[1] vilice: vocative, addressing Horace’s bailiff (the person who takes care of the day-to-day duties on the farm).
silvarum: genitive of possession (A&G 343).
mihi me reddentis agellis...: “the little farm that gives me back myself”; reddentis agelli: also genitive of possession. Reddentis takes me as direct object and mihi as indirect object. Here, Horace is suggesting that he is able to find himself only in the countryside.
[2] quem: refers the “farm” mentioned in the first line.
fastidis: second person, singular, active, present, indicative, “disdain”. Horace and his steward held opposite views regarding living in the countryside vs. city.
quinque focis: “hearths”, refers to “households” here (number of hearths = number of households). There appear to be 5 households who lease land from Horace.
[3] Variam: the market town in the region, modern day Vicovaro, located about 28 miles northeast of Rome. Remember with towns, one can use the accusative without ad for motion towards (A&G 427).
bonos...patres: acc. direct object of dimittere. patres refers to pater familias here (“head of family/household”). These “honest men” (Horace’s tenants) went to the market town to perform their civic and religious duties as well as to trade.
solitum...dimittere: “accustomed to send off”. dimittere complementary infinitive.
[4] certemus: hortatory subjunctive (A&G 439). There will be a contest between Horace and his steward to see who keeps the “thorns” away from themselves/their property.
spinas: used figuratively first. Direct object of an implied evellam “to pluck out”.
fortius: comparative adverb (A&G 218).
animone: ablative of separation (A&G 401); ne introduces an indirect question (A&G 574). The animus will be a topic of some concern in this letter.
evellas: subjunctive in an indirect question introduced by ne.
spinas...agro: “if I am better at rooting thorns from the mind or you from the field”.
[5] Supply spinas, used literally here.
agro: ablative of separation, same use as animo in line 4.
sit: subjunctive in an indirect question.
res: refers to Horace’s estate. Here, Horace is comparing himself to his estate.
melior...res: “if Horace or his estates is in better shape”. Horace does not name himself often in his poetry (only other time is C. 4.6.44), so it is worth thinking about why he does it here. His self-definition at lines 32ff. draws upon previous views of himself in his poetry - his Epistles persona is different from that. Here, we get the sense that he is reifying himself in order to make him an object of inquiry like his res.
[6] quamuis: “although”. He is stuck in the city, but still thinking about the country.
Lamiae: objective genitive (A&G 348). His brother has died and thus Horace is away from the farm (therefore we need this letter to his bailiff). Interesting how thoughts of death may lead Horace to muse on this subject (i.e. what is important in life). Lucius Aelius Lamia, a friend of Horace who, probably, is from a distinguished family from Formiae in South Latium. A Lamia also appears in Horace’s Carmina (1.26, 1.36, 3.17) and Ars Poetica 340, but Mayer cautions “we can neither distinguish nor identify [him]” (ad loc.).
pietas et cura: nominative, “loyalty and care”.
me: direct object of moratur.
[7] maerentis...dolentis: modifying Lamia in previous line. Would this also remind the reader of Catullus’ poems to his lost brother (cf. Cat. 101)?
fratrem: accusative. Repetition of fratrem and fratre emphasizes the grieving as do the final sounds of the two participles.
rapto de fratre: “Grieving for the snatched brother”.
[8] insolabiliter: adverb, “inconsolably”. Its enjambed position makes it seem like the grieving continues beyond the allotted period.
istuc: i.e. to the country.
mens and animus: commonly paired in poetry to emphasize balance between judgement and inclination. The animus appears again at line 13 as the real issue at stake in this poem.
[9] fert: “inclines/tends”.
avet: present, active, singular, third person, indicative, “wishes”, takes the infinitive rumpere, “wishes to break”.
spatiis obstantia...claustra: obstantia...claustra is the accusative, direct object of rumpere. claustra literally means “the bolts” that secure the starting gates at chariot/horse races. Horace’s longing for the countryside (the “open spaces” of spatiis) is metaphorically depicted as horses longing to begin a race.
[10] beatum: it has been an important word in the Epistles. The word beatum also appears in Ep.1.6 and 1.16, meaning “blessed/happy”.
Supply dico and beatum for the first half of the sentence, and viventum for the second half.
rure: locative, “in the countryside” (A&G 427).
dicis: second person, singular, active, indicative, “call”.
[11] Folks always think the grass is greener… one’s lot (sors) can be unsatisfying or hateful (odio) and so they are pleased by another’s possession/job.
cui: Supply ei (dative of possession) as its antecedent.
nimirum: adverb, “undoubtedly”.
alterius: genitive of possession (A&G 343), take with sors, “another’s lot”.
odio: dative of end as part of a double dative construction (A&G 382).
[12] stultus uterque: Horace says both are stupid, especially those that blame the place (locum). He has said this elsewhere (Ep. 1.11.27: caelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt).
causatur: deponent verb from causor. It means “blame” here.
locum: goes with inmeritum: accusative, “blameless place”.
inique: adverb = “unjustly”.
[13] animus: the soul is the problem - here very much equated with the self - and one can’t flee oneself (Lucretius said the same thing at 3.1063-70).
in culpa: “at fault”.
qui: refers to animus.
[14] mediastinus: predicate nominative, “city drudge”. The bailiff used to be a city servant and long for the country.
tacita: ablative, take with prece, “secret prayer”.
petebas: the imperfect denotes habitual action in the past, “used to desire”.
[15] ludos: accusative, “games”. The games were part of Roman holiday celebrations.
balnea: accusative, “baths”. Such balnea usually were not as large as thermae.
vilicus: nominative. The steward now wants his old life back.
[16] constare: “be consistent” or “remain constant”.
scis: sets up indirect statement with acc.+ inf. construction. Repetition of me mihi from line 1 is nice. Here Horace asserts he is constant, but other epistles show this is not accurate (cf. Ep. 1.8.11-12). The reader of the Epistles as a whole will note the irony here.
[17] quandocumque: “whenever”.
negotia...invisa: nominative plural "hateful business" (it is hateful because it takes him from the country).
Romam: NB the form = “to Rome” (A&G 427).
[18] eadem: “the same things”.
miramar: “admire” or “revere” Remember the beginning of Ep. 1.6 (nil admirari)! Horace will revisit this in a later letter to Florus when talking about the different tastes of the people of Rome: non omnes eadem mirantur (Ep. 2.2.58)
eo = adverb “therefore, consequently”.
disconuenit: impersonal use = “there is disagreement”.
[19] tesqua: tesquum is a rare word = “tract of wild land”.
[20] credis: the direct object is quae deserta et inhospita tesqua from the previous line.
amoena: accusative plural. This is an important word for Latin and Greek pastoral poetry with descriptions of a locus amoenus. Horace shows that such opinions are relative.
mecum qui sentit: meaning “one who feels with me”; in other words it means “one who agrees/thinks similar to me”
[21] The bailiff would call pulchra things like the brothel (fornix) and fast food joints (popina).
uncta popina: “greasy cook-shop”. one should imagine an ancient fast-food restaurant, like the various shops in Pompeii (Click here for video). Mayer (ad loc.) points out how uncta can mean “savoury” (from the bailiff’s point of view) but also “greasy” (from Horace’s point of view).
[22] incutiunt: Literally “to strike on” but it can mean “to inspire” or “to produce”.
urbis desiderium: “longing for the city”.
quod: this quod clause presents another fact that inspires his love for the city (i.e. the Sabine estate is not able to produce wine and there’s not even a good bar nearby!).
[23] angulus: “nook” describing the Sabine farm (cf. C. 2.6.13). The bailiff thinks it is a shabby and poor place but Horace would disagree with this judgement and Rimell 2015 writes eloquently about the importance of the angulus for Horace’s world-view (82-112).
piper et tus: “pepper and frankincense” (acc.). The farm can not actually produce these! It’ll produce wonderful spices more quickly than good wine = an impossibility! Spices in ancient Roman cooking were often used to prove to guests how much money went into a meal. Pepper itself was included in close to 80% of Apicius’ recipes and when Rome was attacked in 410 AD, it is said that along with other valued items, they tried to negotiate with the Visogoths by offering “three thousand pounds of pepper”.
[24] subest: “to be nearby”. Also may give the idea that Horace’s villa lies on a hilltop.
praebere: this is the complementary infinitive with possit in the following line.
[25] quae possit: subjunctive to be “which that can…”; with previous line it is “there is no tavern that can supply. Relative clause of purpose, hence the verb is in the subjunctive (A&G 531.2).
tibicina meretrix:“flute playing harlot/prostitute” (although Horace himself seems to have fallen for many a meretrix in his Odes).
[26] The bailiff would like to dance (salias) to the piping of the courtesan. The subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic (A&G 534).
terrae gravis: Makes it sound like he would be a clumsy dancer (or these are old-fashioned dances) with terrae a dative of disadvantage with gravis.
urges: Horace provides a catalogue of tasks about which the bailiff complains. Urgere = “to contend with”.
[27] ligonibus: ligo is a “hoe, rake”. The bailiff complains that the fields (arva) around Horace’s estate is hard to work and uncultivated (tacta is perfect passive participle of tangere).
[28] disiunctum: agrees with bovem, accusative - after it has been unyoked, the bailiff must tend to the oxen.
strictis frondibus: ablative of means (A&G 409). This is the fodder for the oxen.
[29] pigro: “weary/tired, lazy”. Often a rainy day would lead to indoor activities and could be a brief respite, but if too much rain falls, the river could overflow its banks. Horace writes more of this rivus at 1.16.12-14 and 1.18.104.
[30] multa mole: “by much toil” or even “by a great dam” (cf. Verg. Aen. 2.496-97).
aprico...prato: “sunny meadow” in the dative because parcere takes the dative (A&G 367).
docendus: "which must be taught" (referring to the rivus).
[31] nunc age...audi: age is colloquial “come on!” and audi sets up the indirect question.
quid...dividat: indirect question with dividat in the subjunctive (A&G 574).
concentum: usually means “singing together” but here just “harmony, concord”.
[32] quem: Horace himself. Many of these descriptions of himself hearken back to former poems and show the difference between the young attractive dandy, who would drink the day away, and his current, older but wiser persona.
tenues...togae: the thin-spun togas of youth as opposed to the more humble clothes that befit him now. tenuis often has poetic connotations in his poetry (e.g. C. 2.16.38 and Ep. 2.1.225).
decuere: syncopated perfect active indic.
nitidique capilli: The perfumed locks of young men. Horace writes elsewhere about the full head of hair of his youth as opposed to his current looks, cf. Ep. 1.7.26.
[33] immunem: i.e. he was not rich.
Cinarae...rapaci: dative (placere takes the dative). Cinara is the name of a previous girlfriend or courtesan also mentioned at Ep. 1.7.28 and in the fourth book of Odes (4.1.4, 4.13.21-22). The name means “artichoke”.
[34] bibulum: here supply a verb of knowing and fuisse “whom you know to have been fond of drinking”.
liquidi...Falerni: with bibulum. Falernian wine was the most famous of the Italian vintages of wine and is mentioned often in Horace (e.g. C. 1.20.10, 2.6.19, 3.1.43). The adjective shows that this wine has been strained, cf. C. 1.11.6: vina liques.
[35] cena brevis: a short meal, not a feast (dapes), cf. C. 3.29.15.
somnus in herba: This is the meadow that it would appear the bailiff had to divert water from in the line above (30). Bowditch 2001 suggests that this phrase “may well allude to the phrase somno mollior herba (grass softer than sleep), employed by Corydon in Eclogue 7.45, in his singing contest with Thyrsis...Thus Horace makes reference to other poetic evocations of Epicurean ataraxia, even as the enjoyment of his own locus amoenus suggests certain of Epicurus’ precepts.” (231).
[36] nec lusisse pudet...: there was an age for such activities, but now that time is over. He is not ashamed for having “played” in such a way, but the focus of the Epistles is on “what’s next?”, cf. Ep. 1.1.10.
[37] istic: adverb = “there” (in the country).
obliquo oculo: the “evil eye” of jealousy.
[38] limat: to “detract gradually from” here (often it means “file down, polish”). Country folks do not care about Horace’s contacts, closeness to those in power, and other “gifts”.
odio obscuro morsuque: the “bite” of such secretive spiteful talk. An example of hendiadys. The sound effect of the elision between odio~obsc- mimics that of the previous line’s obliquo~ocu- uniting the two negative concepts.
venenat: literally “to poison” but here “to injure by slander”.
[39] rident: this seems to be good-natured laughter, or certainly the sort of laughter/smile that doesn’t imply any ill-will (from Horace’s point of view). Such laughter is found elsewhere in the Epistles (see 1.1.91, 95).
glaebas et saxa moventem: supply me with the present participle. Both glaebas and saxa are the accusative direct objects of the participle.
[40] cum servis: ablative of accompaniment (A&G 413).
urbana diaria: his steward prefers to hang out in the city and eat his “urban rations” there.
[41] voto: “in your heart”. He prays to hang out with these folks.
ruis: in general, such “rushing” in Horace is a bad thing, see Epod. 7.1: quo quo, scelesti, ruitis?
[42] lignorum...pecoris...horti: the genitives spring from usum.
invidet: takes the dative (A&G 367) and keeps up the “evil eye” theme as it originally means “look askance at”. The accusative usum is also dependent on the verb “for your use of…”.
calo argutus: a calo is another word for a slave. Here we get the sense that smart city slaves understand that the country bailiff has a good life and envy his access to resources.
[43] Horace concludes with an analogy that resounds with some of his animal fables throughout the Epistles.
ephippia: “saddle blankets” (acc. pl.).
piger: take with both bos and caballus. Each envies the work of the other. This sounds much like the unsatisfied people (merchant, sailor, lawyer, etc.) of Sat. 1.1.1-19.
arare: complementary infinitive.
[44] quam: the antecedent is artem.
uterque: subject of exerceat.
libens: adverbial. Strikes a chord with Ep. 1.11.24 where the idea of living libenter is stressed. One should do what they know, although Horace himself seems to be “playing the farmer” in much of the poem (and a number of Epistles), what he really knows is how to write poetry (like this very letter).
censebo: take first in your translation. Mayer suggests “my advice would be” (ad loc.).
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