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

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EXPLANATORY NOTES. BOOK I., EPISTLE XX. 607
now Lerida. Those who read, with the common text, unctus instead ot
mnctust make the term eqaivalent to sorde polluhts, "greasy" or "dirty;"
but this is far inferior to the lection which we have given.—14. Ridehit
moniia non exaudiius^ &c. The idea intended to be conveyed is this
Then will I, whose admonitions have been disregarded by thee, laugh at
thy fate ; as the man in the fable, who, unable to keep his ass from running
apon the border of a precipice, pushed him down headlong himself.
The poet here alludes to a fable, which, though evidently lost to us, was
no doubt well known in his time. A man endeavored to hinder his ass
from running upon the brink of a precipice, but, finding him obstinately
bent on pursuing the same track, was resolved to lend a helping hand,
and so pushed him over.—15. Maleparentem asellum. "His badly-obeying
ass," i. e., obstinately refractory.
17-S8. 17. Hoc guoque te manet, &c. Another fate which may await
his book. What the poet here pretends to regard as a misfortune, he well
knew would be in reality an honor. The works of eminent poets alone
were read in the schools of the day, and, though Horace himself speaks
rather slightingly of this process in one part of his writings (Sat. i., 10,
75}, yet it is evident from another passage {Sat. ii., 1, 71) that this distinction
was conferred on the oldest bards of Biome.— 18. Occupet. " Shall
overtake (thee)." Extremis in vims. "In the outskirts of the city."
Here the teachers of the young resided from motives of economy.—19.
Quum tibi sol tepidus plures admoverit aures. The reference is to the
latter part of the afternoon, at which time of day parents and others were
accustomed to visit the schools, and listen to the instructions which their
children received. The school-hours were continued until evening. Aures.
Equivalent here to auditores.—30. Me liberiino natum patre^ &c. Compare
Sat. i, 6, 45.—21. Majores penrms nido extendissc. A proverbial
form of expression, borrowed from a bird whose wings grow too large for
its nest, and employed to denote a man's having raised himself by his
own efforts, above Ma birth and condition.—22. Addas. Supply tantum.
— ^23. Primis tirbis. Alluding particularly to Augustus and Msecenas.
Belli. The poet served as a military tribune, "Bruto militia duce."
(Ode ii., 7, 2.)—24. Prcecanum. " Gray before my time." Solibus aptum.
"Fond of basking in the sun." "We may remark, in many places of bis
works, that our poet was very sensible to cold; that in winter he went to
the sea-coast, and was particularly fond of Tarentum in that season, because
it was milder there.—25. Irasci cderem, tamen ut placahilis essem.
" Of a hasty temper, yet so as easy to be appeased."—26. Forte meum si
guis te pereontabitur amnm, &c. Horace was born A.U.I' '«9, B.C. 65,
in the consulship of L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manilas Torqnatus. From
this period to the consulship of M. Lollius and Q. iEmilins Lepidus there
was an interval of forty-four years.^-28. Collegam Lepidum quo duxit
Lollius anno. " In the year that Lollius received L epidns as a colleague."
The verb duxit, as here employed, has a particular reference to the fact
of Lollius having been elected consul previous to Lepidus being chosen.
According to Dio Cassias (54, 6), Augustus being, in the year 733, in Sicily,
the consulship was given to him and Lollius. Augustus, however, de-
clined this office, and therefore Q. .Emilias Lepidus and L. gilanus became
candidates for the vacant place.' After much contention, the former
obtained the appointment. In this sense, then, LoUius may be said to
have received him into the consulship, i. e., to have led the way.
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