Hoc totum e Coa veste volumen erit; Seu quicquid fecit, sive est quodcumque locuta, Quod mihi si tantum, Mæcenas, fata dedissent, Non Non veteres Thebas, nec Pergama, nomen Homeri, Regnave prima Remi, aut animos Carthaginis altæ, IO Premat. Comprimat manus, easque chordis imprimat,' Kuinoel, absurdly. Of the two interpretations here combined, the latter appears the true one. II Kuinoel reads somnus from the MS. Gron. in defence of poscentes quoting iv. 10, 12. 'Surge, et poscentes justa precare deos,' i. e. poscentes invocari. 17 Had nature given me the talent of writing epic poetry, I should not have selected mythological subjects for my theme, but the exploits of Cæsar, and your connexion with them.'-heroas manus, i.e. heroum copias, which the poet himself is said ducere in arma by singing of their achievements. A similar figure occurs in Horace, Od. ii. 1, 17. ΤΟ 15 20 20 The MSS. vary between impositum and impositam. Lachmann alone has preferred the latter, which, being the more obvious construction, is probably due to a correction. Understand Ossam montem, as Ossa is feminine in Ovid, Am. ii. 1, 14, quoted by Lachmann. 22 There is truth in Hertzberg's remark, that bina coisse vada cannot possibly signify the union of two continents by a bridge over the Hellespont, since vada would here stand for litora, which is absurd. He understands it therefore of the canal said to have been cut through Athos, Herod. vii. 21, quoting Juven. x. 173. 'creditur olim velificatus Athos.' 24 Benefacta Mari, тà кaλŵs ñeπрауμéva, the victory of Marius over Bellaque, resque tui memorarem Cæsaris, et tu Nam quotiens Mutinam, aut civilia busta Philippos, 25 30 Aut canerem Cyprum et Nilum, cum tractus in urbem Aut regum auratis circumdata colla catenis, Et sumpta et posita pace the Cimbri, and his other military and political achievements. Similarly Tac. Ann. iii. 40. majorum bona facta.' The 27 Civilia busta, ubi sepulti jacent tot cives. Compare patriæ sepulcra' i. 22, 3.-classica bella, i. e. navalia. He alludes to the defeat of Pompey by Octavian off the coast of Sicily, A. U. C. 718. Hor. Epod. ix. 7, ‘ut nuper, actus cum freto Neptunius dux fugit ustis navibus,' &c. An event at which it would seem from Epod. i. 1-4, that Mæcenas was present. 29 Focos Etruscæ gentis. siege of Perusia. See on i. 21-2. 30 Hertzberg is probably right in reading Ptolemaei, on the analogy of Ομήρειος from "Ομηρος, Πτολεμαίειος from Пroλeμaios. Jacob gives Ptolemaea, Lachmann Ptolemæëæ. Compare Menelaeus, iii. 6, 14. The MSS. agree in the masculine form, in defence of which Hertzberg quotes Alexandrini Phari from Suet. Claud. 20. The capture of Alexandria by Augustus is the historical event alluded to. See Hor. Od. iv. 14, 35. 31 Cyprum is the reading of Hertzberg from MS. Gron. Kuinoel and Jacob give Egyptum from the ed. fidele caput. 35 Rheg. The Naples MS. has cyptum, which is about equally in favour of both. 'Cyprum inter titulos triumphi referri ne mireris: hanc provinciam Antonius Cleopatra gratificatus regno Egyptiaco addiderat, non sine maxima sui invidia. Testes Plutarch. Anton. 36, 54. Strabo xiv. 6, extr.'—Hertzberg. The metaphor of the Nile enchained, and dragged to Rome as a captive with its seven mouths, is a happy one, expressive of Egypt being reduced to a Roman province by Augustus. Compare Ovid, Fast. i. 286. Tradiderat famulas jam tibi Rhenus aquas.' 33 Reges, ante currum triumphalem ducti-intelliguntur qui Antonio Bruto Sexto Pompeio et aliis Augusti hostibus faverant.' Kuinoel. 34 The prows or rather the beaks of ships destroyed in the battle of Actium seem to have been carried in the triumphal procession along the Via Sacra to the Capitol. 35 In celebrating the above exploits, the poet declares that his Muse should inweave the name of Mæcenas, as having taken an active part in them: but whether merely by his counsels, or by having been Theseus infernis, superis testatur Achilles, Sed neque Phlegræos Jovis Enceladique tumultus Nec mea conveniunt duro præcordia versu Cæsaris in Phrygios condere nomen avos. Enumerat miles vulnera, pastor oves. Qua pote quisque, in ea conterat arte diem. personally present in some of the engagements, as Kuinoel thinks, it is not easy to decide, in the absence of direct historical testimony. So 37 Having alluded to the fidelity of Mæcenas to his friend and patron Augustus, the poet passes by a somewhat abrupt transition to illustrate it by the example of Theseus and Pirithous, Achilles and Patroclus. We must therefore simply supply sic before testatur, the sense being, Theseus makes Pirithous a witness to his friendship among the shades below, and Achilles makes Patroclus among those on earth.' It is probable that this distich was added as an afterthought by way of compliment to Mæcenas, and that it was intended to illustrate the double relation of the friend to the patron, et sumpta et posita pace, by instances of fidelity apud infernos et superos; a clumsy and pointless comparison, it must be admitted. In the short verse, it will be observed that the usual rule in the use of hic and ille is violated from the necessity of the metre. See iii. 13, 33; iv. 14, 18. 39 But, as Callimachus, whom I propose to myself as a model, had not lungs enough (so to say) to thunder 40 45 forth the battle of the giants, so neither have I the genius to treat of Julius a magno demissum nomen Iulo.' (Virg. Æn. i. 288.)- Nomen condere in avos est, Cæsaris nomen ad Trojanorum gentem transferre, et celebrare inde a prima gentis origine." Kuinoel.- Celebrando Augusti nomen usque in Phrygios avos carmine ascendere,' Hertzberg: i.e. to trace it back till lost in the dim obscure of antiquity.-duro versu is opposed to molli, epic contrasted with elegiac, as has been pointed out on i. 9, 13. 41 The personal use of convenio is deserving of notice. The ordinary construction would be convenit præcordiis. 45 The construction, according to Hertzberg, is, nos contra (narramus) versantes &c., the accusative versantes depending on a verb implied in enumerat, v. 44. This, though rather harsh, is better than cutting the knot by reading versamus with Pucci and Kuinoel.-Qua pote. See on iv. 7, 10. 47 In this verse the poet anticipates an objection which he feels will be raised against his profession of an amatory poet, and maintains that there is credit in an attachment which, like his own, is constant to Posse frui. Fruar o solus amore meo! Et totam ex Helena non probat Iliada. Colchis Iolciacis urat aëna focis: 50 Seu mihi Circæo pereundum est gramine, sive 55 Una meos quoniam prædata est femina sensus, one object. For uno Hertzberg reads uni, and explains the sense thus: 'Pulchrum est, in amore mori, pulchrum hoc quoque, si contingat ut æmulis remotis unus fruaris amore; quod ut mihi contingat non modo opto, sed futurum esse etiam spero.' This is not improbable; but I cannot enter into his elaborate objections to uno, the sense being sufficiently simple, it is likewise a credit, if a man is privileged to have one and not more than one love.' It is something to boast of, that is, to keep the object of your affection exclusively to yourself. And he proceeds in v. 49 to extol Cynthia's fidelity to him. 50 Ex Helena, di' 'Eλévŋv. She does not approve of the whole of the Iliad, in consequence of Helen's character as therein depicted. 51-6 'Ne efficacissimis quidem veneficarum potationibus adigar ut dominam prodam. Moriar potius, dum ultra vires resisto, quam seduci me patiar. Nam contra amorem бо Venere irata pertinaciter obnitentibus mortem certam futuram omnis antiquítas credidit.'—Hertzberg. 54 The MSS. reading Colchiacis appears to me so intolerable, that I have here followed Lachmann in admitting Scaliger's correction.—urat aena, i. e. subjecto igne calefaciat, ad me recoquendum et renovandum.— Barth. So 'urit officinas' Hor. Od. i. 4, 8. 56 Ex hac domo. Latet, quod nemo sensit, in hujus amplexu moriar.'-Hertzberg. 57-62 The general sense is, 'All maladies may be cured but love.' For the particular instances adduced, see Ovid. Met. xiii. 329; viii. 307. Deus Epidaurius is Esculapius, who restored Androgeos, son of Minos king of Crete, to life, with some others, for which he was punished by Jupiter. See on Esch. Agam. 992. Propertius is the only writer who records this legend of Androgeos. Mysus et Hæmonia juvenis qua cuspide volnus Tantaleæ poterit tradere poma manu. Brachia, et a medio pectore pellet avem. 63 Mysus juvenis, Telephus, who was wounded by Achilles, and afterwards cured by the rust from his brazen spear, according to Pliny, N. H. xxv. 5, quoted by Kuinoel. 66 The MSS. have Tantalea, which both Jacob and Hertzberg retain, though the latter strongly approves the conjecture of Beroaldus, Tantalea; and this Barth, Lachmann, and Kuinoel have admitted. The error naturally arose from the copyists misunderstanding the contracted form of the dative manu: see on i. 11, 12. Nevertheless, the frequent use which Propertius makes of the ablative under the most unusual conditions renders it possible that the vulgate may be right, and may signify ita tradere ut ponantur in manu. Compare 'cum temere anguino creditur ore manus,' v. 8, 10. The sense in either case is clear: he who can cure me of love, can also put the apples in the hand of Tantalus, and fill the leaking tubs of the Danaids with their urns.' 6 73 Hertzberg and Jacob read pars 65 70 75 invidiosa with the MS. Groning., Kuinoel and Lachmann give spes from the Naples MS. and the ed. Rheg. I think Hertzberg gives a satisfactory explanation: nostra juventa erit Romana;-pars autem invidiosa juventæ Romanæ, invidia dignus juvenis Romanus Mæcenas dicitur, ut pars militiæ, pars imperii.' (i. 21, 4; ib. 6. 34.) The use of invidiosus in a good sense may be illustrated by Esch. Ag. 912, ó d' ἀφθόνητός γ ̓ οὐκ ἐπίζηλος πέλει. Allusion is at the same time intended to the Equites, who were distinctively called juvenes, and to whom Mæcenas prided himself in belonging. Compare iv. 9, 1. Mæcenas, eques Etrusco de sanguine regum.' Hor. Od. iii. 16, 20. Mæcenas, Equitum decus.' 76 Esseda Britanna, for Britannica, as Liburna for Liburnica, iv. 11, 44. Juno Pelasga iii. 20, 11. Inda for Indica, iv. 13. 5. esseda were properly the Celtic war-chariots, which were introduced at Rome for the purposes of travelling, with certain modifications from their |