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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., SATIRE VIII. 533
feet can not sastdn the weight of thy pampered and sickly frame.
73. Qua parvo sumi nequeimt. " Which can not he obtained at a trifling
expense." Equivalent to qua parvo pretio parari Twn possunt—Ti. Illamaresmnt.
"Begin to pall." Compare Sat. ii, 2, 43.-75. JUiisique
pedes. "And thy tottering feet."—76. Qui miamfiirtiva mutat strigili
" 'Who exchanges a stolen scraper for a bunch of grapes." Uva is here
taken collectively. By the strig^ilis of the Romans was meant a kind oi
scraper, used in the baths, to rub off the sweat and filth irom the body. It
was made of horn or brass, sometimes of silver or gold. Consult Did.
Antiq., s. v.—77. Qui prtedia vendit, nil servile, &.C. " And has he nothing
servile about him, who, the slave of his appetite, sells his estates," i.
e., in order to obtain means for its gratification.—79. Tecum esse. " Hold
converse with thyself." Non otia recte ponere. " Nor employ thy leisure
moments as they should be employed."—80. Teque ipsiim vitas fugitimus
et erro. " And shunnest self-examination like a fugitive and a vagrant
slave."—83. Unde mihi lapidem? "Where shall I get a stone?" In
this angry exclamation the verb is omitted by a very natural ellipsis.
Supply sumam or petam.—85. Accedes opera agro noria Sahino. " Thou
shalt go as the ninth slave to labor on my Sabine farm." Literally, " thou
Shalt be added to my Sabine farm as a ninth laborer." Opera is pat for
operarius. Horace had eight slaves thus employed already, and threatens
that Davus shall make the ninth.
Satike VIII. This satire contains an account, by one of the guests who
was present, of a banquet given by a person of the name of Nasidienus to
M^cenas. The host had invited three persons, of flrstrate distinction at
the court of Augustus, along with the minister. Maecenas brought with
him besides these invited guests a couple of buffoon.s to amuse the
party. The description of the entertainment exhibits a picture, probably
as true as it la lively, of a Roman feast, given by a person of bad taste affecting
the manners that prevailed in a superior rank. An ill-judged expense
and profusion had loaded the table ; every eljegauce of-the season
was procured, but was either tainted fi'om being too long kept, or spoiled
in dressing by a cook who had forgotten his art in a miser's kitchen. Yet
the host commends every dish with such an impertinent and ridiculous
affectation, that he at last talks his guests out of his mansion.
1-3. 1. Nasidieni. To he pronounced Nasidryeni in metrical reading
WTio Nasidienus himself was can not be ascertained, nor is it of the least
importance. From the 58th verse it would appear that the name of the
individual in question was Nasidienus Rufus. Beati. Equivalent to dzviiis,
a usage of frequent occurrence in Horace.—2. Nam nihi convivam
qu/Breati, Jtc. The construction is, Nam dictus es heri mihi quarenti te
convivam, potare illicdemediSdie. "For"! was told yesterday, when seeking
to make thee my guest, that thou wast drinking there since noon."
—3. De medio die. Equivalent, in strictness, to a medio statim die. The
usual time for the Roman coena was the ninth hour, or three o'clock afternoon
in summer, and the tenth hour in winter. It was esteemed luxurious
to sup earlier than this, and an entertainment, therefore, begim before
the usual time, and prolonged till late at night, was called, by way of reproach,
convivium tempestivum, under which class the present one would
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