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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK I., EPISTLE XL 577
ttieir Blare.—48. Tortum Mgna sequi, &o. " Though deserving rather to
follow, than to lead, the twisted rope," i. e., deserving rather to be held in
snbjection than itself to subject others. The metaphor here employed is
taken from beasts that are led with a cord.—49. Dictabam. " I dictated,"
i. e., to my amannensis. In writing letters, the Bomans used the imperfect
tense to denote what was going on at the time when they wrote,
patting themselves, as it were, in the place of the person who received
the letter, and using the tense which wonld be proper when it came to
his hands. Iflompace Zumpt, § 503.)— PostfaTmmpatreVaeuruB. "Behind
the mouldering fane of Vacuna." Vacuna was a goddess, worshipped
principally by the Salines, but also by the L atins. According to some
authorities, she was identical with Victoria, and the Lake Catilise, in the
centre of Italy, was sacred to her. Others made her the same with Diana,
Ceres, or Minerva. This last was the opinion of Varro. The temple of
the goddess, in the Sabine territory, not far firom a grove likewise consecrated
to her, would seem to have been in the vicinity of the poef s villa.
Behind its mouldering remains, seated on the grassy turf, Horace dictated
the present epistle.—SO. Excepto, quod, non simul esses, &c. "In all other
respects happy, except that thou wast not with me." There is no need
of any ellipsis of eo after excepto ; the clause that comes after, namely, quod
mm siimil esses, must be regarded as a noun of the neuter gender, and as
the subject ofthe participle. (Zumpt, $ 647.)
Epistle XI. The poet instructs his Mend Bullatins, who was roaming
abroad for the purpose of dispelling the cares which disturbed his repose,
that happiness does not depend upon climate or place, but upon the state
of our own minds.
1-3. 1. Quid tibi visa Chios, &c. "How does Chios appear to thee,
BuUatius, and famed Lesbos'!" Chios. An island in the iSgean Bea,
off the coast of Lydia,"and one of the twelve states established by the
lonians after their emigration from the mother country to Asia. It is
now Scio.—Lesbos. An island of the iEgean, ^lorth of Chios. Its modem
name is Metdino or Metelin, a corruption of MytUene, the name of the
ancient capital. Lesbos was colonized by the .fflolians in the &st great
emigration. The epithet nota, which is here given it, applies not so
much to the excellent wine produced there, as to the distinguished persons
who were natives of the island, and among whom may be mentioned
Sappho, Alcfflus, Theophrastns, &c.—2. Concinna Samos. "Handsome
Samoa." Samos lies southeast of Chios. It is about six hundred
stadia in circumference, and full of mountains. This, also, was one of
the twelve Ionian states of Asia. The epithet concinna, here bestowed
on it, would seem to refer to the neatness and elegance of its buildings.
—rQuid Crtssi regia Sairdis ? Sardis was the ancient capital of the
Lydian kings, and stood on the B/iver Factolas. It was afterward the
residence of the satrap of Lydia, and the head-quarters of the Persian
monarchs when they visited western Asia.—3. Smyrna. This city stood
on the coast of Lydia, and was one of the old iEolian colonies ; but the period
of its splendor belongs to the Macedonian era. Antigonus and Lysimaclras
made it one of the most beautiful towns in Asia. The modem
town, Ismm, or Smyrna, is the chief trading-place of the heymt.—Colo-
Bb