Humanitext Reader

Horace · Epodes §9.1-9.38

Anticipating the Victory Banquet for Caesar and Wine to Ease Anxiety

Passage 9 of 17 · Latin

Summary

The poet, longing to celebrate Caesar's victory with Maecenas, recalls the defeat of Sextus Pompeius and laments the disgraceful degradation of Roman soldiers enslaved to Cleopatra. He then calls for wine in larger cups to dissolve his anxiety and fear for Caesar's fortunes.

§9.1Quando repositum Caecubum ad festas dapes §9.2victore laetus Caesare §9.3tecum sub alta—sic Iovi gratum—domo, §9.4beate Maecenas, bibam §9.5sonante mixtum tibiis carmen lyra, §9.6hac Dorium, illis barbarum?
When shall I, drinking Caecuban wine stored away for festive banquets, joyful at Caesar's victory, drink with you under your lofty roof—so it pleases Jupiter— O blessed Maecenas, while the lyre sounds a Dorian song, and the flutes a foreign one, in a mingled strain?
§9.7ut nuper, actus cum freto Neptunius §9.8dux fugit ustis navibus §9.9minatus Vrbi vincla, quae detraxerat §9.10servis amicus perfidis.
Just as recently, when the "son of Neptune" was driven from the sea and fled with his ships burnt, having threatened the City with the chains which he, as a friend to treacherous slaves, had taken off them.
§9.11Romanus eheu—posteri negabitis— §9.12emancipatus feminae §9.13fert vallum et arma miles et spadonibus §9.14servire rugosis potest §9.15interque signa turpe militaria §9.16sol adspicit conopium.
A Roman soldier—alas, posterity, you will deny it— enslaved to a woman, carries stakes and weapons, and can bring himself to serve wrinkled eunuchs, and among the military standards, the sun beholds a shameful mosquito net.
§9.17ad hunc frementis verterunt bis mille equos §9.18Galli canentes Caesarem §9.19hostiliumque navium portu latent §9.20puppes sinistrorsum citae.
Against this, two thousand Gallic horsemen, singing of Caesar, turned their neighing steeds, and the sterns of the enemy's ships, swiftly backing to the left, lie hidden in the harbor.
§9.21io Triumphe, tu moraris aureos
Ho, Triumph!
§9.22currus et intactas boves?
Do you delay the golden chariots and the untouched heifers?
§9.23io Triumphe, nec Iugurthino parem
Ho, Triumph!
§9.24bello reportasti ducem §9.25neque Africanum, cui super Karthaginem §9.26virtus Sepulcrum condidit.
You brought back no equal leader from the Jugurthine war, nor was Africanus such, for whom over Carthage valor built a tomb.
§9.27terra marique victus hostis Punico §9.28lugubre mutavit sagum.
Defeated by land and sea, the enemy has changed his scarlet cloak for a mournful one.
§9.29aut ille centum nobilem Cretam urbibus §9.30ventis iturus non suis §9.31exercitatas aut petit Syrtis noto §9.32aut fertur incerto mari.
Either he is going to Crete, famous for its hundred cities, with winds not his own, or he seeks the Syrtes vexed by the south wind, or he is carried on the uncertain sea.
§9.33capaciores adfer huc, puer, Scyphos §9.34et Chia vina aut Lesbia §9.35vel quod fluentem nauseam coerceat §9.36metire nobis Caecubum.
Bring hither larger cups, boy, and wines of Chios or Lesbos, or measure out for us the Caecuban wine, which may restrain a rising qualm.
§9.37curam metumque Caesaris rerum iuvat §9.38dulci Lyaeo solvere.
It is a pleasure to dissolve anxiety and fear for Caesar's affairs with sweet Lyaeus.

Notes

  1. 9.6hac ... illis — hac (feminine ablative singular) refers back to the preceding lyra, meaning "with this (lyre) [playing a Dorian song]". On the other hand, illis (feminine ablative plural) refers to tibiis, meaning "with those (flutes) [playing a foreign song]". This compact, asymmetrical contrast elegantly links each instrument to its respective musical mode.
  2. 9.11Romanus ... miles — The subject Romanus (line 11) and its noun miles (line 13) are widely separated by the parenthetical clause eheu—posteri negabitis— and the participle phrase emancipatus feminae (hyperbaton). This distorted word order formally mirrors the unnatural and shocking degradation of a Roman soldier enslaved to a foreign woman.
  3. 9.17ad hunc — The phrase ad hunc (against this / towards him) allows for multiple interpretations. It can refer back to the shameful sight of the Roman soldier enslaved to a woman (taking hunc as the situation), or it can point to Caesar as the victor ('towards this man'). Given the historical defection of the Gallic cavalry to Caesar's side, it is translated to encompass both their reaction against the disgraceful scene and their physical turning towards Caesar.
  4. 9.25cui super Karthaginem virtus Sepulcrum condidit — The relative dative cui (dative of reference/possession) refers to the antecedent Africanum (Scipio Africanus the Younger). The personified subject virtus (valor) "built a tomb (monument) over Carthage (super Karthaginem) for him (cui)." This metaphor implies that Scipio's military achievement in destroying Carthage serves as his own eternal monument.
  5. 9.37Caesaris rerum — Caesaris is a possessive/subjective genitive modifying rerum (genitive plural of res). rerum in turn functions as an objective genitive dependent on curam metumque, meaning "care and fear for Caesar's affairs (the state of his cause/empire)."

Cite this passage

Horace, Epodes §9.1-9.38. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi003.humanitext-lat2:9.1-9.38

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