which to eat of; and, consequently, a splendid banquet where every luxury and delicacy present themselves: whereas cœna ambigua merely signifies a banquet half meat and half fish served up together. - Quin corpus onustum, &c. " Besides this, the body, overcharged with yesterday's excess, weighs down the soul also along with it, and fixes to the earth, this portion of the divine essence," or, more freely, " and plunges in matter this particle of the divinity." Horace, to give a higher idea of the nobleness and dignity of the soul, borrows the language of the Pythagoreans, the Stoics, but particularly the Platonists, respecting the origin of the human soul. These and other schools of ancient philosophy believed the souls of men to be so many portions or emanations of the deity. 80. Dicto citius. Referring to curata membra. The allusion is now to a frugal repast, in opposition to "a doubtful" one, and to the ease. and quickness with which such a meal as the former is despatched, as well as to the peaceful slumbers which it brings, and the renewed bodily vigour which it bestows for the labours of the ensuing day. -81. Prascripta ad munia, i. e. to the duties of his calling. - 82. Hic tamen ad melius, &c. " And yet even this abstemious man may on certain occasions have recourse to better cheer." - 84. Tenuatum. "Worn out with toil." - Ubi. "When." - 86. Tibi quidnam accedet ad istam, &c. "What will be added for thee to that soft indulgence, which, young and vigorous, thou art now anticipating, if either ill health or enfeebling age shall come upon thee?" i. e. thou art now anticipating the only things that can support thee amid the pains of sickness, or under the pressure of age. When age and sickness come, where will be their aid? -90. Credo. "I presume." - Quod hospes tardius adveniens, &c. "That a guest, arriving later than ordinary, might better partake of it, tainted as it was, than that the greedy master should devour it all himself, while sweet." Integrum has here the force of recentem, "fresh," "sweet."-92. Hos utinam inter heroas, &c. Ofellus is in earnest. The poet indulges in a joke. -93. Tellus prima. "The young earth." The good Ofellus, in his earnestness, confounds the antiqui and their rancidus aper with the happy beings who lived in the golden age, and the rich banquets that nature provided them. Tulisset. In allusion to the belief, that the primitive race of men were produced from the earth. 94. Das aliquid famæ, &c. "Hast thou any regard for fame, which charms the human ear more sweetly than music?" This idea is said to have been borrowed from a remark of Antisthenes, the philosopher. 96. Una cum damno. " Along with ruin to fortune." - 97. Iratum patruum. Compare note on Ode 3. 12. 2. - Te tibi iniquum. "Thee angry with thyself." - 98. Quum deerit egenti, &c. "When an as, the price of a halter, shati be wanting to thee in thy poverty." - 99. Jure, inquit, Trausius istis, &c. These words are supposed to proceed from some rich and luxurious individual. "Trausius (says some rich individual) is deservedly reproached in such words as these: as for me, I possess great revenues, and riches sufficient for three kings," i. e. go and read these wise lectures to Trausius, I am too rich to need them. Trausius was one who had wasted his patrimony in luxury and debauchery. - 101. Ergo, quod superat, non est, &c. "Hast thou then no better way in which thou mayest employ thy superfluous resources?" -103. Cur eget indignus quisquam. "Why is any man, who deserves not so to be, suffering under the pressure of want?" With indignus supply, for a literal translation, qui egeat. -105. Tanto emetiris acervo? The terms are here extremely well selected. The wealth of the individual in question is a heap; and he does not count his riches, but measures them.-106. Nimirum. "No doubt." Ironical. - 107. Posthac. Alluding to the possibility of his experiencing hereafter some reverse of fortune. 109. Pluribus. "To a thousand artificial wants." - Superbum. " Pampered." -111. In pace, ut sapiens, &c. A beautiful comparison. As the prudent man, in time of peace, improves and strengthens his resources against the sudden arrival of war and the attacks of an enemy, so the temperate man, in prosperity, enjoys with moderation the favours of fortune, in order that the change to adversity may neither be too sudden nor too great. 112. His. "These precepts," i. e. as uttered by Ofellus. - Puer hunc ego parvus, &c. "I took notice, when I was a little boy, that this Ofellus did not use his resources in any way more freely when unimpaired, than he does now that they are diminished." - 114. Videas metato in agello, &c. "One may see the stout-hearted countryman, surrounded with his flocks and children, labouring for hire on his own farm now measured out to another, and talking to this effect." Ofellus was involved in the same misfortune with Virgil, Tibullus, and Propertius. Their lands were distributed among the veteran soldiers who had served at Philippi against Brutus and Cassius: those of Ofellus were given to one Umbrenus, who hired their former possessor to cultivate them for him. Metato. "Measured out," i. e. transferred or assigned to another. In distributing the land to the veterans, they measured it, and allowed each so many acres. - 116. Temere. " Without good reason." - Luce profesta. "On a work-day." The dies profesti were directly opposed to the dies festi. -119. Operum vacuo per imbrem. " Freed from labour by the badness of the weather." - 120. Bene erat. "We had a pleasant time of it." i. e. we regaled ourselves.-121. Pensilis uva. "After "The dried grape." A species of raisin. The grapes here referred to were hung up within doors to dry. - 122. Duplice ficu. The allusion is to "the split fig." The sweetest figs, according to Aristotle, were those that were split, dried, and then pressed together again (δίχα ἐσχισμέναι). – 123. Post hoc ludus erat culpa potare magistra. this we amused ourselves with drinking, having the fine of a bumper as the ruler of the feast." The phrase culpa potare magistra clearly alludes to the custom prevalent at the entertainments of former days, and not disused even in our own times, by which the individual who might chance to offend against any of the rules of the feast, was fined in one cup, or in many, according to the extent of his offence. The nature of his fault therefore, would be the standard by which his amercement was to be estimated. - 124. Ac venerata Ceres, ita culmo, &c. "And Ceres was worshipped that the corn might thereupon rise on a lofty stem." Venerata is here taken passively, and the allusion is to a libation poured out in honour of the goddess. Ita. "So." On account of our devotion. -Surgeret. Understand ut. - Ut. "Since." 128. Nituistis. "Have you fared." Equivalent, by a pleasing figure, to nutriti estis. Compare the remark of Döring: nam bene nutriti, præcipue rustici, nitent vultu et corpore. Novus incola. Alluding to Umbrenus. - 129. Nam propriæ telluris, &c. "For nature has made neither him, nor me, nor any one else, owner of a piece of land as a lasting possession."-131. Nequities, aut vafri inscitia 135. juris. "An evil course of life, or a want of acquaintance with the subtleties of the law." - 132. Vivacior hæres. "His longer-lived heir." -134. Nulli proprius. "A lasting possession to no one." Quocirca vivite fortes, &c. The conclusion, observes Francis, naturally follows from the principles laid down. Since it is certain that all things are perpetually changing, he is a fool who imagines, or expects, that they shall be fixed for his peculiar happiness. Dacier suggests that Horace may have designed to recommend the good Ofellus, by this pleasing picture of his manliness and virtue, to the favour of Augustus; and the character of the poet gives credibility to the idea. SATIRE III. Horace here converses with a Stoic, who was well known at Rome for the extravagant opinions which he entertained. In this fictitious dialogue the pretended philosopher adduces the authority of a brother charlatan, to prove that all mankind are mad, with the exception of the stoical sage. They deal out folly to every one in large portions, and assign Horace himself his full share. The various classes of men, the ambitious, luxurious, avaricious, and amorous, are distributed by them, as it were, into so many groups, or pictures, of exquisite taste and beauty, in which are delineated, with admirable skill, all the ruling passions that tyrannise over the heart of man. Some of their precepts are excellent, and expressed in lively and natural terms; but occasional bursts of extravagance show that it was the object of the poet to turn their theories into jest, and to expose their interpretation of the principles established by the founders of their sect. 2. Scriptorum quæque retexens. Retero is properly applied to the operation of unweaving: it is here metaphorically used for correcting and retouching a work. - 3. Benignus. "Prone to indulge in." - 4. Dignum sermone. "Worthy of mention." - Quid fiet? "What is to be done?" i. e. what dost thou intend doing? wilt thou write then, or not ? -At ipsis Saturnalibus huc fugisti. The following is the train of ideas: One would imagine, indeed, from thy conduct, that the former of these plans had been adopted, and that thou wert actually going to write, for " Thou hast fled hither," to the retirement of thy villa, " from the very feast of Saturn itself." Huc refers to the poet's Sabine villa, whither he had retired from the noise and confusion attending the celebration of the Saturnalia in the streets of the capitol. - 5. Sobrius. "In sober mood," i.e. amid the sober tranquillity and the retirement of thy villa."-6. Incipe. After uttering this, Damasippus is supposed to pause awhile, waiting for the poet to begin the task of composition. At length, tired with waiting to no purpose, he exclaims Nil est! "Nothing is forthcoming!"-7. Calami. "The pens." When writing on paper or parchment, the Romans made use of a reed sharpened and split in the point, like our pens, which they dipped in ink (atramentum). - Immeritusque laborat iratis natus paries, &c. " And the unoffending wall suffers, born under the malediction of gods and of poets." A humourous allusion. The walls of a poet's chamber seem built with the curse of the gods upon them. since the gods have subjected them to the capricious passions of the rhyming tribe, who curse and strike them in their poetical fits, as if they were the cause of their sterility. 9. Minantis. Compare the scholiast: pollicentis, promittentis. The allusion is to the promised results of the poet's labours.-10. Vacuum. Sup ply the ellipsis as follows: te vacuum rerum. - Tepido. Alluding to the comfortable accommodations at the poet's Sabine villa.-11. Quorsum pertinuit stipare, &c. Alluding to the works of these writers, which the poet is supposed to have packed up and brought with him into the country. 13. Invidiam placare paras virtute relicta? "Art thou attempting to allay the odium excited against thee, by abandoning the path of virtue?" i. e. art thou endeavouring to allay the odium excited by thy satirical writings, by abandoning altogether that branch of composition? The writing of satires is here dignified with the appellation of virtus, its object being to lash the vices and the failings of men.-15. Quidquid. Understand laudis. - Vita meliore. "In the better period of thy life," i. e. in those better days when spiritless and indolent feelings had not as yet come upon thee, and when thou wert wont to lash with severity the failings of men. - 16. Ponendum. "Must be given up." 17. Donent tonsore. Horace pretends not to be aware that Damasippus is a philosopher and therefore nourishes a length of beard, but charitably wishes him a barber, who may remove from his chin its unseemly covering, to the uncouth appearance of which the want of personal cleanliness had, no doubt, largely contributed.-18. Postquam omnis res mea Janum, &c. "After all my fortunes were shipwrecked at the middle Janus." By Janum ad medium is meant what we should term, in modern parlance, "the exchange." In the Roman Forum, besides the temple of Janus, there were three arches or arcades dedicated to this god, standing at some distance apart, and forming by their line of direction a kind of street, as it were (for, strictly speaking, there were no streets in the Forum). The central one of these arches was the usual rendezvous of brokers and money-lenders, and was termed medius Janus, while the other two were denominated, from their respective positions, summus Janus, and infimus or imus Janus. Damasippus speaks of himself as having become bankrupt at the middle one of these. - 20. Excussus propriis. "Being completely detached from any of my own," i. e. having none of my own to occupy me. Olim nam quærere amabam, &c. With quærere supply æs. The allusion is to vessels of bronze; and Damasippus, describing the line of employment which he had pursued up to his bankruptcy, makes himself out to have been what we would term a virtuoso, and a dealer in antiques.-21. Quo vafer ille pedes, &c. Sisyphus was the most crafty chieftain of the heroic age. A bronze vessel as old as his time would meet with many sad unbelievers among the common herd of men. -22. Infabre. "With inferior skill." - Durius. "In too rough a mould." This term is directly opposed to mollius. 23. Calidus huic signo, &c. "Being a connoisseur in such things, I estimated this statue at a hundred thousand sesterces." With millia centum supply sestertiúm or nummúm. As regards the use of the verb pono in this passage, compare the analogous expression ponere pretium, " to estimate," or " set a value upon."- 25. Cum lucro. "As a bargain." - Unde frequentia Mercuriale, &c. "Whence the crowds attending auction in the public streets gave me the surname of Mercury's favourite." Frequentia compita, is literally, "the crowded streets." The allusion, however, is to the crowds attending sales at auction in the public streets. Damasippus, a professed connoisseur, made it a point to attend every sale of this kind, however low, in the hope of picking up bargains. 27. Morbi purgatum illius. The genitive is here used by a Grecism, S1. καθαρθέντα τῆς νόσου. Horace alludes to the antiquarian mania under which Damasippus had laboured.-28. Ut solet, in cor trajecto, &c. "As is wont to happen, when the pain of the afflicted side or head passes into the stomach." Cor is often used by the Latin writers, in imitation of the Greek καρδία, to signify the stomach. Damasippus wishes to convey the idea, that his antiquarian fit was converted into a philosophical one, just as pleurisy sometimes changes into a cardiac affection. Huic. This may either refer to the phrensied patient just spoken of, or, what is far more spirited, to the poet himself. - 32. Stultique prope omnes, i. e. et prope omnes, utpote stulti. The wise man of the stoics is alone excepted. Consult note on Satire 1. 3.77.-33. Si quid Stertinius veri crepat. "If Stertinius utters any truth." The use of the indicative in this passage is intended to express the full reliance which Damasippus has in the infallibility of Stertinius. This Stertinius was a stoic of the day, who left behind him, according to the scholiast, two hundred and twenty volumes on the philosophy of his sect, written in the Latin tongue! - The peculiar force of the verb crepat, in the present instance, is lost in a translation. It refers to the authoritative tone assumed by Stertinius, in uttering his oracles of wisdom. - 35. Sapientem pascere barbam. "To nurse a philosophic beard," i. e. a long and flowing one, the badge of wisdom. -36. Fabricio ponte. This bridge connected the island in the Tiber with the left bank of that river. It was erected by L. Fabricius, superintendent of ways, in the consulship of Q. Lepidus and M. Lollius, as an inscription, still remaining on one of the arches, testifies. The modern name is Ponte di quattro Capi, "the bridge of the four heads," from a four-faced statue of Janus erected near it. Non tristem. " With my mind at ease." No longer plunged in melancholy. 37. Operto capite. Among the ancients, all who had devoted themselves to death in any way, or who fell by a violent death, previously covered the head. To this custom Shakspeare alludes in Antony's account of Cæsar's death: " Then burst his mighty heart; And, in his mantle muffling up his face, Jul. Cas. act 3. sc. 2. Damasippus intended to destroy himself, on the occasion alluded to, in consequence of the ruin of his private affairs. - 38. Dexter stetit. " He stood, on a sudden, by my side, like a guardian genius.". Cave. The final vowel of this word is short, the form here employed being deduced from the old cavo, ère, the primitive and stem-conjugation of caveo, ère. -39. Pudor malus. "A false shame." - 43. Mala stultitia. "Vicious folly."-44. Chrysippi porticus et grex. "The portico and the school of Chrysippus." The ignorant stoic here confounds the disciple with the master, and, instead of referring to Zeno, the actual founder of the Stoic sect, names Chrysippus as such. - 45. Autumat. "Deem."- Нас formula. "This definition." -46. Tenet. In the sense of complectitur. 48. Velut silvis, ubi passim, &c. As is accustomed to happen in woods, where those who wander about generally all go wrong; this one mistakes his way to the left, that one to the right: each errs, but in a different way from the other: in this same manner (hoc modo), believe |