These nasty little epodes of Horace’s got me thinking. It is said that the iambic meter Horace used evoked in the Roman mind a kind of taunt. I wonder, was this a bit like our childish song that runs something like this?
naaa naaa na naaa naaa na na na na naaa naaa-aaaa
Surprisingly, you can almost fit this to today’s ode. Take the first line: lupis et agnis quanta sortito obtigit:
naaa naaa na naaa naaa na na na na naaa naaa-aaaa
luuu piiis et aaag niiis quan ta sor ti tooob tiiigiiiiit
Of course, this is nonsense, since I have made a long syllable like quan short and a short syllable like ti in obtigit long. Be that as it may, I had fun sing-songing this ode as a childish taunt.
And taunt it is. Just read it. Obviously Horace can’t stand the guy for putting on airs when he is no better than a convict who is used to the triumvirate whip, that is, the magristrate’s whip. It galled Horace that this fellow had a Falernian farm, which was located in northern Campania, not far from Rome. (Falernum produced some of the best wines, which Horace has often mentioned). And it galled Horace that this lowlife would sit in the best theater seats in direct violation of a law laid down by Emperor Otho in 67 B.C.
Before I end this, I have a few nit-picky things to say about style. Suppose I were Horace’s Latin teacher and he had submitted this for homework. I guess I’d give him a B- (I’m pretty tough). Just look at the verb in line 16: sedet. It is too close in sound to sedilibus. Couldn’t he have chosen a verb that would further describe this fellow’s arrogance? And in line 17, gravi does go with pondere, but aren’t all ponderous things heavy? Perhaps this is why in Niall Rudd’s translation, he gave pondere the meaning “ram.” I almost like the huc huc of line 9 and the hoc hoc of line 20, but doesn’t this seem a bit too high-schoolish? Besides, Horace doesn’t often repeat words like this. Is this repetition him sputtering? Maybe anger and disgust got the better of our poet. Better luck next epode, Flacce.
translation ::
Like the wolf and the lamb, it is fated:
you and I can’t get along,
with your sides scorched by Iberian ropes,
your legs rough from shackles.
You presume to walk around money proud—
wealth doesn’t change your type—
See yourself sailing down Via Sacra
in a toga six ells long,
as the heads of passersby turn here and there
in open indignation?
“That one, cut by the triumvirate whip
till the crier was sickened,
plows a thousand acre farm and with horses
wears the Appian away;
a big knight, he sits on the first benches
in contempt of Otho.
What’s the good of so many ships, with carved
beaks, heavy rams, being led
against pirates and bands of slaves by this—
this military tribune?”
translation © 2012 by James Rumford
in prose ::
Quanta lupis et agnis sortito obtigit,
[tanta] discordia mihi tecum est,
latus funibus Hibericis peruste
et crura dura compede.
licet superbus pecunia ambules,
fortuna genus non mutat.
videsne te Viam Sacram metiente
cum toga bis trium ulnarum
ut ora huc vertat et indignatio
liberrima huc euntium?
“hic, flagellis triumviralibus ad
fastidium praeconis sectus,
mille iugera fundi Falerni arat
et Appiam mannis terit,
equesque magnus in sedilibus primis,
Othone contempto, sedet.
quid attinet tot ora rostrata navium
pondere gravi duci
contra latrones atque manum sevilem,
hoc, hoc tribuno militum?”
original ::
Lupis et agnis quanta sortito obtigit
tecum mihi discordia est,
Hibericis peruste funibus latus
et crura dura compede.
licet superbus ambules pecunia,
fortuna non mutat genus.
videsne, Sacram metiente te Viam
cum bis trium ulnarum toga,
ut ora vertat huc et huc euntium
liberrimus indignatio?
“sectus flagellis hic triumviralibus
praeconis ad fastidium
arat Falerni mille fermi iugera
et Appiam mannis terit,
sedilibusque magnus in primis eques
Othone contempto sedet.
quid attinet tot ora navium gravi
rostrata duci pondere
contra latrones atque servilem manum,
hoc, hoc tribuno militum?”
::
::
:: Latin books by James Rumford ::
For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at
For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here:
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.
