'O Goddess, Queen of Antium, who canst exalt or humble. All court thy favor, the poor man and the prince, the wild Dacian and Scythian, the sturdy Latin stock, lest thou bring wild discord (1-16). Fierce Destiny goes before with wedge and clamp (17-20), but Hope and Faith are thy companions (21-24); yet at sign of thy disfavor the fickle crowd and false friend flee (25-28). Protect Caesar, we pray, in his campaign against the Britons; guard our youth from dangers in the East (29-32). May we expiate the crimes of civil strife with swords new forged against our eastern foes (33-40).' The motive of this prayer is probably taken from Pindar, O. 12, 1-6 λίσσομαι, παῖ Ζηνὸς Ἐλευθερίου, Ιμέραν εὐρυσθενέ ̓ ἀμφιπόλει, Σύτειρα Τύχα. | τὶν γὰρ ἐν πόντῳ κυβερνῶνται θοαὶ ¦ ναες, ἐν χέρσῳ τε λαι ψηροί πόλεμοι | κἀγοραὶ βουλα φόροι. αἴ γε μὲν ἀνδρῶν | πόλλ ̓ ἄνω, τὰ δ ̓ αὖ κάτω, ψεύδη μεταμώνια τάμνοισαι, κυλίνδοντ ̓ ἐλπίδες. ‘I beseech thee, daughter of Zeus the Deliverer, Saving Fortune, guard wide-ruling Himera. For at thy beck the swift ships are piloted on the sea, and on the land fierce wars and council-giving assemblies. The hopes are tossed, often up, but again down, as they cut their way through the high waves of falsity.' Horace's ode forms the basis of men of Gray's Ode to Adversity, while Wordsworth used Gray's poem as a model for his Ode to Duty. The expedition referred to in v. 29 f. was undertaken by Augustus in 27 B.C., when, according to Dio C. 53, 22, wpμnoe μèv is Kai és Tηv Βριττανίαν στρατεύσων, ἐς δὲ δὴ τὰς Γαλατίας ἐλθὼν ἐνταῦθα διέτριψεν. The following year he again laid plans for the invasion, but was kept back by an uprising in Spain. In this year, too, preparations were being made for the expedition of Aelius Gallus against the Arabians to which vv. 30-32 refer (cf. ode 29 of this book). 26 B.C. is therefore the most probable date of the ode. Metre, 68. 5 O diva, gratum quae regis Antium, te pauper ambit sollicita prece 1. diva: Fortune, the goddess who rules at will the vicissitudes of life, is here identified with the Fortunae Antiates, whose temple at Antium was a famous shrine until late times. With this shrine was associated a popular oracle; therefore the goddesses were called by Mart. 5, 1, 3 veridicae sorores. For representations of the goddesses on coins, see Baumeister nos. 606 and 607. -gratum: probably equivalent to dilectum, 'beloved by thee'; cf. I, 30, 2 dilectam Cypron. It may, however, refer to the beauty of the place, for Cicero speaking of it says (ad. Att. 4,8 a, 1), nihil quietius, nihil alsius, nihil amoenius. 2. praesens tollere: with power, praesens being equivalent to potens. Intr. 108. - imo tollere de gradu: these words might suggest to the Roman reader the story of Servius Tullius, as the following superbos . . . triumphos would surely call to his mind the case of Aemilius Paullus, the victor at Pydna, whose two sons died on the day of his triumph. 3 f. mortale corpus: man's mortal clay. — vertere : change into. Cf. Epist. 2, 3, 226 vertere seria ludo. 5 f. te .. te: note the frequent and emphatic anaphorae in this ode, by which the goddess addressed is constantly made prominent. Intr. 28 c. — ambit: courts.-ruris colonus: the farmer and the sailor (v. 7) are types of men especially dependent on the whims of Fortune, the former for his crops, the latter for his life as well as livelihood. 15 20 quicumque Bithyna lacessit te Dacus asper, te profugi Scythae iniurioso ne pede proruas stantem columnam, neu populus frequens concitet imperiumque frangat. uncus abest liquidumque plumbum. 7 f. Bithyna . . . Carpathium: specializing, as 1, 1, 13 trabe Cypria Myrtoum secet mare. -lacessit: vexes. 9 ff. The wild Dacian and the nomad (profugi) Scythian are contrasted with civilized peoples (urbesque gentesque et Latium ferox). — profugi: best explained by 3, 24.9 £ campestres. . . Scythat. quorum plaustra vagas rite trahunt domos. - ferox: fearless. Cf. 3, 3, 44 Roma ferox. 11 f regumque matres barbarorum: as Atossa. the mother of Xerxes in Aeschylus Persians; and the mother of Sisera in Judges 5, 28. purpurei. . . tyranni: the color of the dress being the symbol of power; cf. Verg. G. 2, 495 illum non populi fasces, non purpura regum flexit. 13 f. iniurioso: insolent, vßpiστικῷ. columnam symbolical of stability. Cf. Sen. Troad. 6 f. columen eversum occidit | pollentis Asiae. 15. ad arma . . ad arma: repeating dramatically the cry of the mob. Cf. Ovid Met. 12, 241 certatimque omnes uno ore ‘arma, arma' loquuntur. 17 ff. clavos, cuneos, uncus, plumbum: these devices for fastening together building material — the spikes, wedges for loose joints, and clamps fastened with lead — are symbolical of the power of stern Necessity, who precedes Fortune, as the lictors go before the Roman consul. — clavos: clavum figere was used proverbially of that which was unalterably fixed by fate; cf. Cic. Verr. 2, 53 25 330 Te Spes et albo rara Fides colit veste domos inimica linquis; at volgus infidum et meretrix retro ferre iugum pariter dolosi. Serves iturum Caesarem in ultimos ut hoc beneficium, quem admodum manu over 21 ff. The constancy of Hope and Faith, even when Fortune denies her favor, is set against the fickleness of the common crowd, the harlot, and false friends. - Spes . . . Fides: both had temples at Rome; tradition said that it was King Numa who established the festival to Fides (Livy 1, 21). rara: since fidelity is seldom found. albo velata panno in offering sacrifices to Fides the priest wrapped his right hand in a white cloth. It is for this reason, according to Servius, that Vergil, A. 1, 292, calls Fides nec comitem abnegat: this is obscure, but the simplest interpretation is to supply se: 'even in adversity, Faith does not refuse to be man's companion.' cana. 23 f. There were not simply Fortunae of places, cities, etc., but also Fortunae of private families. mutata . . . veste : 'changed from festal to mourning garb.' — inimica: predicative. 35 40 examen Eois timendum partibus oceanoque rubro. Eheu cicatricum et sceleris pudet liquimus? Vnde manum iuventus recens: i.e. newly recruited for the expedition of Aelius Gallus. timendum: part of the prayer. 32 f. Cf. Verg. A. 8, 686 victor ab Aurorae populis et litore rubro. cicatricum et sceleris . . . fratrumque note the cumulative force the scars of civil strife are our shame, a crime, a crime against our brothers.' Cf. similar cumulations I, 5, 11; 3, 5, 10. 34 ff. quid nos dura, etc.: reproducing the spirit of the first part of Epod. 16. 38 ff. O utinam, etc. : undoubtedly Horace expresses in this form his own deepest feeling, which was shared by his more earnest and wiser contemporaries. The disastrous effects of thirty years of civil war were everywhere apparent, and the new order introduced by Augustus was the only promise of a security that would enable the state to recover its prosperity. Deeper than all this were the horrors of the struggle just ended in which members of the same family had been set in armed opposition to each other. (Cf. the story of the two brothers in Livy Per. 79.) These did not fail to move even the insensitive Romans. 36 Nu A greeting to Numida, lately returned from the wars in Spain. mida here appears as the warm friend and contemporary of Aelius Lamia ; therefore considerably younger than Horace (cf. introductory n. to 1, 26). |