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

EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., SATIRE VI. 525
around my side," i. e , beset me on every side. Compare the form which
the same idea would assume in our vulgar idiom : "I am over head and
ears in the affairs of others." Wustemann thinks that Horace at the time
was acting as a scriba, or secretary, to Maecenas.—34. Ante ieeandam,
"Before eight." Literally, "before the second hour.* We must suppose
that, when Horace reaches the abode of his patron on the Esquiline, a
slave meets him, and mentions who had been there for him, and what
they wished.—35. Ad puteal. " At the pnteal." The term puteal properly
means the inclosure surrounding the opening of a well, to protect persons
from falling into it. It was either round or square, and seems usu-
ally to have been of the height of three or four feet &om the ground. It is
then taken to denote any cavity or hole in the earth, surmounted by a
cover ; and, last of all, signifies a place surrounded by a wall, in the form
of a circle or square, and roofed over, resembling somewhat a kind of altar.
These little structures were commguly erected on spots which had been
struck by lightning, though not always. The puteal of Libo is supposed
by C. ]?. Hermann to have been the same with the old puteal erected in
the Forum, either on account of the whetstone of the Augur Navius, or
because the spot had been struck by lightning. This was repaired and
rededicated by Scribonius Libo, who had been commanded to examine
the state ofthe sacred places. Libo erected in its neighborhood a tribunal
for the prsetor, in consequence of which the place was, of course, irequent*
ed by persons who had law-Suits, such as money-lenders and the like
36-44. 36. De re otmmuni scriba, &c. " The notaries, Cluintus, requested
that thou wouldst bear in mind to return to them to-day, in order
to consult about an important and novel matter, which concerns their
whole number." The scriba were notaries or clerks, who wrote out the
public accounts, the laws, and all the proceedings of the magistrat*fc—
38. Imprimat Ms cura Miecenas, Ico. " Be so good as to get Msecenarto
seal these tablets," i. e., to put the imperial seal to these Writings. MoBcenas
would seal them in the name of the emperor, from whom he had
received the imperial signet; a duty which appertained to him asprtefeclus
urbis and the minister of Augustus. The address in the text
comes, not like the two previous ones, through the medium of the slave,
but from the applicant himself.—39- Dixeris. For si iixeris, and that for
si dixerim.—Si vis, poles. " Thou canst if thou wilt."—40. S^timus octavo
propior, &c. " The seventh year, approaching to the eighth, is now,
if I mistake not, elapsed," i. e., 'tis now, if I mistake not, nearly eight
years. The elegant use of the subjunctive mood iafagerit, which we
have endeavored to preserve in our version, must be carefully noted.
42. Duntaaat ad hoc. Sec. "Only thus far, however, as one whom he
might wish to take along with him in his chariot, when going oua journey."—44.
Hoc genus. " Of this kind," i. e., such as these that follow.—
Threx est Gallina Syro pari "Is Gallina, the Thraoian, a match for
Syrus?" The allusion is to two gladiators of the day, and the term
" Thracian" has reference, not to the native country of the individual in
question, but to the kind of arms in which he was arrayed, imitating those
of the Thraoians. The MirmiUo, to wbom the Tha-ex was usually opposed,
was awned in the Gallic fashion, with the figure of a fish {/iop/ii^ov or
uopuipov) on his hehnet. Syrus is here the MirmiUo, and as the fight
was to take place probably in a few days, Macenas asks Horace what
his opinion was with respect to it. {Keightley, ad loe.)
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