EPISTULARUM LIBER PRIMUS I. Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena, spectatum satis et donatum iam rude quaeris, Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo. non eadem est aetas, non mens. Veianius armis Herculis ad postem fixis latet abditus agro, ne populum extrema totiens exoret1 harena. est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem : solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne peccet ad extremum ridendus et ilia ducat." 66 5 Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono ; 10 quid verum atque decens curo et rogo et omnis in hoc sum; condo et compono quae mox depromere possim. ac ne forte roges, quo me duce, quo lare tuter : 1 exornet $48. a The first Satire, the first Epode, and the first Ode are all addressed to Maecenas. Horace compares himself to an old gladiator, who has often won approval, and received the wooden foil which was a symbol of discharge from the school of gladiators. The defeated combatant would beg for his life. Veianius, after his discharge, yielded to no inducements to return to the arena. EPISTLES BOOK I EPISTLE I You, of whom my earliest Muse has told," of whom my last shall tell you Maecenas, seek to shut me up again in my old school, though well tested in the fray, and already presented with the foil. My years, my mind, are not the same. Veianius hangs up his arms at Hercules' door, then lies hidden in the country, that he may not have to plead with the crowd again and again from the arena's edge. Some one there is who is always dinning in my well-rinsed ear: Be wise in time, and turn loose the ageing horse, lest at the last he stumble amid jeers and burst his wind." 66 10 So now I lay aside my verses and all other toys. What is right and seemly is my study and pursuit, and to that am I wholly given. I am putting by and setting in order the stores on which I may some day draw. Do you ask, perchance, who is my chief, in what home I take shelter? I am not bound over d d Horace, still using terms applicable to a gladiator, who took an oath to the master of his training-school, is speaking of the acceptance of the formula of some school of philosophy. 25 nullius addictus1 iurare in verba magistri, quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes. 15 nunc agilis fio et mersor civilibus undis, virtutis verae custos rigidusque satelles ; nunc in Aristippi furtim praecepta relabor et2 mihi res, non me rebus, subiungere conor. Ut nox longa quibus mentitur amica, diesque 20 longa videtur opus debentibus, ut piger annus pupillis, quos dura premit custodia matrum ; sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae spem consiliumque morantur agendi naviter id quod aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque, aeque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit. restat ut his ego me ipse regam solerque elementis. non possis oculo3 quantum contendere Lynceus, non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungui; nec quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis,4 nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra. est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra. Fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus : sunt verba et voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem possis et magnam morbi deponere partem. laudis amore tumes; sunt certa piacula, quae te ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello. 30 35 1 addictus, II: adductus aEM, I, yet addictus is surely correct. 2 ac. 4 Milonis known to Acron. a 3 oculos. By agilis Horace translates πрактIкós, and civilibus = TOMITIKOIS; the Stoics insisted on an active participation in public life. Aristippus founded the Cyrenaic school, which taught that a man should control circumstances, not be controlled by them. As he has not yet been able to take up philosophy to swear as any master dictates; wherever the storm drives me, I turn in for comfort. Now I become all action," and plunge into the tide of civil life, stern champion and follower of true Virtue; now I slip back stealthily into the rules of Aristippus, and would bend the world to myself, not myself to the world. 20 As the night seems long for one whose mistress proves false, and the day long for those who work for hire; as the year lags for wards held in check by their mother's strict guardianship: so slow and thankless flow for me the hours which defer my hope and purpose of setting myself vigorously to that task which profits alike the poor, alike the rich, but, if neglected, will be harmful alike to young and to old. What remains is for me to guide and solace myself with these poor rudiments. You may not be able, with your eyes, to see as far as Lynceus, yet you would not on that account scorn to anoint them, if sore. Nor, because you may not hope for unconquered Glycon's strength of limb, would you decline to keep your body free from the gnarls of gout. It is worth while to take some steps forward, though we may not go still further. 33 Is your bosom fevered with avarice and sordid covetousness? There are spells and sayings whereby you may soothe the pain and cast much of the malady aside. Are you swelling with ambition? There are fixed charms which can fashion you anew, if with cleansing rites you read the booklet thrice. The vigorously, his only comfort is to make the most of the little knowledge of it that he had. a The lessons of philosophy are compared to the magic formulas which were used in the medical art of ancient days. invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator, per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignis : Vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum. 40 45 50 o cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est; virtus post nummos!" haec Ianus summus ab imo prodocet, haec recinunt iuvenes dictata senesque, 55 laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto. est animus tibi, sunt mores, est lingua3 fidesque, sed1 quadringentis sex septem milia desunt5; 6 plebs eris. at pueri ludentes, " rex eris," aiunt, si recte facies." hic murus aeneus esto, 60 The order of ll. 57, 58 thus in E, reversed in other mss. Housman would place 1. 56 after l. 59. a For the thought cf. Sat. i. 1. 30 ; i. 4. 29 ff. b Cf. Sat. ii. 3. 18. The arch of Janus represents the banking world of Rome. Repeated from Sat. i. 6. 74. In this respect the old still behave as school-boys. d Enrolment in the equites implied a fortune of 400,000 sesterces. |