A DITHYRAMB FOR AUGUSTUS: HORACE,ODES4.2

Abstract

Odes4.2 ostensibly looks forward to two public events lying at some indeterminate point in the future, Augustus' return from campaign in Gaul, and a triumph over the Sygambri. The celebrations anticipated for these occasions frame the second half of the ode; but they do not supply its dramatic setting or timing, and the latter is evidently associated with the period following Augustus' departure for Gaul in summer 16b.c., or at any rate with a time when the Sygambri were felt still to present an armed threat. The dramatic date need not however be identical with the time of writing, and it should not be assumed thatOdes4.2 was composed in 16. Indeed, as will be seen (below, Section 6), it is most likely to be the retrospective product of a later period, around the time of Augustus' eventual return in July 13. On this view, the poem does not look forward to future events, but back to the time of Augustus' departure.