Oberlin Classics

Opening (1-17) The opening of this letter to Augustus stresses the vital work of Augustus and acts almost as a recusatio for the poem. He does not want to take away from Augustus’ duties for too long and thus, we might assume, will write a short letter. However this epistle is longer than every letter of the first book of Epistles and clearly Horace believes it is not a waste of Augustus’ time to learn about literary history and criticism. Underneath the praise of Augustus as a veritable living god on Earth is the parallel with contemporary literature. Horace wants his own poetry and that of his contemporaries to be considered canonical and better than the old fashioned writings of the early Republic. Just as it is right to praise Augustus as divine while alive, so it is right to praise the living writers of Horace’s age. One does not have to be dead to be honored.

[1] cum…sustineas: causal cum clause (A&G 549), thus the verbs of these initial lines are subjunctive. tot…tanta negotia solus: emphatic position of solus stresses Augustus’ position as princeps and Horace’s view that he is ultimately responsible for all the “business, matters” (negotia). Horace may be recalling the work of Sallust (quae res maxume tanta negotia sustinuisset, Cat. 53.3).
[2] res Italas: a probable allusion to the Shield of Aeneas in Vergil’s Aeneid, which is decorated with res Italas Romanorumque triumphos (8.627). Horace may be endorsing a comparison between Aeneas and Augustus. armis tuteris: tutor-ari has an archaic flavor. armis is ablative of means – Horace writes relatively frequently of the military successes of Augustus and his recognition of Augustus as a protector of Roman/Italian power (cf. C. 1.37, 4.15.17-20). moribus ornes: Augustus “adorns” the state with his good personal morals as well as laws that improve the morals of the state (there seems to be little difference between leges and mores here). One may think of the mos maiorum and Augustus’ reforms as trying to reclaim those sorts of values. As Rudd ad loc. notes, “the mores which H. has in mind are those which Augustus was trying to promote by the lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus and the lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis (18 B.C.)”. These laws focused on the behavior of women.
[3] legibus emendes: The verb is also used of poetic composition in Horace, as later in this poem (2.1.71), but also of individuals (Ep. 1.16.30). in publica commoda peccem: the subjunctive is the apodosis of a future less vivid condition, with the protasis in the subsequent line (A&G 516). publica commoda = “the public interest” as at Livy 3.68 (nihil praeter publicum commodum videt). Horace may show some false modesty here since he was the most important living poet and seems to have been personally encouraged to write to Augustus by Augustus himself: Suetonius cites these opening lines to show how Augustus “squeezed out” (expressit, vita hor.) this work from Horace.
[4] longo sermone: sermo also indicates the form of this Epistle – Horace utilizes sermo to indicate his dactylic hexameter works, the Satires and Epistles. morer tua tempora: Brink ad loc. points out this phrase as an example of one of Horace’s callida iunctura “making two words, morari and tempus, by juxtaposition into something unprosaic and memorable.” Caesar: strong ending position, like solus in line 1.
[5] Horace gives a list of heroes and even a god (Liber) who became gods after their deaths. Many of these same figures appear in C. 3.3.9-16 with the addition of Augustus himself. The apotheosis of a historical figure would probably still make one think of Julius Caesar, who was deified after his death. Romulus: the first king of Rome, who founded the city in 753 BCE. He became the god Quirinus after his death. Liber pater: Liber was originally a Roman god of wine and the vineyards, who becomes more and more identified with Bacchus/Dionysus by the Augustan period. He was especially popular among the plebeians and Horace mentions him elsewhere, e.g. at C. 1.12.22, 1.16.7, 1.18.7, 2.19.7, 4.15.26. cum Castore Pollux: the Dioscuri are often paired together in Greek and Roman poetry. They became the constellation Gemini (an example of catasterism) and shared their immortality (Castor was the mortal brother of Tyndareus, while Pollux was the son of Zeus).
[6] post ingentia facta: the “mighty acts” of these figures made them deserve their divinity. Ingens is especially common in Vergil’s Aeneid. See Mackail’s note from CR 26.8 (1912) 251-55. deorum in templa: the idea of Olympus or the abode of the gods in the heavens. In Catullus 66.63 ad templa deum indicates the firmament of stars, as in Lucretius 5.1188 (in caeloque deum sedes et templa locarunt). recepti: take with concessive force (“although…”).
[7] dum…colunt: dum + present indicative = “while” for continued action in past time (A&G 556). terras hominumque…genus: when these figures lived on earth (terras) and not templa deum, and tended humankind (hominum genus, s.v. OLD genus 4b). colere should be taken two different ways (zeugma). aspera bella: a phrase that others will pick up (Ovid Fast. 2.516), Martial 8.3.14.
[8] componunt: with bellum = “to end a war by coming to terms” (s.v. OLD 15 compono). agros assignant: giving land to farmers can be part of the general work of city founders. In Horace’s time, it was also associated with Octavian after the civil wars. Vergil Ecl. 1 and Ecl. 9 give negative views of land confiscations associated with Octavian.
[9] ploravere: syncopated perfect with ēre for erunt. This is a strong verb and implies that the reception of their deeds was not as positive as they expected.
[9-10] suis…meritis: the individual merits of these heroes is highlighted by the emphatic position of the reflexive adjective. favorem / speratum: these heroes expect respect or goodwill because of their deeds. Horace also mentions the symbiotic relationship between such heroes and poets (who sing and immortalize their deeds) at C. 4.8 and utilized a number of these exempla and expressions there.
[10] diram…hydram: soundplay with the adjective and its noun. Brink notes that dirus “is a word with augural and pontifical associations” (ad loc.). The Lernaean hydra was one of Hercules’ 12 traditional labors. While contundit is appropriate to the action of the club, Hercules’ traditional weapon, the heads of the hydra had to be cut off and the stumps cauterized in most versions of the myth. Hercules was an important predecessor for Augustus in Vergil Aeneid 8 and his ability to transcend his humanity and become a god at his death mirrors the apotheosis of Roman figures such as Julius Caesar.
[11] nota…portenta: the other famous (nota) 11 labors. Some were more ominous than others, but the same language is used of these deeds at Lucr. 5.37 and Aen. 8.295. fatali…labore: although these were ordered by Juno, they are “assigned by fate” (fatali) in the sense that they are part of the traditional heroic story (with the etymology of fatus from for / fari).
[12] invidiam: the “hatred” of Juno only ended with the death of Hercules (supremo fine) and his acceptance into the pantheon. Cf. C. 2.12.6-7 for Hercules’ domination of the giants (domitos…Telluris iuvenes).
[13] urit…fulgore suo: the burning imagery befits Hercules, who died by fire on Mt. Oeta. The metaphor here is applied to the great man who “sears with his fiery brilliance” (Rudd ad loc.). praegravat: a rare verb meaning “oppress”. The great man hampers others’ talents (artes) because of his greatness. Obviously, this could also apply to Augustus as well, who stresses his position as primus inter pares.
[14] exstinctus: “after he is dead”. The sort of envy and disdain evaporates after the death of the great man.
[15] praesenti tibi: Augustus is “present” (i.e. alive), unlike the other great men who only are granted divine honors after their death. This is strong praise by Horace, after all Augustus was not officially consecrated as a god until his death in CE 14. maturos largimur honores: At this point in his life, Augustus had been granted a number of honors in the “Second Settlement” including proconsular power and the ability to hold the fasces and sit between the two consuls in the senate.
[16] iurandasque…aras: these may be altars erected as part of shrines for the Lares Augustali and the Genius Augusti, and Rudd (2) cites new cult activity to Augustus at the compita around the time of this letter (c. 12 BCE). tuum per numen: the manuscripts have both numen or nomen and Brink (ad loc.) gives an extensive discussion of the problems behind each statement (e.g. “beyond word usage nearly everything is dubious and controversial”). The parallel at C. 4.5.33-6 (te multa prece, te prosequitur mero / defuso pateris et Laribus tuum / miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris / et magni memor Herculis) seems to us to be important for understanding the divine status at Augustus at this time (cf. Ovid Tr. 3.8.13: Augusti numen adora), even if there is little evidence of oaths sworn in these terms.
[17] nil oriturum…nil ortum tale: the anaphora of nil and polyptoton of forms of orior give this a solemn finality. For a similar polyptoton see the opening of Hor. Epist. 1 (Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena). The poet admits that “no such thing” (nil tale) has ever come about in the past nor will happen in the future. alias: “at any other time”.

The next section stresses the conservative prejudice of the Roman litterati and their preference for older material. Horace disagrees with this assessment and finds a way to argue against such a viewpoint. Some of these are rather funny (e.g. the “hairs of a horse’s tail” argument) and he does not believe that all ancient literature is hackneyed or awful. However, he finds the craze for anything ancient to be reductive and absurd when it comes to the quality of that poetry. His views of ancient literature reveal two particular genealogies - one that traces “literature” back to the Twelve Tables and other early songs and ritual prayer, and one that looks to Livius Andronicus as the founder of Roman literature per se in 240 BCE. These two views parallel arguments current at his time (see Citroni 2013).

[18] tuus hic populus: The same populus of which Horace was a part in the opening lines (note the first person plural forms of largimur and ponimus) now will be differentiated from Horace’s own point of view concerning literary taste. Horace likewise asserted his independence from the crowd at Epist. 1.1.70-76, and from the crowd of imitators at Epist. 1.19.19-20. sapiens et iustus: Horace concedes their good taste and fairness when it comes to Augustus’ divinity.
[18-19] in uno / te…anteferendo: uno modifies te = “in preferring you alone to”.
[19] nostris ducibus…Grais: dative with anteferendo. These would be the leaders starting with those mentioned above such as Romulus, Castor, and Pollux. Because of Augustus’ rise to power, it would also remind Romans of leaders such as Antony, Lepidus, and others.
[20] cetera: acc. direct object of aestimat. Brink notes, “the neuter is quite indistinct; it excludes neither persons…nor literature. The link between two parts of the poem is seen in this sentence and, particularly, in this word” (ad loc.). nequaquam simili ratione modoque: Horace utilized this financial metaphor, ratione modoque, in the same line position twice in Sat. 2.3 (266, 271). The crowd does not judge anything else in the same manner, i.e. that it is preferable/possible to honor someone living rather than the deceased.
[21] supply cetera before the nisi clause as the direct object of fastidit et odit and the antecedent of the relative pronoun quae. terris semota: noting that these individuals are no longer “on earth”. Porphyry, an ancient commentator to Horace, supplies the following: vetera ac demortua (ad loc.).
[21-22] suisque / temporibus defuncta: If the earlier phrase was spatial in nature, this is more temporal and strongly connected to the contemporary time (suis is emphatic) of the people judging the value of things. fastidit et odit: emphasizing the physical disgust (fastidium) as well as hatred (odisse) for these things. Lewis & Short (s.v. fastidio) note how the verb originally indicated feeling nausea or flinching “from anything unpleasant to the taste, smell, hearing, etc… and one thinks of the sensory aspect of poetry with the sounds of the words and the rhythm of the meter.
[23] sic fautor veterum: Supply an est. The adverb sic sets up the result clause (ut+dictitet), A&G 537. This resembles in thought and language Sat. 1.10.2 and the Lucili fautor “fan/partisan of Lucilius” there. The crowd only approves of Latin works written long ago by authors long dead and believes the Muses of old are responsible for them or that such works are equivalent to works by the Muses.
[23-24] tabulas…sanxerunt: tabulas is the accusative direct object of locutas [esse] in 28. This refers to the Law of the Twelve Tables, which were penned by the decemviri in 450 BCE. Livy tells the story of their formulation at 3.57. foedera regum: these treaties with the Gabii or the Sabines would have dated to the regal period of Rome (hence regum). Livy writes of various treaties with the Sabines from 1.8 on and the treaty with the Gabii occurred under Tarquinius Superbus (1.54).
[25] aequata: “made on equal terms”.
[26] pontificum libros: these books could have been the annales maximi or it could simply mean pontifical records recording cult and ritual regulations, which were notoriously conservative and unchanging. annosa volumina vatum: while Horace has been responsible, with Vergil, for rehabilitating the term vates to indicate the inspired Roman poet (cf. C. 2.20.3, Epist. 1.7.11, Verg. Aen. 7.41), here it looks back to its old meaning of “seer”. There were various books of prophecies, most famously the Sibylline oracles. Volumina means “book rolls” and this may be a critique of those who believe this material is actual poetry (cf. Epist. 1.13.2 where Horace uses volumina of his own odes).
[27] dictitet: the frequentative nature of the verb is fitting for these lovers who insist again and again on the quality of such poetry. Albano…in monte: a stand-in for Mt. Helicon in Greece (where the Muses tended to hang out and inspire poets through the Hippocrene fountain, cf. line 218 below), the Alban Mount is found in Latium and was the site of a temple to Juppiter Latiaris. This stand-in (and the Italian Muses) may be second rate if Horace’s judgement is correct.
[28] Horace concedes that the oldest Greek poetry was considered the best (Homer, Hesiod, Archilochus), but does not believe that holds for Roman writers. quia: + indicative in a causal clause (A&G 540).
[29] vel optima: “what you may well call best” (Brink ad loc.). pensantur: the idea of weighing the poetry/poet to determine its worth.
[29-30] eadem…trutina: ablative of means (A&G 409). The trutina was a scale.
[30] non est quod: introduces a relative clause of characteristic = “there is no reason why…” (A&G535a). Horace claims there’s no point in speaking further if one weighs Roman poets in the same manner as archaic Greek writers.
[31] This line has long confused us. It seems to be a proverbial way of saying “that’s like comparing apples to oranges” or possibly just “that’s nonsense”. Brink explains, “each of two kinds of fruit will, by a false transference from the other, have its hard portion in the wrong place, the olive outside - a shell instead of a stone - and the nut inside - a stone instead of a shell” (ad loc.).
[32] ad summum fortunae: Rome is the imperial power of the Mediterranean at this time (it has reached the “height of fortune”) and has long surpassed Greece. In these lines, Horace paints a satiric picture of Greek practices that the Romans do not pride themselves on as a reductio ad absurdum of the position of those that would value all Greek cultural capital (arts such as painting and dancing) above Roman mores.
[33] Achivis…unctis: while Roman wrestlers often used oil as well, the adjective also suggests luxury and extravagance. Rudd writes that Achivis “usually associated with Homer’s Greeks, has a mock heroic nuance” (ad loc.).
[34] si… reddit: the protasis is in Pres.Indic., it is unmarked for truth/falsity (A&G §515). “if dies make poemata better, just like dies make vina better“. As a lover of wine, H. knows that not all wines age well. The comparison between the aging of wine and of poetry is apt, as both can be bettered with time when of an appropriate type. However, many poems, just as many breeds of vine, should not be appreciated centuries after their composition, just like one should not be drinking most wine after an overlong cellaring, which Varro knows (cf. de re rustica I, 65).
dies: synonymous with annus in l.35, but much more vivid.
[35] velim: the apodosis is in Pres.Subj. It is similar to the potential optative in Greek as θαυμάζοιμ᾽ ἂν εἰ οἶσθα, (Smyth §2300e).
scire: Complementary infinitive with velim, taking quotus annus… as an indirect question.
chartis: leaves of papyri, a common material to record literary texts circulating on the market in the early Roman Empire. However, this would be anachronous for the archaic poets. Horace will utilize this word again at the poem's end in a sort of ring-composition.
arroget: a poetic usage with alicui aliquid = "to adjudge something to another as his own, to confer upon or procure for" (opp. abrogare).
annus: a keyword in this section (ll.34–49), appearing 6 times. The natural focus on the age of wine is smoothly carried over to the theme of the age of poets and their poems. This transfer of a theme to different subjects reminds the reader of H.‘s aptness at surprisingly changing topics in the odes.
[36] scriptor: recalling the chartis in l.35. Authors of H.‘s day are different from the archaic poets with the omnipresence of writing as an aid or a chief medium of composition. Nevertheless, this does not seem to be a word Horace would have used to describe himself, as he prefers vates (see note above on line 26). A mundane word such as scriptor foreshadows H.‘s later criticism of old poets. Interestingly, though scrib/p-words, i.e. all the nouns and verbs derived from this root, appear almost 30x in the H. corpus, only twice are they used in the carmina (both in I.6, potentially used with a smirk.)
centum… annos: Acc. of extent of time (A&G §423.2); direct answer to the question set up in l.35 (quotus… annus).
decidit: Perf.Indic of de-cado, short second syllable (c.f. de-caedo would also give decidit in Perf.Indic., but with a long second syllable). This is a violent word and in Cl.Lat. is only used in poetry (LS decido I.B). Elsewhere in H., this form appears to be used of falling rain (Epist. 1.14.29), fugitive falling into robbers (Sat. 1.2.42), as well as of a lunatic (Ars 458), none as dignified as austere archaic poets. It does not appear in the odes; does this mean that the word is more colloquial/comic than poetic/high-register?
inter: line-end, creating an enjambment that perfectly replicates the other enjambment inter in l.37. The juxtaposition of these two inter-s creates a funny tension between the perfectos veteresque and the vilis atque novos.
[37] perfectos veteresque: a beautifully crafted counterpart to vilis atque novos (l.38). Both phrases occupy the same metrical position as the first half-verse before the caesura. Therefore, the two groups are interchangeable, hence competitive, metrically. This tension is a further flourish on the two inter-s. The rhetoric flourishing in setting the scene can be read metapoetically, as H. is himself a master at combining the old and the new poetics.
referri: indirect statement.
an: interrogative particle for a double question. (A&G §334).
[38] novos: this expression might be recalling the νεωτερικοί, so influential to H.‘s generation of poets.
excludat iurgia finis: Jussive Subjunctive (A&G §439). "Let finis banish iurgia".
finis: from line 39, the literal meaning of the polysemous word finis here is the temporal limit (LS finis II.A.). The verb-initial syntax gives a sense of authority to the short phrase, similar to what one would expect to see in a philosophy textbook. Giving de-fini-tions (c.f. ὅρος) is a major way of doing philosophy in antiquity (c.f. Socrates‘ endless questions to define and to redefine, LS finis II.B.2.). Could this be a Socratic Horace announcing a elenkhos episode-to-come? Lastly, H. seems to often use finis as end-point of life/artistic creation (l.12 above, as well as C. 1.11.2), recalling Epist. I.1’s joke that all philosophers die alike, might this be a pun on death?
[39] est: the rhetorical device of staging another speaker to make stupid statements to be refuted by the wiser and polemical narrator is familiar in the Satires, as well as from Socrates.
perficit: a word reminiscent of perfectos veteresque in l.37. Perfecting of the number of years comically derives the perfection of a poet. One would have expected the subjunctive, perficiat, here as common in relative clauses of characteristic (A&G §534). The indicative mood can be explained by the matter-of-factness, hence stupidity, of the staged crown.
vetus… perficit: the two words play a variation on the theme of perfectos veteresque (l.37).
atque: recalling l. 38; ll.36–9 seems to be a tightly crafted unit, and almost every word in l.39 recalls something that has been said.
[40] quid: "how? why? wherefore?" (LS quis II.B.1), its independent use without a particle seems to be constricted to prose and comedy. It shows the colloquial style of Horatian epistles. This obnoxious cross-examination is reminiscent of Socrates.
uno mense vel anno: abls. of comparison (A&G §406).
[41] referendus: gerundive with erit to form a 2nd (passive) periphrastic future, here used for propriety rather than for necessity or obligation (A&G §194.b).
veteresne poetas: in accs. due to the implied inter.
[42] an quos: also supply inter.
quos et praesens et postera respuat aetas: i.e. poetas vilis et novos. c.f. l.38. This phrase has a strong p-consonance, along with the polysyndeton et..et… we can sense the censoriousness of the age, which is personified in an interesting way.
respuat: "best classified as a subjunctive of design" (Rudd ad loc.).
[43] quidem: "indeed". reminiscent of the naive Socratic interlocutors who would readily answer a bizarre Socratic question and then forever fall into trouble.
ponetur: fut.pass.indic. of pono. It picks up the periphrastic future passive in l.41, but not as forceful.
honeste: "fairly, properly" (LS honestus II.B.2.). It shows the thinking process of the staged interlocutor.
[44] vel mense brevi vel toto est iunior anno: paraphrase of l.40. It is interesting not only to note the variation, but also the similarity of these two phrases. The repetition is highly comical, pointing to two amateur-critics dealing literary merits by year, like bargainers in a French or a Chinese farmers’ market for price of potatoes, or like Roma in l.61.
[45] utor permisso: "I take advantage of your concession" (Rudd ad loc.) utor takes objects in abl. permissum is a "neuter sing. of the perf. participle used as a noun – a rare occurrence" (Rudd, ib., citing OLD permitto 6b).
ut: causal, as, = prout, pro eo ut. (LS ut 1.B.4.), it creates a nice alliterative effect with utor.
caudae-… pilos… equinae: "hair(s) of a horsey tail" = pilos caudae equi. acc.pl. This is a catchphrase for the logical puzzle well-recounted in various stories known as the sorites. “If one plucks out the hair of an old man, one by one, when does the old man become bald?” Is there a point of qualitative change triggered by quantitative change? The locus classicus for this theme is Plutarch’s Βίοι Παράλληλοι (Σερτώριος, 16) If we take that H. has some version of the Plutarchean Sertorios story in mind, we note an interesting case of intertextuality: in Plutarch, there are two men and two horses, a strong man plucking the tail of the weak horse, and a weak and ugly man plucking the tail of the strong horse. (παρειστήκει δὲ τῷ μὲν ἀσθενεῖ μέγας ἀνὴρ καὶ ῥωμαλέος, τῷ δ' ἰσχυρῷ μικρὸς ἕτερος καὶ τὴν ὄψιν εὐκαταφρόνητος.(Plutarch, Sertorios 16.3)) The strong man decides to rip off the whole tail by force to no avail and the ugly old man plucks the hair one by one and soon wins the competition.
[46] unum: with annum implied (Rudd ad loc.).
paulatim… vello… demo.. demo: a slightly sinister plucking passage. The lexical repetition, as well as the heavy dose of phonetic play, both in elision, and in the homorganic consonant groups across word-boundaries (paulatiM Vello, eT Demo), give a worksong-like quality to the spondaic (all but the 5th foot) verse.
[47] dum: "until", introducing a subj. verb cadat when there is a hint of intention, or expectation. (Rudd ad loc.) We note the characteristic Horatian sense of humor: "I pluck and pluck, until he falls."
cadat: Subjunctive of cado. Its subject is the referent of the relative clause in ll.48–49. The word is reminiscent of scriptor abhinc annos centum qui decidit in l.36. Then the ancient poet fell, soon the spectator-critic will fall.
elusus: Perfect passive participle of eludo. Literally, "out-ludum-ed". On the many fine nuances of ludum, see Moles 2002. Rudd convincingly takes this image as "a metaphor from the arena", but it is more polysemous than just that.
ratione: another nuanced word, "in the fashion of" (literal meaning, = ut), "according to the logic of" (rhetoric meaning, note that heaping of sand is a variation of the sorites theme of logic puzzles), "by the philosophy of" (poetico-philosophical statement, as the falling image is used by Callimachus/Horace of the grand river style of poets like Homer and Pindar.)
[48] fasti… annis: the Fasti are calendars that decide the auspicious and inauspicious days of the year (i.e. religious history), and the Annales are the year-by-year record of Roman (political) history. In other words, "he who goes back to the religious calendar, and counts the worth [of poets] according to years." It is curious to note that both the Fasti (Ovid) and the Annales (Ennius) have been turned into epic poetry. It is possible here H. is foreshadowing his discussion of Ennius in l.50.
annis: instrumental, or of reference.
[49] nihil nisi quod: "nothing unless [it is] something that". aliquod loses ali- after nisi.
Libitina sacravit: Libitina is an ancient goddess of funerals. She also figures in Sat. 2.6.19 and C. 3.30, both in rather dire situations. Could the topic of ancient poets impel H. to make mention of ancient deities? As the patron of undertakers, her lucus on the Esquiline Hill is considered inauspicious. Following this train of thought, sacravit (Perf.Indic of sacro) could mean both "she has hallowed, rendered inviolable" (sic Rudd ad loc., LS sacro II.A.1), and “she has condemned, she has doomed to destruction” (LS sacro I.A.2).
[50] Ennius: Ennius was born in the 3rd century in Calabria, a region heavily influenced by Greek, Roman, and Oscan cultures. Ennius’ greatest work was the 18-book year-by-year Roman historical epic Annales. There are many possible reasons why Horace have chosen Ennius as the first grand old Latin poet. Here are two: 1. Ennius brought Greek hexameter to Latin to write his great Annales, and has often fashioned himself as the innovator of Latin meter (scripsere alii rem/ vorsibus quos olim Faunei vatesque canebant (Skutsch VII); H., on the other hand, innovates further by incorporating the Greek lyric meters into Latin in his Carmina; 2. just as Ennius has been the first Latin hexameter poet, H., with his Epistles, has become the latest.
et… et… et…: polysyndeton, presumably in imitation of the archaic style of Ennius himself. The rising length of the three predicates of Ennius (sapiens > fortis > alter Homerus) is an example of Behagel’s law of rising members, potentially paying homage to archaic poetics.
alter Homerus: can this be a pun on alteRHOMErus ( Ῥώμη )?
[51] ut critici dicunt: a parenthetical statement with a rich high-vowel dominance: u-i-i-i-i-u, possibly in parody of the noise made by the critics. Rudd thinks Varro was one of such critici (Rudd ad loc.).
leviter: "(to care) little". This word might have been chosen in opposition to Ennius who wrote graviter, (but cared leviter).
videtur: takes an indirect statement with curare, the subject (Ennius) stays the same.
[52] quo: "to where?", introduces an indirect question with the subjunctive (A&G 574).
promissa: pl. of promissum. promissa and somnia Pythagorea are the subjects of cadant.
somnia Pythagorea: in the beginning of the Annales, Ennius recounted how in a dream Homer came to him and Homer told him that his soul passed into Ennius' body. The relevant Ennian fragments are (Skutsch, I.**2,**3): somno leni placidoque revinctus/… visus Homerus adesse poeta. The more full version is recounted in Lucretius DRN I.120–126. Rudd, along with other critics, has reservations about ll.51–52, because H. does not seem to have presented Ennius too negatively, as they would want. I do not find their doubt necessary, as H. has always presented Ennius positively in his corpus (Sat. 1.4.60ff, C. 4.8.13ff, Ars 57ff, along with numerous Ennian references, esp. in response to the famous first line of Ennius' Annales: Musae quae pedibus magnum pulsatis Olympus).
[53] Naevius: Naevius was one generation older than Ennius, hailing from Capua and he participated in the 1st Punic War (264–241 BCE). Although Naevius wrote drama, he was known mostly for his final work Bellum Punicum, the first Roman epic (verse history), written in the native Saturnian meter (a meter still imperfectly understood today).
manibus… mentibus: i.e. he is both read and learned by heart (Rudd ad loc.) There is a careful sound-play, MaNIBUS… MeNtIBUS, possibly in imitation of archaic Latin poetics.
[54] paene recens: "as if [composed] recently". sanctum: picks up l.49: nihil nisi quod Libitina sacravit.
omne poema: in the singular, omnis means "every", hence "every [old] poem".
[55] ambigitur: impersonal, i.e. "there is a dispute".
uter utro… prior: the comparative takes ablative as the thing to be compared. The sound with strong rhoticism nicely replicates the debate on the phonetic level.
[56] Pacuvius… Accius: Pacuvius and Accius were the peaks of Roman tragedy in the Republican times. Pacuvius was born in 220 BCE in Brundisium, a nephew of Ennius, and composed tragedy exclusively. He is known for his skill of characterization. Accius was born in 170 BCE in Pisaurum, an author versatile of many genres, in many ways an intellectual heir of Ennius. Pacuvius and Accius were friends, and they competed in a same festival when Pacuvius was 80 and Accius was 30. In other words, (contra Rudd), Pacuvius' fama senis was essentially a result of this legend that he composed in advanced age, in competition with Accius. (Legendary) poetic competition is a motif familiar to Hellenistic audiences since the archaic legend of the Homer-Hesiod agon. The first sets of archaic poets all seem to be related to Ennius, forming a small cycle: Naevius as his frowned-upon predecessor, and Pacuvius/Accius as his blood/literary descendant.
[57] dicitur: impersonal, "it is said".
Afrani: Afranius composed fabulae togatae and was a contemporary of Accius. Afranius heads the four Latin comedians in ll. 57–59.
toga: the Roman gown that is associated with the Roman tradition of New Comedy, fabulae togatae. Menander was the most famous author of Attic New Comedy, know in Latin as fabulae palliatae, in which Roman actors wear Greek pallium.
covenisse: "was the same size [as Menander‘s]" (see Rudd ad loc.).
[58] Plautus: an Umbrian composer of burlesque and funny palliatae comedies. He is the first Roman author whose works survive in full.
ad exemplar: "following the tradition [of]" (Rudd ad loc.).
properare: supply dicitur from l.57.
Epicharmi: Epicharmus of Sicily was a classical comedian, known for the fluidity of his dialogue, just as Plautus.
[59] vincere: supply dicitur from l.57.
Caecilius: the most famous author of fabulae palliatae. None of his plays have survived, but he was widely appreciated for his artistry. Aulus Gellius has a famous essay comparing the stylistic differences between Caecilius and Menander, whose works Caecilius often rewrote into Latin (N.A. 2.33.1–22). Terentius: the second oldest surviving author (6 plays) of Latin literature after Plautus, known for his linguistic and stylistic purity. vinCere CaeCilius GraviTaTe TerenTius arTe: the line has been masterfully divided into two phonetic halves, guttural sounds with Caecilius and dental sounds with Terence. This is a fun line to conclude the name-droppings.
[60] hos… hos: referring back to the epic, comedy, and tragedy writers in l.50ff. The exclusion of Lucilius from this roll-call of old poets is telling, as Lucilius is sometimes Horace's self-fashioned hexameter predecessor to be replaced by Horace himself. ediscit: i.e., in schools, according to the scholia. (Rudd ad loc.) The subject of the verb ediscit is Roma in l.61. stipata: referring to Roma in l.61. "packed".
[61] spectat: the verb recalls theatro in l.60.
potens: It forms a phonetic pair with poetas.
habet hos numeratque poetas: Rudd humorously translates as "counts and reckons as poets" (Rudd ad loc.) H. is a master of finance jokes.
[62] ad nostrum tempus: the first half verse before the caesura nicely introduces the coming section (ll.63–75) on what the audience should do in their own time. This whole verse is spondaic save the 5th foot. The meter gives a grand sense of conclusion to the preceding impressive and fast-moving list of old poets.
Livi: Livius Andronicus was a freedman, known as the first literary writer in Latin. He brought out to the mid-3rd century Roman audience in Latin verse renderings one Greek comedy and one Greek tragedy, as well as the Odyssey-story in Saturnian meter.
scriptoris: marked by "the writer", in differentiation from the aristocratic gens Livia. (Rudd ad loc.) References to scriptores form a ring-structure with l.36

In this section Horace writes that certain old “Classics” have individual lines that are worthy of praise, but too often they are honored simply because they are old. The stray strong line does not mean that the whole work should be lauded excessively. The younger generation of poets deserves to be considered as well and not dismissed out of hand.

[63] vulgus rectum videt: take rectum adverbially. Horace concedes that sometimes the crowd, his bete noire, judges correctly.
est ubi: “sometimes”.
[64] si: introducing a simple present condition with the indicative (AG 514). The subject is vulgus from the previous sentence.
ita: the adverb will lead to the result clause in the following line (ut anteferat…comparet), AG 537.
[65] illis: the dative with the compound verbs anteferat and comparet.
[66] nimis antique…dure: these would seem to indicate different critiques. One of diction and archaic forms (e.g. passive infinitive in -ier) and the other of the sound of lines, meter, and rhythm.
[67] ignave multa fatetur: supply dicere. Rudd translates ignave “in a flat or spiritless manner” (ad loc.).
[68] mecum facit: “sides with me” (LS s.v. facio IIB). When the crowd admits that archaic poets are sometimes out-of-step with contemporary concerns, Horace deems their judgment sound and fair.
Iove…aequo: “with a fair Jove” i.e. “rightly, reasonably”. Jupiter as god of oaths and justice is indicated by the proverb Jovem lapidem iurare, as LS explains, “said of one who swore by Jupiter (holding in one hand a knife with which he pierced the sacrificial sow, and in the other hand a stone).”
[69] equidem: “for my part, as far as I am concerned” (LS s.v. equidem IIB).
insector: “reproach, censure”. delenda…esse: indirect speech with reor in the following clause. Even if Horace does not believe every word of Livius Andronicus is untouchable, he does not believe his writings should be destroyed.
Livi carmina: Livius Andronicus’ Odusia as well as his dramatic writings could be indicated by carmina.
[70] quae: the antecedent is carmina.
plagosum…Orbilium: Horace’s teacher in Beneventum. Orbilius was also a renowned grammarian (Suet. Gram. 8-9), although he has become a proverbial figure for a strict teacher, not adverse to beating a student.
mihi parvo: “to me when I was young”.
[71] dictare: dictation was important in Roman education and would lead to the memorization of particular works. Note how in Epist. 1.1.55-6, what was dictata was the motto ‘o cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est; / virtus post nummos’ - an idea that Horace rejects in that letter.
emendata videri: videri is infinitive in indirect speech with miror in the following line. Horace is astounded that these old poems seem to be the product of emendation. emendatus would then mean “faultless, perfect”. Horace claims later in this letter that one must be willing to edit and cut one’s work for it to attain such perfection (2.1.167) and has a similar thought in Ars Poetica (292-4).
[72] exactis minimum distantia: distantia agrees with carmina. Take minimum adverbially, “a little bit” Cf. Epist. 1.7.48: foro minimum distare. Exactis is dative and derives from the work of artisans “completed, finished, perfect”. Brink has an exhaustive note ad loc.
[73] verbum…decorum: “a particularly suitable word”. Horace admits that there may be flashes of brilliance in these archaic works, but does not think one highlight makes a work a classic. Decorum/decor is a motif in Augustan poetics and questions about what is “suitable” often appear in Horace’s Ars Poetica.
[74] versus paulo concinnior: “a not entirely discordant line” (Brink ad loc.). paulo is ablative of degree of difference (AG 414).
unus et alter: “one or two” (AG 315), for a similar use see Hor. Ars 15-16.
[75] iniuste totum ducit: the sense of ducit is strained here. “Carries the whole unjustly” is the idea = the few highlights unfairly make up for the rest of the dross.
vendit: “promotes the sale of, wins customers/admirers for” (OLD 4).
[76] indignor: introduces indirect speech with subject accusative (quicquam) and infinitive (reprehendi). Horace elaborates on his previous position and finds the public at fault for mindlessly approving archaic literature simply because it is old. He utilizes indignor in a literary criticism context as well at Ars 359: indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
non quia…sed quia: the causal clause with quia takes the subjunctive when the reason given is another’s (AG 540, esp. Note 3).
[77] compositum: supply esse.
illepide: with crasse above, Horace shows how he admires the recondite and “precious” style associated with Catullus and the Neoteric poets.
nuper: contemporary works are dismissed out of hand.
[78] nec veniam antiquis: The nec connects this with the opening indignor with posci the present passive infinitive in indirect speech. Horace thinks that such an allowance (OLD 2) should be given to archaic works. Howeever, they should not be lavished with honor and praemia.
[79] recte…perambulet: the subjunctive with the clause of doubting - si dubitem (AG 558). The idea of the play of Atta walking on stage personifies the play itself as doing the action of the character. The sense of the play walking “in an upright manner” (recte) probably indicates it is successful. In addition, Atta was a nickname for someone who was lame, so Horace is punning on the name of this playwright.
crocum floresque: the stage was strewn with flowers and perfume, although Brink notes that we do not have evidence for flowers on stage (ad loc.).
Attae: T. Quinctius Atta died in 77 BCE, but it is clear his plays were still being performed in Horace’s day. He wrote comedies (fabula togata), but we have only 20+ lines of his plays. He would be one of the older generation that Horace finds lacking in polish and erudition.
[80] periisse pudorem: “propriety has perished”. Horace writes about pudor in relation to literary production at Ars 135 and 406, but here it is more a sense of the “good taste” of the older generation (patres), who can not abide the new poetics of the Augustan writers. The strong alliteration of p-sounds bridges the line break and shows the stuttering exasperation of the older generation.
[81] cuncti paene patres: Horace gives some allowance with paene, but clearly feels that the older generation is resistant to change.
cum…coner: cum causal (AG 549). This clause also explains some of the anger that the patres feel towards Horace.
[82] quae: the antecedent of the relative pronoun is ea in the previous line.
gravis Aesopus: Claudius Aesopus was a famous actor from the Ciceronian age. He was known for his playing of tragic roles, hence gravis.
Roscius: Quintus Roscius Gallus was another famous actor, friendly with Cicero, who studied vocal delivery from him.
[83] vel quia: Horace continues to give the reasons why the older generation might find his opinions shocking (and wrong).
ducunt: ducere in the sense of “reckon, think”.
[84] parere minoribus: “to heed their juniors” (Rudd ad loc.). Roman society would find this paradoxical, although it is also a commonplace on the comic stage with the arguments of fathers vs. their sons. Perhaps the larger context of comic performances underlies some of Horace’s thoughts (as with plaudit below on line 88).
[85] imberbi: “beardless” also found at Ars 161. When the old men (senes) were young.
fateri: take with turpe putant. “They, as old men, think it shameful to admit…” Horace implies that the works learned (didicere) when young attain “classic” status in the mind and that such a status is difficult to change. One thinks of the difficulty in changing school curricula to reflect current topics and changes in society.
[86] Saliare Numae carmen: the hymn of the Salii was dated back to the early regal period in Rome (here identified with Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome). This hymn was notoriously difficult to understand and preserved words that were unknown to Horace’s generation.
[87] quod mecum ignorat: “which he knows as little about as I do”. This lover of all things old does not even know what the Salian hymn means, but will act like he does in order to praise it.
[88] ingeniis…sepultis: dative because verbs of favoring often take the dative (AG 367). Horace qualifies his stance on this lover of archaic poetry. It is not so much that he praises every genius who is dead and buried, but he hates all contemporary poets (in whose midst Horace places himself (nostra…nos nostraque).
[89] impugnat…lividus odit: the critic spitefully attacks (possibly out of jealousy - livere) Horace and his contemporaries. The movement from the poems to the person himself (nostra // nos) shows how these poets (and the public) identify themselves with their works. This continued in spite of Catullus' warning in Cat. 16.3.
[90] quod si: “but if…” introduces a mixed contrary to fact condition with pluperfect subjunctive in the protasis (fuisset) and imperfect subjunctives in the apodosis (esset, haberet), AG 517.
tam…quam: correlatives “as hateful to the Greeks as it is to us (nobis)” (AG 323).
novitas: “novelty”. Horace paints the Greeks as welcoming to novel modes of expression and poetry, but one can find numerous debates in the Greek literature that comes down to us about the problematics of “New” music or subject matter (e.g. the debate between Euripides and Aeschylus in Aristophanes’ Frogs).
[91] quid…vetus: there would not be any of the Greek literature that Romans emulated.
quid haberet: take publicus usus as the subject. This is a quasi-legal phrase, which is equivalent to “the public”.
[92] quod legeret tereretque: Quod + subjunctive in a relative clause of purpose (AG 531).the repetition of “-eret” sounds within the verbs nicely hints at the iteration involved in continually reading these works. Brink notes the hendiadys implied “to be read continuously” (ad loc.).
viritim: “individually”. Each man reads these again and again.

This section can be divided between Horace’s two descriptions of Greece and Rome which each interplay with the other. Lines 93 through 100 describe, after the Persian wars, Greece’s turn towards excellence in various arts, such as sculpting in various materials and Greek tragedy. In lines 102 through 117, Horace contrasts this with Rome’s achievements, such as the Roman patronage and legal systems, during Rome’s corresponding age of prosperity. Within these two descriptions, Horace expresses both a sense of Roman inferiority and superiority in comparison to Greece. On one hand, Horace seems to accept that Rome will always play second fiddle to Greece in terms of the arts, but his structure and choice of metaphor of this section stresses how Greece, despite her achievements, is capricious and feminine. The equivalent Roman ‘golden age’ is not defined by arts but by Rome’s social and legal structures. Horace nonetheless continues on to implicate Romans within this both admiring and Hellenophobic portrayal of Greece, as Romans burn with a similar artistic desire for poetry as the Greeks but both the trained and untrained think that they are capable of writing it. The message of this section is very similar to what Anchises tells Aeneas in book six of the Aeneid. Anchises instructs Aeneas to let other peoples be good at sculpting bronze and marble, but “you, Roman, remember to rule the peoples with your authority/power; these will be your arts” (i.e. instead of the aforementioned arts that other peoples are known for) (“tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento; hae tibi erunt artes;” Verg. Aen. 6.851-2). Horace walks a fine line between his own role as a professional poet and the message as conveyed in the above passage of the Aeneid that Rome’s artes are ones of administration and dominance. Ultimately, Horace comes to the conclusion in line 117, that Roman poetry should be left to the professionals, even though Rome’s ‘glory days’ in comparison to Greece will always lie in the realm of its administration and social mores.

[93] positis…bellis: ablative absolute (AG 419). The second Persian invasion of Greece was successfully ended by the allied Greece city states in the battles of Plataea and Mycale in 479 BCE. This ushered in a new era of prosperity for Athens and literature, philosophy, and art blossomed.
nugari: present passive infinitive from the deponent verb nugor. Here it is used specifically in a belittling sense.
[94] in vitium…labier: labier is an archaic form of the infinitive labi, from the deponent verb labor.
fortuna…aequa: "when fortune was equal"; i.e. when fortune was favorable.
[95] studiis: ablative of means with arsit (AG 408).
nunc…nunc: this anaphora (as well as nunc…nunc in line 98) stresses how Greece rapidly turns her passion towards one object of affection after another.
[96] athletarum: This refers to the Panhellenic athletic games of Greece. Pindar celebrates the victories of athletes at these games in his epinician Odes. There are four books of Odes which correspond to the four Panhellenic games held at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, and the Isthmus of Corinth. In Horace’s Odes, Pindar is held up as a lyric poet that cannot be emulated, akin to Icarus’s attempt at flight. (Hor. C. 4.2) However, in C. 2.20, he compared his own poetic success to the flight of Icarus. For more on Pindaric influence in Horace’s lyric poetry, see N.T. Kennedy’s article on Pindar and Horace.
[97] suspendit: Greece is fixated, both physically and spiritually in this metaphor, upon the arts. This is also a clever bit of word-plays as one might expect the picta tabella to be described as suspensa, as the verb suspendo is often used to describe things hanging on walls. The subject of suspendit here is Greece.
[98] tibicinibus: Horace wrote of the practice involved to become a tibicen, the player of two double-reeded flutes in his Ars Poetica (414-15). To play the tibia, the two flutes would be held in each of the tibicen’s hands and played simultaneously. Aὐλοί (the Greek word for this instrument) were often depicted in art and have even been found and conserved. These αὐλοί were found in the tomb of Queen Amanishakheto (who ruled from 10-1 BCE) in Meroë. Following a period of conflict with Rome, Queen Amanishakheto signed a treaty with Augustus and traded extensively with Rome. Therefore, these reconstructed and/or conserved αὐλοί, since they were around the same time as Horace wrote this letter.
tragoedis: Here, Horace alludes to the long and rich history of ancient Greek tragedy. A helpful introduction to ancient Greek tragedy is contained within the Oxford Classical Dictionary. Although the production of Greek tragedy was by no means limited to Athens, during the 5th century B.C.E. Greek tragedy’s definitive form was created at the festival of Dionysus in Athens. Three tragedians were chosen by the archon of the festival and then each of these tragedians would compete with a set of three tragedies and a satyr-play. The most famous and influential of these tragedians include Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
gauisa: gaudeo takes the ablative (A&G 431).
[99] sub nutrice: Here, this refers to being under the care of (sub) a nurse (Rudd ad loc.).
[100] petiit: syncopated perfect form of petivit.
mature: adv. ‘quickly.’
plena: similar to the English metaphor of being ‘fed up’ (Rudd ad loc.).
[101] Rudd notes the trouble that scholars have had with this line. Scholars (such as Vollmer, Lachmann, and Campbell) have moved this line around, but it does not resemble Horace’s other sententia and therefore can be presumed as originating from a marginal comment on a manuscript. (Rudd ad loc.).
[102] habuere: 3rd person plural active indicative syncopated form of habuerunt.
[103] Romae: Dative of possession with fuit (A&G 373).
dulce: “agreeable” (Rudd ad loc.).
[103-4] reclusa mane domo uigilare: This refers to the morning salutatio, in which clients would come to pay their respects to their patrons as part of the formal and highly ritualized relationship between client and patron. For instance, Martial writes in an epigram that once he did not greet his patron by the customary “Salve, domine.” Instead he addressed his patron Caecilianus with his name (Salve, Caeciliane), and he did not get his customary gift at Saturnalia that year. (Mane salutavi vero te nomine casu, Nec dixi dominum, Caeciliane, meum Quanti libertas constet mihi tanta, requiris? Centum quadrantes abstulit illa mihi (Mart. 6.88). For discussion of Martial’s account and complaints of life as a client, see Francis Jones’ article “Martial the Client.”
[103-6] vigilare…promere…expendere..audire…dicere: Objective infinitives with the neuter accusatives dulce and sollemne (AG 452).
[104] clienti promere iura: It was the responsibility of a patron to provide legal help to his clients.
[105] cautos…nummos: cautos: here means “secured” or “guaranteed”.
nominibus rectis: This phrasing is ambiguous. A nomen can refer to the name written in a ledger—hence a debtor. It could then be taken as a dative plural with expendere "to upright debtors" (OLD nomen 22d; Rudd ad loc.).
[106] maiores: “elders”.
[106-7] per quae crescere res posset: Indirect question with the subjunctive (AG 574). Rudd mentions that the parallel here between maiores audire and minori dicere emphasizing the engagement in a larger oral tradition (Rud ad loc.).
[107] minui damnosa libido: = [per quae] minui damnosa libido [posset] A continuation of the indirect question–the knowledge being exchanged here is both how to grow wealth and to diminish impulses and behaviors that would diminish one’s wealth. Thus, libido here does not only refer to sexual excess but also to excessive gambling and drinking (see Rudd ad loc.).
[108] levis: “fickle.” The fickleness of the populace described here resembles Greece as puella, with her attention rapidly turning from object of desire to object of desire.
calet: Recalls Horace’s use arsit for Greece in line 95.
[108-9] uno…scribendi studio: ‘burns with a single desire–of writing’; Genitive gerund (A&G 502). Rudd describes this as a genitive of definition (ad loc.).
[110] comas: Greek accusative of respect (AG 397b).
[111] Epistle 1.1 contains a similar discussion of Horace being ‘trapped’ by verse. He insists that he will stop writing poetry (nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono, 10) and wants to focus on things that are true and decent (verum atque decens, 11). In 1.1, he asks Maecenas, “iterum antiquo me includere ludo [quaeris]?” Here in 2.1, Horace focuses upon his own inability to stop writing poetry rather than his external circumstances.
[112] Parthis: The Parthians were portrayed and conceived of (like many of Rome’s enemies) as liars, specifically due to their battle techniques. Thus the Parthians conceiving of Horace as a liar puts particular emphasis on the extent of Horace’s lying, as Horace even exceeds the Parthians’ mendacity.
[113] vigil: a nominative masculine adjective, meaning when Horace was “awake.”
calamum: “pen”; a pen made of reed which was used for writing on papyrus.
[114] habrotonum: ‘southernwood,’ also known as Artemisia abrotanum. Pliny the Elder describes this plant as being used in medicinal treatments (Plin. NH. 21.160-2; Rudd, 94).
[115] dare: a complementary infinitive with both audet and didicit.
medicorum: “[things] of doctors”.
[116] promittunt: “practice” or ‘undertake” (Rudd ad loc.).
fabrilia fabri: the anaphora of letters fabr- like with medi- in the previous clause give this a sing-song effect. This will be further emphasized by docti- in the following line.
[117] indocti doctique: Although literally meaning "unlearned and learned," in this context, Horace is referring to the qualifications and training it takes to practice certain professions. In contrast to how doctors are trained to do and practice the what doctors do, carpenters practice things pertaining to carpentry, there is no such distinction made for poets. Horace, as a professional poet, has a vested interest in advocating that poetry should be left to the professionals, but there is also an underlying sense of inferiority as Greece is not described as being plagued by poetry written by those who are indocti.
passim: “indiscriminately, without distinction” (Rudd ad loc.). When paired with poemata, the sound of spitting these final syllables would be pointedly apparent.

In this section, Horace turns from mocking untrained would-be poets who think themselves capable of imitating Greek poets to considering the functions of poets in Roman society. His tone starts out light-hearted and satirical but gradually turns to a genuine examination of poetry's benefits and place in society. At many points in this passage, Horace's wording and ideas recall his own earlier works, which may reveal a certain consciousness of his own place in Roman society as a poet close to Augustus. As this section draws to an end, Horace describes an idealized image of the social function of choral lyric–featuring implicit, but clear references to his Carmen Saeculare. This description occupies the center part of the poem (132-138).

[118] error: "aberration"; of mentally abnormal behavior, e.g. Sat. 2.3.63 (as Rudd cites ad loc.).
et… insania: this goes a stage beyond aberration– "lunacy." Poetic inspiration was often thought of as a kind of madness; cf. Sat. 2.7.117, Ars 296-301, and OLD furor 1b. The connection between madness and inspiration can also be seen the Greek drama competitions during the festival of Dionysus as well as in Horace's own Bacchic poetry (e.g. C. 2.19) where, by calling on Bacchus, Horace is able to step outside his usual boundaries.
[119] virtutes: "merits".
sic collige: "consider", cf. Sat. 2.1.51: sic collige mecum; it may be beneficial to take this first in order to set up the indirect question with quantas… habeat. The use of the imperative here, inviting an argument, is often seen in hexameter poems which may reflect the heritage of earlier philosophizing in Greek hexameter poetry (as Brink emphasizes ad loc.).
vatis: the more formal name for the poet, especially in his religious capacity; "a noble word used with a touch of humour but with no real intention to belittle" (Rudd ad loc.).
[120] non temere: "not easily" or "not without strong reason"; cf. Sat. 2.2.116; Sat. 2.4.35; Epist. 2.2.13.
unum: adverbial use meaning "only" or "solely."
[121] the losses which most people are constantly dreading, presented in long impressive words and diminished by the brief ridet; cf. Sat. 1.1.77-78: formidare malos fures, incendia, servos, / ne te compilent fugientes.
[122-123] puerove… / pupillo: the child who is legally in his charge as a minor or orphan, hence his "ward" (Rudd ad loc.).
siliquis: from siliqua, "a pod"; hence peas, beans, or lentils; stands for plain living, as does pane secundo.
pane secundo: "inferior bread", possibly "bread of an inferior quality of flour"; OLD secundus 11c. secundus here may be the equivalent of secundarius, which probably referred to the "inferior flour produced by a second grinding" (Moritz 181). The Tomb of Eurysaces in Rome has a frieze showing the bread-making process. Here is a recipe for ancient Roman bread.
[124] This line is a joking reminiscence of Horace's own brief career as a soldier. Horace expresses a similar sentiment as to his uselessness as a soldier in Epodes 1.16 where he calls himself inbellis ac firmus parum.
militiae: dative of reference (A&G 376) or a genitive of reference (A&G 349), which is used in the poets and later prose-writers with many adjectives to denote that with respect to which the adjective is applicable (Rudd ad loc.).
quamquam: with piger et malus, no verb being supplied.
utilis urbi: supply est.
[125] si das hoc: i.e., "if you grant this, that great enterprises are assisted even by small services." The expression has a proverbial ring; cf. "every little bit helps" and "tall oaks from little acorns grow." The services mentioned subsequently are not really small, but Horace is modestly understating the poet's role.
parvis… rebus magna: here, Horace looks back to his earlier thoughts about the virtutes of the poet, but also looks forward to the function of the poet in society which he describes in the following lines (Brink ad loc.).
iuvari: passive infinitive in an indirect statement introduced by si das hoc (A&G 580d).
[126-138] from here, Horace examines the poet's usefulness. He starts with the most limited use–in teaching proper speech–and gradually moves toward more elevated uses, concluding with poetry's use in religious ceremonies.
[126] balbum: here refers to the inaccuracies of speech in the very young. Compare Epist. 1.20.18, where balba senectus denotes the toothless quavering of old age, and Sat. 2.3.274, where balba verba means lovers' baby-talk (Rudd ad loc.). The relationship with Epist. 1.20 is especially significant as both poems describe the use of poetry in teaching. "Lisping" will do as a translation, provided the word is not confined to the mispronunciation of "s". Horace is talking about the use of poetry to teach children how to speak properly.
poeta: here, Horace uses the Greek term for the poet rather than vates as he does elsewhere in the passage. Poeta is derived from the Greek verb ποιέω (“to make/do”) and thus enhances the idea of the poet's role in making children's speech correct. The use of a Greek-derived term may also hint at the importance of the Greek language in Rome and the use of Homer in schools.
[127] obscenis: more general in meaning than the English word; "low, harmful," in contrast to the lofty thought and expression of poetry.
iam nunc: now, while he is still a puer.
[128] mox: at the later stage, when the character (pectus) is taking shape.
praeceptis… amicis: i.e., precepts for living on friendly terms with one's fellows - Seneca writes often about the use of precepts for teaching, see Ep. 94 and Ep. 95.
[129] faults to which a youth is especially prone.
[130] recte… refert: i.e., poetry contains the record of noble action.
recte facta: "good deeds." Horace had mentioned in Epist. 1.1.59-60 the children’s song in which doing right (recte facies) would make you a king (rex). He may be recalling it here.
orientia tempora: i.e., as the young man goes on from one period of life to another, each period in turn rising, as it were, above the horizon of life. Not to be compared with the English "rising generation."
notis: the recte facta, which, having been made known to us through poetry, become exempla.
[131] instruit exemplis: the Latin words may not have conveyed a distinction between "furnishes with examples" and "instructs with examples". Suetonius tells us that, in his reading, Augustus was always on the lookout for praecepta et exempla publice vel privatim salubria (Aug. 89) (Rudd ad loc.). Seneca remarks on how much better exempla are for teaching purposes than precepts in Ep. 6.5: longum iter est praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla.

inopem… et aegrum: probably "helpless and sick at heart" rather than "poor and sick"; cf. o laborum / dulce lenimen of the lyre (C. 1.32.14-15) and deformis aegrimoniae dulcibus alloquiis of wine and song (Ep.13.18) (see Rudd ad loc.).
[132-133] a reference to the Carmen Saeculare composed by Horace for the great festival in 17 BCE. It was sung by a chorus of boys and girls. This reference may serve as a subtle reminder about Horace's usefulness to Augustus himself since the Carmen Saeculare was commissioned by Augustus and celebrated Apollo and, through the close association Augustus had with the god, Augustus himself. It also hints at the relationship between the patron and the poet–Augustus supports Horace's writing and Horace immortalizes Augustus with his poetry. If the poet writes badly, both are doomed to be ill-remembered or forgotten.
castis cum pueris: cf. C.S. 6: virgines lectas puerosque castos.
ignara… mariti: lit. "ignorant of a husband" therefore "unmarried."
disceret unde: "from what source was she likely to learn"; for the use of imperfect subjunctive in past contrary to fact conditions see A&G 517.
[134-137] this claim of the usefulness of the poet to society references a series of primordial functions of civilization attributed to the poet as a mediator between men and gods. There were many occasions when choral songs were used, from early times in religious ceremonies, e.g., Livy, 27.37; 31.12, and they probably formed a part of some of the annually recurring festivals. C. 1.21 is such a song to Diana and Apollo, and Catull. 34 to Diana. The function of the chorus is stated in general terms in vs. 134, then more specific instances are given in 135-137, and the whole is summarized in 138.
[134] poscit opem: the general function of the choral lyric, as in many places in the Carmen Saeculare.
praesentia… sentit: "senses the divine presences"; C.S. 73-4: haec Ioven sentire deosque cunctos / spem bonam certamque domum reporto; the chorus recognizes the presence and favor of the gods to whom it has prayed.
[135] caelestis… aquas: prayers for rain were common, and there was a special ritual, called the aquaelicium, for calling rain during times of drought.
docta prece: i.e., the prayer taught in suitable formula by the vates. The phrase may go both with what precedes and with what follows. The learnedness of the prayer contrasts with the idiots (indocti) who write poetry at 117.
[136] morbos: the performance of prescribed rites, which often included choral prayer, was one of the regular methods of averting pestilence. The archaic wording of this clause is at home in prayers designed to ward off evil (Brink ad loc.).
[137] pacem: i.e., the pax deorum, the gods' blessing rather than the Pax Augusta as one might expect in poetry of this era; OLD pax 2.. locupletem… annum: the ambarvalia was a ceremony for this purpose.
[138] carmine… carmine: "Horace is not a writer to use anaphora idly. Wherever he uses it he does so to stress something which he has very much at heart." So Fraenkel 206, citing C. 1.17.13-14; 3.4.21; 4.6.29-30, which have to do with the gods, the Muses, and Apollo (cf. Rudd ad loc.). Here, Horace highlights the importance of song/poetry in keeping good relations with the gods, thus emphasizing the importance of the poet as the person composing these songs.
Manes: i.e., di inferi, the gods of the underworld such as Dis, Proserpina, and Hecate, rather than the spirits of the dead. For the sentiment of the line, cf. another impressive conclusion: superis deorum / gratus et imis (C. 1.10.19-20).

Here Horace begins a temporal account of the development of Roman poetry. Emphasized is the discontinuation of rustic traditions, as those were effectively stifled by the Twelve Tables. His account agrees in general with Livy (7.2). Overall, then, Roman poetry in its current refined form came to Rome relatively late. If one reads Horace’s poetry as a compromise between unfiltered predecessors (emphasizing libertas) and a necessarily more polite form of art, this section, then, both glorifies the free origins of Latin poetry while conceding the need for some limitation.

[139] agricolae… fortes: refers to the “sturdy farmers.” This collocation can also be found at V. Georg. 2.533, Hor. Sat. 2.2.114-115, recalling both his own works and those of his contemporaries.
parvo: dative with adjective (A&G 383).
[140] condita post frumenta: After the hard work of harvest has been completed. Rudd (ad loc.) cites the following passage of Aristotle: “For it may be noticed that the sacrifices and festivals of ancient origin take place after harvest, being in fact harvest-festivals; this is because that was the season of the year at which people had most leisure,” (Nic. Eth. 1160a23-28).
[141] ipsum: provides emphasis to animum, take as “their bodies and even their spirits…”
spe finis: “to this hoped-for end”.
[142] The family as a unit working together here serves to contrast honestas domos being torn apart at line 149 below.
[143] Tellus is a goddess of the earth usually mentioned in opposition to Jupiter, together creating an image of total encompassment. Varro writes, “First, Jove and Tellus, those who bound all fruits of agriculture by means of sky and earth; and so they are called the great parents, Jupiter named Father, and Tellus named Mother Earth.” (De Re Rust. 1.1.15). The harvest festival Fordicidia was celebrated in her honor. Ovid describes this festival in detail in Fasti 4.629ff. After his initial description of the contemporary holiday, he continues on to describe its dramatic differences since the days of Numa. This representation fits with the idea of contemporary Latin poetry being removed from that of the agricolae prisci.
Silvanum: Silvanus is a god of boundaries, but he is primarily associated with the woods (silva) and the wild places that border domesticated spaces, but as those became less and less common with urbanization, his realm collapsed to be borders in general. He is often associated with the god Faunus. Horace also invokes Silvanus in C. 3.29, a call to leisure, so it is fitting that Silvanus is again used here in describing a leisure holiday
[144] vino: wine is often associated with freedom in Horace (Commager 1957) and its mention here both fits with the relaxation at the end of harvest season and the theme of old freedoms to follow.
Genium: The Genius is similar to the Christian guardian angels or the Greek δαίμονες. Socrates (in Plato’s Apology) claims that δαιμόνιον whispered advice in his mind, similar to Horace’s imagery in Epist. 1.1.7-9. Horace elaborates more specifically on Genius in Epist. 2.2.187-189: scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum, naturae deus humanae, mortalis in unum quodque caput, voltu mutabilis, albus et ater. This either refers to the individuality of each Genius depending on who they were associated with, or their apparent fickleness.
opprobria rustica: this qualifies the Fescennine verses, clarifying freedom from outside influences (as opposed to the current era which draws from Greek tradition).
memorem brevis aevi: The Genius was mortal, hence being “mindful of short life”.
[145] Fescennina: Fescennine verses are abusive songs originating (according to Horace) at rustic festivals. Later, they were sung at weddings in order to avoid evoking the jealousy of the gods. The name may be related to fascinum, a divine phallus said to ward off evil. For an example of a Fescennine wedding song, see Catullus 61.119ff.
[146] versibus alternis: Livy refers to the alternating verses almost verbatim (Livy 7, 2). The Fescennine verses were in Saturnian meter, an old fashioned form. For more on Saturnian meter, see the note below (at line 158).
[147] libertas: an important word, especially with amabiliter in the next line. Horace gives periods of freedom positive associations. His first book of Epistles focus on the concept of freedom often (see Johnson's 1993 monograph). recurrentis…per annos: recurrentis features the long -is for -es. The fact that these festivals are annual habituates the audience to the jokes and jibes. These will become more dangerous in later eras.
[148] lusit: pairs with iocus minax in the next lines, showing the easy shift between pleasant (amabiliter) games and cruel (minax) jokes.
[149] coepit: take with both verti and ire.
iocus: is intrinsically tied to laughter, a motif Horace leans on throughout his poetry (specifically that written in hexameters), wavering between positive and negative connotations. Here it sits at the transitioning lines between Fescennine poetry flourishing and spiraling into doing harm.
honestas … domos: A pattern begins to emerge of Horace glorifying times when the poetic art was allowed to flourish and setbacks when it wasn’t.
[150] impune: adv with minax, i.e. such jokes were not punished by law, which will be rectified in subsequent years.
doluere: syncopated 3rd person plural perfect. The cruel jokes are like a maddened dog who bites those around him.
[151] cruento…dente: The villainizing of these verses beginning at 148 continues here with dente suggesting imagery of these verses as wild animals.
intactis: dative of possession (AG 373). Even those not harried by such poetry recognized that it was causing damage to the fabric of society.
[152] condicione super communi: “for the public well-being”. Horace implies that the taming of this poetry was a change for the better.
[152-153] This refers to the Twelve Tables. Originally Roman law was not written down but instead was implied knowledge among elite circles. This put the plebeians at a significant disadvantage, especially in court trials where they would have no knowledge of the laws they would need to defend themselves. In 451 BCE, a committee came together to finally inscribe these laws, likely into bronze plates, that would have been publicly displayed. Though the plates themselves are lost, we have references to them. Horace also refers to the Twelve Tables earlier in this poem (23-24), asserting those who venerate Augustus are the same who revere the ancient laws of the Twelve Tables. Him speaking about the Twelve Tables here as a positive and necessary reform then, also speaks well of Augustus.
[153] quae nollet: relative clause of purpose (AG 531). The law forbade slander.
[154] vertere modum: As Rudd ad loc. suggests “they changed their tune”.
fustis: a cudgel or staff used to beat someone to death (a military punishment, cf. Tac. A. 3.21). Along with Horace here, Cicero asserts that the punishment according to the Twelve Tables for the crime of public verbal abuse is death (Cicero De Rep. 4.12).
[155] ad bene dicendum delectandumque: ad + gerund for purpose (AG 506). The songs become positive in subject matter and effect. bene = speaking both elegantly and properly. It also contrasts malo carmine in line 153. There seems to be a hard stop between this sentence and the following (famous) pronouncement. These songs are still uninformed by Greek culture and would be thought of as rather jejune by Horace and his contemporaries.

In this next section (156-176), Horace takes a moment to explore the appropriation of Greek literature into Roman Society, and the positive influence of such a classical and lauded style. He also provides criticism for handling of Greek literature in the older Latin period, and continues a theme that, while much of older, classical literature, namely Greek, is to be appreciated, archaic literature does not necessarily equate to literature of merit. Other questions and issues arise in this section, as well, such as which exact historical timeframes Horace intends to reference, whether Horace intends to contradict the common thread of Hellenophobia propagated by Cato the Elder and continued by other figures throughout the empire such as Pliny the Elder, and whether or not he intends to slight Augustus by criticizing the typical “slapstick” Roman dramatic style he was known to enjoy.

[156-157] Graecia…intulit: Thought to cover events during the First Punic War (264-241 BCE) to the Sack of Corinth in 146 BCE (Rudd ad loc.). Dionysus of Halicarnassus, in line with this description, believed Rome to be part of the Greek world (see Citroni 2013). The Greeks provided Rome with architectural styles, furniture, and other luxuries, as well as pottery techniques, literature, and medicine, despite a contrasting sway of Hellenophobia, or Anti-Greek sentiment, espoused first by Cato the Elder, and carried on by prominent figures such as Cicero (when convenient), Juvenal, and Pliny the Elder. Pliny, for instance, “In rejecting Greek-style medicine… [in his writing]…also eschew[ed] the systematic theoretical physiologies that informed much Greek medical practice” (Fagan 2006). Such “physiologies” provided an informed and practical approach to healthcare. These figures’ stance within their writing, which set back progress in Pliny’s case, largely contradicted their personal knowledge of the Greek language and the advantage they took of Greek luxury. H. knew of and respected Greek literary prowess, as Conte, reviewing Feeney 2016, states, “In fact, Horace knew only too well that the entire history of Roman culture, from at least the third century but perhaps even before that, in spite of all the abrupt rejections by Quirites, proudly resistant to Hellenization, was not so much a history of Greek conquest or Roman subordination, as rather the story of a gradual process of appropriation, an active process that had brought the Romans to assimilate Greek culture to the point of transforming it into a new possession, that is, of putting together a new and original culture.” (AJP 137, 2016: 733).
[156] ferum victorem: The Roman. Although Rome might conquer Greece and the East, its fierceness is no match for the Hellenic cultural take-over.
[158] numerus Saturnius: Saturnian meters, the first early Latin meter named after Saturn, who ruled during the Golden Age (Rudd ad loc.). It is collectively thought to have been driven out by hexameter. Livius Andronicus’ translation of the Odyssey as well as Naevius’ epic Bellum Punicum were in Saturnians.
grave virus: “Grave virus is the stinging and pungent sweat of an unkempt person.” In the Ars Poetica, Horace says that a man who refuses to shave, cut his nails, or otherwise practice good hygiene is someone who despises ars (Klingner ad loc.). For Horace, munditiae “cleanliness, refinement, good taste” (Brink ad loc.) is able to repel this rankness.
[159] sed…tamen: Repetitive transition for emphasis. You can hear the sigh.
[160] hodieque…ruris: Greek influence did not altogether eliminate the roughness of the Roman tastes from H.’s perspective. Augustus was interested in the restoration of the theater and had two major successes: Varius’ Thyestes and Ovid’s Medea. Yet, Augustus’ sense of humor did not appeal to H.’s polished tastes.
[161] Serus…admovit: The subject is the Roman, last mentioned in line 156 as the ferum victorem. The relative “lateness” of Roman literature is commonplace in the works of Augustan literary theorists like Varro.
[162] post Punica bella quietus: H. characterizes the type of conflict, but not the specific war. It is difficult to be sure of the specifics, but a sizable quantity of evidence supports a reference to the Second Punic War. After Hannibal invaded Italy and scored victories at the battles of Lake Trasimene and Cannae, Scipio Africanus defeated him in 202 BCE, leaving Rome in control of the western Mediterranean and a large portion of Spain. Thus, per Rudd ad loc., quietus could refer to the removal of an invasion threat, corresponding with the lifetimes of influential authors such as Ennius, Pacuvius, and Accius. Also, we know Plautus wrote during the second century BCE, and is referenced in line 170. Per Citroni 2013, this line can be compared with the writing of Porcius Licinus, quoted by Gellius in a chapter on the chronology of ancient Latin literature. He believes Rome was struck with a Muse during the Second Punic War, and the beginning of poetry coincided with the importation of the Greek Muse (who was thought to speak the first lines of poetry).
[163] quid: Introduces an indirect question (A&G 573-574) with ferrent. Sophocles…Aeschylos: Rudd ad loc. mentions that the order is not chronological, but due to metrical convenience. Also Euripides is notably omitted. Contrast with C. 3.30.13-14: princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos deduxisse modos. Horace is referring to those after his own heart and talent.
Sophocles: c. 496-406 BCE. Along with Euripides and Aeschylus, one of Athen’s three renowned tragic playwrights. He wrote over 120 plays, 7 of which survive, including the famous Oedipus Rex, Ajax, Electra, and Antigone. His quantity of plays suggests 30 competitions in the Greater Dionysia festival, out of which he won as many as 24 victories. In his first competition, he won against his older rival, Aeschylus.
Thespis: Lived in the 6th century BCE in Athens. Said to be the first actor (root of “Thespian”) and inventor of tragedy by converting from choral lyric. Specifically, Aristotle said he introduced the prologue and internal discourse, and was thus the first to combine choral song and tragic speeches (tragic dialogue started when the actor addressed the chorus). Thus, he falls into H.’s category of innovators.
Aeschylos: 6th-5th Centuries BCE. Sicilian playwright who became one of classical Athens’ first great dramatists. His innovation was to raise the heights of tragedy to poetical and theatrical standards. He and Sophocles were contemporaries and competed in the same festivals. 7 tragedies survive, including the Oresteia, a collection of three plays which cover the final murders in the curse of the Atreides (including the fall of Agamemnon by the hands of his wife Clytemnestra after Troy, and the vengeance of his son Orestes) (Rudd ad loc.).
[164] si: Not a conditional clause in this case. It introduces another indirect question (A&G 573-574) with posset after temptavit. “He tried to see if he could…” Horace laments the ruin of, or lack of ability to write, drama. With his grievance, he supports the ongoing theme that “old” or “past” works are not necessarily of merit. Thus, contemporary society should not look down upon current innovation. If the Greeks thought as such, classics would not exist (Klingner ad loc.).
[165] natura: Horace questions a core concept of what it means to be Roman. The following two adjectives shed light upon his interpretation. Yet, at least one aspect of certain Romans’ nature seems to lack the ability of meaningfully contributing to drama per H. This idea is later expressed in quo pacto…Plautus. Klingner ad loc. describes “what is lacking is not the poet’s inborn power and disposition…but technical ability.”
acer: “dynamic” (Rudd ad loc.) or “fierce.” “warlike” may also capture the sense. It is interesting to note, along the thought process of defining “Roman-ness,” that H. allots the epithet acer to Spartacus in Epode 16.5 when describing that “bitter” or “fierce” Spartacus was unable to control or influence Rome, while Rome could only fall by her own hands. In looking back across his own corpus, does H. connect the spirit of Rome with that of a Thracian-born slave rebel? There seems to be a connection, and perhaps sense of pride, with the warlike nature of both parties.
[166] spirat: From spirare, “To breathe” or “to blow out.” Lewis & Short also say “to imitate,” “to be full of,” “to manifest,” “to be full of lyric spirit,” which better befit the role of an actor. The image portrayed is that of a “puffed-up” tragic actor which will be brought to life by the author. There is a notable intertext with C. 4.3.24: quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est. Perseus uses the connotation of breath, while Poetry in Translation uses “inspiration.” The jury is out. There is also an irony to be considered with the sense of respiration, as actors in ancient Greek comedy wore masks consisting of heavy materials such as wood and terracotta. The mask “covered the face, slightly restricting breathing and most likely was a little weighty. It had to be placed carefully so as to allow eyesight for the actor and the actor has [sic] to be constantly aware of keeping the mask in check (Joukowsky Institute, Brown University ad loc).” These were not KN95’s.
[167] turpem putat: The direct object is the work or rem.
inscite: Adverbial epithet for the Roman writer.
inscite metuitque lituram: The ignorant Roman fears revision. Klingner ad loc.: this represents the “Unfinished journey of Roman stagecraft.” The lingering residue of the pre-artistic state is a grave defect of Roman poetry. There is a “failure to perceive the majesty of hard effort, and skills carefully controlled,” compounded with an aforementioned lack of technical ability.
lituram: Rudd ad loc. remarks that the noun is etymologically related to linere “to smear.” The process of erasing a written mistake and inserting a correction for the Romans included the smearing of wax tablets.
[168] creditur: comoedia is the subject.
ex medio: “from daily life.” It may seem to be easy to write comedy, but it is not.
[169-170] sudoris…oneris: Genitives of description or quality with comoedia (A&G 345).
[169] comoedia: Latin, but from the Greek κωμῳδία (kōmōidía). H. seems to have a clear opinion on how comedy should be written and the degree to which it should pull and flow from daily life.
[169-173] tanto plus…quanto…minus…quantus: repetition of measure words reflect this section’s nature of comparison, between Roman and Greek, between perceptions of comedy writing (tastes of Augustus vs. H.), between the work of Plautus and his originals (see line 170), and between quality and lack thereof.
[170] oneris: It is a burden to write comedy because it is difficult to capture in fiction the tropes, mores, and traditions of everyday life with a natural flow.
aspice: Present Active Imperative Second Person Singular. The imperative mood is saved for commands and entreaties (A&G 448). Both the addressee of this letter, and an audience member for all of H.’s poetry, is Augustus, himself. It must be considered whether this was a sound decision to apply the imperative mood, a command, when communicating with a man compared to a God on earth. Also, Augustus all but commissioned this book of epistles per Suetonius. Plautus: His alleged name is Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254-184 BCE), although these names are of questionable historical accuracy and origin. An author who adapted Greek plays with characteristically Roman concepts, terms, and flavor, establishing the genre of Latin Drama, he is the current example of Horace’s disdain for certain old works, Roman comedy, and avarice-driven art. H.’s tone of disgruntlement resembles his critique of Lucilius in Sat. 1.4.9-13. Plautus’ raunchy, slap-stick approach would have appealed to Augustus. Therefore, Horace must feel sufficiently confident in his relationship with Augustus such that he can criticize the type of work which Augustus lauds. H. was, after all, polite, but not servile, and Augustus relied upon Horace as much for improving his reputation as Horace relied upon Augustus for his career. Terence, a more polished comedic writer, seemed to be more to H.’s liking.
[171-173] H. displays his disdain for Plautus’ comedies by cataloging the characters he butchers. In the fabula palliata, plays based upon Greek Middle and New Comedy, stock characters included the following: the adulescens, or unmarried man who chases love, typically accompanied by a clever slave; the senex, the father figure to the adulescens who either adamantly opposes, challenges, or aids in the development of the son’s love; the leno, the pimp or slave dealer; the miles gloriosus, or braggadocious soldier (this name is actually taken from the name of one of Plautus’ plays); the parasitus, a selfish liar who often attends the miles gloriosus; the matrona, the wife or mother usually displayed as an annoyance, blocking pursuit of other men/women, and the virgo or unmarried young woman/love interest. (See Dossennus below).
[171] quo pacto: has the sense of “how badly…”
tutetur: “is sustained…”
ephebi: Per Rudd ad loc., recalls the “feckless” young men portrayed in the comedies adapted by Plautus.
[172] ut…ut: the anaphora emphasizes the catalog and corresponding accumulation of H.’s disdain for Plautus’ adaptations.
[173] Dossennus: “hunchback" (Rudd ad loc.) or “sharper.” This character appeared in old atellanae fabulae, an older version of popular Roman comedy. The idea is that these characters are more cleverly portrayed in the original Greek comedies (see lines 171-173).
[174] socco: The soccus was the slipper worn by comic actors (Rudd ad loc.). It was to comedy as the buskin, or cothurnus was to tragedy. See C. 2.1.10-12: mox, ubi publicas res ordinaris, grande munus Cecropio repetes cothurno.
[175] nummum: Translates to “coin,” “money” or the Roman “sesterce.” The Nummus was the name of a coin during the reign of Diocletian, 301-305 CE, worth 40 of the Aureus, or gold coin. The Sestertius, or sesterce was a different type of currency present during the Early Republic in 211, and the reign of Augustan values from 27 BCE to 301 CE. Under Augustus, a Sestertius was worth 100 gold coins.
loculos: “money bag” or “pocket.” Compare with Cat. 13.7-8: nam tui Catulli plenus sacculus est aranearum. Plautus is attempting to avoid this fate. Thus, per Klingner ad loc. “Avarice is the reason why comedy failed to develop into a true art in Rome.” This question is often posed by the commissioned works of Horace himself, including this epistle commissioned by Augustus–to what extent can the catharsis and relatability of art be preserved when money is at the helm? The implications of an affirmative answer on H.’s own career, out of the work we have, are significant. In analyzing poetry, one must peel back layers of persona, influenced by commissioner, to study the author’s true thoughts and feelings.
[176] securus: “indifferent (Rudd ad loc.).”
cadat…stet: Potential subjunctives (A&G 446). Plautus is indifferent as to whether his play will artistically fall apart or succeed.
talo: translated as “ankle.” The English equivalent would be “to have firm footing.” Also, the talis, or knucklebones, were used at dinner parties to determine control of wine distribution and dilution (see C. 1.4.18: nec regna vini sortiere talis). This word evokes cultural connotations of luck and gambling, as opposed to merit, continuing Horace's expressed tone of disdain toward Plautus. He has a “fat chance” that his work will stand on firm ankles, or it will fall.
[177] quem: the playwright. Horace in this section muses on the relationship between author and audience and some of the troubles inherent in this relationship.
ventoso…curru: glory is fleeting and fickle, thus her chariot is “vain” or “inconstant” (L&S IIA and IIB). The stem of the adjective continues the idea of inflated or “puffed up” characters from earlier (see note on 166) and it turns out the audience itself can be “windy”. This idea seems to stem from Vergil Aen. 11.708 (ventosa ferat cui Gloria fraudem), although Horace had Glory pulling a chariot at Sat. 1.6.23.
[178] examinat: with this imagery it probably draws upon the etymological associations of animus or anima. Rudd suggests “deflates” as a translation (ad loc.). The sluggish or dull spectator takes the wind out of the sails of the playwright (and his reputation suffers).
sedulus inflat: an attentive audience will “puff up” or encourage the playwright.
[179] sic…sic: here has the meaning of “so,” rather than the more typical “thus.” The repetition of the word emphasizes the idea that money is an unstable and capricious motivator.
leve: “slight,” or “light,” as in not heavy. Both leve and parvum are substantive adjectives. It can also have the meaning of “fickle,” tying in with the idea that financial gain is an unreliable goal.
quod: takes the subject of est as the antecedent.
laudis: objective genitive with avarum, “greedy for praise” (A&G 347). Feeney notes that, “the playwright who competes on the public stage is like a politician competing for votes, dependent on the whim of the onlooker” (Feeney 2009, pp. 379). Given Augustus’ well known interest in Roman comedy, this parallel between playwright and politician reads as a potential warning to the Princeps himself not to be too reliant on the approval of others.
[180] subruit aut reficit: the opposing meanings of the two verbs demonstrate the fickle nature of those who are greedy for financial gain, as well continuing the theme that money itself is fickle and uncertain.
valeat: here meaning, “goodbye/farewell”.
res ludicra: “the comic theater,” lit. “comedic things.” The adjective ludicer can denote games or sports, it can also be applied to the comic stage.
[181] palma: subject of reducit. The palm wreath was given as a prize in various games. However, as Rudd points out, “there is no evidence that poets were so rewarded.” Thus, it is best to understand this as a metaphorical analogy (cf. Rudd ad loc.).
negata… donata: perfect passive participles modifying palma with a temporal sense. Translate temporally as “when…”
macrum… opimum: direct objects of reducit. Horace is saying that when the comic writer comes in first, he receives riches, but when he loses, he receives nothing, a gamble in which Horace himself has no interest taking part. It is possible that Horace feels his own experiences as a poet relying on his patron for favor and success are reflected in this competitive career path. Cf. Epist.1 for an example of Horace’s struggles concerning the limits of patronage.
[182] Even the poets who are willing to take the risks inherent in their career (audacem poetam) are afraid of the inconstant will of their audiences.
[183] quod: here, “when.”
numero: ablative of specification, with plures (A&G 418).
plures: substantive adjective, “those greater in number.”
virtute et honore: see numero above.
minores: comparative form of parvus-a-um. Substantive adjective, as plures above. Horace mentions the vulgus several times throughout his various books of poetry, but almost always in the same terms. Although they are the majority, they are also without honor, virtue, and are largely uneducated. Cf. Sat. 1.4 and C. 3.1.1 in particular.
[184] indocti stolidique: “the uneducated and stupid.” Both agree with the preceding adjectives plures and minores, and are the subject of poscunt in the line below.
depugnare: complementary infinitive with parati.
parati: modifies indocti stolidique.
[185] eques: “the knight.” An eques was a member of the equestrian order in the class hierarchy of Roman society. They were ranked below the senatorial class. The Lex Roscia Othonis reserved the first fourteen seats in the theater behind the orchestra for the equites (cf. Livy Epit. 99).
media…pugiles : resumes the clause which begins with quod.
media inter carmina - “in the middle of the song/verse.” Carmina here could also have the meaning of “play,” given the theatrical context of the passage, but Horace may be also indicating the large amount of sung passages in Roman theater.
[186] aut… aut: The repetitive structure highlights the absurdity of the audience’s requests by conveying a tone of disbelief on Horace’s part.
his: “these things.” Horace expresses his annoyance at how the plebecula prefer the spectacle of the theater to the actual poetry of the performances. This explains the fear of the audacem poetam in line 182. Despite their bravery and talent, they are still only successful if their audiences approve of their productions, which they demand to be full of props and special effects. The desire of the plebecula for these special effects also stem from the fact that, according to Horace, they are indocti. They do not have the intelligence nor the education to appreciate the poetic elements of the theater and therefore they clamor for the ursum et pugiles instead.
plebecula: the use of the diminutive here conveys a tone of condescension.
[187] verum: adverbial, “in truth.”
equitis: possessive genitive with voluptas omnis.
quoque iam: “even now.” Horace continues to express shock and disbelief that even the upper class societal orders now appreciate visual effects in the theater as opposed to the aural effects of the poetry.
migravit: from migrare, “to transfer.” The equites were once able to appreciate the spoken aspects of the theater, but have since transferred their enjoyment to the more superficial effects of props and special effects. For more on his criticism and our knowledge of Augustan theater conventions, see Boyle 2006: 160-76.
ab aure: “from the ear,” i.e. they no longer derive pleasure from listening to the poetry of the theater.
[188] incertos oculos: The eyes of the audience are both “untrustworthy” and “inconstant.”
[189] quattuor… in horas : in with measures of time, as in this case, can mean “for X amount of time.” These would be bloated self-indulgent shows to last that long.
aulaea: This is the stage curtain used in the Roman theater.
premuntur: In ancient theatrical productions, the curtain hung from the ceiling and was lowered to the floor at the beginning of a production, then lifted to conceal the stage again at the end.
[190] equitum turmae: “troops of horsemen,” in contrast to the peditum catervae, “throngs of foot-soldiers.” Both groups are invoked here by Horace to emphasize the scale of the theatrical productions going on at the time (esp. tragedy).
[191] mox: “next,” i.e. the next in the procession of characters/actors who take the stage.
manibus… retortis : “with their hands twisted back,” i.e. bound behind their backs.
regum fortuna: “the fortune of kings.” It is notable that it is not the kings themselves who are dragged across the stage, but rather the abstract concept of their fortunes or fates. In shifting the subject of the verb to be the fortuna, Horace reminds his readers that what is being described is a spectacle, not reality. However, although the kings themselves on stage might not be real, the fates that are depicted on stage have the potential to become real.
[192] The list of various modes of transportation which appear onstage is effective at underscoring the over-the-top special effects that were used in the theatrical productions Horace is criticizing. The reader has a difficult time imagining a production that could consist of anything other than these elaborate trappings.
pilenta: a four wheeled chariot distinct from an esseda or a petoritum, typically used for conveying upper class women, such as this one, which was recently excavated from Pompeii.
[193] capitum… ebur: The “captured ivory” is likely representative of ivory spoils, such as statuettes or possibly even elephant tusks (cf. Rudd ad loc.).
portatur: the spoils are “carried” across the stage, some possibly being conveyed in the aforementioned vessels.
captiva Corinthus: “captured Corinth.” Rudd supplies “bronzes” with this, on the grounds that this was Corinth’s most famous export and by asserting that the bronze “effectively balances ebur” (Rudd ad loc.).
[194] si foret: imperfect subjunctive in the protasis of a present contrary-to-fact condition (A&G 517).
rideret Democritus: imperfect subjunctive in the apodosis of the present contrary-to-fact condition. Democritus was a Greek philosopher who lived from the 5th-early 4th century BCE. He is often credited with being the father of modern science due to his studies on atoms. He was also known as the “Laughing Philosopher” because he often mocked humans for their foolishness. Democritus is almost always depicted laughing, as he is here by the Dutch painter Rembrandt. A thinking man would find the crowd more amusing than the business on stage. Cf. Ars 295 and Epist.1.12.12-13 for Horace’s other mentions of Democritus.
seu… sive: “whether… or…”
[195] This line is difficult to unravel due to the intertwined word order. Rudd offers several possible ways to construe the meaning, but seems to favor taking diversum genus in apposition with panthera (Rudd ad loc.). If we are to follow Rudd, the meaning would thus be “a panther, having been crossed with a camel as a split species.” It is also possible to take diversum genus as an accusative of respect, but this results in a more clunky translation, “a panther, having been crossed with a camel with respect to its split species.” Either way, the meaning remains roughly the same; the creature being referred to is a giraffe (cf. Rudd ad loc.). It is more important to highlight the way that Horace intentionally muddles the word order to create a complicated effect which mimics the “monstrous” nature of this animal.
camelo: dative after confundere.
[196] elephans albus: “an albino elephant.” Such a creature would have attracted the attention of a Roman audience, in the same way that it likely would today. The rare creatures involved in the theatrical productions described by Horace take his imagery of the pompous comic theater to the next level. Not even human spectacles such as gladiators and boxers are enough to hold the attention of the Roman mob anymore. It may also hint at the beasts in the arena for venationes.
converteret ora lit. “turned the eyes,” i.e. drew the gazes of the audience.
[197] spectaret: the subject is still Democritus. Horace’s use of the verb here is intriguing. spectare is very often used of an audience watching a stage production. In this instance, however, Horace inverts the meaning by having the audience as the ones being watched.
ludis… ipsis: the ablative of comparison (A&G 407).
attentius: comparative adverb.
[198] ut… praebentem: ut + a participle can be explanatory, here “as [they were] offering…”
sibi: dative after praebentem.
nimio: adv. meaning “by far”.
spectacula plura: “a greater spectacle.” The audience, in their absurd hunger for spectacle, have themselves become the spectacle, surpassing whatever is taking place on stage.
[199] scriptores autem: “as for the playwrights,” accusative subject of narrare.
narrare: infinitive within an indirect statement introduced by putaret. asello… surdo: The combination of two idiomatic expressions, “to tell a tale to a deaf man,” and “to tell a tale to an ass” (Rudd ad loc.) Horace’s combination of the two phrases elevates his tone of exasperation.
[200] pervincere: complementary infinitive with evaluere.
[201] evaluere: “have succeeded.” 3rd person, plural, active, indicative, syncopated perfect form. It is so loud that the voices of the actors can not be heard.
quem: take sonum as its antecedent, “with which.”
referunt: “echoes.”
[202] Garganum… nemus: a region on the eastern shore of Apulia, Italy. Accusative subject of mugire. Garganus borders the Adriatic sea, a parallel to the western mare Tuscum which follows.
mugire: “to bellow.” infinitive within an indirect statement introduced by putes.
mare Tuscum: The oceanic imagery is an effective way of emphasizing the roar of the crowd in the Roman theaters. Horace’s readers can easily imagine the repetitive, even methodical crashing of waves.
[203] cum: “with” + abl.
ludi: again refers to stage performances, rather than games.
artes: “works of art.” Horace uses artes with a similar meaning at Epist.1.6.17-19 The connection is notable given that Epistle VI is a warning against coveting material goods. Horace discourages Numicius, the poem’s addressee, to stop lusting after riches which will do him no good once he has entered the Underworld. Throughout this section of Epistle 2.1 Horace hints at a similar sentiment with his scorn for the opulent trappings of Roman theater. That epistle also mentions the possibility of 5000 cloaks being used in a theatrical production! (Epist. 1.6.43-44)
[204] divitiaeque peregrinae: “foreign riches.” This recalls the mention of captiva Corinthus above. Spoils taken from Rome’s conquered enemies were occasionally permitted to be used in theatrical productions (Rudd ad loc.).
quibus: takes both artes and divitiae as antecedents.
oblitus: from oblino, “to smear”. The actor covers himself with this “foreign riches” as a part of his stage costume.
[205] cum + indicative = “when,” or “whenever.” (A&G 542).
stetit in scaena: “he enters the stage.”
concurrit dextera laevae: “right [hand] meeting with the left,” i.e. the audience applauds the actor when he steps out onto the stage.
[206-207] The next two lines seem to be an imagined dialogue between Horace and an audience member. The addition of the back and forth reads a bit like a stichomythia from an actual play, in addition to elevating the silliness of the audience members which Horace is attempting to get across.
[206] nil sane: “nothing at all.”
quid placet ergo?: “Then what pleases [them]?” Horace’s imagined conversational partner is unable to understand what the audience of the play could be so excited about, even though the actor has not yet done anything.
[207] lana… imitata: “the wool, having copied…” i.e. having been made to look like. The reading lana perhaps should be laena (meaning a woolen cloak). See Brink ad loc. for discussion.
Tarentino… veneno: “dye from Tarentum.” Again, the performance’s audience does not care for the words of the actor, but rather is excited by the foreign goods used in the production. Tarentum was known for its production of purple dye, considered to be second only to that of Tyre. It was also known for its wool (laena vs. lana reading).
[208] ac ne forte putes: “and so you do not think, perchance…” putes introduces another indirect statement.
me: accusative subject within an indirect statement.
quae… recusem: “those things which I would refuse to produce myself.” A subordinate clause within the indirect statement. The subjunctive would be potential in direct speech.
[209] cum: “when”
recte: adverbial, “well”.
tractent: can be “to drag,” but here more likely “to handle.”
laudare maligne: “that I badly praise.” laudare is infinitive within an indirect statement. Horace is concerned that readers of his poem will think he is critical of comedic productions simply because he does not have the skill to write comedy himself. He goes on to explain that it is not the genre itself that he takes issue with, but the decadent performances. As La Penna points out, “[Horace] would delight in a theater that had substance, and that would stir up the emotions and awaken the imagination” (La Penna, 2009, pp. 389).
[210] ille: agrees with poeta in the following line, subject of videtur.
per: here, “across.” Cf. Pliny, Ep.9.26 for more on Roman tight-rope walking.
posse: complementary infinitive with videtur.
[211] ire: “to walk” another complementary infinitive with posse.
inaniter: “with illusions.” Take with angit, irritat, mulcet. With the fictitious narratives that the poet creates, he is able to bring forth a wealth of emotions.
angit: “to choke,” rather than, “to close.”
[212] mulcet: from mulcere, “to soothe.”
falsis terroribus: ablative of means with implet. The “false terrors,” like the aforementioned illusions, are creations of the poet.
[213] ut magus: “just like a magician.” Horace’s comparison of the poet to a magician is supported by the fact that both magicians and poets produce carmina, which can signify either poems or spells, depending on the context. These words can effectively transform one’s reality.
modo… modo: “now… now.” Both Athens and Thebes were common locales in Greek tragedy. The repetition emphasizes the ability of the poet to transport his readers in an instant with just his words. The final lines liken a good poet to both a tight-rope walker and a magician. In associating poets, or in this case perhaps a comic writer, with these exceptional deeds, Horace demonstrates that props and special effects are not required for an immersive experience. The poet is able to capture the minds of his reader and give them a fantastical experience using his words alone.
[214] verum age: Horace changes his focus from spectatores to readers (lectori). Age is an interjection akin to “come on” in English. Horace makes his case for poetry for readers with Augustus the most important reader. This calls attention to the very fact that this letter is to Augustus (as well as a larger reading public).
[215] quam: with malunt contrasts the two infinitives (credere/ferre).
spectatoris fastidia…superbi: the contempt of the ignorant audience mirrors the contempt of the reader who only values archaic literature (as above on line 22: fastidit et odit).
[216] curam…brevem: Augustus has many other duties, but if he can spare a moment for poets, not playwrights, he will be able to fill the new library he has built.
munus Apolline dignum: dignus can take the ablative “worthy of” (A&G 418b). The temple to Apollo on the Palatine hill was dedicated by Augustus in 28 BCE. It also had Greek and Latin libraries as part of the complex.
[217] complere libris: Brink notes that complere is “a realistic and not wholly solemn word” (ad loc.). Horace implies that a library with empty shelves would not be worthy of Apollo and that the books to fill such a library should be contemporary authors. This recalls C. 1.1.35-6 where Horace hopes his own odes can be included (inseres) among the canonical lyric poets and one might think of them being shelved near those bards.
vatibus addere calcar: Augustus as patron can encourage the poets’ production. The phrase addere calcar is another more colloquial touch as Augustus is spurring on the poets, who become veritable steeds who will seek (in the next line) the green pastures of Helicon.

[218] studio maiore: ablative of manner (A&G 412). Studium can have the sense of “zeal” as well as “study”. Depending on the poet, this could lead to the production of reams of mediocre poetry (after all, everyone is trying their hand at poetry according to lines 108-117).
Helicona virentem: Hesiod met the Muses on Mt. Helicon and it was associated with poetry and poetic inspiration (cf. note on line 27 above).
[219] Horace turns to the often touchy relationship between poets and their patrons, with Augustus himself and Alexander the Great as exempla.
facimus…poetae: Horace includes himself among these poets and this passage recalls Epist. 1.13 where he encouraged a messenger (Vinnius) only to give Augustus Horace’s poetry if the time was right.
[220] ut vineta egomet caedam mea: seems proverbial, although the exact parallel does not exist (see Rudd ad loc.). The idea of harming one’s own interest or “cutting one’s own throat” seems traditional. The viticulture imagery is particularly germane to Horace’s own writings - even carpe diem has such connotations.
cum: with the indicative damus has the sense of “whenever” (A&G 542). One gets the sense that Horace is one of many poets presenting works to Augustus all the time.
[221] sollicito…aut fesso: one thinks back to the opening of the poem and the various duties that Augustus had to perform.
cum laedimur: Horace writes elsewhere about how hurt poets can be when criticized (Ars 438-44).
[221-2] unum…versum: the separation between adjective and noun is pronounced and heightens the comedic effect. If even one verse is critiqued (reprehendere), the poet will be hurt and angry.
[223] loca iam recitata: the purple passages that he has read out.
revolvimus: keep in mind that these poems were written on papyrus scrolls that needed to be “unrolled”.
inrevocati: “without an encore”. This could be a Horatian coinage. The poet is frustrated that he is not asked to replay the finest moments of his work. Pliny writes of a three-day encore presentation of his Panegyricus at the request of his friends (Ep. 3.18).
[224] lamentamur: this deponent verb (“to wail, lament”) introduces indirect speech with labores and poemata the accusative subject of adparere. It is only found here in Horace and evokes the strong melancholy and misery of the unknown or underappreciated poet.
non adparere: “do not stand out” or “are not noticed”.
[225] tenui deducta poemata filo: the idea that the poems are woven together with fine thread evokes Callimachean aesthetics. Vergil coined the idea in Latin poetry in Ecl. 6.5: deductum dicere carmen. The combination with labores (the et is explanatory = the labores are these highly worked poems) also highlights the work involved in such a poetic production. Cinna’s Smyrna, a neoteric poem known for its erudition and craft, famously took nine years to complete (Cat. 95).
[226] cum speramus: the final cum clause of this section returns to Augustus as reader and appreciator of poetry. This reads like the dream of any writer or actor wanting to be discovered and make it rich.
eo rem venturam: “the work will turn out so well (eo)” setting up a result clause with ut + arcessas, vetes, and cogas (A&G 537). Verbs of hoping often take a future participle (A&G 498).
simul atque: “as soon as”.
[227] rescieris: future perfect “will have ascertained”.
commodus: take adverbially “agreeably, kindly, obligingly”.
[228] egere vetes: “you will forbid us to be poor”. Horace was lucky enough to have the wealthy Maecenas as patron and he was given the Sabine Estate. The relationship between poet and patron is a vexed one and much of the first book of Epistles ruminates on the blurry definitions of clientela vs. amicitia.
scribere cogas: such compulsion to write could be problematic. In Epist. 1.1 Horace is bidden by Maecenas to write again, but Horace is uninterested in writing lyric poetry any longer. Horace (and other Augustan poets) often offer a recusatio for not writing poetry that praises Augustus in an epic manner.
[229] est operae pretium: “it is worth the effort”. Horace makes a transition to speaking about the type of poet a ruler might want to have sing his praises. Augustus should make sure he has the right sort of poets around him.
quales / aedituos: quales introduces an indirect question with habeat (A&G 574). aedituus is a “caretaker” or “guide”. In this comparison such a humble caretaker would equate to the poet.
[230] belli…domique: “at war and at home”. Augustus’ deeds were equally impressive in both spheres, as he details in his Res Gestae.
spectata…virtus: The virtus would be that of the great man (Augustus), although in the way Horace formulates it, it almost appears that Horace is the caretaker of the temple of Virtus. There was such a temple in Rome that held, interestingly, a shrine to the Camenae (the Italian Muses). Horace may be associating virtus and poetry in part because of their pairing in the temple.
[231] indigno…poetae: dative with the compound verb.
[232] Alexandro, regi magno: Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) is found to have bad taste in court poets, even though he has good taste in sculptors and painters.
ille / Choerilus: Choerilus was a court poet who accompanied Alexander the Great in his travels. He was “notorious” (ille) for the poor quality of his epic poetry. Horace mentions him at Ars 357 as well. The scholiast there relates the story that Choerilus was paid a gold coin for every good line he wrote, but he only produced seven good lines.
[233] incultis…et male natis: The verses he composed were “uncultured and poorly created”. The verses are like children that have to be born (natis). The dative indicates that he received money “in exchange for” these verses. Horace claims that Julius Florus, a young poet, has a non incultum…ingenium at Epist. 1.3.22. [234] acceptos, regale nomisma, Philippos: the Philippus was a gold coin issued during the reign of Alexander the Great’s father, Philip II of Macedon. regale nomisma is in apposition with acceptos Philippos, with nomisma a transliteration of the Greek word νόμισμα.
[235] veluti: the comparison between ink (atramenta) that can blot and run and bad poetry that can smear noble deeds seems “imperfect” (Rudd ad loc.), but we wonder if this could also be the sort of imprecise epic poetry that Choerilus might have written.
notam labemque: labem here is from labes-is “spot, blot, stain” and not “fall, stroke, ruin”. The ink, when handled (tractata) clumsily will ruin the page.
[236] fere: “commonly”.
carmine foedo: ablative of means (A&G 409). A striking way to describe a bad poem. It’s foul nature can smear (linunt) even the brightest of good deeds. Obviously, Augustus should make sure to only have fine poets such as Horace himself (and Vergil, R.I.P.) to sing his deeds.
[237] idem rex ille: “that same famous king”. Ille here has more positive connotations (A&G 297b for ille as “the famous”).
[238] tam ridiculum tam care: modifies poema, “as ludicrous as it was expensive”. Although the scholiast to Ars claims he only gave a limited amount of gold for the poems, here Horace asserts that Alexander was too lavish in his support for Choerilus. One gets the sense that any gold given was too much for poetry of such poor quality.
[239] vetuit ne…pingeret: “forbade anyone…to paint” although veto often takes accusative/infinitive structure (A&G 563), here it acts to introduce a negative command (A&G 588).
quis: stands for aliquis. The following rhyme can help one recognize this form: “After si, nisi, num, and ne, all the ali-s drop away.”
Apellen: Apelles was a famous Hellenistic painter. Pliny the Elder (N.H. 35) gives us a great deal of information about his life and his paintings. Alexander only trusted Apelles to paint his portrait and it is reported that Apelles painted a famous version of Alexander as Zeus holding a lightning bolt.
[240] alius Lysippo: “anyone except Lysippus”. Lysippus was a famous 4th C. Greek sculptor. One of his famous works depicted Alexander armed with a spear. Lysippo is an ablative of comparison, a poetic usage according to A&G 407d.
duceret aera: ducere is used of sculpting (“fashioned”) elsewhere in Latin (e.g. Verg. Aen. 6.848 and Sen. Ep. 65.5; Brink ad loc. has an extensive note). Here aera is the accusative object = “bronzes / bronze objects” and is further modified by simulantia in the following line.
[241] fortis Alexandri vultum: vultum is the direct object of simulantia (“representing/depicting”). Busts of Alexander are found throughout the ancient Mediterranean (and beyond) and are notable for their similar hairstyles and tilt of the head.
quod si: “but if”. Horace concludes by contrasting Alexander’s taste in works of art to his taste in books of poetry (libros / haec Musarum dona).
[242] iudicium…artibus: “that judgment which was so discerning in viewing artworks”.
[244] Boeotum: this is a genitive plural form - take with crasso aere. Boeotia was considered to be a backwater (especially from the Athenian point of view) in spite of the fact that both Hesiod and Pindar were from this area. The French use the term béotien to denote poor artistic appreciation.
in crasso…aere: the idea that the air was thick and would lead to “thick-headed” individuals. As Brink ad loc. explains “climate explains national character”. In antiquity there was a large lake in Boeotia (Lake Copais) and much more marshland.
[245] Horace moves to Augustus’ own poets, Vergil and Varius, and the superlative quality of their works. Clearly Augustus is a better judge than Alexander in matters of poetry!
dedecorant: “disgrace, dishonor” the subject is Vergilius Variusque, delayed for emphasis.
tua de se iudicia: Augustus’ judgments about the poets is much better than Alexander’s iudicium (line 242).
[246] munera: Augustus provided Vergil and Varius with great gifts and largesse. Varius was said to have been paid 1,000,000 sesterces for his Thyestes, which was performed at Augustus’ triple triumph in 29 BCE.
multā dantis cum laude: such gifts brought honor to the giver, unlike the wasteful expenditures of Alexander (prodigus, 237).
[247] tibi: dative of agent (A&G 375). Vergilius Variusque: two of the most famous Augustan poets. Vergil had died in 19 BCE, leaving behind the Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid. It was said in antiquity that Vergil had been prodded to write the Aeneid as a way to praise Augustus through his ancestors. Varius, in addition to being a noted tragedian, was an epic poet in his own right and was tasked with editing the Aeneid after Vergil’s death (with Plotius Tucca).
[248] nec magis…quam: the idea that statues represent Augustus “no better than” the poetry of Varius and Vergil. There is also the idea that statues may be able to mimic the body, but poetry can give better insight into the mores and animi of great men.
per aenea signa: while this refers to bronze statues, there is probably wordplay with Vergil’s own Aeneid in the use of aenea here.
[249] per vatis opus: for opus used of a poetic work, see Verg. Aen. 7.45: maius opus moveo. Horace and Vergil had raised the term vates into the mot juste for the inspired poet (e.g. Hor. Epist. 1.7.11).
[250] nec sermones ego mallem …componere: mallem is potential subjunctive (A&G 447) and will take the quam as a way to distinguish the two types of poetry he would write. Horace speaks about his own preferences for writing more humble poetry and the sort of work for which he is suitable. He claims that he does not want to write epic or historical poems that celebrate Augustus’ deeds, although he does so in his fourth book of Odes and had a number of poems that praised Augustus in his first books (cf. C. 3.4).
[251] repentes per humum: modifies the sermones, hexameter poems in a more humble, plain style that does not aim for the lofty heights of the sublime.
res…gestas: this will be the title of Augustus’ autobiography. Such deeds will then be elaborated in the following lines. This feels like a quasi-recusatio (cf. C. 2.1) where Horace claims that he is not up for writing about war and historical events and proceeds to do so with aplomb.
[252] terrarumque situs et flumina: Although Horace did not write geographical works, there was a desire to know more about these issues at this time. Cf. Strabo’s Geography and the way such descriptions of lands and rivers could figure in historiography or even in triumphs (cf. Prop. 2.1.31-36.)
[252-3] arces / montibus impositas: “mountain fortifications”. Cf. C. 4.14.9-13. Supply dicere with this and the subsequent accusatives.
[253-4] tuisque / auspiciis: As Commander-in-Chief, Augustus is ultimately the source of all military activity and the buck stops with him. Although other generals would perform the religious rituals to garner the gods’ favor, Horace claims all such actions are ultimately those of Augustus (tuis).
totum…per orbem: Augustus was active in Spain, Gaul, Egypt, and Parthia during Horace’s life.
confecta duella: at C. 4.15.8, Horace imagines the pax Augusta and the temple of Janus closed because the world is devoid of such wars (duellis) - see subsequent note. The word itself is archaic, but Horace revives it as a synonym of bellum.
[255] claustra…cohibentia: the locks of Janus’ temple doors. cohibentia is taking the direct object Ianum (with custodem pacis in apposition). When the doors were closed, Rome was at peace (cf. Verg. Aen. 7.609-10 where he writes of opening the temple). Although the doors had been closed in 29 BCE (and Augustus makes much of his three closings of the temple gates in his Res Gestae, 2.42), in fact there was much military activity and expansion during Augustus’ rule.
[256] formidatam Parthis te principe Romam: “Rome having been dreaded by the Parthians while you are princeps”. An interesting line for multiple reasons. Augustus’ interactions with the Parthians involved the return of standards that had been lost by Crassus and a truce brokered in 20 BCE (cf. Epist. 1.12.27-8). In some ways this is a rephrasing of what he wrote in C. 1.2.51-2: neu sinas Medos equitare inultos /te duce, Caesar. Additionally, Brink notes (ad loc.) how the rhythm and word choice resembles Cicero’s infamous line o fortunatatm natam me consule Romam. Horace may be parodying Cicero for a reason - see below.
[257] si quantum cuperem possem quoque: Horace humbly claims that he is not able to do as he would like. si … possem acts like the protasis of a contrary-to-fact condition (A&G 517) with cuperem attracted into the subjunctive.
parvum: speaking to the Callimachean aesthetic that Horace espouses (C. 3.25.17, 4.2.31-2). Horace may be having a little fun because, of course, Augustus does value Horace’s poetry and is happy to be mentioned by him.
[258] maiestas…tua: Horace implies that Augustus’ majesty and power is just too big for the slim and refined poetry that he writes. Rudd (ad loc.) informs us that this is the first record of what will become “Your Majesty” in Western letters.
audet: for such daring in literary matters see Epist. 1.3.20.
[259] pudor: with meus in the previous line. C. 1.6.9 also features his sense of shame in tackling a particular poetic project.
quam: the antecedent is rem. Relative clause of characteristic (A&G 534).
vires: Horace claims he doesn’t have the [poetic] strength to report such epic and impressive matters. He will use similar language to describe this at Ars 38-40.
[260] sedulitas: “zeal, eager attention”. This can be misapplied.
stulte…urget: As Brink explains, “It is untimely and misplaced importunity that is censured, not inept fondness” (ad loc.). urget here has the sense of “troubles, vexes” (OLD 4).
[261] numeris: = “poetry” with the meter standing for the poem itself.
arte: sculpture or painting, recalling what he wrote earlier about the poets and artisans surrounding Alexander the Great.
[262] discit enim citius meminitque: the subject is aliquis. Notorious lines or poor poems bring ill-repute to the poet. Certain famous poor lines, including the Ciceronian line alluded to above (o fortunatam natam me consule Romam), could be lambasted for decades to come (Ars 452). Horace may be trying to rehabilitate Cicero's line through his allusion to it. As Rudd notes, it is a “sad comment on human nature” (ad loc.) that folks remember the bad and ignore what is positive (probat et veneratur in the following line).
[263] quam: take with citius in the previous line “than”.
[264] nil moror: “away with!” Horace uses this colloquial expression elsewhere at Sat. 1.4.13 and Epist. 1.15.16.
officium quod me gravat: Horace takes on Augustus’ role as someone who would receive statues or poems in his honor. Officium here stands in for sedulitas now, and it can annoy or trouble the recipient when it results in bad representations (see the infamous bust of Christiano Ronaldo).
[265] proponi: passive infinitive with opto in the following line “to be displayed”.
in peius: “for the worse” (A&G 221) - its position between ficto/voltu helps to indicate that it should be taken with this poorly rendered visage.
cereus: a wax image or bust of Horace. Metonomy of the material for the bust itself and, as Brink notes, it should be taken as a predicate (i.e. “to be displayed in wax”). One can imagine busts of Augustus proliferating at this time, and there are also examples of busts of poets in personal and public libraries (see Martial 9.praef.3-4).
[266] prave factis…versibus: like the carmine foedo above (236). Horace’s larger point about the poorly conceived old-fashioned early Latin poets would also be recalled.
decorari: there were famous poems about other poets from Caesar’s praise of Terence (puri sermonis amator) to Ovid’s lament for Tibullus (Am. 3.9).
[267] ne rubeam: negative purpose clause (A&G 531).
pingui donatus munere: “having been presented with a coarse gift”. Pinguis can have positive connotations, but here is negative (OLD 7b “coarse, clumsy”). An Augustan reader might remember the warning of Apollo to Vergil to raise fat flocks (pinguis ovis) but keep one’s poetry slender (Ecl. 6.4-5).
unā: “together with, at the same time as”
[268] capsa porrectus operta: a capsa was a book-box, but it could also be used to carry discarded paper to the market for other uses (see below). Porrectus can be used to indicate a dead body, so the idea (cited from antiquity) is that “the hero is imagined ‘stretched out’ (like a corpse) in the botched verses of the poem” (Brink ad loc.).
[269] in vicum: probably the vicus Tuscus, a neighborhood where such wares were sold. Cf. Sat. 2.3.228 for another mention of it in the work of Horace. odores: probably herbs or aromatic incense. They must indicate dry good to be wrapped in the discarded papyrus.
[270] chartis…ineptis: Catullus regarded the verses of Volusius as future wrapping for fish (Cat. 95.7-8), and these waste-papers will serve a similar purpose for herbs and spices (at least these smell good?). The funeral imagery of these final lines contrast with the immortality good poets should expect and the sort of immortal poetry that Augustus deserves (it must be fitting for a god or hero, as the opening of the Epistle implies).

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