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

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628 BXPLANATOEY NOTES. BOOK 11., EPffiTLE U.
and their insipid compliments to each other, while the whole is animated
with a fine spirit of criticism, and with valaable precepts for our instruc-
tion in poetry. This has been parodied by Pope in the same style as the
preceding epistle.
1-9, 1. Flore. To this same individnal, who formed part of the reti
nue of Tiberias, the third epistle of the first boot is inscribed.—iVISro7».
Allnding to Tiberius (Olandias Tiberius Nero), the future emperor.—3. Go-
His. Consult note on E'piit. i., 11, 7. Et tecum sic agat. " And should
treat with thee as follows." Hie et eaiididus, et tolas a vertice, &o. " This
boy is both fair and handsome from head td foot." Ccmdidut does not
here refer to the mind, as some commentators suppose, but to the complexion,
and the allusion appears to be a general one, to the bright look
of health which the slave is said to have, and which would form so important
a feature in the enumeration of his good qualities^—5. Fiet erit-
que tmis. " He shall become, and shall be, thine." An imitation of the
technical language of a bargain^—JVammorem millibus octo. " I"or eight
thousand sesterces." About $310.—6. Vema ministeriis ad nutus apius
heriles. "A slave ready in his services at his master's nod," ««.«., prompt
to understand and obey every nod of his master. Vemoj which is here
used in a general sense for servuSy properly denotes a slave bom beneath
the roof of his master.— 7. Literulis Greeds imhutus. " Having some
little knowledge of Q-reek." This would enhance his value, as Greek
was then mnch spoken at Borne. It would qualify him also for the office
of &vayv(JaT^5, or reader.—8. Argilla qmcl/ins imitaberis uda. " Thou
wilt dhape any thing out of him, as out of so much moist clay," i. €., thou
mayest mould him into any shape at pleasure, like soft clay. Horace
here oiuits, according to a very frequent custom on his part, the term that
indicates comparison, such as tjetuti, gicuti, or some other equivalent expresBion.^-9.
Quin etiam caTiefindoctum, sed dulce Mbenti. "Besides, he
will sing in a way devoid, it is true, of skill, yet pleasing enough to one
irho is engaged over his cup." Indoctum means properly without in*
traction, in an artless manner.
10-16. 10. Fidem levant. " Diminish our confidence in a person."
11. Extrudere. "To get them offUs hands." To palm them off on an-
other.—12. Res urget me nulla. " No necessity urges me," i. e., induces
me to sell him. Meo sum pauper in lErc. " I am in narrow circumstances,
I confess, yet owe no man any thing." A proverbial expression, most
probably.—13. Mangonum. -Mango is thought by some etymologists to
be shortened fi:om mangano, a derivative offzayyavov, "jugglery," "deception,"
in allusion to the artifices employed by thesei men in e^cting
their sales.—iVoji temere a me guiois ferret idem. " It is not every one
that would readily get the same bargain at my hands." The common
language of knavish dealers in all ages.—14. ScTitel Mc cessavit, et, utfit,
&c. " Once, indeed, he ^ as in fault, and bid himself behind the stairs,
thrdugh fear of the pendent whip, as was natural enough." We have
adopted the arrangement of Doring, by which in Scalis latuit are joined
in construction, and pendeniis has a general reference to the whip's hang,
ing up in any p art of the house. The place behind the stairs, in a Roman
house, was dark, and fit for concealment.- —16. Excepta nihil te si fiiga
Vedit. "If his running away and hiding himself on tl(at ocoasion, which
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