nec fera caerulea domuit Germania pube ferisque rursus occupabitur solum. Barbarus heu cineres insistet victor et urbem eques sonante verberabit ungula, quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini Rhone and the Isère, soon after 7. caerulea, blue-eyed, a noted characteristic of the German; cf. Juv. 13. 164 caerula quis stupuit Germani lumina? Tac. Ger. 4 (omnibus) truces et caerulei oculi, rutilae comae, magna corpora.— Germania: referring to the great invasion of the Cimbri and Teutones, who were defeated and destroyed, the latter at Aquae Sextiae in B.C. 102, the former at Vercellae in 101, by Marius, probably the greatest peril to which Rome had been exposed since the destruction of the city by the Gauls. 8. parentibus abominatus : cf. matribus detestata, C. I. I. 24. Intr. 54. 9. impia aetas: in apposition with the subject of perdemus. Cf. C. I. 35. 34. - devoti sanguinis, with a curse in our blood. Cf. 7. 20. 10. feris Intr. 55.- -rursus: as in the times before Romulus. How this is to be brought about is indicated in the next two couplets. the II. barbarus: such as Parthian (I. 12. 53), the Dacian (III. 6. 14), the German, etc. cineres: sc. of the burned city. insistet, will set his foot upon; with acc. as in Ter. Eun. 294 quam insistam viam, incertus sum. 12. eques (with barbarus), on horse.- sonante: in fancy the poet hears the clatter of the hoofs breaking the stillness of the deserted street. : 13. carent, are sheltered from ; in contrast with the profanation to which they are to be exposed. — solibus cf. 2. 41 n, C. IV. 2. 46 n. -ossa Quirini: according to Varro, as quoted by Porphyrio, Romulus was buried behind the Rostra; it would appear that the story of his apotheosis (Liv. I. 16) was by no means generally accepted at this time. 14. nefas (sc. est) videre: cf. scire nefas, I. 11. 1; the act of desecration is a sin so abominable that one would turn away or cover his eyes to avoid the pollution of even beholding it. For the omission of est, cf. C. I. 11. 1, 37. 5, III. 24. 24; Verg. A. VIII. 173 quai differre nefas.- insolens: cf. C. I. 16. 21. 15. forte: here equivalent to forsitan, the clause being virtually a condition, si forte quaeritis, etc. 15 Forte quid expediat communiter aut melior pars malis carere quaeritis laboribus. 20 Nulla sit hac potior sententia: Phocaeorum agros atque laris patrios habitandaque fana apris reliquit et rapacibus lupis, ire pedes quocumque ferent, quocumque per undas Notus vocabit aut protervus Africus. Sic placet, an melius quis habet suadere? Secunda ratem occupare quid moramur alite? — quid expediat, what it is best to do.- communiter: equivalent to omnes. — pars (sc. vestrum): in apposition with the subject of quaeritis; cf. aetas, vs. 9 n. 16. carere, to be rid of. Best taken as infinitive of purpose (Intr. 93); cf. Verg. E. 4. 54 quantum sat erit tua dicere facta; Lucr. III. 1030 iter dedit legionibus ire per altum. If we read quod expediat (see Crit. App.), carere is complementary infinitive with quaeritis; Intr. 94 c. 17. sit,... perhaps... is; potential subjunctive. sententia : the technical term for a proposition brought forward in a deliberative body. The poet in fancy addresses his countrymen of kindred spirit (melior pars) sitting in council. The actual proposition begins with ire, 21, which is in apposition with hac (sc. sententia). Phocaeorum: the inhabitants of Phocaea, a powerful Athenian colony in Ionia, itself the mother city of Massilia and other important colonies in the West. According to Herodotus (I. 164 sq.), they left their city in a body to escape subjection to the Persians, and sailed away to Aleria, in Corsica. A part of them, however, subse quently returned. For the metre, see Intr. 132. 18. velut: Intr. 114.— profūgit: here transitive; a poetical usage in Horace's time. exsecrata: used absolutely, having sworn (with imprecations) sc. that they would not return; under a curse. They pronounced powerful curses on any of their number who should desert the enterprise; and, in addition to this, they dropped into the sea a lump of iron, and swore never to return to Phocaea till this iron should reappear' (Herod. 7.7.). 19. patrios: suggesting, like fana, the most hallowed associations.-habitanda, etc.: a typical picture of utter desolation; cf. vs. Io and C. III. 3. 40. 21. pedes, etc.: i.e. by land, in contrast with per undas; cf. C. III. II, 49 n. 22. vocabit, shall invite us. Cf. Cat. 4. 19 laeva sive dextera | vocaret aura.— protervus cf. C. I. 26. 2, and praecipitem Afriсит, I. 3. 12 n. 23. sic placet, is such your pleasure? keeping up the figure of a deliberative assembly.- suadere: Intr. 94. secunda alite: cf. 10. I n. 25 Sed iuremus in haec: Simul imis saxa renarint 30 vadis levata, ne redire sit nefas ; neu conversa domum pigeat dare lintea quando Padus Matina laverit cacumina, in mare seu celsus procurrerit Appenninus, novaque monstra iunxerit libidine mirus amor, iuvet ut tigris subsidere cervis credula nec ravos timeant armenta leones, 35 Haec et quae poterunt reditus abscindere dulcis eamus omnis exsecrata civitas, aut pars indocili melior grege; mollis et exspes inominata perprimat cubilia. 25. in haec (sc. verba): cf. 15.4n. saxa: for the mass of iron in the oath of the Phocaeans, which Horace evidently had in mind, as renarint shows. Setting out with this, the poet proposes a series of impossible contingencies to bind them more firmly to their hard resolve. For other examples of the use of this favorite figure (σχῆμα ἀδυνάτου), cf. C. I. 29. 10 sqq., 33. 7 sq.; II. I. 234 sqq.; Verg. E. 1. 59 sqq., 8. 27 sqq. 26. vadis: Intr. 70. 28. Matina: see C. I. 28. 3 n. 29. procurrerit : cf. Ov. F. ÏV. 419 terra tribus scopulis vastum procurrit in aequor. The Apennines are an interior range. The figure is the converse of the preceding. For the metre, see Intr. 132. 30. monstra, unnatural creatures; proleptic: the mirus amor turns them into monstra. 31. tigris, etc.: the picture of these monstrous unions is heightened by the reversal of the natures of the animals: the tiger becomes 40 Vos, quibus est virtus, muliebrem tollite luctum, Nos manet Oceanus circumvagus; arva beata 45 germinat et numquam fallentis termes olivae 39. muliebrem in contrast (Intr. 116 a) with virtus, for which see 15. II n.-tollite: cf. C. I. 27. 2 n. 40. Etrusca, etc.: the usual route of voyagers to the West.praeter: Intr. 1156.-et: Intr. 114. 41. nos: the change of person (cf. vos, 39) implies that his appeal has been successful; they are now with him, and he turns from exhortation to consolation, pointing to the greater recompense in store for those who make the sacrifice he demands. circumvagus: a word probably of Horace's own coining, expressing the ever-changing movements of the sea, and a happy variation on the Homeric ȧoppoos, which Ovid (M. I. 30) more literally renders circumfluus, an epithet properly applicable to a river, which the ocean was in Homeric geography (cf. II. XX. 7). That the ocean, however, surrounded the habitable lands was also taught by Roman geographers; see Plin. N. H. II. 166 sq. 42. arva repeated to form the connection with divites insulas, etc.; cf. aere, 65; amore 11. 3; Intr. 116 h. The epithet beata is not repeated, and is unnecessary in such close connection with divites insulas, with which arva is joined in hendiadys. -et: Intr. 43. Cererem: Intr. 130. 45. numquam fallentis: cf. fundus mendax, C. III. 1. 30. It implies exemption from care, as inarata and imputata, above, from toil. 46. suam: emphatic (Intr. 116b); the finer varieties of the fig, as of the pear (cf. 2. 19 n) can be propagated only by grafting. Cf. Verg. G. II. 81 sq. (of the grafted tree) 50 61 mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis gregem aestuosa torret impotentia. 53 Pluraque felices mirabimur, ut neque largis aquosus Eurus arva radat imbribus, exsilit ad caelum ramis felicibus arbos | miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma. -pulla: i.e. fully ripe. 47. mella, etc.: for the skillful construction of this and the next verse see Intr. 131. — montibus: Intr. 70. 48. levis, etc.: the beauty of this verse, which has caught up some of the music of the brook itself, was remarked by Porphyrio. It is not, however, a merely ornamental addition to the description. A natural supply of water for man and beast in contrast with a parched country like Apulia, or with the artificial supply of the city, is a necessary part of the picture; cf. Ep. I. 10. 20 sq.-pede : a bold extension of the metaphor in desilit. Cf. Lucr. V. 272 qua via secta semel liquido pede labitur unda. 49. illic, etc.: the flocks and herds need no keeper to drive them or to guard them from danger. Cf. C. I. 17. 5 sqq. 50. refert, brings home.-tenta =distenta, 2. 46; Intr. 129. amicus: corresponding to iniussae, 49. 51. vespertinus: with adverbial force; cf. Ep. I. 6. 20 navus mane forum, vespertinus pete tectum.· circum gemit: Intr. 115c. 52. intumescit: the action of the vipers is attributed to the ground, as where we say 'the place was swarming with ants' or, the like.-alta: proleptic, with intumescit. 61, 62. This couplet is found in all the MSS. after vs. 60, where it is obviously out of place and interrupts the course of thought, which (from vs. 57 to the close of the poem) is of the immunity of the Happy Isles from corrupting human and moral influences. It must have stood originally somewhere before vs. 57, and has been misplaced in copying (see Crit. App.). 61. nullius: Intr. 1166.-astri: such as those mentioned, C. III. 29. 17 sqq. 62. aestuosa impotentia, furious heat, causing pestilence. Cf. Virg. G. III. 478 sqq. For impotentia, cf. impotens, C. I. 37. Ion, III. 30. 3; and for this application of it, III. 29. 18 sq. 53. ut, how, after mirabimur, as in C. III. 4. 17 after mirum foret. - neque, etc. the climate is temperate, free from extremes of storm and drouth. 54. aquosus: cf. udo Noto, 10. |