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

EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK II., SATIEE VIII. 535
ihis wine, served up by Nasidienus, was of an inferior quality, from the
want of salt water ; it is more probable, however, that by expers mans he
intends to insinuate that the wine in question was a factitious or homemade
kind, "which had never crossed the sea."—18. Dimtias miseras.
Not uttered by Nasidienus, as some commentators pretend, but by Horace.
The poet makes use of this expression as a kind of apposition with utrumque
in the preceding line. Fundanius states that he has both Alban and
Falemian wine, and yet he is prevented by his avarice from offering them
to his guests. Horace justly calls these " dimtias miseras"—Vna. Un-
derstand ^eoim.
—
W. Noaselaboro. "lamimpatienttoknow."—20. Sam-
mus ego. " I was first on the highest couch." Consult note on Sat. i., 4,
87. Bach of the three couches held three persons, and the post of honor
on each was the central place, the guests who occupied the middle of each
of the three couches being styled respectively jTWmus summi lectitprimus
tnedii lecti, primus imi kcH. The most honorable of these three places,
and, consequently, of the whole entertainment, was the^rmus Tnedii lectin
and here, on the present occasion, was the post of Maecenas. The arrangement
of the whole party, then, will be as follows : On the summus
lectus will be placed Visaus Thurinus, Fundanius, and Varius, the first
of these occupying the bottom of the conch nearest the bottom of the table,
the second the centre, 'which makes him primus summi lecti, or, as it is
expressed in the text, summus, and the third the part nearest the fop of
the table. On the medius lectus, the individual nearest the lower extrem-
ity of the summus lectus will be Servilius Balatro, in the middle will recline
Maecenas, and below him will be Yibidius. On the imus lectus the
arrangement will be Nomentanus, Nasidienus, and Forcius ; the first of
these reclining on the upper part of the couch, Nasidienus occupying the
middle, and Forcius being the lowest guest of all. It must be borne in
mind, that those who recline on the summus lectus have their bodies extended
upward along the couch in a diagonal direction, and those on the
imus lectus downward, while the guests on the medius lectus recline with
their heads toward the summus lectus.— Viscus Thurinus. Called Thurinus,
as being probably a native of Thurii in Calabria, and distinguished
by this cognomen from the brothers Visci, the friends of Horace, mentioned
in Sat. U 10, 83.
22-30. 22. Umbras. " As uninvited guests." Among ttie Romans,
persons of distinction, when invited to an entertainment, had liberty to
bring with them unbidden guests, who were styled umbra. The umbra
brought on this occasion by Maecenas were two buffoons {scume).—24.
Ridiculus totaa simul, ic. " Who made himself ridiculous by swallow
ing whole cakes at once." Forcius was a parasite of their entertainer.
Placentas. Ihe placenta {irTiaKov;) was a thin cake made of fiour, cheese,
and honey. It was large, and was usually cut into pieces. The art of
Forcius seems tS have lain in rolling up a placenta so that he might
gradually swallow it without breaking' it, just as a Neapolitan does macaroni.
(Keightley, ad loc.)—25. Nomentanus ad hoc, &c. " Nomentanus
was present for this purpose, in order that if any thing should chance to
escape the observation of the guests, he might point it out with his fore-
finger." -An individual who performed such a doty as this at an entertainment
was styled an indicator.— Cetera tii/rba. "The rest of tho
company."—28. Longe dissimilem noto, Sec. "Which concealed in them
—