EPISTOLARUM LIBER PRIMUS. EPISTOLA II. AD LOLLIUM. EXCELLENT remarks on the moral lessons which may be drawn from Homer's poems. They are addressed to M. Lollius, the eldest son (hence in line 1, maxime) of M. Lollius, to whom the 9th ode of the 4th book is addressed. The youth was studying oratory at Rome. Horace was spending the summer at Praeneste (now Palestrina.) TROJANI belli scriptorem, maxime Lolli, Dum tu declamas Romae, Praeneste relegi; Qui quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non, Hunc amor, ira quidem communiter urit utrumque. 10 4. Chrysippus, a Stoic philosopher; Crantor, an Academic, a fol. lower of Plato.-7. Barbariae. The Trojans, not being Greeks, were barbari.-8. Aestus = cupiditates.-9. Antenor. See Iliad, vii. 348. Antenor and Aeneas had always recommended peace. For praecidere we should have in prose praecidi. Horace, by poetic licence, omits the subject, perhaps Priamum.-11. Nestor. See Iliad, i. 254.-13. Hunc; namely, Atriden. Agamemnon was irritated at the loss of Chryseis.-14. The Greeks had to pay for their leader's quarrel; for 21* (245) Seditione, dolis, scelere atque libidine et ira they were unsuccessful after Achilles in his anger left them to themselves.-16. Result of the poet's observations in regard to the moral bearings of the Iliad. He comes now to the Odyssey.-19. Domitor Trojae, because it was by his advice that the wooden horse was built. Horace here translates the commencement of the Odyssey: providus = πολύτροπος, inspexit alludes to the Homeric νόον ἔγνω. 23. Sirenum. See Odyssey, xii. 39. Circae pocula. See Odyssey, x. 136.-24. Stultus cupidusque for stulte cupideque. Ulysses did drink of Circe's cup, but not till he had received an antidote from Hermes.-27. Ulysses is a pattern of wisdom. The suitors of Penelope, on the other hand, the juventus Alcinoi, so called from their chief, are examples of average humanity, men born to eat and drink, and counted by their heads, not their opinions-they not having any; hence numerus. Among these he jocularly reckons himself, saying nos.-29. Cute, here corpore.-31. Cessatum ducere Curam. Čura is conceived as a goddess, whom, by the sound of the lyre, the suitors endeavour to induce to be quiet and cease from annoying them. Cessatum is the supine. -32. The poet passes over to the general remark, that men have little anxiety for moral improvement. De nocte, by night,' beginning before night ends. Zumpt, § 398. -34. Hydropicus. Much walking was considered as a preventive of dropsy. Ni posces-torquebere. The sense is: if you do not rise early to pursue the study of philosophy, envy and desire (amor taken generally) will keep you awake, to your great annoyance.— Est animum, differs curandi tempus in annum? Qui cupit aut metuit, juvat illum sic domus et res, Majus tormentum. Qui non moderabitur irae, Ira furor brevis est: animum rege, qui nisi paret, 39. Est for edit = consumit, an Homeric expression. In annum, proverbial, till next year.'-42. Rusticus expectat; that is, is like a clown who waits. The story is that, when a stupid rustic came to a river, beyond which his road lay, he said he would wait till the river ran past.—44. Beata=dives. -45. Pacantur=arantur, are changed from wildness to peace, fertility. They become friendly and useful to man. 46. Connect cui contingit quod satis est, (is) optet nil amplius. -48. Deduxit, in an aorist sense. -54. Sincerum =purum. The sense is: unless the mind is pure, it cannot enjoy any life, even the most prosperous.-56. Certum finem, 'a definite aim,' to reach which will content thee.-57. The poet begins to describe some vices: 57-59, envy; 59-63, anger. This leads him to exhort all to learn virtue when young, because old age is stiff-necked. -58. Siculi tyranni, such as Phalaris, Agathocles, and the two Dionysii, all infamous for their cruelty.-60. Dolor et mens, a ev dià Svoiv, mens dolens, the spirit smarting under a sense of injury.' -61. Odio inulto is the dative. Festinat festinanter repetit. 66. This was the mode of training dogs for the chase: a stag's skin Quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odorem - 70 was stuffed and set up. 71. The sense is: here you have my precepts, and may use them as you please. For my own part, I have a definite system of action: I step along the course of life at a moderate speed, neither waiting for the loiterers nor treading on the heels of those before me. EPISTOLA III. AD JULIUM FLORUM. WHEN Tiberius, afterwards emperor, went to the East, in the year 20 B. C., to restore Tigranes, king of Armenia, to his dominions, he, being a man of education and taste, had many poets with him. Among these was Julius Florus, a writer of satires, if we may credit the scholiasts. To him this epistle is addressed, which contains friendly inquiries about himself and some other friends of our poet. JULI FLORE, quibus terrarum militet oris Thracane vos Hebrusque nivali compede vinctus, An freta vicinas inter currentia turres, An pingues Asiae campi collesque morantur? Quis sibi res gestas Augusti scribere sumit? Quid studiosa cohors operum struit? hoc quoque curo. Bella quis et paces longum diffundit in aevum ? 5 10 3. We see that Florus accompanied Tiberius on his journey through Thrace and Macedonia to Asia, and also that it was during winter, the Hebrus being frozen.-4. Turres, of Hero and Leander; hence between Sestos and Abydos, towns on opposite sides of the Hellespont.-6. Cohors. See Satires, i. 7, 23. Studiosa, without litterarum, has here the meaning which it often has in the writers of the Silver Age, 'literary.'-8. Bella et paces. The plural indicates the several wars and peaces which were made in the reign of Augustus. Longum diffundit in aevum. See Carm. iv. 14, 3.-9. Titius. This person is said by the scholiasts to have written but not published lyrics (hence compared with Pindar) and tragedies. Horace here hopes that he will soon publish them, and thus become known to the Romans, venturus in ora Romana.-11. Figurative: he Ut valet? Ut meminit nostri? Fidibusne Latinis An tragica desaevit et ampullatur in arte? Quid mihi Celsus agit? Monitus multumque monendus, 15 Privatas ut quaerat opes et tangere vitet Scripta, Palatinus quaecunque recepit Apollo; Ne, si forte suas repetitum venerit olim Quae circumvolitas agilis thyma? Non tibi parvum Hoc opus, hoc studium parvi properemus et ampli, ture 20 25 25 30 dared to despise the open lakes and streams - that is, the kinds of poetry open to and used by others- and to taste of the Pindaric spring.-13. Connect Studetne aptare Thebanos modos Latinis fidibus; that is, to introduce the Pindaric kind of poetry into Roman literaPindar having been a Theban.-15. Celsus, probably the Celsus Albinovanus to whom the 8th epistle of this book is addressed. It appears that Celsus belonged to that class of versewriters who, having no original ideas, confine themselves to the imitation and copying of others. Hence Horace jocularly recommends him to seek resources in himself (privatas opes), and no longer transcribe the books in the public libraries. The first of these libraries was established by Augustus in the temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill. Unless Celsus takes this advice he runs the risk of sharing the same fate as the daw with the borrowed plumes in Aesop's well-known fable.-18. Repetitum, the supine.-21. Figure taken from a bee. See Carm. iv. 2, 27.-23. Civica jura respondere, poetical for de jure civili respondere; namely, to those who come for advice (consulentibus); hence to act as an attorney or solicitor.-26. Frigida fomenta curarum; that is, striving after honour and wealth. The figure is taken from the medical art. Cold fomentations are of no use; hence frigida = inutilia.-28. Hoc opus, hoc studium ; namely, the coelestis sapientia of the preceding verse.-30. Si=num. Zumpt, 354, extr. Sit is omitted.-31. Conveniat = oporteat.-32. The figure is taken from a wound, the lips of which, when sewed, do not rightly meet, and which is therefore cut open, to be better closed.-33. Rerum inscitia, ignorance of affairs;' that is, both ignorance of your own affairs, positions, and relations, which has |