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

494 EXPLANATORY NOTES. ^BOOK II., SATIRE 11.
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and debauchery.—101. Erg'j quod superat, non estt &c. " Hast thou, then,
no better way in which thou mayesfc employ thy superfluous resources V
Superat is here, as often elsewherct equivalent to superest.—103. Gvr
eget inddgnus quisquam. " Why xb any man, who deserves not so to be,
Buffering under the pressure of want 1" With indignus supply, for a lit-
eral translation, qui egeat.—105. Tanto emetiris acervo ? The terms are
here extremely well selected. The wealth of the individual in question
is a hec^, and he does not count bis riches, hut measures them.—106. Ifimimm,
"No doubt." Ironical.—107. Posthac, Alluding; to the possibility
cf his experiencing hereafter some reverse of fortune. Uierne. "Which
of the two."'—Casus dulnos. " Doubtful emergencies."—109. Pluribus,
"To a thousand artificial wants."
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Superkum. "Pampered."—111. In
ptzce, ut sapienSf &.c. A beautiful comparison. As the prudent man, in
time ofpeace, improves and strengthens his resources against the sudden
arrival of war and the attacks of an enemy, so the temperate man, in pros-
perity, enjoys with moderation the favors of fortune, in order that the
change to adversity may neither be too sudden nor too great.
112-124. 112. His. "These precepts," t/c, as uttered by Ofellus.—
Puer hunc ego parvus, &c. " I took notice, when I was a little boy, that
this Ofellus did not use his resources in any way more freely when unimpaired,
than he does now that they are diminished."^—114. Videos metato
in. agellOf &c. " One may see the stoat-hearted countryman, surrounded
with his flocks and children, laboring for hire on his own farm, now measured
out to another, and talking to this effect." Ofellus was involved in
the same misfortune with Virgil, TibuUus, and Propertius. Their lands
were distributed among the veteran soldiers who had served at Philippi
against Brutua and Cassius; those of Ofellus were given to one Umbrenus,
who hired their former possessor to cultivate them for him. Metato.
"Measured out," i. e., transferred or assigned to another. In distributing
the land to the veterans, th»y measured it, and allowed each so many
acres.—116. Non iemere. Equivalent to nonfadUt i. e., rare, "rarely."
—Luceprofesia. " On a work-day." The dies prqfesti were directly opposed
to the dies festi.^^117. Periiee. The perTia was the pig's ham, or
rather hind leg salted and dried; for it contained the foot also, since Cato
{R. It., 162) directs the nngults to be cut off previous to salting. Horace
says pede, as we would say shank, to indicate that it was only the worst
part he ate on work-days. {Keightley, ad lac)—119. Optrum vacuo p^
imhrem. "Fre.ed from labor by the badness of the weather."-^120. Bene
erat. "We had a pleasant time of it." We regaled ourselves.—131. Pen-
silis uva. V The dried grape." A species of raisin. The gi'apes here referred
to were hung up within doors to dry.—122, J)uplice ficii. The allusion
is to " the split fig." The sweetest figs, according to Aristotle,
were those that were split, dried, and then pressed together again [Stxa
iaxtafiiha)' This process is still followed in some parts of Italy and
Sicily.—123. Post hoc ludus erat, culpa potare magistra, " After this we
amnsed ourselves with drinking, having the flue of^a bumper -as the ruler
of the feast.' The phrase culpa potare Tnagistra oiesxly alludes to the
custom prevalent at the entertainments of former days, and not disused
even in our own times, by which the individual who might chance to offend
against any of the rules of the feast was fined in one cap, or in many,
according to the extent of his offence- The nature ofhia fault, therefor©.
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