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

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586 EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOI^ 11., SATIRE VI.
45-50. 45. Matutma parum cautos, &.c. " The cold morning air begins
now to puioh those who neglect to provide against it," i. e., who do
not put on attire snited to the change of the season.—46. Et qutB. "And
other things which." For et alia qucB.— Beiie. "Safely." The reference
is to things of no importance, which may be safcZy^ confided to any
one, even if he be of the most Ibqaacious and communicative habits, since
it is a matter of indifference whether he divulges them or not. The expression
auris rimosa {" a leaky ear," " an ear full of chinks") is opposed
to auris tuta, and imitated from Terence [Etin., i., 2, 25).—48. Noster.
'* Our friend." The reference is to Horace, and the term itself is quoted,
as it were, Scorn, the sneering language of others in relation to him.'^-Z/udos
spectdverit una, &c. " If he has witnessed the public spectacles in company
with Mascenas, if he has played ball along with him in the Gampas
Martins ; Lucky fellow ! all exclaim." With spectaverit and luserit respectively,
understand si.—50. Frigidus a Rostris manat, &c. " If any
disheartening rumor spreads from the !Rostra through the crowded streets."
With manat understand si.—-Rostris. The Rostra are here named as being
the most conspicuous object in the forum, and the place where the
greatest crowds were accustomed to assemble. By the term Rostra is
meant the elevated seat from which the Roman orators, and men in office,
addressed the assembled people. The appellation was derived from the
circumstance of its having been adorned vnth the beaks of some galleys
taken from the city of Allium. [XAv., viiLj 12.)
52-63. 52. Deos. Alluding to Augustus and Maecenas, and andogoos
to our term "the Grreat."—54. Ut tu semper eris derisor! "How fond
thou always art of pla3riag the fool with other people/' or, more literally,
" what a roguish dissembler thou wilt ever be."—55. Si guidquam. " If I
h^lk heard any thing at all about the matter." Understand audioi.—
Rmztibus promissa Triquetra prcBdia, Asc. "Is Caesar going to give the
lands he promised the soldiers in Sicily or Italy?" According to Bent-
ley, the reference here is to the division of lands which took place after
Augustus had overthrown Sextus Fompeius, and brought Lepidus to subjection.—
Triquetra. An appellation given to Sicily, from its trlangalar
shape.—57. Untim. "^qniYBXent to proB omnibus aliis.— 58. Scilicet. "To
be sure."—59. Perditur keec inter, Sec. "Amid such things as these the
whole day is lost for poor me, not without many a secret aspiration," i. e^
not without aspirations like the following.—61. Sonvno. The allusion is
to the mid-day slumber, or siesta, so customary in warm climates. The
poet sighs the more deeply for this, as it will not be broken in upon by the
amusing duties of a city life. Inertibus horis. The dolce far niente oS
the modem Italians.—62. Ducere sollidta jucunda oblivia vitte. " To
drink a sweet oblivion of the cares of life." A beautiful allusion to the
fabled waters of Lethe, which all who entered Elysium previously drank,
and lost, in consequence, every recollection of the cares and troubles of
life.—C3. Faha PythagortB cognata. "The beau related to Pythagoras."
A playful allusion to the famous precept of Pythagoras, to abstain from
beans, Kvdfiav d,7rexeadac. This precept is one of the mysteries which the
ancient Pythagoreans never disclosed. Horace, however, evidently re
fers here to that solution which makes the philosopher to have regarded
beans as among the receptacles of souls, and hence he jocosely styles the
bean cognata, on the supposition of its containing the soul of some relsr
tionoi'the sage's.