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

322 EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK 11., ODE VII.
was overcome," A manly and withal true eulsgiam on the spirit and
bravery of the republican forces. The better troops were in reality on the
side of Brutus and Oassius, although Fortune declared for Octavianus and
Solum teiigeremento. Com-
j^tony. '13. Turpe. "Polluted with gore."
pare the Homeric form of expression (/Z-, ii., 41), npTivieg kv KOvLyaiv oddf
7\.a^olaTo yalav.—13. Mercurius. An imitation of the imagery of the
Iliad. As in the battles of Homer heroes are often carried away by pro-
tecting deities from the dangers of the fight, bo, on the present occasion.
Mercury, who presided over arts and sciences, and especially over the
music of the lyre, is made to befriend the poet, and to save him from the
dangers of the conflict. Compare Odeii., 17, 29, where Mercury is styled
custos Mercurialium virorum."
14-23. 14. Deiiso acre. " In a thick cloud." Compare the Homeric
form, jyep* iroTi^^.—15. Te rursus in bellum, &c. " Thee the wave of bat-
tle, again swallowing up, bore back to the war amid its foaming waters."
—17. ObUgatam dapem. "Thy votive sacrifice," i. e., due to the fulfillment
of thy vow." He had vowed a sacrifice to Jove in case he escaped
the dangers of the war.—20. Cadis. The Roman cadus was equivalent
to forty-eight seaitarii, or twenty-seven English quarts. It was of earthen-
ware.—21. Oblivioso Mas^ico. " With oblivious Massic," i, e., care-dis-
pelliug. The Massic was the best growth among the Falemian wines.
It w&s produced on the southern declivities of the ri£i)ge of hills in the
neighborhood of the ancient Sinuessa. A mountain near the site of Sinuessa
is still called Monte Massico. — 22. Ciboria. The ciborium was
a large species of drinking-cup, shaped like the follicule or pod of the
Egyptian bean, which is the primitive meaning of the term. It was
larger below th^i above.—23. Conchis, Vases or receptacles for per
fumes, shaped like shells. The term may here be rendered "shells."—
24. Apio, Compare note on Ode i., 36, 16.
25-27. 25. Qiiem Ve7ius,6cc. The ancients, at their feasts, appointed a
person to preside by throwing the dice, whom they called arbiter bibendi
\avnKoaiapxv^)f *' master of the feast." He directed every thing at pleas
ure. In playing at games of chance they used three tessertSt and four tali.
The tessercB had six sides, marked I., II., III., IV., V., VI. The tali had
four sides longwise, for the two ends were not regarded. On one side was
marked one point [uniOf an ace, called Canzs], and on the opposite side
six [Semo,) while on the two other sides were three and four {temio et
guaternio). The highest or most fortunate throw was called Venus, and
determined the direction of tfae feast. It was, of the tessertBt three sixes *
of the talif when all of them came out diflbrent numbers. The worst or
lowest throw was termed Canis^ and was, of the tesseree, three aces, and
of the tali when they were all the same. Compare Reitz, ad Ludan.,
Am., vol. v., p. 568, ed. Bip. ; Sueton., Aug., 71, et Crusius, ad loc-, and the
Dissertation "i?e Talis," quoted by Gesner, Thes. L. L., and by Baiky,
in his edition o^Forcellini, Lex. Tot.Lat.—26. Non ego sanius, &c. "I
will revel as wildly as the Thracians." The Edoni or Edones were a
well known Thracian tribe on the banks of the Strymon. Their name is
often used by the Greek poets to express the whole of the nation of wli^ch
they formed a part, a custom which Horace here imitates.'—27. Reecpto
furere cmdco. " To indulge in extravagance on the recovtf / of a friend
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