5. oppositis debilitat, etc. : the winter is represented as wearing out the sea by (= against) the cliffs (pumicibus), which serve as a barrier (oppositis) to the waves; a rather cumbrous figure.

6. sapias: i.e. don't be foolish! Leave the idle speculations of astrology. vina liques: for removing the sediment; a common domestic operation, and so here used for performing one's customary household duties. spatio brevi causal ablative, since the space

(of our life) is short.

7. spem longam reseces: cf. the similar thought in i. 4. 15, vitae summa brevis spem nos retat incohare longam. fugerit: will be gone; the future perfect is here used, as frequently, to denote the immediate consummation of the future act. invida: i.e. time (aetas)

which begrudges us enjoyment of life's pleasures.

8. carpe diem: i.e. reap its fruit, its pleasures; possibly with the added notion of swiftness. Horace here must not be regarded as rec ommending the life of a voluptuary; he never suggests that as an ideal. He is rather urging a wise enjoyment of life's blessings while they are present. quam minimum: as little as possible, i.e. not at all. postero: neuter, -to the future.

ODE XII.

1. Quem virum aut heroa, etc.: the opening lines of the ode are an imitation of the beginning of Pindar's second Olympian ode, riva θεόν, τίν' ἥρωα, τίνα δ' ἄνδρα κελαδήσομεν ; acri shrill, clear-toned.

2. celebrare: the infinitive is poetically used to denote purpose, as in i. 2. 8, visere montes; cf. especially Epp. i. 3. 7, quis sibi res gestas Augusti scribere sumit? Clio the muse of history, and so appropriate for the purpose mentioned by the poet.

3. iocosa: playful; a permanent characteristic of the echo, as though endeavoring to deceive and mislead mortals.

4. imago echo; the full phrase is imago vocis; yet even prose writers use the simple imago in this sense.

5. Heliconis: Mt. Helicon in Boeotia. Like Pindus and Haemus, it was a celebrated haunt of the Muses. oris borders, slopes. 6. super Pindo: i.e. on the summit of; cf. the use of super in i. 9. 5, super foco. Mt. Pindus was between Thessaly and Epirus. gelido Haemo: Mt. Haemus was in Thrace. It is called 'cool' because of its elevation.

7. unde its antecedent is Haemo.

:

temere: i.e. in confusion.

The word is the locative of an obsolete nominative temus (like genus, -eris) meaning 'darkness'; hence originally in the dark,'blindly,' in confusion.' The final e, often marked long in dictionaries, is really short. insecutae: sc. sunt.

:

8. Orphea: Orpheus lived in Thrace. silvae even the trees are said to have yielded to the spell of Orpheus's lyre.

9. arte materna: i.e. the skill with which his mother (Calliope, the Muse) had endowed him.

11. blandum: limiting Orphea.

ing, attentive. fidibus: with ducere.

et: even. auritas listen

12. ducere: the infinitive depends upon the adjective (blandum); cf. i. 1. 18, indocilis pauperiem pati.

13. solitis: i.e. familiar, oft-repeated; for solitus in this passive sense, cf. i. 6. 20, praeter solitum. parentis: viz. Jupiter. For the thought, cf. Virg. Buc. 3. 60, ab Iove principium Musae, Iovis omnia plena.

16. horis seasons, a poetic sense of the word. 17. unde = a quo. The antecedent is parentis.

18. nec quicquam simile aut secundum: cf. Martial, xii. 8. 2, terrarum dea Roma, cui par est nihil et nihil secundum. secundum, proximos: this use of secundus (next and near') and proximus ('next, but at a distance') occurs elsewhere, e.g. Cic. Brutus, 47. 173; cf. also Virgil's proximus huic, longo sed proximus intervallo. 19. illi: brachylogy for illius honoribus. Cf. i. 1. 23, lituo tubae permixtus sonitus.

21. proeliis audax: Pallas's prowess in battle is frequently mentioned; cf. Virg. Aen. xi. 483, armipotens, praeses belli.

22. Liber: Bacchus.

to the huntress Diana.

inimica virgo beluis: the reference is

24. Phoebe preeminent for his skill in archery. On the importance attached by Augustus to the worship of Apollo and the reasons for this, see note on i. 2. 32.

25. Alciden: Hercules. He was the grandson of Alceus. pueros Ledae: Castor and Pollux; puer for filius, as in i. 32. 10, and often in poetry.

26. hunc: Castor.

equis: with superare. illum Pollux. superare: used absolutely; the infinitive dependent upon an adjective, as above, in line 12. pugnis with the fists, in boxing; from

pugnus.

27. simul for simul ac, as often.

28. stella: constellation (Gemini); Castor and Pollux were the especial patrons of mariners. See i. 3. 2 and note.

29. saxis: i.e. the cliffs of the coast.

34. Pompili: Numa Pompilius, whose reign, according to tradition, was characterized by the cessation of war and the establishment of elaborate religious ceremonials. superbos: apparently here used in the complimentary sense of glorious,' with an allusion to the magnificent public buildings which Tarquinius erected, as well as to the generally successful course of his reign.

fasces: the

Catonis: Cato

35. Tarquini: the second Tarquin is meant. bundles containing axes, carried by the lictors as the symbols of the authority of the kings, and later of the consuls. Uticensis, who ended his life by suicide at Utica in 46 B.C., after Caesar's victory, was the champion par excellence of the Republican cause. Hence the present allusion, particularly in an ode whose climax is the praise of Augustus, has not only excited surprise, but has even led some critics (e.g. Bentley) to suggest an alteration of the text. But Cato had not been a personal opponent of Octavian, and the interval since his death (some twenty years) had doubtless served to obliterate recollections of the old party strife. Cato's character and motives, moreover, had been recognized by all as of singular purity and disinterestedness. Another similar allusion to Cato occurs in ii. 1. 23, et cuncta terrarum subacta praeter atrocem animum Catonis; cf. also Virgil's tribute in Aen. viii. 670, secretosque pios his dantem iura Catonem. Similar encomiums occur in other contemporary writers.

36. nobile = clarum, as often.

37. Regulum: said to have been put to death with cruel tortures after his return to Carthage from Rome, where he had dissuaded the Senate from making an exchange of prisoners with the Carthaginians; ef. iii. 5. The story, however, is probably apocryphal. Scauros : i.e. men like Scaurus; the reference is to M. Aemilius Scaurus (163– 89 B.C.), who served with distinction in the Cimbrian War, and was twice consul. Valerius Maximus, v. 8. 4, calls him lumen ac decus patriae. animae genitive with prodigum, which here follows the analogy of adjectives of fulness.

38. Paulum: L. Aemilius Paulus; he fell at Cannae, 216 B.C. Poeno i.e. Hannibal; the ablative absolute here denotes time.

in

39. gratus: gladly; i.e. the theme is a welcome one to me. signi camena: in ennobling verse; camena, lit. muse,' by a familiar

figure is used for carmine; with insignis in the causative sense of making distinguished,' cf. i. 1. 5, palma nobilis.

40. Fabricium: a hero in the war with Pyrrhus (281-275 B.C.), and famous for the integrity and simplicity of his character. He has been called the Roman Aristides'; cf. Cic. de Off. iii. 22. 87, Fabricio, qui talis in hac urbe qualis Aristides Athenis fuit.

41. intonsis Curium capillis: M'. Curius Dentatus was a contemporary of Fabricius, and like him served in the war against Pyrrhus. His simplicity of life is emphasized in the words intonsis capillis. The first barbers at Rome are said to have come from Sicily in 300 B.C., but it was nearly a century before the custom of carefully trimming the beard and hair became general.

bello dative of

42. utilem: in predicate relation to Curium. purpose. Camillum: M. Furius Camillus, the hero of the Gallic invasion (390 B.C.)..

43. paupertas: poverty, not in the sense of destitution, but simply of narrow means, like pauperies in i. 1. 18. arto lare: narrow (i.e. humble) abode; lar, originally the god of the hearth or household, is here used figuratively for the dwelling. With arto lare, cf. Epp. i. 7. 58, lare curto; Lucan, Pharsalia, v. 527, O vitae tuta facultas pauperis angustique lares. Horace is particularly fond of dwelling upon the simplicity of the early days, and contrasting it with the demoralizing luxury of his own age.

45. crescit occulte: grows imperceptibly; the Mss. read occulto, which editors retain, construing it with aevo. But this is extraordinary Latin. The text of Lucretius, i. 314, occulte decrescit vomer in arvis, suggests that Horace here wrote occulte, which later became corrupted to occulto.

46. Marcelli: the whole family is alluded to by implication, though only one representative of the house had ever achieved a reputation commensurate with that of the other worthies here mentioned. He was M. Claudius Marcellus, the conqueror of Syracuse. Between 222 and 208 B.C. he was five times elected consul. His aggressive tactics in the Second Punic War secured him the name of the 'Sword of Rome,' in distinction from Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator, who was known as the Shield of Rome.' This allusion to the fame of the Marcelli, besides giving recognition to a famous house, is doubtless intended also as a compliment to the young Marcellus (son of Octavia and nephew of Augustus), whose marriage to Julia, Augustus's daughter, probably occurred about the time this ode was written. Such

a compliment would naturally appeal to the Emperor also, who had selected Marcellus as his successor. The young man's promise of future distinction was suddenly cut short by death in 23 B.C.; cf. the five lines commemorating this event in Virg. Aen. vi. 863 f., quis, pater, ille, virum qui sic comitatur euntem ? etc. omnis viz. all the other Roman worthies previously mentioned.

47. Iulium sidus: the reference is to the comet which appeared in broad daylight after the death of Julius Caesar and continued to shine for a week. It was popularly believed to contain the soul of the murdered hero. This allusion to the Julian house, following immediately the reference to that of the Marcelli, seems to point to an approaching or already consummated union of the two houses by marriage. ignis minores = stellas.

49. pater atque custos: Jupiter.

51. data: sc. est. tu secundo Caesare regnes: the perspective of the thought is somewhat obscured; Horace's prayer is really: May Caesar b next to thee in majesty !'

53. Parthos: see note on i. 2. 22, Persae. Latio imminentis: a poetical exaggeration.

54. iusto triumpho: a well-earned triumph; to be taken with egerit.

55. subiectos: bordering on; the notion of 'under' disappears in certain uses of this compound. orae used, much as above in line 5, in the general sense of region,' 'district,' but with the added notion of distance.

56. Serǎs: Greek accusative from nominative Seres. Seres was loosely applied to the peoples living on the east of the Roman frontier in Asia, in the vicinity of the modern Bokhara. Indos famed for their riches and treasures. The Romans had not yet come in contact with either Seres or Indi, but it was a natural ambition to desire to include these peoples in the Roman dominion.

57. te, tu (58), tu (59): the anaphora, coupled with the emphatic position of the pronouns at the beginning of the verse, is intended to close the ode with a due recognition of the supremacy of the god. aequos for the spelling, see note on i. 2. 47.

58 gravi curru: Jove's thunder. Olympum caelum.

59. parum castis = incestis, i.e. polluted by the vile orgies of the time.

60. lucis: the dative for in with the accusative as in i. 2. 1 terris.