[1] fructibus… Siculis: ablative direct object with frueris (A&G 410) and etymological play between the verb, fruor, and fructus (figura etymologica). Sicily was the proverbial bread-basket for Rome and supplied a large amount of its grain/produce (fructibus).
Agrippae: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Augustus’ general and right-hand-man (with Maecenas), had extensive holdings in Sicily (received when he defeated Sextus Pompeius in 36 BCE), and Iccius could be assured quite a bit of material wealth if he was steward there.
[2] si recte frueris: The first in a series of conditional statements that make up roughly the first third of the letter. These imply that Iccius could be happier and more satisfied if he realized the copious advantages he already possesses. This is the protasis of a future-more vivid condition (A&G 516). recte is an important word for the Epistles and hints at the correct mindset necessary for enjoying such benefits, see Ep. 1.1.60, 1.6.29, 1.7.3.
non est ut: “it is not true that” (OLD 7a), which sets up a result clause with possit in the next line (A&G 569), cf. C. 3.1.9.
copia maior: with maius (6) and minora (11), Horace stresses just how good Iccius has it. copia will be linked with the cornucopia (29) at the poem’s conclusion, creating ring-composition.
[3] ab Iove: Ablative of Personal Agent with the passive infinitive donari (A&G 405).
tolle querelas: The tone implied by the imperative is important. Is Horace truly angry (“shut up!”) or exasperated, like parent with spoiled children at a toy store (“quit your complaining/moaning!”)? What exactly is Iccius complaining about? The philosophical turn in the poem suggests that ethics could be at the root of the problems.
[4] pauper: emphatic position at the start of the line. Poverty is in the eye of the beholder (although it must be stressed that neither Iccius nor Horace are truly poor), cf. Ep. 2.2.12, 1.1.91
cui: dative with the verb suppetit.
rerum...usus: With the uses of fruor/fructus above, would make the reader think of the legal term Ususfructus: “the right both to use another’s property and to receive profits from it” (OLD 4b), see Mayer 1994: ad loc.
[5] Horace stresses that if one’s health is good, one should be happy. Plutarch’s Life of Solon records the following saying of Solon: “He who has comfort for his stomach, sides, and feet is equal to the one who has copious silver and gold, acres of wheat-bearing land, horses, and mules” (Sol. 2.3, frag. 24).
ventri...lateri...pedibus tuis: Datives of Possession with esse (A&G 373). latus can indicate the lungs or the “seat of physical strength or vigour” (OLD 2), but beyond health (e.g. gout typically affects the feet) these three terms could also indicate food for the belly, clothes and shoes for the body.
nil...maius: Emphatic position - regal wealth will add nothing to health and basic necessities.
[6] divitiae...regales: Especially pointed if Iccius had ventured to the East to try to gain the riches of kings there, as the ode addressed to him implied (C. 1.29.1.-5).
[7] forte: Horace implies that he does not know whether Iccius is actually living an austere life (which could be Stoic or Epicurean in essence (cf. virtute 11) amidst the bounty of Agrippa’s farm.
in medio: with posita it is idiomatic for “things accessible/available to all”, cf. S. 1.2.108: meus est amor huic similis; nam / transvolat in medio postia et fugientia captat (“my love is like this; for it passes by what is available to all and strives after what flees”).
positorum abstemius: abstemius can take a Genitive of Plenty and Want (A&G 356). In this case the posita are the riches of the estate.
herbis...urtica: Ablatives of means (A&G 409), i.e. “to live on greens and nettle(s)”.
[8] ut: “even if” (A&G 527) - ut in concessive clauses takes the subjunctive, hence inauret (“to gild, make rich”) in the following line.
[9] confestim: “suddenly, immediately” only found here in Horace. Even if he “won the lottery” he would still live a simple life.
liquidus Fortunae rivus: Horace envisions Fortune as a river, possibly like the Pactolus in Lydia which bore gold (Verg. Aen. 10.142: culta...irrigat auro). Horace's rival in Epod. 15 is rich is property and, in addition, Horace claims, “the Pactolus flows for you” (tibique Pactolus fluat, 15.20).
[10] Anaphora of vel quia stresses the equivalence of these two possibilities.
naturam: Iccius’ “character/temperament” (OLD 10) may be stable in the face of a sudden windfall. Cf. Epod. 4.5-6: “Although you strut proudly because of your money / Fortune does not change one’s nature” (licet superbus ambules pecunia / Fortuna non mutat genus).
nescit: In the sense of “is not able” (OLD 3, cf. C. 3.13.9-10), but the root scire also hints at the knowledge that Iccius has and helps to lead to the subsequent philosophical section.
[11] cuncta: “Everything” to be contrasted with una virtute.
una virtute: Ablative of Comparison (A&G 406). In the ode addressed to Iccius, Horace mentions the works of Panaetius that Iccius owned, which would make him a follower of Stoicism. Earlier in the Epistles, Horace wonders: si virtus hoc una potest dare, fortis omissis / hoc age deliciis. (Ep. 1.6.30-31) - but stresses that some think virtue is mere words (virtutem verba putas, 1.6.31). Horace is building upon this earlier Epistle to give further illustration of the problems and benefits of adhering to philosophical tenets (especially if they are only skin-deep).
[12] miramur: Horace expresses his astonishment at Iccius’ ability to both be a conscientious steward and a student of natural philosophy. Again, connections with Ep. 1.6, whose opening is nil admirari prope res est una may complicate Horace’s “wonder”.
si: A&G 572b for miror si clauses.
Democriti: Democritus was the father of atomism and, therefore, an important figure for Epicureans (see Lucr. 3.371, 5.622: Democriti quod sancta viri sententia). Democritus is also mentioned by Horace at Ep. 2.1.194 (in his role as “the laughing philosopher”) and Ars 297 for his belief in inspired poets. This story of his single-mindedness is referenced at Cic. Fin. 5.87.
edit: perfect of edo-esse “to eat”.
agellos: “small plot of land”.
[13] peregre: “abroad” (cf. S. 1.6.102). The idea of not just “being lost in thought” but that the mind/soul (animus) actually leaves the body when musing about the heavens (see C. 1.28.4-6: “It does not benefit you to have explored the heavenly homes and to have traversed the circling poles with your mortal soul (animo...morituro)”. Seneca has many such sublime reveries in his Naturales Quaestiones and stresses the benefits of such separation (e.g. NQ 3.pr.18).
animus...velox: The quickness of thought was proverbial, cf. Cic. Tusc. 1.43: nihil est animo velocius. The placement of sine corpore shows the mind outside of the bonds of the body.
[14] cum: “whereas” (OLD 7b) and it takes the subjunctive (sapias, cures), cf. S. 1.4.22-23.
inter scabiem tantam et contagia lucri: The metaphor is taken from husbandry, a task Iccius might be expected to be concerned with (and also paralleling Democritus’ lack of care for his own flock and holdings). lucri is an unexpected genitive that turns this contagious itch (scabies) into greed and the itch for money.
[15] nil parvum: This is an internal accusative with sapias (OLD 6b): “You understand no small matter…”. For another use of nil parvum see C. 3.25.17-18 where the inspired Horace is taken away to sing no humble song (nil parvum...loquar). Additional connections with that ode include uses of velox and miror - Horace may want his reader to think back to his own flight of fancy in that ode.
et adhuc: “and still/yet”. In spite of the greed around him and his awareness of it. There is some humor in connecting nil parvum and sublimia.
sublimia cures: sublimia indicates meteorological matters (τἀ μετέωρα) and would have been known to Iccius from his Stoic studies (Posidonius) and Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura. Many of the subsequent questions were topics of interest to philosophers from the pre-Socratics through Aristotle (Meteorologica) and beyond. Augustan poets such as Vergil (G. 2.475-89, as a type of recusatio for writing about the land) and Propertius also write about these matters, which Propertius believes befit old age (3.5.25-46).
[16] quae...causae: A series of indirect questions that define the sort of sublimia - questions of this sort often structure doxographical works about the natural world (think of the title of Seneca’s Naturales Quaestiones) or the question/answer format of Plutarch’s Αἴτια φυσικά.
mare compescant: The question of the tides or why the seas do not rise despite all the rivers running into them were common head-scratchers for philosophers (e.g. Lucr. 6.608-38). One might recall the apocryphal story of Aristotle throwing himself into the Euripus because he could not figure out their confusing tidal patterns.
quid temperet annum: The changes and regularity of the seasons of the year also were a subject of speculation. Note that Horace answered this question with the god Jupiter at C. 1.12.15-16: qui mare et terras variisque mundum / temperat horis (the verb was picked up in similar contexts by the poets Propertius 3.5.25, and Ovid Am. 3.10.21).
[17] stellae: probably referring to the planets as errare is often applied to planetary movement. The five planets known to the Romans were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
sponte sua iussaene: Two alternatives corresponding to different ideas about the planets, as Mayer 1994: ad loc. stresses. The Stoics believed in a divine/natural law (iussae) that ordered such movements and could be identified with the divine purpose of Jupiter. sponte sua refers to the belief that stellae were divine in their own right and could have their own willed movements, cf. Cic. ND 2.43: [sidera] ipsa sua sponte suo sensu ac divinitate moveantur. Epicurean views often stressed wind movement and the general whirl of the heavens (e.g. Lucr. 5.509-33, 5.614-49).
vagentur et errent: Cicero likes to pair these when referring to the planets, cf. ND 2.80: solem dico et lunam et vagas stellas et inerrantes et caelum et mundum ipsum; Rep. 1.22.
[18] The waxing and waning of the moon.
obscurum: proleptic “so that it grows dark”. Also used with premere at Verg. Aen. 4.80-81: lumenque obscura vicissim / luna premit.
lunae: supply orbem.
[19] A seeming summation of these questions with a macroscopic take on the universe in all its apparent confusion and mystery.
quid velit et possit: If before quid was nominative, now it is accusative and signifies the very meaning of the universe (velit) or its potential power (possit). velit = “means” (OLD 17). possit in the sense of quid fieri possit et quid non (see Greenough 1887: ad loc.).
rerum concordia discors: The paradoxical “organized chaos” that evokes and defines the natural world in all its apparent randomness will be later used by Ovid Met. 1.433, Manilius 1.142, and Seneca NQ 7.27.3: tota haec mundi concordia ex discordibus constat? (“Isn’t this whole harmonious world made up of inharmonious elements?”). In many ways this hearkens back to the doctrine of the 5th C. philosopher Empedocles, one of the subjects of the following line.
[20] A bathetic come-down from the grandeur of concordia discors as Horace concludes with the question of which philosopher is crazier (deliret).
Empedocles: In Horace's Ars Poetica, Empedocles is the exemplum of the insane poet/philosopher who, according to one legend, jumps into Mt. Aetna to prove his immortality (Ars 463-66). As a follower of some tenets of Pythagoreanism, he believed in the transmigration of the soul. He held that contrasts such as Love/Strife created the world (rerum concordia discors?). Adamson has a nice podcast on Empedocles and it is clear that his philosophical thought was very influential for Lucretius (Sedley 1998) as well as certain Augustan poets (especially Ovid in his Metamorphoses, see Nelis 2009).
Stertinium...acumen: Stertinus was apparently a contemporary Stoic philosopher, whose views Horace describes in S. 2.3 (he especially focuses on the Stoic paradox that “all fools are mad” - hence deliret?). In that poem, it is his disciple, Damasippus, who lectures Horace about Stoic ethics and Horace concludes by depicting Damasippus as meddlesome and unhelpful. Would this acumen then be blunt or would this have been a contemporary reference to popular Roman Stoic thought at the time? After all, it appears Iccius was a Stoic and, at times, the style of the Epistles (as well as the Satires) may approach Stertinus’ (see Muecke 1993: 130-31).
[21-24] Horace mentions his friend, Pompeius Grosphus, as a friend whom Iccius can trust. This is similar to recommendation letters that were typical of the Roman elite and dot the correspondence of Cicero and Pliny and see Ep. 1.9 for another Horatian example. C. 2.16 was also addressed to Grosphus and depicts him there as a wealthy landowner in Sicily, who may be questioning the value of otium. A brief account of Grosphus in Horace’s letters can be found here. He was part of the gens Pompeia, which shows that in spite of Agrippa’s victory over one of his family members (Sextus Pompeius), the bonds of amicitia can transcend any difficulties.
[21] Food here stands in for the table of the rich and poor, as well as the philosophical choices that correspond to such choices (Epicurean and Stoic, respectively). These lines look back to 7-8 above. The best place to look for more info about food in Horace and Roman culture in general is Gowers 1997. Fish are usually a sign of decadence and at this time certain fish were demanding absurd prices, see Higginbotham 1997: 41-54.
piscis: long -is for -es (acc. Plural of i-stem is commonly -is, see A&G 74c). Because of Empedocles’ belief in metempsychosis (reincarnation), Horaces uses a verb (trucidas) that indicates “to slaughter/murder” more generally.
porrum et caepe: Leeks and onions were poor fare and similar to Iccius’ meal above (herbis...urtica, 7-8). Pythagorians were noted for their vegetarianism, cf. S. 2.6.63.
[22] utere: “be a friend to” (OLD 9b). Second person singular imperative.
Pompeio Grospho: ablative because utor takes the ablative (A&G 410).
siquid petet: Potential subjunctive that indicates the open-ended nature of the request.
ultro: “on one’s own accord/initiative” (OLD 5a). Take with defer.
[23] defer: dic, duc, fac, and fer have an e that isn’t there in the second person singular imperative.
nil: direct object of orabit and in apposition with verum...aequum.
nisi: “except”
verum...aequum: Grosphus will only ask for what is right and fair, almost like a philosopher, cf. Ep. 1.1.11 (and, perhaps, 1.7.98) with use of verum there. Within the system amicitia it would appear that Grosphus and Iccius can exchange goods in a philosophical manner that hints that their friendship will be bound by philosophical principles.
[24] vilis: In spite of the riches that both Iccius and Grosphus have available, what is important is “cheap”.
annona: “market price” (OLD 4) plays on the fructus at the opening and close of the poem (it can mean “produce” or “wheat”, but now applied to the “price” of friends).
bonis… deest: Scan deest as one syllable through synizesis. bonis is substantive (i.e. “good men”) and is a Dative of Reference (A&G 376 for Dative of Reference more generally and A&G 381 for Dative of Separation, an extension of Dative of Reference with certain verbs). quid for indefinite aliquid as sometimes happens in temporal clauses, cf. Ep. 1.20.7 and OLD 1b. The general idea is that a favor for a good man will lead to a valuable friendship.
[25-29] Horace sums up his letter by continuing with more standard epistolary features, in this case by giving Iccius the news from Rome (both foreign affairs and those more local). The last sentence, concerning “golden plenty” being to Rome, brings the epistle full circle back to the first sentence in a nice ring-composition (Copia ~ Copia, fructibus ~ fruges), and seems to cast all of Rome in Iccius’ shoes - one wonders if the advice then can be applicable to a majority of Horace’s readers.
[25] ne...ignores: Negative purpose clause (A&G 531).
quo...loco: Introduces an indirect question with sit. locus in the sense of “situation, circumstance” (OLD 22), cf. Verg. Aen. 2.322: quo res summa loco, Panthu?
Romana...res: in other epistles, res is commonly used for “money,” but here it is “affairs (of State)” (OLD 16 - which references Enn. Ann. 495 (Sk.): moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque).
[26-27] Cantaber… Armenius: collective singular, the placement of each at the beginning of the line is emphatic. The Cantabri lived in the north coast of Spain. The Cantabrian wars were fought between 29 and 19 BC, and represented the last stage of the conquest of the Iberian peninsula by the Romans. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa ended the war less than a year after arriving and his involvement may be of special interest to the steward of his estate.
Claudi virtute Neronis: The ablative of means (virtute) is modified by the possessive genitives (Agrippae, Claudi...Neronis). Around the same time as the Cantabrian wars came to a close, the future emperor Tiberius, (whose full name at the time was Tiberius Claudius Nero), successfully negotiated the return of Tigranes V to the Armenian throne, and avoided a war with Parthia. (See Ep. 1.3, where Horace addresses a letter to a member of Tiberius’ entourage in Armenia.)
[27] cecidit: Take with Cantaber and Armenius.
ius imperiumque...Caesaris: Horace’s grand language emphasizes the importance of Augustus’ successful negotiation with king Phraates IV of Parthia in 20 BCE for the return of the eagle standards lost by Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE. It is difficult to overstate the severity of the blow to the Roman psyche this battle had caused, and Augustus’ reclaiming of the eagle standards was received as if he conquered Parthia himself. In the famous Prima Porta statue, the armor worn by the statue of Augustus bears an image of the Parthians returning the standards. Horace had mentioned Phraates at C. 2.2.17 in an ode about wealth more generally.
[28] minor… gentibus: gentibus is Ablative of Specification (A&G 418) with minor as a way to express Phraates kneeling in submission. This was depicted in coins of the time.
aurea: Take with Copia below. A new Golden Age was often the desired outcome of the Augustan Peace and was part of the architecture (see the Tellus panel of the Ara Pacis) and poetry of the day (Verg. Aen. 792-3: Augustus Caesar, Divi genus, aurea condet / saecula; Hor. C. 4.2.39-40).
fruges: Recalling the opening of the poem. This is the direct object of defundit and it must be remembered that the grain supply was always an important issue in Rome (e.g. Suet. Aug. 41-42 on Augustus’ reforms of the dole and Hor. C. 4.15.4-5 for the increase of agriculture under Augustus) and note the even coins show grain at times (see the picture preceding the poem).
[29] pleno...Copia cornu: Plenty’s horn is mentioned also at Hor. CS 60 (pleno Copia cornu), and by Ovid in Met. 9.85-88 (giving its etiology). This was a common image during the Pax Romana, see the Note of Thomas 2011: ad CS 60.
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