priced fish are to be had.-38. Ignarum. Agrees with the subject acc. of avertere. Quibus-aptius. For which the sauce is better suited; i. e. which ought to be served boiled, or stewed.-Quibus assis; for which (i. e. for the sake of which) when roasted. Quibus is the dativus commodi. 39. In cubitum. To his elbow; as they reclined, they leaned upon the left elbow, and took their food with the right hand. Here, the guest, having once thrown himself, satiated, into a recumbent posture, is tempted back by the savory dish. 40. Umber, etc. The precepts touch now upon what was called the caput canae, the principal dish, the wild boar. The Roman connoisseur could always distinguish by the taste, from what part of Italy it came. The Tuscan and the Umbrian were the best; the Lucanian was always in repute; the Laurentian, of inferior quality. Juvenal speaks of the boar being served up entire: totos-apros, animal propter convivia natum!-Sat. i., 140.-So the precept here, as is manifest from curvat-lances. 44. Fecundae. The ancients probably had a wrong notion (as Keightley remarks) of the fruitfulness of the hare, as it "has young only once in the year, and goes only a month with young." -48. Satis; sc. est. 54. through a filter-bag of linen. Comp. with this line, Sat. ii., 8, 89. Lino vitiata; i. e. by being strained The better process was to strain it through the colum, a kind of metallic sieve. See Becker's Gallus, p. 377.55. Surrentina. So named from Surrentum, now Sorrento, which forms the southern extremity of the bay of Naples. The Surrentine wine was thin and wholesome, but not rich. Columella gives a rule for improving a wine, by mixing with it the lees of another wine of good quality, in the form of cakes. As the wine was muddied by the mixture, it was then fined, as at the present day, by eggs, which created a deposit of the sediment. This is the process here described, and it is probably familiar to all the readers of the poet. -58. Squillis. Shrimps. Cochlea means snail. –59. Lactuca. The Roman meal generally ended with a salad of lettuce, the object of which was to cool the stomach after wine. The precept of Catius here was contrary to the Roman custom.. -61. Immorsus; sc. stomachus. Immorsus, literally, bitten into, i. e. sharpened, stimulated. He speaks of one, who has already drunk much wine, and, in order to drink more, needs to be stimulated by ham (perna) and sausages (hillis).-Reficit; i. e. ad vina.-Others (and among them Dillenburger) read in morsas; but it is drinking, and not eating, which is spoken of.-Omnia malit ; i. e. rather than the lactuca, and similar things. 65. Muria; brine, or pickle. Catius recommends the pickle, made from the tunny-fish (thynni), which were caught at Byzantium, as that was in high repute It gave a strong smell to the jar; hence putuit orca. 67. Hoc, etc. Catius now goes into the details of the mixed sauce, having just described the simple. 68. Corycio. Of Mt. Corycus, in Cilicia. 73. Hanc 70. Picenis, etc. Catius touches now upon the dessert; see above n. 1. 12. - -71. Venucula. The origin of the name of this species of grape, which was best suited for preserving, is unknown. ego, etc.; hanc, sc. Albanam uvam. Ego is repeated to give point to the pompous, boastful manner of the professor, who is laying claim to these great inventions in the culinary art.-Faecem, lees of wine; in Sat. ii., 8, 9, we have faecula coa. They were reduced by boiling to a sort of jam, or jelly.-Allec; a kind of caviare. It corresponded at the Roman table to our anchovies.”—Keightley. 76. Immane, etc. The lecture concludes with some precepts of a miscellaneous character. 76. Millia terna; sc. sestertium, sesterces, as above Sat. ii., 3, 237. 79. Furt. ligurit. The slave steals some of the sauce from the dish, and then with his dirty hands gives a cup to one of the guests. - 80. Craterae. The cratera was the large vessel, in which the wine was mixed with water, and from which the cups were filled. 84. Toralia; hangings, valences, on the tori, couches; they hung down to the floor, covering the lower part of the toři. See Becker's Gallus, p. 367. 88. Docte Cati, etc. The poet, having heard out the lecture, in an amusingly formal air, begs the favor of an introduction to the learned professor; not content with drinking at the streams of such wondrous science, he longs to get access to the fountain-head. SATIRE V. Horace here satirizes a class of persons, which was but the natural offspring of a state of society, in which riches were practically considered the chief good of life, and poverty not only an evil but a positive reproach. That such was the prevailing sentiment in Roman society in the time of Horace, we may gather from numerous passages in the poet's writings, and especially from those significant lines in the Third Satire of this book: -Omnis enim res, Virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris and from the passage in the Twenty-fourth Ode of Book Third: Magnum pauperis opprobrium jubet Quidvis et facere et pati, Virtutisque viam deserit arduae. Hence all men were striving to be rich; and in the general struggle, there sprung up a class of people who sought to reach the wished-for end, by courting the favor of wealthy persons, who had no children or near relations, in the hope of being made their heirs. These people were known by the name of Heredipetae, legacy-hunters; their easiest victions were rich old men, who had sprung from a low origin, and were flattered by at tentions and professions of esteem and love. They descended to the meanest artifices, and shrunk not from crime and infamy, in order to effect their purpose; and their busi ness of legacy-hunting had become a regular trade. This is the class of persons whom Horace here satirizes. The following description of the method which the poet adopted, I quote from Keightley. The Satire, abounding in irony, may, as Grotefend says, be regarded as a kind of travesty, from its transferring the manners of the times of Augustus to the heroic age. In the Eleventh Book of the Odyssey (v., 99 seq.), the seer Tiresias gives Ulysses a prophetic narrative of what was to befall him, in which he tells him that on reaching home, he would find all in confusion there. and his whole substance eaten up by the suitors of his wife, whom, however, he would put to death Our poet then makes Ulysses put the natural question to Tiresias, how, now that he had lost every thing he was bringing from Troy and elsewhere, and, as he says, he should find all gone at home, he was to get the means of living? and Tiresias then tells him to turn legacy-hunter, and instructs him in the necessary arts. -. 1. Praeter narrata. See the Introd., the last paragraph. Apotheca. See n. O. iii., 8, 11.- -9. Missis ambagibus. Join with pauperiem-horres, in which two words Tiresias sums up all that Ulysses had just said. 13. Honores. This expression Horace has in the same sense, in O. i., 17, 16. - 14. Ante Larem. It was customary to make an offering of the first-fruits to the lares of the family. Here they are presented, by preference, to the rich man, whose favor is sought. 15. Sine gente. Comp. n. Sat. i., 6, 10. 17. Comes exterior. Literally, outside companion; i. e. to take the outside, when in company with him; a mark of respect shown any one, a lady, or a superior, just as we give to such the inside walk, or the place next the wall. 18. Utne, etc. A form of question, expressive of indignation. To fully explain, we may supply e. g. num fieri potest. See Z. ◊ 609. Tegam-latus, similar in meaning to ire comes exterior, in preceding line.-Dama is a common name for a slave; here, for one who had been a slave. - 25. Praeroso hamo. Metaphor from a fish, who bites off the hook, and thus escapes with the bait; here meant for the gifts which the sly old man quietly takes, without getting caught. 32. Puta: this is an adverb. 36. Cassa nuce, of an empty nut; a proverbial expression for a thing of small value, as we say, of a fig, of a straw, &c. 38. Cognitor, his attorney. - 40. Infantes, mute. In this whole passage the poet doubtless meant to ridicule the inflated language of Furius Bibaculus, already mentioned, in n. Sat. i., 10, 36. Line 41 he quietly turns against the bombastic poet, by putting Furius for Jupiter. 44. Thunni. As above, 1. 25, so here, he compares the rich old men with fish. -46. Sublatus. Taken up. The expression has reference to the custom of exposing children, immediately after their birth. The father took up the child, if he meant to rear it; otherwise it was left to perish. The same custom prevailed among the Greeks. 47. Caelibis, here means one who has lost his wife. 48. Secundus heres, one who succeeds to the property, on the death of the primus heres, heir in reversion. - -50. Vacuum; sc. locum. 53. Prima-cera; cera tabula or tabula cerea, waxen tablet. Such a tablet was a thin piece of wood, covered over with wax. Two such tablets, fastened together, each having a raised margin around it, looked very much like one of our double slates. Secundo-versu; the first line would contain the name of the testator, and the second the names of the heirs or legatees. See Dict. Antiqq. under Tabula. 55. Plerumque, etc. He goes on to give a reason for the preceding advice. The reason is, in substance, this: that people often get egregiously deceived, as e. g. Nasica by the rich old miser Coranus.-Recoctus, literally boiled again or made anew, i. e. changed into; one who, out of a quinquevir or commissioner has been made a scribe. The quinqueviri were municipal officers, "who were responsible for the safety of the city, after sun-set."-Dict. Antiqq. -62. Tempore, etc. Tiresias proceeds to give in full the story of Nasica and Coranus, and gives it in set, solemn phrase, after the manner of a prophetic utterance.-Juvenis ; Octavianus, as in O. i., 2, 41. 65. Metuentis; literally, who feared, but means here, who would not. Comp. n. O. ii., 2, 7. Reddere soldum, to restore the whole sum, i. e. the sum that he owed; to pay his debt. Nasica, deeply involved in debt, probably to Coranus, hopes to retrieve his affairs by inheriting the wealth of Coranus, and therefore gives him his daughter in marriage; but, in the event, as the story shows, finds himself sadly disappointed. 73. Vincit longe; praestat (Orellius), it is far better; prius qualifies expugnare.· Ex testamento, in accordance (with a provision in) the will.· Scilicet; doubtless (to see) if &c. -90. Ultro; of your own accord; i. e. without some good cause, e. g. if you knew he wished you to be silent. == longe 85. 87. -91. Comicus; in comedy; "in the play," Keightley. In the plays of Terence, Davus is a common character. 101. Audieris; when the will is opened and read. 103. Sparge subinde. Drop now and then. The object of sparge is found in the two preceding questions. 103. Est; eσT, it is allowed, one may. -107. Male tussiet. = = Coughs badly; i. e. is manifestly in the last stages of a decline. - 109. Gaudentem nummo te addicere. Nummo sestertio; it means here a mere trifle, e. g. a farthing, a cent. Such a sale would be a merely nominal one. That you will gladly make it over to him for a nominal consideration. The point of the advice is to secure thus the sick man's good-will, and eventually his share of the estate. Sed me, etc. This happy conclusion Osborne compares with the vanishing of the Ghost in Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 5: "But soft! methinks I smell the morning air." SATIRE VI. I quote from Keightley's Edition of the Satires and Epistles, the following remarks on this Satire. "In this, perhaps the most pleasing of all Horace's Satires, we have more clearly than elsewhere a picture of the poet's heart and mind. We see his grateful and contented spirit, his genuine love of Nature and rural life, in which no ancient poet seems to have equalled him, his aversion to the noise and bustle of a town life, and to the excitement of the luxurious dinner-parties of the capital. His object seems to have been to let the world and Maecenas himself see his gratitude to that friend, who had gratified the first and chief of his wishes. By way of contrast, he enumerates some of his annoyances when in town, and he concludes with an Aesopic fable, illustrative of the advantages of the still quiet country life, over the fears and anxieties of one spent in cities. It was evidently written at his Sabinum, of which he appears to have been now some time in possession, and probably in the year (of Rome) 723 724, when Maecenas, during the absence of Caesar, after the battle of Actium, had the charge of the city." This Satire has been imitated by Dean Swift. but seldom in prose.Jugis is an adjective, 3. Super his; super 1. Votis; here = optatis; as often in poetry; ita; see n. Sat. ii., 2, 46.- - 2. Jugis Aquac. agreeing with aquae; so also in Epist. i., 15, 16. = praeter, besides. The prose construction would be super haec. See Z. 320. 5. Maia nate. Mercury is here addressed as the god of gain. See n. Sat. ii., 3, 25. 12. Illum ipsum; i. e. quem mercenarius arare solitus erat.-Amico Hercule. "Ut Mercurius apertis lucris et negotiationi praerat, sic Hercules opertis lucris sive thesauris." Schol. 15. Custos. Sec n. O. ii., 7, 13. 16. Arcem. Metaphorically used of his Sabine villa. Comp. O. i. 17, and notes there on 1 and 11. 17. Prius; rather; i. e. than the happiness he enjoys in the country. - Satiris Musaque; abl. of instr.; pedestri, on account of the easy, familiar style of his satires, humble; Comp. notes, O. ii., 12, 9; Sat. i., 4, 38. 19. Gravis; see n. O. iii., 23, 8.-Libitinae; see n. O. iii., 30, 7. -20. Jane. The vocative, forms, as it were, the object of audis. So also in the next Satire 1. 101; and Epist. i., 7, 37. The Greek ȧkova is used in the same way. See Arn. Pr. Intr. 278.-The god Janus was associated with the beginning of any thing, e. g. one's life, a day, year, &c.- -21. Unde. See n. O. ii., 12, 7.-The poet goes on to enumerate the business engagements which occupy the day in a city life. 30. Pulses. The subj. has a potential force. You would strike. Dillenb. compares the Gr. optative with av - 32. Atras. Comp. n. Epod. v., 100. 35. Puteal. This word (fr. puteus), means 1, an inclosure, built in the form of a well; 2, an inclosure, in the shape of a well, built around a sacred place. The Puteal here referred to was the Puteal Libonis, or Scribonianum, built by Scribonius Libo in a place in the Forum, where a chapel had been struck by lightning. It is referred |