Ut ora vertat huc et huc euntium Liberrima indignatio? "Sectus flagellis hie Triumviralibus, Præconis ad fastidium, Arat Falerni mille fundi jugera Et Appiam mannis terit; Sedilibusque magnus in primis eques, 66 10 15 showy sumptuous dress, as am-Sacram Viam in ver. 7., 'the most plissimâ veste (worn by the matrons in their rejoicing), Liv. xxvii. 52. E contrar. "arcta toga," Epist. I. xviii. 30. bis ter is found in several MSS.; but it is bad Latin, and seems but a copyist's explanation of the figure III. or the abbreviated form bis t. trium is a correction generally adopted. i. e. avertat, in 9. ora vertat. disgust. So the Schol. 11. Triumviralibus. The Triumviri Capitales (vindices rerum capitalium, Sall. Cat. 55.) were charged with the execution of the penal sentences of the law. This invective may in a general way be compared with that of Juvenal against the elevation and insolence of the slave: verna Canopi... Nuper in hanc urbem pedibus qui venerat albis. Sat. i. 26. 111. 12. præconis. It seems to have been the office of the præco to proclaim the grounds of the punishment during its infliction. Juvenal's expression (though not to be confounded in meaning) may be compared : hebetes lasso lictore secures. Sat. viii. 136. Cp. Epod. 13. arat. i. e. owns. 66 public walks and roads.' 15. sedilibusque, etc. i. e. 'And he is made an Eques.' The sedilia prima" were the fourteen rows of seats behind the senators in the orchestra, assigned by L. Rosc. Otho (Lex Roscia Theatralis, 67 B. C.) to the Equestrian order. Hence "sedere in quatuordecim is a phrase to express taking rank as an eques. See Cic. ad. Fam. x. 32.. "in quatuordecim sessum deduxit." So Sueton. J. Cæsar, 39. Compare the opposite phrase: "De pulvino surgat Equestri." Juv. Sat. iii. 154. Equites could not take advantage of this law without possessing the census equestris of 400,000 HS. See Epist. 1. i. 58-62. 16. Othone contempto. There is some difficulty here. Why is Otho said "contemni unless (which no one supposes) this intruder broke the law? Gesner and Bentley ingeniously explain it "that he was independent of the law, having complied with its requirements." But if we suppose (and it is a probable supposition) that Otho intended to admit none but "ingenui et cives" into the order, and that the property qualification was proposed with this view, it will be clear that this elevation of wealthy baseborn adventurers defeated his purpose, and that they took their seats Quid attinet tot ora navium gravi Contra latrones atque servilem manum, Hoc, hoc tribuno militum ?" CARMEN V. IN CANIDIAM VENEFICAM. "AT, o deorum quicquid in cœlo regit Quid iste fert tumultus? aut quid omnium Per liberos te, si vocata partubus Lucina veris adfuit, Per hoc inane purpuræ decus precor, 5 "in despite of, or against the spirit | child alive, up to the chin. (The of, his law." 19. latrones.. servilem manum. This is understood of the fleet of Sextus Pompeius, of whom similarly Florus, Iv. viii. 2., says, “ quam diversus a patre! Ille Cilicas exstinxerat, hic secum piratas navales agitabat." Comp. below, Epod. ix. 10.: Servis amicus perfidis. 66 Ode opens with an appeal to them as they strip him, and closes with his curse.) The atrocity of offering puerorum exta is charged by Cicero upon Vatinius. (in Vat. 6.) Orelli quotes from the Latin Anthology an epitaph upon a child supposed to have been so sacrificed. It may be remembered that charges of the kind were not unfrequently brought by the malignant against the early Christians. The minor In this epode is described an assem-ceremonies (ver. 17-24.) may be bly of Neapolitan witches, meeting compared with the witch scenes in for their magical rites: Canidia is" Macbeth." the chief, assisted by Sagana, Veia, and Folia. (They are similarly described, Sat, 1. viii. 19-36.) Their purpose is to compose a charm (amoris poculum, píλτpov) for Varus. EPODE V. (Horace represents himself in Epode xvii. as spellbound by such a charm.) "The principal act is the burial of a 1. at o deorum. A resemblance has been traced (Classic. Journ. vol. ix.) between this passage and the speech of P. Calavius in Livy, xxiii. 9. 5. partabus veris, "if you have really born children." Cp. Epod. xvii. 50. Quid ut noverca me intueris, aut uti Ut hæc tremente questus ore constitit Insignibus raptis puer, Impube corpus, quale posset impia Canidia brevibus implicata viperis Et ossa ab ore rapta jejunæ canis, At expedita Sagana, per totam domum 12. insignibus. i. e. the toga prætexta (or purpura, ver. 7.) and the bulla worn by children of high rank. 15. implicata viperis. i. e. like a Fury or Gorgon. Cp. crinita draconibus ora, Ov. Met. iv. 770.; Virg. Æn. vi. 281., vii. 329-447. 20. nocturnæ strigis, a bird of ill omen. See Ovid's descr., Fast. vi. 131. sq..; and cp. strigis infames alas, in Met. vii. 269. 21. Iolcos, in Thessaly, famous as the port from which the Argonauts sailed. Iberia, in Pontus, between Armenia and Colchis. Virgil speaks of "Ponto lecta ve Exhauriebat, ingemens laboribus ; Quo posset infossus puer Longo die bis terque mutatæ dapis Inemori spectaculo; Quum promineret ore, quantum exstant aqua Suspensa mento corpora : Exsucta uti medulla et aridum jecur Amoris esset poculum, 35 Interminato quum semel fixæ cibo 40 Intabuissent pupulæ. Non defuisse masculæ libidinis Ariminensem Foliam, Et otiosa credidit Neapolis, Et omne vicinum oppidum; Quæ sidera excantata voce Thessala Hic irresectum sæva dente livido Quid dixit aut quid tacuit? "O rebus meis Non infideles arbitræ, Nox et Diana, quæ silentium regis, Arcana quum fiunt sacra, Nunc, nunc adeste: nunc in hostiles domos Iram atque numen vertite. Formidolosis dum latent silvis feræ, Dulci sopore languidæ, Senem, quod omnes rideant, adulterum Nardo perunctum, quale non perfectius Meæ laborarint manus. Venena Medeæ valent, 55 60 Quid accidit? cur dira barbaræ minus Quibus superbam fugit ulta pellicem, Magni Creortis filiam, Quum palla, tabo munus imbutum, novam €5 Incendio nuptam abstulit? Atqui nec herba, nec latens in asperis Radix fefellit me locis. Indormit unctis omnium cubilibus 20 70 Ah! ah! solutus ambulat veneficæ Oblivione pellicum. Scientioris carmine. Non usitatis, Vare, potionibus, O multa fleturum caput! Ad me recurres: nec vocata mens tua 75 55. formidolosis. Cp. Virg. Georg. | nescio cujus) unctis oblivione iv. 468.: (scil. mei). 6 Comp. caligantem nigrâ formidine lucum. 58. Suburanæ, in the Subura,' a suburb in Rome of ill repute. 59. quale non perfectius. in construction, Sat. 1. v. 41. 69. indormit. The sense seems to be, his couch is anointed with charms that should make him forget all but me: ' cub. unctis obl. pellicum. Others take it thus: cubilibus pellicum omnium (i. e. 71. Ah ah. An exclamation implying discovery of the truth, viz., that he is freed from her spell by some more skilful enchantress. 74. caput. Carm. I. xxiv. 2.; Virg. Æn. viii. 484. 570. 76. Marsis. The Marsi were famous for magic arts. So again, Epod. xvii. 29.; compare Marsis quæsitæ montibus herbæ (and the context), Virg. Æn. vii. 758. |