ODES.—BOOK IV.

ODE I.

It is said that Augustus wished Horace to publish another book of Odes, in order that those he had written in honor of Drusus and Tiberius (4, 14) might appear in it. If so, he collected a few written since, and some perhaps before, the publication of the three books, among which was this. He tells us (v. 6) that he was about fifty, which age he attained 10th December, B. C. 15. He professes to deprecate the attacks of Love, now that he is old. The Ode is not unlike one he wrote when he was much younger (i. 19), and it is probable both are imitations from the Greek.

Argument.—Art thou at war with me again, Venus? Spare me, for I am old. Go to the young. Go to Paullus, for he is noble, handsome, clever. Give him the victory, and he will give thee in return a marble statue in a shrine of citron, with incense, music, and dancing, in his home by the Alban lake. I have no longer a heart for love and wine, and yet, Ligurinus, why do I weep and dream of thee?

2. Rursus bella moves?] See Introduction.

3. Non sum qualis eram] Epp. i. 1. 4. He here calls Cinara good, because she is dead, elsewhere he calls her ‘rapax’ (Epp. i. 14. 33). It seems likely that this name represents a real person, whether she appears under another name elsewhere or not, and that Horace had an affection for her. In the thirteenth Ode of this book (v. 22) her death is mentioned with feeling, and there is a reality in the references to her in all the places where she is alluded to, which cannot be connected with fiction. She was associated, in all probability, with Horace’s early days. Κυνάρα signifies, some say, a wild rose-thorn (κυνόσβατος); κινάρα, an artichoke.

5. Mater saeva Cupidinum] Repeated from i. 19. 1. Horace here does not copy himself, I believe, but some Greek original. ‘Flectere’ is a metaphor taken from the breaking in of a horse.

6. lustra] C. ii. 15. 13, n. See Introduction.

9. in domum] ‘More seasonably shalt thou keep thy revels in the house of Paullus Maximus, drawn by thy beautiful swans.’ So Livy (xl. 7), “Quin comissatum ad fratrem imus.” Here ‘comissabere’ is equivalent to ‘comissatum ibis,’ and therefore the reading ‘in domum’ is correct. Κωμάσδω ποτὶ τὰν Ἀμαρύλλιδα is an expression of Theocritus just like this (iii. 1). Κώμῳ χρέεσθαι ἐς ἀλλήλους occurs in Herodotus (i. 21). ‘Purpureis,’ (which signifies beauty without reference to color) savors of the Greek. ‘Torrere jecur’ is like Theocritus’s ὀπτεύμενος ἐξ Ἀφροδίτης (vii. 55).

14. sollicitis non tacitus reis] Compare C. ii. 1. 13, where he calls Pollio “Insigne moestis praesidium reis.”

15. centum] This is a large definite number for an indefinite.

16. Late signa feret] The idea corresponds to “militavi non sine gloria” (iii. 26. 2).

17. Et quandoque] i.e. ‘whenever, with thine aid, his smiles shall beat the rich presents of his rival, he shall set thee up in marble, under a citron roof, by the shore of the Alban lakes,’ of which there were two close together, the Albanus (Albano) and Nemorensis (Nemi), and on one of these it appears Fabius had a house. As to Berecyntiæ, compare C. iii. 19. 18. ‘Lyrae’ and ‘tibiae’ are in the dative case after ‘mixtis.’

22. Duces thura,] ‘Ducere’ is used for drinking, and here for inhaling. It has a great variety of meanings, which the context will generally explain.

28. ter quatient humum.] See C. iii. 18. 16. On the first few days of March, during the festival of Mars, the Salii, his priests, went in procession through the city singing and dancing, whence they are said to have derived their name. “Jam dederat Saliis (a saltu nomina ducunt)” (Ovid, F. iii. 387). The practice, according to Livy, was instituted by Numa (i. 20), “per urbem ire canentes carmina cum tripudiis sollennique saltatione jussi sunt.” See Epp. ii. 1. 86.

30. spes animi] ‘the fond trust of mutual love.’

35. The last syllable in this line is cut off.

40. per aquas,] C. i. 8. 8. He dreams he sees him swimming in the Tiber.

ODE II.

Iulus Antonius was son of M. Antonius the triumvir. He was a man of letters and a poet. In B. C. 17 the Sigambri, with two other German tribes, crossed the Rhine and laid waste part of the Roman territory in Gaul. They defeated the legate Lollius, and this disaster was sufficient to induce Augustus to go in person to Gaul, which he did, and at his approach the Germans withdrew into their own territories, and, giving hostages, obtained peace. The defeat of Lollius had caused great consternation at Rome, and the news of the barbarians’ subjection was hailed with proportionate joy. Augustus did not return for two years to Rome, having meanwhile restored order in Germany, Gaul, and Spain; but it is probable this Ode was written in the expectation of his return, and while the news respecting the Sigambri was still fresh, that is to say, about the end of B. C. 16. Augustus’s return to Rome was expected long before it took place (see C. 5 of this book). The general impression derived from the Ode is that Antonius had pressed Horace to write a poem in honor of Augustus’s victory in the style of Pindar’s ἐπινίκια, and that he very wisely declined. At the same time he pays Antonius the compliment of saying that he could celebrate Augustus’s victory better than himself.

Argument.—Whoso would rival Pindar must expect the fate of Icarus. His numbers roll like a swollen river. His is the bay, whether he tune the dithyramb or sing of gods and heroes, of victors or of women bereaved. The swan of Dirce soars to the clouds. I am but as a bee, sipping the flowers of Tibur.

Thou, Antonius, shalt sing of the triumphs of Cæsar, greatest and best, and of the holiday rejoicings that hail his return: and I will add my small voice to thine: and we will all sing songs of triumph, and will sacrifice, thou with bulls and cows, I with a young heifer.

2. Iule,] Virgil makes this name trisyllabic, after the Greek. Antonius’s grandmother on his father’s side was Julia, one of the Cæsars, though how related to the dictator is not known.

ceratis ope Daedalea] Dædalus, to escape from Crete, is said to have made for himself and Icarus, his son, wings, fastened to their shoulders with wax. Those of Icarus melted, and he fell into the Ægean, part of which was called after him (see C. iii. 7. 21). As to the plural ‘nomina,’ see C. iii. 27. 76.

10. nova — Verba] The ‘dithyrambus,’ of which word the etymology is uncertain, was a song in honor of Bacchus, and sung at his festivals. It was wild and enthusiastic in its character. ‘Nova verba’ signifies words coined for the occasion, as was common, and to be expected from the nature of the poetry, of which the metre seemed to a Roman irregular and arbitrary (‘lege solutis’). A few fragments remain of dithyrambic poems by Pindar. All his entire poems extant are ἐπινίκια, odes of triumph for victors at the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games.

13. Seu deos regesve] Among Pindar’s works were ὕμνοι, παῖανες, παρθένια, προσόδια, in honor of the gods, and ἐγκώμια, in honor of illustrious men. He may have written on the subject of the victory of Peirithous over the Centaurs (C. i. 18. 8, n.), and that of Bellerophon over the Chimæra (C. i. 27. 24).

17. Elea] This applies to the ἐπινίκια above mentioned. The plain of Olympia, on which the Olympic games were celebrated every fourth year, was in Elis, in the Peloponnesus. The chariot race and boxing (‘pugilemve equumve’) were the most prominent of these games. ‘Equum’ is put for the rider, as in A. P. 84.

21. Flebili sponsae] This has reference to another class of poems, called θρῆνοι, ‘dirges for the dead.’

23. Aureos] See C. i. 5. 9, n.

25. Multa Dircaeum] ‘A strong breeze lifts the swan of Dirce,’ that is, Pindar who was born at Thebes, near which was the fountain Dirce.

27. apis Matinae] See C. ii. 6. 15, n. Mons Matinus was in Apulia. The image here employed is very common. ‘Ripas’ signifies the banks of the Anio (see C. iii. 25. 13, n.). ‘Operosa’ describes, perhaps, the process by which nearly all Horace’s Odes were produced. No great poet is more artificial, and few more skilled in concealing their art, and giving it the appearance of nature. ‘Fingo’ corresponds to πλάττω, which word the Greeks used especially with reference to the making of honey. ‘Plurimum’ belongs to ‘laborem.’

33. Concines] The pronoun, though emphatic, is omitted, which is not uncommon. (See C. iii. 17. 5.) ‘Concines’ has particular force, expressing a chant in which many voices are joined.

34. feroces] The Sigambri had earned the epithet of ‘cruel’ by their treatment of the Roman officers, who, having gone to collect their tribute, were taken by them and hanged, which was the beginning of this revolt. See Introduction.

35. sacrum clivum] The ‘clivus sacer’ was a declivity between the Via Sacra and the Forum, down which the triumphal processions passed. A certain number of prisoners were usually kept to walk behind the victor, and when the procession reached a certain point in the Forum, they were carried off to prison and strangled. See Epod. vii. 8.

37. Quo nihil majus] This flattery is repeated Epp. ii. 1. 17. The unbounded kindness which Horace received from Augustus merited the word ‘melius’; in ‘majus’ he was not far wrong. ‘Divis bonis’ is repeated below (C. iv. 5. 1).

43. Fortis Augusti reditu] Orelli mentions that there are coins of the year B. C. 16, with the inscription S.P.Q.R.V.S. PRO S. ET RED. AVG. (vota suscepta pro salute et reditu Augusti).

44. Litibus orbum.] A ‘justitium’ had been ordered by the senate; that is, a suspension of business, during which the prætor did not hold his courts.

48. felix] Whether ‘felix’ refers to Horace himself, or to the sun, is doubtful.

49. Teque dum procedis,] ‘Triumphus’ is addressed as a divinity, as in Epod. ix. 21, and Horace says, ‘As thou marchest, we will shout thus thy name, Io Triumphe! and again, Io Triumphe!’

53. Te decem tauri] Iulus was rich. Five or six years after this he was consul.

54. Me tener solvet vitulus] So “nos humilem feriemus agnam” (C. ii. 17. 32).

58. Tertium — ortum,] ‘Its young horns just bent to the form of the moon’s crescent when she is three days old.’

59. duxit] That is, has contracted or received. ‘Traxit’ would do equally well, and appears in one MS.

ODE III

The impression produced by the publication of his three books of Odes, which had previously been known only to a few, was such as, no doubt, to silence envy, and to establish Horace in the high position he here asserts as “Romanae fidicen lyrae”; and when, after several years’ silence, he produced the Carmen Saeculare in B. C. 17, it was received probably with so much favor as to draw forth this Ode. It has all the appearance of genuine feeling, and shows how much Horace had suffered from the vexatious detractions to which he was at one time subjected. It is an address to the Muse, gratefully attributing to her all his success.

Argument.—He on whom thou lookest at his birth, Melpomene, derives his fame, not from the games, or from triumphs, but from the streams and woods of Tibur, inspiring him with Æolian song.

They have named me the tuner of the Roman lyre, and envy assaults me no longer as it did; and to thee I owe this gift of pleasing, O Muse, who rulest the shell, and art able to give the music of the swan to the voiceless fish, if thou wilt.

3. labor Isthmius] The Isthmian games were celebrated every third year, on the Isthmus of Corinth, and were attended, like the Olympian games, by all the Greek states. The games were the same generally at both.

4. Clarabit] This word occurs nowhere else in this sense.

6. Deliis — foliis] This is another way of expressing ‘laurea Apollinari,’ ‘Delphica lauro’ (C. iii. 30. 15).

9. Ostendet Capitolio:] The triumphal processions ended at the Capitol, whither the victors went to return thanks to Jove in his temple.

10. aquae] The river Anio. He says the waters that flow past Tibur and the leafy groves shall make him glorious with the song of Lesbos, which he practises by the stream and in the grove.

12. Aeolio carmine] See C. iii. 30. 13, n.

16. Et jam dente minus] See Introduction.

17. testudinis aureae] This is Pindar’s χρυσέας φόρμιγγος (Pyth. i. 1).

18. Pieri,] This singular is not common. Ovid uses it (Fast. iv. 222): “Pieris orsa loqui.”

19. mutis — piscibus] The Greek ἔλλοπας ἰχθῦς is thus explained by some, but the meaning of that word is doubtful.

23. Romanae fidicen lyrae,] In Epp. i. 19. 32, he calls himself “Latinus fidicen.” ‘Quod spiro’ means that I breathe the breath, not of life, but of poetry. Compare C. iv. 6. 29: “Spiritum Phoebus mihi — dedit.”

ODE IV.

The history of this Ode is easily made out. The Vindelici were a tribe whose territories lay between the Danube and the Lake of Constanz, comprising the greater part of modern Bavaria and Suabia, and some part of the Tyrol. The Ræti lay to the south of the Vindelici, and reached to Lake Como on the south. These tribes, whom the historians describe as very fierce and warlike, commenced a system of predatory incursions into Cisalpine Gaul, in which they appear to have practised the greatest atrocities. Augustus was at this time (B. C. 16-15) in Transalpine Gaul, and Tiberius was with him. Drusus, his step-son, and younger brother of Tiberius, was Quæstor at Rome, and in his twenty-third year. He was required by Augustus to take the field against the offending tribes, whom he met under the Tridentine Alps and defeated signally. But, though driven from Italy, they continued their attacks upon Gaul, and Tiberius was accordingly sent by Augustus with more troops to his brother’s assistance, and they between them effectually humbled the tribes, whose territories were constituted a Roman province under the united name of Rætiæ, Rætia Prima or Proper, and Secunda, which embraced the possessions of the Vindelici: these also comprised several other tribes, of whom Horace particularly mentions the Genauni and Breuni. The whole of this war took place in the spring and summer of the year B. C. 15, and we are led to suppose from C. iv. 14. 34-38, that it was brought to a conclusion in the month of August, on the anniversary of the capture of Alexandria by Augustus in the year 30 (C. i. 37, Introduction). In honor of these victories Horace composed this Ode and the fourteenth of this book, the one more expressly to celebrate the name of Drusus, the other of Tiberius. The two Odes therefore must historically be viewed together, though it seems likely that this Ode was written immediately after the victory of Drusus, while the other was composed two years afterwards, when Augustus returned to Rome.

Argument.—Like the young eagle just darting on its prey, or the young lion fresh from its dam, was Drusus when he met the rude Vindelici, and made them feel what hearts could do trained under the eye of Augustus. The brave give birth to the brave. The steer and the horse have the blood of their sires, and the eagle gives not birth to the dove. But education brings out the seeds of virtue. What Rome owes to the Nerones let the Meturus witness, and the day which saw Hasdrubal defeated, and drove the clouds and the fierce African from Latium. Our strength grew and our gods returned from that day, and Hannibal was forced to cry, “As the deer might pursue the wolf, we are pursuing those we should fly. Like the shorn oak, they gave strength with every blow, as the Hydra or the monsters of Thebes. Sink them in the deep, they rise more glorious than ever, and overthrow their victor in his strength. No more shall I send messengers of victory to Carthage; fallen, fallen are our hopes, and our fortune, for Hasdrubal is gone!”

The hand of a Claudius prospers, for Jove and his own sagacity deliver him from danger.

1. Qualem] The apodosis of this long opening (which, however, gains power as it proceeds) is to be found in the seventeenth verse. The best way to render it will be by changing the cases in ‘ministrum’ and ‘juventas’: ‘as the thunderbolt’s winged minister one day by youth and native strength from its nest is driven, and by the breezes of spring is fluttering taught,’ etc. Virgil calls the eagle “Jovis armiger” (Aen. v. 255), which Pliny (N. H. x. 3, 4) says is his conventional title.

2. aves vagas] ‘Vaga,’ as an epithet applied to birds, corresponds to the Greek ἠερόφοιτος. Horace follows a legend later than Homer in the story of Ganymede (see C. iii. 20. 16).

5. Olim] See C. ii. 10. 17, n. ‘Propulit,’ ‘docuere,’ ‘demisit,’ ‘egit,’ are used in an aoristic sense.

9. mox in ovilia] ‘Then on the fold by instinct quick is hurried hostile down, again on the writhing snake is sent by love of food and fight.’

13. Qualemve laetis] ‘Or as a she-goat, intent on glad pastures, sees the lion’s whelp, fresh from his tawny mother’s dugs, just weaned,—she by his young tooth soon to die.’

14. matris ab ubere] ‘Ab,’ like ἀπό, is used absolutely; ‘fresh from the dugs of his dam, yea, just weaned from the milk of his mother.’

17. Raetis] See Introduction.

18. quibus Mos unde] All we can gather from these verses is, that the Vindelici carried some species of battle-axe, that the Romans had felt the weight and edge of it, and that the Vindelici were counted a strange, wild race, whose origin and history the Romans professed to know nothing about.

21. quaerere distuli,] ‘I ask not now,’—the question would be out of place, he means, and some commentators, agreeing with him, have discarded this stanza as an interpolation.

22. Nec scire fas est] C. i. 11. 1.

sed diu] ‘Sed’ is commonly used after digressions to recover the thread of the subject.

24. revictae] That ‘re’ is added to some verbs without materially changing their meaning, has been shown before (C. i. 31. 12, n.).

25. quid mens] The difference between ‘mens’ and ‘indoles’ is, that one refers to the head, the other to what we should call the heart, the disposition.

28. Nerones.] The father of Tiberius and Drusus was Tiberius Claudius Nero, which was also the emperor’s name. Drusus was Nero Claudius Drusus. The latter was not born till three months after his mother Livia married Augustus.

29. Fortes creantur] It is more than probable that Horace had in his mind the words of Euripides,—

ἐσθλῶν ἀπ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ἐσθλὰ γίγνεσθαι τέκνα, κακῶν δ᾽ ὅμοια τῇ φύσει τῇ τοῦ πατρός (Fr. Alcm. 7).

‘Fortibus et bonis’ corresponds to the common Greek expression, which it is so difficult to render, καλοῖς κἀγαθοῖς. Those words are in the ablative case. Horace does not refer to the father of these youths, who was a worthless person, but generally to their family, the Claudia gens, among whom were many persons of distinction. They were divided into a patrician and a plebeian branch. To the latter belonged the Marcelli. See C. i. 12. 46, n.

37. Neronibus] Claudius Nero, who was of the family of which Tiberius and Drusus came, defeated and slew Hasdrubal, when he was coming to the help of his brother Hannibal, B. C. 207, on the banks of the Metaurus, a river in the north of Italy. Hannibal had been nearly eleven years in Italy, and had met with few reverses, but after his brother’s defeat his cause failed, and, though he remained four years longer in Italy, it was far away in the mountains of the south, and the Romans ceased to be harassed by him. Horace, therefore, is accurate here.

38. Metaurum] See A. P. 18: “Aut flumen Rhenum.” The name is formed into an adjective in both cases.

41. adorea,] ‘Ador’ was a coarse grain called by the Greeks ζειά, but the name was applied to grain in general, and in the form ‘adorea’ signified the supply of corn given to soldiers after a victory, and hence was used as synonymous with victory itself.

42. Dirus] C. ii. 12. 2, n. This is the third time this epithet is applied to Hannibal, whom with reason the Romans held in greater respect than any enemy they ever had, though ‘perfidia plus quam Punica’ was freely attributed to him. ‘Ut,’ ‘ever since’ (Epod. vii. 19). ‘Taedas’ is not torches but a forest of pines, a conflagration in which is one of the most terrific sights that the eye can witness. ‘Equitavit’ seems to be taken from Eurip. (Phoen. 209),—

περιῤῥύτων ὑπὲρ ἀκαρπίστων πεδίων Σικελίας Ζεφύρου πνοαῖς ἱππεύσαντος ἐν οὐρανῷ κάλλιστον κελάδημα.

51. Sectamur ultro] ‘We are pushing on and pursuing those whom to evade and to escape is our noblest triumph.’ There is often some difficulty in translating ‘ultro.’ ‘Uls’ is an old preposition involving the same root as ‘ille,’ and signifying ‘on the other side of,’ opposed to ‘eis.’ ‘Ultro’ signifies to a place beyond, as ‘ultra’ at a place beyond. If ‘ultro,’ therefore, ever means ‘voluntarily,’ it is not as involving the root ‘vol’ of ‘volo,’ but as implying the forwardness of the agent to do what he is not obliged or asked. With this speech of Hannibal may be compared the words Livy puts into his mouth (xxvii. 51).

54. Jactata Tuscis aequoribus] Virgil represents Æneas as having barely rounded the western promontory of Sicily, and entered the Mare Tyrrhenum, when the storm arose that drove him back to the coast of Africa (Aen. i. 67, iii. 705, sqq.). His voyage was prosperous after he left Sicily the second time, according to Virgil’s account.

sacra] Æneas is said to have brought with him to Rome the fire of Vesta and the images of the ‘Penates publici,’ who were ever after worshipped at Rome. They were the protectors of the city, as the ‘Penates domestici’ or ‘privati’ were of private houses, and like them they were worshipped as Lares. (See C. iii. 23. 19; iv. 4. 19; S. ii. 3. 26, n.)

59. Per damna,] See Livy (xxix. 3), “Illis Romanam plebem, illis Latium juventutem praebuisse majorem semper frequentioremque pro tot caesis adolescentibus subolescentem.”

62. Vinci dolentem] ‘Indignant at the thought of being beaten’, or ‘refusing to be beaten,’ as “penna metuente solvi” (C. ii. 2. 7), ‘a wing that will not melt.’ The destruction of the hydra, a monster with nine heads, each of which, as Hercules knocked it off with his club, was replaced by two new ones, is the second of the labors of that hero.

63. Colchi] Jason, when he went for the golden fleece, sowed at Colchis part of the teeth of the dragon which Cadmus had killed, and whose teeth he had sown at Thebes. From both sprung up armed men, to whom Hannibal here likens the Romans. Echion was one of the γηγενεῖς, ‘earth-borns,’ who helped Cadmus to build Thebes, which is therefore called after him.

66. integrum] That is, ‘in all his strength,’ ‘intact,’ ‘unhurt.’

73. Claudiae] See note on v. 29.

76. acuta belli.] This corresponds to Hom. (Il. iv. 352), ὀξὺν Ἄρηα. The same construction occurs C. iv. 12. 19, “amara curarum.” ‘Expediunt’ means ‘carry them through’: ‘diligence and sagacity carry them through the dangers of war.’

ODE V.

This Ode was written after the German victories celebrated in the last Ode and C. 14, and perhaps sent to Augustus in Gaul B. C. 14. Its professed object is to induce Augustus to hasten his return, and to describe the blessings of his reign. What were the reasons for the emperor’s protracted absence, we cannot tell. It was perhaps the policy of Augustus to make his absence felt, and we may believe that the language of Horace, which bears much more the impression of real feeling than of flattery, represented the sentiments of great numbers at Rome, who felt the want of that presiding genius which had brought the city through its long troubles and given it comparative peace. There could not be a more comprehensive picture of security and rest obtained through the influence of one mind than is represented in this Ode, if we except that with which no merely mortal language can compare (Isaiah xi. and lxv.; Micah iv.). The Carmen Seculare contains much that is repeated here. Virgil’s description in his fourth Eclogue may be read in connection with this Ode.

Argument.—Too long hast thou left us, our guardian; fulfil thy promise and return as the spring to gladden our hearts. As the mother for her absent son, so does Rome sigh for her Cæsar. Our fields are at peace, the very sea is at rest, our morals are pure, our women are chaste, the law is strong, our enemies are silenced, each man lives in quiet and blesses thy name, as Greece that of Castor or Hercules. Long mayest thou be spared to bless us, is our prayer, both morning and evening.

1. Divis orte bonis,] Compare C. iv. 2. 38. ‘Custos’ is repeated in “custode rerum Caesare” (C. iv. 15. 17). ‘Romulus’ or ‘Romuleus,’ ‘Dardanus’ or ‘Dardanius,’ are used as the metre requires by the poets.

5. Lucem] ‘joy.’

7. it dies] C. ii. 14. 5, “Quotquot eunt dies.”

10. Carpathii] The Carpathian Sea is that part of the Ægean which lies between Rhodes and Crete, taking its name from the island Carpathus, which lay half-way between those two islands.

13. Votis ominibusque et precibus] ‘with vows, and watching the omens, and prayers.’

18. Nutrit rura] The repetition of ‘rura’ is plainly designed. ‘The ox wanders in security over the fields, to the fields Ceres gives fertility.’ ‘Faustitas’ is a new name, not elsewhere met with, for ‘Felicitas.’ Velleius (ii. 89) thus describes the blessings secured by Augustus: “Rediit cultus agris, sacris honos, securitas hominibus, certa cuique rerum suarum possessio.”

19. Pacatum] This means ‘delivered from pirates,’ who infested the Mediterranean till Augustus put them down.

20. Culpari metuit Fides,] ‘men’s faith is without reproach.’

22. Mos et lex] This is the combination required in C. iii. 24. 35: “Quid leges sine moribus.” On the proper distinction between ‘mos’ and ‘lex,’ see article ‘Jus’ in Smith’s Dict. Ant.

23. Lauduntur simili prole puerperae,] This is a way of expressing chastity derived from the Greeks. Horace is referring in these verses to a law for the suppression of adultery, passed by Augustus, B. C. 17.

24. Culpam poena premit comes.] ‘Crime is followed close by punishment.’

25. Quis Parthum] This stanza shows that the enemies mentioned were still objects of uneasiness; but the Parthians were at this time quiet; the most troublesome of the German tribes had been humbled by Augustus or his stepsons, and he was employed in quelling disturbances in Spain.

29. Condit] There are many examples of this use of ‘condo,’ which signifies to bring to an end, and as it were to lay up in store. “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon” (1 Kings iv. 25).

31, 32. et alteris Te mensis adhibet deum;] ‘and invites thee, as a god, to the second course.’

34. Laribus] At the second course, it was usual to offer libations and prayers to the Lares (see C. iii. 23. 4, n.). Dion Cass. (li. 19) says that after the battle of Actium the senate decreed that all men should offer libations to Augustus at private tables as well as in the public feasts, and that his name should be inserted in the hymns of praise as the name of the gods. As to ‘pateris’ see S. i. 6. 118.

37, 38. Longas — ferias Praestes Hesperiae!] ‘Mayest thou give to Italy long holidays,’ or ‘seasons of rejoicing.’ See Argument.

39. dicimus uvidi] ‘Uvidus’ is the same word as ‘udus,’ which is a contracted form. It is not formed from ‘uva,’ though it here means ‘drenched with wine.’

ODE VI.

The appointment of Horace to compose the principal Ode at the Secular Games, B. C. 17, seems to have given him much pleasure, and to have given his mind a new stimulus in favor of ode-writing. To the honor thus conferred upon him we owe, perhaps as much as to Augustus’s bidding, this fourth book, of which the third, sixth, eighth, and ninth, all bear marks of the legitimate pride that circumstance awakened. This sixth Ode is a kind of preface to the Secular Ode, and dwells chiefly on the praises of Apollo as having been the slayer of Achilles, and thereby having preserved Æneas to be the founder of the Roman family; and having prayed for and obtained the help of that god for the task he is going to perform, Horace turns, as choragus, to the members of his chorus, consisting of twenty-seven boys and as many girls of noble birth (C. S., Int.), and instructs them in their duty.

Argument.—O thou, the punisher of Niobe and Tityos, and the slayer of Achilles, he who shook the walls of Troy was no match for thee, but fell under thy strength as the pine-tree laid low by the axe, or the cypress by the east wind. He would have taken Troy, not by guile but by cruel force, but that Jove had granted Æneas to thy prayers and those of his dear Venus. O Apollo, support the honor of the Roman Muse. His spirit is upon me: ye virgins and boys, keep time to my song, and sing of Apollo and Diana. O damsel! when a bride, thou shalt look back and say, “When the age brought back its festival, I sang the pleasant song that the poet Horace made.”

1. Dive,] The purpose of the Ode being to invoke the assistance of Apollo for the composition of the Secular Ode, the invocation is suspended here, and not taken up again till the praises of the god have been sung, as the avenger of crime and the destroyer of Achilles.

proles Niobea] The number of Niobe’s children is stated variously by different authors. The version best known is that which Achilles gives to Priam, when he is comforting him for Hector (Il. xxiv. 602-617), that she had six sons and as many daughters, and that, because she had boastfully compared the number of her offspring with that of Lato’s, who had but Artemis and Apollo, these two shot all her children, who were turned to stone by Zeus. She was afterwards changed to stone herself. Considerable remains of a group of figures, said to be by Scopas (C. 8. 6), representing Niobe and her children, exist in the Gallery at Florence.

magnae — linguae] This is a close copy of Ζεὺς γὰρ μεγάλης γλώσσης κόμπους Ὑπερεχθαίρει (Soph. Antig. 127).

2. Tityos] See C. ii. 14. 8, n.

3. altae] This is an Homeric epithet for Troy, Ἴλιος αἰπεινή.

4. Phthius Achilles,] See C. ii. 16. 19, n. The death of Achilles by the hand of Apollo was foretold by Hector (Il. xxii. 358, sqq.), and is stated by Sophocles (Philoct. 334),—

τέθνηκεν ἀνδρὸς οὐδενὸς θεοῦ δ᾽ ὕπο τοξευτός, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἐκ Φοίβου δαμείς.

The common legend assigns it to Paris, but not without Apollo’s help (Virg. Aen. vi. 57). The country from which Achilles is said to have come was Phthiotis in Thessaly.

14. male feriatos] ‘keeping untimely holiday.’ The chorus in the Troades of Euripides (541, sqq.) relates how there was singing and dancing and joy in the city for the departure of the Greeks, when the cry of battle was suddenly heard, children clung to their mothers’ garments, armed men kept issuing from the horse, and murdered the Trojan youth at the altars and in their beds. See also Virg. Aen. ii. 248.

17. captis] This is not a genuine reading, but the true word is lost.

23. ductos] Aen. i. 423: “Pars ducere muros.” The Greeks would say τοίχους ἐλαύνειν. ‘Potiore alite’ is ‘under better auspices.’ As observed before, the auspices were taken when a town was to be built. Here Rome is meant.

25. Doctor argutae] Apollo had in later times the title of μουσαγέτης as leader of the Muses’ choir and their instructor.

26. Xantho lavis amne crines,] See Epod. xv. 9, about Apollo’s hair. The river Xanthus here mentioned was in Lycia (see C. iii. 4. 62).

27. Dauniae] See C. i. 22. 14, n.

28. Levis Agyieu] The Greeks gave this name (ἀγυιεύς) to Apollo, as worshipped in and protecting the streets of cities.

31. Virginum primae] The chorus on this great occasion was chosen from noble families, as the passage shows. (See Introduction.) The Lesbian foot was the Sapphic. There is no example of this passive use of ‘tutela’ earlier than Horace.

36. Pollicis ictum,] The beating of time by the motion of the thumb.

38. Noctilucam,] This was a name given to Diana as the Moon, which she represented, as Janus (the masculine form of the same name) represented the Sun.

39. Prosperam frugum] This and ‘docilis modorum’ (v. 43) are Greek constructions. The first means ‘her who prospers the fruits of the earth,’ which Diana would do by bringing round the seasons, for she was ‘swift the onward months to roll.’

42. festas — luces,] The Secular Games lasted three days and nights.

ODE VII.

It is pretty certain that this Ode is addressed to the same person as the fifth Epistle of the first book. But who Torquatus was, we have no means of deciding. The Ode bears a strong likeness to C. i. 4, and may very likely have been written about the same time, and afterwards inserted here to help out a volume. It contains an exhortation to present enjoyment since Death is certainly at hand for all.

Argument.—The winter is gone, and the spring is returning with its green leaves, its gentler streams, and its Graces. The seasons change and remind us of our end, but the revolving year repairs its losses, while we go to the dust for ever, and we know not when it will be. What thou dost enjoy thyself, is so much taken from thy greedy heir. When thou art dead, Torquatus, thy family, thine eloquence, and thy piety will not restore thee to life, any more than the love of Diana could bring back Hippolytus, or the friendship of Theseus, Peirithous.

3. Mutat — vices] ‘undergoes its changes.’ This is no more than ‘subit vices.’ ‘Vices’ is what is termed a cognate accusative. The meaning of the next words is, that the streams, lately swollen by the winter rains or by the first melting of the snow, had subsided and no longer overflowed their banks, but flowed quietly along them. See C. iv. 12. 3. Respecting the Graces, see C. i. 4. 6; 30. 5, n.

13. Damna — caelestia] ‘Tamen’ shows that the changes and deteriorations of the weather and seasons are intended, and ‘celeres lunae’ are the quick-revolving months.

15. pius Aeneas] Horace’s purpose is to show that no means are sufficient to bring back the dead, not piety, nor wealth, nor power. There is a similar verse in Epp. i. 6. 27.

19. amico Quae dederis animo.] ‘Whate’er thou givest thine own dear soul.’ This seems to be a literal version of φίλῃ ψυχῇ χαρίζεσθαι.

21. splendida] ‘Judgment august hath passed.’ ‘Splendida’ is an unusual word for such a meaning. As to Minos, see C. ii. 13. 23, n.

26. Liberat Hippolytum,] This is in accordance with the legends of Greece respecting Artemis and Hippolytus. She was unable to bring him to life. The Latin poets make Hippolytus return from the dead, being brought to life by the skill of Æsculapius; and Diana, in Ovid’s account, takes him and gives him into the care of Egeria, in the woods of Aricia (Met. xv. 543, sqq.). See also Virg. Aen. vii. 765, sqq.

27. Nec Lethaea valet] The common story of Theseus and his friend is, that, both having been consigned to their punishment together, Hercules went down and delivered Theseus, leaving Peirithous to his fate. This may be the legend Horace follows: for it may be understood that Theseus pleaded for Peirithous when he was himself returning, but failed to obtain his release.

ODE VIII.

C. Marcius Censorinus, the person to whom this Ode is addressed, was a man of birth and education, a favorite with Augustus, and generally much beloved, according to Velleius, who says of his death (in A. D. 2), “Graviter tulit civitas.” Horace pays him the compliment of believing that he would esteem an Ode of his more highly than any costly gifts he could offer, in accordance with the common practice among friends of making each other presents (‘strenas’) on new-year’s day and other festivals. Censorinus was consul the year that Horace died.

Argument.—If I were rich in statues and pictures, I would give such to my friends, and the best to thee, Censorinus. But I have none, and thou desirest not these. What I have I offer,—verses in which thou delightest. No monuments of marble, not their own mighty deeds, could ennoble the Scipiones like the verses of Ennius. Thine own virtues must remain obscure but for the Muse. What would Æacus or Romulus have been without her? She raises men to the skies, as did Hercules, the Tyndaridæ, and Liber.

1. pateras] See S. i. 6. 118, n.

commodus,] ‘liberally.’ “Miscentur cyathis pocula commodis” (C. iii. 19. 12) is a like use of the word.

2. aera] See S. i. 4. 28, n.

3. tripodas,] In the temple of Apollo, at Delphi, was a bronze altar on three legs, called from its form τρίπους. Imitations of this tripod were presented to the victors at the Pythian games. Herodotus mentions their being given at the games of Apollo at Triopium in Cnidus (i. 144).

5. artium] ‘Artes’ as ‘works of art’ occurs in Epp. i. 6. 17: “Marmor vetus aeraque et artes Suspice.” Also in Cic. (de Legg. ii. 2), “antiquorum artibus”; and in Virg. (Aen. v. 359), “clypeum — Didymaonis artes.”

6. Parrhasius] This painter flourished at Athens with Zeuxis about the end of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 404. Many of his pictures were to be seen at Rome when Horace wrote. Scopas, the sculptor and architect of Paros, who flourished (also at Athens) about the same time as Parrhasius, is the reputed author of some works that exist to this day; particularly the group referred to on C. 6. 1, which, if not the original, is an ancient copy. The statue set up by Augustus in the temple he built to Apollo (C. S. 33, n.) was also by Scopas, and it appears on Roman coins as Apollo Actius or Palatinus.

protulit] ‘Proferre,’ meaning to ‘produce’ (as we say) a work of art, is not common. Perhaps it does not occur elsewhere. ‘Ponere’ is a more common word. See A. P. 34: “Quia ponere totum Nesciet.”

15. fugae] This is only a way of expressing his hasty departure from Italy at the summons of the Carthaginian senate.

16. Rejectaeque retrorsum] This refers to Hannibal’s final defeat at Zama, as is shown by the reference to the muse of Ennius (‘Calabrae Pierides,’ v. 20), which was employed in the praises of the elder Scipio.

17. Non incendia] Carthage was destroyed by Scipio Africanus Minor, B. C. 146.

18. nomen ab Africa Lucratus] These words refer to Scipio Africanus Minor. In S. ii. 1. 65 he is mentioned in the same way as the man

“qui Duxit ab oppressa meritum Carthagine nomen.”

From a strict rendering of Horace’s words, therefore, it would seem as if Ennius had written the praises, not only of the elder, but also of the younger Scipio, who burnt Carthage twenty-three years after the death of Ennius. But, with a reader acquainted with the facts, no confusion could arise, and Horace wrote for those who knew them well.

20. Calabrae Pierides:] The muse of Calabria, i.e. of Ennius, who was born at Rudiæ, a Calabrian town, B. C. 239. He wrote, as observed above, a poem on the elder Scipio.

25. Aeacum] This was a mythical king of Ægina, and much celebrated for his justice. After his death he was made judge in Elysium (C. ii. 13. 23, n.), which, according to the later mythology, was one of the divisions of Tartarus, but which the earlier notions placed in certain blessed islands in the Western Ocean, by the Romans identified with the Azores. (See Epod. xvi, Int.) Horace says it was not only his virtue and the public esteem, but also the poet’s praise, that gained Æacus this honor. His praises and those of his family are frequent in Pindar.

29. Sic Jovis interest] These heroes are all referred to in C. iii. 3. 9, sqq.

32. eripiunt aequoribus] See C. i. 3. 2, n.

33. Ornatus viridi] See C. iii. 25. 20.

34. Liber vota bonos] This only means, that, by the help of the muse, Liber was made a god, and as such receives and answers the prayers of his worshippers.

ODE IX.

M. Lollius, to whom this Ode is addressed, as we have seen (C. iv. 2, Int.), was defeated by the Sigambri, B. C. 27, which disaster caused a great deal of alarm at Rome, and very probably raised a good many voices against him, and gave an advantage to his enemies. It is not improbable, therefore, that Horace wrote this Ode to meet their attacks, and to console Lollius under his defeat. He declares that his name shall not die, as many noble names have died, for lack of a poet to sing it. He praises him for his sagacity, uprightness, freedom from avarice, and hatred of corruption.

Argument.—Think not that my verses will die: though Homer stands first among poets, Pindar, Simonides, Alcæus, Stesichorus, Anacreon, Sappho,—these all survive. Helen was not the first woman that loved; nor Ilium the only city that has been sacked; nor the heroes of the Iliad all that have fought; but the rest have been forgotten, because they have no poet to sing of them. Buried virtue is little better than buried dulness. I will not, therefore, let thy labors pass unsung, Lollius; thy sagacity and uprightness, thy mind free from avarice and secure from corruption. It is not the possessor of riches that is wealthy, but the man who knows how to use the gifts of Heaven, and to endure poverty, who hates corruption, and is ready to lay down his life for his country or his friends.

1. Ne forte] ‘Lest perchance you should suppose—remember that, even if Homer stands first, Pindar is not forgotten.’ For other examples of ‘ne’ thus used, see S. ii. 1. 80; Epp. i. 1. 13; 18. 58; ii. 1. 208; A. P. 406.

2. natus ad Aufidum] Though Horace says he was born near the Aufidus, Venusia, his native town, was fifteen miles south of that river, on that branch of the Via Appia which leads from Beneventum to Tarentum. The Aufidus (Ofanto) is invariably described by Horace as a boisterous river (see C. iii. 30. 10; iv. 14. 25; S. i. 1. 58). But the character of such streams varies with the season of the year.

7. Alcaei minaces] See C. i. 32. 5, n.

8. Stesichorique graves Camenae:] The muse of Stesichorus is called ‘gravis,’ as, though a lyric poet, he chose for his subjects principally those which belonged to Epic poetry, as wars and heroes, and so forth. He was born at Himera in Sicily, about the middle of the seventh century B. C.

12. Aeoliae — puellae.] Sappho. See C. i. 1. 34.

13. arsit] This governs ‘crines’ as ‘mirata’ governs the other accusatives. See C. ii. 4. 7, n. Laodamia writes thus to her husband of the charms by which Helen was won:—

“Venerat (Paris) ut fama est multo spectabilis auro, Quique suo Phrygias corpore ferret opes:— His ego te victam, consors Ledaea, gemellis, Suspicor; haec Danais posse nocere puto” (Ov. Her. 13. 57, sqq.);

and Hecuba upbraids Helen with the same weakness (Eur. Tro. 991):—

ὅν γ᾽ εἰσιδοῦσα βαρβάροις ἐσθήμασι χρυσῷ τε λαμπρὸν ἐξεμαργώθης φρένας.

See C. i. 15. 14.

17. tela Cydonio] Teucer is described by Homer as ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν τοξοσύνῃ (II. xiii. 313). Cydon was a town of Crete, and the Cretans were famous archers. See C. i. 15. 17, n., and compare Virg. Ecl. x. 59: “Torquere Cydonia cornu Spicula.”

20. Idomeneus Sthenelusve] The first of these led the Cretans, and the other the Argives, in the Trojan war. Deiphobus was Hector’s favorite brother (Il. xxii. 233), and was reckoned, next to him, the chief strength of the Trojans.

27. Urgentur] So C. i. 24. 5: “Ergo Quinctilium perpetuus sopor Urget?” ‘Illacrimabilis’ is used in an active sense, C. ii. 14. 6.

29. Paullum sepultae] Virtue, if it be left in obscurity, is in no better position than dulness (which signifies generally a gross, unspiritual nature), when that too is buried; one is on a par with the other as far as influence is concerned, for neither exercises any influence at all; and, as far as his reputation goes, a man may as well be buried in stupidity as have his virtues buried in oblivion. There are some well-known verses in Gray’s Churchyard Elegy that correspond closely to Horace’s.

31. Chartis] See S. ii. 3. 2.

silebo,] So C. i. 12. 21: “Neque te silebo, Liber.”

32. Totve tuos patiar labores] These lines seem to have reference to the unpopularity of Lollius in connection with his defeat, which appears to be alluded to in the word ‘dubiis’ below. He may also have been the object of slander in respect to his personal character, which Horace here warmly defends, but which in after years was much blackened. There seems to be no other way of accounting for the earnestness with which Horace declares his friend’s innocence of the vice of avarice, for instance, than to suppose that fault had been laid to his charge, as it was so freely after his death (see Introduction).

33. carpere lividas] The plural ‘obliviones’ is nowhere else used. ‘Carpere’ is used in the sense of gradually consuming, and has something like that meaning here. ‘Lividus’ is akin to the Greek πελιδνός, and to the Latin ‘luridus’ (C. iii. 4. 74, n.). It means ‘dark,’ and is commonly associated with envy, which connects it with oblivion caused by envy. Horace says dark oblivion shall not swallow up the labors of Lollius with impunity; as if he were his champion, ready to defend him against the attacks of oblivion, his enemy.

34. Est animus tibi] ‘Rerum prudentia’ is a knowledge of the world. “Cato multarum rerum usum habebat” (Cic. de Am. ii. 6) expresses the same kind of experience. ‘Rectus’ means ‘erect,’ not stooping or bowed down, as “Fana deos habuere rectos” (C. iv. 4. 48). See also Ennius, quoted by Cicero (De Senect. c. 6): “Quo vobis mentes, rectae quae stare solebant Antehac, dementes sese flexere viai?”

37. abstinens — pecuniae,] For similar Grecisms, see C. ii. 9. 17, n.

39. Consulque non unius anni] Compare C. iii. 2. 19. Lollius was consul, B. C. 21, but Horace says that an upright ‘judex’ is always on a level with the highest magistrates, and such ever was Lollius, besieged like others with temptations to corruption, but resisting them all, and so overcoming the enemies who encompassed him, and delivering himself by his virtue from their calumnies.

41. Judex honestum] That it should be a matter of great merit and difficulty to maintain the character of an uncorrupt judex, does not say much for the honesty of those who exercised the functions of jurors. The corruption of the senatorian body led to the judicial power being transferred from them to the equites, but they in their turn were found so corrupt that it was given back to the senatores, and afterwards the judices were selected from both orders. See S. i. 4. 123, n.

44. Explicuit] ‘Through hostile crowds hath carried safe his arms victorious.’ ‘Explicare’ seems to correspond with ‘expedire’ in C. iv. 4. 76.

52. Non ille — timidus] ‘He fears disgrace worse than death,—not fearful he to die for his country,’ i.e. but he is not fearful. See C. iii. 19. 2. “Codrus pro patria non timidus mori.” See also C. iii. 2. 13, n.

ODE X.

Ligurinus is a merely poetical personage, and probably Horace composed this Ode with a Greek original before him or in his mind.

Argument.—Cruel and lovely boy; when the down shall have passed upon thy cheek, and thy flowing locks have fallen, and thy soft complexion vanished, thou shalt look in the glass, and say, “Why did I not, as a boy, feel as I do now; or why, with these feelings, have I not the beauty I had then?”

2. pluma] This word corresponds to the Greek πτίλον, used in the sense of the early down upon a boy’s cheek. The word is nowhere else used in this sense. Ἄπτιλος was a name given by the Greeks to beardless boys. Boys’ hair was allowed to grow till they assumed the ‘toga virilis,’ when it was cut off, as observed on C. ii. 5. 24. The feathers of a bird are as good a likeness to the down on a young cheek as wool, from which ‘lanugo,’ the usual word in this sense, is derived.

6. te speculo videris] ‘Speculo’ here, without ‘in,’ is the ablative of the instrument. ‘Alterum’ is nowhere else used exactly in this sense, ‘mutatum,’ and, though the word admits of that use, it is so like the Greek ἕτερον, which is frequently so used, that I think it is a translation of that word. ‘Heu’ is an exclamation of the poet, not of Ligurinus. What follows is like two lines in Terence (Hec. i. 1. 17, sq.):—

“Eheu me miseram! cur non aut istaec mihi Aetas et forma est aut tibi haec sententia?”

The mirrors of the Romans at this time were only of metal, glass mirrors having been introduced later, and then of an inferior quality.

ODE XI.

This Ode professes to be an invitation to Phyllis to come and sup with Horace on the 15th of April, Mæcenas’s birthday. It is possible that the Ode was sent to Mæcenas himself, and was only thrown into the form of an address to Phyllis for poetical convenience.

Argument.—I have a good old amphora of Alban, with parsley and ivy to make thee a crown, Phyllis; silver on my board, and an altar that waits for the sacrifice; the slaves are busy, the fire is burning; come and celebrate the Ides of April, for it is Mæcenas’s birthday, more sacred to me than my own. Telephus is matched already, and is no match for thee. The fates of Phaëthon and Bellerophon teach thee to beware of ambition. Come, my last love, with thy sweet voice sing the song I shall teach thee; song shall drive care away.

2. Albani cadus;] The wine of the Alban hills was of the better kind; and at Nassidienus’s supper it was offered to the chief guest with Falernian (Sat. ii. 8. 16). Pliny (N. H. xiv. 6) places it third among the wines of Italy. Juvenal (v. 33) speaks of Albanian wine, and classes it with Setian, both of great age. The rich glutton drank it, he says, as a corrective of yesterday’s debauch.

5. qua crines religata fulges;] ‘Crowned with which thou art beautiful.’

7. verbenis] See C. i. 19. 14, n.

8. Spargier agno;] It has been questioned whether the Romans shed blood on birthdays. In the earliest times, perhaps they did not, but the practice was different in Horace’s time, as this passage shows. See also Juv. xi. 84.

10. Cursitant mixtae pueris puellae;] ‘Puellae’ is most rarely used for female slaves. The word in use was ‘ancillae.’

12. Vertice fumum.] ‘Vertice’ is the top of the flame, which ‘flickers as it whirls the dark smoke on its crest’; a spiral flame, terminating in a column of smoke. It seems as if Horace were writing with a fire burning before him, and caught the idea as he wrote.

15. marinae] C. i. 3. 1. Venus (Ἀφροδίτη) was said to have risen from the sea in the month of April, which was therefore her month, the name of which Macrobius derives from ἀφρός: Varro, more probably, from ‘aperio,’ as the month that opens the year. The word ‘idus’ is derived from ‘iduare,’ which signifies to divide, and this explains ‘findit.’

19. adfluentes Ordinat annos.] ‘Reckons each year as it succeeds.’

21. Telephum,] Telephus is a favorite name with Horace. For what reason this is the name he chooses for youths whom maidens vainly love, does not appear; but such is the fact. ‘Occupavit’ signifies ‘has preoccupied’ (C. ii. 12. 28).

22. Non tuae sortis] This belongs to ‘juvenem,’ not to ‘puella.’ ‘A youth not of thy condition.’ “Si qua voles apte nubere, nube pari” (Ovid, Heroid. ix. 32).

23. grata Compede] This is repeated from C. i. 33. 14.

25. Phaëthon] The story of Phaëthon getting permission to drive the horses of his father Helios (the sun), setting fire to the earth, and finally killed by lightning and falling into the Eridanus, is told at much length by Ovid (Met. ii. 1-324).

27. Pegasus] The story was, that the winged horse of Zeus was given by Athene or Poseidon to Bellerophon (C. i. 27. 24) to help him to kill the Chimæra, and that afterwards Bellerophon tried, with the help of Pegasus, to rise to heaven; but for his presumption he was thrown off.

29. et ultra] ‘And counting it impious to hope beyond what is allowed, avoid one who is not thy match.’

32. Finis] Compare Propert. i. 12. 19:—

“Mi neque amare aliam neque ab hac discedere fas est; Cynthia prima fuit, Cynthia finis erit.”

It is not necessary to infer from this, as some do, that Horace was old. However literally the words may be taken, they only mean that he intended to be constant to Phyllis.

34. condisce modos] These words correspond very closely to those of C. iv. 6. 43:

“Reddidi carmen docilis modorum Vatis Horati.”

ODE XII.

This is written in the form of an invitation to Virgil the poet (though this has been much disputed) to sup with him.

Argument.—The spring is come, the frost is fled, the stream flows gently, the swallow has built her nest, the shepherds are piping to Pan in the fields, and the days of drought have returned, Virgil. Bring me a box of nard, and I will bring thee in return some generous Calenian from Sulpicius’s cellar. If my bargain please thee, make haste; lay aside business; and, remembering that thou must die, relax while thou mayest into folly for a time.

1. temperant] This is explained by C. i. 3. 16 (see note). The Thracian winds are here the northeast winds of spring.

3. nec fluvii strepunt] This explains C. iv. 7. 3. The time is not quite the beginning of spring, when the snows melt and the rivers are swollen, but after they have subsided, which soon takes place.

5. Nidum ponit,] The story of Procne, daughter of Pandion, king of Attica (Cecropia), turned into a swallow, is gracefully introduced here to give ornament to a common fact and sign of spring. Horace elsewhere introduces the swallow with the west wind (Epp. i. 7. 13). One version of the story changes Philomela into the swallow, and Procne, the mother of Itys, into the nightingale. Virgil makes Philomela the mother and slayer of Itys (Ecl. vi. 79):—

“Quas illi Philomela dapes, quae dona pararit? Quo cursu deserta petiverit, et quibus ante Infelix sua tecta supervolitaverit alis?”

In short, the legend is more varied than almost any other.

7. male] This may go with ‘barbaras’ to strengthen it, as “rauci male” (S. i. 4. 66), or with ‘ulta.’

8. Regum] The lust of kings, as exemplified in one of them, Tereus, the Thracian king, who, having married one of the above sisters, concealed her, and married the other, under the pretence that she was dead. The fraud was discovered, and the first wife, whichever of the two it was (see above), murdered her son Itys, and put his limbs before his father as a banquet. The sisters then ran away, and Tereus pursuing them, they were all changed into birds.

9. Dicunt] C. iii. 4. 1.

11. deum] Pan, who was chiefly worshipped in Arcadia.

14. Calibus] See C. i. 20. 9. As to ‘ducere,’ see C. iii. 3. 34, n.

15. juvenum nobilium cliens,] These are said by the Scholiasts to be Augustus and Mæcenas. ‘Juvenis’ is applied to the former in C. i. 2. 41 (see note).

17. Nardi parvus onyx] A pound of ‘nard’ was worth upwards of 300 denarii, which sum was equivalent to more than 10l. sterling. The ‘onyx’ was another name for alabaster, of which, as we find in the New Testament, as well as here and elsewhere, boxes were made for ointments.

18. Sulpiciis — horreis,] These were famous wine-cellars, which originally belonged to one of the Sulpician family, and, according to the Scholiasts, continued to bear the name of Galba, the cognomen of a branch of that gens, in their day. There are inscriptions extant in which mention is made of the ‘horrea Galbiana.’ Horace, professing to have no good wine of his own, says he will buy a cadus of Calenian. (C. i. 20. 10, n.)

19. amaraque Curarum] This is a Greek construction, but not uncommon in Horace, as “acuta belli” (C. iv. 4. 76); “corruptus vanis rerum” (S. ii. 2. 25), “fictis rerum” (S. ii. 8. 83); “vilia rerum” (Epp. i. 17. 21); “abdita rerum” (A. P. 49).

23. Immunem] ‘for nothing,’ as we say. It is equivalent to ‘asymbolus’ in Terence (Phorm. ii. 2. 25). “Ten’ asymbolum venire!” The drone is represented as “immunis sedens aliena ad pabula” (Virg. Georg. iv. 244), and Horace says of himself, “quem scis immunem Cinarae placuisse rapaci” (Ep. i. 14. 33).

25. studium lucri,] This looks like a joke, but the point of it is lost.

26. Nigrorum — ignium] This epithet is commonly applied to the funeral fires, as (Aen. xi. 186), “subjectis ignibus atris.”

ODE XIII.

This Ode has been noticed in the introduction to C. iii. 10. It is not unlike the fifteenth of the same book. It is professedly addressed to an old woman, Lyce, who is trying to keep up her charms. The poet writes as if the gods had answered his prayers by taking away her beauty for the cruelty she had shown him. It is most probably an imitation.

Argument.—My prayers are answered, Lyce. Thou art old, and would captivate still; but love abides only on the fresh cheek, and runs away from the withered trunk, and from thee, with thy black teeth, and wrinkles, and gray hairs. Try and hide thy years with purple and jewels, but the telltale records betray thee. Where is the girl that I loved only next to Cinara?—whom Fate carried off too soon, while it left Lyce to grow old, that her lovers might laugh at her decline.

7. Chiae] ‘Chia’ is a proper name. ‘Delia’ and ‘Lesbia’ are formed in the same way.

8. excubat in genis.] This is a close imitation of Sophocles (Antig. 782):—

Ἔρως ὃς ἐν κτήμασι πίπτεις ὃς ἐν μαλακαῖς παρειαῖς νεάνιδος ἐννυχεύεις.

9. aridas Quercus,] This corresponds to C. i. 25. 19, “aridas frondes”; as to ‘luridi,’ see C. iii. 4. 74, n.

13. Coae] These are thin, transparent textures of some sort, from the island of Cos in the Ægean.

14. clari lapides] The precious stones of the costlier sort most in use by Roman women were pearls (‘margaritae’) and emeralds (‘smaragdi’). They were chiefly worn in necklaces, and as ear drops and rings; and libertinae distinguished for their beauty could make a great display of jewels received as presents from their admirers.

15. Notis condita fastis] ‘Buried in the public annals.’ Horace means to say, that the days she has seen are all buried, as it were, in the grave of the public annals, and there any one may find them, but she cannot get them back. It is a graphic way of identifying the years, and marking their decease, to point to the record in which each is distinguished by its consuls and its leading events. ‘Notis’ merely expresses the publicity and notoriety of the record by which the lapse of time is marked. As to ‘fasti,’ see Epp. ii. 1. 48, n.

18. illius, illius,] This word is very emphatic, as in “quantum mutatus ab illo Hectare” (Aen. ii. 274). On ‘surpuerat’ compare “unum me surpite morti” (Sat. ii. 3. 283); C. i. 36. 8, n; S. i. 5. 79, n. Regarding Cinara, see C. iv. 1. 3, n; and for the form ‘nota artium gratarum’ compare “notus in fratres animi paterni” (C. ii. 2. 6). ‘Et’ is redundant, and the sentence is a little irregular: ‘What hast thou left of her, of her who breathed but love, who stole me from myself, blest next to Cinara, that fate, too, so familiar in its lovely charms?’

24. parem — temporibus] This means that Lyce and the crow go on together getting old and never dying. ‘Vetulae’ is a contemptuous form of ‘annosa,’ used elsewhere (C. iii. 17. 13). Martial speaks of an old woman who had survived all the crows (x. 67). She was the daughter (he says) of Pyrrha, and Nestor’s step-mother, an old woman when Niobe was a girl, grandmother of Laertes, nurse of Priam, and mother-in-law of Thyestes.

28. Dilapsam] This expresses well the crumbling of a burnt-out torch. The idea is very original. There is an intentional contrast in ‘fervidi.’ ‘That burning youths might see with loud laughter the torch’s flame crumbling away to ashes.’

ODE XIV.

The circumstances under which this Ode was written, and its probable date, are given in the Introduction to C. 4 of this book, to which the student is referred. The common inscriptions, which make it an address in honor of Augustus, sufficiently describe the spirit of it, though its professed purpose is to celebrate the part that Tiberius took, with Drusus, in the victories over the German tribes. It is probable that, whereas the Ode for Drusus was written soon after his victory, this was not written till Augustus returned from Gaul, two years afterwards.

Argument.—With what honors shall we perpetuate thy virtues, O mightiest of princes, whose strength the insolent Vindelici have felt? With great slaughter Drusus cast them down from their heights, and Tiberius drove them before him, as the south wind drives the waves, or the swollen Aufidus lays waste the corn,—a scathless victory; and thou didst lend thine armies, thy counsels, and thine auspices. ’T was fifteen years from that day when Alexandria opened her gates to thee, that Fortune brought this glory to thine arms. All nations bow down to thee, from the east to the west, from the north to the south, O thou guardian of Italy and Rome!

4. fastos Aeternet,] As to ‘titulos,’ see S. i. 6. 17, n., and for ‘fastos,’ see Epp. ii. 1. 48, n. ‘Aeternare’ is a word which had probably become almost obsolete in Horace’s time. It is not found in any other author, except in a fragment of Varro. Many words used by Horace, and by no other extant writer, were probably common enough before the age of Cicero. ‘Habitabiles oras,’ like ἡ οἰκουμένη, so commonly used by Plutarch and the writers of the New Testament, signifies the Roman world.

7. Quem — didicere — Quid Marte posses.] This construction is not uncommon in Plautus, as (Asin. i. 1. 45), “verum meam uxorem, Libane, scis qualis siet”; and Terence, as (Eun. iv. 3. 15), “Ego illum nescio qui fuerit,” and other places. With the Greek poets nothing is more common, as in Sophocles (Trachin. 429):—

πρὸς θεῶν φράσον, φίλη δέσποινα, τόνδε τίς ποτ᾽ ἐστὶν ὁ ξένος;

10. Genaunos,] The Genauni were one of the southern tribes of Rætia, lying between the lakes Verbanus (Maggiore) and Larius (Como), in the modern Val d’Agno. The Breuni were a small but warlike tribe, also occupying part of Raetia. The character Horace gives of these tribes is that which is given by all writers of the time. ‘Implacidum’ is a word not found in any writer earlier than Horace. It is as likely that he made as that he found it: either may be true.

13. plus vice simplici;] The literal version would thus be, ‘with more than an even exchange,’ i.e. of blood, he being ‘sine clade victor’ (v. 32). As to the construction ‘plus vice,’ see C. i. 13. 20.

14. Major Neronum] Tiberius. See C. iv. 4. 28, n.

17. Spectandus — Quantis] This seems imitated from the Greek idiom θαυμαστὸς ὅσοις. ‘A noble sight, how in the strife of war he drove with mighty slaughter those hearts devoted to a freeman’s death.’

20. Indomitas prope qualis] It may be observed, that the fourth verse of the Alcaic stanza is frequently constructed with a noun and its adjective in the first and last place, and corresponding in their last syllables. In this Ode we have vv. 12, 16, 20, 36, 52, answering to this rule or habit. ‘Prope’ has no particular force. Horace, whose ear was familiar with the language of the Greek tragedians, copied their σχεδόν τι (a common phrase in comparisons) here and in other places. The setting of the Pleiades, at the beginning of November, was reckoned as the commencement of winter; they therefore are said to burst the clouds (‘scindere nubes’), which poured down rain upon the earth.

24. medios per ignes.] ‘Ignes’ means the flames of war.

25. tauriformis] This is taken from the Greek ταυρόμορφος, applied to the Cephissus by Eurip. (Ion, 1261). The only other Italian river that was represented under this form was the Eridanus, of which Virgil says (Georg. iv. 371, sqq.):—

“Et gemina auratus taurino cornua vultu Eridanus, quo non alius per pinguia culta In mare purpureum violentior effluit amnis.”

He was therefore represented not only with horns, but with gilded horns. Horace has probably invented this description of his native river, by way of magnifying its importance, and ranking it with the greater streams. Whence this conception of a bull, as representing the form of a river-god, may have arisen, it is not easy to say, but probably from the branching of so many large streams at their mouths, though that would not apply to the Aufidus.

26. Dauni] See C. i. 22. 14, n.

28. meditatur] See C. iii. 25. 5, n.

31. metendo] ‘And, mowing down first and hindmost, strewed the earth, a scathless victor.’ Horace (like Virgil, Aen. x. 513, “Proxima quaeque metit gladio”) gets his word from Homer (II. xi. 67), οἱ δ᾽ ὥστ᾽ ἀμητῆρες ἐναντίοι ἀλλήλοισιν Ὄγμον ἐλαύνωσιν.

32. sine clade] See note on v. 13.

33. te — Praebente divos.] See C. i. 7. 27, n. Augustus had the ‘auspicium,’ and his step-sons were his ‘legati.’

34. quo die] See C. i. 37, Introduction, iv. 4, Introduction.

40. Imperiis decus arrogavit.] ‘Claimed for the wars carried on under thy imperium the glory thou didst desire.’ What follows is a compendious review of the successes of Augustus, all of which have been noticed in these Odes. Before the present Ode was written, the Cantabri had been finally subdued by Agrippa; the Parthians had restored the standards of Crassus and M. Antonius; the Scythians had sent to ask to be taken into alliance; the distant nations of Asia had done the same (see C. S. 55, sq.); the successes of Lentulus had checked the inroads of the tribes of the Danube (ii. 9. 23); Egypt had long been a tributary province; Armenia (Tigris) had been ceded by the Parthians; Britain, though only threatened, had sent tokens of submission. Augustus was just returned from Gaul and Spain, where he had put down the last efforts of rebellion, having also driven back the German tribes (Sigambri), whose success against Lollius had thrown a stain upon the arms of Rome (see C. 2 of this book, Introduction).

45. Te fontium qui celat origines] This applies only to Nilus. The ancient representations of the Nile exhibit him as covering his head with his robe, or with the waters flowing from under his robe; while the Ister is exhibited with his urn in a medal of Trajan, on whose column he is represented as rising out of his stream to do homage to Rome.

47. belluosus] This word does not occur elsewhere in any classical writer. It reduces to the form of an adjective ‘scatentem belluis’ (C. iii. 27. 26). It corresponds to πολυθρέμμων of Æschylus, πολυκήτης of Theocritus, and Homer’s μεγακήτης.

49. Te non paventis funera Galliae] Caes. de B. G. vi. 14: “In primis hoc volunt persuadere (Druidae) non interire animos sed ab aliis post mortem transire ad alios, atque hoc maxime ad virtutem excitari putant, metu mortis neglecto.”

ODE XV.

This Ode appears in early times to have been read as part of the fourteenth; but there can be little doubt the Odes were written separately, though probably about the same time, on the return of Augustus to Rome, B. C. 13. All that is here said of the subjection of the world and the universal peace was said in effect at the close of the fourteenth Ode; but it was natural that if Horace had received the emperor’s commands to publish another book of Odes, he should conclude it with one addressed to Augustus himself, reviewing the blessings of his reign, which at this time had been crowned by a series of successes by which universal peace was established.

Argument.—When I would sing of wars, Phœbus checked me with his lyre. Thy reign, O Cæsar, hath brought back our lost honor, with plenty and peace and order, and the means by which our name and strength have become great. Under thy protection we fear no wars at home or abroad; the North and the East obey thy laws, and we with our wives and children will sing of the heroes of old, of Troy, and Anchises, and of Venus’s son.

2. increpuit lyra,] This is explained by Ovid (A. A. ii. 493):—

“Haec ego cum canerem subito manifestus Apollo Movit inauratae pollice fila lyrae.”

‘Increpuit lyra’ therefore signifies ‘checked me by touching the strings of his lyre, and leading me to a strain more fitted to my muse.’ The other metaphor is common enough. See Virgil (Georg. ii. 41): “Pelagoque volans da vela patenti.”

4. Tua, Caesar, aetas] The abruptness with which this is introduced is worth remarking. A longer preface would have weakened the Ode.

5. Fruges et agris] This is a repetition of C. iv. 5. 17, sq.

6. nostro — Jovi] To the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

7. Derepta] As the standards were quietly and voluntarily sent to Augustus by Phraates, Horace’s language is somewhat exaggerated. The recovery (see C. iii. 5, Introd.) of the standards lost by Crassus was one of the greatest causes of rejoicing that ever happened at Rome. Without it, the restoration effected by Augustus, and of which Horace here gives a compendious picture, would have been wanting in one of its chief features; the honor, as well as the peace, of Rome was restored. These praises are repeated from or in (for we cannot say which was written first) Epp. ii. 1. 251, sqq. See also Epp. i. 18. 56.

9. Janum Quirini] If ‘Janum Quirini’ and not ‘Janum Quirinum’ be the true reading, Horace assigns to Romulus the building of the temple of Janus, which is usually assigned to Numa. The other would mean ‘Janus called Quirinus,’ a name given him as Janus of the Quirites. As to the shutting of the temple, see Epp. ii. 1. 255, n.

10. evaganti] This nowhere else appears with an accusative case, but ‘evadere’ and ‘exire’ are used with an accusative repeatedly. (Compare C. iii. 24. 29.) ‘Artes’ means those virtues in which the discipline of life is placed, as prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

17. furor Civilis aut vis] ‘Civilis’ belongs to ‘furor,’ and ‘vis,’ which is a technical word, means here ‘personal violence.’ ‘Ira’ applies to foreign quarrels. See C. iii. 14. 14, n.

20. inimicat] This is another word which Horace probably found in use by writers of a former day. Later writers have taken it from him. It means ‘sets at enmity.’ ‘Apprecati’ (v. 28), ‘remixto’ (v. 30), are also words first found in Horace.

21. qui profundum Danubium bibunt] The German tribes, particularly the Vindelici lately subdued. ‘Edicta Julia’ can only mean here the laws of Augustus, laid upon them at their conquest, though in its technical sense the word ‘edicta’ would not apply. The rules of a governor published in his province were his ‘edictum,’ and these people were not in a province. Horace therefore does not use the word in its legal sense. The Getæ lay towards the mouths of the Danube, while the Daci were situated to the west of them, on the same or south side of the river.

23. Seres — Tanaïn] See C. iii. 29. 27, n. The Seres and Indi are not much distinguished by Horace (see C. i. 12. 56), and, when he is referring to the East, their names are generally associated with the Parthians, more for the sake of amplification than with historical or geographical accuracy. The Roman armies had not yet even crossed the Tigris. But when Augustus was in Syria, we are informed by Suetonius, ambassadors came from the far East to ask his protection and alliance.

25. lucibus] This word is used for ‘diebus’ by Ovid (Fast. iii. 397):—

“His etiam conjux apicati cincta Dialis Lucibus impexas debet habere comas.”

The singular is more common.

29. Virtute functos] This is a concise way of expressing ‘virtutis munere functos,’ as in Cicero (Tusc. i. 45): “Nemo parum diu vixit qui virtutis perfectae perfecto functus est munere.”

more patrum] Cic. (Tusc. i. 2) tells us that in the Origines of Cato it is stated that it was the custom of old to sing songs at meals upon the virtues of great men. The practice may have been partially revived in Horace’s day. The conclusion of this Ode recalls C. iv. 5. 31, sq.

30. Lydis] Plato tells us that the Lydian and Ionian melodies were best suited to delicacy and feasting, the Dorian and Phrygian to war; and Aristotle that the Lydian were most suitable to the tender age of boyhood, as harmonizing the mind and training it to good. There is no particular force, however, here in the word ‘Lydis.’ As to ‘tibiis,’ see C. i. 1. 32, n. The pipes used by the Lydians themselves are called by Herodotus (i. 17) αὐλὸς ἀνδρήϊος and αὐλὸς γυναικήϊος, probably as representing the voices of a man and a woman respectively.

31. Anchisen] The family of Anchises, the grandfather of Iulus, are mentioned here, because Augustus belonged by adoption to the Julian family, of which Iulus was the reputed founder.

THE SECULAR HYMN.

When Augustus had completed the period of ten years for which the imperial power was at first placed in his hands (B. C. 27-17), he determined to celebrate his successes at home and abroad by an extraordinary festival, and he took as his model the Ludi Tarentini or Taurii, which had in former times been observed as a means of propitiating the infernal deities, Dis and Proserpina, on occasions of great public calamities. It does not appear that this festival ever was held at regular intervals. How, therefore, the name Ludi Seculares arose, is not clear, but, as it was now for the first time given, it was probably convenient to have it believed that the games were no more than the observance of a periodical solemnity. The Quindecimviri were ordered to consult the Sibylline books, and they reported, no doubt as they were desired, that the time was come when this great national festival should be repeated, and the details of it were laid down as from the commands of the oracle in a set of hexameter Greek verses, composed of course for the occasion, and which have been preserved to us by the historian Zosimus.

Horace appears to have been much pleased at being chosen poet-laureate of the occasion (see C. iv. 6, Introd.). The Ode was sung at the most solemn part of the festival, while the emperor was in person offering sacrifice at the second hour of the night, on the river-side, upon three altars, attended by the fifteen men who presided over religious affairs. The chorus consisted of twenty-seven boys and twenty-seven girls of noble birth, well trained no doubt for the occasion (C. iv. 6). The effect must have been very beautiful, and no wonder that the impression on Horace’s feelings (for in all probability he was present) was strong and lasting.

Argument.

Apollo and Diana, hear the prayers we offer you in obedience to the Sibyl’s commands (1-8).

O Sun, that rulest the day, thou lookest upon nothing mightier than Rome (9-12).

Ilithyia, protect our mothers and children, and prosper our marriage-law that so, in the cycle of years, this our festival may come again (13-24).

And ye, Parcæ, who do prophesy truly, let our future destiny be as the past. Let the earth and air give strength to our flocks and fruits (25-32).

Hide thy weapon, Apollo, and hear thy suppliant boys (33, 34).

Queen of the stars, O Moon, hear thy maidens (35, 36).

Since Rome is your handiwork, and at your bidding Æneas brought his remnant to these shores (37-44).

Ye gods, give virtue to the young and peace to the old, and power and sons and glory to the family of Romulus (45-48).

Grant the prayers of the noble son of Anchises, for his victories shall be tempered with mercy (49-52).

Humbled are the Mede, the proud Scythian, and the Indian (53-56).

Peace, plenty, and all the virtues have returned to our land (57-60).

May Phœbus, the augur, the prince of the bow and of song, the physician who favorably regardeth his Palatine temple and the fortunes of Rome and Latium, ever extend our blessings to another and still happier lustrum (61-68).

May Diana, who inhabiteth the Palatine and Algidus, hear our prayers (69-72).

We, the choir of Phœbus and Diana, will go home believing that our prayers are heard (73-76).

1. silvarumque potens] Compare C. iii. 22. 1. ‘Lucidum caeli decus’ applies to both deities.

5. Sibyllini] See Introd. These were oracular books written, it is conjectured, on palm-leaves, in Greek verse, which were kept in the Capitol and consulted on extraordinary occasions. The leaves taken at random were supposed to give the directions required. They were under the care of certain persons, at this time fifteen in number (‘quindecimviri,’ v. 70), who alone had power to consult them. The books were said originally to have been sold to Tarquinius Superbus by an old woman, and to have been three in number. They were burnt with the Capitol, B. C. 82, but collections of these verses having accumulated in various towns of Italy, they were got together and deposited in the same building, and used as before.

6. Virgines lectas] See Introd.

7. septem placuere colles] The seven hills of Rome, which were Cœlius, Esquilinus, Viminalis, Quirinalis, Capitolinus, Palatinus, Aventinus.

9. Alme] This epithet is to be taken in its proper sense as derived from ‘alo.’ ‘Sun the nurturer.’ This stanza is addressed to Phœbus, and was sung perhaps by the boys. The two next, addressed to Diana, may have been taken up by the girls, but this is uncertain.

13. Rite maturos] ‘O thou whose office it is gently to bring babes to the birth in due season.’ ‘Rite’ means ‘according to thy province and functions.’ Εἰλειθυία, the Greek name for Hero and Artemis, or more properly in the plural number for their attendants, when presiding at the delivery of women, (which name is said to contain the root of ἐλθεῖν, but that seems doubtful,) is represented by the Latin ‘Lucina,’ “quae in lucem profert,” which title also was given indiscriminately to Juno and Diana. The title ‘Genitalis’ does not occur elsewhere in this sense, but appears to be a version of the Greek Γενετυλλίς, which was applied to Aphrodite as well as Artemis and her attendants.

17. producas] This signifies ‘to rear,’ as in C. ii. 13. 3.

18. Prosperes decreta] In B. C. 18, the year before this Ode was written, a law was passed which, after Augustus, was called “Lex Julia de Maritandis Ordinibus,” its object being the regulation and promotion of marriages. It is referred to in the note on C. i. 2. 24.

21. Certus undenos] The notion that the Secular Games were celebrated every 110 years, which seems to have been the length of a seculum as measured by the Etruscans, was a fiction invented probably at this time. There is no trace or probability of their having been so celebrated either before or after Augustus. They lasted three days and nights. They were celebrated by Claudius, A. D. 47, and again by Domitian, A. D. 88.

25. Vosque veraces cecinisse,] ‘Ye too who are true to declare, O Parcæ, that which hath been once decreed, and which the steadfast order of events is confirming’ (that is, the power of Rome). The orders of the oracle (see Introduction) directed a special sacrifice of lambs and goats, ποντογόνοις Μοίραις, which was the Greek name of the Parcæ (some writers derived their birth from Oceanus and Ge, the earth). ‘Semel’ in the sense of ‘once for all’ (καθάπαξ), is common enough. The Parcæ could not but be true exponents of the decrees (‘fata’) of Jove, since to them their execution was intrusted. That was their province (see C. ii. 16. 39). There may be some inconsistency in asking them to give good fates to Rome, since they could only execute ministerially ‘quod semel dictum est.’ But such confusion is common.

33. Condito mitis placidusque telo] The boys take up the song for two lines, the girls for two more, and after that they probably join their voices.

On the promontory near Actium there was a statue of Apollo with his bow bent and a fierce aspect, which was an object of terror to the sailors who approached the coast. (See Virg. Aen. iii. 274, sq.) And again on the shield of Æneas (viii. 704) the same figure is represented. To this god Augustus paid his devotions before his battle with M. Antonius, and to him he attributed his success. Accordingly, on his return to Rome, he built a temple to Apollo of Actium on Mons Palatinus (v. 65; C. i. 31; Epp. i. 3. 17), and set up a statue (executed by Scopas, see C. iv. 8. 6, n.) of that god, but in a different character, the bow being laid aside and a lyre substituted for it in one hand, and a plectrum in the other. He was clad also in a long flowing robe. Propertius was present at the dedication of the temple, and gives a description of it (ii. 31); the last object he mentions being the statue of Apollo, as above described. This change of character is what Horace alludes to.

35. regina bicornis] In a rilievo on Constantine’s arch, Diana, as the moon, is represented in her chariot drawn by two horses, and with a small crescent on her forehead, which is a common way of representing her on gems and medals. In the above group Hesperus is flying in front of her.

37. Roma si vestrum est opus,] Æneas tells Dido (Virg. Aen. iv. 345) that it was the oracle of Apollo that bade him seek Italy, and Horace introduces this with good effect, associating Diana with her brother for the occasion. See C. iv. 6. 21, n.

41. fraude] C. ii. 19. 20.

42. Castus] C. iii. 2. 30, where the correlative term is used: “Neglectus incesto addidit integrum.” Aen. vi. 661: “Quique sacerdotes casti.”

43. Liberum munivit iter,] ‘Made a free course,’ ‘opened the way.’ ‘Munire’ is used commonly in this sense both literally and figuratively. See Livy (xxi. 37, where he is describing Hannibal’s passage of the Alps): “Inde ad rupem muniendam per quam unam via esse poterat milites ducti,” etc. Cicero (In Verrem, ii. 3. 68), “Existimat easdem vias ad omnium familiaritatem esse munitas.”

49. Quaeque vos bobus veneratur] ‘Veneratur’ is equivalent to ‘venerando precatur,’ and is used transitively here and in S. ii. 2. 124; 6. 8, as well as in other authors. The oracle required that milk-white bulls should be offered by day to Zeus.

51. bellante prior,] ‘Bellante’ is opposed to ‘jacentem,’ and ‘prior’ to ‘lenis.’ ‘Mightier than his enemy in the fight, but merciful when he is fallen.’ The chorus pray rather for the blessings of peace than the triumphs of war, and therefore praise Augustus’s clemency to his conquered enemies, which accorded with the warning of Anchises (Aen. vi. 852, where Virgil plainly had reference to Augustus):—

“Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; Hae tibi erunt artes, pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.”

54. Albanas — secures,] The Roman fasces, as “Albanique patres” (Aen. i. 7). Ascanius or Iulus, the son of Æneas, according to the legends from which the Romans had their notions of their own history, transferred the seat of his father’s kingdom to Alba Longa, and there it continued till Romulus, his descendant, founded a kingdom on the banks of the Tiber, about ten miles from Alba.

55. responsa] Replies to their offers of submission and petitions for friendship. This word is used for the replies of the gods, and here perhaps expresses the majesty of Augustus delivering his will as that of a god, like Virgil (Ecl. i. 45): “Hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti.” But ‘responsum’ is also a technical term for the answer of a jurisconsult to a client, or a superior to an inferior, as of the emperor to the governor of a province.

57. Jam Fides et Pax] This group occurs nearly in the same combination in C. i. 24. 6. The figures are variously represented on medals, &c. ‘Fides’ represents honesty, good faith, and is called in the above place ‘justitiae soror.’ ‘Honos’ has nothing to do with what we call honor in the sense of honesty (‘fides’), but represents Gloria in her good character (for she had a bad, as vainglory, C. i. 18. 15). ‘Virtus’ is most usually represented in a military character, as Fortitudo; but the name embraced all moral courage and steadfastness in well-doing, with which military courage was closely associated in the mind of a Roman. ‘Pudor,’ or ‘pudicitia,’ represents conjugal fidelity. Juvenal speaks of her especially as having left the earth at the close of the reign of Saturn. But all these virtues are said to have left the earth with Astræa at the close of the golden age, and their return is intended to represent the return of that age.

60. Copia cornu.] Copia, whose horn was most properly the symbol of Fortune (C. i. 17. 14, n.), but was also given to many other divinities, as Fides, Felicitas, Concordia, Honos, &c., was herself represented under the forms of Abundantia and Annona, the latter signifying the supply of corn for consumption in the city.

61. Augur] All prophets and augurs were held to be servants of Apollo, and to derive their knowledge from him.

et fulgente decorus arcu] This seems to contradict the prayer in v. 33; but the bow of Apollo did not always inspire dread. He is sometimes represented with this unstrung at his back, and the lyre and plectrum in his hands (C. ii. 10. 19); and it is uncertain whether he did not so appear in the statue above referred to.

62. acceptusque novem Camenis,] See C. iv. 6. 25, n. In some ancient rilievi and paintings Apollo is represented as seated in the midst of the nine Muses, who are all paying attention to him.

63. Qui salutari] Apollo’s attribute as the healer is one of the oldest that was attached to him, and is most commonly exhibited in his statues and other representations. It is symbolized by the serpent which always attends the figures of Salus, Æsculapius, and others connected with the healing art. Ovid makes him say:—

“Inventum medicina meum est, opiferque per orbem Dicor, et herbarum subjecta potentia nobis.” (Met. i. 521.)

65. Si Palatinas videt aequus arces,] See above, v. 33, n. ‘Felix’ agrees with ‘aevum,’ and ‘videt’ governs ‘arces,’ ‘rem,’ and ‘Latium.’ ‘May he prolong this happy age to another and another lustrum, and ever to a happier.’ It is common with Horace to put an adjective and its substantive at the two extremes of a period.

69. Quaeque Aventinum] Diana had a temple on Mons Aventinus and on Algidus (C. i. 21. 6). From this stanza it has been assumed by some that the sacred commissioners (the ‘quindecimviri,’ see Introd. and v. 5, n.) took part in the singing, which is not very probable. Their number, which was originally two, and was increased to ten about 150 years after the establishment of the Republic, was raised to fifteen either by Sulla or Julius Cæsar.

71. puerorum] This includes the whole choir of boys and girls.

74. reporto,] The whole choir take up this last stanza, or else the leader does so for them, declaring their confidence that the prayers they have offered have been heard by Jove and all the gods.

75. Doctus] C. iv. 6. 43: “docilis modorum Vatis Horati.”

EPODES.

EPODE I.

When Augustus had determined on the expedition against M. Antonius and Cleopatra, which led to the battle of Actium, B. C. 31, he summoned, as we learn from Dion Cassius (50. 11), the leading senators and men of Equestrian rank to meet him at Brundisium, for the benefit of their counsel, and (the historian says) to keep the Equestrians from mischief, and also to show the world the harmony to which he had brought men of all orders at Rome. Mæcenas obeyed this summons, and went to Brundisium, but was sent back by Augustus to watch over the peace of the city and the affairs of Italy. It is very possible that Mæcenas may have had the offer of a command on the expedition against M. Antonius, and that both he and Horace believed he was going on that service, until, on his arrival at Brundisium, Augustus thought fit to send him back to discharge more important duties at Rome. Horace, supposing him to be going, wished to accompany him, but Mæcenas would not allow it (v. 7), which gave occasion for this Epode. It is an affectionate remonstrance against being left behind.

Argument.—Thou art going into the midst of danger, Mæcenas, to share the fortunes of Cæsar. Shall I stay at home at ease, or meet the danger with thee, on whose life my happiness depends? I will go with thee withersoever thou goest. To what end shall I go? As the bird fears less for her young when she is near them, so shall I fear less for thee, if I go with thee, and I go to win thy love, not thy favors. Thy love hath given me enough. I seek not wide lands or fine houses and cattle, and gold to hide or to squander.

1. Liburnis] These were light vessels, that took their name from the ships used by the Liburnians, a piratical tribe on the Illyrian coast. Augustus employed them in his expeditions against Sex. Pompeius, and they were of great use at Actium (C. i. 37. 30). All writers on the battle of Actium describe the ships of M. Antonius and Cleopatra as of enormous size. Like those of the Greeks, which the Romans copied, the Egyptian vessels were fitted with towers (‘propugnacula’), from which the men fought.

4. Subire, — tuo] ‘Tuo periculo,’ ‘meo,’ ‘suo,’ ‘nostro,’ are all common, and ‘periculum’ is used in the ablative case in ‘summo periculo,’ ‘minimo periculo,’ where the ablative is an ablative of cost, and is not to be explained by supplying ‘cum.’

9. mente laturi] This sentence is not complete; ‘ibimus,’ or something of that sort, must be supplied. ‘Shall I, at thy bidding, seek repose, which hath no pleasure if not shared by thee, or go to bear this danger with the heart with which the hardy soldier ought to bear it?’

12. Inhospitalem — Caucasum,] This is repeated from or in C. i. 22. 6.

16. firmus parum?] This is probably taken from the Greek ἄναλκις, which goes commonly with ἀπτόλεμος (as Doering says).

19. Ut assidens] ‘As a bird sitting on her unfledged brood fears the serpent’s stealthy coming more if she leave them, though not likely to help them more if she be near and they before her.’ ‘Relictis’ is the dative. ‘Supposing that’ is a common meaning of ‘ut’ with the subjunctive. ‘Ut adsit,’ followed by ‘praesentibus,’ is rather redundant. But such repetitions are not uncommon. See Ter. (Adelph. iii. 3. 39): “Non quia ades praesens dico hoc.” Ib. (iv. 5. 34): “Cum hanc sibi videbit praesens praesentem eripi.”

23. militabitur Bellum] This phrase is like “bella pugnata” (C. iii. 19. 4), which expression is repeated, Epp. i. 16. 25. ‘In spem,’ ‘looking to the hope,’ is used where we should say ‘in the hope.’

27. Pecusve Calabris] Flocks of sheep were fed in the plains of Calabria during the cool months of the year, and driven up to the hills of Lucania in the summer. ‘Mutet’ is used for taking in exchange, as in C. i. 17. 2, and elsewhere. The heat of Calabria is referred to in C. i. 31. 5.

29. Neque ut] He says he does not want a villa near Tusculum, where there were many handsome houses, which he thus expresses: ‘Nor that for me a splendid house should touch Circæan walls of Tusculum on the hill.’ The ancient Tusculum was built on the top of the hill of which the modern town, Frascati, is built on the slope. ‘Circaea’ is explained by C. iii. 29. 8, n. ‘Candens’ means shining with marble.

31. Satis superque] This expression occurs again Epod. xvii. 19. The sentiment is repeated C. ii. 18. 12; iii. 16. 38.

33. Chremes] The allusion is to a character in some play of Menander’s.

34. Discinetus] ‘dissolute’; indicating by his slovenly dress his dissipated habits.

EPODE II.

Horace, meaning to write on the praises of the country, put his poem into the shape of a rhapsody by a money-getting usurer, who, after reciting the blessings of a country life, and sighing for the enjoyment of them, resolving to throw up his business, and persuading himself that he desires nothing so much as retirement and a humble life, finds habit too strong for him, and falls back upon the sordid pursuits which, after all, are most congenial to him. Though the greater part of the speech must be admitted to be rather out of keeping with the supposed speaker, yet the picture is very beautiful, and the moral true. In the most sordid minds more genial impulses will sometimes arise; but the beauties of nature and the charms of a peaceful retirement are, like virtue itself, only attractive in the distance and at intervals to the minds that have grown addicted to the pursuit of gain for its own sake. To such minds domestic and innocent pleasures offer no lasting gratification, and the picture of rustic enjoyment on the one hand, and of the jaded but still grasping usurer struggling for a moment against his propensities on the other, affords a wholesome lesson for many.