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Title: The Satires of A. Persius Flaccus
Author: Flaccus, A. Persius (AKA Persius)
Language: Latin
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This e-text includes characters that will only display in UTF-8
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Συνίσταντο οἱ μὲν ὡς τοῦτον, οἱ δ᾽ ὡς ἐκεῖνον....
ă, ĕ; ā, ē, ī, ō (letters with breve or macron)
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if the diacritic does not appear directly above the letter--or if the
quotation marks in this paragraph appear as garbage, make sure your
text reader’s “character set” or “file encoding” is set to Unicode
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resort, use the latin-1 version of the file instead.
In the printed text, emphasis within italicized passages was shown by
gesperrt (spaced-out) text. This is shown here with #marks#, as is
#boldface# type. Bold and gesperrt never occur in the same contexts.
Italics are shown by _lines_. In the Critical Appendix, superscript
α and ω are shown in braces as {α} and {ω}.
The Notes and Critical Appendix were printed in a block at the end of
the book. For this e-text, they have been regrouped so each Satire
with its notes forms a discrete unit. In addition, the Satires alone--
totaling about 700 lines-- have been repeated at the beginning of the
text, before the Introduction.]
THE SATIRES
of
A. PERSIUS FLACCUS
Edited By
BASIL L. GILDERSLEEVE, Ph.D. (Göttingen), LL.D.,
Professor of Greek in the University of Virginia.
[Publisher’s Device: ΛΑΜΠΑΔΙΑ ΕΧΟΝΤΕΣ ΔΙΑΔΩΣΟΥΣΙΝ ΑΛΛΗΛΟΙΣ]
New York:
Harper & Brothers, Publishers,
Franklin Square.
1875.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
PREFACE.
The text of this edition of Persius is in the main that of Jahn’s last
recension (1868). The few changes are discussed in the Notes and
recorded in the Critical Appendix.
In the preparation of the Notes I have made large use of Jahn’s standard
edition, without neglecting the commentaries of Casaubon, König, and
Heinrich, or the later editions by Macleane, Pretor, and Conington, or
such recent monographs on Persius as I have been able to procure.
Special obligations have received special acknowledgment.
My personal contributions to the elucidation of Persius are too slight
to warrant me in following the prevalent fashion and cataloguing the
merits of my work under the modest guise of aims and endeavors. I shall
be contenf, if I have succeeded in making Persius less distasteful to
the general student; more than content, if those who have devoted long
and patient study to this difficult author shall accord me the credit of
an honest effort to make myself acquainted with the poet himself as well
as with his chief commentators.
In compliance with the wish of the distinguished scholar at whose
instance I undertook this work, Professor Charles Short, of Columbia
College, New York, I have inserted references to my Latin Grammar and to
the Grammar of Allen and Greenough, here and there to Madvig.
B. L. GILDERSLEEVE.
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, _February_, 1875.
CONTENTS.
Page
INTRODUCTION VII
A. PERSII FLACCI SATURARUM LIBER 39
VITA PERSII 65
NOTES 71
CRITICAL APPENDIX 207
INDEX 211
* * * * *
A. PERSII FLACCI
SATURARUM
LIBER.
[Duplicated material:
see Transcriber’s Note at beginning of e-text.]
PROLOGUS.
Nec fonte labra prolui caballino,
nec in bicipiti somniasse Parnaso
memini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem.
Heliconidasque pallidamque Pirenen
illis remitto, quorum imagines lambunt 5
hederae sequaces: ipse semipaganus
ad sacra vatum carmen adfero nostrum.
quis expedivit psittaco suum chaere
picamque docuit nostra verba conari?
magister artis ingenique largitor 10
venter, negatas artifex sequi voces;
quod si dolosi spes refulserit nummi,
corvos poetas et poetridas picas
cantare credas Pegaseium nectar.
SATURA I.
O curas hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane!
‘Quis leget haec?’ Min tu istud ais? nemo hercule! ‘Nemo?’
Vel duo, vel nemo. ‘Turpe et miserabile!’ Quare?
ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem
praetulerint? nugae. non, si quid turbida Roma 5
elevet, accedas examenque inprobum in illa
castiges trutina, nec te quaesiveris extra.
nam Romae quis non--? a, si fas dicere-- sed fas
tum, cum ad canitiem et nostrum istud vivere triste
aspexi ac nucibus facimus quaecumque relictis, 10
cum sapimus patruos; tunc, tunc, ignoscite-- ‘Nolo.’
Quid faciam? sed sum petulanti splene cachinno.
Scribimus inclusi, numeros ille, his pede liber,
grande aliquid, quod pulmo animae praelargus anhelet.
scilicet haec populo pexusque togaque recenti 15
et natalicia tandem cum sardonyche albus
sede leges celsa, liquido cum plasmate guttur
mobile collueris, patranti fractus ocello.
hic neque more probo videas nec voce serena
ingentis trepidare Titos, cum carmina lumbum 20
intrant, et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu.
tun, vetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas?
auriculis, quibus et dicas cute perditus _ohe_.
‘Quo didicisse, nisi hoc fermentum et quae semel intus
innata est rupto iecore exierit caprificus?’ 25
En pallor seniumque! o mores! usque adeone
scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter?
‘At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier _hic est!_
ten cirratorum centum dictata fuisse
pro nihilo pendas?’ Ecce inter pocula quaerunt 30
Romulidae saturi, quid dia poemata narrent.
hic aliquis, cui circa umeros hyacinthia laena est,
rancidulum quiddam balba de nare locutus,
Phyllidas Hypsipylas, vatum et plorabile si quid,
eliquat ac tenero supplantat verba palato. 35
adsensere viri: nunc non cinis ille poetae
felix? non levior cippus nunc inprimit ossa?
laudant convivae: nunc non e manibus illis,
nunc non e tumulo fortunataque favilla
nascentur violae? ‘Rides’ ait ‘et nimis uncis 40
naribus indulges. an erit qui velle recuset
os populi meruisse et cedro digna locutus
linquere nec scombros metuentia carmina nec tus?’
Quisquis es, o, modo quem ex adverso dicere feci,
non ego cum scribo, si forte quid aptius exit, 45
quando haec rara avis est, si quid tamen aptius exit,
laudari metuam, neque enim mihi cornea fibra est;
sed recti finemque extremumque esse recuso
euge tuum et belle. nam belle hoc excute totum:
quid non intus habet? non hic est Ilias Atti 50
ebria veratro? non si qua elegidia crudi
dictarunt proceres? non quidquid denique lectis
scribitur in citreis? calidum seis ponere sumen,
scis comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna,
et ‘verum’ inquis ‘amo: verum mihi dicite de me.’ 55
qui pote? vis dicam? nugaris, cum tibi, calve,
pinguis aqualiculus protenso sesquipede exstet.
o Iane, a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit,
nec manus auriculas imitari mobilis albas,
nec linguae, quantum, sitiat canis Apula, tantae! 60
vos, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est
occipiti caeco, posticae occurrite sannae!
Quis populi sermo est? quis enim, nisi carmina molli
nunc demum numero fluere, ut per leve severos
effundat iunctura unguis? scit tendere versum 65
non secus ac si oculo rubricam derigat uno.
sive opus in mores, in luxum, in prandia regum
dicere, res grandis nostro dat Musa poetae.
ecce modo heroas sensus adferre videmus
nugari solitos graece, nec ponere lucum 70
artifices nec rus saturum laudare, ubi corbes
et focus et porci et fumosa Palilia faeno,
unde Remus, sulcoque terens dentalia, Quinti,
cum trepida ante boves dictatorem induit uxor
et tua aratra domum lictor tulit-- euge poeta! 75
est nunc Brisaei quem venosus liber Acci,
sunt quos Pacuviusque et verrucosa moretur
Antiopa, aerumnis cor luctificabile fulta.
hos pueris monitus patres infundere lippos
cum videas, quaerisne, unde haec sartago loquendi 80
venerit in linguas, unde istuc dedecus, in quo
trossulus exsultat tibi per subsellia levis?
nilne pudet capiti non posse pericula cano
pellere, quin tepidum hoc optes audire _decenter_?
‘Fur es’ ait Pedio. Pedius quid? crimina rasis 85
librat in antithetis: doctas posuisse figuras
laudatur ‘bellum hoc!’ hoc bellum? an, Romule, ceves?
men moveat? quippe et, cantet si naufragus, assem
protulerim. cantas, cum fracta te in trabe pictum
ex umero portes? verum, nec nocte paratum 90
plorabit, qui me volet incurvasse querela.
‘Sed numeris decor est et iunctura addita crudis.
cludere sic versum didicit _Berecyntius Attis_
et _qui caeruleum dirimebat Nerea delphin_
sic _costam longo subduximus Appennino_. 95
_Arma virum_, nonne hoc spumosum et cortice pingui,
ut ramale vetus vegrandi subere coctum?’
‘Quidnam igitur tenerum et laxa cervice legendum?
_Torva mimalloneis inplerunt cornua bombis,_
_et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo_ 100
_Bassaris et lyncem Maenas flexura corymbis_
_euhion ingeminat, reparabilis adsonat echo?’_
haec fierent, si testiculi vena ulla paterni
viveret in nobis? summa delumbe saliva
hoc natat in labris, et in udo est Maenas et Attis, 105
nec pluteum caedit, nec demorsos sapit unguis.
‘Sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere vero
auriculas? vide sis, ne maiorum tibi forte
limina frigescant: sonat hic de nare canina
littera.’ Per me equidem sint omnia protinus alba; 110
nil moror. euge! omnes, omnes bene mirae eritis res.
hoc iuvat? ‘hic’ inquis ‘veto quisquam faxit oletum.’
pinge duos anguis: pueri, sacer est locus, extra
meite! discedo. secuit Lucilius urbem,
te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis; 115
omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico
tangit et admissus circum praecordia ludit,
callidus excusso populum suspendere naso:
men muttire nefas? nec clam, nec cum scrobe? nusquam?
hic tamen infodiam. vidi, vidi ipse, libelle: 120
auriculas asini quis non habet? hoc ego opertum,
hoc ridere meum, tam nil, nulla tibi vendo
Iliade. audaci quicumque adflate Cratino
iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles,
aspice et haec, si forte aliquid decoctius audis. 125
inde vaporata lector mihi ferveat aure:
non hic, qui in crepidas Graiorum ludere gestit
sordidus, et lusco qui possit dicere ‘lusce,’
sese aliquem credens, Italo quod honore supinus
fregerit heminas Arreti aedilis iniquas; 130
nec qui abaco numeros et secto in pulvere metas
scit risisse vafer, multum gaudere paratus,
si cynico barbam petulans nonaria vellat.
his mane edictum, post prandia Calliroen do.
SATURA II.
Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo
qui tibi labentis apponit candidus annos.
funde merum genio. non tu prece poscis emaci,
quae nisi seductis nequeas committere divis;
at bona pars procerum tacita libabit acerra. 5
haud cuivis promptum est murmurque humilisque susurros
tollere de templis et aperto vivere voto.
‘Mens bona, fama, fides’ haec clare et ut audiat hospes;
illa sibi introrsum et sub lingua murmurat ‘o si
ebulliat patruus, praeclarum funus?’ et ‘o si 10
sub rastro crepet argenti mihi seria dextro
Hercule! pupillumve utinam, quem proximus heres
inpello, expungam! namque est scabiosus et acri
bile tumet. Nerio iam tertia conditur uxor.’
haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gurgite mergis 15
mane caput bis terque et noctem flumine purgas?
heus age, responde-- minimum est quod scire laboro--
de Iove quid sentis? estne ut praeponere cures
hunc-- ‘cuinam?’ cuinam? vis Staio? an scilicet haeres?
quis potior index, puerisve quis aptior orbis? 20
hoc igitur, quo tu Iovis aurem inpellere temptas,
dic agedum Staio, ‘pro Iuppiter! o bone’ clamet
‘Iuppiter!’ at sese non clamet Iuppiter ipse?
ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex
sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque? 25
an quia non fibris ovium Ergennaque iubente
triste iaces lucis evitandumque bidental,
idcirco stolidam praebet tibi vellere barbam
Iuppiter? aut quidnam est, qua tu mercede deorum
emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis? 30
Ecce avia aut metuens divum matertera cunis
exemit puerum frontemque atque uda labella
infami digito et lustralibus ante salivis
expiat, urentis oculos inhibere perita;
tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice voto 35
nunc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis
‘hunc optet generum rex et regina! puellae
hunc rapiant! quidquid calcaverit hic, rosa fiat!’
ast ego nutrici non mando vota: negato,
Iuppiter, haec illi, quamvis te albata rogarit. 40
Poscis opem nervis corpusque fidele senectae.
esto age; sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa
adnuere his superos vetuere Iovemque morantur.
Rem struere exoptas caeso bove Mercuriumque
arcessis fibra ‘da fortunare Penatis, 45
da pecus et gregibus fetum!’ quo, pessime, pacto,
tot tibi cum in flammas iunicum omenta liquescant
et tamen hic extis et opimo vincere ferto
intendit ‘iam crescit ager, iam crescit ovile,
iam dabitur, iam iam!’ donec deceptus et exspes 50
nequiquam fundo suspiret nummus in imo.
Si tibi creterras argenti incusaque pingui
auro dona feram, sudes et pectore laevo
excutiat guttas laetari praetrepidum cor.
hinc illud subiit, auro sacras quod ovato 55
perducis facies; nam fratres inter aenos
somnia pituita qui purgatissima mittunt,
praecipui sunto sitque illis aurea barba.
aurum vasa Numae Saturniaque inpulit aera
Vestalisque urnas et Tuscum fictile mutat. 60
o curvae in terris animae et caelestium inanes!
quid iuvat hoc, templis nostros inmittere mores
et bona dis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa?
haec sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo,
haec Calabrum coxit vitiato murice vellus, 65
haec bacam conchae rasisse et stringere venas
ferventis massae crudo de pulvere iussit.
peccat et haec, peccat: vitio tamen utitur. at vos
dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum?
nempe hoc quod Veneri donatae a virgine pupae. 70
quin damus id superis, de magna quod dare lance
non possit magni Messallae lippa propago:
conpositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus
mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto.
haec cedo ut admoveam templis et farre litabo. 75
SATURA III.
‘Nempe haec adsidue: iam clarum mane fenestras
intrat et angustas extendit lumine rimas:
stertimus indomitum quod despumare Falernum
sufficiat, quinta dum linea tangitur umbra.
en quid agis? siccas insana canicula messis 5
iam dudum coquit et patula pecus omne sub ulmo est.’
unus ait comitum. “Verumne? itane? ocius adsit
huc aliquis! nemon?” turgescit vitrea bilis:
“findor”-- ut Arcadiae pecuaria rudere dicas.
iam liber et positis bicolor membrana capillis 10
inque manus chartae nodosaque venit harundo.
tunc querimur, crassus calamo quod pendeat umor,
nigra quod infusa vanescat sepia lympha;
dilutas querimur geminet quod fistula guttas.
o miser inque dies ultra miser, hucine rerum 15
venimus? at cur non potius teneroque columbo
et similis regum pueris pappare minutum
poscis et iratus mammae lallare recusas?
“An tali studeam calamo?” Cui verba? quid istas
succinis ambages? tibi luditur. effluis amens, 20
contemnere: sonat vitium percussa, maligne
respondet viridi non cocta fidelia limo.
udum et molle lutum es, nunc nunc properandus et acri
fingendus sine fine rota. sed rure paterno
est tibi far modicum, purum et sine labe salinum-- 25
quid metuas?-- cultrixque foci secura patella.
hoc satis? an deceat pulmonem rumpere ventis,
stemmate quod Tusco ramum millesime ducis,
censoremne tuum vel quod trabeate salutas?
ad populum phaleras! ego te intus et in cute novi. 30
non pudet ad morem discincti vivere Nattae?
sed stupet hic vitio et fibris increvit opimum
pingue, caret culpa, nescit quid perdat, et alto
demersus summa rursum non bullit in unda.
magne pater divum, saevos punire tyrannos 35
haud alia ratione velis, cum dira libido
moverit ingenium ferventi tincta veneno:
virtutem videant intabescantque relicta.
anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera iuvenci,
et magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis 40
purpureas subter cervices terruit, ‘imus,
imus praecipites’ quam si sibi dicat et intus
palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor?
Saepe oculos, memini, tangebam parvus olivo,
grandia si nollem morituri verba Catonis 45
discere, non sano multum laudanda magistro,
quae pater adductis sudans audiret amicis.
iure; etenim id summum, quid dexter senio ferret,
scire erat in voto; damnosa canicula quantum
raderet; angustae collo non fallier orcae; 50
neu quis callidior buxum torquere flagello.
haud tibi inexpertum curvos deprendere mores,
quaeque docet sapiens bracatis inlita Medis
porticus, insomnis quibus et detonsa iuventus
invigilat, siliquis et grandi pasta polenta; 55
et tibi quae Samios diduxit littera ramos
surgentem dextro monstravit limite callem.
stertis adhuc, laxumque caput conpage soluta
oscitat hesternum, dissutis undique malis!
est aliquid quo tendis, et in quod dirigis arcum? 60
an passim sequeris corvos testaque lutoque,
securus quo pes ferat, atque ex tempore vivis?
helleborum frustra, cum iam cutis aegra tumebit,
poscentis videas: venienti occurrite morbo!
et quid opus Cratero magnos promittere montis? 65
discite, o miseri, et causas cognoscite rerum:
quid sumus, et quidnam victuri gignimur; ordo
quis datus, aut metae qua mollis flexus et unde;
quis modus argento, quid fas optare, quid asper
utile nummus habet; patriae carisque propinquis 70
quantum elargiri deceat; quem te deus esse
iussit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re.
disce, nec invideas, quod multa fidelia putet
in locuplete penu, defensis pinguibus Umbris,
et piper et pernae, Marsi monumenta clientis, 75
menaque quod prima nondum defecerit orca.
Hic aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum
dicat ‘Quod sapio satis est mihi. non ego curo
esse quod Arcesilas aerumnosique Solones,
obstipo capite et figentes lumine terram, 80
murmura cum secum et rabiosa silentia rodunt
atque exporrecto trutinantur verba labello,
aegroti veteris meditantes somnia, _gigni_
_de nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reverti._
hoc est, quod palles? cur quis non prandeat, hoc est?’ 85
His populus ridet, multumque torosa iuventus
ingeminat tremulos naso crispante cachinnos.
‘Inspice; nescio quid trepidat mihi pectus et aegris
faucibus exsuperat gravis alitus; inspice, sodes!’
qui dicit medico, iussus requiescere, postquam 90
tertia conpositas vidit nox currere venas,
de maiore domo modice sitiente lagoena
lenia loturo sibi Surrentina rogabit.
‘Heus, bone, tu palles!’ “Nihil est.” ‘Videas tamen istuc,
quidquid id est: surgit tacite tibi lutea pellis.’ 95
“At tu deterius palles; ne sis mihi tutor;
iam pridem hunc sepeli: tu restas.” ‘Perge, tacebo.’
turgidus hic epulis atque albo ventre lavatur,
gutture sulpureas lente exalante mefites;
sed tremor inter vina subit calidumque triental 100
excutit e manibus, dentes crepuere retecti,
uncta cadunt laxis tunc pulmentaria labris.
hinc tuba, candelae, tandemque beatulus alto
conpositus lecto crassisque lutatus amomis
in portam rigidas calces extendit: at illum 105
hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites.
‘Tange, miser, venas et pone in pectore dextram.
nil calet hic. summosque pedes attinge manusque.
non frigent.’ Visa est si forte pecunia, sive
candida vicini subrisit molle puella, 110
cor tibi rite salit? positum est algente catino
durum holus et populi cribro decussa farina:
temptemus fauces, tenero latet ulcus in ore
putre, quod haud deceat plebeia radere beta.
alges, cum excussit membris timor albus aristas; 115
nunc face supposita fervescit sanguis et ira
scintillant oculi, dicisque facisque, quod ipse
non sani esse hominis non sanus iuret Orestes.
SATURA IV.
‘Rem populi tractas?’ barbatum haec crede magistrum
dicere, sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutae
‘quo fretus? dic hoc, magni pupille Pericli.
scilicet ingenium et rerum prudentia velox
ante pilos venit, dicenda tacendaque calles. 5
ergo ubi commota fervet plebecula bile,
fert animus calidae fecisse silentia turbae
maiestate manus. quid deinde loquere? “Quirites,
hoc puta non iustum est, illud male, rectius illud.”
scis etenim iustum gemina suspendere lance 10
ancipitis librae, rectum discernis, ubi inter
curva subit, vel cum fallit pede regula varo,
et potis es nigrum vitio praefigere theta.
quin tu igitur, summa nequiquam pelle decorus,
ante diem blando caudam iactare popello 15
desinis, Anticyras melior sorbere meracas!
quae tibi summa boni est? uncta vixisse patella
semper et adsiduo curata cuticula sole?
exspecta, haud aliud respondeat haec anus. i nunc
“Dinomaches ego sum,” suffla “sum candidus.” esto; 20
dum ne deterius sapiat pannucia Baucis,
cum bene discincto cantaverit ocima vernae.’
Ut nemo in sese temptat descendere, nemo,
sed praecedenti spectatur mantica tergo!
quaesieris ‘Nostin Vettidi praedia?’ “Cuius?” 25
‘Dives arat Curibus quantum non miluus errat.’
“Hunc ais, hunc dis iratis genioque sinistro,
qui, quandoque iugum pertusa ad compita figit,
seriolae veterem metuens deradere limum
ingemit: _hoc bene sit!_ tunicatum cum sale mordens 30
caepe et farrata pueris plaudentibus olla
pannosam faecem morientis sorbet aceti?”
at si unctus cesses et figas in cute solem,
est prope te ignotus, cubito qui tangat et acre
despuat ‘hi mores! penemque arcanaque lumbi 35
runcantem populo marcentis pandere vulvas!
tu cum maxillis balanatum gausape pectas,
inguinibus quare detonsus gurgulio exstat?
quinque palaestritae licet haec plantaria vellant
elixasque nates labefactent forcipe adunca, 40
non tamen ista filix ullo mansuescit aratro.’
caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis.
vivitur hoc pacto; sic novimus. ilia subter
caecum vulnus habes; sed lato balteus auro
praetegit. ut mavis, da verba et decipe nervos, 45
si potes. ‘Egregium cum me vicinia dicat,
non credam?’ Viso si palles, inprobe, nummo,
si facis in penem quidquid tibi venit amarum,
si puteal multa cautus vibice flagellas:
nequiquam populo bibulas donaveris aures. 50
respue, quod non es; tollat sua munera cerdo;
tecum habita: noris, quam sit tibi curta supellex.
SATURA V.
Vatibus hic mos est, centum sibi poscere voces,
centum ora et linguas optare in carmina centum,
fabula seu maesto ponatur hianda tragoedo,
vulnera seu Parthi ducentis ab inguine ferrum.
‘Quorsum haec? aut quantas robusti carminis offas 5
ingeris, ut par sit centeno gutture niti?
grande locuturi nebulas Helicone legunto,
si quibus aut Prognes, aut si quibus olla Thyestae
fervebit, saepe insulso cenanda Glyconi;
tu neque anhelanti, coquitur dum massa camino, 10
folle premis ventos, nec clauso murmure raucus
nescio quid tecum grave cornicaris inepte,
nec scloppo tumidas intendis rumpere buccas.
verba togae sequeris iunctura callidus acri,
ore teres modico, pallentis radere mores 15
doctus et ingenuo culpam defigere ludo.
hinc trahe quae dicis, mensasque relinque Mycenis
cum capite et pedibus, plebeiaque prandia noris.’
Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis
pagina turgescat, dare pondus idonea fumo. 20
secreti loquimur; tibi nunc hortante Camena
excutienda damus praecordia, quantaque nostrae
pars tua sit, Cornute, animae, tibi, dulcis amice,
ostendisse iuvat: pulsa, dinoscere cautus,
quid solidum crepet et pictae tectoria linguae. 25
his ego centenas ausim deposcere voces,
ut, quantum mihi te sinuoso in pectore fixi,
voce traham pura, totumque hoc verba resignent,
quod latet arcana non enarrabile fibra.
Cum primum pavido custos mihi purpura cessit 30
bullaque succinctis Laribus donata pependit;
cum blandi comites totaque inpune Subura
permisit sparsisse oculos iam candidus umbo;
cumque iter ambiguum est et vitae nescius error
deducit trepidas ramosa in compita mentes, 35
me tibi supposui: teneros tu suscipis annos
Socratico, Cornute, sinu; tum fallere sollers
apposita intortos extendit regula mores,
et premitur ratione animus vincique laborat
artificemque tuo ducit sub pollice vultum. 40
tecum etenim longos memini consumere soles,
et tecum primas epulis decerpere noctes:
unum opus et requiem pariter disponimus ambo,
atque verecunda laxamus seria mensa.
non equidem hoc dubites, amborum foedere certo 45
consentire dies et ab uno sidere duci
nostra vel aequali suspendit tempora Libra
Parca tenax veri, seu nata fidelibus hora
dividit in Geminos concordia fata duorum,
Saturnumque gravem nostro Iove frangimus una: 50
nescio quod, certe est, quod me tibi temperat astrum.
Mille hominum species et rerum discolor usus;
velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno.
mercibus hic Italis mutat sub sole recenti
rugosum piper et pallentis grana cumini, 55
hic satur inriguo mavult turgescere somno;
hic campo indulget, hunc alea decoquit, ille
in Venerem putris; sed cum lapidosa cheragra
fregerit articulos, veteris ramalia fagi,
tunc crassos transisse dies lucemque palustrem 60
et sibi iam seri vitam ingemuere relictam.
at te nocturnis iuvat inpallescere chartis;
cultor enim iuvenum purgatas inseris aures
fruge Cleanthea. petite hinc puerique senesque
finem animo certum miserisque viatica canis! 65
‘Cras hoc fiet.’ Idem cras fiet. ‘Quid? quasi magnum
nempe diem donas.’ Sed cum lux altera venit,
iam cras hesternum consumpsimus: ecce aliud cras
egerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra.
nam quamvis prope te, quamvis temone sub uno 70
vertentem sese frustra sectabere cantum,
cum rota posterior curras et in axe secundo.
Libertate opus est, non hac, ut, quisque Velina
Publius emeruit, scabiosum tesserula far
possidet. heu steriles veri, quibus una Quiritem 75
vertigo facit! hic Dama est non tressis agaso,
vappa lippus et in tenui farragine mendax:
verterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit
Marcus Dama. papae! Marco spondente recusas
credere tu nummos? Marco sub iudice palles? 80
Marcus dixit: ita est; adsigna, Marce, tabellas.
haec mera libertas; hoc nobis pillea donant!
‘An quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere vitam
cui licet, ut voluit? licet ut volo vivere: non sum
liberior Bruto?’ “Mendose colligis,” inquit 85
stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus aceto
“haec reliqua accipio; _licet_ illud et _ut volo_ tolle.”
‘Vindicta postquam meus a praetore recessi,
cur mihi non liceat, iussit quodcumque voluntas,
excepto si quid Masuri rubrica vetavit?’ 90
Disce, sed ira cadat naso rugosaque sanna,
dum veteres avias tibi de pulmone revello.
non praetoris erat stultis dare tenuia rerum
officia atque usum rapidae permittere vitae:
sambucam citius caloni aptaveris alto. 95
stat contra ratio et secretam garrit in aurem,
ne liceat facere id quod quis vitiabit agendo.
publica lex hominum naturaque continet hoc fas,
ut teneat vetitos inscitia debilis actus.
diluis helleborum, certo conpescere puncto 100
nescius examen: vetat hoc natura medendi.
navem si poscat sibi peronatus arator,
luciferi rudis, exclamet Melicerta perisse
frontem de rebus. tibi recto vivere talo
ars dedit, et veri speciem dinoscere calles, 105
ne qua subaerato mendosum tinniat anro?
quaeque sequenda forent, quaeque evitanda vicissim,
illa prius creta, mox haec carbone notasti?
es modicus voti? presso lare? dulcis amicis?
iam nunc astringas, iam nunc granaria laxes, 110
inque luto fixum possis transcendere nummum,
nec glutto sorbere salivam Mercurialem?
‘haec mea sunt, teneo’ cum vere dixeris, esto
liberque ac sapiens praetoribus ac Iove dextro,
sin tu, cum fueris nostrae paulo ante farinae, 115
pelliculam veterem retines et fronte politus
astutam vapido servas sub pectore vulpem,
quae dederam supra relego funemque reduco:
nil tibi concessit ratio; digitum exsere, peccas,
et quid tam parvum est? sed nullo ture litabis, 120
haereat in stultis brevis ut semuncia recti.
haec miscere nefas; nec, cum sis cetera fossor,
tris tantum ad numeros satyrum moveare Bathylli.
‘Liber ego.’ Unde datum hoc sentis, tot subdite rebus?
an dominum ignoras, nisi quem vindicta relaxat? 125
‘I puer et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer!’
si increpuit, ‘cessas nugator;’ servitium acre
te nihil impellit, nec quicquam extrinsecus intrat,
quod nervos agitet; sed si intus et in iecore aegro
nascuntur domini, qui tu inpunitior exis 130
atque hic, quem ad strigiles scutica et metus egit erilis?
Mane piger stertis. ‘Surge!’ inquit Avaritia ‘heia
surge!’ Negas; instat ‘Surge!’ inquit. “Non queo.” ‘Surge!’
“Et quid agam?” ‘Rogitas? en saperdam advehe Ponto,
castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus, lubrica Coa; 135
tolle recens primus piper ex sitiente camelo;
verte aliquid; iura.’ “Sed Iuppiter audiet.” ‘Eheu!
varo, regustatum digito terebrare salinum
contentus perages, si vivere cum Iove tendis!’
iam pueris pellem succinctus et oenophorum aptas 140
‘Ocius ad navem!’ nihil obstat, quin trabe vasta
Aegaeum rapias, ni sollers Luxuria ante
seductum moneat ‘Quo deinde, insane, ruis? quo?
quid tibi vis? calido sub pectore mascula bilis
intumuit, quod non exstinxerit urna cicutae? 145
tu mare transilias? tibi torta cannabe fulto
cena sit in transtro, Veientanumque rubellum
exalet vapida laesum pice sessilis obba?
quid petis? ut nummi, quos hic quincunce modesto
nutrieras, pergant avidos sudare deunces? 150
indulge genio, carpamus dulcia! nostrum est
quod vivis; cinis et manes et fabula fies.
vive memor leti! fugit hora; hoc quod loquor inde est.’
en quid agis? duplici in diversum scinderis hamo.
huncine, an hunc sequeris? subeas alternus oportet 155
ancipiti obsequio dominos, alternus oberres.
nec tu, cum obstiteris semel instantique negaris
parere imperio, ‘rupi iam vincula’ dicas;
nam et luctata canis nodum abripit; et tamen illi,
cum fugit, a collo trahitur pars longa catenae. 160
‘Dave, cito, hoc credas iubeo, finire dolores
praeteritos meditor.’ crudum Chaerestratus unguem
adrodens ait haec ‘an siccis dedecus obstem
cognatis? an rem patriam rumore sinistro
limen ad obscenum frangam, dum Chrysidis udas 165
ebrius ante fores exstincta cum face canto?’
“Euge, puer, sapias, dis depellentibus agnam
percute.” ‘Sed censen plorabit, Dave, relicta?’
“Nugaris; solea, puer, obiurgabere rubra.
ne trepidare velis atque artos rodere casses! 170
nunc ferus et violens; at si vocet, haud mora, dicas:
_Quidnam igitur faciam? nec nunc, cum arcessat et ultro_
_supplicet, accedam?_ Si totus et integer illinc
exieras, nec nunc.” hic hic, quod quaerimus, hic est,
non in festuca, lictor quam iactat ineptus. 175
ius habet ille sui palpo, quem ducit hiantem
cretata ambitio? vigila et cicer ingere large
rixanti populo, nostra ut Floralia possint
aprici meminisse senes: _quid pulchrius?_ at cum
Herodis venere dies, unctaque fenestra 180
dispositae pinguem nebulam vomuere lucernae
portantes violas, rubrumque amplexa catinum
cauda natat thynni, tumet alba fidelia vino:
labra moves tacitus recutitaque sabbata palles.
tum nigri lemures ovoque pericula rupto, 185
tum grandes galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdos
incussere deos inflantis corpora, si non
praedictum ter mane caput gustaveris alli.
Dixeris haec inter varicosos centuriones,
continuo crassum ridet Pulfennius ingens, 190
et centum Graecos curto centusse licetur.
SATURA VI.
Admovit iam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino?
iamne lyra et tetrico vivunt tibi pectine chordae?
mire opifex numeris veterum primordia vocum
atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae,
mox iuvenes agitare iocis et pollice honesto 5
egregius lusisse senes. mihi nunc Ligus ora
intepet hibernatque meum mare, qua latus ingens
dant scopuli et multa litus se valle receptat.
Lunai portum, est operae, cognoscite, cives!
cor iubet hoc Enni, postquam destertuit esse 10
Maeonides, Quintus pavone ex Pythagoreo.
hic ego securus vulgi et quid praeparet auster
infelix pecori, securus et angulus ille
vicini nostro quia pinguior, etsi adeo omnes
ditescant orti peioribus, usque recusem 15
curvus ob id minui senio aut cenare sine uncto,
et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagoena.
discrepet his alius! geminos, horoscope, varo
producis genio. solis natalibus est qui
tingat holus siccum muria vafer in calice empta, 20
ipse sacrum inrorans patinae piper; hic bona dente
grandia magnanimus peragit puer. utar ego, utar,
nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus,
nec tenuis sollers turdarum nosse salivas.
messe tenus propria vive et granaria, fas est, 25
emole; quid metuis? occa, et seges altera in herba est.
ast vocat officium: trabe rupta Bruttia saxa
prendit amicus inops, remque omnem surdaque vota
condidit Ionio; iacet ipse in litore et una
ingentes de puppe dii, iamque obvia mergis 30
costa ratis lacerae. nunc et de caespite vivo
frange aliquid, largire inopi, ne pictus oberret
caerulea in tabula. ‘Sed cenam funeris heres
negleget, iratus quod rem curtaveris; urnae
ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum, 35
seu ceraso peccent casiae, nescire paratus.
tune bona incolumis minuas? et Bestius urguet
doctores Graios: _Ita fit, postquam sapere urbi_
_cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers;_
_fenisecae crasso vitiarunt unguine pultes._’ 40
Haec cinere ulterior metuas? At tu, meus heres
quisquis eris, paulum a turba seductior audi.
o bone, num ignoras? missa est a Caesare laurus
insignem ob cladem Germanae pubis, et aris
frigidus excutitur cinis, ac iam postibus arma, 45
iam chlamydes regum, iam lutea gausapa captis
essedaque ingentesque locat Caesonia Rhenos.
dis igitur genioque ducis centum paria ob res
egregie gestas induco; quis vetat? aude.
vae, nisi conives! oleum artocreasque popello 50
largior; an prohibes? dic clare! ‘Non adeo,’ inquis
‘exossatus ager iuxta est.’ Age, si mihi nulla
iam reliqua ex amitis, patruelis nulla, proneptis
nulla manet patrui, sterilis matertera vixit,
deque avia nihilum superest, accedo Bovillas 55
clivumque ad Virbi, praesto est mihi Manius heres.
‘Progenies terrae?’ Quaere ex me, quis mihi quartus
sit pater: haud prompte, dicam tamen; adde etiam unum,
unum etiam: terrae est iam filius, et mihi ritu
Manius hic generis prope maior avunculus exit. 60
qui prior es, cur me in decursu lampada poscis?
sum tibi Mercurius; venio deus huc ego ut ille
pingitur; an renuis? vin tu gaudere relictis?
‘Dest aliquid summae.’ Minui mihi; sed tibi totum est,
quidquid id est. ubi sit, fuge quaerere, quod mihi quondam 65
legarat Tadius, neu dicta repone paterna:
_Faenoris accedat merces; hinc exime sumptus._
_quid reliquum est?_ Reliquum? nunc, nunc inpensius ungue,
ungue, puer, caules! mihi festa luce coquetur
urtica et fissa fumosum sinciput aure, 70
ut tuus iste nepos olim satur anseris extis,
cum morosa vago singultiet inguine vena,
patriciae inmeiat vulvae? mihi trama figurae
sit reliqua, ast illi tremat omento popa venter?
vende animam lucro, mercare atque excute sollers 75
omne latus mundi, nec sit praestantior alter
Cappadocas rigida pinguis plausisse castata:
rem duplica. ‘Feci; iam triplex, iam mihi quarto,
iam deciens redit in rugam: depunge, ubi sistam.’
Inventus, Chrysippe, tui finitor acervi. 80
[End of duplicated material:
see Transcriber’s Note at beginning of e-text.]
* * * * *
_Quando cerco norme di gusto, vado ad Orazio, il più amabile;
quando ho bisogno di bile contra le umane ribalderie, visito
Giovenale, il più splendido; quando mi studio d’esser onesto,
vivo con PERSIO, il più saggio, e con infinito piacere mescolato
di vergogna bevo li dettati della ragione su le labbra di questo
verecondo e santissimo giovanetto._ VINCENZO MONTI.
Συνίσταντο οἱ μὲν ὡς τοῦτον, οἱ δ᾽ ὡς ἐκεῖνον πλὴν μόνου τοῦ
Ἴωνος‧ ἐκεῖνος δὲ μέσον ἑαυτὸν ἐφύλαττεν. ΛΟΥΚΙΑΝΟΥ.
_PERSIUS das rechte Ideal eines hoffärtigen und mattherzigen
der Poesie beflissenen Jungen._ MOMMSEN.
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION.
An ancient _Vita Persii_, of uncertain authorship, of evident
authenticity, gives all that it is needful for us to know about our
poet-- much more than is vouchsafed to us for the rich individuality of
Lucilius, much more than we can divine for the unsubstantial character
of Juvenal.
Aulus Persius Flaccus was born on the day before the nones of December,
A.U.C. 787, A.D. 34, at Volaterrae, in Etruria. That Luna in Liguria was
his birthplace is a false inference of some scholars from the words
_meum mare_ in a passage of the sixth satire, where he describes his
favorite resort on the Riviera.
The family of Persius belonged to the old Etruscan nobility, and more
than one Persius appears in inscriptions found at Volaterrae. Other
circumstances make for his Etruscan origin: the Etruscan form of his
name, _Aules_, so written in most MSS. of his Life; the Etruscan name of
his mother, Sisennia; the familiar spitefulness of his mention of
Arretium, the allusions to the Tuscan haruspex, to the Tuscan pedigree;
the sneering mention of the Umbrians-- fat-witted folk, who lived across
the Tuscan border. Most of these, it is true, are minute points, and
would be of little weight in the case of an author of wider vision, but
well-nigh conclusive in a writer like Persius, who tried to make up for
the narrowness of his personal experience by a microscopic attention to
details.
Persius belonged to the same sphere of society as Maecenas. Like
Maecenas an Etruscan, he was, like Maecenas, an _eques Romanus_. The
social class of which he was a member did much for Roman literature;
Etruria’s contributions were far less valuable, and Mommsen is right
when he recognizes in both these men, so unlike in life and in
principle-- the one a callous wordling, the other a callow philosopher--
the stamp of their strange race, a race which is a puzzle rather than a
mystery. Indeed, the would-be mysterious is one of the most salient
points in the style of Persius as in the religion of the Etruscans, and
Persius’s elaborate involution of the commonplace is parallel with the
secret wisdom of his countrymen. The minute detail of the Etruscan
ritual has its counterpart in the minute detail of Persius’s style, and
the want of a due sense of proportion and a certain coarseness of
language in our author remind us of the defects of Etruscan art and the
harshness of the Etruscan tongue.
Persius was born, if not to great wealth, at least to an ample
competence. His father died when the poet was but six years old, and his
education was conducted at Volaterrae under the superintendence of his
mother and her second husband, Fusius. For the proper appreciation of
the career of Persius, it is a fact of great significance that he seems
to have been very much under the influence of the women of his
household. To this influence he owed the purity of his habits; but
feminine training is not without its disadvantages for the conduct of
life. For social refinement there is no better school; but the pet of
the home circle is apt to make the grossest blunders when he ventures
into the larger world of no manners, and attempts to use the language of
outside sinners. And so, when Persius undertakes to rebuke the
effeminacy of his time, he outbids the worst passages of Horace and
rivals the most lurid indecencies of Juvenal.
When Persius was twelve years old he went to Rome, as Horace and Ovid
had done before him, for the purpose of a wider and higher education,
and was put to school with Verginius Flaccus, the rhetorician, and
Remmius Palaemon, the grammarian. Verginius Flaccus was exiled from Rome
by Nero, with Musonius Rufus, on account of the prominence which he had
achieved as a teacher, and Quintilian quotes him as an authority in his
profession. Remmius Palaemon, the other teacher of Persius, a man of
high attainments and low principles, was one of the most illustrious
grammarians of a time when grammarians could be illustrious. A freedman,
with a freedman’s character, he was arrogant and vain, grasping and
prodigal-- in short, a Sir Epicure Mammon of a professor. But his
prodigious memory, his ready flow of words, his power of improvising
poetry, attracted many pupils during his prolonged life, and after his
death he was cited with respect by other grammarians-- a rare apotheosis
among that captious tribe. The first satirical efforts of ingenuous
youth are usually aimed at their preceptors, and the verses which
Persius quotes in the First Satire are quite as likely to be from the
school of Palaemon as from the poems of Nero.
But the true teacher of Persius, the man to whom he himself attributed
whatever progress he made in that ‘divine philosophy’ which deals at
once with the constitution of the universe and the conduct of life-- his
‘spiritual director,’ to use the language of Christian ascetics-- was
Cornutus. Persius is one of those literary celebrities whose title to
fame is not beyond dispute; and while some maintain his right to high
distinction on the ground of intrinsic merit, others seek with perhaps
too much avidity for the accidents to which he is supposed to owe his
renown. If it is necessary to excuse, as it were, his reputation, the
relation of Persius to Cornutus might go far to explain the care which
schoolmasters have taken of the memory of the poet. No matter how
crabbed the teacher may be, how austere the critic, the opening of the
Fifth Satire, with its warm tribute to the guide of his life and the
friend of his heart, calls up the image of the ideal pupil, and touches
into kindred the brazen bowels of Didymus.
Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, of Leptis in Africa, was a philosopher,
grammarian, and rhetorician. It has been conjectured that he was a
freedman of the literary family of the Annaei; and this is rendered
probable by the fact that Annaeus Lucanus, the nephew of Annaeus Seneca,
was his pupil. The year of his life and the year of his death are alike
unknown. He was banished from Rome by Nero because he had ventured to
suggest that Nero’s projected epic on Roman history would be too long if
drawn out to four hundred books, and that the imperial poem would find
no readers. When one of Nero’s flatterers rejoined that Chrysippus was a
still more voluminous author, Cornutus had the bad taste to point out
the practical importance of the writings of Chrysippus in contrast with
Nero’s unpractical project; and Nero, who had a poet’s temper, if not a
poet’s gifts, sent him to an island, there to revise his literary
judgment. Cornutus was not only a man of various learning in philosophy,
rhetoric, and grammar, but a tragic poet of some note, and perhaps a
satirist. Whether the jumble that bears the name of Cornutus or
Phurnutus, _De Natura Deorum_, is in any measure traceable to our
Cornutus, is not pertinent to our subject. Of more importance to us than
his varied attainments is his pure and lofty character, which made him
worthy of the ardent affection with which Persius clung to his ‘Socratic
bosom.’ It is recorded to his honor that Persius having bequeathed to
him his library and a considerable sum of money, he accepted the books
only and relinquished the money to the family of Persius. Nor did he
cease his loving care for his friend after his ashes, but revised his
satires, and suppressed the less mature performances of the young poet.
The social circle in which Persius moved was not wide. The mark of the
beast called Coterie, which is upon the foreheads of the most
plentifully belaurelled Roman poets, is on his brow also. But it must be
said that the men whom he associated with belonged to the chosen few of
a corrupt time, albeit they would have been of more service to their
country if they had not recognized themselves so conspicuously as the
elect. The Stoic _salon_ in which Persius lived and moved and had his
being reminds M. Martha of a Puritan household; it reminds us of the
sequestered Legitimist opposition to the France of yesterday. We are so
apt to see parallels when we are well acquainted with but one of the
lines-- or with neither.
Let us pass in review some of the associates and acquaintances of
Persius.
Among his early friends was Caesius Bassus, to whom the Sixth Satire is
addressed: an older contemporary, who had studied with the same master,
next to Horace, by a long remove, among the Roman lyrists. To his
fellow-pupils belong Calpurnius, who is more than doubtfully identified
with the author of the Bucolics; and Lucan (Annaeus Lucanus), the poet
of the Pharsalia, who shared with him the instructions of Cornutus, and
is said to have shown the most fervent admiration of the genius of his
school-fellow. We are told that when the First Satire was recited, Lucan
exclaimed that these were true poems. Whether he accompanied this
encomium with a disparagement of his own performances, or simply had
reference to the modest disclaimer of Persius’s Prologue, as Jahn is
inclined to think, does not appear. The anecdote is in perfect keeping
with the perfervid Spanish temper of Lucan and Lucan’s family. But this
momentary burst of admiration is no indication of any genuine sympathy
between the effusive and rhetorical Cordovan and the shy, philosophical
Etruscan. Nominally they belonged to the same school-- the Stoic; but
Persius was ready to resist unto blood, Lucan’s Stoicism was a mere
parade.
While this anecdote leaves us in suspense as to the relations between
Lucan and Persius, we have express evidence that there was no sympathy
between Persius and Seneca. They met, we are informed, but the poet took
little pleasure in the society of the essayist. This is not the place to
attempt a characteristic of this famous writer, who, like Persius,
leaves few readers indifferent. Once the idol of the moralists-- who of
all old birds are the most easily caught with chaff-- Seneca has fallen
into comparative disfavor within the last few decades; yet sometimes a
vigorous champion starts up to do battle for him, such as Farrar in
England, and, with more moderation, Constant Martha in France; and his
cause is by no means hopeless if the advocate can keep his hearers from
reading Seneca for themselves. It is impossible not to admire Seneca in
passages; it seems very difficult to retain the admiration after reading
him continuously. The glittering phrase masks a poverty of thought; ‘the
belt with its broad gold covers a hidden wound.’ To Persius, the
youthful Stoic, with his high purpose and his transcendental views of
life, Seneca the courtier, the time-server, the adroit flatterer, must
have appeared little better than a hypocrite, or, which is worse to an
ardent mind, a practical negation of his own aspirations. The young
convert-- and Persius’s philosophy was Persius’s religion-- in the first
glow of his enthusiasm, must have been repelled by the callousness of
the older professor of the same faith. And yet so strong was the impress
of the age that Persius and Seneca are not so far asunder after all. To
understand Persius we must read Seneca; and the lightning stroke of
Caligula’s tempestuous brain, _harena sine calce_, illuminates and
shivers the one as well as the other.
If the family of the Annaei did not prove congenial, there were others
to whom Persius might look for sympathy and instruction. Such was
M. Servilius Nonianus, a man of high position, of rare eloquence, of
unsullied fame. Such was Plotius Macrinus, to whom the Second Satire is
addressed, itself a eulogy. Even in his own family circle there were
persons whose lofty characters have made them celebrated in history. His
kinswoman Arria, herself destined to become famous for her devotion to
her husband, was the wife of Thrasea Paetus, and the daughter of that
other Arria, whose supreme cry, NON DOLET, when she taught her husband
how to meet his doom, is one of the most familiar speeches of a period
when speech was bought with death. Thrasea, the husband of the younger
Arria, was one of the foremost men of his time, and bore himself with a
moderation which contrasts strongly with the ostentatious virtue of some
of the Stoic chiefs. He rebuked the vices of his time unsparingly, but
steadily observed the respect due to the head of the state; and even
when the decree was passed which congratulated Nero on the murder of his
mother, he contented himself with retiring from the senate-house. But
Thrasea’s silent disapproval of one crime fired Nero to another, and his
refusal to deprecate the wrath of the emperor was the cause of his
ruin-- if that could be called ruin which he welcomed as he poured out
his blood in libation to Jupiter the Liberator.
That the familiar intercourse with such a man should have inspired a
youth of the education and the disposition of Persius with still higher
resolves and still higher endeavors is not strange. That it sufficed, as
some say, to penetrate Persius with the sober wisdom of maturer years,
and made up to him for the lack of personal experience and artistic
balance, is attributing more to association than association can
accomplish.
To Thrasea’s influence Jahn ascribes Persius’s juvenile essays in the
preparation of _praetextae_, or tragedies with Roman themes, and it is
not unlikely that a poetical description of his travels (ὁδοιπορικῶν)
referred to some little trip that he took with Thrasea. Thanks to
Cornutus, this youthful production-- which doubtless was nothing more
than a weak imitation of Horace, or haply of Lucilius-- was suppressed
after the death of the author, and with it his _praetexta_, and a short
poem in honor of the elder Arria also.
The purity of Persius’s morals, and the love which he bore his mother,
his sister, his aunt, stand to each other reciprocally as cause and
effect; and the occasional crudity of his language is, as we have
already seen, the crudity of a bookish man, who thinks that the sure way
to do a thing is to overdo it. Persius was a man of handsome person,
gentle bearing, attractive manners, and added to the charm of his
society the interest which always gathers about those whom the gods
love.
He died on his estate at the eighth milestone on the Appian Road, _vitio
stomachi_, eight days before the kalends of December, A.U.C. 815-- A.D.
62-- in the twenty-eighth year of his age.
Cornutus first revised the satires of his friend, and then gave them to
Caesius Bassus to edit. The only important change that Cornutus made was
the substitution of _quis non_ for _Mida rex_ (1,121), a subject which
is discussed in the Commentary. Other traces of wavering expression and
_duplex recensio_ are due to the imagination of commentators, who
attribute to the young poet a logical method and an exactness of
development for which the style of Persius gives them no warrant. _Raro
et tarde scripsit_, the statement of the Life of Persius, explains much.
The poems of Persius were received with applause as soon as they
appeared, and the old _Vita Persii_ would have us believe that people
scrambled for the copies as if the pages were so many Sabine women.
Quintilian, in his famous inventory of Greek and Roman literature, says
that Persius earned a great deal of glory, and true glory, by a single
book, and here and there the great scholar does Persius homage by
imitating him; and Martial holds up Persius with his one book of price,
as a contrast to the empty bulk of a half-forgotten epic. But it would
not be worth the while to repeat the list of the admirers of Persius in
the ages of later Latinity. It suffices to say that he was the special
favorite of the Latin Fathers. Augustin quotes or imitates him often,
and Jerome is saturated with the phraseology of our poet. Commended to
Christian teachers by the elevation of his moral tone, by the pithiness
of his maxims and reflections, and the energy of his figures, he was set
up on a high chair, a big school-boy, to teach other school-boys, and
scarcely a voice was raised in rebellion for centuries. But since the
time of the Scaligers, who were not to be kept back by any consideration
for the feelings of the Fathers, there has been much unfriendly
criticism of Persius; and the world owes him a debt of gratitude for
provoking an animosity that has opened the way to a freer discussion of
the literary merits of the authors of antiquity. To be subject all one’s
life through fear of literary death to the bondage of antique dullness,
as well as to the thraldom of contemporary stupidity, would have been a
sad result of the revival of letters.
The first and last charge brought against Persius is his obscurity.
Admitted by all, it is variously interpreted variously excused,
variously attacked. Now it is accounted for by the political necessities
of the time. Now it is attributed to the perverse ingenuity of the poet,
which was fostered by the perverse tendencies of an age when, as
Quintilian says, _Pervasit iam multos ista persuasio ut id iam demum
eleganter dictum putent quod interpretandum sit_. Some simply resolve
the lack of clearness into the lack of artistic power; others intimate
that the fault lies more in the reader than in the author, whose
dramatic liveliness, which puzzles us, presented no difficulties to the
critics of his own century. But the controversy is not confined to the
obscurity of the satires, Persius is all debatable ground. Some admire
the pithy sententiousness of the poet; others sneer at his priggish
affectation of superiority. Some point to the bookish reminiscences,
which bewray the mere student; others recall the example of Ben Jonson,
of Molière, to show that in literature, as in life, the greatest
borrowers are often the richest men, and bid us observe with what rare
and vivid power he has painted every scene that he has witnessed with
his own eyes. To some he is a copyist of copyists; to others his real
originality asserts itself most conspicuously where the imitation seems
to be the closest. Julius Scaliger calls him _miserrimus auctor_; Mr.
Conington notes his kindred to Carlyle.
No critic has put the problem with more brutal frankness than M. Nisard,
who, at the close of his flippant but suggestive chapter on Persius,
asks the question, _Y a-t-il profit à lire Perse_? Though he makes a
faint show of balancing the Ayes and Noes, it is very plain how he
himself would vote. The impatient Frenchman is evidently not of a mind
‘to read prefaces, biographies, memoirs, and commentaries on these
prefaces, these biographies, these memoirs, and notes on these
commentaries, in order to form an idea that will haply be very false and
assuredly very debatable, of a work about which no one will ever talk to
you, and of a poet about whom you will never find any one to talk to.’
But the question, which may be an open one to a critic, is not an open
one to an editor; and editors of Persius are especially prone to value
their author by the labor which he has cost them, by the material which
they have gathered about the text. The thoughts are, after all, so
common that parallels are to be found on every hand; the compass is so
small that it is an easy matter to carry in the memory every word, every
phrase; and so-called illustrations suggest themselves even to an
ordinary scholar in bewildering numbers, while the looseness of the
connection gives ample scope to speculation. Hence the sarcasm of Joseph
Scaliger: _Non pulchra habet sed in eum pulcherrima possumus scribere_;
and the well-known criticism of the same scholar: _Au Perse de Casaubon
la saulce vaut mieux que le poisson_. But this artificial love on the
part of the editors has not contributed to the popularity of the author,
and the youthful poet has been overlaid by his erudite commentators.
Besides this disadvantage, Persius, when he is read at all, comes
immediately after Juvenal, and, as if to enhance the contrast, is
generally bound up with him; and the homeliness of his tropes, the
crabbedness of his dialogue, the roughness of his transitions repel the
young student, who finds the riddance of the historical and
archaeological work which Juvenal involves a poor compensation for the
lack of the large manner and the dazzling rhetoric of the great
declaimer. On the other hand, maturer scholars have been found to
reverse the popular verdict, and to say, with Mr. Simcox, that ‘the shy,
youthful fervor of the dutiful boy, combined with the literary honesty
which kept Persius from writing any thing which was not a part of his
permanent consciousness, makes him improve upon every reading, which is
more than can be said of Juvenal, who writes as if he thought and felt
little in the intervals of writing.’ But while it is easy to get tired
of Juvenal, it is not so easy to become enamored of Persius; and it must
be admitted that the pleasure is questionable. Yet, in spite of
M. Nisard, there is no real question about the utility of the study of
the poet, who illustrates by what he does not say even more than by what
he says the character of an age which is of supreme importance to the
historian. Even if we put the study on lower ground, we must admit that
Persius’s title to a prominent position in the annals of Roman
literature is indefeasible. However desirable it may be to get rid of
him, an author who has left his impress on Rabelais and Ben Jonson, as
well as on Montaigne and Boileau-- an author whose poems have furnished
so many quotations to modern letters, can not be dismissed from the
necessities of a ‘polite education’ with a convenient sneer. Persius
deserves our attention, if it were only as a problem of literary taste.
To the end of the study of Persius, it is best to look away from the
conflicting views of the critics, and to abandon the attempt to
distinguish between the weight of facts and the momentum of rhetoric in
the balanced antitheses of praise and blame. The position of the poet
will be most accurately determined by the calculation of the statics of
his department and his age.
The Satire is the only extant form of Latin poetry that can lay claim to
a truly national origin; and the error into which the early historians
of classical literature were led by the resemblance between the name of
the Roman satire and the name of the Greek satyr-drama has long been
corrected. But the truth which this error involves, the connection
between the comic drama and the satire, remains. The satire goes back to
the popular source of comedy, and holds in solution all the elements
which the Greeks combined into various forms of dramatic merriment. As
the rhythmical movements, which culminate in such perfections as the
dactylic hexameter and the iambic trimeter, are common to our whole
race, and the rude Saturnian verse is one with the heroic, so the rustic
songs of harvest and vintage are common to Greece and Italy; and it is
no marvel that, as the satire was working itself out to classic
proportions, it should have felt its kindred to Greek comedy, and should
have drawn its materials and its methods from that literature on which
Roman literature in its other departments was more directly dependent.
And so the satire, though a genuine growth of Italian soil, was none the
less subject to Greek influences. It was trained into Greek forms, it
was permeated by Greek thought; and here as elsewhere the retranslation
into Greek, of which the older commentators were so fond, is often the
key to the meaning; here as elsewhere our appreciation of the author, as
a whole, is conditioned by our knowledge of Greek literature.
Horace, the master of Roman satire, has more than once drawn the
parallel between satire and comedy; and Persius, who follows the
literary, though not the philosophical creed of his predecessor, aims
even more distinctly than Horace does at reproducing the mimicry of
comedy on the narrow stage of the satire. At the close of the First
Satire he goes so far as to demand of his readers the intense study of
the Old Attic Comedy as the preparation for the enjoyment of his poems--
an extraordinary demand, if we do not make due allowance for the
rhetorical expression of high aims and earnest endeavors. A comparison
of the triumvirate of the _comoedia prisca_ of Attica reveals little
trace of direct influence, abundant evidence of extreme diversity in
expression and conception. I say ‘expression,’ not ‘language.’ It is
true that the language of Persius has a virile tone, but the masculine
energy of his words is often out of keeping with the scholastic tameness
of his thoughts. The breezy Pnyx of the Athenian and the stuffy
_lecticula lucubratoria_ of the Roman are not further apart than
Aristophanes and Persius.
The New Attic Comedy, the comedy of situation and manners, furnished
themes that lay nearer to the genius of Persius, although the grace of a
Menander was much further from his grasp than from Terence, the
half-Menander of Caesar’s epigram. One passage is all but translated
from Menander’s Eunuch; and if Persius did not borrow traits for his
picture of the miser and the spendthrift from the master of the New
Comedy, it was not for lack of models. Indeed, so unreal is Persius,
with all the realism of his language, that one of the most striking
features of his poems-- the opposition to the military-- loses somewhat
of its significance when we remember that the Macedonian period, to
which the New Comedy belongs, is crowded with typical soldiers of
fortune, with their coarse love of sensual pleasure-- their coarse
contempt of every thing that can not be eaten, drunk, or handled. Every
line of Persius’s centurion can be reproduced from the Greek; and
although it would be going too far to say that there was no counterpart
to his sketch in his own experience, although, on the contrary, Persius
seems to have verified by actual observation whatever he learned from
books, the historical value of his portrait is very much reduced by the
existence of the Greek type. As a specimen of a kind of
clerico-political opposition to an empire which its enemies might call
an empire of brute force and military mechanism, the hostility of
Persius to a class whose predominance was making itself felt more and
more is not without its point and interest, and it is unfortunate that
we have to leave its reality in suspense.
Yet another form of the comic drama was the Mime, and we have the
explicit statement of Joannes Lydus that Persius imitated the famous
mimographer, Sophron; and although the fragments of Sophron are so
scanty that this statement can not be verified, it is not without its
intrinsic probability. The mimetic power of Sophron is notorious, and
Persius might well have taken lessons from the man whom Plato
acknowledged as his master. The dialogue, thus borrowed from the mime,
became the artistic form of philosophic composition, and, as Persius’s
Satires are essentially moral treatises, it is not surprising that he
should have made large use of the same machinery. Plato himself
furnished the movement for two of his essays, and we can detect a
community of models between Persius and some of the later Greek writers.
Lucian, the mercurial, and Persius, the saturnine, often work on the
same theme, each in his way; and when the dialogue is dropped, and the
bustle of the drama is succeeded by the effects of the scene-painter’s
craft, we are reminded of another group of copyists, and find all the
picturesque detail for which Persius is so famous in the letters of
Alkiphron and Aristainetos, themselves far-off echoes of the New Comedy.
Surely these are originals enough, the Attic Comedy, the Mime, Sophron
and Plato, Menander and Philemon. But we find other models nearer home,
and, passing by the reflections of Greek comedy in Plautus and Terence,
its refractions in Afranius and Pomponius, we come to the satiric
exemplars of Persius-- Lucilius and Horace. _Mox ut a scholis et
magistris divertit, lecto libro Lucilli decimo, vehementer saturas
conponere instituit._ This statement of the old _Vita Persii_ is much
more consonant with the character of Persius than his own affected
mirthfulness. His ‘saucy spleen’ had as little to do with his verse
writing as righteous indignation with the rhetorical outpouring of
Juvenal. His laughter was as much a part of the conventionalities of the
satire as the _Camena_ was of his confidences to Cornutus. School-boys
all imitate circus-riders; here and there one mimics the clown; and
Persius, who had not outgrown the tendencies of boyhood, straightway
began to make copies of verses in the manner of Lucilius. At the same
time he was too much under the influence of Horace to follow Lucilius in
his negligences, and too little master of the form to strike the mean
between slovenly dictation and painful composition. As an imitator of
Lucilius he boldly lashes men of straw where Lucilius flogged Lupus and
Mucius, and breaks his milk-teeth on Alkibiades and Dama where Lucilius
broke his jaw-teeth on living and moving enemies. As an imitator of
Horace he appropriates the garb of Horatian diction; but the easy
movement of roguish Flaccus is lost, and the stiff stride of the young
Stoic betrays him at every turn.
As in the case of the Old Attic Comedy, Persius’s intellectual affinity
with Lucilius was purely imaginary; and for the purposes of this study
it is unnecessary to reproduce the lines of Horace’s portrait of the
‘great nursling of Aurunca,’ or to attempt to form a mosaic out of the
chipped chips of Lucian Müller’s recent collection. The wide range of
theme, the manly carelessness of style, the bold criticism, the bright
humor, the biting wit-- in short, almost every characteristic of
Lucilius that we can distinguish, shows how little kindred there must
have been between the two men. The dozen scattered verses of the Tenth
Book of Lucilius, which is said to have suggested the theme of the First
Satire of Persius, and the fragments of the Fourth Book, which is
imitated by Persius in his Third Satire, though more significant, give
us no clew to the manner or the extent of his indebtedness. Here and
there a verse, a hemistich, a jingle may have been taken from Lucilius,
and he may have enriched his vocabulary here and there from Lucilius’s
store of drastic words; but his obligations to Lucilius, real and
imaginary, are all as nothing in comparison with the large drafts which
he drew on the treasury of Horace.
The obligations of Persius to Horace have been the theme of all the
editors. The scholiasts themselves have quoted parallels, and Casaubon
has written a special treatise on the subject, and commentators, with
almost childish rivalry, have vied with each other in noting verbal
coincidences and similar trains of thought. The fact of the imitation is
too evident to need proof, and it would have been much more profitable
to examine the causes and significance of this dependence, and to study
the modifications of the language and the thought as they passed through
the alembic of Persius’s brain, than to multiply examples of words and
phrases that are common, not only to Horace and Persius, but to the
language of every-day life. Indeed, some go so far as to make Persius
quibble on Horace; and ‘How green you are,’ of the modern street, and
‘What means that trump?’ of the modern card-table, are as much
Shakespearian as some of Persius’s ‘borrowings’ are Horatian.
Horace had long been a classic when Persius dodged his school-tasks and
was a dab at marbles. Indeed, nothing is more remarkable about Roman
literature than the rapidity with which the images of its Augustan
heroes took on the _patina_ of age. The half-century that lay between
Horace and Persius drew itself out to a distant perspective, and Virgil
and Horace had all the authority of _veteres_. They not only dictated
the forms of poetry, but permeated and dominated prose. True, the
hostility to Virgil and Horace had not ceased; the _antiquarii_ were not
dead; but the ground had been shifted. The admirers of republican poetry
in the time of Horace were republicans-- in the time of Persius they
were imperialists, and the maintenance of the authors of the Augustan
age as the true classics was a part of the programme of the opposition.
The court literature of the Neronian period found its models in the
earlier epic essays of Catullus rather than in the poems of Virgil.
Virgil had modified the Greek norms to suit the Latin tongue; but these
men went back of malice aforethought to the Greek standard, and emulated
the proportions of the Greek versification of the Alexandrian period.
They were impatient of the classic vocabulary, and found the classic
rhythms tame, and so they betook themselves to the earlier language and
set it to more exact harmonies. It was no heresy with this set to
consider Virgil at once light and rough. The mouth-filling words of the
older and bolder period, marshaled in serried ranks, no gap, no break,
as they kept time to a rhythmical cadence that was marked by all the
music of consonance and assonance-- this was the ideal of the school
which Persius assailed, just as an admirer of Pope or Goldsmith might
assail the dominant poetry of our day, with its sensuous melody and its
revived archaisms. Surely the worshippers of recent poets might pause
before accepting the narrow literary creed of Persius. But, not to
imitate the example of Nisard, and indulge in dangerous parallelisms, it
is sufficient for our purpose to note that Persius’s close study of the
language of Horace was not only a part of a liberal education, but a
necessity of the school to which he belonged. If he was to write satire
at all, he must needs take Horace for his model. If he had written an
epic, he would have taken Virgil.
Besides this, we may boldly say that reminiscence is no robbery. The
verses, the phrases, the arguments that we know by heart often become so
wholly ours that they weave themselves unconsciously into the texture of
our speech. We use them as convenient forms of expression, without the
least thought of plagiarism. We quote them, thinking that they are as
familiar to others as they are to ourselves. They constitute, as it
were, a sympathetic medium between men of culture. And so Persius
repeated group after group of the words of Horace as innocently as the
Augustan poets translated their Greek models, and thought no more harm
than did the Emperor Julian when he Platonized, or Thackeray when he
transfused the classics that he learned at the Charter House into his
own matchless English. That he did it to excess is not to be denied. He
never learned the lesson of Apelles-- what is enough.
Having thus briefly disposed of those turns which are common to the
Latin tongue, and those which ran freely into the pen of the writer, we
have now to deal with a considerable number of passages in which the
memory of Persius must have lingered over the words of Horace, in which
his painstaking genius has hammered the thoughts of Horace into a more
compact or a more angular utterance. To the majority of readers his
condensations and his amplifications will alike appear to be so many
distortions of the original. So, notably, where he characterizes Horace
himself, and substitutes for the simple _naso adunco_ the puzzling
_excusso naso_, where ‘the dreams of a sick man’ become the ‘dreams of a
sick dotard,’ where ‘telling straight from crooked’ is twisted into
‘discerning the straight line where it makes its way up between crooked
lines,’ and where he wrings from the natural phrase ‘drink in with the
ear’ the odd combination ‘bibulous ears.’ In the longer passages the
wresting is still more pronounced; and those who refuse to take into
consideration the moral attitude of Persius may well wonder at the
perversity with which he distorts the lines and overcharges the colors
of the original. But it is tolerably evident that, with all Persius’s
admiration of Horace as an artist, he felt himself immeasurably superior
to him morally, and looked upon these adaptations and alterations as so
much gained for the effect of his discourse. The slyness of Horace might
have answered well enough for his day and for the kind of vices that he
reproved, but the depth over which Persius stood gave him a more than
Stoic stature. Horace might have been content with a flute; nothing less
resonant than a trumpet would have suited the moral elevation of
Persius. Horace is a consummate artist, and not less an artist in the
conduct of his life than in the composition of his poems. Persius is the
prototype of the sensational preacher, and preachers of all centuries,
from Augustin and Jerome to Macleane and Merivale, have had a weakness
for him.
Aside from the moral tone, which is enough to give a different ring to
the most similar expressions in the two poets, there is an artistic
difference of great significance in the handling of the dramatic
element, which they both recognized as fundamental in the satire. The
dramatic satires of Horace will not bear dislocation without
destruction. In Persius the characters are always shifting, always
fading away into an impersonal _Tu_. This may be partly due to the
interval which he allowed to elapse between the periods of composition;
but it is possible that he recognized the limitation of his own powers,
that his satires were intended to be a knotted thong, and not a smooth
horsewhip. This piecemeal composition, be it the result of poverty or of
economy, makes Persius the very author for ‘Elegant Extracts.’ Hence it
is not hard to defend him, as it is not hard to defend Seneca, and on
similar grounds. Single verses ring in the ear for months and years.
What line, for instance, more quoted than
_Tecum habita: noris quam sit tibi curta supellex_?
What line sinks deeper than the sombre verse,
_Virtutem videant intabescantque relicta_?
Single scenes, whether of dialogue or of description, possess every
requirement of dramatic vividness. On every page of the commentary we
call him bookish, and yet his pictures stand out from the canvas with a
boldness which makes us concede that his books did not keep him from
seeing, if they did not teach him to see, what was going on around him.
What is not a little remarkable in so young a man is the honesty of his
painting. A home-keeping youth, Persius gives us living pictures of what
he saw at home, whether at Rome, at Volaterrae, or at Luna; in the
school-room, in the lecture-room, in the court of justice, on the wharf,
at the country cross-roads. He has watched the carpenter stretching his
line, the potter whirling his wheel, the physician adjusting his scales.
He has heard the horse-laugh of the burly centurion, and shivered; has
heard, with a young Stoic sneer, a cooing and mincing declaimer. He
knows all about ink and paper and parchment and reeds; he has not
outlived his knowledge of marbles, and one might fancy that the lustral
spittle of his aunty was still fresh on his brow. The fact that there is
no breeziness about his poems, nothing that tells us of the liberal air
beyond, is another sign of his truthfulness. His life is like his own
‘ever retreating bay’ of the Sixth Satire, with the cliffs of Stoic
philosophy between him and the wintry sea without. Arretium he knows--
it was not so far from Volaterrae-- and Bovillae, in the neighborhood of
which he had a farm, and Luna, and the world of Rome; but the rest of
his geography is in the inane. Horace, on the other hand, ambles all
over Italy, and treats us every now and then to a foreign tour with the
air of a man who had run across the sea in his time; and even if he who
takes us in his sweeping flight from Cadiz to Ganges be not the real
Juvenal, the undisputed Juvenal has a far wider geographical outlook
than Persius. This very limitation is one of the best signs of the
artistic worth of Persius, and justifies the regret that he had not made
himself the Crabbe of Roman poetry.
We have seen that Persius was not slavishly dependent on Horace,
assimilated the material that he derived from him, raised the worldly
wisdom of Horace to the ideal standard of the Stoic, and followed a
different canon of dramatic art. To this we may add that Persius, with a
certain aristocratic disdain of conventionalities, goes deeper into the
current of vulgar diction than the freedman’s son dared. Persius felt
that he could afford to talk slang, and he talked it; and the
commentators have found it necessary to hold Petronius in the left hand,
as well as Horace in the right.
We now proceed to yet another formal element, which is no less
significant to the close student of antique literature. The Roman
handling of the hexameter was artificial in the extreme. Reasoning
backward from the Latin hexameter, scholars have been prone to transfer
the conscious symbolism of the Roman poets to the Greek originals; and
if they had stopped, say, at Apollonius Rhodius, they might have been
justified, for in the later Greek poets something of the sort is not to
be denied. But the healthier period of Greek poetic art was lifted far
above such toying adaptations of sound to sense as commentators still
discover in Homer when they enlarge on the symbolism of this or that
spondaic verse, the beauty of this or that combination of diaeresis and
caesura. A recent comparison of Homer with his successors has shown
that, of all the spondaic verses in Homer, scarcely one in a hundred can
be traced to any ‘picturesque’ motive, and the rapid movement of so many
five-dactyl hexameters is simply the normal pace of the verse. When we
come to Latin metres, however, we must take a different standard, and
recognize a conscious modification of the Greek rule. The Ovidian
pentameter of the best period-- to cite a familiar instance-- is subject
to minute laws, which are transgressed at every turn in Greek elegiac
poetry, and the different ideals of Persius and Horace are distinctly
traceable in their treatment of the hexameter. Horace, as is well known,
broke the lofty movement of the hexameter to suit the easy gait of the
satire. Persius is more rhetorical than Horace, and, although he admits
elision with as great freedom as his master, his verse has a more
mechanical structure than the verse of Horace, and many of the
conversational peculiarities of the Horatian hexameter are much less
conspicuous in Persius. Horace weakens the caesura, employs a great
number of spondaic words, and neglects the variety at which the epic
aims; and perhaps the trained ear of a determined scholar might hear in
the jog-trot of his satiric rhythms the hoofs of his bob-tailed mule and
the lazy flapping of his portmanteau. Persius, on the other hand,
hammers out his thoughts in a far more orthodox cadence. Comparing the
first six hundred and fifty verses of the first book of the satires of
Horace with the six hundred and fifty verses of Persius, we find that
more than eight per cent. have five spondees against less than five per
cent. in Persius. The so-called third trochee or feminine caesura of the
third foot is found in one of ten of Horace’s hexameters, and only in
one of twenty-six in Persius-- a low proportion even for a Latin poet.
Still more striking is the rare use which Persius makes of the masculine
caesura of the sixth foot, with its consequent monosyllabic close. Aside
from all idle symbolism, this arrangement, which is comparatively common
in Horace, gives the verse a certain familiar roughness, especially
where the final word forces a union with the following line. These
diversities can not be accidents, and serve to show that, although
Persius might weave himself a garment from the dyed threads of Horatian
diction, he was not bold enough to wear the _discincta tunica_ of
Horace’s Muse. But we must not forget to be just, and it is only fair to
add that such a garb would have been as inappropriate to his severe and
lofty, though narrow spirit, as the Coan vestments of Ovid’s ‘kept
goddess’-- if we may borrow the _déesse entretenue_ of Heinrich Heine.
A comparison of Persius with Juvenal-- a favorite theme with editors--
does not enter into the plan of this study. It suffices for our present
purpose to note that the practiced rhetorician of the time of Trajan
could not have shared Quintilian’s admiration of his youthful
predecessor. The parallel passages which have been cited belong to the
common stock of satirical strokes or to the thesaurus of proverbial
phrases. Who can believe that Juvenal took _usque adeo_ from Persius, or
borrowed from him the familiar _rara avis_? There are three or four
touches in the Tenth Satire which recall some of the more striking
expressions of Persius; but Ribbeck’s objections to the genuineness of
this sophistic declamation, if not convincing, are at least sufficiently
well founded to make us pause in citing them. In moral earnestness,
Persius is as far superior to Juvenal as he is inferior to him in the
rhetorical treatment of his themes; and so long as men will take into
consideration this moral element, which modern critics are prone to
eliminate from works of art, so long as they will say _pectus est quod
satiricum facit_ as well as _quod theologum_, Persius will command a
personal esteem which does not attach to the satires of Juvenal. The
ingenious theory of Boissier, that the great satirist of the Caesars was
a snubbed snob, brings out in still more striking contrast the figure of
Persius as the reserved provincial aristocrat, and may be worthy of a
more ample development than it has yet received. But Juvenal is a
dangerous theme. As M. Martha has admirably observed, Juvenal is an
author whose declamatory tone has infected his eulogists; and those who
are not carried away by an ‘admiration which disfigures while it
exalts,’ may readily be tempted into the opposite extreme. Let us turn,
then, to other matters which illustrate more directly the character of
our author’s compositions. And first a word or two of Stoicism.
With the strong practical tendencies of the Romans, the only systems of
Greek philosophy that ever found large acceptance at Rome were the
Epicurean and the Stoic; and in the Stoic school the only doctrines that
commanded much attention were the ethic. The subtle dialectic of the
Stoics, of which we have some unjoyous specimens in Cicero’s
philosophical compilations, was not congenial to the Roman mind; but the
Stoic creed was the creed of the nobler spirits of the imperial time.
Excluded from public life, or, at all events, from the satisfactory
exercise of public functions, the elect few took refuge in Stoic
philosophy.[1]
[Footnote 1: In this section of the Introduction I follow Zeller’s
Essay on Marcus Aurelius (_Vorträge u. Abhandlungen_) so closely
that some special acknowledgment seems to be necessary.]
The object of Stoicism is by means of virtue and knowledge to make men
independent of all without them, and happy in that independence. It is a
pantheism: God revealed in every thing; God’s law recognized in every
thing; God the substance from which every thing proceeds, to which every
thing returns; the Original Fire, from which every thing is born again.
God is the all-pervasive Spirit, Fate, Providence. Obedience to his
eternal laws constitutes virtue and happiness. Good and evil are to be
measured by this standard. All that brings us toward this is Good; all
that carries us away from it is Evil. Every thing else is indifferent.
In Grace or out of Grace, says the Christian; or, as Calvin expresses it
in his nervous language, _Qui Christum dimidium habere vult, totum
perdit_. In Virtue or out of Virtue, says the Stoic. There is nothing
between. The wise are perfectly wise; the foolish are totally foolish.
‘There is not a half-ounce of rectitude in the fool.’ The vicious man is
as mad as Orestes-- nay, madder.
The difference between human beings is slight. Alkibiades, the high-born
and the handsome, is no better than shriveled old Baukis, who makes her
livelihood by selling greens. All external distinctions sink into utter
insignificance by the side of this great contrast of knowledge and
ignorance into which virtue and vice are resolved.
All humanity is one people; all the world one state; its ruler the
Deity; its constitution the eternal law of the universe. The more
unconditionally a man submits to the guidance of this law, the more
exclusively he seeks his happiness in virtue, the more independent he
will be of all without him, the more contented in himself, and yet the
readier to enter into communion with others, and to do his duty to the
whole of which he is a part.
But it is to be observed that the Stoicism of Persius, like the Stoicism
of Marcus Antoninus, was of a softer, milder, more religious character
than that of Zeno and Chrysippus; and when the Stoic discourses on the
nothingness of all earthly things, the ills of life, man’s moral
weakness, and his need of help, we hear language that reminds us now of
the epistles of the New Testament, now of the doctrines of Buddha. ‘The
philosopher,’ says Zeller, ‘is a physician for the soul, a priest and
servant of the Deity among men, and this he shows by the most unlimited,
devoted, unreserved philanthropy.’ And not only so, but the Stoic does
not disdain to make life brighter in the social circle; and the Sixth
Satire of our author, which Nisard considers to be a youthful escapade
of the poet-- _qui s’évertue comme un écolier qui sort de classe_-- is
no less truly Stoic than the high-strung Third.
In speaking of this subject it is difficult to keep from using the word
religion, for the emotional element, which is so characteristic of
religion, is not wanting in a system which is the popular synonym for
suppression of emotion. This is the thesis which M. Martha has brought
out into clear relief, and illumined by many apposite examples-- a
thesis which will not be strange to those who have studied with any care
the social aspects of the later life of antiquity. Under the empire
morality was more than morality-- it was a religion; and all the
formulae of certain phases of Christian ascetics may be applied to the
ethical side of Stoic philosophy. It is difficult to approach the
subject without seeming irreverence; but the faith of the Christian must
be far from robust who can shrink from a parallel that goes no farther
than the machinery-- that does not involve the motive power. It is not
the aim of this study to determine whether this parallelism is to be
recognized as a _praeparatio Evangelica_, or as the like result of
similar forces at work in different systems of thought and belief. It is
enough to present the parallelism, to excuse the phraseology.
Our ancestors, at all events, were not afraid to recognize ‘natural
Christians’ in such men as Socrates, in such youths as Persius. Why,
even Seneca figured for a long time as St. Seneca; and Jeremy Taylor was
following old example when he cited the Stoic as well as the Christian
code. It is only one step from the recognition of this spiritual kindred
to the recognition of the practical methods of spiritual work as
anticipated in the life of antiquity-- practical methods which for our
purposes are even better described by an unbeliever like Lucian than by
a believer like Marcus Antoninus. In that age of transition we find
father confessors, private chaplains, mendicant friars, missions,
revivals, conversions, ecstasies-- all showing the deep needs of the
human heart, which refused to be satisfied with the outworn gods of the
Pantheon, and, in ignorance of the divine Person, who alone can answer a
personal love, sought solace in the mechanism of morality. In
characterizing Cornutus, I have already borrowed a phrase from
M. Martha, and called him, as M. Martha calls Seneca, a spiritual
director; and I have already ventured to call Persius a sensational
preacher. His stock of philosophy or theology is not as large as some
commentators suppose; and all the elaborate attempts to show by the
satires that Persius was a thoroughly trained and consistent Stoic have
failed. The most elementary knowledge of Stoic ethics is sufficient for
the comprehension of Persius. Whatever else he knew he kept back for
practical considerations. He sticks to the marrow of morality, and
reiterates the cardinal doctrines of Stoicism with the vehemence of a
Poundtext. This vehemence, this enthusiasm, may be explained by his
youth, his Etruscan blood, his profession as a moral reformer. A critic
with M. Taine’s resources might account for it by the climate of
Volaterrae; but, however it may be accounted for, certain it is that he
himself is much impressed with the profundity of the doctrines which he
professes; that he warms and glows as he imparts to his auditors the
great secret that they are not free because they are slaves to vice;
that a man who does not understand his relations to his Maker can not
move a finger without sinning; that in the flesh there is no good thing;
and that the anguish of a tortured conscience is the worst of hells. But
the difficulties of Persius are not due to recondite Stoic thought, and
can not be cleared up by reference to Stoic philosophy. The trouble lies
in the slangy expressions, the lack of organic development, the restless
zeal to force his message home to the heart of every hearer, and the
consequent shifting of the personages of his dialogue to suit the cases
as they rose before his mind.
Persius, then, was a preacher of Stoicism-- Stoicism, at once the
philosophy and the religion of a time when serious and noble natures had
no city of refuge except in their inmost selves, when the only possible
activity seemed to be submission to the inevitable. The hydrostatic
pressure of the imperial time forced all the better elements into this
mould; and in so far Persius bears the stamp of his period, and the very
absence of political and personal allusions shows how imperfect life
must have been. But one school of commentators, headed by Casaubon, and
represented to-day in Germany by Lehmann, in England by Pretor, see in
Persius much more than a disciple of the Stoa; and the satires of our
author-- especially the First and Fourth-- are supposed to be full of
more or less oblique references to Nero’s person, his habits, his
literary pretensions, his aristocratic birth. At one time it seemed as
if this thesis, which was suggested by the scholiast, had been
abandoned, but the field for historical ingenuity is too tempting; and
one of the vaguest of all the satires, the Fifth, has been discovered by
Lehmann to be full of the most stinging allusions to Nero. It is not
enough to grant to this school that Nero, as the type of his age, may
have been present to the mind of the author. They scornfully reject this
concession, and resort to all manner of legerdemain in order to explain
away the impossibilities of such an attack and the improbabilities of
its execution. With such scope as these scholars allow themselves we may
find parallels every where, and covert assaults may be detected in the
most innocent literary performances. But it would not answer the purpose
of this Introduction to enter into an elaborate discussion of this
question, which seems to be destined to an uncomfortable resurrection as
often as it is laid. Every plausible coincidence has been mentioned in
the Notes, and it will be sufficient for ingenuous youth to know the
opinions of distinguished scholars on the subject.
If this essay had not been prolonged beyond the limit proposed, it might
be well to give some account of the grammatical and rhetorical
peculiarities of the style of Persius; but the grammar of Persius will
present few difficulties to those who are at all familiar with the
poetic syntax of the Latin language; and enough has been said to prepare
the student, in a measure, for coping with the labored terseness of our
author.
The manuscripts of Persius are remarkable for their age, their number,
and the stupid bewilderment of the transcribers. The best is the _Codex
Montepessulanus_, or Montpellier manuscript, with which the _Codex
Vaticanus_ closely coincides; but, in the words of Jahn, _Nullus Persii
codex tantae auctoritatis est ut in rebus dubiis eius vestigia tuto
sequaris sed semper inter complures optio eaque non raro incerta datur_.
* * * * *
A. PERSII FLACCI
SATURARUM
LIBER.
* * * * *
PROLOGUS.
Nec fonte labra prolui caballino,
nec in bicipiti somniasse Parnaso
memini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem.
Heliconidasque pallidamque Pirenen
illis remitto, quorum imagines lambunt 5
hederae sequaces: ipse semipaganus
ad sacra vatum carmen adfero nostrum.
quis expedivit psittaco suum chaere
picamque docuit nostra verba conari?
magister artis ingenique largitor 10
venter, negatas artifex sequi voces;
quod si dolosi spes refulserit nummi,
corvos poetas et poetridas picas
cantare credas Pegaseium nectar.
NOTES.
PROLOGUE.
ARGUMENT.-- I never drank of Hippocrene, never dreamed on Parnassus. The
maids of Helicon and the waters of Pirene are meat and drink for my
masters-- the acknowledged classics-- not for me, a poor lay-brother,
with my humble, homely song (1-7). Others succeed: the parrot with his
Greek, the pie with her Latin. They have not dreamed on Parnassus
either; but they have a teacher-- the great master Belly-- and Sixpence
is their Phoebus Apollo. Hark how they troll forth their notes! (8-14).
Alas for me! no golden Muse, no silver sixpence inspires me. _Quis leget
haec?_
This prologue is a survival of the dramatic element of the satire, as
Casaubon has remarked. Peculiarly personal, the prologue is found in the
earlier and in the later stages of art, in ballad literature and in
reflective poetry. The spurious verses which precede the Aeneid-- _Ille
ego_-- were intended to serve as a prologue, and prologues in prose and
poetry are familiar to the readers of Martial, Statius, Ausonius, and
Claudian.
There is no good reason to doubt the genuineness of the prologue, or to
attribute the authorship to Caesius Bassus, the Editor of Persius, as
Heinrich has done. Nor is there any sufficient ground for supposing that
the prologue is fragmentary. The two parts-- of seven verses each-- do
not hang well together, but the connection of the thought is not so
remote after all. ‘In the former part, Persius ridicules the pretended
source of the poetical inspiration of his time, in the latter he exposes
its real origin’ (Teuffel).
More open to debate is the relation of the prologue to the satires. Is
it an introduction to all, or only to the first? It is true that the
prologue seems to belong especially to the first. Both furnish us with a
programme of the poet’s views, with a confession of faith which
consisted in a want of faith in the age; but as the First Satire itself
contains a vindication of the poet’s work, and forms an introduction to
the other five satires, it is safer not to restrict the prologue to the
narrower office.
It is needless to say that these verses have not lacked admirers and
imitators. The latter half is parodied by Milton (_In Salmasii
Hundredam_), and the line _magister artis ingenique largitor_ is
expanded by Rabelais (4, 59).
The metre is the _scazon_ or _choliambus_ (G., 755; A., 82, 2, _a_, R),
and as the combination of different rhythms is one of the peculiarities
of the earlier _satura_, it is not unlikely that Persius followed an
older pattern. In Petronius, cap. 5, the choliambus is in like manner
followed by the hexameter, but the analogy is not close. The choliambus,
the invention of the great lampoonist Hippōnax, is admirably adapted by
its structure for the expression of disappointment, vexation,
discontent. The march of the iambus is suddenly checked in the fifth
foot, and the rapid measure violently tripped up. It is a mischievous
metre, and betrays in its malice the Thersitic character of its
inventor.
1. The allusion is to Ennius, the _alter Homerus_, who drank of
Hippocrene (Prop., 3, 2 [4], 6), and dreamed that he had seen his great
original on Parnassus (Cic., Ac. Pr., 2, 16, 51). --#fonte#: ‘_in_ the
spring.’ The Latin Abl. often has a locative translation, when the
conception is not necessarily or not distinctly locative. (G.,[2] 387.)
--#prolui#: ‘drenched’ is designedly misused. The figure is _Litotes_.
(G., 448, R. 2.) The greater the depression, the greater the rebound.
_Non prolui labra_ = _ne primoribus quidem labris attigi_.
--#caballino#: _Fons caballinus_, ‘hack’s spring,’ is a mock translation
of _Hippocrene_ = ἵππου κρήνη: the fountain opened by Pegasus with his
hoof. _Caballus_ is a comic equivalent of _equus_. Comp. Juvenal’s
_Gorgonei #caballi#_ (3, 118).
[Footnote 2: G. = Gildersleeve’s L. Grammar; A. = Allen and
Greenough’s; M. = Madvig’s.]
2. #bicipiti#: ‘two-peaked.’ Parnassus is called _biceps_, either
because it appears to have two peaks from such common points of view as
the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf (δικόρυμβος ὁ Παρνασός, Lucian,
Char., 5), or because of the two tall cliffs (Ov., Met., 1, 316; 2,
221)-- the Φαιδριάδες of Diodorus (16, 28), the δίλοφος πέτρα of
Sophocles (Ant., 1126)-- between which the Castalian spring takes its
rise. --#somniasse#: sc. _me somniasse_ (G., 527, R. 2; M., 401). With
_memini_ the Pres. Inf. is more common of Personal Recollection (G.,
277, R; A., 58, 11, _b_), but the Perfect is also found when the action
is distinctly recognized as a by-gone. Comp. _saepe velut gemmas eius
signumque probarem_ | _per causam #memini# me #tetigisse# manum_, Tib.,
1, 6, 26. Also Ov., Am., 3, 7, 25-6; A. A., 2, 169. The Perfect is
especially appropriate here, as the balance of the period would seem to
require _nec prolui nec_ (_quod meminerim_) _somniavi_; and so Conington
with correct instinct translates, ‘never that #I# can remember.’
3. #sic#: οὕτως, ‘just so,’ ‘without any warning, any preparation.’
--#prodirem#: ‘make my appearance’ (as it were on the stage).
4. #Heliconidas#: The Muses. Comp. Hesiod (Theog., 1). Hermann prefers
the epic form, _Heliconiadas_. --#-que# --#-que#: G., 478; A., 43, 2,
_a._ --#pallidamque Pirenen#: Pirene is the fountain of Acrocorinthus,
where Pegasus was broken in by Bellerophon. The poetic virtue of its
water was a late discovery. _Pallidam_, attribute for effect. Comp.
_pallida mors_, χλωρὸν δέος, and the like. The pallor of students and
poets needs no illustration.
5. #remitto#: ἀφίημι, for the more usual _relinquo_, which is a common
v.l. Kisselius (_Specimen criticum_, p. 51) cites Cic., De Orat., 1, 58:
_tibi #remittunt# istam voluptatem et ea se carere patiuntur_; and Tac.,
Hist., 4, 11: _vim principis complecti, nomen remittere_. --#imagines#:
‘busts’ (set up in libraries, public and private). Comp. _ut dignus
venias hederis et imagine macra_, Juv., 7, 29. --#lambunt#: more
frequently used of flames.
6. #hederae#: Notice the plural, ‘ivy wreaths,’ G., 195, R. 6. The ivy,
being sacred to Bacchus, formed the wreath of victors in scenic
contests; thence transferred to poets generally. --#sequaces#: ‘lissom,
pliant.’ Persius seldom, if ever, uses a merely descriptive epithet, and
hence some commentators have detected a sneer in these words, ‘lackeying
ivy belicks.’ --#semipaganus#: ‘poor half-brother of the guild’
(Conington). The _paganus_ is admitted to all the _sacra pagi_
(_paganalia_); the _semipaganus_ is a lay-brother. Persius is not a
_vates_, but a _semivates_. He is not initiated into what Aristophanes
calls the γενναίων ὄργια Μουσῶν, Ran., 356. Those who believe that the
Satires of Persius were aimed at Nero, see in _semipaganus_,
‘half-educated,’ as well as in the last seven verses, a deliberate
disguise of the poet’s real condition, as a man of culture and of
wealth. They overlook the sneer at the class which he is not worthy to
join.
7. #vatum#: with the same tone of derision as in the English equivalent,
‘bards.’ --#nostrum#: perhaps not simply = _meum_, but ‘native,
home-made.’
8. #expedivit#: _Expedire_ and _conari_ both imply difficulty (Jahn),
but the difficulty is completely conquered in _expedire_; not so in
_conari_. The parrot, if not a Greek (ψιττακός), is a Hellenized Hindoo
(_bitak_), and has learned to utter glibly his familiar _Bonjour_. The
magpie is an Italian, and not so deft. Others regard this
interpretation, which is essentially Jahn’s, as too subtle, and make
_verba nostra_, which many prefer to _nostra verba_, simply equivalent
to ‘human speech.’ --#chaere# = χαῖρε. Greek was the language of small
talk, love talk, parrot-talk.
10. #magister artis ingenique largitor#: _Magister_, of that which is
taught; _largitor_, of that which comes from nature’s bounty; _-que_
combines the two into an exhaustive unit (G., 478; A., 43, 3, _a_). The
thought recurs in numberless forms. Comp. ἁ πενία, Διόφαντε, μόνα τὰς
τέχνας ἐγείρει, Theocr., 21, 1; _Paupertas omnes artis perdocet_,
Plaut., Stich., 1, 3. 23 (Jahn). Add χρεία διδάσκει, κἂν βραδύς τις ᾖ,
σοφόν, Eur., fr. 709 (Nauck), and Alexis, fr. 205 (3, 479 Mein.), where
the γαστήρ is expressly mentioned. Birds, it seems, were trained to talk
by hunger.
11. #negatas#: (_a natura_). --#artifex sequi#: poetic syntax for _a.
sequendi_. G., 424, R. 4. (comp. 429, R. 4); A., 57, 8, _f_, 3.
A so-called Greek construction. See 1, 59. 70. 118; 5, 15. 24; 6, 6. 24.
--#sequi# = _sectari_. --#voces#: (articulate) ‘speech.’
12. #quod si#: ‘Nay, if but.’ Commentators on Horace still indulge in
remarks on the unpoetical character of _quod si_, copying Orelli on Od.,
1, 1, 35. If _quod si_ is prosaic, Propertius is to be pitied; he uses
it at every turn. --#dolosi#: ‘seductive, alluring.’ Persius does not
deal much in ‘general epithets;’ hence δόλιον κέρδος (Pind., Pyth., 4,
140) is not a sufficient parallel. --#refulserit#: better every way than
_refulgeat_, which Jahn accepts in his ed. of 1868. The Perf. Subj. is
more vivid and more correct than the Present. _Re-_ must not be
overlooked. Like the English ‘again,’ it denotes the reversal of a
previous condition. _Refulgere_, ‘to catch the eye by its glitter,’ ‘to
flash on the sight’-- whereas it lay unnoticed before. --#nummi#: better
translated as a coin. Comp. ‘The Splendid Shilling,’ ‘The Almighty
Dollar;’ perhaps ‘The Magic Sixpence.’ Comp. Juv., 7, 8: _nam si Pieria
#quadrans# tibi nullus in umbra | ostendatur_, etc.
13. #corvos poetas et poetridas picas#: ‘Raven poets and poetess pies,’
the substantive standing for an epithet, like _popa venter_, 6, 74.
Which of the substantives is adjective to the other does not appear. For
the _corvus_, Poe and Dickens will answer as well as Macrob., Sat. 2, 4.
The male poet has a female counterpart in the magpie (_pica_). According
to Ov. (Met., 5, 294, foll.), the daughters of Pierus, the Macedonian,
were changed into magpies because they had challenged the Muses to a
contest, and reviled the victorious goddesses. There seems to be an
allusion to the literary ladies of the day, the blue-stockings of
Juvenal’s Satire (6, 434 foll.). See Friedländer, _Sittengeschichte_, 1,
481. _Poetridas_ after Gr. analogy.
14. #cantare nectar#: a poetic extension of the cognate accusative =
_nectareum carmen cantare_ (G., 331; A., 52, 1, _b_). _Nectar_ is copied
from Pind., Ol., 7, 7 (νέκταρ χυτόν, Μοισᾶν δόσιν), and when combined
with _Pegaseium_ is sufficiently grandiloquent to be as absurd as it is
intended to be. The old reading, _melos_ (μέλος), with its faulty
quantity, rarely finds a champion against _nectar_.
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
PROLOGUS.
2. #Parnaso#: Parnasso, H. --4. #Heliconidas#: Heliconiadas, J{α}., H.
--5. #remitto#: relinquo, J{α}. --7. #adfero#: affero, J{α}., H.
--8. #chaere#: χαῖρε, J{α}., H. --9. #picam#: picas, J{α}. --#nostra
verba#: verba nostra, H. --12. #refulserit#: J{α}.; refulgeat, J{ω}., H.
* * * * *
SATURA I.
O curas hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane!
‘Quis leget haec?’ Min tu istud ais? nemo hercule! ‘Nemo?’
Vel duo, vel nemo. ‘Turpe et miserabile!’ Quare?
ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem
praetulerint? nugae. non, si quid turbida Roma 5
elevet, accedas examenque inprobum in illa
castiges trutina, nec te quaesiveris extra.
nam Romae quis non--? a, si fas dicere-- sed fas
tum, cum ad canitiem et nostrum istud vivere triste
aspexi ac nucibus facimus quaecumque relictis, 10
cum sapimus patruos; tunc, tunc, ignoscite-- ‘Nolo.’
Quid faciam? sed sum petulanti splene cachinno.
Scribimus inclusi, numeros ille, his pede liber,
grande aliquid, quod pulmo animae praelargus anhelet.
scilicet haec populo pexusque togaque recenti 15
et natalicia tandem cum sardonyche albus
sede leges celsa, liquido cum plasmate guttur
mobile collueris, patranti fractus ocello.
hic neque more probo videas nec voce serena
ingentis trepidare Titos, cum carmina lumbum 20
intrant, et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu.
tun, vetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas?
auriculis, quibus et dicas cute perditus _ohe_.
‘Quo didicisse, nisi hoc fermentum et quae semel intus
innata est rupto iecore exierit caprificus?’ 25
En pallor seniumque! o mores! usque adeone
scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter?
‘At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier _hic est!_
ten cirratorum centum dictata fuisse
pro nihilo pendas?’ Ecce inter pocula quaerunt 30
Romulidae saturi, quid dia poemata narrent.
hic aliquis, cui circa umeros hyacinthia laena est,
rancidulum quiddam balba de nare locutus,
Phyllidas Hypsipylas, vatum et plorabile si quid,
eliquat ac tenero supplantat verba palato. 35
adsensere viri: nunc non cinis ille poetae
felix? non levior cippus nunc inprimit ossa?
laudant convivae: nunc non e manibus illis,
nunc non e tumulo fortunataque favilla
nascentur violae? ‘Rides’ ait ‘et nimis uncis 40
naribus indulges. an erit qui velle recuset
os populi meruisse et cedro digna locutus
linquere nec scombros metuentia carmina nec tus?’
Quisquis es, o, modo quem ex adverso dicere feci,
non ego cum scribo, si forte quid aptius exit, 45
quando haec rara avis est, si quid tamen aptius exit,
laudari metuam, neque enim mihi cornea fibra est;
sed recti finemque extremumque esse recuso
euge tuum et belle. nam belle hoc excute totum:
quid non intus habet? non hic est Ilias Atti 50
ebria veratro? non si qua elegidia crudi
dictarunt proceres? non quidquid denique lectis
scribitur in citreis? calidum seis ponere sumen,
scis comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna,
et ‘verum’ inquis ‘amo: verum mihi dicite de me.’ 55
qui pote? vis dicam? nugaris, cum tibi, calve,
pinguis aqualiculus protenso sesquipede exstet.
o Iane, a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit,
nec manus auriculas imitari mobilis albas,
nec linguae, quantum, sitiat canis Apula, tantae! 60
vos, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est
occipiti caeco, posticae occurrite sannae!
Quis populi sermo est? quis enim, nisi carmina molli
nunc demum numero fluere, ut per leve severos
effundat iunctura unguis? scit tendere versum 65
non secus ac si oculo rubricam derigat uno.
sive opus in mores, in luxum, in prandia regum
dicere, res grandis nostro dat Musa poetae.
ecce modo heroas sensus adferre videmus
nugari solitos graece, nec ponere lucum 70
artifices nec rus saturum laudare, ubi corbes
et focus et porci et fumosa Palilia faeno,
unde Remus, sulcoque terens dentalia, Quinti,
cum trepida ante boves dictatorem induit uxor
et tua aratra domum lictor tulit-- euge poeta! 75
est nunc Brisaei quem venosus liber Acci,
sunt quos Pacuviusque et verrucosa moretur
Antiopa, aerumnis cor luctificabile fulta.
hos pueris monitus patres infundere lippos
cum videas, quaerisne, unde haec sartago loquendi 80
venerit in linguas, unde istuc dedecus, in quo
trossulus exsultat tibi per subsellia levis?
nilne pudet capiti non posse pericula cano
pellere, quin tepidum hoc optes audire _decenter_?
‘Fur es’ ait Pedio. Pedius quid? crimina rasis 85
librat in antithetis: doctas posuisse figuras
laudatur ‘bellum hoc!’ hoc bellum? an, Romule, ceves?
men moveat? quippe et, cantet si naufragus, assem
protulerim. cantas, cum fracta te in trabe pictum
ex umero portes? verum, nec nocte paratum 90
plorabit, qui me volet incurvasse querela.
‘Sed numeris decor est et iunctura addita crudis.
cludere sic versum didicit _Berecyntius Attis_
et _qui caeruleum dirimebat Nerea delphin_
sic _costam longo subduximus Appennino_. 95
_Arma virum_, nonne hoc spumosum et cortice pingui,
ut ramale vetus vegrandi subere coctum?’
‘Quidnam igitur tenerum et laxa cervice legendum?
_Torva mimalloneis inplerunt cornua bombis,_
_et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo_ 100
_Bassaris et lyncem Maenas flexura corymbis_
_euhion ingeminat, reparabilis adsonat echo?’_
haec fierent, si testiculi vena ulla paterni
viveret in nobis? summa delumbe saliva
hoc natat in labris, et in udo est Maenas et Attis, 105
nec pluteum caedit, nec demorsos sapit unguis.
‘Sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere vero
auriculas? vide sis, ne maiorum tibi forte
limina frigescant: sonat hic de nare canina
littera.’ Per me equidem sint omnia protinus alba; 110
nil moror. euge! omnes, omnes bene mirae eritis res.
hoc iuvat? ‘hic’ inquis ‘veto quisquam faxit oletum.’
pinge duos anguis: pueri, sacer est locus, extra
meite! discedo. secuit Lucilius urbem,
te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis; 115
omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico
tangit et admissus circum praecordia ludit,
callidus excusso populum suspendere naso:
men muttire nefas? nec clam, nec cum scrobe? nusquam?
hic tamen infodiam. vidi, vidi ipse, libelle: 120
auriculas asini quis non habet? hoc ego opertum,
hoc ridere meum, tam nil, nulla tibi vendo
Iliade. audaci quicumque adflate Cratino
iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles,
aspice et haec, si forte aliquid decoctius audis. 125
inde vaporata lector mihi ferveat aure:
non hic, qui in crepidas Graiorum ludere gestit
sordidus, et lusco qui possit dicere ‘lusce,’
sese aliquem credens, Italo quod honore supinus
fregerit heminas Arreti aedilis iniquas; 130
nec qui abaco numeros et secto in pulvere metas
scit risisse vafer, multum gaudere paratus,
si cynico barbam petulans nonaria vellat.
his mane edictum, post prandia Calliroen do.
NOTES.
FIRST SATIRE.
This Satire is an attack on the literature of the day as the
efflorescence of the corruption of the times. The age is personified by
a critical friend, but it is not always easy to determine when the poet
is speaking and when the friend, or when the satirist is meeting an
imaginary objection from some other imaginary quarter. The unreality of
the whole dialogue is confessed with more candor than art in v. 44.
Instead of a firm outline, we have a floating _quisquis es_.
ARGUMENT.-- The poem opens with a line, which Persius recites to his man
of straw, who forthwith urges him to abandon authorship (1-3). The poet
acknowledges that he is at odds with his generation and expects no
applause at their hands. But little does he care for their praise; let
them prefer a Labeo to him. Their standard is not his standard. He is
his own canon. He will not, can not follow the advice of his friend. He
must obey the impulse of his temper and speak out (4-12).
Whether we write laborious verse or laborious prose-- so the attack
begins-- it is all one; display and applause are the aim and object of
both. The style is fustian; the delivery wanton; the theme prurient. The
bard is little better than a bawd (13-23). And yet so deeply rooted is
this love of praise that learning is loss, unless it be minted into
golden opinions, and knowledge is naught until it be known of men. To be
pointed out as a lion, to be used as a school classic-- what glory!
(24-30). Oh, yes! A glory shared by the dainty ditties, the mewling
elegies of lisping, snuffling dandies, for this is what calls forth the
approval of the after-dinner circle. Such is the praise that is to bless
the poet even after death! (30-40). It is true that fame is not to be
despised. No poet but feels his heart vibrate to praise. But the popular
acclaim is not the ultimate standard. Mad epics, elegies thrown off in a
surfeit, effusions of aristocratic easy-chairs are alike lauded. A man
feeds the hungry and clothes the naked, and then asks for a candid
opinion. Mockery of criticism! (40-62). The taste of the people relishes
nothing but smooth verses-- verses without flaw or break, faultless
machine-verses-- which answer any turn, and serve alike for satire, for
eclogues, for heroic strains (63-75). Others, again, call themselves
passionate pilgrims to the well of Latin undefiled, and linger over the
obsolete magniloquence of Pacuvius and Accius. A fine _olla podrida_--
this jumble of modern affectation and ancient trumpery (76-82). Bad as
this is in literature, how much worse it is to find that the jargon of
the _salon_ has become the language of the courts, and that the manly
Roman speech is dead. Even in a matter of life and death, the accused
thinks more of his rhetorical than of his judicial sentence, and listens
for a ‘Pretty good,’ as if that were the verdict (83-91). It will not do
to say that great improvements have been made in the art of verse.
Smooth are the verses and resonant, but at the cost of sense, of manly
vigor. Once catch the trick, and any body can reel off such lines
(92-106). Ears are ticklish, our satirist admits. Truth is an unwelcome
rasp, and the cold shoulder of great men no toothsome meal. Police
regulations are stringent. ‘Commit no nuisance’ is posted every where.
Ah, well! It was otherwise in the time of Lucilius. That was a free
world in which he craunched Lupus and Mucius. It was otherwise in the
time of Horace. That was a gay world, in which he tickled while he
taught. And is the poet not to mutter even? King Midas’s barber told his
master’s secret to a ditch. Where can a ditch be found? Here in this
book (107-121). Few readers can our author hope or desire-- only such as
have studied closely the great masters of the Attic sock, not such as
ignorantly make a mock of Greek attire and Greek science, pride
themselves on petty local honors, and rise to no higher conception of
wit or fun than a dog-fight or a jibe at personal infirmity (122-134).
It has been well observed that this is the only Satire of Persius in the
strict sense of the term; the other five have rather the character of
essays on moral themes.
One of the best commentaries on this poem is the famous 114th Epistle of
Seneca.
The student of English literature will remember that Gifford’s Baviad is
an imitation of this piece.
1-7. At the very outset we encounter a difficulty in the distribution of
the first lines between P. (Persius) and M. (Monitor, as the second
interlocutor is usually called). The arrangement followed in the text
may be explained thus:
P. (_is discovered absorbed in contemplation. He recites a line from his
projected poem_).-- ‘Vanity of vanities!’
M.-- Who will read this stuff of yours?
P. (_wakes up_).-- Do you mean that for me? Why, no one, of course.
M.-- No one?
P.-- Next to no one.
M.-- A lame and impotent conclusion!
P.-- Why so? Am I to fear that Polydamas and the Trojan dames shall make
up their minds to give Labeo the preference over me? Stuff! Don’t
assent, when muddled Rome rejects a thing as light weight, and do not
trouble yourself to get the faulty tongue of that pair of scales to work
right, and look not outside of yourself for what you can find only
within yourself.
1. #O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane!# _Homines_ and _res_
are both used for ‘the world,’ sometimes singly, sometimes together.
_Res_ is often to be omitted in translation, or another turn given.
_O quantum est in rebus inane_, ‘Vanity of vanities’-- a suitable Stoic
text. There seems to be no allusion to Lucretius’s common phrase, _in
rebus inane_.
2. #Quis leget haec?# a quotation from Lucilius, according to the
scholiast. Jahn follows Pinzger in supposing that the quotation begins
with _O curas hominum!_ See, however, L. Müller, _Lucilius_, p. 194.
3. #vel duo vel nemo#: is more guarded, and hence (by Litotes) stronger
than _nemo_. Comp. Gr. ἢ τις ἢ οὐδείς.
4. #ne mihi praetulerint#: an elliptical sentence, such as we often find
in final relations (A., 70, 3, _f_), in English as well as in Latin (G.,
688, R.). The sequence is not common in the classic period, but see G.,
512, R. Comp. Plaut., Aul., 2, 3, 11; Liv., 44, 22, and Weissenborn in
loc. The Greek would be: μὴ προτιμήσωσι. --#Polydamas#: Some write
_Pulydamas_, corresponding with the Homeric form, Πουλυδάμας; but
_Pōlydamas_ (Πωλυδάμας) is the Sicilian Doric, like _pōlypus_ (πωλύπος).
The allusion is to a familiar passage in Hom., Il., 22, 100. 104. 5:
Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει-- νῦν δ᾽ ἐπεὶ ὤλεσα λαὸν
ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ἐμῇσιν | αίδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ Τρῳάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους. These
are the words of Hector, as he steels his great heart to meet Achilles.
Polydamas is the counsellor who had urged him (18, 254) to withdraw the
Trojans into Troy, and Hector is ashamed to turn back and encounter the
rebuke of Polydamas and the reproaches of his people. Persius uses
Polydamas as the type of the Roman critic, and by a familiar satiric
stroke leaves out the Trojan men, as if they were no men in Rome. Others
understand ‘Nero and his effeminate court.’ The Homeric passage had been
well worn by Aristotle and Cicero (Att., 2, 5, 1; 7, 1, 4; 8, 16, 2)
before it came to Persius. There is perhaps a side-thrust at the pride
of the old Roman families in their Trojan descent. Comp. Juv., 1, 100:
_iubet a praecone vocari | ipsos #Troiugenas#_; also 8, 181. See
Friedländer, _Sittengesch_., 1, 230. --#Labeonem#: the Attius (Labeo) of
v. 50, an unfortunate translator of Homer, who stuck close to the
letter. The scholiast has preserved a line. Ὠμὸν βεβρώθοις Πρίαμον
Πριάμοιό τε παῖδας (Il., 4, 35) is rendered thus: _crudum manduces
Priamum Priamique pisinnos_. ‘Raw you’d munch both Priam himself and
Priam’s papooses.’
5. #nugae#: The accusative is more common. Comp. G., 340, R. 1. --#non
accedas-- nec quaesiveris#: _Non_ and _nec_, where Quintilian’s rigid
rule (1, 5, 50) requires _ne_ and _neve_. G., 266, R. 1; A., 41, 2, _e_.
Comp. 3, 73 and 5, 45. --#turbida#: ‘muddle-headed’ (Conington). But
comp. _Alexandrea turbida_, Auson., Clar. Urb., 3, 4.
6, 7. #elevet#: ‘reject as light.’ The figure is taken from weighing,
doubtless a common trope in the schools. --#examen#: (_filum, ligula_)
is the ‘index, tongue, or needle’ which is said to be _inprobum_,
‘faulty,’ ‘wilful,’ ‘untoward,’ because it does not move freely or
accurately on its pivot. --#trutina#: (Gr. τρυτάνη, a word of doubtful
etymology and loose application, means here ‘a balance,’ ‘a pair of
scales,’ not, as the scholiast says, the _foramen_, ‘fork’ or ‘cheeks,’
in which the _examen_ plays. --#castiges# = _percutias_ (Schol.) of the
tap given to a hitching balance. Gesner, s.v., regards _castigare_ here
as equivalent to _conpescere_ (5, 100), a view which has a good deal in
its favor. The notion is not ‘do not correct the popular standard,’ but
‘do not try to get an exact result by the popular standard (for your
guidance).’ Hermann (_Lect. Pers._, II., 9) follows those who understand
the _examen_ and _trutina_ of different instruments: _Noli examen tuum
in #populi# trutina castigare._[3] So Pretor, who translates: ‘Do not
try to correct the erring tongue of your delicate balance by applying to
it a pair of ordinary scales.’ --#nec te quaesiveris extra#: (_te_) ‘Nor
look for yourself (what you can find only in yourself) outside of
yourself.’ ‘Be your own norm.’ Others arrange: _nec quaesiveris extra
te_, ‘Nor ask any opinion but your own.’
[Footnote 3: No satisfactory treatment of this subject is
accessible to me. The Greek and Latin dictionaries are wildly at
variance with one another and with the authorities. _Examen_ seems
to have been originally the strap by which the beam was suspended--
not from AG, but from AP. See Isidor., Orig., 16, 23, and comp.
_amentum_ (_ammentum_). Add Lucil., 16, 14 (L. Müller).
Eustathius’s τρυτάνη ἐπὶ ζογοῦ ἡ τειρομένη τῷ βάρει τῶν ὄγκων
points to the pivot (knife-edge) as the first meaning of _trutina_.]
8-12. The distribution followed is that of Jahn (1843), which gives
_nolo_ (v. 11) to the interlocutor. The jerky, self-interrupting
discourse is supposed to be characteristic of the _petulante splene
cachinno_. ‘What is the use of consulting Rome? Every body there is an--
If I might say what! If I might? Surely I may, when I consider how old
we are become, how grum we are, and all the step-fatherly manner of our
lives, since the days of “commoneys” and “alley tors.” Indulge me. _It
can not be._ What am I to do? Nothing? But I am a man of laughter with a
saucy spleen.’
8. #nam Romae quis non?# The suppressed predicate is to be supplied from
the general scope of the passage. The sentence is not completed in v.
131 (_auriculas asini habet_), for the simple reason that Persius did
not write _quis non_ in that passage, but _Mida rex_.
9. #cum--aspexi#: _Cum_ is equivalent to _postquam_ here. G., 567; A.,
62, 3, _e_. --#canitiem#: ‘premature old age,’ ‘loss of youthful
freshness.’ All through this satire the poet lashes old age, as
commentators have observed. So here, and 22. 26. 56. 79. The ‘hoary
head’ is not a ‘crown of glory,’ but a sign of debauchery; the ‘fair,
round belly,’ which is not uncomely in the elderly justice, is nothing
but a swagging paunch; the bald pate is not a mirror of honor, but a
mirror of dishonor; in short, ‘no fool like an old fool.’ Especially
severe is Persius on the ‘used-up’ man; and the affected moralizing of
young men, who had outlived their youth before they had had time to
forget the games of boyhood, drove him to satire. On the Neronian
hypothesis, Persius is endeavoring to masquerade as an old man.
--#nostrum istud vivere triste#: ‘sour way of life.’ This is a so-called
_figura Graeca_, which out-Greeks the Greeks. Good authors are very
cautious in adding an attribute to the infinitive, and do not go beyond
_ipsum, hoc ipsum_. _Scire tuum_, v. 27; _ridere meum_, v. 122; _velle
suum_, 5, 53; _sapere nostrum_, 6, 38, can not be rendered literally
into the language from which they are supposed to be imitated. Nursery
infinitives (3, 17) belong to a different category.
10. #nucibus#: The modern equivalent is ‘marbles.’ The very games
survive. (See 3, 50.) It is hardly necessary to prove that putting away
such childish things means becoming a man. _Da nuces pueris, iners |
concubine: satis diu | lusisti nucibus_, Catull., 61, 127-9.
11. #patruos#: On the accusative, see G., 329, R. 1; A., 52, 1, _c._ The
_patruorum rigor_ was proverbial. Owing to the legal position of the
paternal uncle, who was often the guardian, it is the _patruus_, not the
_avunculus_, who is the type of severity. So the cruel uncle of the
ballad of the ‘children in the wood’ is the father’s brother.
12. #quid faciam?# G., 258; A., 57, 6. --#sed#: (I know you want me to
do nothing), ‘but’ (I can’t keep quiet) ‘I am a laugher born.’
--#petulante#: literally, ‘given to butting,’ hence ‘saucy’ --#splene#:
The seat of laughter. --#cachinno#: a substantive, perhaps built by
Persius on the analogy of _bibo_, _epulo_, _erro_, etc. Comp. _glutto_,
5, 112; _palpo_, 5, 176. Hermann, following Heindorf, makes _cachinno_
a verb, and reads: _tunc, tunc-- ignoscite, nolo; quid faciam sed sum
petulante splene-- cachinno_, ‘Then-- then-- excuse me-- I would rather
not-- what am I to do?-- I can’t help it-- my spleen is too much for
me-- I must have my laugh.’ Jahn (1868) accepts _tunc, tunc-- ignoscite,
nolo_, but goes no further.
13-23. The battery opens. Verse-wright and writer of prose alike care
for nothing except applause. Follows a vivid picture of a popular
recitation.
13. #Scribimus inclusi#: Comp. _scribimus indocti_, etc. Hor., Ep., 2,
1, 117. --#inclusi#: ‘in closet pent’ (Gifford’s Baviad), to show the
artificial and labored character of the composition in contrast with the
beggarly result. Markland’s ingenious conjecture, _inclusus numeris_, is
not necessary. Heinr. admires Markl., but retains _numeros_ as a Greek
accusative! --#numeros#: ‘poetry;’ #pede liber# = _pede libero_,
‘foot-loose,’ ‘prose,’ _soluta oratio_.
14. #grande#: ‘vast,’ ‘grandiose.’ _Grandis_ is always used with
intention, which our word ‘grand’ sometimes fails to give. See 1, 68; 2,
42; 3, 45. 55; 5, 7. 186; 6, 22. --#quod pulmo#: ‘something vast enough
to make a lung generous of breath pant in the utterance of it.’ Jahn
(1868) reads _quo_ for _quod; quo_ is not so vigorous. --#animae
praelargus#: a stretch of the adjectives of fulness (G., 373, R. 6; A.,
50, 3, _b_); _praelargus = capacissimus._
15. #scilicet#: Ironical sympathy, ‘O yes!’ --#haec#: The position is
emphatic. --#populo#: ‘to the public,’ ‘in public.’ The political force
of _populus_ has ceased. --#pexus#: ‘with hair and beard well dress’d.’
‘Combed’ hardly conveys the notion: say ‘shampooed.’ --#togaque
recenti#: ‘fresh’ (from the fuller).
16. #natalicia sardonyche#: Jewelry reserved for great occasions. The
brilliancy of the sardonyx is a common theme. _Rufe vides ilium
subsellia prima tenentem | cuius et hinc lucet sardonychata manus_,
Mart., 2, 29, 1-2 --#tandem#: shows impatience. --#albus# = _albatus_
(comp. 2, 40; Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 61) on account of the _toga recens_. So
_niveos ad frena Quirites_, Juv., 10, 45. Heinr. argues at length in
favor of ‘pale.’
17. #sede celsa# = _ex cathedra_. --#leges#: So Jahn (1868), despite the
MSS. _Legens_ may be explained at a pinch as _lecturus_, a comma being
put after _ocello_; Hermann combines with _pulmo_, and comp. Juv., 10,
238 sq., where _os_ stands for the owner of the same. Add _cana gula_,
Juv., 14, 10. But _pexus_ and _albus_ make such a synecdoche incredible.
--#liquido#: _quia liquidam vocem efficit._ Comp. Hor., Od., 1, 24, 3:
_cui liquidam pater | vocem cum cithara dedit_. The attribute is put for
the effect, as in _pallidam Pirenen_, Prol., 4. --#plasmate#: according
to Quint., 1, 8, 2, a technical name for the professional training of
the voice, a kind of rhetorical _solfeggio_. Others understand the
_plasma_ of a gargle to clear the throat.
18. #mobile collueris#: _Mobile_ is predicative. Translate: ‘after
gargling your throat to suppleness by filtering modulation.’ --#patranti
ocello#: ‘an eye that would be doing,’ ‘a leering, lustful eye.’ Quint.
(8, 3, 44) says of _patrare: mala consuetudine in obscenum intellectum
sermo detortus_. Comp. ‘do’ in Shaksp., Troil. and Cressida, 4, 2: Go
hang yourself, you naughty, mocking uncle! You bring me to _do_, and
then you flout me too. --#fractus# = _effeminatus_, ‘debauched,’
‘languishing,’ _κλαδαρός._ Conington translates: ‘with a languishing
roll of your wanton eye.’
19. #neque more probo nec voce serena#: Litotes. See Prol., 1.
20. #ingentis Titos#: Comp. _celsi Rhamnes_, Hor., A. P., 342. Here,
however, there is a reference to size of body (like _ingens Pulfennius_,
5, 190; _torosa iuventus_, 3, 86; _caloni alto_, 5, 95), for which
Persius seems to have had a Stoic contempt. _Titi_, perhaps another form
of _Tities_, the old Sabine nobility (Mommsen, _Rom. Gesch._, B. 1,
K. 4), of whom much aristocratic virtue might have been expected
(_sanctos licet horrida mores | tradiderit domus ac veteres imitata
#Sabinos#_, Juv., 10, 298-9). Instead of that we have great, hulking
debauchees. --#trepidare#: ‘quiver.’ The word is used indifferently of
pleasant and unpleasant agitation. The quavering measure thrills them so
that they can not sit still. On the infinitive, see 3, 64.
21. #scalpuntur intima#: ‘their marrow is tickled.’ _Scalpere_ is
opposed to _radere_, 1, 107. Comp. 3, 114; 5, 15.
22. #tun#: _-ne_ is often found in rhetorical questions. --#vetule#:
‘you old reprobate,’ ‘you old sinner.’ --#escas#: ‘tidbits;’ ‘_escas
colligere_,’ ‘cater.’
23. #quibus et dicas#: _Et_ belongs to _cute perditus_, which is
variously explained ‘dropsical,’ ‘unblushing,’ ‘thoroughly diseased.’
The context requires a tough subject, and ‘hide-bound’ or
‘case-hardened’ might answer as a rendering. --#ohe#: a reminiscence of
Hor., Sat. 2, 5, 96: _importunus amat laudari; donec ‘#Ohe iam#’ | ad
caelum manibus sublatis dixerit, urge, | crescentem tumidis infla
sermonibus utrem_, which last line helps us to understand _cute
perditus_. Persius, as is his wont, tries to improve on Horace, and
makes his man inelastic.
24-43. M. Study is useless except to show what a man has in him. --P.
A low ideal for a student. --M. Fame is a fine thing. --P. It would be a
fine thing if it were not shared by every dinner-table poet. --M. You
are too captious. It is a great thing to have written poems that are
proof against trunk-maker and pastry-cook.
24. #Quo didicisse?# The exclamatory infinitive with involved subject.
G., 534 (340); A., 57, 8, _g_.
25. #iecore#: the seat of the passions. Here ‘heart’ or ‘breast’ would
seem to be more appropriate. --#caprificus#: the wild fig-tree sprouts
in the clefts of rocks and cracks of buildings, which it rends in its
growth. _Ad quae | discutienda valent mala robora fici_, Juv., 10, 145.
26. #En pallor seniumque#: ‘So that’s the meaning of your studious
pallor (v. 124; 3, 85; 5, 62) and your (early) old age.’ With _senium_
comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 18, 47: _inhumanae #senium# depone Camenae_. Persius
mocks at the weariness to the flesh which the student has undergone for
so paltry a result. This is the arrangement of Jahn (1843) and Hermann.
Jahn (1868) follows Heinr. in giving the line to the remonstrant. _En_,
originally an interrogative, is, after the time of Sallust, confounded
with _em_, and combined with the nom. in the sense of _em_, which
properly takes the accus. alone. So Ribbeck, _Beiträge zur Lehre von den
latein. Partikeln_, S. 35. --#o mores#: Cicero’s famous ejaculation.
--#usque adeone#: _Usque adeone mori miserum est_, Verg., Aen., 12, 646;
_usque adeo nihil est_, Juv., 3, 84.
27. #scire tuum nihil est#, etc.: ‘And is thy knowledge nothing if not
known’ (Gifford). These jingles were much admired in antiquity. The
passage from Lucilius, which Persius is said to have imitated, reads,
according to L. Müller (fr. inc., 40, 73): _ne dampnum faciam, scire hoc
sibi nesciat is me_. A better example in Lucr., 4, 470.
28. #At#: objects. See G., 490; A., 43, 3, _b_. --#digito monstrari#:
δακτύλῳ δείκνυσθαι (δακτυλοδεικτεῖσθαι). _Quod #monstror digito#
praetereuntium_, Hor., Od., 4, 3, 22; _saepe aliquis #digito# vatem
designat euntem_, Ov., Am., 3, 1. 19. --#hic est#: οὗτος ἐκεῖνος, in the
well-known story of Demosthenes. Cic., Tusc. Dis., 5, 36. --#dicier#: On
the form, see G., 191, 2; A., 30, 6, _e_, 4. So _fallier_, 3, 50.
29. #cirratorum#: ‘curl-pates.’ Jahn cites Mart., 9, 29, 7: _Matutini
#cirrata# caterva magistri_. School-boys wore their hair long, but
Persius does not waste his epithets, and ‘youths of quality’ are
doubtless meant. Comp. the _lautorum pueros_ of Juv., 7, 177.
--#dictata#: ‘Persius takes not only higher schools, but higher lessons,
_dictata_ being passages from the poets read out by the master (for want
of books) and repeated by the boys’ (Conington). Translate ‘a
lesson-book,’ a ‘school classic.’
30. #Ecce#: introduces a satiric sketch of ‘classic poets at work.’
--#inter pocula#: ‘over their cups.’ Poems were read at table by an
ἀναγνώστης, as lives of the saints are still read in religious houses.
31. #Romulidae#: Comp. _Titos_, v. 20; _trossulus_, v. 82; _Romule_, v.
87. --#dia#: θεῖα, an affected word. ‘Let us hear,’ say the company,
‘what his charming verses are about’ (Pretor). Conington renders: ‘What
news from the divine world of poesy?’
32. #hyacinthia laena#: The dandies of the day wore upper garments of
military cut and gay colors. A similar military dandyism on the part of
non-military men is observable in the Macedonian period. Comp.
χλαμυδηφόροι ἄνδρες, Theocr., 15, 6, with the commentators.
33. #rancidulum quiddam#: ‘affected stuff,’ ‘namby-pamby trash.’
--#balba de nare# = _de nare balbutiens_, ‘with a nasal lisp,’ ‘with a
snuffle and a lisp’ (Conington). _Balbus_ is especially used of the
introduction of an aspirate, and ‘lisp,’ which involves a spirant, is
only approximate. Comp. θαῦμα μέγα, _inquid #balba#_, Lucil., 6, 20,
with L. Müller’s note. --#locutus#: Perf. Part. where we should expect a
Present. G., 278, R.
34. #Phyllidas Hypsipylas#: Phyllis, fearing that she had been deserted
by her lover, Demophon, hanged herself, and was changed into an
almond-tree (Ov., Her., 2). Hypsipyle of Lemnos, after bearing two
children to Jason, was forsaken by him (Ov., Her., 6). These doleful
themes (_plorabilia_) were popular in Persius’s time. The plural is
contemptuous in Latin as in English.
35. #eliquat#: ‘filters.’ Every rough particle is strained out so as to
make the voice ‘liquid.’ The passage from Apul., Flor., p. 351, Elm.,
cited by Jahn, _canticum videtur ore tereti semihiantibus in conatu
labellis #eliquare#_, indicates a cooing position of the lips, in which
the mouth simulates a colander. --#supplantat#: ὑποσκελίζει (Lucil., 29,
50, L. M.), ‘trips up.’ To judge by Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 274, _balba
#feris# annoso verba palato_, of which the language of Persius seems to
be an exaggeration, the sounds impinge upon the roof of the mouth
instead of coming out boldly-- a kind of lolling utterance. --#tenero#:
adds another shade: the tripping is light, for the roof is sensitive;
‘minces his words as though his mouth were sore’ (Pretor).
36. #adsensere viri#: Observe the Epic vein. _Adsensere omnes_, Verg.,
Aen., 2, 130; _adsensere dii_, Ov., Met., 9, 259 (Jahn). _Viri_,
‘heroes.’ --#non-? -- non-?# On the form of the question, see G., 455;
A., 71, 1, R.
37. #levior cippus#: Sufficiently familiar is the old wish, SIT · TIBI ·
TERRA · LEVIS, which, like the modern R · I · P ·, was promoted to the
dignity of initials (S · T · T · L ·). --#ossa#: _Patrono meo #ossa#
bene quiescant_, Petron., 39.
38. #manibus# = _cineribus_, ‘remains’ (Conington). On this
‘materialism,’ see Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, 2, 24 foll.
40. #nascentur violae#: ‘Lay her i’ the earth | and from her fair and
unpolluted flesh | may _violets spring_.’ Shaksp., Hamlet, 5, 1.
--#‘Rides’ ait#: As in Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 43. _Ait_ is used like _inquit_
(G., 199, R. 3), without any definite reference. --#nimis uncis |
naribus indulges#: ‘you are too much given to hooking, curling your
nose.’ _Naribus uti_, Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 45; _naso adunco_, Hor., Sat.,
1, 6, 5.
41. #an#: when used alone is more or less rhetorical, and is intended to
force a conclusion involved in the foregoing; ‘What?’ ‘So then?’ G.,
459; A., 71, 2, _b_. Persius’s use of it is instructive: v. 87; 2, 19.
26; 3, 19. 27. 61; 5, 83. 125. 163. 164; 6, 51. 63. --#velle meruisse#:
See G., 275, 2; A., 53, 11, _d_, for the tense of _meruisse_. The Perf.
after _velle_ is legal rather than Greek. Comp. v. 91, _qui me volet
#incurvasse# querela_. So Hor. (Sat. 2, 3, 187), mimicking the legal
tone: _ne quis #humasse velit# Aiacem, Atrida, vetas? cur?_ Other Perf.
Infinitives with varying motives are found: 1, 132; 2, 66; 4, 7. 17; 5,
24. 33; 6, 4. 6. 17. 77.
42. #os populi#: ‘popular applause,’ ‘a place in the mouths of men’
(Conington). Comp. the phrase _in ore esse_. --#cedro digna#: Cedar oil
was used to preserve manuscripts. _Speramus carmina fingi | posse
linenda cedro_, Hor., A. P., 331-2.
43. #nec scombros nec tus#: The fear of the mackerel is a stroke of
Catullus, 95, 8, which Milton imitates, Ep., 10: _gaudete scombri_.
Comp. Mart., 4, 86, 8. For _tus_, comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 269: _deferar
in vicum vendentem #tus# et odores | et piper et quicquid chartis
amicitur ineptis_. The modern equivalent is the grocer or the
pastry-cook.
44-62. The poet gives up his dramatizing and speaks in his own person.
‘I am not indifferent to fame, but I reject a standard which approves
such stuff as Labeo’s, such ditties as “persons of quality” dictate
after dinner, a standard which makes a hot dish the test of poetic
fervor, and covers a multitude of poetic sins with a cast-off cloak. If
you had eyes in the back of your head, you would see that all this
praise is for value received.’
44. #dicere feci#: G., 527, R. 1; A., 70, 2.
45. #non ego#: ‘I do not decline your praise-- no, not I.’ G., 447; A.,
76, 3, _d_. Comp. 2, 3; 3, 78; and Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 37, _#non ego#
ventosae plebis suffragia venor_. --#si forte quid aptius exit#: ‘if I
chance to turn out (off) a rather neat piece of work.’ _Exit_ may mean
‘to leave the shop’ (_ex officina exire_, Cic., Parad., pr. 5), or ‘to
leave the potter’s wheel,’ as _urceus exit_, Hor., A. P., 22 (Jahn).
Conington translates ‘hatch’ on account of _rara avis_. Κακὸν ᾠόν. The
passage is imitated by Quint., 12, 10, 26.
46. #quando#: gives the reason for his saying _si forte_. There is no
necessity of writing _quanquam_, but the translation ‘although’ is not
unnatural, as causative particles are often adversative. Comp. _cum_ and
Gr. ἐπεί. --#rara avis#: proverbial as in the famous line of Juv., 6,
165.
47. #laudari metuam#: So Hor., _metuens audiri_, Ep., 1, 16, 60; _metuit
tangi_, Od., 3, 11, 10. In prose the construction is less common with
_metuo_ than with _vereor_. G., 552, R. 1; M., 376, Obs. --#cornea#: ‘of
horn.’ The metaphorical use seems to be novel. Comp. Hom., Od., 19, 211:
ὀφθαλμοὶ δ᾽ ὡς εἰ #κέρα# ἔστασαν ἠὲ σίδηρος. --#fibra#: ‘heart.’ See 5,
29.
48. #recti finemque extremumque#: ‘the ultimate standard.’ Conington
renders ‘be-all and end-all.’
49. #euge, belle#: like _decenter_ (v. 84), are current expressions of
approbation at public readings. _Euge_, ‘bravo!’ _belle_, ‘well said!’
_decenter_, ‘pretty fair!’ Martial gives us a list of popular comments
(2, 27, 3-4): _Effecte! graviter! st! nequiter! euge! beate! | hoc
volui!_ --#excute#: a favorite word with Persius as with Seneca, Ep.,
13, 8; 16, 7; 22, 10; 26, 3; De Ira, 3, 36 (Jahn). The metaphor is taken
from shaking clothes in order to get out any thing that may be concealed
in them-- Gr., ἐκσείειν. We should say ‘analyze.’
50. #quid non intus habet#: The figure is kept up. ‘What is not covered
up in that beggarly rag of a _#belle#_’? --#non# = _nonne_. G., 445
and R.; A., 71, 1. --#Atti#: See v. 4. --#Ilias ebria#: Comp. _ebrius
sermo_, Sen., Ep., 19, 9.
51. #veratro#: white hellebore (_album multum terribilius nigro_, Plin.,
II. N., 25, 5, 21), a strong emetic, which students took ‘to quicken
their wits.’ The modern _veratrum_ is a different drug. --#elegidia#:
contemptuous, ‘bits of elegies’ on such themes as Phyllis and Hypsipyle.
_E._ a Greek word not in Greek lexicons, like _poetridas_, Prol., 13.
--#crudi#: with their dinners undigested and their brains muddled.
52. #dictarunt#: ‘extemporize.’ --#lectis#: ‘sofas.’ The ancients wrote
in a recumbent posture far more frequently than we do.
53. #citreis#: ‘of citron wood,’ ‘wood of the thyia’ (_Thyia
articulata_, African Arbor Vitae, Plin., 15, 29). The fabulous cost of
tables of this material is well known. Cic., Verr., 4, 17, 37. --#scis#:
‘you know how.’ _Scire_ in this sense is related to _posse_, as Fr.
_savoir_ to _pouvoir_, a traditional distinction. --#calidum#:
‘hot-and-hot’ (Pretor). --#ponere#: 1. ‘serve up;’ 2. ‘cause to serve
up,’ ‘treat to.’ _Heri non tam bonum #posui# et multo honestiores
cenabant_, Petron., 34. --#sumen#: a dainty dish in the eyes of Greek
and Roman. Comp. _vulva nil pulchrius ampla_, Hor., Ep., 1, 15, 41;
Plut., Sanit. Praec., 124F; Alciphr., Ep., 1, 20; and the joke in
Alexis, fr. 188 (3, 473 Mein.).
54. #comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna#: This is the kind of
patronage that galled Lucian (De Merced. Cond., 37), who mentions the
paltry present of an ἐφεστρίδιον ἄθλιον ἢ χιτώνιον ὑπόσαθρον. On the
word _comitem_, see 3, 7. _Horridulum comitem_, ‘shivering beggar of a
companion,’ ‘poor devil in your suite.’ For the custom, comp. Hor., Ep.,
1, 19, 37: _Non ego ventosae plebis suffragia venor | impensis #cenarum#
et #tritae# munere #vestis#_.
56. #qui pote?# _Pote_ is an archaism for _potis_. Both _potis_ and
_pote_ are used as predicates without regard to number and gender.
--#vis dicam#: G., 546, R. 3; A., 70, 3, _f_, R. _Vis_ does not wait for
an answer. See 6, 63. --#nugaris#: ‘you are a twaddler’ (Conington).
--#calve#: Persius calls up his _vetulus_ (v. 22) again, and gives him a
huge ‘bombard’ of a belly. Nero had a _venter proiectus_, and some
editors fancy that Nero’s person is aimed at here, and Nero’s poetry in
the verses that follow. See Introd., xxxvi.
57. #aqualiculus#: (said properly to mean ‘a pig’s stomach’) ‘paunch,’
‘cloak-bag of guts,’ Shaksp. --#protenso sesquipede#: Comp. the Greek
proverb: παχεῖα γαστὴρ λεπτὸν οὐ τίκτει νόον. Even M. Martha is forced
to say: _Le trait n’est ni spirituel ni poli_ (_Moralistes Romains_, p.
147). For the justification, see v. 128. Jahn (1843) reads _propenso_.
58. #Iane#: Janus, who sees both ways, is secure from being laughed at
behind his back. --#ciconia pinsit# = _pinsendo ludit_. The fingers of
the mocker imitate the clapping of the stork’s bill. _Pinsit_, ‘pounds,’
because the _ciconia levat ac deprimit rostrum dum clangit_, Isidor.,
Orig., 20, 15, 3. ‘Pecks at’ is not correct; ‘claps’ is nearer. What
seems to be meant is mock applause.
59. #auriculas#: The imitation of ass’s ears by the hands belongs to
universal culture. --#imitari mobilis# = _ad imitandum m._ G., 424,
R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f._ --#albas#: on account of the white lining. Ov.,
Met., 11, 176: _aures-- villis #albentibus# implet_.
60. #linguae#: The thrusting out of the tongue in derision is as common
now as it was then. --#canis Apula#: Apulia was the δίψιον Ἄργος of
Italy. _Siticulosae Apuliae_, Hor., Epod., 3, 16. --#tantae#: So Jahn
and Herm. ‘Tongues big enough to represent the thirst of an Apulian
hound’ (Pretor). Jahn compares for the construction, Luc., 1, 259:
_quantum rura silent, tanta quies_. Conington considers _tantum_ ‘much
neater,’ and makes _quantum sitiat = quantum sitiens protendat_, ‘a
length of tongue protruded like an Apulian dog in the dog-days.’
61. #vos, o patricius sanguis#: Hor., A. P., 291: _vos, o | Pompilius
sanguis_. The Nom. for the Vocative in solemn address. G., 194, R. 3;
A., 53, _a._ --#fas est# = _fatum est_, ‘it is ordained.’
62. #occipiti#: Notice the exceptional Abl. in _i_. Comp. Auson.,
Epigr., 12, 8: _#occipiti# calvo es_, and _capiti_, v. 83. --#posticae#:
chiefly of the back part of a building: ‘back-stairs’ (Conington).
--#occurrite#: ‘turn round and face’ (Conington and Pretor). --#sannae#:
‘flout,’ ‘gibe,’ ‘fleer,’ μῶκος.
63-82. Persius takes up the thread which Janus had rudely snapt: ‘We
have heard the bounden praise of dependants. What does the town say?
Why, they admire the smooth flow of the verse, the grand style. If they
find these requisites, little do they care about theme or order of
development; the ’prentice hand that bungles an eclogue, undertakes an
epic-- nay, jumbles eclogue and epic-- Bravo, poet! all the same.
Another mania is the passion for the old poets, a Pacuvian revival. What
is to be expected when all this bubble-and-squeak language is the daily
food of our children and the dear delight of lecture-halls?’
63. #Quis# = _qui_. G., 105; A., 21, 1, _a._ --#quis enim#: _Enim_, like
γὰρ; ‘why, what else?’ ‘of course.’ G., 500; A., 43, 3, _d._
64. #nunc demum#: as if something marvellous had been accomplished.
--#severos#: ‘captious, critical.’
65. #effundat#: ‘suffers to glide smoothly,’ a harsh expression.
--#iunctura#: The image is that of the joining of pieces of marble, as
in an _opus tessellatum_. Comp. Lucil., fr. inc., 10, 33 (L. M.): _quam
lepide λέξεις conpostae, ut tesserulae, omnes | arte pavimenti atque
emblemati’ vermiculati_. The poet is compared with an artisan, not with
an artist. He knows how to fit the pieces together so perfectly as to
present a continuous smooth surface to the pressure of the most exacting
nail. Comp. v. 92. --#tendere versum#: ‘to lay off a verse,’ as a
carpenter lays off his work. The propriety of the word _tendere_ is
heightened, if we remember that the hexameter was called the _versus
longus_.
66. Carpenter-like, the versewright stretches his ruddled line
(_rubrica_), sights it (_oculo derigit uno_), and springs it. The modern
carpenter uses chalk instead of ruddle, but the red pencil may be
regarded as a survival of color. For references, see Rost’s Passow, s.v.
στάθμη. For the spelling _derigat_, remember that _dirigere_ is ‘to
point in different directions;’ _derigere_ ‘in one.’ --#ac si derigat#:
On the sequence, see G., 604; A., 61, 1, R.
67. #sive#: seldom used alone; here for _vel si_. --#in mores, in luxum,
in prandia regum#: a kind of anticlimax. _In_ does not necessarily,
though it does naturally, denote hostility. The _prandium_ was
originally a very simple meal. The Stoic model is set up in Seneca, Ep.
83, 6: _Panis deinde siccus et sine mensa prandium, post quod non sunt
lavandae manus._ The _manger sur le pouce_ became in time the _déjeuner
à la fourchette_ (_calidum prandium_, Plaut., Poen., 3, 5, 14), and then
the _déjeuner dinatoire_ (_prandia cenis ingesta_, Sen., N. Q., 4,
13, 6). _Regum_, ‘grandees,’ ‘nabobs,’ belongs to _prandia_ alone.
68. #res grandis#: ‘sublimities.’
69. #heroas#: used as an adjective. --#sensus#: ‘sentiments.’
--#adferre#: ‘parade,’ ‘bring on parade.’ On the Inf., see 3, 64.
70. #nugari graece#: ‘dabble in Greek verses,’ a phase of fashionable
education, no more peculiar to Nero than to Horace (Sat. 1, 10, 31).
--#ponere lucum#: ‘put before our eyes,’ ‘paint,’ ‘describe.’ _Lucus_,
a favorite poetic theme. Jahn thinks of the grove in which Mars and Rhea
Silvia met, Juv., 1, 7. Perhaps young poets tried their skill on groves,
as young draughtsmen on trees.
71. #artifices#: With _artifices ponere_ comp. _artifex sequi_, Prol.,
11. --#rus saturum#: ‘lush, teeming country.’ --#corbes-- focus--
porci#: all ‘properties’ of country life.
72. #fumosa Palilia faeno#: The festival called _Palilia_, in honor of
Pales (from the same radical as _pa-sco_), was celebrated on the
anniversary of the founding of Rome, April 21st. It was a day reeking
(_fumosa_) with bonfires of hay (_faenum_), over which the peasants
leaped, doubtless ‘to appease the evil spirit by a pretended sacrifice’
(Pretor). The dictionaries will furnish the _loci classici_. The other
form, _Parilia_, is due to ‘dissimilation.’ Comp. _meridies_ for
_medidies_.
73. #unde#: ‘the source of;’ loosely used to show connection. --#Remus#:
not unfrequently takes the place of his longer brother, whose oblique
cases do not fit well into dactylic verse. So _turba Remi_, Juv., 10,
73; _reddat signa Remi_, Prop., 4, 6, 80; and the other examples in
Freund. --#sulco#: ‘_with_’ and ‘_in_ the furrow.’ See Prol., v., 1.
--#terens#: ‘wearing bright’ (Conington), ‘furbishing.’ König compares:
_#sulco attritus# splendescere vomer_, Verg., Georg., 1, 46.
--#dentalia#: ‘share-beams,’ Verg., Georg., 1, 171, with Conington’s
note. --#Quinti#: Cincinnatus, Liv., 3, 26.
74. #cum dictatorem induit#: So Jahn (1843). Decidedly the easiest
reading, but the best in connection with _terens_. In his ed. of 1868,
Jahn reads _quem dictatorem_. Hermann objects to the expression, and
insists on _dictaturam_, appealing in his preface to Plin., H. N., 18,
3, 20, for _dictaturam_ in the sense of _vestem dictatoriam_. Surely, to
‘robe dictator’ and to ‘robe with the dictatorship’ are not far apart,
and the former is the more striking expression. --#trepida#: ‘flurried.’
See v. 20. --#ante boves#: is supposed to give local coloring, and to
bring before us the ‘slow, bovine gaze’ of the astonished cattle.
75. #tua aratra#: Poetic plural. --#euge poeta#: Here the applause comes
in. Mr. Pretor considers the words from _corbes_ to _tulit_ ‘a
quotation, perhaps from one of Nero’s poems.’
76. #est nunc#: Persius attacks the _antiquarii_ in imitation of Horace.
The older Latin poets have long been restored to their rights. Accius
and Pacuvius hardly need defenders. Hermann makes the sentence
interrogative. --#Brisaei#: ‘Bacchic.’ _Brisaeus_ was an epithet of
Bacchus, transferred to the poet of Bacchus, who was perhaps too devoted
a worshipper of the god. There was a famous saying of Cratinus, who was
in like manner called ταυροφαγος, a surname of Bacchus: ὕδωρ δὲ πίνων
οὐδὲν ἂν τέκοι σοφόν, fr. 186 (2, 119 Mein.). Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 1.
--#venosus#: For the figure, comp. Tac., Dial. 21. The ‘standing out of
the veins’ refers not so much to the ‘shrinking of the flesh in old age’
(Conington), as to the scrawniness of the person. So Tacit. uses _durus
et siccus_ of Asinius Pollio (l.c.), Gr. ἰσχνός. ‘Angular,’
‘hard-lined,’ is about what is meant. Others prefer ‘thick-veined,’
‘turgid.’ --#liber#: of a play, Quint., 1, 10, 18; Prop., 4 (3), 21, 28
(Jahn). --#Acci#: also written _Atti_ (584-650? A.U.C.). Cicero calls
him _gravis et ingeniosus poeta, summus poeta_ (pr. Planc., 24, 59;
Sest., 56, 120); Hor., _altus_ (Ep., 2, 1, 56); Ov., _animosi oris_
(Am., 1, 15, 19). Pacuvius said that the compositions of Accius were
_sonora quidem et grandia sed duriora paulum et acerbiora_.
77. #Pacuvius#: nephew of Ennius (534-622 A.U.C.). His great model was
Sophocles. --#verrucosa#: ‘warty,’ intended to be a climax of ugliness.
--#moretur#: ‘fascinates,’ ‘enthralls.’ _Fabula-- valdius oblectat
populum meliusque #moratur#_, Hor., A. P., 321.
78. #Antiopa#: imitated from a lost play of Euripides. The fragments
have been collected by Ribbeck, _Tr. Lat. Reliq._, p. 62; comp. p. 278.
Antiope, as the mother of Amphion and Zethus, and the victim of Dirce,
is famous in literature and in art (the _Toro Farnese_). --#aerumnis cor
luctificabile fulta#: ‘who props her dolorific heart on teen’ (Gifford).
Jahn defends the conception as truly poetical, apart from the obsolete
language. ‘The only stay of her sad heart is sorrow.’ The words are
doubtless taken from the play itself, of course in different order.
_Aerumna_ was out of date as early as the time of Quintilian (8, 3, 26),
who protests against the use of it. As to _luctificabile_, if we go by
the fragments, it is Accius, rather than Pacuvius, that indulges in such
formations as _horrificabilis_, _aspernabilis_, _tabificabilis_,
_execrabilis_, _evocabilis_.
79. #lippos#: of the eyes of the mind. Comp. 2, 72.
80. #sartago#: literally ‘a frying-pan,’ ‘hubble-bubble’ (Conington),
‘gallimaufry,’ ‘galimatias,’ ‘olio’ (Gifford), ‘olla podrida.’
81. #dedecus#: The language is disgraced and degraded by this mixture of
old and new. Persius would not have enjoyed Tennyson’s resuscitations.
See Introd., xxiv. --#in quo#: ‘at which.’
82. #trossulus#: an old name of the Roman knights, of disputed origin.
It was afterward used in derision. Jahn compares the German _Junker_.
--#exsultat#: ἀναπηδᾷ, ‘jumps up in delight.’ --#per subsellia#: Jahn
understands the ‘benches’ or ‘forms’ in court; others, perhaps more
correctly, the seats in the lecture-hall. There is a climax. First,
private teaching; next, public lectures; thirdly, practical life, to
which we come in the following verse. --#levis#: the position is
emphatic, ‘the smug, womanish creature.’ _Levis_ is _levigatus_. Ancient
literature is full of allusions to this effeminate παρατιλσις.
83. #nilne#: stronger than _nonne_, ‘not a blush of shame.’ --#capiti#:
rarer Ablative in _i_. Neue gives examples (_Formenlehre_, 1, 242). The
simple Abl. is found with _pellere_, even in prose, and the Dative,
which some prefer, would be forced. --#cano#: See note on v. 9.
84. #quin optes#: G., 551; A., 65, 1, _b._ --#tepidum#: ‘lukewarm,’
_decenter_ being faint praise. ‘In good taste’ (Conington). Gr.
πρεπόντως.
85. #‘Fur es’#: The accuser puts his point plainly enough; in three
letters, as the Romans would say. --#ait#: Comp. v. 40. --#Pedio#: Jahn
thinks it likely that this Pedius is not Horace’s man (Sat., 1, 10, 28),
but one Pedius Blaesus, condemned under Nero, Tac., Ann., 14, 18; Hist.,
1, 77. Persius knew more about Horace than about the _causes célèbres_
of his own day. --#rasis antithetis#: commonly rendered ‘polished
antitheses.’ With _radere_ comp. the Gr. διεσμιλευμέναι φροντίδες,
Alexis, fr. 215 (3, 483 Mein.). But the figure may possibly be taken
from the careful removal of overweight in either scale of the balance.
The antitheses are scraped down to an exact equipoise.
86. #doctas figuras#: _Doctus_, Scaliger’s correction, which requires,
moreover, a period at _figuras_, is unnecessary. _Doctas figuras_, like
_artes doctae_, _dicta docta_, _doli docti_. _Figurae_, σχήματα,
embraces ‘tropes.’ --#posuisse# = _quod posuerit_. G., 533; A., 70, 5,
_b._
87. #an#: ‘what?’ ‘can it be that?’ --#Romule#: bitter, like _Titi_,
_Romulidae_, _trossulus_. Comp. Catull., 29, 5. 9. --#ceves#: ‘Wag the
tail’ keeps within bounds of possible translation.
88. #men moveat?# So _#men moveat# cimex Pantilius_, Hor., Sat., 1, 10,
78. The sentiment is that of the well-worn _si vis me flere, dolendum
est | primum ipsi tibi_, Hor., A. P., 102. _Moveat_ sc. _Pedius_.
--#quippe#: is often ironical, ‘good sooth.’ --#protulerim#: The Perf.
Subj. in a sentence involving total negation.
89. #cantas#? ‘you sing, do you?’ --#fracta te in trabe pictum#:
Shipwrecked men appealed to charity by carrying about pictures of the
disaster which had overtaken them. Comp. 6, 32. _Si #fractis# enatat
exspes | navibus, aere dato qui pingitur_, Hor., A. P., 20, and Juv.,
14, 302. _Trabe_ is the wrecked vessel as it appears in the picture,
although it is possible that the painting may have been put on a broken
plank of the ship, in order to heighten the pathos. So Jahn.
90. #ex umero#: We say ‘on the shoulder,’ from a different point of
view. G., 388, R. 2. --#nocte paratum#: ‘got up overnight.’
91. #plorabit#: an imperative future. --#volet#: Observe the greater
exactness of the Latin expression. G., 624; A., 27, 2. --#incurvasse#:
See v. 42, and add Liv., 28, 41, 5; 30, 14, 6; 40, 10, 5, and the _S. C.
de Bacanalibus_ (passim).
92-106. ‘But,’ rejoins the impersonal personage, whom Persius always has
at hand, ‘we have made great advances in art. Contrast this verse and
that verse with the roughness of the Aeneid!’-- ‘The Aeneid rough? Well,
what is smooth? [_He gives a specimen of fashionable poetry._] If we had
an inch of our sires’ backbone, such drivel would be impossible. And as
for art-- it is as easy as spitting.’
I have followed the distribution as presented in Hermann. Jahn gives vv.
96, 97 to Persius, 98-102 to the interlocutor, the rest to Persius. It
is impossible to discuss all the arrangements that have been suggested
for this passage.
92. #decor#: Gr. χάρις. --#iunctura#: is used as in v. 64, of
‘smoothness,’ ‘harmonious sequence,’ the even surface without a break.
See Quint., 9, 4, 33. All the specimen verses that follow avoid
mechanically the offences against _iunctura_ that Quintilian enumerates,
and do not avail themselves of the license which he accords to a _grata
neglegentia_. There is no elision, no synaloepha, in any of them. As
these fashionable verses have been held up to derision by the satirist,
commentators have been busy in hunting out defects, and translators have
vied with each other in absurd renderings. But Jahn has wisely warned us
against an over-curious search into the supposed faults of these verses,
which Vossius pronounced superior to any thing in the compositions of
the critic himself. It is enough for us to know that to the ear of
Persius the lines lacked masculine vigor. The multiplication of
diaereses, the length of the words, the careful avoidance of elision,
the dainty half-rhyme of _bombis_ and _corymbis_, the jingle of
_ablatura_ and _flexura_, may be cited as confirmations of the view of
Persius, but, with the exception of the desperate verse 95, the diction
is in keeping with the theme. If _adsonat Echo_ is not ridiculous in
Ovid (Met., 3, 505), it is not ridiculous here; and one surely needs to
be told that _reparabilis_ is not a happy adjective for Echo, who is
always ‘paying back’ and making good.
93. #cludere versum#: like _concludere versum_ (Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 40),
is ‘round a verse’ (Conington), rather than ‘close a line.’ --#didicit#:
What is the subject? ‘Our man,’ ‘our poet,’ the lover of _decor et
iunctura_? So most commentators. Heinr. makes _Attis_ the subject. The
personification of _iunctura_ would not be too harsh for Persius.
--#Berecyntius Attis#: It suffices to refer to Catull., 63. Berecyntus,
a mountain in Phrygia.
94. #Nerea#: god of the sea, the water. In modern Gr. νερόν is ‘water.’
The use, which Conington calls ‘grotesque,’ is almost as ‘grotesque’ as
_Vulcanus_ for ‘fire.’ The scholiast thinks of Arion’s dolphin.
Bacchus’s dolphin is as likely.
95. #sic costam longo subduximus Appennino#: With the close of the
verse, comp. Ov., 2, 226: _Aeriaeque Alpes et nubifer Appenninus_; and
Haupt’s note. ‘We filched a rib from the long Apennine.’ The
interpretations are all unsatisfactory. The scholiast sees in the
removal of the rib from the mountain a metaphor for the removal of a
syllable from the hexameter. The only point worthy of notice in this
remark is the emphasis laid on the spondaic verse. The _Graece nugari
soliti_ doubtless used spondaic verses more freely than the model Latin
poets (comp. Catull., 64). Some understand the words to refer to a
forced march (_putavi tam pauca milia #subripi# posse_, Sen., Ep.,
53, 1); others to the device attributed to Hannibal in crossing the Alps
(_montem rumpit aceto_, Juv., 10, 153). It is all idle guess-work,
without a context; but, guess for guess, the expression would suit a
‘Titanomachia,’ and the rib might answer for a weapon, as once a
jaw-bone did. The jingle of the verse is like Verg., Aen., 3, 549:
_cornua #velatarum# obvertimus #antennarum#_, quoted by the scholiast.
96. #Arma virum!# ‘Compare with these elegant verses _Arma virum_; what
a rough affair!’ Not only were the opening words of a poem used to
indicate the poem itself-- Μῆνιν ἄειδε the Iliad, Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε the
Odyssey, _Arma virum_ the Aeneid-- but the first verses were considered
peculiarly significant. So the metrical structure of the first verse of
the Iliad is very different from that of the first verse of the Odyssey.
_Arma virum_, etc., with its short words and its frequent caesurae, was
harsh to the ear of the interlocutor, and is compared with the rough,
cracked bark of the cork-tree. --#spumosum et cortice pingui#: ‘frothy
and fluffy’ (Conington). As usual, Persius works out his comparison into
minute details.
97. #vegrandi subere#: So Jahn, instead of _praegrandi subere_. Do not
translate ‘huge, overgrown bark’ (Conington), but ‘dwarfed, stunted
cork-tree.’ See Ribbeck (_Beiträge zur Lehre von den lateinischen
Partikeln_, S. 9), who has discussed _ve_ and this verse at some length.
Both Conington and Pretor admire the metaphysics of Jahn, who has
‘explained, after Festus and Nonius, _vegrandis_ as _male grandis_, so
as to include the two senses attributed to it by Gell., 5, 12; 16, 5, of
_too small_ and _too large_.’ But _ve-_ means separation (Vaniček,
_Etym. Wb._, S. 166); _ve-cor-s_, ‘out of one’s mind;’ _ve-sanu-s_, ‘out
of one’s sound senses;’ _ve-grandi-s_, ‘shrunken,’ ‘dwarfed,’
‘undergrown’ (if the word is admissible). For the growth of the
cork-tree, R. refers to Plin., N. H., 16, 8, 13: _suberi #minima
arbor#-- cortex tantum in fructu, praecrassus ac renascens atque etiam
in denos pedes undique explanatus_. Some of the best commentators give
these two verses (96 and 97) to Persius, and consider _Arma virum_ as an
invocation of the shades of Vergil, ‘as Horace, A. P., 141, contrasts
the opening of the Odyssey with _Fortunam Priami cantabo_.’ _Hoc_ is
supposed to refer to the specimen verses. Ribbeck also (l.c.) regards
the swollen, light bark of the low cork-tree as the image of the _genus
tumidum et leve_, as opposed to the _grande et grave_. --#coctum#:
‘thoroughly dried.’
98. #Quidnam igitur#: _Igitur_ is not unfrequently used in questions, as
our ‘then.’ So _quidnam igitur censes?_ Juv., 4, 130. But, unless the
question is a rejoinder, it is not very appropriate. ‘If the Aeneid is
rough, give us something really soft,’ would be a fit reply to _Arma
virum_, etc., in the mouth of the objector. Conington, who gives 96-98
to Persius, connects thus: ‘If these are your specimens of finished
versification, give us something peculiarly languishing.’ --#laxa
cervice#: the attitude of the _mobile guttur_, v. 18.
99. #Torva mimalloneis#: Persius can not wait for a specimen, and gives
one himself. This is much more dramatic than the arrangement, which
makes the respondent cite the verses. The verses are attributed to Nero
by the scholiast, and in fact Nero is said to have composed a poem on
the Bacchae, Dio., 61, 20. The theme is so common that no conclusion is
to be drawn from that statement. Mr. Pretor, who understands by
_iunctura_ ‘a resetting of old verses,’ regards 99-102 as a weak
_réchauffé_ of Catull., 64, 257 seqq., and compares Tac., Ann., 14, 16.
--#Torva#: ‘grim.’ So _#torvum#que repente | clamat_, Verg., Aen., 7,
399 (of Bacchanalian madness). --#mimalloneis#: from Mimas, on the coast
opposite Chios. With the whole verse comp. _multis raucisonos efflabant
cornua bombos_, Catull., 64, 264, and Lucr., 4, 544.
100. #vitulo superbo#: variously caricatured as ‘the haughty, the
scornful calf.’ No such effect could have been produced by the original.
Comp. ταῦροι ὑβρισταί, Eur., Bacch., 743 (Jahn); γαυροτέρα μόσχω,
Theocr., 11, 21; _equae superbiunt_, Plin., 10, 63. The Bacchanal
rending of animals is familiar. --#ablatura#: On this free use of the
future participle, see G., 672; A., 72, 4.
101. #Bassaris#: a Bacchante. Jahn cites a Greek epigram (Anth. Pal., 6,
74), which shows how close a resemblance may be due simply to community
of theme. --#lyncem#: ‘The lynx was sacred to Bacchus as the conqueror
of India.’
102. #euhion#: Gr. εὔιον, Accus. of εὔιος (commonly but falsely spelled
_Evius_), _Euhius_, Bacchus. --#reparabilis#: Actively, as Horace’s
_dissociabilis_, Od., 1, 3, 22; ‘renewing,’ ‘restoring,’ ‘reawakening.’
So Ov., Met., 1, 11, of the moon: _#reparat# nova cornua_. --#adsonat#:
‘chimes in.’
103. #testiculi vena ulla paterni#: ‘_Honestius expressit_, Ov., Her.,
16, 291: _si sint vires in semine avorum_.’ ‘If we had one spark of our
fathers’ manhood alive in us’ (Conington).
104. #delumbe#: ‘backboneless,’ ‘marrowless.’ Comp. ἰσχιορρωγικός
--#saliva#: Spittle is ‘foolish rheum’ as well as tears.
105. #in udo est Maenas et Attis#: ‘Your Maenas and your Attis-- it
drivels away.’
106. #nec pluteum caedit#, etc.: _Pluteus_, which is commonly rendered
‘desk,’ is, ‘according to the scholiast, the back-board of the
_lecticula lucubratoria_,’ or studying-sofa, such as Augustus indulged
in, Suet., Aug., 78; comp. v. 53. ‘The man lies on his couch after his
meal, listlessly drivelling out his verses, without any physical
exertion or even motion of impatience’ (Conington). Persius underrates
the artistic finish, as he has overdrawn the moral conclusion.
--#demorsos#: ‘bitten down to the quick.’ _Et in versu faciendo | saepe
caput scaberet vivos et roderet ungues_, Hor., Sat., 1, 10, 70.
107-121. M. But what is the use of offending people? We must not tell
the truth at all times. You will have a cool reception at certain great
houses. Nay, the dog will be set on you. --P. Well! I make no struggle.
Every thing is lovely. No nuisance, you say. All right. Boys, let us go
somewhere else. But there was Lucilius-- he wielded the lash, he gnawed
the bones of his victims. There was Horace-- he probed his friend’s
heart and punched him in the ribs, and had the town dangling from the
gibbet of his tip-tilted nose. And I am not to say-- Bo! Not all to
myself? Not with a ditch for my confidant? Nowhere? Nowhere, you say?
But I will. I have found a place-- a ditch. It is my book. Here, book,
is my great secret: ‘All the world’s an ass.’ What a relief!
107. #quid#: What case? --#radere#: ‘rasp.’ --#mordaci vero#: _Verum_ is
so completely a substantive that there is no difficulty about _mordaci
vero_ (comp. G., 428, R. 2). Much bolder is _generoso honesto_, 2, 74;
_opimum pingue_, 3, 32.
108. #vidĕ#: like _cavĕ_, and other iambic Imperatives. G., 704, 2; A.,
78, 2, _d_. --#sis# = _si vis_, to soften the Imperative, ‘pray do.’
--#maiorum tibi forte#: Hor., Sat., 2, 1, 60: _O puer ut sis | vitalis
metuo et maiorum ne quis amicus | #frigore# te feriat._ _Maiores_ =
‘grandees.’
109. #limina frigescant#: like the modern slang, ‘leave one out in the
cold.’ _Limen_ is used in many Latin turns where ‘threshold’ would be
too stately in English. Mrs. Gamp would render: ‘the great man’s cold
doorsteps will settle on your lungs.’ --#canina littera#: ‘R is for the
dog,’ Shaksp., Romeo and Jul.; ‘A dog snarling R,’ Ben Jonson. See
Dictionaries, s.v. _hirrire_. Gr. ἀραρίζειν. An allusion to the familiar
_cave canem_. ‘The snarl is that of the great man’ (Scholiast).
Conington compares _ira cadat naso_, 5, 91. The obvious interpretation
is the right one. ‘There is a sound of snarling in the air,’ refers
simply to the great man’s dog, which will be set on the unwelcome
satirist.
110. #per me#: ‘for all I care,’ ἐμοῦ γ᾽ ἕνεκα, a familiar use of the
preposition _per: #per me# habeat licet_, Plaut., Mercat., 5, 4, 29.
--#equidem#: Not for _ego quidem_, although this opinion affected the
practice of Cicero, Horace, Vergil, Quintilian, the younger Pliny.
Sallust, like Varro, combines _equidem_ with every person. So Ribbeck
(l.c. S. 36), who derives _equidem_ from _e_ interj. and _quidem_.
Conington tries to save the rule here by making the expression
equivalent to _equidem concedo_. Another exception is found 5, 45, where
C. goes through the same legerdemain: _non #equidem# dubites_, ‘I would
not have you doubt.’ --#alba#: ‘lovely,’ ‘whitewash them as much as you
please.’
111. #nil moror#, etc.: The whole line, indeed the whole passage, is
strongly conversational in its tone. _Nil moror_, ‘I don’t wish to be in
your way, to spoil sport.’ Comp. Ter., Eun., 3, 2, 7, and Gesner, s.v.
_moror_. --#bene#: Comp. Cic., Fam., 7, 22: _bene potus._ See also note
on 4, 22. --#mirae res#: ‘wonders of the world’ (Conington), ‘miracles
of perfection.’
112. #hoc iuvat?# ‘I hope that is satisfactory.’ --#veto quisquam faxit
oletum#: ‘commit no nuisance.’ Observe the legal tone. _Quisquam_, on
account of the negative idea. The negative _ne_ is omitted after _veto_
as often after _caveo_. G. 548, R. 2; A., 57, 7, _a_. _Faxit_,
a disputed form. G., 191, 5; A., 30, 6, _e_.
113. #pinge duos anguis#: ‘a sign of dedication rather than of
prohibition’ (Pretor). The dedication involves the prohibition. This is
one of the innumerable phases of serpent-worship. For the serpent, as
the symbol of the _genius loci_, which is Greek as well as Latin, see
Verg., Aen., 5, 95, and the commentators. The reading _pinguedo sanguis_
of some of the best MSS. may be mentioned, _animi causa_.
114. #secuit#: ‘cut to the bone.’ --#Lucilius#: The _loci classici_ are
Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 6; 1, 10, 1; 2, 1, 62; Juv., 1, 19, 165. The
_testimonia de Lucilio_ have been collected and annotated by L. Müller,
Lucil., p. 170 seqq.; p. 288 seqq.
115. #Lupe, Muci#: L. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus Cons. A.U.C. 598, and P.
Mucius Scaevola Cons. A.U.C. 621, Juv., 1, 154. --#genuinum#: ‘Breaking
the back-tooth’ shows the eagerness with which the satirist gnawed the
bones of his victims. Comp. Petron., 58: _venies sub #dentem#_, ‘you
will be “chawed” up.’
116. A deservedly admired characteristic of Horace. --#vafer#: a hard
word to catch. _Vafer_ crowns the formidable list of synonyms in the
well-known passage of Cic., Off., 3, 13, 57: _versuti, obscuri, astuti,
fallacis, malitiosi, callidi, veteratoris, #vafri#_, ‘a shuffler,
a hoodwinker, a trickster, a cheat, a designing rascal, a cunning fox,
a blackleg, _a sly dog_.’ The indirectness of _vafer_ may sometimes be
rendered by ‘politic,’ ‘adroit.’ ‘Rogue’ is a tolerable equivalent.
--#amico#: is much happier than _amici_ would be; it makes the friend a
party to the game. _Horatius qui ridendo verum dicit_ (Sat., 1, 1, 24)
_tam leniter vitia tangit, ut ipse, quem tangit, amicus rideat et
poetam, qui dum ludere videtur intima aggreditur, lubens admittat et
excipiat_ (Jahn, after Teuffel). --#admissus#: ‘gets himself let in,’
‘gains his entrance’ (Conington, after Gifford).
117. #praecordia#: ‘heartstrings.’
118. #excusso#: Persius would not be Persius, if he did not give us a
problem even in his best passages. _Excusso naso_ stronger than
_emunctae naris_, Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 8 (Jahn). According to Heinr.,
_excusso = sursum iactato_, like _excussa brachia_, Ov., Met., 5, 596,
which seems to suit _suspendere_. Conington renders, ‘with a sly talent
for tossing up his nose and catching the public on it,’ doubtless with
reference to ‘tossing in a blanket,’ a pastime not unknown to the
ancients: _Ibis ab #excusso# missus in astra sago_, Mart., 1, 3, 8.
Comp. Suet., Otho, 2; Cervantes, Don Quijote, 1, 17; and on the
_sagatio_, see Friedländer, _Sittengesch._, 1, 25. As the blanket is
drawn tight in order to effect the elevation of the person tossed, we
may combine with this figure the old version of an ‘unwrinkled nose,’
a nose that is ‘kept straight’ (_exporrectus_) by the owner to
disguise his merriment (_ac si nihil tule ageret_). But this is
over-interpretation, the besetting sin of the editors of Persius.
--#callidus suspendere#: On the construction, see Prol., 11. --#naso#:
_Naso #suspendis# adunco_, Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 5. Comp. 2, 8, 64.
119. #men#: On _ne_ in rhetorical questions, see v. 22. --#nec clam--nec
cum scrobe#: ‘neither to myself nor with a hole in the ground for my
listener.’ The negative in _nefas_ is subdivided by _nec-- nec_, G.,
444, R. Others supply _fas_, G., 446, R. --#nusquam#: The answer of the
critic, Jahn (1843). In the ed. of 1868 he writes with Hermann,
_nusquam?_ as a part of Persius’s question. The arrangement in the text
seems to be more in accordance with Persius’s fashion of anticipating an
answer (ἀνθυποφορά). ‘Nowhere? you say.’ --#scrobe#: Allusion to the
story of Midas and his barber, for which no reader will need to be
referred to Ov., Met., 11, 180 seqq.
121. #quis non habet?# According to the _Vita Persii_, the poet had
written _Mida rex habet_, intended for King Populus. Cornutus, afraid
that Nero would take the fling to himself, changed the words to _quis
non habet?_ The story is not very consistent with the theory that
Persius went so far as to ridicule Nero’s poetry.
122. #ridere meum#: See v. 9. --#nulla#: G., 304, R. 2. --#vendo#: ‘I am
going to sell;’ familiar present for future; hence = _vendito_.
123. #Iliade#: Probably the Iliad of Labeo. Homer’s Iliad would be too
extravagant. --#audaci quicumque#, etc.: The poet distinctly points to
the mordant Old Attic Comedy as his model; yet there is little trace of
direct imitation of the worthies whom he cites, and the interval of
conception is abysmal. --#adflate#: Persius, like some other Roman
poets, goes beyond reasonable bounds in the use of the Vocative as a
predicate. G., 324, R. 1; A., 35, _b_. The Greeks were cautious, and in
Vergil the Vocative can be detached and felt as such, but not here, nor
in 3, 28. --#Cratino#: the oldest of the famous comic triumvirate:
_Eupolis atque #Cratinus# Aristophanesque poetae_, Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 1.
Cratinus was the Archilochus of the Attic stage, hence _audax_. See the
famous characteristic in Aristophanes, Eq., 527.
124. #iratum Eupolidem#: The epithet is borne out by the fragments.
--#praegrandi cum sene#: Aristophanes. The adjective refers to his
greatness: ‘the old giant.’ _Sene_ is not to be pressed. Men who come
before the public early are often called old before their time. Hannibal
calls himself an old man when he was only in his forty-fourth year,
Liv., 30, 30. Others understand _sene_ as a compliment to an ‘ancient’
author. Instead of Aristophanes, Heinrich and others suppose that
Lucilius is meant. Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 1, 34: _vita #senis#_, although
Lucilius was only about forty-five at the time of his death-- but see L.
Müller, _Lucilius_, p. 288. --#palles#: ‘study yourself pale over.’ The
combination with the Accusative is bold, but not bolder than other
cognate Accusatives. ‘Gain a Eupolidean pallor’ = ‘a pallor due to
Eupolis.’ For different phases of _pallere_ with Accus., see 3, 43. 85;
5, 184.
125. #decoctius#: The figure is from wine that is ‘boiled down,’ ‘well
refined.’ Not ‘opposed to the _spumosus_ of v. 96’ (Conington), as is
shown by _coctum_, v. 97. --#audis#: ‘have an ear for’ (Conington).
126. #inde# = _ab iis_, ‘by these’ (G., 613, R. 1; A., 48, 5), ‘by the
study of these,’ dependent on _vaporata_. --#vaporata#: ‘steamed,’ hence
‘cleansed,’ ‘refined’ (Jahn). Comp. _#purgatas# aures_, 5, 63; _aurem
mordaci #lotus# aceto_, 5, 86. --#lector mihi ferveat#: _Mihi_ really
depends on _ferveat_, though it may be conveniently translated by ‘my’
with _lector_. ‘Let my reader be one who comes to me with his ears aglow
from the pure effluence of such poetry.’
127. #non hic#: _Hic_ is different in tone from _is_, more distinctly
demonstrative, and hence more distinctly contemptuous. --#in crepidas#:
The simple Accusative with _ludere_ is the regular construction.
_Crepidae_, a part of the Greek national dress. Comp. Suet., Tib., 13:
_redegit se_ [_Tiberius_], _deposito patrio habitu, ad pallium et
#crepidas#_. Hence _fabulae crepidatae_ of tragedies with Greek plots.
--#Graiorum#: the rarer and more stilted form for _Graecorum_, perhaps
by way of rebuking the impertinence of this stolid would-be wag.
128. #sordidus#: ‘low creature,’ ‘dirty dog.’ Himself vulgar, he can not
understand refinement of manners or attire. --#qui possit#: Casaubon
reads _poscit_ to match _gestit_. But Indicative and Subjunctive may
well be combined, the former of a fact, the latter of a characteristic:
‘a man who-- and a man to--.’ So in the famous line: _sunt qui non
habeant, est qui non curat habere_, Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 182. --#lusce#:
‘Old One-eye’ (Conington). The lowness of the wit is evident. In v. 56
the poet appears to break his own rule, but baldness and corpulence are
in his eyes badges of vice, not simple misfortunes.
129. #aliquem#: G., 301. --#Italo#: ‘provincial.’ --#supinus# =
_superbus_. The head is thrown back with the chin in the air, a familiar
stage attitude. Others render ‘lolling at his ease.’
130. #fregerit#: G., 541; A., 63, 2. --#heminas iniquas#: ‘short
half-pint measures.’ This was the duty of the aedile. --#Arreti#:
Arretium in Etruria. So Juvenal takes Ulubrae as the type of a small
provincial town: _vasa minora | frangere pannosus vacuis aedilis
#Ulubris#_, 10, 102.
131. #abaco#: The _abacus_ was a slab of marble or other material which
was covered with sand (_pulvis_), for the purpose of drawing
mathematical figures or making calculations (Jahn). Or _pulvere_ may be
dissociated from _abaco_, and then _abacus_ would be a counting-board,
_pulvis_, the sand on the ground (_eruditus pulvis_, Cic., N. D., 2, 18,
48), familiar from the story of the murder of Archimedes. --#metas#:
‘cones.’
132. #scit#: as if this were a feat. Comp. v. 53. --#risisse#: γελάσαι,
‘to have his laugh at,’ one of the Perfect Infinitives mentioned in note
on v. 41. --#vafer#: ironical. --#gaudere paratus#: _Paratus_, as a
Participle from _parare_, takes the Infinitive with ease. The grammars
generally treat it as an exceptional Adjective. Here _paratus_ is οἷος;
‘Just your man to have a fit of glee.’ Comp. Petron., 43: _#paratus#
fuit quadrantem de stercore mordicus tollere_.
133. #Cynico barbam#: ‘a Cynic’s beard for him.’ G., 343, R. 2.
_#Vellunt# tibi #barbam# | lascivi pueri_, Hor., Sat., 1, 3, 133 (of a
Stoic). The beard was the badge of a philosopher. --#nonaria#: so called
because women of that class were not allowed to ply their trade before
the ‘ninth hour’-- ‘callet,’ ‘trull.’ --#vellat#: because dependent;
otherwise _gaudet si vellit_. G., 666; A., 66, 2. The Cynic philosopher
and the _nonaria_ (ὁ καὶ ἡ κύων) belong to each other by elective
affinity, Alciphron, 3, 55, 9. See an amusing parallel between
philosopher and courtesan in the same sophist, 1, 34; and on the worst
specimens of the ‘Capuchins of antiquity,’ as the Cynics have been
called, comp. Friedländer, _Sittengesch._, 3, 572.
134. #edictum#: ‘play-bill,’ after Sen., Ep., 117, 30. Others, ‘the
business of the courts,’ the praetor’s court being a favorite
lounging-place. --#prandia#: See v. 67. --#Calliroen#: possibly one of
the _elegidia procerum_ (v. 51), after the order of Phyllis and
Hypsipyle (v. 34). Comp. Ov., Met., 9, 407, Rem. Am., 455-6. Others
suppose that Persius meant a _nonaria_. See note on 6, 73, and comp.
Plutarch, Quaest. Conv., 3, 6, 4. With this gracious permission,
Casaubon compares the edict of Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 8: _Forum putealque
Libonis | mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis_.
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
SATURA I.
6. #examenque#: examenve, J{α}., H. --8. #nam Romae quis non#: nam Romae
est quis non, J{α} --a: ac, J{α}.; ah, H. --9. #tum#: tunc, J{α}., H.
--11. #tunc, tunc, ignoscite-- ‘Nolo:’# J{α}.; tunc, tunc-- ignoscite,
nolo, J{ω}., H. --12. #splene cachinno#: splene-- cachinno, H. --14.
#quod#: J{α}., H.; quo, J{ω}. --17. #leges#: legens, J{α}., H. --19.
#nec#: neque, J{α}. --32. #circa#: circum, J{α}. --#umeros#: humeros,
J{ω}., H. --#hyacinthia#: hyacinthina, J{α}., H. --35. #supplantat#:
subplantat, J{ω}. --36. #adsensere#: assensere, J{α}., H. --57.
#protenso#: propenso, J{α}. --60. #Apula#: Appula, H. --#tantae#:
tantum, Heinrich, Conington. --66. #derigat#: dirigat, J{α}., H. --69.
#adferre#: afferre, J{α}., H. --74. #cum#: J{α}.; quem, J{ω}., H.
--#dictatorem#: dictaturam, H. --76. #Acci#: Atti, J{α}. --78. #fulta#:
fulta? H. --82. #exsultat#: J{α}., H.; exultat, J{ω}. --88. #men moveat?
quippe et#: men moveat quippe et, J{α}., H. --89. #protulerim#:
protulerim? J{α}., H. --91. #querela#: J{α}., Brambach; querella, J{ω}.,
H. --93. #cludere#: claudere, J{α}., H. --95. #Appennino#: Apennino,
J{α}. --97. #vegrandi#: praegrandi, H. --102. #euhion#: evion, J{α}.
--111. #omnes, omnes#: omnes etenim, J{α}. --114. #meite#: meiite,
J{α}., H. --119. #nec cum scrobe? nusquam?# nec cum scrobe, nusquam?
J{ω}., H.; nec cum scrobe? ‘nusquam.’ J{α}. --130. #heminas#: J{α}., H.;
eminas, J{ω}.
* * * * *
SATURA II.
Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo
qui tibi labentis apponit candidus annos.
funde merum genio. non tu prece poscis emaci,
quae nisi seductis nequeas committere divis;
at bona pars procerum tacita libabit acerra. 5
haud cuivis promptum est murmurque humilisque susurros
tollere de templis et aperto vivere voto.
‘Mens bona, fama, fides’ haec clare et ut audiat hospes;
illa sibi introrsum et sub lingua murmurat ‘o si
ebulliat patruus, praeclarum funus?’ et ‘o si 10
sub rastro crepet argenti mihi seria dextro
Hercule! pupillumve utinam, quem proximus heres
inpello, expungam! namque est scabiosus et acri
bile tumet. Nerio iam tertia conditur uxor.’
haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gurgite mergis 15
mane caput bis terque et noctem flumine purgas?
heus age, responde-- minimum est quod scire laboro--
de Iove quid sentis? estne ut praeponere cures
hunc-- ‘cuinam?’ cuinam? vis Staio? an scilicet haeres?
quis potior index, puerisve quis aptior orbis? 20
hoc igitur, quo tu Iovis aurem inpellere temptas,
dic agedum Staio, ‘pro Iuppiter! o bone’ clamet
‘Iuppiter!’ at sese non clamet Iuppiter ipse?
ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex
sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque? 25
an quia non fibris ovium Ergennaque iubente
triste iaces lucis evitandumque bidental,
idcirco stolidam praebet tibi vellere barbam
Iuppiter? aut quidnam est, qua tu mercede deorum
emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis? 30
Ecce avia aut metuens divum matertera cunis
exemit puerum frontemque atque uda labella
infami digito et lustralibus ante salivis
expiat, urentis oculos inhibere perita;
tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice voto 35
nunc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis
‘hunc optet generum rex et regina! puellae
hunc rapiant! quidquid calcaverit hic, rosa fiat!’
ast ego nutrici non mando vota: negato,
Iuppiter, haec illi, quamvis te albata rogarit. 40
Poscis opem nervis corpusque fidele senectae.
esto age; sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa
adnuere his superos vetuere Iovemque morantur.
Rem struere exoptas caeso bove Mercuriumque
arcessis fibra ‘da fortunare Penatis, 45
da pecus et gregibus fetum!’ quo, pessime, pacto,
tot tibi cum in flammas iunicum omenta liquescant
et tamen hic extis et opimo vincere ferto
intendit ‘iam crescit ager, iam crescit ovile,
iam dabitur, iam iam!’ donec deceptus et exspes 50
nequiquam fundo suspiret nummus in imo.
Si tibi creterras argenti incusaque pingui
auro dona feram, sudes et pectore laevo
excutiat guttas laetari praetrepidum cor.
hinc illud subiit, auro sacras quod ovato 55
perducis facies; nam fratres inter aenos
somnia pituita qui purgatissima mittunt,
praecipui sunto sitque illis aurea barba.
aurum vasa Numae Saturniaque inpulit aera
Vestalisque urnas et Tuscum fictile mutat. 60
o curvae in terris animae et caelestium inanes!
quid iuvat hoc, templis nostros inmittere mores
et bona dis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa?
haec sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo,
haec Calabrum coxit vitiato murice vellus, 65
haec bacam conchae rasisse et stringere venas
ferventis massae crudo de pulvere iussit.
peccat et haec, peccat: vitio tamen utitur. at vos
dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum?
nempe hoc quod Veneri donatae a virgine pupae. 70
quin damus id superis, de magna quod dare lance
non possit magni Messallae lippa propago:
conpositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus
mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto.
haec cedo ut admoveam templis et farre litabo. 75
NOTES.
SECOND SATIRE.
The theme of this Satire is the Wickedness and Folly of Popular Prayers.
The true philosopher is the only man that knows how to pray aright, and
the Stoic is your only true philosopher. Compare, on the subject of
prayer, the Second Alcibiades ascribed to Plato.
ARGUMENT.-- Macrinus, you may well salute your returning birthday. Your
wishes on that day of wishes are pure, whereas most of our magnates pray
for what they dare not utter aloud. Any one can hear their requests for
sound mind and good report, but the petitions for the death of an uncle,
a ward, a wife, the prayer for sudden gain, are mere whispers (1-15).
Strange that, in order to prepare for such impieties as these, men
should go through all manner of lustral services, and trust to the ear
of Jove what they would not breathe to any mortal (15-23). Strange that
men should fancy because Jove is not swift to strike the sinner dead
that he may be insulted with safety, or easily bought off by a lot of
greasy chitterlings (24-30).
Pass from wicked to foolish prayers. Grandam and aunt would have skinny
Master Hopeful a wealthy nabob, would have him make a great match. Girls
are to scramble for him, and roses spring up beneath his feet. Silly
petitions! Refuse them, Jupiter (31-40). Nor less silly are those
prayers whose fulfilment the suppliant himself defeats-- prayers for a
hale old age, despite rich made-dishes (41-43); prayers for wealth,
while the worshipper expends his whole substance in sacrifice (44-51).
The trouble lies in this, that men judge the gods by themselves. Because
gold brings a joyous flutter to their hearts, they think to sway the
gods by gold, and change to gold the vessels of the sanctuary. The gods
are measured by our ‘accursed blubber,’ that flesh which corrupts all
that it handles. Yet the flesh tastes what it touches, and enjoys the
ruin which it has wrought. But what can a pure god do with our gold? To
him it is a spent toy, an idle offering. Let us give the gods honest and
upright hearts, and a handful of meal will suffice to gain their
blessing (32-75).
Although the colors of the piece pale before the rhetorical glare of
Juvenal’s Tenth Satire, which treats of a kindred theme-- the ‘Vanity of
Human Wishes’-- the philosophical commonplace is handled with
considerable vigor, and with all the picturesque detail of the author’s
style. And Montaigne, who, as a moralist, quotes Persius very often, has
garnished the 56th essay of his First Book with copious extracts from
this Satire.
1-15. Macrinus, your prayers are pure, you need no private audience of
the gods. Not so the petitions of many of our foremost men. Far
different is what they say and what they whisper, when they come before
the gods in prayer.
1. #Hunc diem#: The birthday was always a high-day in Rome, as
elsewhere. In French, _fête_ is a synonym of birthday. --#Macrine#:
‘Plotius Macrinus, the scholiast says, was a learned man, who loved
Persius as his son, having studied in the house of the same preceptor,
Servilius. He had sold some property to Persius at a reduced rate’
(Conington). --#meliore#: sc. _solito_. G., 312, 2; A., 17, 5.
--#lapillo#: The Scythians used to drop into a quiver a stone for every
day, white for the good and black for the bad, and when life was over
the stones were counted. There is a similar story of the Thracians,
Plin., H. N., 7, 40, 41 (Jahn). The phrase ‘white stone’ is so common
that one passage will suffice as a parallel: _Felix utraque lux diesque
nobis | signandi #melioribus lapillis#_, Mart., 9, 52, 4.
2. #labentis#: not simply an _epitheton ornans_, ‘the gliding years,’
but ‘the years as they glide away.’ _Eheu, fugaces, Postume, Postume |
#labuntur anni#_, Hor.., Od., 2, 14, 1. --#apponit#: ‘puts to your
account.’ Comp. _quem fors dierum cumque dabit lucro | #appone#_, Hor.,
Od., 1, 9, 15. Each day lived may be a day gained or a day lost. Comp.
also Hor., Od., 2, 5, 15. --#candidus#: λευκὴ ἡμέρα, λευκὸν εὐάμερον
φάος, Soph., Ai., 709. Comp. Catull., 8, 3: _fulsere vere #candidi# tibi
soles_.
3. #genio#: ‘The tutelary Deity, or “guardian angel,” who was supposed
to attend on every individual from the cradle to the grave. Its cultus
was strictly materialistic, and should be compared with the offerings of
meat, drink, and clothes which were made to the _manes_ of the dead.
Comp. Censorin., De Die Nat., 3; Serv. ad Verg., Georg., 1, 302; Hor.,
Ep., 2, 2, 187: _scit #Genius#, natale comes qui temperat astrum |
naturae deus humanae_, _mortalis in unum | quodque caput, vultu
mutabilis albus et ater_. In character it was the reflex of the man
(comp. Sat. 6, 48, where it represents the _felicitas_ of the emperor);
it might be humored and appeased by proper attention, more especially by
sacrifice (comp. 5, 151), or irritated and made baneful by neglect
(comp. 4, 27; Juv., 10, 129). From these latter passages it would appear
to represent the _alter homo_, or second self.’ So Pretor. The _genius_
is the divine element which is born with a man, and when he dies becomes
a _lar_, if he is good; if he is wicked, a _larva_, or a _lemur_.
Departed _genii_ were called _manes_-- ‘good fellows’-- doubtless with a
view to propitiation. --#non tu#: Comp. 1, 45. --#emaci#: ‘chaffering,
haggling.’ Prayer was often conceived as bargain and sale. See v. 29,
and Plato, Euthyphro, 14E (Jahn). By the _prece emaci_ is meant the
_votum_, or vow, the εὐχή, and not the προσευχή, as Gregory of Nyssa
puts it (De Orat., Ed. Paris. a. 1638, Tom. 1, p. 724D). Casaubon
compares Hor., Od., 3, 29, 59: _ad miseras preces | decurrere et #votis
pacisci#_.
4. #seductis#: Comp. _paulum a turba #seductior# audi_, 6, 42.
--#nequeas#: G., 633; A., 65, 2.
5. #at bona pars#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 1, 61: _at #bona pars# hominum._
--#libabit#: Gnomic or sententious future. See 3, 93. Jahn comp. Juv.,
8, 182: _quae | turpia cerdoni Volesos Brutumque decebunt_. ‘That which
is done is that which shall be done.’ The other reading, _libavit_
(gnomic Perfect), is not so good. See G., 228, R. 2, and Dräger,
_Histor. Synt. der lat. Sprache_, § 127.
6. #haud cuivis#: Comp. _non #cuivis# homini contingit_, Hor., Ep., 1,
17, 36. --#humilis#: ‘that keep near the ground,’ ‘groundling,’ hence
‘low.’ Persius delights in rare epithets.
7. #aperto vivere voto#: Comp. Mart., 1, 39, 6: _si quis erit recti
custos, mirator honesti | et #nihil arcano qui roget ore deos#_.
8. #Mens bona#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 16, 59. --#Mens bona, fama, fides#:
are commonly considered to be the things prayed for. They are possibly
persons prayed to. ‘Such notions as Welfare (_salus_), Honesty
(_fides_), Harmony (_concordia_), belong to the oldest and holiest Roman
divinities’ (Mommsen). --#hospes#: ‘a stranger,’ ‘any body.’
9. #o si#: On this form of the wish, see G., 254, R. 1; A., 57, 4, _b._
_O si_ may be considered an elliptical conditional sentence, but as the
ellipsis is emotional it must not be supplied. Such an apodosis as
scholars are prone to understand for the Greek (καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι) _bene
sit_, would change the _wish_ into a _thought_. In this passage the
apodosis, which is involved in _praeclarum funus_, comes limping in as
an afterthought.
10. #ebulliat#: is slang. Comp. _tam bonus Chrysanthus animam
#ebulliit#_, Petron., 42 (_nos non pluris sumus quam #bullae#_, ibid.);
Sen., Apocolocynt., 4. Conington renders ‘go off.’ ‘Kick the bucket’
would be worthy of Persius. _Ebulliat_ must be read _ebulljat_ (G.,
717). The best MSS. have _ebullit_, but such a Subjunctive would be more
than doubtful (G., 191, 3; Neue, _Formenl._, 2, 339). --#praeclarum
funus#: Either ‘that would be a grand funeral,’ or ‘that would be a
corpse worth seeing.’ In the former case the man of prayer tries to
salve his conscience by promising his uncle (comp. 1, 11) a ‘first-class
funeral.’ Comp. _#funus# egregie factum laudet vicinia_, Hor., Sat., 2,
5, 105. In the latter, he is welcoming the death of the crabbed old man.
For _funus_, in this connection, Jahn compares Prop., 1, 17, 8: _haecine
parva meum #funus# harena teget?_ The half-light of the passage is well
suited to the paltering knavery of the prayer.
11. #sub rastro#, etc.: Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 10: _O si urnam argenti fors
quae mihi monstret, ut illi_ | _thesauro invento, qui mercennarius
agrum_ | _illum ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico_ | _Hercule_.
12. #Hercule#: This is Hercules πλουτοδότης, to whom the Romans
consecrated a tithe of their gains. Mommsen and others dissociate this
Hercules from the Greek Ἡρακλῆς. According to Casaubon and the schol.
(v. 44), Hermes (Mercury) is the bestower of windfalls found on the way,
Hercules the patron of sought treasures. --#pupillum#: ‘The Twelve
Tables provided that where no guardian was appointed by will, the next
of kin would be guardian, and he would of course be heir’ (Conington,
after Jahn).
13. #inpello#: ‘whose kibe I gall,’ ‘whom I tread hard upon.’
--#expungam#: ‘get him out’ (of his place in the will). --#namque#:
gives an explanation, which serves at once to heighten and to excuse the
hope. ‘You see he is in a bad way already. He is going to die at any
rate, and death would really be a relief to all parties.’ --#scabiosus#:
‘scrofulous.’ --#acri | bile#: δριμεῖα χολή, Casaubon, who compares
Juv., 6, 565: _consulit #ictericae# lento de funere matris_.
14. #tumet#: Comp. _turgescit vitrea bilis_, 3, 8; _mascula bilis_ |
_intumuit_, 5, 145. --#Nerio#: Nerius is the usurer in Horace, Sat., 2,
3, 69. Persius borrows his names from Horace, as Horace borrows his from
Lucilius-- progressive bookishness, of which there are several examples.
Comp. Pedius, 1, 85; Craterus, 3, 65; Bestius, 6, 37. --#conditur#: So
Jahn (1868) and Hermann. Jahn (1843) reads _ducitur_ with many MSS.
_Ducitur_ is not to be explained of ‘being carried out to burial’
(Servius ad Verg., Georg., 4, 256), but in its ordinary sense of ‘being
married.’ Nerius has got rid of two wives, and ‘is actually marrying a
third.’ _Conditur_ is best supported by MS. authority, and gives a
sufficiently good sense. Hermann quotes, in support of _#conditur#_,
Mart., 5, 37, where a man survives the loss of a rich wife, and γυναῖκα
θάπτειν κρεῖττόν ἐστιν ἢ γαμεῖν, Chaeremon, ap. Stobaeum, Sermon., 88,
22. Among the wishes in Lucian’s Icaromen., 25, we find ὦ θεοί, τὸν
πατέρα μοι ταχέως ἀποθανεῖν (comp. v. 10), and εἴθε κληρονομήσαιμι τῆς
γυναικός, which is the key of this verse. On the use of the Dative, see
G., 352, R. 1; A., 51, 4, _c_.
15, 16. These are the impious prayers that must be prefaced by pious
observances.
15. #in gurgite mergis#: G., 384, R. 1; A., 56, 1, _c_, R.
16. #bis terque#: δὶς καὶ τρίς. G., 497. --#flumine#: Prol., 1. The
lustral use of the bath, the pollution of the night, the peculiar virtue
of running water, are common to Scriptural and classical antiquity.
Lev., chap. 15. _Illo_ | _mane die, quo tu indicis ieiunia nudus_ | _in
#Tiberi# stabit_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 290; _Ter matutino #Tiberi# mergetur
et ipsis_ | _verticibus timidum #caput abluet#_, Juv., 6, 523; _Ac
primum pura #somnum# tibi #discute# lympha_, Prop., 4, 10, 13. For
parallels, see Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, 2, 388.
17-30. With a sudden dramatic turn, Persius pins his omnipresent Second
Person to the wall by an ironical question touching his conception of
the divine character. ‘What do you think of God? What can you think of
God when you confide to him wishes that you would conceal from a Staius?
Are you so bold because God is so slow? Are you so bold because God’s
favor is so cheaply bought?’
17. #minimum est#, etc.: Ironical. --#scire laboro#: So Hor., Ep., 1, 3,
2, and _nosse laboro_, Sat., 2, 8, 19.
18. #estne ut#: On this periphrasis, see G., 558; A., 70, 4, _a_. _Si
#est#, patrue, culpam #ut# Antipho in se admiserit_, Ter., Phormio, 2,
1, 40. Comp. Hec., 3, 5, 51; 4, 1, 43; Adelph., 3, 5, 4; Hor., Od., 3,
1, 9. --#cures#: _Curare_, with Inf. usually has a negative (3, 78) or
equivalent, as here.
19. #‘cuinam?’ cuinam?# The first _cuinam_ is the question of the other
man, the second the echo of Persius. Comp. Ar., Ach., 594: ἀλλὰ #τίς#
γὰρ εἶ; Δ. #ὅστις;# πολίτης χρηστός. --#vis#: Comp. 1, 56. --#Staio#:
Staius can not be identified-- _homuncio nobis ignotus_ (König)-- and,
as Jahn admirably remarks, it makes no difference who he was, whether
Staienus, as the scholiast says (Cic., Verr., 2, 32, 79; pro Cluentio,
7, 24, 65), or an average Philistine, or a typical scoundrel. The name
was a common one. Jones is measured with Jupiter. --#an scilicet
haeres#: ‘what? are we to suppose that you are hesitating?’
20. #quis#: may be for _uter_. Comp. Cic., Att., 16, 14, 1; Fam., 7,
3, 1; Caes., B. G., 5, 44. ‘Which of the two is the better judge?’ And
this is the more satisfactory rendering if Staius is a neutral
character. If he is a villain, ‘who would be a better judge’ or ‘better
as a judge,’ is more suitable.
21. #inpellere#: ‘smite’ (Verg., Georg., 4, 349; Aen., 12, 618),
a rather strong word for _humilis susurros_. Pretor renders ‘quicken;’
Conington, ‘have an effect on.’ ‘Reach’ is about what is meant. With the
thought of the passage, comp. Sen., Ep., 10, 5, cited by Casaubon: _Nunc
quanta dementia est hominum? Turpissima vota diis insusurrant: si quis
admoverit aurem, conticescent; et quod hominem scire nolunt, deo
narrant._
22. #agedum#: _#Agedum# hoc mi expedi primum_, Ter., Eun., 4, 4, 27.
_Dum_ shows impatience. ‘Be at it,’ or ‘be done with it,’ as the case
may be. --#clamet#: _Dic-- clamet = si dicas-- clamet._ G., 594. 4; A.,
60, 1, _b_.
23. #sese non clamet#: _Iovem_ would make the joke clearer, but Persius
would have had to pound his desk and bite his nails to get _Iovem_ in.
‘Because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,’ Hebr., 6,
13. König compares Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 17: _Maxime, quis non, | Juppiter,
exclamat simul atque audivit?_
24. ‘The guilty worshipper is in a grove (_lucis_, v. 27) during a
thunderstorm; the lightning strikes not him but one of the sacred trees,
and he congratulates himself on his escape-- without reason, as Persius
tells him. The circumstances are precisely those used by Lucretius to
enforce his skeptical argument, 6, 390 and 416’ (Conington).
25. #sulpure sacro#: ‘lightning.’ Comp. the Greek θεῖον, once innocently
derived from the Adjective θεῖος. --#tuque domusque#: Comp. Juv., 13,
206: _cum prole domoque_. The editors cite the oracle in Herod., 6, 86,
3: πᾶσαν | συμμάρψας ὀλέσει #γενεὴν# καὶ #οἶκον# ἅπαντα.
26. #fibris#: the extremities of the liver, λόβοι. --#Ergenna#: an
Etruscan name. The Etruscans were great bowel-searchers (_haruspices_)
and lightning-doctors.
27. #lucis#: local Abl. and poetic Plural. --#bidental#: According to a
law of Numa, whosoever was struck dead by lightning was buried where he
fell, and the spot was inclosed. The place was called _puteal_, from the
resemblance of the inclosure to a well-curb, or _bidental_, because of
the _oves bidentes_ (sheep with upper and lower teeth, hence ‘full
grown’) sacrificed in the consecration of the spot, which was invested
with a holy horror (_triste_), and might not even be looked at
(_evitandum_). Here _bidental_ is transferred from the place to the
person: ‘a trophy of vengeance’ (Conington), ‘a monument of wrath’
(Gifford). _Triste bidental_, Hor., A. P., 471.
28. #idcirco#: Emphatic resumption. --#vellere# = _vellendam_. G., 424,
R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f._ On the phrase _vellere barbam_, comp. 1, 133.
Jupiter was always represented as bearded, γενειήτης, Lucian, Sacrif.,
11. ‘Jove, will nothing wake thee? | Must vile Sejanus _pull thee by the
beard_ | ere thou wilt open thy black-lidded eyes | and look him dead?’
Ben Jonson, Sejan., 4, 5.
29. #aut#: Another (negatived) case. See G., 460, R.; A., 71, 2.
--#quidnam est, qua mercede# = _quanam mercede_; unusual. Not
dissimilar, Caes., B. G., 5, 31: _#Omnia# excogitantur #quare# nec sine
periculo maneatur et languore militum et vigiliis periculum augeatur._
30. #emeris#: Jahn compares _praebere_ and _dare aurem_, to which
Conington adds _commodare_, Hor., Ep., 1, 1, 40. --#pulmone#: for the
larger, _lactibus_ for the smaller intestines γαλακτίδες. ‘The details
are mentioned contemptuously’ (Conington). Comp. Juv., 6, 540; 10, 354;
13, 115.
31-40. Thus far we have had wicked prayers; now we have specimens of
silly prayers, of old wives’ wishes.
31. #Ecce#: _transitioni servit_ (Casaubon). See 1, 30. The showman puts
in a new slide, and says ‘Look here.’ --#avia aut matertera#: The doting
fondness of grandmothers, aunts, and nurses is proverbial. Their
affection is not tempered by responsibility; hence their indiscretion.
_Matertera_ is the mother’s sister, as _amita_ (whence ‘aunt’) the
father’s; but, significantly enough, there is not the same moral
distinction as between _patruus_ and _avunculus_ (whence ‘uncle’).
--#metuens divum#: δεισιδαίμων. G., 374, R. 1; A., 50, 3, _b._
--#cunis#: Dat. is more picturesque than Abl.
32. #exemit#: The Perf. brings the scene before us, and makes it
particular instead of generic. --#uda#: ‘slobbering.’
33. #infami digito#: The middle finger (Juv., 10, 53) being used in
mocking and indecent gesture, was considered on that very account to
have more power against fascination. The notion still survives, and is
embodied in coral ‘amulets’ or ‘charms’ (_breloques_) manufactured at
Genoa. --#lustralibus#: The lustral day for a girl was the eighth, for a
boy the ninth. Such a day would be the day for vows and prayers. On the
corresponding Gr. ἀμφιδρόμια, see the Classical Dictionaries. --#ante#:
adverbial, ‘first of all.’ --#salivis#: Spittle has manifold medical and
magical virtues among all nationalities. Comp. Plin., H. N., 28, 4, 22;
Juv., 8, 112; Petron., 131. The Plural is poetical, perhaps intimating
abundance.
34. #expiat#: ‘charms against mischief’ (Conington). --#urentis#:
‘blasting,’ ‘withering,’ μαραίνοντας. --#oculos#: If the belief in the
‘evil eye’ is not too well known and too widely spread to need
illustration, comp. Verg., Ecl., 3, 103; Hor., Ep., 1, 14, 37. On the
philosophy of the evil eye, see Plutarch, Quaest. Conv., 5, 7.
--#inhibere perita#: On the construction, see Prol., 11.
35. #manibus#: We say ‘in,’ Prol., 1. Translate ‘arms,’ as often.
--#quatit#: Il., 6, 474: αὐτὰρ ὅ γ᾽ ὃν φίλον υἱὸν ἐπεὶ κύσε #πῆλέ# τε
χερσιν, | εἶπεν ἐπευξάμενος Διί τ᾽ ἄλλοισιν τε θεοῖσιν. ‘Dances,’
‘dandles.’ --#spem macram#: ‘the skinny hope.’
36. #Licini#: Licinus, originally slave and steward of Caesar, then set
free and made procurator of Gaul, where he acquired immense wealth by
extortion. Comp. Juv., 1, 109: _Ego possideo plus | Pallante et
#Licinis#_. --#Crassi#: a still more familiar synonym for wealth, Cic.,
Att., 1, 4, 3. The two combined in Sen., Ep., 119, 9: _Quorum nomina cum
#Crasso Licinoque# numerantur_. --#mittit#: ‘transports,’ ‘wafts’
(Pretor); ‘packs off’ (Conington), is not in keeping with the
mock-lyrical tone of the passage.
37. #hunc#: δεικτικῶς König comp. Catullus, 62, 42: _Multi illum pueri,
multae #optavere# puellae_. On _optet_, comp. G., 281, Exc. 1; A., 49,
1, _d._ --#rex et regina#: Comp. 1, 67. ‘My lord and [my] lady’
(Conington). As the prayer is extravagant, Pretor thinks that the words
are to be taken literally, and Conington inclines to the same opinion.
But there is no objection to _regina_ for _domina_ in itself, Mart., 10,
64.
38. #rapiant# = _diripiant_, ἁρπάζοιεν. ‘May the girls have a scramble
for him.’ The sexes are to be reversed in his honor. Casaubon comp.:
_Editum librum continuo mirari homines et #diripere# coeperunt_, Vita
Persii. --#rosa fiat#: Casaubon comp. Claud., Seren., 1, 89: _Quocumque
per herbam | reptares, fluxere #rosae#_. A fairy-tale wish. Comp.
Theocr., 8, 41; Verg., Ecl., 7, 59.
39. #ast# = _at_ + _set_. G., 490; R. --#nutrici#: _Quid voveat dulci
#nutricula# maius alumno_, Hor., Ep., 1, 4, 8. With the sentiment of the
passage Casaubon comp. Sen., Ep., 60, 1: _Etiamnum optas quod tibi
#optavit nutrix# aut paedagogus aut mater? Nondum intellegis quantum
mali optaverint?_
40. #albata#: ‘clad in white,’ the proper attire of worshippers,
Tibull., 2, 1, 13; Plaut., Rud., 1, 5, 12 (Jahn). Hence ‘though she ask
it with every requisite form’ (Conington). See v. 15.
41-51. From wicked wishes we have passed to silly wishes, from silly we
now pass to insane. Men pray for health and pray for wealth, and all the
while are doing their utmost to break down their health and squander
their wealth.
41. #nervis#: ‘thews,’ ‘sinews.’ --#senectae#: may depend on _poscis
opem_ or on _fidele_ (Casaubon’s view), ‘to stand you in stead in old
age’ (Conington), or ‘to stand your old age in stead.’ The latter is the
more forcible.
42. #esto#: ‘so far, so good’ (Conington). --#grandes patinae#, etc.:
Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 95: _#Grandes# rhombi #patinaeque#_ | _grande
ferunt una cum damno dedecus._ Jahn (1868) reads _pingues_.
--#tuccetaque crassa#: According to the Schol., ‘beef steeped in a thick
gravy, which enables it to keep a year.’ ‘Rich gravies’ (Conington);
‘rich forced meats’ (Pretor). ‘Rich potted meats.’ --#his# = _his
precibus, votis_. --#vetuere#: Perf. to show that ‘the mischief is
already done’ (Pretor). It is not a general Perfect. Comp. 32.
44. #rem struere#: The Biblical ‘heap up riches.’ Hor., Sat., 1, 1, 35:
_acervo_ | _quem #struit#_. --#caeso bove#: An expensive sacrifice.
Comp. Gr. βουθυτεῖν. --#Mercurium#: See note on v. 11. An allusion to
Mercury, or rather Hermes, as the God of Flocks and father of Pan, is
barely possible.
45. #arcessis# = _in auxilium vocas_ (Jahn). Conington’s ‘serve a
summons on’ is a caricature. Comp. Ov., Fast., 4, 263, and Petron., 122.
_Accerso_ is a rarer form than _arcesso_, and to be reserved for state
occasions, according to Brambach. --#fibra#: See v. 26. --#da fortunare#
= _ut fortunent_. --#fortunare#: used absolutely, as in Afranius, v. 84
(Ribbeck). _Fortuno_ a _vox sollemnis_ in prayers (Jahn). --#Penatis#:
Gods of the Basket and Store.
46. #quo, pessime, pacto#: Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 22: _quo pacto, pessime?_
47. #iunicum# = _iuvencarum_. Observe the extravagance of the sacrifice,
and compare with the expression Catull., 90, 6: _omentum in flamma
pingue #liquefaciens#_.
48. #extis et ferto#: Comp. vv. 30, 45. _Fertum_ (_a ferendo_), a kind
of sacrificial cake or pudding, _libi genus, quod crebrius ad sacra
obmovebatur_ (Jahn).
49. #et tamen#: _at tamen_ (Hermann), on which see 5, 159.
50-51. Casaubon sees in this passage an imitation of Hesiod, O. et D.,
369: δειλὴ δ᾽ ἐνὶ πυθμένι φειδώ (_sera parsimonia in fundo est_, Sen.,
Ep., 1, 5). I have followed the old reading, which makes _nummus_ the
subject. The personification is in Persius’s vein, as Schlüter correctly
remarks. Comp. _tacita acerra_, v. 5; _gemuerunt aera_, 3, 39; _sapiens
porticus_, 3, 53; _modice sitiente lagoena_, 3, 92. _Nummi_ are nursed
as children, 5, 149; there is a kind of personification in _dolosi
nummi_, Prol., 12, and literature is full of personified coins, of
‘nimble sixpences,’ ‘slow shillings,’ ‘adventurous guineas.’ Add: _ac
velut exhausta redivivus pullulet arca | #nummus#_, Juv., 6, 363. Paley
(ap. Pretor) suggests that _nequiquam_ may be considered the exclamation
of the _#nummus#_. This gives so happy a turn that I am almost tempted
to put it in the text. It is the familiar story of ‘the bottom dime,’
set to the familiar tune of the ‘Last Rose of Summer.’ Jahn makes the
numbskull, not the _nummus_, the subject, and reads in his ed. of 1843:
_Nequiquam fundo_, suspiret, _nummus in imo_!
In his ed. of 1868 he follows Hermann, who reads:
Nequiquam _fundo_, suspiret, _nummus in imo_!
Pretor prints:
_Nequiquam: fundo_, suspiret, _nummus in imo_!
The scholiast hesitates. All much more prosaic and much less
satisfactory. --#suspiret#: See G., 574, R.; A., 62, 2, _d._
52-75. With a sudden start Persius strikes at the root of the matter--
the false conception of the divine character. ‘Thou thoughtest,’ saith
God, ‘that I was altogether such a one as thyself,’ Ps. 50, 21. Because
you love gold, you fancy that God loves gold, and judge of His Holiness
by your corruption. God demands a pure heart, and not ‘thousands of
rams.’ This is a plane on which the highest expressions of the most
various religions meet, so that Hebrew, Greek, and Christian hold almost
identical discourse. M. Martha (_Moralistes Romains_, p. 134) recognizes
‘a progress’ in thoughts, which are immemorial in their antiquity.
52. #creterras#: preferred by Jahn (1868) and Hermann to _crateras_, in
which the Acc. Sing. of the Greek word κρατήρ seems to be taken as the
stem (G., 72, R. 2). See Hor., Od., 3, 18, 7: Sat., 2, 4, 80. Comp. also
_statera_ and _panthera_. G. Meyer (_Beitrage zur Stammbildung_ in
Curtius, _Studien_, 5, 72) questions the Accus. origin. --#argenti#: The
context indicates the material, which in prose would be _ex argento_ or
_argentea_ (G., 396; A., 54, 2). The Genitive should give us the
contents as in v. 11, _argenti seria_. Comp. Juv., 9, 141: _#argenti#
vascula puri_. --#incusa#: ‘is a translation of ἐμπαιστά (Casaubon),
ἐμπαιστικη τέχνη being the art of embossing silver or some other
material with golden ornaments (_crustae_ or _emblemata_). Hence
_crateras argenti incusaque dona_ is probably a hendiadys’ (Conington).
_Chrysendeta_, or parcel-gilt plate (Pretor). --#pingui#: ‘thick,’ not a
generic epithet.
53. #dona#: Predicate. --#pectore laevo#: Jahn strangely follows
Casaubon in understanding _pectore laevo_ as _mente laeva_. Comp. Verg.,
Ecl., 1, 16: _si mens non #laeva# fuisset_. The side of the heart is
meant. König comp. _#laeva# parte mamillae | nil salit Arcadico iuveni_,
Juv., 7, 159.
54. #excutiat#: In his ed. of 1868 Jahn has abandoned the harsh
_excutias_ of 1843, which leaves _laetari praetrepidum cor_ to take care
of itself, with _laetari_ as an histor. Inf. of habit. Comp. Verg.,
Georg., 1, 200; 4, 134; Aen., 4, 422; 7, 15. --#guttas#: ‘Your heart in
an eager flutter of excited joy would drive the life-drops from your
left breast.’ So Pretor, who adds that Persius alludes to the faintness
produced by any violent excitement. Comp. Verg., Georg., 3, 105: _cum
spes arrectae iuvenum exsultantiaque haurit | corda pavor pulsans_. With
_guttas_ comp. ‘As dear to me as are the ruddy _drops_ that visit this
sad heart,’ Shaksp. Jahn understands ‘tears,’ Heinrich ‘sweat’ (comp.
Juv., 1, 167: _tacita #sudant# praecordia culpa_). In the latter case we
should expect _ut_, as Schlüter observes. --#laetari praetrepidum#:
‘over-hasty to rejoice’ (Conington). For the construction, comp. Prol.,
11, and Hor., Od., 2, 4, 24: _cuius octavum #trepidavit# aetas |
claudere lustrum_. On the meaning of _trepidum_, see 1, 20.
55. #illud, quod#: ‘that strange fashion that,’ instead of the
impersonal construction with the Inf. with a different shade of meaning
(G., 525; A., 70, 5). --#subiīt#: On the quantity of the final syllable,
see G., 705, Exc. 4; A., 84, _g_, 5. --#auro ovato#: Comp. _triumphato
auro_, Ov., Ep. ex Ponto, 2, 1, 41 (Jahn). An allusion to the ‘unjust
acquisition of the gold offered to Heaven’ seems to be too modern,
despite Juv., 8, 106.
56. #nam#: ‘for instance.’ G., 500, R. 1. --#fratres aenos#: ‘brazen
brotherhood’ (Gifford). There are various interpretations: 1. The gods
generally (Jahn). 2. The fifty sons of Aegyptus, whose statues stood in
the portico of the Palatine Apollo over against those of the fifty
Danaides, Prop., 2, 31, 1 seqq.; Ov., Trist., 3, 1, 59 seqq.
(Scholiast). 3. The Dioscuri. The first explanation is the best. All the
gods might appear in vision, but some were more famous for such
appearances than others. The very existence of the statues of the sons
of Aegyptus is problematical, and their connection with dreams
inexplicable (Jahn). As for the Dioscuri, they were notoriously
beardless youths, apart from the fact that _qui mittunt_ points to more
than two (Casaubon).
57. #pituita#: trisyllabic, as in Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 76; Ep., 1, 1, 108.
_Pituita_, ‘phlegm,’ ‘gross humor.’ ‘That _pituita_ was supposed to mark
a heavy, cloudy intellect, is clear from the meaning of the opposite
expression, _emunctae naris_’ (Pretor). See also the commentators on
Hor., ll.cc.
58. #aurea barba#: Cic., N. D., 3, 34, 83: _Aesculapii Epidaurii #barbam
auream# demi iussit [Dionysius], neque enim convenire barbatum esse
filium cum in omnibus fanis pater imberbis esset._
59. #vasa Numae#: called _capedines_ and _simpuvia_. --#Saturnia aera#:
Old coinage, according to Schol., Casaubon, and Jahn. The earliest
coinage is said to have been stamped on one side with the head of Janus,
the coiner, on the other with a ship, in honor of Saturn’s arrival in
Italy. It is best to translate loosely by ‘brass’ or ‘bronze,’ as the
explanation is far from certain. --#inpulit#: ‘kicked out.’
60. #Vestalis urnas#: always of earthenware. --#Tuscum fictile#:
‘Etruscan pottery.’ ‘Etruscan’ both by reason of its origin and its use
in Etruscan ritual.
61. #O curvae#: A passionate apostrophe, which reminds M. Martha of
Bossuet. --#in terris#: So Jahn and Hermann. We should expect _in
terras_, but the Abl. is more forcible as denoting the fixity rather
than the tendency of the position. --#caelestium inanes#: On the Gen.,
see G., 373, R. 6; A., 50, 3, _c_. Jahn quotes Hor., Od., 3, 11, 23:
_#inane# lymphae | dolium fundo pereuntis imo_.
62. #quid iuvat hoc#: So Jahn. _Hos_, Hermann’s reading, is not
necessary, though natural. _Hoc_ often anticipates the contents of a
dependent clause, as here with the Inf., 5, 45; _ut_ with Subj., 5, 19.
--#templis inmittere mores#: is more than ‘the opposite to v. 7:
_tollere de templis_.’ _Inmittere_, ‘turn loose upon,’ like so many
_hostes_, _sicarii_, etc. _Mores_, ‘courses of life.’
63. #bona dis#: Brachylogy. ‘What is good in the eyes of the gods.’
--#ducere#: ‘infer.’ --#scelerata pulpa#: ‘sinful, pampered flesh’
(Conington). _Pulpa_ is the Stoic σάρξ, σαρκίδιον, in a stronger form.
M. Martha (l.c. p. 133, note) says that the Christian σάρξ (_caro_) is
borrowed from the language of philosophy. Others only note the
coincidence. _Pulpa_ may be rendered ‘blubber.’
64. #haec#: sc. _pulpa_. --#sibi#: ‘to suit its taste.’ --#corrupto#:
The oil is spoiled by the spice, Verg., Georg., 2, 465: _Alba nec
Assyrio fucatur lana veneno | nec #casia# liquidi #corrumpitur# usus
#olivi#._
65. #Calabrum#: ‘The beauty of the Calabrian fleece consisted in its
perfect whiteness,’ which is destroyed by the dye. --#coxit#: here in a
bad sense, as we often use ‘cook,’ ‘doctor.’ --#vitiato#: The _murex_ is
spoiled as well as the _vellus_; both have violence done to their
natures. Comp. Juv., 3, 20: _ingenuum #violarent# marmora tofum_. On the
hard treatment of the _murex_, or κάλχη, see St. John, _Manners and
Customs of Ancient Greece_, 3, 225 foll.
66. #bacam#: ‘pearl,’ literally ‘berry.’ The transfer is explained by
Auson., Mos., 70: _albentes concharum germina #bacas#. Diluit insignem
#bacam#_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 241. --#rasisse#: Perf., like the Greek Aor.
Inf. See 1, 42.
67. #massae#: ‘ore.’ --#crudo de pulvere#: ‘from their primitive slag’
(Conington).
68. #vitio utitur#: ‘gets some good out of its sin.’ --#nempe#: G., 500,
R. 2.
70. #pupae#: The ancients dedicated to the gods what they had done with.
So when the girl was ripe for marriage, she hung up her dolls. The
sailor hangs up his clothes, Hor., Od., 1, 5, 16; the lover his harp,
Od., 3, 26, 3. The Sixth Book of the Greek Anthology is full of
examples. An ingenious friend suggests that the practice of publishing a
list of commentators in editions of the classics is a survival of this
usage.
71. #quin damus#: See G., 268; A., 57, 7, _d_. --#lance#: ‘sacrificial
plate,’ ‘paten.’ Ov., Ep. ex P., 4, 8, 39: _nec quae de parva dis pauper
libat acerra | tura minus grandi quam data #lance# valet_ (Jahn).
72. #Messallae propago#: Lucius Aurelius Cotta Messalinus (Schol.), an
unworthy son of M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus. See Tac., Ann., 6, 7. He
was a notorious debauchee in the reign of Tiberius. --#lippa#: alludes
to the effect of his excesses. Comp. 5, 77.
73. #conpositum#: ‘in just balance,’ ‘well blended’ (Conington). --#ius
fasque#: ‘duty to God and man’ (Conington). --#recessus mentis#: φρενῶν
μυχός Theocr., 29, 3 (Jahn).
74. #incoctum#: ‘thoroughly imbued.’ --#generoso honesto#: ‘with the
honor of a gentleman.’ See note on _mordaci vero_, 1, 107.
75. #cedo#: Notice the quantity. G., 190, 4; A., 38, 2, _f_. _Cĕdo_,
‘give here,’ ‘let.’ For the construction: _cedo ut bibam_, Plaut.,
Most., 2, 1, 26; _cedo ut inspiciam_, Curc., 5, 2, 54. --#admovere#:
a sacrificial word. --#farre litabo#: Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 23, 19:
_mollivit aversos Penatis | #farre# pio et saliente mica_. _Litare_ is
the Greek καλλιερεῖν, ‘offer acceptably.’ The sentiment may be
illustrated without end. Comp. θυσία μεγίστη τῷ θεῷ τό γ᾽ εὐσεβεῖν,
Men., Mon., 246, and Eur., fr. 329 and 940 (Nauck).
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
SATURA II.
5. #libabit#: libavit _al_. --9. #murmurat#: immurmurat, J{α}.
--10. #ebulliat#: ebullit _Cod. Montepessulanus_. --14. #conditur#:
ducitur, J{α}. --#pro#: proh, J{α}. --16. #purgas?# purgas. J{α}. --25.
#sulpure#: sulfure, J{α}., H. --37. #optet#: optent _al_. --42.
#grandes#: J{α}., H.; pingues, J{ω}. --#tucceta#: tuceta, J{α}. --43.
#adnuere#: annuere, J{α}. --45. #arcessis#: accersis, H. --47.
#flammas#: flamma, J{α}. --48. #et tamen#: ac tamen, J{α}.; at tamen, H.
--52. #creterras#: crateras. J{α}. --54. #excutiat#: excutias, J{α}., H.
--61. #terris#: terras _al_. --#caelestium#: coelestium, J{α}., H.
--#inanes#: J{α}., H.; inanis, J{ω}. _At vid. Ritschel. Prolegg.
Trinum._, xc.; _Neue, Formenl._, 1, 257. --62. #quid iuvat hoc#: quid
iuvat, hos, H. --66. #bacam#: baccam, J{α}., H. --73. #animo#: animi, H.
* * * * *
SATURA III.
‘Nempe haec adsidue: iam clarum mane fenestras
intrat et angustas extendit lumine rimas:
stertimus indomitum quod despumare Falernum
sufficiat, quinta dum linea tangitur umbra.
en quid agis? siccas insana canicula messis 5
iam dudum coquit et patula pecus omne sub ulmo est.’
unus ait comitum. “Verumne? itane? ocius adsit
huc aliquis! nemon?” turgescit vitrea bilis:
“findor”-- ut Arcadiae pecuaria rudere dicas.
iam liber et positis bicolor membrana capillis 10
inque manus chartae nodosaque venit harundo.
tunc querimur, crassus calamo quod pendeat umor,
nigra quod infusa vanescat sepia lympha;
dilutas querimur geminet quod fistula guttas.
o miser inque dies ultra miser, hucine rerum 15
venimus? at cur non potius teneroque columbo
et similis regum pueris pappare minutum
poscis et iratus mammae lallare recusas?
“An tali studeam calamo?” Cui verba? quid istas
succinis ambages? tibi luditur. effluis amens, 20
contemnere: sonat vitium percussa, maligne
respondet viridi non cocta fidelia limo.
udum et molle lutum es, nunc nunc properandus et acri
fingendus sine fine rota. sed rure paterno
est tibi far modicum, purum et sine labe salinum-- 25
quid metuas?-- cultrixque foci secura patella.
hoc satis? an deceat pulmonem rumpere ventis,
stemmate quod Tusco ramum millesime ducis,
censoremne tuum vel quod trabeate salutas?
ad populum phaleras! ego te intus et in cute novi. 30
non pudet ad morem discincti vivere Nattae?
sed stupet hic vitio et fibris increvit opimum
pingue, caret culpa, nescit quid perdat, et alto
demersus summa rursum non bullit in unda.
magne pater divum, saevos punire tyrannos 35
haud alia ratione velis, cum dira libido
moverit ingenium ferventi tincta veneno:
virtutem videant intabescantque relicta.
anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera iuvenci,
et magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis 40
purpureas subter cervices terruit, ‘imus,
imus praecipites’ quam si sibi dicat et intus
palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor?
Saepe oculos, memini, tangebam parvus olivo,
grandia si nollem morituri verba Catonis 45
discere, non sano multum laudanda magistro,
quae pater adductis sudans audiret amicis.
iure; etenim id summum, quid dexter senio ferret,
scire erat in voto; damnosa canicula quantum
raderet; angustae collo non fallier orcae; 50
neu quis callidior buxum torquere flagello.
haud tibi inexpertum curvos deprendere mores,
quaeque docet sapiens bracatis inlita Medis
porticus, insomnis quibus et detonsa iuventus
invigilat, siliquis et grandi pasta polenta; 55
et tibi quae Samios diduxit littera ramos
surgentem dextro monstravit limite callem.
stertis adhuc, laxumque caput conpage soluta
oscitat hesternum, dissutis undique malis!
est aliquid quo tendis, et in quod dirigis arcum? 60
an passim sequeris corvos testaque lutoque,
securus quo pes ferat, atque ex tempore vivis?
helleborum frustra, cum iam cutis aegra tumebit,
poscentis videas: venienti occurrite morbo!
et quid opus Cratero magnos promittere montis? 65
discite, o miseri, et causas cognoscite rerum:
quid sumus, et quidnam victuri gignimur; ordo
quis datus, aut metae qua mollis flexus et unde;
quis modus argento, quid fas optare, quid asper
utile nummus habet; patriae carisque propinquis 70
quantum elargiri deceat; quem te deus esse
iussit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re.
disce, nec invideas, quod multa fidelia putet
in locuplete penu, defensis pinguibus Umbris,
et piper et pernae, Marsi monumenta clientis, 75
menaque quod prima nondum defecerit orca.
Hic aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum
dicat ‘Quod sapio satis est mihi. non ego curo
esse quod Arcesilas aerumnosique Solones,
obstipo capite et figentes lumine terram, 80
murmura cum secum et rabiosa silentia rodunt
atque exporrecto trutinantur verba labello,
aegroti veteris meditantes somnia, _gigni_
_de nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reverti._
hoc est, quod palles? cur quis non prandeat, hoc est?’ 85
His populus ridet, multumque torosa iuventus
ingeminat tremulos naso crispante cachinnos.
‘Inspice; nescio quid trepidat mihi pectus et aegris
faucibus exsuperat gravis alitus; inspice, sodes!’
qui dicit medico, iussus requiescere, postquam 90
tertia conpositas vidit nox currere venas,
de maiore domo modice sitiente lagoena
lenia loturo sibi Surrentina rogabit.
‘Heus, bone, tu palles!’ “Nihil est.” ‘Videas tamen istuc,
quidquid id est: surgit tacite tibi lutea pellis.’ 95
“At tu deterius palles; ne sis mihi tutor;
iam pridem hunc sepeli: tu restas.” ‘Perge, tacebo.’
turgidus hic epulis atque albo ventre lavatur,
gutture sulpureas lente exalante mefites;
sed tremor inter vina subit calidumque triental 100
excutit e manibus, dentes crepuere retecti,
uncta cadunt laxis tunc pulmentaria labris.
hinc tuba, candelae, tandemque beatulus alto
conpositus lecto crassisque lutatus amomis
in portam rigidas calces extendit: at illum 105
hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites.
‘Tange, miser, venas et pone in pectore dextram.
nil calet hic. summosque pedes attinge manusque.
non frigent.’ Visa est si forte pecunia, sive
candida vicini subrisit molle puella, 110
cor tibi rite salit? positum est algente catino
durum holus et populi cribro decussa farina:
temptemus fauces, tenero latet ulcus in ore
putre, quod haud deceat plebeia radere beta.
alges, cum excussit membris timor albus aristas; 115
nunc face supposita fervescit sanguis et ira
scintillant oculi, dicisque facisque, quod ipse
non sani esse hominis non sanus iuret Orestes.
NOTES.
THIRD SATIRE.
ARGUMENT.-- The Satire opens dramatically. A young Roman of the upper
classes is discovered asleep, snoring off the effects of yesterday’s
debauch. To him one of his familiars, half companion, half tutor, who
rouses him by telling him that the sun is already high in the heavens,
and it is time to be up. The young fellow bawls for his servants, brays
for them, and makes a show of going to work. But nothing suits him. He
curses the ink because it is too thick, then he curses it because it is
too thin, and finally swears at pen and ink both. ‘You big baby,’
exclaims the monitor. ‘Do you expect me to study with such a pen?’ asks
the young man with a whine. ‘Don’t come to me with your puling nonsense,
you dab of untempered mortar, you unformed lump of clay. You are lazing
away the time, when every minute is of moment, when the potter’s wheel
should fly faster and faster, and deft hands should mould the vessel of
your life (1-24). But I see you think that you have already attained
perfection. You are satisfied with your position in life, move in a good
circle. Tell that to the profane vulgar. I know you, every inch of you.
Shame on you, that you, with your training, should live like a brutish
creature, who does not know what a rich jewel he is flinging away, who
sinks without a struggle in the slough of vice, whose soul dies and
makes no sign. But you, who know better, will have a dire fate. No worse
doom could Jove himself bring down on cruel tyrants than the vain
yearning for lost virtue, which they can never hope to regain. Nay,
worse than the brazen bull of Phalaris and the pendent sword of Damocles
is the consciousness of sin, the pallor that blanches not the cheek
only, but the very heart (25-43). You are past the age of childhood, and
have not the excuse of tender years. If you were a child, I could
understand your behavior. I remember my own childhood, how hateful and
unprofitable task-work alternated with frivolous play, how I dodged the
learning of the piece I had to speak, how I had no thought for any thing
save dice and marbles and tops (44-51). But you have reached a higher
level. You know the great norms of life, the doctrines of the Porch; you
understand the distinctions of Right and Wrong. Pshaw! As I live, you
are snoring still. Wake up, I say, and tell me-- have you any aim in
life? Or are you nothing better than a boy following sparrows with a
pinch of salt?’ (52-62).
Here the poet drops the dramatic form, deserts the individuality of the
student, and makes his exhortation general, reserving, of course, the
right to pick out at will any member of his congregation for rebuke. He
mounts the pulpit and begins to preach. His text is:
‘Be wise to-day; ’tis madness to defer.’ Go back to the first principles
of all true philosophy, the constitution of the universe, the position
of man in that universe, the great laws of Ethic as derived from the
great laws of Physic. In brief, study your Stoic catechism. Do not allow
yourself to be diverted from higher study by success in the lower ranges
of life. You lawyer there, for instance, do not let hams and sprats, the
gifts of thankful clients, seduce you from the ambrosia of true
philosophy (63-76).
But hark! some one is talking out in church. It is the voice of the
unsavory centurion.
‘I have got all the sense I want. I would not be for all the world one
of your painful philosophers, with head tucked down, eyes riveted on the
ground, mumbling and muttering a lot of metaphysic trash-- _chimaera
bombinans in vacuo_-- and the rest of the scholastic stuff. What! get
pale for that? What! miss my breakfast for that!’
Great applause in the galleries, and a rippling reduplication of
laughter from the muscular humanity of the period (77-87).
A sudden turn, or rather a sudden return to the figure of v. 63. The
connection, if there be a connection, seems to be this:
Such men as the centurion are hopelessly lost, have already ‘imbodied
and imbruted.’ Like Natta, they are unconscious of their moral ruin. But
there are those who, half-conscious of their condition, consult a
physician of the soul, a spiritual director. The state of this class is
set forth in a dramatic parable. A man feels sick, goes to see a doctor,
follows his advice for a while, gets better, and then, despite all
remonstrance, violates the plainest rules of diet and falls dead
(88-106).
But before our preacher can make the application, he is interrupted by
an impatient hearer, perhaps none other than the yawning youth, whose
acquaintance we made in the beginning of the Satire. Whoever he is, he
is so literal that he does not understand the drift of the apologue.
‘Sick! Who’s sick? Not I. No fever in my veins. No chill in hands or
feet.’
‘But,’ says our resolute moralist, ‘the sight of money, the meaning
smile of a pretty girl, makes your heart beat a devil’s tattoo. Coarse
flour shows that you are mealy-mouthed, and tough cabbage brings out the
ulcer in your throat. Kindle the fire of wrath beneath the cauldron of
your blood, and Orestes is sane in comparison’ (107-118).
According to Jahn, this Satire is aimed at those that have received a
thorough training in ethics, but, owing to the weakness of human nature,
fail to follow the true guide of life; and, although well aware of their
short-comings, imitate the example of those brutish souls whose sins are
excused by their ignorance. In short, the Satire is an expansion of the
old theme-- _Video meliora proboque_.
Knickenberg (_De Ratione Stoica in Persii Satiris Apparente_, p. 16
seqq.) maintains that in conformity with Stoic doctrine, it is not so
much the weakness of human nature as imperfect knowledge-- the _inscitia
debilis_ of v. 99-- that is the source of the vices which the author
lashes in the present Satire. According to the Stoic, virtue is
knowledge, and the snoring youth, with his half-knowledge, which keeps
him from rising to the height of virtue, is the pattern of the false
philosophy of the time.
But Persius is not an expounder of the Stoic philosophy, as a system,
any more than Seneca is; and commentators have attributed to him a
profounder knowledge of philosophy than he had, certainly a profounder
knowledge than it would have been artistic to show. Persius repeats the
catechism of the sect, expands some of their favorite theses, elaborates
some of their pet figures, and finds fault with his fellow students in
the lofty tone which he had caught from his teachers. A glaring paradox,
such as we find in 5, 119, he is but too happy to reproduce, but the
subtle analysis for which the Stoics were famous does not appear in his
poems.
The Satire is said by the Scholiast to be imitated from the Fourth Book
of Lucilius.
1-24. A young student is roused by one of his companions, who, after
meditating on his snoring form (1-4), remonstrates with him against
lying abed so long. Yawning and headachy, he attempts to go to work,
calls his servants testily, has his writing materials brought, swears at
them, and is rebuked by his sage friend for his babyishness, and urged
to make use of this golden season of life.
1. #Nempe#: The opening is made very lively by the use of _nempe_, which
implies a preceding statement, and thus plunges at once into the thick
of the dialogue. ‘And so’-- a clear imitation of Hor., Sat., 1, 10, 1.
Comp. the English use of ‘and’ in the first verse of lyrics, and the
common stage trick of beginning a scene with conjunctions: Farquhar,
Beaux’ Stratagem, 2, 2: ‘_And_ was she the daughter of the house?’
Cibber, The Provoked Wife, 5, 4: ‘_But_ what dost thou think will come
of this business?’ This effect is lost by bringing in the _comes_ at v.
5, as some do. --#mane#: Substantive, the Abl. of which, _mane_
(_mani_), is in more common use as an Adverb. --#fenestras#: ‘windows,’
here for ‘window-shutters.’
2. #extendit#: ‘makes wider,’ ‘makes seem wider,’ a familiar optical
effect. --#rimas#: ‘chinks’ (between the shutters).
3. #stertimus#: Ironical First Person, excluding the speaker.
--#indomitum#: ‘heady,’ ‘unmanageable’ (Conington). Falernian was a
strong wine: _ardens_, Hor., Od., 2, 11, 9; _severum_, Od., 1, 27, 19;
_forte_, Sat., 2, 4, 24. Add Lucan, 10, 162: _#Indomitum# Meroe cogens
spumare #Falernum#_. --#quod sufficiat#: ‘what ought to be enough.’ G.,
633; A., 65, 2. --#despumare#: ‘work off,’ ‘carry off the fumes of’
(Conington). _Despumare_ is a technical term ‘skim’ (Verg., Georg., 1,
296), like ‘rack’ in English.
4. #quintā dum linea tangitur umbrā#: where we should expect _quintă
linea umbrā_, by what is called Hypallagé. Conington compares Aeschyl.,
Ag., 504: δεκάτῳ σε φέγγει τῷδ᾽ ἀφικόμην ἔτους. See Schneidewin’s note.
--#dum#: ‘while,’ ‘whereas,’ ‘and yet.’ Comp. G., 572, R.; A., 72, 1,
_c_. --#linea#: of the sun-dial. The fifth hour (about 11 o’clock) was
the time of the _prandium_, according to Auson., Ephem. Loc. Ordin.
Coqui, 1, 2 (Casaubon): _Sosia, prandendum est, quartam iam totus in
horam | sol calet: ad #quintam# flectitur umbra #notam#_. In Horace’s
time breakfast was after 10 (Sat., 1, 5, 25). The sophist Alciphron
implies that 12 was the hour in his day (3, 4, 1).
5. #en quid agis?# Comp. _en quid ago_? Verg., Aen., 4, 534. In lively
questions the present is often used as a future, as: _Quoi #dono#
lepidum novum libellum?_ Catull., 1, 1. --#siccas#: proleptic or
predicative, to be combined with _coquit_. Conington renders ‘is baking
the crops dry,’ but _coquere_ is too common in this sense for such a
translation, a criticism which applies to a very large proportion of
Conington’s picturesque versions. _Coquere_ is the regular word for
‘ripen’-- Gr. πέσσω-- Varro, R. R., 1, 7, 4; 54, 1. Tr. ‘is ripening
hard’ (in the broiling sun). --#insana canicula#: ‘the mad dog-star’ is,
of course, the ‘mad dog’s star’ (Conington). Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 29, 18;
Ep., 1, 10, 16.
7. #comitum#: _Comes_ is a wide term, embracing fellow-students and
tutors. The Greek word is οἱ συνοντες. See Lucian’s famous tract, περὶ
τῶν ἐπὶ μισθῷ #συνόντων# (de mercede conductis).
8. #aliquis#: ‘somebody,’ ‘τις,’ of a servant. _Aperite #aliquis#
actutum ostium_, Ter., Adelphi, 4, 4, 46. Ὥσπερ ἐν οἴκῳ ἔνιοι δεσπόται
προστάττουσι, Ἴτω #τις# ἐφ᾽ ὕδωρ, Ξύλα #τις# σχισάτω, Xen., Cyr., 5, 3,
49. --#nemon?# on the rhetorical _-ne_, see 1, 22. --#vitrea bilis#:
a medical term, ὑαλώδης χολή, according to Casaubon. Comp. _splendida
bilis_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 141.
9. #findor#: ‘I’m splitting,’ the exclamation of the impatient youth.
The old reading, _finditur_, ‘he’ or ‘it’ (_bilis_) ‘is splitting,’ has
little MS. authority. Others read _findimur_. --#Arcadiae pecuria#: The
asses of Arcady were famous in antiquity. --#rudere#: with _u_ long only
here and Auson., Epigr., 76, 3.
10. #iamque liber#: The distribution of these articles is not without
its difficulty. According to some, _liber_ is the author to be explained
by the teacher; _chartae_, the papyrus for rough notes; _membrana_, the
parchment for a more careful transcript. According to others, ‘_liber_
is the author out of which the lesson or thesis is to be transcribed,
and _membrana_ the parchment wrapper for preserving the loose sheets, as
the work progresses’ (Pretor). --#bicolor#: used either of the two sides
of the skin-- the one from which the hair had been scraped, yellow, the
other white (Casaubon), or, more probably, of the custom of coloring the
parchment artificially (Jahn). --#capillis#: is commonly taken for
_pilis_, a rare use. The hair side of the skin was carefully smoothed
with pumice-stone. _Arida modo #pumice# expolitum_, Cat., 1, 2; _cui
#pumex# tondeat ante comas_, Tib., 3, 1, 10. The old explanation,
according to which _positis capillis = capillis ornatis sive pexis_
(Plum), has found an advocate in Schlüter. The young man is supposed to
have dressed his hair before he goes to work.
11. #nodosa harundo# = _calamus_ of the next verse.
12. #querimur#: In his ed. of 1868 Jahn has abandoned _queritur_ (1843)
here and in v. 14. Comp. _stertimus_, v. 3. --#calamo#: In prose, _de
calamo_.
13. #nigra sepia#: ‘The blackness of the liquor,’ Conington, who says
correctly that _nigra_ is emphatic. _Sepia_, ‘juice of the cuttle-fish,’
used for ink. Comp. Auson., Epist., 4, 76; 7, 54 (Jahn).
14. #fistula# = _harundo_. The nib of the pen was badly slit. Comp. _nec
iam #fissipedis# per #calami# vias | grassetur Cnidiae sulcus
harundinis_, Auson., Epist., 7, 49-50.
The whole period is very awkward, and is not improved by Jahn’s _sed_
for _quod_ in v. 13. Mr. Pretor suspects a _duplex recensio_, and
brackets v. 13. In any other author I should suggest _dilutas#que
nimis#_ for _dilutas #querimur#_, v. 14 (Mp. _querimus_).
15. #ultra miser# = _miserior_. --#hucine rerum#: _Hucine_ is archaic
and colloquial. On _rerum_, see G., 371, R. 4; A., 50, 2, _d_. Comp. 1,
1 for the translation.
16. #tenero columbo#: a pet name for children (Schol.). _Columbus_ is
‘the house-pigeon,’ _palumbus_ ‘the wood-pigeon.’ Some of the best MSS.
read _palumbo_, which Bentley on Hor., Od., 1, 2, 10, prefers. Notice
further that nurses often feed their babies pigeon-fashion. --#regum
pueris#: ‘aristocratic babies,’ ‘babies of quality’ (Conington). _Regum_
as in 1, 67. --#pappare#: (_papare_, Jahn, 1843) Infin. for Substantive,
‘pap.’ Such Infinitives are hardly parallel with _vivere triste_ (1, 9),
and belong rather to the _verba togae_. They may be called nursery
Infinitives. Comp. Titin. (ap. Charisium, 1, p. 99P.), v. 78 Ribb.:
_Date illi #biber#, iracunda haec est_. Comp. the Greek τὸ πιεῖν, τὸ
φαγεῖν, Theocr., 10, 53; Anthol. Pal., 12, 34, 5. The Scholiast calls
_pappare_ and _lullare_ ‘_voces mutilas_.’ --#minutum#: ‘chewed fine,’
‘minced.’
18. #iratus#: ‘in a pet.’ --#mammae#: exactly our ‘mammy;’ depends on
_lallare_, not on _iratus_. --#lallare#: like _pappare_, ‘lullaby.’
‘Pettishly refusing to let mammy sing you to sleep’ (Conington)-- ‘to go
by-bye for mammy.’
19. #studeam#: G., 258; A., 57, 6. The absolute use of _studere_ is
post-Augustan. _Desidioso #studere# torqueri est_, Sen., Ep. M., 71, 23.
--#Cui verba#: sc. _das_?
20. #succinis#: ‘sing to an instrument or second to a person,’ hence ’to
sing small’ (Conington), ‘come whimpering, whining with.’ --#ambages#:
‘beating about the bush,’ ‘shuffling excuses.’ _Quando pauperiem, missis
#ambagibus#, horres_, Hor., Sat., 2, 5, 9. --#tibi luditur#: _Tua res
agitur_, ‘it is your game,’ ‘your stake,’ ‘your affair.’ --#effluis
amens#: with a sudden change of figure. The dissolute young man is
compared to a cracked jar, from which all the noble ‘wine of life’
(Shaksp., Macbeth, 2, 3) is escaping. The passage in Ter., Eun., 1, 2,
25, which is often cited in this connection: _Plenus rimarum sum; huc
atque huc #perfluo#_ refers to ‘a leaky vessel,’ one who can not keep a
secret.
21. #contemnere#: A sudden desertion of the metaphor, unless
_contemnere_ be a technical term, like ἀποδοκιμάζειν, ‘reject on test.’
Cicero combines _conterere et contemnere_, _contemnere et reicere_,
_contemnere et pro nihilo putare_. The Scholiast thinks that the word is
an unhappy reminiscence of Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 14: _#contemnere# miser_.
--#sonat vitium# = _sono indicat vitium_. _Sonat vitium_, like _sapit
mare_, ‘sounds flawy,’ ‘has a flawy ring.’ The Schol. comp. Verg., Aen.,
1, 328: _nec vox #hominem sonat#_. --#maligne#: ‘ill-naturedly,’
‘grudgingly,’ of that which falls short of what was expected. _Maligne
respondet_, ‘gives a short answer,’ ‘a dull sound.’
22. #viridi#: = _crudo_, ‘untempered.’ The material is ill-mixed and the
crock ill-baked (_non cocta_).
23. ‘Persius steps back, as it were, while pursuing the metaphor,’ is
Conington’s droll defence of Persius’s ὕστερον πρότερον. Common critics
would say that Persius had bungled the figure. --#properandus et
fingendus#: not necessarily equivalent to _propere fingendus_. Comp.
Juv., 4, 134: _argillam atque rotam citius #properate#_.
24-43. Persius: ‘I know what you are going to say. You have a fair
estate, you have nothing to dread, you have good connections, you have a
good position. Away with these baubles. I know you yourself. You live no
higher life than the dullest sensualist, who knows not what he is
losing; but the time will come when you will be roused to the
consciousness of your loss, and your soul must be tortured with the
expectation of impending ruin and the carking of hidden sin.’ --#rure
paterno#: G., 412, R. 1; A., 55, 3, _c_, R.
25. #far modicum#: _Modicum_ with a sneer. The young man keeps up a show
of Stoic moderation. --#salinum--patella#: two articles of plate, to
which every respectable family aspired. Compare the apostle-spoons and
the candle-cup of the Elizabethan period. The _salinum_ and the
_patella_ were exempt, when all other gold and silver plate was called
for to meet the necessities of the state. --#purum et sine labe#:
literally and metaphorically.
26. #quid metuas#: _ex animo iuvenis_. The young man is supposed to ask
_quid metuam?_ See v. 19. ‘I have nothing to fear on the score of
poverty.’ --#cultrix foci#: The _patella_ was used in the worship of the
Lares. Conington preserves the possible double sense of ‘inhabitant’ and
‘worshipper,’ by rendering ‘a dish for fireside service.’ --#secura#:
‘that knows no fear’ (of want).
27. #hoc satis?# This is very well, but is it enough? --#an deceat#: The
connection is not very plain, and Jahn thinks that another person is
apostrophised. Persius is attacking the same man, now as to his fortune,
now as to his family. That this is not clearly brought out, is simply
his own fault. --#ventis#: ‘with airs’ (Pretor). See 4, 20.
28. #stemmate#: Abl. as a whence-case. ‘Comp. Juv., 8, 1-6; Suet., Nero,
37. These _stemmata_ were genealogical trees or tables of pedigree, in
which the family portraits (_imagines_) were connected by winding lines.
Comp. _#stemmata# vero lineis discurrebant ad imagines pictas_, Plin.,
H. N., 25, 2, and _multae #stemmatum# flexurae_, Sen., de Benef., 3, 28’
(Pretor, after Jahn). --#Tusco#: The Etruscans were great sticklers for
family, as Persius well knew. Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 29, 1; Sat., 1, 6, 1;
Prop., 4, 9, 1. Your aristocratic philosopher can afford to be
disdainful of birth. A Stoic commonplace: _si quid est aliud in
philosophia boni, hoc est quod #stemma# non inspicit_, Sen., Ep., 44, 1.
--#ramum# = _lineam_. --#millesime#: ‘a thousand times removed’
(Pretor). On the case, 1, 123. Conington recognizes a side-thrust, and
compares Savage’s ‘No _tenth_ transmitter of a foolish face.’
29. #censoremne#: So Casaubon. Jahn (1868) reads _-que_, thus abandoning
the reading which is best supported by MSS., but utterly unsupported by
grammar, _-ve_. The careless use of _vel_ after _ve_ is one of those
slips that are simply incredible, nor can _-ve-- vel_ be successfully
defended by connecting the latter closely with _trabeate_. Pretor
explains, ‘because you have a censor in your family, or are yourself a
knight of distinction (sc. _quodve censorem tuum salutas vel quod ipse
trabeatus es_)’. Heinr.’s conjecture, _fatuum_, with a reference to the
censorship of Claudius, is itself almost fatuous. If we are to resort to
conjecture, Heinr.’s other suggestion, _vetulum_, would be mild. Jahn
explains this line (after Niebuhr) of the _municipales equites_,
‘Because you are a great man in your own provincial town.’ Comp. 1, 129.
‘In any case the allusion is to the annual _transvectio_ of the
_equites_ before the censor, who used to review them (_recognoscere_) as
they defiled before him on horseback. If _censorem_ is understood of
Rome, _tuum_ will imply that the youth is related to the Emperor, like
Juvenal’s Rubellius Blandus, 8, 40; otherwise it means “your local
censor”’ (Conington). --#trabeate#: The _trabea_ is the official dress
of the _equites_. Comp. 1, 123.
30. #ad populum phaleras#: ‘The _phalerae_ included all the trappings of
the horse and rider. They were on occasion much ornamented with metal,
and Polybius (6, 23) says that they were given as rewards of merit to
cavalry soldiers’ (Pretor, after Jahn). ‘To the mob with your trappings,
your stars and garters.’ --#intus et in cute#: ‘inside and out;’ a rough
equivalent. _In cute_ (Gr. ἐν χρᾦ) means ‘closely’ (‘to a dot, a T’).
See Lexx. s.v. χρῶς.
31. #non pudet#: ‘You are not ashamed?’ (you ought to be). See G., 455.
--#discincti#: Comp. _#discinctus# aut perdam #nepos#_, Hor., Epod., 1,
34 (Schol.). The _discinctus_ is ‘a man of loose habits.’ --#Nattae#:
taken at random from Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 124.
32. #stupet#: ἀναισθητεῖ (Casaubon). He is ‘past feeling,’ his
conscience is benumbed, is ‘seared with a hot iron.’ --#fibris increvit
opimum pingue#: ‘his heart is overgrown with thick collops of fat’
(Conington). The Scriptural parallels are familiar: Psa., 119, 70;
Matt., 13, 15; John, 12, 40. The Delphin ed. comp. Tertull., de Anima,
20: _#Opimitas# impedit sapientiam._ On _opimum pingue_, comp. 1, 107.
33. #caret culpa#: Perhaps because the Stoic would not hold him
responsible, Epictet., Diss., 1, 18. Conington well remarks that
Casaubon’s quotation from Menand., Mon., 430-- ὁ μηδὲν εἰδὼς οὐδὲν
ἐξαμαρτάνει-- does not meet the case. In Menander we have to do with ‘a
sin of ignorance’ against others. Here the sin is against the man’s own
nature. Possibly _culpa_ is = _conscientia culpae_.
34-43. The terrors of remorse.
34. #rursum non bullit#: ‘he makes no bubbles,’ ‘makes no further
struggles,’ ‘he is down among the dead men.’
36. #velis#: ‘deign.’ _Velle_ gives a reverential turn to the wish.
37. #moverit#: Perf. Subj. Attraction of mood. G., 666; A., 66, 2.
--#ferventi tincta veneno#: The _gelidum venenum_ chills, this poison
fires the blood. Comp. Alciphr., 1, 37, 3: θερμότερον φάρμακον, of a
love potion. _Occultum inspires #ignem# fallasque #veneno#_, Verg.,
Aen., 1, 688. _Tincta_ is a reminiscence of the shirt of Nessus and the
bridal-gift of Medea to Glaucé.
38. #intabescant#: belongs to the same sphere of comparison.
_Intabescere_, κατατήκεσθαι, is hopeless pining for a lost love. Comp.
Theocr., 1, 66; 11, 14. For the figure, see Ov., Met., 3, 487: _ut
#intabescere# flavae_ | _igne levi cerae-- solent, sic attenuatus amore_
| _liquitur_. --#relicta#: sc. _virtute_. Conington comp. Verg., Aen.,
4, 692: _quaesivit caelo lucem ingemuitque #reperta#_. _Relicta_ = _quod
religuerint_.
39. #anne# = _an_. --#Siculi iuvenci#: Every one has heard of the brazen
bull made by Perillus for Phalaris of Agrigentum, Cic., Off., 2, 7, 26,
and the sword of Damocles, in the next verse, is a proverb in English.
Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 1, 17; Cic., Tusc. Dis., 5, 21, 61. --#aera#: poet.
Plur. Vivid personification and identification.
40. #auratis laquearibus# = _de a. l. Laquearibus_, ‘sunken panels
(_lacus_) between the cross-beams of the ceiling.’ See Verg., Aen., 1,
726. --#ensis#: a poetic word, ‘glaive,’ ‘brand.’
41. #purpureas cervices#: Damocles was arrayed in royal purple; hence
_purpureas_ (Casaubon). Others apply the expression to tyrants
generally. Comp. Hor., Od., 1, 35, 12: _purpurei tyranni_.
42. #imus#: Better to have a sword hanging by a hair over your neck than
yourself to be hanging above an abyss of misery. The commentators refer
to Tiberius’s letter to the senate (Tac., Ann., 6, 6; Suet., Tib., 67),
by way of illustrating the shuddering perplexity of the sinful tyrant.
--#dicat#: The subject is loosely involved. --#intus | palleat#: This
‘not very intelligible expression’ (Conington) is paralleled by Shaksp.,
Macb., 2, 2: ‘My hands are of your color, but I shame | to wear a heart
so _white_.’
43. #quod#: dependent on the notion of fear contained in _pallere_. G.,
329, R. 1; A., 52, 1, _a_. --#proxima uxor#: ‘the wife at his side,’
‘the wife of his bosom.’ --#nesciat#: ‘is not to know.’
44-51. You have not the excuse of an unenlightened conscience, nor have
you the plea of the ignorance of boyhood. Boys will be boys. I was a boy
myself, played boyish tricks, loved boyish sports. My training was bad,
my behavior only to be justified by my training.
44. #parvus#: ‘as a small boy:’ _Memini quae plagosum #mihi parvo#_ |
_Orbilium dictare_, Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 70. --_olivo:_ The boy would tip
(_tangere_) his eyes with oil, in order to make believe, by the use of
the remedy, that he was suffering from the disease. For the anointing of
sore eyes, see Hor., Sat., 1, 8, 25; Ep., 1, 1, 29.
45. #grandia#: ‘sublime.’ _Grandia verba_ is the American ‘tall talk.’
--#nollem#: Iterative conditional. G., 569, R. 2; A., 59, 5, _b_.
--#morituri Catonis#: Such compositions were very much in vogue as
rhetorical exercises. Comp. Juv., 1, 16 (oration to Sulla, advising a
withdrawal from public life); 7, 161 (speech made for Hannibal). Seneca
(Ep., 24, 6) does not seem to regard the theme of Cato’s death as
threadbare.
46. #discere#: better than _dicere_. The boy shirks the learning rather
than the speaking, and the sore eyes would be a better excuse for the
one than for the other. --#non sano#: Comp. Petron., cap. 1; Tac., Or.,
35, on this system of training. Hermann reads _et insano_. --#laudanda#
= _quae laudaret_, the free adjective use of the Gerundive, which is
more common in later times.
47. #quae pater audiret#: Juv., 7, 166: _ut totiens illum #pater
audiat#_. --#sudans#: from excitement; hardly ‘in a glow of perspiring
ecstasy’ (Conington). _Sudans_ is thrown in maliciously as a comment.
48. #iure#: εἰκότως, ‘and well I might.’ --#etenim#: is καὶ γάρ.
Theoretically the predicate of the preceding sentence is to be repeated
with the _et_. Practically it is often best to leave _et_ untranslated.
G., 500, R. 2 and 3; A., 43, 3, _d_. --#senio#, etc.: ‘The game was
played with four _tali_, which, unlike the _tesserae_, were rounded on
two sides, while the other four faces were marked with one, three, four,
or six pips, and called respectively _unio_, _ternio_, _quaternio_,
_senio_. The _canis_ was the worst throw, when all four _tali_ showed
single pips (Ov., A. A., 2, 206; Trist., 2, 474; Mart., 13, 1, 6; Prop.,
4, 8, 46), and the _Venus_ the best, when all the faces turned up were
different (Lucian, Amor., p. 415); or else, for it varied upon occasion,
when all showed sices. The ace was a losing throw and the sice a winning
one, when the pips were counted’ (Pretor, after Jahn). Persius wanted to
know the value of each throw, what one brought in (_ferret_) another
swept off (_raderet_).
49. #scire erat in voto#: _Hoc #erat in votis#_, Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 1.
50. #angustae collo non fallier orcae#: The allusion is to a game at
_nuces_, called τρόπα or ‘cherry-pit.’ ‘’Tis not for gravity to play at
_cherry-pit_ with Satan,’ Shaksp., Twelfth N., 3, 4. Fr. _à la
fossette_. Comp. Rabelais, 1, 2. The modern equivalent of _nuces_ is
marbles, and the modern τρόπα is ‘pitch-in-the-hole,’ or ‘knucks.’
Instead of the hole in the ground (βόθρος), the ancients used a small
jar (_orca_), and to enhance the difficulty of getting in, the neck of
this jar was made narrow (_collo angustae orcae = angusto collo orcae_,
by Hypallagé, v. 4). So the modern hole admits but one marble. Comp.
[Ov.] Nux, 85, 86: _Vas quoque saepe cavum spatio distante locatur, | in
quod missa levi nux cadat #una# manu._ --#fallier#: like _dicier_, 1,
28.
51. #neu quis# = _et ne quis_. G., 546. ‘_Et [erat in voto] ne quis
callidior [esset]._’ --#buxum#: ‘top,’ because made of ‘boxwood.’ Comp.
Verg., Aen., 7, 382: _volubile #buxum#_. --#torquere#: See Prol., 11,
and 1, 118.
52. You have had a better training. You have reached years of
discretion. You know Right from Wrong. --#curvos# = _pravos_. Comp.
_scilicet ut possem #curvo# dinoscere rectum_, Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 44, and
Persius, 4, 12; 5, 38.
53. #quaeque docet#: _Quae_ depends by Zeugma on some notion involved in
_deprendere_, such as _tenere_. G., 690; M., 478, Obs. 4. --#sapiens
porticus#: Comp. _sapientem barbam_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 35; _eruditus
pulvis_, Cic., N. D., 2, 18, 48. --#bracatis inlita Medis#: The στοὰ
ποικίλη, the resort of Zeno and his school, was adorned with paintings
by Polygnotus and others. One of these paintings represented the battle
of Marathon, hence ‘the wise Porch bepainted with the trouser’d Medes.’
_Inlita_ perhaps contemptuous, not necessarily ‘frescoed.’ The _bracae_
ἀναξυρίδες, θύλακοι, a mark of barbaric luxury and display. Comp. Prop.,
4, 3, 17: _Tela fugacis equi et #bracati militis# arcus_ and _Persica
braca_, Ov., Tr., 5, 10, 34 (Freund). --#quibus#: Neuter. _Quibus et =
et quibus._ Trajection, G., 693. --#detonsa#: ‘close-cropped,’ for so
the Stoics wore their hair, although they let their beard grow long ἐν
χρῷ κουρίαι, Luc., Hermot., 18; Vit. Auct., 20. Comp. Juv., 2, 15:
_supercilio brevior coma_.
55. #invigilat#: ‘rather tautological after _insomnis_. _Nec capiat
somnos #invigiletque# malis_, Ov., Fast., 4, 530’ (Conington). Positive
and negative sides of an action are more frequently combined in Latin
and Greek than in English, and ‘sleepless vigil’ would not be strange
even in English. --#siliquis#: ‘pulse.’ Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 123: _vivit
[vates] #siliquis# et pane secundo_. --#grandi polenta#: ‘mighty messes
of porridge;’ coarse, thick stuff (Macleane). ‘_Polenta_, ἄλφιτα, “pearl
barley,” a Greek, not a Roman dish (Plin., H. N., 18, 19, 28), mentioned
as a simple article of diet by Attalus, Seneca’s preceptor (Ep., 110,
18)’ (Conington, after Jahn).
56. #Samios# = Pythagorean, from Pythagoras of Samos. ‘And the letter,
which is disparted into Samian branches, has pointed out to you the
steep path whose track is on the right.’ --#diduxit#: as demanded by the
sense against the MSS., which have _deduxit_. --#littera#: The letter Υ,
or rather its old form [[symbol]], was selected by Pythagoras to embody
the immemorial image of the two paths (Hesiod, O. et D., 287-292), so
familiar in the apologue of Hercules at the cross-roads (Xen., Comm., 2,
1, 20), and alluded to again by our author, 5, 34. Hence this letter was
called the Pythagorean; Auson., Id., 12, de litt. monos., 9:
_#Pythagorae# bivium ramis patet ambiguis_ Υ (comp. also Id., 15, 1:
_quod vitae sectabor iter?_) Hence the _rami Samii_ above. ‘The stem
stands for the unconscious life of infancy and childhood, the diverging
branches for the alternative offered to the youth, virtue or vice’
(Conington).
57. #surgentem#: The path to the right is the _surgens callis_ of
Persius, the ὄρθιος οἶμος of Hesiod. The character itself points upward,
and the right-hand path is a clear-cut line (_limes_), so that there is
no mistaking the road, unless you are bent on following Shakspeare’s
‘primrose path of dalliance,’ instead of ‘the steep and thorny path to
heaven.’
58. #stertis adhuc#: The preacher finds his audience still snoring,
despite his eloquence. As _stertis_ can not be divorced from what
follows, it is better to take it as an exclamation than as a rhetorical
question. --#laxumque caput#, etc.: ‘Your head a-lolling with its
coupling loose, yawns a yawn of yesterday with jaws unhinged at every
point.’ The head is _laxum_ on account of its weight. Comp. καρηβαρεῖν
Alciphr., 3, 32, and Menand., fr. 67 (4, 88 Mein.).
59. #oscitat hesternum#: ‘Yawning off yesterday’ (Conington); the yawn
is yesterday’s yawn, because it comes from yesterday’s debauch, Alexis,
fr. 277 (3, 515 Mein.). --#undique#: ‘from all points of the compass’
(Conington), ‘an intentional exaggeration for _utraque parte_.’
--#malis#: Jahn’s _malis?_ (1843) is not good. The description is too
minute for the interrogative form.
60. #est aliquid#: Ironical; hence the expectation of a negative answer
is suppressed. G., 634, R. 1; A., 65, 2, _a_. --#quo# = _in quod_.
Schlüter combines with _tendis arcum_. --#in quod#: The other reading,
_in quo_, is unsatisfactorily defended by Hermann and Pretor.
61. ‘A wild-goose chase’ is the corresponding English expression for the
Latin _corvos sequi_, the Greek τὰ πετόμενα διώκειν. ‘Each word is
carefully selected. Thus the chase is a random one (_passim_), the
object worthless (_corvos_), the missile any thing that comes first to
hand’ (Pretor, after Jahn). Jahn refers further to Aeschyl., Ag., 394
(Dind.): διώκει παῖς ποτανὸν ὄρνιν. Familiar is Eurip.: πτηνὰς διώκεις,
ὦ τέκνον, τὰς ἐλπίδας.
62. #ex tempore#: ‘for the moment,’ ‘at the beck of the moment,’ ‘by the
rule of the moment’ (Conington).
63-76. A general preachment begins. Wake up, you snorer. Wake up, all
you snorers. You are all sick, or all threatened with sickness. Do not
postpone the remedy until it is too late. That remedy is to be found in
the principles of true wisdom; in other words, in the doctrines of the
Stoic creed. Before the sermon is finished, the preacher notices an
unfriendly stir in his audience, and is punching a member of his
congregation when he is interrupted.
63. #helleborum#: The black hellebore this time (1, 51). The black was
good for dropsy, Plin., H. N., 25, 5, 22. It was the great ‘purger of
melancholy.’ --#cutis aegra tumebit#: Comp. vv. 95, 98. --#venienti
occurrite morbo#: Every one will remember the well-worn Ovidian
_Principiis obsta_, R. A., 91. The comparison of moral with physical
disease was a favorite topic with the Stoics, who overdid it, according
to Cic., Tusc. Dis., 4, 10, 23.
64. #poscentis#: Elsewhere Persius uses after _video_ the less vivid
Infinitive, 1, 19. 69; 3, 91. On the difference, see G., 527, R. 1; A.,
72, 3, _d_. So after _facio_, 1, 44.
65. #quid opus#: G., 390, R.; A., 52, 3, _a_. --#Cratero#: More
bookishness. Craterus was a famous physician of the time of Cicero.
Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 161. --#magnos promittere montis#: A proverbial
phrase, which survives in several modern languages: Fr. _monts et
merveilles_; Germ. _goldene Berge versprechen_. Jahn compares Ter.,
Phormio, 1, 2, 18: _modo non #montis# auri pollicens_; Heinr., Sall.,
Cat. 23: _maria #montis#que polliceri coepit_.
66. #discite o#: To remove the hiatus, Barth suggested _io_, Guyet
_vos_. Hor., Od., 3, 14, 11: _male ominatis_, is not a parallel for the
hiatus, even if the reading be correct, and the parallel in Catull., 3,
16, is conjectural. --#causas cognoscite rerum#: Comp. Verg., Georg., 2,
490: _Felix qui potuit #rerum cognoscere causas#_, and _sapientia est
rerum divinarum et humanarum #causarumque scientia#_, Cic., Off., 2,
2, 5. On the connection of the different articles of this catechism, see
Knickenberg, l.c. p. 35 seqq. _Discite_ is the exhortation to the study
of philosophy. _Causas cognoscite rerum_ bids us pursue what the Stoics
called Physic, for without a knowledge of nature there can be no
knowledge of duty. Ethic is based on Physic; τέλος ἐστὶ τὸ ὁμολογουμένως
τῇ φύσει ζῆν (Stob., Ecl., 2, 132). See Long’s _Antoninus_, p. 56. The
constitution of nature once understood, we shall know what we owe to
God, what to ourselves, what to mankind, what things are good, what
evil. _Quid fas optare_ refers to our duty to God, _quem te deus esse
iussit_ to our duty to ourselves, _patriae carisque propinquis_ to our
duty to our neighbors. But nothing is more evident than the absence of
any logical development. Comp. with the whole passage, Sen., Ep., 82, 6:
_sciat quo iturus sit, unde ortus, quod illi bonum, quod malum sit, quid
petat, quid evitet, quae sit illa ratio quae appetenda ac fugienda
discernat, qua cupiditatum mansuescit insania, timorum saevitia
conpescitur_.
67. #quid sumus#: The independent form with the Indicative is more
lively; the regular dependent form with the Subjunctive comes in below,
v. 71. G., 469, R. 1; A., 67, 2, _d_. --#quidnam# = _quam vitam_. G.,
331, R. 2; A., 52, 3, _a_, N. --#victuri#: The use of the Participle in
an interrogative clause is unnatural in English (G., 471). The future
Participle of purpose is late or poetical (G., 673; A., 72, 4, _a_).
‘And what the life that we are born to lead.’ --#ordo#: According to
Heinr. and Jahn _ordo_ is used with reference to the position in the
chariot-race, so that the comparison begins here, and not at _metae_.
Soph., El., 710: στάντες δ᾽ ἵν᾽ αὐτοὺς οἱ τεταγμένοι βραβεῖς | κλήροις
ἔπηλαν καὶ κατέστησαν διφρους. But as τάξις (_ordo_) is a Stoic term, it
is not unlikely that the use of the word suggested the figure, which
came in as an after-thought. The Stoic preacher, as well as the
Christian, finds it necessary to repeat himself in slightly different
forms, and we must not look for a sharp distinction between _ordo quis
datus_ and _humana qua parte locatus es in re_, between _quidnam victuri
gignimur_ and _quem te deus esse iussit_.
68. #quis# = _qui_. So 1, 63. G., 105; A., 21, 1, _a_. --#qua et unde#:
where (how) it lies and from what point to begin, ‘where to take it’
(Conington). Herm.’s _quam_ is not so good. --#metae flexus#: ‘turn
round the goal.’ The difficulty of rounding the goal in a chariot-race
is notorious. See Il., 23, 306 foll.; Soph., El., 720 foll., and the
commentators on Plato, Io, 537. With the expression _metae flexus_ Jahn
comp. Stat., Theb., 6, 433: _flexae-- metae_. _Mollis_, ‘gradual,’
‘easy.’ So Caes., B. G., 5, 9: _#molle# litus_, of a gently sloping
shore.
69. #quis modus argento#: The Sixth Satire deals with a similar theme.
--#quid fas optare#: the argument of the Second Satire. --#asper
nummus#: ‘coin fresh from the mint,’ ‘rough from the die,’ Suet., Nero,
44. So Jahn. Others consider this distinction too subtle, and make
_a. n._ simply equivalent to ‘coined silver,’ as opposed to ‘silver
plate,’ _argentum_. Conington suggests the meaning, ‘What is the use of
money hoarded up and not circulated (_tritus_)?’ Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 1,
41 foll., 73: _nescis quo valeat nummus? quem praebeat usum?_
70. #carisque propinquis#: Hor., Sat., 1, 1, 83.
72. #locatus#: ‘posted,’ τεταγμένος, ‘a military metaphor’ (Arrian,
Diss., 1, 9, 16; M. Anton., 11, 13). --#humana re#: ‘humanity,’ _inter
homines_.
73. #disce, nec invideas#: sc. _discere_, according to Jahn. _His te
quoque iungere, Caesar | #invideo#_, Lucan., 2, 550, like φθονεῖν: μὴ
#φθόνει# μοι ἀποκρίνασθαι τοῦτο, Plat., Gorg., 489A. Persius singles out
one of his audience, who is tempted away from philosophy by his gains as
an advocate. Others, less satisfactorily, suppose that the lawyer is
outside of the congregation. On _#nec# invideas_, see 1, 7. --#multa
fidelia putet#: ‘Many a jar of good things is spoiling;’ ‘The details
are contemptuous. There is a coarseness in fees paid in kind’
(Conington). Comp. Juv., 7, 119. --#pinguibus Umbris#: ‘fat’ in every
sense, in figure, in fortune, and in wit. In Mart., 7, 53, an Umbrian
sends by eight huge Syrian slaves a miscellaneous lot of presents, value
30 nummi-- a proceeding due as much to stupidity as to stinginess
(_parcus Umber_, Cat., 39, 11). The appearance of the Umbrians was not
prepossessing, if we may judge by Ovid’s portrait of an Umbrian dame
(A. A., 3, 303-4).
75. #et piper et pernae#: The _piper_ is not the Indian, but the
inferior Italian (Plin., H. N., 12, 7, 4; 16, 32, 59) (Meister).
_Pernae_, a stock present. Comp. _siccus #petasunculus# et vas |
pelamydum_, Juv., 7, 119. To supply _putet_ with _piper_ is not
satisfactory, and we must take refuge in Zeugma. Pretor is for dropping
v. 75, and sees in Persius’s awkwardness traces of a _duplex recensio_,
as in vv. 12-14. --#Marsi#: For the simplicity of the Marsians, Jahn
compares Juv., 3, 169; 14, 180.
76. #mena#: ‘sprat,’ cheap sea-fish of some sort. ‘You have not yet come
to the last sprat of the first barrel’ (Conington). --#defecerit#: As
_non quod_ more commonly takes the Subjunctive, the shifting to the
Subjunctive from the Indicative, after _nec invideas_, is not strange.
G., 541, R. 1; A., 66, 1, _d_, R.
77-85. The discourse is cut short by a military man, who, with the
dogmatism of his class (_vieux soldat, vieille bête_), sets down all
philosophers as a pack of noodles. The lines of the picture which he
draws are familiar to every student of manners. ‘Persius hates the
military cordially (comp. 5, 189-191) as the most perfect specimens of
developed animalism, and consequently most antipathetic to a
philosopher. See Nisard, _Études sur les Poetes Latins_ [1, 3^e éd.
273-277; Martha, _Moralistes Romains_, p. 141]. Horace merely glances at
the education their sons received, as contrasted with that given him by
his father, in spite of narrow means, Sat., 1, 6, 72. Juvenal has an
entire satire on them (16), in which he complains of their growing power
and exclusive privileges, but without any personal jealousy’
(Conington). Persius is so bookish that I suspect Greek influence. Comp.
κομψὸς στρατιώτης, οὐδ᾽ ἐὰν πλάττῃ θεός, | οὐδεὶς γένοιτ᾽ ἂν, Menand.,
fr. 711 (4, 277 Mein.). See Introd., xx.
77. #de gente#: G., 371, R. 5; A., 50, 2, _e_, R. 1. _Gente_, ‘tribe,’
‘crew.’ --#hircosa#: ‘Rammish’ is not too strong, opposed to
_unguentatus_ in a fragment of Sen., ap. Gell., 12, 2, 11 (cited by
Jahn). The unsavory soldier and the perfumed dandy are alike foes to the
simplicity of the Stoic school. Your old soldier prided himself on his
stench, as would appear from the dainty anecdote in Plutarch, Mor.,
180C: ὦ βασιλεῦ, θάρρει καὶ μὴ φοβοῦ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν πολεμίων, αὐτὸν γὰρ
ἡμῶν #τὸν γράσον# οὐχ ὑπομενοῦσι. --#centurionum#: The rank is higher,
but the intellectual level is that of the typical German _Wachtmeister_.
78. #Quod sapio satis est mihi#: Jahn (1868); _Quod satis est sapio
mihi_, Jahn (1843), Herm. With the latter reading the words _quod satis
est = satis_ must be taken together, and a little more stress is laid on
_mihi_. The general sense is the same. Comp. Plato, Phaedr., 242C: ὥσπερ
οἱ τὰ γράμματα φαῦλοι #ὅσον ἐμαυτῷ μόνον# ἱκανός, with a very different
tone. --#non ego#: ‘no-- not I.’ See 1, 45. --#curo#: ‘care,’ i.e.,
‘want.’ See 2, 18.
79. #Arcesilas#: Arcesilaus, the founder of the New Academy, flourished
about 300 B.C. His great advance on Socrates was his knowing that he did
not even know that he knew nothing, Cic., Acad., 1, 12, 45. Solon
flourished about 600 B.C. Our hircose friend is made to jumble his
samples. --#aerumnosi Solones#: Notice the contemptuous use of the
Plural. _Aerumnosus_, κακοδαίμων, ‘God-forsaken,’ ‘poor devil,’ is a
strange epithet for Solon, but we have to do with an ignoramus and a
jolter-head.
80. #obstipo capite#: ‘with stooped head,’ ‘bent forward,’ κεκυφότες.
Hor., Sat., 2, 5, 92: _Davus sis comicus atque | stes capite #obstipo#,
multum similis metuenti._ Comp. the description of Ulysses in Il., 3,
217 foll. --#figentes lumine terram#: Jahn quotes a parallel from Stat.,
Silv., 5, 1, 140. More common forms are _figere lumina terra, in humo,
in terram_. ‘They bore the ground with their eyes,’ ‘look at it as if
they would look through it.’ Casaubon comp. Plat., Alcib. II., 138A. Add
Lucian, Vit. Auct., 7; Aristaenet., 1, 15.
81. #murmura#: Imitated by Auson., Id., 17, 24: _murmure concluso
rabiosa silentia rodunt_. --#rabiosa#: ‘Mad dogs do not bark.’
--#silentia#: Poetic Plural; very common. --#rodunt#: ‘biting the lips
and grinding the teeth.’ ‘Whether _murmura_ and _silentia_ are
Accusatives of the object, or cognates, is not clear’ (Conington).
‘Chewing the cud of mumbled words and mad-dog silence’ is very much in
the vein of Persius. Comp. _rarus sermo illis et magna libido tacendi_,
Juv., 2, 14.
82. #exporrecto trutinantur#: The lips are thrust out (a sign of deep
thought) and quiver like a balance; hence they are said ‘to poise their
words upon the quivering balance of a thrust-out lip’-- a caricature of
the simple figure _ponderare verba_. Jahn compares Luc., Hermot., 1, 1:
καὶ #τὰ χείλη διεσάλευες# ἠρέμα ὑποτονθορύζων; and Casaubon, Aristaen.,
2, 3: ἠρέμα #τῷ χείλη κινεῖ# καὶ ἄττα δήπου πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ψιθυρίζει.
83. #aegroti veteris#: The _aegri somnia_ of Hor., A. P., 7. As usual,
Persius exaggerates, and makes the sick man (_aegroti_) a dotard to boot
(_veteris_). Jahn understands, ‘a confirmed invalid.’ Comp. Juv., 9, 16:
_#aegri veteris# quem tempore longo | torret quarta dies_, etc. --#gigni
| de nihilo nihilum#: The cardinal doctrine of Epicurus (Lucr., 1, 150),
but not confined to him.
85. #hoc est quod palles#: G., 331, R. 2; A., 52, 1, _b_. Comp. 1, 124.
The Cognate Accusative is susceptible of a great variety of
translations. ‘Is this the stuff that you get pale on?’ (Pretor). ‘Is
this what makes you pale?’ --#prandeat#: The _prandium_, originally a
military meal, was dear to the military stomach. Comp. _#impransi#
correptus voce magistri_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 257.
86. #his#: Abl. Conington makes it a Dative, and cites an evident Abl.
to prove it, Verg., Aen., 4, 128. Jahn comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 8, 83:
_ridetur fictis rerum_. --#multum#: with _torosa_, according to Jahn.
87. Conington notices the grandiloquence of the line. ‘Cloth of frize’
is often ‘matched’ with ‘cloth of gold’ in Persius. --#naso crispante#:
‘curling nostrils.’ The mob laughs, the soldiers snicker. The listening
rabble is frankly amused. The crew to which the centurion belongs sneer
too much to laugh out. Or perhaps the poet makes the distinction between
the general _ridere_ (γελᾶν) and the mocking laughter of _cachinnare_
(καγχάζειν).
88-106. It is strange, as Pretor observes, that the sudden change
introduced by this line should not have been noticed by the
commentators. With a more mature artist there would be a suspicion of
dislocation. As it is, the unity of the Satire would gain by omitting
66-87. Persius composed slowly, and we find here as elsewhere traces of
piecemeal work.
The preacher takes up his parable. A man feels sick, consults a
physician, lies by; is more comfortable, takes a fancy to a bath and a
draught of wine. He meets a friend, perhaps his medical friend, on the
way. ‘My dear fellow, you are pale as a ghost.’ --‘Pshaw!’ --‘Look out!
You are yellow as saffron, and bless me! if you are not swelling.’
--‘Pale? Why, you are paler than I am. Don’t come the guardian over me.
My guardian has been dead a year and a day.’ --‘Go ahead, I’m mum.’ --He
goes ahead, stuffs himself, takes his bath. While he is drinking a chill
strikes him, and he is a dead man. No expense spared on the funeral.
‘You can’t mean that for me,’ says a literalist. ‘If I’m sick, you are
another. I have no fever, no ague.’ Nay, but you are subject to the
worst of diseases-- to the fever of covetousness, the fever of lust, to
daintiness with its sore mouth, to fear with its cold chill, and, worse
than all, to the raging delirium of anger.
88. #inspice#: ἐπίσκεψαι, a medical term. Comp. Plaut., Pers., 2, 5, 15.
--#nescio quid#: G., 469, R. 2; A., 67, 2, _e_. _Quid_ is the Accusative
of the Inner Object. ‘I have a strange fluttering at my heart.’
--#aegris#: ‘out of order.’ As _aegris_ is emphatic, co-ordinate in
English. There is ‘something wrong about my throat _and_--’
89. #exsuperat#: Neuter. Comp. _#exsuperant# flammae_, Verg., Aen., 2,
759. --#gravis#: ‘foul.’ So Ov., A. A., 3, 277: _#gravis# oris odor_.
--#sodes#: The original form is commonly supposed to be _si audes_
(_saudes_), Plaut., Trin., 2, 1, 18; from _audeo_ (comp. _avidus_), ‘if
you have the heart,’ ‘an thou wilt,’ A., 35, 2, _a_. Others put _sodes_
under SA (pron.), as akin to _sodalis_, and comp. ἠθεῖος, ‘own dear
friend,’ ‘_mon cher_.’ See Vaniček, _Lat. Etym. Wb._, S. 165. _Sodes_ =
_socius_ is an old tradition.
90. #requiescere#: ‘keep quiet.’ --#postquam vidit#: with a causal
shade. See 5, 88; 6,10, and G., 567; A., 62, 2, _e_.
91. #tertia nox#: The patient thinks that he has the more common
semitertian, whereas he has the quartan. When the third night comes
without a chill, he fancies that he is safe.
92. #de maiore domo#: The ‘great house’ is clearly that of a rich
friend, rather than that of a large dealer. Casaubon compares Juv., 5,
32: _cardiaco numquam cyathum, missurus amico_. --#modice sitiente
lagoena#: Thirst and capacity are near akin; a flagon of moderate thirst
is a flagon ‘of moderate swallow,’ as Conington renders it. The
personification of the flagon is old and not uncommon. See the humorous
epigram, Anthol. Pal., 5, 135.
93. #lenia Surrentina#: _Lenia_ is either ‘mild’ or ‘mellow.’ The
Surrentine was a light wine often recommended to invalids, Plin., H. N.,
14, 6, 8; 23, 1, 20. --#loturo#: He asks _before_ bathing; he drinks
_after_ bathing. For the custom Jahn compares Sen., Ep., 122, 6.
--#rogabit#: So Jahn (1868) and Hermann. Jahn (1843) reads _rogavit_,
like the Greek Aorist in descriptions. The Future makes it more
distinctly a supposed case.
94. #videas#: rather optative than imperative in its tone.
95. #surgit#: ‘is swelling,’ ‘getting bloated.’ --#tacite#: ‘insensibly’
(Conington). --#pellis#: ‘hide.’ Comp. Juv., 10, 192: _deformem pro cute
#pellem#_.
96. #At tu deterius#: _Le trait est comique. Ce serait de la gaieté, si
Perse savait rire_, Nisard. --#ne sis mihi tutor#, etc.: Proverbial. So
Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 88: _ne sis patruus mihi_.
97. #iam pridem sepeli#: Comp. _Omnes composui. Felices! Nunc ego
resto_, Hor., Sat., 1, 9, 28. _Sepeli_ for _sepelii_ (_sepelivi_),
a rare contraction. --#turgidus his epulis#: Hor., Ep., 1, 6, 61: _crudi
#tumidique# lavemur_, and comp. Juv., 1, 142 seqq: _paena tamen
praesens, cum tu deponis amictus | #turgidus# et crudum pavonem in
balnea portas | hinc subitae mortes atque intestata senectus_. --#hic#:
‘our man.’ --#albo ventre#: _Turgidus epulis_ is one feature, _albo
ventre_ another. _Ventre_ does not depend on _turgidus_. The color
(λευκός) is a sign of weakness and sickness. The swollen belly makes a
ghastly show. --#lavatur#: ‘takes his bath.’ Comp. G., 209; A., 39, _c_,
N.
99. #sulpureas mefites#: _Mefitis_ is originally the vapor from
sulphur-water; hence the propriety of the epithet _sulpureas_.
100. #calidum triental#: The wine was heated to bring out the sweat.
_Bibere et sudare vita cardiaci est_, Sen., Ep., 15, 3. --#triental#:
restored by Jahn (1843) for _trientem_, to which he returned in 1868.
_Triens_ is the measure, ⅓ sextarius, _triental_ would be the vessel.
Comp. with this passage Lucil., 28, 39-40 (L. M.): _ad cui? quem febris
una atque una ἀπεψια | vini inquam #cyathus# unus potuit tollere_.
101. #crepuere#: Vivid Aorist, not a simple return to the narrative
form. Comp. 5, 187. For the Greek, which Persius imitates, see Kühner,
_Ausf. Gramm._ (_2te Ausg._), 2, 138. --#retecti#: He shows his teeth
when he chatters.
102. #uncta#: Remember the large use of oil in Italian cookery.
--#cadunt# = _vomuntur_, but there is a certain helplessness in
_cadunt_. --#pulmentaria#: originally ὄψον, ‘relish,’ afterward
‘dainties.’ See the Dictionaries.
103. #hinc#: ‘hereupon.’ --#tuba#: Trumpets announced the death, and
trumpets were sounded at the funeral. See Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 42.
--#candelae# = _cerei_, ‘wax lights,’ supposed by Jahn and others to
have been used chiefly when the death was sudden, on the basis of Sen.,
Tranq., 11, 7. --#tandem#: ‘After all the preliminary performances’
(Macleane). --#beatulus#: μακαρίτης. Jahn cites Amm. Marcell., 25, 3:
_quem cum #beatum# fuisse Sallustius respondisset praefectus, intellexit
occisum_. ‘The dear departed’ (Conington). ‘Our sainted friend.’
--#alto#: A mark of a first-class funeral.
104. #conpositus#: ‘laid out.’ ‘By foreign hands thy decent limbs
_composed_,’ Pope. --#crassis lutatus amomis#: Every word is
contemptuous: ‘bedaubed with lots of coarse ointments.’ The Plural
_amoma_ indicates the cheap display. With _crassis_, comp. Hor., A. P.,
375: _#crassum# unguentum_; with _amomis_, Juv., 4, 108: _#amomo# |
quantum vix redolent duo funera_.
105. #in portam#: A custom at least as old as Homer, Il., 19, 212.
_Porta_ here = _ianua_, _fores_, but ‘nowhere else’ (Macleane).
--#rigidas#: The gender of _calx_ is unsteady. See Neue, _Formenlehre_,
1, 694.
106. #hesterni Quirites#: ‘Citizens of twenty-four hours’ standing’
(Conington); slaves left free by him. Hence _capite induto_, with the
_pilleus_ ‘cap of liberty’ on. The winding up of the man reminds one of
Petron., 42: _bene elatus est, planctus est optime, manumisit aliquot_.
107. Persius hauls out his man-of-straw, his _souffre-douleur_, and
makes him talk. --#Tange venas#: ‘Feel my pulse,’ the regular
expression, as in Sen., Ep., 22, 1: _vena #tangenda# est_. --#miser#:
Comp. v. 15. ‘You’re another!’ ‘Poor creature yourself’ (Conington).
--#pone in pectore dextram#: If you are not satisfied with my pulse, put
your hand on my heart.
108. #nil calet hic#: After some hesitation, I have given the whole
passage from _Tange miser_ to _non frigent_ to one person, who
anticipates the verdict of the monitor by _nil calet hic_ and _non
frigent_. ‘You must admit that my heart is not hot nor my feet cold.’ At
the same time the very clearness is an objection.
109. #Visa est si forte#: On the form of the conditional, see G., 569;
A., 59, 2, _b_. On the obvious thought, see 2, 52 foll.; 4, 47.
111. #rite#: ‘regularly.’ --#positum est#: ‘served up.’
112. #durum holus#: ‘tough cabbage,’ ‘half boiled’ (Pretor). --#populi#
(= _plebis_) #cribro#: ‘A coarse, common sieve.’ Hence _p. c. decussa
farina_, ‘coarse-bolted flour,’ the _panis secundus_ of Horace, Ep., 2,
1, 123, the ‘seconds’ of the modern miller. The ancients were very
dainty in this article. The parasite in Alciphron (1, 21, 2) expresses
his disgust at the ἀρτος ὁ ἐξ ἀγορας.
114. #putre quod haud deceat#: The Relative with the Subjunctive is
parallel with the Adjective. G., 439, R. Comp. 1, 14. _Haud deceat_, ‘it
won’t do,’ ‘it won’t answer.’ --#plebeia beta#: The beet is a vulgar
vegetable, Mart., 13, 13 (Jahn). The irony is evident, as the beet is
proverbially tender. See Dictionaries, s.v. _betizare_.
115. #excussit#: _Excutere aristas_ seems to be a vulgar expression,
like the English ‘raise a goose-skin, goose-flesh, duck-flesh.’
--#aristas# = _pilos_. Jahn refers to Varro, L. L., 6, 49. --#timor
albus#: See note on Prol., 4.
116. #face supposita#: The heart is the caldron and passion the
fire-brand.
118. #Orestes#: the typical madman.
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
SATURA III.
11. #harundo#: arundo, J{α}., H. --12. #querimur#: queritur, J{α}.
--#umor#: humor, J{α}., H. --13. #quod#: J{α}., H.; sed, J{ω}. --14.
#querimur#: queritur, J{α}. --15. #hucine#: huccine, J{α}., H. --17.
#pappare#: papare, J{α}. --29. #censoremne#: Casaubon.; censoremque,
J{ω}.; censoremve, J{α}., H. --31. #Nattae?# J{α}., H.; Nattae. J{ω}.
--32. #vitio et#: _om._ et H. --46. #discere non sano#: dicere et
insano, H. --48. #iure: (;)#: J{α}., H.; iure etenim, J{ω}. --53.
#bracatis#: braccatis, H. --56. #diduxit#: deduxit, H. --58. #adhuc#:
adhuc? J{α}. --59. #malis!#: malis? J{α}. --60. #in quod#: in quo, H.
--68. #qua#: quam, H. --73. #nec#: neque, J{α}. --76. #mena#: maena,
J{α}. --78. #quod sapio satis est mihi#: quod satis est sapio mihi,
J{α}., H. --89. #alitus#: halitus, J{α}., H. --92. #lagoena#: lagena,
J{α}., H. --93. #rogabit#: rogavit, J{α}. --94. #istuc#: istud, J{α}.,
H. --99. #sulpureas exalante#: sulfureas exhalante, J{α}., H.
--#mefites#: mephites, J{α}. --100. #triental#: J{α}.; trientem, J{ω}.,
H. --105. #rigidas#: rigidos, J{α}. --112. #holus#: olus, J{α}., H.
* * * * *
SATURA IV.
‘Rem populi tractas?’ barbatum haec crede magistrum
dicere, sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutae
‘quo fretus? dic hoc, magni pupille Pericli.
scilicet ingenium et rerum prudentia velox
ante pilos venit, dicenda tacendaque calles. 5
ergo ubi commota fervet plebecula bile,
fert animus calidae fecisse silentia turbae
maiestate manus. quid deinde loquere? “Quirites,
hoc puta non iustum est, illud male, rectius illud.”
scis etenim iustum gemina suspendere lance 10
ancipitis librae, rectum discernis, ubi inter
curva subit, vel cum fallit pede regula varo,
et potis es nigrum vitio praefigere theta.
quin tu igitur, summa nequiquam pelle decorus,
ante diem blando caudam iactare popello 15
desinis, Anticyras melior sorbere meracas!
quae tibi summa boni est? uncta vixisse patella
semper et adsiduo curata cuticula sole?
exspecta, haud aliud respondeat haec anus. i nunc
“Dinomaches ego sum,” suffla “sum candidus.” esto; 20
dum ne deterius sapiat pannucia Baucis,
cum bene discincto cantaverit ocima vernae.’
Ut nemo in sese temptat descendere, nemo,
sed praecedenti spectatur mantica tergo!
quaesieris ‘Nostin Vettidi praedia?’ “Cuius?” 25
‘Dives arat Curibus quantum non miluus errat.’
“Hunc ais, hunc dis iratis genioque sinistro,
qui, quandoque iugum pertusa ad compita figit,
seriolae veterem metuens deradere limum
ingemit: _hoc bene sit!_ tunicatum cum sale mordens 30
caepe et farrata pueris plaudentibus olla
pannosam faecem morientis sorbet aceti?”
at si unctus cesses et figas in cute solem,
est prope te ignotus, cubito qui tangat et acre
despuat ‘hi mores! penemque arcanaque lumbi 35
runcantem populo marcentis pandere vulvas!
tu cum maxillis balanatum gausape pectas,
inguinibus quare detonsus gurgulio exstat?
quinque palaestritae licet haec plantaria vellant
elixasque nates labefactent forcipe adunca, 40
non tamen ista filix ullo mansuescit aratro.’
caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis.
vivitur hoc pacto; sic novimus. ilia subter
caecum vulnus habes; sed lato balteus auro
praetegit. ut mavis, da verba et decipe nervos, 45
si potes. ‘Egregium cum me vicinia dicat,
non credam?’ Viso si palles, inprobe, nummo,
si facis in penem quidquid tibi venit amarum,
si puteal multa cautus vibice flagellas:
nequiquam populo bibulas donaveris aures. 50
respue, quod non es; tollat sua munera cerdo;
tecum habita: noris, quam sit tibi curta supellex.
NOTES.
FOURTH SATIRE.
The theme of this Satire is contained in the closing verses. It is the
Apollinic γνῶθι σαυτόν. Want of self-knowledge is the fault which is
scourged. The basis is furnished by the Platonic dialogue, known as the
First Alcibiades, and the characters are the same. The person lectured
under the mask of Alcibiades is a young Roman noble, in whom
commentators of a certain school have recognized the familiar features
of Nero.
ARGUMENT.-- Socrates is supposed to be addressing Alcibiades. You
undertake to engage in politics? You rely on your genius, do you? What
do you know of the norms of right and wrong, you callow youngster? What
do you know of the subtle distinctions of casuistry, that you undertake
to say what is just and what is unjust? You have a goodly outside, but
that is all, and you are fitter for a course of hellebore than for a
career of statesmanship. What is your end and aim in life? Dainty dishes
and basking in the sunshine? The first old crone you meet has the same
exalted ideal. Or do you boast of your descent? You praise your lineage,
you trumpet forth your beauty, just as yon market-woman cries up her
greens (1-22).
You do not know yourself. Who knows himself? Every one sees his
neighbor’s faults, no one his own. You sneer at the curmudgeon who
groans out a health over the sour stuff he gives his laborers on a
holiday (23-32). And while you make mock at him, some fellow, who is
standing at your side, nudges you with his elbow, and tells you that you
are as bad as he, though in another way (33-41). And so we give and take
punishment. This is our plan of life. We hide our faults from ourselves.
We get testimonials from our neighbors to impose on our own consciences.
Awake to righteousness! Put your goodness to the test! If you yield to
the temptation of covetousness, of lust, in vain will you drink in the
praises of the rabble. Reject what you are not. Let Rag, Tag, and
Bobtail take away their tributes. Live with yourself, and you will find
out how scanty is your moral furniture (42-52).
Jahn regards this Satire as the earliest of the six, and it certainly
shows even greater immaturity than the others. The well-known
individuality of Socrates is coarsely handled, the irony lacks the
subtle play, the mischievous good-nature of the great Athenian; and
though the glaring anachronisms may be defended by such exemplars as
Horace (notably in Sat., 2, 5), there is all the difference in the world
between the sly humor of the older poet, who peeps from behind the Greek
mask and winks at the Roman audience, and the grim contortions of the
beardless representative of the bearded master.
The indecency of a part of the Satire is considered by Teuffel a valid
objection to the view taken by Jahn, but the imagination of early youth
and the experience of corrupt old age often meet in disgusting detail,
and the obscenities of bookish men are among the worst in literature.
Add to this the peculiar views of the Stoic school as to the corruption
of the flesh (2, 63), and the consequent Stoic tendency to degrade the
body by the most contemptuous representations of physical functions, and
we can the more readily understand how Marcus Antoninus, the purest
character of his time, should have besmirched his Meditations with
passages which lack a parallel for their crudity; and why Persius, the
poet of virginal life, should have outdone the _praegrandis senex_ of
Attic comedy in the coarseness of his expressions.
1-22. Socrates exposes the incompetence of Alcibiades for affairs of
state, his lack of ethical training, his need of a just balance, his
grovelling views of life, his puerile pride in his ancient family and in
his handsome face. Socrates and Alcibiades were contrasts so tempting
that dialogues between them were favorite philosophical exercises.
1. #rem populi# = _rem publicam_. --#tractas?# On the form of the
question, see G., 455; A., 71, 1, R. Comp. Plato, Alc. I., p. 106C:
διανοεῖ γὰρ παριέναι συμβουλεύσων Ἀθηναίοις ἐντὸς οὐ πολλοῦ χρόνου, and
further, p. 118B, and Conv., p. 216A. --#barbatum#: The beard was the
conventional mark of the philosopher in the time of Persius; it is an
anachronism in the case of Socrates, who lived before shaving was the
rule and the beard a badge. However, the custom was old in Persius’s
day, and the slip is slight. So Plato’s long beard is noticed by
Ephippus ap. Athen., 11, p. 509C (3, 332 Mein.). Comp. Juv., 14, 12:
_barbatos-- magistros_. --#crede#: advertises a want of art.
2. #sorbitio#: ‘draught,’ ‘dose.’ So Sen., E. M., 78, 25. --#tollit# =
_sustulit_. A solitary Historical Present with a relative is harsh to us
for all the examples and all the commentators.
3. #quo fretus?# See 3, 67. Comp. Plato, Alc. I., p. 123E: τὶ οὖν ποτ᾽
ἔστιν ὅτῳ #πιστεύει# τὸ μειράκιον. --#magni pupille Pericli#: Because
Alcibiades owed his start in life to his guardian and kinsman Pericles.
See Plat., l.c. p. 104B. For the form _Pericli_, see G., 72; A., 11, I.,
4.
4. #scilicet#: Ironical, 1, 15; 2, 19. ‘Of course.’ Comp. the old ‘God
wot.’ --#ingenium et rerum prudentia#: ‘wit and wisdom.’ _Prudentia_ may
be translated ‘knowledge,’ and _rerum_ ‘world,’ ‘life,’ but not
necessarily. See 1, 1. --#velox#: Predicative (Schol.), ‘have been quick
in coming’ (Conington).
5. #ante pilos#: ‘before your beard.’ ‘A contrast with _barbatum
magistrum_’ (Conington), but _b._ can hardly be used in the same breath
as the mark of mature years and as the ensign of a philosopher.
--#venit#: On the number, see G., 281, Exc. 2; A., 49, 1, _b._
--#dicenda tacendaque#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 7, 72-- _dicenda tacenda
locutus_-- for the expression. For the sense, Conington comp. Aeschylus,
Cho., 582: σιγᾶν ὅπου δεῖ καὶ λέγειν τὰ καίρια. In Horace it means ‘all
sorts of things;’ here, ‘what you must say, what leave unsaid.’
6. #commota fervet bile#: Comp. Hor., Od., 1, 13, 4: _fervens difficili
#bile# tumet iecur_.
7. #fert animus#: Well-known phrase of Ov., Met., 1, 1. So in Greek,
φέρει ὁ νοῦς, ἡ γνώμη, ἡ φρήν. The verse has a stately irony, and should
have a stately translation. ‘The spirit moves you’ (Pretor) is degraded
to slang. ‘Your bosom’s lord biddeth you wave a hush profound.’
--#fecisse#: Comp. 1, 91. --#silentia#: Comp. 3, 81.
8. #maiestate manus#: ‘with majestic hand’. (G., 357, R. 2), ‘by the
imposing action of your hand’ (Conington). --#quid deinde loquere?# The
orator has not considered his speech. ‘Now that you have got your
silence, what have you got to say.’ --#Quirites#: Persius drops his
Greek. Alcibiades is a mere quintain.
9. #puta#: ‘put case,’ ‘say,’ ‘for instance,’ is an iambic Imperative,
with the ultimate shortened, like _cavē̆_, _vidē̆_, etc., 1, 108.
Hermann gives it to Socrates, which is favored by the sense; Jahn and
others to Alcibiades, as caricatured by Socrates, which is favored by
the position. Heinrich reads _puto_.
10. #scis etenim#, etc.: _and_ (well you may) _for you know how_, etc.
On _scis_, see 1, 53; on _etenim_, 3, 48. Comp. Plato, l.c. 110C: ᾤου
ἄρα ἐπίστασθαι καὶ παῖς ὤν, ὡς ἔοικε, τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰ ἄδικα. It may be
necessary to observe that all this is sarcasm. Conington takes it
literally, and considers these statements as so many concessions.
--#gemina lance# = _geminis lancibus_. Comp. Ov., A. A., 2, 644:
_geminus pes_.
11. #ancipitis#: ‘wavering.’ --#rectum discernis#: ‘You can distinguish
the straight line when it runs among crooked lines on either hand-- ay,
even when your square with twisted leg is but a faulty guide.’ The
straight line is virtue, the crooked lines are vices. The difficulty of
picking out the right course is much enhanced when the rule by which we
go is itself warped-- that is, ‘as Casaubon explains it, when justice
has to be corrected by equity.’ The _regula_ here is not the _regula_ of
5, 38, but the _norma_, or carpenter’s square.
13. #potis es#: See 1, 56. --#theta#: Θ, the initial of θάνατος, was the
mark of condemnation used in the time of Persius, instead of the older C
(_condemno_). It was also employed in epitaphs, in army lists, and the
like, for ‘deceased.’ Translate ‘black mark.’
14. #quin desinis#: See 2, 71. --#tu#: The elision of the monosyllable
is harsh (Jahn). See 1, 51. 66. 131. --#igitur#: ‘If all this is so, why
then--.’ Comp. the indignant _igitur_ (εἶτα) of 1, 98. --#summa pelle
decorus#: Hor. Ep., 1, 16, 45: _Introrsus turpem, speciosum #pelle
decora#_. --#nequiquam#: ‘because you can not impose on me.’ Comp. 3, 30
(Conington).
15. #ante diem#: ‘before your time.’ --#blando caudam iactare popello#:
Casaubon thinks that a peacock is meant, Jahn suggests a horse. The
Scholiast says that the image is that of a (pet) dog. _Pelle decorus_
would not apply to the peacock, nor very well to the horse. It does
apply to Alcibiades as the lion’s whelp of Aristoph., Ran., 1431. Comp.
the famous description in Aeschyl., Agam., 725 (Dindorf). The comparison
of politicians with lions is found also in Plato, Gorg., 483E. The only
difficulty lies in _blando popello_, but petting implies _blanditiae_ on
both sides. ‘The dog fawns on those who caress him’ (Conington).
--#popello#: contemptuously, 6, 50; Hor., Ep., 1, 7, 65.
16. #Anticyras#: There were two towns of that name, one on the Maliac
Gulf, the other in Phocis; both famous for their hellebore, but
especially the latter. The town for its product, after the pattern of
Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 83; A. P., 300 (Jahn). The Plural is the familiar
poetic exaggerative. --#meracas#: ‘undiluted,’ ‘without a drop of
water.’Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 137: _expulit helleboro morbum bilemque
#meraco#_. On the use of hellebore as a preparative for philosophy,
comp. the well-known experience of Chrysippus: οὐ θέμις γενέσθαι σοφόν,
ἢν μὴ τρὶς ἐφεξῆς τοῦ ἐλλεβόρου πιῃς, Lucian, Vit. Auct., 23 (1, 564
R.). --#melior sorbere# = _qui melius sorberes_ (comp. _quo graves
Persae #melius# perirent_, Hor., Od., 1, 2, 22).
17. #summa boni# = _summum bonum_. --#uncta patella#: ‘rich dishes.’
Comp. 3, 102. The reference to a sacrificial dish (3, 26) is less
likely. As the character of Alcibiades is not kept up with any care by
Persius, it is hardly worth while to note that he was a most sensitive
_gourmet_, as is shown by the curious anecdote, Teles ap. Stob., Flor.,
5, 67. --#vixisse#: The Perfect with intention. G., 275, 1; A., 58, 11,
_e._ ‘To have the satisfaction of _having lived_ on the daintiest fare,’
so that you may say when you come to die, _vixi dum vixi bene_. Comp.
Sen., Ep., 23, 10: _Id agendum est ut satis #vixerimus#_.
18. #curata cuticula sole#: with reference to the _apricatio_ or
_insolatio_. Comp. Juv., 11, 203: _nostra bibat vernum contracta
#cuticula solem#_. What was a matter of hygiene became a matter of
luxury. The sun-cure has been revived of late years. _Curare cuticulam_,
_cutem_, _pelliculam_ is commonly used of ‘good living’ generally,
‘taking very good care of one’s dear little self.’ See Hor., Ep., 1, 2,
29. 4, 15; Sat., 2, 5, 38; Juv., 2, 105. --#haec#: δεικτικῶς. --#i
nunc#: ‘_Irridentis vel exprobrantis formula_,’ Jahn, who gives an
overwhelming list of examples (comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 6, 17; 2, 3, 76). The
usage requires it to be connected with _suffla_. ‘Go on, then, and blow
as you have been blowing.’ _Suffla_ in this sense is quite as ‘low’ as
our Americanism. Persius has the aristocrat’s contempt for superfine
language, and by a natural reaction falls, not unfrequently, into slang.
Jahn compares 5, 13 and 3, 27, and the Greek proverbial expression φυσᾷ
γὰρ οὐ σμικροῖσιν αὐλίσκοις ἔπι. Add Menand., fr. 296 (4, 157 Mein.):
οἷοι λαλοῦμεν ὄντες οἱ τρισάθλιοι | ἅπαντες #οἱ φυσῶντες ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῖς
μέγα#. ‘Mouth it out’ (Conington), ‘spout it out’ (Macleane).
20. #Dinomaches#: The mother of Alcibiades came of the great house of
the Alcmaeonidae, and it was to her that he owed his connection with
Pericles. The Gen. without _filius_ (G., 360, R. 3; A., 50, 1, _b_) is
rare in the predicate. --#candidus# = _pulcher_. Comp. 3, 110. The
beauty of Alcibiades is well known, Plat., l.c. p. 104A. --#esto#: εἶεν;
an ironical concession.
21. #dum ne#: Comp. G., 575; A., 61, 3. Final sentences are often
elliptical (comp. note on 1, 4). ‘Only you must admit that,’ etc.; ‘_dum
ne neges deterius sapere_.’ --#pannucia#: Here not ‘ragged,’ but
‘shrivelled.’ Comp. Mart., 11, 46, 3. --#Baucis#: The name is copied
from the Baucis of Ovid, Met., 8, 640, the wife of Philemon, the Joan of
the antique Darby; a poor woman, who had a patch of vegetables. The
_anicula quae agreste holus vendebat_, in Petron., 6, is a similar
figure.
22. #bene#: with _discincto_, according to Jahn, who compares _bene
mirae_, 1, 111. Mr. Pretor says that if thus combined, ‘_bene_ is weak
and adds nothing to the picture.’ He forgets that there is such a thing
as being _male discinctus_. Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 132: _#discincta#
tunica fugiendum est ac pede nudo_. If _bene_ is combined with
_cantaverit_, it must be used in its mercantile sense with _vendere_,
_cantare_ being equivalent to _cantando vendere_. ‘When she has cried
off her herbs at a good figure.’ --#discincto vernae#: _Verna_, of
itself a synonym for all that is saucy and pert, is heightened by
_discinctus_, for which see 3, 31. --#ocima#: ‘basil,’ ‘water-cress,’ or
what not, stands for ‘greens’ generally. Jahn thinks that it was an
aphrodisiac, referring to Eubul., fr. 53 (3, 229 Mein.). Persius, as we
have seen, delights in picturesque detail, and his comparisons must not
be pressed. Alcibiades cries his wares, just as the herb-seller cries
hers. So the ‘apple-woman’ or ‘orange-girl’ in modern times might be
selected as the standard of a rising politician, hawking his wares from
hustings to hustings, from stump to stump. The far-fetched
interpretation that _ocima cantare_ = _convicia ingerere_, because, as
Pliny tells us (19, 7), ‘basil is to be sown with curses,’ may be
mentioned as a specimen of the way in which the text of our author has
been smothered by learning.
23-41. The satire becomes more general. No one tries to know his own
faults; each has his eyes fixed on his neighbor’s short-comings. Take
some rich skinflint, and, as soon as he is mentioned, the details of his
meanness will be spread before us. And yet you are as great a sinner in
a different direction. Comp. M. Anton., 7, 71: γελοῖόν ἐστι τὴν μὲν
ἰδίαν κακίαν μὴ φεύγειν ὃ καὶ δυνατόν ἐστι, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἄλλων φεύγειν
ὅπερ ἀδύνατον.
23. #Ut#: _how_. --#in sese descendere#: ‘go down into his own heart.’
The thought is simply _noscere se ipsum_. The heart is a depth, a well,
a cellar, a sea. This is not the _recede in te ipsum quantum potes_ of
Sen., Ep., 7, 8. Comp. M. Anton., 4, 3. Still less is it Mr. Pretor’s
‘enter the lists against yourself,’ which would make ‘self’ at once the
arena and the antagonist.
24. #spectatur#: The positive (_quisque_) must be supplied from the
preceding negative. Comp. G., 446, R.; M., 462 b. --#mantica#: According
to the familiar fable of Aesop (Phaedr., 4, 10), each man carries two
wallets. The one which holds his own faults is carried on his back; the
other, which contains his neighbor’s, hangs down over his breast. Comp.
Catull., 22, 21: _sed non videmus #manticae# quod in tergo est_. Persius
reduces the two wallets to one. Each man’s knapsack of faults is open to
the inspection of all save himself.
25. #quaesieris#: G., 250; A., 60, 2, _b_; ἔροιτ᾽ ἄν τις. Persius gets
away from Socrates and Alcibiades into a land of shadowy second persons.
One of these is supposed to ask another whether he knows a certain
estate. The casual question leads to a caustic characteristic of the
owner, which is interrupted by another indefinite character, who quotes
an _ignotus aliquis_, and the general impression at the close is that
every body is violently preached at except the son of Dinomache, with
whom we started. --#Vettidi#: With the characteristic of Vettidius,
comp. Horace’s Avidienus (_cui canis cognomen_, Sat., 2, 2, 55), and the
ἀνελεύθερος and the μικρολόγος of Theophrastus.
26. #Curibus#: in the land of the Sabines, the land of frugal habits.
Comp. 6, 1. --#miluus errat#: So Jahn (1868). _Miluus_ is trisyllabic,
as in Hor., Epod., 16, 31. Hermann, _oberrat_; Jahn (1843), _oberret_.
The expression is proverbial: _quantum #milvi# volant_, Petron., 37.
Comp. Juv., 9, 55.
27. #dis iratis genioque sinistro#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 8: _#iratis#
natus paries #dis# atque poetis_. A substantive expression of quality
without a common noun is rare in Latin as in English (M., 287, Obs. 3),
but not limited in time. See Dräger, _Histor. Syntax_, § 226. ‘The
aversion of the gods and at war with his genius,’ his ‘second self,’ who
‘delights in good living,’ _quia genius laute vivendo gaudere putabatur_
(Jahn).
28. #quandoque# = _quandocumque_, as Hor., Od., 4, 1, 17, 2, 34.
--#pertusa# = _pervia_, according to Jahn; ‘roads and thoroughfares’
(Conington); = _calcata_, _trita_, Heinr., which seems more natural.
--#compita#: ‘The _compitalia_ is meant. Comp. Cato, R. R., 5, 4: _Rem
divinam nisi #compital#ibus in #compito# [vilicus] ne faciat._ It was
one of the _feriae conceptivae_, held in honor of the _Lares compitales_
on or about the 2d of January. It is said to have been instituted by
Servius Tullius, and restored by Augustus (Suet., Aug., 31), and was
observed with feasting. Comp. Cato, R. R., 5, 7, and _uncta compitalia_.
Anthol. Lat., 2, 246, 27B. n. 105, 27M.’ So Pretor, after Jahn. With
_com-pit-a_ comp. Greek πάτ-ος, _path_. --#figit#: The suspension of the
yoke symbolizes the suspension of labor. The yoke stands for the plough
as well, Tibull., 2, 1, 5.
29. #metuens deradere#: See 1, 47. Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 4, 80:
_#metuentis reddere# soldum_. --#limum#: ‘the dirt’ on the jar. Comp.
_sive gravis veteri craterae #limus# adhaesit_, Hor., Sat., 2, 4, 80.
The Scholiast understands ‘the seal.’
30. #hoc bene sit#: The formula in drinking a health. Comp. Plaut.,
Pers., 5, 1, 20. Here used also as a kind of grace. --#tunicatum |
caepe#: πολύλοπον κρόμμυον (Casaubon). _#Tunicatum# caepe_, ‘bulbous or
coated onion,’ as opposed to the _sectile #porrum#_, or ‘chives’
(Pretor). It may be going too far to exclude _epitheta ornantia_ from
Persius, but he certainly uses them sparingly. _Tunicatum_ is commonly
understood to mean ‘skin and all,’ as we say of a potato, ‘jacket and
all.’ Comp. Juv., 14, 153: _#tunicam# mihi malo lupini_. But as the skin
of an onion is not very ‘filling,’ and as _tunica_ may be used in the
sense of ‘coat’ or ‘layer,’ the slight change to _tunicatim_-- ‘layer by
layer’-- has suggested itself to me. It is not a whit more exaggerated
than Juvenal’s _filaque sectivi numerata includere porri_ (14, 133).
31. #farrata olla#: ‘porridge pot of spelt,’ an every-day meal with
others, holiday fare with these unfortunates, hence _plaudentibus_. The
Abl. of Cause. _Farratam ollam_ (Jahn [1843] and Hermann) may be
defended by Stat., Silv., 5, 3, 140 (cited by Jahn): _#fratrem plausere#
Therapnae_, but there is danger of the miser’s eating it.
32. #pannosam#: ‘mothery.’ Every word tells. It is not wine, but
vinegar; it is not even good vinegar, but vinegar that is getting flat;
it is not even clear vinegar, but the lees of vinegar; and not even
honest lees, but mothery lees. --#morientis#: ‘Dying vinegar’ is not so
familiar to us as ‘dead wines.’ Comp. Mart., 1, 18, 8. --#aceti#: Comp.
_faece rubentis #aceti#_, Mart., 11, 56, 7.
33. Picture of a sensualist. --#figas in cute solem#: εἰληθερεῖν, ‘fix
the sun in your skin,’ ‘let the sun’s rays pierce your skin,’ instead of
_bibere_, _combibere solem_, Juv., 11, 203 (quoted above, v. 18), and
Mart., 10, 12, 7; or the more prosaic _sole uti_, Mart., 1, 77, 4.
34. #cubito tangat#: an immemorial familiarity. Examples range from
Homer, Od., 14, 485 to Aristaen., 1, 19, 27. Persius has in mind Hor.,
Sat., 2, 5, 42: _nonne vides (aliquis #cubito# stantem prope #tangens#)
inquiet_, etc.
35. #acre | despuat#: ‘empty acrid spittle,’ sc. on you. Others read _in
mores_ with Jahn (1843). Jahn (1868) reads with Hermann, _Hi mores_. Of
course it is impossible to analyze this spittle, which flows to the end
of v. 41. See the Introduction to the Satire. ‘_Persium_,’ as Quintilian
says of Horace, _in quibusdam nolim interpretari_ (1, 8, 6). This is one
of the passages that called down on our author the rebuke of that
verecund gentleman Pierre Bayle: _Les Satires de Perse sont
dévergondées_.
42-52. Such is life. We hit and are hit in turn. We disguise our
faults-- our _vulnera vitae_-- even from ourselves, and appeal to that
common jade, common fame, for a certificate of health. But temptation
reveals the corruption within. You are guilty of avarice, lust,
swindling, and the praises of the mob are of no moment. Be yourself.
Examine yourself, and know how scantily furnished you are.
42. #caedimus#, etc.: Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 97: _#caedimur# et totidem plagis
consumimus hostem_ (Casaubon). The resemblance here, as often elsewhere,
is merely verbal, as in Horace ‘the passage of arms is a passage of
compliments’ (Conington). --#praebemus#: ‘expose,’ ‘present.’
43. #vivitur hoc pacto#: Negatively expressed _non aliter vivitur_. In
other words: _haec est condicio vivendi_, Hor., Sat., 2. 8, 65, which
Casaubon compares. ‘These are the terms, this the rule of life.’ --#sic
novimus# = _notum est_ (Jahn). ‘So we have learned it.’ ‘This is its
lesson.’ --#ilia subter#: G., 414, R. 3. The danger of the wound is well
known.
44. #caecum#: ‘hidden.’ --#lato balteus auro#: The baldric covered the
groin, and was often ornamented with bosses of gold. Comp. Verg., Aen.,
5, 312: _#lato# quam circumplectitur #auro | balteus#_. This broad gold
belt is the symbol of wealth and rank.
45. #ut mavis#: Ironical. Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 21. --#da verba#: Comp. 3,
19. --#decipe nervos#: ‘cheat your muscle,’ ‘cheat yourself into the
belief that you are sound;’ and certainly self-deception seems to be
required by the context. Otherwise _decipe nervos_ might be considered
as equivalent to _mentire robur_, _pro sano te iacta_, _sanum te finge_.
47. #non credam?# G., 455; A., 71, 1, R. --#inprobe#: The _inprobus_ is
hard-headed as well as hard-hearted. Comp. _plorantesque #inproba#
natos-- reliquit_, Juv., 6, 86.
48. #amarum#: Jahn reads _amorum_ in his ed. of 1843, but was sorry for
it. In 1868 he reads _amarum_, and punctuates so as to throw it into the
grave of the next line.
49. #si puteal#: A _versus conclamatus_ (Jahn). The old explanation
makes this passage refer to exorbitant usury. The _puteal_ here meant is
supposed to be the one mentioned by Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 13-- the _puteal
Libonis_, situated near the praetor’s tribunal, and on that account a
favorite haunt of usurers, who would naturally have frequent occasion to
appear in court. Comp. the poplar-tree, which was the rendezvous of a
certain ‘ring’ of contractors in Athens, Andoc., 1, 133. Local allusions
of this kind are the despair of commentators; the _puteal_ is, after
all, as mysterious as a ‘corner’ to the uninitiated, and we can only
gather that _puteal flagellare_ is slang for some recondite swindling
process, which required a certain amount of knowingness (hence
_cautus_). Conington renders, ‘flog the exchange with many a stripe.’ We
may Americanize by ‘clean out, thrash out Wall Street.’ The Neronians,
Casaubon at their head, understand the passage as referring to Nero’s
habit of going out at night in disguise and maltreating people in the
street-- see Tac., Ann., 13, 25; Suet., Nero, 26-- and _cautus_ is
supposed to allude to the measures which he took for his personal
safety.
50. #bibulas donaveris aures#: The student is by this time familiar with
Persius’s way of hammering a familiar figure into odd shapes. If ears
drink in, then ears are thirsty; if they are thirsty, then they tipple;
and if you can give ear, you can bestow ears. ‘In vain would you have
given up your thirsty ears to be drenched by the praises of the mob.’
_Donaveris_, Perf. Subj., μάτην παρεσχηκὼς ἂν εἴης τὰ ὦτα. Future
ascertainment of a completed action. G., 271, 2.
51. #cerdo#: Κέρδων, a plebeian proper name. Conington translates by the
‘Hob and Dick’ of Shakspeare’s Coriolanus. The common rendering,
‘cobbler,’ is a false inference from Mart., 3, 59, 1; 99, 1.
52. #tecum habita#: Comp. 1, 7. --#noris#: The punctuation of all the
editors makes _noris_ an Imperative Subjunctive. Still a kind of
condition is involved = _si habites, noris_. G., 594, 4; A., 60, 1, _b_.
One of the most threadbare quotations from Latin poetry.
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
SATURA IV.
3. #hoc#: o, H. --9. #hoc puta#: _hoc_, puta, H.; puto, Heinr. --13.
#theta#: theta? H. --19. #exspecta#: expecta, J{ω}. --20. #suffla#:
sufla, J{ω}. --26. #miluus errat#: milvus oberret, J{α}.; milvus
oberrat, H. --31. #farrata olla#: farratam ollam, J{α}., H. --35. #hi
mores#: in mores, J{α}. --38. #exstat#: extat, J{ω}. --48. #venit
amarum#: H.; venit, amarum, J{ω}.; venit amorum, J{α}. --_sed mox
paenituit_. _Vid. Prolegg._, 193, 1.
* * * * *
SATURA V.
Vatibus hic mos est, centum sibi poscere voces,
centum ora et linguas optare in carmina centum,
fabula seu maesto ponatur hianda tragoedo,
vulnera seu Parthi ducentis ab inguine ferrum.
‘Quorsum haec? aut quantas robusti carminis offas 5
ingeris, ut par sit centeno gutture niti?
grande locuturi nebulas Helicone legunto,
si quibus aut Prognes, aut si quibus olla Thyestae
fervebit, saepe insulso cenanda Glyconi;
tu neque anhelanti, coquitur dum massa camino, 10
folle premis ventos, nec clauso murmure raucus
nescio quid tecum grave cornicaris inepte,
nec scloppo tumidas intendis rumpere buccas.
verba togae sequeris iunctura callidus acri,
ore teres modico, pallentis radere mores 15
doctus et ingenuo culpam defigere ludo.
hinc trahe quae dicis, mensasque relinque Mycenis
cum capite et pedibus, plebeiaque prandia noris.’
Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis
pagina turgescat, dare pondus idonea fumo. 20
secreti loquimur; tibi nunc hortante Camena
excutienda damus praecordia, quantaque nostrae
pars tua sit, Cornute, animae, tibi, dulcis amice,
ostendisse iuvat: pulsa, dinoscere cautus,
quid solidum crepet et pictae tectoria linguae. 25
his ego centenas ausim deposcere voces,
ut, quantum mihi te sinuoso in pectore fixi,
voce traham pura, totumque hoc verba resignent,
quod latet arcana non enarrabile fibra.
Cum primum pavido custos mihi purpura cessit 30
bullaque succinctis Laribus donata pependit;
cum blandi comites totaque inpune Subura
permisit sparsisse oculos iam candidus umbo;
cumque iter ambiguum est et vitae nescius error
deducit trepidas ramosa in compita mentes, 35
me tibi supposui: teneros tu suscipis annos
Socratico, Cornute, sinu; tum fallere sollers
apposita intortos extendit regula mores,
et premitur ratione animus vincique laborat
artificemque tuo ducit sub pollice vultum. 40
tecum etenim longos memini consumere soles,
et tecum primas epulis decerpere noctes:
unum opus et requiem pariter disponimus ambo,
atque verecunda laxamus seria mensa.
non equidem hoc dubites, amborum foedere certo 45
consentire dies et ab uno sidere duci
nostra vel aequali suspendit tempora Libra
Parca tenax veri, seu nata fidelibus hora
dividit in Geminos concordia fata duorum,
Saturnumque gravem nostro Iove frangimus una: 50
nescio quod, certe est, quod me tibi temperat astrum.
Mille hominum species et rerum discolor usus;
velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno.
mercibus hic Italis mutat sub sole recenti
rugosum piper et pallentis grana cumini, 55
hic satur inriguo mavult turgescere somno;
hic campo indulget, hunc alea decoquit, ille
in Venerem putris; sed cum lapidosa cheragra
fregerit articulos, veteris ramalia fagi,
tunc crassos transisse dies lucemque palustrem 60
et sibi iam seri vitam ingemuere relictam.
at te nocturnis iuvat inpallescere chartis;
cultor enim iuvenum purgatas inseris aures
fruge Cleanthea. petite hinc puerique senesque
finem animo certum miserisque viatica canis! 65
‘Cras hoc fiet.’ Idem cras fiet. ‘Quid? quasi magnum
nempe diem donas.’ Sed cum lux altera venit,
iam cras hesternum consumpsimus: ecce aliud cras
egerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra.
nam quamvis prope te, quamvis temone sub uno 70
vertentem sese frustra sectabere cantum,
cum rota posterior curras et in axe secundo.
Libertate opus est, non hac, ut, quisque Velina
Publius emeruit, scabiosum tesserula far
possidet. heu steriles veri, quibus una Quiritem 75
vertigo facit! hic Dama est non tressis agaso,
vappa lippus et in tenui farragine mendax:
verterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit
Marcus Dama. papae! Marco spondente recusas
credere tu nummos? Marco sub iudice palles? 80
Marcus dixit: ita est; adsigna, Marce, tabellas.
haec mera libertas; hoc nobis pillea donant!
‘An quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere vitam
cui licet, ut voluit? licet ut volo vivere: non sum
liberior Bruto?’ “Mendose colligis,” inquit 85
stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus aceto
“haec reliqua accipio; _licet_ illud et _ut volo_ tolle.”
‘Vindicta postquam meus a praetore recessi,
cur mihi non liceat, iussit quodcumque voluntas,
excepto si quid Masuri rubrica vetavit?’ 90
Disce, sed ira cadat naso rugosaque sanna,
dum veteres avias tibi de pulmone revello.
non praetoris erat stultis dare tenuia rerum
officia atque usum rapidae permittere vitae:
sambucam citius caloni aptaveris alto. 95
stat contra ratio et secretam garrit in aurem,
ne liceat facere id quod quis vitiabit agendo.
publica lex hominum naturaque continet hoc fas,
ut teneat vetitos inscitia debilis actus.
diluis helleborum, certo conpescere puncto 100
nescius examen: vetat hoc natura medendi.
navem si poscat sibi peronatus arator,
luciferi rudis, exclamet Melicerta perisse
frontem de rebus. tibi recto vivere talo
ars dedit, et veri speciem dinoscere calles, 105
ne qua subaerato mendosum tinniat anro?
quaeque sequenda forent, quaeque evitanda vicissim,
illa prius creta, mox haec carbone notasti?
es modicus voti? presso lare? dulcis amicis?
iam nunc astringas, iam nunc granaria laxes, 110
inque luto fixum possis transcendere nummum,
nec glutto sorbere salivam Mercurialem?
‘haec mea sunt, teneo’ cum vere dixeris, esto
liberque ac sapiens praetoribus ac Iove dextro,
sin tu, cum fueris nostrae paulo ante farinae, 115
pelliculam veterem retines et fronte politus
astutam vapido servas sub pectore vulpem,
quae dederam supra relego funemque reduco:
nil tibi concessit ratio; digitum exsere, peccas,
et quid tam parvum est? sed nullo ture litabis, 120
haereat in stultis brevis ut semuncia recti.
haec miscere nefas; nec, cum sis cetera fossor,
tris tantum ad numeros satyrum moveare Bathylli.
‘Liber ego.’ Unde datum hoc sentis, tot subdite rebus?
an dominum ignoras, nisi quem vindicta relaxat? 125
‘I puer et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer!’
si increpuit, ‘cessas nugator;’ servitium acre
te nihil impellit, nec quicquam extrinsecus intrat,
quod nervos agitet; sed si intus et in iecore aegro
nascuntur domini, qui tu inpunitior exis 130
atque hic, quem ad strigiles scutica et metus egit erilis?
Mane piger stertis. ‘Surge!’ inquit Avaritia ‘heia
surge!’ Negas; instat ‘Surge!’ inquit. “Non queo.” ‘Surge!’
“Et quid agam?” ‘Rogitas? en saperdam advehe Ponto,
castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus, lubrica Coa; 135
tolle recens primus piper ex sitiente camelo;
verte aliquid; iura.’ “Sed Iuppiter audiet.” ‘Eheu!
varo, regustatum digito terebrare salinum
contentus perages, si vivere cum Iove tendis!’
iam pueris pellem succinctus et oenophorum aptas 140
‘Ocius ad navem!’ nihil obstat, quin trabe vasta
Aegaeum rapias, ni sollers Luxuria ante
seductum moneat ‘Quo deinde, insane, ruis? quo?
quid tibi vis? calido sub pectore mascula bilis
intumuit, quod non exstinxerit urna cicutae? 145
tu mare transilias? tibi torta cannabe fulto
cena sit in transtro, Veientanumque rubellum
exalet vapida laesum pice sessilis obba?
quid petis? ut nummi, quos hic quincunce modesto
nutrieras, pergant avidos sudare deunces? 150
indulge genio, carpamus dulcia! nostrum est
quod vivis; cinis et manes et fabula fies.
vive memor leti! fugit hora; hoc quod loquor inde est.’
en quid agis? duplici in diversum scinderis hamo.
huncine, an hunc sequeris? subeas alternus oportet 155
ancipiti obsequio dominos, alternus oberres.
nec tu, cum obstiteris semel instantique negaris
parere imperio, ‘rupi iam vincula’ dicas;
nam et luctata canis nodum abripit; et tamen illi,
cum fugit, a collo trahitur pars longa catenae. 160
‘Dave, cito, hoc credas iubeo, finire dolores
praeteritos meditor.’ crudum Chaerestratus unguem
adrodens ait haec ‘an siccis dedecus obstem
cognatis? an rem patriam rumore sinistro
limen ad obscenum frangam, dum Chrysidis udas 165
ebrius ante fores exstincta cum face canto?’
“Euge, puer, sapias, dis depellentibus agnam
percute.” ‘Sed censen plorabit, Dave, relicta?’
“Nugaris; solea, puer, obiurgabere rubra.
ne trepidare velis atque artos rodere casses! 170
nunc ferus et violens; at si vocet, haud mora, dicas:
_Quidnam igitur faciam? nec nunc, cum arcessat et ultro_
_supplicet, accedam?_ Si totus et integer illinc
exieras, nec nunc.” hic hic, quod quaerimus, hic est,
non in festuca, lictor quam iactat ineptus. 175
ius habet ille sui palpo, quem ducit hiantem
cretata ambitio? vigila et cicer ingere large
rixanti populo, nostra ut Floralia possint
aprici meminisse senes: _quid pulchrius?_ at cum
Herodis venere dies, unctaque fenestra 180
dispositae pinguem nebulam vomuere lucernae
portantes violas, rubrumque amplexa catinum
cauda natat thynni, tumet alba fidelia vino:
labra moves tacitus recutitaque sabbata palles.
tum nigri lemures ovoque pericula rupto, 185
tum grandes galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdos
incussere deos inflantis corpora, si non
praedictum ter mane caput gustaveris alli.
Dixeris haec inter varicosos centuriones,
continuo crassum ridet Pulfennius ingens, 190
et centum Graecos curto centusse licetur.
NOTES.
FIFTH SATIRE.
The theme of the Fifth Satire is the Stoic doctrine of True Liberty. All
men are slaves except the philosopher, and Persius has learned to be a
philosopher-- thanks to Cornutus, to whom the Satire is addressed.
Compare and contrast Horace’s handling of a like subject in Sat., 2, 3.
In Teuffel’s commentary on his translation of this Satire, the matter is
briefly summed up in these words: Horace is an artist, Persius a
Preacher. See Introd., xxvi. Comp. also Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 46 seqq.
ARGUMENT.-- Persius speaks: Poets have a way of asking for a hundred
mouths, a hundred tongues, whether the theme be tragedy or epic.
--Cornutus: A hundred mouths, a hundred tongues! What do you want with
them? Or, for that matter, with a hundred gullets either, to worry down
the tragic diet which other poets affect. You do not pant like a
bellows, nor croak like a jackdaw, nor strain your cheeks to bursting in
the high epic fashion. Your language is to be the language of every-day
life, to which you are to give an edge by skilful combination. Your
utterance is modest, and your art is shown in rasping the unhealthy body
of the age, and in impaling its faults with high-bred raillery. Be such
your theme. Let others sup full with tragic horrors, if they will. Do
you know nothing beyond the frugal luncheon of our daily food (1-18).
Persius: It is not my aim to have my pages swollen with ‘Bubbles from
the Brunnen of Poesy.’ We are alone, far from the madding crowd, and I
may throw open my heart to you, for I would have you know how great a
part of my soul you are. Knock at the walls of my heart, for you are
skilful to distinguish the solid from the hollow, to tell the painted
stucco of the tongue from the strong masonry of the soul. To this end I
fain would ask-- and ask until I get-- a hundred voices, to show how
deeply I have planted you in my heart of hearts; to tell you all that is
past telling in my inmost being (19-29). When first the purple garb of
boyhood withdrew its guardianship, and the amulet-- no longer potent--
was hung up, an offering to the old-fashioned household gods, when all
about me humored me, and when the dress of manhood permitted my eyes to
rove at will through the Subura with all its wares and wiles, what time
the youth’s path is doubtful, and bewilderment, ignorant of life, brings
the excited mind to the spot where the great choice of roads is to be
made-- in that decisive hour I made myself son to you, and you took me,
Cornutus, to your Socratic heart. Where my character was warped, the
quiet application of the rule of right straightened what in me was
crooked. My mind was constrained by reason, wrestled with its conqueror,
and took on new features under your forming hand. How I remember the
long days I spent with you, the first-fruits of the festal nights I
plucked with you. Our work, our rest we ordered both alike, and the
strain of study was eased by the pleasures of a modest table (30-44).
Nay, never doubt that there is a harmony between our stars. Our
constellation is the Balance or the Twins. The same aspect rules our
nativities. Some star, be that star what it may, blends my fate with
yours (45-51).
We are attuned each to other; but look abroad, and see how different men
are from us and from each other. Each has his own aims in life. One is
bent on active merchandise, one is given up to sluggish sleep, another
is fond of athletic sports. One is drained dry by dicing, another by
chambering and wantonness; but when the chalk-stones of gout rattle
among their fingers and toes, they awake to the choke-damp and the foggy
light in which they have spent their days, and mourn too late their
wasted life (52-61).
But you delight to wax pale over nightly studies. A tiller of the human
soul, you prepare the soil, and sow the field of the ear with the pure
grain of Stoic wisdom. Hence seek, young and old, an aim for your higher
being, provision for your hoary head (62-65).
‘Hoary head, you say?’ interposes an objector. ‘That can be provided for
as well to-morrow.’ To-morrow! ‘Next day the fatal precedent will
plead.’ Another to-morrow comes, and we have used up yesterday’s
to-morrow, and so our days are emptied one by one. To-morrow! It is
always ahead of us, as the hind wheel can never overtake the front
wheel, though both be in the self-same chariot (66-72).
The remedy for this and all the other ills of life is True Liberty-- not
such as gives a dole of musty meal, a soup-house ticket to the new-made
citizen; not such as makes a tipsy slave free in the twinkling of an
eye. Now Dama is a worthless groom, and would sell himself for a handful
of provender. Anon he is set free, as you call it-- becomes Marcus Dama.
Excellent surety! Most excellent judge! If Marcus says it is so, it is
so. Your sign and seal here, good Marcus. Pah! This is the liberty that
manumission gives. Up speaks Marcus: ‘Well! Who is free except the man
that can do as he pleases? I can do as I please. _Argal_ I am free as
air.’ --‘Not so,’ says your learned Stoic. ‘Your logic is at fault.
I grant the rest, but I demur to the clause “as you please.”’ --‘The
praetor’s wand made me my own man. May I not do what I please, if I
offend not against the statute-book?’ (73-90).
‘Do what you please!’ cries Persius, who identifies himself with the
Stoic philosopher. ‘Stop just there and learn of me; but first cease to
be scornful, and let me get these old wives’ notions out of your head.
The praetor could not teach you any thing about the conduct of life with
all its perplexities. As well expect a man to teach an elephant to dance
the tight-rope. Reason bars the way, and whispers, “You must not do what
you will spoil in the doing.” This is nature’s law, the law of
common-sense. You mix medicine, and know nothing of scales and weights?
You, a clodhopper, and undertake to pilot a ship? Absurd, you say; and
yet what do you know of life? How can you walk upright without
philosophy? How can you tell the ring of the genuine metal, and detect
the faulty sound of the base alloy? Do you know what to seek, what to
avoid, what to mark with white, what with black? Can you control your
wishes, moderate your expenses, be indulgent to your friends? Do you
know how to save and how to spend? Can you keep your month from watering
at the sight of money, from burning at the taste of ginger? When you can
say in truth, “All this is mine,” then you are truly free. But if you
retain the old man under the new title, I take back all that I have
granted. You can do nothing that is right. Every action is a fault. Put
forth your finger-- you sin. There is not a half-ounce of virtue in your
silly carcass. You must be all right or all wrong. Man is one. You can
not be virtuous by halves. You can not be at once a ditcher and a
dancer. You are a slave still, though the praetor’s wand may have waved
away your bonds. You do not tremble at a master’s voice, ‘tis true, but
there are other masters than those whom the law recognizes. The wires
that move you do not jerk you from without, but masters grow up within
your bosom’ (91-131).
Here the dialogue is dropped. We leave Dama, whose personality has been
getting fainter all the time, and are treated to a series of more or
less dramatic scenes in illustration of the Ruling Passions.
So Avarice and Luxury dispute about the body and soul of an un-Stoic
slave (132-160).
A Lover tries to break the chain that binds him to an unworthy mistress
(161-175).
Another is led captive by Ambition at her will (176-179).
Yet another is under the dominion of Superstition (180-188).
But why discourse thus? Imagine what the military would say to such a
screed of doctrine. I hear the horse-laugh of Pulfennius, as he bids a
clipped dollar for a hundred Greek philosophers-- a cent apiece
(189-191).
This Satire is justly considered by many critics the best of all the
productions of Persius, as it is the least obscure. The warm tribute to
his master Cornutus may have had its share in commending the poem to
teachers, who, of all men, are most grateful for gratitude. But apart
from this revelation of a pure and loving heart, the peculiar talent of
Persius, which consists in vivid portraiture of character and situation,
appears to great advantage in this composition. True, the introduction
is not wrought into the poem, and the poet’s discourse is too distinctly
a Stoic school exercise, and reminiscence crowds on reminiscence, but
there is a certain movement in the Satire, or Epistle, as it were better
called, which carries us on over the occasional rough places, without
the perpetual jolt which we feel every where else on the ‘corduroy road’
of Persius’s _Gradus ad Parnassum_.
1-4. Persius: Oh for a hundred voices, a hundred mouths, a hundred
tongues!
1. #Vatibus hic mos est#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 86: _#regibus hic mos#
est._ _Vatibus_, with a sneer. See Prol., 7. --#centum sibi poscere
voces#: Examples might be multiplied indefinitely from Homer to Charles
Wesley. Comp. Il., 2, 489: οὐδ᾽ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι, δέκα δὲ στόματ᾽
εἶεν; and Verg., Aen., 6, 625: _non mihi si linguae centum sint oraque
centum_; also Georg., 2, 43; Ov., Met., 8, 532. Conington burlesques the
passage by translating _poscere_ ‘put in a requisition for,’ and
_optare_ ‘bespeak.’ By such devices humor of a certain kind might be
extracted from elegies, and Vergil be made ‘to put in a requisition for
Quintilius at the Bureau of the Gods,’ Hor., Od., 1, 24, 12.
3. #seu ponatur#: The mood after _seu_-- _seu_ is determined on general
principles (A., 61, 4, _c_). In practice, however, the Indicative is
more common (G., 597, R. 4). The Subjunctive is to be explained by G.,
666 (see last example), and A., 66, 2. --#ponatur# = _proponatur_ (Cic.,
Tusc. Dis., 1, 4, 7). Comp. θεῖναι, θέσις. Jahn understands it as
_ponere lucum_, 1, 70, _posuisse figuras_, 1, 86. Perhaps there is a
play on the different senses of _ponere_. ‘Serve up’ would not be bad in
view of vv. 9, 10. --#hianda#: ‘To be spouted by some doleful actor.’
‘_Hianda_ has reference to the tragic mask, in which a wide aperture was
cut for the mouth, to facilitate a distinct enunciation. From the
appearance presented by the speaker, it soon came to be used of a
bombastic style of utterance. Comp. _carmen #hiare#_, Prop., 2, 31, 6,
and _grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur #hiatu#_, Juv., 6, 636.’ Pretor,
after Jahn.
4. #vulnera Parthi#: Is _Parthi_ object or subject? The passage is a
reminiscence of Hor., Sat., 2, 1, 15: _aut labentia equo describat
#vulnera Parthi#_. If _Parthi_ is the object, an interpretation which is
favored by the Horatian passage and by the propriety of the epic theme--
for why should a Roman enlarge upon the wounds that the Parthian
deals?-- _ducentis ab inguine ferrum_ must be rendered ‘drawing the dart
from his groin.’ Still _ab_ is not a suitable preposition, nor can it be
defended by such expressions as _ducere suspiria ab imo pectore_, Ov.,
Met., 10, 402. Others think of ‘trailing the shaft from his groin,’ in
which it had been imbedded. Comp. v. 160: _a collo trahitur pars longa
catenae_. If _Parthi_ is the subject, translate, ‘The Parthian who draws
the arrow from [the quiver] near his groin.’ The Eastern nations wore
the quiver low, the Greeks upon the shoulder. This line refers to epic
poetry as the preceding to tragedy.
5-18. Cornutus: What need have you of a hundred mouths? You have no
foolish tragedy to cram, no big epics to mouth. Your simple satire
demands a simple style, the talk of every day, only better put. Your
business is to scourge and pierce, and yet remember that you are a
gentleman. Let these themes suffice you, and leave to others the
stage-horrors of cannibalic feasts; yourself content with the pot-luck
of the Roman cit.
5. #Quorsum haec#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 21. --#aut#: G., 460, R.; A.,
71, 2. --#robusti carminis offas#: ‘dumplings of substantial poetry,’
‘lumps of solid poetry’ (Conington). _Offa_ is a dumpling of meal or
flesh. Comp. Apul., Met., 1, 3, on the chokiness of a certain _polentae
caseatae #offula# grandior_.
6. #ingeris#: ‘cram.’ The whole passage is intended to be coarse. ‘What
great gobbets of stuffing song are you cramming yourself with, that you
require a hundred throats to strain them down?’ Others understand:
_ingeris_ sc. _populo_. See v. 177. --#centeno gutture# = _centum
gutturibus_. So _centena arbore_, Verg., Aen., 10, 207 (Conington).
7. #grande#: See 1, 14. --#locuturi#: See 1, 100. --#nebulas#: Jahn is
reminded of Hor., A. P., 230: _nubes et inania captet_. Observe that
_legunto_ suggests the culinary figure below. The mists represent the
vegetables, Procne and Thyestes furnish the meat. --#Helicone#: See
Prologue. Persius is as intensely Roman in poetic practice as he is
Greek in philosophic theory. --#legunto#: The Imperative, instead of the
Subjunctive, gives the tone of an edict or of a cookery-book.
8. #Prognes--Thyestae#: See Classical Dictionaries for the familiar
myths. Observe the balance. Procne served up her son, Thyestes made a
dinner off his. Both are common tragic themes. See Hor., A. P., 91.
186-187. --#olla fervebit#: ‘Who are going to set Thyestes’s pot
a-boiling’ (Conington).
9. #Glyconi#: Glyco was a stupid actor of the day, who could not
understand a joke. The Neronians have made the most of the fact, as
reported by the Scholiast, that G. was manumitted by Nero, who paid his
half-owner Vergilius 300,000 sesterces for his share. So, for instance,
Lehmann (_De A. Persii Satira Quinta_, p. 17), who has nosed out all
manner of subtle Neronian flavors in this innocent satire. --#cenanda#:
Comp. 3, 46.
10. #coquitur dum#: When the action with _dum_, ‘while,’ is co-extensive
with the action in the leading clause, the limit may be expressed by
_until_, ‘while it is smelting’ = ‘until it is smelted’ --#massa#: See
note on 2, 67.
11. #folle#: The wind is squeezed ‘with’ or ‘in’ the bellows rather than
‘from’ the bellows. The Scholiast notices the Horatian reminiscence,
Sat., 1, 4, 19: _at tu conclusas hircinis #follibus# auras | usque
laborantes, dum ferrum molliat ignis | ut mavis, imitare_. Comp. also
Juv., 7, 111: _tunc immensa cavi spirant mendacia #folles#_. --#nec
clauso murmure#, etc.: ‘Nor with pent-up murmur croak to yourself until
you are hoarse some solemn nonsense.’
13. #scloppo#: So Jahn (1868), instead of _stloppo_ (1843). This is
supposed to be a word coined to express the sound (comp. _bombis_, 1,
99). Conington renders ‘plop.’ Vaniček records it under SKAR, S. 183,
and it may well be the ‘slap’ with which the distended cheeks are
reduced, and hence the ‘plop’ which is heard. The childish trick may be
witnessed wherever there are children. Persius multiplies absurd and
meaningless noises without any sharp distinction.
14. #verba togae#: ‘the language of every-day life.’ The _fabula togata_
is Roman comedy, as opposed to the _fabula praetexta_, or Roman tragedy,
and to the _f. palliata_, the subjects of which were Greek. Persius
insists on the connection of the national satire with the national
comedy, and the scanty remains of the _fabula togata_ deserve close
comparison. --sequeris = _sectaris_. Prol., 11. --#acri iunctura#: ‘nice
grouping,’ ‘telling combination.’ The words are familiar, but the
setting is new. Comp. Hor., A. P., 47: _#notum# si callida #verbum# |
reddiderit #iunctura# novum_; and 242: _tantum #series iunctura#que
pollet | tantum #de medio sumptis# accedit honoris_. An important
passage, as showing the intense self-consciousness of the poet’s art.
15. #ore teres modico#: Jahn comp. _ore rotundo_, Hor., A. P., 323. The
mouth stands for the style, and the position of the mouth symbolized the
utterance (_ore magis quam labris loquendum est_, Quint., 11, 3, 81).
_Teres_ as in Cic., De Orat., 3, 52, 199: _est [oratio] et plena quaedam
sed tamen #teres# et tenuis, non sine nervis et viribus._ ‘A moderate
rounding of the cheek’ (Conington); but although in view of v. 13 it
would be desirable to retain the figure, it is hardly possible. ‘With
smooth and compassed tone.’ As _teres ore = ore modico_, Hermann
(_L. P._, II., 46) comp. Ov., Fast., 6, 425: _lucoque obscurus opaco_.
--#pallentis mores#: The ‘spirit of the age’ is also the ‘body of the
age.’ Hence the figure. ‘Pale’ with disease and vice (comp. 4, 47),
‘guilty.’ --#radere#: Comp. 1, 107.
16. #ingenuo ludo#: ‘with high-bred raillery,’ ‘with raillery that a
gentleman may speak and hear.’ Persius has in mind εὐτραπελία, the
πεπαιδευμένη ὕβρις of Aristotle, Rhet., 2, 12, as Conington suggests.
--#defigere#: Variously explained. So ‘post up,’ ‘placard’ (Casaubon);
‘pin to the ground’ (Conington); ‘pierce,’ like an arrow (Jahn);
‘sting,’ like a hornet, as in Ov., Fast., 3, 753: _milia crabronum
coeunt et vertice nudo, | spicula #defigunt# oraque summa notant_. Comp.
the use of _figere_, 3, 80.
17. #hinc#: From every-day life. König compares Hor., A. P., 318: _vivas
#hinc# ducere voces_. --#quae dicis#: So Jahn (1868), after the best
MSS. In 1843 we find _dicas_, which is more natural, but not necessary.
--#Mycenis#: Dative, far more forcible than the locative Ablative. Jahn
comp. Prol., 5: _illis relinquo_, a reading which he afterward
abandoned. See G., 344, R. 3.
18. #cum capite et pedibus#: served up to Thyestes after he had finished
his dinner. Comp. Aeschyl., Ag., 1594; Sen., Thyest., 764. --#plebeia
prandia#: Your theme is ‘human nature’s daily food,’ not the heroic
suppers of ‘raw-head and bloody-bones’ that teach us nothing. _Mensa_ is
contrasted with _prandia_ (comp. Seneca’s _sine mensa prandium_, cited
1, 67) as ‘banquet’ with ‘meal,’ ‘_Tafel_’ with ‘_Tisch_.’
19-29. Persius: You understand my aims. I do not care to swell my page
with frothy nonsense. And now that we are alone, I desire you to examine
my heart, that you may see how you are enshrined in it-- a theme for
which I might well desire a hundred voices.
19. #equidem#: Here in accordance with common usage. See 1, 110.
--#bullatis nugis#: ‘air-blown trifles’ (Gifford). _Bullatis:_ so Jahn
(1868) with Hermann. The reading of the oldest MSS., _pullatis_, ‘sad
colored,’ explained now as ‘tragic stuff’ (because mourners were
_pullati_); now as stuff for the groundlings (because the common people
were _pullati_), is scarcely tenable. _Ampullatis_, Jahn’s conjecture,
though defended by Lachmann (Lucret., 6, 1067), is metrically bad; but
the sense is excellent, and the reference would be to a passage which
Persius must have had in his mind. Hor., A. P., 97: _proicit #ampullas#
et sesquipedalia verba_. Even Thyestes is mentioned in the context, l.c.
91. _Bullatis_, ‘bubbly.’ Hermann (_L. P._, I., 32) comp. _alata avis_,
and makes _bullatis_ refer to _tumorem et inanem verborum strepitum_.
20. #dare pondus fumo#: Casaubon comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 42: _nugis
#addere pondus#_. Horace uses the expression in the sense of ‘attaching
importance.’ Persius means that these trifles are fitted to lend
importance, to give seeming substance to mere vapors. _Fumus_ is a
synonym for ‘humbug.’ On _dare idonea_ = _idonea quae det_, see G., 424,
R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f._
22. #excutienda#: See 1, 49. But the figure changes below, or there is a
figure within a figure, the heart being compared to a wall, the wall to
a dress. On the construction, see G., 431; A., 72, 5, _c._
23. #pars animae#: Comp. _te meae partem animae_, Hor., Od., 2, 17, 5;
_animae dimidium meae_, Od., 1, 3, 8. --#Cornute#: See Introduction, ix.
24. #ostendisse#: once for all. See G., 275, 1; A., 58, 11, _d._
--#pulsa#: κροῦε. See 3, 21. --#dinoscere cautus#: Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 51:
_cautum adsumere dignos_. Comp. Prol., 11.
25. #solidum crepet#: like _sonat vitium_, 3, 21. G., 331, R. 2; A., 52,
3, _a._ --#pictae tectoria linguae#: The comparison is taken from a
stuccoed party-wall painted to look solid. Comp. Afran. ap. Non., 152,
28, v. 14 (Ribbeck): _fallaci aspectu #paries pictus# putidus_
(= _puter_). The notion in _pictae_ belongs rather to _tectoria_ than to
_linguae_-- ‘painted tongue-stucco.’ The figure will not bear close
examination any more than the stucco.
26. #his, ut# = _ad haec ut._ Comp. _hoc, ut_, v. 19. Others read _hic_.
--#centenas# = _centum_. G., 310, R.; A., 18, 2, _d_. --#deposcere#:
Notice the determination that lies in _deposcere_.
27. #quantum fixi#: This is not conceived as a dependent interrogative,
as is shown by v. 29, where the antecedent of the parallel clause is
expressed. G., 469, R. 3. --#sinuoso#: Comp. Plin., H. N., 2, 37: _cor
prima domicilia intra se animo et sanguini praebet #sinuoso specu#_.
_Sinuoso pectore_ = _in recessu mentis_, 2, 73.
28. #voce#: carelessly repeated after _voces_. --#pura#: ‘honest.’
29. #non enarrabile#: i.e., save by the hundred voices. There is no
contradiction, and even if there were-- this is supposed to be poetry.
--#fibra#: 1, 47.
30-51. When first I put away the things of boyhood and encountered the
temptations of youth, and stood bewildered at the cross-roads of life,
I threw myself into your sheltering arms, and put myself under your
guiding hand. Happy the memory of those days and nights, as they brought
common work and common rest. Surely a common star controls our destinies
and makes us one.
30. #pavido#: variously interpreted of the fear-- 1. Which an entrance
on life breeds; 2. Which requires the protection of the _praetexta_; 3.
Which the rule of tutors and governors inspires. The third view is
favored by _blandi comites_, as Conington remarks. Comp. Mart., 11, 39,
2: _et pueri #custos# assiduusque #comes#_ with v. 6: _te dispensator,
te domus ipsa #pavet#_. --#custos purpura#: ‘the guardian purple.’
_Purpura_ = _praetexta_, the dress of boyhood, which was of itself a
protection. This was exchanged for the _toga_ when the nonage was over.
_Per hoc inane #purpurae# decus precor_, Hor., Epod., 5, 7. --#mihi#: If
_cessit_ is taken absolutely, _mihi_ may depend on the predicative
notion in _custos_ = _quae mihi custos fuerat_. Casaubon explains, _mihi
cessit, ut iam annis maiori vel etiam ut hosti_. It seems best to
combine the two: ‘When the purple resigned its dreaded guardianship over
me.’
31. #bulla#: the well-known ‘boss,’ which contained amulets and the
like. Comp. 2, 70. --#succinctis#: ‘Like _cinctutis_ (Hor., A. P., 50),
_incinctos_ (Ov., Fast., 2, 632), in allusion to the _cinctus Gabinus_,
in which primitive dress they (the Lares) were always represented. It
was worn over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free’ (Pretor).
Conington renders _succinctis_, ‘quaint.’
32. #blandi#: (_fuerunt_). --#comites#: Jahn considers these _comites_
the same as those mentioned in 3, 7. See note. The epigram of Mart.,
cited above, v. 30, makes for this view: the harsh tutors have become
_blandi comites_. But most commentators prefer to take _comites_ in its
general sense. --#tota Subura#: On the construction, see G., 386; A.,
55, 3, _f._ The Subura, as the focus of business life, was the haunt of
persons who are sufficiently characterized as _Suburanae magistrae_,
Mart., 11, 78, 11.
33. #permisit sparsisse#: On the Inf., see G., 532, R. 1; A., 70, 3,
_a._ On the tense, note on 1, 41. With the phraseology, Jahn comp. Val.
Flacc., 5, 247: _tua nunc terris, tua #lumina# toto | #sparge# mari_.
_Spargere_ is a happy word for a rapid, roving glance. --#iam#: ἤδη. The
English idiom often refuses to give the exact force of _iam_. The
youngster has got a ‘sure enough’ _candidus umbo_. The contrast in time
is the former _praetexta_. --#candidus umbo#: ‘_Umbo_ was the knot into
which the folds of the toga were gathered after passing the left
shoulder’ (Pretor). Of course the _umbo_ was _candidus_, as the _toga_
was.
34. #iter ambiguuum#: See 3, 56. --#vitae nescius error#: is
bewilderment from ignorance of life.
35. #deducit#: So Jahn (1843), a reading which he has strangely forsaken
(1868) for _diducit_. Schlüter puts it neatly thus: _homines in compita
ubi viae #di#ducuntur_, _#de#duci dicuntur_. _Compita_ does not mean the
roads, but the place where the roads meet-- the crossing (Schol.). _De_
adds the notion of decision to _ducit_. Comp. _in discrimen #de#ducere_,
Cic., Fam., 10, 24, 4. The youth is brought to a point where he must
choose. --#trepidas#: See 1, 74.
36. #supposui#: Almost ‘I made you adopt me.’ _Supponere_ is used of
supposititious children. As Persius’s own father died while the poet was
young, there is a tone of orphanage about the expression that appeals to
our sympathy. ‘I threw myself as a son into your arms.’ --#suscipis#: is
the correlative of _supposui_.
37. #Socratico sinu#: The loving care of Socrates is meant, as well as
his wisdom, as Jahn has observed. --#fallere sollers#: On the
construction, see G., 424, R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f_, 3; Prol., 11. ‘Skilful
to deceive,’ in the sense of the gradual Socratic approach. The rule is
not rudely applied, but cheats the warped nature into rectitude. Jahn’s
note amounts to this, that a ruler that understands deception,
understands detection, and hence is a true ruler.
38. #regula#: ‘ruler.’ See note on 4, 11.
39. #premitur ratione#: Comp. Verg., Aen., 6, 80: _fera corda domans
fingitque #premendo#_. --#vinci laborat# = _dum vincitur laborat_, _cum
labore vincitur_. ‘_Laborat_ shows that the pupil’s mind co-operated
with his teacher’ (Conington).
40. #artificem#: Passive, _arte factum_, ‘artistic,’ ‘finished.’ The
figure is of course taken from moulding in wax or clay. --#ducit
vultum#: Comp. _exigite ut teneros mores ceu pollice #ducat# | ut si
quis cera vultum facit_, Juv., 7, 237; only there the workman moulds,
here the material. Transl. ‘take on,’ ‘assume,’ as in Ov., Met., 1, 402:
_saxa #ducere# formam_ (Jahn). --#pollice#: The thumb is largely used in
moulding. See Juv., l.c., and Ov., Met., 10, 285; Stat., Achill., 1,
332, quoted by Jahn.
41. #etenim#: καὶ γὰρ. See 3, 48. --#memini consumere#: See Prol., 2.
--#soles# = _dies_. The antithesis runs throughout. _Soles-- opus--
seria_ are opposed to _noctes-- requiem-- mensa_.
42. #primas noctes#: ‘the early hours of the night.’ --#epulis#: ‘for
feasting.’ Others, ‘from feasting,’ i.e., for study, 3, 54; 5, 62.
--#decerpere#: The expression is a cross between _carpe diem_ (Hor.,
Od., 1, 11, 8) and _partem solido demere de die_ (Hor., Od., 1, 1, 20).
_Decerpere_ is to pluck with resolute, eager hand.
43. #unum opus et requiem# = _unum opus et (unam) requiem_ (Jahn).
Casaubon comp. Verg., Georg., 4, 184.
44. #laxamus seria#: Jahn comp. Verg., Aen., 9, 223: _#laxabant# curas_.
45. #non equidem hoc dubites#: On _equidem_, see note on 1, 110. With
_non dubites_ comp. _non accedas_, 1, 5. --#foedere certo#: Jahn comp.
Manil., 2, 475: _iunxit amicitias horum sub #foedere certo#_. _Foedus
certum_, ‘fixed law,’ ‘fixed principle.’
46. #consentire dies#: On the Inf., instead of the normal _quin_ with
Subj., see G., 551, R. 4; M., 375 c., Obs. 2. For the thought, comp.
Hor., Od., 2, 17, 21: _utrumque nostrum incredibili modo | #consentit#
astrum_. --#ab uno sidere duci#: Astrology was very popular in Persius’s
time, having been brought into vogue by Tiberius. It was the
aristocratic mode of divination, and is compared by Friedländer
(_Sittengesch._, 1, 347) with the spiritualism and table-turning of the
present day. Philosophy was not proof against it; indeed, the later
Stoics always had a leaning to it, and Panaetius was the only one that
rejected it (Knickenberg, l.c. p. 79). All people of ‘culture’ talked
about ‘horoscope,’ ‘nativity,’ and ‘malign aspect,’ just as the same
class in our time speak of ‘the spectroscope,’ ‘heat a mode of motion,’
and ‘the survival of the fittest.’ Horace and Persius, who imitates
Horace, have caught up some of the current terms, and travel along the
Zodiac in blissful ignorance of their own stars.
47. #aequali Libra#: So Hor., Od., 2, 17, 17: _seu #Libra# seu me
Scorpios adspicit_. Comp. the whole passage.
48. #Parca tenax veri#: Comp. _Parca non mendax_, Hor., Od., 2, 16, 39.
‘Fate is represented with scales in her hands, also as marking the
horoscope on the celestial globe’ (Jahn). The _Parca_ of mythology is
identified with the _Fatum_ of the Stoics. --#seu#: Observe the
irregularity of _vel-- seu_ instead of _seu-- seu_. --#nata#
#fidelibus#: ‘ordained for faithful friends.’ ‘The hour of birth is said
to be born itself, as in Aeschyl., Ag., 107, ξύμφυτος αἰών; Soph.,
O. R., 1082, συγγενεῖς μῆνες’ (Conington).
49. #Geminos#: Casaubon quotes Manil., 2, 628: _magnus erit #Geminis#
amor et concordia duplex_.
50. #Saturnumque gravem#, etc.: ‘We together cross malignant Saturn by
propitious Jove.’ ‘Saturnine’ and ‘jovial’ are remnants of astrological
belief. _Nostro_ is not only ‘our,’ but ‘on our side,’ ‘propitious.’
51. #nescio quod#: almost = _aliquod_. See v. 12. --#est quod temperat#:
On the Mood, see G., 634, R. 1; M., 365, Obs. 2. With the expression,
comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 187: _scit genius, natale comes qui #temperat#
astrum_, where the parts are reversed. --#me tibi temperat#: The Dative
is used after the analogy of _miscere_. ‘Blends my being with thine.’
52-61. Our aims, our lives are one. But ‘many men, many minds.’ Each has
his passion-- the merchant, the man of ease, the lover of sport, the
gamester, the rake-- but they have to reckon with disease at last, and
groan over the failure of their lives.
52. #Mille hominum species#: The Schol. quotes Hor., Sat., 2, 1, 27:
_quot capitum vivunt, totidem studiorum | milia_. Proverbial is Ter.,
Phorm., 2, 3, 14: _quot homines, tot sententiae: suos cuique mos_.
--#usus rerum#: ‘practice of life,’ ‘practice.’ See 1, 1, note.
--#discolor#: ‘of various hue.’
53. #velle suum cuique est#: Comp. Verg., Ecl., 2, 65: _trahit sua
quemque voluptas_. On _velle suum_, see 1, 9. --#nec uno vivitur voto#:
Comp. 2, 7: _aperto vivere voto_. The negative form of a proposition
following the positive strengthens it. _Nec uno_, ‘far different.’ With
the examples that follow, Jahn comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 18, 21 seqq.
54. #mercibus mutat piper#: On the Abl., see G., 404, R.; A., 54, 8. The
normal construction is _merces mutat pipere_; the other does not occur
in archaic Latin nor in model prose. Horace is the first to use it,
e.g., Od., 3, 1, 47; Epod., 9, 27. Livy introduces it into prose, but
employs it only once (5, 30, 3). So Dräger, _Histor. Syntax_, § 235.
--#sub sole recenti#: The Schol. comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 29: _hic mutat
merces #surgente a sole# ad eum quo | vespertina tepet regio_.
55. #rugosum piper#: ‘wrinkled pepper,’ ‘shrivelled pepper,’ the
shrivelling being the effect of the hot Eastern sun. None of your
Italian pepper, but the genuine Eastern article. See note on 3, 75.
--#pallentis cumini#: like _pallidam Pirenen_, Prol., 4. attribute for
effect, an imitation and, strange to say, without attempt at
enhancement, of the _exsangue cuminum_ of Hor., Ep., 1, 19, 18. _Cuminum
pallorem bibentibus gignit_, Plin., H. N., 20, 14, 57. Cumin was
considered an indispensable condiment. The large use of it is shown by
the compounds in Greek (κυμινοδόχη-- θήκη, κτέ)-- see Seiler ad
Alciphron., 3, 58-- and it ranks with pepper in Petron., 49; with salt
in Alexis, fr. 169 (3. 465 Mein.). Add Plutarch, Quaest. Conv., 5, 10.
56. #inriguo somno#: _Inriguo_ is active. Sleep waters him, as it were,
and increases his fat. Comp. Verg., Aen., 3, 511: _fessos sopor
#inrigat# artus_. ‘Dewy sleep’ is almost too sweet for the passage.
König, a prosaic soul, thinks of the ‘sweaty sleep’ of a man who is
gorged with meat and drink.
57. #campo#: The gymnastic exercises of the _campus_, and especially of
the _campus Martius_ in Rome, are familiar. See Hor., Od., 1, 8, 4; Ep.,
1, 7, 59; A. P., 162, referred to by Jahn. --#decoquit# = _coquendo
vires absumit_. The word is employed of a man who has used up, run
through, his means. So Cic., Phil., 2, 18, 44: _tenesne memoria
praetextatum te #decoxisse#_? Here it is the man who is used up, who is
made to go to pot.
58. #putris#: Gr. τακερός. ‘In wanton dalliance melts away’ (Gifford).
--#lapidosa cheragra#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 1, 31: _nodosa #cheragra#_.
The chalk-stones of gout are compared with hailstones.
59. #fregerit#: Perf. Subj. in a generic sense. G., 569, R. 2 (end).
Comp. _postquam illi iusta cheragra | #contudit# articulos_, Hor., Sat.,
2, 7, 15 seqq. --#veteris ramalia fagi#: The comparison is between the
fingers and the knotty boughs. Comp. Hesiod’s πέντοζος, O. et D., 744.
--#fagi#: _Fagus_, φηγός, and ‘beech’ (BHAG) are etymologically, but not
botanically, the same. See Curtius, _Grundzüge_, No. 160.
60. A forcible passage, on which Conington says: ‘The conception here is
of life passed in a Boeotian atmosphere of thick fogs and pestilential
vapors, which the sun never penetrates-- probably with especial
reference to the pleasures of sense, of which Persius has just been
speaking. So the “vapor, heavy, hueless, formless, cold,” in Tennyson’s
“Vision of Sin.”’ --#crassos dies#: _sub crasso aere_ (Jahn).
--#transisse#: Heinr. comp. Tib., 1, 4, 33: _vidi iam iuvenem, premeret
cum serior aetas, | maerentem stultos #praeteriisse# dies_. --#lucem
palustrem#: ‘boggy’ = ‘foggy light’ is ‘light choked by fog.’ _Crassos
dies lucemque palustrem_ must be connected closely-- ‘gross days in
foggy light’-- so as to get rid of an awkward Zeugma with _transisse_.
61. #sibi#: with _ingemuere_ (Conington). --#iam seri#: ‘too, too late.’
On _iam_, see v. 33. On _seri_, G., 324, R. 6; A., 47, 6. --#ingemuere#:
like the Gr. Aorist. Comp. v. 187 and 3, 101. G., 228, R. 2; A., 58, 5,
_c_. ‘Heave a sigh’ (Conington). --#relictam#: _anteactam_ (Casaubon).
_Iam post terga #reliquit# | sexaginta annos_, Juv., 13, 16.
62-65. Contrast of Cornutus’s noble mission. His creed the only creed
for life.
62. #at#: in lively contrast. --#nocturnis#: Comp. 1, 90.
--#inpallescere#: Comp. 1, 26.
63. #purgatas#: _Purgare_ is an agricultural term like our ‘clean,’ and
the metaphor is kept up. The field is the ear. --#inseris#: where we
should expect _seris_.
64. #fruge Cleanthea#: Cleanthes is selected here on account of his
strict life and virtuous poverty, in opposition to the luxury and wealth
of the _Romulidae_, as Knickenberg remarks, l.c. p. 9. --#petite#: Mr.
Pretor supposes that this is Cornutus’s invitation to the world. But if
Cornutus speaks here, where does Persius come in again?-- unless he
takes up the cudgels for his master in v. 66.
65. #finem# = τέλος. --#miseris#: ‘wretched else.’ --#viatica#: Jahn
quotes Diog. Laert., 1, 5, 80: #ἐφόδιον# ἀπὸ νεότητος εἰς γῆρας
ἀναλάμβανε σοφιαν; and 5, 11, 21: κάλλιστον #ἐφόδιον# τῷ γήρᾳ ἡ παιδεία.
--#canis#: G., 195, R. 1.
66-72. ‘There is time enough for that,’ says an impersonal sinner.
‘To-morrow will do as well.’ ‘“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow.”
To-morrow never becomes to-day.’
66. #Cras hoc fiet#, etc.: ‘I will do this that you ask of me
to-morrow.’ ‘You will do to-morrow just what you are doing to-day.’ Jahn
comp. Ov., R. A., 104: _Cras quoque fiet idem._ Hermann arranges: _Cras
hoc fiet idem. Cras fiet?_ ‘This will, can be done to-morrow as well as
to-day.’ ‘To-morrow, you say?’ Comp. Petron., 82: _quod hodie non est,
cras erit_.
67. #nempe diem donas#: ‘Well, what of it? Suppose I go on the same way
to-morrow; it will only be a day-- a great present, forsooth, to be
haggling about!’ On _nempe_, see G., 500, R. 2. --#cum venit--
consumpsimus#: more lively than _cum venerit-- consumpserimus_ (G.,
229). One clause is involved in the other. G., 236, R. 4. This seems to
be better than making _venit_ iterative, and _consumpsimus_ an Aoristic
Perf.
69. #egerit#: ‘unloads,’ ‘carts off.’ _Egerere_ is the opposite of
_ingerere_ (v. 6). Comp. Sen., Ep., 47, 2: _venter maiore opera omnia
e#gerit# quam in#gessit#_. Jahn makes _egerit_ = _impulerit_, in order
to save the figure. Compare _truditur dies die_, Hor., Od., 2, 18, 15,
and Petron., 45: _dies diem trudit_; and 82: _vita truditur_. But even
this does not save the figure, and the sudden change of metaphor is in
Persius’s vein. --#paulum erit ultra#: ‘To-morrow will always be a
little further on,’ is the common rendering, the figure changing at this
point.
70. #quamvis--vertentem#: A later construction. G., 611, R.; M., 443,
Obs. --#cantum#: ‘tire.’
72. #cum curras#: ‘seeing that you are running.’ Here _cum_ is nearly
equivalent to _si_, as it is thrown by _sectabere_ into the future, and
is thus made hypothetical. Comp. G., 591, R. 3, and 584.
73-90. What men need is Liberty-- not the freedom of the city, which
insures a quota of damaged corn; not the freedom of the freedman, which
gives a slave a name to be free, while he is yet a slave; but the
liberty wherewith Philosophy sets men free. The freedman demurs to this
hard doctrine, but a Stoic adept silences him by his ‘Short Method.’
73. #hac, ut, quisque#: _Hac_ is the adverb, _ut_ = _qua_, _quisque_ =
_quicunque_ (comp. _quandoque_ = _quandocumque_, 4, 28), a sad complex
of harshnesses, which may be rendered thus: ‘Liberty is what is wanted;
not after the prevalent (G., 290, 7) fashion, by which each man that has
worked his way up to a Publius in the Veline tribe is owner of a ticket
for a ration of musty spelt.’ Other readings, such as _hac quam ut
quisque_ (Passow), _hac qua quisque_ (Meister), are mere devices to
relieve the grammatical situation, which is doubtless unnatural in the
extreme, as _hac_ seems to belong to _libertate_, and _ut quisque_ is a
familiar combination. Conington makes _non hac_ the beginning of an
independent sentence, and translates: ‘It is not by _this_ freedom that
every fire-new citizen, who gets his name enrolled in a tribe, is
privileged to get a pauper’s allowance for his ticket.’ --#Velina#:
Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 6, 52: _hic multum in Fabia valet, ille #Velina#_.
The Veline was one of the last two tribes instituted (Becker, _Rom.
Alt._, 2, 1, 170), and is supposed by some to be one of the four city
tribes to which the _libertini_ were restricted. The name of the tribe
to which a man belongs is put in the Abl. (as a whence case). So
_M. Larcius L. f. #Pomptina# Pudens_ (Becker, l.c. 198).
74. #Publius#: Only freemen were entitled to the _praenomen_. Comp.
Hor., Sat., 2, 5, 32: _#Quinte#, puta, aut #Publi# (gaudent praenomine
molles | auriculae_). --#emeruit#: literally ‘has served his time’ (of a
soldier), ‘has worked his way up to be a Publius’ (supplying _esse_).
--#tesserula#: the well-known _tessera frumentaria_, Suet., Aug., 41.
75. #Quiritem#: Rare in the Singular (Schol.).
76. #vertigo#: the ‘twirl’ of the familiar process of _manumissio per
vindictam_. ‘The lictor touched the slave with the _vindicta_, the
master turning him round and “dismissing him from his hand” with the
words _Hunc hominem liberum esse volo_’ (Conington). --#facit#: is
causal as well as _faciat_. G., 627, R.; A., 63. --#Dama#: Δημᾶς =
Δημήτριος; according to others for Δημέας (Mehlhorn, _Gr. Gr._, 183),
a common slave’s name. --#non tressis#: Jahn comp. _#non semissis#
homo_, Vatin. ap. Cic., Fam., 5, 10, 1.
77. #vappa#: ‘dead wine,’ hence ‘mean liquor.’ --#lippus#: the effect of
drinking. --#in farragine tenui#: ‘in the matter of,’ and hence ‘for a
poor feed of corn.’
78. #verterit--exit# = _si verterit-- exit_. G., 257; A., 57, 5. Comp.
v. 189. The Perf. is aoristic, ‘give him a whirl.’ --#momento#:
literally by the ‘motion,’ ‘by virtue,’ ‘by the act of whirling.’ ‘By
dint’ would give an ironical turn.
79. #Marcus#: as _Publius_, v. 74. Jahn cites an inscription: M · FVFIVS
· M · L · DAMA. --#papae#: Ironical admiration. ‘Wondrous change! Every
body will trust this thief, this liar now!’ _Papae_ (Gr. παπαῖ, βαβαί).
‘Whew!’ ‘Prodigious!’ --#recusas?# Fie on you, if you do! See note on 4,
1.
80. #adsigna tabellas#: ‘your hand and seal to this document,’ ‘witness
this document.’
82. #mera#: ‘pure and simple’ (ironical). --#pillea#: See 3, 106.
83. #An quisquam-- Bruto#: These words are generally assigned to Dama,
and it is certainly more humorous to make the promoted stable-boy argue
in mood and figure than to rake up one of Persius’s dead-alive
spectators, as König does, and after him Pretor. _Quisquam_, because of
the negative answer expected. See 1, 112, and G., 304; A., 21, 2, _h_.
84. #ut voluit#: The Stoic formula did not differ from the popular
definition. Certainly it does not sound recondite to say: _libertas est
potestas vivendi ut velis_, Cic., Parad., 5, 1, 34; or with Arrian,
Diss., 4, 1, 1: ἐλεύθερός ἐστιν ὁ ζῶν ὡς βούλεται, but the words must be
understood in their Stoic sense.
85. #Mendose colligis#: φαύλως συλλογίζει. ‘Your syllogism is faulty.’
‘Marcus, thou reasonest ill.’
86. #stoicus hic#: ‘our Stoic friend’ (Conington). Persius himself.
--#aurem# --#lotus#: Comp. v. 63 and 1, 126. _Lotus_ may be reflexive.
G., 332, R. 2; A., 53, 3, _c_, R. --#aceto#: Vinegar was used in cases
of deafness, Cels., 6, 7, 2, 3 (König).
87. #accipio--tolle#: ‘Persius admits the major, but denies the minor;
denies both that the man has a will (_volo_) and that he is free
(_licet_) to follow it’ (Conington). Mr. Pretor limits the concession to
_vivere_ (τὸ ζῆν), and explains: ‘The mere fact that you are a living
creature, I admit; the inference contained in _licet_ and _ut volo_,
I altogether deny.’ ‘This dissection of the argument word by word’ may
be ‘more in keeping with the character of the Stoic’-- the Stoics were
great choppers of logic-- but it is not in keeping with the style of
Persius, who is subtle every where except in his arguments.
88. #Vindicta#: the _festuca_, or ‘wand,’ with which the lictor struck
the manumittend. See v. 76. --#postquam recessi#: with a causal tone.
See note on 3, 90. --#meus#: ‘my own man,’ hence ‘my own master’ (G.,
299, R.); _mei iuris_ (Schol.).
90. #Masuri rubrica#: ‘The canon of Masurius.’ ‘Masurius Sabinus, an
eminent lawyer, lived in the reigns of Tiberius and Nero, and wrote a
work in three books, entitled _Ius Civile_.’ _Rubrica_, ‘because the
titles and first few words of the laws were commonly picked out with
vermilion. Comp. _perlege #rubras# | maiorum leges_, Juv., 14, 192’
(Pretor, after Jahn). A low creature like Dama has a soul that is not
above the statute-book; lofty spirits, like our Stoic, and believers in
the higher law sneer at the canon and its maker. So Marc. Antonin., ap.
Front., Ep., 2, 7 (p. 32 Naber), speaks of _deliramenta Masuriana_.
Comp. Quint., 12, 3, 11. --#vetavit#: for _vetuit_, reminds us of the
slip of another youthful genius, Kirke White, and his ‘rudely blow’d.’
There is no sufficient warrant for the form.
91-131. A Stoic sermon. Text: Do nothing that you will spoil in the
doing. You know nothing as you ought to know it, and you can do nothing
as you ought to do it. You are ignorant of the first principles of
morals; you have no control over your desires, your appetites. You may
call yourself free, but you are a slave for all that. For one master
without, you have a legion of masters within.
91. #Disce#: Comp. 3, 66. --#naso#: the simple Abl. as a whence case.
Comp. 1, 83. The nose is the familiar seat of anger. Theocr., 1, 18: καί
οἱ ἀεὶ δριμεῖα χολὰ ποτὶ #ῥινὶ# κάθηται]. For Biblical parallels, see
Gesenius or Fürst, s.v. אַף [Hebrew: af]. The anger is shown by
snorting, or, as here, by snarling. --#rugosa#: Comp. _#corruget#
nares_, Hor., Ep., 1, 5, 23. --#sanna#: 1, 62.
92. #dum revello#: ‘_while_ I _am_ plucking’ = ‘_until_ I _have_
plucked.’ See note on v. 10. --#veteres avias#: ‘old grandmothers,’ for
‘inveterate, rooted, grandmotherish notions.’ Comp. _patruos sapere_, 1,
11, and ὁ λεγόμενος #γραῶν# ὕθλος, Plat., Theaet., 176B. --#de pulmone#:
The lung is the seat of pride in 3, 27 (comp. _suffla_, 4, 20). Jahn
regards it here as the seat of wrath.
93. #erat#: ‘as you thought.’ G., 224, R. 3; A., 58, 3, _d_. --#tenuia
rerum officia#: ‘mastery of the subtle distinctions of duty.’ _Tenuia_,
a trisyllable, as often. G., 717. _Rerum_, parallel with _vitae_. See
1, 1.
94. #usum rapidae vitae#: ‘the right management of the rapid course of
life.’ The metaphor is taken either from a river (_#rapidus# amnis,
#rapidi# fluminum lapsus, #rapidum# flumen, #rapidus# Tigris_, Hor.),
which sweeps away the man who does not understand its current, or from a
race-course in which there is no stopping, as Conington thinks (3, 67).
Others understand _rapidae_ simply as ‘fleeting.’
95. #sambucam#: The ordinary translation, ‘dulcimer,’ is not strictly
correct, though ‘dulcimer’ suggests the exotic refinement of the
_sambuca_, a four-stringed instrument of Eastern origin, synonymous with
cultivated luxury. --#citius aptaveris#: θᾶττον ἂν ἁρμόσειας; written
out = _citius aptaveris quam praetor det_, but it is better not written
out. Notice the Perf. Subj. ‘You would sooner _succeed in making_
a dulcimer fit, sooner _get_ a dulcimer _to fit_ [the hand of] a gawky
camp-porter.’ --#caloni#: used in its original sense of a soldier’s
hewer of wood and drawer of water. Persius, who has no admiration for
soldiers themselves, would naturally select a soldier’s drudge as a type
of awkwardness and stupidity. So, in effect, Conington. --#alto#: We
combine ‘tall and gawky;’ ‘hulking’ (Conington). Comp. the sneer at the
_#ingentis# Titos_, 1, 20, and _Pulfennius #ingens#_, 5, 190, and the
ἀνὴρ #τρισκαιδεκάπηχυς# of Theocr., 15, 17.
96. #stat contra#: ‘confronts,’ ‘stops the way.’ Jahn comp. Mart., 1,
53, 12: _#stat contra#, dicitque tibi tua pagina: Fur es_, a parallel
which no conscientious commentator can quote without qualms. Juv., 3,
290: _#stat contra# starique iubet_. --#ratio#: ‘Right reason’ here is
equivalent to _natura_ below, which is itself equivalent to _publica lex
hominum_. See Knickenberg, l.c. p. 20 seqq. --#secretam#: ‘private.’
--#garrit#: It is hard choosing between _gannit_ and _garrit_. Martial
has _#garrire# in aurem, in auriculam_, 1, 89, 1; 3, 28, 2, and _aurem
dum tibi praesto #garrienti#_, 11, 24, 2; Afran., ap. Non., 452, 11 (283
Ribb.): _#gannire# ad aurem numquam didici dominicam_.
97. #liceat#: with reference to v. 84.
98. #publica lex hominum naturaque#: ‘The universal law of human
nature.’ Of course in the peculiar Stoic sense. See note on 3, 67. ‘The
doctrine of a supreme law of Nature, the actual source and ideal
standard of all particular laws, was characteristic of the Stoics, and
lay at the bottom of the Roman juristical notion of a _ratio naturalis_
or _ius gentium_’ (Conington).
99. #teneat actus#: As _tenere cursum_ is sometimes used in the sense of
‘check a course,’ ‘refrain from a course,’ so _tenere vetitos actus_
means to refrain from, or, as Pretor translates, ‘hold in abeyance
forbidden actions.’ To this effect König. But as _tenere cursum_ is also
used in the sense of ‘hold a course, keep on a course,’ Jahn’s version,
which makes it a law of nature for weak ignorance to pursue forbidden
actions, is not without justification. In that case _fas est_ = ‘it is
to be expected,’ as in _operi longo fas est obrepere somnum_. For the
thought of the necessity of sin for the ignorant, see v. 119. But the
immediate context favors the former interpretation. Casaubon’s _tenere
vetitos_ = _habere pro vetitis_ is without warrant in usage.
100-104. Popular illustrations of the doctrine drawn from medicine and
navigation, and from Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 114: _navem agere ignarus navis
timet: abrotonum aegro | non audet, nisi qui didicit dare_.
100. #certo conpescere puncto#, etc.: ‘although you do not know how to
check [that is, to bring to the perpendicular and keep there] the tongue
or index [of the steelyard by putting the equipoise or pea] at a certain
point.’ ‘Although you do not know how to use the steelyard’ (_statera_).
On the _examen_, see 1, 6; _punctum_ is one of the points or notches
(_notae_) on the graduated arm. With _nescius conpescere_ comp.
_callidus suspendere_, 1, 118, and Prol., 11. --#natura# = _lex_, as
above.
102. #peronatus#: The _pero_ was a thick boot of raw-hide, _crudus
pero_, Verg., Aen., 7, 690, and Juv., 14, 186: _quem non pudet alto |
per glaciem #perone# tegi, qui summovet Euros | pellibus inversis_
(Jahn). The _peronatus arator_ is a clodhopper, a country bumpkin.
103. #luciferi rudis#: Not a good stroke. Some knowledge of the stars
was necessary for the ploughman himself, as Casaubon remarks. See Verg.,
Georg., 1, 204 seqq. So notably of the Pleiades, Hesiod, O. et D., 383.
615. --#Melicerta#: Portunus, patron of sailors, Verg., Georg., 1, 437.
--#perisse#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 80: _clament #periisse# pudorem |
cuncti paene patres_.
104. #frontem#: the seat of modesty for modesty itself. In English,
‘face,’ ‘front,’ and ‘forehead’ are used for the absence of modesty; but
‘frontless’ and ‘effrontery’ accord with the usage and in Juv., 13, 242:
_quando recepit | eiectum simul attrita de fronte pudorem?_ --#de
rebus#: ‘from the world,’ or omitted. See 1, 1. --#recto talo#: Comp.
Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 176: _cadat an #recto# stet fabula #talo#_. Jahn comp.
further Pind., Isthm., 6, 12: ὀρθῷ ἔστασας ἐπὶ σφυρῷ, and Eur., Hel.,
1449: ὀρθῷ βῆναι ποδί. Transl. ‘uprightly.’
105. #ars#: Philosophy. [_Philosophus_] _#artem# vitae professus_, Cic.,
Tusc. Dis., 2, 4, 12; _sapientia #ars# est_, Sen., Ep., 29, 3.
--#speciem#: Jahn gave up in 1868 the hopeless _specimen_ of 1843, which
left _qua_ in the next line utterly unprovided for. That this aberration
of a distinguished scholar should have been followed at all is a sad
instance of _Nachbeterei_-- a German word, not exclusively a German
vice.
106. #ne qua#: sc. _species_. _Ne_ because of the general notion of
apprehension in the sentence, as after _videre_. G., 548, R. 2; A., 70,
3, _e_. --#subaerato auro#: _Subaeratus_ is a translation of ὑπόχαλκος.
Ὑπόχαλκον νόμισμα is literally a coin (of gold or silver) with copper
underneath. Of course we should say gilt or silvered copper coin.
_Subaerato auro_, Abl. Abs. --#mendosum tinniat#: With _mendosum_ comp.
_sonat vitium_, 3, 21; _solidum crepet_, v. 25; with _tinniat_, Quint.,
11, 3, 31: _sonis homines, ut aera #tinnitu#, dinoscimus_. Translate the
line: ‘that no [seeming truth] give a faulty ring, due to the copper
underneath the gold.’
107. #forent#: On the sequence, see G., 511, R. 2; A., 58, 10, _a_.
108. #ilia prius creta#, etc.: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 246: _sanin
#creta# an #carbone# notandi_.
109. #modicus voti#: On the Gen., see G., 374, R. 2; A., 50, 3, _c_.
--#presso lare#: ‘Your establishment within your means?’ _Pressus_
opposed to _diffusus_. --#dulcis#: ‘indulgent.’ Observe the ‘sweet
reasonableness’ of the ancient religionist. He, too, was an apostle of
‘sweetness and light.’
110. #iam nunc-- iam nunc#: ‘At the very moment,’ ‘just at the right
time,’ hence ‘at one instant, at another.’ --#astringas# --#laxes#:
‘shut tight-- open wide.’ --#granaria#: 6, 25, Plural of abundance.
Comp. 2, 33.
111. #inque luto#: It was a favorite trick of the Roman boys to solder a
piece of money to a stone in the pavement, in order to have a laugh at
any one who might stoop to pick it up (Scholiast). Similar pranks are
common enough now. Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 16, 63: _qui liberior sit avarus
| in triviis fixum, cum se demittit ob assem | non video_.
112. #glutto#: On the formation, see _cachinno_, 1, 12.
‘Lickerish-mouthed that you are’ would give the coarse tone.
--#salivam#: Doth not our mouth water? --#Mercurialem#: Excited by gain
and not by food. See 2, 12. ‘Water of treasure-trove’ (Conington).
113. #haec mea sunt, teneo#: The commentators notice the legal tone.
--#cum dixeris#: G., 584.
114. #-que ac#: a rare combination. --#praetoribus ac Iove dextro#:
a kind of Zeugma = _praetoribus [auctoribus] et Iove dextro_, ‘by the
grace of the praetors and Jove.’ The Jupiter here meant is the _Iuppiter
Liberator_ (Ζεὺς ἐλευθέριος), so famous in connection with the death of
Persius’s friend, Thrasea Paetus, Tac., Ann., 16, 35. See Introd., xiii.
115. #sin#: ‘(if not) but if,’ G., 593; A., 59, 1, _a_; Ribbeck, l.c.
14. --#cum#: ‘whereas,’ ‘after,’ adversative. --#nostrae farinae#: ‘one
of our grain, batch, set,’ ‘one of our kidney’-- doubtless a proverbial
expression. The metaphor is taken from the mill or from the bakery. The
batch referred to is the Stoic school. Of course the statement is
ironical. ‘Whereas (to judge by your bold pretensions to liberty) you
were a little while ago in our set.’
116-118. The drift of the passage is plain enough. ‘A change of fortune
does not bring with it a change of character. If you possess all that
you say you possess, then you are free and wise. But if you are, after
all, the same old man, I take back all that I have granted. You are a
fool, a slave.’ This familiar Stoic thesis is covered over with a mass
of confused metaphors, at least according to the commentators and
translators. --#pelliculam veterem retines#: is supposed to be: 1. An
ass in a lion’s skin, after Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 22; or, 2. A snake that
has not cast its slough (Jahn). --#astutam servas vulpem#: is the fox
dressed up like a lion, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 186. --#vapido pectore#:
contains an allusion to ‘dead wine,’ _vappa_, v. 77, and is opposed to
_incoctum generoso pectus honesto_, 2, 74. --#funem reduco#: 1. Of a
beast that has had rope allowed it and is pulled in; 2. Of a cock-chafer
that is played at the end of a string (Ar., Nub., 763). --#fronte#
#politus#: words that do not fit in very satisfactorily with ass, fox,
flat wine, restiff beast, or buzzing cock-chafer. My admiration of
Persius is not unqualified, but this medley is almost too wild even for
his turbid genius; and here, as elsewhere, commentators have been misled
by looking at mere verbal coincidences with Horace. There is an Aesopic
fable (149 Halm), the moral of which gives the substance of this
passage: ὁ λόγος δηλοῖ ὅτι οἱ φαῦλοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κἂν τὰ προσχήματα
λαμπρότερα ἀναλάβωσι, τὴν γοῦν φύσιν οὐ μετατίθενται. In this fable,
which bears a family likeness to ϝαλῆ ποτ᾽ ἀνδρός (Babr. 32), _La Chatte
Metamorphosée en Femme_ (La Fontaine, 2, 18), Zeus, charmed with the
cleverness of Reynard, had made him king of the beasts; but wishing to
try whether fortune had changed his character, he caused a beetle to fly
before His Majesty’s eyes as he was borne by in state. The fox could not
withstand the temptation, leaped from the litter, and tried to catch the
game in such unseemly guise that Zeus deposed him. The fox is Dama, made
Marcus; nay, become a philosopher (_nostrae farinae_), and the
philosopher is king: _sapiens-- dives | #liber#, honoratus, pulcher,
#rex# denique regum_, as Horace puts the Stoic doctrine (Ep., 1, 1,
107). But if despite his fair seeming, his smooth regal brow (_fronte
politus_), he retains his old nature (_pelliculam veterem_), and the old
Reynard-- the old rascal that swindled his master for a feed of corn--
is still in his heart (_astutam servas sub pectore vulpem_), our _deus
ex machina_ takes back all that he has granted; he is a slave still.
117. #relego#: So Jahn. Inferior MSS. have _repeto_. _Relego_ evidently
suggested the new figure, _funem reduco_.
119. #digitum exsere, peccas#: a favorite expression with the Stoics to
show that the wise man alone understands the conduct of life. Epictet.,
fr. 53: ἡ φιλοσοφία φησὶν ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸν δάκτυλον ἐκτείνειν εἰκῆ προσήκει
(Casaubon).
120. #nullo ture litabis#: Comp. 2, 75. Here _litabis_ = _litando
impetrabis_.
122. #fossor#: ‘a ditcher, a clown, a clodhopper.’ _Fossor_ = _in
cultus_. Comp. ‘navvy.’ Juvenal (11, 80) speaks of the _squalidus
fossor_; Catullus (22, 10) combines _fossor_ and _#caprimulgus#_, Eur.
(El., 252), σκαφεύς and βουφορβός.
123. #tris tantum ad numeros moveare#: ‘dance three steps in time.’
_Ad_, as often, of the standard; _numerus_ = ῥυθμός; _moveri_ of the
dance, as in Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 125, and as _motus_ in Od., 3, 6, 21:
_#motus# doceri gaudet Ionicos | matura virgo_. --#satyrum#: a kind of
Cognate Accusative, as in Hor., l.c.: _qui | nunc #satyrum#, nunc
agrestem Cyclopa movetur_. Persius selects the _satyrus_ in distinct
opposition to the _agrestis Cyclops_, a more congenial dance for the
_agrestis fossor_. See the commentators on Horace. --#Bathylli#:
Bathyllus was a famous dancer in the time of Augustus. More bookishness.
See Phaedr., 5, 7, 5; Juv., 6, 63.
124. #Liber ego#: The language of Dama. Only Dama is fading out.
‘Persius meets this reassertion of freedom with a new answer. Before he
had contended that fools had no _rights_; now he shows that they have no
independent _power_’ (Conington). --#Unde datum hoc sentis#: So Hor.,
Sat., 2, 2, 31: _Unde datum hoc sentis_, only _sentis_ here is
equivalent to _censes_ (Jahn). On the interrogative with the Participle,
see 3, 67. _Unde datum_, ‘Who allowed you?’ _unde_ being = _a quo_.
Comp. _inde_, 1, 126, and G., 613, R. 1; A., 48, 5. --#tot subdite
rebus#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 75: _tune mihi dominus rerum imperiis
hominumque | #tot tantisque# minor_ = ἥσσων = _subditus_.
125. #an#: ‘or’ (do you mean to say?) ‘what?’ See 1, 41. --#relaxat#: in
a general sense. Exit Dama. Enter Impersonal _Tu_.
126. #I puer#: sample order of a sample master. --#strigiles#: A man
might go to a common bath, but he would not like to use a common scraper
(_strigilis_, ξύστρα). On the _strigilis_, see, if needful, the
commentators on Juv., 3, 263. --#Crispini#: Perhaps the bath-keeper. The
name is Horatian, Sat., 1, 2, 120, and elsewhere.
127. #si increpuit#: The slave loiters, the master scolds. --#‘cessas
nugator:’# Much more effective in the mouth of the master than as an
apodosis to _si increpuit_, as Hermann has it, and Jahn (1868); though
Schlüter’s remark, _verba_ ‘_cessas nugator?’ dominum, non philosophum
decent_, does not amount to much, when we consider that the philosopher
is Persius himself. _Nugator_ is used here of wasting time; but the use
of _nugari_ and its forms, which were often addressed to slaves, is
wider, like the English ‘fool.’ So in Petron., 52, a boy lets a cup
fall, and Trimalchio cries, _ne sis nugax_. With _cessas_ comp. Hor.,
Ep., 2, 2, 14: _semel hic cessavit_. ‘What do you mean by this
loitering, you dawdler, you?’ --#servitium acre#: ‘the goad of bondage,’
as Conington suggests. _Acre_, from the same radical as _aculeus_.
128. #nihil nec quicquam#: G., 482, R. 3.
129. #nervos#: ‘wires.’ The figure of the puppet (_sigillarium_, ἄγαλμα
νευρόσπαστον) as a favorite one with the Stoics, to judge by
M. Antoninus, who uses it very often, e.g., σιγιλλάρια νευροσπαστούμενα,
7, 3; νευροσπαστια, 6, 28. Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 80: _tu mihi qui
imperitas alii servis miser atque | duceris ut #nervis# alienis mobile
lignum_. --#agitet#: ‘There is nothing from without to set your wires
going.’ Your masters are within. --#iecore#: See 1, 25.
130. #domini#: An immemorial figure. So Sophocles of Love. _Di meliora,
inquit, libenter vero istinc sicut a #domino# agresti ac furioso
profugi_, Cic., Cat. Mai., 14, 47. --#qui#: ‘how?’ --#exis# = _evadis_.
See 1, 46; 6, 60.
131. #atque# = _quam_. G., 311, R. 6. --#hic# = _de quo loquimur_. G.,
290, 3. --#metus erilis# = _metus eri_. G., 360, R. 1; 363, R.; A., 50,
1, _a_. ‘If I be a master, where is _my fear_?’ Mal., 1, 6. The
assumption of Hendiadys, ‘fear of the master’s whip,’ is unnecessary,
and makes the passage less forcible.
132-191. The remainder of the Satire is taken up with descriptions of
the ruling passions: Avarice (132-142), Luxury (143-160), Love
(161-175), Ambition (176-179), Superstition (180-189). The language is
lively and mimetic, and forcibly recalls the connection between comedy
and satire.
132-160. Avarice finds you snoring, makes you get up, thrusts a bill of
lading in your hand, cuts out work for you-- not very honest work
either-- and chides you till she gets you to the ship. As you are about
to embark, Luxury takes you aside, remonstrates with you, reminds you of
the annoyances of a sea voyage. And all for what? The difference between
five and eleven per cent. Why so greedy? ‘Life let us cherish.’ Enjoy it
while you may. And so you are in a strait betwixt two. First you submit
to one, then to the other master; and when you have once rebelled, you
must not say, ‘I have broken my bonds.’ So a struggling hound may wrench
away the staple, but drags the chain after it.
132. #Mane stertis#: a reminiscence of himself, 3, 3.
134. #saperdam#: Sing. for the Plur. Comp. _mena_, 3, 76. The _saperda_
(σαπέρδης, κορακῖνος) was a cheap fish for salting. The best came from
the Palus Maeotis (Sea of Azow, Balik-Denghis, or Fish-sea), where they
were caught in vast quantities. ‘Salt herring.’ --#Ponto#: a whence
case.
135. #castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus#: A mere hodge-podge. Comp.
Menand., fr. 720 (4, 279 Mein.): στυππεῖον, ἐλέφαντ᾽, οἶνον, αὐλαίαν,
μύρον. The wares are mainly Eastern. Musk came from Pontus, ebony and
frankincense from the Far East. --#lubrica Coa#: ‘slippery Coans,’ may
be understood of ‘oily (or laxative) Coan wines,’ Hor., Sat., 2, 4, 29,
or of ‘soft Coan vestments,’ which were little more than woven air,
Hor., Od., 4, 13, 13. The use of _Coa_ for ‘Coan robes’ is sustained by
Ov., A. A., 2, 298: _#Coa# decere puta_, even if Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 101,
be cavilled at, and the effect is droller.
136. #recens primus piper#: _Recens_, ‘fresh,’ ‘just in;’ _primus_,
‘forestall the market.’ --#ex sitiente camelo#: The thirsty camel brings
the scene before our eyes-- comp. _ante boves_, 1, 74-- and shows that
the genuine Indian pepper is meant, the _rugosum piper_ of v. 55. The
camel must have come a long way to be thirsty (_sitim quadriduo
tolerat_, Plin., H. N., 8, 18), but Madam Avarice will not let her slave
wait until the camel has been unloaded and has had its drink.
137. #verte aliquid; iura#: _Verte aliquid_ is said with impatience, and
_aliquid_ is to be urged. Comp. _frange #aliquid#_, 6, 32; _dest
#aliquid#_, 6, 64; _fodere aut arare aut #aliquid# ferre_, Ter., Heaut.,
1, 1, 17. ‘Do something or other in the way of trade.’ This obviates
Jahn’s objection, who finds the expression tame after the preceding
list, and prefers to make _vertere_ = _versuram facere_, ‘borrow money’
(to pay debts), and to interpret _iura_ of swearing out of the
obligation. But the connection in which _iura_ stands shows that it is
professional, and hence dishonorable; and though _verte aliquid_ is not
necessarily immoral, observe that in English we add ‘honest’ to the
phrase ‘turn a penny,’ if we wish to prevent a sinister interpretation,
which is the interpretation here, as König remarks. As for the
‘tameness,’ _mercare_ is ‘tame’ after _vende animam lucro_, 6, 75.
138. #varo#: or _baro_, ‘lout.’ This obscure word is entered by Vaniček
(_Etym. Wörterb._, S. 36) under KAR (KVAR)-- comp. _varus_, ‘crooked’--
so that _varo_ would be ‘a wrong-headed creature,’ ‘a perverse
blockhead.’ The verb _obvaro_ occurs in Ennius (Trag., 2 Vahl.), and
_varo_ (Subst.) would be a formation like _cachinno_ (1, 12) and _palpo_
(5, 176). --#regustatum digito terebrare salinum#: After the Greek
proverb: ἁλίαν τρυπᾶν (of extreme poverty). Casaubon quotes, and every
body after him, Apoll. Tyan., Ep., 7: ἐμοὶ δ᾽ εἴη τὴν ἁλιαν τρυπᾶν ἐν
Θέμιδος οἴκῳ. ‘To taste and taste until you bore a hole with your finger
in the salt-cellar.’ ‘To lick the platter clean.’ --#salinum#: Only the
most advanced philosophers professed to consider salt, which even the
miser could not well dispense with (4, 30), as a luxury. So Thrasycles,
in Luc., Tim., 56: ὄψον δὲ ἥδιστον θύμον ἢ κάρδαμον ἢ #εἴ ποτε τρυφῴην
ὀλίγον τῶν ἁλῶν#.
139. #perages#: according to Casaubon, an imitation of the Gr. διάγειν.
Warrant for the ellipsis of _vitam_ or _aetatem_ seems to be lacking.
Some wish to read _perges_ here, and combine it with _terebrare_. If so,
the word _perges_ must not be translated ‘continue’ τρυπῶν διατελεῖς,
but ‘proceed.’ See the Dictionaries. There is no authority for making
_perages_ = _perges_. --#vivere cum Iove#: Madam Avarice is
blasphemously familiar in her expressions. ‘To live on good terms with
Jupiter.’
140. #pellem#: simply ‘a skin,’ which might serve as many purposes as a
modern traveller’s shawl. Jahn interprets it as meaning a sort of
packing cloth (_segestre_), and compares Petron., 102. This is much more
likely than the _pastoria pellis_ of Ov., Met., 2, 680, the βαίτη of
Theocr., 3, 25, elsewhere called νάκος, 5, 2, ‘a peasant’s coat of raw
hide.’ --#succinctus#: ‘high girt,’ hence ‘equipped.’ --#oenophorum#: ‘a
wine case.’ Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 109: _pueri lasanum portantes
#oenophorumque#_.
141. #Ocius ad navem#: It matters not who says this: ‘Off to the ship
this instant.’ We are on the wharf, where such cries are in the air; but
if we must assign them to somebody, they are best assigned to the
master, who hurries the slaves on board. --#quin#: G., 551,1; A., 70, 4,
_g_. --#trabe vasta#: ‘mammoth ship.’ The man’s greed is indicated by
the size of the ship, as contrasted with the slenderness of his personal
equipment. _Vastum Aegaeum_, another reading, would be an epithet
wasted, a rare extravagance in Persius.
142. #rapias#: ‘scour.’ Casaubon comp. Stat., Theb., 5, 3: _#rapere#
campum_. So Verg., Georg., 3, 103: _campum | #corripuere#_. The notion
is that of devouring. --#sollers#: ‘artful’ (literally, all-art).
143. #seductum#: Comp. 2, 4; 6, 42. --#quo deinde ruis?# So Verg., Aen.,
5, 741. _Deinde_, ‘next.’
144. #quid tibi vis?# Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 69. G., 351, R.; A., 51,
7, _d_. --#calido#: is proleptic. ‘Your breast is heated by a rising of
potent bile.’ --#mascula# = _robusta_ (Jahn). _Mascula bilis_ means
_bilis nigra_, μελαγχολία. Conington compares the Greek use of ἀρσην as
κτύπος ἄρσην, Soph., Phil., 1455. See 6, 4.
145. #intumuit#: Comp. 2, 14; 3, 8. --#non exstinxerit#: οὐκ ἂν σβέσειε.
G., 629 (250); A., 60, 2, _b_. --#urna#: nearly three gallons, half an
amphora. --#cicutae#: the remedy for madness from this cause, Hor., Ep.,
2, 2, 53.
146. #mare transilias#: G., 251; A., 57, 6. Conington’s ‘skip across’
would hardly answer for Horace’s _non tangenda rates | #transiliunt#
vada_, Od., 1, 3, 24. Tr. ‘vault over.’ --#torta cannabe#: ‘Twisted
hemp’ is ‘rope,’ but Persius probably means a ‘coil of rope.’ --#fulto#:
with _tibi_. Jahn quotes Juv., 3, 82: _#fultusque# toro meliore
recumbet_. A coil of rope will be your cushion and a bench your table.
147. #Veientanumque rubellum#: The _Veientana uva_ (Mart., 2, 53, 4)
yielded a coarse red wine. _Et Veientani bibitur faex crassa #rubelli#_,
Mart., 1, 103, 9. Not a happy stroke, as Teuffel has observed. A sea
voyage does not involve bad wine.
148. #vapida pice#: ‘fusty pitch.’ Jars were pitched to preserve the
wine. --#laesum#: ‘damaged.’ --#sessilis obba#: ‘broad-bottomed jorum,’
‘squab jug’ (Gifford). _Obba_ is an obsolete word for a large
drinking-cup. Conington’s ‘noggin’ does not hold enough.
149. #quincunce#: As an _as_ a month is twelve per cent. per annum, so
5/12 _as_ (_quincunx_) is five per cent., and _deunx_ eleven.
150. #nutrieras#: We use ‘nursing’ in similar connections, but rather in
the sense of ‘husbanding.’ The figure is an extension of the Greek
τόκος. See Shaksp., M. of V., 1, 3, where the ‘breed for barren metal’
embodies an ancient prejudice. Comp. further Hor., Ep., 1, 18, 35:
_nummos alienos #pascet#_. --#nummi-- pergant avidos sudare deunces#: So
Jahn (1843). ‘May go on to sweat out a greedy eleven per cent.’ Hermann
edits: _nummos-- peragant avido sudore deunces_, and so Jahn (1868). H.
(_L. P._, II., 57) refers to _bona peragere_ (6, 22), and says that the
merchant, dissatisfied with his modest five per cent. which had
increased his capital, goes in for eleven per cent., which gobbles it
up, and has his sweat for his pains. On _pergant_, see note on v. 139;
with _sudare deunces_ comp. Verg., Ecl., 4, 30: _sudabunt roscida
mella_.
151. #indulge genio#: See note on 2, 3. --#nostrum est quod vivis#:
Variously interpreted. ‘Your real life is mine,’ i.e., ‘only that part
of life which you bestow on me is life’ (Casaubon, and so, in effect,
Jahn). ‘Your life belongs to me and you (_nostrum_ answering to
_carpamus dulcia_), not to any one else, such as Avarice, and it is all
that we have’ (Conington). ‘It is all in our favor that you are alive’
(Pretor)-- clearly wrong. There is an evident reminiscence of the
Horatian _#quod spiro# et placeo, si placeo, #tuum# est_ (Od., 4, 3,
24), which sustains Casaubon’s view.
152. #cinis et manes et fabula fies#: See note on 1, 36. There are
clearly three stages, as Conington suggests: ‘first ashes, then a shade,
then a name.’ With _fabula fies_ comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 13, 9: _fabula
fias_, and Od., 1, 4, 16: _iam te premet nox #fabulaeque manes#_.
153. #vive memor leti#: So Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 97. --#hoc quod loquor inde
est#: ‘What I am saying-- this speech of mine-- is so much off, so much
time lost.’ Comp. _dum loquimur fugerit invida | aetas_, Hor., Od., 1,
11, 7.
154. #en quid agis?# See 3, 5. --#duplici hamo#: ‘a couple of hooks.’ If
_hamo_ is a fish-hook, _scinderis_ is a metaphor within a metaphor. ‘You
are like a fish distracted by two hooks,’ not knowing which to bite at.
Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 7, 74: _occultum visus decurrere piscis ad #hamum#_,
and for _scinderis_, Verg., Aen., 2, 39: _#scinditur# incertum studia in
contraria vulgus_. The executioner’s hook, which others understand, is
generally _uncus_; Juv., 10, 66: _Seianus ducitur #unco#_.
155. #sequeris#: See note on 3, 5. --#subeas oportet#: G., 535, R. 1;
A., 70, 3, _f_, R.
156. #oberres#: Gr. δραπετεύειν, ‘go at large’ (Pretor).
157-158. #nec--dicas# = _neu dicas_. See note on 1, 5.
159. #nam et#: (Don’t say so) ‘for.’ ‘Why, there’s the dog that, like
you (_et_), breaks its fastening.’ --#luctata#: ‘by a wrench.’
--#nodum#: ‘is the knot by which the chain is fastened to the bar of the
door, (_sera_). Comp. Prop., 4, 11, 25-6: _#Cerberus# et nullas hodie
petat improbus umbras, | sed iaceat tacita lapsa catena #sera#_’
(Pretor). --#et tamen#: So Jahn (1868). _At tamen_, the reading of most
MSS., can not stand, if Madvig is right in maintaining that _at tamen_
always means ‘at least.’ Hermann’s _ast tamen_ is well supported by
MSS., and is more vigorous than _et_.
160. #a collo#: G., 388, R. 2; A., 42, 2. --#pars longa catenae#: The
long chain hampers its flight, and makes it easier to catch. The
comparison clearly suggests the next picture.
161-175. Persius, knowing little of love or liaison, goes to his Greek
books for an example, and finds it, where it was not far to seek, in
Menander’s Eunuch. Horace (Sat., 2, 3, 259 seqq.) follows Terence’s
adaptation, Persius seems to have stuck to the original. Hence the
dialogue is between Chaerestratus (Χαιρέστρατος), the young master, and
Davus (Δᾶος), the confidential servant, and not between Phaedria and
Parmeno, as in the Latin dramatist.
Ch. Davus, I’m going to put a stop to this sort of thing. --D. Thank
Heaven for that! --Ch. But-- I should not like to hurt her feelings. Do
you think she’ll cry? --D. Well, if you talk that way, you had better
not kick over the traces at all. She will give it to you soundly when
she gets hold of you again, and she will get hold of you again as soon
as she calls you. Don’t be making suppositions. Go back to her in no
case.
A man who can make such a resolution and keep it-- here is your free
man, not the lictor’s whirligig.
161. #Dave, cito#: Observe how he jerks out the words between the
gnawings. --#credas iubeo#: G., 546, R. 3. --#finire dolores#, etc.:
From Hor., l.c. 263: _an potius mediter #finire dolores#_.
162. #praeteritos#: logically superfluous with _finire_, and yet not bad
dramatically; ‘that I have been having, undergoing.’ --#crudum#:
predicative, ‘to the raw,’ ‘to the quick.’ Comp. 1, 106: _demorsos
unguis_.
163. ##ad#rodens#: more natural than _abrodens_. ‘He is in meditation,
not in despair’ (Hermann). --#siccis#: opp. to _madidis_, _ebriis_.
‘What! shall I be a standing disgrace in the way of my sober relations?’
164. #rumore sinistro#: ‘What? make myself the talk of all the
scandal-mongers by squandering my estate?’
165. #limen ad obscenum#: ‘at a bawdy-house.’ See note on 1, 109. He
puts the case strongly. Remember that he is shut out. --#frangam#:
colloquial, ‘smash up,’ ‘make flinders of.’ --#Chrysidis#: In Terence
the lady’s name is Thais, not Chrysis. --#udas#: ‘dripping.’ With what?
With perfumes (Lucr., 4, 1179), with wine (Hor., Od., 1, 7, 22), with
tears (Ov., Am., 1, 6, 18), with rain (Hor., Od., 3, 10, 19), with the
sweat of the commentators of Persius.
166. Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 51: _#ebrius# et, magnum quod dedecus,
ambulet ante | noctem #cum facibus#_. --#ante fores canto#: Antique
erotic literature is full of the caterwaulings of excluded lovers
(παρακλαυσίθυρα).
167. #puer#: ‘Davus encourages his master, hence _puer_ instead of
Terence and Horace’s _ere_’ (Conington). ‘My young master’ gives the
tone here, ‘my boy’ below. --#sapias#: ‘I do hope you are going to show
your sense.’ Rather optative than imperative. --#dis depellentibus#:
_depulsoribus_ = _dis averruncis_. The Gr. is ἀποτρόπαιος, ἀπωσίκακος,
ἀλεξίκακος. Comp. ἀποτρόποισι δαίμοσι, Aesch., Pers., 203 (quoted by
Pretor).
169. #Nugaris#: ‘at your old nonsense, I see.’ See v. 127. --#solea#:
The slipper was and is a matronly instrument of torture (Luc., D. D.,
11, 1), and hence the fun of its application to grown-up men, as in the
familiar story of Hercules and Omphalé, Luc., D. D., 13, 2. ‘To slipper’
would be understood as well in a modern nursery as βλαυτοῦν was in a
Greek gynaikonitis. _Philtra quibus valeat mentem vexare mariti | et
#solea# pulsare natis_, Juv., 6, 611-12. --#obiurgabere#: a _terminus
technicus_. Petron., 34: _colaphis #objurgare# puerum iussit_.
--#rubra#: A dramatic touch. This ‘No Goody Two Shoes’ wore the
fashionable red slippers. Comp. the _talon rouge_ of the last century.
170. #ne trepidare velis# = _noli trepidare_. ‘Pray don’t undertake to
be restiff, to be plunging about.’ Chaerestratus is a wild beast in the
toils. This suggests _ferus_, and then the metaphor is dropped, unless
_exieras_, v. 174, be a remnant of it.
171. The distribution of what follows is not clear. Jahn and Hermann
make Davus’s speech end with _dicas_, so that _haud mora_ is the reply
which the slave puts into the mouth of his master. ‘If she should call
you, you would say: “Anon, anon, mistress.”’ Chaerestratus speaks the
words from _Quidnam_ to _accedam_, and Davus concludes with _si totus--
nec nunc_. If Jahn’s view be adopted, I do not see how we are to reject
the old conjecture _ne tunc_ or _nec tunc_ for the reading _ne nunc, nec
nunc_, v. 174. According to Heinrich, followed by Macleane and
Conington, _haud mora_ is adverbial, and the words _quidnam-- accedam_
are attributed by Davus to Chaerestratus. ‘In Terence,’ says Conington,
‘the lover has received a summons before the scene begins, and he
deliberates whether to obey it. In Persius he is trying to resolve under
the pressure of disappointment, and even then can not make up his mind;
so that his servant tells him that if he _should_ be summoned back, he
is pretty sure to entertain the question.’ I have followed Heinrich’s
arrangement. Speech within speech is as characteristic of Persius as
metaphor within metaphor.
172. #nec nunc#: So Jahn in his ed. of 1868. _Ne nunc_, his former
reading, for _ne nunc quidem_, condemned by Madvig, has a doubtful
support in Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 262, a clear support in Petron., 9, 47.
--#arcessat#: So Jahn for _arcessor_, which is excessively harsh, by
reason of the double change, person and mood, in _supplicet_.
174. #si exieras#: εἴ γ᾽ ἐξέβης. ‘If (as you pretend you did) you got
away heart-whole and fancy-free, don’t go to her even now.’ _Si_ with
Pluperf. Ind. (not iterative) is not common, Cic., N. D., 2, 35, 90.
Others read _exieris_. --#nec nunc#: sc. _accedas_. --#hic, hic#: The
Adverb, as appears from _in festuca_. Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 17, 39: _hic
est aut nusquam quod quaerimus_.
175. #festuca#: is generally explained as a synonyme for _vindicta_.
Others refer it to the practice of throwing stubble on the manumitted
slave, Plut., De Sera Num. Vind., p. 550 (Conington). --#ineptus#: ‘as
if a lictor could make a man truly free!’ (Jahn).
176-179. Ambition’s Slave.
176. #palpo#: literally ‘patter, stroker,’ ‘softsawder-man,’ i.e.,
electioneerer. Another of the _verba togae_. See note on 1, 12. _Palpo_
is explained by Io. Sarisberiensis (ap. Jahn) as ‘one who feels his way
with the people;’ but this is not so simple nor so much in accordance
with the use of _palpare_. --#ducit hiantem#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 2,
88: _emptorem inducat #hiantem#_, where Bentley reads _ducat_ on account
of this passage. Also Verg., Georg., 2, 508: _hunc plausus #hiantem#-- |
corripuit_, and Solon, 13, 36 (Bergk), #χάσκοντες# κούφαις ἐλπίσι
τερπόμεθα.
177. #cretata# = _candidata_. Togas were chalked then, as belts are
pipe-clayed now. The candidate naturally put on his best. ‘My Lady
Canvass in holiday attire, in spotless white.’ --#vigila#: ‘Be up
early,’ in the same sense as our phrase, ‘You must get up early to do
this or that.’ There is no special reference to the morning _salutatio_.
--#cicer#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 182: _in #cicere# atque faba bona tu
perdasque lupinis, | latus ut in circo spatiere et aeneus ut stes_. The
vetch was a vulgar vegetable.
178. #nostra#: _nobis aedilibus celebrata_ (Jahn). On the ironical First
Person, see 3, 3. --#Floralia#: See the Dictionaries.
179. #aprici# = _apricantes_. See 4, 18. 19. To ‘love to live i’ th’
sun’ (Shaksp.) is common to the feebleness of age and the luxury of
youth, 4, 33. --#quid pulchrius#: Snatch of the old men’s chat
(Hermann). Ironical comment of Persius (Jahn). The former is more in
Persius’s manner.
#at#: An abrupt transition to the Thraldom of Superstition (180-188).
Whether the slave of superstition is identical with the slave of
ambition or not is not certain-- probably not.
180. #Herodis--dies#: Probably Herod’s birthday, celebrated by the sect
of the Herodians. Persius takes Herod as the most familiar Jewish
personage to indicate Jewish superstition. On the spread of Judaism in
the Roman Empire, see Friedländer, _Sittengesch._, 3, 489. --#uncta
fenestra#: The ‘window’ is ‘greasy’ from the oil-lamps.
181. #lucernae#: Those who wish illustrations for what they can see with
their own eyes, may consult Friedländer, l.c. 1, 292. The lights remind
one of the Feast of Tabernacles.
182. #violas#: Comp. Juv., 12, 90: _omnis #violae# iactabo colores_. The
violet may be our violet or the pansy (_viola bicolor_). --#rubrumque
amplexa catinum#: The tunny is so large that it embraces the dish, and
is not embraced by it. Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 4, 77: _angustoque vagos
piscis urgere #catino#_. _Rubrum_, the common color of pottery.
183. #cauda thynni#: The tunny has a large tail, hence some such
adjective as ‘taily’ is desiderated. Comp. note on 6, 10. --#natat#:
Makes fun of the fish’s swimming in the circumstances. --#tumet#:
‘bulges.’ The big belly of the jar looks as if it were ‘swollen’ with
wine.
184. #labra movet tacitus#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 16, 60: _#labra movet#,
metuens audiri_ (of a prayer to Laverna). A recondite allusion to the
secret prayer of the Jews is unlikely. --#recutita sabbata# =
_recutitorum sabbata_. Comp. Ov., Rem. Am., 219, 220: _nec te peregrina
morentur | #sabbata#_. --#palles# = _pallidus times_. G., 329, R. 1; A.,
52, 1, _a_. Comp. our English ‘blanch’ or ‘blench.’
185. #tum#: As soon as the man has got over his Jewish fright he is
assailed by other superstitions. --#lemures#: ‘hobgoblins.’ See note on
2, 3. Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 208: _somnia, terrores magicos, miracula,
sagas, | #nocturnos lemures#, portentaque Thessala rides?_ --#ovoque
pericula rupto#: The Schol. refers these words to the Gr. ᾠοσκοπική
(Jahn). ‘The priests used to put eggs on the fire, and observe whether
the moisture came out from the side or the top, the bursting of the egg
being considered a very dangerous sign.’ So Conington, after the
Scholiast. _Lemures_ and _pericula_ have no strict grammatical
connection. Some supply _timentur_ out of _palles_, others connect with
_incussere_ by Zeugma.
186. #grandes galli#: Juvenal’s _ingens | semivir_ (6, 512). The
peculiar worship of Cybelé had long been familiar to the Romans.
--#sistro#: The σεῖστρον, or ‘timbrel,’ was peculiar to the service of
Isis, which had been imported more recently. On its significance, see
Plut., De Isid. et Osir., p. 376. The vibratory theory of life, with its
perpetual sensuous unrest, is no novelty, as some of its eloquent
advocates seem to think. --#lusca#: Why _lusca_? The priestess is
supposed to have been struck blind by Isis, who visited offenders in
that way. Comp. Ov., Ep. ex P., 1, 1, 53, and Juv., 13, 93: _Isis et
irato feriat mea lumina sistro_. One homely explanation is that the
priestess, being one-eyed, had betaken herself to religion in despair of
a husband! (Schol.)
187. #incussere#: Gr. Aorist. Comp. 3, 101. The expression, ‘strike the
gods into you,’ after the analogy of _incutere metum, terrorem_, is the
other side of Vergil’s famous _magnum si pectore postit | #excussisse
deum#_ (Aen., 6, 78). --#inflantis#: ‘who have a way of swelling.’
Compare the use of _depellentibus_ for _depulsoribus_, v. 167. See G.,
439.
188. #praedictum#: ‘prescribed.’ --#alli#: The superstitious usage here
referred to has not yet been paralleled.
189-91. Last scene of all. Horse-laughter of the muscular military.
189. #Dixeris--ridet# = _si dixeris-- ridet_. Comp. v. 78.
--#varicosos#: Comp. Juv., 6, 397: _#varicosus# fiet haruspex_ (from
long-standing). Varicose veins would naturally be common with men who
were as much on their legs as the soldiers of that day. But as
_varicare_ means to stand or walk, as if one had _varices_, ‘to
straddle’ (Quint., 11, 3, 125), and as _vāricus_ means ‘straddling’
(Ov., A. A., 3, 304), it seems better to translate _varicosos_
‘straddling’ here, always remembering the origin. With the change of
quantity, comp. _văcillo_ and _vācillo (vaccillo)_, Lachm., _Lucret._,
p. 37. --#centurionum#: See note on 3, 77.
190. #crassum ridet#: Comp. _subrisit molle_, 3, 110. --#Pulfennius#:
Jahn’s last. The name is variously written. Notice a similar trouble
about a _hircosus centurio_ in Caes., B. G., 5. 44, once Pulfio, now
Pulio. Heinrich recognizes a fellow-countryman in _Vulfennius_ (Wulfen).
--#ingens#: Comp. _#torosa# inventus_, 3, 86; _caloni #alto#_, 5, 95.
191. #Graecos#: Comp. _doctores Graios_, 6, 38. --#curto#: ‘clipped.’
--#licetur#: A similar notion is worked out with admirable humor in
Lucian’s Vitarum Auctio.
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
SATURA V.
3. #maesto#: moesto, J{α}., H. --8. #Prognes#: Procnes, #H. --9.
cenanda#: coenanda, J{α}., #H. --13. scloppo#: stloppo, J{α}., #H. --17.
dicis#: dicas, J{α}., H. --19. #bullatis#: pullatis, J{α}.; ampullatis
_proposuit_ J. --24. #dinoscere#: dignoscere, J{α}. --35. #deducit#:
J{α}., H.; diducit, J{ω}. --38. #apposita#: J{α}., H.; adpos., J{ω}.
--58. #cheragra#: chiragra, J{α}. --66. #‘cras hoc fiet.’ Idem cras
fiet#: cras hoc fiet idem-- Cras fiet? H. --68. #consumpsimus#:
consumsimus, J{α}. --71. #cantum#: canthum, J{α}., H. --76. #tressis#:
J{α}., H.; tresis, J{ω}. --82. #pillea#: pilea, J{α}., H. --102.
#navem#: navim, J{α}. --105. #speciem dinoscere#: specimen dignoscere,
J{α}. --110. #astringas#: adstringas, J{α}. --112. #glutto#: gluto,
J{α}. --117. #sub#: J{α}., H.; in, J{ω}. --119. #exsere#: J{α}., H.;
exere, J{ω}. --122. #cetera#: caetera, J{α}. --123. #tris#: tres, H.
--#satyrum#: satyri, J{α}. --127. #‘cessas nugator:’# J{α}.; cessas
nugator, J{ω}., H. _Vid. Comment._ --131. #erilis#: herilis, J{α}., H.
--132. #heia#: eia, J{α}. --135. #hebenum#: ebenum, J{α}., H. --136.
#ex#: e, J{α}. --#camelo#: J{α}., H.; camello, J{ω}. --138. #varo#:
J{α}.; baro, J{ω}., H. --142. #ni#: nisi, J{α}., H. --145.
#exstinxerit#: J{α}., H.; extinxerit, J{ω}. --146. #transilias#:
transsilias, J{α}. --147. #cena#: coena, J{α}., H. --148. #exalet#:
exhalet, J{α}., H. --149. #nummi#: J{α}.; nummos, J{ω}., H. --150.
#pergant avidos sudare#: J{α}.; peragant avido sudore, J{ω}., H. --155.
#huncine#: hunccine, J{α}., H. --159. #et tamen#: ac tamen, J{α}.; ast
tamen, H. --163. #adrodens#: abrodens, J{α}. --165. #obscenum#:
obscoenum, J{α}. --172. #nec nunc#: ne nunc, J{α}. --#arcessat#:
accersar, H.; arcessor _al_. --174. #exieras#: exieris _al_. --#nec
nunc#: ne nunc, J{α}. --190. #Pulfennius#: Fulfennius, J{α}.
* * * * *
SATURA VI.
Admovit iam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino?
iamne lyra et tetrico vivunt tibi pectine chordae?
mire opifex numeris veterum primordia vocum
atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae,
mox iuvenes agitare iocis et pollice honesto 5
egregius lusisse senes. mihi nunc Ligus ora
intepet hibernatque meum mare, qua latus ingens
dant scopuli et multa litus se valle receptat.
Lunai portum, est operae, cognoscite, cives!
cor iubet hoc Enni, postquam destertuit esse 10
Maeonides, Quintus pavone ex Pythagoreo.
hic ego securus vulgi et quid praeparet auster
infelix pecori, securus et angulus ille
vicini nostro quia pinguior, etsi adeo omnes
ditescant orti peioribus, usque recusem 15
curvus ob id minui senio aut cenare sine uncto,
et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagoena.
discrepet his alius! geminos, horoscope, varo
producis genio. solis natalibus est qui
tingat holus siccum muria vafer in calice empta, 20
ipse sacrum inrorans patinae piper; hic bona dente
grandia magnanimus peragit puer. utar ego, utar,
nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus,
nec tenuis sollers turdarum nosse salivas.
messe tenus propria vive et granaria, fas est, 25
emole; quid metuis? occa, et seges altera in herba est.
ast vocat officium: trabe rupta Bruttia saxa
prendit amicus inops, remque omnem surdaque vota
condidit Ionio; iacet ipse in litore et una
ingentes de puppe dii, iamque obvia mergis 30
costa ratis lacerae. nunc et de caespite vivo
frange aliquid, largire inopi, ne pictus oberret
caerulea in tabula. ‘Sed cenam funeris heres
negleget, iratus quod rem curtaveris; urnae
ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum, 35
seu ceraso peccent casiae, nescire paratus.
tune bona incolumis minuas? et Bestius urguet
doctores Graios: _Ita fit, postquam sapere urbi_
_cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers;_
_fenisecae crasso vitiarunt unguine pultes._’ 40
Haec cinere ulterior metuas? At tu, meus heres
quisquis eris, paulum a turba seductior audi.
o bone, num ignoras? missa est a Caesare laurus
insignem ob cladem Germanae pubis, et aris
frigidus excutitur cinis, ac iam postibus arma, 45
iam chlamydes regum, iam lutea gausapa captis
essedaque ingentesque locat Caesonia Rhenos.
dis igitur genioque ducis centum paria ob res
egregie gestas induco; quis vetat? aude.
vae, nisi conives! oleum artocreasque popello 50
largior; an prohibes? dic clare! ‘Non adeo,’ inquis
‘exossatus ager iuxta est.’ Age, si mihi nulla
iam reliqua ex amitis, patruelis nulla, proneptis
nulla manet patrui, sterilis matertera vixit,
deque avia nihilum superest, accedo Bovillas 55
clivumque ad Virbi, praesto est mihi Manius heres.
‘Progenies terrae?’ Quaere ex me, quis mihi quartus
sit pater: haud prompte, dicam tamen; adde etiam unum,
unum etiam: terrae est iam filius, et mihi ritu
Manius hic generis prope maior avunculus exit. 60
qui prior es, cur me in decursu lampada poscis?
sum tibi Mercurius; venio deus huc ego ut ille
pingitur; an renuis? vin tu gaudere relictis?
‘Dest aliquid summae.’ Minui mihi; sed tibi totum est,
quidquid id est. ubi sit, fuge quaerere, quod mihi quondam 65
legarat Tadius, neu dicta repone paterna:
_Faenoris accedat merces; hinc exime sumptus._
_quid reliquum est?_ Reliquum? nunc, nunc inpensius ungue,
ungue, puer, caules! mihi festa luce coquetur
urtica et fissa fumosum sinciput aure, 70
ut tuus iste nepos olim satur anseris extis,
cum morosa vago singultiet inguine vena,
patriciae inmeiat vulvae? mihi trama figurae
sit reliqua, ast illi tremat omento popa venter?
vende animam lucro, mercare atque excute sollers 75
omne latus mundi, nec sit praestantior alter
Cappadocas rigida pinguis plausisse castata:
rem duplica. ‘Feci; iam triplex, iam mihi quarto,
iam deciens redit in rugam: depunge, ubi sistam.’
Inventus, Chrysippe, tui finitor acervi. 80
NOTES.
SIXTH SATIRE.
The Sixth Satire is addressed to Caesius Bassus, a friend of Persius.
The theme of it is the Proper Use of the Goods of this Life, which takes
the personal form of a vindication of the poet’s course in preferring
moderate enjoyment to mean parsimony or grasping avarice.
ARGUMENT.-- Are you by this time snugly ensconced by your Sabine fire?
And _do_ the chords of your lyre wake to life at your vigorous touch?
O cunning craftsman! in whose song the noble tongue of our sires is set
to manly music, while young and old alike feel the play of your sportive
wit, which in all its sport never forgets the gentleman (1-6).
While you are yonder, I am in my dear Liguria, where the coast is warm,
the sea is wintry but kindly, the rocks bar out the storm, and the shore
retreats far inland.
‘Luna’s port-- ’tis well worth while, good people, to know it.’
This was a saying of Ennius, as he woke up in his senses from his
Pythagorean dreams and became plain Quintus, instead of the ‘blind old
man of Scio’s rocky isle,’ and a wise saying of that hearty old cock it
was (7-11).
Well, here I am, caring nothing for the rabble rout, caring nothing what
an ill wind may be getting up for my flock. My neighbor may have a
better patch of ground, men of lower birth may be growing rich over me.
I will not fret myself into a crooked old man for that, nor dine without
a bit of something nice, nor nose out a swindle in the imperfect seal of
a flagon of flat wine (12-17).
How men differ in such matters! The very same horoscope may bring forth
rights and lefts. Here is one that even on his birthday allows himself
only the scantiest and meanest fare. Here is another that eats up, like
a spirited lad as he is, a vast estate. For my part, ‘Enjoyment,
enjoyment,’ is my motto, although I do not intend to treat my freedmen
to turbots, and do not understand the difference between cock-ortolan
and hen-ortolan after they are cooked (18-24).
Now this is the way to live, I take it. Up to your harvest, up to the
last grain of your garners. What are you afraid of? It is a mere matter
of harrowing, and lo! another crop is there (25, 26).
But you say, Mr. Critic, ‘There are claims on one. A friend is
shipwrecked, the poor fellow is utterly ruined. One must do something
for him.’
Well and good! Sell a piece of land, give the proceeds to the needy
friend, and keep him from begging up and down with a pictorial appeal to
the benevolent (27-33).
Ay, but what of the heir? _He_ will dock the funeral meats, if _you_
dock the estate. One, sure, would not be stenchful when one’s dead, and
your bones will not be perfumed, or the perfumes will be stale or
adulterated. One can not expect to diminish one’s property without
paying for it. Why, I heard Bestius say of your Greek teachers, from
whom you learned this precious wisdom of yours, that ever since this new
doctrine came to town the very haymakers have been spoiling their good,
wholesome fare by rancid grease.
Well, what of all this-- the heir’s neglect and Bestius’s
fault-finding-- would you fear _them_ beyond the grave? (34-41).
But come, my heir, let us dismiss the critic, and have a quiet chat
together. Consider the claims on me. Here comes a glorious piece of news
from the Emperor. The Germans have been defeated with great slaughter.
A grand triumph is preparing. This is no time to hold back. I am going
to bring out a hundred pairs of gladiators in honor of the occasion.
Forbid it, if you dare. If you don’t like that, I am going to give
largess to the people-- none of your vile vetches, but oil and pasties.
Do you object? Out with it (42-51).
What do you say? ‘My farm is hardly worth having after that.’ Well, if
you don’t want it, I can get some of the women to take it; and if there
is none of them left, I can go to the next village, and Hodge will
accept. ‘A son of earth?’ you say; ‘a nobody?’ Pshaw! If you come to
that, I can just remember who my great-great-grandfather was. Two
generations further back and I come to a son of earth, a nobody, and
Hodge is a relation-- a distant relation, but still a relation-- a kind
of great-great-uncle. Believe me, the Lord No Zoo is father of us all
(52-60).
You are an impatient heir, I must say. Why can’t you wait for my shoes
until I take them off? I am the God of Fortune to you, just as he is
painted in the pictures, with a purse in his hand. Will you take what I
leave, and be glad to get it? It falls short; I know it does. But if I
have lessened it, it is for myself that I have lessened it, and what is
left is all yours. Don’t stop to ask about that old legacy, and serve up
a stale dish of fatherly advice. I know how fathers talk. ‘Credit
yourself by the interest. Debit yourself by the expenses. What is the
remainder?’ Remainder? Fudge! Souse the cabbage, boy. Don’t spare the
oil. Am I to dine off cow-heel and turnips on a holiday, that your
graceless grandson may stuff himself with _pâté de foie gras_, and
indulge himself in aristocratic connections? Am I to go through the eye
of a cambric needle that he may have a priestly paunch? (61-74).
Furthermore, if you are not content with the little that I can leave
you, sell your life for gain. Try every trade. Try every nook and corner
of the earth. Go to Cappadocia, for instance, where you can make
something by dealing in slaves, and become an adept in that dainty
business. Double your capital. ‘I have done so. Nay, I have trebled it,
quadrupled it, decupled it. Tell me where to draw the line.’ Tell you
where to draw the line? Why, Chrysippus himself could not find the limit
between wealth and poverty. A dollar more does not make a man rich,
a dollar less does not make him poor. Where is the turning-point? And
yet this man talks as if the turning-point had been found! (75-80.)
The Sixth Satire is the most obscure and unsatisfactory of the poems of
Persius, and baffled interpreters have taken refuge in the hypothesis
that the Satire is incomplete. The roughness of the metre and the
harshness of the transitions favor this view; but parts are wrought out
with all the minuteness of detail that is characteristic of our author’s
style, and some of the highest authorities, such as Jahn, consider the
Satire complete. The close, as Mr. Pretor remarks, is exactly in
Persius’s manner, and we must look elsewhere in the Satire for the
breaks-- if breaks there be.
1-11. Are you spending the winter on your Sabine farm, Bassus, and have
you resumed your poetry? I am in my Ligurian resort, so praised by
Ennius.
1. #iam#: in the question implies uncertainty, ‘actually?’ ‘so?’
--#bruma# = _brevuma_ = _brevissuma_ (_dies_), ‘the shortest day,’
‘winter-solstice,’ ‘midwinter.’ --#foco#: contrast between the
_fireside_ of the land of the Sabines and the open-air _warmth_ of
Liguria. --#Basse#: ‘Caesius Bassus, one of the intimate friends of
Persius, was deputed by Cornutus to edit his Satires after his death. He
is classed with Horace, as a lyric poet, by Quintilian (10, 1, 96), who,
however, thinks him inferior to some of his own contemporaries, and he
is probably the same with the author of a treatise on Metres, which is
referred to by various grammarians, and still exists in an interpolated
epitome, but different from Gabius or Gavius Bassus, who wrote works on
the origin and signification of words and on the gods. Bassus was
killed, according to the Scholiast, in the famous eruption of Vesuvius’
(Conington, after Jahn). See also v. 5. --#Sabino#: The simplicity of
the Sabines has already been noted (see 1, 20), and Jahn thinks that the
life about the fireside (Verg., Georg., 2, 532) is an indication of the
primitive tastes of Bassus and his family. _Sabino_ also prepares the
way for _tetrico_ (below). Comp. _#tetrica# ac tristis disciplina
#Sabinorum#_, Liv., 1, 18 (quoted by Jahn).
2. #tetrico#: ‘austere.’ --#vivunt#: Persius was thinking of Horace’s
_vivuntque commissi calores | Aeoliae fidibus puellae_, Od., 4, 9, 11.
12. _Iam vivunt_, ‘wake to life’ (Pretor), where ‘wake’ represents
_iam_. See note on 5, 33.
3. #mire#: is an Adjective or an Adverb, according as _opifex_ is a
Substantive or an Adjective. --#opifex#: Commentators supply _es_, but
the Nom. can be used in characteristic exclamation. See G., 340, R. 1,
and comp. 1, 5. With _opifex intendisse_ comp. Prol., 11, and _egregius
lusispe_ below. For the Perf., see 1, 41, note. --#veterum primordia
vocum#: Perhaps ‘the racy richness of our early tongue.’ Lucr. (4, 531)
uses _primordia vocum_ of the beginnings of articulate sound, as Quint.,
1, 9, 1, uses _dicendi primordia_ of instruction in the rudimentary
preparation for rhetoric. Bassus, as the whole context shows, affected
to belong to the _antiquiores homines_, and imitated the diction of an
earlier time. Persius belongs to a different school of art, and his
friendship makes him guarded. Jahn understands a grammatical poem, of
which Lucilius furnishes a familiar example in his Ninth Book (see L.
Müller’s _Lucilius_, p. 221), but, as Pretor remarks, _numeris-- marem
strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae_ indicates lyric poetry.
4. #marem strepitum#: like ἄρρην φθόγγος. Comp. Hor., A. P., 402: _mares
animos_. --#fidis Latinae#: Stress is to be laid on _Latinae_. Persius
himself is intensely Latin in his vocabulary. --#intendisse#: ‘Verg.,
Aen., 9, 774, speaks of stringing the numbers on the chords; Persius
goes further [and fares worse], and talks of stringing sounds on the
numbers’ (Conington).
5. #mox#: points to another side of Bassus’s poetry, the non-lyrical,
probably satires, for one _Bassus in satyris_, mentioned by Fulgentius
(ap. Jahn), is most likely our man, despite Jahn’s objections.
--#iocis#: Heinrich, _ex coni_. The passage is a very difficult one. The
interpretation turns on the two words, _iocos_ (or _iocis_), _senes_ (or
_senex_), as the reading _egregios_ for _egregius_ may be discarded.
(1.) Jahn reads in both editions (1843 and 1868) _iocos_ and _senes_.
(2.) Hermann’s _senex_, the reading of Montepess., was
enthusiastically advocated by Hermann himself.
(3.) Heinrich’s _iocis_ has the merit of making a perfectly clear
sense, and is accepted by Mr. Pretor.
(1.) If we read _iocos_ with the MSS., _iuvenes_ must be considered
an Adjective, and _iuvenes iocos_ = _iuvenilis iocos_. This almost
compels us to make _senes_ an Adjective also, and the following
translation may be given: ‘Rare genius for carrying on the frolics
of youth [in song], and for giving play with virtuous skill to the
jests of the aged.’
(2.) Hermann’s reading labors under the difficulty of requiring us to
understand _senex_ of Bassus, who was not an old man at the time;
but compare the note on _praegrandi sene_, 1, 124. Notice also the
want of balance in the absolute _lusisse_. ‘Then showing yourself
excellent in your old age at wakening young loves and frolicking
over the chords with a virtuous touch’ (Conington). _Iocus_ is
often used of love. Comp. Catull., 8, 6: _ibi illa multa tum
#iocosa# fiebant_.
(3.) Heinrich’s _iocis_ gives us, ‘Rarely skilled to rally the young
with jibe and jest and have a fling at old sinners, but all in
high-bred style.’ _Pollice honesto_ is the _ingenuo ludo_ of 5, 16.
Comp. also 2, 74: _generoso #honesto#_; and the _#honesta# oratio_
of Ter., Andr., 1, 1, 114: _quae opponitur #plebeiae#_, as Gesner
says, s.v. It is hardly necessary to say that the English language
has no synonyme for _honestus_, which embraces the goodly outside
as well as the pure heart.
Mr. Conington translates Hermann’s text and comments on Jahn’s. _Lusisse
senes_ he understands as _amavisse senili more_, the poet being said to
do the deed he writes about, Verg., Ecl., 9, 19. It would be far more
simple to make _iocos senes_ = _amores senilis_, harsh as that would be.
Old men’s philanderings are fair game for the satirist or comic poet to
have his fling at (_lusisse_). _Turpe senilis amor_, as the master says,
Ov., Am., 1, 9, 4. Compare the Casina of Plautus. --#pollice#: the
cithern being played chiefly with the thumb.
6. #lusisse#: Comp. _scit #risisse#_, 1, 132. --#mihi#: The step-father
of Persius probably had a seat there.
7. #intepet#: The warmth of the coast made it a favorite resort for
invalids. It is not unlikely that Persius was a man of delicate
constitution. --#hibernat#: According to some, ‘my sea winters,’ that
is, ‘rests for the winter,’ is not vexed by the keels of ships (Schol.).
According to others, ‘is wintry,’ like _hiemat_ (the more common word in
this sense). A stormy sea was supposed to lash itself warm. Jahn quotes,
among other passages, Cic., N. D., 2, 10, 26: _maria agitata ventis
#tepescunt#_. --#meum#: ‘my sea,’ ‘my favorite haunt.’ Some have
inferred falsely from this passage that Luna was the birthplace of
Persius.
8. #latus dant#: ‘present their giant side,’ ‘interpose a mighty
barrier’ against the winds. Jahn comp. Verg., Aen., 1, 105: _undis #dat
latus#_. --#valle# = _sinu_. The Abl. of manner may be translated
locally; ‘into a deep bay’ (Conington). --#se receptat#: ‘retreats,’
‘retires’ from the storms. So Horace (Od., 1, 17, 17; Epod., 2, 11)
speaks of a _reducta vallis_. Jahn refers the frequentative to the
windings of the bay. ‘Keeps retreating,’ ‘retreats further and further,’
might very well be said from the traveller’s point of view. The
description of the harbor, now the Gulf of Spezia, is said to be very
accurate.
9. #Lunai portum#, etc.: Ennius, Ann., v. 16 (Vahl.). Luna, from which
the harbor took its name, was not on the gulf, but on the eastern side
of the Macra (Magra), near the modern Sarzana. --#est operae#: Commonly
explained by the ellipsis of _pretium_. But the Gen. is very elastic.
--#cognoscite#: is easier in tone, _cognoscere_ is easier for
translation. #cives#: ‘good people all.’ Ger. _Leutlein_. Jahn notices
the _antiqua gramtas_ of _civis_.
10. #cor Enni#: Comp. _re-#cor#-dor_ and _#cor#-datus_, and our ‘get _by
heart_.’ So _credidit meum #cor#_, Enn., Ann., 374 (Vahl.). See Mart.,
3, 26, 4; 11, 84, 17. The expression is little more than _cordatus
Ennius_, as in the familiar passage, _tergemini #vis# Geryonaï_, Lucr.,
5, 28. So _#corpore# Turni_, Verg., Aen., 7, 650; Greek, βία, ἴς, δέμας,
στόμα (Ἀνύτης στόμα, Anthol. P., 9, 26, 3). On the same principle are
based such combinations as _#mens# provida Reguli_, Hor., Od., 3, 5, 13,
and _venit et Crispi iucunda #senectus#_. Juv., 4, 81, and _Montani
quoque #venter# adest_, l.c. 107. ‘Ennius, in his sober moments’
(Gifford). --#destertuit#: On the Tense, see G., 563; A., 62, 2, _a_.
‘Snored off his being,’ i.e., the dream that he was Homer. Ennius’s
dreams are touched up in Prol., 2, where it has been mentioned that
Ennius dreamed that he had seen Homer. For the further visions, see the
citations in Vahlen’s ed. of Ennius, Ann., v. 15.
11. #Maeonides#: poetic ‘flash-name,’ like the ‘Bard of Avon.’
--#Quintus#: ‘plain Quintus’ (Gifford). The Scholiast fancies that
_quintus_ is a numeral, and gives the following order of
transmigrations: 1. Pythagoras; 2. A peacock; 3. Euphorbus; 4. Homer.
Tertullian gives: 1. Euphorbus; 2. Pythagoras; 3. Homer; 4. A peacock.
The pun would be a wretched one, but that is no objection; more serious
is the wrong use of the Preposition _ex_ for _ab_. Heinrich combines
confidently _Maeonides Quintus_, ‘Homer with a Roman _praenomen_.’
Conington follows doubtingly. --#pavone#: _Memini me fiere #pavum#_,
Enn., Ann., v. 15 (Vahl.). --#Pythagoreo#: ‘Since _Pythagoras’_ time
that I was an Irish rat,’ Shaksp.
12-17. Here I am in happy unconcern, caring naught for vulgar herd or
threatened flock. I do not pine because my neighbor waxes fat. Let who
will get up in the world; I won’t let my hair turn gray for that, nor
stint myself, nor poke my nose into the wax of every jar of wine I open
to see whether somebody has not been tampering with the seal.
12. #securus#: with Gen., Verg., Aen., 1, 350; 10, 326. --#quid
praeparet auster#: Jahn comp. _quid cogitet umidus #auster#_, Verg.,
Georg., 1, 462; and 444: _arboribusque satisque Notus #pecorique#
sinister_.
13. #infelix#: with Dat. Verg., Georg., 2, 239: _tellus_-- _#infelix#
frugibus_, quoted by Conington. --#pecori#: as it were, doubly
dependent. --#securus et#: The trajection of _et_ (1, 23) gives
_securus_ a better position. --#angulus#: as in _O si #angulus# ille |
proximus accedat_, Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 8.
14. #pinguior#: Jahn quotes appositely for the thought, _fertilior seges
est alienis semper in agris_, Ov., A. A., 1, 349. So Juv., 14, 142:
_maiorque videtur | et melior vicina seges_. --#adeo omnes#: The
emphasis of _adeo_ may be given by repetition, _all, ay, all_. The
supposition is an extreme one, hence the Subjunctive _ditescant_. Notice
the harsh elision at this point, which is avoided by smoother writers.
Persius has it fourteen times in all-- eight times in this one Satire--
which may be interpreted as an indication of its incompleteness.
15. #peioribus#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 6, 22: _#peioribus# ortus_. The
social sense is the more prominent. --#usque# = _ubi-s-que_, ‘no matter
where or when,’ hence ‘every where,’ and, as here, ‘always.’
16. #curvus#: ‘bent double.’ --#minui#: ‘lose flesh’ (Conington).
--#senio#: before my time. Comp. 1, 26. --#uncto#: synonymous with
‘dainty.’ Jahn comp. Hor., A. P., 422, and 3, 102; 4, 17.
17. #signum tetigisse#: Only good wines were sealed. The miser not only
seals up his vile stuff, but, in his anxious scrutiny into the state of
the seal, butts his nose against it-- perhaps with the additional idea
of helping the sense of sight with the sense of smell. _Recusem
tetigisse_ = _nolim tetigisse_. Comp. note on 1, 91.
18-24. Others may not agree with me in these views. Even twins born
under the same star may be widely different. One gives himself a treat
only on his birthday, and a poor treat it is. Another devours his
substance before he comes of age. I am for enjoyment, but not for waste;
for enjoyment, but not for a subtle discernment of the pleasures of the
table.
18. #his#: On the Dat., see G., 388, R. 1; A., 51, 2, _g_. _His_ is
Neuter. ‘These views of mine.’ --#geminos#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 183
seqq. --#horoscope#: ‘natal star,’ ‘star of nativity.’ Comp. note on 5,
46. --#varo genio#: ‘of diverging temper.’ _#Varus#_ is often used of
distorted, bowed legs, and _varo genio_ is only Persius’s way of saying
that the dispositions of twins often go apart.
19. #producis#: ‘bring forth,’ ‘give birth to,’ ‘beget,’ Plaut., Rud.,
4, 4, 129; Prop., 5, 1, 89 (Conington). Jahn renders it _in lucem edit
et educat_, which is more in conformity with general usage and with the
notion of control in the star of nativity. --#solis natalibus#: This
picture has been much admired. Every word tells. This high-day comes but
once a year (_solis_), the cabbage is dry (_sine uncto_), he does not
souse it with oil, as Persius does (_ungue, puer, caules_, v. 69), but
moistens it (_tingat_) with fish brine (_muria_), which he has bought--
sly fox that he is (_vafer_)-- in a cup (a cupful at a time, to prevent
waste), while, with his own hand (_ipse_)-- for he trusts no other-- he
dusts (_inrorans_) the platter with the dear, precious pepper, sacred in
his eyes (_sacrum_).
20. #muria#: was a cheap sauce, ‘made of the _thynnus_, and less
delicate than _garum_, made of the _scomber_’ (Macleane); hence the
point of buying it only as he wanted it-- a small quantity at a time.
--#empta#: Both Conington and Pretor direct us to combine _empta_ with
_muria_. It can not be combined with any thing else, as _calice_ is
rigidly masculine, Neue, _Formenl._, 1, 691.
21. #sacrum#: _Acerbe dictum quia avarus tamquam sacro parcit_ (Jahn).
Jahn compares ἅλς θεῖος, but has not overlooked the real point, as Mr.
Pretor intimates. --#inrorans#: Comp. _instillat_ in a similar
description of a miser (Avidienus), in Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 62. --#dente
peragit#: ‘gobbles up’ (Conington). _Peragere_, ‘go through,’ ‘run
through.’
22. #magnanimus#: Ironical, like Hor., Ep., 1, 15, 27: _rebus maternis
atque paternis | #fortiter# absumptis_. ‘High-hearted hero.’ --#puer#:
while a mere lad. ‘Gifford notices the rapidity of the metre, and
contrasts it with the slowness of v. 20.’ It would have been more to the
purpose if he had noticed the mockery of the position, which suspends
the sense. ‘He-- his property-- with nothing but his teeth-- his vast
estate-- heroic being-- runs through-- while nothing but a boy.’
23. #rhombos#: It suffices to refer to Juv., Sat., 4. --#ponere#: 1, 53.
For the construction, see Prol., 11.
24. #tenuis--salivas#: ‘delicate juices,’ ‘subtle flavors.’ _Saliva_ =
_sapor_, as in Plin., H. N., 22, 1, 22: _sua cuique vino #saliva#_, by a
natural transfer from the consumer to the consumed; or, as Conington
puts it, from effect to cause. See 5, 112. --#sollers nosse#: Prol., 11.
--#turdarum#: ‘thrushes,’ ‘fieldfares,’ a well-known delicacy, Hor.,
Sat., 2, 5, 10; Ep., 1, 15, 41. The Scholiast tells us that the feminine
is used for the ordinary masculine, because the Brillat-Savarins of the
period undertook to tell the sex by the taste. The difference between
_turdorum_ and _turdarum_ reminds one of ‘calipash’ and ‘calipee.’
25-33. The true course is to live fully up to your income and trust to
the next crop. ‘But suppose an extraordinary demand is made on you.
Suppose a friend is shipwrecked.’ What easier than to sell a piece of
land and relieve his wants?
25. #tenus#: here ‘fully up to.’ Jahn makes _tenus_ an Adverb, compares
Verg., Aen., 1, 737: _summo #tenus# attigit ore_, and explains _messe
propria vive_ as = _consume fructus agrorum tuorum usque ad finem, quoad
suppetunt_. --#propria#: ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with
_mine own_?’
26. #emole#: to the last grain. --#occa#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 161:
_cum segetes #occat# tibi mox frumenta daturas_. --#in herba#: ‘in the
blade.’ Ov., Her., 17, 263: _adhuc tua messis in #herba# est_. Have
something of the farmer’s hopeful spirit. Comp. the Gr. proverb: ἀεὶ
γεωργὸς εἰς νέωτα πλούσιος.
27. #ast#: 2, 39. An impersonal objector speaks. --#officium# = τὸ
καθῆκον, which embraces our charity. The Stoics insisted on χρηστότης,
without prejudice to ἀπάθεια. They wanted _benevolentia_ without
_misericordia_. See Knickenberg, l.c. p. 90. The poet gets the better of
the philosopher in Persius. --#trabe rupta#: Comp. 1, 89. --#Bruttia
saxa#: In the toe of the Italian boot.
28. #prendit#: Casaubon comp. _#prensantemque# uncis manibus capita
aspera montis_, Verg., Aen., 6, 360 (of Palinurus). --#surdaque vota#:
_Surdus_ is ‘dull of hearing’ and ‘dull of sound,’ ‘deaf,’ and, as here,
‘unheard,’ Comp. κωφός, The radical is SVAR, ‘heavy;’ ‘neither his ear
_heavy_ that it can not hear.’
29. #Ionio#: sc. _sinu_, if we may judge by Juv., 6, 92: _lateque
#sonantem# pertulit #Ionium#_. Gr. Ἰόνιος #κόλπος#. Comp. Thuc., 1, 24
with 6, 30. It is used here in a wide sense, as is shown by _Bruttia
saxa_, v. 27. Comp. Serv. ad Aen., 3, 211: _sciendum #Ionium sinum# esse
#immensum# ab Ionia usque ad #Siciliam#_. On the translation and
construction of _Ionio_, see note on Prol., 1. --#ipse#: the master of
the vessel. G., 297, R. 1.
30. #de puppe dii#: Paintings of the gods. Comp. Verg., Aen., 10, 171:
_aurato fulgebat #Apolline puppis#_. The gods may have been Castor and
Pollux, no unlikely ‘sign,’ Acts, 28, 11. _Ingentes_ implies the size of
the ship and the magnitude of the loss (Jahn). See note on _trabe
vasta_, 5, 141. --#obvia mergis#: Jahn comp. Hor., Epod., 10, 21: _opima
quod si praeda eurvo litore | porrecta #mergos# iuveris_. Any large
sea-bird will answer, such as ‘cormorant.’
31. #lacerae#: Conington comp. Ov., Her., 2, 45: _at #laceras# etiam
#puppes# furiosa refeci_. --#et#: καί, ‘if need be.’ --#caespite vivo#:
Comp. Hor., Od., 1, 19, 13; 3, 8, 4; ‘live sod,’ ‘green turf.’ Here
landed property is meant, in contrast to the income, represented by the
_messis_.
32. #pictus#: See note on 1, 89. ‘With his picture’ (Conington).
--#oberret#: ‘go up and down the country.’ --#tabula caerulea#: ‘a
sea-green board,’ as might be expected from the subject.
33-41. ‘But,’ resumes the interlocutor, ‘your heir will object to your
curtailing your property, and not show you the proper respect when you
are dead. You can’t expect to diminish your property without scath. And,
in fact, you philosophers are very much spoken against on account of the
bad example you set, the bad influence you have exerted on the common
people.’ --Well, what of it? Would you care any thing about what was
done to you or said of you after you are dead?
The connection is much disputed.
33. #cenam funeris#: the _epulum funebre_, the ‘funeral baked meats’ of
Hamlet, not the _silicernium_ proper, not the _exigua #feralis cena#
patella_ of Juv., 5, 85, the scanty meal left at the funeral pile for
the _dis manibus_.
34. #curtaveris#: G., 542; A., 70, 5, _b_. --#urnae#: Do not efface the
personal conception (G., 344, R. 3; A., 51, N.) by translating ‘put
into.’ The urn receives; hence _dabit_ = ‘commit,’ ‘consign.’
35. #inodora#: Ov., Trist., 3, 3, 69: _atque ea (= ossa) cum foliis et
#amomi# pulvere misce_; Tib., 3, 2, 23 (Jahn). --#seu spirent#: 5, 3.
--#cinnama--casiae#: On the Plural, see G., 195, R. 6; A., 14, 1, _a_.
--#surdum#: ‘faint,’ a transfer from hearing to smell. On the
construction, see 5, 25.
36. #ceraso#: This passage is our only authority for the fraudulent
admixture. Tr., ‘whether the cinnamon have lost the fragrance of its
breath, or cassia be taken in adulteration with cherry-bark.’ --#nescire
puratus#: here ‘fully resolved,’ rather than as in 1, 132.
37. #tune bona incolumis minuas#: In his ed. of 1868 Jahn has followed
Sinner’s suggestion, and transposed parts of vv. 37 and 41, so as to
read _Haec cinere ulterior metuas_ here, and _Tune bona incolumis
minuas_ below, as Hermann had done before him, only Hermann puts the
words in the mouth, not of the objector, but of Persius. I am unable to
see how either arrangement helps us out of the difficulties of the
passage. In his ed. of 1843, Jahn makes _tune bona incolumis minuas?_
the language of the heir, who asks angrily, ‘Do you expect to diminish
your property without suffering for it?’ It is rather the language of
the objector, who had just told Persius that he would miss a good
funeral by curtailing his estate, and who goes on to cite Bestius, as
another opponent of this new-fangled philosophy. Persius dismisses this
tirade by the single question: ‘What would all this be to you or me
after we are dead?’ This gets rid of Bestius as a new speaker. He is
quoted by the objector. Mr. Pretor translates: ‘Do you mean to say,
Persius, that _you_ would thus break up your property, while hearty and
strong, instead of waiting to bequeath it by will on your death-bed?’
--#incolumis#: χαίρων, _impune_. --#et#: Others besides the heir are
dissatisfied. --#Bestius#: the _corrector Bestius_ of Hor., Ep., 1, 15,
37, who is quoted here by the opponent of Persius, as inveighing against
doctrines that have taught the lower classes to waste their substance on
condiments and spoil their wholesome fare, after the pattern of such
gentlemen as Persius. Comp. _usque recusem-- cenare sine uncto_, v. 16,
and _ungue, puer, caules_, v. 69.
38. #doctores Graios#: Comp. 5, 191. --#Ita fit#: ‘That is the way of
it.’ --#sapere nostrum#: 1, 9. --#urbi#: with _venit_. _Venire_ with the
Dat., like the Greek ἐλθεῖν, on account of the personal interest
involved, ‘came’ being = ‘was brought,’ _allatum est_. See Kühner,
_A. G._, 2, 351, and Weissenborn on Liv., 32, 6, 4.
39. #cum pipere et palmis#: notoriously foreign productions. Comp.
_advectus Romam quo pruna et cottona vento_, Juv., 3, 83. _Palmis_ =
‘dates.’ --#nostrum hoc#: ‘this new wisdom of our day.’ --#maris
expers#: Hor., Sat., 2, 8, 15: _Chium #maris expers#_. The explanations
are by no means convincing. _Maris expers._ (1) Not mixed with salt
water, which was supposed to be wholesome, as in Horace, l.c. (2)
_insulum_, Heinr., the most simple, ‘foolish philosophy,’ ‘insipid
sapience.’ (3) Devoid of manliness (Casaubon). Comp. 1, 103, 104, in
which case _maris_ would be a pun, as there is an evident Horatian
reminiscence. See Introd., xxiii. But the Horatian passage is itself
variously interpreted. (4) The rendering, ‘innocent of the sea,’ i.e.,
‘home-grown,’ is in manifest contradiction to the drift of the passage.
40. #fenisecae#: Type of the rustic laborer. Comp. _fossor_, 5, 122.
_Fenisecae_, the plebeian spelling for _faenisecae_, seems more
appropriate here. --#crasso unguine#: They can not get a good article,
but they are determined to imitate their betters, and so they take a
poor one. With _crasso unguine_ comp. 3, 104: _crassis amomis_.
--#vitiarunt pultes#: On _vitiarunt_ comp. 2, 65; _puls_ is the national
porridge, the _farrata olla_ of 4, 31.
41. #cinere ulterior#: ‘when you are the other side of the grave’ (comp.
5, 152); περαιτέρω κόνεως (Casaubon).
41-60. Persius turns on his heir: ‘Glorious news has come of a great
victory. I wish to celebrate it by games-- by largess. Will you forbid
it? If you don’t want what is left, let it alone. I can get somebody to
take it-- some beggar, perhaps, related to me through that son of earth,
Adam.’
42. #quisquis eris#: does not so much show ‘the indifference of Persius
himself’ to his successor as the utter lack of real personality in the
Satire. See note on 1, 44. --#seductior#: Comp. 2, 4. _Paulum_ with
_seductior_. Comp. Petron., 13: _#seduxit# me #paululum# a turba_; and
Plaut., Asin., 5, 2, 75; Ter., Eun., 4, 4, 39. The Accusative with the
Comparative is rare but sure, Dräger, l.c. § 245, _b_; for examples with
_paulum_, Sil., 15, 21; Stat., Theb., 10, 938 (Freund).
43. #o bone#, etc.: The only passage in Persius that deals with the
political life of his time, the only passage that has any historic
force. A keen observer in his narrow sphere, Persius has hit off very
happily the features of this droll triumph of Caligula’s. True, he was
only seven years old when it took place; but he lost his father when he
was six, and yet recalls him vividly, and this parade must have made an
abiding impression, whether he saw it or only heard of it. Caligula’s
German expedition is recounted in Suet., Calig., 43 seqq.: ‘He ordered a
triumph, which was to be unprecedentedly splendid, and cheap in
proportion, as he had a right to the property of his subjects-- changed
his mind, forbade any proposal on the subject under capital penalties,
abused the senate for doing nothing, and finally entered the city in
ovation on his birthday’ (Conington). With _o bone_ comp. _heus bone_,
3, 94. --#laurus# = _laureata epistola_, the letter bound with bays, in
which victories were announced.
44. #Germanae pubis#: ‘flower of the German army’ (Pretor), _pubes_
being = ἡλικία.
45. #aris | frigidus excutitur cinis#: Of course to make room for new
sacrifices, but _frigidus_ intimates that the ashes had had time to
cool; such occasions were rare. Comp. Apul., Met., 4, 83: _arae viduae
#frigido cinere# foedatae_. _Aris_, Dat. _Excutitur_ denotes haste. ‘The
ashes are hustled off.’ --#postibus#: ‘for the door-posts’ (of temples,
palaces, the residence of the _triumphator_, and other buildings). With
the Dative comp. Juv., 6, 51: _necte coronam | #postibus#_.
46. #lutea gausapa#: ‘yellow wools.’ The coarse fabric known as
_gausapa_ was used to make yellow wigs for the mock German captives. The
light hair of the Germans is a familiar characteristic, and a similar
device is recorded of Domitian by Tacitus, Agr., 39 (Jahn). As the
captives were actually Gauls, Casaubon understands _gausapa_ of the
common Gallic costume.
47. #Caesonia#: the mistress, and, after the birth of a daughter and the
divorce of Lollia, the wife of Caligula, Suet., Cal., 25. --#ingentis
Rhenos#: Jahn understands statues or pictures of the Rhine, to be
carried in procession, referring to the Jordan on the Arch of Titus, and
citing Ov., A. A., 1, 223 seqq., for the Euphrates and Tigris. Conington
adds Verg., Georg., 3, 28, for the Nile, and considers the Plural
_Rhenos_ sarcastic. The more common interpretation regards _Rhenos_ as
_Rhenanos_. Suet., l.c. 47, mentions expressly the fact that Caligula
picked out the tallest men he could find (_procerissimum quemque_) for
the procession.
48. #genioque ducis#: On _genio_, see 2, 3. The genius of the Emperor
was publicly worshipped, Ov., Fast., 5, 145. Caligula punished those who
did not swear by his genius, Suet., Cal., 27. _Ducis_ is sarcastic. ‘So
Juv., 4, 145; 7, 21, calls Domitian _dux_, with reference to a similar
exploit, a sham triumph with manufactured slaves’ (Conington, after
Jahn). --#centum paria#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 85: _ni sic fecissent
#gladiatorum# dare #centum# | damnati populo #paria# atque epulum_. The
number is absurd for any ordinary fortune, and the extravagance of the
threat destroys the dramatic effect on the heir.
49. #induco#: The familiar Present for the Future. _Induco, verbum
harenae_ (Casaubon). --#aude#: We should say, ‘I dare you’ (Conington).
50. #oleum#: Largesses of oil by Caesar and Nero are recorded by Suet.,
Caes., 38, Nero, 12 (Jahn). --#artocreas#: ἀρτόκρεας = _visceratio_,
‘bread-meat’ for ‘bread-and-meat.’ Outside of the numerals, such
copulative compounds (_dvandva_ in Sanskrit) are rare, and chiefly late.
Comp. _suovetaurilia_, νυχθήμερον, the famous word of seventy-nine
syllables in Ar., Eccl., 1169, and Mod. Gr. ἀνδρόγυνον, ‘man-and-wife.’
Some consider _artocreas_ a kind of meat-pasty. --#popello#: 4, 15.
51, 52. #dic clare#: It were very much to be wished that he had. The
context seems to require, on the one hand, a motive for the silence of
the heir; on the other, a motive for declining the inheritance. The
interpretation of _non adeo-- iuxta est_ depends on the meaning of
_exossatus_, which is sometimes rendered ‘exhausted,’ ‘impoverished,’
‘worn out,’ as if ‘boneless’ and ‘marrowless’ were the same thing here;
sometimes, and with far more probability, ‘cleared of stones.’ A poetic
allusion to the ‘bones of Mother Earth,’ Ov., Met., 1, 393 seqq.
(Schol.), would be out of place, and the common culinary sense of
_exossatus_, ‘boned,’ is in keeping with the homely character of
Persius’s tropes. _Adeo_ is sometimes considered a Verb, in the sense of
_adire hereditatem;_ sometimes an Adverb, and connected now with
_prohibeo_ (from _prohibes_), now with _exossatus_; and, finally, some
give _exossatus-- est_ to the heir, others to Persius. I subjoin the
chief distributions and interpretations:
(1.) _Non adeo_, inquis. Exossatus ager iuxta est. Jahn (1843). (Do you
mean to hinder me? Out with it.) ‘Not exactly,’ you say. Here is a
worn-out field hard by. If you won’t have it, another will.
(2.) ‘Non adeo,’ inquis? Exossatus ager iuxta est (Conington). You won’t
accept the inheritance, you say? Here is a field, now, cleared for
ploughing.
(3.) ‘Non adeo,’ inquis, ‘exossatus ager iuxta est,’ Jahn (1868), which
may be rendered, ‘I am sure that your land here is not in such very good
order’ (that you can afford such extravagance). Good order or not, I can
find some one to take it off my hands, etc.
(4.) Hermann bases his interpretation on the Schol., and understands
_non adeo exossatus ager_ to be a field that is not wholly cleared of
stones, to which the heir points as a cogent argument against his making
a difficulty. He is afraid of a stoning from the people, as above he was
afraid of doing any thing to disoblige the Emperor (_Lect. Pers._, II.,
64).
(5.) Teuffel agrees with Hermann’s interpretation of _exossatus_, but
separates _non adeo_, ‘Not exactly.’ See (1.). ‘There is a field hard by
from which the stones have [just] been dug up,’ where they are lying in
convenient heaps.
(6.) Heinrich takes _adeo_ to be the Verb, _exossatus_ as
‘impoverished,’ and _iuxta_ = _paene_.
(7.) _Non adeo_, inquis. _Exossatus ager iuxta est_ is rendered by Mr.
Pretor, ‘I can’t quite forbid it; but let me suggest to you that your
land is impoverished.’
(8.) König understands the heir to say: ‘I will not accept. I have a
well-tilled piece of land of my own hard by.’
I am not ashamed to acknowledge that the only point about which I am
convinced is the impossibility of making _exossatus_ mean
‘impoverished.’
53. #amitis#: _Amita_ is the aunt by the father’s side. See note on 2,
31. Persius left his property to his mother and sister, and all this
string of suppositions is in keeping with the impersonal character of
his heir. Teuffel notices the utter jumble of legal relations.
--#proneptis patrui#: ‘female cousin twice removed.’
54. #sterilis vixit#: ‘has lived barren’ means ‘has died childless,
without issue.’
55. #nihilum#: ‘neither chick nor child.’ --#Bovillas#: Bovillae lay
between Rome and Aricia, and was the first stage on the Appian road,
hence called ‘suburban’ by Ov., Fast., 3, 667 (Jahn). Persius had an
estate in the neighborhood.
56. #clivum ad Virbi#: Martial’s _clivus Aricinus_ (2, 19, 3; 12, 32,
10), a noted station for beggars. Juv., 4, 17: _dignus #Aricinos# qui
mendicaret ad axes_. Virbius was identified with Hippolytus, and
worshipped as the hero of Aricia. --#Manius#: a typical beggar’s name.
There was a proverb: _multi #Mani# Ariciae_, Fest., s.v., with the
explanation, _multos claros viros ibi fuisse_. The ‘Arician aristocracy’
must have become a term of contempt by the time of Persius (πάλαι ποτ᾽
ἦσαν ἄλκιμοι Μιλήσιοι).
57. #progenies terrae#: is the indignant remonstrance of the heir,
_progenies terrae_ being = the more familiar _terrae filius_, Cic.,
Att., 1, 13, 4 al.; our ‘groundling’ can answer only as a play on the
word. --#quartus pater# = _abavus_, ‘great-great-grandfather.’
58. #haud prompte, dicam tamen#: μόλις μὲν, ἐξερῶ δ᾽ ὅμως (Conington);
μόλις μὲν, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἐξερῶ Comp. [Dem.] 58, 26. --#adde etiam unum# =
_atavum_, ‘one step further back.’
59. #unum etiam# = _tritavum_.
60. #ritu | generis#: ‘by regular descent’ (Conington). Jahn connects
_generis_ with _avunculus_. --#maior avunculus#: _avii aut aviae
avunculus est_ (Jahn), ‘great-great-uncle.’ Persius qualifies this
statement by _prope_, ‘something like,’ but he has not only got the
degree wrong, but has passed over to the mother’s side. The thought of
this _frigidiuscula ratio_, as Jahn calls it, does not need
illustration. Still, comp. Juv., 4, 99: _unde fit ut malim fraterculus
esse gigantum_. --#exit# = _evadit_, 1, 45; 5, 130.
61-74. Persius: ‘You are getting impatient. Why not wait for your turn?
I am Fortune. Wait until I drop my purse into your hand, and then be
satisfied with what I have left in it. _Tadius bequeathed me some
money._ I know he did. What is that to you? None of your fatherly advice
about looking after my balance at the banker’s. What do I care about
“balance?” I will eat a good dinner, and not starve myself for your
spoilt grandson’s sake.’
61. #qui prior es#: In this form of the λαμπαδηφορία ‘the course was
marked out in stations, at each of which a new set of runners stood
ready to take up the race, and so long as the torch remained alight, and
the conditions of the race were thus fulfilled, it could not exchange
hands except at particular stations’ (Pretor, after Jahn). Here the man
in advance is represented as trying to get the torch out of Persius’s
hands before he has reached the station, while Persius is yet running
(_in decursu_), which Jahn properly emphasizes. The interpretation is
much disputed. --#poscis#: implies impatience.
62. #Mercurius#: See note on 2, 11.
63. #pingitur#: Ἑρμῆς κερδῷος, ‘with money-bag in hand.’ Comp. Ar.,
Ach., 991, 992: πῶς ἂν ἐμὲ καὶ σέ τις Ἔρως ξυναγάγοι λαβών, | ὥσπερ ὁ
#γεγραμμένος#, ἔχων στέφανον ἀνθέμων. --#vin tu gaudere relictis#:
_Gaudere_ here almost = ἀγαπᾶν, ‘be thankful for whatever I shall leave
you.’ According to the ordinary rules of grammar, _vis_ would be the
rhetorical, _vin_ the genuine form of the question (G., 455), but _ne_
can not be pinned down by strict rules, as has been remarked. See note
on 1, 22.
64. #dest aliquid summae#: may be an objection of the heir, or an
anticipated objection. Persius often reminds us of Mrs. Caudle. --#minui
mihi#: It was mine, and I diminished it to suit myself. It was mine to
lessen; what is left will be all your own to keep.
65. #fuge quaerere# = _noli quaerere_, as in Hor., Od., 1, 9, 13.
66. #neu#: 3, 51. --#repone#: ‘dish up again;’ the _paterna dicta_ may
be considered a _crambe repetita_. Comp. Quint., 2, 4, 29: _cum eadem
iudiciis pluribus dicunt, fastidium movent velut frigidi et #repo siti#
cibi_. Persius is nothing if not culinary. Jahn (1868) reads: _oppone_,
which is clearer but tamer. _Paterna d._ is simply ‘the talk one hears
from fathers,’ severe old gentlemen on the stage.
67. #faenoris--reliquum est#: clearly a specimen of fatherly counsel.
Every Polonius has something to say to his Laertes on this subject
(Hamlet, 1, 3). Persius’s Polonius advises his son to keep an account,
enter (_accedat_ = _apponatur_, see note on 2, 2) his interest on the
credit side, charge his expenses to the debit side, and find the
remainder-- in other words, to live carefully within the income of his
property. Before the old gentleman gets through, Persius repeats his
last word mockingly: ‘Remainder? Hang the remainder.’ This is also
Conington’s view, who compares the commercial arithmetic lesson in Hor.,
A. P., 327 seqq. --#merces#: Hor. uses _merces_ alone in the same sense
as _faenoris merces_ here, Sat., 1, 2, 14. 3, 88. --#hinc#: from the
capital, or from the interest, or from both. I am inclined to refer
_hinc_ to the side of the account.
69. #ungue caules-- festa luce#: See note on v. 19.
70. #urtica#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 12, 7: _abstemius herbis | vivis et
#urtica#_; and Sat., 2, 2, 117: _#holus fumosae# cum pede pernae_
(Jahn). --#sinciput#: ‘pig’s cheek.’ The swine was the common sacrifice
and the common dish. --#aure#: _Fissa aure_ seems to be nothing more
than a picturesque detail. The pig’s head was bung up in the smoke by a
slit in its ear.
71. #tuus iste nepos#: Mr. Pretor sees a trace of incompleteness in the
mention of _tuus iste nepos_, ‘whose existence has never before been
hinted at.’ The _nepos_ is hauled up out of the inane like the
_quisquis_ heir himself. --#anscris extis#: Comp. Juv., 5, 114:
_#anseris# ante ipsum magni #iecur#_.
73. #patriciae#: implies great expense. This coarse combination of
sensual pleasures is an argument in favor of the old-fashioned
interpretation of _Calliroen_, 1, 134. --#trama#: Fr. _trame_, ‘woof.’
Such terms are apt to stick. Others translate falsely ‘warp.’ ‘_Trama
figurae_ is “a thread-paper figure,” as _trama_ is the thread of the
woof, which crosses that of the upright _stamen_ or warp, and when the
nap is worn off the cloths, these threads are laid bare.’ Stocker,
quoted by Pretor.
74. #tremat#: ‘quiver,’ like jelly, ‘wag.’ --#omento#: ‘fatty caul,’
‘fat,’ 2, 47. --#popa#: used as a Substantive. Comp. Prol., 13.
‘Alderman-belly,’ instead of an ‘aldermanic belly.’ ‘They which waited
at the altar’-- for the _popae_ were the priests’ assistants-- ‘were
partakers with the altar’ (1 Cor., 9, 13), and waxed fat on the _iunicum
omenta_. Pretor quotes Prop., 4, 3, 62: _succinctique calent ad nova
lucra #popae#_.
75-80. Commentators notice the abrupt transition. Jahn says that the
dialogue is dropped, but who expects invariably close connection between
two heads of a sermon? In my judgment Persius is still hammering away at
his impatient heir, and bids him earn money for himself, if he is not
content to wait for Persius’s death, and does not like Persius’s mode of
living. ‘Sell your life, ransack the world, drive every trade. Double,
treble, quadruple, decuple your property. But you will find that there
is no point where you can stop, where you will be rich enough.’
75. #vende animam lucro#: Casaubon comp. the Greek proverb: θανάτου
ὤνιον τὸ κέρδος, and Longin., Sublim., 44: τὸ ἐκ τοῦ παντὸς κερδαίνειν
ὠνούμεθα τῆς ψυχῆς. --#excute#: (for the last time of eight) ‘ransack.’
76. #latus mundi#: Hor., Od., 1, 22, 19 (Conington). --#nec# = _neu_.
See 1, 7.
77. #Cappadocas#: The slaves of Cappadocia were, as a rule, tall and
well grown (Petron., 63), and good litter-bearers (Mart., 6, 77, 4)
(Jahn), but in other respects extremely undesirable cattle. --#rigida#:
‘fixed upright.’ _#Rigidae# columnae_, Ov., Fast., 3, 529 (Jahn).
--#plausisse#: So Jahn (1868). In 1843 he edited _pavisse_, and comp.
_quot pascit servos?_ Juv., 3, 141, and other passages. But _pāvisse_
may have been intended as a Third Conjugation Perf. from _păvio_, and
hence = _plausisse_. So Longfellow uses ‘dove’ for ‘dived.’ Slaves were
slapped to try their condition. On the Inf. and the Perfect, see _opifex
intendisse_, v. 3, note. --#catasta#: ‘platform.’ The sense of the
passage, ‘Make yourself an expert in slave flesh.’
78. #feci--sistam#: words of the avaricious man. The passage is imitated
from Hor., Ep., 1, 6, 34: _mille talenta rotundentur, totidem altera,
porro | tertia succedant et quae pars quadret acervum_. --#quarto#: as
if he had written _ter_ before.
79. #redit#: the regular word for ‘income,’ ‘revenue.’ Comp. _reditus_.
--#rugam#: _Ruga_ = _sinus_, ‘fold in a garment.’ The _sinus_ answers to
our ‘pocket,’ hence ‘purse.’ The _ruga_, then, is the _rugosum
marsupium_ (Heinrich), or the ‘yet unfilled bosom’ of Juv., 14, 327. ‘It
comes into a purse that wrinkles still.’ To bring this out more clearly
Mr. Paley (ap. Pretor) puts a semicolon after _deciens_. --#depunge#: So
Jahn (1868) for his previous _depinge_. ‘Prick a hole.’ --#ubi sistam#:
G., 469, 623; A., 67, 2, _b_.
80. #inventus#: Ironical. ‘So some one has been found, Chrysippus, to
mark the limit of your heap.’ If you can find a man to put a bound to
greed, you can find a man to solve the _sorites_ of Chrysippus. The
fallacy called the σωρείτης, or σωριτης, Lat. _acervus_, is often
mentioned; so in Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 47, where it is illustrated by pulling
hair after hair from the tail of a horse, and taking year after year
from the age of a poet. See Hamilton’s Lectures on Logic, p. 268 (Am.
ed.).
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
SATURA VI.
5. #iocis#: Heinr. _ex coni._; iocos, J., H., Codd. --6. #egregius#:
egregios _al_. --#senes#: senex, H. --16. #cenare#: coenare, J{α}., H.
--17. #lagoena#: lagena, J{α}., H. --20. #tingat#: J{α}., H., Bramb.;
tinguat, J{ω}. --#holus#: olus, J{α}., H. --#empta#: emta, J{α}., H.
--24. #tenuis salivas#: tenuem salivam, J{α}. --30. #dii#: Brambach;
dei, J., H. --31. #caespite#: Brambach; cespite, J., H. --33. #cenam#:
coenam, J{α}., H. --34. #negleget#: negliget, J{α}., H. --37. #tune bona
incolumis minuas#: J{α}.; _haec verba et v. 41 verba_ haec-- metuas
_transposuit Sinnerus quem secuti sunt_ J{ω}. _et_ H. --40. #fenisecae#:
faenisecae, J{α}.; foenisacae, H. --50. #conives#: connives, J{α}., H.
--51. #inquis#: inquis. J{α}. --64. #dest#: deest, J{α}., H. --66.
#Tadius#: Stadius J{α}. --#repone#: J{α}., H.; oppone, J{ω}. --67.
#faenoris#: Brambach; fenoris, J{ω}.; foenoris, J{α}., H. --#sumptus#:
sumtus, J{α}. --69. #ungue#: unge, J{α}. --#coquetur#: coquatur, J{α}.,
H. --77. #plausisse#: pavisse, J{α}. --79. #depunge#: depinge, J{α}., H.
* * * * *
VITA A. PERSII FLACCI
DE COMMENTARIO PROBI VALERII SUBLATA.
* * * * *
[The line divisions and numbers of the original have been retained,
although they are not used in any editorial references. Brackets
are in the original. Note that the first page break is inconsistent
with the following line numbers.]
A. Persius Flaccus natus est pridie nonas Decembris
Fabio Persico L. Vitellio coss. decessit VIII kalendas
Decembris P. Mario Asinio Gallo coss. 5
natus est in Etruria Volaterris, eques Romanus, sanguine
et affinitate primi ordinis viris coniunctus. decessit
ad octavum miliarium in via Appia in praediis
suis.
pater eum Flaccus pupillum reliquit moriens annorum 10
fere sex. Fulvia Sisennia mater nupsit postea
Fusio equiti Romano et eum quoque extulit inter
paucos annos.
studuit Flaccus usque ad annum XII aetatis suae
Volaterris, inde Romae apud grammaticum Remmium 15
Palaemonem et apud rhetorem Verginium Flavum.
cum esset annorum XVI, amicitia coepit uti Annaei
Cornuti, ita ut ab eo nusquam discederet. inductus
aliquatenus in philosophiam est.
amicos habuit a prima adulescentia Caesium Bassum 20
poetam et Calpurnium Staturam, qui vivo eo iuvenis
decessit. coluit ut patrem Servilium Nonianum. cognovit
per Cornutum etiam Annaeum Lucanum, aequaevum
auditorem Cornuti. [nam Cornutus illo tempore
[-- page --]
tragicus fuit sectae stoicae. sed] Lucanus adeo mirabatur
scripta Flacci, ut vix retineret se recitantem clamore,
quin illa [esse] vera poemata diceret, etsi ipse
sua ludos faceret. sero cognovit et Senecam, sed non
ut caperetur eius ingenio. usus est apud Cornutum
duorum convictu virorum et doctissimorum et sanctissimorum, 5
acriter tum philosophantium, Claudii Agathemeri,
medici, Lacedaemonii, et Petronii Aristocratis,
Magnetis, quos unice miratus est et aemulatus, cum aequales
essent, Cornuti minores et ipsi.
idem etiam decem fere annos summe dilectus a Paeto 10
Thrasea est, ita ut peregrinaretur quoque cum eo aliquando,
cognatam eius Arriam habente uxorem.
fuit morum lenissimorum, verecundiae virginalis,
formae pulchrae, pietatis erga matrem et sororem et
amitam exemplo sufficientis. 15
fuit frugi et pudicus.
reliquit circa HS vicies matri et sorori. scriptis tamen
ad matrem codicillis Cornuto rogavit ut daret sestertia,
ut quidam, centum, ut alii volunt et argenti facti
pondo viginti et libros circa septingentos Chrysippi sive 20
bibliothecam suam omnem. verum Cornutus sublatis
libris pecuniam [sororibus, quas heredes frater fecerat]
reliquit.
et raro et tarde scripsit. hunc ipsum librum inperfectum
reliquit. versus aliqui dempti sunt ultimo libro, 25
ut quasi finitus esset. leviter retractavit Cornutus
et Caesio Basso petenti, ut ipsi cederet, tradidit
edendum.
[-- page --]
scripsit etiam Flaccus in pueritia praetextam † vescio
et hodoeporicon librum unum et paucos in socrum
Thraseae [in Arriae matrem] versus, quae se
ante virum occiderat. omnia ea auctor fuit Cornutus
matri eius ut aboleret. 5
editum librum continuo mirari et diripere homines
coepere.
decessit autem vitio stomachi anno aetatis XXX.
sed mox ut a scholis et magistris divertit, lecto libro
Lucilii decimo vehementer saturas conponere instituit. 10
cuius libri principium imitatus est, sibi primo, mox omnibus
detracturus cum tanta recentium poetarum et oratotum
insectatione, ut etiam Neronem [illius temporis
principem] culpaverit. cuius versus in Neronem cum
ita se haberet ‘auriculas asini Mida rex habet,’ in eum 15
modum a Cornuto, Persio iam tum mortuo, est commutatus
‘auriculas asini quis non habet?’ ne hoc Nero in
se dictum arbitraretur.
QUINTILIANUS X, 1, 94 multum et verae gloriae
quamvis uno libro Persius meruit. 20
MARTIALIS IV, 9, 7
Saepius in libro numeratur Persius uno,
quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide.
IOANNES LYDUS DE MAG. I, 41 Πέρσιος δὲ
τὸν ποιητὴν Σώφρονα μιμήσασθαι θέλων τὸ Λυκόφρονος 25
παρῆλθεν ἀμαύρον.
* * * * *
CRITICAL APPENDIX.
The first reading is the reading of this edition, which, in the absence
of any statement to the contrary, coincides with Jahn’s edition of 1868.
Variations in spelling have been noted where they have been deemed
instructive.
J{α}. = Jahn, ed. of 1843.
J{ω}. = “ “ 1868.
J. = “ both editions.
H. = Hermann (1854).
[The remainder of the Critical Appendix has been distributed among
the individual Satires.]
* * * * *
INDEX.
* * * * *
[Transcriber’s Note:
All references are to Satires and line numbers, not to physical
pages. Punctuation is German-style, so:
Prol., 14; 1, 11. 106; 3, 59. 110; 4, 34
may be read as:
Prologue line 14
Satire 1 lines 11, 106
Satire 3 lines 59, 110
Satire 4 line 34]
A.
abaco, 1, 131.
abavus, 6, 57 (note).
Ablative in ī, 1, 62. 83.
not necessarily locative, Prol., 1; 2, 35; 6, 8.
accerso, 2, 45.
Acci, 1, 76.
accipio, 5, 87.
Accusative cognate, Prol., 14; 1, 11. 106; 3, 59. 110; 4, 34;
5, 25. 106. 123. 190; 6, 35.
for abl., 6, 42.
acerra, 2, 5.
aceti morientis, 4, 32.
aceto lotus, 5, 86.
acre despuat, 4, 34.
acre servitium, 5, 127.
acri iunctura, 5, 14.
actus teneat, 5, 99.
ad, 5, 123.
adductis amicis, 3, 47.
adeo, 6, 14. 51.
adferre sensus, 1, 69.
adflate, 1, 123.
Adjective for Subst., 1, 107; 2, 74; 3, 52.
admissus, 1, 117.
admovere templis, 2, 75.
adnuere his, 2, 43.
adrodens, 5, 163.
adsensere viri, 1, 36.
adsigna tabellas, 5, 81.
adsonat, 1, 102.
adverso, ex adv. dicere, 1, 44.
Aegaeum rapere, 5, 142.
aegroti veteris, 3, 83.
Aegyptus, sons of, 2, 56 (note).
aenos fratres, 2, 56.
aequali Libra, 5, 47.
aera invenci, 3, 39.
Saturnia, 2, 59.
aerumnis, 1, 78.
aerumnosi, 3, 79.
agaso, 5, 76.
agedum, 2, 22.
ager exossatus, 6, 52.
agitare iocos (?), 6, 5.
Ague, semitertian, 3, 91.
ait (indef. person), 1, 40.
alba, 1, 110.
albata, 2, 40.
albo ventre, 3, 98.
albus cum sardonyche, 1, 16.
timor, 3, 115.
Alcibiades, 4, 3 (note).
alea, 5, 57.
algente catino, 3, 111.
alges, 3, 115.
aliquid, 3, 60; 5, 137.
aliquis, 3, 8.
alitus gravis, 3, 89.
alli caput, 5, 188.
ambages succinis, 3, 20.
ambiguum iter, 5, 34.
ambitio cretata, 5, 177.
amitis, 6, 53.
amomis crassis, 3, 104.
amplexa catinum, 5, 182.
an, 1, 41.
anceps, 4, 11; 5, 156.
anguis duos, 1, 113.
angulus, 6, 13.
anhelo, 1, 14; 5, 10.
animae pars, 5, 23.
animam vende, 6, 75.
anne, 3, 39.
anseris exta, 6, 71.
ante boves, 1, 74.
Anticyras, 4, 16.
Antiopa, 1, 78.
antithetis rasis, 1, 86.
anus, 4, 19.
Aorist descriptive, 3, 101; 5, 187.
gnomic, 2, 5.
infinitive, 1, 132; 2, 66; 5, 33; 6, 77.
aperto voto, 2, 7.
ἀποτρόποισι δαίμοσι, 5, 167.
Appennino, 1, 95.
apponit annos, 2, 2.
apposita regula, 5, 38.
apricatio, 4, 18. 19. 33 (note).
aprici senes, 5, 179.
aptius, 1, 45.
Apula canis, 1, 60.
aqualiculus, 1, 57.
arator peronatus, 5, 102.
aratra, 1, 75.
aratro, 4, 41.
Arcadiae pecuaria, 3, 9.
Arcesilas, 3, 79.
arcessat, 5, 172.
arcessis, 2, 45.
arcum dirigere, 3, 60.
argenti creterras, 2, 52.
seria, 2, 10.
argento modus, 3, 69.
Aricia, 6, 56 (note).
aris excutere, 6, 44.
aristas excutere, 3, 115.
Aristophanes, 1, 124 (note).
arma virum, 1, 96.
Arreti, 1, 130.
ars = philosophia, 5, 105.
articulos fregerit, 5, 59.
artifex ponere, 1, 71.
sequi, Prol., 11.
artificem vultum, 5, 40.
artis magister, Prol., 10.
artocreas, 6, 50.
asini, 1, 121.
asper nummus, 3, 69.
ast, 2, 39.
astringas, 5, 110.
Astrology, 5, 46 (note).
astutam vulpem, 5, 117.
at, 1, 28; 5, 62.
atavus, 6, 58 (note).
atque (after compar.), 5, 131.
Atti, 1, 50.
Attis, 1, 93. 105.
Attribute for effect, Prol., 4; 17.
audaci Cratino, 1, 123.
aude, 6, 49.
auratis laquearibus, 3, 40.
aure vaporata, 1, 126.
aurem lotus, 5, 86.
aures bibulas, 4, 50.
auriculas albas, 1, 59.
asini, 1, 121.
emere, 2, 30.
radere, 1, 108.
auro ovato, 2, 55.
pingui, 2, 52.
subaerato, 5, 106.
auster infelix, 6, 12.
aut and an, 5, 5.
avaritia, 5, 132.
avia, 2, 31.
avias veteres, 5, 92.
avunculus maior, 6, 60.
axe secundo, 5, 72.
B.
bacam conchae, 2, 66.
balanatum, 4, 37.
balba nare, 1, 33.
balnea, 5, 126.
balteus, 4, 44.
barba aurea, 2, 58.
barbatus magister, 4, 1.
Bassaris, 1, 101.
Bassus Caesius, 6, 1 (note).
Bathylli, 5, 123.
Baucis, 4, 21.
beatulus, 3, 103.
belle, 1, 49.
bellum (adj.), 1, 87.
bene, 1, 111; 4, 30.
Berecyntius, 1, 93.
Bestius, 6, 37.
beta, 3, 114.
bibulas aures, 4, 50.
bicipiti Parnaso, Prol., 2.
bicolor membrana, 3, 10.
bidental, 2, 27.
bile acri, 2,14.
commota, 4, 6.
bilis mascula, 5, 144.
vitrea, 3, 8.
Birthday, 2, 1.
bis terque, 2, 16.
Blaesus Pedius, 1, 85 (note).
blandi comites, 5, 32.
blando popello, 4, 15.
bombis, 1, 99.
bona mens, 2, 8.
pars, 2, 5.
bone, 3, 94; 6, 43.
βουθυτεῖν, 2, 44.
bove caeso, 2, 44.
Bovillas, 6, 55.
bracatis Medis, 3, 53.
Brisaei, 1, 76.
Bruto liberior, 5, 85.
bruma, 6, 1.
Bruttia saxa, 6, 27.
buccas tumidas, 5, 13.
bulla donata, 5, 31.
bullatis nugis, 5, 19.
bullit, 3, 34.
buxum torquere, 3, 51.
C.
caballino fonte, Prol., 1.
cachinno, 1, 12.
cachinnos ingeminare, 3, 87.
caeco occipiti, 1, 62.
caecum vulnus, 4, 44.
caedimus, 4, 42.
caelestium inanes, 2, 61.
caerulea tabula, 6, 33.
caepe tunicatum, 4, 31.
caeso bove, 2, 44.
Caesonia, 6, 47.
caespite vivo, 6, 31.
Calabrum vellus, 2, 65.
calamo, 3, 12. 19.
calcaverit, 2, 38.
calces extendit, 3, 105.
gender of, _ib._
calet, 3, 108.
calice, 6, 20.
calidae turbae, 4, 7.
calidum sumen, 1, 53.
triental, 3, 100.
Caligula, 6, 43 (note).
callem surgentem, 3, 57.
calles, 4, 5.
callidus, 5, 14.
suspendere naso, 1, 118.
Calliroen, 1, 134.
caloni, 5, 95.
calve, 1, 56.
camelo sitiente, 5, 136.
Camena hortante, 5, 21.
camino coquitur, 5, 10.
campo indulgere, 5, 57.
candelae, 3, 103.
candidus dies, 2, 2.
umbo, 5, 33.
canem cave, 1, 109 (note).
canicula, 3, 5.
damnosa, 3, 49.
canina littera, 1, 109.
canis (capillis), 5, 65.
canis Apula, 1, 60.
cano capiti, 1, 83.
canitiem, 1, 9.
cannabe, 5, 146.
cantare ocima, 4, 22.
nectar, Prol., 14.
cantum, 5, 71.
capedines, 2, 59 (note).
capillis positis, 3, 10.
capite et pedibus, 5, 18.
induto, 3, 106.
obstipo, 3, 80.
capiti cano, 1, 83.
Cappadocas, 6, 77.
caprificus, 1, 25.
caput alli, 5, 188.
laxum, 3, 58.
carbone notare, 5, 108.
carere culpa, 3, 33.
carmen robustum, 5, 5.
carpamus dulcia, 5, 151.
casia, 2, 64; 6, 36.
casses artos, 5, 170.
castigare examen, 1, 7.
castoreum, 5, 135.
catasta, 6, 77.
catenae, 5, 160.
catino, 3, 111.
catinum rubrum, 5, 182.
Catonis morituri, 3, 45.
caudam iactare, 4, 15.
caules ungue, 6, 69.
cansas rerum, 3, 66.
cautus dinoscere, 5, 24.
cedo, 2, 75.
cedro, 1, 42.
celsa sede, 1, 17.
cena funeris, 6, 33.
cenanda, 5, 9.
censen, 5, 168.
censorem tuum, 3, 29.
centenas voces, 5, 26.
centeno gutture, 5, 6.
centum voces poscere, 5, 1.
paria, 6, 48.
centuriones, 5, 189.
centurionum, 3, 77.
centusse curto, 5, 191.
ceraso peccent, 6, 36.
cerdo, 4, 51.
certo puncto, 5, 100.
cervice laxa, 1, 98.
cervices purpureas, 3, 41.
cessas, 5, 127.
cesses, 4, 33.
cessit pavido, 5, 30.
ceves, 1, 87.
chaere = χαῖρε, Prol., 8.
Chaerestratus, 5, 162.
chartae, 3, 11.
chartis nocturnis, 5, 62.
cheragra, 5, 58.
Cherry pit, 3, 50.
chlamydes, 6, 46.
chordae, 6, 2.
chrysendeta, 2, 52 (note).
Chrysidis, 5, 165.
Chrysippus, 6, 80.
cicer, 5, 177.
ciconia, 1, 58.
cicutae, 4, 2; 5, 145.
Cincinnatus, 1, 73 (note).
cinere ulterior, 6, 41.
cinis, 5, 152.
cinis frigidus, 6, 45.
cippus, 1, 37.
cirratorum, 1, 29.
citius, 5, 95.
citreis lectis, 1, 53.
cives, 6, 9.
cladem, 6, 44.
clamare sese, 2, 23.
clauso murmure, 5, 11.
Cleanthea fruge, 5, 64.
clivum Virbi, 6, 56.
cludere versum, 1, 93.
Coa lubrica, 5, 135.
cocta fidelia, 3, 22.
cognatis siccis, 5, 164.
colligis = συλλογίζει, 5, 85.
collo orcae, 3, 50.
collueris, 1, 18.
columbo, 3, 16.
comitem, 1, 54.
comites, 5, 32.
comitum, 3, 7.
committere, 2, 4.
commota bile, 4, 6.
conari, Prol., 9.
conchae baca, 2, 66.
concordia fata, 5, 49.
condidit Ionio, 6, 29.
conditur uxor, 2, 14.
conives, 6, 50.
conpage soluta, 3, 68.
conpescere examen, 5, 100.
conpita, 4, 28; 5, 35.
conpositas venas, 3, 91.
conpositum ius, 2, 73.
conpositus lecto, 3, 104.
consentire, 5, 46.
consumere cras, 5, 68.
soles, 5, 41.
contemnere, 3, 21.
Copulative compounds, 6, 50.
coquere messis, 3, 6.
vellus, 2, 65.
coquitur massa, 5, 10.
cor Enni, 6, 10.
luctificabile, 1, 78.
corbes, 1, 71.
cornea, 1, 47.
cornicaris, 5, 12.
cornua torva, 1, 99.
Cornute, 5, 23. 37.
corrupto olivo, 2, 64.
cortice pingui, 1, 96.
corvos poetas, Prol., 13.
corvos sequi, 3, 61.
corymbis, 1, 101.
costa ratis, 6, 31.
costam subduximus, 1, 95.
cras hesternum, 5, 68.
crassa tucceta, 2, 42.
Crassi aedes, 2, 36.
crassis amomis, 3, 104.
crassos dies, 5, 60.
crassum ridere, 5, 190.
Craterus, 3, 65.
Cratinus, 1, 123.
crepet, 2, 11.
solidum, 5, 25.
crepidas, 1, 127.
crepuere dentes, 3, 101.
creta notare, 5, 108.
cretata ambitio, 5, 177.
cribro populi, 3, 112.
crispante naso, 3, 87.
Crispini balnea, 5, 126.
crudi, 1, 51.
crudis, 1, 92.
crudo pulvere, 2, 67.
crudum unguem, 5, 162.
crura praebere, 4, 42.
cubito tangere, 4, 34.
cuinam? cuinam? 2, 19.
cuivis, 2, 6.
culpa carere, 3, 33.
cultor invenum, 5, 63.
cultrix foci, 3, 26.
cum = postquam, 1, 9.
cuminum, 5, 55.
cunis exemit, 2, 31.
curas hominum, 1, 1.
curata cuticula, 4, 18.
Curibus, 4, 26.
curo, 3, 78.
curta supellex, 4, 52.
curtare rem, 6, 34.
curto centusse, 5, 191.
curva, 4, 12.
curvae in terris, 2, 61.
curvos mores, 3, 52.
curvus, 6, 16.
custos purpura, 5, 30.
cute, in c. figere, 4, 33.
in c. novi, 3, 30.
perditus, 1, 23.
cuticula curata, 4, 18.
cutis aegra, 3, 63.
Cybele, 5, 186 (note).
cynico, 1, 133.
D.
δακτυλοδεικτεῖσθαι, 1, 28.
Dama, 6, 76. 79.
damnosa canicula, 3, 49.
Damocles, 3, 39 (note).
Danaides, 2, 56 (note).
dare verba, 3, 19; 4, 45.
Dative case, 1, 116. 126; 6, 34.
datum seutire, 5, 124.
Davus, 5, 161.
decenter, 1, 84.
decerpere, 5, 42.
decipe nervos, 4, 45.
decoctius, 1, 125.
decoquit, 5, 57.
decor, 1, 92.
decorus pelle, 4, 14.
decursu, 6, 61.
decussa farina, 3, 112.
dedecus, 1, 81.
obsto, 5, 163.
deducit, 5, 35.
defigere culpam, 5, 16.
deinde, 4, 8; 5, 143.
δεισιδαιμων, 2, 31.
delphin, 1, 94.
delumbe, 1, 104.
demersus, 3, 34.
demorsos, 1, 106.
demum, 1, 64.
dentalia terens, 1, 73.
dente peragere, 6, 21.
dentes refecti, 3, 101.
depellentibus dis, 5, 167.
deposcere voces, 5, 26.
deprendere mores, 3, 52.
depunge, 6, 79.
deradere limum, 4, 29.
derigere, 1, 66.
descendere in sese, 4, 23.
despuat, 4, 35.
despumare, 3, 3.
destertuit, 6, 10.
detonsa, 3, 54.
deunces, 5, 150.
dexter senio, 3, 48.
dextro Hercule, 2, 12.
Iove, 5, 114.
dia, 1, 31.
Dice, 3, 48.
dicenda tacenda, 4, 5.
dicier, 1, 28.
dictarunt, 1, 52.
dictata, 1, 29.
dictatorem induit, 1, 74.
diducere ramos, 3, 56.
dies Herodis, 5, 180.
digito infami = medio, 2, 33.
monstrari, 1, 28.
digitum exsere, 5, 119.
digna cedro, 1, 42.
dilutas guttas, 3, 14.
Dinomaches, 4, 20.
dinoscere cautus, 5, 25.
speciem, 5, 105.
dirimebat, 1, 94.
discernere rectum, 4, 11.
discincti Nattae, 3, 31.
discincto vernae, 4, 22.
discolor usus, 5, 52.
discrepet, 6, 18.
discutitur, 2, 25.
dis depellentibus, 5, 167.
iratis, 4, 27.
disponere, 5, 43.
Dissimilation, 1, 72.
dissutis malis, 3, 59.
ditescant, 6, 15.
diversum, in d. scindere, 5, 154.
dividere in Geminos, 5, 49.
doctas figuras, 1, 86.
doctores Graios, 6, 38.
dolores finire, 5, 161.
dolosi nummi, Prol., 12.
domini, 5, 130.
domo maiore, 3, 92.
δραπετεύειν, 5, 156.
ducere bona, 2, 63.
ferrum, 5, 4.
ramum, 3, 28.
vultum, 5, 40.
duci ab uno sidere, 5, 46.
ducis genio, 6, 48.
dum, 3, 4; 5, 10.
dum ne, 4, 21.
duplici hamo, 5, 154.
durum holus, 3, 112.
E.
ebria, 1, 50.
ebulliat, 2, 10.
ecce, 1, 30; 2, 31.
echo, 1, 102.
edictum, 1, 134.
effluis, 3, 20.
effundat, 1, 65.
egerit, 5, 69.
egregius lusisse, 6, 6.
εἶεν, 4, 20.
ἐκσειειν, 1, 49.
elargiri, 3, 71.
elegidia, 1, 51.
ἐλευθέριος Ζεύς, 5, 114.
elevet, 1, 6.
eliquat, 1, 35.
Elision, 4, 14.
elixas, 4, 40.
Ellipsis, 1, 4; 3, 19; 5, 139; 6, 29.
emaci prece, 2, 3.
emeruit, 5, 74.
emole, 6, 26.
ἐμπαιστά, 2, 52.
empta in calice, 6, 20.
emunctae naris, 1, 118.
en, 1, 26.
enarrabile, 5, 29.
enim, 1, 63.
Enni cor, 6, 10.
Ennius, Prol., 2; 6, 10 (note).
ensis, 3, 40.
Epithets, general, Prol., 12.
epulis, 5, 42.
equidem, 1, 110; 5, 19. 45.
Ergenna, 2, 26.
erilis metus, 5, 131.
error, 5, 34.
escas, 1, 22.
esseda, 6, 47.
estne ut, 2, 18.
esto, 1, 20.
etenim, 3, 48.
ἤ τις ἢ οὐδείς, 1, 3.
Etruscan rites, 2, 36.
Etymology of ast, 2, 39.
bidental, 2, 27.
conpita, 4, 28.
fagus, 5, 59.
Palilia, 1, 72.
scloppus, 5, 13.
sodes, 3, 89.
sollers, 5, 142.
surdus, 6, 35.
usque, 6, 15.
varo (baro), 5, 138.
euge, 1, 49. 75. 111.
euhion, 1, 102.
Eupolis, 1, 124.
evitandum, 2, 27.
exalare, 3, 99; 5, 148.
examen, 1, 6; 5, 100.
excussit aristas, 3, 115.
excusso naso, 1, 118.
excute, 1, 49; 6, 75.
excutiat guttas, 2, 54.
excutienda, 5, 22.
excutit e manibus, 3, 101.
excutitur cinis, 6, 45.
exire, 1, 46; 5, 78. 130. 174; 6, 60.
exossatus ager, 6, 52.
expedivit, Prol., 7.
expers maris, 6, 39.
expiare frontem, 2, 34.
exporrecto, 3, 82.
expungam, 2, 13.
exsere digitum, 5, 119.
exspes, 2, 50.
exstet aqualiculus, 1, 57.
exstinxerit, 5, 145.
exsultat, 1, 82.
exsuperat, 3, 89.
extendit calces, 3, 105.
mores, 5, 38.
rimas, 3, 2.
extrinsecus, 5, 128.
F.
fabula, 5, 3. 152.
face exstincta, 5, 166.
supposita, 3, 116.
facere with inf., 1, 44.
faecem pannosam, 4, 32.
faeno fumosa, 1, 72.
faenoris merces, 6, 67.
fagi, 5, 59.
Falernum, 3, 3.
fallere sollers, 5, 37.
fallier, 3, 50.
fallit regula, 4, 12.
far modicum, 3, 25.
farina, 3, 112; 5, 115.
farrago, 5, 77.
farrata olla, 4, 31.
farre litabo, 2, 75.
fas, 1, 61; 2, 73; 5, 99.
fata, 5, 49.
favilla, 1, 39.
faxit, 1, 112.
fenestra, 5, 180.
fenestras, 3, 1.
fenisecae, 6, 40.
fermentum, 1, 24.
ferrum, 5, 4.
fert animus, 4, 7.
ferto opimo, 2, 48.
ferus, 5, 171.
ferveat lector, 1, 126.
fervebit olla, 5, 9.
ferventi veneno, 3, 37.
ferventis massae, 2, 67.
fervescit sanguis, 3, 116.
fervet plebecula, 4, 6.
festa luce, 6, 69.
festuca, 5, 175.
fibra, 1, 47; 2, 26. 45; 3, 32; 5, 29.
fictile, 2, 60.
fidele senectae, 2, 41.
fidelia non cocta, 3, 22.
putet, 3, 73.
tumet, 5, 183.
fidelibus nata, 5, 48.
figere iugum, 4, 28.
solem, 4, 33.
terram, 3, 80.
figurae trama, 6, 73.
figuras ponere, 1, 86.
filix, 4, 41.
Final sentence elliptical, 1, 4.
findor, 3, 9.
fingendus, 3, 24.
finire dolores, 5, 161.
finis, 1, 48; 5, 65.
fissa aure, 6, 70.
fistula, 3, 14.
fixum mummum, 5, 111.
Flaccus, 1, 116.
flagellas puteal, 4, 49.
flexus metae, 3, 68.
Floralia, 5, 178.
foci cultrix, 3, 26.
foco admovit, 6, 1.
focus, 1, 72.
foedere certo, 5, 45.
folle, 5, 11.
fonte caballino, Prol., 1.
forcipe, 4, 40.
fores udas, 5, 166.
fortunare, 2, 45.
fossor, 5, 122.
fractus, 1, 18.
frangere Saturnum, 5, 50.
rem patriam, 5, 165.
fratres aenos, 2, 56.
fretus, 4, 3.
frigere, 3, 109.
frigescant, 1, 109.
frigidus cinis, 6, 45.
frontem perisse, 5, 104.
fronte politus, 5, 116.
fruge Cleanthea, 5, 64.
fulta, 1, 78.
fulto, 5, 146.
fumo dare pondus, 5, 20.
fumosa Palilia, 1, 72.
fumosum sinciput, 6, 70.
fundo imo, 2, 51.
funem reduco, 5, 118.
funeris cena, 6, 33.
funus praeclarum, 2, 10.
fur, 1, 85.
Future as imperative, 1, 91.
gnomic, 2, 5.
participle, 1, 100.
G.
Gabinus cinctus, 5, 31 (note).
Galli, 5, 186.
garrit, 5, 96.
gaudere = ἀγαπᾶν, 6, 63.
paratus, 1, 132.
gausape, 4, 37; 6, 46.
gemina lance, 4, 10.
geminet guttas, 3, 14.
Geminos (in G.) dividere, 5, 49.
producis, 6, 18.
generoso honesto, 2, 74.
Genitive of material, 2, 52.
free use of, 1, 14.
genius, 1, 113; 2, 3; 4, 27; 5, 151; 6, 19. 48.
genuinum, 1, 115.
glutto, 5, 112.
Glyconi, 5, 9.
graece nugari, 1, 70.
Graiorum, 1, 127.
Graios, 6, 38.
grana, 5, 55.
granaria, 5, 110; 6, 25.
grande loqui, 1, 14; 5, 7.
grandes Galli, 5, 186.
patinae, 2, 42.
grandi polenta, 3, 55.
grandia, 3, 45.
gravis alitus, 3, 89.
Saturnus, 5, 50.
gurgite, 2, 15.
gurgulio, 4, 38.
guttas excutere, 2, 54.
gutture exalare, 3, 99.
niti, 5, 6.
H.
habita tecum, 4, 52.
haeres, 2, 19.
hamo duplici, 5, 154.
hebenum, 5, 135.
hederae, Prol., 6.
Helicone, 5, 7.
Heliconidas, Prol., 4.
Hellebore, 3, 63; 4, 16; 5, 100.
heminas, 1, 130.
Hendiadys, 2, 52; 5, 131.
herba, 6, 26.
Hercule dextro, 2, 12.
heres proximus, 2, 12.
Ἑρμῆς κερδῷος, 6, 51.
heroas sensus, 1, 69.
Herodis dies, 5, 180.
hesterni Quirites, 3, 106.
hesternum cras, 5, 68.
oscitat, 3, 59.
hianda, 5, 3.
hiantem ducere, 5, 176.
Hiatus, 3, 66.
hibernat, 6, 7.
hircosa, 3, 77.
Historic present, 4, 2.
holus durum, 3, 112.
siccum, 6, 20.
hominum, 1, 1.
honesto generoso, 2, 74.
horoscope, 6, 18.
horridulus, 1, 54.
hospes, 2, 8.
hucine rerum, 3, 15.
humana re, 3, 72.
humilis susurros, 2, 6.
hyacinthia, 1, 32.
Hypallage, 3, 4. 50. 57.
Hyperbaton, 1, 23; 6, 13.
Hypsipylas, 1, 34.
I.
iactare caudam, 4, 15.
festucam, 5, 175.
iam, 5, 33.
nunc, 5, 110.
Iane, 1, 58.
idcirco, 2, 28.
idonea dare, 5, 20.
iecore, 1, 25.
aegro, 5, 129.
igitur, 1, 98; 4, 14.
ignovisse, 2, 24.
ilex, 2, 24.
ilia, 4, 43.
Ilias Atti, 1, 50. 123.
imagines, Prol., 5; 3, 28.
Imperfect of a false impression, 5, 93.
inane, 1, 1.
inanes caelestium, 2, 61.
inclusi, 1, 13.
incoctum honesto, 2, 74.
incolumis, 6, 37.
increpuit, 5, 127.
increvit fibris, 3, 32.
incurvasse, 1, 91.
incusa auro, 2, 52.
incutere deos, 5, 187.
inde, 1, 126; 5, 153.
indomitum Falernum, 3, 3.
induco, 6, 49.
indulge genio, 5, 151.
induto capite, 3, 106.
inepte cornicari, 5, 12.
ineptus lictor, 5, 175.
inexpertum deprendere, 3, 52.
infami digito, 2, 33.
infelix auster, 6, 13.
Infinitive, perf. instead of present, Prol., 2; 1, 42. 91. 132;
2, 66; 4, 7. 17; 5, 24. 33; 6, 4. 6. 17. 77.
for gerund, etc., Prol., 11; 1, 59. 70. 118; 2, 34. 54; 3, 51;
4, 16; 5, 20. 24. 37. 100; 6, 3. 24. 36. 77.
as a subst. with demonst. and possessive, 1. 9. 27. 123; 5, 53;
6, 38.
nursery infinitives, 3, 18.
in exclamation, 1, 24; 4, 36.
passive in -er, 1, 28; 3, 50.
for subjunctive, 5, 46.
inflantis corpora, 5, 187.
infodiam, 1, 120.
infundere monitus, 1, 79.
infusa lympha, 3, 13.
ingemere, 4, 13.
vitam, 5, 61.
ingeminat, 1, 102; 3, 87.
ingeni largitor, Prol., 10.
ingenium, 4, 4.
ingentis Titos, 1, 20.
ingenuo ludo, 5, 16.
ingerere, 5, 6. 177.
inhibere perita, 2, 34.
iniquas heminas, 1, 130.
inlita Medis, 3, 53.
inmeiat vulvae, 6, 73.
inmittere templis, 2, 62.
inodora, 6, 35.
inpallescere chartis, 5, 62.
inpellere, 2, 13. 59; 5, 128.
aurem, 2, 21.
inpensius, 6, 68.
inprobe, 4, 47.
inriguo somno, 5, 56.
inrorans piper, 6, 21.
insana canicula, 3, 5.
inscitia debilis, 5, 99.
inserere aures, 5, 63.
Insolatio, 3, 33. 98; 4, 18; 5, 179.
insomnis, 3, 54.
inspice, 3, 88.
instanti imperio, 5, 157.
insulso Glyconi, 5, 9.
intabescant, 3, 38.
integer, 5, 173.
intendisse numeris, 6, 4.
intepet ora, 6, 7.
Interrogative dependent in Indicative, 3, 67.
intima, 1, 21.
intortos mores, 5, 38.
introrsum, 2, 9.
intumuit bilis, 5, 145.
intus novi, 3, 30.
pallere, 3, 42.
i nunc, 4, 19.
invigilat, 3, 55.
Ionio condere, 6, 29.
Iove nostro, 5, 50.
dextro, 5, 114.
iratis dis, 4, 27.
iratum Eupolidem, 1, 124.
Ironical 1st Person, 3, 3.
Isis, 5, 186 (note).
Italo honore, 1, 129.
iubeo (construction), 5, 161.
iudex potior, 2, 20.
iugum figere, 4, 28.
iunctura, 1, 65. 92; 5, 14.
iura, 5, 137.
iure, 3, 48.
ius fasque, 2, 73.
iustum suspendere, 4, 10.
L.
labefactent, 4, 40.
labella uda, 2, 32.
labello exporrecto, 3, 82.
labentis annos, 2, 2.
Labeo Attius, 1, 4. 50. 123 (note).
laborat vinci, 5, 39.
laboro scire, 2, 17.
labra moves, 5, 184.
prolui, Prol., 1.
lacerae ratis, 6, 31.
lactibus unctis, 2, 30.
laena, 1, 32.
laetari praetrepidum, 2, 54.
laevo pectore, 2, 53.
lagoena, 6, 17.
sitiente, 3, 92.
lallare, 3, 18.
lambunt, Prol., 5.
λαμπαδηφορία, 6, 61.
lance gemina, 4, 10.
magna, 2, 71.
lapidosa cheragra, 5, 58.
lapillo meliore, 2, 1.
laquearibus auratis, 3, 40.
lare presso, 5, 109.
largior, 6, 51.
largire, 6, 32.
largitor, Prol., 10.
Laribus donata, 5, 31.
larvae, 1, 38 (note).
latet ulcus, 3, 113.
Latinae fidis, 6, 4.
lato auro, 4, 44.
latus dare, 6, 8.
mundi, 6, 76.
lautus ponere, 6, 23.
lavatur, 3, 98.
Lawyers’ fees, 3, 75.
laxa cervice, 1, 98.
laxamus seria, 5, 44.
laxes granaria, 5, 110.
laxis labris, 3, 102.
laxum caput, 3, 58.
lector ferveat, 1, 126.
legarat, 6, 66.
legere nebulas, 5, 7.
leges, 1, 17.
lemures, 5, 185.
lenia Surrentina, 3, 93.
leti memor, 5, 153.
λευκὴ ἡμέρα, 2, 2.
levis, sit tibi terra, 1, 37 (note).
levis trossulus, 1, 82.
lex publica, 5, 98.
libabit, 2, 5.
libelle, 1, 120.
liber = play, 1, 76.
Liberator Iuppiter, 5, 114 (note).
liber pede, 1, 13.
libertate, 5, 73.
Libonis puteal, 4, 49 (note).
Libra aequali, 5, 47.
librae ancipitis, 4, 11.
librat, 1, 86.
licetur Graecos, 5, 191.
Licini, 2, 36.
lictor, 1, 75.
ineptus, 5, 175.
Ligus ora, 6, 6.
limen obscenum, 5, 165.
limina frigescant, 1, 109.
limite dextro, 3, 57.
limo viridi, 3, 22.
limum veterem, 4, 29.
linea, 3, 4.
lingua, sub l., 2, 9.
linguae pictae, 5, 25.
lippa propago, 2, 72.
lippus, 1, 79; 5, 77.
liquescant in flammas, 2, 47.
liquido plasmate, 1, 17.
litabis, 5, 120.
litabo farre, 2, 75.
Literary ladies, Prol., 13.
Litotes, Prol., 1; 1, 19.
littera canina, 1, 110.
Pythagorea, 3, 56.
litus, 6, 8.
locatus, 3, 72.
loturo, 3, 93.
lotus, 5, 86.
lubrica Coa, 5, 135.
lucem palustrem, 5, 60.
lucernae dispositae, 5, 181.
Luciferi rudis, 5, 103.
Lucilius, 1, 2. 114.
lucis (Abl.), 2, 27.
lucro vendere, 6, 75.
luctata canis, 5, 159.
luctificabile, 1, 78.
lucum ponere, 1, 70.
luditur tibi, 3, 20.
ludo ingenuo, 5, 16.
lumbum intrant, 1, 20.
lumine figentes, 3, 80.
Lunai portus, 6, 9.
Lupus, 1, 115.
lusca sacerdos, 5, 186.
lusce, 1, 128.
lusisse, 6, 6.
lustralibus, 2, 33.
lutatus amomis, 3, 104.
lutea gausapa, 6, 46.
pellis, 3, 95.
luto, in l. fixum, 5, 111.
lutum udum, 3, 23.
luxum, 1, 67.
luxuria sollers, 5, 142.
lyncem, 1, 101.
lyra, 6, 2.
M.
macram spem, 2, 35.
Macrinus, 2, 1.
Maenas, 1, 101. 105.
Maeonides, 6, 11.
magister artis, Prol., 10.
magistrum barbatum, 4, 1.
magnanimus puer, 6, 22.
maiestate manus, 4, 8.
maiorum limina, 1, 108.
μακαρίτης, 3, 103.
maligne, 3, 21.
mammae, 3, 18.
mando, 2, 39.
mane, 1, 134.
clarum, 3, 1.
manes, 1, 38; 5, 152.
offerings to, 2, 3.
manibus quatere, 2, 35.
Manius, 6, 56. 60.
mansuescit, 4, 41.
mantica, 4, 24.
marcentis vulvas, 4, 36.
Marcus Dama, 5, 79.
marem strepitum, 6, 4.
maris expers, 6, 39.
Marsi clientis, 3, 75.
mascula bilis, 5, 144.
massa, 5, 10.
massae venas, 2, 67.
Masuri rubrica, 5, 90.
matertera, 2, 31; 6, 54.
medendi natura, 5, 101.
medico, 3, 90.
Medis bracatis, 3, 52.
meditari somnia, 3, 83.
mefites sulpureas, 3, 99.
meite, 1, 114.
melior sorbere, 4, 16.
membrana bicolor, 3, 10.
memini, Prol., 3.
memor leti, 5, 153.
mena, 3, 76.
Menander, 5, 161 (note).
mendose colligis, 5, 85.
mendosum tinnire, 5, 106.
mens bona, 2, 8.
mera libertas, 5, 82.
meracas, 4, 16.
mercare, 6, 75.
mercede, 2, 29.
merces faenoris, 6, 67.
mercibus Italis, 5, 54.
Mercurialem salivam, 5, 112.
Mercurius, 2, 44.
κερδῷος, 6, 62.
mergis obvia, 6, 30.
merum fundere, 2, 3.
Messalinus, 2, 72.
Messalla, 2, 72.
messe propria, 6, 25.
metae flexus, 3, 68.
metas, 1, 131.
metuens divum, 2, 31.
metuentia scombros, 1, 43.
metuo with Inf., 1, 47; 4, 28.
meus, 5, 88.
Mida rex, 1, 121 (note).
mille species, 5, 52.
millesime, 3, 28.
miluus, 4, 26.
Mimalloneis, 1, 99.
Mimas, 1, 99 (note).
minui, 6, 16.
minutum pappare, 3, 17.
mirae, bene mirae, 1, 111.
mire opifex, 6, 3.
mittit, 2, 36.
mobile, 1, 18.
mobilis imitari, 1, 59.
modice sitiente, 3, 92.
modico ore, 5, 15.
modicus voti, 5, 109.
modus, 3, 69.
molle subrisit, 3, 110.
momento turbinis, 5, 78.
monstrari digito, 1, 28.
montis promittere, 3, 65.
morari Iovem, 2, 43.
mordaci aceto, 5, 86.
vero, 1, 107.
mores pallentis, 5, 15.
moretur, 1, 77.
morientis aceti, 4, 32.
moror, 1, 111.
morosa vena, 6, 72.
moveare, 5, 123.
Mucius, 1, 115.
muria, 6, 20.
murice vitiato, 2, 65.
murmura rodere, 3, 81.
tollere, 2, 6.
murmure clauso, 5, 11.
mutare mercibus, 5, 54.
muttire, 1, 119.
Mycenis, 5, 17.
N.
nare balba, 1, 33.
naribus uncis, 1, 41.
naso cadat ira, 5, 91.
crispante, 3, 87.
excusso, 1, 118.
tangere, 6, 17.
nata fidelibus, 5, 48.
natalia, 6, 19.
natalicia, 1, 16.
natat, 5, 182.
Natta, 3, 31.
natura, 5, 98. 101.
naufragus, 1, 88; 6, 33 (note).
ne = ne-quidem, 5, 172.
omitted, 1, 112.
-ne in rhetorical questions, 1, 22.
nebulas legere, 5, 7.
nectar cantare, Prol., 14.
nefas, 1, 119.
negatas, Prol., 11.
Negative, position of, 1, 45; 2, 3.
nempe, 2, 70; 3, 1; 5, 67.
nepos, 6, 71.
Nerea, 1, 94.
Nerius, 2, 14.
Nero, supposed allusions to, 1, 56. 75. 121; 4, 49.
nervis, 2, 41.
nervos agitare, 5, 129.
decipere, 4, 45.
neu, 3, 51; 6, 66.
nigra sepia, 3, 13.
nihil de nihilo, 3, 84.
niti gutture, 5, 6.
nocte paratum, 1, 90.
noctem purgare, 2, 16.
noctes decerpere, 5, 42.
nodosa harundo, 3, 11.
nodum abripit, 5, 159.
non, position of, 1, 45; 2, 3; 3, 78.
non = ne, 1, 5; 5, 45.
non = nonne, 1, 50.
nonaria, 1, 133.
noris, 4, 52.
nostin, 4, 25.
nostrum, Prol., 7; 5, 151.
novimus, 4, 43.
nox tertia, 3, 91.
nucibus, 1, 10.
nugae, 1, 5.
bullatae, 5, 19.
nugari Graece, 1, 70.
nugaris, 1, 56.
nugator, 5, 127.
Numae aurum, 2, 59.
numerare diem, 2, 1.
numeris, 6, 3.
numeros, 1, 13; 5, 123.
nummi dolosi, Prol., 12.
nummus asper, 3, 70.
nutrici, 2, 39.
nutrire nummos, 5, 150.
O.
obba, 5, 148.
oberres, 5, 156.
oberret, 6, 32.
obiurgabere, 5, 169.
obscenum limen, 5, 165.
obsequio, 5, 156.
obstipo capite, 3, 80.
obstiteris, 5, 157.
obvia mergis, 6, 30.
occa, 6, 26.
occipiti, 1, 62.
occurrite, 1, 62; 3, 64.
ocello patranti, 1, 18.
ocima, 4, 22.
ocius ad navem, 5, 141.
oculos urentis, 2, 34.
oenophorum, 5, 140.
offas carminis, 5, 5.
officium, 5, 94; 6, 27.
ohe, 1, 23.
oletum, 1, 112.
oleum, 6, 50.
olivo corrupto, 2, 64.
tangere, 3, 44.
olla farrata, 4, 31.
Prognes, 5, 8.
omentum, 2, 47; 6, 74.
ᾠοσκοπική, 5, 185.
operae est, 6, 9.
opertum, 1, 121.
opifex, 6, 3.
opimo ferto, 2, 48.
opimum pingue, 3, 32.
optare linguas centum, 5, 2.
orbis pueris, 2, 20.
orca, 3, 76.
orcae angustae, 3, 50.
ordo, 3, 67.
ore modico, 5, 15.
Orestes, 3, 118.
oscitat, 3, 59.
o si, 2, 9.
os populi, 1, 42.
ossa, 1, 37.
ostendisse iuvat, 5, 24.
ovato auro, 2, 55.
ovile, 2, 49.
ovo rupto, 5, 185.
P.
pacto, 4, 43.
Pacuvius, 1, 77.
pagina, 5, 20.
palaestritae, 4, 39.
palato, 1, 35.
Palilia, 1, 72.
pallentis cumini, 5, 55.
mores, 5, 15.
palles, 1, 124; 3, 94. 96; 4, 47; 5, 80. 184.
palliatae, 5, 14 (note).
pallidam Pirenen, Prol., 4.
pallor, 1, 26.
palmis, 6, 39.
palpo, 5, 176.
palustrem lucem, 5, 60.
panis secundus, 3, 112 (note).
pannosam, 4, 32.
pannucia, 4, 21.
papae, 5, 79.
pappare minutum, 3, 17.
paratum nocte, 1, 90.
paratas gaudere, 1, 132.
nescire, 6, 36.
Parca, 5, 48.
paria centum, 6, 48.
Parnaso, Prol., 2.
Parthi vulnera, 5, 4.
Participle in questions, 3, 67; 5, 124.
parvus, 3, 44.
patella, 3, 26; 4, 17.
pater quartus, 6, 58.
paterna dicta, 6, 66.
paterni testiculi, 1, 103.
patinae, 2, 42; 6, 21.
patranti ocello, 1, 18.
patriciae vulvae, 6, 73.
patricius sanguis, 1, 61.
patruelis, 6, 53.
patrui proneptis, 6, 54.
patruus, 1, 11; 2, 10.
patula ulmo, 3, 6.
pavido mihi, 5, 30.
pavisse, 6, 77.
pavone, 6, 11.
peccas, 5, 119.
peccat (pulpa), 2, 68.
peccent casiae, 6, 36.
pectine, 6, 2.
pectore calido, 5, 144.
laevo, 2, 53.
sinuoso, 5, 27.
sub p. vulpum, 5, 117.
pecuaria Arcadiae, 3, 9.
pede liber, 1, 13.
pedes summos, 3, 108.
Pedius, 1, 85.
Pegaseium, Prol., 14.
peioribus orti, 6, 15.
pelle summa, 4, 14.
pellem aptas, 5, 140.
pelliculam, 5, 116.
pellis lutea, 3, 95.
Penatis, 2, 45.
penu locuplete, 3, 74.
perages, 5, 139.
peragit bona, 6, 22.
percussa, 3, 21.
percute agnam, 5, 168.
perditus cute, 1, 23.
perducere facies, 2, 56.
Perfect, 2, 32. 43; 5, 95.
Inf. See Infinitive.
pergant sudare, 5, 150.
perge, 3, 97.
Pericli, 4, 3.
perisse frontem, 5, 102.
perita inhibere, 2, 34.
permisit sparsisse, 5, 33.
pernae, 3, 75.
peronatus, 5, 103.
pertusa conpita, 4, 28.
πετόμενα διώκειν, 3, 60.
petulanti, 1, 12. 133.
pexus, 1, 15.
Phalaris, 3, 39.
phaleras, 3, 30.
Phyllidas, 1, 34.
picam, Prol., 9.
picas, Prol., 13.
pictum in trabe, 1, 89.
pillea, 5, 82.
pilleus, 3, 106 (note).
pilos, ante p., 4, 5.
pingitur, ut p., 6, 63.
pingue opimum, 3, 33.
pinguem nebulam, 5, 181.
pingui auro, 2, 52.
pinguibus Umbris, 3, 74.
pinguior angulus, 5, 14.
pinsit, 1, 58.
piper, 3, 75; 5, 55. 136; 6, 21.
Pirenen, Prol., 4.
pituita, 2, 57.
plantaria, 4, 39.
plaudere, w. accus. (?), 4, 31.
plausisse, 6, 77.
plebeia, 3, 114; 5, 18.
plorabile, 1, 34.
Plural, Prol., 6; 1, 75; 2, 33; 3, 79. 104; 4, 16; 5, 110.
pluteum caedit, 1, 106.
poetas corvos, Prol., 13.
poetridas, Prol., 13.
ποικίλη στοά, 3, 53.
polenta, 3, 55.
politus fronte, 5, 116.
pollice, 5, 40.
honesto, 6, 5.
Polydamas, 1, 4.
pondus dare fumo, 5, 20.
ponere, 1, 53. 70; 3, 111; 5, 3; 6, 23.
pontifices, 2, 69.
Ponto advehe, 5, 134.
popa venter, 6, 74.
popello, 6, 50.
blando, 4, 15.
populi rem = rem publicam, 4, 1.
porci, 1, 72.
porrum sectile, 4, 30 (note).
portam, extendit in p., 3, 105.
porticus sapiens, 3, 54.
postibus, 6, 45.
postica sanna, 1, 62.
postquam, 3, 90.
pote, 1, 56.
potis, 4, 13.
praebet vellere, 2, 28.
praecedenti tergo, 4, 24.
praecipites imus, 3, 42.
praecordia, 1, 117; 5, 22.
praedictum, 5, 188.
praefigere theta, 4, 13.
praegrandi, 1, 124.
praelargus, 1, 14.
praeparet auster, 6, 12.
praeponere, 2, 18.
praestantior, 6, 76.
praetegit, 4, 45.
praetor, 5, 88. 93.
praetrepidum laetari, 2, 54.
praetulerint, 1, 5.
prandeat, 3, 85.
prandia plebeia, 5, 18.
post p. Calliroen, 1, 134.
regum, 1, 67.
premere ratione, 5, 39.
ventos, 5, 11.
presso Lare, 5, 109.
primas noctes, 5, 42.
primordia vocum, 6, 3.
proceres, 1, 52.
procerum, 2, 5.
prodirem, Prol., 3.
producis, 6, 19.
progenies terrae, 6, 57.
Prognes olla, 5, 8.
pro Iuppiter, 2, 22.
Prolepsis, 3, 5.
prolui, Prol., 1.
promittere montis, 3, 65.
promptum, 2, 6.
proneptis patrui, 6, 53.
properandus, 3, 23.
protenso, 1, 57.
protinus, 1, 110.
protulerim, 1, 89.
proxima uxor, 3, 43.
prudentia rerum, 4, 4.
psittaco, Prol., 8.
pubis Germanae, 6, 44.
Publius, 5, 74.
puer, 5, 167; 6, 22.
Pulfennius, 5, 190.
pullatis (?), 5, 19.
pulmentaria, 3, 102.
pulmo praelargus, 1, 14.
pulmone, 2, 30.
pulmonem rumpere, 3, 27.
pulpa, 2, 63.
pulsa, 5, 24.
pultes, 6, 40.
puncto certo, 5, 100.
pupae, 2, 70.
pupille, 4, 3.
pupillum, 2, 12.
puppe, in p. dii, 6, 30.
Puppets, 5, 128.
pura voce, 5, 28.
purgare noctem, 2, 16.
purgatas aures, 5, 63.
purpura custos, 5, 30.
purum salinum, 3, 25.
puta, 4, 9.
puteal, 4, 49.
putet, 3, 73.
putre ulcus, 3, 114.
putris, 5, 58.
Pythagoras, 3, 56 (note).
Pythagoreo, 6, 11.
Q.
quaesieris, 4, 25.
quamvis, 5, 70.
quando, 1, 46.
quandoque = quandocumque, 4, 28.
Quartan ague, 3, 91.
quartus pater, 6, 57.
quatere manibus, 2, 35.
que-que, Prol., 4.
quid agis, 3, 5.
quidnam, 2, 29.
quin, w. indic., 2, 71; 4, 14.
w. subjunct., 1, 84.
quincunce modesto, 5, 149.
Quinti, 1, 73.
Quintus Ennius, Prol., 1; 6, 11.
quippe, 1, 88.
Quiritem, 5, 75.
Quirites, 3, 106; 4, 8.
quis = qui, 1, 63. 68.
= uter (?), 2, 20.
quisquam, 1, 112; 5, 83. 128.
quisque = quicumque, 5, 73.
quo with Inf., 1, 24.
quod si, Prol., 12.
quorsum, 5, 5.
R.
R for L by dissimilation, 1, 72.
rabiosa silentia, 3, 81.
radere, 1, 107; 3, 114; 5, 15.
raderet, 3, 50.
ramale, 1, 97.
ramalia, 5, 59.
ramos Samios, 3, 56.
ramosa compita, 5, 35.
ramum ducere, 3, 28.
rancidulum, 1, 33.
rapiant hunc, 2, 38.
rapias Aegaeum, 5, 142.
rapidae vitae, 5, 94.
rara avis, 1, 46.
rasis antithetis, 1, 85.
rasisse, 2, 68.
rastro, 2, 11.
ratio, 5, 96. 119.
ratione, 3, 36; 5, 39.
ratis, 6, 31.
rauco murmure, 5, 11.
recens piper, 5, 136.
recenti sole, 5, 54.
toga, 1, 15.
receptare se, 6, 8.
recessus mentis, 2, 73.
recto talo, 5, 104.
rectum discernere, 4, 11.
recusem minui, 6, 15.
recutita sabbata, 5, 184.
redire in rugam, 6, 79.
reduco funem, 5, 118.
refulserit, Prol., 12.
regina, 2, 37.
regula, 4, 12; 5, 38.
regum = procerum, 1, 67; 3, 17.
regustatum salinum, 5, 138.
Relative w. subjunct., 3, 114.
relaxat, 5, 125.
relego, 5, 118.
relicta (virtute), 3, 38.
relictam vitam, 5, 61.
rem populi, 4, 1.
remitto, Prol., 5.
Remus, 1, 73.
reparabilis, 1, 102.
repone, 6, 66.
requiescere, 3, 90.
rerum prudentia, 4, 4.
resignent, 5, 28.
respondere maligne, 3, 22.
respue, 4, 51.
restas, 3, 97.
retecti dentes, 3, 101.
revello, 5, 92.
rex, 2, 37.
Rhenos, 6, 47.
Rhetorical question, with -ne, 1, 22.
rhombos, 6, 23.
ridere crassum, 5, 190.
meum, 1, 122.
rimas extendere, 3, 2.
rite salit, 3, 111.
ritu generis, 6, 59.
rixanti populo, 5, 178.
robusti carminis, 5, 5.
rodere casses, 5, 170.
murmura, 3, 81.
Roma turbida, 1, 5.
Romule, 1, 87.
Romulidae, 1, 31.
rosa fiat, 2, 38.
rota acri, 3, 24.
curras, 5, 72.
rubellum, 5, 147.
rubra solea, 5, 169.
rubrica, 1, 66; 5, 90.
rudere, 3, 9.
rudis Luciferi, 5, 103.
rugam, in r. redire, 6, 79.
rugosum piper, 5, 55.
rumore sinistro, 5, 164.
rumpere buccas, 5, 13.
pulmonem, 3, 27.
runcare, 4, 36.
rus saturum, 1, 71.
S.
sabbata recutita, 5, 184.
Sabino foco, 6, 1.
sacerdos, 5, 186.
sacras facies, 2, 55.
sacrum piper, 6, 21.
salinum purum, 3, 25.
terebrare, 5, 138.
salit cor, 3, 111.
saliva summa, 1, 104.
salivam Mercurialem, 5, 112.
turdarum, 6, 24.
salivis lustralibus, 2, 33.
salutas, 3, 29.
sambucam, 5, 95.
Samios ramos, 3, 56.
sancte, 2, 15.
sancto, in s., 2, 69.
sanctos recessus, 2, 73.
sanguis fervescit, 3, 116.
patricius, 1, 61.
sanna rugosa, 5, 91.
sannae posticae, 1, 62.
saperdam, 5, 134.
sapere deterius, 4, 21.
hoc, 6, 38.
sapiens porticus, 3, 53.
sapimus patruos, 1, 11.
sapit, 1, 106.
sardonyche, 1, 16.
sartago, 1, 80.
σάρξ, 2, 63.
satur, 5, 56; 6, 71.
saturi, 1, 31.
Saturnia aera, 2, 59.
Saturnum gravem, 5, 50.
saturum, 1, 71.
satyrum, 5, 123.
saxa, 6, 27.
scabiosum far, 5, 74.
scabiosus, 2, 13.
scalpuntur, 1, 21.
scelerata pulpa, 2, 63.
scilicet, 1, 15; 2, 19; 4, 4.
scinderis, 5, 154.
scintillant oculi, 3, 117.
scire tuum, 1, 27.
scis, 1, 53; 4, 10.
scloppo, 5, 13.
scombros, 1, 42.
scopuli, 6, 8.
scribimus inclusi, 1, 13.
scrobe, 1, 119.
scutica, 5, 131.
secretam aurem, 5, 96.
secreti loquimur, 5, 21.
sectabere, 5, 71.
secto pulvere, 1, 131.
secuit urbem, 1, 114.
secundo axe, 5, 72.
secura patella, 3, 26.
securus vulgi, 6, 12.
sede celsa, 1, 17.
seductior, 6, 42.
seductis divis, 2, 4.
seductum, 5, 143.
semipaganus, Prol., 6.
semuncia recti, 5, 121.
sene praegrandi, 1, 124.
senes, 6, 6.
sēnio dexter, 3, 48.
senio minui, 6, 16.
senium, 1, 26.
sepeli = sepelii, 3, 97.
sepia nigra, 3, 13.
sequaces, Prol., 6.
Sequence of Tenses, 1, 4; 5, 107.
sequi = sectari, Prol., 11; 5, 14.
seria argenti, 2, 11.
seria laxamus, 5, 44.
seriolae, 4, 29.
Serpent worship, 1, 113.
servas vulpem, 5, 117.
servitium acre, 5, 127.
sesquipede, 1, 57.
sessilis obba, 5, 148.
severos unguis, 1, 64.
si = εἴγε, 5, 173.
sic, Prol., 3.
siccas messes, 3, 5.
siccis cognatis, 5, 163.
Siculi iuvenci, 3, 39.
sidere, ab uno s. duci, 5, 46.
signum lagoenae, 6, 17.
silentia fecisse, 4, 7.
rodere, 3, 81.
siliquis pasta, 3, 55.
simpuvia, 2, 59 (note).
sin, 5, 115.
sinciput, 6, 70.
singultiet, 6, 72.
sinistro genio, 4, 27.
rumore, 5, 164.
sinu Socratico, 5, 37.
sinuoso pectore, 5, 27.
sis = sivis, 1, 108.
sistro, 5, 186.
sitiente camelo, 5, 136.
lagoena, 3, 92.
sive = vel si, 1, 67.
Socrates, 4, 1 (note).
Socratico sinu, 5, 37.
sodes, 3, 89.
sole assiduo, 4, 18.
recenti, 5, 54.
solea rubra, 5, 169.
soles longos, 5, 41.
solidum crepet, 5, 25.
sollers, 5, 142.
fallere, 5, 37.
nosse, 6, 24.
Solones, 3, 79.
somniasse, Prol., 2.
somno inriguo, 5, 56.
sonare vitium, 3, 21.
sorbere melior, 4, 16.
sorbet, 4, 32.
sorbitio, 4, 2.
sordidus, 1, 128.
σωρίτης, 6, 80.
sparsisse oculos, 5, 33.
speciem veri, 5, 105.
species hominum, 5, 52.
spirare surdum, 6, 35.
Spleen, the seat of laughter, 1, 12.
splene petulanti, 1, 12.
spondente, 5, 79.
spumosum, 1, 96.
Staienus, 2, 19 (note).
Staius, 2, 19. 22.
stare contra, 5, 96.
Steelyard, 5, 100.
stemmate Tusco, 3, 28.
steriles veri, 5, 75.
stertimus, 3, 3.
stertis, 3, 58.
Stoic catechism, 3, 67; 5, 104.
stolidam barbam, 2, 28.
strepitum marem, 6, 4.
strigiles, 5, 126. 131.
stingere venas, 2, 66.
struere rem, 2, 44.
studere (absol.), 3, 9.
stupet vitio, 3, 32.
stuppas, 5, 135.
subaerato auro, 5, 106.
subdite rebus, 5, 124.
subduximus, 1, 95.
subeas dominos, 5, 155.
subere, 1, 97.
subiere, 3, 106.
subiīt, 2, 55.
subit inter curva rectum, 4, 11.
tremor, 3, 110.
subrisit molle, 3, 110.
subsellia, 1, 82.
Subura, 5, 32.
succinctis Laribus, 5, 31.
succinctus, 5, 140.
succinis ambages, 3, 20.
sudans pater, 3, 47.
sudare deunces, 5, 150.
sudes, 2, 53.
suffla, 4, 20.
sulco terens, 1, 73.
sulpure sacro, 2, 25.
sulpureas mefites, 3, 99.
sumen calidum, 1, 53.
summa boni, 4, 17.
summae dest aliquid, 6, 64.
summos pedes, 3, 108.
supellex, 4, 52.
superbo vitulo, 1, 100.
supinus, 1, 129.
supplantat, 1, 35.
supposita face, 3, 116.
supposui, 5, 36.
surda vota, 6, 28.
surdum spirare, 6, 35.
surgentem callem, 3, 57.
surgit pellis, 3, 95.
Surrentina, 3, 93.
suscipis, 5, 36.
suspendere lance, 4, 10.
naso, 1, 118.
tempora, 5, 47.
T.
tabellas adsigna, 5, 81.
tabula caerulea, 6, 33.
Tadius, 6, 66.
tali (game), 3, 48 (note).
talo recto, 5, 104.
tandem, 1, 16; 3, 103.
tange venas, 3, 107.
tantae quantum, 1, 60.
tectoria linguae, 5, 25.
temone, 5, 70.
temperat, 5, 51.
tempore, vivis ex t., 3, 62.
temptemus fauces, 3, 113.
tenax veri, 5, 48.
tendere versum, 1, 65.
teneat actus, 5, 99.
tenero columbo, 3, 16.
palato, 1, 35.
tenuia (trisyllab.), 5, 94.
tenuis salivas, 6, 24.
tenus, 6, 25.
tepidum, 1, 84.
terebrare salinum, 5, 138.
terens sulco, 1, 73.
teres ore, 5, 15.
terrae filius, 6, 59.
progenies, 6, 57.
tertia nox, 3, 91.
tesserula, 5, 74.
testaque lutoque, 3, 61.
testiculi, 1, 103.
tetigisse signum, 6, 17.
tetrico pectine, 6, 2.
theta nigrum, 4, 13.
Thyestae olla, 5, 8.
thynni cauda, 5, 183.
Tiberino in gurgite, 2, 15.
timor albus, 3, 115.
tincta veneno, 3, 37.
tinniat mendosum, 5, 106.
Titos ingentis, 1, 20.
toga recenti, 1, 15.
togae verba, 5, 14.
tollat munera cerdo, 4, 51.
tolle piper, 5, 136.
ut volo, 5, 87.
tollere susurros, 2, 7.
tollit = sustulit, 4, 2.
torosa iuventus, 3, 86.
torquere buxum, 3, 51.
torva cornua, 1, 99.
trabe fracta, 1, 89.
rupta, 6, 27.
vasta, 5, 141.
trabeate, 3, 29.
tragoedo maesto, 5, 3.
traham voce, 5, 28.
Trajection, 1, 23; 6, 13.
trama figurae, 6, 73.
transcendere nummum, 5, 111.
transilias mare, 5, 146.
transisse, 5, 60.
transtro, 5, 147.
transvectio, 3, 29 (note).
tremor subit, 3, 100.
tremulos cachinnos, 3, 87.
trepida, 1, 74.
trepidare, 1, 20; 5, 170.
trepidas mentes, 5, 35.
trepidat, 3, 88.
tressis agaso, 5, 76.
triental calidum, 3, 100.
triplex, 6, 78.
triste bidental, 2, 27.
trita lacerna, 1, 54.
tritavus, 6, 57 (note).
Troiades, 1, 4.
trossulus, 1, 82.
trutina, 1, 5.
trutinari verba, 3, 82.
tuba, 3, 103.
tucceta crassa, 2, 42.
tumebit cutis, 3, 63.
tumet bile, 2, 14.
fidelia, 5, 183.
tunicatum caepe, 4, 30.
turbida Roma, 1, 5.
turbinis momento, 5, 78.
turdarum salivas, 6, 24.
ture litabis, 5, 120.
turgescat pagina, 5, 20.
turgescere somno, 5, 56.
turgescit bilis, 3, 8.
turgidus, 3, 98.
tus, 5, 135.
Tusco stemmate, 3, 22.
Tuscum fictile, 2, 60.
tutor, 3, 96.
U.
uda labella, 2, 32.
udas fores, 5, 165.
udo, in udo esse, 1, 105.
ulcus putre, 3, 113.
ulterior cinere, 6, 41.
ultra, 3, 15.
umbo candidus, 5, 33.
umbra quinta, 3, 4.
Umbris pinguibus, 3, 74.
uncta fenestra, 5, 180.
patella, 4, 17.
pulmentaria, 3, 102.
uncto, sine uncto cenare, 6, 16.
unctus, 4, 33.
uncus, 5, 154 (note).
unde, 1, 73.
undique, 3, 59.
ungue caules, 6, 68.
unguine crasso, 6, 40.
unguis severos, 1, 65.
unum opus, 5, 43.
ὑπᾴδειν, 3, 20.
ὑποσκελίζειν, 1, 35.
ὑπόχαλκος, 5, 106.
urentis oculos, 2, 34.
urnas Vestalis, 2, 60.
urtica, 6, 70.
usque adeo, 1, 26.
usum vitae, 5, 94.
usus rerum, 5, 52.
ut omitted, 1, 56.
uxor proxima, 3, 43.
V.
vafer, 1, 116. 132; 6, 20.
vago inguine, 6, 72.
vallis = sinus, 6, 8.
vanescere, 3, 13.
vapida lagoena, 6,17.
pice, 5, 148.
vapido pectore, 5, 117.
vaporata aure, 1, 126.
vappa, 5, 77.
varicosos centuriones, 5, 189.
varo (baro), 5, 138.
varo genio, 6, 18.
pede, 4, 12.
vatibus, 5, 1.
vatum, Prol., 7.
ve-, 1, 97.
ve or vel redundant (?), 3, 29.
vegrandi, 1, 97.
Veientanum rubellum, 5, 147.
vel duo, vel nemo, 1, 3.
Velina, 5, 73.
velle suum, 5, 53.
with perf. inf., 1, 41. 91.
vellere barbam, 1, 133; 2, 28.
vellus Calabrum, 2, 65.
velox, 4, 4.
vena singultiet, 6, 72.
testiculi, 1, 103.
venas conpositas, 3, 91.
stringere, 2, 66.
tangere, 3, 107.
vendo = vendito, 1, 122.
veneno ferventi, 3, 37.
Veneri donatae pupae, 2, 70.
venire with the dative, 6, 39.
venosus, 1, 76.
venter, Prol., 11; 3, 98.
ventis rumpere, 3, 27.
ventos premere, 5, 11.
veratro, 1, 51.
verba dare, 3, 19; 4, 45.
togae, 5, 14.
verecunda mensa, 5, 44.
veri speciem, 5, 105.
vernae discincto, 4, 22.
verrucosa, 1, 77.
versum cludere, 1, 93.
tendere, 1, 65.
verte aliquid, 5, 137.
verterit, 5, 78.
vertigo, 5, 76.
verumne, 3, 7.
Vestalis urnas, 2, 60.
vetare superos, 2, 43.
vetavit, 5, 90.
veteres avias, 5, 92.
vetitos actus, 5, 99.
veto faxit, 1, 112.
Vettidius, 4, 25.
vetule, 1, 22.
viatica, 5, 65.
vibice, 4, 49.
vicinia, 4, 46.
vidĕ, 1, 108.
vigila, 5, 177.
vin and vis, 1, 56; 6, 63.
vinci laborat, 5, 39.
vindicta, 5, 88. 125.
violae, 1, 40.
violas, 5, 182.
Virbi clivus, 5, 56.
viridi limo, 3, 22.
vis dicam, 1, 56.
visceratio, 6, 50 (note).
vitae rapidae, 5, 94.
vitiabit agendo, 5, 97.
vitiarunt pultes, 6, 40.
vitiato murice, 2, 65.
vitio praefigere theta, 2, 68.
stupet, 3, 32.
utitur, 2, 68.
vitium sonare, 3, 21.
vitrea bilis, 3, 8.
vitulo superbo, 1, 100.
vivere nostrum, 1, 9.
vivitur, 4, 43; 5, 53.
vivo caespite, 6, 31.
vivunt chordae, 6, 2.
vixisse, 4, 17.
Vocative in the predicate, 1, 123; 3, 28.
voce pura, 5, 28.
voces centum, 5, 1.
vomere nebulam, 5, 181.
voti modicus, 5, 109.
voto aperto, 2, 7.
in voto esse, 3, 49.
vulnera Parthi, 5, 4.
vulnus caecum, 4, 44.
vulpem astutam, 5, 117.
vulvae patriciae, 6, 73.
vulvas marcentis, 4, 36.
Z.
Zeugma, 3, 75; 5, 114. 185.
THE END.
* * * * *
* * * *
* * * * *
Errata (Noted by Transcriber)
Quando cerco norme di gusto
[text reads “uome”: checked against original]
“Neue” in bibliographical references is a personal name.
Notes
“Note I.7” will be found under I.5 (long sentence).
I.84 Gr. πρεπόντως [epsilon invisible].
III.20 ‘... or second to a person,’ hence ‘to sing small’
[text reads “...to a person,’ ‘hence to sing...”]
III.29 trabeatus es_)’ [text has close quote inside parenthesis]
III.34 #rursum non bullit# [printed with line 33]
III.56 The letter Υ, or rather its old form [[symbol]]
_the second form is a vertical line with bar projecting to the
upper left_
V.38 see note on 4.11 [4.12]
V.64, 65 [all notes printed with line 63]
V.65 #viatica#, #miseris# [order of notes transposed]
V.156 #oberres# [text reads “155”, repeated]
V.157-158 #nec--dicas# [text reads “156”]
V.162 ‘to the raw,’ ‘to the quick.’ [second open quote missing]
VI.5 no synonyme for _honestus_, [spelling unchanged]
Critical Appendix
II.14 #pro# [the nearest occurrence of this word is in line II.22]
III.93 [text reads III.94]
IV.20 #suffla# [printed with line 19]
VI.69 #ungue# [printed with line 67]
Index
Unambigous punctuation errors were silently corrected.
Attribute for effect, Prol., 4; 1, 17. [number 1 missing]
inflantis corpora, 5, 187
lusca sacerdos, 5, 186
δραπετεύειν, 5, 156
[in all three, book number misprinted as 1]
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