Crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam Quanto quisque sibi plura negaverit, Contemptae dominus splendidior rei, Purae rivus aquae silvaque jugerum Quamquam nec Calabrae mella ferunt apes, Languescit mihi, nec pinguia Gallicis Cresount vellera pascuis, 40 skilful admiral of Sextus Pompeius, whom Octavianus induced by bribery to desert his master.-18. Majorum fames, 'a hunger, thirst after more.' Perhorrui, a stronger expression for nolui. 19. To raise my head so high as to be widely visible, visible far and near (late conspicuum);' that is, to become rich and powerful.-22. To plura supply tanto. --23. Construe thus: nudus (without riches') peto castra cupientium nil, I betake myself to the camp, the party of those who seek nothing:' hence of course I leave, desert the party of the rich. 25. Contemptae- rei, of a despised (that is, small) fortune.' -26. Arat has the last syllable lengthened by the ictus; see a similar case in iii. 5, 17. As to the sense, compare i. 1, 9. -30. Certa fides meae segetis, the sure confidence that my harvest will turn out as I wish.'-32. Fallit sorte beatior, a Greek construction, my little property escapes the notice of him who glitters with the government of fertile Africa, as being, according to fate's decree (or in regard to lot'), happier;' that is, he does not perceive it to be happier. Hence the accusative fulgentem depends on fallit.—33. Calabrae apes. As to the excellence of the honey of Tarentum, see ii. 6, 14.-34. Laestrygonia in amphora, in an amphora from Formiae,' a town of Campania, famed for its wine: see i. 20, 11. For Formiae boasted that the district around it was the ancient land of the Laestrygones, of whom Homer speaks in Odyssey, x. 82.-35. Languescit. Wine loses its bitterness, becomes mild by age. Pinquia vellera; that is, sheep whose fleeces are fat, thick. The wool from upper Italy, called Gallia Cisalpina, especially from the neighbourhood of Altinum, was in great repute.-39. Contracto―cupidine, Quam si Mygdoniis regnum Alyattei 'by limiting my desires.' Horace, contrary to the regular practice in prose, always treats cupido as masculine. Parva vectigalia porrigam, I shall extend, increase my small income' (for vectigalia here = reditus generally). 41. Alyattei. Alyattes was king of Lydia, and father of the well-known Croesus. The Mygdones were a tribe in Phrygia. Hence the meaning of the passage is this: than if I were to join the kingdom of Alyattes to the fields of the Mygdonians, and thus become lord of more and richer lands.—43. Bene est, it is well with him, he is well off.' CARMEN XVII. AD AELIUM LAMIAM. ODE to Aelius Lamia, who is mentioned in i. 26, 8. An invitation to a cheerful feast on the next day. AELI, vetusto nobilis ab Lamo, Per memores genus omne fastos Late tyrannus), cras foliis nemus 5 1. Most of the illustrious Roman families traced their descent from some mythical hero; and the Lamiae, among the number, referred the origin of their race to Lamus, a son of Neptune, and king of the Laestrygones, who is mentioned by Homer in Odyssey, x. 81. He was said to have reigned in Formiae. Compare the preceding ode, line 34. Hence nobilis ab Lamo means 'noble, since thou art descended from Lamus.' 2. Quando ferunt quoniam narrant, 'since people say,' or 'since it is said," followed by an accusative with the infinitive.-3. Construe thus: et omne genus nepotum ducit originem per memores fastos ab illo auctore, qui, etc. The fasti, calendar kept by the consuls and censors, are called memores, because they preserved the memory of distinguished men. - 7. Princeps, 'first.' Maricae. She was the goddess of the shore at Minturnae, where the Liris (now Garigliano) discharges itself into the sea. The river forms near its mouth extensive marshes.-9, Late tyrannus = Multis et alga litus inutili 10 Demissa tempestas ab Euro Sternet, aquae nisi fallit augur Annosa cornix. Dum potis, aridum Cum famulis operum solutis. late regnans, 'reigning over a wide dominion.' 15 Construe thus: cras tempestas demissa ab Euro ('sent, brought by Eurus') sternet nemus multis foliis et litus inutili alga; that is, there will be a great storm.—12. Åquae-augur, 'the predicter of water, of rain.' When the hoarse tones of the crow were heard at night, the circumstance was said to presage rain.-13. Annosa, because, according to the belief of the ancients, it lived for seven generations. Dum potis, scil. est, so long as it is possible.' Aridum lignum, 'dry wood :' do it before the wood becomes damp from the rain.-14. Genium curabis. The common expression is, Genio indulgere, 'to enjoy one's self' by holding a banquet. 16. Operum solutis, a Greek construction for opere solutis, liberatis, 'freed from labour.' CARMEN XVIII. AD FAUNUM. ODE to Faunus, the rural god, who gave increase to the seed and the flocks. His festival was celebrated twice in the year on the Ides of February and the Nones of December; that is, at the commencement and close of agricultural operations. FAUNE, Nympharum fugientum amator, Per meos fines et aprica rura Lenis incedas abeasque parvis Aequus alumnis, Si tener pleno cadit haedus anno, 5 3. Lenis incedas, 'go gently, or graciously,' be gracious. The expression abeas aequus has the same force. The poet fancies that Faunus goes over the fields, examining them, blessing some, and cursing others. Parvi alumni are the young cattle.-5. The idea is this if I, at the end of the year, on the Nones of December, offer a sacrifice to thee, as I certainly shall, or, because I shall do so, be gracious to me. Pleno anno, 'when the year is full;' that is, at the end of it.-6. Veneris sodali, in apposition to craterae, because wine Vina craterae, vetus ara multo Ludit herboso pecus omne campo, Inter audaces lupus errat agnos; - and love are always supposed to go together.-7. Vetus ara, thy old altar,' such as country people usually have.-12. Pagus, 'the village; that is, the country people; said without any special reference to Horace's estate.-13. A sign of the power of Faunus: he can make the sheep bold and the wolf tame. - 14. This probably refers to the fact that the country people used to strew over with leaves the place where they held the festival of Faunus.-15. Fossor, 'the vinedresser,' by whom the earth is invisa, 'hated,' because he has to work on it. Gaudet pepulisse, he rejoices in beating it;' that is, in dancing. He beats it ter, because the measure of the dance is triple time. CARMEN XIX. AD TELEPHUM. AN ode, containing instructions, delivered in a playful strain, regarding the proper subjects of conversation at banquets. The poet asks not for learned discussions, but for free, easy talk about wine, baths, taverns, and love, interspersed occasionally with a toast to any friend who has recently met with good fortune, or the like. QUANTUM distet ab Inacho Codrus, pro patria non timidus mori, Et pugnata sacro bella sub Ilio; 2. Codrus, the last king of Athens, in a battle with the Heraclidae, voluntarily gave up his life for the safety of his country: hence he is here called non timidus: audax, mori pro patria. His line of descent from Inachus, a mythical king of Argos, is adduced as an instance of an abstruse but very unprofitable subject of conversation, as also the genealogy of Aeacus, from whom Peleus, Achilles, Telamon, and Ajax were said to be sprung.-4. Sacro Ilio, Quo Chium pretio cadum Mercemur, quis aquam temperet ignibus, Quo praebente domum et quota Da lunae propere novae, Da noctis mediae, da puer auguris Ternos ter cyathos attonitus petet Insanire juvat. Cur Berecyntiae 6 เ 5 10 15 a standing phrase in Homer, "Ios pn.-6. Quis aquam temperet ignibus, who makes the water bearable, comfortably tepid, by fire; that is, who prepares warm baths. We are perhaps to understand the reference to be to public baths, the excellences or defects of which were a suitable subject for table-talk.-7. Quo praebente, &c. This is to be understood of an inn or tavern-keeper, who lets one of his rooms to a company. Quota, scil. hora, at what hour.'8. Pelignis frigoribus; that is, cold such as prevails among the Apennines, where the Peligni dwell. Hence we see that the ode was written in winter.-9. Da, supply cyathum, 'give me a cup, novae lunae, to drink to the new moon.' Compare iii. 8, 13. - 10. Noctis mediae, to drink to midnight,' to which we mean to extend our carousal. Auguris Murenae, to the health of our augur Murena;' that is, to the health of our friend Murena, who has recently obtained the priestly office of augur. Who this Murena was is uncertain.-11. Tribus aut novem, etc. The sense may be gathered from the following explanation:-A poculum, one of the large cups out of which the Romans drank, held about as much as twelve cyathismall cups which were used for taking the wine from the pitcher. Now the wine was very seldom drunk unmixed, and there were chiefly two degrees of mixture: first, three cyathi of wine, in nine of water; that is, only one-fourth being wine-this was the mixture commonly preferred; and secondly, three cyathi of water in nine of wine, thus three-fourths being wine. This latter mixture pleases the poet, who means to put himself into an inspired (attonitus, enthusiastic) state of mind. He would have even three more cyathi of wine (line 15, tres supra, 'three besides,' besides the nine); that is, he would drink his wine pure, but this would intoxicate him, and make him offend the Graces; that is, transgress the rules of propriety.-12. Commodis, a poetical construction for the adverb commode, suitably, properly, comfortably.' 13. Impures, because there were nine, an odd number.—17. Nudis juncta sororibus, for the Graces are often represented naked, twined in each other's arms. -18. The flutes are called Berecyntiae, because they were used in the worship of the Mater magna; and Berecyntus is a mountain in |