Ad Regem redeo. Postquam nihil inter utrumque Non aliam ob causam, nisi quod virtus in utroque 10 15 20 25 man notorious for his vituperative language. As to Barrus, compare i. 6, 30. Equis praecurrere albis is a proverbial expression for to surpass by far,' white horses being considered in antiquity the fleetest.-10. Construe thus: Omnes molesti sunt hoc jure quo fortes; that is, all litigants (for these are strictly molesti) stand to each other in the same relation (hoc jure) as men who wage war with one another.-13. Ut ultima divideret mors, 6 so that death alone at last separated them;' namely, when Achilles slew Hector.-15. Inertes, men uninfluenced by the desire of glory.-16. Disparibus, 'men unequal in valour,' as were Diomedes the Greek and Glaucus the Lycian (Il. vi. 119).-18. Praetore, a general expression for 'governor,' since Brutus was properly proconsul of Macedonia.-19. Construe thus: uti Bacchius cum Bitho, non melius compositum (par.) Bithus and Bacchius were two gladiators, who at last killed each other.-23. Conventus here is the judicial assembly, formed of the Roman citizens settled in the place, and the companions of Brutus (cohors), by whom the quarrel between Persius and Rupilius was to be decided.-25. Canem. Horace, keeping to the figure of the stars, has here a good pun, in the double sense of canis, a low dog (scoundrel),' and 'the dogstar,' Sirius.-27. Fertur quo rara securis, 'to which an axe seldom comes.'-28. Salso multoque fluenti. As we can say in poetry salsus et multus fluit, so here participially.29. The regular custom among vine-dressers was to prune the vines before the cuckoo was heard that is, before the spring equinox. When a traveller observed a vine-dresser engaged in pruning operations at a later period of the year, he called out derisively 'Cuckoo;' which, consequently, became a slang word for 'vine. dresser.' Arbustum, properly 'a shrubbery,' but here 'a vineyard.' Vindemiator et invictus, cui saepe viator Hunc Regem jugulas? operum hoc, mihi crede, tuorum 30 35 -30. Vindemiator is to be read as a word of four syllables, the second being long; thus, vindēmīātor. Compare Carm. iii. 4, 41. -35. Operum hoc tuorum est, this is a part of thy business, is a proceeding suitable for thee.' Hence the wit lies in the name Rex, which, as well as Regulus, occurs often in Roman families. SATIRA X. IN the 4th satire of this book Horace had censured Lucilius, his predecessor in satirical composition, attributing to him carelessness in regard to form - -a matter essential in productions which are intended to endure. In the reign of Augustus there arose among the critics two parties, the one paying unconditional homage to the ancient Roman writers, whose vigour and talent they admired; the other seeking to create something new, and insisting particularly upon strict attention to form, style, and versification. Under the first emperors the latter party was predominant; but after Hadrian's time the former assumed sway, and then began the rapid decline of Roman literature. In this satire Horace maintains his opinion of Lucilius, and justifies his own exertions. He rushes at once in medias res, by a referring to his previous criticism, which is implied in the particle nempe. This want of a preface displeased the old grammarians, who therefore prefixed eight lines, which are here given, as they form a kind of introduction. These lines are wanting in the oldest and best manuscripts. This is the last satire of the first book, and is intended to guide the reader in his criticism of the whole book. [LUCILI, quam sis mendosus, teste Catone Antiquis posset contra fastidia nostra, Grammaticorum equitum doctissimus. Ut redeam illuc.] Nempe incomposito dixi pede currere versus Ut non hoc fateatur? At idem, quod sale multo Nec tamen hoc tribuens dederim quoque cetera; nam Et Laberi mimos ut pulchra poemata mirer Ergo non satis est risu diducere rictum Auditoris; et est quaedam tamen hic quoque virtus; Hoc stabant, hoc sunt imitandi; quos neque pulcher 1. Nempe. Compare Zumpt, §§ 278 and 345.-4. Charta eadem, 'on the same leaf, in the same satire.'-5. Cetera, the other qualities which are necessary to make a good poet.' 6. D. Laberius was a Roman eques, whom the dictator Caesar compelled to go upon the stage at the games which he gave. He was distinguished as a writer of mimes; that is, dramatic scenes and jests, without a regular plot, and acted without masks. Women also played in mimes, which was not the case in the comedy proper.-12. Defen dente vicem tuente partes.—15. Secat = dirimit, decides.' - 16. Quibus viris, dative for a quibus viris. He calls them viri, because they were men of sturdy intellect, without much polish.-17. Stabant. Stare is properly said of an actor who pleases, takes' in the theatre. The opposite is cadere. The sense of the passage is: Lucilius and his contemporaries are to be admired for their talent and vigour, but the form of their productions is not worthy of imitation. 18. As to Hermogenes, see i. 3, 129. The simius was a certain poet, M. Demetrius, so called from his puny form and ugli ness, and therefore put here in contrast to the pulcher Hermogenes. See verse 90.-19. C. Lacinius Calvus, who died young abot 48 B. C, was a friend of Catullus, and a poet of considerable merit. Valerius Catullus was the celebrated lyric poet whose works we still possess.-20. At. Horace puts his censure into the guise of an objection which is made to him.-21. Seri studiorum,' behind in Difficile et mirum, Rhodio quod Pitholeonti Contigit? At sermo lingua concinnus utraque Quum versus facias, te ipsum percontor, an et quum Dura tibi peragenda rei sit causa Petilli? Scilicet oblitus patriaeque patrisque, Latine Quum Pedius causas exsudet Poplicola atque 25 Verba foris malis, Canusini more bilinguis? 30 35 your studies. Gram. $277, 6, note 2. Quine. Horace here, in a remarkable and extremely rare fashion, affixes the interrogative particle ne to the relative pronoun: hence the meaning is, since you think but do you really think that a difficult thing?'-22. The Rhodian Pitholeon, a Greek by birth, is unknown; for it is not certain that the Pitholaus mentioned by Suetonius (Jul. Caes. cap. 75) as a witty poet, is the same person.-23. Lingua concinnus utraque; that is, concinnatus, mixtus ex Graeco et Lutino. As the Falernian wine was heady and somewhat sour, it was often mixed with the sweet Chian. 25. The sense is: you consider it allowable or even a beauty in verse, but not in judicial pleading. However, if it is right in one case, it must be so in the other.-26. Petillius, a friend of Octavianus, who was accused of stealing a golden crown from the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol.-28. Q. Pedius, nephew of Julius Caesar, adopted a son of the elder Messalla, who henceforward bore the name of Q. Pedius Poplicola.-30. In Canusium, as in a great part of Lower Italy, both Greek and Latin were spoken.-31. Natus citra mare, born on this side of the Adriatic ;' that is, in Italy. -34. In silvam ligna ferre was a proverbial expression, corresponding exactly to the English carry coals to Newcastle.'-35. Magnas Graecorum catervas implere, to make the_large troops of Greek poets still larger.' There are so many great Greek writers that no one now can gain fame in Greek literature, or in the departments occupied by the Greek authors. Therefore, says Ho race, I attempt neither the epic nor the dramatic, but a new kindsatirical poetry. 36. Alpinus, a poet, now unknown, who seems to have written epics in Latin. Jugulat Memnona; that is, de scribes the death of the Trojan hero Memnon.-37. Defingit-caput, 'describes the muddy mouth of the Rhine,' probably in a poem on the deeds of the Romans in Caesar's time. The verb defingere is rare, and implies here, to injure by description. Haec ego ludo, Arguta meretrice potes Davoque Chremeta 40 Unus vivorum, Fundani; Pollio regum Facta canit pede ter percusso; forte epos acer, Atque quibusdam aliis, melius quod scribere possem, 45 50 55 60 'I compose these light poems, satires.'-40. Construe thus: potes garrire comes libellos arguta meretrice Davoque eludente senem Chremeta-that is, comedies; for the artful mistress, the slave Davus, and the old father Chremes, were the chief dramatis personae in comedy.-42. As to Pollio, see Carm. ii. 1, introduction.-43. Pede ter percusso; that is, in Iambic trimeter, which has three ictus.44. Varius has been mentioned in i. 6, 55.46. Hoc; namely, satire, which Lucilius invented, and which after him was attempted by P. Terentius Varro Atacinus, the most learned Roman of his time, and by others, but was still in need of improvement. -50. Horace had said of Lucilius in a previous satire (i. 4, 11), Quum flueret lutulentus, erat quod tollere velles; that is, as his language was by no means pure, there was much which one would expunge. This judgment he repeats here still more strongly plura tollenda relinquendis, more that deserves to be removed than to be left.'52. Doctus, 6 as a critic.' 53. Nil mutat, does he alter nothing?' that is, does he censure nothing?-54. Ennius was the father of Roman poetry, distinguished in all departments, but particularly in epopee.-55. In comparison with himself (quum de se loquitur), Lucilius censures the verses of Ennius, though, in so doing, he does not speak of himself as a greater poet. Hence reprensis is an ablative absolute: supply versibus from the preceding line.-57. Numnum, poetical for utrum-an. The sense is whether merely his nature or the nature of things generally permits none but rough and unpolished verses to be composed in Latin, such as a person would write who simply wished to have lines that would scan.- -59. |