Note 22 — STATE OF ROME AFTER THE MURDER OF CÆSAR. TRIUMVIRATE OF ANTONY, OCTAVIAN, AND LEPIDUS. DEATH OF CICERO.
Havilland Le Mesurier Chepmell translation
The ode
O sæpe mecum tempus in ultimum
Deducte
II, 7.
is to be dated either from the time when Domitius Ahenobarbus united with Asinius Pollio (712), or more likely somewhat later, when Sextus Pompey made peace with the triumvirs, 713, Horace being then twenty-five years old. The punctuation in the edition of Lambinus is incorrect in the passage
Cum fracta virtus et minaces
Turpe solum tetigere mento.
There ought to be a comma after minaces, and a note of admiration after turpe, which is not an adjective but an adverb, according to the Horatian usage. The passage refers to those who in their flight stumble and fall.