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 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SAN DIEGO 
 
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 EDITED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 
 UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF 
 
 EDWARD P. MORRIS, L.H.D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN VALE UNIVERSITY 
 AND 
 
 MORRIS H. MORGAN, PH.D., 
 
 NiOFESSOR OF CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
 
 VOLUMES OF THE SERIES 
 
 Essentials of Latin for Beginners. Henry C. Pearson, Teacher* 
 College, New York. 
 
 A School Latin Grammar. Morris H. Morgan, Harvard University. 
 
 A First Latin Writer. M. A. Abbott, Groton School. 
 
 Connected Passages for Latin Prose Writing. Maurice W. 
 
 Mather, formerly of Harvard University, and Arthur L. Wheeler, Bryn 
 
 Mawr College. 
 
 Caesar. Episodes from the Gallic and Civil Wars. Maurice 
 W. Mather, formerly of Harvard University. 
 
 Cicero. Ten Orations and Selected Letters. J. Remsen Bishop, 
 Eastern High School, Detroit, Frederick A. King, Hughes High School, 
 Cincinnati, and Wilbur Helm, Evanston Academy of Northwestern Uni- 
 versity. 
 Six Orations. 
 
 Selections from Latin Prose Authors for Sight Reading. Susan 
 Braley Franklin and Ella Catherine Greene, Miss Baldwin's School, Bryn 
 Mawr. 
 
 Cicero. Cato Maior. Frank G. Moore, Columbia University. 
 Cicero. Laelius de Amicitia. Clifton Price, University of California. 
 
 Selections from Livy. Harry E. Burton, Dartmouth College. 
 
 Horace. Odes and Epodes. Clifford H. Moore, Harvard University. 
 
 Horace. Satires. Edward P. Morris, Yale University. 
 
 Horace. Satires and Epistles. Edward P. Morris, Yale University. 
 
 Horace. Odes, Epodes, and Carmen Saeculare, Moore. Satires 
 
 and Epistles, Morris. In one volume. 
 Tibullus. Kirby F. Smith, Johns Hopkins University. 
 Lucretius. William A. Merrill, University of California. 
 
 Latin Literature of the Empire. Alfred Gudeman, formerly of 
 the University of Pennsylvania. 
 Vol. I. Prose : Velleius to Boethius 
 Vol. II. Poetry : Pseudo-Vergiliana to Cbudiaaus 
 
 Selections from the Public and Private Law of the Romans. 
 James J. Robinson, Hotchkiss School. 
 
 Others to be announced later.
 
 HORACE 
 THE SATIRES 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD P. MORRIS 
 
 PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN YALE COLLEGE 
 
 NEW YORK-:. CINCINNATI.:- CHICAGO 
 
 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY 
 EDWARD P. MORRIS AND MORRIS H. MORGAN 
 
 F.NTBRKD AT STATIONERS* HALL, LONDON 
 
 MORRIS. HORACE SAT1KU. 
 W. t 7
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THIS book will be found to differ from the many excel- 
 lent editions of the Satires accessible to American students 
 chiefly in the emphasis which I have desired to place upon 
 the thought of Horace, as distinguished from the language 
 or the verse or the allusions. That is, without denying 
 that Horace may be made useful as the basis for a study 
 of Roman life, and without forgetting that it is absurd to 
 talk of studying the thought, if the language is only imper- 
 fectly understood, I have nevertheless believed that of all 
 the Latin writers read in college Horace was the one in 
 whose writings literary form could be most interestingly 
 studied. In the Satires, too, the connection of thought is 
 peculiar and, at first, difficult to follow. To meet this diffi- 
 culty and to facilitate the understanding of each satire as 
 a whole, the introductions have been made somewhat fuller 
 
 than is usual 
 
 E. P. MORRIS.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE events in the life of Horace are known to us from two 
 sources : first, from an extract from Suetonius, preserved in the 
 manuscripts of Horace and printed below; and, second, from the 
 many personal allusions in his works. 
 
 Quintus Horatius Flaccus was born in Venusia, a Roman 
 colony in the borderland between Lucania and Apulia, on the 
 8th of December, 65 B.C. His father was a freedman, that is, 
 he had been a slave, but had bought his freedom or had been 
 manumitted, and was engaged in some small business in or 
 near Venusia. He was apparently of Italian stock, and in 
 character and circumstances he was a man of the older Roman 
 type, energetic, prudent, ambitious. The ambition took, in 
 particular, the form of a determination to give to his son the 
 best possible education and opportunities, one of many modern 
 touches in the life of Horace, and in furtherance of this de- 
 termination he brought the son to Rome and placed him in one 
 of the best schools of the city. Somewhere about 45 B.C. 
 Horace went to Athens as young men now go to a university 
 to carry on studies and hear lectures on rhetoric, philosophy, 
 and mathematics ; this was the ordinary culmination of a Roman 
 higher education, and Horace at this time, as probably also in 
 the school in Rome, formed associations and friendships with 
 young men of intellectual tastes and of social position somewhat 
 higher than his own. While he was still a student at Athens, 
 not yet quite twenty-one, the death of Caesar in March, 44, 
 divided the Roman world into two hostile camps, and when 
 
 7
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Brutus came to Athens in the late summer of 44, on his way to 
 assume the govern'orship of Macedonia and Asia Minor, Horace 
 abandoned his studies and accompanied him with the nominal 
 title of tribunus militum. Of the two years that intervened be- 
 tween the death of Caesar and the battle of Philippi, in 42, there 
 is no record except the rather juvenile seventh satire of the 
 First Book. It is probable that his father had died and that the 
 property had been lost, perhaps confiscated ; for when Horace 
 returned to Rome in 41, he was obliged to support himself by 
 taking a clerkship in the treasury department; here he began 
 his career as a writer. 
 
 Behind these bare facts of his early life the temperament and 
 character of Horace were taking shape. The story has in it 
 so much that is modern that we are perhaps in danger of forcing 
 .the analogies, yet the outlines of the process are clear. Horace 
 was a country boy, trained in the prudent traditions of a quiet 
 life ; his father desired for him the rise in station which he had 
 himself only partially achieved, and sought it by means of a 
 higher education and more stimulating associations than a re- 
 mote village could afford. From the studies of the university 
 the young man was plunged into the floods of civil war, following 
 the leadership of the half-mystical and wholly romantic Brutus. 
 He returned to Rome a pardoned rebel ; the cause which he 
 still believed to have been the cause of liberty was lost; his hopes 
 of advancement in public life were at an end ; his father was 
 dead, his friends scattered, his property gone. Obscure, disap- 
 pointed, perhaps a little embittered, he was to begin life over 
 again. If this young man seems a different person from the Hor- 
 ace whom we associate with graceful love poems and the doctrine 
 of the golden mean, it is only because we accept the result 
 without following the process which led to it. For the two 
 are identical; there is no break in the development; indeed, 
 it is out of precisely such material that the mellow and penetrat- 
 ing commentator upon life is made, when success and recogni- 
 
 8
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 tion, as well as disenchantment and difficulty, have done their 
 part in shaping his character. 
 
 It was in the decade between 41, when he returned after 
 Philippi, and 30, when at the age of thirty-five he published the 
 Epodes and the Second Book of Satires, that his character and 
 his life philosophy were matured. Few events are known to us 
 out of these years. In 39 or 38 he was introduced by Vurgil 
 and Varius to Maecenas, and in 33 he received from Maecenas 
 the gift of the Sabine farm, which was in a special sense his 
 home for the rest of his life. But the intimacy with the circle 
 of poets and critics who were gathered about Maecenas, greatly 
 as it stimulated him, and the lasting friendship with Maecenas 
 himself, with all the resulting benefits, were only important in- 
 cidents in his development; his real life was in his writings. 
 He began with a group of three satires, 2, 7, and 8 of Book I, 
 and it was these which, with some of the Epodes, brought him 
 to the notice of Vergil, and ultimately of Maecenas. They are 
 plainly the work of a young writer. The seventh, though it is 
 well written, is trivial ; the eighth is a kind of burlesque Priapus- 
 poem, without wit or real humor, unpleasantly personal and with 
 no marked attractiveness of style. Of the second it must be 
 said plainly that it is an attempt to draw attention by jesting 
 indecency ; there is no other possible interpretation of the choice 
 of subject. On the other hand, the style of the seventh is good, 
 the eighth is better than most poems of its kind, and the second, 
 except in the choice of subject, is the real Horace, ^y JP gf y 1p 
 aqd handling-, humorous and yet in acf^ai'n waygpriopg There 
 is enough of sharpness and even of bitterness in it to explain the 
 criticisms that it brought upon the writer, and the tone of the 
 next satire, 4 of Book I, shows that Horace was himself aware 
 that the earlier satires needed defense, if not apology. But a 
 clear-sighted critic, on the lookout, as the members of the circle 
 of Maecenas were, for young men of promise, would certainly 
 have seen that the writer of these poems was a man not to be 
 
 9
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 neglected. The satires which followed the admission of Horace 
 to the friendship of Vergil and Varius and Maecenas need no 
 specific comment beyond that which will be found in the special 
 introductions ; they are not the work of an obscure beginner, 
 but of a man tempered by association with men of taste, mel- 
 lowed by friendly recognition, and already master of an easy 
 style and a sane and humorous philosophy of life. 
 
 His choice of satire as a means of expression is explained by 
 Horace in Sat. i, 10, 40-47 ; he says that other fields comedy, 
 tragedy, the epic, the bucolic were already occupied, and that 
 satire alone seemed open to him. But this explanation is not to 
 be taken seriously ; the causes which determined his choice were 
 deeper, partly in his own temperament, partly in the conditions 
 of his time. He was by nature an observer of men ; he found in 
 the interplay of character and circumstance a spectacle of con- 
 stant interest, and the account which he gives (Sat. 1,4, 105-143) 
 of the teachings of his father and of his own habitual ( attitude, 
 however humorous the application which he makes of it, is 
 essentially true. To a man of such a habit of mind satire, in 
 the sense which Horace gave to the word, as a good-natured 
 commentary, that is, upon the follies and upon the virtues, too, 
 of the men with whom he lived, was the most natural vehicle of 
 expression. In so far as he was inclined toward more serious 
 and emotional expression, he used at first the half-lyrical form 
 of the Epodes, and the absence of the more profound feelings 
 from the Satires is to be explained in part by the fact that they 
 found another outlet in such poems as Epodes 4, 7, 9, and 16. 
 But these strongly emotional verses look backward to the tem- 
 pestuous past ; they express the attitude of the obscure and 
 defeated republican, struggling with circumstances and not yet 
 in harmony with himself, and their subjects belong rather to 
 the period of strife than to the new era upon which Rome was 
 entering. The Augustan Age, precisely because it checked the 
 vigorous public activities of the preceding period and turned 
 
 10
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 men back upon science and philosophy and law and literature, 
 was of all periods in Roman history the one which offered the 
 most inviting material for humorous commentary. As on the 
 crowded streets of the city men of every country and of all 
 stations met and passed on, a peasant from the mountains, a 
 deposed Eastern king, a Greek philosopher, a Roman noble, 
 so in the complex social structure motives of every possible 
 form and color were at work. Though public activities were 
 checked, the office-holding and office-seeking politician flourished 
 as he always flourishes under a one-man power, and his ambi- 
 tions, selfish enough, yet not wholly unworthy, were an open 
 invitation to discriminating satire. The immense business 
 interests, too, which centered at Rome, presented then, as now, 
 their puzzling mixture of motives and of influences, and it was to 
 the man of business that Horace addressed the satire which was 
 the preface to his first collected publication, as if the business 
 man was to him the most marked figure of the age. Inter- 
 mingled with these ambitions as a kind of common reward for 
 every form of success was the prize of social recognition and 
 prominence, which seems to have had for a Roman, with his 
 outspoken personal conceits and vanities, an attractiveness even 
 greater and more general than it has in modern societies ; and 
 certainly no spectacle offers itself more invitingly to the genial 
 satirist than the spectacle of the social struggle. Horace played 
 his part in society, as Thackeray did, and gathered material for 
 his Book of Snobs. Somewhat apart from all these rivalries, 
 but with rivalries no less keen in their own spher.e, were the two 
 schools of philosophy, the Epicurean and the Stoic. Horace is 
 often, in a vague way, regarded as an Epicurean, but he was, in 
 fact, of no school or of a school of his own, and it is not as an 
 Epicurean that he occasionally strikes a sudden blow at a Stoic, 
 or, more often, burlesques the paradoxes of the school with 
 ironical solemnity. He recognized the underlying truth of the 
 Stoics ; he was by no means unconscious of the seriousness of 
 
 II
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 life ; he was, indeed, himself a preacher ; but he was also a 
 discriminating humorist, and the formal Stoic, apparently more 
 concerned about the growth of his beard than about his growth 
 in grace, and more insistent upon the phraseology of his doctrines 
 than upon their intelligibility, appealed to both sides of his 
 mind. In the long picture gallery of the Satires no figure is 
 more frequently recurrent. Nor did Horace neglect the men of 
 his own craft. The Augustan Age, which is often called the 
 golden age of Latin literature, was, at any rate, a period most 
 prolific in skillful writers. Through chance allusions, serious or 
 satirical, we are able to see, behind the figures of the greater 
 poets whose writings have survived to our times, a long array of 
 men of lesser rank, not undistinguished among their contempo- 
 raries, and undoubtedly writers of merit. And below them was 
 the crowd of poets and historians and critics and essayists whose 
 names even have been lost. Here was rich material for the satirist, 
 and material especially for such a satirist as Horace, who was 
 always as much critic as poet and interested alike in the practice 
 and in the theory of his art. Somewhat less prominent in the 
 life of the city, yet marked enough to give occasional color to 
 the scene, were various minor caprices or eccentricities, each 
 with its little circle of devotees. There were the collectors of 
 old bronzes and tableware, indifferent to the artistic imperfec- 
 tions of their rare pieces, but credulous of their antiquity. The 
 professional musicians formed, then as now, a class by them- 
 selves, with their own standards and judgments. Petty officials 
 rejoiced in opportunities to display themselves in elaborate 
 costume. It is in part the notice which Horace has bestowed 
 upon them that makes the so-called legacy hunters seem to have 
 been so numerous in Rome, but the brilliant satire in which 
 their arts are burlesqued was the product of observation, not of 
 invention. The proper arrangement of a menu and the doctrines 
 of gastronomy were quite certainly matters of serious concern to 
 many persons in Roman society, though it is possible that the 
 
 12
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 humorously detailed descriptions and travesties in the Second 
 Book make the followers of this particular mania more promi- 
 nent than they actually were in Roman life. But certainly the 
 society to which Horace's friendship with Maecenas gave him 
 access was a highly complex society, one which brought before 
 his observant eye a most interesting variety of types and of in- 
 dividuals, and invited good-humored comment and even caustic 
 remark. The Satires are not the result of so mechanical a 
 choice as Horace jokingly implies, but the inevitable expression 
 of the reflections of such a man as Horace was upon such a 
 society as that of the Augustan Age. 
 
 The form which Horace's commentary on life was to take 
 was already determined for him. In this respect ancient 
 literature was to a high degree conventional and traditional ; 
 when once the type was fixed by the influence of some great 
 originator, the range of subsequent deviation from the type was 
 small. Didactic poetry was written in hexameters from Hesiod 
 to Ovid ; innovator as Euripides was, his variations from the 
 norm of tragedy are in reality slight. Form and content are 
 identified under one name in the iambi of Archilochus. The 
 form of Roman satire, or at least the prevalent form, was fixed 
 by C. Lucilius. He was an eques of the period of the Gracchi 
 and the younger Scipio Africanus, a man of education and rank, 
 a conservative in politics, and a writer of force and courage. 
 His range of subjects was not very different from that of Horace, 
 literary criticism, ethical discussion, social comment, but 
 a large place was occupied by political satire, which was almost 
 inevitable in that stormy period and in the writings of a friend 
 of Scipio. In tone he was, so far as can be judged from the 
 extant fragments and from the statements of his successors, 
 extremely personal and harsh. The fact that the fragments of 
 his writings have come down largely in quotations by the gram- 
 marians, who were interested chiefly in unusual words or 
 phrases, makes it difficult to form an independent judgment 
 
 13
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 of his style. The longest quotation, a definition of -virtus in 
 thirteen verses, is not without dignity of thought and expres- 
 sion, but in general the criticism of Horace, that Lucilius 
 wrote too freely and with too little attention to finish of style, 
 seems to be justified. The loss of his writings is a loss to lin- 
 guistic and literary history, rather than to literature itself. But 
 he performed the great service of determining both the tone and 
 the form of satire. He gave to it for all time that critical and 
 censorious tone which is still associated 'with the name and, 
 after considerable experiment with other verse forms which had 
 been used by Ennius, he settled upon the hexameter as the 
 most suitable meter. In selecting satire as his field, Horace 
 therefore felt himself bound by all the force of strong tradition 
 to a certain tone and a certain verse. 
 
 But the force of tradition and convention in ancient literature, 
 strong as it was, did not preclude originality ; it merely set the 
 bounds within which originality might work. Of imitation, in 
 any proper sense of the word, that is, of attempt to copy as 
 closely as possible the work of an older writer, there is very 
 little evidence in Greek or Latin literature, and Horace, setting 
 himself to write Lucili ritu, as he says, accepting as his starting 
 point the definition which Lucilius had given to satire, was 
 also acutely conscious of the imperfections of his predecessor, 
 and fully determined to avoid them in his own work. The 
 most evident of these imperfections was in the matter of style. 
 The fragments of the satires of Lucilius are bold and crude in 
 expression ; they say what was to be said, but they say it with- 
 out charm. There is no evidence of care for workmanship, 
 of pleasure in attractive expression. But between Lucilius 
 and Horace was the great Ciceronian period, in which the whole 
 subject of Latin style in prose and in verse was most warmly 
 debated by men who were daily practicing the art of writing. 
 Two generations had contributed to raise the standard of good 
 style, and Horace 'and the friends with whom he lived were 
 
 14
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 desirous of raising it still further. Horace was, besides, by 
 nature a literary artist, to whom the shaping of phrases into 
 effective and pleasing form was an end in itself. It is, indeed, 
 surprising to a modern reader that the justice of his guarded 
 and moderate criticisms of the style of Lucilius should have 
 been questioned by any intelligent student of Latin literature 
 in the Augustan Age. That he was entirely successful in his 
 attempt to improve in respect to style upon the work of his 
 predecessor has never been doubted. 
 
 The other direction in which Horace endeavored to sur- 
 pass Lucilius, without deviating too widely from the type, led 
 him into greater difficulties. The satire of Lucilius was un- 
 doubtedly pungent and bitter in its attacks upon persons and 
 upon parties, and this savageness of tone, which in various 
 forms was familiar and agreeable to the Romans, was, in fact, 
 an essential element in satire of the Lucilian type. But it 
 was in every way impossible in the Augustan Age ; the polit- 
 ical situation between 42 and 31 B.C. would not have borne 
 rough handling, and the softening of manners had put a check 
 upon personalities. The problem, therefore, which presented 
 itself to Horace was to retain the pungency of individual 
 criticism without violation of the canons of good taste and with- 
 out offense to public men. A part of the problem he made no 
 attempt to solve ; he left politics out of his- satire entirejy. 
 even at the time when his patriotic feeling was fxpressinp- 
 |tsejf in the Egode quo, quo sceksti^uitis? and in Epode 16. 
 But to the problem of giving to his satire the appeaTance 
 without the reality of personal attack, he addressed himself 
 with much ingenuity. The Satires seem to bristle with proper 
 names, but examination shows that only a very few of the 
 allusions are in fact personal attacks. Many of the. names 
 are taken from Lucilius and had long since ceased to be 
 anything but types in literature. Others are from the Cice- 
 ronian period, the names of men who were then notorious. 
 
 15
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Still others, men of Horace's day, were in their lifetime al 
 ready so much the subject of open gossip and comment that 
 an allusion to them was no more properly offensive or, indeed, 
 personal, than an allusion in a modern newspaper to the men 
 whose names are upon everybody's lips. Many names are 
 fictitious, some pure inventions like the names in a novel, 
 others disguising an allusion to a real person. The residuum 
 of actual personality, such as would be offensive to modern 
 feeling, is extremely small. Direct attack upon an individual 
 was, in fact, as little to Horace's taste as to our own, and 
 was incompatible with the lightness of touch which he was 
 endeavoring to attain. Even the semblance of severity, which 
 the Lucilian tradition obliged him to maintain in his earlier 
 work, grows less distinct as he becomes conscious of his pe- 
 culiar powers. The Second Book has less of it than the First ;t 
 indeed, the first satire of that book is a kind of travesty of- 
 the severely personal satire and, by implication, a renuncia 
 tion of it. The place of Horace in the history of Roman 
 satire is, it is true, in the line of succession from Lucilius, 
 but his own contribution to that history amounts almost to 
 the creation of a new literary genre, 9. new variety of satire. 
 
 The events in the life of Horace after the publication of the 
 Epodes and the Second Book in 30 B.C. are of interest to the 
 reader of the Satires only in so far as they interpret his earlier 
 period. He turned at once from satire to lyric poetry, following 
 still further the path upon which he had entered in the Epodes, 
 and published in 23 B.C. the first three books of the Odes, to 
 which he gave the best of his powers and the best years of his 
 life. Aside from other and more determining motives, the 
 inner impulse and the fact that the lyric is a higher form of art 
 than satire, the choice doubtless indicates also a feeling that 
 he had for the time exhausted the field of satire, that he had 
 carried his modifications of the Lucilian type as far as it was 
 possible for him to carry them. But the habit of observation 
 
 16
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 was still strong in him, and after the publication of the Odes 
 he resumed his commentary on life and society in the form 
 of epistles in hexameter. By the choice of a new and different 
 form he freed himself from the limitations of satire ; at the 
 same time, as the tradition of the epistle in verse was less 
 definitely fixed, the new form did not hamper him. The in- 
 terval that separates such a satire as 2, 6 from such an epistle 
 as i, 7 is very slight ; by addressing the satire co Maecenas, he 
 could easily have made it an epistle in form, and with a few 
 modifications the epistle might have been published with the 
 Satires. It might be said that the three collections of hexame- 
 ter poetry represent three steps in a continuous process ; the 
 First Book of the Satires is, in the main, satire after the man- 
 ner of Lucilius, the Second Book is an experiment with the 
 dialogue form, and the First Book of the Epistles marks the 
 complete breaking away from the Lucilian tradition. They are 
 three stages in the working out of a literary form within which 
 the temperament of Horace could express itself with the least 
 possible sense of restriction. 
 
 Before his death, which occurred on the 27th of November, 
 8 B.C., Horace was already recognized as the greatest of Ro- 
 man lyric poets and as the most conspicuous figure, next to 
 Vergil, in the literature of his time. This position his poems 
 retained after his death ; they were universally read and were 
 used as text-books in schools. Critical and learned commen- 
 tary began to gather about them in the first century of the Em- 
 pire, and, before the fall of Roman power in the West, copies 
 of his works were in wide circulation, often prefaced by the 
 account of his life from Suetonius and annotated with scholia. 
 During the Middle Ages, when knowledge of the ancient world 
 was at its lowest, his poems were still read in schools and fre- 
 quently copied in the monastery libraries, and with the Revival 
 of Learning many editions were issued from the early printing 
 presses. In modern times they have formed a part of the 
 
 HOK. SAT. 2 17
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 school or university curriculum in all countries ; they have been 
 translated more often than the works of any other ancient 
 writer, and have deeply influenced modern literature. All this 
 is evidence of the high esteem in which his poetry has been 
 held by scholars and men of letters ; the estimate of men of 
 affairs, of men outside of academic life, is somewhat similar. 
 For it is probably true that of all the writers of Greek and Latin 
 poetry many of them greater than Horace no one has so 
 frequently been carried away from the university life and be- 
 come a part of the familiar intellectual furniture of educated 
 men in active life. The explanation of an interest so wide- 
 spread and so long-continued is not, of course, to be sought in 
 those qualities or characteristics which Horace shares with 
 other writers. He reflects, it is true, a highly interesting period 
 in history, but the letters of Cicero are an even more vivid re- 
 flection of a more critical period. His poetic form, as it is 
 worked out in the lyrics, is most admirable, and poetic form is 
 one of the main reasons for our continued study of the two 
 classic literatures, but the range of its attractive power is 
 limited. That which has differentiated Horace from other 
 writers and made him permanently attractive to men of widely 
 varied taste is independent of his circumstances and, to a con- 
 siderable degree, of his artistic form ; it lies partly in the 
 personal character which his writings disclose and partly in the. 
 permanent worth of his comments upon life. 
 
 The character of a writer or an artist as it shows itself in his 
 work must be learned by indirection, by impressions repeated 
 and deepened into familiarity. For this kind of personal ac- 
 quaintance Horace gives abundant material. Enough has been 
 said above to correct the notion that he was a dilettante, playing 
 with life. He was, it is true, fundamentally an observer rather 
 than an actor, and he was by temperament genial and tolerant ; 
 these are the qualities upon which the charm of his personality 
 rests ; but a merely temperamental tolerance is, like tempera-
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 mental optimism, a very superficial and uninteresting quality. 
 Horace was a man of warm feeling and of strong convictions, 
 though his convictions are in part alien to our thought, and the 
 lightness with which he sometimes touches serious things is not 
 the lightness of carelessness. He had learned early, not with- 
 out struggle and pain, the lesson of adjustment to the limita- 
 tions of life, had learned that the secret of a composed and 
 dignified life lies in the acceptance of the inevitable. Even in 
 his less cheerful moods he faced his heaviest losses with steadi- 
 ness : 
 
 durum : sed levius fit patientia, 
 
 quidquid corrigere est nefas. 
 
 But his ordinary mood was not tragic ; he preferred to meet 
 life with a smile, not underestimating the possibilities of loss 
 and trouble, but also not overestimating them. And it is the 
 fact that his genial acceptance of life rests upon a foundation of 
 cool judgment and shrewd comprehension that gives it mean- 
 ing. It is this combination that makes him the philosopher for 
 men of the world. For the man of affairs, if he is conscious of 
 life at all, is seeking for a formula which will include all the 
 follies and weaknesses of men and will teach him how to accept 
 them with a smile. The real meaning of Horace's philosophy 
 is poorly expressed by nil admirari, as the words are commonly 
 understood, and not very well by aurea mediocritas ; it is a phi- 
 losophy of comprehension and tolerance, and the charm of his 
 personality is that he so perfectly embodies his own doctrine. 
 
 The value of his comments upon men and society lies partly 
 in the application of his philosophy to life, partly in the peculiar 
 forms in which he expresses it. His satires, and, to a less 
 degree, his epistles, are a picture gallery. He does not describe 
 individuals or, if he does, it is in terms so general as to make 
 them types ; his little pictures are done in few lines, but in lines 
 so expressive that they tell the essential truth about a man. 
 Such a characterization as that of Tigellius in Sat. i , 3 or that
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 of Damasippus in Sat. 2, 3, or the longer description by sugges- 
 tion in Sat. i, 9, is as true and as recognizable now as it was 
 when it was written, because it presents the essential qualities 
 which are of no single period or race. The power to draw 
 such pictures is not, it is true, the highest kind of artistic power, 
 and it does not necessarily carry with it either a profound phi- 
 losophy or great breadth of view. Great artists have lacked it, 
 and some caricaturists have had it. The most obvious modern 
 illustrations are in fiction ; George Eliot had not a trace of it ; 
 Anthony Trollope had it in a high degree. Such little pictures 
 do not teach us the meaning of life, in its larger aspects and 
 relations. They teach us in a nearer way about people ; they 
 show us how to analyze and classify ; they stimulate our in- 
 telligent comprehension of the men we meet. The reader of 
 Horace, if he gets his lesson truly, understands better the man 
 who sits in the seat next to him, and, if he becomes a true 
 disciple, he understands himself better, too.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 VITA HORATII 
 
 FROM SUETONIUS, De Viris Illustribits 
 
 Q. Horatius Flaccus Venusinus, patre, ut ipse tradit, libertino 
 et exactionum coactore, ut vero creditum est, salsamentario, cum 
 illi quidam in altercatione exprobrasset : ' quotiens ego vidi pa- 
 trem tuum brachio se emungentem ! ' Bello Philippensi excitus 
 a M. Bruto imperatore tribunus militum meruit, victisque parti- 
 bus venia impetrata scriptum quaestorium comparavit. Ac primo 
 Maecenati, mox Augusto insinuatus non mediocrem in amborum 
 amicitia locum tenuit. Maecenas quantopere eum dilexerit satis 
 testatur illo epigrammate : 
 
 ni te visceribus meis, Horati, 
 plus iam diligo, tu tuum sodalem 
 Ninnio videas strigosiorem; 
 
 sed multo magis extremis iudiciis tali ad Augustum elogio: 
 ' Horati Flacci ut mei esto memor.' Augustus epistularum 
 quoque ei officium obtulit, ut hoc ad Maecenatem scripto sig- 
 nificat : ' ante ipse sufficiebam scribendis epistulis amicorum, 
 nunc occupatissimus et infirmus Horatium nostrum a te cupio 
 abducere. Veniet ergo ab ista parasitica mensa ad hanc regiam 
 et nos in epistulis scribendis adiuvabit.' Ac ne recusanti qui- 
 dem aut succensuit quicquam aut amicitiam suam ingerere desiit. 
 Extant epistulae, e quibus argument! gratia pauca subieci : ' sume 
 tibi aliquid iuris apud me, tamquam si convictor mihi fueris ; 
 recte enim et non temere feceris, quoniam id usus mihi tecum 
 esse volui, si per valitudinem tuam fieri possit.' Et rursus : ' tui 
 qualem habeam memoriam poteris ex Septimio quoque nostro 
 audire ; nam incidit ut illo coram fieret a me tui mentio. Neque 
 enim si tu superbus amicitiam nostram sprevisti, ideo nos quoque 
 avOvirtpr)<f>a.vov(jLtv. ' Praeterea saepe eum inter alios iocos puris- 
 simum penem et homuncionem lepidissimum appellat unaque et 
 altera liberalitate locupletavit. Scripta quidem eius usque adeo 
 
 21
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 probavit mansuraque perpetuo opinatus est, ut non modo Saecu- 
 lare carmen componendum iniunxerit, sed et Vindelicam victo- 
 riam Tiberii Drusique privignorum suorum, eumque coegerit 
 propter hoc tribus carminum libris ex longo intervallo quartum 
 addere ; post sermones vero quosdam lectos nullam sui mentio- 
 nem habitam ita sit questus : ' irasci me tibi scito, quod non in 
 plerisque eius modi scriptis mecum potissimum loquaris. An 
 vereris ne apud posteros infame tibi sit, quod videaris familiaris 
 nobis esse ? ' expresseritque eclogam ad se cuius initium est : 
 
 cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia solus, 
 res Italas armis tuteris, moribus ornes, 
 legibus emendes, in publica commoda peccem, 
 si longo sermone morer tua tempera, Caesar. 
 
 Habitu corporis fuit brevis atque obesus, qualis et a semet ipso 
 in satiris describitur et ab Augusto hac epistula : ' pertulit ad 
 me Oniscus libellum tuum, quern ego, ut excusantem, quantulus- 
 cumque est, boni consulo. Vereri autem mihi videris ne maiores 
 libelli tui sint quam ipse es, sed tibi statura deest, corpusculum 
 non deest. Itaque licebit in sextariolo scribas, quo circuitus 
 voluminis tui sit oy/cwSeora-ros, sicut est ventriculi tui.' Vixit 
 plurimum in secessu ruris sui Sabini aut Tiburtini domusque 
 eius ostenditur circa Tiburni luculum. Venerunt in manus meas 
 et elegi sub titulo eius et epistula prosa oratione quasi commen- 
 dantis se Maecenati, sed utraque falsa puto ; nam elegi vulgares, 
 epistula etiam obscura, quo vitio minime tenebatur. Natus est 
 vi. Idus Decembris L. Cotta et L. Torquato consulibus, deces- 
 sit v. kal. Decembris C. Marcio Censorino et C. Asinio Gallo 
 consulibus septimo et quinquagesimo anno, herede Augusto 
 palam nuncupate, cum urgente vi valetudinis non sufficeret ad 
 obsignandas testamenti tabulas. Humatus et conditus est extre- 
 mis Esquiliis iuxta Maecenatis tumulum. 
 
 22
 
 Q. HORATI FLACCI 
 
 SERMONES 
 
 LIBER PRIMVS 
 
 There is no reference to current events sufficiently definite to fix the 
 date of this Satire by internal evidence. It was written after Horace's 
 introduction to Maecenas in 38, and the maturity of style and treatment 
 show a great advance upon the early Satires of this book, 2, 7, and 8. 
 Obviously, it is introductory to the whole book, published in 35, and it 
 was probably written shortly before that date. 
 
 'What is the source of the social discontent of our times? Not, cer- 
 tainly, as is sometimes said, in the peculiar hardships of this or that 
 occupation. The very men who offer this explanation disprove it by 
 their conduct. Nor can the persistent devotion of men to business be 
 justified, as some of them appear to think, by the praiseworthy desire 
 to provide against future needs. It is something deeper than this and 
 less worthy the mere desire to get rich, to be richer than others. 
 
 ' A life given up to this pursuit is no better than the life of the miser 
 of fiction. Such a man dares not spend anything, lest he spend all, 
 and does not see that, to one who lives a natural life, the possession 
 of what is never to be used is not a gain, but a burden. 
 
 ' To say that social standing depends upon money is to say what is 
 perhaps true, but is not to the point. For the result is the same ; 
 the man with such an ambition merely gathers wealth to tantalize him- 
 self, purchasing only terrors and unhappiness with it. He kills the 
 natural affections, and spends his life in providing against contingen- 
 cies that will, in all probability, never arise. I am not arguing that one 
 should waste his money ; that is only another extreme of folly ; between 
 the two lies the safe middle course. 
 
 ' The source of our unhappiness, to answer the question with which 
 I began, is the desire to be rich, to be a little richer. We forget the 
 many who are poorer than we, and see only the few who are ahead of 
 
 2 3
 
 I, I, I] HORATI 
 
 us. We spend our lives in an ignoble struggle, and we come still 
 unsatisfied to the end. 
 
 'Enough of sermonizing. I'm no Crispinus. 1 
 
 The subject of this introductory satire is the race for wealth. In the 
 universal peace which followed the civil wars, the financial affairs of the 
 world centered at Rome as an imperial clearing house, and great for- 
 tunes were rapidly made by men of the capitalist class. In general, the 
 old nobility and the philosophers and writers kept aloof from business, 
 which consequently fell into the hands of the equites, who had had only 
 a slight part in public affairs, or of the freedmen, who were ill-fitted by 
 character and experience to make a large-minded or even a rational use 
 of their money. Some of them burst out into ridiculous display, and 
 furnished easy material for the satirist ; others, with less obvious folly, 
 knew no better use of their acquired wealth than to make it the means 
 of acquiring still more. It is to men of the latter class that this dis- 
 course is addressed. For this is not pure satire, holding up the pecul- 
 iarities of certain men to the scorn of others ; it is, in part, a discourse, 
 a sermon, addressed directly to the over-eager man of business, and 
 intended to show to him, for his possible betterment, the intrinsic little- 
 ness of the occupation to which he was so ardently devoting himself. 
 
 Horace frequently employs in other places the thoughts and some- 
 times the figures and expressions of this satire. Compare especially 
 the end of Epode I, the main thought of Epode 2, and the whole of 
 Epode 4. The similarity between the social structure of the Augustan 
 Age and our own times could scarcely be made more vivid than it is by 
 the fact that the satirist of that society chose for the theme of his open- 
 ing satire the race for wealth. 
 
 Qui fit, Maecenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem 
 seu ratio dederit seu fors obiecerit, ilia 
 
 i. Qui fit: how does it hap- with the subject of the poem. 
 
 Pen? But the interrogative form The address to Maecenas in the 
 
 is merely a rhetorical way of in- first Epode is more natural and 
 
 troducing the general subject graceful. quam sortem . . . ilia : 
 
 the discontent of men by begin- = ilia sorte . . . quam. The word 
 
 ning with its source. Maecenas : sors is used without thought of its 
 
 the direct address serves to dedi- original sense, as 'lot Ms in English, 
 
 cate the first book of Satires to 2. ratio and fors are often used 
 
 Horace's patron and friend. The together to cover the whole field 
 
 dedication of the Odes is like this, of human life ; everything is due 
 
 a little formal and unconnected either to deliberate choice or to 
 
 24
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [ 7 
 
 contentus vivat, laudet diversa sequentis? 
 
 ' O fortunati mercatores ! ' gravis annis 
 
 miles ait, multo iam fractus membra labore. 
 
 Contra mercator, navem iactantibus Austris, 
 
 ' Militia est potior. Quid enim ? Concurritur; horae 
 
 mere chance. The same contrast 
 is implied in Sat. i, 6, 54, though 
 ratio is not actually used. The 
 two verbs, dederit, obiecerit, carry 
 on the contrast between the de- 
 liberate and the accidental. 
 
 3. laudet: the full expression 
 of the thought would seem to re- 
 quire sed unus quisque laudet, but 
 the negative of nemo goes only 
 with contentus, not with vivat, so 
 that the thought is ' every one is 
 discontented with his own life and 
 envious of the lives of others.' 
 Cf. vs. 109, where the phrases 
 nemo se probet (~ contentus vivat) 
 and laudet are connected by ac 
 potius. The meaning of laudare 
 is not precisely to praise, but ' to 
 speak of with admiration,' as in 
 Plaut. Rud. 523, laudo fortunas 
 tuas, and in combination with 
 diversa sequentis it suggests the 
 idea of envy. 
 
 4-12. The two pairs of con- 
 trasted examples soldier and 
 sailor, lawyer and farmer and 
 indeed the whole scene which is 
 half described, half suggested in 
 vss. 15-22, come from the con- 
 ventional popular philosophy, per- 
 haps from some Greek burlesque 
 drama. Horace uses them fre- 
 quently with slight variations. 
 
 4-5. The first illustration is 
 barely suggested, without specific 
 details, gravis annis means, in 
 ordinary usage, weighed down with 
 years, not distinguishing between 
 years of life and years of service, 
 and the thought is repeated and 
 amplified in the next phrase. 
 fractus membra : broken in health. 
 The soldier, feeling old and worn, 
 says, 'I wish I had gone into 
 business.' 
 
 6-8. mercator : a merchant who 
 sails his own vessel on a business 
 venture, as the merchants in the 
 China trade did a hundred years 
 ago. He is therefore called, in- 
 differently, either mercator or 
 nauta (vs. 29), and the following 
 lines deal only with the hardships 
 of the sailor's life. iactantibus: 
 the tense is important ; he is 
 in the midst of a gale. Austris : 
 the southerly winds are heavy and 
 squally in the Mediterranean, and 
 Horace generally uses Auster\vith 
 an implication of storm, as ' north- 
 easter' is used in English. Quid 
 enim? simply why ? or why then ? 
 enim was originally a strengthen- 
 ing particle, and before it had 
 acquired the meaning/br, it formed 
 compound phrases with conjunc- 
 tions and particles (at enim, non
 
 I, I, 8J 
 
 HORATI 
 
 momenta cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.' 
 Agricolam laudat iuris legumque peritus, 
 10 sub galli cantum consultor ubi ostia pulsat. 
 
 Ille, datis vadibus qui rure extractus in urbem est, 
 solos felices viventis clamat in urbe. 
 
 enitn, quta enim) in which the 
 earlier meaning is preserved. 
 There is no ellipsis here. Con- 
 curritur : impersonal, expressing 
 the brevity of the crisis in a 
 soldier's life. horae momento : 
 the Romans did not measure 
 short spaces of time with pre- 
 cision, and there is no Latin word 
 for 'minute' or 'second.' hora 
 is therefore somewhat vague, like 
 the English ' the hour of victory ' ; 
 cf. puncto mobilis horae, Epist. 
 2, 2, 172. The second illustra- 
 tion is more detailed than the 
 first, and the folly of the momen- 
 tary desire to exchange occupa- 
 tions is more clearly suggested. 
 The sailor's endurance is broken 
 down by the long-continued storm, 
 and he wishes for the short crisis 
 of the soldier's life, forgetting 
 alike the greater profits of a busi- 
 ness career and the wearisome 
 routine of garrison life. 
 
 9-10. Agricolam laudat : scarcely 
 more than ' wishes he were a farm- 
 er.' ius and leges are sometimes 
 contrasted, e-g-, as the general 
 body of law and the special legis- 
 lative enactments, but here the 
 two contrasting terms are used 
 together to express one general 
 idea. peritus : the patronus, to 
 
 whom friends and clients came at 
 the early morning salutatio to ask 
 advice on business and legal mat- 
 ters. There is a personal touch 
 in this illustration, for Horace did 
 not like to get up early (ad quar- 
 tam iaceo, Sal. I, 6, 122). 
 
 ii-i2. Ille : the other, the farm- 
 er, of the class whose unembar- 
 rassed life the lawyer has just been 
 praising. He is not quite identi- 
 fied with the consultor. datis 
 vadibus : not necessarily bail in 
 a criminal action, but surety for 
 his appearance as defendant in any 
 legal case. In this second pair 
 of illustrations Horace allows the 
 absurdity of the discontent to ap- 
 pear plainly and comically. The 
 lawyer, in his momentary annoy- 
 ance at being called early in the 
 morning, wishes he were a farmer, 
 forgetting that the farmer is habit- 
 ually an early riser. The lack of 
 serious consideration on the part 
 of the countryman is shown by 
 the suddenness of his conversion ; 
 he has been dragged (extractus) 
 against his will into the city, but 
 once there he loudly proclaims 
 (clamat) not only that the city is 
 better than the country, but even 
 that city people are the only per- 
 sons who are happy. 
 
 26
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [i, i, 20 
 
 Cetera de genere hoc, adeo sunt multa, loquacem 
 delassare valent Fabium. Ne te morer, audi 
 quo rem deducam. Si quis deus, ' En ego,' dicat, 
 ' iam f aciam quod voltis : eris tu, qui modo miles, 
 mercator ; tu, consultus modo, rusticus : hinc vos, 
 vos hinc mutatis discedite partibus. Heia ! 
 quid statis ? ' nolint. Atqui licet esse beatis. 
 Quid causae est, merito quin illis luppiter ambas 
 
 13. Cetera de genere hoc : Hor- 
 ace was familiar with Lucretius 
 (see notes on 23, 117-119) and 
 uses this common Lucretian phrase 
 to give to the passage a burlesque 
 air of philosophizing. 
 
 14. Fabium : the scholiast says 
 that he was a man in public life 
 who had written some volumes on 
 Stoic philosophy. It is character- 
 istic of Horace to put his personal 
 satire, which is not very frequent 
 or very severe, into such light 
 touches as this, given in passing 
 and merely by way of illustration. 
 Cf. the allusion to Crispinus be- 
 low, vs. 1 20. And these humor- 
 ous attentions are often bestowed 
 upon the Stoics, whose formalism 
 and austerity were repugnant to a 
 man of Horace's temperament, and 
 led him to overlook their good 
 qualities. With all their superfi- 
 cial defects, they were the most 
 serious religious teachers in Ro- 
 man life. Ne te morer : not to 
 delay you, ' not to be too long 
 about it ' ; a parenthetic clause of 
 purpose. 
 
 15 f. quo rem deducam: ' what 
 my point is going to be,' ' what 
 conclusion I am going to reach.' 
 Si quis deus . . . dicat : the 
 apodosis is in nolint, 19. The god 
 is at this point indefinite, but, as 
 the scene becomes clearer, he is 
 definitely named, vs. 20. En ego : 
 here I am ; to be taken closely 
 with faciam. Both ego and iam 
 are emphatic ; ' here I am, / will 
 do your business foi you on the 
 spot.' 
 
 1 8. mutatis . . . partibus : ex- 
 actly like the English parts in a 
 drama; cf. paries of a political 
 party. Heia: a colloquial excla- 
 mation of surprise and dissatisfac- 
 tion, as if the god was annoyed 
 that his friendly offices were not 
 acceptable. 
 
 19. beatis : dat. after esse, as 
 if eis had been expressed after 
 licet. 
 
 20. causae : partitive gen. 
 with a neut. pron. ; very com- 
 mon in colloquial Latin, Plautus, 
 Terence, Cicero's Letters, Catul- 
 lus. 
 
 27
 
 I, 1, 2l] 
 
 11OKATI 
 
 iratus buccas inflet, neque se fore posthac 
 tarn facilem dicat, votis ut praebeat aurem ? 
 Praeterea, ne sic, ut qui iocularia, ridens 
 percurram, (quamquam ridentem dicere verum 
 25 quid vetat ? ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi 
 doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima ; 
 sed tamen amoto quaeramus seria ludo;) 
 ille gravem duro terram qui vertit aratro, 
 perfidus hie caupo, miles, nautaeque per omne 
 
 21. buccas inflet: cf. Plaut. 
 Stichus, 767, age, tarn infla buccas, 
 addressed to a flute player, bucca 
 is a Low Latin word (French 
 bouche), and the phrase is an in- 
 tentional vulgarism to depict the 
 burlesque expression of anger. 
 illis : dat. of disadvantage. The 
 whole passage, 15-22, reads like 
 a description of a mimtts, in which 
 a god suddenly appears upon the 
 stage between the pairs of discon- 
 tented men and, with bustling 
 good nature, grants their wishes ; 
 then, as it appears at once from 
 their looks that they do not really 
 desire the change, his good nature 
 changes to comic anger. From 
 vss. 4 f., which are serious in ex- 
 pression and thought, to the final 
 burlesque there is a gradual and 
 skillful uncovering of the under- 
 lying absurdity of ascribing the 
 discontent of men to their occu- 
 pations or their lot in life. 
 
 23. Praeterea : a Lucretianword 
 for passing to a new point. ut 
 qui iocularia : supply percttrrit ; 
 ' like * writer for the comic papers. 1 
 
 24. quamquam: and yet ; cor- 
 rective, not subordinating. 
 
 25. The kindergarten method 
 of teaching children their letters 
 by turning the work into play is 
 alluded to by Quintilian (i, i, 26), 
 and Jerome advises a father to 
 reward his daughter's efforts to 
 learn to read by giving her crus- 
 tula, cookies, and mulsa, sweet 
 drinks. olim : sometimes ; a not 
 uncommon meaning. 
 
 27. sed tamen : not exactly 
 correlative to quamquam. The 
 thought is twice reversed : " I will 
 treat this matter seriously, not 
 jokingly ; and yet I might prop- 
 erly treat it jokingly, for a joke 
 may sugar-coat a serious purpose, 
 like the candies that teachers 
 sometimes give to children ; but, 
 all the same (tamen), I prefer 
 now to keep to my original plan 
 and treat the matter seriously.' 1 
 
 28. ille ; demonstrative, to pair 
 with hie below. gravem duro : 
 by way of emphasizing the severity 
 of the labor. 
 
 29. perfidus . . . caupo : from 
 
 28
 
 SERMONES 
 
 35 
 
 30 audaces mare qui currunt, hac mente laborem 
 sese ferre, senes ut in otia tuta recedant, 
 aiunt, cum sibi sint congesta cibaria : sicut 
 parvola (nam exemplo est) magni formica laboris 
 ore trahit quodcumque potest atque addit acervo, 
 
 35 quem struit, baud ignara ac non incauta futuri. 
 
 this point the thought turns more 
 directly toward the main subject 
 of the satire money-making 
 and, in the review of the four types 
 of discontented men from this 
 point of view, the inris consultus, 
 who serves for honor rather than 
 fees, is omitted, and the caupo, 
 huckster, innkeeper, is substi- 
 tuted ; as a man of the town, he 
 makes a good contrast to the 
 farmer. For variety, the order 
 also is changed. perfidus : peo- 
 ple of the better classes seldom 
 used inns in traveling (compare 
 Sat. i, 5), and the poor taverns 
 frequented by slaves and laborers 
 had a bad reputation for cheating 
 and robbery. 
 
 30. currunt : this verb is used 
 of sailing also in Epist. I, i, 45 ; 
 i, it, 27 and perhaps in Carm. 
 i, 28, 36. Cf. 'run before the 
 wind. 1 hac mente- this is their 
 object, emphatic by position and 
 explained in the clause ut . . . 
 recedant. 
 
 31-35. These lines contain the 
 explanation which men give of 
 their apparent inconsistency in 
 continuing in occupations which 
 they themselves complain of as 
 
 dangerous or wearisome, and the 
 words are carefully selected : 
 senes, ' only when they are old ' ; 
 otia tuta, ' freedom from labor and 
 danger ' ; recedant, ' retire ' ; con- 
 gesta, i scraped together ' ; cibaria, 
 rations, 'just enough to live on.' 
 It is a reminder of the modern- 
 ness of the Augustan Age that 
 all these expressions find easy 
 counterparts in the talk of men 
 who are carrying the loads of life 
 in our time. 
 
 32. cum . . . sint : subjunctive 
 because it was a part of the indi- 
 rectly quoted speech. 
 
 33.' parvola : colloquial diminu- 
 tive of parvus, to contrast with 
 magni. exemplo : dat. ; ' for 
 this is the pattern which they 
 choose to follow.' magni . . . 
 laboris : hard-working. This gen- 
 itive usually has a noun of general 
 meaning with it (animal, vtr), but 
 the omission is not infrequent. 
 The ant is occasionally referred to 
 elsewhere in Latin literature as a 
 model of industry (e-g- Verg. 
 Georg. i, 1 86), but the frequency 
 of the comparison in modern lit- 
 erature is doubtless due to Prov- 
 erbs 6, 6. 
 
 29
 
 It If 36] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Quae, simul inversum contristat Aquarius annum, 
 non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante 
 quaesitis sapiens ; cum te neque fervidus aestus 
 demoveat lucro, neque hiems, ignis, mare, ferrum, 
 nil obstet tibi, dum ne sit te ditior alter. 
 
 Quid iuvat immensum te argenti pondus et auri 
 furtim defossa timidum deponere terra ? 
 
 36. Quae : not exactly = at ea. 
 The reply rather accepts the ant 
 as a model, and criticises those 
 who have chosen it as a model 
 for not following their pattern 
 closely enough. 'Yes, the ant is 
 a good model, for it provides 
 against a time of want and, when 
 the time of want comes, it uses 
 . . . ' sapiens, 38, is thus an em- 
 phatic repetition of hand ignara 
 . . . ftituri. inversum : the year 
 is thought of as a circle, which 
 turns back into itself, and this 
 figure finds expression in many 
 forms, TrepiTeAAd/iei'os, "vertens, 
 vol-vitur. Aquarius : the sign of 
 the Zodiac which the sun enters in 
 January, the severest part of the 
 Italian winter. 
 
 37. utitur : the important word ; 
 it not merely gathers, but also uses. 
 
 38. sapiens: emphatic by its 
 position at the end, where it is 
 placed to make a strong contrast 
 with te at the beginning of the 
 next clause ; ' like the philosopher 
 it is ; while you haven't even ordi- 
 nary sense.' 
 
 39. hiems . . . ferrum : conven- 
 tional obstacles. Cf. the variation 
 
 in Sat. 2, 3, 548"., and the English 
 ' to go through fire and water. 1 
 
 40. dum . . . alter: 'as long 
 as any other man is richer than 
 you are.' Lit., provided that no 
 other. With these words the true 
 subject of the satire is reached, 
 the foolish complaints and false 
 pleas of discontented men having 
 been pushed aside. At this point, 
 too, the dialogue form and the 
 direct address (te, tibi, te) become 
 more distinct. Vss. 28-35, which 
 contain the plea in defence, begin 
 descriptively, then fall into infor- 
 mal indirect quotation, and close 
 (sicut parvola) with what is in 
 effect a direct quotation. And 
 the reply, 36-40, in which the plea 
 is shown to be false, continues 
 and accentuates the directness of 
 dialogue, and thus emphasizes the 
 point toward which the discussion 
 has been tending. The whole in- 
 troduction, 1-40, is a good ex- 
 ample of the manner of Horace. 
 
 41-42. These lines depict, with 
 a heaping-up of epithets (immen- 
 sum, fur tint, defossa, timiduni), 
 the conventional figure of the 
 miser, already familiar to Latin lit-
 
 SERMONES 
 
 45 
 
 45 
 
 ' Quod si comminuas, vilem redigatur ad assem.' 
 At ni id fit, quid habet pulchri constructus acervus ? 
 Milia frumenti tua triverit area centum, 
 
 erature in the Aulularia of Plautus. 
 The man of business in the 
 Augustan Age had his investments 
 and his varied money interests 
 and no more buried his coin in a 
 hole in the ground than the cau- 
 tious investor of our time keeps 
 his money in an old stocking. 
 The verses really constitute an ar- 
 gument in the form of a suggested 
 comparison : ' What is the good 
 of it all to you ? You're no better 
 than a regular miser. 1 
 
 43. Quod: usually taken to be 
 the pron., = at id, as quae, 36, is 
 taken. But it is, I think, the 
 ordinary adversative quod si, which 
 is freely used by Horace ; cf. Epist. 
 I, 3, 25, Epod. 2, 39, and see ex- 
 amples in Kiihner, II, 872. In this 
 usage quod con}, has diverged only 
 slightly from quod pron., and when 
 a possible antecedent can be found 
 before it (here pondus), it may 
 easily be mistaken for the pron. 
 But the thought is really general : 
 'but if you once begin the 
 breaking-up process, your money 
 is soon gone.' These words are 
 not the reply of a real miser, but a 
 perfectly sound maxim of prudence 
 ' if you once begin to dip into your 
 capital, it will soon be gone' ; but 
 it is misused by the man of acquis- 
 itive temperament to disguise to 
 himself and to others his innate 
 
 love of money. In answering (44 
 -51) Horace does not stop to dis- 
 criminate between the truth and 
 the error, but strikes at the heart 
 of the matter : 'the ultimate 
 value of money is in its use, not 
 in its acquisition.' 
 
 44. At ni id fit : but if you don't 
 do it, that is, begin to use it. 
 quid . . . pulchri : the neut. gen. 
 of the adj. with a neut. pron. in- 
 stead of the abstract noun. Very 
 common in colloquial Latin. acejr- 
 vus : with a reminiscence of the 
 ant, 34. 
 
 45-46. The figure is from Lucil- 
 ius, 555 f. (Marx) : 
 
 milia ducentum frumenti tollis me- 
 
 dimnum, 
 vini mille cadum. 
 
 triverit : this should be called 
 a fut. perf., to correspond to the 
 fut. capiet, but in many uses of 
 these forms the Latin did not make 
 the sharp distinction between in- 
 die, and subj. which we make in 
 our systematic grammar. The 
 phrase is in paratactic relation to 
 capiet, expressing a hypothetical 
 concession; cf. i, 3, 15; I, 10, 
 64 ; 2, 6, 48, and many places in the 
 Satires and Epistles. area : so 
 teret area, Verg. Georg. \, 192, 
 with a slight personification of the 
 threshing floor.
 
 HORATI 
 
 non tuus hoc capiet venter plus ac meus ; ut si 
 
 reticulum panis venalis inter onusto 
 
 forte vehas umero, nihilo plus accipias quam 
 
 qui nil portarit. Vel die, quid referat intra 
 
 naturae finis viventi, iugera centum an 
 
 mille aret ? ' At suave est ex magno tollere acervo.' 
 
 Dum ex parvo nobis tantundem haurire relinquas, 
 
 cur tua plus laudes cumeris granaria nostris ? 
 
 46. hoc : on this account '; so 
 I, 3, 93; I, 6, no, and often, es- 
 pecially with comparatives. ut, 
 si: to be taken separately; just 
 as, if you should carry . . . you 
 would receive. . . . 
 . 47. inter: prepositions of two 
 syllables are often placed after the 
 noun in Horace. 
 
 48. accipias : pres. ; when the 
 train of slaves halts for the noon- 
 day lunch. portavit : perf. ; on 
 the march, now past. 
 
 49. intra naturae finis: this 
 limitation, a doctrine of Stoic phi- 
 losophy, is necessary to the ar- 
 gument, which is directed, not 
 against great fortunes in them- 
 selves, but against the accumula- 
 tion of unused wealth. 
 
 50. viventi: with refert the 
 person interested is expressed by 
 the gen. and no good parallel to 
 this dat. is known. Yet the gen- 
 eral sense is such that the dat. 
 is perfectly intelligible. 
 
 51. At suave . . . acervo: the 
 reply is not very effective and it 
 is, in fact, scarcely more than an 
 interjected remark : it's rather 
 
 nice to have a large bank account 
 to draw upon.' The argument in 
 52 ff. continues the thought of 
 intra naturae finis viventi, with a 
 side reference to ex magno acervo. 
 
 52. tantundem: 'as much as 
 one would take from the great 
 heap.' haurire: properly of 
 drawing off a liquid, used here 
 in anticipation of the next illus- 
 tration. relinquas contains both 
 the suggestion of 'leave to me in 
 spite of your desire to get every- 
 thing' and the meaning concede, 
 permit, and in the latter sense 
 takes the infin. haurire. 
 
 53. cumeris granaria : cumerae 
 are described by the scholiast as 
 small bins of wickerwork or large 
 earthenware jars, used for storing 
 small quantities of grain. The 
 word is somewhat rare, but is 
 used again by Horace (Epist. i, 7, 
 30) and was perhaps familiar to 
 him from the management of his 
 own small farm. It is, of course, 
 set in contrast to the granaria of 
 the large estate, and the sentence 
 really repeats the idea of 45-46 
 and of 49-51.
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [it i, 61 
 
 ut tibi si sit opus liquid! non amplius urna, 
 55 vel cyatho, et dicas, ' Magno de flumine mallem 
 
 quam ex hoc fonticulo tantundem sumere.' Eo fit, 
 
 plenior ut si quos delectet copia iusto, 
 
 cum ripa simul avolsos ferat Aufidus acer; 
 
 at qui tantuli eget quanto est opus, is neque limo 
 60 turbatam haurit aquam, neque vitam amittit in undis. 
 At bona pars hominum, decepta cupidine falso, 
 
 54. ut . . . si : just as if, ' that 
 is as if; to be taken together, not 
 like /// si, 46, where ut has its 
 own verb. liquid!: here, as in 
 so many cases, Horace begins 
 with the general and advances to 
 the specific ; liqitidi, instead of 
 aquae, gives a sense like ' some- 
 thing to drink.' So magtio de 
 flumine is general, Aufidus, 58, 
 is specific. urna : a pitcher, 
 cyatho, a glass, the precise meas- 
 urements not being in mind here. 
 
 55. mallem: / should have 
 Preferred. The man is thought 
 of as standing near the little 
 spring (notice hoc) and wishing, 
 contrary to the fact, that he were 
 near a river. 
 
 56. fonticulo: diminutive of 
 contempt, to contrast with magno. ' 
 
 57. plenior . . . iusto : more 
 than he ought to have; the whole 
 sentence must be rendered freely. 
 ut: with ferat. 
 
 58. cum ripa simul : bank and 
 all. The Aufidus, a rapid river 
 in Horace's native Apulia, would 
 undermine its banks in flood time 
 and be turbid with mud. 
 
 59. The distinction here made 
 between eget, "wants, desires, and 
 opus est, needs, is fundamental to 
 the whole argument; it repeats 
 intra naturae finis, 49 f., and is 
 the opposite of plenior si quos 
 delectet, 57. 
 
 60. turbatam, vitam amittit : 
 these ideas merely carry the 
 thought on into vivid details 
 which make the folly of the de- 
 vice more evident, as, in the 
 triumph of using a successful 
 comparison in argument, one is 
 easily tempted to carry it be- 
 yond the likeness. Horace does 
 not mean that the money of 
 the rich man was muddy 01 
 ' tainted ' ; that thought was not 
 Roman ; nor is he at this poinl 
 thinking of the loss of real 
 life in over-absorption in busi- 
 ness. 
 
 61. At: to introduce the reply 
 or counter - argument contained 
 in vs. 62. bona pars: like 
 the English 'a good many.' 
 cupidine : masc., as always in 
 Horace and sometimes in other 
 writers. 
 
 HOR. SAT. 3 
 
 33
 
 If , 62] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ' Nil satis est,' inquit, ' quia tanti quantum habeas sis.' 
 Quid facias illi ? lubeas miserum esse, libenter 
 quatenus id facit; ut quidam memoratur Athenis 
 
 65 sordidus ac dives, populi contemnere voces 
 sic solitus : ' Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo 
 ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in area.' 
 Tantalus a labris sitiens fugientia captat 
 flumina. . . . Quid rides ? Mutato nomine, de te 
 
 70 fabula narratur ; congestis undique saccis 
 
 62. From Lucilius, 1119 f. 
 (Marx) : - 
 
 aurum atque ambitio specimen vir- 
 
 tutis utrique est : 
 tantum habeas, tantum ipse sies 
 
 tantique habearis. 
 
 Nil satis est : ' there is no such 
 thing as the enough of which you 
 speak. 1 This is a denial of the 
 foundation of the preceding argu- 
 ment as expressed in vss. 49-51 
 and 59 f. sis : subjv. of the 
 indef. 2d pers. 
 
 63 f . illi : for such a man, 
 individualizing the subject of in- 
 quit. lubeas miserum esse : iubeo 
 is used to represent the impv. 
 of the direct miser esto ; so iubeo 
 valere for the direct -vale. 
 quatenus : always since in Horace. 
 
 'The only thing one can do 
 for a man so wrong-headed is to 
 let him go his own way, since he 
 will have it so (libenter . . . 
 facit) , though one may know 
 that it leads to misery. He is 
 as fixed in his error as the man 
 in the Greek story, who, when 
 
 he looked at his money bags, was 
 indifferent to public opinion. 1 
 
 65-66. voces, sibilat : the peo- 
 ple on the streets hooted at him 
 and hissed him. plaudo : for the 
 contrast with sibilat. 
 
 68. Tantalus: Horace follows 
 here the Homeric ver3ion of the 
 Tantalus story. 
 
 69 ff. Quid rides ? he laughed 
 because he did not think the old 
 story had any bearing upon his 
 own case. The reply is that the 
 picture tallies exactly, that, with 
 a change of name, it corresponds 
 even in details. undique : with 
 congestis; 'which you have got 
 together by raking and scraping 
 everywhere. 1 indormis : sleep 
 upon ; because he cannot be 
 parted from them. Cf. Lucilius, 
 243-246 (Marx) : 
 
 cui neque iumentum est nee servus 
 
 nee comes ullus : 
 bulgam, et quidquid habet nummo- 
 
 rum, secum habet ipse, 
 cum bulga cenat, dormit, lavit, omnia . 
 
 in una 
 sunt homini bulga: bulga haec de- 
 
 vincta lacerto est.
 
 SERMONES 
 
 C'. l > 79 
 
 indormis inhians, et tamquam parcere sacris 
 cogeris, aut pictis tamquam gaudere tabellis. 
 Nescis quo valeat nummus, quern praebeat usum ? 
 Panis ematur, holus, vini sextarius, adde 
 75 quis humana sibi doleat natura negatis. 
 
 An vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque 
 formidare malos fures, incendia, servos, 
 ne te compilent f ugientes, hoc iuvat ? Horum 
 semper ego optarem pauperrimus esse bonorum. 
 
 inhians : the involuntary physi- 
 cal sign of ardent desire. Such ex- 
 pressions sound exaggerated to us 
 because in modern life we repress 
 the signs of strong emotion. 
 tamquam . . . sacris : he can make 
 no more use of them than if they 
 were put out of his reach by being 
 consecrated to the gods. pictis 
 . . tabellis : 'the only pleasure 
 you get from them is the pleasure 
 of looking at them,' and that 
 pleasure could be just as well en- 
 joyed by looking at a picture of a 
 pile of money as by looking at the 
 money itself. These details, like 
 those above, 41 f., must not be 
 supposed to be descriptive ; they 
 are intended to make the complete 
 devotion to business contemptible 
 by dwelling upon the inherent like- 
 ness between the money-maker 
 and the conventional figure of the 
 miser. 
 
 73 ff. quo valeat : what money 
 is good for ; repeated in another 
 form in quern praebeat usum. 
 In harmony with the preceding 
 thought the question here implied 
 
 is answered both positively and 
 negatively : ' money will buy the 
 simple necessities of life (74-75), 
 but you, by making it an object 
 of pursuit in itself, are buying for 
 yourself a life of constant anxiety 
 and trouble ' (76-78). quis : qui- 
 bus ; with negatis. The comment 
 of Porphyrio gives the sense cor- 
 rectly : ' non autem ea vult in- 
 tellegi, quae ad delicias vitae 
 pertinent, sed quae ad utilitatem, 
 ut quae frigoriaut fami repellendae 
 et commodiori mansioni sunt ne- 
 cessaria aliaque similia.' 
 
 76 ff. The dangers of life in 
 Rome are often alluded to ; cf., 
 e.g., F.pist. 2, I, 121 f. and Catul- 
 lus, 23, 8-10, on the freedom of 
 the poor man from such terrors : 
 
 nihil timetis, 
 
 non incendia, non graves ruinas, 
 nou furta inpia, non dolos veneni. 
 
 compilent fugientes : plunder 
 you and run away. Thefugitivus 
 is a frequent figure in the pictures 
 of ancient society, and the diffi- 
 culty of recovering a runaway 
 
 35
 
 1. 1, 80] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 80 At si condoluit temptatum frigore corpus, 
 aut alius casus lecto te adflixit, habes qui 
 adsideat, fomenta paret, medicum roget, ut te 
 suscitet ac gnatis reddat carisque propinquis. 
 Non uxor salvum te volt, non filius ; omnes 
 
 85 vicini oderunt, noti, pueri atque puellae. 
 Miraris, cum tu argento post omnia ponas, 
 
 slave, in a population so miscel- 
 laneous, was very great. Horum : 
 emphatic, with bononitn ; ' if these 
 are what you call the good things 
 of life, 1 wish I might always 
 remain a poor man. 1 
 
 80 ft These lines are all ad- 
 dressed by Horace to his imagined 
 interlocutor, the over-anxious man 
 of business, the direct dialogue 
 form being resumed only in vs. 
 101. But vss. 80-83 (beginning 
 with at, the usual introduction to 
 a counter-argument) contain in 
 substance a reply to vss. 76-78. 
 The thought is, ' You are dwelling 
 too much upon the anxieties which 
 my money brings and are forget- 
 ting its real benefits ; for instance? 
 its value in a time of illness. 1 
 temptatum : almost a technical 
 term of the attack of illness ; 
 Epist. 1, 6, 28. frigore : the chill 
 of malaria. corpus : not body, 
 but health, strength. Cf. fractus 
 membra, vs. 5. adflixit: has 
 dashed one down upon his bed. 
 adsideat, roget : sit by your bed- 
 side, call in ; ordinary, almost 
 technical terms. 
 
 84 ff. The defence closes with 
 
 a note of false pathos, 'My 
 money protects my life, which is 
 precious to my family. 1 The reply 
 of Horace, vss. 84-91, takes up this 
 suggested point, passing by vss. 
 80-83 as > i reality, unimportant. 
 ' Your life precious to your family ! 
 On the contrary, you are an object 
 of universal dislike. Your pursuit 
 of money not only makes no 
 friends for you, but even checks 
 the natural affections of your 
 relatives. 1 non uxor: the reply 
 begins without an adversative par- 
 ticle; cf. 36, 52, and below, 102. 
 
 85. vicini, noti (acquaintances), 
 pueri atque puellae : specific ex- 
 pansions of the general term 
 omnes. Cf., on the last, Sat. 2, 
 3, 130, insanum te omnes pueri 
 clamentque pttellae. ' Without 
 distinction of age or sex ' (Green- 
 ough). 
 
 86. post . . . ponas: cf.Sat. i, 
 3, 92, posit um ante', I, 6, 58, cir- 
 cum . . . -uectari. omnia: obj. 
 of ponas. ponas, praestet, mere- 
 aris : the subj. all hang together. 
 They are not dependent upon 
 st, for miror si takes the indie., 
 but are more vaguely hypo-
 
 SERMONfcS 
 
 t. t. $4 
 
 si nemo praestet, quern non merearis, amorem ? 
 At si cogaatos, nullo natura labore 
 quos tibi dat, retinere veils servareque amicos, 
 90 infelix operam perdas, ut si quis asellum 
 in campo doceat parentem currere frenis. 
 
 Denique sit finis quaerendi, cumque habeas plus, 
 pauperiem metuas minus, et finire laborem 
 incipias, parto quod avebas, ne facias quod 
 
 thetical, ' do you wonder that no 
 one should wish to give you . . . ? 
 merearis: not exactly deserve, 
 but earn, buy (by giving love 
 in return), an old sense of 
 mereor. 
 
 88-91. Vss. 84-85 contain a 
 bare statement of fact, without ar- 
 gument, and vss. 86-87 are an i n ~ 
 terjected remark (' it is quite just 
 and natural') ; the essence of the 
 reply is in vss. 88-91, and at, the 
 particle of retort, is therefore post- 
 poned to this point. The reply 
 is, 'Why, on the contrary, in- 
 stead of winning affection, you 
 have so distorted your character 
 that you would be incapable of 
 retaining the love of your nearest 
 relatives, if you should now choose 
 to attempt it. You have made 
 yourself a beast of burden, unfitted 
 for the finer uses of life.' [A 
 good summary of the arguments 
 on this disputed passage' may be 
 found in Palmer's edition. The 
 decisive reason, in my judgment, 
 for rejecting an is that it is incom- 
 patible with the emphasis laid 
 
 upon operam perdas by the com- 
 parison which follows.] 
 
 89. retinere velis : an expan- 
 sion of retineas, to express more 
 clearly the idea of choice. So 
 ponas, 86, might have been ponere 
 velis. amicos : predicate. 
 
 91. in campo: in the Campus 
 Martius, on the race track. pa- 
 rentem . . . frenis : the heavier 
 draught animals were driven with 
 a goad ; bits and reins were used 
 only for racing or in driving for 
 pleasure. 
 
 92 ff. A conclusion, driving 
 home the lesson of the preceding 
 arguments. plus: the standard 
 of comparison is left vague ( more 
 than you once had,' ' more than 
 most people 1 ) to balance minus, 
 to which a standard (' less than 
 you have done ') is easily sup- 
 plied. 
 
 94. incipias : ironically under- 
 stating the case ; ' take just one 
 step toward reasonable modera- 
 tion.' parto: abl. abs. with the 
 antecedent of quod. tacias: DU 
 tral, fare. 
 
 37
 
 95J 
 
 HORATI 
 
 95 Vmmidius quidam. Non longa est fabula: dives, 
 ut metiretur nummos, ita sordidus, ut se 
 non umquam servo melius vestiret, ad usque 
 supremum tempus, ne se penuria victus 
 opprimeret, metuebat. At hunc liberta securi 
 
 ?oo divisit medium, fortissima Tyndaridarum. 
 
 ' Quid mi igitur suades ? ut vivam Naevius ? aut sic 
 
 95. Vmmidius : the name does 
 not occur in the extant fragments 
 of Lucilius, but the story may well 
 have been Lucilian. Non longa: 
 the details are therefore given with 
 an appearance of haste ; this mo- 
 tive leads also to the use of dives 
 with an ///-clause of degree without 
 tain (or ita, as with sordidus). 
 Other instances occur in Horace, 
 Sat. i, 5, 33; i, 7, 13; 2, 7, 10, 
 etc. 
 
 96. metiretur: instead of count- 
 ing them ; proverbial of great 
 wealth. 
 
 98. supremum tempus : to the 
 very last, to the end of his life. 
 victus : gen. 
 
 99. At : but matters turned out 
 very differently ; after spending his 
 life in providing against one danger, 
 he met with a wholly unexpected 
 end and had, as it were, wasted his 
 life in misdirected prudence. 
 
 100. divisit medium : chopped 
 him in two, an intentionally short 
 and brutal way of putting it, fol- 
 lowed, in order to brighten the 
 sordidness of the story, by a bur- 
 lesque allusion to a great tragic 
 legend. fortissima Tyndarida- 
 
 rum : i.e. as brave as any of the 
 line of Tyndareus ; with special 
 reference to Clytemnestra, who 
 killed Agamemnon with an ax. 
 
 101 f. The man of business has 
 still one line of defence left, 
 'Your reasoning, carried to its 
 legimate conclusion, leads to sheer 
 waste and the dissipation of prop- 
 erty. 1 To which the answer is 
 obvious, ' Do not carry it so 
 far ; do not rush from one extreme 
 to the other, but keep the wise 
 middle course.' Naevius, Nomen- 
 tanus : these names are used as 
 well-known representatives of a 
 class the spendthrifts. A Nae- 
 vius is mentioned in Sat. 2, 2, 68 
 as a man who was too easy-going 
 in his housekeeping, and this char- 
 acteristic would fit well enough with 
 carelessness in 'money matters. 
 Of a L. Cassius Nomentanus, a 
 contemporary of Sallust and no- 
 torious for his prodigality, Porphy- 
 rio gives a circumstantial account. 
 Nomentanus is also a Lucilian 
 character, and a Nomentanus, ap- 
 parently a different one, is men- 
 tioned in Sat. 2, 8, 23, 25, 60. 
 Precise identification is impossible
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [I, i, 108 
 
 ut Nomentanus ? ' Pergis pugnantia secum % 
 frontibus adversis componere ? Non ego, avarum 
 cum veto te fieri, vappam iubeo ac nebulonem. 
 105 Est inter Tanain quiddam socerumque Viselli. 
 Est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines, 
 quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum. 
 Illuc, unde abii, redeo, qui nemo ut avarus 
 
 102-104. Pergis : often used 
 without an interrogative particle 
 i n half-exclamatory sentences. 
 pugnantia secum, frontibus adver- 
 sis, componere : these three ex- 
 pressions combine to suggest from 
 different sides the figure of two 
 gladiators, matched (componere 
 is the technical word) against one 
 another. So the argument ofvss. 
 joi f. sets up the figure of the 
 iiappa ac nebulo to destroy the 
 effect of the figure of the avarus, 
 as described in the body of the 
 satire. 
 
 105. The reference is probably 
 to some Greek saying, then well 
 enough known to make a mere 
 allusion intelligible ; at any rate, 
 the names represent two widely 
 separated extremes. 
 
 107. ultra citraque : the safe 
 ' middle ground ' is the only place 
 where the right (opdov) can find 
 a sure standing place. 
 
 108 f . Illuc, unde abii, redeo : 
 this is not perfectly accurate. To 
 return precisely to the opening 
 question, ' What is the source 
 of our discontent ? ' would be ab- 
 surd, since the whole satire has 
 
 been spent in setting forth the 
 answer to that question. But a 
 repetition of the text is a very suit- 
 able way of bringing the sermon 
 to its conclusion. Horace there- 
 fore repeats the opening words 
 (qui nemo se probet = qui fit ut 
 nemo contentus vivaf), attaching 
 them somewhat forcedly to the 
 leading clause illuc redeo and in- 
 serting the substance of the answer 
 in the brief phrase ^ft avarus, which 
 is taken up more fully in vss. 1 10 ff. 
 The obscurity produced by using 
 qui nemo instead of qui fit nt nemo 
 and by making it depend upon 
 illuc redeo is increased by the use 
 of ut avarus ( = ' because of the 
 love of money ' ; cf. ut male sanos, 
 Epist. i, 19, 3; ut capitis minor, 
 Odes 3, 5, 42), which is easily mis- 
 taken for a repetition of the ut in 
 qui fit ut. The obscurity of the 
 passage has led copyists into mak- 
 ing various changes in the text, 
 nemo ut, nemon ut. The true 
 reading was found only in a single 
 manuscript. ' I come back to my 
 starting point, the discontent of 
 men, which comes from their love 
 of money and their envy.' 
 
 39
 
 1, 1, 109] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 se probet ac potius laudet diversa sequentis, 
 
 quodque aliena capella gerat distentius uber, 
 
 tabescat, neque se maiori pauperiorum 
 
 turbae comparet, hunc atque hunc superare laboret. 
 
 Sic festinanti semper locupletior obstat, 
 
 ut, cum carceribus missos rapit ungula currus, ' 
 
 instat equis auriga suos vincentibus, ilium 
 
 praeteritum temnens extremes inter euntem. 
 
 Inde fit, ut raro, qui se vixisse beatum 
 
 dicat, et, exacto contentus tempore, vita 
 
 cedat uti conviva satur, reperire queamus. 
 
 no. A mean and petty illustra- 
 tion is chosen intentionally. 
 
 112. hunc atque hunc: 'first 
 one and then another.' The ad- 
 versative idea, as often in Latin, 
 is left unexpressed. 
 
 113. Sic : with festinanti] 
 'one who is in such haste to be 
 rich.' 
 
 1 14 ff. The figure of the chariot 
 race is used with a serious effect 
 which suits the tone of vss. ni- 
 119. It is a natural comparison, 
 often used in Latin literature, and 
 it is not necessary to suppose that 
 this passage is either copied from 
 or imitated in Vergil, Georg. i, 
 512 ff. :- 
 
 Vt cum carceribus sese effudere quad- 
 rigae, 
 
 addunt in spatia et frustra retinacula 
 tendens 
 
 fertur equis auriga, neque audit cur- 
 rus habenas. 
 
 The only similarity is in the use 
 
 of technical terms. carceribus . 
 the stalls in which the chariots 
 stood ready to be started ^missos) 
 by the raising of the barrier. 
 rapit ungula : so quatit ungula, 
 Ennius, Ann. 224 Vahl., Verg. 
 Aen. 8, 596, in the same place in 
 the verse. ilium : the one, ex- 
 tremes inter : cf. venalis inter, 
 47, n. 
 
 117-119. Inde fit : this also, like 
 vs. 1 08, is a return to the begin- 
 ning of the satire, qui fit, but 
 with a more sober restraint (raro 
 instead of nemo) and with an 
 effective use of the figure of the 
 satisfied feaster. This is another 
 reminiscence of Lucretius, 3, 
 
 938:- 
 
 Cur non ut plenus vitae conviva 
 
 recedis, 
 aequo animoque capis securam, stulte, 
 
 quietem? 
 
 Compare also the closing lines of 
 Bryant's Thanatopsis. 
 
 40
 
 SERMONES [i, i, 121 
 
 120 lam satis est. Ne me Crispini scrinia lippi 
 compilasse putes, verbum non amplius addam. 
 
 120-121. It is thoroughly char- Porphyrio to be Plotius Crispinus, 
 
 acteristic of Horace to turn abruptly a writer of much verse (cf. Sat. i, 
 
 from grave to gay, ridentem di- 4, 14) and a teacher of Stoic doc- 
 
 cereverum, and the very abrupt- trines {Sat. 1,3, 139; 2,7,45). 
 
 ness of the change is often an scrinia : cylindrical boxes in which 
 
 effective enforcement of the moral. the papyrus rolls were kept. 
 
 Several of the Satires will be lippi : personal peculiarities or 
 
 found to close with a jest. Cf. also defects, of which we should think 
 
 the close of some of the Odes ; I, it discourteous to speak, were fre- 
 
 6 ; 2, i ; and especially 3, 3, guo, quently matter for ridicule to the 
 
 musa, tendis, Crispini: said by ancients. 
 
 This satire was written before 3, since the death of Tigellius, which 
 is there (vs. 3 ff.) referred to as having occurred some time before, is 
 here spoken of as a quite recent event, and before 4, where (in vs. 91) 
 a line of this satire (vs 27) is quoted. It is therefore to be placed in 
 the group of early satires, with 7 and 8, written before the introduction 
 to Maecenas in 39 or 38 B.C. 
 
 The announced subject of the satire is the tendency of men to run to 
 extremes, their inability to keep to the golden mean. Of this tendency 
 the first part, down to vs. 28, gives various illustrations, not lacking in 
 humor and unobjectionable in tone. But the particular illustration 
 which is treated in detail, and which occupies the rest of the satire, is 
 excess in sensual indulgence, and especially the vice of adultery, which 
 had become rife in the Ciceronian period and was still increasing in 
 Roman society. 
 
 The satire betrays in various ways the immaturity of the writer. It 
 is the most personal of Horace's writings ; it is coarse in expression, 
 and it is intentionally sensational in manner. These characteristics are 
 in part the result of a too close adherence to the manner of Lucilius, in 
 part of a desire to attract attention, in part of the bitter and rebellious 
 feeling of the writer. Yet it is not difficult to find in it, as undoubtedly 
 Vergil and Varius did, the indications of what the writer was later to 
 become. 
 
 4*
 
 I, 2, I] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Ambubaiarum conlegia, pharmacopolae, 
 mendici, mimae, balatrones, hoc genus omne 
 maestum ac sollicitum est cantoris morte Tigelli : 
 quippe benignus erat. Contra hie, ne prodigus esse 
 dicatur metuens, inopi dare nolit amico, 
 frigus quo duramque famem propellere possit. 
 Hunc si perconteris, avi cur atque parentis 
 praeclaram ingrata stringat mains ingluvie rem, 
 omnia conductis coemens obsonia nummis, 
 sordidus atque animi quod parvi nolit haberi, 
 respondet. Laudatur ab his, culpatur ab illis. 
 Fufidius vappae famam timet ac nebulonis, 
 
 1. Ambubaiarum: flute-girls, 
 like the copa Syrisca of Vergil's 
 poem, whose associations are called 
 conlegia, guilds, with a touch of 
 derision. 
 
 2. mendici: the organizations 
 of begging priests. mimae : 
 women were not allowed to act in 
 the more respectable dramas, but 
 only in the farces called ntimi. 
 balatrones : cf. the use of this 
 name for a parasite as a proper 
 name in Sat. 2, 8, 21 and 40. 
 
 3. Tigelli: see note on Sat. \, 
 
 3,4- 
 
 4. benignus: kind, generous', 
 the word is used as if in quotation. 
 hie : this other man, the mean- 
 ing being made plainer by contra. 
 
 7. Hunc : a third person, not 
 the same as hie, 4. Whatever 
 slight confusion is caused by the 
 use of the same pronoun is dis- 
 pelled by the next line, which 
 
 shows that this man was a spend- 
 thrift. 
 
 8. ingrata : unprofitable, that 
 gives no adequate return for the 
 money spent upon it. stringat : 
 strips, as leaves from a tree. 
 
 9. omnia . . . obsonia : all kinds 
 of dainties, everything that his 
 appetite suggested. conductis : 
 hired, i.e. borrowed at interest. 
 
 10. animi . . . parvi : mean ; 
 the opposite of benignus, 4. 
 
 11. his, illis : one side, the other 
 side, people who are of the same 
 or of the opposite opinion. 
 
 12. Fufidius : a well-known fam- 
 ily name, but the individual here 
 referred to is unknown. He is a 
 money-lender who combines in 
 himself the extreme of great wealth 
 which he gets by discreditable 
 methods with the extreme of 
 stinginess in the spending of 
 money upon himself. 
 
 42
 
 SERMONES 
 
 LI. 2, 23 
 
 [dives agris, dives positis in faenore nummis]; 
 quinas hie capiti mercedes exsecat, atque 
 
 15 quanto perditior quisque est, tanto acrius urget; 
 nomina sectatur modo sumpta veste virili 
 sub patribus duris tironum. ' Maxime ' quis non 
 ' luppiter ! ' exclamat, simul atque audivit ? ' At in se 
 pro quaestu sumptum facit hie.' Vix credere possis 
 
 20 quam sibi non sit amicus, ita ut pater ille, Terenti 
 fabula quern miserum gnato vixisse fugato 
 inducit, non se peius cruciaverit atque hie. 
 
 Si quis nunc quaerat, ' Quo res haec pertinet? ' iltuc : 
 
 14. quinas . . . mercedes : the 
 usual rate of interest was one per 
 cent a month, but Fufidius collected 
 five times this rate. capiti -.from 
 the principal. exsecat : the verb 
 is chosen to express the severity of 
 the demand ; cuts off beforehand, 
 as in discounting. In all such 
 matters the methods of Roman 
 business were less systematized 
 than the banking of modern times. 
 
 15. perditior : nearer to ruin. 
 
 1 6 f. nomina : names, but with 
 a suggestion of 'accounts,' as in 
 English. tironum : young men 
 who had just put on the toga viri- 
 lis and whose fathers still kept 
 them on small allowances would 
 be the natural prey of the unscru- 
 pulous money-lender. 
 
 19. pro quaestu : in proportion 
 to his gains ; the supposed excla- 
 mation of some one who hears of 
 his great income. This suggests 
 at once the strangeness of the con- 
 trast between his wealth and his 
 
 meanness, which is carried out in 
 the next phrase, vix credere possis. 
 20. quam . . . non . . . amicus: 
 not exactly the same as quam ini- 
 micus, but 'how far he is from 
 being kind to himself.' pater 
 ille : a father in the play of Ter- 
 ence, the Heautontimorumenos 
 (Self-tormentor), who, because 
 he thinks that his harshness has 
 driven his son away from home, 
 refuses himself all comforts until 
 the son returns. 
 
 22. inducit: 'brings on the 
 stage,' but used like a verb of 
 saying with the infin. inxisse ; rep- 
 resents as having lived. crucia- 
 verit : a repetition of the word 
 timorumenoS) in the title of the 
 play. 
 
 23. Quo . . . pertinet : what' >s the 
 point of all this? Cf. Sat. i, i, 
 15 f., quo rem deducam, and Sat. 
 2, 7, 2 1 . illuc : the answer to the 
 question, which is then explained 
 in the next line. 
 
 43
 
 1, 2, 24] HORATl 
 
 dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currimt. 
 25 Malthinus tunicis demissis ambulat ; est qui 
 
 inguen ad obscenum subductis usque facetus. 
 
 Pastilles Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum. 
 
 Nil medium est. Sunt qui nolint tetigisse nisi illas, 
 
 quarum subsuta talos tegat instita veste ; 
 30 contra alius nullam nisi olenti in fornice stantem. 
 
 Quidam notus homo cum exiret fornice, ' Macte 
 
 virtute esto,' inquit sententia dia Catonis. 
 
 ' Nam simul ac verias inflavit taetra libido, 
 
 hue iuvenes aequum est descendere, non alienas 
 35 permolere uxores.' ' Nolim laudarier,' inquit, 
 
 ' sic me,' mirator cunni Cupiennius albi. 
 
 Audire est operae pretium, procedere recte 
 
 qui moechos non voltis, ut omni parte laborent; 
 
 utque illis multo corrupta dolore voluptas 
 
 25-27. Two illustrations of ex- uses this kind of periphrasis in 
 
 cess, each described in a line, parody of the heroic style, e.g. 
 
 followed by two other extremes Sat. 2, I, 72. 
 
 condensed into a single line. Vs. 35. laudarier: the old form of 
 
 27 is quoted in Sat. I, 4, 92 as an the infin. pass., used also in 78 
 
 example of jesting that is really and 104 with intentional archaism, 
 harmless and in fact it is not likely 36. Cupiennius : identified by 
 
 that any of the names was meant the scholiast with a certain C. 
 
 to designate an individual. Cupiennius Libo, a friend of Au- 
 
 29. instita: a border sewed on gustus. But it is much more 
 to the stola of the married woman, likely that the name is selected 
 so that the garment came down for its suggestion of cupio. albi: 
 to the ankles. of the white dress of married 
 
 30. contra alius : cf. contra hie, 4. women, in contrast to the dark 
 31 f. Macte virtute esto : a col- toga worn by prostitutes. 
 
 loquial phrase of approval ; well 37 f . A parody of a line of En- 
 
 done ! thafs rig/it. sententia dia nius (454 Vahl.), audire est operae 
 
 Catonis : formal and epic ; Lucil- pretium, procedere recte \ qui rein 
 
 ius, 1316 (Marx), has Valeri sen- Romanam . . . voltis, with em- 
 
 tentia dia, and Horace frequently phatic insertion of non. 
 
 44
 
 SERMONES [i, 2, 55 
 
 40 atque haec rara caclat dura inter saepe pericla. 
 Hie se praecipitem tecto dedit ; ille flagellis 
 ad mortem caesus ; fugiens hie decidit acrem 
 praedonum in turbam ; dedit hie pro corpore nummos ; 
 hunc perminxerunt calones ; quin etiam illud 
 
 45 accidit, ut quidam testes caudamque salacem 
 
 demeteret ferro. ' lure,' omnes; Galba negabat. 
 Tutior at quanto merx est in classe secunda, 
 libertinarum dico, Sallustius in quas 
 non minus insanit, quam qui moechatur. At hie si, 
 
 50 qua res, qua ratio suaderet quaque modeste 
 
 munifico esse licet, vellet bonus atque benignus 
 esse, daret quantum satis esset nee sibi damno 
 dedecorique foret. Verum hoc se amplectitur uno, 
 hoc amat et laudat, ' Matronam nullam ego tango.' 
 
 55 Vt quondam Marsaeus, amator Originis ille, 
 
 40. rara : with haec (voluptas) that Horace addressed a friendly 
 
 in a predicate use, contrasting ode (Carm. 2, 2) to him. 
 with saepe. dura : with pericla. 50. res, ratio : the two leading 
 
 43. pro corpore : paid a ransom motives for self-restraint, care for 
 
 to save himself from the penalty his property and good sense, 
 which might have been inflicted 51. licet: the verb itself ex- 
 
 on him. presses by its meaning the shading 
 
 46. Galba : this may be a ref- which in suaderet is expressed by 
 
 erence to a known person, a jurist the mode. bonus atque benignus : 
 
 who is said by the scholiast to as if quoted from those who would 
 
 have been himself caught in adul- receive the money. Cf. benignus, 
 
 tery. This would explain the point vs. 4. 
 
 o( negabat; as a jurist he dissented 53. hoc . . . uno: explained in 
 
 from the general judgment. But the words matronant . . . tango. 
 the story of the scholiast may have 55. Originis : said by the scho- 
 
 started with negabat. Hast to have been a mima (cf. vs. 
 
 48. Sallustius : not the his- 2) of Cicero's time. Marsaeus is 
 
 torian. It may have been his unknown and this is therefore an 
 
 nephew and heir, but this is not apparent personality, which in re- 
 
 easily reconciled with the fact ality refers to a long-past scandal. 
 
 45
 
 i f 2, 56] HORATI 
 
 qui patrium mimae donat fundumque laremque, 
 '.Nil fuerit mi,' inquit, 'cum uxoribus unquatn alienis. 1 
 Verum est cum mimis, est cum meretricibus, unde 
 fama malum gravius quam res trahit. An tibi abunde 
 
 60 personam satis est, non illud, quidquid ubique 
 officit, evitare ? Bon am deperdere famam, 
 rem patris oblimare, malum est ubicunque. Quid inter- 
 est in matrona, ancilla peccesne togata ? 
 Villius in Fausta Sullae gener, hoc miser uno 
 
 65 nomine deceptus, poenas dedit usque superque 
 quam satis est, pugnis caesus ferroque petitus, 
 exclusus fore, cum Longarenus foret intus. 
 Huic si mutonis verbis mala tanta videntis 
 diceret haec animus ' Quid vis tibi ? Numquid ego a te 
 
 70 magno prognatum deposco consule cunnum 
 velatumque stola, mea cum conferbuit ira ? ' 
 quid responderet? ' Magno patre nata puella est.' 
 At quanto meliora monet pugnantiaque istis 
 
 59. fama, res : the same com- Fausta was the daughter of Sulla 
 bination (in reversed order) that and the wife of Milo. Villius was 
 is used in damno dedecorique, vs. one of her lovers, called Sullae 
 52 f., to express from both sides gener in derision, and Longarenus 
 the consequences of excess. was another lover. in Fausta: 
 
 60. personam : the character, in the case of Fausta, with the 
 the rftle, of a moechus, contrasted verbal phrase poenas dedit. hoc 
 with illud . . . officit, the results . . . uno : abl. with miser decep- 
 of excess, which come in any case tits, with nomine (i.e. the noble 
 {ubique). name Fausta) in apposition. 
 
 62. ubicunque : repeating ubi- fore : abl. with exclusus. 
 
 que ; f whatever persona you may 68-72. si ... diceret : the 
 
 assume.' conclusion is responderet, 72. 
 
 63. togata : cf. note on albi, 73. meliora . . . pugnantia : 
 36. after monet, the subject of which 
 
 64-67. This is also a reference is natitra. pugnantia istis : ' op- 
 to a scandal of Cicero's time. posite to what you have said,' i.e. 
 
 46
 
 SERMONES [i, 2, 89 
 
 dives opis natura suae, tu si modo recte 
 75 dispensare velis ac non fugienda petendis 
 immiscere. Tuo vitio rerumne labores, 
 nil referre putas ? Quare, ne paeniteat te, 
 desine matronas sectarier, unde laboris 
 plus haurire mali est quam ex re decerpere fructus. 
 80 Nee magis huic inter niveos viridisque lapillos, 
 
 sit licet hoc, Cerinthe, tuum, tenerum est femur aut 
 
 crus 
 
 rectius, atque etiam melius persaepe togatae est. 
 Adde hue, quod mercem sine f ucis gestat, aperte 
 quod venale habet ostendit, nee, si quid honesti est, 
 85 iactat habetque palam, quaerit quo turpia celet. 
 
 Regibus hie mos est : ubi equos mercantur, opertos 
 inspiciunt, ne, si facies, ut saepe, decora 
 molli fulta pede est, emptorem inducat hiantem, 
 quod pulchrae climes, breve quod caput, ardua cervix. 
 
 to magno patre . . . est, Cf. sit ... tuum : although this may 
 
 pugnantia secum, Sat. I, I, 102. be your judgment, i.e. that the 
 
 74. dives opis natura suae : a adornment of the married woman 
 doctrine of Epicurean philosophy, adds to her attractions. Cerinthus 
 stated by Cicero, de Fin. i, 13, 45 is unknown. 
 
 . . . 'ipsa natura divitias, quibus 84. honesti: used of physical 
 
 contenta sit, et parabiles et ter- charms for the contrast with 
 
 minatas habet. 1 The figure is turpia. 
 
 carried on in dispensare, ' to deal 86-89. opertos: i.e. they cover 
 
 out ' like a careful steward. those parts of the horse which by 
 
 75. fugienda petendis: used their beauty might attract the pur- 
 again in Sat. i, 3, 114, as equiva- chaser emptorem inducat the 
 lent to bona diversis. parts specified in vs. 89, in order 
 
 76. Tuo vitio rerumne : cf. Sat. to examine with the more coolness 
 I, 10, 57 f., num illius, num rerum of judgment the parts which might 
 . . . natura. be unsound, molli . . . pede. The 
 
 80-82. huic : the matrona ; custom, if there ever was such a 
 contrasted with togatae, 82. custom, is not elsewhere alluded to. 
 
 47
 
 I, 2, 90] HORATI 
 
 90 Hoc illi recte : ne corporis optima Lyncei 
 contemplere oculis, Hypsaea caecior ilia, 
 quae mala sunt, spectes. O crus ! O brachia ! Verum 
 depygis, nasuta, brevi latere ac pede longo est. 
 Matronae praeter faciem nil cernere possis, 
 
 95 cetera, ni Catia est, demissa veste tegentis. 
 Si interdicta petes, vallo circumdata, nam te 
 hoc facit insanum, multae tibi turn efficient res, 
 custodes, lectica, ciniflones, parasitae, 
 ad talos stola demissa et circumdata palla, 
 
 too plurima, quae invideant pure apparere tibi rem. 
 Altera, nil obstat : Cois tibi paene videre est 
 ut nudam, ne crure malo, ne sit pede turpi ; 
 metiri possis oculo latus. An tibi mavis 
 insidias fieri pretiumque avellier ante 
 
 105 quam mercem ostendi ? ' Leporem venator ut alta 
 in nive sectetur, positum sic tangere nolit,' 
 
 90 f. Lyncei : famous for his her house (ciniflones, hairdressers, 
 
 power of sight; cf. Epist. I, parasitae, at the table), which 
 
 I, 28, non pcs is oculo quantum made it difficult to find her alone. 
 
 contendere Lynceus. ne . . . 100. invideant . . . apparere : 
 
 contemplere : a parenthetic clause the construction is unusual, but it 
 
 of purpose. Hypsaea: unknown is found in Plautus, e.g. Bacch. 
 
 except by a note in the scholia, 543. Cf. the infin. after prohibere 
 
 which does not really explain the 101. Altera: without a verb, to 
 
 allusion. give a conversational tone ; the 
 
 96 f . vallo circumdata : figura- thought is easily filled out from 
 
 tive, as an amplification of inter- pure apparere and from the rest 
 
 dicta, and itself further amplified in of vs. 101. Cois: abl. neuter. A 
 
 vs. 98-100. facit insanum: the transparent kind of silk made 
 
 fact that there are difficulties in originally in the island of Cos. 
 
 the way. 105-108. ut : how, the clause de- 
 
 98. The attendants of a great pends upon cantat. These verses 
 
 lady, either in the streets (custodes, give the substance of an epigram 
 
 lectica with the bearers) or in of Callimachus {Anth. Pal., xii, 
 
 48
 
 SERMONES [i, 2, 122 
 
 cantat et apponit : ' Meus est amor huic similis ; nam 
 transvolat in raedio posita et fugientia captat.' 
 Hiscine versiculis speras tibi posse dolores 
 
 no atque aestus curasque gravis e pectore pelli ? 
 
 Nonne, cupidinibus statuat natura modum quern, 
 quid latura sibi, quid sit dolitura negatum, 
 quaerere plus prodest et inane abscindere soldo ? 
 Num, tibi cum fauces urit sitis, aurea quaeris 
 
 115 pocula ? Num esuriens fastidis omnia praeter 
 
 pavonem rhombumque? Tument tibi cum inguina, 
 
 num, si 
 
 ancilla aut verna est praesto puer, impetus in quern 
 continue fiat, malis tentigine rumpi ? 
 Non ego : namque parabilem amo venerem f acilemque. 
 
 120 Illam, ' Post paulo,' ' Sed pluris,' ' Si exierit vir,' 
 Gallis, hanc Philodemus ait sibi, quae neque magno 
 stet pretio neque cunctetur, cum est iussa venire. 
 
 102) in which the lover is com- 112. dolitura negatum : cf. Sat. 
 
 pared to a hunter; the game that i, i, 75. 
 
 he prefers is that which costs him 113. inane: the void or space 
 
 trouble in the pursuit and capture. of Epicurean physics, in which the 
 
 apponit : the point of the epi- atoms or matter (solidunt) moved, 
 
 gram is here added in direct But here figuratively, like the 
 
 quotation and in a very close English substance and shadow, 
 
 paraphrase, almost a translation ' to distinguish the mere appear- 
 
 of the original. The comparison ance from the reality.' 
 
 was probably common enough. 116. pavonem rhombumque: the 
 
 Ovid (Amor. 2, 9, 9) has com- fashion which dictated the use of 
 
 pressed the whole into a single line. certain fish or fowls as a part of 
 
 109-110. versiculis: 'do you every formal dinner is directly 
 
 think that such verses are a heal- ridiculed in other satires, esp. Sat. 
 
 ing charm which will cure your 2, 2, 23 ff., and 48 ff. 
 
 troubles?' 120-122. A reference to an epi- 
 
 ui. natura modum : the same gram of Philodemus, an Epicurean 
 
 thought is in Sat. i, i, 49 f., 59, 73. of Cicero's time. This particular 
 HOR. SAT. 4 49
 
 I, 2, 123] HORATI 
 
 Candida rectaque sit, munda hactenus, ut neque longa 
 nee magis alba velit, quam dat natura, videri. 
 
 125 Haec ubi supposuit dextro corpus mini lacvum, 
 Ilia et Egeria est : do nomen quodlibet illi, 
 nee vereor, ne, dum futuo, vir rure recurrat, 
 ianua frangatur, latret canis, undique magno 
 pulsa domus strepitu resonet, vepallida lecto 
 
 130 desiliat mulier, miseram se conscia clamet, 
 
 cruribus haec metuat, doti deprensa, egomet mi. 
 Discincta tunica fugiendum est ac pede nudo, 
 ne nummi pereant aut puga ant denique fama. 
 Deprendi miserum est; Fabio vel iudice vincam. 
 
 epigram is not extant, but the 130. conscia: the slave-woman 
 
 construction reflects the colloquial who was the accomplice 
 tone ; ' " that one (the matrona) 134. Fabio: probably the Stoic 
 
 for the Galli^ this one (the liber- philosopher referred to in Sat. i, 
 
 tina) for me, 11 says Philodemus.' I, 14. The Stoic doctrine was 
 
 123. munda: neat, but with that no evil could befall the true 
 
 the suggestion that adornment philosopher. The point therefore 
 
 may be carried too far. hac- is that the misfortune of being 
 
 tenus : only so far. caught is so great that not even 
 
 129. vepallida: the prefix is a Stoic, in spite of his doctrine, 
 
 here intensive, very pale ; else- could deny that it was miserum. 
 where it is negative, as in 
 vesanus insanus. 
 
 The only indication of the date of this satire is the allusion in vs. 
 64, which implies a considerable degree of intimacy with Maecenas, to 
 whom Horace was introduced in the year 38. In style and thought it 
 is one of the more mature satires of the First Book. 
 
 1 Musical people are odd. Look at Tigellius, a bundle of inconsistent 
 absurdities. " Very fine," says some one, " but how about you, who 
 criticize others with so much penetration ? Are you faultless your- 
 self ?" "Not at all," answers the critic, u but, frankly, I don't think 
 
 50
 
 SERMONES [i, 3 
 
 my faults are as bad as his. 11 No, you do not, and your self-satisfied 
 attitude is a proper subject for a satire. 
 
 ' Your habit of criticism brings its natural result, that others criticize 
 you, and both you and they, seizing upon some trifling fault, fail to see 
 the finer and nobler qualities and, still worse, make no effort to correct 
 your own faults. 
 
 'I wish that we might rather be as blind to the faults of a friend as 
 a lover is to the defects in the face of his mistress or, if see them we 
 must, might treat them with the indulgent tenderness of a father toward 
 his child, interpreting bluntness as frankness and a hot temper as only 
 an excess of high spirit. 
 
 * But we follow just the opposite course and turn good qualities into 
 faults, modesty into stupidity, prudence into trickiness. A fairer judg- 
 ment would show us that virtues are more common than vices and 
 would teach us to exchange pardon rather than censure. 
 
 ' A reasonable philosophy for a world of faulty men should not be 
 over-strict. To break a friendship for some trifling breach of good 
 manners is to lose all sense of proportion between crime and penalty. 
 
 ' The Stoics, to be sure, teach in their paradoxical way that all faults 
 are sins and deserve the heaviest penalty. But this doctrine is repug- 
 nant to our best feelings and opposed to all that we know of the gradual 
 evolution of the moral code. A real understanding of the source of our 
 moral sense makes it unreasonable to punish the slightest error with 
 death, as the Stoic says he would do, if he were king. " And how 
 now, my Stoic friend? Wishing that you were king? I thought 
 another of your Paradoxes proved that you are a king already." "No, 
 no, you don't understand. That means a potential king, not a king 
 de facto.' 1 ' 1 "Potential? What's that?" "Why, like Hermogenes, 
 who doesn't need to be singing all the time to prove that he's a singer. 
 Even when he isn't singing, he's a potential singer. In the same 
 way I'm a king, potentially." "Very well, I won't argue with you, but 
 I don't think much of Your Majesty, hustled by street boys on your 
 way to the cheap baths. I will remain a private citizen and forgive as 
 I hope to be forgiven."' 
 
 It is not probable that, the subject of this satire was suggested by 
 any particular set of circumstances. Roman society was censorious, 
 and Horace was himself an object of criticism, but this is neither a 
 satire, in the proper sense, nor an argument in self-defence. It is a 
 broadly human plea for generosity toward one's friends. The treat- 
 ment of the Stoics is not to be taken seriously, and it would not be fair 
 to press too far the obvious modern analogies. 
 
 5 1
 
 i. 3. 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Thackeray's Roundabout Paper called On a Chalk-mark on the 
 Door is an excellent companion piece to this satire in its general tone 
 and especially in the manner in which the subject is introduced. 
 
 Omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, inter amicos 
 ut numquam inducant animum cantare rogati, 
 iniussi numquam desistant. Sardus habebat 
 ille Tigellius hoc. Caesar, qui cogere posset, 
 5 si peteret per amicitiam patris atque suam, non 
 quicquam proficeret ; si collibuisset, ab ovo 
 
 i-a. vitium: not vice, but de- 
 fect, fault. rogati : contrasted 
 with iniussi, both predicate. 
 
 3. Sardus : with contemptuous 
 emphasis. The Sardinians were 
 in bad repute at Rome ; cf. the 
 saying, Sardi venales, alter altero 
 nequior. 
 
 4. Tigellius : a musician of the 
 Ciceronian period, several times 
 alluded to in Cicero's letters and 
 in the scholiasts. Cicero speaks 
 of him always as Sardus Tigellius, 
 but his name was Hermogenes 
 Tigellius, and it is unlikely that 
 Sardus was accepted by him as a 
 cognomen. He was an acquaint- 
 ance of many persons of promi- 
 nence, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, 
 Cicero, and the younger Caesar, 
 but not, apparently, on terms of 
 equality. He had died shortly 
 before the second satire was writ- 
 ten. He is to be distinguished 
 from another Hermogenes Tigel- 
 lius, still alive, also a musician and 
 probably a freed man or adopted 
 son of the former. The tone of 
 
 Horace toward the elder Tigellius 
 is not hostile, though not respect- 
 ful ; toward the younger he is dis- 
 tinctly hostile (Sat. 1, 4, 72 ; I, 10, 
 1 8, 80, go). There are two places 
 where the reference might be to 
 either (1,3, 129; 1,9,25). habe- 
 bat . . . hoc : had this way, habit ; 
 hoc does not refer grammatically 
 to vitium. Caesar : the young 
 Octavius took this name immedi- 
 ately after the death of his great- 
 uncle, in 44. The title Augustus 
 was not given to him till 27. He 
 is always referred to by Horace 
 as Caesar, never as Octavianus, 
 which could not be used in hex- 
 ameter. qui cogere posset : the 
 words are not meant literally, 
 but as a complimentary recogni- 
 tion of his position and influ- 
 ence. 
 
 5. patris : Julius Caesar, his 
 adoptive father. si peteret : a 
 future condition, put into past 
 time. 
 
 6. collibuisset : an impf. in 
 force.
 
 3. 4 
 
 Usque ad mala citaret ' To Bacchc ! ' moclo summa 
 voce, modo hac resonat quae chordis quattuor ima. 
 Nil aequale homini fuit illi ; saepe velut qui 
 currebat fugiens hostem, persaepe velut qui 
 lunonis sacra ferret; habebat saepe clucentos, 
 saepe decem servos ; modo reges atque tetrarchas, 
 omnia magna loquens, modo, ' Sit mihi mensa tripes et 
 concha salis puri et toga, quae defendere frigus, 
 
 6-7. ab ovo usque ad mala : 
 eggs were a usual part of the pre- 
 liminary gustatio (cf. Sat, 2, 4, 
 12), and fruit was served as a 
 dessert at the end of the dinner. 
 
 7-8. lo Bacche : the opening 
 words or the refrain of a drinking 
 song. The final e should be short, 
 but may be explained as having 
 been lengthened in the song by 
 its position at the end of a musical 
 phrase. summa, ima : the ac- 
 companying reference to the lyre 
 shows that these words are used 
 of the position of the strings, not 
 of the tone. As the lyre was held, 
 the bass string was uppermost. 
 The Romans used summits and 
 imus also of the tones of the voice 
 in the same sense as the English 
 high and low. 
 
 9. aequale : consistent. 
 
 10. The expression is some- 
 what condensed ; in full it would 
 be saepe currebat velut qui fugiens 
 hostem (current), persaepe (ince- 
 debat or some similar verb) velut 
 qui . . . ferret. 
 
 11. lunonis sacra: the xavr/^o- 
 poi, who in religious processions 
 
 carried the offerings and sacred 
 vessels in baskets on their heads 
 and would naturally walk with 
 dignity. 
 
 11-12. ducentos . . . decem : 
 one number suggests domestic pro- 
 fusion, the other a quiet dignity; 
 neither is to be interpreted literally. 
 Horace himself, in speaking of the 
 easy simplicity of his own life, says 
 that lie was waited on at supper by 
 three slaves (Sat. I, 6, 116). 
 
 12. reges atque tetrarchas : that 
 is, at one time he talked of court 
 life and Oriental monarchs, at an- 
 other time his attitude was that 
 of a true philosopher who had 
 reduced his desires to the bare 
 necessities. 
 
 13-14. tripes, concha : the Ro- 
 man gentleman regarded a hand- 
 some dining table, supported upon 
 a central pedestal, as necessary to 
 a properly furnished dining room, 
 and even poor people had a silver 
 saltcellar; cf. Carm. 2, 16, 13 f., 
 Vivitur parvo bene cut pater- 
 num | splendet in mensa tenui 
 salinum. puri : salt was some- 
 times perfumed or flavored.
 
 '.3. '53 
 
 HORATI 
 
 15 quamvis crassa, queat.' Deciens centena dedisses 
 huic parco, paucis contento, quinque diebus 
 nil erat in loculis. Noctes vigilabat ad ipsum 
 mane, diem totum stertebat. Nil fuit umquam 
 sic impar sibi. Nunc aliquis dicat mihi : ' Quid tu ? 
 
 20 nullane habes vitia?' Immo alia et fortasse minora. 
 Maenius absentem Novium cum carperet, ' Heus tu,' 
 quidam ait, ' ignoras te, an ut ignotum dare nobis 
 verba putas ? ' ' Egomet mi ignosco,' Maenius inquit. 
 
 15. Deciens centena : sc. millia 
 sestertium, a million sesterces. 
 dedisses : a paratactic condi- 
 tion, without si. Cf. Sat. i, i, 
 
 45- 
 
 1 6. parco, paucis contento : 
 these words summarize the pro- 
 fessions of Tigellius in 13-15. 
 The substance of the passage 
 therefore is: 'But if you had 
 taken this ascetic philosopher 
 at his word and given him a 
 million or two, he would 
 have turned spendthrift in a 
 week.' 
 
 17. erat : the whole passage is 
 a description of a man who had 
 been dead some years, and all the 
 tenses are past, impf., perf., plupf. ; 
 in present time it would have been 
 dederis . . . erit : ' Suppose you 
 gave him a million ; a week after- 
 ward you look in his pocketbook 
 nothing there ! ' 
 
 18. Nil : the neuter is colloquial 
 and more sweeping than the more 
 exact masculine. Cf. Catullus, 9, 
 II, quid me laetius est beatius- 
 vef 
 
 19. impar sibi : = (iri)aequale, 
 9. Nunc : at this point in the talk. 
 aliquis, mihi : merely the two 
 conventional figures that Horace 
 often employs to enliven his Sat- 
 ires with bits of dialogue. Quid 
 tu ? how about yourself? 
 
 21-23. These verses repeat in 
 brief, with the added point of a 
 double pun, the essence of 1-20. 
 Maenius corresponds to the critic, 
 Novius to Tigellius, heus tu to 
 quid tu f ignoras . . . putas ? is 
 a slight expansion of nullane ha- 
 bes -vitia f and egotnet mi ignosco 
 is a neater variation upon imtno 
 . . . minora. The pun upon ig- 
 notas, ignotum, ignosco gains force 
 from the double question : ' Which 
 is it, Maenius, igno-ras or igno- 
 tum f ' * Neither,' says Maenius ; 
 'it's igno-sco? The scholiast 
 gives a long account of a Maenius, 
 but it has no point here, nor is it 
 important to identify Novius with 
 one of the persons mentioned in 
 Sat. i. 6, 121 ; the names are only 
 more vivid substitutes for aliquis 
 and mihi, vs. 19. 
 
 54
 
 SERMONES 
 
 3 27 
 
 Stultus et improbus hie amor est, dignusque notari. 
 25 Cum tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis, 
 cur in amicorum vitiis tarn cernis acutum 
 quam aut aquila aut serpens Epidaurius ? At tibi contra 
 
 24. hie amor : such satisfaction 
 as (his, that is, as has been ex- 
 hibited in the preceding verses. 
 dignusque notari : ' a proper sub- 
 ject for a satire.' 
 
 Verses 1-24 introduce the sub- 
 ject of the satire with an easy skill 
 which Horace has nowhere sur- 
 passed. The passage reads like 
 the talk of a group of men sitting 
 about the fire at a club. There 
 is no attempt to reproduce the 
 exact form of dialogue, and the 
 suggestion of dialogue in the in- 
 troduction is intended only as 
 an interpretation of the spirit of 
 the passage. Some chance has 
 brought up the oddities of musi- 
 cal people, of which Tigellius 
 affords an excellent illustration. 
 The mention of his name leads 
 easily to the amusing and not ill- 
 natured analysis of the character 
 of this much-flattered and ex- 
 travagant musical artist. But the 
 characterization, though not really 
 ill-natured, illustrates the incon- 
 sistency of censuring others for 
 failings which we excuse in our- 
 selves, an inconsistency which is 
 even more clearly apparent in 
 the Maenius-Novius anecdote, and 
 which furnishes a subject for the 
 satirist. 
 
 25-27. mala : stronger than 
 
 wittis, in the next line. lippus, 
 inunctis : there are frequent refer- 
 ences to this inflammation of the 
 eyelids and to the use of eye-salve 
 (Sat, I, 5, 30; Epist. i, I, 29); 
 both the disease and the remedy 
 obscured for the time the power 
 of vision. aquila, serpens : the 
 eagle is still used in literature as a 
 symbol of acuteness of sight ; the 
 attributing of the same quality to 
 the serpent, common in Greek 
 literature, was due to a supposed 
 connection between SpaKwv and 
 the stem of SepKo/xai, to see. 
 Epidaurius refers to the story ot 
 the bringing of a sacred serpent 
 from the temple of Aesculapius in 
 Epidaurus to Rome. This is the 
 use, frequent in Horace, of the 
 definite and particular for the gen- 
 eral. pervideas : taken by many 
 editors to mean examine sharply, 
 making an intentional oxymoron 
 with lippus. But pervidere usu- 
 ally means only to look at, and is 
 here contrasted with cernis acu- 
 tum, as mala is with vitiis and 
 lippiis inunctis with aquila and 
 serpens. 
 
 27-28. contra, rursus: i.e. when 
 their turn comes. illi: not re- 
 ferring precisely to amicorum, but 
 more general, ' when the criti- 
 cized turn critics.' 
 
 55
 
 3, 28J 
 
 evenit, inquirant vitia ut tua rursus et illi. 
 'Iracundior est paulo, minus aptus acutis 
 
 30 naribus horum hominum ; rideri possit eo, quod 
 rusticius tonso toga defluit, et male laxus 
 in pede calceus haeret.' At est bonus, ut melior vir 
 non alius quisquam, at tibi amicus, at ingenium ingens 
 inculto latet hoc sub corpore. Denique te ipsum 
 
 35 concute, num qua tibi vitiorum inseverit olim 
 natura aut etiam consuetude mala ; namque 
 neglectis urenda filix innascitur agris. 
 
 29-30. A single fault in two 
 forms, iracundior, quick-tempered, 
 and minus aptus . . ., impatient 
 of criticism, the general followed 
 by the particular. acutis nari- 
 bus: from the instinctive turning 
 up of the nostrils at a disagree- 
 able odor. The phrase is a 
 slightly inaccurate combination of 
 the descriptive (acutis) with the 
 figurative (naribus). horum: 
 nowadays, with a side-reference 
 to literary criticism ; cf. Sat. i, 
 10, 67-71. 
 
 30-32. rideri possit: 'people 
 may laugh at him,' i.e. he exposes 
 himself to possible ridicule. 
 tonso : dat. ; sc. ei. The two dis- 
 tinct criticisms are better ex- 
 pressed in English by two verbs : 
 * because his hair is cut by a coun- 
 try barber and his toga isn't prop- 
 erly creased. 1 defluit : hangs 
 loose, instead of being creased in 
 folds across the chest. male : 
 with both Iaxi4s and haeret ; is loose 
 and ill-fitting. On these lines cf. 
 
 Epist. i, i, 94 ff., and Quint. IT, 
 3, 137, ' et toga et calceus et capil- 
 lus tarn nimia cura quam negle- 
 gentia sunt reprendenda.' 
 
 34. inculto . . . corpore: is hid- 
 den beneath this careless exterior. 
 
 35. concute : from shaking the 
 loose folds of the garments to see 
 whether anything was concealed 
 in them. Cf. Plaut. Aid. 646 i., 
 agedum, excutedutn pallium . . . 
 ne inter tunicas habeas. The im- 
 plied notion of searching governs 
 the indirect question, num . . . in- 
 severit. olim : otice, i.e. at your 
 birth, with reference to natura 
 only. 
 
 36-37. consuetude : added as 
 an after-thought, to remind the 
 overcritical censor that he has 
 not only faults which were in- 
 born, but also faults which are 
 due to his own carelessness. 
 neglectis : almost ' for if you are 
 careless.' filix: a common pest 
 to the Italian farmer, which he got 
 rid of by burning over the fields-
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [' 3. 44 
 
 Illuc praevertamur : amatorem quod amicae 
 turpia decipiunt caecum vitia, ant etiam ipsa haec 
 40 delectant, veluti Balbinum polypus Hagnae: 
 vellem in amicitia sic erraremus, et isti 
 errori nomen virtus posuisset honestum. 
 At pater ut gnati, sic nos debemus amici 
 si quod sit vitium non fastidire ; strabonem 
 
 38-54. As the lover finds in 
 the defects of his mistress only 
 added beauties, and as the father 
 calls his boy by a pet name which 
 minimizes his physical weaknesses, 
 so we should try to see the better 
 side of our friends' qualities.' 
 
 Horace is here strengthening 
 his argument by appealing to two 
 well-recognized traits. The blind- 
 ness of the lover was a common- 
 place of philosophy (Plato, Rep. 
 5, 474 d ; Lucretius, 4, 1 160-1 169 ; 
 Ovid, Ars Am. 2, 657 ft.) and the 
 giving of nicknames based upon 
 physical peculiarities was so com- 
 mon among the Romans that 
 most of their family names, in- 
 cluding those used in this passage 
 (JPaetus, Pullus, Varus, Scaurus), 
 are derived from this custom. 
 
 38. Illuc praevertamur, quod : 
 let us turn rather to this fact, that 
 . . . ; i.e. ' let us prefer to imitate 
 the lover's blindness.' 
 
 39. decipiunt : are unnoticed by. 
 Cf. fallere, latere, with ace. of the 
 person. 
 
 40. Balbinum: unknown. Hag- 
 nae : ("Ayvr;) a common libertina 
 name. 
 
 41. vellem . . . erraremus: / 
 
 wish that we made the same mis- 
 take ; the unfulfilled form oii/elim 
 . . . erremus ; there is no implied 
 condition. 
 
 42. virtus : ethics, ethical phi- 
 losophy. Cf. Carm. 2, 2, 17 ff., 
 Phraaten . . . numero beatorum 
 eximit virtus. honestum : c r ed- 
 itable, honorable. Though such 
 blindness to obvious facts may be 
 an error, yet it is so generous an 
 error that philosophers, especially 
 the Stoics, should have given it a 
 name which would recognize its 
 nobler side. 
 
 43-48. This passage cannot be 
 exactly translated ; modern Eng- 
 lish, in which physical deformities 
 are ignored or relegated to the 
 scientific vocabulary of surgeons, 
 has no equivalents for paetus, 
 pullus, varus, scaurus. Each of 
 these words designates in an ex- 
 tenuating way deformities which 
 are more broadly described by the 
 corresponding words strabo, male 
 parvus and abortivus, distortis 
 cruribus, pravis . . . talis. 
 
 43. At : adversative to the main 
 thought of 29 ff., not exclusively 
 
 57
 
 i. 3. 45] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 45 appellat paetum pater, et pullum, male parvus 
 si cui filius est, ut abortivus fuit olim 
 Sisyphus ; hunc varum distortis cruribus ; ilium 
 balbutit scaurum pravis fultum male talis. 
 Parcius hie vivit: frugi dicatur. Ineptus 
 
 50 et iactantior hie paulo est : concinnus amicis 
 postulat ut videatur. At est truculentior atque 
 plus aequo liber : simplex fortisque habeatur. 
 Caldior est : acris inter numeretur. Opinor 
 haec res et iungit, iunctos et servat amicos. 
 
 to what immediately precedes. 
 The expression is somewhat con- 
 densed, for ut pater gnati vitium 
 nonfastidit, sic nos debemus amid 
 vitium 11011 fastidire. 
 
 47. Sisyphus : a dwarf kept by 
 Antony. 
 
 48. balbutit : properly lisps, i.e. 
 the father speaks the word scaurus 
 in gentle tones, in a kind of baby 
 talk, so that it is a pleasant nick- 
 name to the child. 
 
 49-54. These lines contain the 
 application of the foregoing illus- 
 trations. Each of the four quali- 
 ties mentioned may be regarded 
 as a fault, but each has its good 
 side, so that it may, upon a gen- 
 erous interpretation, be considered 
 a virtue. The words which express 
 the overcritical interpretation are 
 in the comparative degree, as if to 
 suggest that the faults are only 
 exaggerations of good qualities. 
 
 49. Parcius : too stingy. frugi : 
 economical, ' careful in money mat- 
 ters.' 
 
 49-51. 'He sometimes thrusts 
 
 himself forward too much (iactan- 
 tior) and really makes an ass of 
 himself (ineptus), but it is in the 
 effort (postulat) to be entertain- 
 ing. 1 The best commentary on 
 these qualities is in Cicero, de 
 Orat. 2, 4, 17, <qui aut tempus 
 quid postulet non videt aut plura 
 (too mucii) loquitur aut se ostentat 
 ( = iactantior) . . . aut denique in 
 aliquo genere aut inconcinnus aut 
 multus est, is ineptus dicitur.' 
 This sense of postulare, to expect, 
 desire, almost = velle, is common 
 in Plautus and should have fuller 
 treatment in the Lexicons. 
 
 51-52. 'Too much inclined to 
 be overbearing, and more free in 
 speech than he ought to be. 1 On 
 its good side this quality should 
 be regarded as merely frankness 
 and fearlessness. 
 
 53. Caldior: = calidior ; ci.sol- 
 dum, Sat. 2, 5, 65 ; hot-tempered. 
 acris : high-spirited. 
 
 54. haec res : i.e. this way of 
 treating the qualities of our friends, 
 this generous interpretation.
 
 i. 3, 64 
 
 SS At nos virtutes ipsas invertimus, atque 
 
 sincerum cupimus vas incrustare. Probus quis 
 nobiscurn vivit, multum demissus homo: illi 
 tardo cognomen, pingui damns. Hie fugit omnis 
 insidias nullique malo latus obdit apertum, 
 
 60 cum genus hoc inter vitae versetur, ubi acris 
 invidia atque vigent ubi crimina: pro bene sano 
 ac non incauto, fictum astutumque vocamus. 
 Simplicior quis et est, qualem me saepe libenter 
 obtulerim tibi, Maecenas, ut forte legentem 
 
 55-56. ' But we follow a course 
 exactly the opposite of this ; in- 
 stead of looking for the virtues 
 which underlie faults, we seek for 
 the faults that accompany virtues.' 
 Of the two figures by which this 
 is expressed, the first, invertinms, 
 is quite general ; the second is 
 derived from the soiling of a clean 
 {sincerum) jar by the incrustation 
 deposited from sour wine. cupi- 
 mus : i.e. we find pleasure in it. 
 
 56-58. The opposed interpre- 
 tations are expressed by pairs of 
 adjectives, put together without a 
 connective. Probus: honest', de- 
 missus : modest, quiet. Cicero uses 
 the two words together (de Orat. 
 2, 43, 182), contrasting them with 
 acres, pertinaces. pingui : some- 
 what stronger than tardo. 
 
 58-62. The virtus of these lines 
 is less obvious than the preceding, 
 and is therefore described more at 
 length, before the point is reached 
 in the pairs of contrasting adjec- 
 tives. nulli malo : masc. latus : 
 flank, the figure being from the 
 
 military vocabulary. inter: see 
 note on i , i , 47. invidia, crimina : 
 many allusions in the Satires show 
 that Horace was himself exposed 
 to envy and criticism by reason 
 of his friendship with Maecenas. 
 
 sano, non incauto : a man of 
 sense and not without prudence. 
 
 fictum : insincere ; cf. Cic. Lael. 
 8, 26, where simulatus is used as 
 a parallel. 
 
 63-66. The quality here de- 
 scribed, perhaps suggested by 
 contrast with the ' prudence ' of 
 58-62, is that single-mindedness 
 and absence of self-consciousness 
 which is at times a most engaging 
 characteristic, but at other times 
 may become annoying thoughtless- 
 ness. et : connecting simplicior 
 with talis, implied by qualem. 
 libenter : in my eagerness ; it is 
 essentially the same as simplicior, 
 'with my thoughts fixed too in- 
 tently upon some one idea. 1 
 quovis sermone : with some unim- 
 portant remark, not referring to 
 molestus , . . caret. Molestus : he's 
 
 59
 
 HORATI 
 
 (>5 aut taciturn impellat quovis sermone : ' Molestus ; 
 communi sensu plane caret,' inquimus. Eheu, 
 quam temere in nosmet legem sancimus iniquam ! 
 Nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur; optimus ille est 
 qui minimis urgetur. Amicus dulcis, ut aequum est, 
 
 70 cum mea compenset vitiis bona ; pluribus hisce 
 (si modo plura mihi bona sunt) inclinet, amari 
 si volet ; hac lege in trutina ponetur eadem. 
 Qui ne tuberibus propriis offendat amicum 
 postulat, ignoscet verrucis illius ; aequum est 
 
 75 peccatis veniam poscentem reddere rursus. 
 
 Denique, quatenus excidi penitus vitium irae, 
 
 a nuisance. communi sensu : not 
 ' common sense,' but ordinary tact, 
 almost common politeness; cf. 
 Seneca, de Ben. i, 12, 3, sit in 
 beneficio sensus communis \ tem- 
 PUS, locum observet. 
 
 67. temere : hastily, thought- 
 lessly, not seeing that the law 
 condemns ourselves also (in nos- 
 met) and is unjust besides. 
 
 69. urgetur : i.e. has the small- 
 est load of faults to carry. The 
 thought suggests the figure of 
 weights balanced in the scales, 
 which is more elaborately worked 
 out in the following lines ; so 
 inseveritj 35, suggests vs. 37. 
 
 70. cum : prep, governing 
 vitiis ; will set my good qualities 
 over against my faults. Cf. Cic. 
 de Fin. 2, 30, 97, compensabatur 
 cum summis dolor ibus laetitia. 
 hisce: i.c. the bona. 
 
 71. inclinet: as if he were him- 
 self the scales. 
 
 72. hac lege: on this condition. 
 
 73-74. tuberibus : wens ; larger 
 than verrucae, warts. On the 
 Roman freedom of speech about 
 such defects, cf. 44 ff. and notes. 
 postulat : as in vs. 5 1 . 
 
 75. poscentem: with the subj. 
 of reddere. veniam : obj. of pos- 
 centem^ but to be supplied also with 
 reddere. 
 
 76 ff. ; In short, since we are 
 born with faults (68) which no 
 philosophy can wholly eradicate, 
 it is reasonable that we should 
 recognize the difference between 
 the lighter and the heavier, and 
 should not condemn all with an 
 equal severity.' 
 
 The figure of the scales (70- 
 72), in which faults may be 
 weighed against virtues, suggests 
 the weighing of one fault against 
 another, and this recalls the Stoic 
 doctrine that all faults are alike in 
 heinousness. Against this doc- 
 
 60
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [J.3.84 
 
 cetera item nequeunt stultis haerentia, cur non 
 ponderibus modulisque suis ratio utitur, ac res 
 ut quaeque est, ita suppliciis delicta coercet ? 
 80 Si quis eum servum, patinam qui tollere iussus 
 semesos piscis tepidumque ligurrierit ius 
 in cruce suffigat, Labeone insanior inter 
 sanos dicatur. Quanto hoc furiosius atque 
 mains peccatum est : paulum deliquit amicus, 
 
 trine the rest of the satire is di- 
 rected, at first with an assumed 
 humility and an ironical serious- 
 ness, but finally with open parody 
 and humor. 
 
 76. vitium: subj. of nequit, 
 to be supplied from the next line. 
 
 irae : this particular fault, al- 
 ready mentioned in vss. 29 and 
 53, is singled out because Horace 
 was conscious of the failings of his 
 own temper. 
 
 77. item:, this supplies the 
 place of a connective between 
 vitium irae and cetera (vitia). 
 stultis; the technical Stoic word 
 for all men except the ideal 
 sapiens ; its use at this point gives 
 a double meaning to ratio (78) 
 
 either 'the logical deductions of 
 the Stoics ' or ' the common sense 
 of mankind' and prepares the 
 way for the more open attack in 
 96 ff. 
 
 79. ut . . . ita : do not try to 
 render literally ; l make the penalty 
 fit the crime.' 
 
 80-81. tollere: remove from the 
 table at the end of the course. 
 semesos : the fragments left on the 
 
 platter. tepidum : already grow- 
 ing cold and unpalatable. These 
 details are added to lighten the 
 offense. 
 
 82. in cruce : the extreme pen- 
 alty. But it is to be remembered 
 that it had none of the associations 
 now connected with it ; it was 
 oftener threatened than carried 
 out, and is frequently alluded to 
 in the humorous slang of Latin 
 comedy. Labeone : it is not clear 
 whethei this was a Labeo who was 
 tribune in the year 131 or the 
 Labeo who fought in the army of 
 Brutus, or his son, a free-spoken 
 opponent of Augustus. It is 
 clear, however, that the allusion 
 is not at all to some act of ex- 
 treme cruelty or of serious mis- 
 judgment, but to some notori- 
 ous extravagance of conduct 
 which would be recalled with 
 humorous appreciation by readers 
 familiar with the gossip of 
 Rome. 
 
 83. Quanto . . . furiosius : not, 
 of course, to be taken seriously. 
 hoc : subj. of est, referring to what 
 follows. 
 
 61
 
 i. 3, 85] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 85 quod nisi concedas, habeare insuavis, acerbus : 
 odisti, et fugis, ut Rusonem debitor aeris, 
 qui nisi, cum tristes misero venere Kalendae, 
 mercedem aut nummos undeunde extricat, amaras 
 porrecto iugulo historias captivus ut audit. 
 
 90 Comminxit lectum potus, mensave catillum 
 Evandri manibus tritum deiecit ; ob hanc rem, 
 aut positum ante mea quia pullum in parte catini 
 sustulit esuriens, minus hoc iucundus amicus 
 
 85. quod nisi concedas: i.e. a 
 fault so trifling that only a man of 
 the most irritable temper would 
 take offense at it. 
 
 86-89. odisti: the construction 
 is intentionally abrupt; in full it 
 would be, 'but you, instead of 
 pardoning the slight fault, turn 
 your friendship into dislike and 
 avoidance.' fugis, ut: the natu- 
 ral conclusion would be ' as hard 
 as you can,' but for this general 
 comparison Horace substitutes a 
 special allusion which has a point 
 of its own. Ruso, unknown ex- 
 cept from this reference, is a 
 money-lender, keen in collecting 
 his interest, but with a weakness 
 for writing histories. His clever 
 debtor, unable to meet his notes, 
 pretends an interest in Ruso's 
 writings and so gets easy terms 
 from the flattered author. But 
 the histories are so dull that to 
 listen to them is as painful as to 
 stand with outstretched neck await- 
 ing the blow of the executioner, 
 and Ruso's debtors therefore avoid 
 him even more persistently than 
 
 other debtors avoid their credit- 
 ors. Kalendae : the first of the 
 month was one of the dates for 
 collecting money. Cf. Epod. 2, 
 69 f. mercedem : the interest ; 
 nummos : the principal. unde- 
 unde : the duplication makes it 
 indefinite ; cf. quisquis, utut, etc. 
 captivus ut : like a prisoner of 
 war, about to be executed. 
 
 91. Evandri: a king in the 
 mythical time before the coming 
 of Aeneas to Latium. manibus 
 tritum : the owner would point to 
 the handle and remark that it had 
 been worn smooth by the hands 
 of the good king. The craze for 
 collecting old pottery and bronzes 
 and claiming for them a fabulous 
 antiquity is ridiculed again in Sat. 
 2, 3. 20 ff. 
 
 92. positum ante : = anteposi- 
 tiim, served. mea in parte : the 
 food was served in a platter placed 
 in the middle of the table and 
 each guest helped himself, taking 
 naturally that portion which was 
 nearest to him. 
 
 93. esuriens: his hunger being 
 
 62
 
 SERMONES 
 
 3, 99 
 
 sit mihi ? Quid faciam si furtum fecerit, aut si 
 95 prodiderit commissa fide sponsumve negarit ? 
 
 Quis paria esse fere placuit peccata, laborant 
 cum ventum ad verum est ; sensus moresque repugnant 
 atque ipsa utilitas, iusti prope mater et aequi. 
 Cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris, 
 
 a partial excuse for the breach of 
 etiquette. minus . . . mihi : the 
 same as odisli et fugis, 86. 
 
 94. furtum fecerit: as in the 
 Twelve Tables, furtum factum 
 sit. 
 
 95. fide : the old dative form. 
 sponsum : a promise made by 
 the formal sponsio. As many 
 business transactions were ratified 
 only by oral formulas, without 
 written evidence, the failure to 
 keep a verbal promise in such 
 matters was regarded as an espe- 
 cially serious crime. 
 
 96 ff. The Paradoxes of the 
 Stoics were doctrines which, 
 though they transcended ordi- 
 nary experience, were held to 
 express essential truths. There 
 is a brief review of them in 
 Cicero, pro Mur. 29, 60 ff., where 
 the particular Paradox here dis- 
 cussed is stated thus : ' omnia 
 peccata esse paria ; omne delic- 
 tum scelus esse nefarium, nee 
 minus delinquere eum qui gallum 
 gallinaceum, cum opus non fuerit, 
 quam eum qui patrem suffocaverit.' 
 Against this Horace sets the re- 
 sults of actual observation, en- 
 forced by a condensed history, 
 
 from Epicurean philosophy, of the 
 development of the ideas of right 
 and wrong. The Stoic teaching 
 is not unlike the Calvinistic doc- 
 trine of sin that the sinfulness 
 of an act lies in the violation of 
 the law of God, the particular 
 details or consequences being im- 
 material while the attitude of 
 Horace is that of the believers in 
 evolutionary ethics. 
 
 96. Quis: the old dat. form 
 for quibus. fere : with paria. 
 placuit : technical ; a/aca/cei ; transl. 
 those who hold. 
 
 97. ad verum: ; to the test of 
 actual experience.' sensus mores- 
 que : so Cicero, de Fin. 4, 19, 55, 
 arguing against this doctrine, says 
 that sensus cuiusque et natura 
 rerum atque ipsa veritas cry out 
 against it. 
 
 98. utilitas: in the broader 
 sense, ' the common good,' not 
 individual advantage. The utili- 
 tarian philosophy has a prominent 
 place in modern thought. prope : 
 qualifies the figurative mater ; 
 'which may almost be called the 
 mother of the sense of justice.' 
 
 99. The following account of 
 the evolution of society is Epi-
 
 I, 3- I0 ] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 100 mutum et turpe pecus, glandem atque cubilia propter 
 unguibus et pugnis, dein fustibus, atque ita porro 
 pugnabant armis, quae post fabricaverat usus, 
 donee verba, quibus voces sensusque notarent, 
 nominaque invenere ; dehinc absistere bello, 
 
 105 oppida coeperunt munire et ponere leges, 
 ne quis fur esset, neu latro, neu quis adulter. 
 Nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus taeterrima belli 
 causa ; sed ignotis perierunt mortibus illi, 
 quos venerem incertam rapientis more ferarum 
 
 1 10 viribus editior caedebat, ut in grege taurus. 
 lura inventa metu iniusti fateare necesse est, 
 tempora si fastosque velis evolvere mundi. 
 
 curean ; compare Lucretius, 5, 
 780-1457. prorepserunt : from 
 the earth which gave them birth. 
 animalia : living creatures, but 
 not yet men. 
 
 100. mutum: lacking the power 
 of articulate speech. turpe : still 
 shapeless, not of human form. 
 glandem atque cubilia : food and 
 shelter no better than that of 
 animals. 
 
 101-102. unguibus et pugnis, 
 fustibus, armis : various steps in 
 a civilization to which we are 
 still engaged in making contribu- 
 tions. 
 
 103-104. verba : p^/xara, verbs : 
 nomina : ovofjuara, nouns; techni- 
 cal terms of grammar, somewhat 
 less precise than the correspond- 
 ing English words, together stand- 
 ing for the whole of speech. 
 voces sensusque notarent : ' might 
 
 give meaning to their cries (voces) 
 and express their feelings. 1 
 
 106. adulter : it is a touch of 
 sensationalism that leads Horace 
 to select this particular sin for 
 detailed illustration in the next 
 four verses. 
 
 107. ante Helenam : cf. Carm. 
 4, 9, 25, irixere fortes ante Aga- 
 mewnona. Recorded history is 
 thought of as beginning with the 
 Trojan war. 
 
 108. sed ignotis : emphatic by 
 position at the beginning and in 
 caesura ; ' but we know nothing 
 of all that went before.' 
 
 109. incertam : promiscuous, 
 before the recognition of the in- 
 stitution of marriage. 
 
 1 10. viribus editior : a stronger; 
 a very rare figurative use of editus. 
 
 III-H2. A restatement of the 
 point to bt proved (jura inventa 
 
 64
 
 SERMONES 
 
 Nec natura potest iusto secernere iniquum, 
 dividit ut bona diversis, f ugienda petendis ; 
 
 115 nee vincet ratio hoc, tantundem ut peccet idemque 
 qui teneros caules alien! fregerit horti, 
 et qui nocturnus sacra divom legerit. Adsit 
 regula, peccatis quae poenas irroget aequas, 
 ne scutica dignum horribili sectere flagello. 
 
 120 Nam, ut ferula caedas meritum maiora subire 
 verbera, non vereor, cum dicas esse pares res 
 
 metu iniusti utilitasiusti mater), 
 which is now regarded as demon- 
 strated to one who will read the 
 history of the race (si fastos velis 
 evolvere). 
 
 113-114. A conclusion from 
 the preceding argument, which in 
 a logical form would be introduced 
 by ergo: 'there is therefore no 
 natural instinct which distin- 
 guishes between right and wrong.' 
 bona : not in the moral sense, 
 for that would contradict the whole 
 argument, but agreeable, pleasant, 
 further defined by petendis, as 
 diversis (their opposites) is by 
 fugienda. 
 
 115-117. A further conclusion : 
 ' Therefore since the distinc- 
 tion between right and wrong is 
 neither innate nor absolute there 
 is no such thing as sin per se, but 
 each error or fault must be judged 
 separately, according to its effect 
 upon the common advantage.' 
 nee vincet ratio : nor will philoso- 
 phy (i.e. the Stoics) succeed in 
 Proving. tantundem : quantita- 
 tive ; idem : qualitative ; in the 
 
 HOR. SAT. 5 65 
 
 same degree and kind (Green- 
 ough). The two kinds of theft 
 here named are said to have been 
 specifically mentioned in the laws 
 of Draco as deserving the same 
 punishment. sacra legerit : an 
 old legal formula, preserved in 
 the compound sacrilegus. 
 
 1 18. regula : a scale. aequas : 
 just, fair, proportioned to the 
 offense. 
 
 119. scutica: the whip. fla- 
 gello : the scourge, a knout or cat- 
 of-nine-tails, a much more dreadful 
 instrument of punishment than the 
 scutica. 
 
 120-124. Nam : ' we need a 
 scale of sins which shall prevent 
 you from inflicting too severe a 
 penalty ; for that you, a Stoic, 
 with your overstrict laws, should 
 inflict too light a penalty is highly 
 improbable.' ferula: a cane, 
 such as was used by schoolmas- 
 ters ; substituted for scutica for 
 variety. ut caedas . . . , non 
 vereor : the regular construction 
 would be ne caedas . . . , non ve- 
 reor, but the underlying thought
 
 HORATI 
 
 furta latrociniis, et magnis parva mineris 
 falce recisurum simili te, si tibi regnum 
 permittant homines. Si dives qui sapiens est, 
 125 et sutor bonus et solus formosus et est rex, 
 
 cur optas quod habes ? ' Non nosti quid pater,' inquit, 
 ' Chrysippus dicat : sapiens crepidas sibi numquam 
 nee soleas fecit, sutor tamen est sapiens.' Qui ? 
 
 here does not call for a verb of 
 fearing. Expressed without irony 
 the verb would be non verisimile 
 est or something like that, and the 
 /-clause conforms to the under- 
 lying thought and all the more 
 easily because the ///"-clause comes 
 first. But Horace has substituted 
 for the simple expression the iron- 
 ical vereor, which in this connec- 
 tion ceases to be really a verb of 
 fearing. pares res : = paria, 96. 
 magnis : after simili ; a con- 
 densed construction for falce 
 simili qua falce magna. reci- 
 surum: as a farmer prunes the 
 vines. si tibi regnum . . . : with 
 dicas, 121, begins a quotation in 
 indirect form of the purpose of the 
 Stoic philosopher: 'I would do 
 thus and so, if I had the power.' 
 But the last thought is care- 
 lessly expressed in the common 
 phrase, ' if I were king, 1 and 
 Horace seizes upon this phrase 
 to turn the rest of the satire into 
 a humorous flouting of Stoic 
 doctrine 
 
 124-126. This Paradox is thus 
 stated by Cicero, pro Mur. 29, 
 6 1 : ' solos sapientes esse, si dis- 
 
 tort issi mi, formosos, si mendicis- 
 simi, divites,si servitutem serviant, 
 reges ; and is referred to by Lucil- 
 ius, 1225 f. (Marx). The funda- 
 mental truth which underlies the 
 Paradox is that character makes 
 the man, that character is the 
 essential and circumstances are 
 the accidents, a truth which 
 Horace in other places (e.g. 
 Carm. 2, 2, 17 ff.) fully recog- 
 nizes ; here it suits his purpose 
 to ridicule the exaggerated form 
 in which the doctrine was ex- 
 pressed. 
 
 127. Chrysippus: next to Zeno 
 the chief of Stoic philosophers, 
 called pater as a term of 
 honor. 
 
 128. sutor: this particular illus- 
 tration, which tends to make the 
 whole doctrine ridiculous, was se- 
 lected partly with reference to the 
 story of Alfenus, 130, partly to 
 illustrate the dogged persistence 
 with which the Stoics defended 
 their Paradox, even in its most 
 extreme applications. Qui ? an 
 exclamation of bewilderment . 
 ' how is that ? I don't see 
 it. 1 
 
 66
 
 SERMON ES 
 
 i 3. 136 
 
 'Vt, quamvis tacet Hermogenes, cantor tamen at- 
 que 
 
 130 optimus est modulator ; ut Alfenus vafer, omni 
 abiecto instrument artis clausaque taberna, 
 sutor erat; sapiens operis sic optimus omnis 
 est opifex solus, sic rex.' Vellunt tibi barbam 
 lascivi pueri ; quos tu nisi fuste coerces, 
 
 135 urgeris turba circum te stante miserque 
 
 rumperis et latras, magnorum maxime regum ! 
 
 129-133- 'The ideal man, the 
 sapiens, is potentially master of 
 all arts and crafts, though he may 
 not actually practice them, just as 
 Hermogenes is a singer even when 
 he is not singing.' Hermogenes: 
 see on vs. 4. modulator : a more 
 technical word than cantor. Al- 
 fenus : apparently, as the scholiast 
 says, the famous jurist (wafer is 
 used of the law in Sat. 2, 2, 131) 
 Alfenus Varus, consul in 39. He 
 is said to have been in early life a 
 cobbler at Cremona, and the argu- 
 ment of the Stoic is that he re- 
 mained potentially a cobbler even 
 after he became a great man. 
 instrumento : collectively ; ' the 
 tools of his trade.' sic : ' in this 
 sense," 1 as Alfenus was potentially a 
 shoemaker ; not = ergo, therefore. 
 solus : the Stoic's argument, 
 even if it be accepted at its best, 
 does not prove that only the sapi- 
 ens is an ideal craftsman ; in fact, 
 it proves just the contrary. But 
 solus was used in the Paradox, 
 and i,s therefore added by the 
 Stoic in a triumphant tone, as if 
 
 he had now proved his whole 
 point. 
 
 133 ff. As often, Horace makes 
 no direct answer to the argument, 
 but turns to other matters which 
 form in the end a most conclu- 
 sive, though indirect, reply. ' Very 
 well, you seem to have proved 
 that you are a king, but appear- 
 ances are against you, and cer- 
 tainly you are a very odd kind 
 of king.' barbam, fuste : phi- 
 losophers of the stricter sect 
 sometimes chose to distinguish 
 themselves from other men by 
 wearing a long beard (cf. Sat. 2, 
 3> 35) iussit sapient em pascere 
 barbam) and by carrying an old- 
 fashioned staff. rumperis et la- 
 tras : i.e. ' make yourself hoarse 
 with howling.' This exaggerated 
 use of rumpere was colloquial ; cf. 
 Epist. i, 19, 15 and Plaut. Capt. 
 14. latras suggests the Cynic 
 school (from KVWV, dog), with 
 which the Stoics were connected. 
 magnorum maxime regum : as 
 if it were a formal title of respect, 
 ' Your Most Gracious Majesty-' 
 
 6 7
 
 i. 3. 37] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 140 
 
 Ne longum faciam, dum tu quadrante lavatum 
 rex ibis, neque te quisquam stipator ineptum 
 praeter Crispinum sectabitur, et mihi dulces 
 ignoscent, si quid peccaro stultus, amici, 
 inque vicem illorum patiar delicta libenter, 
 privatusque magis vivam te rege beatus. 
 
 137. Ne longum faciam : cf. ne 
 te merer, Sat. i, i, 14. and the 
 more abrupt iam satis, I, i, 120. 
 quadrante : one fourth of an as, 
 the price of admission to the pub- 
 lic baths. 
 
 138-139. stipator : as an 
 escort. ineptum : with Cris- 
 pinum, who is called lippus 
 and otherwise derided in I, I, 
 
 
 1 20 f. et: correlated with -gue, 
 141. 
 
 140. stultus : in the Stoic use 
 of the word. With these verses 
 Horace returns to the serious 
 thought of the earlier part of the 
 satire, which is in fact latent in 
 his mind even while he is ridi- 
 culing the Stoic solemnity and 
 Pharisaism. 
 
 
 There is no reference in this satire which fixes tlie date precisely, and 
 we are obliged to fall back upon general indications. The criticisms to 
 which it is a reply were called forth by the sensational and personal 
 tone of the early seventh and eighth satires, and especially of the 
 second; in particular, vss. 91 ff. show that this was written after the 
 second and, probably, very soon after it. Maecenas is not mentioned 
 in this satire, as he is not referred to in the other earlier ones, though a 
 personal mention would have been natural in 8, 8 and 14. Nor is there 
 any reference to the group of distinguished friends whose approval is 
 in the tenth satire the final answer to the critics. This satire may 
 therefore with probability be placed with 2, 7 and 8 of this book and 
 with some of the Epodes, all written before Horace's introduction to 
 Maecenas in 38. 
 
 The reference to Tigellius (vs. 72) is too vague to give any indica- 
 tion of the date (cf. note on i, 3, 4). 
 
 ' The great Athenian writers of comedy were the founders of satire. 
 After them came Lucilius, not less keen than they, but too careless and 
 too profuse. His faults 1 desire to avoid, for mere quantity is not a 
 merit ; but the spirit of his satire I shall attempt to preserve. I am 
 
 68
 
 SERMONES [i, 4, 3 
 
 aware, however, that exposure of the weaknesses of men makes my 
 writings unpopular, and I desire to say a word in self-defence. 
 
 ' In the first place, I do not think that satire is poetry or should be 
 judged by the standards of poetry. It lacks the imaginative inspiration 
 and the lofty expression of poetry, and is, in this respect, like comedy, 
 a mere reproduction in verse-form of ordinary talk on everyday subjects. 
 
 'The main question, however, is whether the satirist deserves to be 
 regarded with dislike and suspicion. You compare him to a detective, 
 not noticing that you thereby compare yourself to a criminal, but the 
 comparison fails because my notes are not taken for use in a court or 
 for publication. You say that the satirist is a man of meanly critical 
 spirit, who finds pleasure in exhibiting the failings of others. But this 
 also is untrue ; my satire is no more personal or serious than the rail- 
 lery of a good talker at a dinner table. It is in fact only the exercise 
 of a habit of observation taught me by my good father, who without 
 knowing the philosophy of books instructed me in a practical philoso- 
 phy founded on observation. The only fault you can find with me is 
 that I write down my observations. But everybody nowadays writes ; 
 if you object to that, we'll unite to condemn you and the penalty shall 
 be that you shall turn writer yourself.' 
 
 The connection of thought is less clearly indicated in this satire than 
 in the first or third ; there is occasional sharpness of retort and there 
 is little of the mellow humor of the later work. These are the marks 
 of immaturity. The sensitiveness to criticism, also, is of the kind that 
 decreases with experience. 
 
 Eupolis atque Cratinus Aristophanesque poetae, 
 atque alii, quorum comoedia prisca virorum est, 
 si quis erat dignus describi, quod malus ac fur, 
 
 1-2. The three most important ative clause and the genitive ; cf. 
 
 writers of the Old Comedy (prisca the corresponding verse, Sat. 1, 10, 
 
 comoedia), of whose works only 16. 
 
 the eleven plays of Aristophanes 3. dignus describi : deserved to 
 
 (444-388 B.C.) are extant. The be satirized; cf. vs. 25. culpari 
 
 names make a sonorous opening dignos, and Sat. i, 3, 24, dignus 
 
 of the speech for the defendant. ... notari. These are all various 
 
 poetae : to close the verse with em- ways of saying. ' a suitable sub- 
 
 phasis ; 4 true poets, all of them.' ject for satire.' malus ac fur : 
 
 virorum: attracted into the rel- the same as malos fures, Sat. I, 
 
 69
 
 . 4.4] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 quod moechus foret aut sicarius aut alioqui 
 5 famosus, multa cum libertate notabant. 
 
 Hinc omnis pendet Lucilius, hosce secutus 
 mutatis tantum pedibus numerisque, facetus, 
 emunctae naris, durus componere versus. 
 Nam fuit hoc vitiosus : in hora saepe ducentos, 
 10 ut magnum, versus dictabat stans pede in uno ; 
 
 I, 77, with no more difference 
 than there is between ' rascals and 
 thieves' and 'rascally thieves.' 
 
 5. famosus : in a bad sense, the 
 common meaning in early Latin. 
 libertate : with the utmost free- 
 dom of speech. The extant plays 
 of Aristophanes, in which public 
 men are ridiculed with great li- 
 cense, abundantly support this 
 statement. 
 
 6. Hinc . . . pendet: upon them 
 Lucilius is entirely dependent, i.e. 
 as the context shows, they were 
 his predecessors and models in 
 the open ridicule of individuals, 
 his warrant for the use of per- 
 sonal satire. It does not mean 
 that Roman satire, as a form of 
 literature, was derived from or an 
 imitation of Greek comedy. C. 
 Lucilius: see Introd. hosce: 
 = hos. In Plautus the forms 
 in -ce are used only before 
 vowels. 
 
 7. mutatis . . . numeris : Lu- 
 cilius wrote partly in iambics and 
 trochaics, but the verse which he 
 used most frequently and which 
 became the traditional verse for 
 satire was the dactylic hexameter, 
 which is not employed in the 
 
 drama. tantum : not to be taken 
 too strictly, for Lucilius of course 
 did not use the dramatic form. 
 The emphasis here is upon the 
 satirical spirit. facetus: origi- 
 nally 'brilliant or polished in 
 speech ' (from fa-ri, to speaK) , 
 and this is the meaning always 
 in Plautus; cf. also Sat. i, 10, 
 44, molle atque facetum, of Ver- 
 gil's bucolic poetry. The mean- 
 ing ' humorous,' ' facetious,' comes 
 over into the adj. from the noun 
 facetiae. It combines with emunc- 
 tae naris to express the single idea 
 'keen in words and in thought,' 
 'sarcastic.' The same idea is ex- 
 pressed in Sat. i, 10, 3 f., sale 
 multo urbem defriciiit. 
 
 9. hoc : in this, referring to 
 what follows, which is at the 
 same time an expansion of durus 
 componere versus. 
 
 10. ut magnum : ' considering it 
 a great feat.' stans . . . uno : 
 apparently a proverbial expression 
 for doing something without effort, 
 but it does not occur elsewhere ; 
 Quintilian, 12, 9, 18, in his actioni- 
 bus omni, ut agricolae dicunt, pede 
 standum est, seems to be a refer- 
 ence to the opposite idea. 
 
 70
 
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [i, 4,.i6 
 
 cum flueret kitulentus, erat quod tollere velles ; 
 garrulus atque piger scribendi ferre laborem, 
 sscribendi recte ; nam ut multum, nil moror. Ecce, 
 ^ Crispinus minimo me provocat : ' Accipe, si vis, 
 ^t/t1accipiam tabulas ; detur nobis locus, hora, 
 
 'custodes ; videamus uter plus scribere possit.' 
 
 1 1 . tollere : take out, before us- 
 ing the water for drinking. The 
 figure is that of a muddy stream ; 
 cf. the repetition in. Sat. I, 10, 50 f., 
 at dixi fluere hunc lutulentum, 
 saepe ferentem plura quidem tol- 
 lenda relinquendis, and the com- 
 ment in Quintilian, 10, i, 94, 'ego 
 ab Horatio dissentio, qui Lucilium 
 fluere lutulentum et esse aliquid 
 quod tollere possis putat.' The 
 scholiast thinks that quod tollere 
 velles = quod sumere optares, but 
 this is quite wrong. 
 
 12-13. garrulus: this must go 
 back in agreement to 9-10, in spite 
 of the verse between. It is a loose 
 construction, but the whole passage 
 is loosely hung together; secutus 
 without est,facetus, durus, vtiiosus 
 with its own verb, garrulus, form 
 a series of half-connected appen- 
 dages to the noun, Lucilius. 
 scribendi recte : a corrective ; ' of 
 writing properly, I mean. 1 ut 
 multum : sc. scripserit. nil moror : 
 a common colloquialism, which 
 usually means ' I don't care,' ' I 
 don't bother about it.' The con- 
 struction is properly ace. and infin., 
 and the only way of explaining the 
 /-clause is to say that nil moror 
 has here the meaning and con- 
 
 struction of concedo; 'for that he 
 wrote much, I grant with indiffer- 
 ence.' Ecce: the mere mention 
 of writing much brings forward 
 Crispinus at once with a boast. 
 
 14. minimo : this must mean 
 offers me heavy odds, i.e. will ac- 
 cept a bet in which Horace puts 
 up the smallest possible pledge. 
 There is no precise parallel to this 
 use of minimo, but cf. Sueton. 
 lul. 50, amplissima praedia . . . 
 minimo addixit ; Catull. 44, 4, 
 quovis Sabinum pignore esse con- 
 tendunt ; Verg. Eel. 3, 31, tu die, 
 mecum quo pignore certes. The 
 scholiasts appear to know the 
 expression : ' minimo provocare 
 dicuntur hi qui in sponsione plus 
 ipsi promittunt quam exigant ab 
 adversario,' but the explanation 
 that it is minimo digito, with a 
 gesture, is a mere guess. Accipe : 
 sc. tabulas. si vis : less formal 
 than 'if you please'; often used 
 in colloquial language of comedy 
 in the shortened form sis to lessen 
 the abruptness of the bare impv. 
 Cf. sodes, Sat. I, 9, 41 n., and the 
 enclitic -dum. 
 
 15 f. detur custodes : arrange- 
 ments for a formal contest, with 
 supervisors.
 
 1,4.17] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Di bene fecerunt, inopis me quodque pusilli 
 
 finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis ; 
 
 at tu conclusas hircinis follibus auras, 
 
 usque laborantis dum ferrum molliat ignis, 
 
 ut mavis, imitare. Beatus Fannius, ultro 
 
 delatis capsis et imagine, cum mea nemo 
 
 scripta legat, volgo recitare timentis ob hanc rem, 
 
 quod sunt quos genus hoc minime iuvat, utpote pluris 
 
 17. Di bene fecerunt : not merely 
 a statement, but a colloquial ex- 
 pression of gratitude ; Thank 
 Heaven. Cf. bene facts, yotfre 
 very kind] Plaut. Amph. 937, tarn 
 nunc irata non esf \\ non sum. \\ 
 bene facts. quodque : quod intro- 
 duces the whole clause, after the 
 verb of emotion ; -que connects 
 inopis and pusilli, but is attached 
 to a word between them; so 115, 
 below, vitatu quidque petitu; Sat. 
 I, 6, 44, cornua . . . -vincatque 
 tubas, and often in Horace. 
 
 18. loquentis: agreeing gram- 
 matically with animi, but in sense 
 with me. The transfer of epithets 
 is common in the Odes (e.g. i, 4, 
 6 f., aspera nigris aequora vent is), 
 and the attraction of loquentis from 
 me to animi is made easier by the 
 frequent use of animus for the 
 whole man (i, 2, 69, dicer et haec 
 animus) . 
 
 19 ff. 'Go and be a pair of 
 bellows, a mere wind-bag, as is 
 evidently your preference. 1 ut 
 mavis : as you in fact prefer, not 
 'since you so choose. 1 
 
 2i ff. Fannius : mentioned also 
 
 in i, 10, 80, with the adj. ineptus, 
 as a follower of Hermogenes 
 Tigellius, but otherwise unknown. 
 There are five scholia attempting 
 to explain the reference and the 
 words ultra . . . imagine, but 
 they are confused and only par- 
 tially intelligible. The clause cum 
 . . . legat contrasts the good for- 
 tune of Fannius with the unpopu- 
 larity of Horace ; beat us must 
 therefore mean ' happy in his popu- 
 lar! ty 1 and ultro . . . imagine must 
 contain a satirical reason for call- 
 ing Fannius popular. The sense 
 would then be ' The truly fortunate 
 poet is neither Crispinus with his 
 facile versification nor I with my 
 satire, but Fannius ; he must be 
 popular, for he has of his own ac- 
 cord set up (in a public place, 
 at the bookseller's?) his bookcases 
 and portrait-bust, while, as to my 
 writings, no one reads them. 1 But 
 in addition to the obscurity of the 
 allusions, the whole sentence is 
 too condensed for clearness. 
 
 23 f . timentis : agreeing with the 
 gen. implied in mea. genus hoc ; 
 satire pluris : ace., with quos. 
 
 72
 
 
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [1. 4. 34 
 
 25 culpari dignos. Quemvis media elige turba : 
 
 aut ob avaritiam aut misera ambitione laborat ; 
 
 hie nuptarum insanit amoribus, hie puerorum ; 
 
 hunc capit argenti splendor ; stupet Albius acre ; 
 
 hie mutat merces surgente a sole ad eum quo 
 30 vespertina tepet regio ; quin per mala praeceps 
 , fertur, uti pulvis collectus turbine, ne quid 
 
 summa deperdat metuens aut ampliet ut rem. 
 
 Omnes hi metuunt versus, odere poetas. 
 
 ' Faenum habet in cornu, longe f uge ; dummodo risum 
 
 26 f. ob avaritiam . . . am- 
 bitione: the variation in con- 
 struction is intentional and is 
 carried still further in the follow- 
 ing lines hie . . . insanit, hunc 
 capit, stupet until the last craze, 
 the absorption in business, is 
 reached ; this, as a most con- 
 spicuous and widespread folly, is 
 given fuller description in 29-32. 
 laborat : a technical word, used 
 of suffering "from a chronic ailment. 
 
 28. argenti splendor : the 
 craze for collecting silver plate 
 was a common one in Rome, but 
 Albius is a person of independent 
 judgment who has a little special 
 craze for bronzes. There are 
 many references (e.g. Epist. i, 6, 
 17) to both of these ' fads.' 
 Albius : unknown. He cannot 
 well be the man whose son was 
 used by Horace's father (below, 
 vs. 109) to illustrate the folly of 
 wastefulness. stupet : so torpes, 
 Sat. 2, 7, 95, in a colloquial slang, 
 like the Engl. nouns ' fad,' ' craze, 1 
 'rage. 1 
 
 29-32. The idea of passionate 
 absorption in some single inter- 
 est, which is expressed above by 
 the verbs laborat, insanit, capit, 
 stnpet, is in these lines suggested 
 by the elaborate detail of the 
 description. surgente, vesper- 
 tina : ' from the East to the West ' ; 
 the Romans felt a kind of wonder 
 at the extent of their business 
 enterprises. praeceps fertur: as 
 if by a force stronger than his own 
 will. ne . . . deperdat, ampliet 
 ut : in the proper sense of ut and 
 ne after a verb of fearing. 
 
 33. versus, poetas : an inten- 
 tional exaggeration ; the dread of 
 being satirized leads them to fear 
 all poetry. 
 
 34. quando feriunt boves, 
 horum in cornibus ligatur faenum. 
 Schol. The saying happens not 
 to occur elsewhere, but is given in 
 Greek form by Plutarch, Crass. 7, 
 
 Cf. also Epod. 6, 1 1, cave, cave ; 
 namque in malos asperritnus 
 parata tollo cornua.
 
 . 4. 35] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 35 
 
 
 40 
 
 'I 
 
 excutiat sibi, non hie cuiquam parcet amico ; 
 
 et quodcumque semel chartis illeverit, omnis 
 
 gestiet a furno redeuntis scire lacuque 
 
 et pueros et anus.' Agedum, pauca accipe contra. 
 
 Primum ego meillorum, dederim quibus esse poetas, 
 excerpam numero ; neque enim concludere versum 
 
 34-38. Two indictments against 
 the satirist, that he finds pleasure 
 in inflicting pain (cf. laederegaudes, 
 78) and that he violates the de- 
 cent reserves of social intercourse 
 by publishing his strictures upon 
 individuals (repeated in 82-85). 
 risum excutiat : raise a laugh ; 
 excntere is used of causing tears 
 (Plaut. Capt.w^lvc.Heaut. 167) 
 and disgust (Plaut. Merc. 576). 
 
 illeverit : has smeared, scrawled. 
 
 furno: the poorer classes had 
 their baking done in public ovens 
 and got their water from the pub- 
 lic pools (lacu~). At these places 
 crowds of slaves {pueros) and old 
 women (anus) would be gathered. 
 The whole involves a comparison : 
 the satirist is no better than a 
 scandalmonger, who retails his 
 gossip to the meanest of the public. 
 
 39-62. In these lines Horace 
 gives the earliest indication of that 
 interest in the theory of poetry 
 which appears more plainly in Sat. 
 I, 10 and 2, I and in the Epistles, 
 and which culminated in the Ars 
 Poetica. For various reasons the 
 passage deserves special attention. 
 It contains the observations of a 
 conscious artist upon the art which 
 he was practicing with success, 
 
 and such observations are always 
 interesting. At this period of his 
 life Horace was writing both Sat- 
 ires and Epodes, and this passage 
 reveals the effort that he was mak- 
 ing to distinguish between the two 
 forms and to assign to the Epodes 
 those lyrical thoughts and emo- 
 tions which he found incompatible 
 with the conventional limitations 
 placed upon satire by Lucilius. 
 And, in themselves, the lines are 
 an admirable illustration of the 
 somewhat elusive and colloquial 
 form of argument which Horace 
 habitually employs. The sense, 
 in brief, is this : ' Satire is verse, 
 but not poetry, since it lacks the 
 imaginative thought and the lofty 
 expression which characterize true 
 poetry and which remain even 
 when the verse-form is destroyed.' 
 
 39. poetas: not attracted into the 
 dative ; cf. I, I, 19, licet esse beat is. 
 
 40. concludere versum : to round 
 out a verse. Verse is conceived 
 of as bound, as shut in within 
 the limits of the metrical feet 
 (cf. I, 10, 59, pedibus . . . dander e 
 sem's), while prose is thought of 
 as relaxed (oratio soluta is the 
 technical term ; cf. dissolvas, 55 ; 
 sotvas, 60, below). 
 
 74
 
 SERMONES 
 
 dixeris esse satis, neque si quis scribat, uti nos, 
 sermoni propiora, putes hunc esse poetam. 
 Ingenium cui sit, cui mens divinior atque os 
 magna sonaturum, des nominis huius honorem. 
 
 45 Idcirco quidam comoedia necne poema 
 esset quaesivere, quod acer spiritus ac vis 
 nee verbis nee rebus inest, nisi quod pede certo 
 differt sermoni, sermo merus. ' At pater ardens 
 saevit, quod meretrice nepos insanus arnica 
 
 50 films uxorem grandi cum dote recuset, 
 
 ebrius et, magnum quod dedecus, ambulet ante 
 
 42. sermoni propiora : things 
 more truly like conversation. 
 Sermo here and below, 48, is clearly 
 defined by Auct. ad Herenn. 
 3, 13, 23, sermo est oratio remissa 
 et finitima ( = propiora) cottidi- 
 anae locutioni. 
 
 43-44. Ingenium, mens divi- 
 nior : not two distinct characteris- 
 tics, but two ways of describing a 
 single characteristic, an inspired 
 imagination. os magna sonatu- 
 rum: a noble style; expressed in 
 a figure retained from the time 
 when the poet sang his own 
 verses. 
 
 45. quidam : the students of lit- 
 erary'form, like the Alexandrian 
 gram marians. Cicero, Or at. 20, 67, 
 also refers to this discussion. 
 comoedia : the Attic New Comedy 
 or the comedy of Plautus and 
 Terence ; the rule would not 
 apply to Midsummer Night's 
 Dream. necne : the prose order 
 would be quaesivere (utrum) 
 
 comoedia poema esset necne ; cf. 
 
 63- 
 
 46. acer spiritus ac vis : lively 
 and vigorous inspiration] the 
 same thing as mens divinior and 
 os magna sonaturum, but the ex- 
 pression is intentionally ambigu- 
 ous, to give an opening for the 
 objection which follows. 
 
 48-52. ' But there is certainly 
 acer spiritus ac vis in the angry 
 reproaches which a father in the 
 comedies frequently addresses to 
 a wayward son.' nepos : prodi- 
 gal ; used as an adjective. mere- 
 trice . . . insanus arnica : mad 
 with passion for a harlot mistress ; 
 meretrice also is used as an adj. 
 with arnica. ambulet ante noc- 
 tem : a reference to the comissatio, 
 a wild procession through the 
 streets after a drinking bout. To 
 indulge in such a revel before 
 night would be particularly dis- 
 graceful. The whole situation 
 here is Greek. 
 
 75
 
 if 4, 5 2 3 
 
 HQRATI 
 
 , 
 
 noctem cum facibus/- Numquid Pomponius istis y 
 
 audiret leviora, pater si viveret ? Ergo 
 
 non satis est puris versum perscribere verbis, 
 55 quern si dissolvas, quivis stomachetur eodem 
 
 quo personatus pacto pater. His, ego quae nunc, 
 
 olim quae scripsit Lucilius, eripias si 
 
 tempora certa modosque, et quod prius ordine verbum 
 est 
 
 posterius facias, praeponens ultima primis, 
 60 non, ut si solvas ' Postquam Discordia taetra 
 
 belli ferrates postis portasque refregit/ 
 
 invenias etiam disiecti membra poetae. 
 
 52. Pomponius : a name is used 
 to point the retort, but it is quite 
 unlikely that it refers to any defi- 
 nite person. istis : ' the kind of 
 talk you have just been describ- 
 ing.' The argument is that the 
 acer spiritus ac vis of comedy is 
 merely the anger that any father 
 in real life might express and is 
 wholly different from the inspired 
 imagination of the poet. 
 
 54. puris . . . verbis : in plain 
 everyday language] the same as 
 sermo merus and the opposite of 
 os magna sonaturum. 
 
 56. personatus . . . pater: the 
 father on the stage, the pater ar- 
 dens of vs. 48. Masks (personae) 
 were worn by actors in comedy in 
 the time of Cicero. his: neut., 
 dat. after eripias. 
 
 58-59. tempora certa modosque : 
 the fixed quantities and rhythms 
 which make the hexameter. quod 
 prius . . . primis : i.e. change the 
 
 words from the order demanded 
 by the versification to the order of 
 prose. 
 
 60-62. non : with invenias. 
 etiam : with disiecti. The true 
 poet would be a poet still, even 
 though torn limb from limb. 
 There is a side reference to the 
 story of Orpheus. Postquam. . . 
 refregit : a quotation from the An- 
 nales of Ennius; cf. Verg. Aen. 
 7, 622, belli ferratos rupit Satur- 
 nia postis. The thought might 
 have been expressed in plain prose 
 by postquam helium coortuin est ; 
 for this unadorned statement the 
 poet has substituted the imagina- 
 tive figure of Discord bursting 
 open the gates of Janus and in 
 the brief description has used, 
 almost to excess, words charged 
 with poetic suggestion, taetra, fer- 
 ratos, postis portasque. The two 
 essential qualities of poetry, mens 
 divinior and os magna sonaturum^
 
 SERMONES 
 
 Hactenus haec : alias iustum sit necne poema, 
 mine illud tantum quaeram, meritone tibi sit 
 
 65 suspectum genus hoc scribendi. Sulcius acer 
 ambulat et Caprius, rauci male cumque libellis, 
 magnus uterque timor latronibus ; at bene si quis 
 et vivat puris manibus, contemnat utrumque. 
 Vt sis tu similis Caeli Birrique latronum, 
 
 70 non ego sim Capri neque Sulci ; cur metuas me ? 
 Nulla taberna meos habeat neque pila libellos, 
 quis manus insudet volgi Hermogenisque Tigelli: 
 
 would still remain, even though 
 the verse-form were destroyed by 
 changing the order of the words. 
 
 63. alias : sc. quaeram. This 
 vague intention was never carried 
 out, for the interest which Horace 
 felt in satire came to an end with 
 the publication of the Second 
 Book in 30, and his later literary 
 discussions deal with other forms 
 of poetry. sit : the subject is 
 to be supplied from genus hoc scri- 
 bendi. 
 
 64-65. merito . . . suspectum : 
 justly disliked, i.e. 'whether your 
 dislike (cf. vs. 33) is just.' tibi: 
 the satire had begun impersonally 
 and the critics of satire are vaguely 
 thought of (sunt quos, 24; omnes 
 hi, 33)> but from this point the 
 critic is addressed directly and 
 replies for himself ; the monologue 
 becomes dialogue. 
 
 65-66. Sulcius, Caprius: detec- 
 tives, who got their living out of 
 the fines collected on evidence 
 furnished by them. Such men 
 were a necessary part of the Ro- 
 
 man police system, but, like the 
 pnblicani, they were held in ill 
 repute and the implied comparison 
 of the satirist to a detective was 
 intentionally offensive. libellis : 
 notebooks in which the evidence 
 was recorded. 
 
 69. Vt sis tu : however true it 
 may be that you are like a high- 
 wayman. The honest-_Jtizen 
 does not fear a detective, and u 
 man who says that he dreads a 
 satirist as he would a detective 
 forgets that he is thereby compar- 
 ing himself to a criminal. 
 
 70 ff . sim, habeat : ' I should 
 not be like the detective, for 
 my notes would not be pub- 
 lished.' But the faint hypotheti- 
 cal shading passes over into the 
 indie, recito. taberna : bookshop, 
 where books were apparently hung 
 upon the posts (pilae, cf. colum- 
 nae, A. P. 373) to be examined 
 by purchasers, as second-hand 
 books are now exposed for sale 
 outside the bookshops. quis : 
 quibits. Tigelli: cf. Sat. I, 3, 
 
 77
 
 4, 73] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 nec recito cuiquam nisi amicis, idque coactus, 
 non ubivis coramve quibuslibet. In medio qui 
 
 75 scripta foro recitent sunt multi, quique lavantes : 
 suave locus voci resonat conclusus. Inanis 
 hoc iuvat, baud illud quaerentis, num sine sensu, 
 tempore num faciant alieno. ' Laedere gaudes,' 
 inquis, 'et hoc studio pravus facis.' Vnde petitum 
 
 8c hoc in me iacis ? Est auctor quis denique eorum 
 vixi cum quibus ? ' Absentem qui rodit, amicum 
 
 
 4 n. The declaration that the 
 Satires were not written for 
 publication seems at first sight 
 irreconcilable with the fact that 
 this satire is itself a reply to criti- 
 cisms based upon a knowledge of 
 the earlier Satires, especially the 
 second. But the method of mul- 
 tiplying copies by hand made it 
 possible to limit the circulation of 
 a poem, so that it might be some- 
 what widely read without being 
 offered for sale or put into general 
 circulation. The collection and 
 publication of the whole book was 
 evidently a later decision. 
 
 73. recito : the habit of giving 
 private readings from one's own 
 works became later so common as 
 to be ridiculous, and Horace here 
 recognizes its possible exaggera- 
 tions. But Vergil read parts of 
 the Aeneid to Augustus and others, 
 and Ovid (Tristia, 4, 10, 49) was 
 present at a reading given by 
 Horace. 
 
 75 f . lavantes : in the public 
 baths, where men were at leisure ; 
 but Horace attributes the choice 
 
 of the location to the pleasure the 
 reader had in hearing his voice 
 reverberating from the arched 
 ceiling (locus . . . conclusus). 
 
 76. Inanis : emphatic ; men are 
 fools to find pleasure in that. 
 
 78 f. Laedere gaudes, studio : 
 the emphasis of this second accu- 
 sation is upon the mean pleasure 
 that the satirist finds in wounding 
 the feelings of others. studio : 
 intentionally. 
 
 79-80. Vnde . . . iacis ? What 
 is the source of this accusation that 
 you are hurling at me f This de- 
 mand for his authority the critic 
 meets indirectly by saying, in 
 effect, ' I do not need to quote the 
 testimony of others, for your own 
 conduct your criticism of your 
 friends, your lack of decent reti- 
 cence proves that you are a 
 deliberate defamer.' 
 
 81. Absentem qui rodit : he who 
 slanders a man behind his back. 
 amicum goes with the following 
 clause, as in all the other clauses 
 a word or two precedes the rela- 
 tive.
 
 SERMONES 
 
 qui non defendit, alio culpante, solutos 
 
 qui captat risus hominum famamque dicacis, 
 
 fingere qui non visa potest, commissa tacere 
 
 85 qui nequit, hie niger est, hunc tu, Romane, caveto.' 
 Saepe tribus lectis videas cenare quaternos, 
 e quibus unus amet quavis aspergere cunctos 
 praeter eum qui praebet aquam ; post huncquoquepotus, 
 condita cum verax aperit praecordia Liber. 
 
 90 Hie tibi comis et urbanus liberque videtur, 
 infesto nigris; ego si risi, quod ineptus 
 
 usual number was nine, three on 
 each couch, and the motive for 
 specifying an unusual number is 
 not clear. Perhaps it is connected 
 with the emphasis upon unus; 'if 
 you go a little beyond the usual 
 number of guests, you will find 
 that you have included one, at 
 least, who is witty at the expense 
 of the rest.' 
 
 87 f. aspergere : besprinkle with- 
 personal jokes. The figure leads 
 to the selection of the phrase qui 
 praebet aquam (water for washing 
 the hands) to designate the 
 host. 
 
 88. post: adv. hunc: sc. as- 
 pergit. potus : absolute ; cf. Sat. 
 
 82. defendit : the final syllable 
 is long under the ictus. Both 
 Horace and Vergil frequently pre- 
 serve the original long vowel in 
 perf. forms likeyf^z"/, subiit, but the 
 vowel of the pres. 3d sing., 3d 
 conj., was not originally long, 
 and this instance and agit {Sat. 2, 
 3, 260) must be explained by 
 false analogy. The few instances 
 quoted from Plautus are doubtful. 
 
 84. commissa tacere : the Ro- 
 mans placed a peculiarly high valu- 
 ation upon the ability to keep a 
 secret ; cf. Epist. i , 1 8, 70, nee 
 retinent patulae commissa fideliter 
 aures. 
 
 85. niger : black at heart. So 
 Catullus, 93, 2, says of Caesar, 
 nee (studeo) scire utrum sis albus 
 an ater homo. Romane: true 
 Roman, i.e. an honest gentleman. 
 Such expressions of national pride 
 are common ; echt Deutsch, and, 
 for the opposite, un-English, un- 
 American. caveto : formal in 
 -style, like an oracular utterance. 
 
 86. tribus, quaternos : the 
 
 89. An intentionally elaborate 
 expression of the common idea 
 in vino veritas. 
 
 90-93. ' Such conduct you con- 
 sider, and rightly, mere friendly 
 raillery ; my little jokes, however, 
 you are very ready to condemn.' 
 infesto nigris : i.e. ' you who 
 call me niger in so hostile a tone.' 
 
 79
 
 If 4, 92] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum, 
 lividus et mordax videor tibi ? Mentio si qua 
 de Capitolini furtis iniecta Petilli 
 
 95 te coram fusrit, defendas, ut tuus est mos : 
 ' Me Capitolinus convictore usus amicoque 
 a puero est, causaque mea permulta rogatus 
 fecit, et incolumis laetor quod vivit in urbe ; 
 sed tamen admiror, quo pacto iudicium illud 
 
 ioo fugerit.' Hie nigrae sucus loliginis, haec est 
 
 aerugo mera. Quod vitium procul afore chartis, 
 
 92. Quoted from Sat. I, 2, 27. 
 But it is quite unlikely that either 
 of these persons, who were used 
 to illustrate the extremes of fop- 
 pishness and of neglect of cleanli- 
 ness, is more than a mere name. 
 
 93 ff. An example of really 
 malicious slander, to be distin- 
 guished from friendly banter, co- 
 mitas and libertas. Mentio . . . 
 iniecta : if some one happens to 
 mention. Petilli : a Petillius was 
 quaestor about 43 B.C. and was 
 acquitted, apparently against the 
 evidence, on a charge of pecula- 
 tion. The name Petillius Capito- 
 linus is also found on coins. That 
 the trial was well known and 
 that the accused owed much to the 
 skill of his lawyers is implied by 
 the reference in Sat. i, 10, 26 to 
 the dura causa Petilli. But the 
 further statement of the scholiast 
 that Petillius had stolen the crown 
 from the head of the Capitoline 
 Jupiter is a mere confusion with a 
 popular saying which is as old as 
 Plautus (Men. 941, Trin. 83). 
 
 96. convictore usus : / have 
 been a frequent guest of Capi- 
 tolinus ; cf. I, 6, 47, where Horace 
 calls himself a convictor of Mae- 
 cenas. This verse is hypermetric 
 like I, 6, 1 02, which also ends in 
 an enclitic. 
 
 98. incolumis ... in urbe: 
 acquitted and not exiled. 
 
 99. admiror : in English the 
 corresponding phrase would be 
 ' but I can't help wondering 
 how he managed to keep out of 
 jail.' 
 
 100. nigrae . . . loliginis: the 
 black ink of the cuttlefish, with 
 transference of the adj. and a refer- 
 ence back to vs. 85. aerugo: 
 verdigris, copper rust, which was 
 thought of as an eating poison. 
 Together the two figures express 
 the same quality as lividus et 
 mordax, 93, and niger, 85, and the 
 opposite of comis et urbanus, 90, 
 just as in the preceding paragraph, 
 39-62, the qualities of poetry and 
 prose are repeatedly defined and 
 contrasted. 
 
 80
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [1,4, in 
 
 atque animo prius, ut si quid promittere de me 
 possum aliud vere, promitto. /Liberius si 
 _ dixero quid, si forte iocosius, hoc mihi iuris 
 
 105 cum venia dabis : insuevit pater optimus hoc me, 
 ut fugerem exemplis vitiorum quaeque notando. 
 Cu^i me hortaretur, parce frugaliter atque 
 viverem uti contentus eo quod mi ipse parasset : 
 ' Nonne vides Albi ut male vivat films utque 
 
 no Baius inops ? Magnum documentum ne patriam rem 
 perdere quis velit.' A turpi meretricis amore 
 
 102. animo prius : i.e. he will 
 first of all keep malice out of his 
 heart, and then it will certainly not 
 appear in his writings. ut si quid 
 . . . promitto : a colloquial confusion 
 of ut . . . promittere possum and si 
 quid promittere possum ; *I prom- 
 ise this as surely as I can promise 
 anything.' 
 
 103-106. ' Malice I promise to 
 avoid, but a considerable freedom 
 of speech and jest (liberius, 
 iocosius, with a reference back to 
 vs. 90) you must permit (hoc iuris 
 dabis) and pardon (cum venia)." 1 
 hoc me : double ace. after in- 
 suevit, which is here a verb of 
 teaching, hoc is not precisely 
 liberius dicere, but the humorously 
 observant attitude of mind of 
 which a habit of friendly bantering 
 may be the expression. The 
 structure of 106 is somewhat in- 
 volved ; notando is the leading 
 word, ifitiorum quaeque depends 
 upon it, exemplis is an abl. of 
 means with it, and ut fugerem 
 
 HOR. SAT. 6 8 1 
 
 expresses its purpose. ' I owe 
 my habit of observing the follies 
 of men to my father ; he used to 
 point out all sorts of errors in con- 
 crete cases in the conduct of 
 individuals in order to teach me 
 to avoid them.' 
 
 107-108. The order is uti parce 
 atque frugaliter viverem ; the 
 whole passage, 101-108, is some- 
 what confusedly written. 
 
 109. Albi : not the Albius of 
 vs. 28. The point of the illustra- 
 tion ne patriam rem perdere 
 quis velit would be spoiled if the 
 father had wasted the property ; 
 Albi filius is the spendthrift son 
 of a prosperous father, and so an 
 excellent illustration (tnagnum 
 documentum) of the conduct which 
 Horace's prosperous father wished 
 his own son to avoid. All these 
 instances are reminiscences of 
 Horace's boyhood (cf. 121) and 
 the persons mentioned are un- 
 known. male vivat : i.e. in 
 wretched poverty.
 
 1,4, "2] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 cum deterreret : ' Scetani dissimilis sis.' 
 
 Ne sequerer moechas, concessa cum venere uti 
 
 possem : ' Deprensi non bella est fama Treboni,' 
 
 115 aiebat. ' Sapiens, vitatu quidque petitu 
 
 sit melius, causas reddet tibi ; mi satis est, si 
 traditum ab antiquis morem servare tuamque, 
 dum custodis eges, vitam famamque tueri 
 incolumem possum; simul ac duraverit aetas 
 
 120 membra animumque tuum, nabis sine cortice.' Sic me 
 formabat puerum dictis ; et sive iubebat 
 ut facerem quid : ' Habes auctorem, quo facias hoc/ 
 unum ex iudicibus selectis obiciebat ; 
 
 115. Sapiens: a philosopher,^ 
 teacher of the theory of ethics, in 
 contrast with mi, 116, the practi- 
 cal instructor of youth. quidque : 
 quid vitatu petituque] cf. vs. 17 
 n. The two words express the 
 malum and bonum of philosophy, 
 as these ideas are expressed in 
 Sat. i, 3, 114, by bona diversis, 
 fugienda petendis. 
 
 116. causas reddet: will ex- 
 plain, as a matter of theory. 
 
 1 1 8. custodis, vitam famam- 
 que : not only the character 
 (vitam) but also the good name 
 (famant) of a Roman boy of 
 respectable family was carefully 
 guarded up to the time when he 
 assumed the toga virilis. Cf. Sat. 
 I, 6, 82 if., pudicum . . . ser-va-vit 
 ab omni non solum facto, verum 
 opprobrio quoque turpi, where 
 facto corresponds to vitam and 
 opprobrio to famam. 
 
 121 f. sive : the apodosis is, 
 
 82 
 
 grammatically, obiciebat, but this 
 verb, preceded by the direct quo- 
 tation, implies a verb of saying ; 
 ' when he advised a particular 
 course of conduct, he used to say, 
 " There is your example," pointing 
 out . . . ' ut facerem : depend- 
 ing on iubebat. Horace elsewhere 
 uses the infin. with iubeo, but the 
 construction with ut is perfectly 
 good Latin (Plautus, Cicero, Livy). 
 [To supply aliquid, duplicating 
 quid, and to make ut facerem de- 
 pend on obiciebat or the supplied 
 verb of saying, is to resort to an arti- 
 ficial construction in order to avoid 
 supposing that Horace in a single 
 instance uses a good Latin construc- 
 tion which he elsewhere avoids.] 
 
 123. iudicibus selectis : the 
 panel of special jurymen selected 
 by the praetor urbanus to act in 
 criminal cases. They were likely 
 to be citizens of character and 
 standing.
 
 SERMONES 
 
 lp 4, 136 
 
 sive vetabat : ' An hoc inhonestum et inutile f actu 
 125 necne sit addubites, flagret rumore malo cum 
 
 hie atque ille ? ' Avidos vicinum f unus ut aegros 
 exanimat, mortisque metu sibi parcere cogit, 
 sic teneros animos aliena opprobria saepe 
 absterrent vitiis. Ex hoc ego, sanus ab illis 
 130 perniciem quaecumque ferunt, mediocribus et quis 
 ignoscas vitiis teneor ; fortassis et istinc 
 largiter abstulerit longa aetas, liber amicus, 
 consilium proprium : neque enim, cum lectulus aut me 
 porticus excepit, desum mihi. ' Rectius hoc est.' 
 135 ' Hoc faciens vivam melius.' * Sic dulcis amicis 
 
 occurram.' ' Hoc quidam non belle ; numquid ego illi 
 
 124 f. An: introducing the 
 main question, addubites. The 
 indirect question is (utruni) in- 
 honestum sit necne', cf. 45 and 
 60, notes. hoc : some forbidden 
 act. 
 
 126 f. Avidos : gluttons, in the 
 literal sense, whom the sight of 
 death reminds of the consequences 
 of self-indulgence. sibi parcere : 
 <to take some care of their own 
 health.' 
 
 129. Ex hoc: as a result of 
 this, of such training by his 
 father. 
 
 130 ff. quis ignoscas: pardon- 
 able] there was no adj. ignosci- 
 bilis in use in the time of Horace. 
 quis is a dative. et istinc: even 
 from these, i.e. the slight and 
 pardonable faults. liber : frank ; 
 cf. Sat. I, 3, 52. 
 
 133 ff. consilium proprium: 
 
 'my own reflections' (Palmer), 
 based upon such observations as 
 those which follow. neque enim : 
 takes up consilium firopriu'h and 
 expands it, thus providing for the 
 return of the thought to the sub- 
 ject of satire. lectulus : reading 
 couch. porticus : the public col- 
 onnade, a place which would give 
 opportunity to observe the con- 
 duct of others who were strolling 
 there. hoc, hoc, sic, hoc : each 
 refers to some act of another per- 
 son which attracts his attention 
 and serves as an example to be 
 followed or a warning. quidam : 
 so and so. belle : a colloquial 
 word ; ' not pretty conduct of so 
 and so.' numquid: suggesting 
 a negative ; ' I hope I shall not 
 sometime (plim) when I am off 
 my guard (imprudens) do any- 
 thing like that.'
 
 ' 4, '37] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 imprudens olim faciam simile ?' Haec ego mecum 
 compressis agito labris ; ubi quid datur oti, 
 illudo chartis. Hoc est mediocribus illis 
 40 ex vitiis unum ; cui si concedere nolis, 
 
 multa poetarum veniet manus auxilio quae 
 
 sit mihi (nam multo plures sum us), ac veluti te 
 
 ludaei cogemus in hanc concedere turbam. 
 
 137 f . Haec agito : so I think to 
 myself, recurring to the thought 
 of neqiie . . . desum mihi and 
 consilium proprium. compressis 
 . . . labris : i.e. ' I say nothing at 
 the time, but wait till I get home 
 and then write it down.' 
 
 139. illudo chartis : cf. chartis 
 tileverit, vs. 36. A jokingly apolo- 
 getic way of describing the writing 
 of satire. mediocribus : referring 
 back to vs. 130. 
 
 140. concedere: pardon; cf. i, 
 
 3,85- 
 
 141 f. multa . . . manus, mul- 
 to plures : with joking exaggera- 
 tion he says that the poets are 
 in the majority and can compel 
 the critics to join their party, as 
 it is sometimes said now 'every- 
 body writes novels.' But it was a 
 fact that light verse writing was 
 a frequent amusement of educated 
 
 Romans Pliny gives a long list 
 of famous names and that it 
 was especially characteristic of the 
 Augustan Age, when politics no 
 longer offered a career. 
 
 143. ludaei: the best commen- 
 tary on this allusion is chap. 28 
 of Cicero's speech -pro Flacco, in 
 which he refers to the number and 
 influence of the Jews in Rome 
 (scis quanta sit manus, quanta 
 concordia, quantum valeat in con- 
 tionibus), to their religion (huic 
 barbarae superstition!) and their 
 obstinate resistance to Roman 
 ideals (istorum religio sacrorum 
 a splendore huius imperii, gravi- 
 tate nominis nostri, maiorum insti- 
 tutis abhorrebat). To a Roman, 
 who admitted the gods of for- 
 eigners easily to his Pantheon, the 
 desire of the Jew to m;.ke con- 
 verts was wholly unintelligible. 
 
 The evidence for the date of this satire is found in vs. 27-29; Mae- 
 cenas and Cocceius (L. Cocceius Nerva) were making the journey to 
 Brundisium on an important mission, to reconcile friends who were at 
 variance, a mission which they had performed before. The aversi 
 ainici (29) can be only the younger Caesar, and Antonius, whose re- 
 
 84
 
 SERMONES [i, 5 
 
 lations were never clearly defined and were in constant need of read- 
 justment. In the year 40 B.C. an arrangement called the Treaty of 
 Brundisium was made by Maecenas, representing Caesar, Asinius 
 Pollio, representing Antonius, and Cocceius, as the friend of both 
 sides. This explains soliti componere (29). In the following years, 
 39-38 B.C., Caesar was twice defeated by the fleet of Sextus Pompeius 
 and was obliged to call upon Antonius for aid. Antonius came to 
 Brundisium in the spring of 39, but Caesar did not meet him at that 
 time, or, so far as is known, send representatives to a conference. But 
 in the autumn of 38, the difficulties with Sextus Pompeius increasing, 
 Maecenas was sent to Athens to confer with Antonius. With him went 
 Fonteius Capito, as a friend of Antonius, and Cocceius, presumably to 
 be a referee, as on the previous occasion, and the three ambassadors 
 were accompanied on the overland journey to the port of Brundisium 
 by a party of literary friends, Horace, Vergil, Plotius Tucca and Varius 
 (the two friends to whom the publication of the Aeneid was intrusted 
 after the death of Vergil), and a Greek rhetorician, Heliodorus. The 
 satire was probably written soon after the date of the journey, late in 
 38 or early in 37. 
 
 The connection of thought is simple ; the satire is a rather bare 
 recital of the events of the journey, with some description of humorous 
 episodes and adventures. The route can be easily followed on a map 
 and the daily stages are for the most part indicated. But Horace was 
 not writing a guidebook of the well-known route, and he has intention- 
 ally paraphrased the names of some places (24, 37, 45, 79 f., 87) and 
 has used phrases which leave it uncertain whether the party spent a 
 night at Anxur, at Capua, or at Beneventum. The journey was made 
 partly on foot (though this is not certain), partly in a canal boat, but 
 chiefly by riding or driving. The distance was about 340 English 
 miles, the time from twelve to fifteen days. 
 
 The satire has a certain accidental interest from the glimpses it gives 
 of the manner of traveling in the year 38 B.C., and it contains a few 
 interesting personal allusions (27-29, 32-33, and especially 39-44), but 
 it is for the most part made up of trivialities. It falls short to a sur- 
 prising degree of the account which we should expect Horace to give of 
 a fortnight's association with a group of men so cultivated and so emi- 
 nent. There are two explanations of the limitations of the satire. In 
 the first place, personal biography and reminiscence are modern ; they 
 had not made a place in ancient literature. The nearest approach to 
 them would be in books like Caesar's Commentaries or Cicero's account 
 of his consulship both in reality political pamphlets or in the 
 
 85
 
 I, 5. I] HORATI 
 
 collection of Cicero's letters and of his witticisms. There are no true 
 parallels in Latin literature to the many books of personal reminiscence 
 which enrich modern literature. In the second place, Horace was 
 deliberately attempting a very different task ; he was writing a satire 
 which was intended to be a close parallel to the similar description of a 
 journey in the Third Book of Lucilius, and he has therefore been more 
 closely bound by tradition in this satire than in any other. He was 
 deliberately following a particular model and setting himself and his 
 art in the closest possible comparison with the work of Lucilius. Un- 
 fortunately, the fragments of the satire of Lucilius are too scanty 
 about 50 verses, 98-147 in Marx to enable us to follow the corre- 
 spondence into details. 
 
 Egressum magna me accepit Aricia Roma 
 hospitio modico ; rhetor comes Heliodorus, 
 Graecorum longe doctissimus ; inde Forum Appi, 
 differtum nautis cauponibus atque malignis. 
 5 Hoc iter ignavi divisimus, altius ac nos 
 
 praecinctis unum ; minus est gravis Appia tardis. 
 
 x. magna: in contrast with the Appi to Feronia. cauponibus 
 
 small town of Aricia and its mod- . . . malignis : cf. Sat. I, I, 29. A 
 
 est inn. propensity to dishonesty and stin- 
 
 2. hospitio : the well-to-do Ro- giness is a traditional attribute of 
 man had friends or connections in innkeepers. 
 
 many places by whom he was re- 5. Hoc iter: the stretch of nearly 
 ceived as a guest (cf. 38, 50), so 40 English miles from Rome to 
 that he was rarely obliged to de- Forum Appi. divisimus : i.e. we 
 pend upon the public inns, and the made two day's journeys of it, stop- 
 inns were in consequence rather ping halfway at Aricia altius 
 humble places of entertainment . . . praecinctis : cf. vo>i>oj and 
 (cf. 71 if.). the scriptural phrase 'to gird up 
 
 3. longe doctissimus : a humor- the loins ' ; the opposite of ignavi 
 ous and not unfriendly superlative ; and tardis. The words, however, 
 cf. vss. 39 and 50. A considerable might be used figuratively of any 
 part of the humor of the satire is in energetic traveler and do not quite 
 the form of obvious exaggerations prove that this part of the journey 
 of discomforts (4, 7, 80, 88, 91, 95). was made on foot. 
 
 4. nautis : boatmen, employed 6. tardis : to those who travel 
 upon the canal which ran through slowly. But the point of the re- 
 the Pomptine marshes from Forum mark b not quite clear. As the 
 
 86
 
 SERMONES 
 
 Hie ego propter aquam, quod erat deterrima, ventri 
 
 indico bellum, cenantis baud animo aequo 
 
 exspectans comites. lam nox inducere terris 
 
 umbras et caelo diffundere signa parabat; 
 
 turn pueri nautis, pueris convicia nautae 
 
 ingerere : ' Hue appelle ! ' ' Trecentos inseris ! ' ' Ohe, 
 
 iam satis est ! ' Dum aes exigitur, dum mula ligatur, 
 
 tota abit bora ; mali culices ranaeque palustres 
 
 avertunt somnos ; absentem cantat amicam 
 
 multa prolutus vappa nauta atque viator 
 
 certatim ; tandem fessus dormire viator 
 
 via Appia was one of the best of 
 Roman roads, it seems necessary 
 to take it as a general observation, 
 carrying on the humorous confes- 
 sion of laziness in ignavi; ' travel- 
 ing isn't so bad if you are not too 
 energetic about it.' 
 
 8. indico bellum : parody of 
 serious style. As the poor water 
 had affected his digestion, he cut 
 off the supplies, and his annoyance 
 (hand aequo animo) at having to 
 go without his dinner was increased 
 by his being obliged to wait while 
 Heliodorus and the slaves dined. 
 
 9-10. Iam nox . . . parabat : par- 
 ody of the epic style ; cf. 2, 6, 100 f., 
 iamque tenebat nox medium caeli 
 spatium, in the story of the Town 
 Mouse and the Country Mouse. 
 
 11. pueri : the slaves of the em- 
 barking travelers. 
 
 12. Hue appelle : a cry from 
 some slave on the bank, as the 
 boat was picking up passengers 
 from the various inns. The other 
 
 shouts are complaints of over- 
 crowding from the passengers al- 
 ready on board. Trecentos : of a 
 round number, like sescenti, du- 
 centi, i, 4, 9. 
 
 14 ff . The experiences of the 
 night are told in a series of uncon- 
 nected sentences, without com- 
 ment, as things that speak for 
 themselves. [I have omitted the 
 indefensible ut in 15, which was 
 inserted by a copyist who did not 
 understand the asyndeta.~\ 
 
 16 ff. nauta, viator: ' nauta in 
 navi, viator vero qui mulam duce- 
 bat. 1 Aero. This is certainly 
 the correct explanation, since a 
 canal boat requires a steersman 
 (nanta), as well as a driver on the 
 towpath (viator). The driver 
 is the first to get tired ; he stops 
 for a nap and the steersman jumps 
 ashore, ties up the mule, and lies 
 down with him. [The note of 
 Porphyrio, in which viatores re- 
 fers to the passengers on the boat,
 
 HORATI 
 
 2 5 
 
 incipit, ac missae pastum retinacula mulae 
 nauta piger saxo religat stertitque supinus. 
 lamque dies aderat, nil cum procedere lintrem 
 sentimus, donee cerebrosus prosilit unus 
 ac mulae nautaeque caput lumbosque saligno 
 f uste dolat ; quarta vix demum exponimur hora. 
 Ora manusque tua lavimus, Feronia, lympha. 
 Milia turn pransi tria repimus, atque subimus 
 impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur. 
 Hue venturus erat Maecenas, optimus atque 
 Cocceius, missi magnis de rebus uterque 
 
 is usually taken as the starting 
 point of the explanation of this 
 passage ; wrongly, I think.] 
 retinacula : occurs only in plur. ; 
 the halter. 
 
 20 ff. lam . . . aderat . . . cum 
 . . . sentimus : a good example of 
 cum inversum, in parody of the 
 epic style (Rolfe) . The meter 
 of vs. 22 is jokingly suggestive 
 of the repeated blows. saligno 
 fuste: i.e. with a cudgel which 
 he gets from the willows along 
 the bank. dolat: slang, like 
 ' polishes off,' ' trims up. 1 dolare 
 is a slang term in Plaut. (M. G., 
 938, Men. 859), though in a 
 slightly different sense. quarta 
 . . . hora: about ten o'clock. 
 vix demum : an expression of an- 
 noyance at the discomforts of 
 travel, as the modern traveler 
 recalls the lateness of his train ; 
 while vs. 24 is a reminiscence 
 of the comfort of a bath and 
 breakfast after a wretched night. 
 
 24. Feronia : a goddess whose 
 temple and fountain were near the 
 end of the canal. 
 
 25 f . subimus : the regular verb 
 for going toward a high place ; 
 Anxur was an old city on the hill, 
 Tarracina the newer town at the 
 foot of the hill. late candenti- 
 bus : cf. Epod. i, 29, super ni 
 villa candens Tusculi and Mar- 
 tial, 5, i, 6, candidiis Anxur. 
 The cliffs are of white lime- 
 stone. 
 
 27. Hue venturus erat : the offi- 
 cial members of the party had 
 perhaps been in conference with 
 the younger Caesar at some coun- 
 try house in the neighborhood. 
 The tense of venturus erat means 
 'it had been arranged that he 
 should come.' 
 
 28. Cocceius: L. Cocceius 
 Nerva, consul in 36 B.C., the 
 great-grandfather of the emperor 
 Nerva. See also the introduction 
 to this satire. 
 
 88
 
 SERMONES 
 
 37 
 
 legati, aversos soliti componere amicos. 
 30 Hie oculis ego nigra meis collyria lippus 
 
 illinere. Interea Maecenas advenit atque 
 
 Cocceius, Capitoque simul Fonteius, ad unguem 
 
 factus homo, Antoni, non ut magis alter, amicus. 
 
 Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore libenter 
 35 linquimus, insani ridentes praemia scribae, 
 
 praetextam et latum clavum prunaeque vatillum. 
 
 In Mamurrarum lassi deinde urbe manemus, 
 
 30 f. Cf. Sat. i, 3, 25 n. The 
 mention of this personal trifle, 
 like the allusions to other details, 
 gives the effect of a diary, and 
 this is heightened by the use of 
 the ' historical ' infinitive. Cf. Sat. 
 i, 9, 9-10, and 66. 
 
 32 f. Capito: C. Fonteius 
 Capito, consul in 33 B.C., the 
 representative of Antonius in the 
 conference. ad unguem factus 
 homo : the figure is said to be 
 taken from the habit of testing the 
 smoothness of a surface by passing 
 the edge of the thumb nail over it. 
 The expression was proverbial, like 
 the English 'a polished gentle- 
 man' or 'a man, every inch of 
 him,' and there is an intentional 
 courtesy in the compliment to the 
 representative of Antonius. non 
 ut magis alter : so Nepos, Epam. 2, 
 eruditus sic ut nemo Thebanus 
 magis. 
 
 34-36. As the distinguished 
 travelers passed through Fundi, 
 they were met by the mayor of the 
 town in his robes of office. 
 Aufidio . . . praetore : a formal 
 
 89 
 
 expression, like Caesare et Bibulo 
 consulibus. as if it fixed a date. 
 It is not certain whether the chief 
 magistrate of Fundi was properly 
 called praetor or the word is used 
 in derision. libenter : the formal 
 reception bored them. insani 
 . . . scribae : i.e. he had formerly 
 been a clerk (cf. 66, below) and 
 was too much elated by his rise in 
 station. praetextam : the toga 
 with a purple border. latum 
 clavum: the purple stripe down 
 the front of the tunic. prunae 
 vatillum : a pan or shovel of coals, 
 for burning incense. The sever- 
 ity of this satirical allusion seems 
 at first sight scarcely justifiable. 
 Horace was, in fact, only a humble 
 retainer of the great men to whom 
 the honors were paid, and he was 
 himself a scriba. But, like Thack- 
 eray, he had a keen eye for a snob. 
 37. Mamurrarum urbe : For- 
 miae. Only one Mamurra is 
 known to us, a knight of Formiae, 
 who was praefectus fabrum 
 (chief of engineers) under Julius 
 Caesar, was enriched by him and
 
 '. 5. 38] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Murena praebente domum, Capitone culinam. 
 
 Postera lux oritur multo gratissima ; namque 
 40 Plotius et Varius Sinuessae Vergiliusque 
 
 occurrunt, animae, qualis neque candidiores 
 
 terra tulit, neque quis me sit devinctior alter. 
 
 O qui complexus et gaudia quanta fuerunt ! 
 
 Nil ego contulerim iucundo sanus amico. 
 45 Proxima Campano ponti quae villula tectum 
 
 praebuit, et parochi quae debent ligna salemque. 
 
 made an offensive display of his 
 ill-gotten money. He was at- 
 tacked with especial bitterness by 
 Catullus and, apparently, on good 
 grounds. Nothing is known of 
 his family (the scholia describe 
 a later condition of things), and 
 it seems likely that the calling of 
 Formiae by his name and the use 
 of the plural, as if there were 
 many distinguished persons of the 
 family, are satirical touches. 
 
 38. Murena : L. Licinius Te- 
 rentius Varro Murena, brother of 
 Terentia, the wife of Maecenas. 
 Carm. 2, 10 is addressed to him. 
 He was put to death in 22 B.C. for 
 conspiracy. praebente domum : 
 the implication is that he was not 
 himself occupying the villa at this 
 time. 
 
 40. Plotius Tucca and L. Va- 
 rius Rufus were Vergil's literary 
 executors, and Varius and Vergil 
 were the friends who had intro- 
 duced Horace to Maecenas (Sat. 
 I. 6, 53 ). Varius was very highly 
 esteemed, perhaps beyond his 
 merits, by his contemporaries as a 
 
 writer of epic and of tragedy ; he 
 is mentioned by Horace more fre- 
 quently than any other of his lit- 
 erary friends. 
 
 41. qualis . . . candidiores: the 
 expression is perfectly logical 
 'of which kind the earth has borne 
 none fairer (than they) ' and it 
 is used again in Epod. 5, 59 f. ; 
 nardo . . . , quale non perfedius 
 meae laborarint manus ; there is 
 no similar idiom in English. 
 
 42. tulit : brought forth. 
 quis : dative. 
 
 44. sanus : 'while I am in my 
 senses; so Sat. I, 6,89, nil me 
 paeniteat sanum patris huius. 
 
 45 f . quae villula : sc. est. 
 This was a public house, main- 
 tained by the government for the 
 use of officials traveling on state 
 business. The parochi (Trape'^w) 
 furnished the necessary supplies 
 (ligna salemque are not to be 
 taken quite literally, for Cicero, 
 ad Att. 5, 1 6, 3, mentions also 
 fodder), which were at this time 
 designated by law ; hence quat 
 debent. 
 
 90
 
 SERMONES 
 
 ti.5.53 
 
 Hinc muli Capuae clitellas tempore ponunt. 
 Lusum.it Maecenas, dormitum ego Vergiliusque ; 
 namque pila lippis inimicum et ludere crudis. 
 50 Hinc nos Coccei recipit plenissima villa, 
 
 quae super est Caudi cauponas. Nunc mihi paucis 
 Sarmenti scurrae pugnam Messique Cicirri, 
 Musa, velim memores, et quo patre natus uterque 
 47. Hinc : i.e. starting from cakes at a gulp, and Vibidius and 
 
 this point. tempore : in good 
 season, so that there was time for 
 exercise before supper. 
 
 49. lippis : Horace ; cf. vs. 30. 
 crudis : Vergil, of whom Dona- 
 tus says, ' plerumque a stomacho 
 et a faucibus ac dolore capitis la- 
 borabat.' 
 
 50. plenissima : well-stocked. 
 So Cicero, Cat. Maior, 56, says 
 ' semper enim boni assiduique do- 
 mini referta cella vinaria, olearia, 
 etiam penaria est, villaque tota locu- 
 ples est,abundatporco, haedo,agno, 
 gallina, lacte, caseo, melle.' 
 Caudi : where the Romans were 
 defeated by the Samnites in 321 
 B.C. 
 
 51-70. The custom of inviting 
 semi-professional jesters to enliven 
 the conversation of the dinner 
 table, a custom which has pre- 
 vailed more or less in all societies, 
 is alluded to in many Roman 
 writers from Plautus down. The 
 jesters were of all degrees, from 
 the buffoon or the mere butt of 
 practical jokes to the more refined 
 wit and story-teller. Examples of 
 both kinds are mentioned in Sat. 
 2, 8, Porcius, who could eat whole 
 
 Balatro, hangers-on of Maecenas 
 and leaders of the joking, but not 
 buffoons. 
 
 This passage is the record of a 
 contest of wits between two such 
 parasites. Sarmentus is described 
 at some length in a scholium to 
 Juvenal, 5, 3, and was evidently a 
 well-known person ; he had been 
 a slave, was perhaps at this time a 
 freedman, had become a scriba, 
 and was small and somewhat 
 effeminate in appearance. He 
 represents the type of scurra, the 
 more polished wit. Messius Cicir- 
 rus (KiKippos, a fighting-cock) is 
 the clown, an Oscan, large and 
 clumsy, with his face disfigured by 
 a scar. He is a countryman, 
 brought in for the occasion to be 
 pitted against the city-bred Sar- 
 mentus, who was in the train of 
 Maecenas, perhaps as a secretary. 
 
 53-55. Musa : in epic style. 
 quo patre natus : as in Homer, be- 
 fore two heroes engage in fight, 
 the genealogy of each is recited. 
 But in this case the heroic de- 
 mand (quo patre natus) cannot be 
 met ; ' of Messius the glorious 
 lineage is Oscan ; of the family
 
 t, 5. 54j 
 
 HORAT1 
 
 contulerit lites. Messi clarum genus Osci ; 
 
 55 Sarmenti domina exstat : ab his maioribus orti 
 ad pugnam venere. Prior Sarmentus : ' Equi te 
 esse feri similem dico.' Ridemus, et ipse 
 Messius ' Accipio,' caput et movet. ' O, tua cornu 
 ni foret exsecto f rons/ inquit, ' quid faceres, cum 
 
 60 sic mutilus minitaris ? ' At illi foeda cicatrix 
 saetosam laevi f rontem turpaverat oris. 
 Campanum in morbum, in faciem permulta iocatus, 
 pastorem saltaret uti Cyclopa rogabat ; 
 nil illi larva aut tragicis opus esse cothurnis. 
 
 65 Multa Cicirrus ad haec : Donasset iamne catenam 
 
 of Sarmentus there survives only 
 his owner.' The Oscans were 
 regarded by the Romans with 
 special contempt, and a slave had, 
 legally, no family. 
 
 56 f. Equi . . . feri : a unicorn. 
 The comparison is suggested by 
 the scar mentioned below, 60. 
 This is clearly a variation on the 
 verse of Lucilius, dente adverso 
 eminulo hie est \ rinoceros (Marx 
 117 f.), 'This is a rhinoceros with 
 a tooth sticking out in front.' 
 
 58. Accipio: <all right; so I 
 am, and you will find me danger- 
 ous,' with a threatening shake ot 
 the head. 
 
 60. sic : both with mutilus and 
 with minitaris ; * when, hornless 
 as you are, you threaten so.' At : 
 explanatory, not adversative ; and, 
 in fact. 
 
 61. laevi: 'on the left side of 
 his face.' [But the expression is 
 awkward and the comparison to a 
 
 unicorn and, below, to the Cyclops 
 requires that the scar should have 
 been in the middle ; the text must 
 be regarded as quite doubtful.] 
 
 62. Campanum in morbum : 
 some disease, not understood 
 even by the scholiasts, which 
 was thought to be the cause of 
 the scar. Campanus contains the 
 same kind of slur as Osci, 54. 
 
 63. saltaret . . Cyclopa : should 
 flay the Cyclops in a pantomimic 
 dance ; accus. of the inner ob- 
 ject. 
 
 64. larva : because he was so 
 ugly and the scar would represent 
 the one eye of the Cyclops. co- 
 thurnis: because he was so big 
 and clumsy. 
 
 65 ff . The account is shortened 
 by giving the substance of the re- 
 torts of Cicirrus without comment. 
 They turn upon the fact that Sar- 
 mentus had been a slave and upon 
 his small size and effeminate ap- 
 
 92
 
 SERMONES 
 
 I'. 5. 78 
 
 ex voto Laribus, quaerebat; scriba quod esset, 
 nilo deterius dominae ius esse : rogabat 
 denique, cur umquam fugisset, cui satis una 
 farris libra foret, gracili sic tamque pusillo. 
 
 /c Prorsus iucunde cenam producimus illam. 
 
 Tendimus hinc recta Beneventum, ubi sedulus hospes 
 paene macros arsit dum turdos versat in igni ; 
 nam vaga per veterem dilapso flamma culinam 
 Volcano summum properabat lambere tectum. 
 
 75 Convivas avidos cenam servosque timentis 
 
 turn rapere, atque omnis restinguere velle videres. 
 Incipit ex illo montis Apulia notos 
 ostentare mihi, quos torret Atabulus, et quos 
 
 pearance. ex voto : as gladiators 
 at the end of their professional 
 career dedicated their arms {Epist. 
 i, I, 4 f.) or as men who had 
 escaped from shipwreck hung up 
 their dripping garments in a tem- 
 ple (Carm. i, 5, 13-16), so a slave 
 who had escaped from, slavery 
 perhaps by running away might 
 dedicate his chains to the gods 
 who had helped him. scriba: 
 the emphatic position shows what 
 the point is ; * even though you 
 have attained to the lofty position 
 of a clerk, still . . . ' una farris 
 libra : the ordinary ration was four 
 or five pounds and such a puny 
 little man might have lived on 
 a quarter of his allowance and 
 bought his freedom with his sav- 
 ings, instead of running away. 
 
 70. Prorsus : with iucunde ; 
 * certainly it was a jolly supper 
 ... So prorsus vehementer, 
 
 Cic. ad Att. 16, 15, 2; prorsus 
 valde, ad Fam. 6, 20, 2. 
 
 72. paene . . . arsit : almost 
 set his house afire. So Verg. 
 Aen. 2, 311 f., ardet Vcalegon. 
 
 macros : with turdos and dum 
 with versat. It is possible that the 
 confused order is meant to repre- 
 sent the confused efforts of the 
 anxious landlord. 
 
 73-74. vaga . . . veterem . . . 
 Volcano : parody of the allitera- 
 tion in the epic style of Ennius. 
 
 dilapso . . . Volcano : the logs 
 which were piled together on the 
 raised hearth fell apart and were 
 scattered on the floor. 
 
 76. videres : ' then there was a 
 pretty spectacle for you to see, 
 of hungry guests and frightened 
 slaves.' 
 
 78. mihi : they were approach- 
 ing the region of Venusia, where 
 Horace had passed his boyhood, 
 
 93
 
 79] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 numquam erepsemus, nisi nos vicina Trivici 
 80 villa recepisset, lacrimoso non sine fumo, 
 
 udos cum foliis ramos urente camino. 
 86 Quattuor hinc rapimur viginti et milia raedis, 
 mansuri oppidulo quod versu dicere non est, 
 signis perfacile est : venit vilissima rerum 
 hie aqua ; sed panis longe pulcherrimus, ultra 
 
 and he began to recognize well- 
 known landmarks. Atabulus : a 
 name for the sirocco, peculiar to 
 Apulia and recalled by Horace as 
 he approaches his old home. Gel- 
 lius (2, 22, 25) calls it Horatianus 
 ille Atabulus. 
 
 79. erepsemus : erepsissemus ; 
 such colloquial forms are used 
 freely in the Satires, e.g., surrexe 
 for surrexisse, i, 9, 73. nisi: 
 the expression is somewhat con- 
 densed, perhaps with humorous 
 intention ; ' we should never have 
 crawled out, if we hadn't stopped,' 
 meaning ' we should never have 
 had the strength to crawl out, if 
 we had not refreshed ourselves by 
 a night's rest.' 
 
 81. udos: the emphatic word; 
 ' because of the dampness of the 
 fuel.' urente camino : so/ 'river -it 
 area, I, I, 45. The caminus (cf. 
 Epist. I, u, 19) was an arrange- 
 ment, other than the open hearth, 
 for heating a room, but the details 
 of its construction are unknown. 
 
 86. raedis: both raeda (or 
 redd) and petorritum (or pet or i- 
 tum) are Gallic words (Quint. I. 
 5, 57), and this fact accounts for 
 
 the variation in spelling. The 
 mention of carriages at this stage 
 of the journey and the contrast 
 between rapimur and erepsemus 
 must certainly imply a change in 
 the mode of traveling, from riding 
 to driving. 
 
 87. quod versu dicere non est : 
 so Lucilius (228 f., Marx) has 
 * servorum festus dies hie, | quern 
 plane hexametro versu non dicere 
 possis ' of the feast ofiheStglHdrfa, 
 and Ovid ( ex Ponto, 4, 12) jokes 
 about the impossibility of bring- 
 ing the name of his friend Tutt- 
 cdnus into elegiac verse. The 
 name of the town is unknown, in 
 spite of statements by the scho- 
 liasts. 
 
 88 ff. signis : by the indica- 
 tions which follow, the lack of 
 good water and the excellence of 
 the bread. venit : from veneo ; 
 emphatic by position and by con- 
 trast with vilissitna ; ' they ask 
 here for what can elsewhere be 
 had for nothing water.' ultra : 
 i.e. the traveler who knows what 
 he is about (callidus') lays in a 
 supply for the next stage of the 
 journey. soleat : an early long 
 
 94
 
 SERMONES 
 
 90 callidus ut soleat umeris portare viator : 
 
 nam Canusi lapidosus, aquae non ditior urna 
 qui locus a forti Diomede est conditus olim. 
 Flentibus hinc Varius discedit maestus amicis. 
 Inde Rubos fessi pervenimus, utpote longum 
 
 95 carpentes iter et factum corruptius imbri. 
 Postera tempestas melior, via peior ad usque 
 Bari moenia piscosi ; dein Gnatia lymphis 
 iratis exstructa dedit risusque iocosque, 
 dum flamma sine tura liquescere limine sacro 
 
 oo persuadere cupit. Credat ludaeus Apella, 
 
 non ego ; namque deos didici securum agere aevum, 
 
 quantity preserved here, as occa- 
 sionally elsewhere in Horace and in 
 Vergil and frequently in Plautus. 
 umeris portare : a general term, 
 for most travelers would have 
 slaves to carry their provisions. 
 
 91 f. Canusi : gen., not loca- 
 tive ; sc. pants. lapidosus -.gritty. 
 aquae: gen. with ditior ; so 
 dives artium, Carm. 4, 8, 5 ; dives 
 opis, Sat. i, 2, 74. urna : abl. 
 of degree of difference. The 
 narrative hurries on here through 
 uninteresting scenes and events 
 and three distinct statements 
 (' the bread of Canusium is gritty ; 
 water there is scarce ; the town 
 was founded by Diomed ') are 
 condensed into a single sentence. 
 The intentional awkwardness 
 expresses the haste of the story. 
 
 93. Flentibus . . . amicis : ' leav- 
 ing his friends in tears ' ; a dative 
 of separation. The exaggeration 
 is intentionally humorous. 
 
 96. tempestas : weather, as fre- 
 quently in early and classical Latin. 
 
 97 f. piscosi : Barium was on 
 the coast. dein: monosyllabic. 
 lymphis iratis exstructa: 'built 
 under the frown of the water 
 nymphs,' i.e. lacking in good 
 water. 
 
 99. The ' miracle ' was ex- 
 hibited to the distinguished 
 visitors. As described by Pliny, 
 H.N. 2, 107, 240, it was the wood 
 on the altar which took fire of 
 itself. 
 
 100. Credat ludaeus Apella : 
 there were many Jews in Rome at 
 this time and Horace had evi- 
 dently some knowledge of their 
 beliefs (Sat. i, 4, 143 ; i, 9, 66 f. ; 
 perhaps also 2, 3, 288 ff.), possibly 
 even of their belief in this par- 
 ticular kind of miracle (Levit. 9, 
 24; / Kings 18,38). 
 
 101. securum : ' Careless of 
 mankind,' Tennyson, The Lotus 
 
 95
 
 $, 102] HORATI 
 
 nec, si quid miri faciat natura, deos id 
 tristis ex alto caeli demittere tecto. 
 Brundisium longae finis chartaeque viaeque est. 
 
 Eaters. The verse is a quotation is sufficient to explain all phe- 
 
 of Lucretius, 5, 82 nam bene gut nomena, however strange. tris 
 
 didicere deos securum agere aevom tis : in their anger. Early 
 
 and an expression of Horace's religions are, in general, rather a 
 
 Epicurean skepticism. means of propitiating the wrath of 
 
 102 f. natura : the working force the gods than an expression of 
 
 which in the Epicurean philosophy gratitude or trust. 
 
 The date of this satire cannot be precisely fixed, but it was written 
 between 38 and 33 B.C. The upper limit is fixed by the allusion in 
 vss. 54 if. to Horace's introduction to Maecenas, which was probably 
 not earlier than 38 B.C. On the other hand, the second half of the 
 satire would certainly have contained some allusion to the Sabine 
 form, which came into Horace's possession in 33, if the satire had been 
 written after that date. 
 
 ' Your high position, my dear Maecenas, as a man of noble family, 
 evidently does not seem to you to justify you in looking down upon 
 other men, upon me, for instance, a freedman's son. On the contrary, 
 your admission of all freeborn citizens to social equality seems to 
 express your belief that character, not birth, is the proper basis of a 
 claim to public recognition. And, in fact, even the ordinary voter, 
 prone as he is to be dazzled by noble birth, sees this truth and acts 
 upon it. But we, whose vision is clearer, ought to see still deeper and 
 to distinguish between social recognition and political advancement. 
 A political ambition, like that of Tillius, not improperly raises questions 
 of family, and of inherited fitness for public office. But, for me, I have 
 no political ambition and the office which I once held in the army of 
 Brutus came to me by mere chance ; I will not even take the trouble to 
 defend myself against the criticisms which it excited. But my friend- 
 ship with you is no chance ; two sponsors whom I am proud to name, 
 Vergil and Varius, introduced me to you and after careful deliberation 
 you accepted me as a friend, judging me not by my father's rank, but 
 by my own character. 
 
 ' And yet that very character which has won your esteem was my 
 father's gift to me. He was a poor man, a freedman, yet he gave me
 
 SERMONES [i, 6, 2 
 
 such an education as a knight or a senator might have given to his 
 son, attending me himself to guard me against the dangers of the city, 
 not deterred by the fear of educating me above my station. I should 
 be mad to wish that I had had a different father. I will not even say, 
 as some do, that I was not responsible for my humble parentage. On 
 the contrary, I would not exchange my father for any other, not even 
 for one who had sat in the curule chair and worn the purple. 
 
 ' For, after all, I prefer my quiet life. No bother about money, no 
 formal calls to make, no swarm of servants, no fuss. I stroll about 
 town as I please and watch the sights of the streets ; I go home to a 
 plain dinner and a good night's sleep, untroubled by the thought of 
 early business engagements in the morning. I read or write. I take a 
 little exercise, I have a light lunch and an afternoon of leisure. That's 
 a great deal more comfortable than the life of the people who think 
 they have a position to maintain.' 
 
 This satire belongs in subject and treatment with the third, the 
 fourth, and the tenth. It springs directly out of the circumstances of 
 Horace's life at the time it was written and marks another step in his 
 progress from the earlier years of rebellious obscurity to the assured 
 position of the Second Book. His friendship with men of rank, his 
 acceptance by Maecenas, and, in particular, the publication of the 
 account of the journey to Brundisium had revived the old criticisms 
 which his position in the army of Brutus had aroused and had given 
 new grounds for suspecting him of social and political ambitions. The 
 satire is in form a disclaimer of such ambitions, while in substance it is 
 a defence of the friends who had accorded him social recognition and a 
 very manly and dignified declaration of pride in his father's wisdom and 
 of contentment with his own quiet life. " 
 
 Non quia, Maecenas, Lydorum quicquid Etruscos 
 incoluit finis, nemo generosior est te, 
 
 i. Non: with suspendis, vs. 5, more colloquial. Maecenas: the 
 
 not with quid. The sentence is fact that Maecenas had publicly 
 
 best translated by changing its recognized Horace as a friend is 
 
 structure: 'although no one. . . , the natural starting point of the 
 
 and although your ancestors . . . , argument. Lydorum: there was 
 
 you do not, for that reason, treat a tradition that the Etruscan no- 
 
 wiih contempt . . . ' quia: not bility was descended from Lydian 
 
 different in sense from quod, vs. 3, colonists (Herod. I, 94), as the 
 
 though quia is, in general, the Roman aristocracy claimed de- 
 
 HOK. SAT. 7 97
 
 i. 6, 3] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 nec quod avus tibi maternus fuit atque paternus, 
 
 olim qui magnis legionibus imperitarent, 
 
 ut plerique solent, naso suspendis adunco 
 
 ignotos, ut me libertino patre natum. 
 
 Cum referre negas quali sit quisque parente 
 
 natus, dum ingenuus, persuades hoc tibi vere, 
 
 ante potestatem Tulli atque ignobile regnum 
 
 scent from Troy, and as many 
 Italian cities were supposed to 
 have been founded by Greek 
 heroes; cf. Sat. I, 5, 92. The 
 gen. plur. is a partitive gen. with 
 quicquid (Catull. 3, 2, quantum 
 est hominum venustiorum ; 31, 14, 
 quicquid est domi cachinnoruni), 
 but by its position it is made to 
 serve also as a gen. for nemo. 
 
 2. generosior : more nobly born. 
 There are various general refer- 
 ences, like Cann. i, i, i, Maece- 
 nas, atavts edite regibus, to the 
 nobility of the Cilnii, but it does 
 not appear that the family had 
 taken a conspicuous place in 
 Roman public life. 
 
 3-4. avus maternus . . . : the 
 reference is general, as the subjv. 
 imperitarent shows, though the 
 use of maternus may be an allu- 
 sion to the Etruscan custom of 
 reckoning descent through the 
 mother's side. legionibus : also 
 general ; great armies. 
 
 5. naso suspendis adunco : such 
 phrases as this, which express an 
 emotion by describing the instinc- 
 tive distortion of the features which 
 accompanies it, are common in 
 Latin, and are found even in seri- 
 
 98 
 
 ous passages, as here; they are 
 doubtless colloquial in origin, but 
 they are much less undignified 
 than the corresponding English 
 phrases like ' turn up your nose at.' 
 
 6. ignotos : men of humble 
 birth. Cf. vss. 24, 36, below; 
 notits and nobilis are only partially 
 differentiated in meaning. 
 
 7. Cum referre negas : in refus- 
 ing to consider; the explicative 
 use of cum ; ' your refusal to con- 
 sider ... is, in reality, a declara- 
 tion of your belief that . . .' 
 
 8. ingenuus : freeborn. Mae- 
 cenas, like Augustus (Sueton. Aug. 
 74), admitted to social equality 
 any man who was born in free- 
 dom, but did not extend such 
 recognition to freedmen (liber- 
 tini). Horace is here dwelling 
 upon the liberality of the admis- 
 sion ; the exclusion of freedmen 
 seemed to him, as, indeed, it well 
 might, a natural limitation, to be 
 mentioned only incidentally. 
 persuades . . . tibi : you express 
 your conviction. 
 
 9-17. In this somewhat diffi- 
 cult passage two distinct ideas are 
 fused into one statement, and a 
 third is appended which strictly
 
 SERMONES 
 
 i> 6, 15 
 
 multos saepe viros nullis maioribus ortos 
 et vixisse probos, amplis et honoribus auctos ; 
 contra Laevinum, Valeri genus, unde superbus 
 Tarquinius regno pulsus fugit, unius assis 
 non umquam pretio pluris licuisse, notante 
 iudice, quo nosti, populo, qui stultus honores 
 
 15 
 
 belongs with the next sentence : 
 ( i ) ' Your belief is that men of 
 humble birth often deserve honor, 
 and men of noble birth sometimes 
 deserve to be obscure ' ; (2) ' this 
 principle has often been illustrated 
 in Roman history plebeians have 
 been elected to the consulship, and 
 patricians have been nobodies ' ; 
 (3) 'if the common voter can 
 judge so correctly, then you and 
 I should certainly not be misled 
 by the accident of birth.' If 
 Horace had been trying to use 
 the forms of precise reasoning, 
 only the first of these statements 
 would have been subordinated to 
 persuades hoc tibi vere ; the sec- 
 ond would have been put into 
 an independent sentence, and the 
 third would have been connected 
 with vss. 17-18, to which it is a 
 kind of protasis. 
 
 9. ante . . . regnum : i.e. even 
 before the reign of Servius Tullius, 
 who was traditionally held to be 
 the son of a slave woman, and 
 before the Servian reform of the 
 constitution, which was regarded 
 as the beginning of democracy in 
 Rome. 
 
 n. et . . . probos ... et ... 
 auctos : predicate with vixisse. 
 
 The sentence is paratactic ; trans- 
 late, ' because they lived upright 
 lives, were honored with high 
 offices.' 
 
 12. Laevinum : unknown. The 
 statement of the scholiast adds 
 nothing to what is implied in the 
 context. Valeri genus: of the 
 Valerian gens, one of the great 
 Roman families. unde : a quo, 
 to be taken with pulsus. M. Vale- 
 rius Poplicola aided Brutus in ex- 
 pelling Tarquinius Superbus, and 
 was one of the consuls of the first 
 year. 
 
 14. licuisse: sold for, i.e. was 
 worth; from liceo, pluris: gen. 
 of indefinite value. pretio : abl. 
 after the comparative, with unius 
 assis depending upon it. 
 
 14 f . notante iudice : abl. abso- 
 lute ; iudice is defined by quo nosti 
 (by attraction from quern nosti) 
 and by the appositive, populo. 
 The defeat at the polls is like the 
 judgment of the censors ; either 
 excludes from the Senate. 
 
 15 ff. The indie, in this clause 
 emphasizes its detachment from 
 the indirect discourse. famae 
 servit : i.e. the judgment of the 
 common people is, too often, taken 
 captive by family reputation. 
 
 99
 
 I, 6, 1 6] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 saepe dat indignis et famae servit ineptus, 
 
 qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus. Quid oportet 
 
 nos facere, a volgo longe longeque remotos ? 
 
 Namque esto populus Laevino mallet honorem 
 
 quam Decio mandare novo, censorque moveret 
 
 Appius, ingenuo si non essem patre natus : 
 
 vel merito, quoniam in propria non pelle quiessem. 
 
 Sed fulgente trahit constrictos Gloria curru 
 non minus ignotos generosis. Quo tibi, Tilli, 
 
 imaginibus : the waxen masks of 
 ancestors who had held curule 
 office. titulis: the inscription 
 under each mask enumerating the 
 offices held by the original. The 
 masks were hung in the atrium, 
 and the possession of them indi- 
 cated that the family was nobilis. 
 
 17-22. ' If the people, prone as 
 they are to be dazzled by appear- 
 ances, can. sometimes see below 
 the surface, then we, the intelligent 
 classes, should be able to see still 
 more deeply into the truth. For, 
 whether the machinery of govern- 
 ment favors the patrician or the 
 plebeian, it is certainly true that, 
 for such a man as I am, political 
 ambition is folly. esto : used fre- 
 quently by Horace (Sat. 2, I, 83; 
 2, 2, 30) to express a concession ; 
 here, in parataxis with mallet, it 
 becomes almost a concessive con- 
 junction, as in the English, 
 'granted the people might prefer 
 . . . , yet . . .' Decio . . . novo : 
 P. Decius Mus, a plebeian and 
 novus homo, the first of his family 
 to hold a curule office. He de- 
 
 voted himself to death in order to 
 secure victory in the battle of Mt. 
 Vesuvius in 340 B.C., and is fre- 
 quently referred to as a type of 
 heroic patriotism. censor . . . 
 Appius : Appius Claudius Pulcher, 
 the brother of Clodius, censor in 
 50 B.C. He scrutinized the sena- 
 torial lists with great severity, ex- 
 cluding many nobles and all sons 
 of freedmen. 
 
 22. vel merito : and rightly, 
 too ; i.e. ' I should deserve it for 
 being such a fool as to be tempted 
 by political ambition.' propria 
 . . . pelle : an allusion to Aesop's 
 fable of the Ass in the Lion's 
 Skin; cf. Sat. 2, 3, 314-320; 2, 
 
 5>5 6 - 
 
 23 f . ' But most men do not 
 see this deeper truth ; Ambition 
 drags them after her, chained to 
 her chariot.' The same figure is 
 used in Epist. 2, i, 177, ventoso 
 gloria curru. ignotos : = igno- 
 biles, as in vs. 6. 
 
 24 f . Quo tibi : regularly fol- 
 lowed by an infin., as here ; lit., 
 ' to what end is it for you to ... ? ' 
 
 IOO
 
 SERMONfcS 
 
 i. 6, 37 
 
 25 surriere depositum clavum fierique tribune? 
 Invidia adcrevit, private quae minor asset. 
 Nam ut quisque insanus nigris medium impediit crus 
 pellibus, et latum demisit pectore clavum, 
 audit continue ' Quis homo hie?' et 'quo patre natus?' 
 
 30 Vt, si qui aegrotet quo morbo Barrus haberi 
 et cupiat formosus, eat quacumque, puellis 
 iniciatcuram quaerendi singula, quali 
 sit facie, sura, quali pede, dente, capillo ; 
 sic qui promittit civis, urbem sibi curae, 
 
 35 imperium fore et Italiam, delubra deorura, 
 
 quo patre sit natus, num ignota matre inhonestus, 
 omnis mortalis curare et quaerere cogit. 
 
 what good does it do you . . . f 
 Tilli : he had had the latus davits, 
 the broad purple stripe which was 
 worn by senators on the tunic, had 
 for some reason lost it (deposi- 
 tutn), and was now proposing to 
 win it again (sumere) by being 
 elected tribunus plebis as a first 
 step toward a curule office. To 
 these inferences from the text the 
 scholiast (recepit post Caesarum 
 occisum ; nat/i pulsus ante senatu 
 fuerat) adds little. The reference 
 may be to a brother of L. Tillius 
 Cimber. tribune : dat. ; cf. I, 
 I, 19. 
 
 27 f . nigris . . . pellibus : sena- 
 tors wore a shoe which was tied 
 by four black leather bands wound 
 crosswise about the ankle and up 
 the calf (tnedium crus). 
 
 29. continue : immediately ; cor- 
 responding to ut, as soon as. 
 
 30 f. aegrotet, morbo : figura- 
 tive, as in Sat. 2, 3, 306 f., quo me 
 aegrotare putes animi vitio f The 
 following clause, et cupiat, explains 
 the nature of the disease. Bar- 
 rus : the name occurs again in 
 Sat. I, 7, 8, but identification with 
 any known person is uncertain. 
 haberi : depends on cupiat. 
 
 32. iniciat : i.e. his evident be- 
 lief that he is handsome leads the 
 girls to consider his features in 
 detail (singula} to see whether he 
 really is all that he claims to be. 
 
 34 f. The promises of the can- 
 didate are intentionally exagger- 
 ated. No single official had so 
 wide a range of duties. 
 
 36. ignota, inhonestus : with 
 reference to birth, as elsewhere 
 in this satire, vss. 6, 24, 96. 
 
 37. curare, quaerere : repeating 
 curani quaerendi, 32. The bit of 
 
 101
 
 I, 6, 38] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ' Tune, Syri, Damae, aut Dionysi filius, audes 
 deicere e saxo civis aut tradere Cad mo ? ' 
 40 'At Novius collega gradu post me sedet uno ; 
 
 namque est ille, pater quod erat meus.' ' Hoc tibi Paulus 
 et Messalla videris ? At hie, si plostra ducenta 
 concurrantque foro tria funera magna, sonabit 
 eornua quod vincatque tubas ; saltern tenet hoc nos. 
 
 dialogue which follows expands 
 the idea and makes it vivid. 
 
 38. These are ordinary foreign 
 slave names ; Syrus is used in the 
 plays of Terence and Dama oc- 
 curs in Sat. 2, 5, 18. 
 
 39. deicere : in three syllables. 
 e saxo : from the Tarpeian Rock. 
 This old form of punishment was 
 carried into execution by the trib- 
 unes, but it had fallen into dis- 
 use except as a figure of speech 
 for an extreme penalty ; cf. Cic. 
 ad Att. 14, 15, I. Cadmo : Cad- 
 mus carnifex illo tempore fuisse 
 dicitur. Schol. 
 
 40 f. Novius : this name is se- 
 lected to suggest a derivation from 
 novus, like Thackeray's Newcome 
 or Henry James's Newman. 
 gradu . . . uno : not literally, for 
 there was no assignment of special 
 seats to freedmen ; but figuratively, 
 with an allusion to the law of 
 Otho, 67 B.C., assigning to the 
 Knights fourteen rows of seats 
 behind the senators. The law 
 had made much talk and the dis- 
 tinction had passed into a kind 
 of proverb. est ille, . . . meus : 
 i.e. 'he is himself a freedman, 
 
 while I am the son of a freed- 
 man.' 
 
 41 f. Hoc : abl., for this reason 
 as in vs. 52, below. Paulus et 
 Messalla : the cognornina of two 
 of the most distinguished noble 
 families in Rome. The absurdity 
 of the claim is heightened by the 
 use of et, as if the man could sup- 
 pose himself to be both at once. 
 
 42-44. hie : = Novius collega. 
 ' Your claim to superiority is based 
 upon an advantage so petty that it 
 is more than counterbalanced by 
 his having a big voice. 1 plostra : 
 the plebian form of plaustra (cf. 
 Claudius and Clodiits), employed 
 here because the argument repre- 
 sents the view of the common 
 people (saltern tenet hoc nos}. 
 magna: with funera. [Neither 
 Sat. I, 4, 44, os magna sonaturutn, 
 nor Juv. 7, 108, ipsi magna sonant, 
 justifies the taking of magna 
 sonare as a standing phrase, to 
 shout loudly. In neither passage 
 is the plural force quite lost and 
 the quality designated is lofti- 
 ness of style, not mere loud- 
 ness of voice.] quod : the ante- 
 cedent is the internal object of 
 
 T02
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [i, 6, 51 
 
 45 Nunc ad me redeo libertino patre natum, 
 quern rodunt omnes libertino patre natum, 
 nunc, quia sim tibi, Maecenas, convictor, at olim, 
 quod mihi pareret legio Rom ana tribune. 
 Dissimile hoc illi est ; quia non, ut forsit honorem 
 
 50 iure mihi invideat quivis, ita te quoque amicum, 
 praesertim cautum dignos assumere, prava 
 
 sonabit. que : connecting cor- 
 
 nua and tubas ; cf. Sat. i, 4, 17. 
 This incidental picture of the 
 Roman Forum, though it is inten- 
 tionally exaggerated, is in har- 
 mony with what Juvenal says in 
 his third satire of the dangerously 
 crowded Roman streets. The 
 Forum was the official center of 
 all political and public life, the 
 place where the funeral proces- 
 sions of great men, with their 
 horns and trumpets, paused to 
 listen to the laudatio, and it was 
 at the same time the principal busi- 
 ness center of the city. At this 
 period great public works also were 
 under construction, which neces- 
 sitated the hauling of blocks of 
 stone in heavy wagons. 
 
 45. Nunc ad me redeo : i.e. to 
 vs. 6, as the repetition here of 
 the last words of that line shows. 
 The intervening verses are not 
 altogether a digression ; they meet 
 the suspicion that Horace was am- 
 bitious of political influence, and 
 thus enable him to pass lightly 
 over that criticism (vss. 48-50) 
 and to come to the main theme 
 of the satire, the dignity and com- 
 fort of a quiet life. 
 
 47! sim, pareret: subjv., giv- 
 ing the reasons of the critics as 
 expressed by themselves. con- 
 victor: cf.Sat. r, 4, 95, convictor e 
 . . . amicoque. tribuno : sc. mili- 
 tum. This curious episode in his 
 life is briefly mentioned in the 
 Vita Horati of Suetonius : hello 
 Philippensi excitus a M. Bruto 
 imperatore tribunus militum me- 
 rutt. 
 
 49. honorem : office, as in the 
 phrase cursus honorum, and often. 
 
 50. iure : it is, however, un- 
 likely that the office was given to 
 him without reason. Probably he 
 had shown, even in his student 
 years at Athens, those qualities of 
 sanity and good judgment which 
 made him in later life the valued 
 friend of men of affairs. te : obj . 
 of invideat. 
 
 51 f. cautum dignos assumere : 
 the friends whom Maecenas had 
 already gathered about him were 
 men of high standing and charac- 
 ter, and, especially, men interested 
 in literature rather than in politics. 
 Admission to this circle was, of 
 itself, evidence that Horace was 
 not cherishing a political ambi- 
 tion. prava ambitione procul : 
 
 103
 
 It 6, 52] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ambitione procul. Felicem dicere non hoc 
 me possim, casu quod te sortitus amicum ; 
 nulla etenim mihi te fors obtulit: optimus olim 
 55 Vergilius, post hunc Varius dixere quid essem. 
 Vt veni coram, singultim pauca locutus 
 (infans namque pudor prohibebat plura profari), 
 non ego me claro natum patre, non ego circum 
 me Satureiano vectari rura caballo, 
 
 men free from distorted ambition ; 
 an amplification of dignos. The 
 expression is lacking in clearness, 
 but cf. Carm. 4, I, ^.-6,desine . . . 
 circa lustra decent flectere, a man 
 of ten lustra. The word inam- 
 bitiosus, which is used once by 
 Ovid, would not have expressed 
 the thought, especially the effect 
 of prava, and, in the lack of an 
 article or a present participle of 
 esse, some such periphrasis as this 
 is necessary. 
 
 52-54. Felicem: the gossip 
 which attributed the friendship 
 of Maecenas to mere chance (cf. 
 Sat. 2, 6, 49, ' Fprtunae filiusj 
 omnes) is emphatically denied by 
 the position oifelicem and by casu, 
 sortitus, fors. ' My acceptance by 
 you is not due at all to luck, but to 
 the kindness of my friends and to 
 your deliberate choice.' 
 
 54 f . optimus : cf. Candida 
 anima, Sat. I, 5,42; animae di- 
 midium meae, Carm. I, 3, 8 ; pius, 
 Carm. I, 24, n. These terms of 
 respect and admiration are quite 
 in accord with the account of Ver- 
 gil's life and character in the Vita 
 
 of Donatus. olim : some ///// 
 ago; but the contrast with /././ 
 hunc (cf. olim . . . max) gives 
 it a meaning like first. 
 
 57. infans: in the original 
 sense, speechless, i.e. ' which made 
 me tongue-tied.' The embar- 
 rassment is further indicated Dy 
 the alliteration p-udor p-rohibeoat 
 p-lura p-rofari. 
 
 58 ff. non ego . . . narro : 
 Horace's birth and circumstances 
 were, of course, known to Maece- 
 nas, and his character had already 
 been described by his friends 
 (dixere quid essem). This sen- 
 tence, therefore, does not mean 
 that he did not attempt to deceive 
 Maecenas, which would have 
 been absurd, but that he spoke 
 of himself frankly, with the mod- 
 esty which befitted the son of a 
 freedman and a poor man, and 
 with a recognition of his own 
 limitations of character (quod 
 erant) . Satureiano : = Taren- 
 tino (' quia Satureia dicta est Tar- 
 entina civitas.' Schol.) ; the 
 neighborhood of Tarentum was a 
 particularly pleasant part of Italy 
 
 104
 
 SER MONKS 
 
 73 
 
 60 sed, quod eram, narro. Respondes, ut tuus est mos, 
 pauca ; abeo, et revocas nono post mense iubesque 
 esse in amicorum numero. Magnum hoc ego duco, 
 quod placui tibi, qui turpi secernis honestum, 
 non patre praeclaro, sed vita et pectore puro. 
 
 65 Atqui si vitiis mediocribus ac mea paucis 
 mendosa est natura, alioqui recta, velut si 
 egregio inspersos reprehendas corpore naevos, 
 si neque avaritiam neque sordes nee mala lustra 
 obiciet vere quisquam mihi, purus et insons 
 
 70 (ut me collaudem) si et vivo carus amicis, 
 
 causa fuit pater his, qui, macro pauper agello, 
 noluit in Flavi ludum me mittere, magni 
 quo pueri magnis e centurionibus orti, 
 
 (cf. Carm. 2, 6, gff.) and was 
 occupied by large estates (rura). 
 caballo : the low Latin word 
 (for equus}, from which the Ro- 
 mance words cavallo, cheval, are 
 derived. 
 
 63. turpi secernis honestum : cf. 
 honestum as a philosophical term, 
 Sat. i, 3, 42, and iusto secernere 
 iniquum, Sat. I, 3, 1 13. The adj. 
 is in all these cases neuter and 
 general ; ' you who distinguish 
 worth from unworthiness, not by 
 the position of one's father, but 
 by his own uprightness of char- 
 acter.' 
 
 65 ff. 'And yet that very up- 
 rightness of life and character, 
 upon which my claim is based, 
 is my father's legacy to me ; it is 
 to his training that I owe all that 
 I am.' mediocribus, paucis : 
 
 these express the modesty which 
 is implied in quod eram, vs. 60 ; 
 cf. also I, 4, 139. 
 
 67. reprehendas : strictly, the 
 comparison would be ' which are 
 merely like slight defects in an 
 otherwise handsome person,' but 
 the idea of reprehendas expands 
 the suggestion implied in mendosa ; 
 ' spotted by few faults, no more to 
 be made a matter of censure 
 than . . .' 
 
 68. sordes : low tastes and hab- 
 its. mala lustra : haunts of vice. 
 
 69 f. The order is si purus et 
 insons et carus amicis vivo. 
 
 72 f. Flavi : the schoolmaster 
 in Venusia. magni, magnis : the 
 families of veteran soldiers, to 
 whom land had been assigned 
 near Venusia, constituted a local 
 aristocracy. 
 
 105
 
 1. 6, 74] 
 
 HO R ATI 
 
 laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto, 
 75 ibant octonos referentes Idibus aeris, 
 
 sed puerum est ausus Romam portare, docendum 
 
 artis quas doceat quivis eques atque senator 
 semet prognatos. Vestem servosque sequentis, 
 
 in magno ut populo, si qui vidisset, avita 
 80 ex re praeberi sumptus mihi crederet illos. 
 
 74. loculos, tabulam : the 
 ' Greek ' accus. with passive verb, 
 like inutile ferrum cingitur, Aen. 
 2, 510 f. loculi (in the plur. only, 
 in this sense), satchel', tabula, 
 slate made of wood and covered 
 with wax. 
 
 75. The general sense is clear ; 
 the boys carried their tuition 
 money to the school at regular 
 times. But the text is uncertain 
 and the customs alluded to are 
 not clearly known. Translate 
 ' carrying their eight asses 
 (nutHHtos to be supplied) of 
 money on the monthly pay-day.' 
 
 The amount would be small 
 (ten or twelve cents) and the 
 petty details the limited curric- 
 ulum, the carrying of slates and 
 satchels by the children, the 
 promptness in paying the tuition 
 are set in ironical contrast with 
 the pretensions of the village 
 magnates. 
 
 76. est ausus : a very pleasant 
 recognition of the courage and 
 independence shown by his father. 
 
 77. artis : the higher studies, 
 which were not taught at Venusia ; 
 the study of early Latin poetry is 
 
 alluded to in Epist. 2, i, 69 f. and 
 the reading of the Iliad in Epist, 
 2, 2, 41 f. 
 
 79-80. in magno ut populo : 
 in the midst of the crowd. [This 
 is ut restrictive. Ordinarily it 
 restricts an adj., as in the familiar 
 passage in Cic. Cato Maior, 12, 
 multae etiam, ut in homine Ro- 
 mano, littercB ; so in Cic. Brit. 
 1 02, scriptor fuit, ut temporibus 
 illis, lucidentus, and in the pas- 
 sages quoted by Schiitz. Here it 
 restricts vidisset, which is not 
 simply had seen, but had noticed; 
 this use is perfectly supported by 
 two passages quoted by Orelli from 
 Ovid, Trist. I, I, 17 f., si gut's, 
 ut in populo, nostri non immemor 
 . . . erit, and ex Ponto, 4, 5, 1 1, st 
 gut's, ut in populo, qui sitis et 
 unde, requiret^\ This passage 
 does not mean that Horace's father 
 encouraged him in an unsuitable 
 display ; the context forbids that 
 understanding. The lines con- 
 tinue the thought of 76 ff. ; as the 
 father's foresight led him to give 
 his son the best possible educa- 
 tion, so it led him also to pro- 
 vide proper dress and attendance. 
 
 1 06
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [i, 6, 91 
 
 Ipse mihi custos incorruptissimus omnis 
 
 circum doctores aderat. Quid multa ? Pudicum, 
 
 qui primus virtutis honos, servavit ab omni 
 
 non solum facto, verum opprobrio'quoque turpi ; 
 
 85 nee timuit sibi ne vitio quis verteret, olim 
 si praeco parvas aut, ut fuit ipse, coactor 
 mercedes sequerer ; neque ego essem questus; at hoc 
 
 nunc 
 
 laus illi debetur et a me gratia maior. 
 Nil me paeniteat sanum patris huius, eoque 
 
 90 non, ut magna dolo factum negat esse suo pars, 
 quod non ingenues habeat clarosque parentes, 
 
 dinate official in the collecting of 
 taxes) or, according to some Mss., 
 auctionum coactor, a collector of 
 money at auctions. The latter is 
 consistent with praeco, an auc- 
 tioneer, and with parvas mer- 
 cedes. Either was a respectable 
 and useful business, but one 
 which did not require much edu- 
 cation. 
 
 87. hoc : on this account, as in 
 41, 52. nunc: 'as things have 
 turned out.' 
 
 89. Cf. i, 5, 44, nil ego contu- 
 lerim iucundo sanus amico. 
 huius : qualitative ; such a 
 father. 
 
 90 ff. ut . . . negat . . ., sic 
 . . . defendam : a condensed form 
 of comparison ; ' I will not defend 
 myself as many do by saying that 
 it wasn't my fault.' dolo : a legal 
 term, in full dolus malus. Techni- 
 cal definitions are quoted in the 
 lexicon. 
 
 81. custos: i.e. as pae 
 the slave who accompanied a 
 properly cared-for boy in the 
 streets. incorruptissimus : who 
 could not be bribed. 
 
 82 ff. 'In short, he kept me 
 clean and that is beginning and 
 foundation of manliness not 
 only from vice itself, but also from 
 the touch of scandal.' 
 
 85. nee timuit: the same 
 thought as that in est ausus, vs. 
 76. He risked the possibility 
 that he might sometime be re- 
 proached with having educated 
 his son above the son's actual 
 station in life. vitio verteret : 
 a standing phrase ; ( should 
 consider it an error on his 
 part,' ' should reproach him.' 
 olim : of the future, as not infre- 
 quently. 
 
 86. coactor: the Vita of Sue- 
 tonius says that Horace's father 
 was exactionum coactor (a subor- 
 
 107
 
 I, 6, 92] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 sic me defenrlam. Longe mea discrepat istls 
 et vox et ratio : nam si natura iuberet 
 a certis annis aevum remeare peractum, 
 95 atque alios legere ad fastum quoscumque parentes 
 optaret sibi quisque, meis contentus, honestos 
 fascibus et sellis nollem mihi sumere, demens 
 iudicio volgi, sanus fortasse tuo, quod 
 nollem onus baud umquam solitus portare molestum. 
 
 100 Nam mihi continue maior quaerenda foret res, 
 atque salutandi plures ; ducendus et unus 
 et comes alter, uti ne solus rusve peregreve 
 exirem; plures calones atque caballi 
 pascendi, ducenda petorrita. Nunc mihi curto 
 
 105 ire licet mulo vel si libet usque Tarentum, 
 
 92 ff. istis : dat. masculine, re- 
 ferring to magna pars, with some 
 suggestion of contempt. et vox 
 et ratio : both my way of speaking 
 and my way of thinking. a certis 
 annis : i.e. if there were some 
 natural law which obliged all men, 
 upon reaching a certain fixed age, 
 say twenty-one, to go back and 
 start life again, with a free choice 
 as to their parentage. The apod- 
 osis is nollem, 97. 
 
 96. honestos: honored; cf. 36; 
 not as in vs. 63. 
 
 97. fascibus et sellis: with 
 honestos] the insignia of curule 
 office. 
 
 98. iudicio . . .tuo: the judg- 
 ment referred to in the beginning 
 of this satire, but with a reference 
 also to the unwillingness of Mae- 
 cenas to hold office ; ' hoc ad 
 
 Maecenatem recte dicitur, qui, ab- 
 horrens senatoriam dignitatem, 
 in equestris ordinis gradu se con- 
 tinuit.' Schol. 
 
 101. salutandi plures : the bur- 
 den of making and receiving the 
 formal morning calls became very- 
 oppressive and is frequently al- 
 luded to by later writers. 
 ducendus et : for et ducendus. 
 The social proprieties required 
 that a man of rank should take 
 with him on a journey a retinue of 
 servants and friends, as Maecenas 
 did on the journey to Brundisium. 
 
 104. petorrita : a Gallic name 
 for a four-wheeled traveling wagon ; 
 cf. Sat. I, 5, 86 n. Nunc: cf. 
 vs. 87. curto: apparently in a 
 general sense, like curta res, 
 Carm. 3, 24, 64 ; humble, plain, 
 little. 
 
 108
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [i, 6, 114 
 
 mantica cui lumbos onere ulceret atque eques armos; 
 
 obiciet nemo sordes mihi quas tibi, Tilli, 
 
 cum Tiburte via praetorem quinque sequuntur 
 
 te pueri, lasanum portantes oenophorumque. 
 
 Hoc ego commodius quam tu, praeclare senator, 
 
 milibus atque aliis vivo. Quacumque libido est, 
 
 incedo solus ; percontor quanti olus ac far ; 
 
 fallacem circum vespertinumque pererro 
 
 saepe forum ; adsisto divinis ; inde domum me 
 
 106. A reminiscence of Lucilius, 
 1027 (Marx), mantica cantheri 
 costas gravitate premebat. 
 ulceret : subjv., because the whole 
 situation is hypothetical (silibet). 
 
 107 if. Horace may travel the 
 whole length of Italy alone, riding 
 his mule and carrying his baggage 
 behind the saddle, but a praetor 
 must have a retinue to go only to 
 Tibur and even then may be 
 accused of meanness because his 
 attendants are so few in number. 
 Tilli : the same man who is 
 mentioned in vs. 24. quinque 
 . . . pueri : a number great enough 
 to be an incumbrance, but not 
 sufficient for real dignity according 
 to Roman standards. 
 
 109. lasanum . . . oenopho- 
 rumque : camp kettle and wine 
 basket. But the exact uses of these 
 utensils are not made clear and we 
 can only guess whether the carry- 
 ing of them is mentioned as evi- 
 dence of a desire for display or 
 as proof of sordes , because he 
 wished to avoid the expense of 
 an inn. 
 
 in. milibus atque aliis : and 
 in a thousand other ways corre- 
 sponding to hoc. libido est : = 
 libet, as often in early Latin. 
 The picture of a day's round of in- 
 terests and occupations, which oc- 
 cupies the rest of the satire, begins 
 with the middle of the afternoon 
 and closes (vs. 128) with lunch 
 and the afternoon siesta. 
 
 112. solus: without a trouble- 
 some retinue, such as a senator 
 would feel obliged to have. 
 percontor : not with the intention 
 of buying, but in order to get into 
 conversation with the hucksters. 
 
 113. fallacem circum: the Cir- 
 cus Maximus was a gathering- 
 place for all sorts of swindlers and 
 street fakirs. vespertinum: by 
 the middle of the afternoon the 
 courts had adjourned (cf. Epist. 
 I, 7, 46-48, where the lawyer goes 
 home octa-vam circiter horam}, 
 the main business of the day was 
 over and the Forum was given up 
 to idlers. 
 
 114. adsisto divinis: / stop 
 and watch the fortune tellers. 
 
 109
 
 1,6, i is] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 120 
 
 ad porri et ciceris refero laganique catinum. 
 Cena ministratur pueris tribus, et lapis albus 
 pocula cum cyatho duo sustinet ; adstat echinus 
 vilis, cum patera guttus, Campana supellex. 
 Deinde eo dormitum, non sollicitus, mihi quod eras 
 surgendum sit mane, obeundus Marsya, qui se 
 voltum ferre negat Noviorum posse minoris. 
 Ad quartam iaceo ; post hanc vagor ; aut ego, lecto 
 aut scripto quod me taciturn iuvet, unguor olivo, 
 
 These details are given to illus- 
 trate Horace's freedom from the 
 embarrassment of social position ; 
 they illustrate also his humorous 
 interest in all sides of life. 
 
 115. The Romans were not 
 vegetarians, but they ate meat 
 less often than the more northern 
 races and regarded it as a luxury. 
 Cf. Carm. i, 31, 15 f., where the 
 'simple life' is suggested by say- 
 ing me pascunt olivae, me cichorea 
 levesque tnalvae. 
 
 116-118. The details are further 
 evidence of the unostentatious sim- 
 plicity of his life. pueris tribus: 
 a moderate number for a Roman 
 gentleman; cf. Sat. i, 3, 11 f., 
 where an establishment of ten 
 slaves is contrasted with one of 
 two hundred to illustrate the ex- 
 tremes of simplicity and extrava- 
 gance. lapis albus: a slab of 
 marble on three legs ; cf. Sat. 
 i, 3, 13 n. pocula . . . duo: 
 perhaps for two kinds of wine or 
 two different mixtures of wine and 
 water. cyatho : the ladle for dip- 
 ping the wine out of the mixing 
 
 bowl. echinus: the scholiasts 
 make various guesses as to the 
 use of this unknown utensil. 
 cum patera guttus : an oil bottle 
 with its saucer. Campana : ordi- 
 nary earthenware. 
 
 120 f . obeundus Marsya : must 
 go to meet Marsyas, i.e. must go to 
 the part of the Forum where the 
 statue of Marsyas stood, to meet 
 some early business obligation. 
 The statement of Servius (on Aen. 
 4, 58) that statues of Marsyas with 
 uplifted hand were erected in 
 market places points to a Silenus 
 figure and excludes a reference to 
 the flaying of Marsyas by Apollo. 
 The gesture is here humorously in- 
 terpreted as an expression of dis- 
 like to the looks of the younger 
 Novius, a banker whose stall stood 
 in the neighborhood of the statue. 
 
 122. Ad quartam: somewhere 
 about ten o'clock. A senator was 
 expected to receive clients early in 
 the morning; cf. I, I, lo n. 
 
 123. taciturn iuvet: i.e. he 
 finds pleasure in his reading or 
 writing, without needing any com- 
 
 I 10
 
 SERMONES 
 
 i, 6, 
 
 I2 5 
 
 130 
 
 non quo fraudatis immundus Natta lucernis. 
 Ast ubi me fessum sol acrior ire lavatum 
 admonuit, fugio campum lusumque trigonem. 
 Pransus non avide, quantum interpellet inani 
 ventre diem durare, domesticus otior. Haec est 
 vita solutorum misera ambitione gravique ; 
 his me consoler victurum suavius ac si 
 quaestor avus pater atque meus patruusque fuisset. 
 
 panion to express it to. unguor : 
 he is rubbed down with olive oil, 
 preparatory to his regular exercise. 
 
 124.. Natta : unknown. The 
 oil which he stole from the lamps 
 would be of poor quality. 
 
 126. trigonem: in appos. to 
 lusum. The game was played by 
 three persons (hence rptywi/os), 
 who stood at the corners of a 
 triangle and 'passed' the ball, not 
 using a bat. 
 
 127 f. Pransus: l\\e prandium, 
 lunch, was usually about one 
 o'clock. domesticus otior : a hu- 
 morous expression ; domesticus is 
 not precisely the same as do mi, 
 and otior, of which the scholiast 
 
 says ' verbum finxit quod significat 
 otium ago? is used only once before 
 this, in a joking quotation by 
 Cicero (de Off. 3, 14, 58). 
 
 130. his : abl. neut., like hoc, 
 no, and milibus aliis, in. 
 
 131. quaestor : the lowest office 
 in the cursus honorum, election to 
 which gave admission to the 
 Senate. To have reached this 
 office, however, without going be- 
 yond it, was not a great distinction, 
 and the line therefore means than 
 if my ancestors had barely squeezed 
 into the Senate,' with a little good- 
 humored scorn of men who prided 
 themselves upon mere senatorial 
 rank. 
 
 The event which is the subject of this satire occurred at Clazomenae 
 in Asia Minor, while Brutus was acting as governor of Macedonia and 
 Asia, either in 43 B.C. or in the first half of 42, before the battle of 
 Philippi. 
 
 But the date of composition is less certain; the satire may have 
 been written immediately after the incident or it may be a reminiscence 
 of the campaign written out at any time between 41, when Horace 
 returned to Rome, and 35 B.C., when the first book of satires was pub- 
 lished. As the satire itself contains no specific allusions to fix the 
 
 in
 
 1,7,1] HORATI 
 
 date of composition, there is left only the rather uncertain method ot 
 adjusting its general tone to what may be supposed to have been Horace's 
 attitude of mind at one date or another. These indications point to the 
 earliest date ; the tone toward Rupilius is different from his general 
 attitude of loyalty toward his companions in that ill-fated campaign ; 
 the allusion in vs. 3 to the widespread circulation of the story would be 
 pointless five years after the occurrence; the reference to Brutus in vss. 
 33 ff., which in any case seems flippant, is easier to understand if the 
 lines were written before the battle of Philippi and left standing as a 
 part of the record, than if we suppose them to have been written with 
 deliberation after the tragic death of Brutus. And, in general, the tone 
 of the satire is distinctly less mature and thoughtful than the tone of 
 Satires 3, 4, 6. There is a certain crudeness and harshness in it, a 
 certain sensationalism, a failure to reach the principles of conduct which 
 underlie particular events ; in these respects it is like Satires 2 and 8 
 and is to be classed with them as belonging to the earliest period of 
 Horace's work. It is as an example of the work of that period a 
 better example than either Satire 2 or 8 that it is here provided with 
 a commentary. 
 
 The course of the thought is so simple as to need no paraphrase. 
 
 Proscripti Regis Rupili pus atque venenum 
 hybrida quo pacto sit Persius ultus, opinor 
 omnibus et lippis notum et tonsoribus esse. 
 
 i. P. Rupilius Rex of Praeneste Sat. 2, i, 72 ; the abusive and ven- 
 
 had been an adherent of Pompey's omous Rupilius. 
 party and was praetor at the time a. hybrida . . . Persius : the 
 
 of Caesar's death. He was pro- half-breed Persius. He is said 
 
 scribed by Antony and Octavius by the scholiasts to have been the 
 
 and took refuge with Brutus, son of a Greek father and a Roman 
 
 who gave him, as a man of some mother ; if this is correct, he had 
 
 prominence, a place on his staff taken a Roman name. sit . . . 
 
 (vs. 25). The cognomen Rex ultus: punished, castigated. The 
 
 was common in his family. idea of vengeance in this word is 
 
 Proscripti : in contrast with Regis. much less prominent than the or- 
 
 Rupili pus atque venenum : a dinary definitions make it. 
 parody of the epic phrases like 3. lippis, tonsoribus : the shops 
 
 upov fifvo<: 'AA*ivooio ; cf. virtus of apothecaries and barbers were 
 
 Scipiadae et nritis sapienlia Laeli, lounging places and centers of 
 
 112
 
 SERMONES 
 
 Li>7> 
 
 Persius hie permagna negotia dives habebat 
 Clazomenis, etiam litis cum Rege molestas, 
 durus homo, atque odio qui posset vincere Regem, 
 confidens tumidusque, adeo sermonis amari, 
 Sisennas, Barros ut equis praecurreret albis. 
 Ad Regem redeo. Postquam nihil inter utrumque 
 convenit (hoc etenim sunt omnes iure molesti, 
 quo fortes, quibus adversum bellum incidit ; inter 
 Hectora Priamiden animosum atque inter Achillem 
 
 gossip. The obvious words would 
 have been el medicis et tonsoribits, 
 but inflammation of the eyes was 
 a frequent subject of ridicule and 
 Horace substitutes the name of 
 this one class of patients for the 
 commoner phrase. 
 
 5. etiam litis : and likewise 
 lawsuits, as if the lawsuits were 
 an inevitable consequence of the 
 large business interests. Rupilius 
 had been the head of a syndicate 
 of contractors for the taxes (ma- 
 gist er in ea societate \_publica- 
 norum~\, Cic. ad Fam. 13, 9, 2), a 
 position which would easily give 
 rise to lawsuits. 
 
 6. odio . . . vincere: surpass 
 Rex in making a nuisance of him- 
 self. So Plaut. Asm. 446, iam 
 die me abegeril suo odio ; Ter. 
 Phorm. 849, numquam tu odio tuo 
 me vinces. 
 
 8. Sisennas, Barros : unknown ; 
 the plural indicates the class ; men 
 like Sisenna. equis . . . albis : 
 white horses were proverbial for 
 speed, so that the sense is ' with 
 
 HOK. SAT. 8 113 
 
 perfect ease,' ' he could give odds 
 to.' 
 
 9. Ad Regem redeo : this is a 
 common formula for returning to 
 the main point after a digression 
 (cf. vs. 45 of the preceding Sat- 
 ire), but here there is no real 
 digression and certainly no re- 
 turning to Rex. The stock phrase 
 is used partly with humorous in- 
 tent, but chiefly to keep the name 
 Rex, upon which the pun is to be 
 made, before the reader's mind. 
 
 10 f. convenit : i.e. no compro- 
 mise out of court could be made. 
 The parenthesis, 10-18, explains, 
 again in parody of epic style, why 
 they would not compromise. hoc 
 . . . incidit : ' all nuisances (mo- 
 lesti) have just the same rights that 
 mighty heroes (fortes) have, who 
 meet in deadly fray.' hoc iure is 
 the pred. of sunt, omnes molesti the 
 subject ; hoc is the antecedent of 
 quo (sc. iure) . adversum : battle 
 face to face ; of the matching 
 of two warriors against each 
 other. .
 
 7. '3] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 20 
 
 ira fuit capitalis, ut ultima divideret mors, 
 non aliam ob causam nisi quod virtus in utroque 
 summa fuit : duo si discordia vexet inertis, 
 aut si disparibus bellum incidat, ut Diomedi 
 cum Lycio Glauco, discedat pigrior, ultro 
 muneribus missis) : Bruto praetore tenente 
 ditem Asiarn, Rupili et Persi par pugnat, uti non 
 compositum melius cum Bitho Bacchius. In ius 
 acres procurrunt, magnum spectaculum uterque. 
 Persius exponit causam ; ridetur ab omni 
 
 13. capitalis: deadly, expanded 
 in the following clause. ultima: 
 i.e. death alone, death at the end. 
 
 14. non aliam ob causam : the 
 higher motives, like Hector's pa- 
 triotism, are intentionally ignored 
 and, in parody of the heroic spirit, 
 the heroes fight simply because 
 they are fighters (virtus . . . 
 summa) . 
 
 15 f. inertis : cowards ; con- 
 trasted with fortes, vs. 1 1 . dis- 
 paribus : contrasted with adver- 
 sum, vs. II, which implies equality. 
 
 16 ff. Cf. //. 6, 119 ff., where 
 Glaucus refuses to fight Diomed 
 because of the old friendship be- 
 tween them, and they part with 
 an exchange of armor and gifts. 
 This pleasing incident in the war 
 is here, in continuation of the par- 
 ody of heroic motives, intentionally 
 misinterpreted into cowardice and 
 the payment of a ransom. 
 
 18. praetore : Brutus was prae- 
 tor ur bonus in 44 and in 43-42 
 was holding Macedonia and Asia 
 
 Minor in a partially legalized way 
 as propraetor. But the title prae- 
 tor is especially suitable to him 
 when he was holding court, as here. 
 19 f. par: the pair; a technical 
 term, of two gladiators. pugnat : 
 grammatically the leading verb of 
 postquam . . . con-venti, 9-10. 
 compositum : also a technical word, 
 of the matching of two gladiators ; 
 cf. Sat. i, i, 103 n. cum Bitho 
 Bacchius : two well-known gladia- 
 tors of the time of Augustus. The 
 combined phrase (= Bithus et 
 Bacchius) is the subject of sit to 
 be supplied and compositum (sc. 
 par) melius is the predicate, drawn 
 into the subordinate clause as can- 
 didiores is drawn into the qualis- 
 clause in Sat. I, 5, 41 f. 'So 
 matched that Bithus and Bacchius 
 are not a better matched pair.' 
 
 21. procurrunt, spectaculum: 
 these words carry on the meta- 
 phor from the arena. 
 
 22. ridetur : impers. ; laughter 
 from the whole court. 
 
 114
 
 SERMONES 
 
 7. 3 
 
 conventu ; laudat Brutum laudatque cohortem : 
 
 solem Asiae Brutum appellat, stellasque salubris 
 25 appellat comites, excepto Rege ; canem ilium, 
 
 invisum agricolis sidus, venisse. Ruebat, 
 
 flumen ut hibernum, fertur quo rara securis. 
 
 Turn Praenestinus salso multoquo fluent! 
 
 expressa arbusto regerit convicia, durus 
 30 vindemiator et invictus, cui saepe viator 
 
 cessisset, magna compellans voce cuculum. 
 
 23. conventu : the regular term 
 for the officials gathered to meet 
 the praetor at the places in his cir- 
 cuit where he held court. cohor- 
 tem : the staff of a provincial gov- 
 ernor; also called comites, as in 
 vs. 25. 
 
 25. canem : Sirius, the Dog- 
 star, which brought the heat and 
 drought. The whole series of com- 
 parisons, which were meant to prej- 
 udice the court in favor of the 
 speaker, are to be thought of as 
 made from the standpoint of the 
 native farmers. 
 
 27. fertur quo rara securis: 
 whither the ax of the woodcutter 
 is seldom carried, i.e. in the depths 
 of the forest, as the snow of 
 winter melts. The figure of 
 a rushing torrent is common 
 enough, but this phrase is too 
 poetic for the context and sounds 
 like parody. 
 
 28. multo : adj., but to be joined 
 closely with fluenti; the two to- 
 gether are the dat. of the ptc. of 
 multus fliio (cf. Sat. 1,4, 11, cum 
 flueret lutulentus}; salso and multo 
 
 fluenti agree with a dat. to be sup- 
 plied after regerit. 
 
 29. expressa arbusto: lit., 
 'squeezed from the vineyard,'/./?. 
 drawn from the vocabulary of the 
 vinedresser, redolent of the vine- 
 yard, as the English ' billingsgate ' 
 is language from the fish market. 
 The general idea is more specifi- 
 cally expressed in vss. 30-31. re- 
 gerit : hurled back. 
 
 30. vindemiator: in four sylla- 
 bles, vindenitator. Like a tough 
 and invincible vinedresser $ with- 
 out ut, as often in Horace. 
 
 31. cessisset: i.e. had been 
 obliged to admit himself beaten 
 in fluency of insult. cuculum : 
 the tradition given by the elder 
 Pliny (H. AT. 18, 66, 249) is that, 
 since the pruning ought to have 
 been finished in the early spring, 
 before the cuckoo came, the 
 passer-by would imitate the cry of 
 the cuckoo to a vinedresser as an 
 intimation that he was behind- 
 hand in his work. But this sounds 
 like the forced explanation of a 
 grammarian ; compellans cunt lion
 
 1,7,32] IIOKATI 
 
 At Graecus, postquam est Italo perfusus aceto, 
 Persius exclamat : ' Per magnos, Brute, deos te 
 oro, qui reges consueris tollere, cur non 
 35 hunc Regem iugulas? Operum hoc, mihi crede, 
 tuorum est.' 
 
 means simply calling him a cuckoo. Tarquins, and to Brutus himself 
 
 [The Plautine passages are Asin. as one of the liberatores who had 
 
 923, 934, Pers. 282, Ps. 96, Trin. killed Caesar. 
 
 245. They all antedate the ex- 35. Regem: the same pun upon 
 
 planation given by Pliny.] the name of Q. Marcius Rex was 
 
 32. Graecus, Italo : in contrast. made by Cicero (ad Att. i, 16, 
 
 34. qui . . . consueris: since 10). Operum . . . tuorum : pred. 
 
 you have the habit of removing gen.; 'this is just in your line,' 
 
 Kings, with reference to his an- 'just the proper kind of business 
 
 cestor, who had driven out the for you.' 
 
 8 
 
 There is no allusion in this satire definite enough to fix the date. 
 The plot of ground which is the scene had been a burial-place, and was 
 afterward acquired by Maecenas and used as the site for his palace and 
 gardens. But the date when he acquired the land is not known. Nor 
 is it clear that the land is in the possession of Maecenas either at 
 the time when the events are represented as occurring or at the later 
 time when the garden god tells the story. The spot cannot be thought 
 of as still in use for burial, since the figure of Priapus stands there, and, 
 on the other hand, the gathering of bones (vs. 22) and the selection 
 of the spot by two witches as a place for incantations is scarcely com- 
 patible with its being a private garden. Apparently the events are 
 thought of as having occurred while the transformation from burial- 
 place to garden was still incomplete. Verses 14-16 allude to a later 
 stage, but it is strange that there should be no direct allusion to Mae- 
 cenas, to whom in later satires Horace refers with such evident pride 
 and pleasure, if he already owned the land and had built his great 
 house there. 
 
 The satire evidently belongs in the same period as Epodes 5 and 1 7, 
 nd seems to be referred to in vss. 47, 55 and 77 of the latter Epode. 
 But neither of these poems can be dated with certainty. In the 
 
 116
 
 SERMONES [i, 8, g 
 
 absence of data, on the general grounds of tone and manner the lack 
 of real humor, the coarseness, the cynicism the satire may be placed 
 with 2 and 7 of this book in the group of earlier writings. 
 
 The fact that the speaker is the figure of the garden god Priapus 
 gives to the satire a certain resemblance to the Priapea, of which we 
 have a collection, but in substance this is a satire upon the kind of 
 incantations described by Vergil in Eclogue 8. On the personal side 
 it is an attack upon a certain Canidia, who is also savagely attacked in 
 Epode 5 and ironically ridiculed in Epode 17, and who is mentioned 
 in several places in the Satires and Epistles. The scholiast says that 
 her real name was Gratidia, that she was a seller of drugs, a witch and 
 a poisoner. How much of this is fact we do not know, but undoubtedly 
 a real person is referred to under the name. The hostility with which 
 Horace pursues her is distinctly unpleasant, and this poem and Epodes 
 5 and 17 reveal him on his least admirable side. 
 
 Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum, 
 cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum, 
 maluit esse deum. Deus inde ego, furum aviumque 
 maxima formido ; nam fures dextra coercet 
 5 obscaenoque ruber porrectus ab inguine palus ; 
 ast importunas volucres in vertice arundo 
 terret fixa vetatque novis considere in hortis. 
 Hue prius angustis eiecta cadavera cellis 
 conservus vili portanda locabat in area ; 
 
 1. Olim truncus eram : the con- 3. Deus inde ego : humorously 
 trast between roughness of the emphasizing his claim to divinity, 
 figure and the fact that it was sup- immediately after the acknowledg- 
 posed to represent a god is not ment that he owed it to a work- 
 infrequently alluded to in Priapus man. 
 
 poems. inutile: the wood of 4. dextra: the right hand held 
 
 the fig-tree splits easily. a club or a sickle. 
 
 2. Priapum : the statue was set 6. arundo : the reed was moved 
 up originally to represent the god by the wind. 
 
 of fertility, but was generally in- 8-9. angustis . . . cellis: the 
 terpreted as a kind of scarecrow, small chambers which they had 
 who frightened away thieves and occupied while alive. conservus: 
 birds. the master paid no attention to 
 
 117
 
 i, 8, 10] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 hoc miserae plebi stabat commune sepulchrum, 
 Pantolabo scurrae Nomentanoque nepoti : 
 mille pedes in fronte, trecentos cippus in agrum 
 hie dabat, heredes monumentum ne sequeretur. 
 Nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus atque 
 aggere in aprico spatiari, quo modo tristes 
 albis informem spectabant ossibus agrum; 
 cum mihi non tantum furesque feraeque, suetae 
 hunc vexare locum, curae sunt atque labori, 
 quantum carminibus quae versant atque venenis 
 
 the death of a slave. locabat: 
 not placed, but contracted for the 
 burial with the undertakers. 
 area : the box in which the body 
 was carried to the burial-place. 
 These details are pathetic to the 
 modern reader, but it is not likely 
 that Horace felt the pathos or in- 
 tended to express it. His tone is 
 rather hard and cynical. 
 
 ii. This verse is probably 
 Lucilian, though the scholiast 
 gives an account of the man who 
 was called by the nickname Panto- 
 labus. 
 
 12-13. in fronte, in agrum: 
 technical terms in surveying, like 
 the English ' 1000 feet front, 300 
 feet deep ' ; usage varies between 
 the ace. and the abl. and Horace 
 has used both cases. cippus: a 
 stone pillar on which the dimen- 
 sions of the plot of ground were 
 inscribed, followed often by the 
 letters H. M. H. N. S., hoc monu- 
 mentum heredes ne sequatur (or 
 non seyuitur), meaning that the 
 
 lot and tombstone shall not be 
 considered a part of the estate 
 and shall therefore not pass to the 
 heirs, but shall remain perpetually 
 a burial-place. 
 
 14. salubribus : predicate ; it had 
 been before especially unhealthy. 
 
 15. aggere: the Mound of Ser- 
 vius Tullius, the old wall of earth 
 that surrounded the smaller early 
 city. quo: the absence of a 
 preposition is perhaps to be ex- 
 plained by the nearness of in 
 aprico ; there seems to be no 
 good parallel for quo in the sense 
 of ubi. tristes: predicate; de- 
 pressed by the sight. 
 
 17. cum : while I, in contrast 
 to their leisurely strolling {spati- 
 ari), have only care and trouble. 
 
 ferae : the wolves and vultures 
 (Epod. 5, 99 f.) that fed upon the 
 unburied bodies. suetae : in 
 three syllables. 
 
 19. quae : the antecedent is the 
 subj. of sunt curae, to be supplied. 
 
 versant : affect t move. 
 
 118
 
 SERMONES 
 
 i, 8, 33 
 
 20 
 
 humanos animos. Has nullo perdere possum 
 nee prohibere modo, simul ac vaga luna decorum 
 protulit os, quin ossa legant herbasqQe nocentis. 
 Vidi egomet nigra succinctam vadere palla 
 Canidiam pedibus nudis passoque capillo, 
 cum Sagana maiore ululantem. Pallor utrasque 
 fecerat horrendas aspectu. Scalpere terram 
 unguibus et pullam divellere mordicus agnam 
 coeperunt ; cruor in fossam confusus, ut inde 
 manis elicerent, animas responsa daturas. 
 Lanea et effigies erat, altera cerea : maior 
 lanea, quae poenis compesceret inferiorem ; 
 cerea suppliciter stabat servilibus, ut quae 
 iam peritura, modis. Hecaten vocat altera, saevam 
 
 21. simul ac: at the time of 
 full moon; the phases of the moon 
 have always been considered po- 
 tent in the working of spells. 
 
 22. ossa, herbas : for use in the 
 magic rites. 
 
 23 f. Vidi egomet: with these 
 words Priapus begins the story 
 which is the real subject of the 
 satire. The details of Canidia's 
 dress and appearance are conven- 
 tional, the gown girded up, the 
 black robe, the bare feet and flow- 
 ing hair. They are repeated in 
 Ovid's description of Medea, 
 Metam. 7, 1 82 f. 
 
 25. Sagana : mentioned again 
 in Epod. 5, 25. maiore: the 
 elder of two sisters. ululantem : 
 regularly of the cries of women ; 
 Aen. 2, 488. Pallor : the witches 
 shared the horror of the scene. 
 
 26. Scalpere terram : to maka 
 the fossa into which the blood of 
 the victim was allowed to flow. 
 
 27. unguibus, mordicus : these 
 details are added to heighten tho 
 horrors of the rites. 
 
 29. responsa : in the scene in 
 the lower world, Horn. Od. u, 
 36 ff., the shades come to drink 
 of the blood, and the Theban seer f 
 Tiresias, prophesies to Odysseus- 
 Cf. also the Introd. to Sat. 2, 5- 
 
 30-33. effigies : in Verg. Ed. 8, 
 80 f., one of the figures is of clay, 
 the other of wax. The one which 
 is not affected by heat represents 
 the person for whose benefit the 
 rites are performed ; the waxen 
 image represents the person who 
 is to be subdued and melted with 
 love. The dominion of the one is 
 expressed in poenis compesceret, 
 
 119
 
 I. 8, 34] HORATI 
 
 altera Tisiphonen ; serpentis atque videres 
 
 35 infernas errare canes, Lunamque rubentem, 
 ne foret his testis, post magna latere sepulchra. 
 Mentior at si quid, merdis caput inquiner albis 
 corvorum, atque in me veniat mictum atque cacatum 
 lulius et fragilis Pediatia furque Voranus. 
 
 40 Singula quid memorem ? quo pacto alterna loquentes 
 umbrae cum Sagana resonarent triste et acutum, 
 utque lupi barbam variae cum dente colubrae 
 abdiderint furtim terris, et imagine cerea 
 largior arserit ignis, et ut non testis inultus 
 
 45 horruerim voces Furiarum et facta duarum : 
 nam, displosa sonat quantum vesica, pepedi 
 diffissa nate ficus : at illae currere in urbem ; 
 Canidiae dentes, altum Saganae caliendrum 
 excidere atque herbas atque incantata lacertis 
 
 50 vincula cum m'agno risuque iocoque videres. 
 
 the submission of the other in brighter as the waxen image melted 
 
 inferiorem, snppliciter, servilibus into the flame. 
 
 modis (like a slave), iam peritura. 48. dentes: i.e. false teeth. 
 
 35. infernas : of the lower caliendrum : a wig or structure of 
 world, such as followed Hecate. false hair. The witches are rep- 
 
 36. magna . . . sepulchra : resented as hags who tried to con- 
 such great tombs as stood, and in ceal the ravages of age. 
 
 part still stand in ruins, along the 49. incantata : tied on with 
 
 Appian Way, south of the city. magic rites; a formula had been 
 
 40 f. alterna : Sagana asked uttered as the bands were fastened 
 
 questions and the shades an- about their arms. This had not 
 
 swerecl. acutum: in the thin been alluded to before, but licia. 
 
 voice of the dead, Aen. 6, 492 f. threads, were used in Verg. Eel. 
 
 42. lupi barbam : cf. Macbeth, 8, 73. 
 
 IV. I, 'Fillet of a fenny snake,' 50. risuque iocoque: cf. Sat. I, 
 
 and ' Scale of dragon, tooth of 5, 98, dedit risiisque iocosque. 
 
 wolf,' which were put into the videres : indefinite second person, 
 
 witches 1 cauldron. especially frequent with this verb, 
 
 44. largior : the fire burned e.g. Sat. i, 5, 76. 
 
 120
 
 SERMONES [i, 9, 3 
 
 This satire was written between 38 and 35 B.C., later than the first 
 group, Satires 2, 7, and 8, but before Satire i and probably before 10. 
 There is no allusion which makes a more precise dating possible and, 
 as is usually the case where distinct allusions are lacking, there is 
 nothing in the satire which would gain in interpretation if a more pre- 
 cise date could be fixed. 
 
 In form the satire is an account of a morning walk in which Horace 
 was joined by a mere acquaintance, who desired to cultivate a closer 
 intimacy with him, in order, as finally appeared, to secure through him 
 an introduction to Maecenas. Various attempts to shake him off were 
 unsuccessful and an appeal to a passing friend was without effect, until 
 chance intervened to save the poet. In grace and lightness of tone the 
 satire is equaled only by some of the odes. The struggle between 
 politeness and the desire to be free, the humorous consciousness of the 
 joke upon himself, the happily conceived dramatic form, reaching a 
 climax in the encounter with Fuscus all these make it unnecessary 
 to look for an underlying purpose. But a secondary motive was 
 doubtless the opportunity which the story afforded of returning to the 
 theme of the sixth satire and of showing again how ill-founded was 
 the suspicion that Horace was seeking social advancement through his 
 acquaintance with Maecenas. 
 
 Ibam forte Via Sacra, sicut meus est mos, 
 nescio quid meditans nugarum, totus in illis : 
 accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum, 
 
 1. Via Sacra: the principal poems, e.g. Catull. 1,4. totus : so 
 street of the city, running from omnis in hoc sum, Epist. r, i, n. 
 the Esquiline past the Palatine, 3. notus . . . tantum : i.e. a 
 along one side of the Forum. It mere acquaintance. The person 
 was the street which Horace would cannot be identified, nor is it at 
 naturally take in going from the all likely that Horace had in mind 
 residence part of the city to the a definite individual or was re- 
 Tiber. sicut . . . mos: cf. i, 6, counting the events of an actual 
 112, 122; with ibam, not with experience. His purpose was 
 meditans. rather to draw a typical picture 
 
 2. nugarum: verses; almost a of the Social Struggler, without 
 technical term for light lyric direct reference to any individual. 
 
 121
 
 9. 4] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 arreptaque manu, ' Quid agis, dulcissime rerum ? ' 
 'Suaviter, ut nunc est,' inquam, ' et cupio omnia quae 
 
 vis.' 
 
 Cum adsectaretur, ' Numquid vis ? ' occupo. At ille 
 ' Noris nos ' inquit ; ' docti sumus.' Hie ego ' Pluris 
 hoc ' inquam ' mihi eris.' Misere discedere quaerens, 
 
 4. arrepta: seizing my hand, 
 with a show of cordiality and in- 
 timacy. dulcissime rerum : my 
 dearest fellow; a very familiar 
 form of greeting, rerum is fre- 
 quently used as a generalizing 
 addition, especially with a super- 
 lative. It is of the same nature as 
 the use of a gen. plur. with a neut. 
 sing, pron., quidquid hominum. 
 
 5. The reply is made up of 
 polite phrases which, from the 
 frequency of their use, are mere 
 formulas with no more meaning 
 than the English 'Very well, 
 thank you ; I hope you are well.' 
 ut nunc est : all things consid- 
 ered, as times go. cupio ... vis : 
 a common phrase of politeness, 
 which appears in various forms 
 in dialogue. 
 
 6. adsectaretur: after speaking 
 the words of vs. 5, Horace started 
 to walk on. Numquid vis: a 
 common phrase used in taking 
 leave of another person ; formula 
 abeundi, Donatus calls it. It is 
 very frequently used in Plautus 
 and Terence. occupo: i.e. he 
 got in the words numquid vis? 
 before the other could reply, as a 
 hint that he wished to go on. 
 
 7. Noris : = noverts. Ordina- 
 rily the phrase numquid vis f ex- 
 pects no reply, but occasionally 
 (Trin. 192, Capt. 191, M. G. 575) 
 the person addressed takes the 
 question literally, as here, and 
 replies with a verb in the subjv., 
 as if with volo ; ' yes, there is ; I 
 should like to have you make my 
 acquaintance.' docti sumus: I'm 
 a literary man, 1 ' I'm a man of cul- 
 ture.' doctus was used especially 
 of the newer school of poets, those 
 who followed the Alexandrian mod- 
 els ; it became a kind of party cry, 
 employed by the new school as a 
 term of honor and by their oppo- 
 nents as a term of ridicule. Hor- 
 ace was distinctly of the opposite 
 school (cf. Sat. i, 10, 19) and the 
 person is therefore represented as 
 offering, as an inducement to 
 further acquaintance, a reason 
 which would, in fact, lead Horace 
 to avoid him. 
 
 7 f. Pluris hoc . . . eris : /shall 
 value you all the more for that, i.e. 
 'because you are doctus^; polite- 
 ness struggles with irony. 
 
 8. Misere : awfully ; so below, 
 14; a colloquialism, very frequent 
 in Plautus and Terence. 
 
 123
 
 SERMONES 
 
 f I, 9, 20 
 
 ire tnodo ocius, interdum consistere, in aurem 
 10 dicere nescio quid puero, cum sudor ad imos 
 manaret talos. ' O te, Bolane, cerebri 
 felicem ! ' aiebam tacitus ; cum quidlibet ille 
 garriret, vicos, urbem laudaret. Vt illi 
 nil respondebam, ' Misere cupis ' inquit ' abire ; 
 15 iamdudum video ; sed nil agis ; usque tenebo ; 
 
 persequar. Hinc quo nunc iter est tibi ? ' ' Nil opus 
 
 est te 
 
 circumagi ; quendam volo visere non tibi notum ; 
 trans Tiberim longe cubat is, prope Caesaris hortos." 
 ' Nil habeo quod agam, et non sum piger ; usque se- 
 
 quar te.' 
 20 Demitto auriculas, ut iniquae mentis asellus, 
 
 10. puero : his attendant, pedi- 
 sequus, to whom he pretends to 
 give some private orders. dicere : 
 historical infin., as are ire and con- 
 sistere. sudor : as all his efforts 
 to escape fail. 
 
 ii. Bolane : a man of hot tem- 
 per, who would not have been long 
 restrained by a sense of courtesy. 
 cerebri : for the gen., cf. integer 
 vitae ; for the meaning, cf. cerebro- 
 sus, Sal. i, 5, 21. 
 
 13. vicos, urbem laudaret: i.e. 
 talked cheerfully about trifles, en- 
 deavoring to lead Horace into 
 conversation. 
 
 14 ff. As Horace's lack of cor- 
 diality is too obvious to be ignored, 
 the persistent man attempts to joke 
 about it, hoping in this way to 
 extract a disclaimer. nil agis : 
 colloquial ; ifs no use. 
 
 17 f. circumagi: of your being 
 dragged around. visere : to call 
 upon. This is, of course, an in- 
 vention of the moment, elaborated 
 in the following words, in which 
 the details are given in the order 
 in which they occur to him : 'across 
 the Tiber a long way off he's 
 sick in bed, too way over by 
 Caesar's Gardens.' Cf. the similar 
 embarrassed search for an excuse 
 in Catull. 10, 28 ff. Caesaris 
 hortos : an estate on the Janiculum, 
 left by Caesar's will to the Roman 
 people, to be a public park. 
 
 20 f . Demitto auriculas : a con- 
 densed way of saying ' I felt like 
 an ill-treated donkey, whose ears 
 drop down when he is overloaded.' 
 dorso : abl. with subiit, as in Aen. 
 2, 708, subito umeris. subiit : the 
 subj. is asellus ; onus is the object. 
 
 123
 
 I, 9. 
 
 HORATI 
 
 -5 
 
 cum gravius dorso subiit onus. Incipit ille : 
 1 Si bene me novi, non Viscum pluris amicum, 
 non Varium facies ; nam quis me scribere pluris 
 aut citius possit versus ? quis membra movere 
 mollius? invideat quod et Hermogenes, ego canto.' 
 Interpellandi locus hie erat : ' Est tibi mater, 
 
 The final syllable is long, as fre- 
 quently in the perf. indie, in 
 Plautus. 
 
 22. Si bene me novi : a condi- 
 tion in form only ; as sure ai I 
 know myself. Viscum : there 
 were two brothers of this name, 
 both literary men and friends of 
 Horace and Maecenas. They are 
 mentioned with honor in Sat. I, 10, 
 83 and one of them was a guest at 
 the dinner described in Sat. 2, 8. 
 Varium : see note on i, 5, 40. 
 
 23 ff. To any one who knew 
 Horace well and this satire is 
 intended especially for the amuse- 
 ment of his intimate friends it 
 would be plain that the selection 
 of these three accomplishments as 
 recommendations to his favor 
 was, like the mention of doctus in 
 vs. 7, a most comical blunder. 
 He particularly disliked rapid and 
 profuse verse writing (cf. I, 4, 
 II ff., 17 f.) ; he regarded dancing 
 as scarcely decent (Sat. 2, 1, 24 f.) ; 
 and his opinion of singing in 
 general and of Hermogenes in 
 particular is plainly implied in Sat. 
 I, 3, I ff. The prose order of the 
 last phrase would be ego canto 
 quod et Hermogenes invideat. 
 
 26 ff. Interpellandi locus : hen 
 was my chance to break in. The 
 context shows that Horace had 
 invented, as he hoped, a new ex- 
 pedient for getting rid of his per- 
 severing friend, but the exact 
 nature of the plan is not at first 
 sight apparent. The use of inter- 
 pellandi shows that it was not 
 connected with the remarks in vs. 
 22-25 i the words quis \_ = qnibns\ 
 te salvo est opus must mean that 
 he was going to point out some 
 serious danger which would be in- 
 curred in accompanying him, and 
 the mention of dependent relatives 
 is an elaborate provision to antici- 
 pate a possible declaration from 
 the other that he did not fear 
 danger. All these combine to 
 indicate that Horace was prepar- 
 ing to say that the friend on whom 
 he was going to call had a con- 
 tagious disease, exposure to which 
 would be almost certainly fatal. 
 It is an added touch of humor 
 that Horace represents himself as 
 so discouraged by the first slight 
 failure for the dependent rela- 
 tives were not essential to the 
 plan that he surrendered in de- 
 spair. 
 
 124
 
 SERMONES 
 
 1. 9. 38 
 
 cognati, quis te salvo est opus ? ' ' Haud mihi quisquam ; 
 
 omnis composui.' ' Felices ! Nunc ego resto ; 
 
 confice ; namque instat fatum mihi triste, Sabella 
 30 quod puero cecinit divina mota anus urna : 
 
 "Hunc neque df;a venena, nee hosticus auferet ensis 
 
 nee laterum dolor aut tussis, nee tarda podagra ; 
 
 garrulus hunc quando consumet cumque ; loquaces, 
 
 si sapiat, vitet, simul atque adoleverit aetas." ' 
 35 Ventura erat ad Vestae, quarta iam parte diei 
 
 praeterita, et casu tune respondere vadato 
 
 debebat ; quod ni f ecisset, perdere litem. 
 
 ' Si me amas,' inquit, ' paulum hie ades.' ' Inteream, si 
 
 28-34. These lines express his and the law courts were near it. 
 
 emotions, but were of course not 
 spoken aloud. 
 
 28. Nunc ego resto : i.e. ( my 
 turn next ; finish me off, too.' 
 
 29. Sabella : with anus. There 
 are various references to the su- 
 perstitions of the peasants in the 
 mountains away from the influence 
 of the city. 
 
 30. divina mota . . . urna* : abl. 
 abs. ; shaking the lots in her urn, 
 until one of them fell out. 
 
 31-34. The epic-oracular style 
 is parodied in dira, the plur. 
 venena, hosticus, ensis, in the trans- 
 ferred epithet tarda. laterum 
 dolor : pleurisy. quando . . . cum- 
 que : tmesis ; some time or other. 
 
 35 f. Ventum erat: the plupf. 
 implies by this time, ' while all this 
 was going on.' ad Vestae; sc. 
 templum, as in English St. Paul's, 
 St. Mary's. The temple of Vesta 
 was at the lower end of the Forum 
 
 quarta . . . praeterita : i.e. about 
 nine o'clock. This has been held 
 to be inconsistent with i, 6, 122, ad 
 quartam iaceo; post hanc vagor, 
 but it is obvious that neither 
 statement is meant to be taken 
 precisely. The only reason for 
 mentioning the hour here is to 
 show that the courts were open 
 for business and so to introduce 
 the next scene in the little drama. 
 respondere : a technical term 
 of law ; to appear in court. 
 vadato : apparently an impersonal 
 abl. abs. like sortito, auspicato; 
 under bonds, having given a 
 bond, 
 
 38. Si mS amas : monosyllabic 
 hiatus with shortening of the long 
 vowel ; this is very common in 
 Plautus, but only under the ictus. 
 The words are a mere phrase of 
 politeness to soften the urgency 
 of the imperative ; ' will you be so 
 
 I2 5
 
 I. 9, 39] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 aut valeo stare aut novi civilia iura ; 
 40 et propero quo scis.' ' Dubius sum quid faciam, 1 
 
 inquit, 
 ' tene relinquam an rem.' ' Me, sodes.' ' Non faciam,' 
 
 ille, 
 
 et praecedere coepit. Ego, ut contendere durum est 
 cum victore, sequor. ' Maecenas quomodo tecum ? ' 
 hinc repetit; ' paucorum hominum et mentis bene sanae. 
 45 Nemo dexterius fortuna est usus ; haberes 
 
 kind as to . . .' ades : in the 
 technical sense, to be present in 
 court as a supporting friend and 
 adviser, advocatus. The same 
 request is made to Horace in Sat. 
 2, 6, 34 f. Inteream: /'// be 
 hanged. So Catull. 92, 4, dispe- 
 ream nisi amo. 
 
 39. valeo stare: am strong 
 enough to stand, as was customary 
 in the praetor's court. The excuse 
 is of course quite inconsistent with 
 propero quo sets, but Horace rep- 
 resents himself as having reached 
 a point where he was careless of 
 either consistency or truth. 
 
 41. rem: my case, which would 
 go by default, if he failed to ap- 
 pear. sodes : = si audes, please, 
 if you please, used like sis (=sivis, 
 Sat. i, 4, 14 n.) to soften an 
 imperative. Audeo (from aveo, 
 avidus, avideo) regularly means 
 to wish, desire, in Plautus; the 
 meaning to venture, dare, is later. 
 43. Maecenas quomodo tecum : 
 how do you and Maecenas get on 
 together/ The pride which Horace 
 felt in the friendship of Maecenas 
 
 and the strength of his determina- 
 tion that the friendship should 
 remain disinterested render this 
 question peculiarly offensive. 
 
 44. hinc repetit : with this he 
 begins again, after the slight pause. 
 paucorum . . . sanae : a man 
 of few friends and of very sound 
 judgment (cf. Ter. Eun. 408 f., 
 sic homost] per paucorum homi- 
 num) ; there are various refer- 
 ences to the care with which Mae- 
 cenas selected the limited number 
 of friends whom he admitted to 
 intimacy ; but the best commen- 
 taries on these words are Sat. I, 6, 
 51 f., praesertim cautum dignos 
 assumere, prava ambit 'ione procul, 
 with the account, which follows, of 
 Horace's introduction, and the 
 general remarks in Sat. I, 3, 58 ff., 
 summarized in pro bene sano ac 
 non incauto fictum astutumque 
 vocamus. 
 
 45. Nemo . . . usus : i.e. 'you've 
 been very lucky and very skillful, 
 too, in the way you have used 
 your chances to get into the circle 
 of his friends.' This is the same 
 
 126
 
 SERMONES 
 
 50 
 
 magnum adiutorem, posset qui ferre secundas, 
 
 hunc hominem velles si tradere ; dispeream, ni 
 
 summosses omnis.' ' Non isto vivimus illic 
 
 quo tu rere modo ; domus hac nee purior ulla est 
 
 nee magis his aliena malis ; nil mi officit, inquam, 
 
 ditior hie aut est quia doctior ; est locus uni 
 
 cuique suus.' ' Magnum narras, vix credibile ! ' ' Atqui 
 
 suggestion that Horace vehe- 
 mently repudiates in Sat. I, 6, 52 
 ff. ; fortuna here expresses briefly 
 what is there emphasized in feli- 
 cem, casu, sortitus, fors. But the 
 idea in dexterius usus is an addi- 
 tion which prepares the way for 
 the proposal in the next sen- 
 tence : ( you have shown your- 
 self a skillful wire-puller; now 
 bring me into the game to help 
 you and you'll complete your 
 victory.' 
 
 [The difficulty which all com- 
 mentators, beginning with the 
 scholiasts, have felt in interpreting 
 these lines and in assigning them 
 to the speakers is due, I think, to 
 the fact that Horace is not report- 
 ing the whole conversation, but is 
 giving only the main points, omit- 
 ting, especially in 44 f., the con- 
 necting links of the thought. 
 This is a favorite method with 
 him (e.g. Sat. I, 4, 52 ff., 85 ff., 
 I,. 6, 17-25) and it suits perfectly 
 the informal style of the Sermones, 
 but it sometimes leaves the 
 thought insufficiently expressed. 
 In this passage, between the de- 
 sire to suggest the subject of the 
 
 remarks and the desire to suppress 
 the details, with their low estimate 
 of Maecenas and of himself, he 
 has suppressed too much.] 
 
 46. secundas : sc. partes ; the 
 second actor on the stage should 
 support the leading actor. 
 
 47. hunc hominem : colloquial 
 forme; with jocular purpose like 
 ' your humble servant,' ' the under- 
 signed.' dispeream, ni: cf. the 
 line of Catullus, quoted above. 
 
 48. summosses : = summo- 
 visses cf. surrexe, 73. The plupf. 
 looks forward to the completion 
 of the process. 
 
 48-52. This is the longest 
 speech that Horace makes in the 
 whole conversation, as though he 
 felt the insinuations in 44-48 to 
 be unbearable without the most 
 earnest and explicit denial . 
 aliena : free from ; but malis is, 
 grammatically, a dative. in- 
 quam : / tell you ; the insertion 
 of this in the midst of his words 
 adds to the earnestness. 
 
 52 f . Magnum . . . credibile : 
 the offensive incredulity betrays 
 the character of the speaker. 
 Atqui sic habet : it's so, anyhow. 
 
 127
 
 >. 9. 53] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 sic habet.' ' Accendis, quare cupiam magis illi 
 proximus esse.' 'Velis tantummodo: quae tua virtus 
 
 55 expugnabis ; et est qui vinci possit, eoque 
 
 difficilis aditus primes habet.' ' Haud mihi dero : 
 muneribus servos corrumpam; non, hodie si 
 exclusus fuero, desistam ; tempora quaeram, 
 occurram in triviis, deducam. Nil sine magno 
 
 60 vita labore dedit mortalibus.' Haec dum agit ecce 
 Fuscus Aristius occurrit, mihi carus et ilium 
 qui pulchre nosset. Consistimus. ' Vnde venis et 
 quo tendis ? ' rogat et respondet. Vellere coepi 
 et prensare manu lentissima brachia, nutans, 
 
 After permitting himself some 
 warmth of expression, Horace falls 
 back upon short answers. 
 
 54-56. Velis tantummodo: you 
 have only to wish it. virtus : 
 with the underlying sense of 'im- 
 pudence,' pushing determination.' 
 Horace represents himself as re- 
 turning from the earnestness of 
 48 ff. and the curtness of 52 f. to 
 the ironical attitude, with a pleas- 
 ant anticipation of seeing Mae- 
 cenas attacked next. To further 
 the joke he adds the encouraging 
 words of 55 f. : 'if you find that 
 he makes it a little hard at first, 
 that will be only because he is 
 conscious of his weakness.' 
 
 56. dero: = deero. 
 
 59 f . deducam : escort him from 
 his house to the Forum, a mark 
 of respect to men of eminence. 
 Cicero mentions deduct, reduci 
 among the attentions paid to old 
 men. Nil . . . mortalibus : a 
 
 maxim of proverbial philosophy, 
 by which the social struggler en- 
 courages himself to renewed efforts. 
 61. Fuscus Aristius : Carm. I, 
 22, Integer vitae and Epist. i, 10, 
 are addressed to him. He is men- 
 tioned in Sat. i, 10, 83, among 
 Horace's most valued friends. 
 The varying tradition of the 
 scholiasts calls him graintnaticus 
 (i.e. a literary critic) and a writer 
 of plays. 
 
 62 f. pulchre : colloquial, like 
 belle, valide, miser e. qui . . . 
 nosset : a characterizing clause, 
 parallel to the adj. carus ; ' and 
 perfectly well acquainted with my 
 companion.' Vnde . . . tendis: 
 i.e. the usual questions are asked 
 and answered. So Sat. 2, 4, I, 
 unde et quo Catius ? 
 
 63 f. vellere : to pull his toga. 
 lentissima: unfeeling; i.e. Fuscus 
 gave no sign that he understood 
 what Horace wanted. 
 
 128
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [i9,7S 
 
 65 distorquens oculos, ut me eriperet. Male salsus 
 ridens dissimulare , meum iecur urere bills. 
 ' Certe nescio quid secreto velle loqui te 
 aiebas mecum.' ' Memini bene, sed meliore 
 tempore dicam ; hodie tricesima sabbata : vin tu 
 
 70 curtis ludaeis oppedere ? ' ' Nulla mihi,' inquam, 
 'religio est.' 'At mi; sum paulo infirmior, unus 
 multorum. Ignosces ; alias loquar.' Huncine solera 
 tarn nigrum surrexe mihi ! Fugit improbus ac me 
 sub cultro linquit. Casu venit obvius illi 
 
 75 adversarius, et, ' Quo tu, turpissime ? ' magna 
 
 65. Male salsus: the wretched cesima sabbata to be an invention 
 
 joker. The Integer vitae is evi- 
 dence that he loved a joke. 
 
 66. ridens : i.e. with the exas- 
 perating smile of a friend who 
 perceived nothing unusual in the 
 situation. The rest of the line 
 points the contrast ; ' but I, for 
 my part, was in a perfect fury. 1 
 iecur . . . bills : the supposed seat 
 of the emotions, as the heart in 
 modern times. 
 
 68. Memini bene : the reply 
 is intended to show that Fus- 
 cus understood perfectly that 
 Horace was inventing the engage- 
 ment. 
 
 69. tricesima sabbata : this and 
 the illusion to circumcision (cur- 
 tis) show a surprising knowledge 
 on Horace's part of Jewish cus- 
 toms, but it is not possible to 
 identify this with any known Jew- 
 ish feast. Indeed, it would increase 
 the humor of the solemn scruples 
 of Fuscus, if we suppose the tri- 
 
 of the moment. 
 
 70 f. oppedere : insult. Nuila 
 . . . religio : in the eagerness of 
 desperation Horace is willing to 
 declare that he hasn't a single re- 
 ligious scruple. 
 
 73. surrexe = surrexisse\ the 
 infin. in exclamation, either with 
 or without -ne, is colloquial and is 
 very common in Terence. 
 
 74. sub cultro : like a helpless 
 victim under the uplifted knife of 
 the priest. 
 
 75 ff. adversarius : his opponent 
 in the suit which he had aban- 
 doned, vs. 41. If a party to a 
 suit failed to appear, his opponent 
 could summon him and, calling 
 upon a bystander to act as witness, 
 could take him by force into court. 
 The law of the XII Tables was ' si 
 in ius vocat, ito, ni it (if he does 
 not come), antestamino (call a 
 witness); igitur, em (= eum) cap- 
 ito.' The question licet antestari? 
 
 HOR. SAT. 9 
 
 129
 
 I, 9, 76] HORATI 
 
 inclamat voce, et ' Licet antestari ? ' Ego vero 
 oppono auriculam. Rapit in ius ; clamor utrimque, 
 undique concursus. Sic me servavit Apollo. 
 
 is addressed to Horace and his as- 78. Apollo, as the guardian oi 
 
 sent was expressed, according to poetry and poets. The satire 
 
 the legal procedure, by allowing thus closes with a reminiscence 
 
 the other person to touch his ear. of its opening lines, nescio quid 
 
 The short sentences hurry the meditans nugarum. 
 scene to its conclusion. 
 
 10 
 
 There are many allusions in this satire to persons and events, but 
 none sufficiently definite to fix the date of composition. Evidently it 
 was written after Sat. 4 and therefore after 2, 7, and 8, somewhere 
 between 38 B.C. and 35. The large circle of friends whose names are 
 mentioned in the closing lines would indicate a late date, and the 
 general tone is that of an epilogue to the whole collection, as the first 
 satire is an introduction to the whole. This interpretation also har- 
 monizes with the last line of the satire (see notes). 
 
 ' It is quite true that I said that Lucilius was a rough verse writer. 
 His power as a satirist I acknowledge, but that alone does not make a 
 poet. Many other qualities are necessary to a poetic style, brevity, 
 variety, wit, such polished wit as is found in the Old Comedy, of which, 
 indeed, some of my critics seem never to have heard. The mingling 
 of Greek with Latin in Lucilius is not a merit, but a defect ; no serious 
 Roman writer mixes the two languages or writes in Greek at all. 
 
 ' The grand style I leave to others to attempt, successfully or not. 
 My aim is less ambitious. The fields of comedy and tragedy, of epic 
 and bucolic poetry, are well occupied and I have turned to satire, not, 
 however, to be the rival of Lucilius or to lessen his glory. But it is 
 true that I have mentioned his defects, as he had noticed the defects 
 of Ennius and Accius. The copiousness of Lucilius and his lack of 
 finish are real defects, which, if he were writing now, he would himself 
 perceive and correct. 
 
 'For finish of style appeals to the only public worth considering. 
 Hermogenes may not like my work, but if Plotius and Varius, Maecenas 
 and Vergil, approve, I need no other defence and can publish this book 
 of satires without misgivings.' 
 
 130
 
 SERMONES [i, 10 
 
 In the fourth satire Horace had defended himself against the charge 
 that he was malicious and was seeking notoriety. The reply was in 
 general direct and convincing, but in the course of his argument he 
 happened to say (vss. 6-13) that his prototype, Lucilius, had written 
 too profusely and with too little attention to finish. This chance re- 
 mark which is abundantly justified by the extant fragments of 
 Lucilius had brought upon him some censure from that school of 
 literary critics in Rome whose cardinal doctrine was the excellence 
 of the early Latin poetry, and had at the same time exposed him to the 
 less sincere attacks of others who seized the opportunity to renew their 
 personal and unfriendly criticisms. This satire is a reply to both 
 classes. To the serious admirers of early Latin poetry he replies with 
 a serious discussion of the nature and causes of the defects of Lucilius 
 and with candid praise of his merits. To the little clique of personal 
 enemies he scarcely replies at all, brushing them aside with contemptu- 
 ous brevity and twitting them (17-19) with their ignorance of the very 
 poetry about which they were pretending to be solicitous. 
 
 Prefixed to the text of this satire in some Mss. are eight verses : < 
 
 Lucili, quam sis mendosus, teste Catone, 
 
 defensore tuo, pervincam, qui male factos 
 
 emendare parat versos ; hoc lenius ille, 
 
 quo vir est melior, longe subtilior illo, 
 
 qui multum puer et loris et funibus udis 
 
 exhortatus, ut esset opem qui ferre poetis 
 
 antiquis posset contra fastidia nostra, 
 
 grammaticorum equitum doctissimus. Vt redeam illuc : 
 
 These lines contain Horatian phrases (cf. loris et funibus with 
 Epod. 4, 3, Epist. I, 16, 47) and opinions (cf. vs. 7 with Epist. 2, I, 
 1 8 ff.) ; the reference to P. Valerius Cato, though not exactly identical 
 with the statement in Sueton. de Gram. 2, is a similar bit cf gram- 
 matical tradition ; the satirical allusion in vss. 5 fF. is obscure and con- 
 tradictory, but comes evidently from the same school of literary and 
 personal gossip ; the phrasing is stiff (hoc lenius tile, ille and illo refer- 
 ring to different persons, the apposition of doctissimus \.Q gut), and the 
 joining of the lines to vs. I of the satire by the words ut redeam illuc is 
 very awkward. These facts all point to one conclusion, that the verses 
 were written by a grammarian who saw in the abruptness of nempe dixi 
 an opportunity to perpetuate a bit of his own learned satire by prefixing 
 it to the text of Horace. 
 
 13*
 
 1, 10, I] 
 
 ITORATI 
 
 Nempe incomposito dixi pede currere versus 
 
 Lucili. Quis tarn Lucili fautor inepte est 
 
 ut non hoc f ateatur ? At idem, quod sale multo 
 
 urbem defricuit, charta laudatur eadem. 
 
 Nee tamen, hoc tribuens, dederim quoque cetera; 
 
 nam sic 
 
 et Laberi mimos ut pulchra poemata mirer. 
 Ergo non satis est risu diducere rictum 
 
 1. Nempc : yes, I did say, with 
 intentional abruptness, as if in 
 immediate reply to a critic. 
 incomposito . . . pede currere : 
 the exact words are durus com- 
 ponere versus, Sat. i, 4, 8, and 
 cum flueret lutulentus, i, 4, u. 
 
 2. fautor: with a tinge of the 
 meaning that it has in Plautus, 
 Amph. 67, 78, claqueur, a man 
 hired to applaud in the theater, so 
 partisan. As a verbal noun in 
 combination with est it takes the 
 adv. inepte. tarn : with inepte. 
 
 3 f. idem . . . eadem : empha- 
 sizing the adversative connection 
 expressed in at] so in English 
 but at the same time. sale multo 
 defricuit . . . scoured down the city 
 with strong brine. Individually 
 the words are to be taken in their 
 literal sense, but the phrase as a 
 whole implies the common com- 
 parison of wit to salt. charta: i.e. 
 in the same satire ; cf. Sat. \, 5, 
 104 and membrana, Sat. 2, 3, 2. 
 
 5. sic : on that principle, by 
 such reasoning, i.e. if it were 
 granted that wit alone made poetry. 
 
 6. Laberi : Decimus Laberius 
 
 was a knight, who had died some 
 ten years before the date of this 
 satire. He was one of two or 
 three successful writers of mimes, 
 popular farces which were put 
 into literary form in the Cicero- 
 nian period. About 150 lines or 
 fragments from Laberius are pre- 
 served (see Ribbeck, Com. Rom. 
 Fragm?, pp. 279 ff.), including a 
 large part of the prologue spoken 
 by Laberius when he was com- 
 pelled by Caesar to act in one of 
 his own farces. Some of the lines 
 of this are well known : 
 
 Ego bis tricenis annis actis sfne nota 
 Eques Romanus e Lare egressus 
 
 meo 
 Domtim revertar mi'mus. 
 
 Necesse est multostfmeat quern multf 
 timent. 
 
 But such farces were of course 
 not ptilchra poemata. 
 
 7. Ergo : the mere mention ot 
 Laberius is enough to prove that 
 witty verse is not necessarily 
 poetry. diducere rictum : a 
 slightly contemptuous colloquial- 
 ism ; to make your hearer grin. 
 
 132
 
 SERMONES 
 
 10, 14 
 
 auditoris et est quaedam tamen hie quoque virtus ; 
 est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia neu se 
 impediat verbis lassas onerantibus auris ; 
 et sermone opus est modo tristi, saepe iocoso, 
 defendente vicem modo rhetoris atque poetae, 
 interdum urbani, parcentis viribus atque 
 extenuantis eas consulto. Ridiculum acri 
 
 nence both by the definition par- 
 cent's, extenuantis, and by the 
 carrying over of the thought into 
 the next sentence. The reference 
 to the Old Comedy, as a standard 
 of polished wit, is then used to 
 clinch the argument, as in Sat. 
 i, 4 it had been used to open 
 it. 
 
 9. brevitate: that condensation 
 of style which is secured by the 
 selection of words that carry the 
 meaning adequately (ut currat 
 sententia) and by the avoidance of 
 commonplace and meaningless 
 phrases. The quality is admir- 
 ably exemplified by Horace in the 
 Odes,e.g. 1,5; 1,24; 1,31. 
 
 12. defendente vicem : playing 
 the part, using the dignified and 
 serious style of the orator or poet. 
 Horace has also partes defendere, 
 A. P. 193 f,, and vice fungi, A. P. 
 304. Strictly defendente should 
 agree, not with sermone but with 
 some word like scriptore. 
 
 13. urbani : first used as a 
 technical term of rhetoric bj 
 Cicero. parcentis viribus : ex- 
 pressed in Epist. i, 9, 9 by dissi- 
 mulator opis propriae. 
 
 -r . . virtus : a concession 
 in ihe form of a parenthetic 
 statement. 
 
 9 ff. In these lines Horace 
 again discusses the nature of satire, 
 as he had already done in Sat. 
 1,4,39-61. This argument, how- 
 ever, since its main purpose is to 
 justify the criticism of Lucilius, 
 is less general and only those 
 qualities are mentioned in which 
 it is implied that Lucilius was 
 lacking. These are specifications 
 under the general statement durus 
 componere versus and are, in form, 
 two in number brevity and va- 
 riety. But the idea of variety is 
 expressed by contrasting two 
 styles, the serious and the light, 
 and the contrast is carried on 
 through vs. 15; in a very gen- 
 eral way tristi, rhetoris atque 
 poetae and acri express one side, 
 and wcoso, urbani, and ridiculum 
 the other. The implication, how- 
 ever, is not merely that Lucilius 
 was monotonous, but also and es- 
 pecially that he lacked the lighter 
 and more polished forms of wit. 
 The quality of urbanitas is there- 
 fore brought into greater promi- 
 
 133
 
 I, ">, 15] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 fortius et melius magnas plerumque secat res. 
 Illi, scripta quibus comoedia prisca viris est, 
 hoc stabant, hoc sunt imitandi ; quos neque pulcher 
 Hermogenes umquam legit, neque simius iste 
 nil praeter Calvum et doctus cantare Catullum. 
 ' At magnum fecit, quod verbis Graeca Latinis 
 miscuit.' O seri studiorum ! quine putetis 
 difficile et mirum, Rhodio quod Pitholeonti 
 
 15. secat : decides, settles. Cic- 
 ero, expressing the same thought 
 (lie Oral. 2, 58, 236), \\sesdtssolvit. 
 
 16. An intentional repetition of 
 i, 4, 2, in order to remind the 
 reader that Horace is maintaining 
 the opinion there expressed. 
 
 17 ff. 'But the men who are 
 pretending to be so disturbed by 
 my criticism of Lucilius know 
 nothing of the best standards or 
 even of the earlier Latin writers.' 
 
 pulcher : the point of applying 
 this adj. to Hermogenes is not 
 known, but it is meant to contrast 
 with simius. simius: the scho- 
 liast says that this is Demetrius, 
 mentioned also in vs. 90. 
 
 19. Calvum: C. Licinius Cal- 
 vus, the orator and poet, an in- 
 timate friend of Catullus. He had 
 a high, perhaps an exaggerated, 
 reputation with his contemporaries. 
 
 Catullum : C. Valerius Catullus, 
 one of the four great Roman poets, 
 inferior to Horace in sanity and 
 judgment, but superior in spon- 
 taneity and brilliancy. This is 
 the only allusion to him in Horace, 
 and, while the contempt is di- 
 
 rected against simius iste, it can- 
 not be denied that the allusion is 
 slighting in tone. 
 
 20. Graeca Latinis : to judge by 
 the extant fragments the Greek 
 words are sometimes technical 
 terms, sometimes quotations, and 
 only occasionally used for comic 
 effect. Lucilius himself ridicules 
 the use of Greek words in common 
 conversation (vss. 88-94, Marx). 
 
 21. seri studiorum : a translation 
 of ci/a^uta^eis, men who have just 
 learned something that everybody 
 else has known before and who 
 parade their new knowledge. 
 qui-ne : nom.plur. The appending 
 of -ne to a relative is not unfre- 
 quent. Translate oh, pedants, to 
 think ... [I will not add to the 
 mass of commentary on this pas- 
 sage, but will refer to A.J.P. XI, I 
 (41), pp. 17-19, and Schmalz, B. 
 Ph. W., 1907, Sp. 1292.] 
 
 22. Pitholeonti : probably Pith- 
 olaus, a barely known writer of 
 epigrams. The context supplies 
 all that is necessary to understand 
 the point ; he used Greek words 
 in his verse and yet was so poor a 
 
 134
 
 SERMON ES 
 
 [i, 10, 29 
 
 contigit ? ' At sermo lingua concinnus utraque 
 suavior, ut Chio nota si commixta Falerni est' 
 25 Cum versus facias, te ipsum percenter, an et cum 
 dura tibi peragenda rei sit causa Petilli ? 
 scilicet oblitus patriaeque patrisque Latini 
 (mm Pedius causas exsudet Poplicola atque 
 Cbrvinus, patriis intermiscere petita 
 
 poet that the mere mention of his 
 name is an argument. Cf. the 
 similar condensed argument in 
 vs. 6. 
 
 23 f. concinnus : blended ; the 
 word anticipates the following 
 comparison. nota: label, brand ; 
 the mark attached to the amphora 
 to tell the vintage. Chio, Falerni : 
 a slight flavor of the sweet Greek 
 wines was thought to improve the 
 native Falernian ; cf. Carm. i, 20, 
 2 f., where Horace speaks of put- 
 ting his wine into a jug that had 
 held Greek wine. 
 
 25 f. ' Are you not thinking too 
 exclusively of verse writing ? 
 Would you mix Greek with Latin 
 if you were arguing a difficult case 
 at law ? ' That is, the use of an 
 occasional Greek word is an arti- 
 fice of style which no one would 
 employ in serious speech ; cf. 
 vicem rhetor is, vs. 12. versus 
 facias : in your verse making, with 
 a slight tone of depreciation. The 
 subjv. is used because the omitted 
 main clause would be subjv., 
 num sermo . . . suavior sit. 
 causa Petilli: see note on Sat. I, 
 4,94- 
 
 27. patrisque Latini : Father La- 
 tinus, from whom our language 
 gets its name. Cf. the reference 
 to Quirinus, vs. 32. 
 
 28. Pedius Poplicola : perhaps a 
 brother of Messalla (vs. 85), who 
 had been adopted by Q. Pedius, 
 a nephew of Julius Caesar. Al- 
 most nothing is known of him, 
 but Horace uses him here as a 
 type of the great lawyer. 
 
 29. Corvinus : M. Valerius Mes- 
 salla Corvinus, the friend of Ti- 
 bullus and one of the important 
 personages of the Augustus period, 
 distinguished as an orator. It is 
 known that he took special pains 
 (exsudet} to preserve a pure Latin 
 style, excluding Greek derivatives. 
 intermiscere ; to thrust in 
 anting. This is the proper mean- 
 ing (A intermiscere with the dative, 
 not merely to mix together; cf. 
 Verg. Kd. 10, 5, sic tibi, . . . Doris 
 amara suam non intermisceat un- 
 dam, ' not intermingle her waters 
 with yours' ; Livy, 4, 56, 3 ; 10, 
 20, 8. The sense is, ' would you 
 actually be so forgetful of the very 
 name of your country that, when 
 Pedius and Corvinus are working 
 
 J35
 
 I. 10. 3] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 30 verba foris malis, Canusini more bilinguis ? 
 
 atque ego cum Graecos facerem, natus mare citra, 
 versiculos, vetuit me tali voce Quirinus, 
 post mediam noctem visus, cum somnia vera : 
 ' In silvam non ligna feras insanius, ac si 
 
 35 magnas Graecorum malis implere catervas.' 
 
 Turgidus Alpinus iugulat dum Memnona, dumque 
 defingit Rheni luteum caput, haec ego ludo, 
 quae neque in aede sonent certantia iudice Tarpa, 
 
 out a speech in pure Latin, you 
 would wish to thrust in among 
 their native words (patrtis) your 
 imported Greek phrases (fetita 
 verba foris) ? ' [This gives the 
 sense which Bentley, interpreting 
 the passage correctly, but not dis- 
 tinguishing intermisceo with the 
 dat. from misceo, sought to get by 
 supplying eos.~\ 
 
 30. foris : from abroad, from the 
 Greek. Canusini bilinguis: at 
 Canusium and in Apulia generally 
 both Greek and Latin (or, earlier, 
 Oscan) were native languages, as 
 both German and French are na- 
 tive in parts of Switzerland. This 
 seemed odd to a Roman, who was 
 obliged to learn Greek in school ; 
 probably, also, neither language 
 was spoken in strict purity. 
 
 31. atque ego: 'I too once 
 thought of making Greek verses, 
 but Quirinus forbade it.' Quiri- 
 nus : the deified Romulus, as head 
 of the Roman race. Cf. Latini, 
 vs. 27. 
 
 33. cum somnia vera : this su- 
 perstition is often referred to. 
 
 34. In silvam . . . ligna : prover- 
 bial, like yXavK es 'Afli/ras, ' carry- 
 ing coals to Newcastle.' ac si: 
 than if. 
 
 36 ff. The connection of thought 
 is somewhat elliptical ; ' giving up 
 Greek, therefore, and leaving to 
 others their high and mighty epics, 
 I turn to a humbler style.' 
 Alpinus : this satirical side-stroke 
 would have been immediately in- 
 telligible to Horace's contempora- 
 ries. Probably Alpinus is a nick- 
 name for M. Furius Bibaculus, the 
 author of a poem on Gaul from 
 which the bombastic line [ftippi- 
 ter\, hibernas cana nive conspuit 
 Alpis is quoted, Sat. 2, 5, 41. He 
 wrote also an epic which included 
 the killing of Memnon by Achilles, 
 here alluded to with a play upon 
 the double meaning of tttgitlat, 
 'murders.' The phrase defingit . . . 
 caput, ' misshapes the muddy head 
 of the Rhine,' contains a similar 
 play upon some passage in the poem 
 on Gaul, but the point is lost to us. 
 
 38. aede : called by the scholi- 
 asts aedes Musarum^ a temple in 
 
 136
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [1, 10, 45 
 
 nec redeant iterum atque iterum spectanda theatris. 
 
 40 Arguta meretrice potes Davoque Chremeta 
 eludente senem comis garrire libellos 
 unus vivorum, Fundani ; Pollio regum 
 facia canit pede ter percusso ; forte epos acer, 
 ut nehiQj Varius ducit ; molle atque facetum 
 
 45 Vergilio adnuerunt gaudentes rure Camenae. 
 
 which Sp. Maecius Tarpa, perhaps 
 as public censor of plays and as 
 head of the collegium poetarum, 
 passed judgment upon new poetry. 
 Tarpa is referred to with respect 
 in Ars Poet. 387. sonent: re- 
 sound, as the poets read aloud 
 their own verses; cf. I, 4, 76. 
 
 40 ff. 'Other fields were already 
 occupied, but satire was open to 
 me.' 
 
 40 f. meretrice, Davo, Chremeta : 
 typical figures in comedy ; the 
 commonest plot in Plautus and 
 Terence is one in which a young 
 man's confidential slave {Davus) 
 with the help of his mistress 
 (mtretrix) deceives the father 
 {Chremeta senem). The ablatives 
 go with eludente, of which Chre- 
 meta is the object. comis libel- 
 los : ace. of the inner object after 
 garrirt, 
 
 42. Fundani: unknown except 
 by the references to him in Sat. 
 2,8. Pollio: C. Asinius Pollio, 
 statesman, orator, and poet, one of 
 the most distinguished men of his 
 time. Vergil dedicated the Fourth 
 Eclogue to him, and Horace ad- 
 dressed to him one of his finest 
 
 odes {Car m. 2, i). His writings 
 are all lost, but his history of the 
 Civil Wars was famous, and the 
 tragedies here alluded to were 
 highly esteemed. 
 
 43. pede ter percusso : iambic 
 trimeter, the ordinary verse of 
 tragedy, which has the heavy ictus 
 on the first, third and fifth feet. 
 forte, acer: the two adjectives 
 express the same quality from two 
 sides, the power of epic poetry 
 and the lofty spirit of the epic 
 writer. 
 
 44. ducit : shapes, fashions, used 
 of the work of the artist or poet. 
 The three verbs, garrire, canit, 
 ducit, are carefully selected. 
 molle atque facetum : tenderness 
 and elegance. On facetum cf. 
 Sat. i, 4, 7 n. Vergil had not yet 
 written the Aeneid nor published 
 the Georgics ; he was the poet of 
 the Eclogues and of the still 
 lighter poems, which, with more 
 or less doubt of their authentic- 
 ity, have come down to us under 
 his name. 
 
 45. adnuSrunt : with short 
 penult, as in a few places in 
 Vergil. 
 
 137
 
 I, 10, 46] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Hoc erat, experto frustra Varrone Atacino 
 atque quibusdam aliis, melius quod scribere possem, 
 inventore minor ; neque ego illi detrahere ausim 
 haerentem capiti cum multa laude coronam. 
 
 At dixi fluere hunc lutulentum, saepe ferentem 
 plura quidem tollenda relinquendis. Age, quaeso, 
 tu nihil in magno doctus reprehendis Homero ? 
 nil comis tragic! mutat Lucilius Acci ? 
 
 46. Hoc: satire. Varrone: M. 
 Terentius Varro, called Atacinus 
 from the river Atax, in southern 
 Gaul, where he was born, to dis- 
 tinguish him from the great anti- 
 quarian and scholar of the same 
 name. He wrote in several styles, 
 but without marked success in 
 any. 
 
 47. quibusdam aliis : it is not 
 to be supposed that Horace stood 
 alone in writing satire in the 
 Augustan period; the names of 
 some of the alii are known, but 
 all knowledge of their writings is 
 lost. 
 
 48 f. inventore minor: conces- 
 sive ; ' even though I fall short of 
 Lucilius.' It was an accepted 
 doctrine of literary history that 
 Lucilius was the inventor of satire, 
 that is, was the first to put it into 
 hexameter and give it the distinct 
 form which it thereafter retained. 
 The thought of these verses, 48- 
 49, is connected with the preced- 
 ing, hoc erat . . . possem, as if it 
 was a natural consequence of his 
 choice of satire. If it had been 
 put into a separate sentence, it 
 
 would have been strongly adver- 
 sative ; ' but I do not claim to be 
 his equal nor desire to lessen his 
 credit. 1 
 
 50 f. At dixi : repeating with em- 
 phasis dixi of vs. i. fluere: the 
 figure used in i, 4, n, as tollenda 
 repeats erat quod toller e velles. 
 relinquendis : abl. after the corn- 
 par, plura. The rubbish seemed 
 often more in amount than the 
 water which swept it along. But 
 the figure is not very clearly con- 
 ceived. 
 
 52. doctus : with all your learn- 
 ing; the word frequently implies 
 a slur. The Alexandrians and 
 their followers (the doctt) criticized 
 Homer freely. 
 
 53. comis : genial, kindly. The 
 word is used as if it were quoted 
 from the admirers of Lucilius, as 
 below, vs. 65, and is selected 
 for the partial contrast with 
 tragid. mutat : not actually, 
 but by implication. Acci : 
 L. Accius, the greatest of the 
 early writers of tragedy. Only 
 fragments of his works are ex- 
 tant. 
 
 138
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [i, 10, 64 
 
 nonjidet versus Enni gravitate minores, 
 55 cum de se loquitur non ut maiore reprensis ? 
 Quid vetat et nosmet Lucili scripta legentis 
 quaerere, num illius, num rerum dura negarit 
 versiculos natura magis factos et euntis 
 mollius, ac si quis, pedibus quid claudere senis, 
 60 hoc tantum contentus, amet scripsisse ducentos 
 ante cibum versus, totidem cenatus ; Etrusci 
 quale fuit Cassi rapido ferventius amni 
 ingenium, capsis quem fama est esse librisque 
 ambustum propriis. Fuerit Lucilius, inquam, 
 
 54 f. gravitate minores : as 
 inferior in dignity, less dignified 
 than the subject-matter demanded. 
 The unrhythmical verse sparsis 
 hash's longis campus splendet et 
 horret Lucilius proposed to change 
 to horret et alget. cum . . . 
 loquitur : while at the same time 
 he claims no superiority for him- 
 self. reprensis : than those whom 
 he criticized, Accius and Ennius. 
 
 57. quaerere: the simplest con- 
 clusion of the argument would 
 have been something like Lucilium 
 reprehendere, but that is expanded 
 and at the same time made milder 
 by substituting quaerere with 
 its dependent questions. num 
 . . . num : parallel questions, not 
 alternativ2. rerum : in the most 
 general meaning, circumstances, 
 including his difficult subject-mat- 
 ter and the imperfection of his 
 times in verse-writing. 
 
 58. magis factos : more pol- 
 ished; factus is used in this 
 
 sense by Cicero (de Orat. 3, 48, 
 184; Brut. 30) with a slight 
 apology for the novelty of the 
 use. 
 
 59 f. ac si quis . . . contentus : 
 ' than a man would write if, con- 
 tent with merely getting what he 
 had to say within six feet, he was 
 in a hurry to . . .' - pedibus 
 senis : a hexameter, i.e. merely 
 making a verse that would scan. 
 So in I, 4, 40, concludere versum. 
 claudere: appos. of hoc. 
 
 61. ante cibum . . . cenatus : 
 a humorous variant upon stans 
 pede in uno, I, 4, 10. 
 
 62 f . Cassi : nothing is known 
 of him except what is implied here, 
 that he was so prolific that his 
 books and their cases (capsis) 
 were sufficient for his funeral 
 pile. 
 
 64. Fuerit : suppose that Lu- 
 cilius was, i.e. 'granting, for 
 the moment, that Lucilius was all 
 you claim, genial and witty.' 
 
 139
 
 I, 10,65] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 65 comis et urbanus, fuerit limatior idem 
 
 quam rudis et Graecis intacti carminis auctor, 
 quamque poetarum seniorum turba ; sed ille, 
 si foret hoc nostrum fato dilatus in aevum, 
 detereret sibi multa, recideret omne quod ultra 
 
 70 perfectum traheretur, et in versu f aciendo 
 saepe caput scaberet, vivos et roderet unguis. 
 Saepe stilum vertas, iterum quae digna legi sint 
 
 65. comis et urbanus : these 
 words describe one quality from 
 two sides and are, like comis in 
 vs. 53, a quotation ; they are 
 admitted with reserve, having been 
 already denied by implication (vs. 
 13), in order to show that they 
 would not disprove Horace's 
 criticism. 
 
 66. quam . . . auctor: the 
 thought is altogether general ; 
 carmen is not satire and the auctor 
 is not Lucilius or Ennius. The 
 statement of Quintilian (10,1,93), 
 satira tota nostra est, is, in a 
 way, correct, but it represents an 
 entirely different literary tradition 
 from that which Horace is follow- 
 ing. His doctrine, expressed with 
 an even exaggerated emphasis in I, 
 4, 1-6, was that satire came directly 
 from the Greeks of the Old Comedy ; 
 in fact, the error of underestimating 
 the force and value of the purely 
 Italic influences runs through all 
 his literary criticism. With the 
 opening words of i, 4 in mind 
 and they are distinctly in his mind 
 all through this satire he could 
 not have called satire rude et 
 
 Graecis intact urn carmen. The 
 thought is quite different : ' Lu- 
 cilius did not invent satire out 
 of nothing ; the way had been 
 already prepared by the Greeks 
 and he learned from them. I 
 grant, therefore, that he had a 
 certain degree of polish, more, of 
 course, than a writer composing 
 some entirely new (rude) kind of 
 poetry, some poetry untouched by 
 the Greeks, would have had, more 
 even than the early poets gener- 
 ally, but if he had lived . . .' 
 
 67. seniorum \senex is frequently 
 used of the early Latin writers. 
 ille : emphatic. 
 
 68. nostrum dilatus in aevum : 
 prolonged in life down to our time. 
 So Ovid, M. 12, 76, decimum 
 dilatus in annum Hector erat. 
 
 69. detereret : would file off 
 many roughnesses; the same 
 figure as that in limatior. omne 
 quod ultra : i.e. the plura tollenda 
 of vs. 51. 
 
 72 ff. From the completed ar- 
 gument in support of his criticism 
 of Lucilius, Horace turns first to a 
 general truth and then to his 
 
 140
 
 SERMONES 
 
 79 
 
 75 
 
 scripturu*, neque te ut miretur turba labores, 
 conte / nfus paucis lectoribus. An tua demens 
 vilibus in ludis dictari carmina mails? 
 non ego ; nam satis est equitem mihi plaudere, ut 
 
 audax, 
 
 contemptis aliis, explosa Arbuscula dixit. 
 Men' rnoveat cimex Pantilius, aut cruciet quod 
 vellicet absentem Demetrius, aut quod ineptus 
 
 less worthy assailants, Hermogenes 
 and his friends. 
 
 72. stilum vertas : the blunt 
 upper end of the stilus was used to 
 smooth out the marks made in the 
 wax of a tablet, as a lead-pencil is 
 reversed to use the eraser. 
 
 73. scripturus : with the effect 
 of a condition ; if you hope to write. 
 
 74. contentus : continuing the 
 advice ; but be content with. 
 
 75. vilibus . . . dictari : poetry 
 to be learned was dictated by the 
 teacher and taken down by the 
 pupils. So Orbilius dictated 
 Livius Andronicus to Horace, 
 Epist. 2, i, 70 f. and Vergil and 
 Horace were in the curriculum of 
 schools in the time of Juvenal 
 (7, 226 f.). Horace, of course, did 
 not, as is sometimes said, ' dread 
 this fate 1 ; he is merely saying in 
 a humorous way, ' do not aim at 
 popularity ; don't try to be one of 
 the " best sellers." ' 
 
 76. equitem: the educated class ; 
 so Epist. 2, i, 187. It is quite 
 possible, too, that the word would 
 be taken as a complimentary 
 reference to Maecenas. audax : 
 
 undismayed by the disapproval 
 expressed by the crowd. . 
 
 77. Arbuscula : an actress in 
 mimes like those of Laberius (vs. 
 6). Cicero wrote to Atticus in 
 54 B.C., qriaeris nunc de Arbus- 
 cula ; valde placuit (4, 15, 6). 
 
 78. cimex : as this is not used 
 by us as a term of reproach, a 
 modern equivalent, beast, reptile, 
 may be substituted. Pantilius : 
 unknown ; but the name actually 
 occurs and there is no good 
 reason for connecting it with 
 TTO.V rLX.Xf.LV or supposing it to be 
 fictitious. cruciet: the subj. is 
 quod vellicet. 
 
 79 ff. Demetrius is unknown ; 
 cf. vs. 1 8. Most of the other 
 names in this list have been men- 
 tioned before : Fannius, I, 4, 21 ; 
 Hermogenes, I, 3, 4; Plotius, i, 
 5,40; Varius, i, 5, 40; Fuscus, i, 
 9, 61 ; Viscus, I, 9, 22 ; Pollio, vs. 
 42 ; Messalla, vs. 29. Of the 
 others, C. Valgius Rufus was an 
 elegiac poet and a friend to whom 
 Horace addressed Carm. 2, 9. 
 Octavius Musa (the emperor is 
 called by Horace either Caesar or 
 
 141
 
 I, 10, 80] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 80 Fannius Hermogenis laedat conviva Tigelli ? 
 Plotius et Varius, Maecenas Vergiliusque, 
 Valgius, et probet haec Octavius, optiraus atque 
 Fuscus, et haec utinam Viscorum laudet uterque ! 
 Ambitione relegata te dicere possum, 
 
 85 Pollio, te, Messalla, tuo cum fratre, simulque 
 vos, Bibule et Servi, simul his te, candide Furni, 
 compluris alios, doctos ego quos et amicos 
 prudens praetereo ; quibus haec, sint qualiacumque, 
 arridere velim, doliturus si placeant spe 
 
 90 deterius nostra. Demetri, teque, Tigelli, 
 discipularum inter iubeo plorare cathedras. 
 I, puer, atque meo citus haec subscribe libello. 
 
 Augustus) was a poet and his- 
 torian, mentioned in the Catalecta, 
 14, i. Bibulus is probably L. 
 Calpurnius Bibulus, a son of 
 Caesar's colleague in the consul- 
 ship and a fellow-student with 
 Horace in Athens. Servius may 
 be a son of Servius Sulpicius 
 Rufus, referred to several times by 
 Cicero. C. Furnius is mentioned 
 by Plutarch as an orator. 
 
 It is worthy of note that, with 
 scarcely an exception, all the men 
 here named as friends are of suffi- 
 cient importance to be referred to 
 by other writers than Horace. 
 
 84. ambitione relegata: with- 
 out flattery, without fear that he 
 may be suspected of boasting; the 
 phrase is put in here because the 
 men whose names follow were all 
 of high rank and social standing. 
 
 86. simul : here used as a prep- 
 governing his. 
 
 87. doctos : good critics, with- 
 out the slur which doctus often 
 implies. 
 
 88. prudens : intentionally, to 
 avoid too long a list. sint quali- 
 acumque : perhaps a reminiscence 
 of Catull. I, 8 f., quidquid hoc 
 libelli, qualecumque . 
 
 89. arridere: be pleasing', cf. 
 Carm. 2, 6, 13 f., ille terrarum 
 mihi . . . angulus ridet. 
 
 91. discipularum . . . cathe- 
 dras : the easy-chairs of the women 
 to whom you give lessons. iubeo 
 plorare : with double meaning, 
 first with reference to their singing 
 and also as a humorous substitute 
 for valere iubeo. 
 
 92. meo . . . libello : this can 
 mean nothing else than the whole 
 book of satires and indicates that 
 this satire was a kind of epilogue 
 to the collection. puer : the slave 
 who was acting as his secretary. 
 
 142
 
 LIBER SECVNDVS 
 
 The Second Book of the Satires was published in 30 B.C., five years 
 after the First Book, and the changes which the interval had produced 
 in the temper and in the art of Horace are quite evident ; his tone is 
 less personal and more mellow and he has adopted the dialogue form 
 instead of the monologue. In both respects the change is an advance. 
 The earlier satires, with all their geniality, are touched here and there 
 with sensationalism, and even the later work betrays at times a certain 
 uneasiness about his own position and success. But by the year 30 
 B.C. Horace, now about thirty-five years of age, had won recognition as a 
 writer. He was secure in the esteem of a circle of friends ; he had accom- 
 modated himself, not indeed without difficulty, but quite sincerely, to 
 the great political changes which he had at first opposed, and he writes 
 like a man at peace with himself and with his world. He is not less 
 serious ; in his treatment of philosophy he is more serious ; but he is 
 less insistent, less urgent, and his touch is lighter. With this change in 
 tone the change in form, from monologue to dialogue, and especially to a 
 dialogue in which Horace himself plays only a subordinate part, is quite 
 in harmony. A tendency toward informal dialogue is evident in some 
 of the satires of the First Book (e.g., i, i, 30 ff. ; i, 4, 38 ff.), but the step 
 from this to the formal dialogue of 2, i and 2, 5 is a long one, and the 
 change was undoubtedly regarded by Horace as a distinct advance in 
 the form of satire. 
 
 I 
 
 There are no allusions in this satire which fix the date of composi- 
 tion. The reference to the Parthians (vs. 15) is entirely general and 
 might have been made before the battle of Actium, while Antonius was 
 still master of the East. But it is probable that this satire was written 
 after the rest of the book was completed, in accordance with the custom 
 which Horace had begun in Sat. I, I and which he afterward followed 
 in Epod. i, i, Carm. I, i, and Epist. I, I. This would fix the date about 
 30 B.C., after the battle of Actium, to which Caesaris invicti (vs. n) 
 may be an allusion. 
 
 M3
 
 HORATI 
 
 'Trebatius, people say that my satire is worthless. What shall I do 
 about it? Keep still! What, not write at all? Yes. By Jove, 
 you may be right. But I can't go to sleep. Can't sleep? Take some 
 exercise and drink a bottle of wine just before bed-time and you will 
 sleep perfectly well. Or, if what you mean is that you can't stop writing, 
 then write about Caesar; that is work that will pay you. I wish i 
 could, my dear sir, but .1 am not equal to describing battles. Then 
 write about his justice and his energy. Some other time, per- 
 haps ; just now I don't think I will try it. It would be a great deal 
 better than the things you do write, which make enemies on all sides. 
 I can't help myself. Writing is my hobby. I have fighting blood 
 in my veins, as Lucilius had in his. But I never attack ; I simply de- 
 fend myself with my natural weapon, as a bull does with his horns. I can't 
 help myself; write I must. You won't live long if you stick to that 
 course. Some of your great friends will turn a cold shoulder to you. 
 What, did Lucilius's friends desert him? I am not as great a man 
 as he was, but if any man attacks me, he will find that I am no easy 
 prey unless, of course, you advise differently. No, I don't think I 
 can say anything against that. But there are libel laws for the writers 
 of bad verses. Bad verses ! Yes, but mine are not bad ; they are very 
 good. Can I be sued for writing good verses? Certainly not. Good 
 poetry is above all law.' 
 
 In issuing a second collection of writings in the same style as that by 
 which he had already won both friends and enemies, Horace thought it 
 well to preface it with a further defence of satire, continuing the subject 
 of i, 4 and i, 10. But as i, 10 is at once less serious and more assured 
 than i, 4, so this satire is less obviously argumentative than i, 10. Its 
 underlying purpose is self-defence and explanation, but under the cover 
 of pure burlesque. It represents a consultation between Horace and his 
 legal adviser, C. Trebatius Testa. The latter is well known to us 
 through the group of letters addressed to him by Cicero (ad Fam. 7, 6- 
 22) ; he was a distinguished jurisconsult and a man of much humor, and 
 therefore a suitable figure for a burlesque consultation. The dialogue 
 is managed with great skill ; Trebatius, in a dry, legal manner, gives 
 prudent advice, which Horace rejects as fast as it is given, arguing with 
 much heat in favor of the course that he had already determined upon 
 before he went through the form of consulting the lawyer. The argu- 
 ments, too, by which Horace defends his course are all farcical : Mi- 
 lonius gets drunk and dances, therefore I may write satire ; the bull 
 gores, the wolf bites, and Scaeva poisons his mother, therefore I may 
 use my satire to wound and poison. From beginning to end there is 
 
 144
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, i, 7 
 
 not an argument that is meant to be taken seriously and the satire be- 
 comes thus a kind of proclamation by Horace of his assurance that his 
 writings need no serious defence. 
 
 Horatius. Sunt quibus in satira videor nimis acer et 
 
 ultra 
 
 legem tendere opus ; sine nervis altera, quicquid 
 composui, pars esse putat, similisque meorum 
 mille die versus deduci posse. Trebati, 
 5 quid faciam praescribe. Trebatins. Quiescas. Hor. Ne 
 
 faciam, inquis, 
 omnino versus ? Treb. Aio. Hor. Peream male, si 
 
 non 
 optimum erat; verum nequeo dormire. Treb. Ter 
 
 uncti 
 
 1 . satira : here used for the 
 first time by Horace and in a 
 general, not a concrete, sense ; in 
 the writing of satire. 
 
 2. legem : i.e. the artistic law 
 which should govern this kind of 
 writing ; cf. vs. 63 and operis le*\ 
 Ars Poet. 135. tendere: bend, 
 force, of bending a bow. sine 
 nervis : without vigor ; cf. the 
 adj- enervis. Nervus is usually 
 sinew, muscle, not nerve. The 
 two criticisms, nimis acer and sine 
 nervis, are direct opposites and, 
 therefore, mutually destructive. 
 
 4. deduci : . spun out, reeled off. 
 
 5. praescribe : a rather formal 
 word, used especially in legal lan- 
 guage. Quiescas : with senten- 
 tious brevity, as befits an eminent 
 legal authority, and with a humor- 
 ous double meaning, since it may 
 
 HOR. SAT. 10 I 
 
 be either ' never mind your critics,* 
 or 'stop your writing. 1 
 
 6. Peream male, si : cf. i, 9, 
 38 and 47. 
 
 7. optimum erat : would not 
 be best. The impf. indie, of neg- 
 lected duty or opportunity, espe- 
 cially common with impersonals ; 
 see any grammar. dormire: go 
 to sleep, i.e. give up writing and, 
 it is implied, all activity. 
 
 7-9. Trebatius is represented 
 as pretending to understand dor- 
 mire literally (somno quibus est 
 opus alto) and as giving a favor- 
 ite remedy for insomnia, in which 
 Horace touches two hobbies or foi- 
 bles of the great lawyer. He was 
 very fond of swimming (Cicero, ad 
 Fain. 7, 10, 2, calls him studio- 
 sissirnus homo natandi) and was 
 not disinclined to the bottle (cf.
 
 2.I.8J 
 
 IIORAT1 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 transnanto Tiberim, somno quibus est opus alto, 
 irriguumque mero sub noctetn corpus habento. 
 Aut, si tantus amor scribendi te rapit, aude 
 Caesaris invicti res dicere, multa.laborum 
 praemia laturus. Hor. Cupidum, pater optime, vires 
 deficiunt; neque enim quivis horrentia pilis 
 agmina nee fracta pereuntis cuspide Gallos 
 aut labentis equo describat volnera Parthi. 
 
 ad Fam. 7, 22, written after a 
 night with Trebatius, inhtseras heri 
 inter scyphos, and domum bene 
 potus seroque redieranf) . Ter : 
 a sacred number, used to give 
 formality to the prescription. 
 uncti : oil was used by athletes to 
 soften the skin. transnanto, ha- 
 bento : old forms used in laws and 
 in medical recipes. irriguum : 
 one of many euphemisms (madi- 
 dus, uvidus, etc.), like the Engl. 
 'full," tight.' 
 
 10. tantus amor : Trebatius now 
 recognizes the real meaning of dor- 
 mire, which he had pretended to 
 take literally. aude : it would re- 
 quire some courage to write an 
 epic. 
 
 11. Caesaris: the nephew, not 
 the uncle, as below, vs. 19, and 
 everywhere in the Satires except 
 I, 9. 1 8. invicti : this may be a 
 reference to the battle of Actium, 
 but the word might fairly have 
 been used before that event with 
 reference to the earlier victories in 
 the civil war. 
 
 12. praemia : it may perhaps be 
 a little hit at the legal profession 
 
 to represent Trebatius as thinking 
 first of the payment which epic 
 poetry might bring. Both la- 
 turus and cupidum should be ren- 
 dered in English by clauses, as 
 Greenough remarks. pater : a 
 term of respect from a younger 
 man to an older. Cf. puer, vs. 60. 
 31-15. Here, as in Carm. i, 6, 
 and elsewhere, in professing his 
 inability to write of warlike scenes, 
 Horace cannot refrain from a few 
 phrases of description which sug- 
 gest that his real reason for re- 
 fusing is not so much conscious 
 inability as disinclination. pilis : 
 the Roman weapon. fracta . . . 
 cuspide, pereuntis : the signs of de- 
 feat ; the broken spear is merely 
 one of the evidences of rout and 
 disaster, not a reference to the 
 detached head of the pilum, to 
 which fracta would not be appli- 
 cable. So labentis equo indicates 
 the defeat of the Parthian cavalry. 
 The Gauls and the Parthians are 
 selected merely as conspicuous 
 among the enemies of Rome, 
 without reference to particular 
 campaigns. 
 
 146
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, I, 22 
 
 20 
 
 Treb. Attamen et iustum poteras et scribere fortem, 
 Scipiadam lit sapiens Lucilius. Hor. Haud mihi dero, 
 cum res ipsa feret. Nisi dextro tempore, Flacci 
 verba per attentam non ibunt Caesaris aurem, 
 cui male si palpere, recalcitrat undique tutus. 
 Treb. Quanto rectius hoc, quam tristi laedere versu 
 Pantolabum scurram Nomentanumque nepotem, 
 
 1 6 . poteras : yoii might ; cf . opti- 
 mum erat, vs. 7. iustum, fortem : 
 i.e. in his capacity as law-giver 
 (iustum) and administrator (for- 
 tem) . 
 
 17. Scipiadam: for Scipidnem, 
 which could not be used in hexam- 
 eter ; there is no patronymic force 
 in the ending. The younger Scipio 
 was a contemporary and friend of 
 Lucilius ; cf. vss. 65 f. sapiens : 
 pred., ' like a man of sense,' with 
 an indirect reflection uponHorace's 
 lack of worldly wisdom. Lucilius : 
 the mention of Horace's model in 
 satire of course implies that Tre- 
 batius is no longer advising him 
 to give up satire for epic, but only 
 to turn his satire to more profitable 
 uses. Haud mihi dero : cf. i, 9, 56, 
 where the context shows that cum 
 res ipsa feret means the same thing 
 as dextro tempore, 'when a proper 
 opportunity shall present itself. 1 
 
 18. Flacci : a Flaccus ; a man 
 of so humble a name as Flaccus, 
 in contrast with Caesaris. 
 
 19 f . attentam . . . aurem : the 
 comparison of Caesar to a high- 
 spirited horse is suggested in these 
 words, to be expressed more fully 
 
 in the next line. non: with the 
 whole phrase, not with attentam 
 alone or ibunt alone. ibunt : the 
 future implies intention. As there 
 is no English phrase correspond- 
 ing to ire per aurem, the construc- 
 tion must be shifted in translation ; 
 ' the words of a Flaccus shall not 
 try to reach the ear of a Caesar.' 
 tutus : to protect himself. 
 
 22. Quoted, with change of 
 case, from Sat. I, 8, n. The 
 effect is therefore as if he had said, 
 ' than to write such a savage verse 
 as that in the Eighth Satire.' 
 Cf. I, 4, 92, where a line of simi- 
 lar character is quoted from i, 
 2, 27. That quotation is intro- 
 duced by ego si risi and the argu- 
 ment, there seriously made, is that 
 the line is a harmless jest. It is 
 almost a necessary inference that 
 here also the verse quoted by Tre- 
 batius was regarded by Horace as 
 in fact quite harmless. This could 
 be true only if the persons referred 
 to were either fictitious, as the 
 name Pantolabus certainly is, or 
 already notorious, as was probably 
 the case with Nomentanus (cf. 
 i, i, 102 note). 
 
 147
 
 2, I. 23] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 cum sibi quisque timet, quamquam est intactus, et odit ! 
 
 Hor. Quid faciam ? Saltat Milonius, ut semel icto 
 25 accessit fervor capiti numerusque lucernis; 
 
 Castor gaudet equis, ovo prognatus eodem 
 
 pugnis ; quot capitum vivunt, totidem studiorum 
 
 milia : me pedibus delectat claudere verba 
 
 Lucili ritu, nostrum melioris utroque. 
 30 I lie velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim 
 
 credebat libris, neque, si male cesserat, usquam 
 
 43. timet . . . etodit: a repe- 
 tition of the charge made in 1,4, 
 33. The purely farcical character 
 of the reply here shows how secure 
 Horace felt himself to be. 
 
 24-29. 'I can't help writing, 
 any more than Milonius can help 
 getting drunk and dancing. Every- 
 body has his little weakness ; mine 
 is satire.' 
 
 24. icto: with capiti ; a eu- 
 phemism for intoxication, like irri- 
 gitutn, vs. 9. 
 
 25. accessit : in a double sense 
 with fervor and numerus. lu- 
 cernis : i.e. when he has drunk 
 so much that he begins to see 
 double. 
 
 26. 'Even twin brothers differ 
 in their interests.' The contrast 
 is emphasized by using ovo pro- 
 gnatus eodem for Pollux, and, in 
 accordance with the general ^har- 
 acter of the argument, two of the 
 lower gods with lower interests are 
 selected instead of, e.g., Apollo and 
 Mercury. 
 
 27. quot capitum : proverbial 
 and better expressed by Terence, 
 
 Phorm. 454, qiiot homines, M 
 sententiae ; ' many men of many 
 minds.' 
 
 28. pedibus . . . claudere verba : 
 a repetition of the phrase pedibus 
 quid claudere senis, used in Sat. 
 I, 10, 59 to describe the merely 
 mechanical construction of hexam- 
 eters. Here also, with a differ- 
 ent purpose, it puts the matter in 
 its lowest terms, ' I amuse myself 
 by stringing together verses that 
 will scan.' 
 
 29. melioris : not in the moral 
 or social sense, but a better judge, 
 a better authority. utroque : as 
 if the thought began very mod- 
 estly 'a better authority than I 
 am ' and then went on to a little 
 hit at his advisor ' or than you, 
 either.' 
 
 30-34. The Scholiasts note that 
 this is a bit of traditional literary 
 criticism, going back to Aristoxe- 
 nus,who had said that Alcaeusand 
 Sappho volumina sua loco soda- 
 Hum habuisse. arcana : his deep- 
 est and most intimate thoughts 
 about the events (si male cesse- 
 
 148
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, i, 42 
 
 decurrens alio, neque si bene ; quo fit ut omnls 
 
 votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella 
 
 vita senis. Sequor hunc, Lucanus an Apulus anceps : 
 
 35 nam Venusinus arat finem sub utrumque colonus, 
 missus ad hoc, pulsis, vetus est ut fama, Sabellis, 
 quo ne per vacuum Romano incurreret hostis, 
 sive quod Apula gens seu quod Lucania bellum 
 incuteret violenta. Sed hie stilus haud petet ultro 
 
 40 quemquam animantem, et me veluti custodiet ensis 
 vagina tectus ; quern cur destringere coner, 
 tutus ab infestis latronibus ? O pater et rex 
 
 rat, si bene) of life ; not secrets. 
 votiva . . , tabella: such a pic- 
 ture as is referred to in Carm. 
 i, 5, 13 f., where the successive 
 scenes of some event like an 
 escape from shipwreck were rep- 
 resented in a single picture. Cf- 
 the scenes from the Trojan War 
 in Aen, i, 456 ff. senis: the 
 word senex was sometimes applied 
 to writers of the early period as a 
 synonym for ve/us, antiquus, with- 
 out reference to the age of the 
 individual. [The opposite opinion 
 may be found in M tiller, Lucil. 
 p. 288.] 
 
 34-39. The expression is el- 
 liptical : ' I take Lucilius for my 
 leader, for I too come of fighting 
 stock. But I fight only in self- 
 defence.' The digression upon the 
 question whether Venusia is prop- 
 erly Lucanian or Apulian is sub- 
 ordinate to the main line of 
 reasoning. anceps: nom. masc., 
 with the subj. of sequor \ the 
 
 phrase should be rendered freely. 
 
 ad hoc : antec. of the clause quo 
 ne . . incurreret, Sabellis : 
 the Samnites. Venusia was 
 founded in 291 B.C., in the 
 Third Samnite War. quo ne : 
 for ut ne or ut eo ne ; but this 
 use of quo is without a parallel. 
 
 quod: after si-ve and with bel- 
 lum. 
 
 39. Sed: adversative to the 
 underlying thought of the preced- 
 ing sentence. hie stilus : this 
 pen of mine, but with some refer- 
 ence to the fact that the sharp 
 metal stilus could be actually used 
 as a weapon. 
 
 40. animantem: living being, 
 to generalize the thought. 
 
 41. vagina tectus : these are 
 the important words in the com- 
 parison ; ' as a sword is a defence, 
 even though it is not drawn from 
 its scabbard.' 
 
 42. tutus: i.e. 'as long as I 
 am not attacked.' 
 
 149
 
 2, i, 43] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 luppiter, ut pereat positum robigine telum, 
 nee quisquam noceat cupido mihi pads ! At ille 
 45 qui me commorit ('melius non tangere !' clamo), 
 flebit, et insignis tota cantabitur urbe. 
 Cervius iratus leges minitatur et urnam, 
 
 43. ut pereat: a wish intro- 
 duced by ut exactly as wishes are 
 introduced by utinam, which is 
 nothing but a strengthened form 
 of uti (cf. quis, quisnani) ; in- 
 stanfies are not infrequent. The 
 verse is in form, though not in 
 sentiment, a reminiscence of Ca- 
 tull. 66, 48, luppiter \ ut Chalybon 
 omne genus pereat. positum : a 
 part of the wish ; ( may I be able 
 to put it away and let it rust ; ' 
 almost the same as vagina tectus. 
 
 44-46. In these lines the hu- 
 morous exaggeration and affected 
 solemnity of the satire reach a 
 climax. Whatever Horace may 
 have been in his earlier years, he 
 was at this time as far removed as 
 possible from a bragging swash- 
 buckler, whose war-cry (clamo) was 
 ' Better not touch me!' He is, in 
 fact, setting up here the figure of 
 himself which his earlier critics had 
 constructed, exaggerating it and 
 making it ridiculous by a burlesque 
 defence, in the confident assurance 
 that his real purpose in satire 
 was by this time fully recognized. 
 
 45. commorit: = commoverit. 
 There is a kind of progress in 
 pretended touchiness from infestis 
 latronibus to commorit (stir me up) 
 and tangere (lay a finger on me). 
 
 46 cantabitur : i.e. the whole 
 town shall be repeating the satiri- 
 cal verses that I will write about 
 him. 
 
 47-56. These lines serve a 
 double purpose. As a part of 
 the ironical argument they pre- 
 tend to justify the determination 
 (44-46) to continue the writing of 
 satire (' Canidia poisons her ene- 
 mies and I will poison mine : the 
 wolf bites and therefore I will 
 write biting satire 1 ), and they 
 illustrate the general principle 
 (vss. 24-28) that men are not to 
 be blamed for yielding to their 
 special weaknesses (' and satire is 
 my weakness,' vs. 28). At the 
 same time, these allusions, which 
 a reader of Horace's time would 
 at once understand, show how 
 harmless and impersonal his 
 satire really was. For no one 
 of the five persons named was 
 really an enemy of Horace. Cer- 
 vius, Albucius, and Scaeva are 
 names which occur elsewhere 
 (Sat. 2, 6, 77; 2, 2, 67; Epist. i, 
 17, i), but with quite different 
 characteristics ; they are merely 
 Roman names which do not refer 
 to individuals. Canidia is fre- 
 quently mentioned (Sat. I, 8; 
 2, 8, 95; Epod. 3, 8; 5, 17) in 
 
 150
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, I, 56 
 
 Canidia Albuci quibus est inimica venenum, 
 grande malum Turius, si quid se iudice certes. 
 
 50 Vt quo quisque valet suspectos terreat, utque 
 imperet hoc natura potens, sic collige mecum : 
 dente lupus, cornu taurus petit : unde nisi intus 
 mon stratum ? Scaevae vivacem crede nepoti 
 matrem ; nil faciet sceleris pia dextera : mirum, 
 
 55 ut neque calce lupus quemquam neque dente petit bos: 
 sed mala toilet anum vitiato melle cicuta. 
 
 a way which shows that she was 
 already notorious. Turius appears 
 to have been a character of the 
 Ciceronian period, long since 
 dead, whose abuse of his judicial 
 office was a matter of common 
 knowledge. The whole passage, 
 therefore, savage as the personal 
 allusions are made to appear, is 
 in reality, like the quotation in 
 vs. 22, a reminder of Horace's 
 moderation in satire and of his 
 avoidance of personal attacks 
 upon contemporaries. 
 
 47. Cervius : an informer ; cf. 
 Sat. I, 4, 65 n. urnam: the 
 vase from which the names of 
 jurymen were drawn and in which 
 their votes were deposited. 
 
 48. Albuci: with venenum. 
 quibus: the antec. is the obj. of 
 minitatur to be supplied from vs. 
 
 47- 
 
 49. grande malum : i.e. a heavy 
 penalty without regard to the jus- 
 tice of the case. 
 
 50. Vt: how, introducing terreat 
 and imperet. 
 
 51. sic: from the following, vs. 
 52. collige : you may judge ; the 
 potential use of the impv., like 
 scito. mecum : as I do, i.e. by 
 following the line of argument 
 which I now present. 
 
 52. dente, cornu : the emphatic 
 words. intus : from within, 
 the usual Plautine and colloquial 
 meaning. 
 
 53. vivacem: too long-lived, so 
 that the son's inheritance of his 
 property is delayed. 
 
 54 f . sceleris : crime of violence. 
 pia : filial. He would not cut 
 her throat or strangle her; his 
 little weakness is poisoning, not 
 bloodshed. mirum, ut : as aston- 
 ishing as it is that, i.e. no more 
 astonishing. calce: suggesting 
 the contrast of the wolf to a kick- 
 ing horse (cf. vs. 20) as a slight 
 variation from vs. 52. 
 
 56. mala : a standing epithet 
 with poisons. toilet: euphemis- 
 tic, as the whole line is ; the 
 matter will be managed quietly, 
 without publicity.
 
 2, i, 57] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Ne longum faciam, seu me tranquilla senectus 
 exspectat seu Mors atris circumvolat alis, 
 dives, inops, Romae, seu fors ita iusserit, exul, 
 
 60 quisquis erit vitae, scribam, color. Treb. O puer, ut 
 
 sis 
 
 vitalis metuo, et maiorum ne quis amicus 
 frigore te feriat. Hor. Quid, cum est Lucilius ausus 
 primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem, 
 detrahere et pellem, nitidus qua quisque per ora 
 
 65 cederet, introrsum turpis, num Laelius aut qui 
 duxit ab oppressa meritum Carthagine nomen 
 ingenio offensi aut laeso doluere Metello 
 
 57. Ne longum . faciam : the 
 same words in i, 3, 137, and cf. 
 ne te morer, i, i, 14. 
 
 60. vitae . . . color: this fig- 
 urative use of color is especially 
 common in rhetorical writings, 
 e.g. Ars Poet. 86, 236. 
 
 6 1 f. vitalis: long-lived; Tre- 
 batius goes back to 58, Mors . . . 
 circumvolat ; ' I am afraid that 
 you won't live long, if that's your 
 spirit.' maiorum : with amicus. 
 The reference is to the friends of 
 high station mentioned by Horace 
 with pride in Sat. I, 10, 81 ff., 
 Maecenas, Pollio, Messalla. 
 frigore . . . feriat : a little 
 more forcible than strike you 
 with a chill ; ferire is used 
 of striking an enemy dead, 
 ' striking down ' and frigus sug- 
 gests the dangerous fever and 
 chill. 
 
 63. primus : i.e. Lucilius began 
 this kind of writing ; I am merely 
 
 a follower and therefore less liable 
 to suffer for it. 
 
 64 f . pellem : an allusion to the 
 fable of the Ass in the Lion's 
 Skin; cf. Sat. I, 6, 22 and Epist. 
 i, 1 6, 45, introrsum turpem, 
 speciosum pelle decora. per ora : 
 among men ; the phrase occurs 
 only a few times, but the meaning 
 is clear. cederet : colloquial for 
 incederet. introrsum turpis : i.e. 
 under the skin is an ugly ass. 
 
 65. Laelius : C. Laelius, consul 
 in 140 B.C., a friend of Terence, 
 used by Cicero as a speaker in the 
 two dialogues de Senectute and de 
 Amicitia. 
 
 66. The younger Scipio Afri- 
 canus, whose friendship with Lae- 
 lius was historic. 
 
 67. offensi: sc. sunt. laeso 
 . . . Metello: Q. Caecilius Metel- 
 lus Macedonicus, consul in 143 
 B.C., a political opponent of 
 Scipio.
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2. i, 74 
 
 famosisque Lupo cooperto versibus ? Atqui 
 primores populi arripuit populumque tributim, 
 70 scilicet uni aequus virtuti atque eius amicis. 
 
 Quin ubi se a volgo et scaena in secreta remorant 
 virtus Scipiadae et mitis sapientia Laeli, 
 nugari cum illo et discincti ludere, donee 
 decoqueretur olus, solid. Quicquid sum ego, quamvis 
 
 68. Lupo : L. Cornelius Lentu- 
 lus Lupus, consul in 156 B.C., 
 also an enemy of Scipio and 
 attacked by Lucilius apparently 
 with special bitterness. famosis : 
 which made them notorious. 
 cooperto: overwhelmed', the verses 
 fell upon him like a volley of jave- 
 lins. 
 
 The argument of vss. 62-68 is 
 ironical, though less broadly so 
 than that of 47-56 ; ' do you sup- 
 pose that Scipio and Laelius were 
 greatly disturbed when Lucilius 
 turned his satire upon their politi- 
 cal opponents ? ' Atqui : and yet 
 Lucilius was much more daring 
 and more sweeping in his satire 
 than I am. 
 
 69. arripuit : a technical term 
 of law ; summoned to court. tri- 
 butim : a tribe at a time. This is 
 a reference to a political satire in 
 which Lucilius tribus omnes 
 XXXV laceravit (Schol. to Pers. 
 i, 114); of this two fragments 
 remain, containing the names of 
 two of the tribes attacked, Papiria 
 and Oufentina. 
 
 70. scilicet : of course. The 
 line is a humorous afterthought, 
 
 really in direct contradiction of 
 the preceding statement, just as in 
 vss. 43 ff. and below in vss. 77 f. 
 an exaggerated pugnacity and a 
 regard for the proprieties are set 
 in contrast ; ' he attacked every- 
 body, high and low, and the whole 
 people, tribe by tribe, but of 
 course, you understand, he at- 
 tacked only bad people (cf. vs. 85) 
 and never satirized the virtuous 
 any more than I do.' 
 
 71. Quin: why; corrective of 
 the insufficient expression in of- 
 fensi, doluere. scaena : the stage 
 of public life. 
 
 72. virtus Scipiadae : Homeric 
 circumlocutions ; ' the virtuous 
 Scipio and the wise and gentle 
 Laelius.' 
 
 73. discincti: i.e. laying aside 
 all the formalities of city life. 
 There are other references (Schol. 
 and Cic. de Orat. 2, 6, 22) to this 
 distinct tradition that Scipio and 
 Laelius enjoyed the opportunities 
 of relaxation in the country. 
 
 74. olus : i.e. a simple coun- 
 try meal, 'a dinner of herbs.' 
 soliti : sc. sunt, as with offensi in 
 vs. 67.
 
 2, i, 75] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 75 infra Lucili censum ingeniumque, tamen me 
 cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque 
 invidia, et, fragili quaerens illidere dentem, 
 off endet solido, nisi quid tu, docte Trebati, 
 dissentis. Treb. Equidem nihil hinc diffindere possum. 
 
 80 Sed tamen ut monitus caveas, ne forte negoti 
 incutiat tibi quid sanctarum inscitia legum : 
 si mala condiderit in quem quis carmina, ius est 
 iudiciumque. Hor. Esto, si quis mala ; sed bona si quis 
 
 75. censum : rank. Lucilius 
 was an eques and therefore natu- 
 rally connected with men of sta- 
 tion. 
 
 76. invita : i.e. even against 
 its will, in spite of itself. 
 
 77 f. fragili, solido : dat. neut. ; 
 alluding to the fable of the Viper 
 and the File. illidere : to dash 
 in, expressing the eagerness of 
 the bite. 
 
 78. nisi . . . dissentis : cf. 70 
 note. Horace represents himself 
 as suddenly remembering, at the 
 very climax of his bragging, that 
 he is supposed to be asking advice. 
 
 79. hinc diffindere : lit., ' to cut 
 off anything from this,' with the 
 figure of fragili . . . solido still 
 in mind; translate, "I can't find 
 anything in this to take exception 
 to.' [But the text is not sure.] 
 
 80. ut . . . caveas : not a final 
 clause and not to be explained by 
 supplying a main clause. This is 
 the use of ut (more often uti) in 
 sentences of command, parallel 
 to the use of uti-nam in wishes ; 
 it is not infrequent in Plautus 
 
 (Bacch. 739, proin tu ab eo ut 
 caveas tibii Capt. 115, etc.) and 
 Terence (Ad. 280, Phorm. 212), 
 but survives especially in legal for- 
 mulas (C.I.L. i, 196, 23 and in 
 quotations in Livy) and is used 
 here to give a formal tone to the 
 injunctions of the lawyer; cf. vs. 
 8 f. transnanto, habento, and vs. 
 82. negoti: trouble, a common 
 colloquial meaning ; gen. partitive 
 with quid. 
 
 81. sanctarum: sacred, as a 
 lawyer would naturally think 
 them. 
 
 82. si mala . . . carmina : this 
 is almost the phraseology of the 
 law of the XII Tables as quoted 
 by Pliny, H. N. 28, 4, 18, qui 
 malum carmen incantassit, and 
 by Cicero de Rep. 4, 10, 12, sive 
 (quis) carmen condidisset. ius 
 est iudiciumque : there is right of 
 action and a legal remedy; the 
 offended party has a legal right to 
 sue. 
 
 83. mala : Horace represents 
 himself as understanding this 
 word, which in the law means 
 
 154
 
 SERMONES t2, I. 86 
 
 iudice condiderit laudatus Caesare ? si quis 
 85 opprobriis dignum latraverit, integer ipse ? 
 
 Treb. Solventur risu tabulae, tu missus abibis. 
 
 injurious, abusive, in the esthetic will go free,' and the figure in 
 
 sense, bad poetry. solvent^^r is used elsewhere 
 
 84. Caesare: Caesar is named (Quint. 5, 10, 67, cum risu iota 
 
 rather than some recognized critic res solmtur ; Cic. de Orat. 2, 
 
 like Quintilius Varus because he 58, 236, res . . . ioco risuque 
 
 would be accepted by a lawyer as dissolvit), but the exact meaning 
 
 the highest authority. of tabidae (the indictment, the, 
 
 86. The sense of this line is voting tablets, the benches of 
 
 perfectly clear, 'the case will be the jury-men) cannot be deter- 
 
 laughed out of court and you mined. 
 
 There is no internal evidence to fix the date of this satire ; it was 
 written between 35 and 30 B.C. 
 
 'The advantages of plain living I am repeating what I once heard 
 from a wise old farmer cannot be properly set forth in an after-dinner 
 conversation ; only a hungry man can know how good plain food may 
 be. At a dinner party your judgment is confused by the elaborate 
 cookery and still worse by the rarity or the novelty of the viands. 
 Indeed, the very over-abundance sometimes drives you back in disgust 
 to simple flavors. For it is only lately that you have learned, in obedi- 
 ence to fashion, to like stork ; roast sea-gull will be the next whim, I 
 suppose. 
 
 ' But you must not think says my old farmer that simplicity 
 means stinginess. Do not rush to the other extreme ; keep to the 
 middle course of a plain neatness. 
 
 ' Consider, now, the advantages of such a way of living : health, vigor, 
 the pleasure of occasional indulgence, hospitality, good repute, money 
 left in your purse, and, chief of all, readiness to meet the buffets of for- 
 tune. I used to hear the old farmer, then a hired laborer on the farm 
 he had once owned, discoursing about this to his sons : " I have lived 
 a temperate life and my wants are few. Let Fortune do her worst ; he 
 that is down need fear no fall. 1 " 
 
 In form, this satire, like 3, 4, 7, 8 of this book, consists of a main 
 body of didactic discourse set in an introductory framework. In the 
 
 155
 
 *, 2, I] HO RAH 
 
 other satires, however, the framework is in dialogue, generally very 
 skilfully adapted to its special purpose, while here the setting is not 
 clearly conceived (cf. vs. 7 note), the introduction is too brief (vss. 2 f.). 
 and the quotation passes from indirect to direct without sufficient mo- 
 tive and with a second and superfluous introduction (vss. 112-115). 
 In the main discourse also there is a similar lack of clearness of outline. 
 The change from the plural (vss. 1-7) to the vague tu breaks the con- 
 tinuity. The reference to Ofellus in vs. 53 is not distinct enough to 
 preserve the illusion of quotation. The knowledge of places, fashions, 
 and persons in Rome is quite inconsistent with the circumstances of an 
 Apulian peasant ; this is in part to be explained by the fact that the 
 whole satire is a parody of a Stoic sermon, in which allusions to Roman 
 affairs would be quite in place, but the inconsistency remains and adds 
 nothing to the humor. The explanation of these incongruities in struc- 
 ture is that Horace is here experimenting with a form of satire which is 
 a compromise between the dialogue form of Satires 3, 4, 7, and 8 and the 
 frankly personal monologue of Satire 6, and is inferior to either. 
 
 There is a similar compromise or combination in the subject-matter ; 
 on the one hand, the satire contrasts country life with the life of the 
 city, as is done in greater' fulness and with greater effectiveness in 
 Satire 6; on the other hand, the luxuries and fashions of the table, 
 which are ridiculed here, are treated more fully and more humorously in 
 Satires 4 and 8. But the two subjects harmonize more easily than 
 the two forms. The combination, however, is marked enough to sug- 
 gest the hypothesis that this satire is the earliest of the book in date of 
 composition, and that both form and subject were worked out to greater 
 perfection in the later satires. 
 
 Quae virtus et quanta, boni, sit vivere parvo 
 
 (nee meus hie sermo est, sed quae praecepit Ofellus 
 
 rusticus, abnormis sapiens, crassaque Minerva), 
 
 1. boni: &ya$OL, as a friendly sect. So Cicero, d? Amic. 5, 18, 
 form of address. says that certain Roman worthies 
 
 2. nee meus . . . est : the same were not philosophers, ad istonun 
 phrase, KOVK tfj.o<: 6 /j.vOo<;, occurs nor mam. crassa Minerva : of a 
 in a fragment of Euripides and is rough-and-ready ivit. Cf. pingui 
 quoted by Plato, Symp. 177 A. Minerva, Cic. de Amic, 5, 19. 
 
 3. abnormis : unschooled, not Minerva is the goddess of intelli- 
 bound by the doctrines of any gence. 
 
 156
 
 SERMONES 
 
 I 2, 2, 12 
 
 discite, non inter lances mensasque nitentis, 
 cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus et cum 
 acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat, 
 verum hie impransi mecum disquirite. ' Cur hoc ? ' 
 Dicam, si potero. Male verum examinat omnis 
 corruptus iudex. Leporem sectatus equove 
 lassus ab indomito, vel, si Rom ana fatigat 
 militia adsuetum graecari, seu pila velox, 
 molliter austerum studio fallente laborem, 
 
 4 f. nitentis, fulgoribus : the 
 gleaming of silver plate, which the 
 Romans used very freely, is often 
 alluded to in descriptions of the 
 tables at a banquet, e.g. Catull. 
 64, 44 ff. stupet acies : the eyes 
 are dazzled, of course in a figura- 
 tive sense, ' the judgment is dis- 
 iracted. 1 
 
 7. hie impransi : here, not at 
 a table, and fasting, hungry, not 
 after an elaborate dinner. The 
 two words seem to suggest a par- 
 ticular scene and certain definite 
 circumstances a group of friends 
 or neighbors waiting for their 
 lunch, but if such a setting 
 for the discourse was in Horace's 
 mind, it is lost sight of at once and 
 not again alluded to in the satire. 
 Cf. note on vs. 17. Cur hoc: 
 i.e. 'why impransi ' f 
 
 8. si potero : this gives the air 
 of a lecturer : ' I will endeavor to 
 tell you.' Male : with examinat. 
 The sentence can be best trans- 
 lated by turning it into the negative 
 form ; ' no judge who has been 
 bribed . . .' 
 
 9-16. The outline of this loosely 
 constructed sentence is simple ; 
 ' get an appetite by hard exercise, 
 and then see whether you are dis- 
 posed to refuse plain food. 1 But 
 after mentioning two kinds of 
 Roman exercise, hunting (cf. Epod. 
 2, 29 ff.; Carm. I, i, 25 ff.) and 
 riding (Carm. 1,8, 5 ff.), he intro- 
 duces as an alternative two kinds 
 of Greek athletics, ball-playing and 
 the throwing of the discus, each 
 in a conditional clause, seu pila 
 (te agif), seu discus te agit; the 
 first is left without a formal apod- 
 osis, but pete is the apodosis to 
 the second. Then as the formal 
 structure of the sentence has been 
 disturbed, the substance of 9-13 is 
 condensed into cunt . . . extuderit 
 and repeated in siccus, inanis. 
 militia : with special reference to 
 riding. graecari : there is a 
 suggestion of effeminacy in this 
 verb. velox : the game consisted 
 in rapid passing of the ball from 
 one player to another. molliter 
 . . . laborem: i.e. ' in which the 
 interest in the game makes the
 
 *. 2. 
 
 HORATI 
 
 seu te discus agit, pete cedentem aera disco ; 
 cum labor extuderit fastidia, siccus, inanis 
 
 15 sperne cibum vilem ; nisi Hymettia mella Falerno 
 ne biberis diluta. Foris est promus, et atrum 
 defendens piscis hiemat mare : cum sale panis 
 latrantem stomachum bene leniet. Vnde putas aut 
 qui partum ? Non in caro nidore voluptas 
 
 20 summa, sed in te ipso est. Tu pulmentaria quaere 
 sudando ; pinguem vitiis albumque neque ostrea 
 nee scarus aut poterit peregrina iuvare lagois. 
 Vix tamen eripiam, posito pavone, velis quin 
 
 player enjoy the exercise, forget- 
 ting how severe it is.' This abl. 
 abs. clause takes the place of an 
 apodosis to sen pila. discus: a 
 large flat quoit, thrown for dis- 
 tance, not for accuracy. agit. 
 stirs, rouses, attracts. A rare use, 
 but exactly paralleled in Cic. 
 Arch. 7, 1 6, haec studio, adulescen- 
 tiam agunt, senectutem oblectant. 
 pete: strike. disco: abl. 
 extuderit : i.e. ' has knocked the 
 nonsense out of you'; a collo- 
 quial use. Hymettia, Falerno : 
 the finest honey and wine. 
 promus : the butler or steward, 
 who keeps the keys of the s'.ore- 
 room. 
 
 17. hiemat mare: this has been 
 taken to indicate that the scene of 
 the discourse was a villa on the 
 seashore, where Horace repeats 
 the precepts of Ofellus to a group 
 of friends. But the reference is 
 too general for that ; fish are men- 
 tioned here, as in 31 ff., 48 f., 95, 
 
 merely as other kinds of food are 
 specified. 
 
 18. leniet: the future implies 
 'you will find that it will soothe.' 
 
 19. qui partum : whence or 
 how do you suppose that this 
 comes about, that you are glad to 
 get the plainest food? 
 
 20. Tu: emphatic, with refer- 
 ence to te ipso. pulmentaria : 
 the Scholiasts refer to the story 
 that Socrates, being asked why 
 he was taking such a long walk, 
 replied oi/'ov <rwayo>, which is 
 almost pulmentarium quaero. 
 Cf. also the saying fames opti- 
 mum condimentum. 
 
 21 f. vitiis: excesses in eating 
 and drinking. ostrea, scarus, 
 lagois : three expensive delicacies. 
 But neither the scarus, a kind of 
 fish, nor the lagois, a game bird, 
 can be precisely identified. iu- 
 vare: to give you pleasure. 
 
 23. eripiam : with prohibitive 
 force and therefore followed by 
 
 158
 
 SERMONES 
 
 f 2, 2, 32 
 
 hoc potius quam gallina tergere palatum, 
 25 corruptus vanis rerum, quia veneat auro 
 
 rara avis, et picta pandat spectacula cauda ; 
 
 tamquam ad rem attineat quicquam. Num vesceris ista 
 
 quam laudas pluma ? Cocto num adest honor idem ? 
 
 carne tamen quamvis distat nihil, hanc magis ilia 
 30 imparibus formis deceptum te petere esto, 
 
 unde datum sentis, lupus hie Tiberinus an alto 
 
 captus hiet, pontisne inter iactatus an amnis 
 
 quin. posito : on the table, as 
 in Sat. i, 3, 92. pavone : the 
 peacock was first used as an article 
 of food by Hortensius the orator 
 and was afterward regarded as a 
 necessary part of a banquet. Cf. 
 Cic. ad Fam. 9, 20, 2, sed vide 
 audaciarn ; etiam Hirtio cenam 
 dedi sine pavone. 
 
 24. tergere : almost exactly like 
 the English to tickle the palate. 
 
 25. corruptus : cf. vs. 9. vanis 
 rerum : = vanis rebus ; so fictus 
 rerum. Sat. 2, 8, 83. veneat: 
 the subjv. suggests the real, 
 though unexpressed, motive for 
 the preference. 
 
 28. Cocto . . . idem: the pea- 
 cock was cooked with its plumage, 
 but the brilliancy of the feathers 
 would be lost. num adest: mon- 
 osyllabic hiatus with a word end- 
 ing in -m or a long vowel ; cf. si 
 me amas, bat. I, 9, 38. 
 
 29-32. ' You pretend to prefer 
 peacock to fowl, but it is a mere 
 pretence ; you could not tell them 
 apart if it were not for the differ- 
 ence in size Let me try you with 
 
 two pike of the same size and see 
 if you can distinguish the one 
 caught in the Tiber which you 
 epicures consider so much better 
 
 from one caught in the sea.' 
 quamvis : frequently with the in- 
 die, in Horace, e.g. Sat. i, 3, 129. 
 
 hanc ilia : sc. carnem, carne. 
 imparibus . . . decoptum : this does 
 not mean that the epicure could 
 not distinguish fowl from peacock, 
 but that he allowed the fact that 
 the peacock was bigger to delude 
 him into thinking that it was also 
 better. It is the same as cor- 
 ruptus vanis rerum, vs. 25 ; mis- 
 led by the false standard of size. 
 esto : grant that. unde datum 
 sentis : whence do you get the. 
 power to distinguish ; i.e. ( when 
 there is no difference in size, there 
 is no way in which you can distin- 
 guish, as you pretend to do.' Cf. 
 vs. 1 8 and unde petitum hoc in me 
 iacis? Sat. i, 4, 79. hiet : this 
 should be made subordinate in the 
 translation; 'whether this pike 
 with its mouth open was caught 
 . . .' pontis inter : between the 
 
 159
 
 2. 33] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ostia sub Tusci ? Laudas, insane, trilibrem 
 
 mullum, in singula quern minuas pulmenta necesse est. 
 35 Ducit te species, video : quo pertinet ergo 
 
 proceros odisse lupos ? Quia scilicet illis 
 
 maiorem natura modum dedit, his breve pondus. 
 
 leiunus raro stomachus volgaria temnit. 
 
 ' Porrectum magno magnum spectare catino 
 40 vellem,' ait Harpyiis gula digna rapacibus. At vos, 
 
 praesentes Austri, coquite horum obsonia ! Quamquam 
 
 bridges, i.e. from the shore of the 
 island which was connected by 
 bridges with the two banks. The 
 fish caught in the swift current 
 here (iactatus) were thought to 
 have a finer flavor. This passage 
 is reminiscent of Lucilius, 1176 
 (Marx),^0ff/f Tiberinus duo inter 
 captus catillo (scavenger, i.e. a 
 pike). 
 
 33. insane: a Stoic form of 
 address; cf. Sat. 2, 3, 81, and 
 326. trilibrem : the mullet was 
 usually a small fish, rarely weigh- 
 ing as much as two pounds, and 
 enormous sums were paid for 
 those of abnormal size. 
 
 34. pulmenta : helps, portions. 
 minuas . . . necesse est : para- 
 taxis, as often with necesse est. 
 The argument is that there is no 
 real reason for preferring the large 
 mullet, since it must be divided 
 into portions to be served. 
 
 35 ff. The sententious brevity 
 of the clauses is in parody of the 
 Stoic manner. Quia scilicet : 
 giving the real reason in an ironi- 
 cal form ; ' it is mere fashion with- 
 
 out taste which leads you to prefer 
 the rare and unnatural small 
 pike and large mullets. 1 The 
 modern parallel to this is serving 
 fruits out of season. 
 
 38. raro : with ieiunus ; f it is 
 because you seldom feel real ap- 
 petite that you seek for such 
 varieties.' 
 
 39. magno magnum : a sort of 
 outcry as if from some one who 
 feels himself free from the whims 
 of fashion ; ' but I should really 
 like to see a big fish in a big dish.' 
 The answer is, 'your gluttony is 
 no more natural than the caprices 
 of fashion.' 
 
 40. At: not adversative, but, 
 as frequently in curses, a particle 
 of transition. 
 
 41. praesentes: i.e. 'come 
 yourselves and cook (taint) the 
 food of such people.' Austri: 
 the warm south winds. Quam- 
 quam : ' and yet I need scarcely 
 say this, for those whose appetites 
 are spoiled with an over-abun- 
 dance of rich viands cannot distin- 
 guish fresh food from tainted.' 
 
 1 60
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 2, 54 
 
 putet aper rhombusque recens, mala copia quando 
 aegrum sollicitat stomachum, cum rapula plenus 
 atque acidas mavolt inulas. Necdum omnis abacta 
 
 45 pauperies epulis regum; nam vilibus ovis 
 
 nigrisque est oleis hodie locus. Haud ita pridem 
 Gallon! praeconis erat acipensere mensa 
 infamis. Quid ? turn rhombos minus aequor alebatf 
 Tutus erat rhombus, tutoque ciconia nido, 
 
 50 donee vos auctor docuit praetorius. Ergo 
 si quis nunc merges suavis edixerit assos, 
 parebit pravi docilis Romana iuventus. 
 
 Sordidus a tenui victu distabit, Ofello 
 iudice; nam frustra vitium vitaveris illud, 
 
 42. quando: since ; the more 
 common use in Horace. 
 
 43 f . sollicitat : disturbs,troubles. 
 rapula, inulas : radishes and 
 pickles. The root of the elecam- 
 pane (inula) is no longer used as 
 a food. Necdum : not even yet ; 
 i.e. ' we still use some simple kinds 
 of food, for it is not so very long 
 ago that these absurd fashions 
 were introduced.' 
 
 45. pauperies : plain food, the 
 food of a poor man ; contrasted 
 with region, the rich. 
 
 46-52. ' It is not long since the 
 introduction of the sturgeon made 
 Gallonius notorious. Now a tur- 
 bot or a stork is the proper thing 
 for a fine dinner. Such fashions 
 have not even the excuse of a 
 love of good food ; they are noth- 
 ing but silly caprices.' Gallon!: 
 Publius Gallonius, satirized by 
 Lucilius for having set the fashion 
 
 of serving a large sturgeon at din- 
 ner. Quid ? . . . alebat : the 
 exclamation of a person to whom 
 the present fashion of having tur- 
 bot for a fish-course seems like a 
 law of nature. auctor . . . prae- 
 torius : his name is variously given 
 by the Scholiasts, who quote an 
 anonymous epigram upon him, 
 alluding to his setting the fashion 
 of eating storks and to his defeat 
 for the praetorship. Praetorius 
 would then be ironical. mergos : 
 some sea bird whose flesh was not 
 fit for eating. edixerit : issue an 
 edict, as a praetor did ; another 
 hit at the auctor praetorius. 
 pravi docilis : quick to learn cor- 
 ruption. 
 
 53 f. * But Ofellus did not rush 
 to the other extreme ; it was sim- 
 plicity, not stinginess, that he 
 recommended.' The mention of 
 Ofellus is a reminder of vss. 2 f. 
 
 HOR. SAT. II 
 
 161
 
 55] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 55 si te alio pravum detorseris. Avidienus 
 
 cui Canis ex vero ductum cognomen adhaeret, 
 quinquennis oleas est et silvestria corna, 
 ac nisi mutatum parcit defundere vinum, et 
 cuius odorem olei nequeas perferre, licebit 
 
 60 ille repotia, natalis, aliosve dierum 
 
 festos albatus celebret, cornu ipse bilibri 
 
 caulibus instillat, veteris non parcus aceti. 
 
 Quali igitur victu sapiens utetur, et horura 
 
 utrum imitabitur ? Hac urget lupus, hac canis, aiunt. 
 
 55. alio : adverb. pravum : 
 with te, but to be rendered freely. 
 Avidienus: a coined name, 
 probably with a vague suggestion 
 of avidus, in spite of the difference 
 in quantity. 
 
 56. Canis : i.e. Kuan/ ; a depre- 
 ciatory reference to the rival sect 
 of the Cynics, in the manner of a 
 Stoic preacher. ex vero ductum : 
 deservedly applied, based on the 
 actual facts of his temper and 
 habits. The phrase occurs else- 
 where ; Plautus, Stick. 242, mine 
 Miccotrogus nomine e vero vocor ; 
 Ovid, Fast. 2, 859. 
 
 57. est : from edo. silvestria 
 corna: i.e. such poor food as 
 primitive man used before the 
 cultivation of grain ; cf. Verg. 
 Georg. i, i, 147 ff. 
 
 58. mutatum : turned, soured. 
 
 59. olei : attracted from the 
 ace. after instillat into the relative 
 clause. licebit : paratactically 
 with celebret ; there are many 
 cases where the pres. licet is felt 
 
 as a verb rather than as a con- 
 junction. 
 
 60. repotia : wedding feasts, 
 occasions when the best of food 
 would be served. 
 
 61. albatus: wearing the white 
 toga of ceremony ; he would ob- 
 serve the proprieties where the 
 observance cost nothing. cornu 
 . . . bilibri : i.e. the oil was served 
 in a large vessel of the cheapest 
 material, instead ota.gnttus (Sat. 
 I, 6, 1 1 8), and the host poured it 
 with his own hand (ipse} drop by 
 drop (instillat) that there might 
 be no waste. 
 
 62. veteris . . . aceti : the 
 point of this is not quite clear. 
 Old vinegar is better than new ; 
 the implication may be that he 
 was generous only with vinegar, 
 which was cheaper than oil, or 
 this may be, as the Scholiast says, 
 a joke of the kind called Trapu 
 Trpoo-So/aav, the substitution ot 
 aceti for an expected vini. 
 
 64. aiunt: as the say ing is. The 
 
 162
 
 [2, 2, 77 
 
 63 Mundus erit, qua non offendat sordibus, atque 
 
 in neutram partem cultus miser. Hie neque servis, 
 Albuci senis exemplo, dum munia didit, 
 saevus erit, nee sic ut simplex Naevius unctam 
 convivis praebebit aquam ; vitium hoc quoque magnum. 
 
 70 Accipe nunc victus tenuis quae quantaque secum 
 adferat. In primis valeas bene : nam variae res 
 ut noceant homini credas, memor illius escae 
 quae simplex olim tibi sederit; at simul assis 
 miscueris elixa, simul conchylia turdis, 
 
 75 dulcia se in bilem vertent, stomachoque tumultum 
 lenta feret pituita. Vides ut pallidus omnis 
 cena desurgat dubia ? Quin corpus onustum 
 
 verb aiunt is often used paren- 
 thetically in the quotation of a 
 proverb. 
 
 65. Mundus erit, qua : ' the phi- 
 losopher will be refined in his way 
 of living, but will not carry refine- 
 ment to such an extreme that it 
 will seem to be mere stinginess. ' 
 The meaning of mundus (inundi- 
 tia) is limited in the same way in 
 Sat. i, 2, 123 and in Cic. de Off. 
 i, 36, 130; cf. also Carm. 2, 10, 
 
 5ff- 
 
 66. cultus : with miser, anxious 
 about his way of living. 
 
 67-69. Albucius (not to be 
 connected with the Albucius of 
 Sat. 2, i, 48) is so overanxious to 
 have all the service at dinner 
 perfect that he scolds his servants 
 even when he is assigning their 
 duties ; Naevius (a mere name) is 
 so careless that he allows his 
 slaves to be slovenly. unctam 
 
 . . . aquam: greasy water for 
 rinsing the hands after the meal. 
 vitium . . . magnum : this 
 solemn condemnation of a rather 
 trifling fault (cf. Sat. I, 3, 80 f. 
 and Sat. 2, 8) comes with bur- 
 lesque effect from the lips of an 
 old farmer. 
 
 71. valeas: potential, as is 
 credas in the next line, with 
 protases implied in the general 
 sense and in memor, if you recall. 
 
 73. sederit: like the colloquial 
 English 'to set well on the 
 stomach.' 
 
 75 f . dulcia, bilem, lenta pituita : 
 phrases of popular physiology, to 
 describe indigestion. Pituita is 
 in three syllables. 
 
 77. cena . . . dubia : a quota- 
 tion from Terence, Phorm. 342, 
 ' cena dubia adponitur. || quid istuc 
 verbi est ? || ubi tu dubites quid 
 sumas potissumum, 1 i.e. a dinner 
 
 163
 
 2, 2, 7 8] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 hesternis vitiis animum quoque praegravat una, 
 atque affigit humo divinae particulam aurae. 
 
 80 Alter, ubi dicto citius curata sopori 
 
 membra dedit, vegetus praescripta ad munia surgit. 
 Hie tamen ad melius poterit transcurrere quondam, 
 sive diem festum rediens advexerit annus, 
 seu recreare volet tenuatum corpus, ubique 
 
 85 accedent anni et tractari mollius aetas 
 
 imbecilla volet ; tibi quidnam accedet ad istatn 
 quam puer et validus praesumis mollitiem, seu 
 dura valetudo incident seu tarda senectus ? 
 
 so good that you don't know 
 what to take first. Quin : cor- 
 rective, as often, of the inade- 
 quacy of the previous sentence ; 
 nay more. 
 
 78 f . vitiis : excesses in eating, 
 as in vs. 21. The conception of 
 the soul as a part of the divine 
 spirit imprisoned within the body 
 is often expressed in Latin litera- 
 ture ; it was a fundamental doctrine 
 of Stoic philosophy and is intro- 
 duced here, in words that are inten- 
 tionally too elevated for the context 
 and the speaker, to give a burlesque 
 of the Stoic preacher. 
 
 80 f . Alter : the philosopher, 
 the man of simple habits. dicto 
 citius : a colloquialism, with the 
 exaggeration common in the lan- 
 guage of conversation. curata 
 membra : i.e. he refreshes himself 
 with supper ; cf. corpora curare, 
 cibo se curare and the frequent use 
 of membra of health or strength. 
 e.g.Sat. i, i, 5. The whole phrase 
 
 curata . . . dedit goes together, 
 as the order suggests, and dicto 
 citius goes with the whole ; ' in 
 less time than it takes me to tell 
 it he has had his supper and 
 fallen asleep.' 
 
 82-88. ' A man who lives ordi- 
 narily on plain fare can indulge 
 himself on occasion, but the man 
 who is always self-indulgent has 
 exhausted his possibilities of 
 pleasure.' 
 
 82. Hie: referring to alter. 
 tamen : in spite of his habitual 
 self-restraint. 
 
 83-84. sive . . . seu . . . 
 ubique : three reasons for re- 
 laxation, a feast-day, illness, old 
 age. To avoid a too elaborate 
 accuracy in expression, a different 
 conjunction, ubi-que for sz-ve, 
 is used to introduce the third 
 clause. 
 
 87. praesumis : 'take before 
 the time, allow yourself pre- 
 maturely.' 
 
 164
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 2, 99 
 
 Rancidum aprum antiqui laudabant, non quia nasus 
 90 illis nullus erat, sed, credo, hac mente, quod hospes 
 tardius adveniens vitiatum commodius quam 
 integrumedax dominus consumeret Hos utinam inter 
 heroas natum tellus me prima tulisset ! 
 Das aliquid famae, quae carmine gratior aurem 
 95 occupat humanam ? Grandes rhombi patinaeque 
 grande ferunt una cum damno dedecus ; adde 
 iratum patruum, vicinos, te tibi iniquum 
 et frustra mortis cupidum, cum derit egenti 
 as, laquei pretium. 'lure,' inquit, .' Trausius istis 
 
 89-93. ' The economical farmer 
 will always have a reserve of food 
 even though it may not be of 
 the freshest for a chance guest.' 
 
 89 f . Rancidum . . . laudabant : 
 intentionally put in a paradoxical 
 form in order to burlesque the 
 seriousness of the speaker. non 
 quia . . . sed quod : there is no 
 difference between quia and quod 
 in this form of sentence, but the 
 subjv. is used in the second clause 
 because it gives the motive of the 
 antiqui. 
 
 91 f. vitiatum: = rancidum. 
 integrum: with double meaning, 
 'the whole of it while it was still 
 fresh.' commodius : i.e. they 
 thought it more suitable, they 
 praised such conduct more. 
 
 93. The wish is, of course, 
 comic, though the Stoic is repre- 
 sented as uttering it in all serious- 
 ness. Cf. vitium . . . magnum, vs. 
 69. 
 
 94-99. ' A display of luxury 
 
 brings notoriety and, in the end, 
 ruin. 1 Das aliquid : i.e. ' Do you 
 consider that a good name is of 
 some account ? ' patruum : the 
 uncle is in Latin literature a type 
 of severity, so that patruus in Sat. 
 2, 3, 88, ne sis patruus mihi, be- 
 comes almost equal to iniquus. 
 iniquum : hateful. derit : 
 = de-erit. laquei pretium : a 
 standing comic situation (e.g. 
 Plaut. Pseud. 88 f.), in which a 
 bankrupt tries to borrow a penny to 
 buy rope enough to hang himself. 
 
 99-111. 'You may think that 
 your income is sufficient for any 
 expenses, but if you do not care 
 to bestow any of it upon others 
 all men suffer losses and your 
 course of life is a poor preparation 
 for meeting misfortune.' 
 
 99. Trausius : unknown ; a mere 
 name to represent a man who lives 
 beyond his income. For the form 
 of argument, which is a favorite 
 one with Horace, cf. Sat. 1,4, 53 : 
 
 165
 
 2, 2, 100] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 100 iurgatur verbis ; ego vectigalia magna 
 
 divitiasque habeo tribus amplas regibus.' Ergo 
 quod superat non est melius quo insumere possis ? 
 Cur eget indignus quisquam te divite ? Quare 
 templa ruunt antiqua deum ? Cur, improbe, carae 
 
 105 non aliquid patriae tanto emetiris acervo ? 
 Vni nimirum recte tibi semper erunt res, 
 o magnus posthac inimicis risus ! Vterne 
 ad casus dubios fidet sibi certius, hie qui 
 pluribus adsuerit mentem corpusque superbum, 
 
 no an qui contentus parvo metuensque futuri 
 in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello ? 
 
 Quo magis bis credas, puer hunc ego parvus Ofellum 
 
 I, 10, 5; i, 10, 21-23. It consists 
 in the mere mention of a name 
 which suggests circumstances that 
 refute the previous statement. 
 
 1 02. quod superat : your sur- 
 plus. non . . . possis: construe 
 non est quo melius, etc. 
 
 103-105. Exhortations to charity 
 or to the giving of money to public 
 objects are less common in classic 
 literature than in modern times (cf., 
 however, Carm. 2, 15, 18 ff. ; 3, 6, 
 2 ff. ; Cic. de Off. 3, 1 5, 63) , but such 
 donations to individuals and to com- 
 munities were not uncommon. Cf., 
 e.g.. Sat. 1,9, 1 8 note ; and Pliny's 
 endowment of a library (Epist. I, 
 8, 2) and of a school (4, 13, 5). 
 
 106. Vni : with emphatic irony ; 
 ' Do you expect to be the only 
 exception to the general law of 
 change in human fortunes?' 
 
 107. Vterne : the interrogative 
 ~ne is occasionally appended even 
 
 to interrogative pronouns ; so 2, 3, 
 
 295> 317. 
 
 109. pluribus :' to superfluities, 
 to a variety of luxuries.' super- 
 bum : with predicate force ; ' and 
 thereby have made them his mas- 
 ters.' 
 
 in. This is a reference to a 
 proverbial saying, ( in time of peace 
 prepare for war,' which appears in 
 Latin in various forms (si vis pa- 
 cem, para bellunt) and, like other 
 proverbs, is still accepted by the 
 unsophisticated as the essence of 
 wisdom. 
 
 112-115. At this point Horace 
 assumes, more distinctly than in 
 vss. 2 f. and 53. the person of the 
 narrator, adding to the effective- 
 ness of the closing argument (guo 
 magi's his credas) by personal remi- 
 niscence (puer ego parvits) and 
 specific details (nunc accisis, me- 
 tato, tnercede). The skill of the 
 
 166
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 2. 124 
 
 integris opibus novi non latius usum 
 
 quam nunc accisis. Videas metato in agello 
 
 115 cum pecore et gnatis fortem mercede colonum, 
 ' Non ego,' narrantem, ' temere edi luce profesta 
 quicquam praeter olus f umosae cum pede pernae. 
 Ac mihi seu longum post tempus venerat hospes, 
 sive operum vacuo gratus conviva per imbrem 
 
 120 vicinus, bene erat non piscibus urbe petitis, 
 
 sed pullo atque haedo ; turn pensilis uva secundas 
 et mix ornabat mensas cum duplice ficu. 
 Post hoc ludus erat culpa potare magistra, 
 ac venerata Ceres, ita culmo surgeret alto, 
 
 artifice is so great that many com- 
 mentators have taken it for reality, 
 but cf. Sat. 2, 6, 1 1 f. for a similar, 
 though less detailed, reference. 
 latius: so Juv. 14, 234, indul- 
 gent sibi latius ; angustus is fre- 
 quently used of the opposite. 
 metato : i.e. measured by the land- 
 commissioners appointed to survey 
 and apportion confiscated land ; as 
 in ordinary circumstances farms 
 were marked by boundary stones 
 and not surveyed, the verb metari 
 came to be used especially of the 
 surveys preliminary to confiscation 
 and allotment. mercede : i.e. the 
 new proprietor hired the former 
 owner to carry on the farm. 
 
 116. Non . . .temere: not with- 
 out reason, only when there was 
 some special reason ; the ordinary 
 sense of non (haud) temere. 
 
 118 ff. ' Even on the rare occa- 
 sions our food was still simple.' 
 hospes : a guest from a distance, 
 
 who came infrequently (longum 
 post tempus) . vicinus : the cele- 
 brating of a neighbor's visit is 
 excused by the additional circum- 
 stances, operum vacua, per im- 
 brem. pensilis uva : raisins. 
 duplice ficu : split for drying. The 
 point is that only the products of 
 the farm were used, even for special 
 occasions ; cf. dapes inemptas, 
 Epod. 2, 48. 
 
 123. Post hoc: the wine was 
 served according to the country 
 custom after the dessert (secundae 
 mensae), and was drunk without 
 the formal etiquette of elaborate 
 dinners (cf. Sat. 2, 6, 67 ff.) ; 
 instead of selecting a magister 
 bibendi to regulate their drinking, 
 they were governed only by their 
 own sense of propriety (culpa). 
 
 124. ita ... surgeret : the in- 
 direct form of the prayer ita Ceres 
 surgat or ita tu surgas, often fol- 
 lowed by a statement of some evi- 
 
 167
 
 2,2,125] HORATI 
 
 125 explicuit vino contractae seria frontis. 
 
 Saeviat atque novos moveat Fortuna tumultus, 
 quantum hinc imminuet ? Quanto aut ego parcius aut 
 
 vos, 
 
 o pueri, nituistis, ut hue novus incola venit ? 
 Nam propriae telluris erum natura neque ilium 
 
 130 nee me nee quemquam statuit : nos expulit ille, 
 ilium aut nequities aut vafri inscitia iuris, 
 postremum expellet certe vivacior heres. 
 Nunc ager Vmbreni sub nomine, nuper Ofelli 
 dictus, erit nulli proprius, sed cedet in usum 
 
 135 nunc mihi, nunc alii. Quocirca vivite fortes, 
 fortiaque adversis opponite pectora rebus.' 
 
 dent truth in an /-clause. Cf. there is abundant evidence that 
 
 Sat. 2, 3, 300; Carm. i, 3, r ff. the veterans who were suddenly 
 
 ' And the wine that we drank as changed from soldiers to farmers 
 
 we prayed to Ceres, " so may you often made but poor use of their 
 
 rise on the high stalk," smoothed property, managing it badly, fall- 
 
 the wrinkles from our brows.' ing into debt, and suffering, per- 
 
 126. tumultus : like the dissen- haps unfairly, from their ignorance 
 
 sions that preceded Philippi and of civil life. 
 
 resulted in the confiscation of the 132. postremum : ace. masc. 
 
 farm of Vergil's father. with ilium ; but translate, at last. 
 
 128. pueri : his sons, gathered 134. proprius : contrasted with 
 about him as he watches the herds cedet in usum; we merely use our 
 (vs. 115). novus incola: Urn- possessions, we do not really own 
 brenus, the veteran to whom the them. 
 
 farm had been allotted. 135 f . These lines return to the 
 
 129. propriae: predicate; to thought of vss. 107-111, as if to 
 hold it as his own. prove by an example the general 
 
 131. nequities, inscitia iuris: statement made there. 
 
 3 
 
 The allusion in vs. 185, plausus quos fert Agrippa, shows that the 
 satire was written as late as the year 33 B.C., when Agrippa, as aedile, 
 gave the games with unusual splendor. The reference to the Saturnalia 
 
 1 63
 
 SERMONES [2, 3 
 
 (vs. 5) Axes the time of year when the dialogue is supposed to take 
 place, but indicates nothing in regard to the time when it was composed. 
 
 In structure tnis is the most carefully arranged of all the satires. The 
 main body is a sermon by the philosopher Stertinius (alluded to in Epist. 
 i, 12, 20, but otherwise unknown to us) upon the Stoic Paradox iras 
 a<pwv fjMivtTai, that all men except the Stoic philosopher are mad. 
 The discourse is carefully divided into four parts, taking up in turn the 
 avaricious (82-157), the ambitious (158-223), the self-indulgent (224- 
 246, with a special subdivision, 247-280, for the amorous), and the super- 
 stitious (281-295). There is a brief introduction (77-81) and a 
 corresponding conclusion (296-299). This discourse is repeated to 
 Horace by Damasippus, a recent convert to Stoicism, whose character 
 and circumstances are admirably adapted to his part. He had been a 
 collector of antique bronzes and a dealer in real estate and is alluded 
 to by Cicero (ad Fam. 7, 23, 2 ; ad Att. 12, 29, 2 ; 12, 33, i) in connec- 
 tion with the purchase of statuary and of land for gardens. But he had 
 afterward failed in business and in his despair was about to throw him- 
 self into the Tiber, when he was saved by the intervention of Stertinius. 
 The logical reasoning by which Stertinius convinced him that his mo- 
 tive for suicide was insufficient is an excellent bit of philosophical fool- 
 ing and serves as an introduction to the main sermon. 
 
 The circumstances which brought Damasippus into contact with 
 Horace are disclosed in a brief introductory dialogue (1-31). Horace 
 represents himself as having gone out to his quiet Sabine farm at the 
 time of the Saturnalia to escape the Christmas festivities and to do some 
 work. But the work had been postponed and he was sitting in his 
 study dozing atter a good dinner (vini somnique benignus), when 
 Damasippus burst in upon him, uninvited, having come out from the 
 city full of zeal to rouse him from his laziness. To his exhortations 
 Horace replies with good-natured irony in a rather superior tone and 
 finally submits to a recital of the long sermon. When it is over (300- 
 326), he rouses himself to make further ironical remarks, to which 
 Damasippus replies with such point that Horace for a moment loses his 
 temper and then surrenders, acknowledging himself to be as great a 
 madman almost as his visitor. The opening and the closing bits 
 of dialogue thus form a framework for the main body of the satire. 
 
 To the carefulness in construction an equal care in expression has 
 been added. There are few passages where the thought is not clearly 
 expressed and there are many of special excellence, like the farcical 
 scene from the camp before Troy (187-207), a forerunner of Sat. 2. 5, 
 or the brilliant paraphrase of the first lines of the Eunuchus (262-271). 
 
 169
 
 2, 3, i] HORATI 
 
 The synonyms for insanus collected by Teuffel (furiosus, excors, delirus, 
 atnens, amentia versatus, demens, cerritus, commotus, commotac mentis, 
 ntentem concussus, male tutae mentis, putidi cerebri) are evidence of the 
 pains taken to avoid monotony. 
 
 As to the underlying motive of the satire, it seems probable that the 
 accusations of idleness in the opening lines were not without founda- 
 tion. After the publication of the First Book there was probably a 
 period in which Horace was disinclined to go on with precisely the 
 same kind of writing and was perhaps turning toward lyric poetry. 
 During this time of hesitation he may well have seemed to be occupied 
 with his farm (307^) and to have abandoned his literary ambitions. 
 To the doubts of his friends and the criticisms of his enemies this long 
 and carefully constructed satire was intended to be a reply. At the 
 same time it is, even more distinctly than Sat. 2, 2, an attempt to touch 
 the follies of mankind with a lighter touch. The burlesque of Stoic 
 formalism and solemnity runs through the whole and is in many places 
 worked out in detail, so that the satire might well be taken to be a satire 
 upon that sect. On the other hand, however, the absurdities and follies 
 which are the subject-matter are equally the objects of attack, but they 
 are made ridiculous by exaggeration rather than reproved. If the first 
 part of the sermon of Stertinius (vss. 82-157) be compared with Sat. I, I, 
 which deals with the same subject, the difference in manner will be 
 apparent. There is in this satire none of the direct argument which 
 gives a serious tone to Sat. I, I ; the sermon of Stertinius is a series of 
 absurd illustrations, Staberius, Aristippus, the senseless miser, Orestes, 
 Opimius, which ridicule avarice by presenting it in its extremest forms. 
 In short, the genial raillery of Horace is here directed by turns upon 
 the preacher, upon the congregation, and upon the satirist himself. 
 
 Damasippus. Sic raro scribis, ut toto non quater annc 
 membranam poscas, scriptorum quaeque retexens, 
 iratus tibi, quod, vini somnique benignus, 
 nil dignum sermone canas. Quid fiet ? At ipsis 
 
 1. scribis : the final long sylla- material could be erased and cor- 
 bie before the caesura occurs in a rections made. retexens : nn- 
 few other places ; e.g. Sat. I, 4, 82. raveling, with a change in the 
 
 2. membranam : the parchment figure to weaving. scriptorum: 
 upon which the rough draft was neut., partitive gen. 
 
 written out; writing upon this 4. dignum sermone : worth talk- 
 
 170
 
 SERMONES 
 
 Saturnalibus hue fugisti. Sobrius ergo 
 
 die aliquid dignum promissis ! Incipe ! Nil est. 
 
 Culpantur frustra calami, immeritusque laborat 
 
 iratis natus paries dis atque poetis. 
 
 Atqui voltus erat multa et praeclara minantis, 
 
 si vacuum tepido cepisset villula tecto. 
 
 Quorsum pertinuit stipare Platona Menandro, 
 
 Eupolin, Archilochum, comites educere tantos ? 
 
 Invidiam placare paras virtue relicta ? 
 
 Contemnere, miser ! Vitanda est improba Siren 
 
 desidia, aut quicquid vita meliore parasti 
 
 ing about ; likely to increase your 
 reputation. Quid fiet : 'what is to 
 be the outcome ? 
 
 5. Saturnalibus : this feast be- 
 gan on Dec. 17 and was pro- 
 longed for several days. It was 
 a time of feasting, of the giving of 
 presents, and of special freedom 
 for slaves. hue : to his farm. 
 Sobrius ergo : ' well then, since 
 you have chosen to keep out of 
 the festivities.' 
 
 6-8. To the absurd exhortation 
 to sit down at once and begin a 
 poem Horace of course makes no 
 response and Damasippus hastens 
 to forestall his excuses : ' There 
 is no use in blaming the pens 
 or in pounding the wall, which 
 doesn't deserve to bear the re- 
 sponsibility.' iratis natus dis : 
 i.e. under unfortunate auspices ; 
 cf. Sat. i, 5, 97 f., Gnatia lymphis 
 iratis exstructa. 
 
 9 f . 'And yet just recall your 
 determination to do some work 
 
 if you could only escape to the 
 quiet of your farm.' 
 
 ii f. The Greek writers here 
 named are poets ; Eupolis. Plato, 
 and Menander as representatives 
 respectively of the Old, the Middle, 
 and the New Comedy, and Archil- 
 ochus as a writer of iambics like 
 the Epodes. The selection of 
 these writers is meant to indicate 
 that Horace was turning from 
 satire, in the traditional Roman 
 form, toward satirical iambics. 
 stipare : of packing closely in his 
 traveling-bags. 
 
 13. ' Are you preparing to pa- 
 cify your enemies by abandoning 
 satire ? ' To the Stoic reformer 
 the earnest satirist seemed a kin- 
 dred spirit and his attacks upon 
 the follies of men seemed a virtus, 
 almost as good as a Stoic sermon. 
 15 f. quicquid . . . parasti : not 
 exactly his fame as a poet, for 
 which the Stoic cared nothing, 
 but his standing as a hortatory
 
 2. 3, 1 6] 
 
 HOKATI 
 
 ponendum aequo animo. Hor. Di te, Damasippe, 
 
 deaeque 
 
 verum ob consilium donent tonsore. Sed unde 
 tarn bene me nosti ? Dam. Postquam omnis res mea 
 
 lanum 
 
 ad medium fracta est, aliena negotia euro, 
 20 excussus propriis. Olim nam quaerere amabam, 
 quo vafer ille pedes lavisset Sisyphus acre, 
 quid sculptum inf abre, quid f usum durius esset ; 
 
 reformer, which he would lose if the phrase ' in Wall Street.' ali- 
 
 he turned aside to the mere pret- 
 tinesses of lyric poetry. aequo 
 animo : i.e. ' with such composure 
 as you can muster.' 
 
 16 f . Di . . . deaeque . . . do- 
 nent : a solemn formula in wishes 
 and curses, though dent or duint 
 is the more common verb. ton- 
 sore : i.e. with that which the 
 philosopher, with his long beard, 
 seemed to need most. The reply 
 is, of course, an expression of lazy 
 irony, in the utmost possible con- 
 trast to the intense earnestness of 
 Damasippus. 
 
 17 f. unde . . . nosti : with the 
 implication, under the form of a 
 polite question, that Damasippus 
 was entirely mistaken. 
 
 18-20. lanum ad medium: the 
 same words are used by Cicero (de 
 Off. 2, 24, 87) of a part of the 
 Forum given up to the banking 
 business, near the middle one of 
 three arches. Such arches were 
 frequently consecrated to Janus as 
 the god of openings (cf. ianua). 
 The expression would then be like 
 
 ena negotia euro : a hit at the re- 
 forming philosophers, who were 
 thought of as busybodies in other 
 men's matters. The phrase must 
 be supposed to be used by the 
 Stoic without consciousness of its 
 double meaning, though Horace 
 in some other places (cf. vss. 28- 
 30 and note) puts into the mouth 
 of Damasippus words that he would 
 hardly have used. excussus: the 
 figure is that of a man knocked 
 overboard from a shipwrecked 
 vessel, a figure already suggested 
 by fracta. quaerere : to inves- 
 tigate, as a skilled expert in anti- 
 quities. 
 
 21. Cf. Sat. I, 3, 90 f. Both 
 passages touch with humorous ex- 
 aggeration the inclination of col- 
 lectors to claim a fabulous antiquity 
 for their artistic treasures. Sisy- 
 phus was king of Corinth, the cen- 
 ter of artistic work in bronze. 
 
 22. sculptum inf abre, fusum 
 durius : the unskilful carving and 
 hard (i.e. stiff and formal) cast- 
 ing, though they were defects in 
 
 172
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2. 3, 30 
 
 callidus huic signo ponebam milia centum ; 
 hortos egregiasque domos mercarier unus 
 
 25 cum lucro noram ; unde frequentia Mercuriale 
 imposuere mihi cognomen compita. Hor. Novi, 
 et miror morbi purgatum te illius. Dam. Atqui 
 emovit veterem mire novus, ut solet, in cor 
 traiecto lateris miseri capitisve dolere, 
 
 30 ut lethargicus hie cum fit pugil et medicum urget. 
 
 the artistic work, were evidence 
 to the collector of the antiquity 
 of the piece and, therefore, in his 
 eyes, of its rarity and value. 
 
 23. huic signo : such a statue. 
 
 milia centum : i.e. the large 
 price which its age would com- 
 mand in the market. 
 
 24-26. unus cum lucro : in spite 
 of his bankruptcy and his adoption 
 of the life of a philosopher, Dama- 
 sippus cannot refrain from speaking 
 with pride of his earlier successes 
 in business. frequentia . . . com- 
 pita : the crowds that gathered at 
 the street-corners, where statuary 
 and bronzes were sold at auction. 
 
 Mercuriale . . . cognomen : fa- 
 vorite of Mercury, the god of 
 trade (merx). But Mercuriales 
 viri (Carm. 2, 17, 29 f.) means 
 the favorites of Mercury as the 
 god of speech. 
 
 27. morbi : Horace jokingly 
 uses the technical term morbus, 
 a translation of 7ra$os, which was 
 used to describe any form of pas- 
 sion or any departure from calm 
 philosophic reason. 
 
 28-30. mire: this repeats miror 
 
 in a kind of unintentional pun. 
 Horace had used miror with irony 
 'a surprising cure'; Damasip- 
 pus in his well-meaning eagerness 
 overlooks the irony and uses mire 
 in the better sense : ' Oh, but 
 the wonderful thing is not the 
 cure ; it is this new interest, which 
 effected the cure, that is so won- 
 derful.' But it is scarcely possible 
 to explain in the same way, as due 
 to the blundering eagerness of Da- 
 masippus, the comparison of Stoi- 
 cism to a morbusj even to a kind 
 of frenzy. Though Horace has 
 not actually put the word into the 
 mouth of Damasippus, the expres- 
 sion is still quite clearly incon- 
 sistent with his character, and we 
 must say that Horace has here, as 
 perhaps in vss. 19 and 33, failed 
 to make the speech quite con- 
 sistent with the character of the 
 speaker. The illustration in vs. 
 30 'as some man (lite) in a 
 lethargy suddenly turns boxer 
 and assaults his doctor' is 
 chosen in order to give an open- 
 ing for the remark in vs. 31 and to 
 lead up to the subject of madness. 
 
 173
 
 2, 3 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Hor. Dum ne quid simile huic, esto ut libet. Dam 
 
 O bone, ne te 
 
 frustrere ; insanis et tu stultique prope omnes, 
 si quid Stertinius veri crepat, unde ego mira 
 descripsi docilis praecepta haec, tempore quo me 
 
 35 solatus iussit sapientem pascere barbam 
 atque a Fabricio non tristem ponte reverti. 
 Nam, male re gesta, cum vellem mittere operto 
 me capite in flumen, dexter stetit et ' Cave faxis 
 te quicquam indignum ! Pudor ' inquit ' te malus angit, 
 
 40 insanos qui inter vereare insanus haberi. 
 
 31. huic: neut., referring to 
 fit pugil et urget. ' I bar such 
 conduct as that ; otherwise, have 
 it your own way.' The im- 
 plication of course is that Dama- 
 sippus is liable to an attack of 
 frenzy. 
 
 32. ne te frustrere : doift make 
 a mistake; the common phrase 
 is ne sis frustra. insanis . . . 
 omnes : this is the Stoic Para- 
 dox which forms the text of the 
 sermon. 
 
 33. crepat : prates. The word 
 is contemptuous, and inconsistent 
 with 296, sapientium octavus, as 
 with the general attitude of Dama- 
 sippus. It is another slip on 
 Horace's part, like 19 and 28. 
 unde : a quo. 
 
 35. sapientem pascere barbam : 
 put first, as if this external sign 
 were more important than the 
 thing signified. Cf. Sat. I, 3, 
 
 133- 
 
 36. The 4>ons Fabridus is .still 
 
 standing, with an inscription re- 
 cording the fact that it was re- 
 built by L. Fabricius, in the year 
 62 B.C. non tristem : not as 
 he had come, but reconciled to 
 life. 
 
 37 f. operto capite: one who 
 devoted himself to the gods of the 
 lower world covered his face ; so 
 Decius, giving up his life to win 
 victory, covered his head, and 
 (Livy, 4, 12, \i)multi . . . captibus 
 obvolutis se in Tiber im praecipita- 
 verunt. dexter : the side of good 
 omen. faxis: an old form (an 
 optative of the sigmatic aorist) 
 preserved in this colloquial com- 
 bination with cave ; ' don't do 
 anything unworthy. 1 Horace uses 
 a great variety of forms of prohi- 
 bition. 
 
 39. Pudor . . . malus : not ex- 
 actly what we call false shame, 
 but a sense of humiliation which 
 is really based upon a mistake- 
 Malus is fhf> emphatic word. 
 
 174
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 3. 5 
 
 Primum nam inquiram quid sit furere : hoc si erit in te 
 solo, nil verbi pereas quin fortiter addam. 
 Quern mala stultitia et quemcumque inscitia veri 
 caecum agit, insanum Chrysippi porticus et grex 
 
 45 autumat. Haec populos, haec magnos formula reges, 
 excepto sapiente, tenet. Nunc accipe quare 
 desipiant omnes aeque ac tu, qui tibi nomen 
 insano posuere. Velut silvis, ubi passim 
 palantis error certo de tramite pellit, 
 
 50 ille sinistrorsum, hie dextrorsum abit, unus utrique 
 
 41 ff. These lines illustrate the 
 double humor of the whole satire ; 
 they analyze the universal folly of 
 men and at the same time they 
 exhibit the folly of the Stoic him- 
 self, who addresses an elaborate 
 argument to a man about to com- 
 mit suicide and, in particular, an 
 argument which does not prove 
 the hearer sane, but only no more 
 insane than his fellow-men. 
 
 41. Primum: in proper Stoic 
 style, the argument begins with a 
 definition. furere : a synonym 
 tor insanum esse. 
 
 42. fortiter : Stoic teaching did 
 not forbid suicide and Stertinius 
 treats the question as one of pure 
 logic. 
 
 43 f . Quern : add -cumque from 
 the following quemcumque. 
 stultitia, inscitia : these are not 
 two distinct qualities, but stultitia 
 is the general term of which in- 
 scitia veri is a particular defini- 
 tion, still further defined by caecum 
 agit: 'madness consists in being 
 
 moved by blind and ignorant im- 
 pulse, instead of being guided by 
 wisdom ' (the opposite of stulti- 
 tia). Chrysippi : Zeno was the 
 founder of the school, which took 
 its name from the oroa, the Porch, 
 where he taught. Chrysippus was 
 the greatest of Zeno's successors 
 and was often spoken of as the 
 head of the school. grex : not 
 infrequently used, as here, of a 
 sect of philosophy, usually with a 
 slighting tone. It is hardly a 
 word which a Stoic would have 
 used of his school. Cf. 19, 28, 33 
 and notes. 
 
 45 f . formula : the definition 
 just given. tenet : covers, in- 
 cludes. Nunc : introducing the 
 argument based on the definition 
 and corresponding somewhat 
 loosely to pritmtm, 41. 
 
 50 f . unus, variis : i.e. the 
 fundamental error is the same, 
 inscitia veri caecum agit, though 
 the particular manifestations are 
 different.
 
 3. 50 
 
 HORATI 
 
 error, sed variis illudit partibus : hoc te 
 crede modo insanum, nihilo ut sapientior ille, 
 qui te deridet, caudam trahat. Est genus unum 
 stultitiae nihilum metuenda timentis, ut ignis, 
 
 55 ut rupis fluviosque in campo obstare queratur ; 
 alterum et huic varum et nihilo sapientius ignis 
 per medios fluviosque ruentis : clamet arnica 
 mater, honesta soror cum cognatis, pater, uxor, 
 ' Hie fossa est ingens, hie rupes maxima, serva! ' 
 
 60 non magis audierit quam Fufius ebrius olim, 
 cum Ilionam edormit, Catienis mille ducentis 
 
 51 f. hoc . . . modo : referring 
 back to velut and also forward to 
 ut ; 'just as in the woods men 
 stray from the path in one direc- 
 tion or another, it makes no dif- 
 ference which side, so you must 
 understand your own madness, 
 realizing that it is no greater than 
 that of others.' 
 
 53. caudam trahat : the ex- 
 planation of the Scholiast is 
 ' solent enim pueri deridentes 
 nescientibus a tergo caudam sus- 
 pendere, ut velut pecus caudam 
 trahant.' The conservatism , of 
 boys still preserves this form of 
 humor. 
 
 54. nihilum : with metuenda, 
 as a mere negative. Kiessling 
 refers to the statement of this 
 thought in Xenophon, Mem. i, i, 
 14. timentis : agreeing with stul- 
 titiae, but the concrete stultus is 
 so plainly implied that no subject 
 is expressed for queratur and in 
 the next sentence the abstract is 
 
 forgotten and ruentis is masc., as 
 if agreeing with stulti. 
 
 55. in campo : i.e. on perfectly 
 clear and level ground, where there 
 are no fires or cliffs or rivers. 
 
 56. huic varum : different from 
 this ; vanes seems to be very rare 
 in this sense and perhaps has 
 some humorous effect. 
 
 57. arnica : with mater (' the 
 mother who loves him'), to bal- 
 ance honesta (< whom he respects ') 
 with soror. 
 
 59. fossa, rupes : substituted 
 for ignis, fluvios, merely for va- 
 riety. 
 
 60-62. audierit: apodosis to 
 the protasis expressed without si 
 in clamet. Fufius, Ilionam, Ca- 
 tienis : in the play of Pacuvius 
 there was a scene in which the 
 mother, Iliona, is roused from 
 sleep by the spirit of her murdered 
 son, who addresses her with the 
 words mater, te adpello, tu, quae 
 cur am somno suspensam levas; 
 
 176
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 3, 67 
 
 'Mater, te appello' clamantibus. Huic ego volgus 
 error! similem cunctum insanire docebo. 
 Insanit veteres statuas Damasippus ernendo : 
 65 integer est mentis Damasippi creditor ? Esto. 
 
 ' Accipe quod numquam reddas mihi ' si tibi dicam, 
 tune insanus eris si acceperis ? an magis excors 
 mother should reply age, loaning him the money that he 
 
 the 
 
 adsta, mane, audi. But, on one 
 occasion, an actor named Fufius, 
 who was playing the part of Iliona, 
 had been drinking (ebrius) and 
 actually fell asleep, so that the 
 appeal of the son (played by 
 Catienus) did not waken him, and 
 the audience, seeing the situation, 
 joined in repeating the first words 
 mater, te appello. Ilionam edor- 
 mit : a cognate ace., like Cyclopa 
 saltare (Sat. i, 5, 63), but with a 
 humorous effect ; -was sleeping the 
 Part of Iliona. mille ducentis : 
 twice the usual round number, 
 sescenti. 
 
 62 f. Huic . . . error! : refers 
 back to 49 and 51 ; the error is 
 inscitia veri (43), the failure to 
 see things as they really are. 
 similem : sc. errorem, which 
 would be a cognate ace. after 
 insanire. 
 
 65. integer mentis : = sanus. 
 esto : i.e. ' grant it for the moment 
 and then see what absurdities it 
 leads to. 1 The argument is that if 
 Damasippus had proved himself a 
 madman, as his creditors declared, 
 by losing money in speculation, 
 then the creditors had still more 
 proved themselves madmen by 
 
 had lost. The error was the same, 
 though the manifestations of it 
 were different. 
 
 67 f . excors : = insanus. prae- 
 sens Mercurius : a creditor who 
 offered money with the full under- 
 standing that it was never to be 
 repaid would be to the debtor like 
 the very god of riches in per- 
 son. 
 
 67-71. These words are ad- 
 dressed to the lender of the money 
 and the general sense is plain : 
 ' take all the precautions you can, 
 ten notes or, if ten are not enough, 
 a hundred, a thousand ; yet you 
 must certainly know that your 
 debtor can slip through them all, as 
 Proteus slips through all bonds.' 
 Nerius is the banker who pays over 
 the money on an order from the 
 creditor. With decent some gen- 
 eral word like scripta was in 
 Horace's mind, but the sentence 
 is interrupted by the hasty words 
 non est satis and when the thought 
 is resumed, tabulas takes the place 
 of the object ; ten copies of the 
 entry or order are not enough. 
 Cicuta is a money-lender (referred 
 to only here and in vs. 175) who 
 is especially skilful in drawing up 
 
 177
 
 2, 3 , 68] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 reiecta praeda, quam praesens Mercurius fert? 
 
 Scribe decem a Nerio ; non est satis : adde Cicutae 
 70 nodosi tabulas centum, mille adde catenas: 
 
 effugiet tamen haec sceleratus vincula Proteus. 
 
 Cum rapies in ius malis ridentem alienis, 
 
 net aper, modo avis, modo saxum, et, cum volet, arbor. 
 
 Si male rem gerere insani est, contra bene sani, 
 75 putidius multo cerebrum est, mihi crede, Perelli 
 
 dictantis quod tu numquam rescribere possis. 
 Audire atque togam iubeo componere, quisquis 
 
 ambitione mala aut argenti pallet amore, 
 
 legally binding forms of obliga- 
 tion ; nodosi and catenas express 
 the same figure. The creditor is 
 not named here, though, as the 
 thought becomes more definite 
 (cf. Sat. i, I, 15, and 20), he is 
 called Perellius. Proteus is the 
 sea-god who prophesies only when 
 he is caught and held and who 
 changes himself into many forms 
 (vs. 73) to escape his captor. 
 [The difficulty of this passage 
 centers in scribe decem a Nerio, 
 and it is the desire to make the 
 sense of the whole passage square 
 with our really insufficient knowl- 
 edge of the technical terms and 
 the method of procedure that has 
 led Bentley and Kiessling into 
 forced interpretations.] 
 
 72. malis ridentem alienis : a 
 parody of the Homeric 01 8' 77817 
 yvadfj.oi(Ti yeAwuiv oAAorptounv 
 \Od. 20, 347). But the phrase, 
 which is perhaps proverbial, oc- 
 curs only once in Homer, and the 
 
 situation there is highly tragic and 
 dramatic ; the suitors laughed be- 
 cause Athene had taken away their 
 judgment, but woe was in their 
 hearts. Some such sense as un- 
 natural, hysterical laughter would 
 perhaps fit both passages, but it is 
 possible that Horace merely trans- 
 lated the phrase literally, with- 
 out attaching a definite meaning 
 to it. 
 
 75 f . putidius : another syno- 
 nym for insanius. dictantis : i.e. 
 attending carefully to the exact 
 wording of the document. re- 
 scribere : repay by another written 
 document; cf. scribe, vs. 69. 
 
 77-81. The introduction to the 
 formal sermon. Both in the elab- 
 orate manner and in the matter 
 it is a parody of Stoic teaching. 
 It is addressed to other hearers 
 than Damasippus, but it is not 
 necessary to suppose that Horace 
 meant to represent Stertinius as 
 still standing on the pans Fabri- 
 
 I 7 8
 
 SERMONES 
 
 quisquis luxuria tristive superstitione 
 80 aut alio mentis morbo calet ; hue propius me, 
 
 dum doceo insanire omnis vos ordine, adite. 
 Danda est ellebori multo pars maxima avaris ; 
 
 nescio an Anticyram ratio illis destinet omnem. 
 
 Heredes Staberi summam incidere sepulchre, 
 85 ni sic fecissent, gladiatorum dare centum 
 
 damnati populo paria atque epulum arbitrio Arri, 
 
 cms; rather, this is some dis- 
 course noted down at a later 
 time by the new convert. 
 togam componere : to intimate 
 that the sermon was to be a 
 long one. ambitione : this is 
 taken up second in the discourse, 
 though here named first. pallet : 
 pale with the chill of fear, while 
 calet refers to the fever of passion. 
 omnis vos ordine : all from first 
 to last ; this use of ordine with 
 omnis is colloquial and common 
 in Plautus ; Amph. 599, Capt. 
 377, Most. 552, etc. \M. G. 875, 
 which is sometimes referred to as 
 evidence that ordine goes with 
 doceo, has been misunderstood ; 
 it is like the other Plautine pas- 
 sages.] 
 
 82 f . ellebori : hellebore was the 
 recognized medicine for cases of 
 insanity. It grew especially about 
 Anticyra, in Phocis. nescio an : 
 with an implication of the affirm- 
 ative, / don't know but. ratio : 
 reason, i.e. philosophy, as in Sat. 
 i, 3, 78, 115; here with special 
 thought of philosophy as a cure of 
 souls. 
 
 84. Staberi : unknown. He 
 need not have been a real per- 
 son, but one such inscription is 
 extant and the rich man in Pe- 
 tronius (71) expresses his desire 
 to have the amount of his fortune 
 put on his tombstone. 
 
 85 f . fecissent : in indirect quo- 
 tation from the will. damnati: 
 the technical word to express the 
 penalty for failure to carry out the 
 provisions of a will ; the formula 
 was heres meus dare damnas ( = 
 damnatus) esto. centum : one 
 hundred pairs of gladiators would 
 be a very large number. arbi- 
 trio Arri : a public feast that would 
 be extravagant enough to suit even 
 Q. Arrius, who had himself given 
 a notoriously extravagant funeral 
 feast. frumenti : a third penalty, 
 a distribution of grain, as much as 
 would be produced in a season 
 from Egypt, the grain-produc- 
 ing center for Italy. The three 
 penalties are made excessive 
 in order to express the anxiety 
 of Staberius that the require- 
 ment of his will should not be 
 neglected. 
 
 179
 
 2, 3, 8?] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 frumenti quantum metit Africa. ' Sive ego prave 
 seu recte hoc volui, ne sis patruus mihi ; ' credo 
 hoc Staberi prudentem animum vidisse. Quid ergo 
 
 90 sensit, cum summam patrimoni insculpere saxo 
 heredes voluit ? Quoad vixit, credidit ingens 
 pauperiem vitium et cavit nihil acrius, ut, si 
 forte minus locuples uno quadrante perisset, 
 ipse videretur sibi nequior ; omnis enim res, 
 
 95 virtus, fama, decus, divina humanaque pulchris 
 divitiis parent ; quas qui construxerit, ille 
 clarus erit, fortis, Justus. Sapiensne ? Etiam, et rex, 
 et quicquid volet. Hoc, veluti virtute paratum, 
 speravit magnae laudi fore. Quid simile isti 
 
 87 f . Sive ego : a direct quota- 
 tion from the will. ne sis pa- 
 truus : don't refuse me ; cf. Sat. 2, 
 2, 77 note. 
 
 89 f. hoc : the hesitation of his 
 heirs and their probable desire to 
 avoid a requirement which they 
 might think foplish ; sive prave, 
 seu recte. vidisse : gets from 
 prudentem the sense of provi- 
 disse ; foresaw in his wisdom. 
 Quid ergo sensit : well, then, what 
 was his idea f 
 
 92. ut : a clause of result, with- 
 out antecedent, as in Sat. I, I, 96. 
 
 94. nequior: i.e. just so much 
 the worse man ; he measured him- 
 self by his success in business. 
 
 05 f . pulchris divitiis : cf. Sat. 
 I, i, 44, quid habet pidchri con- 
 structus acervus. 
 
 97. Sapiensne : this question 
 is interjected by the speaker to 
 
 forestall the thought of a hearer ; 
 ' ah, but will he be a Stoic phi- 
 losopher ? ' and the question is 
 answered in the affirmative as the 
 strongest possible expression of 
 the value that men put upon 
 money. The best commentary 
 on the curt questions and answers 
 here and below, 158 ff., i87ff., is 
 the remark of Cicero (Parad. 1,2). 
 'Cato . . ., perfectus mea senten- 
 tia Stoicus, . . . minutis inter- 
 rogatiunculis, quasi punctis, quod 
 proposuit efficit.' On the Stoic 
 Paradox here alluded to cf. Sat. 
 I, 3, 124 and note. Etiam : yes ; 
 often in colloquial Latin. 
 
 99. Quid simile isti : i,e. ' what 
 is the likeness (or difference) be- 
 tween Staberius and Aristippus?' 
 The question is repeated in more 
 definite form in vs. 102, uter . . . 
 insanior f 
 
 180
 
 SERMON ES 
 
 [2, 3, i i 1 
 
 too Graecus Aristippus? qui servos proicere aurum 
 in media iussit Libya, quia tardius irent 
 propter onus segnes. Vter est insanior horum ? 
 Nil agit exemplum, litem quod lite resolvit. 
 Si quis emat citharas, emptas comportet in unum, 
 
 105 nee studio citharae nee musae deditus ulli, 
 si scalpra et f ormas non sutor, nautica vela 
 aversus mercaturis, delirus et amens 
 undique dicatur merito. Qui discrepat istis 
 qui nummos aurumque recondit, nescius uti 
 
 no compositis, metuensque velut contingere sacrum ? 
 Si quis ad ingentem frumenti semper acervum 
 
 too. Aristippus : of the town 
 of Cyrene, the founder of the 
 Cyrenaic (or Hedonic) school of 
 philosophy, whose fundamental 
 doctrine is stated by Horace, 
 Epist. i, i, 19, et mihi res, non me 
 regies, subiungere conor, ' things 
 were made for man, not man for 
 things. 1 
 
 103. 'There is no force in an 
 illustration which proposes to 
 answer one question by asking 
 another. 1 The introduction of 
 Aristippus serves the same pur- 
 pose in the argument as the men- 
 tion of Naevius and Nomentanus 
 in Sat. i, i, 101 f., and the reply 
 there, pergis pugnantia secuin . . . 
 componere, means essentially the 
 same thing as this line. 
 
 104. emptas comportet in 
 unum: 'and, as soon as he has 
 bought them, piles them up to- 
 gether, 1 as a miser stores his 
 money. Cf. Livy, i, 5, 3, latrones 
 
 . . . Remum cepisse, captum regi 
 Aeinulio tradidisse. 
 
 105. musae . . . ulli: to any 
 kind of music. 
 
 106. non sutor : though he was 
 not a shoemaker. 
 
 107. aversus mercaturis : merely 
 a variation in phrase for non naitta. 
 The mercator was a trader by sea 
 (Sat. i, i, 6). 
 
 1 08. undique: on all sides, i.e. 
 by everybody. Qui discrepat 
 istis : exactly the same in effect 
 as quid simile isti (99). 
 
 109 f. nummos aurumque: since 
 the coined money was chiefly silver, 
 this double phrase is like 'silver 
 and gold, 1 a double expression for 
 a single idea. nescius uti : like 
 nescis quo valeat nummus (Sat. 
 i, i,- 73), as metuens . . . sacrum 
 repeats tamqnain parcere sacris 
 (Sat. i, i, 71). 
 
 in ff. The thought of this 
 passage that mere accumulation 
 
 181
 
 2,3, 
 
 HORATI 
 
 porrectus vigilet cum longo f uste, neque illinc 
 audeat esuriens dominus contingere granum, 
 ac potius foliis parcus vescatur amaris ; 
 
 1 1 5 si positis intus Chii veterisque Falerni 
 
 mille cadis nihil est, tercentum milibus acre 
 potet acetum ; age, si et stramentis incubet, unde- 
 octoginta annos natus, cui stragula vestis, 
 blattarum ac tinearum epulae, putrescat in area: 
 
 120 nimirum insanus paucis videatur, eo quod 
 
 maxima pars hominum morbo iactatur eodem. 
 Filius aut etiam haec libertus ut ebibat heres, 
 dis inimice senex, custodis ? Ne tibi desit ? 
 Quantulum enim summae curtabit quisque dierum, 
 
 is folly is much like parts of 
 Sat. i, I. In order to maintain 
 the Stoic tone, the details are 
 carried out to the point of extrav- 
 agance (114, 116, 125), but the 
 underlying idea is so distinctly 
 Horace's own that the fiction of 
 the Stoic preacher is almost for- 
 gotten. 
 
 112. porrectus vigilet: cf. in- 
 dormis znhians, Sat. i, i, 71. . 
 
 1 1 7 f . acetum : cf. veteris non 
 farcus aceti, Sat. 2, 2, 62. age : 
 as if a new and still more striking 
 illustration had suddenly occurred 
 to him. unde-octoginta : a little 
 more emphatic than the round 
 number would be ; ' just short of 
 eighty,' ' all but eighty years old.' 
 
 120. paucis: used unexpect- 
 edly instead of multis or omnibus, 
 to preserve the Stoic doctrine that 
 only the sapiens is sane. 
 
 121. iactatur: of the tossing 
 about of a fever-stricken man. 
 
 122. libertus : the wretched con- 
 dition of the old miser is increased 
 by the suggestion (more fully ex- 
 pressed in Sat. i, i, 80 ff.) that he 
 has alienated his natural heirs. 
 ebibat : with special reference to the 
 preceding illustration, vss. 115- 
 117, though of course with general 
 application to in ff. and 117 ff. 
 The same thought was afterward 
 more effectively expressed by 
 Horace in Carm. 2, 14, 25 ff. 
 
 123. dis inimice: God-forsaken. 
 
 124. enim : not for, but like 
 the English use of now or why to 
 strengthen an argumentative ques- 
 tion. summae : dat. ; for the 
 sense cf. vs. 84. quisque dierum : 
 i.e. each of the few days still left 
 to a man of your age. 
 
 126 f. These details of per- 
 
 182
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 3. 132 
 
 125 unguere si caules oleo meliore caputque 
 
 coeperis impexa foedum porrigine ? Quare, 
 si quidvis satis est, periuras, surripis, aufers 
 undique ? Tun' sanus ? Populum si caedere saxis 
 incipias servosve tuos quos acre pararis, 
 
 130 insanum te omnes pueri clamentque puellae : 
 cum laqueo uxorem interimis matremque veneno, 
 incolumi capite es ? Quid enim ? Neque tu hoc facis 
 Argis, 
 
 sonal untidiness and moral obli- 
 quity are part of the conventional 
 picture of the miser. They are 
 used occasionally in Sat. i, i (e.g. 
 vss. 96 ff.), but always with a hu- 
 morous recognition of their extrav- 
 agance ; here the fanatical Stoic 
 attributes the sins cf the individual 
 (a malefactor of great wealth) to 
 the whole class, as if he were us- 
 ing a serious argument. si quid- 
 vis satis est : i.e. ' if you accept 
 the doctrine of philosophy that 
 enough is as good as a feast.' Cf. 
 Turpil. 144 R., ut phllosophi aiunt 
 Isti quibus quidvis sat est, and Sat. 
 J > * S9> S u * tantuli eget quanta 
 est opus. 
 
 128-141. <You in your senses? 
 Most certainly not. To be sure, 
 the common judgment is that 
 madness shows itself in violence, 
 but when you poison your mother, 
 do you think that the absence of vio- 
 lence proves you sane ? What, you 
 think it does? You are no Orestes, 
 you say, the madman who went to 
 Argos and killed his mother with 
 a sword, for you did the deed 
 
 without bloodshed and not in 
 Argos either. But it is the crime, 
 not the manner or the place of it, 
 that proves a man mad. As to 
 Orestes, his madness began before 
 his violent outbreak and in fact, 
 after the act that is commonly 
 considered evidence of his mad- 
 ness, his conduct was most nor- 
 mal and exemplary except a 
 little harmless cursing.' 
 
 129. servos tuos: a little hit 
 at the lover of money, who would 
 be quite unlikely to injure the 
 money-value of his own slaves. 
 
 130. pueri . . . puellae : pro- 
 verbial, as in Sat. i, i, 85. 
 
 131. cum . . . interimis : i.e. ' wh en 
 you are engaged in some quiet 
 crime, all in the family.' There is, 
 of course, no implication that any 
 such crime has been committed ; 
 much less, as is generally said, that 
 the miser had murdered his mother 
 for her money. That motive is 
 suggested in the parallel passage, 
 Sat. 2, i, 53 ff., but not here. 
 
 132. Argis: locat. from Argi. 
 The point is to show that the
 
 z. 3. '33] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 nec ferro ut demens genetricem occidis Orestes. 
 
 An tu reris eum occisa insanisse parente, 
 135 ac non ante mails dementem actum Furiis quam 
 
 in matris iugulo ferrum tepefecit acutum ? 
 
 Quin, ex quo est habitus male tutae mentis Orestes, 
 
 nil sane fecit quod tu reprehendere possis : 
 
 non Pyladen ferro violare aususve sororem 
 140 Electram, tantum maledicit utrique, vocando 
 
 hanc Furiam, hunc aliud, iussit quod splendida bilis. 
 
 Pauper Opimius argenti positi intus et auri, 
 
 qui Veientanum festis potare diebus 
 
 Campana solitus trulla vappamque profestis, 
 
 manner of the crime is wholly un- 
 essential, as unessential as the 
 place where it was committed. 
 
 134. occisa insanisse : ' that his 
 madness began after he had 
 killed his mother.' 
 
 135. dementem actum : driven 
 mad. 
 
 137. Quin: 'why, on the con- 
 trary.' 1 male tutae: non tutae', 
 one of the synonyms for insanus. 
 
 138. sane: strengthening nil; 
 he certainly did nothing. 
 
 139 ff. Pyladen, Electram : the 
 friend and the sister who had 
 helped him to carry out his pur- 
 pose. The passage in which he 
 calls his sister a Fury is in Eurip- 
 ides, Orest. 264, but there is no 
 place in an extant play in which 
 he uses hard words of Pylades. 
 The whole reference in 140 f. has 
 nothing to do with the argument; 
 it may be introduced as a bit of 
 Stoic precision in trifles or it may 
 
 be mere burlesque of a tragic sit- 
 uation. splendida bilis : bile 
 was considered to be the cause 
 of madness and splendida is ap- 
 parently used literally, shining, 
 from the descriptions in medical 
 books. It is entirely in the man- 
 ner of Horace to drop the argu- 
 ment here, without drawing a 
 conclusion, and to go on without 
 preface to a new illustration. Cf., 
 e.g., Sat. i, i, 67 f. and below, 
 vss. 1 86 f. 
 
 142. Opimius : coined from opi- 
 mus, as Novius, in Sat. I, 6, 40, 
 from novus, and contrasted with 
 patiper. argenti : gen. with 
 pauper. 
 
 143 f. Veientanum: a poor wine, 
 but better than vappa, mere lees 
 of wine. Campana : cheap ware, 
 which Horace himself used for 
 ordinary purposes (Sat. I, 6, 118), 
 though perhaps not for drinking. 
 trulla: the ladle, so that he
 
 SERMONES [2, 3, 158 
 
 145 quondam lethargo grandi est oppressus, ut heres 
 iam circum loculos et clavis laetus ovansque 
 curreret. Hunc medicus multum celer atque fidelis 
 excitat hoc pacto : mensam poni iubet atque 
 effundi saccos nummorum, accedere pluris 
 150 ad numerandum ; hominem sic erigit. Addit et illud, 
 ' Ni tua custodis, avidus iam haec auferet heres.' 
 ' Men' vivo ? ' ' Vt vivas, igitur, vigila, hoc age.' 
 
 ' Quid vis ? ' 
 
 ' Deficient inopem venae te, ni cibus atque 
 ingens accedit stomacho fultura ruenti. 
 155 Tu cessas ? Agedum, sume hoc ptisanarium oryzae.' 
 ' Quanti emptae ? ' ' Parvo.' * Quanti, ergo ? ' ' Octus- 
 
 sibus.' 'Eheu! 
 
 quid refert, morbo an f urtis pereamque rapinis ? ' 
 Quisnam igitur sanus? Qui non stultus. Quid 
 avarus ? 
 
 did not need to have a drinking- 154. ingens : immense, with in- 
 
 cup. tentional exaggeration. fultura 
 
 147. multum: with celer and ruenti \ fulcire and its derivatives 
 fidelis\ cf. Sat. I, 3, 57. are used in a half-technical sense 
 
 148. hoc pacto : i.e. in the way of food and stimulants, and the 
 which is described in the next figure is carried on in ruenti. 
 verses. 155. Tu cessas: he hesitated at 
 
 149 ff. The details (pluris to the thought of the expense. 
 
 make a little confusion, iam, im- ptisanarium oryzae : rice-gruel, 
 mediately, this very moment) are 157. furtis . . . rapinis : i.e. 
 
 added to show the directness of the cost, which seemed to him so 
 
 the appeal to the tenderest sensi- great, of the gruel which the 
 
 bilities of Opimius. doctor was trying to get him to 
 
 152. vigila: both in the literal take. With this exclamation he 
 
 sense and in the freer meaning. falls back in despair, 
 hoc age : a general form of ex- 158-160. On the short ques- 
 
 hortation to pay attention ; attend tions and answers cf. vs. 97 and 
 
 to business! note. They are all spoken by 
 
 185
 
 2, 3. '59] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Stultus et insanus. Quid, si quis non sit avarus, 
 160 continue sanus ? Minime. Cur, Stoice ? Dicam. 
 Non est cardiacus (Craterum dixisse putato) 
 hie aeger. Recte est igitur surgetque ? Negabit, 
 quod latus aut renes morbo temptentur acuto. 
 Non est periurus neque sordidus : immolet aequis 
 165' hie porcum Laribus ; verum ambitiosus et audax : 
 naviget Anticyram. Quid enim differt, barathrone 
 dones quicquid habes, an numquam utare paratis ? 
 Seryius Oppidius Canusi duo praedia, dives 
 
 Stertinius, but the questions ex- 
 press the supposed attitude of a 
 listener. The use of Stoice, how- 
 ever, with its suggestion of some 
 slight scorn (cf. vs. 300), is not 
 dramatically correct ; cf. crepat, 
 vs. 33 and note. continue : i.e. 
 ' may we at once conclude that he 
 is sane?' 
 
 161 f. cardiacus: dyspeptic. 
 Craterum: a physician of the 
 Ciceronian time, referred to in 
 ad Att. 12, 13, i; 12, 14, 4, as 
 worthy of confidence. Recte est : 
 sc. ei, but translate personally. 
 
 163. temptentur: a half-tech- 
 nical word of illness. The subjv. 
 is used to imply that this is the 
 reason given by Craterus for his 
 refusal to let the patient get up. 
 
 164-167. The application of the 
 story and the transition from the 
 folly of avarice to the folly of 
 ambition. periurus, sordidus : 
 these adjectives go back in par- 
 ticular to vss. 125 ff., but with a 
 general reference to the avaricious 
 
 man. immolet . . . porcum: i.e. 
 'let him thank the gods for his 
 sanity so far.' In Plautus, 
 Men. 289 ff., a pig is to be of- 
 fered to the gods to bring about 
 a recovery from insanity ; here it 
 is in gratitude for exemption from 
 insanity ; the two ideas are essen- 
 tially the same. ambitiosus et 
 audax : recklessly ambitious. 
 naviget : ' he may as well engage 
 passage for the land of helle- 
 bore ; ' i.e. he is beyond question 
 a mad-man. barathro dones : the 
 emphasis through vs. 186 is upon 
 the heavy expense of a political 
 career, so that this paragraph 
 serves as a transition from avarice, 
 through its opposite, to ambition. 
 numquam utare : cf. nescius uti 
 composttis, vss. 109 f. 
 
 1 68. Canusi : Canusium was 
 not far from Venusia and this 
 story of Servius Oppidius (oppi- 
 dum f) belongs in the same class 
 as the Ofellus satire (2, 2) and 
 the story told by Cervius (Sat. 
 
 1 86
 
 SERMONES 
 
 3. 179 
 
 antique censu, gnatis divisse duobus 
 170 fertur, et hoc moriens pueris dixisse vocatis 
 ad lectum : 'Postquam te talos, Aule, nucesque 
 ferre sinu laxo, donare et ludere vidi, 
 te, Tiberi, numerare, cavis abscondere tristem, 
 extimui ne vos ageret vesania discors, 
 175 tu Nomentanum, tu ne sequerere Cicutam. 
 Quare per divos oratus uterque Penatis, 
 tu cave ne minuas, tu ne mains facias id 
 quod satis esse putat pater et natura coercet. 
 Praeterea ne vos titillet gloria, iure 
 
 2, 6, 77 ff.)- They are bits of prac- 
 tical philosophy which are most 
 appropriately clothed in the guise 
 of homely tales from the country. 
 169 f . antique censu : accord- 
 ing to old-fashioned standards. 
 
 pueris : they were still young 
 enough for boyish games. 
 
 171. talos, nuces : for games 
 like jack-stones and marbles. So 
 Augustus (Suet. Oct. 83) : animi 
 laxandi causa . . . tali's aut ocel- 
 latis mtcibusque ludebat cum pueris 
 1/12 nut is. 
 
 172 f. sinu laxo: the fold of 
 the toga served as a pocket ; in 
 this case a pocket with a hole in 
 it. donare : with careless gener- 
 osity. ludere : i.e. to gamble 
 and, occasionally, to lose. tris- 
 tem : with anxious look. 
 
 174. ageret: cf. agit, vs. 44. 
 
 vesania discors : two different 
 kinds of madness. There is no 
 suggestion of discord between the 
 brothers. 
 
 175. Nomentanum: Sat. i, i, 
 1 02. Cicutam : above, vs. 69. 
 
 176. oratus : agreeing with 
 uterque, but the words must be 
 freely rendered ; * wherefore I be- 
 seech you both.' 
 
 177. minuas, maius facias : the 
 same idea of frugal contentment 
 with a modest patrimony was 
 urged upon Horace by his father 
 (Sat. i, 4, 107 f.) and, he says, 
 became his rule of life (Sat. 2, 
 6, 7 f.). 
 
 178. natura coercet : i.e. within 
 the limits set by natural desires ; 
 cf. Sat. i, i, 50. Strictly, quod 
 is the obj. of coercet ; ' the patri- 
 mony which nature limits.' 
 
 179 ff. The warning against 
 political ambition is apparently 
 addressed to both sons, but it 
 has little meaning in its applica- 
 tion to Tiberius and, indeed, no 
 connection at all with the first 
 part of the story, the point of 
 which is the vesania discors^ the 
 
 187
 
 2,3, 
 
 HORATI 
 
 i So iurando obstringam ambo : uter aedilis fueritve 
 vestrum praetor, is intestabilis et sacer esto. 
 In cicere atque faba bona tu perdasque lupinis, 
 latus ut in Circo spatiere et aeneus ut stes, 
 nudus agris, nudus nummis, insane, paternis ? 
 
 185 Scilicet ut plausus, quos fert Agrippa, feras tu, 
 astuta ingenuum volpes imitata leonem ! ' 
 
 ' Ne quis humasse velit Aiacem, Atrida, vetas cur?' 
 ' Rex sum.' ' Nil ultra quaero plebeius.' ' Et aequam 
 
 contrast between the different 
 dispositions of the two boys. 
 
 181. intestabilis: 'shall forfeit 
 his legacy.' sacer esto : the 
 common legal formula for one 
 who violates a law ; here a part 
 of the oath which the sons were 
 to take. 
 
 182. cicere, faba, lupinis : gifts 
 of food to the common people to 
 win favor and votes. The refer- 
 ence is to customs in Rome, as 
 the other local and personal 
 allusions show (175, 183, esp. 
 185). 
 
 183. latus . . . spatiere : such 
 a man is described in Epod. 4, 7 f. : 
 Sacram metiente te viam \ cum 
 bis trium ulnarum toga. aeneus : 
 i.e. may have a bronze statue 
 of you erected in some public 
 place. 
 
 185 f. Agrippa: see introd. 
 to this satire. Agrippa was one 
 of the really influential men of 
 the period. The next line can- 
 not be an allusion to the fable 
 of the Ass in the Lion's Skin 
 (Sat. 2, i, 64 f.), and there is 
 
 apparently no fable which quite 
 corresponds to this ; it may very 
 well be general, 'like a fox who 
 tries to act a lion's part.' 
 
 187-207. A scene in the camp 
 before Troy. Ajax, having been 
 defeated in the contest for the 
 arms of Achilles and becoming 
 insane from disappointment, at- 
 tacks the flocks of sheep und.er 
 the delusion that they are his 
 rivals and finally takes his own 
 life. Agamemnon forbids the 
 burial of the body and a common 
 soldier comes to remonstrate. 
 There is no attempt to avoid 
 anachronisms ; on the contrary, 
 the humor consists largely in the 
 introduction into a Homeric situa- 
 tion of modern words, like ple- 
 beius, consulere, and of Stoic forms 
 of sentence and methods of argu- 
 ment. 
 
 187. Ne quis . . . velit: legal 
 phraseology, in which the perf. 
 infin. is often used. 
 
 188 f. Et aequam: the pre- 
 tended humility of the soldier 
 obliges the king to add a further 
 
 188
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 3, 201 
 
 rem imperito ; ac si cui videor non iustus, inulto 
 190 dicere quod sentit permitto.' ' Maxima regum, 
 di tibi dent capta classem reducere Troia ! 
 Ergo consulere et mox respondere licebit ? ' 
 ' Consule.' ' Cu : Aiax, heros ab Achille secundus, 
 putescit, totiens servatis clarus Achivis ? 
 195 Gaudeat ut populus Priami Priamusque inhumato, 
 per quern tot iuvenes patrio caruere sepulchre ? ' 
 ' Mille ovium insanus morti dedit, inclutum Vlixen 
 et Menelaum una mecum se occidere clamans.' 
 ' Tu, cum pro vitula statuis dulcem Aulide gnatam 
 200 ante aras, spargisque mola caput, improbe, salsa, 
 
 rectum animi servas ? ' ' Quorsum ? ' ' Insanus quid 
 enim Aiax 
 
 justification ; ' and, besides, what 
 I am ordering is just.' The rest 
 of the sentence is a still more 
 rapid descent from rex sum, 
 inulto : with impunity. 
 
 191. A complimentary wish, to 
 introduce the request with a cour- 
 teous formula ; translated from the 
 Iliad, i, 18 f. 
 
 192. consulere : the technical 
 term for consulting a jurist. 
 mox respondere : the jurist then 
 gave his formal ' opinion ' upon 
 the case. Strictly, the thought 
 would require tibi libebit instead 
 of licebit with respondere. 
 
 194. putescit : i.e. lie unburied. 
 
 195. Gaudeat : from the Iliad, 
 1,255. 
 
 197. Mille: a subst. with the 
 gen. This construction is common 
 in early Latin, but is retained in the 
 
 classical period only rarely in the 
 singular. insanus : this turns the 
 dialogue in the desired direction. 
 
 199. pro vitula : the important 
 words and the basis of the argu- 
 ment that follows ; ' of course 
 Ajax was mad when he mistook 
 a sheep for a man, but so also 
 were you when you mistook your 
 daughter for a heifer.' 
 
 200. mola . . . salsa : the 
 sprinkling of salted meal on the 
 head of the victim was a part of 
 the ordinary ceremonial, but its 
 mention here serves to make the 
 scene more vivid. 
 
 201. rectum animi servas : an- 
 other periphrasis for the fre- 
 quently recurring idea of sanity. 
 Quorsum: the point? Short 
 for quorsum haec tendunt? Cf. 
 Sat. 2, 7, 21. 
 
 189
 
 2, 3. 202] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 fecit, cum stravit ferro pecus ? Abstinuit vim 
 uxore et gnato ; mala multa precatus Atridis, 
 non ille aut Teucrum aut ipsum violavit Vlixen.' 
 
 205 ' Verum ego, ut haerentis adverse litore navis 
 eriperem, prudens placavi sanguine divos.' 
 ' Nempe tuo, furiose.' ' Meo, sed non furiosus.' 
 Qui species alias veris scelerisque tumultu 
 permixtas capiet, commotus habebitur, atque 
 
 210 stultitiane erret nihilum distabit an ira. 
 Aiax immeritos cum occidit desipit agnos : 
 cum prudens scelus ob titulos admittis inanis, 
 
 203. mala . . . precatus: as 
 the violent language of Orestes 
 to his sister and his friend was 
 not inconsistent with sanity (vss. 
 140 f.). 
 
 204. ipsum : Ulysses was his 
 successful rival in the contest for 
 the arms. 
 
 205 f . adverse : hostile, ' on a 
 lee-shore.' prudens : intention- 
 ally, after careful deliberation, not 
 on a mad impulse. ' And the 
 act was a pious one ; I pacified 
 the gods.' 
 
 207. furiose : a much stronger 
 word than insanus. At this 
 point the dialogue ends as ab- 
 ruptly as it had begun and the 
 following lines (208-213) are the 
 comment of Stertinius. 
 
 208 f . The terms here used are 
 colored with Stoic meanings. 
 Species are the impressions re- 
 ceived through the senses ; if they 
 do not correspond to the reality 
 (alias veris), that fact is evidence 
 
 of illusion, as in vss. 53-58. If 
 they are still further distorted by 
 passion (tumultu permixtas), the 
 evidence of insanity is complete 
 (commotus habebitur) . The sense 
 of scelus also is technical, for the 
 Stoic refused to distinguish crime 
 from madness (cf: vss. 278 ff.) ; 
 sceleris tumultu is hardly more 
 than insano tumultu. 
 
 210. stultitia: the fault of Aga- 
 memnon, who claimed prudentia. 
 ira : the cause of the madness 
 of Ajax. 
 
 212. titulos : the inscriptions 
 under the masks in the atrium of 
 a Roman house. They recited 
 the public offices held by each 
 person represented and consti- 
 tuted the claim of the owner of 
 the house to nobility. admittis : 
 the contrast with vs. 211 suggests 
 that this is addressed to Agamem- 
 non, as if he were present, but it 
 is also addressed to the hearer, 
 the ambitious man ; * when you 
 
 190
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 3. 225 
 
 stas animo, et purum est vitio tibi, cum tumidum est, 
 
 cor? 
 Si quis lectica nitidam gestare amet agnam, 
 
 215 huic vestem, ut gnatae, paret, ancillas paret, aurum, 
 Rufam aut Pusillam appellet, fortique marito 
 destinet uxorem, interdicto huic omne adimat ius 
 praetor, et ad sanos abeat tutela propinquos. 
 Quid ? si quis gnatam pro muta devovet agna, 
 
 220 integer est animi ? Ne dixeris. Ergo ubi prava 
 stultitia, hie summa est insania ; qui sceleratus, 
 et furiosus erit ; quem cepit vitrea fama, 
 hunc circumtonuit gaudens Bellona cruentis. 
 
 Nunc age, luxuriam et Nomentanum arripe mecum ; 
 
 225 vincet enim stultos ratio insanire nepotes. 
 
 commit such a crime for empty 
 honors . . .' 
 
 213. stas animo : the same 
 figure as that in commotus, 219. 
 tumidum : absolute ; ' when it is in 
 the tumult of passion.' For this 
 contrast with philosophic calm see 
 Cic. Tusc. 3,9, 1 9, where in tumor e, 
 tumidus, and lumens are all used 
 absolutely, and esp. sapientis autem 
 animus semper vocat vitio, num- 
 quam turgescit, numquam tumet. 
 
 214 ff. gestare : i.e. to have it 
 carried. Rufam, Pusillam : or- 
 dinary feminine names, taken at 
 random. interdicto : to be trans- 
 lated as a verb ; ' the praetor would 
 lay his interdict upon him and 
 . . .' This was a regular pro- 
 ceeding under Roman law and this 
 is only an elaborate way of saying 
 that he would be adjudged insane. 
 
 221. sceleratus: cf. sceleris tu- 
 multu, vs. 208 ; the same contrast 
 as that between stultitia and ira, 
 
 VS. 2IO. 
 
 222. vitrea : not infrequent in 
 this general sense, glittering, daz- 
 zling. fama : = gloria, \ 79. 
 
 223. Bellona: an eastern god- 
 dess whose rites were celebrated 
 with crazy orgies and self-inflicted 
 wounds (gaudens cruentis*). 
 
 224-280. The third head of the 
 discourse, the folly of luxury. 
 
 224. Nomentanum: cf. vs. 175. 
 arripe mecum: = arripiamus, 
 4 let us attack.' The verb is 
 suited either to the Stoic preacher 
 or to the satirist, 2, i, 69. 
 
 225. vincet . . . ratio : cf. vs. 
 83 and Sat. I, 3, 115. stultos: 
 with insanire ; are fools and mad- 
 men. 
 
 191
 
 2, 3, 226] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Hie simul accepit patrimoni mille talenta, 
 cdicit, piscator uti, pomarius, auceps, 
 unguentarius, ac Tusci turba impia vici, 
 cum scurris fartor, cum Velabro omne macellum, 
 
 230 mane domum veniant. Quid turn ? Venere frequentes. 
 Verba facit leno : ' Quicquid mihi, quicquid et horum 
 cuique domi est, id crede tuum, et vel ntfnc pete vel 
 
 eras.' 
 
 Accipe quid contra iuvenis respondent aequus : 
 * In nive Lucana dormis ocreatus, ut aprum 
 
 235 cenem ego ; tu piscis hiberno ex aequore verris ; 
 segnis ego, indignus qui tantum possideam : aufer ! 
 
 226-238. A picture of the Rake's 
 Progress, not inferior in its irony 
 and its real moral power to Ho- 
 garth's engravings. The effec- 
 tiveness of it lies in the artifice of 
 representing the essentials of a 
 spendthrift's career as if the events 
 had actually occurred in this bare 
 form. For Horace does not mean 
 that such a gathering as this took 
 place or that these words were 
 uttered, but that this is what the 
 whole story really amounts to, if 
 we go below the surface. There 
 is a grave irony in the lines and 
 the burlesque of the Stoic manner 
 is dropped. 
 
 227 ff. edicit : proclaims by his 
 attitude and conduct. Cf. Sat. 2, 
 2, 51 for a similar, ironical use 
 of this formal word. piscator, 
 pomarins, . . . : purveyors of va- 
 rious luxuries. Tusci . . . vici : a 
 street leading from the Forum 
 toward the river, one of the dis- 
 
 reputable quarters of the city. 
 scurris : a scurra was a hanger-on 
 of some richer man, a professional 
 diner-out who lived by his wits. 
 fartor : perhaps the sausage-maker. 
 Velabro : a street opening from 
 the Tuscus viciis, a center of the 
 trade in various kinds of pro- 
 visions. Quid turn : what next f 
 231. leno: the procurer is the 
 suitable spokesman. 
 
 233. aequus: fair-minded', for 
 their valuable services he proposes 
 to make a fair return. 
 
 234. Lucana : the boars of Lu- 
 cania were especially esteemed for 
 food. ocreatus: greaves were 
 worn to protect the hunter from 
 the tusks of the boar. These de- 
 tails of hardship and danger carry 
 on the irony of aequus. 
 
 335. hiberno : cf. Sat. 2, 2, i6f. 
 
 237. deciens : sc. centetia milia 
 sestertium, a million, of course an 
 absurd sum. 
 
 102
 
 SERMONES 
 
 3. 247 
 
 sume tibi deciens ; tibi tantundem ; tibi triplex, 
 unde uxor media currit de nocte vocata.' 
 Filius Aesopi detractam ex aure Metellae, 
 
 240 scilicet ut deciens solidum absorberet, aceto 
 diluit insignem bacam : qui sanior ac si 
 illud idem in rapidum flumen iaceretve cloacam ? 
 Quinti progenies Arri, par nobile fratrum, 
 nequitia et nugis pravorum et amore gemellum, 
 
 245 luscinias soliti impenso prandere coemptas, 
 
 quorsum abeant ? Sanin' creta, an carbone notandi ? 
 Aedificare casas, plostello adiungere mures, 
 
 238. unde : = a quo. Notice 
 again the abrupt ending of one 
 story and beginning of another. 
 
 239. Aesopi : a distinguished 
 actor of Cicero's time, of whose 
 follies some reports have come 
 down to us. He left to his son, 
 however, a large fortune and a 
 taste for extravagance. Metel- 
 lae: probably the wife of Cor- 
 nelius Lentulus Spinther, several 
 times referred to in Cicero's 
 letters. 
 
 240. solidum: agreeing with 
 deciens as a substantive ; ' a whole 
 million,' somewhat as we say ' a 
 lump sum.' This story is also 
 connected with Antony and Cleo- 
 patra. But pearls do not dissolve 
 in wine or vinegar. 
 
 243. Arri: cf. vs. 86 and note. 
 par nobile fratrum : often quoted 
 as if nobile meant noble and were 
 used here ironically. It is the not 
 infrequent use of nobilis in pre- 
 cisely the sense of not us, with 
 
 . HOR. SAT. 13 193 
 
 either a good or a bad sense; 
 here notorious. 
 
 244 f. pravorum: with amore. 
 gemellum: agreeing with par, 
 but to be rendered freely. im- 
 penso : at vast expense. Stories 
 quite incredible have come down 
 to us of the cost of a single night- 
 ingale. 
 
 246. quorsum abeant: into 
 which class shall they be put f 
 creta, carbone: so albus et ater, 
 Epist. 2, 2, 189, and albus an ater 
 homo, Catull. 93, 2. All these are 
 merely expressions of the natural 
 association of black with evil and 
 white with good. For complete- 
 ness insani would be used with 
 carbone, but it is unnecessary to 
 supply it. 
 
 247-280. The madness of lovers. 
 This subject is not announced in 
 the introduction (vss. 77-81), but 
 may be considered to be included 
 under the third heading, the pas- 
 sion for luxury.
 
 2. 3- 248] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ludere par impar, equitare in arundine longa, 
 si quern delectet barbatum, amentia verset. 
 
 250 Si puerilius his ratio esse evincet amare, 
 
 nee quicquam differre utrumne in pulvere, trimus 
 quale prius, ludas opus, an meretricis amore 
 sollicitus plores, quaero, faciasne quod olim 
 mutatus Polemon, ponas insignia morbi, 
 
 255 fasciolas, cubital, focalia, potus ut ille 
 dicitur ex collo furtim carpsisse coronas, 
 postquam est impransi correptus voce magistri ? 
 Porrigis irato puero cum poma, recusat : 
 . ' Sume, catelle ! ' negat ; si non des, optet : amator 
 
 247-249. The children's games 
 here mentioned are still in vogue. 
 
 barbatum: i.e. after he had 
 come to manhood. amentia ver- 
 set : synonym for insanus sit. 
 
 250. amare: subj. of esse, of 
 which puerilius is predicate. 
 
 251 f. in pulvere: in f he sand, 
 with a suggestion of the waste of 
 labor which is again expressed in 
 ludas opus, ' fool away your labor.' 
 
 prius : agreeing with opus to be 
 supplied and referring back to vss. 
 247 ff. 
 
 254. Polemon: an example of 
 the reforming power of philoso- 
 phy, often referred to by Greek 
 and Latin writers. He was a 
 young clubman in Athens who, as 
 he was returning from a drinking- 
 bout, heard the voice of Xenocrates 
 expounding the philosophy of the 
 Academic school. He entered the 
 room, was immediately converted 
 (mutatus) by the doctrine, and 
 
 afterward became the successor of 
 Xenocrates as head of the school. 
 
 255. fasciolas: bindings about 
 the ankle, a kind of decorative 
 garter. cubital : an elbow-cushion, 
 apparently carried about for use 
 at any time. focalia : wrappings 
 for the throat, neckcloths. These 
 are all signs of that effeminacy 
 an affectation of which was fash- 
 ionable in the Augustan period ; 
 it is difficult to tell in regard to 
 Maecenas, for example, how far 
 it was real and how far assumed. 
 
 256. furtim: as he began to 
 realize how the signs of dissipation 
 looked to serious people. coro- 
 nas : he was still wearing flowers 
 from the banquet. 
 
 257. impransi: cf. Sat. 2, 2, 7. 
 259. catelle : a humorous term 
 
 of mingled reproval and endear- 
 ment, without any of the sugges- 
 tions of the English 'puppy' or 
 ' whelp ' ; little scamp, little rogue. 
 
 194
 
 SERMONES [2, 3, 270 
 
 260 exclusus qui distat, agit ubi secum eat an non, 
 quo rediturus erat non arcessitus, et haeret 
 invisis foribus ? ' Nee nunc, cum me vocat ultro, 
 accedam, an potius mediter finire dolores ? 
 Exclusit ; revocrt: redeam ? Non, si obsecret.' Ecce 
 
 265 servus, non paulo sapientior : ' O ere, quae res 
 
 nee modum habet neque consilium, ratione modoque 
 tractari non volt. In amore haec sunt mala, bellum, 
 pax rursum : haec si quis tempestatis prope ritu 
 mobilia et caeca fluitantia sorte laboret 
 
 270 reddere certa sibi, nihilo plus explicet ac si 
 
 260. qui distat: cf. quid simile, 262 ff. This passage is a trans- 
 
 vs. 99 ; qui discrepat istis, vs. 108. position of the first lines of Ter- 
 
 The endeavor to prove all men ence's Eunuchus from iambic 
 
 equally mad leads to the frequent senarii into hexameters. The cor- 
 
 use of this kind of phrase. agit : responding verses of the Eunuchus 
 
 considers, argues. (46 ff.) are as follows : 
 
 Phaedria, the lover, speaks : 
 
 Quid igitur faciam? ndn earn ne mine quidem 
 quam accessor ultro? an p6tius ita me cdmparem, 
 non perpeti meretn'cum contume"lias? 
 exclusit; revocat: re"deam? non, si me 6bsecret. 
 
 Parmeno, the slave, replies (vss. 57 ff.) : 
 
 ere, quad, res in se ne*que consilium ndque modum 
 
 habet ullum, earn consilio regere n6n potes. 
 
 in am6re haec omnia insunt vitia : iniiiriae, 
 
 suspiciones, fnimicitiae, indutiae, 
 
 bellum, pax rursum ; ince"rta haec si tu pdstules 
 
 rati6ne certa facere, nihilo plus agas 
 
 quam si des operam ut aim ratione insanias. 
 
 265. sapientior: the confiden- changeable as the -weather. In 
 tial slave in the comedies is usually this use ritu is no more than inodo. 
 in the position of advisor to his caeca . . . sorte : the direct op- 
 young master. posite of certa ratione. 
 
 267. non volt : i.e. cannot, does 270. explicet : untangle, 
 
 not submit to such treatment. straighten out, i.e. reduce the 
 
 268 f . tempestatis . . . ritu : matter to system and certainty. 
 
 195
 
 z. 3. 271 J 
 
 HORATI 
 
 insanire paret certa ratione modoque.' 
 Quid ? cum, Picenis excerpens semina pomis, 
 gaudes si cameram percusti forte, penes te es ? 
 Quid ? cum balba feris annoso verba palato, 
 
 275 aedificante casas qui sanior? Adde cruorem 
 
 stultitiae, atque ignem gladio scrutare. Modo, inquam, 
 Hellade percussa Marius cum praecipitat se, 
 cerritus fuit ? An commotae crimine mentis 
 absolves hominem, et sceleris damnabis eundem, 
 
 280 ex more imponens cognata vocabula rebus ? 
 
 272 f. Picenis : specified merely 
 for vividness. Picenum was a re- 
 gion of good orchards. The 
 moist appleseeds were pinched 
 out between the thumb and the 
 forefinger ; if one could be made 
 to strike the ceiling (cameram), it 
 was an omen of success in love. 
 
 274 f. feris : the words of love 
 are stammering because the organs 
 of speech (palato) are those of 
 an old man and the sounds stum- 
 . ble over them. For the rather 
 forced feris Persius, imitating this 
 passage (in I, 35), uses tenero 
 snpplantat (' trips up ') verba pa- 
 lato. aedificante: this refers 
 back to vs. 247. 
 
 275. cruorem: i.e. the violent 
 crimes into which men are led by 
 love. 
 
 276 f . ignem . . . scrutare : a 
 reference to the Pythagorean say- 
 ing 7n)p /xa^tttpa fj.r) (TKaAeuciv, but 
 with a different sense, like oleum 
 adde camino, vs. 321. Modo: 
 just lately ; the murder and suicide 
 
 had occurred just before this and 
 had been much talked about, so 
 that a bare allusion is enough. 
 For the same reason praecipitat 
 is used alone without in Tiberitn 
 or fie ritpe. The persons men- 
 tioned are unknown to us. 
 
 278. cerritus: mad] an old 
 word of uncertain origin, used 
 several times in Plautus. 
 
 278-280. < Or will you acquit 
 him of insanity and in the same 
 breath call him a murderer, giving, 
 as people do, different names to 
 things which are really identical ? ' 
 The interpretation is not quite 
 easy, the difficulty being in cognata, 
 related, kindred. The general 
 sense is clear. The Stoic doctrine 
 was that crime and madness were 
 the same thing qui sceleratus, et 
 furiosus erit, 221 f. and should 
 be called by the same name ; but 
 the common way was to give them 
 different names (insania, see/us) 
 which are nevertheless alike 
 in meaning. 
 
 196
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 3. 291 
 
 Libertinus erat, qui circum compita siccus 
 lautis mane senex manibus currebat et ' Vnum ' 
 (' quid tarn magnum ? ' addens), ' unum me surpite 
 
 morti, 
 dis etenim facile est ! ' orabat ; sanus utrisque 
 
 285 auribus atque oculis ; mentem, nisi litigiosus, 
 
 exciperet dominus cum venderet. Hoc quoque volgus 
 Chrysippus ponit fecunda in gente Meneni. 
 ' luppiter, ingentis qui das adimisque dolores,' 
 mater ait pueri mensis iam quinque cubantis, 
 
 290 ' f rigida si puerum quartana reliquerit, illo 
 mane die, quo tu indicis ieiunia, nudus 
 
 281-295. Fourth head, the folly 
 of superstition. This is a subject 
 in which Horace felt little interest ; 
 he scarcely touches it elsewhere in 
 the satires, and the brief treatment 
 of it here is rather lifeless. 
 
 281 f. The details are not insig- 
 nificant. The man was old, so that 
 death was not far away ; he was a 
 freedman, probably a foreigner, 
 and therefore more inclined to 
 superstition; he observed the for- 
 eign (perhaps Jewish) customs of 
 fasting (siccus) and of ceremonial 
 washings (lautis manibus) and 
 one shrine was to him as good as 
 another (circum compita). 
 
 282 f . Vnum : not me only, 
 in preference to others, but 'ex- 
 ercise your power just once such 
 a little thing to do. 1 surpite: 
 surripite ; the shortened forms are 
 colloquial. 
 
 286 f . exciperet : ' would have 
 made a distinct exception' in 
 
 giving a guaranty of soundness. 
 The tense refers back to the time 
 when he was still a slave. hoc 
 . . . volgus : the superstitious, as 
 exemplified in the case just de- 
 scribed, with the implication that 
 there are many of them. fecunda 
 . . . Meneni : the general sense is 
 plain, that the superstitious are to 
 be reckoned among the insane, 
 but no contemporary Menenius is 
 known, to whom the allusion would 
 apply. 
 
 288 ff. As so frequently, the 
 next illustration begins abruptly, 
 without explanation. 
 
 289. cubantis: lying ill; cf. 
 Sat. 1,9, 1 8. 
 
 290 f. quartana : one of the 
 forms of recurrent malaria, quartan 
 chills. illo . . . die : there was no 
 Roman week, but there are traces 
 of the eastern week here and there 
 in Latin literature. Tibullus (i, 
 3, 1 8) refers to Saturni dies (Sat- 
 197
 
 2, 3. 292] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 in Tiber! stabit.' Casus medicusve levarit 
 aegrum ex praecipiti : mater delira necabit 
 in gelida fixum ripa febrimque reducet, 
 
 295 quone malo mentem concussa ? Timore deorum.' 
 Haec mihi Stertinius, sapientum octavus, amico 
 arma dedit, posthac ne compellarer inultus. 
 Dixerit insanum qui me, totidem audiet, atque 
 respicere ignoto discet pendentia tergo. 
 
 300 Hor. Stoice, post damnum sic vendas omnia pluris, 
 qua me stultitia, quoniam non est genus unum, 
 
 urday) and the dies lovis was 
 Thursday, i.e. Thor's day. On 
 this day the stricter sects of the 
 Jews fasted (ieiunid) and ceremo- 
 nial bathing in the early morning 
 (niane) was an Oriental observ- 
 ance. All this indicates that this 
 instance, like the preceding, was 
 regarded by Horace as foreign. 
 Our native superstitions do not 
 attract our notice. 
 
 292. Casus medicusve : not the 
 god. 
 
 293 f . ex praecipiti : from the 
 crisis of the illness. necabit . . . 
 febrimque reducet: i.e. 'will kill 
 him by bringing back the fever.' 
 fixum: cf. stabit] the child is to 
 stand still, perhaps during prayer. 
 
 295. quone : cf. uterne, Sat. 2, 
 2, 107. Timore deorum: the 
 Greek SewriSat/xovia, quite different 
 from the Roman pietas or from 
 that ' fear of God ' which is the 
 beginning of wisdom. 
 
 296-299. An epilogue, spoken 
 by Damasippus in his own person 
 
 and corresponding to the intro- 
 duction by Stertinius, vss. 77-81. 
 octavus: as Sappho was some- 
 times called the Tenth Muse. 
 amico : spoken with pride that 
 the great man calls him a friend. 
 inultus : amplified in the next two 
 lines. totidem : i.e. shall be 
 called a madman himself. pen- 
 dentia : with reference to the fable 
 of the two sacks ; the one in front 
 contains the faults of other people, 
 but each man puts his own faults 
 into the sack that hangs behind 
 him, where he will not see them. 
 
 300-326. The concluding con- 
 versation. Horace rouses him- 
 self after the long sermon and 
 inquires with no expectation of a 
 reply, whether it applies to him. 
 Damasippus, with Stoic directness, 
 points out various applications. 
 
 300. sic vendas : the introduc- 
 tory wish; cf. vs. 16 note, vs. 191. 
 pluris : at a profit, so that he 
 may, if he chooses, resume his life 
 as a business man. 
 
 108
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 
 
 insanire putas ? Ego nam videor mihi sanus. 
 
 Dam. Quid? caput abscissum manibus cum portat 
 
 Agaue 
 gnati infelicis, sibi turn f uriosa videtur ? 
 
 305 Hor. Stultum me fateor (liceat concedere veris), 
 atque etiam insanum ; tantum hoc edissere, quo me 
 aegrotare putes animi vitio ? Dam. Accipe : primum 
 aedificas, hoc est, longos imitaris, ab imo 
 ad summum totus moduli bipedalis ; et idem 
 
 310 corpore maiorem rides Turbonis in armis 
 
 302. videor mihi sanus : i.e. 
 under the cover of asking for his 
 particular form of insanity Horace 
 is really implying that he is not 
 insane at all. Damasippus goes 
 straight to the point. 
 
 303 f . The story is told in the 
 Bacchae of Euripides, where Agave, 
 the mother of Pentheus, appears, 
 carrying the head of her son, whom 
 she and the other Bacchantes have 
 torn to pieces, mistaking him in 
 their frenzy for an animal. The 
 argument is that, as no madman 
 recognizes his condition, such a 
 statement as irideor mihi sanus 
 proves nothing. 
 
 305 f. Horace represents himself 
 as yielding to the Stoic's argument, 
 as indeed he must, but he does it 
 grudgingly, at first admitting only 
 the milder stultus and then at 
 last making full submission in 
 atque etiam insanum. liceat : 
 let me yield to facts, i.e. 'permit 
 me to yield as gracefully as I can. 5 
 
 306. edissere : a rather formal 
 
 word, Tell me fully. The question 
 quo . . . -vitio? repeats qua tie 
 stultitia . . . putas? in different 
 words and with much less confi- 
 dence that the Stoic will find it 
 a difficult question to answer. 
 
 307 ff . primum : as if there was 
 to be a series of charges. aedifi- 
 cas : this must be a reference to 
 some building operations on Hor- 
 ace's farm. See introd. to this 
 satire. longos: big people, i.e. 
 the rich ; but the word is selected 
 for its double meaning. The Vita 
 of Suetonius says ' Horatius . . . 
 habitu corporis fuit brevis atque 
 obesus' and he speaks of himself 
 as corporis exigui (^Epist. 1, 20, 24) . 
 bipedalis : of course ironical, 
 as if he had said ' you who are little 
 better than a dwarf in comparison 
 with really big people like Mae- 
 cenas.' idem : with restrictive or 
 adversative force, as often ; cf. vs. 
 279. Translate, in spite of that or 
 and yet you. Turbonis : a gladi- 
 ator of small size, but great spirit. 
 
 199
 
 2.3.3H] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 spiritum et incessum : qui ridiculus minus illo ? 
 
 An quodcumque facit Maecenas, te quoque verum est, 
 
 tantum dissimilem, et tanto certare minorem ? 
 
 Absentis ranae pullis vituli pede pressis, 
 315 unus ubi effugit, matri denarrat, ut ingens 
 
 belua cognates eliserit. Ilia rogare : 
 
 ' Quantane, num tantum,' sufflans se, ' magna f uisset ? ' 
 
 ' Maior dimidio.' ' Num tantum ? ' Cum magis atque 
 
 se magis inflaret, ' Non, si te ruperis,' inquit, 
 320 ' par eris.' Haec a te non multum abludit imago. 
 
 Adde poemata nunc, hoc est, oleum adde camino ; 
 
 quae si quis sanus fecit, sanus facis et tu. 
 
 Non dico horrendam rabiem Hor. lam desine ! 
 Dam. Cultum 
 
 maiorem censu Hor. Teneas, Damasippe, tuis te. 
 
 312. Maecenas had laid out 
 gardens and built a splendid palace 
 on the Esquiline, to which Horace 
 refers in Sat. I, 8, 7 as if it were 
 not yet completed. In Epod. 9, 3 
 and Carm. 3, 29, 10, Maecenas 
 was living in it. Other passages 
 (Sat. 2, 6, 31 ; 2, 7, 32 rF.) show 
 that Horace was not unwilling to 
 joke about his relation to his great 
 friend. verum : proper, suitable. 
 
 314 ff. The Fable of the Ox and 
 the Frogs. Horace took the story 
 from some Greek source, different 
 from that of Phaedrus (i, 24). 
 
 317. Quantane : cf. quone, vs. 
 295. 
 
 320 ff. non multum abludit : 
 kits pretty near. poemata : the 
 epodes and lyrics which Horace 
 was beginning to v/rite ; cf. vss. 
 
 1 1 ff. There is a similar reference 
 to the divine inspiration of poets 
 in Sat. 2, 7, 117, aut insanit homo 
 aut versus facit. si quis . . . 
 et tu : i.e. you can no more be free 
 from the insanity of the poet than 
 others have been. 
 
 323. rabiem : cf. Epist. I, 20, 
 25, irasci celerem, tamen ut placa- 
 bilis essem ; but cf. also Sat. i, 9, 
 ii f., where he wishes he had a 
 temper. The expression here is 
 a humorous exaggeration. lam 
 desine : it is, of course, a very neat 
 touch to represent himself as made 
 angry by the charge of having a 
 hot temper. For the outbreak cf. 
 Sat. 2,7, 116 ff. 
 
 323 f . Cultum : way of living. 
 censu: here no more than in- 
 come, not as in Sat. 2, i, 75. 
 
 200
 
 SERMONES [2, 3, 326 
 
 325 Dam. Mille puellarum, puerorum mille furores 
 Hor. O maior tandem parcas, insane, minor! ! 
 
 326. This turns the teaching of Damasippus (vss. 298 f.) back 
 upon himself. 
 
 The date of this satire cannot be fixed, but its character is such that 
 the precise date is of no importance. It was probably written after 
 Sat. 2, 2. 
 
 In form it is, like the preceding satire, a main body of discourse 
 enclosed in a framework of dialogue. Horace meets upon the street 
 an acquaintance who is hurrying home to commit to writing certain 
 precepts of gastronomy which he had just heard. At Horace's request 
 he consents to repeat them and after he has done so, in the main body 
 of the satire (vss. 12-87), Horace, deeply impressed, begs that he may 
 himself be allowed to attend the next lecture on the important subject 
 and hear with his own ears. The introductory dialogue and the con- 
 cluding request are less dramatic than the corresponding parts of the 
 preceding satire, but they contrast in a somewhat similar way the 
 enthusiasm of the believer with the attitude of Horace and they are 
 admirable specimens of ironical deference. 
 
 The main discourse consists of a series of precepts for the selection 
 and serving of the courses of a dinner. They follow in general the 
 order of the Roman dinner, the gustatio, the main course, wines and 
 sauces, and the dessert, with advice about the service of the table. 
 Each precept is given separately, as if it were an oracle which needs no 
 explanation or logical connection. The style is serious and almost 
 epic, as befits the seriousness of the speaker, but there is no such 
 parody of the manner of the philosopher as in Satires 2 and 3. The 
 irony which is easily felt in the dialogti" is here less apparent, especially 
 to the modern reader, to whom many of the details of Roman cookery 
 must remain unknown. The reader of Horace's time, however, would 
 feel at once the absurdity of the precepts, both in general and in details, 
 and would therefore be conscious of the humor of lines which to the 
 modern reader are rather dull. 
 
 The speaker is called Catius and he is represented (vs. 11) as quoting 
 from the discourse of an authority on gastronomy whose name he avoids 
 giving. ' This is, in form, the same device that is used in Sat. 2, 3, where 
 Damasippus quotes from Stertinius, and in Sat. 2, 7, in which the slave 
 
 201
 
 2, 4, I] HORATI 
 
 repeats the teachings which he had learned from the door-keeper of 
 Crispinus (vs. 45). Such machinery of the satirical form is not to be 
 taken seriously ; in Sat. 2, 7 it is plainly a mere joke and the Damasip- 
 pus-Stertinius relation in Sat. 2, 3 serves only to give a background for 
 the parody of Stoic preaching. Of the various identifications of Catius 
 the only one which has both plausibility and point is the one proposed 
 by Manso and revived by Palmer, that the name is a disguise of Matius, 
 the friend of Cicero, Caesar, Trebatius an5 Augustus. But, in fact, the 
 precise identification of either Catius or the mysterious auctor is of no 
 more importance than the precise determination of the date of composi- 
 tion. The satire contains in itself its own best commentary. It is a 
 bit of humorous and not unfriendly irony, directed primarily against 
 some person whose name is ostentatiously withheld and, more broadly, 
 against the science and art of gastronomy. So far as there is any per- 
 sonality in it, it is of a kind which would be especially understood and 
 appreciated by Horace's intimate friends, and the satire belongs, in this 
 respect, to the same class as Sat. I, 9 and Sat. 2, 8. In all three there 
 is the note of intimacy and it is not at all impossible that the learning 
 of this satire is a parody of gastronomic conversations which Horace 
 had heard at the table of Maecenas. 
 
 Hor. Vnde et quo Catius ? Cat. Non est mihi tempus 
 
 aventi 
 
 ponere signa novis praeceptis, qualia vincant 
 Pythagoran Anytique reum doctumque Platona. 
 Hor. Peccatum fateor, cum te sic tempore laevo 
 5 interpellarim ; sed des veniam bonus, oro. 
 
 Quod si interciderit tibi nunc aliquid, repetes mox, 
 sive est naturae hoc sive artis, mirus utroque. 
 
 1. Vnde etquo: two questions 3. Anyti reum: Socrates. In 
 condensed into one ; cf. Sat. i, 9, his trial Anytus was the chief 
 62. accuser. 
 
 2. ponere signa : to set down 7. naturae, artis : the distinc- 
 or fix upon his mind, as he went tion between natural and artificial 
 along, the mnemonic signs which memory, by the aid of mnemonic 
 would assist him in recalling the signs (imagines, signa), was tradi- 
 whole discourse and putting it into tional in rhetoric, and is briefly dis- 
 writing. cussed in ad Her ~en. 3, 16-17,28-30. 
 
 202
 
 SERMONES [2, 4, 23 
 
 Cat. Quin id erat curae, quo pacto cuncta tenerem, 
 utpote res tenuis, tenui sermone peractas. 
 
 10 Hor. Ede hominis nomen, simul et Romanus an 
 
 hospes. 
 Cat. Ipsa memor praecepta canam, celabitur auctor. 
 
 Longa quibus facies ovis erit, ilia memento, 
 ut suci melioris et ut magis alba rotundis, 
 ponere ; namque marem cohibent callosa vitellum. 
 
 15 Cole suburbano qui siccis crevit in agris 
 dulcior ; irriguo nihil est elutius horto. 
 Si vespertinus subito te oppresserit hospes, 
 ne gallina malum responset dura palato, 
 doctus eris vivam mixto mersare Falerno ; 
 
 20 hoc teneram faciet. Pratensibus optima fungis 
 natura est ; aliis male creditur. Ille salubris 
 aestates peraget, qui nigris prandia moris 
 finiet, ante gravem quae legerit arbore solem. 
 
 8. id: with a reference back to 18. malum responset : defy, re- 
 
 vs. 6; the idea is then amplified sist, as in Sal. 2, 7, 85, 103. 
 
 in quo . . . tenerem. dura: tough, because the fowl was 
 
 10-11. These lines suggest a killed after the unexpected guest 
 
 joking reference to some friend, had appeared, 
 whose name would be known to 19. doctus : ' you will show 
 
 the inner circle of readers. yourself learned in the art of 
 
 canam : with a certain formality. cookery by smothering it.' 
 
 12. facies : shape. 20. Pratensibus . . . fungis : 
 
 14. callosa : compact, solid. ' mushrooms that grow in the 
 
 vitellum: chick; this is merely an meadows.' 
 
 elaborate way of saying that male 22. moris : mulberries. This 
 
 fowls are hatched from long eggs. advice about lunch and the pre- 
 
 15-16. Cole: cabbage. subur- ceding lines on the preparation of 
 
 bano : in a garden near the city a fowl for supper show that there 
 
 water for irrigation would be more is no intention of following pre- 
 
 abundant. elutius : more in- cisely the order of the courses of 
 
 sipid ; literally, washed out. a dinner. 
 
 203
 
 2, 4> 24] HORATI 
 
 Aufidius forti miscebat mella Falerno, 
 25 mendose, quoniain vacuis committere venis 
 nil nisi lene decet ; leni praecordia mulso 
 prolueris melius. Si dura morabitur alvus, 
 mitulus et viles pellent obstantia conchae 
 et lapathi brevis herba, sed albo non sine Coo. 
 30 Lubrica nascentes implent conchylia lunae ; 
 
 sed non omne mare est generosae fertile testae; 
 murice Baiano melior Lucrina peloris, 
 ostrea Circeiis, Miseno oriuntur echini, 
 pectinibus patulis iactat se molle Tarentum. 
 35 Nee sibi cenarum quivis temere arroget artem, 
 
 non prius exacta tenui ratione saporum ; 
 nee satis est cara piscis averrere mensa 
 ignarum quibus est ius aptius et quibus assis 
 languidus in cubitum iam se conviva reponet. 
 
 24-26. Aufidius : unknown. He of the line is that they should be 
 
 is quoted with formality as a rival gathered when the moon is in- 
 
 authority, to be refuted in the sin- creasing, during the first half of 
 
 gle word mendose. The mulsum, the lunar month. 
 a mixture of wine and honey, 32-34. murice : cockle. pelo- 
 
 was drunk at the beginning of ris : giant mussel. echini: sea- 
 
 the meal. The error of Aufidius urchins, pectinibus : scallops. 
 
 was in using a strong wine, forti These lines give the proper places 
 
 Falerno ; the emphasis of the for getting the best shell-fish of 
 
 correction is upon lene, leni. each kind, like Little Neck clams, 
 
 27-29. Si ... alvus : i.e. for Blue Point oysters, 
 constipation. mitulus : mussel. 36. non prius : i.e. ' until he 
 
 conchae: a general term for shall have learned thoroughly.' 
 
 shell-fish. lapathi: sorrel. tenui: fine* subtle, as in vs. 9. 
 brevis : small-leaved, or perhaps 37. averrere : to sweep up from 
 
 low-growing. Coo : a Greek the table of the fish-dealer, but 
 
 wine. with a reference also to the use of 
 
 30. conchylia : another general nets in catching the fish, 
 term for shell-fish. The meaning 38 f. assis : broiled. langui- 
 
 204
 
 SERMONES [2, 4, 55 
 
 40 Vmber et iligna nutritus glande rotundas 
 
 curvat aper lances carnem vitantis inertem ; 
 
 nam Laurens malus est, ulvis et arundine pinguis. 
 
 Vinea submittit capreas non semper edulis. 
 
 Fecundae leporis sapiens sectabitur armos. 
 45 Piscibus atque avibus quae natura et f.oret aetas, 
 
 ante meum nulli patuit quaesita palatum. 
 
 Sunt quorum ingenium nova tantum crustula promit. 
 
 Nequaquam satis in re una consumere curam, 
 
 ut si quis solum hoc, mala ne sint vina, laborer., 
 50 quali perfundat piscis securus olivo. 
 
 Massica si caelo supponas vina sereno, 
 
 nocturna, si quid crassi est, tenuabitur aura, 
 
 et decedet odor nervis inimicus ; at ilia 
 
 integrum perdunt lino vitiata saporem. 
 55 Surrentina vafer qui miscet faece Falerna 
 
 dus : i.e. even a sated guest will to originality in vs. 73 and the 
 
 raise himself again on his elbow similar claim in Sat. 2, 8, 51. 
 
 at the sight of the appetizing dish. 47. promit: produces, i.e. in- 
 
 40-42. iligna glanrte: acorns, vents. The line seems to be a 
 
 curvat: bends', the platters veiled reference to some particular 
 
 were of silver. vitantis inertem : person. 
 
 the important words; 'the epi- 50. securus: careless, govern- 
 
 cure, the man who avoids tasteless ing the clause quali . . . olivo; 
 
 meat, will get an Umbrian boar 'as if one should take great pains 
 
 that has lived on acorns.' ulvis: to get good wine, but be careless 
 
 sedge, i about the quality of the olive oil.' 
 
 44. fecundae: prolific, in gen- 51-54- crassi: roughness, harsh- 
 
 eral ; but the use of the feminine ness of taste. tenuabitur: will 
 
 appears to be intentional. The be refined out of it. lino: 'the 
 
 emphasis is upon armos; the true straining of wine through a piece 
 
 epicure will select for his guests of linen spoils the flavor.' 
 
 the forelegs of the female hare. 55-57. vafer: cf. doctus, vs. 19, 
 
 Cf. Sat. 2, 8, 89. sapiens, vs. 44. faece : a slight 
 
 46. ante meum: cf. the claim mixture of the lees of Falernian 
 
 205
 
 2, 4, S 6 3 HORATI 
 
 vina., columbine limum bene colligit ovo, 
 quatenus ima petit volvens aliena vitellus. 
 Tostis marcentem squillis recreabis et Afra 
 potorem cochlea : nam lactuca innatat acri 
 
 60 post vinum stomacho ; perna magis ac magis hillis 
 flagitat immorsus refici ; quin omnia malit, 
 quaecumque immundis fervent allata popinis. 
 Est operae pretium duplicis pernoscere iuris 
 naturam. Simplex e dulci constat olivo, 
 
 65 quod pingui miscere mero muriaque decebit, 
 non alia quam qua Byzantia putuit orca. 
 Hoc ubi confusum seeds inferbuit herbis 
 Corycioque croco spars um stetit, insuper addes 
 pressa Venafranae quod baca remisit olivae. 
 
 70 Picenis cedunt pomis Tiburtia suco ; 
 
 nam facie praestant. Venucula convenit ollis ; 
 rectius Albanam fumo duraveris uvam. 
 Hanc ego cum malis, ego faecem primus et allec, 
 primus et invenior piper album cum sale nigro 
 
 gives body to the light Surrentine 64-69. The simple sauce con- 
 wine. limum: the sediment. sists of olive oil mixed with thick 
 volvens aliena : gathering the for- wine and brine (tnuria) from a 
 eign matter. vitellus : the yolk. jar in which fish from Byzantium 
 58-63. Various kinds of food had been pickled. This is calted 
 which will tempt the appetite of duplex when it has been poured 
 one who has taken much wine over chopped herbs and boiled, 
 (tnarcetitem potoreni). Tostis then sprinkled with saffron and 
 . . . squillis : fried shrimps. allowed to stand, and finally mixed 
 cochlea : snails. lactuca : lettuce. with Venafran oil. 
 
 perna: ham. hillis : sausages. 71. Venucula : sc. uva ; grapes 
 
 immorsus : bitten, i.e. stimn- for preserving. 
 
 lated to fresh appetite. 72. duraveris : dry into raisins. 
 
 63. Est operae pretium : an epic 73-75- cum malis: i.e. he first 
 
 phrase. used raisins with fruit. allec : 
 
 206
 
 SERMONES [2, 4, 91 
 
 75 incretum puris circumposuisse catillis. 
 
 Immane est vitium dare milia terna macello 
 angustoque vagos piscis urgere catino. 
 Magna movet stomacho fastidia, seu puer unctis 
 tractavit calicem manibus, dum furta ligurrit, 
 
 Bo sive gravis veteri craterae limus adhaesit. 
 
 Vilibus in scopis, in mappis, in scobe quantus 
 consistit sumptus ? Neglectis, flagitium ingens. 
 Ten' lapides varies lutulenta radere palma 
 et Tyrias dare circum inluta toralia vestis, 
 
 85 oblitum, quanto curam sumptumque minorem 
 haec habeant, tanto reprehendi iustius illis 
 quae nisi divitibus nequeant contingere mensis ? 
 
 Hor, Docte Cati, per amicitiam divosque rogatus, 
 ducere me auditum, perges quocumque, memento. 
 
 90 Nam quamvis memori referas mihi pectore cuncta, 
 non tamen interpres tantundem iuveris. Adde 
 
 something like caviare. incre- sawdust sprinkled upon the floor 
 
 turn: sifted on. puris . . . before sweeping, 
 
 catillis : on plates which held 83 f. The emphasis is upon 
 
 nothing else. lutulenta and inluta. palma: a 
 
 76-77. milia . . . macello : this broom of palm leaves, 
 
 is the same thing that is said in 86 f . illis quae : in general, the 
 
 vs. 37, that mere spending of things which only the rich can 
 
 money is not enough. vagos : have ; neatness requires only care, 
 
 the line expresses in high-flown not money. 
 
 language the rule that fish should 88. Docte : this is an ironical 
 
 not be crowded together on too acceptance of the attitude of 
 
 small a platter. Catius, that such knowledge is 
 
 79. furta ligurrit: cf. Sat. 1,3, true learning. 
 
 80 f. 91. interpres : Catius can give 
 
 80. limus : sediment left in the only second-hand reports. Adde: 
 mixing bowl because it had not and, besides, think of the look and 
 been properly washed. bearing. All this has especial 
 
 81. scopis: brooms. scobe: point, if Horace was really refer- 
 
 207
 
 2,4,92] HOKATI 
 
 voltum habitumque hominis, quern tn vidisse beatus 
 rion magni pendis, quia contigit ; at mihi cura 
 non mediocris inest, fontis ut adire remotos 
 95 atque haurire queam vitae praecepta beatae. 
 
 ring to some friend who was at 94 f. A parody of Lucret. I, 
 times earnest in laying down the 927 and 4, 2, invat integros ac- 
 gastronomic law. cedere fontis atque haurire. 
 
 The date of this satire is fixed by vss. 62 ff. The phrase tellure 
 inarique magnus would not have been used in the years just before 
 Actium, when it was increasingly apparent that the supremacy by sea 
 was still to be decided. After Actium there was a general expectation 
 that Octavius would carry out the project of his uncle for a war of con- 
 quest in the East and it is to such expectations that Part/its horrendiis 
 refers. The satire was written soon after the battle of Actium, late in 
 3 1 or early in 30. 
 
 The subject-matter is the practice of seeking legacies. To treat this 
 as a profession, however, is to take satire too seriously ; it was a social 
 evil, like free divorce or political bribery, which the satirist ridicules by 
 assuming an ironical seriousness. The custom of leaving legacies, often 
 small, but not infrequently of substantial amount, to many friends was 
 already common in the Ciceronian period. It was to be expected that 
 the custom would lead to the cultivation of friendships in the hope of a 
 legacy and the tendency was strengthened by the large increase of 
 wealth in the hands of men who did not know how to use it. Such 
 men, often of the freedman class, sometimes without family connections, 
 would be especially open to the flattering approaches of persons of 
 higher position. 
 
 The satire is a continuation, in burlesque, of a scene in the Odyssey, 
 u, 90 ff. The shade of the Theban seer, Tiresias, meets Odysseus in 
 the lower world and at his request tells him how he may secure his 
 return to Ithaca and how he may summon the shade of his mother. 
 After this interview the seer returns (vss. 150 f.) to the home of Hades. 
 At this point Horace interjects the conversation which forms this satire. 
 The selection of the venerable prophet of Thebes to give advice such 
 as this is as happy as the selection of Trebatius in Sat. 2, i, and Odys- 
 
 208
 
 SERMONES [2, 5, S 
 
 seus, with the mingling of the crafty and the heroic in his traditional 
 character, is admirably suited to receive the doctrine. 
 
 Tiavesty of heroic legends had a considerable place in Greek litera- 
 ture, especially in comedy ; Plautus has one example in the Amphitruo 
 and Varro had used it in his Saturae Menippeae. It has been fre- 
 quently used in modern literature ; Thackeray's Rebecca and Rowena 
 and Mark Twain's A Yankee in King Arthur's Court are familiar ex- 
 amples. Horace has combined the humor of travesty with the humor 
 of pretended seriousness in the treatment of his subject-matter, like the 
 seriousness of De Quincey in Murder as a Fine Art. 
 
 Vlixes. Hoc quoque, Tiresia, praeter narrata petenti 
 responde, quibus amissas reparare queam res 
 artibus atque modis. Quid rides? Tiresias. lamnedoloso 
 non satis est Ithacam revehi patriosque penatis 
 5 aspicere ? Vlix. O nulli quicquam mentite, vides ut 
 nudus inopsque domum redeam, te vate; neque illic 
 aut apotheca procis intacta est aut pecus ; atqui 
 et genus et virtus, nisi cum re, vilior alga est. 
 
 1. praeter narrata : i.e. the 6. nudus inopsque : this had 
 prophecy as to his safe return to been distinctly said (Od. n, 114 
 Ithaca. Narrare in its colloquial ff.). tevate: according to your 
 sense, tell, speak. prophecy ; not quite as if he 
 
 2. amissas ... res : the seer doubted the seer, but as if he 
 had told him of the havoc that accepted it unwillingly. neque 
 the suitors were making of his illic : nor, when I get there. 
 property at home. 7. procis : the suitors of Penel- 
 
 3. Quid rides : the seer smiled ope, avSpas i>7re/3<taAovs, ot TOI 
 at the desire of Ulysses for a little /Si'orov Kare'Soucru/. apotheca, pe- 
 more, after he had received so cus: the anxiety of Odysseus and 
 much. doloso: a translation of of his son Telemachus about the 
 the standing epithets TroAvV/aoTros, consumption of provisions by the 
 TroAu/x^xaj'os, but with a touch of suitors, natural as it is to the Ho- 
 sarcasm. meric simplicity, seemed to the 
 
 4. penatis : the anachronism of Roman, as it seems to the modern 
 the Roman idea is intentional. reader, a little comic. 
 
 5. nulli . . . mentite : so Tiresias 8. vilior alga : proverbial for 
 says of himself (Od. 11, 96), worthlessness ; the expression is 
 
 ciTTw. perhaps selected with special ref- 
 
 HOR. SAT. 14 209
 
 2, 5 9] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Tir. Quando pauperiem, missis ambagibus, horres, 
 10 accipe qua ratione queas ditescere. Turdus 
 sive aliud privum dabitur tibi, devolet illuc 
 res ubi magna nitet domino sene ; dulcia poma 
 et quoscumque feret cultus tibi fundus honores, 
 ante larem gustet venerabilior lare dives ; 
 15 qui quamvis periurus erit, sine gente, cruentus 
 sanguine fraterno, fugitivus, ne tamen illi 
 tu comes exterior, si postulet, ire recuses. 
 Vlix. Vtne tegam spurco Damae latus ? Haud ita 
 Troiae 
 
 erence to the sea- beaten Odys- 
 seus. The sentiment of the 
 line is, of course, intentionally 
 unheroic. 
 
 9. missis ambagibus: without 
 any pretence, in plain words. 
 
 10 ff. Turdus : cf. Sat. I, 5, 72. 
 privum : for your own ; pred. with 
 dabitur. The fact that it was the 
 special property of the giver will 
 add to its value in the eyes of the 
 receiver. devolet: with humor- 
 ous effect, in both literal and 
 figurative meaning. nitet : flour- 
 ishes ; i.e. be sure that the prop- 
 erty is large and unincumbered. 
 The abrupt beginning and the 
 rather obscure expression is a par- 
 ody of the ordinary style of proph- 
 ecy, obscuris vera involvens (Aen. 
 6, 100). 
 
 13. honores: fruits and flowers, 
 as in Carm. I, 17, 16. 
 
 14. ante larem : the first-fruits 
 were properly offered to the Lar 
 Familiaris. 
 
 15. sine gente: of 'no family ; a 
 freedman or a slave had no legal 
 claim to be gentilis. There is no 
 necessary connection with ftigiti- 
 vus, since no definite persom is in 
 mind ; the various discreditable 
 attributes are piled together,- as 
 in Carm. 2, 13, 5 ff. ; Epod. 3, 
 I f. 
 
 17. comes exterior: 'to escort 
 him, walking on his left side ' ; 
 this is expressed in the next line 
 by tegam . . . latus. It was the 
 Greek and the Roman custom for 
 the inferior, as escort, to walk on 
 the left side. The explanation 
 given was that the left side was 
 more open to attack, the right 
 being protected by the drawn 
 sword. si postulet: in the collo- 
 quial sense of postulare, to expect, 
 desire. 
 
 1 8. Vtne tegam: a common form 
 of repudiating exclamation. Da- 
 mae : a common name of a slave ; 
 cf. Sat. i, 6, 38. 
 
 210
 
 SERMONES 
 
 2 7 
 
 me gessi, certans semper melioribus. Tir. Ergo 
 
 pauper eris. Vlix. Fortem hoc animum tolerare iubebo ; 
 
 et quondam maiora tuli. Tu protinus, unde 
 
 divitias aerisque ruam die, augur, acervos. 
 
 Tir. Dixi equidem et dico : captes astutus ubique 
 
 testamenta senum, neu, si vafer unus et alter 
 
 insidiatorem praeroso fugerit hamo, 
 
 aut spem deponas aut artem illusus omittas. 
 
 Magna minorve foro si res certabitur olim, 
 
 19. melioribus: dat. ; the phrase 
 appears to be a reminiscence of //. 
 21, 486, Kpeicrcrocriv fjid^efrOai and 
 means ' with men of the better 
 class,' Achilles and Ajax. Ergo: 
 well, then. 
 
 20 f . A translation of the words 
 with which Odysseus encourages 
 himself before the slaughter of the 
 suitors, Od. 20, 18: reVXa^i 817, 
 Kpa&rr Ka.i KvvTtpov aAAo TTOT' 
 Ir/Yrjs. The point of the quota- 
 tion here is that the hero is en- 
 couraging himself to endure a 
 humiliation (/toe means comes . . . 
 ire) in order to make money. 
 Cf. the similar remark in Sat. i, 
 9, 59 f., nil sine magno vita labor e 
 tf edit mortalibus. 
 
 21. protinus: go ahead and tell 
 me. The completeness of the 
 surrender of the heroic pose is 
 emphasized by the moment of 
 indignant repudiation. 
 
 22. ruam: transitive, in a 
 vaguely poetic use ; rush together, 
 quickly collect. augur: with in- 
 tentional Roman coloring. 
 
 23. Dixi . . . et dico: he had 
 
 not, in fact, said anything that 
 was really intelligible, vss. 10-17 
 being obscure and having no ap- 
 parent bearing on the getting of 
 money. But it all seemed plain 
 to the prophet, and he there- 
 fore speaks here with some im- 
 patience and then goes on to 
 put it in words as plain as a 
 prophet can use ; captes ... 
 testamenta. 
 
 25. praeroso: i.e. nibbles off 
 the bait and gets away. The fig- 
 ure is suggested in captes and 
 carried on to greater distinctness 
 in praeroso hamo. 
 
 26. artem: i.e. the ars cap- 
 tandt, ars piscandi. In so far as 
 this hints at a profession of leg- 
 acy-hunting, it is like our speaking 
 of the profession of burglary or 
 wire-pulling. illusus : ' because 
 you have failed once.' 
 
 27. minorve : added as an after- 
 thought ; l an important case or 
 even one that is not so important,' 
 for the diligent man allows nothing 
 to escape him. olim: sometime ; 
 of the future, as often. 
 
 211
 
 2, 5 , 28] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 vivet uter locuples sine gnatis, improbus, ultro 
 qui meliorem audax vocet in ius, illius esto 
 
 30 defensor ; fama civem causaque priorem 
 
 sperne, domi si gnatus erit fecundave coniunx. 
 
 ' Quinte,' puta, aut ' Publi ' (gaudent praenomine molles 
 
 auriculae) ' tibi me virtus tua fecit amicum ; 
 
 ius anceps novi, causas defendere possum ; 
 
 35 eripiet quivis oculos citius mihi, quam te 
 
 contemptum cassa nuce pauperet ; haec mea cura est, 
 ne quid tu perdas, neu sis iocus.' Ire domum atque 
 pelliculam curare iube ; fi cognitor ipse. 
 Persta atque obdura, seu ' rubra Canicula findet 
 
 28 ff. uter: whichever of the shortened in comedy, and as this 
 
 two parties to the suit. impro- 
 bus : coordinate with locuples and 
 defined by the following clause. 
 ultro : actually ; going so far in 
 his impudence (audax) as to bring 
 a suit without justification. il- 
 lius: emphatic; 'that's the man 
 for you to back.' fama . . . cau- 
 saque priorem : a fuller expression 
 of the idea in meliorem ; the dig- 
 nified civem adds to the contrast, 
 the other being sine gente, a freed- 
 man. fecunda: with the possi- 
 bility of natural heirs. 
 
 32. Quinte: as a sign of famili- 
 arity and affection. The genuine 
 Roman praenomen Quintus or 
 Publius would be agreeable to the 
 freedman, who during his slavery 
 had had some foreign name like 
 Dama or Syrus. puta : for in- 
 stance. As an impv. this has reg- 
 ularly a long a, but the final vowel 
 of iambic : mpv. forms is often 
 
 word passed over into semi-ad- 
 verbial uses, it retained the collo- 
 quial quantity. 
 
 34. ius anceps : the uncertain- 
 ties of the law, with a suggestion 
 of the tricks of the unscrupulous 
 lawyer. 
 
 36. contemptum : with the force 
 of a verb ; bring you into con- 
 tempt. cassa nuce : a proverbial 
 phrase (Plaut. Pseud. 371 ; Rud. 
 
 1324)- 
 
 38. pelliculam : so cutem cu- 
 rare, Epist. i, 2, 29 ; other objects 
 (membra. Sat. 2, 2, 80 f., corpora, 
 se suamque aetaleni) are used with 
 curare in the same general sense, 
 ' to take care of one's health.' Pel- 
 liculam is used with special effect, 
 his precious health. cognitor : in 
 the legal sense, attorney. 
 
 39. Persta atque obdura : a col- 
 loquialism; Plaut. Asin. 322, per- 
 negabo atque obduraboi Catull. 8, 
 
 212
 
 SERMONES 
 
 5. 5 1 
 
 40 infantis statuas,' seii pingui tentus omaso 
 Furius 'hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpis.' 
 ' Nonne vides,' aliquis cubito stantem prope tangens 
 inquit, ' ut patiens ! ut amicis aptus ! ut acer ! ' 
 plures adnabunt thynni et cetaria crescent. 
 
 45 Si cui praeterea validus male films in re 
 praeclara sublatus aletur, ne manifestum 
 caelibis obsequium nudet te, leniter in spem 
 adrepe officiosus, ut et scribare secundus 
 heres, et, si quis casus puerum egerit Oreo, 
 
 50 in vacuum venias : perraro haec alea fallit. 
 
 Qui testamentum tradet tibi cumque legendum, 
 
 1 1, perfer, obdura ; Ovid, Trist. 5, 
 11,7, perfer et obdura. 
 
 39 ff. The quotations are from 
 a lost poem of M. Furius Bibacu- 
 lus, of Cremona, a contemporary 
 of Cicero, still living at the time 
 this was written and already al- 
 luded to in Sat. i, 10, 36. The 
 first phrase, rubra . . . statuas, 
 meaning ' in extreme heat,' is tur- 
 gid in conception and in single 
 words, especially infantis, ' speech- 
 less.' The second is quoted also 
 by Quintil. 8, 6, 17 as an example 
 of poor rhetoric, with hippiter as 
 the first word ; Horace has sub- 
 stituted the poet's own name. 
 The personal allusion in pingui 
 . . . omaso, l stuffed with fat tripe,' 
 is offensive to modern taste and 
 the particular justification for it 
 is not known. 
 
 42. prope : with stantem ; stand- 
 ing next to him in the law-court. 
 
 44. cetaria : this must mean a 
 
 fish-pond or weir, which is at the 
 same time a trap and a place for 
 keeping fish alive until they are 
 wanted for the table. The. figure 
 is not exactly the same as that in 
 vs. 25. 
 
 45 . praeterea : furthermore, in - 
 troducing the special precepts of 
 vss. 45-50. validus male: = /- 
 validus. 
 
 46. sublatus : recognized, lit., 
 taken up ; the new-born child 
 was placed before the father, who 
 recognized it as his by taking it up. 
 
 47. caelibis: objective gen. 
 with obsequium. nudet te : ex- 
 pose you, betray your plans to 
 your victims. 
 
 48 f. ut : the clause is explica- 
 tive of spem. secundus heres : 
 i.e. to inherit in case of the death 
 of the first-named heir. Oreo : 
 the seer uses epic language. 
 
 51-69. A warn ing against being 
 taken in by the testator. 
 
 213
 
 2, 5. 52] 
 
 abnuere et tabulas a te removere memento, 
 sic tamen, ut limis rapias, quid prima secundo 
 cera velit versu ; solus multisne coheres, 
 55 veloci percurre oculo. Plerumque recoctus 
 scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludet hiantem, 
 captatorque dabit risus Nasica Corano. 
 Vlix. Num furis? an prudens ludis me obscura 
 
 canendo ? 
 Tir. O Laertiade, quicquid dicam aut erit aut non : 
 
 51 ff. Qui . . . cumque: cf. 
 quando . . . cumque, Sat. \ , 9, 33. 
 memento : be sure, don't forget. 
 The point is to make a show of 
 indifference to the question of 
 money. sic tamen : in such a 
 way, however. limis : sc. oculis ; 
 the noun is so frequently omitted 
 that in late Latin limis was mis- 
 taken for a nom. sing. ; with a 
 side glance. prima . . . cera : 
 the will was written on wax tab- 
 lets with raised edges, which could 
 be tied together and sealed. On 
 the inside of the first leaf the name 
 of the testator was written in the 
 first line and the name of the heir 
 in the second (secundo versit). 
 The fixed position of the names 
 made it easy to read them at a 
 glance. quid . . . velit : -what 
 the first page says; the sense is 
 different when sibi is added, as in 
 vs. 61. 
 
 55 ff. This instance of the un- 
 happy result of a neglect of the 
 precautions just mentioned is put 
 in the form of a reference to an 
 
 event of Horace's time, which the 
 seer relates as a prophecy (deliidet, 
 dabit) and in the ambiguous lan- 
 guage of an oracle. Of course 
 all the Roman words and names 
 (scriba, quinquevir, Nasica, Cora- 
 nus) are unintelligible to Ulysses, 
 and the fable of the Fox and the 
 Raven was unknown to him. 
 recoctus : boiled over, with a ref- 
 erence to the Medea legend. 
 quinqueviro : a subordinate police 
 official Coranus who had risen 
 to the unimportant office of scriba. 
 The details increase the perplexity 
 of Ulysses and help to make the 
 whole incident ridiculous. 
 
 59 f. aut erit aut non : as Tire- 
 sias is supposed to mean it, this 
 would be ' what I say will happen, 
 will, and what I say will not hap- 
 pen, will not,' but the possible 
 double meaning makes it a bur- 
 lesque of the solemn claims of 
 sooth-sayers. The verse is quoted 
 by Boethius (de Cons. 5, 3) as 
 vaticinium illud ridiculum Tire- 
 siae. The absurdity is heightened 
 
 214
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2,5,69 
 
 60 divinare etenim magnus mihi donat Apollo. 
 
 Vlix. Quid taraen ista velit sibi fabula, si licet, ede. 
 7. Tempore quo iuvenis Parthis horrendus, ab alto 
 demissum genus Aenea, tellure marique 
 magnus erit, forti nubet procera Corano 
 
 65 filia Nasicae, metuentis reddere soldum. 
 
 Turn gener hoc faciet : tabulas socero dabit atque 
 ut legat orabit; multum Nasica negatas 
 accipiet tandem et tacitus leget, invenietque 
 nil sibi legatum praeter plorare suisque. 
 
 by the next verse in Homeric 
 style. donat: present, as if he 
 felt the gift of the god at that 
 moment. 
 
 61. The reply of Ulysses is 
 more humble (si licet) than vs. 
 58, as if he had been impressed 
 by the lofty tone of vss. 59-60. 
 tamen : i.e. i but nevertheless I 
 should like to understand the 
 story, if I may. 1 Quid . . . velit 
 sibi : what it means. 
 
 62 ff. The seer re-tells the story 
 in plain language, with an intro- 
 duction in the heroic style. On 
 the date see introd. to this satire. 
 
 62 f. iuvenis : Octavius was a 
 little over thirty. demissum: cf. 
 Aen. I, 288, a magno demissum. 
 nomen lulo. genus: cf. Sat. i, 
 6, 1 2, Valeri genus, in apposition 
 with a proper noun, as here with 
 iuvenis. 
 
 64. forti, procera : stock epi- 
 thets (cf. Sat. 2, 3, 216) used in 
 derision in this case, where the 
 inducement to the marriage was 
 
 neither courage nor beauty, but 
 the payment of a debt. 
 
 65. metuentis: the sense of 
 metuo is frequently weakened, es- 
 pecially when it takes an infin., to 
 meanings like hesitate, be unwill- 
 ing] cf. Carm. 2, 2, 7, penna 
 metuente solvi. soldum: the syn- 
 copated colloquial form for soli- 
 dum, the principal of the debt. 
 The point is that as Nasica was 
 unwilling to pay a debt (presum- 
 ably to Coranus), he gave Coranus 
 his daughter instead, hoping that 
 the son-in-law would leave to him 
 or to his daughter a sum which 
 would more than counterbalance 
 the debt. The relative age of 
 father-in-law and son-in-law is left 
 out of account, or the case is like 
 the marriage of Pompey to Caesar's 
 daughter. 
 
 66 ff. tabulas: the will, as in 
 vs. 52. multum . . . negatas : 
 i.e. having made a great show of 
 refusing, as advised in vs. 52. 
 praeter plorare : the prepos. gov* 
 
 215
 
 2. 5. 7] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 70 Illud ad haec iubeo : mulier si forte dolosa 
 libertusve senem delirum temperet, illis 
 accedas socius ; laudes, lauderis ut absens ; 
 adiuvat hoc quoque, sed vincit longe prius ipsum 
 expugnare caput. Scribet mala carmina vecors : 
 
 75 laudato. Scortator erit : cave te roget ; ultro 
 Penelopam facilis potiori trade. Vlix. Putasne 
 perduci poterit tarn frugi tamque pudica, 
 quam nequiere proci recto depellere cursu ? 
 Tir. Venit enim magnum donandi parca iuventus 
 
 80 nee tantum Veneris, quantum studiosa culinae. 
 Sic tibi Penelope frugi est, quae si semel uno 
 
 erns the infin. as a noun. Plorare 
 means to lament and, as used in 
 the will, it would mean that Cora- 
 nus left to Nasica the legacy of 
 grief which his death would cause, 
 but with an ironical suggestion of 
 the grief that he would feel at 
 receiving no legacy in money. 
 Cf. Sat. I, 10, 91. 
 
 70-74, ' Do not disdain to play 
 a second part as a helper to others 
 who may be managing an old man.' 
 
 ad haec : cf. praeterea, vs. 45. 
 
 mulier . . . libertusve : i.e. un- 
 der the most discreditable and 
 humiliating influences. delirum : 
 childish i cf. Cic. de Sen. u, 36, 
 senilis stultitia quae deliratio ap- 
 pellari solet. ipsum . . . caput: 
 the old man himself. 
 
 74. Scribet : a condition ex- 
 pressed without si, in parataxis. 
 
 vecors : cf. excors, S&t. 2, 3, 67. 
 76 f. potiori : so in Epod. 15, 
 
 13. Putasne . . . poterit: para- 
 
 taxis like the English, do you think 
 she can . . . ? This is very com- 
 mon in colloquial Latin, e.g. Plaut. 
 Rud. 1269, censen hodie desponde- 
 bit earn mihi f 
 
 78. nequiere proci: the faith- 
 fulness of Penelope had become 
 in Horace's time the main ele- 
 ment in the story of the suitors, 
 and it is alluded to here as a well- 
 known fact, but it had in truth 
 been barely hinted at by Tiresias 
 (Od. 11, 117) and would not be 
 known to Ulysses. 
 
 79. enim : of course, for. 
 magnum : obj. of donandi, which 
 depends upon parca. They gave 
 gifts, but not big enough gifts ; 
 this adds a touch to the travesty 
 of the heroic, to which, indeed, 
 this part of the story is particu- 
 larly exposed ; cf. Od. 18, 275-280. 
 
 81. Sic . . . quae si: under 
 such conditions (with stingy suit- 
 ors) . . . , but if she . . . semel 
 
 216
 
 SERMONES 
 
 91 
 
 de sene gustarit tecum partita lucellum, 
 
 ut earns a corio numquam absterrebitur uncto. 
 
 Me sene quod dicam factum est : anus improba 
 Thebis 
 
 85 ex testamento sic est elata : cadaver 
 
 unctum oleo largo nudis umeris tulit heres, 
 scilicet elabi si posset mortua ; credo, 
 quod nimium institerat viventi. Cautus adito, 
 neu desisoperae, neve immoderatus abundes. 
 
 90 Difficilem et morosum offendet garrulus ; ultra 
 non etiam sileas ; Davus sis comicus, atque 
 
 uno : just once from one old 
 man. 
 
 83. The line is a condensed 
 comparison ; ' it will be as hard 
 to get her away as to . . .' a 
 corio . . . uncto : a Greek saying, 
 like the English * to drive a dog 
 away from his bone. 1 
 
 84-88. A story to enforce the 
 need of caution in one's atten- 
 tions. Me sene: Tiresias had 
 long been dead, and .he refers 
 back to the time when he was 
 an old man, as an old man refers 
 to his youth with me pnero or me 
 iuvene. Cf. Sat. 2, 2, 112 f., puer 
 . . . ego . . . Ofellutn . . . novi. 
 sic est elata : i.e. was to be car- 
 ried out for burial, if the heir 
 could fulfil the condition. scilicet 
 . . . si : to see, you understand, 
 whether ; this use of si is explained 
 in the grammars. nimium in- 
 stiterat: i.e. she had never been 
 able to slip away from him while 
 she was alive. 
 
 88. Cautus : the moral of the 
 story, expanded in the following 
 lines. 
 
 89. operae: dat, as in hand 
 mihi dero, Sat. I, 9, 56. 
 
 90 f. Difficilem, morosum : these 
 words are used of old men by 
 Cicero {de Sen. 18, 65). ultra: 
 'don't even be too silent.' Cf. 
 the rebuke of the impatient judge 
 to the talkative lawyer : f The 
 Court wants nothing from you 
 but silence and not very much 
 of that? non : there are occa- 
 sional uses of non with a subjv. 
 like this scattered through Latin 
 writers [Schmalz, Lat. Synt. 3 
 205], especially in poetry and 
 in Low Latin. Such instances are 
 usually explained by connecting 
 non with some single idea in the 
 sentence, other than the verb, or by 
 twisting the subjv. into a potential 
 meaning. comicus : be like Davus 
 in the comedy. Davus was a stock 
 name for the confidential slave. 
 
 217
 
 HORATI 
 
 stes capite obstipo, multum similis metuenti. 
 Obsequiograssare ; mone, si increbuit aura, 
 cautus uti velet carum caput ; extrahe turba 
 
 95 oppositis umeris ; aurem substringe loquaci. 
 Importunus amat laudari ; donee ' Ohe iam ! ' 
 ad caelum manibus sublatis dixerit, urge, 
 crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem. 
 Cum te servitio longo curaque levarit, 
 
 ioo et certum vigilans, ' Quartae sit partis Vlixes ' 
 audieris ' heres ' : ' Ergo nunc Dama sodalis 
 nusquam est ? Vnde mihi tam fortem tamque fidelem ? ' 
 
 92. capite obstipo: this is the scribet, 74. Ohe iam: the full 
 
 attitude of extreme deference, rep- 
 resented in vase-paintings and in 
 the illustrated Ms. of Terence. 
 multum: with metuenti$ 'like a 
 man deeply respectful.' [Usually 
 taken with similis, on the basis of 
 Epist. i, 10, 3 ; in that passage, 
 however, the contrast demands an 
 emphasis upon dissimiles, which is 
 quite out of place here. There 
 are parallels enough to the use 
 of multum (as well as multa) with 
 such a verb as metuo.] 
 
 93. Obsequio: the emphatic 
 word; it makes a slight inten- 
 tional contrast with grassare, 
 which carries the suggestion of 
 approach with an unfriendly pur- 
 pose ; get at him by flattery. 
 
 95. substringe: i.e. gather up 
 your ear with your hand, as if 
 anxious not to lose a word. 
 
 96. Importunus : insatiate, ex- 
 acting, as in Epist. 2, 2, 185. 
 amat : a paratactic condition, like 
 
 form, ohe iam satis est, is used in 
 Sat. i, 5, 12 f. and ohe iam satis 
 in Plaut. Stick. 734. The phrase 
 was so fixed that the meaning was 
 suggested without satis. 
 
 98. tumidis : swelling, in the 
 active sense ; cf. Verg. Aen. 3, 357, 
 tumido inflatur . . . Austro. A 
 similar figure is used in Sat. i , 4, 1 9. 
 
 99. levarit: shall release you 
 by his death. 
 
 100. certum vigilans : < be per- 
 fectly sure that you are wide 
 awake, that it is no dream.' 
 Quartae sit : as if quoted from the 
 will, though the exact formula 
 would be Vlixes heres ex qua- 
 drante esto. 
 
 101 f. Ergo : so then ; the con- 
 ventional word to introduce an 
 expression of grief. Cf. Carm. I, 
 24, 5 ; Ovid, Trist. 3, 2, I . soda- 
 lis : cf. vs. 1 8, sfiurco Damae. 
 nusquam est : one of the many 
 periphrases for death. 
 
 218
 
 SERMONES ( 2, 5, 1 10 
 
 sparge subinde, et, si paulum potes, illacrimare : est 
 gaudia prodentem voltum celare. Sepulchrum 
 
 105 permissum arbitrio sine sordibus exstrue ; funus 
 egregie factum laudet vicinia. Si quis 
 forte coheredum senior male tussiet, huic tu 
 die, ex parte tua seu fundi sive domus sit 
 emptor, gaudentem nummo te addicere. Sed me 
 
 no imperiosa trahit Proserpina: vive valeque ! 
 
 103 f . sparge : the object is the other considerations ' ; the form 
 preceding remark. paulum: in of legal sale is gone through in 
 sense with illacrimare as well as order to make the gift valid, 
 with potes. est: it is your part, no. imperiosa: so saeva Pro- 
 it is for you to. gaudia: obj. of serpina, Carm. i, 28, 20; she is 
 prodentem. the mistress of the dreaded under- 
 
 105 f . permissum arbitrio : i.e. world. But there is a bit of trav- 
 
 when no specific directions are esty in the abruptness of the 
 
 given. The emphatic words are farewell, which is quite different 
 
 sine sordibus and (in 106) egregie from the dignified withdrawal of 
 
 factum. Tiresias in the Homeric scene, 
 
 108 f. sive sit emptor: if he Od. 1 1, 150 f. The common for- 
 
 should wish to buy. nummo : our mula of farewell, vine valeque y is 
 
 formula is, ' for one dollar and also used with humorous effect. 
 
 6 
 
 This satire was written at about the same time as the preceding 
 (2, 5), late in 31 B.C. or early in 30. The 'chilling rumor about the 
 Dacians' (vss. 50, 53) refers to the popular fear of an invasion of Italy 
 by the Daci after the battle of Actium, and the uncertainty in regard to 
 the allotment of land to the veterans (vss. 55 f.) was terminated by the 
 brief visit of Octavius to Brundisium early in 30. Other indications 
 (38) point to the same date. 
 
 The connection of thought is simple: 'I now have in my Sabine 
 farm more than I had dared to hope for, and my only desire is that my 
 present happiness may continue without change. No better subject 
 than this could offer itself to my humble Muse, as I begin the day here. 
 For at Rome the day begins quite differently, with one engagement 
 after another, and even though a visjt to Maecenas may be one of them, 
 
 ft)
 
 4, 6] HORATI 
 
 yet the pleasure is half spoiled by the requests of my acquaintances 
 that I should use my influence with Maecenas on their behalf. They 
 do not understand that my friendship with him has nothing to do with 
 public affairs ; in fact, we never speak of such things, and I am glad to 
 escape from it all and get back into the country, and to hear the simple 
 talk of my good neighbors, like Cervius' story of the Town Mouse and 
 the Country Mouse.' 
 
 This satire is a partial return to the forms used in the First Book. 
 The main body of the discourse (vss. 77-117) is, it is true, formally 
 separated from the rest and put into the mouth of another speaker ; in 
 so far Horace uses the newer form with which he had been experiment- 
 ing in Sat. 2, 2 ; 2, 3. The main body, however, is not enclosed in a 
 framework of formal dialogue, but is introduced by an expression of 
 personal opinion and feeling, like that with which Sat, i, 6 concludes. 
 It was, undoubtedly, the strength of personal feeling to be expressed 
 that led Horace to return to his earlier method of treatment instead of 
 using the form of Sat. 2, 2 and 2, 3, which is better suited to burlesque 
 and persiflage than to serious discussion. 
 
 In general tone, also, this satire which has in it little of the satirical 
 element is a return to the manner of the First Book. It is not, how- 
 ever, a mere turning back. The intervening years had left their health- 
 ful mark upon Horace, and in his personal attitude he shows the good 
 effect that success in honest endeavor has upon all men of large nature ; 
 he is not less modest, perhaps he is more modest (vss. 40-58), but he 
 no longer needs to explain himself or to defend his conduct. The sense 
 of easy security centered about his closest friend, Maecenas, and about 
 the farm which was the gift of that friend, and he felt the impulse to 
 express his contentment. It is to be remembered, also, that Horace 
 was, as Kiessling reminds us, a 'country boy.' It was in Rome that 
 he had done his work, and there he had made himself a place, but his 
 profoundest interest was not in the life of clubs and dinners. He never 
 ceased to feel the desire for the quieter life of the country, as this satire 
 and Epod. 2 sufficiently testify. 
 
 Meanwhile, a change had come over public affairs, not unlike the 
 change in his own circumstances. The rule of Octavius had justified 
 itself, so far as such rule can ever be justified, and the security which 
 Horace had received from Maecenas, Rome had had as a gift from Mae- 
 cenas' chief. Between Octavius and Antony no sane man could hesi- 
 tate, and beneath the personal contentment which this satire expresses 
 it is easy to hear the note of political repose and contentment which 
 followed the decision at Actium. This satire was not written by the 
 
 220
 
 SERMONKS 
 
 [2, 6, 6 
 
 young republican who fought at Philippi, or by the satirical follower 
 of the more satirical Lucilius, but by a contented friend and citizen. 
 
 Hoc erat in votis : modus agri non ita magnus, 
 hortus ubi et tecto vicinus iugis aquae fons 
 et. paulum silvae super his foret. Auctius atque 
 di melius fecere. Bene est. Nil amplius oro, 
 5 Maia nate, nisi ut propria haec mihi munera faxis. 
 Si neque maiorem feci ratione mala rein, 
 
 1. Hoc: elaborated in the rest 
 of the sentence, but with reference 
 also to the scene that lay before 
 him, as he looked out from his 
 farm-house in the morning. in 
 votis : ' was one of the things for 
 which I made my vows.' 
 
 2. iugis : in form either gen. 
 or nom., but the balance vicinus 
 -fons, iugis-aquae requires a 
 genitive. 
 
 3. super his : the ace. is more 
 common, but the abl. is freely used 
 by Horace (super foco , Carm. i, 
 9, 5 ; super Pindo, Carm. I, 12, 
 6). His usage favors the local 
 meaning above these (not in addi- 
 tion to these things}, i.e. on the 
 overhanging ridge of the hill. This 
 little wood-land is referred to also 
 in Carm. 3, 16, 29 f., silva iugerum 
 paucorum and in Epist. i, 14, i, 
 and there is a fuller description in 
 Epist. i, 1 6, 5 if. Auctius : more 
 liberally. 
 
 5. Maia nate: cf. Vergil's 
 nate dea. Mercury, as the god of 
 gain (e.g. Sat. 2, 3, 25), was the 
 god to whom the prayer for am- 
 plius would be addressed. haec 
 
 . . . munera : even more distinctly 
 than hoc, vs. I, a reference to the 
 scene before him. faxis: the 
 archaic form (fac-s-is, a sigmatic 
 aorist optative), still used in pray- 
 ers and curses. 
 
 6 f. Cf. the advice of the 
 father to his two sons, Sat. 2, 3, 
 177 f., and the note there. The 
 thought here is the same, but it is 
 expressed somewhat elliptically 
 and with a careful contrast of 
 phrasing which covers up the 
 thought. The real emphasis is 
 upon Horace's contentment with 
 what he has and his determination 
 to avoid in the future, as he has 
 in the past, either of the extremes 
 against which so much of his 
 preaching is directed, either the 
 extreme of money-loving or the 
 opposite extreme of wastefulness. 
 There is no contrast between 
 ratione mala and some ratio bona 
 nor between vitio culpave and 
 some creditable way of lessening 
 one's property, e.g. by charity ; 
 the contrast is between the avarus 
 with his usual ratio mala and the 
 nepos with his vitium culpave. 
 
 221
 
 , 6, y] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 nec sum facturus vitio culpave minorem ; 
 si veneror stultus nihil horum : ' O si angulus ille 
 proximus accedat, qui nunc denormat agellum ! 
 O si urnam argenti fors quae mihi monstret, ut illi, 
 thesauro invento qui mercennarius agrum 
 ilium ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico 
 Hercule ! ' si quod adest gratum iuvat, hac prece te 
 oro : 
 
 The sense of the whole is, ' I am 
 content with what I have. I have 
 not tried (and shall not try) to 
 increase it as men usually do and 
 I (have not been tempted and) 
 shall not be tempted into the 
 common fault of wastefulness.' 
 
 8. veneror : a rather infrequent 
 use, with cognate ace. or ace. of 
 the thing asked for, without the 
 ace. of the person. Cf. Carm. 
 Saec. 49. < If I utter no such 
 prayer as these.' si : this ex- 
 pression of a wish is explained in 
 the grammars and is familiar to us 
 from the corresponding English ; 
 'oh, if only . . .' 
 
 9. accedat : were added to his 
 farm. denormat: a technical 
 term in surveying; expressive of 
 the natural and common desire to 
 have a farm marked by straight 
 border-lines. 
 
 10. urnam argenti : almost ex- 
 actly the English a pot of money, 
 in its original sense. 
 
 ii f. mercennarius: this would 
 naturally be in the main clause, 
 but is put into the relative clause in 
 orderto bring it into closer contrast 
 
 with mercatus. The whole should 
 be very freely rendered into Eng- 
 lish: 'the man who found a buried 
 treasure and with it bought and 
 cultivated the very farm on which 
 he had been before a hired laborer.' 
 13. Hercule : there are a few 
 references, not perfectly clear, to 
 Hercules as the god of hidden 
 treasures, but the explanation of 
 the reference to him here is to be 
 found in the folk-story that Horace 
 is alluding to, which is given by 
 Porphyrio : ' traditur fabula, fuisse 
 quendam mercennarium qui sem- 
 per Herculem deprecatus sit, ut 
 sibi boni aliquid praestaret. Quern 
 Hercules ad Mercurium duxit et 
 obsecratum thesaurum fecit 
 ostendi. Quo effosso ille eundem 
 agrum, in quo operam mercen- 
 narium faciebat, comparavit et 
 labori solito operam dedit ; sique 
 probavit Mercurius, quod de eo 
 praedixerat Herculi, nulla re ilium 
 posse beatum vivere, cum in eadem 
 opera post inventionem thesauri 
 perseveravit.' In his allusion Hor- 
 ace has omitted Mercury, who is the 
 real god ofgain, and has dropped the 
 
 222
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 6, 20 
 
 pingue pecus domino facias et cetera praeter 
 ingenium, utque soles, custos mini maximus adsis ! 
 
 Ergo ubi me in mentis et in arcem ex urbe removi, 
 quid prius illustrem saturis Musaque pedestri ? 
 Nee mala me ambitio perdit nee plumbeus Auster 
 autumnusque gravis, Libitinae quaestus acerbae. 
 Matutine pater, seu lane libentius audis, 
 
 moral. si . . . iuvat: this repeats 
 the substance of the conditions st'... 
 feet, si veneror, after the long in- 
 terruption, in order to bring them 
 near the apodosis oro. 
 
 14 f. pingue pecus, ingenium: 
 a pun upon the literal meaning of 
 pingais,fat, and the derived sense, 
 heavy, v& in the English fat-witted. 
 ut soles : other references to 
 Mercury as his guardian divinity 
 are Car in. 2, 7, 13 (at Philippi) ; 
 2, 17, 29 ff. 
 
 1 6 f. in mentis : Horace says 
 of the site of his farm continui 
 mantes (Epist. i, 16, 5). in ar- 
 cem ex urbe : the play upon the 
 similar sound of the words is 
 intentional (cf. Enn. et arce et 
 urbe and Livy's famous hostis pro 
 hospite) and may be rendered by 
 citadel and city. prius : like the 
 English rather, i.e. sooner, in 
 preference to my farm. Musa 
 pedestri : cf. Sat. I, 4, 39 f., ego me 
 illorum dederitn quibus esse poet as 
 excerpam numero, with the argu- 
 ment which follows. The ambition 
 to be a true lyric poet lies behind 
 this estimate of the work he had 
 already done. 
 
 18 f. ambitio: something of 
 the original meaning (amb-ire, 
 to go about, canvassing for votes) 
 is still left in this word, though 
 here the reference is to the social 
 struggle (23 ff.), rather than to 
 the political. plumbeus : the 
 sirocco, Anster, brings a peculiar 
 sense of oppression, like a weight. 
 Libitinae quaestus : at the temple 
 of Venus Libitina funerals were 
 registered and fees paid, and the 
 things necessary for a funeral 
 were obtained by undertakers. 
 A season of ill-health, like the 
 autumn {Epist. i, 7, 1-9), was 
 therefore a time of gain (quaes- 
 tus) for the goddess. 
 
 20 ff. As the references to the 
 farm, especially vss. 16 f., are 
 meant to indicate the place where 
 this satire was written, so these 
 lines are meant to indicate the 
 time of day, the early morning. 
 And the peaceful beginning of the 
 day in his place of refuge suggests 
 to Horace both the invocation to 
 the god of morning and of all be- 
 ginnings and also, by contrast, the 
 hurried and senseless round of 
 duties to which the morning sum- 
 
 223
 
 2. 6, 21 * 
 
 HORATI 
 
 unde homines operum priinos vitaeque labores 
 instituunt (sic dis placitum), tu carminis esto 
 principium. Romae sponsorem me rapis. ' Heia, 
 ne prior officio quisquam respondeat, urge ! ' 
 Sive Aquilo radit terras seu bruma nivalem 
 interiore diem gyro trahit, ire necesse est. 
 Postmodo quod mi obsit clare certumque locuto, 
 
 mons him at Rome. seu lane: 
 it was customary in ritual to ad- 
 dress the divinity by several differ- 
 ent names, leaving it to him to 
 select, as it were, the most accept- 
 able (libentius) ; cf. Cartn. Saec. 
 15 f., sive lu Lucina probas vocari 
 ( = libentius audis) seu Genitalis. 
 The vocative is used as a direct 
 quotation from the prayer. audis : 
 art called] so rexque paterque 
 aiidisti, Epist . I, 7, 37 f., and often. 
 
 unde : = a guv, ' with an invo- 
 cation to whom.' In the rather 
 heavy phrases operum vitaeque 
 labores, instituuni, sic dis placitum 
 
 there is a playful formality, as 
 if in his cheerful morning mood 
 Horace amused himself by adopt- 
 ing the formal ritualistic style. 
 
 23 ff . These half-humorous lam- 
 entations over the so-called so- 
 cial duties which waste the time 
 in Rome are quite in the vein of 
 Sat. I, 9. He is struggling be- 
 tween a sense of what courtesy 
 demands and an impatient desire 
 to be rid of the annoyances. It is 
 annoying to have to go to court 
 on a cold day, but it would be 
 still more annoying to feel that 
 
 he had failed to meet the claims 
 of friendship ; it is highly un- 
 pleasant to him to push his way 
 through the crowd and give just 
 cause for remonstrance, and his 
 consciousness of being in the 
 wrong only makes it the harder to 
 bear the impudent remonstrance 
 of the man whom he has jostled. 
 
 23 f. Romae : emphatic ; 'at 
 Rome how differently the day be- 
 gins ! ' sponsorem : ' to be secu- 
 rity for a friend ' ; to be asked to 
 perform this office would be evi- 
 dence that one was regarded as an 
 intimate friend and would often be 
 an honor. rapis: addressed to the 
 god ; the morning brings the de- 
 mand and expresses it in the words 
 which follow, heia . . . urge. -. Vl 
 
 25 f. The details the cold 
 wind, mid-winter, snosv, the short 
 day picture from different sides 
 the discomfort of going out of the 
 house. interiore . . . gyro: as 
 the sun sinks lower in approaching 
 the winter solstice, each .daily 
 circle seems to be within that of 
 the preceding day. 
 
 27. Postmodo : hereafter, at 
 some future time. This is the 
 
 224
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 6, 34 
 
 luctandum in turba et facienda iniuria tardis. 
 
 'Quid tibi vis, insane, et quam rem agis ? ' improbus 
 
 urget 
 
 30 iratis precibus ; ' tu pulses omne quod obstat, 
 ad Maecenatem memori si mente recurras.' 
 Hoc iuvat et melli est, non mentiar. At simul atras 
 ventum est Esquilias, aliena negotia centum 
 per caput et circa saliunt latus. * Ante secundam 
 
 regular meaning of postmodo and 
 ft is usually joined with some ex- 
 pression of futurity, as in Carm. 
 i, 28, 31 with nocituram\ it is to 
 be taken here with obsit, not with 
 luctandum in the sense of next, 
 afterwards. quod obsit : if the 
 friend should fail to meet his obli- 
 gation. The hazards of such 
 sponsiones are often alluded to in 
 classical literature, as the dangers 
 of financial endorsements are in 
 modern literature. clare certum- 
 que .- i.e. having had the disagree- 
 able experience of being told to 
 'speak out, so that the Court can 
 hear.' 
 
 28. facienda: it seems worse 
 to him to be forced to be rude 
 than it would be to suffer rude- 
 ness. 
 
 29. Quid tibi vis, insane : a com- 
 mon phr*ase of colloquial speech. 
 quam rem agis : scarcely less 
 frequent in Plautus than quid agis? 
 [The text of this line is taken from 
 Bentley's convincing note.] im- 
 probus : some impudent fellow ; 
 though the remonstrance is justi- 
 fied, the manner of it and the 
 
 HOR. SAT. 15 225 
 
 reference to Maecenas are im- 
 pertinent. 
 
 30 f. precibus : curses, like di te 
 perduint, which in form are 
 prayers. This sense of preces is 
 usually marked by some dis- 
 tinguishing word in the context 
 (hosttitS) Thy est ens), as here by 
 iratis. tu: as the speaker turns 
 and recognizes Horace, he goes on 
 from general curses to a direct and 
 individual taunt : ; oh, it's you, 
 is it ? you would of course be in a 
 hurry, on your way to see your 
 great friend ! ' memori . . . mente : 
 i.e. ' your mind is so full of him 
 that you can't remember to be 
 decently polite to the rest of us. 1 
 
 32. Hoc : the thought of his 
 friendship with Maecenas. non 
 mentiar : i.e. ' I acknowledge it, 
 though it is inconsistent with my 
 argument that Rome isn't a pleas- 
 ant place to live in.' At : but even 
 this pleasure is half-spoiled. 
 atras : the Esquiline, where the 
 palace and gardens of Maecenas 
 were, had been the site of a large 
 burial-place. 
 
 34. per caput, circa latus: the
 
 2, 6, 35] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 Roscius orabat sibi adesses ad Puteal eras.' 
 ' De re com muni scribae magna atque nova te 
 orabant hodie meminisses, Quinte, reverti.' 
 ' Imprimat his cura Maecenas signa tabellis.' 
 Dixeris, ' Experiar : ' ' Si vis, potes,' addit et instat. 
 Septimus octavo proprior iam fugerit annus, 
 
 figures are slightly different from 
 ours, but we say ' it runs through 
 my head,' 'it springs into my 
 mind ' Ante secundam : before 
 seven o'clock; Roman business 
 began at an early hour. 
 
 35. orabat: like the epistolary 
 imperfect. adesses : on banking 
 or court business. The Puteal 
 was a stone curbing around a spot 
 in the Forum where lightning had 
 struck ; the praetor's tribunal was 
 not far from it. 
 
 36 f. These lines afford an in- 
 teresting little glimpse into the 
 professional relations of Horace 
 as a member still of the ordo of 
 minor government officials, the 
 scribae. It is, in effect, a notice 
 of a meeting of the organization 
 ('important business 1 ), given 
 orally to Horace, who is ad- 
 dressed familiarly by his ' first ' 
 name. orabant meminisses: par- 
 ataxis. reverti : i.e. ' to come 
 back to the meeting-place to which 
 he used to come when he was an 
 active member of the organization.' 
 
 38. Imprimat . . . cura : para- 
 taxis, like c lira valeas,fac sisfidelis. 
 signa : i.e. he wished Horace to 
 ask Maecenas to set his seal and 
 
 signature on the document. This 
 would be like putting 'OK' and 
 initials on a paper. As it is known 
 that, during the months within 
 which the composition of this satire 
 must fall, Maecenas was the repre- 
 sentative of Octavius in Rome and 
 had authority to use his seal, the 
 document was probably one that 
 had to do with public business 
 
 39. Dixeris : as if putting the 
 reader into Horace's position, to 
 make the situation more vivid. 
 
 40 ff. The form of expression 
 is apparently intended to suggest 
 increasingly definite reminiscence : 
 'it's seven years almost eight 
 since . . .' iam fugerit: will 
 soon have passed. For the story 
 of the introduction, see Sat. I, 6, 
 54 ff. The expression here is al- 
 most the same as the one used 
 there, iiibes esse in amicorum nu- 
 mero, with the evident intention 
 of recalling that satire, as the next 
 words recall the journey to Brundi- 
 sium, Sat. i, 5. The earlier claims 
 to friendship are here qualified, to 
 guard against the interpretations 
 which had been put upon them. 
 The friendship has nothing to do 
 with public affairs. 
 
 226
 
 SERMONES 
 
 O, 6, 53 
 
 ex quo Maecenas me coepit habere suorum 
 in numero, dumtaxat ad hoc, quern tollere reda 
 vellet iter faciens, et cui concredere nugas 
 hoc genus : ' Hora quota est ? ' ' Thraex est Gallina 
 Syro par ? ' 
 
 45 ' Matutina parum cautos iam frigora mordent; ' 
 et quae rimosa bene deponuntur in aure. 
 Per totum hoc tempus subiectior in diem et horam 
 invidiae noster. Ludos spectaverat una, 
 luserat in Campo : ' Fortunae films ! ' omnes. 
 
 50 Frigidus a Rostris manat per compita rumor : 
 
 quicumque obvius est, me consulit : ' O bone (nam te 
 scire, deos quoniam propius contingis, oportet), 
 numquid de Dacis audisti ? ' ' Nil equidem.' * Vt tu 
 
 44 f . Humorous under-state- 
 ments. The things about which 
 Horace and Maecenas talked were, 
 to people who were thinking of 
 political influence, no more im- 
 portant than remarks about ath- 
 letics or the weather. Thraex : a 
 particular kind of gladiator armed 
 like a Thracian. Gallina: the 
 Chicken, the name given to him in 
 sporting circles. Syro : a slave 
 name, here borne by the gladiator 
 who was to be matched against 
 Gallina. 
 
 46. deponuntur : used of plac- 
 ing valuables or money 'on 
 deposit' in safe hands. rimosa: 
 i.e. 'Maecenas tells me none of the 
 state secrets ' like those mentioned 
 below. 
 
 48 ff. noster : our friend, as if 
 holding himself up as an object of 
 
 sympathy. This use is colloquial 
 and the following illustrations are 
 told in colloquial manner. spec- 
 taverat: paratactic with the 
 verb of omnes. The plupf. tense 
 makes the relation of the clauses 
 plainer : ' he had been to the 
 shows with Maecenas ; then every- 
 body said . . .' luserat: Sat. 
 I, 5,48; i, 6, 126. 
 
 50. a Rostris : the platform in 
 the Forum decorated with the 
 beaks of ships was the center of 
 public discussion and announce- 
 ment. per compita: i.e. through 
 the city, wherever men were gath- 
 ered ; Sat. 2, 3, 25 f. 
 
 52. deos : a slang word for the 
 prominent men in the state : * the 
 bosses,' 'The Big Four.' 
 
 53 f. numquid : frequently used 
 in colloquial Latin, as here, with- 
 
 227
 
 2, 6, 54] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 semper eris derisor ! ' 'At omnes di exagitent me, 
 55 si quicquam.' ' Quid, militibus promissa Triquetra 
 praedia Caesar, an est Itala tellure daturus ? ' 
 lurantem me scire nihil mirantur, ut unum 
 scilicet egregii mortalem altique silenti. 
 
 Perditur haec inter misero lux non sine votis : 
 60 O rus, quando ego te aspiciam ? quandoque licebit 
 nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis 
 ducere sollicitae iucunda oblivia vitae ? 
 
 out the expectation of a negative 
 answer; 'have you heard anything 
 about the Dacians?' Cf. introd. 
 to this satire and Carm. 3, 6, 13 ff., 
 paene. . . delevit urban Dacus. 
 Vt . . . eris: 'how determined 
 you are to prove yourself a mere 
 jester!' At: very common in 
 such asseverations. For the gen- 
 eral form of the sentence cf. di me 
 perdant, si bibi, Plaut. M. G. 
 
 833- 
 
 55 f . The allotment of land to 
 the soldiers of Octavius (Caesar) 
 after the battle of Actium was 
 expected and there was great 
 desire among those who were 
 likely to be affected by confisca- 
 tions or forced sales to know 
 where the lands were to be taken 
 and especially whether they were 
 to be in Italy or perhaps in 
 Sicily. 
 
 57! unum: the one man. 
 This is not very different from 
 unns with the superlative, egregii 
 altiqiie supplying the standard of 
 comparison ; cf. Sat. 2, 3. 24. 
 scilicet : ironical ; he was credited 
 
 with great power of keeping a 
 secret which was, in fact, not 
 known to him. 
 
 59. Perditur: the only occur- 
 rence of a passive form of perdo 
 in classical Latin, the forms of 
 pereo being elsewhere used. Aero 
 glosses it with consitmitur. 
 misero : it is hardly necessary to 
 supply wihi ; the thought is still 
 somewhat impersonal, as in vs. 48. 
 votis : such as follow. But the 
 wishes pass over easily and imper- 
 ceptibly into a description of an 
 evening in the country and so to 
 the story of Cervius. 
 
 61. veterum libris: like those 
 Greek books which he had 
 taken with him for his Christmas 
 vacation, Sat. 2, 3, 1 1 f. Horace 
 did not care much for the early 
 Latin literature, though he speaks 
 with respect of Ennius. somno : 
 an undisturbed siesta. 
 
 62. ducere . . . oblivia : drink 
 in forge/fulness; so souls about 
 to be born again longa oblivia 
 potanl (Aen. 6, 715) at the water 
 of Lethe. 
 
 228
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [a, 6, 70 
 
 O quando faba Pythagorae cognata simulque 
 uncta satis pingui ponentur holuscula lardo ? 
 
 65 O noctes cenaeque deum ! quibus ipse meique 
 ante larem proprium vescor vernasque procacis 
 pasco libatis dapibus. Prout cuique libido est, 
 siccat inaequalis calices conviva, solutus 
 legibus insanis, seu quis capit acria f ortis 
 
 70 pocula, seu modicis uvescit laetius. Ergo 
 
 63 f. The simple fare of the 
 country. Pythagorae cognata: 
 
 the relative of Pythagoras ; a iittle 
 fling at the Pythagorean philoso- 
 phy. Pythagoras forbade the eat- 
 ing of the flesh of animals because 
 the soul of a human being might 
 be inhabiting the body of the 
 animal. He also forbade the eat- 
 ing of beans ; whatever may have 
 been the reason for this prohibition 
 (and many different explanations 
 are given), it was attributed to the 
 same motive, to the belief that the 
 soul of a man, even of a relative, 
 might be dwelling in the bean, 
 and the doctrine in this probably 
 perverted form was made a matter 
 of derision. uncta satis: the 
 fat bacon took the place of olive 
 oil in the salad. 
 
 65 ff. This is an ideal picture 
 of the cheerful supper with its 
 pleasant details (ipse, the host ; 
 met, the intimate friends ; larem, 
 the sacred hearth ; proprium, at 
 home ; vernas, the old family ser- 
 vants ; procacis, on easy terms 
 with the master ; libatis dapibus, 
 there is enough for all). A simi- 
 
 lar scene is suggested, though with 
 less detail, in Cic. Cat. mat. 14, 46. 
 libatis dapibus : abl. with pasco; 
 the food which the guests have 
 left is enough for the slaves. Cf. 
 Sat. I, 3, 80 f. 
 
 67. Prout . . . libido : 'each 
 guest, according to his own 
 taste. . . .' 
 
 68 ff. inaequalis : defined in 
 the following clauses, seu . . . seu. 
 The etiquette of a formal dinner 
 {legibus insanis) obliged the 
 guests to drink their wine and 
 water mixed in the same propor- 
 tion, without regard to the taste of 
 the individual. capit : holds, car. 
 ries. acria : strong. fortis : 
 strong-headed. uvescit : grows 
 mellow. These are all words of 
 half-specialized meaning, in use as 
 a kind of slang in regard to drink- 
 ing. There is a considerable 
 vocabulary of such words in 
 English, euphemistic and half- 
 humorous. 
 
 70. Ergo : so then, in con- 
 sequence of all that has been 
 said of the character of the 
 gathering. 
 
 229
 
 2, 6, 71] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 sermo oritur, non de villis domibusve alienis, 
 nee male necne Lepos saltet ; sed quod magis ad nos 
 pertinet et nescire malum est agitamus : utrumne 
 divitiis homines an sint virtute beati; 
 
 75 quidve ad amicitias, usus rectumne, trahat nos ; 
 et quae sit natura boni, summumque quid eius. 
 
 Cervius haec inter vicinus garrit anilis 
 ex re fabellas. Si quis nam laudat Arelli 
 sollicitas ignarus opes, sic incipit : ' Olim 
 
 80 rusticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur 
 
 71 f . non de villis : not the en- 
 vious or silly gossip that one may 
 hear at more ambitious city din- 
 ners. Lepos : Charm, the 
 Charmer, a nickname of some 
 dancer on the stage ; a real person, 
 admired by Caesar, the Scholiast 
 says. 
 
 73 ff . nescire malum est : these 
 fundamental doctrines of ethical 
 philosophy cannot be ignored with- 
 out loss and discredit. divitiis . . . 
 an virtute : i.e. whether happiness 
 comes from within, from character, 
 or from external advantages, like 
 wealth. usus rectumne : whether 
 friendship is the result of need and 
 of a sense of its advantages (ttsus) 
 or conies from the attractive power 
 of high character. This is one of 
 the questions on which Epicureans 
 and Stoics held opposite views. 
 It is discussed by Cicero in the de 
 Amicitia. natura boni : the na- 
 ture and essence of the Good and 
 the Highest Good summum 
 bonum the fundamental question 
 
 in all ancient philosophy, of which 
 Cicero wrote in the de Finibits 
 Bonorum et Malorum. 
 
 77 ff. garrit anilis . . . fabel- 
 las : there is a touch of modesty 
 in these words ' he recounts 
 some little story that he had 
 heard from some old woman ' 
 not the tone of contempt that is 
 in ' old-wives' fables,' but enough 
 to disarm criticism. ex re: to 
 the point, connected with the talk, 
 perhaps with the question divitiis 
 an virtnte. Arelli : GreenouglVs 
 note on this is thoroughly Hora- 
 tian : 'so that, after all, human 
 nature was too much for them, and 
 they did talk "de villis domibusve 
 alienis.'" ignarus: not knowing 
 that money brings anxiety {solli- 
 citas). Olim: once upon a time. 
 
 80 ff. The old story of the 
 Town Mouse and the Country 
 Mouse is retold and put into the 
 mouth of a Sabine farmer with a 
 purpose like so much of Horace 
 at once serious and humorous. 
 
 230
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 6, 90 
 
 accepisse cavo, veterem vetus hospes amicum, 
 asper et attentus quaesitis, ut tamen artum 
 solveret hospitiis animum. Quid multa ? neque ille 
 sepositi ciceris nee longae invidit avenae, 
 
 85 aridum et ore ferens acinum semesaque lardi 
 frusta dedit, cupiens varia fastidia cena 
 vincere tangentis male singula dente superbo ; 
 cum pater ipse domus palea porrectus in horna 
 esset ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens. 
 
 90 Tandem urbanus ad hunc : * Quid te iuvat,' inquit, 
 ' amice, 
 
 It enforces in general terms the 
 lesson of Horace's own preference, 
 and it is at the same time an 
 anilis fabella, at which one smiles 
 while he recognizes its underlying 
 truth. The actors are Lilliputian, 
 but their action embodies a large 
 truth. This double purpose is re- 
 flected in the style, which has a 
 kind of old-fashioned formality. 
 The tone is carefully set in the 
 elaborate structure of the first sen- 
 tence ; the four words rusticus . . . 
 mus balance veterem . . . amicum 
 adj.-adj., noun-noun ; nom-acc., 
 acc.-nom ; rusticus-urbanum^mu- 
 rem-mus. This is the manner of 
 the serious teller of an old story, 
 conscious of his moral purpose 
 and not quite conscious of the 
 incongruity between the purpose 
 and the vehicle by which he con- 
 veys the lesson. 
 
 82. asper, attentus : like the 
 ideal Sabine or New England 
 farmer. ut tamen : but yet such 
 
 that he could . . . Ita is com- 
 monly used in this kind of sen- 
 tence. 
 
 83. solveret : to balance artum ; 
 he could relax his closeness. Quid 
 multa : the same phrase is used in 
 Sat. i, 6, 82 and cf. ne te morer, 
 Sat. i, I, 14. 
 
 84. ciceris : the gen. after in- 
 vidit is a Greek construction. 
 sepositi : set aside as too good for 
 ordinary days. The kinds of food 
 peas, oats, seeds, bits of bacon 
 are specified in order to heighten 
 the contrast between the solemn 
 moral tone and the littleness of 
 the actions and objects. 
 
 86. fastidia : the dainty appe- 
 tite. 
 
 87. male : with tangentis ; 
 scarcely touching. 
 
 88. pater . . . domus : the mas- 
 ter of the house ; an intentionally 
 fine phrase. 
 
 89. esset : from edo. ador 
 loliumque : spelt and darnel, sup- 
 
 23*
 
 2, 6, 9 i] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 praerupti nemoris patientem vivere dorso ? 
 Vis tu homines urbemque feris praeponere silvis ? 
 Carpe viam, mihi crede, comes, terrestria quando 
 mortalis animas vivunt sortita, neque ulla est 
 
 95 aut magno aut parvo leti f uga : quo, bone, circa, 
 dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus, 
 vive memor quam sis aevi brevis.' Haec ubi dicta 
 agrestem pepulere, domo levis exsilit ; inde 
 ambo propositum peragunt iter, urbis aventes 
 
 ioo moenia nocturni subrepere. lamque tenebat 
 nox medium caeli spatium, cum ponit uterque 
 in locuplete dbmo vestigia, rubro ubi cocco 
 tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos, 
 
 posedly easy for a mouse to col- 
 lect and therefore standing for 
 ordinary food. 
 
 91 f . These lines drop back 
 into the purely human attitude; 
 to a mouse praerupti, nemoris, 
 dorso are not hardships nor homi- 
 nes urbemque advantages. pati- 
 entem: 'enduring a hard life.' 
 Vis tui: why don't you . . . ? with 
 hortatory effect. [Bentley's note 
 on the difference between vis tu 
 and vin tu is repeated in sub- 
 stance by most editors, with a 
 reference to Sat. I, 9, 69 as a true 
 interrogation. But vin tu . . . 
 oppedere? is not a simple question 
 and Bentley's dictum, though fairly 
 correct for vis tu, is entirely fanci- 
 ful for vin tu, many examples of 
 which in Plaut. and Ter. are paral- 
 lel to his vis tu. The evidence is 
 collected in A. J. P., X, 4 (40), 
 p. 415.] 
 
 93 f . mihi crede : a parenthetic 
 exhortation, to add force to carpe 
 viam. terrestria . . . : the Epi- 
 curean doctrine, put into fine 
 phrases. sortita : the idea of 
 getting by lot is almost lost or re- 
 solved into a vague sense of destiny. 
 
 95. aut magno aut parvo : as 
 commonly used, this means ' even 
 the greatest of us cannot escape ' ; 
 spoken by the mouse, the meaning 
 is comically reversed. : quo . . . 
 circa: an unusual tmesis. 
 
 98. pepulere: struck, influenced 
 his decision. levis : light-heart- 
 edly. 
 
 ioo f. In the epic style ; cf. 
 Sat. i, 5, gf. Cf. also Sat. i, 5, 20 
 for iam tenebat . . . cum. 
 
 102 f. cocco . . . eburnos: the 
 contrast of the red covering with 
 the ivory couch is used also in 
 Catull. 64, 47 ff. in a description 
 of a splendidly furnished palace. 
 
 232
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2,6, ii j 
 
 multaque de magna superessent fercula cena, 
 105 quae procul extructis inerant hesterna canistris. 
 Ergo, ubi purpurea porrectum in veste locavit 
 agrestem, veluti succinctus cursitat hospes 
 continuatque dapes, nee non verniliter ipsis 
 fungitur officiis, praelambens omne quod affert. 
 no Ille Cubans gaudet mutata sorte bonisque 
 
 rebus agit laetum convivam, cum subito ingens 
 valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque. 
 Currere per totum pavidi conclave, magisque 
 exanimes trepidare, simul domus alta Molossis 
 115 personuit canibus. Turn rusticus ' Hand mihi vita 
 
 104 f. fercula : trays, and then 
 the courses served on them. 
 procul : set aside, removed from 
 the table to a sideboard. 
 hesterna : i.e. of the evening 
 before, it being now after mid- 
 night. 
 
 io6ff. All the appointments of 
 the feast are in contrast to the 
 entertainment in the country (vss. 
 83 ff.) and the host hurries about 
 like a slave girt up (succintus) for 
 waiting on the table. continuat : 
 i.e. brings on the courses in quick 
 succession. verniliter : in true 
 servant-fashion ; defined by prae- 
 lambens. He took stealthily a taste 
 of the food before he brought it to 
 his guest again in contrast with 
 the true hospitality of the country 
 mouse, vss. 88 f. 
 
 1 1 o ff . bonis rebus : with agit . . . 
 convivam, not with laetum alone. 
 agit : he plays the joyous guest ; 
 this use of agere is technical 
 
 of actors, e.g. egit in the Didas- 
 caliae to the plays of Terence. 
 strepitus: made by the ser- 
 vants coming in the early morn- 
 ing to put the dining-room in 
 order. excussit : a very graphic 
 word. 
 
 113 f. Currere : the name which 
 Lane gives to this, the infinitive 
 of intimation, is here very apt, 
 while the ordinary name, histori- 
 cal infinitive, is particularly inap- 
 propriate. trepidare : often used 
 in connection with cursare, dis- 
 cursu, concursare, as here with 
 currere, of aimless and terrified 
 running about. simul : when. 
 Molossis : large hounds kept as 
 watch-dogs. 
 
 iiSff. Haud . . . est: 'I do 
 not care for such a life as this. 1 
 For this slightly weakened collo- 
 quial sense of opus est cf. Sat. i ; 
 9, 27 and the common phrase 
 nil moror. It appears to be 
 
 2 33
 
 a, 6, 116] HORAT1 
 
 est opus hac,' ait, 'et valeas; me silva cavusque 
 tutus ab insidiis tenui solabitur ervo.' 
 
 most marked in negative sentences. solabitur : i.e. for the loss 
 of the splendors of a city life. 
 
 The precise date of this satire cannot be fixed. The allusion in vs. 
 23 may be either to Sat. 2, 2 or to the second half of Sat. 2, 6, and vs. 
 28, Romae rus optas, may also refer to Sat. 2, 6, 59 ff. These indica- 
 tions point in a general way to a late date. 
 
 The form is the characteristic form of this book, which is used also 
 in Satires 3, 4, and 8. The main body of the satire is a discourse 
 addressed to Horace himself, which is introduced and then brought to 
 a close by bits of dialogue suited to the subject and to speaker and 
 listener. The resemblance to the third satire is particularly close : 
 both are on the feast of the Saturnalia, in both Horace is interrupted 
 by the intrusion of the speaker and in turn interrupts the speaker before 
 the main discourse is reached (3, 26 and 31 ; 7, 21 f.), and both close 
 with an outbreak of anger on Horace's part. 
 
 In substance also this satire is much like the third. That is a dis- 
 course upon the Stoic Paradox that all men except the philosopher are 
 insane ; this has for its text the other Paradox that all men but the 
 philosopher are slaves, OTI yu-ovos 6 <ro<os eAev'flepos, KCU Tras a<f>p(av 
 SovAos. This is the subject of Cicero's Parad. V. and Horace follows 
 in part the same line of reasoning, using in vss. 89 ff. the illustration 
 of the lover enslaved by a woman and in vss. 95 ff. the illustration of 
 the infatuated admirer of works of art, almost precisely as they are 
 used by Cicero. As in the third satire the preacher upon the insanity 
 of men is the half-crazy Damasippus, so here the person who discourses 
 upon the slavery of men is Horace's own slave, Davus, and as Dama- 
 sippus gets his wisdom from Stertinius (and Catius, in the fourth satire, 
 from an unnamed auctor), so in this satire, with a clever parody, Davus 
 has learned his philosophy from the door-keeper of the philosopher 
 Crispinus. The form of Stoic discourse is less distinctly parodied than 
 in Sat. 3, perhaps only in vs. 83, and it is evident that Horace was less 
 inclined to burlesque this Paradox than he had been to flout the doc- 
 trine that all men are insane. The truth that men are the slaves of 
 their follies and vices is so familiar to us, that we are, in fact, obliged 
 
 234
 
 SERMONES [2, 7, 6 
 
 to remind ourselves that slavery was an ever-present reality in the Roman 
 world, in order to understand how the doctrine could have been called 
 a paradox at all. This satire is, therefore, even more than the third, 
 and more, indeed, than any other in the Second Book, a direct attack 
 upon the follies of mankind. But the sharpness which shows itself in 
 some of the satires of the First Book is entirely avoided by the humorous 
 expedient of representing the satire as directed against Horace himself, 
 as in the close of the third. That Horace is not drawing a picture of 
 himself, however, is plain from such passages as vs. 53, vss. 89 ff., 102 
 ff., no f. ; the faults there attacked are not those to which Horace was 
 prone. But there is enough caricature of himself (vss. 23 ff., 29 ff.) to 
 add a pleasant humor to the whole. It must be said also that there is 
 some return to the intentional coarseness of Sat. I, 2. 
 
 Davus. lamdudum ausculto, et cupiens tibi dicere servus 
 pauca, reformido. Horat. Davusne ? D. Ita, Davus, 
 
 amicum 
 
 mancipium domino et frugi, quod sit satis, hoc est, 
 ut vitale putes. H. Age, libertate Decembri, 
 5 quando ita maiores voluerunt, utere ; narra. 
 
 D. Pars hominum vitiis gaudet constanter et urget 
 
 1. ausculto : the slave has lis- to goodness ; ' honest, or at least 
 tened at the door to see whether honest enough.' 
 
 Horace has a caller with him; 4. vitale: cf. Sat. 2, i, 60 f., ut 
 
 finding that his master is alone, sis -vitalis mettto] he is good, but 
 
 he ventures to speak. The hesi- not so good as to be in danger of 
 
 tation and humility {servus) of the dying young. Decembri: at the 
 
 first words are meant to contrast feast of the Saturnalia slaves were 
 
 with his boldness later. given a considerable liberty of 
 
 2. Davusne : Horace is preoc- speech and action, in memory of 
 cupied and only half recognizes the Golden Age when there were 
 the slave's voice. The name is a no masters and no slaves, 
 traditional name for a slave. 5. narra: speak; this is the 
 
 3. frugi: the ordinary adjec- early meaning, not tell, narrate. 
 tive in comedy for a good slave, 6-20. ' Men are not governed 
 as nequam is the adjective for the by reason even in their vices, 
 opposite. quod sit satis : a hu- Priscus swings from one extreme 
 morous modification of the claim to the other, as if he were the very 
 
 235
 
 2. 7. 7] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 propositum ; pars multa natat, modo recta capessens, 
 interdum pravis obnoxia. Saepe notatus 
 cum tribus anellis, modo laeva Priscus inani, 
 vixit inaequalis, clavum ut mutaret in horas, 
 aedibus ex magnis subito se conderet, unde 
 mundior exiret vix libertinus honeste ; 
 iam moechus Romae, iam mallet doctus Athenis 
 vivere, Vertumnis quotquot sunt natus iniquis. 
 Scurra Volanerius, postquam illi iusta cheragra 
 contudit articulos, qui pro se tolleret atque 
 mitteret in phimum talos, mercede diurna 
 conductum pavit ; quanto constantior isdem 
 in vitiis, tanto levius miser ac prior illo, 
 
 god of change himself, while Vola- 
 nerius hangs on to his follies with 
 as much determination as if they 
 were virtues.' 
 
 7. propositum : cf. iustum et 
 tenacem propositi virum, Carm. 3, 
 3, I . natat : figurative of hesita- 
 tion and uncertainty ; float, drift, 
 
 8. obnoxia : submissive to, agree- 
 ing with pars. 
 
 g. tribus: one ring was usual, 
 two were conspicuous, three would 
 be effeminate. laeva . . . inani: 
 i.e. without any ring, as they were 
 worn only on the left hand. 
 
 10. inaequalis: cf. nil aequale 
 homini fiiit illi, in the description 
 of Tigellius at the beginning of 
 Sat. I, 3. clavum: he changed 
 within an hour from the broad 
 stripe of the senator to the narrow 
 stripe of a knight. 
 
 12. mundior: more respectable, 
 
 a freedman of self-respecting hab- 
 its. honeste : decently. But the 
 contrast is between the refine- 
 ments of his palace and the dirt 
 and squalor of a hut obsoleti sor- 
 dibus tecti, Carm. 2, 10, 6. 
 
 13. doctus Athenis : like Cicero's 
 friend, T. Pomponius Atticus. 
 
 14. Vertumnis: the god of the 
 changing year and so of all change. 
 quotquot sunt : a colloquialism, 
 a little more emphatic than omni- 
 bus. natus iniquis: tf.Sat. I, 5, 
 97 f. ; 2, 3, 8. 
 
 15. Volanerius : unknown. 
 iusta : deserved by his habits. 
 
 17. in phimum talos: put the 
 dice into the box. diurna : he 
 was too poor to own a slave, but 
 hired a man by the day. 
 
 18. pavit: from fiasco; kept. 
 
 19. levius: equal to minus', cf. 
 vs. 78. 
 
 236
 
 SERMONES [2, 7, 34 
 
 20 qui iam contento, iam laxo fune laborat. 
 
 H. Non dices hodie quorsum haec tam putida tendant, 
 furcifer? D. Ad te, inquam. H. Quo pacto, pessime? 
 
 D. Laudas 
 
 fortunam et mores antiquae plebis, et idem, 
 si quis ad ilia deus subito te agat, usque recuses, 
 
 25 aut quia non sends, quod clamas, rectius esse, 
 aut quia non firmus rectum defendis, et haeres 
 nequiquam caeno cupiens evellere plantam. 
 Romae rus optas; absentem rusticus urbem 
 tollis ad astra levis. Si nusquam es forte vocatus 
 
 30 ad cenam, laudas securum olus, ac, velut usquam 
 vinctus eas, ita te felicem dicis amasque 
 quod nusquam tibi sit potandum. lusserit ad se 
 Maecenas serum sub lumina prima venire 
 convivam : ' Nemon' oleum fert ocius ? Ecquis 
 
 20. contento, laxo : the sense of 30! securum olus : the 'dinner 
 this figure is plain, but the precise of herbs where love is.' usquam : 
 comparison is not clear. i.e. ' as if you never went out 
 
 21. hodie: in the weakened col- anywhere except on compulsion 
 loquial sense, as often in comedy ; (l/tattus).' 1 amas: the nearest 
 ' aren't you ever going to tell English phrase is ' you hug your- 
 me . . . ?' There is no reference self; cf. Sat. I, 2, 54. 
 
 to the Saturnalia. 33. serum : the invitation comes 
 
 24. ilia: the old ways. deus so late that Horace had already 
 
 subito: as in Sat. I, i, I5ff., a god himself invited some unimportant 
 
 is represented as suddenly fulfilling guests, whom he is represented as 
 
 wishes that were not sincere. abandoning in order to accept the 
 
 28. absentem : not often used, invitation of Maecenas. 
 
 a$ here, of .things. 34. Nemon', Ecquis : these are 
 
 29. levis: fickle. This is the colloquial forms of question used 
 point of the criticism ; the accu- in Plautus and Terence with im- 
 sation of affectation (vs. 25) is perative force; ' won't some one 
 aside from the main course of bring the oil ? Won't some one 
 thought. listen?' 
 
 237
 
 2, 7, 35] HORATI 
 
 35 audit ? ' cum magno blateras clamore fugisque. 
 Mulvius et scurrae, tibi non referenda precati, 
 discedunt. ' Etenim fateor me,' dixerit ille, 
 ' duci ventre levem, nasum nidore supinor, 
 imbecillus, iners, si quid vis, adde, popino. 
 
 40 Tu, cum sis quod ego et fortassis nequior, ultro 
 insectere velut melior, verbisque decoris 
 obvolvas vitium ? ' Quid, si me stultior ipso 
 quingentis empto drachmis deprenderis ? Aufer 
 me voltu terrere ; manum stomachumque teneto, 
 
 45 dum quae Crispini docuit me ianitor edo. 
 
 Te coniunx aliena capit, meretricula Davum. 
 Peccat uter nostrum cruce dignius ? Acris ubi me 
 natura intendit, sub clara nuda lucerna 
 quaecumque excepit turgentis verbera caudae, 
 
 50 clunibus aut agitavit equum lasciva supinum, 
 dimittet neque famosum neque sollicitum ne 
 ditior aut formae melioris meiat eodem. 
 Tu cum proiectis insignibus, anulo equestri 
 
 35. fugis: and off you go. point; 'you are proved to be a 
 
 36. non referenda: things that worse fool than I, and I am a cheap 
 I must not repeat. precati: cf. slave, too.' aufer: like noli; cf. 
 Sat. 2, 6, 30, iratis precibus. mitte sectary Carm. i, 38, 3. 
 
 37. ille : Mulvius. 44. manum : as if Horace, an- 
 39. si quid vis: if you choose. noyed by vs. 42 f., had started up 
 
 popino : a haunter of cheap tav- to strike the slave. 
 
 erns. 45. Crispini: ; ( Sat.i, i, 120, 
 
 40 f. Tu . . . insectere: arepu- note. The absurdity of quoting 
 
 dialing question or exclamation. him to Horace as an authority is 
 
 verbis decoris : with fine words heightened by the fact that the 
 
 about his obligations to Maecenas, wisdom had trickled down to 
 
 when in fact he is, Mulvius implies, Davus through the philosopher's 
 
 going simply to get a good dinner. door-keeper. 
 
 42 f. me: Davus. quingentis: 53. insignibus: especially the 
 
 a rather low price, to emphasize the tunic with the narrow purple stripe. 
 
 238
 
 SERMONES 
 
 Romanoque habitu, prodis ex iudice Dama 
 55 turpis, odoratum caput obscurante lacerna, 
 
 non es quod simulas ? Metuens induceris, atque 
 altercante libidinibus tremis ossa pavore. 
 Quid refert, uri virgis ferroque necari 
 auctoratus eas, an turpi clausus in area, 
 60 quo te demisit peccati conscia erilis, 
 
 contractum genibus tangas caput ? Estne marito 
 matronae peccantis in ambo iusta potestas ? 
 In corruptorem vel iustior. Ilia tamen se 
 non habitu mutatve loco peccatve superne, 
 65 cum te formidet mulier neque credat amantt. 
 Ibis sub furcam prudens, dominoque furenti 
 committes rem omnem et vitam et cum corpora famam. 
 Evasti : credo metues doctusque cavebis : 
 quaeres quando iterum paveas, iterumque perire 
 
 anulo : the gold ring which was 
 one of the signs of equestrian rank. 
 
 equestri : there is no other pas- 
 sage in Horace which suggests 
 that he was an eques, and such a 
 supposition is quite inconsistent 
 with the tenor of Sat. i, 6. The 
 reference is general and. /// is the 
 imaginary person to whom Horace 
 so frequently addresses his re- 
 marks ; the Davus-Crispinus ma- 
 chinery is for the moment ignored. 
 
 54 f. prodis : i.e. ' when you 
 come out, you are no longer a citi- 
 zen of good standing (index), but 
 a miserable slave.' Cf. Sat. 2, 5, 
 1 8, spur co Damae. lacerna: a 
 coarse cloak with a hood for con- 
 cealing the face. 
 
 59. auctoratus : bound over, as 
 a gladiator was. 
 
 60. conscia : cf. Sat. I, 2, 
 
 ISO- 
 ex f. Estne : with the force ot 
 nonne, as often in comedy. iusta 
 potestas : this leads directly toward 
 the point, that in such a case the 
 man is no more than a slave. 
 
 66. sub furcam : a common 
 punishment for a slave ; his wrists 
 were bound to the ends of a forked 
 beam, which rested upon his neck. 
 68 f . Evasti : i.e. ' suppose you 
 have got off once safely.' quae- 
 res : an adversative conjunction 
 would be used, if the thought were 
 fully expressed ; ' on the contrary, 
 you will seek.' 
 
 239
 
 2, 7. ?oj HORATI 
 
 70 possis, o totiens servus ! Quae belua ruptis, 
 cum semel effugit, reddit se prava catenis ? 
 ' Non sum moechus,' ais. Neque ego, hercule, fur, ubi 
 
 vasa 
 
 praetereo sapiens argentea. Tolle periclum, 
 iam vaga prosiliet frenis natura remotis. 
 
 75 Tune mihi dominus, rerum imperils hominumque 
 tot tantisque minor, quern ter vindicta quaterque 
 imposita baud umquam misera f ormidine privet ? 
 Adde super, dictis quod non levius valeat : nam, 
 sive vicarius est qui servo paret, uti mos 
 
 80 vester ait, seu conservus, tibi quid sum ego ? Nempe 
 tu, mihi qui imperitas, alii servis miser, atque 
 duceris, ut nervis alienis mobile lignum. 
 
 Quisnam igitur liber? Sapiens, sibi qui imperiosus, 
 quern neque pauperies, neque mors, neque vincula ter- 
 rent, 
 
 70. totiens servus: this, ap- may be himself the owner of a 
 
 preaches still nearer to the point slave and they are then simply 
 
 of the argument. Cf. iusta potes- fellow-slaves, like you and me. 1 
 
 tas, vs. 62. vicarius: a slave bought or hired 
 
 75 f. Tune mihi : repudiating by another slave to do his work 
 
 exclamation. imperils : abl. after for him. servis: the verb. 
 
 minor; 'subject to so many and nervis: puppets were made of 
 
 so severe commands.' vindicta: wood and jointed so that their 
 
 the rod which the lictor laid upon arms and legs could be moved by 
 
 (imposita) the slave in going strings. alienis: controlled by 
 
 through the old ceremony of man- another person, 
 
 umission. 83. Quisnam : the Stoic form 
 
 77. privet : deliver, set free. of argument, by brief questions 
 
 78-82. 'And there is another and answers. Sapiens : the Stoic 
 
 argument, not less forcible than philosopher. 
 
 these. For the fact that you are 85. responsare: defy; cf. Sat. 
 
 my master proves nothing ; accord- 2, 4, 18. The infin. depends upon 
 
 ing to your own customs a slave fortis. 
 
 240
 
 SERMONES , 7, 101 
 
 85 responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores 
 fortis, et in se ipso totus, teres atque rotundus, 
 externi ne quid valeat per leve morari, 
 in quern manca ruit semper fortuna. Potesne 
 ex his ut proprium quid noscere? Quinque talenta 
 
 yo poscit te mulier, vexat foribusque repulsum 
 perfundit gelida, rursus vocat : eripe turpi 
 colla iugo. 'Liber, liber sum,' die age! Non quis; 
 urget enim dominus mentem non lenis, et acris 
 subiectat lasso stimulos, versatque negantum. 
 
 95 Vel cum Pausiaca torpes, insane, tabella, 
 
 qui peccas minus atque ego, cum Fulvi Rutubaeque 
 aut Pacideiani contento poplite miror 
 proelia rubrica picta aut carbone, velut si 
 re vera pugnent, feriant, vitentque moventes 
 
 ioo arma viri ? Nequam et cessator Davus ; at ipse 
 subtilis veterum iudex et callidus audis. 
 
 86 f. in se ipso: with totus is traditional; cf. Ter. Eun. 46- 
 
 only ; self-contained, independent 49. 
 
 of all else. The phrase is usually 94. stimulos, versat : as a rider 
 
 quoted wrongly, as if totus by itself subdues a horse by wearying 
 
 were an adjective like teres. ex- him. 
 
 terni . . . morari : ' so that nothing 95 . Pausiaca : a picture by the 
 
 foreign may be able to rest upon famous Greek painter Pausias of 
 
 (morari) its smooth surface the fourth century. torpes : cf. 
 
 (leve)." 1 stupet,Sat. i, 4, 28, of unbounded 
 
 88. manca : powerless. admiration for works of art. 
 
 89. ex his : of the qualities just 96. Fulvi : names of gladiators, 
 mentioned. The answer to the whose performance was advertised 
 question is given in the following by pictures in black and red 
 lines ; he cannot be sibi imperi- drawn on the walls. 
 
 osus who is infatuated with a ioo. cessator: i.e. 'you blame 
 woman or a picture. me for having stopped to look at 
 
 91. rursus vocat: cf. Sat. 2, 3, the posters when you had sent 
 260 ff. The picture of the lover me on an errand.' 
 HOR. SAT. 16 241
 
 2, 7, 102] HORATI 
 
 Nil ego, si ducor libo fumante : tibi ingens 
 virtus atque animus cenis responsat opimis ? 
 Obsequium ventris mihi perniciosius est cur ? 
 
 105 Tergo plector enim. Qui tu impunitior ilia, 
 quae parvo sumi nequeunt, obsonia captas ? 
 Nempe inamarescunt epulae sine fine petitae, 
 illusique pedes vitiosum ferre recusant 
 corpus. An hie peccat, sub noctem qui puer uvam 
 
 1 10 furtiva mutat strigili ; qui praedia vendit, 
 
 nil servile, gulae parens, habet? Adde, quod idem 
 non horam tecum esse potes, non otia recte 
 ponere, teque ipsum vitas, fugitivus et erro, 
 iam vino quaerens, iam somno fallere curam : 
 
 115 frustra: nam comes atra premit sequiturque fugacem. 
 H. Vnde mihi lapidem ? D. Quorsum est opus ? 
 
 H. Vnde sagittas ? 
 
 D. Aut insanit homo, aut versus facit. H. Ocius hinc te 
 ni rapis, accedes opera agro nona Sabino ! 
 
 102. Nil ego: sc. sum. libo: satire, seem to be a condensation 
 
 pancake. of Lucr. 3, 1053-1070. 
 
 105 f. plector enim: *I get a 116. lapidem: of Sat. 2, 3, 
 
 thrashing, to be sure, but that 128 f., where a master throws 
 
 proves nothing, for you suffer stones at his slaves. sagittas : 
 
 worse penalties.' these unusual weapons of attack 
 
 107. inamarescunt: turn sour. are named in order to give an 
 
 sine fine : with petitae. opening for the final remark of 
 
 no. mutat: 'gets a bunch of Da vus, -versus facit', that is, unde 
 
 grapes in exchange for a scraper sagittas f sounds as if it might be 
 
 that he has stolen. 1 taken from a play. 
 
 in. nil servile . . . habet: has 118. opera . . . nona: 'You 
 
 nothing of the slave about him. shall be the ninth slave.' The 
 
 parens : with the subject of vendit. threat to send a slave from the 
 
 111-115. These lines, which are city to the harder work of the 
 
 rather more serious and penetrat- farm is frequent in comedy, 
 ing than any other part of the 
 
 242
 
 SERMONES 
 
 8 
 
 Nothing in this satire fixes the date of composition. It can only 
 be said that it was written between 35 and 30 B.C., and that in subject 
 and general treatment it is like the other satires of this book. 
 
 In form it most closely resembles Sat. 2, 4 ; the main part of it is 
 an account of certain sayings and doings related by another person, to 
 Horace at his request, with a brief introductory dialogue. The sub- 
 ject-matter connects it both with Sat. 2, 2, as a contrast to simple 
 living, and with 2, 4, as a satire in a different vein upon the serious- 
 minded epicure. 
 
 The main body of it is a description of a dinner, given in much 
 detail. The names of the guests are mentioned and their places at the 
 table and there are elaborate descriptions of the food and cookery. 
 After the dinner had advanced a little and the host had shown a dis- 
 position to brag of his food and wines, some of the guests proposed 
 heavy drinking. The host turned their attention again to the food, but 
 while he was describing one of the dishes, a canopy over the table fell 
 and covered the whole company with dust. The host at this mishap 
 burst into tears and was with difficulty induced by the encouragements 
 of some of his guests, which he did not perceive to be ironical, to pro- 
 ceed with the feast. When he did go on, he continued to talk so much 
 about the food, that the guests, in revenge, declined to eat it. The 
 satire ends abruptly, without the concluding dialogue or comment which 
 is generally found in the satires of this book. 
 
 This is not a description of some actual dinner at the house of an 
 individual who might be identified. All attempts to connect the host, 
 Nasidienus Rufus, with some person known to us, for example, with 
 Salvidienus Rufus, fail in details and are mistaken in their purpose. 
 It is quite inconceivable that Horace should have made public the 
 story of such a dinner, at which Maecenas and Varius were guests, 
 and should have represented a well-known man like Fundanius as 
 guilty of the extreme discourtesy of ridiculing the host whose invita- 
 tion he had accepted. To readers of Horace's time the mere fact that 
 the story is told by Fundanius, the writer of humorous plays, would at 
 once have given the clew to the burlesque character of the whole. It 
 is no more to be taken as serious narrative than the legal consultation 
 in Sat. 2, I, the discourse of Ofellus in 2, 2, the sermon of Damasippus 
 in 2, 3, or in fact any satire of this book except the earlier half of the 
 sixth.
 
 2, 8, i] HORATI 
 
 But though the setting and the details are pure burlesque, there is 
 a certain amount of serious purpose underneath, as in Sat. 2, 3, for 
 example, where the Stoic is burlesqued, but the follies of mankind are 
 also satirized. The host at the banquet, who is here ridiculed on his 
 lighter side, is a type of the same man who ; s attacked with savage 
 directness in Epod. 4, the man of low station and no culture, whose 
 suddenly acquired wealth has not changed his nature. He is repre- 
 sented here as an aspiring epicure, proud of his knowledge of the art 
 of cookery and seeking to advance his acquaintance with Maecenas by 
 giving him a particularly fine dinner. But the ridicule is directed quite 
 as much, perhaps even more, against the absurd solemnities of the 
 epicure. There are passages (vss. 6 ff., 43 fF., especially 85 ff.) which 
 are indistinguishable in tone and manner from parts of Sat. 2, 4, and 
 which have no point at all unless we understand them as we do that 
 satire, as ironical parodies of the precepts of fine cookery. 
 
 This is not one of the best of the satires. The humor is not always 
 in good taste ; there is too close an approach to horse-play and, though 
 Maecenas and the literary men are kept in the background, with the 
 evident purpose of guarding their dignity, the rest of-the guests are not 
 superior in good-breeding to the host whom they ridicule. The scene 
 is, with some differences, not unlike the supper described in Sat. i, 5, 
 51 fF. and, in general, this satire has many of the characteristics, both 
 positive and negative, of Sat. I, 5. The explanation is that Horace is 
 here also, as in I, 5, following a satire of Lucilius (Charis. in Gr. Lat. 
 p. loo K., Lucilius . . . deridens rusticam cenam ; the fragments are 
 in Marx. 193 fF.), doubtless improving upon the form, but hampered by 
 his model. The grave and sustained irony of Sat. 2, 4, when no Lu- 
 cilian influence is discernible, is much superior to this. 
 
 Horatius. Vt Nasidieni iuvit te cena beati ? 
 Nam mihi quaerenti convivam dictus heri illic 
 
 i. Vt . . . iuvit te : change tion, intentionally used in the first 
 
 the construction in translating; line. beati: rich, the million- 
 
 4 how did you enjoy yourself at aire, with a touch of irony. 
 
 the dinner of ? ' Nasidieni : 2. quaerenti convivam : sc. te ; 
 
 in four syllables, the second * be- ' when I tried to get you to come 
 
 ing consonantal and lengthening and dine with me.' dictus: sc. 
 
 the preceding syllable ; this is es ; the omission is not at all in- 
 
 probably a plebeian pronuncia- frequent in colloquial Latin, as in 
 
 244
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 8, 8 
 
 de medio potare die. Fundanius. Sic, ut mihi num- 
 
 quam 
 
 in vita fuerit melius. Hor, Da, si grave non est, 
 quae prima iratura ventrem placaverit esca. 
 Fund. In primis Lucanus aper leni fuit Austro 
 captus, ut aiebat cenae pater ; acria circum 
 rapula, lactucae, radices, qualia lassum 
 
 comedy. heri : the pronuncia- 
 tion of the last letter was so 
 indistinct that the word was writ- 
 ten sometimes fieri, sometimes 
 here. 
 
 3. de medio die : the dinner be- 
 gan before the usual hour, which 
 was three o'clock or later, as it 
 was to be a formal affair. The 
 Roman custom in this respect 
 was the opposite of ours. 
 
 4. fuerit melius : mihi bene est, 
 'I am enjoying myself,' is a com- 
 mon colloquialism ; cf. Sat. 2, 2, 
 120. 
 
 5. iratum ventrem : cf. latran- 
 tem stomachum, Sat. 2, 2, 18. The 
 question is ironical, as if the object 
 of a formal dinner was to satisfy 
 a natural hunger. 
 
 6-9. Our knowledge of Roman 
 dinner customs is imperfect, the 
 fashions changed from time to 
 time, and this description is meant 
 to be only a series of allusions. 
 It is therefore quite impossible to 
 arrange the menu or even to de- 
 cide whether this course consti- 
 tuted \hegustatio (promulsis) ; the 
 relishes served with the boar would 
 indicate that it did ; the fact that 
 
 no drink (mulsum) is mentioned 
 would, however, be a strange 
 omission. 
 
 6 f. leni . . . Austro captus : not 
 predicate with fuit ; ' one of the 
 first things was a Lucanian boar, 
 killed, as the host said, when a 
 mild southerly wind was blowing.' 
 The Lucanian boar was especially 
 prized and the state of the weather 
 at the time the animal was killed 
 was supposed to affect the flavor 
 of the meat ; cf. Sat. 2, 2, 32 ff. 
 and the modern superstitions 
 about the 'dark of the moon.' 
 cenae pater : he is called also erus 
 (vss. 16, 43), ipse (23), parochus 
 (36), and convivator (73), as well 
 as Nasidienus (i, 75, 84) and 
 Rufus (58). 
 
 7 f. acria: introducing the 
 whole list and repeated in qualia 
 . . . stomachum. The relishes 
 are only partly in use now nor is 
 the precise identification of them 
 at all important : ' rape, lettuce, 
 radishes, skirret, fish-pickle, and 
 burnt tartar from Coan wine.' 
 These were arranged around (cir- 
 cum) the boar, perhaps on the 
 same platter. 
 
 245
 
 2, 8, 9 ] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 pervellunt stomachum, siser, allec, faecula Coa. 
 His ubi sublatis puer alte cinctus acernam 
 gausape purpureo mensam pertersit et alter 
 sublegit quodcumque iaceret inutile quodque 
 posset cenantis offendere, ut Attica virgo 
 cum sacris Cereris procedit fuscus Hydaspes 
 Caecuba vina ferens, Alcon Chium maris expers. 
 
 10. ubi: introduces pertersit 
 et sublegit ; ' when these had been 
 removed and after a slave had 
 wiped . . .' alte cinctus : the 
 same as s^^cc^nctus, 2, 6, 107 ; the 
 slave was in the proper dress for 
 waiting at the table. acernam: 
 maple, one of the more valuable 
 woods for dining-tables ; as one 
 might speak of * the mahogany 
 table, 1 not as a rarity, but as the 
 'proper thing.' 
 
 n. gausape purpureo: abl. ; 
 this was a bit of unnecessary dis- 
 play. Lucilius, in a corresponding 
 passage (Marx, 568), has pur- 
 pureo tersit tune latas gausape 
 mensas. 
 
 12. sublegit: this is mentioned 
 merely as a part of the ordinary 
 table service in order to prepare 
 for the formality of the next event ; 
 'a slave in proper dress wiped the 
 table with a purple cloth, to be 
 sure and the crumbs were gath- 
 ered up, when in came . . .' 
 
 13 f. ut: with virgo; 'like a 
 girl at Athens in a religious pro- 
 cession. 1 The Kavr]<j>6pos (cf. 
 Sat. 1,3, 10 f.) carried the sacred 
 symbols in a basket on her head 
 
 and walked with slow step and 
 upright carriage. Hydaspes : an 
 Eastern slave-boy, named after 
 the river of his native land. 
 
 15 f. Alcon: another slave. 
 The fact that his name is given 
 would seem to indicate that there 
 was some point in it, as in Hydas- 
 pes, but we do not know what it 
 was. Caecuba : one of the best 
 of the Italian wines, as were also 
 the Alban, in the time of Horace, 
 and Falernian. The Chian was a 
 fine Greek wine, with which sea- 
 water was sometimes sparingly 
 mixed to give it a tang. Horace 
 frequently mentions these and 
 other special kinds of wine, con- 
 trasting them with the ordinary 
 Sabine wine, as we might contrast 
 special French or German wines 
 with Californian claret, but he does 
 not make sharp distinctions be- 
 tween them. The preference for 
 Caecuban came later, when the 
 vineyards were dying out and the 
 wine was becoming rare. The 
 many attempts of commentators 
 to find hidden meanings in these 
 lines are all misleading. The 
 slaves brought in the best of wine, 
 
 246
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 8, 20 
 
 20 
 
 Hie erus : ' Albanum, Maecenas, sive Falernum 
 te magis appositis delectat, habemus utrumque.' 
 Hor. Divitias miseras ! Sed quis cenantibus una, 
 Fundani, pulchre f uerit tibi, nosse laboro. 
 Fund. Summus ego, et prope me Viscus Thurinus, et 
 infra, 
 
 with a trifle more ceremony than 
 was necessary, and the host, also 
 with unnecessary display, said ' if 
 you prefer, I can give you some 
 Alban or Falernian.' The wines 
 are all right, the very best, 
 but why such a fuss about them ? 
 maris expers: i.e. not mixed 
 with sea- water. This was a proper, 
 if less usual, way of serving Chian 
 wine,, but it might have been left 
 to the guests to discover it, instead 
 of making a formal announcement, 
 as it is implied that the slave did. 
 1 8 f. Divitias miseras : ' oh, the 
 curse of being so rich ! ' or perhaps 
 like saying, ' oh, poor millionaire ! ' 
 This exclamation interprets to us 
 the point of the preceding lines. 
 The unfortunate host thinks that 
 the wines and cookery which his 
 money can buy are the things that 
 make a successful dinner. But 
 Horace goes to the root of the mat- 
 ter by asking who the other guests 
 were. quis : quibus^ interroga- 
 tive. The English structure would 
 make cenantibus the leading verb : 
 'but who were dining there with 
 you, that you should have such a 
 good time ? That's what I want 
 to know.' 
 
 20 ft. The guests reclined on 
 couches on three sides of the 
 table. The arrangement can be 
 understood from the following 
 diagram : 
 
 i. Fundanius; 2. Viscus; 3. Varius; 
 4. Servilius Balatro; 5. Vibidius; 6. Mae- 
 cenas; 7. Nomentanus; 8. Nasidienus Ru- 
 fus; 9. Porcius. 
 
 20. Summus : the three places 
 numbered i, 4, and 7 were the 
 summi loci, in position, not in 
 honor, and infra and super refer 
 to this designation. Viscus : one 
 of the brothers mentioned in Sat. 
 i, 10, 83, here distinguished by 
 the addition of Thurinus. 
 
 247
 
 2, 8, 21] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 si memini, Varius ; cum Servilio Balatrone 
 Vibidius, quas Maecenas adduxerat umbras ; 
 Nomentanus erat super ipsum, Porcius infra, 
 ridiculus totas simul absorbere placentas ; 
 25 Nomentanus ad hoc, qui, si quid forte lateret, 
 indice monstraret digito : nam cetera turba, 
 nos, inquam, cenamus avis, conchylia, piscis, 
 longe dissimilem noto celantia sucum, 
 ut vel continue patuit, cum passeris atque 
 
 21. Varius: cf. Sat. i, 5, 40; 
 I, 10, 44. and often; one of 
 Horace's and Vergil's closest 
 friends. There is probably some 
 little joke in si memini. 
 
 22. Maecenas : he was in the 
 place of honor, the locus consu- 
 lar is, numbered 6 in the diagram. 
 umbras : persons whom the 
 chief guest might bring with him, 
 without special invitation from 
 the host. So Horace, inviting a 
 friend, says (Epist. i, 5, 28), locus 
 est et pluribus umbris. Men who 
 came in such a way would ordina- 
 rily be of lower rank, and Servilius 
 and Vibidius were evidently scur- 
 rae (see note on Sat. 2, 3, 229), 
 who were expected to furnish 
 entertainment for the others. In 
 fact all the conversation reported 
 (vss. 34, 65 ff., 80 ff.) comes from 
 them or from the host and his 
 own scurrae. 
 
 23. Nomentanus, Porcius : two 
 parasites of the host. Nomen- 
 tanus is not the spendthrift men- 
 tioned in other satires (i, i, 102; 
 i, 8, ii ; 2, i, 22; 2, 3, 175, 224). 
 
 The name Porcius is coined from 
 par cus ; cf. the next verse. super 
 ipsum : i.e. Nasidienus had given 
 the host's place (no. 7) to his 
 more fluent parasite, for the reason 
 given in vs. 25. 
 
 24. totas simul : all at once. 
 Various kinds of buffoonery like 
 this are alluded to in Plautus as 
 practiced by parasites. 
 
 25 f. ad hoc: also in Sat. 2, i, 
 36, to introduce a clause of pui- 
 pose. lateret : pass unnoticed by 
 the guests. indice digito : i.e. 
 he should not only speak of it, 
 but also point to it. cetera turba : 
 the instruction was obviously given 
 to Maecenas and the others were a 
 mere turba, left for the most part 
 uninstructed as to the nature of 
 the food before them. 
 
 27. inquam: not strengthen- 
 ing the previous statement, but 
 explaining it ; we, f mean. 
 
 28 ff. celantia : neut., agreeing 
 with the three nouns of different 
 gender. noto : sc. suco ; dat. 
 after dissimilem. vel : in fact. 
 passeris : flat-fish ; the name 
 
 248
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 8, 36 
 
 30 ingustata mihi porrexerat ilia rhombi. 
 
 Post hoc me docuit melimela rubere minorem 
 ad lunam delecta. Quid hoc intersit, ab ipso 
 audieris melius. Turn Vibidius Balatroni, 
 ' Nos nisi damnose bibimus, moriemur inulti ; 
 
 35 et calices poscit maiores. Vertere pallor 
 
 turn parochi faciem, nil sic metuentis ut acris 
 
 of a bird transferred to a fish, as 
 in 'sea-robin. 1 ingustata: ap- 
 parently found only here; it can 
 mean either itntasted, i.e. ' which 
 I did not taste, 1 or untasted hith- 
 erto, ' of such a flavor as I had 
 never known before. 1 prorrex- 
 erat : the subject is Nasidienus. 
 ilia : the roe. The sense is : 
 'Nomentanus explained the excel- 
 lence of the dishes to Maecenas 
 only, for the rest of us were of no 
 importance (turbo) and ate all 
 sorts of things without knowing 
 what was fish, flesh, or fowl ; for 
 the ordinary taste was covered up 
 by some extraordinary sauce. I 
 in fact made a mistake at the out- 
 set by failing to recognize some 
 fish-roe which my host had passed 
 to me and which had a taste that 
 I had never known before. 1 
 
 31. melimela rubere : 'that the 
 honey-apples were red because 
 they were picked . . . ? mino- 
 rem : the waning moon. This 
 verse has nothing to do with the 
 preceding, but is a bit of esoteric 
 wisdom which the epicure oblig- 
 ingly imparted (docnif) to his 
 ignorant guest. Cf. vs. 6 f. This 
 
 is exactly in the ironical manner 
 of Sat, 2, 4. 
 
 32 f . ab ipso : i.e. ' you will 
 have to ask him ; / don't pre- 
 tend to know. 1 audieris: the 
 potential with a comparative, as 
 often. 
 
 34. damnose: i.e. to the ruin 
 of the host; 'drink him bank- 
 rupt. 1 moriemur inulti: this is 
 the cry of the epic hero facing 
 death ; so Hector, //. 22, 304 f., 
 /XT) (JLO.V cunrovoY ye KO.L d/<Xeias 
 aTroAotju/tyv, | dAAa /jie'ya pe^aori, and 
 Aeneas, Aen. 2. 670, numquam 
 omnes hodte moriemur inulti. 
 
 35 ff. Vertere pallor . . . fac- 
 iem : i.e. ' he turned pale, 1 but the 
 expression is somewhat odd ; not 
 the same as Efiod. 4, 9 ff. paro- 
 chi; our steward, our caterer ; with 
 some contempt. Cf. for the use 
 of the word in its ordinary sense, 
 Sat. i, 5,46. vel quod . . . vel 
 quod : there is no reason whatever 
 for looking behind these perfectly 
 good explanations to discover some 
 discreditable motive, like stingi- 
 ness. Vss. 41 and 81 are per- 
 fectly consistent with these lines 
 taken in their simple sense. - 
 
 249
 
 a. 8. 37] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 potores, vel quod male dicunt liberius vel 
 fervida quod subtile exsurdant vina palatum. 
 Invertunt Allifanis vinaria tota 
 
 40 Vibidius Balatroque, secutis omnibus ; imi 
 convivae lecti nihilum nocuere lagenis. 
 
 Affertur squillas inter murena natantis 
 in patina porrecta. Sub hoc erus ' Haec gravida,' inquit, 
 ' capta est, deterior post partum carne futura. 
 
 45 His mixtum ius est: oleo quod prima Venafri 
 pressit cella ; garo de sucis piscis Hiberi ; 
 vino quinquenni, verum citra mare nato, 
 dum coquitur cocto Chium sic convenit, ut non 
 hoc magis ullum aliud; pipere albo, non sine aceto, 
 
 male dicunt : as inSaf. I, 4, 86 ff. 
 
 exsurdant: the real epicure is 
 especially anxious that his fine 
 cookery should be properly ap- 
 preciated. 
 
 39. Allifanis : large cups, 
 named from the town of Allifae. 
 
 vinaria : jugs : we should say 
 ' bottles,' ' decanters.' 
 
 40 f . imi . . . lecti : the three 
 couches were called summits (nos. 
 I, 2, 3 on the diagram), medius 
 (nos. 4, 5, 6), and imus. The 
 two parasites of the host of course 
 followed his wish and drank little. 
 
 nihilum nocuere : the same idea 
 is in the English 'to spare the 
 bottle.' 
 
 42 f. The Roman cooks sought 
 to produce odd or realistic effects 
 in the arrangement of the food on 
 the platter. Sub hoc : at this, as 
 this appeared. 
 
 44. futura: for it -would be. 
 This piece of epicure's wisdom is 
 accepted by commentators as 
 sound and a matter of common 
 knowledge; it may be so. 
 
 45 ff. His: 'the following in- 
 gredients.' The other ablatives 
 
 oleo, garo, vino, pipere are 
 appositives of his. Venafri : the 
 olives of Venafrum were con- 
 sidered especially good and the 
 oil which came from the first press- 
 ing was better than that extracted 
 later. garo: something like ca- 
 viare. piscis Hiberi : mackerel. 
 
 citra mare: Italian; the phrase 
 is a little too fine to be used of 
 wine. Cf. Sat. i, 10, 31. dum 
 coquitur : while it is cooking. 
 cocto : after it is cooked Chian 
 wine is exactly the right thing to 
 pour in ; here also the wisdom is 
 clothed in fine language.
 
 SERMONES 
 
 50 quod Methymnaeam vitio mutaverit uvam. 
 Erucas viridis, inulas ego primus amaras 
 monstravi incoquere; inlutos Curtillus echinos, 
 ut melius muria quod testa marina remittat.' 
 Interea suspensa gravis aulaea ruinas 
 
 55 in patinam fecere, trahentia pulveris atri 
 
 quantum non Aquilo Campanis excitat agris. 
 Nos maius veriti, postquam nihil esse pericli 
 sensimus, erigimur : Rufus posito capite, ut si 
 films immaturus obisset, flere. Quis esset 
 
 60 finis, ni sapiens sic Nomentanus amicum 
 
 tolleret : ' Heu, Fortuna, quis est crudelior in nos 
 te deus ? Vt semper gaudes illudere rebus 
 
 50. The sense is almost hidden 
 under the poetic expression ; ' vine- 
 gar made by fermentation (vitio) 
 of the Methymnaean cluster,' i.e. 
 from Lesbian wine. 
 
 51 ff. A little claim to original 
 research by Nasidienus he had 
 discovered the good effect of boil- 
 ing green rockets and bitter ele- 
 campane into the sauce with 
 a generous acknowledgment of 
 the investigations of a certain Cur- 
 tillus, who had observed that if 
 sea-urchins are not washed in fresh 
 water before boiling, the brine from 
 their shells is better than the ordi- 
 nary brine. The construction in 
 vs. 53 is ut (id) quod marina testa 
 (the shell of the sea-urchin) re- 
 mittat melius (est) muria. Cf. 
 89, note. 
 
 54 ff. While Nasidienus was 
 speaking, the canopy which hung 
 
 from the ceiling suddenly fell upon 
 the table, destroying the valuable 
 sauce and covering the guests with 
 dust. Campanis : the level lands 
 of Campania were especially dusty 
 in the dry season. 
 
 57. maius : the fall of the ceil- 
 ing itself. veriti: make this a 
 leading verb in the translation. 
 
 58. erigimur: like a middle 
 voice and in a literal sense, 'we 
 lifted up our heads,' to contrast 
 with posito capite. Rufus : i.e. 
 Nasidienus. posito capite : this 
 also should be a leading verb in 
 the English ; ' put down his head 
 and wept.' 
 
 59 f. Quis . . . finis: 'what 
 would have ended it ? ' i.e. ' he 
 would be crying still, had not 
 Nomentanus . . .' sapiens : like 
 a philosopher, with the philosophic 
 remarks which follow. 
 
 251
 
 2, 8, 6 3 ] 
 
 HOKATI 
 
 humanis ! ' Varius mappa compescere risum 
 vix poterat. Balatro suspendens omnia naso, 
 
 65 ' Haec est condicio vivendi,' aiebat, 'eoque 
 responsura tuo numquam est par fama labori. 
 Tene, ut ego accipiar laute, torquerier omni 
 sollicitudine districtum, ne panis adustus, 
 ne male conditum ius apponatur, ut omnes 
 
 70 praecincti recte pueri comptique ministrent ! 
 Adde hos praeterea casus, aulaea ruant si, 
 ut modo, si patinam pede lapsus frangat agaso. 
 Sed convivatoris, uti ducis, ingenium res 
 adversae nudare solent, celare secundae.' 
 
 75 Nasidienus ad haec : ' Tibi di quaecumque preceris 
 commoda dent ! Ita vir bonus es convivaque comis : ' 
 
 63. Varius : a little joke at the 
 expense of a good friend, possibly 
 with some special point to it which 
 their common friends would see. 
 
 64. suspendens . . . naso : cf. 
 Sat. I, 6, 5, naso suspendis adunco, 
 and note. Greenough translates, 
 always a scornful cynic. He felt 
 himself to be a great man's attend- 
 ant. 
 
 65. eo : for that reason, because 
 we are all subject to the chances 
 of life. 
 
 67 ff. A distinct reminiscence, 
 both in structure and in substance, 
 of the parasite's speech in Terence, 
 Phorm. 339 ff., to which there is a 
 reference also in cena dubia, Sat. 
 2, 2, 77. ego : ironical, since 
 Balatro had come merely as Mae- 
 cenas' umbra. laute: colloquial; 
 handsomely. male conditum ius : 
 
 with reference to the sauce which 
 Nasidienus had just been describ- 
 ing. compti : the dressing of the 
 hair of the young slaves who waited 
 on the table was attended to as 
 carefully as their attire. 
 
 71 f. Adde . . . praeterea : 'and 
 on the top of it all come such mis- 
 fortunes as these.' ut modo : as 
 happened just now, to distinguish 
 the actual occurrence from the 
 imagined mishap of a fallen plat- 
 ter. agaso : i.e. some clumsy 
 slave, no better than a stable-boy. 
 
 73 f. uti ducis : a flattering 
 comparison; 'the giver of a dinner 
 is like a general.' nudare : dis- 
 close, reveal his powers. 
 
 75 f . Tibi di . . . dent : a common 
 kind of wish, often used in greet- 
 ings ; Plaut. M. G. 1038, di tibi 
 dent quaequomque optes, and cf. 
 
 252
 
 SERMONES 
 
 [2, 8, 85 
 
 et soleas poscit Turn in lecto quoque videres 
 stridere secreta divisos aure susurros. 
 
 Hor. Nullos his mallem ludos spectasse ; sed ilia 
 
 80 redde, age, quae deinceps risisti. Fund. Vibidius dum 
 quaerit de pueris, num sit quoque f racta lagena, 
 quod sibi poscenti non dantur pocula, dumque 
 ridetur fictis rerum Balatrone secundo, 
 Nasidiene, redis mutatae frontis, ut arte 
 
 85 emendaturus fortunam ; deinde secuti 
 
 Sat. I, 9, 5, cupio omnia quae 
 vis. It is like 'God bless you !' 
 Nasidienus takes the ill-bred irony 
 of Balatro quite seriously and 
 simply, showing in fact better 
 manners than some of his guests. 
 
 77. soleas poscit: the light 
 shoes ordinarily worn in the house 
 were removed when the guests 
 took their places, and to ask for 
 them was to express a desire to 
 rise from the table. Nasidienus, 
 encouraged by what the two para- 
 sites had said, prepares to go on 
 with the feast and gets up in order 
 to have the damage repaired and 
 the other dishes brought in. 
 Turn: when he had gone out to 
 give his orders. quoque: from 
 quisque. videres : you might see ; 
 indefinite 2d pers. with potential 
 meaning, as often ; cf. Sat. i, 5, 
 76. 
 
 78. divisos : first to one side, 
 then to the other. The allitera- 
 tion with s imitates the sound of 
 whispering. 
 
 79 f. The interruption by 
 Horace marks the end of the main 
 
 story and introduces the conclu- 
 sion, giving the effect of dialogue. 
 Cf. the similar and rather more 
 skilful dialogue in Sat. 2, 3, 300- 
 307, followed by the speech of 
 Damasippus, 307-323. Nullos 
 . . . ludos : ' I'd rather have seen 
 this than any games.' Greenough 
 compares the English 'as good as 
 a play.' quae deinceps : ' what 
 you found next to laugh at.* 
 
 81 f . quoque : with sit fracta ; 
 he asked whether there was an- 
 other breakage, of the wine-jugs 
 as well as of the aulaea. quod : 
 that. pocula : the wine, not the 
 cups. In the confusion the slaves 
 had forgotten to keep the cups 
 filled. 
 
 83. fictis rerum : they invented 
 jokes to cover their laughter at 
 the fall of the canopy and the 
 simplicity of the host. Cf. vanis 
 rerum, Sat. 2, 2, 25. secundo: 
 playing second to Vibidius, who 
 led the pretended jesting. 
 
 84 f. Nasidiene : the vocative 
 and the phrase arte emendaturus 
 are parodies of the epic style. 
 
 253
 
 a, 8, 86] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 mazonomo pueri magno discerpta ferentes 
 membra gruis sparsi sale multo, non sine farre, 
 pinguibus et ficis pastum iecur anseris albae, 
 et leporum avolsos, ut multo suavius, armos, 
 
 90 quam si cum lumbis quis edit. Turn pectore adusto 
 vidimus et merulas poni et sine clune palumbes, 
 suavis res, si non causas narraret earum et 
 naturas dominus ; quem nos sic fugimus ulti, 
 ut nihil omnino gustaremus, velut illis 
 
 95 Canidia afflasset peior serpentibus Afris. 
 
 86. mazonomo : properly a plat- 
 ter for bread, here put to a different 
 use as a novelty in table-service. 
 discerpta : already carved ; the 
 custom was to serve fowls and 
 game whole and have them carved 
 on the table by a specially trained 
 slave. 
 
 87 f. gruis : here masc., though 
 commonly fern., as anser, com- 
 monly masc., is here made fern. 
 The gender of such words is 
 grammatical and somewhat shift- 
 ing, but apparently the unusual 
 gender is chosen to indicate sex, 
 as though the epicure could tell 
 the sex by the taste. albae : 
 used in the same way, to ridicule 
 the epicure's claim to delicacy of 
 palate. iecur : a kind of p&te de 
 foie gras. And the white goose 
 must have been fed upon ripe figs. 
 
 89. avolsos, ut suavius : an exact 
 parallel to inlutos ut meltus, vss. 
 52 f. ; but the order here expresses 
 the sense better. The doctrine 
 
 that in this case the shoulders 
 should be torn off, not cut, is like 
 the notion that a pear should 
 never be cut, a pure fantasy. 
 
 90 ft. edit : pres. subjv., the 
 older optative form, for the most 
 part displaced by the regular subjv. 
 edat. The peculiarity of the 
 dishes is \n.pectore adusto ' with the 
 breasts broiled' and sine dune, 
 'without the rump.' suavis res : 
 'very good eating, if only . . .* 
 causas . . . et naturas: philo- 
 sophical terms ; Nasidienus dis- 
 coursed about his dishes as a 
 philosopher might de renim 
 natura. 
 
 93. sic: with ulti, anticipating 
 ut ; ( taking our revenge for his talk 
 by not eating any more of his food.' 
 
 95. Canidia : often mentioned 
 as a sorceress and poisoner and 
 directly attacked in Sat. i, 8 and 
 Epod. 5 and 17. This personal 
 stroke at the end is like Sat. I, I, 
 120 f.; 1,2, 134.
 
 HORACE 
 
 THE EPISTLES 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 
 BY 
 EDWARD P. MORRIS 
 
 PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN YALE COLLEGE 
 
 NEW YORK- : CINCINNATI-:- CHICAGO 
 
 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY 
 EDWARD P. MORRIS AND MORRIS H. MORGAN. 
 
 ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON. 
 
 MORRIS. HORACE, EPISTLES 
 
 W. P. 7
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IT has been taken for granted in the preparation of 
 this edition that the Epistles are not read until after the 
 Satires and perhaps after the Odes, and parallels in the 
 earlier poems have been rather freely used for illustra- 
 tion. In other respects the commentary is like that upon 
 the Satires, and is intended to direct the attention of the 
 reader both to the artistic structure of the Epistles and to 
 the body of ideas which Horace was endeavoring to ex- 
 press in them. I have tried to remember that the student, 
 learning his lessons, is in reality a reader. 
 
 E. P. MORRIS.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE Epistles were written, with perhaps a single exception, 
 between 23 B.C. and 17. No event of Horace's life during this 
 period is on record, but from occasional references in his writ- 
 ings it is to be seen that he was at this time living a quiet life, 
 partly in Rome, more often on his farm, and sometimes in the 
 winter months at Baiae or in Southern Italy. His circle of 
 friends was large and included many men of high character and 
 position, both in literature and in public life. But it was already 
 a narrowing circle. Men of the earlier generation, whom he 
 had known when he was a young man, were passing off the 
 stage and, of his contemporaries, Quintilius Varus had died in 
 23, Vergil died in 19, and Varius not long after. He was 
 already, at a little more than forty, feeling himself to be a rep- 
 resentative of an older generation. On the other hand, as the 
 letters show, he was on terms of friendly intercourse with the 
 younger men of all sets, and he seems, indeed, to have made 
 a deliberate effort to cultivate and maintain such relations. His 
 own position in literature was assured. There is evidence, 
 it is true, that he was not beyond the reach of criticism ; the 
 tone of Epist. i, 19 shows that; and it is possible that the first 
 reception of the Odes had been less favorable than he had 
 hoped it would be. Undoubtedly, also, the school of the doeti, 
 the poets and critics who preferred the more ornate manner 
 of the Alexandrian literature, was at this time strong in popular 
 favor. But, with all allowance for the difference between con- 
 temporary judgments and the judgment of posterity, it is quite 
 
 7
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 certain that Horace was, at the time when the Epistles were 
 written, a leader, perhaps a sort of dean of letters, among 
 Roman writers. 
 
 The course of his life as an artist up to the year 23 B.C. is 
 clearly revealed in his writings. He had begun by writing 
 satires in the general form set by Lucilius, but finding this in 
 several ways unsuited to his temperament and recognizing its 
 artistic limitations, he had made such modifications in it as to 
 amount to the creation, or perhaps the crystallization, of a new 
 literary form, the sermo, the ' talk ' on life and art. These 
 modifications were carried still further in the Second Book of 
 the Satires ; the dialogue, which in the earlier book is only half 
 recognized, becomes in the Second Book the framework of the 
 sermo, and is worked out in the different satires with very great 
 care. During the same period, before 30 B.C., Horace was also 
 making his first attempts in lyric poetry. For this he chose 
 the somewhat restricted field of iambi, that is, of the form that 
 had been fixed by Archilochus, in which the iambic couplet was 
 used to express a more emotional satire than could be expressed 
 in hexameters. He did not, however, remain long content with 
 this simple form ; it was only the bridge that carried him over 
 from satire to the more complex lyric. 
 
 The Odes, of which three books were published as a com 
 pleted whole in 23, represent a second and quite distinct stage 
 in Horace's artistic development. In them he did not consider 
 that he was creating a new art form, but only that he was intro- 
 ducing into Latin literature a form which had not before been 
 used there, the lyric form of Alcaeus and Sappho. We have 
 too little of the Greek lyric poetry to be able to judge in detail 
 of the closeness with which he followed his models, and it 
 would perhaps not be correct to claim for him more than he 
 claimed for himself. Yet it is probable enough that, as he 
 became master of this new form and learned to use it freely 
 for his own purposes, he did with it what Vergil had done with 
 
 8
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 the idylls of Theocritus, that is, employed it for purposes 
 different from those for which it was used by its originators. 
 The connected group of Alcaic odes which stand at the begin- 
 ning of the Third Book would then represent a modification 
 in use like that which is represented in Vergil's Fourth Eclogue. 
 Such an adaptation of the Alcaic stanza to new uses is in fact 
 a modification and development of the artistic form, less in 
 amount than Horace had undertaken in the development of 
 the Lucilian satire, but similar in kind and revealing the same 
 underlying artistic purpose. 
 
 Horace's career, then, as an artist, had been, up to the year 
 23 B.C., that of a man whose interest had been in the shaping 
 of given poetic forms to new uses. In satire the modifications 
 had been deliberate and of considerable effect, so that he was 
 in this field almost a creator ; in lyric poetry the adaptations 
 had been of narrower scope, yet not without influence upon the 
 poetic form. He was now to take up a third form of literature, 
 the Epistle. 
 
 The history of the epistle as a literary form is not yet wholly 
 clear. In early Latin literature it was used chiefly for practical 
 ends. Cato published letters addressed to his son, probably 
 of a didactic character, and there existed in Cicero's time a 
 collection of letters by Cornelia to her sons, the Gracchi. 
 Cicero's own letters have come down to us, a most interesting 
 collection, but they are real letters and can have been only 
 in an incidental way models for Horace. In verse the historical 
 sequence is even less clear. The custom of dedicating a poem 
 to an individual by a direct address, as Horace inscribes his 
 first satire to Maecenas, is an approach to the epistolary form ; 
 no distinct line can be seen between the manner in which Lucre- 
 tius addresses Memmius at intervals in the de Rerum Natura 
 and the occasional address to the Pisones in the Ars Poetica. 
 Some of the poems of Catullus are epistolary in form and even 
 in substance. But from these scattered approximations to the 
 
 9
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 epistolary type we are not able to form an accurate conception 
 of any models that Horace may have had before him or even 
 to be sure that he had such models at all. 
 
 The artistic problem, however, is clear. It was to unite two 
 elements, the personal and the public, into a harmonious whole, 
 that is, to preserve a measure of personality and individuality 
 and a certain degree of spontaneity, and at the same time to 
 introduce a considerable element of a kind that would be inter- 
 esting to the general reader. The two are to some extent 
 antagonistic. The easy confidence which characterizes the best 
 private letters is so delicate that it almost surely disappears 
 if it is known to the writer that the letter is to be read by others 
 than the person addressed. Yet if this disappears entirely, the 
 epistle is a letter only in form. In the solution of this problem, 
 Horace has gone from one side to the other, as circumstances 
 led him, allowing first one, then the other, element to predomi- 
 nate. The invitation to dinner (i, 5) addressed to Torquatus 
 is so personal and natural that this may well have been a real 
 letter for a real purpose, put into verse form for the mere pleas- 
 ure of the writer and for the compliment which it paid to the 
 recipient. The same thing is true of i, 9, introducing Septimius 
 to Tiberius. One of the three Epistles to Maecenas (i, 7) is 
 extremely personal, both to the writer and to the recipient, so 
 much so that it seems almost too confidential for publication, 
 yet it contains some of Horace's best stories and is in parts not 
 distinguishable from Sat. 2, 6. In others, 1,3; i, n; i, 12; 
 i, 15, the situation of the recipient or the writer is made the 
 occasion for comments equally interesting to the general public ; 
 in i, 3 this has been done with special success, and the two 
 elements are so harmoniously blended that it is impossible to 
 tell whether this is really a letter, sent as is implied, or an 
 Epistle written on the model of a personal letter. At the other 
 extreme, i, 16 opens with a description of the farm, but runs 
 off into a poem which has nothing of the tone of a letter in it, 
 
 TO
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 while 1,2 is a letter chiefly by virtue of the address and the 
 closing lines, and i, 6 is not a letter at all, but a sermo on 
 philosophy addressed to an individual. To the skillful mingling 
 of these two elements, the personal and the public, Horace has 
 plainly devoted much thought, shaping the Epistle into a 
 literary form, as he had shaped the dialogue-satire, and per- 
 haps extending its range, as he had extended the range of the 
 Alcaic stanza. 
 
 All this, however, applies chiefly to the First Book. In the 
 Second Book there is less attempt to preserve the epistolary 
 form. The Ars Poetica has scarcely anything but the address 
 - to remind the reader that it is an Epistle. In 2, 2 the fiction 
 of excusing himself from further writing of lyrics is used by 
 Horace to furnish a framework for the thought through the 
 first half, but the latter part is quite impersonal. The letter 
 to Augustus (2, i) is inevitably formal, but the consciousness 
 that it is addressed to one who had it in his power to influence 
 the trend of literary taste is present through the whole and influ- 
 ences the thought. 
 
 It is not to be thought, however, that Horace's attention was 
 given wholly to the form of his writings. He was primarily 
 an artist in words and phrases and forms of expression, but he 
 had also something to say. In the First Epistle he announces 
 the subject of the new collection ; he has given up lyric poetry 
 and is to devote himself hereafter to philosophy, not, indeed, 
 the philosophy of a sect, but the philosophy of life. This 
 announcement fairly describes the subject-matter or the point 
 of view of the book. A few of the Epistles (i, 5 ; i, 9; i, 13) 
 make no reference to it; in others (1,2; i, 4 ; i, 6 ; i, 16) it is 
 the staple of the Epistle ; in several, including some of the best 
 (1,3; i, 8; i, ii ; i, 12 ; i, 15), it is not quite the subject, but 
 is the conclusion, as if to show how in the writer's mind all 
 things lead back to the large philosophy of life. But Horace 
 was not by temper or habit a student or what is called a pro- 
 
 II
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 found thinker. He was a man who had seen much of life on 
 various sides, had observed many men and had given serious 
 thought to their conduct and his own. Out of this experience 
 and consideration, he had come to certain conclusions which 
 he had formulated into what we call, loosely, a philosophy of 
 life. It was not, of course, a philosophy of the schools ; it did 
 not concern itself with questions of natural or physical science 
 or with the nature of knowledge, and, though it was ethical, it 
 did not involve the fundamental problems of ethics. But it had 
 this in common with ethical philosophy, that it was based upon 
 a real comprehension of vital interests and that it was to Horace 
 a true and determining principle of life. In this sense he was 
 justified in regarding himself .as a philosopher and in feeling 
 it to be his right and his duty to summon other men to accept 
 his doctrine. He is thus, as indeed he had been in the earlier 
 days of the Satires, a preacher, uttering his doctrine with con- 
 viction and seriousness. Perhaps it should rather be said that 
 he was at once preacher and artist. The variety of setting and 
 of personalities which a collection of letters involves afforded 
 him an opportunity to set forth his philosophy with variety, 
 as a climax and a final answer to all troubles and queries and 
 situations. 
 
 The subject of the Second Book is literature ; the three long 
 letters consist of comments on the prevailing tendencies of 
 literature in Rome. In this comment some two or three ele- 
 ments are combined. Horace had read, though perhaps not 
 very deeply or widely, the treatises on rhetoric and on the 
 history of literature, and he made considerable use of the knowl- 
 edge thus acquired. Much of this, however, must be recognized 
 as conventional and traditional, without any very real connection 
 with the condition of things in Rome. Especially the history 
 of literature, of the drama or the safura, or the origins of certain 
 poetic forms, which was once accepted as authoritative, must 
 not be taken seriously. Horace had no access to real sources, 
 
 13
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 for example, of the early Latin literature ; no such sources ex- 
 isted. This element in his writings has no great value or inter- 
 est. A second element has more life in it; in so far as his 
 comments reveal the tendencies of contemporary literature, they 
 have real value. The extant remains of the literature of the 
 Augustan Age, even though they include so much, are but 
 scanty in amount compared with the writings of all kinds that 
 were published in that period, and all the glimpses that we get 
 in Horace of the work of younger men or of minor writers 
 enable us to understand better the literature that has survived. 
 A third element is the most important of all; it is the personal 
 judgment which Horace expresses. For the work of the critic 
 he was all the better qualified because his own work was not 
 inspired, but was the result of a conscious process. He had 
 thought much of the choice of words, of the combination of 
 phrases, of the enlargement of vocabulary, and all that he says 
 on such things is weighty with authority. One of the most 
 interesting of experiences is to hear a good craftsman speak of 
 the art that he practices. It is this which makes Cicero's 
 Brutus and Orator interesting ; Horace's presentation is more 
 indirect than Cicero's and less systematic, but it has the same 
 essential quality of authority. 
 
 It is not always possible to distinguish these three elements, 
 the traditional, the contemporary, and the personal, but so far 
 as it is possible it throws much light upon the meaning of these 
 Epistles. Thus it is probable that the great space given to the 
 drama has nothing to do with Horace's own interest ; it may 
 be due to some transient public interest, but it is probably a 
 tradition from the books of rhetoric. On the other hand, it is 
 not unlikely that the discussion of the satyric drama is to be 
 explained by a revived interest in mimes and farces. But 
 much of the general discussion of poetry, the injunctions to fre- 
 quent revision, the constant reference to Greek models, comes 
 from Horace himself and constitutes the most attractive element
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 in these writings. For behind the artist and critic the Epistles 
 reveal to us a man of most human temper and judgment, at once 
 shrewd and mellow, by turns an observer of men and a lover 
 of retirement. To turn back after reading the latest of these 
 letters, Epist. 2, i, and reread Sat. i, 7 and i, 8, is to see what 
 some twenty years of life had done for Horace.
 
 fce/zji- 5 ' 
 Q. HORATI FLACC1 
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 LIBER PRIMVS 
 
 The date of this Epistle is not fixed by any definite allusion in the 
 text. It is, however, clearly introductory to the book and was therefore 
 written after the others, at about the same date as Epist. 20, in the 
 year 20 B.C. This was three years after the publication of the first 
 three books of the Odes ; the writer was nearly forty-five years old. 
 
 ' My dear Maecenas, you are proposing that I should go back to my 
 
 [verse writing. I must decline the invitation ; I have won my discharge 
 and am through with the follies of youth. Philosophy is now my only 
 interest. " What school ? " you ask. My own school ; sometimes I 
 rise to Stoic heights, and then, before I know it, I am a follower of Ans- 
 tippus. But, school or no school, I am impatient of delay. For even 
 the rudiments of philosophy have their value ; they will cure our ava- 
 rice, our ambition, our laziness. And to get rid of our faults is the 
 beginning of wisdom. See what pains men take to satisfy their desires, 
 when half the labor would rid them of the desire itself. But all the 
 Roman world is money-mad and careless, in its madness, of the higher 
 claim of character. 
 
 ' I know that I am setting myself against the common judgment, but 
 the common judgment is both inconsistent and inconstant. It is, in 
 fact, a ludicrous exhibition of whims and contradictions. You laugh at 
 it yourself, as you laugh, rightly enough, at my carelessness in dress. 
 But don't you see that carelessness in regard to the principles of life is 
 much worse ? This is the very thing that I am trying to cure by the 
 study of philosophy. I tell you, philosophy is a cure for everything 
 except influenza.' 
 
 This introductory epistle has two objects, which are not distinctly 
 stated, but are left to be inferred from the general tone. The first is
 
 If I. 1] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 to explain the writer's change from lyric poetry back to the social 
 comments with which he began his career in the Satires. This is 
 accomplished by the device of a supposed request from Maecenas 
 which may or may not have been real that Horace would continue 
 his writing of lyrics. In answering this request the writer is able to 
 give, without the appearance of egotism, his reasons for following a 
 different course. The second purpose is to announce the fact that this 
 collection of writings contains, more distinctly than the Satires, a kind 
 of life philosophy, not systematic and not too serious, yet by no means 
 wholly humorous. 
 
 Of the change of form, from the satire to the epistle, nothing is said. 
 It is evident and is left to explain itself. 
 
 Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena, 
 spectatum satis et donatum iam rude quaeris, 
 Maecenas, iterum "antique me includere ludo. 
 Non eadem est aetas, non mens. Veianius, armis 
 
 1 . This verse, like the first two 
 verses of the first Ode, is distinct 
 in thought from the rest of the 
 poem and constitutes therefore a 
 more formal dedication than that 
 with which the first Satire and the 
 first Epode begin. The thought 
 is entirely general ; cf. Verg. Ed. 
 8, 11, a te (Pollio) principium, 
 tibi desinam ; Horace is not think- 
 ing of the precise chronology of 
 his writings nor, in using Camen& 
 (the Latin equivalent of Aftesa), 
 is he distinguishing between satire 
 and lyric poetry. 
 
 2. spectatum: a technical term 
 applied to a gladiator who had 
 fought with credit. The letters 
 sp. or spect., on medals (tesserae*) 
 presented to such gladiators, seem 
 to be an abbreviation of this word. 
 rude : the -wooden sword was 
 given to a gladiator when he was 
 
 finally discharged from service ; he 
 was thereafter rndiarins (= dona- 
 ins rude). The implied compari- 
 son of one who had completed his 
 term of service to a discharged 
 gladiator occurs in other writers 
 also. 
 
 3. antique . . . ludo : ' in the 
 old gladiatorial school where I 
 used to serve.' But there is also 
 a suggestion of the other meaning 
 of Indus, which is taken up again 
 in vs. 10. includere: this word 
 is selected to contrast the disci- 
 pline of the gladiator's life with 
 the freedom of the rndianus. 
 
 4-6. Veianius: the context- im- 
 plies that he had been successful 
 and had retired. Herculis : so 
 Horace, Carm. 3, 26. 3 f, pro- 
 poses to dedicate to Venus the lyre 
 with which he had accompanied 
 his love songs and in Carm. 
 
 16
 
 EHSTVLAE 
 
 [i, i, ii 
 
 IO 
 
 Herculis ad postern fixis, latet abditus agro, 
 ne populum extrema totiens exoret arena. 
 Est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem : 
 * Solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne 
 peccet ad extremum ridendus et ilia ducat.' 
 Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono ; 
 quid verum atque clecens euro et rogo et omnis in hoc 
 sum; 
 
 I, 5, 13 ff., the shipwrecked sailor 
 hangs his dripping garments in the 
 temple of Neptune. latet abdi- 
 tus : to be taken together ; ' goes 
 and buries himself in the coun- 
 try.' ne . . . exoret: i.e., lest he 
 should be tempted again into his 
 old life, with its inevitable conse- 
 quences. extrema . . . arena: 
 the defeated gladiator laid down 
 his arms and went toward the 
 barrier between the seats and the 
 arena to ask for favor and par- 
 don. This would be granted by 
 the giver of the games when the 
 spectators (populus) indicated 
 that they were satisfied with the 
 fight. totiens : so many times, as 
 he would probably be obliged to, 
 if he went back into the profes- 
 sion. This line suggests what is 
 put more clearly in vss. 8-9, that 
 Horace felt himself to be too old 
 for resuming the writing of poe- 
 try. 
 
 7. est qui : render freely ; I 
 hear a voice that warns me. . . .' 
 purgatam, crebro, personet : 
 these emphasize in different ways 
 the idea that the warning is clear 
 HOK. EP. 2 
 
 and unmistakable. Cf. Sat. i, 3, 
 25, per-v ideas . . . lippiis, sec 
 dimly. 
 
 8-9. The figure of the old race- 
 horse repeats more distinctly the 
 whole thought of vss. 2-7. 
 sanus: 'if you are wise,' as in 
 Sat. i, 5, 44, nil ego contitleriin 
 iucundo sanus amico, and Sat. i, 
 6, 89. ilia ducat : strain his 
 flanks, become broken-winded. 
 
 10. itaque : acknowledging the 
 force of the argument which un- 
 derlies the preceding comparisons. 
 
 cetera ludicra : i.e., ' as I lay 
 aside all the other light pursuits, 
 amusements, in order to devote 
 myself to serious philosophy.' 
 The implication is that verse 
 writing is also ludicrum ; cf. Sat. 
 i, 10, 37, haec ego ludo, of the 
 Satires. 
 
 11. verum: the general term. 
 
 decens : more specific, translat- 
 ing the technical term TO TrptVov, 
 which Cicero translates also by 
 honestum ; true and right. om- 
 nis in hoc : cf. Sat. 1, 9, 2, totus 
 in illis. 
 
 7
 
 I, I. 
 
 HORATi 
 
 condo et compono quae mox depromere possim. 
 Ac ne forte roges quo me duce, quo lare tuter, 
 nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, 
 quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes. 
 Nunc agilis fio et mersor civilibus undis, 
 virtutis verae custos rigid usque satelles ; 
 nunc in Aristippi furtim praecepta relabor, 
 et mihi res, non me rebus, subiungere conor. 
 
 12. condo, depromere : regularly 
 used of laying in and. later, draw- 
 ing out a stock of provisions at 
 a country house. compono : ar- 
 range in order. 
 
 13. ne . . . roges : cf. nete morer, 
 Sat. I, I, 14. A leading clause 
 may be expressed (ciudi, scito), 
 but is not necessary. The ques- 
 tion to what school of formal phi- 
 losophy Horace proposed to attach 
 himself is one which, in fact, would 
 not have been asked by Maecenas 
 or by any reader of the Satires and 
 Odes, since Horace has made it 
 abundantly clear that he did not 
 belong to any school. But the 
 question with the humorous an- 
 swer, vss. 14-19, leads on to the 
 illustrations of a practical social 
 philosophy, which make up the 
 main body of the epistle. lare: 
 a school of philosophy was some- 
 times called familia or domus 
 (Carm. i, 29, 14) and might there- 
 fore be supposed to have a hearth 
 and a Lar familiar is. 
 
 14. addictus : property of a 
 debtor, bound enter or assigned to 
 the creditor, but also used of a 
 
 gladiator; the line is thus a remi- 
 niscence of vss. 2-6 and the figure 
 is continued in iurare and magis- 
 tri, which may be cither master 
 of a gladiatorial school or of a 
 philosophical sect. 
 
 15. tempestas : the figure was 
 a common one ; cf. Cic. Acad. 
 2, 3, 8, ad quamcumque snnt dis- 
 ciplinam quasi tempestate delati, 
 and Ephes. 4, 14, 'carried about 
 with every wind of doctrine.' 
 
 16-17. The sense is ' I become 
 for a time a Stoic.' agilis : TrpaK- 
 TIKOS. The Stoic doctrine was 
 that intelligent action was a neces- 
 sary part of the philosopher's life 
 and that he should therefore take 
 his part in public matters. There 
 is humorous irony in almost every 
 word of vs. 17, especially verae, 
 custos, rigidus. 
 
 18-19. 'Then again I slip 
 quietly back into the school of 
 Aristippus.' Cf. (he story referred 
 to in Sat. 2, 3, 100 ff., which illus- 
 trates the way in which Aristippus 
 released himself from the bondage 
 of thins. There is iron also in 
 
 18
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [if 1.29 
 
 Vt nox longa quibus mentitur arnica, diesque 
 longa videtur opus debentibus, ut piger annus 
 pupillis quos dura premit custodia matrum, 
 sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae spem 
 consiliumque morantur agendi gnaviter id quod 
 aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque, 
 aeque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit. 
 Restat ut his ego me ipse regam solerque elementis. 
 Non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus, 
 non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungi ; 
 
 21. opus debentibus: 'to those 
 who are obliged to work by 
 the day,' servants and day la- 
 borers. 
 
 21-22. A year seems an endless 
 time to a boy eagerly anticipating 
 the day when he shall be his 
 own master and chafing under 
 restraint. To him any control 
 seems harsh and oppressive (dura, 
 premit), especially control by a 
 woman, even by his mother. 
 Strictly, a fatherless boy would be 
 under the guardianship (ttttela} 
 of a man ; custodia is used only 
 in a general sense. 
 
 23-24. spem consiliumque : the 
 intention already announced in 
 vss. n-12. morantur: it is not 
 precisely the time which causes 
 the delay, but the obstacles in the 
 form of other occupations, like the 
 writing of poetry. agendi ... id 
 quod : i.e., ( of devoting myself 
 wholly to philosophy.' 
 
 25-26. Instead of using some 
 single word for philosophy (vir- 
 
 tus, sapientia, vs. 41) or some 
 phrase like verum atque deceits 
 (vs. u) which would emphasize 
 the theoretical side, Horace here 
 lays stress upon philosophy as a 
 guide in the practical affairs of life. 
 There is a half-humorous earnest- 
 ness in the sweeping phrases ; not 
 only prodest, but also (si neglectum 
 fuerif) nocebit, and it applies to 
 all ages and conditions. 
 
 27. restat: ie., 'in spite of de- 
 lays (20-24) an d of my inability 
 to attain to perfection (24-29), I 
 can at least get a rudimentary 
 knowledge that will meet mv 
 practical needs.' his: without 
 definite reference either backward 
 or forward ; ' such rudiments as 
 I have.' ipse regam solerque: 
 since he has no dux or lar (vs. 
 13) to guide or protect him. 
 
 28-31. The same idea is ex- 
 pressed twice in the two compar- 
 isons, with slight variation in the 
 construction. Non possis is re- 
 peated in desperes t both
 
 3J 
 
 HORATI 
 
 30 nec, quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis, 
 nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra. 
 Est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra. 
 Fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus : 
 sunt verba et voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem 
 
 }5 possis et magnam morbi deponere partem. 
 
 potentials of the indefinite sec- 
 ond person, and the two clauses 
 are at the same time concessive, 
 as is implied by tameu, and 
 causal ; the causal meaning is 
 expressed by idcirco in the first 
 main clause and by quia in the 
 second subordinate clause. oculo 
 . . . contendere : so quantum po- 
 tero voce contendam, Cic. pro Lig. 
 3, 6. Lynceus : the far-sighted 
 Argonautic hero, referred to also 
 in Sat. i, 2, 90. Glyconis: a 
 famous athlete, to whom a Greek 
 epigram (Anth. Pal. 7, 692) is 
 addressed ; he is called 6 Tra^u.- 
 fMi\tov and the adj. dviJcaro? (in- 
 irictns) is applied to him. 
 prohibere cheragra : for the con- 
 struction cf. Epist. i, 8, 10, me 
 arcere veterno. The other con- 
 struction, prohibere cheragram a 
 corpora is more frequent. Gout 
 in the hand or in the foot (/<?- 
 dagra) was called nodosa because 
 of the chalk stones that it pro- 
 duces in the joints. 
 
 32. est: almost the sam^ as 
 potest, but with the implication 
 that it is also worth while, since 
 it is possible. This is the main 
 thought of the whole passage, 27- 
 
 40, expressed in possis, 28, possis, 
 35, poterunt, 37, and possit, 39. 
 quadam . . . tenus: like qua- 
 tenuSj hactenus. 
 
 33. avaritia : the vice which 
 Horace everywhere puts at the 
 head of his list; cf. Sat. I, I, 
 Epod. i, 33 f., and often. cupi- 
 dine : the general term, passion, 
 following the particular ; they 
 
 .mean only one thing, as hunc 
 dolorem shows. 
 
 34. verba et voces : words and 
 sayings, i.e., teachings of philoso- 
 phy which will be as effectual as 
 the magic formulas by which dis- 
 ease is cured. This does not 
 imply a real belief in charms, any 
 more than the English phrase ' it 
 acts like magic. 1 The line is a 
 paraphrase of a well-known line 
 of Euripides, Hippol. 478. 
 
 35. morbi: a translation of ird- 
 0os, the technical term for a dis- 
 turbing passion, used here with 
 literal meaning also; cf. fervet, 
 lenire, dolorem, tumes, recreare, 
 all words from the medical vocab- 
 ulary. partem : the same idea 
 already expressed in element is, est 
 quadam prodire tenus. and in vss. 
 28-31. 
 
 20
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 I. 44 
 
 Laudis amore tumes : sunt certa piacula, quae te 
 ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello. 
 Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator, 
 nemo adeo ferus est ut non mitescere possit, 
 |o si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem. 
 Virtus est vitium fugere, et sapientia prima 
 stultitia caruisse. Vides quae maxima credis 
 esse mala, exiguum censum turpemque repulsam, 
 quanto devites animi capitisque labore ; 
 
 36. laudis amore : ambition ; cf. 
 Sat. 2, 3, 164 ff., .esp. tutnidum, 
 213. piacula : = verba et voces. 
 
 37. ter: the sacred number, 
 carrying on the thought of pia- 
 cnla ; cf. Sat. 2, i, 7 f., ter uncti 
 transnanto Tiberim. pure : after 
 religious purification. libello : 
 the little book of magic verses 
 and also the book of philosophic 
 teaching. 
 
 38-40. The list of sins not un- 
 like the seven deadly sins of early 
 Christian teaching is summed 
 up in nemo, by a kind of apposi- 
 tion. amator : cf. Sat. 2, 3, 247- 
 280. ferus : a change of figure ; 
 the cure of envy or hot temper 
 by philosophy is like the taming 
 (mitescere) of a wild animal. 
 culturae : properly of the cultiva- 
 tion of land, but in this line the 
 figurative meaning is almost lost 
 sight of and patientem commodst 
 aurem is used simply of the lis- 
 tener to philosophic teaching. 
 
 41. prima: with virtus as well 
 as with sapientia. The sentence is 
 used in a condensed form (prima 
 
 virtus est vitio carere) by Quin- 
 tilian, 8, 3, 41, and was probably 
 a current maxim of philosophy. 
 It summarizes and enforces the 
 thought of vss. 28-40 ; ' it is 
 worth while to take the first steps 
 by listening to the teachings of 
 wisdom, by which our faults may 
 be cured. For to get rid of our 
 follies is the beginning of wisdom.' 
 At the same time it introduces 
 the argument of 42-52 ; 'take the 
 first steps, which are not difficult ; 
 for half the labor you spend in 
 the pursuit of your foolish ends 
 would suffice to rid you of your 
 folly.' 
 
 43. exiguum censum: referring 
 to avaritia. turpem repulsam: 
 referring to ambition, laudis amor. 
 
 44. animi capitisque labore : 
 this cannot be simply 'labor of 
 mind and body.' animi labor is 
 ' trouble of spirit,' capitis labor is 
 'risk of life'; labor is used in a 
 vague sense for which there is no 
 exact English equivalent and must 
 therefore be translated twice, ' anx- 
 iety of spirit and peril of life.' 
 
 21
 
 I, 45] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 45 impiger extremes curris mercator ad Indos, 
 
 per mare pauperiem f ugiens, per saxa, per ignis . 
 ne cures ea, quae stulte miraris et optas, 
 discere, et audire, et meliori credere non vis ? 
 Quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax 
 
 50 magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui spes, 
 cui sit condicio dulcis sine pulvere palmae ? 
 Vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum. 
 
 ' O cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est, 
 
 45-46. The thought is often 
 expressed by Horace, in substan- 
 tially this form; cf. Sat. i, I, 30; 
 I, 4, 29 ff. ; Carm. i, 31, 10 ff. It 
 was undoubtedly proverbial. 
 
 47-48. 'Are you not willing to 
 attain the same end, freedo;n from 
 anxieties, by the easier method of 
 learning from philosophy to be 
 indifferent to your foolish ambi- 
 tions ? ' ne cures : a clause of 
 purpose, depending on the whole 
 of the next line ; ' in order to at- 
 tain to indifference.' meliori : 
 the wise philosopher, whose supe- 
 riority the learner acknowledges 
 by the act of seeking instruction 
 from him. 
 
 49. circum . . . pugnax: an 
 allusion to the wrestlers and boxers 
 who gave street shows to the 
 crowds gathered for feast days like 
 the Paganalia and Compitalia. 
 They are alluded to in other places 
 (Suet. Oct. 45, catervarifoppidanii 
 inter angustias vicomin pugnan- 
 tes). circum compita: also in 
 Sat. 2. 3, 281. 
 
 50. Olympia : a cognate accus., 
 
 like vicit Olympia, Cic. Cat. M. 
 14, both from the Greek <TT<UVOU- 
 cr&u 'OAiyATrta. 
 
 51. sine pulvere : O.KOVITL. The 
 expression was proverbial and was 
 extended beyond its strict mean- 
 ing, so that it came to be used of 
 prizes awarded to athletes whose 
 fame was so great that no one 
 dared to contend with them. It 
 suggests therefore the ease with 
 which the benefits of philosophy 
 may be obtained, in contrast to 
 the struggles necessary to get 
 money or satisfy ambition (44-46). 
 
 52. The conclusion of the argu- 
 ment ; 'just so character, the pro- 
 duct of philosophy, is better than 
 the rewards which men rate so 
 high.' But, as often, the conclu- 
 sion is put in the form of a general 
 assertion, without indication of its 
 connection (Sat. I, I, 59 f., 78 f., 
 105; 1,3,24; i. 6. 23, and often), 
 and in a form which leaves its real 
 force intentionally in the back- 
 ground. 
 
 53-69. ' But this conclusion, we 
 must acknowledge, runs counter to
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, I, 60 
 
 virtus post nummos.' Haec lanus summus ab imo 
 55 prodocet, haec recinunt iuvenes dictata senesque, 
 laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto. 
 Est animus tibi, sunt mores et lingua fidesque, 
 sed quadringentis sex septem milia desunt : 
 plebs eris. At pueri ludentes, ' Rex eris,' aiunt, 
 60 ' si recte fades.' Hie murus aeneus esto, 
 
 the opinion of Rome, which places 
 money above character.' 
 
 54. summus ab imo : from top 
 to bottom ; cf. A. P. 254, primus 
 ad extremum, from beginning to 
 end. But the precise meaning of 
 the phrase as applied to lanus is 
 not clear, because our knowledge 
 of the topography of the Forum in 
 the Augustan period is very 
 limited. The same spot is re- 
 ferred to in Sat. 2, 3, 18 (tnedius 
 lanus) and by Cicero as the center 
 of the banking business in Rome ; 
 it was in the lower corner of the 
 Forum. Translate 'Janus, from 
 top to bottom,' like 'all Wall 
 Street,' 'the whole Stock Ex- 
 change.' 
 
 55. prodocet : only in this pas- 
 sage ; proclaims loudly. reci- 
 nunt : the pupils repeated in a kind 
 of chant the words pronounced 
 slowly {dictata) by the teacher. 
 senesque : a humorous addition to 
 the picture of the school children. 
 
 56. Repeated without change 
 from Sat. I, 6, 74. There are a 
 few other repetitions of lines in 
 Horace, some of which are mere 
 errors in the Mss. In this case, 
 
 however, the point of the compari- 
 son of business men to school 
 children is heightened by the 
 quotation ; ' like the children I de- 
 scribed once, with their satchels 
 and slates hanging from their 
 arms. 1 loculos tabulamque : ac- 
 cus. of the part with suspensi. 
 
 57. The four nouns are care- 
 fully chosen and arranged, animus, 
 ability, is balanced by mores, char- 
 acter, and then each is repeated 
 in a more specific way in eloquence 
 and loyalty. 
 
 58. quadringentis : sc. milibus 
 sestertium. This sum, 400,000 
 sesterces, was the rating necessary 
 to enrollment among the equites. 
 sex septem : used in this way, 
 without connective, in several 
 other places (Ter. Eun. 331, Cic. 
 Att. 10, 8, 6), apparently for 
 phonetic reasons. No other car- 
 dinal numbers are so used. 
 
 59-60. The full verse is given 
 by the Scholiast : ' re'x erit qui 
 recte faciet, qui non faciet n6n 
 erit,' a trochaic septenarius, sung 
 by boys in some game. 
 
 60-61. The underlying thought 
 is, ' in this song of children at play
 
 1, 1,61] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa. 
 Roscia, die sodes, melior lex, an puerorum est 
 nenia, quae regnum recte facientibus offert, 
 et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis ? 
 65 Isne tibi melius suadet qui rem facias, rem, 
 si possis, recte, si non, quocumque modo rem, 
 ut propius spectes lacrimosa poemata Pupi, 
 an qui Fortunae te responsare superbae 
 liberum et erectum praesens hortatur et aptat ? 
 
 one may find a rule of life ; up- 
 right conduct gives secure happi- 
 ness.' Murns aeneus is a common 
 figure to express security and stabil- 
 ity, here in contrast to the troubles 
 of a life spent in the pursuit of 
 money or position (43-46). The 
 whole of vs. 61 is nothing but an 
 expansion of recte facere. con- 
 scire : absolute, as the noun con- 
 scientia is occasionally. sibi : not 
 tibi, because the words are a maxim 
 of general application. The line 
 should be paraphrased, rather than 
 rendered literally. 
 
 62. Roscia ... lex: the law 
 which reserved the first fourteen 
 rows behind the orchestra for the 
 knights. As the equites were in 
 general the capitalists, the law is 
 taken as an embodiment of the 
 public opinion which jave undue 
 honor to wealth (vs. 53). 
 
 63. nenia : used of any rhyme or 
 jingle in rhythm, like charms and 
 proverbs, in distinction from formal 
 poetry. Here with intention, to 
 contrast the song of boys at play 
 with the law of the Roman people. 
 
 64. maribus : manly. As these 
 heroes of the good old times sang 
 the verse when they were boys, 
 so they acted upon the principle 
 when they became men. Curius 
 and Camillus are named together 
 in Carm. i, 12, 41 f. as products 
 of saeva paupertas. 
 
 65-66. rem . . . rem . . . rem: 
 the repetition is made more em- 
 phatic by the position of the 
 monosyllable at the end of the 
 hexameter. facias : in parataxis 
 with suadet to be supplied as the 
 verb for qui ; it represents an in- 
 dependent fac. 
 
 67. propius : i.e., ' become a 
 knight by reason of your money 
 and sit in one of the front rows/ 
 Pupi: unknown. The Scholiast 
 quotes a couplet in which Pupi us 
 is supposed to pride himself upon 
 his success in moving his audience 
 to tears. But lacrimosa is of course 
 ironical, like all the rest of the line. 
 
 68. responsare : defy, as in Sat. 
 2, 7, 85, 103. 
 
 69. praesens : most frequently 
 used of a god who is present in
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 , 77 
 
 70 Quod si me populus Romanus forte roget, cur 
 non, ut porticibus, sic iudiciis fruar isdem, 
 nee sequar aut fugiam quae diligit ipse vel odit, 
 olim quod vulpes aegroto cauta leoni 
 respondit referam : ' Quia me vestigia terrent, 
 
 75 omnia te adversum spectantia, nulla retrorsum.' 
 
 Belua multorum est capitum. Nam quid sequar aut 
 
 quern ? 
 Pars hominum gestit conducere publica ; sunt qui 
 
 person to give help. The use here 
 suggests that the help of the moral 
 philosopher is like that of a divinity. 
 70-93. < If I am asked why I 
 advocate views so opposed to the 
 popular standards, my answer is 
 that there is no common standard ; 
 men are utterly at variance with 
 each other and inconsistent with 
 themselves.' 
 
 70. Romanus : not in contrast 
 to the Greek, but 'the great Ro- 
 man people, my countrymen, with 
 whom I might be expected to 
 agree.' Cf. fives, 53, and Roscia 
 le.v, 62. 
 
 71. porticibus : the public colon- 
 nades, where men met for talk ; cf. 
 Sat. 1,4, 133, cum lectulns aut me 
 porticns excepit. This is a figura- 
 tive way of saying 'since I live in 
 the same city, in the same society.' 
 
 72. An expansion of indiciis 
 fruar isdem. sequar : = diligit. 
 fugiam : = odit. The variety of 
 expression prepares the way for 
 vs. 76. 
 
 73 . olim : once, once upon a time, 
 
 as often (e.g., Sat. 2, 6, 79) to 
 introduce a fable. The story which 
 follows is not in Phaedrus, but was 
 one of Aesop's fables and had been 
 used by Lucilius (30, 80 ff. M.). 
 The moral is that one who gives 
 up his own judgment and adopts 
 the popular views surrenders his 
 independence beyond recovery. 
 
 76. belua . . . capitum : the fig- 
 ure was proverbial and has passed 
 over through Horace into modern 
 literature. There is a change of 
 argument here, from the danger 
 of losing one's independence to 
 the new argument drawn from the 
 confusing variety in public opinion 
 (76-80), but the figure of the beast 
 of many heads is suggested by the 
 previous comparison of the people 
 to a lion. 
 
 77. conducere publica : to take 
 government contracts. This was 
 one of the chief uses of large capi- 
 tal in Rome, but it was looked 
 upon with some contempt, as is 
 shown by its association here with 
 legacy hunting and usury. 
 
 2 5
 
 1. 1, 78] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 crustis et pomis viduas venentur avaras, 
 excipiantque senes quos in vivaria mittent; 
 
 80 multis occulto crescit res faenore. Verum 
 esto aliis alios rebus studiisque teneri : 
 idem eadem possunt horam durare probantes ? 
 ' Nullus in orbe sinus Bais praelucet amoenis' 
 si dixit dives, lacus et mare sentit amorem 
 
 85 festinantis heri ; cui si vitiosa libido 
 
 fecerit auspicium, ' Cras ferramenta Teanura 
 tolletis, fabri.' Lectus genialis in aula est: 
 nil ait esse prius, melius nil caelibe vita : 
 si non est, iurat bene solis esse maritis. 
 
 78-79. The practice of seeking 
 for legacies from rich and childless 
 old people is the subject of Sat. 2, 
 5, where illustrations of these lines 
 can be found ; crust Is et pomis, 
 vs. 12] viduas, 84-88; vivaria, 
 
 44- 
 
 80. occulto : the context re- 
 quires that this should mean secret 
 and therefore discreditable, be- 
 cause the loan was in some sense 
 illegal or improper. 
 
 81. esto . . . teneri: z'.e.,' pass- 
 ing over this point without further 
 argument ' ; a frequent use of esto, 
 Sat. I, 6, 19; 2. 2,tjo. 
 
 82. idem: nom. plur. 'Can these 
 same persons, who are so at vari- 
 ance with each other, be consistent 
 with themselves ?' 
 
 83. Bais : a fashionable resort 
 on the shore of Campania. 
 
 84. lacus et mare : houses were 
 built out into the sea or into the 
 shallow salt water pools, like the 
 
 Lucrine lake. Cf. esp. Carm. 3, 
 
 i, 33 ff- 
 
 85. vitiosa libido : morbid fancy, 
 carrying on to an extreme the fig- 
 ure suggested in amorem. 
 
 86. auspicium : gives the signal. 
 Properly auspicium is a sign sent 
 by the gods, but to the capricious 
 and self-indulgent man his own 
 whim is as good as a sign from 
 heaven. Teaman : an inland re- 
 sort in Campania ; he changes in 
 a day from the seashore to the 
 mountains. The order is given by 
 the master to the workmen who are 
 still engaged upon the unfinished 
 villa at Baiae. 
 
 87. lectus genialis: the mar- 
 riage conch which stood in the 
 atrium in honor of the Genius of 
 the family, the god of fruitful- 
 ness. 
 
 88. prius, melius : better, more 
 desirable. The same idea is also 
 expressed by antiquius. 
 
 26
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, i, IOG 
 
 90 Quo teneam voltus mutantem Protea nodo ? 
 Quid pauper ? Ride : mutat cenacula, lectos, 
 balnea, tonsores, conducto navigio aeque 
 nauseat ac locuples quern ducit priva triremis. 
 Si curatus inaequali tonsore capillos 
 
 95 occurri, rides ; si forte subucula pexae 
 
 trita subest tunicae vel si toga dissidet impar, 
 rides : quid, mea cum pugnat sententia secum, 
 quod petiit spernit, repetit quod nuper omisit, 
 aestuat et vitae disconvenit ordine toto, 
 
 ioo diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis ? 
 
 go. Protea: cf. Sat. 2, 3, 71 ff. 
 
 91-93. 'And as the rich man 
 (84) is subject to his whims, so 
 the poor man in his small way 
 indulges his caprices.' All the 
 details are intentionally petty; 
 cenacula, lodgings, is a parody 
 upon vss. 83-87, the lectos, balnea, 
 tonsores are the cheap luxuries 
 of the poor, and the poor man, 
 seasick in his hired boat, is an 
 especially keen hit. There is in 
 these lines a tone of sharpness 
 not usual in Horace and more 
 like the bitterness of Juvenal's 
 satire. 
 
 94-108. 'These and other like 
 inconsistencies, ridiculous as they 
 are, are small compared to the in- 
 consistencies of judgment from 
 which I hope to save myself by 
 philosophy.' 
 
 94. curatus : almost a technical 
 term of attention to health or the 
 toilet. Cf. Sat. 2, 5, 38, pelliculam 
 curare. inaequali : uneven, a 
 
 humorous transfer of the adj. from 
 the work to the workman. 
 
 95-96. subucula : undertunic. 
 The inconsistency is between the 
 well-worn undergarment, from 
 which the nap has been rubbed 
 off (trita}, and the new tunic with 
 long and fresh nap (pexae) . 
 dissidet impar : sets badly, hangs 
 unevenly ; cf. Sat. i, 3, 31, rusti- 
 cius tonso toga defluit. The care- 
 ful creasing of that part of the toga 
 which hung across the chest was 
 a matter of importance to a Roman 
 who wished to be well dressed. 
 
 98-100. The list of moral in- 
 consistencies is given rapidly, as 
 if they had only to be named in 
 order to be recognized and ac- 
 knowledged. aestuat : ebbs and 
 flows like the tide. diruit, aedi- 
 ficat : i.e., is guilty of the same 
 foolish vacillation that was de- 
 scribed in vss. 83-87. quadrata 
 rotundis : a proverbial figure, used 
 of making a meaningless change. 
 
 27
 
 i, 101] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 105 
 
 Insanire putas sollemnia me neque rides, 
 
 nee medici credis nee curatoris egere 
 
 a- praetore dati, rerum tutela mearum 
 
 cum sis et prave sectum stomacheris ob unguem 
 
 de te pendentis, te respicientis amici. 
 
 Ad sum mam : sapiens uno minor est love, dives, 
 
 liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique regum, 
 
 praecipue sanus, nisi cum pituita molesta est. 
 
 101. 'You think that my madness 
 is merely the usual thing not re- 
 markable at all and do not laugh.' 
 neque rides: recalling ride 91, 
 rides 95 and 97. All the laughter 
 that external incongruities excite 
 comes to an end when the incon- 
 sistency is in the moral sphere. 
 
 102. medici, curatoris : i.e., 'you 
 do not see that this is real insanity 
 which calls for the care of a physi- 
 cian and the appointment of a 
 guardian.' 
 
 103. tutela: this is an inten- 
 tional reminder of Carm. i, I, 2, 
 o et praesidium et dulce decus 
 tneiim. prave sectum : cf. Epist. 
 i, 7, 51. stomacheris: not of 
 serious anger, but humorously and 
 with recognition of the friendly 
 concern which causes the annoy- 
 ance of Maecenas. ' Though you 
 are so anxious toiiave me avoid 
 even the most trifling carelessness.' 
 
 105. The line is an explicit and 
 intentional profession of friendship, 
 to guard against the possibility 
 that the preceding reproaches 
 (94-104) addressed directly to 
 Maecenas might be taken too 
 seriously by any reader. 
 
 106-108. Cf. the abrupt and 
 humorous conclusion of Sat. i, i ; 
 
 1, 3; i, 4; i, 6. On the Stoic 
 paradox which is here ridiculed 
 cf. Sat. i, 3, 124 ff. sanus : this, 
 in contrast to the insania of all 
 other men, was the quality which 
 the Stoic philosopher especially 
 claimed as his own. It is the sub- 
 ject of the longest of the Satires, 
 
 2, 3. But Horace, accepting its 
 correctness on the philosophical 
 side, turns it into a joke by taking 
 it in a physical sense ; ' healthy 
 except for an occasional cold in 
 the head.' 
 
 2 
 
 This letter is addressed to a certain Lollius Maximus, who is also 
 addressed in Epist. I, 18. From the latter, written in 20 B.C., it ap- 
 pears that he had served as a soldier in the war against the Cantabri, 
 
 28
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, 2, 2 
 
 25-24. This letter was therefore written somewhere between 24 
 and 20. 
 
 Beyond this nothing is known of the young man, but he may well 
 have been a relative of the distinguished M. Lollius to whom Carm. 4, 
 9, is addressed. 
 
 ' My dear young friend, I have just been re-reading Homer and 
 am struck with the wealth of illustration of philosophic doctrines 
 in his poems. He is really better than the philosophers themselves. 
 Just consider the debate between Antenor and Paris or the quar- 
 rel between the two chiefs of the Greeks. The follies of kings could 
 not be better shown. And Ulysses, in the Odyssey, is as good as 
 a Stoic ; recall the description of him in the opening of the poem. 
 And you and I are there, too, in the picture of the easy-going Phaea- 
 cians. 
 
 ' But don't be too easy-going ; don't postpone too long the beginning 
 of serious philosophic living. There are temptations everywhere. Do 
 not be like the men who hope to find happiness in their possessions, 
 instead of cleansing their own hearts. Avoid pleasure, love of money, 
 envy, anger ; especially anger. Begin early to train yourself. But 
 don't expect me to be your companion in the path of reform ; I am 
 middle-aged and I go my own sober way.' 
 
 The tone of the letter is half serious, half light, as suits an older 
 man's advice to a younger friend. It is probable that the advice has 
 some personal applications which can no longer be understood, but the 
 general tenor is impersonal ; begin in youth to train yourself to virtue. 
 
 Troiani belli scriptorem, Maxime Lolti, 
 dum tu declamas Romae, Praeneste relegi ; 
 
 1. Maxime : the family name schools of rhetoric. The sense 
 is not infrequently put before the therefore is ' while you at Rome 
 gentile name, e.g., Carm. 2, 2, 3, are studying Homer from the 
 Crispe Sallusti. rhetorical point of view, I at 
 
 2. declamas : with scriptorem Praeneste have been re-reading 
 as a cognate accus., meaning to him and find him a philosopher.' 
 write and deliver declamations Praeneste : a summer resort 
 based upon situations in the among the mountains. The men- 
 Homeric poems, e.g., the prayer tion of the two towns where the 
 of Priam to Achilles for the return writer and the recipient were gives 
 of the body of Hector. This was the epistle a more distinct letter 
 a very common practice in the form. 
 
 29
 
 , 2, 3l 
 
 HORATI 
 
 qui quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, 
 
 non, 
 
 planius ac melius Chrysippo et Crantore dicit. 
 Cur ita crediderim, nisi quid te detinet, audi. 
 Fabula, qua Paridis propter narratur amorem 
 Graecia barbariae lento collisa duello, 
 stultorum regum et populorum continet aestus, 
 Antenor censet belli praecidere causam : 
 quid Paris ? Vt salvus regnet vivatque beatus 
 cogi posse negat. Nestor componere litis 
 
 quid 
 
 3. pulchrum, turpe, utile : the 
 technical terms of ethical phi- 
 losophy, which taken together de- 
 fine the siiinmiitn bonum. 
 
 4. planius : more clearly, and 
 therefore better, than any phi- 
 losopher. Chrysippo : the Stoic, 
 mentioned sever )1 times by Horace. 
 Crantore : a leader of the 
 Academy. 
 
 5 detinet : draws you away, 
 distracts you from giving me your 
 undivided attention. 
 
 6-31. 'The Iliad gives us pic- 
 tures of the follies of mankind, 
 the Odyssey a picture of a prac- 
 tical philosopher; and we may 
 even find our own portraits there.' 
 
 7. Graecia . . . oollisa : the fre- 
 quent construction of noun with 
 participle instead of a gen. with an 
 abstract noun. barbariae : Phry- 
 gians, who did not speak Greek, 
 but with a suggestion of the mod- 
 ern meaning. lento : the ten 
 years' war. duello : this old 
 form for betto is used several times 
 
 by Horace, perhaps with some 
 epic tone. 
 
 8. stultorum : i.e., not philos- 
 ophers. aestus: passions; not 
 from the ebb and flow of the tide, 
 as in Epist. I, i, 99, but from the 
 irregular tossing of waves, making 
 a slight contrast with the literal 
 meaning of continet. 
 
 9. Antenor: //. 7, 347 ff. cen- 
 set : in the formal sense, almost like 
 the English moves. This line is 
 merely preliminary to vs. 10, which 
 gives the example of stultitia; 
 ' when Antenor gives good advice, 
 Paris refuses to consider it, and 
 when Nestor tries toheal the breach 
 between Achilles and Agamem- 
 non, their foolish passions prevent.' 
 
 10. salvus . . . beatus : this is 
 what the giving up of Helen would 
 really bring about. But Paris 
 cannot even be compelled, much 
 less persuaded, to take the sen- 
 sible course. 
 
 11. Nestor: //. I, 247 ff. and 
 9 ,96ff. 
 
 3
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 2, 25 
 
 inter Pelid'en festinat et inter Atriden ; 
 
 hunc amor, ira quidem communiter urit utrumque, 
 
 Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi. 
 15 Seditione, dolis, scelere, atque libidine et ira, 
 
 Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra. 
 
 Rursus, quid virtus et quid sapientia possit, 
 
 utile proposuit nobis exemplar Vlixen ; 
 
 qui, domitor Troiae, multorum providus urbes 
 20 et mores hominum inspexit, latumque per aequor, 
 
 dum sibi, dum sociis reditum parat, aspera multa 
 
 pertulit, adversis rerum immersabilis undis. 
 
 Sirenum voces et Circae pocula nosti ; 
 
 quae si cum sociis stultus cupidusque bibisset, 
 25 sub domina meretrice fuisset turpis et excors 
 
 12. inter . . . et inter: so in 
 Sat. 1,7, 1 1 ; an example of 
 slightly illogical colloquialism. 
 
 13. hunc : Agamemnon, who in 
 //. i, 113 speaks of his love for 
 Chryseis. In fact, both were 
 moved by the same motives, amor 
 and ira, but as the wrath of 
 Achilles is the announced subject 
 of the Iliad, only this passion is 
 attributed to him. 
 
 14-16. ' Every folly of the chiefs 
 involves the people, too, and it is 
 all a mad world, within Troy and 
 without.' A concise summary of 
 the meaning of vss. 9-13, repeat- 
 ing the statement of vs. 8. 
 
 17. rursus : on the other hand, 
 as vs. 3 had spoken of quid pul- 
 chrum, quid utile, as well as the 
 opposite. 
 
 19-22. A paraphrase of the 
 
 first lines of the Odyssey. 
 domitor Troiae : this is the stand- 
 ing Roman tradition from Plautus 
 down. providus . . . inspexit : 
 tSei/ KOL vdov eyvw. immersabilis : 
 an addition to the Homeric de- 
 scription ; the Stoic phrase (cf. 
 Epist. i, i, 1 6, mersor civilibus 
 nndis) suggests ' like a true Stoic 
 philosopher.' 
 
 23. Sirenum: Od. u, 39 ff. 
 Circae pocula : Od. i o, 136 ff. 
 
 24. stultus cupidusqu? : with 
 foolish eagerness; he did in fact 
 drink, but not until he had taken the 
 antidote and not, therefore, stultus. 
 
 25. turpis : in the form of an 
 animal, losing his human form. 
 Cf. Sat. i, 3, 100, mutum et turpe 
 pecus. et: connects the verbs; 
 turpis goes \vithfmsset, and excors 
 with vixisset.
 
 It 2, 26] 
 
 HOKAT1 
 
 vixisset canis immundus vcl arnica luto sus. 
 Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati, 
 sponsi Penelopae nebulones, Alcinoique 
 in cute curanda plus aequo operata iuventus, 
 30 cui pulchrum fuit in medios dormire dies et 
 
 ad strepitum citharae cessantem ducere somnum. 
 Vt iugulent hominem, surgunt de nocte latrones ; 
 ut te ipsum serves, non expergisceris ? Atqui 
 si noles sanus, curres hydropicus ; et ni 
 
 26. canis : not in the Homeric 
 story. But the legend easily took 
 various forms. 
 
 27-31. 'We too may find our 
 prototypes there, among the com- 
 mon people, of course, and the 
 easy-going.' 
 
 27. numerus : mere ciphers. 
 opifytos is used in this sense, but 
 numerus apparently only here. 
 The rest of the line is also Greek, 
 o'i apovpr)<i Kapwov ISovertv, ' mere 
 consumers of the fruits of the earth.' 
 
 28. sponsi : suitors. Strictly, 
 they were prod, but all these 
 words of relation, sponstts, sponsa, 
 gener, socer, are loosely used. 
 nebulones : here as an adj., waste- 
 ful. Alcinoi : king of the Phaea- 
 cians, Od. 8, 1 1 and 249 f. 
 
 29. cute curanda : cf. esp. pelli- 
 culam curare, Sat. 2, 5, 38 and 
 membra, corpora curare. ope- 
 rata : with intentional irony ; their 
 only labors are the labors of the 
 toilet. 
 
 30-31. pulchrum: the philo- 
 sophical term ; they found their 
 summit m bontun in sleeping late. 
 
 These details are not in Homer 
 nor is the character of the Phaea- 
 cians so entirely self-indulgent. 
 But on the basis of a few lines, 
 esp. Od. 8, 248 f., they had be- 
 come types of ease and luxury in 
 philosophical writings, and Horace 
 is here following the later inter- 
 pretation, rather than the pure 
 Homeric description. 
 
 32 ff. The following lines, al- 
 most to the end of the epistle, 
 contain a series of exhortations in 
 philosophical form. There is no 
 real relation between them and the 
 Homeric allusions, but the two 
 parts are connected by the exhor- 
 tation to energetic living which is 
 itself suggested by the slothfulness 
 of the Phaeacians. 
 
 33. serves: />.,' if robbers will 
 get up early to take life, will you 
 not do it to save your own soul ? ' 
 
 expergisceris : with a literal ref- 
 erence backward, but also in the 
 figurative sense. 
 
 34. noles : sc. currere. This is 
 one of the forms of exercise pre- 
 scribed for dropsy. 
 
 3 2 '
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 LI- 2,44 
 
 35 posces ante diem librum cum lumine, si non 
 intendes animum studiis et rebus honestis, 
 invidia vel amore vigil torquebere. Nam cur 
 quae laedunt oculum festinas demere ; si quid 
 est animum, differs curandi tempus in annum ? 
 
 40 Dimidium facti qui coepit habet : sapere aude : 
 
 incipe. Qui recte vivendi prorogat horam, 
 . rusticus exspectat dum defluat amnis; at ille 
 labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum. 
 Quaeritur argentum puerisque beata creandis 
 
 35-3 6 - The two meanings, lit- 
 eral and figurative, are intention- 
 ally run together ; ' unless you 
 waken early to work, you will find 
 yourself sleepless as a result of 
 your self-indulgence, and unless 
 you study philosophy, you will 
 suffer from the passions that phi- 
 losophy would have cured.' 
 posces: so Epist. 2, i, 112 f., 
 prius orto sole vigil calamum et 
 chartas et scrinia posco. The 
 habit of reading or writing in the 
 early morning, reclining on a 
 couch, was general. rebus ho- 
 nestis : i.e., philosophy, which is 
 alluded to with increasing distinct- 
 ness in curandi 39, sapere 40, and 
 recte vivendi 41. 
 
 37. cur : with both verbs, festi- 
 nas and differs; 'why is it that 
 you hasten . . . and yet post- 
 pone . . . ?' 
 
 39. est : from edo. 
 
 40. dimidium . . . habet : a fa- 
 miliar proverb; 'well begun is 
 half done.' 
 
 HOR. El'. 3 23 
 
 42. rusticus: i.e., 'is like the 
 countryman who . . . ,' with the 
 condensed comparison so frequent 
 in Horace. The story is not other- 
 wise known to us, but the brief 
 form of the allusion presupposes a 
 knowledge of it on the part of the 
 readers. ille : amnis. 
 
 43. The repetition of the letter 
 /, the feminine caesura, and the 
 rapid movement of the line are in- 
 tentional. Cf. Epod. 16, 48, levis 
 crepante lyinpha desilit pede. 
 
 44. From this point the exhor- 
 tations become more specific, be- 
 ginning, as always in Horace, with 
 exhortations addressed to men 
 of wealth (44-54). quaeritur: 
 emphatic ; ' men are always 
 seeking.' beata: rich] dotata. 
 creandis : the formula of mar- 
 riage contract contained the words 
 liberorum quaerundorum causa as 
 expressing the legitimate object of 
 marriage, the founding of a fam- 
 ily. The insertion of beata into 
 the phrase is intentional irony.
 
 45] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 45 uxor et incultae pacantur vomere silvae ; 
 
 quod satis est cui contingit, nihil amplius optet. 
 Non domus et fundus, non aeris acervus et auri 
 aegroto domini deduxit corpore febris, 
 non animo curas ; valeat possessor oportet, 
 
 50 si comportatis rebus bene cogitat uti. 
 
 Qui cupit aut metuit, iuvat ilium sic domus et res, 
 ut lippum pictae tabulae, fomenta podagram, 
 auriculas citharae collecta sorde dolentes. 
 Sincerum est nisi vas, quodcumque infundis acescit. 
 
 45. incultae . . . silvae : merely 
 a vivid mention of one form of 
 wealth, like domus et fundus, 47. 
 Cf. also Carm. i, 31, 7-10. 
 
 46. The apodosis of 44-45, in 
 paratactic form. For the thought 
 cf. Sat. i, I, 50, 62 ff., 92 ff. 
 
 48. deduxit : perfect tense of 
 " an action often done, or [with a 
 negative, as here] never done " ; 
 Lane, 1611. ' has never removed 
 the fevers from the body.' The 
 two parts of this sentence also, 
 like 44-46, are in paratactic 
 relation. The thought is, 'as 
 they have never cured bodily 
 ills, so they have never cured the 
 soul.' 
 
 49-50. 'The owner of all this 
 wealth must first be well, must 
 first cure himself of his passions, 
 if he hopes to enjoy his property.' 
 
 valeat . . . oportet: parataxis. 
 
 bene: with uti. The thought 
 is expressed at greater length in 
 Sat. 2, 3. 104-120. 
 
 St. cupit aut metuit: i.e., is 
 
 under the dominion of the pas- 
 sions. sic ut : no more . . . than. 
 
 52. lippum: this disease, fre- 
 quently referred to in Horace, 
 would not actually blind the vic- 
 tim, but would render the use of 
 his eyes so painful that he could 
 not enjoy the finest painting. 
 fomenta : not poultices to cure 
 the gout, but warm wrappings or 
 foot muffs used by the luxurious 
 (Sen. de Provid. 4, 9 ; de Vita 
 Beat. 1 1 ) . But a sufferer from the 
 acute pains of gout would get no 
 pleasure from them. 
 
 53. collecta sorde : with dolen- 
 tes. 
 
 54. This summarizes the argu- 
 ments of 44 ff., esp. that of 49-50, 
 in a single condensed comparison ; 
 'the man, I say, must first be 
 sound himself in order to find 
 his possessions sweet to him, as 
 a jar must be clean if it is to keep 
 sweet the wine that is poured into 
 it. 1 It will be seen that this treat- 
 ment of the familiar theme is more
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 I, 2, 68J 
 
 55 Sperne voluptates ; nocet empta dolore voluptas. 
 Semper avarus eget ; certum voto pete finem. 
 Invidus alterius macrescit rebus opimis ; 
 invidia Siculi non invenere tyranni 
 maius tormentum. Qui non moderabitur irae, 
 
 60 infectum volet esse dolor quod suaserit et mens, 
 dum poenas odio per vim festinat inulto. 
 Ira furor brevis est: animum rege, qui nisi paret, 
 imperat; hunc frenis, hunc tu compesce catena. 
 Fingit equum tenera docilem cervice magister 
 
 65 ire viam qua monstret eques; venaticus ex quo 
 tempore cervinam pellem latravit in aula, 
 militat in silvis catulus. Nunc adbibe puro 
 pectore verba puer, nunc te melioribus offer. 
 
 mature and more profound than 
 the earlier treatment in Sat. i, i 
 or 2, 3. 
 
 55-63. Briet apothegms on 
 pleasure, avarice, envy, and anger. 
 
 56. certum : definite, fixed, since 
 the great danger is that the avarus 
 will never know quod satis est. 
 voto : to the desires, which 
 are expressed as solemnly as a 
 vow. 
 
 58. Siculi . . . tyranni : their 
 cruelty and their ingenuity in in- 
 venting tortures had become pro- 
 verbial. 
 
 60. infectum volet : i.e., ' shall 
 often have occasion to wish that 
 he could undo . . .' dolor et 
 mens : ' anger (mens) roused by 
 a sense of injury (dolor) .' odio 
 . . . inulto : ; for his unsatisfied 
 hatred.' 
 
 62. brevis: while it lasts; the 
 emphasis is upon furor, a raging 
 madness. 
 
 63. frenis : anticipating the fig- 
 ure of the horse. catena : an- 
 ticipating the comparison with the 
 hound. 
 
 64. tenera docilem : the em- 
 phatic words. Training should 
 begin early. 
 
 65-66. ex quo tempore : i.e., his 
 training is begun in the courtyard, 
 as in a school. The hound was 
 trained by means of a stuffed figure 
 of a deer, which he was taught to 
 bark at. 
 
 67-68. nunc, puer, nunc : empha- 
 sizing in its direct application to 
 Lollius the truth which had been 
 set forth in figures, that youth is 
 the time to learn. melioribus : 
 cf. Epist. i, i, 48, meliori credere, 
 
 35
 
 I, 2, 69] HORATI 
 
 Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem 
 70 testa diu. Quodsi cessas aut strenuus anteis, 
 nee tardum opperior nee praecedentibus insto. 
 
 of acknowledging the authority of 70-71. The frequent jesting 
 
 the philosopher. close, with humorous abruptness. 
 
 69. recens : continuing the idea ' Such is my advice. Take it and 
 
 of tenera, catulus, puer. For the go your way. But, as for me, I 
 
 general thought cf. Carm. i, 20,2, am middle-aged and shall neither 
 
 Graeca quod ego ipse testa con- wait for you, if you are slow, nor 
 
 ditum levi, which refers to the fact press after you, if you hurry on . . ' 
 that the jar kept the flavor of the 
 Greek wine. 
 
 The date is fixed by the first lines. In the year 20 Tiberius went to 
 the East as the personal representative of Augustus, taking with him, 
 as was usual on such occasions, a considerable retinue. Among those 
 who accompanied him were several young men interested in literature, 
 as was Tiberius himself. 
 
 Julius Florus, to whom the letter is addressed, is the same person to 
 whom Epist. 2, 2 is dedicated. Both letters are evidence of his friend- 
 ship with Tiberius, as of his interest in literature, but beyond this 
 nothing is known with certainty of him. 
 
 ' I am anxious to know, my dear Florus, where you and your com- 
 panions are. In Thrace ? Or on the Hellespont ? Or already in 
 Asia ? And what are you doing ? Who has undertaken the epic 'on 
 Augustus ? How is Titius, my Pindaric hero ? Or has he turned 
 tragic poet ? And how is Celsus ? Remind him again of that fable of 
 Aesop. l(\.nd what are you undertaking ? I expect great things of you, 
 whatever line you choose to follow. If only you would drop some of 
 your ambitions and turn to philosophy ! This as I am telling every- 
 body nowadays is the duty of us all. And, speaking of duty, have 
 you made up your quarrel with Munatius ? I hope so, for I think too 
 well of you both to be satisfied with anything less than a complete 
 reconciliation.' 
 
 This Epistle deserves careful study. It is, on the one hand, a per- 
 fectly natural letter, expressing the interest of the writer in his corre- 
 spondent, revealing the personality of both and the friendly relation 
 between them. It reads like a letter dashed off in high spirits, full of 
 
 36
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 friendly banter, and yet at bottom serious enough. On the other hand, 
 it is a most carefully written piece of literature, artistic in expression 
 and in the transition from one topic to another. The combination of 
 spontaneity of feeling with artistic expression, which is one of the 
 charms of the lyric poetry of Catullus, is rarely to be found in the Odes. 
 In the Satires there is a nearer approach to it. In this letter it is 
 attained. 
 
 lull Flore, quibus terrarum militet oris 
 
 Claudius, Augusti privignus, scire laboro. 
 
 Thracane vos Hebrusque nivali compede vinctus, 
 
 an freta vicinas inter currentia turres, 
 
 an pingues Asiae campi collesque morantur? 
 
 Quid studiosa cohors operum struit ? Hoc quoque euro. 
 
 Quis sibi res gestas Augusti scribere sumit ? 
 
 1. terrarum: the plural makes 
 the question more general ; cf. 
 ubi terrarum. militet: he was 
 in command of troops, though the 
 mission was not in reality a cam- 
 paign . oris : distant lands ; or a 
 is not necessarily a seashore, but 
 any edge; cf. 'ends of the earth.' 
 
 2. Claudius : Tiberius Claudius 
 Nero, the stepson and successor of 
 Augustus, not yet adopted as a son. 
 laboro : so Sat. 2, 8, 19, nosse 
 laboro- repeated in euro, vs. 6. 
 
 3. Thraca : the form Thracia is 
 later. In the Odes Horace uses 
 the Greek form Thrace. nivali 
 . . . vinctus : this fixes the time 
 of the year. But compede vinctus 
 is not to be taken quite literally ; 
 the cold of Thrace was proverbial. 
 
 4. freta : the Hellespont, on op- 
 posite sides of which stood, in 
 poetic tradition, the towers of Hero 
 
 and Leander, near Sestos and 
 Abydos. The Hellespont is here 
 less than a mile wide (vicinas) and 
 the current runs swiftly. 
 
 6. studiosa cohors : the suite of 
 young men who accompanied 
 Tiberius, as Catullus went on the 
 staff of Memmius to Bithynia. 
 Tiberius was himself in early life 
 interested in literature and was 
 doubtless inclined to follow the 
 example of Maecenas and Messala 
 and Augustus in the patronage of 
 men of letters. operum: with 
 quid; in this context necessarily 
 works of literature. 
 
 7. sumit : chooses, takes upon 
 himself. This is the task which 
 had more than once been sug- 
 gested to Horace (cf. Sat. 2, i, 
 10 ff.), but which he had always 
 declined to undertake. There is 
 a little irony in sumit. 
 
 37
 
 I. 3. 8J 
 
 HORATI 
 
 1C 
 
 Bella quis et paces longum diffundit in aevum ? 
 
 Quid Titius, Romana brevi venturus in ora, 
 
 Pindarici fontis qui non expalluit haustus, 
 
 f astidire lacus et rivos ausus apertos ? 
 
 Vt valet ? Vt meminit nostri ? Fidibusne Latinis 
 
 Thebanos aptare modos studet auspice musa, 
 
 an tragica desaevit et ampullatur in arte ? 
 
 8. diffundit : of the extensive 
 circulation that an epic poem on 
 Augustus ought to merit. in 
 aevum : such a poem should be 
 good enough to endure for all time. 
 
 9. Titius : unknown. The ac- 
 counts in the Scholiasts are made 
 up from the text. in ora : so in 
 the epitaph attributed to Ennius, 
 volito per ora virum ; ' soon to 
 be famous in Rome.' 
 
 10-11. non expalluit : it required 
 a certain audacity to attempt a 
 Pindaric ode (cf. Carm. 4, 2, I, 
 Pindarum quisquis studet aemu- 
 lari). The thought is repeated in 
 positive form in ausus, vs. 1 1. For 
 the accus. haustus cf. Carm. 3, 27, 
 27, fraudes palluit. The con- 
 trast between the draughts from 
 the fountain of the Muses on Heli- 
 con and the waters of the public 
 pool (/acus) or the stream, easy of 
 access to all (apertos), is used by 
 Quintilian, 10, I, 109, non enim 
 pluvias, ut ait Pindarus, aquas 
 colligit, sed vivo gurgite exundat, 
 with a slightly different sense. 
 
 13. Thebanos : i.e., Pindaric. 
 auspice musa : ' with the help of 
 the Muses ' ; the sense is affected 
 
 by the proximity of studet, so that 
 it means ' hoping for the blessing 
 of the Muses.' 
 
 14. desaevit : only here in Hor- 
 ace. The word is coined to go 
 with ampullatur and to express 
 humorously, because it is coined, 
 the high emotions of tragedy. 
 ampullatur : a translation of ATJKU- 
 0%a. (cf. A. P. 97). This word, 
 from A^KU^OS, ampulla, a flask, was 
 used in derision of the tendency 
 of tragedy to run into bombast. 
 The figure seems to be taken from 
 the hollow humming sound made 
 by the wind in the neck of a jar. 
 It is certainly impossible to take 
 these lines, which are in effect a 
 message to Titius, quite seriously ; 
 the phrasing (non expalluit, ausus, 
 auspice, musa, desaevit, ampulla- 
 tur) forbids that interpretation. 
 But neither can they be taken, in 
 so friendly a letter meant for pub- 
 lication, as mere irony. They are 
 the friendly banterings of an older 
 man addressed to a young friend 
 of high ambitions and they are at 
 the same time a reminder of the 
 writer's disinclination to attempt 
 either tragedy or the Pindaric ode.
 
 L 
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, 3, 25 
 
 15 Quid mihi Celsus agit ? Monitus multumque monen 
 
 dus, 
 
 privatas ut quaerat opes et tangere vitet 
 scripta, Palatinus quaecumque recepit Apollo; 
 ne, si forte suas repetitum venerit olim 
 grex avium plumas, moveat cornicula risum 
 
 20 furtivis nudata coloribus. Ipse quid audes ? 
 
 Quae circumvolitas agilis thyma? Non tibi parvum 
 ingenium, non incultum est et turpiter hirtum : 
 seu linguam causis acuis seu civica iura 
 respondere paras seu condis amabile carmen, 
 prima feres hederae victricis praemia. Quodsi 
 
 2 5 
 
 15. mihi: an excellent example 
 of the ethical dative. Celsus : 
 this must be Celsus Albinovanus, 
 addressed in Epist, I, 8 as comes 
 scribaque Neronis. monitus : al- 
 ready, when he was with me in 
 Rome. 
 
 16-17. privatas : explained by 
 the rest of the line ; he should not 
 imitate the great and well-known 
 writers, whose works were already 
 in the library of the temple of 
 Apollo, but should seek after some 
 originality. 
 
 i&-2o. The fable of the bird 
 that dressed itself out in the 
 feathers of other birds, Phaedrus 
 1,3. Horace has slightly changed 
 the story to fit his purpose here. 
 olim : sometime. cornicula : the 
 diminutive form is apparently de- 
 risive, the poor crow, but in all 
 fables the birds and animals are 
 changed about without much re- 
 gard to tradition or natural history, 
 
 and cornicula may be some smaller 
 bird of the crow family. The 
 bantering tone of 9-14 is continued 
 in these lines. 
 
 20. audes: attempt; used abso- 
 lutely the word suggests more of 
 encouragement and less of raillery 
 than is implied in fastidire . . . 
 ausus, vs. II. 
 
 21. thyma: i.e., 'from what 
 flowers do you gather honey ? ' 
 
 22. turpiter hirtum : the figure 
 is of a field left uncultivated and 
 therefore ugly with rough-growing 
 bushes. 
 
 23-24. causis: as pleader in 
 court, as orator. iura respon- 
 dere : as iuris consulttts, like Tre- 
 batius in Sat. 2, i. carmen : lyric 
 poetry. 
 
 25. hederae: cf. Carm. i, i, 29, 
 doctarum hederae praemia fron- 
 tium. This is applicable only to 
 the last of the three forms of 
 literary activity, but is somewhat 
 
 39
 
 f, 3. 26] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 frigida curarum fomenta relinquere posses, 
 
 quo te caelestis^sapientia duceret, ires. 
 
 Hoc opus, hoc studium parvi properemus et ampli, 
 
 si patriae volumus, si nobis vivere cari. 
 
 Debes hoc etiam rescribere, sit tibi curae, 
 
 quantae conveniat, Munatius. An male sarta 
 
 gratia nequicquam coit et rescinditur ? At vos 
 
 generalized by prima feres; 'you 
 will reach the first rank, you will 
 get the reward of the ivy wreath.' 
 
 26-27. fomenta: not like the 
 fomenta. of Epist. i, 2, 52, but 
 bandages to be kept wet with cold 
 water. This kind of water cure 
 was used by Augustus on the 
 advice of his physician (Sueton. 
 Aug. 81) and was at this time in 
 fashion. curarum: gen. of defi- 
 nition (Lane, 1255) or material, 
 like hederae praemia, vs. 25. Cf. 
 Cic. de Fin. 2, 29, 95, patientiae, 
 /ortitudinis foment is dolor miti- 
 gari solet. The sense is, ' if you 
 could bring yourself to give up 
 the practice of treating your soul 
 with the cold-water bandages that 
 yo^r anxieties wrap around you, 
 you would follow where philosophy 
 would lead.' sapientia : this 
 single reference, with the two vss. 
 which follow, is the only con- 
 nection between the epistle and 
 the social philosophy which is the 
 general theme of this Book. 
 
 28. parvi : not necessarily a ref- 
 erence to the circumstances of 
 either Florus or Horace ; cf. Epist. 
 I, I, 25 f. 
 
 29. nobis . . . cari : not different, 
 in spite of Lachmann's dictum, 
 from nobis amici {Epist. I, 18, 
 101) ; the sense is 'to be in 
 harmony with others and with 
 ourselves.' 
 
 30-31. debes: i.e., 'I especially 
 urge you,' 'you are especially 
 bound to tell me.' etiam: the 
 earlier part of the letter contains 
 many questions, direct and in- 
 direct, which call for a reply to 
 the epistle. sit tibi curae: indi- 
 rect question after rescribere, the 
 second member being expressed 
 in the direct form an . . . rescin- 
 ditur f The sense is 'whether 
 Munatius is as dear to you (curae 
 dat.) as he ought to be.' Muna- 
 tius : another of the young men in 
 the retinue of Tiberius, with whom 
 Florus had quarreled. The quar- 
 rel had been partly made up, and 
 Horace is asking whether the 
 reconciliation was proving per- 
 manent. sarta : transferred figu- * 
 ratively from the sewing up- of a 
 rent in cloth or a wound; cf. 
 Engl. ' patch up a quarrel. 1 
 
 32. coit: also a surgical term, 
 used of the healing of a wound.
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 seu calidus sanguis seu rerum inscitia vexat 
 indomita cervice feros, ubicumque locorum 
 35 vivitis indigni fraternum rumpere foedus, 
 pascitur in vestrum reditum votiva iuvenca. 
 
 33. rerum inscitia : i.e., ' inexpe- 
 rience in life, in affairs.' As cali- 
 dus sanguis would be to a young 
 man a grateful excuse, so rerum 
 inscitia is just the form of reproach 
 which would be most efficacious in 
 bringing him back to good sense. 
 
 34. cervice: like young cattle 
 or horses that have not yet felt 
 the yoke. 
 
 35- vivitis indigni : to be taken 
 together ; indigni is the important 
 word ; ' you ought not, wherever 
 you may be (cf. vs. i), to break so 
 close a friendship.' 
 
 36. ' Nor shall I permit it ; fcr 
 I feel affection for you both, and 
 
 you must dine together at my 
 house when you return.' 
 
 Vss. 30-36 are a kind of post- 
 script containing the only wholly 
 serious thoughts of the epistle. 
 The opening word, debes, connects 
 them directly with the preceding 
 exhortation to philosophy, and the 
 closing invitation to both to dine 
 with him is a most graceful expres- 
 sion of his determination to see 
 their friendship renewed. The 
 lines are scrupulously neutral and 
 yet there is not a word that could 
 give offense to Florus. It would 
 not be possible to express such 
 thoughts as these with greater tact. 
 
 The date of this Epistle cannot be definitely fixed. The absence of 
 any allusion to the Odes in vs. I seems to require a date before 23 B.C., 
 when the Odes were published, and the reference to a favorable judg- 
 ment expressed by Tibullus in regard to the Satires points to a still 
 earlier date. Tibullus returned to Rome from a campaign in Aquitania 
 in 27 and may then for the first time have read the Satires. 
 
 Albius Tibullus, addressed in this epistle and in Carm. I, 33, the 
 elegiac poet, was a younger friend of Horace and a man of attractive 
 character. He was, however, of a somewhat melancholy temperament, 
 and this note of general invitation and inquiry is intended to cheer him. 
 
 ' What are you doing at your home in Pedum, my dear Albius ? 
 Writing or philosophizing in silence ? The gods have given you much ; 
 be grateful for what you have. If you will make me a visit, you will 
 find me fat and cheerful, as an Epicurean ought to be.' 
 
 4*
 
 1,4. 
 
 HORATI 
 
 
 Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide iudex, 
 quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana ? 
 Scribere quod Cassi Parmensis opuscula vincat, 
 an taciturn silvas inter reptare salubris, 
 curantem quicquid dignum sapiente bonoque est? 
 Non tu corpus eras sine pectore : di tibi formam, 
 di tibi divitias dederunt artemque f ruendi. 
 Quid voveat dulci nutricula maius alumno, 
 qui sapere et fari possit quae sentiat, et cui 
 
 r. sermonum: the Satires. 
 candide : the opposite, niger, is 
 used in Sat. r, 4, 85, 91, and can- 
 didae animae of Plotius and Va- 
 rius and Vergil, Sat. I, 5, 41. It 
 means fair or friendly, rather than 
 'candid.' 
 
 2. dicam : often inserted into a 
 question in colloquial style (quo 
 te dicam ego ire? Plaut. Cure. 
 12, unde id futurum dicam f Ps. 
 106) to increase the effect of un- 
 certainty. Cf. Engl. 'what am I 
 to suppose that you are doing ? ' 
 Pedana : Tibullus had an estate 
 near Pedum, which was not far 
 from Horace's Sabine farm. 
 
 ^3. scribere : sc. dicatn te. 
 Cassi : one of the assassins of 
 Caesar, called Parmensis here to 
 distinguish him from Cassius 
 Longinus. He was put to death 
 after the battle of Actium by the 
 order of Augustus. Of his lite- 
 rary activity almost nothing is 
 known, but the comparison here 
 Js entirely respectful. opuscula : 
 the word could properly be used 
 of elegies, which would afford a 
 
 natural standard of comparison 
 for the poems of Tibullus 
 
 4. taciturn . . . reptare : this co- 
 incides well with the character of 
 Tibullus, as it is revealed in his 
 elegies. 
 
 5. curantem: i.e., intent upon 
 philosophy. 
 
 6-7. eras : the tense refers back 
 to the time in the past when they 
 were together, in contrast to Hor- 
 ace's present state (nunc, vs. 2) 
 of ignorance. ' You were not, 
 when I knew you. 1 formam, di- 
 vitias, artem : the blessings of tha 
 fortunate, expressed in somewhat 
 conventional terms, and made 
 more individual and specific in 
 vss. 9-11. 
 
 8. voveat : wish, pray for. - 
 maius : i.e., what more, what be* 
 sides ; the standard of comparison 
 is implied in vss. 6-7. 
 
 9-10. qui: i.e., 'if he have the 
 power. . . .' Tibullus had all the 
 gifts of fortune here specified 
 intelligence, power of expression, 
 attractiveness, a good name 
 except perhaps valetudo; he was
 
 . 
 
 \ 
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 
 LI, 4, 16 
 
 gratia, fama, valetudo contingat abunde, 
 et mundus victus non deficiente crumina ? 
 Inter spem curamque, timores inter et iras 
 omnem crede diem tibi dilu^iisse supremum : 
 grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora. 
 Me pinguem et nitidum bene curata cute vises, 
 cum ridere voles, Epicuri de grege porcum. 
 
 of a somewhat melancholy tem- 
 perament, and valetudo is added 
 to the list as an encouragement 
 to him in his depression. Vs. 
 10 is a more accurate statement 
 than divitias (7) ; Tibullus had 
 an estate and money enough for 
 his moderate needs. 
 
 12. 'In the ordinary experi- 
 ences of life, which is a succes- 
 sion of varying emotions.' This 
 description, not quite in Horace's 
 usual vein, is in reality meant to 
 be encouraging to Tibullus by 
 reminding him that there is noth- 
 ing unusual in his experience. 
 
 13-14. The doctrine of the Odes 
 (I, 9, 9-16; i, ii ; 2, 3; 2, 10). 
 The two lines are in paratactic 
 relation ; ' accept each day as your 
 
 5 
 
 The year in which this Epistle was written is left entirely uncertain, 
 as is natural in an invitation to dinner. The day of the month was 
 Sept. 22d (vs. 7). 
 
 Torquatus was probably of the family of the Manlii Torquati, a lawyer 
 and orator, but otherwise unknown. He is addressed in Carm. 4, 7, 
 where his genus, facundia, and. pietas are mentioned. 
 
 The letter has all the appearance of being a real invitation to a dinner 
 that actually took place on a special occasion. Two vhings make it 
 
 43 
 
 last; (then) you will be grateful 
 when a new day dawns.' 
 
 15-16. The allusions to Hor- 
 ace's own cheerful state of mind 
 are humorously clothed in allu- 
 sions to his physical well-being. 
 It is said of him in the Vita of 
 Suetonius, habitu corporis brevis 
 fuit atque obesus. cute : cf., 
 Epist. i, 2, 29, note. vises: i.e., 
 'you shall find me in the best of 
 condition, when you come to see 
 me, as I hope you will.' grege: 
 in a double sense, as the usual 
 word for a school of philosophy, 
 and with reference to porcum. 
 porcum : often used as a term of 
 reproach of Epicureanism, which 
 the Romans generally understood 
 only in its less elevated form.
 
 i, 5, ij IIORATI 
 
 worthy of preservation in this collection of letters. It is, in the first 
 place, a very successful illustration, in concrete form, of a fundamental 
 principle of Horace's social philosophy. He is here in the position of 
 the host of no wealth or social position approaching a man of high 
 standing and of importance in the world of affairs. The merit of the 
 invitation is that it recognizes these differences, but with such openness 
 and humor as to show that the writer did not overestimate their impor- 
 tance and was confident that his guest also did not give them undue 
 weight. As host, Horace is humorously profuse in saying that he is 
 making anxious preparations for the dinner ; as a friend, he takes for 
 granted the absolute equality which is the only foundation for friend- 
 ship, without either servility or self-assertion. To this subject his rela- 
 tion to Maecenas had led Horace to give careful attention, and it is the 
 theme of Sat. i, 6 and of two Epistles, 7 and 18, of this Book. 
 
 In the second place, the occasion gave an opportunity for the recom- 
 mendation of that philosophy of moderate enjoyment of pleasure to 
 which Horace so frequently recurs. The praise of wine was a standing 
 theme of Greek and Roman lyric ; an invitation to dinner furnished an 
 appropriate motive for introducing it again. 
 
 Si potes Archiacis conviva recumbere lectis 
 nee modica cenare times olus omne patella, 
 supremo te sole domi, Torquate, manebo. 
 Vina bibes iterum Tauro diffusa palustris 
 
 i. Archiacis: the implication is 2. olus omne : i.e., ' nothing but 
 
 that this was some modest kind the plainest food.' patella: the 
 
 of couch, not quite fitted for use diminutive form is expressive of 
 
 at*a dining table. The Scholiast the pretended humility, 
 
 says Archias breves lectos fecit, 3. supremo sole: 'at the end 
 
 which may be a genuine tradi- of the day.' The more usual 
 
 tion. conviva : to be taken with hour was in the middle of the 
 
 recumbere ; ' to recline as one does afternoon, but this dinner was to 
 
 at the table. 1 Horace does not be prolonged into the night, 10- 
 
 use the ordinary verb, accitmbere ; u. 
 
 but it is possible that there is 4. iterum Tauro: sc. consule. 
 
 some special point in recumbere; Taurus was consul for the second 
 
 'if you are able to stretch yourself time, with Augustus, in 26 B.C. 
 
 out in the usual way on a short The wine was of a respectable age, 
 
 couch.' though not at all remarkable. 
 
 44
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 5. '2 
 
 10 
 
 inter Minturnas Sinuessanumque Petrinum. 
 Si melius quid habes, arcesse, vel imperium fer. 
 lamdudum splendet focus et tibi munda supellex. 
 Mitte levis spes et certamina divitiarum 
 et Moschi causam : eras nato Caesare festus 
 dat veniam somnumque dies ; impune licebit 
 aestivam sermone benigno tendere noctem. 
 Quo mihi fortunam, si non conceditur uti ? 
 
 diffusa : bottled, i.e., poured from 
 the single large jar in which it had 
 fermented into the many smaller 
 amphorae (hence dis-fusd) in 
 which it was sealed up to ripen. 
 
 5. These places were all in 
 the better wine-producing district, 
 though not in the best part of it ; 
 the wine was neither Falernian 
 nor Massic, but still pretty good, 
 as the careful description shows. 
 
 6. arcesse: send it. imperium 
 fer : * or put yourself under my 
 command,' i.e., ' take what I give 
 you, 1 but with a secondary refer- 
 ence to the office of magister bi- 
 bendij which Horace pretends to 
 assume for himself. The line is 
 to be taken humorously, as a sort 
 of climax to the description of the 
 dinner. 
 
 8-9. mitte: a natural and per- 
 haps also a conventional part of an 
 invitation to a banquet; cf. Carm. 
 3, 8, 17, mitte ciirilis super urbe 
 cur as ; Carm. i, 26, 1-6. spes: 
 a very general reference to all 
 kinds of ambition. certamina di- 
 vitiarum: a more definite reference 
 to the struggle for wealth which, 
 
 in Horace's judgment, was far too 
 common at Rome ; divitiarum is 
 an objective gen. Moschi causam : 
 a direct allusion to a case which 
 was then occupying the attention 
 of Torquatus. Moschus was a 
 rhetorician, accused of poisoning, 
 and defended by Torquatus and 
 Asinius Pollio. 
 
 9. nato Caesare : to a reader of 
 Horace's time this bare' phrase 
 would have been perfectly intelli- 
 gible; to us, knowing little of 
 the circumstances, it is not clear 
 whether the reference is to Julius 
 Caesar or to Augustus. But we 
 know of no custom of celebrating 
 the birthday of Julius Caesar so 
 long after his death and, on the 
 other hand, the birthday of Augus- 
 tus was an occasion for festivities 
 (Sueton. Oct. 62). This fell on 
 September 23, and we must there- 
 fore take aestivam (vs. n) in a 
 general sense. The weather would 
 still be summer-like at that date. 
 festus : there would be no session 
 of courts and no public business. 
 
 12. fortunam : the accus. is reg- 
 ular In this exclamation ; cf. Sat. 
 
 45
 
 . 5. '33 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Parcus ob heredis curam nimiumque severus 
 adsidet insane ; potare'et spargere flores 
 incipictm, patiarque vel inconsultus haberi. 
 Quid non ebrietas designat ? Operta recludit, 
 spes iubet esse ratas, ad proelia trudit inertem, 
 sollicitis animis onus eximit, addocet artes. 
 Fecundi calices quern non fecere disertum, 
 contracta quern non in paupertate solutum ? 
 Haec ego procurare et idoneus imperor et non 
 invitus : ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa 
 
 2, 5, 102; 2, 7, 116; with slight 
 variations the phrase occurs half a 
 dozen times, followed by a si- 
 clause. It is not necessary to sup- 
 ply any definite verb. ' What is 
 fortune for if not for use ? ' Cf. the 
 same thought more fully expressed 
 in Cartn. 2, 3, 9 ff. 
 
 13. parcus . . . curam: 'the man 
 who starves himself in order to 
 provide for his heir.' Cf. Carm. 
 2, 14, 25, absumet heres. 
 
 14. adsidet : Engl. ' is next door 
 to.' Cf. ' sitteth in the seat of the 
 scornful.' Those who are alike 
 will naturally sit together. flores : 
 a usual accompaniment of a feast. 
 
 15. inconsultus: Horace's best 
 phrase for this is duke est desipere 
 in loco {Carm. 4, 12, 28) ; here, 
 however, the word is selected with 
 reference to his guest, who is iuris 
 consultus and would regard in- 
 consultus as a synonym ofin-sanus 
 or in-sipiens. 
 
 16-18. ebrietas : not, of course, 
 intoxication, but the exhilaration 
 
 produced by wine. The best com- 
 mentary on this passage is Carm. 
 3,21, 13-20; designat (effect, ac- 
 complish) is the same as tu lene 
 tormenium (i.e., stimulus) ingenio 
 admoves \ plerumque duro ; operta 
 recludit is a short phrase for tu 
 sapientium \ curas et arcanum 
 iocoso | consilium retegis Lyaeo; 
 spes iubet esse ratas is equivalent 
 to tu spem reducis mentibus anxiis, 
 and ad proelia trudit inertem to 
 virisque et addis cornua pauperi. 
 The following phrases, however, 
 have no precise parallel in the Ode. 
 
 19-20. fecundi: frequent, fre- 
 quently refilled; in effect the same 
 as ebrietas. contracta : contrasted 
 with solutum at the end of the 
 verse ; ' freed from the limitations 
 of poverty.' 
 
 21. haec: the details of arrange- 
 ment and preparation which follow 
 in ne and ut clauses. imperor : 
 / am bound, as host, ' I take it 
 upon myself.' 
 
 22-25. Cf. in general, Sat. 2, 4,
 
 EPISTVLAE I 1, 5, 31 
 
 corruget nares ; ne non et cantharus et lanx 
 
 ostendat tibi te ; ne fidos inter amicos 
 *5 sit qui dicta foras eliminet; ut coeat par 
 
 iungaturque pari. Butram tibi Septiciumque 
 
 et nisi cena prior potiorque puella Sabinum 
 
 detinet adsumam. Locus est et pluribus umbris ; 
 
 sed nimis arta premunt olidae convivia caprae. 
 30 Tu quotus esse velis rescribe et rebus omissis 
 
 atria servantem postico falle clientem. 
 
 81-87, where some emphasis is the chief guest might bring with 
 laid upon the fact that these mat- him. Cf. Sat. 2, 8, 22, quas Mae- 
 ters demand only attention, not cenas adduxerat umbras. But 
 expense, and are therefore within not so many as to make it neces- 
 the reach of persons of moderate sary to sit close together, 
 means, as Horace represents him- 30-31. quotus: i.e., ' name your 
 self to be. ostendat : i-e., ' be number,' and I will provide accord- 
 brightly polished.' eliminet: ingly. rescribe: the note was 
 ' carry beyond the threshold of the sent by a slave, who would wait 
 dining room.' for an answer. rebus omissis: 
 
 26-27. The three men named 'drop your business'; a renewal 
 
 are all unknown to us. prior: of the exhortation in vs. 8. The 
 
 earlier, one to which he has al- humorous suggestion of vs. 31 is 
 
 ready been invited. also an indirect compliment to the 
 
 28-29. umbris : persons whom busy lawyer. 
 
 There is no evidence to determine the date of this Epistle, and 
 Numicius, whose name stands in the first line, is entirely unknown. 
 
 ' The steady composure of philosophy is the only source of happiness, 
 Numicius. If men can look without superstitious dread upon the won- 
 ders of the universe, they must surely be able to look without passion 
 upon the petty attractions of ambition and wealth, neither desiring their 
 rewards nor fearing their loss. For they are all a passing show, here 
 to-day and gone to-morrow. But the rewards of philosophy are 
 permanent. 
 
 'You think otherwise ? Very well ; follow your own course. Hurry 
 and labor to get rich and then to get richer, until you are sc rich that 
 
 47
 
 I, 6, I] HORATI 
 
 your money is a mere superfluity to you and a temptation to thieves. 
 Or is it office that is to make you happy ? Then crawl in the dirt to 
 get votes. Or are you going to be a lover of good dinners ? That is 
 a simple ambition, and certainly a low one. Or is it to be love and 
 jests ? You know where that ends. 
 
 ' If this statement of your views does not suit you, make a better one 
 or else accept my ideals.' 
 
 This Epistle is not a letter. In its general form it is not essentially 
 different from the Satires of the First Book. The only indications of 
 that personal tone which distinguishes a letter from a short essay are 
 the purely formal address in vs. I, the two closing lines, and the possi- 
 ble allusion to the opinions of Numicius in vs. ^ly-virtutem verba putas. 
 These, however, are too slight to produce the impression of a letter. 
 For this reason it may be surmised that this is one of the earlier of the 
 Epistles, in which Horace is endeavoring to shape a new form for his 
 social comments, different from the Lucilian form of the First Book and 
 from the dialogue form of the Second Book. 
 
 In the substance of the Epistle, however, in the handling of the 
 familiar thoughts about wealth and ambition, there is a decided change. 
 Horace here writes as one to whom philosophy is a reality, an actual 
 and accepted guide in the affairs of life. In this respect the Epistle is 
 quite unlike the earlier work and this element brings it into harmony 
 with the other writings in this collection. 
 
 Nil admirari prope res est una, Numici, 
 solaque, quae possit facere et servare beatum. 
 Hunc solem et Stellas et decedentia certis 
 tempora momentis sunt qui formidine nulla 
 
 i. nil admirari: to be undis- was the end sought after in all 
 
 turbed in spirit, ' to be free from Greek systems of philosophy. To 
 
 the distractions of fear and desire.' express this he translates TO 
 
 No words in Horace or perhaps /Aj;8ev OavfjuLuv, a phrase used by 
 
 in Latin literature have been Pythagoras and often repeacetl in 
 
 more completely misunderstood later philosophical writings. The 
 
 than these. Horace is not preach- same thought is expressed in vs. 
 
 ing indifferentism ; the words 14, below. 
 
 stand for that self-control and 3-5. hunc: as if pointing to it. 
 inward composure which, under tempora : the seasons. mo- 
 various names (drapo^ta, airdOeta), mentis : not times, but changes, 
 
 48
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 6, 14 
 
 imbuti spectent ; quid censes munera terrae, 
 quid maris extremes Arabas ditantis et Indos, 
 ludicra quid plausus et amici dona Quiritis, 
 quo spectanda modo, quo sensu credis et ore ? 
 Qui timet his adversa, fere miratur eodem 
 quo cupiens pacto ; pavor est utrobique molestus, 
 improvisa simul species exterret utrumque. 
 Gaudeat an doleat, cupiat metuatne, quid ad rem, 
 si quidquid vidit melius peiusque sua spe 
 defixis oculis animoque et corpore torpet ? 
 
 alternations {movi-mentis). The 
 machinery of the universe is looked 
 upon by the savage as something 
 awful, something to be feared, but 
 some men (especially the Epi- 
 curean philosophers like Lucre- 
 tius) can gaze upon its wonders 
 without superstitious dread. The 
 whole sentence is a paratactic 
 protasis to the thought of vss. 5-8 ; 
 ' if men can look upon the wonders 
 of nature without undue excite- 
 ment, can we not remain unmoved 
 by trifles like wealth or office?' 
 
 5-8. quid censes : the question 
 is put in its most general form and 
 then taken up at the end in the 
 more definite form in vs. 8. This 
 is a colloquialism, like the use of 
 quid ais ? to introduce a question. 
 Cf. Cic. pro Rose. 17, 49, 'quid 
 censes hunc ipsum Sex. Roscium, 
 quo studio et qua intellegentia esse 
 in rusticis rebus?' and often. 
 maris : with munera ; the refer- 
 ence is to pearls from the eastern 
 seas. ludicra . . . plausus: the 
 
 HOR. EP. 4 4Q 
 
 absurd applause ; plausus is appo- 
 sitional gen. with hidicra. [The 
 line is, however, by no means clear 
 in sense.] dona: i.e., offices. 
 ore: expression; i.e., 'with what 
 kind of looks.' 
 
 9. his . . . adversa : the oppo- 
 sites of wealth (vs. 6) and honors 
 (vs. 7). miratur: his fear of 
 poverty is in effect the same kind 
 of emotion as love of money ; 
 either is an unworthy passion. 
 
 n. simul: simul ac, as often. 
 species: i.e., the unexpected 
 appearance of either success or 
 defeat. 
 
 12. quid ad rem : i.e., what dif- 
 ference does it make whether it is 
 pleasure or pain? The argument 
 of these lines is enforced by being 
 repeated in different forms, mira- 
 tur pavor = torpet ; improvisa 
 species = melius peiusque sua spe \ 
 but the variation is produced by 
 the use of slightly changed figures, 
 so that there is no impression of 
 useless repetition.
 
 i, 6, 15] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 15 Insani nomen sapiens ferat, aequus iniqui, 
 ultra quam satis est virtutem si petat ipsam. 
 I nunc, argentum et marmor vetus aeraque. et artes 
 suspice, cum gemmis Tyrios mirare colores ; 
 gaude quod spectant oculi te mille loquentem ; 
 
 20 navus mane forum et vespertinus pete tectum, 
 ne plus'frumenti dotalibus emetat agris 
 Mutus et indignum, quod sit peioribus ortus, 
 hie tibi sit potius quam tu mirabilis illi. 
 Quicquid sub terra est in apricum proferet aetas, 
 
 15-16. This is a summary of 
 the argument in an extreme, al- 
 most paradoxical, form ; ' even the 
 pursuit of the philosophic coolness 
 may be too ardent.' insani no- 
 men . . . ferat : cf., with the same 
 meaning, adsidet insa.no, Epist. I, 
 5, 14. aequus: this particular 
 virtue is selected for specification, 
 after the general word sapiens, be- 
 cause this is precisely the virtue 
 which should prevent ultra quam 
 satis est. 
 
 17-18. i nunc: i.e., 'in view of 
 th&e facts go on, if you can, and 
 surrender yourself to the passion 
 for art or honors or wealth. 1 
 The objects named in these lines 
 have not been mentioned above ; 
 they are the signs of a life of lux- 
 ury and self-indulgence, silver 
 plate, statues, and other artistic 
 objects. Cf. the reference in Sat. 
 2, 7, 95 to excessive devotion to 
 the enjoyment of art, which is 
 there satirized as a form of 
 slavery. 
 
 19. The gratified ambition of 
 the orator. 
 
 20-23. The seeker after money. 
 
 forum : as the market place, the 
 Exchange, not the place of public 
 business. vespertinus : only the 
 especially eager man of business 
 would stay so late. frumenti : 
 one form of wealth, as in Sat. I, 
 I, 49 ff. and often. dotalibus: 
 this is parenthetic in sense, like 
 the formal parenthesis in the next 
 line ; ' lest Mutus should have a 
 larger income than you his 
 money came from his wife, by the 
 way, and he is a man of very hum- 
 ble origin. 1 emetat: reap, har- 
 vest; only heKe in classical Latin. 
 
 Mutus : unknown. He is of the 
 same class as the man who is 
 attacked in Epod. 4. 
 
 24-25. The emphasis is on the 
 second part of the sentence, defo- 
 diet condetque, and the first part is 
 in sense a clause of comparison ; 
 'as time has brought all this to 
 light, so time will bury it all-'
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 i, 6, 3' 
 
 25 defodiet condetque nitentia. Cum bene notum 
 porticus Agrippae et via te conspexerit Appi, 
 ire tamen restat Numa quo devenit et Ancus. 
 Si latus aut renes morbo tentantur acuto, 
 quaere fugam morbi. Vis recte vivere : (quis non ?) 
 
 30 si virtus hoc 'una potest dare, fortis omissis 
 hoc age deliciis. Virtutem verba putas et 
 
 in apricum : i.e., into the light of 
 day, into our range of vision. This 
 particular expression for a thought 
 which is more frequently expressed 
 by birth and death or growth and 
 decay is chosen in order to con- 
 tinue the figure of seeing, gazing 
 upon, which is prominent in the 
 earlier lines (spectent 5, spectanda 
 8, species u, iridit 13, oculis 14, 
 s^4spice 18). 
 
 25. bene notum: i.e., when you 
 win the fame you are seeking. 
 
 26. porticus Agrippae : a new 
 portico opened in the year 25. 
 Cf. also Epist. i, i, 71. via . . . 
 Appi : the same form (for Appia 
 via} in Epist. I, 18, 20. This was 
 a favorite place for driving ; cf. 
 Epod. 4, 14, Appiam mannis terit. 
 
 28-68. ' Since philosophy is, as 
 I have proved, the only source 
 of happiness, give up all else 
 money making, ambition, pleasure 
 and seek this.' The thought 
 is clear, but its connection with the 
 earlier part of the Epistle is some- 
 what obscured by the detailed de- 
 scription of the three pursuits 
 which are to be abandoned. 
 
 28. This line, with quod instead 
 
 of si, is repeated from Sat. 2, 3, 
 163; cf. Epist. i, i, 56. In this 
 case there is no point in the repe- 
 tition, which seems to be merely 
 an accidental reminiscence. 
 
 29. vis : a condition in the 
 form of a statement, in order to 
 avoid the awkwardness of two 
 conditions with one main clause, 
 hoc age. 
 
 30. virtus . . . una: referring 
 back to vs. r. omissis: this is 
 the real verb, corresponding to 
 quaere fugam ; ' if you have a 
 disease of the body, go to a doctor 
 and be cured ; if you have a dis- 
 ease of the soul and wish to be 
 freed from it (recte vivere), then 
 give up the follies that have caused 
 it and if my argument has con- 
 vinced you that philosophy is the 
 only cure go to philosophy. 1 
 
 31. The opposite of vs. 30; 
 'but if you think that philosophy 
 is nonsense, then go your own 
 way.' The rest of the Epistle is 
 an amplification of this thought, 
 expressed in words which reveal 
 the unsoundness of the hope of 
 finding happiness in such ways 
 and therefore, by indirection, re-
 
 I. 6, 32] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 lucum ligna : cave ne portus occupet alter, 
 
 ne Cibyratica, ne Bithyna negotia perdas ; 
 
 mille talenta rotundentur, totidem altera, porro et 
 
 35 tertia succedant, et quae pars quadret acervum. 
 Scilicet uxorem cum dote fidemque et amicos 
 et genus et formam regina pecunia donat, 
 ac bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque. 
 Mancipiis locuples eget aeris Cappadocum rex: 
 
 40 ne fueris hie tu. Chlamydes Lucullus, ut aiunt, 
 si posset centum scaenae praebere rogatus, 
 ' Qui possum tot ? ' ait, ' Tamen et quaeram et quot 
 habebo 
 
 mind the reader of the doctrine of 
 vs. i and vs. 30. 
 
 32. lucum ligna: i.e., to think 
 that philosophy is mere words is 
 as foolish as to think that a sacred 
 grove is nothing but so much fire- 
 wood. portus occupet : not as in 
 Carm. i, 14, 2, where the port is 
 a harbor of refuge from storm ; the 
 portus is here the harbor where 
 the cargo is to be sold and the 
 jirst comer will get the best prices. 
 
 33- Cibyratica: business with 
 Cibyra, a city in Asia Minor. 
 negotia: ventures was the word 
 used in the China trade. 
 
 35. quadret : ' make the pile 
 four-square, 1 add still a fourth 
 thousand talents. 
 
 36. scilicet : of course, you know, 
 often as here with irony. fidem : 
 credit, in the business sense. 
 
 37. regina : another ironical sug- 
 gestion of the absurdity of this 
 ideal. 
 
 38. Suadela: goddess of per- 
 suasive eloquence. The terms 
 used here are in part the same 
 used in stating the Stoic Paradox 
 that the sapiens possesses every- 
 thing; cf. Sat. i, 3, 123 ff. 
 
 39. mancipiis : with locuples. 
 aeris : after eget. Cappadocia 
 furnished many slaves to Roman 
 masters, but the kingdom was hard 
 pressed for cash (aeris). Of the 
 previous king Cicero says, ' nullum 
 aerarium, nullum vectigal habet 
 . . . nihil illo regno spoliatius, nihil 
 rege egentius,' ad Att. 6, i, 3. 
 
 40. ne fueris: i.e. 'do not be 
 content unless you have wealth of 
 every kind,' of course ironically. 
 The following story of Lucullus 
 is repeated also by Plutarch, 
 Lucull. 39, with a reference to 
 Horace's comment in vs. 45. 
 
 41. scaenae: the cloaks were 
 needed to dress a large chorus, 
 who were to appear in rich dress.
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [1. 6, 53 
 
 mittam.' Post paullo scribit sibi milia quinque 
 esse domi chlamydum ; partem vel tolleret omnes. 
 
 45 Exilis domus est, ubi non et multa supersunt 
 et dominum fallunt et prosunt furibus. Ergo 
 si res sola potest facere et servare beatum, 
 hoc primus repetas opus, hoc postremus omittas. 
 Si fortunatum species et gratia praestat, 
 
 50 mercemur servum qui dictet nomina, laevum 
 qui fodicet latus et cogat trans pondera dextram 
 porrigere. ' Hie multum in Fabia valet, ille Velina ; 
 cui libet hie fasces dabit, eripietque curule 
 
 43. milia quinque: Plutarch, 
 with the sobriety of a biographer, 
 puts the number at two hundred. 
 
 44. tolleret : the subject is the 
 praetor who was giving the games ; 
 in the note it would be tolle. 
 
 45-46. The application of the 
 story. ' Don't be like the king of 
 Cappadocia, but be really rich, 
 like Lucullus, who had more things 
 than he could possibly use mere 
 plunder for thieves.' 
 
 47. A reminder of vss. 1-2 and 
 therefore of the ironical meaning 
 of all this exhortation. 
 
 48. This also repeats vs. 20, in a 
 slightly different form, and the rep- 
 etition has the effect of saying, ' we 
 are back where we were before. 1 
 
 49-55- ' If office holding is your 
 ideal, then use the unpleasant 
 methods of the politician. 1 
 
 49. species : the state and splen- 
 dor of high office. gratia : the 
 personal influence that wins votes. 
 
 50. servum: the nomenclator, 
 
 whose business it was to know the 
 names of citizens and remind his 
 master, so that the master might 
 greet them as if he remembered 
 them. 
 
 51. fodicet: a colloquial word, 
 nudge. The rest of the verse 
 contains an allusion to some 
 action of a candidate soliciting 
 votes, some act which would not 
 be agreeable to a self-respecting 
 man, but which his desire to pro- 
 pitiate a voter compels him to 
 perform. But there are many 
 details of Roman life about which 
 we know so little that an allusion 
 to them must remain unintelligible. 
 It is not worth while to repeat 
 here the attempts that have been 
 made by scholars to explain trans 
 pondera] the data are not suffi- 
 cient to make the allusion clear. 
 
 52. Fabia, Velina : sc. tribu. 
 These are voting districts, fre- 
 quently mentioned. 
 
 53-55- curule . . . ebur: the 
 
 53
 
 I. 6 54j 
 
 HORATI 
 
 cui volet importunus ebur.' 'Prater,' 'pater' 
 adde; 
 
 55 ut cuique est aetas, ita quemque facetus adopta, 
 Si, bene qui cenat, bene vivit, lucet ; eamus 
 quo ducet gula : piscemur, venemur, ut olim 
 Gargilius, qui mane plagas, venabula, servos, 
 differtum transire forum populumque iubebat, 
 
 60 unus ut e multis populo spectante referret 
 
 emptum mulus aprum ; crudi tumidique lavemur, 
 quid deceat, quid non, obliti, Caerite cera 
 
 ivory chair of the curule magistrate. 
 importunus : ' when he is in a 
 bad temper.' It is an added 
 humiliation that the candidate 
 must keep surly voters in good 
 humor. pater: Horace repre- 
 sents himself as addressing Tre- 
 batius as pater optime, Sat. 2, I, 
 12. facetus: not jokingly but 
 with ready speech, suiting the ad- 
 dress to the age of the voter. 
 
 56-64. ' If the pleasures of the 
 table seem to you the highest 
 good, then follow where appetite 
 leads.' The new thought is in- 
 troduced abruptly, as in vs. 49. 
 
 56. lucet : ' it's morning ' and 
 the time to provide food for the 
 day's feasting. 
 
 57. piscemur, venemur : not lit- 
 erally, but in the market ; ' let us 
 look for fish and game as earnestly 
 as Gargilius did.' 
 
 58-60. The comparison is car- 
 ried out into ludicrous details 
 which have nothing to do with 
 the argument. Cf. the allusion to 
 
 Ruso, Sat. i, 3, 86 ff. differtum 
 . . . populumque : for differtum 
 populo. The repetition in the 
 next line is intentional. ut: 
 grammatically a clause of purpose, 
 but in content an expression of 
 the very small results of so much 
 preparation. emptum : this joke 
 is still in circulation. 
 
 61. crudi: so in Sat. I, 5, 49, 
 of one who began to take exercise 
 too soon after a meal. The three 
 words go together ; ' let us go at 
 once from a gluttonous meal to a 
 hot bath, from one indulgence to 
 another.' The verb lavemur re- 
 sumes the construction of piscemur, 
 venemur, vs. 57, after the long 
 comparison, ut . . . aprum. 
 
 62. Caerite cera : the wax -cov- 
 ered tablets on which were the 
 lists of citizens who had not the 
 right of suffrage. These were 
 called tabulae Caeritum, and 
 Caerite cera digni therefore means 
 ' unworthy of the rights of Roman 
 citizens. 1 
 
 54
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, 6, 68 
 
 digni, remigium vitiosum Ithacensis Vlixi, 
 cui potior patria fuit interdicta voluptas. 
 65 Si, Mimnermus uti censet, sine amore iocisque 
 nil est iucundum, vivas in amore iocisque. 
 Vive, vale : si quid novisti rectius istis, 
 candidus imperti ; si non, his utere mecum. 
 
 63. remigium : collective, for Mimnermus : a writer of erotic 
 
 remiges, the crew. The words elegy, a contemporary of Solon, 
 
 contain, of course, a condensed 67-68. vive, vale: so Sat. 2,5, 
 
 comparison. no. istis: 'than these ideas of 
 
 65-66. A fourth object in life, yours,' with the proper force of the 
 
 which, however, is regarded as second person. Cf. the words 
 
 scarcely distinct from the one which introduce these ideals of life, 
 
 which has just preceded and is virtittem verba pittas. his: 'my 
 
 therefore barely mentioned. Cf. views,' as set forth in the first part, 
 
 Sat. 2, 3, where the main heads of 1-27. 
 
 the sermon are given in vss. 78-79 The abruptness of the close is 
 
 and amorousness is treated as a characteristic of Horace, e.g., S&t. 
 
 subdivision of luxuria, 247-280. i. i; 1,2; 1,3. 
 
 In spite of the personal allusions in the early part of this Epistle, it 
 is impossible to determine with certainty the year in which it was 
 written. Nor is it clear where Horace was when he wrote ; he was in 
 the country, and it may be inferred from the fact that there is no refer- 
 ence to his Sabine farm that he was at some other place in the moun- 
 tains. Maecenas was in Rome. 
 
 ' I have changed my mind, my dear Maecenas, and am not coming to 
 Rome now nor even soon. I shall go down to the coast for the winter 
 and shall not see you, my dear friend, until spring comes. My debt to 
 you is great, but I count with confidence upon your consideration for 
 me ; I am not as young as I was once. Perhaps my refusal to return 
 seems to you ungrateful ; you are reminded, perhaps, of the fable of the 
 fox in the corn bin. I admit the justice of the application and stand 
 ready to submit. I can return your gifts without any change in the 
 esteem I have long felt for you. Telemachus, you remember, returned 
 the gift of Menelaus, saying that he could not use horses and a chariot 
 
 55
 
 i, 7 , I] HORATI 
 
 on his little island. So it is with me ; Rome is too big for me, and 1 
 am too small for Rome. Let me tell you a story. Philippus, the 
 lawyer, once made acquaintance with a small tradesman and, partly for 
 his own amusement, induced him to give up his life in Rome and turn 
 farmer. The natural result followed ; the amateur farmer came to 
 utter grief. As he looked at the ruins, he saw his mistake, galloped 
 back to Philippus and begged to be allowed to return the gift. The 
 moral is that every man must go his own way.' 
 
 This Epistle was written late in August or early in September. 
 Horace had left Rome in midsummer, promising to return after a short 
 stay in the mountains. He had, however, stayed for a month, and 
 Maecenas, detained in Rome, had written him, asking him to come 
 back and reminding him of his promise and probably of his obligation 
 to his benefactor. To that letter Horace replies in this Epistle. The 
 personal tone is strong in vss. 1-13, 24-28, 34-39, but the greater part 
 of the Epistle consists of the four stories which are -woven into it, the 
 story of the Calabrian, vss. 14-19, of the fox, 29-33, of Telemachus, 
 40-43, and the long story of Philippus, 46-95. The effect of the intro- 
 duction of this large amount of impersonal material is to make the 
 Epistle read like a Satire. And a comparison with Sat. i, 6 and 
 Sat. 2, 6 will show that Horace has here, in treating a serious subject, 
 returned in part to his earlier form. The fusion, however, of the two 
 elements is carried out with great skill, and this Epistle is justly re- 
 garded as one of the poet's most finished productions. 
 
 But the personal aspect of it is even more interesting than the artistic 
 form. The position was one of real difficulty. It is handled with 
 admirable independence and candor and with most friendly considera- 
 tion for the feelings of Maecenas. Undoubtedly, as the fact of publica- 
 tion shows, it was received by him with appreciation and with generous 
 cordiality. 
 
 Quinque dies tibi pollicitus me rure futurum 
 Sextilem totum mendax desideror. Atqui 
 si me vivere vis sanum recteque valentem, 
 
 1. quinque dies: a 'round' the blunt confession is meant to 
 number, as in Sat. i, 3, 16; 2, 3, take off the edge of Maecenas 1 
 289, and often ; 'a week. 1 annoyance. 
 
 2. Sextilem : not at this time 3. sanum . . . valentem : such 
 named after Augustus. mendax : expressions are frequently doubled, 
 
 56
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 7. I2 
 
 quam mihi das aegro, dabis aegrotare timenti, 
 Maecenas, veniam, dum ficus prima calorque 
 dissignatorem decorat lictoribus atris ; 
 dum pueris omnis pater et matercula pallet, 
 officiosaque sedulitas et opella forensis 
 adducit febris et testamenta resignat. 
 Quodsi bruma nives Albanis illinet agris, 
 ad mare descendet vates tuus et sibi parcet 
 contractusque leget ; te, dulcis amice, reviset 
 
 without any real difference in the 
 meaning of the two words ; so 
 valere et vivere, i>ive vale. 
 
 4. aegrotare timenti : the next 
 lines amplify this thought. Verbs 
 of fearing are occasionally followed 
 by an infin. ; Lane, 1959. 
 
 5. ficus prima : i.e., late August, 
 the time when the first figs ripen, 
 but with reference also to the be- 
 lief that early-ripening figs were 
 injurious to the health. 
 
 6. dissignatorem-. the under- 
 taker ; he directed the funeral 
 procession, with attendants (lie- 
 tores) dressed in black to clear the 
 way. 
 
 7. dum: the thought is better 
 expressed in Engl . by an indepen- 
 dent sentence ; ' and meanwhile,' 
 and all the time.' matercula: 
 cf. mttricula, Epist. i, 4, 8. 
 
 8. officiosa : not with reference 
 to public duties, but to those so- 
 cial obligations which Horace 
 himself found so oppressive when 
 lie was in the city ; cf. Sat. 2, 
 6, 230. opslla : the diminutive 
 
 form expresses the writer's feel- 
 ing of the pettiness of all such 
 things. 
 
 9. resignat : i.e., brings fatal 
 disease and therefore causes the 
 opening of wills. 
 
 10. quodsi : temporal, not con- 
 ditional; but when. This is reg- 
 ularly the meaning of si when the 
 fact stated m the ^/-clause is 
 certain to occur. 
 
 n. ad mare : to some place on 
 the southern seacoast, perhaps 
 not yet definitely selected, or per- 
 haps Tarentum ; cf.vs. 45. vates : 
 this old word had fallen into disuse, 
 but was restored to good usage by 
 the Augustan writers as a substi- 
 tute for the Greek poeta. Here it 
 is probably a quotation from the 
 letter of Maecenas, to which this 
 is a reply. 
 
 12. contractus: 'huddled to- 
 gether,' as if drawn up by the chill 
 of cold. leget: read. The ex- 
 pression here is rather brief, but 
 is made easier by the plainer phrase 
 sibi parcet. 
 
 57
 
 I. 7. '3] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 20 
 
 cum zephyris, si concedes, et hirundine prima. 
 
 Non quo more piris vesci Calaber iubet hospes, 
 
 tu me fecisti locupletem. ' Vescere sodes ! ' 
 
 ' lam satis est.' 'At tu quantum vis tolle.' 'Benigne.' 
 
 4 Non invisa feres pueris munuscula parvis.' 
 
 ' Tarn teneor dono quam si dimittar onustus.' 
 
 ' Vt libet ; haec porcis hodie comedenda relinques.' 
 
 Prodigus et stultus donat quae spernit et odit ; 
 
 haec seges ingratos tulit et feret omnibus annis. 
 
 Vir bonus et sapiens dignis ait esse paratus ; 
 
 nee tamen ignorat, quid distent aera lupinis. 
 
 13. si concedes : if you will per- 
 mit. This friendly formula, like 
 the address dulcis amice, is inserted 
 with real delicacy of feeling into 
 the sentence which conveys to 
 Maecenas the full extent of Hor- 
 ace's purpose, to remain away from 
 Rome not only through August and 
 September, but all winter, until the 
 signs of spring come. hirundine : 
 the poetic herald of spring. 
 
 14. There is both firmness and 
 delicacy in the immediate turning 
 to the story, without argument 
 or excuse. Calaber : merely to 
 make the story seem real, as names 
 are often used in the Satires, e.g., 
 I, I, 6; 20, 58. 
 
 15. locupletem: it is only in 
 this connection, where it empha- 
 sizes his gratitude, that Horace 
 speaks of himself as rich. 
 
 1 6. benigne : a courteous for- 
 mula of refusal ; so tarn gratia. 
 Used again in vs. 62. 
 
 o. quae spernit : i.e., things that 
 
 are of no value to him, porcis come- 
 denda. The thought is expressed 
 with a slight difference by Seneca, 
 Epist. 1 20, 8, multi sunt, qui nan 
 donant, sed proiciunt ; cf. the 
 whole section. 
 
 21. seges : the use of this figure 
 is suggested by a proverb like that 
 quoted by Cicero, de Or. 64, 261, 
 ut sementem feceris, it a metes. 
 
 22. vir bonus: the adversative 
 connection is merely suggested, as 
 often in Horace, by the contrast 
 between these words and prodigus 
 et stultus. dignis . . . faratus: 
 ' is ready to give to men of \\ orthy 
 character.' Cf. the similar thought 
 in Sat. I, 6, 51, praesertim cautus 
 dignos adsumere, used also of Mae- 
 cenas, as if that was a principle 
 definitely laid down by him in be- 
 stowing his friendship. Cf. also 
 Sat. I, 6, 7 f. 
 
 23. lupinis: lupines, a kind of 
 bean used as stage money ; Plaut. 
 Poen. 597. This line amplifies
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 7. 34 
 
 Dignum praestabo me etiam pro laude merentis. 
 
 25 Quodsi me noles usquam discedere, reddes 
 forte latus, nigros angusta fronte capillos ; 
 reddes dulce loqui, reddes ridere decorum et 
 inter vina fugam Cinarae maerere protervae. 
 Forte per angustam tenuis vulpecula rimam 
 
 30 repserat in cumeram frumenti, pastaque rursus) 
 
 ire fofas pleno tendebat corpore frustra. 
 
 Cui mustela procul : ' Si vis/ ait, ' effugere istinc, 
 macra cavum repetes artum, quem macra subisti.' 
 Hac ego si compellor imagine, cuncta resigno ; 
 
 sapiens] he knows the value of his 
 gifts. 
 
 24. dignum: as you, bonus et 
 sapiens, are ready for the worthy, 
 so I am ready to show myself dig- 
 num by my gratitude, pro laude 
 merentis. 
 
 2 5~3 6 - ' I am indeed grateful, but 
 I must have my freedom too ; I am 
 no longer young, and you must not 
 expect from me a constant attend- 
 ance. If you expected that, I should 
 have to remind you of the story of 
 the fox in the corn bin and act 
 according to the moral of the tale.' 
 
 26. latus : lungs, chest ; but we 
 do not know that Horace suffered 
 from any disease of the kind this 
 would suggest. nigros: he says 
 that he was praecanus, i gray be- 
 fore his time ' ; Epist. i, 20, 24. 
 angusta fronte : i.e., not yet be- 
 ginning to get bald. 
 
 27-28. ' Give me again the pow- 
 er to enjoy the pleasures of youth. 1 
 The details are not meant to be 
 
 personal, but general ; ' the pleas- 
 ant voice and laughter of youth.' 
 Cinarae: cf. Carm. 4, i, 3-4, 
 non sum qualis eram bonae \ sub 
 regno Cinarae. She is the only 
 one of the girls mentioned by Hor- 
 ace who seems to have had a real 
 existence. 
 
 29. vulpecula: the fox is the 
 hero of many of the Fables, as of 
 many of the tales of Uncle Remus. 
 In such stories almost no attention 
 is paid to the real habits of the ani- 
 mals ; indeed, it is common to find 
 that in different versions the ani- 
 mals are changed about freely, as, 
 for example, this fable is also told 
 with a mouse for the chief actor. 
 
 30. cumeram: bin or jar for 
 storing grain ; cf. Sat. i, I, 53. 
 
 32. procul : at a little distance ; 
 this is a common meaning ; cf. Sat. 
 2, 6, 105. 
 
 34. ego : emphatic. compel- 
 lor : not as in Sat. 2, 3, 297, but 
 in the legal sense ; < I too, if I 
 
 59
 
 7. 35] 
 
 IIOKATI 
 
 35 nec somnum plebis laudo satur altilium, nee 
 otia divitiis Arabum liberrima muto. 
 Saepe verecundum laudasti, rexque paterque 
 audisti coram, nec verbo parcius absens ; 
 inspice si possum donata reponere laetus. 
 
 40 Haud male Telemachus, proles patientis Vlixi : 
 ' Non est aptus equis Ithace locus, ut neque planis 
 porrectus spatiis nec multae prodigus herbae ; 
 Atride, magis apta tibi tua dona relinquam.' 
 Parvum parva decent : mihi iam non regia Roma, 
 
 45 sed vacuum Tibur placet aut imbelle Tarentum. 
 
 am summoned on the analogy of called; so Sat. 2, 6, 20 and often. 
 
 this fable, . . .' resigno : also 
 formal ; restore, ' transfer back to 
 you under my hand and seal. 1 The 
 word is used in a similar context 
 in Carm. 3, 29, 54, resigno quae 
 \_For tuna~\ dedit. 
 
 35-36. altilium : with satur ; it 
 means, properly, fowls fattened for 
 eating, then any specially fine food. 
 The meaning is, 'I am in earnest 
 in saying cuncta resigno ; I am not 
 so inconsistent as to be praising a 
 simple life while I live in luxury ; 
 I do not wish to give up my free- 
 dom for all the wealth of Arabia.' 
 
 37. verecundum: for my mod- 
 esty; cf. Carm. 2, 18, 12, nec po- 
 tentem amicum largiora flagito, 
 satis beatus unicis Sabinis. rex : 
 = patronus. pater: Maecenas 
 was only a few years older than 
 Horace, but the difference was 
 enough to justify the use of this 
 term of respect. 
 
 38. audisti : you have been 
 
 absens : with no reference to his 
 separation at this time, but in con- 
 trast to coram. 
 
 39. ' Try me and see whether I 
 cannot do as I say, and without 
 repining, too.' laetus at the end 
 of the line is emphatic. 
 
 40-43. Menelaus presented 
 horses and a chariot to Telema- 
 chus as an expression of friendship 
 for him and his father. The reply 
 of Telemachus, of \vhich vss. 41- 
 43 are a paraphrase, is in Odys. 4, 
 60 1 ff. patientis: an ornamental 
 epithet, translating the Homeric 
 iroXi/rXai. 
 
 44-45. parvum parva : i.e., ' so 
 it is with me ; I can accept only 
 gifts that are suitable to my tastes, 
 not gifts that require a change of 
 life.' regia, vacuum, imbelle: 
 royal, quiet, peaceful; the adjec- 
 tives are carefully chosen to carry 
 on the modesty of parvum. 
 There is a change of emphasis 
 
 60
 
 EP1STVLAE 
 
 7. S3 
 
 5 
 
 Strenuus et fortis causisquc Philippus agendis 
 clarus, ab officiis octavam circiter horam 
 dum redit atque foro nimium distare Carinas 
 iam grandis natu queritur, conspexit, ut aiunt, 
 adrasum quendam vacua tonsoris in umbra 
 cultello proprios purgantem leniter ungues. 
 ' Demetri,' (puer hie non laeve iussa Philippi 
 accipiebat,) ' abi ; quaere et refer, unde domo, quis, 
 
 at this point. Hitherto the stress 
 has been upon Horace's inability 
 to stay in Rome, upon the sincerity 
 of his gratitude to Maecenas, and 
 upon his unwillingness to be bound 
 by the gifts he had received. From 
 vs. 44 the emphasis is rather upon 
 his unfitness for such a life as he 
 must lead if he were to be con- 
 stantly in attendance upon his 
 patron. 
 
 46-95. The story of Philippus 
 and Volteius Mena is a companion 
 piece to the story of the Town 
 Mouse and the Country Mouse, 
 which enforces the moral of Sat. 
 2,6. 
 
 46. Philippus : one of the famous 
 Roman orators, consul in the year 
 91. The description of him in 
 Cic. de Or at. 3, 1,4, et vehementi 
 et diserto et imprimis forti ad rests- 
 tendum, agrees with the description 
 given here. 
 
 47. octavam: the courts opened 
 early, by nine o'clock (Sat. i, 9, 
 35 f.), and all public business was 
 over early in the afternoon. This 
 bit of detail, with others below 
 (vss. 50 f., 71. 76, 80, 90), is in- 
 
 tended to give vividness to this 
 traditional (lit aiunt, vs. 49) tale. 
 48. Carinas: a part of the city 
 in which it is known that various 
 persons of importance (Pompey, 
 Q. Cicero) resided. It was not, in 
 fact, far from the Forum, but it 
 seemed so to an old man, tired 
 with his day's work. 
 
 50. adrasum: i.e., he was al- 
 ready shaved and therefore at 
 leisure. vacua ... in umbra : the 
 barber's shop was a booth, open 
 toward the street, at this time empty 
 and, in contrast with the hot street, 
 cool and shaded. 
 
 51. proprios: this was sometimes 
 done by the barber ; the only rea- 
 son for representing the man as 
 doing it for himself is that the 
 leisurely (leniter} occupation adds 
 to the picture of ease and inde- 
 pendence, which* attracted the at- 
 tention of the tired old lawyer as 
 he passed. 
 
 52. puer hie : the pedisequus 
 who accompanied any respectable 
 man in the streets, e.g., Horace 
 himself (Sat. I, 9, 10). 
 
 53. unde domo: this colloquial 
 
 fit
 
 7. 54] 
 
 HORATl 
 
 cuius fortunae, quo sit patre quove patrono.' 
 55 It, redit et narrat Volteium nomine Menam, 
 praeconem, tenui censu, sine crimine, notum 
 et properare loco et cessare, et quaerere et uti, 
 gaudentem parvisque sodalibus et lare certo 
 et ludis et post decisa negotia campo. 
 60 ' Scitari libet ex ipso quodcumque refers ; die 
 ad cenam veniat.' Non sane credere Mena; 
 mirari secum tacitus. Quid multa ? ' Benigne,' 
 respondet ' Negat ille mihi ? ' ' Negat improbus, 
 et te 
 
 doubling of expression is frequent 
 in Plaut. and Ter., and unde is 
 often used for a quo (Sat. I, 6, 12) 
 or a qua. 
 
 54. patrono : i.e., if, in answer 
 to the question cuius fortunae, he 
 should say that he was a freed- 
 man. 
 
 55. Volteium . . . Menam: the 
 names show that he was a Greek, 
 freedman of some patron named 
 Volteius. 
 
 56-59. These details answer the 
 question cuius fortunae. praco- 
 nem : an auctioneer, but in a small 
 way, cf. vs. 65. This was one of 
 the occupations which Horace 
 mentions {Sat. i, 6, 86) as a pos- 
 sible one for himself, had matters 
 not turned out otherwise. loco : 
 'in the proper place,' as occasion 
 might demand ; cf. the well-known 
 duke est desipere in loco (Carm. 4, 
 12, 28). The two verbs are fur- 
 ther defined by et quaerere et uti 
 and form a combination of quali- 
 
 ties which Horace often recom- 
 mends to the man of business. 
 lare certo : i.e., a respectable 
 householder. post . . . negotia : 
 further evidence of good character ; 
 he did not neglect his business for 
 amusements. The description 
 gives an interesting picture of a 
 kind of person who does not 
 often find a place in Latin liter- 
 ature. 
 
 61-62. The historical infinitives, 
 the short sentences, and the phrase 
 quid multa? are characteristic of 
 the story teller, hurrying over un- 
 important details. benigne : cf. 
 vs. 16. 
 
 63. negat ille: 'does he refuse 
 me ? ' A repudiating exclamation. 
 [There are many instances of this 
 kind of exclamation in Plaut. with 
 the indie., but none parallel to this 
 with the subjv. neget and answered 
 by an indie, negat.'] improbus : 
 the slave shares his master's in- 
 dignation. 
 
 62
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 7 75 
 
 neglegit aut horret.' Volteium mane Philippus 
 65 vilia vendentem tunicato scruta popello 
 
 occupat et salvere iubet prior. Ille Philippe 
 excusare laborem et mercennaria vincla, 
 quod non mane domum venisset, denique quod non 
 providisset eum. ' Sic ignovisse putato 
 70 me tibi, si cenas hodie mecum.' ' Vt libet.' ' Ergo 
 post nonam venies : mine i, rem strenuus auge.' 
 Vt ventum ad cenam est, dicenda tacenda locutus 
 tandem dormitum dimittitur. Hie ubi saepe 
 occultum visus decurrere piscis ad hamum, 
 75 mane cliens et iam certus con viva, iubetur 
 
 64. mane : i.e., the next morn- 
 ing. The story again hurries over 
 details. 
 
 65. tunicato : the toga was an 
 inconvenient dress for persons en- 
 gaged in active work, and was, 
 therefore, worn by the common 
 people only on formal occasions. 
 popello: the diminutive carries 
 on the suggestion of disparage- 
 ment in tunicato. scruta : trash, 
 second-hand stuff; a rather rare 
 Lucilian word. 
 
 66. occupat: 'gets ahead of 
 him, 1 explained in the following 
 words, salvere iubet prior. Cf. 
 Sat. i, 9, 6. 
 
 67. laborem : an accus. of the 
 ' inner object,' the ' object ef- 
 fected ' ; he gives his occupation 
 as his excuse.' 
 
 68. mane : for the morning sa- 
 lutatio ; he was aware that polite- 
 ness required that he should ac- 
 knowledge the invitation, though 
 
 he had declined it, by the Roman 
 equivalent for a dinner call. 
 
 68-69. Q on providisset : this is im- 
 plied by vs. 66. sic: correlative 
 with si ; on this condition, that . . . 
 
 70. ut libet : ' as you please ' ; a 
 formula of assent (cf. vs. 19), 
 which would take its tone from 
 the manner of the speaker. 
 
 72. dicenda tacenda : the corre- 
 sponding phrases (prjTa apptfra, 
 fanda nefanda, honesta inhonesta) 
 usually imply blame, but here it is 
 merely that he was talkative, spoke 
 of whatever came into his head ; 
 i.e., he was at his ease with his 
 patron, as he had been in the bar- 
 ber's shop. 
 
 73. hie: nomin. masc. ; 'the 
 man whom I have described ' ; 
 the story now passes on to the 
 climax. 
 
 75. mane: now accustomed to 
 the salutatio, which he had at first 
 neglected. certus conviva : =
 
 I. 7, 76] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ' rura suburbana indictis comes ire Latinis. 
 Impositus mannis arvum caelumque Sabinum 
 non cessat laudare. Videt ridetque Philippus, 
 et sibi dum requiem, dum risus undique quaerit, 
 
 So dum septem donat sestertia, mutua septem 
 promittit, persuadet uti mercetur agellum. 
 Mercatur. Ne te longis ambagibus, ultra 
 quam satis est, morer, ex nitido fit rusticus atque 
 sulcos et vineta crepat mera, praeparat ulmos, 
 
 85 immoritur studiis et amore senescit habendi. 
 Verum ubi oves furto, morbo periere capellae, 
 spem mentita seges, bos est enectus arando, 
 
 convictor, a regular guest, as Hor- 
 ace was a guest at the table of 
 Maecenas, Sat. i, 6, 47. 
 
 76. indictis ... Latinis : the 
 great Latin festival in April or 
 May, when all public business 
 was suspended. 
 
 77. impositus mannis : ' in a car- 
 riage.' In Homer Irnroi. is used for 
 the chariot, and the same usage 
 is found occasionally in Latin. 
 inanni were Gallic ponies used for 
 driving, Epod. 4, 14. 
 
 79-81. requiem, risus : relief 
 from the burden of work, which he 
 expected to get from the amuse- 
 ment afforded by the experiment. 
 dum . . . dum . . . dum : the 
 second clause, dum donat, is quite 
 different in sense from the first, 
 dit in qnaerit ; ' seeking relief and 
 amusement, by giving . . . and 
 lending . . .' ; the use of the 
 same construction for the two dif- 
 
 ferent thoughts is intended to give 
 the effect of hurrying the story 
 forward. 
 
 83. nitido : as he had been when 
 he was sitting in the barber's booth. 
 
 85. immoritur, senescit : with 
 intentional exaggeration of the 
 severity of a farmer's labor. Cf. 
 also the description of his former 
 life in vs. 57. 
 
 86-87. These details also are 
 intentionally exaggerated and are 
 mentioned as if they were the or- 
 dinary incidents of a farmer's life, 
 in order to make the point of the 
 story more effective. They are, 
 of course, in humorous contrast to 
 the idyllic pictures of country life 
 which Horace had so often drawn, 
 e.g., in Epod. 2. periere: are 
 lost. mentita : this figure is 
 often used; cf. Carm. 3, I, 30, 
 and the opposite in Carm. 3, 1 6, 
 30, segetis certa fides. 
 
 64
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 i, 7. 98 
 
 offensus damnis media de nocte caballum 
 arripit iratusque Philippi tendit ad aedes. 
 
 90 Quern simul adspexit scabrum intonsumquo Philippus, 
 ' Durus,' ait, ' Voltei, nimis attentusque videris 
 esse mihi.' ' Pol me miserum, patrone, vocares, 
 si velles,' inquit, 'verum mihi ponere nomen. 
 Quod te per genium dextramque deosque Penates 
 
 95 obsecro et obtestor, vitae me redde priori.' 
 Qui semel adspexit, quantum dimissa petitis 
 praestent, mature redeat repetatque relicta. 
 Metiri se quemque suo modulo ac pede verum est. 
 
 88. media de nocte: in order to 
 get to town in time for the salu- 
 tatio. And the early hour ex- 
 presses also his hasty determina- 
 tion. Cf. arripit and iratus. 
 
 90. scabrum intonsumque : again 
 in contrast to the first picture, vs. 
 50, adrasum. 
 
 91. durus . . . attentus : so the 
 country mouse, Sat. 2, 6, 82, asper 
 et attentus qiiaesitis. 
 
 92. miserum: i.e., < durus at- 
 tentllsq^le do not half express my 
 condition ; you must call me mise- 
 rum? 
 
 94. quod : wherefore; formulaic 
 in such sentences as this, with oro, 
 obsecro; cf. Verg. Aen. 2, 141, 
 
 Ter. Andr. 289. per genium : 
 the guardian spirit which attends 
 each man through life. A modern 
 parallel would be ' by your own 
 soul. 1 dextram : your honor. 
 
 96-97. This is at bottom the 
 same moral as that of Sat. 2, 6, 
 and the same situation as that de- 
 picted in Sat. I, i, 4 ff. 
 
 98. modulo : the general word, 
 followed by the more specific, pede, 
 which at the same time suggests 
 that each man has his own natural 
 standard in himself. verum: right. 
 As at the end of Sat. 2, 6, the 
 personal application of the uni- 
 versal rule is left to the reader. 
 
 8 
 
 This Epistle was written, either in the summer of the year 20 or in 
 he next summer, to a young friend who was in the suite of Tiberius on 
 his mission to the East. It goes, therefore, with Epist. i, 3, in which 
 also Celsus is mentioned. 
 
 'My greetings, O Muse, to Gelsus ! If he asks of me, tell him that I 
 
 HOR. EP. 5 65
 
 I, 8, i] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 am well in body, but not in spirit, that I am idle and hesitating and 
 unsatisfied with myself. Ask, too, how it is with him and give him 
 from me a friendly warning not to misuse his fortunes.' 
 
 In this note the personal and the artistic motives are successfully 
 
 combined. Both must be kept in mind in the interpretation of it. The 
 
 fact that it was deliberately selected for publication is a warning against 
 
 taking the personal element too seriously ; doubtless the bit of advice 
 
 at the end had a real meaning, but neither that nor the expressions of 
 
 .^discontent which skillfully pave the way for the advice should be over- 
 
 ' interpreted. The warning is a very general one, such as might be 
 
 XAA addressed to many young men, and the sense of dissatisfaction with 
 
 himself and his work is more than once expressed by Horace. 
 7E . 
 
 ' ^"Mso gaudere et bene rem gerere Albinovano^ 
 
 _tfsa rogata*j!efeY, comiti^cribaeque Neronis. 
 Si quaeret quid agam, die multa et pulchra minantem 
 |>^vivere nee re,cte nee suaviter 
 ^ < co 
 
 X 
 
 baud quia grando 
 5 coi^tuaent v/tis oleamque momprderit aestus, 
 
 J \J^-S*^~ - +s- i *r^V \f~ V-~ I 
 
 1. Celso : mentioned/ with ft 
 message, in the letter to Florus, 
 Epist. i, 3, 15 ff. The change in 
 the order of the names is common, 
 e.g., Epist. i, 2, i. gaudere, 
 gerere : i.e , ^at'peiv K<U cv 7rpaTTv. 
 The phrase is treated as a whole 
 and put after refer (' take my 
 greeting and good wishes'), so 
 that the need of the ordinary tube 
 is not felt. 
 
 2. Musa: as if she were a let- 
 ter carrier, who was to deliver the 
 message orally. In form, the whole 
 letter is therefore addressed to the 
 Muse. rogata : by Horace ; at 
 my request. scribae : private 
 secretary, an office of trust and 
 honor. Augustus had asked Hor- 
 ace to be his secretary. Neronis : 
 Tiberius. 
 
 3. minantem / cf. Sat. 2, 3, 9, 
 atquivoltus erat mtflta etpraeclara 
 minantis, used, as here, of one 
 who is trying to work, but not 
 succeeding. Horace felt at times 
 very strongly the self-reproach of a 
 man who was conscious of yielding 
 to the temptation to postpone his 
 work. 
 
 4. nee recte : i.e.. not as his 
 sense of right, his philosophy, re- 
 quires of him. nee suaviter 
 consequence of- nee recte ; 'and 
 
 ot happily.' 
 5-6. These are merely typical 
 of external discomforts and mis- 
 fortunes. They are referred to or 
 suggested in other places as perik 
 to which the wealthy are exposed 
 longinquis: i.e., in the distant 
 mountain pastures to which cattle 
 
 66
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 i, 8, 
 
 nee quia longinquis armentum aegrotet in agris; 
 sed quia mente minus validus quam corpore toto 
 nil audire velim, nil discere, quod levet aegrum ; 
 fidis offendar medicis, irascar amicis, ^ , J^ a^ 
 cur me funesto properentrafcereVetSrno; 
 
 gn^re seqiiaf, fugiaVn quae proforecredam 
 Tibur amdrn ventosus, Tibure RomaTnr 
 Post haec ut valeat, quo pacto rem gerat et se, 
 ut placeat iuveni raycontare utque cohorti. 
 SI dicet recte, pripium\gau^re, subinde 
 
 were driven in the heat o&Bummer ; 
 cf. Carm. i, 31, 5. 
 
 7. minus . . . quam : the com- 
 parison is aside from the main 
 thought and might have been put 
 into a parenthesis ; ' because in 
 weariness of mind my bodily 
 health is good enough I am un- 
 willing. . . . ' The words corpore 
 toto of course serve as an assurance 
 to Celsus. 
 
 8. ' I am unwilling (cannot 
 bring myself) to listen to the 
 teachings of philosophy.' Almost 
 a repetition of Epist. I, I, 48. 
 
 9. medicis : the philosophers, 
 whose writings would minister to 
 a mind diseased. 
 
 10. cur: an indirect question 
 used instead of a causal clause ; 
 cf. Carm. i, 33, 3, ne doleas . . . 
 neu . . . decantes elegos, cur tibi 
 junior . . . praeniteat. It is the 
 causal meaning of cur that makes 
 the substitution possible. ve- 
 terno : the many references to 
 lethargy as a disease seem to 
 
 int to something more definite 
 than the nervous breakdown which 
 is the modern counterpart. The 
 abl. is after arcere, as after pro- 
 hibere, Epist. i, i, 31. 
 
 1 1 . sequar : after quia, like tz^-/* 
 offendar, irascar. The tenses $ *, 
 of nocuere and prof ore are signifi- 
 cant and should not be neglectec 
 
 in translation. For the general 
 sense cf. Ovid's phrase {Met. 7, 
 21), video meliora proboque ; de- 
 teriora sequor. 
 
 12. ventosus : fickle as the 
 wind. Cf. the same reproach, put 
 into the mouth of his slave, in ' ^ 
 Sat. 2, 7, 28, Romae rus optas ; 
 absentem rusticus urbem tollis ad 
 astra levis (= ventosus). 
 
 14. iuveni : Tiberius, who was 
 at this time about twenty-two 
 years old. percontare : impera- 
 tive, addressed to the Muse as 
 messenger. cohorti : especially 
 the young men mentioned in 
 Epist. i, 3. 
 
 15 gaudere : grammatically de- 
 
 __ ^ 
 
 67
 
 I, 8, 1 6] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 praeceptum auriculis hoc instillare memento : 
 ut tu fortunam, sic nos te, Celse, feremus.Ad. 
 
 pendent upon memento ; ' remem- 
 ber to say gaudeo, as a polite mes- 
 senger should.' 
 
 17. The friendly little admo- 
 nition to self-control in prosperity 
 is all the more friendly and the 
 
 less likely to give offense because 
 of the confessions of weakness 
 which form the body of the letter 
 and because of the lightness of 
 tone in vss. 15-16. 
 
 It is altogether probable, though it is not definitely stated, that this 
 Epistle was written in the year 20, when Tiberius was making prepara- 
 tions for his trip into Asia Minor. Of the Septimius whom the letter 
 introduces nothing is known with certainty ; but one of the Odes 
 (Cart. 2, 6) is addressed to a Septimius, and a man of this name is 
 mentioned in a letter of Augustus to Horace, quoted in the Vita of 
 Suetonius, ^^ fyU^L J%^fetgy ^W-^^CTbJ* - 
 
 Some other letters/ of introduction naye come down to us (Cic. ad 
 Fam. 2, 14 ; 7, 5 ; Pliny, 4, 4), but none so skillful and so charming as 
 this. Tiberius, even as a young man, was both scornful and suspicious 
 of the attentions paid to him on account of his relation to Augustus, 
 but he was not incapable of perceiving the mingled frankness and defer- 
 ence of such a letter as this. And he was also a lover of literature, to 
 whom the delicate art of expression and thought would appeal strongly. 
 The publication of the Epistle is evidence that it was successful. 
 
 Septimius, Claudi, nimirum intellegit unus, 
 a quanti me facias : nam cum rogat et prece cogit, 
 ut tibi se laudare et tradere coner, 
 
 clause, as in Sat. 2,3, iJ}$; z, 3, 
 240; 2.6, 58; Epist. 1,15. 36; 
 I, 18, 16; 1,20,2; 2,2,44. It is 
 not, as is commonly said, a corn- 
 pound of scire and licet, but a par- 
 atactic combination of the impv. 
 sci with licet. So iride~licet;-- 
 tradere : introduce, as 
 
 i. Claudi: more formal than 
 Nero. nimirum: no doubt, with 
 a little touch of irony. In this 
 compound ni has no conditional 
 force, but is the old negative, a 
 form of ne. unus : /.*., ' he and 
 he alone. 1 
 
 3. scilicet : continuing the ironi- 
 cal tone ; to be taken with the ut- 
 
 47. 
 
 
 68
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 dignum mente domoque legentis noiiesta JLMeroms, 
 munere cum fungi propioris censet amici; 
 quid possim videt ac novit me valdius ipso. 
 Multa quidem dixi, cur excusatus abirem ; 
 sed timui, mea ne finxisse minora putarer, 
 dissimulator opis propriae, mihi commodus uni 
 Sic ego maioris fugiens opprobria culpae 
 
 ad urbanae descend! praemia. . Quodsi 
 um laudas ob arnjoj iussa pu^rem, 
 
 r 
 
 ['.9. 13 
 
 &*- 
 
 scribe tui gregis hunc et fortem crede bonumque. 
 
 4. legentis: gathering about 
 him, with special reference to his 
 Eastern journey. honesta : the 
 neuter is more general than hones- 
 ios would have been. Neronis : 
 i.e., of one who bears an honorable 
 name. With the rise of Tiberius 
 into prominence through his 
 mother's marriage to Augustus 
 there was an inclination to magnify 
 the past of his family, which had 
 not, in fact, been especially promi- 
 nent in Roman history. Cf. 
 Carm. 4, 4, 28 and 37 ff. 
 
 5. munere fungi: i.e., 'That I 
 am in the position of an intimate 
 friend ' ; the tense is significant. 
 cum: here and in vs. 2 in the 
 explicative use, not temporal. 
 
 6. valdius : stronger than me- 
 lius ; ' puts a higher estimate upon 
 my powers. 1 
 
 7. cur: cf. Epist. i, 8, 10, note. 
 8-9. mea . . . minora : the rather 
 
 vague expression is made more 
 definite in the next line. dissimu- 
 lator: cf. Sat. i, 10, 13 f., parcen- 
 
 tis viribus atque extenuantis eas 
 consulto. mihi . . . uni : i.e., 
 1 thinking only of my own con- ^, 
 venience.' 
 
 1 1 . f rontis . . . praemia : ' desir-w 
 ing to avoid the reproach of self- 
 ishness, I have chosen to incur 
 the reproach and, if you choose, 
 
 to receive the reward also of ^ 
 putting on a bold front and asking 
 a favor.' urbanae : ' of a man of 
 the world,' a city man, less modest 
 than the rustic. descendi : the 
 other course would have shown a 
 loftier virtue. praemia : this is a 
 suggestion of the hope that Tibe- 
 rius may be inclined to grant the 
 favor. 
 
 12. depositum . . . pudorem : 
 the same in sense as frontis 
 urbanae. 
 
 13. fortem . . . bonumque : the 
 only words of praise of Septimius 
 in the letter, and all the more 
 effective because they are so 
 simple. 
 
 69
 
 I. io, I] HORATI 
 
 10 
 
 There is no definite indication of the date oi this Epistle ; it may 
 have been written about the same time as Epist, 1,7. 
 
 Fuscus Aristius is the friend who figures in a humorous way in Sat. 
 I, 9, 6 1 ff. and to whom the Integer Vitae (Carm. i, 22) is addressed. 
 He is named also in Sat. i, io, 83 in the list of friends whose approval 
 Horace regards with satisfaction. 
 
 ' Greetings, my dear Fuscus, to the lover of town from the lover of 
 the country. This is an old dispute between us, but I stand by my 
 opinion ; country air and sleep and grass for me ! You are all wrong ; 
 that life in town is enslaving you. Suit your life to your needs, as I 
 mean to do, and be content. I am the picture of contentment at this 
 moment, writing in the shade of that old shrine of Vacuna on my farm 
 or I should be content if only you were here.' 
 
 The thought of this epistle has been so often expressed by Horace 
 that he can scarcely find novel form for it. But the fact that he was 
 writing to a friend whose general attitude toward life was harmonious 
 with his own gives to the familiar thoughts an easy simplicity and an 
 air of true contentment. 
 
 Vrbis amatorem Fuscum salvere iubemus 
 ruris amatores. Hac in re scilicetjuna^ 
 multum dissimiles, at cetera paene gemelli^, 
 fraternis animis (quicquid negat alter, et alter) 
 5 adnuimus pariter vetuli notique columbi. 
 
 Tu nidum servas ; ego laudo ruris amoeni - A**~A 
 
 rivos et musco circumlita saxa nemusque. 
 
 jL^^e^^Ji A^ /ifl, r~JT ^AccfeTt*-* 
 
 1. salvere iubemus : a common trast 'with urbis amatorem. 
 formula of greeting, which here scilicet : you know, without irony, 
 gives a humorous formality to the 5- adnuimus : like two doves 
 opening phrase. The first person 'billing and cooing.' vetuli no- 
 plural is often used in Latin, e.g., tique : though these adjectives 
 in the letters of Cicero, for the agree with columbi, they are meant 
 singular, apparently without differ- to apply especially to Fuscus and 
 ence of meaning. Horace, whose friendship was in- 
 
 2. ruris amatores : the position timate and of long standing. 
 
 in the line is intentional, to con- 7. circumlita : an unusual and 
 
 70
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 10, 16 
 
 / 
 
 Quid quaeris ? Vivo et regno, simul ista reliqui, 
 quae vos ad caelum effertis rumore secundo, 
 utque sacerdotis f ugitivus liba recuso ; 
 pane egeo iam mellitis potiore placentis. 
 Vivere naturae si convenienter oportet 
 ponendaeque domo quaerenda est area primum, 
 novistine locum potiorem rure beato ? 
 Est ubi plus tepeant hiemes, ubi gratior aura 
 leniat et rabiem Canis et momenta Leonis, 
 
 poetic word, as if the moss were a 
 color spread over the rock. 
 
 8. quid quaeris ? a common 
 phrase in Terence and in Cicero's 
 letters, to cut short further details ; 
 lit., ' what do you ask (want fur- 
 ther) ? ' ' in short, 1 ' what more 
 need I say?' Such phrases are 
 rather characteristic of Horace ; cf. 
 ne te morer, qttid multa? ne Ion- 
 gum faciam. vivo et regno : 
 with emphasis ; ' I really live and 
 am a king.' ista : in the proper 
 second person sense. 
 
 9. A free quotation of an epic 
 phrase ; Ennius, Ann. 260, max 
 efferre domos populi rumore secun- 
 do ; Verg. Aen. 8, 90, closes the 
 line with rumore secundo ; it is in 
 sense the same as summis laudibus 
 ad caelum eztulerunt. 
 
 10-11. liba: cakes offered in 
 sacrifice, and therefore very abun- 
 dant in a priest's house, so that 
 the slave had become tired of 
 them and had run away to get 
 plain food. The condensed com- 
 parison is made clearer in the next 
 
 line; in which pane egeo explains 
 recuso, and mellitis placentis am- 
 plifies liba. There is perhaps an 
 allusion in these lines to some 
 comic story or play popular at the 
 time. 
 
 12. vivere: this is the Stoic 
 doctrine, used somewhat humor- 
 ously, since neither Fuscus nor 
 Horace was a Stoic. 
 
 13. domo : dative, a rarer form 
 for domui. The whole expression 
 is condensed ; ' if we ought to 
 live naturally, and if we are seek- 
 ing a place for natural living 
 as one seeks a site for his house 
 then the country is best.' 
 
 15. tepeant hiemes : i.e., the 
 winters in southern Italy ; cf. 
 Carm. 2, 6, 17, ver ubi longum 
 tepidasque praebet luppiter bru- 
 mas, of Tarentum. All of Italy 
 outside of Rome was rus. 
 
 16. momenta Leonis : with po- 
 etic personification ; ' the quick 
 movements,' ' the rushing of the 
 Lion, 1 further carried out in furi- 
 bundus.
 
 i, 10, 17] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 cum semel accepit Solem furibundus acutum ? 
 Est ubi divellat somnbs minus invida cura ? 
 Deterius Libycis olet aut nitet herba lapillis ? 
 o Purior in vicis aqua tendit rumpere plumbum, 
 
 quam quae per pronum trepidat cum murmure rivum ? 
 ^Nempe inter varias nutritur silva columnas, 
 laudaturque domus longos quae prospicit agros. 
 Naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret 
 25 et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix. 
 Non, qui Sidonio contendere callidus ostro 
 nescit Aquinatem potantia vellera fucum, 
 
 17. accepit . . . acutum: the 
 rays of the sun are like sharp ar- 
 rows that wound (accepit) the 
 Lion and rouse him to fury- 
 
 18. somnos : this is one of the 
 traditional advantages of country 
 life, often alluded to by Horace. 
 
 19. Libycis. . . lapillis: Lybian 
 marbles set to make mosaic pat- 
 terns in the floor. olet : perfumed 
 water was sprinkled over the floor. 
 
 20. rumpere plumbum: />., 
 'rushes out of the lead pipes.' 
 The distribution of water under 
 pressure in pipes was well under- 
 stood by Roman engineers, though 
 it was somewhat less elaborately 
 carried out than it is in modern 
 houses. 
 
 22-23. nempe : in fact, you 
 know; cf. Sat. i, 10, i. varias: 
 of the colored patterns of marble. 
 silva : trees were planted in the 
 open court of a city house, within 
 'the colonnades. prospicit : the 
 hills of the city afforded sites from 
 
 which a wide view could be had. 
 Maecenas' house on the Esqui- 
 line commanded a view of the 
 mountains toward the north and 
 east. 
 
 24. expelles : a paratactic con- 
 dition, with recurret as apodosis. 
 The line has become proverbial ; 
 it is usually quoted with the older 
 reading expellas^ which, however, 
 has no good support from the Mss. 
 
 25. furtim: 'in unexpected 
 fashion,' ' when you least expect 
 it.' victrix: at the end of the 
 line, with emphasis ; -and finally 
 win the victory.' 
 
 26-29. ' But, though nature con- 
 quers in the end, the process of 
 learning to distinguish the real 
 from the imitation involves losses 
 and mistakes, like those which a 
 man suffers in buying artistic ob- 
 jects without real knowledge of 
 the things he is purchasing.' - 
 Sidonio : the genuine Tyrian pur- 
 ple was very expensive. callidus : 
 
 72
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 10, 40 
 
 certius accipiet damnum propiusve medullis, 
 quam qui non poterit vero distinguere falsum. 
 
 30 Quern res plus nimio delectavere secundae, 
 mutatae quatient. Si quid mirabere, pones 
 invitus. Fuge magna ; licet sub paupere tecto 
 reges et regum vita praecurrere amicos. 
 Cervus equum pugna melior communibus herbis 
 
 31 pellebat, donee minor in certamine longo 
 imploravit opes hominis frenumque recepit. 
 Sed postquam victor violens discessit ab hoste, 
 non equitem dorso, non frenum depulit ore. 
 Sic qui pauperiem veritus potiore metallis 
 
 40 libertate caret, dominum vehet improbus atque 
 
 i.e., one who believes, mistakenly, 
 that he knows how to compare 
 (contendere) and distinguish ; cf. 
 .SVzA 2, 3, 23, and the whole de- 
 scription of such a connoisseur, 
 vss. 20-25. Aquinatem . . . fu- 
 cum : after potantia ; a dye made 
 from lichens which produced a 
 color like the true Sidonian pur- 
 ple. medullis : to ^/y heart. 
 vero, falsum : this is a slight ref- 
 erence to the standards of philos- 
 ophy. 
 
 30-31. The same thought that 
 is expressed more fully in Epist. 
 i, 6, 9 ff., and, with more per- 
 sonal reference, in the letter to 
 Maecenas, Epist. i, 7. It was a 
 familiar thought to Horace. 
 mirabere: cf. Epist. i, 6, i, nil 
 admirari. pones : almost tech- 
 nical in this sense; Epist. i, i, 
 10 ; Sat. 2, 3, 16, etc. 
 
 34-38. This fable was often 
 used to teach a serious lesson ; 
 it is found in Phaedrus, 4, 4. 
 pugna melior : cf. note on Epist. 
 i, 7, 29. imploravit: the sub- 
 ject is minor, to be taken as a 
 substantive ; but the omission of 
 a more definite subject is in the 
 manner of fables. 
 
 37. violens: i.e., 'after a fierce 
 contest ' ; to be joined with dis- 
 cessit, not directly with victor. 
 
 39. metallis : one of the various 
 ways of expressing the general 
 idea of riches; cf. Engl. 'a gold 
 mine. 1 Horace uses the word 
 only here. 
 
 40. improbus : / e., i because of 
 his immoderate desire for wealth' ; 
 cf. Cann. 3, 24, 62, improbae cres- 
 cttnt divitiae, in a context similar 
 to this. 
 
 73
 
 I, 10, 41] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 serviet aeternum, quia parvo nesciet uti. 
 
 Cui non conveniet sua res, ut calceus olim, 
 
 si pede maior erit, subvertet, si minor, uret. 
 
 Laetus sorte tua vives sapienter, Aristi, 
 45 nee me dimittes incastigatum, ubi plura 
 
 cogere quam satis est, ac non cessare videbor. 
 
 Imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique, 
 
 tortum digna sequi potius quam ducere funem. 
 
 Haec tibi dictabam post fanum putre Vacunae, 
 50 excepto quod non simul esses, cetera laetus. 
 
 41. serviet: this is the theme 
 of Sat. 2, 7. uti: as in Sat. i, 
 ! > 37 ? 2 > 3> IO 9- J 67, and often. 
 
 42. conveniet: cf. vs. 12. 
 olim, sometimes. 
 
 44-46. < Live content, therefore, 
 and remind me of this admonition, 
 if I seem to you to need it.' ces- 
 sare: as in Epist. i, 7, 57. 
 
 47-48. The thought is expressed 
 more diffusely by Seneca, de Vita 
 Beat. 26, I, ' divitiae enim apud 
 sapientem virum in servitute sunt, 
 apud stultum in imperio.' tor- 
 tum . . . funem : the line repeats 
 in a figurative form the thought 
 of imperat ( = ducere) aut servit 
 ( = seqiti). but the allusion is to 
 some custom or some story which 
 
 is unknown to us ; it may be the 
 figure of an animal led by a rope, 
 or of a machine of which a rope 
 forms part. Cf. note on Epist. 
 
 1, 6, 51, trans ponder a, and Sat. 
 
 2, 7, 20. tortum : an ornamental 
 epithet. 
 
 49-50. As the letter begins with 
 a formal greeting, so it closes with 
 a formal giving of the exact place 
 of writing. In Cicero's letters the 
 place is usually named at the end 
 of the letter, if at all. dictabam : 
 the epistolary imperfect ; see gram- 
 mar. putre : ' falling into decay.' 
 Vacunae: a local goddess. The 
 meaning of the name is quite un- 
 known. laetus: with reference 
 back to vs. 44. 
 
 II 
 
 There is nothing to fix the date of this Epistle nor is Bullatius, to 
 whom it was addressed, mentioned elsewhere. 
 
 ' And how do you like the famous cities of Asia, my friend ? Are you 
 thinking of home or of settling down there, far from the world? But 
 one doesnt settle down for life in some inn, just because one is tired 
 
 74
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, ii, 8 
 
 of travel. Pleasant scenery will not make you happy. It is better to 
 stay at home and sing the joys of travel at your ease. For happiness is 
 not in some distant future or in some far-off country ; it is here and 
 now, in our own hearts, if we are wise enough to take it.' 
 
 Horace was not a traveler. He went to Athens in early life for study, 
 but after his return his life was spent in the neighborhood of Rome or 
 about Tarentum. He was free from that form of restlessness which 
 seeks excitement in novelty and was perhaps not quite just to those 
 who find stimulus in sight seeing. In this Epistle he has used the 
 fact that Bullatius was abroad as an occasion for restating the doctrine 
 which he often preaches, that the sources of happiness are within, set- 
 ting it in contrast to the pleasures of travel. 
 
 Quid tibi visa Chios, Bullati, notaque Lesbos, 
 quid concinna Samos, quid Croesi regia Sardis, 
 Smyrna quid et Colophon? Maiora minorane fama? 
 Cunctane prae campo et Tiberino flumine sordent? 
 5 An venit in votum Attalicis ex urbibus una ? 
 An Lebedum laudas odio maris atque viarum ? 
 Scis Lebedus quid sit ; Gabiis desertior atque 
 Fidenis vicus : tamen illic vivere vellem, 
 
 1-3. These are the names of in Rome. sordent : t.g., ' do they 
 
 cities in Asia Minor, known in all seem poor in comparison . . . ? ' 
 
 history and in literary tradition to This implies the answer minora to 
 
 all Romans, even those who had the previous question, 
 
 not visited them, as European cities 5. venit in votum: suit your 
 
 are known to Americans. Cf. desires; this is an expansion of 
 
 Catull. 46, 6, ad claras Asiae vole- maiora. For the expression cf. 
 
 tnusurbes. nota : == nobilis ; Les- Sat. 2, 6, i, hoc erat in votis. 
 
 bos was the home of Alcaeus and Pergamum was the most famous of 
 
 Sappho. concinna : handsome, the cities of Attalus. 
 
 with reference apparently to the 6-10. ' Or are you so weary of 
 
 regularity of the streets. Sardis : travel that a deserted village seems 
 
 the Greek nom. plur. SapSeis- good enough to you ? Icanunder- 
 
 fama : i.e., 'than you had expected stand that feeling easily.' Lebe- 
 
 from what you had heard of them.' dum: a small town on the coast 
 
 4. campo : the Campus Martius, near Smyrna. odio maris: Hor- 
 
 standing for all the familiar spots ace was not a traveler; cf. Carm. 
 
 75
 
 , 9] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 10 
 
 oblitusque meorum obliviscendus et illis 
 Neptunum procul e terra spectare furentem. 
 Sed neque qui Capua Romam petit, imbre lutoque 
 adspersus volet in caupona vivere ; nee qui 
 frigus collegit, furnos et balnea laudat 
 ut fortunatam plene praestantia vitam ; 
 nee, si te validus iactaverit Auster in alto, 
 idcirco navem trans Aegaeum mare vendas. 
 Incolumi Rhodos et Mitylene pulchra facit, quod 
 paenula solstitio, campestre nivalibus auris, 
 
 2, 6, 7, lasso marts et viarutn. 
 Gabii and Fidenae, which were 
 towns of importance in earlier his- 
 tory, were in Horace's time only 
 villages. vellem: the tense im- 
 plies that it is a mere expression 
 of emotion, without expectation of 
 fulfilment. ' The world forget- 
 ting, by the world forgot' (Pope). 
 The comparison of a peaceful 
 life to the contentment of one who 
 looks from shore at the wild sea is 
 frequent in literature. The best 
 expression of it is in Lucr. 2, 1-2, 
 'suave, mari magno turbantibus 
 aequora ventis, e terra magnum 
 alterius spectare laborem.' 
 
 ii. ' But such a life would not 
 be truly satisfying.' Capua Ro- 
 mam : i.e., to one who is going 
 toward the great city, which is his 
 home. imbre lutoque : this cor- 
 responds to odio marts atqut via- 
 rum, vs. 6; these things are the 
 temporary discomforts of travel, 
 from which we get only a tempo- 
 rary refuge im an inn. 
 
 12. caupona vivere : the figure 
 of an inn as a temporary resting 
 place, but not a home to live in 
 (vivere is emphatic), is used fre- 
 quently in classic as well as in 
 Christian writings. 
 
 13. frigus collegit : 'has become 
 chilled,' not ' caught cold.' fur- 
 nos : bakers' shops, where one 
 could get warm. 
 
 16. vendas : i.e., give up the 
 plan of completing the journey and 
 settle in Asia Minor. This brings 
 the thought back to the main 
 theme. 
 
 17. incolumi : 'a man of sound 
 mind' ; cf. Sat. 2, 3, 132, incolumi 
 capite ( samts). The dat. is to 
 betaken with facit, as in Sat. I, I, 
 63, quid facias illif and often in 
 Plautus. pulchra: 'in spite of 
 its beauty.' facit quod: i.e., 'is 
 the same as,' ' has the same effect 
 as.' 
 
 18-19. Four illustrations of 
 things that are, in the special cir- 
 cumstances, particularly useless.
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [IP ".3> 
 
 per brumam Tiberis, Sextili mense caminus. 
 
 20 Dum licet ac vultum servat Fortuna benign urn, 
 Romae laudetur Samos et Chios et Rhodes absens. 
 Tu quamcumque deus tibi fortunaverit horam 
 grata sume manu, neu dulcia differ in annum ; 
 ut quocumque loco fueris vixisse libenter 
 
 25 te dicas. Nam si ratio et prudentia curas, 
 non locus effusi late maris arbiter aufert, 
 caelum, non animum, mutant qui trans mare currunt; 
 strenua nos exercet inertia ; navibus atque 
 quadrigis petimus bene vivere ; quod petis, hie est, 
 est Vlubris, animus si te non deficit aequus. 
 
 3 
 
 paenula : a heavy cloak for cold 
 weather. campestre : a very light 
 garment worn about the loins in 
 taking vigorous exercise. 
 
 20. The line is an expansion of 
 incolumi] 'so long as I am not 
 driven to foreign travel.' 
 
 21 . Romae : the emphatic word ; 
 ' I will stay at home and sing the 
 praises of foreign cities without 
 seeing them (absens}. ' 
 
 22-24. The mistake of overlook- 
 ing present happiness in the antici- 
 pation of some other happiness in 
 the future is, at bottom, the same 
 as the mistake of looking for con- 
 tentment in change of place. The 
 two thoughts are really identified 
 here, though in form the second is 
 treated as the purpose of the first ; 
 ' just as you should gratefully enjoy 
 the present, so you should live 
 happily in the place where you 
 may happen to be. 1 The thought 
 of vss. 22-23 i s often expressed 
 
 by Horace, e.g. Carm. i, 9; I, 
 11. 
 
 25. ratio: as in Sat. i, i, 2. 
 curas : after auferunt, to be sup- 
 plied from aufert. 
 
 26. arbiter : in the early mean- 
 ing witness, i.e., ( having a wide 
 outlook over the sea,' with refer- 
 ence back to vss. 7-10. 
 
 27. One of the lines of Horace 
 that has become proverbial, be- 
 cause it expresses so concisely a 
 truth of universal experience. 
 
 28-30. strenua inertia : an in- 
 tentional putting together of two 
 contradictory words, like splendide 
 mendax, to characterize the idle 
 activity of the pleasure seeker. 
 navibus. quadrigis : cf. Carm.$, I, 
 yj-^p,post equitem sedet atra cur a. 
 hie: 'where we are now. 1 
 Vlubris: /.<?., in any little village; 
 there is no implication that Horace 
 was in Ulubrae. animus ... ae- 
 quus : the same as incolumi^ vs. I * 
 
 77
 
 i, 12! HORATI 
 
 12 
 
 This Epistle was written in the summer of the year 20 B.C., as the 
 closing lines show. The person addressed, Iccius, is the same young 
 man to whom, some five or six years before, Horace had written an ode. 
 Carm. i, 29. He is otherwise unknown, but some traits of character 
 are clearly revealed by the tone in which Horace addresses him. He 
 was one of the circle of younger men whom Horace knew well, a stu- 
 dent of philosophy, though probably not a serious scholar. He was 
 not rich and was looking for an opportunity to make his way in the 
 world. This he had sought to find by joining the expedition of Callus 
 against the Persians and after the failure of this campaign he had be- 
 come the agent of Agrippa, taking charge of his estates in Sicily. This 
 Epistle was written in reply to a letter from Iccius, in which there was 
 some expression of dissatisfaction with his position and of regret that 
 business interfered with philosophy. 
 
 'The trusted agent of Agrippa, my dear young friend, should not call 
 ' himself a poor man. If one has plenty to eat and health to enjoy it, he 
 is as rich as a king. Or if you have turned vegetarian, no amount of 
 money will make any difference to such a philosopher. You are a 
 greater wonder than Democritus, to be so active in business and at the 
 same time so deep in philosophy. But, whether you are living high or 
 have become an ascetic, don't neglect my friend and your neighbor, 
 Pompeius Grosphus ; he is a man you can trust. 
 
 'The news at Rome is all cheerful ; victories everywhere and a fine 
 harvest in Italy.' 
 
 This is, in form, one of the most successful of the Epistles. It is 
 precisely such a letter as might have been written in prose, com- 
 menting upon the letter to which it is a reply, recommending a friend 
 to the notice of the recipient and giving in brief the news of the 
 day. Its tone, too, is entirely personal, as if it were meant to be 
 read only by the person addressed, and that tendency to fall into the 
 essay manner, which in some of the letters is out of harmony with the 
 epistolary form, is here the more easily avoided, because the interest of 
 Iccius in philosophy makes the introduction of that subject quite 
 natural. At the same time, the personal matters are so treated as 
 to be of general interest, and the revelation of the character of both 
 writer and recipient is most attractive. In lightness of touch and in 
 humorous irony this letter resembles Epist. I, 3, also addressed to a 
 younger friend. 
 
 7
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [If 12, 8 
 
 Fructibus Agrippae Siculis, quos colligis, Icci, 
 
 si recte frueris, non est ut copia maior 
 
 ab love donari possit tibi. Tolle querellas, 
 
 pauper enim non est, cui rerum suppetit usus. 
 
 Si ventri bene, si lateri est pedibusque tuis, nil 
 
 divitiae poterunt regales addere maius. 
 
 Si forte in medio positorum abstemius herbis 
 
 vivis et urtica, sic vives protinus, ut te 
 
 1. fructibus ; revenues, but with 
 special reference to revenue derived 
 from an estate. 
 
 2. recte : not in the philosophical 
 sense, but properly, ' as you have a 
 a right to do.' The general mean- 
 ing of the word is specialized by 
 its connection with frtttris. 
 
 3. querellas: laments over his 
 poverty ; the exhortation does not 
 imply that Iccius was over-anxious 
 to be rich, but only that he was 
 inclined to regret the necessity of 
 earning his living as a business 
 man in Sicily. 
 
 4. rerum . . . usus : no more than 
 quod satis est, that sufficient supply 
 of the necessaries of life to which 
 men should limit their desires. 
 
 5. ventri, lateri, pedibus : i.e. 'if 
 your wants are supplied and your 
 health is good. 1 The form in 
 which the general thought is ex- 
 pressed is taken from a Greek 
 proverb (Theognis, 719), but Hor- 
 ace uses the same words often, 
 putting specific illnesses in the 
 place of some general term ; cf. 
 latus out renes, Epist. i, 6, 28; 
 
 laterum dolor, Sat. I, 9, 32; 
 podagrant, Epist. i, 2, 52. 
 
 6. The same as non est ut copia 
 maior ; cf. also Epist. i, 4, 7-8. 
 
 7. forte : the addition of this 
 word prevents the condition, si 
 vivis, from assuming that he is 
 actually living an ascetic life. The 
 two conditions, si ventri bene est 
 and si vivis herbis, thus present 
 the two possible alternations, 
 without choosing between them ; 
 'whether you are living on the fat 
 of the land or are, perhaps, a vege- 
 tarian, in either case you are in- 
 dependent of money and have no 
 right to call yourself pauper.' in 
 medio positorum : the gen. depends 
 on abstemius, which takes the abl. 
 or the gen. without distinction of 
 meaning. For in medio posit a, 
 'things that are within the reach 
 of everybody,' cf. Sat. I, 2, 108. 
 
 8. urtica : nettles, more often 
 referred to for their medicinal 
 properties ; here used only to give a 
 humorous definiteness to the gen- 
 eral word Jierbis. sic : in the same 
 way. protinus: of time; 'you 
 
 79
 
 ', 12,9] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 confcstim liquidus Fortunae rivus inauret ; 
 to vel quia naturam mutare pecunia nescit, 
 
 vel quia cuncta putas una virtute minora. 
 
 Miramur, si Democriti pecus edit agellos 
 
 cultaque, dum peregre est animus sine corpore velox, 
 
 cum tu inter scabiem tantam et contagia lucri 
 15 nil parvum sapias et adhuc sublimia cures: 
 
 quae mare compescant causae ; quid temperet annum ; 
 
 stellae sponte sua iussaene vagentur et errent ; 
 
 from his body and roamed the uni- 
 verse. cum : adversative. sca- 
 biem : the figurative use is rare 
 and is therefore defined by contagia 
 Inert ; ' contagious itching for 
 pelf (Wilkins). Iccius, in his 
 work as overseer of Agrippa's es- 
 tates, was in the closest contact 
 with the money -making instincts. 
 
 nil parvum : />., ' are indifferent 
 to all this,' 'regard all this as 
 petty ' ; then the thought is re- 
 peated in positive form in sublimia. 
 
 adhuc : still, ' as you did when 
 I wrote my ode about you.' sub- 
 limia : lofty themes, both in the 
 general sense and with special 
 reference to astronomical ques- 
 tions. 
 
 16. compescant: i.e., why the 
 sea, in spite of all the rivers that 
 empty into it, does not rise, but is 
 confined within fixed bounds. Cf. 
 Lucr. 6, 608. temperet : ' divides 
 the year into seasons ' ; cf. Carm. 
 i, 12, 16. 
 
 17. sponte sua : the Stoic doc- 
 trine was that the planets were 
 self-moved and were therefore 
 
 will go right on living.' ut : con- 
 cessive ; even though. 
 
 9. The river Pactolus, in which 
 Midas bathed to rid himself of the 
 'Golden Touch,' had come to be 
 thought of as having the power to 
 gild with its waters, and so is 
 proverbial as a source of wealth. 
 Cf. Epod. 15, 20, tibique Pactolus 
 flitat. 
 
 10. Cf. Epod. 4, 6, for tuna non 
 mutat genus ; in this case, however, 
 the general truth is intended to 
 convey a compliment. 
 
 u. This also is complimentary 
 and leads on to the detailed refer- 
 ences to the interest of Iccius in 
 philosophical studies. 
 
 12-15. 'The stock illustration of 
 the philosopher's absorption in his 
 speculations is feeble compared to 
 your interest.' Democriti : of 
 Abdera, the early teacher of the 
 atomic theory of matter. The 
 story is told in various forms ; here 
 the allusion is to his neglect of his 
 farm because he was so intent upon 
 scientific study. peregre : his 
 mind, as it were, separated itself 
 
 80
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [l, 12, 21 
 
 
 quid premat obscurum lunae, quid proferat orbem ; 
 quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors ; 
 Empedocles an Stertinium deliret acumen.^- 
 Verum seu piscis sen porrum et caepe trucidas, 
 
 themselves divine. The atomic 
 theory brought them under the 
 rule of physical law (iussae). 
 
 18. obscurum: predicate with 
 premat. The question is in re- 
 gard to the changes of the moon 
 from crescent to full circle (orbc/ti), 
 
 19. quid velit : in the direct 
 form, quid vis tibi? (Sat. i, 
 2, 69), 'what do you mean?' 
 In the indirect form, quid . . . 
 ista velit sibi fabula, Sat. 2, 5, 
 61. 'What is the meaning and 
 what the powers of . . . ? ' 
 concordia discors : cf. strenua in- 
 ertia, Epist. I, II, 28. In the 
 atomic theory all motion is the 
 result of two forces, attraction and 
 repulsion, love and hate, which are 
 opposed and yet work out a har- 
 monious result. The expression 
 concordia discors is used by many 
 writers. 
 
 20. Empedocles : of Agrigentum, 
 a follower of Pythagoras and a 
 physicist ; his name is suggested 
 by vs. 19, and he is mentioned 
 as a representative of the school 
 which explained natural phe- 
 nomena by purely physical causes. 
 Stertinium : a Stoic philoso- 
 pher, whose supposed discourse 
 on the madness of men forms the 
 main part of Sat. 2, 3. He may 
 have been of the Ciceronian period. 
 
 HOR. EP. 6 8t 
 
 He is here used in a humorous 
 spirit as the counterpart to Emped- 
 ocles, standing for Stoic doctrines. 
 The name is in the adj. form, 
 without change, agreeing with 
 acumen. For the epic use of the 
 abstract noun cf. Sat. 2, 1, 72, vir- 
 tus Scipiadae. deliret : a Stoic 
 word, used of the madness of 
 stultitia, here employed in humor- 
 ous contrast with acumen. 
 
 21. 'But whatever may be your 
 mode of living (vss. 5-8) or your 
 philosophical tenets (vss. 16-20), 
 make the acquaintance of Gros- 
 phus.' Many systems of philoso- 
 phy have run over into dietetic 
 regulations, connected in some 
 cases with the more important doc- 
 trines. Th e Py t hagorean doctri ne 
 of the transmigration of souls was 
 thus connected with the forbidding 
 of certain articles of food, animal 
 and even vegetable, on the ground 
 that the use of such food involved 
 the taking of life. Many of the 
 allusions are evidently parody, as 
 here trucidas is humorous. 
 piscis : standing for good living, 
 vs. 5. porrum et caepe:' leeks 
 and onions, the her bis et urtica of 
 vss. 7-8. The description is in 
 all these cases (5, 7-8, 21) humor- 
 ously phrased, with no attempt at 
 precision, so that the use of piscis
 
 J t 12, 22] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 utere Pompeio Grospho et si quid petet ultro 
 defer : nil Grosphus nisi verum orabit et aequum. 
 Vilis amicorum est annona, bonis ubi quid dest. 
 25 Ne tamen ignore^ quo sit Romana loco relf: 
 Cantaber Agrippae, Claudi virtute Neronis 
 Armenius cecidit ; ius imperiumque Phraates 
 Caesaris accepit genibus minor ; aurea fruges 
 Italiae pleno defundit Copia cornu. 
 
 for high living is not surprising or 
 doubtful. 
 
 22. Pompeio Grospho: Carrn. 
 2, 16 is addressed *o him, and 
 alludes to his having estates in 
 Sicily. ultro : with defer. 
 
 24. annona: properly the year's 
 harvest, then the price of grain, 
 which depended on the harvest, 
 and in turn influenced all prices. 
 Here figuratively ; ' it costs but 
 little to secure friends, when those 
 who ask the price are good men.' 
 ^ dest: = deest. The thought is 
 the same as that in quid peiit, not 
 that Grosphus would necessarily 
 be asking for help, but that Iccius 
 need not hesitate out of fear that 
 he might make inconvenient de- 
 mands. 
 
 26-29. The news of the day, 
 given in condensed form, with 
 little touches of half-humorous 
 
 poetic phrasing. Agrippa, the 
 patron of Iccius, put down an up- 
 rising in Spain in the summer of 
 20 B.C. The expedition of Ti- 
 berius, to which reference is made 
 in many of the Epistles, resulted 
 in the submission of Armenia. 
 Phraates, king of Parthia, restored 
 to Augustus, through Tiberius, the 
 Roman standards taken long be- 
 fore, when Crassus was defeated. 
 The formalities of the occasion are 
 alluded to in genibus minor ('in- 
 terior by his kneeling'), and both 
 this event and the conquest of Ar- 
 menia are commemorated on coins 
 of the period and mentioned by 
 Augustus in the Monumentum 
 Ancyranum. defundit : present 
 tense : the harvest was just coming 
 in. There had been serious trouble 
 from a bad harvest in 22 B.C. 
 
 13 
 
 The first three books of the Odes were published in the year 23. At 
 that time Augustus was still in Italy, in or near Rome, and Horace sent 
 to him an early copy of the three volumes. The bearer of the gift was 
 Vinnius Asina (or perhaps Asellus), of whom nothing is known except 
 
 82
 
 EPISTVLAE [i f 13, 4 
 
 by inference from this letter. The Epistle is supposed to be a hasty 
 note, sent by a messenger to overtake Vinnius before he reached Rome 
 and to remind him again of the author's instructions in regard to the 
 manner in which the gift should be presented to Augustus. 
 
 'This is to remind you again, Vinnius, to be careful. Don't make a 
 nuisance of yourself ; your name, you see, exposes you to jibes. And 
 do try to be graceful ; don't carry my books under your arm like a com- 
 mon bundle. And don't brag about them, either. Remember what 
 I've told you and do be careful.' 
 
 This is not an actual letter, sent after Vinnius, but a humorous 
 Epistle handed to him with the books and intended in reality for 
 Augustus. There is not a serious word in it ; the elaborate and fussy 
 advice, the permission to throw the book away, the reference to the 
 badness of the road, are all fictitious. Vinnius was not a country clown, 
 but a common friend of Augustus and Horace, who undertook the little 
 commission for the poet, doubtless with pride. Nor was Augustus 
 so remote and great a personage that Horace felt it to be necessary 
 to approach him with elaborate caution. All this belongs to the 
 machinery, as it were, of the little play. 
 
 The facts were, in reality, something like this : in sending a copy 
 of his completed lyrics to Augustus, Horace desired to write a note of 
 presentation, like an inscription on a flyleaf. Seeking to avoid the 
 commonplace forms, he hit upon the little fiction of pretending great 
 anxiety about the reception of the gift and of expressing his anxiety in 
 these fussy and exaggerated directions to the bearer. The note was, 
 of course, to be shown to Augustus. 
 
 Vt proficiscentem docui te saepe diuque, 
 Augusto reddes signata volumina, Vinni, 
 si validus, si laetus erit, si denique poscet ; 
 ne studio nostri pecces, odiumque libellis 
 
 1. proficiscentem: 'when you and under the care of physicians, 
 were starting,' as if this letter had denique: this changes the con- 
 been sent to overtake him on the dition into a temporal clause ; 
 journey. 'and not until he shall ask for 
 
 2. signata: i.e., 'with the seal it.' poscet: it is implied that 
 unbroken,' in good condition. Augustus already knew that a copy 
 
 3. si validus : the conditions of the book was to be sent to him. 
 are emphatic; 'only in case he 4-5. The adjuration not to be 
 is. . . .' Augustus was often ill overzealous is intentionally re- 
 
 83
 
 . 13. 5] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ; sedulus importes opera vehemente minister. 
 Si te forte meae gravis uret safcina chartae, 
 abicito potius quam, quo perferre iuberis, 
 
 /-tAilitellas ferus impingas Asinaeque paternura 
 cognomen vertas in risum et fabula fias. 
 
 to Viribus uteris per clivos, flumina, lamas; 
 victor propositi simul ac perveneris illuc, 
 sic positum servabis onus, ne forte sub ala 
 fasciculum portes librorum ut rusticus agnum, 
 
 peated in various forms in studio 8, fabula quanta fui, Juv. 10, 167. 
 
 tiostri, sedulus minister, and opera 
 vehemente, as if to express the ex- 
 treme anxiety of the writer. 
 
 6-9. The lines are, of course, 
 wholly humorous, to introduce 
 the joke on the cognomen of Vin- 
 nius. gravis . . . sarcina : a jest 
 at the books themselves, not un- 
 like the Engl. ' heavy reading.' 
 The three volumes of the Odes 
 would be in fact a very light parcel. 
 uret: gall; cf. Epist. I, 10, 43. 
 The word is selected in anticipa- 
 tion of the joke on Asina. quo : 
 supply an antecedent, ibi, to go 
 with impingas ; ' rather than carry 
 it all the way and then dash it 
 down in the very presence of 
 Augustus and his friends. 1 
 lerus : 'like an angry mule.' 
 Asinae : both this name and the 
 other form, Asellus, are known 
 to have been in actual use in 
 several families. paternum : i.e., 
 an inherited cognomen and not 
 one given in derision to Vinnius 
 himself. fabula: so Epod. n, 
 
 ut . . . dcclamatio fias. 
 
 10. viribus uteris : fut., like red- 
 des, ser-uabis', 'use your strength 
 where it is called for, on the road, 
 but when you arrive carry the 
 books gracefully.' lamas : bogs, 
 mudholes. The word is found 
 only here in classical Latin and 
 was probably a colloquialism. 
 These references to difficulties on 
 the way are not to be taken liter- 
 ally ; they suit the general tone of 
 humorous exaggeration. 
 
 1 1 . victor propositi : this phrase 
 also is intentionally over-serious, 
 almost epic. 
 
 12-13. sic positum : 'just as I 
 am arranging it now ' ; as if Horace 
 were actually showing Vinnius how 
 to hold it and how to carry it 
 properly. ne . . . portes: in 
 form a clause of purpose, but in 
 sense a continuation of the com- 
 mand from uteris, servabis, ' don't 
 carry my package under your 
 arm, like a farmer carrying a 
 lamb.' 
 
 84
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 Cl 13. 19 
 
 ut vinosa glomus furtivae Pyrrhia lanae, 
 15 ut cum pileolo soleas conviva tribulis. 
 Ne vulgo narres te sudavisse ferendo 
 carmina, quae possint oculos auresque morari 
 Caesaris. Oratus multa prece, nitere porro; 
 vade, vale ; cave ne titubes mandataque frangas. 
 
 14. glomus : ace. plur. ; the 
 word is a technical term, of wool 
 gathered into a ball for spinning. 
 Pyrrhia : the form of the name 
 is quite uncertain. The Scholiast 
 says that this is an allusion to a 
 scene in a play of Titinius. 
 
 15. conviva tribulis : a poorer 
 member of a ' tribe,' invited to 
 dinner for political purposes by 
 a richer fellow-tribesman, would 
 have no slave to carry his cap or 
 to take his sandals when he re- 
 clined on the couch. He would 
 therefore carry them under his 
 arm. The three comparisons are 
 not meant to describe three differ- 
 ent ways of carrying things under 
 the arm, but merely to suggest the 
 awkwardness which Vinnius is to 
 avoid. 
 
 16-17. 'And don't brag to 
 everybody about your important 
 mission.' The important word in 
 the infin. phrase is not sudavisse, 
 
 but ferendo. The exaggeration 
 of sudavisse is like that in vss. 4-5, 
 
 10, II. 
 
 18. oratus : by Horace, in this 
 letter. multa prece : the whole 
 Epistle is made up of such exhor- 
 tations and the point is the same 
 as that of saepe diuqne, vs. i. 
 ' You have heard all my directions, 
 now go on.' 
 
 19. titubes: a very common 
 word in Plautus, in giving direc- 
 tions for the carrying out of a plan ; 
 M.G. 946, Pseud. 764, 939. The 
 literal meaning is here distinctly 
 in mind, with a reference back to 
 vss. 8-9, and is carried on into 
 frangas. mandata : not the vol- 
 umes, but the injunctions, the 
 multae preces. The literal and 
 figurative meanings run together ; 
 ' don't stumble and break your 
 load, 1 ' don't make a mistake and 
 forget my directions to you.' 
 
 14 
 
 The date of this Epistle cannot be determined nor is it of importance 
 for the interpretation. The person to whom it is supposed to be written 
 is the superintendent of Horace's farm. 
 
 ' Foreman of my nice little farm, we seem to oe disagreeing. I am 
 detained here in Rome, longing for the country ; you want to be back 
 
 85
 
 i, 14, i] HORATI 
 
 in Rome. You are inconsistent and I am not, but the real difference is 
 in our tastes. To you my farm seems a desert and a place of hard 
 labor, and you long for pleasures, while 1 have dropped all that kind 
 of thing and want only peace. Each wants what the other has. But 
 it won't do ; the shoemaker will have to stick to his last, according to 
 the old saying. 1 
 
 This Epistle is in complete contrast to the one which immediately 
 precedes it. It is a little disquisition on the inconsistencies of men, as 
 illustrated by the steward's discontent with the life which he had once 
 greatly desired, and on the attractiveness of the country, which seemed 
 all the stronger to Horace when he happened to be detained in Rome 
 beyond his usual time. These themes Horace had treated before, in 
 Sat. i, i and Sat. 2, 6, using the satire form. In returning to them at 
 this later time, under the impulse of his longing to escape from the city, 
 he used the epistolary form with which he was then experimenting. 
 The vilici4s is, of course, a mere figurehead; the letter was not actually 
 sent to him at all ; but the advantages of the direct form of address 
 appear in the individual allusions (vss. 2-3, 6-7, 14-15, 19-30), which 
 illustrate the general doctrines that underlie the whole. There is, 
 too, a certain simplicity and directness in the language, though there 
 is, of course, no attempt to come down to the level of the steward's 
 comprehension. 
 
 Vilice silvarum et mihi me re.ddentis agelli, 
 quern tu fastidis habitatum quinque focis et 
 quinque bonos solitum Variam dimittere patres, 
 certemus, spinas animone ego fortius an tu 
 
 i. silvarum: Horace mentions tion of quinque. Variam: now 
 
 the woodlands in several allusions 1'icimaro, the nearest market 
 
 to his farm (Sat. 2, 6, 3 ; Epist. town. patres : 'heads of fami- 
 
 i, 16, 9) and evidently regarded lies. 1 They were coloni, who held 
 
 them as an important part of the the lands on lease from Horace 
 
 estate. mihi me reddentis : ' that and were independent farmers and 
 
 restores me to myself ; cf. Epist. citizens. On the part of the es- 
 
 I, 18. 101, te tibi reddat amicnm. tate which Horace reserved for 
 
 2-3. habitatum : ' though it is himself and of which the -vilicus 
 
 large enough to furnish homes to had charge, eight slaves (Sat. 2, 
 
 five families ' ; there is a little half- 7, 1 18) were kept at work, 
 
 humorous boasting in the repeti- 4-5. certemus: i.e. t ' I challenge 
 
 86
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 14, 
 
 evellas agro, et melior sit Horatius an res. 
 Me quamvis Lamiae pietas et cura moratur, 
 fratrem maerentis, rapto de fratre dolentis 
 insolabiliter, tamen istuc mens animusque 
 fert et amat spatiis obstantia rumpere claustra. 
 Rure ego viventem, tu dicis in urbe beatum ; 
 cui placet alterius, sua nimirum est odio sors. 
 VStultus uterque locum immeritum causatur inique; 
 in culpa est animus, qui se non effugit unquam. 
 Tu mediastinus tacita prece rura petebas, 
 
 you to a contest, to see whether 
 . . . .' spinas: for weeds in gen- 
 eral ; softh'x(Sat. i, 3, 37) is used 
 both of faults and of weeds. res : 
 ft is farm. 
 
 6. Lamiae: subjective gen.; 
 ' Lamia's affection and distress,' 
 further explained by the next line. 
 [The single case of an objective 
 gen., deum pietas, in a fragment 
 of Naevius, by no means justifies 
 the taking of Lamiae as an ob- 
 jective genitive.] moratur: the 
 subjv. is the proper mode with 
 quamvis, but the confusion with 
 quamquam had already gone so 
 far that Horace uses the indie, 
 more often than the subjunctive. 
 Carm. I, 26 is addressed to L. 
 Aelius Lamia and he is referred 
 to in Carm. 3, 17. He became 
 consul in 3 A.D. Evidently he 
 was one of Horace's most valued 
 friends. 
 
 7. The repetition fratrem . . . 
 fratre and the assonance of mae- 
 rentis, dolentis give the line a pe- 
 
 culiar effect. Cicero (ad Att. 12, 
 28, 2, maerorem minui, dolorem 
 nee pot HI) distinguishes between 
 the two words, but the distinction 
 is here unimportant ; mourning, 
 grieving. 
 
 8. istuc: <to the place where 
 you are,' to the country. 
 
 9. amat : longs ; so, with infin., 
 Carm. 3, 9, 24. The figure in 
 the rest of the line is taken from 
 chariot racing ; claustra are the 
 bars which kept the horses within 
 the carceres until the race was 
 started and which may therefore 
 be said obstare spatiis, to ' stand 
 in the way of the race course. 1 
 
 ii. alterius: sc. sors. The 
 thought is that with which Sat. 
 i, i opens. 
 
 12-13. Cf. Epist. i, n,esp. vss. 
 25-27. immeritum : i.e., ' which 
 is not responsible,' as in Sat. 2, 3, 
 7 f. immeritus . . . paries. The 
 same thought is expressed also in 
 inique. 
 
 14. tu : this takes up the con-
 
 '4, 
 
 HORATI 
 
 15 nunc urbem et ludos et balnea vilicus optas; 
 me constare mihi scis et discedere tristem, 
 quandocumque trahunt invisa negotia Romam. 
 Non eadem miramur ; eo disconvenit inter 
 meque et te. Nam quae deserta et inhospita tesqua 
 
 20 credis, amoena vocat mecum qui sentit, et odit 
 
 quae tu pulchra putas. Fornix tibi et uncta popina 
 incutiunt urbis desiderium, video, et quod 
 angulus iste feret piper et tus ocius uva, 
 nee vicina subest vinum praebere taberna 
 
 25 quae possit tibi, nee meretrix tibicina, cuius 
 
 ad strepitum salias terrae gravis. Et tamen urgues 
 
 ,/^ iampridem non tacta ligonibus arva, bovemque 
 disiunctum curas et strictis frondibus exples ; 
 
 trast begun in vs. 6 and expressed 
 in vs. 10. mediastinus : a com- 
 mon drudge. tacita : />., you 
 regarded it as so great a piece of 
 good fortune that you did not dare 
 to ask for it.' 
 
 15. nunc: 'but now that you 
 have it. 1 vilicus : a head servant, 
 in contrast to mediastinus. 
 
 1 6. me : ' but I am consistent 
 in my wishes.' 
 
 18. eo disconvenit : < the differ- 
 ence in our tastes explains the 
 fact that you are inconsistent and 
 I am consistent.' 
 
 19. tesqua : wilds ; said by the 
 Scholiast to be a Sabine word. 
 
 21. fornix : a brothel. uncta : 
 cf. immundis popinis, Sat. 2, 4, 
 62. The common cook shops 
 would be ill-kept and greasy. 
 
 23. angulus iste : ' that hole, as 
 
 you call it.' piper et tus : i.e., 
 ' the farm cannot be made to pro- 
 duce good wine \nva) ; you might 
 as well expect to raise tropical 
 plants there.' This and the fol- 
 lowing lines express the steward's 
 disgust with his occupation and 
 circumstances. 
 
 25. meretrix tibicina: like the 
 Copa Syrisca in Vergil's poem. 
 
 26. tamen: 'in spite of your 
 having no pleasures, as you say.' 
 urgues : to express the stew- 
 ard's sense of the difficulty of his 
 labors. 
 
 27. non tacta : and therefore 
 harder to bring under cultivation. 
 
 28. disiunctum : the oxen are 
 loosed from the plow and their 
 labor is over, but the steward must 
 still take care of them and give 
 them their fodder (frondibus). 
 
 88
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 4f 
 
 addit opus pigro rivus, si decidit imber, 
 30 multa mole docendus aprico parcere prato. 
 
 Nunc age, quid nostrum concentum dividat, audi. 
 Quern tenues decuere togae nitidique capilli, 
 quern scis immunem Cinarae placuisse rapaci, 
 quern bibulum liquidi media de luce Falerni, 
 35 cena brevis iuvat et prope rivum somnus in herba. 
 Nee lusisse pudet, sed non inciclere ludum. 
 Non istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quisquam 
 limat, non odio obscuro morsuque venenat ; 
 rident vicini glebas et saxa moventem. 
 4 o Cum servis urbana diaria rodere mavis, 
 
 29. addit : and there is even 
 more to do, like directing the flow 
 of the water in a heavy rain. 
 pigro : this is added by Horace. 
 
 31. quid . . . dividat: i.e., < what 
 makes my view of country life so 
 entirely different from yours.' 
 audi : let me tell you, as often ; 
 Sat. i, I, 14. 
 
 32. tenues: fine, 'of fine mate- 
 rial ' ; the opposite was crassa, 
 Sat. I, 3, 15. 
 
 33. immunem: 'though I 
 brought no gift' (Wilkins). 
 Cinarae: cf. Epist. i, 7, 28 and 
 note. The adj. rapaci is general, 
 of women of her class, not indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 34. media de luce : to drink be- 
 fore nightfall is often referred to 
 as typical of a rather fast life, e.g., 
 Sat. i, 4, 51 f., or at least a life 
 of pleasure, Carm. 2, 7, 6. 
 
 36. nee lusisse pudet : all this 
 was, by Roman standards, suitable 
 
 enough for a young man. in- 
 cidere : cut short, < bring to an end 
 at the proper time.' 
 
 37. istic : where you are, in the 
 country; cf. istuc, vs. 8. obli- 
 quo : look askance with envy. 
 
 38. limat : literally files, cuts 
 away, i.e., lessens ; but the word 
 is more frequently used of polish- 
 ing and is here chosen for the pun 
 upon limis oculis, which is the 
 same as obliquo oculo. venenat : 
 envy and hatred are like the bite 
 of a poisonous serpent. Horace 
 frequently alludes to the fact that 
 he was envied and criticized, es- 
 pecially for his friendship with 
 Maecenas. 
 
 39. rident : ' instead of envying 
 me, my neighbors merely smile in 
 a good-natured way, as they see 
 me trying to work with my own 
 hands about my farm.' 
 
 40-44. A summary of the whole ; 
 ; every man wants what he has not 
 
 89
 
 1, 14, 40 HORATI 
 
 horum tu in numerum voto ruis ; invidet usum 
 lignorum et pecoris tibi calo argutus et horti. 
 Optat ephippia bos, piger optat arare caballus. 
 Quam scit uterque libens censebo exerceat artem. 
 
 a great mistake, in my opinion.' ing, have an easy life. Vs. 44 is 
 
 cum servis: -like my slaves in proverbial ; Cicero expresses it 
 the city,' urbana going in sense (7/^r. i, 18, 41) in slightly dif- 
 with servis. diaria : rations, in- ferent form; 'bone enim illo pro- 
 stead of the abundant food of the verbio (Jraeco praecipitur; quam 
 farm. calo : my groom, who had quisque norit artem, in hac se ex- 
 occasionally gone out with his erceat.' censebo : inserted in 
 master to the farm; cf. Sat. I, 6, parataxis with exerceat. The fu- 
 103. argutus: i.e., 1 using all his ture does not really belong to 
 arguments to persuade me. 1 censebo (for cettseo), but is taken 
 piger : the riding-horse thinks that over from exerceat ; cf. Plaut. M.G. 
 the oxen, moving slowly in plow- 395, 1209; Cure, 493. 
 
 15 
 
 Of the date of this Epistle it can only be said that it was written 
 after 23, when Antonius Musa introduced the cold-water cure, and per- 
 haps in fulfilment of the intention expressed in Epist. i, 7, n, to spend 
 a winter on the southern coast. The person addressed is a Numonius 
 Vala, of whom, individually, nothing is known except what is implied 
 in the letter. But there are references in inscriptions and on coins to 
 Numonii, who were of a somewhat distinguished family in Lucania. 
 
 ; Tell me all about your part of the country, Vala (for my doctor has 
 ordered me to give up Baiae and take to the cold-water business ; I 
 don't like it, but I suppose I must do as he says) ; how about the 
 bread? and the water ? (I'll attend to the wine myself.) And what 
 can I get in the way of game and sea food ? Oh, yes, I haven't for- 
 gotten my own sermons. But you know the story of Maenius, how he 
 used to preach against prodigals, but, when he had a chance, used to 
 return with gusto to his prodigal life again. So I preach simplicity 
 when my bank account is low, but I also know a good dinner when I 
 see it.' 
 
 A genuine letter, asking for information and expecting an answer. 
 But the dry questions are interrupted by humorous parentheses which 
 explain the reason for the letter and set forth the cheerful frame of mind 
 
 90
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 of the writer. And the letter is turned into a work of art, worthy of 
 preservation,' by the story of Maenius and the humorous application 
 of it to Horace himself. 
 
 Quae sit hiems Veliae, quod caelum, Vala, Salerni, 
 quorum hominum regio et qualis via, (nam mihi Baias 
 Musa supervacuas Antonius, et tamen illis 
 me facit invisum, gelida cum perluor unda 
 5 per medium frigus. Sane murteta relinqui, 
 dictaque cessantem nervis elidcrc morbum 
 
 1. quae sit: the letter, down to 
 vs. 25, consists of a series of indi- 
 rect questions interrupted by two 
 long parentheses (2-1 3 and 16-21) 
 with vs. 25 as the leading clause. 
 hiems : this has reference to the 
 purpose expressed in Epist. I, 7, 
 10- 1 1 . caelum : climate', not 
 really different from hiems, which 
 refers to the winter climate. 
 Veliae : a small town on the Lu- 
 canian coast, some sixty miles be- 
 low Naples. Salerni : on the 
 coast of Campania, about fifteen 
 miles from Naples. The family of 
 Vala came from this region. 
 
 2. quorum hominum : the two 
 genitives make a kind of compound 
 interrogative adj. corresponding to 
 qnalis ; ' a what-sort-of-people dis- 
 trict.' qualis : there was no good 
 Roman road going down to Velia, 
 and off the regular routes the char- 
 acter of the roads was of impor- 
 tance. 
 
 3. Musa . . . Antonius: nomen 
 and cognomen are in reversed or- 
 der, as in Epist. i, 8, i. This 
 famous physician had recently in- 
 
 troduced the cold-water cure, and 
 Horace, either following the fash- 
 ion or under the orders of the 
 doctor, was giving up his habit of 
 going to Baiae for the warm baths. 
 supervacuas : superfluous, use- 
 less. et tamen : ' and for that 
 matter, 1 ' and what is more ' ; for 
 this sense of et tamen cf. Cic. Cat. 
 Mai. 6, 1 6, 'notum enim vobis 
 carmen est ; et tamen ipsius Appi 
 exstat oratio'; and at the end of 
 the same section, 'ex quo intel- 
 legitur Pyrrhi bello grandem sane 
 fuisse ; et tamen sic a patribus ac- 
 cepimus.' [This usage is not in- 
 frequent, but is often emended or 
 explained away by all sorts of 
 ellipses. There is a fairly good 
 note on it in Munro's Lucret. 5, 
 1177.] 
 
 5. sane : of course, naturally ; 
 with the whole sentence, but esp. 
 with vicus gemit. murteta : these 
 myrtle groves on the slope above 
 Baiae are oft"n mentioned. 
 
 6. cessantem : lingering, there- 
 fore chronic. nervis : muscles, as 
 always in classical Latin. The
 
 5. 7] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 10 
 
 sulfura contemn! vicus gemit invidus aegris, 
 qui caput et stomachum supponerc fontibus audent 
 Clusinis Gabiosque petunt et frigida rura. 
 Mutandus locus est, et deversoria nota 
 praeteragendus equus: ' Quo tendis ? Non mihi 
 
 Cumas 
 
 est iter aut Baias,' laeva stomaehosus habena 
 dicet eques ; sed equis f renato est auris in ore) ; 
 maior utrum populum frumenti copia pascat, 
 collectosne bibant imbres puteosne perennes 
 
 disease was probably rheumatic. 
 elidere : a technical term of medi- 
 cine ; drive out would be the mod- 
 ern equivalent. 
 
 7. invidus : corresponds actively 
 to the passive tnvisum, vs. 4. 
 
 8. supponere : the treatment was 
 given in part by shower baths. 
 audent : venture to take the new- 
 fashioned treatment. 
 
 9. Clusinis : there is no other 
 mention of baths at Clusium, but 
 in the hill country springs would 
 be found anywhere. The baths of 
 Gabii, near Rome, are mentioned 
 by Juvenal. frigida rura : the 
 country places of Romans were 
 almost all up in the mountains, 
 where the air would be cooler than 
 in the city. 
 
 10. mutandus : this is the con- 
 clusion of the whole matter; ' I've 
 got to take cold baths all winter ; 
 I've got to abandon Baiae and 
 duck my head into a cold spring. 
 I don't like it, but it's the doctor's 
 orders.' There is a humorous skep- 
 
 ticism in regard to the new cure 
 and a humorous acceptance of the 
 situation in the whole passage, vss. 
 2-13. deversoria nota: the inns 
 where he had lived before at Cu- 
 mae and Baiae, known to his horse 
 as well as to himself. 
 
 12. laeva : the road down to Cu- 
 mae and the coast towns branched 
 off to the right, and the horse was 
 trying to take this familiar turn. 
 habena : abl . with stomaehosus ; 
 'expressing his anger by pulling 
 the left-hand rein.' 
 
 13. sed : i.e., ' but he might as 
 well have spared his words and 
 simply pulled the rein, for a bridled 
 horse hears with his mouth.' 
 
 14. The indirect questions go 
 on after the parenthetic explana- 
 tion of the reason for asking 
 them. frumenti copia : the sup- 
 ply of grain stands for all the 
 ordinary kinds of food, perhaps 
 with special reference to the bread 
 (cf. Sat. 1,5, 89-90). 
 
 15. collectos . . . imbres : in 
 
 92
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i- 15,26 
 
 20 
 
 iugis aquae, (nam vina nihil moror illius orae. 
 Rure meo possum quidvis perferre patique ; 
 ad mare cum veni, generosum et lene require, 
 quod curas abigat, quod cum spe divite manet 
 in venas animumque meum, quod verba ministret, 
 quod me Lucanae iuvenem commendet amicae) ; 
 tractus uter plures lepores, uter educet apros ; 
 utra magis pisces et echinos aequora celent 
 pinguis ut inde domum possim Phaeaxque reverti, 
 scribere te nobis, tibi nos adcredere par est. 
 Maenius, ut rebus maternis atque paternis 
 
 some parts of southern Italy the 
 supply of water was scanty (Sat. 
 I, 5, 88, 91, 97) and it was neces- 
 sary to store rain water in cisterns. 
 perennes: 'good all the year 
 round,' i. <?., which do not dry up 
 in summer. 
 
 1 6. iugis : running, not from a 
 stagnant pool ; cf. Sat. 2, 6, 2, iugis 
 aquae fans. This is not tautolog- 
 ical with p'erennis; l springs from 
 which there is running water at all 
 seasons.' 
 
 i 6-21. 'About the wine I make 
 no inquiries, for I will bring some 
 with me.' nihil moror : ' I care 
 nothing'; cf. Sat. I, 4, 13. rure 
 meo : in contrast to ad mare cum 
 veni; in his own home, contented 
 and satisfied, he does not care 
 what he has to eat or drink. 
 perferre patique: with intentional 
 exaggeration of phrase. gene- 
 rosum : not as ' generous ' is used 
 in English, but of good stock, i.e., 
 from a good and well-known 
 
 vineyard. lene : smooth. The 
 following lines are the conven- 
 tional praises of wine, with slight 
 variations. Compare the corre- 
 sponding lines in Eptst. 1,5, 16-20, 
 with notes there. manet: from 
 mano, not from maneo. 
 
 22. The indirect questions are 
 resumed, becoming now more 
 specific. lepores : hares appear 
 in both the gastronomic satires 
 (2, 4, 44 ; 2, 8, 89). apros : Lu- 
 canian boars are often mentioned. 
 
 23. echinos : sea rirchins ; they 
 were eaten with very elaborate 
 sauces and were considered a 
 great delicacy (Sat. 2, 4, 33). 
 
 24. Phaeax : cf. E.pist. 1,2,28 ff. 
 and note. 
 
 25. adcredere : because Vala was 
 at home in this region. 
 
 26. The story is introduced 
 with an abruptness that is quite in 
 Horace's manner, without any 
 suggestion of the connection with 
 the preceding thought. To a
 
 '5. 27J 
 
 HO R ATI 
 
 fortiter absumptis urbanus cocpit haberi 
 scurra, vagus non qui certum praesepe teneret, 
 impransus non qui civem dignosceret hoste, 
 30 quaelibet in quern vis opprobria fingere saevus, 
 pernicies et tempestas barathrumque macelli, 
 quicquid quaesierat, ventri donabat avaro. 
 Hie ubi nequitiae fautoribus et timidis nil 
 
 Roman reader, however, the name 
 of Maenius, a Lucilian character 
 wno had become a type of the 
 reckless and witty spendthrift, 
 would at once suggest the general 
 character of the anecdote and the 
 connection with vs. 24 ' You 
 smile at my anxiety about my food 
 and my desire to get fat on good 
 living. Yes. I confess it, Maenius 
 is my model, and I'll tell you a 
 story about him.' maternis, pa- 
 ternis : he had gone through two 
 fortunes. 
 
 27. fortiter : ' like a young man 
 of spirit ' ; with absumptis. 
 
 27-28. urbanus . . . scurra: 'a 
 man about town.' The word 
 scurra, which is defined by Plautus 
 (itrbani adsidni rives, quos scurras 
 vacant, Trin. 202), had always a 
 suggestion of disparagement, but 
 in combination with urbanus, 
 which inclines toward a good 
 sense, it is so nearly neutral as to 
 need the definition of the two 
 adjectives and the relative clauses. 
 vagus : not a regular comrictor 
 at any house, but picking up an 
 invitation where he could. 
 praesepe : crib, manger, used hu- 
 
 morously. The order of words 
 must be noticed; 'a roamer, not 
 the kind that has a regular crib.' 
 [The order is too marked in this 
 vs. and in 29 to make it possible 
 to include vagus and impransus 
 in the relative clauses, as if it had 
 been qui vagus non . . , teneret. J 
 
 29. civem . . . hoste : friend 
 from foe', cf. Plaut. Trin. 102. 
 Itostisne an civis comedis parvi 
 pendere. The older sense ( -=pere- 
 gr inns') is quite uncalled for here. 
 
 30. opprobria fingere : this char- 
 acteristic of the scurra, paying for 
 his dinner by insulting witticisms, 
 is well described by Horace, Sat. 
 I, 4, 81-85. 
 
 31. A Plautine line; cf. Capt. 
 911, clades calamitasque intein- 
 peries modo in nostram advenit 
 domum, of a hungry parasite, and 
 Cure. 121 b, age effunde hoc 
 \vinum~\ cito in barathrum. The 
 figure is ' he came upon the mar- 
 ket house like ruin, like a hurri- 
 cane, like an abyss.' 
 
 33. nequitiae: ivorthlessness, 
 with special reference to a spend- 
 thrift's follies: joined with nugis 
 and pravonim amore^ Sat. 2, 3
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 fi, 15. 
 
 ant paullum abstulerat, patinas cenabat oinasi 
 35 vilis et agninae, tribus ursis quod satis esset ; 
 scilicet ut ventres lamna candente nepotum 
 diceret urendos correctus Bestius. Idem 
 quidquid erat nactus praedae maioris, ubi omne 
 verterat in fumum et cinerem, ' Non hercule miror,' 
 40 aiebat, ' si qui comedunt bona, cum sit obeso 
 nil melius turdo, nil vulva pulchrius ampla.' 
 
 244. fautoribus : i.e., he had for 
 a time found persons to applaud his 
 follies, but thej' had become afraid 
 (timidis) of his savage wit. 
 
 34. abstulerat: i.e., had reached 
 the point where no one would give 
 him a dinner. patinas : platters, 
 he still kept his appetite, though 
 he had to eat coarse food. omasi : 
 tripe ; spoken of with contempt in 
 Sat. 2, 5, 40. 
 
 35. vilis : with agninae. But 
 it is odd to modern taste that lamb 
 should be classed with tripe as 
 coarse and cheap food. 
 
 36-37. scilicet ut : 'in order, you 
 know, that he might be able to 
 say . . .' ; an ironical purpose ; 
 cf. F.pist. I, 9, 3, and note. 
 lamna : slaves were branded with 
 hot plates {laminae} on the mem- 
 ber that had been most guilty, as 
 on the hand for stealing. Mae- 
 nius, being unable to buy dainty 
 and expensive food, filled himself 
 with coarse food and then dis- 
 coursed with severity on the pun- 
 ishments that ought to be inflicted 
 on people who wasted their money 
 (nepotum) on high living. cor- 
 
 rectus Bestius : ' like Bestius after 
 his reformation, 1 or perhaps 're- 
 formed into a regular Bestius.' 
 For correctus, cf. Sat, 2, 3, 254, 
 mutatus Polemon. As Bestius is 
 wholly unknown, it is impossible to 
 understand the allusion precisely ; 
 he may have been a reformed 
 prodigal who denounced his 
 former vices, or a type of the 
 severe censor of others' vices. 
 
 38. ' And yet this same man, if 
 he had the chance, relapsed into 
 his prodigal ways. 1 praedae ma- 
 ioris : ' whenever he had made a 
 good haul, 1 i.e., had succeeded in 
 getting something good out of one 
 of \\\sfautores. 
 
 39. fumum et cinerem : prover- 
 bial, esp. of sacking and destroying 
 a captured town. hercule: as an 
 interjection more commonly in the 
 form hercle. 
 
 40. comedunt bona: cf. Catull. 
 29, 22, devorare patrimonia ; the 
 literal sense is, of course, also in 
 mind. 
 
 41. vulva: the matrix of the 
 sow,- which was regarded as a 
 delicacy. 
 
 95
 
 1, is, 42] HORATI 
 
 Nimirum hie ego sum ; nam tuta et parvula laudo, 
 cum res deficiunt, satis inter vilia fortis ; 
 verum ubi quid melius contingit et unctius, idem 
 45 vos sapere et solos aio bene vivere, quorum 
 conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis. 
 
 42-46. The application of tne nitidis: splendid, gleaming, like 
 story to Horace himself is made in villa candens, Epod. i, 29, with 
 phrases which recall the preceding reference to the appearance of the 
 lines without precisely repeating white mass of the house when seen 
 them, tuta et parvula laudo = vss. from a distance against the back- 
 36, 37; cum res deficiunt = vss. ground of trees. The underlying 
 33-34 ; ubi quid . . . contingit meaning of vss. 45-46 is, ' then I 
 = quidquid erat nactus, vs. 38 ; turn Epicurean, too, and enjoy 
 idem = idem, vs. 37 ; and the rest your fine country houses and your 
 is Horace's way of expressing the good dinners, just as if I had never 
 thought of vss. 39-41. vos: preached the Simple Life.' The 
 Vala was among the wealthy peo- story thus turns back to its start- 
 pie of the region. conspicitur ing-point, the inquiry in vss. 22- 
 . . . fundata : to be taken together ; 23 about game and sea food. 
 'is plainly seen to be solidly based.' 
 
 16 
 
 The year in which this Epistle was written cannot be determined, 
 and the character of the letter is such that the precise date is not im- 
 portant. It may perhaps be inferred from vs. 16 that it was written in 
 the late summer or the early autumn. The Quinctius to whom the letter 
 is addressed is a man of position in public life (vss. 17-18), of some 
 experience (vs. 25), and perhaps in office at this time (vs. 34). He 
 may be the Quinctius Hirpinus of Carm. 2, n. 
 
 ' My farm, if you care to know about it, my dear Quinctius, is not so 
 much a source of revenue to me, as a source of pleasure and health. 
 Mountains, woods, streams, and a cool spring make it a perfect retreat 
 from the heats of the city. 
 
 'As for you, you are in the midst of the active struggle of life, where 
 reputation seems more important than character. But we must not be 
 misled by popular applause, for it is often insincere and always fickle. 
 Reputation may be taken away; character is our own. But it must be 
 true virtue, not the fear of consequences, that keeps us from doing 
 
 06
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, 1 6, 4 
 
 wrong. We must not be the slaves of our desires, but must stand 
 independent and free from fear. Death itself, the ultimate penalty, 
 comes alike to all.' 
 
 This Epistle belongs to the more impersonal class of the letters, like 
 i, 6 and i, 10. There is some degree of personality in the first part, 
 vss. 1-16; Horace cannot write impersonally of his Sabine farm. And 
 vss. 17-18 have undoubtedly some special reference to the circumstances 
 of Quinctius. But the latter part of the Epistle is general, a sort of 
 restatement, in Horace's words and manner, of the second Stoic Para- 
 dox. This is quoted by Cicero (Farad. 2) : on avrapKr/s 17 dper?) Trpos 
 evSai/xovtav, in quo sit virtus, ei nihil deesse ad beate vivendum, and is 
 discussed and illustrated by him somewhat as it is here treated by Horace, 
 with allusions to popular favor, to the tyranny of the passions, and to 
 death as the ultima linea. In the style, also, as well as in the sub- 
 stance, there is an adoption of Stoic teaching by means of short sen- 
 tences and lively bits of dialogue. No careful reader of the Satires 
 will be surprised to find that Horace, in his later study of philosophy, 
 sometimes accepts the Stoic doctrines ; even in the earlier writings it 
 is possible to see, underneath the flippancy with which he meets the 
 formalism of the Stoics, a considerable measure of sympathy with the 
 essence of their teaching. 
 
 Ne perconteris, fundus meus, optime Quincti, 
 arvo pascat erum an bacis opulentet olivae, 
 pomisne an pratis an amicta vitibus ulmo ; 
 scribetur tibi forma loquaciter et situs agri. 
 
 i. ne perconteris : cf. Epist. i, verbs are used merely for variety. 
 I, 13, ac ne forte roges. The The forms of cultivation men- 
 questions which Quinctius might tioned were among those gener- 
 have asked relate entirely to the ally used in Italy : arvo, land 
 farm as a source of income, while plowed for grain ; olives and 
 the answering description, vss. 5- fruit for sale in the city ; pratis, 
 16. is concerned only with the meadows for pasturing cattle; 
 estate as a pleasant place to live in vitibns, vines trained on elm trees 
 during the summer. for the making of wine. The four 
 
 2-3. pascat, opulentet: feeds books of Vergil's Georgics deal 
 
 with grain, enriches by the sale of with grain, vineyards, cattle, and 
 
 olives and fruit ; but the distinc- bees, 
 
 tion is unimportant and the two 4. loquaciter: at full length, with 
 
 HOR. EP. 7 97
 
 I, 16, <;] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 10 
 
 ^ 
 
 Continui montes, ni dissocientur opaca 
 valle, sed ut veniens dextrum latus adspiciat sol, 
 laevum discedens curru fugiente vaporet ; 
 temperiem laudes. Quid, si rubicunda benigni 
 corna vepres et pruna ferant ? si quercus et ilex 
 multa fruge pecus, multa dominum iuvet umbra? 
 dicas adductum propius frondere Tarentum. 
 Fons etiam rivo dare nomen idoneus, ut nee 
 
 a jocose admission of his pleasure 
 in talking about his farm. 
 
 5. continui montes : sc. snnt. 
 ni : introducing an exception ; 
 * mountains in an unbroken stretch, 
 except where they are separated ' ; 
 'the continuity would be unbroken, 
 if it were not. . . .' 
 
 6-7. sed ut: limiting opaca', 
 ' shaded, but lying so that the 
 sun. . . .' veniens dextrum: the 
 valley runs north and south, and 
 in describing the scene Horace 
 thinks of himself as facing the 
 south or southeast. vaporet: 
 warms, merely a variation on ad- 
 spiciat. In connection with this 
 description one should read Carm. 
 i, 17, and the first part of Sat. 2, 
 6, in order to see how deeply 
 Horace loved the scene. The 
 description, however, does not 
 make it possible to determine 
 with certainty the location of the 
 villa. 
 
 8-10. temperiem laudes : this is 
 added as a consequence of the 
 mingling of shade and sunlight. 
 quid, si : this form of question is 
 one to which the answer is thought 
 
 to be obvious. No verb needs to 
 be supplied, but if one were to be 
 added in this case, it would be 
 dicas, taken from the answer to 
 the question. rubicunda : he is 
 thinking of the looks of the red 
 berries, rather than of their use for 
 food, while pruna, wild plums, 
 are for eating. fruge : i.e., acorns 
 for the swine. 
 
 n. Such a line as this can be 
 better paraphrased than translated; 
 ' you would say that Tarentum 
 had been brought hither and that 
 you were looking at its foliage.' 
 The point of the line ism frondere; 
 the foliage of green Tarentum was 
 famous. 
 
 12. fons: it is often taken for 
 granted that this is i\\&fons Ban- 
 dusiae of Carm. 3, 13, but in fact 
 the location of that spring is quite 
 unknown. rivo: the Digentia, 
 which flowed down the valley to 
 join the Anio. idoneus: i.e., so 
 large and full that the river might 
 well take its name from the spring 
 which is its source. ut: the 
 clause of result containing the 
 comparative is equivalent to 'so 
 
 98
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 16, 20 
 
 frigidior Thracam nee purior ambiat Hebrus, 
 
 infirmo capiti fiuit utilis, utilis alvo. 
 15 Hae latebrae dulces, etiam, si credis, amoenae, 
 
 incolumem tibi me praestant Septembribus horis. 
 
 Tu recte vivis, si curas esse quod audis. 
 
 lactamus iam pridem omnis te Roma beatum ;*"" 
 
 sed vereor, ne cui de te plus quani tibi cre'das, 
 20 neve putes alium sapiente bonoque beatum, 
 
 cool and clear that even the 
 Hebrus does not surpass it.' 
 
 13. ambiat: 'winds through 
 Thrace. 1 
 
 14. infirmo capiti : cf. Epist. i, 
 1 5, 8 and note. alvo : this may re- 
 fer to the same treatment or to the 
 excellence of the water for drinking. 
 
 15. latebrae: so in Sat. 2,6, 16 
 it is called arx, a place of refuge. 
 This is the answer to the ques- 
 tions that might be asked (vss. 2- 
 3) about the productiveness of the 
 farm. dulces, amoenae: the dis- 
 tinctions made in books on syn- 
 onymy between such adjectives 
 are often forced; each ca-e must 
 be judged singly. Here it is plain 
 that amoenae expresses something 
 beyond dulces; dear (to my feed- 
 ing) and delightful (in itself). 
 si credis : humorously deprecating. 
 
 16. Septembribus: the worst 
 time of the year in Rome. 
 
 17. tu : turning from his own 
 affairs to the affairs and situation 
 of Ouinctius. quod audis : ' what 
 people call you, 1 'what you are 
 said to be. 1 Cf. Epist. I, 7, 38, 
 Sat. 2, 3, 298. 
 
 18. iactamus : 'we have been 
 declaring,' ' saying openly 1 ; there 
 is no necessary implication of 
 boasting. iam pridem: not, 
 therefore, because of any new 
 honor, but because of Quinctius 1 
 high standing. omnis . . . Roma: 
 so dicemus chritas omnis, Carm. 
 4, 2, 50 ; eamus omnis civitas, 
 Kpod. 1 6, 36. te . . . beatum: 
 this is quod audis. 
 
 19. ne . . . credas : this common- 
 place of philosophy, which means 
 in essence that one should not be 
 puffed up by popular favor, is first 
 put in general terms and then 
 more specifically explained and il- 
 lustrated in the next lines. These 
 verses form a transition from the 
 opening of the Epistle to the main 
 thought, that the wise man is one 
 who lives by the precepts of phi- 
 losophy, and are not to be under- 
 stood as referring to anything 
 definite in the character or situ- 
 ation of Quinctius. He is merely 
 the man of high position to whom 
 these exhortations may be fittingly 
 addressed. 
 
 20. Another form of the Stoic 
 
 99
 
 I, 16, 21] 
 
 HOKATI 
 
 neu, si te populus sanum recteque valentem 
 dictitet, occultam febrem sub tempus edendi 
 dissimules, donee manibus tremor incidat unctis. 
 Stultorum incurata pudor malus ulcera celat. 
 
 25 Si quis bella tibi terra pugnata marique 
 
 dicat, et his verbis vacuas.permulceat aures: 
 ' Tene magis salvum populus velit an populum tu, 
 servet in ambiguo, qui consulit et tibi et urbi, 
 luppiter,' Augusti laudes agnoscere possis : 
 
 30 cum pateris sapiens emendatusque vocari, 
 
 Paradox, to which Horace fre- 
 quently refers in the Satires. 
 alium sapiente: so species alias 
 zvris, Sat. 2, 3, 208 ; alius Lysippo, 
 Epist. 2, I, 240 and often. 
 
 21-23. This is Horace's favorite 
 method of presenting an argument, 
 by means of an implied comparison ; 
 'do not belike a man who. . . .' 
 dictitet : the same in sense as 
 iactamus, vs. 18. edendi: i.e. , 
 he feels the chill coming on just 
 as he is going to the table, 
 but tries to conceal it from his 
 guests. manibus : where the chill 
 would first betray itself. unctis: 
 the food was taken up with the 
 fingers, and the meaning is, 'after 
 you have begun your dinner,' 
 when it is more inconvenient than 
 it would have been before the din- 
 ner began. 
 
 24. stultorum : emphatic ; ' only 
 fools, not sapientes." 1 The line 
 is a second argument by compari- 
 son ; ' do not be like a man who. . . .' 
 
 25. tibi: with pugnata. This 
 
 harmonizes with the implication of 
 vs. 1 8, that Quinctius was a man 
 who had been long active in public 
 life and had taken part in the civil 
 wars. 
 
 26. vacuas: 'ready' to listen; 
 cf. Epist. 1 , 1 8, 70, patnlae aures, 
 and, in a. slightly different sense, 
 Epist. I, i, 7, purgatam aurem. 
 
 27-29. These verses are said by 
 the Scholiast to be taken from a 
 Panegyric of Augustus, by Varius. 
 The quotation of them is there- 
 fore a double compliment. servet 
 in ambiguo: i.e., 'I pray that we 
 may never be forced to decide be- 
 tween your safety and the safety of 
 the state.' et tibi et urbi: re- 
 peating the contrast of populus an 
 tu. agnoscere : both because the 
 verses were so well known and 
 because the praise was suitable 
 only to Augustus. 
 
 30. pateris : ' allow yourself to 
 be called,' without protest. For 
 the nomin. after the infin. there are 
 many parallels, e.g. , in vs. 32 and 
 
 100
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, 16, 37 
 
 ,t^M 
 
 respondesne tuo, die sodes, nomine ? ' Nempe 
 vjr bonus et prudens dici deiector ego ac tu.' 
 Qui dedit hoc hodie, eras, si volet, auferet, ut, si 
 detulerit fasces indigno, detrahet idem. 
 ' Pone, meum est,' inquit: pono tristisque recedo 
 
 35 
 
 Idem si clamet furem, neget esse pudicum, 
 
 
 X^ ' O 1 7 . *yJ 
 
 contendat laqueo collum pressisse paternum, 
 
 (A 
 
 - fasces : for any high office. 
 
 not with reference to 
 
 Epist. I, 5, 15. It is a perfectly 
 natural deviation from the mechan- 
 ical accus. and not a Grecism. Cf. 
 Sat. I, 1,19, licet esse beatis. 
 
 31. respondesne: not equal to 
 nonne respondes, but with a formal 
 neutrality ; ' do you answer or do 
 jou not ? ' tuo . . . nomine : i.e. , 
 'for yourself,' by accepting the 
 description as really applicable to 
 you. die sodes : a formula of 
 appeal, as in Epist. i, i, 62. 
 sodes = si audes, with the earlier 
 meaning otaudeo(= avideo, aveo). 
 
 32. bonus et prudens : a more 
 modest substitute for sapiens emen- 
 datusque. delecto*- : intention- 
 ally stronger than pateris. ac 
 tu : a retort ; 'just as you do, in 
 spite of your superior tone. 1 The 
 whole line is a restatement of vs. 
 30, but in terms which satisfy the 
 speaker better than pateris sapiens 
 emendatusque ; 'of course I like to 
 be called a respectable and sensible 
 man, and so do you.' 
 
 33. qui dedit: i.e., public opin- 
 ion. The reply, as so often in 
 Horace, begins without an intro- 
 ductory conjunction, at or sed. 
 Cf. Sat. I, i, 36. 
 
 34- 
 detrahet: 
 
 any legal impeachment, but merely 
 as a vivid expression for the with- 
 drawal of favor. 
 
 35. The figure in this vs. is 
 slightly changed from that of the 
 preceding line ; it is the figure of 
 a person taking up an object,- any 
 object, and being interrupted by 
 the rightful owner. The subject 
 of meum est is not officium (from 
 fasces') or nomen, but is entirely 
 indefinite ; 'put that down, it's 
 mine.' The variation of thought 
 in vss. 35, 34, 35, is thoroughly 
 Horatian ; ' public opinion may 
 take away reputation, as the voters 
 may take away the office they gave, 
 or as any man may reclaim what 
 is his own.' 
 
 36. idem : the person who is 
 vaguely thought of as the subject 
 of inquit, with a slighter reference 
 back to the subjects of detrahet 
 and auferet. The force of idem 
 is, as often, adversative ; ' but 
 when that same man accuses me 
 unjustly, I can regard him with 
 indifference.' 
 
 37. laqueo : this is a proverbial 
 
 101
 
 I, 16, 38] 
 
 HOKATI 
 
 45 
 
 mordear opprobriis falsis mutemque colores ? 
 
 Falsus honor iuvat et mendax infamia terret 
 
 quern nisi mendosum et medicandum ? Vir bonus est 
 
 quis ? 
 
 Qui consulta patrum, qui leges iuraque servat; 
 quo multae magnaeque secantur iudice lites ; 
 quo res sponsore et quo causae teste tenentur. 
 Sed videt hunc omnis domus et vicinia tota 
 introrsum turpem, speciosum pelle decora. 
 ' Nee furtum feci nee fugi ' si mini dicat 
 servus, ' Habes pretium, loris non ureris,' aio. 
 1 Non hominem occidi.' ' Non pasces in cruce corvos.' 
 ' Sum bonus et frugi.' Renuit negitatque Sabellus. 
 Cautus enim metuit foveam lupus accipiterque 
 
 form of exaggerated accusation ; 
 cf. Carm. 2, 13, 5 ; Epod. 3, i f. 
 
 39. falsus honor : the substance 
 of vss. 25-32. mendax infamia : 
 vss. 36-37. 
 
 41-43. This is the answer of 
 the popular judgment to the ques- 
 tion of vs. 40, not Horace's own 
 answer, which is given in an 
 indirect way in vss. 73 ff. se- 
 cantur: are decided; cf. Sat. i, 
 10, 15, ridiculum . . . magnas 
 plerumque secat res. sponsore : 
 i.e., as a responsible man in busi- 
 ness affairs. teste: his evidence 
 on the witness stand is accepted 
 as decisive. tenentur : used in a 
 general sense with res (are settled) 
 and in a technical sense, of win- 
 ning a case at law, with causae 
 (are won). 
 
 45. An allusion to the fable of 
 
 IO2 
 
 the Ass in the Lion's Skin, to 
 which Horace alludes also in Sat. 
 1, 6, 22 ; 2, i, 64 f., in phrases very 
 similar to those used here. 
 
 47. loris : leather thongs for 
 whipping a slave. ureris : so Sat. 
 2 > 7> 58, uri -virgis. 
 
 49. The unexpressed thought is 
 'since I am innocent of these 
 things, I am therefore an upright 
 man.' But this claim the strict 
 judge refuses to admit. The same 
 course of reasoning is followed in 
 Sat. 2, 3, 159-162, with the same 
 parody of the Stoic manner. 
 Sabellus : as a type of the strict 
 moralist, who is not satisfied with 
 good conduct unless the motive is 
 also good. 
 
 50-51. ' For mere caution in 
 avoiding trouble is shown by birds 
 and animals,' and is therefore not
 
 55 
 
 60 
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, 1 6, 64 
 
 A v vXV \\.t^~^ 
 
 suspectos laqueos et opertum miluus hamum. 
 
 Oderunt peccare boni virtutis amore : 
 
 tu nihil admittes in te formidine poenae; 
 
 sit spes fallendi, miscebis sacra profanis, 
 
 nam de mille fabae modiis cum surripis unum, 
 
 damnum est, non facinus, mihi pacto lenius isto. 
 
 Vir bonus, omne forum quern spectat et omne tribunal, 
 
 quandocumque deos vel porco vel bove placat, 
 
 ' lane pater,' clare, clare cum dixit ' Apollo ' ; 
 
 labra movet metuens audiri : ' Pulchra Laverna, 
 
 da mihi fajlere ! Da iusto sanctoque videri ! 
 
 Noctem peccatis et fraudibus obice nubem ! ' 
 
 Qui melior servo, qui liberior sit avarus, 
 
 in triviis fixum cum se demittit ob assem, 
 
 
 a virtuous motive. foveam : pit- 
 fall. miluus : in three syllables ; 
 this variety of fish takes its name 
 from the bird, and the word may 
 be rendered kite-fish. 
 
 5 2 -53- The ablatives, amore, for- 
 midine, are the important words. 
 
 56. damnum : the pecuniary loss, 
 which is trifling. facinus: the 
 sin ; sc. tibi lenius. pacto . . . isto : 
 repeating the thought of cum sur- 
 ripis unum. isto is in the proper 
 second person sense. The argu- 
 ment is that the sin is not to be 
 measured by the extent of the loss 
 inflicted, but by the motive that 
 prompts it. This is not precisely 
 the Stoic doctrine that all sins are 
 equal and deserve a like penalty. 
 
 57. vir bonus : still in the iron- 
 ical sense, as in 41 flf., and there- 
 fore defined in the rest of the line, 
 
 ' the man whom the popular judg- 
 ment approves.' forum: cf. vs. 
 41. tribunal: cf. vs. 42. 
 
 60. labra movet : without utter- 
 ing any sound ; in contrast with 
 clare, clare. Laverna: the god- 
 dess of theft. 
 
 61. iusto : cf. Sat. I, I, 19, licet 
 esse beatis, and vs. 30 above, with 
 note. 
 
 63. qui : how, with the indirect 
 question after non video. servo : 
 after both melior and liberior, 
 which are predicates after sit. 
 
 64. fixum . . . assem : this is 
 explained by the scholiast on Per- 
 sius 5, 111; <quia solent pueri, ut 
 ridendi causam habeant, assem in 
 silice [the pavement"] plumbatum 
 \i.e. with melted lead'] figere, ut 
 qui viderint se ad tollendum eum 
 inclinent nee tamen possint evel- 
 
 103
 
 i, 16, 65] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 65 non video ; nam qui cupiet, metuet quoque ; porro 
 qui metuens vivet, liber mihi non erit unquam. 
 Perdidit arma, locum virtutis deseruit, qui 
 semper in augenda festinat et obruitur re. 
 Vendere cum possis captivum, occidere noli ; 
 
 70 serviet utiliter : sine pascat durus aretque ; 
 naviget ac mediis hiemet mercator in undis ; 
 annonae prosit, portet frumenta penusque. 
 Vir bonus et sapiens audebit dicere : ' Pentheu, 
 rector Thebarum, quid me perferre patique 
 
 75 indignum coges ? ' ' Adimam bona.' ' Nempe pecus, 
 
 rem, 
 
 lectos, argentum : tollas licet ! ' 'In manicis et 
 compedibus saevo te sub custode tenebo.' 
 
 lere. quo facto pueri etiam accla- 
 mare sclent.' 
 
 65. cupiet, metuet : d.Epist.\, 
 6, 12. 
 
 67. arma, locum: acts which 
 were proverbially discreditable ; 
 but they are really no worse than 
 it is to give up one's life to money 
 making. 
 
 69-72. ' Such a man is a mere 
 slave, and should be set to do 
 slave's work.' captivum: this 
 carries on the figure of vs. 67 ; the 
 coward who has allowed himself 
 to be captured may be made use- 
 ful as a slave. The verse is a 
 scornful bit of advice, addressed 
 to the conqueror. durus: as a 
 hard-working farm slave. The 
 agricola and the mercator (nauta) 
 are frequently used as types of 
 men who endure hardship for gain, 
 
 e.g. y Sat. I, I, 28 ff. annonae: 
 'let him help to keep down the 
 cost of living- by bringing grain 
 from Egypt.' 
 
 73-79. These lines paraphrase a 
 passage of Euripides (Bacch.. 492- 
 498), as in Sat. 2, 3, 262-271,3 
 passage from Terence is transposed 
 into hexameters. The god, Diony- 
 sus, in disguise is in the power 
 of Pentheus, king of Thebes. 
 bonus et sapiens : the man who is 
 truly good in heart, and who re- 
 lies upon his character rather 
 than upon his reputation, or upon 
 the judgment of others. Ci.Carm. 
 3, 3, I ff., iustunt et tenacem. 
 perferre patique: cf. Epist. I, 15, 
 17. lectos: for all his furniture. 
 argentum: silver plate, not 
 money. ipse deus . . . : an ex- 
 act translation of Xixr fi 6 
 
 104
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, 1 6, 79 
 
 ' Ipse deus, simul atque volam, me solvet.' Opinor, 
 hoc sentit : 'moriar.' Mors ultima linea rerum est. 
 
 uvros OTCLV eyu> 0eA.a>. moriar : harmony with Stoic doctrine. Cf. 
 
 this is, of course, not in the play, Car in. i, 12, 35 f., Catonis nobile 
 
 but is an interpretation of the letum. ultima linea: the white 
 
 scene according to Stoic ideals. line which marked the end of the 
 
 To take refuge from the ills of life race course, 
 in self-inflicted death was quite in 
 
 17 
 
 The person to whom this Epistle is addressed is wholly unknown, 
 nor is there anything in the letter to fix the date. 
 
 ' I know that you need no advice about living with the great, yet per- 
 haps I may be able to say something about it that you will care to hear. 
 If you prefer a retired life, you can find happiness there, but if you seek 
 for something more, you must go where it is to be found. You know 
 the story of Diogenes and Aristippus ; the one prided himself upon his 
 rudeness, the other was a man of the world. It was the latter who was 
 truly a philosopher, for if it is a worthy ambition to desire to be dis- 
 tinguished in public life, then it is also a worthy ambition to desire to 
 please the men who are thus distinguished. To refuse to make the 
 attempt is a kind of cowardice ; to enter the contest and win a place is 
 honorable. 
 
 ' But I don't mean that one should be a beggar, always parading his 
 needs and his misfortunes. The Egyptian humbug, pretending to have 
 broken his leg in order to excite pity, fools only the inexperienced.' 
 
 There is scarcely anything of the epistolary form or tone in this 
 letter. It is a discourse, partly serious, but largely ironical, on the 
 proper attitude toward men of higher rank. This was a subject which 
 Horace had himself been obliged to consider with serious attention. 
 His relation to Maecenas and Augustus and Agrippa had exposed him 
 to criticism and had been .in itself difficult to reconcile with that inde- 
 pendence of life and thought which he desired to maintain. It was 
 impossible for him to write on this subject without a consciousness, 
 which reveals itself in several places, of his own personal interest in it. 
 To some extent, therefore, it is seriously meant ; the attitude and teach- 
 ing of Aristippus in regard to social relations command Horace's ap- 
 proval. On the other hand, the relation of the man of humbler rank 
 to the greater men is almost everywhere treated as though the ultimate 
 
 105
 
 I, 17, HORATI 
 
 object of it was profit, not real friendship. This is, of course, ironical, 
 and at the close, from vs. 43 to the end, it becomes pure satire. 
 
 It is certainly difficult for the modern reader, accustomed to demo- 
 cratic ideals, to estimate this Epistle quite justly, not taking it too 
 seriously and yet not overlooking the serious meaning. For a full 
 understanding of Horace's attitude on this subject, this Epistle should 
 be compared with the next and both should be read in connection with 
 Epist. i, 7, to Maecenas. 
 
 Quamvis, Scaeva, satis per te tibi consulis, et scis 
 quo tandem pacto deceat maioribus uti, 
 disce, docendus adhuc quae censet amiculus,' ut si 
 caecus iter monstrare velit ; tamen adspice si quid 
 /5 et nos, quod cures proprium fecisse, loquamur. 
 
 Si te grata quies et primam somnus in horam 
 ^delectat, si te pulvis strepitusque rotarum, 
 
 \ si laedit caupona, Ferentinum ire iubebo. 
 r . 
 
 X.. p* Nam neque divitibus contingunt gaudia solis, 
 10 nec vixit male qui natus moriensque fefellit.v /> '- 
 
 1. quamvis ... per te : cf. A. P. culus\ 'a friend who admits that 
 366 f., quamvis . . . per te sapis; he has himself still much to learn.' 
 this is a modest formula to soften This and the diminutive amiculus, 
 the assumption of wisdom that ' a humble friend, 1 continue the 
 may be involved in proffering ad- deprecatory tone of vs. I. 
 
 vice, per te, 'without advice from 5. etnos: the amiculus. pro- 
 
 any one.' prium fecisse : to adopt. 
 
 2. tandem: frequent in direct 6-10. 'It you choose a retired 
 questions and then retained in the life, it will bring its own rewards.' 
 indirect. maioribus: the great; primam... in horam: in con- 
 this plain recognition of difference trast to the early rising for the 
 in station is common in all socie- salntatio ; cf. Sat. I, i, 10. ro- 
 ties where there is an established tarum, caupona : the discomforts 
 nobility. uti: to get along with, of travel, when the follower was 
 to associate with. There is no under obligation to attend his 
 suggestion of making use of for patron on a journey, as Horace 
 one's own advantage. had attended Maecenas on the 
 
 3. docendus adhuc: with ami- journey to Brundisium. Ferenti- 
 
 106
 
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [it '7. 9 
 
 Si prodesse tuis paulloque benignius ipsum 
 te tractare voles, accedes siccus ad unctum. 
 r Si pranderet holus patienter, regibus uti 
 nollet Aristippus.' ' Si sciret regibus uti, 
 15 fasticlirct holus qui me notat.' Vtrius horum 
 
 verba probes et facta, doce, vel iunior audi 
 7 .-, av^c ur sit Aristippi potior sententia. Namque 
 mordacem Cynicum sic eludebat, ut aiunt : 
 ' Scurror ego ipse mihi, populo tu ; rectius hoc et 
 
 num : one of the small mountain 
 towns, selected merely as a type 
 of a retired spot. natus . . . fe- 
 fellit : ' whose birth and death 
 have passed unnoticed.' 
 
 11. si: the second and con- 
 trasting possibility is introduced, 
 as often, without an adversative 
 particle, the adversative connection 
 being implied in the thought. 
 prodesse tuis : cf. vs. 46 ; there is 
 some irony in putting care for one's 
 friends first and benignius ipsum 
 second, and in the use of paullo. 
 
 12. accedes: future almost with 
 impv. force. siccus : thirsty, but 
 implying hunger also ; cf. Sat. 2, 
 2, 14, siccus, inanis. unctum: to 
 a rich table] cf. Epist. i, 15,44. 
 The contrast between rich and 
 poor is often expressed, as here, in 
 terms of food and drink ; in this 
 case it prepares for the story which 
 follows. 
 
 13-15. The dialogue is para- 
 phrased from Diog. Laert. 2, 8, 68. 
 Diogenes the Cynic was washing 
 some vegetables, preparing for his 
 
 plain meal, when Aristippus hap- 
 pened to pass by. patienter : i.e. 
 ' with the endurance which we 
 Cynics teach and practice.' regi- 
 bus : Aristippus lived for a time in 
 the court of Dionysius, the tyrant 
 of Syracuse. si sciret: i.e., 'if 
 the Cynic know how to live rea- 
 sonably with all men, even kings, 
 as my philosophy teaches.' notat : 
 censures; cf. Sat. i, 3, 24, note. 
 
 16. verba . . . et facta: 'their 
 teachings and their lives.' 
 
 17. potior: in this particular in- 
 stance ; but all the references to 
 Aristippus (Sat. 2, 3, 100; Epist. 
 i, i, 1 8) are respectful, and he 
 seems to have stood in Horace's 
 mind as a good type of the mean be- 
 tween Stoicism and Epicureanism. 
 
 1 8. mordacem: this particular 
 adj. is selected because of the 
 derivation of Cynicus from KVCDV, a 
 dog. eludebat : parried, dodged ; 
 a word used of the movement of a 
 gladiator. 
 
 19. scurror : i.e., ' we both play 
 the scurra, the parasite and hanger- 
 
 107
 
 I, 17, 20] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 20 splendidius multo est. Equus ut me portet, alat rex, 
 officium facio ; tu poscis vilia, verum 
 dante minor, quamvis fers te nullius egentem.' 
 Omnis Aristippum decuit color et status et res, 
 temptantem maiora, fere praesentibus aequum. 
 
 25 Contra, quern duplici panno patientia velat, 
 mirabor vitae via si conversa decebit. 
 Alter purpureum non exspectabit amictum, 
 quidlibet indutus celeberrima per loca vadet 
 personamque feret non inconcinnus utramque ; 
 
 30 alter Mileti textam cane peius et angui 
 
 on, if you choose to put it so, but 
 my way of doing it is the better.' 
 mihi, populo : i.e., 'I do it for my 
 own sake, for my own approval, 
 you for the approval of the crowd. 1 
 20. equus . . . rex : a Greek 
 proverb ; limps /AC <^>cp, ftaai- 
 
 21-22. officium: as courtier, but 
 intentionally neutral, so that it 
 might mean ' as scurra." 1 poscis : 
 Diogenes was supported by gifts 
 which he begged from his admirers. 
 
 verum : ' and yet you are infe- 
 rior to those who bestow the gifts. 1 
 
 fers te : boast yourself. The 
 point of the retort is that Aristippus 
 gets a real reward, while Diogenes, 
 just as truly a courtier, gets only a 
 petty reward. 
 
 23-24. color: cf. Sat* 2, I, 60, 
 iritaecolor. temptantem maiora : 
 this line is a free rendering of a 
 doctrine of the school of Aristippus, 
 as vs. 23 is a characterization of him 
 from Greek sources. praesenti- 
 
 bus : neut. plur. dat. ; ' what he 
 had, 1 in distinction from maiora. 
 
 25. duplici panno: the SwrAois, 
 the cloak of the Cynics, folded over 
 to take the place of both inner 
 and outer garment. It is called 
 pannus in contempt, because the 
 philosopher wore old and coarse 
 clothing, to prove his indifference 
 to luxury and his endurance {pi- 
 tientid). 
 
 26. vitae via . . . conversa: i.e., 
 the change from his ostentatious 
 asceticism to ordinary life with 
 other men. 
 
 27^-28. non exspectabit : i.e., he 
 is not dependent upon some par- 
 ticular kind of dress to support his 
 character as a philosopher, but is 
 at ease in any dress (quidlibet 
 indutus') and any company. This 
 characteristic of Aristippus was 
 traditional. 
 
 29. utramque: either the man 
 of the world or the philosopher. 
 
 30. alter: Diogenes. Mileti: 
 
 1 08
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i. 
 
 vitabit chlamydem, morietur frigore, si non 
 rettuleris pannum ; refer, et sine vivat ineptus f 
 Res gerere et captos ostendere civibus hostis, 
 attingit solium lovis et caelestia tentat; 
 principibus placuisse viris non ultima laus est. 
 Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. 
 Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet. Esto ; 
 quid, qui pervenit, fecitne viriliter ? Atqui 
 hie est aut nusquam quod quaerimus. Hie onus horret, 
 ut parvis animis et parvo corpore maius ; 
 
 40 
 
 the woolen fabrics of Miletus were 
 famous for their fineness. cane: 
 put in only for the joke on the 
 Cynic; cf. mordacem, vs. 18, and 
 note. 
 
 32. rettuleris: there is a story 
 that Diogenes refused to exchange 
 his coarse cloak for the better gar- 
 ment of Aristippus, preferring to 
 suffer from cold rather than to 
 appear in public in anything but 
 his philosopher's dress. 
 
 34. attingit solium : cf. the va- 
 rious expressions for this thought 
 in Cartn. I, i, evehit ad deos, sub- 
 limi feriam sidera vertice, and for 
 caelestia tentat cf. Carm. 3, 2, 
 2 1 f., virtus, recludens . . . caelum, 
 negata temptat iter via, all mean- 
 ing to attain the height of felicity. 
 
 35. principibus placuisse : i.e.., 
 'to have won the favor of men who 
 have attained to these heights is in 
 itself no small credit.' Though the 
 thought is put in general terms, 
 Horace is also thinking of himself. 
 Cf. Sat. 2, i, 76, me cum magnis 
 
 vixisse . . . fatebitur . . . in- 
 vidia, and Epist. I, 20, 23. 
 
 36. A translation of the Greek 
 saying ov TTUVTOS dvSpos es KopivOov 
 la#' 6 TrXovs, with the general mean- 
 ing that not every man can suc- 
 ceed in getting the prize, i.e., in 
 winning the favor of men of posi- 
 tion. 
 
 37. sedit: a true perfect, not 
 ' gnomic ' ; ' the man who was 
 afraid of failure sat still and avoided 
 the contest.' There is a reference, 
 apparently, to the contestants at the 
 games, who are summoned by the 
 herald to enter the race. esto: 
 very good; 'suppose he did well 
 to decline the contest, yet we must 
 say that the man who entered and 
 ran to the end was even better. 1 
 
 38-39. atqui : adversative to the 
 interrogative form of fecitne ; ' but 
 you must not avoid the issue by a 
 question, for this is the very point 
 of the whole discussion.' 
 
 39-41. hie : a man like Diogenes, 
 one who prefers not to enter the 
 
 109
 
 X 
 
 I, 17,41] I HORATI 
 
 \ ir ^^\ 
 
 ' hie subit et perfert. i Aut virtus nomen inane est,'" 
 
 aut decus et pt^imim recte petit experiens vir. 
 
 _\ ^\\ ^J^n """"^ 
 
 Coram rege sua de paupertate tacentes 
 plus poscente ferent. Distat, sumasne pudenter, 
 45 an rapias. Atqui rerum caput hoc erat, hie fons. 
 ' Indotata mihi soror est, paupercula mater, 
 et fundus nee vendibilis nee pascere firmus,' 
 qui dicit, clamat ' victum date ' ; succ^jnit alter 
 ' et mihi ' ; dividuo findetur munere quadra. 
 
 social contest at all, but to keep 
 wholly out of the activity of life, as 
 in vss. 6-10. hie subit: a man 
 of the type of Aristippus, one who 
 dares to play his part among men. 
 Cf. vss. H-I2. 
 
 41-42. virtus : with a reference 
 back to "viriliter. decus : ' the 
 credit of having won favor.' 
 recte : justly. experiens : qui 
 omnia experitur, ' the man who 
 dares make the attempt ' ; joined 
 by Cicero withfortis andiprotnptus. 
 This is a summary of the whole 
 argument from vs. 6. The man 
 who chooses a quiet life, Diogenes 
 in his tattered cloak, the timid man 
 who shuns the contest, represent 
 one side of the argument ; the man 
 of some ambition, the philosopher, 
 like Aristippus, who is neverthe- 
 less a man of the world, the con- 
 testant who risks defeat, these are 
 on the other side, and vs. 42 gives 
 the decision in their favor. 
 
 43-61. As many of these satires 
 close with a humorous turn, so the 
 thought of this Epistle turns at this 
 
 point to a humorous treatment ol 
 the theme, which may be com- 
 pared to the ironical advice of 
 Tiresias to Ulysses in Sat. 2, 5, 
 88-98. 
 
 43. rege : the word that a para- 
 site uses of his patron, not as in 
 vss. 13, 14, nor as in Epist. i, 7, 
 
 37- 
 
 44. distat: it makes a great 
 difference. 
 
 45. atqui: as in vs. 38; 'and 
 yet this very difference was the 
 point of my argument.' erat : 
 i.e., all the time, in all the preced- 
 ing argument. 
 
 47. firmus : suitable, giving a 
 secure income by pasturing flocks 
 and herds. 
 
 48. qui dicit, clamat : i.e., such 
 statements are in effect a beggar's 
 outcry. alter : another, a second 
 man ; not the other. 
 
 49. findetur : ' the result of such 
 shameless begging will be that 
 each man will get half a loaf. 
 dividuo: predicate. quadra: the 
 loaf, the piece ; there is ao sugges- 
 
 uo
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 I 
 
 7. 62 
 
 Sed tacitus pascl si posset corvus, haberet 
 plus dapis et rix le multo minus invidiaeque. 
 Brundisium com ss aut Surrentum ductus amoenum 
 
 qui queritjir salebras et acecbum frigus et imj}res, 
 
 ^7ZtV ..dfa&%&4 - 
 aut cistam effractam et sulxmcla viatica ploratt 
 
 nota refert meretricisjicumiji|i. saepe catellam,' 9 ' ^ 
 
 saepe periscelidem raptam sibi flent 
 
 nulla fides damnis verisque doloribus adsit.- 
 
 Nee seinel irrisus triviis attollere curat 
 
 fracto cr&re planum, licet illi plurima manet 
 
 lacrima, per sanctum iuratus dicat Osirim : 
 
 ' Credite, non ludo ; crudeles, tollite claudum ! ' 
 
 ' Quaere peregrinum,' vicinia rauca 
 
 tion, of course, of dividing into 
 four parts. 
 
 50-51. tacitus pasci : the cawing 
 of the crow when it finds some- 
 thing to eat attracts other birds 
 which want a share ot the food. 
 There is no allusion to the fable of 
 the Fox and the Crow. 
 
 52. Brundisium: cf. 6Vz/. I, 5; 
 the naming of this place is one of 
 the many personal touches in this 
 letter which show that Horace 
 was thinking of his own relation 
 to Maecenas and other men of 
 position in public life. 
 
 53. salebras: roughnesses; only 
 here in Horace. 
 
 55. refert: brings back to mem- 
 ory. acumina : tricks. catel- 
 lam: diminutive of catena. 
 
 57. veris: real, t.e., different 
 
 from the trifling matters of vs. 54, 
 which are no more than the ordi- 
 nary incidents of travel, not worth 
 a moment's notice. 
 
 58. triviis: the impostor, pre- 
 tending to be suffering from an 
 accident, selects a place where 
 many persons would be passing. 
 
 59. planum : TrXdvof^n^impos- 
 tor; not the adj. plantis. manet : 
 from mano, not from maneo. 
 
 60. Osirim : the cheat was an 
 Egyptian and swore by his own 
 god. Rome swarmed with for- 
 eigners who lived by their wits. 
 
 62. peregrinum : i.e., ' try your 
 tricks on some one who doesn't 
 know you. 1 vicinia : this con- 
 tinues the same thought, that the 
 tricks had been tried too often in 
 that neighborhood. 

 
 I, 1 8] HORATI 
 
 ' 
 
 This Epistle was written in the year 20 B.C., as the reference to the 
 recovery of Roman standards from the Parthians (vss. 56 f.) shows, 
 and is addressed to the Lollius to whom Epist. i, 2 was written. 
 
 4 Lack of independence is a fault to be avoided, my dear Lollius, in 
 your relation to a man of rank, but lack of common sense is worse. 
 The true course lies between. The lack of self-respect makes a man a 
 mere parasite ; lack of judgment makes him assert his independence by 
 wrangling about trifles. 
 
 ' Do not try to rival your patron in extravagance ; he will not like you 
 the better for it, and you cannot afford it. The ill-natured witticism of 
 Volumnius, that the best way to ruin a man was to give him a fine coat 
 and let him try to live up to it, has enough of truth in it to serve as a 
 warning. Do not try to learn his secrets and don't betray his confi- 
 dences. Don't insist on following yor own inclinations, even though 
 they may seem to you the better ; Amphion, you know, gave up the 
 lyre to please his brother. If your friend likes hunting better than 
 poetry, yield and go with him. It will do you good and you are an 
 athlete ; I have seen you on the Campus and I remember that sea fight 
 on your father's estate. Be careful in your speech and in your conduct. 
 Introduce only men that you know well, and if you make a mistake in 
 this, don't refuse to acknowledge it. But stand by your true friends, as 
 you expect them to stand by you. And conform even to your patron's 
 moods ; be serious when he is serious, and gay when he is gay, and 
 keep a cheerful countenance at all times. 
 
 ' But above all fix your mind upon the lessons and ideals of philosophy 
 and learn from them the secret of a peaceful life. 
 
 ' As for me. I have attained to that peaceful life. I ask of the gods 
 nothing but a continuance of it.' 
 
 This Epistle deals, in substance, with a situation like that which is 
 discussed in the Epistle immediately preceding, but with great differ- 
 ences both in form and in tone. The epistolary form is maintained 
 with much skill ; there are many personal touches, so that the character 
 and situation of the young Lollius are clearly defined and the unnamed 
 patron is more than a lay figure. And the letter closes with a passage 
 of peculiarly intimate self-disclosure. All this is much superior to the 
 essay form of Epist. i, 17. In the tone, also, there is more of reality. 
 Here, even more distinctly than in the letter to Scaeva, Horace had 
 constantly in mind his own relation to Maecenas and his own efforts 
 to find the middle course between an undue deference and an unwise 
 
 112
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 18, 9 
 
 independence. As he was conscious that he had succeeded in preserv- 
 ing both his friendship and his independence, he can describe his own 
 course, under the guise of advice to a younger friend, with a sense of 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Si bene te novi, metues, liberrime Lolli, 
 scurrantis speciem praebere, professus amicum. 
 Vt matrona meretrici dispar erit atque 
 discolor, infido scurrae distabit amicus. 
 5 Est huic diversum vitio vitium prope maius, 
 asperitas agrestis et inconcinna gravisque, 
 quae se commendat tonsa cute, dentibus atris, 
 dum vult libertas dici mera veraque virtus. 
 Virtus est medium vitiorum et utrimque reductum. 
 
 i-2. liberrime : so Sat . i , 4, 1 3 2 , 
 liber amicus, free-speaking, frank. 
 The word gives the keynote of the 
 Epistle, which is addressed to a 
 man of independent character, of 
 whom it could be said with special 
 force metues . . .praebere. spe- 
 ciem : i.e., 'in your great independ- 
 ence you will dislike even the 
 appearance of servility.' amicum : 
 directly after professus; the con- 
 crete for the abstract; Carm. I, 
 35, 22, comitem abnegat. 
 
 3-4. matrona : this word has 
 always an especially honorable 
 sense. discolor : a definition of 
 dispar. The meretrix wore a 
 dark-colored toga, the matrona 
 a white stola. 
 
 5. est: the emphatic position 
 gives an adversative effect ; ' you 
 need not fear, for an amicus is as 
 different from a scurra as a 
 matrona from a meretrix. There 
 
 HOR. EP. 8 i 
 
 is, however, another fault, which 
 your independence may lead you 
 into.' huic . . . vitio: i.e., the 
 fault of servility. 
 
 6. inconcinna: cf. Epist. \, 17, 
 29 ; disagreeable, unsuited to 
 pleasant society. 
 
 7. commendat : the meaning of 
 the verb suggests the ironical 
 turn : cf. Epist. 2, i, 261 . tonsa 
 cute : i.e., ' by hair cut close to the 
 scalp,' a fashion affected by the 
 Cynics and by persons who desired 
 to prove themselves superior to 
 the prevailing fashion. dentibus 
 atris : another way of showing 
 independent indifference. 
 
 8. libertas : with a reference 
 back to liberrime, and with the 
 implication that too great freedom 
 of speech is like the asperitas 
 agrestis. 
 
 9. This vs., taking up at the 
 beginning the word with which
 
 I, 1 8, 10] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 JO 
 
 Alter in obsequium plus aequo prontis et imi 
 derisor lecti, sic nutum divitis horret, 
 sic iterat voces et verba cadentia tollit, 
 ut puerum saevo credas dictata magistro 
 reddere vel partes mimum tractare secundas. 
 Alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina, 
 propugnat nugis armatus. ' Scilicet ut non 
 sit mihi prima fides et vere quod placet ut non 
 acriter elatrem ? Pretium aetas altera sordet.' 
 
 vs. 8 ends, is a well-known defini- 
 tion. Cf. Cic. de Off. i, 25, 89, 
 '. . . mediocritatem illam, quae 
 est inter nimium et parum, quae 
 placet Peripateticis,' and often in 
 Horace, especially in Carm. 2, IO, 
 5, aurea niediocritas. 
 
 10-14. alter : the scurra. imi 
 derisor lecti: so Sat. 2, 8, 40 f., 
 imiconvivae lecti, in the same place 
 in the verse. The parasites were 
 on the lectus imus with the host. 
 This whole passage is best illus- 
 trated by a reading of Sat. 2, 8. 
 cadentia : i.e., remarks which 
 have failed to attract the attention 
 of the guests. dictata . . . red- 
 dere : cf. Epist. r, I, 55, haec re- 
 cinunt . . . dictata. partes . . . 
 secundas : the second actor in the 
 mimes was expected to ' play up to ' 
 the leading actor (cf. Sat. 1,9, 46), 
 even repeating his gestures and 
 actions. 
 
 15. de lana . . . caprina: this 
 appears to be a proverbial expres- 
 sion; it is correctly explained by 
 the Scholiast as a trifling question, 
 whether the hair of goats could 
 
 properly be called wool (lana~), a 
 mere strife about words. 
 
 16. nugis : dative after propiig- 
 nat. armatus : absolute ; * with 
 drawn sword,' carrying out the 
 sense of propugnat. [rixatur de 
 lana and propugnat nugis are 
 different expressions for the same 
 thought, as often in Horace, eg., 
 dispar atque discolor, vs. 3 f. The 
 dative after propugnat is perfectly 
 normal, though it happens not to 
 occur in classical Latin ; the abla- 
 tive, either with propugnat or with 
 armatus, gives a wrong sense.] 
 scilicet: cf. Epist. I, 9, 3, note. 
 ut non : a repudiating exclamation, 
 cf. satin ut in questions and see 
 Lane, 1568, 1569. With this 
 form of interrogative exclamation 
 scilicet is perfectly harmonious, 
 though it is not used in ordinary 
 questions. 
 
 17. prima: i.e., 'I should be 
 trusted at once, 1 'my mere state- 
 ment should command instant ac- 
 ceptance. 1 
 
 18. elatrem: with a hit at the 
 Cynic philosophy. pretium . . 
 
 114
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 i, 18, 25 
 
 Ambigitur quid enim ? Castor sciat an Docilis plus ; 
 Brundisium Minuci melius via ducat an Appi. 
 Quern damnosa Venus, quern praeceps alea nudat, 
 gloria quern supra vires et vestit et unguit, 
 quern tenet argenti sitis importuna famesque, 
 quern paupertatis pudor et fuga, dives amicus, 
 saepe decem vitiis instructior, odit et horret, 
 
 sordet : a condensed expression ; 
 ' I should think a second life (the 
 privilege of living two lives) too 
 small a price to pay me for sub- 
 mitting to such treatment.' pre- 
 tium is an appositive to aetas 
 alt era. 
 
 19. ambigitur: i.e., 'what is all 
 the row about ? Some matter of 
 the most trivial importance.' - 
 Castor ... an Docilis : unknown ; 
 they were actors or gladiators or 
 other persons then well known, an 
 allusion to whom would be under- 
 stood by contemporary readers. 
 Cf., as an example of the same 
 kind of trifling matter, Sat. 2, 6, 
 44, Thraex est Gallina Syro par f 
 and 72, male necne Lepos saltet. 
 sciat : this would suit either actors 
 or gladiators. 
 
 20. The via Minucia was per- 
 haps the shorter but rougher road, 
 taken by Maecenas and Horace in 
 Sat. i, 5. The via Appia, to 
 Brundisium by way of Tarentum, 
 was longer, but better. This pas- 
 sage, vss. 15-20, is one of those 
 vivid portraits which Horace often 
 draws ; it is the irascible person 
 who is always ready to contend 
 
 about trifles and whose intolerance 
 of the views of others is so great 
 that any hesitancy in accepting his 
 decisions seems to him like an 
 unbearable insult. 
 
 21 ff. The general discussion 
 which started from liberrime now 
 passes over into special warnings 
 and injunctions. 
 
 21-24. The faults mentioned 
 have in common the characteristic 
 of leading to the desire for money. 
 damnosa : ruinous, financially, 
 not morally. supra vires : cf. 
 Sat. 2, 3, I79ff. on the expensive- 
 ness of office seeking. et vestit 
 et unguit : i.e., leads into expen- 
 sive habits. argenti sitis: the 
 love of money for itself produces 
 the same effect as the need of 
 money to pay gambling debts, i.e., 
 it makes a man a less agreeable 
 friend and companion. pauper- 
 tatis . . . fuga : this is, in its 
 results, the same as avaritia ; cf. 
 Epist. i, 16, 65 ; i, 6, 9 and notes. 
 
 25. vitiis instructior : < ten times 
 as well provided with faults.' de- 
 cem is a round number, vitiis, 
 abl. of degree of difference with 
 the comparative. The whole ex-
 
 I, 1 8, 26] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 aut, si non odit, regit ac, veluti pia mater, 
 plus quam se sapere et virtutibus esse priorem 
 vult et ait prope vera : ' Meae, contendere noli, 
 stultitiam patiuntur opes ; tibi parvula res est : 
 
 30 arta decet sanum comitem toga ; desine mecum 
 certare.' Eutrapelus cuicumque nocere volebat 
 vestimenta dabat pretiosa; beatus enim iam 
 cum pulchris tunicis sumet nova consilia et spes, 
 dormiet in lucem, scorto postponet honestum 
 
 35 officium, nummos alienos pascet, ad imum 
 
 pression is, of course, humorous ; 
 the great man, who has had plenty 
 of experience of all sides of life, 
 does not want his friend to bother 
 him with small extravagances, but 
 to be a better man than himself. 
 
 26. regit : advises him. ma- 
 ter : parents wish their children 
 to be wiser and better than they 
 have themselves been. 
 
 28. prope vera : i.e., not philo- 
 sophically true, since folly is never 
 good, but true enough in their 
 present application. contendere 
 noli: parenthetic. 
 
 30. arta : the narrow toga is 
 treated as a sign of simplicity, as 
 in Epod. 4, 8 the trium ulnarum 
 toga is a sign of ostentation. 
 
 31-36. Eutrapelus: P. Volum- 
 nius, a Roman knight of Cicero's 
 time, a friend of Antony. Two 
 letters (ad Fam. 7, 32 and 33) are 
 addressed to him by Cicero, both 
 written in a tone of jesting, and in 
 one he alludes to the evr/3a7reA.ia, 
 from which the name Eutrapelus 
 
 is derived. The allusion is un- 
 doubtedly to some jesting sarcasm 
 of his, to the effect that the best 
 way to ruin an enemy would be 
 to make him a present of some 
 fine clothes ; in the attempt to 
 ' live up to ' these he would work 
 out his own destruction. But it 
 begins as if it were an anecdote, 
 like that of Philippus in Epist. i, 
 7, and even as if the joke had been 
 perpetrated frequently (cuicumque, 
 volebat, dabat}; In sense it is a 
 continuation of vss. 28-31, but it 
 need not be supposed to have 
 been uttered by the dives anticus ; 
 rather, it is Horace's supplement. 
 
 dormiet : i.e., will grow lazy. 
 
 honestum officium : general, his 
 proper duties. pascet: i.e.. he 
 will increase his debts and thus in- 
 crease the property of his creditor. 
 
 Thraex : a mere gladiator, one 
 of the last refuges of men of fallen 
 fortunes. Or he will end by 
 hiring himself out to drive the 
 horse of some huckster. 
 
 116
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 18, 45 
 
 Thraex erit aut holitoris aget mercede caballum. 
 Arcanum neque tu scrutaberis illius unquam, 
 commissumque teges et vino tortus et ira. 
 Nee tua laudabis studia aut aliena reprendes; 
 
 40 nee, cum venari volet ille, poemata panges. 
 
 Gratia sic fratrum geminorum, Amphionis atque 
 Zethi, dissiluit donee suspecta severe 
 conticuit lyra. Fraternis cessisse putatur 
 moribus Amphion : tu cede potentis amici 
 
 45 lenibus imperiis, quotiesque educet in agros 
 
 37. illius: 'your patron'; the 
 reference goes back over the in- 
 tervening story to vs. 24 or 
 28. 
 
 38. commissum teges : to reveal 
 what had been intrusted to one 
 in confidence is mentioned in Sat. 
 1, 3, 95 {prodideritcommissafide) 
 as a fault to be ranked with theft. 
 vino tortus: cf. A. P. ^^tor- 
 quere mero, queni perplexisse labo- 
 rant. ira: i.e., because he hap- 
 pened for the moment to be angry 
 with his patron. 
 
 39-40. aliena : in particular the 
 interests of the patron. venari, 
 poemata : these two pursuits may 
 be selected merely for the strong 
 contrast, but they sound like defi- 
 nite allusions to personal interests 
 of an actual patron and of Lollius 
 himself. Hunting was a favorite 
 sport with the Romans and is 
 often alluded to by Horace, and 
 many of his younger friends like 
 Lollius were interested in litera- 
 ture. panges : a rather formal 
 
 term, such as Lollius might him- 
 self use in speaking of his wish to 
 stay at home and devote himself 
 to the high art of poetry. 
 
 41-44. The debate between the 
 brothers Zethus and Amphion in 
 regard to the comparative value 
 of music standing for art in 
 general and the active life of a 
 herdsman and hunter was in Eu- 
 ripides' Antiope and was repeated 
 in the Antiopa of Pacuvius. 
 dissiluit : was broken. se- 
 vero: the serious and practical 
 Zethus. cessisse : he is repre- 
 sented in art as in the act of hiding 
 the lyre under his cloak. puta- 
 tur: is believed; i.e., 'if we may 
 accept the story.' In fact, he be- 
 came in tradition one of the rep- 
 resentatives of musical skill, as 
 in Carm. 3, n, 2. 
 
 44. tu : the chiastic arrangement 
 emphasizes the argument ; ' all the 
 more should you yield.' 
 
 45. lenibus : because they came 
 from an amicus ; yet they are also
 
 i, i8, 46] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Aetolis onerata plagis iumenta canesque, 
 surge et inhumanae senium depone Camenae, 
 cenes ut pariter pulmenta laboribus empta : 
 Romanis sollemne viris opus, utile famae 
 
 50 vitaeque et membris, praesertim cum valeas et 
 vel cursu superare canem vel viribus aprura 
 possis. Adde virilia quod speciosius arma 
 non est qui tractet. Scis quo clamore coronae 
 proelia sustineas campestria; denique saevara 
 
 55 militiam puer et Cantabrica bella tulisti 
 
 sub duce, qui templis Parthorum signa refigit 
 
 imperils because the friend is po- 
 tens. 
 
 46. Aetolis: the Scholiast under- 
 stands this to be an allusion to the 
 hunting of the Calydonian boar in 
 Aetolia by Meleager; the story 
 was a familiar one, and perhaps 
 this slight allusion would be suffi- 
 ciently clear. But it is also quite 
 possible that there is some other 
 meaning in the word. iumenta: 
 cf. the description of such a hunt- 
 ing party in Epist. i, 6, 58 ff. 
 
 47 . inhumanae : unfriendly to all 
 that would interrupt her pursuits ; 
 the epithet is used by the poet 
 with a certain humor and with 
 reference to this particular occa- 
 sion. senium : moroseness, also 
 half humorous. 
 
 48. pariter : /.*., with your 
 friend. pulmenta . . . empta: the 
 thought is expressed more fully 
 in Sat. 2, 2, 9-22, and especially in 
 vs. 20, tu pulmentaria quaere 
 sudando. 
 
 49. sollemne . . opus : in Sat. 2 
 2, 10 f. hunting is called Romano, 
 militia, in contrast to Greek ath- 
 letics. viris : with intentional 
 emphasis ; ' the manly Roman.' 
 
 50-51. The injunctions are at 
 the same time lightened and made 
 more personal by these compli- 
 ments and by the references to 
 Lollius' early life. 
 
 52-54. speciosius : />., ' you are 
 especially successful in the sports 
 of the Campus Martius and win 
 the applause of the surrounding 
 spectators (coronae) 1 . 
 
 55. militiam, Cantabrica bella : 
 the general term followed by the 
 specific reference. Augustus made 
 campaigns in Spain in 27-25 B.C. ; 
 puer implies that this was Lollius' 
 first experience as a soldier. 
 
 56. Parthorum : with temphs 
 There are many allusions to tht 
 recovery of the Roman standards 
 taken from Crassus. refigit nunc : 
 this gives the date of the Epistle 
 
 118
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 18, 64 
 
 mine et, si quid abest, I tails adiudicat armis. 
 Ac ne te retrahas et inexcusabilis absis, 
 quamvis nil extra numerum fecisse modumque 
 60 curas, interdum nugaris rure paterno. 
 Partitur lintres exercitus ; Actia pugna 
 te duce per pueros hostili more refertur : 
 adversarius est f rater, lacus Hadria, donee 
 alterutrum velox victoria fronde coronet. 
 
 as 20 B.C. The standards are 
 thought of as having been hung as 
 trophies in the Parthian temples 
 and as being taken down by 
 Augustus from the walls. In fact, 
 they were restored as a result of 
 diplomatic negotiations. 
 
 57. si quid abest : /.<?., ' if any- 
 thing is still outside the sphere of 
 Roman military power.' adiudi- 
 cat : as a judge who assigns to 
 the rightful owner that which he 
 has claimed. Italis . . . armis : 
 dative ; so Cic. de Off. i, 10, 33 ; in 
 media reliction quod erat populo 
 Romano adiudicavit. Augustus 
 himself speaks with pride of his 
 extension of Roman influence into 
 the East by diplomacy, and it was 
 the fashion of the time to find in 
 these peaceful successes compen- 
 sation for the defeat which the 
 Romans had suffered at the hands 
 of the Parthians. 
 
 58-60. ' And, to anticipate your 
 saying that a sport like hunting is 
 too trival for one who has been 
 a soldier, let me remind you, 
 though I know that you would do 
 
 nothing unsuitable, of that sham 
 battle which you and your brother 
 once exhibited in the country at 
 your father's place.' ne ... re- 
 trahas : a parenthetic clause of 
 purpose ; cf. ne percenter is, Epist. 
 i, 1 6, I. inexcusabilis: without 
 good reason ; cf. ignobilis ignotus. 
 
 extra numerum . . . modum- 
 que : unfitting, ' unsuitable to 
 your character and position. 1 The 
 figure is taken from music. The 
 clause is put in to excuse in ad- 
 vance the use of nugaris. 
 
 61-64. A reminiscence of a 
 mimic naval fight, in which the 
 two brothers had represented a 
 battle like that of Actium, the 
 forces being slaves or boys of the 
 neighborhood and boats being 
 used for galleys. partitur: the 
 game began with a fair division of 
 the skiffs between the two armies. 
 
 hostili more : i.e., ' as if you had 
 really been enemies.' lacus: a 
 pond on the estate. Such repre- 
 sentations of sea fights were often 
 given with much splendor at public 
 shows. 
 
 119
 
 I, 18, 65] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 65 Consentire suis studiis qui crediderit te, 
 
 fautor utroque tuum laudabit pollice ludum. 
 Protinus ut moneam, si quid monitoris eges tu, 
 quid de quoque viro et cui dicas saepe videto. 
 Percontatorem f ugito ; nam garrulus idem est, 
 
 /o nee retinent patulae commissa fideliter aures, 
 et semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum. 
 Non ancilla tuum iecur ulceret ulla puerve 
 intra marmoreum venerandi limen amici, 
 ne dominus pueri pulchri caraeve puellae 
 
 75 munere te parvo beet, aut incommodus angat. 
 
 Qualem commendes etiam atque etiam adspice, ne 
 mox 
 
 65-66. These vss. resume the 
 main thought, which was inter- 
 rupted at vs. 49, or at vs. 58, by 
 the complimentary digression on 
 Lollius 1 skill in games. utroque 
 
 . . pollice : a reference, as the 
 words fautor and ludum show, to 
 the gesture by which approval was 
 expressed in the amphitheater. 
 The gesture had become prover- 
 bial (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 28, 2, 25, 
 polities cum faveamus premere 
 etiam proverbio iubemur) . Both 
 the origin and the precise form 
 of the gesture are in doubt. 
 
 68. de quoque viro : = et de quo 
 viro, i.e., 'be careful what you say 
 and about whom and to whom.' 
 
 70. patulae : the man who is 
 percontator, eager to ask questions, 
 will be also eager to hear the 
 answers. 
 
 71. A familiar thought, which 
 
 is found in various forms ; cf. A. 
 P. 390, nescit vox missa reverti. 
 
 72-75. non . . . ulceret : an ex- 
 cellent example of non with a sub- 
 junctive of will, which should not 
 be dodged by twisting the mode 
 into a potential or by connecting 
 non with ulla. Cf. Sat. 2, 5, 91, 
 note. pueri, puellae : with mu- 
 nere. parvo : small in compari- 
 son to the benefits which might 
 have followed, if the relation with 
 the patron had continued. beet: 
 i.e., the patron, would think the 
 gift a full discharge of all obliga- 
 tion or perhaps would be an- 
 noyed (angat). 
 
 76. commendes : introduce. 
 The Romans made frequent use 
 of the privilege of introducing a 
 friend to the attention of men in 
 high position. Cf. especially Epist. 
 I, 9. 
 
 120
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [l, 18, 90 
 
 incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem. 
 
 Fallimur et quondam non dignum tradimus ; ergo 
 
 quern sua culpa premet, deceptus omitte tueri, 
 
 80 ut penitus notum, si temptent crimina, serves, 
 tuterisque tuo fidentem praesidio : qui 
 dente Theonino cum circumroditur, ecquid 
 ad te post paullo ventura pericula sentis ? 
 Nam tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet, 
 
 85 et neglecta solent incendia sumere vires. 
 Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici ; 
 expertus metuit. Tu, dum tua navis in alto est, 
 hoc age, ne mutata retrorsum te ferat aura. 
 Oderunt hilarem tristes tristemque iocosi, 
 
 90 sedatum celeres, agilem navumque remissi ; 
 
 77. aliena: 'of the other per- 
 son,' the friend thus intro- 
 duced. 
 
 78. fallimur : ' it is true that we 
 sometimes make mistakes, in spite 
 of our best care.' ergo : 'since 
 this does happen, be prepared for 
 it.' 
 
 79. deceptus : with emphasis ; 
 ' when it is clear that you have 
 made a mistake.' 
 
 80. penitus notum: i.e., 'a 
 friend whom you know so well 
 that you cannot possibly be mis- 
 taken in him ' ; the opposite of 
 non dignum and quern . . . premet. 
 crimina : ' unfounded accusa- 
 tions '; cf. Sat. i, 3, 60 f., cum 
 genus hoc inter vitae versetur, ubi 
 acris invidia atque vigent ubi 
 crimina. 
 
 81. fidentem: the penitus no- 
 
 tum. qui : connective ; ' for 
 when he is attacked, do you not 
 see that you will likewise suffer 
 in the same way ? ' 
 
 82. dente Theonino: 'by the 
 tooth of envy.' Cf. Sat. I, 4, 81, 
 absentem qui rodit. But the allu- 
 sion in Theonino is obscure ; the 
 story told by the Scholiast is quite 
 inapplicable. 
 
 86-88. A parenthetic injunction, 
 to enforce what has been said and 
 to introduce the few miscellaneous 
 warnings (89-96) which follow. 
 In these Horace returns to the 
 thought with which he began, the 
 danger of asperitas agrestis, to 
 which Lollius was exposed by his 
 independence of temper, and warns 
 him against the error of refusing 
 to conform to the moods of his 
 patron. 
 
 121
 
 1, 18,91] 
 
 HORAT1 
 
 100 
 
 [potores bibuli media de nocte Falerni] 
 oderunt porrecta negantem pocula, quamvis 
 nocturnes iures te formidare tepores. 
 Deme supercilio nubem ; plerumque modestus 
 occupat obscuri speciem, taciturnus acerbi. 
 Inter cuncta leges et percontabere doctos, 
 qua ratione queas traducere leniter aevum ; 
 num te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido, 
 num pavor et rerum mediocriter utilium spes; 
 virtutem doctrina paret naturane donet ; 
 quid minuat curas, quid te tibi reddat amicum ; 
 quid pure tranquillet, honos, an dulce lucellum, 
 an secretum iter et fallentis semita vitae. 
 Me quotiens reficit gelidus Digentia rivus, 
 
 gx. This verse is not found in 
 good Mss. It was made up out of 
 Epist. i, 14, 34, quern bibulum 
 liquidi media de luce Falerni, to 
 supply a subject for oderunt in the 
 next line. 
 
 92-93. oderunt : the subject is 
 implied in porrecta. quamvis : 
 i.e., ' however good the excuse you 
 may offer for your refusal.' te- 
 pores : the heating effect of wine. 
 
 94-95. nubem : the figure is still 
 in use, though with reference to 
 the forehead rather than to the 
 eyebrow alone. The thought is 
 more fully explained in the follow- 
 ing sentence, to which deme . . . 
 nubem is an introduction. ple- 
 rumque : often, not ' generally, usu- 
 ally.' occupat : cf. Carm. 4, 9, 
 46 f., rectius occupat nomen beati. 
 obscuri : secretive. acerbi : 
 
 the reserve of a taciturn man 
 may easily be mistaken for dis- 
 approval. 
 
 96. inter cuncta : i.e., ' amid 
 all the chances and changes of 
 life.' ISges : not leges. doctos : 
 the wise, the philosophers. 
 
 99. mediocriter: with utilium. 
 
 100. This question was often 
 debated in philosophy. 
 
 102. dulce : ironical. 
 
 103. fallentis semita vitae: cf. 
 Epist. I, 17, 10, qui natus mori- 
 ensque fefellit . 
 
 104-112. ' For myself, I have 
 known such a life as you are liv- 
 ing and have now entered upon 
 the path of a quiet life.' Digentia : 
 the stream which flowed through 
 his valley, Epist. \, 1 6, 12 Man- 
 dela : a village near the farm, the 
 inhabitants of which drew their 
 
 122
 
 EPISTVLAE [i, i8,ua 
 
 105 quern Mandela bibit, rugosus frigore pagus, 
 quid sentire putas, quid credis, amice, precari? 
 Sit mihi quod nunc est, etiam minus, et mini vivam 
 quod superest aevi, si quid superesse volunt di. 
 Sit bona librorum et provisae frugis in annum 
 
 no copia, neu fluitem dubiae spe pendulus horae. 
 Sed satis est orare lovem quae donat et aufert ; 
 det vitam, det opes, aequum mi animum ipse parabo. 
 
 water from the Digentia. ru- 'be tossed about like a leaf.' The 
 gosus : i.e., in winter. sit mihi: thought is repeated in aequum 
 cf. the prayer of Car m. I, 31, 17 ff. animum. sed satis est: i.e., 
 
 ' Frui paratis et valido mihi, ' but l n u e . e ? W nl y for those 
 
 Latoe, dones ac precor Integra thm S s whlch l cannot secure m y 
 
 Cum mente, nee turpem senectam self ' for tam ( = ro ?- 108 ) and 
 
 Degere nee cithara carentem.' opes (vs. 109) ; the spirit of the 
 
 philosopher I will myself pro- 
 
 mihi vivam: i.e., 'live my own vide.' 
 quiet life.' fluitem . . . pendulus: 
 
 V 
 19 
 
 This Epistle was written just before the publication of the collection, 
 in the year 20 B.C. It is fitly addressed, like Epist. I, i, to Maecenas, 
 as the most cordial and intimate of the poet's friends and admirers. 
 
 ' There is an old idea that poets should drink wine. Cratinus held 
 this, and Homer and Ennius, too, and I once laid down the same doc- 
 trine. Since then my contemporaries have reeked of wine, as if one 
 could become a Cato by wearing a toga like his. Imitation of eccen- 
 tricities is not very laudable, nor, in fact, is any kind of imitation. 
 From that fault I have kept myself free. Archilochus was my leader in 
 the Epodes, but I followed him exactly as Alcaeus and Sappho did, 
 learning from him the lyric art, but using it for other purposes than 
 his. So also I followed Alcaeus and Sappho in turn in the Odes, and 
 I claim with pride, as I said at the time when the Odes were published, 
 to have been the first of Romans to carry on the tradition of the lyric 
 poetry of Lesbos. 
 
 'If you ask why my poetry has not won greater applause, I can easily 
 answer the question ; it is because I have not sought for the favor of 
 
 123
 
 I, 19, i] HORATI 
 
 critics and cliques. And when I say that I cannot venture to submit 
 my trifles to their learned judgment, they accuse me of laughing at 
 them. The result is that I don't dare to show any contempt at all ; I 
 back out of the contest ; they might be the death of me, if they knew 
 what I really think of them.' 
 
 Under the form of an Epistle to Maecenas Horace is here defending 
 his Odes against the critics, as in his earlier career he had defended 
 himself in Sat. 1,4 and Sat. I, 10 and had made sport of his detractors 
 in Sat. 2, I. Of the occasion for such replies we know little except by 
 inference. Vergil, highly as he was honored duiing his lifetime, was 
 also severly criticized, so that his friends felt called upon to defend him. 
 That Horace should have been the object of similar attacks, made all 
 the more bitter by his intimacy with Maecenas, is altogether natural. 
 With respect to the Odes, published in 23 B.C., the criticism took the 
 form of a charge of lack of originality. To this Horace replies, first by 
 a kind of definition of servile imitation, and then by a statement of his 
 real relation to the Greek lyric poets. He stood, he says, in precisely 
 the same relation to Alcaeus and Sappho in which they stood to Archilo- 
 chus ; he was an artist of the same school, not an imitator. This is, 
 of course, the true explanation of the relation of any poet or artist to 
 his predecessors ; a proper understanding of it would have saved 
 modern critics from repeating the statement that Latin literature is 
 imitative. 
 
 Frisco si credis, Maecenas docte, Cratino, 
 nulla placere diu nee vivere carmina possunt 
 quae scribuntur aquae potoribus. Vt male sanos 
 
 i. prisco . . . Cratino: one of 2-3. This precise sentiment is 
 
 the poets of the Old Comedy men- not found in any of the fragments 
 
 tioned in Sat. i, 4, i. The adj. of the plays of Cratinus. It is, 
 
 prisons is used because it was the however, merely a lively expression 
 
 technical rhetorical term for the of the praise of wine which is fre- 
 
 prisca comoedia. Cratinus' fond- quent in all literature ; cf. Carm. 
 
 ness for wine was frequently re- i, 18, 3, siccis omnia nam dura 
 
 ferred to and had become tradi- deus proposuit. diu : with pla- 
 
 tional. docte: so of Maecenas, cere, not with vivere, which con- 
 
 Cartn. 3, 8, 5, docte sermones utri- tains the idea in itself. 
 
 usque linguae ; his acquaintance 3. ut: since. male sanos : = 
 
 with literature would have made the insanos. i.e., inspired by the Muses, 
 
 sayings of Cratinus familiar to him. But Horace always uses this adj 
 
 124
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [it 19. 
 
 10 
 
 adscripsit Liber Satyris Faunisque poetas, 
 vina fere dulces oluerunt mane Camenae. 
 Laudibus arguitur vini vinosus Homerus; 
 Ennius ipse pater nunquam nisi potus ad arma 
 prosiluit dicenda. * Forum putealque Libonis 
 mandabo siccis, adimam cantare sevens': 
 hoc simul edixi non cessavere poetae 
 nocturne certare mero, putere diurno. 
 Quid si quis vultu torvo ferus et pede nudo 
 
 of poets with a humorous or scorn- 
 ful tone ; cf. Sat. 2, 3, 322 ; Sat. 
 2, 7, 117, aut insanit homo aut 
 versus facit. 
 
 4. adscripsit . . . Satyris : 'added 
 them to the list, 1 ' enrolled them 
 with his satyrs.' This is not a 
 reference to some definite myth, 
 but only a humorous way of saying 
 4 from the beginnings of poetry.' 
 
 5. fere: usually. mane: 'the 
 next morning,' ' the morning after,' 
 from the fumes of the night's 
 drinking. 
 
 6. laudibus: they are merely the 
 traditional praises, a line here and 
 there. vinosus : predicate ; ' is 
 accused of being.' 
 
 7. Ennius : there was a tradi- 
 tion that he had gout, based per- 
 haps upon a line from one of his 
 saturae (numquam poetor nisi si 
 podager) the form of which seems 
 to have been in Horace's mind. 
 
 8. prosiluit : he sprang forward 
 like one of the fighters he de- 
 scribed. puteal Libonis : a spot 
 in the Forum which had been 
 
 struck by lightning and therefore, 
 as sacred, surrounded by a low 
 wall. It is said by the Scholiast to 
 have been the place where the 
 praetor held court. The sense 
 would then be, ' business and pub- 
 lic affairs I will leave to water 
 drinkers.' 
 
 9. cantare: i.e., 'poetry.' sc- 
 veris : the same as siccis. 
 
 lo-n. edixi: a formal word 
 used of the edict of the praetor. 
 putere : the expected verb would 
 be certare, but putere is substituted 
 ironically. The sentence con- 
 tinues the previous course of 
 thought ; ' Cratinus taught that 
 poets should be drinkers ; so, it is 
 snid, did Homer and Ennius, and 
 when Bacchus enrolled poets 
 among his followers, the very 
 Muses took to hard drinking. Now 
 it is my turn ; when I sang the 
 praises of wine, my fellow-poets 
 began to sit up all night over the 
 bottle.' 
 
 12-14. 'But bare feet and a 
 scanty toga do not maice a Cato.' 
 
 125
 
 i. '9, 13] 
 
 20 
 
 exiguaeque togae simulet textore Catonem, 
 virtutemne repraesentet moresque Catonis ? 
 Rupit larbitam Timagenis aemula lingua, 
 dum studet urbanus tenditque disertus haberi. 
 Decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile : quodsi 
 pallerem casu, biberent exsangue cuminum. 
 O imitatores, servum pecus, ut mihi saepe 
 bilem saepe iocum vestri movere tumultus ! 
 Libera per vacuum posui vestigia princeps, 
 
 pede nudo : in imitation of the 
 strict fashion of the older time. 
 
 exiguae : cf.artatoga, Epist. i, 
 18, 30. textore : abl. of means; 
 ' by the help of a weaver of a scanty 
 toga.' repraesentet: not exactly 
 with the meaning of the corre- 
 sponding English word, but ' bring 
 before us, 1 ' show us in his own 
 person. 1 
 
 15-16. Th e poi nt of the allusion 
 is that larbitas tried to rival Tima- 
 genes in rhetorical skill, but suc- 
 ceeded only in imitating his fault 
 of bitterness. This is the same as 
 the point of vss. 12-14, that one 
 cannot acquire the character of 
 Cato by imitating his eccentrici- 
 ties, and the two illustrations are 
 summed up in vs. 17. Timagenes 
 was a Greek rhetorician of consid- 
 erable ability (iirbanus, disertus), 
 who fell into disgrace because of 
 the bitterness of his wit. larbitas 
 is perhaps the nickname of a cer- 
 tain Cordus, who may be the Co- 
 drus referred to by Vergil, Ed. 7, 
 26, invidia rurnpantur ut ilia 
 
 .Codro. But the allusion must re- 
 main obscure in its details, though 
 the general sense is clear. rupit : 
 a reference to the fable of the Ox 
 and the Frog, to which Horace 
 alludes also in Sat. 2, 3, 314 ff. 
 The Scholiast, however, takes it 
 literally. Timagenis : gen. after 
 aemula. lingua : i.e., ' the tongue 
 of larbitas was his ruin.' 
 
 17. decipit : the emphatic word ; 
 ' we make a mistake when we fol- 
 low an example by a mere imitation 
 of faults and eccentricities, as when 
 we suppose that we must be hard 
 drinkers in order to be poets. 1 
 vitiis : with imitabile. 
 
 1 8. casu: by mere chance] it 
 would have no meaning, any more 
 than Cato's toga had. exsangue : 
 ' to produce paleness.' 
 
 19. imitatores : primarily the 
 men who imitated Horace him- 
 self, but also in a general sense. 
 servum : the adjective. 
 
 21. libera, per vacuum, prin- 
 ceps : an emphatic assertion of 
 his own freedom from slavish imi- 
 
 126
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [ 19. 29 
 
 non aliena meo press! pede. Qui sibi fidet, 
 dux reget examen. Parios ego primus iambos 
 ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus 
 35 Archilochi, non res et agentia verba Lycamben. 
 Ac ne me foliis ideo brevioribus ornes 
 quod timui mutare modos et carminis artem, 
 temperat Archilochi Musam pede mascula Sappho, 
 temperat Alcaeus, sed rebus et ordine dispar, 
 
 tation, which is explained in the 
 following verses, down to 31. 
 
 23. dux reget : i.e., l will be the 
 leader of the swarm, like a queen 
 bee.' Parios . . . iambos: 'such 
 iambic measures as were used by 
 Archilochus of Paros.' This re- 
 fers to the Epodes, that is, to 
 couplets of iambic measure used 
 for satirical purposes ; both form 
 and spirit (numeros animosque) 
 are included in this technical use 
 of the word iambi. Iambic sena- 
 rius is the ordinary verse of Latin 
 comedy and is of course not meant 
 here. 
 
 25. non res: i.e., 'but the form 
 and spirit were employed upon a 
 wholly different subject-matter.' 
 agentia verba Lycamben : it is 
 the tradition that Lycambes was 
 attacked by Archilochus with so 
 much bitterness that he hanged 
 himself. The phrase must be 
 taken as a whole ; Horace means 
 that he did not imitate the savage- 
 ness of Archilochus 1 language. 
 
 27. modos et . . . artem: the 
 same as numeros animosque, vs. 24. 
 
 28. temperat : in the rhetorical 
 sense, of regulating and shaping 
 the rhythm of verse or prose. 
 Archilochi : with pede ; ' by the 
 measures of Archilochus.' mas- 
 cula : i.e., not a weak woman, but 
 the equal of men in poetry. 
 
 29. Alcaeus : compare the noble 
 tribute to Alcaeus and Sappho in 
 Carm. 2, 13, 24-36. ordine: in 
 the arrangement of different lines 
 to form a strophe, like the Alcaic 
 or Sapphic. In general the thought 
 here repeats the thought of vss. 
 24-25 ; temperat is the same as 
 secutus, pede repeats numeros, re- 
 bus corresponds to res, and vss. 
 30-31 expand agentia verba Ly- 
 camben. This makes complete 
 the parallel between Horace and 
 the two Greek lyric poets ; he has 
 done exactly what Alcaeus and 
 Sappho did. To this parallelism 
 he makes a slight exception in 
 ordine, because he recognizes fully 
 in the Odes the claim of Alcaeus 
 and Sappho to be considered the 
 originators of the two strophes 
 which bear their names. 
 
 127
 
 HORATI 
 
 30 nec socerum quaerit quern versibus oblinat atris, 
 nee sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit. 
 Hunc ego non alio dictum prius ore Latinus 
 vulgavi fidicen ; iuvat immemorata ferentem 
 ingenuis oculisque legi manibusque teneri. 
 
 35 Scire velis mea cur ingratus opuscula lector 
 
 laudet ametque domi, premat extra limen iniquus ? 
 Non ego ventosae plebis suffragia venor 
 impensis cenarum et tritae munere vestis ; 
 non ego, nobilium scriptorum auditor et ultor, 
 
 40 grammaticas ambire tribus et pulpita dignor. 
 
 30. socerum : Archilochus had 
 desired to marry the daughter of 
 Lycambes. 
 
 31. sponsae: used like socerum, 
 of the relation which Archilochus 
 desired. The tradition is that she 
 also hanged herself inconsequence 
 of the bitterness of the attacks 
 upon her father and herself. 
 famoso : so famosis versibus, Sat. 
 2, i, 68, of the satires of Lucilius. 
 
 32. hunc : Alcaeus, the last re- 
 ferred to. non alio . . . ore : the 
 Alcaic strophe had not been used 
 before in Latin poetry. This re- 
 peats the claim made in the epi- 
 logue to the Odes, Carm. 3, 30, 
 13 f., princeps Aeolinm carmen ad 
 Jtalos deduxisse modos. 
 
 33. iuvat : i.e., ' I feel pride in 
 what I have done and in the class 
 of readers to whom I appeal.' 
 immemorata : ' things hitherto un- 
 uttered ' ; this is the early sense 
 of memorare* ' to tell, to utter. 1 
 
 34. ingenuis : in contrast to 
 
 servum pecus, vs. 19. Horace 
 frequently expresses his pleasure 
 at being recognized by competent 
 judges, e.g., Sat. i, 10, 72 ff. ; 2, 
 i, 74 ff. 
 
 35. opuscula : this must refer to 
 the Odes. 
 
 36. premat . . . iniquus : to be 
 taken together ; ' is unjustly crit- 
 ical.' 
 
 37-38. ventosae : d.Epist. i, 8, 
 12, where Horace uses the word 
 of himself. The belief that de- 
 mocracies were fickle is a very old 
 one and is still held by some per- 
 sons, in spite of the facts. suf- 
 fragia : a condensed comparison ; 
 ' I am not like an office seeker, 
 who hunts for votes.' The thought 
 is then repeated in plainer words, 
 though still with some figurative 
 expressions, in vss. 39-40. im- 
 pensis . . . munere : ordinary means 
 of indirect bribery. 
 
 39-40. ' I do not try to win the 
 favor of other poets by an inter- 
 
 128
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 19,47 
 
 45 
 
 Hinc illae lacrimae. ' Spissis indigna thcatris 
 
 scripta pudet recitare et nugis addere pondus,' 
 
 si dixi, ' Rides,' ait, ' et lovis auribus ista 
 
 servas ; fidis enim manare poetica mella 
 
 te solum, tibi pitcher.' Ad haec ego naribus uti 
 
 formido, et luctantis acuto ne secer ungui, 
 
 4 Displicet iste locus,' clamo, et diludia posco. 
 
 change of compliments.' nobi- 
 lium : ironical, as in par nobile 
 fratrum, Sat. 2, 3, 243 ; ' writers 
 who think themselves famous.' 
 auditor et ultor : />., ' by listening 
 to their readings from their works 
 and by reading mine to them for 
 their approval.' The best parallel 
 to this is Juv. I, I, semper ego 
 auditor tantum ? numquamne re- 
 ponam . . . ? The custom of giv- 
 ing readings, which had already 
 become wearisome, tended to form 
 mutual admiration societies, and 
 the attendance at such readings 
 was therefore a kind of bribe to 
 win approval for one's own writ- 
 ings. Ultor is intentionally substi- 
 tuted for some word like recitator, 
 to make the irony plainer. tribus : 
 this recurs to the figure of 37-38. 
 pulpita : the platforms from 
 which the critics lectured. 
 
 41. hinc illae lacrimae: this 
 phrase was first used in Latin lit- 
 erature by Terence (Andr. 125 f.) 
 and had become proverbial, as it 
 has in English, always with an 
 ironical tone. spissis . . . thea- 
 tris : the halls where public read- 
 ings were given, which were 
 
 crowded with poets and literary 
 critics. There is no reference to 
 the performance of plays. in- 
 digna : this is said with pretended 
 modesty, like opuscula, vs. 35, and 
 nugis in the next line. 
 
 42. addere pondus : i.e., to treat 
 them as if they were weighty 
 utterances. 
 
 43. rides: you are ironical; 
 /.<?., ' my critic seems to find my 
 humility merely affected,' as of 
 course it was. From this point 
 to the end the tone is wholly one 
 of scornful and open irony, as in 
 the close of Sat. I, 10. lovis: 
 Augustus, as the supreme repre- 
 sentative of the inner circle of 
 cultivated readers. 
 
 44. fidis : ' for you feel a con- 
 ceited confidence in the quality 
 of your poetry.' mella : a cog- 
 nate accus. after manare. 
 
 45. naribus uti: cf. naso sus- 
 pendis adunco,Sat. 1 , 6, 5, and note. 
 
 46. formido : entirely ironical, 
 since he is at this moment ex- 
 pressing his scorn (naribus uti) 
 in the very act of pretending to 
 conceal it. 
 
 47. displicet ist? locus : the cry 
 
 HOR. EP. 9 
 
 129
 
 j, 19, 48] IIORATI 
 
 Ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen et iram, 
 ira truces inimicitias et funebre bellum. 
 
 of a contestant, a wrestler or gladi- course, with irony. Cf. Thack- 
 
 ator, who thinks that his opponent eray, ' The Rose and the Ring, 1 
 
 has an unfair advantage in posi- 
 
 j i .1 r j j ' Critics serve us authors thus: 
 
 tion and who therefore demands . 
 
 Sport to them is death to us. 
 a pause (diludia) to equalize the 
 
 conditions. The reference to the ludus : with reference to dilu- 
 
 pulpita, 40, and theatris is sec- dia. The adjectives are inten- 
 
 ondary. tionally extravagant, trepidum, 
 
 48-49. ' For the consequences truces, funebre, carrying out the 
 
 may be most serious ' ; still, of irony oiformido. 
 
 An Epilogue to the collection of Epistles, written in the year 20, after 
 the other poems were collected for publication. 
 
 ' You are eager to see the world, my book, like a young slave who 
 seeks to escape from the house of a good master. Go, then, and meet 
 your fate ; you will, I think, have some readers, but I do not predict for 
 you an immortality of favor. 
 
 ' While the favor lasts, tell your readers what I am, a freedman's son 
 who feels himself now coming to middle age.' 
 
 This poem is, on the one side, an expression of the writer's hopes 
 and fears, as he sends a new book out into the world. It is done, as 
 one would expect from Horace, without flourish of trumpets ; he is 
 quite aware of the fact that the book has merits, but he knows also that 
 it is not the greatest book that was ever written. On this side the 
 poem might be compared with Catullus's address to his new book, with 
 Ovid's Tristia I, i and Martial, I, 3. On the other side, this epistle is 
 like the biographies which were often appended to standard editions, 
 much as the Vita by Suetonius is preserved in the Mss. of Horace's 
 complete works. The brief ' Life ' of the author gives his birth and 
 origin (20), his rise in life (21-23), h' 5 appearance and character 
 (24-25), and his age (26-28), as such things are given in biographies 
 of the standard form. Propertius (i, 22) and Ovid (Amor. 3, 15) have 
 followed the same custom. 
 
 130
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [l, 20, 10 
 
 
 Ok/tA^?L Vertumnum lanumcjue, liber, spectare videris, 
 
 \ > scilicet ut prostes Sosiorum punjice^mundus.^^^'^^ 
 
 sti clavis et grata sigilla pudico ; 
 paucis ostendi gemis et communia laudas, 
 non ita nutritus. Fuge quo descendere gestis. 
 Non erit emisso reditus tibi. ' Quid miser egi? 
 quid volui ? ' dices, ubi quis te laeserit, et scis 
 in breve te cogi, cum plenus languet amator. 
 Quodsi non odio peccantis desipit augur, 
 carus eris Romae donee te deseret aetas ; 
 
 1. Vertumnum: a shrineoFthis 
 god was in the Vicus Tuscus, a 
 street leading down from the 
 Forum toward the river; there 
 were booksellers' shops along this 
 street. lanum: this may have 
 been an archway over the Vicus 
 Tuscus or one of the arches in the 
 Forum; cf. Epist. i, i, 54. The 
 two names together stand for a 
 quarter of the city where books 
 were sold and where also, carry- 
 ing out the double meaning of the 
 Epistle, there were houses of ill- 
 repute. 
 
 2. scilicet ut: cf. Epist. i, 9, 
 3, note. prostes: in a double 
 sense ; cf. prostibulum, of a 
 harlot. Sosii : a well-known 
 firm of booksellers, mentioned 
 also in A. P. 345. pumice: 
 used to smooth the end of the 
 papyrus roll; cf. Catull. i, 1-2, 
 . . . libellum arido . . . pumice 
 erpolitum. 
 
 4. gemis: i.e., 'you are dissat- 
 isfied with the admiration of my 
 
 friends and wish for more ad- 
 mirers.' 
 
 5. fuge : i.e., ' go quickly then," 
 since you will have your way.' 
 descendere : the regular word for 
 going down from the residence 
 quarters, on the hills, to the Fo- 
 rum, with a secondary reference to 
 the descent in life of the runaway 
 slave. 
 
 6. emisso : primarily of the 
 slave, but also of the book ; cf. 
 Epist. i, 1 8, 71, et semel emissum 
 volat irrevocabile verbtim. 
 
 7-8. scis : = sentis ; the primary 
 reference is to the book, rolled up 
 (in breve . . . cogi) and laid aside ; 
 with reference to the slave it 
 means ' driven to poverty and 
 hardship.' languet amator : here 
 the slave is chiefly in mind, yet the 
 phrase may be used also of the 
 tired reader. 
 
 10. aetas : youth, the flower of 
 youth ; so often of boys and girls. 
 From this point the comparison 
 of the book to the young slave is
 
 1,20, II] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 
 
 contrectatus ubi manibus sordesere vulgi 
 coeperis, aut tineas pasces taciturnus inert! 
 aut fugies Vticam aut vinctusjrritteris Ilerdam. 
 Ridebit monitor non exauditus, ut ilfe/^v 
 
 are9tem in rupes protrusit asellum 
 iratus : quis enim invitum servare laboret ? 
 
 quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa doce 
 ocg,upet extremis in vicis balba, senectus, 
 
 um tibi sol tepidus plures admoverit auris, 
 me libertino natum patre et in tenui re 
 maiores pennas nido extendisse loqueris, 
 ut quantum generi demas, virtutibus addas ; 
 
 em 
 
 t A less prominent, though occasional 
 V\ words show that the figure is not 
 forgotten. 
 
 ii. contrectatus . . . manibus: 
 the buyer could take up the book 
 and look at it as in a modern book- 
 ' ^ .^hop ; cf. Sat. I, 4, 72, libellos quis 
 x-W*"'^ tnanus insudet volgi. 
 
 12-13. taciturnus: this word 
 
 A fugies are selected for their sug- 
 gestion of the slave, though the rest 
 of the phrase is applicable only to 
 the book. Vticam, Ilerdam: in 
 Africa and in Spain ; they are se- 
 lected as types of provincial towns, 
 where books no longer salable in 
 Rome might find purchasers. 
 
 14-16. monitor: Horace; cf. 
 augur, vs. 9. protrusit: since 
 he could not keep the ass from the 
 cliff, he gave up the effort and 
 pushed him over. iratus: cf. 
 odio peccantis, vs. 9. 
 
 17. elementa: i.e., used as a 
 text-book for children who are 
 
 learning to read and are too young 
 to be interested in the sense. 
 docentem : sc. te. 
 
 19. sol tepidus : 'the warm sun- 
 shine of popular favor ' ; i.e., 
 'when you are still fresh enough 
 to have many readers. 1 [There 
 are many varying explanations of 
 this rather ambiguous phrase, but 
 tepeo, tepor, tepidus in Horace al- 
 ways mean warmth in contrast to 
 cold, except in Sat. 1,3, 81, never 
 warmth in contrast to heat. That 
 in connection with sol it should 
 mean anything but ' warm ' is quite 
 impossible.] 
 
 20. libertino natum patre : so 
 libertino patre natum, Sat. i , 6, 6 ; 
 45 ; 46, with emphatic repetition. 
 in tenui re: cf. Sat. i, 6, 71, 
 macro pauper agello, of his father. 
 
 22. generi : birth. The reason 
 given in this line is one which 
 could not have been expressed in 
 Sat. i, 6, before he felt that his 
 
 132
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [i, 20, 28 
 
 me primis urbis belli placuisse domique ; 
 corporis exigui, praecanum, solibus aptum, 
 25 irasci celerem, tamen ut placabilis essem. 
 Forte meum si quis te percontabitur aevum, 
 me quater undenos sciat implevisse Decembris, 
 collegam Lepidum quo duxit Lollius anno. 
 
 position was secure, though it was 
 doubtless even then in his mind. 
 
 23. belli . . . domique : with 
 primis, not with placuisse. Cf., 
 in general, Sat. 2, i, 76, Epist. I, 
 
 !7, 35- 
 
 24. corporis exigui : short of 
 stature, as is said in the Vita of 
 Suetonius; 'habita corporis fuit 
 brevis atque obesus.' praeca- 
 num : gray before my time, as he 
 was only forty-four years old. 
 solibus aptum : the Romans made 
 less use than we of artificial heat- 
 ing and so arranged their porti- 
 coes as to have convenient places 
 sheltered from the wind and open 
 to the winter sun. Many passages 
 
 show that Horace disliked cold 
 weather. 
 
 25. irasci celerem: the vitium 
 irae is one to which Horace fre- 
 quently refers in such a way as to 
 acknowledge his own proneness 
 to it. 
 
 27. Decembris : the month in 
 which his birthday came. 
 
 28. The year 21 B.C. The 
 peculiar word dunit is used be- 
 cause Lollius was at first consul 
 alone and ' brought in ' Lepidus as 
 his colleague only after long delay. 
 The birthday named would of 
 course be the last one preceding 
 the time of writing, which was in 
 the summer or autumn of 20 B.C. 
 
 '33
 
 LIBER SECVNDVS 
 
 The date of this Epistle can be determined with a fair degree of pre- 
 cision. It is probable that Horace wrote it, in accordance with the 
 custom which he had followed in publishing other collections of poems, 
 after the other Epistles, 2 and 3 (the Ars Poetica), to serve as an intro- 
 duction and to dedicate the whole collection to the person addressed in 
 this letter. This general probability is supported by a passage in the 
 Vita of Suetonius : ' post sermones vero quosdam lectos nullam sui 
 mentionem habitam ita sit questus : " irasci me tibi scito, quod non in 
 plerisque eius modi scriptis mecum potissimum loquaris. An vereris ne 
 apud posteros infame tibi sit, quod videaris familiaris nobis esse ? " 
 expresseritque eclogam ad se cuius initium est cum tot sustineas . . . .' 
 This story comes immediately after a reference to the Carmen Saecu- 
 lare and the Fourth Book of the Odes. The sermones quosdam and 
 the eius modi scriplis cannot have been the Satires, published fifteen 
 years earlier, and can scarcely have been the First Book of the Epistles, 
 which had been before the public for some years. These words must 
 therefore refer to Epist. 2, 2 and 3, already known to Augustus before 
 they were formally published. All this falls into proper sequence with 
 the references to the campaigns of 15-14 B.C., referred to in vss. 252- 
 253, and points to 14 or 13 B.C. as the date of composition. 
 
 The course of thought is natural and easy, shifting from one aspect 
 of the subject to another without following a formal scheme. Some 
 general divisions will be noticed: vss. 5-92. the overestimate of early 
 writers in comparison with new poetry; 93-117, the historical develop- 
 ment which has resulted in the present situation; 118-138, the contri- 
 butions of the poet to the welfare of society; 139-213, the special 
 disadvantages and defects of dramatic writing; 214-250, the good influ- 
 ence of the patronage of Augustus upon literature ; 250-270, Horace's 
 own relation to the patronage of Augustus. 
 
 In the Second Book of the Epistles the form of versified letter is 
 somewhat changed. The three Epistles are all long and their very 
 length destroys the illusion of the letter form ; they necessarily become 
 essays, addressed, it is true, to an individual, but intended for the public t
 
 EPISTVLAE [2,1,2 
 
 In this Epistle the personal tone is also subdued by the fact that it 
 was addressed to the Emperor. The opening lines, therefore, though 
 they are concerned entirely with the personal aspect and not at all with 
 the subject of the letter, are distinctly and quite properly formal. The 
 close, from vs. 250 to the end, is also personal, having to do with 
 Horace's own relation to literature and to Augustus, and here there is 
 a lighter tone, especially Irom vs. 264 to the end. At other points, too, 
 as in 214 ff., there is a certain measure of appeal to Augustus to use his 
 influence for the good of literature. In general, however, Horace has 
 not made any very serious effort to preserve the illusion of a letter. 
 
 On the other hand, this is not a formal essay ; it is rather the un- 
 studied comment of a veteran man of letters upon the condition and 
 prospects of the literature of his time. The particular subjects selected 
 for comment or criticism are not indeed limited to Horace's own experi- 
 ence, but they are in part suggested by it. The whole of the first third 
 of the Epistle is a protest against the over- valuation of the early Latin 
 poetry and a defense of living writers, including Horace himself, against 
 the disposition to undervalue the present. This is, in some sense, a 
 continuation of the argument of Sat. 1,4; i, 10 ; 2, I, and Epist. 1,19, 
 but it would be pressing it too far to find in it the motive of the whole 
 letter. In other parts, in 118-138, in 139 ff., Horace is writing as a 
 student of literary history, selecting such portions of the rhetorical 
 tradition as suited his purpose and using them to illustrate and define 
 the situation of his time. 
 
 This Epistle deserves most careful reading. Much of the subject- 
 matter, it is true, has no immediate relation to modern conditions, 
 though the comments upon the stage are an exception and might 
 have been written for a magazine in this century. The literary history, 
 also, must be taken with much reserve ; it is only the current teaching 
 of the scholar and is in many points quite incorrect. But the easy turn 
 of the thought, the mastery of happy expression, the humor and the 
 occasional satire, all show that Horace came toward the close of life 
 with ripening powers Integra cum mente, as he had wished. 
 
 Cum tot sustineas et tanta negotia solus, 
 res Italas armis tuteris, moribus ornes, 
 
 i. solus : others (Agrippa. Tibe- 2. res Italas : no more than rent 
 
 rius) were associated with him, but publicam, 'the state.' moribus: 
 
 the real responsibility rested upon one of the purposes which Augus- 
 
 Augustus alone. tus kept most distinctly before 
 
 135
 
 & io 
 
 A' 
 
 t, 3] HORATI 
 
 legibus erne'naes, in publica commoda peccem, 
 si longo sermone morer tua tempora, Caesar. 
 Romulus et Liber pater et cum Castor^Pplluxf 
 post ingentia facta deorum in templa recepti,-^ % 
 dum terras hominumque colunt geruis, aspera bella 
 
 unt, agros adsignant, oppida condunt, 
 ploravere suis non respondere favorem 
 speratum meritis. Diram qui contudit hydram 
 notaque fatali portenta labore subegit, 
 
 him was the need of social reform/ 
 which he attempted to bring 
 about by a return to stricter stand- 
 ards. He took great pains to 
 set a good example himself and 
 tried, though with little success, 
 to train his family in the good 
 old ways. ornes : provide, fur- 
 nish ; this is the proper sense of 
 ornare. 
 
 3. legibus : many laws were 
 passed to regulate marriage and 
 divorce, to control bribery, to limit 
 expense, all with very small re- 
 sults. 
 
 4. longo: this and the other 
 epistles of this book are in fact 
 long, as compared with Horace's 
 other writings. He does not 
 mean, therefore, ' if I should delay 
 you by a long discourse,' but 'if 
 this long epistle should detain 
 you.' The modest suggestion is 
 ' do not allow me to detain you, 
 but put off the reading to a con- 
 venient time. 1 
 
 5-17. 'Other heroes have not 
 been honored till after their death, 
 
 iut we have recognized your worth 
 while you are still with us.' 
 
 5. Liber: the god Dionysus, as 
 a bringer of civilization, who 
 taught men to cultivate the vine, 
 not Bacchus, as the god of drink- 
 ing. The list of beneficent gods 
 and heroes, Romulus, Liber, 
 Castor and Pollux, Hercules, is 
 traditional and occurs with slight 
 variations in many places, e.g., 
 Carm. I, 12, 21-28; 3, 3, 9-16; 
 Cic. de Nat. Dear. 2, 24, 62, where 
 Aesculapius is added. 
 
 6. templa : t.e., into the dwell- 
 ing places of the gods in heaven ; 
 an old sense of templum. 
 
 7-8. The various steps in ad- 
 vancing civilization. Cf. Sat. I, 3, 
 99-105. 
 
 10. contudit : crushed with his 
 club. 
 
 u. fatali: 'decreed by the 
 Fates,' fated, not ' fatal.' por- 
 tenta : he is thinking especially 
 of those labors of Hercules which 
 consisted in the killing of de- 
 structive monsters. 
 
 130
 
 EHSTVLAE 
 
 coriiperit invidiam supremo fine domari. 
 Vrit enim fulgdre suo, qui praegravat artes 
 infra se positas, : extinctus amabitur idem. 
 
 15 Praesenti tibi maturos largjmur honores 
 
 iurandasque tuum per riurheln ponimus aras, 
 nil oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes. e^-- 
 Sed tuus hie populus sapiens et iustus in uno f / . t 
 te nostris ducibus, te Graiis anteferendo, 
 
 20 cetera hjbqua'quam simili ratione modoque 
 aestimat, et nisi quae terris semota suisque 
 
 . .. 
 
 12. invidiam: this repeats the 
 thought of vs. 9 and leads on to 
 the main theme, the invidia which 
 poets encountered. Strictly, the 
 word is not in place in the story of 
 Hercules. supremofine : />.,'only 
 by death,' ' not until after his death.' 
 
 13-14. urit: transferred from 
 physical pain to the suffering 
 of emotion. Here the physical 
 sense is to dazzle, blind, zifulgore 
 shows. praegravat : literally, 
 weighs down ; to be interpreted 
 with infra se positas. artes : 
 flowers, almost the same as 
 virtutes. The whole expression 
 is difficult of analysis, first, because 
 two different figures are used in 
 urit and praegravat, and, second, 
 because of the mixture of the con- 
 crete (qui, extinctus, amabitur) 
 and the abstract (prae^rai'at, 
 artes). The underlying sense is 
 ' he who is superior to others in 
 his powers and who thus makes 
 others feel their inferiority, excites 
 envy by his greatness.' ama- 
 
 bitur : ' ' but after his death hia 
 virtues are recognized.' 
 
 15. praesenti tibi : ' to you, it is 
 true, recognition has come during 
 your lifetime.' maturos: i.e., 
 ' before it was too late.' 
 
 16. numen : an unofficial deifi- 
 cation of Augustus began early 
 (29 B.C.) in the provinces and 
 was then taken up in some parts 
 of Italy. But the only formal 
 recognition of this in Rome was a 
 cult of the genius Augusti, with 
 altars where oaths could be taken. 
 The complete deification was not 
 until after the death of Augustus, 
 who during his lifetime dis- 
 couraged these extravagances. 
 
 18. 'But this recognition of 
 present merit is by no means ex- 
 tended to poets and poetry.' 
 tuus : with reference back to vss. 
 15-17. 
 
 19. anteferendo : in apposition 
 with unff, anticipating the single 
 exception to cetera. 
 
 21-22. terris semota: 'which 
 
 137
 
 7<y 
 
 f C JitsuS-' 
 
 X 2,1,22] 
 
 ORATI 
 
 re vetanjes, 
 v regum 
 
 temporibus defuncta videt, fastidit et odit, 
 sic fautor veterum, ut tabulas pecc 
 
 l r 
 
 quas bis quinque vin sanxerunt, fo 
 25 vel Gabiis vel cum rigidis aequata Sabrms, 
 
 pontificum libyos, annosa volumina vatum, 
 -^oictitetAlbano Musas in monte locutas. 
 
 W) 
 
 i'- had passed away from the earth.' 
 
 temporibus defuncta : ' and had 
 :ompleted the time allotted to 
 them.' The phrases belong strictly 
 to the writers of books, rather 
 -j than to the writings. 
 
 23. sic fautor : the verbal force 
 of many nouns was so strongly 
 felt that they may even, in combi- 
 nation with <y.sv?, take an accu- 
 sative, or, as here, an adverb. 
 Translate by a verb ; ' and so 
 strongly favors ancient writings 
 that. . . .' veterum: neuter, like 
 cetera. tabulas : the Twelve 
 Tables. 
 
 24. bis quinque viri : the De- 
 cemvirs. 
 
 25. Gabiis: governed by the 
 following cum. A copy of this 
 treaty, made by Tarquin with 
 Gabii, written in archaic letters 
 on bull's hide, was still in existence 
 in the time of Dionysius of Hali- 
 carnassus, in Horace's time. Cf. 
 Livy, i, 54. Several treaties with 
 the Sabines were preserved. 
 aequata : ratified. The implication 
 that they were 'on equal terms' is 
 merely conventional. 
 
 26. pontificum libros: the rec- 
 ords of rituals and of events of 
 
 religious significance, dating back 
 to the earliest use of writing in 
 Rome. volumina : prophecies 
 and oracles, written in some of 
 the early verse forms like the Sa- 
 turnian. Livy mentions in 25, 12 
 certain carmina which foretold 
 the battle of Cannae. 
 
 27. dictitet: the subject is still 
 populiis. Albano ... in monte : 
 one of the most sacred spots in 
 early Roman worship ; if the 
 Muses transferred their home from 
 Greece to Italy, as such opinions 
 would seem to imply, then the 
 Alban Mount would become their 
 Helicon. Musas . . . locutas: this 
 seems to be a reminiscence of the 
 phrase of Aelius Stilo and Varro, 
 quoted by Quint. 10, I, 99, 'Mu- 
 sas Plautino sermone locuturas 
 fuisse, si Latine loqui vellent.' 
 Though these early records are 
 lost, there are fragments enough 
 to show that they were composed 
 in an extremely formal and 
 cramped style, that they were, in 
 fact, not literature at all. Horace 
 is using extreme examples to lay 
 a foundation for his argument 
 against the school of critics who 
 maintained with an excess of zeal 
 
 138 
 
 r \
 
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2. '- 35 
 
 Si, quia Graiorum sunt antiquissima quaeque 
 scripta vel optima, Romani pensantur eadem 
 
 30 scriptores trutina, non est quod multa loquamur : 
 nil intra est olea, nil extra est in nuce duri ; 
 venimus ad summum fortunae, pingimus atque 
 psallimus et luctamur Achivis doctius unctis. 
 Si meliora dies, ut vina, poemata reddit, 
 
 35 scire velim chartis pretium quotus adroget annus. 
 
 the value of the early Latin litera- 
 ture. 
 
 28-33- 'The fact that the old- 
 est Greek writers are the best 
 does not prove that the same 
 thing is true in Latin literature.' 
 
 28. Graiorum: the more poetic 
 word. In the Satires Horace pre- 
 fers Graecus ; but the distinction 
 is not sharply made, cf. vs. 90, 
 below. 
 
 29. optima : Horace is thinking 
 in a general way of the fact that 
 Greek literature begins with Ho- 
 mer; he is not following out the 
 argument into details, like the com- 
 parison of the merits of Archilo- 
 chus and Alcaeus, and he is not 
 thinking at all of the place of 
 tragedy. 
 
 30. trutina: cf. the similar use 
 of this figure in Sai. i, 3, 72, 
 where ponetur corresponds to 
 pensantur, non est quod: i.e., 
 'there is no more to be said, 1 'it is 
 an end of all rational argument, 
 and we can prove anything.' 
 
 31. intra, extra: adverbs. 
 olea : with in to be supplied from 
 in nuce ; cf. Gabtis,vs. 25. duri: 
 
 with nil. 'The same kind of ar- 
 gument from analogy would prove 
 that as a nut is hard outside and 
 soft inside, so an olive must be 
 the same.' 
 
 32-33- 'By the same reasoning, 
 as we have become masters of the 
 world, we must be masters of the 
 Greeks in all the arts.' This is 
 another illustration, beside that 
 of vs. 31, of the absurdities to 
 which the argument of 28-29 
 would lead. pingimus, psalli- 
 mus, luctamur: literature, paint- 
 ing and sculpture, music, and 
 gymnastics are the four liberal 
 arts on which Greek education 
 was based. unctis: with refer- 
 ence only to the last mentioned 
 art, luctamur. 
 
 34-49. A new argument; 'the 
 measurement of poetry by its 
 antiquity is absurd, because the 
 standard is shifting. How many 
 years are required to make a 
 writer old ? ' 
 
 34. dies : time ; cf. Carm. 3, 6, 
 45, quid non itnminuit dies ? 
 
 35. quotus . . . annus : the Eng- 
 lish idiom requires a plural. 
 
 139
 
 2, I, 36J 
 
 HO K ATI 
 
 Scriptor abhinc annos centum qui decidit, inter 
 perfectos veteresque ref erri debet an inter 
 
 \ / j'li UIA 
 
 <*AJK^viles atque novos ? Excludat ruigiafinis. 
 
 'Est vetus atque probus centum qui perficit annos.' 
 40 Quid, qui depeilit minor uno mense vel anno, 
 
 inter quos referendus erit, veteresne poetas,^ n^jl^^ 1 
 
 an quos et praesens et postera re^^t&Vaetas ? 
 
 ' Iste quidem veteres inter ponetur honeste,- 
 
 qui vel mense br.evi vel toto est iunior anno.' 
 /\iijf . liicvv* 
 
 45 Vtor permissp, caiidaeque pilos u't equinae 
 
 paul-latim fvelto et demo unum, demo etiam unum, 
 dum cadat eltfsus ratione riientis acervi, 
 
 45-47- The argument called So- 
 rites, the argument of the 'falling 
 heap.' Given a sufficient amount 
 of grain to be called a heap 
 (trwpds), will it still be a heap if 
 one grain is taken away ? And at 
 what point, if one still continues 
 to take away a grain at a time, will 
 it cease to be a heap ? Another 
 form of the argument was to ask 
 how many hairs may be lost before 
 a man can fairly be called bald 
 (<aAa*pds) . permisso : the con- 
 cession in vss. 43-44. caudae 
 . . . equinae : this is either a con- 
 fusion of the argument of the 
 <aAa/cpds with a story about the 
 pulling out of the hairs from a 
 horse's tail one at a time, to show 
 what may be accomplished by 
 patience (Val. Max. 7, 3, 6), or it 
 is some variant of the argument, 
 unknown to us. ratione: -the 
 argument, the reasoning. 
 
 -W ' 
 
 36. decidit: the figure of the 
 falling leaf. 
 
 37. referri: be set down, be 
 counted. 
 
 38. finis : a definite line, here a 
 definite figure, like centum. 
 
 40. The argument is general, as 
 centum was of course suggested as 
 a round number ; but Horace prob- 
 ably noticed the fact that this limit 
 would exclude from the veteres 
 atque probi Lucilius, who was 
 highly praised by the admirers of 
 the early literature. He died in 103 
 B c., and would therefore fall short 
 of the time by only a few years. 
 
 42. respuat: the subjv. means 
 'should, according to your rule, 
 refuse to accept. 1 
 
 43-44. ' Such a trifle as a month 
 or even a whole year should not 
 count. 1 iste: 'the man you men- 
 tion.' honeste: -with credit, to 
 his honor. 
 
 140
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 f2, I, 55 
 
 qui redit ad fastos et virtutem aestimat annis 
 miraturque nihil nisi quod Libitina sacravit. 
 
 50 Ennius et sapiens et fortis et alter Homerus, 
 ut critici dicunt, leviter curare videtur 
 quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea. 
 Naevius in manibus non est et mentibus haeret 
 paene recens ? Adeo sanctum est vetus omne poema 
 
 55 Anfbigitur quoties uter utro sit prior, aufert* yL. 
 
 48. redit ad fastos: ' turns back 
 to the Fasti,' i.e., goes to the record 
 of years and dates for his standard. 
 The general phrase is made more 
 specific in aestimat and miratur. 
 
 49. Libitina : the goddess asso- 
 ciated with funerals ; cf. Sat. 2, 6, 
 19. 
 
 50-62. 'But let us look in more 
 detail at the old and greatly ad- 
 mired Roman poets, and at the 
 critical and popular judgments of 
 them.' 
 
 50. sapiens : a general term of 
 praise used also by Horace of Lu- 
 cilius (Sat. 2, i, 17). fortis: 
 with reference to his descriptions 
 of wars and heroes. alter Home- 
 rus : these words were used of him 
 by Lucilius and expressed with 
 exaggeration the prevalent atti- 
 tude of critics. 
 
 51. leviter curare : ' to care but 
 little,' 'to be indifferent.' 
 
 52. quo . . . cadant : ' how they 
 turn out.' somnia : in the be- 
 ginning of the Annales Ennius 
 told how Homer had come to him 
 in a dream and had said that 
 Ennius was a reincarnation of 
 
 Homer himself, according to the 
 doctrine of the transmigration of 
 souls, taught by Pythagoras. 
 These lines about Ennius give the 
 critical estimate of students of the 
 early literature like Varro, but 
 with touches of irony, especially in 
 leviter curare videtur ; 'he is so 
 securely established that he does 
 not need to care and in fact 
 does not care whether his per- 
 formance equals his promise or 
 not.' 
 
 53-54. Naevius : died in 204 ; 
 writer of comedies and especially, 
 in this connection, the first of 
 Roman epic poets. His Bellum 
 Pnnicum in Saturnian verse was 
 supplanted by the Annals of 
 Ennius, as that in turn gave way 
 to the Aeneid. paene recens : 
 i.e., ' we read him almost as if his 
 works were still new,' a little hit at 
 the critics, who, in spite of their 
 praise of the old, are as eager as 
 any one to read the last thing that 
 has appeared. 
 
 55 -56- uter utro : such ques- 
 tions were much debated by critics 
 and grammarians ; they arranged 
 
 141
 
 a, i, 56] 
 
 HO R ATI 
 
 Pacuvius docti famam senis, Accius alti, 
 dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro, 
 Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi, 
 vincere CaeciliusLgravitate, Terentius arte. 
 60 Hos y eaisctt: le^os 'arto ^ttpata theatre 
 
 spectat Roma potens ; habet hos numeratque poetas 
 ad nostram tempus Livi scriptoris ab aevo. 
 Interdum vulgus rectum videt, est ubi peccat. 
 Si veteres ita miratur laudatque poetas, 
 
 writers in lists according to their 
 merits, with some words of com- 
 ment on each, as here. Pacuvius : 
 died in 132, one of the great tragic 
 writers. Accius: died in 104, 
 also a writer of tragedies. The 
 judgment here expressed was the 
 traditional judgment and is re- 
 peated by Quintil. 10, i, 77. 
 
 57-59. Four comic poets, with 
 the conventional estimate of each. 
 Afranius, a contemporary of 
 Accius, wrote comedies on Ro- 
 man subjects, called by gram- 
 man ansfa&utae togatae, but in the 
 manner of the Greek New Comedy. 
 He is said to have used material 
 from Menander, and this is ex- 
 pressed in toga convenisse. Plautus 
 (died in 184), the representative of 
 the fabula palliata, comedy in 
 which the actors wore the Greek 
 Pallium. His excellence was held 
 to be in the quick and easy move- 
 ment {properare) of his dialogue, 
 in which he was thought to equal 
 Epicharmus, a Sicilian writer of 
 comedy. The general form of 
 
 expression pairs Afranius and 
 Plautus off together, though in fact 
 Plautus should be classed with the 
 two following writers. Caecilius 
 (died about 168) was sometimes 
 considered the greatest of the 
 writers of the fabula palliata. 
 Terentius (died in 160) was the 
 last .of the greater writers in this 
 style. Of all these poets only the 
 works of Plautus (twenty plays) 
 and Terence (six plays) are pre- 
 served ; the rest are in rather 
 scanty fragments. 
 
 60. arto : so crowded that it 
 seemed small. 
 
 61. potens : ironically, like veni- 
 mus ad sutnmum fortunae, vs. 32. 
 
 62. Livi: Livius Andronicus, 
 the earliest of Latin writers, with 
 whose production of a play, in 
 240 B.C., Latin literature was 
 thought to have begun. 
 
 63. The thought is turning 
 back from the judgment of critics 
 to the popular opinion, connecting 
 thus with vs. i8ff. 
 
 64. si : the alternatives are put 
 
 142
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, i, 75 
 
 65 ut nihil anteferat, nihil illis compare!, errat 
 Si quaedam nimis antique, si pleraque dure 
 dicere credit eosTTgra^vjfc multa fatetur.M 
 et sapit et mecum facitet love iudicat aequo. 
 Non equidem itt^c^or delendaque carmina Livi 
 
 70 esse reor, memini quae plag6sum mihi parvo 
 Orbilium dictare, sed emendata videri 
 pulchraque et exactis minimum distantia miror; 
 inter quae verbum emicuit si forte decorum et 
 si versus paullo co'n^rfmqjrunus et alter, 
 
 75 iniuste totum ducit venditque poema. 
 
 in two conditional clauses, without 
 any indication of the adversative 
 relation; cf. Efiist. i, 17, 6, and 
 ii. 
 
 66-67. antique : in the old and 
 stiff style. dure : with special 
 reference to the versification ; cf. 
 Sat. i, 4, 8, durus componere 
 versus, of Lucilius. ignave : 
 flatly, without making sufficient 
 effort to find attractive and agree- 
 able expression. pleraque : many 
 things, not ' most things.' 
 
 68. mecum facit : supports my 
 view. 
 
 69. delenda . . . esse reor : a 
 periphrasis for another verb like 
 insector ; 'I am not attacking or 
 desiring-to-destroy . . . .' Livi : 
 selected here partly because he had 
 not been mentioned in the list 
 above, vss. 50-59, 'partly because 
 his writings illustrate with special 
 clearness the faults of the very 
 early literature. 
 
 70-71. plagosum . . . Orbilium: 
 
 the phrase of the pupil has con- 
 ferred immortality upon the 
 teacher. Suetonius included him 
 in his de Grammaticis, with a ref- 
 erence to this passage. This was 
 the school which Horace attended 
 in Rome, Sat. I, 6, 76 ff. dictare : 
 the poetry, probably the Latin 
 translation of the Odyssey, was 
 dictated to the pupils to be written 
 down and learned. 
 
 72. exactis . . . distantia: little 
 short of perfect. miror : in inten- 
 tional contrast to insector, delenda 
 . . . reor, as a very mild expres- 
 sion of judgment. 
 
 73-75- emicuit: stands out 
 above the mass, with decorum, 
 as a predicate. versus : Horace 
 frequently refers to the great ad- 
 vance in the art of versification, 
 which is most conspicuous in the 
 hexameter. ducit venditque : to 
 be taken together, ' carries along 
 and sells ' ; the first verb is, as 
 often, very general and needs the 
 
 143
 
 7 63 
 
 
 
 
 HORAT 
 
 
 . . 
 
 Indignor quidquam reprehendi, non quia crasSe 
 compositum illepi<Jeve putetur, sed quia nuper ; 
 nee VErVh^rh antiquis, sed honorem et praemia posci 
 Recte necne cmdurrTfloresque perambulet Attae 
 fabula si dubitem, clament periisse pudorem 
 cuncti paene patres, ea cum reprehendere coner, 
 quae gravis Aesopus, quae doctus Roscius egit ; 
 vel quia nil rectum nisi quod placuit sibi ducunt, 
 vel quia turpe putant parere minoribus et quae 
 x*-imberbi didicere senes perdenda fateri. 
 lam Saliare Numae carmen qui laudat, et illud, 
 
 interpretation of the more definite 
 following word. 
 
 77. putetur : a verb of thinking 
 is often illogically inserted into a 
 causal clause in which the opinion 
 of some other person than the 
 writer is expressed, in order to 
 emphasize by its meaning as well 
 as by its mode the fact that the 
 writer is not responsible for the 
 opinion. 
 
 79. crocum floresque : the stage 
 was sprinkled with saffron, to give 
 a pleasant fragrance, and appar- 
 ently with flowers, though the cus- 
 tom is not elsewhere alluded to. 
 Attae : T. Quinctius Atta, died in 
 78 B.C., a writer of comedies, 
 fabulaetogatae. He is not strictly 
 among the veteres, but he illus- 
 trates the contrast between the 
 treatment of living writers and of 
 those no longer living. 
 
 8 1 . patres : the men of an older 
 generation, who had seen these 
 plays in their youth. 
 
 82. Aesopus : a tragic actor of 
 the Ciceronian period, highly es- 
 teemed for his acting and his 
 character ; hence gravis. Ros- 
 cius : an actor of comedy, also 
 very highly regarded. Cicero's 
 speech pro Roscio Comoedo was 
 made in a suit to which he was a 
 party. 
 
 8 3-85- These ordinary weak- 
 nesses of age are connected with 
 the general course of thought by 
 the fact that they explain the un- 
 reasonable prejudice against the 
 new writers. 
 
 86. Saliare ... carmen : a 
 chant of the guild of the Salii. 
 ' leaping ' priests. The fragments 
 are given in Baehrens 1 Fragmenta, 
 pp. 29 ff. Quintilian (i, 6, 40) 
 says of them vix sacerdotibus suis 
 satis intellect a. Numae : this 
 king was traditionally regarded 
 as the founder of many religious 
 ceremonies. 
 
 144
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, i, 96 
 
 quod mecum ignorat, solus vult scire videri, 
 ingeniis non ille favet plauditque sepultis, 
 nostra sed impugnat, nos nostraque lividus odit. 
 
 90 Quodsi tarn Graecis novitas invisa fuisset 
 
 quam nobis, quid nunc esset vetus? Aut quid haberet, 
 quod legeret tereretque jdritira publicus usus ? 
 Vt primum positis ny?gari Graecia bellis 
 coepit et in vitium fortuna labier aequa, 
 
 95 nunc athletarum studiis nunc arsit equorum, 
 marmoris aut eboris fabros aut aeris amavit, 
 
 88. non favet plauditque : t'.e., 
 ' such absurd praise of the past is 
 not what it purports to be ; it is 
 in reality nothing but an expres- 
 sion of jealous dislike of the writers 
 of the present.' 
 
 92. tereret : frequently used, as 
 in English, of the wearing out of 
 a book by repeated and careful 
 reading. viritim . . . usus : a 
 mixture, as in vss. 13-14, of the 
 concrete and the abstract, to ex- 
 press emphatically the universal 
 reading of the Greek writers. 
 
 93-117. Contrasts and resem- 
 blances in the history of civilization 
 in Greece and in Rome. 
 
 93. positis . . . bellis : after 
 the great war for existence, the 
 Persian War, was over. nugari : 
 i.e., 'to turn to lighter pursuits. 1 
 The word does not necessarily 
 imply censure; it is used by 
 Horace (Sat. i, 9, 2) and by 
 Catullus (1,4) of their own lyric 
 poetry ; yet there is in it and in 
 vitium something of the Roman 
 
 feeling that art is not quite a sen 
 ous business. <L~- 
 
 i u- <f M) fr^-tr**" 
 
 94. labier : s=T.api ; Horace uses 
 this old form some half a dozen 
 times. aequa : favorable ; but 
 the word is selected for the con- 
 trast to the figure in labier. 
 
 95-100. A vivid picture of the 
 lively interest of Greece in all 
 forms of art. The three liberal 
 arts, gymnastics and games (95 ) 
 sculpture and painting (96-97), 
 and music and dancing (98), are 
 taken up in turn. The verbs, 
 arsit, amavit, suspendit, estgavisa, 
 express the intensity of the inter- 
 est, and the forms of sentence, 
 nunc . . . nunc, aut . . . aut, the 
 sucession of genitives grouped 
 about the noun, express the vari- 
 ety of interest. suspendit: cf. 
 Epist. i, 6, 14, defixis oculis 
 animoque et corpore torpet, and 
 torpes, Sat. 2, 7, 95, of gazing in- 
 tently at a picture. tragoedis : 
 the art of acting is connected with 
 dancing and music. 
 
 HOR. EP. 10 
 
 145
 
 2, I, 971 
 
 HORATI 
 
 suspendit picta vultum menter&que tabella, 
 nunc tibicinibus nunc est gavisa tragoedis ; 
 sub nutrice puella velut si luderet infans, 
 
 100 quod cupide petiit, mature plena reliquit. 
 Hoc paces habuere bonae ventique secundi. 
 Romae dulce diu fuit et sollemne 
 
 mane domo vigilare, client! pfMti'ere iura, 
 105 cautos nominibus rectis expendere nummos, 
 maiores audire, minori dicere per quae 
 crescere res posset, 'Wnmdamnosa libid 
 
 101 Quid placet aut odio est, quod non mutabile credas ? 
 
 99-100. ' Like a little child, play- 
 ing at the feet of its nurse, it turned 
 quickly from one plaything to an- 
 other.' sub nutrice : cf. Epist. i, 
 1 6, 77, sub custode. petiit, reli- 
 quit: the subject is Graecia, 
 continued from the preceding sen- 
 tence ; the formal comparison is 
 all contained in vs. 99. mature 
 plena : to be taken together and 
 both with reliquit, 
 
 102. hoc . . . habuere : 'such was 
 the result, 1 going back in thought 
 to vss. 93-94. paces: times of 
 Peace. [But T do not think that 
 this translation explains the plural. 
 It may be due to positis bellis, or, 
 more probably, to venti secundi, 
 the plural being regular in this 
 phrase. The single example in 
 Plautus (Pers. 753) is inexplica- 
 ble. See, in general, Langen, Bei- 
 trage, pp. 105 flf.] venti secundi : 
 a common figure. 
 
 103-110. 'At Rome the history 
 has been a very different one.' 
 
 103. sollemne : ''the fixed cus- 
 tom.' reclusa : the patron ad- 
 mitted freely all who chose to come 
 to him for help or advice. 
 
 105. cautos : with numnws. 
 rectis : expressing in a different 
 way the same idea as cautos. 
 
 106. maiores, minor! : with refer- 
 ence to the strict family discipline 
 and the respect exacted from the 
 young. 
 
 107. damnosa libido: cf. dam- 
 nosa Venus, Epist. I, 1 8, 21 ; the 
 caution is economic, not moral. 
 
 The contrast in these verses is 
 double ; Greece turned to the arts, 
 and changed quickly from one in- 
 terest to another, while Rome was 
 severely practical, and for a long 
 time unchanging. 
 
 ioi. 'But there is nothing so 
 fixed that it does not at last change ; 
 we have abandoned everything else 
 and plunged into writing.' This 
 line stands in the Mss. after ioo, 
 where it breaks the thought, while 
 
 146
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 "5 
 
 Mutavit mentem populus levis et calet uno 
 scribe ndi studio ; puerique patresque seven 
 fronde comas vincti cenant et carmina dictant. 
 Ipse ego, qui nullos me adfirmo scribere versus, 
 invenior Parthis mendacior, et prius orto 
 sole vigil calamum et chartas et scrinia posco. 
 Navem agere ignarus navis timet ; abrotonum aegro 
 non audet nisi qui didicit dare; quod medicorum 
 
 est 
 
 promittunt medici ; tractant fabrilia fabri : 
 scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim. 
 Hie error tamen et levis haec insania quantas 
 
 at this point it makes a perfect 
 middle step from vss. 103-107 to 
 io8ff. 
 
 108. mutavit : this takes up mu- 
 tabile credas, with emphatic asser- 
 tion of the reality of it ; ; the change 
 has actually occurred.' calet : as 
 Graecia arsit, but uno studio, not 
 with many. 
 
 no. fronde : with the poet's ivy 
 crown, instead of the usual garland 
 of flowers. dictant : they have a 
 slave ready, so that they may dic- 
 tate their verses even while they 
 are at dinner. 
 
 in. ipse ego : ' and I, who am 
 laughing at it, am no better than 
 the rest.' adfirmo scribere: the 
 present tense implies ' in the very 
 act of making the statement I am 
 found to be lying like a Dutchman.' 
 
 112. Parthis mendacior: this is 
 merely one of the expressions of 
 national hostility, like Punica fides 
 or perfide Albion. The Parthians 
 
 were at this time the traditional 
 enemies of Rome. 
 
 113. scrinia: the boxes to put 
 the rolls in when they were fin- 
 ished. 
 
 114-116. 'All other trades de- 
 mand some knowledge and train- 
 ing.' 
 
 114. abrotonum: a compara- 
 tively harmless household remedy, 
 yet even for giving that some 
 knowledge is considered neces- 
 sary. 
 
 117. scribimus: in the emphatic 
 position ; ' but writing may be done 
 by anybody at any time.' All 
 this is, of course, to be taken hu- 
 morously. It is the amusement 
 of the trained professional at the 
 zealous eagerness of the amateur. 
 
 118 ff. 'Yet this popular craze 
 for poetry has its good side; the 
 poetry may be poor, but it keeps 
 the writer busy with harmless 
 things.' 
 
 147
 
 a. it "9j 
 
 HORATI 
 
 virtutes habeat, sic collige. Vatis avarus 
 120 non temere est animus, versus amat, hoc studet unum ; 
 
 detrimenta, fugas servorum, incendia ridet; 
 
 non fraudem socio puerove incogitat ullam 
 
 pupillo ; vivit siliquis et pane secundo ; 
 
 militiae quamquam piger et mains, utilis urbi, 
 125 si das hoc, parvis quoque rebus magna iuvari. 
 
 Os tenerum pueri balbumque poeta figurat, 
 
 torquet ab obscenis iam nunc sermonibus aurem ; 
 
 mox etiam pectus praeceptis format amicis, 
 
 asperitatis et invidiae corrector et irae, 
 130 recte facta refert, orientia tempora notis 
 
 1 19. sic collige: so Sat. 2, I, 51, 
 
 sic collige mecutn. 
 
 120. non temere : not easily, ' not 
 without strong reason ' ; so Sat. 2, 
 2, 116; Sat. 2, 4, 35 ; Epist. 2, 2, 
 
 13- 
 
 121. The losses which most 
 people are constantly dreading; 
 cf. Sat. 1,1, 77, formidare malos 
 fures, incendia, servos, ne te com- 
 pilent fugientes. 
 
 123. siliquis : standing for plain 
 living, as doesfiane secundo, * bread 
 of an inferior quality of flour.' 
 
 124. militiae: dative; this is a 
 joking reminiscence of his own 
 brief career as a soldier. urbi: 
 i.e., in peace, as domi militiae are 
 used for ' peace and war.' 
 
 125. si das hoc: i.e., 'unless 
 you deny that so humble a person 
 as a poet can be of use at all to 
 the great Empire.' 
 
 From this point, through the 
 
 enumeration of the poet's services 
 to society, the thought turns to the 
 history of poetry, and especially of 
 the drama. 
 
 127. obscenis: more general in 
 meaning than the English word ; 
 low, harmful, in contrast to the 
 lofty thought and expression of 
 poetry. iam nunc : while he is 
 still puer. 
 
 128. mox: at the later stage, 
 when the character (pectus) is tak- 
 ing shape. amicis: like a friendly 
 adviser and helper, not with the 
 severity of laws. 
 
 129. Faults to which youth is 
 especially prone. 
 
 130. recte . . . refert : i.e., po- 
 etry contains the record of noble 
 action. orientia tempora : i.e., as 
 the young man goes on from one 
 period of life to another, each 
 period in turn rising, as it were, 
 above the horizon of life. Not to 
 
 148
 
 EP1STVLAE 
 
 [2, I. 138 
 
 '35 
 
 instruit exemplis, inopem solatur et aegrum. 
 Castis cum pueris ignara puella mariti 
 disceret unde preces, vatem ni Musa dedisset ? 
 Poscit opem chorus et praesentia numina sentit; 
 caelestis implorat aquas docta prece blandus, 
 avertit morbos, metuenda pericula pellit ; 
 impetrat et pacem et locupletem frugibus annum. 
 Carmine di super! placantur, carmine Manes. 
 
 be compared with the English 
 ' rising generation.' notis : the 
 recte facta, which, having been 
 made known to us through poetry, 
 become exempla. 
 
 131. solatur: by raising him 
 above his discouraging circum- 
 stances. 
 
 132-133. A reference to the 
 Carmen Saeculare composed by 
 Horace for the great festival in 
 17 B.C. It was sung by a chorus 
 of boys and girls ; C. S. 6, virgines 
 lectas puerosque castos. disceret : 
 the poet is thought of as himself 
 teaching the song to the chorus. 
 unde : a quo. vatem : the 
 more formal name for the poet, 
 especially in his religious capac- 
 ity. 
 
 i34-*37- There were many other 
 occasions when choral songs were 
 used, from early times, in religious 
 ceremonies, e.g., Livy, 27, 37 ; 31, 
 12, and they probably formed a 
 part of some of the annually recur- 
 ring festivals. Carm. 1,21 is such 
 a song to Diana and Apollo, and 
 Catull. 34 to Diana. The function 
 of the chorus is stated in general 
 
 terms in vs. 134, then more spe- 
 cific instances are given in 135-7, 
 and the whole is summarized in 
 138. poscit opem: the general 
 function, as in many places in the 
 Carm.Saec. praesentia . . . sen- 
 tit : C. S. 73 f., haec lovem sent ire 
 deosque cunctos \ spem bonam cer- 
 tainqne domum reporto\ the chorus 
 recognizes the presence and favor 
 of the gods to whom it has prayed. 
 caelestis . . . aquas : prayers 
 for rain were common, and there 
 was a special ceremony, called 
 aquilicium, for this purpose. 
 docta : i.e., the prayer taught in 
 suitable formula by the votes. 
 morbos : the performance of pre- 
 scribed rites, which often included 
 a choral prayer, was one of the 
 regular methods of averting pesti- 
 lence. pericula : dangers to the 
 state, threatened invasion, defeat 
 in battle. locupletem . . . an- 
 num : the ambarvalia was a cere- 
 mony for this purpose. 
 
 138. A summary of the whole, 
 132-137. Manes: i.e., di in- 
 feri. 
 
 149
 
 If 139] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Agricolae prisci, fortes parvoque beati, 
 140 condita post frumenta, levantes tempore festo 
 corpus et ipsum animum spe finis dura ferentem, 
 cum sociis operum, pueris et coniuge fida, 
 Tellurem porco, Silvanum lacte piabant, 
 floribus et vino Genium, memorem brevis aevi. 
 145 Fescennina per hunc inventa licentia morem 
 
 1 39-i55- A history of the rise 
 of poetry in Italy, before the com- 
 ing in of the Greek influence, lead- 
 ing up to a critical estimate of it. 
 This history is not, however, based 
 upon any knowledge of the devel- 
 opment of Italian poetry before 
 Livius Andronicus. That develop- 
 ment, whatever it may have been, 
 had passed entirely unrecorded. 
 The account which Horace here 
 gives and the corresponding ac- 
 count in Livy 7, 2 are based upon 
 some Greek rhetorical tradition, 
 adapted to embrace the few facts 
 which were known by inference or 
 tradition, like the versus Fescen- 
 nini (145) and the lex of the 
 Twelve Tables (i52f.). 
 
 139. fortes parvoque beati: /.<?., 
 simple and happy, as in a Golden 
 Age, when song might, as it was 
 thought, originate. 
 
 140. condita : the harvest-home 
 festival. 
 
 141. ipsum animum: and even 
 their spirits. ferentem : i.e. , 
 which had borne hardship up to 
 this time. 
 
 142. pueris : as Ofellus (Sat. 2, 
 2, 115) labors in the fields with 
 
 his sons. coniuge: so Epod. 2, 
 39 ff. These are details of the 
 ideal life of the farmer, cultivat- 
 ing his own fields with the help of 
 his family, not working on the great 
 estate of an absentee landlord. 
 
 143. Tellurem: mentioned by 
 Varro (R.R. I, i, 4) as one of the 
 gods to be worshiped by farmers. 
 Silvanum : called tutor finium 
 in Epod. 2, 22. 
 
 144. Genium: a protecting spirit, 
 born to each human being and 
 accompanying him through life 
 to the end, sharing his pleas- 
 ures and sorrows. Offerings 
 were made to the Genius, as to a 
 divinity, yet he was mortal and 
 therefore memorem brevis aevt, 
 like the man himself. 
 
 145. Fescennina . . . licentia : 
 the Fescennine verses survived in 
 historic times in the form of abu- 
 sive songs sung at weddings and in 
 triumphal processions, apparently 
 to avert the jealousy of the gods, 
 which might be awakened by the 
 felicity of the bridegroom or of the 
 successful general. A modified 
 specimen is given in Catullus, 61, 
 119 ff. Horace here treats the
 
 EriSTVLAE 
 
 versibus alternis opprobria rustica fudit, 
 libertasque recurrentis accepta per annos 
 lusit amabiliter, donee iam saevus apertam 
 in rabiem coepit verti iocus et per honestas 
 
 150 ire domos impune minax. Doluere cruento 
 dente lacessiti : fuit intactis quoque cura 
 condicione super communi ; quin etiam lex 
 poenaque lata, malo quae nollet carmine quemquam 
 describi : vertere modum formidine f ustis 
 
 155 ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti. 
 Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes 
 intulit agresti Latio ; sic horridus ille 
 
 custom of singing such verses as 
 having been invented for use in 
 rustic festivals {per hunc morem), 
 and regards the abusive quality of 
 the songs as the most important 
 element. 
 
 146. versibus alternis : Livy, 7, 
 2, uses almost the same expression : 
 the singers are supposed to have 
 extemporized in turn, somewhat 
 as in the songs in the Eclogues, 3 
 and 7. 
 
 147. libertas : i.e., the licentia 
 became customary and so a per- 
 mitted freedom. accepta: bal- 
 ancing inventa. Livy uses this 
 word also. 
 
 148. amabiliter : i.e., the oppro- 
 bria rustica were at first merely 
 jocose. 
 
 149. honestas : honorable, with 
 the Roman feeling of respect for 
 the 'great houses.' 
 
 150. impune : with minax. 
 
 151. dente: the figure of a sav- 
 
 age animal is already suggested 
 in rabiem. intactis: others be- 
 side the lacessiti; cf. Sat. 2, I, 23, 
 timet quamquam est intactus et 
 odit, of satire. 
 
 152-153. lex poenaque lata: Cic. 
 refers to this (de Rep. 4, 10, 12), 
 si quis occentavisset sive carmen 
 condidisset quod infamiam faceret 
 flagitiuimje alteri, but the exact 
 words of the law are not known. 
 quae nollet: 'which forbade. 
 
 154. describi : cf. Sat. 1 , 4, 3, si 
 quis erat dignus describi. formi- 
 dine fustis : the penalty was death 
 by the rods of the lictors. 
 
 156. One of Horace's best and 
 most frequently quoted phrases. 
 
 157. agresti : referring back to 
 vss. 139 ff. The whole state- 
 ment is to be understood in a very 
 general sense. The earliest Greek 
 influences, which came in through 
 Livius Ancironictis. Ennius, and 
 their successors in the drama, were 
 
 IS i
 
 a, i, 158] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 165 
 
 defluxit numerus Saturnius et grave virus 
 munditiae pepulere, sed in longum tamen aevum 
 jnanserunt hodieque manent vestigia ruris. 
 Serus enim Graecis admovit acumina chartis, 
 et post Punica bella quietus quaerere coepit, 
 quid Sophocles et Thespis et Aeschylus utile ferrent. 
 Tentavit quoque rem si digne vertere posset, 
 et placuit sibi natura sublimis et acer ; 
 
 at least a century earlier than the 
 conquest of Greece. 
 
 158. numerus Saturnius : of this 
 old Italian meter many specimens 
 are extant. It was the national 
 verse until it was displaced by the 
 hexameter. The earliest epic, 
 the Bellunt Punicum of Naevius, 
 was in Saturnians. Its irregulari- 
 ties justify the adj. horridus. 
 
 grave virus: i.e., the roughness 
 was like an unpleasant liquid, op- 
 pressive to the senses. 
 
 160. vestigia ruris : ' of the prim- 
 itive rudeness of rustic Latium.' 
 
 This is the point of the argu- 
 ment ; ' the early writers, whom 
 critics extol so highly, were in 
 fact only partially affected by 
 Greek influence, while we of the 
 present time have more perfectly 
 learned Greek technique .' It is not 
 to be expected that Horace should 
 share the modern view, which finds 
 so much of interest in the origins 
 and primitive forms of art. 
 
 161. serus : this refers backward 
 to manserunt hodieque manent and 
 is then made more definite in vs. 
 162. 
 
 162. post Punica bella: these 
 words could not be used with ref- 
 erence to the First Punic War only. 
 We are obliged therefore to sup- 
 pose that Horace was following an 
 erroneous chronology, of which 
 there are traces in other authors, 
 which made Livius Andronicus a 
 contemporary of Ennius. The 
 thought here corresponds to vs. 93, 
 positis . . . Graecia bellis ; the 
 peace which succeeded a great 
 war gave opportunity for the culti- 
 vation of literature. 
 
 163. Thespis: traditionally the 
 founder of the tragic drama ; cf. 
 A. P. 276. The chronological 
 order is not observed. utile : 
 there is perhaps a touch of the 
 Roman attitude in the use of this 
 word. 
 
 164. tentavit rem: made the 
 attempt. vertere: used as a 
 technical term of translating or 
 adapting a Greek play. 
 
 165-166. placuit sibi : i.e., ' the 
 attempt was successful'; the 
 phrase does not at all imply 'self- 
 satisfaction,' as the context shows. 
 natura : this prepares for the
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 1,171 
 
 170 
 
 nam spirat tragicum satis et feliciter audet, 
 sed turpem putat inscite metuitque litiiram. 
 Creditur, ex medio quia res arcessit, habere 
 sudoris minimum, sed habet comoedia tanto 
 plus oneris, quanto veniae minus. :Adspice Plautus 
 quo pacto partes tutetur amantis ephebi, 
 
 restriction of vs. 167. sublimis 
 et acer : of lofty spirit ; this is the 
 same as the acer spiritus ac vis of 
 Sal. i , 4, 46. spirat tragicum : 
 this figure is especially poetic; it 
 appears in various forms, spirare 
 bellum, quietem, amores (Carm. 
 4, 13, 19), proelia, magnum, mai- 
 ora, and has been taken over into 
 English. satis : with feliciter. 
 feliciter audet : of the style, as 
 spirat is of the spirit. These 
 opinions in regard to the fitness 
 of Roman character to tragedy 
 are justified by the facts. There 
 was no lack of the lofty and the 
 heroic. But the production of 
 great tragedy requires a very high 
 esthetic and constructive imagi- 
 nation, in which the Romans were 
 lacking. 
 
 167. This was a favorite doc- 
 trii.e with Horace (cf. Sat. I, 10, 
 67-72 ; A. P. 290) and a natural 
 one in the Augustan Age, when 
 the efforts of writers in prose and 
 in verse were directed most ear- 
 nestly toward perfection of style. 
 Cf., e.g., what is said in the Vita 
 of Donatus about Vergil's methods 
 of work. 
 
 168. ex medio : from ordinary 
 
 life, in distinction from the myth- 
 ical and heroic world from which 
 tragedy takes its subjects (res), 
 
 170. plus oneris: merely another 
 figure for plus sudoris; the labor 
 of writing well is like a burden 
 under which the bearer sweats. 
 veniae minus : i.e., it is less easy 
 to win a favorable judgment in 
 comedy than in tragedy, precisely 
 because it deals with ordinary life, 
 so that each hearer can judge for 
 himself of the correctness of the 
 picture. Plautus : the unfavor- 
 able judgment here expressed is 
 repeated, from a slightly different 
 point of view, in A. P. 270 ff. It 
 is not without justification, but it is 
 one-sided ; the merits of Plautus 
 as a writer of comedy were not of 
 a kind to appeal to Horace. 
 
 171-172. quo pacto : i.e., 'how 
 poorly.' tutetur : ' plays the 
 part,' transferred from the actor to 
 the writer ; the meaning is that the 
 characters are not harmoniously 
 and consistently drawn, as they 
 are in the Greek originals and in 
 Terence. The judgment rests 
 upon too narrow a conception of 
 art in comedy. ephebi, patris, 
 lenonis: standing figures in the 
 
 153
 
 2, I, 172] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 ut patris attend, lejiorjts ut insidiosi, 
 quantus sit Dossennus edacibus in parasitis, 
 quam non adstricto percurrat pulpita socco. 
 
 175 Gestit enim nummum in loculos demittere, post hoc 
 securus cadat an recto stet fabula talo. 
 Quern tulit ad scaenam ventoso Gloria curru, 
 exanimat lentus spectator, sedulus inflat ; 
 sic leve, sic.parvum est, animum quod laudis avarum 
 
 180 subruit aut reficit ! Valeat res ludicra, si me 
 palma negata macrum, donata reducit opimum. 
 Saepe etiam audacem fugat hoc terretque poctam, 
 
 comedy ; the adjectives used with 
 each are also traditional. 
 
 173. Dossennus: a character in 
 the fabula Atellana, resembling in 
 general the parasite of Plautus. 
 The sense of the line is not quite 
 clear, but appears to be, ' what a 
 Dossennus he is in the part of the 
 hungry parasite,' i.e., ' how much 
 his parasites resemble the Dossen- 
 nus of popular farces, rather than 
 the more artistic figure of the par- 
 asite in the New Comedy.' 
 
 174. non adstricto: 'loosely 
 tied,' ' careless.' This is a general 
 expression, summarizing vss. 170- 
 
 173- 
 
 175-176. 'For he was careless 
 and negligent (vs. 167), interested 
 only in the price he got for his 
 play.' post hoc: after he was 
 paid. The leading actor (dominus 
 gregis) was the agent of the giver 
 of the games in buying the play 
 from the writer. securus : care- 
 less. stet : a technical word for 
 
 holding a place on the stage, but 
 here brought back to its original 
 meaning by ncto talo, 'stands 
 firm,' ' stands upright.' 
 
 177. The thought turns from 
 Plautus to the condition of the 
 stage and dramatic writing. 
 Gloria: cf. Sat. i, 6, 23, fnlgente 
 . . . Gloria currn. ventoso : as 
 fickle as the wind; cf. Epist. i, 
 19, 37, -ventosae plebis. 
 
 178-181. The same thought is 
 here expressed three times ; first 
 by exanimat (takes away his 
 breath) and inflat (causes him to 
 take a full breath of self-satisfac- 
 tion) ; second, by subruit and 
 reficit (of pulling down and rebuild- 
 ing an edifice) : and third, in 
 macrum and opimum. lentus : 
 unresponsive, exactly as in Sat. 
 I, 9, 64, lent is si ma brace hi a. 
 valeat : i.e., ' I do not care for it.' 
 
 182. etiam: with audacem ; 'even 
 one who might venture to take 
 the risk of failure is daunted by 
 
 154
 
 
 F *?u 
 
 *ri; C2 " ;I93 C 
 
 quod numero plures, virtute et honore minores, jck 
 indocti stolidique et depugnare parati, 
 185 si discordet eques, media inter carmina poscunt 2* 
 aut ursum aut pugiles ; his nam plebecula gaudet. 
 Verum equitis quoque iam migravit ab " aure vo- 
 
 luptas 
 omnis ad incertos oculos et gaudia vana. 
 
 
 Quattuor aut plures aulaea premuntur in horas, 
 190 dum fugiunt equitum turmae peditumque catervae; 
 mox trahitur manibus regum fortuna retortis, y y $ 
 esseda festinant, pilenta, petorrita, naves, 
 captivum portatur ebur, captiva Corinthus. 
 
 the poor taste of the audience that 
 is to judge him.' 
 
 184. indocti stolidique : i.e., ' in- 
 capable either by training or by 
 natural sensitiveness of judging 
 correctly.' depugnare parati : not 
 literally, but ' prepared to maintain 
 their position.' 
 
 185. eques: used also in Sat. I, 
 10, 76, of the more cultivated part 
 of the audience, with a reference to 
 the law of Otho reserving fourteen 
 rows behind the senators for the 
 equites. 
 
 1 86. aut ursum aut pugiles: 
 shows suited to their taste. The 
 Hecyra of Terence was twice driven 
 from the stage by the superior 
 attraction of boxers and a rope- 
 dancer and a rumored gladiatorial 
 show, and it is to this well-known 
 bit of literary history that Horace 
 is alluding. 
 
 187. equitis quoque : even the 
 better portion of the audience has 
 
 been led astray by the spectacular 
 drama. 
 
 1 88. incertos : shifting, chang- 
 ing from one object to another. 
 vana : the pleasures which come / 
 from seeing mere shows are empty, 
 in comparison with the more last- 
 ing pleasure of good poetry. 
 
 189. premuntur: kept down; 
 the curtain was lowered, instead of 
 being raised, as in a modern theater. 
 
 190. A battle was represented 
 on the stage. 
 
 191-193. The triumphal proces- . 
 sion after the battle. manibus : 
 . . . retortis: as captives, with their 
 hands bound behind their backs. 
 regum fortuna : kings, once favor- 
 ites of fortune, now enslaved ; the 
 phrase is epic, like virtus Scipia- 
 dae, Sat. 2, i, 72. The details 
 that follow are merely suggestive 
 
 of the elaborateness of some trium- 
 
 
 
 phal processions, ' chariots, car- 
 riages, wagons, models of ships or
 
 2, I, 194] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Si fflcet in terris, rideret Democritus, seu 
 195 diversum confusa genus panthera camelo, 
 
 sive elephas albus vulgi converteret ora; 
 
 spectaret populum ludis attentius ipsis 
 
 ut sibi praebentem nimio spectacula plura ; 
 
 scriptores autem narrare putaret asello 
 200 fabellam surdo. Nam quae pervincere voces 
 
 evaluSre sonum, referunt quem nostra theatra ? 
 
 Garganum mugire putes nemus aut mare Tuscum ; 
 
 figureheads, statues of ivory and 
 Corinthian bronze.' 
 
 194. Democritus : by tradition 
 the 'laughing philosopher'; the 
 sense therefore is ' here would 
 indeed be a spectacle for the 
 philosopher who found, in the fol- 
 lies of men matter for laughter 
 rather than for reproof.' 
 
 195. The giraffe, cameloparda- 
 liSj was supposed to be a cross 
 between a camel and a panther 
 (pard), and the confusion of 
 expression here is intended to 
 symbolize the mixture. The ex- 
 pression is, in fact, so confused that 
 it is not clear whether Horace 
 means diversum genus to be an 
 accus. with confusa {Sat. I, 6, 74, 
 susfiensi loculos) or an appositive 
 of panthera. The first giraffe seen 
 in Rome was brought over for Cae- 
 sar's Alexandrian triumph in 468.0: 
 
 198. nimio . . . plura: much 
 more ; so, frequently, plus niinio, 
 e.g., Epist. i, 10, 30. 
 
 199-200. scriptores: of such 
 plays, of plays in which the spec- 
 
 tacular element greatly exceeded 
 the poetical. asello . . . surdo : 
 the proverbial expression surdo 
 fabellam narrare (Ter. Heaut. 
 222, nunc surdo narret fabulani) 
 is strengthened by asello, with a re- 
 minder of the Greek saying ova> 
 TIS eXeyc p.vOov 6 Se TO, WTO. eKtVet, 
 ' a man told a story to an ass ; the 
 ass only shook his ears.' 
 
 201. evaluere : more emphatic 
 than a form of posse, and the per- 
 fect tense, appealing to the facts 
 of past experience, is more em- 
 phatic in a sentence that implies a 
 negative, than the present tense 
 would be ; 'no voices have ever 
 had (or now have) power enough 
 to. . . .' 
 
 202. Garganum : the same illus- 
 tration, from the noise of the 
 wind in the oak forests of Garga- 
 nus (a mountainous promontory 
 on the Adriatic coast not very far 
 from Horace's early home) is used 
 in Carm. 2, 9, 7, and references to 
 the storms of the Tuscan sea are 
 frequent. 
 
 56
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, i, 214 
 
 tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur et artes 
 divitiaeque peregrinae ! Quibus oblitus actor 
 
 205 cum stetit in scaena, concurrit dextera laevae. 
 
 ' Dicit adhuc aliquid ? ' ' Nil sane.' ' Quid placet 
 
 ergo ? ' 
 
 ' Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno,' 
 Ac ne forte putes me, quae facere ipse recusem, 
 cum recte tractent alii, laudare maligne, 
 
 210 ille per extentum funem mihi posse videtur 
 ire poeta, meum qui pectus inaniter angit, 
 irritat, mulcet, falsis terroribus implet, 
 ut magus et modo me Thebis modo ponit Athenis. 
 Verum age, et his, qui se lectori credere malunt ' 
 
 203. artes : ironical ; artes and 
 divitiae are together the antece- 
 dent of quibus, and therefore refer 
 especially to the dress of the act- 
 ors, not to such things as are men- 
 tioned in vs. 193. 
 
 204. oblitus : also ironical ; lit., 
 'smeared,' i.e., loaded down, cov- 
 ered up. 
 
 207. The wool of Tarentum was 
 famous and the dye made from 
 the murexQi the Gulf of Tarentum 
 was considered second only to the 
 Tyrian. violas : color compari- 
 sons in poetry are to be regarded 
 as mere suggestions. veneno : 
 this continues the ironical tone. 
 
 209. maligne : grudgingly, un- 
 generously, the sense of the Eng- 
 lish malignant is not in the 
 word. 
 
 210. per extentum funem : the 
 expression is proverbial, as in Eng- 
 
 lish, of an act which requires great 
 skill and involves danger. 
 
 211. meum: by putting himself 
 into the position of a spectator and 
 hearer Horace is able to express 
 more easily his admiration for the 
 art of the dramatist and to dis- 
 claim all rivalry. inaniter : i.e., 
 by the stage illusions, which are 
 unreal ; to be taken also with 
 irritat and mulcet. 
 
 212. falsis: the same as inaniter. 
 
 213. ut magus: to be taken 
 with the rest of the vs. ; 'and like 
 a magician. . . .' Thebis, Athe- 
 nis : the scenes of tragedy, like 
 the Oedipus story, and of the 
 plays of the New Comedy. 
 
 214 ff. ' Turn now from the stage 
 and consider the difficulties with 
 which poets labor who write for 
 the reading public.' 
 
 214. et his : these also, since age 
 
 157
 
 I, 2IS] 
 
 HO R ATI 
 
 215 quam spectatoris fastidia ferre superbi, 
 
 curam redde brevem, si munus Apolline dignum 
 vis complere libris et vatibus addere calcar, 
 ut studio maiore petant Helicona virentem. 
 Multa quidem nobis facimus mala saepe poetae, 
 ut vineta egomet caedam mea, cum tibi librum 
 sollicito damus aut fesso, cum laedimur, unum 
 si quis amicorum est ausus reprendere versum, 
 cum loca iam recitata revolvimus irrevocati, 
 
 prefixed to another imperative is 
 not usually connected with it by et. 
 
 216. curam redde : a direct ad- 
 dress to Augustus as a patron of 
 literature, interested in all forms 
 of poetry and founder of the tem- 
 ple of Apollo, with which the two 
 great libraries, of Greek and of 
 Latin writings, were connected. 
 The words are carefully chosen ; 
 curam. not merely interest ; redde, 
 give as something due to them ; 
 brevem, since Augustus is so much 
 occupied with other cares, vss. 
 1-4. munus : the library was a 
 gift for public use. The general 
 sense is, ' if you wish to make your 
 gift worthy of the god of poetry by 
 filling it with books that deserve 
 such preservation. 1 addere calcar: 
 to set spurs to without any sugges- 
 tion of 'adding 1 ; the phrase is 
 common and not different from 
 admovere calcar, subdere calcar. 
 
 218. Helicona: as the home of 
 the Muses. The line is entirely 
 general, merely a supplement to 
 addere calcar. 
 
 219. quidem: with concessive 
 effect ; 'it is quite true that we 
 poets are sometimes childish in 
 our expectations. 1 The comple- 
 tion of the thought begins with 
 sed tamen, vs. 229. 
 
 220. ut yineta . . . caedam: the 
 expression is evidently prover- 
 bial, of saying or doing something 
 which injures one's own interests. 
 It does not occur elsewhere in 
 this form, but cf. Tibull. r, 2, 100, 
 quid rues sis uris acerba tuts ? and, 
 for the literal meaning, Verg. Eel. 
 3, 10 f., cum me arbustum videre 
 Miconis \ atque mala vitis incidere 
 fake novellas. 
 
 221. sollicito . . . aut fesso: cf. 
 the humorously exaggerated care- 
 fulness of Horace, when he was 
 sending a copy of the Odes to 
 Augustus, Epist. i, 13, especially 
 vs. 3, si validus, si laetus erit. 
 
 223. The line refers to the be- 
 havior of an author reading his 
 own poetry to an audience ; when 
 a passage pleases him, he goes 
 back and reads it over, without 
 
 '58
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 cum lamentamur, non apparere labores 
 225 nostros et tenui deducta poemata filo, 
 
 cum speramus eo rem venturam, ut simul atque 
 carmina rescieris nos fingere, commodus ultro 
 arcessas et egere vetes et scribere cogas. 
 Sed tamen est operae pretium cognoscere, quales) 
 230 aedituos habeat belli spectata domique 
 virtus indigno non committenda poetae. 
 Gratus Alexandro regi magno fuit ille 
 Choerilus, incultis qui versibus et male natis 
 
 waiting to be urged. revolvimus : 
 in a literal sense, of the turning 
 back of the scroll. irrevocati: 
 revocare is the technical word for 
 recalling an actor or a reciter. 
 
 224. non apparere: i.e., 'that 
 the labor we have given to our 
 work is not sufficiently appreci- 
 ated ' ; the complaint is intention- 
 ally put in a form which reveals 
 its absurdity. 
 
 225. tenui deducta . . . filo : 'the 
 fineness and subtlety of our work.' 
 The figure is taken from spinning 
 and is often used, e.g., Sat. 2, i, 3 f. 
 
 227. commodus : ' you will be 
 so obliging as to . . .' ultro : 
 without waiting to be asked. 
 
 228. egere vetes : i.e., l save us 
 from poverty." The two verbs, 
 vetes and cogas, carry on the 
 thought of ultro and suggest, ironi- 
 cally, the picture of the poet indif- 
 ferent to poetry and shrinking 
 from writing, but compelled by his 
 patron to accept wealth and 
 assume the task of writing. 
 
 
 229. sed tamen : taking up the 
 thought where it was interrupted 
 by multa quidem . . . facimus, vs. 
 219. est operae pretium:* it is 
 worth your while.' cognoscere : a 
 rather formal word, to consider 
 carefully, ' to investigate the ques- 
 tion.' 
 
 230. aedituos : ' temple attend- 
 ants, 1 as if the virtus Augustiwct 
 a divinity. habeat: more fully 
 expressed this would be habere 
 oporteat ; the direct question would 
 have been in the subjv., quales 
 aedituos habeat (should have) 
 virtus tua. 
 
 232-234. The story is that Choe- 
 rilus wrote a poor poem on the 
 exploits of Alexander and Was 
 rewarded by him, in spite of the 
 badness of the poetry. These out- 
 lines are filled in by the Scholiast 
 with some details which rather 
 detract from the aptness of the 
 illustration. If they are authentic, 
 Horace has intentionally omitted 
 them. A few later allusions (Cur- 
 
 159
 
 [*, :, 234 
 
 HORAT1 
 
 rettulit acceptos, regale nomisma, Philippos. 
 
 235 Sed veluti tractata notam labemque remittunt 
 atramenta, fere scriptores carmine foedo 
 splendida facta linunt. Idem rex ille, poema 
 qui tam ridiculum tarn care prodigus emit, 
 edicto vetuit ne quis se praeter Apellem 
 
 240 pingeret aut alius Lysippo duceret aera 
 
 fortis Alexandri vultum simulantia. Quodsi 
 iudicium subtile videndis artibus illud 
 ad libros et ad haec Musarum dona vocares, 
 Boeotum in crasso iurares aere natum. 
 
 tius, 8, 5, 8; Auson. Epist. 16, 3) 
 show that the story became tradi- 
 tional. incultis : from lack of 
 art. male natis: from lack of 
 natural ability. rettulit accep- 
 tos : i.e., * put them down in his 
 account book on the credit side'; 
 a bookkeeping term used ironi- 
 cally. regale nomisma : because 
 they were called Philippi, after 
 the name of the king; cf. the 
 'Napoleon.' There is perhaps 
 also a suggestion that Alexander 
 'paid like a prince.' nomisma is 
 in apposition to Philippos, 
 
 235-237. ' But poor poetry really 
 brings discredit upon the hero 
 whose deeds it celebrates.' re- 
 mittunt: 'give off,' leave upon 
 the hand. atramenta: ink or 
 any black pigment. fere: often, 
 not ' generally, usually.' The 
 comparison (' poor poets stain 
 great deeds, as ink stains the 
 fingers') is good enough in its 
 essential point (linunt notam 
 
 labemque remittunf), but is dis- 
 tinctly lame in the details, which 
 by no means correspond. 
 
 237-238. idem : with adversative 
 force, as often. tam, tam: these 
 words take for granted a knowl- 
 edge of the details of the story, 
 as do ille (232), ille (237). 
 
 239-240. edicto vetuit ne quis : 
 in the legal style ; cf. Sat. 2, 3, 187. 
 The story was traditional and is 
 alluded to by Cicero (ad Fam. 5, 
 12, 7) and told by Pliny (H. IV. 7. 
 37, 125). Apelles and Lysippus 
 were the two most distinguished 
 artists of the period. alius Ly- 
 sippo : cf. Epist. I, 16, 20 ; exactly 
 equivalent to praeter Apellem. 
 duceret: cast. aera: the plur. 
 is significant; bronzes, i.e., bronze 
 figures. 
 
 242. videndis artibus : 'arts that 
 appeal to the eye,' painting and 
 sculpture ; ablative, Lane, 2266. 
 
 244. Boeotum: gen. plur. with 
 aere. crasso: proverbial of tl*t 
 
 160
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 I, 251 
 
 250 
 
 At neque dedecorant tua de se iudicia atque 
 munera, quae multa dantis cum laude tulerunt, 
 dilecti tibi Vergilius Variusque poetae : 
 nee magis express! vultus per aenea signa 
 quam per vatis opus mores animique virorum 
 clarorum apparent. Nee sermones ego mallem 
 repentes per humum, quam resjx>mponere gesjas, 
 
 atmosphere of Boeotia, so that the 
 name of the country had become 
 proverbial for dullness. The tra- 
 dition which Horace is here follow- 
 ing, that Alexander was a poor 
 judge of poetry, is not in fact 
 consistent with a correct inter- 
 pretation of the Choerilus story, 
 which, in its full form, is meant to 
 represent him as dealing humor- 
 ously and good-naturedly with a 
 poem the badness of which he fully 
 understood. A similar tradition, 
 attributing to him ignorance of 
 painting, appears in an anecdote 
 told by Pliny (ff. N. 35, 10, 85) 
 of his making foolish criticisms in 
 the studio of Apelles. Bothtradi- 
 ^ons probably came from Athenian 
 witticisms, extending the proverbial 
 dullness of Boeotia to the Mace- 
 donian conqueror. 
 
 245 ff. ' But you do not need 
 'his warning, as your patronage 
 of Vergil and Varius shows.' 
 
 245. dedecorant . . . iudicia: t.e., 
 ' do no discredit to your selection 
 of them.' 
 
 246. munera : there is a definite 
 story of the giving of money to 
 Vergil when he read the sixth 
 
 book of the Aeneid to Augustus, 
 and he left a considerable fortune 
 at his death, which must have 
 come from gifts. Varius also re- 
 ceived money from Augustus. 
 laude : credit, honor, not ' praise ' 
 from the recipients of the gifts. 
 
 247. Vergil died in 19 B.C., and 
 Varius was probably not living at 
 this time, though the date of his 
 death is not known. 
 
 248. expressi: the figure is 
 taken from the shaping of wax 
 or clay. vultus : l the expression 
 of the face.' 
 
 250 ff. 'I too would join in re- 
 cording your deeds if only my 
 powers were equal to the task.' 
 
 250-251. sermones . . . repentes 
 per humum: this often-quoted 
 phrase expresses Horace's habitual 
 attitude toward the Satires and 
 Epistles ; they are Talks, inspired 
 only by a Musa pedeslris (Sat. 2, 
 6, 17). It was in the Epodes and 
 the Odes that he felt himself to 
 be a poet. res ... gestas : an 
 historical epic after the manner of 
 Ennius. The title of the work 
 might have been Res Gestae 
 Augusti. 
 
 HOR. EP. II 
 
 161
 
 2, I, 252] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 
 terrarumque situs et flumina dicere et arces 
 montibus impositas et barbara regna, tuisque 
 auspiciis totum confecta duella per orbem, 
 255 claustraque custodem pads cohibentia lanum, 
 et formidatam Parthis te principe Romam, 
 si, quantum cuperem, possem quoque : sed neque parvum 
 carmen maiestas recipit tua, nee meus audet 
 rem tentare pudor, quam vires ferre recusent. 
 Sedulitas autem, stulte quern diljgit, urget, 
 
 257. si ... possem : the prota- 
 sis of malletn, vs. 250. quan- 
 tum cuperem : the thought was 
 traditional in rhetorical criticism. 
 Cf. also ciipidum in the similar 
 passage, Sat. 2, i, 12. 
 
 258. maiestas . . . tua: not, of 
 course, as a title, but with some- 
 thing of formality. recipit : ad- 
 mit, permit. 
 
 259. rem tentare: 'to attempt 
 a task,' not quite as in vs. 164. 
 pudor : the abstract for the con- 
 crete, to balance maiestas. The 
 clauses repeat and amplify the 
 thought of quantum cuperem pos- 
 sein ; ' I do not wish to offer you 
 a poor song, which is all that I am 
 able to do, and I am not able to 
 attempt a great poem, which is 
 what I should wish to give 
 you.' 
 
 260. sedulitas : officiousness^ an 
 ill-regulated desire to please; cf. 
 sedulus, Epist. I, 13, 5. stulte : 
 with urget; 'is foolish in laying 
 a burden upon the very person he 
 desires to please.' 
 
 252-253. These details evi- 
 dently refer to campaigns in coun- 
 tries little known to the public 
 and deserving particular descrip- 
 tion. The phrase arces montibus 
 impositas points to the campaigns 
 of Drusus and Tiberius in the 
 valleys of the Alps against the 
 Vindelici, which were carried on in 
 15-14 B.C., and which Horace had 
 already celebrated in Carm. 4, 4 
 and 14, at the request of Augustus. 
 
 254. duella: the epic word. In 
 these lines, as in the similar pas- 
 sage in Sat. 2, i, 12-15, Horace, 
 in the very act of professing his 
 inability to write an epic, indulges 
 in a bit of epic description. 
 
 255. claustra : the temple of 
 Janus was closed by Augustus 
 twice before this Epistle was 
 written, in 29 and in 25 B.C., and 
 a third time at some later date. 
 custodem pacis : the phrase is not 
 quite precise ; Janus guards peace 
 within his closed doors. 
 
 256. Parthis: cf. Epist. I, 12, 
 37, note. 
 
 162
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, i, 270 
 
 praecipue cum se numeris commendat et arte; 
 
 discit eninvcitkis meminitque libentius illud, 
 quod quis de\ridet, quam quod probat et veneratur. 
 Nil moror oflicium, quod me gravat, ac neque ficto 
 
 265 in peius vultu\proponi cereus usquam, 
 nee prave factis decorari versibus opto, 
 ne rubeam pingui donatus munere et una 
 cum scriptore meo capsa porrectus operta 
 deferar in vicum vendentem tus et odores 
 
 270 et piper et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis. 
 
 261. praecipue: 'this is espe- 
 cially true of poetry, because poor 
 verses stick in the memory.' 
 
 262. discit : the subject is to be 
 supplied from the next clause. 
 
 264-265. oflicium: = sedulitas. 
 
 gravat : = urget. ficto : shaped. 
 
 in peius : t.e., ( by a poor artist, 
 who would misrepresent my fea- 
 tures, as I, if 1 tried to write an 
 epic, might misrepresent your 
 deeds.' cereus: wax was used 
 for portrait busts, as for masks 
 (imagines) of distinguished ances- 
 tors. Cf. expressi) vs. 248. 
 
 266. decorari : ironical. There 
 is an implied comparison ; ' as I 
 should not be pleased by a poor 
 portrait of myself, so I should not 
 care to be described in bad verses.' 
 
 267. pingui : stupid, as in Sat. 
 2, 6, 14. 
 
 268. scriptore meo: 'the man 
 who wrote about me,' ' my eulo- 
 gist.' capsa porrectus: like a 
 corpse in a coffin. 
 
 269. vicum vendentem tus : the 
 vicus Tuscus, with a pun on tus 
 tuscus. 
 
 
 
 The subject matter of this Epistle is so general and there are so few 
 allusions to public matters that the date cannot be fixed with certainty. 
 It is clear that so elaborate a renunciation of poetry cannot have been 
 written during the period from 17 B.C. to 13 B.C., when Horace was 
 writing the Carmen Saeculare and the Fourth Book of the Odes. There 
 is nothing to show that it might not have been composed after 13 B.C., 
 but the general tone, in which it much resembles Epist, i, I, and the 
 
 163
 
 2, 2] HORATI 
 
 difficulty of supposing that Horace twice publicly announced his inten- 
 tion of giving up lyrical poetry, makes the earlier date, 20-18 B.C., more 
 probable. 
 
 For the young Julius Fionas, see Introd. to Epist. 1,3. He was still 
 in the suite of Tiberius and had apparently been long absent from 
 Rome. 
 
 ' Did you ever buy a slave, my dear Florus, and find yourself pre- 
 vpnted from complaining of his faults by the fact that the dealer had 
 expressly mentioned them ? Then you must not complain of not 
 hearing from me, for I warned you that I never answer letters. And in 
 spite of this, you call on me for more Odes ! Do you remember that 
 story of the soldier of Lucullus ? Some thief stole his savings and in a 
 rage he went off and stormed a castle and got honor and more money. 
 But when the general, with most flattering words, invited him to lead 
 another storming party, he declined with thanks and advised the gen- 
 eral to get some other man who had just lost his purse. That is just 
 my attitude. I lost my purse at Philippi and, in a rage, I stormed 
 the castle of poetry. But once is enough ; I am taking my ease now. 
 There are plenty of reasons for not writing. In the first place, you all 
 ask for different things. And then, how can one write in Rome, where 
 all is confusion ? Nor, for another reason, do I like the mutual admira- 
 tion clubs, which 1 should have to join. And 5t is no easy matter, 
 either, to write really good poetry. 
 
 ' The fact is that I have turned, as I said once before, from lyrics to 
 philosophy, and am trying to learn the secrets of true living. I am con- 
 sidering the nature of possession and how it differs from use and how 
 transient it is, at the best. I am trying to practice the doctrine of the 
 Golden Mean and to become both better and happier, as I grow 
 older.' 
 
 In this Epistle, as in Epist. 2, I, the letter form is used at the be- 
 ginning with considerable skill, and something of the personal tone is 
 maintained for perhaps fifty lines. But from that point the epistle be- 
 comes a versified essay, first, on the writing of poetry and, second, 
 on philosophy. The latter part contains nothing that Horace had 
 not said before, though it is here expressed in new forms, but the 
 strictures upon the state of literature in Rome are always interesting. 
 The humorous opening of the Epistle, the bit of autobiography, and 
 the veiled allusion to Propertius are perhaps the best parts of the 
 letter. As a whole it is scarcely equal to the other Epistles of this 
 Book. 
 
 164
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 2, 11 
 
 -fca*~~^j^\ 
 
 Flore, bono claroque fidelis amice Neroni, 
 /si quis forte velit puerum tibi vendere natum 
 TirJure vel Gabiis et tecum sic agat : ' Hie et 
 candidus et talos a vertice pulcher ad imos 
 fiet eritque tuus nummorum milibus octo, 
 verna ministeriis ,ad nutus aptus eriles, 
 ^litterulis Graecis imbutus, idoneus 
 cuilibet ; aFgftlji quidvis imitaberis uda x ; 
 quin etiam canet indoctum sed dulce bibentiP^ ch^ 
 
 Multa fidem promissa levant, ubi plenius aequo 
 laudat venales qui vult extrudere merces. 
 
 1. Flore, Neroni: cf. Epist. i, 
 3, 1-2, notes, and Epist. i, 8, 2. 
 
 2. puerum: slave, not 'boy,' 
 though the context shows that he 
 is young. 
 
 3. Tibure vel Gabiis: any two 
 Italian towns ; a slave born in 
 Italy, not a foreign captive. 
 agat: deal, i.e., 'present his pro- 
 posal in these terms.' 
 
 4. candidus : fair, of complex- 
 ion. talos a vertice : proverbial 
 like the English 'from head to 
 foot. 1 
 
 5. fiet eritque : legal tautology, 
 like 'to have and to hold,' em- 
 ployed here to give an air of defi- 
 niteness and frankness to the offer. 
 milibus octo : nearly $400, an 
 ordinary price for a fairly good 
 slave. Davus, speaking of him- 
 self as a cheap slave, says he was 
 worth $100. The price named is 
 meant to be attractive, but not sus- 
 piciously low. 
 
 6. verna: a house slave, not a 
 common field laborer. ministe- 
 riis : dative with aptus. ad nutus : 
 to betaken closely with ministeriis 
 aptus, almost as a modifier ; 
 ' quick to perform his duties at a nod . ' 
 
 7-8. litterulis . . . imbutus : 
 ' he knows a little Greek ' ; the 
 depreciatory tone is suggested by 
 the diminutive and expressed in 
 imbutus. Cf. Tac. Dial. 19, ele- 
 mentis studiorum etsi non instruc- 
 tus at certe imbutus. arti cuili- 
 bet : there is a description in Ter. 
 Eun. 476 ff. of a young slave who 
 knows literature, wrestling, and 
 music. argilla . . . uda : the fig- 
 ure of the artist making his clay 
 model is suggested by arti. 
 
 9. quin etiam : i.e., ' in fact he 
 already knows something of one 
 art, singing.' indoctum : this 
 suggests again the frank man who 
 will not praise too highly what he 
 offers for sale. 
 
 165
 
 1 
 
 2,12] pT HORATI 
 
 V \ ^ /r 
 
 Res urget me nulla, meo sum pauper in acre. > 
 Nemo hoc mangonum faceret tibi, non temere a me ''' 
 quivis Terret idem. Semel hie cessavit et, ' ^ 
 in sqalis latuit metuens pendentis 
 es nummos, excepta nihil te si fu! laedat, 
 
 ferat pretium poenae securus ; opinor 
 prudens emisti vmosum ; dicta tibi est lex ; 
 insequeris tamen hunc et lite moraris iniqua ? 
 
 12. res : pressure, necessity. 
 meo ... in acre : in distinction 
 from aes alienurn ; the words ex- 
 plain the first part of the line ; ' I'm 
 not rich, but I have no debts.' 
 
 13. hoc faceret: 'would make 
 you such an offer as this.' non 
 temere : ' not without some special 
 reason.' 
 
 14-15. This is the point of the 
 whole, dropped in at the end as 
 a matter of no importance, yet 
 distinctly mentioned lest the con- 
 cealment should invalidate the 
 bargain. cessavit: cf. Sat. 2, 7, 
 100, nequam et cessator Davus. 
 This is the mildest possible way 
 of saying that the young slave 
 shirks his work whenever he can ; 
 ' it is a fact that he once lingered 
 about his work and then, fearing a 
 a whipping, hid himself.' So in 
 Plaut. M. G. 582 f. the slave says 
 nam iam aliquo aufugiam et me 
 occultabo aliquot dies, \ dum haec 
 consilescunt turbae. in scalis : 
 under the stairs ; he did not really 
 run away. pendentis: i.e., usu- 
 ally hanging on the wall, ready for 
 use. 
 
 16. des : continuing the suppo- 
 sition, without si; 'suppose you 
 hand over your money. 1 si . . . 
 laedat : a secondary condition, with 
 des; 'taking it for granted, of 
 course, that you find nothing 
 else objectionable.' excepta . . . 
 fuga : ' the running away having 
 been distinctly mentioned.' Exci- 
 pere is the technical term in law for 
 mentioning a point which is an ; ex- 
 ception' to the general statement ; 
 cf. Sat. 2, 3, 285, mentem, nisi liti~ 
 giosus, exciperet dominus, cum ven- 
 deret. 
 
 17. poenae securus : without fear 
 of penalty, because he had com- 
 plied with the law in mentioning 
 the slight tendency to ' shirk.' 
 
 18. prudens: deliberately, ' with 
 your eyes open.' lex : the state- 
 ment which the law requires, semel 
 . . . cessavit, not the written 
 ' law.' 
 
 19. insequeris, moraris: 'are 
 you pursuing him, trying to hold 
 him?' The present tense carries 
 the reader over from the story to 
 its application ; this is a condensed 
 way of saying ' would you make 
 
 1 66
 
 EPISTVLAE V [2,2,32 
 
 zo Dixi me pigrum profibiscentijibi, dixi 
 
 talibus officiis prope mancum, ne mea saevus 
 
 iurgares ad te quod epistula nulla rediret. 
 
 Quid turn profeci mecum facientia iura 
 
 si tamen attentas ? Quereris super hoc etiam, quod 
 
 25 expectata tibi non mittam carmina mendax. 
 
 Luculli miles collecta viatica, multis i/v 
 
 >aerumnis, lassus dum noctu stertit, ad assem 
 perdiderat, post hoc vehemens lupus et sibi et hosti 
 iratus pariter, ieiunis 'dentibus acer, 
 
 30 praesidiumjregaje loco deiecit, ut aiunt, 
 summe munito et multarum divite rerum. 
 Clarus ob id factum donis ornatur honestis 
 
 a fuss about your bargain and 
 threaten a suit ? Yet that is exactly 
 what you are doing to me, though 
 I warned you plainly.' 
 
 20. dixi, dixi : ' I was just as 
 plain in my warnings as the seller 
 of the slave in my little story.' 
 proficiscenti : on his journey with 
 Tiberius. 
 
 It is extremely characteristic of 
 Horace to go through all the de- 
 tails of the story, leaving the appli- 
 cation to the end. Compare the 
 detailed description of Tigellius, 
 Sat. i, 3, 2-19, the point of which 
 is not reached till vs. 24. 
 
 21. talibus officiis : letter writing 
 and other friendly offices ; dative 
 with mancum, which is a strong 
 word for haud aptus, inutilis. 
 
 23. profeci : i.e., ' what good has 
 my plain warning done?' me- 
 cum facientia: cf. Epist. 2, i, 68. 
 
 24. super hoc etiam: 'in addi- 
 tion to all this,' ' you even go, so 
 far, besides.' 
 
 25. mendax: 'breaking my 
 promise'; cf. Epist. i, 7, 2. 
 
 26. Luculli: commander in Ci- 
 licia against Mithridates, 74-67 
 B.C. The story is not told else- 
 where. viatica : properly i travel-, 
 ing money,' then any kind of 
 allowance, from which the soldier 
 had saved what he could. 
 
 27. ad assem : i.e., all of it, ' to 
 a penny.' 
 
 29. dentibus : with reference to 
 lupus. 
 
 30-31. regale: i.e., of Mithri- 
 dates. ut aiunt: with the next 
 line, giving the authority of the 
 story teller for the strong expres- 
 sions summe, multarum divite. 
 
 32. donis . . . honestis: the 
 various insignia, chains, crowns,
 
 2,2,33] HORATI 4* 
 
 V 
 accipit et bis dena super sestertia nummum. 
 
 Forte sub hoc tempus castellum evertere praetor 
 35 nescio quod cupiens hortari coepit eundem 
 
 verbis, quae timido quoque possent addere mentem : 
 ' I bone quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto, v M 
 grandia laturus meritorum praemia. Quid stas^' 
 Post haec ille catus quantumvis rusticus : ' Ibit, 
 40 ibit eo, quo vis, qui zonam perdidit,' inquit. 
 
 Romae nutriri mihi contigit atque doceri 
 iratus Grais quantum riocuisset Achilles. 
 
 
 Adiecere bopae paullo plus artis Athenae, 
 scilicet ut vellem curvo dinoscere rectum, 
 
 medals, that were given for con- 
 spicuous bravery. 
 
 33. bis dena . . . sestertia: a 
 little less than $1000, a large share 
 of the booty for a common sol- 
 dier. super: adverb. 
 
 34. forte sub hoc tempus: a 
 phrase for continuing the narra- 
 tive, like 'it happened about this 
 
 .time. 1 praetor: in the old sense, 
 commander. 
 
 35. nescio quod : this also is in 
 the narrative style, passing over 
 unimportant details. 
 
 36. timido quoque : even to a 
 coward. nvmtem : spirit, pur- 
 pose ; this is an unusual sense for 
 mens. 
 
 37. pede fausto : a rather formal 
 phrase, almost in a solemn tone, 
 as if the gods were sure to favor 
 the undertaking. 
 
 38. grandia . . . praemia : so in 
 Sat. 2, i, 1 1 f., to the lofty motives 
 
 for writing about Augustus, Treba- 
 tius adds, as if by an afterthought, 
 mult a labor um praemia laturus. 
 
 39-40. catus: sharp; a collo- 
 quial, almost vulgar, word to go 
 with quantumvis rusticus. ibit, 
 ibit : the shrewd soldier mimics 
 in his reply the lofty tone of the 
 repeated /, / of the general's exhor- 
 tation. zonam: 'money belt,' 
 i.e., ' who has had the same experi- 
 ence that I had, 1 vs. 27. 
 
 41-54. The application of the 
 story. 
 
 41. contigit: Mt was my good 
 fortune ' ; this corresponds to the 
 soldier's collecta viatica. For the 
 facts compare Sat. i, 6, 76. 
 
 42. That is, he learned Greek 
 and read the Iliad. 
 
 43-45- ' My good fortune was 
 increased by the opportunity of 
 studying in Athens.' bonae : with 
 Athenae. artis : education, as in 
 
 1 68
 
 r^g 
 
 0, 2, 52 
 
 45 atque inter silvas Academi quaerere ve 
 Dura sed emovere loco me tempora grato, 
 civilisque 1 rudem belli tulit aestus in arma 
 Caesaris Augusti non responsura lacertis. 
 Vnde simul primum me dimisere Philippi, 
 
 50 decisis humilem pennis inopemque paterni 
 et laris et fundi paupertas impulit audax, 
 ut versus facerem. Sed quod non desit haben- 
 tern 
 
 
 .So/. I, 6, 77. vellem: desire, 
 choose, curvo, rectum: geometri- 
 cal terms, transferred to ethics, 
 as the use of dinoscere shows. 
 inter silvas : the olive trees of the 
 Academy. This spot was outside 
 of the city and one of the most 
 beautiful parks about Athens. 
 Academi: this does not refer to 
 the Academic school, to which 
 Horace shows no inclination, but 
 only to the place, as representative 
 of all philosophy. quaerere ve- 
 rum: this is the more theoretical 
 side of philosophy, including spec- 
 ulations in natural philosophy. 
 
 46-48. 'But I lost my chances, 
 as the soldier lost his money. 1 
 dura . . . tempora : the period im- 
 mediately after the death of Julius 
 Caesar in March, 44 B.C. civilis : 
 with aestus ; cf . furor civilis, 
 Carm. 4, 15, 18. rudem belli: 
 = tmbellem; cf. Epod. i, 16. 
 Horace mentions Brutus as his 
 leader only in Carm. 2, 7, 2, quite 
 casually, and in Sat. i, 7, which 
 dates from this period of his life. 
 
 non responsura: the future ex- 
 presses the idea of destiny. 
 lacertis : as if in wrestling. 
 
 49. Philippi: in 42 B.C. Hor- 
 ace returned at once to Rome, not 
 continuing the contest, as some of 
 his friends did, by joining the 
 army of the younger Pompey. 
 
 .51. et laris et fundi : with ino- 
 pem. The two words together 
 stand for the estate near Venusia, 
 which was probably confiscated 
 and assigned to some veteran of 
 the army of Augustus. audax : 
 corresponding to vss. 28-29, vehe- 
 mens lupus. 
 
 52. ut versus facerem : this cor- 
 responds to the soldier's exploit, 
 vss. 30-31. But Horace does not, 
 either here or elsewhere, tell how 
 his writing brought him relief from 
 poverty, except indirectly, through 
 his acquaintance. There is no 
 reason to suppose that an author 
 received a royalty from the sale 
 of his works. quod non desit ha- 
 bentem: this is the modest equiva 
 lent of vss. 32-33. 
 
 169
 
 2- 2, 53] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 55 
 
 60 
 
 quae poterunt unquam satis expurgarc cicu 
 ni melius dormire putem quam scribere versus? 
 Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes, 
 eripuere ipcps, venerem, convivia, ludum, 
 tendunt CTt0i t 'cfidere poemata. Quid faciam 
 Denique non omnes eadem mirantur 
 Carmine tu gaudes, hie delectatur 
 ille Bionei* sermonibus et sale nigro^^ 
 Tres mihi convivae prope dissentire videntur, 
 
 53. poterunt . . . expurgare: 
 i.e., ' what possible remedy can cure 
 his feverish madness ? ' cicutae : 
 hemlock, which was used not only 
 as a poison, but also in smaller 
 doses as a cure for fever. 
 
 54. dormire: cf. Sat. 2, I, 7, 
 where the word is used exactly as 
 here. 
 
 55. The application of the anec- 
 dote of the soldier to Horace's 
 own history and circumstances is 
 carried out into humorous detail 
 and is not to be taken seriously. 
 Cf. the equally exaggerated and 
 humorous explanation of his choice 
 of Satire in Sat. i. 10, 40-47. 
 From this point, however, the 
 reasoning becomes more serious. 
 singula : specified in the next 
 line. This line is an expression 
 of the feeling of the middle-aged 
 man. The thought is repeated in 
 A. P. 175-176. 
 
 56. Cf. Epist. i, 7, 26-28, where 
 the losses that come with middle 
 age are described somewhat more 
 fully. 
 
 57. tendunt: the present tense 
 
 is emphatic ; ' they are now going 
 on to take. . . .' extorquere : 
 'against my will.' quid faciam 
 vis ? i.e., ' what can I do but sub- 
 mit ? ' Greenough well compares 
 qite vottlez-vous ? 
 
 58. denique : introducing a new 
 point, but not the final one ; then, 
 too. This is a not uncommon 
 use. 
 
 59-60. carmine: lyric poetry, 
 the Odes. iambis : iambic poems 
 of satirical tone, like many of the 
 Epodes. Bioneis : Bion was a 
 philosopher of the third century, 
 of a biting wit, so that he became 
 a type of the caustic satirist. It 
 is quite unlikely that Horace was 
 influenced by him ; at the most it 
 was only in his earliest satires. 
 His name is used here only as a 
 general descriptive term. ser- 
 monibus : satires. sale nigro : 
 coarse black salt, which would 
 make strong brine. The figure is 
 often used, e.g., Sal. i, 10, 3. 
 
 61. prope : with the whole sen- 
 tence or with videntur, not with 
 dissentire ; ' if you have only three 
 
 170
 
 KP1STVLAE 
 
 IX 2. 73 
 
 poscentes vario multum diversa palato. 
 
 Quid dem ? Quid non dem ? Renuis tu, quod iubet alter, 
 
 quod petis, id sane est invisum acidumque duobus. 
 
 Praeter cetera, me Romaene poemata censes 
 
 scribere posse inter tot curas totque labores ? 
 
 Hie sponsum vocat, hie auditum scripta, 
 
 omnibus officiis, cubat hie in colle Quirini, 
 
 hie extreme in Aventino, visendus uterque ; 
 
 intervalla vides humane commoda. Verum 
 
 " ,/ 
 
 purae sunt plateae, nihil ut meditantibus obstet 
 Festinat calidus mulis gerulisqiie redemptor, 
 torquet nunc lapidem mine ingens machina tigrrtim, 
 
 guests, it is almost certain that 
 they will differ.' 
 
 62. multum: with diversa. 
 
 64. acidum : maintaining the 
 figure of guests at the table. 
 
 65. praeter cetera : still another 
 reason, vss. 65-86, for not comply- 
 ing with the expectation of Florus 
 that he should send him poems. 
 For the general thought, which 
 was habitual with Horace, cf. Sat. 
 2, 6, 23-39. 
 
 67. sponsum: cf. Sat. 2, 6,23, 
 Romae sponsor em me rapis. 
 auditum: i.e., to a recitation, as 
 in Sat. I, 4, 23. 
 
 68. cubat: is lying ill] cf. Sat. 
 1,9, 18. 
 
 70. intervalla : the distance 
 would be somewhere between 
 one mile and two, but Horace is 
 not thinking of precise measure- 
 ments ; he names the two hills 
 which were on opposite sides of 
 the city, by way of saying f clear 
 
 across the whole town. 1 humane 
 commoda: so in colloquial Latin, 
 misere miser, inepte stultus, and 
 frequently an adjective is strength- 
 ened by an adverb of like stem or 
 meaning ; instead of either Hu- 
 mana, ' human, suited to a man,' 
 or commoda, ' convenient,' the two 
 are united into the single ironical 
 phrase, ' convenient for a man.' 
 70-71. ' But perhaps you will 
 say that . . .' ; as if put in by 
 some other person, who said ' you 
 can be thinking over a poem 
 (meditantibus) as you go.' 
 purae : empty, clear of obstacles 
 which would prevent thinking. 
 
 72. festinat : the answer begins, 
 as often, without an adversative 
 particle, as though a mere state- 
 ment of facts supplied a sufficient 
 answer. calidus: hurrying; this 
 continues the thought of festinat, 
 as a predicate. 
 
 73. torquet: twists up, winds 
 
 171
 
 2, 74] 
 
 V 
 
 75 
 
 
 HO R ATI 
 
 80 
 
 tristia robustis luctantur funera plaustris, 
 hac rabiosa f ugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit sus : 
 i nunc, et versus tecum meditare canoros ! 
 Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbes, 
 rite cliens Bacchi somno gaudentis et umbra, 
 tu me inter strepitus nocturnos atque diurnos 
 vis canere et contracta sequi vestigia vatum ? 
 Ingenium, sibi quod vacuas desumpsit Athenas 
 et studiis annos septem dedit insenuitqi._ 
 libris et curis, statua taciturnius exit 
 
 up, the verb being chosen because 
 the lifting of the weight is done 
 by means of wheels and pulleys. 
 74. Cf. Sat. i, 6, 42 f., where 
 the noise of the Forum is expressed 
 in the same way, by imagining the 
 meeting of funeral processions and 
 heavy wagons. 
 
 76. i nunc : as in vs. 37. For 
 this description of the confusion 
 of an ancient city, cf. the similar 
 passage in Juv. 3, 245 ff. Some 
 attempts were made to control the 
 traffic, but .they cannot have been 
 very effectual. 
 
 77. scriptorum : poets, as cano- 
 ros, canere, and vatum show. 
 chorus, nemus: these words sug- 
 gest the chorus of the Muses in 
 the sacred grove. 
 
 78. rite: with cliens ', 'devoted 
 to Bacchus, as is fit.' This is the 
 traditional idea, expressed more 
 fully in Epist. I, 19, i-n. 
 
 80. contracta: i.e., 'to follow 
 the steep and narrow path,' the 
 path where only the few have been 
 
 able to tread. The same thought 
 is in Propert. 4, i, 14, non datur 
 ad Musas cur r ere lota -via. 
 
 81-86. ' Study and the writing 
 of poetry are incompatible with 
 the excitements and confusions of 
 active life. A man who gives him- 
 self up to one unfits himself for 
 the other. The student in the 
 retirement of Athens makes a 
 ridiculous figure in affairs ; I, 
 when I am living in the midst 
 of the distractions of Roman life, 
 must not expect to write poetry.' 
 
 81. ingenium: 'a man of abil- 
 ity.' This is probably not an 
 allusion to some definite person 
 (the presents, exit, qnatit, are 
 general), but, to make it more 
 vivid, an air of definiteness is 
 given to it by Athenas (the typical 
 spot for seclusion and study) and 
 by annos septem (a long time) . 
 
 82. insenuit: cf. Epist. i, 7, 
 85, amore senescit habendi. 
 
 83. libris et curis: abl., like 
 amore in the passage just quoted. 
 
 172
 
 
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 90 
 
 [2, 2, 91 
 
 plerumque et risu populum quatit ; hie ego rerum ,1^ 
 
 fluctibus in mediis et tempestatibus urbis 
 
 verba lyrae motura sqnum conectere digner? I ^^ 
 
 Frater erat Romae consult! rhetor, ut alter "^K^>^ 
 
 alterius sermone meres audiret honores, 
 
 Gracchus ut hie illi, foret huic ut Mucius ille. 
 
 Qui minus argutos vexat furor iste poetas ? 
 
 Carmina compono, hie elegos. ' Mirabile visu 
 
 curae, of studies in philosophy, as 
 in Carm. 3, 21, 15, sapientium 
 cur as. statua : a proverbial com- 
 parison, which is used also in 
 English. taciturnius : neut. with 
 ingenium. exit : turns out, 
 'comes out at the end'; cf. A. 
 P. 22, current 'e rota cur urceus 
 exit ? 
 
 84-86. plerumque : generally ; 
 this indicates that the whole com- 
 parison is in general terms. hie : 
 * in Rome, not in vacuae Athenae." 1 
 ego : ' I, not an ingenium . ' mo- 
 tura sonum : like the English, 'to 
 wake the lyre. 1 digner : ' con- 
 sider myself fit,' i.e., ' think it 
 possible that in such a life I 
 should still be capable of writing 
 poetry.' 
 
 87-105. This reason for not 
 writing poetry the fact that one 
 must join the mutual admiration 
 societies in Rome is introduced 
 abruptly by an allusion, the point 
 of which does not appear till vs. 
 90, just as this letter begins with 
 a story, vss. 2-19, the point of 
 which is not at first apparent. 
 
 87. consult!: an office lawyer, 
 
 a jurist. rhetor : a court lawyer, 
 a pleader. The two are of the 
 same general profession, but in 
 different branches of it. The 
 construction of this line and the 
 next is harsh and, indeed, doubt- 
 ful. As the text stands, it means 
 ' there was an orator in Rome who 
 was the brother of a jurist, a 
 brother so close that each heard 
 from the other nothing but com- 
 pliments.' 
 
 89. Gracchus : both the Gracchi 
 were orators, but Gaius, the 
 younger of the two, was espe- 
 cially famous. This compliment 
 was paid of course to the rhetor. 
 
 Mucius : there were three great 
 jurists named Mucius Scaevola. 
 
 90. qui minus : i.e., ' is there 
 any reason why poets should not 
 show the same fraternal spirit ? ' 
 
 argutos : as a standing epithet, 
 clear-voiced. vexat furor: these 
 words throw off the ironical tone 
 of the story, vss. 87-89. 
 
 91. carmina : lyric poetry. 
 elegos : elegy, which was culti- 
 vated at this time in Rome with 
 great success, so that it was prob- 
 
 173
 
 HORATI 
 
 
 vv 
 
 2, 2, 9 2] 
 
 caelatumque novem Musis opus ! ' Adspice pni 
 quanto cum fastu, quanto molimine circum- 
 spectemus vacuam Romanis vatibus aedem, 
 95 mox etiam, si forte vacas, sequere et procul audi, 
 quid ferat et quare sibi nectaf uterque coronam. 
 Caedimur ertotidem plagis consumimus hostem 
 lento Samnites ad lumina prima duello/ 
 
 Otr> v 
 
 . j 
 
 ably the most admired form of 
 poetry. Horace did not himself 
 attempt it. The allusion here is 
 almost certainly to the elegiac poet 
 Propertius. He was a member of 
 the Maecenas circle, yet he is no- 
 where mentioned by Horace, who 
 mentions so many literary friends. 
 The suspicion that this silence cov- 
 ers some hostility is strengthened 
 by the great differences in tempera- 
 ment and in literary ideals. Com- 
 mentators have therefore found 
 veiled allusions to Propertius in 
 various passages (Sat. i, 10, 18, 
 simius iste ; Sat. I, 9) ; this is the 
 most distinct and probable. 
 
 92. caelatum : the poem is 
 praised in terms which would be 
 used of a highly ornamented work 
 of art. novem Musis : dat. of 
 agent with caelatum; the poem 
 is so perfect that all the Muses 
 must have aided in the writing of 
 it. adspice: the two poets are 
 pictured standing before the tem- 
 ple of Apollo, exchanging compli- 
 ments. 
 
 93-94. fastu : pride. moli- 
 mine : a rather rare word, with a 
 suggestion of vastness and effort 
 
 from its connection with ty 
 moles ; an air of importance. 
 circum-spectemus : a word is run 
 over from one line to the next 
 in a few other places; Sat. i, 2, 
 62; 2,3, 117; .4.7^.424. There 
 may be here an intentional hit at 
 the dignified air of the poets. 
 vacuam : the temple library was 
 'open to Roman poets, 1 as if in 
 expectation of their coming. Cfl 
 Epist. 2. i. 216 f. [**- 
 
 95. si ... vacas: 'if you are 
 quite at leisure, 1 and have nothing 
 better to do. sequere : to the 
 hall where the poets are to read 
 their verses to each other. No 
 definite place is thought of; the 
 two poets, having looked proudly 
 at the library where they hope 
 that their poems are to be pre- 
 served, pass on to a hall where 
 they hold a recitatio. 
 
 96. sibi nectat : each is weav- 
 ing a chaplet for himself by com- 
 plimenting the other in order to 
 be complimented in turn. 
 
 97-98. A condensed compari- 
 son ; the two poets are like two 
 gladiators and exchange poems as 
 the gladiators exchange blows. 
 
 174
 
 
 EPISTYLAR 
 \*S 
 
 
 
 VM 
 
 meo quis? 
 
 
 Discedo Alcaeus puncto illius, ille rneo quis 
 
 Quis nisi Callimachus ? Si plus adposcere vi 
 
 fit Mimnermus, et optivo cognomine crescit. 
 
 Multa fero, ut placem genus irritabile vatum, 
 
 cum scribo et supplex populi suffragia capto; ]A^^-^^ / 
 
 idem, finitis studiis et mente recepta, 
 
 obturem patulas impune legentibus aures. 
 
 . ' caedimur : the comparison is in/ Catullus translated one of his 
 
 ^/troduced without any word of poems (Catull. 66), the Coma 
 
 comparison. lento, ad lumina Berenices. 
 
 105 
 
 prima": i.e., ' we keep it up all the 
 afternoon, till the first lamps are 
 lit,' till darkness separates the com- 
 batants. Samnites : heavily ar- 
 mored gladiators, who would fight 
 long without injury, until both 
 were tired out. duello : here in 
 the original sense, a fight between 
 two persons. 
 
 99. discedo : i.e., 'when the 
 combat of poems is over, he calls 
 me an Alcaeus. 1 puncto: the 
 vote was recorded by a mark, 
 punctum, on a tablet, which was 
 a kind of tally sheet. quis ? 
 Horace's pretended hesitation 
 suggests that he does not know 
 or care what name he shall use, 
 but will call the other poet any- 
 thing that will please him say, 
 Callimachus. 
 
 100. Callimachus : Propertius 
 (5, I, 64) calls himself the Ro- 
 manus Callimachus. Callimachus 
 was a poet of the Alexandrian 
 school, of the third century B.C. 
 He was regarded as one of the 
 masters of the learned elegy ; 
 
 175 
 
 101. Mimnermus: an earlier 
 (about 600 B c.) writer of elegi- 
 acs, who was considered to be the 
 founder of elegy. optivo : a legal 
 term ( = adoptii>o), expressing with 
 cognomine the idea that the name 
 is given as names were given to 
 great generals, e.g., Scipio Afri- 
 canus. Such a. cognomen increases 
 the poet's sense of importance 
 (crescit}. 
 
 102-105. ' I bear all this kind 
 of thing when I am myself writ- 
 ing, but if I do not write I can 
 escape from it.' This sums up 
 vss. 87-101 and explains how the 
 necessity of paying compliments 
 is an added reason for not writing. 
 irritabile : z.e., sensitive and 
 eager for compliments. suffra- 
 gia capto : a comparison in brief; 
 'and seek for hearers as a candi- 
 date seeks for votes.' mente 
 recepta : Horace is always half 
 humorous when he refers. to the 
 inspiration of poets. obturem: 
 the subj. mode is faintly poten- 
 tial, almost a future. patulas: 
 
 (
 
 2, 2, IO6] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Ridentur mala qui componunt carmina, verum 
 gaudent scribentes et se venerantur, et ultro, 
 si taceas, laudant quidquid scripsere beati. 
 At qui legitimum cupiet fecisse poema, 
 cum tabulis animum censoris sumet honesti, 
 audebit, quaecumque parum splendoris habebu 
 et sine pondere erunt et honore indigna ferentur, 
 
 i.e., 'which before I had been 
 obliged to keep open.' impune : 
 with obturem. 
 
 106-128. Besides all the rea- 
 sons already given for not writing 
 poetry, there is the further reason, 
 the most serious of all, that the 
 work demands the utmost effort 
 and the best powers. ' Some 
 poets, it is true, find pleasure in 
 composing, without regard to the 
 quality of the product, but the 
 poet of high ideals is his own 
 severest critic.' 
 
 107. gaudent scribentes : ' are 
 full of joy in their writing.' The 
 best parallel to these verses is 
 Catull. 22, on Suffenus ; nequeidem 
 umquam \ aeque est beatus ac 
 poema cum scribit. ultro : ' they 
 go on themselves to praise their 
 writings.' beati : with laudant. 
 
 109. legitimum: i.e., 'a poem 
 according to the rules of the art 
 of poetry.' 
 
 no. cum tabulis: 'when he 
 takes up his tablets to begin writ- 
 ing.' The tabulae were used for 
 a first draft, because erasure and 
 change were easy in the waxen 
 surface. The expression partly 
 
 anticipates the following compar- 
 ison of the critic to the censor; 
 'the poet, when he takes up his 
 tablets to write, will feel as the 
 censor does when he takes up the 
 lists.' honesti : defining censoris 
 by a predicate addition ; ' with all 
 its strictness.' The thought is 
 then further amplified in audebit. 
 
 The next lines deal almost en- 
 tirely with that part of the poet's 
 work which has to do with the 
 selection of dignified and ex- 
 pressive words. This was a sub- 
 ject to which Horace had given 
 much thought, and, while he is 
 following the ordinary rhetorical 
 doctrines, he is also illustrating 
 them by expressing his thought 
 with special care. 
 
 in. quaecumque: sc. verba. 
 parum splendoris : = sordida, 
 humilia\ words that carry with 
 them mean or unpoetic associa- 
 tions. 
 
 112. sine pondere: = levia, 
 inania', words that do not convey 
 much meaning of any kind. 
 honore indigna : this rather general 
 phrase unworthy is used with 
 special reference to the figure of 
 
 176
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2,2, 118 
 
 verba movere loco, quamvis in vita recedant 
 et versentur adhuc intra penetralia Vestae; 
 115 obscurata diu populo bonus eruet atque 
 proferet in lucem s'peciosa vocabula rerum, 
 quae priscis memorata Catonibus atque Cethegis 
 nunc situs 'informis premit et deserta vetustas; 
 
 the censor, who removes from the 
 senatorial list honore indignos. 
 
 ferentur : ' are in circulation, 1 
 the words being here in mind, 
 rather than the censor's office. 
 
 113. movere loco : the technical 
 expression for the censor's act 
 of condemnation is movere tribu. 
 
 invita : properly of those who 
 were removed by the censor: as 
 applied to words rejected by the 
 critical writer it has only a rather 
 vague meaning ; ' although such 
 common words recur constantly to 
 the mind and it is hard to avoid 
 their use.' 
 
 114. The expression here is 
 selected almost entirely with the 
 thought of the censor's work in 
 mind ; ' although they may have 
 been hitherto at home in the most 
 sacred spot in Rome,' ' although 
 they may have had thus far a per- 
 fect reputation.' With reference 
 to words it means 'although they 
 have been used in the finest of 
 poetry.' The identification of the 
 object compared with the figure 
 results in some lack of clearness. 
 
 adhuc : i.e., i until you bring 
 them under your critical scrutiny.' 
 
 115-119. But the office of the 
 
 HOR. EP. 12 
 
 critical poet is not merely that 
 of the censor who rejects ; he must 
 also enrich the language. 
 
 115. populo: with obscurata, 
 the two together being the oppo- 
 site of ferentur, versentur . 
 bonus: i.e., 'working for good 
 results.' 
 
 116. speciosa: the opposite ot 
 quaecumque parwn splendoris ha- 
 bebunt, words of vivid meaning and 
 elevated suggestion. 
 
 117. Catonibus, Cethegis: the 
 plur. means ' men like Cato and 
 Cethegus.' They are again used 
 in A. P. 50, 56 as representatives 
 of the early Latin style. Cato was 
 regarded by writers of archaizing 
 tendencies, like Sallust, as a 
 master of vigorous and individual 
 style, and Cethegus (consul 204) 
 is mentioned with praise by Cicero 
 (Brut. 15, 57) and was called by 
 Ennius (Ann. 306) Suadae medul- 
 la. It is not necessary, however, 
 to attach to Horace's use of these 
 names any very specific meaning ; 
 they are types of the early orator. 
 
 118. situs informis: as neglect 
 results in rust and mold, that 
 disfigures the object, it is itself 
 called informis. So deserta is 
 
 177
 
 2, 2, 119] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 120 
 
 
 
 adsciscet nova, quae genitor produxerit usus. 
 Vemens et liquidus puroque simillimus amni 
 fundet opes Latiumque beabit divite lingua; 
 luxuriantia compescet, nimis aspera sano 
 levabit cultu, virtute^carentia toilet, 
 ludentis speciem dabit et torquebitur ut qui 
 
 applied to vetustas, though it 
 properly describes the result of 
 Detttstas. The enrichment of the 
 poetic vocabulary by bringing back 
 into use words which had fallen 
 out was one of Vergil's character- 
 istic merits. Horace, from the 
 nature of his subjects and the 
 character of his lyric poetry, made 
 fewer contributions of this kind. 
 
 119. adsciscet: primarily a legal 
 word, used of admitting to the 
 enjoyment of legal rights ; enroll, 
 'admit to full rights.' genitor 
 . . . usus : the doctrine that usage 
 makes language, brings forward 
 and maintains new words, was 
 fully accepted by Horace and is 
 expressed by him in a classic 
 phrase (A. P. 72), usus, quern 
 penes arbitrium est et ius et nor ma 
 loquendi. This is the second 
 means of enriching the living 
 vocabulary. In the fragmentary 
 condition of Latin literature it is 
 not always possible to tell what 
 writers first adopted a new word 
 into literary style, but Horace 
 certainly made considerable use 
 of this method of giving vividness 
 and novelty to his forms of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 1 20. vemens, liquidus : these 
 adjectives, though they go with 
 the subject of beabit (i.e., poet a), 
 are really a part of the compar- 
 ison . puro . . . amni : cf. for the 
 opposite, cum flueret lutitlentits, 
 of Lucilius, in Sat. i, 4, II. The 
 figure has been often used in 
 English literature, e.g., Tennyson, 
 The Poet's Mind : 
 
 'Clear and bright it should be ever, 
 Flowing like a crystal river.' 
 
 121. fundet opes : a rather gen- 
 eral phrase, which is immediately 
 explained more precisely in the 
 rest of the line, in which beabit 
 and divite repeat opes. 
 
 122-125. These lines go over 
 from the choice of words to the 
 larger aspects of composition, fol- 
 lowing the order of rhetorical 
 treatises. There is nothing novel 
 in Horace's treatment; what he 
 says can be paralleled by passages 
 from Cicero's rhetorical works and 
 from Quintilian, and the same 
 things are said again, more fully, 
 in the Ars Poetica. luxuriantia: 
 the figure of the husbandman, trim- 
 ming off the foliage of the vine in 
 order to increase its production of 
 
 I 7 8
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 2, J 28 
 
 125 nunc Satyrum, nunc agrestem Cyclopa movetur. 
 Praetulerim scriptor delirus inersque videri, 
 dum mea delectent mala me vel denique fallant, . 
 quam sapere et ringi. Fuit haud ignobilis Argis, 
 
 grapes, is frequently used of the 
 restraint of an exuberant style. 
 aspera . . . levabit : rhetoric paid 
 much attention to the sound of 
 words and phrases, as was natural 
 when prose composition was largely 
 occupied with oratory and when 
 verse was still closely allied to 
 song, aspera therefore means 
 primarily * rough in sound,' but 
 with a secondary reference also to 
 expressions that are too blunt, that 
 do not harmonize sufficiently with 
 the general tone of the writing. 
 sano : since too great polish is 
 itself a fault, the smoothing off of 
 roughnesses must be done with 
 judgment. virtute carentia : this 
 carries on the thought of sano; 
 words and phrases which are Hack- 
 ing in energy and vigor' must be 
 taken out altogether, and more 
 forcible and expressive words put 
 in their place. For toilet in this 
 sense cf. Sat. I, 4, n, er at quod 
 toller e velles, and Sat, I, 10, 51, 
 where tollenda and relinquenda 
 define each other. ludentis : ' he 
 will look like one who moves with 
 ease and pleasure ; his style will 
 seem to involve no effort. 1 This 
 general expression is elaborated in 
 the figure of the trained dancer; 
 'he will seem to move with ease, 
 as a dancer turns this way and 
 
 that and plays now one part, now 
 another.' Cf. Epist. 2, i, 210, 
 where the art of the dramatist is 
 compared to the difficult art of the 
 rope dancer. Satyrum, Cyclopa : 
 this is an allusion to the pantomime 
 of the rivalry of a faun (satyr) and 
 the Cyclops Polyphemus for the 
 love of the nymph Galatea, in 
 which a single actor expressed 
 alternately in his dancing the feel- 
 ing of the graceful faun and of the 
 clumsy giant. movetur : the pas- 
 sive is equivalent to saltat (Sat. 
 *> 3i 63) an d retains the cognate 
 accusative. 
 
 126-128. 'As I think of all that 
 is necessary to produce good 
 poetry, I could almost wish that 
 I were one of the self-satisfied 
 writers (vss. 106-108) who do 
 not know how badly they write.' 
 delirus : this is one of the syno- 
 nyms for insanus in Sat, 2, 3, 107, 
 293. It is selected rather than 
 stultus or ridicttlus, because the 
 story of 128 ff. is already in 
 Horace's mind. iners : i.e., ' too 
 indolent to meet the requirements 
 of the true poet.' ringi: 'to 
 suffer the discomforts and vexa- 
 tions which necessarily attend 
 upon the effort to be a critical 
 writer (sapere)? 
 
 128. baud ignobilis: well known , 
 
 179
 
 2, 2, 129] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 qui se credebat mirAs audire tragoedos, 
 130 in vacuo laetus scssor plausorque theatre, 
 cetera qui vitae servaret munia recto 
 more, bonus sane vicinus, amabilis hospes, 
 comis in uxorem, posset qui ignoscere servis 
 et signo laeso non insanire lagoenae, 
 135 posset qui rupem et puteum vitare patentenv 1 
 Hie ubi cognatorum opibus curisque refectus 
 expulit elleboro morbum bilemque meraco, 
 et redit ad sese : ' Pol me occidistis, amici, 
 non servastis,' ait, ' cui sic extorta voluptas 
 140 et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error.' 
 Nimirum sapere est abiectis utile nugis 
 
 but the adjective is meant to char- 
 acterize the story, which is told by 
 various writers, rather than the 
 person. Argis: the regular Latin 
 form for the dat. and abl. of this 
 word. 
 
 129-131. The two qui clauses, 
 with credebat and servaret, illus- 
 trate well the effect of the modes 
 in relative clauses. 
 
 131. cetera: 'in all other re- 
 spects' he was perfectly sane. 
 
 133. posset . . . ignoscere : a 
 little more general than ignosceret 
 would have been; he 'was capa- 
 ble' of acting like a sensible man. 
 
 134. signo laeso : i.e., when he 
 found the seal on a bottle of wine 
 broken and therefore knew that 
 some slave had been stealing the 
 wine. Cf. also Sat. I, 3, 80-83. 
 
 135. rupem, puteum : this same 
 test of sanity, evidently prover- 
 
 bial, is referred to in Sat. 2, 3, 
 55, fluvios being used instead of 
 puteum. Cf. ' I can see a church 
 by daylight.' 
 
 137. These expressions for mad- 
 ness and for the cure of it by helle- 
 bore are used also in Sat. 2, 3, 82, 
 141. meraco: i.e., the strongest 
 kind of a dose was necessary. 
 
 138. pol: cf. Epist. i, 7,92,10 
 a similar ejaculation, expressing 
 the astonishment of the speaker at 
 finding himself where he is. 
 
 141. sapere: this resumes the 
 thought of vs. 109 and, more dis- 
 tinctly, the thought and expression 
 of vs. 128, after the digression of 
 the anecdote, and gives it a new 
 turn, toward philosophy. This is 
 the underlying thought of the 
 Epistles, that Horace has given 
 up the writing of poetry and turned 
 to the study of philosophy. 
 
 180
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 et tempestivum pueris concedere ludum, - 
 
 ac non verba sequi fidibus modulamda Latinis. 
 
 sed verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae. 
 145 Quocirca mecum loquor haec tacitusque recorder i -L' / d. 
 
 Si tibi nulla sitim finiret copia lymphae, ?- **- xlxK 
 
 narrares medicis: quod quanto plura parasti, // d t ;--$ 
 
 tan to plura cupis, nulline faterier audes? 
 
 Si vulnus tibi monstrata radice vel herba <*^*t4s 
 150 non fieret levius, fugeres radice vel herba 
 
 proficiente nihil curarier. Audieras, cui 
 
 abiectis . . . nugis: i.e., lyrical 
 composition, as in .Sfl/. I, 9, 2, 
 Catull. i, 4. 
 
 142. pueris : the word is chosen 
 with reference to ludum ; cf. 
 ludicra, Epist. i, i, 10. 
 
 143-144. non verba: words, in 
 distinction from realities. sequi : 
 as the writing of good poetry 
 requires, vss. 111-119. nume- 
 rosque modosque : these terms of 
 music and rhythmic art are used to 
 point the contrast ; 'I am learning 
 the measures and rhythms of a 
 wise life.' 
 
 145- Ci.Sat. i, 4, 133 f., 137 ft, 
 where the same thought is ex- 
 pressed in very similar words. 
 The rest of the Epistle is an expo- 
 sition of his philosophy of life, all 
 introduced, as if in direct quota- 
 tion, by this line. It is occupied i, 30, 3. curarier: 10 oe ireaiea, 
 chiefly with that false passion 
 which Horace always puts first 
 among the sins of men, the love of 
 money and of many possessions. 
 
 146. ' The love of money is like 
 
 the dropsy, with an unsatisfied 
 thirst for more.' The same figure 
 is used in Carm. 2, 2, 13-16. 
 
 147-148. ' In the same way, the 
 desire for money increases as it 
 is gratified.' nulli fateriej: i.e., 
 'you should seek the advice of 
 those who can cure your soul,' of 
 the philosophers. audes: sum- 
 mon courage to overcome \\\zpudor 
 mains (Epist. i, 16, 24) that in- 
 clines you to conceal your disease. 
 
 149. monstrata '.prescribed. The 
 figure of the physician and his 
 patient is carried on further ; ' find 
 the right treatment for your dis- 
 ease.' radice: abl. instrumental, 
 in both lines. 
 
 150-151. fugeres: governing cu- 
 rarier; ci.fugequaerere, Carm. I, 
 9, 13, and mitte sectari, Carm. 
 i, 38, 3. curarier: to be treated, 
 stnd of course 'to be cured,' which 
 would be inconsistent with profi- 
 ciente nihil. 
 
 151-154. audieras: 'you had 
 perhaps been told,' corresponding 
 
 181
 
 2, 2, 152] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 rem di donarent, illi decedere pravam 
 stultitiam, et cum sis nihilo sapientior, ex quo 
 plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus isdem ? 
 
 iss At si divitiae prudentem reddere possent, 
 
 si cupidum timidumque minus te, nempe ruberes, 
 viveret in terris te si quis avarior uno. 
 Si proprium est, quod quis libra mercatus et acre est, 
 quaedam, si credis consultis, mancipat usus; 
 
 160 qui te pascit ager, tuus est, et vilicus Orbi, 
 cum segetes occat, tibi mox frumenta daturas, 
 
 to monstrata radice. The advice 
 would be like that in Epist. i, i, 
 65, rem facias, rem, or, more pre- 
 cisely, in Sat. 2, 3, 95 f., divina 
 humanaque pulchris divitiis pa- 
 rent. nihilo sapientior : like pro- 
 ficiente nihil', the treatment pro- 
 duces no effect. 
 
 *5S- 1 57- This thought also is 
 found in Sat. 2, 3, 91 ff. Here, 
 however, the desired virtues are 
 more definitely expressed in pru- 
 dentem, cupidum timidumque mi- 
 nus, since the purpose is not cari- 
 cature, but exhortation. Cf. also 
 Epist. i, 1 6, 65, qui cupiet, metuet 
 quoque ; desire and fear are merely 
 the two sides of a single passion. 
 
 158 ff. < Possession consists in 
 use ; only the man who uses can 
 be said to possess.' libra . . . et 
 aere : this was one of the tradi- 
 tional ways of acquiring property 
 by purchase. The scales and 
 piece of brass were preserved as 
 symbols from the early time when 
 brass was money and when it was 
 
 not coined, but was weighed out 
 for each purchase. This method 
 was called mancipatio. 
 
 159- ' Yet there is another 
 method, according to the jurists, 
 by which property may be ac- 
 quired, namely, by Jisucapio, that 
 is, by possession for a certain 
 period.' Horace intentionally uses 
 mancipat in this clause, as if to 
 say that usucapio was equivalent 
 to mancipation this is the basis of 
 the argument that follows, in which 
 usus is really employed in a double 
 sense, as a legal term and in the 
 more general meaning. 
 
 160. quite pascit: i.e., 1 of which 
 you enjoy the profits, the usus.'' 
 tuus : = proprius, ' your property, 
 because you enjoy it.' Orbi: un- 
 known. The only point is that 
 he is the 'owner' of the workman, 
 yet the person who profits by the 
 labors of the vilicus is the person 
 who finally eats the grain. 
 
 161. occat: harrows', to stand 
 for all the processes of cultivation. 
 
 182
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 2, 171 
 
 te dominum sentit; das nummos, accipis uvam, 
 pullos, ova, cadum temeti: nempe modo isto 
 paullatim mercaris agrum, fortasse trecentis 
 
 165 aut etiam supra nummorum milibus emptum. 
 Quid refert, vivas numerate nuper an olim ? 
 Emptor Aricini quondam Veientis et arvi 
 emptum cenat olus, quamvis aliter putat; emptis 
 sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat aenum. 
 
 170 Sed vocat usque suum, qua populus adsita certis 
 limitibus vicina refugit iurgia, tamquam 
 
 **/% 
 
 162. te dominum sentit : equiva- 167-169. 'The man who buys 
 
 lent to tibi proprium est, 158. 
 The meaning of sentit is not to be 
 pressed ; it means only that, in 
 effect, by transferring the products 
 of his toil to you, he acknowledges 
 you, not Orbius, to be his master. 
 163. temeti: this old word is 
 apparently the farmer's term, used 
 here with other words describing 
 farm produce. modo isto : by so 
 doing. 
 
 165. emptum: with emphasis, 
 recurring to the thought of pro- 
 prium ; * and it is then yours.' 
 
 1 66. numerate : abl. as if of the 
 noun, but a participle also, having 
 the adverbs nuper, olim, with it. 
 nuper an olim : the significant 
 words in the sentence ; ' whether 
 the money by which you live was 
 paid out recently or some time 
 ago. 1 If the field had been bought 
 in the beginning, the money would 
 have been paid olim ; in the daily 
 purchase of supplies the money 
 was, in part, paid nuper. 
 
 the produce, really buys the farm ; 
 so, conversely, the man who be- 
 gins by buying the farm is in 
 reality daily buying his supplies 
 from the farm.' emptor: 'the 
 man who is commonly called the 
 buyer.' quondam : = olim, vs. 
 1 66; to be taken with the verbal 
 noun emptor. et : connecting 
 Aricini and Veientis. The Latin 
 frequently uses et where English 
 usage would have 'or.' These 
 towns, Aricia and Veii, were near 
 Rome and the owner would have 
 the vegetables for his table sent 
 in from his country place. But 
 the vegetables and the firewood 
 would in reality be 'bought,' 
 though he might like to boast that 
 they were not. Cf. dapes inemp- 
 tas, Epod. 2, 48 ; so ' bough ten ' 
 things used to be spoken of with 
 apology in New England. 
 
 170. usque . . . qua: 'up to 
 where.' populus: not pdpulus. 
 
 171. refugit: the row of pop- 
 
 183
 
 2, 2, 172] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 V*>-' 
 
 f 
 sit proprium quidquam, puncto quod mobilis horae 
 
 nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte suprema 
 permutet dominos et cedat in altera iura. 
 
 175 Sic, quia perpetuus nulli datur usus, et heres 
 heredem alterius yelut unda supervenit undam, 
 quid'vici prbsunt aut horrea ? Quidve Calabris 
 
 adiecti Lucani, si m&tit Orcus 
 grandia cum parvis, noif % exorabilis auro ? 
 
 180 Gammas, marmirf*, ebur, Tyrrheha sigilla, tabellas, 
 argentum, vestes Gaetulo murice tinctas, ,j ftj* 
 
 lars 'avoids ' disputes, i.e., enables 
 the owner of the land to avoid 
 them. 
 
 172. proprium: going back to 
 the beginning of this argument, 
 vs. 158. puncto . . . horae: the 
 phrase is, like all Latin phrases 
 for a brief time, entirely vague, 
 and all attempts to interpret this 
 or horae moment o (Sat. I, I, 7 f.) 
 with precision make the mistake 
 of reading into it a modern 
 accuracy. 
 
 173. prece, pretio: 'by gift or 
 purchase.' The contrast is nat- 
 ural and the alliterative words 
 are several times used together 
 in this sense. morte suprema: 
 'death which is the end of all 
 things. 1 
 
 175. perpetuus . . . usus : ' there 
 is therefore no such thing as the 
 perpetual possession of which 
 lawyers speak.' 
 
 176. heredem alterius : i.e. 'one 
 heir succeeds an heir of still an- 
 other heir' ; the phrase expresses, 
 
 perhaps too briefly, the continuity 
 of the succession. Of the four 
 possible changes of ownership (vs. 
 173) Horace dwells only upon the 
 last. 
 
 177. vici: estates. 
 
 178. Lucani: sc.prosunt. This 
 refers to the driving of the herds 
 from the lowlands of Calabria to 
 the mountain pastures of Lucania. 
 
 metit : a very effective turn from 
 literal to figurative expression. 
 The thought, and, in general, the 
 phrases of this passage find fre- 
 quent expression in the Odes. 
 
 180-182. These possessions of 
 the wealthy stand for wealth itself, 
 as merely a different expression 
 from vici, horrea, Calabris saltibus, 
 just as in Carm. I, 31, armenta, 
 aurum, ebur, rura, aureix, culul- 
 lis, are all symbolic of riches. 
 
 sigilla : small figures, appar- 
 ently of earthenware, which were 
 found in Etruria and valued for 
 their antiquity. argentum : silver 
 plate, not money. Gaetulo : the 
 
 184
 
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 2, 1 88 
 
 -sunt qui non hab^eant, est qui norTcurat habere. 
 ; Cur alter fratrum cesfeare et ludere et ungi $#!* 
 
 praeferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus, alter 
 185 dives et importunus ad umbram lucis ab ortu 
 ijjtKsilvestrem flammis et ferro mitiget^agrum^J^ 
 scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum, 
 naturae deus humanae mortalis, in unum 
 
 African dye, one of the better kind ; 
 ci. Epist. 2, i, 207. sunt qui: 
 the subjunctive after these words 
 is phraseological, not expressive ; 
 it came over from negative sen- 
 tences and sentences with indefi- 
 nite antecedents, and there is, in 
 most cases, no more essential dif- 
 ference of meaning than there is 
 between quamvis with the sub- 
 junctive and quamvis with the in- 
 dicative. In this particular in- 
 stance, however, the difference 
 between the many (sunt) and the 
 one (esf) is strongly marked and 
 is further emphasized by the dif- 
 ference in the mode. est qui : 
 Horace. 
 
 183-189. < Why there should be 
 such differences between men, 
 even between brothers, only the 
 power that made us so can tell.' 
 This passage is parenthetic, yet 
 is not far from the main thought, 
 especially in vss. 185 f. 
 
 183. alter fratrum: so in the 
 Adelphoe of Terence and cf. Sat. 
 2, i, 26, on the contrast between 
 Castor and Pollux. cessare: 
 absolutely, as in Epist. i, 7, 57, 
 et properare loco et cessare. 
 
 184. Herodis palmetis: Herod 
 the Great, the Herod of the New 
 Testament, who ruled in Judea 
 from 39 to 4 B.C. The palm groves 
 about Jericho were specially fa- 
 mous and were a source of great 
 revenue (pinguibus} by the sale 
 of dates. 
 
 186. silvestrem: i.e., it was 
 wooded land, which was to be 
 cleared and prepared for farming. 
 
 flammis et ferro : both methods 
 were in use, by burning or by cut- 
 ting the timber for building mate- 
 rial or for firewood. mitiget : 
 the clearing of land is often treated 
 as a sort of conquest or ' breaking 
 in,' like the training of horses. 
 
 While the one brother prefers a 
 life of ease to any kind of occupa- 
 tion, however profitable, the other 
 is seeking profit at the cost of any 
 kind of labor. 
 
 187-189. Genius: cf. Epist. 2, i, 
 144, and note. The individual 
 and contradictory characteristics 
 of the Genius are dwelt upon as 
 explaining the contradictions in 
 human nature. natale ... as- 
 trum : the constellations which by 
 their position at the hour of birth 
 
 185
 
 2, 2, 189] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 quodque caput vultu mulabilis, albus et ater. 
 190 Vtar et ex modico quantum res poscet acervo 
 
 tollam, nee metuam quid de me iudicet heres, 
 
 quod non plura datis invenerit; et tamen idefn 
 
 scire volam, quantum simplex hilarisque nepoti . 
 
 discrepet et quantum discordet parcus avaro/W^^ 
 195 Distat enim, sparg'as tua prodigus, an neque sumpturn 
 
 invitus facias, neque plura parare labores, t 
 f ac potius, puer ut festis quinquateibus n1im,pft/>> 
 
 exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim. 
 
 Pauperies immunda domus procul absit ; ego utrum 
 
 nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem. 
 
 Non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo, 
 
 determined character and fate, 
 temperat: the Genius, being 
 divine, could affect the constella- 
 tions and planets. This passage 
 does not imply a belief in astrol- 
 ogy ; cf. Carm. i, 11 ; 2, 17. in 
 unum . . . mutabilis : i.e., ' assum- 
 ing a different form and character 
 for each individual. 11 This is the 
 important point of the whole de- 
 scription. albus et ater : pro- 
 verbial ; cf. Catull. 93, nee scire 
 utrum sis albus an ater homo. The 
 words merely amplify mutabilis. 
 
 190. utar : ' I for my part desire 
 only use, not possession.' This is 
 familiar doctrine, beginning with 
 Sat. i, i. 
 
 191. heres : with a general ref- 
 erence only ; Horace had no nat- 
 ural heir, but he alludes often to 
 the proverbial feeling between tes- 
 tator and heir. 
 
 193. scire volam: t'.e., 'to be 
 fully aware of the difference ' and, 
 it is implied, to act accordingly. 
 With the following thought, 
 which Horace expresses in many 
 places, cf., e.g., Sat. 2, 2, 53 f. 
 
 195-198. neque . . . invitus: to 
 be taken together, as equivalent 
 to hilaris. Quinquatribus : the 
 short spring vacation, 'Easter re- 
 cess,' March 19-23, which, because 
 it is so short, the schoolboy enjoys 
 most eagerly (raptim). 
 
 199. domus: gen. with pau- 
 peries. absit: the clause with 
 subjv. is a paratactic condition or 
 clause of proviso. 
 
 200. The figure is changed 
 somewhat abruptly ; literally the 
 thought is, * if only I am free from 
 sordid poverty, I care not whether 
 I have much or little.' 
 
 2oi-ao2. The two clauses are in 
 
 186
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 2, 214 
 
 non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus Austris, 
 
 viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re 
 
 extremi primorum, extremis usque priores. 
 205 Non es avarus ; abi. Quid, cetera iam simul isto 
 
 cum vitio f ugere ? Caret tibi pectus inani tf 
 
 ambitione ? Caret mortis formidine et ira ? 
 
 Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas/ 
 
 nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala rides? 
 210 Natales grate numeras ? Ignoscis amicis ? / < 
 
 Lenior et melior fis accedente senecta ? -~-^a. t 
 
 Quid te exempta levat spinis de pluribus una I ~~fe&>t)s 
 
 Vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis. 
 
 Lusisti satis, edisti satis atque bibisti ; 
 
 paratactic relation ; ' I am not 
 borne on by favoring breezes of 
 prosperity, yet I am not struggling 
 with adversity,' for ' though I am 
 not borne on. . . .' 
 
 204. The figure again changes 
 to that of the racecourse ; cf. Sat. 
 I, I, 115 f. 
 
 205. non es: pjptar^jr condi- 
 tion. abi: good. This use is 
 colloquial, e.g., Plaut. Trin. 830, 
 abi, laudo. For the thought of 
 the line cf. Sat. 2, 3, 159 f., quid, 
 si quis non sit avarus, continuo 
 sanus ? Minime. 
 
 208-209. ' All kinds of supersti- 
 tious fears.' Freedom from these 
 meant much more to the ancients 
 than it can ever mean to modern 
 men. sagas : fortune tellers. 
 lemures: 'umbras vagantes homi- 
 num ante diem mortuorum et ideo 
 metuendas,' is the comment of the 
 Scholiast. Thessala: this was 
 
 proverbial, in Greek literature and 
 in Latin. 
 
 210. natales grate : i.e., ' are you 
 grateful for each added year of/' 
 life?' 
 
 211-212. 'Are you becoming a 
 better man as you grow older ? 
 For to get rid of a fault or two is 
 not enough.' The comparison of 
 faults to thorns is used also in 
 Epist. I, 14, 4 f. 
 
 213. recte : i.e., as a true philos- 
 ophy teaches. decede peritis : 
 neither this phrase nor tetnpus 
 abire (215) is a suggestion of sui- 
 cide ; the meaning is simply, ' you 
 are through with life, since for you 
 it has no real meaning ; leave it to 
 those who truly understand how to 
 live.' 
 
 214. The emphasis is not upon 
 the frivolity or self-indulgence of 
 men ; this is merely an applica- 
 tion of decede peritis under the 
 
 
 187
 
 2, 2, 215] HOKATI 
 
 215 tempus abire tibi est, ne potum largius aequo 
 rideat et pulset lasciva decentius aetas. * A^ J 
 
 figure of the satisfied guest rising may with more propriety indulge 
 
 from the table, as in Sat. I, I, Il8f., in follies and may laugh at an old 
 
 exacto contentus tempore^ vita man who has not learned to con- 
 
 cedat uti convi-va satur. trol himself. 
 a 1 6. lasciva decentius: youth 
 
 ARS POETICA 
 
 Of all the writings of Horace none has been more carefully studied 
 and more elaborately discussed than this Epistle. Yet it must be said 
 that, in consequence of the insufficiency of data, there is still consider- 
 able uncertainty in regard to the date, the persons addressed, the occa- 
 sion and purpose, and even the title. 
 
 The internal evidence in regard to the date of composition or publi- 
 cation is both scanty and indefinite. It is to be found in the references 
 to persons, to Vergil and Varius (55), to Cascellius (370), to Tarpa 
 (387), and to Varus (438). But no one of these is precise. The con- 
 text and the purpose of the allusion is such as to be suitable to a person 
 still living or to one who had passed into literary tradition. There is 
 a like uncertainty in regard to the allusions to public works in vss. 63 ff. ; 
 they are too vague to afford material for dating. 
 
 The only external evidence of any weight is the statement of Suetonius 
 that Augustus asked for and received F.pist. 2. I post sennones quosdam 
 lectos in which he was not mentioned ; these serf/tones cannot have been 
 the First Book of the Epistles, where Augustus is frequently referred to ; 
 they must have been Epist. 2, 2 the bare mention of Augustus 1 name 
 in vs. 48 does not stand in the way of this and this Epistle. The 
 inference from the statement of Suetonius would therefore be that this 
 Epistle was written before Epist. 2, i ; that is, in the period between 
 the publication of the First Book and the writing of the Carmen Saectt- 
 lare. between 19 or 20 B.C. and 17 B.C. Fortunately the character of 
 the Epistle is such that a more precise date is not necessary to its in- 
 terpretation. 
 
 The persons to whom the letter is supposed to be sent are a father 
 
 1 88
 
 EPISTVLAE [2, 3 
 
 and two sons, the Pisones. From the merely formal address in vs. 6 
 and vs. 235 and the words O Pompilius sanguis in vss. 291 f. no infer- 
 ence can be drawn as to their identity. In vs. 366 the elder son is 
 specially addressed in terms which imply, though not very clearly, that 
 he was just engaging or might soon engage in poetical composition. 
 These are but scanty indications of identity, and the uncertainty is 
 increased by the frequency of the name-Piso; fourteen persons of that 
 name are mentioned in the Onomast. Cic., ten in Tacitus, seven in 
 Suetonius. But there was a Gn. Calpurnius Piso, some years older 
 than Horace, who fought at Philippi and was afterward consul in 23 B.C. 
 His eldest son, consul in 7 B.C., was born about 44 and would have 
 been about twenty-five when this Epistle was written. There was also 
 a younger son. These may be the Pisones addressed, but it is evident 
 that any identification is at best a mere possibility. As nothing definite 
 is known of the literary interests of these persons, the identification, 
 even if it were certain, would contribute little to the interpretation of 
 the Epistle. 
 
 The proper title of this poem is also uncertain. It stands in most 
 of the Mss. as a separate composition, just before or just after the 
 Carmen Saeculare, as if it had been published by itself ; and it certainly 
 was put into circulation, with some degree of publicity, before Epist. 
 2, I was written. For such publication its title may have been Epistula 
 ad Pisones. But it is referred to by Quintilian, praef. 2, in the words 
 . . . Horati consilio, gut in arte poetica suadet . . . ., and again, 8, 3, 
 60, Horatius in priina parte iibri de arte poetica fingit, with a quotation 
 of the first verse. This is the title used by most of the grammarians 
 and by the scholiasts. It is also found in most of the Mss., though it 
 may well have been introduced there from the grammatical tradition. 
 In most printed editions, because of the subject matter and the date, 
 the poem is placed after Epist. 2, 2, as the third Epistle of the Second 
 Book, and it is often referred to, for convenience, as Epist. 2, 3. If 
 Horace gave it a title, it was probably Episttila ad Pisones, perhaps 
 with the addition of de Arte Poetica or Ars Poetica. Tradition has 
 fixed upon it the name Ars Poetica. 
 
 The course of thought from sentence to sentence and from one para- 
 graph to another is easily followed, but it resists all attempts to reduce 
 it to a scheme. All that can be said is that the Epistle consists of a 
 series of remarks upon poetry, followed (from vs. 309 to the end) by 
 similar remarks upon the training and ideals of the poet. 
 
 The general course of the thought is as follows : 
 
 'A poem, like a painting, must be well composed, not tricked out 
 
 189
 
 2, 3] HORATI 
 
 with inharmonious ornaments ; nor should the poet, avoiding one fault, 
 fall into its opposite. Harmony depends in part upon a wise choice of 
 subject, which insures good arrangement. Choice of words also con- 
 tributes to harmony of effect, for words suffer change, like all human 
 things. 
 
 ' The meters and style of different kinds of poetry are fixed by tradi- 
 tion, from which it is not easy to break away. Tradition also fixes the 
 outlines of characters, and in all these matters it is best to follow a good 
 model, in order that your characters may speak as befits their nature 
 and their period of life. 
 
 'In the drama, too, one should follow the best usage, with five acts 
 and three speakers. As to the chorus, it should take a sympathetic 
 part in the action, and the music and the dress of actors should not be 
 too prominent. The satyric drama presents peculiar difficulties, owing 
 to the mingling of the heroic and the comic. 
 
 ' In the observance of metrical laws our Roman poets are too careless, 
 a fault for which, as the history of the Greek drama shows, nothing will 
 atone. Inspiration is not a substitute for training ; it is a kind of mad- 
 ness and, for myself, I prefer to avoid it and to devote myself to laying 
 down laws for other writers. 
 
 ' The poet must enrich his mind by reading and observation and train 
 himself to avoid faults. Not that all faults can be avoided ; even Homer 
 sometimes nods. Yet, for a poet, mediocrity is failure, and only train- 
 ing can teach us how to escape that. We must listen to the real critics, 
 not to flatterers. Untrained inspiration is mere madness, and I do not 
 want to see you a madman.' 
 
 The fact that the course of thought is rambling is the key to an 
 understanding of the Epistle. For this arrangement is not the result 
 of carelessness ; Horace followed this unsystematic and yet closely 
 knit succession of topics from deliberate choice. He was not trying to 
 compose a treatise, but to write an epistula, a sermo. Like any epistle, 
 it is addressed to certain persons, and, like any sermo, it follows the 
 line of easy transition by suggestion from one topic to another. This 
 is in itself a form of art, the particular form to which Horace had trained 
 himself, and this Epistle is to be interpreted precisely as Epist. 2, I and 
 2, 2 are to be interpreted. That this intentionally unsystematic poem 
 should have been taken for a formal treatise on the art of poetry is 
 indeed surprising ; the error was due in part to a too literal understand- 
 ing of the traditional title, in part to a general tendency among early 
 scholars to overvalue the content of classic literature. It should be 
 valued rather as a beautifully finished sermo, to be studied for its skillful 
 
 TOO
 
 EPISTVLAE [2, 3, 3 
 
 turns of thought and expression, its perfect phrasing, its easy and mel- 
 low tone. 
 
 On the other side, the substance of what is said in the Ars Poetica 
 comes from two different sources. Porphyrion says in his brief intro- 
 duction that Horace has here gathered the teachings of Neoptolemus, 
 a rhetorician of the third century, non quidem omnia, sed eminentissima. 
 This may very well be correct ; it is at any rate clear that Horace is in 
 part repeating and applying some of the traditional doctrines of rhetoric, 
 in which, as a lifelong student of the art which he practiced, he was 
 certainly interested. To this source is due the large proportion of 
 Greek literary history. Of all this it is fair to say that it is interesting 
 chiefly to students of the history of rhetoric. But Horace does not 
 merely repeat traditional doctrine ; he also comments upon it, speaking 
 with the authority of an older poet addressing a younger generation of 
 literary men. Our incomplete knowledge of the tendencies of the 
 period makes it difficult to understand fully the point of some of his 
 warnings, but much of it is of universal application, even to modern 
 conditions. This is the more valuable part of the Ars Poetica, centering, 
 as it does, upon the necessity of adequate training for the professional 
 man of letters. It is at the same time a proclamation of Horace's owa 
 creed and thus a guide to the interpretation of all his poetry. 
 
 Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam 
 iungere si velit et varias inducere plumas 
 undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum 
 
 1-37. ' Harmony is necessary to of creatures.' membris : dat. 
 
 a poem, as to a picture.' after inducere. ut: the result of 
 
 1. Humano: the general term the whole process, especially of 
 before the specific, mutter t as collatis membris. Strictly taken, 
 often. The chiastic order, adj.- this clause should be in the form 
 noun, noun-adj., is intentional. of another infinitive ; but such a 
 
 2. velit : should choose, deliber- use of a clause of result, to express 
 ately. varias: of many colors, some single characteristic of the 
 going beyond nature even in this whole, is not uncommon. turpi- 
 detail. inducere: lay on, as if ter atrum: to be taken together, 
 the body were first drawn and to balance formosa superne] cf. 
 then the feathers were spread turpiter hirtum, Epist. i, 3, 22. 
 over it. This sense of turpis, ' ugly, 
 
 3. undique : i.e., ' from all kinds hideous,' is frequent. 
 
 191
 
 2, 3, 4] 
 
 
 HORATI 
 
 desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne, 
 spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici ? 
 Credite, Pisones, isti tabulae fore librum 
 persimilem, cuius velut aegri somnia vanae*"' 
 fingentur species, ut nee pes nee caput uni 
 ur formae. ' Pictoribus atque poetis 
 quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.' 
 Scimus et hanc veniatftlpetimusque damusque vicis- 
 sim, j^NT/yu^v^ - /-- 
 
 li*vv^ 
 
 sed non ut placidis coeant immitia, non ut 
 serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni. 
 
 4. mulier : he has in mind such 
 a figure as Scylla, in which the 
 hideousness of the whole was in- 
 creased by the contrast between 
 the beauty of the face and bust 
 and the ugliness of the body. 
 
 5. spectatum admissi : i.e., ad- 
 mitted to a private view in the 
 painter's studio. amici : general, 
 my friends, yet immediately made 
 definite by the address in the next 
 line, as, indeed, the whole point 
 of vss. 1-5 is general, until the 
 application is reached in vs. 6. 
 Cf. the beginning of Epist. 2, 2. 
 
 7. vanae : unreal, i.e., fantastic, 
 without any corresponding reality. 
 
 8. species : images, ' concep- 
 tions.' ut nee pes nee caput : 
 the expression is not strictly logi- 
 cal ; the common phrase nee pes 
 nee caput (< neither head nor tail ') 
 would properly require something 
 like ' shall be distinguishable ' 
 (adparet, Plaut. Asin. 729) or it 
 should be ut et pes et caput non. . . . 
 
 g. reddatur : belong to, * be suit' 
 able to.' 
 
 9-10. The objection of an imag- 
 ined hearer. quidlibet audendi : 
 i.e., - of using their imagination 
 freely.' aequa: 'a like power,' 
 'an equal power.' This word 
 merely repeats the implication of 
 pictoribus atqne poetis, ' poets 
 as well as painters' ; the em- 
 phasis is upon semper futt potes- 
 tas. 
 
 n. vicissim : i.e., 'we poets ex- 
 pect it from painters, and we also 
 grant it to them.' 
 
 12-13. coeant: in the general 
 sense, unite, as in Epist. 1,5,25 f., 
 ut coeat par iungaturque part] 
 but the general sense is repeated 
 in clearer form in the next verse, 
 where serpentes corresponds to 
 immitia, avibus to placidis, and 
 geminentur, ' pair,' is a more defi- 
 nite expression for coeant. The 
 pairing of creatures of different 
 species is often used to typify the 
 
 192
 
 EP1STVLAE 
 
 [2, 3 24 
 
 Inceptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis 
 (pjjrpureus, late qui splendeat, unus et alter 
 -^ adsuitur pannus, cum lucus et ara Dianae 
 
 ; et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros 
 aut flumen Rhenum aut pluvius describitur arcus. 
 Sed nunc non e.at his locus. Et fortasse cupressum 
 scis simulare : quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes 
 navibus acre dato qui pingitur ? Amphora coepit 
 institui, currente rota cur urceus exit? 
 Denique sit quod vis, simplex dumtaxat et unum. 
 Maxima pars vatum, pater et iuvenes patre digni, 
 
 unnatural or the impossible, e.g., 
 Epod. 1 6, 30-32. 
 
 14. That is, the poem begins as 
 an epic in the grand style, dealing 
 with the heroic. 
 
 15-16. purpureus . . . pannus : 
 this is one of the phrases that have 
 come over from Horace into mod- 
 ern thought. The allusion is not 
 to the purple stripe on the tunic, 
 which would not suggest incon- 
 gruity to a Roman, but to a patch 
 of bright color sewed on where it 
 did not belong. 
 
 17-18. These examples may 
 very well have been taken from 
 poems then in circulation, so that 
 the allusions would be at once 
 identified ; cf. defingit Rheni 
 luteum caput {Sat. I, 10, 37) from 
 a poem of Furius Bibaculus. 
 
 19. sed : i.e.,- they are all very 
 fine, but. . . .' et : ' and in the 
 same way.' 
 
 20. scis: 'the motive which 
 leads to such incongruities is the 
 
 writer's belief that he has special 
 skill in such descriptions, or, to 
 return to the painter's art, in the 
 painting of certain objects.' 
 enatat: i.e., 'if he is to be repre- 
 sented as swimming ashore.' The 
 reference is to the pictures which 
 were hung in temples to express 
 gratitude for escape from peril, 
 and which represented the scene 
 of escape. Cf. Carm. i, 5, 13 ff., 
 Sat. 2, i, 33 and note. 
 
 21-22. aere dato : 'and he has 
 paid good money for it, too.' 
 amphora : the larger vessel corre- 
 sponds to magna professis, vs. 14, 
 and the smaller urceus, in a less 
 definite way, to the petty details 
 upon which the poet spends his 
 efforts. This shifts the thought 
 slightly, from the lack of harmony 
 to the lack of consistency and te- 
 nacity in the purpose of the writer. 
 
 23. A summary of the thought 
 up to this point. 
 
 24-30. 'Incongruities are often 
 
 HOK. EP. 13 
 
 193
 
 2, 3. 25] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 25 decipimur specie recti : brevis esse laboro, 
 obscurus fio ; sectantem levia nervi 
 deficiunt animique ; professus grandia target ; 
 serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae ; 
 qui variare cupit rem prodigialiter unam, 
 
 30 delphinum silvis appingit, fluctibus aprum. 
 In vitium ducit culpae fuga, si caret arte. 
 Aemilium circa ludum f aber imus et ungues 
 exprimet et molles imitabitur acre capillos, 
 
 the result of a desire for variety, 
 as other faults are the result of the 
 desire to attain to some particular 
 virtue of style.' 
 
 25. specie recti : i.e., 'by a per- 
 ception of some excellence with- 
 out due regard to the fact that it 
 may lead to a defect.' The char- 
 acteristics mentioned are all in 
 themselves desirable ; the sugges- 
 tion that they are misleading lies 
 in decipimur and, slightly, in 
 specie. 
 
 26. levia : polish, as in minis 
 aspera sano levabit cultu, Epist. 
 2, 2, 122 f. nervi: cf. Sat. 2, i, 
 2, sine nervis, of one judgment of 
 the Satires, opposed to nimis acer. 
 
 27. The danger of falling into 
 bombast in the attempt to write in 
 a lofty style was constantly before 
 the mind of Horace ; it is the 
 fault which he most sedulously 
 avoids. professus : not essen- 
 tially different from sectantem. 
 
 28. tutus nimium : i.e.. ' one 
 who is too anxious to be safe. 1 
 timidus procellae : = dum procel- 
 
 las cauttis hor resets, Carm. 2, 10, 
 2 f., where also tutus is used 
 almost as it is here. 
 
 29-30. ' So it is, in seeking va- 
 riety of ornament, that one falls 
 into the absurdities of which I was 
 speaking above.' cupit: is anx- 
 ious, as the desires are expressed 
 above by strong words, laboro, 
 sectantem, professus. prodigia- 
 liter : a rare word, perhaps coined 
 by Horace (cf. Epist. 2, 2, 119) ; 
 to be taken with variare ; ' to in- 
 troduce such variety as to be like 
 a miracle,' 'to be wonderfully 
 varied.' unam: with emphasis, 
 at the end of the verse and in con- 
 trast to prodigialiter. The in- 
 stances in vs. 30 are merely vivid 
 expressions of the thought of vss. 
 16-18 and especially vs. 20 f. 
 
 31. A summary, like vs. 23. 
 
 32-34. Aemilium circa ludum: 
 in the irregularity of an ancient 
 city, where few streets were named 
 and no buildings were numbered, 
 localities could be described only 
 by reference to some known build- 
 
 194
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 3. 44 
 
 infelix operis summa, quia ponere totum 
 35 nesciet. Hunc ego me, si quid com ponere curem, 
 non magis esse velim, quam pravo vivere naso, 
 spectandum nigris oculis nigroque capillo. 
 Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, aequam 
 viribus, et versate diu, quid ferre recusent, 
 40 quid valeant umeri : cui lecta potenter erit res, 
 nee facundia deseret hunc nee lucidus ordo. 
 Ordinis haec virtus erit et venus, aut ego fallor, 
 ut iam nunc dicat iam nunc debentia dici, 
 pleraque differat et praesens in tempus omittat. 
 
 ing or statue or arch. The Aemi- 
 lius ludus was a building used for 
 a gladiatorial school, having shops 
 about it opening on the street. In 
 one of these at the bottom 
 (t'tnus), away from the Forum 
 was a sculptor, whom Horace 
 chooses to designate only by giv- 
 ing the location of his shop. He 
 was successful in details, even 
 in the difficult matter of represent- 
 ing flowing hair in bronze, but 
 unsuccessful in the total result of 
 his work. ponere totum : = com- 
 ponere, 'to bring the whole into 
 unity. 1 
 
 37. The beauty of black hair 
 and black eyes appears to be tra- 
 ditional (cf. Carm. i, 32, 11), 
 though they must have been very 
 common among the Romans. 
 
 38-45. On the choice and ar- 
 rangement of material for a poem. 
 
 38. materiam: literally building 
 material, and this meaning is suf- 
 ficiently strong in Horace's mind 
 
 to find half-expression in umeri, 
 vs. 40. vestris: any poets, not 
 especially the Pisones. aequam : 
 suited to. 
 
 40. potenter: 'according to his 
 powers,' repeating quid ferre . . . 
 valeant umeri. 
 
 41. facundia : the technical term 
 is elocutio; the meaning is given 
 in 46, in -verbis serendis, in the 
 choice and use of words, diction. 
 ordo : this is taken up first, in 
 vss. 42-44, because the treatment 
 of it is to be brief, while much 
 more space, vss. 46-72, is given to 
 facundia. 
 
 42-44. venus : charm. aut ego 
 fallor: 'if I am not mistaken. 1 
 This conventional phrase is in- 
 serted here because the brevity 
 and positiveness of the statement 
 seems to lack modesty. differat, 
 omittat : the expression is doubled 
 for emphasis and to correspond to 
 the emphatic iam nunc . . . iam 
 nunc. 
 
 195
 
 2, 3. 46] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 46 In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque serendis 
 45 hoc amet, hoc spernat promissi carminis auctor. 
 Dixeris egregie, notum si callida verbum 
 reddiderit iunctura novum. Si forte necesse est 
 indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum, 
 50 fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis 
 
 continget, dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter. 
 Et nova fictaque nuper habebunt verba fidem, si 
 Graeco fonte cadent, parce detorta : quid autem 
 
 46. tenuis : to be taken in sense 
 especially with amet, as caiitus is 
 to be taken with spernat ; ' he 
 must be critical (fine, subtle) in 
 accepting words, and equally cau- 
 tious in rejecting.' 
 
 45. promissi carminis auctore: 
 i.e., ' in the actual work of compo- 
 sition, when he comes to the car- 
 rying out of his intentions.' 
 
 47. dixeris egregie; i.e., 'your 
 diction will be particularly happy, 
 successful.' This is only a varia- 
 tion on the form of vs. 42 ; it 
 might have been facundiae haec 
 virtus erit. 
 
 47-48. callida . . . iunctura : the 
 skillful putting together of common 
 words, so that the meaning of each 
 is slightly shifted, will often pro- 
 duce all the effect of novelty. 
 Horace was himself particularly 
 successful in this, and many such 
 combinations may be found in the 
 poems, especially in the Odes ; 
 perhaps the best known is splen- 
 dide mendax, though the effect is 
 even better seen in less daring 
 combinations. 
 
 49. indiciis : tokens, signs, i.e., 
 ' words,' used instead of verbis to 
 carry out the figure of monstrare 
 abdita. abdita rerum : a rather 
 frequent form of expression ; Sat. 
 2, 2, 25, -vanis rerum; 2, 8, 83, 
 fictis rerum. The meaning is 
 'to express ideas hitherto un- 
 expressed, by means of words 
 which will necessarily be new.' 
 
 50. fingere : the making of new 
 words is most happily illustrated 
 by cinctutis, which does not occur 
 before this in the extant literature 
 and was probably coined by 
 Horace. It means 'clad in the 
 cinctus? a kind of loin cloth or 
 kilt which was used before the 
 tunic as an undergarment. Ce- 
 thegis : cf. Epist. 2, 2, 117 and 
 note. 
 
 51. continget: 'you will have 
 occasion to. . . .' sumpta : a 
 condensed condition. 
 
 52. et: and also; in addition 
 to the new words like cinctutis. 
 
 53. Graeco fonte : Horace rarely 
 uses Latinized forms of Greek 
 words and cannot be here recom- 
 
 196
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3 61 
 
 Caecilio Plautoque dabit Romanus, ademptura 
 55 Vergilio Varioque ? Ego cur, acquirere pauca 
 si possum, invideor, cum lingua Catonis et Enni 
 sermonem patrium ditaverit et nova rerum 
 nomina protulerit ? Licuit semperque licebit 
 signatum praesente nota producere nomen. 
 60 Vt silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos, 
 
 prima cadunt, ita verborum vetus interit aetas, 
 
 mending such additions to the 
 Roman vocabulary. He does, 
 however, make large use of words 
 suggested by Greek compounds or 
 derivatives (centimamis, inaudax, 
 perhaps potenter, vs. 40), in which 
 a new meaning is given to a 
 Latin stem. This slight shift of 
 meaning is expressed in parce de- 
 torta. The novelty would in such 
 words be essentially the same as 
 that given to Roman words by the 
 callida iunctura. 
 
 54. dabit, ademptum: the illogi- 
 cal structure (for datum, adimef) 
 is intentional and points to some 
 definite criticism ; ' he has already 
 refused the right to Vergil. Is 
 he now proposing to grant it to 
 Plautus ? ' Both during his life- 
 time and after his death Vergil 
 was criticized on the ground that 
 his style was not pure Latin, as is 
 evident, for instance, from the 
 parody of Eclog. 3, I , cuiutn pecus, 
 anne Latinum ? It is against 
 some critic of this school that this 
 question is directed. Romanus : 
 with emphasis ; ' and he a Roman V 
 
 55. pauca: this is the same as 
 
 sumpta pudenter, vs. 51, and the 
 opposite of ditaverit. 
 
 56. invideor: the usual passive 
 is invidetur mihi, preserving in 
 the passive the dative construction 
 of the active voice. This dative, 
 however, is essentially the same 
 thing as an accus., and the use of 
 invideor is merely a sporadic in- 
 stance of the process of adjusting 
 language, by analogy, to prevailing 
 tendencies. It has nothing what- 
 ever to do with <$>6ovov[j.ai.. 
 Catonis et Enni: cf. Epist. 2, 2, 
 117. Ennius was probably the 
 greatest innovator in the history 
 of Latin literature. 
 
 58-59. licuit, licebit : emphatic, 
 with reference to dabit, ademptum, 
 54 ; 'on the contrary, neither to 
 writers of the past nor to those of 
 the future is this right denied. 1 
 praesente nota : = indiciis re- 
 centibus, vs. 49, with the added 
 suggestion of the figure of coinage, 
 the figure which has become tradi- 
 tional in English. 
 
 60-62. ' As in the woods, with 
 the passing years, the leaves 
 change, those of one year falling 
 
 197
 
 "I , 
 
 2, 3, 62] HORATI 
 
 A et iuvenurn ritu florent modo nata vigentque. 
 Debemur morti nos nostraque, sive reqeptus 
 terra Neptunus classes Aquilonibus arcet 
 65 regis opus, sterilisve diu palus aptaque remis 
 vicinas urbes alit et grave sentit aratrum ; 
 seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis, 
 
 and new ones growing in their 
 place, so words grow old and 
 perish, passing like the genera- 
 tions of men from birth to matur- 
 ity and then to death.' foliis: 
 abl. with mutantur ; it does not 
 matter whether it is called an abl. 
 of instrument or of limitation 
 (respect). pronos: the year 
 glides down toward its end ; cf. 
 pronos volvere mensis, Carm. 4, 
 6, 39. in annos : ' with each 
 year.' The distributive meaning 
 is common, e.g., in horas, vs. 160. 
 prima cadunt : this, in the con- 
 text, implies the converse, 'and 
 new ones grow,' the two sentences 
 being parenthetical. - - iuvenum 
 ritu : ' like the generations of men.' 
 Here also a part of the thought 
 ' and finally perish ' is left to be 
 supplied from the context. 
 
 63-68. 'All things perish, even 
 the greatest works of men.' This 
 general truth is illustrated by allu- 
 sions to three great pieces of 
 engineering work, planned or un- 
 dertaken by Julius Caesar or 
 Augustus. The course of thought 
 demands that they should be works 
 which were either carried to com- 
 pletion or at least so far advanced 
 
 that Horace could think of them 
 as practically completed. The 
 first is either the cutting into the 
 Lucrine Lake to make a harbor 
 (a work of no great magnitude, 
 carried out by Agrippa) or the 
 making of a similar harbor at 
 Ostia (planned by Julius Caesar 
 and perhaps carried on by Au- 
 gustus). The second was the 
 draining of the Pomptine marshes, 
 also planned by Julius Caesar, 
 but never completed. The third 
 was the straightening of the Tiber 
 to prevent floods and protect the 
 farm lands ; this was another large 
 project ascribed to Caesar, and 
 some progress was made upon It 
 under Augustus. So far as we 
 can judge, with our scanty knowl- 
 edge, Horace is alluding to great 
 works which seemed to be so far 
 advanced that he could regard 
 them as completed. Whether the 
 first was the Lucrine Lake or the 
 port at Ostia does not matter to 
 the sense. regis opus: a royal 
 work. palus: this is a very un- 
 usual prosody. iniquum frugi- 
 bus : this would imply that the 
 work was done on the river either 
 above or below the city. 
 
 iq8
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3. 77 
 
 doctus iter melius : mortalia facta peribunt, 
 nedum sermonum sjet honos et gratia vivax. 
 
 70 Multa re.nascerjtur. quae iam cecidere, cadentque 
 quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si YQJpr usus, 
 quern penes arbitrium est et ius et norma'loquendi. 
 Res gestae regumque ducumque et tristia bella 
 quo scribi possent numero monstravit Homerus. 
 
 75 Versibus impariter iunctis querimonia primum, 
 post etiam inclusa est voti sententia compos. 
 Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit auctor, 
 
 68-69. mortalia . . . peribunt : 
 repeating debemur morti nos nos- 
 traque, to summarize the thought 
 and prepare for the application. 
 
 sermonum : not exactly verbo- 
 rum, but ' habits of speech,' ' ways 
 of speaking.' vivax : to be taken 
 closely with stet ; l maintain their 
 living force.' 
 
 70-72. The thought here goes 
 back to the positive statements of 
 vss. 60-62. usus : usage, as in 
 Epist. 2, 2, 119, genitor . . . usus. 
 
 arbitrium, ius, norma : decision, 
 rights, standard. Horace uses 
 three words to emphasize the 
 thought that the making and un- 
 making of forms of speech is not, 
 after all, in spite of his injunctions 
 to the poet, determined by any 
 individual, but by general usage. 
 The three nouns merely express 
 a single idea with slightly varying 
 shadings. 
 
 73-98. On the forms that are 
 suitable to the different kinds of 
 matter. This goes back, over the 
 
 intervening parts, or do andfacun- 
 dia, and connects with sumtte 
 mater iam, vs. 38. It is to be re- 
 membered that in the forms of 
 poetry, and especially in the meters 
 appropriated to particular subjects, 
 classical literature, both Greek and 
 Latin, was much more strongly 
 traditional than modern literature. 
 
 73-74- ' The hexameter is to be 
 used for epic poetry.' res gestae : 
 i.e., historical events and actions, 
 not mythological or legendary, 
 which belong to tragedy (regum 
 facta, Sat. 'i, 10, 42 f.). He is 
 thinking of the Roman historical 
 epic, like the Annals of Ennius. 
 
 75-78. Elegiac verse, the coup- 
 let made up of a hexameter and 
 a pentameter.. querimonia : la- 
 ments, like songs of grief for the 
 dead. voti sententia compos : i.e., 
 the expression of thanks for the 
 granting of a prayer, which was 
 expressed in the form of a dedica- 
 tory epigram. The rhetoricians 
 (grammatici) made it a part of 
 
 199
 
 *, 3. 
 
 80 
 
 HORATI 
 
 
 grammatici certant et adhuc sub iudice lis est 
 Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo ; 
 hunc socci cejjere pedem grandesque cothurni, 
 alternis aptum sermonibus, et populares 
 vincentem strepitus et natum rebus agendis. 
 Musa dedit fidibus divos puerosque deorum 
 
 pugilem victorem et equum certamine primum 
 et iuvenum cruras et libera vina referre. 
 
 ^^tu^a ....... 
 
 Descnptas servare vices operumque colores 
 cur ego si nequeo ignoroque poeta salutor ? 
 Cur nescire pudens prave quam discere malo ? 
 Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult. 
 Indignatur item privatis ac prope socco 
 
 r 
 
 90 
 
 their doctrine to determine in the 
 case of each kind of meter who was 
 its ' inventor,' as here Homer is re- 
 garded as the inventor of the hex- 
 ameter, and Archilochus of the 
 lyric iambics. exiguos : in con- 
 trast to the hexameter, which was 
 used for large subjects and long 
 poems. 
 
 79. proprio : his own because 
 invented by him. Cf. also Epist. 
 I, 19, 24 f., 30 f. 
 
 80. hunc . . . pedem : the iambus 
 passed over (in the trimeter) to 
 the drama. socci, cothurni : the 
 common designation of comedy 
 and tragedy by the ghoes worn by 
 actors in them. 
 
 81-82. alternis . . . sermoni- 
 bus: dialogue, especially that in 
 which two characters speak alter- 
 nate lines. rebus agendis : i.e., 
 for accompanying action on the 
 stage. 
 
 83-85. fidibus : the lyric meters. 
 The proper subjects are hymns 
 to the gods and heroes, odes com- 
 memorating victories in the games, 
 love poems and drinking songs. 
 These are all varieties of lyric 
 poetry recognized in rhetoric. 
 
 86-87. descriptas servare vices : 
 this connects immediately with the 
 preceding, vss. 73-85 ; these are 
 the accepted canons of poetic form. 
 If through ignorance I fail to ob- 
 serve them, then I am not a poet 
 at all.' descriptas : ' laid down in 
 rhetorical theory and here re- 
 peated.' 
 
 88. pudens . . .vaster, 'out of false 
 shame,' that pudor mains which 
 leads one to conceal his defects 
 instead of seeking a cure for them. 
 Cf. Epist. i, 1 6, 24. 
 
 90-91. privatis: with carmini- 
 bus ; ' poetry that deals with the 
 affairs of ordinary people,' in dis- 
 
 200
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3. 99 
 
 dignis carminibus narrari cena Thyestae. 
 Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decentem. 
 Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit, 
 iratusque Chremes turaido delitigat ore ; 
 95 et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri 
 Telephus et Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque 
 proicit ampullas et fgesquipedalja' verba, 
 si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela. 
 Non satis est pulchra esse poemata; dulcia sun to. 
 
 tinction from a tragedy involving 
 a king of heroic legend. Atreus 
 gave to Thyestes the flesh of his 
 own children to eat. 
 
 92. A summarizing statement at 
 the close of the argument, followed 
 by an acknowledgment that there 
 are exceptional cases. singula: 
 ' each form of poetry, 1 epic, elegiac, 
 lyric. sortita : the meaning of 
 sars, ' lot,' is frequently left out of 
 the verb, which means only ' to 
 obtain, secure, receive. 1 Here it 
 is ' the place which custom has 
 assigned to them. 1 decentem: 
 with emphasis ; ' and to which 
 good taste confines them.' locum 
 teneant of course involves a figure, 
 the literal meaning being, ' let 
 each kind of writing use the meter 
 and style which belongs to it.' 
 
 93-94. The kind of scene in 
 comedy where an angry father 
 {Chremes) berates his son, which 
 Horace has already used (Sat. i, 
 4, 48 ff.) in his argument to prove 
 that comedy is not poetry, in the 
 full sense of the word. The ex- 
 
 ample is probably taken from some 
 book on rhetoric. 
 
 95-98. 'Tragedy also will occa- 
 sionally use an ordinary style.' /' 
 
 tragicus : with Telephus et - 
 Peleus ; 'in tragedy,' as in Saf. 
 
 2, 5, 91, Davits sis comicus, 'be 
 like Davus in a comedy.' dolet: 
 i.e., 'expresses his sorrows.' 
 Telephus and Peleus are illustra- 
 tions of tragic characters in pov- 
 erty or exile, in circumstances 
 which reduce them to the level 
 and language of common people. 
 ampullas : Epist. I, 3, 14 and note. 
 
 sesquipedalia : this word is 
 used literally by various writers ; 
 the humorous meaning, when it is 
 applied to words, is strengthened 
 by the length of the word itself 
 and it is only in this use and sense 
 that it has come over into English 
 
 perhaps from this passage. 
 99-1 1 1. 'So, in general, the 
 
 effectiveness of poetry, especially 
 of dramatic poetry, depends upon 
 the use of a fitting style.' 
 99-100. pulchra, dulcia : 'beau*
 
 2, 3, loo] 
 
 HO K ATI 
 
 100 et, quocumque yoleot, animum auditoris 
 Vt ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adsunt 
 human! vultus : si vis me flere, dnlendnm est 
 primum ipsi tibi ; tune tua me infortunia laedent, 
 Telephe vel Peleu ; male si mandata loqueris, 
 
 105 aut dormitabo aut ridebo. Tristia maestum 
 vultum verba decent, iratum plena minarum, 
 ludentem lasciva, severum seria dictu. 
 Format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem 
 fortunarum habitum ; iuvat aut impellit ad iram, 
 
 no aut ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit ; 
 post effert animi motus interprete lingua. 
 
 tiful in themselves, as works of 
 art'; ' charming in their effect.' 
 Catullus, 86, expresses the same 
 difference between two women by 
 pulchra and formosa. sunto et 
 . . . agunto ; paratactic coordina- 
 tion ; ' but if they are delightful, 
 then they will move . . . .' 
 
 101-102. 'The emotions felt and 
 expressed by the speaker and 
 actor excite similar emotions in 
 the hearers and spectators.' The 
 thought is not clearly expressed. 
 humani vultus means the expres- 
 sion, and therefore the emotions, 
 of the audience, but the word vul- 
 tus is selected really with reference 
 to the mobile face of the actor, to 
 whom ridentibus and flentibus re- 
 fer. Adsunt is a more general 
 term than arrident, used in the 
 second part of the comparison ; 
 'respond to,' 'sympathize with.' 
 
 104. The thought goes back for 
 a moment to vs. 96. male . . . 
 
 mandata : i.e., ' if the words that 
 the speaker utters sound merely 
 like things he has been told to say 
 (mandata), and, still worse, are 
 ill-adapted to his situation (male 
 mandata').'' 
 
 106. vultum : as above, both the 
 emotion and the expression of face 
 which accompanies the emotion. 
 In this whole passage Horace is 
 thinking of the effect of a play 
 upon the spectators, and is identi- 
 fying the expression of the actor 
 with his feeling. 
 
 108-111. 'For, by a law of na- 
 ture, all emotions come from with- 
 in, and then find expression in 
 words.' This is the reason why the 
 words should correspond to the 
 looks and the emotions. format : 
 this general word is explained by 
 iuvat, impellit, angit, expressing 
 the various ' forms ' of emotion. 
 prius : ' before we speak ' ; the 
 sense is completed by post, vs.
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 1 2 > 3. 19 
 
 Si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta, 
 Romani tollent equites peditesque cachinnum. 
 Intererit multum divusne loquatur an heros, 
 115 maturusne senex an adhuc florente iuventa 
 fervidus, an matrona potens, an sedula nutrix, 
 mercatorne vagus, cultorne virentis agelli, 
 Colchus an Assyrius, Thebis nutritus an Argis. 
 Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge. 
 
 f\ ,**. A iJOL/^J^ *9t 1 
 
 III. ad . . . habitum : ' accord- 
 ing to the varying circumstances of 
 our lives {fortunarum).' 1 effert : 
 the subject is natura ; ' expresses,' 
 'brings out from within (intus)S 
 
 112-113. Line 1 12 summarizes in 
 negative form the thought which 
 has just been expressed positively, 
 and at the same time introduces a 
 treatment of the same theme from 
 a different point of view. absona: 
 the opposite of vss. 105-107. 
 equites peditesque: Horace fre- 
 quently uses eqites, equites, to de- 
 note the more cultivated part of 
 the audience or of the reading 
 public. Here, desiring to refer to 
 the whole audience, he uses the 
 customary word, and then humor- 
 ously adds pedites, playing upon 
 the literal meaning of equites. 
 
 114. divusne an heros : i.e., be- 
 tween a god and a man, even a 
 hero such as would appear on the 
 stage with a divinity. 
 
 115-118. Classical drama was 
 more limited and conventional in 
 its range of characters than modern 
 fiction, and the persons represented 
 are easily classified, as here. Such 
 
 lists are given often in rhetorical 
 writings. Horace is merely select- 
 ing a few well-known types, in 
 contrasting pairs, the old man and 
 the young man, the mistress of the 
 household and the old nurse, the 
 trader or sailor and the farmer. 
 In vs. 118 the contrast is carried 
 out rather elaborately; the two 
 barbarians are contrasted with the 
 two Greeks, and then with each 
 other. This corresponds to reality 
 in the contrast of the Colchian 
 (the wilder and more savage type) 
 with the Assyrian (the effeminate 
 Oriental), but there is not, in re- 
 ality or in tradition, any such dis- 
 tinct contrast between the Theban 
 and the Argive. Horace is prob- 
 ably thinking of the legends which 
 brought the two cities into conflict, 
 like the Seven against Thebes of 
 Aeschylus. 
 
 119. This' line, again, is both 
 summary and transition, carrying 
 the thought on from harmony be- 
 tween the speaker and his words 
 to harmony in the character it- 
 self. 
 
 203
 
 IIORATI 
 
 I2 5 
 
 13 
 
 Scriptor honoratum si forte reponis Achillem, 
 impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer 
 iura neget sibi nata, nihil non adroget armis. 
 Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino, 
 perfidus Ixion, lo vaga, tristis Orestes. 
 Si quid inexpertum scaenae committis, et audes 
 personam formare novam, servetur ad imum 
 qualis ab incepto processerit et sibi constet. 
 est proprie communia dicere, tuque 
 rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,- 
 quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus. 
 Publica materies privati iuris erit, si 
 
 120. scriptor : closely with re- 
 ponis, which is so general in mean- 
 ing that it needs a definition. 
 honoratum : i.e., as the great hero 
 of the Iliad, with the characteristics 
 which belong to him in tradition. 
 
 122. The two parts of the line 
 say the same thing in two different 
 ways ; ' let him refuse to acknowl- 
 edge laws, but instead appeal al- 
 ways to arms.' The traditional 
 contrast between laws and arms, 
 between peace and war, underlies 
 the form of expression. 
 
 123-124. These are typical ex- 
 amples from Greek legends, each 
 character having its descriptive 
 adjective. They illustrate the first 
 part of vs. 1 19, the following of 
 tradition. 
 
 125. inexpertum : this takes up 
 the possibility implied in the sec- 
 ond half of vs. 119. scaenae: 
 Horace is not here specifically dis- 
 cussing the drama, as a particular 
 
 poetic form distinct from the epic 
 or the lyric, but, since the delinea- 
 tion of heroic character was to be 
 found chiefly in tragedy, he uses 
 terms of the drama, without, how- 
 ever, intending to exclude epic 
 treatment of the same material. 
 
 127. ab incepto: logically with 
 servetur ad imum. processerit : 
 of coming out upon the stage. 
 sibi constet : this goes back to 
 sibi convenientia and closes the 
 brief discussion of that topic. 
 
 128-135. proprie communia: 
 these somewhat general words ex- 
 press concisely and figuratively 
 what is explained more fully and 
 literally in the rest of the para- 
 graph, by means of which these 
 words must be interpreted, diffi- 
 cile is the opposite of rectius 
 ('more wisely, more safely 1 ), and 
 proprie . . . dicere is therefore 
 the opposite of dramatizing a well- 
 known story and identical with 
 
 204
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2,3. 
 
 non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem, 
 nee verbum verbo curabis reddere fidus j^ 
 interpres ; nee desilies imitator in artum, 
 35 unde pedem proferre pudor vetet aut operis lex, 
 nee sic incipies, ut scriptor cyclicus olim : 
 
 proferre ignota indictaque. It 
 therefore means ( to write about 
 things which no other writer has 
 handled, things which are not a 
 part of literature, but which belong 
 to common experience, in such a 
 way as to make them your own 
 (proprie)? The thought of the 
 whole is, 'it is hard to put the 
 stamp of individuality upon ordi- 
 nary material, and you will find it 
 easier to dramatize some story 
 from the Trojan cycle than to 
 strike out into unknown fields.' 
 tu : the poet, not one of the 
 Pisones. Iliacum carmen: not 
 necessarily the whole Iliad. 
 ' Yet a certain measure of original- 
 ity in the handling of old material 
 may be attained, if you use the 
 right method.' publica: such as 
 the Homeric story. privati iuris : 
 i.e., 'will become your own, will 
 bear your stamp.' This figure, of 
 acquiring private rights in what 
 had been public property, was in 
 Horace's mind from the beginning 
 of the sentence and undoubtedly 
 led to the choice of the rather con- 
 fusing phrase proprie communia. 
 Cf. also Epist. i, 3, 156., where 
 the same figure is used in a dif- 
 ferent way. patulum . . . orbem: 
 primarily of the monotonous path 
 
 of an animal turning a millstone 
 then of the commonplace path 
 which most writers of little origi- 
 nality follow. interpres, imitator : 
 this appears to have been espe- 
 cially frequent in Roman tragedy, 
 so far as can be judged from the 
 fragments, though even there it 
 is not quite what we understand 
 by a ' word-for-word ' translation ; 
 Horace is contrasting it with his 
 own freer following of Alcaeus 
 and Sappho. desilies in artum: 
 the phrase seems to be a reminis- 
 cence of the fable of the goat that 
 jumped into a well, but the com- 
 parison is not to be carried over 
 into the next line. pudor: t.e., 
 an unwillingness to acknowledge 
 your error. operis lex : no more 
 than ' the nature of the work ' ; a 
 close imitation will bind the writer 
 so closely to the plot of his model 
 that he cannot free himself at all 
 without destroying the unity of 
 the work. 
 
 136. The form of sentence, nee 
 with the future, goes on, though 
 the subject changes from origi- 
 nality to the treatment of the 
 beginning of a poem. This con- 
 tinuation of grammatical structure 
 is intended to make the transition 
 easy and unperceived, as in all 
 
 305
 
 2. 3. 137] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 $# V V 
 
 ' Fortunam Priami cantabo et nobile belliuwr /Jr^* 
 Quid dignum tanto feret hie promissor hiatu ? 
 4*^**~*~Tla. rturien t montes, nascetur ridiculiiSJDius, 
 
 *-**? jb/^ x/yT^* 
 
 140 Quanto rectius hie, qui nil mohtur mepte : ' 
 
 *y Die mihi Musa virum, captae post tempora Troiae 
 qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes.' 
 Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucern 
 cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat, 
 *<r 145 . Antiphaten Scyllamque et cum Cyclope Charybdim ; 
 V J^ nee reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri, 
 nee gernino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo. 
 Semper ad eventum festinat et in medias res, 
 
 
 
 his writings Horace avoids'formal 
 arrangements of thought. cycli- 
 cus : a technical name given by 
 Alexandrine critics to the poets 
 who handled parts of the Trojan 
 story not included in the Iliad or 
 Odyssey ; their poems, with the 
 Homeric poems, form a complete 
 circle (cyclus). 
 
 137-138. The absurdity, as Hor- 
 ace sees it, is in the largeness 
 of the promise, and perhaps in 
 nobile. But there is much that 
 is conventional and unreal in this 
 paragraph, vss. 137-142. Cf. the 
 noble opening sentence of Para- 
 dise Lost. promissor : apparently 
 coined to ridicule the cyclic poet. 
 hiatu: also a ridiculous sug- 
 gestion, as if the poet opened 
 his mouth wide to utter such a 
 line. 
 
 139- Notice the effect of the 
 monosyllabic close. 
 
 141-142. Cf. Epist. I, 2, 19-21, 
 where the first lines of the Odyssey 
 are freely rendered. Horace has 
 simplified Homer by omitting the 
 second line, CTTCI Tpoirjs icpov TTTO- 
 
 143. ' Not like a fire that begins 
 brightly and then dies down into 
 smoke.' fulgore and lucent are 
 the same. 
 
 145. Antiphaten : Od. 10, 100 ff. 
 Scyllam, Charybdim: Od. 12, 
 87 ff. cum Cyclope: Od. 9, 
 1 60 ff. ; the construction is merely 
 a variation for et Cyclopem. 
 
 146. Homer does not begin as 
 the writer did who, having for his 
 subject the return of Diomed from 
 Troy, went back by way of intro- 
 duction and told the other story 
 of the tragic death of his uncle, 
 Meleager. 
 
 147. That is, from the birth of 
 Helen. 
 
 206
 
 El'lSTVLAE 
 
 3, IS7 
 
 non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit, et quae 
 150 desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit ; 
 
 atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet, 
 
 primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum. 
 
 Tu, quid ego et populus mecum desideret, audi. 
 
 Si plausoris eges aulaea manentis et usque 
 155 sessuri, donee cantor 'Vos plaudite ' dicat, 
 
 aetatis cuiusque notandi sunt tibi mores, 
 
 mobilibusque decor naturis dandus et annis. 
 
 149. notas : i.e., Homer treats 155. vos plaudite : the formula 
 
 his subject-matter as already in 
 part known to his hearers, as in 
 fact it was. 
 
 150. tractata : handled, treated. 
 The Latin construction here is 
 clumsy and should not be used in 
 translating. 
 
 151. mentitur: i.e., uses fictions. 
 veris falsa : this reflects the 
 belief that the Homeric story was 
 in the main historical. 
 
 153-177. 'The poet must make 
 his characters consistent and life- 
 like and, in particular, must no- 
 tice the characteristics of different 
 periods in life.' 
 
 153. tu: the poet, as in 128. 
 The abrupt line introduces a new 
 thought, in this case wholly with- 
 out transition. From this point 
 the drama, which has been 'fre- 
 quently alluded to, though not dis- 
 tinctly the subject of discussion, 
 becomes more prominent. 
 
 154. plausoris : to be taken 
 closely with manentis ; ' if you 
 want your audience to stay and to 
 listen with pleasure up to the end.' 
 
 with which the plays ended ; some- 
 times vos valete et plaudite. It is 
 spoken sometimes by the com- 
 pany (grex), som'etimes by the last 
 actor, and sometimes (Plaut. Trin., 
 M.G., and all the plays of Ter- 
 ence) there is no indication of the 
 speaker. There is no allusion 
 elsewhere to a cantor, nor can 
 anything be inferred from this 
 passage in regard to the usage in 
 the time of Terence. 
 
 156. notandi: 'observed with 
 care.' 
 
 157. decor: that which is suited 
 (decens, vs. 92) to each period, 
 not merely the good qualities ; cf. 
 170 ff. 
 
 The description of the different 
 Ages of Man was probably tradi- 
 tional. In Terence there are only 
 two, adulescens and senex; Aris- 
 totle (Rhet. 2, 12) has three ; Shak- 
 spere (As You Like It, 2, 7) has 
 seven. Though Horace intro- 
 duces this as a part of his advice 
 to the dramatist, he does not con- 
 fine himself strictly to the possi- 
 
 207
 
 3. 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Reddere qui voces iam scit puer et pede certo 
 signal humum, gestit paribus colludere, et iram 
 
 160 colligit ac ponit temere et mutatur in horas. 
 Imberbus iuvenis, tandem custode remote, 
 gaudet equis canibusque et aprici gramine campi, 
 cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper, 
 utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris, 
 
 165 sublimis cupidusque et amata relinquere pernix. 
 Conversis studiis aetas animusque virilis 
 quaerit opes et amicitias, inservit honori, 
 commisisse cavet quod mox mutare laboret. 
 Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda, vel quod 
 
 bilities and needs of the drama. 
 The first stage, vss. 1 58-160, would 
 not be represented in tragedy or 
 comedy, characteristics are men- 
 tioned which, though they can be 
 noticed by a writer of novels, could 
 scarcely be indicated within the 
 conventional limits of Greek or 
 Latin drama (164, tardus pro- 
 visor] 165; 167, amicitias ; 171), 
 and, in general, much stress is laid 
 upon the quickness of change 
 (157; iam, 158; 160; 166; 175) 
 from one period to another. 
 Horace has carried his descrip- 
 tion beyond his first intention. 
 
 159-160. signal: i.e., leaves 
 tracks (signa) as he walks. ges- 
 tit : of the child's eagerness for 
 play. temere : without cause. 
 
 161-165. tandem: i.e., the long- 
 desired time has come and he is 
 his own master. custode : the 
 paedagogus, as Horaces father was 
 to him, Sat. I, 6, Si. equis cani- 
 
 busque : this has a Greek sound : 
 cf. Ter. Andr. 56 f., aut equos aler*, 
 aut canes advenanduin, of a young 
 man's first interests, when he is out 
 of his father's control. cereus: 
 the figure which this word suggests 
 does not extend to flecti] 'impres- 
 sible as wax and easily turned 
 toward folly.' monitoribus as- 
 per : cf. the scene in Plaut. Bacch. 
 109 ff. provisor: 'slow to pro- 
 vide . . . ' ; the corresponding 
 phrase in Aristotle (Rhet. 2, 12) 
 
 is <J>L\OXprj/JUl.TOL rfKLCTTO.. 
 
 166-168. studiis : his interests. 
 opes : in the general sense, ' in- 
 fluence and power,' which connects 
 well with amicitias, ' alliances ' for 
 influence, such as Cicero discusses 
 and condemns ; cf. also Sat. 2, 6, 
 75 . honori : office. 
 
 169-174. This picture of old age 
 is found in various places, e.g., in 
 Cic. de Senect., and especially in 
 scenes in Terence. vel quod : not 
 
 208
 
 [2.3.179 
 
 170 quaent et inventis miser abstinet aC timet uti, 
 vel quod res omires timide gelideque ministrat, 
 dilator, spe lonrgus, iners, avidusque futuri, 
 difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti 
 se puero, castigator censorque minorum. 
 
 175 Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum, 
 multa recedentes adimunt, ne forte seniles 
 mandentur iuveni p j ar < tes' 1 puerbque viriles ; 
 semper in adiunctis aevoque morabimur aptis. 
 Aut agitur res in scaenis, aut acta refertur. 
 
 causal, but explicative of incommo- 
 da. quaerit : absolute. Avarice 
 is traditionally and perhaps actually 
 the vice of old age. timet uti : 
 while youth is prodigus aeris ; 
 perhaps there is a relation between 
 the two. gelide : a particularly 
 well-chosen word. spe longus : 
 this may be a translation of 
 SucrcAirts, the word which Aristotle 
 uses. It would then mean '-slow 
 to-efrterfcrm hopes.' It is, in fact, 
 not a clear phrase. avidus futuri : 
 i.e., anxious about what of life is 
 left to him. minorum : of younger 
 men. 
 
 Though much of the substance 
 of this passage (158-174) is tra- 
 ditional, the admirable phrasing, 
 which has made it a classic, is 
 Horace's own. 
 
 175-178. Cf. Epist. 2, 2, 55. 
 This is, in reality, a comment upon 
 life and its changes and not directly 
 connected with the work of the 
 poet. Horace brings it into con- 
 nection with his main line of 
 
 thought by ne ... mandentur, but 
 somewhat awkwardly, since no 
 one would propose to give to a 
 invents the words suited to a 
 senexor would confuse a vir and a 
 puer in delineating character. ne 
 . . . mandentur : a parenthetic final 
 clause ; ' and so one must not. . . .' 
 semper: with morabimur, not 
 with adiunctis ; the sense is ' char- 
 acter changes, but we poets must 
 always be watchful to note the 
 qualities of each period.' adiunc- 
 tis : i.e., the qualities that accom- 
 pany each time of life. aevo : 
 with both adiunctis and aptis, 
 which are connected by -que. 
 
 179-188. What scenes should be 
 put upon the stage. This is one 
 of the traditional subjects of rhe- 
 torical discussion. 
 
 179. The statement of actual 
 usage precedes the discussion. 
 refertur : ' are described by an 
 actor as having occurred off the 
 stage,' within the palace or else- 
 where. 
 
 HOR. EP. 14 
 
 209
 
 2,3, i8o] 
 
 . ~v , a- 
 HORATI 
 
 190 
 
 
 180. segnius irritant: 'produce 
 a less vivid impression.' demissa 
 per aurem : i.e., the matters which 
 are merely described. 
 
 182. sibi tradit : the spectator 
 has, as it were, seen the action him- 
 self and so tells it to himself, in- 
 stead of having it told to him by 
 the messenger or reporter. intus : 
 in the palace ; with digna geri. 
 
 184. facundia praesens : ' a mes- 
 senger (speaker) appearing in 
 person.' It is, I think, quite im- 
 possible that praesens should mean 
 ' who was present when the action 
 occurred.' The point of praesens 
 is that it enforces the contrast be- 
 tween that which took place off the 
 stage (ex oculis) and that which 
 the spectator is permitted to see, 
 in the person of the actor who 
 comes on to tell the tale. 
 
 185. ne: nearly like ne of vs. 
 176. Many i?-clauses are like this, 
 indistinguishable in form frompro- 
 
 Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, 
 quam quae sunt oculis subiecta fidelibus et quae 
 ipse sibi tradit spectator. Non tamen intus 
 digna geri promes in scaenam, multaque tolles 
 ex oculis quae mox narret facundia praesens, 
 ne pueros coram populo Medea trucidet, 
 aut humana palam coquat exta nefarius Atreus, 
 aut in avem Procne vertatur, Cadmus in anguem. 
 Quodcumque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi. 
 Neve minor neu sit quinto productior actu ) ^ 
 f abula, quae posci vult et spectata reponi,/^ y*^ 
 Nee deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus r 
 
 hibitions and hot essentially differ- 
 ent in sense. In the Medea of 
 Euripides the children are killed 
 within the palace, but their cries 
 
 * ' 
 
 are heard by the audience. 
 
 186-187. These myths are not 
 the subject of any Greek plays now ^, 
 extant, but the references are of 
 course to definite plays known to 
 Horace. 
 
 188. incredulus odi : expressing 
 in one phrase the two distinct 
 emotions ; incredulus refers to the 
 impossible metamorphoses of vs. 
 187, odi to the horrible spectacle 
 of vs. 185 or 1 86. 
 
 189. quinto . . . actu : this rule 
 Horace got from some grammatical 
 tradition, and it was long current, 
 on his authority, in modern times. 
 It is, however, quite without foun- 
 dation. The act divisions in Latin 
 comedy are not in the Mss. or in 
 the earliest editions. 
 
 191. deus intersit: t.t., natural 
 
 210
 
 / 
 
 EPISTVLAE [2, 3, 200 
 
 I incident: nee quarta loqui persona laboret . , t ^ ' 
 Ljj/Actoris partes chorus officiumque virile " / ^^.^ 
 
 \j>/ defendat, neu quid medios intercinat actus, W&*- 
 /9$ quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte. 
 Ille bonis faveatque et consilietur amice, 
 et regat iratos et amet peccare Jimentis; 
 ille dapes laudet mensae brevis, ille salubrem 
 iustitiam legesque et apertis otia portis ; 
 200 ille tegat commissa, deosque precetur et oret, 
 
 means should usually be found for 
 working out the plot. The rule 
 was laid down with reference to 
 plays in which supernatural in- 
 tervention was unnecessarily em- 
 ployed. vindice : defender, one 
 who protects the hero and releases 
 him from the complications of the 
 plot. The phrase nisi dignus vin- 
 dice nodus is classic. 
 
 192. loqui . . . laboret: the 
 rule was that only throe speak- 
 ing characters should be on the 
 stage at once ; a fourth would 
 not easily find a place (laboret} 
 in the dialogue. This rule is 
 not without exceptions and in 
 the later comedy was not observed 
 at all. 
 
 193. actoris partes: i.e., the 
 chorus should be treated as an 
 actor, should have its place in the 
 plot and in the action, and this 
 should be an important part (offi- 
 cium virile). 
 
 194-195. ' It should not be used 
 merely to sing interludes, odes 
 which do not contribute (conducat) 
 
 to the plot or have any real connec- 
 tion with it.' 
 
 196-201. The proper function of 
 the chorus. 
 
 196. bonis faveat : this is in 
 accordance with the practice of the 
 extant tragedies, that the chorus 
 should support the cause of virtue. 
 consilietur: advise. This also 
 is common. 
 
 197. regat : i.e., t try to control.' 
 peccare timentis : not the same 
 as bonis, but the characters who 
 seem to be shrinking from some 
 wrong act that is presenting itself 
 to them as a possibility. For the 
 expression cf. Epist. i, 16, 52 ; 2, 
 1,23. 
 
 198. mensae brevis : i.e., ' it 
 should be on the side of simplicity, 
 against luxury.' Cf. cena brevis, 
 Epist. i, 14, 35. 
 
 200. tegat commissa : 'it should 
 play the part of the trustworthy 
 confidant and not betray secrets 
 committed to its keeping.' This 
 situation is not infrequent in Greek 
 tragedy. 
 
 211
 
 , 3. 201] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 24>5 
 
 ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis/ 
 Tibia non, ut nunc, orichalco vincta, tubaeque 
 aemula, sed tenuis simplexque f>ramme pauco 
 adspirare et adesse choris erat utilis, atque 
 nondum spissa nimis complere sedilia flatu, 
 quo sane populus numerabilis, utpote parvus, 
 et frugi castusque verecundusque, coibat. 
 
 ostquam coepit agros extendere victor et urbes 
 latior amplecti murus vinoque diurno 
 placari Genius festis impune diebus, 
 
 raji 
 
 '. I 
 
 
 201. redeat, abeat, foi 
 partial personification ; cf. Carm 
 I, 35, 23 f., utcumque tnutata po- 
 tetitis | veste domos inimica linquis. 
 
 202 ff. The discussion of the 
 function of the chorus suggests 
 easily the music which accompa- 
 nied the songs. 
 
 202. tibia : properly a wooden 
 or ivory flute, with few openings, 
 which gave a light and clear sound. 
 When bound with metal ori- 
 chalcum was an amalgam of cop- 
 per and other metals its note 
 was more like that of a brass horn 
 (tuba}, less clear and simple. 
 
 204. adspirare, adesse : as an ac- 
 companiment to the choral song, 
 without independent force. 
 
 205. nondum: especially with 
 erat utilis to be supplied. nimis : 
 with spissa. ' The flute was not 
 yet used, as it is now, to fill with 
 loud blast a crowded theater,' t.e., 
 was not independent of the song. 
 
 206. quo : the antecedent is 
 sedilia, for the whole theater. 
 
 sane j 'of course,' 'you know.' 
 utpote parvus : parenthetic and 
 explanatory of numerabilis. 
 
 207. The adjectives describe 
 the ideal simplicity and piety of 
 the early time, which Horace here 
 regards as necessary to the purity 
 of art. 
 
 208-210. In the preceding dis- 
 cussion of the drama there is 
 nothing to indicate that Horace 
 was thinking exclusively of the 
 Greek tragedy ; on the contrary, 
 the advice is of course addressed 
 to writers of Roman tragedy. Yet 
 the tone is almost wholly Greek. 
 As the discussion goes on, how- 
 ever, to the period of luxury, the 
 underlying thought is Roman. 
 This appears in agros extendere 
 victor, which is not strictly appli- 
 cable to Greek history after the 
 Persian Wars, but is accurately de- 
 scriptive of Roman history after 
 the Punic Wars. The plural urbes 
 would suggest Greek cities ; latior 
 murus is suitable to either; but 
 
 212
 
 215 
 
 EPISTVlUS? 
 
 accessit ntamerisque modisque licentia maior. 
 Indoctus quid enira saperet liberque laborum 
 rusticus, urbano conf usus, turpis honesto ? 
 Sic priscae motumque et luxuriem addidit arti 
 tibicen traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem : 
 sic etiam fidibus voces crevere severis, 
 et tulit eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps, 
 utiliumque sagax rerum et divina futuri 
 
 la. 3, 21* 
 
 vs. 210 is wholly in Roman terms. 
 
 diurno : in the daytime. im- 
 pune : i.e., without consideration 
 of the proper restraints. 
 
 211. numerisque modisque: 
 more complicated music and me- 
 ters were used. This, according 
 to the traditional doctrine, was 
 regarded as licentia, like the in- 
 creasing license of manners. 
 
 212-213. quid enim saperet: 
 i.e., ' no standard of taste could 
 be maintained in a population so 
 mixed and so unrestrained.' 
 liber laborum : on festal days la- 
 bor would be suspended. turpis 
 honesto : where there was no such 
 distinction as that which in Hor- 
 ace's time separated the equites 
 the cultivated part of the audience 
 
 from the lower classes. 
 214-215. sic : as a result of this 
 
 confusion and this increase of 
 luxury. motum : i.e., he moved 
 about the stage (vagus'), no longer 
 subordinating himself to the cho- 
 rus. luxuriem : i.e., he trailed 
 his purple robe (traxit vestem) 
 about the stage. 
 
 216. voces : notes. The tradi- 
 
 tion was that the lyre was at first 
 four-stringed, and that the number 
 of strings was gradually increased 
 to eleven. 
 
 217. tulit : brought in, ' brought 
 with it.' eloquium: style. fa- 
 cundia praeceps : ' the eager desire 
 to speak, unrestrained {praeceps) 
 by considerations of taste. 1 The 
 same licentia maior which had 
 affected music influenced also the 
 style of the choral odes. 
 
 2 1 8-2 1 9. sagax : with sententia ; 
 the thought itself was affected by 
 the same tendencies and came to 
 be full of precepts and senten- 
 tious maxims of wisdom. divina 
 futuri : the chorus undertook to 
 prophesy, and became as obscure 
 and bombastic as oracles. The 
 precise point of these criticisms 
 is not clear, nor even whether 
 Horace has in mind the later 
 Greek tragedy or the Roman. 
 This whole passage, vss. 202-219, 
 is to be regarded as a bit of the 
 traditional rhetorical doctrine and 
 not as history or direct criticism. 
 The point of view is wholly incor- 
 rect. 
 
 213
 
 2, 3. 219] 
 
 HO <ATI 
 
 sortilegis non discrepuit 
 220 Carmine qui tragico vile 
 
 \\n* 
 
 4- 
 
 
 sententia Delphis. 
 n certavit ob hircum, 
 
 mox etiam agrestis Satyros nudavit, et asper 
 incolumi gravitate iocum tentavit eo, quod 
 illecebris erat et grata novitate morandus 
 spectator, functusque sacris et potus et exlex. 
 225 Verum ita risores, ita commendare dicaces 
 J conveniet Satyros, ita vertere seria ludo, 
 
 Af' .^"220-250. The Satyric drama. 
 j[- This section also is in part tradi- 
 
 Jl\. iXl tional, but it is in part a real criti- 
 cism of forms of drama which were 
 on the stage in Horace's time, like 
 mimes and fabulae Atellanae, and 
 which bore enough resemblance 
 to the Satyr plays to justify Hor- 
 ace in treating them all as one 
 kind of drama. 
 
 220-221. certavit: this is Greek, 
 referring to the dramatic contests 
 at- Athens. hircum: the com- 
 monly accepted derivation of 
 rpay(o8ia was from rpayos, a goat 
 offered as the prize of victory. 
 mox : i.e., the Satyr play is sup- 
 posed to be derived from tragedy. 
 This is the reverse of the fact ; 
 formal tragedy was a development 
 out of the popular Satyr play and 
 the name comes from the use of 
 rpayos of the chorus of the Satyr 
 drama. nudavit : the Satyrs were 
 naked except for a goatskin about 
 the loins. asper : i.e., he was 
 still a tragic poet, with something 
 of the severity of tragedy. The 
 Satyr play, as a fourth play after 
 the dramatic trilogy, was written 
 
 by the same poet who had written 
 the tragedies. 
 
 222. incolumi gravitate : 'with- 
 out loss of dignity ' by presenting 
 such plays. 
 
 223. morandus: i.e., 'it was 
 necessary to provide some amuse- 
 ment and novelty to detain the 
 spectators.' 
 
 224. functus sacris : ' having 
 already performed the solemn rites 
 of sacrifice, they were released 
 from restraint (exlex)? 
 
 225. verum: 'but, though the 
 spectators were exlex and the ob- 
 ject of the play was laughter and 
 jesting, there were still restraints 
 imposed upon the characters and 
 the style of the plays.' risores : 
 in effect an adj., merry, to balance 
 dicaces, jesting, commendare : 
 i.e., 'present them to the favor 
 of the audience.' 
 
 226. vertere seria ludo: the 
 Satyr play, coming immediately 
 after the tragedies, changed the 
 spirit from seriousness to lightness. 
 The abl. (ludo) is rare with verto, 
 but is found occasionally after the 
 analogy of the abl. with muto. 
 
 214
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3. 234 
 
 ne quicumque deus, quicumque adhibebitur heros, 
 regali conspectus in auro nuper et ostro, 
 migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas, 
 230 aut, dum vitat humum, nubes et inania captet. 
 Eff utire levis indigna tragoedia versus, 
 ut festis matrona moveri iussa diebus, 
 intererit Satyris paullum pudibunda protervis. 
 
 Non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum 
 
 / /2'^fe . n n **1-J/. 
 
 228. conspectus . . . nuper: the 
 characters of the tragedy, where 
 they had appeared in royal state, 
 might reappear in the Satyr play. 
 In that case the contrast should 
 not be made so startling as to 
 shock the taste or to degrade the 
 heroic tone of tragedy. 
 
 229. migret in ... tabernas : 
 the king or hero who has just 
 been seen coming out of his pal- 
 ace must not now be represented 
 as moving to a hovel. The word 
 tabernas is chosen with reference 
 to the Roman farces called fabulae 
 tabernariae, plays of low life, the 
 scene of which was in some poor 
 place of resort for the common 
 people. humili sermone : this 
 anticipates what is said at greater 
 length in the next lines. 
 
 230. nubes et inania : the oppo- 
 site fault of a tone too lofty for 
 the general spirit of the play. 
 
 231. indigna: ( not condescend- 
 ing to . . .,' as in Epist. \, 3, 35, 
 indigni fraternum rumpere foe- 
 dus. tragoedia : i.e., the tragic 
 (heroic) character in th~ Satyr 
 play. 
 
 232. moveri iussa : dancing was 
 ordinarily considered quite unsuit- 
 able for a woman of dignity, 
 but at some religious festivals 
 the married women took part 
 in the dance as a religious duty 
 (iussa). Cf. Carm. 2, 12, ij K. ; 
 3, 14, 5 f., for references to such 
 dances. 
 
 233. intererit . . . paullum: 
 ' will have little to do with,' ' will 
 be among them, but will retain the 
 dignity proper to tragedy.' The 
 contrast is emphasized by the jux- 
 taposition of the two adjectives, 
 ' dignified herself, in spite of their 
 frolicsome behavior.' 
 
 234. non . . . solum : the other 
 half of the thought begins with 
 vs. 240, without a particle (sed 
 etiam) ; ' I should not be satisfied 
 with observing the ordinary laws 
 of colloquial style or even with 
 making some finer distinctions ; I 
 should aim at something still 
 higher.' inornata : plain words 
 which suggest no figurative mean- 
 ings. dominantia : a translation 
 of Kvpia, literal, as nomina ver- 
 baque is a translation of ovd/xara 
 
 215
 
 3, 235] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 &%> 
 
 2 J5 vcrbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo; 
 nee sic enitar tragico differre colori, 
 ut nihil intersit, Davusne loquat^TeTaudax 
 Pythias, emuncto lucrata Simone talentum, 
 an custos famulusque dei Silenus alumni. 
 
 240 Ex noto fictum carmen sequar, ut sibi quivis 
 speret idem, sudet multum frustraque laboret 
 ausus idem : tantum series iuncturaque pollet, 
 tantum de medio sumptis accedit honoris. 
 
 pijfWTa, standing for all lan- 
 guage; cf. Sat. i, 3, 103. 
 
 235. The address to the Pisones 
 at this point is consistent with the 
 more personal and direct tone of 
 the whole discussion of the Satyr 
 plays, and supports the view that 
 the matter was one of living inter- 
 est at the time. scriptor : this 
 also maintains the tone of direct 
 interest, but does not, of course, 
 mean that Horace himself intended 
 to write for the stage. 
 
 236. nee sic : ' nor should I be 
 satisfied with a mere distinction 
 between the tragic and the comic 
 style, without observing also the 
 finer distinctions between the dif- 
 ferent characters. 1 
 
 237-239. Davus : a standing 
 name for a slave in comedy. 
 Pythias : this name for the arguta 
 meretrix (Sat . i, 10,40) happens 
 not to be used in any extant 
 comedy. emuncto : one of the 
 many slang words used in comedy 
 for cheating ; perhaps swiped. 
 Simone : an old man ; Chreraes is 
 
 used as the typical name in the 
 corresponding passage in Sat. i, 
 10, 40 ff. The names and the 
 situation all refer to the comoedia 
 palliata, like the plays of Terence, 
 the style of which, it is implied, is 
 not to be used in a Satyr play. 
 Silenus : the old guardian and 
 attendant of the youthful Diony- 
 sus, fond of wine, but also a kind 
 of philosopher. 
 
 240-243. This passage contains 
 a summary of Horace's own ideal 
 in style, of wider application than 
 is given to it here. noto fictum : 
 the same general contrast as that 
 expressed in vs. 151, sic ver is falsa 
 remiscet. speret : i.e., the style 
 shall seem easy enough to tempt 
 any one to try it. idem, idem : 
 intentionally repeated in the same 
 place in the verse. series iunc- 
 turaque : cf. callida imtctnra, 
 47 f. ; but here the thought is 
 broader, including all the more 
 general characteristics of style, 
 not the meaning of words only. 
 de medio sumptis : ordinary 
 
 216
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3, 254 
 
 245 
 
 250 
 
 Silvis deduct! caveant, me iudice, Fauni, 
 ne velut innati triviis ac paene forenses 
 aut nimium teneris iuvenentur versibus unquam, 
 aut immunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta : 
 offenduntur enim, quibus est equus et pater et res, 
 nee si quid fricti ciceris probat et nucis emptor, 
 aequis accipiunt animis donantve corona. 
 Syllaba longa brevi subiec1;a vocatur iambus, 
 Sj:itus : unde etiam trimetfis adcrescere iussit 
 nomen iambeis cum senos redderet ictus, 
 primus ad extremum similis sibi : non ita pridem, 
 
 
 words, out of which skillful use can 
 make a style that has distinction. 
 
 244. Fauni: the Italian equiva- 
 lent for the satyrs. 
 
 245. innati triviis, forenses : the 
 wild creatures of the woods must 
 not use the language of street boys 
 or even the more cultivated speech 
 of those who attend the law courts. 
 
 246. teneris . . . versibus : sen- 
 timental love songs, expressions 
 alien to the free spirit of the 
 Fauns. iuvenentur: sport, play 
 the invents ; formed like the 
 Greek veavtevecr&u. 
 
 247. The Satyr plays were 
 coarse, but they should avoid 
 vicious and indecent expressions. 
 
 248-250. equus : with reference 
 to the providing of a horse for the 
 equites in the early time, when the 
 word had a military meaning. 
 et pater: the free-born citizens. 
 et res : the persons of property and 
 standing and, presumably, of culti- 
 vation. fricti : parched; from 
 
 frigo. corona : symbolic, since 
 there were no formal contests at 
 Rome. It is to be noticed that 
 from vs. 231 the thought is almost 
 wholly Roman. 
 
 251-269. On meter and versifi- 
 cation. 
 
 251. The fact that an iambus 
 consists of a short followed by a 
 long is stated rather formally, in 
 order to make a proper starting 
 point for the discussion of the use 
 of spondees. 
 
 252-253. unde : t'.e., because it 
 is a ' quick foot.' The construc- 
 tion is iambeis nomen trimetris 
 adcrescere iussit', iambeis is dat. 
 after adcrescere and trimetris is 
 attracted into the same case ; ' for 
 which reason it bade the name 
 trimeter attach itself to iambic 
 lines,' although there were six feet 
 and one might expect the name 
 hexameter. Cf. Sat. i, 3, 57, UK 
 tar do cognomen damns. 
 
 254. similis sibi all the feet 
 
 217
 
 2. 3. 255J 
 
 HORATI 
 
 255 tardior ut paullo graviorque veniret ad aures, 
 spondees stabiles in iura paterna recepit 
 commodus et patiens, non ut de sedesecunda 
 cederet aut quarta socialiter. Hi^ret in Acci 
 nobilibus trimetris apparet rarus, et Enni 
 in scaenam missos magno cum pondere versus 
 aut operae celeris nimium curaque carentis 
 aut ignoratae premit artis crimine turpi. 
 Non quivis videt immodulata poemata iudex, 
 et data Romanis venia est indigna poetis. 
 
 265 Idcircone vager scribamque licenter ? An omnes 
 visuros peccata putem mea, tutus et intra 
 spem veniae cautus ? Vitavi denique culpam, 
 
 being iambi. non ita pridem: 
 these words are not quite intelli- 
 gible, since spondees had been 
 used in iambic trimeters from the 
 earliest times. [None of the vari- 
 ous explanations is really good. 
 Cic. Brut. 10, 41 is not a parallel.] 
 
 256. stabiles : heavy in compar- 
 ison with the lightly running iambi. 
 in iura paterna : adopted them 
 legally. 
 
 257. non ut: 'but not to the 
 extent of admitting them to the 
 second or fourth foot.' 
 
 258. socialiter : 'like an ally,' 
 like one who made a partnership 
 on absolutely equal terms. The 
 personification of the iambus goes 
 through the whole passage, tussif, 
 recepit) commodus et pattens, ce- 
 deret. 
 
 159-262. 'In Roman poets the 
 frequency of spondees makes 
 
 the verse too heavy. 1 hie : the 
 iambus. nobilibus : well-known, 
 without approval, which would be 
 inconsistent with the context. 
 rarus : this supplies, in thought, 
 the subject of premit ; 'and the 
 rarity of it in the verses of Ennius. 1 
 in scaenam missos : his verses 
 in drama, as distinct from his epic 
 poetry. operae : with crimine, as 
 artis is, and modified by nimium 
 celeris and carentis. 
 
 263-264. non quivis : the mean- 
 ing of the general phrase appears 
 in Romanis. indigna : unde- 
 served] strictly, ' pardon that the 
 giver should think it unworthy of 
 himself to bestow.' 
 
 265. idcirco: *>., 'because I 
 know that the judge is not strict.' 
 
 266-267. tutus et . . . cautus : 
 < or shall I be just careful enough 
 to keep within the law?' 
 
 218
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3. 276 
 
 non laudem merui. Vos exemplaria Graeca 
 nocturna versate manu, versate diurna. 
 
 270 At vestri proavi Plautinos et numeros et 
 
 laudavere sales, nimium patienter utrumque, 
 ne dicam stulte, mirati, si modo ego et vos 
 scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto, 
 legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure. 
 
 275 Ignotum tragicae genus invenisse Camenae 
 dicitur et plaustris vexisse poemata Thespis, 
 
 268. non . . . merui: 'there is 
 no positive merit in that course. 1 
 vos: emphatic; 'you, who surely 
 desire laudem merere." 1 
 
 270-294. On the need of study 
 and care in the writing of poetry, 
 as shown in the history of the 
 Greek drama. 
 
 270. proavi : in a general sense, 
 waiores. Plautinos: for Horace's 
 judgment on Plautus see Epist. 2, 
 i, 170 ff. and note. numeros; 
 this may be a reference to the 
 verses which were supposed to be 
 Plautus's own epitaph, in which 
 the phrase numeri innumeri is 
 used. Plautus was, in fact, an ex- 
 tremely good versifier, but of a 
 sort that Horace did not appre- 
 ciate. 
 
 271-272. patienter: i.e., they 
 should not have endured them, 
 much less admired them. 
 
 273. inurbanum lepido : with ref- 
 erence to the safes. The word 
 lepidus, which Horace uses rarely, 
 is one of the commonest adjectives 
 in Plautus and is chosen here for 
 
 that reason. The standard of ur- 
 banitas is better suited to the Au- 
 gustan age than to the time of the 
 Second Punic War. 
 
 274. sonum : the numeri. Hor- 
 ace's judgment on this point also, 
 as on the wit of Plautus, is too 
 narrow, like the judgment of a 
 Queen Anne writer on a poet 
 of the Elizabethan period. 
 digitis : this seems to be tradi- 
 tional ; Horace did not count 
 the feet of his Alcaics on his 
 fingers. But it is true that the 
 natural feeling for the free early 
 versification had, in part, died 
 out under the impulse toward fin- 
 ished accuracy. 
 
 275. The order of thought here 
 is more important than the gram- 
 matical structure ; ' tragedy was an 
 unknown kind of poetry before its 
 invention, according to tradition, 
 by Thespis.' 
 
 276. plaustris : the source of 
 this curious tradition, which ap- 
 pears only here, is unknown, nor is 
 it possible to discover what error 
 
 219
 
 i 
 
 2. 3. 277] 
 
 jy - v 
 
 quae caiierent agerentque peruncti faecibus ora. 
 Post hunc, personae pallaeque repertor honestae, 
 Aeschylus et modicis instravit pulpita tignis 
 
 280 et docuit magnumque loqui nitique cothurno. 
 Successit vetus his comoedia, non sine multa 
 laude, sed in .vitium libertas excidit et vim 
 dignam lege regi : lex est accepta chorusque 
 turpiter obticuit sublato iure nocendi. 
 
 285 Nil intentatum nostri liquere poetae ; 
 
 of interpretation gave rise to it. 
 Thespis : the ' inventor ' of trag- 
 edy, as Homer was of the epic 
 and Archilochus of iambics. But, 
 properly understood, no form of 
 art was ever invented. 
 
 277. canerent, agerent : Horace 
 uses the plural a little carelessly, 
 in speaking of a play in which 
 there was only one actor. per- 
 uncti faecibus : this quite uncer- 
 tain tradition, if it has any founda- 
 tion in fact, has to do with comedy, 
 not with tragedy. 
 
 278-280. The innovations here 
 attributed to Aeschylus are the 
 "mask, the special dress, the ele- 
 vated wooden stage, and the thick- 
 soled tragic boot. There are traces 
 of these traditions in various au- 
 thors, but the source from which 
 Horace derived them is unknown. 
 bonestae : dignified; vi\t\\pallae 
 only, not with personae. modi- 
 cis : a qualification of the tradi- 
 tion : the first stage would natu- 
 rally be thought of as small. 
 magnum loqui : inserted into the 
 
 account of the stage machinery to 
 go with nili. 
 
 281. vetus: dp^ata; the techni- 
 cal name for the comedy of which 
 Aristophanes is the only extant 
 representative. Cf. Sat. 1,4, 1-2; 
 I, 10, 1 6 f. 
 
 282-283. libertas: so Sat. I, 4, 
 5, multa cum liber t ate notabant. 
 ( But this freedom degenerated 
 {excidit) into a fault.' vim: the 
 technical word for ' assault,' ' ille- 
 gal violence.' lege : the accounts 
 are somewhat confused and it is 
 more probable that the law against 
 extreme personalities on the stage 
 had nothing to do with the decline 
 of the chorus. 
 
 284. turpiter : with obticuit ; the 
 silence was discreditable because 
 it was, as Horace understood it, 
 the result of the withdrawal of the 
 right to do harm. This reference 
 to the loss of the chorus has, in 
 fact, nothing to do with the main 
 thought, and comedy is mentioned 
 only to lead up to the general 
 statement nil intentatum. 
 
 220
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 O. 3. 295 
 
 nec minimum meruere decus vestigia Graeca 
 ausi deserere et celebrare domestica facta, 
 vel qui praetextas vel qui docuere togatas. 
 Nec virtute foret clarisve potentius armis 
 
 290 quam lingua Latium si non offenderet unum- 
 
 quemque poetarum limae labor et mora. Vos, O 
 Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite, quod non 
 multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque 
 praesectum decies non castigavit ad unguem. 
 
 295 Ingenium misera quia fortunatius arte 
 
 286. nec minimum: />., 'and 
 not the least of their merits is the 
 fact that they have shown inde- 
 pendence.' 
 
 287. domestica facta: i.e., l that 
 they have used native material, 
 Roman legends.' 
 
 288. praetextas: sc. fabulas ; 
 tragedies on themes from Roman 
 history, like the Brutus of Accius. 
 The name came from the toga 
 praetexta worn by the Roman 
 generals and heroes who were 
 represented in the plays. toga- 
 tas : comedies in which Roman 
 citizens appeared, wearing the or- 
 dinary toga. docuere: the tech- 
 nical word for the poet's part in 
 preparing the play for presentation 
 by 'teaching' it to the actors. 
 
 289-290. virtute . . . armis : a 
 double expression for a single 
 idea. lingua : for literature in 
 general. 
 
 291. This thought is often ex- 
 pressed by Horace ; Sat. i. 4, 12 f. ; 
 I, 10, 68-72; Epist. 2, i, 167. 
 
 292. Pompilius sanguis: the 
 claim of the Calpurnii (Pisones) 
 was that they were descended from 
 Numa Pompilius through a son 
 Calpus. This form of address is 
 hardly more than a variation on 
 Pisones. 
 
 294. praesectum ... ad unguem : 
 cf. Sat. i, 5, 32, ad unguem fact us 
 homo; the figure is taken from the 
 testing of the smoothness of a sur- 
 face by passing the thumb nail 
 over it ; the closely cut nail (prae- 
 sectum) would be especially sen- 
 sitive. castigavit : general in 
 meaning {correct 'ed, restrained),- 
 not continuing the figure of prun- 
 ing, which is faintly suggested by 
 coercuit. 
 
 295. misera, fortunatius: the 
 words are quoted, as it were, from 
 the poets, who were expressing in 
 vivid language their acceptance of 
 the dictum of Democritus ; labor 
 seemed to them wretched and they 
 trusted to their talent for sue- 
 
 221
 
 2, 3. 296] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 credit et excludit sanos Helicone poetas 
 Democritus, bona pars non unguis ponere curat, 
 non barbam ; secreta petit loca, balnea vitat. 
 Nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque poetae, 
 
 300 si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile nunquara 
 tonsori Licino commiserit. O ego laevus, 
 qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam ! 
 Non alms faceret meliora poemata. Verum 
 nil tanti est : ergo f ungar vice cotis, acutum 
 
 305 reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi: 
 munus et officium nil scribens ipse docebo, 
 unde parentur opes, quid alat formetque poetam, 
 
 897. Democritus : Cicero (de 
 Dili, i, 37, 80) records it in this 
 form; 'negat sine furore De- 
 mocritus quemquam poetam mag- 
 num esse posse. 1 bona pars : 
 ' most poets.' non . . . curat : ' do 
 not take the trouble. 1 The neglect 
 of personal appearance seems to 
 them evidence of inspiration. It is 
 most curious that this tradition 
 should still persist among mu- 
 sicians and painters. 
 
 299. nanciscetur : i.e., l he be- 
 lieves that he will obtain . . .' 
 
 300. tribus Anticyris : cf. Sat. 
 2 > 3> 83, where it is said that all 
 Anticyra must be reserved for the 
 avari. 
 
 301. Licino : there is doubtless 
 some point in the use of a proper 
 name here, but the man is un- 
 known and the point is lost. 
 laevus : ' fool that I am ! ' 
 
 302. verni : the time of year 
 when it was held (Celsus, 2, 
 
 13) that purgatives should be 
 used. 
 
 303. faceret : /. e., ' if I were not 
 so foolish as to use purgatives.' 
 
 304. nil tanti est: 'it isn't 
 worth while, 1 ' I don't care so 
 much as all that about it 1 ; an 
 expression of indifference ; cf. Cic. 
 Alt. 2, 13, 2 ; 5, 8, 3. cotis : this 
 is the reply of Isocrates when he 
 was asked why he taught others 
 the art of oratory. 
 
 306. This is the literal state- 
 ment, explaining and applying the 
 anecdote. munus et officium: 
 function and duty of the poet ; 
 the two words express merely two 
 slightly different sides of one idea. 
 nil scribens : referring to his re- 
 peatedly expressed determination 
 to write no more lyric poetry ; 
 such a sermo as this is not poetry. 
 
 307-308. These clauses are not 
 a table of contents of the rest 
 of the Epistle, nor are they a 
 
 222
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 O, 3. 
 
 quid deceat, quid non, quo virtus, quo ferat error. 
 
 Scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fon. 
 
 310 Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae, 
 
 verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur. 
 
 Qui didicit, patriae quid debeat et quid amicis ; 
 
 quo sit amore parens, quo f rater amandus et hospes; 
 
 quod sit conscripti, quod iudicis officium ; quae 
 315 partes in bellum missi ducis : ille profecto 
 
 reddere personae scit convenientia cuique. 
 
 formal and complete outline of an 
 Art of Poetry. They are merely 
 amplifications of munus et offi- 
 cium, specifying certain aspects 
 of poetic art and corresponding 
 only by accident and in the most 
 general way with the discussions 
 that follow. opes : powers ; i.e., 
 'what will best furnish him with 
 material and prepare him to write. 1 
 quid deceat : ' standards of 
 taste.' virtus, error: in a very 
 general sense, 'the right path and 
 the wrong, 1 ' a true understanding 
 of poetry and a mistaken judgment 
 about it.' 
 
 309. scribendi recte : as in Sat. 
 1,4, 13, with emphasis upon a high 
 standard. sapere : wisdom, with 
 secondary reference to philosophy 
 and in contrast to the thought 
 of 295 ff. 
 
 310. rem: the material, the 
 things to write about ; not exactly 
 'subject-matter, 1 but the ideas to 
 be expressed. Socraticae . . . 
 chartae: these are named for 
 illustration only, not as exclusive 
 sources. The important ' Socratic 1 
 
 writers are Plato and Xenophon. 
 poterunt : ' they will, for example, 
 contain such suggestion as you 
 need.' 
 
 311. rem . . . sequentur : this rule 
 appears in various forms, most 
 concisely in Cato's rein tene, verba 
 sequentur, and humorously in the 
 saying of Asinius Pollio, male 
 hercle eveniat verbis, nisi rem se- 
 quantur. 
 
 314. conscripti: councilor; the 
 word is familiar in the formula 
 patres conscripti, but is here used 
 in a more general sense, as in 
 inscriptions (neve ibi senator neve 
 decurio neve conscriptus esto, 
 C.I.L., I, 206, 96). This is the 
 only passage except in inscriptions 
 where the word is used alone with- 
 out pater. iudicis : such an 
 official combined some of the 
 functions now divided between 
 the judge and the jury ; cf. Sat. 
 i> 4, 23. 
 
 316. personae : dramatic poetry 
 is here, as in so much of this 
 Epistle, uppermost in Horace^ 
 mind. convenientia: i.e. t to 
 
 223
 
 3 20 
 
 325 
 
 HORATI 
 
 Respicere exemplar vitae morumque iubebo 
 doctum imitatorem et vivas hinc ducere voces. 
 Interdum speciosa locis morataque recte 
 fabula nullius veneris sine pondere et arte 
 valdius oblectat populum meliusque moratur, 
 quam versus inopes rerum nugaeque canorae. 
 Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo 
 Musa loqui, praeter laudem nullius avaris.^- 
 Romani pueri longis rationibus assem 
 discunt in partes centum diducere. ' Dicat 
 films Albini: Si de quincunce remota est 
 
 x 
 make the speech of each character 
 
 suitable to the part he plays in life. 
 
 317-318. ' The poet who desires 
 that his work should be a reflec- 
 tion of life (imitatoreni) and who 
 has learned the principles of life 
 and art from study {doctum = qui 
 didicif) will then turn to life itself, 
 to the observation of character 
 (morum), and from this, as from a 
 model, will learn to give vividness 
 to the speeches (vivas voces) of 
 the persons of his drama.' 
 
 319-322. 'For a vivid and life- 
 like portrayal of character is often 
 more effective than a merely artis- 
 tic finish.' speciosa locis: /.*., 
 ' which contains vivid and at- 
 tractive passages (vivas voces), 
 speeches that attract the atten- 
 tion of the hearer' ; cf. Epist. 
 2, i, 223. morataque recte: 
 ' in which the speeches conform 
 properly to the characters that 
 utter them.' as is suggested in 
 exemplar morum. nullius ve- 
 
 neris : < without the attractiveness 
 of lofty words (sine pondere) or 
 artistic polish.' The thought is 
 again expressed by contrast in 
 inopes rerum nugaeque canorae. 
 323-332. ' It is to the Greeks 
 that philosophy and art have given 
 the power to realize these ideals.' 
 
 324. avaris: the word is selected 
 in anticipation of the thought that 
 follows ; ' for the Greeks are eager 
 only for glory, while we Romans 
 are avari in a worse sense.' 
 
 325. longis rationibus: 'long 
 calculations' like the 'examples' 
 in arithmetic. 
 
 326. centum: the as was di- 
 vided into twelfths, unciae, and 
 the Roman reckonings were based 
 in part on a duodecimal system. 
 But they also used a decimal sys- 
 tem and in partes centum diducere 
 means, in effect, 'to reduce the 
 duodecimal system to decimals.' 
 
 327-330. A school recitation in 
 arithmetic ; filius Albini is the 
 
 224
 
 fcflSTVLAE 
 
 fa, 3, 14 
 
 330 
 
 uncia, quid superat ? Poteras dixisse.' 'Triens.' ' Ku! 
 rem poteris servare tuam ! Redit uncia, quid fit ? ' 
 ' Semis.' An, haec animos aerugo et cura peculi 
 cum semel imbuerit, speramus carmina fingi 
 posse linenda cedro et Kfvi servanda cupresso ? 
 Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poetae, 
 aut simul et iucunda et idonea_dicerejdtaer 
 Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis, ut cito dicta 
 _j3ercipiant animi dociles teneantque fideles. 
 Omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat. 1-^,^^, 
 ^icta voluptatis causa sint proxima veris, 
 ne, quodcumque volet, poscat sibi fabula credi, f 
 neu pransae Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo. 
 Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis; 
 
 pupil who is called upon to recite ; ' from bookworms. -*- levi . . . cu- 
 
 the problem is in the addition and 
 subtraction of simple fractions. 
 quincunce : quinque unciae, 
 five-twelfths. triens : i.e., it 
 is not enough to answer four 
 twelfths ; the boy must also be 
 able to reduce the fraction to its 
 lowest terms, one third. redit : 
 not the putting back of the uncia 
 taken away, but a new problem ; 
 is added. 
 
 330. aerugo: canker ', rust, as 
 consuming the metal ; cf. Sat. 
 I, 4, 1 01. peculi: with cura 
 Dnly ; the word has here some 
 slighting force, since it is used 
 chiefly of the small property of a 
 child or slave. 
 
 332. linenda . . .: i.e., 'deserv- 
 ing of immortality.' Oil of cedar 
 was used to preserve the papyrus 
 
 presso : the cypress wood took a 
 high polish, and cases made of it 
 would be especially fine. 
 
 334. iucunda, idonea . . . vitae: 
 these repeat prodesse and delectare 
 in reversed order. 
 
 335. quicquid praecipies: i.e., 
 'if you choose prodesse, idonea 
 vitae, to write a didactic poem.' 
 cito : with dicta ; brevia. 
 
 336. dociles, fideles: predicate. 
 
 338. ficta: the other alterna- 
 tives ; ' if you choose iucunda, de- 
 lectare, to write poems to give pleas- 
 ure only.' proxima veris : i.e., 
 not at variance with probabilities. 
 
 340. Lamiae : a monstrous crea- 
 ture that devoured children alive. 
 
 341. centuriae: this word sug- 
 gests the figure of an election. 
 seniorum : the citizens above forty- 
 
 HOR. EP. 15 
 
 225
 
 2, 3, 342.1 
 
 HORATI 
 
 345 
 
 35 
 
 praetereunt austera poemata Ramnes: 
 pmne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci 
 lectorem delectando pariterque monendo. 
 Hie meret aera liber Sosiis, hie et mare transit 
 
 et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum. 
 
 .. r . -OQjvi-e^ nay- 
 
 Sunt dehcta tamen, quibus igfiovisse vehmus : r 
 
 nam neque chorda sonum reddit, quern vult manus et 
 
 mens, jpLLtdkirt* ^^ 
 
 poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum, 
 nee semper feriet quodcumque minabitur arcus. 
 Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis 
 offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit, 
 aut humana parum cavit natura. Quid ergo est? 
 Vt scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque, 
 
 five. expertia frugis: poems 
 that are not didactic, but iucunda. 
 
 342. celsi. . . Ramnes: the knights 
 were the younger citizens, proud 
 of their position and their old 
 name. austera: poems that are 
 merely didactic, not iucunda. 
 
 343-344- omne . . . punctum : i.e., 
 both old and young; cf. Epist. 
 2, 2, 99, note. Vs. 341 corre- 
 sponds to the first half of vs. 333, 
 vs. 342 to the second half, and vss. 
 343-344 to vs. 334. 
 
 345. Sosiis : the booksellers, al- 
 ready mentioned in Epist. I, 20,2. 
 
 346. This verse returns, as a 
 kind of summary, to the thought 
 of vs. 332. 
 
 347. tamen: i.e., * though I 
 thus hold up the ideal, I recognize 
 the tact that it is difficult of attain- 
 ment 1 
 
 348-350. The comparison, as so 
 often in Horace, is merely implied ; 
 'such failings of a poet are like the 
 mistakes of the musician or the 
 archer.' gravem : low. per- 
 saepe : there is an apologetic tone 
 in this word ; -very often, so weak 
 is human skill. feriet ; the future 
 tense, instead of the present reddit, 
 remittit, represents the archer as 
 already excusing his possible miss, 
 before he shoots. 
 
 352. offendar maculis: this is 
 the doctrine QiSat. I, 3, 68 ff. and 
 almost the same form of expression 
 as that in Sat. i, 6, 65-67. The 
 use of maculis anticipates the com- 
 parison of vs. 354. fudit: as ii 
 by the spilling of ink. 
 
 354. scriptor . . . librarius : a 
 slave who copied books, in the 
 Roman way.
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 , 3. 363 
 
 355 quamvis est monitus, venia caret, et citharoedus 
 ridetur, chorda qui semper oberrat eadem : 
 sic mihi, qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille, 
 quern bis terve bonum cum risu miror; et idem 
 indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus^ 
 
 360 verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum. 
 Vt pictura, poesis; erit quae, si propius stes, 
 te capiat magis, et quaedam, si longius abstes; 
 haec amat obscurum ; volet haec sub luce videri, 
 
 355. venia caret : * can no longer 
 be pardoned.' 
 
 357. qui multum cessat : this 
 corresponds to peccat idem and 
 semper oberrat. Choerilus ille : 
 Epist. 2, I, 233. 
 
 358-360. cum risu miror : /.*., ' he 
 is generally so poor that, when 
 once or twice he says a good thing, 
 it only makes me laugh and won- 
 der how he came to do it.' idem : 
 with adversative implication, as 
 often ; ' and, on the other hand.' 
 
 indignor : not ' I am angry,' but 
 in its proper sense, 'I count it 
 unworthy of him.' quandoque: 
 -= qnandocumque ; the different 
 forms of the indefinite relative were 
 never as clearly differentiated in 
 usage as they are in the grammars. 
 
 bonus: a standing epithet. 
 dormitat: cf. dormire, Sat. 2, I, 7, 
 in a figurative sense not unlike 
 this. Vs. 360 is a humorous ex- 
 cuse playing upon the literal sense 
 ot dormitat. The thought here is 
 only apparently contradictory to 
 vs. 347 and vs?. 351 f. ; non ego 
 
 paucis offendar maculis means ' I 
 will not condemn a whole poem 
 for a few faults'; indignor . . . 
 Homerrts does not mean ' I am 
 angry with Homer for his few 
 faults,' but rather ' I so admire 
 Homer that, when he makes an 
 occasional slip, my only feeling is 
 that it is unworthy of so great a 
 poet.' The word indignor is not 
 the same as offendar ; it is selected 
 for the contrast with cum risu 
 miror and means scarcely more 
 than ' I wonder at it,' ' I am sur- 
 prised.' 
 
 361-365. ut pictura, poesis : the 
 comparison is not original ; cf. 
 Auct. ad Herenn. 4, 28, 39, poema 
 loquens pictura, pictitra taciturn 
 poema debet esse. It should be 
 noticed that the comparison, which 
 is suggested by the thought of vss. 
 347-360, concerns only the proper 
 attitude of the critic toward works 
 of art, either pictures or poems, not 
 their essential characteristics. In 
 carrying a comparison out into 
 details, as is done here, there is
 
 a, 3- 3 
 
 HORATI 
 
 iudicis argutum quae non formidat acumen : 
 365 haec placuit semel, haec decies repetita placebit. 
 O maior iuvenum, quamvis et voce paterna 
 fingeris ad rectum et per te sapis, hoc tibi dictum 
 tolle memor, certis medium et tolerabile rebus 
 recte concedi : consultus iuris et actor 
 370 causarum mediocris abest virtute diserti 
 
 Messallae, nee scit quantum Cascellius Aulus, 
 sed tamen in pretio est; mediocribus esse poetis 
 non homines, non di, non concessere 
 
 always a tendency to let the mind 
 rest upon one side, sometimes to 
 the exclusion of the other side. 
 The contrast in propius, longins 
 is primarily pictorial, not poetic, 
 though it doubtless means, secon- 
 darily, to contrast poetry highly 
 finished in details with poetry on 
 a larger scale, like an epic. But 
 haec amat obscurum, which is a 
 very just remark about some paint- 
 ings, is almost meaningless when 
 used of a poem. The last line, vs. 
 365, is written with poetry prima- 
 rily in mind (repetita), though it 
 applies equally well to a picture. 
 
 366. maior iuvenum: this is 
 almost the only personal touch in 
 the epistle, and it is not certain 
 that this address to the elder 
 brother means anything more than 
 that he is now old enough to be 
 making his choice of a career. 
 
 367. ad rectum : in matters of 
 taste; cf. recte, vs. 309. perte 
 sapis : a polite phrase to take off 
 the edge of the rather earnest 
 
 228 
 
 advice, as in the first lines of Epist, 
 1,17, satis per te tibi consults, and 
 Epist. i, 1 8, si bene te novi. hoc 
 dictum : in vss. 372 f. 
 
 368. tolle memor : i.e., ' carry 
 away with you and store in your 
 memory,' as if the epistle were 
 really a sermo. medium : not as 
 Horace often uses the word, but 
 ' mediocre, 1 ' moderately good.' 
 
 369. consultus, actor: the two 
 branches of the legal profession, 
 the jurist and the pleader. 
 
 370. mediocris: the emphatic 
 word ; ' of only moderate ability.' 
 abest: i.e., ( fails to attain to.' 
 
 371. Messallae: cf. Sat. i, 10, 
 29, note. He was a man of much 
 distinction in several fields. 
 Cascellius : distinguished in the 
 Ciceronian period as a jurist and 
 an orator. He was probably not 
 living at this time. 
 
 372-373. in pretio: of value i 
 a term of moderate praise. medi- 
 ocribus : dative in the predicate ; 
 cf. Sat. i, i, 19, licet esse beatis.
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 . 3 383 
 
 Vt gratas inter mensas symphonia discors 
 375 et crassum unguentum et Sardo cum melle papaver 
 
 offendunt, poterat duel quia cena sine istis : 
 
 sic animis natum inventumque poema iuvandis, 
 
 si paullum summo decessit, vergit ad imum. 
 
 Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis, 
 380 indoctusque pilae discive trochive quiescit, 
 
 ne spissae risum tollant impune coronae; 
 
 qui nescit versus, tamen audet fingere. Quidni? 
 
 Liber et ingenuus, praesertim census equestrem 
 
 This is the dictum of vs. 367. 
 
 columnae : an intentionally lofty 
 word for the pilae (Sat. i, 4, 71), 
 posts in front of the shop where 
 announcements of books or copies 
 of the books themselves were hung 
 to attract buyers. There is also 
 an intentional anticlimax in homi- 
 nes, di, columnae. 
 
 374-376. 'This is true of any 
 luxury; only the best is really 
 good.' symphonia discors : to 
 the educated Roman leader, ac- 
 quainted with Greek, the contra- 
 diction in these words would be 
 as obvious as in the phrase con- 
 fordia discors, Epist. I, 12, 19. 
 Music was often played during a 
 dinner. crassum : thick, coarse. 
 
 Sardo : of inferior quality. 
 papaver: the seeds of the white 
 poppy. duci : carried on. 
 
 377. natum : so of a wall, Sat. 
 2, 3, 8. The distinction between 
 the arts which have to do only 
 with pleasure and cultivation and 
 those which serve also a practical 
 
 end is made by Cicero, in compar- 
 ing the actor and the orator. 
 
 379. ludere : the general sense 
 which this word has when stand- 
 ing alone is immediately made 
 definite by the next words . 
 campestribus . . . armis : those 
 which are mentioned in the next 
 verse. 
 
 380. pilae: Sat. I, 5, 49. 
 disci: Sat. 2, 2, 13, where (in 
 vs. n) these two forms of Greek 
 athletics are contrasted with hunt- 
 ing and riding. 
 
 381. impune: i.e., there would 
 be no ground on which the player 
 who was laughed at could resent 
 the ridicule ; justly, properly. 
 
 382. qui nescit : this is the 
 opinion expressed in Epist. 2, I, 
 114-117, under a slightly different 
 figure. 
 
 382. quidni: why not, of course t 
 In this phrase ni has no condi- 
 tional force, 
 
 383-384. *He's a perfectly re- 
 spectable citizen. Why shouldn't 
 
 229
 
 3. 3-HJ 
 
 HORATI 
 
 summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni. 
 
 185 Tu nihil in vita dices faciesve Minerva; . 
 
 id tibi iudicium esto, ea mens : si quid tamen olim 
 scripseris, in Maeci descendat iudicis aures, 
 et patris et nostras, nonumque prematur in annum, 
 membranis intus positis. Delere licebit 
 
 390 quod non edideris ; nescit vox missa reverti. 
 Silvestris homines sacer interpresque deorum 
 
 he write poetry ? ' census : the 
 participle, retaining in the passive 
 the cognate accus. of the active. 
 The construction is rare. vitio 
 remotus : so sine criming in a 
 similar description, Epist. I, 7, 
 56. 
 
 385. tu: referring back to vs. 
 366, and returning, after the gen- 
 eral remarks of vs. 374 ff., to the 
 personal application. nihil . . . 
 dices : concessive in force (cf. 
 tamen), like quamvis . . . per te 
 salt's, vs. 366 f., and with the 
 same courteous intention. invita 
 . . . Minerva : this phrase was 
 proverbial and is explained by 
 Cicero (de Off, i, 31, no), invita 
 Minerva, ut aiunt, id est, adver- 
 sante et repugnance natura. Mi- 
 nerva is here the goddess of the 
 intellectual powers. 
 
 386. id, ea: such. The con- 
 struction is paratactic for 'such 
 Is your judgment that you will 
 say nothing. . . .' 
 
 387. Maeci : Sp. Maecius Tarpa, 
 named in Sat. I, 10, 38 as a critic 
 of authority. He is named here 
 merely as a representative of the 
 
 severe criticism to which the writ- 
 ings of a young man should be 
 submitted. 
 
 388. et patris et nostras: as 
 critics also, though perhaps more 
 friendly critics. nonum ... in an- 
 num : this famous precept is not 
 to be understood literally or defi- 
 nitely. The meaning is that a 
 young writer should hold back 
 his work for mature consideration 
 and revision. The number (no- 
 num) was perhaps chosen because 
 the poet Helvius Cinna spent nine 
 years in the writing and correcting 
 of his epic Smyrna (Catull. 95, 
 1-2). But this case was by no 
 means unique ; Vergil spent seven 
 years upon the Georgics and left 
 the Aeneid unfinished after ten 
 years of work upon it. 
 
 390. vox missa : the expression 
 is figurative ; literally, it refers to 
 the spoken word, as in Epist. I, 
 1 8, 71, semel emissum volat irrevo- 
 cabile verbum. 
 
 391-407. 'But, on the other 
 hand, do not think that poetry is 
 too light an occupation for a seri- 
 ous Roman, for it has contributed 
 
 230
 
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2. 3. 4 
 
 caedibus et victu foedo deterruit Orpheus, 
 dictus ob hoc lenire tigres rabidosque leones; 
 dictus et Amphion Thebanae conditor urbis 
 
 395 saxa movere sono testudinis et prece blanda 
 
 ducere quo vellet. Fuit haec sapientia quondam, 
 publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis, 
 concubitu prohibere vago, dare iura maritis, 
 oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno. 
 
 400 Sic honor et nomen divinis vatibus atque 
 
 largely to the movement of civili- 
 zation. 1 This thought is repeated 
 in substance in Epist. 2, I, 118- 
 138. But the tone there is less 
 historical and more abstract, and 
 there is consequently little repe- 
 tition of phrases or illustrations. 
 
 391. silvestris : /.<?., men in their 
 primitive state, still living in the 
 woods . sacer : the poet is vales, 
 inspired singer, interpreter of the 
 divine will. 
 
 392. victu foedo : i.e., the acorns 
 and nuts which they lived upon as 
 the animals did. The adj. foedo 
 is used in a general way of the 
 kind of life, rather than of any- 
 thing unpleasant in the food itself. 
 
 393. dictus ob hoc : 'this is the 
 origin of the legend of his taming 
 tigers.' 
 
 394. dictus: the repetition of the 
 word at the beginning of the line is 
 meant to suggest that the story of 
 Amphion is also a legend, the real 
 purpose of which is to express in 
 vivid form the power of the singer. 
 
 395- prece : his song moved 
 
 rocks as it moved the gods, when 
 it was addressed to them ; cf. 
 Epist. 2, I, 135, docta prece 
 blandus, of the chorus. 
 
 396. haec : referring back to the 
 work of Orpheus and Amphion, 
 and then analyzed and explained 
 in the following infinitive phrases. 
 
 397-399. Cf. the similar account 
 of the evolution of society in Sat. 
 i, 3, 99-110, where, however, it 
 is used to support the Epicurean 
 doctrine that all moral ideas are 
 derived from utilitas. concubitu 
 . . . vago : "venerem incertam rapi- 
 entis more ferarum, Sat. i, 3, 109. 
 maritis: 'to husband and wife. 1 
 The regulation of marriage was 
 one of the most important matters 
 of Roman law. ligno : perhaps a 
 reference to the tradition that the 
 laws of Solon were made public 
 on wooden tablets. But there is 
 a similar tradition in regard to the 
 Twelve Tables. 
 
 400. sic : because poets were 
 leaders in all these civilizing 
 movements. 
 
 231
 
 HORATI 
 
 carminibus venit. Post hos insignis Homerus 
 Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella 
 versibus exacuit ; dictae per carmina sortes, 
 
 ' 
 et vitae monstrata via est ; et gratia regum 
 
 405 Pieriis ientata modis, ludusque repertus, 
 et longorum operum finis: ne-^orte pudori 
 sit tibi Musa lyrae sellers et cantor Apollo. 
 Natura fieret laudabile carmen, an arte, 
 quaesitum est : ego nee studium sine divite vena, 
 
 410 nee rude quid prosit video ingenium ; alterius sic 
 altera poscit opem res et coniurat amice. 
 Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam, 
 
 401. hos: the divinis vatibus, 
 of whom Orpheus and Amphion 
 were the earliest examples. 
 
 402. Tyrtaeus : the poet who 
 wrote war songs and marching 
 songs for the Spartans, in the 
 seventh century B.C. mares : as 
 in Epist. I, i, 64, maribus Curtis. 
 
 403. exacuit : the subject is 
 Homerus, as well as Tyrtaeus. 
 Horace frequently uses a singular 
 verb with several singular sub- 
 jects. The thought of the sen- 
 tence is, 'poets inspired men to 
 deeds of valor,' taking up again 
 the enumeration of the services 
 of poetry to mankind. sortes : 
 in the more general sense, oracles, 
 which were uttered in hexameters. 
 
 404. vitae ... via : in didactic 
 poetry, like that of Hesiod. gra- 
 tia regum: Pindar, Bacchylides, 
 Simonides were all in some sense 
 court poets. 
 
 405-406. ludus . . . finis: dra- 
 
 matic poetry. The thought is 
 more fully expressed in Epist. 2, 
 I, 139-142. ne forte : a ' paren- 
 thetic ' clause of purpose, summa- 
 rizing the argument of vss. 391- 
 406. 
 
 408-415. 'Both nature and art 
 must contribute to make a good 
 poet though I know that this is 
 not the accepted doctrine.' 
 
 408. natura ... an arte : this 
 was an old question, usually an- 
 swered as here by saying that 
 both are necessary. Cf., e.g., Ci& 
 pro Arch. 7, 15. 
 
 409. studium : = ars. vena : 
 of precious metals, as in modern 
 usage. 
 
 410. rude . . . ingenium : = na- 
 tura sine arte. 
 
 411. amice : i.e., ' it is a mistake 
 to oppose nature and skill, as if 
 they were enemies ; they are really 
 close friends. 1 
 
 412-415. The error of attempt- 
 
 23*
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3. 423 
 
 multa tulit fecitque puer, sudavit et alsit, 
 abstinuit venere et vino. Qui Pythia cantat 
 
 415 tibicen, didicit prius extimuitque magistrum. 
 
 Nunc satis est dixisse : ' Ego mira poemata pango ; 
 occupet extremum ScaBips ; mihi turpe relinqui est, 
 et quod non didici sane hescire fateri.' 
 Vt praeco, ad merces turbam qui cogit emendas, 
 
 JMJiS>a<}s%ritatores iubet ad |Sifr\irn irepoeta 
 
 dives agris, dives posftis in f^emtfe nummis. / 
 Si vero est, unctum qui recte ponere possit, 
 et spondere levi pro paupere, et eripere artis 
 
 Scholiast says that this is part of 
 a phrase used by children in a 
 game and gives the whole chant, 
 hdbeat scabiem quisquis ad me 
 venerit novissimus (arranged in 
 metrical order). Cf. Epist. i, i, 
 59, note. 
 418. sane : at all, with nescire. 
 
 420. ad lucrum: 'as the auc- 
 tioneer summons a crowd who 
 hope to make something by buy- 
 ing cheap, so the rich author in- 
 vites flattery.' 
 
 421. This verse occurs also in 
 Sat. I, 2, 13, where, however, it 
 is not necessary to the sense, as 
 it is here. 
 
 422. unctum : a rich morsel. 
 ponere : as a host places a good 
 dinner before his guests. 
 
 423. levi : i.e., a poor man who 
 is so lacking in self-respect as to 
 be willing to profit by such help. 
 The object of eripere is to be sup- 
 plied from pro paupere. artis : 
 'lawsuits that bind him tight.' 
 
 ing to write witfibut sufficient 
 training is illustrated in Epist. 2, 
 I, 114 ff. by a comparison with 
 trades and professions, in vss. 
 379 ff. by a comparison with the 
 players in games of skill, and 
 here by a reference to the practice 
 needed for success in the Pythian 
 games. cursu : in the foot race, 
 from which so many figures have 
 been drawn. tulit fecitque : i.e. f 
 both passive and active prepara- 
 tion. puer : ' from boyhood.' 
 Pythia cantat : cf. coronari Olym- 
 pia, Epist. I, I, 50. Musical con- 
 tests were a regular part of the 
 games. extimuit : i.e., ' has en- 
 dured discipline from which, at 
 the time, he shrank.' 
 
 416. mine satis est: 'but now- 
 adays poets are satisfied with their 
 own approval and think courage 
 is the only quality necessary to 
 writing.' 
 
 417. occupet . . . scabies: 'the 
 devil take the hindmost.' The
 
 
 2, 3> 424] 
 
 
 V A^ I 
 
 HORATT 
 
 . 
 
 
 litibus implicitum ; mirabor, si sciet inter- 
 125 noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum. 
 
 , Tu seu donaris, seu quid' donare voles cui, 
 *' v nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum 
 
 laetitiae : clamabit enim ' pulchre ! bene ! recte ! 
 
 ^ L r . 
 
 / pallescet super his ; etiam stillabit amicis 
 430 ex oculis fofe^m, saliet, timcfet pede terram. 
 Vt qui conduct! plorant in funere, dicunt 
 et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo, sic 
 derisor vero plus laudatore movetur. 
 Reges dicuntur multis urgere culullis ^^X*" 
 
 VdCkAfl jr 
 
 [This is Bentley's conjecture. The ' 
 
 ;. 
 
 reading of the Mss., afrt's, cannot 
 be justified by atra cura.~] 
 
 424. inter . . . noscere : cf. Sat. 
 2, 3, 117 f., unde . . . octoginta; 
 Epist. 2, 2, 93. It is to be remem- 
 bered that to the Roman feeling the 
 difference between the juxtaposi- 
 tion of two words and their compo- 
 sition into a single word was much 
 less distinct than it is in English. 
 The habit of reading from print 
 prevents us from perceiving actual 
 composition in such a phrase, for 
 example, as not at all. 
 
 425. beatus: 'in his self-satis- 
 faction.' 
 
 426. donaris: = donaveris; 'if 
 -you already have some person who 
 is under obligation to you.' 
 
 427. tibi factos : ' the verses that 
 you, his host and benefactor, have 
 made.' 
 
 429. super his : < at this or that 
 passage,' which is intended to ex- 
 cite terror. 
 
 430. saliet : as an expression of 
 joy, when that is the proper emo- 
 tion. tundet. . . terram : when he 
 hears of the wickedness of the vil- 
 lain of the drama. All this is, of 
 course, a humorous exaggeration 
 of natural expressions of emo- 
 tion. 
 
 431. conduct! : for hire. There 
 are various allusions to the custom 
 of hiring women (praeficae) to 
 accompany a funeral procession 
 with cries of grief. The masculine 
 is used in order that the phrase 
 may be more directly applicable to 
 the flattering friend. 
 
 432. ex animo : with dolentibus, 
 contrasting with conducti. 
 
 433. derisor : /.(?., ' the man who 
 is pretending to admire, but is in 
 his heart laughing at the poet for 
 being so easily fooled.' movetur : 
 ' makes a greater show of emotion,' 
 as already described. 
 
 434. reges : this is like the allu- 
 sion in Sat. i, 2, 86, regibus hie 
 
 234
 
 
 
 EPISTVLAB 
 
 3, 44* 
 
 435 et torquere mero quern perspexisse laborant, 
 an sit amicitia dignus : si carmina condes, 
 nunquam te fallent -animi sub v^lpe 
 Quintilio si quid recitares, ' corrige 
 hoc,' aiebat, ' et hoc ' : melius te posse negares 
 
 440 bis terque expertum frustra, delere iubebat 
 et male tornatos incudi reddere versus. 
 Si defendere delictum quam vertere malles, 
 
 1 
 
 mos est, but neither custom is else- 
 where mentioned. 
 
 435. torquere mero : cf. Epist. 
 I, 1 8, 38, note. This is the gen- 
 eral idea which is expressed in 
 the saying in vino veritas. 
 laborant : are anxious, are striv- 
 ing. 
 
 437. fallent: /'.<?., 'you need not 
 use such means as these, for 
 your flatterer will reveal himself 
 surely enough.' sub vulpe : the 
 allusion is to the fox who flattered 
 the raven in order to get the bit of 
 cheese (Phaedr. I, 13), keeping 
 his real purpose (animi) out of 
 sight (latentes). The phrase sub 
 vulpe is therefore a concise expres- 
 sion for ' as the fox hid his purpose 
 in his heart.' 
 
 438. Quintilio : the abruptness 
 of the transition gives a strong 
 adversative force ; ' Quintilius, on 
 the other hand, will speak his 
 mind plainly.' This is the Quin- 
 tilius Varus whose death Horace 
 mourned in the noble ode, Carm. 
 I, 24, attributing to him incor- 
 rupt a Fides nudaque Veritas. 
 recitares: of the past, as aiebat, 
 
 iubebat show, not an ordinary un- 
 fulfilled condition. 
 
 439. negares : a condition with- 
 out si expressed, but dependent 
 upon si of vs. 438, which is again 
 expressed in vs. 442. 
 
 441. 'If, on a second or third 
 attempt, the verses prove incapable 
 of improvement, then they must 
 be stricken out and the thought 
 must be expressed in some en- 
 tirely new form, as a metal worker 
 puts a piece of work that cannot 
 be properly finished back upon the 
 anvil and begins all over again.' 
 The finishing of the metal work 
 was sometimes done on the lathe, 
 and male tornatos means 'which 
 come out badly in the finishing 
 process.' Such work would be 
 taken back to the anvil (incudi), 
 to be forged over again. 
 
 442. vertere : to change, to 
 amend. In this general sense 
 vertere needs some additional de- 
 fining phrase, usually in with the 
 accus. ; here the definition is al- 
 ready given by defendere delictum. 
 [ It is quite impossible that there 
 should be any connection with 
 
 235
 
 3 443] 
 
 HORATI 
 
 3jft*^ 
 
 inern, 
 
 .^. 
 
 nullum ultra verbum aut operam insumebat ina 
 quin sine rivali teque et tua solus amares. 
 
 445 Vir bonus et prudens versus r^prenenaet ine 
 ,,-^culpabit duros, incomptis adline]; a.tfum 
 transverso^calar^o^signum, ambitiosa recidet 
 ornamenta, parum claris lucem dare coget, 
 arguet ambigue dictum, mutanda notabit, - , 
 
 450 net Aristarchus, nee dicet, ' cur ego amicum 
 offendam in nugis ? ' Hae nugae seria ducent 
 in mala derisum semel exceptumque sinistre. 
 
 vertere stilum, as many good 
 editions say.] 
 
 443. inanem: predicate; to no 
 effect. 
 
 444. sine rival! : with solus ; the 
 phrase is used by Cic. (ad Q. Fr. 
 3, 8, 4) as if it were proverbial. 
 
 445-449. The attitude of the 
 frank and competent critic, which 
 has been outlined in the reminis- 
 cence of Quintilius Varus, is here 
 defined in more general terms, 
 with the vir bonus et prudens sub- 
 stituted for Quintilius and with 
 future tenses instead of imperfects. 
 The process of revision is illus- 
 trated in details which are un- 
 doubtedly drawn from Horace's 
 own experience and practice and 
 which therefore reveal to us some- 
 thing of his method of work. 
 The faults selected for illustration 
 are those which Horace has es- 
 pecially endeavored to avoid ; 
 versus inert es (flat, lacking in 
 vigor of expression), duros (harsh 
 in sound and rhythm), incomptis 
 
 ~w V 
 
 (ill-arranged in order of thought), 
 ambitiosa (aiming too directly at 
 effect), parum claris (words which 
 do not sufficiently express the 
 thought), ambigue dictum (phrases 
 which are capable of more than 
 one interpretation). Some of 
 these have parallels in Epist. 2, 2, 
 122 f. There is a careful varia- 
 tion in the verbs also ; reprehen- 
 det, culpabit, arguet are general, 
 adlinet atrutn signum, recidet, 
 lucem dare coget are more spe- 
 cific. 
 
 450. Aristarchus : the famous 
 Homeric critic, who lived in Alex- 
 andria in the second century B.C. 
 His name had become typical of 
 the severe critic. 
 
 451-452. hae nugae: < these 
 things which you call trifles. 1 
 derisum semel : the poet who has 
 v once been ridiculed in public for 
 faults which may be in themselves 
 trifling has suffered a loss of repu- 
 tation from which he can scarcely 
 recover. 
 
 236
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2, 3. 460 
 
 155 
 
 Vt mala quern scabies aut morbAis regius urget, 
 aut fanaticus error et irac'unda Diana, 
 vesa'num titigisse timent fugiuntque poetam 
 qui sapiunt : agitant pueri incautique sequuntur. 
 
 -Hie, dum sublimis versus ructatur et errat, 
 si velutilneYulis intentus decidit auceps 
 in p*M&um foveamve, licet ' succurrite ' longum 
 clamet ' io cives,' non sit qui tollere curet. 
 
 453-476. < Allow me, in conclu- 
 sion, to hold up to you the picture 
 of the kind of poet you should try 
 not to be the crazy fool, who 
 thinks himself inspired.' 
 
 453. morbus regius : this phrase 
 embalms two popular errors, that 
 jaundice was a contagious disease 
 and that it was somehow espe- 
 cially connected with kings or with 
 the rich ; to account for the latter 
 various fanciful explanations were 
 given. 
 
 454. fanaticus error: the fran- 
 tic dancing of the priests of Bel- 
 lona (Sat. 2, 3, 223, gaudens 
 cruentis), who went about the 
 streets cutting themselves in frenzy 
 and begging from the passers-by. 
 The word fanaticus (from fanuni) 
 was used especially of the priests 
 and worship of Bellona and Cy- 
 bele. Diana: as moon god- 
 dess, whose beams were supposed 
 to cause lunacy (luna). 
 
 455- vesanum: = insanum. 
 
 456. qui sapiunt: = sapient 'es ; 
 subject of timent fugiuntque and 
 contrasted with incauti. agi- 
 tant: at the beginning of the 
 
 clause with adversative effect. The 
 picture of the poet in the r61e of 
 the madman, tormented by street 
 boys (cf. Sat. I, 3, 133 ff. ), while 
 the more reckless of the people 
 follow behind to look on, and the 
 cautious and respectable citizens 
 cross to the other side of the 
 street, is highly effective in its 
 ridicule. 
 
 457. sublimis: 'with his head 
 in the air.' 
 
 458. merulis intentus : this reads 
 like an allusion to some well- 
 known stofy, but no such story 
 has come down to us. 
 
 459-460. longum : so as to be 
 heard afar.' non sit : the gram- 
 matical construction is si . . . de- 
 cidit) licet . . . clamet) non sit; 
 the indicative of the condition 
 would naturally be followed by an 
 indicative non est in the conclu- 
 sion, but the concessive clause licet 
 . . . clamet comes in and forms a 
 new protasis, under the influence 
 of which the apodosis takes a sub- 
 junctive ; if ' he falls into a well 
 even though he should cry out, n< 
 one would help him.' 
 
 37
 
 HORATI 
 
 Si curet quis opem ferre et demittere fundm,* 
 'gin' scis an prudens hue se proiecerit atque 
 servari nolit?' dicam, Sicuttque poetae # 
 narrabo^intefiiutli. Deus immortalis haberi 
 465 dum cupit Empedocles, ardentem frigidus Aetnam 
 
 470 
 
 ythsiluit. Sit ius liceatque perire poetis. 
 Invitum qui servat, idem facit occidenti. 
 Nee semel hoc fecit, nee, si retractus erit, iaro 
 net homo et ponet famosa^jaaortis amorem. 
 Nee satis apparet, cur versus f actitet ; utrurn 
 minxerit in patrios cineres, an triste bidental 
 
 461-463. ' For, as I should point 
 out to any zealous rescuer, most 
 probably he doesn't want to be 
 rescued.' dicam: apodosis to 
 siquiscuret. Siculi poetae: Em- 
 pedocles of Agrigentum, philoso- 
 pher, poet, and statesman of the 
 fifth century B.C. About his life 
 and death various legends grew 
 up, the one of widest currency 
 being this, that he threw himself 
 into the crater of Aetna. The best 
 thing to be said of this story is that 
 it furnished the theme for Matthew 
 Arnold's ' Empedocles on Etna.' 
 
 464. deus immortalis : this was 
 one of the motives ascribed to him 
 for the deed. 
 
 465. frigidus : it is possible that 
 this is an allusion to teachings of 
 Empedocles (who was a physicist), 
 in which he identified life with 
 heat. But the allusion would be 
 rather obscure. It is more likely 
 to be ' in cold blood,' for the con- 
 trast with ardentem. 
 
 467. idem . . . occidenti : * does 
 the same thing as killing him ' ; i.e. t 
 it is just as bad to prevent him 
 from dying when he wants to die, 
 as to kill him when he wants to 
 live. The construction with the 
 dative is rare, but is found in Lu- 
 cret. ; cf. also the abl. after //>/j. 
 This is the only spondaic hexame- 
 ter in Horace. 
 
 468-469. ' And it will do no 
 good to save him ; he has tried it 
 before, and he likes the notoriety.' 
 
 470. nee satis apparet : i.e., ' we 
 don't know the cause of his poetic 
 madness, but the fact is plain.' 
 cur versus f actitet: this is ex- 
 pressed as if it were identical with 
 madness. 
 
 471-472. triste bidental : a spot 
 struck by lightning, which was 
 therefore considered sacred (/r/j- 
 te) and was consecrated by a sac- 
 rifice of bidentes (esp. sheep). It 
 was also surrounded by a wall, and 
 any one who should remove this
 
 EPISTVLAE 
 
 [2,3,476 
 
 
 
 475 
 
 moverit incest^s : certe furit, ac velut ursus 
 obiectos ca"veae valuit si frangere clathros, 
 
 indoctum doctumque f ugat recitator acerbus ; 
 
 &* '- , , , 
 
 quern vero afripliit, tenet occiditque legendo,^ ^ 
 
 non missura cutem, nisi plena, cruoris, hirudo. 
 
 would be unclean (incestus). to education, if only he can find a 
 
 certe : ' at any rate, whatever the 
 oause, he is certainly mad.' 
 
 474. indoctum doctumque : a hu- 
 morous variation on pueri puellae, 
 et pueros et anus ; the mad poet 
 will make no distinction according 
 
 hearer. fugat : cf. the story of 
 Ruso, Sat. i, 3, 86 ff. 
 
 476. The two objects, that 
 which is compared and that with 
 which it is compared, are, as often 
 identified in the expression. 

 
 
 
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