[1] Urbis amatorem: Fuscus’ love of the city, contrasted with Horace’s love of the country would recall the famous description of the city mouse vs. the country mouse in S. 2.6.
Fuscum: We know of Aristius Fuscus primarily through Horace’s poems and he appears to be a learned friend and, as we learn here, a veritable twin of Horace in all things (except their ideas of country/city).
salvere: A typical greeting.
[2] ruris amatores: The position in the line shows the parallels between their affection for the city and country and one will note that the letters (except b and middle r) are the same. This stresses their similarities to one another.
hac in re...una: This is the only issue about which they disagree.
[3] multum dissimiles: The adverb multum here modifying the adjective.
cetera: Accusative plural used adverbially “in other respects” (OLD 4).
gemelli: Fuscus and Horace are veritable twin brothers.
[4] alter, et alter: Although here separated into singulars in the following line they are united in their affirmations. As Oliensis states, "The emphatic rhetoric of twinship (the matching tags for sender and addressee, the doubled quid and alter of line 4) underscores Horace's assertion of amicable parity" (1998: 167).
[5] annuimus pariter: Nodding in tandem reminds Horace of the characteristic movements of turtledoves (columbi).
vetuli notique columbi: Horace once again identifies himself as old (vetuli) although he is only in his mid-40s. They are very familiar with one another (noti).
[6] nidum servas: Because Fuscus loves to stay in the city, he is said to “watch over the nest”. While there may be some feminization of Fuscus in this metaphor, in fact both male and female doves will tend to the nest.
ruris amoeni / rivos: Horace sketches praiseworthy aspects of the natural world. Interestingly, he uses amoenus to describe the countryside (Ars 17, Ep. 1.16.15) as well as cities (Baiae at Ep. 1.1.83, Surrentum at Ep. 1.17.52).
[7] musco circumlita saxa: Horace’s only use of muscus and circumlinere in his corpus.
nemus: The woods are not modified, but are a common goal for poets tired of the hullabaloo of the city, cf. Ep. 2.2.77: scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbem “the whole throng of writers loves the woods and flees the city”.
[8] quid quaeris?: A colloquial expression which introduces a concluding statement. “What more can I say?” (OLD 8c).
vivo et regno: “I truly live and am self-sufficient”. Both verbs are emphatically used to stress Horace’s independence and vitality when he is in the country. Regno resonates with the various questions about kingship introduced at Ep. 1.1.59-60, 1.1.107, cf. Ep. 1.18.107.
simul: Usually takes a perfect or historical present indicative (A&G 543) and indicates that this has occurred before the main clause (vivo et regno).
[9] quae: the antecedent is ista in the previous line.
vos: not just Fuscus, but others “city-folk” like him (and lovers of the city like the bailiff of Horace’s farm in Ep. 1.14).
ad caelum fertis: “to praise greatly” [lit. “raise to the sky”] (OLD 11c).
rumore secundo: “with favorable speech”. Cf. V. Aen. 8.90: ergo iter inceptum celerant rumore secundo.
[10] utque: Introducing a simile. Horace compares himself to a slave who has run away from a priest’s household. He longs for simple country bread, not the sweet cakes of the priest’s house. Horace too has had his fill of the pleasures of the city.
liba: A libum was a sacrificial cake usually made of honey, grain, and olive oil. Cato the Elder provides a recipe. The priest’s slave would have access to his fill of such fare.
[11] pane: Ablative with egeo (A&G 356 notes that egeo takes both an ablative and genitive). This bread symbolizes a need to get back to basics.
mellitis potiore placentis: potiore modifies pane and has the sense of “more desirable/preferable” (OLD 5) with the ablative of comparison mellitis...placentis (A&G 406). These flat honey-cakes (placenta) are also mentioned by Horace at S. 2.8.24. The use of comparatives from this point forward in the poem stresses the different points of view and the side that Horace is trying to support in his defense of the country.
[12] Horace begins a new section by exploiting the Stoic idea of “living according to nature” and, with some humor, aligning it with the simple (“natural”) life in the country.
vivere naturae...convenienter: See Cic. Off. 3.13: quod summum bonum a Stoicis dicitur convenienter naturae vivere (“The Stoics say the highest good is to live according to nature”). convenienter will be picked up later in this poem at line 42 (conveniet).
[13] ponendaeque domo: The dative gerundive pondendae agrees with domo (Mayer 1994 ad loc. remarks that poets avoided datives in -ui). The two gerundives in this line rather humorously pick up on the sense of necessity implicit in oportet in the previous line.
quaerenda est area: The use of quaerere resonates with quid quaeris above (line 9). area here = “building site” (OLD 1c).
[14] potiorem: Recalling potiore above (line 11), which lines the two sections of the poem and gives the sense that the pleasure of the country are also spiritual and philosophical.
rure beato: The countryside is not only pleasing (amoenus), but also a “rich” realm, just not in those riches of the city, cf. Ep. 1.6.47, Ep. 1.14.10, and Ep. 2.1.139: agricolae prisci, fortes parvoque beati.
[15] est ubi: Horace catalogues the pleasures of the countryside. If we trust Horace, in the country, winters are warmer, summers are cooler, and one has fewer cares. The phrase takes a generic subjunctive, hence tepeant, leniat, etc. See Brink 1982: ad 63 for discussion of indicative vs. subjunctive in est ubi phrases and Fraenkel 1957 on the way such anaphora “indicates strong emotion” (348).
plus: = magis
[16] rabiem Canis et momenta Leonis: Two ways to speak about the “dog days” of summer. The rising of the Dogstar coincides with the constellation Leo in late July. rabies suits Canis (Ep. 2.2.75) and momenta probably indicates the “movements” (Ep. 1.6.4) of a warmed-up Leo, although it can indicate “influence/force” (OLD 8).
[17] cum semel accepit: Paralleling line 9 above, but here semel = “once”. accipio can mean “receive (a blow)” (OLD 7) as the constellation Leo is pictured being pierced by the rays of the sun and thus becoming fierce (furibundus) - would this be known, in part, from beast hunts (venationes)?
furibundus: take as predicate. The influence of the sun makes the lion rage. Cf. C. 3.29.19: stella vesani Leonis.
[18] divellat somnos minus: take minus with divellat. The strong verbal action implied in devellere indicates how one’s anxiety can cause insistent, punishing, and forceful insomnia. See C. 3.1.21-24 for the secure sleep of rustics.
invida cura: The problem of invidia is stressed at numerous points in the Epistles (1.2.37, 1.2.57-58, 1.17.51) and here the adjective is applied to cura (cf. C. 1.11.7-8: invida aetas) to indicate how such anxiety can be figured as being “jealous” of sleep, i.e. it wants Horace’s attention and begrudges sleep’s ability to alleviate such cares (cf. S. 2.7.114: iam somno fallere curam). Anxieties (curae) of one sort or another appear in many Epistles (e.g. 1.2.48, 1.3.26, 1.3.30).
[19] Libycis...lapillis: Roman mosaics often featured imported marble from Africa and the small tesserae were organized into geometric or figurative scenes. Especially prized was the yellow-hued marble from Numidia. The tessellated pavements of Roman houses could be polished and scented with perfume or wine (Lucr. 2.416, Prop. 4.1.16), but Horace implies that grass was naturally brighter and more fragrant.
[20] purior...aqua: While much of the water that traveled through pipes in Rome was brought from aqueducts originating in the country, Horace questions whether it is “purer” than that in country streams.
in vicis: “in the streets”.
tendit rumpere: The water is slightly personified as it strives to burst the pipe. rumpere is a complementary infinitive. Such an action seems to be part of nature’s general modus operandi (see line 25). For a famous pipe-bursting simile, see Ovid’s story of Pyramus and Thisbe, esp. Met. 4.121-24.
plumbum: lead pipes were common and, even in antiquity, their health hazards were noted (Vitr. 8.6.10-11).
[21] quam: Used with the comparative purior (A&G 407) to compare the two waters.
per pronum...rivum: pronus with the sense of “downhill”. If above (line 6-7), Horace writes of praising such rivos, here he shows that these waters have health benefits. Vitruvius mentions that running waters from foot of mountains usually was best in taste and purity (Vitr. 8.1.2).
trepidat: the flickering light on the water as it rushes downhill makes it seem to tremble. Cf. C. 2.3.11-12: quid obliquo laborat / lympha fugax trepidare rivo? (“Why does the rushing water strive to rush in its winding banks?”). Horace’s sensitive perception of water is often on display, cf. the famous C. 3.13 about Fons Bandusiae and the remarks of Nisbet and Rudd 2004: ad loc.
cum murmure: An onomatopoeia commonly used for flowing water, cf. Verg. Aen. 1.245, Ovid Met. 2.455.
[22] nempe: After asking a rhetorical question, Horace supplies the answer with some irony. Natural features in city homes are often praised (laudatur, 23), but the “real” thing is that much better and nature will “win” in the end (victrix, 25).
inter varias...columnas: The exotic marble columns of the courtyard of homes can have colorful veins and patterns (varias). The grove (silva) is placed between the varias...columnas to mimic its appearance to the viewer who sees the greenery between such columns in a peristyle. The Getty Villa and the Villa Poppaea give a nice idea of the lush gardens that could be seen in the aula of rich villas.
silva: the garden or “grove” in the villa. This “counterfeit” nature foreshadows the counterfeit dyes in the following section.
[23] laudaturque domus: The house with a good view of the natural world is praised, whereas Horace praises nature itself (6).
quae: the antecedent is domus.
longos...agros: Much like the herds in Ep. 1.8.6 (longinquis...in agris). Far-off fields would imply that the home is built on a hilltop or a picturesque locale, such as Tibur for Hadrian’s Villa.
[24] naturam expellas furca: furca is a pitchfork and the expression expellere furca is proverbial (Cic. Att. 16.2.4; Cat. 105.2). The subjunctive should be taken concessively - the tamen hints at this - (A&G 440) “Although you may…”. Other editors capitalize Naturam which personifies nature even more and adds a sinister note as furca can also be a cross on which to hang (OLD 2c) or torture someone (OLD 3).
usque recurret: It will always return. recurrere is used of the constellations (Epod. 5.75) or the seasons (Ep. 2.1.147) - this reclamation is also natural and inevitable. See his description of the destructive growth of a wild fig tree (Epod. 5.17), cf. Pers. 1.25, Juv. 10.144-46.
[25] mala...fastidia: Acc. plural. The “wicked disdain” of the city lovers who belittle the natural world.
perrumpet: much like the way the water bursts pipes (line 20), so nature will prevail over such attitudes.
furtim: sonically recalling fur-ca above and paradoxically modifying perrumpet, which implies a more emphatic action.
victrix: A strong concluding word. Nature will always be victorious.
[26] The next section features a comparison between someone who does not know real from counterfeit dyes (the ancient Roman parallel to knock-off Gucci bags). We need to be able to make such distinctions about what is more important in our lives, and not just monetary matters.
non: take with accipiet (line 28).
Sidonio...ostro: Dative as part of the "comparison" (contendere) being made between the “real” purple and the “fake” made in Aquinum. The valuable purple dye made from murex associated with Phoenicia (Sidon was a the most powerful coastal city, known for its purple dye, glass-blowing, and fishing).
contendere callidus: Take callidus adverbially (Mayer 1994: ad loc. helpfully notes that callide is impossible metrically in the hexameter). contendere: “to bring into comparison, to contrast” (OLD 9) with accusative and dative.
[27] Aquinatem...fucum: This inferior Italian dye may have been made from a lichen that grew in the area (Greenough 1887: ad loc.). It is the accusative direct object of the present active participle potantia.
potantia vellera: The wool “drinks up”/”absorbs” (OLD 5) this dye. One wonders if the “watery” name of the town (Aquinum) as well as Horace’s interest in water in this poem led to his use of this particular counterfeit dye.
[28] certius...damnum: accusative direct object of accipiet. The neuter comparative adjective certius will ultimately be responsible for the quam in the following line (A&G 407) to compare the two men.
accipiet: he will not (non, line 26) receive a worse loss (although it will be great) than the man who cannot tell true from false more generally.
propiusve medullis: supply damnum. The loss will both be unmistakable and close to the heart (medulla, OLD 2b).
[29] quam qui: The other man who is unable to distinguish true from false more generally will suffer even worse consequences. Horace, obviously, is trying to encourage us, through his poetry, to be able to make this important distinction (e.g. Ep. 1.16.38-39).
[30] Horace provides some ready examples of those who do not distinguish between true/false appropriately.
res...secundae: “prosperity/success” (secundus OLD 4b).
plus nimio: “much too much” with nimio as the degree of difference (A&G 414). Take with delectavere. Cf. C. 1.18.15, 1.33.1 for parallels in Horace and think of the general idea of the Golden Mean (C. 2.10) and nihil nimis (Cic. Fin. 3.73).
delectavere: Syncopated 3rd person plural perfect active indicative. Common in poetry.
[31] mutatae: When prosperity is lost, this man will be shaken to his core.
quatient: Cf. C. 3.3.3-4: non vultus instantis tyranni / mente quatit solida.
si quid: After si, nisi, num, and ne all the ali-s drop away.
mirabere: Alternative -ere for -eris ending of the 2nd person singular future passive indicative. The sense of wonder here should be paralleled with Horace’s admonition in Ep. 1.6.1: nil admirari and C.3.29.11-12: omitte mirari beatae / fumum et opes strepitumque Romae (“stop wondering at the smoke, wealth, and din of blessed Rome”). This passage also foreshadows his next piece of advice.
pones: simple form for depones “to abandon, give up (something)” (OLD 8).
[32] invitus: Effective enjambment of the adjective. It should be taken adverbially.
fuge magna: These great things are implicitly identified with the city, if Horace is to be compared to a fugitivus (10). Ovid will adapt this at Tr. 3.4.4: vive tibi et longe nomina magna fuge.
sub paupere tecto: While Horace would probably include his Sabine estate, it is clear it was not a “poor” dwelling. This passage is reminiscent of Evander’s words to Aeneas at Verg. Aen. 8.364-65: aude, hospes, contemnere opes et te quoque dignum / finge deo, rebusque veni non asper egenis as well as the old man of Corcycus in the Georgics who regum aequabat opes animis (G. 4.132). It spurs the fable and Horace ties the fable into this phrase with pauperiem (line 39).
[33] reges et regum...amicos: The poor will outstrip the regal rich in quality of life (vita). While rex does not have to indicate “king” per se, the idea is someone rich and powerful - Horace himself might be considered an amicus regis in his relationship with Augustus. The question of what makes a rex has been asked in numerous previous Epistles, cf. 1.1.59, 107.
praecurrere: “to surpass” (OLD 4). Take with licet in the previous line.
[34] A fable to help make the point as at Ep. 1.1.73-75 and 1.7.29-33. The fact that it involves a horse may recall the racehorse of Ep. 1.1.8-9. If the basic message is “Be careful what you wish for”, it also stresses themes of freedom, competition (esp. the “zero-sum” ethos that seems to pervade Roman thought), poverty vs. riches, and the possible dangers of the patron/client relationship. This fable gives the title to a famous piece by F. Ahl about the problematics of writing poetry in the Empire (“The Rider and the Horse: Politics and Power in Rome Poetry from Horace to Statius” ANRW 32.2: 40-124).
cervus: The fable of the stag and horse was attributed first to Steisichorus by Aristotle (Rhet. 2.20), cf. Phaed. 4.4.
pugna melior: pugna is ablative of respect with melior. The stag is the superior fighter because of its horns.
communibus herbis: Ablative of separation (A&G 401) with pellebat. The herba may recall line 19 above.
[35] minor: i.e. the horse.
in certamine longo: this makes their “battle” over pasturage seem like an epic contest.
[36] opes hominis: opes in the sense of “help/aid” (OLD 5).
[37] victor violens: The horse, now victorious, is given an epithet “vehement”. There seems to have been a change from minor to his new (hubristic?) position.
discessit ab hoste: i.e.after the battle is won and he has departed from the battle ground.
[38] equitum dorso: Supply depulit. The rider has effectively tamed the horse and will be able to use the horse for his own purposes now.
depulit: The verb recalls the action the initial action of the stag vs. the horse (pellebat, line 35).
[39] sic: Stressing the comparison.
veritus: Perfect active participle of vereor taking pauperiem as its direct object.
potiore metallis: take potiore with libertate in the following line. Ablative because careo takes the ablative (A&G 401). Metallis is ablative of comparison and this construction mimics line 11 above with mellitis potiore placentis. While metallum here probably should mean “precious metals”, it can be used of anything mined or quarried from gold to marble to sulphur (OLD 2).
[40] libertate caret: libertas is a major concern of the Epistles (Ep.1.1.69, 1.1.107, 1.16.66, 1.19.21) and, in Horace’s estimation, certainly should not be lost merely because of poverty. See McCarter 2015: passim.
dominum vehit: The client who asks his patron for monetary help has given up his freedom and must carry/sustain his master like the horse carries the rider.
improbus: “in his greed” or “because of his shamelessness”. A strong word of censure for the individual who does this.
[41] serviet: used absolutely.
aeternum: adv. “Forever”
parvo: ablative with uti (A&G 410). To be content with little is a common Horatian trope, e.g. S. 2.2.110, C. 3.29.14.
nesciet: the future parallels serviet. He will always be a slave because he will not understand how to live within his (slender) means.
[42] cui: conditional relative sentence (A&G 519) - Future More Vivid, hence conveniet is in the future but you can translate it as a present indicative.
conveniet: impersonal use + dat. (cui) = “ befits”. The verb looks back to convenienter in line 12 above.
ut calceus: Figurative language that is still operative ( “if the shoe fits...”), but one has control over the mindset with which to view one’s means/circumstances (sua res).
olim: “on occasion” (OLD 4, which notes it is often used in this way in similes).
[43] pede maior: Although not following the theme of the poem (having too much money does not seem to be the problem), it makes this simile speak more generally about being happy with one’s condition, whether rich or poor, and boldly suggests that too much money will be just as problematic.
minor: Verbally recalling the horse earlier (line 35).
uret: Tight shoes “chafe” (OLD 10), but not having enough money may cause one “to burn or smart with resentment, jealousy, grief, anxiety, etc…” (OLD 7).
[44] laetus sorte tua: Take conditionally “if you are content with your lot”. One should be happy with what one has and the present circumstances (cf. C. 2.16.25, 3.29.42, Ep. 1.7.39). Country vs. city seems to be in the background now, but Horace himself will be laetus with the final word of the poem (and in a decidedly rustic setting).
vives sapienter: Contentment will allow one to live “as a wise man should” (Shuckburgh 1899: ad loc.).
[45] incastigatum: “uncorrected” (only found here in Latin). If Fuscus is a grammarian, he will be used to correct the works of others, including Horace (see Ars 174, 294), but here it is moral improvement that matters. Horace effectively tasks Fuscus with giving the same sort of advice that he has been offering to Horace in case he backslides.
plura: take with cogere quam satis est in the following line.
[46] cogere: “collect, raise (money)” (cf. C. 3.3.51). Horace himself may try to acquire more of a fortune than he needs and not practice what he preaches.
non cessare: “and not to rest/take a vacation” (OLD 4). Similar uses are found at Ep. 1.7.57, 2.2.183.
[47] imperat aut servit: The subject is collecta pecunia, which can act as master or slave.
cuique: Dative because the verbs take the dative (A&G 367).
[48] Money should be the slave, not the leader. The metaphor is from leading an animal by means of a rope or leash.
tortum...funem: torquere means “to twist tightly (to form a thread or rope)” (OLD 1).
digna sequi: digna modifies collecta pecunia. For the infinitive with adjectives (in poetry), see A&G 461 and Ep. 1.3.35.
ducere: supply digna.
[49] dictabam: an example of the epistolary imperfect (A&G 479) which “may be used for the present...as if the letter were dated at the time it is supposed to be received”. Horace employs this tense to emphasize the action of dictating this letter.
post fanum putre Vacunae: Horace is pictured dictating the letter to his secretary in the country by his Sabine estate. There may have been a dilapidated shrine to the Sabine goddess Vacuna near his villa. Vacuna may have associations with Victory (and thus the shrine’s decaying state would imply that the victories of the rich and powerful are not lasting), but it is also possible that Vacuna is chosen because of her associations with idleness and free time (vacare).
[50] excepto quod: “except that” with excepto the ablative absolute of excipio (OLD 3b).
simul: “together with me”.
cetera: the neuter plural form used as an adverb as at line 3 above.
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