Table of Contents

THE EPISTLE BOOK-I SUMMARY BY HORACE

INTRODUCTION TO THE POET :

AN Quintus Horatius Flaccus is better known as simply Horace. He was an important nt Roman poet. He was closely integrated into Roman society as he joined Brutus before becoming a highly respected scribe and poot. He was also well educated, he studied in Rome as well as Athens. Horace’s poetry provides great insight into the Roman Republic. A key mode adopted by Horace is autobiographical poetry By king of his father, a treedman, Horace raises ideals regarding freedom and ovement. His poetry also evokes Key Roman values, such as pietas (picty), libertas dom) dignitas (dignuty) and virtus (manliness).

Horace’s early poetry was written during the huminal period. The context of alwar strongly impacted his poems. His earliest poetry was a collection of 1/epodes ambic poems wutten during the 1st century BCT. These poems are highly critical Alcks on society. In this way, Horace was a vale a poet whose tole lewater and ourage the people. He also wrote a series of satires, exploring soviety s ills such as olish pride and excessive ambition. The overall message of his poetry in this peried by at moderation is the key to happiness.

Horace also wrote poetry during the reign of Augustus. His poetry was iconoclastic and subversive. During the war against Rome and Egypt, he wrote poems which praised Cleopatra’s nobility (“no sign of womanish tear”). These poems also alluded to Rome’s arrogance in victory.

Horace’s poetry was also strongly influenced by dominant philosophical moments, such as Epicureanism, the belief that individuals should abstam from politics and religion. Horace died in 8 BC, only a few months after Maecenas.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISLES, BOOK 1:

Horace was an important ancient Roman poet. He was closely integrated into Roman society, as he joined Brutus army, before becoming a highly respected scribe and poet. Epistles’ literally mean letters. Book 1 of The I Epistles might have been published in 20 BC, and Book 11 probably appeared in 14 BC. These two books are very different in theme and content Although similar to the Satires in style and content, the Epistles lack the earlier poems’ aggressiveness and their awareness of the great city of Rome.

They are literary letters, addressed to distant correspondents, and they are more reflective and didactic than the cather work. Book I returns to themes already developed in the Satires, while the others oncentrate on literary topics. In these artistic letters, Horace abandoned all satirical elements for a sensible gently nonical stance, though the truisms praising moderation are never dull in his hands. The third book, the I pistles to the Pisos was also known at least subsequently as the Arspectica.

The first epistle of Book Il, addressed to Augustus discusses the role of literature in 3 contemporary Roman society and tells of changing taste The second, addressed to the poet and orator Julius Florus, bids farewell to poetry, describes a day in the life of Roman writer and discourses on the difficulty of attaining true wisdom. Horace these works has become less joyful and less poetic Poets are quarrelling, and Rome no longer an inspiration. It is time for him to abandon poetry for philosophy.

The third book, now called ArsPoetica, is conceived as a letter to members of the Piso family. It is not really a systematic history of literary criticism or an exposition of theoretical principles. It is rather a series of insights into writing poetry, choosing genre and combining genius with craftsmanship. For Horace, writing well means uniting natural predisposition with long study and a solid knowledge of literary genres.

The Epistle to Florus of Book II may have been written in 19 BC, the Arspoetica about 19 or 18 BC, and the last epistle of Book I in 17-15 BC. This last named is dedicated to Augustus, from whom there survives a letter to Horace in which the Emperor complains of not having received such a dedication hitherto

WORD NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS:

BOOKI

Foil: The wooden sword presented to gladiators on retirement

School: The gladiatorial school.

EPISTLE I

Hercules’ door. On the door of Hercules’ temple, which, according to Porphyrion, in Fundi in Latium.

Veianius: A gladiator.

Aristippus: A fourth-century philosopher from Cyrene in North Africa, founder of the so-called Cyrenaic school, which preached a doctrine of hedonism.

Lynceus: one of the Argonauts, gifted with exceptional sight.

words and sayings: Horace uses language equally applicable to magic, quasi-medical formulas and to philosophy.

Janus’ arcade: The centre of the banking business.

(swinging satchel ….left arm): Probably spurious; cf. Satires, I. 6. 74. the great four hundred: (Thousand sesterces.) this was the qualification for membership of the equestrian order.

wall of brass: An image of security, perhaps referring to ‘home’ or ‘den’ in the children’s game.

Roscius’ law: In 67 BC the tribune L. RosciusOtho carried a law which reserved the first fourteen rows in the theatre for the knights. Senators sat in the orchestra, which was not required for the chorus in Roman times.

Curius: M’. CuriusDentatus, a hero of the Samnite and Pyrrhic wars in the early part of the third century.

Camillus: M. Furius Camillus captured the Etruscan outpost of Veii about 396 BC and led the Romans to victory after the Gallic invasion in 387-386.

Pupius: A tragedian. By acquiring a fortune of 400,000 sesterces one would obtain a seat in the first fourteen rows and so get a closer look at his plays.

w signal: Auspicium was a sign indicating the gods’ approval For the rich man his caprice is sufficient sanction.

An island town over thirty miles north .

panum. ardian: A curator was appointed by the Praetor to look after a lunatic The general that care for one’s personal appearance ought not to be thought more important an care for one’s mental and spiritual welfare.

EPISTLE II

alius Maximus: From Epistles 1. 18 we learn that Lollius served under Augustus in (26 and 25 BC). He is now a student of rhetoric in Rome, so the epistle belongs to latter half of that decade.

eneste: The modern Palestrina; a hill resort twenty-three miles east-south-east of Rome.

Chrysippus: (c. 280-207 BC). Head of the Stoic school.

Crantor: (c. Antenor proposes: In Iliad 7.347ff. he proposes that Helen be returned to the Greeks Paris refuses to agree, but offers money instead. (Horace’s version of Paris’ reply is deliberately prejudiced.)

340-275 BC). A leading philosopher of the Academy.

Nestor is anxious: In Iliad 1.247ff. Nestor tries to persuade Agamemnon, son of Atreus, to return the girl Briseis to Achilles, son of Peleus. He also urges Achilles to recognize the superior status of Agamemnon

Alcinous: King of Phaeacia

the tyrants of Sicily:Phalaris Acragas (sixth century BC) and Dionysius of Syracuse (c 430-367 BC)

EPISTLE III

Julius Florus: Later the recipient of Epistles II.; a young aristocrat who, according to Porphyrion, wrote satires.

Claudius: Tiberius Claudius Nero, the elder of Livia’s sons and the future emperor Tiberius. He was sent to the east by Augustus to place Tigranes on the throne of Armenia, which he did in 20 BC.

the straits: The Hellespont. The towers were at Sestus and Abydos, the former in particular was associated with Hero and Leander.

Titius: Possibly the lyric poet Rufus mentioned by Ovid.

tanks and open channels: The public water supply; hence Greek writers who have been frequently imitated.

Celsus: AlbinovanusCelsus, secretary of the staff of Tiberius Palatine temple: Apollo’s temple, celebrating the victory at Actium, who dedicated by Augustus in 28 BC. It contained a library of Greek and Latin works. Buzzing: The metaphor of the bee is expounded by D. A. West. Munatius: Perhaps a son of L. Munatius addressed in Odes 1.7.

A fashionable resort on Bay of Naples

EPISTLE IV

Albius Probably the poet Albius Tibullus Tonversations Horace’s Sms The term includes both Satires and Epide here it refers only to the Set

PestumCassius of Parma: Like the more famous Cassius Longinus, he was one of the conspiration against hilmus Caesar Having fought on Antony’s side at Actium, he was executed by order of Octavian. His pieces (opsla) were probably elegies. henk The word grew could be used of a philosophical school as well as of animal Epicurus, though in fact rather ascetic was later represented as a voluptuary

: An old town between Tibur and Praeneste

EPISTLE V

Archias Apparently a maker of unpretentious furniture Torquatus: An aristocrat descended from 1. Manlius Torquatus who killed a Gaul in single combat and later after a battle against the 1 atins at Titanum in 340 BC, had he son executed for disobedience on the battlefield. The severity of this order led to the phrase Mandana

Taurus 1 Statilius Taurus was Consul for the second time in 26 BC. Minturnaes in Latin near the Campaman border, three miles from the sea. Petrinum: A mountain the concept of the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff in the Church

Sinuessa: Twelve miles south-east of Minturnae. The area is probably chosen because this was the scene of the battle of Tritanum

obey onders: An allusion to the imperia Manisana.

Moschus: A rhetorician from Pergamum unsuccessfully detended by Torquatus on a change of poisoning and exiled to Marseilles.

Caesar’s birthday: Augustus was born on 23 September 63 BC.

Septicius and Butra… Sabinus: All unknown

shadows (Umbrae) men who followed an important figure around and who might accompany him to dinner although not guests in their own right. The goat: Body-odour particularly that from the armpits.

EPISTLE VI

Never be dazzled’: The Latin admirari here denotes an undesirable disturbance whether of fear or acquisitiveness brought about by visual contemplation. The maxim in question was attributed to Pythagoras and Democritus; similar notions of imperturbability were current among the Stoics and Epicureans.

The sensible man …proper limit: The types of behaviour described in vv. 1-14 are all unrestrained. A proper limit must be observed even in the pursuit of goodness. Mute: derived from Mutus silent

Agrippa’s Porch: Erected by Augustus general Agrippa in 25 BC. Apian way: The main road leading south from Rome to Capua and Brundisium.

Amma and Ancus: The second and fourth kings of Rome; examples of greatness and

A town in south Phrygia in Asia Minor. on the south-west end of the Black sea.

hrnia: A territory appadocia’s king: Probably Ariobarzanes III (d. 42 BC), whose desperate financial lems (resulting from Roman exploitation) are mentioned more than once in Cicero’s A reference to his successor Archelaus would be more topical, but topicality is factor here.

decisive success

wwllus: Campaigned against Mithridates in the east with considerable en 71 and 69 BC. In his private life he was a by-word for luxury. ironical

house is sadly… grow fat on: This is, of course, . of the five tribes in which Roman citizens were enrolled.

abian… Veline: Two thirty-rods: The fasces, symbol of the higher magistrates’ authority. magistrates.

e chair of ivory: Occupied by the higher

agilius: Unknown, perhaps a figure taken from the satires of Lucilius. here’s third-rate townsmen: According to Livy, the inhabitants of Caere, an old town south Etruria, were deprived of the franchise as a punishment for a revolt against come in the third century. But the facts are obscure. The sense of Horace’s phrase is: having in a way unworthy of a Roman citizen’.

Mimnermus: An elegiac poet of Colophon, writing in the seventh century BC. Horace paraphrasing lines which say: ‘What is life, what is enjoyable without golden Aphrodite? May I die when such things no longer interest me – secret love, gentle gifts and bed.

EPISTLE VII

The heat bouts of malaria: refer to late August and September. Alban fields: the slopes of the Alban hills south-east of Rome. The Sabine farm.

Calabria: At this period, the area in the heel of Italy.

Cinara: A girl mentioned more than once in the Odes.

Ithaca’s not very good for horses … to you’: These words are taken from Odyssey 4. Oft. The son of Atreus is Menelaus.

Tarentum: A wealthy colony (the modern Taranto) inside the heel of Italy.

Philippus: there were at least three Philippi whom Roman readers might have identified as Horace’s figure; speculation is futile.

Carinae: A fashionable district on the southern spur of the Esquiline, little more than a quarter of a mile from the Forum.

Park: The Campus Martius.

guardian spirit: The Latin genius, on which see Rose’s note in the Oxford Classical Dictionary.

foot-rule: A measure which is thought of here as varying with the size of the man.

gift:

ularity

Celsus: On the staff of Tiberius.

medical metaphor.

Drop: A Muse: in Greek and Roman mythology each of nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who preside over the arts and sciences.

EPISTLE VIII

Claudius: The future emperor Tiberius.

EPISTLE IX

Augustus: Augustus is a masculine given name derived from Augustus, meaning “majestic,” “the increaser,” or “venerable”…. The Greek translation of the title Augustus was Sebastos, from which the name Sebastian descends.

EPISTLE X

Fuscus: M. AristiusFuscus: a literary friend. One of the scholiasts (the pseudo-Acron) says he was a school teacher.

cakes: used for sacrifice.

live in accordance with nature: A Stoic principle

23 July Dog-star… Lion: The dog-star becomes visible on 26 July; the sun enters Leo on Libyan chippings: Numidian marble, used in mosaics.

Sidonian purple: From Sidon, the Phoenician port.

Aquinum: In Latium on the via Latina, about eighty miles south-east of Rome. It was the home town of the satirist Juvenal.

Vacuna: A Sabin goddess with an old temple near Horace’s farm. The poet may be playing with etymology vacare: to be idle.

EPISTLE XI

Bullatius:Bullatius, a friend of the poet’s, has been travelling in the Province of Asia, and Horace, who seems to have had little of the Wanderlust himself, . Chios and Lesbos: Two large islands off the coast of Asia Minor.

Samos: Another island, about forty miles south-east of Chios. Sardis: Capital of Lydia in Asia Minor, ruled over by Croesus from about 560-546 BC. Smyrna and Colophon: Famous cities in the west of Asia Minor.

Attalus:Attalus III bequeathed his kingdom to Rome in 133 BC. The kingdom included cities like Pergamum, Apollonia, and Ephesus.

Lebedus: A small coastal town fifteen miles west of Colophon.

… (You know what Lebedus is fury of Nepture): Some editors give these lines to Bullatius, but it seems better to regard them as a brief reverie of Horace’s, which is corrected in what follows.

Gabii: Fifteen miles east of Rome.

Fidenae: Six miles north of Rome. Like Gabii, it was an old town now half deserted. Mytilene: Chief city of Lesbos.

Ulubrae: An insignificant village in the Pomptine marshes south-east of Rome.

EPISTLE XII

Agrippa: M. Vipsanius Agrippa (born c. 64BC), Augustus’ general and admiral, who in 21 BC was married to the emperor’s daughter Julia.

Democritus: Democritus of Abdera in Thrace (c. 460-c. 370 BC). A man of powerful and wide-ranging intellect, he was one of the pioneers of the atomic theory, which was taken over by Epicurus. This is the kind of story that tends to be associated with philosophers.

Empedocles: A thinker from Acragas in Sicily, who died c. 443 BC at the age of about sixty. He wrote an important work in hexameters On Nature. Stertinius: A Stoic philosopher; in Satires II. He is represented as a contemporary of older.

Horace, though somewhat

PompeiusGrosphus: Addressed in Odes II.

Cantabria: The Cantabri, a tribe in northern Spain, were finally defeated by Agrippa in 19 BC, but Horace may be referring to a campaign of the previous year. Armenia: In 20 BC Tiberius installed Tigranes on the throne of Armenia without any opposition, but the episode was represented on coins and elsewhere as a military victory.

Phraates: King of Parthia; in 20 BC he returned to the Romans the standards which had been captured from Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC. He was induced to do so by the return of his son, who had been kidnapped by his rival Tiridates five years before. Augustan propaganda made much of this diplomatic success.

golden Plenty….brimming horn: The cornucopia figured in numerous works of art as a symbol of abundance. I have translated defudit (which implies that the harvest is over) rather than defundit.

EPISTLE XIII

Vinnius: A well-known strong man called Vinnius Valens was a centurion in Augustus praetorian guard.

Use your strength … bog: The most natural assumption would be that Augustus was somewhere in Italy rather than in Rome or overseas. But in view of the comic nature of the epistle one cannot be sure.

Pirria: According to the pseudo-Acron, Horace is referring to av servant-girl in a comedy by Titinus, who was writing in the middle of the second century BC. There is doubt, however, about the form of the name.

poems:Carmina refers to the first collection of Odes, published in 23 BC. M. L. Clarke in Classical Review, thinks it means the present collection of Epistles, but their send-off comes in Epistles I.

EPISTLE XIV

Varia: A town on the Anio (now Vicovaro) two or three miles south of Horace’s farm Lamia: One of the Aelii Lamiae, a distinguished family from Formiae in south Latium He may be the man who became Consul in AD 3. The brother was probably Quintus AeliusLamia, a commissioner of the mint in 21 or 20 BC. E. J. Kenney suggests that this brother had not died but had fallen for a girl. But Horace’s language seems too heavy for this.

The man: Horace himself.

EPISTLE XV

Vala: a member of the family Numonius Vala. A. Q. Numonius Vala was a prominent figure in Paestum (about half way between Velia and Salernum). But we cannot be sure that he was the man in question.

Velia: On the coast of Lucania, about seventy miles south-east of Naples. It was founded as a Greek colony in the middle of the sixth century BC.

Salernum: The modern Salerno, twenty-five miles north-west of Paestum. Antonius Musa: A freedom physician who in 23 BC cured Augustus of an illness by a treatment involving cold baths and cold drinks.

Clusium: The modern Chiusi, in Etruria about eighty-five miles north-west of Rome. Cumae: A coastal town just north of Baiae.

Baiae: A fashionable resort on the north-western end of the Bay of Naples. The horse’s ear’s in its bridled mouth: i.e. shouting is no good; the horse will only be guided by the rein.

Phaeacian: A member of the carefree and indolent community described in Odyssey 7 and 8;

Maenius: A figure satirized by Lucilius.

EPISTLE XVI

Quinctius: A successful young man, perhaps identical with QuinctiusHirpinus, in Odes II.

‘May Jove…the people’s’: The lines are said by the scholiasts to come from a panegyric on Augustus by L. Varius Rufus, the friend of Horace and Virgil.

The Sabine: i.e. Horace himself, but the name also implies old-fashioned rustic integrity. Laverna: The patron goddess of thieves and impostors.

‘Pentheus, lord of Thebes …. I’ll die’: these lines are ultimately based on Euripides, Bacchae 492-8, but the direct ancestor may be the Roman Pacuvius’ Pentheus, written in the second century BC.

Death is the end of the race: This is Horace’s allegorical interpretation. In Euripides the speaker (who, unknown to Pentheus, is the god Dionysus) means that he will be set free from jail.

EPISTLE XVII

Gauche: The Latin name is Scaeva (left hand). The appropriateness of the name to the subject would seem to justify this translation. The individual himself is unknown. Ferentinum: A lonely town on the via Latina, about forty-five miles south-east of Rome

Aristippus: Born c. 435 BC in Cyrene in North Africa; he preached a doctrine of hedonism. is a matter of debate whether he or his grandson should rightly be thought of as the founder of the Cyrenaic school.

double rag: Instead of wearing a tunic underneath, the Cynics doubled the cloak. The scholasts recount that one day, when leaving the baths, Aristippus put on Diogenes’ cloak, leaving his own crimson one for Diogenes. The latter refused to put it on and demanded his own back. Aristippus then remonstrated with him for being a poseur: You’d sooner freeze than be seen in a crimson garment.’

Miletus: The most southerly of the great lonian cities of Asia Minor. It was famous for its wool

Not every man…to Corinth’: This is a rendering of a Greek proverb, meaning ‘The highest prizes are reserved for the lucky few. The original context had to do ithLais and other expensive Corinthian courtesans. Here the remark comes from an imaginary objector, who implies that finding favour with the great (as Horace did) is wholly a matter of luck.

fundamental question. he’s like the girl ….raucous chorus: These lines recall the boy who cried ‘Wolf!’ Osiris: Egyptian cults were familiar at Rome.

EPISTLE XVIII

belonged to a well-to-do family. How to define a tomato: The equivalent question in Latin was whether a goat’s hair could be called wool.

Lollius: He clearly

A second life: i.e. ‘I would not choose to have a second life if it meant surrendering the right to say what I think.’

Smart: The Latin name is (probably) Docilis.

Appian or the Minucian: The question seems to have been whether the longer but smoother Appian was preferable to the shorter but rougher Minucian. If, as seems probable, the Minucian was the road later known as the viaTraiana, that was the route travelled by Maecenas and Horace in the journey described in Satires I. It started from Beneventum and ran north of the via Appia through Canusium and Barium. To judge from Satires I stretches of it were certainly in bad repair at this period.

Witt: The knight P. Volumnius, an acquaintance of Antony, Atticus, and Cicero, who was well known for his wit and so given the name Eutrapelus (Witty). a Thracian: A type of gladiator, armed with a scimitar and a small round shield.

Amphion and Zethus: Twin brothers, sons of Zeus and Antiope Amphion musician, Zethus a herdsman. Together they built the walls of Thebes, but their different tastes led to a quarrel, which was represented in Euripides’ Antiope and Pacuvius’ Antiopa. Aetolian: Calydon in Aetolia was the scene of the famous boar-hunt in which Meleager took part. Hence, ‘Aetolian’ is a learned, ‘literary’ epithet.

the savage campaigns… Italy’s empire: Augustus led campaigns against the Cantabri in Spain in 26 and 25 BC. for his recovery of the standards from the Parthians. Action battle: Actium is a promontory of Acarnania in western Greece, scene of the naval battle (31 BC) in which Octavian’s fleet defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra. Victory swoops: Because she is winged.

Theon: Unknown.

Digentia: The modern Licenza, a tributary of the Anio.

Mandela: A village on a hillside across the Digentia, about two miles from Horace’s farm.

EPISTLE XIX

Cratinus: A fifth-century comic poet, mentioned for his candour along with Aristophanes and Eupolis in Satires I. His reputation for drunkenness was fostered by himself in a play called The Flagon.

Cato: M. Porcius Cato (95-46 BC), great-grandson of Cato the Censor. A genuine but rather ostentatious Stoic.

Iarbitas: According to the scholiasts he was a Moor, but nothing definite is known about him.

Timagenes: A rhetorician and historian from Alexandria who was brought to Rome in 55 BC. he knew Augustus but later incurred his displeasure bu his criticisms of the imperial family.

Archilochus: From the island of Paros in the middle of the Aegean. His iambics, written in the seventh century BC served as a model for Horace’s Epodes. According to tradition, when Lycambes refused to allow his daughter Neobule to marry Archilochus, the latter wrote a venomous poem accusing Lycambes of perfidy and his daughters of immortality. As a result the girls are supposed to have hanged themselves.

Sappho: Born c. 612 BC, she lived and write on the island of Lesbos. To judge from the fragments, her lyric poetry can hardly have been a major influence on Horace, but he did take over the form of stanza which she used in her first book. Doubtless the adjective ‘manly’ refers to her poetry, but there is no point in trying to exclude any allusion to her sexual orientation.

Alcaeus: Born c. 620 BC, also from Lesbos. He was a major influence on Horace both in metre (the Alcaic stanza) and in subject-matter (he wrote about politics as well as about love, wine, and death).

Jupiter’s ear: i.e. the ear of Augustus.

That position’s unfair: The Latin is displicetiste locus, which I have interpreted as referring (metaphorically) to a wrestling bout. Others prefer to think of a gladiatorial combat.

EPISTLE XX

Vertumnus: A god of change (verto) and hence associated with the changing seasons, metamorphoses, and (as here) commercial transactions. He was of Etruscan origin, and his statue stood in the vicus Tuscus

Janus: A temple of Janus stood on the opposite side of the Forum to that occupied by Verhumnus. Nearby was the Argiletum, a street with numerous bookstalls. The Sosti’s pumice: Two brothers called Sosius ran a publishing farm and a bookshop Pumice was used both for trimming book-rolls and for removing hair. In an extended double entendre the book is represented as a young slave-boy.

kept very tight: Tight shut (for the book), tight for money (for the slave).

Utica: On the coast of North Africa, near Carthage.

Ilerda: A Spanish town on the Ebro. These names stand for ‘the provinces’ (‘what a come-down’), but at another level they can also stand for ‘the empire’ (‘what glory’). the end of a street: The Latin is extremis in vicis, which many interpret as the outlying quarters of the city.

Warmer sun: School stared very early in the morning; as the day warmed up, passersby would stop to listen.

Lollius: In the year 21 BC M. Lollius was for some time sole Consul, the second place being kept for Augustus. The emperor, however, declined to fill it, and later in the year Q. Aemilius Lepidus was declared Lollius’ colleague. Horace was born on 8 December 65 BC.

SUMMARY OF THE EPISTLES, BOOK I

The close and intimate life of the Greek city-state gave rise to most of the literary forms of ancient literature, the greater number of which were adopted and adapted by the Romans. However, the epistle, the letter in verse, was a Roman literary invention brought to perfection by Horace during the first days of the Roman imperial period. With Rome administering most of the known world, friends would often be separated in different parts of the empire for years; even those who remained in Italy would often, as did Horace, retire to their country estates.

Letter writing in verse not only became a matter of occasional necessity but also was often the only means of communication. It was natural that poets and men of letters should turn the epistle into a literary form so that even at a distance friends could share both poetry and, in some measure, epistolary conversation.

Horace’s epistles were published in two books: The first, containing twenty letters, or verse poems, appeared about 20 or 19 B.C. The second, containing two long letters, probably appeared in 13 B.C. Some scholars argue that the second book of epistles should contain the famous Epistle to the Pisos, the ArsPoetica. This work, however, has traditionally been published separately.

Book 1 contains 20 Epistles

Summary:

1.1 – On the Importance of Philosophy -(Dedication to Maecenas, Horace’s Patron) 1-19 – Horace excuses himself to Maecenas for giving up the composition of lyric poetry, but he is better suited to philosophy as he grows older. However, he is not bound to any particular philosophic school.

20-40 – Wisdom is the true business of life; yet most of us must be content with but a moderate share of it: wisdom too is the only power which can tame our passions. 41-69 – Men will do and suffer anything to avoid poverty, but they will do nothing to gain virtue, which is more precious than gold. A clear conscience makes a man truly a king.

70-93 – He cannot follow the popular ideas, because he sees that they all tend one way namely, to money-making. Besides, not only do men differ from one another in their pursuits, but no man is ever consistent with himself.

94-108 – External inconsistencies are noticed at once, while those of life and practice are passed over. This epistle ends with a joke on the Stoic doctrine of the perfect man. 1.2 – Homer: The Teacher of True Philosophy – (Addressed to Lollius Maximus) 1-31 – Horace begins by demonstrating, in the manner of the Stoic philosophers, the merit of Homer as a teacher of morals.

32-71 – Men will take more trouble for bad deeds than for good, and more for the body than the mind. Yet, without contentment and peace of mind, material acquisitions cannot be enjoyed. Avarice and envy are always beggars, and remorse comes after anger. Youth is the time to learn self-control. He shall always adhere to the philosophy of moderation.

1.3- A Literary Staff – (Addressed to Julius Florus)

To Julius Florus, who was serving on the staff of Tiberius Claudius Nero. The letter consists mainly of inquiries and observations as to the literary pursuits of members of the staff; and concludes with a hope that the quarrel between Florus and Munatius has ended in a reconciliation.

I.4 – An Exhortation to Contentment – (Addressed to Albius Tibullus, the Elegiac Poet) Horace urges his friend to enjoy each passing hour, and suggests that a visit to his Sabine Farm may divert him.

I.5 – An Invitation – (Addressed to Manlius Torquatus, to whom Horace also wrote Ode IV.7)

Horace invites his friend to dinner – Tomorrow is a holiday and Torquatus may well forget his occupations for a time. Horace then extols the virtues of wine (see also Ode III.21); and describes the preparations he is making for the banquet. 1.6-On Philosophic Indifference – (Addressed to Numicius)

Equanimity is happiness – Fear and desire alike disturb our peace of mind. You will find this maxim true if you seek the chief good in any other pursuit – 1) in riches, 2) in political honors, 3) in sumptuous living, or 4) in love and trifling. 1.7 – An Independent Spirit – (Addressed to Maecenas)

1-24 Horace excuses himself to Maecenas for not keeping his promise to come to Rome on the ground that it would be dangerous to his health. He feels that this reason will satisfy Maecenas, as being a friend who has always had a sincere regard for his welfare.

25-45- If Maecenas would want him to always be at Rome, then Horace must have back his health and youth. He must be free, even if freedom costs him the loss of aft Maecenas’ favors. Horace would give back all, as Telemachus refused the horses which were unsuited to his poor and rocky island.

46-95- The story of Volteius Mena and his patron L. Marcius Philippus, with an imphed allusion to the relationship between Horace and Maecenas. The attainment of our wishes does not always make us happy.

1.8-A Word of Warning – (Addressed to CelsusAlbinovanus, who was serving on the staff of Tiberius in the province of Asia)

This letter seems to be a reply. I forace speaks of his own fickleness and discontent, and gently recommends moderation to Celsus in prosperity. 19-A Letter of Recommendation – (Addressed to Tiberius)

This letter is written to the future emperor Tiberius, in behalf of TitiusSeptimius, to whom Ode I1.6 is addressed.

1.10-The Advantages of Country Life (Addressed to Arisfius Fascus)

This epistle begins with Horace contrasting his own love of the country with his friend’s fondness for the town; then follows the praise of Nature, and finally the port dwells on the superior happiness that moderate means and contentment afford, compared with riches and ambition.

111-On Contentment – (Addressed to Bullatius)

To Bullatius who is travelling to lonia – Change of scene does not alter the mind. If the mind is tranquil, the meanest and least interesting, of places seem agreeable. 1.12- Consolation – (Addressed to Iccius, to whom Ode 1.29 is also addressed)

Horace advises Iccius, who is now steward of Agrippa’s property in Sicily, to he content, and compliments him on pursuing the study of philosophy. He then encourage him to cultivate the friendship of PompeiusGrosphus, and tells him the news at Rome 1.13 -Instructions to a Messenger – (Addressed to ViniusAsina)

Horace sends a copy of his Odes to Augustus by a friend of his court circles

ViniusAsina. The poet writes a playful note of instruction to the messenger, whom he likens (on account of his name “Asma”) to a beast of burden. 1.14 – Master to Bailiff – Horace writes a letter to his bailiff, who dislikes the country and longs to return to city life; while Horace, detained at Rome, has his heart in the country.

1.15-A Request for Information – (Addressed to Numonius Vala)

Horace has decided to spend the winter at the seashore, and now writes to hry friend for information about the climate and resources of Velia and Salernum. 1.16-Happiness Depends pon Virtue – (Addressed to QuinctiusEirpinus,) 1-16 – Horace describes the simple attractions of hrs, Sabine Farm. 1

17-45-Advice to his friend not to value too highly the admiration of the masses – their honors can be taken away.

46-62 – Many a man who seems to be good is actuated by fear, not love – his morality is hollow.

63-79- The miser is a slave to his money. The good man is free and fearless, come what will.

1.17 – On True Independence – (Address to Scaeva)

Horace shows that one may observe proper deference towards a patron without sacrificing one’s self-respect. He gives some humorous directions for gaining the favor of great men.

1.18 – On the Proper Demeanor towards a Patron – (Addressed to Lollius Maximum) As in Epistle I.17, Horace assures a friend that he can show proper deference to a patron, without laying himself open to the charge of obsequiousness. I.19- The Poet on His Critics – (Addressed to Maecenas)

The Odes (Books I-III) had evidently met with unfavorable criticism outside the small circle of the poet’s friends. He points out to Maecenas the injustice of the charges which have been made against him, and expresses contempt for his detractors. 1.20 Epilogue – (Addressed to His Book)

Horace warns his book of Epistles of the fate that attends publishing. He compares it to a young and beautiful slave, and foretells its destiny – 1) Success until it falls into the hands of the vulgar; 2) Banishment to the provinces; 3) An old age spent in schools.

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