The harper Arion. Quod mare non novit, quae nescit Ariona tellus? 10 Saepe sequens agnam lupus est hac voce retentus; 15 Quid tibi cum gladio? dubiam rege, navita, pinum ; Ille metu vacuus, mortem non deprecor, inquit ; 20 Dant veniam, ridentque moram; capit ille coronam, 1 Canes leporesque. This seems a kind of realization of the prophetical day: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid" (Isaiah xi. 6). Below, 25 "Cynthia" is Diana, the sister of Apollo. 2 Ausonis. A feminine adjective, "Ausonian." Below, "tempora" is a Greek accusative of respect after "trajectus." Flebilibus numeris veluti, canentia dura 30 Ille sedens citharamque tenet, pretiumque1 vehendi Dî pia facta vident, astris Delphina recepit Juno's festival. 2 Cum mihi pomiferis conjunx foret orta Faliscis ; 3 35 Et celebres ludos, indigenamque bovem. Stat vetus et densa praenubilus arbore lucus, 1 Pretium. The nominative case: "And sings, as payment for his passage." 2 Victa. Falerii, whose people were called Falisci, although here the town itself is so called, was taken by Camillus, B.C. 394. Below, "indigenam" is "bred on the spot." 10 3 Grande, etc. "To learn the rites (followed) is a high recompense for the delay (caused by doing so)." Below, "velatas" is either "covered with awnings," or only means that the windows along the street were hung with tapestry, etc. Et vituli nondum metuenda fronte minaces; Virginei crines auro gemmaque premuntur : Ore favent populus tunc, cum venit aurea pompa; Ipsa sacerdotes subsequiturque suas. 3 Argiva est pompae facies. Agamemnone caeso Ille suos docuit Junonia sacra Faliscos, 15 20 25 30 35 in white, and carried the sacred implement required in the sacrifice on their heads, in baskets. Below, "Ore favent" means that the spectators took care to avoid uttering ill-omened words. 3 Ipsa. Juno's image was carried behind the priestesses. Halesus was a son of Agamemnon, and after his father's murder by Clytemnestra, fled from Mycenae and settled in Etruria, giving his name to the ager Faliscus (or Phaliscus). He desires not riches, but a happy return to Neaera. Quid prodest caelum votis implêsse, Neaera ? Blandaque cum multa thura dedisse prece? Non ut marmorei prodirem e limine tecti Insignis clara, conspicuusque domo ; Aut ut multa mei renovarent jugera tauri, Et magnas messes terra benigna daret; Sed tecum ut longae sociarem gaudia vitae: Inque tuo caderet nostra senecta sinu; Tunc, cum permenso defunctus tempore lucis Nudus Lethaea1 cogerer ire rate. Nam grave quid prodest pondus mihi divitis auri ? Quidve domus prodest Phrygiis innixa columnis, 5 10 Et nemora in domibus sacros imitantia lucos ? 2 15 Sit mihi paupertas tecum, jucunda Neaera, 1 Lethaea. Compelled to enter Charon's boat to cross the rivers of Hades. Cf. Horat. Carm. ii. 14: "Cocytus errans scilicet omnibus Enaviganda." Below, there are mentioned, as eminently excellent, the marbles of Phrygia, in the north-west of Asia Minor; Taenarus (now Matapan, the southernmost pro 20 montory of the Peloponnesus); and Carystus, a town on the southern coast of Euboea. 2 Nemora-lucos. These words differ in this respect, that "lucus" is a sacred grove, whereas "nemus" is merely a cultivated plantation ("silva" being a natural wood). 3 At sine te. Cf. Moore:- O niveam, quae te poterit mihi reddere, lucem! Nec me regna juvant, nec Lydius aurifer amnis, Haec alii cupiant; liceat mihi paupere cultu 2 Adsis, et timidis faveas, Saturnia, votis, Et faveas, concha Cypria vecta tua. Tib. 25 30 35 The Quinquatria. Una dies media est; et fiunt sacra Minervae; "But oh! the choice what heart can propitious. doubt 3 Dives. "Rich," I suppose, because Death swallows everything. But it is a curious epithet. Or does it mean enriched by the presence of Neaera?" 66 * Quinque diebus. The festival was the "Quinquatria." Quinquatrus" really means the fifth day after the Ides; originally one day only having been observed probably. Below, "strata arena refers to the fact that the amphitheatre was strewn with sand for the gladiatorial shows. |