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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK I., EPISTLE XV. 585
commands which the master might impose, hat even those which the other
slaves belonging to particular stations might see fit to give. Hence the
derivation of the name from medius, as indicating one who stands in the
midst, exposed to the orders of all, or, in other words, a slave of all work.
15. Villicus. Supply /arfas.— 16. Me constare mihi sets. It is very apparent
from the satires, and one in particular (ii., 7, 38), that Horace was
not always entitled to the praise which he here bestows upon himself for
consistency of character. As he advanced in years, the resolutions of the
poet became more fixed and settled.—19. Tesqua. " Wilds." A Sabine
term, according to the scholiast.
22-34. 22. Quid nostrum concentum dividal. "What prevents our
agreeing on these points." Literally, " what divides our agreement," i. e.,
keeps it apart or separate.— ^23. Temtes togce. " Fine garments." Tenua
is here equivalent to delicatioreSf or minime crassa.—Nitidique capilli.
" And locks shining with unguents."—24. Bibulum. " A quaffer." Compare
Epist. i., 18, 91 : " Potores bibuli media de rtocte Falemi."—26. Nee
lasisse pudet, &c. " Kor is it a shame to have sported (in this way], but (it
is Brshame) not to cut short such folly," i. e., by bringing maturer judgment
to one's aid. With lusisse supply Ulo modo.— ^27. JVo» istie obliquo oculo,
4c. " There no one with envious eye takes aught away irom my enjoyments."
Jjimat. Literally, "files away," i. e., diminishes. It was a
common superstition among the ancients, that an envious eye diminished
and tainted what it looked upon. A belief in the supposed effect of the
evil eye is still prevalent in modem times.—28. Venenat. " Seeks to poison
them."—29. Moventem. Supply me.—30. Cum servis urbana diaria,
*c. " Wouldst thoa rather gnaw with my other slaves thy daily allowfflice
V ~Diaria was the allowance granted to slaves by the day. This
was less in town than in the country, for their allowance was always proportioned
to their labor. Hence the term rodere is employed in the text,
not only to mark the small quantity, but also the bad kind of food that was
given to slaves in the city.—31. Iri/eidet usum lignorum, ic. " The cunning
city slave, on the other hand, envies thee the use of the fuel, the
flocks, and the garden." The term calo is here taken in a general sense.
33. Optat ephippia bos. Ice. " The ox wishes for the horse's trappings,
the lazy horse wishes to plough." The ephippia Were, properly speak
ing, a kind of covering {vesiis stragula), with which the horse was sard to
^e constratus. We have followed Bentley and Orelli in placing a stop
after bos, and assigning piger as an epithet to caballus. The csesaral
pause alone makes the propriety of this arrangement sufficiently apparent.
34. Q.uam scit uterque, libens, &c. "My opinion will be, that each
of yon ply contentedly that business which he best understands." Uterque.
Beferring to the villicus and the calo.
Epistle XV. Augustus having recovered fi:om a dangerous illness by
the use of the cold bath, which his physician Antonius Musa had prescribed
this new remedy came into great vogue, and the warm baths, which
had hitherto been^rincipally resorted to, began to lose their credit. Antonius
Musa, who was strongly attached to the system of treatment that
bad saved the life of his imperial patient, advised Horace, among others,
to make trial of it. The poet therefore writes to his iriend Numoniup
B82
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