An sit amicitia dignus: si carmina condes, Si defendere delictum quam vertere malles, Nullum ultra verbum aut operam insumebat inanem Vir bonus et prudens versus reprehendet inertes, 437. animi sub vulpe latentes] 'If you ever write poetry, do not be taken in by flatterers, who have a bad heart under a cunning face.' [Persius, v. 117.] 438. Quintilio] See C. i. 24, Introduc tion. 441. Et male tornatos incudi reddere] The metaphors of the turning-lathe and the anvil are common enough for the composition of verses, as Bentley has shown. But alleging that the lathe and anvil have no business to be together, he proposes, in the longest of all his notes, and edits with no authority, ter natos,' referring to Epp. ii. 1. 233, "incultis qui versibus et male natis." The verse is much better in my opinion as it stands. [Incudi reddere,' 'to break the work on the anvil and begin again.] The lathe was used by the ancients in the polishing and turning of metals as well as of wood and ivory, as Fea shows against Bentley, who affirms that such is not the case. [Negares:' if you had said that you could do no better, then he would bid you,' &c.] [444. Quin sine] He would not waste a single word or useless labour in trying to prevent you from loving yourself and your work without any rival,' which means above all measure.' Krüger refers to Cicero, ad Q. Fr. iii. 8. 4. Rivales' are those who draw water from the same 440 445 450 'rivus' (Dig. 43. 20. 1), and sometimes quarrelled about it. Hence, 'rivals in our sense.'] 450. Fiet Aristarchus] Aristarchus, whose name was proverbial among the ancients as a critic, was born in Samothrace. He passed the greater part of his life at Alexandria under the patronage of Ptolemaeus Philopator, Epiphanes, and Philometor, the second of whom he educated. 453. morbus regius] This, which is otherwise called arquatus morbus,' 'aurugo,' and by the Greeks Tepos, is the jaundice. Celsus (iii. 24) says it is so called because the remedies resorted to were chiefly amusements to keep up the spirits, such as none but the rich could afford. (Pliny xxii. 24, § 53.) No disorder depresses the spirits more than jaundice. Here it is supposed to be infectious, which it is not. 454. Aut fanaticus error] Fanaticus' (from fanum') was properly applied to the priests of Bellona. See S. ii. 3. 223 n., and Juvenal iv. 123, "fanaticus oestro Percussus, Bellona, tuo." Juvenal also applies it to priests of Cybele (ii. 112), "crine senex fanaticus albo, Sacrorum antistes." The influence of the moon ('iracunda Diana') in producing mental derangement is one of the earliest fallacies in medicine, 730 HORATII FLACCI ARS POETICA. Vesanum tetigisse timent fugiuntque poëtam Dum cupit Empedocles, ardentem frigidus Aetnam 459. longum clamet] This is like Homer's μακρὸν ἄϋσε (Il. iii. 81). [460. non sit qui] Let no man take the pains to help him.' See S. ii. 5. 91, and Epp. i. 18. 72.] "Ac 464. Deus immortalis haberi] See Epp. i. 12. 20. There are various marvellous stories told of the death of Empedocles, suited to the character he bore in his life. [Diogenes Laertius viii. 51, &c.] cording to the most probable of these discrepant statements, being at last expelled his native city (Agrigentum), he retired to the Peloponnesus, and there brought his marvellous existence to a close. This story is from Timaeus, in whose his tory Empedocles is frequently mentioned. The statement of his death in Aetna can be traced back to Heraclides Ponticus, a very insufficient authority, and who believed in it" (Ritter, Hist. Anc. Phil. i. 492). 455 460 465 470 475 467. Invitum qui servat] See Epp. i. 20. 15 n. This is apparently a proverb. Seneca has the same (Phoen. 100): “occidere est vetare cupientem mori.” The construction of 'idem occidenti' is Greek, ταὐτὸ τῷ ἀποκτείνοντι. Orelli observes that this is the only spondaic hexameter in Horace. 469. Fiet homo] He keeps up the allusion to Empedocles, saying that the frenzied poet is as resolved to rush to his fate (that is, into verse) as the philosopher was, and if you save him he will not drop his pretension to inspiration. ['Homo,' a reasonable man.] 470. Nec satis apparet] The crime for which he has been thus sent mad does not appear; whether it be for fouling his father's grave or setting foot upon polluted ground. Bidental' was a spot struck by lightning, so called from the sacrifice of a sheep (bidens) offered upon it for expiation. I agree with Orelli in taking moverit' in the sense of 'violaverit,' as in " Dianae non movenda numina" (Epod. xvii. 3). Some take it to mean the removal of the mark placed on the spot. NOTE ON SATIRE II. 3. 69, 'Scribe decem a Nerio.' The reading in the text is 'Scribe decem Nerio,' and if that is the true reading, the explanation in the notes may be as good as any other. But as the reading 'scribe decem a Nerio' has the better authority, we must attempt to explain it. There is no occasion to show here that decem' means a sum of money. That is proved clearly in the note on S. ii. 3. 69, and by Krüger in a useful excursus on this passage. The explanation of Orelli and Ritter that 'decem' means 'decem tabulas' is a mistake which we could hardly expect such excellent commentators to make. We must next consider what 'scribe a Nerio' means. The preposition 'ab 'is thus used in a passage of Cicero (pro Flacco, c. 19, quoted by Krüger), 'Si praetor dedit, ut est scriptum, a quaestore numeravit ; quaestor a mensa publica; mensa aut ex vectigali aut ex tributo:' which means, the praetor paid by an order on the quaestor; the quaestor gave an order on the public bank, and finally the bank paid the money out of the funds which it had in possession. The passage in Livy (24. c. 18, 'a quaestore perscribebatur') may also be compared with this in Horace. The conclusion is that scribe decem a Nerio' expresses a payment of money made by the banker Nerius to some borrower, and made pursuant to the order of some lender, who may be Perillius (v. 74, Perilli dictantis quod tu numquam rescribere possis'). The entry in the books of Nerius of the loan made on the order of Perillius would be evidence against the borrower, for the entry would be made with his knowledge and consent. As scribere ' here expresses the lending of the money, so 'rescribere ' expresses the repayment; for the evidence of the repayment would be an entry in the books which would have the effect of annulling the entry of the debt. If it should be asked to whom is the word 'scribe' addressed, to the lender or the borrower, the answer is that it is not necessary to suppose the word to be addressed to either. It means no more than 'suppose Nerius to advance a sum of money to a borrower upon the order of a lender.' Further, 'suppose a hundred written securities besides, such securities as wily Cicuta employs.' All these words in the second person, 'scribe,' 'adde,' 'rapies,' 'tu rescribere possis' must be interpreted generally: 'suppose the money lent;' suppose the additional written securities;' suppose the debtor brought into court;' and lastly, in 'tu nunquam rescribere possis,' 'tu' is Damasippus or any man who borrows and does not repay. A like use of adde' occurs in S. ii. 3. 321, 'adde poemata nunc.' The passage, though it is difficult and has given the commentators much trouble, is perfectly plain, if we look at it in the right way. Krüger's is the only true explanation that I have seen. G. L. INDEX I. CARMINUM LYRICORUM. Aeli vetusto nobilis ab Lamo, C. III. xvii. Cur me querelis exanimas tuis, C. II. xvii. Diffugere nives, redeunt jam gramina campis, C. IV. vii. Divis orte bonis, optime Romulae, C. IV. v. Donarem pateras grataque commodus, C. IV. viii. Donec gratus eram tibi, C. III. ix. Eleu fugaces, Postume, Postume, C. II. xiv. Est mihi nonum superantis annum, C. IV. xi. Et ture et fidibus juvat, C. I. xxxvi. Exegi monumentum aere perennius, C. III. xxx. Extremum Tanain si biberes, Lyce, C. III. x. Faune Nympharum fugientum amator, C. III. xviii. Festo quid potius die, C. III. xxviii. Herculis ritu modo dictus, o plebs, C. III. xiv. Horrida tempestas caelum contraxit et imbres, Epod. xiii. Ibis Liburnis inter alta navium, Epod. i. Icci, beatis nunc Arabum invides, C. I. xxix. Ille et nefasto te posuit die, C. II. xiii. Impios parrae recinentis omen, C. III. xxvii. Integer vitae scelerisque purus, C. I. xxii. Jam jam efficaci do manus scientiae, Epod. xvii. Jam pauca aratro jugera regiae, C. II. xv. Jam satis terris nivis atque dirae, C. I. ii. Jam veris comites, quae mare temperant, C. IV. xii. Justum et tenacem propositi virum, C. III. iii. Laudabunt alii clarai Rhodon aut Mitylenen, C. I. vii. Lupis et agnis quanta sortito obtigit, Epod. iv. Lydia, dic, per omnes, C. I. viii. Maecenas atavis edite regibus, C. I. i. Mala soluta navis exit alite, Epod. x. Martiis caelebs quid agam Kalendis, C. III. viii. Mater saeva Cupidinum, C. I. xix. Mercuri, facunde nepos Atlantis, C. I. x. Mercuri,-nam te docilis magistro, C. III. xi. |