Horatius

“ Lucretius.
Come, you’re mad.
Collatine.
The foe comes on, and we in trifling here,
Hazard ourself and people.
Horatius.
Save them all;
To make Rome stand, Horatius here will fall.
Brutus.
We would not lose thee; do not breast thyself
’Gainst thousands; if thou front’st them thou art ringed
With million swords and darts, and we behind
Must break the bridge of Tiber to save Rome.
Before thee infinite [65] gaze on thy face
And menace death; the raging streams of Tiber
Are at thy back to swallow thee.
Horatius.
Retire;
To make Rome live, ’tis death that I desire. ”

“ Then Horatius threw himself into the Tiber and swam in safety to the shore. A statue was erected in his honour in the temple of Vulcan, and he received as much land as he could plough round in a single day. ”

“ And I tell you, sir, I tell you that that man’s insolence to his betters is more than any well-ordered State could endure. He has got the Prince’s ear, and presumes upon it. Yes, you may jab at Minucius whenever you can, and as hard as you can. I am very glad I suggested that, and you have taken up the hint very cleverly. Sit down, my good Horatius; you must be tired of standing, and we men of letters are all equal, whatever our social position. ”

“ Horatius, finding himself alone with the hostile army in front and the foaming Tiber behind him, bravely plunged into the swift-flowing river, though clad in full armor, and swam safely to the opposite bank, greatly to the rejoicing of his fellow countrymen, Horatius has been widely popularized as a hero by Macaulay's poem in the Lays of Ancient Rome. ”

“ Horatius.
Whither will you, my lord?
Lucretius.
No matter where,
If from the court. I’ll home to Collatine
And to my daughter Lucrece: home breeds safety,
Danger’s begot in court; a life retired
Must please me now perforce: then, noble Scevola,
And you my dear Horatius, farewell both.
Where industry is scorned let’s welcome sloth.
Enter Collatine.
Horatius.
Nay, good Lucretius, do not leave us thus.
See, here comes Collatine; but where’s Valerius?
How does he taste these times?
Collatine.
Not giddily like Brutus, passionately
Like old Lucretius with his tear-swollen eyes ”

“ Brutus.
The rest we’ll hear within. What offence is there in this, Lucretius? what hurt’s in this, Horatius? is it not better to sing with our heads on than to bleed with our heads off? I ne’er took Collatine for a politician till now. Come, Valerius; we’ll run over all the wenches in Rome, from the community of lascivious Flora to the chastity of divine Lucrece; come, good Horatius. ”

“ The second great poet of the time—Q. Horatius Flaccus or Horace (68–8) is both the realist and the idealist of his age. If we want to know the actual lives, manners and ways of thinking of the Romans of the generation succeeding Horace. the overthrow of the republic it is in the Satires and partially in the Epistles of Horace that we shall find them. If we ask what that time provided to stir the fancy and move the mood of imaginative reflection, it is in the lyrical poems of Horace that we shall find the most varied and trustworthy answer. ”

“ And as the enemy stayed a while for fear, Horatius turned him to the river and said, “O Father Tiber, I beseech thee this day with all reverence that thou kindly receive this soldier and his arms.” And as he spake he leapt with all his arms into the river and swam across to his own people, and though many javelins of the enemy fell about him, he was not one whit hurt. Nor did such valor fail to receive due honor from the city. For the citizens set up a statue of Horatius in the market-place ”

“ The following poem is supposed to have been produced about ninety years after the lay of Horatius. Some persons mentioned in the lay of Horatius make their appearance again, and some appellations and epithets used in the lay of Horatius have been purposely repeated: for, in an age of ballad-poetry, it scarcely ever fails to happen, that certain phrases come to be appropriated to certain men and things, and are regularly applied to those men and things by every minstrel. ”

“ They called him Horatius Co ́cles, which meant the "one-eyed Horatius," because he had lost an eye in defending the bridge; they caused a fine statue of brass to be made in his honor; and they gave him as much land as he could plow around in a day. ”

“ Authors influenced by Virgil.—Livy, Tacitus, Ovid, Tibullus, Propertius, Manilius, Lucan, Silius Italicus, Statius, Valerius Flaccus, Martial, Juvenal, the author of Aetna. See under each.
HORACE. (1) LIFE.
Our chief source of information about Horace is his own works, and some important details are added in a life of him by Suetonius.
Horace’s full name is Quintus (Sat. ii. 6, 37) Horatius (Od. iv. 6, 44) Flaccus (Sat. ii. 1, 18) . He was born 8th December, B.C. 65, at Venusia in Apulia, on the frontier of Lucania. ”

“ He is our youthful Horatius overcoming the three Curiatii of ambition, avarice, and sensuality! He is our Hercules, who has beaten down the triple-throated Cerberus, and who has in His cradle strangled serpents. The one crushed only two, but ours has destroyed three, the vanity of the world by His subjection, the avarice of the world by His poverty, the delights of the world by His mortification. ”

“ Quintus Horatius Flaccus [Horace] , Latin poet and satirist, was born near Venusia, in Southern Italy, on December 8, 65 B.C. His father was a manumitted slave, who as a collector of taxes or an auctioneer had saved enough money to buy a small estate, and thus belonged to the same class of small Italian freeholders as the parents of Virgil. Apparently Horace was an only child, and as such received an education almost beyond his father's means ”

“ What was the yoke, used as a punishment by the Romans? Did Horatius receive no honour for his victory? Did the Romans continue at peace after the termination of the Alban war? How was the life of Tullus Hostilius terminated? Give me a sketch of his character. What new law did he establish? Who succeeded him? Who was Ancus Martius? What was his character? Give me a short sketch of his reign. How long did he govern Rome? Who succeeded him? ”

“ Horatius marched foremost, carrying before him the spoils of the three brothers: his sister, a maiden who had been betrothed to one of the Curiatii, met him before the gate Capena: and having recognized her lover's military robe, which she herself had wrought, on her brother's shoulders, she tore her hair, and with bitter wailings called by name on her deceased lover. The sister's lamentations in the midst of his own victory, and of such great public rejoicings, raised the indignation of the excited [Pg 36] youth. ”

“ I think the alliteration is well worth securing, and you may allow yourself a familiarity in literature, Horatius, where all men are equal, which, as I have no doubt you felt in writing, would be highly unbecoming in society. “Proud delight” [69] does you credit as a man, my good Horatius ”

“ When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
And the kid turns on the spit;
When young and old in circle
Around the firebrands close;
When the girls are weaving baskets,
And the lads are shaping bows;
LXX
When the goodman mends his armor,
And trims his helmet's plume;
When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
Goes flashing through the loom;
With weeping and with laughter
Still is the story told,
How well Horatius kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.
This work was published before January 1, 1928, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. ”

“ He was very free with his tongue, which at last caused him to be forbidden the house of Augustus. (Seneca, De Ira, iii. 23.) He burnt some of his historical writings, but not all of them, for Plutarch here refers to his authority. Horatius (1 Ep. 19. v. 15) alludes to Timagenes. (See Suidas, Τιμαγένης.)
[320] See the Life of Cæsar, c. 15, and as to the conference at Luca, c. 21. ”

“ Horatius, a Roman name horribilis, -e, adj. terrible, horrible hortor, -ārī, -ātus sum, dep. verb, urge, incite, exhort, encourage (§493) hortus, -ī, m. garden hospitium, hospi'tī, n. [hospes, host] , hospitality hostis, -is, m. and f. enemy, foe (§465.a) humilis, -e, adj. low, humble (§ 307) Hydra, -ae, f. the Hydra, a mythical water snake slain by Hercules I iaciō, -ere, iēcī, iactus, throw, hurl iam, adv. now, already. nec iam, and no longer Iāniculum, -ī, n. the Janiculum, one of the hills of Rome iānua, -ae, f. ”

“ On him he turned round with great fury, and while the Alban army shouted out to the Curiatii to succour their brother, Horatius by this time victorious, having slain his antagonist, was now proceeding to a second attack. Then the Romans encouraged their champion with a shout such as is wont to be raised when men cheer in consequence of unexpected success ”

“ In the tale itself there is not material for a five act play; and where Whitehead has added or altered, he has not improved.
The scene is laid at Rome. There are six dramatis personæ; only two women, Horatia and a confidential friend, Valencia. The armies are encamped opposite to each other. Horatia is full of apprehension for her lover, Curiatius, one of three twin Alban brethren, and distracted between her duty to her betrothed and her brother Horatius. ”

“ Pall Mall Gazette. May, 1884. ——:o:——
There are many other parodies of Horatius possessing less general interest than those already quoted.
As most of them are very long, only a few verses of each will be given, sufficient to indicate the subject, and style of treatment. As the source from whence each is derived will be named, the complete parodies can easily be obtained.
It will be noticed that the last four or five verses of Horatius have been especially favoured by the parodists. ”

“ Foremost amongst Lord Macaulay’s “Lays of Ancient Rome,” is Horatius, the popularity of which is duly attested by the number of parodies and imitations it has given rise to.
Some of the most striking verses of the original are given below, for the convenience of comparison with the parodies.
HORATIUS.
I.
Lars Porsena of Clusium
By the Nine Gods he swore
That the great house of Tarquin
Should suffer wrong no more. ”

“ As far as I can conjecture at so great a distance of time, when a triumph had been refused to the consuls Horatius and Valerius, who, in addition to the Æquans and Volscians, had gained the glory of finishing the Sabine war, the consuls were ashamed to demand a triumph for one half of the services done by them; lest if they even should obtain it, regard of persons rather than of merit might appear to have been entertained. ”

“ Then Valerius and Horatius, having been sent to bring back the people on such terms as might seem fit, and to adjust all differences, are directed to make provision also for the decemvirs from the resentment and violence of the multitude. They set forward and are received into the camp with great joy by the people, as being their liberators beyond all doubt, both at the commencement of the disturbance and at the termination of the matter. ”

“ Now not only the multitude, but Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius, the leaders of the multitude, stood around Icilius and, having repulsed the lictor, declared, that, if Appius should proceed according to law, they would protect Icilius from one who was but a private citizen; if he should attempt to employ force, that even in that case they would be no unequal match for him. Hence arose a violent quarrel. The decemvir's lictor attacked Valerius and Horatius: the fasces were broken by the people. Appius ascended the tribunal; Horatius and Valerius followed him. ”

“ And out spake strong Herminius; Of Titian blood was he: "I will abide on thy left side, And keep the bridge with thee." XXXI "Horatius," quoth the Consul, "As thou sayest, so let it be." And straight against that great array Forth went the dauntless Three. For Romans in Rome's quarrel Spared neither land nor gold, Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life, In the brave days of old. XXXII Then none was for a party; Then all were for the state; Then the great man helped the poor, And the poor man loved the great: Then lands were fairly portioned ”

“ The principal distinction between the lay of Horatius and the lay of the Lake Regillus is that the former is meant to be purely Roman, while the latter, though national in its general spirit, has a slight tincture of Greek learning and of Greek superstition. The story of the Tarquins, as it has come down to us, appears to have been compiled from the works of several popular poets; and one, at least, of those poets appears to have visited the Greek colonies in Italy, if not Greece itself, and to have had some acquaintance with the works of Homer and Herodotus. ”

“ Can season with a nay.
Brutus.
We ha’ been mad lords long, now let us be merry lords. Horatius, maugre thy melancholy, and Lucretius, in spite of thy sorrow, I’ll have a song. A subject for the ditty? ”

“ On the whole, Ritter seems right, after Acron, in understanding curæ sagaces of the counsels of Augustus, whom Horace compliments similarly in the Fourteenth Ode of this Book, as the real author of his step-son's victories. He is certainly right in giving the stanza to Horace, not to Hannibal. Even a courtly or patriotic Roman would have shrunk from the bad taste of making the great historical enemy of Italy conclude his lamentation over his own and his country's deep sorrow by a flattering prophecy of the greatness of his antagonist's family. ”