XIV. DRUSUS AND TIBERIUS. 1. Occasion of the Poem: Despite the defeat administered to the Raeti and Vindelici by Drusus in 15 B.C. (see introduction to Ode IV.), the Vindelici, joined by some other tribes, undertook a fresh incursion soon after. Tiberius was despatched to join Drusus, and in 14 B.C. the two brothers accomplished the complete subjugation of the invaders. 2. Outline of the Poem: a) No praises are adequate for thy achievements, O Augustus, whose mighty hand has again been felt by our northern foes, 1-9; b) For thine were the troops, thine the plan, thine the favoring gods, through whom Drusus and Tiberius gallantly crushed the foe, scattering them in confusion, as Auster scatters the spray, or as rolling Aufidus when he overflows the farms, 9-34; c) 'Twas on the anniversary of the day when suppliant Alexandria opened her port to thee, 34-40; d) All nations own thy power, from East to West, from South to North, 41-52. 3. Time: 14 B.C. 4. Metre Alcaic. Introd. § 43. Quae cura patrum quaeve Quiritium Auguste, virtutes in aevom Per titulos memoresque fastus Aeternet, o, qua sol habitabilis Quid Marte posses. Milite nam tuo Alpibus impositas tremendis Te Cantaber non ante domabilis Medusque et Indus, te profugus Scythes Italiae dominaeque Romae. a) Phoebus forbids me again to sing of battles and conquered cities, 1-4; b) The Glory of Caesar's rule: Fertility has returned to bless our fields; the standards of Crassus have been restored; shut is Janus's temple, and the old virtues that made Rome great have been revived again; with Caesar as our guardian tranquillity is sure, 4-24; c) And so, in the fashion of our sires, with wine, and flute, and song, let us celebrate the glorious men of old, and Troy, Anchises, and all the famous progeny of Venus, 25–32. 2. Time: Probably 13 B.C. 3. Metre: Alcaic. Introd. § 43. Phoebus volentem proelia me loqui CARMEN SAECULARE. 1. Occasion of the Hymn: The Valerian gens had from time immemorial observed the custom of offering sacrifices to the gods of the lower world upon the Tarentum, a part of the Campus Martius adjacent to the River. In the year 249 B.C., in the midst of the First Punic War, this gentile ceremonial had been converted into a national one under the name of the Ludi Tarentini. One hundred years later (149 B.C.), while the Third Punic War was in progress, the games had been repeated. Whether or not there existed any disposition to renew their celebration in B.C. 49 is entirely uncertain, but if there was, the troublous events of that year naturally prevented the execution of the purpose. Augustus, however, wished to revive the ancient ceremony, and secured from the quindecimviri, the custodians of the Sibylline books, an opinion that, according to the Etruscan reckoning of 110 years to a saeculum, the celebration was due in the year 17 B.C. So far as can now be determined, this decision was entirely arbitrary and was made purely for the purpose of indorsing the desire of Augustus to institute a solemn religious festival which should lend lustre to the new political order inaugurated by him. In the programme of the festival, Augustus introduced certain new elements. The celebrations during the First and Third Punic Wars had been characterized mainly by sacrifices for the propitiation of the gods of the nether world. This feature was entirely omitted by Augustus, who now gave central prominence to Apollo and Diana. This was quite in conformity with the importance attached to the worship of Apollo by Augustus; see note on Odes, I. 2, 32. It is significant, too, that the direction of the saecular celebration was intrusted to the quindecimviri, whose official meeting place was the temple of Apollo on the Palatine; see Introd. to I. 31, 1. The main celebration began on the evening of May 31, 17 B.C., and continued for three days, till the night of June 3. The Carmen Saeculare formed a part of the third day's ceremonial, being sung in connection with a solemn sacrifice offered to Apollo upon the Palatine. The hymn was rendered by two specially chosen choruses, one of twenty-seven boys, the other of twenty-seven maidens. The members |