Book 1
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I assent. Oppono auriculam. Such was the law term, which our poet very willingly pronounced, to signify the consent of the witness. He hurries him into court: there is a great clamor on both sides, a mob from all parts. Thus Apollo preserved me. Horace ascribes his rescue from the intruder to Apollo, as the patron of poets. Perhaps he alludes to the statue of that god, which was in the forum, where the courts were held, and as it was a law proceeding that saved him from the garrulus, he ascribes his preservation to the god, that from his vicinity to the courts, was called iuris peritus. Juven. i. 113. Orellius considers reference to be made to Apollo, ἀλεξικάκος or ἀποτροπαῖος, and that the passage is founded on Il. 20. 443 τὸν δ' ἐξήρπαξεν Ἀπόλλω
