PREFACE.

THIS book is intended for use in the class-room. There are therefore many things in the notes which the advanced Latin scholar may pass over. But the editor has derived so much advantage from editions of the Classics in which the notes reminded him in particular connections of things which in general he knew before, that he has not inquired so much whether a thing was likely to be known, as whether it was likely to be thought of in the connection. The notes are intended not so much to aid the student in the study of the Latin language as in the study of Horace,-what he meant, how he felt, and what prompted him to write as he did. In accordance with the plan of the "College Series," the notes are put at the bottom of the page to facilitate reference. The editor is persuaded that college students sufficiently advanced to undertake Horace, ought no longer to get and recite lessons, but to study the literature, and understand and enjoy it. If the editor's suggestions enable anybody to do this, his purpose will have been accomplished.

Jan. 1, 1888

J. B. GREENOUGH.

INTRODUCTION.

HORACE says (Sat. I. 10. 74),—

An tua demens

Vilibus in ludis dictari carmina malis?

Non ego.

But his genius and fame very early brought upon him the fate which he deprecates, of having his works used as a literary textbook in all kinds of schools. And this use of his poetry has brought with it several important consequences. In the first place, it insured their preservation to our own times, while so many writers have been absolutely lost. Secondly, it has prevented any serious interpolation by imitators of later times. Thirdly, it has caused an arrangement of his works in manuscripts and in later printed editions which is not chronological but educational. The Satires and Epodes were his earliest poetical efforts, being written, for the most part, about the same time, between B.C. 40 and B.C. 30, though in manuscripts and editions, as well as in educational use, the Odes precede them. Fourthly, it has produced in the manuscripts a state of things that is perhaps unparalleled in those of any other author. Classical authors generally have come down to us in such a form, that by a careful study such as has been given to the subject by the scholars of the last fifty years, the manuscripts can be divided into families, and their genesis and trustworthiness determined with considerable accuracy and certainty. But with Horace, the number and late date of the manuscripts, two hundred and fifty, all probably of later date than the tenth century, along with the uninterrupted cross correction of one

some