Nova see Ovid, Met. i. Virgil, Ecl. vi. Juvenal, Sat. i. 81. monstra. Strange marvels.] 7. Proteus. A sea deity, supposed to have the power of self-transformation, and to be the keeper of Neptune's herds, the sea monsters of every kind. See Homer, Odyss. iv. 386. Virgil, Georg. iv. 395.] 9. Ulmo. Ovid has a similar conceit: "Hic piscem summa deprendet in ulmo." Met. i. 296.] An 10. Columbis. Bentley would read palumbis, on the ground that "Dî patrii, Indigetes, et Romule, Vestaque mater, 15. Monumenta regis. The palace of Numa was built at the foot of the Palatine Hill, where the temple of Vesta stood. Hence Ovid "Hic locus exiguus qui sustinet Atria Vestæ Tunc erat intonsi regia magna Numæ."— Fast. vi. 26. These were burnt down in the fire of Nero. Tacit. Annals, xv. 41.] 16. Templaque Vestæ. So called from the Greek Εστία, as the guardian of the sacred fire, which could not be extinguished without danger to the city. The hearth in this temple, like that of the Prytaneum, seems to have been held most sacred, as in private dwellings it was accounted the haunt of the Lar, and the domestic altar. Compare Cicero: "Vesta focus urbis."-De Leg. ii. 29. See Arnold on Thucydides, ii. 74.] 17. Iliæ. Ilia (or Rhea Sylvia, which Niebuhr would correct rea the guilty), the mother of Romulus and Remus, was thrown into the Anio by command of Amulius. As the Anio flows into the Tiber, the poet, by the same bold figure which has given life to so much of the ancient mythology, represents Ilia as married to the god of the latter river.] Nimium querenti. Too plaintively mourning: for the death, that is, of her relative Julius Cæsar. Some join nimium as an adverb with jactat, others with ultorem, "too fierce an avenger;" but the collocation of words makes the first meaning preferable.] 18. Sinistra ripa. The Roman side of the river; the left as it flowed.] 19. Jove non probante. Jupiter is represented as reserving the office of avenger for Augustus, and refusing it to the marital tenderness of Tiberinus.] 22. Graves Persæ. Formidable. The defeat of Crassus and disgraceful retreat of M. Antony had made the Parthians to be dreaded by their baffled invaders. Horace uses the terms Medi, Persæ, Parthi indiscriminately; since the empire of the East had passed from the Medes to the Persians under Cyrus, B. C. 259, and from them to the Parthians under Arsaces, B. C. 250. Compare the anticipation of future triumph in III. Carm. v. 3.: 24. Rara juventus. Diminished in numbers by the sanguinary conflicts of the civil wars.] 26. Fatigent. This expression may remind us of the parable in which the efficacy of persevering prayer is exemplified by the resolution of an unjust judge: 'Ekdiкhow αὐτὴν ἵνα μὴ εἰς τέλος ἐρχομένη ὑπωπιάζῃ με. Luke, xviii. 5.] 27. Virgines sanctæ. The Vestal virgins, at first four, and afterwards eight in number, were the guardians of the sacred fire (see note, i. 16), and were counted holy from their vow of perpetual virginity.] Minus audientem. By virtue of his office of Pontifex Maximus, J. Cæsar had been the High Priest of the goddess. Hence her complaint in Ovid— "Ne dubita, meus ille fuit, meus ille sacerdos ; Sacrilega telis me petiere manus."-Fast. iii. 699.] 28. Carmina. Set forms of supplication bore this title, if prescribed by law and sanctioned by custom.] 29. Scelus expiandi. The guilt of the civil war, to be expiated not by punishments or proscriptions, but by the union of all parties against the common enemy. Tate compares Tacitus: "Truces etiam tum animos cupido involat, eundi in hostem, piaculum furoris : nec aliter posse placari commilitonum manes, quam si pectoribus impiis honesta vulnera accepissent." - Ann. i. 49.] 31. Nube. Thus Homer veils his deities: Αλλά τις ἄγχι Εστηκ ̓ ἀθανάτων, νεφέλῃ εἰλύμενος ὤμους. — Il. v. 186.] 32. Augur Apollo, Apollo is invoked as the god of divination and one of the presiding deities of the mother city, Troy. Perhaps, also, because Octavianus delighted to be compared to this god. See Serv. on Virgil :— "Casta fave Lucina: tuus jam regnat Apollo."-Ecl. iv. 10. See Notes and Introduction, I. Carm. xxi.] 33. Erycina. Venus, as the mother of Æneas, and, in him, of the Julian family. Her worship was transferred from Mount Eryx in Sicily, to a temple at Rome, outside the Colline gate, See Virgil, En. v. 759. Ridens is in Greek poμμeidńs.] 34. Quam Jocus. The attendants of Venus are beautifully characterised in a passage too long to quote, Esch. Suppl. 1075.1 36. Auctor. Mars, as the deity to whom the sin of Ilia was imputed, became the mythological founder of the Roman nation. Octavianus affected to be the avenger of Julius Cæsar; and, as such, dedicated a temple to Mars Ultor.] 37. Ludo. In allusion to the games. Slaughter is the sport of the god of war. See I. Carm. xxviii. 17.] 39. Marsi. This reading of Faber and Bentley seems preferable to that of Mauri; since the Mauritanians possessed little credit for bravery, and that little only as cavalry, but the Marsi were the most warlike people of Italy. Compare II. Carm. xx. 18, and III. Od. v. 9, with Virgil, in his beautiful panegyric on Italy "Hæc genus acre virûm Marsos, pubemque Sabellam, Those who retain Mauri translate peditis dismounted, and refer the allusion to the defeat of Juba at Thapsus.] 41. Juvenem. Augustus was now thirty-six years of age, and the term Juvenis applies to all in the prime of life between eighteen and forty; perhaps akin to the Greek of èv λukią, “of an age fit for military service." So Virgil "Hic illum vidi juvenem, Melibee."— Ecl. i. 43.] 42. Ales. Join this with filius Maiæ. Mercury was represented in statues with wings attached to his ankles (talares), and also to his petasus or cap. He is fitly introduced as the interpreter of gods and men, the patron of all the refinements which can flourish only during a time of peace; and he was also connected with the Julian family, since Electra, the sister of Maia, and one of the Atlantides, was the mother of Dardanus, the mythic founder of Troy. See Virgil, Æn. viii. 134. For further accounts of Mercury, see the Introduction and Notes, I. Carm. x.] 44. Cæsaris ultor. Such was the first pretext of the usurper. Suetonius: "Omnium bellorum initium et causam hinc sumpsit, nihil convenientius ducens quam necem avunculi vindicare, tuerique acta."— Octav. 10. See line 29. Dio Cass. xlv. and compare Ovid— "Hoc opus, hæc pietas, hæc prima elementa fuerunt Cæsaris, ulcisci justa per arma patrem.” — Fast. iii. 709.] 45. Serus in cœlum redeas. See Ovid: "Tarda sit illa dies, et nostro serior ævo, Qua caput Augustum, quem temperat, orbe relicto 46. Populo Quirini. The name by which Romulus in the legend bade the people worship him. See note, I. Carm. i. 7.] 47. Iniquum. Indignant ut.] 49. Triumphos. The construction is varied from the accusative to the infinitive, and both depend on ames. Suetonius says of Augustus : "Curules triumphos tres egit; Dalmaticum, Actiacum, Alexandrinum, continuo triduo omnes." Oct. 22. Whilst the poet deprecates the continuance of civil war, he rejoices in the prospect of renewed triumphs over foreign nations. We ought to watch lest such sentiments abounding in heathen writers lead us to undervalue the pacific principles of true religion. See note, Iv. Carm. ii. 35.] 50. Pater atque princeps. Augustus did not receive the title of Pater patriæ, an honour previously conferred on Camillus and Cicero, before B. c. 28. Suet. Oct. 58. He was named Princeps Senatus in his 6th consulship, B. c. 28.] 51. Medos equitare. See note, line 22. The " flying chivalry" of the Parthians are frequently alluded to, and they made constant inroads into Syria.] ODE III. The intended voyage of Virgil to Athens inspires at once a prayer for a friend's safety, and an expression of astonishment at the temerity of those who first "occupied their business in great waters." The prayer of the poet, however superstitiously expressed, is a reproof to those who neglect to pray for friends "travelling by land or by water," and who seem to doubt whether the providence of the Almighty attends to such trivial events as the safe passage of a vessel over the seas. Virgil visited Athens again at a later period, B. C. 18, for the purpose of completing his Æneid. For the intimacy of the two bards see Life of Horace, B. c. 41, and I. Sat. v. 40. vi. 54. 1. Sic te Diva potens Cypri. Sic implies a conditional with, So may, if you restore. Venus was said to have sprung from the froth of the sea near Cythera, and to have proceeded thence to Cyprus. From this cause she was invoked by mariners: Ovid "In mare, nimirum, jus habet orta mari." Heroid. ep. xvi. 24. Her principal temples in Cyprus were at Paphos, Amathus, and Idalium.] 2. Fratres Helenæ. Castor and Pollux, sons of Leda: the former by a mortal parent, Tyndarus; the latter by Jupiter. When Castor was killed in combat with Idas and Lynceus, it was granted to the prayers of Pollux that he might share his immortality with his brother. This alternate living and dying has led some to consider them as mythical representations of the sun and moon. In after time they were worshipped under the name of Atos koûρoι or Avakes, as protectors of ships in tempests, and were supposed to have been translated to the stars for their bravery in clearing the seas of pirates. They formed the two principal stars in Gemini. Pliny's account assimilates them to St. Elmo's fire, the name given by Italian mariners to the electric fires which play on the mast or rigging after storms. "Stellæ antennis navigantium insistunt: graves cum solitariæ venere, geminæ autem salutares — quarum adventu fugari diram illam ac minacem appellatamque Helenam ferunt. Et ob id Polluci et Castori id numen assignant, eosque in mari Deos invocant."-ii. 37. See Theocritus, xxii. 137.] 3 Ventorumque pater. According to Virgil, En. i. 52, &c., the winds were confined in a cave in Strongyle, the chief of the Liparæan isles (now Stromboli, one of the isles of Lipari), under the control of Æolus. Many, however, refer obstrictis to the bag of adverse winds which Æolus ('Atóλos, various) gave to Ulysses. Homer, Odyss. x. 29.] 4. Iapyga. See note, I. Carm. i. 15. The w.N.w. wind blowing across Apulia, the country of the Iapyges, would be favourable to those passing from Brundusium to Greece.] 6. Debes Virgilium. The poet's friend is, as it were, a pledge intrusted to the vessel.] 8. Animæ dimidium. Compare II. Carm. xvii. 5.] 9. Robur. Heart of oak. Compare Eschylus 12. Primus. Σιδηρόφρων τε κἀκ πέτρας εἰργασμένος The earliest maritime nations were the Phoenicians and the Corinthians. Thucydides, b. i. 15. Tiphys, a Boeotian, is said to have built the ship Argo. Compare Propertius "Ah! pereat quicunque rates et vela paravit Primus, et invito gurgite fecit iter.". -I. Eleg. xvii. 13. Africum. See note, 1. Carm. i. 15.] 14. Tristes Hyadas. A cluster of seven stars in the head of Taurus, whose rising and setting were believed to be accompanied with gloom and rain. Mythology made them daughters of Atlas, who wept themselves into stars for the loss of their brother Hyas. Cicero gives the Roman name. 66 A pluendo: v enim est pluere: nostri imperit suculas quasi a suibus essent, non ab imbrious nominatæ.”—II. De Nat. Deor. iii. Hence Ovid "Ore micant Tauri septem radiantia flammis, Fasti, v. 165.] 15. Hadriæ. The south wind (see note, I. Carm. i. 15.) would not, strictly speaking, exercise so strong an influence in the Adriatic as the Vulturnus, or south-east. But the term Adria comprehended the whole of the sea which washes the southern coast of Italy and the west of Greece, with the Sinus Ionicus or Gulf of Venice.] 16. Ponere. To still, by its cessation.] 18. Siccis oculis, Bentley prefers rectis, but weeping was thought less unmanly by the ancients than by us. Æschylus: Ξηροῖς ἀκλαύστοις ὄμμασιν.— Theb. 608.] 20. Acroceraunia. Akра KEраúvia. High rocks on the coast of Epirus, now called " Capo della Chimera." Virgil speaks of Jove's thunders: "Ille flagranti Aut Atho, aut Rhodopen, aut alta Ceraunia telo The epithet may have special reference to the danger of Octavianus after the battle of Actium. Suetonius: 66 Repetit Italiam, tempestate in trajectu bis conflictatus, primo inter promontoria Peloponnesi atque Ætoliæ, rursus circa montes Ceraunios, utrobique parte Liburnicarum demersa.". Octav. 17.] 21. Deus abscidit. The sentiment is not seriously propounded as true; but is a poetic fiction; pleasing, because happily in unison with the natural impressions of a simple mind; namely, that the ocean must be an impassable barrier between land and land; instead of being, as it really is, the most available means of human intercourse.] 26. Vetitum nefas. Crime forbidden by the laws of nature.] 27. Audax Iapeti genus. Iapetus, the son of Coelus and Terra, and father of Prometheus, might well seem to many of the Greeks the founder of the human race. Some see a connection with Japhet. In his Prometheus Eschylus personifies the intellectual principle, the mental energy within us, striving in a dark age against the barriers of matter, and only held back by a superior Power. To him a deity controlled by necessity seemed scarcely fit to rule over intellectual man. See line 32.] 30. Macies. The evils which followed the daring of Prometheus, and the kindred story of the box of Pandora, seem to shadow forth the miseries introduced by the disobedience of our first parents, and the penalties of their transgression.] 32. Necessitas. Fate, ȧváуkn, the hμap avayкaîov of Homer, a mysterious power which supplied to the ancients the deficiencies they felt in the deities of their own creation, and which exercised an indefinite influence over gods and men. Compare the description of the statue at Antium, 1. Carm xxxv. 18. Was this a blind conception of the eternal purpose (poléois) of the Almighty?] 33. Lethi corripuit gradum. A traditionary vestige of the longevity of the antediluvian period, and of the fact recorded in Scripture, that the duration of human life has been considerably shortened.] 34. Dædalus. Fiction places this personage in the age of Minos, B. C. 1400. He became the personification of the first great period of |