Optima nutricum nostris lupa Martia rebus, Hei mihi, quod nostro est parvus in ore sonus! Roma, fave, tibi surgit opus, date candida cives Sacra diesque canam et cognomina prisca locorum : 'Quo ruis imprudens, vage, dicere sacra, Properti? 70 Certa feram certis auctoribus: haud ego vates 75 Me creat Archytae soboles Babylonius Horops Di mihi sunt testes non degenerasse propinquos, Nunc pretium fecere deos-et fallitur auro 80 57. disponere] To describe the sacra. Other MSS. have facta, or situation of.' 61. hirsuta corona] Commonly explained as a laurel (or bay) chaplet. But the laurel is not hirsuta.' It surely means a rough, shaggy chaplet, such as the rough verses of Ennius deserve. 'Nihil est hirsutius illis.' Ov. Trist. ii. 259. 64. Callimachi] Cf. iv. 1. 1. 65. arces] Towers.'-Scandentes, 'ascending, possibly 'tier above tier.' 66.] Cf. infra, 126. 71. Propertius now puts into the mouth of an astrologer his excuse for not completing the proposed work. fata. 72. colo] Masc. So Catull. lxiv. 311. 73. Charisin] The Xάpires are constantly invoked by Pindar. 76. pila] Sphere.' 77.]'I, Horos, spring from Horops, and the family descended from Conon.' For Conon, cf. the Coma Berenices' of Catullus init. 79. degenerasse] 'Disgraced.' 81 sqq. I take obliquae signa iterata rotae as subject of fecere, and regard the four next lines as an explanation of deos. 'Now astro Iuppiter-obliquae signa iterata rotae, Non posse ad patrios sua pila referre Penates: Idem ego, cum Cinarae traheret Lucina dolores Iunonis votum facite inpetrabile, dixi: Hoc logers and their art have made the gods-even Jupiter is cheated (or misrepresented) for gold-a matter of bargain and sale, i.e. both the fortunate planets of Jupiter and Mars, &c. iterata, 'a sole.' Travelled again and again by the sun.' Cf. Hor. 1 Od. vii., last line. Also infr. 3. 7. Paley says 'hackneyed.'obliquae rotae, of the ecliptic,' i. e. of the zodiac, through which the ecliptic passes. The passage is intended to contrast the conduct of quack astrologers with his own fides mentioned in 80. 87. Dicam] Aéyou' av. 'I can say. I can utter as great prophecies as Cassandra or the Sybil. Cf. supr. 49-54.-longa='longinqua,' alluding to the misfortunes of the Greeks, on their return from Troy. 89. produceret] Was leading 100 forth and taking leave of." Ov. Her. xiii. 143, and elsewhere. 93. eques] Heinsius's conjecture for equi. How he could protect the wounded face of his horse, while on its back, I do not see. 98.] Vera fuit ista fides, sed contigit mihi invito.--Ista fides, 'that honest prediction.' 101. Iunonis] Virg. Aen. xi. 4, Vota Deum primo victor solvebat Eoo.' There are somewhat similar genitives in Hor. 3 Od. xix. 10, 11. 103. Libyae] Locative. Hoc = such a matter as this. 104. fibra] A lobe of the liver,' part for whole. After comparing his fides with the treachery of quacks, Horos proceeds to compare the value of astrology with that of other modes of divination. Aut si quis motas cornicis senserit alas, 105 110 Umbrave quae magicis mortua prodit aquis. Aspicienda via est caeli versusque per astra Trames et ab zonis quinque petenda fides. Exemplum grave erit Calchas: namque Aulide solvit Ille bene haerentes ad pia saxa rates: Idem Agamemnoniae ferrum cervice puellae Tinxit, et Atrides vela cruenta dedit: Nec rediere tamen Danai: tu diruta fletum Supprime et Euboicos respice, Troia, sinus. Nauplius ultores sub noctem porrigit ignes 115 Et natat exuviis Graecia pressa suis. Victor Oiliade, rape nunc et dilige vatem, Quam vetat avelli veste Minerva sua. Hactenus historiae: nunc ad tua devehar astra: 120 Umbria te notis antiqua Penatibus edit, Patris et in tenues cogeris ipse Lares: 106.] prodit from prodeo. 107. versus per astra Trames] The ecliptic, which passes obliquely through the constellations of the zodiac. 109. grave] Weighty.' 111. puellae] Iphigenia. 114. sinus] Bays, near the promontory Caphareus, where Nauplius, the father of Palamedes, exhibited false lights to the Greeks on their way back from Troy. 117. Oiliade] The lesser Ajax.vatem, Cassandra, who took sanctuary in the temple of Athene. 119. tua-astra] Your own horoscope.' 120. aequus] 'With equanimity.' 125 130 Cf. supr. 77, 123. cavo campo] 'In a plain surrounded by hills.' 124. lacus-Umber] There was a lake, or rather fountain, as well as a river, Clitumnus. Statius, Theb. iii. 204, calls the fountain Dirce a lacus." 125.] Cf. supr. 65. The MSS. read Asis, which may be the name of the hill on which Asisium was situated. -vertice, 'on a summit.' Hispellum was also situated on the same chain of hills, and the honour of the birth of Propertius lies between these two places. Mox ubi bulla rudi dimissa est aurea collo, Et vetat insano verba tonare foro. At tu finge elegos, fallax opus, haec tua castra, 135 Militiam Veneris blandis patiere sub armis 140 Et bene cum fixum mento discusseris uncum, Gutta quoque ex oculis non nisi iussa cadet. 130. pertica] Whence the English perch, by which the confiscated lands were meted out to Octavian's veterans (cf. Virg. Ec. i.) A.U.C. 713. 131. rudi] 'Inexperienced.' When the toga virilis was donned, the bulla was offered to the Lares. Persius v. 30. 132. libera] Because the young man was no more attended by the παιδαγωγός, but might go where he pleased. 138. utilis]Profitable.' 141.] And when you have sucin'ssfully shaken off the hook fixed handur chin, this will be useless, the spike.* "e will keep you down with its fishing-r The handle of a modern od often has a spike to keep it steady, while the angler baits his 145 150 143.] According to the corresponding English expression it would run, You will say black is white, and white black.' 145. signata] Sealed.' 147.] Supply licet from the next line. Now with safety may either,' &c. 149. diducat] Intrans. diducat os. Cf. Liv. v. 1, 'Ita muniebant, utancipitia munimenta essent.' Here 'muniebant' is clearly intrans. = 'they so constructed their works, that the fortifications faced both ways.' Also v. 12, Tribuni plebis de tributo remiserunt,' the tribunes slackened as regards the tributum." Cf. also infr. 2. 11,'vertentis,' 'changing. intrans. 6 Those born 150.] Probably an allusion to Cynthia's horoscope. under Cancer were supposed to be very grasping, which was Cynthia's character. Cf. iii. 7. 11, Cynthia non sequitur fasces, nec curat honores, Semper amatorum ponderat II. Quid mirare meas tot in uno corpore formas? Tuscus ego et Tuscis orior, nec paenitet inter Haec me turba iuvat, nec templo laetor eburno: illa sinus.' Here sinus means the 'pockets' or 'purses,' which were carried in the sinus of the dress. II.] Vertumnus (vertomenos) appears to represent the year in its changes, as Auctumnus (auctomenos) represents it approaching its completion. Sixteen different dresses are mentioned below by Propertius; if the three representing Vertumnus in the form of other gods be deducted, we have thirteen left, corresponding to the thirteen lunar months which compose the solar year. I have no doubt that Vertumnus represented the year in its passage through the signs of the Zodiac, like the twelve labours of Hercules, which are occasionally also given as thir teen. Local variations in the Italian or Etruscan Zodiac will also account for the excess in number of the changes of dress. 3, 4. inter Proelia] Infr. 51, 52. 5 10 15 |