8. "His introduction to Mæcenas." By Virgil and Varius. Nulla etenim tibi me fors obtulit; optimus olim Sed quod eram, narro: respondes, ut tuus est mos, Pauca abeo;-et revocas nono pòst mense, jubesque Sat. I. 6. 54. 9. "The time at which his friendship with Mæcenas commenced." (Comp. note "Fasti Horatiani” 714.) Septimus octavo propior jam fugerit annus, Ex quo Mæcenas me cœpit habere suorum 11. "His Residence at Rome." The position of his house cannot be ascertained, but that he had a town residence appears from many passages. "12. His manner of life in the city." Plain and unostentations. Quâcunque libido est Incedo solus; percontor, quanti olus et far; Sat. I. 6. 112. The appointments of his house were such, that he could entertain his friends, not indeed with splendor, but yet with neatness and comfort.-Epist. I. 5. He frequently went out into society, and was a constant visitor at the house of Mæcenas. 13. "His preference of the country to the city, and his reasons." Tu nidum servas: ego laudo ruris amœni Epist. I. 10. Rure ego viventem, tu dicis in urbe beatum. Epist. I. 14. 10. At his Sabine farm, 15. "His usual residence in the country." which had been presented to him by Mæcenas.* Satis beatus unicis Sabinis. Carm. II. 18. 14. The small villages of Varia and Mandela, were in its immediate neighbourhood.† The authority of Suetonius leads us to believe that Horace had another villa in the immediate neighbourhood of Tibur. But Cluver. (Ital. Antiq. II.) denies this; also Eustace (Classic. Tour, vol. 11, 235), and others, on the ground that it is inconsistent with the poet's declaration-Satis beatus unicis Sabinis and the manner in which he expresses his wishes, Carm. II. 6, Tibur, &c., sit utinam-unde si Parcæ prohibent iniquæ. Eustace explains the passage in Suetonius-" Vixit plurimum in secessu ruris sui Sabini aut Tiburtini"-as an allusion to the same place under the double appellation of his Sabine or Tiburtine seat, and cites in illustration the passage from Catullus : "O funde noster seu Sabine, seu Tiburs.". But there are several passages, Carm. I. 7. 10, III. 4. 21, 24, IV. 2. 30, IV. 3 10; Epist. I. 7. 44, and 8. 12, which incline me to believe the statement of biographer. Several of the odes, moreover, appear to bear a kind of impress in their spirit and character of having been written amidst the romantic scenery of Tivoli. Compare the interesting remarks on this subject in Mr. Tate's "Preliminary Dissert.," and Dunlop's "Roman Literature," vol. III. p. 206. It is generally supposed to have been about twelve miles to the north-east of Tibur. Those readers who wish for more information regarding its loca by which a stream, the "Digentia," was formed. Fons etiam, rivo dare nomen idoneus, ut nec Epist. I. 16. 13. Me quoties reficit gelidus Digentia rivus. Epist. I. 18. 104.) Its range embraced within it, woods, rocks, and hills. Continui montes, nisi dissocientur opacâ Valle: sed ut veniens dextrum latus aspiciat sol, Impunè tutum per nemus arbutos Quærunt latentes et thyma Utcunque dulci, Tyndari, fistula Valles et Usticæ cubantis Levia personuere saxa. Carm. I. 17.5. lity than it is compatible with my limits to supply, are referred to Cluver. Ant. Ital. II. 9. Dominici de Sanctis, Dissertazione sopra la villa di Orazio Flacco; Heerken's Notabilia, vol. I. 29. M. L. Capmartin de Chaupy, Decouverte de la Maison de Campagne d' Horace; and Hackert's Sketches, the character of which I know only from the commendations of Ernesti, Clav. Horat., p. 26. * This name appears to have been given to it by Horace, after a fountain near Venusia. Puræ rivus aquæ, silvaque jugerum Carm. III. 16. 29. Et paulum silvæ super his foret. Sat. II. 6. 3. Villice silvarum et mihi me reddentis agelli. Epist. I. 14. 1. The house, probably, was built in the valley of Ustica, between the hills of Lucretilis. and Ustica, not far from the fountain. Valles et Ustica cubantis. Carm. I. 17. 12. Velox amænum sæpe Lucretilem Mutat Lycao Faunus. Carm. I. 17 1. Hic in reductâ valle. Carm. I. 17. 17. Hortus ubi et tecto vicinus jugis aquæ fons. Sat. II. 6. 2. He kept at his farm a steward and eight slaves Ni rapis, accedes opera agro nona Sabino. |