Faith, Peace, Honor, Grace, and Virtue :: Carmen Saeculare

"Spring" by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

In 17 BC, Augustus decided to usher in a new age. What better way to do that than to redefine old rituals and give them new meaning: that is, make the old serve to legitimize the new. What was the old? The Ludi Tarentini which were last performed in 249 BC. They would have been performed in 149, but there was civil unrest. So, disregarding an exact 100-year cycle or saeculum, Augustus chose Horace to compose a poem 232 years later. (Scholars say that the honor would have gone to Vergil, but he had died two years before.)  

Horace filled the poem with what the emperor wanted to hear, needed to hear. As I read the poem I imagined rallies in 1960s China or in today’s North Korea. But such a comparison may be unfair. Horace’s Carmen Saeculare may simply have the air of a patriotic school pageant in Middle America—benign and needed and joyous, for in this poem you will find religion and history and the values worth holding onto: fides, pax, honos, pudor, et virtus.

Carmen Saeculare is not too difficult, but there is one stanza (lines 25-28) that has proved particularly nettlesome. Scholars don’t know what to make of it. Take the first line of the stanza, line 25, which addresses the Fates or Parcae. In it, we have, some say, a Greek construction: an adjective + the perfect infinitive:

Vōsque vērācēs cecinisse, Parcae,

And you, true-to-have-sung Fates,

You, Fates, who have sung true

Then come the next three lines packed with meaning:

quod semel dīctum est stabilisque rērum

what once    was said    [as] a fixed-of-things-

terminus servet, bona iam peractīs

land-marker will serve, good fates now to things said

     iungite fāta

      join.

Quod could mean ‘which’ or ‘because’ or ‘and it.’ Probably it means ‘and it.’ Terminus could mean ‘boundary marker’ or the name of the god who protected boundaries, but I think it refers to the boundary of time, which the Fates have decreed to be the interval between the games. Servet could mean ‘to keep,’ ‘to observe,’or ‘pay attention to.’ Even so, it seems to have the force of ‘to serve as’ as in the French se servir de. Finally, peractīs means not only ‘completed things’ but also ‘things said,’ as in Livy’s phrase: tum peregit verbis auspicia [I:18]. Thus the idea of the entire stanza seems to be:

O Fates, bring good fortune on 

what you said once before

which we are to do now. 

This seems a bit different from Nial Rudd’s:

You Fates, who truly tell what has once been decreed (and may that be preserved by the immovable landmarker of our fortunes), add a happy destiny to what has already been fulfilled. [Loeb, 33, pg. 264]

Translation ::

You, Apollo and Diana, 

the forest’s power, 

sky’s illumined grace,

are worshipped, 

must be worshipped.

Grant our prayers 

in this sacred time,

when Sybilline verses 

prophesied that chosen 

girls and chaste boys

would sing to the gods 

the Seven Hills so please.

O Giving Sun,  

by shining chariot 

you bring then hide the day, 

arise changed yet stay the same;

may you see nothing 

greater than Rome.

Duly ease 

the births, 

full term,   

gentle Ilithya.

Look after 

mothers, 

Lucina, 

if you accept

being so called,

or Genitalis.

Goddess, 

give us children, 

bless the senate’s decrees 

on marriage for women 

and the Lex Marita. 

Make us rich

with offspring 

so that the fixed orb 

of one hundred ten years 

will again bring songs 

and crowd-filled games 

for three shining days 

and as many pleasing nights. 

Truthful you, 

did sing, O Fates, 

and this was said once, 

and may such serve as 

a stable marker of events. 

Tie good fortune 

to what already

has been done.

May Earth fertile with fruit 

and cattle give Ceres 

a wheat-eared crown. 

May health-giving water 

and Jupiter’s breeze 

nourish new growth.

With your sword hidden, 

Apollo, kind and gentle, 

hear the supplicant boys.

You, Moon, two-horned queen 

of the stars, hear the girls.

If Rome is your work,

and a band 

of Trojan troops 

did take hold 

of the Etruscan shore—

told to change city and gods 

with a fortune-favored voyage, 

for them, unscathed 

through burning Troy,

Aeneas the Pure, 

surviving his homeland,

prepared a safe journey, 

he who would restore

more than what was left behind—

then, O gods, 

give sound morals

to the docile youth,

O gods, quiet lives

to the peaceful agèd,

to the Romulum people

governance 

and children

and every glory. 

And what the famed 

flesh and blood 

of Anchises and Venus, 

superior to 

the warring enemy, 

merciful when 

they’re thrown, 

asks of you 

with white oxen,

may he get.

Now on sea and land 

the Mede fears 

the mighty troops, 

the Alban axes. 

Now the once 

haughty Scythians 

and the Indians 

seek our council. 

Now Faith and Peace, 

Honor and old-time

Decency,

neglected,

and Manliness

dare return, 

and blessed Abundance 

is seen with her 

full horn.

And the seer Phoebus,

beautiful with 

his flashing bow, 

friend to the nine Muses.

He, by the healing arts, 

relieves the body’s 

tired limbs,

if he looks 

with favor 

upon the Palatine altars 

and happily prolongs

the Roman State 

and Latium 

another five years,

into a ever better age.  

And Diana, who holds

the Aventine and Algida, 

cares for the prayers of 

the Fifteen Men and 

bends a loving ear 

to the children’s wishes:

that Jove and all the gods 

hear these things 

is the good and 

certain hope

I bring home, 

the chorus, too,

skilled in singing praises 

to Phoebe 

and Diana. 

translation © 2015 by James Rumford

The Original Poem ::

Horace’s words

In Prose

Delphin Ordo

Notes

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1 Phoebe, silvārum || que potens | Diāna,

lūcidum coelī || decus, o | colendī

semper et cultī, || date quae | precāmur

     tempore | sācrō,

[O] Phoebe Diānaque silvārum potens, 

decus lūcidum cœlī! O semper colendī 

et cultī! [Vos] date quae [in] tempore 

     sācrō precāmur,

O, Apollo, et Diana silvarum domina, 

illustre cœli ornamentum; O, semper 

honorandi, et, honorati, concedite quæ 

     rogamus diebus solemnibus istis: 

Phoebe: Phoebus est Apollo, solis deus.

5 quō Sibyllīnī || monuēr|e versūs

virginēs lectās || puerōs|que castōs

dis, quibus septem || placuēr|e collēs,

     dīcere | carmen.

[in] quō versūs Sibyllīnī virginēs lectās 

puerōsque castōs monuēr[unt] ‹dis, 

quibus septem collēs placuēr[unt], 

     carmen› dīcere. 

in quibus carmina Sibyllæ jubent 

puellas eximias et pueros castos 

hymnum decantare numinibus, à 

quibus proteguntur septem colles.

Sibyllīnī: erant vātēs fēminīnae; celeberrima erat Sibylla Cūmārum, oppidī in vicinā Neapoli. 

monuēre: imperāverunt, iussērunt

quibus septem collēs placuēre: id est: septem collēs dis (diis) grātī fuērunt [have been]

alme Sol, currū || nitidō | diem quī

10 prōmis et cēlās || aliusque | et īdem

nāsceris, possis || nihil urb|e Rōmā

     vīsere māius.

Sol alme, [tū] quī currū nitidō diem 

prōmis et cēlās aliusque et īdem 

nāsceris, nihil māius urbe Rōmā

     vīsere possis.

Sol omnia conservans, qui splendido 

curru lucem producis et aufers, diversus-

que et idem oriris, utinam nihil queas 

aspicere excellentius civitate Romanâ.

aliusque: atque alius

possis: subiunctivum: utinam possis

urbe Rōmā . . . maius: maius quam urbem Rōmām

rīte mātūrōs || aperīr|e partūs,

lēnis Īlīthy||ia, tuēr|e mātrēs,

15 sīve tū Lūcīn||a probās | vocārī

     seu Geni|tālis:

rite partūs mātūrōs lēnis aperīre,

Īlīthyia, mātrēs tuēre, sive tū

Lūcīna vocārī probās

     seu Genitālis:

O, Ilithya benignè procurans tempestivos 

partus, seu Lucina seu Genitalis amas 

nominari, defende matres. 

Īlīthyiā: Iunonis filia, quae matribus parientibus auxillium dabat.

Lūcīna: dea matrum parientium.

Genitālis: cognomen Diānae, quia super matrēs parientibus etiam vigilat (tuetur).

Nota bene: textum mutavi, videlicet, scripsi virgulam post “partūs,” quod arbitror “lēnis” esse casum vocativum cum “Īlīthyia.”

dīva, prōdūcās || subolem, | patrumque

prosperēs decrēt||a super | iugandīs

fēminīs prōlis||que novae | ferāci

     20 lēge ma|rītā:

[O] dīva, [tū] subolem prōdūcās decrētaque patrum 

super iugandīs fēminīs lēgeque marītā ‹prōlis novae 

ferāci› prosperēs

O, Dea prolem Romanam multiplica, 

et promove Senatusconsulta de jungendis 

connubio [sic] mulieribus, et lege maritali 

novæ sobolis fertili.

novae ferāci lēge: id est lex nova maritālis Augustī in annō 18 a.C.n. dēcrēta

certus undēnōs || deciēs | per annōs

orbis ut cantūs || referat|que lūdōs

ter diē clārō || totiens|que grātā

     nocte fre|quentıs.

ut orbis certus—undēnōs deciēs per annōs—

referat cantūs lūdōsque frequentıs ter diē clārō 

totiensque nocte grātā.

Circulus etiam centum et decem annis 

evolutus reducat cantilenas ac ludos 

celebres tribus diebus lucidis totidemque 

noctibus jucundis. 

undēnōs deciēs per annōs orbis: id est orbis vel cyclus CX annōrum secundum ōrāculum Sibyllārum. Ad finem orbis erant lūdī carminaque. Orbis erat ūnum saeculum, id est, unā generātio vel annī C vel in hāc rē CX. Igitur, celēbrātio “carmen saeculare” vocāta est.

ter diē: ludi saeculares celebrabantur tribus diebus et tribus noctibus.

frequentıs: frequentēs, id est: populō plēnōs

25 vōsque vērācēs || cecinis|se, Parcae,

quod semel dīctum || est stabilis|que rērum

terminus servet, || bona iam | peractīs

     iungite | fāta.

[O] Parcae, vōsque vērācēs cecinisse quod semel 

dictum est terminusque stabilis rerum servet, fāta 

bona iam peractīs iungite.

Vos autem Parcæ, quæ semel statuta verè 

prænunciâstis, et fixus ordo rerum custodit, 

prospera fata addite jam transactis.

vērācēs cecinisse: in modō linguae Graecae. In modo Lātinae: vērācēs in canendō

fertilis frūgum || pecoris|que tellus

30 spīceā dōnet || Cererem | corōnā;

nūtriant fētūs || et aquae | salūbrēs

     et Iovis | aurae.

Tellus fertilis frūgum pecorisque 

Cererem corōnā spīceā dōnet;

et aquae salūbrēs et aurae Iovis

fētūs nūtriant.

Terra frugibus fœcunda et gregibus 

det Cereri coronam è spicis: Salubres 

aquæ et aër Jovis alant fœtus. 

spīceā Cererem corōnā: Spica est plantae pars hordinis vel tritici quae grana tenet. Dea Ceres coronam habuit quae spicis texta erat.

dōnet: dōno, to present. tellus Cererem corōnā dōnet = the earth presents Ceres with a crown. Cf. tellus Cereri corōnam det. 

conditō mītis || placidus|que telō

supplicēs audī || puerōs, | Apollo;

sīderum rēgīn||a bicorn|is, audī,

     Lūna, pu|ellās:

[O] Apollo, telō conditō, mītis placidusque,

puerōs supplicēs audī; [o] Luna, rēgīna bicornis

sīderum, puellās audī:

Phœbe sagittis reconditis clemens et 

benigne, eaudi pueros supplicantes: 

O, Luna bicornis, astrorum princeps, 

exaudi virgines: 

conditō telō: Post victoriam in Actio, Augustus dixit Romam fide Phoebi vicisse. Itaque, iussit simulacrum magnum Apollonis fieri. Saepe Apollo arcum sagittasque tenet, sed Augustus volebat deum lyram plectrumque tenire. Tela in latere Apollonis posita sunt, vel, ut dicit Horatius, “condita.” 

Rōma sī vestrum || est opus, | Īliaeque

lītus Ētruscum || tenuēr|e turmae,

iussa pars mūtār||e Lares | et urbem

   sospite | cursū,

Sī Rōma opus vestrum est, turmaeque Īliae

lītus Ētruscum tenuēr[unt] (pars iussa

Lares et urbem cursū sospite mūtāre) 

Si quidem Roma est vestrum opus, et 

ad ripam Italicam felici navigatione 

apulerunt catervæ Trojanæ, homines 

jussi mutare domicilia et civitatem

cui per ardentem || sine fraud|e Trōiam

castus Aenēas || patriae | superstes

līberum mūnīvit || iter, | daturus

     plūra | relictīs:

cui castus Aenēas, patriae superstes, iter līberum 

per Trōiam ardentem sine fraude mūnīvit,

plūra relictīs daturus:

quibus pius Æneas viam tutam paravit 

inter incensam Trojam illæsis, ipseque 

post patriam stans, ampliora donaturus 

quàm relicta fuerant. 

dī, probōs mōrēs|| docilī | iuventae,

dī, senectutī || placidae | quietem,

Rōmulae gentī || date remque | prolemque

     et decus | omne.

[o] dī, date mōrēs probōs iuventae docilī; [o] dī, quietem

senectutī placidae, remque prolemque et decus omne

gentī Rōmulae.

O, Numina date bonam indolem juventuti 

flexibili, tranquillitatem senectuti, populo 

denique romano divitias, sobolem, gloriam 

integram. 

quaeque vōs bōbus || venerāt|ur albīs

clārus Anchīsae || Veneris|que sanguis,

impetret, bellan||te prior, | iacentem

     lēnis in | hostem.

impetretque sanguis clārus Ānchīsae 

Venerisque (bellante prior, lēnis in hostem 

iacentem) [ea] quae vōs bōbus albīs venerātur.

Illustris verò progenies Anchisæ et Veneris, 

quæ nunc juvencis candidis vos colit, 

regnet superior hoste bellum inferente, 

mitis aut eum erga subjectum. 

quaeque vōs venerātur: veneror regit duōs accusativōs, e.g., Ego Deum longam vītam veneror.

clārus sanguis: illustris et praeclara prōgenies, i.e., Octāvius Augustus Caesar

Anchīsae: Anchīsa vel Anchīses erat pater Ænēae. Mater eius erat Venus. 

impetret: obtineat

iam mari terrā||que manūs | potentıs

Mēdus Albānās||que timet | secūrıs,

iam Scythae rēspon||sa petunt | superbī

     nūper et | Indī.

iam Mēdus [nostrās] manūs potentıs secūrısque Albānās 

mari terrāque timet. iam Scythae Indīque nuper superbī

[nostra] rēsponsa petunt.

Jam terrâ marique Partus formidat vires 

magnas atque auctoritatem Romanorum. 

Jam mandata expectant Scythæ Indique 

paulò ante ferociores.

potentıs: potentēs

Albānās secūrıs: Albānās secūrēs, i.e., arma Rōmāna; hic symbolus auctoritātis Rōmānōrum. Albānī erant gens in Lātiō. In Lātiō Ascanius, fīlius Ænēae, urbem Albam Longam condidit. Alba Longa erat «Māter Rōmae». Cā. 650 a.C.n. dēlēta est.

rēsponsa petunt: consilium nostrum volunt.  

iam Fides et Pax | et Honos | Pudorque

priscus et neglecta | redīre | Virtūs

audet, appāretque | beāt|a plenō

     Cōpia | cornū.

iam Fides et Pax et Honos Pudorque priscus

et Virtūs neglecta redīre audet, Cōpia beāta

cornū appāret.

Jam Fides, et Pax, et Honor, atque antiquus 

Pudor, et Virtus contempta remigrare non 

dubitat; et abundantia referto cornu felix 

procedit. 

appāret: appāreo -ui -itum

augur et fulgent||e decō|rus arcū

Phoebus acceptusque || novem | Camēnīs,

quī salūtārī || levat art|e fessōs

     corporis | artūs,

Phoebus, augur et arcū fulgente decōrus, novemque

Camēnīs acceptus, quī arte salūtārī artūs fessōs

coporis levat,

Apollo vaticaniis et arcu splendido conspicuus, 

novemque Musis amicus qui arte medicâ sublevat 

ægrotantia corporis membra, 

acceptus: amātus, amicus, carus

arte salūtārī: ars salūtāris est ars medica vel ars salūtis. Notā duo verba similia: “arte” (modō) et “artūs” (membra).

sī Palātīnās || videt aequ|us arās,

remque Rōmānam || Latium|que fēlix

alterum in lustrum || melius|que semper

     prōrogat aevum.

sī arās Palātīnās aequus videt, remque Rōmānam 

Latiumque in lustrum alterum aevumque melius 

semper fēlix prōrogat.

si placidè intuetur arces Palatinas, in 

lustrum sequens ac meliorem semper 

ætatem propaget imperium Romanum, 

Italiam que prosperet. 

quaeque Aventīnum | tenet Al|gidumque,

quindecim Diān|a precēs | virōrum

cūrat et vōtīs || puerōrum | amīcās

     applicat | aurıs.

Diānaque quae Aventīnum Algidumque tenet,

precēs quindecim virōrum cūrat et aurıs amīcās

vōtīs puerōrum applicat.

Diana verò quæ Aventino monti præsidet, 

et Algivo, suscipiat vota quindecim virûm, 

atque propitias aures præbeat juvenum 

precibus.

Aventīnum: Aventīnus est unus e septem montibus Romae.

Algidum: Est Mons Algidus, non procul Romā.

quindecem: id est: quindecem sacerdotes qui curabant has caerimonias.

haec Iovem sentīr||e deōs|que cunctōs

spem bonam certam||que domum | reporto,

doctus et Phoebi || chorus et | Diānae

     dīcere | laudēs.

[ego], et chorus Phoebī et laudēs Diānae dīcere

doctus, spem bonam certamque ‹Iovem deōsque

cunctōs haec sentīre› domum reporto.

Ego chorus peritus canendi laudes Apollinis 

ac Dianæ, domum refero bonam certamque 

fiduciam, in talia consentire Jovem et Deos 

universos.

:: Latin books by James Rumford ::

For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at 

https://www.amazon.com/Carpe-Diem-Poetized-James-Rumford/dp/1891839179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479932219&sr=8-1&keywords=Carpe+Diem+Rumford. 

For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Pericla+Thomae+Sawyer

To find out more about Carpe Diem go to the blog of March 26, 2015; 

for more about Pericla Thomae Sawyer, go to the blog of November 22, 2016.

The Roman Ear :: Quando Repostum Caecubum :: Epode 9

Get out your history books on Rome. Dust them off and read of Rome’s victories: the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, the triumph over Pompey, the capture of the Libyan Jugurtha, and the destruction of Carthage. Of course, if this were two thousand years ago, I’d be asking you to dust off an amphora of delicious Caecuban wine—famous in the first century BC but made no more—to celebrate! 

In this short poem (actually a sequel to Epode I), Horace hails Caesar Augustus’ victory at Actium over Mark Antony and Cleopatra, describing Antony as emancipatus feminae, a man who sold himself to a woman. Horace symbolizes their unsavory liaison in two words: turpe conopium: ‘a vile mosquito net’ as if to suggest the two make love amidst their troops behind a see-through, gauze-like curtain. 

[ The Battle of Actium, Neroccio de'Landi & his workshop, 1475–1480 ]

Horace does such a good job describing certain events at Actium that many believe that Horace witnessed the battle. Horace tells how Antony’s ships were situated in the harbor and how the Galatians (the same people St. Paul wrote to) deserted Antony for Augustus. He even talks of seasickness and asks Maecenas, his patron, “When will we drink to this victory?” Did that mean, when we get back? While it is interesting to imagine a thin (my take) poet of a man ‘embedded’ in the forces of Caesar Augustus, there is no hard evidence to prove that he was there.

There is so much to say about this short poem: the battles, the personages, the Egyptiany word conopium, etc., etc. Nevertheless, I am going to limit myself to perhaps the most trivial of observations: vertērunt is read verterunt in this passage:

at huc frementes verterunt bis mille equos

But here they turned two thousand whinnying horses

Why verterunt instead of vertērunt? The simple answer is that the meter demands it:

at hūc fremēntēs vērterūnt bīs mīll’equōs

The complicated answer is, well, complicated. Most scholars say that Horace can turn vertērunt into verterunt because that is the way the word was pronounced in the olden days. How lame is that?  What did they mean ‘olden days’? What did archaic Latin sound like? Why did the vowels change? Were there other changes I should be aware of? Why would Horace know these older forms? Were these forms still used in reciting ancient songs? Did using such an older form make his poem sound as pretentious as the use of ’twas or ‘twere? would in modern English poetry? To answer this, I had to delve into some rather old dusty books.

So, how did the early Romans say verterunt? According to Wallace Martin Lindsay (The Latin Language, 1894, pg. 531), they said both -ērunt and -erunt. Not very helpful. Equally unhelpful to me were further examples which he drew from the netherworld of Old Indian. Old Indian and Sanskrit were the favorite hunting grounds of 19th-century scholars, for Sanskrit was, until the decipherment and classification of Hittite was achieved in the first quarter of the 20th century, the oldest written Indo-European language. Old Indian and Sanskrit afforded scholars a glimpse of the language spoken by a small tribe of individuals who would later spread out over Europe, Central Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent. 

So, not wanting to go that route, I turned to Wikipedia, which told me that in Old Latin, -eront or -erom became the classical -ērunt. The old forms are proven by Latin inscriptions, and recreated by scholars based on other early Indo-European languages such as Greek and Italic dialects such as Oscan and Umbrian. 

Oscan and Umbrian sound a heck of a lot closer to Latin than Old Indian. What do these two Italic dialects say about the third person plural perfect form? Not very much, as far as I could tell looking through the few grammar books at the University of Hawai‘i library. 

I did find a bit more about -ērunt/-erunt in a marvelous little book on poetry written in 1922 by the same Dr. Lindsay mentioned above. This book was entitled Early Latin Verse. On page 181, Lindsay writes that the relation between the two forms is obscure. He adds that -erunt (from an earlier -isont) blended with another third person plural verb ending, -ēre, to produce -ērunt: 

Mīlitēs equōs vertēre /Mīlitēs equōs vertērunt. 

As to what effect the old-fashioned -erunt had on Horace’s listeners is anyone’s guess…and my guess is that it sounded Plautine—reminiscent of that great playwright’s style. I suppose -erunt would have had the same effect as a Shakespearian “spake” would have bristling in the midst of a modern poem.

Gosh! To think that the length of a vowel meant that much to the Roman ear!

I do have to say, however, that I sure hope that Horace didn’t goof up. I mean, did he ignore the meter? I didn’t see enough examples of the Old Latin form being used by other Augustine authors. In fact, I didn’t find any examples. Oh well. All is not lost. I did learn something about antique Latinity.

Translation ::

[I decided after much thought to turn lines 27–32 into questions, ignoring the punctuation suggested by 500 years of editors!]

When will I, happy with 

Caesar the victor, drink 

Caecuban stored for feasts 

with you, blessed Maecenas,

so welcoming to Jove,

at your lofty palace, 

the lyre playing a song 

mixed with the flutes, the lyre 

Doric, the flutes foreign,

as when, not long ago,

Neptune’s lord, driven from 

the sea, fled his burned ships,

having threatened Rome with 

the chains which he, 

friend to lying slaves, 

had pulled off of them.

Hell!  Antony,

having sold out to Cleopatra

a woman,

(you coming after 

will deny it!), 

is a Roman soldier.

He carries 

wall-stakes and weapons 

yet is capable of serving 

Cleo’s shriveled eunuchs, 

while the sun god 

looks down upon, 

in amongst the military insignia,  

their dirty little mosquito net.

But then, two thousand Gauls,

singing of Caesar,

turned their horses away,

snorting their anger,

and the sterns of their enemy ships,

having been chased to the left,

are hiding in port.

Hurrah! 

Are you delaying

[the triumphal parade],

the golden chariots

and the unyoked bulls?

Hurrah! 

No such leader 

did you bring back

from the Jugurthine War,

no Africanus 

for whom Valor built 

a sepulchre 

over Carthage!

Defeated on land and sea,

has our foe exchanged

a purple for a mourning cloak?

Or is he about to go 

to Crete, famous 

for a hundred cities,

on winds not his own?

Or does he head 

for the Syrtes,

vexed by south winds?

Or is he being carried away 

on an uncertain sea?

Bring bigger cups, boy,

and wines from Chia and Lesbos.

Or measure us out 

some Caecuban

to hold in the seasickness.

Worry and fear over

Caesar’s affairs—

it’s a joy to let go

with sweet Bacchus. 

translation © 2014 by James Rumford

Original Epode

    Rewritten in Prose

        DDelphin Ordo

            Notes

Quando repostum Caecubum ad festās dapēs

     victōre laetus Caesare

     Quando [ego,] Caesare victōre laetus, 

     ‹Caecubum ad dapēs festās repos[i]tum› 

        DEcquando vinum Cæcubum ad solemnes epulas 

        reservatum, lætus ego ob victoriam Augusti, 

             Caecubum: Nomen vini aestimati quod, dicitur, album erat. 

                 Vinum in Agris Pomptinis apud Amyclas (hodie apud 

                 Terracina) producebatur.

             victore: hic victor est Caesar Augustus, qui habuit victoriam 

                 de Antonio et Cleopatra.

tecum sub altā—sīc Iovi grātum—domō,

     beate Maecēnas, bibam

     sub domō altā tecum, [o] beate Maecenas—

     sīc grātum Iovi—

        Dpotabo tecum, O felix Mæcenas, in æaedibus 

        magnificis, canente cum fistulis citharâ,  

              sic Iovi gratum: Helenius Acro dicit Iovem auctorem 

                  esse victoriae.

sonante mixtum tībiīs carmen lyrā,

     hāc Dōrium, illīs barbarum,

     lyrā carmen tibiīs mixtum sonante—

    hāc [lyrā] Dōrium [est], illīs [tībiīs] barbarum—

    bibam, 

        Dhâc Dorium modum, illis Phrygium? Sanè 

        ita placet Jovi. 

               Dorium: Secundum Acronem, unum ex septem 

                   nominibus sonorum.

              barbarum: Phrygum Asiae Minoris. Secundum 

                   Acronem unum ex septem nominibus sonorum 

                   et unum ex tribus musicae generibus.

ut nūper, actus cum fretō Neptūnius

     dux fūgit ustīs navibus,

     ut nūper, cum dux Neptūnius, navibus 

     ustīs, [ex] fretō actis, fūgit—

        DHaud jam pridem sic fecimus, quando 

        Neptunius Imperator freto Siculo pulsus 

        fugam arripuit, 

               Neptunius dux: Sextus Pompeius, qui ab Agrippa in

                    anno 36 a.C.n. apud Naulochum (urbem in 

                    litore septentrionali Siciliae) superatus est et ex 

                    mari (freto) actus. Horatius irridet Pompeio, qui 

                    se ducem Neptunium appellabat. 

minātus Urbi vincla, quae dētraxerat

     ‹servīs amīcus› pérfidis?

     [quī] urbi vincla, quae [ille] amīcus 

     servīs perfidīs dētraxerat, minātus erat.

        Dpost incensas naves; minatus vicivus injicere 

        catenas, quas detraxerat servis infidelibus. 

                servis amicus perfidis: in tempore belli Siciliani (37-36 

                    a.C.n.), Pompeius servos (erga dominos priores 

                    perfidos) ad arma vocavit.

Rōmānus, ēheu,—posterī nēgabitis—

     ēmancipātus feminae

     Mīles Rōmānus, ēheu,—[vos] posterī 

     nēgabitis—feminae ēmancipātus, 

        Romanus (eheu nepotes haud credetis) mulieris 

        factus manciaium, miles portat 

              Romanus: id est, Antonius et milites sui

              emancipatus feminae: feminae datus, id est, sub 

                  dominatione Cleopatrae.

fert vallum et arma mīles et spadōnibus

     servire rūgosīs potest, eunuchs, wrinkly

     vallum et arma fert et spadōnibus 

     rūgosīs servire potest,

        Dpalum atque arma, nec erubescit servire 

        eunuchis rugosis. 

               spadonibus: eunuchis, castratis; circum Cleopatram 

                   erant multi castrati. Horatius de spadonibus 

                   Cleopatrae scribit in carmine I:37:7ff: regina . . . 

                   contaminato cum grege turpium morbo virorum 

                   (id est: regina cum grege contaminato [ab]

                   morbo virorum turpium).

interque signa turpe mīlitaria

     sol aspicit cōnōpium. mosq. net, canopy

     solque signa mīlitaria inter 

     cōnōpium turpe aspicit.

        DInterque vexilla bellica (proh fœdam rem!). 

        Sol videt conopium. 

              sol: credo solem esse deum solis Aegyptiorum: Ra

              conopium: conopeum, genus retis (net) contra culices 

                  (mosquitos, gnats). Atque κουνούπι significat culex. 

                  Dicitur ‘canopy’ verbi originem esse. Ex nomine 

                  civis Canopi quae in litore Aegyptae apud 

                  Alexandrinam erat. Hodie ruinae Canopi sunt apud 

                  Abu Qir (ابو قیر). Canopus erat nomen navis magistri 

                  Regis Menelai qui mortuus est ibique sepultus. 

                  Canopus, in tempore Horatii, civis turpis erat. 

at huc frementēs / verterunt bis mille equōs

     Galli, canentēs Caesarem, groaning

     At huc Gallī, Caesarem canentēs, 

     bis mille equōs frementēs verterunt, 

        DAd hoc Spectaculum Galli indignantes, 

        Augustum inclamando, converterunt 

        duo millia equorum; 

               at huc: vel ad hoc vel at hunc

              frementes: stridentes, irati hinnentes

              verterunt: non vertērunt. In vetere linguā Latinā, 

                  duae formae huius temporis preteriti erant: 

                  -erunt cum e brevi et -ērunt cum ē longo. 

                  Propter metrum (quod est iambicum), formā 

                  antiquā utitur Horatius. Syllabas longas in hoc 

                  colore scripsi: a; breves a. (mille equos legitur 

                  mill’equos.)

             Galli: Gallograeci, Galatae. Ante proelium Actii 

                 (anno 31 a.C.n.), Amyntas, rex Gallograecorum 

                 (Galatarum) in Phrygia colentium, factionem 

                 Antonii reliquit et ad Caesarem iit.

  

hostilliumque navium portū latent

     puppēs sinistrorsum citae.

     puppēsque navium hostilium, 

     sinistrorsum citae, [in] portū latent.

        Det puppes navium hostium ad sinistram 

        fugientes in portu delitescunt. 

               citae: (ex cieo) motae, actae. In proelio Actii, naves 

                 Antonii portum relinquere non potuerunt quod 

                 naves Octavii (Augusti) portum intercludebant. 

                 ‘Puppes sinistrorsum citae’ significat aut posteriores 

                 partes navium vel naves sinistram versus actae. 

                Antonius sciebat se victorem prolii non futurum; 

                igitur in portu latebat, occasionem aucupans cum 

                Cleopatra fugendi. 

iō Triumphe, tū moraris aureōs

     currūs et intactās bovēs?

     Iō Triumphe, tū currūs aureōs 

     et bovēs intactās morāris?

        DIo triumphe, tu retardas auratos 

        currus et juvencas integras. 

               intactas boves: [secundum Ludovicum Dezprez] “vel 

                  tauri vel jugo nondum subditas immolabat.”

iō Triumphe, nec Iugurthīnō parem

     bellō reportāstī ducem,

     Iō Triumphe, [tū] nec ducem parem 

     ex bellō Iugurthīnō reportā[va]stī,

        DIo triumphe, non revexisti Imperatorem 

        talem seu in bello Jugurthino, 

               Iugurthino: Iugurtha erat successor Micipsae, regis 

                   Numidiae. Bellum Iugurthinum (113-106 a.

                   C.n.)erat bellum longum in quo Romani 

                   Iugurtham et copias eius vicerunt.

               parem ducem: Africanum, vide infra.

neque Africānum, cui super Carthāginem

     virtūs sepulcrum condidit.

     neque Africānum, cui [erat] virtūs 

     [quae] sepulcrum super Carthāginem condidit.

        Dseu in Africano eum cui sua virtus 

        tumulum erexit super Carthaginem. 

              Africanum: est Publius Cornelius Scipio iunior, qui 

                  ob magnam victoriam de Hannibale “Africanus” 

                  appellatus est.

terrā marique victus hostis pūnicō scarlet

     lūgubre mūtāvit sagum. cloak

     Hostis, terrā marique victus, 

     sagum lūgubre pūnicō mūtāvit.

        DHostis superatus in terrâ et mari 

        sagulum purpureum mutavit lugubre. 

               victus: id est Antonius

               punico: purpureo, rubri

               mutavit: sagum lugubre [sago] punico mutavit = 

                    in sagum lugubre ex sago punico mutavit. 

                    Verbum muto plures sensus habet: change, 

                    alter, improve, vary, shift, etc.Vide Horatii 

                    carmen II:16: quid terras alio calentis sole 

                    mutamus? (cur in terras alio sole calentes 

                    mutamus?) 

aut ille centum nōbilem Crētam urbibus

     ventīs ītūrus nōn suīs

     Ille—aut Crētam, centum urbibus 

     nōbilem, ventīs nōn suīs, ītūrus—

        DNunc ille vel in Cretam centum 

        urbibus claram fugit adversis ventis; 

               centum nobilem Cretam urbibus: Homerus Cretam 

                   “centum urbibus nobilem” (τη ἐκατόμπολισ 

                  Κρήτη) appellavit.

exercitātās aut perit Syrtīs Notō,

     aut fertur incertō mari.

     aut Syrtīs Notō exercitātās petit—

     aut [in] mari incertō fertur.

        Dvel ad Syrtes Austro vexatas; vel 

        errat anceps per maria. 

               Syrtis: pars periculousa in Lybico mari

              Noto: vento meridionali

capāciorēs adfer huc, puer, scyphōs

     et Chia vina aut Lesbia:

     [O] Puer, scyphōs capāciorēs et 

     vina Chia aut Lesbia huc adfer 

        DFamule, huc affer cyathos majores, 

        et vina Chia, vel Lesbia; 

               et Chia vina aut Lesbia: id est vina ex in mari 

                    Aegaeo insulis Chia et Lesbia.

vel quod fluentem nauseam coerceat check

     mētire nobis Caecubum” measure out

     nobis metire—vel Caecubum, quod 

     nauseam fluentem coerceat. 

        Dquin potius infunde nobis Cæcubum, 

        quod reprimat nauseam fluitantem.

                nauseam: ex ναυσία (ναυς, id est: navis), in 

                    nave aeger, morbidus.

    

cūram metumque Caesaris rerum iuvat

     dulci Lyaeō solvere. care & fear

     Iuvat rerum metumque Caesaris 

     Lyaeō dulci solvere!

        DCertè decet abstergere solicitudinem 

        ac formidinem pro rebus Augusti 

       bibendo suave vinum.

                Lyaeo: Baccho; Lyaeus (ex λυω: solvo) est is qui 

                    curas solvit, qui animos relaxat. 

:: Latin books by James Rumford ::

For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at 

https://www.amazon.com/Carpe-Diem-Poetized-James-Rumford/dp/1891839179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479932219&sr=8-1&keywords=Carpe+Diem+Rumford. 

For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Pericla+Thomae+Sawyer

To find out more about Carpe Diem go to the blog of March 26, 2015; 

for more about Pericla Thomae Sawyer, go to the blog of November 22, 2016.

Bristling Waves :: Mala Soluta Navis :: Epode 10

Horace uses a lot of colorful words in this epode of, well, curses and pure hate for a guy—perhaps a fellow poet—named Mevius. Not much is known about Mevius, if he even existed at all. He is mentioned briefly in Virgil’s Ecologues. Perhaps Mevius was an invention of either Virgil or Horace, a kind of symbolic bad poet the two paragons of literature could shower with hate and abuse. Virgil speaks directly to Mevius in his Ecologues, chapter III:90, when his character Menalcas says: 

Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Mevi,

atque idem iugat vulpes et mulgeat hircos.

Let him who doesn’t hate Bavius love your poems, Mevius,

and let him likewise yoke foxes and milk billy goats.

Oddly Mevius doesn’t answer. Oddly we know nothing about Mavius. Was he a poet, too? Was the whole set of Eclogues addressed to Mevius? I doubt it.  

But back to the colorful words used in today’s epode: 

mari inverso: in an upturned sea 

latus verbere: lashing the side

horridis fluctibus: with horrid waves, bristling? ones like in this famous Japanese woodcut by Hokusai done in the early nineteenth century:

impiam ratem: godless raft because Ajax had raped Cassandra in Pallas Athena's sanctuary as shown here:

pallor luteus: a weed-yellow pallor

non virilis eiulatio: a not manly warbling

opima praeda: fat or rich booty or the prey of an animal caught or killed. Interestingly, I have just come across the same two words in Apuleius’ Golden Ass (Book VIII, chap. V): . . . tam opimam praedam mediis manibus amittimus? I have found two translations, one says this means ‘rich prize,’ the other ‘rich prey.’ As for Nial Rudd’s translation of the epode in the Loeb series, he offers us ‘fat carcase.’ I suppose that we have to make a decision here: either Horace wants Mevius dead and ‘opima praeda’ means his ‘rich corpse,’ or Horace just wants a guy named Mevius, who could just as well be, for all we know, a merchant, to be financially ruined as his rich cargo is scattered by the raging sea upon the shore. If praeda means ‘booty,’ then perhaps I should let ‘booty’ suffice, since it now has two meanings in American English: ‘rich spoils’ and ‘fat ass!”  

libidinosus caper: a lustful he goat

immolabitur: will be dusted with sacred meal just before being sacrificed. 

Tempestatibus: to the goddesses who control the weather (who haven’t paid a bit of attention to me this hot day in Honolulu)

But I’m still worried about Mevius. Was he real or not? If he was a poet, are Virgil and Horace trying to say that Latin poetry has high standards and that not anyone can aspire to their heights? My question is: why didn’t Virgil and Horace just brush him aside as one would a pesky fly? Why this epode? Something is missing in this story, something lost to us now two thousand years years down the line.

Perhaps. But it is possible that Horace used the name Mevius because it fit the meter and, beginning with a nasal (m), seemed to reinforce the image of an oily, smelly guy who merited no good wishes as his ship left port:

mala soluta navis exit alite, 

ferens olentem Mevium

Translation ::

Rope-freed, the ship went out 

under an evil bird,

bearing foul Mevius.

Remember to lash at 

both sides with bristling waves, 

south wind.

May the luckless east wind 

scatter, on an up-turned sea, 

the ship’s ropes and smashed oars. 

May the north wind rise up—

as it does in the high 

mountains and shatters 

the tremendous oaks.

May no-friend star appear, 

night dark, when Orion,

sad, sets. May the poet

be borne upon a sea 

quieter than the one that

carried the Greek band of

victors, when Pallas turned

her ire from Illium 

burned toward Ajax’s godless

vessel.

Oh, how much sweat will stand

upon your sailors and how

weed yellow your pallor!

And that unmanly warble,

the prayers to Jove adverse,

when the Ionian 

Gulf growling from wet wind

from the south breaks your ship

apart.

But if your fat booty

spread out on the curved shore

gladdens the birds,

a lustful goat and a

lamb will be slain to the

Tempests. 

translation © 2014 by James Rumford

Original words ::

    Prose rendition ::

      DDelphin Ordo :: 

          Notes ::

1 Malā solūta nāvis exit ālite

      ferens olentem Maevium:

       Nāvis solūta, Maevium olentem

       ferens, alite malā exit.

         DNavis abit soluta portu infelici auspicio, 

         vehens fætentem Mævium.

         Maevium: Mevius erat homo quidam aut poeta ineptus 

               Virgilii contemporaneus.

ut horridīs utrumque verberēs latus,

     Auster, mementō fluctibus;

      Auster, mementō ut latus utrumque

      fluctibus horridīs verberēs.

         DAuster fac ut tetris fluctibus vexes 

         utrumque latus navis.

           Auster: ventus est qui ab meridie flat

               verberes: in subjunctivo ex verbero/verberavi

5niger rudentıs Eurus inversō mari

     refractōsque rēmōs differat;

       Eurus niger, inversō mari, rudentēs

       rēmōsque refractōs differat.

         DEurus ater mari perturbato despergat 

         funes et remos disruptos.

           Eurus: ventus est qui ab oriente flat

insurgat Aquilo, quantus altīs montibus

     frangit trementıs īlices;

       Aquilo insurgat—quantus montibus altīs

       ilicēs trementēs frangit

         DExsurgat Aquilo tam vehemens, quàm cum 

         frangit ilices in excelsis montibus concussas.

           Aquilo: ventus est qui ab septentrione flat

         

nec sīdus atrā nocte amīcum appāreat,

     quā tristis Ōrīon cadit;

       nec sīdus amīcum nocte atrā appāreat,

       quā Ōrīon tristis cadit.

         DNec propitium ullum affulgeat astrum nocte 

         obscurâ quâ Orion occidit.

           Orion: sidus est qui tempus malum in mense Novembris

               indicat.

11quiētiōre nec ferātur aequore

     quam Grāia victōrum manus,

       nec [in] aequore quiētiōre quam manus

       Grāia victōrum ferātur,

         DNec tranquilliore mari naviget quàm 

         exercitus Græcorum victor,

           Graia: Graeca. Ludovicus Desprez scribit: 

              “Ad Caphareum Eubœæ promontorium dijecta 

              classis Græcorum tempestatibus tantàm non tota 

              periit, cùm reverterentur post expugnatam Trojam.” 

cum Pallas ustō vertit īram ab Īliō

     in impiam Āiācis ratem.

       cum Pallas īram ab Īliō ustō

       in ratem impiam Āiācis vertit.

         Dquando Minerva ab incensâ Trojâ 

         iram convertit in sceleratam Ajacis navim. 

            Pallas: dea Minerva (Athena). Aiax Cassandram in ara 
            Palladis (Athenae) violavit et rapuit. Ira commota, 
            Pallas e Neptuno auxilium petivit, et Neptunus Aiacem 
            e navi in scopulum iniecit, et Aiax nectus est. 

15o quantus instat nāvītīs sudor tuīs

     tibique pallor lūteus

       o quantus sudor nāvītīs tuīs instat—

       tibique pallor lūteus,

         DO quantus sudor imminet tuis nautis; 

         tibi verò pallor flavus,

  

et illa nōn virīlis ēiulātio

     precēs et adversum ad Iovem,

       et illa ēiulātio nōn virīlis et

       precēs ad Iovem adversum.

         Datque ejulatio viro indigna, et 

         vota ad Jovem surdum; 

19Īōnius ūdō cum remūgiens sinus

     Notō carīnam rūperit.

       cum Sinus Īōnius Notō ūdō remūgiens

       carīnam rūperit.

         Dcùm murmurans Ionium mare fregerit 

         navim Austro humido!

           Ionius: Ludovicus Desprez scribit: “Ionium mare inter Epirum ac Peloponnesum

                 ab ortu, et magnam Græciam Siciliamque ab ocasu

                 porrigitur.”

              Noto: Notus est ventus australis.

                 ruperit: ex rumpo

               

opīma quodsi praeda curvō lītore

     porrecta mergōs iuverit,

      Quodsi praeda opīma [in] lītore curvō

      porrecta mergōs iuverit

         DQuod si tu in curvo littore jacens 

         pascas mergos, opimum spolium,

libīdinōsus immolābitur caper

     et agna Tempestātibus.

       caper libīdinōsus immolābitur

       (et agna) Tempestātibus.

         Dà me procellis sacrificabitur lascivus 

         hircus, et nigra ovicula.

           Tempestatibus: Tempestates erant deae tempestatis et

                   erat Romae templum eis dedicatum

:: Latin books by James Rumford ::

For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at 

https://www.amazon.com/Carpe-Diem-Poetized-James-Rumford/dp/1891839179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479932219&sr=8-1&keywords=Carpe+Diem+Rumford. 

For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Pericla+Thomae+Sawyer

To find out more about Carpe Diem go to the blog of March 26, 2015; 

for more about Pericla Thomae Sawyer, go to the blog of November 22, 2016.