rem di donarent, illi decedere pravam stultitiam, et cum sis nihilo sapientior, ex quo plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus isdem ? 155 At si divitiae prudentem reddere possent, si cupidum timidumque minus te, nempe ruberes, Si proprium est, quod quis libra mercatus et aere est, 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 precisely, in Sat. 2, 3, 95 f., divina humanaque pulchris divitiis parent. - nihilo sapientior: like proficiente nihil; the treatment produces no effect. 155-157. This thought also is found in Sat. 2, 3, 91 ff. Here, however, the desired virtues are more definitely expressed in prudentem, cupidum timidumque minus, since the purpose is not caricature, but exhortation. Cf. also Epist. 1, 16, 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 traditional 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 acquired, namely, by usucapio, that is, by possession for a certain period.' Horace intentionally uses mancipat in this clause, as if to say that usucapio was equivalent to mancipatio; 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. qui te pascit: i.e., ' of which you enjoy the profits, the usus.’· tuus: = = proprius, ‘your property, because you enjoy it.'- Orbi: unknown. 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. 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 numerato 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: equivalent 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 proprium; and it is then yours.' 166. numerato: 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.' 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. VS. 167-169. 'The man who buys the produce, really buys the farm ; so, conversely, the man who begins 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, 166; 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 inemptas, Epod. 2, 48; so boughten' things used to be spoken of with apology in New England. 170. usque . ... qua: 'up to where.'- populus: not populus. 171. refugit: the row of pop 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 velut unda supervenit undam, quid vici prosunt aut horrea? Quidve Calabris grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro? 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 momento (Sat. 1, 1, 7 f.) with precision make the mistake of reading into it a modern accuracy. 173. prece, pretio: 'by gift or purchase.' The contrast is natural and the alliterative words are several times used together in this sense. - morte suprema: 'death which is the end of all things.' 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 another 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 frequent 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. 1, 31, armenta, aurum, ebur, rura, aureis, culullis, are all symbolic of riches. sigilla: small figures, apparently of earthenware, which were found in Etruria and valued for their antiquity.-argentum: silver plate, not money. Gaetulo: the sunt qui non habeant, est qui non curat habere. Cur alter fratrum cessare et ludere et ungi praeferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus, alter 185 dives et importunus ad umbram lucis ab ortu silvestrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum, scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum, naturae deus humanae mortalis, in unum African dye, one of the better kind; cf. Epist. 2, 1, 207. sunt qui: the subjunctive after these words is phraseological, not expressive; it came over from negative sentences and sentences with indefinite antecedents, and there is, in most cases, no more essential difference of meaning than there is between quamvis with the subjunctive and quamvis with the indicative. In this particular instance, however, the difference between the many (sunt) and the one (est) is strongly marked and is further emphasized by the difference in the mode. - est qui: Horace. 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 famous 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 cutting the timber for building material 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 occupation, 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... astrum: the constellations which by their position at the hour of birth quodque caput vultu mutabilis, albus et ater. 190 Vtar et ex modico quantum res poscet acervo tollam, nec metuam quid de me iudicet heres, quod non plura datis invenerit; et tamen idem scire volam, quantum simplex hilarisque nepoti discrepet et quantum discordet parcus avaro. 195 Distat enim, spargas tua prodigus, an neque sumptum invitus facias, neque plura parare labores, 200 ac potius, puer ut festis quinquatribus olim, Pauperies immunda domus procul absit; ego utrum determined character and fate. temperat: the Genius, being divine, could affect the constellations and planets. This passage does not imply a belief in astrology; cf. Carm. I, II; 2, 17. - in unum... mutabilis: i.e., 'assuming a different form and character for each individual.' This is the important point of the whole description. - albus et ater: proverbial; cf. Catull. 93, nec 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 reference only; Horace had no natural heir, but he alludes often to the proverbial feeling between testator and heir. |