[Footnote 971: It is satisfactory to find that the best commentators
consider the words between brackets as an interpolation in the work of
Suetonius. Some, including Bentley, reject the preceding sentence also.]
[Footnote 972: The works of Horace abound with references to his Sabine
farm which must be familiar to many readers. Some remains are still
shewn, consisting of a ruined wall and a tesselated pavement in a
vineyard, about eight miles from Tivoli, which are supposed, with reason,
to mark its site. At least, the features of the neighbouring country, as
often sketched by the poet--and they are very beautiful--cannot be
mistaken.]
[Footnote 973: Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus were consuls
A.U.C. 688. The genial Horace, in speaking of his old wine, agrees with
Suetonius in fixing the date of his own birth:
O nata mecum consule Manlio Testa.--Ode iii. 21.
And again,