PAGE XXI.—Jam satis terris nivis atque dirae...[1. 2] XXII.—Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari [Iv. 2]........................... 34 XXIII.-Septimi, Gadis aditure mecum et [11, 6] XXVII.-Nullam, Vare, sacra vite prius severis arborem [1. 18] 41 Horace begins this Ode with celebrating heroes who had gained admission among the gods by their courageous firmness and perseverance. He names the Emperor in conjunction with Pollux, Hercules, and Bacchus. Romulus too, by this same virtue, was translated into heaven, Juno, among the assembled deities, signifying her assent, and prophesying the great destiny which awaited Rome. But as a condition of the fulfilment of that destiny, she declares that the walls of Troy must never be rebuilt; should the descendants of Romulus ever dare to do so, the angry goddess will again destroy that ill-starred city. In this speech put by the poet into the mouth of Juno, there seems to be an allusion to a current report of the time which attributed to Julius Cæsar the intention of transferring the seat of empire to Alexandria (in Troas, not the Alexandria in Egypt) or to Ilium. There may very possibly have been a vague notion that such a change would get rid of some of the worst evils and corruptions of the state, but it is utterly improbable that Augustus really entertained it. Horace, it is more likely, wrote this Ode with the Emperor's approval, by way of discouraging so wild an idea. JUSTUM et tenacem propositi virum Mente quatit solida,neque Auster, Dux inquieti turbidus Hadriae, 1 vultus. 5 Hac arte Pollux et vagus Hercules Quos inter Augustus recumbens Hac te merentem, Bacche pater, tuae Collo trahentes. Hac Quirinus 'In pulverem ; ex quo destituit deos Cum populo et duce fraudulento. 1Ο 15 20 'Marti redonabo. Illum ego lucidas Inire sedes, ducere nectaris Sucos, et adscribi quietis Ordinibus patiar deorum. 'Dum longus inter saeviat Ilion Romamque pontus, qualibet exsules 35 Dum Priami Paridisque busto 40 'Horrenda late nomen in ultimas Qua tumidus rigat arva Nilus : Quam cogere humanos in usus, Omne sacrum rapiente dextra. 45 50 'Quicumque mundo terminus obstitit, Qua nebulae pluviique rores. Tecta velint reparare Trojae. 'Trojae renascens alite lugubri 'Ter si resurgat murus aëneus Capta virum puerosque ploret.'— Magna modis tenuare parvis. 55 60 65 70 This Ode is founded on a great triumph of the Roman arms, B. C. 15. Two warlike tribes, the Vindelici and the Raeti, had made continual inroads into Cisalpine Gaul, and laid waste Roman territory. The Vindelici had their settlements between the Danube and the lake of Constance, so that their territory would correspond with Bavaria, Suabia, and part of the Tyrol. The Raeti were to the south of the Vindelici, and stretched as far as the lake of Como. Drusus, in whose honour this Ode was written, was Drusus Nero Claudius Germanicus, father of the great Germanicus, step-son of Augustus, brother of the Emperor Tiberius, and also father of the Emperor Claudius. With the help of his brother, Tiberius, he crushed the tribes above-mentioned, and formed their territory into a Roman province, which went by the name of Raetiæ, that is, Raetia Prima and Secunda. Drusus got the surname Germanicus from this conquest. Horace in this Ode sings the praises of the great Claudian House, and mentions Claudius Nero, whose victory over Hasdrubal at the Metaurus turned the scale in favour of Rome. Hannibal, in the latter part of the Ode, is represented as confessing the marvellous way in which Rome recovered herself after defeat and disaster. QUALEM ministrum fulminis alitem, Olim juventas et patrius vigor Venti paventem : mox in ovilia Dextras obarmet, quaerere distuli : 5 10 15 20 |