This sweet poem contains some puzzles. Is Horace’s home in Tibur the same as his Sabine farm, or a separate dwelling, or imaginary, as scholars variously argue? Does Septimius, the dedicatee of the poem, have a special association with Tibur, and what does he or Horace specially have to do with Tarentum? (Horace refers to the tradition that the two places were founded by Greek colonists.) If the fates prevent Horace from living at Tibur, which is not all that far beyond Rome’s suburbs, how will he make it to Tarentum, in the deep south of Italy? Commentators can only speculate. What we can more confidently appreciate is the warmth of the friendship between the two men, which is clear at the beginning and end, and Horace’s description of the beauty of the two locations.
The address to a friend prepared to go anywhere with the poet, and praise of the beauty of a particular location, are both stock poetic themes.
In a later poem (Epode 1.9) Horace recommends Septimius to the future Emperor Tiberius, and the ancient “Life” of Horace says that he was a friend of both Horace and Augustus, but, beyond that, nothing much is known about him.
Falernian, from Campania was regarded by Romans as the finest wine; Venafrum, further north, was famous for olives, and Hymettus, in Attica, famous for honey. The metre is Sapphic.
Many thanks to Tony Sillem for the fine translation of this charmingly mysterious ode.
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