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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK 1., SATIRE V. 455
" On his shoalders," i. t., in the netted bag, or reticulum. Compare
Sai. i., 1, 47'.—87. Nam Canusi lapidosua. "For that of Canusinm
is gritty." With lapidoaus supply yontj. Canusinm was situate on the
light bank of the Anfidas, or Ofanto, and about twelve miles from its
mouth. AqucB mm ditior tirna. " Which place, not richer than the other
by a single pitcher of water, was founded," &c., i. •:., Canusinm labors under
the same scarcity of good water as the place with the unmetrical
name. There must be no stop after uma, the words aqua non ditior
urna being connected with the sucoeeding line, and the whole forming
another instance of Horace's affected carelessness of construction.
90-93. 90. Rubos. Knbi, now Rm>o, lay to the southeast of Canusinm.
The distance between the two places is given in the Itinerary of Antoninus
as twenty-three miles, whence the expression longnm iter in our text.
—91. Factum corruptius. "Rendered worse than usual."—92. Pejor,
" Worse than the day before."—93. Bari. Barium was a town of some
note, on the coast of Apulia, below the mouth of the Auiidus. The epithet
piscosi is given to it in the text on account of its extensive fishei^. The
modem name is Bari,—Dehinc. To be pronounced as a monosyllable.
Bentley gives dein, which has been generally followed. Gnatia. Gna-
tia, or Egnatia, was situate on the coast of Apulia, below Barium. It
communicated its name to the consular way that followed the coast Scorn
Cannsiom to Brundisium. The ruins of this place are still apparent near
the Torre d'Agnazzo and the tovm otMonopoli. Horace gives the name
which the town bore in the common language of the day, and this also
occurs in the Tab. Peating. The more correct form, however, is Egnatia.
Lymphis iratis extructa. "Built amid the anger of the waters."
The meaning of the poet here is somewhat uncertain, as is evident from
the scholiast giving us our choice of three different explanations. Thus
he remarks, " Vel quia eget aquii, vel quod eas salsak habet et amaras^
vel quod in pede mantis sita est ; ei iddrco videntwr aquee irasei, cum tor.
rentes de montibus impetu magna decurrentes sape magnas urbis partes
diruunt." The first of these, the scarcity of good water, appears to us
the simplest, and it is adopted as the true one by Mannert. Perhaps,
however, the poet has purposely used this expression, in order that it
may be susceptible of a doable meaning, and that one of these may refer
to the silly superstition, or rather moonstruck madness of the inhabitants,
to which he refers immediately after.
95-100. 95. Dumjlamma sine tura liquescere, &c. Pliny informs us
that a certain stone was shown at Bgnatla which was said to possess the
property of setting fire to wood that was placed upon it. {H. N., ii., 107.)
It was this prodigy, no doubt, which afforded so much amusement to
Horace, and irom the expression limine sacra, the stone in question would
appear to. have been placed in the entrance of a temple, serving fqr an
altar.—96. Judaius Apdla. " The Jew Apella." Scaliger is undoubtedly
right in considering Apella a mere proper name of some well-known
and superstitious Jew of the day. The Jews were very numerous at this
time in Rome, and remarkable for their superstition. The greater part
of them belonged to the class of libertini. Apdla, moreover, as the name
oC libertini, is of frequent occurrence in inscriptions.—97. Namque deos
didici, Ac. " For I have learned that the gods pass their time free from
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