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

334 EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK H., ODE XVIII.
for bis immense riches, left the kingdom of PergamuE and all bis treasarea
by will to the Eoman people ; at least, such was the construction which
the latter put upon it. (Compare Vuker^ ad Flor., ii., 20.) After his
death, Aristonicos, a natural son of Eumenes, father of Attalus [Livp,
xlv., 19; Justin, xsxvi., 4), laid claim to the kingdom, but was defeated
-Oy the consul Perpema and carried to Rome, where he was put to death
m prison. It is to him that the poet alludes under the appellation of keeres
ignotus.—7. Nee Laconicas mihi, Sec. "Nor do female dependents, of no
ignoble birth, spin for me the Spartan purple." The purple of Laconia,
obtained in the vicinity of the Tffinarian promontory, was the most highly
prized. Compare note on Ode ii, 16, 35. By konestes clients are meant
female clients of free birth; not freed women, but citizens working for
their pati^onU'S.
9-22. 9. Atjides et zngenif &c. "But integrity is mine, and a liberal
vein of talent."—13. Potentem amicum. AUuding to Msecenas.—14. Satis
beatus, dec, " Sufficiently happy with my Sabine farm alone."—15. Traditur
dies die. The train of thought appears to be as follows: Contented
with my slender fortune, I am the less solicitous to enlarge it, when I reflect
on the short span of human existence. How foolishly then do they
act, who, when day is chasing day in rapid succession, are led on by their
eager avarice, or their fondnpss for display, to form plans on the very brink
of the grave.—16. Pergunt interire. " Hasten onward to their wane."
17. Tv, secanda marmorat &.C. "And yet thou, on the very brink of the
grave, art bargaining to have marble cut for an abode." Directly opposed
to locare, in this sense, is the verb redtmere, " to contract to do any thing,"
whence the termredemtor, " a contractor."—20. Marisque Baits, &c. B alas,
ou the Campanian shore, was a favorite residence of the Roman nobility,
and adorned with beautiful villas. There were numerous warm springs
also in its vicinity, which were considered to possess salutary properties
for various disorders.—31. Summovere. " To push farther into the deep,'*
i. e., to erect moles on which to build splendid structures amid the waters.
—22. Parum locuplest &c. "Not rich enough with the shore of the main
land," i, e., not satisfied with the limits of the land.
23-40. 23. Quid? quod usque, &c. "What shall I say of this, that
thou even removest the neighboring land-marks 1" i. e., why need I teU
of thy removing the land-marks of thy neighbor's possessions ? The aUu
sion is to the rich man's encroaching on the grounds of an inferior. This
offence was the more heinous, sinCe laud-marks anciently were invested
with a sacred character, as emblems of the god Terminus.—24. Ultra
salis. " Leapest over." The verb salio is here used to express the contemptuous
disregard of the powerful man for the rights of his dependents.
Hence sdlis ultra may be freely rendered " contemnest.'*—26. Avarus.
"Prompted by cupidity."—27. Perens. "Bearing, each."—-28. Sordidos.
" Squalid." In the habiliments of extreme poverty.-^29. Nulla certior
tamen, Sec. " And yet no home aw^aits the. rich master with greater certainty
than the destined limit ofrapacious Orcus." Fine beautifully marks
the lastlimit of our earthly career. Some editions have sede instead otjinc,
and the use of the latter term in the feminine gender has been made probably
the ground for the change. Bxitjinis is used in the feminine by some
of the best -writers.—32 Quid ultra tendis* " Why strivest thou foi
—