25 30 nec te decipiat, quod sit satis illa parata: qui non ante patet, donec manus attigit ossa. nedum tu possis, spiritus iste levis. quare, si pudor est, quam primum errata fatere: 31. possunt et w et possunt DV et possint NAF. 29. The correlation ante donec is unique. 30. adsiduas: like those just described. 31. An ancient proverbial thought; cf. Ovid, Am. 3, 7, 57: illa graves potuit quercus adamantaque durum surdaque blanditiis saxa movere suis; Plaut. Poen. 290: illa mulier lapidem silicem subigere, ut se amet, potest. 32. Note the subtle sarcasm in possis. iste: such as thou art.' 33. quare not found in Tib. ; used six times in Prop. - pudor: the sense of shame is due to having boasted (but idly) to Propertius that he was immune from love. 34. quo pereas: for whom thou languishest.' The gender of the pronoun is purposely indefinite. Cf. Hor. Car. 1, 27, 10: dicat quo beatus volnere, qua pereat sagitta. 5 I 2 Quid mihi desidiae non cessas fingere crimen, quantum Hypanis Veneto dissidet Eridano, I, 12 12. 9. num DV non NAF nunc w. To the reproaches of an unknown friend for his spiritless life, especially, it would seem, his lack of interest in an invitation to travel, Propertius replies (1-6) that it is not Cynthia who restrains him, for she is estranged; 7-14: once a favored lover, he is now for some unknown reason cast off, and lonely in his bitter sorrow; 15-20: though unable to touch her heart with sympathy, or to transfer his affection to another, he can at least be faithful to her unto death. 1. mihi: cf. 3, 11, 3. 2. conscia: which knows the secret of my love.' Cf. 2, 13, 42. Roma: i.e. Rome and its fascination, including Cynthia. 3. tam multa . . . milia: that there was a literal separation at this time may be indicated by the preceding poem, in which Cynthia is amusing herself in the gay life of Baiae. But the comparison in v. 4 shows that it is of the spiritual separation that the poet is especially thinking. - illa: for Propertius there was but one 'she,' and he is unconscious of any ambiguity. 4. Cf. "as far as the east is from the west." It may be doubted whether Propertius had any clear idea of the location of the Hypanis, and authorities are divided as to its location. If there was one in India, it would suit the context best. 6. Cynthia i.e. the name. Cf. I, 18, 22. lecta Prometheis dividit herba iugis? non sum ego qui fueram: mutat via longa puellas: non nihil adspersis gaudet Amor lacrimis; sunt quoque translato gaudia servitio. mi neque amare aliam neque ab hac discedere fas est: Cynthia prima fuit, Cynthia finis erit. 14 Tu licet abiectus Tiberina molliter unda has been a god; rather the witchcraft or magic potions of a human rival. - quae indef. 10. Prometheis. . . iugis: Prometheus was bound on the Caucasus. - dividit : sc. me ab illa.herba apparently the pάppakov Προμήθειον, said to have sprung from the blood of Prometheus and to have an unenviable efficacy in magic potions. Cf. Apollon. Rhod. 3, 845; Val. Flac. 7, 356–7: Prometheae florem de sanguine fibrae Caucaseum promit nutritaque gramina ponti. 11. Cf. Hor. Car. 4, 1, 3: non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cinarae. For the tense cf. 2, 13, 38, n. 5 et modo tam celeres mireris currere lintres et modo tam tardas funibus ire rates, 14. 5. omne ✪ unde Lachmann utque nemus tantas Kuehlewein. tendat O ut tendat Rothstein ut nemus amne satas incingat Fonteinius. lover is addressed to his friend Tullus. 1-14: ‘All your luxury is no match for that love which makes me a Croesus and a king. 1524 Venus is the mistress of every heart. Without her possessions are futile; with her I can disdain them.' 1. Tu: the name of Tullus does not occur till V. 20. abiectus... molliter having thrown yourself down in the abandon of easy luxury, on the banks of Tiber's stream. It is an elegant expression for utter freedom from care and restraint (C. S.). – unda this locative abl. seems to be a mixture of the ideas, ripa and ad undam, either of which would have been more exact. Tullus probably owned a suburban villa on the Tiber below Rome. Cf. Mart. 4, 64. 225 in Lesbos (C. S.). Mentoreo . . opere Mentor was the most celebrated silver-chaser among the Greeks. None of his larger works were extant in Pliny's time, but smaller cups existed and were very costly (C. S.). Cf. 3, 9, 13. 3. mireris see with admiration.' — lintres: passenger boats, probably, the swiftest known then, corresponding to our best motor boats to-day. 4. rates is contrasted with lintres. The allusion is to the heavily laden canal boats or the raft-like vessels called caudicariae. These boats were towed from Ostia to Rome by means of oxen. They brought to the two principal docks of Rome, the Marmorata and the Emporium, vast quantities of merchandise, corn, and building materials (C. S ). Cf. Lanciani, Anc. Rome in the Light of Moȧ. Disc., p. 236. 5. nemus omne, etc.: a whole grove spreads out its planted shade trees with top as high as the trees with which Caucasus is clothed. The courts of the Roman villas were often planted with shrubbery and watered with fountains on a magnificent scale ΙΟ 15 20 non tamen ista meo valeant contendere amori: nam sive optatam mecum trahit illa quietem, tum mihi Pactoli veniunt sub tecta liquores, illa etiam duris mentibus esse dolor: (C. S.). Cf. Tib. 3, 3, 15.-intendat goes with licet, v. i.vertice instrumental, referring to nemus. The editors abound in other explanations such as: abl. of source with satas, loc. abl., dat. (= caelo, i.e.. the zenith) (Rothstein). 7. ista refers to Tu in v. I and to the following description. contendere: i.e. to vie with." amori: cf. 1, 7, 3, n. 9. trahit 'prolongs' (C. S.). illa: cf. 1, 12, 3, n. 6 10. facili: willing,'i.e. mutual. 13. Cessuros: SC. esse. spondent: assure' (C. S.). 6 14. dum . . . volent: the fut. with dum in the sense of 'until' is very rare in the classical period. L. 1996. 15-16. The sentiment is as old as Mimnermus (Frag. 1): Tís dè βίος, τί δὲ τερπνὸν ἄτερ χρυσέης Αφροδίτης; Cf. Hor. Εp. 1, 6, 65: si, Mimnermus uti censet, sine amore iocisque nil est iucundum (C. S.). 19. The allusion seems to be to some of the beautiful stones of the east, sometimes used for the posts and thresholds of houses. Alabaster and onyx were so used in the dwellings of the wealthy; Pliny, N. H. 36, 3, 7 (C. S.). Cf. Tib. 3, 3, 14-16. Arabium: similar quantity may be observed in 2, 10, 16, et passim. cf. 20. subire: 'to steal into.'-toro: poetic dat. Cf. Ovid, Ex P. 4, 15, 30: ne subeant |