G.M.A. RICHTER EXCURSUS II. CARM. I. LIB. I. (CIRCUS.) META FERVIDIS EVITATA ROTIS. (VERS. 4, 5.) THE circus, an oval building, was provided in the middle with a wall originally constructed of wood, afterwards of stone, called spina, being about twenty feet broad and six feet high, running longitudinally, and adorned with various ornaments (columns, altars, statues of gods, and, after the time of Augustus, also with obelisks). The racers, starting from the right, had to pass seven times round this wall before the prize was awarded to them. At both ends there was a goal, meta, about twelve feet apart from it, consisting in a wall twice as high as, and somewhat thicker than, the spina, bearing three conical columns, each adorned on the top with a small oval-shaped figure. The second or hinder meta was for the racer the most dangerous point in the whole line; for here he had to turn, and it was of importance neither to keep too far off, because by doing so the turning, and consequently the length of the whole line was greatly increased, nor to approach too near, in order not to bound against this goal, in the hurry and eagerness of the race, "with the burning wheels," as the poet has it, and thus to dash the slender chariot to pieces. EXCURSUS III. CARM. I. LIB. I. (MUSIC.) LITUO TUBAE PERMIXTUS SONITUS. (VERS. 23, 24.) Tuba and lituus, both military wind instruments used for giving the signals of attack and retreat, and both made of brass: the tuba, having a straight shape, and a deep, harsh sound, was used by the infantry; the lituus, bent at the end into a spiral curve (like the staff of an augur), and having a high and shrill sound, was the clarion of the cavalry. Thus: "Tuba peditum, directa, rauci soni; The extremely harsh, noisy, and roaring sound of the tuba, isficially imitated in the following verse of Ennius: "At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit," EGLI STU which, however, is greatly modified by the more gentle Virgil in the "At tuba terribilem sonitum procul aere canoro ARON RO The shrill sound of the lituus is similarly described by Ennius: "Inde loci lituus sonitus effudit acutos," 13 Enn. Ann. 2, 35. 2 Virg. Aen. 9, 503, sq 3 Enn. Ann. 8, 42. 12460 and the sound of both instruments is indicated by the following line of Lucan: "Stridor lituûm clangorque tubarum."1 The player of the tuba was called tubicen, that of the lituus, liticen. EXCURSUS IV. CARM. I. LIB. I. (MUSIC.) ON THE STRINGED INSTRUMENTS MENTIONED BY HORACE. (VERS. 34.) We meet, in the poems of Horace, with five denominations of stringed instruments, three of which are taken from the Greek, whilst two are Latin. The former are: barbitos, cithara, lyra; the latter: fides and testudo. The most common of these names is fides, which is applied to any kind of stringed instrument, its original meaning being 'the string of an instrument.' It was afterwards figuratively used for a stringed instrument by prose-writers in the plural, by poets both in the singular and plural: Illa severa Lacedaemon nervos jussit, quos piures quam septem haberet, in Timothei fidibus, demi.2 Aeoliis fidibus querentem Sappho, &c.3 Quodsi Threïcio blandius Orpheo Auditam moderere arboribus fidem. &c. Lyra is the name for the most ancient stringed instrument of the Greeks, invented, it is said, by Hermes (Mercury)5 when he stole Apollo's oxen in Arcadia, the land of tortoises, and, treading on a tortoise-shell, heard a sound proceed from it. He then stretched a number of strings (seven, according to the hymn to Hermes) on such a shell, and thus invented an instrument, with which Apollo was so delighted that the inventor resigned it to him. Apollo greatly improved it; and was therefore, by another myth, called the inventor of the lyra. According to a third tradition, Hermes was the inventor of the lyra, Apollo of the cithara. Similar difference of opinion prevails concerning the number of strings. Although, as mentioned above, Homer, in his hymn to Hermes, speaks of seven strings on the instrument newly invented by this god, the increase of the original number of strings from three or four to seven is ascribed to men of a later age, such as Amphion or Terpander. The instrument invented by Mercury had an altogether different shape from the lyra used in historical times. In the former, the 1 Lucan. 1, 237. 2 Cic. Leg. 2, 15, 39. 3 Hor. C. 2, 13, 24; comp. C. 4, 9, 12; Ep. 2, 2, 143; Art. poet. 83 and 21: 4 Hor. C. 1, 24, 14; comp. C. 1, 17, 18, and Epod. 13, 9. 5 Hor. C. 1, 10, 6, sq. * Hymnn in Merc. 51: Ἑπτὰ δὲ συμφώνους οίων ἐτανύσσατο χορδάς. strings were fixed on a curved, hollow, shell-like body, and could, therefore, be struck only on one side. An instrument of this kind is designated by the Latin term testudo (meaning a tortoise, like the Greek word xeus, afterwards tortoise-shell);1 and Pausanias tells us of tortoise-shell being used for such instruments even in the time of Augustus.2 The lyra of the historical epoch was one of those instruments, with open strings, which could be played on both sides. The framework of these instruments consisted in two solid rims, opposed to, and diverging from, one another like horns, (whence the term "Képaтa, cornua,") which, however, being bent downwards, joined one another at the foot, and were therefore called dykŵves, ancones. The intermediate parts of these two rims were called Tnxes, between which, both on the top and bottom, bridges (káλaμoι or dóvakes, arundines) were fixed. The upper bridge was called ζυγόν or ζύγωμα, jugum, transtillum ; and the lower one ὑπολύριον, οι μάγας, or μαγάδιον. In the πoλúρlov, the strings (xopdaí, nervi) were completely fixed; in the ζύγωμα, they were tied around pegs (κόλλοπες οι κλόλαβοι, turbines), which served to screw them up by means of a tuning-key (Xopdóτovov). The perpendicular strings did not take up the whole length of the instrument, but about the third part of the space was left to serve as a sounding-board. The lower part or bottom of the lyra was shaped like a tortoise-shell, and was, therefore, called xéλus, testudo; owing to this shape, it could not be placed upright, but had to be held between the knees when played upon. The cithara (kápa,) was distinguished from the lyra chiefly by a foot, usually brazen, being at once its sounding-board (xeîov) and principal support, so that it could stand when played upon. It may thus be considered the predecessor of our harp, the lyra having the same relation to our lute. The barbitos, or barbiton, (ʼn ßápßiros, afterwards Tò ẞapßirov), generally made of ivory, and longer than the lyra, sometimes with three, four, six, or seven strings, was one of the most ancient instruments of this kind, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a contemporary of Horace, mentions it as one "gone by;" "barbitos," therefore, when occurring in Horace,3 is, perhaps, to be considered only as a poetical term for lyra, or for a stringed instrument in general. The strings on the instruments of the ancients were generally made of sheep-gut (xopdaí), or of the sinews and tendons of large animals (veûpa), and, in most ancient times, perhaps also of flax and hemp (λίνα). Wire-strings were entirely unknown to the ancients. All these instruments were generally played with the right hand, by means of a small thin stick of fine wood or ivory, (πλîктроv, plectrum.4) Playing with the fingers came into use only in later times, although previously, according to Plutarch, the Lacedaemonians, who always Hor. C. 3, 3, 11, sq.; 1, 32, 14. 2 Pausan. 8, 54, 7: Παρέχεται δὲ τὸ Παρθένιον καὶ ἐς λύρας ποίησιν χελώνας ἐπιτηδειοτάτας. 3 C. 1, 1, 34; 1, 32, 4; 3, 26. 4. 4 C. 2, 1, 40; 2, 13, 24, sq.; 4, 2, 33. adhered to old customs, had imposed a fine on a player of the lyra for this innovation. From old monuments and some passages of ancient writers, it is seen, however, that certain lyres were played with both hands; i. e. the strings were drawn by the fingers of the left hand (intus canere), and struck at the same time by means of the plectrum, with the right hand (foris canere). CARMEN II. AD CAESAREM AUGUSTUM. After the murder of Julius Caesar, Rome and its neighbourhood were visited with a terrible thunder-storm, accompanied by hail and snow. The Tiber rose to such an unusual height as to overflow the low land on its left bank, and threaten destruction to some of the public buildings of the city. The poet represents mankind as alarmed lest the earth should again be overwhelmed by a universal deluge; and hints that the river-god had raised its waters to gratify the resentment of his spouse Ilia, who was inconsolable for the untimely fate of her great descendant, Julius Caesar. The mention of Caesar's death leads the author to contemplate the depopulating effects of the civil war, and the sad spectacle of fellow-citizens whetting, for mutual destruction, weapons which ought rather to have been pointed against the common foe. What god, he anxiously inquires, will come to the relief of their tottering empire? With what prayer shall the virgins address Vesta, who turns a deaf ear to their supplications? To whom will Heaven assign the task of expiating the national guilt, incurred by civil strife? Will it be the prophetic Apollo? the smiling Venus, with Jest and Cupid in her train? Will Mars, already satiated with protracted wars, forsake his work of bloodshed and restore the city of which, as the father of Romulus, he was virtually the founder? Nay, will it not rather be the winged Mercury, who has appeared on eart in human shape, under the form of Augustus, to avenge the death of Julius Caesar? The poet then concludes with a prayer that this divine personage may long remain in this lower world-to preside over the destinies of Rome to receive the thanks of a grateful people, and to defend them from all their enemies. JAM satis terris nivis atque dirae Terruit gentes, grave ne rediret CARM. 2.-2. rubenti some edd.-5. gentis, Cod. Bern. Carm. 2.-1. terris, dative in terras. 2. Pater, i. e. Jupiter; comp. Virg. G. 1, 328: Ipse Pater...corusca fulmina molitur dextrâ, and the Homeric Tarp ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε, imitated by Ennius: divûmque hominumque pater-rudente dexterâ, 'with his red right hand' (red by the reflected glare of the lightning). 3. jaculatus, poetic. with the acc. inst. of in with acc.-sacras arces, i. e. the tem ples, esp. those of the Capitoline hill. 5 4. terruit... terruit, ne, &c., poetic. short expression for terruit ita ut timerent, ne, &c.-Urbem, i. e. Rome. 6. Saeculum Pyrrhae, i. e. the time of the deluge of Deucalion (the husband of Pyrrha) questae nova monstra (= res terribiles non visas antea), 'who complained of prodigies till then un seen.' |