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Horace · Epodes §7.1-7.20

Rebuke of Romans Rushing to Civil War and Remus's Curse

Passage 7 of 17 · Latin

Summary

The author reproaches the Roman citizens who are rushing into a civil war, lamenting that this self-destruction serves only the wishes of foreign enemies rather than their defeat. He concludes that this tragedy stems from the original sin of Remus's murder at the founding of Rome.

§7.1Quo, quo scelesti ruitis? aut cur dexteris
Whither, whither do you rush, wicked men?
§7.2aptantur enses conditi?
Or why are the sheathed swords being fitted to your right hands?
§7.3parumne campis atque Neptuno super §7.4fusum est Latini sanguinis, §7.5non ut superbas invidae Karthaginis §7.6Romanus arces ureret, §7.7intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet §7.8sacra catenatus via, §7.9sed ut Secundum vota Parthorum sua §7.10Vrbs haec periret dextera?
Has too little of Latin blood been shed upon the plains and upon the sea (Neptune), not so that the Roman might burn the proud citadels of envious Carthage, or that the untouched Briton might descend the Sacred Way in chains, but so that, according to the prayers of the Parthians, this City might perish by its own right hand?
§7.11neque hic lupis mos nec fuit leonibus §7.12umquam nisi in dispar feris.
Neither wolves nor lions have ever had this custom, they who are fierce only against a different species.
§7.13furorne caecos an rapit vis acrior §7.14an culpa? responsum date.
Does madness, or some fiercer force, or guilt sweep you away in your blindness? Give an answer!
§7.15tacent et albus ora pallor inficit §7.16mentesque perculsae Stupent.
They are silent, and a white pallor stains their faces, and their stricken minds are stunned.
§7.17sic est: acerba fata Romanos agunt §7.18scelusque fraternae necis, §7.19ut inmerentis fluxit in terram Remi §7.20sacer nepotibus cruor.
Thus it is: a bitter fate drives the Romans, and the crime of a brother's murder, ever since the sacred blood of guiltless Remus, a curse for his descendants, flowed upon the earth.

Notes

  1. 7.4Latini sanguinis — A partitive genitive dependent on 'parum' (insufficiently, too little), meaning 'has too little of Latin blood been shed?'
  2. 7.12nisi in dispar feris — The word 'feris' is a dative adjective (or nominalized dative) agreeing with 'lupis... leonibus' (7.11). 'in dispar' means 'against a different species'. The phrase indicates that they are fierce only against animals of a different kind.
  3. 7.15ora — An accusative of specification (Greek accusative), indicating 'with respect to their faces' or 'their faces' being stained by the white pallor.
  4. 7.19ut — Used here with the indicative perfect 'fluxit' as a temporal conjunction meaning 'ever since' or 'from the time when', pointing back to the foundational myth of Rome's civil bloodshed.

Cite this passage

Horace, Epodes §7.1-7.20. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi003.humanitext-lat2:7.1-7.20

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