60 Nunc ; &, fi quid abest, Italis adjudicat armis. 65 70 Non 56. Parthorum figna refigit.] All our Editors agree, that refigit is in almost all the Manufcripts. It is of more than ordinary Value, because it determines the precife Date of this Epiftle in 734, when Phraates reftored the Roman Eagles to Auguftus. Horace was then forty-five Years of Age. 57. Nunc; &,fi quid abeft.] Nunc must be conftrued with refigits as appears by the beft Copies, fic enim diftinguunt potiora exemplaria, BENT.SAN. 61. Actia pugna, te duce.] This little Sea-fight is well introduced by our Poet, and does much Honour to Lollius, Augustus, in Remembrance of the Battle of Actium, inftituted a Tournament under the Name of Actian Games, which were annually celebrated every first of Auguft. Mr. Sanadon thinks it probable, that this naval Engagement of Lollius gave the Romans a firft Idea of those Naumachia, with which they were afterwards entertained by their Emperors. 65. Confentire fuis ftudiis.] The Commentators understand thefe Words of Auguftus, which Mr. Dacier thinks ridiculous. The Poet, fays he, returns to his Subject, and tells Lollius, that any great Man, to whom he would wish to be a Favourite, will be pleafed with his Complaifance in hunting with him, and in return, will approve of his Amusements, his writing Verses. And boundless now extends his Sway, And You fhall wifh, but wish in vain, To call the fleeting Words again. Be 66. Utroque tuum laudabit pollice.] A metaphorical Manner of fpeaking taken from the Arena. When a Gladiator was thrown in fighting, the People afked his Life by turning down their Thumbs, or his Death by lifting them up. Quum faveamus pollices premere etiam proverbio jubemur. Plin. TORR. 68. Quid de quoque viro.] Dr. Bentley would have us understand this Precept of a great Man, or a Favourite, de potenti, de gratio. fo, for to have fo much Circumfpection in talking of every small Mortal, bemunculo, is a Timidity more than fervile. He tells us F 6 that Non ancilla tuum jecur ulceret ulla puerve, 75 Qualem commendes, etiam atque etiam afpice; ne mox Fallimur, & quondam non dignum tradimus: ergo Dente Theonino quum circumroditur, ecquid Nam tua res agitur, paries quum proximus ardet: Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici; 80 85 Oderunt that old Story-teller the Scholiaft, veterem enarratarem, is of his Opinion, when he explains the Paffage by quid dicas, de quo dicas, cui dicas. 80. At penitus notum.] If you have been deceived in recommend ing a bad Man, let him fuffer for his own Faults; but if a valuable well-known Friend be treated with Injuftice and Calumny, defend him with Vigour, fidenter, and with your whole Power, præfidio tus tutare. Fidenter, is taken from one of the oldeft Copies, and at inftead of ut, is an easy, though a conjectural, Alteration, which the Senfe and Reasoning of Horace abfolutely requires. BENT. SAN. 82. Dente Theonino.] Theon was a Grecian Poet, so remarkable for the Severity and Acrimony of his Writings, that his Name gave Rife to a Proverb, dens Theoninus. DAC. 84. Nam tua res agitur.] A Man, who delights in Scandal, is a public Incendiary, and our own Intereft, as well as the Duty of Charity, fhould engage us to extinguish the Fire, and hinder it from fpreading farther. 86. Dulcis inexpertis.] Courtiers are Slaves indeed, nor fhould they be lefs fenfible of their Slavery, because their Chains are Gold. Eutrapelus Be not by foolish Love betray'd With cautious Judgement, o'er and o'er, ; At You the envenom'd Shaft is aim'd, Then hafte to ftop the spreading Fire, Untry'd, how fweet a Court Attendance ! Be fure to catch the flying Gale, Left adverse Winds, with rapid Force, The Eutrapelus gave rich Clothes to them, whom he defigned to destroy; and for my part, fays Mr. Sanadon, if I were determined to be revenged on a Man, who had injured me, I would make him a Courtier. 87. Dum tua navis in alto eft.] While you enjoy the Favour of Auguftus. Although the Wind is favourable, yet the Favour of Princes Oderunt hilarem triftes, triftemque jocofi, Sedatum celeres, agilem gnavumque remiffi : Oderunt porrecta negantem pocula; quamquam 90 95 100 Me Princes is as uncertain as the Wind. Remember therefore the following Maxims oderunt bilarem triftes, &c. We may believe, by this Line, that Lollius was actually with Auguftus in Syria, or with Tiberius in Armenia, when this Epiftle was written. 91. Potores liquidi.] Dr. Bentley and Mr. Sanadon think Potores bibuli as ufelefs a Pleonafm, as potores potantes, and therefore read potores liquidi. Befides, bibulus, as the Doctor expreffes it, fignifies, qui bibit, non qui bibitur. The common Editions have nocte, which the Commentators understand in mediam noctem, a Manner of speaking perfectly unknown. Media de luce, is a Manufcript Reading, and easily understood. Probably the whole Line was inferted here from the fourteenth Epistle, Quem bibulum liquidi mediâ de luce Falerni; fince it is written in the Margin of the Copies only, and in a later Hand. 96. Inter cun&ta leges.] The Remainder of this Epiftle is full of excellent Morality. After having given Lollius the best Instructions. for his Conduct at Court, he now teaches him the best Rules for his own Self-condu&t and Happiness. SAN 100. Virtutem do&rina paret.] This was always Matter of Difpute among the Philofophers, but the Scholars of Epicurus determined the Queftion by uniting those Principles, which others divided. SAN. 101. Quid te tibi reddat amicum.] It is Vice that makes us Enemies, and confequently Virtue alone can reconcile us with ouselves. |