5. Oraculum Jovis. Jupiter's temple built by Bacchus, mentioned by Herodotus,' Lucan,2 and Quintus Curtius.3 6. Batti Sepulchrum. The sepulchre of Battus, the father of Callimachus, who writes: Φοῖβος καὶ βαθύγειον ἔμυ πολὶν ἔφρασε Βάττῳ.4 Line 11 and 12. Que nec, &c. The counting of any object was Aut si ultra placitum laudaret, baccare frontem Ovid, in allusion to the second way : Sagave puniceâ defixit nomina cerâ, Virgil mentions the third kind of fascination :- Consult also Tertullianus de Virginibus Velandis, Cicero de Carm. viii. Miser Catulli. In this ode the poet laments the past days of mutual love which he enjoyed with his mistress, It is one of those subjects too common-place among every poet, from the lowest garret scribbler to the highest composer, to be 1 Herodot. Lib. ii. 3 Q. Curt. Lib. iv. 2 Lucan. Lib. ix. 5 A curious enumeration of the groupes of seven will be found in the Classical Journal. 6 Virg. Eclog. 7 Ovid. Amor. Lib. iii. 8 Virg. Eclog. enjoyed, even when dressed up in the elegant language of Catullus. 2. Et quod vides perisse, perditum ducas. This phraseology is preserved among the modern Germans: thus in Goethe's Leiden Werters, Ich will das Gegenwärtige geniessen, und das Virgangene soll mir virgangen seyn.1 3. Candidi soles. The ancients had a custom of denoting happy days with white pebbles, and their gloomy days with black ones: these Calculi were thrown into separate urns, and set by, that the owners might compare at a future time the proportion their joyful days bore to those which were unhappy. Persius in allusion to this custom : Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo, Qui tibi labentes adponet candidus annos.2 18. Quoi labella mordebis. The Roman courtesan Flora is said to have been much addicted to the practice to which this line alludes.-Horace observes: Sive puer furens Impressit memorem dente labris notam.3 Muretus mentions the great attachment of Cnæus Pompeius to this sort of dalliance. Carm. ix. Veranni, &c. This is a congratulatory poem to Verannius on his return from Spain, where he and Fabellus had gone with the Quæstor, Caius Piso. Horace in a similar manner congratulates Pomponius Numida, on his happy return to his country. Et thure et fidibus juvat Placare et vituli sanguine debito Qui nunc Hesperia sospes ab ultima Nulli plura tamen dividit oscula, Quam dulci Lamiae: memor Actae non alio rege puertiae, Mutataeque simul togae. Cressa ne careat pulcra dies nota: Neu promtae modus amphorae, Neu morem in Salium sit requies pedum : Bassum Threïcia vincat amystide: Göthe, Leiden des jungen Werters, i. 3 Horat. Lib. i. Carm. 13. Neu desint epulis rosæ Neu vivax apium, neu breve lilium. Deponent oculos: nec Damalis novo Lascivis ederis ambitiosior.' Line 9. Oculosque suaviter. In allusion to a custom, on_parting, of kissing the eyes: this practice prevailed also in the East, and is alluded to in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. The reader may refer also to the Remarks of Erasmus on the practice of Osculation in England. Carm. x. (Varrus.) It is conjectured by Vossius that this person was Alphenus Varrus, and not Quinctillius Varrus mentioned by Virgil in the 9th Eclogue. Line 8. (are,) the common name for money before Servius Tullius stamped on it the forms of cattle, after which it was called Pecunia. 16. Ad lecticam homines, &c. in allusion to the custom of being carried on beds or lectica by the Bajuli or Lecticarii, an indolent habit censured by Juvenal. Thus likewise Cicero (in Verrem,) Nam ut mos fuit Bithyniæ regibus, lectica octaphoro ferebatur.2 26. Ad Serapin deferri, &c. The Temple of Serapis was similar to that of Isis, resorted to occasionally for other purposes than those of health: thus Juvenal: --Jamque expectetur in hortis, Aut apud Isiacae potiùs sacraria lenae.3 30. Cinna was noticed by Ovid as an amatory author: he was author of the Poem of Smyrna.4 Carm. xi. 1. 1. Furus was cognominated Bibulous, an Iambic Poet. Aurelius was L. A. Cotta the Prætor. See Catul. Carm. 15. and 18. 1. 5. Arabes molles. The Arabians were probably so called from their luxurious effeminacy: Thus Tibullus : "Urantur pia thura focis, urantur odores, 995 Quos tener a terra divite mittit Arabs." L. 7. Septemgeminus Nilus, &c. The seven streams of the great river of Aegypt have been celebrated of old by all the poets of any note. Virgil says: Et septemgemini turbant trepida ostia Nili, Hor. Lib. i. Carm. 3. 3 Juvenal, Sat. vi. 2 Cic. in Verr. 5. 4 Ovid. Trist. Lib. 2. 5 Tibul. Eleg. II. ii. 4. and again, Qua septemgeminus se volvit in aequora Nilus.' L. 12. Ultimos Britannos, &c. The epithet of horribiles, applied to the ancient Britons, is thus explained by Cæsar;-Omnes vero se Britanni vitro inficiunt, quod cæruleum efficit colorem, atque hoc horribiliore sunt in pugná aspectu. The epithet ultimos refers to an ancient idea that Britain was regarded as the extreme part of the world. Thus Horace : Serves iturum Cæsarem in ultimos Orbis Britannos.3 L. 33. Velut prati ultimus flos, &c. Imitated by Ariosto, Che'l vomere al passar tagliato lassa.+ Carm. xii. 1. 14. Setabis was a city of Hispania renowned for its fine cloth: thus Silius: Setabis et telas Arabum sprevisse superba Et Pelusiaco filum componere linum.5 Carm. xiii. 1. 11. Unguentum, &c. In allusion to the ancient custom of using perfume and ointment, introduced from the East into Greece and Rome. So Horace in his second book of odes: Cur non sub altâ vel platano vel hac Potamus uncti? 6 And in his fourth book he observes, Ointment is also mentioned in H. lib. 2. Hic vina et unguenta, &c.3 Line 14. Totum ut te, &c. Thus Martial says to a calumniator.-Nasutus sis usque licet, sis denique nasus.9 Carm. xiv. Line 19. Venena: i. e. ear-poison, a strong expression certainly for bad verse, from its contaminating power. 'See Virg. Æneid. vi. &c. 3 Hor. i. 35. 5 Sil. Ital. Lib. iii. 7 Hor. Lib. iv. Carm. 12. 2 Cæsar. Comm. v. 14. 4 Ariosto. Orlando Fur. 18. 9 Mart. Lib. 13. Epig. 2. Carm. xv. 1. 6—8. Vulpius observes on these lines that poeple who are employed have no time for love, and cites Ovid's Remedium Amoris. Cedat amor rebus; res age, tutus eris.1 Line 19. Raphanique, &c. In allusion to the mode of punishment whereof the Comedian Alcæus died. Carm. xvii. O Colonia. The town here meant by Colonia, is uncertain; Scaliger asserts, it was Comum, or as it was afterwards called, when made a colony by J. Cæsar, Novum Comum, at present Como; it was situated on the lake Larius, now called Lago di Como; the largest lake in Italy, and famous for its wildfowl: some contend, that it was a town near Verona; and others, that Mantua is alluded to. The whole of this poem is evidently written, in derision of some old fellow of Colonia, who had married a young girl. Ponte. It was a custom with the ancients, and which still continues in many places in Europe, to have their public spectacles exhibited on the town bridge. Salisubsuli. Muretus is of opinion, and after him Scaliger, that Salisubsuli was the genitive case of Salisubsulus, a name of Mars; and he quotes this verse of Pacuvius, for his authority: Pro imperio sic Salisubsulus vestro excubet. But Vossius laughs both at the conjecture, and quotation, as a pleasant imposture; declaring with a degree of confidence, in which he is followed by Vulpius, that the line should be read thus: "In quo vel Salii ipsulis sacra suscipiunto." But, notwithstanding the two last great authorities, I'am inclined to side with Muretus; not only because Salisubsuli appears to have been the oldest reading, upon MS. authority; but because, we learn that the Salii, so called à saliendo, and instituted by Numa, were properly the priests of Mars, who from them, says he, took the name of Salisubsulus: their great feast, in honour of their deity, was in the month of March; when they danced along the streets, carrying the sacred ancilia in procession; and demonstrating great strength, and agility, by the various, and graceful turns of their bodies: Virgil mentions them under the same name of Salii, as dancing at the rites of Hercules: Tum Salii ad cantus incensa altaria circum Per caputque pedesque. How very similar to the common English phrase of tying, or throwing a person, neck and heels. Ferream ut soleam, &c. That the custom of shoeing horses with Ovid. Rem. Amor. 2 Virg. Æneid. 8. |