The works of Horace : with English notes, critical and ... - Cristo Raul

EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK. 1., OUE XHI. & J
Julian line," ». e., the glory of the Julian house, commencing with Csbsot,
and perpetuated in Augustus.—47. Jgnes minores. " The feebler fires of
the night." The stars.
50-54. 50. Orte Saturno. Jupiter, the Greek Kpowuv.—51. Tu semn-
to Casare regnes. " Reign thou (in the heavens) with Cossar as thy vioejerent
(upon earth)," i. e., Grant, I pray, that thou mayest so parcel out
thy empire as to sway thyself the sceptre of the skies, and allow Augus-
tas to represent thee upon earth. Observe the employment of the sub-
junctive for the imperative.—53. Parthos Laiio imminmtes. Horace is
generally supposed to have composed this oda at the time that Augustus
was preparing for an expedition against the Parthiaus, whom the defeat
of Crassus, and the check sustained by Antony, had elated to such a de-
gree, that the poet might well speak of them as " now threatening the repose
of the Roman world." Latio is elegantly put for Romano imperio.
—54- JEgerit justo iriumpho. "Shall have led along in just triumph."
The conditions of a "Justus triumphus," in the days of the republic, were
as follows : 1. The war must have been a just one, and waged with foreigners
; no triumph was allowed in a civil war. 2. Above 5000 of the enemy
must have been slain in one battle (Appian says it was in his time 10,000).
3. By this victory the limits of the empire mast have been enlarged.
55-60. 55. Suhjectos Orieniis oree. " Lying along the borders of the
East," i. e., dwelling on the remotest confiqes of the East. Observe that
arm is the dative, by a Graecism for sub ora.— Seras. By the Seres are
evidently meant the natives of China, whom an overland trade for silk has
gradnsdly, though imperfectly, made known to the western nations.—
57. Te minor. " Inferior to thee alone." Understand «oi!o.^59. Pwmm
castis. "Polluted.** Alludingtothecorrupt morals of the day. The ancients
had a belief that lightning never descended from the skies except
on places stained by some poUntion.
Ode Xm. Addressed to Lydia, with whom the poet ha4 very probably
quarrelled, and whom he now seeks to turn away from a passion for
Telepbus. He describes the state of his own feelings, when praises are
bestowed by her whom he loves on the personal beauty of a hated rival
and, while endeavoring to cast suspicion upon the sincerity of the latter's
passion for her, he descants upon the joys of an uninterrupted union found-
'ed on the sure basis of mutual affection.
2-^8. S. Cemicem roseam. " The rosy neck." Gonipare Virgil {^n.,
'
1, 402) : " Rosea cervice refulsiV—3, Cerea hrachia. The epithet cerea,
"waxen," carries with it the associate idqas of whiteness, glossy surface,
&c., the allasion being to the white wax of antiquity. Bentley, however,
rejects cerfifl, and reads lactea.— Telephi. The name is purposely
repeated, to indicate its being again and again on the lips of Lydia.—
Difficili iHe. " With choler difficult to be repressed." The liver was
held to be the seat of all vi^ent passions.— 6. Manent. The plural is here
employed, as equivalent to the double manet. It is given likewise by
Orelli, and has also strong MS. authority in its favor. Bentley, however,
prefers mamet, on^account of the preceding nee . . nee, and lengthens the
.
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