streets (see S. i. 10. 75, n.). His writings came very soon to take their place with Homer and Virgil in all the schools. See Juvenal (vii. 226):

66

Quot stabant pueri, cum totus decolor esset

Flaccus, et haereret nigro fuligo Maroni."

19. Cum tibi sol tepidus] In the heat of the day, and before dinner in the baths, people read to themselves or one another. It is not easy to see the connection of this line with what goes before. It is something of a contradiction. But he supposes the book may perhaps be popular for a time.

20. Me, libertino natum patre] Compare S. i. 6. 6, 46, 47.

23. Me primis Urbis] This he considers no small praise. See Epp. i. 17. 35, and S. ii. 1.75. He does not mind at this time referring to his old generals, Brutus and Cassius. The description he gives of himself corresponds with that we find in his biographer. See also C. ii. 11. 15. Epp. i. 4. 15. 24. solibus aptum,] This means that he liked warm weather. See S. ii. 3. 10, n.

28. Collegam Lepidum] Horace was born on the 8th of December, B. c. 65, in the year of the consulship of L. Manlius Torquatus and L. Aurelius Cotta.. He completed his forty-fourth year, therefore, in December, B. c. 21. In that year M. Lollius (to whom C. iv. 9 is addressed) and Q. Æmilius Lepidus were consuls. 'Duxit' merely means that he had Lepidus for his colleague. Why Horace should be so particular in letting the world know his present age in the above year I cannot tell. He was in a communicative mood when he wrote, and tells us in a few words a good deal about himself.

EPISTLES.-BOOK II.

EPISTLE I.

AMONG other anecdotes connected with Augustus, Suetonius, in his Life of Horace, says that he complained, after reading the Epistles, that he had not written one to him, whereupon Horace wrote the following Epistle to the Emperor.

The parts of the Epistle do not hang together very closely, especially after the first ninety lines. They consist of compliments to Augustus; a remonstrance about the patronage bestowed on the old poets; a description of the rapid growth of art in Greece after the Persian war; a complaint that everybody at Rome has taken to writing verses, whether they can or no; a commendation of poets as good and useful citizens and contributors to the national piety; a history of the growth of poetry in Italy; a comparison between tragedy and comedy; an account of the troubles of dramatic authors through the caprices and bad taste of their audiences, which at that time is stated to have been especially depraved; an appeal to Augustus on behalf of the poets of the day; and a reproof to such poets as are unreasonable or officious, and attempt themes too exalted for them.

There is much polish in the versification of this Epistle. The flattery with which it opens is cleverly written, and the verses towards the end, in which Horace compendiously states the military successes of Augustus, are terse and elegant. His commendation of the poet is a fair tribute to his own profession. The description of the vulgar taste for spectacles is natural, and re

minds us of our own times; and there is enough in the Epistle to account for the high estimation it is held in by the general reader.

2. moribus ornes,] See Introduction to C. ii, 15, and the Odes there referred to.

3. Legibus emendes,] The principal laws passed in the time of Augustus are given in Smith's Dict. Antt., under the head Juliae Leges.' See C. iii. 24. 33, n.

5. Romulus et Liber pater] All these heroes are joined, in C. iii. 3. 9, sqq. As to 'Liber,' see Epp. i. 19. 4, n. There is additional confusion here by the Latin adjunct pater' being affixed to his name. Dionysus, Hercules, Castor, and Pollux were the favorite heroes of the Greeks, who attributed chiefly to their labors the civilization of the world, and to their care its preservation.

11. fatali] The labors of Hercules are called 'fatales,' because thereby hẹ fulfilled his destiny. Virgil so describes them in Aen, viii, 291.

12. Comperit invidiam] ̄ ̄_See C. iii. 24. 31, sq.

13. Urit enim fulgore suo] For that man scorches with his brightness who overpowers capacities inferior to his own'; that is, inferior minds are galled by the consciousness of their inferiority, and extinguished by his greatness, "Artes' here probably means attainments of any kind,

15. Praesenti tibi maturos] See note on C. iv. 5. 29, sqq., and C. iii. 5. 1, sqq. Augustus during his life refused to receive the honor of a temple at Rome, and in the provinces he would only have them if the name of Rome was coupled with his own. He had two of this sort in Asia Minor, and one built by Herod the Great at Cæsarea. A temple in the provinces was an honor which the governors often enjoyed. During his life, Augustus desired to be accounted the son of Apollo, and was represented on coins in the character of that god playing on a harp. After his death, several temples were erected to him, and his worship was regularly established, but the altars Horace speaks of were those which were raised in the provinces, like that below. 16. Jurandasque tuum per nomen] The person who swore by the altar laid his hand upon it, and invoked the name of the divinity to whom it was consecrated.

17. Nil oriturum alias,] This is a repetition of C. iv. 2. 37. 18. Sed tuus hic populus,] They who are wise in honoring you while among them, are not wise in their excessive admiration for all other things that are old and gone, and contempt for things modern.

20. simili ratione modoque] This is the third time Horace uses this combination. See S. ii. 3. 266, 271.

23. Sic fautor veterum] Augustus was particularly simple in his language, and had a contempt for affectation of any kind. He would therefore, as Orelli says, be pleased with these remarks of Horace,

24. Quas bis quinque viri sanxerunt,] In B. c. 452 ten patricians were appointed, with absolute powers for one year, to draw up a code of laws, of which the greater part was finished in that year, and engraved upon ten tables of ivory or bronze. In the following year the decemvirate was renewed, with the difference that three plebeians were elected among them, and two more tables were added. These tables contained the fundamental principles of Roman law to the latest times. Down to Cicero's time they were committed to memory by boys at school. As to 'sanxerunt,' see S. ii. 1. 81, n. foedera regum A story is told by Livy (i. 53, sqq.) respecting the way in which Gabii (Epp. i. 11. 7, n.) came into the hands of the Romans. Another historian mentions having seen a treaty made on that occasion. Gabiis' and Sabinis' are both governed by 'cum.' Compare C. iii. 25. 2, “ quae memora aut quos agor in specus." As to 'rigidis Sabinis, see C. iii, 6. 38.

The treaty Horace alludes to may be that between Romulus and Tatius, king of the Sabines, by which the two nations became one (Livy i. 13). Aequatus,' in this sense of treaties or agreements made on equal terms, does not occur elsewhere.

26. Pontificum libros,] The College of Pontiffs had books containing the regulations by which they were guided, and all matters pertaining to their office, and the worship of the gods, the general supervision of which was their principal duty. The original books were, according to tradition, given to them by Numa at their first creation; but they were added to from time to time, and they must have been numerous when Horace wrote. Some parts were no doubt very antiquated in expression and ideas.

annosa volumina vatum,] Not long after this Epistle was written, Augustus caused a multitude of books professing to be Sibylline oracles, and others of a prophetic character, to be burnt (see C. 9. 5, n.). Those that were counted genuine he preserved in the Capitol.

27. Dictitet Albano] There is force in dictitet,' 'would persist in affirming,' that the Muses themselves had uttered them (not on Parnassus, but) on the Alban Mount; that the Muses had changed their habitation to dwell in Latium.

29. pensantur eadem Scriptores trutina,] See S. i. 3. 72, n.

31. Nil intra est oleam,] This may be a proverb, meaning we may believe any absurdity, or disbelieve our senses; if because the oldest poets of Greece are the best, therefore Roman poets must be weighed in the same scale, why then the olive is hard without and the nut is soft; we are at the height of good fortune; we paint, we sing, we wrestle, better than the Grecks; which every one knows is not the case.

35. quotus arroget annus.] See C. iv. 14. 40, n, Horace uses 'decidere' (v. 36) in the same sense in C. iv. 7. 14.

45. caudaeque pilos ut equinae] When the soldiers of Sertorius insisted on attacking the enemy against his wish, and were beaten, he took the following means of showing them their error and the policy he chose to pursue. He put before them two horses, one old and infirm, the other young and fresh, with a remarkably fine tail. A strong man stood by the old horse, a small man by the young one. They were desired to pull the hair out of the tails of the animals, and the strong man pulled at his with great force, while the little man proceeded to pull out the hairs of the other, one by one. The weak man soon accomplished his work, while the strong man of course failed. (Plutarch, Vit. Sert. c. 16.) Horace appears to refer to this story, which was probably well known. The application here is plain, though it has no very close analogy to the original,

46. demo et item] Terence uses 'et item.' Andria (i. 1. 49): "Sed postquam amans accessit pretium pollicens Unus et item alter"; and Lucretius (iv. 553):

'Asperitas autem vocis fit ab asperitate Principiorum, et item levor levore creatur." 47. ratione ruentis acervi] The Greeks had a logical term called owpirηs (from owpós, acervus,' a heap), signifying a series of propositions linked together and depending each upon the one before it, till a conclusion is come to which connects the first proposition with the last; but it may go on for ever without any conclusion at all. The invention of the owpirns is attributed to Chrysippus the Stoic.

48. Qui redit in fustos] The word 'fasti,' as applied to records, belonged properly to the sacred books or tables in which the 'fasti' and 'nefasti dies' were distinguished, that is, the Calendar. When these were made public (Livy ix. 46), calendars. became common, and in these (which were usually engraved on tables of stone) remarkable events were inserted, so that they

became a source of historical information. There were also consular annals, or registers of the consuls and other chief magistrates, kept among the records of the state, and these were also called 'fasti,' or 'annales,' either of which words came, in consequence, to be used generally for historical registers of any kind, particularly by the poets. Horace applies it to the family genealogies of the Lamia family (C. iii. 17. 4). See also C. iv. 13. 15; 14. 4; and S. i. 3. 112, where it is applied in the most general way to the history of the world.

49. Libitina] See S. ii. 6. 19, n.

50. Ennius et sapiens] Ennius was born at Rudiæ, in Calabria, B. C. 239. He followed the opinions of Pythagoras, holding the doctrine of the transmigration of souls; and in the beginning of his epic poem, called 'Annales,' he declared that the spirit of Homer had passed into his body, having meanwhile inhabited, among others, that of a peacock. This is what Horace alludes to in 'somnia Pythagorea.' He says, however, that Ennius need not mind what was thought of his professions and his dreams, since he was certainly worshipped as if he were a second Homer. As to 'critici,' see Epp. i. 19. 40, n. Ennius is called 'fortis,' not for his personal bravery (though he saw some service), but for the boldness of his style.

53. Naevius in manibus non est] Cn. Nævius was born about the middle of the third century B. C., and wrote plays and an epic poem on the first Punic war, in which he served. To the latter poem Virgil seems to have owed some of his ideas. Terence ranks him, with Plautus and Ennius, as one of his models. Nævius was perhaps rather the oldest of the three. Cicero often has 'non est' in interrogative sentences.

54. Paene recens?] As if he were almost modern.'

56. Pacuvius docti famam senis,] Pacuvius was nephew to Ennius, and was born, like his uncle, in Calabría, about B. c. 220. His chief compositions were tragedies, and they were nearly all translated from the Greek. A scene from his Orestes is referred to by Cicero (De Amicit. c. 7), and he elsewhere places him at the head of the Roman tragedians...

In respect to Accius, see S. i. 10. 53, n.

As to senis,' see S. ii. 1. 34, n.

57. Dicitur Afrani toga] Comedies written after a Greek model, with Greek scenes and characters, were called 'palliatae'; those of which the incidents and persons were Roman were called 'togatae,' from the dress of the actors, the Greek 'pallium' corresponding to the Roman 'toga.' Afranius wrote principally 'togatas,' and Horace says that, according to the judgment of the critics, his toga would have suited Menander; that is, Menander need not have been ashamed of his plays. Afranius was some years younger than Cæcilius and Terence.

Of Menander, who flourished at Athens during the latter part of the fourth century B. C., mention has been made on S. i. 4. 1. Horace seems to have studied Menander. (See S. ii. 3. 11, n.)

58. Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi,] As to Horace's opinion of Plautus, see below (170, sqq.). What his critics meant, when they said what Horace here attributes to them, I do not know; and since we have no means of comparing the writings of Plautus and Epicharmus, I do not see how the question can be decided. Epicharmus, a native of Cos, lived from B. C. 540 to the age of ninety. The chief part of his literary life was spent at the court of Gelon and his successor Hiero, at Syracuse, with Pindar, Eschylus, and other poets who were patronized at that court, where he composed comedies, thirty-five of which are known by their titles and some by fragments. He is commonly called the inventor of comedy, the fact being, perhaps, that his were the first that were written.

59. Vincere Caecilius gravitate,] This comic poet was born at Mediolanum

(Milan). He was a slave, but afterwards received his freedom. He died B. C. 168, the year after Ennius. His contemporaries held him in high estimation. Cicero places him at the head of the comic poets, but speaks ill of his Latin. What is meant by "gravitate' is as uncertain as 'properare' in the verse before, and for the same reason.

Terentius arte.] The exact sense in which Horace meant this word is equally uncertain with the others; perhaps it has reference to the elegance of Terence's language, or the skill with which he draws real life in his plays. There are few like him now. His name was P. Terentius Afer. He was a slave in the family of one P. Terentius Lucanus, whose prænomen and gentile name he took, on his manumission, retaining as a cognomen the name which he derived from the place of his birth, Carthage. The plays we have of his are all 'palliatae,' derived more or less from the Greek, chiefly of Menander

60. arcto stipata theatro] The plays of Terence and all the earlier and more celebrated poets were performed, at first, either on scaffoldings erected in the Circus, and afterwards taken down, or in temporary wooden theatres, usually on a very large scale; the notion being that a systematic encouragement of plays, by the erection of permanent buildings, was injurious to public morals. The first permanent stone theatre at Rome (for they had them in the country towns some time before) was built by Cn. Pompeius, after the Mithridatic war, outside the walls, near the Campus Martius.

62. Livi scriptoris ab aevo.] T. Livius Andronicus is spoken of by Quintilian as the first Roman poet. The date of his birth is uncertain, but he died B. C. 221, or thereabouts. He wrote a translation of the Odyssey, and plays. These were all, as far as we know, 'palliatae,' from the Greek. Cicero says they were not worth a second reading.

63. Interdum vulgus] The multitude, he means, are not altogether blind to the defects of these old writers, though many think there is nothing like them.

66. dure-ignave] The first represents the harshness of the style, the second its carelessness. Compare A. P. 445. 'Jove acquo' is the opposite of 'Jove non probante' (C. i. 2. 19).

ment.

70. plagosum mihi parvo Orbilium dictare;] Orbilius Pupillus was a native of Beneventum. In his fiftieth year (B. C. 63) he came to Rome and set up a school. He seems to have held the rod as the principle of school governHe lived in great poverty, in a garret, to nearly a hundred years of age, having long lost his memory. His townspeople were proud of him, and erected a marble statue to his memory. Orbilius was in his forty-eighth year when Horace was born. He was therefore not young when the poet went to his school. As to 'dictare,' see S. i. 10. 75, n.

73. verbum emicuit] If a decent word starts up.'

75. ducit venditque poëma.] It brings forward and gives a value to the whole poem.' Compare Juvenal (vii. 135): "Purpura vendit Causidicum, vendunt amethystina."

79. crocum floresque perambulet Attae Fabula] Atta was a writer of comedies ('togatae'), of which a few fragments remain. He died B. c. 78. It is not clear that Horace had any particular play in mind, but it may have been an affectation of Atta's to have flowers scattered on the stage, on which it was usual to sprinkle a perfume extracted from the crocus. The perfume was mixed with water and thrown up through pipes, so as to sprinkle not only the stage, but the spectators. The most famous crocus was that of N Corycus, in Cilicia (see S. ii. 4. 68, n.).

Quae gravis Aesopus,] Claudius Esopus, the tragic actor, was an intimate friend of Cicero's, and most of the distinguished men of that time. He was older than Cicero, though the date of his birth is not known, or that