45 50 55 liberum munivit iter, daturus di, probos mores docili iuventae, Romulae genti date remque prolemque quaeque vos bobus veneratur albis Iam mari terraque manus potentis 43 f. daturus: destined to give. -plura relictis: i.e. a city (Rome) greater than the one they had left. 45 ff. probos mores, etc.: one of Augustus' chief desires was to restore a healthy moral life. Cf. 3, 24, 25 ff.; 4, 5, 22 and nn. docili, placidae: proleptic, belonging to the prayer. remque, etc. : cf. Ovid Fast. 3, 86 arma ferae genti remque decusque dabant. prolemque hypermetric. Intr. 69. 49 ff. quae with veneratur, prays for with sacrifice of, etc. bobus . . . albis: offered to Jupiter on the first day, on the second to Juno. The prayer, preserved in the inscription, was for the safety and exaltation of the Roman state and its arms. — - clarus Anchisae, etc. The phrase is a solemn paraphrase for Augustus, but at the same time it emphasized the connection of the present with the beginnings of the state (cf. Romulae genti). — bellante prior: continuing the prayer in impetret. With the sentiment, cf. Vergil A. 6, 853 parcere subiectis et debellare superbos. 53 ff. iam marking the following as victories already secure. Medus, Scythae, Indi: cf. 4, 15, 21 ff. and n. Also Ovid Trist. 2, 227 f. nunc petit Armenius pacem, nunc porrigit arcus | Parthus eques timida captaque signa тапи.. -Albanas: having the same connotation as Romulae v. 47, Anchisae Venerisque v. 50.—responsa petunt as from a god. Cf. 60 65 Iam Fides et Pax et Honor Pudorque Augur et fulgente decorus arcu Phoebus acceptusque novem Camenis, si Palatinas videt aequus aras, quaeque Aventinum tenet Algidumque 70 57 ff. Peace and her companions. Fides : cf. 1, 35, 21. Pax: Peace had an altar on the Campus Martius, built at Augustus' direction. - Honor: to whom with Virtus Marcellus dedicated a temple in 205 B.C. Pudor: cf. I, 24, 6 f. - Copia: cf. 1, 17, 14. 61-72. The closing prayer is to Apollo, the augur, god of the silver bow, leader of the Muses, and god of healing. — fulgente . arcu: of silver; the Homeric ἀργυρότοξος. - Camenis: cf. 1, 12, 39. 63 f. qui salutari, etc. : 'ATÓλλων Ποιών. Cf. I, 21, 13 f. 65 ff. si: expressing the same confidence as in v. 37.-Palatinas...aras: where the hymn was sung. aequus: with favor; cf. iniquus 1, 2, 47.-remque Romanam Latiumque: calling to mind Ennius' verse 478 M. qui rem Romanam Latiumque augescere voltis. -felix: proleptic with Latium, - in prosperity. — que . que : observe the archaic usage: the first -que does not connect videt and prorogat, but is correlative with the second. alterum : a new. Augustus' imperium was renewed for five years in 17 B.C.; but the idea is rather, 'from lustrum to lustrum'; as semper clearly shows. 69 ff. Diana's chief temple at Rome was built on the Aventine at an early period-later tradition ascribed its founding to Servius Tullus - to be a common 75 curat et votis puerorum amicas Haec Iovem sentire deosque cunctos sanctuary for the Latin tribes. 73 ff. The hymn closes with an expression of confident belief that all the prayers and hopes expressed will be fulfilled.-haec : referring to the last three strophes. sentire depending on spem. reporto: the singular is used after the manner of a Greek chorus. Cf. 4, 6, 41.. doctus : cf. docilis 4, 6, 43. — Phoebi . . . Dianae modifying both chorus and laudes. Note that the hymn closes with the mention of the two divinities named in the opening verse. EPODON LIBER For a general account of the Epodes and the conditions under which they were written, see Intr. 4. I Addressed to Maecenas in the spring of 31 B.C., when he was about to leave Rome. Antony and Cleopatra had spent the winter of 32-31 B.C. at Patrae, while their fleet of five hundred vessels had remained on guard at Actium. When the spring opened, Octavian summoned the most influential senators and knights to meet him at Brundisium, before he crossed to Epirus to engage in the final struggle. Maecenas naturally was to go with the rest. Dio Cassius, 51, 3, tells us that Maecenas was left in charge of Italy during Octavian's absence, so that it is generally assumed that he was not present at the battle of Actium. On the other hand, an anonymous elegy, regarded by Bücheler as contemporary, speaks of him as actually present cum freta Niliacae texerunt laeta carinae | fortis erat circum, fortis et ante ducem. PLM. 1, 122 ff. However, the evidence is inconclusive; yet it seems clear from Horace's words that at the time he wrote this epode he expected Maecenas to share in the dangers of the coming struggle. He remonstrates with his patron for his readiness to run all risks (1−4) ; assures him of his own devotion and willingness to share every danger, and of his anxiety, if he be forced to stay behind (5–22); and closes with the protestation that it is not selfish hope of gain that moves him : Maecenas has given him all he can desire (23-34). The last verses bear the emphasis of the epode. Horace's devotion is unselfish. This epode serves as a dedication of the collection to Maecenas. There is a warmth of expression in it that Horace does not employ elsewhere. Metre, 74. 5 Ibis Liburnis inter alta navium, amice, propugnacula, paratus omne Caesaris periculum subire, Maecenas, tuo. Quid nos, quibus te vita si superstite iucunda, si contra, gravis? 1. ibis: you are then really going. Emphatic as feremus v. II. So Tibullus 1, 3, I says in his address to Messala, who left him behind in Corcyra when traveling to the East in 30 B.C., ibitis Aegaeas sine me, Messala, per undas.-Liburnis: in contrast with the alta navium propugnacula lofty battlemented ships — of Antony and Cleopatra. These huge galleons, some of which had as many as nine banks of oars, proved no match for the small swift twobanked Liburnae of Octavian's fleet; the latter, modeled after the vessels used by the Liburnian pirates in the imperial period, formed the chief part of the Roman navy. Antony had felt his ships invincible. According to Dio Cassius 50, 18, he called to his troops, ὁρᾶτε γάρ που καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὸ πάχος τῶν ἡμετέρων σκαφῶν. Cf. also Vergil's description of the battle, A. 8, 691-693 pelago credas innare revolsas | Cycladas, aut montis concurrere montibus altos: | tanta mole viri turritis puppibus in stant. 4. tuo sc. periculo. 5 f. nos: i.e. I and such as I. The plural of modesty, which Horace uses in his lyrics only here and C. 1, 6, 5. 17; 2, 17, 32; 3, 28, 9. While we employ a verb in translating, it is improbable that the Romans were conscious of any ellipsis in such phrases as this. si superstite, etc.: the apparent use of si with the abl. abs. is anomalous. te superstite alone would form a protasis to vita . iucunda, and we should expect as the alternative, te mortuo (vita) gravis. To avoid the ominous te mortuo, Horace euphemistically says si contra, with which some such verb as vivitur, or, as Porphyrio suggests, sit, is necessary ; this construction has its influence on the preceding clause, so that we must regard the entire relative sentence as a condensed form for quibus vita si te superstite (sit), iucunda, si contra (sit), gravis. The ellipsis is somewhat similar to that in v. 8 below, ni tecum simul (persequemur), etc.— superstite : superstes here means 'living on,' elsewhere in the epodes and odes 'out-living, surviving another's death.' 6 |