Faxis = archaic perfect subjunctive. Archaicisms are common in prayers and curses.
6–15. “If my prayers do not display the venality or stupidity of most men, grant that my cattle be fat, but not my talent.” The moral, religious, and political message is converted into a declaration of adherence to Callimachean poetics [39]. Rem = “fortune.”
Angulus … proximus = “neighboring corner.”
Denormat = “makes crooked.”
10–13. Horace here alludes to a fable recounted in full by Porphyrion. A farmer, who worked a plot for hire, prayed to Hercules to reveal to him a hidden treasure. Hercules took the man to Mercury who revealed to him the treasure. The man then bought the plot and continued to work it as before. Whereupon Mercury pronounced that no amount of money would make the man happy, since he continued to do exactly the same as he did before he found the treasure. Horace does not include the moral, but clearly we are supposed to recall it and perhaps ask if Horace will be any happier if his prayer is answered. How will his life be different? Urnam argenti: on the ill consequences of finding a pot of money, see Plautus’s Aulularia.
Mercennarius = “a man for hire.” Mercatus < mercor, –ari: “to buy.” Note the prominence of words beginning in merc- in the context of this story and Horace’s prayer to Mercury.
13–15. Summarizing the previous condition. Iuvat: understand me.
16–17. “When I head for my mountain retreat what should I celebrate before my farm?” Prius: understand quam agro.
Satiris musaque pedestri continues the self-conscious allusions to Callimachus [38].
18–19. The farm is a poetic retreat from the pressures of life in Rome. Ambitio: see introductory note.
The hot winds of the sirocco (Auster) were especially oppressive in autumn and thought to bear disease.
Quaestus < quaestus, –us: “profit, gain, advantage.” Libitina was the goddess of burial.
20–3. His introduction complete, Horace now prepares to recount a typical day. This section opens with an invocation of morning in the style of a prayer. This marks a new beginning in the poem, while recalling the earlier prayers offered to Mercury. Matutinus is not elsewhere attested and may well be humorous (Kiessling and Heinze 1999). The poem ends with after-dinner conversation thus marking the conclusion of the day that begins here.
‘Iane’ libentius audis: Janus, in his capacity as god of new beginnings, was another name for the spirit of the morning. Roman prayers routinely tried to include all possible names under which a deity could be invoked both to avoid offense and to bind the god contractually by removing any excuse for claiming it had not been addressed. The proper name of the deity has a quasi-magical power in many religions.
Unde = a quo.
Operum … vitaeque = “of their individual projects and whole life” (Kiessling and Heinze 1999).
Esto = second person future imperative.
Principium = “beginning.”
23–39. The daily grind in Rome. This passage recalls many scenes from 1.9.
23–4. The subject of rapis is Janus.
Sponsorem: “In an action before the praetor both parties needed sponsores, who promised to cover the costs should their principal default in any way” (Muecke 1997).
Eia = “come on.”
Urge = “hurry.”
25–6. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will keep Horace from his appointed rounds. Aquilo = the north wind.
Interiore diem gyro trahit = “pulls the day into a tighter circle”: a reference to the contraction of the day in winter.
27–8. A very compressed sentence recapping the scene before the praetor and its aftermath. In two lines we are asked to picture Horace being admonished in court to speak up, his misgivings, and his subsequent hurrying through the crowd to make his next appointment.
Quod mi obsit = “which may be harmful to me,” i.e., if Horace’s friend defaults on his obligation: potential subjunctive.
Locuto modifies mi. Its object is clare certumque taken as a substantive that serves as an antecedent to quod. Clare certumque is an example of hendiadys, the rhetorical figure for referring to a single thing through two coordinated terms. Mi must essentially be taken three times: once with obsit, once with locuto, and as the dative of agent with luctandum and facienda. Est must be assumed with the two gerundives.
29–31. Horace incurs the wrath of his fellow citizens as he jostles them in his haste to get to Maecenas’s house. The picture is at once a fine example of Horace’s self-deprecating irony, a declaration of his allegiance to Maecenas, and a subtle attempt through comic relief to maintain his independence from the great man. Improbus = “rogue”; like many modern drivers, Horace impugns the character of the man whom he has upset with his own rude behavior.
32. “I can’t lie, when I am impugned for my relation to you it’s a cause for joy.”
32–4. “But, as soon as I arrive at the Esquiline, a hundred tasks for other people jump about me on all sides.” Everyone wants to catch Horace’s ear on the way to the morning salutatio with Maecenas. The salutatio was an obligation of all Roman clientes to their patrons. Compare 1.6.101, where Horace claims to be exempt from this onerous task and defines this as part of what gives him a libertas superior to that of the aspiring senator [26]. Horace’s success, which he owes to Maecenas, has compromised the very libertas that the Sabine farm symbolizes.
Ventum est = impersonal passive: the construction removes Horace from any role as active agent.
Atras … Esquilas: Maecenas’s house and famous gardens were located on the site of a former cemetery on the Esquiline hill.
34–5. Secundam: understand horam: see 1.6.122. Puteal = a place in the Forum where lightning had struck and which was considered sacred. It was near the praetor’s court.
36–7. Horace as a former scriba quaestorius [63] was still a member of the guild. Quinte: to refer to someone by praenomen alone is a sign of great familiarity often used when trying to insinuate yourself in someone’s good graces (Dickey 2002: 63–7).
38. Imprimat < imprimo, –ere, –pressi, –pressum: “to press on,” jussive subjunctive.
Cura = imperative.
Signa = “seal” or “signet ring,” probably poetic plural. The use of your seal on a document was the ancient equivalent of a signature. It is probable from other information in the satire that its composition can be dated to the end of 31 BCE or the beginning of 30. At this time, immediately after the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, Maecenas was in charge of the city and provided with a copy of Octavian’s seal [64].
39. Dixeris = future perfect with conditional force: Horace addresses himself in the second person. Note that this line, a tour de force, has six verbs.
40–58. Horace describes his relationship with Maecenas: how other people often misconstrue it, and how it has evolved since first portrayed in 1.6. Horace has become a trusted friend, cliens, and confidant whose discretion extends to a denial of all knowledge of the governmental affairs in which Maecenas is directly involved. It is hardly conceivable that Horace knew nothing of these matters. Compare 1.5 where Horace seems almost completely oblivious of the immense political import of Maecenas’s mission.
40–6. It’s been seven years since Maecenas invited me to join his circle so that I could ride in his coach and engage in small talk. Dumtaxat ad hoc = “only to this extent.”
Raeda: see 1.5.86.
Quem = “as someone.”
Thraex = “the Thracian”: a kind of gladiator who wore two tall greaves and a broad-brimmed helmet with a tall crest. He carried a small rectangular shield and a curved short sword (Köhne and Ewigleben 2000: 51–7).
Gallina = “Hen,” a nickname.
Syro = a slave name: “Syrian.” Thracians were normally matched against murmillones, who carried swords and shields like those of a Roman infantryman and wore a brimmed helmet and a short greave on the left leg (Köhne and Ewigleben 2000: 48–51).
Rimosa … in aure = �
��an ear full of holes” and hence “indiscreet.” Before we take this self-description too seriously, it should be remembered that Augustus later invited Horace to be his personal secretary and help him with his correspondence, an honor the poet declined (Suetonius, Vita Horatii).
47–8. per totum hoc tempus = the last seven years. Noster = colloquial for “our friend”: here used of Horace himself. In diem et horam = “every day and every hour.”
48–58. “If they see us relaxing together, they instantly assume that I have access to state secrets.” Una: understand cum te, referring to Maecenas.
Omnes: understand clamant.
50. Note the artistic construction of the line. The words frigidus and rumor, here portraying a maleficent liquid (humor), are at opposite ends of the line, while the verb manat is in the middle. The structure enacts the slow drizzle of chilly gossip as it starts in the Forum (a Rostris) and spreads through the crossroads (per compita). The Rostra was the speaking platform in the Forum. It was fashioned from the prows of captured enemy ships.
52. Deos = slang for the upper reaches of society.
53. Dacis = “the Dacians”: a Balkan tribe north of the Danube that had sided with Antony. An invasion was feared. War was declared against them in 30 BCE.
54. Derisor = “joker,” a rare word.
Di exagitent = “may the gods come after me,” a common oath.
55. Quicquam: assume audivi.
55–6. “Is Caesar about to give the booty promised to the soldiers in Sicily or Italy?” The reference is to land grants promised to veterans. The land was seized from defeated enemies and political opponents. This is how Horace lost his family estate during the civil wars and more than likely the source of the land for the Sabine farm. It was a matter of great importance for all concerned to know where these seizures would be occurring. Triquetra = “Triangle Land,” hence “Sicily.”
57–8. There is a double irony in these lines. The primary level says “they wonder at my extraordinary silence when in fact I know nothing.” The secondary level says to those in the know “see the extent to which my discretion extends.”
59–76. The scene shifts to life on the Sabine farm.
59–60. Return to the main motif: “As the day passes, I long for my country retreat.”
60–2. “When will I be able to lose myself in study of the ancients and lazy sleep?”
63–4. Faba Pythagorae cognata: Pythagoras is supposed to have forbidden the eating of meat and beans. Vegetarianism was due to the Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls. Horace here assumes that the stricture against beans is for the same reason. Hence beans would be the relatives of Pythagoras, according to Horace’s joke. The ancient sources do not agree on whether the stricture against eating beans was truly Pythagorean or apocryphal.
Ponentur = “served.”
64. The humble fare of greens cooked with bacon, typical of southern cuisine in the United States, is described in a golden line. The ironic distance between simplicity and aesthetic refinement should give the reader pause before taking this picture too literally.
65–7. “What wonderful dinners my friends (mei) and I (ipse) eat there with my talkative slaves”: an idealized picture of rural contentment. Libatis dapibus = “after making a traditional offering from our feast.” As Muecke notes, however, “the expression libatis dapibus is ambiguous and some commentators take as ‘after we had tasted the feast’” (1997).
Vescor = “I feed on.”
67–70. “Everyone drinks to his own taste.” Prout = “just as.”
Legibus insanis: at formal drinking parties the magister bibendi prescribed what would be drunk and at what strength. In the relaxed atmosphere of Horace’s bucolic paradise, there are no such formalities.
Uvescit = “to become wet,” hence “to drink.”
70–6. “The dinner conversation is not idle gossip and envious chatter, but concerns the basic questions of life.” Sermo also = the title Horace gives to his satires in 1.4. His work is ideally a refined version of the free and elegant conversation of men addressing the fundamental issues of life in a charming, civilized fashion [60–1].
Agitamus = “discuss.”
Trahat = “leads.”
Summumque quid eius = “what is its highest form”: the question of the summum bonum was a common one in ancient philosophy.
77–117. It is in the context of one such dinner that Cervius, Horace’s country neighbor, tells the tale of the city mouse and the country mouse. This is a tale of two banquets told within the frame of an idealized country dinner.
We may well ask ourselves: if the rustic Cervius qualifies as the country mouse, does that make Horace the city mouse? The story and its application are not as simple as they first appear. “As the fable develops, it becomes clear that […] leisure and exertion have been switched. For the city mouse can hardly be said to wear himself out, and his friend in the country certainly does not pass his time ‘in sleep and idle hours’. It might therefore be argued that this tale of mice and men is less firmly integrated into the structure of the poem than is sometimes assumed” (Rudd 1982: 252).
77–8. Inter = postpositive. Garrit: see 1.9.40–3.
Anilis … fabellas = “old wives’ tales.”
78–9. Morris (1968) cites Greenough’s apposite note, “after all human nature was too much for them, and they did talk ‘de villis domibusve alienis.’” Sollicitas ignarus = “ignorant of the trouble they bring.”
79–83. Olim = “once upon a time.” Asper et attentus quaesitis = concessive: “though frugal and watchful over that which he had attained.”
Solveret indicates an opening of the artum … animum.
83–9. The country mouse’s generosity is in vain. Sepositi < sepono, –ponere, –posui, –positum: “to set aside.”
Ciceris < cicer, –eris: “chickpea.”
Invidit = “begrudge.”
Avenae < avena, –ae: “oat.”
Acinum = “grape.”
Semesa < semesus, –a, –um: “half-eaten.”
Tangentis male singula = “barely touching a thing.”
Palea = “chaff.”
Horna < hornus, –a, –um: “this year’s.”
Esset < edo, esse, edi, esum: “to eat.”
Ador = “spelt.”
Lolium = “a wild grass.”
90–7. “Finally, the city mouse said, why do you cleave to rustic poverty? Come to the city and see how the other half lives.” Praerupti nemoris … dorso: “on the crag of a steep wood.”
Carpe viam = “take to the road.”
Quando = “since.”
Mortalis animas = direct object of sortita. The city mouse assumes the pose of Epicurean philosopher.
Quo … circa = tmesis for quocirca: “wherefore.”
Bone: note the patronizing tone.
97–100. They head for the city. Agrestem < agrestis, –is: “countryman, rustic.”
Pepulere < pello, pellere, pepuli, pulsum: “strike.”
Aventes < aveo, –ere: “to long for, desire.”
Subrepere = “to crawl up from below.”
100–5. They arrive at a rich palace. Rubro … cocco = “scarlet dye.”
Fercula = “platters.”
Exstructis < exstruo, –struere, –struxi, –structum: “to pile up.”
Hesterna = “the evening before’s.”
Canistris < canistra, –orum: “baskets.”
106–9. Having settled his rustic friend on a purple coverlet, the city mouse scurries to serve him in style. Succinctus = one whose clothes are tucked up in the girdle for work like a slave.
Verniliter = like a verna or “house-born slave.”
Praelambens = “first licking,” and hence “tasting.”
110–12. At first, the country mouse greatly enjoys his changed fortune. Agit laetum convivam = “he plays the happy dinner guest.”
Valvarum < valvae, –arum: “folding doors.”
113–15. Cur
rere and trepidare = historical infinitives.
Conclave, –is = “room, hall.”
Molossis … canibus: Molossian hounds were kept as watch-dogs.
115–17. The country mouse bids his urban confrere farewell. The safety of his humble hearth and fare suit him fine. Ervo < ervum, –i: “bitter vetch.”
2.8
Poem 2.8 presents the dinner party as a metaphor for social decorum [66]. The gastronomic has been a theme throughout Book 2. In 2.6, much is made of the conflicting culinary philosophies of the city mouse and the country mouse. Likewise, the story of 2.6 is told in the context of a simple country meal of boiled greens, the same meal Lucilius is described as sharing with Scipio and Laelius at 2.1.74. Poem 2.2 features a disquisition on the virtues of modest country cuisine by Ofellus, who is often read as model for the country mouse in 2.6, while 2.4 features a long discourse by a gourmand, which has been read as a model for both the city mouse and Nasidienus in 2.8 (Berg 1996; Caston 1997).
2.8, moreover, is a poem about a failed dinner party. It is the story of an opportunity for conviviality (convivium, literally “living together”) that is missed. The results are comic and Nasidienus is clearly the butt of the joke. The end result is that he is excluded from Maecenas’s circle. He lacks the requisite urbanitas, the easy-going elegance and charm that marked the cultural élite. His culinary extravagances—pregnant lamprey (murena) and boar (aper) captured only in the south wind—strive to impress but only revolt (Braund 1992: 24–5).
Yet, Horace is rarely straightforward. Two mitigating circumstances need to be kept in mind when reading this satire. First, Horace is not present at the dinner and thus keeps his distance from the behavior of all parties. He does not necessarily endorse the behavior of Vibidius, Balatro, or even Maecenas. Second, the entire story is retold by the comic poet, Fundanius (1.10.40–2), and hence the slapstick and overdrawn narrative reflect his preferred genre as much as they do external reality.
A number of Lucilian precedents have been alleged for this satire, and certainly culinary concerns played a substantial role in his satires (see, for example, 30.3.1051–2). Yet for the most part these passages deal with poor food, lousy furniture, and regrettable female companionship. There is no precise parallel to the Cena Nasidieni’s combination of pretentious refinement and vulgarity. Ennius likewise featured at least one comic banquet in his saturae (frgs. 7 and 15), but here the emphasis is on the greedy parasite not the over-bearing host (Coffey 1976: 51; Rudd 1982: 214). Poem 2.8 thus draws on a number of precedents from Book 2 and satire as a whole, but ultimately presents an original creation.
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