minister: so Horace (Hor. Carm. 1.38.6) calls the puer (Hor. Carm. 1.38.1) who serves him with wine.
Falerni: generally esteemed by the ancients as one of the best of the Italian wines; cf. Hor. Carm. 2.3.8 “interiore nota Falerni.”
[2] inger: for ingere; the only instance of the shortened imperative form of this verb (unless conger be right in Mart. 8.44.9), though fer is the regular form both in the simple verb and in composition; cf. also dec, duc, fac. Ellis quotes other drinkers' abbreviations from Meineke Anal. Alex. p.131, πῖν for πίνειν and πῶ for πῶθι
[2] amariores: more pungent, i.e. with no longer any admixture of water; so at the feast of Hor. Carm. 1.27 the drinking came at last to pure wine (cf. Hor. C. 1.27.9 “severi Falerni” ) apparently by decree of the master of the feast: cf. a similar figure for unmixed wine in Hor. Carm. 2.11.19 “pocula ardentis Falerni.”
[3] lex magistrae: a ruler of the feast was chosen (usually by lot), and his decrees were absolute concerning the proportion of water to wine in the mixing, and the proposal and drinking of toasts; cf. Hor. Carm. 1.4.18 “nec regna vini sortiere talis.” Here, in the unwonted abandon of the occasion, a woman was ruler.
[4] ebrioso: etc. i.e. fuller of grape-juice than the grape itself is; so Damalis (Hor. Carm. 1.36.13) was multi meri. With the collocation ebrioso ebriosioris cf. Catul. 22.14n.
[5] at: introducing an imprecation; cf. Catul. 3.13n.; Catul. 28.14; Catul. 36.18.
[5] quo libet hinc abite: cf. Pl. Mil. 974 “quin tu illam iube abs te abire quo libet.” Baehrens suggests that quo libet is but politeness for in malam rem; cf. Catul. 14.21ff. With the sentiment cf. Petron. 52 “aquam foras, vinum intro!”
[5] lymphae: cf. the plural also in Catul. 64.162.
[6] vini pernicies: i.e. water but ruins the wine.
[6] severos, the sober; cf. Hor. Ep. 1.19.8 “forum putealque Libonis mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis.”
[7] hic: with the word he raises his cup on high.
[7] Thyonianus: Bacchus was called Thyoneus from his mother, the Theban Semele or Thyone. The adjective, being from a Greek proper name, is in the masculine form, perhaps after the analogy of οἴνος.
