Narbonensis, to distinguish him from M. Terentius Varro, who is sometimes called Reatinus. Different works are attributed to him. His attempts at satire-in which Horace says, most probably with justice, that he had failed -are nowhere noticed but here.

53. Nil comis tragici mutat Lucilius Acci?] See below, v. 65. Accius was born B. c. 170, and was a writer of tragedies, chiefly from the Greek. Cicero and Quintilian speak very highly of him, and the popular judgment was in his favor. See Epp ii. 1. 56, and A. P. 259.

55. non ut majore reprensis? 'Not as if he were superior to those he finds fault with.'

59. Quid vetat et nosmet] Horace says he is at liberty to inquire whether it is not a natural consequence of Lucilius's temperament, and the character of his subjects, that he wrote verses not more polished and smooth than might be expected of a man who was content with giving his lines the proper number of feet, and took delight in stringing together a vast number of them in the shortest possible time. Pedibus quid claudere senis' explains 'hoc,' 'contented merely with this,' that is to say, comprising something (that he calls a verse, for there is contempt in 'quid') in six feet.

61. Etrusci Quale fuit Cassi] Of this Cassius we know nothing, and what Horace says of him is no more than a jocular invention that his writings were so numerous and worthless that his funeral pile was made of them and the boxes that contained them.

63. capsis] See S. 4. 22, n. 64. Fuerit] See S. i. 1. 45. 65. Comis et urbanus]

Agreeable and refined.'

66. Quam rudis et Graecis] 'Allow that he is more polished than the inventor of a rude style of poetry unknown to the Greeks might be expected to be, and than the mass of the older poets certainly were; still, if he had lived to this our time, he would have corrected much that he had written.'

71. vivos et roderet unques.]

And would bite his nails to the quick,' as

men sometimes do when they are thinking very nervously.

72. Saepe stilum vertas]

Stilum vertere means to erase what had been written, one end of the iron pen ('stilus') being broad like the end of a chisel, for the purpose of obliterating the letters made upon the wax tablet by the sharp end, which they called acumen.'

75. Vilibus in ludis] Such schools as Flavius's, perhaps, if poetry was ever taught there, or in those cheap schools in the back streets mentioned in Epp. i. 20. 18. The word 'dictari' refers to the practice of the teacher reading out a passage for the pupil to repeat after him, one of the earliest steps in education being accurate pronunciation. The words 'canere,' 'cantare,' which are frequently applied to the recitation of the pupil, show that the modulation of the voice was a primary consideration in teaching. To help this most probably was one principal purpose of the master's reciting to his scholars, which was done quite at the beginning, and probably before the boys could write; whence Horace says (Epp. ii. 1. 126), "Os tenerum pueri balbumque poëta figurat." It was a good preparation for their subsequent training under the teacher of rhetoric. It is a practice which might be more generally revived, for nothing can be worse than the way in which boys usually read or repeat their lessons in our schools.

77. explosa Arbuscula] This was a celebrated actress in Cicero's time. As she, when she was hissed off the stage, said she cared nothing for the rest of the spectators, and was satisfied if she pleased the front benches (the Equites), so Horace says he only wants to be read in the better sort of schools, where that class of people sent their sons.

78. cimex Pantilius,] This person, if it be a real name, is quite unknown. A more contemptible animal could not have been chosen to liken the man to,

whether for its odor, its skulking, or its sting. So that dnyμara kopéws, λalpódakvaι Kópees, seem to have been proverbial expressions for calumny. 79. Demetrius, See above on v. 18; and as to Fannius, see S. 4. 21, n. On Plotius, see S. 5. 40; and on Valgius, C. ii. 9, Int. He was consul in B. C. 13. Who Octavius was, we cannot tell. Horace does not mean Augustus, for, after the death of the dictator, Octavius became C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus, and could not at this time be called Octavius. On Fuscus (to whom the epithet 'optimus' belongs), see C. i. 22, Int., and S. 9. 61, and Epp. i. 10.

83. Viscorum laudet uterque !] If Viscus be the correct reading in S. 9. 22, and S. ii. 8. 20, the persons there mentioned may be one or other or both of these brothers.

84. Ambitione relegata] Dismissing flattery.'

85. tuo cum fratre, This may have been Gellius Poplicola, Messalla's brother by adoption. He was with Brutus and Cassius in Asia Minor; but left them before the battle of Philippi, and joined M. Antonius, and commanded the right wing of his army at Actium. If therefore this be the person Horace alludes to, his acquaintance with him began in Brutus's camp. He was consul in the year B. C. 36.

86. Vos, Bibule et Servi,] This Bibulus was probably the youngest son of M. Calpurnius Bibulus, who was consul in B. c. 59, and of his wife Porcia, who afterwards married M. Brutus. He wrote an account of his stepfather's life, which Plutarch made use of. He must have been still quite young.

Servius Sulpicius Rufus was a distinguished lawyer and friend of Cicero, and he left a son named Servius. This son is perhaps the person Horace refers to. Cicero was very fond of him, to judge by his letters to his father. He must have been older than Horace, and very much older than Bibulus.

Furnius was also the son of a friend and correspondent of Cicero, and was a favorite with Augustus. The epithet 'candidus' applied to him by Horace shows that he deserved esteem. Shortly after the battle of Actium he got Augustus to take his father, who had followed M. Antonius, into favor. 88. Prudens] 'Designedly,' 'on purpose.'

91. Discipularum inter jubeo plorare cathedras.] Their pupils were chiefly 'mimae,' actresses, but some ladies of birth at this time learnt singing of professors, and it was not counted much to their praise. Jubeo plorare' corresponds to the Greek oiμwČew keλevw, but 'plorare' represents, not only the above proverbial expression, but the drawling of the singing-master teaching his pupils sentimental or melancholy songs. Cathedra' was an easy-chair used chiefly by women.

92. I, puer, Authors did not write themselves, but had slaves, called 'pueri a studiis,' or generally 'librarii,' to whom they dictated. See S. 4. 10. Epp. i. 10. 49; ii. 1. 110. We are to suppose that Horace extemporized this anathema against Demetrius and Tigellius, and then told his amanuensis to go before he forgot it and add it to the Satire as his 'subscriptio'; which in letters was the word 'vale,' or something civil of that sort.

SATIRES.-BOOK II.

SATIRE 1.

C. TREBATIUS TESTA was a jurisconsult of eminence, and a man of honor. He was in the confidence of Augustus, and was consulted by him on legal matters. Horace seems to have been well acquainted with him, though he was many years younger than Trebatius.

Horace pretends to lay before the old lawyer a case for his opinion, and asks what he had better do to meet the malevolence of his enemies. Trebatius advises him to cease from writing, which Horace says is impossible. He was born to write, and must do it. He has no capacity for heroic subjects, and has a passion for imitating Lucilius, to whom he pays a graceful compliment by the way. Trebatius warns him that he runs the risk of being frozen to death by his great friends, or of legal penalties for libel. But, trusting in the goodness of his cause, he sets these dangers at defiance, and resolves to indulge his inclination.

1. Sunt quibus - videor] Horace had undoubtedly in his mind those particular opponents, on some of whom he had retorted in S. 10 of the last book, and, this being the case, the indicative mood is wanted, rather than the subjunctive, after sunt quibus' (see C. i. 1. 3, n., and compare S. i. 4. 24). By tendere opus' Horace means he is charged with carrying his work, or straining it, beyond the license properly allowed to satire. Sine nervis' means without vigor.' As to ' deduci,' see S. i. 10. 44, n.

4. Trebati,] See Introduction.

7. Optimum erat:] Here as below (v. 16) the imperfect indicative is used where the subjunctive might be expected. The Greeks in similar cases sometimes used the imperfect indicative without av, where the usual construction required that word.

Ter uncti Transnanto Tiberim] See S. i. 6. 123, n. The language is a little in the style of a 'lex.' Sub noctem means immediately after nightfall. See Epod ii 44, n. S. ii. 7. 109. Epp. ii. 2. 169. It appears from Cicero's letters to Trebatius that he was a great swimmer, and Cicero describes himself as having gone home from his house one night "bene potus seroque" (Ad Fam. vii. 22). He may therefore have lived pretty freely. 10. rapit] There is force in this word, 'hurries you on like a torrent.' 13. quivis] This corresponds to ó ruxov in Greek.

14. fracta pereuntes cuspide] Plutarch, in his Life of Marius (c. 25), relates how, on the occasion of a battle with the Cimbri, he altered the spears of the soldiers in such a way that they could not be of use to the enemy. He says that the spear-heads were formerly fastened to the shaft by two iron nails, and that Marius, removing one, substituted for it a wooden peg, which would give way when the spear struck the shield, where it would stick and drag along the ground. From the year B. c. 39 to 31, Augustus was engaged at different times in subduing the Gauls, and he included his victories over them in the first of his three days' triumphs, in B. c. 29. (See C. i. 2. 49, n.)

15. Aut labentis equo] The Parthians falling under blows inflicted by the arms of Augustus, is a picture he draws from his own imagination, in antici

pation of future triumphs. But Augustus never engaged the Parthians in the field. On 'labentis equo,' see C. i. 2. 39, n.

16. poteras] See above, v. 7. As to 'fortem,' see what is said of 'Fortitudo' on C. S. 57. Trebatius says, if Horace cannot write of the victories of Augustus, he may of his virtues, his justice, and moral courage. 17. Scipiadam ut sapiens Lucilius] Virgil uses this form (Georg. ii. 170), Scipiadas duros bello." As the elder Scipio had Ennius to praise him (see C. iv. 8), so the younger had Lucilius, who was his intimate friend, and who served under him in the Numantian war. There is no necessity for supposing that Lucilius wrote a separate poem on the exploits of Scipio, though it is not improbable that he did so. Sapiens' is applied to the poet as 'doctus' is elsewhere. See note on C. i. 1, 29. "Haud mihi deero' Horace uses above, S. i. 9. 56.

18. dextro tempore] See below, S. 4. 4: "Cum te sic tempore laevo Interpellarim."

20. Cui male si palpere] 'If you stroke him clumsily, he kicks out, and protects himself on every side. 21. Quanto rectius hoc

Horace says that he may attempt those subjects, but he must wait for an opportunity. And Trebatius continues, 'How much better is this, than with bitter verses to offend such wretched creatures as Pantolabus and Nomentanus, by which he only excites the fears and hatred of every one!'

22. Pantolabum] S. i. 8. 11.

24. Quid faciam?] What am I to do?' says Horace. Every man has his taste, and mine is to string verses together like Lucilius.'

Milonius,] This man is said to have been a 'scurra,' a parasite, a low fellow who has no respect for himself, who lets himself out, at the price of a dinner, to entertain rich people and their guests with buffoonery and small talk. Milonius, as soon as the wine got into his head, would get up and dance before the company, the lowest proceeding in the eyes of a Roman that could be imagined. Icto,' in this sense of wine-struck,' does not occur elsewhere. It is a Greek notion.

26. Castor gaudet equis,] This difference in the tastes of Castor and his brother is expressed in one line of the Iliad (iii. 237), Káσтoрá 0' iññódaμov καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα.

27. quot capitum vivunt,] Compare "Quot homines tot sententiae: suus cuique mos (Phormio, ii. 4 14.)

""

28. claudere] See S. i. 10. 59.

31. neque si male cesserat]

Never resorting to anything else, whether matters had gone ill with him or well."

33. Votiva -tabella] On the practice of hanging up a picture in the temples to commemorate escape from shipwreck, see C i. 5. 12, n. It was probably not confined to sailors.

34. Vita senis.] Lucilius, the date of whose death is not certain, but who is said to have died in his forty-sixth year, B. c. 103, is here called old only in point of time, as in Epp. ii. 1, 56, "Aufert Pacuvius docti famam senis Accius alti"; and above (S i. 10. 67), poetarum seniorum turba "; and as Aristophanes is called by Persius (i. 124), “praegrandis senex

Lucanus an Apulus anceps: See C. iii. 4. 9, n. 'Anceps' is neuter. Sub' signifies close up to,' where sub' has its original meaning 'up,' and "the sense of 'to' belongs to the accusative termination, not to the preposition" As to colonus,' see C. ii. 14. 12, n. 'Romano' is used for the Romans, as in Epod. vii. 6, and Tac. Ann xii. 58.

The colony of Venusia was formed in B. c. 291, the last year of the third Samnite war, when L. Postumius Megellus and C. Junius Brutus Bubulcus were consuls. The town, which was on the borders of Lucania and Apulia,

belonged to the Samnites, from whom it was taken by Q. Fabius. (Sabelli was the name given by the Romans to all the tribes which issued from the Sabine stock, of whom the Samnites were one) Apulia and Lucania were, at the beginning of this war, independent states in close alliance with the Samnites, but after the first year they found it for their interest to desert those allies, and joined the Romans, with whom they continued to unite their forces till the end of the war. Horace's supposition that one or other of those states was meditating or carrying on war with Rome, is not, therefore, strictly accurate; but they were always very doubtful allies, and were glad to assist their old enemies the Greek cities in their resistance to Rome, when they called in the help of Pyrrhus; and it was not till the fall of Tarentum, B. C. 272, that these, in common with the other southern states of Italy, finally acknowledged the supremacy of Rome, and accepted their freedom from her. It was in consequence of the commanding position of Venusia, in reference to the three nations of the Samnites, Apulians, and Lucanians, that the Romans sent there in the above year (B. c. 291) a colony of twenty thousand persons. This place was of great use to the Romans in the war with Pyrrhus. After their reverse at the battle of Heraclea, A, U. C. 474, the remnant of their army retreated to Venusia, and here many found refuge after the defeat of Cannæ. The quantity of the second syllable in Venusinus, Horace makes short here, and in C. i. 28. 26. Juvenal lengthens it (vi. 167): "Malo Venusinam quam te, Cornelia, mater Gracchorum," where, as here, the humble inhabitant of Venusia is contrasted with the proud matron of Rome. 'Quo ne' (v. 37) is an unusual expression, in which 'quo' is re

dundant.

39. Sed hic stilus haud petet ultro] On this use of 'sed,' see C. iv. 4 22, n. 'Ultro means here 'wantonly,' without provocation or cause. See C. iv. 4. 51, n.

43. ut pereat Ut' is an imitation of the Greek use of os, expressing a wish. He hopes that his adversaries will let him alone, and leave his sword (that is, his pen) to rust. From 'at ille' the construction is a little irregular, but the abruptness of the several clauses is well suited to the occasion: but for that man that provokes me, he had better not touch me, I cry; he 'll suffer if he does,' &c.

47. Cervius iratus urnam,] Cervins appears to have been an informer. He is not the man mentioned in S. ii. 6. 77. Urnam' means either the urn into which the judices put their tablets, or that into which their names were put for drawing the jury. Either way it is equivalent to ‘judicium.'

48. Canidia Albuti quibus] Albutius was perhaps a person notorious for having poisoned somebody, and Albuti venenum may have become proverbial. We meet with an Albutius below (S. 2. 67), who, from his character, may have been the same as this.

49. Grande malum Turius,] Of this person we know nothing. He threatens his adversary with an adverse judgment if he ever has a private suit tried before him.

50. Ut quo quisque valet] In what follows it is Horace's purpose to show that it is a law of nature that every one should use the means of defence that are given him, and he is only acting on this law when he employs satire in self-defence. 'Unde' in v. 52 belongs to 'monstratum,' as, in the next Satire, v. 31, "Unde datum sentis," by what suggested if not from within?' Of Scæva we know nothing. What Horace says is, that he would, like other animals, resort to the means most natural to him, which were not violence, to which cowards have an aversion, but poison.

54. Mirum, Ut neque]

kick, nor the ox bite.'

Strange! yes, as strange as that the wolf does not

58. seu Mors atris circumvolat alis,] This representation of death hovering over a man with dark wings, may have been taken from a painting.