Subject
In his well-known Satire I.5, Horace recounts the iter Brundisinum, the journey from Rome to Brindisi along the Via Appia. The poet traversed the road in 37 BC in the company of illustrious companions, including Maecenas and Virgil. The topographic indications allow reconstruction of his route: from Rome to Ariccia, then to Forappio, Feronia, Anxur (where Maecenas, Cocceius Auctus and Fonteius Capito joined the group); from here they proceed to Fondi, Formia, Sinuessa (where Horace meets Virgil, Plotius Tucca and Varius Rufus), then to Ponte Campano, Capua, Caudio, Benevento. Subsequent stops are Trevico (then a small town, not explicitly named by the poet), Canosa, Ruvo, Bari, Egnatia, and finally Brindisi, the conclusion of the journey. The passage quoted below vividly recounts a night of supposed rest as the group ferry through the Pontine marshes, disturbed by mosquitoes and frogs, as well as the song of a drunken boatman, answered by a fellow passenger.
Horace, Satire 1.5.9-21: “Night was now falling over the earth and scattering the firmament with stars. Then it’s slaves shouting at bargemen, bargees at slaves: ‘Pull, over here!’ ‘You’re loading three hundred?’ ‘Oy, That’s enough!’ A whole hour goes by while they harness the mule and collect the fares. The marsh frogs and damned mosquitoes keep sleep at bay, while the boatman, drowned In sour wine, sings of the girl left behind, and a traveller joins in. At last the traveller tires and falls asleep, and the lazy boatman turns out his mule to feed, ties the rope to a stone, and snores away on his back…” (from the translation by Kline).
Placement
Universiteit Gent Universiteitsbibliotheek
Credits
Google Books, Universiteit Gent Universiteitsbibliotheek
References
Q. Horati Flacci opera recensuerunt O. Keller et A. Holder, Vol. II, Sermonum Libri II Epistularum Libri II Liber de Arte Poetica, Lipsiae 1869.
Q. Horati Flacci opera tertium recognovit Fridericus Klingner, Lipsiae 1959.
Q. Orazio Flacco. Le Opere, II, tomo primo. Introduzione generale di Francesco della Corte. Le Satire. Testo critico di Paolo Fedeli. Traduzione di Carlo Carena, Rome 1994.
Q. Orazio Flacco. Le Opere, II, tomo secondo. Le Satire. Commento di Paolo Fedeli, Rome 1994.
