CHAPTER III.
[1] In the consulship of L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus. "O nate mecum consule Manlio," Od. III. xxi. 1; Epod xiii. 6.
[2] Libertino patre natum, Sat. I. vi. 46.
[3] Natus dum ingenuus, ib. v. 8.
[4] Sat. I. vi. 86.
[5] Me fabulosae Vulture in Apulo, &c.; Od. iii. 4, 9.
[6] Ep. II. i. 71.
[7] S. I. vi. 8.
[8] Juv. vii. 218.
[9] Sat. I. iv. 113.
[10] Ep. II. ii. 43.
[11] Quae mihi pareret legio Romana tribuno, Sat. I. vi, 48.
[12] O saepe mecum tempus in ultimum deducte, Od. II. vii. 1.
[13] Ib. 5.
[14] Ep. II. ii. 51.
[15] Sueton. Vit. Hor.; cf. Sat. II. vi. 37, De re communi scribae te orabant …reverti.
[16] Ep. ii. 2, 51.
[17] S. I. vi. 55.
[18] Iubesque esse in amicorum numero.—Ib. This expression is important, since many scholars have found a difficulty in Horace's accompanying Maecenas so soon after his accession to his circle, and have supposed that Sat. I. v. refers to another expedition to Brundisium, undertaken two years later. This is precluded, however, by the mention of Cocceius Nerva.
[19] S. ii. 3. 11.
[20] Ep. I. vi. 16.
[21] Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, Ep. I. i. 14.
[22] S. I. ii. 25.
[23] Suet. Vit. Hor. Fragments of four letters are preserved. One to Maecenas, "Ante ipse sufficiebam scribendis epistolis amicorum; nunc occupatissimus et infirmus, Horatium nostrum te cupio adducere. Veniet igiur ab ista parasitica mensa ad hanc regiam, et nos in epistolis scribendis adiuvabit." Observe the future tense, the confidence that his wish will not be disputed. He received to his surprise the poet's refusal, but to his credit did not take it amiss. He wrote to him, "Sume tibi aliquid iuris apud me, tanquam si convictor mihi fueris; quoniam id usus mihi tecum esse volui, si per valetudinem tuam fieri potuisset." And somewhat later, "Tui qualem habeam memoriam poteris ex Septimio quoque nostro audire; nam incidit, ut illo coram fieret a me tui mentio. Neque enim, si tu superbus amicitiam nostram sprevisti, ideo nos quoque anthuperphronoumen." The fourth fragment is the one translated in the text.
[24] Quem rodunt omnes … quia sum tibi, Maecenas, convictor, S. I. vi. 46. Contrast his tone, Ep. I. xix. 19, 20; Od. iv. 3.
[25] Sat. I. ix.
[26] Sat. II. vi. 30, sqq.
[27] S. II. vi. 1.
[28] O. II. xviii. 14; III. xvi. 28, sqq.
[29] The year in which he received the Sabine farm is disputed. Some (e.g. Grotefend) date it as far back as 33 B.C.; others, with more probability, about 31 B.C.
[30] They were probably published simultaneously in 23 B.C. If we take the earlier date for his possession of the Sabine farm, he will have been nearly ten years preparing them.
[31] Ep. I. ix.
[32] Ep. I. xvii. and xviii.
[33] Ep. I. xiv.
[34] The first seven stanzas of IV. 6, with the prelude (III. i. 1-4), are supposed to have been sung on the first day; I. 21 on the second; and on the third the C. S. followed by IV. vi. 28-44.
[35] See p.38.
[36] C. xxxii.
[37] Od. IV. 4.
[38] Ep. I. i. 10.
[39] Ep. I. xx.
[40] Od. II. xvii. 5.
[41] E.g. the infamous Sextus Menas who is attacked in Ep. 4.
[42] Epod. 5 and 17, and Sat. I. viii.
[43] Epod. viii. xii.; Od. iv. xiii.
[44] The sorceresses or fortune-tellers. Some have without any authority supposed her to have been a mistress of the poet's, whose real name was Gratidia, and with whom he quarrelled.
[45] I. xxxv.
[46] II. xvii.
[47] Cf. Troiae renascens alite lugubri… with Occidit occideritque sinas cum nomine Troia. In both cases Juno is supposed to utter the sentiment. This can hardly be mere accident.
[48] Ep. I. i. 33, Fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus; Sunt verba et voces quibus hunc lenire dolorem Possis.
[49] Od. I. xii. 17.
[50] Od. I. ii. 43.
[51] Od. IV. v. 1.
[52] Od. III. iii. 9.
[53] Ep. II. i. 15.
[54] The best instance is Od. III. vi. 45, where it is expressed with singular brevity.
[55] Od. I. xi. among many others.
[56] A. P. 391, sqq.; S. I. iii. 99.
[56] Ep. I. iv. and ii. 55.
[57] E.g. laborum decepitur, Od. II. xiii. 38. The reader will find them all in Macleane's Horace.
[58] The most extraordinary instance of this is Od. IV. iv. 17, where in the very midst of an exalted passage, he drags in the following most inappropriate digression—Quibus Mos unde deductus per omne Tempus Amazonia securi Dextras obarmet quaerere distuli, Nec scire fas est omnia. Many critics, intolerant of the blot, remove it altogether, disregarding MS. authority.
[59] Ego apis Matinae more modoque … operosa parvus carmina fingo, Od. IV. ii. 31.
[60] Od. IV. iv. 33.
[61] Od. III. iii. 17.
[62] Od. III. xxviii.
[63] Od. III. xi.
[64] Od. III. ix.
[65] I.e. the hall where rhetorical exhibitions were given.
[66] Nisi quod pede certo differt sermoni, sermo merus, S. I. iv. So the title sermones.
[67] We learn this from the life by Suetonius.
[68] E.g. invideor, imperor, se impediat (S. I. x. 10) = impediatur; amphora coepit institui for coepta est. Others might easily be collected.
[69] S. I. iv. 10; S. II. i. in great part.
[70] S. L. iv 60, Postquam Discordia tetra Belli ferratos postes portasque refregit. These are also imitated by Virgil; but they do not appear to show any particular beauty.
[71] S. I. v. 101; Ep. I. iv. 16.
[72] Neque simius iste Nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum (S. I. x. 19). I cannot agree with Mr. Martin (Horace for English Readers. p. 57), who thinks the allusion not meant to be umcomplimentary.
[73] Parios iambos has been ingeniously explained to mean the epode, i.e. the iambic followed by a shorter line in the same or a different rhythm, e.g. pater Lukámba poion ephraso tode; ti sas paraeeire phrenas; but it seems more natural to give Parios the ordinary sense. Cf. Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo, A. P. 79.
[74] Ep. I. xix. 24.
[75] S. i. 118, Omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico Tangit, et admissus circum praecordia ludit, Callidus excusso populum suspendere naso.
[76] Tib. IV. i. 179, Est tibi qui possit magnis se accingere rebus Valgius: aeterno propior non alter Homero.
[77] Od. II. ix. 19.
[78] Quint. III. i. 18. Unger, quoted by Teuffel, § 236, conjectures that for Nicandrum frustra secuti Macer atque Virgilius, we should read Valgius, in Quint. X. i. 56.
[79] Sat. I. ix. 61.
[80] Arguta meretrice potes Davoque Chremeque Eludente senem comis garrire libellas Unus vivorum, Fundani. After all, this praise is equivocal.
[81] Pindarici fontis qui non expalluit haustus…. An tragica desaevit et ampullatur in arte? Ep. I. iii. 10.
[82] Ep. I. viii. 2.
[83] Ep. I. iii. 15.
[84] Od. IV. ii. 2.
[85] Od. iv. ii. 2, quoted by Teuffel.
[86] Od. I. xxxiii.; Ep. I. iv.