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

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578 EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK I., EPISTLE XI.
^^072. A city of Ionia, northwest of Spfaesus, famed for its excellent cat*
fUtyi—Fama 7 " Than fame represents them to be ?"
4-11. 4. C-unctane pra campo, &;c. "Are they all contemptible in
comparison with the Campns Martins and the River Tiber?" Sordeo is
here equivalent to contemnoTf nikili pendor, &.c.—5. An venit in 'sotum,
&c. "Or does one of the cities of Attains become the object of thy wish?"
Literally, " enter in^ thy wish," i. c, dost thou wish to dwell in one of
the cities of Attains? Among the flourishing cities ruled over in earlier
days by Attains, were Fergamas, the capital, Myridus, ApoUonia, Trallea,
Thyatira, &c.—6. L^edum. Lebedus was a maritime city of Ionia, northwest
of Colophon. It was at one time a large and flourishing city, but,
upon the removal of the greater part of its inhabitants to Ephedds by
Lysimachus, it sank ^to insignificance, and, in the time of Hoi'ace, 'W'as
deserted and in ruins. Gahiis. There were two cities of the name of
Gabii in Italy, one among the Sabines and the other in Latinm. The lat
ter was the more celebrated of the two, and is the place here referred to
In the time of Horace it was in a rained and deserted state, having sof
fered severely during the civil wai-s. It was raised, however, from this
state of ruin and desolation under Antoninus andCommodus, and became
a thriving town. It was situate on the Via PrtBTiestiTuif about twelve
miles from !Rome.—8. Fidenis. Fidensa was a small town ofthe Sabines,
about four or five miles from Bome, and is well known as a brave though
unsuccessful antagonist of the latter city. It was stormed A.U.C. 329 by
the dictator Emilias Mamercos, and remained after this a deserted place
nntil some time after the age of Horace.—11. Sed neque, qui Capua, &:c.
The idea intended to be conveyed, from this line to the close of the epis-
tle, is as follows : Bat, whatever city or region may have pleased thee,
my friend, retam now, I entreat thee, to Home. For, as he who journeys
to the latter place from Capua does not feel inclined to pass the rest of
his days in an inn by the way, because, when bespattered with rain and
mire, he has been able to dry and cleanse himself there ; and as he who,
when laboring nndertbe chill of a fever, has obtained relief from the stove
and the warm bath, does not therefore regard these as su£Qcient to complete
the happiness of life ; so do thou linger no more in the places which
at present may delight thee, nor, if a tempest shall have tossed thee on
the deep, sell, in consequence, thy vessel, and revisit not for the time to
come thy native country and thy friends. Rhodes and the fair Mytilene
are to him who visits them when in sound health predsely the same aa
other things, which, though good in themselves, prove, if not used at the
proper period, injurious rather than beneficial. Retam, therefore, and,
far removed from them, praise foreign cities and countries fcom. Rome.
Enjoy the good things which fortune noW auspiciously ofiers, in order
that, wherever thou mayest be, thou mayest be able to say that thy life
has been passed happily. For if the cares of the mind are removedruot
by pleasing scenery, but by reason and refletitioni they, surely, who run
beyond the sea, change climate only, not the mind. Yet such is human
nature : we are bome afar, in ships and chariots, to seek for that which
lies at our very doors.
13-19. 13. Frigus. Consult note on Sat. i^ 1, 80.—14. (ftforiunatam
plene, &c " As completely famishing the meai» of a happy Itfe."—17. 1»