Per hoc inane purpurae decus precor, Quid ut noverca me intueris aut uti Ut haec trementi questus ore constitit Impube corpus, quale posset impia Et uncta turpis ova ranae sanguine Herbasque, quas Iolcos atque Hiberia Et ossa ab ore rapta jejunae canis Et expedita Sagana per totam domum Horret capillis ut marinus asperis Abacta nulla Veia conscientia Ligonibus duris humum Exhauriebat, ingemens laboribus, Quo posset infossus puer Longo die bis terque mutatae dapis Inemori spectaculo, Cum promineret ore quantum extant aqua 10 15 20 25 330 35 in child-birth.—7. The distinction of the purple stripe on his tunic, which was worn by freeborn boys, does not protect him from the cruelty of the wicked woman.-17. The magic burnt-offering consisted of the wood of the wild fig-tree and the cypress, on which are laid the eggs and feathers of an owl, smeared with the blood of a toad; also magical herbs and gnawed bones. These herbs are said to come from Thessaly and Hiberia, a Caucasian district: a poetical fancy, founded on the fame of the Colchian poisoner Medea, and of the inhabitants of Thessaly, particularly the women. In addition to all this which we have mentioned, the marrow and the liver of the poor tortured boy are required, and by this horrid sacrifice Canidia intends to bring back the affections of Varus, her faithless lover.-26. Avernales, from Lake Avernus,' which among the Roman poets takes to a great extent the place of Acheron, the river of the lower world.-29. Veia, the second assistant of Canidia, has been engaged in the meantime in digging a hole in the ground, in which the boy, buried up to the chin, is to be starved to death. Provisions are to be placed near him, and changed occasionally, for the purpose of rendering his hunger the keener.- Non infideles arbitrae, 50 30 Nox et Diana, quae silentium regis, Arcana cum fiunt sacra, Nunc, nunc adeste, nunc in hostiles domos Iram atque numen vertite. Formidolosae dum latent silvis ferae, Senem, quod omnes rideant, adulterum Nardo perunctum, quale non perfectius Quid accidit? Cur dira barbarae minus Quibus superbam fugit ulta pellicem, 36. Suspensa mento. A person swimming, having only his head above water, seems to hang by his chin.-37. Exusta, 'dried up' by the unsatisfied longing for food. Other readings, exesta, exsucta, are bad, as they express the destruction of the liver, whilst it was to form an ingredient in the love-potion.-39. Interminato, passively, from the deponent interminari, here, interdicto, negato, prohi bited, withheld.'-45. Sidera lunamque, the stars and the moon.' Commonly only the moon is put under the control of witches, who were supposed to draw it down, thus causing the darkness at an eclipse.-58. Latrent = allatrent. Canidia wishes that the dogs may bark long and loudly at old Varus when he goes to court any one but herself. Suburra, a disreputable street in Rome.-61. Canidia, after a pause, finds that her magic has failed to produce its expected effect. Astonished at this, she asks herself why her horrible compound has been less efficacious than that of Medea. Others explain the clause thus: why has my philtre, made up according to the prescription of Medea, not strength enough! But this interpretation, venena Medeae, quae mea sunt, has something unnatural in it, and Cum palla, tabo munus imbutum, novam Atqui nec herba nec latens in asperis Indormit unctis omnium cubilibus Oblivione pellicum. Ah! ah! solutus ambulat veneficae Sub haec puer jam non, ut ante, mollibus 85 Sed dubius, unde rumperet silentium, Misit Thyesteas preces: 'Venena magnum fas nefasque non valent Convertere humanam vicem. Diris agam vos: dira detestatio Nulla expiatur victima. 90 Quin, ubi perire jussus expiravero, Nocturnus occurram furor, Quae vis deorum est manium, Petamque vultus umbra curvis unguibus, Et inquietis assidens praecordiis Pavore somnos auferam. Vos turba vicatim hinc et hinc saxis petens 95 does not give minus its proper force. 66. Abstulit = consumpsit. Creusa or Glauce was burned to death when she put on the poisonsteeped garment which Medea had sent her.-76. The Marsi were considered in Italy to be skilled in the properties of herbs. Voces are incantations, formulae of conjuration, at the pronouncing of which particular herbs were made use of.-82. Atris ignibus; bitumen burns with a dark flame and a strong odour. 86. Thyesteas preces; that is, curses such as Thyestes imprecated on the head of his cruel brother Atreus, who had killed his two sons.-87. Charms cannot alter the eternal rules of right and wrong, as if they were human institutions. As to vicem, see Zumpt, 453.97. The sense is: men will drive you from place to place as abominable old Post insepulta membra different lupi Et Esquilinae alites; Neque hoc parentes, heu mihi superstites! 100 nags. -100. Esquilinae, because at this time there was a buryingplace on the Esquiline Hill for poor people and criminals, whose bodies were not buried deep. See Satires, i. 8, 10.- -101. Superstites. According to the order of nature, parents should not survive their children. CARMEN VI. IN INIMICUM. A THREATENING poem, addressed to a man who had maliciously assailed some friends of the poet. Horace challenges him rather to attack himself, and he will give him 'more than a mere return.' QUID immerentes hospites vexas canis, Ignavus adversum lupos ? Et me remorsurum petis? Quin huc inanes, si potes, vertis minas Nam qualis aut Molossus aut fulvus Lacon, 5 Agam per altas aure sublata nives, Quaecunque praecedet fera. Projectum odoraris cibum. Tu cum timenda voce complesti nemus, 10 Cave, cave: namque in malos asperrimus Qualis Lycambae spretus infido gener, 1 3. = 1. Hospites, strangers,' at whom even cowardly dogs bark. Quin―vertis, why dost thou not turn?' that is, a challenge, : verte potius.-10. Projectum cibum, cibum tibi objectum: understand, and as soon as this happens, thy barking ceases.'-12. Cornua, a second trope: first the poet compares himself to a fine Molossian dog, a mastiff, now he calls himself a bull. 13. Gener spretus Lycambae; namely, the poet Archilochus (about 700 B. c.), the inventor of satiric iambic poetry, by the pungency of which he is said to have driven Lycambes and his daughter Neobule to commit suicide. 14. Bupalus was a statuary, and his acer hostis was An si quis atro dente me petiverit, 15 the iambic poet Hipponax (about 540 B. c.), who, irritated by a cari. cature of himself, turned the whole force of his satirical powers against Bupalus. CARMEN VII. AD ROMANOS. A BITTER lament on the renewed outbreak of civil war, which had been terminated by the victory of Octavianus at Actium, 31 B. C. Horace, in his patriotic sorrow, bewails the old sin of Romulus as the cause of the never-ending dissensions in the republic. Quo, quo scelesti ruitis? aut cur dexteris Parumne campis atque Neptuno super Non ut superbas invidae Carthaginis Romanus arces ureret, Intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet Sed ut, secundum vota Parthorum, sua Neque hic lupis mos nec fuit leonibus, Sic est: acerba fata Romanos agunt Ut immerentis fluxit in terram Remi 7. Intactus Britannus. The poet thinks that if the war had for its object to lead in triumph the Britons, who had not yet submitted to the Roman yoke, he would not lament. The triumphal processions at Rome went round the foot of the Palatine Hill, through the Circus Maximus, and down on the other side, by the Via Sacra, into the Forum, then up to the Capitol. 9. Parthorum. Since the defeat of Crassus in 53 B. C., the Parthians had been considered as the hereditary enemies of the Roman name.-20. Sacer nepotibus. 'a curse upon the latest posterity, or to be atoned for by them.' |