10 16 Nox media, et dominae mihi venit epistula nostrae : candida qua geminas ostendunt culmina turres at si distulero haec nostro mandata timore, nocturno fletus saevior hoste mihi. peccaram semel, et totum sum pulsus in annum : 16. 9. pulsus FLDV portus N postus Phillimore tortus Gwynn. 3, 16 I-10: A summons from Cynthia at midnight to come to Tibur at once! Which alternative is to be accepted to risk the perils of the journey, or to risk her displeasure? II-20: But all the world loves a lover, and I shall be safe; 21-30: even if I die in the attempt, it will be worth while; she will honor my tomb- and may it be "far from the madding crowd!" 2. Tibure: locative. Cynthia probably spent a considerable part of her time in this beautiful and popular suburban resort (cf. 2, 32, 5), and was buried there (4, 7, 81-86). Cf. Lanciani, Wanderings in the Roman Campagna, pp. 88 sqq. with villas and temples which would glisten in the moonlight as well as in the sunshine. — geminas . . turres: high buildings on the two sides of the river. Cf. Tib. 1, 7, 19. 4. On these famous falls cf. Hor. Car. 1, 7, 12: domus Albuneae resonantis et praeceps Anio ac Tiburni lucus et uda mobilibus pomaria rivis. 5. obductis: sc. caelo or terrae. mene: for a similar position of the interrogative particle, cf. 3, 6, 12: ornabat niveas nullane gemma manus? 6. audaces in mea membra: for the dangers from highway robbers, cf. Juv. 3, 302-308; 10, 20-21. 9. Cf. Intr. § 33. 10. in me: cf. in mea membra (v. 6). - mansuetas non manus the phrase justifies the expression pulsus in v. 9. 20 nec tamen est quisquam, sacros qui laedat amantes: Scironis media sic licet ire via. quisquis amator erit, Scythicis licet ambulet oris : nemo adeo ut noceat barbarus esse volet. adferet haec unguenta mihi sertisque sepulcrum 16. percutit O praecutit Guyetus. 22. talis O tali V2. 23. haec Guyetus huc 0. II. nec tamen est: and, after all, there isn't.' For the sentiment, cf. 2, 26, 45 sqq.; Tib. 1, 2, 27: quisquis amore tenetur, eat tutusque sacerque qualibet: insidias non timuisse decet. 12. Scironis: Sciron was a famous robber who haunted the road leading from the isthmus into Megara and Attica. He was slain by Theseus (C. S ). 13. This couplet, with unimportant variations, was found scratched upon the wall of the basilica in Pompeii; cf. CIL. 4, 1950. 16. ipse Amor: Cupid in person performs the duty of the slave that lights the way. accensas percutit kindles up and brandishes'; percutit is here an intensive form of quatit. 25 30 ornabit custos ad mea busta sedens. aut humer ignotae cumulis vallatus harenae. 18 Clausus ab umbroso qua ludit pontus Averno, 18. 2. fumida Scaliger humida 0. 25. Lygdamus's wish was just the opposite: cf. Tib. 3, 2, 29, n. And Cynthia's tomb is represented as beside a road, the favorite custom in Roman sepulture. 28. arborea . . . coma can well be taken as a descriptive ablative with terra: cf. also 2, 13, 33. 29. Rather than lie in a public place he would prefer to be cast on an unknown shore, like Paetus (3, 7, 26). 3, 18 The death of M. Claudius Marcellus, son of Octavia, the sister of Augustus, at Baiae in 23 B.C., in the twentieth year of his age, disappointed many hopes. By his marriage in 25 B.C. to his cousin Julia, the daughter of Augustus, he had become the heir apparent, and as such was very acceptable to the Romans. Vergil immortalized his memory in the famous verses Aen. 6, 860-886, at the recital of which Octavia is said to have swooned. Propertius, however, takes pains not to mention the name of Marcellus anywhere. The elegy was evidently written soon after the event. 1-10: In Baiae, home of myths and marvels, he is dead. 11-16: Yes, dead! in spite of all he had to live for; 17-30: wealth and fame save none from death-witness kings and heroes of old; 31-34 but while Marcellus "goes the way of all the earth," it is for him a gathering to the gods.' 1. Clausus i.e. by the narrow strip referred to in v. 4. -umbroso ... Averno: cf. Verg. Aen. 3, 442: divinosque lacus et Averna sonantia silvis; 6, 136-139; 238242.- pontus: the bay of Baiae. 2. fumida... stagna: in apposition with pontus.-tepentis aquae the hot springs of this vol 5 qua iacet et Troiae tubicen Misenus arena, 5. mortales N mortalis FLDV. canic region appear not only on land but also here and there in the bay. 4. sonat: i.e. from the surf. Herculeo structa labore via this was a narrow strip of sand just wide enough for a carriage road separating the bay from the Lucrine Lake. The myth attributed its construction to Hercules (C. S.). Cf. 1, 11, 2: qua iacet Herculeis semita litoribus. 5. hic: adverb.—mortales perhaps merely = mortalium here by contrast to deo in the next verse; but it is possible that the poet meant to emphasize the perishable nature of the cities, as well as of their inhabitants in this vicinity; as this would be in harmony with the spirit of this passage, and with history both before and after he penned these words. For the dexter NFL dextra DV. cities of these campi phlegraei had been devastated by early wars, and were ever in danger of earthquake or volcanic cataclysm. — dexter... quaereret: 'visited with beneficent intent,' i.e. in introducing the vine which flourishes especially in Campania. The western progress of Dionysus is less celebrated than that in the east; cf., however, Sil. Ital. 3, 101: tempore quo Bacchus populos domitabat Hiberos. 6. Thebano... deo: Bacchus, who, according to the prevailing tradition, was born in Thebes; so, too, was Hercules. concrepuere: cf. Lucian, Bacch. 4; Cat. 64, 262. Bacchus follows Hercules similarly in Verg. Aen. 6, 801–807. 7. invisae... Baiae: vocative. - crimine: the charge was that of responsibility for the death of Marcellus. 8. hostis belongs to the predicate, and is contrasted with the previously mentioned kindly visits of Hercules and Bacchus. 9. his one of the vague ablatives of Propertius referring apparently to Baiae and its malign 10 15 errat et in vestro spiritus ille lacu. quid genus aut virtus aut optima profuit illi mater, et amplexum Caesaris esse focos, aut modo tam pleno fluitantia vela theatro, et per maternas omnia gesta manus? occidit, et misero steterat vigesimus annus: tot bona tam parvo clausit in orbe dies. i nunc, tolle animos et tecum finge triumphos, influence, yet possibly to undas. pressus: overwhelmed.' The language of this verse would apply to drowning, malarial fever, sulphurous gases, or any other of the deadly ills which may have caused the demise of the young man. Perhaps Propertius is intentionally vague, in view of the conflicting rumors at that time as to the cause of his death. 10. errat . . spiritus ille: 'he flits a spirit' (C. S.). This use of spiritus is very rare till later Latin. - vestro: i.e. of Baiae. 11. quid. . . profuit: cf. 4, II, II. - genus: for the fame of the Claudian family cf. v. 33. 12. mater: Octavia retired henceforth to private life. Caesaris... focos: Marcellus became not only the son-in-law of Augustus, but his son by formal adoption. 13. modo but yesterday.'vela: the awnings stretched over the theater by Marcellus at the shows he gave as Curule Aedile in the year of his death. He even stretched awnings over the Forum. Cf. Pliny, N. H. 19, 24. The word gives one illustration of the lavishness with which he performed his official duties. Cf. also 4, 1, 15. 14. omnia perhaps includes all that Octavia did for her son before and after his death. Plutarch says she built the library in the Porticus Octaviae as a memorial to him. 15. And for the unfortunate youth his twentieth year suddenly stood still' (C. S.); i.e. the passage of the year is thought of as like that of the sun or the moon, which should halt in the midst of its course. The tense is the familiar Propertian pluperfect. 16. dies his brief day' (C. S.). 17. Cf. 3. 7, 29; Ovid, Her. 9, 105: i nunc, tolle animos et fortia gesta recense. The pointing in this passage of the familiar moral that death is inevitable and impartial gives opportunity to compare the manner of Propertius with that of his contemporary Horace in such passages as Car. I, 4, 13-20; 1, 28, 7-16; 4, 7, 14-28. |