Virtus, recludens immeritis mori Est et fideli tuta silentio Merces vetabo, qui Cereris sacrum Sit trabibus, fragilemve mecum Solvat phaselon. Saepe Diespiter 25 30 In this Ode, Horace celebrates the praises of the chief deities and heroes of Rome, and concludes with those of Augustus. Clio, whom he invokes (the name is connected with the words Kaλéw, kλéos, clarus) was the muse of epic poetry and history. It is possible, as has been supposed, that this Ode was written at the time when Augustus was meditating an expedition against the Parthians to avenge the defeat and death of Crassus. Or it may have been one of those hymns which, by the order of the Senate, were addressed to him after the decisive victory of Actium, B.C. 31. There is an allusion at the end of the Ode to conquests over the distant nations of the East. QUEM virum aut heroa lyra vel acri Quem deum? Cujus recinet jocosa Aut in umbrosis Heliconis oris, Orphea silvae, 5 Arte materna rapidos morantem Quid prius dicam solitis Parentis Unde nil majus generatur ipso, Nec viget quicquam simile aut secundum: Pallas honores. Proeliis audax, neque te silebo, Dicam et Alciden, puerosque Ledae, Defluit saxis agitatus humor, Unda recumbit. Et minax, quod sic voluere, ponto Romulum post hos prius, an quietum Pompili regnum memorem, an superbos Tarquini fasces, dubito, an Catonis 35 Nobile letum. Regulum, et Scauros, animaeque magnae Prodigum Paullum, superante Poeno, Gratus insigni referam Camena, Fabriciumque. 40 Te minor latum reget aequus orbem ; 45 50 55 60 This Ode is an appeal to Augustus to show himself the restorer of peace and prosperity to the Empire. All the gods are successively invoked to the help of Rome, and the Emperor himself is addressed in the character of a divinity. The poet implores him to be the father and protector of his people, and thus, in a truly noble manner, to avenge the murder of his great uncle, J. Cæsar. The date of the Ode was B.C. 29, in which year great honours were conferred on Augustus, whose position was now secured. The civil wars were over, and the temple of Janus was closed with an impressive ceremony. The title of Augustus was formally assumed in the same year. The first five stanzas of the Ode describe the prodigies which followed the death of J. Cæsar, and should be compared with the latter part of Virgil's first Georgic. These prodigies, and especially the inundation of the Tiber, are represented as a divine judgment on the wickedness of the civil wars. JAM satis terris nivis atque dirae Terruit gentis grave ne rediret Saeculum Pyrrhae, nova monstra questae, Piscium et summa genus haesit ulmo, Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis Iliae dum se nimium querenti Audiet civis acuisse ferrum, Quo graves Persae melius perirent; Rara, juventus. Quem vocet Divom populus ruentis Cui dabit partis scelus expiandi Juppiter? Tandem venias, precamur, Augur Apollo ; Sive tu mavis, Erycina ridens, Quam Jocus circum volat et Cupido ; Sive neglectum genus et nepotes Respicis, auctor, Heu! nimis longo satiate ludo, Voltus in hostem; 1 damae. 2 littore. 5 IO 15 20 25 30 35 40 Sive mutata juvenem figura Serus in caelum redeas, diuque 45 Neve te, nostris vitiis iniquum, Tollat: hic magnos potius triumphos, 50 Horace had been asked by Iulus Antonius, the son of the famous Antony, and something of a man of letters, to celebrate in the style of Pindar the triumph of Augustus over the Sugambri and some other German tribes. The Roman arms had met with a disaster. These tribes had crossed the Rhine, B. C. 17, invaded the Roman territory in Gaul, and defeated the legate Lollius. Augustus took the field in person, and soon restored peace and order. He was, however, absent from Rome for two years, and this Ode was probably written in the expectation of his return. Horace tells Antonius that he dare not attempt to rival Pindar, whose majestic poetry rolls on like a swollen river, and who always holds the foremost place, whether he sings of gods and kings, of victors in the games, or of weeping women bereaved of their husbands. He speaks of the great Greek poet as the Swan of Dirce, while he likens himself to a bee sipping the flowers of Tibur. PINDARUM quisquis studet aemulari, Nititur pennis vitreo daturus Nomina ponto. Monte decurrens velut amnis, imbres |