Chapter I: Front Matter

HORACE AND HIS INFLUENCE

by

GRANT SHOWERMAN

* * * * * *

Our Debt to Greece and Rome

Editors

George Depue Hadzsits, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

David Moore Robinson, Ph.D., Ll.D. The Johns Hopkins University

Contributors to the "Our Debt to Greece and Rome Fund," Whose Generosity Has Made Possible the Library

Our Debt to Greece and Rome

Philadelphia

DR. ASTLEY P.C. ASHHURST
WILLIAM L. AUSTIN
JOHN C. BELL
HENRY H. BONNELL
JASPER YEATES BRINTON
GEORGE BURNHAM, JR.
JOHN CADWALADER
MISS CLARA COMEGYS
MISS MARY E. CONVERSE
ARTHUR G. DICKSON
WILLIAM M. ELKINS
H.H. FURNESS, JR.
WILLIAM P. GEST
JOHN GRIBBEL
SAMUEL F. HOUSTON
CHARLES EDWARD INGERSOLL
JOHN STORY JENKS
ALBA B. JOHNSON
MISS NINA LEA
HORATIO G. LLOYD
GEORGE MCFADDEN
MRS. JOHN MARKOE
JULES E. MASTBAUM
J. VAUGHAN MERRICK
EFFINGHAM B. MORRIS
WILLIAM R. MURPHY
JOHN S. NEWBOLD
S. DAVIS PAGE (memorial)
OWEN J. ROBERTS
JOSEPH G. ROSENGARTEN
WILLIAM C. SPROUL
JOHN B. STETSON, JR.
DR. J. WILLIAM WHITE (memorial)
GEORGE D. WIDENER
MRS. JAMES D. WINSOR
OWEN WISTER
The Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Liberal Studies.

Boston

ORIC BATES (memorial)
FREDERICK P. FISH
WILLIAM AMORY GARDNER
JOSEPH CLARK HOPPIN

Chicago

HERBERT W. WOLFF

Cincinnati

CHARLES PHELPS TAFT

Cleveland

SAMUEL MATHER

Detroit

JOHN W. ANDERSON
DEXTER M. FERRY, JR.

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

"A LOVER OF GREECE AND ROME"

New York

JOHN JAY CHAPMAN
WILLARD V. KING
THOMAS W. LAMONT
DWIGHT W. MORROW
MRS. D.W. MORROW
_Senatori Societatis Philosophiae_, [Greek: PhBK], _gratias maximas
agimus_
ELIHU ROOT
MORTIMER L. SCHIFF
WILLIAM SLOANE
GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM
And one contributor, who has asked to have his name withheld:
_Maecenas atavis edite regibus,_
_O et praesidium et dulce decus meum._

Washington

The Greek Embassy at Washington, for the Greek Government.

* * * * * *

HORACE AND HIS INFLUENCE

by

GRANT SHOWERMAN

Professor of Classics The University of Wisconsin

George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd. London Calcutta Sydney

The Plimpton Press Norwood Massachusetts

1922

To HOWARD LESLIE SMITH LOVER OF LETTERS

SABINE HILLS

O_n Sabine hills when melt the snows_,
S_till level-full His river flows_;
E_ach April now His valley fills_
W_ith cyclamen and daffodils_;
A_nd summers wither with the rose_.

S_wift-waning moons the cycle close_:
B_irth,--toil,--mirth,--death; life onward goes_
T_hrough harvest heat or winter chills_
O_n Sabine hills_.

Y_et One breaks not His long repose_,
N_or hither comes when Zephyr blows_;
I_n vain the spring's first swallow trills_;
N_ever again that Presence thrills_;
O_ne charm no circling season knows_
O_n Sabine hills_.

GEORGE MEASON WHICHER

EDITORS' PREFACE

The volume on Horace and His Influence by Doctor Showerman is the second to appear in the Series, known as "Our Debt to Greece and Rome."

Doctor Showerman has told the story of this influence in what seems to us the most effective manner possible, by revealing the spiritual qualities of Horace and the reasons for their appeal to many generations of men. These were the crown of the personality and work of the ancient poet, and admiration of them has through successive ages always been a token of aspiration and of a striving for better things.

The purpose of the volumes in this Series will be to show the influence of virtually all of the great forces of the Greek and Roman civilizations upon subsequent life and thought and the extent to which these are interwoven into the fabric of our own life of to-day. Thereby we shall all know more clearly the nature of our inheritance from the past and shall comprehend more steadily the currents of our own life, their direction and their value. This is, we take it, of considerable importance for life as a whole, whether for correct thinking or for true idealism.

The supremacy of Horace within the limits that he set for himself is no fortuity, and the miracle of his achievement will always remain an inspiration for some. But it is not as a distant ideal for a few, but as a living and vital force for all, that we should approach him; and to assist in this is the aim of our little volume.

The significance of Horace to the twentieth century will gain in clarity from an understanding of his meaning to other days. We shall discover that the eternal verity of his message, whether in ethics or in art, comes to _us_ with a very particular challenge, warning and cry.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE FUND ii
SABINE HILLS vii
EDITORS' PREFACE ix
INTRODUCTION: THE DYNAMISM OF THE FEW xiii