100. Occasionally a word is so placed with reference to other words that it may grammatically be connected with eit while logically it is necessarily so connected: 2, II, II f. aeternis minorem | consiliis animum fatigas? In this con belongs equally to minorem and to fatigas.

. fallit. 102. The future indicative is occasionally used with permis I, 7, I laudabunt alii claram Rho or hortatory force: 'others may praise,' etc.; 1, 12, 57 ff. te minor latum aequus orbem, etc., 'let him rule,' etc.

103. The perfect is used like the Greek gnomic aorist, to press what has always been true or customary, i.e. a general or customary action: 1, 28, 20 nullum saeva caput Proser fugit, 'cruel Proserpina never passes by (i.e. never has, and th fore, by implication, never does pass) a mortal.'

104. Horace occasionally employs the archaic form of pr bition, consisting of the imperative with ne: 1, 28, 23 ne p harenae, 'spare not the sand.'

Occasionally a circumlocution is employed: 1, 9, 13 fuge q rere, avoid asking'; 1, 38, 3 mitte sectari, 'give up hunting.'

105. The 'historical' infinitive is found but once in the Ep not in the Odes: Epod. 5, 84 puer iam non... lenire ve impias, the boy no longer tries to move the wretches by word

SYNTAX

to two

either, f. quid consiliis

Ore sub

rta fides

ermissive Rhodon,

im reget

st, to exral truth "oserpina

nd there

of prohine parce

uge quaeting.'

e Epodes, ire verbis words.'

[§§ 106-110

106. The 'exclamatory' infinitive is found but twice in the Epodes, not in the Odes: Epod. 8, 1 rogare te, etc., ' the idea of your asking!' 11, 11 f. contrane lucrum nil valere candidum | pauperis ingenium? 'to think that against mere gold the purity of a poor man's character has no power!'

107. The infinitive of purpose is found occasionally: 1, 2, 7 f. pecus egit altos | visere montis, 'he drove the flock to visit the high mountains'; 1, 12, 2 quem sumis celebrare? whom dost thou take to celebrate in song?' 1, 26, 1 ff. tristitiam et metus | tradam protervis in mare Creticum | portare ventis, 'gloom and fear will I give to the bold winds to carry to the Cretan sea'; Epod. 16, 16 malis carere quaeritis laboribus, 'you seek to escape,' etc.

6

108. The infinitive is used with a large variety of adjectives to complete their meaning: 1, 3, 25 audax omnia perpeti, with courage to endure all'; 1, 10, 7 callidum . . . condere, 'skilled to hide'; 1, 15, 18 celerem sequi, 'swift in pursuit'; 1, 35, 2 praesens tollere, 'with power to raise'; 3, 21, 22 segnes nodum solvere, 'slow to undo the knot'; 4, 12, 19 spes donare novas largus, 'generous in giving new hope'; etc.

109. The passive infinitive is also used as a verbal noun in the ablative 1, 19, 8 lubricus adspici, dazzling;' 4, 2, 59 niveus videri, 'white in appearance.'

THE PARTICIPLE

110. The future active participle is often used to express purpose, readiness or ability, and prophecy, being equivalent to a clause: 1, 35, 29 iturum Caesarem, 'Caesar, who proposes to go'; 2, 6, 1 Septimi, Gadis aditure mecum, 'Septimius, thou who art ready,' etc.; 4, 3, 20 O mutis quoque piscibus donatura cycni sonum, 'O thou who couldst give,' etc.; 2, 3, 4 moriture Delli, 'Dellius, who art doomed to die.'

HORATI CARMINA

LIBER PRIMVS

I

This ode forms the prologue to the three books of lyrics published by Horace in 23 B.C. After the first two lines addressed to Maecenas, which virtually dedicate the whole collection to him, Horace rehearses the various interests of men, that at the end he may present his own ambition. Some men seek fame in athletic games or in politics (3–8), others have lower aims-riches, ease, war, or hunting (9-28); but as for me, I have the loftiest aim of all, Maecenas to wear the ivy wreath and be the Muse's dear companion (29-34).' The ode was clearly

written after the collection was fairly complete; that is, not long before the actual publication. Metre, 53.

Maecenas atavis édite regibus,

o et praesidium et dulce decus meum:

1. Maecenas: for Maecenas' position at Rome and Horace's relations with him, see Intr. 5.

atavis: ancestors, in a general sense, in apposition with regibus.

edite regibus: Maecenas was descended from an ancient line of princes of the Etruscan city of Arretium. Horace and his contemporaries emphasize the contrast between their patron's noble birth and the equestrian rank he preferred to keep at Rome. Cf. 3, 16, 20 Maecenas, equitum decus

51

and note; 3, 29, 1 Tyrrhena regum progenies; S. 1, 6, 1 ff.; Prop. 4, 9, 1 Maecenas, eques Etrusco de sanguine regum. This habit is referred to by Martial 12, 4, If. quod Flacco Varioque fuit summoque Maroni | Maecenas atavis regibus ortus eques.

2.0 et: monosyllabic interjections are ordinarily not elided. Intr. 42. — praesidium . . . decus: not merely a formal compliment, for there is a warmth in the second half of the expression that is com

Sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum
collegisse iuvat metaque fervidis
evitata rotis, palmaque nobilis
terrarum dominos evehit ad deos;
hunc, si mobilium turba Quiritium

parable to the feeling expressed in
Cf. the more formal
Epod. 1.
phrase 2, 17, 3f. Maecenas, mea-
rum grande decus columenque
rerum; also Epist. 1, 1, 103 rerum
tutela mearum. Vergil makes a
similar acknowledgment of his
obligation, G. 2, 40 f. o decus,
o famae merito pars maxuma
Horace's
nostrae, Maecenas.
phrase proved a striking one and
is frequently adopted by later
writers.

3 ff. Note how Horace secures
variety in the expressions by which
he designates the various classes:
sunt quos, hunc, illum, etc. He
has also arranged his typical ex-
amples with care, contrasting one
aim in life with the other, and in
each case bringing out the point
which would be criticised by one
not interested in that particular
pursuit.

- sunt quos... iuvat: equiva-
lent to aliquos iuvat. Cf. v. 19 est
qui. The indicative with this
phrase defines the class, rather
than gives its characteristics. -
curriculo: from curriculus, chariot.

-Olympicum: i.e. at the great
games held every four years at
Yet Horace
Olympia in Elis.
probably uses the adjective simply

to make his statement conc
He is spea
Cf. note to v. 13.
here of athletic contests in gen

4. collegisse to have ra
in a cloud. Cf. S. 1, 4, 31
- meta:
vis collectus turbine.
turning post at the end of
spina, which was the barrier
ran through the middle of the
cus, and round which the ho
raced. See Schreiber-Anders
Atlas, pl. 31, 1 and 2, for illus
tions of the race course.

5. evitata: just grazed.
skill of the charioteer was show
making as close a turn as possi
about the meta without meet
disaster. - palmaque: equival
The pa
to quosque palma.
which was the regular prize
the Olympic victor from the ti
of Alexander, was adopted by
Romans about 293 B.C. Livy
47, 3 translato e Graecia mo
-nobilis: with active meani
modifying palma, the ennobling
6. dominos: in apposition w
deos. The victory exalts the v
tors to heaven, where dwell t
rulers of the world. Cf. 4, 2, 17
quos Elea domum reducit | pal
caelestis.

7 ff. Political ambition.-hun sc. iuvat.-mobilium: fickle; 52