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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., ODE VI. 319
elf, while vUla designates the other buildings and appurtenances of the
estate, designed not only for use, but also for pleasure. Compare Brawnhard,
ad loc. Hence we may render the words et domoviUaque as follows
" and from thy lordly mansion and estate."—18. Flavua Tiberis. Compare
notp on Ode i., 8, 13.—19. Exstmctis in altiim. " Filed up on high."
21-28. Z\. Dwesne prisco, &c. "It matters not whether thou dwellest
beneath the light of heaven, blessed with riches and descended from luachus
of old, or in narrow circumstances and of the lowliest birth, since in
either event thou art the destined victim of unrelenting Orcns." The expression
prisco natus ah Inacho is equivalent to antiquissima stirpe ori-'
uTidus, Inachas having been, according to the common account, the most
ancient king of Argos. The term moreris derives elucidation from Cicero,
de Sen., S3 ; " commorandi natura deoersorium nobis, non habitandi locum
dedii."—25. Omnes eodem cogimur. "We are all driven toward the
same quarter." Alluding to the passage of the shades, under the guidahce
of Mercury, to the other world. Omnium vereatur urna, &o. " The lots of
all are shaken in the urn, destined sooner or later to come forth, and place
us in the bark for an eternal extte." The urn here alluded to is that held
by Necessity in the lower world. Some editions place a comma after
urna, making it the nominative to versatur ; and urna omnvtim, will then
signify " the urn containing the destinies of all." But the construction is
too harsh; and the csesnra, which would then be requisite for lengthening
the final syllable of urna, is of doubtful application for such a purpose.—
28. Cymbee. • The dative, by a Graecism, for the ablative cymba.
Odk VI. The poet expresses a wish to spend the remainder of his days
along with his friend Septimius, either amid the groves of Tibur, or the
fair fields of Tarentum.
The individual to whom the ode is addressed was a member of the
equestrian order, and had fought in the same ranks with Horace during
the civil contest. Hence the language of Porphyrion ; " Septimium, equitem
Romanwm, amicum et commilitonem suum hoc ode aUoquitur." From
the words of Horace {Epist., i., 3, 9-14) he appears to have been also a
votary of the Muses, and another scholiast remarks of him, " Titius Septimius
lyrica carmina et tragadias icripsit, Augusti tempore : sed libri
ejus nulli extant^
1-2. 1. Gades aditure mecum. " Who art ready to go with me to Gades."
We must not imagine that any actual departure, either for Qades
or the other quarters mentioned in this stanza, was contemplated by the
poet. He merely means, to go thither if requisite; and hence the language
of the' text is to be taken for nothing more than a genera) euloginm
on the tried friendship of Septimius. As respects Gades, compare Ode ii.,
2, 11.— ^2. Et Cantabrum indoctum, &c. " And against the Cantabrian,
untaught as yet to endure our yoke." The Caiitabri were a warlike na-
tion of Spain, extending over what is at present ^iscaj^ and part of /!$