Lusum it Maecenas, dormitum ego Virgiliusque:

Namque pilâ lippis inimicum et ludere crudis. troubled with i Hinc nos Cocceji recipit plenissima villa,

6

50

60

Quae super est Caudî cauponas. Nunc mihi paucis
Sarmenti scurrae pugnam Messîque Cicirrhi,
Musa, velim memores, et quo patre natus uterque
Contulerit lites. Messî clarum genus Osci; engine
Sarmenti domina exstat: ab his majoribus orti
Ad pugnam venere. Prior Sarmentus:.' Equi te
'Esse feri similem dico.' Ridemus, et ipse
Messius Accipio,' caput et movet; O, tua cornu
'Ni foret exsecto frons,' inquit 'quid faceres, quum
'Sic mutilus minitaris?' at illi foeda cicatrix
Setosam laevi frontem turpaverat oris.
Campanum in morbum, in faciem permulta jocatus,
Pastorem saltaret uti Cyclopa rogabat;
Nil illi larvâ aut tragicis opus esse cothurnis.
Multa Cicirrhus ad haec: Donasset jamne catenam
Ex voto Laribus, quaerebat; scriba quod esset,
Nihilo deterius dominae jus esse. Rogabat
Denique, cur umquam fugisset, cui satis una
Farris libra foret, gracili sic tamque pusillo.

65

51. Claudi, some Codd.-60. miniteris, some Codd., Bentl.-67. deterius nihilo, some Codd.

tempore satis tempestive, 'betimes,'
very early '-ponunt = deponunt.
49. construe: namque ludere pila
(est) inimicum ('hurtful) lippis (Ho-
race) et crudis (Virgil).

51. sq. Nunc mihi, &c., a parody of the invocation of the Muses by epic poets.

54. Osci, nomin. plur., apposition of clarum genus; clarum, ironically said, the Osci having been despised by the Romans, as rustic and impudent people.

55. Sarmenti domina exstat (= vivit adhuc), a circumlocution for: Sarmentus is a slave.

58. sq. tua cornu, &c. poetic. = nisi cornu foret exsectum fronti tuae.

you bully now at such a rate'-at, here
like the Greek dé, namely, for.'

62. Campanum in morbum, sc. that
kind of wart, which in the prec. line is
said to have been cut from, and to have
left a great scar on the forehead of
Messius.

63. pastorem saltaret Cyclopa, poetic. = ut saltando Cyclopem, ferum illum Galateae amatorem, imitaretur ac referret (comp. below Ep. 2, 2, 124 sq. ut qui Nunc Satyrum, nunc agrestem Cyclopa movetur).

65. donasset catenam, sc. as a slave after having gained his liberty.

67. Nihilo, to be pronounced as a dissyllable: nilō; nihilo deterius, 'not the

Prorsus jucunde coenam produximus illam.

Tendimus hinc rectâ Beneventum, ubi sedulus hospes
Paene macros arsit dum turdos versat in igni:

Nam vaga per veterem dilapso flamma culinam
Vulcano summum properabat lambere tectum.
Convivas avidos coenam servosque timentes
Tum rapere atque omnes restinguere velle videres.
Incipit ex illo montes Appulia notos

70

75

Ostentare mihi, quos torret Atabulus et quos

Numquam erepsemus, nisi nos vicina Trivici Sarian Villa recepisset, lacrimoso non sine fumo,

80

Udos cum foliis ramos urente camino.

Hic ego mendacem stultissimus usque puellam

Ad mediam noctem exspecto: somnus tamen aufert
Intentum Veneri, tum immundo somnia visu

85

Nocturnam vestem maculant ventremque supinum.
Quatuor hinc rapimur viginti et milia rhedis,
Mansuri oppidulo, quod versu dicere non est,
Signis perfacile est: venit vilissima rerum
Hic aqua, sed panis longe pulcherrimus, ultra
Callidus ut soleat humeris portare viator.
Nam Canusi lapidosus, aquae non ditior urnâ
Qui locus a forti Diomede est conditus olim.
Flentibus hinc Varius discedit maestus amicis.
Inde Rubos fessi pervenimus, utpote longum
Carpentes iter et factum corruptius imbri.

90

95

70. producimus, some Codd.-72. turdos dum, Bentl.-igne, some Codd.-93. hic,

some Codd., Bentl.

72. construe: paene arsit, macros in verse; perhaps the small town

turdos dum versat in igni.

74. Vulcano igni.

77. notos, as of his native country. 79. erepsêmus, syncope for erepsissemus (comp. below S. 1, 9, 73: surrexe for surrexisse; S. 2, 3, 169: divisse for divisisse, and S. 2, 7, 68: evasti for evasisti).

80. non sine cum multo (fumo), per Meiosin (comp. above C. 3, 4, 20; 3, 26, 2; 4, 9, 52; Epod. 5, 50).

86. rapimur = celerrime vehimur. 87. quod versu dicere non est (sc. facile), which it is not possible to name

Equus Tuticus (the modern S. Liberatore near Ariano), see the Excurs. to this Satire.

88. venit, from veneo (not from venio), 'is sold.'

89. ultra, sc. usque ad Canusium. 90. humeris, i. e. in reticulo, on his shoulders (in a bag).

91. sq. lapidosus, sc. panis-aquae, &c. construe: qui locus (sc. Canusium), non ditior (unâ) urnâ aquae (sc. quam illud oppidulum Equus Tuticus), conditus est a forti Diomede.

93. kinc, sc. a Canusio.

Postera tempestas melior, via pejor ad usque
Barî moenia piscosi; dein Gnatia lymphis a
Iratis exstructa dedit risusque jocosque,

Dum, flammâ sine tura liquescere limine sacro
Persuadere cupit. Credat Judaeus Apella,

Non ego; namque deos didici securum agere aevum,
Nec, si quid miri faciat natura, deos id
Tristes ex alto coeli demittere tecto.

Brundisium longae finis chartaeque viaeque est.

96 ad usque = usque ad (comp. above S. 1, 1, 97: ad usque supremum tempus).

97. dein, monosyll. Lymphis (= Nymphis) iratis, poetic. = nullis sive salsis aquis.

99. flamma sine, &c., alluding to a miracle mentioned also by Pliny, Hist. Nat. 2, 107, 111, § 240: In Salentino oppido Egnatia imposito ligno in saxum quoddam ibi sacrum protinus flammam existere '-sine, praepos. put after its

noun (flammâ).

100

100. cupit, sc. Gnatia-Judaeus Apella, i. e. some credulous or superstitious man may believe such a miracle, not I.

EXCURSUS XVII. SAT. V. LIB. I.

JOURNEY TO BRUNDISIUM.

The route of this journey may be seen from the following table:

SATIRA VI.

Variously dated from A. u. c. 717 to 724. The earliest of the dates assigned is probably the correct one. Horace here rebuts the slanderous imputations cast upon him by certain low-minded and envious persons, who had accused him of worming his way into the confidence and friendship of Maecenas by the arts of sycophancy and time-serving. He vindicates both the character of his patron and his own by showing that Maecenas selected his friends for their personal worth, and not for their social station; and that he himself had been trained by an excellent father to despise and avoid that servility of conduct which his enemies in their ignorance had ascribed to him. To complete his refutation of such senseless calumny, he triumphantly appeals to the fact that he had never abused the partiality of Maecenas, either to secure his own aggrandizement, or to wreak his vengeance on those who might have provoked him by their insolence and malice.

NON, quia, Maecenas, Lydorum quidquid Etruscos
Incoluit fines, nemo generosior est te,

Nec, quod avus tibi maternus fuit atque paternus,
Olim qui magnis legionibus imperitarent,
Ut plerique solent, naso suspendis adunco
Ignotos, ut me libertino patre natum.
Quum referre negas, quali sit quisque parente
Natus, dum ingenuus: persuades hoc tibi vere,
Ante potestatem Tullî atque ignobile regnum
Multos saepe viros nullis majoribus ortos

5

10

Et vixisse probos, amplis et honoribus auctos;
Contra Laevinum, Valeri genus, unde Superbus
Tarquinius regno pulsus fugit, unĭus assis

SAT. 6.-4. imperitarint and imperitarunt, some Codd.-13. fuit, some Codd.

8. ingenuus, here in figurative sense: 'of noble character, liberal, a man of worth, of merit.'

9. ignobile regnum (Servii) Tulli, who was son of a female captive slave (comp. Liv. 4, 3: En umquam creditis fando auditum esse... Ser. Tullium, captiva Corniculanâ natum, patre nullo, matre servâ, ingenio, virtute regnum tenuisse?)

12. contra, sc. probe nosti, on the other hand'-unde = a quo (sc. Valerio Publicola), comp. above C. 1, 12, 17: Unde (i. e. a Jove) nil majus generatur ipso.

Non umquam pretio pluris licuisse, notante
Judice, quo nosti, populo, qui stultus honores
Saepe dat indignis et famae servit ineptus,
Qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus. Quid oportet
Nos facere a vulgo longe longeque remotos?
Namque esto, populus Laevino mallet honorem
Quam Decio mandare novo, censorque moveret
Appius, ingenuo si non essem patre natus,
Vel merito, quoniam in propria non pelle quiêssem.
Sed fulgente trahit constrictos gloria curru
Non minus ignotos generosis. Quo tibi, Tillî,
Sumere depositum clavum fierique tribuno?
Invidia accrevit, privato quae minor esset.

Nam ut quisque insanus nigris medium impediit crus
Pellibus et latum demisit pectore clavum,

Audit continuo Quis homo hic est? quo patre natus?'
Ut, si qui aegrotet quo morbo Barrus, haberi
Ut cupiat formosus, eat quacumque, puellis
Injiciat curam quaerendi singula, quali

Sit facie, surâ, quali pede, dente, capillo:

15

20

25

30

18. vos, Bentl. conj.-longe lateque, some Codd.-25. tribunum, some Codd.29. hic aut quo, some Codd., Bentl.; hic? et quo, other Codd.-31. et cupiat, some Codd.

14. licuisse (= aestimatum esse) non umquam pluris pretio unius assis, never to have been thought worth a single as more (on account of his noble origin).

15. judice populo, quo nosti, grammatical attraction for: quem nosti (qualis sit judex), 'whom you know' (what kind of judge it is).

18. longe longeque=longissime, 'very, very far.'

19. esto, suppose that.'

20. sq. Decio, referring to P. Decius Mus, who devoted himself to death in B. C. 340-novo homini novo, i. e. the first of his (plebeian) family who had risen to distinction-censor Appius, referring to the severe censor Appius Claudius Pulcher, here used for a very severe censor in general-moveret, sc. senatu; it was a general rule that no son of a freedman (libertino patre natus) should become a senator (comp.

Cic. Cluent. 47: Lentulus Popiilium, quod erat libertini filius, in senatum non legit).

22. vel merito Kai Eikóтws ye, and, indeed, deservedly '-in propriâ pelle, familiar expression, in my own skin,' for: 'in my own sphere.'

23. sq. sense: but the love of glory, of distinction, captivates men of humble extraction as well as those of noble birth.

24. quo tibi, sc. profuit, 'what did it profit you'-Tilli, &c., he had been removed from the senate by Caesar, but was afterwards restored to his place.

25. clavum latum clavum, the senatorial badge-tribuno (militum) in apposition with tibi (comp. above S. 1, 1, 19).

27. ut ex quo tempore, simulac, 'as soon as-nigris pellibus, i. e.' with black buskins' (as the sign of senatorian rank).