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

fickle multitude.
—
EXPLANATORY NOTES.'—BOOK III., ODE III. 341
of the lictors, the emblems of office
Secures. A figurative allusion to tne axes and fasces
21-31. 21. Virtus reeludens, &c. The poet mentions another incitement
to the possession of true virtue, the immortality which it confers.^
22. Negata ma. " By a way denied to others," i. e., by means peculiarly
her own.—23. Coetusque vulgares, &c. " And, soaring on rapid pinion,
spurns the vulgar herd and the cloudy atmosphere of earth." As regards
the force of the epithet uiam here, compare the explanation of Orelli
" Crasso aire obs-Uam^ ac propterea minime dignam in qua virtus moretur."—25.
Est et Jideli, &c. Imitated from Simonides : Ian Kat aiyag
^KLvSwov y(pag. This was a favorite apophthegm ofAugustus. {Plut.,
Apoph., t. ii., p. 207, Fr.) Thus far the allusion to virtue has been general
in its nature. It now assumes a more special character. Let the Roman
youth learn in particular the sure reward attendant on good faith, and the
certain punishment that follows its violation.—26. Qui Cereris sacrum,
Sec. Those who divulged the mysteries were punished with death, and
their property was confiscated.—29. Phaselon. The phasdus (^au^Xof)
was a vessel rather long and narrow, apparently so called &am its resemblance
to the shape of apkaselus, or kidney-bean. It was chiefly used
by the Egyptians, and was of various sizes, from a mere boat to a vessel'
adapted for a long voyage. It was built for speed, to which more attention
seems to have been paid than to its strength, whence the epithet/rogilem
here applied to it by Horace.—30. Incesto addidit integrum. " Involves
the innocent with the guilty."—31, Raro Antecedentem, seelestum,
** Sec. Karely does punishment, though lame of foot, fall to overtake the
wicked man moving on before her," i.e., justice, though often slow, is.snre.
Ode m. The ode opens with the praises of justice and persevering
firmness. Their recompense is immortality. Of the truth of this remark
splendid examples are cited, and, among others, mention being made of
Romulus, the poet dwells on the circumstances which, to the eye of imagination,
attended his apotheosis. The gods are assembled in solemn
conclave to decide upon his admission to the skies. Juno, most hostile
before to the line of .Sneas, now declares her assent. Satisfied with past
triumphs, she aUows the founder of the Btemal City to participate in the
joys of Olympus. The lofty destinies of Rome are also shadowed forth,
and the conquest of nations is promised to her arms. But the condition
which accompanies this expression of her will is sternly mentioned. The
city of Troy must never rise from its ashes. Should the descendants of
Romulus rebuild the detested city, the vengeance ef the goddess will
again be exerted for its downfall.
It is a conjecture of Faber's {Epist., ii., 43) that Horace wishes, in the
present ode, to dissuade Augustus from executing a plan he had at this
time in view, of transferring the seat of empire from Rome to Blum, and
of rebuilding the city of Priam. Suetonma {Vit. Jul.) speaks of a similar
project in the time of Casar. Zosimus also states that, in a later age,
Constantino actually commenced building a new capital in the plain of
Troy, but was soon induced by the superior situatieo of Byzantium to
abandon his project. (Zos., ii., 30.)
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