65 quo tenera irato flere puella potest. sed manibus qui saevus erit, scutumque sudemque at nobis, Pax alma, veni spicamque teneto, LIBER SECVNDVS I Quisquis adest, faveat: fruges lustramus et agros, 68. perfluat o prefluat AV profluat G. led editors to suppose the poet to refer to the Sementivae, or Paganalia, celebrated in January; cf. Ovid, Fast. 1, 657-680; Fowler, Rom. Fest., pp. 294 sqq. But the poet is more commonly supposed to be describing the Ambarvalia. Cf. Fowler, Rom. Fest., pp. 124 sqq. Cf. also Fowler, Class. Rev., Vol. 22 (1908), pp. 37-40. Besides the public festival of the Ambarvalia, celebrated annually in May, every Roman possessor of a farm used to perform similar rites of purification for his own fields and crops about the last of April or first of May. The name of the festival is derived from the custom of leading thrice around the estate (arva and ambire) the sacrificial victim or victims before slaying them. At the greater celebration the victims were a boar, a ram, and a bull (suovetaurilia); but private citi 5 Bacche, veni, dulcisque tuis e cornibus uva pendeat, et spicis tempora cinge, Ceres. luce sacra requiescat humus, requiescat arator, et grave suspenso vomere cesset opus. zens might employ the lesser suovetaurilia (pig, lamb, calf), or offer only one of these. The divinities especially worshiped were Mars (in early times), Ceres, and Bacchus. This description of the Ambarvalia must have been written after 27 B.C. (cf. v. 33), perhaps the next spring. Another picture of the same festival may be seen in Verg. Georg. I, 338 sqq. For a modern description see Walter Pater's Marius the Epicurean, pp. 3 sqq. 1-14 Invitation to the feast: 'Keep silence all! Come, Bacchus ! Come, Ceres! This is a sacred day, a day of rest for man and beast. Come purified to the sacred altars! 15-26: The solemn procession advances. Gods of my father, accept this offering, defend field and flock, and grant prosperity to my estate. Lo! the prayer is heard. 27-36: Now let us enjoy the festal banquet, and drink our fill; and while each pledges thy health, Messalla, come thyself and inspire my song of praise. 37-66: My theme is agriculture and its gods. They taught men to lead a civilized life. How delightful is rustic life, with its plenty and its joys! Hence came the drama, the forms of worship, and the art of weaving. 67-90: Cupid, too, they say, is a child of the fields. How skillful and bold he has grown! Neither old man, youth, nor maid is safe from his darts. Yet happy he who wins his favor! Come then, Cupid, to the feast, but leave thy quiver behind. Invoke, friends, the favor of this God for the flocks; for yourself too, if you will. Make merry ! for night comes on apace.' 1. faveat: sc. lingua, i.e. let no inauspicious word fall. Cf. 2, 2, I; Hor. Car. 3, 1, 2: favete linguis.fruges lustramus: i.e. by anticipation. 3. cornibus: Bacchus was sometimes represented with horns, as an emblem of power and abundance (cf. cornucopia); cf. Baum. Denk., p. 435; Prop. 3, 17, 19: per te et tua cornua, vivam; Hor. Car. 2, 19, 29: te vidit insons Cerberus aureo cornu decorum; K. P. H. in AJA., Vol. 5 (1901), P. 7. 4. spicis ... cinge: the wreath of ears of corn was a stated attribute of Ceres; cf. 1, 1, 15; 1, 10, 22; Hor. Car. Saec. 30: spicea donet Cererem corona. Baum. Denk., p. 417. 5. luce = die. 5 sqq.: cf. Ovid, Fast. 1,663-665. 6. suspenso: so slight and simple an affair was the ancient plow ΙΟ 15 solvite vincla iugis: nunc ad praesepia debent omnia sint operata deo: non audeat ulla lanificam pensis inposuisse manum. vos quoque abesse procul iubeo, discedat ab aris, (for a description see Verg. Georg. 1, 169-175) that this word is literally correct. The plow was often hung on a limb in the same position as that of a scythe to-day. 6 7. iugis: the team,' just as we say, "a yoke of oxen." Best con sidered as a dat.; for the connection shows that everything is to be done on this occasion for the comfort and well-being of the cattle, as well as that of their owners. This does not prevent the emphasizing of the idea of separation in translation. Cf. A 229; H. 427. 8. Wreathing of cattle was practiced not merely when the animals were to be sacrificed. One of the most familiar decorative features in art is garlanded ox skulls. 9. operata: 'be performed in honor of, i.e. 'praise'; cf. v. 65; 2, 5, 95; Prop. 2, 28, 45; Verg. Georg. 1, 339. - non: instead of the regular ne, because it belongs to ulla; nullus is quite often divided in poetry. - ulla: sc. puella; cf. 1, 3, 87. Woman's work is to stop, as well as man's. 10. lanificam: a poetic adjective, perhaps first found in this passage. 11. Vos: explained by the following clause, where the construction changes; for a similar change from plural to singular, cf. 1, 6, 39: tum procul absitis, quisquis colit arte capillos. 14. fontis only living water would do for purposes of purifi cation. 15. agnus: the victim had been led three times around the farm, and is now about to be sacrificed. 16. candida: cf. 1, 10, 27.turba: the whole familia, agrestes, etc. 17. di patrii: an indefinite term, including doubtless Mars, Bacchus, and Ceres, and all others under whose protection the ancestral estate had hitherto thrived. 20 25 vos mala de nostris pellite limitibus, neu seges eludat messem fallacibus herbis, neu timeat celeres tardior agna lupos. tum nitidus plenis confisus rusticus agris ingeret ardenti grandia ligna foco, turbaque vernarum, saturi bona signa coloni, ludet et ex virgis extruet ante casas. eventura precor: viden ut felicibus extis significet placidos nuntia fibra deos? nunc mihi fumosos veteris proferte Falernos 18. pellite avert': used instead of the obsolete averruncare of the ancient formula. 19. eludat: originally a gladiatorial term, to 'parry' an enemy's thrust; hence to disappoint.' We should have expected messorem; but the crop is represented as disappointed because it cannot fulfill its promise. herbis the green blades which make only a fair show. 21. tum: in that case,' i.e. if my prayers are granted. — nitidus : ' trim.' 22. Cf. Hor. Epod. 2, 43: sacrum vetustis exstruat lignis focum. 24. ante: adverb, sc. fores. casas leafy bowers such as were often woven together on festal occasions, in which to enjoy the luxuries of idleness and winedrinking. Cf. 2, 5, 97; Pervigilium Ven. 6-7: inter umbras arborum inplicat casas virentis de flagello myrteo: Copa 8: et triclia umbrosis frigida harundin ibus; Ovid, Fast. 3, 528: e ramis frondea facta casa est; Class. Rev., Vol. 22 (1908), p. 39. 25. extis including theoretically the liver, heart, lungs, gall, and caul of the victims; but we need not suppose that a minute examination was made, if there were signs of a propitious omen. 26. fibra: here in the proper signification of the filament terminating the exta; often by synecdoche for exta itself, as in 1, 8, 3: nec mihi sunt sortes nec conscia fibra deorum. 27. fumosos: wine was commonly left in a fumarium, or smoke-chamber, where it gathered a flavor much relished by the ancients; cf. Ovid, Fast. 5, 518: fumoso condita vina cado. B. G., p. 489. - Falernos: sc. cados. Falernian and Chian wines are types of the choicest vintages, native and foreign. As the former was acid and the latter sweet, they were favorites for mixing. Cf. Intr. § 42, I (4). IO 15 solvite vincla iugis: nunc ad praesepia debent omnia sint operata deo: non audeat ulla lanificam pensis inposuisse manum. vos quoque abesse procul iubeo, discedat ab aris, (for a description see Verg. Georg. 1, 169-175) that this word is literally correct. The plow was often hung on a limb in the same position as that of a scythe to-day. 7. iugis: the team,' just as we say, "a yoke of oxen." Best considered as a dat.; for the connection shows that everything is to be done on this occasion for the comfort and well-being of the cattle, as well as that of their owners. This does not prevent the emphasizing of the idea of separation in translation. Cf. A 229; H. 427. to ulla; nullus is quite often divided in poetry. - ulla: sc. puella; cf. 1, 3, 87. Woman's work is to stop, as well as man's. 10. lanificam: a poetic adjec tive, perhaps first found in the passage. II. vos: explained by the t lowing clause, where the const tion changes; for a similar ch from plural to singular, cf. 39: tum procul absitis, colit arte capillos. 14. fontis: only livi would do for purposes cation. 15. agnus: the vic led three times aro and is now about 8. Wreathing of cattle was practiced not merely when the animals were to be sacrificed. One of the most familiar decorative features in art is garlanded turba: the whole ox skulls. 9. operata: 'be performed in honor of,' i.e. 'praise'; cf. v. 65; 2, 5, 95; Prop. 2, 28, 45; Verg. Georg. 1, 339. non: instead of the regular ne, because it belongs etc. 16. candida: 17. di patr term, includi Bacchus, and under who cestral est |