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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK I., SATIEE X. 479
Nee redeant itenim, &o. The constraction is, nee redeant {heatris, iterum
aique iterum speetanda,
48-52. 48. Arguta meretrice pates, &.C. " Thoo, Fandanias, alone of
all men living, dost possess the talent of prattling forth tales in a sportive
vein, where an artfiil courtesan and a Davas impose upon an old Chremes."
The allusion is to comedy, in which, according to the account here given
by Horace, Fundanius appears to have been distinguished, though we
know nothing of him from the testimony of other writers. The characters
introduced into the text have reference to one of the plays of Terence, hut
are intended, also, to be general in their application to comic writing.
Davo. Davus is the name of a wily slave in Terence.—50. Pollio. The
poet refers to C. Asinina Follio, whose acquirements enabled him to shine
in the noblest branches ofpolite literature, poetry, eloquence, and history.
'—51. Pede ter pereiisso. "In iambic trimeters." The iambic trimeter
verse is here thus styled, from the circumstance of its being scanned by
measures of two feet, after each of which measures the time was marked
by the percussion of tlie musician's foot. There being three of these
measures or metres in the trimeter, there were, consequently, three percussions.
Forte epos aeer, &o. The construction is, acer Variiu, dueit ut
nenno forte epos. "The spirited Varius leads along the manly epic in a
style that none can equal." In a literal trai^slation, repeat ducit after
nemo.—52. Nolle atque facelum Virgilio anrtuerunt, ice. " The Muses
that delight in rural scenes have granted softness and elegance to Yirgil."
It is evident from this, as well as from the poet's placing Yarins at the
head of the Boman epic writers, that the .£neid was not published when
the present satire was composed, and that the Bucolics and Georgics had
alone as yet appeared.
54-74. 54. Hoc erat, experto frustra, &c. " This kind of writing, in
which I here indulge, was what, after the Atacinian Varro, and certain
others, had essayed it in vain, I was enabled to pursue with better suc-
cess, though~i]rferior to the inventor." With hoc supply genus scribendi.
The allusion is to satire, and the inventor of it, to whom Horace here acknowledges
his inferiority, was Lncilius. Varrone Atacino. The Varro
here meant was not the learned Roman, but a native of Gallia Narbonen-
sis, who was called Atacinns after the little Biver Atax, in that quarter,
now the Aude 58. At dixifluere hune lutulenium. Sec. Compare Satire
i., 4, 11, segq.—60. Doctus. "A learned critic." Ironical.—61. Comis
Laeiliiis. " The courtly Lucilius." The epithet eomis appears to be here
used by way of derision. AUi. Attias (or Accins, as he is sometimes,
bat improperly called) was a Roman tragic writer, bom about A.U.C.
584. His compositions were harsh in their character, hut were held in
high estimation by his countrymen. Only some fragments remain.
62. Non ridet versus Enni, 4c. " Does he not ridicule some of the verses
of Ennius as too trifling for the dignity of the subject 1" Lucilius ridiculed
various verses of Ennins for their want of epic dignity. Compare
Servius, ad Virg., ^n., xi., 601.—63. Quum de se loquitur, &c. " When
he speaks of himself, is it not as of one who is superior to those that are
censured by him 7"—64. Num illius, num return, ic. "Whether his
own genius, or the difficult nature of the topics which he handles, has denied
him verses in any respect more finished, and flowing more smoothly,
than if one, satisfied merely with this, with confiuing namely any thing
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