Quintus Horatius Flaccus was born in southeastern Italy in 65 B. C. He eventually settled in Rome after spending some years in his youth in Greece in both academic and political activities. Once settled in Rome, he gained the friendship of the leading poets of the city, including that of Virgil and Maecenas, a wealthy friend of Octavian, who as a literary patron provided him with both an income and a small country estate, his famous Sabine Villa. In the midst of this illustrious literary circle, Horace began a most productive poetical career which continued to the time of his death in 8 A.D. His literary production was quite varied and consisted of satirical Sermones and Epistulae, both of which were studied in early American grammar schools for what Nathaniel Williams describes (see Introduction) as "the Pithy sentences in their lesson in Horace."1 In his Satires Horace discusses the full range of human failures and accomplishments. Horace also wrote lyric poetry. In his four books of Odes (Carmina), he discusses several of the same themes which he addressed in his satires, but with greater concentration on the emotions of love, friendship and patriotism. In these Odes Horace also gives ample evidence of the fact that he considered himself to be a "man of the soil" and he constantly extols the virtues of the agrarian life. Such themes rendered Horace uniquely appealing to the founders of America, especially to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom remained to their dying day self-confessed farmers. John Adams, for example, while he served his nation abroad, continually longed for his farm in Hingham, Massachusetts; Jefferson likewise cherished each and every recess from his political duties so that he could return to his pastoral retreat in the mountains of southwestern Virginia and there manage his farm at Monticello.2 Both men spoke of their farms in the same terms of endearment with which Horace begins Selection A.
The following text selections are all taken from Willielmus Baxter's 1701 edition of Q. Horatii Flacci Eclogae, printed in London.
A. Epistulae, Bk. 1.16 (Ad Quinctium):
1. Spring (Bk. 1, 4)
Solvitur acris hyems grata vice veris et Favoni:
Trahuntque siccas machinae carinas:
Ac necque iam stabulis gaudet pecus, aut arator
igni;
Nec prata canis albicant pruinis.
Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus, imminente Luna:
5
Junctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes
Alterno terram quatiunt pede; dum graves Cyclopum
Vulcanus ardens urit officinas.
Nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput impedire myrto;
Aut flore, terrae quem ferunt solutae.
10
Nunc et in umbrosis Fauno decet immolare lucis;
Seu poscat agna, sive malit haedo.
Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres. 0 beate Sexti,
Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare longam.
15
Jam te premet nox, fabulaeque manes,
Et domus exilis Plutonia; quo simul mearis,
Nec regna vini sortiere talis;
Nec tenerum Lycidam mirabere, quo calet juventus
Nunc omnis, et mox virgines tepebunt.
20
2. Winter and Merriment (Bk. 1, 9)
Vides ut alta stet nive candidum
Soracte; nec jam sustineant onus
Sylvae laborantes; geluque
Flumina constiterint acuto?
Dissolve frigus, ligna super foco
5
Large reponens: atque benignius
Deprome quadrimum Sabina,
0 Thaliarche, merum diota
.
Permitte divis caetera; qui simul
Stravere ventos aequore fervido
10
Deproeliantes, nec cupressi,
Nec veteres agitantur orni.
Nunc et latentis proditor intimo
Gratus puellae risus ab angulo,
Pignusque dereptum lacertis,
Aut digitis male pertinaci.
4. The Simple Life (Bk. 3.1)
Odi profanum vulgus, et arceo:
Favete linguis: carmina non prius
Audita, Musarum sacerdos,
Virginibus, puerisque canto.
Destrictus
ensis cui semper impia
Cervice pendet, non Siculae
dapes
Dulcem elaborabunt saporem;
Non avium citharaeque cantus
20
Somnum reducent. Somnus
agrestium
Lenis virorum non humiles
domos
Fastidit, umbrosamque ripam,
Non zephyris agitata Tempe.
Desiderantem
quod satis est neque
25
Tumultuosum solicitat mare,
Nec saevus Arcturi cadentis
Impetus, aut orientis Haedi,
Non verberatae grandine vineae,
Fundusque mendax, arbore
nunc aquas
30
Culpante; nunc torrentia agros
Sidera; nunc hyemes iniquas.
Contracta pisces aequora
sentiunt,
Jactis in altum molibus:
huc frequens
Caementa demittit redemptor
35
Cum famulis, dominusque terrae
Fastidiosus. Sed timor et
minae
Scandunt eodem quo dominus;
neque
Decedit aerata triremi; et
Post equitem sedet atra Cura.
40
Quod si dolentem nec Phrygius
lapis,
Nec purpurarum sidere clarior
Delinit usus, nec Falerna
Vitis, Achaemeniumque costum,
Cur invidendis postibus,
et novo
45
Sublime ritu moliar atrium?
Cur valle permutem Sabina
Divitias operosiores?
5. Endurance and Fidelity(Bk. 3.2)
Vitamque sub divo, et trepidis agat
5
In rebus. Illum ex moenibus hosticis
Matrona bellantis tyranni
Prospiciens, et adulta virgo,
Suspiret; Eheu! ne rudis agminum
Sponsus lacessat regius asperum
10
Tactu leonem, quem cruenta
Per medias rapit ira caedes.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
Mors et fugacem persequitur virum;
Nec parcit imbellis iuventae
15
Poplitibus, timidove tergo.
Virtus, repulsae nescia sordidae,
Intaminatis fulget honoribus,
Nec sumit aut ponit secures
Arbitrio popularis aurae.
20
Virtus, recludens immeritis mori
Caelum, negata tentat iter via;
Coetusque vulgares et udam
Spernit humum fugiente penna.
Est et fideli tuta silentio
25
Merces. Vetabo qui Cereris sacrum
Vulgarit arcanae, sub iisdem
Sit trabibus, fragilemque mecum
Solvat phaselun; saepe Diespiter
Neglectus, incesto addidit integrum:
30
Raro antecedentem scelestum
Deseruit pede Poena claudo.
Dux inquieti turbidus Adriae;
5
Nec fulminantis magna Iovis manus:
Si fractus illabatur orbis,
Impavidum ferient ruinae.
Hac arte Pollux, et vagus Hercules,
Enisus, arces attigit igneas:
10
Quos inter Augustus recumbens
Purpureo bibet ore nectar.
Hac te merentem, Bacche pater, tuae
Vexere tigres, indocili jugum
Collo trahentes: hac Quirinus
15
Martis equis Acheronta fugit.
Gratum elocuta consiliantibus
Junone divis: Ilion, Ilion
Fatalis incestusque judex
Et mulier peregrina vertit
20
In pulverem, ex quo destituit deos
Mercede pacta Laomedon; mihi
Castaeque damnatum Minervae
Cum populo et duce fraudulento.
Jam nec Lacaenae splendet adulterae
25
Famosus hospes, nec Priami domus
Perjura pugnaces Achivos
Hectoreis opibus refringit;
Nostrisque ductum seditionibus
Bellum resedit: protinus et graves
30
Iras, et invisum nepotem,
Troica quem peperit sacerdos,
Marti redonabo. Illum ego lucidas
Inire sedes, ducere nectaris
Succos, et adscribi quietis
35
Ordinibus patiar deorum.
Dum longus inter saeviat Ilion
Romamque pontus, qualibet exsules
In parte, regnanto beati;
Dum Priami, Paridisque busto
40
Insultet armentum, et catulos ferae
Celent inultae; stet Capitolium
Fulgens, triumphatisque possit
Roma ferox dare jura Medis.
Horrenda late nomen in ultimas
45
Extendat oras; qua medius liquor
Secernit Europen ab Afro;
Qua tumidus rigat arva Nilus:
Aurum inrepertum, et sic melius situm,
Cum terra celat, spernere fortiori
50
Quam cogere humanos in usus,
Omne sacrum rapiente dextra.
Quicunque mundi terminus obstitit,
Hunc tanget armis, visere gestiens
Qua parte debacchentur ignes,
55
Qua nebulae pluviique rores.
Sed bellicosis fata Quiritibus
Hac lege dico, ne nimium pii,
Rebusque fidentes, avitae
Tecta velint reparare Trojae.
60
Trojae renascens alite lugubri,
Fortuna tristi clade iterabitur,
Ducente victrices catervas
Conjuge me Jovis et sorore.
Ter si resurgat murus aheneus
65
Autore Phoebo, ter pereat meis
Excisus Argivis ter uxor
Capta virum puerosque ploret.
Non haec jocosae conveniet lyrae;
Quo Musa tendis? Desine pervicax
70
Referre sermones deorum, et
Magna modis tenuare parvis.
7. To the Fountain, Bandusia (Bk. 3.13)
0 Fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro,
Dulci digne mero, non sine floribus,
Cras donaberis haedo,
Cui frons turgida cornibus
Primis, et Venerem et proelia destinat
5
Frustra: nam gelidos inficiet tibi
Rubro sanguine rivos
Lascivi suboles gregis.
Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae
Nescit tangere: tu frigus amabile
10
Fessis vomere tauris
Praebes, et pecori vago.
Fies nobilium tu quoque fontium,
Me dicente cavis impositam ilicem
Saxis; unde loquaces
15
Lymphae desiliunt tuae.
8. Horace's Immortal Fame (Bk. 3.30)
Exegi monumemtum aere perennius,
Regalique situ pyramidum altius;
Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens
Possit diruere; aut innumerabilis
Annorum series, et fuga temporum.
5
Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei
Vitabit Libitinam. Usque ego postera
Crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium
Scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex.
Dicar, qua violens obstrepit Aufidus,
10
Et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium
Regnavit populorum, ex humili potens,
Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos
Deduxisse modos. Sume superbiam
Quaesitam meritis, et mihi Delphica
15
Lauro cinge volens Melpomene comam.
9. The Return of Spring (Bk. 4.7)
Diffugere nives, redeunt jam gramina campis,
Arboribusque comae.
Mutat terra vices, et descrescentia ripas
Flumina praetereunt.
Gratia cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus audet
5
Ducere nuda choros.
Immortalia ne speres, monet annus, et almum
Quae rapit hora diem.
Frigora mitescunt Zephyris: Ver proterit Aestas,
Interitura simul
10
Pomifer Autumnus fruges effuderit: et mox
Bruma recurrit iners.
Damna tamen celeres reparant coelestia Lunae:
Nos ubi decidimus,
Quo pius Aeneas, quo dives Tullus, et Ancus,
15
Pulvis et umbra sumus.
Quis scit an adjiciant hodiernae crastina summae
Tempora dii superi?
Cuncta manus avidas fugient haeredis, amico
Quae dederis animo.
20
Cum semel occideris, et de te splendida Minos
Fecerit arbitria,
Non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te
Restituet pietas.
Infernis neque enim tenebris Diana pudicum
25
Liberat Hippolytum:
Nec Lethaea valet Theseus abrumpere charo
vincula Pierithoo.
L.1 perconteris, understand "how" with
this verb. Quincti, probably the same Quinctius Hirpinus
to whom Odes 2.2 is dedicated. He was surely a figure of some importance
to
Horace, but little is known of his personal life or accomplishments.
L.3 amicta vitibus ulmo, translate "vine-clad elm."
L..4 forma, with the meaning of "nature," i.e., of the farm.
L.5 with montes understand sunt.
L.6f Horace describes the valley (valle)
as one which runs in a north/south direction and
viewed as if he were facing south.
L.8 quid si, i.e., "What would you say (dices, see L.11) if I mentioned that."
L.9 corna and pruna, "cornels" and "plums."
L.11 frondere, "was in leaf (full
green)"; Tarentum, a city in Southern Italy famous for its
climate and beauty.
L.13 The Hebrus river in Thrace was known for its chilly and pure water.
L.16 incolumem, "in sound health"; Septembribus horis, the unhealthy season in Rome.
L.17 audis, in the sense of "to be called."
L.18 omnis = omnes, modifies the subject of jactamus.
L.20 translate, "happiness (beatum)
to be other than wisdom and virtue."
L.22 sub + accusative in an expression
of time = "about the time."
L.26 vacuas, "free from," with permulceat, "attentive to praise."
L.29 the preceding two lines were well known praises of Augustus Caesar.
L.33 qui, antecedent is contained in populus, L.21.
L.34 fasces, the lictor's rods, or symbol of high political office and power in Rome.
L.42 quo . . . judice, "by whose judgment."
L.43 responsore, "guarantee;" teste, "witness."
L.47 habes pretium, direct object of ajo.
L.49 frugi, dative singular of frux,
used as an indeclinable adjective, meaning "useful"
or "honest." Sabellus,
"our Sabine friend"--a general consideration for a Sabine whose
virtuous conduct was proverbial.
L.53 with nihil, understand a noun such as sceleris.
L.54 sit, jussive subjunctive.
L.55 with unum, understand modium, "bushel."
L.56 pacto . . . isto, "in that case."
L.60 Laverna, goddess of thieves, bandits and unjust gain or profit.
L.69 captivum, modifies eum, the understood direct object of occidere, and vendere.
L.70 sine, from the verb sino.
L.71 hyemet, "let him spend the winter."
L.73 Pentheus, a king of Thebes and a grandson of Cadmus. See Euripides' Bacchae, vv. 492-98.
L.1 Aricia, approximately 16 Roman miles from and located to the southeast of Rome.
L.2 Forum Appi, "the market of Appi," i.e., about 27 miles from Rome.
L.5 ac, used in the sense of "than," "for those higher girt than we, just one day."
L.8 haud animo aequo, "impatiently."
L.12 ingerere, historical infinitive.
L.13 mula, the mule which pulled the boat along the canal.
L.18 pastum, the supine, "to graze."
L.23 quarta . . . hora,
"at ten o'clock." The Roman hour was calculated to be one-twelfth the
time between sunrise and sunset; its precise time varied according to the
seasons.
L.24 Feronia lympha, Feronia
was an ancient Italian goddess whose temple was located three
miles north of Terracina.
L.26 Anxur, the old name for Terracina, situated on top of a hill made of gleaming limestone.
L.28 Coccejus, refers to L. Cocceius Nerva, consul suffectus in 39 B.C.
L.29 refers to the reconciliation between
Octavian and Antony effected by Maecenas and Nerva
at Brundisium in 40 B.C.
L.31 illinere, historical infinitive.
L.32 Capitoque . . . Fontejus = Capito Fonteius, consul in 33 B.C. and a friend of Antony.
L.34 Fundos = Fundi, 13 more miles on their journey.
L.36 Mamurrarum . . . urbe, "in the city of the Mamurrae," i.e., Formiae, another 13 miles.
L.39f. Plotius and Varius edited Virgil’s
Aeneid after the poet's death. Varius and Virgil were
responsible for introducing Horace to Maecenas.
L.45 with quae, understand est.
L.46 parochi + praebuerunt (understood).
L.47 lusum and dormitum, supines.
L.48 crudis, "for dyspeptics," a reference to Virgil.
L.50 with paucis, understand verbis.
L.53 Musa velim memores,
"Muse, I would like you to recall"--or "pray tell"--or
"pray relate" etc., 1.53 f. are told in mock heroic style.
L.54 the line is satirical since the
Oscans were considered an inferior native race by the Romans.
L.58 with Messius, understand
inquit or risit.
L.59 with inquit, understand Sarmentus.
L.60 laevi . . . oris, "the left side of the face."
L.63 uti = ut; Sarmentus
asks Messius to dance the Cyclop's shepherd-dance in L.63,
and if he does, Sarmentus says he will not need the Cyclop's mask or buskin
shoes (L.64) because he is so ugly.
L.64 understand dixit with Cicerrus.
L.68f una farris libra; slaves normally received four or five pounds of coarse grain as daily rations.
L.72 arsit, means "burned his house down"--understood from the description in LL.73-74.
L.76 videres, "you should have seen," a potential subjunctive.
L.77 Atabulus, the name in Apulia for the famous hot southeast wind, the Scirocco.
L.78 erepsemus = erepsissemus.
L.81 urente, present active participle, modifies camino, usually a forge, here probably a stove.
L.87 non est, "it is not possible."
L.88 venit, from veneo, "to be sold," not from venio.
L.91 Nam (panis) Canusi (est) lapidosus.
L.95 imbri, an old ablative form for imbre.
L.96 Postera tempestas, melior;
as if, Postera tempestas erat melior, "Afterwards,
the weather was better."
L.97 Bari, a fishing town located on the coast.
L.100 the subject of cupit is
Gnatia understood; credat Judaeus Apella, the Romans
considered Jews especially gullible and superstitious.
L.1 Favoni, the west wind which accompanied Spring.
L.2 gaudet, ocassionally takes the dative, as here.
L.5 Cytherea, the island of Cythera,
located off the coast of Laconia, near where the goddess
Aphrodite is reported to
have arisen from the sea.
L.8 urit, modern texts read visit,
and correctly so; graves "mighty"; the Cyclops were Vulcan's
helpers who forged Juppiter's
thunderbolts.
L.11 Faunus, the god of shepherds and farmers.
L.12 understand some impersonal passive form
of immolare of the preceding line to govern
agna and haedo.
L.13 Sexti, the ode is addressed to Lucius Sestius, consul suffectus in 23 B.C.
L.18 the arbiter of wine at a drinking party was determined by a throw of the dice (talis).
L.1 ut, translate "how"; alta, ablative singular.
L.2 Soracte, a mountain nearly 30 miles north of Rome.
L.3 modern texts change the question of this eighteenth-century text to a declarative sentence.
L.9 diota, ablative of source, modified by Sabina, "from the Sabine wine jar."
L.14 translate fuge as if were noli.
L.15 quem . . . cunque = tmesis, + dierum = "whatever of days," literal translation.
L.16 virenti modifies tibi, understood from tu + sperne in L.16.
L.21f. "and now the happy laughter of a young girl hidden away in the remote corner is a betrayer."
L.24 digitis, modern texts correctly read digito.
L.1 with nefas, understand est scire.
L.2 finem, "the end of
life;" Babylonios . . . numeros, eastern astrological charts were
calculated
on different number systems.
L.6 vina liques, "may you strain your wine."
L.7 credula, modifies the
subject (Leuoconoe) of carpe.
Selection C: Odes, #4--The Simple Life--Bk. 3.1. This ode is a delightful poem from Horace's pen in which he contrasts the desirablity and attractiveness of the pleasures which he experiences on his Sabine farm with the passing fancies and whims of the rich and famous. The meter is the Alcaic strophe.
L.3 favete linguis, "be favorable with the tongue," i.e., be quiet and avoid words of ill-omen.
L.5f regum and reges are
emphatically positioned at the beginning of each line. The thought
is that kings have power over their own subjects, but Jove has power even
over kings.
L.8 est = "it is true"; or "it is common knowledge that"; viro vir, "one man, another man."
L.14 contendat, with the meaning of "entering the lists," i.e., "announces his candidacy."
L.17 destrictus, "unsheathed,"
+ ensis; a reference to the story of Damocles, who praised
and envied the wealth, good fortune, and power of Dionysius of Syracuse.
Dionysius, in turn,
invited Damocles to a banquet, and suspended by a single horsehair an unsheathed
sword
above his head as a symbol of the tenuous nature of power and wealth.
L.18 Siculae, Sicilian wealth was proverbial.
L.21 somnus . . . lenis . . . fastidit, "soft sleep comes gently to the humble homes of farmers."
L.24 Tempe is a neuter plural, hence agitata.
L.25 desiderantem, object of solicitat.
L.26 Arcturi . . . impetus and orientis . . . Haedi = stormy fall weather.
L.27 impetus, as well as vineae (1.29), and fundus (1.30) are also subjects of solicitat (L.26).
L.39 modern texts omit the semi-colon
after triremi and consider atra cura subject of
decedit and sedet.
L.43 delinit, variant spelling of delenit.
L.44 Achaemeniumque costum,
"Persian perfume."
Selection C: Odes, #5--Endurance and Fidelity--Bk. 3.2.
This ode extols the beauty of military sacrifice, suffering and courage
for patriotic causes. The meter is alcaic.
L.1 amice . . . pati, "to happily endure."
L.2 the word order is puer robustus acri militia.
L.3 Parthos, the Parthians were excellent equestrians.
L.4 eques, "as a horseman," again referring to the puer.
L.5 sub divo, "under the open sky."
L.6 Illum, "that one," i.e., the puer.
L.7 adulta, "mature," or "marriageable."
L.8 rudis, in the sense of "inexperienced."
L.15f. "death does not spare the hamstrings or the timid back of a peaceful youth."
L.19 secures, the axes which are symbolical of the authority of a Roman magistrate.
L.20 immeritis mori, "for those who have not deserved to die."
L.23f. udam + humum = common or base desires.
L.26 Cereris sacrum,
"the sacred rite of Ceres"--a reference to the closely guarded secrets
of the rites of the Eleusinian mysteries of Ceres.
L.28 solvat, "let loose," i.e., "launch."
L.29 incesto addidit integrum,
"has joined the innocent man to the guilty," or, "destroyed
the innocent along with the guilty."
L.30 for rato of the eighteenth-century
text, read raro, "seldom."
Selection C: Odes, #6--Justice and Firmness of Purpose--Bk. 3.3. This ode contains an appeal by Horace for Rome to maintain firmness of political purpose especially with respect to eastern powers. He also recommends that Rome avoid the corrupting influence of money. The poem is dated to sometime after 27 B.C. since the title of Augustus is used in 1.11. The meter is alcaic.
L.3 prava, direct object of iubentium, "bidding what is wrong."
L.4 mente solida, considered
by some to be an ablative of separation, i.e., "shake from."
Auster, the southwind.
L.6 si fractus illabatur orbis, "if the broken orb of the universe falls into collapse."
L.7 impavidum, modifies an understood eum.
L.8 hac arte = iustum et tenacem propositi, "by such virtue."
L.11 quos inter, anastrophe, or the inversion of the usual word order.
L.12 with hac understand arte, as in 1.9; with merentem understand some word such as caelum.
L.13 Romam legend tells of Bacchus' chariot being driven by tigers.
L.14 hac + arte (understood
again). The story of Romulus' final disappearance is told in Livy 1.16.
L.17 elocuta . . . Junone,
an ablative absolute.
L.18 the fated judge was Paris who because
he awarded the prize winning apple for beauty to
Venus brought on himself and Troy the destructive wrath of Juno.
L.19 mulier peregrina = Helen.
L.20 destituit, "deserted," or better here, "cheated" + ablative
L.21 mercede pacta Laomedon,
Laomedon, King of Troy, contracted with Apollo and Poseidon
to build Troy's walls. When the project was finished, he not only failed
to pay them but he even
ordered them expelled from his kingdom.
L.22 damnatum, modifies Ilion.
L.27 opibus, in the sense of "physical strength."
L.28 nostrisque, i.e., "of the gods"; ductum, "prolonged."
L.29 protinus, "from this time forward."
L.30 nepotem, a reference to Romulus, who was the son of Mars and grandson of Juno.
L.31 Troica . . . sacerdos = Rhea Silvia, or Ilia, mother of Romulus.
L.35 adscribi, "to be enrolled."
L.39 regnanto, third person plural future active imperative.
L.43 triumphatisque, in the sense of "conquered."
L.44 horrenda, feminine
nominative, in agreement with Roma, understood and in
apposition with nomen.
L.49 aurum, direct object
of spernere. et sic melius situm, "and it (gold) is so much better
placed."
L.53 obstitit, in the
sense of "thwarting," "resisting," or "binding."
L.54 the understood subject of tanget is Roma.
L.58 hac lege, "on this condition."
L.63 ducente, modifies me (Juno).
L.70 pervicax, modifies
the subject of desine, but has more of the force of an adverb, "stubbornly,"
or "wantonly."
Selection C: Odes, #7 To the Fountain, Bandusia--Bk. 3.13. This short ode may have been written to celebrate some rural festival. Its date is unknown; its meter is the fourth asclepiadean.
L.1 Fons Bandusiae, thought to have been located near Horace's home district in Venusia.
L.2 cui, dative of reference that can be translated "whose."
L.10 The water of the spring is cool,
even in the height of summer when it is protected by shade.
L.1 aere perennius, Horace
says his odes will be more endurable than bronze, the material of
which public statues and records are made.
L.2 impotens, "wild' or
"furious."
L.6 Libitinam, the goddess
of death. Funeral apparatus and the death registry were kept at the
temple of Venus Libitina.
L.9 This line is meant to convey the
idea of Rome's lengthy history and its predicted long lasting
future, as indicated by the solemn religious processions and rites which
have taken place and
will continue to be exercised on the Capitoline Hill.
L.11 Aufidius, a river in Apulia, Horace's home district.
L.12 agrestium + populorum, genitive, governed by regnavit, a verb of ruling; a Greek construction.
L.13 translate princeps as if
it were primus. Horace, a man of ordinary, even humble, origins,
was
quite proud of the stature he had achieved in Roman literary circles. Aeolium
carmen, the Aeolian
poetry of Sappho and Alcaeus.
L.15 Melpomene, muse of
poetry.
Selection C: Odes #9--The Return of Spring--Bk. 4.7. Once again Horace returns to the theme of the alterations of Nature's seasons as a symbol of life's brevity. He suggests that the present moment be a cause of appreciation and enjoyment. The date is indefinite; the meter is the first Archilochian.
L.3 mutat terra vices,
"the earth experiences its regular changes." vices is taken by some
to be an
internal accusative with mutat.
L.7 immortalia (= immortalitatem) ne speres, consider this clause as the object of monet.
L.14 a line of sobering truth, i.e.,
nature's annual cycle is one of birth/death/rebirth, but man's lot is
one of finality in death (nos decidimus).
L.15 Ancus = Ancus Martius, fourth king of Rome and a ruler held in high popular esteem.
L.16 summae = "sum," throughout
his odes the former treasury clerk, Horace, is fond of financial
images and terminology.
L.21 Minos, in life was king of Cnossos in Crete; in death, he was a judge of shades in the underworld.
Horace was one of the most widely read ancient writers in early America. His Latin text was intensively studied in both the grammar schools and colleges, and intimate familiarity with Horace's text was simply assumed for every educated early American. The prominence given to Horace in the educational formation of an eighteenth-century American is nowhere better demonstrated than in the correspondence to and from Thomas Jefferson concerning the proposed reading program of his nephew Peter Carr, for whose education Jefferson had assumed responsibility. On 20 April 1785 Peter Carr writes to his uncle informing him that he is beginning his preparation for admission to college. The only two classical authors mentioned in his brief letter are Homer and Horace: "I am at this time reading Horace and Homer, and Mr. Maury, with whom I have been about a week, thinks I may go to the University about this time, twelvemonth, if I will exert myself."3 Jefferson does not exactly rush off a response to Peter, but when he does reply on 19 August 1785 he forwards a brilliant description of the ideal educational preparation for an eighteenth-century, young., American gentleman. Among other things, his description takes for granted that Horace has been or will be included in Peter's reading: "In Greek and Latin poetry, you have read or will read at school Virgil, Terence, Horace, Anacreon, Theocritus, Homer." Indeed, Jefferson undoubtedly was pleased to learn from James Madison in a letter of 15 November 1785 that young Peter was measuring up to his uncle's expectations: "Mr.W. Maury informs me that Master P. Carr has read at Williamsbg. Horace, some of Tully's orations, Greek Testament, AEsop's fables in Greek, ten books of Homer, and is now beginning Xenophon, Juvenal and Livy." Two months later, on 22 January 1786, Madison sends a reply to Jefferson and, among other news items, again informs him of Peter's progress: "Peter has been in Williamsburg, and I am told by Mr. Maury that his progress is satisfactory. He has read under him Horace, some of Cicero's orations, etc." By the end of the same year, Jefferson is informed in a letter of 13 December 1786 by George Wythe, his own celebrated law mentor while in Williamsburg, that Peter was enrolled in the college and reading classical authors, with Horace again specifically mentioned: "Peter Carr attends the professors of natural and moral philosophy and mathematicks, is learning the french and spanish languages, and with me reads Aeschylus and Horace one day, and Herodotus and Cicero’s orations the next, etc." Just nine days later Wythe writes again to Jefferson and informs him for the second time that Peter is reading Horace with him and desires to know "if you approved of the course, or would recommend any other."4
John Adams' letter of 17 March 1780 to his son John Quincy indicates that he also considered Horace to be one of the essential Latin authors in the education of a young man: "I hope to hear that you are in Virgil and Tully's orations, or Ovid or Horace or all of them."5 Obviously John Quincy took to heart his father's admonition to read Horace or he would not have been able to recognize the reference which John Thaxter made to Horace' s Ars Poetica (Epistles 2.3.343) in a letter of 21 August 1780 when he wrote to young John: "Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci."6
Although Jefferson and Adams were readily familiar with Horace's Latin text while they were students at William and Mary and Harvard respectively, their familiarity with this poet was not restricted solely to their student years, but it continued throughout their lives.7 Jefferson appears to have been particularly fond of Horace during the 1780s and even suggested that the base of the Houdon statue of George Washington, which was destined for placement in the rotunda in the Virginia state capitol, be graced with an inscription from Horace, Odes Bk.4.14.47-49 and 51.8
Jefferson also paints a vivid picture of the esteem in which he holds the integrity of Wythe, Blair, and Pendleton, proposed members of the fledgling United States judiciary department, when he declares in a letter, 15 March 1789, to James Madison that "on characters like these the "civium ardor prava jubentium" would make no impression." (Odes 3.3.2).9 Timothy Dwight used the same ode (3.3) of Horace to describe the integrity of Gen. Artemas Ward, a major general in the American Revolutionary War and the predecessor of George Washington in the command of the colonial forces in Boston. Dwight knew Ward well and in his travels to Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, the hometown of Ward, he made the following recollection of the General's exemplary character:
You may hint to him (Colonel Quincy) particular Defects of his Plan, and
he will contrive
Amendments, but the general Plan would never be (exploded?) by his Consent.
I will not
attempt to undeceive him any more. The scheme is Mentis gratissimus
Error. demptus,
Error, gratissimus Error the most agreable Error mentis of the
Mind, demptus taken
away, per Vim, by violence. Pol. by Pollux, amici
my friends, occidistis you have killed
me, non servastis (you) have not preserved me, (saved?) me alive,
cui, sic extorta
Voluptas-Pleasure extorted, torn away, cui from which thus.
Horace was also one of the Latin authors to whom Adams referred most commonly in private correspondence. As early as 1774, for example, he quoted Horace (Odes 3. 2.13--see Readings "C" Selected Odes #5) in a letter written from Philadelphia to William Tudor:
Adams also made frequent reference to Horace in the many letters which he and Jefferson exchanged in retirement. For example, in September 1813 he writes to Jefferson, and quotes Horace (Epistles, 1. 6.67-68) to reinforce his message:
Allegiance to the Creator and Governor of the Milky
Way and the Nebulae, and the
Benevolence to all his Creatures, is my Religions. Si quid novisti rectius
estis
(i.e., istis], Candidus imperti."
Two weeks later, on 19 December 1813, Adams begins a letter to Jefferson by quoting from Horace's first book of Satires, 1.24: "Ridendo dicere Verum, quid vetat. I must make you and myself merry or melancholy by a little more Phylosophical Speculation about the formidable subject of Aristocracy."18 Apparently Adams was systematically reading Horace's collected works because we find him quoting from Horace's Ars Poetica (Epistles 2.3.122) in a letter of 16 July 1814 to Jefferson in which he is commenting on the different forms of government and fanatical leaders who have been a part of these governments: "Napoleon is a Military Fanatic like Achilles, Alexander, Caesar Mahomet, Zingis Kouli, Charles 12th etc. The Maxim and Principle of all of them was the same "Jura negat sibi cata [i.e., nata], nihil non arrogat Armis." In the event that Jefferson did not immediately recognize this reference to Horace, Adams again calls Jefferson's attention to the same line of the Ars Poetica in a letter of 2 February 1816: "The Morality of Tacitus, is the Morality of Patriotism, and Britain and France have adopted his Creed; i.e., that all things were made for Rome. Jura negat sibi Cata [i.e., nata], nihil non arrogat Armis, said Achilles."19 Jefferson, evidently tired of being constantly inundated by Adams' use of the Horatian text, retaliated by also quoting Horace's Epistles (Book 1.1.8-9) in a letter which he wrote to Adams in June 1822:
Surely the long-standing love affair which Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had with Horace gives evidence of the captivating power which this school-boy author had in the hearts and minds of early Americans. The familiarity of these two founding fathers with the Horatian text was extraordinary, but not unique. Horace was a commonly known author to whom frequent reference was made in both personal correspondence as well as in public editorials, newspapers and oratory. Perhaps the single most public reference to Horace in eighteenth-century America came from the pen of Dr. Joseph Warren, the printed edition of whose fifth annual Boston Massacre Oration on 6 March 1775 began with a quote from Horace's Epistles (Bk. 1.16.66: Qui metuens vivet, liber mihi non erit umquam. (See Reading Selection A). Horace's text was indeed well chosen by Dr. Warren since he had recently been informed that orders for his arrest were already on board a ship crossing the Atlantic from Great Britain and since he had been threatened with physical harm by the British soldiers stationed in Boston if he delivered this Massacre Oration.
2 See William H. Pierson, Jr., American Buildings and Their Architects: The Colonial and Neoclassical Styles (New York: Anchor Books, 1976) pp. 310-316 for an extraordinary description of Jefferson's affection for Monticello and direct references to Horace. For additional Jeffersonian references to the benefits of an agrarian life style, based on the minor works of Virgil, see Douglas L. Wilson, "The American Agricola: Jefferson's Agrarianism and the Classical Tradition," South Atlantic Quarterly 80 (1981), pp. 339-54.
3 See The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 8, p. 96, for Carr's letter of 20 April 1785. In his Autobiography, John Adams likewise links Horace and Homer: "Mr. Otis received me more like a Brother than a father, and began to descant on Homer and Horace and Latin and Greek Prosody." Diary and Autobiography of John Adams 3, p. 273, for the year 1758.
4 For the above references see The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 8, p. 407 for Jefferson's letter of 19 August 1785; Vol. 9, for Madison's letter of 15 November 1785, p. 38 and the same volume, p. 201 for his letter of 22 January 1786; for Wythe's letters, Vol. 10, pp. 592-593 for his letter of 13 December 1786 and pp. 622-623 for his letter of 22 December 1786.
5 See L. H. Butterfield and Friedlander, eds, Adams Family Correspondence 3 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1973), pp. 308-309. It should also be added that just one year earlier John Adams had personally supervised John Quincy's reading of Horace when he spent "the Morning in translating with my son the Carmen Saeculare, and the Notes." Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 2, p. 362, 26 April 1779.
6 See Adams Family Correspondence 3, pp. 399-400.
7 In his "Commonplace Book" Jefferson, for example, quotes explicitly from the following works of Horace: Odes, Bk.1. 4,7,11,24 (see '"C" Selected Odes, #1 and #3; Bk. 3.13 (see "C" Selected Odes, #7); Epode 2; Satires 1.4; 2.6 and 7. See Gilbert Chinard, The Literary Bible of Thomas Jefferson. His Commonplace Book of Philosophers and Poets (New York: Greenwood Press, 1969), reprint of 1928 publication by The Johns Hopkins Press.
8 See The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 9, p. 270, 8 February 1786. The passage from Horace reads: Te Belluosus qui remotis /Obstrepuit oceanus Britannis / Te non paventis funera Galliea / Compositis venerantur armis.
9 See The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 14, p. 659 and Horace Odes,3.3.2 (See "C" Selected Odes, #6).
10 See Barbara M. Solomon, ed., Travels in New England and New York by Timothy Dwight 1 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1969), p. 269.
11 See The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 14, pp. 448-453.
12 See The Papers of Thomas Jefferson 14, pp. 538-43; Short's description is much lengthier than the passage referred to and it continues with commentary on Roman roads and the Italian countryside. For a twentieth-century description of Horace's journey to Brindisi, see James Cerruti’s article in National Geographic 159, No.6, June 1981, pp. 714-747.
13 See L. H. Butterfield, ed., Diary and Autobiography of John Adams 1, Diary 1755-1770 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1961), p. 94; Horace's text of Epistle 2.2.138-40 reads: Pol, me occidistis, amici, / non servastis ait, cui sic extorta voluptas et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error.
14 Robert J. Taylor, ed., Papers of John Adams 2 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977), p. 307.
15 See Papers of John Adams 2, p. 176, 29 September 1774. John Adams was reading the Odes of Horace as early as 1760 since the entry in his diary for 1 June 1760 states: "Read 2 Odes in Horace." Diary of John Adams 1, p. 131.
16 See Lester J. Cappon, ed., The Adams-Jefferson Letters 1, 1777-1804 (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 1959), pp. 254-55, 11 May 1794.
17 Cappon, The Adams-Jefferson Letters 2 p. 375-377.
18 See Cappon, The Adams-Jefferson Letters 2, p. 406 for the 3 December 1813 letter and pp. 406-409 for his 19 December 1813 letter.
19 See The Adams-Jefferson Letters 2 for Adams' letter of 16 July 1814, pp. 435-436; 2 February 1816, p. 462.
20 See the Adams-Jefferson Letters 2, p. 580 for Jefferson's letter of 27 June 1822
21
See Andrew A. Lipscomb, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 12,
pp. 436-437.