Humanitext Reader

Horace · Epistles §1.5.1-1.5.31

Invitation to Torquatus for a Modest Banquet

Passage 6 of 29 · Latin

Summary

Horace invites his friend Torquatus to a simple yet hearty banquet at his home on the occasion of Caesar's birthday holiday the next day, urging him to forget his daily worries and enjoy the feast.

§1.5.1Si potes Archiacis conviva recumbere lectis §1.5.2nec modica cenare times holus omne patella, §1.5.3supremo te sole domi, Torquate, manebo,
If you can recline as a guest on Archiac couches and do not fear to dine on simple vegetables from a modest dish, I shall wait for you, Torquatus, at home at sunset.
§1.5.4vina bibes iterum Tauro diffusa palustris §1.5.5inter Minturnas Sinuessanumque Petrinum.
You will drink wine bottled when Taurus was consul for the second time, between marshy Minturnae and Petrinum of Sinuessa.
§1.5.6si melius quid habes, arcesse, vel imperium fer.
If you have anything better, order it to be brought, or else submit to my command.
§1.5.7iamdudum splendet focus et tibi munda supellex,
For some time now the hearth has been bright and the tableware clean for you.
§1.5.8mitte levis spes et certamina divitiarum §1.5.9et Moschi causam: cras nato Caesare festus §1.5.10dat veniam somnumque dies; impune licebit §1.5.11aestivam sermone benigno tendere noctem.
Dismiss fleeting hopes, and the struggles for riches, and the lawsuit of Moschus: tomorrow, a holiday on Caesar's birthday, grants excuse and sleep; it will be permitted with impunity to prolong the summer night with friendly conversation.
§1.5.12Quo mihi fortunam, si non conceditur uti?
What use is fortune to me, if I am not allowed to enjoy it?
§1.5.13parcus ob heredis curam nimiumque severus §1.5.14adsidet insano, potare et spargere flores §1.5.15incipiam, patiarque vel inconsultus haberi.
He who is stingy and too severe because of care for his heir is next door to a madman. I will begin to drink and scatter flowers, and I will suffer even to be thought reckless.
§1.5.16quid non ebrietas dissignat? operta recludit, §1.5.17spes iubet esse ratas, ad proelia trudit inertem, §1.5.18sollicitis animis onus eximit, addocet artes.
What does drunkenness not accomplish? It discloses secrets, bids hopes to be realized, pushes the coward into battles, takes the burden from anxious minds, and teaches new arts.
§1.5.19fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum?
Whom have the flowing cups not made eloquent?
§1.5.20contracta quem non in paupertate solutum?
Whom have they not set free in pinching poverty?
§1.5.21Haec ego procurare et idoneus imperor et non §1.5.22invitus, ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa §1.5.23corruget naris, ne non et cantharus et lanx §1.5.24ostendat tibi te, ne fidos inter amicos §1.5.25sit qui dicta foras eliminet, ut coeat par §1.5.26iungaturque pari.
I am directed to arrange these things, both as the fit person and not unwillingly: that no dirty couch-cover, no soiled napkin wrinkle your nose; that both tankard and plate, well polished, show you to yourself; that there be no one among faithful friends to leak abroad what is said; that equal may meet and be joined with equal.
Butram tibi Septiciumque, §1.5.27et nisi cena prior potiorque puella Sabinum §1.5.28detinet, adsumam.
I shall invite Butra and Septicius for you, and Sabinus too, unless a prior dinner or a more appealing girl detains him.
locus est et pluribus umbris: §1.5.29sed nimis arta premunt olidae convivia caprae,
There is room also for several "shadows": but too crowded a feast is oppressed by the smell of goats.
§1.5.30tu quotus esse velis rescribe et rebus omissis §1.5.31atria servantem postico falle clientem.
Write back how many you wish to be, and, leaving your business behind, elude by the back door the client guarding your vestibule.

Notes

  1. §1.5.6imperium fer — Meaning "submit to my command (as the host)." It refers to accepting Horace's authority as the host or master of the feast (magister bibendi).
  2. §1.5.12Quo mihi fortunam — An elliptical question with an accusative, where a verb like prodest or datur is omitted. It is understood as "To what purpose is fortune to me, if I am not allowed to use it?"
  3. §1.5.21idoneus imperor — The verb impero, which normally takes a dative, is used here in a personal passive construction (nominative with infinitive), accompanied by the nominative adjective idoneus agreeing with the subject ego. It means "I am commanded (to arrange these things) as the fit person."
  4. §1.5.23ne non — Following the negative purpose clause marker ne from the previous line, non cancels the negation. It means "lest they should not show," i.e., "so that both tankard and plate, being well polished, may show you to yourself."
  5. §1.5.30tu quotus esse velis — Though quotus originally means "which in order" or "how many-eth," here it is used to ask "how large a party you wish to be (including yourself)," or "how many companions (shadows) you wish to bring."

Cite this passage

Horace, Epistles §1.5.1-1.5.31. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1.5.1-1.5.31

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.