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

EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK III., ODE V. 347
which the noble example of Kegulns is introduced, and a tacit comparison
is then made dnring the rest of the piece between the high-toned principles
of the virtuous Koman and the strict discipline of Augustus.
1-3. 1. Calo tonantcm, &o. "We believe from his thundering that
Jove reigns in the skies."—2. Preesens divas, &c. Having stated the
common grounds on which the belief of Jnpiter's divinity is founded, namely,
his thonderiug in the skies, the poet now proceeds, ia accordance with
the flattery of the age, to name Augustus as a " deity upon earth" (preesens
Minis), assigning, as a proof of this, his ti-iumph over the nations of the
farthest east and west, especially bis having wrested from the Farthians,
by the mere terror of his name, the standards so disgracefully lost by Crassus
and Antony.—3. Adjectis Britannis, &.c. "The Britons and the formidable
Farthians being added to his sway." According to Strabo, some
of the princes of Britain sent embassies and presents to Augustiis, and
placed a large portion of the island under his control. It was not, however,
reduced to a Koman province until the time of Claudius: What
Horace adds respecting the Farthians is adorned with the exaggeration
of poetry. This nation was not, in fact, added by Augustus to the empire
of Borne ; they only surrendered, through dread of the SUimaa. power, the
standards taken from Crassus and Antony j*-
5-lS. 5. Milesne Crassi, &c. " Has the soldier of Crassus lived, a degraded
husband, with a barbarian spouse V An allusion to the soldiers
of Crassus made captives by the Farthians, and who, to save tl.eir lives,
had intermarried with females of that nation. Hence the peculiar force
of vixii, which is well explained by one of the scholiasts : ^* uxjres a vietoribus
acceperani, ut vitam jnererentur" To constitute a lawful mar-
riage among the Bomans, it was required that both the contracting parties
be citizens and free. There was no legitimate marriage between slaves,
nor was a Bximan citizen perinitted to marry a slave, a barbarian, or a
foreigner generally. Such a conneotioi^ was called connubium, not matrimonium.—7.
Proh curia,' inversique mores I "Ah! senate of my country,
and degenerate principles of the day !" The poet mourns over the
want of spirit on the part of the senate, in allowing the disgraceful defeat
of Crassus to remain so long unavenged, and over the st^in fixed on the
martial character of Rome by this connection of her captive soldiery with
their barbarian conquerors. Such a view of the suhiect carries with it a
tacit but flattering eulogium on the successful operations of Augustus.
8. Consenuii. Nearly thirty years had elapsed since the defeat of Crassus,
B.C. 53.—9. SubregeMedo. "Beneath a Fartfaian king." Marsus
et Apiilus. The Marsians and ApuH'ans, the bravest portion of the Koman
armies, are here taken to denote the Roman soldiers generally. On
the quantity of Apuhts, consult note on Ode iv., 9, of the present book.
10. Anciliorum. The ajsriZio were "the sacred shields" carried round in
procession by the Salii or priests of Mars. Et nominis et togee. " And
of the name and attire of a Koman." The toga was the distinguishing
part of the Koman dress, and the badge of a citizen.—11. jiEterrueque
Vestee, Alluding to the sacred fire kept constantly burning by the vestal
virgins in the temple of the goddes*.-^12. Incolumi Jove et urbe Roma.
"The Capitol of the Roman city being safe," i. e., though the Koman power
remains still superior to its foes.
equivalent, in fact, to CapitoUo.
Jove is here pat for Jove CapitolinO,
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