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

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EXPLA\ATOKY NOTES. BOOK I., ODE XXXV. 309
person. At this period the present ode is supposed to have been written.
It is an address to Fortune, and invokes her favoring influence for the
arms of Augustus.
The latter of these two expeditions has already been treated of in the
[ntroduotory Bemarks on the 29th ode of this beok. The first only proceeded
as far as Gaul, where its progress was arrested by the Britons
suing for peace, and by thfe troubled state of Gallic affairs. The negotiations,
however, were sabsequently broken off, and Augustus prepared
anew for a campaign against the island ; but the rebellion of the Salassi,
Gantabri, and Astares mtervened, and the reduction of these tribes engrossed
the attention of the prince. (Compare Dio Cassius, 53, 22, and
25, vol. i., p. 717 and 719, ed. Reim.)
1-8. \. Antinm,. A city on the coast of Latium, the ruins of which are
now called Porto d^Anzo, celebrated for its temple of Fortune.—2. Prtesens
totlere. " That in an instant canst raise." ^y prtssentes dei are meant
those deities who are ever near at hand and ready to act.—3. Vel super-
Jjos, &c. " Or convert splendid triumphs into disasters." Funeribus is
the instrumental ablative.—5. In this and the following line, we have
adopted the punctuatioii recommended by Markland, viz., a comma after
prece, and another after ruris^ which latter word will then depend on dorn
inam understood, and the whole clause will then be equivalent to "pau
per colanus, sollicita prece, ambit fe, dominam ruris ; quicu-nque la^essit,
&c., te dominam aquoris {ambit)"—Ambit golUcita prece. " Supplicates
in anxious prayer."— ^7. Bithyna. Bithynia, in Asia Minor, was famed
for its natural productions, which gave rise to a very active commerce between
this region and the capital of Italy. The expression in the text,
however, refers more particularly to the naval timber in which the conn-
try abounded.—8. Carpathium pelagvs. A name applied to that part of
the Mediterranean which lay between the islands of Carpathus and Crete
9-13. 9. Dacus. Ancient Dacia corresponds to what is now, in a great
measure, Wallachia, Transylvania, Moldavia, and that part of Hungary
which lies to the east of the Teiss. Profugi Scytkce. "The roving Scyth-
ians." The epithet profugi is here used with reference to the peculiar
habits of this pastoral race, in having no fixed abodes, but dwelling in
wagons.—10. Latium. ferox. ''Warlike Latium."—11. Jtcgum barbarorum.
An allusion to the monarchs of the Kast, and more particularly to
Parthia.—12. Purpurei Tyranni. " Tyrants clad in purple."—13. Inju-
rioso ne pede, &c. " Lest with destructive foot thou oyerthi-ow the standing
column of affairs." The schoHast makes stantem columnam equivalent
to prtEsentemfelicitaiem, and the allusion of the, poet is to the existk;gi-«tate
of affairs among the Dacians, Scythians, and others mentioned
in the text. A standing column was a general symbol among the ancients
of public seoority. Some editions place a cblon or period after tyrannic
and the 'meaning then is, " Do not with 'destructive foot overthrow the
standing column of the empire," alluding to the durability of the Eoman
sway. The interpretation first given, however, is decidedly preferable
the change in the latter is too sudden and abrupt.
14-18. 14. Nea populus frequens, las. " Or lest the thronging populace
arouse the inactive to arms I to arms ! and destroy the public repose."
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