*** WE O DE V. By Mr. J. DUNCOMBE. E' own the fovereign Power of Jove, A present Deity we know, While great 2 Auguftus rules below; I faw, he cry'd, the Punic Foes • I faw I faw their Arms, a bloodlefs Prey, The Hind her Hunter's Lance fhall dare, And, in his Turn, the Battle gain, He faid; and, 14 with averted Face, While to the Ground, with Thought intent, Had fix'd, to authorize a Choice, 26 Which 15 Which He, He only, could have made : From 18 Relatives, who prefs'd his Stay, NOTES. The Defign of Horace, in this Ode, is to praise Auguftus for having humbled the Parthians and the Britons by the fole Terror of his Arms; which he does with great Addrefs, flightly touching on the latter, and enhancing the Advantage gained by Auguftus over the Parthians, by comparing it with the Victory they had obtained over Crafus and the Romans. Horace was then about 47 Years old. DACIER. 1 Cælo tonantem credidimus Jovem Regnare.] This Comparison of Auguftus to Jupiter is elegant. The one convinces the World by his Thunder, that HE reigns in Heaven; the other fhows by his Victories, that he is a God on Earth. The following Lines in the 12th Ode of the firit Book may ferve as a Comment on this Paffage : Te minor latum reget æquus orbem; Fulmina lucis. Subject to Thee only, He fhall govern the wide World with Equity: Thou shalt thake Olympus with thy dreadful Chariot. Thou shalt launch thy vengeful Bolts against polluted Groves." • karafu] The irge Word defroms the Opinion of tusut, was thought this Due was written in the Year of kome may for ĜEmas Leie die not receive the Surname of Augufas even Years afterwards, out. in the Year 26. 3 — Groom me Perks) He means the Parthiezs, See the fecumd Ole of the ni Boos. Augufus, in Truth, neither conquered the Britons, mor the Fensters; but the former leat Ausañadors to be for Peace, who found his ar kan; on which Account be was considered as their Conquerer; and the latter, of their own Accord, refired us E. fgns they had taken from Crafas: Of which Honour, however, fugufus was prouder, than of all his Victories. He thanked the Gods by public Sacrifices, and caued Medals to be ftruck to perpetuate the Memory of it. DACIER. • Mileine Craft] The only Defign of Htrace, in deKribing in fuch lively Colours the Defeat of Crafus, and the Cowardice of his Soldiers, is to heighten the Glory of Auguftus, who, by his Conduct, had retrieved the Glory of the Roman Name, which had been covered with Infamy from the Year 700 to the Year 733. 6 Turpis maritus vixit ?] Son of Phraätes the Second, gave Parthian Wives to the had taken Prisoners. Orodes, King of Parthia (the and Brother of Mitbridates) Soldiers of Craffes, whom he 7 Anciliorum, nominis, et toga Oblitus, aternæque Vefiæ ] That is, literally tranflated, Forgetful of the Ancilia, (or facred Bucklers) of the Roman Name and Gown (or Habit) and of eternal Vetta. Horace aggravates the Basenefs of the Roman Soldiers by this folemn Reflection, and intimates hereby, that they had renounced all the great Privileges, to which they were entitled by those Tacred Pledges. A Buckler was faid to have fallen from Heaven at Rome, in the Reign of Numa; and, at the fame Time, a Voice was heard, declaring, that the City fhould continue Mistress of the World, while the preferved it : On which Account Numa caufed eleven more Bucklers to be made, exactly of the fame Form, that it might be the more difficult to fteal it. See Feftus on the Word Mamurii. The Romans were no lefs fond of their Habit, than of their Name. Thus Virgil calls them, Romanos rerum dominos, gentemque togatam. The Gown-clad Nation, Sovereign of the World. By eternal Vefa, Horace means the Fires, which were perpetually burning in the Temple of Vesta. 8 Incolumi Jove, et urbe Roma?] By Jupiter, Horace here means the Temple of Jupiter, i. e. the Capitol. Thus we ftill fay St. Peter's, or St. Paul's, to fignify the Churches of St. Peter, or St. Paul. It was an Aggravation of the Bafenefs of the Roman Soldiers, fo tamely to fubmit, while the Capitol and Rome were standing, and, confequently, thote facred Pledges of the Roman Power fecure. DACIER. 2 Hoc caverat mens provida Reguli.] Horace here makes a fine Encomium on Regulus: However, we must not forget, that he defigns likewife, by this Digreffion, to praife Auguftus, who (according to the Maxims of that illuftrious Roman) had recovered the Enfigns from the Parthians, not by any Exchange, or by Treaty, but by the Glory of his Arms, and the Terror of his Name. 10 Signa-Punicis Affixa delubris.] There is fcarce any Nation, but what used to hang up in its Temples the Enfigns and Spoils, which they gained from their Enemies. 11 Portafque non claufas, et arva coli.] To fhow the great Security of the Carthaginians, he mentions these two Circumftances, which commonly attend a profound Peace, viz. the Gates open, and the Fields cultivated. Salluf, in like Manner, joins them together; apertæ portæ, repleta arva cultoribus. Marte coli populata noftro.] Regulus had before, in the very fame Year, defeated the Carthaginians in a Battle, laid waste their Fields, and |