Nearing the close of his last book of odes, Horace does not hold back. See his Latin and follow in English here; see the illustrated blog post here.
An important part of Horace’s project in the odes was to use his poetic skills to celebrate Augustus, and to contribute to consolidating his standing in Roman society as an object of supreme veneration and deference. Hear an early example of a poem of fulsome praise for the first Emperor from the first book of Odes in Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
The magnificent “Blacas” cameo, named after a previous possessor, was probably made soon after Augustus’s death and is in the collection of the British Museum.
It is 24 BCE, and Horace calls on Augustus’s family, and Rome in general, to welcome him on return from campaigning in Spain. The first half of the poem refers to one reason to be particularly glad: Augustus had been ill, and rumours were even circulating that he might actually have died. A further reason, pictured in the second half, is more personal to Horace. He is free to celebrate at home with wine and female company, free from the fear and the risk of renewed civil strife that might have followed Augustus’s death. The poem ends with an oblique reference, which no Roman would have missed, to the battle of Philippi. Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
You can’t believe a word that Barine says, but she’s so lovely, who cares? Hear Horace’s ode in Latin and follow in English here.
Horace is telling his rich friend Grosphus about the things that money cannot buy: peace of mind is the main one, but he also reminds Grosphus that exemption from ageing and death is not for sale either. The example he uses of age is the myth of Tithonus. He was a beautiful youth with whom Eos, winged goddess of the dawn, fell in love. He was a mortal, but Eos successfully begged the Gods to grant him immortality. They did, but, unfortunately, she forgot also to ask for eternal youth, meaning that Tithonus’s fate was to grow ever older and older, but never to die.
Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.