Moenia, vel Baccho Thebas vel Apolline Delphos Sunt quibus unum opus est intactae Palladis urbem 5 Undique decerptam fronti praeponere olivam; Aptum dicet equis Argos ditesque Mycenas. 10 Nec tam Larissae percussit campus opimae, Et praeceps Ani ac Tiburni lucus et uda Albus ut obscuro deterget nubila coelo Perpetuos, sic tu sapiens finire memento 15 sea'd,' because, being situated on the isthmus, it is near both the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs. The citadel, called Acrocorinthus, was particularly admired for its strength (hence moenia.) The city had been rebuilt very shortly before this time, according to a plan of Caesar.-5. Intactae, virgin,' the ordinary epithet of Athena, the protecting divinity of Athens.-6. Carmine perpetuo, in one continuous poem;' that is, a poem which celebrates the heroic deeds of the Athenians from the origin of the city in the mythical times downwards.-7. Olivam, properly, the olive-tree and its fruit; afterwards, a crown made of olive-twigs; and here, metaphorically, poems which relate the traditions and history of Athens, and which bring their authors crowns of honour. Consequently, to place a crown of olive-twigs, plucked from all quarters, upon their brow,' means to gain glory and fame by poems relating the history of Athens, and adorned with illustrative imagery drawn from all sources.'-9. Argos, situated in a plain of Peloponnesus: its breed of horses, and the temple of Juno (‘Hpaïov) in its neighbourhood, are celebrated by Homer. Mycenae, the royal seat of the Pelopidae, a very ancient town, which did not exist in historic times, is also praised by him for its riches.-10. Patiens Lacedaemon: the principal virtue of the Spartans was patientia, the patient endurance of bodily pains.-11. Larissae opimae: Larissa, a town in Thessaly, famed for the fertility of the country around it. Percussit, has filled with love.'-12. Domus Albuneae, the grotto of Albunea,' the nymph of a small stream near Tibur (the modern Tivoli), a town on the Anio (now Teverone.) The Anio, which was far-famed for its falls, and is hence called in the next line praeceps, winds round the greater part of Tibur, and numerous canals go off from it into the orchards of the inhabitants (hence, in line 14, pomaria uda rivis mobilibus.) Tiburnus, the son or grandson of Amphiaraus, was one of the heroes whom tradition made the founders of Tibur. A grove near the city was sacred to him.-15. Transition to the proper subject of the ode. The connection of the thoughts is as follows:-'I, as a poet, find my chief gratification in contemplating the beautiful scenery in the neighbourhood of Tibur, and in occasionally composing light, easy poems, refraining from great efforts, which would Tristitiam vitaeque labores Molli, Plance, mero, seu te fulgentia signis Castra tenent seu densa tenebit Tiburis umbra tui. Teucer Salamina patremque Quum fugeret, tamen uda Lyaeo Tempora populea fertur vinxisse corona, Sic tristes affatus amicos: Quo nos cunque feret melior fortuna parente. Nil desperandum Teucro duce et auspice Teucro ; Ambiguam tellure nova Salamina futuram. 20 25 30 probably bring me nothing but annoyance and vexation. You, a statesman, must enter more seriously into the affairs of life than I do; still you need the relaxation of convivial pleasures; and that these are not inconsistent with activity in business, I can show by the case of Teucer' (line 21, onwards.) The south wind is called albus, because it sometimes makes the sky bright and clear, though commonly bringing rain and storms. For deterget we might also have had detergit. See Zumpt, § 177.-18. Tristitiam, the stern seriousness of life,' opposed to cheerfulness and mirth. Hence also in the next line, molli mero, wine which softens the heart.' —20. Castra fulgentia signis. In Roman camps the standards of the legions and cohorts, which consisted of silver eagles, and even the staves of which were richly adorned with metal, were stuck into the ground in front of the general's tent.-21. Tiburis tui, equivalent to Tiburtini tui, the name of the town being put for the villa near it. Teucer: Telamon, king of Salamis, when he sent away his two sons, Ajax and Teucer, to the Trojan war, had commanded them to return together, because he would not receive the one without the other. Accordingly, when Ajax killed himself from vexation at being conquered by Ulysses in the contest for the arms of Achilles, Teucer did not dare to return home, but sailed to Cyprus, and there founded another Salamis.-22. Lyaeo, a name of Bacchus, very appropriate here, for it means the deliverer from care :' tempora uda Lyaco, his temples moist with wine.'-25. Quocunque, divided as in i. 6, 3. Fortuna melior parente, Fortune, kinder than my father,' who exiles me.-27. Auspice Teucro. Horace here puts into the mouth of the Greek hero an expression derived from à Roman usage. A Roman commander-in-chief had the auspicia; that is, the right of consulting the gods by the flight of birds, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any proposed course of proceeding met with their approval. He was therefore not merely the dux, but also the auspex of his army.-28. Certus Apollo. Apollo was the god of prophecy; and consequently he and his oracles were infallible, truth-telling.'-29. Ambiguam, 'a second,' so that it would be doubtful which was Salamis, properly so called, or so that when any one spoke of Salamis merely, without any distinctive epithet, his hearers would be uncertain Mecum saepe viri, nunc vine pellite curas; to which he alluded.-32. Iterabimus = iterum navigabimus or iterum peragrabimus. CARMEN VIII. AD LYDIAM. DESCRIPTION of a youth called Sybaris, who, from love to Lydia, has become effeminate, and has given up all serious and manly employments. LYDIA, dic, per omnes Te deos oro, Sybarin cur properes amando Perdere; cur apricum Oderit campum, patiens pulveris atque solis? Inter aequales equitat, Gallica nec lupatis Cur timet flavum Tiberim tangere? Cur olivum 3. Apricum campum, 'the sunny plain;' namely, the Campus Martius, where the young men used to amuse and train themselves by warlike exercises of all kinds-riding, spear-throwing, swimming in the Tiber, which flowed past the field, and the like.-4. Patiens pulveris atque solis, 'he who could bear both dust and sun.' Militaris, in the next line, he who has come to an age when he should serve as a soldier, and who has both strength and courage enough to be one.'-6. Gallica ora, the mouths of Gallic horses.' The horses of Gaul were highly esteemed as war steeds, and were brought into Italy in great numbers. They were governed (temperare) by frena lupata; sometimes also called simply lupus, a bridle, the bit of which was jagged, so as to make it more severe.-8. Flavum Tiberim. Bathing in the river was always considered as a means of strengthening the constitution, and was especially recommended in the time of the emperors, when the immoderate use of hot baths was doing much to weaken the bodily vigour and mental energy of the Romans. As to the epithet flavus, see i. 2, 13. Cur olivum. The poet comes now to the exercises of the palaestra, which were of Greek origin, but were at this time practised with great spirit by the Roman youth. They consisted, as is here mentioned, in wrestling, and throwing the spear and the discus-a plate of metal very like our modern quoit.' Before wrestling, the intending combatants used to rub their bodies over with oil, in order to render themselves more supple, and thus able more easily to elude the grasp of their opponents. Here, therefore, olivum vitare means 'to · Sanguine viperino Cautius vitat, neque jam livida gestat armis Saepe trans finem jaculo nobilis expedito? Filium dicunt Thetidis sub lacrimosa Trojae Cultus in caedem et Lycias proriperet catervas? 6 10 15 shun a wrestling bout.'-9. Sanguine viperino, for quam sanguinem viperinum. The blood of snakes was believed to be a most deadly poison.-10. Gestat brachia livida armis. Gestat, used poetically for habet: arma here are the discus and jaculum mentioned immediately afterwards.-12. Trans finem expedito, 'thrown quite beyond the point attained by any of the other players.' Expedito belongs to disco as well as to jaculo. Nobilis, well-known, famed,' is to be understood, like patiens in line 4, as who once was, and still might be.-14. Filium Thetidis marinae, the son of the sea-goddess Thetis: namely, Achilles. When the Trojan war broke out, his mother, knowing that he would lose his life in it, took him to Lycomedes, king of Scyros, where, disguised in female attire, he was brought up with the king's daughters. Ulysses discovered him by a stratagem, and induced him to join the Grecian host. Sub funera. As to sub, used of time, see Žumpt, § 319.-16. Lycias catervas. The Lycians, under the command of Glaucus and Sarpedon, were allies of the Trojans. Lycias, therefore, is here used as = Trojanas. CARMEN IX. AD THALIARCHUM. AN exhortation to enjoy life so long as youth and circumstances permit, leaving the management of the world to the gods. Thaliarchus, the name given by Horace to the friend to whom this ode is addressed, is fictitious, and means according to its Greek derivation, magister convivii. The poem is in imitation of an ode by the Greek lyrist Alcaeus, part of which is extant. Horace, however, makes his scene the country near Rome. Mount Soracte, now called Monte Tresto or Monte di S. Silvestro, was distinctly visible from the city, being situated about twenty-four Roman miles from it, in the district of the ancient city of Falerii. VIDES ut alta stet nive candidum 1. Vides, ut, 'Dost thou see how?' &c. little different from vides Soracte stans?-3. Laborantes. The trees tremble and bend under their burden of snow. -4. Constiterint acuto. 'Sharp, keen,' is a standing epithet for cold. Frost contracts; hence constiterint; and hence also, in the following line, dissolve, as the opposite of constiterint.-5. Super foco, a poetical construction, for which a prose writer would have said super focum. Zumpt, § 320.-7. Deprome quadrimum Sabina-merum diota, take liberally from the Sabine jar wine which is four years old.' Diota was a two-handed jar (dirov) from which the goblets were filled. It is called Sabine, because the wine it contained was Sabine, a bad sort: hence in Carm. i. 20, 1, the poet styles it vile Sabinum. Horace knows, however, that his friend's wine has been improved by keeping, since it is quadrimum, 'of the vintage of four years ago." In Epode 2, 47, the peasant is said to drink wine of the same year; and in Carm. i. 19, 15, Horace, in making a libation to Venus, is content with wine two years old (bimum.)—9. Simul=simul ac, 'as soon as.'-10. Stravere (=sedarunt) ventos. Sternere is properly used in reference to the waves of the sea, to smooth :' hence, poetically, also of the winds, which raise the billows.-13. Fuge quaerere, used poetically for noli quaerere, as in ii. 4, 22.-14. Fors = Fortuna. Quemcunque, divided as in 6, 3, and 7, 25.- Lucro appone, consider as gain,' gain to which you have properly no claim, but which is simply and entirely a gift of Fortune.-16. Tu is inserted merely to make up the line, and is consequently not to be translated.-17. Virenti=florenti, said of one in the vigour of youth or early manhood.—18. The poet speaks of three pleasures pursued by the Roman youth: first, the Campus, scil. Martius, the exercises of which have been touched upon in the previous ode; secondly, areae, open squares, where the young people used to meet and saunter and gossip; and lastly, intercourse with the fair sex.-20. Composita hora, at an hour agreed upon.' Repetantur, let these different modes of amusement be practised repeat |