stragulae vestes.' They were usually purple, wide, and sometimes richly embroidered.

121. _morbo jactatur eodem._] That is, madness. The word 'jactari' is applied medically to the tossing of the sick and writhing of those in pain.

123. _Dis inimice senex,_] This is an adaptation of θεοῖς ἐχθρός, a common Greek expression.

127. _perjuras,_] 'Pejerare' is the common form of this word.

129. _servosque tuos quos aere pararis,_] 'Quos aere pararis' shows the folly of the man who, having laid out his money in the purchase of slaves, employs himself in breaking their heads with stones. Such a man, says Stertinius, would be counted mad by acclamation. 'Well, then,' he adds, to the miser, 'are you not mad, who poison your mother or strangle your wife, to get rid of the expense of keeping them? Of course not; for you do it, not at Argos, but at Rome; not in the character of Orestes, but of a respectable citizen. But do you not believe Orestes was mad before he killed his mother, and when no one suspected it?' As to 'quid enim,' see note on S. i. 1. 7.

130. _pueri clamentque puellae:_] "'Que' in the poets is sometimes placed, not after the second of the two words compared, but after a word which is the common predicate of both clauses." (Key's L. G. 1441.) In a note, Professor Key adds, "A construction that probably began with a repetition of the predicate, 'pueri clament clamentque puellae.'" See below (v. 157), "furtis pereamque rapinis," and many other instances.

137. _male tutae mentis_] 'Tutus' was in medical language equivalent to 'sanus.' 'Incolumis' is used in the same sense (v. 132).

141. _Hanc Furiam, hunc aliud_] What Horace alludes to when he speaks of Orestes calling Pylades names, is uncertain. In the Orestes of Euripides (v. 264) he says to his sister:

μέθες· μί᾽ οὖσα τῶν ἐμῶν ἐρινύων μέσον μ᾽ ὀχμάζεις, ὡς βάλῃς ἐς Τάρταρον.

_splendida bilis._] 'Splendida' is a redundant epithet. Persius, who imitates Horace frequently, calls it 'vitrea bilis' (iii. 8). Galen says, "The black bile is brighter than the blood itself, like the asphalt from the Dead Sea, which they call Jewish asphalt."

142. _Opimius_] This man, who was 'magnas inter opes inops' (C. iii. 16. 28) is quite unknown except from this description. On the wine of Veii see note on C. i. 9. 7, and Persius (S. v. 147): "Veientanumque rubellum." On 'Campana trulla,' see S. i. 6. 118. 'Trulla,' which has the same element as τρύβλιον, was a drinking cup of some shape. It was not necessarily of earthen-ware, as here. Cicero (in Verr. ii. 4. 27) mentions one made of a single precious stone of enormous size, with a gold handle.

147. _multum celer_] See S. i. 3. 57.

155. _Agedum, sume hoc ptisanarium oryzae._] On 'agedum,' see S. i. 4. 38. 'Ptisanarium' is a diminutive of 'ptisana,' and means a little broth. Rice was imported from Egypt.

157. _furtis pereamque rapinis?_] See note on S. i. 3. 122, and above, v. 130. The wretched man, when he hears the price of his food, conjures up the notion that everybody is conspiring to rob and plunder him.

158. _Quisnam igitur sanus?_] These questions and answers are all carried on by Stertinius himself. 'Stultus et insanus' means 'he is a fool, and therefore mad'; not 'he is a fool, and moreover he is mad,' since folly and madness have already been declared to be identical.

161. _Craterum dixisse putato_] Craterus was an eminent physician of that day. Cicero speaks of him with confidence as attending the daughter of Atticus during her illness, B.C. 45. He is mentioned by Persius many years afterwards as representing the profession (S. iii. 65). 'Cardiacus,' according to Celsus's definition, is "nothing else than excessive weakness of the body, which, from the stomach having lost its tone, is wasted with immoderate sweating."

163. _morbo tentantur acuto._] This whole verse is repeated, Epp. i. 6. 28. 'Morbus acutus,' 'an acute disease,' is opposed to 'longus,' 'a chronic disease.'

165. _porcum Laribus:_] C. iii. 23. 4. 'Let him offer a thanksgiving to his Lares who have protected him from those vices.'

168. _Servius Oppidius_] This person is unknown, except from this passage. He lived at Canusium, a town of Apulia (see S. v. 5. 91, n.). Horace says he was rich even with two farms, according to the standard of incomes in the old times. As to the form 'divisse,' see S. 1. 5. 79. This story serves to connect the subject of avarice with that of ambition, which is the next form of madness and profligacy which follows.

171. _talos,--nucesque_] The 'talus' was the knuckle bone of some animal, generally a sheep, the Greek name for which was ἀστράγαλος. The manner of playing with it was the same among the Greeks and the Romans, and the same bones are still used by boys in England. The ancients used them in games of skill and of chance; for the latter purpose they were marked as dice, and thrown usually from a box called 'fritillus,' 'phimus,' etc. (See S. ii. 7. 17, n.) Boys had also games of various kinds with nuts, as they have now. Suetonius relates that Augustus used to amuse himself by playing with little boys at these games. Oppidius observed that his son Aulus carried about his bones and his nuts in a careless way in a loose fold of his toga, ready to give them away to any of his companions, or to lose them at play; while Tiberius always counted his carefully and hid them away, carrying a serious face wherever he went; and from these early signs of character he foresaw that one would prove a spendthrift, and the other a miser. As to Nomentanus, see S. i. 1. 102, n.; and on Cicuta, see above, v. 69.

178. _coërcet._] Keeps within bounds, defines, limits.

179. _Gloria_] See S. i. 6. 23.

181. _is intestabilis et sacer esto._] A person who was 'intestabilis,' as the word implies, could not appear as a witness before a magistrate, and so lost virtually much of his capacity for private rights. 'Sacer' was one condemned for some great crime, who might be put to death by anybody, without charge of murder. Thus Oppidius imprecates a curse upon his sons, if they should ever aspire so high as to the office of an ædile or a prætor.

182. _In cicere atque faba_] As if his sons were already seeking votes, he says to each of them (for 'tu' must be so understood), 'So you would throw away your money in distributing largesses to the people (such as the ædiles were wont to give), in order that you may strut about in the Circus, and have a bronze statue voted you,--that is to say, that you may be loaded with the same honors as the great Agrippa, like a fox aping a lion.' It was customary for the ædiles to distribute grain, or vegetables of the sort mentioned, to the common people, at the festival of the Floralia. See Persius (v. 177).

183. _Latus--spatiere_] This is explained in the note on Epod. iv. 7. As to 'aëneus,' see C. iii. 3. 65, n. The form of expression 'aëneus ut stes' is like that in C. iv. 1. 19: "Albanos prope te lacus Ponet marmoream"; and Virg. (Ecl. vii. 35):

"Nunc te marmoreum pro tempore fecimus; at tu Si fetura gregem suppleverit aureus esto."

The same way of speaking is common in Greek. Such statues as are here supposed were usually erected in the Forum, and one had probably been lately placed there in honor of Agrippa. It may be observed that Oppidius plainly means the first part of his address, from 'In cicere,' etc., to apply to the careless, extravagant Aulus, while the simile of the fox and lion is only applicable to Tiberius, who, if he spends his money, will look for a substantial return for it, in such honors and rewards as he saw Agrippa had won.

185. _quos fert Aqrippa_] Agrippa, after he had been prætor and consul, undertook the ædileship, which was the lowest of the curule offices, in B.C. 33, to gratify Augustus. His munificence was very great in the erection of public buildings and the celebration of games on a splendid scale, and in large donations to the people.

186. _Astuta ingenuum_] This appears to be nothing but a suitable illustration invented by Horace. It is obvious enough, and we need not suppose it a proverb or a current fable of Æsop or any one else.

187. _Ne quis humasse velit_] This scene is taken from the remonstrance of Ulysses with Agamemnon, in the Ajax of Sophocles (v. 1328, sqq.), after Ajax has destroyed himself. 'Veto' usually governs the infinitive mood. Once more, as here, Horace uses it with 'ne' and the subjunctive (Epp. ii. 1. 239), and once with the subjunctive, but without 'ne' (C. iii. 2. 26). Tibullus has 'veto' with 'ut': "Illius ut verbis sis mihi lenta veto" (ii. 6. 36). 'Atrida' is the later form of the vocative. The Greek 'Atride' is used in Epp. i. 7. 43. 'Cur' is awkwardly placed, as it is in S. 7. 104. The connection with what precedes lies in the extravagant and imperious conduct of the king, as illustrating the excesses of pride, and proving that madness is found in high places and in the heart of kings. Stertinius, it must be remembered, is exposing the folly of ambition. The dialogue is supposed to be between Agamemnon and one of his soldiers, in view of the unburied corpse of Ajax. 'I am a king,' ('I am one of the common sort, and dare ask no more!' interposes the soldier humbly,)--'and moreover the thing is just that I command.' There is a good deal of irony here. The justice of the command is secondary to the will of the despot, and his subject is ready, with instinctive awe, to admit that it is so; but the tyrant condescends to justify his act; and the man of low degree, not without trembling and doubt and astonishment at such condescension, ventures to ask that his reason may be enlightened a little, in order that he may learn to acquiesce willingly. Stephens quotes a Greek proverb, μωρῷ καὶ βασιλεῖ νόμος ἄγραφος, 'Fools and kings are governed by an unwritten law.' Compare Juvenal, "Sic volo sic jubeo; stat pro ratione voluntas" (vi. 223).

191. _Di tibi dent capta classem deducere Troja!_] This is a version of the words of Chryses to the king (Il. i. 18):

ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ὀλύμπια δώματ᾽ ἔχοντες ἐκπέρσαι Πριάμοιο πόλιν, εὖ δ᾽ οἴκαδ᾽ ἱκέσθαι.

'Consulere' is used humorously, as if the person addressed was a jurisconsultus. On 'respondere,' see C. S. 55, n.

194. _Putescit_] The two forms 'putrescere' and 'putescere' are in use, but there is no difference of meaning in them. 'Putrescat' is used above (v. 119).

195. _Gaudeat ut populus Priami Priamusque_] Comp. Il. i. 255: ἦ κεν γηθήσαι Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες.

197. _Mille ovium_] "'Mille' in the singular is commonly an adjective; in the plural, perhaps always a substantive." An exception to the latter part of this rule occurs above (S. i. 6. 111). 'Morti dedit' is exactly equivalent to our 'put to death.' 'Do' means 'to put'; so its compounds 'abdo,' 'to put away'; 'addo,' 'to put to'; 'condo,' 'to put together'; 'dedo,' 'to put down' (one's arms); 'dido,' 'to put asunder or distribute'; 'edo,' 'to put forth'; 'indo,' 'to put on'; 'trado,' 'to put across, to hand over,' etc.

198. _mecum se occidere clamans._] See Soph. Aj. 42:

τί δῆτα ποίμναις τήνδ᾽ ἐπεμπίπτει βάσιν; δοκῶν ἐν ὑμῖν χεῖρα χραίνεσθαι φόνῳ.

199. _dulcem Aulide natam_] Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, was brought to the altar to be sacrificed to Artemis, when the Greek fleet was detained in the port of Aulis, in Eubœa, on its way to Troy. But the goddess carried her off to be her priestess in Tauri.

200. _spargisque mola caput,_] This is the 'mola salsa,' the meal and salt with which the head of the victim was sprinkled. (See C. iii. 23. 20, n.)

201. _Quorsum?--Insanus_] 'Quorsum?' expresses a sudden and angry interruption of the king, astonished at the man's boldness, while he, being warm, goes on without heeding Agamemnon's anger, 'for mad as he was, what did Ajax do?'

203. _Uxore et gnato;_] Tecmessa and Eurysaces.

204. _Non ille_] 'Non' must not be separated from 'ille.' The meaning is 'not even he,' οὐδ᾽ ἐκεῖνος. So in C. iii. 21. 9:

"Non ille quanquam Socraticis madet Sermonibus te negliget horridus."

205. _adverso litore_] The shore is called adverse because they wanted to get away from it, and could not. Properly the winds were adverse, not the coast. But the transfer of the epithet from the wind to the shore is in accordance with a common usage.

207. _Meo, sed non furiosus._] This is a very polite reply, considering the provocation. The colloquy ends here. Horace, we may presume, had something before him to suggest what must appear to us a rather unnatural and far fetched scene.

208. _Qui species alias veris_] 'He who shall entertain fancies foreign to the truth, and mixed up together by the confusion of his own wickedness, will be accounted mad.'

211. _cum occidit desipit agnos:_] This is an irregular collocation of words; but it is not mended by the commas by which 'desipit' is usually preceded and followed.

214. _Si quis lectica_] The 'lectica' of the Romans and φορεῖον of the Greeks were introduced from Asia, and differed very slightly from the palanquins in which, from time immemorial, the Asiatics have been carried.

217. _interdicto huic omne adimat jus_] The law of the XII. Tables assigned the charge of persons who were 'furiosi' to their relations in the male line, 'agnati,' and the prætor in later times chose the person who should act as 'curator' to the insane person. The same law applied to 'prodigi,' notorious spendthrifts. (See below, Epp. i. 1. 102, sq.) The story of Sophocles brought before an Athenian jury by his sons, and reading the celebrated chorus in his Œdipus Coloneus to prove his sanity, is told by Cicero in his treatise on Old Age, c. 7. 'Omne jus' means every legal right.

221. _hic summa est insania;_] 'Insania' signifies unsoundness of mind generally; 'furor,' the same, accompanied with violence. Horace's climax of madmen is the fool, the man of crime, and the ambitious the worst of all.

222. _vitrea_] This probably means the glitter of fame.

223. _Hunc circumtonuit_] This verse, which has a grand Epic tone, Orelli thinks may be taken from Ennius. But Horace may have written it himself. He resorts occasionally to travesty to heighten the force of his satire. The worst stage of insanity is represented by one whom Bellona (the goddess of war) hovers round, with a trumpet of thunder and her bloody scourge, and urges on to madness. The Bellonarii, her priests, cut their own flesh to offer the blood in sacrifice.

224. _Nunc age_] He now passes on to the third kind of madness, profligate extravagance.

225. _Vincet enim stultos ratio_] See S. i. 3. 115, n. As to 'talenta,' see S. 7. 89.

228. _Tusci turba impia vici,_] The Vicus Tuscus was a street south of the Forum, and is said to have received its name from a body of fugitives from Porsena's army, who were hospitably entertained by the Romans, and allowed to occupy this street. It appears to have been filled with shops, some apparently of the better sort.

229. _Cum scurris fartor,_] 'Fartores' were persons whose business was to fatten fowls. The 'scurrae,' 'parasites,' were sent for to help to consume all this quantity of provisions, and to entertain the new heir.

_cum Velabro_] The Velabrum is said to have derived its name from the verb 'vehere,' because the ground was originally a swamp traversed by boats. It was the name of that part of the city which lay between Mons Capitolinus and Mons Aventinus, from the Tiber to the Circus Maximus. Here, too, there appears to have been a collection of shops of the better sort.

_omne macellum,_] There were in earlier times different markets for the sale of different provisions, as the 'forum boarium' for oxen, 'olitorium' for vegetables, 'piscarium' and 'piscatorium' for fish, 'cupedinis' for delicacies, etc. These were afterwards (the time is uncertain) all transferred to one large market, on the site of the 'forum cupedinis,' on the north side of the Sacra Via, not far from the Forum Romanum. This market was called Macellum, the diminutive form of 'maceria,' the wall with which it was surrounded.

232. _vel nunc pete vel cras._] This seems to mean 'whenever you please.'

233. _aequus:_] This is ironical. The young man, affecting to be just, shows a wanton extravagance towards the most profligate persons.

234. _In nive Lucana_] It appears from this passage and S. 8. 6, that Lucanian boars were particularly prized. Martial mentions an Etrurian boar as a great present he had received. Horace, in the next Satire (ver. 40), recommends the Umbrian boar above the Laurentian, or those found in the marshy land on the coast of Latium, in the neighborhood of Laurentum, about sixteen miles from the mouth of the Tiber. The same cause that gave the Umbrian boar its superiority would give value to the Lucanian: both were fed upon the acorns and chestnuts of the Apennines, which are still considered in Italy the best food for hogs, wild and tame. The boar was usually served up whole, at large tables, and formed the principal dish. The 'ocrea' was a leather garter that came up to the knee and round the calf like the soldier's greaves, and was called from them.

235. _verris._] 'Verrere' is a word used for fishing: 'to sweep the waters.' See note on S. 4. 37.

237. _tibi decies:_] 'Decies centena millia sestertium': ten hundred thousand sestertii, not much under nine thousand pounds. (See S. i. 3. 15.)

239. _Filius Aesopi_] Æsopus, the actor, amassed great wealth. The name of his son who inherited it was Clodius, which was the father's name, given him perhaps as a freedman of some one belonging to the Clodia gens. Cæcilia Metella was the wife of P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, and was divorced by him B.C. 45, in consequence of her intrigues, chiefly with Dolabella, Cicero's son in law, of whose profligacy Æsop's son appears to have been a partner. The mad freak of Clodius is also (as is better known) related of Cleopatra. Æsopus, the actor, was not less extravagant than his son, see below, v. 245, n.

243. _Quinti progenies Arri,_] Of the father enough has been said above (ver. 86, n.). Of the sons nothing is known.

245. _Luscinias_] The second syllable is long; the third coalesces with the last (see i. 7. 30, n). A dish of nightingales would cost a large sum and afford little meat. Pliny mentions that Æsopus, the actor (see above, v. 239, n.), on one occasion had a dish of singing and talking birds, each of which cost 6,000 sestertii, and the whole dish 100,000, on which Pliny remarks, the man was worthy of his son, who melted the pearl and drank it.--'Impenso' is nowhere else used absolutely for 'impenso pretio,' which is a common expression for a high price.

246. _Sanin creta, an carbone notandi?_] The distinction of days by white and black marks has been mentioned, C. i. 36. 10, n. Horace here applies them to the distinction of character. The meaning of the sentence is, 'Are they as men of sound mind to be marked with a white mark, or (as unsound) with a black?' 'Sanin' is a contraction of 'sanine.' 'Quorsum abeant?' 'what is to become of them? are they to be marked, &c.?'

248. _Ludere par impar,_] A game fit only for children, in which one person guessed whether the number of things another person held in his hand was odd or even. The Greeks had the same game, and called it ἀρτιάζειν. Stertinius goes on to speak of the man of pleasure, whose madness is no less than that of the covetous, the ambitious, or the spendthrift. With the last he is closely allied.

250. _ratio esse evincet_] See above, v. 225. He says, "If reason convinces you that all these symptoms of madness are no worse than whining after women, is it not better to repent and lay aside such things?"

251. _trimus Quale prius_] Such a game as you used to play at formerly, when you were but three years old.

254. _Mutatus Polemon?_] Polemon was a youth given to pleasures and bad company. Passing the Academy with a garland on his head, and with a band of riotous companions, while Xenocrates was lecturing, he burst into the school, but was so struck with what he heard, that, having gone in a thoughtless profligate, he came out serious and quite converted. He succeeded Xenocrates at the head of the Academy (B.C. 315). Xenocrates himself, whose purity of life and sobriety of character are referred to in the word 'impransi,' became the head of the Platonic school on the resignation of Speusippus (B.C. 339). He was the disciple of Plato, and accompanied him on his travels.

255. _Fasciolas, cubital, focalia,_] These are all articles of dress, worn only by women, or by men who took great care of their person. 'Fasciola' was a bandage for the legs, 'cubital' a sleeve for the arm, 'focale' a bandage for the throat. 'Impransus' stands for 'sobrius,' because it was not usual for abstemious men to take the midday meal ('prandium'). 'Furtim' is a happy touch of Horace's. It expresses the shame of the young man, and his instinctive reverence for the philosopher and the place he was in, better than many sentences could have done. 'Correptus' means 'arrested, conscience-smitten.'

258. _Porrigis irato puero_] The caprices of a spoilt child are no worse than those of lovers squabbling and making it up again.

259. _Sume, catelle!_] Such diminutives were expressions of endearment. There is a collection of such in a scene of Plautus (Asin. iii. 3. 76):

"Dic igitur me passerculum, gallinam, coturnicem, Agnellum, haedillum me tuum dic esse vel vitellum";

and ver. 103:

"Dic igitur me anaticulam, columbam, vel catellum, Hirundinem, monedulam, passerculum putillum."

260. _agit ubi secum_] With such a scene as this the Eunuchus of Terence opens, and a good deal is taken word for word from that scene. The lover's indecision is represented elsewhere, in Epod. xi. 19, sqq.

270. _nihilo plus explicet_] 'Explico' signifies to gain a point or serve a purpose. There is a like use of this word in Cæsar (B. G. viii. 4): "Explicandae rei frumentariae causa." It is also used in a peculiar sense in C. iv. 9. 44, where see note.

272. _Picenis excerpens semina pomis_] The orchards of Picenum, the district that lay between the country of the Sabines and the Hadriatic, appear to have been celebrated. In the next Satire (ver. 70) Picenian apples are said to be superior to those of Tibur, and they are mentioned many years later by Juvenal (xi. 74). The sport here alluded to is thus explained. Lovers were wont to take the pips of apples between their finger and thumb and shoot them up to the ceiling, and if they struck it, their wish would be accomplished. Some such games are common in our own nurseries.

273. _si cameram percusti_] 'Camera,' which is from the Greek καμάρα, and is sometimes spelt with an 'a,' was an arched ceiling, as 'lacunar' was flat. The latter was so called from panels with raised sides, and so having each the appearance of a 'lacus' or shallow reservoir, into which the ceiling was sometimes divided. It was common in rich houses for the ceiling to be richly ornamented. See C. ii. 18. 2. 'Laquear' is another form of 'lacunar.' Horace also uses the expression 'laqueata tecta' (C. ii. 16. 12), which is found in other writers.

_penes te es?_] This seems to correspond to the Greek ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἶναι, for a man in his right mind, or it may mean to ask if the man is 'suo jure,' which one who was 'furiosus' would not be.

274. _cum balba feris_] 'You strike your lisping words against your old palate' which means that he talks in a silly, childish way.

275. _Adde cruorem Stultitiae_] But childish nonsense is not the worst of this madness. Add bloodshed to folly and run into the most violent excesses of passion, and you will not do more than such lusts commonly lead to. Such is the Stoic's meaning. 'Ignem gladio scrutare' is a translation of a Greek saying, πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ σκαλεύειν, 'to stir the fire with the sword,' which is attributed to Pythagoras. To stir the fire of lust with the sword, is to stir up strife and bloodshed in the indulgence of your lusts.

276. _Modo, inquam, Hellade percussa_] 'To take a late instance,' seems to be the meaning of 'modo'. The story here referred to was probably well known at the time, but of the actors in it we know nothing.

278. _Cerritus fuit, an commotae_] 'Cerritus' means 'mad,' but its derivation is uncertain. 'Commotus' is used for different degrees of mental excitement. See v. 209, where the meaning is the same as here. Agrippina, who was of a hasty temper, is called 'commotior' by Tacitus (Ann. i. 33). 'Cognata vocabula' means words which may differ in sound, but are one in sense.

281. _Libertinus erat,_] The next folly noticed is superstition. Stertinius tells, by way of illustration, a story of an old 'libertinus,' who went from shrine to shrine erected in the 'compita,' spots where two or more streets met, praying to the Lares Compitales (for whom altars were built in such places, see above, v. 26, n.) that they would grant him immortality. This he did early in the morning, quite sober, and with hands washed, as became a serious worshipper. Now this man was sound in hearing and sight, but, says Stertinius, if his former master had ever wanted to part with him, in putting him up for sale he would have cautioned purchasers that he was not in his right mind, unless he wanted to get into an action to rescind the bargain on the ground of fraud. It was necessary for a person selling a slave to inform the buyer of any bodily or mental defect in him. To wash the hands and feet before offering prayer or sacrifice was a custom with the Greeks and Romans. Hector says (Il. vi. 266).

Χερσὶ δ᾽ ἀνίπτοισιν Διῒ λείβειν αἴθοπα οἶνον Ἅζομαι.

283. _surpite_] See C. i. 36. 8.

287. _in gente Meneni._] Of Menenius nothing is known. 'Meneniae stultitiae' or 'ineptiae' is spoken of as a proverb.

289. _cubantis,_] See note on S. i. 9. 18. 'Illo die' may mean 'die Jovis.' The Jews fasted on Thursdays and Mondays ("I fast twice in the week," Luke xvii. 12), in commemoration, it is said, of the ascent of Moses into the Mount on the fifth day of the week, and of his return on the second. The practices of the Jews were the best illustrations of superstition in the eyes of Horace and men of the world, and their fast is here perhaps alluded to. See note on S. i. 9. 69. On special occasions fasts were ordered at Rome. The vow made by the mother for her sick child is, that, if he recovers, he shall stand naked in the Tiber, to wash away his sins. This is intended to represent another foreign superstition, as the Romans held it, that of bathing the body in token of the purifying of the soul.

295. _Quone malo_] See S. i. 10. 21 on 'quone.' 'Timor deorum' is equivalent to δεισιδαιμονία in its usual sense of superstition. 'Deorum metus' expresses a right fear or reverence of the gods. But the distinction was not invariably observed.

296. _sapientum octavus,_] That is, he might take his place with the seven wise men of Greece.

297. _ne compellarer inultus._] 'Compellare' is sometimes used absolutely and in a bad sense, that is to abuse, as here.

299. _Respicere ignoto_] This refers to Æsop's fable of the two wallets, which is told, with its moral, in five lines by Phædrus (iv. 10):

"Peras imposuit Jupiter nobis duas: Propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit, Alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem. Hac re videre nostra mala non possumus; Alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus."

300. _sic vendas omnia pluris,_] On 'sic' see C. i. 3. 1, n. 'Pluris' is simply put for 'magno.' Horace quietly hints to Damasippus that he had better leave off philosophy and return to his trade, in which he wishes him all success.

303. _Agave_] How she and the other Mænads tore her son Pentheus to pieces for intruding upon the orgies, is related at length by Ovid. (Met. iii. 701, sqq.)

308. _Aedificas, hoc est,_] 'You are building, which is as much as to say, you, who are a dwarf two feet high, are aping the airs of a giant; and yet you laugh at Turbo (a gladiator of great courage, but small stature), swelling with a spirit too big for his little body.' Horace may have been making some additions to his Sabine house, and about this time Mæcenas built his large house on the Esquiliæ. (See S. i. 8, Introduction.)

312. _verum est_] δίκαιόν ἐστι; 'is it right?' Compare Cæsar, B. G. iv. 8: "Neque verum esse qui suos fines tueri non potuerint alienos occupare." See also Livy iii. 40.

313. _Tantum dissimilem_] A similar construction occurs immediately below (ver. 317), 'tantum magna.' 'Multum similis' (S. ii. 5. 92), 'multum dissimilis' (Epp. i. 10. 3), are like phrases. 'Tanto' is the dative governed by 'certare.'

314. _Absentis ranae_] This fable is told by Phædrus (i. 24).

318. _Major dimidio. Num tanto?_] 'Greater by half,' is a way of speaking which must not be taken literally. By 'num tanto' the frog means to ask whether the calf was so much bigger than her natural size as, by puffing, she had made herself. 'Is it so much bigger?' she says, blowing herself out to proportions much greater than her own.

320. _abludit_] This word occurs nowhere else. It means to be out of harmony with.

322. _sanus_] See A. P. 296: "Excludit sanos Helicone poëtas Democritus." There is not much consistency in Damasippus urging Horace to write at the beginning of the Satire, and calling him mad for doing so at the end of it.

323. _horrendam rabiem._] This charge against himself need not be taken seriously. We have no reason to believe Horace was an ill-tempered man. He laments the facility of his temper on one occasion. (S. i. 9. 11.) But he says he is irritable. (Epp. i. 20. 25.)

_Cultum majorem censu._] 'Your living beyond your income.' Horace tries to stop him, but the man goes on with one instance of his folly after another.

324. _Teneas,--tuis te._] 'Mind your own business.'

326. _O major tandem_] The scene winds up with a pretended deprecation of the severe truths of Damasippus, to whom the poet submits as the greater madman of the two, and humbles himself before him accordingly.

SATIRE IV.

This Satire is an essay on good living, put in the form of precepts delivered to Horace at second hand by one Catius, who professes to have received them from some sage more learned in the art, whom he does not name. Horace meets him accidentally, as he is hurrying away from the Professor's lecture, to think over what he had learnt, and to store it in his mind. Catius recites what he has heard, from memory or from notes, and enters without preface upon the question of the first course. The Professor may be supposed to have carried his hearers through an entire dinner, "ab ovo usque ad mala" (see S. i. 3. 6, n.). Catius only gives the heads of the lecture and one or two of the sage's reflections. The precepts he delivers inflame Horace with a desire to see and hear the great man himself, and he prays Catius to introduce him. It may be that Horace had some third person in his eye, but we have no means of knowing who it was. If it be so, there were those, no doubt, who would understand the allusion at the time. As to the man Catius himself, he appears to have been a well known follower of the Epicurean school, but he must have been dead many years before this Satire was written. Probably, therefore, Horace only introduces his name as a handle for ridiculing the Epicureans.

1. _Unde et quo Catius?_] On Catius, see Introduction. On the formula, see S. i. 9. 62, n.

2. _Ponere signa_] The ancients practiced methods for helping the memory. The first 'memoria technica' was said by tradition to have been invented by Simonides of Ceos. 'Signa' were more technically called 'imagines,' objects which the person arranged so that his mind's eye could rest upon them, and thus assist his memory. 'Ponere signa' seems also to have been commonly used in this sense.

3. _Anytique reum_] Anytus was one of the three (Meletus and Lycon were his associates) who got up and conducted the prosecution of Socrates.

4. _tempore laevo_] See above, S. ii. 1. 18: "Nisi dextro tempore Flacci Verba," etc.

6. _Quod si_] Horace apologizes for interrupting and detaining him; but, he says, if he should thereby forget any part of his lesson for a moment, he will presently recover it, he has such a wonderful memory, either by nature or art, or both.

11. _celabitur auctor._] See Introduction.

12. _Longa quibus facies ovis erit_] On 'ova,' see S. i. 3. 6, n. 'Succus' here is equivalent to 'sapor.' Why Horace should make Catius say that long eggs were more white than round ones, or what is gained by the whiteness of an egg, or by its containing a male rather than a female chicken, is not clear. He puts any nonsense, it appears, into the man's mouth. 'Ponere' is to put upon the table, as 'posito pavone' (S. ii. 2. 23). The notion that from long eggs cocks were hatched, and from round, hens, appears to have been a vulgar error. 'Callosa' signifies 'tough,' and belongs in sense, though not in construction, to the yolk.

15. _Caule suburbano_] Artificial streams and fishponds were commonly introduced into the gardens of rich people. Hence Catius says the vegetables grown in the suburbs were not so pleasant as those grown in the country on drier soil; meaning that they were insipid, from the quantity of water they imbibed.

17. _vespertinus subito te oppresserit_] On 'vespertinus,' see Epod. xvi. 51; 'opprimere' is to overtake or come upon one suddenly.

18. _malum responset_] 'Responsare' is used by Horace several times in the sense of resistance. See below, S. 7. 85: "Responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores"; and Epp. i. 1. 68. 'Malum responset' means 'it disagrees with.'

19. _vivam mixto mersare Falerno;_] 'Mixto' means mixed with water.

20. _Pratensibus optima fungis_] He says the 'fungi' that grew in the open meadows were more to be trusted than others,--that is, those which grew in the shade. Truffles and different kinds of mushrooms were much eaten by the Romans, as they are still by the Italians. Of the latter there were and are great varieties. The mushroom most highly esteemed was the boletus, which was cultivated in gardens, and kept for the eating of the rich. But all such fungi had to be chosen with great care. Even the boletus served to carry off an emperor.

24. _Aufidius_] This may be M. Aufidius, who was remarkable as having been the first at Rome who bred and fattened peacocks for sale, and derived a large profit (as much as 600,000 sesterces a year) from that trade. As to the composition of 'mulsum,' see note on S. ii. 2. 15, n. Falernian wine, which Horace appears to have esteemed next to Cæcuban, is here called 'forte,' and elsewhere 'severum' and 'ardens' (C. i. 27. 9; ii. 11. 19). It was a very strong spirituous wine, and required long keeping to become mellow.

27. _morabitur_] This may have been a medical word for costiveness. 'Mitulus,' the limpet, was an inferior sort of shell-fish. The Greeks called it τελλίνη or ξιφύδριον. The 'lapathus' is mentioned above as a purgative (Epod. ii. 57, n.). 'Brevis' refers to the size of the plant.

30. _Lubrica nascentes implent_] That shell-fish were best at the time of the new moon, appears to have been generally believed among the ancients. They had many fancies respecting the influence of the moon on various objects, in which, however, modern ignorance and superstition have perhaps surpassed them. But in respect to shell-fish, modern observation is in conformity with that of the ancients.

32. _Murice Baiano_] This shell-fish, from which a purple dye was obtained, was found, it seems, in great abundance at Baiæ. It would seem not to have been as useful for the table as for its dye. The 'peloris,' which was found in the Lacus Lucrinus, close to Baiæ, appears to have been an insipid fish, though Catius says it is better than the murex. The rival oyster-beds were in the Lacus Lucrinus and at Circeii, the opposite point of the bay which is terminated by the promontory of that name, in Latium, and the promontory of Misenum, in Campania. Catius gives the preference to the oysters of Circeii, which Pliny also says were unsurpassed (xxxii. 21). See note on Epod. ii. 49. The best oysters, however, were found at Brundisium on the other coast, whence the spawn was carried to stock the beds on the coast of Campania and Latium.

34. _Pectinibus patulis_] The shell-fish called 'pecten,' it seems, was found in greatest perfection at Tarentum. From the epithet 'patulis' it must have been one of the bivalved sort.

_molle Tarentum._] The degenerate character of the Tarentines, which gained their city the epithets 'molle,' 'imbelle' (Epp. i. 7. 45), dates from the death of Archytas, about the middle of the fourth century B.C. Among other symptoms of this degeneracy, it is recorded that their calendar contained more festivals than there were days in the year. For full two hundred years (some make it much more) before the above period, they had flourished, above all the colonies of Magna Græcia, in arms and commerce.

36. _exacta_] For this meaning of 'exigere,' 'to investigate,' see Forcell. under 'exigo' and 'exactus.'

37. _cara pisces avertere mensa_] 'Mensa' means the fishmonger's board, which is called dear, instead of the fish exposed on it. 'Avertere' is 'to carry off.' Compare Virgil (Aen. x. 78): "Arva aliena jugo premere atque avertere praedas." It is commonly used with 'praeda,' as in Cæsar, B. C. iii. 59: "Praedam omnem domum avertebant." It may be applied humorously in this sense here, the man making a booty of the fish he loved. On 'pisces patinarii' ('quibus jus est aptius') and 'assi,' see note on S. i. 3. 81.

39. _Languidus in cubitum_] Catius says it is of no use for a man to buy expensive fish, if he does not know how to dress them; that is, which should be served up with sauce, and which, when fried, will tempt the guest, after he has laid himself down tired of eating, to raise himself on his elbow, and begin eating again.

41. _Curvat aper_] On 'aper,' see above, S. 3. 234.

43. _Vinea submittit_] He says, without much sense, as it would seem, that the flesh of wild deer fed in vineyards is not always eatable. The 'caprea' was a mountain goat, chamois, or some one of the deer kind. 'Submittit' is equivalent to 'suppeditat,' 'supplies.' See C. iv. 4. 63: "Monstrumve submisere Colchi."

44. _Fecundae leporis_] 'Lepus' is of common gender. A modern epicure would not choose the shoulder of a hare as the most delicate part. It is so distinguished again, S. 8. 89.

51. _Massica si caelo suppones_] The wine in the amphora required clearing, before it could be drunk. One way of effecting this appears to have been exposing the vessel for some time to the open air, which process also took off some of its strength. Catius mentions the yolk of pigeons' eggs as another means of precipitating the lees of the wine. White of egg was a more usual agent. Pliny mentions sulphur; several insoluble materials, such as pounded shells, gypsum, chalk, milk, etc., were used for the same purpose. But the commonest way was to strain the wine either through a 'saccus,' a bag of fine linen (which was apt to hurt the flavour), or through a metal sieve, 'colum,' these being in the hot weather filled with snow.

53. _odor nervis inimicus;_] This means what we call the _bouquet_, which helped the wine in its intoxicating effects upon the brain. With the inferior wines various aromatics were frequently introduced, for the purpose of giving them an agreeable perfume.

58. _Tostis marcentem squillis_] When the guest gets surfeited, or drinks so much he cannot digest any more, his appetite is to be tempted with fried shrimps and snails, of which the best sort came from the coast of Africa, and were called 'Solitanae,' the derivation of which name is uncertain; also with bacon and sausages. The lettuce, Catius says, ought not to be taken for this purpose, because it does not settle on the stomach when it is irritated. 'Lactuca' was commonly eaten at the 'gustatorium,' as an incentive to the appetite. Catius says the cloyed stomach would rather ('malit') have any coarse dish, brought in from the cook-shop, to stimulate it, than lettuce after drinking wine, which was a different thing from taking it before dinner.

61. _Flagitat immorsus refici:_] 'Immorsus' agrees with 'stomachus,' and signifies stimulated, 'pervulsus,' as "qualia lassum pervellunt stomachum" (S. 8. 9).

62. _immundis fervent allata popinis._] The 'popinae' were the lowest sort of eating houses, where meat was cooked and usually eaten on the premises, but sometimes sent out. They were the same as the Greek καπηλεῖα. They were a lower sort of 'cauponae' (see S. i. 5. 2, n.). Their keepers, 'popae,' were, as might be expected, usually persons of no credit. The shops were dirty, and the company very low. Compare Epp. i. 14. 21. There were great numbers of these shops about the city. They were also called 'thermopolia,' because there the Romans drank hot spiced wine and water, 'calda.'

63. _duplicis pernoscere juris_] Catius goes on to describe the sauces, of which there are two kinds; one which he calls simple, but which was not entirely so, being made of sweet olive-oil mixed with rich wine and 'muria,' which is but 'garum,' made from certain shell-fish (S. 8. 53). There was a composite sauce which was made up of the above boiled with chopped herbs, with a sprinkling of saffron, and, when it had stood to cool, the finest olive-oil of Venafrum (C. ii. 6. 16, n.).

66. _Byzantia putuit orca._] The 'thynnus' from which the best 'garum' was made was found best in the neighborhood of Byzantium (Pliny ix. 20). 'Orca' is a jar used for preserving sauces and pickles. As to the form 'putuit,' see S. 3. 194, n. The 'crocus' of Mons Corycus in Cilicia appears to have been most celebrated. 'Stetit' means 'has ceased to boil.'

69. _Venafranae_] See C. ii. 6. 16, n.

70. _Picenis cedunt pomis Tiburtia_] The apples of Tibur and Picenum have been referred to before (C. i. 7. 14; S. ii. 3. 272).

71. _Venucula convenit ollis:_] It is not known whence this grape derives its name. The word is variously spelt. Grapes were dried and preserved in jars for the winter. For drying in this way, Catius says the grape of the Alban hills is best. His opinion is not supported by any extant authority, as it is in the other instance.

73. _Hanc ego cum malis,_] Catius says he was the first to introduce Albanian raisins at the second course, and likewise 'faex' and 'allec,' two pickles, or two names for the same, being the lees of the 'muria' (v. 63, n.). Catius also claims the merit of introducing little dishes containing a mixture of salt and white pepper. The object of all this, as well as the pickles, was to promote thirst, and add to the pleasure of drinking after dinner. White pepper is milder than black. It is made by blanching the finer grains of the black, and taking off the rind. The ancients must have got their pepper from the East Indies. The best is grown on the Malabar coast.

75. _Incretum_] This comes from 'incerno,' 'to sift,' or 'incernendo spargere' (Forcell.), 'to scatter with a sieve' or 'incerniculum.' It therefore means that the pepper was sprinkled over the salt. 'Catillus' is a diminutive form of 'catinus.'

76. _millia terna macello_] 3,000 sesterces (upwards of £26) for a dish of fish is a large sum, but not perhaps exaggerated. Larger sums were given for dainties. As to 'macellum,' see S. 3. 229, n. By 'vagos pisces' he means that it is a shame to confine in a narrow compass animals that have had the freedom and range of the seas. The liberty of the bird is expressed by the same epithet in C. iv. 4. 2.

79. _calicem_] The slave handing a drinking cup ('calix') to a guest, just after he had been gathering and licking up the remains of the dishes, would leave the marks of his fingers upon it, and this would turn the stomachs of the company, who would also be disgusted if they saw dirt upon the 'cratera' in which the wine and the water were mixed. The 'calix' was the same as the Greek κύλιξ. Its shapes and sizes and materials all varied very much. There were wooden and earthen-ware 'calices,' and others of common glass, and others of greater value of colored glass; but those that were most valued of all were the 'crystallina,' of a pure and highly transparent crystal glass. The colored glass cups came principally from Alexandria. The Romans were curious in collecting old vessels for their table ('veteres craterae'), as observed before (S. 3. 21, n.).

81. _Vilibus in scopis,_] 'Scopae' were besoms for sweeping the floors, walls, and furniture of a room, usually made of the branches of the wild myrtle or tamarisk. The palm seems also to have been used. 'Mappae' here mean towels or dusters to clean the furniture and walls. 'Scobe' is sawdust, with which the floors were strewed. It was sometimes highly scented.

83. _Ten lapides varios_] 'Tene?' is it for such as you? 'Tene decet?' The floors in the houses of the rich were laid with slabs of marble and mosaic-work, and marble slabs were also introduced in the walls, though paintings were more common. 'Torus' meant properly a round pillow, as is shown by its root 'ter' (which appears in 'tornus,' 'torqueo,' etc.; see C. i. 1. 28, n.), and 'toralia' probably means coverings for the cushions, which were put over the rich 'stragulae vestes' (see last Satire, v. 118, n.), as we put chintz coverings over our furniture when it is not in use, or on ordinary occasions. Inviting his friend Torquatus to dinner, Horace tells him he will take care "ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa Corruget nares." (Epp. i. 5. 22.)

85. _Oblitum quanto_] Catius says that the neglect of those matters which cost little money and attention is more reprehensible than the absence of furniture, which the rich only can afford. The case he supposes is that of a man who combines dirt with finery, slovenliness with ostentation.

88. _Docte Cati,_] Catius, having brought his discourse to an end with an exhortation upon decency and order, Horace entreats him, wherever it is he goes to get such lessons he will take him with him, that he may drink wisdom at the fountain-head. Catius, he says, no doubt repeats accurately what he has heard, but such precepts would be more highly commended by the aspect, bearing, voice, etc. of the teacher himself.

94. _fontes ut adire remotos_] Horace here parodies Lucretius (i. 926): "Juvat integros accedere fontes atque haurire."

SATIRE V.

In this Satire, which has a good deal of humor in it, Horace takes up the practice of will-hunting, of which, as of many other degrading vices that afterwards pervaded Roman society, he saw only the beginning. Describing the rage for making money in Epp. i. 1. 77, he says:

"Pars hominum gestit conducere publica: sunt qui Crustis et pomis viduas venentur avaras Excipiantque senes quos in vivaria mittant."

The practice was sufficiently common in Cicero's time, and Pliny connects it with the growth of wealth, and the time when money began to be the instrument of ambition and the measure of respectability; that is, he dates its birth from the decline of the Republic.

Homer (Odyss. xi.) makes Ulysses go down to Hades and there meet Teiresias, the Theban prophet, who tells him of the hardships that awaited him in his journey home, where however in the end he is destined to arrive. Horace supposes a continuation of the interview, and makes Ulysses ask the soothsayer how he is to repair his fortunes when he gets home, and finds his property wasted by his wife's suitors, as the prophet told him it would be (see note on v. 6). Teiresias, though he implies that the cunning Ulysses would be at no loss in such a matter if he once got home, gives him his advice, which is to lay himself out for pleasing old men and women of fortune, and getting named in their wills, for which he lays down a few ordinary rules: of these, a persevering and coarse servility is the chief. Ulysses appears in as low a character as he can,--an apt disciple, ready to be the shadow of a slave, and to prostitute his chaste Penelope if need be. The Ulysses of all poets after Homer is a contemptible personage, and it must be said in favor of Horace that Penelope, whose character in the Odyssey is feminine and pure, is by later writers represented as less chaste than Homer has drawn her. Those who only know her as the virtuous wife and mother, will not easily forgive the coarse allusions to her in this Satire.

3. _Quid rides?_] These words are spoken by Ulysses. Teiresias may be supposed to smile at Ulysses for asking advice in a matter in which his own craftiness would help him better than any counsel he could receive. The prophet's answer means, that, when he gets back to his home, his wits will soon teach him how to repair his fortune. 'Jamne' means, 'what, now I have told you that you will get home?'

6. _te vate,_] See Hom. Odyss. xi. 110. The dialogue is supposed to be a continuation of that which Homer relates, and takes place in Hades. See Introduction.

7. _apotheca_] See C. iii. 8. 11, n.

9. _missis ambagibus,_] The 'ambages' were Ulysses' fine words about birth and merit, and Teiresias perhaps means, 'Since you will have my advice, let us waste no words, but begin.'

10. _Turdus_] This bird, the fieldfare, if well fattened, was considered a great delicacy by the Romans. In Epp. i. 15. 40, the glutton Mænius pronounces that there is nothing better than one of these birds, "obeso nil melius turdo"; and the host at Beneventum produced a dish of them in honor of his visitors, but they were poor things, and he did not know how to dress them (S. i. 5. 72). The fieldfare is still reckoned a delicate bird. 'Privum' means for your own private eating.

14. _Ante Larem_] The first fruits were offered to the Lares. See Tibull. i. 1. 13:

"Et quodcunque mihi pomum novus educat annus Libatum agricolae ponitur ante deo."

No divinity was dearer to a Roman than his Lares, whose images stood in his hall, who reminded him of his departed ancestors, and whom he invoked and sacrificed to every day at his meals (see C. iv. 5. 34).

15. _sine gente,_] Suppose him to be a 'libertinus,' and in former days to have run away from his master, in which case he would be branded on the forehead, and the shame of attending him would be greater. He would also be 'sine gente,' that is, he would belong to no 'gens,' if he were a freedman or the descendant of a freedman.

17. _Tu comes exterior_] Teiresias advises that, if the rich man should call upon him to attend him when he walks abroad, he should never refuse to go, taking the least honorable place, which was by his patron's side, and usually between him and the road. The expressions 'tegere latus,' 'claudere latus,' were common, and meant to take that side which was most exposed.

18. _Utne tegam_] This is a short way of saying 'hortarisne me ut tegam?' 'Damae' is used generally as a common name of slaves (see S. i. 6. 38). 'Spurcus' is a word Lucilius used, as in that verse quoted by Cicero (Tusc. ii. 17), "Ergo hoc poterit 'Samnis spurcus homo vita illa dignus locoque?'"

20. _hoc_] When Teiresias tells him he must be content to be poor, or do as he bids him, Ulysses consents to the degradation rather than incur the poverty, and makes a merit of doing so: he will bear the disgrace with his usual magnanimity. The hero's language is a parody of that which Homer puts into his mouth (Odyss. xx. 18):

τέτλαθι δὴ, κραδίη· καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ᾽ ἔτλης.

And v. 223:

ἤδη γὰρ μάλα πόλλ᾽ ἔπαθον καὶ πόλλ᾽ ἐμόγησα Κύμασι καὶ πολέμῳ· μετὰ καὶ τόδε τοῖσι γενέσθω.

22. _Divitias aerisque ruam_] 'Ruere' is 'to get together.' Virgil uses the word in a similar sense (Georg. i. 105), "cumulosque ruunt male pinguis arenae."

27. _olim,_] See C. ii. 10. 17, n. On 'ultro,' C. iv. 4. 51; on 'vocet in jus,' S. i. 9. 74, n.

32. _Quinte, puta, aut Publi,_] These names would be given a slave at his manumission.

38. _Pelliculam curare jube;_] This diminutive is frequently used without any particular force. The expression is like that in Ep. i. 2. 29:

"In cute curanda plus aequo operata juventus";

and 4. 15:

"Me pinguem et nitidum bene curata cute vises, Cum ridere voles Epicuri de grege porcum."

'Corpus curare' is a common phrase, and Horace has "genium curare" (C. iii. 17. 15, n.).

_--fi cognitor; ipse_] 'Cognitor' means an attorney, one who is authorized to appear for another, either in maintaining or defending an action. He was appointed by and looked upon as the principal, and he was liable as such. The obsequiousness of the will-hunter was not to be deterred by such a responsibility. Horace says: "Become his cognitor, and let him go home, while you yourself persevere, and hold out for him, whatever the weather may be."

39. _seu rubra Canicula_] He means in the height of summer or the depth of winter. The 41st verse, with the substitution of Furius for Juppiter is taken from Bibaculus; respecting whom, see S. i. 10. 36, n. Whether the other expressions are so, or whether they are only a parody of his style, or taken from some other poet, we cannot tell. The epithet 'rubra' for the dog-star, and 'infantes' as an ornamental epithet to express the speechlessness of the statues, are sufficiently absurd, and the hyperbole is not in good taste; there is vulgarity likewise in 'conspuet.' 'Omaso' signifies tripe, a vulgar dish even among the Romans. (See Epp. i. 15. 34.)

44. _Plures adnabunt thunni_] The tunny-fish is found in large shoals at particular seasons on either shore of the Mediterranean, into which it comes from the Atlantic to deposit its spawn. Vast quantities were and still are caught and salted. 'Cetaria' were artificial preserves, into which the fish were attracted and then taken. Salting-houses were built hard by. 'Thunni' here is put for the rich fools who would be caught by the servility of the fortune-hunter.

46. _sublatus_] This sense of 'tollere,' to educate, bring up, is said to be taken from the practice of fathers taking up in their arms immediately after their birth such of their children as they wished to be reared, while the others they left to be exposed. See Terence (Heaut. iv. 1. 13):

"_So._ Meministin' me esse gravidam, et mihi te maximo opere edicere Si puellam parerem nolle tolli? "_Ch._ Scio quid feceris, Sustulisti."

It is not to be supposed that the exposure of children, or infanticide in any form, was lawful at Rome; but it is probable that it was practiced to some extent even in late times.

47. _Caelibis_] 'Caelebs' is applied to a widower as well as a bachelor. 'Nudare' Horace uses in this sense of 'exposing' in S. 8. 73.

48. _ut et scribare secundus Heres_] Wills were not necessarily written, though latterly they generally were so, and in that case it was usually on tablets of wax; hence below (v. 54) 'cera' is used as synonymous with 'tabula.' When a man made his will, he commonly named a 'secundus heres,' or more than one, who would succeed to the 'hereditas,' if the first 'heres' or 'heredes' refused it, or had become disqualified, or had failed to express his or their intention of accepting it within a time named in the will. These were called 'substituti.' He might also, if he pleased, make provision, in the case of naming his children his 'heredes,' that, if they died 'impuberes,' another person or persons named by him should get the 'hereditas.' This was called 'pupillaris substitutio,' and may be referred to by Horace in this place. 'Vacua hereditas' was a common legal term for an 'hereditas' made void by any of the above reasons, or any other.

49. _puerum egerit Orco,_] There is a little mock pathos in this. 'Ago,' with the dative, is not a prose construction. See C. i. 24. 18: "Nigro compulerit gregi."

53. _ut limis rapias_] 'Oculis' is understood after 'limis,' 'with eye askance.' The advice given is, that, if the testator should give the man his will to read, he should affect indifference and put it from him, taking care first to get a side-glance at its contents, and see if his name appears in the next line after the testator's. A will was commonly written on three pages, which were called severally 'prima,' 'secunda,' and 'ima cera,' 'cera' being equivalent to 'tabula,' the will being usually written on wax tablets. The testator's name appeared in the first line of the first page, and after his came those of the 'heredes.' In the last page appeared the names of all but the 'primi heredes,' (that is, the 'legatarii' and 'substituti,' see note on v. 48,) together with the general provisions of the will. 'Solus heres' would be called 'heres ex asse'; if there were several 'heredes,' they would be 'heres ex dodrante,' 'ex quadrante,' etc., according to the proportion of the estate devised to each, which was described by the different divisions of the as.

55. _Plerumque recoctus Scriba ex quinqueviro_] 'Plerumque' is used by Horace in the sense of 'interdum' here and elsewhere. (See A. P. v. 14 and 95.) The 'scribae,' of whom an example occurs above (S. i. 5. 35), were clerks in public offices. These places were often got by purchase, and the 'scriba' received public pay. Nevertheless the 'quinqueviri' appear from this passage to have ranked lower than the 'scribae.' They were officers appointed to relieve the other magistrates at night of the charge of the city. These were the permanent 'quinqueviri'; but extraordinary commissions of five were often appointed for various purposes. (See Dict. Antt.) 'Recoctus' seems to mean that he had been a 'quinquevir' and was now a 'scriba,' the 're' in 'recoctus' having no particular force. Teiresias means to say that Coranus, who had got into a situation in which he had acquired a good deal of money and some knowledge of business, was too wide awake to be caught in the snare, saw through the attentions of the fortune-hunter, and laughed at him. The 'corvus hians' is perhaps taken from Æsop's fable of the fox and crow, copied by Phædrus (i. 13).

57. _Captator_] This word, and 'captare' above (v. 23), are commonly used for legacy-hunters. We know nothing more of the actors in this story, Nasica and Coranus, but it appears likely they were living persons, and the case well known.

58. _Num furis?_] Ulysses does not understand him, and asks if he is frenzied, as prophets were when inspired.

59. _aut erit aut non:_] This is a pompous way of stating a truism, put, by way of keeping up the humor of the scene, into the prophet's mouth.

62. _juvenis_] See C. i. 2. 41, n. By his adoption into the Julia gens, Augustus claimed direct descent from Æneas. The Romans attached much importance to the legend which derived their origin from the Trojans. See C. iii. 3, Introduction. On 'genus,' see C. i. 3. 27, n.

64. _forti nubet procera Corano_] These epithets and the whole opening of the speech are mock-heroic, and adapted to the character of the speaker. Nasica owed money to Coranus, and gave him his handsome daughter by way of discharging the debt and getting an interest in his son-in-law's will. Coranus understands him, and begs him to read his will. He coquets with the proposal just as Teiresias advises his hearer to do, but allows his modesty to be overcome, and on reading it through in silence finds no legacy left to himself or his family. As to 'plorare,' see S. i. 10. 91.

65. _metuentis reddere soldum._] On 'metuo,' see C. ii. 2. 7. He had neither power nor will to pay. 'Solidum' means the entire debt, including principal and interest. The contracted form is used before (S. i. 2. 111).

67. _orabit;_] The rich man is maliciously bent on seeing the disappointment of his father-in-law.

73. _vincit longe prius_] 'It is better by a great deal first to take the head by storm.'

77. _tam frugi_] 'Discreet' is the nearest English word perhaps corresponding to 'frugi,' and σώφρων in Greek.

79. _magnum donandi parca_] The suitors are once only mentioned as offering presents to Penelope, and their value was not great. (Odyss. xviii. 290, sqq.) They were offered in consequence of the taunts of Penelope herself. It is likely Horace had this passage in mind.

80. _studiosa culinae._] This corresponds with Homer's description. See, among other places, Odyss. ii. 55.

84. _anus improba Thebis_] 'Improba' means 'sly,' which we too call 'wicked.' See S. i. 9. 73.

87. _Scilicet elabi si posset_] 'Of course it was to see whether she could escape from him when dead,' or 'in hopes that she might.' We are to suppose she had made it a condition in her will, that, if he did not carry her without letting her drop, he was to forfeit the inheritance. It is a strange story, perhaps taken from some mimus or farce. 'Scilicet' is in reality a verb, and signifies 'you may know,' 'you may be sure.'

89. _neve--abundes._] 'Don't overdo it.'

90. _ultro; Non etiam sileas._] 'Garrulus ultro' means one who speaks much before he is spoken to. On 'ultro' see C. iv. 4. 51, n. It is a difficult word to translate, and seems awkwardly placed here. As to 'non' for 'ne,' compare Epp. i. 18. 72; and A. P. 460.

91. _Davus sis comicus_] Horace has introduced a Davus in this respectful attitude in S. 7 of this book: 'Jamdudum auscultans et cupiens tibi dicere servus Pauca reformido.'

92. _Stes capite obstipo._] 'Obstipo' means stiff, unbending, or bent downwards, with the eyes fixed on the ground. As to 'multum similis,' see S. i. 3. 57, n.

93. _Obsequio grassare;_] 'Grassor' is a frequentative form of 'gradior,' and signifies to go on, advance. The expression in the text is like 'grassari dolo' (Tac. Hist. iv. 16), and other like phrases. Livy and Tacitus use the word often.

95. _aurem substringe loquaci._] 'Stringo' means to grasp in the hand; 'aurem substringe' therefore may mean to hold up the ear, as we commonly do when we wish to catch every word that is said. He was to pay the strictest attention to the old man, let him be as garrulous as he would.

96. _donec Ohe jam!_] If he is fond of flattery, ply him with it till even he is forced to cry, 'Hold, enough!' and blow him up with your fulsome breath like a bladder. Though the old man might say he had had enough, he was not to be taken at his word, but plied still harder, for he never could have too much. 'Importunus' is one who does not easily rest, is not soon satisfied. The expression 'Ohe jam satis' is common. See S. i. 5. 12.

100. _Et certum vigilans,_] Compare Ovid, Heroid. x. 9:

"Incertum vigilans, a somno languida, movi Thesea pressuras semisupina manus";

'Certum vigilans' means 'wide awake,' not confusedly, as those who are half asleep.

_--Quartae sit partis_] The 'heres' of one fourth of the property would be 'ex quadrante' or 'ex teruncio.' (See note on v. 53, above.) The formula in wills was such as this: "Sola mihi uxor heres esto," "Sempronius ex parte dimidia heres esto."

101. _Dama_] See v. 18, n. He is to throw in now and then ('sparge subinde') a whine for the dear man that is gone, and squeeze out a tear if he possibly can.

102. _Unde mihi tam fortem_] This abrupt and elliptical way of speaking occurs again below (S. 7. 116): "Unde mihi lapidem? Quorsum est opus? Unde sagittas?" 'Parabo' may be understood, or some such word.

103. _est_] This is equivalent to ἔξεστι.

105. _Permissam arbitrio_] A sum of money was generally named in the will for the funeral expenses. Sometimes they appear to have been left expressly to the judgment and liberality of the 'heres' or 'heredes,' as here. But if no mention was made of this subject in the will, or if a man died intestate, those who succeeded to the property were bound to provide all that was decent for his interment. As to 'funus,' see note on S. i. 6. 43. See C. i. 9. 9: "Permitte divis caetera."

108. _seu fundi sive domus sit Emptor,_] 'Fundus' is a landed estate together with the buildings upon it. 'Domus,' therefore, which is opposed to 'fundus' here, and in Epp. i. 2. 47, may mean a town-house. The advice is, that if one of the man's 'coheredes,' who is old, and by a bad cough shows he is near his end, expresses a wish to have an estate or house which forms part of his share, he should declare himself delighted to make it over to him for a nominal price, a single 'sestertius.' This would be a bold game, but he might hope that such generosity on his part would be remembered in the sick man's will.

109. _addicere._] This is a legal term used in selling, "and signifies the declaration of him who sells as to the transfer of the thing to the buyer." (Long, Verr. ii. 2. 32.) It was used in private bargains as here, and at public auctions it was the word used for declaring who was the purchaser.

SATIRE VI.

In this Satire, Horace dwells upon the inconveniences of a town life and the delights of the country, the former as connected with the importunity of people asking for his influence with Mæcenas, or for information upon public affairs of which he knows nothing, though they will not believe it. The subject is illustrated by the story of a town and a country mouse. The town mouse visits the country mouse, and, taunting him with his seclusion, tempts him to accompany him to town, and then entertains him at a rich man's table. But the servants, coming in suddenly at daybreak, frighten them both out of their wits, and the country mouse goes home again, resolving to keep to his own quiet hole in the fields, and try the town no more.

1. _non ita magnus,_] Compare with these lines C. iii. 16. 29, sqq. 'Modus' is used for any quantity.

2. _jugis aquae fons_] 'Jugis' belongs to 'aquae.' It signifies running water, and a good spring of this would be of great value to the property.

3. _super his_] 'Besides these.' In this sense, 'super' usually governs the accusative. 'Super' is used absolutely in this sense of 'more,' as in Epod. i. 31. "Satis superque me benignitas tua Ditavit," which passage may be compared with what follows: "auctius atque Di melius fecere." 'Bene est' occurs in C. iii. 16. 43, and is familiar in the formula S. V. B. E. V. (si vales bene est; valeo), which the Romans prefixed to their letters.

5. _Maia nate,_] Respecting Mercury, the god of luck and gain, the protector of poets, and of Horace in particular, see S. ii. 3. 68; C. ii. 7. 13; ii. 17. 29. 'Proprius' signifies 'permanent,' see S. 2. 129, n. As to the form 'faxim,' see S. ii. 3. 38, n.

7. _vitio culpave_] 'Culpa' is often used by the law-writers in the sense of 'negligence.' 'Vitium' appears to mean a defect of the nature, 'culpa' of the conduct.

8. _Si veneror stultus nihil horum:_] As to 'veneror,' 'to pray for,' see C. S. 49. This passage has been imitated by Persius (S. ii. 9). 'Denormare' is 'to disfigure,' 'norma' being the rule by which carpenters or masons keep their work straight. 'Mercenarius' is a free laborer who works for pay.

12. _amico Hercule!_] Though Hercules was especially a Grecian hero, and was in no way connected historically with the Romans, he was held by them in high esteem. He was associated with Mercury in various ways, among others as the god of gain, as he is here. There are representations of the two gods in one, which combined form is called Ἑρμηρακλῆς, and appears to have been very common. The notion seems to be that of combining strength and cunning.

13. _quod adest_] See C. iii. 29. 32: "Quod adest memento Componere aequus." It is an adaptation of the Greek τὸ παρóν. 'Gratum juvat' may either mean 'satisfies me, for I am grateful,' or 'is welcome and satisfies me.'

16. _in montes et in arcem_] See C. iii. 4. 21. By 'arcem' he means his house on the Sabine hills. (See C. ii. 7. 21.)

17. _Quid prius illustrem_] 'What subject should I take in preference to this'? that is, the country to which he retires. On 'pedestri,' see C. ii. 12. 9, n.

18. _plumbeus Auster_] The south-wind is so called, as depressing the energies and spirits. The epithet is very expressive, 'the leaden south.' Compare C. ii. 14. 15; iii. 23. 8; Epp. i. 7. 5. Auster and Notus are not distinguished by the poets. They are invariably represented as bringing heavy rains. "Quid cogitet humidus Auster" (Georg. i. 462).

19. _Libitinae quaestus acerbae._] The goddess Libitina was one of the oldest Roman divinities. She presided over funerals and all things pertaining to the dead. There were kept in her temple all manner of things required at funerals, where the undertakers (hence called Libitinarii) might purchase or hire them. Also a register of funerals was kept in the temple, and when they were registered a fee was paid. From both the above sources the temple would derive increased revenues in a season of great mortality. Horace twice uses the name of Libitina as equivalent to Mors. See C. iii. 30. 6, and Epp. ii. 1. 49; and Juvenal does the same (S. iv. 122): "Nam si Libitinam evaserit aeger Delebit Tabulas."

20. _Matutine pater,_] Janus was a Latin divinity, and one of the oldest. As he presided over the opening year, so he did also over the beginning of every month and of every day. Sacrifices were offered to him on the first of every month, as well as of his own (January), and prayer in the morning of every day. Hence he is called 'Matutinus pater', and hence he is confounded with the Sun. 'Pater' was the title by which he was commonly addressed, and the two words were sometimes joined thus 'Januspater.' See Epp. i. 16. 59. He was worshipped before the other gods, because he was the medium through whom men got access to the others (Ovid, Fast. i. 171). 'Jane' is put in the vocative case by a sort of attraction. (See C. ii. 20. 6, n.) 'Audire,' in the sense of 'appellari,' ἀκούειν, occurs again in S. 7. 101; Epp. i. 7. 37, and 16. 17. The word is not commonly used in this sense except with 'bene' or 'male.'

21. _Unde_] 'From whom' (C. i. 12. 17).

23. _sponsorem me rapis._] 'Sponsor' was one who became security for another under the form of contract called 'verborum obligatio,' the contract taking place by question and answer, 'ex interrogatione et responsione.' One asked the other, "Dari spondes?" and he answered, "Spondeo." The principals were called 'stipulator,' he who asked the question; and 'promissor,' he who answered. The sponsor was said 'intercedere,' and to him the same question was put, to which he returned the same answer. This explains 'respondeat' in v. 24, and "quod mi obsit clare certumque locuto," v. 27. He answers "spondeo" in a clear, distinct voice, and becomes liable, possibly to his great detriment. The words, 'Eja, ne prior,' etc., Horace means for Janus, to whom he attributes the prompting of his zeal.

26. _Interiore diem gyro trahit,_] The notion is that of the heavenly bodies moving round a centre, in a series of orbits of which the diameters gradually diminish, and in the winter solstice traversing the innermost and shortest circle.

29. _improbus urget Iratis precibus;_] 'Improbus' means here 'hot-tempered,' and 'precibus' curses, as in Epod. v. 86. 'Tu pulses' is an angry way of speaking, 'Are you the man to knock down everything in your way?' as in the next Satire (v. 40). There is sarcasm in 'memori,' as if he was not likely to forget his duty to the great man. He says he feels an inward pleasure at the testimony thus borne to his intimacy with Mæcenas. 'Si recurras' means in the hopes of getting back, to see if you can get back. See S. 5. 87, n.

32. _atras--Esquilias_] See S. i. 8, Introduction. The former character of the place is expressed by 'atras,' gloomy. He says, that as soon as he gets near Mæcenas's house he begins to remember a hundred different commissions entrusted to him by his acquaintance. They flit about him like a swarm of gnats, or anything else that is teasing.

35. _Roscius orabat_] Roscius may be anybody. It appears he had pressed Horace to meet him next day at the Puteal Libonis. This was some sort of building in the Forum Romanum, erected by one of the Scribonia gens, and therefore called 'Scribonianum.' The place or its neighbourhood was the resort of money lenders. It was probably an enclosed place, open at the top, and took its name from the stone enclosures built round wells, 'putei.' What Roscius wanted with Horace at this place is not certain. It is said that near the 'puteal' the prætor held his court, and that he wanted Horace to attend as his sponsor. But the prætor's court did not open till the third hour.

36. _De re communi scribae_] The 'scribae' were classed in 'decuriae,' and were a numerous body. They formed a guild or company, and though they were employed in different branches of the public service, they had interests in common, and must have held meetings to discuss questions that concerned their body. As Horace had belonged to them, and was now known to have a good deal of influence, they wished him to attend their meeting on some particular occasion; so at least he puts it.

38. _Imprimat his cura_] While Augustus was absent in and after his last war with Antonius, Mæcenas, at first singly and afterwards in conjunction with M. Agrippa, was deputed to exercise those powers, in the city and in Italy, which Augustus himself would have exercised if he had been there (see Epod. 1, Introduction). The 'tabellae' of the text may have been a 'diploma,' so called from its consisting of two leaves, by which privileges of some sort were to be granted. 'Signum' expressed any work sculptured or engraved. Here it signifies a seal, which was usually set in the form of a ring. The practice of kings delivering their rings to those whom they deputed to represent their own authority, is of the highest antiquity. Pharaoh delivered his ring to Joseph, and Ahasuerus to Mordecai.

40. _Septimus octavo propior_] Horace was introduced to Mæcenas about the beginning of the year B.C. 38, and this Satire was written B.C. 30.

42. _quem tollere rheda_] 'Rheda' is the name for a travelling carriage. The shape probably varied, but it appears to have gone upon four wheels, and to have been, sometimes at least, of capacious size, since Juvenal mentions a whole family travelling in one 'rheda' (S. iii. 10). The only other four-wheeled carriage we read of, is the 'petorritum,' mentioned above (S. i. 6. 104, n.). There were public 'rhedae' on the great roads, for the benefit of travellers, and Horace and his friends performed part of their journey to Brundisium in these conveyances (S. i. 5. 86), and it appears from his language, 'hinc rapimur,' that they went pretty fast.

44. _Thrax est Gallina Syro par?_] 'Thraces,' 'secutores,' and 'retiarii,' were three different kinds of gladiators. The first had their name from being armed like the Thracians, with a short sword and round shield, from which they were sometimes called 'parmularii.' Gallina was one of these, Syrus was probably one of another sort. Mæcenas is supposed to ask Horace, among other trifling questions, whether he has seen the famous gladiators, and which is the better of the two.

45. _mordent:_] 'Mordere' is said of both heat and cold. See Epp. i. 8. 5. 'Rimosa' does not occur in any such sense as this elsewhere. We use 'leaky' in the same way.

48. _noster._] This is a familiar way of expressing 'myself.' As to the construction of the next sentence, see S. i. 1. 45. 'Luserat' refers to ball-play. 'Fortunae filius' was a conventional phrase. Sophocles uses it (Oed. Tyr. 1080), ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν παῖδα τῆς τύχης νέμων.

50. _Frigidus a Rostris_] Suppose some bad news has been published in the Forum and been circulated in the streets. The 'rostra,' which Niebuhr (i. 406, n.) describes as "a stage of considerable length, with steps at each end of it," originally separated the comitium, where the patricians met, from the space where the plebeian assemblies were held, which was properly the Forum, though that name was popularly applied to the whole. Here persons of all ranks met, and from this centre reports would naturally take their rise, and then get disseminated in the city. The 'rostra' had its plural name from the beaks of vessels taken from the people of Antium (Liv. viii. 14), with which the stage was ornamented. As to the 'compita,' see note on S. ii. 3. 25.

53. _Dacis_] The Daci helped M. Antonius at Actium, B.C. 31, and the following year M. Crassus was sent against them.

55. _Triquetra_] The veterans who fought at Actium, having been sent back to Italy, were discontented, and broke out into mutiny because they had no reward. Augustus came from Asia to quell this mutiny, and gave money to some of the soldiers, and to others he distributed lands in those parts that had been favorable to Antonius. 'Triquetra' signifies triangular, and is a name for the island of Sicily, called also Trinacria, from its three promontories. Cæsar describes Britain also as "insula triquetra" (B. G. v. 13).

57. _unum Scilicet--mortalem_] The Greeks use εἷς ἀνήρ in this way, to express a superlative.

62. _Ducere_] 'To quaff the cup of oblivion.' See C. iii. 3. 34, n., Epod. 14. 3., and Aen. vi. 714.

63. _faba Pythagorae cognata_] The popular notion was, that Pythagoras had taught his disciples to abstain, as from meat, so from beans, which class of vegetables he connected somehow or other with the human species, in his doctrine of metempsychosis. They were therefore forbidden fare to his disciples, under the fanciful notion that in eating them they might be devouring their own flesh and blood. Hence the expression 'cognata,' and this is the allusion in Epp. i. 12. 21: "seu porrum et caepe trucidas." As to Horace's vegetable meals, see S. i. 6. 115.

66. _Ante Larem proprium_] See note on Epod. ii. 66. 'Libatis dapibus' means that the master and his friends ('meique') dined lightly, and left the greater part of the dishes to his slaves. The master, in this instance, as well as his slaves, dined in the 'atrium,' where the images of the Lares were placed. 'Libare' is to touch lightly. See Aen. v. 91: "inter pateras et levia pocula serpens Libavitque dapes." The distribution of the remains of the dinner to the slaves was a matter of course.

69. _Legibus insanis,_] See S. 2. 123, n. One of the strictest laws of a banquet directed by a presiding symposiarch, would have reference to the regulation of the quantity of wine to be drunk by each guest at each round. Horace's notion of liberty here is to be able to drink as much or as little as he pleased, which is expressed by 'inaequales calices.'

70. _uvescit_] 'Uvescere' does not occur elsewhere, but it corresponds with Horace's word 'uvidus,' C. ii. 19. 18, and iv. 5. 39.

72. _Nec male necne Lepos saltet;_] Lepos was a 'pantomimus' who was so named from the grace with which he performed his part, as the name implies. The business of the 'mimi,' as of the 'mimae,' was to recite poetry, as well as to act parts in the farces that bore the same name (S. i. 10. 6, n.). The word 'saltare' was applied to all pantomimic acting, and the motion of the limbs in dumb show. See S. i. 5. 63, where Messius calls upon Sarmentus to act Polyphemus,--"Pastorem saltaret uti Cyclopa rogabat," where 'saltaret' is equivalent to 'movetur' in "Nunc Satyrum nunc pastorem Cyclopa movetur" (Epp. ii. 2. 125).

75. _usus rectumne_] Cicero makes Lælius indignantly deny the doctrine that makes utility the foundation of friendship, and he says, with much truth and delicacy, "non enim tam utilitas parta per amicum quam amici amor ipse delectat" (Lael. c. xiv.). There is more in the same strain in c. viii., where he makes virtue the basis of friendship.

76. _natura boni summumque_] This subject is discussed at large in Cicero's treatise 'De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum,' and was a commonplace in Horace's day, as it has been in all ages. 'Summum' represents the Greek τέλος, 'the end proposed'.

77. _Cervius_] This was an old neighbor of Horace's. There is not the smallest clew to his history or to that of Arellius, who, however, must have been a rich man and careful about his money.

79. _Olim_] 'Once upon a time': a common way of beginning a story that does not profess to be true.

82. _attentus_] This is a common word for what we should call 'close.' See Epp. i. 7. 91; ii. 1. 172. 'Ut tamen' means 'ita tamen ut.' Compare S. 7. 4.

84. _nec longae invidit avenae,_] This construction is Greek: φθονεῖν τινί τινος. The Latin construction is with the accusative and dative, as S. i. 6. 49; Epp. i. 14. 41. The 'avena' here is the cultivated oat, and 'longae' describes the size of its grain. The wild-oat Virgil distinguishes from this by the epithet 'sterilis' (G. i. 153), and couples it with the 'lolium,' or tare, with which the host on this occasion satisfied himself.

87. _male_] This goes with 'tangentis,' and is equivalent to 'vix.'

89. _Esset ador_] See C. iv. 4. 41, n.

93. _mihi crede,_] These words are parenthetical, as Ovid (Am. ii. 2. 9): "Si sapis, o custos, odium, mihi crede, mereri Desine." The language that follows is very like that of Hercules in the Alcestis of Euripides (782, sqq.):

βροτοῖς ἅπασι κατθανεῖν ὀφείλεται, κοὔκ ἐστι θνητῶν ὅστις ἐξεπίσταται τὴν αὔριον μέλλουσαν εἰ βιώσεται. ---- ταῦτ᾽ οὖν ἀκούσας καὶ μαθὼν ἐμοῦ πάρα εὔφραινε σαυτὸν, πῖνε, τὸν καθ᾽ ἡμέραν βίον λογίζου σὸν, τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα τῆς τύχης.

98. _pepulere_] This is used absolutely in the sense of 'movere.'

100. _nocturni_] See C. i. 2. 45, n.

103. _canderet vestis eburnos,_] On the 'stragula vestis,' see S. 3. 118, n. The sides of the couches were sometimes veneered with ivory. Fire is said 'candere,' and the flaming drapery of the bed is here described by the same word, which is not applied in this sense elsewhere. 'Fercula' was the name for the different courses, of which the 'coena' usually consisted of three, called 'prima,' 'secunda,' 'tertia coena.' The word, like 'feretrum,' contains the root 'fer' of 'fero,' and so its first meaning may have been the tray or dish on which the viands were brought. It here means the viands themselves; 'many courses were left,' would mean nothing. 'Procul' signifies 'hard by,' as in Epp. i. 7. 32. The remains of the evening's 'coena' had been collected and put into baskets, and left in the 'triclinium' till the morning, and the purple coverings were still exposed, waiting till the servants should cover them (S. 4. 84, n.).

107. _veluti succintus_] 'Like one tucked up,' as the slaves when on duty. (See S. i. 5. 5, n.) The duties of the 'structor' are those the host is here represented as performing. It was his province to arrange the dishes, and see that they were properly served up. He runs about, puts one course after another on the table ('continuatque dapes'), and tastes the dishes, to see if they are properly seasoned. 'Praegustatores' were regularly employed only at the tables of the emperors. The custom was imitated from Eastern courts. (See Xenoph. Cyrop. i. 8. 9.)

112. _Valvarum strepitus_] The servants, coming in early to clean the room, interrupt the banqueters, and rouse the watch-dogs, whose barking terrifies them still further. There was a dog, or more than one, kept in most houses, in the 'cella ostiarii,' the porter's chamber at the side of the 'ostium.' 'Conclave' is the general term for any chamber or suit of chambers under one lock or bolt. As to Molossis, see Epod. vi. 5.

SATIRE VII.

The substance of this Satire Horace puts into the mouth of his slave Davus, giving him liberty to express himself as he pleases, on the day of the Saturnalia, when much license was granted to slaves in particular. Davus takes advantage of the permission given him to abuse his master, and to taunt the rich with a slavery (to their passions and to the world) harder and more stupid than his own. He also taunts Horace with his instability and weakness of purpose, which part of the Satire is the most natural and amusing (see note on v. 23). The rest contains a great deal that is disagreeable, and much that is commonplace. It may perhaps represent the habit of talking trash, under the name of philosophy, which those who pretended to be of the Stoic school had established, and the humor would be more perceptible to a Roman of the day than it is now.

1. _Jamdudum ausculto_] We may suppose Horace has been talking to a friend upon subjects that have attracted his slave's attention, and give rise to the points he argues. Or he may have been giving Davus some good advice, and he offers him a homily in return, recommending him to practise what he preaches.

3. _Mancipium_] This word, which properly signifies the act of taking possession, 'manu capiendo,' is applied here to the 'res mancipi,' the object of 'mancipium,' which, in this instance, is a slave. It is so used in Epp. i. 6. 39. As to 'frugi,' see S. 5. 77, n.

4. _Ut vitale putes._] 'That you need not think him too good to live' (S. 6. 82). As to the Saturnalia, see S. 3. 5, n. The month of December was dedicated to Saturnus. Horace speaks of the license of that festival being a custom handed down from their ancestors. The time of its institution is quite unknown.

6. _Pars hominum_] Davus avails himself, without preface, of his master's permission, and begins to moralize on the instability of some men, who never know their own minds. This character he applies to his master in v. 23, sqq.

9. _Cum tribus annellis,_] This is mentioned as a large number. In later times the Romans wore a great profusion of rings on both hands. At this time they were only worn on the left, because they were more likely to be injured, and to be in the way, on the right hand. Priscus was a senator, and therefore entitled to wear a gold ring, which privilege did not descend, at this time, below the equestrian order. In later times it was conferred upon all manner of persons by the emperors. Those who were not entitled to wear rings of gold had them of iron, according to the most ancient practice; and such of the Romans of higher condition as adhered to the simplicity of earlier days continued to wear iron.

Priscus, as a senator, was entitled to go abroad with the 'latus clavus,' which he would do sometimes; while at others he would appear only as an 'eques,' with the 'angustus clavus.' He was rich enough to live in a fine house, and did so; but would from caprice go and take an obscure lodging, such as a poor man might be ashamed of. He put on first one character and then another: now a man about town, and now talking of going to Athens as a philosopher. He was just such an unstable person as Tigellius is described to be in S. i. 3. 18: "Nil fuit unquam Sic impar sibi." He was "everything by turns, and nothing long."

14. _Vertumnis, quotquot sunt, natus iniquis._] Vertumnus, as his name indicates, was the god who represented change. Horace says Priscus was born when Vertumnus was angry (see S. 3. 8, n., "Iratis natus paries dis atque poëtis"), and he strengthens it by saying, 'all the Vertumni that are to be found'; as if every image of the god were a separate divinity, and all were angry together, when this fickle man was born.

15. _Scurra Volanerius,_] Nothing is known of this person. He had the gout, which Horace says he richly deserved, and was so given to gambling (which was illegal, see C. iii. 24. 58, n.), that, when he could not handle the dice-box himself, he hired a boy to do it for him. 'Phimus' was the Greek word for what the Romans called 'fritillus.' From the shape it was also called 'turricula' or 'pyrgus' (πύργος). As to 'talos,' see S. 3. 171, n. They were not always thrown from a box, but sometimes with the hand.

19. _levius miser ac prior illo,_] 'Levius miser' is an unusual expression. 'Prior illo' means better off than that man who is always changing his character, one moment appearing strict, another loose, in his principles and conduct. The superiority of the man who is consistent in vice lies in his indifference to virtue, and the quietness of his conscience arising from that cause. In that sense he is better off, and less miserable, than the other.

21. _Non dices hodie,_] 'Hodie' is equivalent to 'statim,' 'this moment.' 'Furcifer' means a slave who for some slight offence was obliged to go about with a 'furca' round his neck, a sort of collar shaped like a V, in which the hands also were inserted. The master begins to see that Davus is aiming a stroke at him, and is getting angry.

23. _antiquae plebis,_] 'Plebs' has not its distinctive meaning in this place. (See C. iii. 14. 1, n.) Horace is no doubt touching his own infirmity here. He was fond of praising the simplicity of the olden time, but he was not the man to extricate himself from the degenerate habits of his own day ('nequicquam coeno cupiens evellere plantam,' which is taken from the Greek proverb ἐκτὸς πηλοῦ πόδα ἔχειν). He had been but lately, perhaps, writing the praises of a country life, and sighing for his farm (in the last Satire); but when there, we may believe he felt dull enough, and missed the society and elegances of the city. Whatever his ordinary fare may have been, he had no objection to the tables of the rich, and was proud to be invited to the Esquiliæ. There is much humor in this part of the Satire. He is supposed to be congratulating himself upon being suffered to dine quietly at home, when he gets an unexpected invitation from Mæcenas to a late dinner. He immediately shouts for his lantern, scolds the servants if they keep him waiting a moment, and runs off as fast as he can, leaving in the lurch some persons to whom he had promised a dinner, and who go away disappointed and muttering abuse.

33. _sub lumina prima_] 'Immediately after the lighting of the lamps.' (See Epod. ii. 44, n.) The ordinary dinner-hour was earlier (see C. i. 1. 20, n.), but Mæcenas's occupations protracted his 'solidus dies,' at the end of which he was glad enough, no doubt, to get a cheerful companion, like Horace, to dine with him. 'Blatero' is to bawl, or more commonly to babble and talk nonsense. 'Mulvius' may be anybody, one of the numerous tribe of parasites. 'Non referenda precati,' uttering curses which the servants heard, but must not repeat. See last Satire, v. 30, "iratis precibus."

37. _dixerit ille,_] Mulvius may be supposed to mutter this, as Horace goes off and leaves him without his expected dinner. 'Nasum nidore supinor,' 'I snuff up my nose at the smell of a good dinner.' 'Nidor' means 'nidor culinae,' as in Juv. v. 162: "Captum te nidore suae putat ille culinae."

39. _si quid vis adde popino._] 'Popino' is not a common word. It means an idle, dissolute fellow, a frequenter of 'popinae,' cook shops. (See above, S. 4. 62, n.)

40. _Tu--ultro Insectere_] 'Are you the man to come forward and attack?' that is, to be the first to do it. See S. 6. 30, and C. iv. 4. 51, n.

42. _Quid, si me_] Davus goes on in his own person. Five hundred drachmæ, reckoning the drachma and the denarius as nearly the same value (about 8½_d._), which was the case about this time, amounts to 17_l._ 15_s._ of English money, and this was a small price, only given for inferior slaves. The price varied very widely, according to the beauty of the slaves (of either sex), which enhanced their value more than anything else, or according to their education, or skill in handicrafts, &c.

43. _Aufer Me--terrere;_] Literally, 'Away with that frightening me.' (See Epp. i. 7. 27, n.) It expresses alarm and haste, for Davus sees his master frowning, and lifting his hand to strike him.

45. _Crispini docuit me janitor_] About Crispinus, see S. i. 1. 120, n. Davus professes to have obtained at second hand, from the slave of this Stoic philosopher, the arguments he is going to propound. They are put generally, and he uses his own name; but the pronoun 'te' means any one. The 'janitor,' who was also called 'ostiarius,' kept the door of the house. He had a room on each side of the 'ostium,' which was a space between the outer and inner door. Crispinus's janitor may be supposed to have overheard what his master had said, from time to time, to his friends, while sitting in the 'atrium' into which the inner door opened.

76. _minor,_] ἥσσων, a slave to (C. ii. 11. 11, n.).

_quem ter vindicta quaterque_] 'Vindicta' is used for the 'festuca,' or rod, laid upon the shoulder of a slave by the prætor, in the act of giving him his freedom. Davus says that manumission, repeated over and over again (though that involves an absurdity), could not deliver his master, as he called himself, from the bondage he was under to the world.

78. _Adde super dictis_] 'Dictis' is governed by 'adde,' and 'super' is used absolutely.

79. _vicarius_] The property a slave might accumulate was called his 'peculium,' and among the rest he might have a 'vicarius,' a slave to do his duty or help him in it. He was held to be 'quasi dominus' in relation to his 'vicarius.' What Davus says is, whether you choose to call the slave's slave his 'vicarius,' or substitute, as your law does, or his fellow-slave (as strictly speaking he is, for, except by sufferance, a slave can hold no property independent of his master), what is my relation to you? I am your slave; you are the slave of your passions, which will pull you about as the strings pull a puppet (which the Greeks called νευρόσπαστον). The ancients carried their mechanical skill in the construction of automaton figures further, perhaps, than it has been carried since. Artists in this line were common among the Greeks, and were called νευρόσπασται, αὐτοματουργοί. It appears from Herodotus (ii. 48) that ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, as he calls them, were in use among the Egyptians.

83. _sibi qui imperiosus,_] 'He who has control over himself.' Before Horace, no writer uses this word with a case after it.

85. _Responsare cupidinibus,_] 'Responso' is repeated in Epp. i. 1. 68. "Fortunae responsare superbae." It seems to mean, to reply to on equal terms, and so to be a match for, and to overcome. The construction of the adjective and infinitive is common in the Odes, but not in the Satires or Epistles. See C. i. 1. 16, n.

86. _in se ipso totus, teres, atque rotundus,_] 'In himself entire, smoothed, and rounded,' that is, perfect as a sphere, and, as the next line explains, like a beautiful statue whose graces are all in itself, which is perfectly finished and polished. This is elsewhere expressed by 'ad unguem factus homo' (S. i. 5. 32, n.), the difference in the mode of expression being, that here it is meant there are no inequalities on the surface on which anything at all can rest. The other expression has been explained in its place. 'In se ipso totus,' means one who wants nothing from without to set him off, and whose resources, as well as his graces, are all in himself. The mud through which he passes as he goes through the world does not adhere to him ('externi ne quid valeat per leve morari'); circumstances, prosperous or the reverse, do not affect his character; and, in all her assaults upon his happiness, Fortune proves but feeble, not being able to make any impression upon it. 'Mancus' means lame in the hand, as 'claudus' does in the foot. 'Teres' is explained in a note on C. i. 1. 28. 'Rotundus' is taken from the heavens, which Plato (Tim. p. 33) says the Deity σφαιροειδὲς ἐτορνεύσατο, as being most after his own image.

89. _Quinque talenta_] The Attic drachma of this period was worth about the same as the Roman denarius, nearly 8½_d._ (See above, v. 43, n.) The mina was equal to 100 drachmæ, and a talent to 60 minæ. It was worth therefore about 212_l._, and five talents 1,060_l._ The caprice of the man's mistress is described as before, S. 3. 260, sqq.

92. _Non quis;_] This is the second person of 'queo.'

95. _Pausiaca torpes, insane, tabella,_] Pausias was a native of Sicyon, one of the most celebrated schools of art, where there was a large collection of his pictures. Many were sold by the Sicyonian government, to pay their debts, and most of these found their way to Rome. His pictures were chiefly small, 'tabellae,' and among the most celebrated was the portrait of his mistress Glycera as a flower girl, Στεφανηπλόκος. He flourished about the middle of the fourth century B.C. 'Torpes' is a like expression to that in S. i. 4. 28, "stupet Albius aere", and 6. 17, "Qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus."

96. _Fulvi Rutubaeque Aut Pacideiani_] These are all names of gladiators, as we may gather from the context. Pliny tells us it was the practice, when shows of gladiators were exhibited, for the exhibitor to set forth a picture of the games, to inform the public, such as we see now of conjurors, circus, and the like; and these are what Davus alludes to. They were done, no doubt, roughly, as he describes. Cicero mentions repeatedly a gladiator named Pacideianus. Horace may have taken the name for any gladiator in consequence of the celebrity of this man. 'Contento poplite' represents the attitude of the gladiators. The Scholiasts raise a doubt upon the point, thinking the words may apply to the spectator stretching himself on tiptoe to get a nearer view.

101. _callidus audis,_] See S. 6. 20, n., and 3. 23: "Callidus huic signo ponebam millia centum."

103. _coenis responsat opimis_] 'Responsat' seems here to have the sense of 'corresponds to,' as 'responsura' in S. 8. 66. What Davus says amounts to this: 'I am good for nothing, because I am attracted by a cake just hot from the oven; you, forsooth, are virtuous and noble, because you feast upon good things.' So the same opposition appears in these lines as in the two before. 'Libum' was a coarse sort of cake made of pounded cheese, eggs, and flour, all mixed together and baked. There was another sort used in sacrifice, concerning which see Epp. i. 10. 10, n.

105. _Qui tu impunitior_] Persius has copied this way of speaking (v. 129):

"Sed si intus et in jecore aegro Nascuntur domini, qui tu impunitior exis Atque hic quem ad strigiles scutica et metus egit herilis?"

110. _Furtiva mutat strigili:_] As to the construction with 'muto,' see C. i. 17. 2. The 'strigil,' which the Greeks called στλεγγίς, was a scraper of bone or metal, of a curved form and with a sharp edge, with which the skin was scraped after bathing, or exercise in the gymnasium.

112. _Non horam tecum esse potes,_] To a man who has no resources in himself, or is afraid of his own conscience or his own thoughts, and resorts to amusements or other means of distraction to divert his mind, these words apply. 'Tecum habita,' inhabit your own breast, make that your home, is a like expression of Persius, S. iv. 52.

113. _fugitivus et erro,_] 'Fugitivus' was a slave who ran away outright; 'erro' was an idle fellow, who skulked out of the way, to escape work or to amuse himself. There was the same distinction in the army between 'desertor' and 'emansor.' A 'fugitivus' was branded on the forehead, and hence he was termed 'literatus,' 'notatus,' 'inscriptus,' 'stigmosus'; 'stigma' being the word to express the mark thus given. See above, S. 5. 15, n.

116. _Unde mihi lapidem?_] See above, S. 5. 102, n. Horace is supposed to get angry beyond endurance at this home-thrust of his slave, and calls out for a stone, arrows, anything, to throw at his head. The man is bewildered with fear, and thinks his master has gone mad, unless, which was as good, he was making verses. He is, or affects to be, unconscious of the license he has given himself, and the force of the truths he has been telling.

118. _accedes opera agro nona_] This means, 'I will send you away to work with the other slaves (of whom therefore he appears to have had eight), at my farm.' It was a common punishment, as it is now in slave countries, for a slave to be turned out of the 'familia urbana,' into the 'familia rustica,' and set to work in the fields. See Terence (Phorm. ii. 1. 19), where Geta looks forward to being punished in the above manner:--

"Molendum est in pistrino, vapulandum, habendae compedes, Opus ruri faciundum."

SATIRE VIII.

This Satire represents a dinner given by a rich, vulgar man to Mæcenas and five of his friends. There is not so much to distinguish it in the way of humor as the subject admitted of. Few subjects present more scope for facetious satire than the airs of low-born men, lately become rich, aping the ways of the fashionable world, and making wealth their one passport into what is called good society. This is a very slight sketch, and some of the force even of this is perhaps lost through our ignorance of little points of etiquette and culinary refinements observed by the Romans of that day.

The host's name is Nasidienus Rufus. Who he was, it is impossible to say.

Instead of telling the story himself, though it is probable from the tone of the Satire that he writes from a scene he had witnessed, Horace puts it into the mouth of his friend Fundanius, the comic writer mentioned in S. i. 10. 42, where see note.

1. _Nasidieni_] See Introduction. The third and fourth syllables coalesce. 'Beati' means wealthy and favored of fortune. See C. i. 4. 14, n.

2. _here_] 'Heri' is a dative form, 'here' an ablative, so we have 'mani' and 'mane' in the morning, 'vesperi' and 'vespere' in the evening. The termination in 'i' is the older of the two and it would seem as if the usage of the word was in a state of transition at this time.

3. _De medio potare die._] Nasidienus dined early, to make the most of his feast. But 'medio die' need not be taken quite literally. The 'prandium' was usually taken at noon. The dinner-hour was later. (See C. i. 1. 20, n.) Busy men, as we saw in S. 7. 33, sat down by candle-light. 'De medio die' is like 'de nocte' in Epp. i. 2. 32, 'media de luce,' Epp. i. 14. 34. 'De' means 'after,' that is 'de medio die' means 'after midday'; but it must note proximity to midday, or it would have no meaning at all.

4. _fuerit melius._] See S. 6. 4, n. 'I never was better off in my life.' He says this ironically, or with reference to the amusement he had got from the vulgarity of Nasidienus.

_Da, si grave non est,_] There is a like use of 'dare' in Virgil (Ecl. i. 19), "sed tamen iste Deus qui sit da, Tityre, nobis." Terence also uses it: "Nunc quam ob rem has partes didicerim paucis dabo" (Heaut. Prol. 10). From the meaning of this word, 'to put,' this application of it is easily derived.

5. _iratum ventrem placaverit_] Compare S. 2. 18: "Latrantem stomachum." Both passages put together suggest the idea of a sop thrown to an angry dog to keep him quiet. Perhaps that notion, or something of the sort, suggested this line.

6. _Lucanus aper;_] See S. 3. 234; 4. 42, n. No mention is made of a 'promulsis' (S. i. 3. 6, n.), and the things of which it was usually in a great measure composed were sent up in the same dish with the boar, which was generally served whole, and was the chief dish, 'caput coenae.' Turnips, lettuces, radishes, parsnips, with pickles and sauces of various descriptions (see S. 4. 73, n.), generally formed part of the 'gustus' or 'promulsis' which preceded the 'fercula,' or courses of which the regular 'coena' consisted. The boar was killed, the host (called 'coenae pater' with a sort of mock respect) informed his guests, when the south wind was not at its worst, meaning, perhaps, that when this wind ('scirocco') was blowing hard, the meat would soon spoil, if he had any meaning at all. But it was probably some notion of his own.

10. _His ubi sublatis_] The narrator is inclined to make a short business of the viands, but he is brought back to them afterwards. The meat being removed, (and though he only mentions one course here, we may gather from what comes presently that there was no lack of dishes, and therefore, probably, there were the usual courses,) a slave, with his clothes well tucked up, 'succinctus' (see S. 6. 107, n.), came and wiped the table with a handsome purple towel, and another gathered up whatever had fallen or had been thrown on the floor, which at the same time he strewed with saw-dust, perhaps scented (see S. ii. 4. 81). 'Gausape, -is' (other forms of which are 'gausapa,' 'gausape, -es,' 'gausapum') was a woollen cloth of foreign manufacture. The table was of maple wood (see S. 2. 4, n.).

13. _ut Attica virgo_] When the litter is cleared away and the table wiped, two slaves, one from the East and named after his native river, the other a Greek, walk in with two amphoræ, one of Cæcuban, the other of Chian wine. They are represented as coming in in a solemn and stately manner, like the κανηφόροι who carried the baskets in procession at the festival of Ceres. See S. i. 3. 11, n.

15. _Chium maris expers._] Salt-water was mixed with the sweet wines imported from the Greek isles. Whether Horace refers to this practice, and means that the wine had not been prepared, and was of inferior quality, or whether he means that this pretended Chian had in fact never crossed the seas, but had been concocted at home, is doubted. Orelli and most of the commentators adopt the first opinion, after the Scholiasts. I am more inclined to the latter. Compare Persius (vi. 39):

"Postquam sapere urbi Cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers,"

where he means a learning bred not in Greece, but at home.

18. _Divitias miseras!_] This exclamation is drawn from Horace by his friend's description. It was money that had brought the man out of his proper obscurity, and caused him all the petty shifts and anxieties that wait upon the position he tried to maintain.

19. _pulchre fuerit_] See above, v. 4, "Nunquam In vita fuerit melius." As to Fundanius, see Introduction. 'Laboro' is an amusing exaggeration, 'I am in pain to know.'

20. _Summus ego_] The company consisted, as was usual, of nine persons, who reclined on three couches. These were arranged so as to form three sides of a square, with the table in the middle, the fourth end being open, as shown in the accompanying diagram.

On each couch were three persons. On the 'summus,' Fundanius says he himself, Viscus, and Varius reclined. On the 'medius lectus' were Mæcenas and the two uninvited friends he brought with him, Servilius Balatro, and Vibidius. On the middle seat of the 'imus lectus' lay Nasidienus, above him Nomentanus, who acted as nomenclator (see Epp. i. 6. 50, n.), and below him Porcius, another of his parasites. The place of honour was the corner-seat of the 'medius lectus,' and next to that, on the first seat of the 'imus,' was usually the place of the host. But it appears that Nasidienus resigned that place to Nomentanus, probably because he supposed him better able to entertain his guests than himself. The host usually reserved the 'imus lectus' for himself and his family. If they were not present, their places were usually occupied by dependents of the host (parasites), who filled up the table, and helped to flatter the host and entertain the company. This explains Epp. i. 18. 10, "imi Derisor lecti." Sometimes these places were occupied by 'umbrae,' brought by the invited guests. By 'summus ego' Fundanius means that he occupied the farthest seat on the 'summus lectus.' The slaves in helping the wine began from this point, and went round till they came to the 'imus,' or third place in the 'imus lectus.'

_Viscus Thurinus_] See S. i. 9. 22, n.; 10. 83, n. He appears to have been a native of Thurii, in Lucania, which was made a Latin colony (B.C. 195), and received the name of Copiæ. But its old name, given at its foundation by the Athenians (B.C. 444), continued to be used as well as the new. Viscus was highly esteemed by Horace. As to Varius, see S. i. 5. 40, n. Nothing whatever is known of Servilius Balatro or Vibidius. The second syllable of Servilius appears from inscriptions to be long; the third, therefore, coalesces with the last. Mæcenas had taken them with him as 'umbrae,' which means persons taken by guests without special invitation from the host. See Epp. i. 5. 28, n.

23. _super ipsum,_] This means on the seat above the host (see note on v. 20). As to Nomentanus, see S. i. 1. 102. Porcius seems to have been a notorious parasite. Here he seems to be occupied chiefly about filling his own belly, while the host and his other parasite are looking after the guests and doing the honours of the table.

24. _obsorbere placentas;_] 'Placentæ' were cakes, usually sweetened with honey. See Epp. i. 10. 11.

25. _Nomentanus ad hoc, qui_] 'Nomentanus was there for this purpose, that he might--.' His business was that of nomenclator, to direct the attention of the guests to any dainties they might have overlooked, and to explain to them the mystery of each dish; for, as Fundanius says, the commonest viands were so dressed up with sauces that they could hardly be recognized, or new sorts of dishes were put on the table, such as the entrails of different fish, turbot and plaice, for instance.

26. _Indice monstraret digito:_] 'Indice digito' is the forefinger: the middle finger was called 'famosus.' This name is given to it as the finger of scorn. The third finger was called 'medicus' or 'medicinalis,' for the same reason probably that got it the name 'annularis,' its supposed anatomical connection with the heart. By 'cetera turba' Fundanius means the uninitiated, Mæcenas and his party.

29. _Ut vel continuo patuit,_] The nature and importance of the duties of Nomentanus were shown on that occasion, when he handed Fundanius a dainty he had never tasted before, or perhaps heard of, and yet these gentlemen knew what good living was.

_passeris_] 'Passer' was a flat fish, and is generally supposed to be the plaice.

31. _melimela_] These were a sweet sort of rosy apple. The derivation of the name sufficiently marks their flavour. That they had a higher colour when gathered at the wane of the moon, is an invention of the nomenclator. His reasoning on the subject was so abstruse, that Fundanius does not pretend to be able to recollect it.

34. _Nos nisi damnose bibimus_] See Terence (Heaut. v. 4. 9):--

"_Ch._ At ego si me metuis mores cave esse in te istos sentiam. _Cl._ Quos? _Ch._ Si scire vis ego dicam: gerro, iners, fraus, helluo, Ganeo, damnosus."

Vibidius means, that if this stupid dinner is to be the death of them, they had better have their revenge beforehand and drink ruinously of the host's wine: if they do not, they will die unavenged. 'Moriemur inulti' is borrowed from the Epic style. See Aen. ii. 670; iv. 659.

35. _Vertere pallor Tum parochi faciem_] Fundanius gives two reasons why the host turned pale when he heard his guests call for larger cups: because when men have drank well they give a loose rein to their tongues, and because wine spoils the palate by destroying the delicacy of its taste. He might probably have added a third, for it seems that in the midst of his ostentation the man was a niggard. As to 'parochi,' see S. i. 5. 46. The host is so called as the man "qui praebet aquam" (S. i. 4. 88).

39. _Invertunt Allifanis vinaria tota_] Allifae was a town of Samnium. From the text we are led to suppose that cups were made there. 'Vinaria' is properly an adjective, and agrees with 'vasa' understood. It means here the 'lagena' or 'amphora,' which differed in shape, but not in use. Both were vessels either of clay, or sometimes latterly of glass, in which the wine was kept. Their contents were usually poured into a 'crater' for the purpose of being mixed with water. These persons helped themselves from the 'lagena,' and all followed their example, except the master and his two parasites (see above, v. 20). There was no 'magister bibendi,' and the guests drank as they pleased.

42. _squillas inter muraena natantes_] As to 'squillas,' see S. ii. 4. 58. 'Muraena' was a lamprey, and accounted a great delicacy by the Romans, who appear to have sometimes kept them tame. They were brought chiefly from the coast of Sicily. The prawns were swimming in sauce, the composition of which the host goes on to describe himself, as a matter of too much consequence to be left to the explanation of his nomenclator. The materials were Venafrian olive-oil (C. ii. 6. 16, n.); 'garum,' a sauce made of the entrails and blood of fish, and here made from the scomber, perhaps the mackerel, caught in greatest abundance off the coast of Spain; some Italian wine added while it was making, and some Chian when it was made; white pepper (see above, 4. 74, n.), and vinegar made from sour Lesbian wine (C. i. 17. 21). Of the other ingredients Nasidienus boasts of having invented two himself; one was the 'eruca,' which we call the rocket, and the 'inula campana,' 'elecampane,' a plant that grows in meadows and damp ground. It is used medicinally as a bitter. The last ingredient was the 'echinus,' a prickly shell-fish, thrown in without being washed, for the benefit of its saline qualities; for which addition to the sauce he gives credit to one Curtillus, whoever he may have been. The superiority of the 'echinus' to 'muria' (see S. ii. 4. 65, n.) is here said to consist in the fact of the former coming fresh from the sea, and furnishing a more perfect brine.

54. _aulaea_] See C. iii. 29. 15, n. The host's dissertation was brought to a sudden close by the falling of the tapestry from the ceiling, bringing down among the dishes an immense cloud of dust. The guests fancy the house is coming down, but when they find the extent of the damage, they recover themselves ('erigimur'). Rufus (Nasidienus) was so disturbed by this untoward accident, that he put down his head and began to shed tears. Nomentanus comforts him with an apostrophe to Fortune, complaining of her caprices, the solemn hypocrisy of which makes Varius laugh so immoderately, that he is obliged to stuff his napkin into his mouth to check himself. Balatro, who has a sneer always ready (μυκτηρίζων, see S. i. 6. 5), begins a long sympathetic and flattering speech, with which Nasidienus is highly pleased and comforted under his misfortune. A brilliant thought suddenly strikes him, and he calls for his shoes and goes out, on which the guests begin to titter and to whisper to one another, not wishing to give offence, or to speak out before the parasites and the slaves (54-78).

72. _agaso._] This was a groom or mule-driver, or otherwise connected with the stables. Balatro intends a sneer at the establishment, the out-door slaves being had in to wait at table and swell the number of attendants.

77. _Et soleas poscit._] See S. i. 3. 127. The sandals were taken off before they sat down to dinner, for which therefore 'soleas demere, deponere,' were common expressions, as 'soleas poscere' was for getting up. The Greeks had the same custom and the same way of expressing themselves.

78. _Stridere secreta_] In this line an attempt seems to have been made to convey the notion of whispering by the sound of the _s_ repeated.

83. _Ridetur fictis rerum_] They pretend to be laughing at something else when Nasidienus comes in. As to 'fictis rerum' see C. iv. 12. 19, n. 'Balatrone secundo' means that Balatro played δευτεραγωνιστής, who supported the principal actor, but was not so prominent. (See Epp. i. 18. 14.) Balatro was a wit and sarcastic. He supplied jokes and the others laughed.

86. _Mazonomo_] This was a large round dish, properly one from which grain (μάζα) was distributed.

87. _Membra gruis_] Cranes became a fashionable dish with the Romans, but not till after this time, when storks were preferred (see S. 2. 50, n.).

88. _jecur anseris albae_] The liver of a white goose fattened on figs, the legs of a hare served up separately, as being (according to the host) better flavoured when dressed without the loins, blackbirds burnt in roasting, and wood-pigeons with the hinder parts, which were most sought after, removed (perhaps from the ignorance of the host, who thought novelty was the best recommendation of his dishes),--these composed the last 'ferculum,' brought in as special delicacies to make up for the late catastrophe. But the officiousness of the host destroyed the relish of his dishes, such as they were, and the guests took their revenge by tasting nothing that he put before them, and presently taking their leave.

95. _Canidia afflasset_] Here is this woman again, the last time we meet with her. See Epodes iii., v., and xvii., and S. i. 8.

EPISTLES.--BOOK I.

EPISTLE I.

Some time after Horace had published his three books of Odes, and had, as it appears, laid aside that sort of writing, it seems that Mæcenas, and probably his other friends, begged him to return to it. That is the obvious meaning of the remonstrance with which the Epistle opens. He expresses an earnest wish to retire into privacy, to abandon poetry, and to devote himself to the study of philosophy and virtue, which he recommends as the only true wisdom.

1. _Prima dicte mihi,_] This is an affectionate way of speaking. It has no particular reference to anything Horace had written. It is like Virgil's address to Pollio (Ec. viii. 11): "A te principium, tibi desinet"; or Nestor's to Agamemnon (Il. ix. 96):

Ἀτρείδη κύδιστε, ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν Ἀγάμεμνον, Ἐν σοὶ μὲν λήξω, σέο δ᾽ ἄρξομαι.

2. _Spectatum satis et donatum jam rude_] When gladiators received their discharge, they were presented by the 'lanista,' or the 'editor spectaculorum,' who owned or hired them, with a 'rudis,' which was a blunt wooden instrument, some say a sword, others a cudgel. The name may have belonged to any weapon used in the 'praelusio,' or sham fight that generally preceded the real battle with sharp swords. The gladiators thus discharged were called 'rudiarii,' and, if they were freemen, 'exauctorati.' 'Spectatum' is a technical term. Tickets, with the letters SP upon them, were given to gladiators who had distinguished themselves. 'Ludus' means the place where the training took place, and the gladiators were kept. (See A. P. 32, n.)

4. _Veianius armis Herculis ad postem_] Veianius was a 'rudiarius,' and when he was discharged, he hung up his weapons in the temple of Hercules, just as the man is made to hang up the arms of love in the temple of Venus, when they had ceased to profit him, in C. iii. 26. 3; or as the slave hung up his chain to the Lares (see S. i. 5. 65, n.), to whom also boys dedicated their 'bulla' when they assumed the 'toga virilis'; and, generally, those who gave up any trade or calling dedicated the instruments with which they had followed it to the gods, and to that god, in particular, under whose patronage they had placed themselves. Hercules would naturally be chosen by a gladiator, or by a soldier.

6. _Ne populum extrema_] The gladiatorial shows at this time were exhibited in the Circus. The arena was separated from the seats, which went round the building, by a wall called the 'podium,' near which a gladiator would station himself to appeal to the compassion of the people, at whose request it usually was that they got their freedom and the 'rudis.' We learn from Juvenal, that the persons of highest condition sat by the 'podium,' and to their influence the appeal would be more immediately made. Veianius, Horace says, retired into the country to escape the temptation to engage himself again, and to place himself in the position he had so often occupied, of a suppliant for the people's favor. When they liked a man, they were not easily persuaded to ask for his discharge.

7. _Est mihi purgatam_] He has a voice within him, he says, the office of which is to whisper in his attentive ear the precept that follows, the idea of which is taken from Ennius, who takes it from the Circus. His words in Cicero de Senect. (c. 5) are:

"Sicut fortis equus spatio qui saepe supremo Vicit Olympia, nunc senio confectu' quiescit."

'Purgatam aurem' means an ear purged from all that could obstruct the entrance of the truth.

9. _ilia ducat._] 'Ilia trahere' and 'ducere' are ordinary expressions for panting; they mean to contract the flanks, as is done in the act of recovering the breath. The reverse is 'ilia tendere.' See Virg. Georg. iii. 536, "imaque longo Ilia singultu tendunt." 'Ilia ducere' here means to become broken-winded.

10. _et versus et cetera ludicra pono,_] He did not keep his word, for he wrote much of the fourth Book of Odes, and the Carmen Saeculare, after this; so that he says of himself (Epp. ii. 1. 111):

"Ipse ego qui nullos me affirmo scribere versus Invenior Parthis mendacior."

'Ludicra' means the follies of light poetry, jokes, amours, &c. See Epp. ii. 2. 55.

13. _quo lare tuter,_] This is equivalent to 'qua in domo,' respecting which see C. i. 29. 14, n.; and as to 'jurare in verba,' see note on Epod. xv. 4. The metaphor is taken from the oath of the gladiator ('auctoramentum'), by which he bound himself to the 'lanista' to whom he hired himself, which was a very stringent oath indeed.

16. _Quo me cunque rapit_] Horace says he follows no school and knows no master, but, like a traveller always changing his abode, he follows the breeze that carries him hither and thither, just as his temper happens to be, or his judgment chances to be influenced; "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine," as St. Paul says, using the same sort of language.

16. _Nunc agilis fio_] That is, he agrees with the Stoics, whose virtue was essentially a Roman virtue (see C. S. 58, n.), and lay in action. With them, the perfection of virtue was the perfection of happiness, utility, wealth, power (see below, v. 106, n.).

18. _Nunc in Aristippi_] After holding for a time to the rigid school of virtue and the Stoics, he insensibly went over to the lax doctrines of the Cyrenaics, whose founder was Aristippus of Cyrene, one of the least worthy disciples of Socrates. He held that every man should control circumstances, and not be controlled by them. Hence he did not hesitate to expose himself to the greatest temptations. An instance of his indifference in another way is given above (S. ii. 3. 100). See Epp. 17. 23.

19. _Et mihi res_] 'I try to bend circumstances to myself, not myself to circumstances.' But Aristippus departed from his own theory, when he departed from the rule of his teacher, and took money from his pupils. He was the first of the Socratics that did so, and Xenophon is supposed to refer to him when he says that some of the disciples of Socrates got for nothing a little of his wisdom, and sold it at a high price to others (Mem. i. 2, § 60). Those that took money from their disciples, Socrates said, sold themselves into slavery, and he must therefore have held this opinion of Aristippus (Ib. § 6). His dialogue with Socrates (in Xen. Mem. ii. 1) throws light upon his opinions as here stated by Horace. The word 'subjungere' is taken from putting the neck of beasts of burden under the yoke.

21. _ut piger annus Pupillis_] Every boy who had lost his father was under a 'tutor' or guardian in respect of his property, while the care of his person belonged to his mother, or, in the case of her death, to his nearest relation, provided he was not a 'pupillus' himself. This lasted till the age of puberty (fourteen). The boy was a 'pupillus,' not in relation to his mother, but to his tutor. Thus 'tutela' and 'custodia' were different things. 'Tutela' was a technical term, 'custodia' was not.

25. _locupletibus aeque,_] 'Aeque' is repeated, though not wanted, just as 'inter' is repeated in S. i. 7, and elsewhere (see note). The Greek writers used ὁμοίως in the same way.

27. _Restat ut his_] Horace says he is impatient, till he shall have reached the perfection of active virtue and wisdom. But as he has not done so, it only remains that he shall regulate and comfort his mind with such elementary knowledge of truth as he possesses, and be content with that; for, if he cannot reach perfection, he may make some steps towards it. 'His' means, that which he has at his command.

28. _Non possis oculo_] The keen sight of Lynceus, one of the Argonauts, who, as the story goes, could from Lilybæum count the number of vessels in a fleet coming out of the harbor of Carthage, has been proverbial in all ages.

30. _invicti membra Glyconis,_] This person is said to have been an athlete of prodigious strength.

31. _Nodosa--prohibere cheragra._] The gout in the hand is called 'nodosa' from its twisting the joints of the fingers (S. ii. 7. 15). As to the construction of 'prohibere,' see C. i. 27. 4.

32. _Est quadam prodire tenus_] Horace is probably indulging a little irony at the expense of the philosophers, in the implied comparison of their perceptions and powers with those of Lynceus and Glycon, and in the humble tone he takes towards them. 'Tenus,' as a general rule, takes the ablative of the singular, and is so used in the compound words 'hactenus,' 'eatenus,' &c. The form 'quadamtenus' is used occasionally by Pliny; and the feminine gender appears in all the combinations of 'tenus' with pronouns.

34. _Sunt verba et voces_] Compare Euripides (Hippol. 478):

εἰσὶν δ᾽ ἐπῳδαὶ καὶ λόγοι θελκτήριοι· φανήσεταί τι τῆσδε φάρμακον νόσου.

Philosophy, Horace says, has remedies for every disease of the mind. The remedies he means are the precepts of the wise, to be derived from books (37). He also calls them 'piacula' (36), which is equivalent to 'medicamenta,' because, disease being attributed to the wrath of the gods, that which should remove their wrath ('piaculum') was the means of removing disease. 'Ter' is used by way of keeping up the religious notion (that number being common in all religious ceremonies, see C. i. 28. 36, n.): 'pure' is used in the same connection. The book must be read with a pure mind, as the body must be washed before sacrifice or libation can be offered. By 'libello' I understand Horace to mean any book that instructs the mind in virtue.

41. _Virtus est vitium fugere_] If you cannot all at once attain perfection, you may at least begin to learn, and the first step towards virtue is to put away vice. What follows is an illustration of this. 'You see what trouble you take to escape from poverty, which you count the worst of all evils; but if you will only give heed to instruction, you shall learn well to care about it.' This is the sense. As to 'repulsa,' see C. iii. 2. 17. He who would secure an election, must have a command of money.

44. _capitisque labore._] 'Caput' is here put for the whole body. We do not use it so, but for the seat of intelligence, which the Romans placed in the heart, not in the brain. On 'per saxa, per ignes,' see C. iv. 14. 24; S. ii. 3. 56.

47. _Ne cures ea_] 'In order that you may cease to care for those things which you now so foolishly admire and long for, will you not learn and listen, and trust the experience of a better man than yourself?' As to this position of 'ne,' see C. iv. 9. 1.

49. _Quis circum pagos_] These were boxers, who went about the streets and the country villages, and fought for the amusement of the inhabitants, and for what they could pick up. 'Coronari Olympia' is a Greek way of speaking. Horace says, What boxer who goes about the country towns exhibiting, would despise the Olympic prizes, if he had a hope, still more a promise, that he should be crowned without a struggle? By this he means, men strive after happiness in the shape of riches, &c.; but if they will learn wisdom, that shall give them all they can desire without trouble or pain. The world may judge otherwise, he proceeds to say, and make wealth the standard of worth, but the world is not to be listened to,--it is foolish and inconsistent. 'Sine pulvere' seems to be taken from the Greek ἀκονιτί, and means without a struggle.

54. _Janus summus ab imo_] See S. ii. 3. 18. 'Perdocet' means it persists in teaching, it enforces. Horace breaks out into the praises of virtue, and says, that, as gold is more precious than silver, virtue is more precious than gold, whereas, from one end of the Forum to the other, the opposite doctrine is insisted upon, and old and young go there to learn it, as boys go to school, and repeat it as schoolboys repeat their tasks dictated to them by the master. Verse 56 is repeated from S. i. 6. 74. As to 'dictata,' see S. i. 10. 75, n.

58. _Sed quadringentis sex septem_] 'Suppose you lack six or seven thousand out of 400,000 sesterces (which make an equestrian property), whatever your genius, character, eloquence, and uprightness may be, you are put down for one of the common sort, and will not be allowed, under Otho's law, to sit in the front rows.' (See Epod. iv. 15, n.) 'Plebs' is not used in its regular sense, but contemptuously, 'a common fellow.' The equestrian order consisted of all citizens who had the above income and were not senators; for when a man became a senator, he ceased to be an 'eques.'

59. _At pueri ludentes, Rex eris, aiunt,_] See note on C. i. 36. 8. At Athens, it appears, the boys had a game, at which they who threw or caught the ball best were called kings, while they who were beaten were called asses. Some such game must have been in use among the Roman boys, and their king-making had become a proverb. The world may despise you, he says, because you are poor, but, according to the boys' rule, which makes the best man king, you shall be a king if you do well. As to 'murus aëneus,' see C. iii. 3. 65, n. For the different senses in which Horace uses 'nenia,' see Epod. xvii. 29, n. Here it signifies a sort of song of triumph.

64. _Et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis?_] On this plural, see S. i. 7. 8. The persons referred to are M. Curius Dentatus, the conqueror of Pyrrhus, and M. Furius Camillus, the man who saved Rome from the Gauls. The contempt of money displayed by Curius is especially related by Cicero (De Senect. c. 16), in terms which account for Horace's selecting him for an illustration here. The boys' strain was ever in the mouths of these noble soldiers, giving honor to none but the worthy. 'Mares' is used in this sense in A. P. 402. We use 'masculine' in the same way.

67. _lacrimosa poëmata Pupi,_] Pupius appears to have been a writer of tragedies, which Horace says were pathetic, but he says it with some contempt. We know nothing more of him than this. 'Lacrimosa' is used ironically. As to 'responsare,' see S. ii. 7. 85. 'Praesens' means stands by you and urges you on, and teaches you to meet the insults of fortune with an independent heart and erect bearing. 'Aptat' is explained by "pectus praeceptis format amicis" (Epp. ii. 1. 128), which province belongs, Horace says, to the poet.

71. _Non ut porticibus sic judiciis_] As to 'porticus,' see S. i. 4. 134. He has said that the world are not fit guides, and he goes on to prove this by the inconsistencies of men, both rich and poor (71-93). He says, if people ask him why he mixes with them in the ordinary way of society, in the promenades, etc., but does not form his judgment of things as they do, he answers them as the fox answered the lion in Æsop's fable; and the meaning of the answer here is, that he found that, of all those who joined the world and made money their chief pursuit, none had survived or recovered their right judgment.

76. _Bellua multorum es capitum._] 'The avarice of the world is like the hydra with many heads; if you check it in one form, it springs up in another; whom, then, or what, is one to take for one's guide?' On the use of 'nam' in this verse, see S. ii. 3. 41, n. As to 'conducere,' see C. ii. 18. 17, n. On the subject of will-hunting, see S. ii. 5, and compare with 'quos in vivaria mittant' v. 44 of that Satire: "Plures adnabunt thunni et vivaria crescent." There the 'captator' appears as a catcher of fish; here as a hunter of game. 'Vivaria' are preserves. 'Excipere' is the word used for catching the wild boar in C. iii. 12. 12. 'Occulto fenore' means interest which was greater than the law allowed (see S. i. 2. 14, n.), and therefore privately agreed upon. Of all the classes of money seekers in Rome, Horace fixes as the most prominent upon three, the 'publicani,' those who ingratiate themselves with old people in the hope of becoming their heirs, and extortionate usurers. 'Publica' may refer to public buildings and works.

80. _Verum Esto aliis alios_] But allow different men their different tastes, yet even this is of no use; for the same men, when they get rich, get capricious, and are always changing their minds.

83. _Nullus in orbe sinus_] If the rich man has set his heart upon building a house at Baiæ, he does not brook a moment's delay; the waters of the Lacus Lucrinus on one side and the sea on the other, are disturbed with the eager preparations with which he begins to satisfy his desire. The allusion is the same as in C. ii. 18. 19, sqq., and iii. 1. 33, sqq., 24. 3, where see notes. Baiæ was for several generations a favorite resort of the wealthy Romans. Julius Cæsar had a house there, and also Cn. Pompeius.

84. _lacus et mare_] The Lucrinus lacus was an arm of the sea. Its basin was filled up by the rising of the volcanic hill called Monte Nuovo, in the middle of the sixteenth century.

85. _vitiosa libido_] This means a corrupt, capricious will, which is said 'facere auspicium,' to stand in the place of birds and other omens usually consulted before new enterprises were undertaken.

86. _Cras ferramenta Teanum_] Teanum (now Teano) was a town belonging to the Sidicini, an ancient people of Campania. It was situated on the Via Latina, and about thirty miles from Baiæ. The whim for the coast having vanished, and a desire to live inland, in a country town, having seized upon the man of money, he sends off the workmen with their tools to Teanum, at a day's notice.

87. _Lectus genialis in aula est,_] 'Aula' means the 'atrium,' the entrance-room; and 'lectus genialis,' also called 'adversus,' because it was opposite the door, was the marriage-bed which was dedicated to the genii of the bride and bridegroom. The bed was a symbol of domestic love and peace, and was placed at the entrance of the house for a good omen. Respecting the genii, see below, Epp. i. 7. 94; ii. 2. 187.

90. _Protea_] See S. ii. 3. 71.

91. _coenacula,_] All the rooms above the ground floor were called 'coenacula.' While the rich lived in their own houses, poorer persons (and it must be remembered that 'paupertas' is comparative poverty, not want) took single rooms in the upper story of houses which went by the name of 'insulae,' the inhabitants of which were called 'coenacularii,' and they who kept them were said 'coenaculariam exercere.' Horace speaks of persons changing from caprice and aping the ways of the rich.

92. _conducto navigio_] 'Navigium' expresses the vulgar craft which the poor man hires in imitation of the private yacht, as smartly built and well found as a trireme belonging to the rich man. He hires his boat, which he cannot afford to do, and goes through the horrors of sea sickness, that he may have the honor of serving as a foil to the elegance of his wealthy neighbor.

94. _Si curatus inaequali tonsore_] He goes on to tax Mæcenas, good-humoredly, with the prevailing inconsistency (94-105). 'Capillos curare' was a common expression. Domitian wrote a book 'de cura capillorum,' according to Suetonius (c. 18), which he addressed to a friend who was bald, like himself. 'Subucula' was a second tunic worn under the 'intusium,' which was the upper tunic. 'Pexae' signifies a cloth of which the nap was not closely shorn, and was still fresh. The upper tunic, therefore, would be new, while the under one was old and shabby. The 'subucula' had sleeves, which the 'intusium' had not. Any difference in the cloth, therefore, would be very perceptible. Out of doors the toga would conceal both, but in doors the toga was not worn. 'Intusium' is from 'induo.' 'Subucula' is connected with 'duo' (that is, 'do') likewise. 'Disconvenit' is a word only found in Horace. It occurs again, Epp. 14. 18.

100. _mutat quadrata rotundis?_] Orelli says this looks like a proverbial expression for one who did not know his own mind. It may be so, or it may have reference to alterations Horace was making on his estate, in which case the whole would be only a joke against himself or truth in jest, which Mæcenas would understand. He appears to have begun building as soon as he entered on his new property, if there is any meaning in the scolding he gets from Damasippus (S. ii. 3. 307).

102. _nec curatoris egere_] See S. ii. 3. 217, n. 'Tutela' was the guardianship of a 'tutor,' the protector of an orphan's property till he came to the age of puberty. 'Curatela' was the office of 'curator,' who had the same relation to the orphan, in a modified form, till he was twenty five (see above, v. 22, n.). It was also that of the protector of insane persons. 'Tutela,' therefore, is not the precise word to keep up the previous notion. Horace means that Mæcenas looks after him anxiously, as if he was his 'tutor,' and he looks up to him as if he was his 'pupillus,' but that his guardian had better look to his greater faults, and correct those, than be put out by trifling defects such as negligence of dress, and so forth. What Horace says, is a repetition in a different form of "O et praesidium et dulce decus meum" (C. i. 1. 2).

105. _respicientis_] This word is much stronger than our term 'respect,' which is derived from it.

106. _Ad summam:_] This is an ordinary formula, 'to come to the point,' 'to conclude.' The pursuit of virtue and wisdom is the point from which he started, and, having digressed a little, he returns suddenly, and concludes with a definition of the sage, which is a repetition of S. i. 3. 124, sqq. Here it is added that he is the only freeman, and inferior to Jove alone.

108. _Praecipue sanus,_] Horace says jocularly, that the Stoic above all his other attributes is of course 'sanus,' except when his digestion is disturbed and the phlegm troublesome, 'sanus' bearing a double application to the body (from the pains of which no exemption was claimed for the Stoic sage, though he did not allow them to affect his will) and to the mind, the sanity of which no one could lay claim to but the sage himself (see S. ii. 3. 44, n.). As to 'pituita,' see S. ii. 2. 73, n.

EPISTLE II.

The person to whom this Epistle and the eighteenth are written, was probably the son of M. Lollius, the consul, addressed in the ninth Ode of the fourth Book. He was young, but had been with Augustus to the wars, as we learn from the other Epistle (v. 55). When this Epistle was written, he was at Rome, continuing his education, and Horace was at Præneste. He had lately been reading Homer, and from the examples of the Iliad and Odyssey he takes occasion to derive some advice for Lollius, whom he urges to the study of philosophy.

1. _maxime Lolli,_] This is probably no more than a familiar and good-humored way of addressing the young man, 'most noble Lollius.'

2. _Dum tu declamas Romae_] Horace writes to Lollius as to one familiar with Homer's poems. He says of himself, referring to his early education at Rome (Epp. ii. 2. 41):

"Romae nutriri mihi contigit atque doceri Iratus Graiis quantum nocuisset Achilles."

After the Romans had begun to expand the course of their sons' education, (as mentioned in the note on S. i. 6. 77,) Homer was one of the first authors a boy studied. Boys attended the schools of the rhetorical masters before they put on the 'toga virilis,' and there they learnt to declaim upon subjects given them from history. This practice was not introduced till the later years of the republic. Young men continued studying declamation long after they left school. They had teachers at home, who taught them the higher principles of oratory.

_Praeneste relegi;_] Præneste (Palestrina) was in Latium, about twenty three miles due east of Rome on the edge of the Apennines. It was a cool retreat, to which Horace appears sometimes to have gone in summer, even when he had a place of his own elsewhere. See C. iii. 4. 21, sqq.

4. _Chrysippo et Crantore_] As to Chrysippus the Stoic, see S. i. 3. 126, n. Both he and Crantor were born at the Cilician town Soli. Crantor studied philosophy in the Academia, under Xenocrates and with Polemo. (See S. ii. 3. 254, n.) They were both voluminous writers. But Horace says there is more instruction in the poems of Homer than in all they ever wrote, and that it is more clearly conveyed. Horace takes a wrong view of Homer's poems, which are not philosophical, nor meant to be so, but noble specimens of art and poetical conception.

7. _Barbariae_] That is, Phrygia. (See Epod. ix. 6.) 'Aestus' is a metaphor from the ebbing and flowing of the tide, and represents the passions and variableness of the princes and people.

9. _Antenor censet_] At a meeting of the Trojan chiefs after the combat of Hector and Ajax, Antenor proposes to restore Helen to the Greeks, which Paris flatly refuses, ἀντικρὺ δ᾽ ἀπόφημι γυναῖκα μὲν οὐκ ἀποδώσω (Il. vii. 362, sqq.).

12. _Inter Peliden--inter Atriden;_] See S. i. 7. 11, n; Epp. 1. 25, n.

13. _Hunc amor,_] From its position this seems to belong to 'Atriden.' The allusion is to Nestor's attempt to mediate between Agamemnon and Achilles, when the former angrily consents to restore Chryseis, whom he loved above Clytemnestra his wife (Il. i. 113, sqq.)

19. _domitor Trojae_] The epithet πτολίπορθος is frequently applied to Ulysses by Homer. The three first verses of the Odyssey are almost translated in these lines.

22. _immersabilis_] Compare C. iv. 4. 65: "Merses profundo pulchrior evenit."

23. _Sirenum voces_] How by the directions of Circe Ulysses eluded the charming voice of the Sirens, is related in the twelfth book of the Odyssey, 165, sqq.; and the way in which Circe poisoned his companions and changed them into swine, will be found in the tenth book, 230, sqq. The Sirens were as proverbial with the ancients as with us.

27. _Nos numerus sumus_] This expression is not uncommon in the Greek dramatists. It means, a mere undistinguished heap, and 'fruges consumere nati' is an adaptation of Homer's οἳ ἀρούρης καρπὸν ἔδουσι (Il. vi. 142). 'Nos' means the common sort of men, among whom Horace places himself, and all but the sage, who is like Ulysses, while the rest are no better than his wife's suitors, gluttons, wine-drinkers, and lazy; or the subjects of Alcinous, king of Phæacia or Scheria (an island of which, if it had any existence, the position is unknown), the host of Ulysses, to whom he relates his adventures (Odyss. lib. ix. sqq.). The king describes his people thus:

αἰεὶ δ᾽ ἡμῖν δαίς τε φίλη, κίθαρίς τε, χοροί τε, εἵματά τ᾽ ἐξημοιβὰ, λοετρά τε θερμὰ, καὶ εὐναί. (Odyss. viii. 248.)

The Phæacians were proverbial in respect to good living. See Epp. i. 15. 24. On 'cute curanda,' see S. ii. 5. 38, n.

31. _cessatum ducere curam._] 'Duco,' as a verb of motion, takes the accusative of the verbal substantive to denote the object, just as 'venio' and 'mitto' do. "The accusative of the verbal in 'tu' is often called the supine active, and the ablative of the same the supine passive; but there is nothing passive in the latter, and therefore the distinction is inappropriate." 'Factu' is 'in the doing,' as 'factum' is 'to the doing'; so neither is passive.

32. _Ut jugulent homines_] From the above examples of virtue, especially Ulysses, Horace urges his friend to the pursuit of it, and asks whether, if the robber can rise before daylight to take away other men's lives, he will not wake up to save his own (32-43).

34. _Si noles sanus curres hydropicus;_] It appears that active exercise was recommended by the ancient physicians for dropsical patients. Horace means, that, if he will not learn wisdom while he is unharmed by the world, he will have to do so when it has spoilt him.

39. _in annum?_] So he says below (Epp. 11. 23), "neu dulcia differ in annum." It is the habit of procrastinators to put off the work of to-day till to-morrow, of this week till next week, of this year till next year, and this is Horace's meaning. 'In annum' is till next year. 'Dimidium facti qui coepit habet' is an adaptation of the Greek saying ἀρχὴ δὲ τοι ἥμισυ παντός, attributed variously to Hesiod and Pythagoras.

44. _Quaeritur argentum_] This is advanced as a reason why men put off the day of reformation, that they are anxious to make themselves comfortable and rich (44-54).

47. _Non domus et fundus,_] See S. ii. 5. 108, n. 'Deduxit,' in the next line, is used like the aorist.

52. _fomenta podagram,_] As to 'fomenta' in a derived sense, see Epod. xi. 17, n. Horace means to say, that fomentations go a small way towards curing the gout. Perhaps he means that they aggravate the pain.

55. _Sperne voluptates,_] This is part of the same subject. The pursuit of sensual pleasure is connected with the pursuit of money, which is wanted for it. The pursuit of money leads on to envy, and envy to wrath, so that all these pithy sayings hang together.

58. _Invidia Siculi_] Horace probably alludes to the bull of Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily. It was made of bronze. Persons were put inside, and the metal was gradually heated till they were roasted to death. But the tyrants of Sicily were proverbial.

60. _et mens,_] 'Mens' signifies passion, μένος.

61. _poenas--festinat_] 'hurries after its revenge.' So Horace uses 'properare,' in C. iii. 24. 62, "pecuniam Heredi properet"; and in the next Epistle (v. 28), "Hoc studium parvi properemus et ampli." It is like the Greek σπεύδειν, which takes an accusative.

63. _hunc tu compesce_] In general precepts, emphasis is sometimes given by the insertion of the pronoun 'tu.' See C. i. 9. 16.

64. _Fingit equum_] Here he goes back to v. 40, "sapere aude; Incipe." For to be wise, he must learn, and put himself in the hands of those who can teach him.

65. _venaticus, ex quo_] 'Catulus' is awkwardly placed at the end of the sentence. The practice of training dogs by means of stuffed animals was perhaps common. 'Latro' governs an accusative here and in Epod. v. 58. On 'militat,' see S. ii. 2. 10, n.

69. _Quo semel est imbuta recens_] 'The testa keeps long the odor it imbibed when new.' So, he means, the good or evil imbibed in youth clings to the mind for many years.

70. _Quodsi cessas aut strenuus anteis,_] Horace says he cannot wait for the dilatory, or trouble himself to keep up with those who are in a great hurry to get on. He means he shall go his own way in the pursuit of wisdom. At the same time, he hints that young persons are apt to get on a little too fast, and to mistake their own powers and attainments. The conclusion is abrupt, as Horace's conclusions often are.

EPISTLE III.

In B.C. 20 an embassy came from Armenia to Rome, expressing the dissatisfaction of the people with their king, Artaxias, and praying that Augustus would place upon the throne that king's younger brother, Tigranes, who was then living in exile at Rome. Augustus assented, and sent Tiberius with Tigranes to dethrone Artaxias. This Tiberius did, and with his own hand crowned Tigranes. (See Epp. 12. 27, n.)

About his person Tiberius appears to have had a number of young men, such as Titius, Celsus, and Munatius, mentioned in this Epistle, and Julius Florus, to whom it is addressed. What little can be said about the first three will be found in the notes. Florus, it appears from this Epistle (v. 23), was practising to become an orator or a jurisconsultus, and wrote verses of the softer sort; in the second Epistle of the second Book (v. 59) we have the same information.

Quintilian (Inst. Orat. x. 3) tells an anecdote of one Julius Florus, whom he calls the first man in Gaul for eloquence. This may be the person Horace addresses, and if so, he carried out successfully in Gallia the pursuit of which Horace here supposes him to be beginning the practice. Horace had a great regard for him, as appears not only from this, but from the other Epistle, in which he makes his excuses to him for not having sent him any poetry.

Florus was evidently a young man at this time, and all the persons named were young. One of them (Celsus) was secretary to Tiberius. Whether the others had any definite occupation, or were merely travelling to enlarge their experience, and see the world, is not stated. Horace assumes that they are not wasting their time, but pursuing their studies and practising their pens. He inquires after his young friends in a way that shows his interest in them, offers them such advice and encouragement as he thinks they need, and especially begs Florus to be reconciled to Munatius, with whom he had for some reason quarrelled. This was probably Horace's chief design in writing this Epistle.

3. _Thracane vos Hebrusque_] The first of these is the Latin form of the Greek Θρῄκη. It has been observed before, that Horace generally uses the Latin terminations in the Satires and Epistles, and the Greek in the Odes. The Hebrus he elsewhere calls "hiemis sodalem" (C. i. 25. 19). Tiberius passed through Macedonia and Thrace on his way to Armenia. (See Introduction.)

4. _vicinas inter currentia turres,_] 'Turris' may mean a castle or fortified place, and one of these that Horace mentions is probably Abydos, on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont. The other may have been Sestos, on the European side. The strait takes a bend to the northeast between the two towns, and Abydos stood directly south of Sestos, at the distance of thirty stadia. The current runs very strong between them, and this is expressed in the text; notwithstanding which, there is a popular story that Leander, a youth of Abydos, swam across repeatedly by night, to visit Hero, the priestess of Venus, at Sestos. Ovid has two Epistles, supposed to have passed between the lovers (Heroid. 18, 19); and Virgil (Georg. iii. 258, sqq.) refers to the story. The same adventure was accomplished by Lord Byron and a companion, in the year 1810, in the month of May.

6. _Quid studiosa cohors operum_] As to 'cohors,' see S. i. 7. 23, n. 'Operum' belongs to 'quid,' and signifies 'writings,' either prose or poetry.

7. _scribere sumit?_] Compare C. i. 12. 2, "sumis celebrare." 'Sumere' is sometimes used in a bad sense, as we use 'assume,' 'presume'; but it is not so here. It is the word Horace generally uses in this connection. See A. P. 38. With 'diffundit in aevum,' compare C. iv. 14, init.

9. _Quid Titius Romana_] Of Titius the Scholiasts say, that he was a tragic and lyric poet. According to Horace, he was not afraid to imitate Pindar. This young man was more rash than Horace himself (C. iv. 2. 1). There is no one upon record with whom the person in the text can be identified, though some suppose he may be the person Tibullus mentions (i. 4. 73), "Haec mihi quae canerem Titio Deus edidit ore."

_venturus in ora?_] This expression may have taken its rise from Ennius's "volito vivu' per ora virum," which Virgil has imitated once or twice.

10. _expalluit_] This is used as in C. iii. 27. 27, "mediasque fraudes Palluit audax."

11. _lacus et rivos ausus apertos._] These are opposed to the deep and hidden springs of Pindar's genius.

14. _An tragica desaevit et ampullatur_] The first of these words refers to the passions represented in tragedy, the other to the pompous words employed by inferior writers to express them. 'Ampulla' signifies a sort of bottle with a big round belly, and corresponds to the Greek λήκυθος, which was used to signify great, swelling words. Horace appears to have been the first to substitute the Latin words 'ampullari' and 'ampulla' (the first of which he probably coined) for ληκυθίζειν and λήκυθος. See A. P. 97.

15. _Quid mihi Celsus agit?_] 'Quid agis' is the common formula for 'How d' ye do?' See S. i. 9. 4; Epp. i. 8. 3. Celsus is most probably Celsus Albinovanus, to whom the eighth Epistle is addressed. We know nothing of him, except that he was one of the staff of Tiberius, and his secretary ("comiti scribaeque Neronis," 8. 2). The advice Horace here sends him is, to write something original, and not confine himself to the ideas of other authors, either in the way of translation or imitation. It has been mentioned before (C. i. 31, Introduction) that Augustus attached a library to the temple he built for Apollo on the Mons Palatinus. Æsop's fable of the jackdaw, who dressed himself in the peacock's cast-off feathers, is told by Phædrus (i. 3). Αἰσώπιος κολοιός was a proverb.

21. _Quae circumvolitas_] This similitude of a bee gathering honey from thyme, Horace applies to himself (C. iv. 2. 27, sqq.). As to 'orator' and 'respondere,' see S. i. 1. 9, n., and on 'hederae praemia,' see C. i. 1. 29.

23. _seu civica jura Respondere_] This is a singular expression for the usual 'jus respondere,' or 'de jure respondere,' which was said of the jurisconsultus. (See S. i. 1. 9.)

26. _Frigida curarum fomenta_] 'Fomenta' here seems to mean honor, riches, &c., by which care is sought to be alleviated, but which, after all, are but cold remedies, and ineffectual; "fomenta vulnus nil malum levantia," as Horace says (Epod. 11. 17, where see note).

28. _parvi properemus et ampli_] As to 'properemus,' see Epp. 2. 61, n., and with the sentiment compare Epp. 1. 25, "Aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque."

30. _si tibi curae_] Horace says, "You must write me back word whether you make as much of Munatius as he deserves, or whether your mutual regard, like a wound ill-sewn, refuses to unite, and is torn open again." Munatius has been mentioned before (C. i. 7, Introduction) as the son of Munatius Plancus, the consul of B.C. 42. We know nothing more about him, except that he was consul in A.D. 13, and that he was afterwards sent as one of the commissioners from the senate to the mutinous German legions (Tac. Ann. i. 39). It appears he and Florus had quarrelled; we are not told what it was about; but Horace attributes it to youthful heat and ignorance of the world. He likens them to unbroke horses, and tells them that they ought to make it up, and that when they come home they will find the fatted calf ready for sacrifice. Compare C. i. 36 written on the return of Numida. It is impossible to put the different parts of the sentence together so as to make the construction regular and natural, but the sense is clear enough. Horace frequently uses 'dignus' with the infinitive. See C. iii. 21. 6, n. 'Indignus' he uses in the same way here, and in A. P. 231, but in the usual prose construction with 'qui' and the subjunctive in S. ii. 3. 236. By 'fraternum foedus' Horace only means that they were or had been and ought to be, "paene gemelli Fraternis animis," as he says below, Epp. 10. 3.

EPISTLE IV.

This Epistle is addressed to Albius Tibullus, the poet, to whom also C. i. 33 is written. The letter only professes to be one to inquire after Tibullus; but occasion is taken to commend his fortunes and himself, and to bid him live every day as if it were the last. Horace writes to his friend (probably from Rome) at his place near Pedum, a town of Latium, not far from Præneste. There Tibullus had a good estate, inherited from his father, which before his death, he appears by some means to have diminished. That his losses must have occurred after this Epistle was written, we may perhaps infer from v. 7. He lived chiefly on his estate, in the quiet pursuits Horace here supposes him to be engaged in; though immediately after the battle of Actium he accompanied Messalla into Gaul and was absent about a year, which, as far as we know, comprised all his active life. Horace, among other blessings, assigns him good health; nevertheless he died young. It appears that, while many disparaged Horace's writings, Tibullus judged them kindly, and the affection the two poets bore one another cannot be mistaken. Tibullus was probably ten or twelve years younger than Horace. Tibullus died the same year with Virgil (B.C. 20) or very soon after.

1. _sermonum candide judex_] See Introduction. The Satires must have been published some time, and some of the Epistles may have been written and made known to Horace's intimate friends. The word 'sermones' therefore applies probably (whether Horace published them with that title or not) to the Epistles as well as the Satires, and whatever Tibullus had seen he approved.

2. _regione Pedana?_] See Introduction.

3. _Cassi Parmensis opuscula_] Parma (Parma) was a town belonging to the Boii, at the edge of the Macri Campi, in Cisalpine Gaul, on a river of the same name, which runs into the Po about twelve miles north of the town. The Via Æmilia passed through Parma. Cassius of Parma was one of the murderers of Julius Cæsar, and a 'tribunus militum' in the army of Brutus and Cassius. He was therefore, in all probability, well known to Horace. After following the fortunes of Sextus Pompeius, he joined M. Antonius, on whose side he fought at the battle of Actium. After that battle he retired to Athens, and there he was put to death by order of Augustus. What the 'opuscula' Horace refers to were, we do not know, but it is clear that he thought well of them.

4. _silvas inter reptare salubres_] 'Repto' (frequentative of 'repo'), which contains the same root as ἕρπω, signifies to saunter, or go about quietly; and Lucretius applies it to flocks of sheep grazing on downs (ii. 317). The woods are called 'salubres,' because their shade protects from the heat of the sun, as Cicero says (Cat. M. c. 16): "Ubi enim potest illa aetas (senectus) aut calescere vel apricatione melius vel igni, aut vicissim umbris aquisve refrigerari salubrius?"

6. _Non tu corpus eras sine pectore._] 'Sine pectore' is used twice by Ovid (Met. xiii. 290), "rudis et sine pectore miles." Heroid. xvi. 305:

"Hunccine tu speres hominem sine pectore dotes Posse satis formae, Tyndari, nosse tuae?"

It means 'intellect,' of which the ancients held the heart to be the seat. There is a difficulty in 'eras.' Terence uses 'Tune eras?' for 'Is it you?' The idiom is unlike anything of our own. The imperfect is used irregularly in C. i. 27. 19, and 31. 4.

6. _formam,_] In an old biography of Tibullus he is called "Eques Romanus insignis forma cultuque corporis observabilis."

7. _dederunt_] The poets not uncommonly shorten the penult of the third plural of this tense.

10. _Gratia,_] Tibullus was generally popular, and 'gratia' means popularity.

11. _mundus_] This is explained by S. ii. 2. 65: "Mundus erit qui non offendat sordibus."

15. _Me pinguem et nitidum_] This corresponds to Suetonius's description of Horace's person, "Habitu corporis brevis fuit atque obesus." On 'bene curata cute,' see S. ii. 5. 38. Horace indulges his friend with a joke at his own expense. He was getting sleek and in good keeping.

EPISTLE V.

As to Torquatus, the person whom Horace in this Epistle invites to dine with him, see C. iv. 7, Introduction. The occasion was the evening before the birthday of Augustus, which was the 23d of September. The Epistle contains a good-tempered invitation to dinner, nothing more.

1. _Si potes Archiacis_] These are said to be couches, named after their maker, Archias.

2. _olus omne_] The fare Horace offers would not be very inviting to a modern diner-out; but he seems to have lived chiefly on the produce of the garden himself, and 'olus omne' may have been a sort of salad, or other dish, compounded of different vegetables. The dinner is fixed at a rather late hour for the time of year, to give Torquatus time to finish his business. (See S. ii. 7. 33, n.) 'Patella' is the diminutive of 'patina,' as 'catillum' of 'catinum' (S. i. 3. 90).

4. _Vina bibes iterum Tauro diffusa_] T. Statilius Taurus was consul for the second time B.C. 26. The age of the wine was usually noted by the consulship in which it was bottled. See C. iii. 8. 12, n., and as to 'diffusa,' see C. iv. 5. 34, n., and S. ii. 2. 58. As to Minturnae and Sinuessa, see S. i. 5. 40, n. Petrinus was a hill overhanging Sinuessa, or a tract of land in its neighbourhood. The overflowings of the Garigliano (Liris), on which Minturnæ stood, still render the surrounding country damp, and it is very thinly inhabited. The Falernus ager and Mons Massicus, with their celebrated vineyards, were in the neighbourhood of Sinuessa. It does not appear that Horace's wine was of the best, but two vineyards close to each other may produce wines of very different quality.

6. _arcesse vel imperium fer._] "Fetch it, or else put yourself under my 'imperium,'" as if he as master had the 'imperium' at his own table. 'Arcesso' is compounded of 'ar' (which is equivalent to 'ad') and 'cesso,' which involves the same root ('ci-') as 'cieo.'

7. _Jamdudum splendet focus_] See Epod. ii. 43, n. As it was summer, he does not mean that the fire was burning, but that the 'focus,' by which he means that which stood in the Atrium, near the images of the Lares, and which was probably of bronze, had been burnished and made gay for the occasion. 'Supellex' legally included all household furniture but such as was of gold or silver, gilded or plated; that is, it included tables of all sorts, chairs, benches, couches (even when they were ornamented with silver), with their drapery, footstools, napkins, candelabra, lamps, and all sorts of vessels of earthenware, glass, bronze, whether for eating or drinking. Wearing-apparel was not included, nor perhaps ivory ornaments.

9. _Et Moschi causam:_] If we can trust the Scholiasts, Moschus was a famous rhetorician of Pergamum, who was charged with the crime of poisoning, and his cause was undertaken by Torquatus, and also by Asinius Pollio ("insigne maestis praesidium reis," C. ii. 1. 13).

_cras nato Caesare_] See Introduction. It happened that the 23d of September, Augustus's birthday, was one of those days in which the early part was 'nefastus', that is, the prætor could not hold his court till a later hour than usual. Hence it is marked in the Calendar N. P. ('Nefastus Prior'). So that it was doubly a holiday for Torquatus, and he could lie in bed without damaging his cause, and therefore might sit up late with his friend.

11. _Aestivam_] This word does not accurately apply, for the summer ended and the autumn began on the Ides of September. But in that month the nights are particularly oppressive in hot climates.

12. _Quo mihi fortunam_] This is an elliptical way of speaking, which must be filled up according to the context. 'Quo mihi fortunam dedit Deus' may do here. 'Quo' is 'to what,' that is, 'to what purpose,' as in C. ii. 3. 9, sqq., where there is an ellipse. Ovid has "Quo mihi fortunam quae nunquam fallere curet?" (Am. ii. 19. 7).

14. _Assidet insano:_] As 'dissidet' is used to signify difference, Horace uses 'assidet' to signify resemblance. It is not so used elsewhere. The guests not uncommonly wore wreaths of flowers on their heads, and carried them in their hands; and we can understand their scattering them about the table and floor, especially when they were merry. But it appears that the slaves scattered flowers about, for the sake of their perfume. Horace says: "Parcentes ego dexteras Odi: sparge rosas" (C. iii. 19. 21). Fresh flowers were probably scattered at intervals during the dinner.

15. _patiarque vel inconsultus haberi._] See C. ii. 7. 28; iii. 19. 18.

16. _Quid non ebrietas designat?_] 'Designat' is to do anything out of the way, as in Terence (Adelph. i. 2. 6):

"quae facta sunt Omitto: modo quid designavit. _Mi._ Quidnam id est? _De._ Fores effregit atque in aedes irruit."

Horace says, 'What strange things will not ebriety do?' As to 'operta recludit,' compare C. i. 18. 16; iii. 21. 16; Epod. 11. 14; and the places quoted in the note on S. i. 4. 87.

18. _addocet artes._] That is, more particularly, the art of speech mentioned in the next line. 'Addocet' is an uncommon word, and is like the Greek προσδιδάσκει. 'Fecundi calices' are full cups. 'Contracta paupertas' corresponds to 'angustam pauperiem' (C. iii. 2. 1).

21. _Haec ego procurare_] The 'procurator' was one of the chief slaves, and general steward. But the 'promus' was also called 'procurator peni' (see S. ii. 2. 16), and Horace says he has undertaken or ordered himself to arrange everything for the dinner. 'Haec' refers to what follows. He says he is 'idoneus,' competent to the duty, and 'non invitus,' he likes it. 'Imperor' is nowhere else used as it is here. The proper construction is 'imperatur mihi.' So Horace alone uses 'invideor' (A. P. 56). As to 'toral' and 'mappa,' see S. ii. 4. 81. 84. 'Corruget nares' means to make the guests turn up their noses in disgust.

25. _eliminet,_] This is an old word for 'to turn out of doors.' Horace applies it to telling tales out of doors. Of the guests nothing at all is known. 'Potior puella' means one who has more attractions than Horace's dinner.

28. _locus est et pluribus umbris:_] Horace says there is room for several 'umbrae' (S. ii. 8. 22, n.), that is, four; for a full 'triclinium' held nine persons. But, considering the heat of the weather, he thinks it as well not to have the full number. 'Capra,' 'caper,' 'hircus,' are all used to signify the smell from the arm-pits when they perspire.

30. _Tu quotus esse velis_] He had only to say how many persons he wished to have, and leave the rest to the host. Horace advises his friend not to come out at the front door, 'ostium,' or 'janua atriensis,' for fear he should find a client waiting to catch him, but at the back door, 'posticum ostium,' which the Greeks called ψευδόθυρον, a false door.

EPISTLE VI.

Who Numicius was, nobody can tell, and it is of no importance. Any other name would have done as well. Nothing turns upon the character or circumstances of the person nominally addressed.

As to the design of the Epistle, it is to support virtue, under the aspect of a calm self-content as the chief good. The ordinary standards of happiness are treated with contempt, and there is a strong vein of irony running through the greater part of the Epistle.

1. _Nil admirari_] It is self control, or the power of keeping the mind in an equable frame, that Horace says is the only means of making a man happy and keeping him so. 'Nil admirari' can only be said to be necessary to this rule when admiration amounts to a stupid wonder, excessive fear, excitement, or other effects by which the judgment is misled and the passions roused injuriously. As to 'prope,' see S. ii. 3. 32, n.

4. _sunt qui formidine nulla_] 'Formido' is here equivalent to δεισιδαιμονία, a superstitious dread of the influences of the heavenly bodies, which acts upon vulgar minds. As to 'sunt qui spectent,' see C. i. 1. 3, n.

6. _Arabas ditantis et Indos,_] Comp. C. iii. 24. 1. The treasures of the sea, brought from the East, were chiefly pearls and coral.

7. _Ludicra quid, plausus_] This refers to the exhibition of gladiatorial and other shows, by which the favour of the people, and such rewards as they could bestow, were sought. As to the singular 'Quiritis,' see C. ii. 7. 3.

9. _fere_] This is used much as 'prope' is above. Horace says that fear and desire are much on a par, both indicating the want of that equanimity which he commends at starting. 'Miratur' expresses the astonishment of fear, as well as of admiration, and so does 'stupet' frequently, and 'exterret' applies, like ἐκπλήσσειν, to either state of mind. 'Torpet' does the same. (See S. ii. 7. 95.)

15. _Insani sapiens_] Whether ironically, or carried away by an unusual fit of enthusiasm, Horace maintains that a man may seek virtue itself "ultra quam satis est." What he means, or should mean, is, that excitement is to be avoided in the pursuit of the chief good as well as of subordinate goods. But, by saying that virtue itself may be admired inordinately, he is able to introduce with more contemptuous force the vulgar objects of admiration that follow, respecting which see C. iv. 8. 2; S. i. 4. 28; ii. 3. 118; and other places in the Satires.

17. _I nunc,_] The general meaning is, 'Now then, if you choose, go and run after fine things and wealth, after what I have said about excitement and excess.'

21. _dotalibus emetat agris_] This is equivalent to 'metat ex agris dotalibus,' as in S. ii. 2. 105 he says 'emetiris acervo.' 'Emeto' is not used elsewhere. Who is meant by Mutus, if anybody, is not known; probably no one in particular is alluded to. The name, though it occurs in inscriptions, and therefore is a Roman name, is perhaps adopted here by way of opposition to the eloquent man, who by his own exertions was running an unequal race with the other man's luck.

24. _Quidquid sub terra est_] This is like Sophocles (Aj. 646):

ἅπανθ᾽ ὁ μακρὸς κἀναρίθμητος χρόνος φύει τ᾽ ἄδηλα καὶ φανέντα κρύπτεται.

'In apricum' means 'to the rays of the sun,' 'to the light of day.' Horace means by this reflection, that the man need not be in such a hurry to make himself a name, since time would swallow it up, while it brought forward the obscure.

26. _Porticus Agrippae_] In B.C. 25, Agrippa built the Pantheon near the Campus Martius, to which a 'porticus' was attached. He also built in the same year, in commemoration of the naval victories of Augustus, a porticus, to which he gave the name Porticus Argonautarum. Which of the two is referred to, it is impossible to say; perhaps the second is more likely to have been called 'Porticus Agrippae.'

As to the Via Appia, see Epod. iv. 14; S. i. 5. Most of the towns on this road as far as Capua had country-houses belonging to wealthy Romans. Their equipages, therefore, would frequently be seen on the Via Appia.

27. _Numa quo devenit et Ancus._] This is a proverbial way of speaking, differing little from C. iv. 7. 15, where see note.

28. _Si latus aut renes_] 'If you are sick, take medicine; if you want to live properly, seek the proper means, virtue if you think virtue is the way, or riches, or honours, or good eating.' This is the connection of the parts that follow, this advice being given ironically, as observed in the Introduction.

30. _fortis omissis_] 'Be resolute, abandon all self-indulgences, and set about this work,' that is, the pursuit of virtue. On 'fortis,' see C. S. 58, n. 'Hoc age' means 'set about this'; that is, the pursuit of virtue.

31. _Virtutem verba putas_] Comp. "Aut virtus nomen inane est," etc. (Epp. 17. 41). 'Lucus' is usually a grove dedicated to some divinity, and Horace may mean that the man had no regard for what others held sacred, but counted a consecrated grove no better than any other wood. Or, since 'lucus' was sometimes used indifferently for any wood, Horace may mean, 'if you think virtue consists only of words, as a grove does of trees.'

32. _cave ne portus occupet alter,_] As to 'occupo,' see C. ii. 12. 27, n. Horace says, "If you think lightly of virtue as the means of happiness, be active and make money: see no one gets into harbour before you, to carry off the business before you arrive." He supposes him a 'negociator,' the business of which class was chiefly that of banking and money-lending, but they also engaged in mercantile transactions, the difference between them and 'mercatores' being, that the latter travelled with their own wares, while the 'negociatores' did business in a general way.

33. _Ne Cibyratica,_] 'Cibyra Major' was situated on a branch of the Indus, on the northwest borders of Lycia. It was called 'major,' to distinguish it from a smaller town on the coast of Pamphylia. Twenty-five towns belonged to the conventus of Cibyra, and its commercial transactions were probably large. As to 'Bithyna negotia,' see C. iii. 7. 3, n. 'Negotia' is commonly used for the business transactions of a 'negociator,' as Cicero, in his letter introducing Manlius Sosis to Acilius, proconsul of Sicily (Ad Fam. xiii. 20), says, "habet negotia vetera in Sicilia sua." He had debts to get in, and accounts of old standing to settle.

34. _Mille talenta rotundentur_] On 'talenta,' see S. ii. 7. 89, n. 'Rotundo' is not used in this sense elsewhere. The meaning is the same as ours when we talk of a round number: it is a complete number, leaving out fractions. 'Porro' means 'farther.' 'Quadrat acervum,' 'makes the fourth side of the square,' as it were. In the next verse 'fidem' signifies 'credit.'

37. _regina Pecunia_] 'Pecunia' is here personified and made a loyal lady, and Juvenal apostrophises her thus:

"Funesta Pecunia, templo Nondum habitas, nullas nummorum ereximus aras." (i. 113.)

Horace here repeats in effect what he said in S. ii. 3. 94:

"Omnis enim res, Virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris Divitiis parent."

38. _Suadela Venusque._] 'Suadela' is another form of Suada, who represented the Greek divinity Πειθώ, Persuasion. The name, Cicero tells us, was Latinized by Ennius (Brut. 15). Πειθώ was usually associated with Ἀφροδίτη, and their statues stood together at Athens, where it is pretty certain Horace must have seen them. I cannot find that Suada had any temple or separate worship at Rome. She was supposed to assist Venus in presiding at marriages, and she, the Graces, and Mercury were the acknowledged companions of that goddess. Therefore Horace associates them here. Cicero tells us (Cat. Maj. xiv. 50) that Ennius called the eloquent M. Cethegus "Suadae medullam," 'the marrow of persuasion.' (See Epp. ii. 2. 117, n.)

39. _Mancipiis locuples_] See S. ii. 7. 3, n. Cappadocia was governed by its own kings from a very early period. The last was Archelaus, who was appointed by M. Antonius, B.C. 36; Ariarathes VII., who represented the lineal kings of Cappadocia, having been deposed and put to death. Archelaus was king at the time this Epistle was written, and he reigned fifty years. At his death (A.D. 17) Cappadocia was reduced to the form of a Roman province, in the third year of Tiberius (Tacitus, Ann. ii. 42). He had lands and slaves on them, and property of that sort, but wanted the precious metal. Ariobarzanes, who was king of Cappadocia when Cicero was governor of Cilicia, is described by him as "rex perpauper" (Ad Att. vi. 3). "Nullum aerarium, nullum vectigal habet. Nihil illo regno spoliatius, nihil rege egentius" (vi. 1). M. Brutus had advanced him large sums of money at exorbitant interest, which he was unable to pay, and Cicero, though he got 100 talents from him, was unable to extract all the debt. Cn. Pompeius too was his creditor, and all he could get was a promissory bond for 200 talents, payable in six months (vi. 3). Horace advises his man not to let himself be as poor as this king. 'Hic' is an adverb, like ἐνταῦθα: it means 'in this position.' (See Epp. 15. 42.)

40. _Chlamydes Lucullus, ut aiunt,_] L. Licinius Lucullus, being proconsul in Cilicia, conducted the war against Mithridates and Tigranes, king of Armenia, as related by Plutarch in his life, but being superseded in his command by Cn. Pompeius, he returned to Rome with great wealth accumulated by himself in Asia, which he devoted to every sort of costly self-indulgence. Plutarch relates this anecdote of Horace's, with a little variation. A prætor who wished to get up a public spectacle on an ambitious scale (φιλοτιμουμένου περὶ θέας) applied to Lucullus to lend him some purple cloaks for a chorus. Lucullus said he would inquire, and if he had any he would let him have them. The next day he asked him how many he wanted, and when the prætor said a hundred, Lucullus bade him take twice that number.

The 'chlamys' was an upper garment worn by the Greeks, a light sort of shawl thrown loosely over the person in a variety of ways. The Romans did not wear it till the time of the empire, and it was never more than an occasional garment at Rome. Lucullus, it seems, had brought with him a large number of a costly kind from Asia, where they were worn in the Greek cities. What the representation may have been for which the praetor wanted these 'chlamydes' is not certain, but Greek characters must have been introduced.

45. _Exilis domus est_] This is said ironically.

50. _Mercemur servum_] There was a class of slaves called 'nomenclatores' or 'fartores' (crammers), ὀνοματολόγοι, whose office it was to accompany their master when walking, or attend him at home at the hour of 'salutatio' (when, if he was a person of consequence, people of all sorts came to pay him their respects), and to remind him of the names and circumstances of his visitors, and anything else that it might be necessary for the master to remember. If he was aiming at any office, he had to be particularly polite to the citizens of all classes, and his 'nomenclator,' if he were clever, would be of good service to him in this matter. Horace's advice to the man who thinks happiness depends on such things as show and popularity ('species et gratia') is, that he should hire a clever 'nomenclator,' if he had not one of his own, to go with him through the streets and nudge him whenever he came to any one of influence, and remind him to shake hands and say something civil to him, calling him affectionately 'my brother,' 'my father,' according to his age. 'Nomenclatores' were also employed to explain to the guests the names and qualities of the dishes, and parasites sometimes took this office upon themselves, as we have seen in S. ii. 8.

_laevum Qui fodicet latus_] As to 'laevum latus,' see S. ii. 5. 17, n.

51. _cogat trans pondera dextram Porrigere._] 'Cogat' merely expresses the energy of the nomenclator. 'Pondera' means obstructions of various kinds, which were common in the narrow streets of Rome, as Horace describes, Epp. ii. 2. 72, sqq., and Juvenal (iii. 245). He was to stretch out his hand to shake hands with the voters. Cicero (Pro Planc.) speaks of P. Scipio Nasica, when a candidate for the ædileship, shaking hands with some rough voter, and asking him good humoredly "if he walked on his hands," they were so hard.

52. _Hic multum in Fabia valet,_] Servius Tullius divided the Plebes into thirty tribes, of which four were of the city and twenty-six were of the country. Of these twenty-six, ten appear to have been swallowed up by the conquests of Porsenna (see Epod. 16. 4), and of the remaining sixteen the Fabia was one. The number was gradually increased from sixteen to thirty-one; but it was not till B.C. 243, towards the end of the first Punic War, that the Quirina and Velina were added, being composed of persons belonging to Cures and Velinus in the Sabine territory. (Liv. Epit. xxx.) These were the last tribes that were formed.

53. _his fasces dabit_] On the 'fasces' and curule chair, see S. i. 6. 97. 'Importunus' means 'obstinate' or 'ill-natured'; 'facetus,' 'polite.'

56. _lucet, eamus Quo ducit gula;_] 'The day has dawned, let us be off and lay in our supplies; let us hunt and fish, as Gargilius hunted when he bought a boar, and pretended he had caught it himself'; that is to say, let us go to market. Who is meant by Gargilius, we have no means of knowing. The name is Roman. It occurs in inscriptions. He wanted to establish his reputation as a huntsman: got up before daybreak and returned to the city before the morning was over, and passed through the Forum while it was full of people, with nets, spears, and men, and a mule carrying a boar, which he had not caught, but purchased.

58. _plagas, venabula,_] As to 'plagae,' see C. i. 1. 28, n. They were too large to be carried by men, and were laden on mules. (See Epp. 18. 46.) They were sometimes of enormous extent, as stated in Epod. ii. 32. The 'venabulum' was a long hunting-spear, with a barbed point. Virgil (Aen. iv. 131), describing the hunting-party of Æneas and Dido, says:

"Retia rara, plagae, lato venabula ferro, Massylique ruunt equites et odora canum vis."

They were used, not for throwing, but thrusting.

61. _Crudi tumidique lavemur,_] It would seem that some gluttons, with the idea of renewing their appetite, went to bathe immediately after dinner, as well as (which was the general practice) immediately before. Sudden death was sometimes the effect of this folly. See Juvenal i. 142.

62. _Caerite cera Digni,_] Cære (Cervetri) was a very ancient town of Etruria, about twenty-seven miles north of Rome. About B.C. 354, the people of Tarquinii having taken up arms against the Romans, the Cærites were accused of aiding them, and were threatened with punishment; but having asked pardon, they obtained it at the expense of half their territory. They were also granted the Roman franchise, without the 'suffragium' or right of voting for magistrates. 'Caeritum cerae,' or 'tabulae,' would mean properly a register of the inhabitants of Cære, who would be registered when they came into the above relation to Rome. But it seems probable that, at this time, the name applied to the registers of all those who were in the position of 'aerarii,' that is, of the citizens of such towns as had not the perfect franchise, and of those citizens who had for any cause been degraded from their tribes. Thus Horace means, that they who took such a low view of life were not worthy of being Roman citizens, being more on an equality with the crew of Ulysses, whom Circe turned to swine (Epp. 2. 23, n.), and who slew and ate the kine sacred to the Sun, though they swore they would not, and their return home depended on their oath being kept. See Odyss. xi. 105, sqq.; xii. 303, sq.; 340, sqq. 'Remigium' is used for the rowers, as 'mancipium,' 'servitium,' are used for a slave, and many other words are used in the same way.

65. _Si, Mimnermus uti censet,_] Horace was familiar, we may be sure, with the writings of Mimnermus, the elegiac poet of Smyrna. He preferred him to Callimachus, as appears from Epp. ii. 2. 99, sqq. His poetry is of a melancholy cast, as far as we can judge from the few fragments that have come down to us: though love was their principal theme and the only remedy he recognizes for the ills of life, it does not seem as if he was very happy in his experience of it. One fragment that has been preserved bears out what Horace says. He may have had many such passages in his mind. It begins:

τίς δὲ βίος, τί δὲ τερπνὸν ἄτερ χρυσέης Ἀφροδίτης; τεθναίην ὅτε μοι μηκέτι ταῦτα μέλοι, κ. τ. λ.

Horace adds 'jocisque,' as elsewhere he makes Jocus the companion of Venus (C. i. 2. 34).

68. _his utere mecum._] There is no difficulty in understanding that 'his' refers to the rule laid down at the beginning, and taken up in v. 30:

"Si virtus hoc una potest dare fortis omissis Hoc age deliciis";

for all that follows is only recommended ironically, and in such a way as to hold up to contempt every rule of life but that of virtue.

EPISTLE VII.

On some occasion Horace, having gone into the country for change of air on account of his health, at the beginning of August, was tempted to stay away the whole month; and as he had promised Mæcenas to return in a few days, he had perhaps received a letter from his friend, reminding him of that promise, and begging him to come back. Mæcenas was a valetudinarian, and had probably some of the querulous selfishness that usually attends on that condition. We may infer as much from that Ode (ii. 17) which begins, "Cur me querelis exanimas tuis?" and he very likely felt the want of Horace's society at this time. We can only gather the tone of his letter or message from the character of Horace's reply. He says he has no mind to risk a return of his sickness by going back during the autumn to Rome; indeed, that he meant to be absent at some warm place on the coast through the winter; that he was no longer as young and cheerful as he had been; that he was sure Mæcenas's liberality was bestowed upon him in a generous spirit, and that he did not mean to compromise his independence; for if he could suppose that was in danger, he would give up everything he had ever received rather than forfeit his liberty. He illustrates his position by two stories,--one that of the fox who got into a vessel of corn and grew so fat there that he could not get out again (which Horace was determined to prove was not his case), and the other a splenetic trick played by L. Philippus upon a worthy man, whom he seduced into leaving his home and vocation and settling on a farm in the country, the result of which unnatural change was the total destruction of his peace and independence. To this, too, Horace means to say he will never let himself be brought.

1. _Quinque dies_] This is a conventional phrase to express any short time. It occurs in S. i. 3. 16, "quinque diebus Nil erat in loculis."

2. _Sextilem_] In B.C. 8 this month first received the name of Augustus.

5. _dum ficus prima calorque_] See S. ii. 6. 18, n. The 'designator' was the man who arranged the procession at the funeral of any important person, and the 'lictores' were his attendants who kept order. (See S. i. 6. 43.)

8. _Officiosaque sedulitas_] That is, attending upon great people, and so forth. It does not seem as if the diminutive form 'opella' had any particular force. Horace uses diminutives when it suits the measure.

10. _Quodsi bruma nives Albanis_] 'Si' is used with reference to a future event, even if it be not hypothetical, when any action depends upon that event, as (S. ii. 3. 9),

"multa et praeclara minantis Si vacuum tepido cepisset villula tecto,"

and elsewhere; so that it becomes nearly equivalent to 'cum.' He says, as soon as the snow begins to be on the Alban hills, he shall go down to the sea, whether to Tarentum or anywhere else, where it was milder than at his own place or at Rome. 'Contractus' expresses the attitude of a man sitting head and knees together, wrapped up by the fire to keep himself warm. The west wind set in about the second week in February.

14. _Calaber jubet hospes,_] The man is made a Calabrian only to give the story more point.

16. _Benigne._] This is a polite way of declining the offer. "You are very good," the refusal being expressed in action. (See below, v. 62.) It might mean acceptance, just as the French say 'merci,' meaning 'yes' or 'no,' according to circumstances.

22. _dignis ait esse paratus,_] 'Dignis' is masculine: he is ready to serve those who are worthy, but he is no simpleton; he knows the difference between true money and counterfeit. 'Lupini' were a kind of bean used for counters or sham-money on the stage; "comicum aurum" as it is called in Plautus (Poen. iii. 2. 20).

24. _Dignum praestabo me_] Horace means to say that he will endeavor to show himself worthy (referring to 'dignis' above) in proportion to the excellence of him (Mæcenas) who has laid him under such obligations. He says, in effect, that Mæcenas does not bestow his liberality stupidly, as one who gave his friends what he was just as ready to throw to the pigs, or the fool who does not know the value of his gifts. He only gave to the worthy, and such Horace would try to prove himself.

26. _angusta fronte_] See C. i. 33. 5, n.

27. _Reddes dulce loqui,_] A similar instance, illustrating the nature of the infinitive as a neuter substantive, occurs above (S. ii. 7. 43), "Aufer Me vultu terrere." "In the Greek language this is so completely the case, that the article may be prefixed to it in all its cases. The English also treat their infinitive as a substantive, when they place before it the preposition 'to.'"

28. _Cinarae_] See C. iv. 1. 4, n.

29. _vulpecula_] A fox eating corn is a little absurd, but this animal's cunning brings him frequently into stories of this sort. In this instance he over-reaches himself. In respect to 'cumera,' see S. i. 1. 53, n.

34. _Hac ego si compellor_] As to 'compellor,' see S. ii. 3. 297. Horace says, if he is taunted with this illustration, he is willing to resign everything; by which he means, if he is compared to the fox who had got into a store and had become so fat he could not get out again; in other words, if it was supposed that he had become lazy and self-indulgent, and that he could not assert his own liberty till he should cast off the bounties of his patron, he was willing to give them up; for he loved the peace that waits upon poverty, not as those do who commend it at rich tables spread with dainties, but as one who would not exchange his ease and liberty for the wealth of Arabia (respecting which, compare C. i. 21. 1; iii. 24. 1; Epp. i. 6. 6). 'Altilia' were fattened poultry and other birds, for which service there were particular persons employed ('fartores,' σιτευταί).

37. _rexque paterque Audisti coram,_] 'Rex,' which is generally used in a bad sense (C. i. 4. 14, n.), is here used in a good. As to 'audisti,' see S. ii. 6. 20, n. 'Verecundum' means 'reverential.' It expresses that feeling which Cicero says is the greatest ornament of friendship, "Nam maximum ornamentum amicitiae tollit qui ex ea tollit verecundiam" (Lael. xxii. 82). Horace means to say that Mæcenas had always found him full of affectionate respect and gratitude, and what he was in his presence, he was no less in his absence; but he must not think so ill of him as to suppose he only behaved so because he wanted to keep his bounties; or, if he thought so, let him see how willingly he could resign them all, even as readily as Telemachus declined the horses of Menelaus (Odyss. iv. 601, sq.).

45. _vacuum Tibur_] 'Vacuum' means 'idle.' Whether Horace had a house of his own at Tibur, or not, has been a subject of much discussion; it is more probable that he had not.

46. _Philippus_] This was L. Marcius Philippus, who was tribunus plebis B.C. 104, consul B.C. 81, and censor B.C. 76. He was a very distinguished man, an energetic supporter of the popular cause, a friend of Cn. Pompeius, and a powerful orator.

47. _octavam circiter horam_] The following is Martial's description of the distribution of a Roman's day:--The first and second hours were given to the 'salutatio,' or reception of clients and visitors. At the third hour the courts opened and business went on for three hours. The sixth hour was given up to rest (and the 'prandium'), the seventh to winding up business, the eighth to exercise, and with the ninth began dinner. (Mart. iv. 8.) In the main this appears to have been the division of the day in Horace's time likewise.

48. _Foro nimium distare Carinas_] The Carinæ was a collection of buildings on the north side of the Via Sacra under Mons Esquilinus. It comprised the houses of many persons of distinction, among whom was Philippus. The farthest part of the Carinæ could not have been above three quarters of a mile from the Forum Romanum; but Philippus was old. Horace means to show that he was inclined to be peevish, being tired with his work in the Forum; and in this splenetic humor, which, if this story be true, had become habitual with him, he fell in with the man Mena, whose easy enjoyment of life made a strong impression upon him. It made him jealous, and he resolved to spoil his independence if he could.

50. _Adrasum quendam_] He had just been shaved, and was paring and cleaning his nails leisurely for himself ('proprios purgautem ungues'); he did not employ the barber for this operation, as people were in the habit of doing. The shop was empty, because those who would come for business came early, and those who came to lounge came later (S. i. 7. 3). 'Umbra,' which here means a shop, is used for different kinds of buildings by the poets, as a 'porticus' and a school. See Juvenal (vii. 173): "Ad pugnam qui rhetorica descendit ab umbra." The shops were open, probably, as they are in Italy now.

54. _unde domo,_] This phrase, which is equivalent to 'a qua domo,' occurs in Virgil. (Aen. viii. 114): "Qui genus? unde domo?" Philippus sends to know who the man is, where he comes from, whether he is rich or poor; if 'ingenuus,' who is his father; if a freedman, who is his 'patronus.'

55. _Volteium nomine Menam,_] This person is represented as a freedman of some person of the Volteia gens, of which one or two are mentioned in the Roman writers. A freedman took the Gentile name of his master on his manumission. The name Menas is akin to Menodorus, as Demas to Demetrius, Lucas to Lucanus, Silas to Sylvanus, Artemas to Artemius, etc.

56. _sine crimine, notum Et_] The description Menas gives of himself is, that he is a crier of small means, of unblemished character, well known as a person who could be active or quiet as the occasion required, and who enjoyed what he got; one who made himself happy in the company of humble people, in the possession of a house of his own, at the theatres and Circus, and with the amusements of the Campus Martius. 'Et quaerere et uti,' 'to get and to enjoy,' expresses the reverse of him who is 'nescius uti Compositis' (S. ii. 3. 109). 'Lare certo' is opposed to a lodging, 'coenaculum' (Epp. i. 1. 91, n.). It appears (v. 65) that he transacted business as a seller; probably he had some second hand things of his own to dispose of. But the 'praeco' was not usually the person who managed an 'auctio,' which was presided over by an 'argentarius,' and he employed a 'praeco.' See S. i. 6. 86, n. 'Certo lare' is a common phrase, as Bentley himself has shown, as in Virgil (Georg. iv. 155), "Et patriam solae et certos novere penates"; and (Aen. vi. 673), "Nulli certa domus; lucis habitamus opacis." Compare Epp. i. 15. 28: "Scurra vagus non qui certum praesepe teneret."

61. _Non sane credere Mena,_] 'Sane' is not commonly used in negative sentences. It is an adverb of emphasis. As to 'benigne,' see above, v. 16, and on the subjunctive 'neget,' compare S. ii. 6. 31. "What, he deny me?"

65. _tunicato scruta popello_] To be without the toga in the streets was not considered respectable. It was confined to the lowest sort of people, which is expressed by the diminutive 'popello.' This word is used only here and by Persius (iv. 15). 'Scruta' signifies small wares, being derived from the Greek γρύτη. As to 'occupat,' see C. ii. 12. 28, n.

67. _mercenaria vincla,_] The bonds (that is, the occupations) of buying and selling. Mena offers these as his excuse for not having waited upon Philippus in the morning, at his 'salutatio,' as, after his attention of the previous day, he would have felt bound to do if he had had time.

71. _Post nonam venies;_] See above, v. 47, n., and C. i. 1. 20, n.

72. _dicenda tacenda locutus_] This is a familiar adaptation of the Greek ῥητὸν ἄῤῥητόν τ᾽ ἔπος (Soph. Oed. Col. 1001), which was a conventional phrase. It means all manner of things. Persius (iv. 5) has "dicenda tacendaque calles." Virgil (Aen. ix. 595), "digna atque indigna relatu Vociferans." Horace means that Volteius was placed at his ease by his host, and being a simple man, talked of what came uppermost without waiting to see if it was out of season or not. 'Dimittere' was a word of politeness used among equals, as above, v. 18.

73. _Hic ubi saepe_] After he had broken the ice, Volteius was easily persuaded to repeat his visits, till at last he became an established guest and a daily attendant at the rich man's morning receptions, till, on one occasion, he was invited to accompany Philippus to his country-seat in the Sabine country, during the 'feriae Latinae.' This festival was of the highest antiquity. Its proper name was Latiar. The holidays lasted six days, during which all manner of festivities went on, and business was suspended. They were 'feriae conceptivae,' that is, they were annual, but not held always at the same season, which is what Horace means by calling them 'indictae.' The magistrates appointed the time of their celebration.

79. _dum requiem, dum risus_] Philippus, tired with his work, refreshed himself by getting amusement at other people's expense. He gave the man a sum equivalent to about £60 of English money, and offered to lend him as much more.

84. _vineta crepat mera:_] So Cicero says (Ad Att. ix. 12), "Mera scelara loquuntur." (Ib. 13.) "Dolabella suis literis merum bellum loquitur." (iv. 7) "Chaerippus mera monstra nuntiaret."

87. _Spem mentita seges,_] See C. iii. 1. 30, n.

91. _Durus--attentusque_] Philippus means that he appears to be too hard-working and anxious about his affairs. Compare S. ii. 6. 82, "Asper et attentus quaesitis"; and Epp. i. 16. 70, "sine pascat duras aretque."

92. _Pol me miserum,_] Gellius (xi. 6) says, respecting oaths of this sort, that women never swore by Hercules, nor men by Castor, but both men and women would swear by the temple of Pollux, 'Aedepol,' and this, he says on the authority of Varro, was only adopted by men in later times, whereas it had always been used by women, who got it from the Eleusinian mysteries.

94. _Quod te per Genium_] See Epp. ii. 1. 144. This use of the relative 'quod' in entreaties is common, as in Virgil (Aen. vi. 363), and Terence (Andr. i. 5. 54). It was customary for slaves to pray to their masters by their genius. The Romans believed that every man had a genius, though their notions on the subject were very confused apparently. According to the name (which involves the same element as γέν-εσις, γί-νομαι), it should be the attendant on a man's birth, as it was believed to be the inseparable companion of his life. It represented his spiritual identity, and the character of the genius was the character of the man. Hence we understand why the marriage bed was sacred to the genius (Epp. i. 1. 87, n.). Hence Horace speaks of "genium memorem brevis aevi" (Epp. ii. 1. 143), and offerings of wine and flowers, and such like, were said to be presented to the genius when a man was indulging in that way himself (A. P. 209). This explains the expressions "genio indulgere" (Persius v. 151), "genium suum defraudare" (Terence, Phorm. i. 1. 10), "genium curare" (C. iii. 17. 14). Women had their genii, but they were named Junones.

98. _verum est,_] See S. ii. 3. 312.

EPISTLE VIII.

Respecting the person to whom this Epistle was written, and the occasion, see Ep. 3 of this Book, Introduction, and note on v. 15. Horace, it appears, was not in very good humor with himself when he wrote it. He describes himself as suffering less from bodily than mental weakness, irritability, sluggishness, perverseness, and caprice. He may use rather stronger language than was necessary, but there can be no doubt he felt a good deal of what he says he felt. It shows that a man may give good advice to his friends which he cannot steadily apply to himself, and it helps us to understand the character of Horace, and his philosophical aspirations, described, probably about this time, in his Epistle to Mæcenas (i. 1).

2. _comiti scribaeque Neronis_] See S. i. 7. 23, n. The following words in this Epistle have been referred to in former notes: 'quid agam' (Epp. 3. 15), 'minantem' (S. ii. 3. 9), 'momorderit' (S. ii. 6. 45), 'cur' (C. i. 33. 3), 'cohorti' (S. i. 7. 23). 'Suaviter' occurs in the same connection in S. i. 9. 5. 'Multa et pulchra minantem' refers to his philosophical aspirations and professions. See Introduction.

6. _longinquis armentum aegrotet in agris;_] The pastures of Apulia, Calabria, and Lucania, and those of the basin of the Po, have been referred to before (C. iii. 16. 35; Epod. i. 27).

10. _properent arcere veterno;_] As to the construction, see C. i. 27. 4, n. 'Veternus' is a lethargy, here applied to the mind, and his faithful physicians are the friends who would cheer and rouse him, though we may take the word 'medicis' literally, and suppose he was under medical treatment. His feelings probably arose out of the state of his health.

14. _Ut placeat juveni_] Tiberius was now in his twenty-third year. But on 'juvenis,' see C. i. 2. 41.

EPISTLE IX.

As to Septimius, on whose behalf this letter of introduction is addressed to Tiberius, see C. ii. 6, Introduction. The occasion was that journey into Armenia which has been referred to twice before (Epp. 3 and 7). It is a well-considered and careful production. Horace would have written more warmly for such an intimate friend, if he could have ventured to do so; but the character of Tiberius did not admit of warmth, and he would not have responded to any very earnest eulogy. Horace therefore satisfies himself with merely naming his friend, and excusing his own boldness in doing so.

1. _nimirum_] 'Of course,' it would be strange if it were otherwise. Horace sometimes uses the word seriously, sometimes ironically, as in S. ii. 2. 106; 3. 120. He says, 'Of course Septimius knows my influence with you better than anybody else does ('unus,' see S. ii. 6. 57, n.), and better than I do myself, and thinks that I stand to you in the relation of an intimate friend, or he would not press me for an introduction.' There is about the same amount of ironical meaning in 'scilicet' (v. 3) as in 'nimirum.' 'Tradere' is the usual word for introductions. (S. i. 9. 47.)

4. _Dignum mente domoque_] Tacitus says of Tiberius, that his genuine character did not come out fully till after the fall of Sejanus. At this time he was about twenty-two years of age, but even now was reserved and unpleasant in his manners, so much so that even Augustus could hardly be cheerful in his company. Horace speaks well of him, not only here, when he is writing to himself, but in Epp. ii. 2. 1, written probably at a later time, to his friend Julius Florus. The fourteenth Ode of the fourth Book was written in honor of his successes, but there no great amount of warmth is shown in his favor. 'Domo' means his family. Tiberius was the son of T. Claudius Nero, and the Nerones belonged to the patrician gens Claudia, which numbered many consuls and other high magistrates, from the first establishment of the family in B.C. 504. They were of Sabine origin.

5. _Munere cum fungi_] This phrase is like 'officium facio' below (Epp. 17. 21). It means to discharge the duties of friendship, but generally expresses the relation of an inferior to one above him in rank, and sometimes is used in a bad sense, to signify servility.

6. _valdius_] This comparative occurs again, in A. P. 321: "valdius oblectat populum."

11. _Frontis ad urbanae descendi praemia._] 'Urbanae frontis' seems to mean an 'impudent front,' such as one who had been bred in cities might show. 'Praemia' seems to be opposed to 'opprobria' and 'descendere' is commonly used in connection with the arena. Horace may mean (taking his metaphor from this source), that, to avoid the discredit of a greater fault, he has resolved to win the crown or prize of impudence, or something of that sort.

13. _Scribe tui gregis_] This construction with the genitive is more common in Greek. It occurs in C. iii. 13. 13: "Fies nobilium tu quoque fontium." As to 'fortem bonumque,' see C. iv. 4. 29, n.

EPISTLE X.

This Epistle is addressed to Fuscus Aristius, whose name appears in C. i. 22; S. i. 9. 61; 10. 83. For such particulars as can be stated about him, see the Introduction to the above Ode. It appears that his habits inclined him to a town life. He was making money in some way, and he was associated with all Horace's literary and other friends. Horace praises the freedom, the natural beauties, and the healthiness of the country, and shows that they are natural to men's tastes, from the attempts they make to get trees in their town houses, and a prospect over the fields. He follows this up with a few miscellaneous remarks on the pursuit of wealth, how it blinds the eyes to the distinction between truth and falsehood, and how prosperity only makes adversity more hard to bear, and disappointment more bitter, and subjects the mind to a galling slavery.

8. _Quid quaeris?_] 'Why need you ask?' This is only a formula equivalent to 'in short.'

9. _fertis rumore secundo:_] 'Rumore secundo' is a phrase which occurs in various combinations. Virgil (Aen. viii. 90) has "Ergo iter inceptum celerant rumore secundo," where Wagner applies it to the song of the rowers. Tacitus, speaking of the honors conferred on Nero, says, "ut haec secundo rumore ita adversis animis acceptum, quod filio Claudii socer Sejanus destinaretur" (Ann. iii. 29). He uses 'adverso rumore' in the opposite sense (xiv. 11). Here it means with an unanimous assent, or loud assent.

10. _fugitivus liba recuso;_] He likens himself to the slave who ran away from the priest, his master, because he fed him too much on the sweet cakes offered in sacrifice. He got tired of them, and wanted plainer food. These cakes, 'liba,' which the Greeks called πέλανοι, were made of flour sweetened generally with honey, and sometimes made in the shape of animals as a substitute for more costly sacrifices. Horace appears to have had some story in his mind.

12. _Vivere naturae_] See S. i. 1. 49, n.: "quid referat intra Naturae fines viventi." Horace considers the artificial state of society and mode of life in large towns, as all must, to be a wider departure from the natural condition of man than a country life.

13. _Ponendaeque domo_] There are three forms of this dative, 'domui,' 'domo,' 'domi'. 'Area' is an open space, here for building on. The technical meaning of it is given on C. i. 9. 18.

15. _plus tepeant hiemes,_] See S. ii. 3. 10, n.

16. _rabiem Canis et momenta Leonis,_] See C. iii. 13. 8, n.; 29. 18, n. 'Momenta' here seems to mean the violence of the heat that accompanies this constellation.

19. _Deterius Libycis olet_] Horace asks whether the field, covered with flowers, smells less sweet and looks less beautiful than marble floors, laid with mosaic pictures and strewed with flowers, or other perfumes. Respecting the Libyan and other marbles, see C. ii. 18. 3, n. By 'lapillis' Horace means the small pieces of different marbles with which the floors were laid, 'tessellae' or 'crustulae,' as they were called. Such pavements, which are now so costly as only to be found in the richest houses, were formerly very common in Italy. They were wrought in colored marbles, or the more ordinary ones in white and black.

20. _aqua tendit rumpere plumbum_] 'Plumbum' means leaden pipes, which were called 'fistulae.' Cisterns were called 'castella,' and there were three sorts: 'publica,' which received the water intended for public purposes; 'privata,' which were the common property of several persons who clubbed together to build it, and laid on pipes to conduct the water to their 'castella domestica,' the cisterns they had in their own houses. These pipes therefore intersected the whole city. As mentioned before (S. i. 4. 37, n.), those who could not afford to have water laid on at their houses, resorted to the 'lacus' or public tanks erected for their convenience, mostly by the liberality of individuals, in several parts of the town.

21. _trepidat cum murmure_] Compare C. ii. 3. 11: "obliquo laborat Lympha fugax trepidare rivo."

22. _nutritur silva columnas,_] See note on C. iii. 10. 5.

24. _Naturam expellas furca_] This was a common expression 'to toss out with a pitchfork,' that is, forcibly and with contempt.

25. _mala--fastidia_] 'Weary vices,' such as occupy the dwellers in great towns.

26. _Non qui Sidonio_] On the position of 'non,' see S. i. 6. 1. 'Not he who knows not skilfully to compare with Sidonian purple the wool that drinks the dye of Aquinum, shall suffer harm more certain or more deep than he who cannot tell truth from falsehood.' There is strong irony in these words, and they follow naturally on what goes before, as representing the paltry objects with which the mind is employed in what is called fashionable life, to the destruction of the moral sense.

The foreign purples (enumerated on C. ii. 16. 36) were most esteemed, and these were imitated by the Italians (see Epp. ii. 1. 207). The 'fucus' was a marine plant of some kind, which yielded a red juice used for coloring. It was commonly used in imitation of the real dye. Hence it came to be used for deception in general. Aquinum (Aquino), the birth-place of Juvenal, was a large town of Latium on the Via Latina, between Fregellae and Venafrum.

31. _Si quid mirabere_] This maxim is consistent with the advice to Numicius, Epp. 6. 1.

34. _Cervus equum pugna melior_] Stesichorus is said to have spoken this fable to the citizens of Himera, when they were preparing to confer absolute power on Phalaris, and give him a body-guard. The fable is told by Phædrus (iv. 4), with the substitution of a boar for the stag.

37. _Sed postquam victor violens_] 'Violens' expresses the struggle with which the horse won his victory and his servitude.

39. _potiore metallis_] The 'vectigalia' from mines ('metalla') were very considerable at this time. The principal mines were the gold of Aquileia and Ictimuli in the Alps, and the silver of Spain.

42. _ut calceus olim,_] See S. i. 3. 31, n. 'Olim' is used quite indefinitely, as in S. i. 1. 25, "ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi Doctores." See C. ii. 10. 17, n.

48. _Tortum digna sequi_] The metaphor is taken from a prisoner, led with a rope round his neck by his captor.

49. _Haec tibi dictabam_] The imperfect tense is generally used in letters, instead of the present, because the action is past to the person receiving the letter. As to 'dictabam,' see S. i. 10. 92, n. The Fanum Vacunae was about three miles from the confluence of the Digentia and the Anio, close to the modern town Rocca Giovane. Vacuna was originally a Sabine goddess, and seems to have been identical with Victoria.

EPISTLE XI.

This Epistle is addressed to one Bullatius, of whom we know nothing at all. He was travelling in the Ægean and in Asia Minor, and was absent longer than Horace wished, or thought good for him; and the object of this letter is to induce him to return.

1. _Quid tibi visa Chios,_] The island of Chios was rugged and mountainous, but had, as it still has, an excellent climate and choice wines; its women also were very handsome: in all of which particulars ancient and modern accounts agree. Its principal town, Chios, was a noble city, richly adorned with buildings and works of art. Not a trace of anything remains.

_notaque Lesbos,_] From the Trojan war to the times of the Roman Empire, when Tacitus calls it "insula nobilis et amoena" (Ann. vi. 3), the fortunes of Lesbos, its revolutions and conquests, its connection with Athens, its tradition of Orpheus, its poets and musicians and statesmen, its cities and works of art, its fields and vineyards and climate, all contributed to make it the most conspicuous island in the Ægean.

2. _concinna Samos,_] Samos (the island) is rough, but the town is meant, and it is called 'concinna' from its buildings, of which a temple of Juno was one of the most conspicuous. Outside and inside, this temple was adorned with the finest works of art. There was also a celebrated mole at Samos, made to protect the harbor, which would be an object of interest to a traveller.

2. _Croesi regia Sardes,_] The town of Sardes (αἱ Σάρδεις), or the greater part of it, which was burnt to the ground in the revolt of the Ionians, B.C. 499, was originally built of slight materials, though it was the seat of enormous wealth during the reigns of the Lydian kings, and especially that of Crœsus, whose palace became the residence of the Persian Satraps and was beautified by them, especially by Cyrus the younger, whose gardens are celebrated (Cic. de Senect. c. 17).

3. _Smyrna quid et Colophon?_] Alexander the Great found Smyrna in ruins, and conceived the design of rebuilding it, being prompted by Nemesis in a dream. He did not live to do so, but Antigonus began and Lysimachus finished a new town on a magnificent scale. Strabo speaks of it as one of the most beautiful cities of Ionia. Among other objects of interest was a temple erected to Homer, and called Homerium. The inhabitants claimed him as their countryman, and showed a cave in which it was said he wrote his poems.

Colophon, also in Ionia, on the Hales, was destroyed by Lysimachus, with Lebedus (v. 6). Its chief attraction was its neighborhood to the shrine of the Clarian Apollo. At present, only a few huts stand on the site of this town.

_Majora minorave fama,_] 'Be they greater or less than report makes them out to be (I care not which), are they not all tame compared with the Campus Martius and the Tiber?' 'Ve' is probably formed from 'vel,' and had much the same meaning, being chiefly used in poetry. When 'vel' is used, an indifference in the speaker's mind is implied as to which of the two cases or objects be taken. 'Ne,' being attached to 'cuncta,' shows that the emphasis lies on that word.

5. _Attalicis ex urbibus_] One of the towns of the kingdom of Pergamum, bequeathed by Attalus III. to the Roman people, and constituted a Roman province on the defeat of Aristonicus, B.C. 129. The kingdom of Pergamum, when it was handed over to the Romans, included Mysia, Lydia, Ionia, and part of Caria, the principal cities of which (μητροπόλεις) were Ephesus, Pergamum, Sardes, Smyrna, Lampsacus, Cyzicus. Other large towns were Tralles, Adramyttium, Thyatira, &c., nearly all of which are shown, by the ruins that remain, to have been built and ornamented on a magnificent scale.

6. _An Lebedum laudas_] Lysimachus, after the battle of Ipsus (B.C. 301), when he became master of the western part of Asia Minor, destroyed the towns of Lebedus and Colophon in Ionia, and transferred their inhabitants to Ephesus. Lebedus never seems to have been rebuilt so as to recover any of its former importance, and the ruins of the old town probably helped to cause the desolate appearance described by Horace. He writes as if he knew Lebedus, but did not know the other places he refers to before. He must have seen this place, if at all, in his campaigning with Brutus.

7. _Gabiis desertior_] Gabii was an ancient town of Latium, an Alban colony, 100 stadia from Rome. Juvenal mentions it as a place of resort for people in humble circumstances, and calls it "Simplicibus Gabiis?" (iii. 190). In Horace's time, while cold bathing was the fashion under the advice of Antonius Musa, it appears Gabii was resorted to. Horace may have been there himself. See Epp. 15. 9.

8. _Fidenis_] Fidenæ was about five miles from Rome, in the Sabine territory, and remains of it are still in existence near Castel Giubileo. In B.C. 425 the town was destroyed by Æmilius Mamercus (Liv. iv. 9), and it seems never to have risen to any great importance again.

Gabii and Fidenæ were proverbially joined together (see Juv. S. x. 99). Virgil mentions them together as colonies of Alba (Aen. vi. 773):--

"Hi tibi Nomentum, et Gabios urbemque Fidenam, Hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces";

where, it may be observed, Virgil shortens the first syllable, whereas Horace and Juvenal and Silius (xv. 91) make it long.

_tamen illic vivere vellem,_] Horace seems to mean that, though Lebedus was a place deserted, he could enjoy living there, though it cut him off from all his friends, for the sake of the fine prospect it gave of the sea, which would be an exaggerated way of speaking. He had probably in mind some occasion when he had admired the sea from Lebedus, and the recollection came upon him strongly as he wrote; or Bullatius may have said something in a letter about the fine prospect, and Horace means that he agrees with him. 'But,' he goes on to say, 'there is a time for all things. The traveller, when he gets splashed, may be glad of a tavern to retire to and clean himself, but he would not wish to stay there all his life; and the man who has got chilled may be glad of a fire or hot bath, but he does not reckon fires and hot baths the chief good of life; and though you may have been glad to get on shore in a foreign land, to escape from a storm, you will surely not think it necessary to stay there for ever. If a man is in health, Rhodes and Mytilene are not the places for him; so come back again while you may and if you must praise those distant parts, praise them at home.' (vv. 11-21.) It appears as if Bullatius had been a good while absent, and meant to remain much longer.

11. _qui Capua Romam_] The road Appius made (B.C. 312) extended only as far as Capua. It was afterwards extended to Beneventum, and then on by two different branches to Brundisium (see S. i. 5. 79, n.).

12. _nec qui Frigus collegit_] 'Colligere' is not used in this sense elsewhere. The meaning is, he who has got chilled. 'Furnos' may be bakers' ovens, or any furnaces to which a man might go to warm himself.

17. _Incolumi_] See S. ii. 3. 137, n.

18. _Paenula solstitio, campestre_] The 'paenula' was a thick outer mantle worn in bad weather over the toga. The 'campestre' was a linen cloth worn round the loins, in games or exercises in which the body was otherwise stripped, as also in swimming.

19. _caminus._] See Epod. ii. 43, n.

23. _in annum,_] See Epp. i. 2. 38.

26. _effusi late maris arbiter_] That is, a place which commands (as we say) a wide prospect over the sea, such as Lebedus was described to be above. The south wind is called 'arbiter Hadriae' in a different sense in C. i. 3. 15.

28. _Strenua nos exercet inertia:_] This is a very happy expression, and has become proverbial for a do-nothing activity, such exertions as tend to no point and produce no fruits. 'Navibus atque quadrigis' means 'running about by sea and land.' 'Quadriga' is any carriage drawn by four horses (abreast, two under the yoke attached to the pole, and two outside, 'funales,' fastened by traces), though the word is more generally used for a triumphal or racing chariot than for a travelling carriage, of which there were various kinds. 'Rheda' was the most general name for such a carriage on four wheels (see S. ii. 6. 42, n.). 'Petorritum' was another name, and a third was 'carruca,' a later name, not known in Horace's time. There were others, each differing more or less from the rest: 'cisium,' 'essedum,' 'carpentum,' 'pilentum,' 'covinus.'

30. _Est Ulubris,_] All that we know of Ulubræ is that it was a small town of Latium, not far from Velitræ, and that it was a place of no importance.

EPISTLE XII.

Iccius, to whom this Epistle is addressed, has been mentioned, with all that is known of him, in the Introduction to C. i. 29, and Pompeius Grosphus in C. ii. 16. It is a letter of introduction for Grosphus to Iccius, who was employed in managing Agrippa's estates in Sicily. The Epistle begins with some general remarks on the position and circumstances of Iccius, exhorting him to contentment, and commending his pursuit of philosophy in the midst of common employments. It then passes on to the recommendation of Grosphus, and finishes with one or two items of public news.

1. _Fructibus Agrippae_] From what sources Agrippa derived his immense wealth we do not know. From this Epistle we learn that he had estates in Sicily, probably given him after his successes against Sextus Pompeius. Horace means to say to Iccius, that he has got a good post, and may be very comfortable if he is careful. He probably got a percentage on what he collected. He collected Agrippa's rents, 'fructus'.

4. _cui rerum suppetit usus_] 'Rerum usus' here seems to mean the supply of things needful. 'Suppeto,' meaning 'to be sufficient,' occurs in Epod. xvii. 64. 'Pauper' is here used more in the sense of privation than Horace generally uses it.

7. _positorum_] 'Ponere' is the usual word for putting dishes on the table, as observed on S. ii. 2. 23. Here fine dishes are meant, as we can tell by the context. The nettle, 'urtica,' forms an ingredient in the broth of poor people in this country, and still more in Scotland. 'Protinus' means 'right on,' and is applied in various ways. Here it means 'in an uninterrupted course,' that is, 'always'. 'Ut' means 'even supposing,' as in Epod. i. 21. 'Confestim,' 'straightway,' has the same root as 'festino.' 'Fortunae rivus' seems, as Orelli says, to have been a proverbial expression.

10. _naturam mutare_] Horace says the same in a different application elsewhere (Epod. iv. 5):

"Licet superbus ambules pecunia, Fortuna non mutat genus."

12. _Miramur si Democriti_] "I am surprised that Democritus should have allowed his sheep to eat the corn off his fields, while his mind was wandering in swift flight far away, leaving his body; and yet you, in the midst of such sordid work and the infection of money, are bent on wisdom, and that of no mean sort, and continue to study things sublime." Democritus of Abdera had a considerable patrimony, which he neglected for travel and study. It seems his name had passed into a proverb.

20. _Empedocles an Stertinium_] Empedocles was born about B.C. 520, and was a man of wealth and station at Agrigentum in Sicily. He was a philosopher, but his opinions are hard to trace. He pretended to a divine nature. (See A. P. 463, sqq.) His poems, of which fragments are extant, were much read and admired by the Romans. Horace refers perhaps to a dogma imputed to Empedocles, to which Cicero alludes (De Amic. vii.) when he says "Agrigentinum quidem doctum quendam virum carminibus Graecis vaticinatum ferunt, quae in rerum natura totoque mundo constarent quaeque moverentur, ea contrahere amicitiam, dissipare discordiam."

Stertinius, of whom all that is known has been told in the Introduction to S. ii. 3, is put again as the representative of the Stoics. 'Stertinium' is an adjective formed like 'Sulpiciis' in C. iv. 12. 18. 'Stertinium acumen' is an expression like 'sententia Catonis' and others (see ii. 1. 72, n.). 'Deliret' is used, perhaps, by way of jocular allusion to the Stoic theory noticed in S. ii. 3.

21. _Verum seu pisces_] This is only a way of changing the subject, and passing from Iccius and his habits to that which was the chief purpose of the Epistle, the introduction of Grosphus. Murdering leeks and onions is a humorous way of alluding to the notion of Pythagoras mentioned in S. ii. 6. 63, and the same is extended to fishes perhaps, because Empedocles, who believed in the metempsychosis and held that to take life was against the universal law, declared that he himself had once been a fish, among other things.

23. _verum_] See Epp. 7. 98.

24. _Vilis amicorum est annona_] Horace means to say, that good friends are cheaply bought, because they do not ask more than is right; they are reasonable and modest in their demands, as Grosphus would be.

26. _Cantaber Agrippae_] See C. ii. 6. 2, n.

27. _Armenius cecidit;_] This is an exaggerated way of stating the case. He refers to the completion of the mission of Tiberius, mentioned in the Introduction to Ep. 3. At their own request, Augustus sent Tigranes to the Armenians, he having been for some time living in exile at Rome. They put the reigning king, Artaxias, to death and received Tigranes, because they had chosen to have him for their king. Nevertheless, a coin was struck for the occasion with the inscription Armenia capta.

--_jus imperiumque Phraates_] What Horace says is, that Phraates, king of the Parthians, accepted or put himself under the law and 'imperium' of Augustus, prostrating himself at his knees ('genibus minor'),--a ridiculous exaggeration. (See Int. to C. iii. 5.) Ovid is nearly as strong (Trist. ii. 227):

"Nunc petit Armenius pacem; nunc porrigit arcus Parthus eques timida captaque signa manu."

29. _Copia cornu._] See C. S. 60, n., and compare the expressions in C. iv. 5. 17, sqq., and 15. 4, sq.

EPISTLE XIII.

This letter professes to be written by Horace to one Vinius Asella, the bearer of certain volumes of his to Augustus at Rome, Horace being probably at his own estate. He writes as if he had given his friend particular and anxious instructions when he started, as to how he was to behave, and as if this was to be sent after him, to overtake him on the road in order to impress those instructions upon his memory. It is probable that some such jokes may have passed between Horace and his messenger when he started, and that he amused himself afterwards by putting them into the form of this Epistle. The person is assumed to be ignorant of the world, and therefore liable to make mistakes in the execution of his mission, to intrude at an unseasonable time; in the eagerness of his affection for Horace to be too officious, to carry the books awkwardly, so as to draw attention or to stop in the streets in order to tell his curious friends what important business he was upon. The person addressed is called Vinius, and the allusion in v. 8 leads to the inference that his cognomen was Asellus, or Asina, or Asella, which belonged to different Roman families.

What the volumes were that Horace was sending to Augustus, it is impossible to say for certain.

2. _signata volumina,_] The number of volumes would depend upon the number of books into which the work was divided, as each book, if it was not very long, would be rolled on one stick. (See Epod. 14. 8, n.) Round each would be wrapped a piece of parchment, and to this Horace's seal would be affixed.

3. _Si validus,_] Augustus had very uncertain health.

6. _chartae,_] See S. ii. 3. 2, n.

9. _fabula fias._] Compare Epod. xi. 8: "fabula quanta fui."

10. _lamas;_] This is a rare word, signifying bogs. Horace writes as if the man was going some arduous journey over hills and rivers and bogs, whereas he had but thirty miles, or thereabouts, to go, along a good road, the Via Valeria, which passed very near the valley of the Digentia.

14. _glomus furtivae Pyrrhia lanae,_] Pyrrhia is said to be the name of a slave in a play of Titinius, who stole some wool, and carried it away so clumsily that she was detected. Titinius was a writer of comedies who lived before Terence. Pyrrhia is formed from Pyrrha, the name of a town in Lesbos, like Lesbia, Delia, &c. 'Glomus' is the singular number and neuter gender. It means a clew or ball of wool.

15. _Ut cum pileolo soleas_] The notion here is of a person of humble station invited to the table of a great man of his own tribe, who perhaps wanted his vote and influence. Having no slave to carry them for him, as was usual, he comes with his cap and slippers under his arm in an awkward manner, not being accustomed to the ways of fine houses. 'Pileus' was a skull-cap, made of felt, and worn at night or in bad weather. The man would bring it with him, to wear on his way home from the dinner-party. The 'solea' was the slipper, worn in the house, as 'calceus' was the walking shoe. (See S. i. 3. 127, n.)

16. _Ne vulgo narres_] "Don't tell it to all the town, that you are the bearer of poems from Horace to Augustus; and though they should stop you, and entreat you to tell them your business, press on." Horace, by way of keeping up the joke, supposes his messenger to arrive, hot from his journey, and to be besieged by inquisitive people, wanting to know what brings him to Rome.

19. _cave ne titubes_] This is perhaps another jocular allusion to his name, and, as an ass stumbling might chance to break what he was carrying, he adds, 'mandataque frangas.' In plain prose it means, 'Take care you make no mistake, nor neglect to deliver your charge.'

EPISTLE XIV.

Horace appears to have had a discontented 'villicus,' or steward of his property, whom he had promoted to that post from having been originally one of the lower sort of slaves in the town establishment. While in that position, he sighed for what he thought must be the superior freedom of the country; but as soon as he had reached the highest place he could be trusted with on the farm, he began to regret the former days when he could get access to the tavern and cook-shop, forgetting, as is common, the vexations that had made him long for deliverance before. This man's discontent suggested to Horace this Epistle. It is such only in form, for we are not to suppose it was ever sent to the villicus. Horace means to describe his own feelings in respect to the country, and the change in his habits and character, and at the same time to draw a moral from his slave's conduct as to the temper of those who never know what they want, who are envious, discontented, and lazy.

1. _Villice silvarum_] The 'villicus' was one of the principal slaves in the 'familia rustica,' who had the superintendence of a man's farm and 'villa rustica.' He collected his rents, looked after his slaves, and had charge of everything but the cattle, of which there was a separate superintendent. Horace says his woods and fields restored him to himself; that is, they gave him liberty and enjoyment of life.

2. _habitatum quinque focis_] 'Focis' is put for 'families.' Horace says there lived on his estate five families, the heads of which were good men, who went up from time to time to the neighbouring town of Varia. Some suppose they were 'coloni' (C. ii. 14. 11, n.), lessees who farmed different parts of the estate. Varia was thirty miles from Rome, and ten from Tibur, on the Via Valeria. It was four miles from Horace's farm. Its modern name is Vico Varo.

5. _an res._] His land. 'Praedia' were 'res mancipi.'

6. _Lamiae_] See Introd. to C. iii. 17. 'Insolabiliter' occurs nowhere else.

9. _rumpere claustra._] At the end of the Circus were stalls ('carceres'), in which the chariots remained till the race was ready to begin. They were then brought out, and ranged side by side behind a rope called 'alba linea' or 'calx,' which was stretched across the course, and formed a barrier, beyond which the chariots could not advance till the signal was given and the rope withdrawn. It is from this obstruction, or from the 'carceres,' that the metaphor in the text is taken.

13. _se non effugit unquam._] Compare C. ii. 16. 19.

14. _Tu mediastinus_] He had been one of the lowest slaves, used for all manner of work in the 'familia urbana,' and by his pitiful countenance (for he was afraid perhaps to speak) had shown how much he wished to be delivered from that condition, and to be sent to work on the farm, though that was generally considered to be the greatest punishment (see S. ii. 7. 118, n.). When there, he had risen, it may be supposed, to be villicus. 'Mediastinus' was the name for the lowest sort of slave, both in the town and country establishment. It is derived from 'medius,' from his standing in the midst, and being at every one's call.

_tacita prece_] See Epp. i. 16. 59, n.

18. _eo disconvenit_] 'To this comes the difference between me and you.'

19. _tesca_] 'Tesca' means any rough wilderness. It is a rare word.

21. _uncta popina_] As to 'popina' (which Horace calls 'uncta,' because of the greasy viands cooked there), see S. ii. 4. 62, n.

23. _Angulus iste feret_] Horace writes as if he were repeating the contemptuous language of the villicus. 'That little nook of yours would produce pepper and frankincense (which of course was impossible) sooner than grapes.' The grapes grown on the farm he did not think worthy of the name. That Horace made his own wine and that it was not too bad to put before Mæcenas, we know from C. i. 20. Pepper the ancients must have obtained, through some channel, from India. 'Thus' or 'tus olibanum,' which is a gum resin, extracted from a tree called now the Boswellia Thurifera, was brought chiefly from Arabia. See Virgil (Georg. i. 57): "India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei."

25. _meretrix tibicina,_] The 'tibia' was played by women as well as men, and chiefly by women at meals.

26. _et tamen urges_] This is said with a sort of mock compassion: 'And yet, poor man! (though you have none of these comforts to help you on your way,) you have to go on turning up the rough soil, feeding the oxen, looking out for floods, and all that.' 'Jampridem non tacta' implies that Horace's property had been neglected before it came into his possession. Mæcenas had probably never resided there, and perhaps he had not been long owner of it when he gave it to Horace. One of the duties the 'villicus' had to attend to, was looking to the banks of the river (Digentia), which it was apt to burst or overflow when the rains came down heavily. Horace has 'docere' again in this connection (A. P. 67).

31. _quid nostrum concentum dividat_] 'What disturbs our harmony,' or prevents us from agreeing in opinion; which is, that whereas I can look back upon my past enjoyments with pleasure, and am glad to quit them, now that my time of life requires it, to retire to the country, where I am free from jealousies and vexations, you are longing to get back to your former life and give up the country, which many a poor slave in the town envies you. So the ox envies the horse, and the horse envies the ox, but my judgment is, that each should do the work he is best fitted for (31-fin.).

32. _tenues decuere togae_] The toga was generally made of a thick woollen cloth, but there were lighter and finer sorts for summer. These were called 'rasae,' because the nap was clipped close. 'Nitidi capilli' refers to the anointing of the head at meals. See C. ii. 7. 23, n.

33. _immunem Cinarae_] Though Cinara loved money, and he had none to give, yet she was fond of him. As to this woman, see C. iv. 1. 3, n.

34. _media de luce_] 'Soon after noon' (see S. ii. 8. 3, n.). It need not be taken too literally. Then drinking was not uncommonly carried on from three or four o'clock till past midnight, but with idle people, or on particular occasions, it began earlier. 'Bibulum' depends upon 'scis.' As to Falerni, see C. i. 20. 10, n.

36. _sed non incidere ludum._] 'I am not ashamed to amuse myself sometimes, but I am ashamed never to break off or interrupt my amusements.' He liked relaxation, but thought it shame to be always idle.

40. _urbana diaria_] See S. i. 5. 69.

42. _calo argutus_] The word 'calo' was applied to the menial slaves in general, though it is not a generic title for such, like 'mediastinus' (v. 14). See S. i. 6. 103, n. The meaning of 'argutus' here is doubtful. It may mean 'sharp,' or it may mean 'noisy.'

43. _ephippia_] 'Ephippium' was a saddle, which the Romans appear to have used, having copied it from the Greeks. It did not differ materially from ours, except that it had no stirrups. A saddle cloth was worn under it, sometimes highly ornamented.

EPISTLE XV.

Nothing is known of the person to whom this Epistle was written. He is called, in the MSS. inscriptions, C. Numonius Vala. It appears that he was acquainted with the southern coast of Italy, and Horace, who had been recommended by his physician no longer to go (as he had been wont) to Baiæ, had a mind to try one of the southern ports; and he writes to Vala for information about them. It is an unconnected sort of Epistle, with a long digression upon the lament of Baiæ at the loss of her invalids, and another upon wines, and a third, which occupies half the Epistle, upon the profligacy of one Mænius, who squandered all his money on good living, and then turned to living at the expense of others. When he had nothing better, he ate tripe, and abused all spendthrifts; and as soon as he had got any money, he spent it in the same way again. Such am I, says Horace; when I am short of money, I commend the serenity of a humble life; when a windfall drops in, I am ready to be as extravagant as you please.

All this has not much connection with the professed object of the letter.

1. _Quae sit hiems Veliae,_] Velia or Elea, famous as the residence of Xenophanes, the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy, and the birthplace of Parmenides and Zeno, was a town of Lucania, near the mouth of the river Heles or Elees (Alento). Salernum in Campania was situated at the head of the bay of Pæstum, now the gulf of Salerno, on the heights above the modern town, which is close to the sea. These places were not very much frequented, it would seem, at this time, but a new doctor was bringing them into fashion.

2. _qualis via,_] Salernum was situated on a very good road, the Via Aquilia, of which there was a branch from Picenum as far as Pæstum. Thence to Velia, about twenty miles, there was no Roman road.

_Baias_] The atmosphere of Baiæ appears to have been clear, and the place attractive. (Horace calls it 'liquidae,' C. iii. 4. 24, and 'amoenae,' Epp. i. 1. 83.) This made it the most favourite resort of wealthy Romans. To invalids there was the additional attraction of hot sulphurous springs. Horace had been in the habit of going to Baiæ, as we may infer from his connecting it with the Sabine hills, Præneste, and Tibur, in C. iii. 4; but it appears he was now advised to try a different treatment, and seek some other climate. 'Supervacuus' means 'useless'; the place would do him no good. As to the form of the word, see C. ii. 20. 24.

3. _Musa--Antonius_] This physician was a freedman of Augustus, and came into notice chiefly through curing him of a bad illness he contracted in the Cantabrian expedition. Having found cold bathing successful with the emperor, Musa appears to have made that his general principle of treatment. At any rate, he recommended it to Horace, and he followed his advice, not without reluctance, as it would seem from this Epistle. The death of Marcellus may have contributed to making Baiæ unpopular for a time, but it soon recovered its character (see above, Epp. 1. 83). There are some fragments of medical works by Musa still extant, and he is frequently referred to as an authority by Galen. The order of the names is inverted, as in C. ii. 2. 3; 11. 2.

_et tamen illis Me facit invisum,_] The sentence is this: "Antonius Musa makes out that Baiæ is useless for me, and yet he makes Baiæ hate me, because I am drenching myself with cold water in the middle of winter." Horace goes on to say that the town is angry with all the patients for deserting it.

5. _Sane murteta relinqui_] 'Murteta' means groves in which houses were erected over sulphur springs for vapour baths.

8. _Qui caput et stomachum_] A douche bath on the head or stomach would now be thought a strong remedy even by hydropathists; but it is one of those which ancient physicians recommended.

9. _Clusinis Gabiosque_] Clusium (Chiusi) was one of the chief towns of Etruria, the capital of Porsenna, and the place where the Gauls received that insult which led to their siege of Rome (Liv. v. 33). It was situated on the Via Cassia, about one hundred miles north of Rome. Strabo (v. 3) mentions several cold streams at this place, called τὰ Ἄλβουλα, which were useful in many complaints both for bathing and drinking.

10. _deversoria_] See S. i. 5. 2, n. There was a branch of the Via Appia at Sinuessa, leading to Cumæ, called the Via Domitiana; but that, as the name shows, was not constructed at this time, and probably the traveller would have to continue along the Via Appia till he came to Capua, from whence the Via Campana went to Cumæ to the right, and the Via Aquilia went straight on to Salernum, and the Appia branched off through Caudium to Beneventum. (See S. i. 5. 50. 71.) This explains 'laeva habena.' The horse would turn to the right as usual to go to Cumæ (whence the road was continued to the Lucrine Lake and to Bauli and Baiæ, about four or five miles from Cumæ).

16. _vina nihil moror illius orae;_] The nearest place to Salernum spoken of as growing wines is Surrentum (Sorrento), at the end of the promontory that bears its name, and forms the southern boundary of the bay of Naples. This wine is mentioned in S. ii. 4. 55. Horace had no high opinion of it. He did not think it worth while to ask about the wine, which he knew was bad.

17. _perferre patique,_] This pleonasm occurs again in the next Satire, v. 74. It serves to make up a verse.

21. _Lucanae_] This supposes he was going to Velia.

24. _Phaeaxque reverti,_] See Epp. i. 2. 28.

26. _Maenius,_] See S. i. 1. 101, n. 'Fortiter' is used ironically. 'Urbanus' means 'witty.' 'Scurra vagus' means a parasite who was ready to dine anywhere, paying for his dinner with his jokes.

31. _Pernicies et tempestas barathrumque_] All these words belong to 'macelli,' as to which see S. ii. 3. 229, n. He was a plague that wasted, a tempest that swept, a gulf that swallowed up, the whole contents of the market.

37. _corrector Bestius._] The meaning is, that Mænius, whenever he could not get a good dinner from one of those who patronized or were afraid of him, would dine prodigiously off tripe and coarse mutton, and then declare all good livers ought to be branded on the belly: a censor as strict as Bestius, who was, no doubt, some person well known at the time, perhaps as a spare liver or reprover of profligate living, though nothing is known of him now. 'Corrector' is here used for a reformer of morals, as in Epp. ii. 1. 129 it is applied to poets.

39. _Verterat in fumum et cinerem,_] This was evidently an ordinary way of speaking. He got rid of all the plunder he made from fools who patronized him.

41. _Nil melius turdo, nil vulva_] As to 'turdus,' see S. ii. 5. 10, n. The womb and breast ('sumen') of a sow, especially after her first litter, were considered great delicacies.

42. _Nimirum hic ego sum;_] Compare Epp. 6. 40: "ne fueris hic tu." ἐνταῦθ᾽ εἰμί is a common expression with the Tragedians. 'Nimirum,' 'of course, as is natural: how could anything better be expected of me?' (See Epp. 9. 1.) He means to say, that of course, like his neighbours, he professes love for poverty while he is poor, but as soon as he gets any money he is ready for any extravagance.

46. _nitidis fundata pecunia villis._] 'Villa' was a country house, as opposed to 'aedes,' a town house. There were 'villae rusticae,' farm-houses, and 'villae urbanae,' houses in the neighbourhood of towns (to which sense we limit the word in our use of it) or in the country, but built in many respects after the fashion of town houses. The 'urbanae villae' were often built at great expense, with much marble about them, which is referred to in 'nitidis.' 'Fundata' means 'invested.' It is not so used elsewhere.

EPISTLE XVI.

Quintius, to whom this Epistle is addressed, cannot be identified with any known person. The same name is connected with the eleventh Ode of the second Book; but there is no reason to suppose them to belong to one person. There is no more reason in the Epistle than in the Ode why a name should appear at all; for the subject is general, being the liability of men to be deceived in respect to their own goodness and that of others by the judgment of the multitude. This discourse is appended, rather abruptly, to a short description of Horace's residence, in anticipation of the inquiries he supposes Quintius might make on that subject.

1. _fundus_] See S. ii. 5. 108, n.

2. _Arvo pascat herum_] Horace had some of his land under his own cultivation; but it was no great quantity, as we may infer from the number of slaves employed upon it (S. ii. 7. 118). The rest he seems to have let (Epp. 14. 2, n.). Part of his land was arable, and part of it meadow (Epp. 15. 26-30, and C. iii. 16. 30, "segetis certa fides meae"). He had a garden (Epp. 14. 42). He must also have had vines (23, n.). In short, it was an ordinary farm on a small scale. In the second and third verses Horace recounts the different productions of his farm, while he supposes Quintius to ask about them.

2. _opulentet_] This is a rare word, and does not occur in any earlier writer.

3. _an amicta vitibus ulmo,_] See C. ii. 15. 5: "platanusque caelebs Evincet ulmos."

5. _Continui montes_] The valley of the Licenza is the only valley which cuts the range of mountains extending from the Campagna above Tibur to Carseoli, about forty-five miles from Rome. Without this valley this immense body would be a continuous mass. It lies nearly north and south, which corresponds with the description of the text. See C. i. 17. 1, n.

8. _Temperiem laudes._] The position of the valley keeps it cool in summer and warm in winter, the latter by the exclusion of the north wind (Tramontana). The Scirocco ('plumbeus Auster') is modified in its strength and character as it penetrates the mountains.

_Quid, si rubicunda_] 'Why, if I tell you that my thorns bear abundantly the red cornel and the plum, that my oaks and my ilexes delight my pigs with plenty of acorns, and their master with plenty of shade, you may say it is the woods of Tarentum, brought nearer to Rome.' 'Fruge' is nowhere else used for acorns, the common food for pigs.

12. _Fons etiam_] There are two small streams which feed the Licenza in this valley, which that river nearly bisects. Either of these rivulets may be the one Horace alludes to.

14. _fluit utilis,_] See note on v. 8 of the last Epistle.

15. _dulces, etiam si credis amoenae,_] A place may be 'dulcis' from association or other causes: it can only be 'amoenus' from its climate, its beauties, and so forth. As to 'Septembribus horis,' see S. ii. 6. 18, n., and for 'audis' see note on v. 20 of the same Satire.

17. _Tu recte vivis_] He goes on to compliment and advise his friend: 'Your life is what it should be, if you are careful to be what you are accounted. For all Rome has long spoken of you as a happy man. But I am afraid lest you should trust the judgment of others about you, rather than your own.'

24. _pudor malus_] See S. ii. 3. 39, n. He says it is a false shame that would induce a patient to conceal his sores from the physician; and so it is for a man to hide his defects, rather than bring them to the wise to cure.

25. _Si quis bella tibi_] 'Tibi' depends on 'pugnata,' which is joined with 'bella' in C. iii. 19. 4. See note on C. ii. 6. 11. Quintius had no doubt seen service; but, says Horace, if any one were to speak of your campaigning in such language as this (then he quotes two lines, said to be taken from the panegyric of Varius on Augustus, referred to on C. i. 6. 11), you would recognize it as meant, not for you, but for Cæsar. But if you allow yourself to be called wise and correct, does your life correspond to that name any more than your military exploits to the above encomium? Literally, 'Do you answer in your own name,' or 'on your own account?' 'Vacuas aures' are ears which, being unoccupied, are ready to receive what is spoken.

27. _Tene magis--populum_] 'Whether thy people care for thy safety more, or thou for theirs, may Jove ever doubtful keep, he who watches over both thee and Rome.' The meaning of this is, 'May thy country ever care for thee, and thou for thy country, with an equal affection.'

30. _Cum pateris sapiens_] See C. i. 2. 43, n.

31. _Nempe Vir bonus_] Quintius is supposed to answer, 'Yes, surely, I like to be called good and wise, and so do you.' 'Nay,' replies Horace, 'such praise as this is given one day, and may be withdrawn the next; and you are obliged to resign your claim, because you know you do not deserve it. But if a man attacks me with charges I know I am innocent of, is that to affect me and make me blush?'

40. _Vir bonus est quis?_] The answer is to this effect: "In the eyes of the people the good man is he who never transgresses the laws; who is seen acting as 'judex' in important causes, and has never been known to be corrupt; whom men choose as their sponsor, and whose testimony carries weight in court; but all the while the man's own neighborhood and family may know him to be foul within, though fair enough without."

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.

EPISTLE XVII.

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).

EPISTLE XVIII.

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.

EPISTLE XIX.

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.'

EPISTLE XX.

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.

EPISTLES.--BOOK II.

EPISTLE I.

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.

158. _Defluxit numerus Saturnius_] The Saturnian verse, according to Niebuhr (i. 259, n.), continued in use till about B.C. 100. Horace says traces of the old rudeness remained in his day, probably in the less polished 'mimes,' and in the 'Fescennina carmina,' which were not extinct.

161. _Serus enim_] 'Romanus' must be understood here.

163. _Quid Sophocles et Thespis et Aeschylus_] Thespis is here introduced as being the reputed founder of Greek tragedy. It is doubtful whether any of his plays were translated by or known to the Roman tragedians, of whom Horace has mentioned Livius, Ennius, Nævius, Pacuvius, and Accius. We know of no others earlier than Accius, the last of these; and the number of tragedies by these writers, the titles of which have been preserved, is one hundred and nineteen. As to Thespis, see A. P. 275, n.

167. _metuitque lituram._] 'But ignorantly thinks an erasure discreditable, and shuns it.' That is, they were bold enough in their style, and had the spirit of tragedy in them, but they did not look sufficiently to the correction and polishing of their language; they admitted words which were out of taste, and thought too much care in composition beneath them. This is pretty much what he says of Lucilius (S. i. 10. 56, sqq.).

168. _arcessit_] See Epp. i. 5. 6, n. 'Ex medio' is from common life. Horace says comedy is supposed to be very easy, because the matter is common; but, in fact, it gives more trouble in proportion to the readiness with which it is criticised and faults are detected and condemned. The following remarks on the stage grew out of the allusion to the Greek writers, but they are not closely connected with what is passed. They are introduced for the purpose of deprecating the excessive admiration and support bestowed on the drama at the expense of other poetry (168-213).

170. _Plautus_] It appears that Horace had no great opinion of Plautus, all whose greatness, he says, lay in the drawing of small parts. Niebuhr judges otherwise: he calls him one of the greatest poetical geniuses of antiquity. The language of Plautus would be rough to the ears of Horace, and his jokes and allusions, drawn principally from the lower orders, or taken from the Greek and adapted to the common sort of people, did not interest him.

173. _Quantus sit Dossennus_] This person, who is not mentioned elsewhere, must have been a comic writer of the day.

174. _percurrat pulpita socco;_] The front part of the stage where the actors spoke was called 'pulpitum,' by the Greeks λογεῖον. As to 'soccus,' see S. i. 3. 127, n. It was worn by comic actors, as being a less dignified order of covering for the feet than the 'cothurnus.' A good representation of it will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquities. Other shoes worn in comedy were 'baxeae' and 'crepidae,' for the same reason, each being a loose sort of slipper, and the latter not materially different from the 'soccus.' Horace means that Dossennus is careless in the composition of his plays, which he expresses by his running about the stage with loose slippers. His only care, he says, is to make money.

177. _ventoso Gloria curru_] See S. i. 6. 23, n.

185. _Si discordet eques,_] See S. i. 10. 76, n.

186. _Aut ursum aut pugiles;_] Augustus himself had a liking for boxers, as mentioned on Epp. i. 1. 49. The interruptions to the regular drama which Horace here mentions appear to have been of common occurrence. Though the acting of plays was in Horace's time carried on in a theatre (v. 60, n.) erected for this special purpose, it appears the people insisted sometimes on having a bear-bait or a boxing match there to amuse them, in spite of the remonstrances of the equites in the front rows, who, however, Horace says, were themselves taken too much with processions and shows that appealed more to the eye than to the ear.

187. _Verum equitis_] 'But with the eques, too, all his pleasure was shifted from the ear to the erring eye and vain delights.' He means that the eye is easily dazzled and deluded. The ear takes in what it receives, and conveys it to the mind without error.

189. _aulaea premuntur_] At the back of the stage was the 'scena,' or wall on which was painted some scene suitable to the performance. Before this 'scena' was a curtain, which was let down below the stage when the acting began, and raised when it was over. This curtain was called 'aulaeum.' The raising of the curtain at the end of the play is referred to in A. P. 154, sq.

191. _regum fortuna_] This is equivalent to 'fortunati reges.' The expression is like those noticed at S. i. 2. 32; ii. 1. 72.

192. _Esseda festinant,_] The 'essedum' was originally the name of a British or Gaulish war-chariot, derived from a Celtic root. The name came to be applied to a travelling carriage on two wheels and drawn by two horses. The 'pilentum' was a carriage used in processions, and appears to have been usually of a luxurious kind, with well-stuffed cushions, and used by women. It was also a travelling carriage. As to 'petorritum,' see S. i. 6. 104, n., and Epp. i. 11. 28, n.

193. _captiva Corinthus._] The taking of Corinth may have been represented by spoils of Corinthian bronze.

194. _Democritus,_] See Epp. i. 12. 12, n. Democritus had the character of a laughing philosopher, one who turned things habitually into ridicule.

196. _Sive elephas albus_] The king of Ava has for one of his many titles the Lord of the White Elephant; and it has been usual for the British government, when an elephant of this color was caught in their territories, to send it with due ceremony as a present to his Majesty. White elephants are merely _lusus naturae_; they are not a distinct species, as some have supposed. They have pink eyes, like other albinos, but do not differ from the brown animal in other respects. They are not common.

198. _mimo_] See S. i. 10. 6, n.

202. _Garganum mugire putes_] See C. ii. 9. 7.

207. _Lana Tarentino_] The different shades of the purple dye were obtained by different mixtures of the juice of the 'murex' with that of the 'purpura,' both of which were shell-fish, found in great abundance on both coasts of Italy. Those of Baiæ were most celebrated on the west coast (S. ii. 4. 32), and those of Tarentum on the east. The violet color was much in fashion at this time, together with the scarlet peculiar to Tarentum. The Tarentines imitated all the foreign varieties. But these imitations, whether made from the fish or the 'fucus,' never came up to the original dyes, and were easily detected. (See Epp. i. 10. 26, n.)

208. _quae facere ipse recusem_] That is, what his nature refuses to do, what he has no capacity for. Horace denies that he is disposed to detract from the merits of good dramatic poets; on the contrary, he considers that he who could succeed in exciting his feelings with fictitious griefs and fears, and transport him in imagination to distant places, could do anything he chose to try, dance on a tight rope if he pleased, in which there is a little jocular irony perhaps. Dancing on the tight rope was carried, it seems, to great perfection among the ancients. The Greek name for a rope dancer was σχοινοβάτης, the Latin 'funambulus'; those who exhibited at Rome were usually Greeks.

216. _Curam redde brevem,_] 'Reddere' is 'to pay,' and 'curam redde brevem' is 'pay a slight, passing attention.' 'Munus Apolline dignum,' 'an offering worthy of Apollo,' means the library mentioned, C. i. 31, Introduction.

220. _Ut vineta egomet caedam mea,_] The man who damages his own vines hurts himself more than any one else, and this is the meaning of the proverb. Horace goes on jocularly to relate many offences of poets arising out of their want of tact and knowledge of the world.

223. _revolvimus irrevocati;_] The compounds of 'volvo' are used for reading from the shape of the books rolled up. 'Revolvere' is to read again. One of the ways that he says authors get themselves into trouble is by reading over again and again passages they think very fine, but which their patron has not taken the trouble to ask for again.

225. _deducta poëmata filo;_] See S. i. 10. 44, n.

230. _Aedituos_] This word means the keeper of a temple. Horace says, it is worth while to see what kind of persons should be intrusted with the keeping of the fame of Augustus, what poets should be allowed to tell of it,--and with this subject he concludes.

233. _Choerilus,_] Chœrilus of Iasos was a poet who accompanied Alexander and wrote verses on his battles. They were very poor, according to Horace. This poet has been confounded with a native of Samos, who was in the pay of Xerxes. He is mentioned again, A. P. 357. 'Male natis versibus' means verses made by a poet who was not born such, seeing that 'poëta nascitur non fit.'

234. _Rettulit acceptos,_] See note on S. ii. 3. 69. 'Philippi' were gold coins with Philip's head on them, the Macedonian 'stater,' of which many specimens are in existence. Its value is reckoned at £1 3_s._ 6_d._ of English money. (See Dict. Antt.)

236. _Atramenta,_] Ink was used by the ancients. The Greeks called it μέλαν, the Romans 'atramentum scriptorium' or 'librarium,' to distinguish it from shoemaker's dye, also called 'atramentum,' and a paint which had the same name. See Dictionary of Antiquities. Horace says it is a common thing for poets to defile great deeds with bad verses, as the fingers are defiled when they handle ink.

239. _ne quis se praeter Apellen_] Apelles flourished during the latter half of the fourth century B.C., at the court of Philip and in the camp of Alexander. This story--that Alexander would not suffer himself to be painted by any but Apelles--is referred to by Cicero, Pliny, and Plutarch (Alex. c. 4). His reputation as a painter stood higher than any other of antiquity.

240. _alius Lysippo_] Lysippus was a younger contemporary of Apelles, and a native of Sicyon. He wrought almost entirely in bronze. He made several statues of Alexander, whom he appears, like Apelles, to have followed into Asia.

244. _Boeotum in crasso_] The dulness and sensuality of the Bœotians were proverbial. The cause it is not easy to assign. Polybius says it was unparalleled in Grecian history.

245. _tua de se judicia atque Munera,_] Respecting Virgil and Varius, see S. i. 5. 40, n. Augustus had an affection for them both, and a Scholiast says he made each of them a present of a million sesterces.

248. _aënea signa,_] The word 'signum' applies generally to all carved or cast figures, while 'statua' applies only to full length figures.

251. _Repentes per humum_] This is expressed by 'pedestris.' See C. ii. 12. 9, n.

252. _arces Montibus impositas,_] See C. iv. 14. 12, and 33, n. This description would especially apply to the conquest of the Cantabri, and the Illyrian and Alpine tribes.

254. _Auspiciis_] See C. i. 7. 27, n.

255. _Claustraque custodem pacis cohibentia_] That which is commonly called the Temple of Janus was a passage enclosed between two gates leading out of the city. A statue of Janus was placed there, and from this and the two gates the place was called Janus Geminus. It was built, according to tradition, by Numa (Livy i. 19). The gates were open in war and closed in peace. Horace's explanation is, that the gates were shut during peace to prevent its guardian from leaving the city. The first time the gates were shut during the Republic was B.C. 235. By Augustus they were closed three times (see C. iv. 15. 9, n.), after the battle of Actium and taking of Alexandria, A.U.C. 725, and after the Cantabrian war, A.U.C. 729. The third occasion is not known.

256. _Et formidatam Parthis_] See Epp. i. 12. 27, n.

262. _Discit enim citius_] 'Quis' belongs both to 'discit' and to 'deridet.' Horace says men are more apt to remember what is ridiculous than that which is good and serious; and therefore it is not pleasant to have one's name associated with silly verses or an ugly wax image, such as the admirers of public men might think to honor them with. Busts of literary and other distinguished men were put up in the public libraries (see S. i. 4. 21, n.), and were probably multiplied for sale. They were sometimes made of wax, of which material were made the family busts preserved in the atria of private houses.

268. _capsa porrectus aperta,_] As to 'capsa,' see the note last referred to. Horace speaks of being stretched out in an open box as if he were a corpse being carried on a 'vilis arca' (S. i. 8. 9, n.) to the common burial ground, that is, to the grocer's shop. 'Vicum' may mean the 'Vicus Thurarius,' which was a part of the Vicus Tuscus mentioned S. ii. 3. 228. 'Porrectus' is used commonly for corpses. 'Aperta' keeps up the notion of a 'sandapila,' or common bier, on which the poor were carried out to burial. In plain language, Horace says he might expect his panegyrist's verses to be carried to the grocer (to whom and the trunk-maker waste paper goes still), and himself to be held up to ridicule with the author.

EPISTLE II.

This Epistle is addressed to Julius Florus, to whom also the third of the first Book was written. (See Introduction.) Its professed purpose is to excuse Horace for not having sent Florus any verses. He says he had warned him before he went that he should not be able to write, that he had grown lazy. He reminds him, too, that he had originally only written verses to bring himself into notice because he was poor, and now he had not the same stimulus. Besides, he was getting on in years, and people's tastes were so various, and the noises and engagements of the town so distracting, and the trouble of giving and receiving compliments so great, that he had abandoned poetry in disgust. It was better to study philosophy, in respect to which he reasons with himself through nearly a hundred lines, the substance of which is that he had better be content with what he has got by his profession, set to work to purge his mind, and leave jests and wantonness to younger men.

This Epistle furnishes materials for a considerable part of Horace's biography, and makes us acquainted with his poetical career in particular.

It is probable that Florus continued attached to Tiberius, and was with him when he was campaigning with Augustus some years after the Armenian expedition, on which they were engaged when the other Epistle was written.

1. _Flore, bono claroque_] See Introduction; and as to the character of Tiberius, see Epp. i. 9. 4, n. His name was that of his father, Tiberius Claudius Nero, till his adoption by Augustus, A.D. 4, when he became Tiberius Claudius Nero Cæsar.

2. _natum Tibure vel Gabiis,_] That is, 'anywhere you please.' The poets like to give reality to their illustrations by being specific. This is Dillenburger's remark. As to Gabii, see Epp. i. 11. 7, n.

5. _nummorum millibus octo,_] 8,000 sesterces, 'nummus' being used as an equivalent for 'sestertius.' This sum was about 65_l._ sterling. Much larger sums were given for handsome slaves, and this boy's accomplishments, if they were real, would make him worth a good price. There would be reason, therefore, to suspect, in such a case, that the owner was anxious to get rid of him. See S. ii. 7. 42, n.

7. _Litterulis Graecis_] The 'literati' were a separate class in the slave family, and were subdivided into 'anagnostae' or 'lectores' (who read to their masters, chiefly at their meals, or, if their masters were authors, they read their productions aloud for the benefit of the guests), and 'librarii' or 'scribae,' used for writing from dictation, taking care of the library, keeping accounts, etc., and hence called pueri or servi 'a studiis,' 'ab epistolis,' 'a bibliotheca,' 'notarii,' etc. There were also architects, sculptors, painters, engravers, and other artists, who all came under the same general head of 'literati.' The boy in this place might also be put among the 'cantores' or 'symphoniaci,' the choir or band who sang and played to their master at meals. In short, he was fit for any of the above employments, according to his owner's estimate; which he professes to put in a modest way, for fear he should seem to be puffing his property, and so depreciate its value. The diminutive 'litterulis' is used with this design.

12. _meo sum pauper in aere._] 'Aes alienum' is used for a debt, and 'aes proprium,' 'suum,' etc. is therefore money not borrowed. The man here says he is not rich, but what he has is his own. "I am poor, (but live) on my own means."

13. _Nemo hoc mangonum faceret tibi;_] He professes to deal as a friend. The 'mangones' were slave-dealers, a class in no favor, but often very rich. The name is derived from the Greek μάγγανον, μαγγανεύω, to juggle, cheat. They were distinguished from 'mercatores,' being called 'venaliciarii,' 'venales' signifying slaves. The way of 'raising' slaves for the market and selling them differed but little from the practice in modern times.

14. _Semel hic cessavit_] He once was behind his time, and hid himself under or on the staircase for fear of a flogging. 'Cessator' and 'erro' were synonymous words. (See S. ii. 7. 100, 113, n.) The stairs may have been dark sometimes, and, as in most houses the principal accommodation was on the ground floor, it is probable that so much regard was not had to the lighting of the staircase as we pay now. It appears a whip was hung up in some conspicuous place.

17. _poenae securus,_] Among the faults the seller of a slave was bound to tell was running away. See S. ii. 3. 285.

21. _ne mea saevus Jurgares_] 'Mea' belongs to 'epistola'. 'Jurgo' is intransitive. 'Do not be cruel, and complain because I sent you no letter in reply'. Florus had written, probably, more than once, expostulating with him on his silence, and had got no answer.

24. _Si tamen attentas?_] 'Attentare' is to attack, or attempt to overthrow. 'Mecum facientia' means that they are on his side.

_super hoc_] It is doubtful whether this means 'besides this,' as in S. ii. 6. 3, "Et paulum silvae super his" (see note), or 'about this,' as "Pallescet super his" (A. P. 429). Orelli takes it the former way.

25. _non mittam carmina_] 'Carmina' means lyric verses, which Florus seems to have asked for.

26. _Luculli miles collecta viatica_] As to Lucullus, see Epp. i. 6. 40, n. Whatever groundwork of truth there may be in this story, Horace has evidently altered it to suit his purpose. 'Viatica' would include money as well as baggage. Cicero uses the word metaphorically for money (Cat. Maj. c. 18): "Avaritia senilis quid sibi velit non intelligo. Potest enim quidpiam esse absurdius quam quo minus viae restat eo plus viatici quaerere?"

30. _Praesidium regale_] This would be a fortress in which Mithridates kept some part of his treasures.

33. _bis dena super sestertia_] The 'sestertium' (1,000 sestertii) was a sum equal to about 8_l._ 17_s._ of English money, twenty of which (166_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._) would not be a large sum for an officer of rank. But he must be supposed, from his exploits, to have held some command.

34. _Forte sub hoc tempus_] 'Soon after this time' (see Epod. 2. 44, n. in respect to 'sub' with an accusative in phrases of time). Lucullus had the title of 'proconsul' of Cilicia. But he is here called 'praetor'. He had been 'praetor urbanus,' but went into Asia at the expiration of his consulship, and therefore with the title of 'proconsul.' A 'praetor' taking a province went with the title of 'propraetor,' as Brutus did into Macedonia. (See S. i. 7. 18.)

40. _qui zonam perdidit,_] The Romans wore a girdle when walking or actively occupied, to hold up the end of their tunic. Hence the expressions 'praecinctus,' 'succinctus,' for those who were hastening or engaged in active work. (See S. i. 5. 6, n.) In this girdle ('zona' or 'cingulum') they often carried their money. Hence 'zona' came to be used generally for a purse. The more common word 'crumena' was a bag, generally of leather, hung on the arm or round the neck, or sometimes perhaps to the 'zona.'

42. _Iratus Graiis_] See Epp. i. 2. 2, n.

43. _Adjecere bonae_] The knowledge acquired at Athens was not only philosophy in all its branches, but Greek literature, with which Horace became familiar, especially with the lyric poets, whose works were probably never taught in the schools at Rome. But he here only refers to his dialectical studies, which he pursued in the school of the Academy, the head of which at this time was Theomnestus, whose lectures Brutus attended (Plut. Brut. c. 24). Academus was an Attic hero, and there was a spot of ground about three quarters of a mile from the city, on the banks of the Cephisus, which was dedicated to him and planted with olives, and called after his name, Academia. Here Plato taught, and hence his school was named.

44. _curvo dignoscere rectum,_] 'Curvum' is used here like 'pravum,' for 'falsehood.'

48. _non responsura lacertis._] Not destined to match the strength of Augustus. (See S. ii. 7. 85, n.) In the first engagement at Philippi (A.U.C. 712), Brutus defeated the forces of Augustus, and got possession of his camp, while M. Antonius on the other hand defeated Cassius, who destroyed himself. But twenty days afterwards a second engagement went against Brutus, and he likewise put an end to himself. Brutus attached to his cause the young Romans studying at Athens, and the battles and wanderings he led them through are related by Plutarch in his Life (c. 24, sqq.).

51. _Et laris et fundi,_] 'Laris' is equivalent to 'domus'. As to the difference between 'domus' and 'fundus,' see S. ii. 5. 108, n. Horace's patrimony was forfeited because he was of the republican party. He says nothing of the scribe's place which Suetonius says he bought (with what means does not appear), nor does he mention how he got his pardon and permission to return to Rome. He only says he was driven by poverty to write verses, which therefore he first wrote for fame, that is, to bring himself into the notice of those who were able to relieve his wants, as Mæcenas did. It is impossible to tell what he wrote at first. It is probable that he suppressed much of his early poetry.

53. _Quae poterunt unquam_] The 'cicuta,' κώνειον, hemlock, was used as an antifebrile medicine. Horace asks what amount of 'cicuta' would be sufficient to cool his veins, if he were so feverishly bent upon writing as to do so when he could live without it.

60. _Ille Bioneis sermonibus_] Bion was born on the Borysthenes, and was hence called Borysthenites. He flourished about the middle of the third century B.C. He studied philosophy at Athens, and, after passing through various sects, became at last a Peripatetic. It is said he wrote certain books on the follies of mankind of a very bitter character. As 'sal' is put for wit (S. i. 10. 3), 'sale nigro' means coarse wit.

61. _Tres mihi convivae_] He treats his friends, all asking him for different sorts of verse, as guests at a dinner each liking different fare, so that he does not know what to give them.

67. _Hic sponsum vocat,_] This is a repetition of S. ii. 6. 23.

68. _cubat hic in colle Quirini,_] As to 'cubat' see S. i. 9. 18, n. Mons Quirinalis was in the sixth, or most northern division of the city; Mons Aventinus, in the opposite quarter, the thirteenth region.

70. _Intervalla vides humane commoda._] 'A pretty convenient distance, you see.' 'Humane' is not used in this ironical way elsewhere.

71. _Purae sunt plateae,_] This is a supposed answer, the rejoinder to which is in v. 72. 'Platea' is a less general name than 'vicus.' It applies only to the broader streets. The word, being derived from the Greek πλατεῖα, would properly have its penult long. It suits Horace to shorten it. As to the obstructions in the streets of Rome, the best of which were but narrow, see Epp. i. 6. 51, n. 'Purae' means unobstructed.

72. _redemptor,_] See C. ii. 18. 18, n.; iii. 1. 35, n. 'Calidus' only strengthens 'festinat,' he is in hot haste: the substantives are in the ablative, 'cum' being omitted.

73. _machina_] Probably a pulley raising a large stone or beam for the upper part of a building, and swinging it over the heads of the passengers. As to 'funera,' see S. i. 6. 43, n.

77. _amat nemus_] See C. i. 1. 30, n. Compare Juvenal (vii. 53, sqq.).

80. _contracta sequi vestigia_] 'To follow the confined steps of the poets,' by which he means that the poets walk in a path narrowed by fixed rules; and that it requires thought and diligence to tread in their steps.

81. _vacuas desumpsit Athenas,_] See Epp. i. 7. 45, n. for 'vacuas.' Horace says the man who has retired to study, as he had done at Athens, and has shut himself up for several years, and got dull over his books and his meditations, cannot open his lips when he gets to Rome, and is only laughed at by the people for his sobriety. This is an odd defence for one who had written so much as he had done at Rome. It is meant for a joke. 'Septem annis' is not to be taken literally, as if Horace had been seven years at Athens, which is very improbable, but for any considerable number. He was only twenty-two when he joined Brutus, A.U.C. 711.

87. _Frater erat Romae_] Who these brothers were Horace does not tell us, and it does not matter. One was a jurisconsultus (see S. i. 1. 9, n.), and the other a teacher of rhetoric. The lawyer said the rhetorician was a perfect Gracchus for eloquence, and he returned the compliment by declaring that his brother was a second Scævola for legal learning. And this sort of mutual flattery goes on, Horace says, among poets, and he cannot keep pace with their passion for praise. Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Caius were both, in Cicero's opinion, great orators. We need not therefore attempt to decide which Horace means us to understand here. Q. Mucius Scævola the augur, son-in-law of C. Lælius, and an early instructor of Cicero (Lael. c. 1), was learned in the law; but his namesake and younger contemporary, the Pontifex Maximus (mentioned in the same treatise), was more celebrated still. This name, therefore, like that of Gracchus for oratory, stands for a consummate jurist.

88. _meros audiret honores,_] Compare Epp. i. 7. 84, "vineta crepat mera."

90. _argutos_] Compare iv. 6. 25: "Doctor argutae fidicen Thaliae." It means melodious, and is a sort of mock compliment.

92. _Caelatumque novem Musis opus_] It is likened to a perfect piece of carved work, in which all the Muses had a hand.

93. _quanto molimine_] This expresses the pompous strut with which they pass the library of Apollo, in which they take it for granted a place is reserved for them. As to 'aedem,' see S. i. 10. 38.

95. _procul_] This word signifies any distance, great or small. Here it means hard by, as in S. ii. 6. 105; Epp. i. 7. 'Quid ferat' means what each has to say.

97. _Caedimur et totidem plagis_] They carry on such a contest of mutual flattery, that they are like two gladiators, each trying to get the better of the other. 'Samnites' were a particular class of gladiators, so called because they wore the same arms as that people, particularly an oblong shield. See S. ii. 6. 44, n. 'Ad lumina prima' would be usually till the second course, when the lights were brought in. Among the amusements that rich men had at their dinners were gladiators who fought with blunt weapons; and here the contest is said to be protracted ('lento') till the lights came in. It was a long trial of skill.

99. _puncto illius;_] In his judgment or by his vote. When an election took place, there were certain persons called 'custodes' appointed to take the votes and prick off the number given for each candidate. From this process votes came to be called 'puncta.' See A. P. 343, n.

101. _Fit Mimnermus_] See Epp. i. 6. 65, n. Horace seems to think him superior to Callimachus, who was a grammarian and voluminous prose-writer as well as a poet, a native of Cyrene, and established at Alexandria in the reigns of the Ptolemies, Philadelphus and Euergetes, in the third century B.C. 'Optivo,' signifying 'desired,' does not occur elsewhere.

105. _impune legentibus_] He says, when he has done writing and recovered his senses (which was the same thing), he should stop his ears, and they might recite without fear of reprisals. See Epp. i. 19. 39.

113. _Verba movere loco,_] The notion of the censor is kept up. See note on S. i. 6. 20.

114. _Et versentur adhuc_] This is a way of saying that the verses, though they may be expunged, still are kept in the author's desk, because he has a regard for them, and cannot make up his mind to destroy them. The sanctuary of Vesta could only be entered by her own priestesses, and Horace calls his desk 'penetralia Vestae' because it was private.

116. _speciosa vocabula rerum,_] 'Expressive terms'; words which make themselves intelligible at once. So in A. P. 319 a play is said to be 'speciosa locis,' that is, 'plain in its points,' its commonplaces or sentiments clearly put.

117. _Catonibus atque Cethegis_] As to the use of the plural number, see note on S. i. 7. 8. M. Porcius Cato Censorius was born about B.C. 234, and was therefore contemporary with Ennius, with whom he is associated, A. P. 56, as successfully importing new words into the language. Fragments remain of his treatise De Re Rustica, embracing a variety of instructions on husbandry and subjects connected with domestic economy; and of his Origines, an account of the early history of Italy. There are also fragments of his orations, which Cicero appears to have studied (Brutus, c. 17). He had the highest opinion of Cato, and complains that he was not studied enough even in his day. M. Cornelius Cethegus was older than Cato, since he was curule ædile when Cato was no more than twenty. His eloquence was such that Ennius called Cethegus "Suadae medulla, orator suaviloquenti ore." (Cic. Brut. c. 15; Cat. Maj. c. 14; see Epp. i. 6. 36, n.) But it does not appear that any of his orations were extant in Cicero's time, for he only mentions them on the authority of Ennius, who had heard him speak. His reputation was sufficient at the time Horace wrote, for him to name him twice as an authority on the language (see A. P. 50, n.).

119. _quae genitor produxerit usus._] 'Usus' is 'custom,' which has always been the parent of novelties in language. Compare A. P. 70, sqq.

120. _Vehemens_] The first two syllables are pronounced as one. Compare S. i. 5. 67.

123. _virtute carentia tollet,_] 'He will remove what lacks merit.' He will work hard to produce a result which shall appear playful and easy, the turns being as easy as those of the 'mimus,' who dances either the light measure of the nimble Satyr, or the clumsy dance of the Cyclops (on which see S. i. 5. 63, n.). The poet's art is to conceal his art, and to make that appear easy which has cost him a good deal of trouble.

126. _Praetulerim scriptor_] This is supposed to be the remark of one who would be a poet without the necessary trouble. He would rather be pleased with his own bad verses, even though he might be deceiving himself, than be so learned and be perpetually vexed with himself. 'Ringi' is properly applied to the grinning of a dog when it snarls.

128. _Fuit haud iqnobilis Argis,_] Sir Henry Halford furnishes a parallel story (Essays, p. 61): "One case, that of the gentleman of Argos, whose delusion led him to suppose that he was attending the representation of a play, as he sat in his bedchamber, is so exact, that I saw a person of exalted rank (George III.) under those very circumstances of delusion, and heard him call upon Mr. Garrick to exert himself in the performance of Hamlet."

131. _Caetera qui vitae servaret_] "Though he observed all the other duties of life."

134. _Et signo laeso_] The 'amphorae' or 'lagenae' were sealed with the owner's seal when they were filled. Horace says that the man was not one who would get furious if he found the slaves had opened a 'lagena,' and drunk the contents. See C. iii. 8. 11. 12.

135. _puteum vitare patentem._] Wells were usually surrounded with a wall ('puteal') two or three feet high. See Dict. Antt.

136. _cognatorum opibus_] See S. ii. 3. 217, n., and as to 'elleborum,' see v. 83 of that Satire. 'Meracus' is generally applied only to wine.

141. _Nimirum sapere est_] See Introduction.

158. _quod quis libra mercatur et aere,_] There was a mode of sale which was called 'per aes et libram.' A third person held a pair of scales ('libra'), which the purchaser touched with a piece of money, at the same time laying his hand on the thing purchased. According to a set form of words he claimed the thing as his own, and handed the money to the seller as a token of the sum agreed upon. This form of purchase was called 'mancipatio.' The seller was said 'mancipio dare' (to which 'mancipare' in this place is equivalent), and the purchaser was said 'mancipio accipere.' A man might become owner of 'res mancipii' by having been in possession for a certain time, as much as if he had received it by 'mancipatio.' Hence 'usus' is said 'mancipare,' because the effect is the same whether a man got his ownership by 'usus,' that is, possession, or by 'mancipatio.' 'Usus' here means that sort of possession which consists in the enjoyment of the fruits by paying for them. Before 'quaedam,' 'si' must be supplied again.

160. _villicus Orbi,_] Who is meant by Orbius, if anybody, it is impossible to say. He had landed property and sold the produce. As to 'villicus,' see Epp. 1. 14. 1, n.

163. _cadum temeti:_] 'Temetum' is an old word signifying 'wine.' See Forcell.

164. _trecentis--nummorum millibus_] 'Three hundred sestertia.' Taking the value of the 'sestertium' at 8_l._ 17_s._ 1_d._, this sum would be 2,656_l._ 5_s._ of English money.

167. _Emptor Aricini quondam_] 'Emptor quondam,' as Orelli says, is equivalent to 'is qui quondam emit,' 'he who buys at any time.' As to Aricia, see S. i. 5. 1, n. The old Veii had long ceased to exist. It had been replaced (whether on the same site or not is uncertain) by a new city, which again fell into ruin in the civil wars. Julius Cæsar divided its lands among his soldiers. It appears, however, that Augustus restored it, and made it a municipium.

170. _qua populus adsita certis Limitibus_] 'Usque' in this verse is an adverb of place, not of time. It means 'all the way up to where the poplar stands.' There were many different kinds of private boundaries, as, for instance, a stone or an image of the god Terminus, with a tree or a clump planted near it, such as Horace alludes to. A ditch or a hedge, a stream or path, and many other marks, were sufficient to define the limits of property, and prevent neighbors from quarrelling ('vicina refugit jurgia').

177. _Quid vici prosunt_] 'Vicus' is used for any collection of houses. 'Vicus urbanus' was a street in the city; 'vicus rusticus,' a village. Here it appears to mean a villa with the adjoining cottages.

_Calabris Saltibus adjecti Lucani,_] 'Saltus' expresses 'pastures,' wooded or otherwise, on hills or in valleys and plains. Those of Calabria were low and without wood; those of Lucania were among the hills. See Epod. 1. 27, n.

180. _Tyrrhena sigilla,_] Small images of the gods, of Etrurian workmanship, in bronze.

181. _Gaetulo murice_] See C. ii. 16. 35, n.

182. _Sunt qui non habeant,_] See C. i. 1. 3, n.

184. _Herodis palmetis pinguibus,_] Herod the Great derived a large revenue from the woods of palm which abounded in Judæa. They were most thickly planted about Jericho and on the banks of the Jordan. The date-palm is that which most abounded there.

187. _Scit Genius_] See Epp. 1. 7. 94, n. 'Albus et ater' signifies 'cheerful and gloomy.'

192. _Quod non plura datis_] 'Because he finds that I have not left him more'; lit. 'because he finds not more than what I have left him'; in short, he gets less than he expected.

193. _simplex hilarisque_] 'A guileless cheerful man,' and so liberal. He says he is anxious to learn the difference between such a one and a prodigal, and between the thrifty and covetous, and of course to act the part of the former of the two in either case. 'Plura' means 'more than enough.'

197. _festis Quinquatribus olim,_] The Quinquatria was a festival in honor of Minerva, held on the 19th of March and four following days. Boys had holidays during this festival, that they might pay their devotions to Minerva, the goddess of learning.

199. _domus_] This word is omitted, and an imperfect verse given in some MSS. It has no meaning here. The best MSS. vary, and the commentators seem agreed to give it up without being able to find out what Horace really wrote. (See note on C. iv. 6. 17.)

205. _Non es avarus: abi;_] 'You are no miser: go to; what, do all your faults vanish with that?' See Forcell. for a variety of uses of 'abi.'

209. _Nocturnos lemures_] The belief in ghosts was as common with the ancients as with the superstitious among ourselves. The spirits of the dead were worshipped as Manes, Lares, Lemures, and Larvæ. Under the two former names were recognized the spirits of the good (see Epp. ii. 1. 138, n.); the other two represented cruel spirits coming up to terrify and torment the living. The Thessalians had the credit of extraordinary power in magic and drugs. (See C. i. 27. 21; Epod. 5. 45.)

210. _Natales grate numeras?_] 'Are you happy when you count up your birthdays?' that is, 'Are you content to see yourself advancing in life and drawing near the end of it?' As to 'natales,' see S. ii. 2. 60, n.; C. iv. 11. 8, n.

213. _decede peritis._] 'If you do not know how to live properly, go off the stage and give place to those that do.'

216. _lasciva decentius aetas._] 'A time of life which may be wanton with less indecency'; that is, youth, to which it is more natural.

THE ART OF POETRY.

There are no internal evidences, at all fit to be trusted, of the time when this poem was written, or of the persons to whom it is addressed. They are three in number, a father and two sons.

The poem professes to contain a history of the progress of poetry, and rules for composition, with criticisms of different authors and different styles. The rules are miscellaneous, and have little or no method, and the history is more fanciful than real. It is impossible to look upon it as a finished poem.

1. _Humano capiti_] The picture supposed is monstrous enough; a woman's head and a fish's tail, with a horse's neck, limbs from all manner of beasts, and feathers from all sorts of birds. This portentous medley (invented of course by himself, for we are not bound to suppose he had ever seen a pictorial monster of this kind), Horace considered a good illustration of some of the poetry of his day, in which figures and images were thrown together without order or purpose.

9. _Pictoribus atque poëtis_] This is a supposed reply, that painters and poets have always been privileged people, which Horace admits, but within certain limits. They must not outrage common sense, not should they patch their verses with images which, however pretty, have nothing to do with the matter in hand.

18. _flumen Rhenum_] This is the same form as "Metaurum flumen" (C. iv. 4. 38).

19. _fortasse cupressum Scis simulare:_] The Scholiasts all agree in saying this refers to a Greek proverb, μή τι καὶ κυπαρίσσου θέλεις; the origin of which was an answer given by a bad painter to a shipwrecked sailor, who asked him for a picture of his wreck (see C. i. 5. 13, n.). The man considered himself clever at drawing a cypress, and asked the sailor if he should introduce him one in his picture.

21. _Amphora coepit Institui;_] Of the 'amphora,' 'diota,' 'cadus,' 'testa,' 'lagena,' (all which names represent the same kind of vessel for keeping wine, oil, honey, &c.,) drawings will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquities. It was usually of clay, but sometimes of glass. 'Urceus' was the name for a jug of earthenware or glass, of which specimens of many different shapes have been found at Pompeii. As to the 'rota figularis' and other matters connected with the art of poetry as practised by the ancients, all necessary information will be found in the Dictionary of Antiquities.

24. _pater et juvenes patre digni,_] See Introduction. Horace passes on to say that there are those who are led into error by some standard of correctness that they have set themselves, some rule to which they adhere at all costs. One man thinks brevity the right thing, another smoothness of versification, another grandiloquence, another caution, another vanity, and to avoid the opposites of these they run into the excess of them.

29. _Prodigialiter_] 'Monstrously.' This belongs to 'variare.'

32. _Aemilium circa ludum_] This illustrates the case of those who can invent details, but cannot compose an entire poem. The 'Aemilius ludus,' near which this artist lived, is said to have been a gladiator's school, built by Æmilius Lepidus, but by which of those who bore that name is unknown. There were many celebrated persons so called. 'Unus' means 'singular,' surpassing all others, which sense it bears in S. i. 10. 42; ii. 3. 24; 6. 57 (where see note).

38. _Sumite materiam_] The next consideration is the choice of a subject, which should be well weighed with reference to the powers of the writer ('potenter,' κατὰ δύναμιν, v. 40).

42. _Ordinis haec virtus_] Having said that, if a man chooses his subject well, he will be at no loss to arrange his poem, Horace proceeds to explain what arrangement consists in, which is, saying everything in its right place and time.

45. _promissi carminis_] A poem he is known to have in hand, and which the public are expecting.

46. _tenuis cautusque serendis,_] 'Judicious and careful in planting his words.' 'Tenuis' signifies a nice discernment. The use of words is the next point noticed,--skill in giving by its connection new force to an old word, or in the introduction of new terms sometimes borrowed from the Greek, for the fashion of words is conventional and liable to change.

49. _Indiciis_] This means words, as being the signs by which things are made known. As to 'abdita rerum,' see C. iv. 12. 19, n.

50. _Cethegis_] See Epp. ii. 2. 117, n. 'Cinctutus' means one that is only girt about the lower part of his body, having the arms free from the encumbrance of the tunic-sleeves. The use of the tunic by the Romans was introduced, with other indulgences, from Greece and the Greek colonies, the ancients having worn only the toga.

54. _Caecilio Plautoque_] See Epp. ii. 1. 59. 170. As to 'Romanus,' see C. iii. 6. 2, n. 'Virgilio Varioque,' S. i. 5. 40, n. 'Catonis et Enni,' Epp. ii. 2. 117, n.

55. _Ego cur_] The words which Horace appears to have used for the first time have been observed in the course of these notes. Those which do not appear in any other author are mentioned on C. iii. 11. 10. The construction he here employs is unusual, and so illustrates what he is saying. 'Ego invideor' should, according to usage, be 'mihi invidetur,' as 'ego imperor' should be 'mihi imperatur' (Epp. i. 5. 21, where see note).

59. _Signatum praesente nota producere_] To give currency to a word stamped with a modern mark, a metaphor taken from the coinage of the mint, respecting which see Dict. Antt., art. 'Moneta.'

60. _Ut silvae foliis_] 'As woods in respect of their leaves at the close of the year are changed, yea they are the first to fall.' There is a little irregularity in the construction, but the meaning is clear.

63. _Debemur morti nos nostraque;_] Horace probably remembered very well the verses of Simonides:

χαίρει τις Θεόδωρος ἐπεὶ θάνεν· ἄλλος ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ χαιρήσει· θανάτῳ πάντες ὀφειλόμεθα.

_receptus Terra Neptunus_] The 'lacus Lucrinus' was separated from the bay of Baiæ by a narrow causeway, the construction of which tradition attributed to Hercules. Beyond the Lucrinus lay the Avernus lacus (lago d'Averno), a basin without any outlet, about a mile and a half in circumference, and fed by streams from Mons Gaurus (Monte Barbaro). The space between the two lakes was covered with wood. In the war with Sextus Pompeius, B.C. 37, Augustus, advised by Agrippa, to whom he had entrusted the task of reforming his fleet, opened a communication between the lakes, and between lacus Avernus and the sea, whereby he made a harbor in which he was able to practise his ships. This he called 'portus Julius.' This is the work Virgil alludes to (Georg. ii. 161). The basin of the Lucrine lake has been filled up by the rising of a volcanic hill (Monte Nuovo), and is now a swamp.

65. _Regis opus,_] This (like 'regiae moles,' C. ii. 15. 1) means a work worthy of a king.

_Sterilisve diu palus_] What work Horace here alludes to is very doubtful. The Scholiasts say that Augustus drained the Pomptine marshes. That Julius Cæsar contemplated such a work we learn from Suetonius (Caes. 44), and Plutarch (Caes. 58). That Augustus may have contemplated it likewise, and made the canal mentioned on S. i. 5. 7, while that design was in his mind, is possible. The canal extended from Forum Appii to Terracina, which is said to have been the length of the marshes at that time. Horace appears to be speculating upon a work which, though often attempted, has never succeeded.

67. _Seu cursum mutavit_] Suetonius tells us that Augustus, to put an end to the inundations of the Tiber, cleared out its bed, which had got filled with rubbish. To some such work as this Horace probably refers, in language a little exaggerated.

68. _Doctus iter melius,_] So it is said of the river in Epp. i. 14. 29: "rivus si decidit imber Multa mole docendus aprico parcere prato."

69. _Nedum sermonum stet honos_] This construction is explained by supposing the verb 'existumes' understood for the sake of brevity. 'Nedum' is 'not for a moment' or 'not ever so little.'

71. _si volet usus,_] See Epp. ii. 2. 119, n. Horace uses the words in the next verse without reference to their technical distinction. 'Arbitrium' was the judgment of an arbitrator, as 'judicium' was that of a judex. 'Jus,' in one of its senses, was a rule of law (Epp. i. 16. 41). 'Norma,' a carpenter's or mason's square. The deciding, ordering, and shaping of words is all that Horace means.

73. _Res gestae_] Here Horace begins a sort of history of different kinds of poetry, which is dropped at v. 85, and taken up again at v. 202.

75. _Versibus impariter junctis querimonia_] 'Impariter' is not used elsewhere. What Horace here calls 'querimonia' is ἐλεγεία θρηνητική, mourning for the dead. The earliest writers of elegy were Callinus of Ephesus, Tyrtæus of Attica, Archilochus of Paros, and Asius of Samos, all in the seventh century B.C. It was therefore of Ionian origin, whichever of these poets first employed it. That question, which was not settled in Horace's day, is not likely to be settled now.

78. _Grammatici certant_] See Epp. i. 19. 40, n.

79. _Archilocum proprio rabies_] See Epp. i. 19. 23, n.; Epod. vi. 13. The principal Iambic writers who followed Archilochus were Simonides of Amorgus, a younger contemporary of Solon, and Hipponax of Ephesus (B.C. 540).

80. _Hunc socci cepere pedem_] In respect to 'soccus' and 'cothurnus,' as the characteristics of comedy and tragedy, see Epp. ii. 1. 174, n. The metre most used in the dialogue of the earliest Greek tragedies was the trochaic tetrameter, which metre is used in many passages of the Persae of Æschylus. But the iambic trimeter appears to have been used by Phrynicus.

81. _Alternis aptum sermonibus_] By 'alternis sermonibus' Horace means dialogue generally; not those dialogues in which verse answers to verse, στιχομυθία.

82. _Vincentem strepitus_] When he says that the iambic overcomes the noise of the theatre, it may be that he refers to the clear intonation which that metre admits of, or to its engaging the popular attention from its adaptation to the understandings of all.

_Natum rebus agendis_] This means, that the metre suits the language of action.

83. _Musa dedit fidibus_] As to 'fidibus,' see C. iii. 11. 3. Though the flute ('tibia') came very early into use as an accompaniment to lyric poetry, it has always retained the name it originally derived from the lyre. The description of Horace includes the choral lyric of the Doric school, and the poetry of the Æolic school. The former was adapted to a choir, the latter only to a single voice. The former was so called, because it was cultivated by the Dorians of the Peloponnesus and Sicily; the latter flourished among the Æolians of Asia Minor, and particularly in the island of Lesbos. The one celebrated gods and heroes or renowned citizens, and was used at public festivals or at marriages and funerals; the other expressed individual thoughts and feelings. Alcæus and Sappho are the chief representatives of the latter school, of the former, Alcman and Stesichorus, Ibycus, Simonides, Bacchylides, and Pindar. Stesichorus and Ibycus were most celebrated for their poems on mythological subjects ('divos puerosque deorum'), while Simonides and Pindar were the greatest in ἐπινίκια, hymns in honor of the victors at public games ('et pugilem victorem et equum certamine primum'), and the poets of wine and passion ('juvenum curas et libera vina') were Alcæus, Sappho, Simonides, and Bacchylides. Horace does not mention one class of lyric poems, the threnes or dirges for the dead, of which Simonides was the greatest master.

As to 'libra vina,' see S. i. 4. 87, n.

86. _Discriptas servare vices_] He passes on to style (having alluded to various sorts of poetry), and says a man cannot be called a poet unless he can observe the characteristics of each style. This question involves the language, the characters, the plot, and the subjects handled. But the drama is the sort of poetry chiefly noticed henceforward. 'Vices' are the parts (S. i. 10. 12, 'defendente vicem'), and with 'discriptas' it means the parts assigned to each class of poetry. 'Operum colores,' 'the coloring of poems.'

88. _pudens prave_] 'Through a false shame,' 'pudor malus' (Epp. i. 16. 24).

90. _privatis_] 'The language of common daily life.'

91. _coena Thaestae_] See C. i. 6. 8, n.

94. _Iratusque Chremes_] 'Chremes' is put generally for any father in a comedy. The intensive compound of 'litigo' does not occur elsewhere. As to 'plerumque,' in the sense of 'interdum,' see S. ii. 5. 55, n., and on 'pedestri,' see C. ii. 12. 9, n.

96. _Telephus et Peleus,_] These persons were the subjects of many tragedies. Each of the three tragedians wrote upon them, and fragments of their plays are extant. Telephus's abject condition, when he went to seek for one to cure him of his wound (see Epod. xvii. 8, n.), and Peleus, driven from Ægina, and wandering in quest of a purifier for the murder of his brother Phocus, appear to have been the points in the history of these persons chiefly dwelt upon. As to 'ampullas,' see Epp. i. 3. 14, n. 'Sesquipedalia' ('pes semisque'), 'a foot and a half long.'

99. _Non satis, est pulchra esse_] 'Pulchra,' as opposed to 'dulcia,' describes that sort of faultless beauty which fails to make an impression on the feelings. Of the accidental rhyme that occurs in these two verses, Orelli has collected several parallel instances from Virgil and Homer.

104. _male si mandata loqueris_] 'Male' belongs to 'mandata': 'words improperly assigned you,' that is, not suited to your character (see v. 177).

105. _Tristia maestum_] Horace says there is a voice of nature within us which adapts itself to every phase of our fortunes, and speaks out in language expressing the emotions that belong to each.

113. _equites peditesque_] This is a comprehensive way of expressing all the citizens of Rome, with reference to their division by Servius Tullius (Livy i. 43). When the census was completed, the king issued a proclamation, "Ut omnes cives Romani equites peditesque in suis quisque centuriis in Campo Martio prima luce adessent."

114. _divusne loquatur an heros,_] The Scholiasts are divided between 'divus' and 'Davus'; the MSS. are also at variance. 'Deus' and 'heros' are brought together below (v. 227): "Ne quicunque deus, quicunque adhibebitur heros."

116. _matrona potens_] This epithet seems to have the same meaning as its kindred word πότνια, so common in Homer and the Tragedians. The officious nurse has always been a favorite character on the stage. We find it in Æschylus (Choëphoroe), in Sophocles (Trachiniae), and Euripides (Hippolytus). An ἔμπορος ('mercator') is introduced in the Philoctetes of Sophocles, and the prologue of the Electra (Euripides) is spoken by an αὐτουργός ('cultor agelli').

118. _Colchus an Assyrius,_] The Colchian may be put perhaps for any of the barbarous tribes on the shores of the Euxine, and the Assyrian for any of the Eastern nations. (See C. i. 2. 21, n., and C. ii. 11. 16, n.) The opposition between Thebes and Argos has reference partly perhaps to the play of Æschylus, Sept. c. Thebas, in which Polynices comes with an Argive army to get possession of the crown of Thebes, or to the Supplices of Euripides, which turns on the burial of the seven leaders who formed that expedition. But Horace may have had in mind many other plays of which the scene lay either at Argos or Thebes, in connection with Œdipus, the quarrel of his sons, the expedition of the Epigoni, etc.

119. _Aut famam sequere_] 'Either you should follow tradition and common belief, or at least, if you invent, your inventions should be consistent with themselves.'

120. _Scriptor honoratum si forte reponis_] 'Honoratus' is only an ornamental epithet, corresponding to Homer's κλυτός, etc. 'Reponis' means 'put upon the stage again'. The word is used in a different sense, v. 190: "Fabula, quae posci vult et spectata reponi."

122. _nihil non arroget armis._] 'Let him claim everything for arms,' that is, let him make arms his one appeal.

123. _flebilis Ino,_] There are several fragments remaining of a play by Euripides bearing the name of Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, and wife of Athamas, who threw herself into the sea with her son Melicerta, and went through various sorrows through the wrath of Here, and the rivalry of her husband's other wives, Nephele and Themisto. She was worshipped after her death as Leucothea, or Matuta Mater.

124. _Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga,_] Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides each wrote a tragedy entitled 'Ixion,' of which fragments remain. See C. iii. 11. 21. The wanderings of Io, the daughter of Inachus, king of Argos, in the form of a cow (whose passage across the strait that separates the Propontis from the Euxine gave it the name of Bosporus), are related in many ways. The most remarkable passage on this subject is contained in the Prometheus of Æschylus, in a scene in which she is herself introduced.

128. _Difficile est proprie communia dicere:_] 'Communia' means here what everybody knows, or what is common property, as opposed to fictions of one's own creating, and 'proprie dicere' is to tell it so as to make it one's own.

131. _Publica materies privati juris erit,_] 'Public materials will become private property.' Horace uses (without strict accuracy) terms which have distinct legal significations. 'Proprie communia dicere,' above, is the same as making that which is 'publica materies' 'privati juris.' 'Communia' is usual in the sense of partnership property, and is different from 'publica'; but here they have the same meaning. Horace seems to have followed a Greek proverb, χαλεπὸν τὰ κοινὰ ἰδιῶσαι. As to 'deducis,' see S. i. 10. 44, n.

132. _vilem patulumque moraberis orbem,_] 'If you linger not about the vulgar and wide round.' What Horace means, is the hackneyed round of subjects, phrases, and illustrations, ground which anybody may tread, and many have trod already. 'Patulus' is opposed to 'arctus' (v. 133); the latter means difficult, narrow ground, in which it is not easy to move except by treading precisely in the steps of him whom you are following, 'out of which diffidence or the plan of the work forbids you to advance,' that is, hampers your steps, and prevents you from showing any originality.

136. _ut scriptor cyclicus olim:_] A class of Epic poets arose some time after Homer, who, perhaps from the habit of reciting as rhapsodists the Iliad and Odyssey, were led to adopting subjects akin to Homer's, and connecting their poems with his; and their design appearing to have been to form their poems and Homer's into one cycle, embracing the whole history of the Trojan times, they came to be called by the grammarians Cyclic poets. Of these the oldest was Arctinus of Miletus, whose poem was a continuation of the Iliad, and nearly as long. One of them, Lesches, a Lesbian contemporary with Archilochus, wrote a poem known as the Μικρὰ Ἰλιάς. It opened with these two lines, which Horace may or may not have had in mind:

Ἴλιον ἀείδω καὶ Δαρδανίην εὔπωλον, ἧς πέρι πολλὰ πάθον Δαναοὶ θεράποντες Ἄρηος.

139. _Parturiunt montes,_] 'Parturio' has the same relation to 'pario' that 'esurio' has to 'edo,' meaning the effort or desire to bring forth, the being in labor. Porphyrion quotes the proverb on which this and the fable that Phædrus has imitated (iv. 22) of the mountain in labor, are founded: ὤδινεν οὖρος, εἶτα μῦν ἀπέκτεκεν, which in Athenæus, (xiv. 6) is quoted a little differently: ὤδινεν ὄρος, Ζεὺς δ᾽ ἐφοβεῖτο, τὸ δ᾽ ἔτεκεν μῦν.

141. _Dic mihi, Musa, virum_] This is a version of the opening verses of the Odyssey. Compare Epp. i. 2. 19, sq.

143. _Non fumum ex fulgore_] Horace says of Homer, that he does not begin with a flash which ends in smoke, but with him out of smoke comes a bright light; that is, out of a modest beginning the reader is led on to beauties and objects of interest; and he is carried rapidly forward, instead of being detained over matters preliminary and irrelevant. It is obvious that 'fumo' in the second clause is out of place, and is only used to maintain a verbal antithesis; and the beauties selected ('speciosa miracula,' 'striking marvels') are not the most striking.

145. _Antiphaten Scyllamque_] These are all stories from the Odyssey. Antiphates was king of the Læstrygones, a gigantic race in Sicily, who devoured three of the companions of Ulysses, and destroyed his ships (x. 80, sqq.). The adventure with Polyphemus, the Cyclops, forms the leading event of the ninth book. The description of Scylla and Charybdis is contained in the twelfth book (vv. 85, sqq.).

146. _Nec reditum Diomedis_] This was related in a Cyclic poem called Νόστοι. Meleager, who was one of the Argonauts and was still more famous for the destruction of the boar sent by Diana to vex the inhabitants of Calydon in Ætolia, was uncle to Diomed, being brother to Tydeus. The cause of his death is variously related. According to Homer, he was cursed by his mother, Althæa, for the slaughter of her two brothers (Il. ix. 567, sqq.), and her Erinnys pursued him to his death. But as this was before the Trojan war, and had nothing to do with it, to begin an account of Diomed's return with an account of his uncle's death would be absurd enough. It would seem as if some poet had been guilty of this absurdity.

147. _gemino--ab ovo;_] That is, from the birth of Helen, who was born from one of the eggs brought forth by Leda, while Castor and Pollux issued from the other. (See S. ii. 1. 26, "ovo prognatus eodem.") This introductory matter was handled in the poem Κύπρια of Stasinus, a Cyclic poet, of which the following fragment has been preserved:

τοῖς δὲ μετὰ τριτάτην Ἑλένην τέκε, θαῦμα βροτοῖσι. τήν ποτε καλλίκομος Νέμεσις φιλότητι μιγεῖσα Ζηνί, θεῶν βασιλῆι, τέκε κρατερῆς ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης.

148. _in medias res_] The ancients appear particularly to have remarked this quality of Homer's poems. See Quintil. vii. 10. 11. "ubi ab initiis incipiendum, ubi more Homerico e mediis vel ultimis?"

151. _Atque ita mentitur, sic veris_] "'Ita,' 'so,' (the oldest form of the neuter pronoun 'id,') differs from 'sic,' 'so,' as the logical 'i' or 'eo,' 'this,' differs from the demonstrative 'ho,' 'this'". 'Ita,' therefore, is the usual word with 'ut' following. But the poets (and sometimes even the prose-writers) use 'sic' in the same construction, and in others in which 'ita' is more usual. Compare C. i. 3. 1, "Sic te Diva potens Cypri"; and Epp. i. 7. 69, "Sic ignovisse putato."

154. _aulaea manentis_] See Epp. ii. 1. 189. In the next verse 'canto' is used for the actor. Cicero uses it in the same sense. (See Forcellini.) 'Vos plaudite' were the words with which a play usually concluded.

157. _Mobilibusque decor naturis_] Horace means that men's characters shift and change with the different stages of life, and that these changes must be attended to. He goes on to explain them in a clear and elegant manner.

161. _custode remoto_] This means the 'paedagogus,' as in S. i. 6. 81, where see note. This person's functions ceased when the boy assumed the 'toga virilis.' 'Campi,' as elsewhere means the Campus Martius.

165. _Sublimis cupidusque_] 'Soaring and ambitious.'

172. _spe longus,_] 'Slow to hope.' 'Avidus futuri' means 'eager to live longer,' or 'greedy of life.' Both these expressions are unusual.

175. _Multa ferunt anni_] See C. ii. 5. 14, n., and Epp. ii. 2. 55. The remark seems to be drawn forth by the dark picture of old age contained in the preceding verses. It has not much otherwise to do with the subject.

178. _adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis._] Both 'adjunctis' and 'aptis' go with 'aevo,' 'we shall dwell upon that which attaches and is fitted to the age we have in hand.'

180. _Segnius irritant animos_] When Candaules proposes to exhibit his wife's beauty to Gyges, Herodotus (i. 8) makes him say ὦτα γὰρ τυγχάνει ἀνθρώποισι ἐόντα ἀπιστότερα ὀφθαλμῶν, and Seneca (Epp. vi.) has a like saying, "Homines amplius oculis quam auribus credunt."

184. _facundia praesens,_] An eyewitness, who tells the spectators what he has seen, and does it in the flow of a long, set speech. This is the part of the messengers and heralds, of which one or more appears in every Greek tragedy. 'Praesens' means 'before the audience.'

186. _coquat exta nefarius Atreus,_] See C. i. 6. 8, n.; and as to Procne, see C. iv. 12. 5, n. Short fragments of the Atreus of Sophocles and Cadmus of Euripides are extant. The story of Cadmus and his wife Harmonia changed into snakes is told by Ovid (Met. iv. 563, sqq.). Such barbarities and miraculous changes, Horace says, may answer in narration, but if represented on the stage are both incredible and disgusting. He may have had some instance of this kind in view. See C. i. 6. 8, n.; ii. 1. 10, n.; S. i. 10. 42, n.

191. _nec deus intersit_] It was a reproach against the tragedians, that, when they did not know how to bring their plot to a close, they had recourse to a god. The gods were introduced on a platform above. Hence the proverb, "Deus ex machina," for any summary way of winding up a plot, or extricating one's self from a difficulty. 'Dignus vindice' means worthy of such intervention.

192. _nec quarta loqui persona laboret._] Thespis first introduced a single actor on the stage, who perhaps told a story and served to relieve the chorus. Æschylus introduced a second, and so brought regular dialogue into the drama. Sophocles added a third, and this number was rarely if ever exceeded. (See Epp. i. 18. 14, n.) The Romans observed no such restriction, but it must always be the case, if more than three actors are on the stage at once, that some of them can have but little to say.

193. _Actoris partes chorus_] The chorus should sustain in its place, and to the best of its power, the part of an actor; that is, instead of singing what is irrelevant to the plot, it ought to carry on the action. 'Officiumque virile defendat' is a way of expressing 'it must sustain a strenuous part,' or 'do its duty strenuously.' Horace uses the expression 'defendente vicem' in the same sense (S. i. 10. 12).

196. _Ille bonis faveatque_] The chorus is to utter sentiments showing favor to the good, and giving them friendly counsel, tempering the wrath of the passionate, and affectionate to the virtuous (which is in some degree a repetition of the first clause), commending temperance, justice, laws, and peace. The business of the chorus was to utter such reflections as any indifferent persons might conceive on the action before it, and to address those reflections to the characters represented, as one might address them to real persons under the same circumstances.

198. _mensae brevis_] Compare Epp. i. 14. 35, "coena brevis juvat"; and with "apertis otia portis," compare C. iii. 5. 23, "portasque non clausas," representing a picture of national security and peace. The chorus, to whom the principal persons communicated their intended crimes and deepest plots, were held to secrecy as a prime duty. Thus, Medea tells the chorus her intention to murder her children and her rival, and reckons upon their secrecy as a matter of course. Other instances are numerous.

202. _Tibia non ut nunc orichalco vincta_] The 'tibia' was an instrument originally made of a hollow reed (Pliny, xvi. 36. 66), or a boxwood pipe (Ovid, Fast. vi. 697), or the shin-bone of some animal, from which the name is derived. Afterwards it was brought to greater perfection, and was made of ivory sometimes. It resembled the flageolet or clarionet. It was usual to play two 'tibiae' together, as observed on C. i. 1. 32, where see note. Those in the British Museum have six holes. Probably in the days of Horace they had more. The metal which the ancients called 'orichalcum' is unknown. It was not to be found even in Pliny's time. The probable derivation is from ὄρος and χαλκός, the meaning being 'mountain-bronze.' With this the parts of the 'tibia,' which took to pieces as our flutes do, were bound at the joinings. Horace says that in simpler days the 'tibia' served for an accompaniment to the chorus, but afterwards it came to drown it. In those days the population of the city was smaller, the theatres less crowded, and the audience more reverential and attentive. What times Horace alludes to, it is difficult to say. Orelli thinks his history of choral music is a fanciful account, fluctuating wonderfully between the practice of the Greeks, that of the Romans, and that which his own imagination has drawn; and this is perhaps the case.

208. _Postquam coepit agros_] That is, "post Punica bella" (see Epp. ii. 1. 162, n.) if we take the Romans, and the Persian war if we suppose the Greeks to be meant. (See v. 93 of the same Epistle.) As to 'placari Genius,' see Epp. ii. 1. 144, and i. 7. 94, n.

211. _numerisque modisque_] This combination occurs above, Epp. ii. 2. 144. 'Liber laborum' is a poetical construction like "operum solutis" (C. iii. 17. 16) and "operum vacuo" (S. ii. 2. 119).

215. _traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem:_] The 'palla' worn by tragic actors had a train called 'syrma,' from σύρειν, because it swept the stage. This is what Horace alludes to. The Roman dress was probably not so splendid as the Greek. As to 'pulpita,' see Epp. ii. 1. 174.

216. _Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere severis,_] See above, v. 83, n. The sedate and serious Doric style would be expressed by 'fidibus severis'; but Horace is speaking generally, and probably from his own imagination, when he says that in the course of time the grave style of music to which the choruses were once sung gave way to a more vehement style, as the eloquence of the chorus grew more impetuous, and it began to speak in language obscure, prophetic, and oracular. There is no historical accuracy in this account, though in respect to the obscurity of some of the Greek choruses Horace wrote from what he knew of them.

220. _Carmine qui tragico_] Horace here passes on to the Satyric Drama of the Greeks. A goat was the prize contended for in the composition of the choral songs or dithyrambs to which the name τραγῳδία first belonged. The name may have been derived from the prize. (See below, v. 275, n.) The chorus appeared in the character of Satyrs as attendants on Dionysus, at whose festival they performed. Their subjects were originally confined to the adventures, serious and sportive, of that god, and therefore were a mixture of mirth and gravity. Chœrilus, an older contemporary of Æschylus, seems to have laid the foundation of an independent Satyric Drama, the entire separation of which from tragedy, as we now understand the word, was effected a few years later by Pratinas of Phlius in Argolis, about B.C. 500; thenceforward it was usual for the tragic poets to exhibit four plays at a time (tetralogies), of which the fourth was a Satyric Drama, such as the Cyclops of Euripides.

224. _potus et exlex._] This expresses the freedom which attended the Dionysiac festivals after the sacrifices were over.

228. _auro nuper et ostro,_] 'He who but now came forward in gold and purple (which ornaments gods and heroes wore), let him not pass into low language, as if he were a frequenter of taverns,'--which were commonly vaults under ground, and are therefore called 'obscuras.'

230. _nubes et inania captet._] As to the construction with 'indigna' in the next verse, see C. iii. 21. 6, n., and Epp. i. 3. 35, n.

234. _dominantia nomina solum Verbaque,_] As to 'nomina verbaque,' see S. i. 3. 103, n. 'Dominantia nomina' is an adaptation of the Greek κύρια ὀνόματα; that is, literal words as opposed to figurative. Horace says he shall not confine himself to these if he ever takes to writing Satyric Dramas.

236. _tragico differre colori_] As to 'differre' with the dative, see S. i. 4. 48, n.

238. _Pythias emuncto_] This seems to be the name of a slave-girl who got money out of her master, Simo. As to 'emuncto,' see S. i. 4. 8, n.

239. _Silenus_] This god is said to have educated Bacchus. He represented the 'crassa Minerva' of the ancients, 'wisdom under a rough exterior,' and it is in his graver character that Horace here views him. All ancient representations of Silenus exhibit him as a gross impersonation of sensuality and low fun, usually drunk, and riding upon an ass, with Fauns dancing about him. Modern ideas have confounded him with Bacchus, his foster-child.

240. _Ex noto fictum carmen sequar,_] 'Ex noto' perhaps means that the subject must be familiar.

244. _Fauni,_] See C. ii. 19. 4, n. Horace says that these rough beings introduced from the woods should not talk as if they had been born in the city and were loungers in the Forum, or languish in love-verses like a silly youth; but neither should low language be put into their mouth, for this is sure to offend the refined part of the audience, even if the vulgar applaud it. 'Juvenor' is a word not found elsewhere: it is adapted from the Greek νεανιεύεσθαι.

248. _et pater_] 'Those who had a father' means 'ingenui,' those who were born free and of lawful wedlock, since none others were 'in patria potestate.' As to 'cicer,' see S. i. 6. 115, n.

251. _Syllaba longa brevi_] As to the 'iambus,' see above, v. 79, sq. Horace here calls it 'pes citus,' a rapid foot, as elsewhere (C. i. 16. 24) he speaks of 'celeres iambos.' He says the rapidity of the foot caused the division of the verse into the form of a trimeter, whereas it was a 'senarius,' having six distinct iambic feet. The admission of a spondee in the odd feet, he says, was an after invention, in order to give more weight to the measure. 'Non ita pridem' means comparatively lately; but the verses of Archilochus had spondees in them. The history is not very accurate. Horace has himself imitated the pure iambic measure in the alternate verses of Epod. 16. 'In jura paterna recepit' is to be rendered 'gave a share of its patrimony.' The meaning is clear enough from the context. The politeness of the 'iambus' in making way for the spondee, and giving up some of its just rights, but not disposed to be so accommodating as to give up the even places in the verse, seems rather a heavy joke. 'Socialiter,' 'in a friendly way,' does not occur elsewhere.

258. _Hic et in Acci_] See Epp. ii. 1. 50. 56. The iambus, Horace says, is not commonly used in the verses of Accius and Ennius. Those of the former he calls noble trimeters, by which he means famed. He was no great admirer of them himself. The great weight he attributes to the verses of Ennius arose from the gravity of the measure, consisting, as v. 260 does, chiefly of spondees. But the absence of the iambus, in the opinion of Horace, convicts him either of slovenly writing, or of ignorance of his art. 'Hic' governs 'premit' (v. 262), as it does 'apparet.' 'This,' that is, 'the absence of this.'

265. _an omnes_] Horace says it is not every critic that can tell a rhythmical verse from an unrhythmical, and so an indulgence they do not deserve is accorded to our poets. 'But am I on this account to take all manner of liberties? Or, on the other hand, am I to suppose that every one will see my faults, and keep safely and cautiously within the limits of forgiveness? Why, if I do this, I may have avoided a fault, but I shall have earned no praise.'

270. _Plautinos et numeros et Laudavere sales:_] See Epp. ii. 1. 170, n. 'But, you will say, your fathers praised Plautus both for his numbers and his wit. Yes, they admired too patiently, not to say stupidly, both the one and the other.' Horace never has a good word to say for Plautus, and he here depreciates his wit as well as his versification. Both no doubt wanted polish; and Horace does not scruple to insinuate (in the above place) that it was only through haste to get paid that he turned out his works so unfinished. But his style and his defects were incidental to the period and manner of his life; his simplicity and drollery were given him by nature. If Horace did not admire Plautus, more learned men did, and Varro was one of them, and Cicero another.

275. _Ignotum tragicae_] The first representation of a play at Thespis was in B.C. 535. The name τραγῳδία belonged, as observed above (on v. 220), to the dithyrambic songs of the Bacchic festivals, and these are of uncertain origin, but of great antiquity. The extent to which Thespis can be considered the author of tragedy is, that he introduced an actor independent of the chorus, who sustained various parts under the disguise of a linen mask. (See v. 192, n.) This account, therefore, of the invention of tragedy at the vintage, the faces smeared with lees of wine, the wagon with which Thespis went round Attica, and so forth, may be rejected.

278. _Post hunc personae pallaeque_] Horace makes Æschylus the inventor of the mask and tragic dress (v. 215, n.). But there can be no doubt that he who first put an actor upon the stage, if he, as most suppose, gave him various parts to sustain, must have employed masks suited to the different characters. There were symbolical masks for different ages and classes and there were descriptive masks for different persons, representing peculiarities by which they would be known. The derivation of 'persona' is unknown. Roscius first introduced masks on the Roman stage about B.C. 100. The garment Horace means by 'palla' was an upper dress, which had a train to it (see v. 215, n.). For the proper meaning of 'palla,' see S. i. 8. 23, n. As to 'pulpita' and 'cothurnus,' see Epp. ii. 1. 174, n. Æschylus may have made improvements in what is called among us the property of a theatre, but there is no reason to suppose that he invented any of the above things. 'Magnum loqui' means that he taught the actor how to articulate loudly.

281. _Successit vetus his comoedia,_] Horace takes no account of the earliest form of comedy, from which its name is derived, the song of the revellers (κῶμος) at the Dionysia; or of the labors of Susarion, who as early at least as Thespis, at Icaria, a village in Attica, contended with a comic chorus for a prize. That which was before composed of jests and obscenities connected with the worship of Bacchus had now added to it personal ribaldry and political jokes, the former levelled at the spectators or against public men. Between Susarion and the period of the old comedy there were several distinguished writers, as Chionides, Magnes, Ecphantines, and others. The earliest writer of the old comedy was Cratinus. See S. i. 4. 1, n.

288. _Vel qui praetextas_] 'Fabulae praetextae,' or 'praetextatae,' were tragedies, as 'togatae' were comedies, with plots connected with Roman stories and manners. (See Epp. ii. 1. 57, sqq.) The Greek tragedies to which 'praetextae' were opposed, were called by the Romans 'crepidatae.' 'Docere' is used as the Greeks used διδάσκειν, for exhibiting a play, because the poet also trained the chorus as χοροδιδάσκαλος.

292. _Pompilius sanguis,_] The 'Calpurnia gens,' to which the Pisones belonged, claimed descent from Calpus, son of Numa Pompilius.

294. _ad unguem_] See S. i. 5. 32, n.

295. _Ingenium misera_] The following verses to 308 have little connection with what goes before. Horace says, because genius is above art, and all poets, according to Democritus, are mad, many neglect their persons and let their nails and their beards grow, affecting insanity. The question about education and nature in connection with poetry is taken up again at v. 408. We are accustomed to subscribe to the doctrine "poeta nascitur, non fit." The ancients were divided on that point, some assigning more to education, others to natural gifts. Cicero more than once alludes to the opinion of Democritus, that no man could be a poet without inspiration.

300. _Si tribus Anticyris_] There were three places of this name, each of which is assumed from this passage to have produced hellebore, a very improbable coincidence. Horace puts 'tribus' as we might say a dozen, or any other indefinite number. (See S. ii. 3. 83.)

301. _Tonsori Licino commiserit._] This name was probably that of a well-known barber of the day. (See S. ii. 3. 16, 35, n.)

302. _Qui purgor bilem_] The hellebore which the ancients used in cases of madness is a violent purgative, and they tried to act on the brain by relieving the stomach. Horace says he must be a fool, since madness is essential to poetry, for taking medicines to keep his stomach in order.

304. _fungar vice cotis,_] As to 'vice,' see above, v. 86, and S. i. 10. 12. Horace says if he only kept the bile from escaping, he would beat them all at poetry. However, it does not matter, he goes on; he will act as the grind-stone which whets the iron, though its own office is not to cut (exsors ipsa secandi). This is said to be a proverbial way of speaking.

310. _Rem tibi Socraticae--chartae,_] The writings of Socrates's disciples, such as Plato, Xenophon, Æschines, Antisthenes, Aristippus, will supply matter for the true (dramatic) poet, by teaching him the science and duties of human life.

314. _Quod sit conscripti,_] After the expulsion of the kings, the senate having lost many of its number under the last of them, the vacancies were filled up from the 'equites,' who were called 'conscripti senatores.' The others were 'patres'; and the whole body thus constituted was called collectively 'patres et conscripti,' or shortly 'patres conscripti.' Horace here uses 'conscriptus' as equivalent to 'senator.' It is nowhere else so used. As to 'judicis,' see S. i. 4. 123, n.

318. _vivas hinc ducere voces._] Living words are those that represent nature to the life, or which convey a vivid sense to the understanding.

319. _speciosa locis_] Full of telling commonplaces, sentiments, examples, and so on.

323. _Graiis ingenium,_] He says the Greeks had a natural taste for poetry, and cultivated it from an ambition to excel and thirst for praise. But this comparison of the Greeks and Romans does not appear to be connected with the subject that goes before, or the rules that follow from v. 333.

325. _Romani pueri_] See S. i. 6. 72, 77, n. The 'as' was divided into twelve parts, 'unciae,' of which the 'quincunx' contained five, and the 'triens' four, being one third of the whole, whence the name. The 'semis' (semi-as) contained six, being half an as. Albinus is said to have been the name of a usurer. Horace is representing a scene in a boys' school. "_Master_: Let the son of Albinus tell me: if you take an uncia from a quincunx, how much remains? (The boy hesitates.) You used to know. _Boy_: A triens. _Master_: Very well. You will know how to take care of your money. Now add an uncia: what is the sum? _Boy_: A semis."

332. _linenda cedro_] Books were smeared with oil of cedar to keep them from the insects. 'Capsae cupressinae,' 'book-cases of cypress-wood,' were costly, and would only be used for valuable books.

333. _Aut prodesse volunt_] 'Poets wish either to profit or to please, or to join both these together,' on which assumption several miscellaneous rules are founded.

337. _Omne supervacuum_] 'All that is superfluous flows away from a mind that is full,' that is, when the mind is full, it discards all superfluous words, it has no room for superfluities; as in a vessel that is full, if you pour more, it runs over and escapes. As to 'supervacuus,' see C. ii. 20. 24, n.

340. _Neu pransae Lamiae_] 'Lamiae' were hags, ogresses, who had the reputation of devouring children.

341. _Centuriae seniorum_] This language is taken from the 'classes' or 'centuriae' of Servius Tullius. Those who were more than forty-five were classed with the 'seniores.' The grave seniors like no poetry that has not something profitable and instructive in it. The Ramnes were the highest of the three centuries of equites which Romulus is said to have formed. They were patricians, and Horace calls them 'celsi,' 'proud.' The distinction of the original tribes had ceased to exist; the Ramnes are mentioned in opposition to the 'centuriae seniorum,' as young men to old, the reason of which is not plain.

343. _Omne tulit punctum_] 'He carries every vote.' See Epp. ii. 2. 99, n.; and as to the Sosii, see Epp. i. 20. 2, n.

347. _Sunt delicta tamen_] He means perfection must not be looked for, and allowance must be made for occasional blots.

353. _Quid ergo est?_] 'What are we to say then?' The expression occurs in Cicero sometimes, as in the speech Pro P. Quintio, c. 18.

354. _scriptor--librarius_] 'Scriptor' is the 'scriba.' See Epp. ii. 2. 5, n.

357. _fit Choerilus ille,_] See Epp. ii. 1. 231, n.

361. _erit quae_] See C. i. 1. 3, n.

366. _O major juvenum,_] There were two sons, and both 'juvenes'; both must have taken the 'toga virilis.' Horace goes on to tell them, that mediocrity, though tolerable in some things, is intolerable in poetry.

369. _Consultus juris et actor Causarum_] See S. i. 1. 9, n. As to Messalla, see C. iii. 21. A. Cascellius was a jurisconsultus. Little is known of him. He must have been alive when this poem was written, but very old. The names are inverted.

373. _non concessare columnae._] That is, the booksellers' stalls. See S. i. 4. 71, n.

375. _Sardo cum melle_] Sardinian and Corsican honeys appear to have been of inferior quality. See S. ii. 2. 15, n. Poppy-seeds roasted and mixed with honey were served in early times at the second course.

377. _Sic animis_] 'So poetry, which was born and invented only to give pleasure to the soul, if it fail but a little of the highest point, inclines to the lowest.' He says, as at a pleasant supper, bad music, bad ointment, and bad honey are worse than none at all, (for the meal can go on very well without them,) so a poem must either be extremely good, or it will be very bad, and had better not be written.

380. _pilae discive trochive_] See S. ii. 9, n. 'Coronae' are the crowds of spectators standing round to watch the games.

382. _Quidni?_] This is ironical. 'Why not?' He is a free man, and born free, and has a good property, and is a good man; why then should he not write?

383. _census equestrem Summam_] 'Census' is a participle. His property was not less than 400,000 sesterces. See Epod. 4. 15, n.; Epp. i. 1. 57, n.

385. _Tu nihil invita--Minerva;_] See S. ii. 2. 3. The expression is proverbial. Cicero explains it: "Invita ut aiunt Minerva; id est adversante et repugnante natura" (De Off. i. 31). 'Tu' is emphatic. "You are too sensible to judge thus, or to try and write against the grain."

387. _in Maeci descendat judicis aures_] As to Sp. Mæcius Tarpa, see S. i. 10. 38, n.

391. _Silvestres homines_] Horace goes on to ascribe the noblest results to the cultivation of true poetry, the civilization of mankind (represented under the legend of Orpheus taming wild beasts), the building of cities, the enactment of laws, and the ordering of society. Of Orpheus, the Thracian poet, the traditions are vague, and though there are fragments still extant that bear his name, he must be looked upon more as the representative of the earliest poetry and music of Greece, than in the light of an historical personage. Compare C. i. 12. 7, sqq.

394. _Amphion, Thebanae conditor arcis,_] This legend is mentioned in C. iii. 11. 2: "Movit Amphion lapides canendo." It is not noticed by Homer, who only knew Cadmus as the founder of Thebes. See Epp. i. 18. 41, n.

397. _Publica privatis--sacra profanis,_] This is a fundamental division of things ('res') in the Roman law.

399. _leges incidere ligno:_] Plutarch says of Solon's laws, that they were inscribed on wooden tables, called ἄξονες or κύρβεις, and that fragments were in existence in his day in the Prytaneum (Vit. Sol. c. 25).

400. _divinis vatibus_] Eumolpus, Orpheus, Musæus, Pamphus, Thamyris, are the principal names associated with the origin of Grecian poetry, and they are all called Thracian (see below, v. 405, n.). They are called 'divine,' not merely from the quality of their art, but from their connection with the worship of Apollo, Demeter, and Dionysus, whence above (v. 391) Orpheus is called "sacer interpresque deorum."

402. _Tyrtaeusque mares animos_] Tyrtæus, as mentioned before (v. 75, n.), was a native of Attica, and wrote in the elegiac measure. He left Attica and took up his abode at Sparta during the second war between the Spartans and Messenians, which began B.C. 685. His verses were chiefly exhortations to bravery addressed to the Spartans. There are three fragments, amounting in the aggregate to upwards of a hundred verses, which have a great deal of vigor and feeling in them, corresponding to Horace's description.

405. _Pieriis tentata modis;_] The country of Pieria lay between Macedonia and Thessalia, north of the range of Olympus, and on the coast of the Sinus Thermaicus. This accounts for the Muses being both Pierian and Olympian; and as by the southern Greeks all the north went by the name of Thrace, this may account for the traditions which assigned the birth of poetry to bards of Thrace (v. 400, n.), a country of which the language was pronounced barbarous by the civilized Greeks.

406. _Et longorum operum finis:_] The rural Dionysia (v. 275, n.), called τὰ κατ᾽ ἀγρούς, or τὰ μικρά, took place at the end of the year, in the month Ποσειδέων, when the labors of the vintage were over.

408. _Natura fieret laudabile_] See v. 295, n.

413. _Multa tulit fecitque puer,_] 'He takes great pains when he is young,' 'puer' being emphatic, as in C. i. 9. 16.

414. _qui Pythia cantat Tibicen_] At the Pythian games there was a musical contest in which flute-players and harp-players took part, the subject being the contest of Apollo with the serpent Pytho. The name given to this music was νόμος Πυθικός.

417. _Occupet extremum scabies;_] The Scholiasts say this expression was used by boys in their races.

419. _Ut praeco,_] See S. i. 6. 86, n. The rich poet, he goes on, purchases flattery.

422. _unctum qui recte ponere possit_] 'Who can put a good dinner before one handsomely.' As to 'spondere,' see S. ii. 6. 23, n. 'Levi paupere' is 'a poor man without weight,' whose name has as little weight as his purse. 'Atris' is 'melancholy,' as "minuentur atrae Carmine curae" (C. iv. 11. 35). As to 'beatus,' see C. i. 4. 14, n.

431. _Ut qui conducti_] See S. i. 6. 43, n.

434. _culullis_] This the Scholiasts (on C. i. 31. 11) say was the name of earthen-ware cups, used by the pontifices and Vestal Virgins. It was afterwards used generally for drinking-cups. With 'torquere mero' compare Epp. i. 18. 38, "et vino tortus et ira."

437. _animi sub vulpe latentes_] 'If you ever write poetry, do not be taken in by flatterers, who have a bad heart under a cunning face.'

438. _Quintilio_] See C. i. 24, Introduction.

441. _Et male tornatos incudi reddere_] The metaphors of the turning-lathe and the anvil are common enough for the composition of verses. The lathe was used by the ancients in the polishing and turning of metals, as well as of wood and ivory.

450. _Fiet Aristarchus;_] Aristarchus, whose name was proverbial among the ancients as a critic, was born in Samothracia about B.C. 230. He passed the greater part of his life at Alexandria, under the patronage of Ptolemæus Philopator, Epiphanes, and Philometor, the second of whom he educated.

453. _morbus regius_] This, which is otherwise called 'arquatus morbus,' 'aurugo,' and by the Greeks ἴκτερος, is the jaundice. Celsus says it is so called because the remedies resorted to were chiefly amusements and indulgences to keep up the spirits, such as none but the rich could afford. No disorder depresses the spirits more than jaundice. Here it is supposed to be infectious, which it is not.

454. _Aut fanaticus error_] 'Fanaticus' (from 'fanum') was properly applied to the priests of Bellona. See S. ii. 3. 223, n., and Juvenal iv. 123, "fanaticus oestro Percussus, Bellona, tuo." Juvenal also applies it to the priests of Cybele (ii. 112), "crine senex fanaticus albo, Sacrorum antistes." The influence of the moon ('iracunda Diana') in producing mental derangement is one of the earliest fallacies in medicine. The Greeks called persons supposed to be so affected σεληνιακοί.

455. _tetigisse timent_] 'The wise avoid him, as if he were infectious; fools run after him, like children after a crazy man in the streets.'

459. _longum Clamet,_] This is like Homer's μακρὸν ἄϋσε (Il. iii. 81).

464. _Deus immortalis haberi_] See Epp. i. 12. 20. There are various marvellous stories told of the death of Empedocles, suited to the character he bore in his life, of a magician, a controller of the elements, &c. This story of his throwing himself into Ætna is supported by very insufficient authority.

467. _Invitum qui servat_] See Epp. i. 20. 15, n. This is apparently a proverb. The construction of 'idem occidenti' is Greek, ταὐτὸ τῷ ἀποκτείνοντι. Orelli observes that this is the only spondaic hexameter in Horace.

469. _Fiet homo_] He keeps up the allusion to Empedocles, saying that the frenzied poet is as resolved to rush to his fate (that is, into verse) as the philosopher was, and if you save him he will not drop his pretension to inspiration.

470. _Nec satis apparet_] The crime for which he has been thus sent mad does not appear; whether it be for fouling his father's grave, or setting foot upon polluted ground. 'Bidental' was a spot struck by lightning, so called from the sacrifice offered upon it for expiation. I agree with Orelli in taking 'moverit' in the sense of 'violaverit,' as in "Dianae non movenda numina" (Epod. xvii. 3). Some take it to mean the removal of the mark placed on the spot.

INTRODUCTION TO THE METRES OF HORACE.

The metre of the Satires, Epistles, and Ars Poetica of Horace is the heroic or dactylic hexameter. The only spondaic verse is the 467th of the Ars Poetica.

The Odes are written in various metres, the verses of which are usually combined into stanzas. To these verses and stanzas names have been given in honor of ancient personages, and these names are generally retained.

A large part of the metres of the Odes belong to the class known as logaoedic. This name, derived from λόγος [speech] and ἀοιδή [song], is intended to show that the verses having the appearance of metrical irregularity, partake of the nature of ordinary conversational prose. Logaoedic verse may be defined as a variety of trochaic verse in which the irrational, or cyclic, dactyl is assigned a place: besides this, in most cases, the irrational spondee is also allowed. The cyclic dactyl is a dactyl compressed into the time of a trochee and is represented by the symbol [--)] [)]: in like manner, the irrational spondee is a spondee compressed into the time of a trochee and is represented by the symbol -->. Each foot of logaoedic verse is, therefore, to be read as having the time of a trochee, or of three short syllables. If a verse is catalectic the place of the last syllable is supplied by a pause, which is indicated thus: [^].

[Note--Instead of writing the long syllable of a trochee followed by a pause--[^], we may consider the long syllable as protracted by half its length and may write it thus, [|--]; the former method is adopted in what follows. The student may need to be reminded that the last syllable of a verse may be either long or short, though in writing the scheme it is assumed that it conforms to the law of the verse.]

In trochaic and iambic verse the unit of measure is two feet: thus the trochaic or iambic _dimeter_ contains four feet, and the _trimeter_ six feet. But in logaoedic verse, it is customary to reckon by the single foot; thus, a logaoedic verse of two feet is called a _dipody_; of three feet, a _tripody_; of four feet a _tetrapody_; and of five feet, a _pentapody_.

The logaoedic dipody, having the cyclic dactyl in the first foot, is called the Adonic verse, it is written thus [--)] [)] |--[)].

The logaoedic tripody is called the Pherecratic verse. If the cyclic dactyl is in the first foot, the verse is called the First Pherecratic, [--)] [)] | --[)] |--[)]; if the cyclic dactyl is in the second foot, it is called the Second Pherecratic,--[)] | [--)] [)] |--[)].

The ordinary logaoedic tetrapody is called the Glyconic verse. If the cyclic dactyl is in the first place, it is called the First Glyconic, [--)] [)] |--[)] |--[)] |--[)]; if in the second place, the Second Glyconic, --[)] | [--)] [)] |--[)] |--[)]; if in the third place, the Third Glyconic, --[)] |--[)] | [--)] [)] |--[)].

There is also a logaoedic tetrapody, having cyclic dactyls in both the first and the second feet, which is called the Lesser Alcaic; it has the following scheme: [--)] [)] | [--)] [)] |--[)] |--[)].

Horace uses two forms of the logaoedic pentapody. One, called the Lesser Sapphic, has the cyclic dactyl in the third foot, and an irrational spondee in the second foot, thus:--[)] |--> | [--)] [)] |--[)] |--[)]. The other, called the Greater Alcaic, differs from the former in being catalectic and having an anacrusis, or unaccented syllable, prefixed, thus: [_)]--[)]--> | [--)] [)] |--[)] |--[^]. In the Lesser Sapphic, there is always a caesura in the cyclic dactyl; in the Greater Alcaic, the cyclic dactyl always begins with the beginning of a word.

Five of the stanzas employed by Horace in his Odes are known as Asclepiadic; they consist of logaoedic verses in different combinations, the first foot in each complete verse being changed to an irrational spondee.

=1.= The First Asclepiadic stanza is composed of Lesser Asclepiadics, each of which is a Second Pherecratic followed by a First Pherecratic, both being catalectic, thus:--

-- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

This is found in three Odes: i. 1; iii. 30; iv. 8.

=2.= The Second Asclepiadic stanza is composed of three Lesser Asclepiadics and one Second Glyconic catalectic, sometimes called simply a Glyconic, thus:--

-- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^] [_Thrice._] -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

This is found in nine Odes: i. 6, 15, 24, 33; ii. 12; iii. 10, 16; iv. 5, 12.

=3.= In the Third Asclepiadic stanza, the first and third verses are Second Glyconics catalectic, and the second and fourth are Lesser Asclepiadics, thus:--

-- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^] -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^]. [_Repeat._]

This is found in twelve Odes: i. 3, 13, 19, 36; iii. 9, 15, 19, 24, 25, 28; iv. 1, 3.

=4.= In the Fourth Asclepiadic stanza, the first and second verses are Lesser Asclepiadics, the third is a Second Pherecratic, and the fourth is a Second Glyconic catalectic, thus:--

-- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^] [_Twice._] -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

This is found in seven Odes: i. 5, 14, 21, 23; iii. 7, 13; iv. 13.

=5.= The Fifth Asclepiadic stanza is composed of Greater Asclepiadic verses, each of which consists of a Second Pherecratic, an Adonic, and a First Pherecratic, all catalectic, thus:--

-- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^].

This is found in three Odes: i. 11, 18; iv. 10.

Two Sapphic stanzas are found in the Odes.

=6.= The Lesser Sapphic, or Sapphic and Adonic, stanza is composed of three Lesser Sapphic verses and one Adonic verse, thus:--

-- [)] | -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [)] [_Thrice._] [--)] [)] | -- [)].

This is found in twenty-five Odes: i. 2, 10, 12, 20, 22, 25, 30, 32, 38; ii. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16; iii. 8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 22, 27; iv. 2, 6, 11. It is also the metre of the Carmen Saeculare.

=7.= The Greater Sapphic stanza is composed of the First Pherecratic (known as Aristophanic) alternating with the Greater Sapphic verse, which latter consists of a Third Glyconic catalectic with an irrational spondee in the second foot followed by a First Pherecratic, thus:--

[--)][)] | -- [)] | -- [)] -- [)] | -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [^] || [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [)].

This is found only in Ode i. 8.

=8.= The stanza most frequently used by Horace in his Odes is known as the Alcaic or Horatian. It is composed of two Greater Alcaics, one Archilochian or trochaic dimeter with anacrusis (the second foot being an irrational spondee), and a Lesser Alcaic, thus:--

[_)] [...] -- [)] | -- > | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [^] [_Twice._] [_)] [...] -- [)] | -- > | -- [)] | -- [)] [--)] [)] | [--)] [)] | -- [)] | -- [)].

This is found in thirty-seven Odes: i. 9, 16, 17, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 37; ii. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20; iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 21, 23, 26, 29; iv. 4, 9, 14, 15.

Horace also uses in his Odes, though rarely, five other metres.

=9.= The Alcmanian is composed of dactylic hexameters alternating with dactylic tetrameters. It is found in Odes i. 7 and 28.

=10.= The First Archilochian is found in iv. 7. It is composed of the dactylic hexameter alternating with the dactylic penthemim. (A penthemim is two feet and a half.)

=11.= The Fourth Archilochian is found in i. 4. It is composed of the Greater Archilochian (which is a dactylic tetrameter followed by a trochaic tripody) alternating with the iambic trimeter catalectic (which allows irrational spondees in the first and third feet).

=12.= The Hipponactean is found in ii. 18. It is composed of the trochaic dimeter catalectic alternating with the iambic trimeter catalectic.

=13.= The Lesser Ionic stanza is found in iii. 12. It is composed of ten Lesser Ionics ([)] [)] __ __), which are variously arranged into verses by different editors.

In the Epodes, Horace uses once (Epode 12) the Alcmanian metre; once (Epode 17) the Iambic trimeter; ten times (Epodes 1-10) the Iambic strophe, composed of iambic trimeters alternating with iambic dimeters, in both which irrational spondees may stand in the odd-numbered feet; and also the following:--

In Epode 13, the Second Archilochian, in which the dactylic hexameter alternates with the iambelic verse, the latter being an iambic dimeter followed by a dactylic penthemim.

In Epode 11, the Third Archilochian, in which the iambic trimeter alternates with the elegiambic verse, the latter being a dactylic penthemim followed by an iambic dimeter.

In Epodes 14 and 15, the First Pythiambic, in which the dactylic hexameter alternates with the iambic dimeter.

In Epode 16, the Second Pythiambic, in which the dactylic hexameter alternates with the iambic trimeter.

It is sometimes convenient for those familiar with musical notation to write the scheme of verses and stanzas in musical notes. In such cases a long syllable is represented by a quarter-note, [P], and a short syllable by an eighth-note, [P/]; a spondee is written [P][P]; a dactyl, [P][P/][P/]; and a trochee, [P][P/]. Dactylic verse is therefore written in 2/4 time, and trochaic or logaoedic verse in 3/8 time. The cyclic dactyl may be written with sufficient accuracy [P/.][P//][P], and the irrational spondee [P/.][P/.]. From the examples which follow, the student will see how the scheme of any metre may be expressed in musical notation.

Lesser Sapphic stanza:--

[P][P/] | [P/.][P/.] | [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/] | [P][P/] [_Thrice._] [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/]

Alcaic stanza:--

[(.P/] [...] [P][P/] | [P/.][P/.] | [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/] | [P][-][rest] [_Twice._] [(.P/] [...] [P][P/] | [P/.][P/.] | [P][P/] | [P][P/] [P/.][P//][P/] | [P/.][P//][P/] | [P][P/] | [P][P/]

INDEX TO THE METRES OF THE ODES OF HORACE.

[The number placed after the opening words of each ode refers to the full-faced numeral prefixed to the description of its metre in the preceding pages.]