Si quidem cerva strictis retibus expedita dimicat, erit etiam strenuus is qui perjuris hosti

bus se commisit: atque in alio Qui certamine Carthaginienses con- Et culcabit, qui ligatis retrò brachiis vincula tulit ignavus, ac mori formidavit. Ignorans ille

decus! O gloriosa Carthago, turpibus Italiæ cladibus excelsior! Regulus velut capite deminutus,

castæ uxoris, atque filiolos, et

râ defixisse, usque dum vacillantes Senatores suasor confirmaret monitione haud unquam

tueret immanis carnifex. At nihilominus cognatos dehortan

tia prolixa

she scorns to be replaced in-to return to the degenerate.

31. Si pugnat, &c.] If the deer, which has escaped the toils, will fight, and not run frightened away, then will be brave the man who has crouched to the foe;-and, in another battle, will he beat the Carthaginians, who have felt their chains and dreaded death!

33. Se credidit.] i. e. By surrendering. 35. Restrictis.] Equivalent to the retorta of line 22, with their arms bound behind their backs.

36. Iners.] Without resisting-insensible to the infamy.

37. Hic, unde sumeret, &c.] He, the coward Roman, who knew not from whence he should take life-that he should owe life to his sword, and not to the contempt of his enemies.

38. Pacem duello miscuit.] Instead of fighting bravely to the last, thought of peace -bargained for life by submission.

41. Fertur, &c.] He is said to have repelled the embraces of his family, and to have sternly fixed his face upon the ground, as a slave, unworthy to embrace a wife and children, not slaves like himself,- —or to hold up his head in an assembly of freemen.

42. Ut capitis minor.] One who had lost any of the rights of a citizen, was said to be capite deminutus. This deminutio capitis, loss of rank or caste, was of three degrees

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maxima, when citizens, by capture, or otherwise, lost not only their freedom as Romans, but became slaves, as was Regulus's case; minor, or media, when they lost freedom only; minima, when adopted into another family they lost the privileges of their own.

43. Virilem.] Eminently that of a freeman-opposed to capitis minor.

45. Donec, &c.] Whilst he laboured to fix the wavering senators, and hastened, without regard to any thing else, to quit the country. That is, his sole object was to urge upon the senators his advice, and depart without exercising, farther, the rights of a citizen, and not at all those of a husband and father.

46. Numquam alias dato.] As a measure which involved his own ruin.

48. Egregius.] With reference to the unparalleled disinterestedness of his counsel.

49. Atqui sciebat, &c.] Yet he knew the tortures which awaited him at Carthage. The story of Regulus has been questioned, of late years, by some critical investigators of Roman History.

50. Non aliter, &c.] He put aside his.relatives, and the people who gathered round him and opposed his departure, just as—with the same indifference as if he was only leaving his clients in a crowded court, after the business of the day, and going into the country.

ODE VI. METRE VIII.

The poet ascribes the civil wars, and the corruption of manners among the Romans, to their neglect of the Gods, and anticipates no amendment till the temples are repaired, &c. The poem was probably written after Augustus had expressed his intention to repair them to re-establish the sacred rites, and enforce good morals; and thus the whole piece may be regarded as an indirect compliment to the emperor-the saviour of the state, and the regenerator of morals.

1. Delicta mujorum.] The crimes of your fathers, especially, the civil wars-offences against the Gods and your country.

Immeritus.] Though personally undeserving, you will pay the penalty. Od. iii. 2. 30.

3. Edesque.] The delubra-the smaller shrines or chapels, either under the same roof with the larger temple, or within the sacred precincts, which is, in strictness, the meaning of templum. But templa ædesque should, apparently, be taken together as comprising all the buildings within the sacred enclosure.

Labentes.] Falling-in a ruinous state. Many had suffered, more or less, from conflagrations. Suet. Oct. 30.

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O Romane, solves pœnas quas non es meritus, ob peccata patrum, donec resarcieris fana et delubra Numinum decidentia, atque imagines atro squalore deformatas. Regnas, quia te præstas inferiorem Numinibus. Inde omne primordium; illuc finem reduc. Spreta Numina plures calamitates intulerunt afflictæ Italiæ. Jam semel atque iterum Monæses et Pacori 10 exercitus repulit nostros conatus inauspicatos:

The

but the effect of accumulation of dust. statues of the Gods, too, were, when the rites were in full observance, discoloured by smoke from the frequent burning of incense, but cleansed by annual lustrations. The poet may allude to the neglect of these lustrations, as additional evidence of disregard for sacred matters. Some of the simulacra, also, doubtless had suffered from conflagrations.

5. Dis, &c.] Because-or, as long as, you bear yourselves in subordination to the Gods, you command-you are the masters of the world. The empire depends upon your obedience to the Gods. Cic. de Harusp. Resp. 9.

6. Hinc, &c.] From the Gods trace every beginning to them refer every end. Whether you plan or execute, do all under the auspices of the Gods.

7. Di multa, &c.] It is because they have been disregarded, that they have inflicted so many woes on Italy. Od. iii. 2. 30.

9. Jam bis, &c.] First, Monæses (usually called Surena, his official title, apparently) the commander in chief of Orodes, king of the Parthians, defeated Crassus; and next, Pacorus, son of Orodes, and himself king of Parthia, routed both Antony and his lieutenants. Dio. xlviii. 24. and xlix. 24.

gaudetque nostra spolia addidisse torquibus suis minoribus. Civitatem dissensioribus detentam propemodum extinxit Dacus et

puella studet ediscere saltationes Ionum, et jam formatur ar

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de machos adolescentiores sectatur inter viri sui convivia : nullumque delectum adhibet, cui voluptates haud licitas fur

omens, or with neglect of some sacred rites. Many portents are recorded, which foreboded the ruin of Crassus. Val. Max. i. 6. 11. and Flor. iii. 11.

11. Et adjecisse, &c.] The Parthians were delighted with having added to their own petty ornaments, the richer spoils of the

Romans.

Prædam.] Apparently, the larger and more valuable torques of the Romans, especially those of the knights-contrasted with their own exiguis torquibus.

Involved in

13. Pæne occupatam, &c.] factions and wars, the city has been all but destroyed by the Dacian and Ethiopianalluding, probably, to the expedition and purpose of Cleopatra, defeated by the battle of Actium. Dacians as well as Egyptians were employed in the expedition. Od. i. 37. 7, 8.

14. Ethiops.] Egyptians are meant, as the next line shews-though Antony extended his power to the limits of the Æthiopes. Plut. Ant.

15. Hic classe formidatus.] I. e. Cleopatra's fleet.

16. Melior sagittis.] The Dacians, better skilled than others in the use of the bow.

17. Fecunda, &c.] The allusion to Antony and Cleopatra, or at least to CleopatraAntony is always spared-leads the poet to ascribe much of the corruption of the times to the scandalous example presented by them. 18. Primum inquinavere, &c.]

Our age, ertile in crimes, has, for the first time among Romans, polluted marriages-has introduced

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a more general disregard for the sanctity of the marriage state. Comp. Catull. 113.

Genus.] Offspring-polluted, because parents inoculate them with their own vices.

19. Hoc fonte, &c.] Springing from this source, destruction has flowed upon the country and the people.

21. Motus Ionicos.] Ionic dances-proverbial for indelicacy. Ἰωνικὴ ὄρχησις; Athen. i. 19. Διακινεῖν Ἰωνικῶς; Aristoph. Con. 913. Motus for dancing; Ep. ad Pisones 214.

Gaudet.] Impelled, that is, by passions implanted by her parents, or prompted by their example.

22. Fingitur artibus.] She is drilled and fashioned by artists-professors of Ionic dancing-the lateris artifices of Ovid, Art. Am. iii. 351.

sive dominus navis Hispanicæ, flagitia remunerans ingenti mercede. Non ejusmodi parentibus nati juvenes mare tinxerunt cruore Carthaginiensium; et

35 profligavere Pyrrhum, mag

is the agent or broker of the navis Hispanæ magister-a person of inferior importance, though both her husband's guests. She is at the service of master or man, in fact.

32. Pretiosus emtor.] The liberal purchaser of her favours.

33. Non his juventus, &c.] Not from mothers like these sprang the youth, who dyed the sea with Punic blood, &c.

Juventus.] Soldiers and sailors—juventus, for they must of necessity be in the vigour of youth to sustain the hardships of war.

34. Infecit æquor, &c.] In the naval battles of the first Punic war. Od. ii. 12. 3.

35. Pyrrhum.] King of Epirus, the ally of the Tarentines-who invaded Italy, and was beaten by Curius and Fabricius. Flor. i. 18.

Ingentem.] To designate the greatness of his name and power.

36. Antiochum.] King of Syria, who, at the instance of Hannibal, attacked the Romans, and was defeated, first at sea by Emilius Regillus, and finally on land by Glabrio and Corn. Scipio.

numque Antiochum, et sævum Hannibalem: sed strenui filii militum agrestium, assueti terram colere bipalo Sabino, et ad austeræ matris voluntatem amputata referre ligna, cùm mon40 tium vertit umbras et juga fessis bobus detrahit Sol, horam adducens jucundam recedente curru. Quid tempus edax non corrumpit? Evum patrum nostrorum avis deterius produxit nos pejores, deinde prolem edituros 45 etiam improbiorem.

Dirum.] Od. ii. 12. 2. and Od. iv. 4. 42.

37. Mascula.] Strong and muscular. 39. Versare glebas, &c.] Sabine youth, brought up to hard labour, and in rigid domestic obedience. Virg. Æn. ix. 608.

40. Matris ad arbit. &c.] To bring home firewood at night, at the command of a sharp and severe mother.

41. Sol ubi montium, &c.] When the sun lengthens the shadows-when the sun, in his declining car, bringing the time, or the hour, welcome to both cattle and labourers, took off the yokes from the wearied oxen. The same time, the Greeks call Boúλvσiç, or ßovλvróg, Theoc. vii. 56.

45. Damnosa.] What causes damage or deterioration. But what does not time depreciate ?

46. Etas parentum.] i. e. Our parents, themselves worse than our grandfathers, have produced us, a degenerate race, and we, in our turn, shall give birth to a progeny still more corrupt than ourselves.

tem, quem boni Zephyri initio verni temporis tibi reddent Bithynis mercibus opulentum?

Hic ad Oricum ab Austris pul- Gygen?

sus, post violentum Capræ as

dormiens, et abundè plorans. Verùm internuntius hospitæ anxiæ declarans afflictam Chlo

ODE VII. METRE IV.

The poet consoles Asteria, while weeping for the absence of her lover, with assurances of his safety, of his speedy return, and, moreover, of his fidelity-warning her, at the same time, not to listen with too much pleasure to the serenades of her neighbour, Enipeus. The poem is, apparently, an imitation of some Greek lines.

1. Quid fles, &c.] Construe Quid fles Gygem?

Quem, &c.] Why weep thus for the absence of Gyges, whom, with the early spring, the Zephyrs will restore to you, rich and faithful?

Candidi, &c.] Zephyrs which make clear skies-which bring fine weather. Od. i. 4. 1. Favonius serenus. Plaut. Mercat. v. 2. 25.

3. Thyná merce.] With merchandize brought from Bithynia. Of old, the Thyni occupied that part of Bithynia which is nearest the Euxine, and the Bithyni, the interior; but they came, by degrees, to be indiscriminately called Bithyni. They were engaged in foreign commerce, especially of India goods, and in hardware manufactures. Bithynian rings and knives were in great repute. Isidor. xix. 32. Non. Marcell. in Sat. and Pliny, v. 32.

4. Fide.] An old form for fidei-unless constanti be read instead of constantis.

5. Notis.] By the winds-by a tempest. Oricum.] A town on the coast of Epirus, with a good harbour.

6. Post insana Capra, &c.] Driven to Ori

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7. Non sine, &c.] Sleepless and in tears, because detained from your arms.

9. Atqui, &c.] But yet he need not be thus comfortless, for a crafty agent, &c.

Hospita.] Of the lady, at whose house he resides, tempts him in a thousand ways-telling him that Chloe sighs, &c.

Sollicita.] In a state of anxiety, lest her affection should not be returned. 10. Chloen.] I. e. the hospita. Tuis ignibus.] Is inflamed by your fires is deeply in love with your own Gyges. 12. Tentat.] Scil. the fidelity of Gyges.

13. Ut Protum, &c.] Changing his tactics, the nuntius vafer reminds him of women's vengeance for slighted love-among others, of Antea or Sthenolæa, and of Hippolyta, by the former of whom Bellerophon, and by the latter Peleus, were exposed to great dangers.

Mulier perfida.] Antea-unfaithful to her husband Protus. Homer tells the tale Il. vi. 155.

14. Nimis casto Bell.] Too honest to please the lady, or for his own safety. Impulerit maturare.] Greek, for ut matu

raret.