Hic innocentis pocula Lesbii Prælia: nec metues protervum Et scindat hærentem coronam NOTES. 25 21. Innocentis Lesbii.] Wine from Lesbos, an island in the Egean sea, which might be drank without danger of intoxication. 22. Semeleius Thyoneus.] Bacchus was called Semeleïus from his mother Semele; and Thyoneus from evw, to be frantic. CARMEN XVIII. AD VARUM. NULLAM, Vare, sacra vite prius severis arborem Circa mite solum Tiburis, et mœnia Catili. 4 Quis post vina gravem militiam, aut pauperiem crepat? NOTES. 10 Horace in this ode recommends the moderate use of wine. 2. Tiburis.] An ancient town of the Sabines, about twenty miles north of Rome, built by the three sons of Amphiaraus, Tiburtus, Coras, and Catilus, and called after the name of the eldest. Horace here calls it also Mania Catili. 8. Centaurea monet cum Lapithis.] The Lapithæ and Centaurs were people of Thessaly, who being invited to the marriage of Pirithous and Hippodamia, drank too freely, and had a severe quarrel, in which many of them lost their lives. 9. Sithoniis.] Sithonia was a part of Thrace. Non levis Evius.] Bacchus is said to be severe to the Thracians, because of the injurious effects of wine upon them. Discernunt avidi. Non ego te, candide Bassareu, NOTES. 15 11. Avidi.] immoderate, insatiable. The Thracians, in their de bauches, knew not any other bounds to their desires than their passions, which usually make little difference between right and wrong. Quia sunt avidi, ideo fas atque nefas discernunt exiguo fine libidinum. Bassareu.] Bacchus was so surnamed from the long robe called bassaris, which his priests wore. 12. Quatiam.] This word is metaphorically taken from a custom of the ancients, who, on their festival days, removed the statues of their Gods from the place in which they usually stood, and carried them in procession. Variis obsita frondibus.] This expression is likewise taken from a custom, observed in the feasts of Bacchus and Ceres. When they carried the statues of these Deities in procession, they carried baskets also covered with vine-leaves and ivy. 13. Berecynthio.] As the musical instruments employed in the festivals of Bacchus, were likewise used in the feasts of Cybele, Horace calls them Berecynthian, from the name of a mountain in Phrygia, where that goddess was worshipped. 16. Perlucidior vitro.] More transparent than glass, which shows every thing within it. CARMEN XIX. omitted. CARMEN XX. AD MECENATEM. VILE potabis modicis Sabinum Cantharis, Græca quod ego ipse testa NOTES. 1. Vile Sabinum.] Of all the Italian wines, the Sabine was least esteemed. Modicis cantharis.] In small cups. The cantharus is here put for any vessel; it was properly the cup of Bacchus, from whence we may suppose it was not a very small one, and Virgil calls that of Silenus gravis. 2. Graca testa.] The ancients put their wine into earthen ves Conditum levi; datus in theatro Cum tibi plausus, Care Mæcenas eques; ut paterni Cæcubum, et prælo domitam Caleno NOTES. 5 10 sels, and as they sent from Greece to Italy none but of the most exquisite kinds, the poet says, he had racked his Sabine wine into a Grecian cask, that he might correct the bad qualities of it: 3. Levi.] When the ancients filled their casks, they closed them with wax, pitch, gum, or plaster; and, although the Sabine wine was by no means worthy of so much care, yet as Mæcenas at that time had received some remarkable applause in the theatre, the poet preserved on his vessels the remembrance of a day so glorious to his patron. 5. Paterni fluminis.] It seems as if Horace could not find a more glorious epithet for the Tiber than the river of Mecenas ancestors. They came originally from Etruria, where the Tiber has its source. 7. Vaticani montis.] One of the seven hills upon which Rome was built. 9. Cacubum.] A town of Campania in Italy, near the bay of Cajeta, famous for the excellence of its wines. Caleno.] Cales was a town of Campania. 10. Falerne.] Falernus was a fertile mountain and plain of Campania, upon which grew the most luxuriant and fruitful vines. 11. Formiani colles.] The Formian hills were in the neighbourhood of Formiæ, a maritime town of Campania. They produced excellent wines. E CARMEN XXI. IN DIANAM ET APOLLINEM. DIANAM teneræ dicite virgines: Dilectam penitus Jovi. Vos lætam fluviis, et nemorum coma, Silvis, aut viridis Cragi. Vos Tempe totidem tollite laudibus, Fraternaque humerum lyra. Hic bellum lacrymosum, hic miseram famem Vestra motus aget prece. NOTES. 5 10 15 1. Dianam.] The daughter of Jupiter by Latona, at the same birth with Apollo. 2. Intonsum.] Apollo is generally represented with long hair, in imitation of the rays of the sun. Cynthium.] From Cynthus a mountain of the island of Delos, where Apollo was born. 6. Algido.] A wood and mountain, not far from Rome, sacred to Diana: it is so called from its excessive coldness. 7. Erimanthi. A mountain in Arcadia, where Diana used to exercise herself in hunting. 8. Cragi.] A mountain of Lycia, in Asia minor. 9. Tempe.] A pleasant vale in Thessaly, lying between the hills Ossa, Olympus, and Pelion, the river Peneus running through the midst of it. 10. Delos.] An island in the Ægæan sea, the principal of the Cyclades, where Latona was delivered of Apollo and Diana. 12. Fraterna.] Given to him by his brother Mercury, who was the inventor of the lyre. 15. In Persas atque Britannos.] That is, far from Italy; for these two nations mark the extremities of the Roman empire to east and west. CARMEN XXII. AD ARISTIUM FUSCUM. INTEGER vitæ, scelerisque purus Sive per Syrtes iter æstuosas, Namque me silva lupus in Sabina, Fugit inermem: Quale portentum neque militaris Nec Juba tellus generat, leonum NOTES. 5 10 15 3. Venenatis sagittis.] The Africans were obliged to poison their arrows, to defend themselves from the wild beasts, with which their country was infested. This poison was a mixture of viper's and human blood, and Pliny tells us it was incurable. 4. Fusce.] A distinguished poet and orator, and an intimate friend of Horace. 5. Syrtes astuosas.] The burning sands of Libya. 6. Inhospitalem Caucasum.] A very high and very celebrated mountain of Asia. It is called inhospitalem, because always covered with snow. 7. Fabulosus Hydaspes.] Hydaspes was the name of two rivers in Asia; one in Media, the other in India. The poet here alludes to that of India, which he calls fabulosus, because there are several strange stories told of it, such as that it abounds with golden sands, pearls, and precious stones. 10. Ultra terminum.] Scil. solita deambulationis. 13. Militaris Daunia.] A part of Apulia, called militaris from the skill of its inhabitants in the arts of war. 15. Juba tellus.] The country of Mauritania, of which Juba was |