The date of the informal commissioning of this commentary is easy for me to recover, since 6 July 2004 was when the Horatian Society held its annual dinner in the Old Hall of Lincoln's Inn, London. It also happened that the editorial board of this series had met earlier that afternoon, and decided that one title the series needed was Horace's first book of odes. Our Society's then President, Ted Kenney, showed some art in snaring his commentator. Pre-dinner drinks on a summer evening under the shade of plane trees, views over perfect lawns to flower borders and fine brick buildings naturally lower one's resistance, especially when a good dinner with good friends is in prospect. It was at some point during these convivial proceedings that Ted proposed that I should undertake the present work. Oiled as I was, and able to deny him nothing anyway, I naturally assented. Only the next day did the enormity of that assent become evident, but as Reason began to totter back to her throne, the enormity was reduced to a more manageable scale. As an undergraduate I had read Nisbet and Hubbard's indispensable commentary shortly after its appearance, but in later years, using it as a university teacher, I often wondered what I can have made of it, since it was clearly not designed with me in mind. The basic aim of the present commentary is to provide the student reader with the sort of information that will facilitate the construe of the text. Beyond that, guidance is provided for an appreciation of Horace's craft, his use of language, metre, and his construction of his poems. Interpretation of each poem posed a rather more difficult issue, about which something has been said at the end of the Introduction.

Over the years assistance with queries on many matters has been cheerfully and authoritatively provided by friends and colleagues. My especial thanks are owed to E. L. Bowie, G. D’Alessio, A. Dyck, N. Holzberg (especially for his bibliographical information), J. North, D. W. Rathbone, M. L. West, W. Wootton, and two MA groups who vetted portions of the commentary at various draft stages. Mr N. Bryant Kirkland drew my attention to Heaney's poem based on Carm. 24.