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Maecenas eques Etrusco de sanguine regum, intra fortunam qui cupis esse tuam,

quid me scribendi tam vastum mittis in aequor?

non sunt apta meae grandia vela rati.

turpe est, quod nequeas, capiti committere pondus, et pressum inflexo mox dare terga genu.

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1. eques... regum: Maecenas voluntarily chose to remain in the rank of the Equites rather than undertake a senatorial career. Horace frequently refers to this fact, and to the royal ancestry of his patron, e.g. Car. 1, 20, 5: care Maecenas eques; I, I, I: Maecenas atavis edite regibus; Sat. 1, 6, 1-13; Car. 3, 16, 20; 29, I.

2. Cf. Vell. Pat. 2, 88, 2: C. Maecenas equestri, sed splendido genere natus.. ... nec minora consequi potuit, sed non tam concupivit; Ovid, Trist. 3, 4, 25: intra fortunam debet quisque manere

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omnia non pariter rerum sunt omnibus apta,
fama nec ex aequo ducitur ulla iugo.
gloria Lysippo est animosa effingere signa,
exactis Calamis se mihi iactat equis,

in Veneris tabula summum sibi poscit Apelles,

Parrhasius parva vindicat arte locum,

9. 8. fama @ flamma O (flamina LD) (cf. Enk) palma Itali. ulla O una w. II. summum Rothstein suma L summam NFDV.

terga: Propertius mixes metaphors here; for this phrase belongs to military life.

7. omnia . . . rerum: stronger than omnes res, just as opaca locorum (Verg. Aen. 2, 725) is stronger than opaca loca, implying minuter detail. The idea of the verse is a commonplace.

8. The thought of this muchdiscussed verse (cf. B. O. Foster in Matzke Memorial Volume, pp. 103 sqq.) is closely connected by nec to that of the preceding verse. Men have their individual excellencies, and cannot excel if compelled to do exactly as their neighbors, i.e. to trot in pairs; for in a pair, team-work is desired, as in a single hitch individual superiority is striven for. — aequo may perhaps be rendered equalizing.'

9. Lysippo: his specialty was bronze statuary and his portrait work was so celebrated that Alexander the Great gave him the exclusive right to represent him in statuary; cf. Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 239: edicto vetuit, ne quis se... alius Lysippo duceret aera; Cic. Ad Fam. 5, 12, 7: Alexander ille . . .

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10. exactis: 'perfect.' — Calamis: a contemporary of Phidias. His subjects were general; but the same superiority in modeling horses that is here emphasized is suggested by other passages; cf. Ovid, Ex P. 4, 1, 33: vindicat ut Calamis laudem, quos fecit, equorum. — mihi: in my opinion.'

11. Veneris tabula: the celebrated painting of the Venus (Aphrodite) Anadyomene, often referred to in Roman literature, e.g. Ovid, Ex P. 4, 1, 29: ut Venus artificis labor est et gloria Coi, aequoreo madidas quae premit imbre comas; Pliny, N. H. 35, 91.

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argumenta magis sunt Mentoris addita formae,
at Myos exiguum flectit acanthus iter,
Phidiacus signo se Iuppiter ornat eburno,
Praxitelen propria vindicat urbe lapis.
est quibus Eleae concurrit palma quadrigae,
est quibus in celeres gloria nata pedes.
hic satus ad pacem, hic castrensibus utilis armis.

16. propria 0 Paria Broukhusius Parius patria Hertzberg.

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naturae sequitur semina quisque suae.
at tua, Maecenas, vitae praecepta recepi,
cogor et exemplis te superare tuis.
cum tibi Romano dominas in honore secures
et liceat medio ponere iura foro,

vel tibi Medorum pugnaces ire per hastas

atque onerare tuam fixa per arma domum,
et tibi ad effectum vires det Caesar, et omni
tempore tam faciles insinuentur opes,
parcis, et in tenues humilem te colligis umbras,
velorum plenos subtrahis ipse sinus.

crede mihi, magnos aequabunt ista Camillos
iudicia, et venies tu quoque in ora virum,
Caesaris et famae vestigia iuncta tenebis:
Maecenatis erunt vera tropaea fides.
non ego velifera tumidum mare findo carina:
25. hastas Markland hostes 0 astus Lachmann.

21. recepi: 'I have adopted as

my own.'

22. exemplis : Maecenas repeatedly declined honors. superare: confute.'

23. dominas: here used adjectivally emblems of power' 'imperial.'- honore: 'official position.'

secures those of the lictors.

24. ponere: used by zeugma. Hor. Sat. 1, 3, 105 uses the expression ponere leges, as in English we say "lay down the law," but dare leges is more usual.

26. Cf. Tib. 1, 1, 54.- per arma: poetic for armis: cf. Ovid, Her. 18, 7: freta ventis turbida perque cavas vix adeunda rates.

28. insinuentur in sinus cadant, i.e. 'pour into your lap.'

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29. parcis: the intransitive use very rare. -te colligis: shrink.' 30. subtrahis: 'furl.' The mcre usual word is contrahere; cf. Hor. Car. 2, 10, 22: sapienter idem contrahes vento nimium secundo turgida vela.

31. Camillos: tradition attributed to the famous M. Furius Camillus a contentment which became proverbial. Cf. L. 1105.

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tuta sub exiguo flumine nostra morast.
non flebo in cineres arcem sedisse paternos
Cadmi, nec septem proelia clade pari,

nec referam Scaeas et Pergama Apollinis arces,
et Danaum decimo vere redisse rates,
moenia cum Graio Neptunia pressit aratro
victor Palladiae ligneus artis equus.
inter Callimachi sat erit placuisse libellos
et cecinisse modis, Coe poeta, tuis.
haec urant pueros, haec urant scripta puellas,
meque deum clament et mihi sacra ferant.

36. tuta a tota 0. 44. Coe Beroaldus dure 0 Dore Scriverius dare Ayrmann docte Foster. Philita is accepted for poeta by Hosius from an anony

mous source.

soon became general in all verbs. Cf. Intr. § 43.

36. sub: under the protection of'; the poet is thinking of his surroundings in the imagined pic

ture.

37. flebo tell the harrowing tale'; cf. 1, 7, 18. arcem Cadmi: cf. 1, 7, 1, n. — paternos: Propertius is ambiguous, as often; he seems to be referring to the city-state of Thebes, the fatherland, and trying to indicate its complete destruction, in which the fall of the citadel involved the whole.

38. septem proelia: the warfare waged by the Seven against Thebes cf. H. & T. § 171.clade pari: all the heroes (except Adrastus) met the same fate. Many literary masterpieces were composed upon the legends of Thebes. As an epic theme it

attracted many; cf. 1, 7; H. & T. § 167; the only surviving work of this nature is the Thebaid of Statius.

39. The poet refers to the story of the Iliad. - Scaeas: sc. portas; the famous western gate of Troy, where Homer represents Helen coming to meet the oldest councilors of the city (II. 3, 149). — Apollinis: Apollo and Neptune (Poseidon) built the walls (cf. Neptunia, v. 41).

41. pressit aratro: i.e. the ultimate result to which the ruse of the wooden horse led.

42. Palladiae . . . artis: 'contrived by Pallas'; gen. of the author.

43. Cf. 3, 1, 1.

46. Cf. Ovid, Rem. Am. 813: postmodo reddetis satro pia vota poetae.

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